Author's Note: Chapters 1-10 have been revised and updated. This necessitated me deleting several chapters (since the beginning of this ordeal I've recently only had to delete one chapter at a time). You may have to go back a bit to return to where you left off. Sorry for the inconvenience. It might be easiest to make note of the title of the chapter you're on in the future.
Author's Note: The underlined text is the other personality inside his head. He fused with the Darth Vader from the second game cabinet, but their psyches are still separate, in case you missed it previously. This is the sort of thing that Jet, Set, and Turbo experienced while controlling the characters they did. Likewise the same went for any other character inside Star Wars who had an actual name (too bad for the Stormtroopers, they were the exception). This is also what it would have been like for Vanellope/Vannie eventually in 'A Sudden Surge' if they hadn't been separated back into two people.
As Darth Vader intently watched the rest of the Bad-Anon meeting through the screen in his holding cell, he asked himself aloud, "What would Luke have done if he were alive right now?" As much as I hate to admit it, he would probably forgive him. "That may be so.. But I just can't. Not after all this time.. We've lost too much to turn back now, haven't we?" We should have waited until he was unguarded. "You know that would be impossible. We may have messed up our chance, but at least the others will have a place to go." That is the only silver lining.
"He's.. right this way.." Ashley said as she started escorting Luke and Obi-Wan to the holding cell Darth Vader was located in, "We're not quite sure what to do with him yet.." It should be fine if I'm away for just a few minutes..
"What do you mean?" Luke asked. Something is up. "No kidding."
"H-he tried to kill someone a while ago," Ashley said nervously, "Why would I kid about something like that?"
Stop answering me around people. You should know better by now. Luke shook his head slightly and asked, "He tried to kill someone?! Why? What did they do to him?" This doesn't add up. This doesn't add up. Why do I bother thinking for myself anymore if I'm- I wonder who could provoke dad into doing that..
"Luke.. It was one of them," Obi-Wan said, "One of the ones responsible for Star Wars getting unplugged." To think that they were at it for that long..
"Well I guess that makes sense," Luke said disappointedly, "But still, to try and kill him is a bit much. I don't like them either, but that doesn't mean I'd kill them." It's okay to say you hate them, you know..
"Your father always did lean towards the dark side," Obi-Wan said sadly. It was different, for a time.. Back when the second Star Wars cabinet was plugged in..
"Do you think maybe he thought we were dead too?" Luke asked as they finally reached the office wherein the holding cell was located. He would have come looking for us otherwise.. Definitely.
"That is probably the case," Darth Vader could hear Obi-Wan say from outside the office.
"That voice.." Darth Vader breathed heavily and said in disbelief, "That's impossible.." No, I can feel it. They're here.. Alive. "But how?" Where have they been all these years? What about Han and Leia?
"So wait, everyone saw us spilling our guts just now?" Neff asked, "What's wrong with you, man? This stuff is personal enough as it is. Geez, give a little warning next time, would ya?"
"Actually, the broadcast only started once Zorba started speaking," Gary said, "So you don't have to worry so much about what you said."
"I got a question here," Bowser said, "What made the two of you," he pointed at Sonny and Bobby, "decide to defend Jet the way you did?.. I mean sure Jet is sorry and everything, I don't doubt that.. But you've been keeping your true identities secret for so long and then you just tell us like it doesn't even mean anything."
"We feel responsible, in a sense," Sonny said adjusting his glasses calmly, "You see, I am the one who gave Turbo the means to manipulate games in the first place."
"You what?!" Ralph asked angrily. He was the cause of all this from the beginning? Oh wait.. What's wrong with me? I knew that already.
"Let me finish, Ralph," Sonny said with a sigh, "You see Turbo was on the verge of going insane due to the jealousy he felt after RoadBlasters took the limelight away from Turbo Time. I helped him because I thought he would tweak his own game to make it better to gain back a bit of popularity. It's a method that has worked for E-Z Livin' quite well over these past 22 years.." He sighed. "However, that's not what he did.. It never happened before until then, not in this arcade. Someone trying to take over another game, I mean.. It was completely unheard of. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't regret that choice. I only ever did the same for one other person, and that's Bobby here, when Asteroids broke down.." Of course he tried to give the code out to as many people as he could after his life turned around.. Luckily only Markowski accepted it, and he made good. "I was naïve.. Turbo Time and RoadBlasters paid the price for it.." And then of course Turbo took over King Candy in Sugar Rush.. But didn't you know all this already?
