Across Litwak's Arcade a certain wrecker was working away as a gamer had put in a coin to play. Ralph was eagerly awaiting his daily wave at Vanellope when he gets hoisted off the roof and thrown into the mud. It was one of his favorite parts of the day, despite getting dirty, because he was able to see Vanellope working hard to be a top notch racer.
To Ralph's surprise, as the Nicelanders lifted him up to throw him off the building, Vanellope had not won the race. His eyes widened as he saw Taffyta, of all racers, holding the first place cup.
He began thinking to himself as he fell into the mud. Obviously Vanellope had won every one of her races, but Taffyta was the top racer before Vanellope returned so it made some sense that Vanellope was bound to lose a few races to her.
But the more rounds were played, Ralph saw no Vanellope and began to become extremely concerned.
After winning another consecutive race Taffyta felt amazing. She stood proudly as she held up another trophy. She finally noticed Ralph on the roof across the arcade. The two locked eyes...and Taffyta smiled, but Ralph was clearly not amused as he glared at her.
This frightened Taffyta a bit, what the fudge was his problem? She avoided looking back at Fix-it Felix Jr. for the rest of the day but she still wondered what had Ralph's overalls in a bunch.
Ralph could not wait for the arcade to close so he could go figure out what the heck was going on in the candy coated heart of darkness. Once Litwak's arcade had an all clear from Yuni Berth in the DDR machine, Ralph ran over to the small train track and headed to Game Central Station.
"Taffyta, you were amazing today!" Candlehead said as she patted Taffyta's back. The other racers had parked their karts.
"What do you say we head to Tapper's for some root beer floats?" Candlehead suggested.
"I really should be going to..." Taffyta began.
"Aww come on Taffyta, you know it's been forever since we went out to Tapper's for a celebratory drink." Minty chimed in.
"I suppose a few root beers wouldn't hurt..." Taffyta said as she thought about what had happened earlier today and why Ralph was so angry. But she would talk to him later, she didn't want to let her friends down by not hanging out with them. And with that the racers made there way over to Tappers.
By the time Ralph made it over to Sugar Rush the racers were gone, though with the fact that the Fix-it Felix Jr. train was slower than a pack mule it was to be expected.
He made his way over to the castle looking for Vanellope, but was greeted by Sour Bill.
"Oh...it's you," Sour Bill said stepping back behind the door...remembering the trauma that was being inside Ralph's filthy mouth. "What is it that you need?"
"Whe...re's...Va...Vanellope?" Ralph was out of breath for he had ran all the way from across the game. He pushed open the door to get inside, pushing Sour Bill up against the wall.
"Oh sorry, forgot and my own strength..." Ralph began to wipe his face.
"Do you need some water?" Sour Bill offered him a glass off the table near the door, looking at the sweat glistening on Ralph's forehead.
"Actually that'd be...No, NO...Where is Vanellope?!" Ralph shrugged off the little candy.
"Beats me, I haven't seen her since this morning after her sleepover with Taffyta." Sour Bill replied looking at Ralph, he was much cleaner than before, but I suppose that was due to the new apartment complex that Ralph and Felix built for the new residents in the game. Yet he was still covered in mud since he just got off of work, and Sour Bill took note of this as the newly polished floor was now covered in goopy foot prints.
"A sleepover with Taffyta?!" Ralph asked, wondering if perhaps Taffyta had done something to Vanellope. "I knew that something was up with that girl..."
Ralph began running outside.
"Where are you going?" Sour Bill yelled.
"I got some business to attend to." Ralph said running towards his new target.
-End Ch. 9-
