Sour Bill was among the many who were trying to escape but he was suddenly man-handled when he was fighting so hard to go back. The Princess was no where to be seen, the King was nowhere to be seen and now this plumber had a hold of him. Bill didn't even talk but only tried to squirm and roll away out of Felix's grasp.
"You can't! Oh, jaminy, what are you doing!?"
"Not. Without! Candy and Vanellope! Let me go!"
"Take it easy, easy!"
Being so slippery, Sour Bill was able to free himself.
"I didn't expect you to be so animated…" Felix panted as he took chase. "Hold the phone there, partner!"
The hero took initiative and hopped in front of the sour ball before he could get too far back in. "Don't grab me again!" Bill deepened at him, trying to jump aside.
"I won't, I won't, I'm just askin' you to listen to me…"
"It's my job to be there for 'em~ I'll kick you!"
"Golly Gosh, we can handle this peacefully, friend…" Felix fixed his hat. "…but running back in may be cause for more grief than of any help."
"If Sugar Rush is unplugged and they're still in—"
"Let's not dwell on that!" Felix's heart wanted to break, especially with the Racers in earshot. "We can all deal with this, I assure you…"
If he was honest with himself, he had failed to keep his own voice from wavering. He too was terrified. As if all at once, those colorful, scared children along with their numorous usually cheering fans all gathered in a fright at the heart of the Station, shocking the other game characters as they walked by at first. The Nicelanders, who were not too far away, saw this and saw their beloved hero once again, finally.
"Felix!" came Diana's cry as she and Gene came running to him, despite all of these candies running about. "What is going on!? Where is Ralph…?"
Felix had a mind to go back as well as soon as it was sure that all these poor Racers were cared for. No way Ralph and Calhoun should go with a fight all alone. Even when he inadvertently offended the bold Sergeant in some way, the mission remained the same. That mention of one 'tragic backstory' lingered in the back of his mind. He was the sort to wear his heart out on his sleeves, so it came out so naturally. This was a matter that had to be put on the shelf for now.
"It would seem that it's not just our game. There's something far more rotten than game jumping tonight."
The Surge Protector suddenly came at Felix though, much to everyone's surprise, practically making the poor handyman to backtrack against the wall.
"As if tonight could get any worse, what is the meaning of this? First, it was that ship, which could've harmed some of us."
"Believe me, sir, I am asking myself the very same question…" Felix composed himself and fixed his hat. "These young people need help! And I cannot explain it all right now but there are two others still back there. Please, Surge, we need all the help we can get… before two games may be taken down by morning~"
He wasn't talking to just the Surge Protector but also to those witnessing as well, even to the other Bad Guys walking around. The Nicelanders were on their way to evacuating their game after 30 years, completely defeated and even the slightest guilty. They least expected to finally see the beloved hero trying to convince those gathered around.
"All this started because of Ralph, isn't it!?" Gene pointed passionately at Felix's chest. "Now the whole arcade is in jeopardy!"
"Now, hold on a minute!" Felix had to raise his voice this time, which was a rare occurance, honestly. Finding that he was starting to feel too fired up, Felix had to shut his eyes and cool down for a second. "No, this is not Ralph's fault… The ship thing, maybe, but there's something el-else, something much worse. There's a little girl trapped in there… The game will not let her leave. One of them's a father an-and he refuses to leave without her! This is something my Hammer can't fix…"
That truly hurt to say yet not a moment later Felix got an idea.
"Someone's messin' with the program." spoke the sporty, determined voice of one infamous blue racing hedgehog as he sped up next to Felix and the Nicelanders.
Taffyta and the rest of her fellows, with Rancis, Candlehead, Gloyd and Jubileena, all looked on, looking absolutely crushed. "W-we tried to help her, but K-King Candy told us to leave…"
"We know, darling." Felix saddened. "… and ya'll were brave, really brave. I would've wanted the same thing."
"Sir, she's a racer like us." Candlehead spoke. "… I think."
"And he's a father to us,"
"We'll get them back to you, hon… I swear on it." Felix kept that idea in mind. "Somehow…"
He never tried it before, but if this code was being meddled with or broken, it would be worth a try to use his Golden Hammer to mend it. If there was a way to get to the code, one way or another. Touching code was not an every day thing. Not only that, it was something unforgivable and tragic should anything ruin something as delicate as code. It was surely rare, but when one thing should go wrong with a game's programming, it was usually belly up for cabinets, and that would be the end or pure homelessness should some escape in time. By the looks of it though, it seemed like Sonic himself was sticking by, along with a few others who knew the Fix It gang for quite some time. Even a few soldiers from Calhoun's own crew came by.
"Aw… I-I can't tell you how much this means to us, thank you!" Felix couldn't help but feel a tad choked up at the sight of all this support.
"That's no good to leave good pals hangin'. What do you have in mind, Felix? We have five hours until the arcade opens…"
A time crunch, how nice! No pressure at all. Felix thought as he found some time to think.
"Yes—Yes! Gene!" he turned to the Nicelander who provoked Ralph at the start. Yet that could be settled later on. "Make sure everyone is safe out here, and please, keep an eye on these innocents. I have to go help Ralph and Calhoun… I have an idea!"
It was obvious that Gene was struggling with the idea but he soon gave in and nodded.
"I feel a bit responsible. You go and do your stuff, Felix… Not much else we can do."
Felix looked thankful at the Nicelander, not really in the mood to try and mend these hard feelings among his peers towards the Wrecker. But none of that mattered now. Soon enough when Diana and the other Niceland ladies all went to comfort the rescued Racers, it was straight back to the Sugar Rush wire. This time Felix had a team, and who knew if all this just happened so naturally. His game was well known and everyone knew him with such high esteem, especially Sonic.
"All right," Felix began once when he led Sonic, Calhoun's soldiers and two of Ralph's personal peers, Bowser and Eggman. "This'll be a lot to take in, fellahs, but if there's a will, there's a way."
"There's a first for everything~ If we hit trouble, no one can go faster than me."
"I know that all too well, Hedgehog," Eggman nudged his daily nemesis in the shoulder, soon following in.
"What we need to find a way to the codes~ Only, it's so, so unthinkable. We've never done it, have any of you? If we can get access to it, my father's hammer may be able to return it to normal." Felix fearfully spoke.
"Question here, is why anyone would do it?" asked Kohut, one of Calhoun's most trusted soldiers. "Besides those Cybugs..."
"I don't know if it's true, but this Turbo guy was a whole new level of nutty." Sonic mentioned as they approached the wire. Behind them, he pointed to some graffiti, which was the shape of a helmet with a wide grin with that dreaded name written under it.
To Felix, seeing that was a giant clue and it just made him feel more jittery.
"Best if we work fast, gentleman. We find Ralph and Calhoun, we'll find the King and his little girl. Our priority is their safety. With so little time, I can only hope that this idea would work."
"As I said, there's a first for everything…" Sonic flexed up to get his running power up to snuff.
