The moment Ralph stepped foot in the cave, he felt a rush of cold wind to greet him, sending a system of shivers all over and shivering him to the bone. Wrapping his arms around his sides to keep warm, Ralph kept walking forward.
This cave, Ralph noticed was very different to the one the four of them walked into when they ran into Kat. That cave was wide and had lots of elbow room for him. This cave however wasn't as friendly.
As he walked on, Ralph found the walls around him becoming thinner, almost not allowing him to press onward. The stone was cold against his already clammy skin. He had to hunch down to create more headroom.
Also unlike the cave from before, there was no source of light anywhere. He pushed forward and further and as he did the light behind him began to grow dim.
But he didn't care. He had to keep going. For Vanellope.
Sure he chose to travel into the cave because the underground world felt more logical than to brace the elements and monsters outside by himself, at least until he regained some of his strength, but the cave also offered something that the outside currently didn't.
Warmth.
He noticed that as he kept walking, the cave began to radiate very small traces of warmth. But at the moment, a little was better than nothing.
Onward he pushed, and as the light growing fainter and fainter behind him so did his hopes of finding his friends. Every few steps or so he felt his foot drop into a hole that was only one cube deep, a miniature heart attack threatening to rapture his body each time.
After a few more paces forward . . . THUD!
The light had dimmed to the point where there was no telling whether he had his eyes closed or not. And that's when he found the stone wall lying right in front of him. His face went completely flat on impact, creating a small system of cracks on the wall.
His head, feeling lighter than a feather at the moment was so unprepared that it took him a good half minute before he fully realized what happened. His mind reeling a mile a minute, the simple even left him dumbfounded. When his blurred vision finally cleared up, he saw the obstruction . . . and that knot of confusion that was tying itself in the pit of his stomach was undoing itself and was replaced with one of anger.
Whether he was angry at the fact of being separated from Vanellope and his friends again, or if it was his frustration with being stuck in this game finally reaching a tipping point, or if it was just the wall itself, he wasn't entirely certain. But there was one thing he was certain of: that wall had to go.
Raising his right fist above his shoulder, he demolished the wall with one swift punch, dust and debris showering his face and feet. The hole in front of him, just large enough for him to squeeze through, revealed more blackness.
He stepped carefully through the hole and found himself on a ledge that was a bit too thin for his comfort. And below him was more blackness. Just all around him, for as far as he could see (which really wasn't that far considering how dense the lack of light was in this place), his spirits plummeted even further, down past his feet and disappearing into the abyss below him.
Ralph was silently debating in his head on whether he should leave the cave and just brave the elements on his own or to continue down through this cave and see what he could find. Ralph quickly decided that the former was far more preferable than wandering aimlessly in a cave, never knowing what he would find and holding onto the faint hope that he would run into his friends anywhere down here.
With that in mind, Ralph spun on his heel and was about to walk out of the hole . . . until her heard it.
Faint but continuous, it was coming from the left. He looked in the according direction, but only found the ledge he was currently standing on stretching into the darkness. He adjusted his footing and noticed something below him.
On the ledge was an engraved pattern of something that resembled . . . railroad tracks?
The sound became clearer.
Clickety Clack . . . Clickety Clack
His brain instantly clicked. But by that time, it was too late.
A large gray cube burst from the darkness on a collision course for Ralph. Mainly because that he was standing on the track, but at the moment, that wasn't important.
His eyes bulging nearly out of their sockets, he raised his hands defensively in front of him as if thinking that would somehow slow the mining cart down. Of course, nothing of that sort happened. "No! No, no, no, no, No!" What did happen though was far from Ralph's liking. Attempting to outrun the oncoming battering ram, the cart collided with him head-on, sweeping his feet out from under him and spilling him into the cart seat first, his bottom sinking into it. The cart, somehow undeterred from the sudden change in weight charged onward. He lifted his feet to avoid having them getting sucked under the cart.
Looking behind him, he could see the hole in the wall becoming smaller as the cart chugged along the track on the ledge.
It carried him faster than what he would have thought was possible considering how heavy he is. Wind went rushing through his hair and whistling past his ears. Suddenly, he could see that the track was about to take a very drastic left ninety degree turn. Ralph didn't have a doubt that a turn like that would spill him out and send him into the black. But thankfully, that wasn't the case.
