CHAPTER 2
The darkness was upon him again, although this time, Kratos felt a raging pain within his cranium.
Blinking and opening his eyes, Kratos found his hands shackled with some sort of energy, and he was behind what appeared to be solid iron bars.
"Hey, look who's awake." said a friendly-sounding voice. "Hope you're feeling OK."
Kratos rose from a cot chained to the wall, and looked forward with blurry vision. All he could see thus far, were blurry lines, and a massive, red and peach-ish figure outside those lines.
"Who….or what…." said Kratos, in a hungover tone. "Are you?"
"The name's Wreck-It Ralph, but you can call me Ralph." replied Wreck-It Ralph. "What is your name?"
"I am Kratos, God of War!" announced Kratos.
"Nice to meet you Kratos." replied Ralph. "Sorry about having to take you down like that, but you were going to attack Tails and that's not cool. I wanted to make sure you were OK."
Upon discovering that Ralph had caused his massive headache, Kratos lunged towards the bars, but found his hands were bound in some sort of strange force.
"Easy there buddy, it was nothing personal." said Ralph. "Just trying to look out for everyone's safety. I know you're new here."
"Face me behind these bars you coward!" bellowed Kratos. "Feel the wrath of the God of War!"
All of the sudden, Kratos felt 2 sharp pangs in his side, followed by a burst of electricity all over his body, causing him to mutter gibberish and seize violently. After a moment, it stopped, and Kratos sat back down on his cot.
TJ Calhoun, from Hero's Duty, was holding a taser in her hand and had deployed it into Kratos.
"That's enough out of you!" said a gruff female voice. "The Sheriff should be here shortly to have a word with you, I SUGGEST you calm down, or I will calm you down!"
"Release me from your sorcery, underworld Amazon!" demanded Kratos.
In response, TJ lit up Kratos with the taser once more, making him jump as if he'd stuck his hand in an electrical outlet.
"Who are you calling an 'Amazon' pal?!" asked Calhoun, before ceasing the tasing.
"Really TJ, is that necessary?" asked Ralph.
"You bet your rear it's necessary Ralph!" said Sergeant TJ Calhoun of Hero's Duty, the Deputy of the Arcade Sheriff's office. "You saw what he tried to do out there!"
"I got things under control, besides the guy is new to the arcade." said Kratos. "It's his first day, and I heard Tails say he's a FD, so why not cut the guy some slack eh?"
"I'll be the one who cuts anyone any slack around here!" said a teen-like voice with a southern drawl.
Ralph and TJ turned around, and saw the owner of the voice enter the Sheriff's office, which had doors like that of a Western Saloon. The figure was pint-sized in actual height, much like the characters of Sugar Rush, but wore an oversized orange ten-gallon hat to overcompensate for his lack of stature. His face was round and child-like, with large eyes and rosy cheeks, and he wore a Wild West sheriff's outfit, complete with gun and boots.
"Glad you made it Sheriff." said TJ Calhoun. "He was getting out of hand, but I have him under control now."
"Good work deputy." said the Sheriff, as he moseyed over to Kratos' holding cell. "You sure caused quite a ruckus in Game Central Station fella!"
"Bah!" Kratos replied. "I was simply protecting my realm and driving a demonic, flying hellhound from it!"
The Sheriff looked at Calhoun and Ralph.
"Code FD." they both said in unison.
"Oh I gotcha, you must be the main character from that new game, that God of War Ultimate Collection fella." said the Sheriff. "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Sheriff Kip Tumbleweed, and you're in my game, Tarantula Tim's Wild West Shootout. Now I'm not only Sheriff 'round these parts, but Sheriff of the entire arcade as well. Seems to me you got yourself some charges and a date with the judge."
"Speak sense tiny sheriff!" said Kratos. "What is this Ultimate Collection you seek?! I do not have any Ultimate Collection! And which of the 3 judges would you have me go before; Aeacus, Minos, or Rhadamanthus?!"
Sheriff Tumbleweed raised an eyebrow at Kratos, clearly agreeing with Ralph and TJ's assessment. The Sheriff then turned back to a desk in the office, which was occupied by a green-colored mallard duck, recognizable from the arcade game Nintendo Duck Hunt.
"Paula" said Sheriff Tumbleweed. "How many hours until the arcade opens for business?"
"Exactly 7." replied Paula.
"Right." said the Sheriff. "Go ahead and put a call out to the doctor so we can give this fella a once-over before he goes in front of the judge, and try to get someone from his game will ya?"
"Yes sir." said Paula, who answered a ringing phone just as she was about to pick it up. "Sheriff Tumbleweed's office, how can I help you?"
The caller on the other end proceeded to speak.
"It's Tapper's." said Paula with a roll of her eyes. "Guess who they're calling about again?"
"Why that mangy cur!" said Sheriff Tumbleweed. "I swear I'm gonna make a permanent kennel for that pain in the rear!"
"Hey Sheriff no worries, let me go and talk to him." said Ralph. "He's my roommate after all."
