Just to let you all know, I started writing this fan fic last Christmas Eve, it's done, I just don't like putting the whole story up at once. I know it's a bit late for a Christmas story, but I didn't feel like waiting a year to put it up. Enjoy it regardless!
CHAPTER 2
What to Do
"I don't know what to do, Tapper," said Ralph with his hand to his forehead. "Vanellope probably abhors me and I don't know if I'll ever be able to face Felix or Calhoun or any of them again. I guess I'm going to have to though."
"Tell me everything," Tapper said while polishing a beer mug. Tapper always listened to Ralph's troubles, and he certainly had a lot of them.
"I broke Vanellope's last gold coin that she needs to get into any of the races. She was furious with me! I don't think she ever wants to speak to me again! Then I went off on a tangent in front of Felix and Calhoun and all them. They probably hate me now too. There's Christmas part in 2 and a half hours I have to be at and…I don't know if I can face the music."
"Well, how about this, Ralph…" Tapper began before he was interrupted from someone two seats over from Ralph.
"Wreck-It Ralph?" the person asked him. Ralph looked over and saw Knuckles from the Sonic & the Fighters game they had in the arcade.
"Yeah?" said Ralph. Suddenly, Ralph was punched square in the jaw by the little red echidna! He was surprisingly strong, knocking Ralph right off his seat. Clyde and Bowser, who were nearby, rushed to Ralph's side to make sure he was okay.
"Watch what you say, you warthog!" Knuckles shouted at him.
"He didn't say anything! What's your deal!?" Tapper yelled at Knuckles.
"You had Amy cryin' for 20 minutes before Sonic was finally able to calm her down!" Knuckles yelled.
"Wait, did Roy actually tell you guys what I said?" Ralph couldn't believe he'd be stupid enough to do that.
"Hey, Ralph's been through enough this past year," said Clyde, in Ralph's defense. "He doesn't need you making him feel bad about anything else!"
"Yeah, well maybe he should think before he goes talkin' about Sonic and Amy like that!" Knuckles shouted.
"Get out of here!" Tapper yelled at Knuckles. "And don't come back! Or I'll get Bowser here to throw you out!" Knuckles took one look at Bowser and decided to leave. He gave Ralph one last bitter glance before leaving. "And don't come back!" Tapper added.
Clyde, Bowser, and Tapper helped Ralph off the floor and back onto his seat. "Don't even worry about him, Ralph," said Clyde.
"Yeah, don't even," said Tapper. "He ain't comin' here again! You can be sure of that."
"Thanks guys," Ralph said, able to muster up a bit of smile, even though he still felt awful on the inside. "It is my fault though. I shouldn't have said anything about Sonic or Amy."
"Ah, whatever you said, you were probably right!" said Tapper.
"We all say things we regret sometimes," said Clyde. "Don't even worry yourself about it."
Ralph nodded weakly. He still felt terrible. Vanellope's coin, blowing up at everyone like that, bad-talking friends. "I think I should leave," he said.
"Okay, but if you need advice, you know where I am," Tapper told him. Ralph nodded again and headed toward the exit.
"Oh, and Ralph!" Clyde called to Ralph before he was out the door. Ralph turned around. Clyde gave a friendly smile and told him, "Merry Christmas."
"Yeah…merry Christmas to you too, Clyde," Ralph said, still sounding pretty down. He left Tapper's, feeling close to tears.
He wistfully wandered around the mostly deserted Game Central Station, losing track of time. His mind was filled with thoughts of what he wished he could go back and change. He raised his head up occasionally to see what game he was passing. When he reached Fix-It Felix, Jr., he decided it was time to go home for the night. "Some Christmas Eve this has been…" he muttered to himself.
While riding back on the trolley, he caught a glimpse of the Niceland Lake. He suddenly got a thought, and decided to make his way over to the lake. While on his way over to the lake, he looked up at the Christmas lights in the penthouse window. He saw Calhoun in the window looking like she was actually laughing. "They'd have a better party without me anyway," Ralph said to himself.
He stood on a ledge by the lake, listening to the faint sound of water flowing. He gave a heavy sigh and moved closer to the edge. "I don't know why I even bother," he said sadly to himself while staring at his reflection in the water. "Vanellope doesn't need me…she's the ruler of a whole game, why would she need a nobody friend like me? …Felix would probably be better off without the bad guy intruding in on every little thing. And Calhoun's got Felix! Why does she need to be friends with me when she's got all she ever needed right there. They're all better off if I just stay out of their way." A silence filled the air as Ralph watched the gently moving water. He began to breath heavily as he could feel himself getting teary-eyed.
A loud crashing in the water suddenly shattered the wistful silence. Ralph moved his head up and looked around the water frantically. "Help! Help!" he heard a voice plead. He looked straight ahead and saw a girl flailing around in the water, becoming unable to keep her head above the surface. Ralph swiftly jumped in and swam to the girl as fast as he possibly could. He grabbed onto her and began swimming to shore as fast as humanly possible.
Q*Bert, who was strolling by the lake, saw the half-drowned girl and an extremely exhausted Ralph as the came up on shore. "!# $%!" Q*Bert exclaimed. Q*Bert ran off in search of help. He quickly came back with the other characters from his game. They all helped Ralph and the girl up as well as escorting them back to Q*Bert's place where they could make a recovery.
