A/N: Just a quick note before I get into the story today... I apologize, this chapter isn't up to my standards... but since Wreck-It Ralph released on DVD today, I REALLY wanted to post a chapter! As such, I'm making this a bonus chapter... it's not -crucial- to understanding the next chapter, it's just more of an interlude to keep things connected as I move into the next chapter... I will say that there's a bit of foreshadowing /clues in this chapter, but if you're not the type who likes to try and connect the dots before things are explained, then feel free to skip it entirely; you won't be missing much. If you're the type of person who likes random character interactions, go ahead and read; I had a lil fun with Jake and Kitty and how the main cast responds to them.
Warning: If you ARE going to skip this chapter, be sure to just read the last section, as it isn't part of the material that can be scrapped.
BONUS: Panic. Sheer, Bloody Panic
"Tamora, we're gonna be late!" Felix hollered through the door, grating on Ralph's ears as he approached.
"Just a minute! A girl needs her things!", came the muffled reply.
"Oh, good morning, Ralph!" Felix greeted as he noticed the wreck-it man's approach, "All ready to go?"
"Uh sure, I guess." To be completely honest with himself, Ralph wasn't sure what Felix meant by 'ready'. However judging by the suitcase the handyman had in hand, Ralph was leaning more towards the material meaning of readiness. If that was the case, Ralph was as ready as he was any day. Didn't have too many belongings besides the clothes on his back, and that was all he needed. He still had the peppermint poppy around his neck too, but he hadn't told Felix about that, so it didn't really contribute or take away from material readiness, though it sure did help emotional readiness. Today was finally the day their mission to find Vanellope would commence.
The door to the Fix-It's flat opened and out came a heavy-laden Calhoun, though she remedied that when she handed a particularly large suitcase to Ralph – "Here, Ralph, it looks like you have a few extra hands." - subsequently making him feel a bit under-prepared materially after all.
"Sweetheart, what are all these bags for?" Felix asked as he too, was handed a bag to carry.
"Never hurts to be prepared!" she declared, and shouldering a particularly large combat backpack ordered, "Now let's move out, people!"
"Yo, dudes! – and totally rad dudette of the air board – Ready to par-tay!?" Jake called while the trio approached the photobooth – the designated meeting spot for the mission.
Great… Jake's coming after all – sarcasm, of course. No sign of Sonic or Kitty yet, and Ralph couldn't say he was all that excited to see them, even if they were helping him find Sugar Rush. It didn't help any that Jake was already treating this like a vacation. He'd just donned some shades and made some sort of weird hair flip motion, which caused a few female characters milling around Grand Central Station to swoon.
"Yo, Ralph!" Jake interrupted the man's thoughts, "I wanted to do my intro again 'cause the last time we met you were all white-washed and sick, dude. Takin' on the water sprite, totally gnarly, man… respect."
Not sure how to respond to Jake's mini-speech, but understanding the resulting hand gesture, Ralph fist-bumped back and mumbled a "sure… 'respect'…" Perhaps he'd misjudged Jake, in light of this act of friendship. But even so, Ralph couldn't shake the bitterness. It was basically Jake's fault that Sugar Rush had vanished – or at least, that's what Ralph kept telling himself so that he wouldn't feel so guilty taking ALL the blame. He'd rather just blame himself for losing Vanellope's friendship, but for losing the entire game, he felt better reasoning that Litwak had made a rather unwise decision to replace it with 'Laguna Beach Lifeguard'. Seeing Kitty's emergence from the photo booth tunnel, Ralph decided to have a little fun with the new guy and see what he was made of.
"Sooo, Jake… you haven't met Kitty yet, have you?"
"Vanellope! Jubileena! Where've you been!?" was the first thing the duo heard, but the barrage of questions that followed were so jumbled together they couldn't make sense of it.
"Whoah, guys, slow down…" Vanellope pleaded. Jubileena looked too frightened and disoriented to speak at all. Vanellope wasn't much better off; and it took quite a bit of effort to process her surroundings before she was able to ascertain that she was now back in the train tunnel just outside Sugar Rush, right outside the wall she'd entered earlier, hand-in-hand with her new best friend.
The other eight racers plus Sour Bill were gathered, as well as a few assorted candies; and all were in pretty much the same state of pandemonium she'd left them in earlier. It just seemed the object of their panic had changed. She caught bits and fragments of their shouts, and words such as "Candelhead", "follow", and "disappear" made the gist of it clear to her. Her best guess was that Candlehead and seen Jubileena, Muffin Man, and herself leave the game, followed them, and somehow the other racers caught wind of the disappearances and that they had occurred in the train tunnel – as evidenced by their collective presence there now. What she still wasn't sure of was how she and Juby had ended up back here too.
