Wreck-It Ralph: A Wreckin' Christmas
Part 4: Ralph's Reckless Race
Ralph and Vanellope stayed close to each other's side as they forced their way through the thick candy cane forest around Sugar Rush. But to be more exact, Vanellope rode on Ralph's shoulders as he used his big arms to push away the candy canes, sometimes snapping them.
"So...tell me again who these "Goodie Bandits" are shrimp? Just what do they want with our decorations anyway?" Ralph asked. Vanellope glanced down at Ralph.
"We discovered 'em after the whole "King Candy" problem here in Sugar Rush. Nobody knew WHERE these little sugar freaks came from until we did a bit of digging and found out they're meant to be "obstacles" meant to throw racers off their course. But ever since King Candy went out, they've been popping up a lot more often, either stealing from the citizens or from me." Vanellope explained. She then crossed her arms and leaned against Ralph's head.
"The only reason I can THINK that they stole our decorations was because they LOVE sugar or anything baked from the Kart Factory. They really love their sweets." Vanellope said. Ralph groaned.
"Well, I don't wanna have to go through the trouble of making another set of baked reindeer for the party. It'd be a waste of extra pastry. That's why I'm gonna find those little thieves and make 'em fork over their stolen goods." Ralph said. Vanellope lightly scoffed.
"Uhh...no offense Ralphie? But no one in Sugar Rush, even MYSELF, knows where these little creeps call home. So...we may just be walking in circles." Vanellope said. Ralph groaned, saying he'd find their hideout one way or another. But just then, he came to a halt and looked down, seeing a long trail of mini footprints in the frosting covering the ground.
"Hey squirt. What do you say? Think these belong to our crooks?" Ralph asked. Vanellope glanced down and hopped off Ralph's shoulder, looking at the footprints compared to her own. Unlike her round shoe base, they appeared to be three toed, spread out in front.
"Yeah. I think these are them. C'mon Ralphie. They couldn't have gotten far." she said, escorted back on Ralph's shoulder. The two continued on through the thick of the candy cane forest, keeping their eyes focused on the footprint trail. But as they went deeper in, the trees became thicker and thicker, making it trickier to get through. But soon enough, they came upon a large group of candy cane trees stacked around each other, making what appeared to be a large fort.
"What the? What's a fort doing all the way out here?" Ralph asked, scratching his head. Vanellope took another look down and gasped, seeing the footprints they were following leading straight inside.
"Ralph! We did it! The tracks lead inside that fort!" Vanellope called. Ralph glanced down and then at Vanellope, both giving a grin as they lightly fist bump the other.
"C'mon. We've got some "sweet" thieves to talk to." Ralph said, strolling towards the fort.
.: WRECK-IT RALPH :.
The two quietly crept as close as they could towards the hideout, staying on their tiptoes as they walked. Vanellope successfully reached the wall as Ralph was following behind her. However, a few of the bandits on the wall noticed Ralph's giant figure.
"Intruder! INTRUDER!" they announced. Ralph gasped and ran to Vanellope's side, embracing himself against the wall as the entire fort was now in an uproar.
"Okay. On the count of three, we bust in there, grab the decorations and then split. Got it?" Vanellope asked. Ralph looked to her and nodded.
"One...two...THREE!" Vanellope called, jumping onto Ralph's shoulders as he swung a massive fist towards the doors, shattering them in an instant. The loud destruction caught the attention of the entire band of Goodie Bandits, gathered together in the center of the fort with Vanellope and Ralph's decorations.
"Intruders!" one of them shouted. Ralph watched as a group of them brought out catapults with giant scoops of ice cream in the launchers. They began to fire at Ralph and Vanellope. But luckily, the two were able to avoid them. And as they reloaded, Ralph charged ahead and smashed them with his large hands, sending one of the loaded ice cream balls flying clear out of sight as he slammed down on the launcher.
"All right. Nobody move! We came to get our stuff back. Anybody try anything funny and they deal with ME. Because, for your information, in my game, I'M the bad guy." Ralph said, cracking his knuckles. The bandits quickly gathered around their latest haul and faced Ralph with angry glares. Vanellope hopped off Ralph's shoulder and approached them slowly.
"Look. We don't want any trouble. Just give us back what you stole. Otherwise, I'm afraid my "accomplice" here will have to get rough." Vanellope said. But the bandits didn't back down.
"Oh. You don't wanna listen, eh? Fine. Ralphie? Sick 'em boy." Vanellope sneered, glaring at the bandits with narrowed eyes. But Ralph looked confusingly at her.
"Sick 'em boy"? What am I? Your PET?" Ralph asked. Vanellope groaned and turned back to Ralph, saying that wasn't the issue right now. But as she looked back to the bandits, one of them stepped forward and drew a candy cane sword.
"L-Look you...sugary princess! We don't care! We need these in order to survive around these parts! B-B-Because of your kind, we hardly get any food to live!" they called. Vanellope glanced at the bandit in confusion.
"Wh-What do ya mean? You guys steal from us all the time!" Vanellope called. The bandit scoffed.
"Yeah! But since the likes of "King Candy" came about, we've been banned from ever showing our faces around the players or anyone else in this game! We're STARVING out here! There's not much to eat when the landscape is made out of inedible candy!" he shouted. Vanellope lightly gasped.
"Wait a second. King Candy banned you guys from being seen? And you can't come and get the food you need? Th-That's ridiculous!" Vanellope exclaimed. The bandits nodded.