"Much obliged Ralph, much obliged." said Sheriff Tumbleweed.
"OK, I'm on my way." said Ralph as he got up, turning to Kratos' cell before leaving. "It was good meeting you Kratos, you seem like a really good bad guy. I'll come back to check on you, and welcome to Litwaks."
Looking angry, Kratos simply looked on at Ralph, confused beyond measure at the series of events that have taken place thus far.
"Um….thank you….goodbye?" said Kratos, really not knowing what else to say.
Ralph smiled and waved on his way out, forgetting to duck and broke the brickwork above the Sheriff's Office doorway. Ralph continued walking, not feeling a thing and continued on like nothing happened.
"Darnit!" said the Sheriff. "That's the 8th time he's done that! What's so hard about ducking?"
"EXCUSE me?!" said Paula, seeming offended.
"Oh, sorry honey." said the Sheriff, correcting himself. "What's so hard about him minding his head?"
Paula seemed satisfied with the answer, and went back to her work making calls.
Meanwhile, Fix-It Felix Jr. walked through the saloon doors, brandishing a freshly baked Nicelander pie.
"Hi honey!" said Felix. "Hope you had a good day!"
"Awww, Nicelander Cobbler, my favorite!" said TJ Calhoun, bending down to kiss her husband. "Well Sheriff, that's the end of my shift, so if you don't need me for anything else Felix and I have a date night before turning in for the evening."
"Oh yes, go right ahead TJ." said Sheriff Tumbleweed. "Thanks for your help, great job as always."
Sheriff Tumbleweed turned to Kratos, who was sitting on the bed of his cell, looking angry.
"Well then partner, if you want to get back to your game, best thing you can do is be on your best behavior from here on out." said Sheriff Tumbleweed in a friendly tone.
"I want nothing from you or your realm." said Kratos. "I simply want to resume my quest for vengeance!"
The Sheriff smiled, and started walking towards Kratos' cell. Once he was at the cell, he looked up at Kratos with a grim, threatening look on his face.
"Now you listen reeeeeaaaally carefully son." said the Sheriff in a soft yet icy voice, low enough where Paula could not hear. "I don't care if you are new, I run a tight clean ship, and NO ONE makes trouble in MY arcade. So you better not step on my toes, or you'll find yourself in a maximum security Legend of Zelda prison….or get your whole game unplugged for good. You understand me boy?"
Kratos simply stared back at the Sheriff, not breaking eye contact for one second. After a brief staredown, Paula interrupted them.
"Sheriff, the doctor is here." said Paula. "And I have an officer dispatched to bring someone from his game."
"Well that's dandy!" said the Sheriff, turning away and looking chipper as ever. "Thanks for coming on such short notice doc, I'll leave you 2 be while I make my final beat rounds."
The Sheriff greeted the doctor and walked out the jailhouse.
"Vell zen, you must be Kratos." said a gruff gravelly voice, which was owned by someone in the shadows in front of the door.
"Who are YOU?" asked Kratos.
The small figure stepped forward, and Kratos could see an elderly white man, wearing a labcoat, a light purple button-down shirt with an orange tie, khaki pants, and the man had wild gray hair upon his balding head, and a wild, bushy gray moustache.
"Very pleased to meet you Kratos." said the man. "My name eez Dr. Wily, and I come from zee game Mega Man. I may be a villain, but have no fear, for I abide by zee same Hippoclatic Oas for zee good guys, as vell as the bad guys. I underschtand you are tloubled, und I am here to help you."
"If that is the case, then release me." said Kratos.
"I'm aflaid I do not have zat authority, not before you see zee judge." said Dr. Wily. "However, zimply talk to me, answer my questions to zee best of your ability, und I vill do everysing I can to see zat you be freed post haste!"
"Very well then." said Kratos with a sigh. "I see no other options."
"Wunderbar!" said Dr. Wily. "Now, I musct enter your cell to schpeak to you. Please do not try to eschcape, ozervise it vill make mattels much vorse for your case. Can I truscht you not to flee?"
Kratos nodded.
"Exchellent!" said Dr. Wily. "Paula, zee cell door please."
Paula nodded, The jail cell opened, and Dr. Wily walked in, dragging one of the office chairs with him. Kratos stayed where he was, complying with Dr. Wily's directives, and the cell door closed them both in.
"Sank you Kratos, for you covopperation!" said Dr. Wily. "Now zen, please lie down on your cell cot, and I vill talk to you from zis chair."
Kratos did as he was told, playing along for the moment, not really sure how this would lead to him becoming free.
Dr. Wily took out a pencil and notepad, as well as a pocket tape recorder, which he turned on to record, and held up to his face.
""Dr. Albert W. Wily, OBE PhD, on zee 5th of June, at Scheven AM." said Dr. Wily into the recorder. "Cunducting one zykological evaluation on zubject named Kratos, un prisoner at Litvak's Arcade. Let us schtart…."
Dr. Wily set down the tape recorder, still on record, picked up his pencil and notepad, and proceeded to evaluate Kratos.