Chapter Six- Missing

"Hold on, I wanna see if I get a signal out here." Said a young blond girl as she and another child got off their bus, walking past a familiar arcade in the process. As it was a Sunday, they both knew that the arcade was closed so that meant no games for them, right?

Of course not.

In her hands, the young girl carried her newest birthday present, a gaming device and was trying her best to set it up. She had been so excited the day before at her party when she got it but she was still new to the controls of getting it together. Her cousin had promised to help her set up the device for her IF she promised to accompany him for some treats that afternoon.

Hey, she was having fun either way so how could she say no?

"Hurry up, cuz!" said her male companion "Ya said ya wanted to go to Duncan's for those special edition Sugar Rush doughnuts they had, right?"

"Yeah?" replied the girl.

"Ya know how the Sunday rush is! If we don't get there soon, they'll be out! Besides, mom finally let us take the bus out here on our own! I don't wanna waste the day!"

The girl continued to fiddle with her game, moving to the left and then to the right to get a signal.

"I know this place has Wi-Fi! It worked when I turned this on for my birthday!"

The girl ran to the front of the closed arcade and then to the back, nearly hoping up and down as she tried to get online. Her cousin snickered, pondering to himself if he should record the events.

Nah, his mother might get upset.

"Are you finished yet?"

"Wait, I just want to get my info on this before-!"

*PING!*

"Yes!" the girl cheered as she went over and sat on a bench "We got contact!"

"FINALLY." Said the boy as he moved over to his cousin, pulling out his own game device, the same as that of the girl's only a different color "So what's your friend code?"

"163264128!" the girl smiled.

The boy put in the numbers, not missing a beat "An' ya put in your name yet?"

"Not yet….I'm just startin' the game!"

The girl clicked the icon for her new game, the thing running through its usual intro screen and demo. Her eyes lit up as the animation played, growing all the more excited to play the game.

"Aw, this looks AWESOME!"

"Okay, after this they'll ask you if ya wanna be the boy or the girl…" said her cousin, pointing to her screen "I already picked the boy so if you pick the girl, we can actually join teams and-!"

"Gotcha!" the girl said as she picked her icon "How far have ya gotten?"

"This'll be my second time playing through but since you're just starting, I cleared a new game up!"

"That sounds cool." Said the girl

"Then they'll ask for your name."

"Aaaalright!" the girl smiled, typing into the screen with her stylus.

M-O-P-P-E-T.

"Why do ya always sign your stuff like that?" her cousin smirked "Is it because of Uncle Walt?"

The girl smiled, "Hey, it's just like you signing everything MICKEY even though THAT'S just a nickname!"

"Okay, okay, ya got me! Now come on and move! We can get your game set up once we get our stash!"

The girl was about to close her game when she heard another beep. She looked down at the screen, seeing an icon jumping up.

"Hey Mick-?"

Her cousin had already taken off, running excitedly towards the bakery.

"Hurry up, 'MOPPET'!"

The girl looked down at the icon, not sure what to do. For all she knew it was part of the game so without any further questions…

"Ah, might as well…."

*Click!*

The game jingled again, the girl smiling.

"Guess everything is set up for now!"

She closed the game and placed it back into her bag, running up to join her cousin.

"Hey, once we get there ya hafta tell me what the first notification was!"

"The first one? Ya mean when ya get asked 'bout the war in the village?"

"No! It was somethin' about more data comin'in." Moppet said.

"Huh? Data? What are ya talkin' about, cuz?"


"GASP!"

Calhoun awoke with a start, sitting up in her hospital bed but surrounded by no one. She could only hear the faint beeping of the monitors around her, some voices echoing outside the ward. She tried to move but her body was racked with pain. She looked down, finding herself covered in bandages and many cuts and bruises.

How did they get there? What had happened?

She placed a hand to her aching head, trying to remember everything but as she looked into the corner, she saw it.

Her tattered and burned bride's maid dress, ash-covered and bloodied.

The wedding.

The VIRUSES.

"Felix!"

Calhoun tries to jump from the bed but as soon as her feet touched the ground, she felt herself collapsing, crying out in pain as her body hit the floor heavily. She pulled down some devices with her, the metallic instruments clanging loudly on the ground.

"H-Heeelp! HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

A flood of doctors came into the room, reaching down for the marine and trying to put her back into bed.

