Chapter Four- For the Love of Pie
(Still) Day Three
After his humiliation with the newspaper, Gene refused to come out of the apartment that day but who could blame him? Everyone at Litwak's had seen Gene's birthday suit and were laughing it up all day. One could hear the guffaws and giggles from every corner of the building, from Sonic the Fighters to Galaga to even Hero's Duty.
"SARGE! SARGE! Ya gotta see this!" Mouse said, laughing up a storm with Kowalski.
"What is it that's got you guys in a-!?" Before Calhoun could even finish her words, a spray of coffee blew from her mouth.
"I-IS THAT *hack!* WHO I THINK IT IS?!"
"No I see why they call him BIG GENE!" laughed another solider.
Even the FPS couldn't help but laugh, falling on its sides after its wheels had given up on it.
Calhoun was just STUNNED. She knew that things had gone hardball but she NEVER would have expected Ralph and Vanellope to pull something like this. She had seen enough however and she crumpled the newspaper up and threw it in the trash.
"Well, I know I won't be getting sleep for the next few days."
Had anyone else been in the arcade that early in the morning, they would have heard the lovely sounds of every game character in the place yucking it up.
But of course, one game remained silent throughout the morning.
"Come on out Gene, it's not that bad!" Don said, knocking on Gene's door.
"I don't wanna…." replied the gloomy voice the mayor.
"Look, I'm sure tha whole thing is gonna blow away sooner than ya think! In fact, they shouldn't even remember this by tomorrow!" Felix said, trying his best to sound positive.
"Oh, I doubt that young man…I SEVERELY doubt that."
Felix took off his hat and ran his fingers through his head, "Does anyone have any idea on how ta get him out? Our game is about to start up soon!"
"Ya know how Gene gets when he's in one of his moods…" Nel said, hands on her hips and shaking her head "He's gonna be locked up in there for HOURS!"
"So what are we supposed ta do until then?" asked Norwood, puffing away at his pipe "Have on of US take his place?"
Everyone turned to the freckled Nicelander, giving him a look that made him realize that he had said too much.
"Programmers help us…."
"FIRST ONE, NOT IT!" yelled Blake, followed by all the other men in the room.
"Not it WHAT!?"
"Ah! Norwood, last one out! You gotta do it!" Don said, slapping his friend rather hard on the back.
"WHY NOT USE ROY! HE KINDA LOOKS LIKE GENE!?"
"No I don't…"
Nel moved behind Norwood and pushed him into place, "Come on Pum'kin, take one for the team!"
"I'd be glad ta take one for tha team!" Norwood said angrily "BUT NOT FOR THIS!"
"Too late, quarter drop!"
"W-WAIT?! SO SOON!? WHAT DO I D-?!"
"I'M GONNA WRECK IT!"
Ralph's massive fist exploded through the wall, Norwood unable to do anything but stare in utter shock.
"Aw, SH-"
The wrecker then grabbed the Nicelander from the ground, squishing him in the process.
"AURGH! MY SPINE!"
"RAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
"HOOOWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUGHH!"
"So THAT'S what Norwood sounds like when he screams…" Deanna said, watching the red-head fly off in the distance.
"I hear it enough times. Its nothing new…" Nel replied, watching Norwood fly off into the distance, only to hear the horrible thud of his body hitting a tree off-screen.
As the day went on, Gene remained in his room, every door and window locked and all the curtains drawn. He didn't want to hear anyone, he didn't want to SEE anyone but seeing as it was a work day, he couldn't avoid the constant noise of the building being torn apart and Norwood's screams as he man went flying off towards the woods.
Though Gene did have to admit, it was nice hearing someone else screaming in terror for a change.
"OH PLEASE! NOT AGAIAAAAAAAAHOOOWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAUGH!"
Gene, wrapped in a blanket like some sort of cocoon, huddled on his bed. He reached for his remote and switched on the television.
"I-I just need to relax. One day of relaxation and I'm sure this entire thing will blow over, just like Felix said!"
The Nicelander flipped through the channels, stopping on the local Arcade news feed.
"Well, if there's one thing I know, it seems that the dress code over at Fix-it-Felix Jr. seems to be getting rather LAX!" said the first news anchor, a chortle in their voice.
"Right! As Mayor Nicelander Gene is showing us, the casual days in Niceland are REALLY casual!"
