Chapter Nine – Be Brave
Had I not gone back, had I not told myself to go I would have never known what was really happening. I finally saw just how much pain those words had caused them but it was because of that I knew what I had to do to CORRECT it.
The days were counting down to Christmas yet the holly-jolly joy was long gone.
Now everyone wanted to know of the latest scandal, the latest rumor, the latest news of what was cooking up in the arcade. Everyone was in the grips of the madness but the very target of the stories was still reeling from the very story it wished to rid itself from.
The game day may have gone on like the norm to the players outside, but inside? Inside, things were MISERABLE. The group tried their best to play face for the gamers but had the quarter-chuckles noticed, one head was missing.
GENE.
The Mayor of the establishment had not shown his chubby face for a worrisome amount of time, leaving not only Ralph and Felix a WRECK but someone far more important to the man; his little wife, Mary.
"Two days." Mary moaned as she leaned on the sill, feeling far too exhausted to even go another round "HE'S BEEN GONE FOR TWO DAYS!"
"This is not good, this is not good!" Felix paced about, Mary turning around to glare at him.
"AS IF I DON'T KNOW THAT!" the little woman yelled, making the Hero jump back "My husband is missing, more of these stupid papers are going out-!"
Mary tried to brace herself, filled with a type of anger she had not felt for such a long time but as she looked at Felix….
She folded.
She weakened.
He could see the child-like sadness coming over her, eyes growing larger, lip quivering….
She wanted her husband.
"Oh, Mary."
"I want Gene!" the Nicelander cried, rushing over to Felix and holding him tight. Her tears were flowing, Felix kneeling down to hug her tight.
"There, there." He sighed, trying his best to assure his friend "Please don't worry, ma'am. Please don't."
"H-how-?! H-how can I NOT!" the little woman sniffled, feeling so foolish for crying in such a manner "You know how things are out there for us! We don't HAVE powers to defend ourselves when things get tough and Gene went out there by himself?! Even at his worst he's never left us this long!"
"I know, I know!" Felix said, looking nervous "I'll-! I'll try to get in contact with someone! Maybe Tammy can send out her boys ta look for him!"
"Yes, PLEASE!" Mary begged, her hands clasped together "Please, find him! He might not last any longer out there!"
"Any word?" Ralph said, bounding down the hall with Vanellope in tow.
"No." Felix said, shaking his head "I'm gonna call Tammy out on this one. If we let him out there by himself any longer, who knows what trouble he could get himself into! An' it's not like people would tell us if somethin' DID happen!"
This fact only made Mary feel worse, the woman struggling on whether to feel sad or ANGRY. She was still very much peeved at how the arcade had behaved at the false headlines about Zangeif and herself and with Gene's sudden disappearance it didn't make things any better.
"Why, why, why does this always happen?"
"Poop-heads!" Vanellope growled, trying her best to throw around some weak swearing "When I get my hands on 'em, they're gonna hafta deal with President Von Schweetz! NO ONE messes with Miss Mary durin' Christmas!"
"Kid, don't even start." Ralph growled, rolling his eyes.
"I'm serious! BIG TIME, Ralphie!" the girl said, wrapping her arms around the pink Nicelander "We made it through Genezilla, we're gonna make it through this!"
"Thank you, dear." Mary moaned once more, wiping her eyes "I know I should be more mature than this on such matters but….but-"
The Nicelander paused again, finding that her words were failing her. She was usually the one who tried to stay on top, the one who tried to keep a bright face in any situation but there was just something so horrid about this that broke her down. Even if she had been through various trials herself perhaps what hurt the most was just how gleefully some people in the arcade were enjoying the thoughts of her marriage being broken up. Even AFTER what had happened to both Nicelanders during the infamous Power-Up fiasco, the arcade had learned NOTHING. The moment they saw an opening to say something and attack, they did and they did it without qualms.
Mary knew this, she knew this PAINFULLY well and she should have known better than to allow herself to behave in such a way but there was far more to it.
She had her reasons for everything and deep down she felt that even if she were to tell the truth of it all, the arcade would refuse to listen. They only wanted to believe what was more entertaining to them, what fed into their ideas of how things should be.
Mary knew the truth of the situation but the truth would be refused.
"Fart-brained jerks, they're gonna pay for this!" Vanellope said again "They came after Mary, an' they came after Tori too!"