"You have to rest!"

"Your bones are-!"

"Could have died out there-!"

"No!" the woman cried, thrashing her legs as best as she could "NO! NO! WHERE IS HE?!"

"Who?!" asked a doctor, stepping back at seeing Calhoun's rage.

"You know who I'm talking about!" the woman panted "My husband. WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!?"

The room fell silent as the medical team looked at each other, their heads low. Calhoun didn't like the silence, she didn't like their faces. Once more, her mind flashed back to the horrible battle.

All the screaming, all the panic, all the fire.

And then…

Felix.

The way he called out her name, the way he reached for her but in all her desperation and strength, she couldn't save him.

He was taken from her right before her eyes.

And she knew by who….

"Where is that monster?"

"M-monster?" one of the doctors gulped.

"The virus…." Calhoun growled "WHERE IS SHE?!"

"Locked up…." said a voice from the door. The doctors parted way, Mouse and Markowski standing before their commanding officer, looking not at all pleased.

"We got her, Sarge…." Mouse said "We got tha lil welp!"

"Where?"

"She's held up in the tank an' for now she's weak enough that even out basic anti-viral cuffs have her!"

"An' Felix?" the marine asked, her eyes showing such pain to her comrades. Both soldiers looked at each other, finding it difficult to tell the woman the truth. They had no idea where Felix was either but they knew they had to do whatever it took to find him.

"We…we don't know where he is…." Began Markowski "But we've gotten a team to look for his location!"

Calhoun's color began to drain before the two, the woman looking away for a moment as her mind tried its best to recuperate from the news.

How could anyone track Felix now? He was thrown into a code void, something that even with their equipment no one in Hero's Duty could follow, not unless Felix had something on him to track.

And he didn't.

He had been thrown into the void powerless, not even his hammer able to aid him in getting back where ever he had gone.

Calhoun clutched the blankets, scowling in anger as a tear ran down her cheek.

"Let me see her…."

"Who?" asked Mouse, moving towards the sergeant in concern.

"Mal." Calhoun growled "I wanna talk to that lil monster an' I wanna do it NOW!"


It had been some hours since the cleanup began in Hero's Duty, the massive church had been burned nearly to the ground, the soldiers trying their best to pick up every bit and piece around the sight.

"We can't find any code here, so that's a good thing…." Said one solider "Means that no one got killed."

"Not a good thing?!" shouted Vanellope "What about Felix?! He's GONE!"

"I can't tell ya any more than I already know, liil lady…." said the solider "We're searchin' this place with a fine tooth comb but so far, everything's been burned beyond recognition!"

"What if ya reset the game?" the girl pleaded "Will that do anything?!"

"The church will be back…." Said another solider "But any and all clues from outside the game will be deleted. We'll have even LESS to work on!"

Vanellope could feel her heart breaking as she looked at the charred remains before her, shaking with fear that somewhere Felix could be inside.

No, no, no! She couldn't think like that! She had to remain positive.

"Oh my goodness…." Mary said, the other Nicelanders gathering around "Oh my goodness, this has to be a nightmare!"

"Steady now, dear. Steady…" Gene said mournfully as he held tightly onto his love "Th-they said that there could be a chance Felix is alive! H-he HAS to be!"

"HE IS!" Vanellope roared, looking at the Nicelanders "Ya guys HAFTA keep up for him! He's your friend!"

"W-we know, dear- but!"

"Then-! Then don't think that somethihn' horrible's happened to 'im!" the girl said as powerfully as she could though it was obvious to the other Nicelanders that she was in such pain "C'mon! Be brave for him! He's always been brave for you!"

"You're right young lady…" Gene said, leading the girl away from the grizzly scene "But right now, I think it would be best if we all….if we all got away from here. We need to go somewhere else if we are to think and help find Felix."

Vanellope could hear Gene's word stopping in his throat, noticing that he was having a hard time even looking back at the church. It was because he COULDN'T do so, the sight making the man sick to his stomach.

"We've had tougher things to deal with! He'll be back! He'll be back…." The chubby mayor forced out, feeling breathless "Y-yeah! You're right! He's FINE!"

Vanellope nodded but found it hard to face off with the Nicelanders; she had to get away. She ran back into the main hub of Hero's Duty, looking everywhere for a familiar wrecker in red. She pushed and glitched her way past the crowd, seeing the big man being cared for by another medic member.