That picture.
It was EVERYWHERE.
Gene looked at the screen for a moment, laughter forming in his voice but the laughter grew, becoming a mad cackle.
"Yes, laugh at me. Laugh at my pain." The man guffawed madly, his sneer still planted on his face "It's entertaining isn't it? ISN'T IT?! That's what you want to do? Well, you're free to do it! FREE TO DO IT!" Gene screamed at the top of his lungs before grabbing the TV and hurling it out the window.
Outside, Felix was going through another round of repairs when the TV blasted from the window, nearly hitting him by mere inches.
Of course, it DID happen to hit a certain red-headed Nicelander who was crawling his way back to the apartments.
"U-uh BONUS POINTS!" Felix said, trying his best not to confuse the player, not even noticing that Norwood was now crying on the sidewalk after having respawed.
"WOW! I didn't know I got more points for dodging furniture!" the player said gleefully, having no idea what was really going on.
Gene stood by his window, panting in exhaustion but he remembered that he was still on a bet and if ANYONE caught him angry then he was through. He pinched the bridge of his nose taking deep breaths.
"Calmness, Gene….CALMNESS."
The man's head was POUNDING by this point but he suppressed it. Gene fell back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling and not moving for hours. Gene heard the sounds of the arcade slowly closing from outside the cabinet but he remained still.
The poor man was exhausted, drained of any sort of energy or will to even move at this point. Three days in and his life had turned into a complete and utter twisted chaos in which he had no power to do anything about. With each passing second, the Nicelander was beginning to regret taking on the bet, mostly because he should have known that in doing so, Ralph would try everything in his might to get the man to break.
And as much as Gene hated to admit it, he was skating dangerously close to that edge.
But he just couldn't quit, not now when he was so close.
He only had four more days. He could make it until then, he was sure of it.
At least that's what the Nicelander told himself. His heart was telling him to keep pressing forward but his brain was much too frazzled to even string a coherent thought together.
Gene dreaded the moments he would eventually have the leave the safety of his apartment. He could already hear the sounds of the jeers and the laughter, visualizing the sight of people pointing down to him. It wasn't as if the man wasn't seen as a joke already to many in the arcade but now, they had even more ammunition to throw at him.
"Just four more days Gene, just four more days…."
Day Four
Gene hardly got a wink of sleep that night for his mind was filled with too much worry to even relax. As the clock ticked in the wee hours of the twilight, Gene saw that he had no choice but to get up and get up he did.
He lumbered to the bathroom, cleaning himself up though he did so as if his body were put in slow-motion. He didn't even stop to shave, just washing up and putting on a top and slacks. He walked down the hallway as quietly as he could, as not to disturb anyone. Everyone must have still been asleep but as he rounded the corner, he noticed a little sliver of light coming from Mary's door.
"Hmm?"
The mayor approached closer, hearing the faint sound of scissors cutting paper.
"Stupid paper!" Mary said to herself in a gruff tone, clearly fed-up with something.
Gene knocked on the woman's door, turning the handle slowly as he let himself in.
"Ms. Mary?"
Mary let out a yelp as she jumped from the couch, surprised to see Gene standing at her door.
"O-OH! MAYOR GENE!"
Gene took a step forward, a hand in front of him "Sorry for bursting in like this but,-!"
"Er, it's good to see that you're well…" Mary said bashfully.
"Th-thank you, dear. I hope your day wasn't too difficult without me…"
"Oh, it was no trouble at ALL, Gene! We got along FINE without you!"
Mary the realized what she said, looking at Gene who now appeared as if she had just shot him in the heart.
"I mean! There was no trouble but I-I mean, WE missed you!"
The two looked at each for a moment or two before turning away, both blushing brightly.
Gene then tilted his head to get a glance into Mary's apartment; it was filled with newspapers and trash bags.
"Eh, new hobby?"
Mary looked back before returning her eyes towards Gene, turning even redder than before.
"Oh….that. Um, that is just the results of the escapade that Felix and some of us had last night…"
Gene blinked in surprised; so Felix had helped Mary out as well?
"You wouldn't believe how long it took us to get this many papers! And the amount of time we spent cutting out and shredding the article itself! My hands still hurt from cutting!" Mary said, rubbing her sore knuckles.
