A/N: Hey guys! Just wanted to give a heads up that right now I'm on a trip and I won't be back home for a bit more than two weeks. Updates will be sort of slow, but the story is almost done so I suppose it won't matter. Also I'm already almost finished with the next chapter so it'll be up very soon. So keep on reading and review, please. :)

The excursion back to Game Central Station felt slow as Sonic, Tails, Nega, Felix, Vanellope, and Ralph, carrying Flash, were walking. As they neared the rainbow bridge, the Sugar Rush racers and spectators were making their way down the bridge back into the game. Sour Bill was among them and he saw Vanellope climbing the bridge's incline, along with the others.

"President Vanellope!" He shouted as he padded up to her. "I'm so relieved to see that you're okay."

"I'm fine, Bill." She said in a less than enthusiastic voice. "But I don't feel like racing on the Random Roster Race today."

"Are you sure?" Sour Bill asked, his voice beginning to fade to its usual droll, monotonous tone.

"Yeah, I am. Can you handle the announcements?"

"Sure...Okay."

"Thanks...I'll be back soon." Vanellope said, catching up to Ralph and the others as they were about to board the train to Game Central. Everyone got on and the train disembarked through the electric wire. Sonic groaned in discomfort and flickered into blue pixels.

"...O-Ow!" He exclaimed, shaking his head of dizziness.

"Sonic, your code is still damaged." Tails noted.

"Why is that? Shouldn't all the code the virus took be back where it belongs?" Felix asked.

"I don't know. But if we don't fix it before the arcade opens, we're probably gonna get unplugged." Sonic said, grimly.

Vanellope sat close next to Ralph, who still held Flash's lifeless frame in his hands. She stroke his fractured head before turning to Felix.

"Felix, can't you fix both Flash's and Sonic's codes with your hammer?" She asked.

"I'm...sorry, Vanny, but my hammer doesn't work on anything that was made in the real world." He answered.

Vanellope frowned and hung her head low, silently crying, before she felt an arm come around her and pulled her close. She looked up and next to her was Nega, giving a small smile. Aside from his white fur and blue eyes, he looked exactly like Flash. Vanellope hugged him, despite barely knowing him.

"I'm sorry." She struggled to say. "You were...hurt by the virus...too. I never thought that...you would be...just as nice as Flash was."

"Don't be sorry. I feel the same way you do. Flash was literally my other half. He was practically my little twin brother." Nega chuckled. "I just...wish we actually had the chance to...actually get to know each other."

"Sugar Rush train now arriving in Outlet 9. Welcome to Game Central Station." Said a voice on the intercom.

The station was more crowded than usual. Characters from every game were out in the station. It sounded like they were cheering.

"Attention to all characters, NPCs, and programs. The virus is destroyed so it is now safe leave your games!" Boomed the voice of the surge protector on the intercom.

A blast of cheers erupted as the group got off the train and entered the station. They slowly padded toward the portal for Sonic the Hedgehog. Characters who were close by noticed Ralph carrying Flash, walking along with the others. Some recognized Flash as the glitch at Tappers. Others recognized him as the virus back at the party.

"Hey. Isn't that the glitch kid?" Someone muttered.

"It's the virus!" Another shouted.

The cheering soon faded into murmurs of confusion and surprise. Every character in the station turned their attention to the group.

"He looks terrible."

"What happened to him?" Someone asks casually.

"I bet Sonic gave him the pummeling of his life."

"Uh...No. Y0u go+ iT all ₩r0ng, 'cause..." Sonic began, as a wave of blue static rolled across his frame.

Gasps from most characters filled the air as they were surprised by Sonic's sudden glitch.

"Sonic! You just...glitched." Said a tall character who was at the front of the crowd. He was probably from a wrestling or fighting game.

"Yeah, well, because my code was ripped out by the real..."

"That viral son of a glitch!" The character interrupted.

"Hey!" Vanellope shouted, offended by his insulting Flash.

"You all hear that!? That filthy glitch had just insured Sonic's game getting unplugged."

The crowd murmured in agreement.

"Wait a minute!" Ralph tried to explain.

"You know what I say?" The fighter asked. "I say good riddance to to that viral waste of megabytes! I'm glad he was deleted!"

Vanellope's heart was shattered at this program's words. She hugged Ralph's leg and sobbed, crushed that anyone would say that about Flash. Sonic, Tails, Felix, and Ralph were shocked by his hurtful words. Flash gave his life to save the arcade and everyone still looks down at him as a glitch and a virus. The entire station was silent, except for Vanellope's crying.

"How...dare...you..." Nega mumbled with his fist trembling in rage. "H0₩...DARE Y0u!" He roared, his voice distorted by his glitch, as a mix of white and purple pixels passed through him like a tidal wave.

The character flinched by Nega's response. Nega stepped forward, glitching wildly.

"DoN'+...y0u...DaRe...ta1K ab0ut Flash +hat way." He growled in the character's face, his aggressive programming taking over as he glitched and glitched. The fighter inched backwards, shocked by the supposed glitchy character in front of him.

"Y-You're...a-a..." The character stuttered, pointing at Nega.

"A gLit¢H? No. ANd Flash wAsn'T 0ne eIther, nor was hE a v1ru$."

Nega looked up and turned towards all the characters in the arcade while his glitching calmed down.

"You all $hould bE ashamed of y0urselves. Most of y0u think so highly of yourselves just because you have a perfect code. Flash didn't have that. And what? Other characters with incomplete or glitchy programming are just there for you to treat like dirt because they're unplayable? How is that fair?" Nega preached.

Some characters just glanced down at the glossy floor, sort of knowing that Nega was right.

"Look at Vanellope." He continued. "She was a glitch before she found out that she was the main character of her game and after she did, she still wanted to glitch. And many of you are friends with her. The very first day Flash became active, one year ago yesterday, once you saw who he was, you yelled at him, called him names, and threw trash at him, and he never left his game since, until just yesterday. You left him scared and sad. I know. I know this very clearly because, though he didn't know it, I was there with him, dormant in his code, watching through his eyes. And you know what? I'm just the same as Flash. My code was messed up by the same virus. He stole my model, posed as me and later corrupted my model. You wanna see what a virus looks like?"

Purple pixels bubbled through Nega as he flickered into his original model, which then slowly transformed into the destroyed virus's corrupted form. Everyone in the station gasped in shock.

"Y0u w0u1d nEVeR bE aB1e t0 s+aNd up to A v1rUs thi$ p0weRful..."

Nega reverted back to Flash's backstory model.

"...but Flash did. He gave everything he had to rid the arcade of the virus, even his own life. That is the only reason why all of you are still here, standing where you are right now. And what do you do? You continue to treat him like nothing. Sure. You might feel sorry for him now, but it's too late to apologize now... 'cause Flash is gone. But what do you care, right?"

Nega started walking over to the portal to Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Come on, guys. Let's go." He said to the others, who began to follow.

The station was quiet. No one talked or even whispered. The group was about to enter the portal when...

"Wait!" Called a low, growly voice.

Making his way through the crowd toward the group was Bowser.

"Bowser?" Ralph asked, surprised. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to say that...I'm sorry. I-I was the first person to yell at Flash and I never meant to hurt him in any way. I'm to blame for the whole mess and I really am sorry."

"...Thanks, Lizardbrain." Vanellope sniffed. "I'm sure Flash would've appreciated it."

The six continued into the portal, boarding the tram and riding into the game.