"Tori?" Ralph asked "Ya mean Torvald, right?"
"Who else!?" the girl shouted "Ya shudda seen her! She was so worried a few days ago, askin' me where we got out papers from 'cuz we're reportin' tha same thing!"
Ralph stopped for a moment, a thought coming to him.
"Say kid."
"Yeah?"
"Ya don't think….SHE had anythin' ta do with this, do ya?"
Vanellope's eyes nearly popped out of her head "RALPH!"
"Hey, hey! I'm just-!"
"I KNOW TORI DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHIN' TA DO WITH THIS!" Vanellope shouted, very much angry at the Wrecker "I know she writes weird things sometimes an' I still don't know what friend fiction is-! But Torvald would NEVER, EVER, EVER stoop this low!"
Had Vanellope know….
That a certain racer had just arrived at the apartments and was now hiding around the corner.
Torvald froze in her place, racked with fear to Vanellope's words but for reasons quite surprising. Mary knew her secret, that she was the one who wrote the story but to hear Vanellope say such POSITIVE things about her even in the face of so much madness.
Even after everything that Torvald had partaken in years prior, Vanellope still had something good to say about her. Vanellope was DEFENDING her!
And yet there Torvald was, far too afraid to say anything more.
"Okay, sorry I brought it up." Ralph sighed "I just…well…."
"Yeah, what is it?" the vanilla racer said, hands on her hips.
"I don't want ya ta think I don't trust her."
"You've already made it kinda clear ya don't!"
"No, please don't do this!" Mary said as she stepped between the two "I don't want any more fighting here! PLEASE!"
"Sorry, Mary-Berry, but I HAFTA say somethin'!" Vanellope said again "No one wants any more rumors comin' in? Well, I'm stoppin' on right now! Torvald wasn't responsible for this!"
"HE'S BACK!"
The three quickly turned towards the window, Don pointing outside.
"Donald?"
"I see Felix and Calhoun!" the sailor said "And Gene is with them!"
"GENE?!"
Mary tore off down the hall like a speeding hedgehog, those on the top floor left in the dust. Outside, Felix followed close in the footsteps of his wife, the Marine carrying the haggard Mayor over her shoulder.
"Good NIGHT!" the woman said "He weighs as much as Marky!"
"At least YOU can lift 'im!" Felix said "He gains like two-hundred pounds when he's in this kinda state!"
"Gene!"
The man let out a moan, Mary and the others running out of the apartments to greet the trio.
"Oh goodness, where did you find him?!"
"Near the cords." Calhoun said, walking past the group and heading towards the apartments.
"The CORDS?!" Ralph gasped "What in tha arcade brought him THAT far?!"
"Ya wouldn't believe it…" Calhoun continued, walking into the atrium and putting the tired Mayor down on the couch "But he was tryin' ta THROW piles of paper into tha void. He was that DESPERATE ta get rid of 'em!"
"Um….isn't that a massive fire hazard?" asked Kal.
"YES."
"Oh, HONEY!" Mary cried as she wrapped her arms around the tired form of her husband "Why would you do a thing like this to yourself?! WHY?!"
"Because it's the same as always…."
The gravely tone of Gene's voice was enough to surprise everyone, Mary looking down as she had not expected the man to get up so quickly.
"Gene?"
"I've been in EVERY game…." The man began, his voice slurring "EVERY. EV-VER-EEEEE game…..an' I still didn't get alla 'em."
"All of WHAT?" asked Felix.
"Those STUUUUUPID papers!" the man said again, feeling dizzy.
"Can I just say this is possibly tha THIRD worst I've seen Gene?" Calhoun said.
"Nah, he always gets like this if he doesn't have a four-course meal every hour." Chimed Lucy.
"LUCILE, I SWEAR TO GOD-"
"Sir, don't stress yourself out." Felix warned "You're in bad enough shape right now so lemme just fix-"
"They can't lay it off, can they?"
"Excuse me, sir?"
"They just can't STOP, can they?" Gene said, heaving in exhaustion, putting an arm over his head "It's god damn CHRISTMAS and they can't stop trying to throw us under the bus, can't they?"
"Aw, CRAP." Nel said, grabbing Norwood by the hand and dragging him away "I know this isn't gonna end well."
"Sir, I'm warnin' ya…."