"You-you mean you did this ALL for me?!" Gene said in shock, taking Mary's hands into his own, holding them gently "Can you even bake now?!"
"Gene! I'm alright! I'm not going to let a little soreness stop me from-!"
"Oh, this is all my fault! If I just had taken everything like someone with SENSE, you and the others would have never had to do all of this!" Gene said, a frantic look on his face.
"Gene, I said it was alright…."
"No, it's NOT alright!" the man sighed "Mary, how about this? Since you did everything for me…why don't I take care of your pie duties for today?"
"Take on MY duties? But…but what about your pies?"
"I can do it! I mean, I might be mayor but you know how I can handle anything when it comes to food!"
The Nicelander in purple couldn't help but let a little cheeky grin appear on her face, "Oh yes! Considering how big your appetite is, it shouldn't surprise me that you know so much about food!"
The mayor gave a smug smile and ran his fingers through his hair "Well, I can't brag!"
Gene then realized he had walked into a trap, giving the woman an annoyed pout. Mary responded by gently tapping the man on the nose.
"Ah, you ARE back!"
Gene couldn't stay angry at Mary and he did have to admit that he walked right into her joke. For the first time in a while, an honest smile began to spread on the man's face, happiness swelling inside of him. But he still had a job to do and he wasn't going to waste another moment lingering on it.
"Just make yourself comfortable my dear! I'll take care of everything!"
Gene then strolled into the kitchen, pulling out bowls and ingredients as he tied an apron around his chubby frame. With everything laid out in front of him, the man rubbed his hands together and smiled.
"Don't worry Mary my dear! I shall have a collection of pies cooked up in no time!"
As Mary watched Gene make pies, she was astounded by what she saw. This was the first time in their thirty years that she had actually observed him in the kitchen and needless to say, what she saw was astounding, at least compared to her own baking skills. He was floating around like some sort of magical baking butterfly, mixing the flour and eggs, rolling out the dough and cutting and slicing apples as if it were nothing to him, all the while whistling a tune and looking as if he had not a care in the world.
Gene seemed to find himself complete bliss in the kitchen and after several days of stress and annoyances, Mary was glad to see him so happy. She just couldn't believe how fast he was going. Did he even realize what he was doing or was he stuck on auto-pilot at this point?
Apples were being sliced, dough was being crimped and folded into place, and by the time they were pulled from the oven, they were perfectly golden-brown, their luscious smell filling the entire apartment. Whether he knew it or not, Gene was creating art.
An edible, delicious art.
By the time the sun peeked in through the windows of the arcade, Gene was done. Mary looked astounded at the massive piles of pies before her.
ONE person had done this and they had done it in the same amount of time it would have taken her to make a third of the pies! Gene heard the timer go off as he took out two more pies, taken in by their sweet smell.
"Ah, perfection…."
"Goodness Gene, are you baking for the game or for the entire arcade?" Mary said with a chuckle.
The little man looked around, realizing that he MIGHT have gone a smidge overboard with his baking.
"Oh. Well, it is best to always be prepared!" Gene said in a rather haughty tone, placing the pies back on the counter.
"Ah-huh. I think you made enough to last another thirty years?" Mary said, looking in awe at the pies "Or is this just a snack for you?"
"Aw come on, now! I know I like sweets but I'm not THAT gree-!"
Mary then took one of the freshly baked pies and cut a slice, putting the piece into Gene's mouth and halting his chatter.
"Shush. I was just joking, dear."
"Mmmph."
Once again he had let Mary tease him, he didn't care one bit. He was in such a peaceful state that he didn't mind her teasing or the fact that he might have embarrassed himself once more by baking too many times.
If there was one part of the bet that he was enjoying, it was THIS.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"Who is it?"
"It's Meg, Mary. We just wanted to know if Gene was actually coming out today!"
"TELL 'IM I AIN'T NOT PICKIN' UP HIS SLACK ANYMORE!" yelled Norwood from the hallway.
"Norwood."
Gene let out a little chuckle, making his way towards the door "I better go talk to Norwood before he's the next one to have a breakdown."
Both Nicelanders made their way out the door, unaware that someone was watching them from afar. Hidden in the stairs was one Vanellope Von Schweetz, the racer carefully watching the group of Nicelanders and waiting for her opportunity to strike.