The turn came and the cart went accordingly, giving Ralph's neck whiplash and jarring almost every other bone in his body, but he still remained stationary in the cart. Not sure what else to do, Ralph patted himself down to make sure he was alright. Then he looked back to see the ninety degree turn, still not entirely certain that he was able to stay on after that. But he did.
Then another turn came up again, taking Ralph to the right and downhill. He felt his stomach rise into his chest during the descent. The track flattened out again and turned.
What came next was the scariest roller coaster experience Ralph had ever had.
A series of turns and ups and downs and other directions sent Ralph stomach on a trip and his head in a daze. Vanellope had always pestered Ralph about going to that new amusement park arcade game that just came into Litwak's not too long ago and he always said no. He wouldn't admit it, but he always did have a phobia towards roller coasters. He had convinced himself that his big bulk would never stay in those tiny karts. And it wasn't just that, it was also the thought of the continuous loops and . . . well, Ralph didn't feel like getting into that right now. Because those thoughts along with the predicament he was currently in didn't really sit well inside of him.
But at least now, he had a good reason to not go into that crazy game.
What was it called? Roller Coaster Tycoon? He was sure it was along the lines of that.
Even more twists and turns came forth, each one making his grip on the cart and his seating in the hole loose. Finally, with one more ninety degree turn, the cart sped off to the right . . . Without Ralph.
The momentum was finally too much for him. His large mass betraying him, he was sent flying out of the cart and spiraling into the blackness.
For what seemed like ages, he kept falling . . . until he hit another ledge just large enough for his hulking body to fit on. Then he rolled and fell off the edge. Desperate, he reached his hand out and grabbed hold of the edge. And there he was, hanging and swinging over a hundred foo drop like a giant orange pendulum. Kicking his feet on the wall, he scampered up and stood back up on the ledge.
Sighing, he rubbed his hands together and nodded . . . then he looked down and saw the tracks beneath his feet.
Clickety Clack . . . Clickety Clack
SMACK! "Ow! Whoooooooaaaaaaa!"
The mining cart came back like an unwanted boomerang and abducted Ralph once more. The cart rocketed down another hill, sending Ralph on another stomach churning trip.
This one lasted longer than the last one. With so many twists and turns and more ups and many more directions that he didn't even know about. Clutching the sides of the cart awkwardly with his gargantuan hands and making sure his body was centered as to not spill out and roll off of the edge into pure nothingness below him.
After yet another eternity, Ralph could see up ahead and a small breeze of relief washed over him. He could barely make out the end of the track about fifty yards ahead. His relief instantly switched to horror as he realized that the cart was not slowing down. The end of the track lead to a platform not unlike the ones he would find at Game Central Station.
It came up faster . . . and faster . . . and fas-BAM!
The moment the cart made contact with the platform, it came to the most abrupt halt he had ever experienced. He could do nothing as his momentum catapulted him out and sprawling him onto the platform, rolling to a stop yards away.
Finally, he came to a stop face down in the dirt. Remaining stationary for a few moments, Ralph sighed and pushed himself up to his knees. He looked back in time to see the mining cart zoom off in the opposite direction and disappear into the cave. Ralph snorted through his nose, unamused. "Yeah, you'd better run you stupid shopping cart."
He rose to his feet and took in his somewhat new surroundings.
Then, he realized something. The area he was in right now bore a striking resemblance to the loading stations back home in GCS and the cart he was on acted as a sort of uncomfortable shuttle that traveled between games. In fact, it was just like the tiny cars he always has difficulty squeezing himself into every time in his own game.
Hmph, just like home.
That meant that I must be in some sort of loading station, he thought to himself. His theory was confirmed when he turned back around to see another opening in the wall in front of him, like the cave he had just walked in except this entrance was a lot more welcoming with white, polished cubes creating the entryway rather than the uninviting grainy stone ones up top.
His curiosity along with his desire to find his friends telling him his best bet was to travel down whatever path that lead to, he walked forward and entered the entrance.
It lead to a set of white stairs going downwards, a faint, flickering light at the bottom. Ralph gulped and was trying with all his might not to turn away in fear. He took the first step down, then the second and third, careful as to not go tumbling down this time.
About halfway down the stairway, a noise was heard. A quiet, faint noise, like a whisper. Then as he got closer and closer to the bottom, the noise, or noises rather, became louder.