"Jet reminds us of ourselves in a way, bromigo," Bobby said, "We may not have controlled people or outright hijacked games and stuff like he and his brother did, but we all made mistakes that we regret and try to atone for. I think he deserves this chance." I'm still kicking myself about how I've been trying to give out the code to anyone and everyone. I should have taken this more seriously.. Several people in the room sighed to themselves.
"Does anyone have anything else to add?" Clyde asked. This meeting has gone on a bit longer than usual already.. There was a moment of silence. "Then let's close out with the Bad Guy affirmation.."
Ralph and the other regulars stood slowly, signaling for the others to do the same. They awkwardly linked hands, especially those not used to these kinds of meetings.
The regulars led the chant, "I am Bad and that's good. I will never be Good and that's not bad. There's nobody I'd rather be than me."
"Okay gang. See you next week," Clyde said tiredly, "And fellas, please do come again. Whether you need to talk, or just want to share how your week has gone.. You know where to find us."
"I'll think about it," Dr. Boom said dismissively, "Jet.. I owe you a punch in the gut at least, but I'll let you off this time.." He pointed at him threateningly. "But you know what to expect if you pull anything like this again." Just like that he left.
"Don't even talk to us," Jacques said to Jet, "But we appreciate the offer and accept."
"You'd better make good on what you said," Zorba said before leaving with Jacques.
"Just stay out of Joust and we'll leave you alone," Bill said to Jet. Bill and Ted left.
"So your name is Neff then?" Rocksteady asked, "It was quite a shock for me to see another rhinoceros-man in this arcade." I'll just ignore Jet. He'll take the hint.
"Yes, it's nice to meet you Rocksteady," Neff said happily and shook his hand. They left chatting, to see if they had any other similarities.
"All things considered.." Ralph said, "I think that actually didn't end so badly, aside from you nearly getting choked to death, I mean." Sorry about that..
"Yeah.. It still hurts," Jet said. I suppose I should just give them space..
"Come on, let's get you out of here," Ralph said, "Your girlfriend is probably in tears about now."
"Good luck, Jet," Gary said with his arms crossed, "No hard feelings on this end. But I'd advise you to keep to your game."
"I plan to.." Jet said timidly.
Gary left. I still can't believe Set would leave a message like that.. Of all the nerve.. But with this our 'debt' is paid in full. The signal stopped broadcasting.
Ralph and Jet slowly made their way out of Pac-Man, the other Bad Guys long gone. William stayed behind to chat with Clyde about his opinion on what to do with Darth Vader.
Jet walked out of Pac-Man's gateway with Ralph trailing behind, giving him some space. Most of the crowd had left, the ones remaining were huddled a good distance away.
There was an awkward silence as Jet stared at the crowd and they at him. He couldn't smile, even though he was happy that the meeting went as well as it did.
"Ralph!" Vanellope and Vannie yelled happily. The worry slowly fading from their minds. Vanellope resisted the urge to glitch over to him.
Taffyta and Rancis hugged Crumbelina.
"He's okay, see?" Taffyta said happily. I was worried for a while there when the alert system stopped broadcasting the meeting..
Most of the soldiers from Hero's Duty had walked off a ways to take a break since the crowd was behaving itself for a while now, and the crowd itself was thinning out rapidly.
Just as the remaining members of the crowd slowly began to disperse, something green resembling a water balloon came hurdling at Jet, hitting him in the side. It popped on contact.
Jet instinctively grabbed at his side to check for damage and found that his outfit had begun to erode where some kind of liquid had splashed on him. What is this? Some kind of prank? He looked around and saw a short figure with a brown cloak running away. Before he could think about it any further he could feel a hot stinging sensation on his skin.
It felt as though whatever hit him was slowly eating away at him. He looked down, horrified as his skin began to slowly melt away as it was eaten by the liquid. He gasped in pain, falling to his knees before turning to lay on his side. And so ends the tale of Jet Chocolisto..
"What was that?" Ralph asked urgently as he ran up to Jet, "Jet, are you okay?" He looked down at the wound forming on Jet's side. "Felix.. Where's Felix?!" This is bad.. What is this, some kind of acid?
"Jet!" Crumbelina screamed as she ran to his side, "What happened?!" That's horrible.. Everything was going to be fine.. Who did this?
"Don't.. Don't touch it.." Jet barely managed to say as he showed her the palm of his hand which was slowly melting as well, "It's spreading to whatever it touches.." He trembled, unable to do much else. He could feel his heart in his throat. I have to hang on..
Taffyta, Rancis, Vanellope and Vannie could only watch in horror. What could they do? Where's Felix? Would Jet be able to make it to Sugar Rush 2? These questions desperately ran through their heads.
"Where's Felix?!" Ralph asked again, yelling as loudly as he could.