"Ralph?"

The big man looked over, a small smile appearing on his face as his friend appeared before him.

"Nice to see you're okay!" Ralph said, holding Vanellope tightly in his arms.

"Me? What about YOU?" the girl said "It looks like you're face has been through a THRASHER!"

"It could be worse…." Ralph groaned "I could be in worse shape than this…."

The wrecker winced as he felt the pain of his injuries going through him.

Injuries.

It was strange to think of something like this, especially when he was so used to Felix being around and 'fixing' them on the spot.

Yeah, that's how things would have been had the little man been there but he wasn't.

And that's why everyone was suffering.

Had someone else been the target of such a vicious attack, Felix would have gone out of his way to make sure everyone was taken care of, that everyone was healed.

But he wasn't there.

And everyone had to feel the pain of the events.

Ralph growled, realizing that perhaps this was part of the virus' plans, not just to kidnap Felix but to let the ripple effects of his absence go throughout the entire arcade. Ralph was in bad enough shape but Calhoun was in even worse, the woman battered and bruised from her fight with Mal and her near death from the smoke. It was only by luck that the soldiers had found her in time before the church came down around her.

But Mal was content in that fact.

Ralph knew the woman was being held in the prison cells of the game and he could only shiver at the thought of what she would pull next.

She might have been weakened but she was still crafty and evil enough to pull anything.

"Vanellope?"

"Yeah?"

"I want ya ta go home…."

Vanellope looked up at Ralph in shock "But big guy….."

"I mean it." The man said in a serious tone "Things are getting' too dangerous here an' tha last thing I need on my mind is what could happen if you're still here when somethin' else blows up in our face!"

"But what about you? I can't leave ya here!"

"They're gonna need me…." Ralph growled, cracking his knuckles "They're gonna need me ta get some answers out."

Vanellope tugged on Ralph's pant leg, her eyes looking full of pain "But….but…."

"What?"

The racer shook her head; she knew there was no arguing with Ralph at this point. He was determined to keep the girl safe so even if she tried to find a way to stay, he would somehow force her back out. She glitched, her head hanging down.

"O-okay….I'll go."

Ralph knew Vanellope was upset but he didn't know what he would do if she were to get into Mal's clutches again. He saw the girl off, other characters leaving with her as they looked into the noon sun of that Sunday.

It was supposed to be such a happy day.

Everyone was so excited.

There was a wedding. There was to be cake and pie and other treats.

And Felix was going to say his speech.

He was excited, EVERYONE was excited.

But as the smoke wafted from the entrance of Hero's Duty, everyone in the arcade knew that things had changed. Vanellope took one last look at the game before joining the others, wondering just what the world would happen to the arcade.

What in the world would happen if Felix were never found.


Coldness.

Freezing.

The terrible sting of ice hitting skin, the bitter shaking, the painful chill running down one's spine.

Felix awoke with a start, sitting up as the loud howl of wind whipped around him, snow blocking every view in front of him. He was still in great amounts of pain but the coldnes made it worse.

"H-Hello?!" he called, his voice too weak to blow past the howling wind "HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!?"

Nothing.

Just more wind.

Just more snow.

Felix clutched himself as he stood, his legs in pain. He buckled down as he let out a cry but he knew he couldn't just lie there.

He had to keep moving. If he didn't, game over.

The entire landscape was new and strange and as he looked around, he saw nothing around but more and more snow. He looked up, seeing the shadows of high mountains and an unwelcoming, grey sky.

It was painful to breath in the cold air, the chill going at his exposed skin like needles.

But he had to keep one.

One step, two steps, three….

"C-C-C-C-Come on, Fe-Felix!" the man chattered, his skin starting to freeze over with ice and snow "K-K-K-Keep movin'!"

The freezing temperatures were enough to drive a person mad but Felix knew he had to keep going.

He wasn't going to allow himself to freeze to death in an unknown land.

He wasn't going to allow himself to be a victim of a virus' tricks.

He wasn't going to allow himself to miss out on another day with his beloved Tamora.

He wasn't going to die. He wasn't going to leave her alone.

"J-J-Just keep movin'…." He panted, breathing out a huge cloud of air "M-M-move…."