And that's when it finally clicked. They weren't just random, natural noises that the game made from time to time, not the scary noises that the different animals and creatures and monsters made.
They were voices.
Clear, distinct, glorious voices.
His excitement now outweighing his anxiousness by a significant amount, Ralph took off down the stairs and erupted out of the bottom. And what he saw . . . was very, very strange.
Meanwhile,
"Sorry Felix, you lost me again. Could you start over and make more sense, please?"
Sighing, Felix rubbed his temples and looked down at the child, careful as to not push her off the cruiser the three of them were currently squished on and soaring multiple feet over the trees and small bodies of water.
After much arguing and debating, Felix finally convinced Vanellope to store the now-repaired kart in their inventory so the three of them could stick together and search for Ralph in the sky, despite the dangerously overcrowded condition the cruiser was facing in having to carry the three of them. But, they all admitted that it was much more comfortable without Ralph taking up most of the space.
Adjusting his footing, Felix leaned down to speak clearly in her ear.
"You see Vanellope, the thing that you said that Herobrine threw is what's called an Ender Pearl. According to the guide, those things have more than one abilities," he explained.
Ignoring the wind whipping at her eyes, she turned to look at Felix, still failing to grasp what he was trying to say. "Like what?"
"Well, when it's thrown, it can teleport people to wherever it lands."
Vanellope's eyes lit up. "Ooooooh, and after seeing how hard he managed to chuck that thing . . . it probably went pretty far," she guessed, earning a nod from Felix.
"But there's more," he continued, "when combined with these . . . ah, other, um . . . for lack of a better word, ingredients, it also can make what's called The Eye of Ender."
Vanellope shook her head in confusion. "What the? What does that mean? Who the heck is Ender?" Then she paused and thought for a moment. "Say, isn't that the thing that Kat made? Remember? It was green and all and it floated over to the hills for some reason?"
Felix patted her shoulder. "Well Vanellope," he said, "I honestly don't know who or what it is. We'll just have to do more research when we have time, okay?"
Vanellope crinkled her nose distastefully. "Blech, research? I thought this was a game. Not a library."
Felix looked up to his wife with an amused smile. She had no choice but to chuckle and shake her head. "Just get comfortable, you two. This may take a while."
Vanellope looked up at the grown ups worriedly. "You think he's okay? He took a pretty good beating before he disappeared," she reminded them.
Calhoun looked back down to the child. "Kid, if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that this Herobrine sucker is toast the moment I get my hands on him. But the other thing I'm sure of is that Wreck-It is one tough soldier. Unless he is stupid enough to go underground for any reason, we shouldn't have any problems."
Meanwhile,
Underground, Ralph was not entirely sure what he had come across.
He had rushed down the steps and was running out of steam, then he came to the bottom and was met with-
"You shall not pass!"
Flinching, Ralph took a staggering step backward, completely unprepared for the sight that's right before him right now. The moment he burst through the entryway into . . . whatever this was, he had to almost restrain himself from running back up.
But one thing was clear, he was standing in an arena that was very similar to the arena they had found Kat in all by herself and fighting off a horde of those tall black creatures that he couldn't remember the names of.
The arena was immense, bigger than any underground room he'd ever been in in this game. On the walls on both sides was a row of torches which illuminated the room quite nicely. But it wasn't the size of the place that made him breathless . . . it was the people inside of it.
In front of him, swarming all around the ground were more avatars than he could count, each dressed differently than the others. And atop their heads were black bars with white text inside which were no doubt their usernames. But he was too far away to get a clear look at any of them. And the fact that they were all moving around didn't help either.
Without thinking, he took off running into the fray of players. While he was running, the comment Calhoun made came back to him about how slim their chances were of ever running into Kat ever again. But his mind was moving as fast as he was that he pushed all those negative thoughts aside and they were simultaneously replaced with a faint flicker of hope of finding Kat again that reignited deep in his gut.
As he kept running, the bodiless voices of the players came rushing from all around him, flooding the arena so much that he could not hear himself think anymore. He could barely make out what exactly they were each saying, but the things they were saying were very . . . odd to say the least.
"Dude! Klay! You just got owned by that arrow!"
"One does not simply walk under the mountain and challenge the King."
"Martin, can you give me more chicken? I'm almost out."