"Every paper I saw, the same terrible story but with new words." The Mayor continued "I felt like I was losin' my mind out there! People laughing and chucklin' at me, watching me as I went after every paper to try to destroy those headlines but it doesn't matter! It doesn't matter if its in print, word of mouth, on a computer-! All they know is how to laugh! HOW TO LAUGH AT ME! HOW TO LAUGH AT US! HOW TO LAUGH AT MY WIFE!"
"Should I give 'im a tranq shot?" Calhoun asked, Felix rubbing his brow.
"I said no durin' tha Power-Ups, I'm sayin' NO now!"
"Genie, listen up." Said Ralph "Those stupid papers don't mean a thing! I know they're not true!"
"It doesn't matter whether or not YOU think something is true, Ralph! What MATTERS is whether or not something is EMBARRASSING enough at OUR EXPENSE for them to laugh at! If anything mattered don't you think other papers wouldn't have tried to emulate that story?!"
Torvald continued to hide in the apartment, listening to the argument continue.
"We cudda taken care'a this!" Ralph told the Nicelander angrily "There was no reason for ya ta just run away like that, especially when ya-!"
"CAN'T DO ANYTHING?"
Ralph stopped, Gene eyeing him.
"That's what you were going to say, right young man? That we can't do anything?"
"….Well."
"But you're right. WE CAN'T do anything about this!"
"Gene!"
A wave of weakness came over the Mayor again, his body flopping on the cushions as he moaned.
"Ya know, I thought after nearly DYING the first time, I'd gain something from all of this." He wheezed "But it ain't happenin'. Not today, not ever."
"Aw, c'mon Mayor!"
"Felix, if you ever wondered WHY I had all those moments where I told you I wanted to just unplug myself. NOW YOU KNOW WHY."
Everyone in the room felt the abject discomfort of what Gene had said, such a confession stunning even Calhoun.
Merry Christmas.
"Now you-!"
Gene felt his body quake in pain but he managed to turn over and look at his angered wife.
"M-Mary?"
"You cannot tell me for a moment you're going to give up to this! Not to this-! These-! PIN FEATHERED PEA BRAINS!"
"What?" asked a confused Vanellope.
"Mary has as much of a skill for cursin' as Felix does." Whispered Calhoun "Which is ta say NONE AT ALL."
"Mary, please…" the Mayor begged "I'm tired, I'm sick…..I don't know what to do anymore."
"Considering what you put yourself through, I'd be surprised if you weren't!" Mary said, crossing her arms "But there is no way I am going to even ALLOW you to wallow in the dumps, especially not because of these fools!"
"Us?" Roy pointed to himself.
"NO! Not YOU guys! Those guys with the papers!"
"Um, we ALL saw the papers and-!"
"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN-!"
Torvald peaked her head around the corner, trying to get a better ear-in to what was happening but unknown to her, someone else had already spotted her.
"Huh?"
Vanellope looked to the side, seeing a shiny yellow OBJECT glimmering in the darkness, it's shape hard to forget.
"I know you're upset. I was upset too…." Mary continued, Vanellope slowly inching her way towards the corner "But…."
Gene looked at Mary with such pathetic eyes; he just wanted to know if what he was doing was any help. That if there was ANYTHING he could do to make things better. Mary could sense it coming from him, reminding her all too well of the very thing that had caused HER to run off to begin with. She took Gene's cheeks in her hand, smushing them.
"Gene?"
"Hmm?"
"Blueberry?"
"Meef?"
"I'm sorry I've been so secretive about so much." The woman said, her voice soft and warm "I am so sorry but I've had my reasons to do so. I wanted to keep things under wraps until it was ready, until it was ready for the both of us."
The others stood around, watching the soap-opera unfold. Suddenly, a beep came upon Calhoun's tablet, the woman looking down.
HEADLINES!
MAYOR OF NICELAND ON VERGE OF END?!
How in the arcade-?!
The woman scowled as she looked around, feeling that many were near. She pulled out a gun, heading back outside.
"Hold on for a sec…."
"Gene, please look at me."
The man had no choice, what with Mary holding his cheeks out.
"Dearth?"
"I want to ask you now." She continued "All those headlines…..did you believe them?"
Gene stopped, his cheeks starting to blush.
"Please, honey. Please tell me the truth. Did you believe I could even think about leaving you?"
Gene?
Tell her the truth!
Tell her the TRUTH!