"Okay, Mayor Big-Booty. Just go out with your friends an' don't mind me! I'm a widdle girl, I dun wanna do anythin'!"
The racer watched as the group of adults made their way down the stairs and disappeared from sight.
"All clear…."
Vanellope looked up and down both ends of the hallway, glitching to-and-fro, a rather large wheeled carrier following her. She snickered once she made her way in front of the apartment door, a devilish grin playing on her face. She then closed her eyes and….
GLITCH!
With a blink, she was inside the mayor's apartment.
"Sqqqk! Raaaalph, I have infiltrated the apartment! I am awaiting your orders!"
"Ha, ha. Very funny squirt. Just tell me ya have the pies ready!" Ralph said on the other end.
"Just tell ME you're not gonna chuck this walkie-talkie out the window like you did the LAST time!"
"Hey, was it MY fault that Felix caught me a bad time?"
"Sorry stink-breath! I can't waste any more time! I'll alert ya if anythin' else happens!"
"Just make sure you're in the right apartment o-!"
"What was that?! I can't hear ya! Oh no! RALPH!? RAPLH?! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALPH!"
"I'm still here…."
Vanellope then switched off her walkie-talkie as she made her way
She made her way through the apartment, glitching right past the door and into the kitchen. As her eyes looked upon the mountain of pies, the girl's mouth nearly hit the floor. She felt so tiny compared to the enormous stack.
"Holy monkey milk!" the racer said as she looked around "I bet even Candlehead would have a hard time scarfin' down all these pies!"
The girl looked at the counter, seeing that the piles of pies were separated into two bunches, one with a note that said 'For Mary' while the other was went unlabeled.
Clearly, Gene had written the notes which only made Vanellope's job easier. She only had to switch up Gene's pies and everything would be alright. Vanellope went to her carrier and flipped the latch, revealing-!
Even more pies?
The girl took the first one into her hands, cackling evilly.
"I'm sure you've never tasted a pie like THIS before, Genie! Mwahahahaha!"
She stopped, pondering for a moment.
"I need to work on my evil laugh. It just doesn't sound cool enough when you don't have lightening behind ya!"
Vanellope began to replace Gene's pies with her own, making sure that she only placed the new pies on his side as not to get them mixed up with Mary's.
"So tha taffy webbin' didn't work? Maybe this will!"
Once all the pies had been replaced, Vanellope prepared to leave the apartment but as she did so, she noticed one last pie. This one had just been taken out of the oven only moments before she arrived and was still piping hot and warm with all the ooey-gooey goodness that could only come from a pastry that had just been taken from the oven. The smell was becoming overpowering to the racer, her mouth watering and her stomach growling.
"Fight the urge, Nelly! Fight the urge! YA ALREADY HAVE PIES IN HERE!"
But those had cooled down and didn't have the same goodness!
"Stop it Vanellope! It's just PIE!"
But it was GOOD pie! Pie that shouldn't be wasted!
The girl growled as she tried to turn away but unable to help herself, she grabbed the pie.
"Ow! OH! HOT!"
And as she turned with the hot pan in her hand, her long pony tail brushed the note off the counter top.
Finally able to handle the warm pan, Vanellope made a dash for the door.
"One less pie won't bother Gene! I mean, he made so MANY of them!"
As it turned out, Vanellope had escaped just in time. The Nicelanders were making their way back to their apartments, Gene and Mary conversing happily the entire time.
"Well, I'm glad you worked things out with Norwood." Mary said happily.
"I did the best that I could, considering the mood that he was in!" Gene said, whistling "I never knew Norwood to be the one to say such profanities."
The two entered the apartment, getting ready for the crowd of gamers would arrive soon enough. Gene went back to the kitchen and began to count the pies.
"Hmm, one off…." The man said as he rubbed his chin "Strange, I was sure that I made an even number of pies that could be split between us."
It had to be the stress that threw him off. What other reason could there be for a missing pie?
"Mary?"
"Yes, dear?" Mary called from her bedroom.
"We seem to have a problem with the pies! One of mine seems to be missing!"
Mary peeked from around the corner, a smile on her face "Oh Gene, why is that a problem? Just take one of mine!"
Gene smiled as he took one of the pies from what he THOUGHT was Mary's pile and placed it onto his own.
"Well, that's better now!"