The last thing she recalled was following the Muffin Man, bumping into him, and him shouting something about – or to – Candlehead. Oh goodness, what had happened to Candlehead!? To Muffin Man!? It was at this point that despite her mind trying to make sense of it all and get herself oriented, she too started to give way to panic. Where were her missing friends, how did she and Juby get back here without her remembering anything, and how was she going to restore order to her game – to her friends – to Juby, who was now crying – when she felt like just breaking down herself? She needed to get away to think things out for a while so she didn't have a complete nervous breakdown. She needed to get Jubileena away from it too, but the crowd was pressing in too close. Wait, why was that a problem? She could freakin' teleport with her glitch! Grabbing Jubileena's hand so she could teleport her as well, Vanellope closed her eyes and focused her energy on her glitch and…
"Vanellope! Why did you all come to the train tunnel?" "Van, what happened to Candle!?" "President, are we being unplugged!?" The questions continued to barrage her like a paparazzi of bad press, and she began to realize that she was still in the train tunnel. The insanity took over her mind when she realized she could no longer glitch. "OH MY GOBSTOPPERS, WHAT'S HAPPENED TO ME!?" she shrieked, falling to the ground in shock.
"Miss Candlehead, can you hear me? Candle…" the doctor called as he noticed her eyes begin to flutter. She still wasn't acknowledging him; despite his efforts. "Come on, Candle, hang in there…" he whispered as his hands worked on her wounds. They were now a million clock-cylce-omoters away from the train entrance – clear on the other side of the Motherboard. Despite his efforts to outrun the bus line, the portal Candlehead had gotten herself sucked into had managed to transport her this far – and inflict this much damage. He had been delighted when he'd managed to splice into and intercept the line before she'd made it as far as the processor – Lord knows it would've been too late if she went in there – but with this much code leakage, the outlook was still grim at best.
Another worry nagged at the back of his mind – the effect of splicing into the transit line would have on Sugar Rush – but no matter how much damage that caused, they should still all be able to walk away with most of their code intact; it was Candle that most required medical attention. Oh, what he wouldn't give for some code patches right now, and it was impossible to tell her code leak apart from the code leaking from the bus above, and he was running out of time. "Miss Candle, can you hear me? Come on, Candle, don't leave me…"
"Say WHAT!?" Kitty exclaimed. Perfect, Ralph thought, she's furious with Jake. All he'd suggested was that Jake say something along the lines of 'shut up' to her. This trip may be fun after all. Plus if anyone had any sort of power to get a game kicked out of the arcade, it was Kitty. He felt a twinge of guilt at the back of his neck – his thoughts as of late were sounding rather evil to him in hindsight. Perhaps it was the villain in him rearing its ugly head, maybe it was just an ill-chosen outlet for his grief over the loss of Sugar Rush, maybe he was just born with it, or maybe it was Maybelline. Wait, what? Ah, it was a spam message for Maybelline products that caught his eye as it poked out of Kitty's messenger bag. Back to the point, he thought he was beginning to regret his little prank and evil thoughts, and thinking he should really take Felix's advice to heart to give this Jake guy a chance, when it all backfired.
"I said 'shut up, dude!'. Was so surprised to see you in uniform! I just think it's totally rad that you're a girl in the service! The world needs more ladies in that line, and looking smokin' hott while doing it, t'cha!" – apparently no one had told the man that not everyone in a suit served in the military.
Kitty's indignant exterior melted away to one of amusement, "Boy, why haven't I met 'choo yet?!"
"Name's Jake, from the Laguna Beach Lifeguard game – just arrived a week ago. I only wish I had known 'bout an angel like yourself the hour I arrived". What the heck was this? Jake could use entire sentences without the words 'dude', 'rad,' or 'gnarly'? It was like he was a whole different person when he was putting the moves on some single lady.
"Aw, you're too cute! Hey Ralph, you should learn a thing o' two from this here fella sometime! You might even git yourself a girlfriend!" Kitty called, only rubbing it in all the more. Ok, the guilt was completely gone now, that lifeguard punk was going down. He wasn't sure what disgusted him more, the fact that Jake was flirting with a woman twice his age, or that Kitty had suggested that Ralph get a girlfriend – of all things! Like he had time for that when he ran the H.E.R.O. program, and it was because of that they were all here in the first place – to fix his blunder and bring Sugar Rush back. Once he had more time, he'd be spending it with Vanellope, who mattered far more to him than some random girl. Although, if he played his cards right… and had Vanellope pose as his daughter, he could perhaps pull off the 'single father' act to 'get chicks' as Jake called it. Oh boy, the longer he spent in Jake's presence, the more he felt his I.Q. drop.