The man realized what he had done, how much trouble he had caused for everyone but most of, the very woman he loved so much, the one he held so dear. She looked hurt, pained in so many ways but most of all because she had not gotten his answer.
Did he believe her?
Did he believe anything she said?
"Yes."
"WHAT?"
"No!" the man said, taking Mary's hands off of his face "I mean-! No! I didn't believe them! Yes, I knew you were telling me the truth!"
Mary's eyes brightened "Really?"
"Yes!"
"REALLY?!"
"YES!"
Before Mary could do anything, GENE was the one who leapt upon her and knocked her back on her bottom, all eyes watching them crash.
"ARRRK!"
BOOM!
"Yes, of course I believe you dear!" Gene said, Mary now lifted off the ground as he wrapped around her in a massive hug "Why do you think I went out of my way to destroy those papers? To save my giant blue butt?! NO! I was trying to get rid of them so people didn't think YOU were lying!"
Mary, unable to escape the galump, simply smiled and allowed Gene to take her in with all his warmth.
"Big Blueberry Baby…."
BLAM BLAM BLAM!
AUUUURGH! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!
WHAT DO YOU THINK?!
BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM!
The Nicelanders looked out towards the windows, the sounds of screams and gunfire filling the air.
"….What was that?"
Felix kicked then door close, ushering the others UPSTAIRS and OUT OF RANGE.
"NOTHIN'. LET'S GO."
"Is Calhouny shooting a PHOTOGRAPHER?" asked Pearl.
BLAM!
"NEXT TIME! KEEP YOUR NOSE OUTTA OUR BUSINESS AN' MAYBE I WON'T SHOOT YOUR STUFF!"
With the Niceland residence out of sight, Torvald knew she could make her move.
"Boo."
"AAAAH!"
Caught.
"Vanellope!" the butter girl cried, seeing the vanilla racer standing behind her "When-?!"
"When Genie was spillin' his guts an' before Calhoun began her shootin' spree." Vanellope said "When did YOU get here?"
Torvald moaned, sliding down on the wall "I don't know what to do…."
"About WHAT?" asked the other girl, joining her on the floor "You've been actin' all weird for days an' now-?"
Now it was obvious that Torvald had known more than she had let on, especially with the way she was looking at the candy President. More and more worry filled both girls, Vanellope fearful that her words towards Ralph may have been incorrect. But still, she had to ask. She had to know.
"Tori?"
"I never wanted to hurt them….." the girl began "But everythin' got out of control!"
Torvald buried her face in her hands, showing Vanellope just how upset she was. She fidgeted, uncertain how to handle the situation considering how wild it had become but in the midst of it all Vanellope knew she had one big responsibility to take on.
She had to listen.
Not joke.
Not snark.
LISTEN.
She put her arm around Torvald, keeping her mind calm "Tori?"
"Y-Yeah?"
"Tell me everythin'. Once ya do, maybe we can clear all'a this up."
"If I do…." The racer began "If I do, they'll kick me out."
"WHO will?"
"PAPER BOY!" Torvald shouted "If he finds out what I did, he'll-!"
The girl paused as another wave of anguish hit her, sobbing loudly in her hands.
"Tori, Tori! It's okay!" Vanellope said, now more worried than ever "Don't cry! Please don't cry!"
"They never believed in me!"
"Wh-who didn't?"
"Tha guys at Paper Boy's!" Torvald continued "They DID only let me on because of ya! If ya hadn't said anything they would have just kept ignoring me because-! Because I'm still a stupid bully to them-!"
"But P.B told me-!"
"He told ya wrong, then!" shouted the butter racer "All this time, I thought I was a good writer! That I could change an' do somethin' good but look at what happened! My story gets out an'-! I cause so much pain an' rumors an' once everyone finds out they're gonna be super-duper mad at me an'-!"
"HOLD THA PHONE!" Vanellope shouted "Aurhg, I can't take in so much at once! My brain is gonna explode!"
"I let them use me." Torvald said "My story? Tha one I wanted ta write with Mary? He stole it from me. He re-wrote it an' he did it because he knew none of us could do anythin'…."
"Torvald…." Vanellope said "Are….are ya being BLACKMAILED?"
Yes.
Yes, she was.