"Here, let me help you with that!" Mary said as she took an armful of pies and helped Gene carry them back to his own apartment, neither Nicelander having a care in the world or even expecting what was to happen to both of them.
"Is everyone ready?" chirped Felix, flexing his arms and gearing up his hammer.
"All ready!" cheered the Nicelanders, excited for the first morning's run.
"I'm just happy to see that you're ready for this again!" Mary whispered to Gene from her window.
The mayor snickered again, subconsciously rubbing his mustache "Why wouldn't I be? It's my job!"
"Bite it, Gene," Norwood grumbled from above, glaring down at his so-called friend.
"I love you too, Norwood!" Gene quipped.
The games were about to begin again! Everyone was in their places!
And not too far away in a little bush, away from the prying eyes of the Nicelanders, someone else was in their place as well.
"Ah, now THAT was a good pie!" Vanellope said, laying comfortably on the grass after having finished off one of Gene's pies, so surprised that it tasted as good as it looked.
Sitting back into place, the little racer grinned; she couldn't wait to watch the excitement that was about to unfold before her!
The quarter alert sounded as everyone got into place.
Like clockwork.
Ralph comes in.
He roars.
Gene is grabbed and thrown.
Felix bounces in.
As always.
Vanellope watched as Gene jogged his way back to the apartment, teeming with glee as she couldn't wait for him to find the little SURPRISE in his pies. She rubbed her hands together, giggling cheekily.
"I can't wait ta hear him-!"
"Hello?"
Vanellope looked around. Where in the world had that voice come from?
"Vanellope? Are you there?"
That wasn't Ralph's voice! Vanellope looked around the area, just to make sure she wasn't going nuts, turning to see the red light on her walkie-talkie was on. She picked up the device, looking at it curiously.
"Uh, YES mysterious voice I am hearin'! I am here but who are YOU?"
"It's Swizz!"
"Swizz?" the racer said in a surprised voice, ducking behind the bush "How in the world did you get on this frequency?!"
"Ya do realize that ya took MY walkie-talkies, right? I reworked those things so I could listen in anywhere!" the boy said rather proudly.
"Uh, should I be WORRIED about that or-?"
"Listen, Nel. I'm only callin' ya to ask ya somethin'!" Swizz said on the other end, sounding a bit worried.
Vanellope rolled her eyes; she didn't want to be disturbed at this moment! She had a show to watch!
"Listen Swizz, can ya make this fast! I'm busy over here so-!"
"Did you take my bucket of Pop Rocks? The BLUE ones?"
The racer felt a twinge go up her spine; Uh-oh.
"Eeeeeeer, not that I know of! I mean, what use would I have for POP ROCKS at a time like this!" she laughed nervously "Buuuut, in the case that I DO happen to find 'em, er, what should I do with 'em?"
"Do with 'em?! Don't do anythin' with 'em!"
"Excuse me?"
"Nelly, those were a bad batch of rocks I was tryin' ta experiment for some of our power-ups!"
"A-a bad BATCH, eh? Um, how bad is this bad?"
There was a moment of silence between the two which of course worried Vanellope.
"Ya took 'em, DIDN'T ya?"
"Swizzle Malarkey! I did NOT take your Pop Rocks! But as your president, tell me what will happen should they fall in my-I MEAN- someone else's hands!"
"Okay, okay! I rigged them up so they would have three times as much poppin' force as they usually do!"
Vanellope's face paled a bit, "Th-th-three times?!"
"Yeah, but…"
"But? What is this BUT? This BUT doesn't sound good!"
"But, they didn't have three times the power!" Swizz finally replied.
The racer let out a breath of relief, falling back to the ground, "Whew! Swizz, ya had me worried there for a moment! I guess they're just duds or somethin'? Maybe they melt instead of pop?"
"Nope. They explode with TEN times the force."
At that moment, Vanellope could have exploded herself once she heard the facts. Instead, she dropped her walkie-talkie to the ground, a frightened grin creeping on her face.
She knew she had done it now.
"Nelly? Nelly are ya there?"
"Oh…SOUR BALLS."
Once Gene had finally made it back to his apartment, he ran right back to his pie pile, grabbing one of the pastries and readying himself to hand it over to Felix. Before he did, he took out the pocket watch that Mary had given him, looking at the time.
"Heh! I actually beat my record getting here! I must be in better shape than I thought!" the man chuckled to himself.