These strange phrases and many more were tossed around but Ralph was not deterred by any of it. Finally, he approached one of the avatars and read the username.
MASTERVEX47
Nope. He looked again.
SMOKE1661
Not it either.
Randomk1234
Munks 98
Heybub2
Captainsparklez
Pewdiepie
TobuscusLiteral
DoeBro
None of them were it!
After looking at another username, he accidentally bumped into one of the players. Looking up, he saw it was Randomk1234.
Random turned around to look at him, his head moving up and down, searching Ralph.
His voice sounded up. "Who the heck are you?" Ralph flinched back, knowing he won't be able to communicate.
"Who's who?" Another player asked.
"No, I'm not talking to you, Kyler. I'm talking to this guy. Did anyone invite him?"
All around him, he saw the other players stop what they were doing and looking at the two of them. Growing rapidly uncomfortable, Ralph tugged at his collar and decided against his previous thought and spoke. "Um, h-hi," he said nervously. He cleared his throat and continued, "Listen, I'm, ah, looking for a, ah friend of mine. She's about this big, and uh, well, I guess she'd be as tall as you guys are . . . but anyway, she's got a blue striped shirt, brown hair and boots, and usually has a, ah, blue bow . . . any of that sound familiar to you guys?"
No one answered.
"Does this guy not know how to talk?"
Ralph let out a defeated sigh. And there it is. The lack of a microphone proves to be troublesome once more. Fantastic.
"Well, what's the matter?" One of them asked. By the sound of it, it sounded like it was coming from the one called TobuscusLiteral. "Is he . . . is he a mime? Is a mime playing this game? Oh! That's it! Mimecraft! I've unintentionally made a funny! Ha! Ha! That's a win! That's a Toby making an unintentional witty comment win! Roll the ne- Steven? STEVEN! Where are you! You're supposed to be by my side at all times! What do I pay you for?"
Ralph stared at the avatar that bore a frightening resemblance to Herobrine except for the eyes and his inability to move his limbs freely.
SMOKE turned to look at the other Tobuscus. "Not now, Toby," he simply said before returning his gaze to Ralph. "So, where are you from . . . Litwak . .Router?"
After much turmoil between the players on whether or not Ralph couldn't talk or simply chose not to, they finally calmed down and went on their way. "Ok, well, whatever. Litwak," Random started, "you can join if you want. If you want to, well that'd be pretty shiny. I you can add us to your friends list if you want. But if you're just gonna stand there, then you should probably just leave. Okay guys," he said, directing his attention to the other players while talking in a much deeper and authoritative voice, rolling his R's awkwardly, "are you ready to crown the King Under the Mountain?"
A loud and rowdy cheer erupted from the avatars before they departed from the circle they had formed around Ralph and began firing arrows as much as they fired off insults and demonstrating their overly colorful vocabularies. As he watched them go, he did a quick double take of the names to make sure that Kat was not there.
She wasn't.
Ralph just stood there, confused and utterly perplexed at the event that just took place in front of him before sighing in defeat and gazing at the ground in disappointment. He quickly came to the conclusion that he was not going to get what he was looking for down here. Looking up, he saw an exit on the other side of the arena.
Turning his back to the strange ensemble of players, he began to slowly and sadly march to the exit.
Once he was about three quarters of the way to the exit, his ears somehow picked up a quick conversation between two of the avatars.
"So I just got back from Smaug the dragon! He truly was a formidable opponent!"
With a sigh, SMOKE replied with, "Dude, I know we're playing on this map and all, but seriously, just call it the Ender Dragon. It's really lame when you call that thing Smaug."
Ralph froze, his ears perking up. Turning, he saw the players still firing arrows and cursing, a thought occurred to him.
They may not be Kat, but they must have some knowledge of this place.
If I stay for just a bit longer . . . and not get killed, I just might learn a thing or two about this dragon . . .
Looking back to the exit, then back to the players, he let out another breath and walked back to them.
Being sure to not get too dangerously close but only close enough to hear what he needs, he did his best to listen to the previous conversation.
"Oh man, you have no idea how long it took me to get everything I needed to make those eyes. I even went to that cave you told me about and couldn't find any of them there!"
SMOKE sighed again and replied, "I don't know what to tell you. Lucky spots only get to be so lucky for so long. By the way, I haven't gotten that far yet, how many Eyes of Ender did you need?"