"Sonic in the house!" Sonic referred to himself in the third person as he sped in to join the fray, "Let's get the show on the road!"
"You said it, dude! Up top!" Jake replied, high-fist-bumping with Sonic. Great, everyone loved Jake, even Kitty and Sonic. "Can't stand that kid." Ralph muttered as he followed the group onto the train for Litwak's photo booth. "You and me both." Calhoun grumbled from astride him. At least one person agreed with him.
"Alright, give her some room." Sour Bill commanded, who had temporarily assumed reign over Sugar Rush while Vanellope remained unable to fulfill her duties. He'd managed to get them all back into the game and seated in a clearing of lollipops. He handed Vanellope a brown sugar bag and instructed her to breathe into it in the hopes that it would stop her hyperventilating. For the most part, the racers had calmed down a bit after Vanellope's break down, if only because of the temporary shock it caused. They were thankfully following his orders to quiet down and give the president her space, but he hadn't been able to get Jubileena to leave her side. Oh well, at least she wasn't contributing to the madness like the others had.
Once Vanellope's breathing evened a bit, Sour Bill began to prod, "Do you think you can start to tell us what happened from the beginning?" When she nodded, everyone went absolutely silent and leaned in as close as they could for the recounting of events.
"Uh… what is that?" Ralph asked hesitantly as Kitty led them to a strange contraption.
"That's our ride!" Kitty responded with the answer Ralph had been dreading.
"And that's when The Muffin Man yelled something about stopping Candlehead. The next thing I knew, we were both back in the train tunnel." Vanellope finished as her audience listened with wide eyes.
"You forgot the last part!" Jubileena interjected.
"What part? It all happened so fast…"
"Right before we ended up back in the station, he turned around and grabbed our arms. And I could've sworn I heard him say 'sorry!' right before we blacked out or whatever it was."
"Oh yeah, I kind of remember that…" Vanellope conceded, rubbing her arm subconsciously.
"Oh no…" Crumbelina was the first to speak, "I wonder if Candle's ok…" The others solemnly nodded in agreement.
Panting, the doctor looked up from his work to see if she was responsive yet. "Come on… Wake up, Candlehead" he whispered, too exhausted to raise his voice. Removing a hand from the wound he had been treating, he tentatively reached out and poked her cheek. Still no response. He let the hand rest on her cheek as he closed his eyes to let himself absorb the truth. He couldn't do anything else for her; he'd failed.
True Word Count for Panic. Sheer, Bloody Panic: 2,207
True Word Count for story thus far: 22,919
Q&A: Hey look! A new section! Rather than typical reviews, I decided to start a Q&A where you can ask any question you like about the story, my writing style, etc... I'm gonna start this off answering some feedback I got on my writing style for this story, and so I wanted to take a little time to address that here.
Q: I feel that there is (not pun intended with the title) a "disconnect" with some of the story plots, like it jumps from one idea to another, without a type of transition or not enough explanation of plots of ideas.
A: Good catch! One reason why I changed the name to "Disconnection" is because of that style... I really wanted to portray this story more from the perspective of the characters, so it's not a completely omniscient perspective like a lot of third person stories nowadays. I kinda want to play with the reader's mind and emotions, pulling them in right alongside the characters so they're figuring things out at the same pace the characters are. Now, despite that 'first person' feel I'm trying to give the story, I'm still maintaining an overall 3rd person perspective, and as such, I'm also "mind jumping" from one character into another, and sometimes with little to no warning. The idea is that you'll figure out who it pertains to as you read it, and once you get acclimated to the various personalities, your mind will start to perceive who's thinking/speaking without me having to explicitly state who is right away. And at a higher level, you may have noticed that when I skip around different scenes, it's because I'm basically trying to create a 'real time' feel... as in, this is what all the characters are going through at this time... and when I cut to another scene, time in the previous scene hasn't stopped, I've just switched the reader to another camera's scene while the first camera keeps rolling. I realize that this can get a little confusing; and if I forget to fill a plot hole, please let me know! In the meantime, please bear with me; the first arc of any story is usually the most confusing as that's when the stage is being set and you've only just begun to start peeling back the layers. By the end of this arc, most of the questions I'm building up here should be answered, and the latter part of this fanfic won't be quite so mysterious, however I do plan to keep up this hybrid first person / third person perspective of writing.