Gene felt his apartment quake as Ralph climbed higher and higher up the building. Felix would be coming up any times soon, so it was only a matter of time.
"Okay, things are running as they should so far! Just have to give Felix his pie and continue on with the program!"
The mayor held the pie in his hands, a smile appearing on his face when and odd sound hit his ears.
Was it….hissing?
The man then lowered the pie so he could get a better look at it. Something was definitely off; the crust looked different and for some reason, the pastry felt a lot heavier than it should have been. Rightfully confused, the man poked the top of the pie with his finger only to be even more weirded out when it began to emit a strange, sweet smelling blue smoke.
"Wait, I made APPLE! This doesn't smell like AP-!"
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The entire floor shook from the explosion, causing some of the Nicelanders to drop their pies to the ground!
"What in the world?!"
"Oh PROGRAMMERS! THE GAME IS FINALLY SHORTING OUT!" hollered Roy at the top of his lungs.
"ROY! We're still in-game! Shut UP!"
Back in the mayor's apartment, the entire area that Gene had once stood was completely covered in sugary bits of pie gunk, the mayor himself sitting in the middle of his, his once clean suit now ruined. The man was more confused than angry at this point, the only thing on his mind being what FLAVOR this pie happened to be considering it was now everywhere. Gene took a bit of the pie goo onto his finger and tasted it; sweet, sugary, with a small hint of tartness from some crazy, made up flavor. It tasted nice but this wasn't the apple pie he tasted before. If anything, it tasted more like it was made from the same types of candy in….
"SUGAR RUSH…." The man growled through his teeth.
Ralph and Vanellope had struck again!
That was it! He was going to have a stern word to both characters, bet or no bet!
The man picked himself up and wiped off as much pie crust as he could, stomping towards the door but as he did, an important detail entered his brain; what about the other pies?
Gene grabbed a yard-stick from his desk and poked the pies in front of him, awaiting another blast but after a few seconds, he was met with nothing. The man sighed in relief.
"I guess it was just one?"
Or was it?
The mayor then remembered that while he was gathering pies, the labeled that he had used to divide his pies with Mary was missing.
And if Ralph and Vanellope were playing tricks on him he knew that one pie wouldn't be enough for him.
But the rest of his pies were duds!
He then remembered that he had taken a pie from what he thought was Mary's pile but what if-?
What if he had actually taken HER pile instead of his own?!
Gene let out a loud gasp, nearly jumping a foot in the air.
"NO!"
Like a flash, Gene took off for Mary's apartment, hoping that he would get there in time before she too would come into contact with some of the exploding pies but just as he entered….
"Dear, are you alright?!" Mary said in a concerned voice, an exploding pie in her hand.
"PUT THE PIE DOWN!"
"Um, what?" Mary said, accidentally pumping the bottom of the tin with the sill. As soon as she did, the pie began to smoke and hiss.
"Um? DEAR?!"
Too late.
"GET DOWN!"
Before he even knew what he was doing, Gene ran forward and tackled Mary to the ground, the woman crying out in shock as she hit the floor and was shielded by Gene. The pie she was holding flew out of her hands and went sailing towards some of the others that were stacked nearby.
"G-GENE?! WHAT IS-!?"
It only took a moment, but there was no stopping it now.
The pie landed with a wet SPLAT onto the others and as soon as it came into contact, it exploded messily, showering the entire room with goop. Mary yelped as she ducked behind Gene, the man getting even messier than before.
"What in the-?!"
But it wasn't over yet. The first pie had only jostled the other and then began to rain down on the two. Soon, the other pies began to explode, setting off one of the messiest (albeit tastiest) chain-action explosions in history! One after another, a loud explosion rang out, shaking the entire apartment and flinging pie filling out of the windows!
Back outside the game, the player couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Felix was fine and there were no lives lost but they couldn't keep their eyes of the tiny window that was emitting blue smoke as pies shoot out of it.
"Er, is this some sort of hidden animation?"
Thankfully, the massive pie explosion finally stopped, smoke billowing from the windows and a deluge of pie slime dripping from the sill of Mary's apartment. Unable to just stop and check, Felix could only peer down at the mess before looking back up at Ralph.
"I guess you didn't have a hand in this?" the repair man whispered.