Torvald was aware of the horrible truth but she just could not find the strength to utter those terrible words. Vanellope on the other hand felt just as betrayed as her friend; she was certain that Paper Boy had given her his word, that his interest on Torvald had only come from what she could bring, NOT whether or not he could impress the candy President but after what Torvald had said, she was no longer sure.
It was all so confusing, far too much to take in at once and all Vanellope knew was that once again the racers were being used. Perhaps not for arcade conquest but the mere idea that Torvald's life long dream was now the very thing being used to ensnare her made Vanellope's stomach ache.
"Tori…." The girl said, still in disbelief "I-! I can't believe this is happenin'! I trusted those guys! I thought-!"
"I thought they were good." Torvald said, sniffling "I thought I found some friends that I could trust but-"
Trust.
Trust was a word that many of the racers, keeping their feelings from Vanellope, now no longer felt. Their TRUST had been broken many times before even if their part of the incident had long been ignored by the rest of the arcade. Torvald had confided to no one but herself her own worries if there would ever be anyone outside of Sugar Rush she could trust and create a bound with and in Paper Boy, she THOUGHT she had found it, only to have Geist strip it away from her.
But…
Mary.
Nicelander Mary.
Torvald had stayed around for the entire conversation and not ONCE did the Nicelander mention to her husband WHO she had gone to first to even tell the original tale.
Geist had THREATENED to rat Torvald out should she confess to allowing him to 'improve' the story.
Mary on the other hand….
Mary had given her trust to Torvald and through it all she did not blame her for the factious papers. Mary had AMPLE chances to but given that Torvald had not gotten into trouble nor Vanellope had come to her earlier, demanding to know what had happened, it could have meant only one thing.
Mary didn't blame Torvald.
The Nicelander may have kept mum about it but perhaps, maybe she knew. She KNEW that Torvald wouldn't do such a thing after collecting the story.
Mary TRUSTED Torvald with her story.
And she still trusted her for some strange reason.
That's when Torvald knew it, that's when she felt it. She hadn't been betrayed, she still had many she could trust and in the most unlikely of places.
"Tori?"
The girl knew what she had to do and she had to do it fast; she had to clean up the mess she had caused.
"Vanellope?"
"Yeah?"
"We need ta go home!"
Sometime later, Torvald threw open the doors of the old Sugar Rush Sentinel. Cobwebs and dust littered the building but the press was right there, ready for use.
"Guys…."
The butter-themed racer turned, the other Sugar Rush racers behind and all without a clue as to what was about to happen.
"Tori, why are we here?" asked Minty "With everythin' that's goin' on, I'm a lil burnt out on papers."
"A newspaper may have started all of this…" the yellow racer said bravely as she stepped into the huge printing room, flicking on the lights "But a paper is what's gonna clean it up!"
It was now time for Torvald's headline, the girl ready.
"Okay, I need help getting this printer up an' ready!" the girl ordered "Swizz! Minty! You're on it!"
"Huh? I never signed up for any'a this!" said Minty but her hand was quickly grabbed by Swizzle.
"No talk, just work!"
"Gloyd, Sakura! You're my artist! Get some Christmas stuff together! Make it look festive an' bright!"
"Um, okay BOSS." Gloyd smirked, Sakura shrugging her shoulders in confusion.
"Snowanna! You, Beezie an' Nougie handle tha ink works!"
"Sure?"
"Rancy! You're my reference guy! I need ya ta fetch me some Christmas books!"
"Uh...which ones?"
"ALL OF 'EM!" the girl ordered "Juju and Cissy! Find an' load up tha paper rolls!"
"Yeeeaaa! Dangerous work!" Jubileena cheered, pulling her terrified twin with her.
"Candlehead! Taffyta! You're gonna be my drivers so when this paper is done, you're gonna hit tha road like never before at get these things out!"
"Does this mean we don't hafta obey traffic laws?!" asked Candlehead.
"NOPE!"
"BEST! JOB! EVER!"
"An' Sticky!"
"Yeah, sis!"
"There's tons of bugs here. Round 'em up so no one gets all scared n' stuff!"
Sticky saluted her sister, pulling a bug-catcher's net from her person "OKAY!"
"An' what about me?" asked Vanellope, feeling a little left out without a job. Torvald simply grinned, pulling the President near the head office.
"You're gonna help me write." Torvald said "We've had plenty of fluff. Now we're gonna give this arcade some news it REALLY needs!"