Q: When Ralph washed up on the beach in the new game that replaced Sugar Rush, I don't really understand how he got there
A: Are you referring to when Jake rescued him from the ocean, or how Felix and Ralph got to the game in the first place? (Oh geez, this is a great start to my Q&A, answering a question with another question!) For the former, it was in the Newport Party chapter. Ralph sort of overcompensated for the sandy turf and gained too much momentum, and therefore ended up falling into the ocean. Now yes, I realize that riptides are usually a little further out in the water, but since it's an "OC" video game, I can make my own rules. :P As for how they got the game in the first place, it was during the Mission Improgrammable 2 chapter that I hinted at it; when they were having a conference with Jake and Sonic. Sonic wanted to know what they were doing at the gate to the new game (which in the beginning of the chapter I pointed out that it was roughly near the Whack-a-mole, where we all know was Sugar Rush's spot) and Ralph explained that it was the doctor's orders to go there, so he could come to terms with Sugar Rush being replaced by Laguna Beach Lifeguard. Felix, as Ralph's best friend, went along for morale support. Since it's just another arcade game in Game Central Station, they got there just like they did to any other game, depicted in the movie as being a train ride out of Fix-It Felix Jr., a treck across Game Central Station, and a train ride up into Laguna Beach Lifeguard.
Q: When the Sugar Rush racers where trying to name the cat they found in Vanellope's castle and were talking about that they named their clones. When did they gain the ability to clone themselves?
A: As a general rule of thumb, things that are part of bonus chapters typically aren't all that important, so don't overthink them. The reason that was in there was just to explain my theory for how color palette swaps REALLY work in the game world. Only reason I stuck that in there was because the movie had some 'cameo's from some of the Sugar Rush racers' palette swaps, and I thought it would be fun to explain where they came from. My theory being that the racers themselves are able to make a clone of themselves to fill up the roster, and as such, they also decide on the name for them. Since the palette swaps in the movie had pretty darn ridiculous names, I wanted to have a little argument among the racers about how horrible they were at naming their clones. All just fun and games, nothing pertinent to the overall story.
Q: I understand that you can't explain every idea in the story and at times it may be "difficult to read" to sort of peak a readers curiousity about what a certain idea is and make him or her think how that idea is going to be incorporated in the story
A: Exactly! As explained in the author's note before this chapter, and in the first Q&A answer, my goal is to get the readers thinking, plant clues ahead of time (both legit and misleading ones), and give them an opportunity to try and figure out what's happening, just like the characters are.
Q: Will there be more cameos in the future?
A: Yes, there will be... but here's a fun clue: expect the unexpected! My goal here is to make a 'sequel' to the movie in a way. Now as a piece of written work, there will be many obvious difference from that of a movie; but I do want to preserve the overall characteristics the movie had. Distinct characters, clean, action-packed storylines, corny humor, cameos, and a boatload of geeky nostalgia and references!
Thanks for participating in the first Q&A session! If you have any further questions in regards to my answers here, or any other questions pertaining to the story or writing, or just anything you can't figure out and you want an explanation to, feel free to leave a review or PM me, and I'll address it as soon as I can. Be warned though that if answering your question will result in a spoiler, my only answer may be "You'll find out~" :D
Review Responses: Once again, thank you all for your continued support! In light of some reviews being covered already in the Q&A section, the review response section will probably be a lot smaller from now on...
Becky Blue Eyes - Hahaha, 'gooey clump of cuteness'... may I use that line if I find a use for it? (Or maybe a variant?) Yes, I aim to make some of my characters' relationships into a gooey clump of cuteness... xD As for Candlehead screwing everyone over, I was hoping ya'll would be a little more worried about Candle screwing herself over :( As The Muffin Man alluded to in this chapter, whatever damage they all may sustain will not be fatal... Candle on the other hand... And as for what was spying on Jake, you'll have to wait an see... _ Keep it in the back of your mind; it's a clue for the latter part of the story... and there's still so much to cover in this part...
Becky Blue Eyes & Dixie Darlin - You guys had NO idea how happy I am to hear that you like my OC Jake! I've had so much fun writing him so far, and I've already got a ton of other things I wanna get him to do In all honesty, the only reason I didn't scrap this chapter (minus the necessary Muffin Man / Candlehead scenes) was because I wanted to document Jake and Kitty's first meeting, 'cause I felt like Jake's interaction with Kitty would be so much more unique than the other characters who interact with her.
WhatNames - ...please don't kill me... but don't despair! (slight spoiler alert!) I still plan on having Candlehead appear in future chapters... now whether that's in flashbacks/resurrection/reset/upgrade/turn-back-time mode, I'm not gonna say... _