Ralph was just as stunned as Felix but he looked off to the side, spotting Vanellope in one of the far away bushes, the racer pulling at her hair in panic.
"Aw man, Nelly! What did you DO?!"
Vanellope was running around in circles in panic by now, dreading the moment she would have to fess up to what she had done.
She didn't want the entire apartment to explode! Just give Gene a little pie face, that's all!
"And Swizz thought this was a GOOD idea?! What would happen if we ATE that stuff?!"
Gene was covered from head to toe in pie goo, hovering over Mary who was huddled up into a little ball, clutching onto the man's sides for protection. Sugar Berry and Pop-Rock goo covered the entire apartment from floor to ceiling, the remnants dripping from every corner. The little Nicelander peeked out from under Gene, taking in all the damage that had been done to her apartment.
"MY LIVING ROOM!"
She looked over to the kitchen where the other pies were kept, seeing only one huge mess.
"MY KITCHEN!"
Mary then looked up at Gene only to lay eyes upon a small, chubby figure covered in some sort of pink sludge.
"My goodness…."
Gene opened his eyes as he looked down at Mary but as he looked into the reflection of the window, the only thing that met his eyes was a chubby little round thing, covered from head to toe in some sort of pink and blue goo.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" cried Gene as he wiped the syrup and pie crust from his eyes "I look like I belong in the sewer level of another game!"
"Gracious! I knew your pies had something in them Gene, but I never imagined that!" Mary said as she picked herself up.
"My pies?! Those were NOT my pies!" Gene yelled in frustrations, teetering rather close on the edge of getting too angry.
Mary looked around, still taking in the damage that had been done "Then who-?!"
"Don't worry about it!" Gene cut in, trying to get pie crust out of his mustache "Just go and clean yourself up! I'll be right back!"
Mary nodded as she went off to the bathroom. As soon as she had left his sight, Gene let out a frustrated growl and kicked one of the waste baskets in the room.
Oh, how he wanted to explode at that moment. How he wanted to give a certain wrecker a good talk to.
And now he was going to do it!
"You can attack ME, but getting Mary mixed up into this?! BIG MISTAKE!" the Nicelander growled, storming out of the apartment.
The man didn't care HOW ridiculous he looked now. He had to find Ralph and Vanellope and just as he made his way to elevator, the two very people he was looking for suddenly appeared in front of him as the doors opened.
The three looked at each other for a moment or two, pie still dripping from Gene's suit.
"H-Hi, Gene! I'm glad to see you're okay!" Ralph said nervously.
"Okay? Is THAT all you have to say?" Gene answered his voice deepening a bit.
"Y-Yeah! I was sure those pies would do ya in considerin' how powerful they were!" Vanellope said, twiddling her fingers.
The little Nicelander began to huff, his tiny hands balling into fist as he took another step forward.
"Listen you two…" he said in the least angry tone he could muster at the moment "I was being easy on you by not saying anything when you started playing your little tricks but now? NOW you have gone too far!"
"We know! We know, it's just-!"
"NO, no, no. Let me FINISH." Gene butted in, putting his hands on his sides "Are you aware that you could have hurt Ms. Mary as well with your little stunt? Her apartment was FILLED with pies that we shared and what if they went off before I got to her?!"
Gene stopped. He knew he was getting too angry so he calmed himself before looking back up at the two.
"If anything would have happened to her, I don't know WHAT I would have done…."
Ralph and Vanellope exchanged looks of worry on their face; they still hated to know that they had dragged others into their little spar with Gene and they knew the first thing they had to do, as much as they didn't want to, was apologize.
"We're sorry…" both said.
Gene looked at the two. He didn't want to believe it at first, but he could tell that they were being truthful in their apology and as mad as he was at the moment, he just couldn't bring himself to yell at them anymore. He let out a frustrated groan, a hand placed on his forehead.
"You two…..just….URGH."
"Um, we can help clean up…" Vanellope said softly, giving Gene a hopeful smile. "I mean, I can help clean up that is for now. I know Ralph is still on duty but since I let the others take my place in the roster, I'm free all day!"
"An-an once the work day is over, I'll take over from there!" Ralph said, trying to get back onto Gene's good-side for the moment.
"YES. That would be a GOOD idea." The mayor said as he lead the two to the broom closet "Just be careful, okay? Some of the things in Mary's apartment are valuable to her so-!"