"Yeah. And because of it, we had to resort to thieving to get the food we need. That King Candy's totally made it unfair for us. We're starving out here!" the bandit complained. Ralph looked on alongside Vanellope, unsure what to do about this.
"Uhhh...well, I don't know if this will make things any better, but...King Candy's gone. That guy was really Turbo, a really jealous character from an unplugged game. Now that he's gone, surely you and the candy people can work something out." Ralph explained. The bandits gasped.
"What? King Candy's gone?! B-But how?! That dude was ruthless to us! Who could've dethroned him?!" the bandit asked. Vanellope snickered.
"You're looking at your heroes boys! Me, Vanellope von Schweetz, and THE Wreck-It Ralph!" Vanellope announced as Ralph gave a bow. The bandits gasped and began to cheer loudly, throwing off their black garnments.
"HOORAY! King Candy is no more! We're free!" they shouted. One of them approached Vanellope and graciously shook her hand before shaking Ralph's.
"Thank you heroes! You have set things right once again in this game!" he proclaimed. Ralph chuckled, but then, he gained a dumbstruck look.
"Whoa! Whoa! Hold up a second! We took care of King Candy a long time ago. How come you guys didn't know about any of this? That creep locked up everyone's memories of Vanellope so he could become king. Don't you guys know who this is?" Ralph asked, pointing at Vanellope. Vanellope looked back at Ralph and shrugged.
"I suppose they didn't seem to care that much. My memories might have come back to everyone, but since these guys live so far away from the other citizens that it probably didn't matter to them. They probably still thought King Candy was here." Vanellope said. Ralph thought for a moment and nodded, guessing that was the only reason.
"So...can we have our stuff back now guys?" Vanellope asked. The bandits looked to each other and nodded.
.: WRECK-IT RALPH :.
We rejoin Ralph and Vanellope as they are heading back towards the entrance to Sugar Rush, armed now with the reclaimed candy reindeer decorations in Ralph's arms.
"Phew. That worked out better than I thought." Ralph said. Vanellope nodded, riding on Ralph's shoulder.
"Yeah. Now we can head back to Fix-It Felix Jr. and check in on the others. They GOT to be done at this point." Vanellope said. But as the two were approaching the doorway, they gawked at a surprising sight. The giant lump of ice cream Ralph fired earlier had flown all the way and jammed up the doorway, sealing it with a giant ball of vanilla.
"Wh-What in the?! What happened to the doorway?!" Ralph exclaimed. Vanellope groaned.
"Oh great! It's all blocked off! Ralph! What are we gonna do?! The party's in a little while from now!" Vanellope called. Ralph groaned and set down the reindeers and then Vanellope.
"What else? I guess I'm just gonna have to dig us out." Ralph said, flexing his fingers. He took a deep breath before charging straight forward, using his hands to rip apart and chuck bits of ice cream behind him.
"That a boy Ralphie! Keep it up!" Vanellope called. Ralph continued to dig, eventually breaking through the ice cream and created a path into the plug. Vanellope rejoined him afterwards as he grabbed the reindeer. The two then hopped onto the cart and prepared to exit. However, the cart did not move.
"Wh-What the?! What now?" Ralph asked. Vanellope looked down and groaned, seeing bits of the vanilla ice cream on the circuit panels operating the cart system.
"Oh boy. Ralph? I think some of that ice cream got in here and caused some of the wires to short circuit. The cart's not gonna go anywhere." Vanellope said. Ralph growled, grasping his head with his hands.
"D'oh! Not now! Not now!" Ralph groaned. He suddenly got off the cart and grasped the end with both hands.
"What are you...?!" Vanellope asked. Ralph then began to push, causing the cart to begin budging its way along the track and began going through the plug cord. Vanellope quickly figured out that Ralph was trying to use his strength to force the cart up into Game Central Station again.
"Oh! Now I get it! Go Ralphie! Go Ralphie! GO! GO! GO!" Vanellope cried. The cart continued its way through the cord and, after a few stops because of Ralph slipping on his way up slope, they successfully made it back to Game Central Station.
"All right! C'mon squirt!" Ralph called, scooping her and the reindeer with his hands. But as they came through the gateway, they were stopped by a loud buzzing sound. Ralph groaned heavily and looked as Surge Protector arrived.
"Halt. Name?" he asked. Ralph groaned and pushed him aside.
"Not now you little bug! Just get somebody down into Sugar Rush and get the cart system checked! It got fried by flying ice cream!" Ralph yelled. They ran clear through the central hall and jumped back onto an approaching cart into Fix-It Felix Jr.
"Phew! That was close." Vanellope sighed. Ralph caught his breath as he looked to her.
"Don't worry kid. Things are gonna be all right now. I bet Felix and Calhoun are finishing up right now as we speak." Ralph said. The two sat quietly as the cart continued on its way up through Ralph's game cord and back into Fix-It Felix. And as they came to a gentle halt at the station, Ralph and Vanellope quickly hopped off.
"C'mon Ralph. Let's get this party up and...!" Vanellope exclaimed with joy, stopping at a horrifying sight. Ralph wondered why Vanellope stopped and looked to her.
"Huh? H-Hey kid. You okay?" Ralph asked. Vanellope directed his attention towards the Nicelanders Apartments, gasping at the sight of the entire building having been broken to pieces, bricks scattered everywhere and a regretful Felix sighing heavily next to Calhoun.
"What in game coding errors happened here?!" Ralph exclaimed, shocked by the destruction.
TO BE CONTINUED...