Ralph leaned in closer.
"I needed twelve. But again, I couldn't find those rods anywhere."
"I know, I heard you the first time."
"Oh! And the Eyes will lead you right to the entrance. Just hold it and click. It'll show you the way."
Ralph nodded. "Okay, okay, twelve, I need twelve of those eye . . . things, or whatever. Alright! Keep going!"
They continued talking, but from off to the side . . . "WHOA! OH! WHAT! DID YOU-OH! WHAT HAPPENED! I'M BREATHING SO HARD RIGHT NOW GUYS!" Ralph rolled his eyes annoyed and looks in the player's direction.
"Okay, talk a little quieter there, Pewdiepie. I'm trying to listen." Mentally tuning out the strange, foreign sounding player, he continued to eavesdrop on the other two.
After a few more minutes of careful listening, not only did Ralph learn that the names of these two people were Martin and Kyler, he also learned that the Ender Dragon lived in a secluded area that only twelve Eyes of Ender could unlock, was indeed the final boss of the game and that it was very difficult to pass. Honestly, it wasn't too hard to follow or understand.
The last thing that Martin said was, "Man, those towers were insanely annoying to climb. Here's a tip, once you reach that part, bring a few extra cubes to climb those things. You'll need them."
Ralph clucked his tongue thoughtfully for a moment.
Climbing towers? No problem.
"Well, I think I actually got what I needed. Thanks guys." And he meant it. He truly was thankful for running into them and learning how to actually get to the place. "I guess I'll just be on my way and, whoa!"
Turning around, he found RandomK1234 with a sword pointed right at his throat. "Hey! Litwak, wanted some more, huh? Well, take this!" With that as his only warning, Ralph took a step back and narrowly avoided the swing of the sword that he was holding. Taking a few more steps back, he kept avoiding the swings of the sword by inches. He could feel the rush of air on his face with each swipe.
"Whoa! What're you- Stoppit! Shoo, go away!"
Random didn't listen. He kept on pushing forward and swinging.
Ralph felt another bump behind him. Looking back, he saw he had just run into Tobuscus, who was out and about, doing his own thing, not really interacting with anybody while making a strangely humorous commentary. He turned to face Ralph. "Hey! It's Mime Guy! What's up? Doing some, um, um, um, mimey things? S'cool. Keep on doing what you're-WHOA!"
Ralph stepped to the side as Random took another step forward and swung his sword, missing Ralph entirely and hitting Tobuscus, who blinked red and was slammed backwards just a few feet. When he recovered, he looked to Random. "Dude! Da heck was dat, Jack?!"
RandomK1234, or Jack, looked at Tobuscus and simply said, "Sorry Toby. But you know what's up."
With another swipe of his sword, he connected it with Toby's head and he fell to the ground, disappearing in that strange puff of pixelated smoke.
"Whoa!" Was all Ralph had to say before bumping into Munks98 who was currently battling with heybub2. Twisting and running in the other direction, he ran forward, missing a small volley of arrows launched by DoeBro and Pewdiepie.
The next few minutes was an absolute nightmare.
Ralph dodged and ducked and performed other awkward actions to avoid getting killed. It instantly reminded him of his quest for a medal over in Hero's Duty with his first encounters with the Cy-Bugs. Sure these guys weren't giant robotic insects bent on eating everything in sight, but somehow . . .
They were worse.
All they did was yell and scream and shout out insults toward the other's mother.
And why? Ralph had no idea. But he was just focused on not dying at the moment.
After a few minutes of dodging swords and arrows, an alarm wailed.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Jack lowered his sword and sighed. "Ah man, the match is over."
The other avatars moaned in disappointment as well before Kyler spoke up. "Wanna go onto the Hunger Games server?" He was met with cries of approval and shouts of glee.
Then, a moment later, one by one, they all disappeared. Much like how Ralph had right when Herobrine had thrown the ender Pearl and ended up in the snowy mountains.
One moment they were there, then the next, they were just gone. No puff of smoke, no warning, no unusual sign, they were just gone. The last of them to disappear was Pewdiepie, still screaming at the top of his lungs wildly until the moment he disappeared as well.
And, just like that, Ralph was all alone again.
No idea of what had happened, or why, but chose to accept it nonetheless.
He took a moment to collect himself mentally before turning toward the exit and walking up the steps.