Before Gene could even finish, Ralph broke the broom accidentally between his large fingers. The mayor felt another twinge of anger form in him but he once again kept it down. This didn't stop him from giving the man a sharp glare but Vanellope jumped in at the nick of time before things could escalate any further.
"I GOT IT MR. MAYOR! JUST LEMME-!"
"Forget it…" Gene mumbled as he snatched the broken pieces from Ralph "Just…just do whatever it is you two do. I'LL clean up this mess."
"By yourself?" asked a baffled Vanellope.
Gene didn't lay an eye on Vanellope, instead trying to reach a bottle of cleaning fluid though he was much too short to reach it "Yes."
Ralph stepped in, helping Gene reach some of the other cleaning supplies "Are ya sure ya don't want Felix to-?"
Again, Gene averted his eyes but it was easy to tell he was upset "I don't want to disturbed him."
"But-!"
Gene gripped the handle of the cleaning bucket, starting down at his feet "PLEASE?"
Vanellope and Ralph jumped a bit once they heard the harshness in Gene's tone. The little man turned around, a blank look on his face.
"I SAID I DON'T need any help. Can't you listen to me, ONCE?"
Ralph nodded, folding his arms across his chest, "Yes, sir…."
The two watched as Gene took the cleaning supplies back to Mary's apartment, feeling a tad bit guilty for what had happened before them. At first, playing tricks on Gene during the bet was fun; who couldn't resist pulling one over on Gene?
Now however, they knew things had gone a tad too far, especially since the last prank, despite not being Vanellope's true intentions, had almost hurt Mary in the process, someone they had no ill will towards.
Guilt has a funny way of working through people and the guilt the two were feeling was telling them that perhaps it would be best if they STOPPED their shenanigans.
"Callin' it?" Vanellope said sadly, looking up at Ralph.
"Yeah, it's not worth it anymore…." The giant man huffed, putting his hands in his overall pockets.
The two then made their way back to the elevator, only to hear a frustrated scream coming from one of the other apartments.
This time it wasn't Gene; it was Norwood.
Since Gene was going to be busy cleaning, SOMEONE had to take his spot again.
"WHAT DO YA MEAN I HAVE TO TAKE HIS PLACE AGAIN?!"
"Norwood, please!"
"AW NAH! AW NAH! I AAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN'T HAVIN' THIS SH-!"
"There are children in the apartment!"
Mary had kept to herself after Gene had left earlier and when she came back from her shower, seeing Gene scrubbing at the walls, she offered a hand of help. The man of course said no, going back to his cleaning. Perhaps this was a way to ease the tension that the man had held within him but whatever the reasons, Mary knew it best not to disturb him. Even she could tell that he was teetering on the edge of something. Even when she offered him tea or dinner, the man wouldn't stop; he continued to clean in silence, scrubbing up pie crust and filling from every nook and cranny that was in the disaster area. The little woman slinked off to her room, feeling a tad uncomfortable but she soon fell asleep, still worried about the man who was furiously cleaning away not too far from her.
Sometime later in the night, Mary awoke.
2 am.
She tip-toed into the hall, amazed to see that the kitchen and living room were as clean as a whistle, both areas having gone through Gene's obsessive cleaning routine.
Where was Gene?
The woman heard a soft snoring sound from the couch, peeking over it to see Gene fast asleep, much too tired to even make it back to his own bed. Mary put a hand to her heart as she looked down at the sleeping mayor, adjusting the pillow his head was on to make him more comfortable. She would thank the man when he woke up later that morning but she couldn't help but worry about his sudden calmness throughout the entire ordeal.
She knew Gene much too well. This wasn't him at all.
Since the week began, Gene's luck seemed to be getting worse and worse to the point where it was just plain ridiculous but she and the others knew that Gene wouldn't take such things happening to him sitting down. He would have gone to all the games in the arcade just to figure out who the culprit was, fuming and yelling the entire way.
But this? This wasn't the Gene she knew.
Sure, she wanted Gene to be CALM but this was a bit too calm. Gene seemed like he was just taking everything that was happening to him without complaint and without any ways of defending himself. Even if she were placed in the same situation, she would have said SOMETHING, not just let things slide for the sake of remaining calm.
Something was up, but she just didn't know what.
And she knew she had to find out soon before things got worse.