Ralph woke the next day in the dark confines of his stump drenched in a cold sweat. All night he had been plagued with nightmares but he couldn't remember them. The only thing he knew was someone he cared about was in danger while he was powerless to save them and that was extremely frustrating.

The villain sat there trying to remember his disturbing vision until his stomach reminded him that it was breakfast time. "Where am I gonna find some food?" he grumbled as he climbed out. In the distance he saw that diminutive hero walking in the direction of a grove of trees, whistling cheerfully. "Hey!" he called out, "Hey, wait up, buddy!" and dashed to catch up. Felix turned, saw who was addressing him, and smiled. "Good morning, Ralph! After you disappeared yesterday I wondered where you got to."

The giant slowed down to be as casual as he could and sidled up to the little man. "Yeeeaah, it was a long day yesterday and I was really tired so I decided to get in some sack time. Gotta be ready for my first day!" He smiled a big, cheesy grin. "That was probably a really wise notion, brother," Felix nodded. "You were just reset, after all!" They both chuckled nervously, unsure what to say next. A thought occurred to the protagonist and he peered around the bulk of the antagonist to see the lonely stump in the direction he had come from. "Ralph, did you sleep in that little stump all night?"

Ralph looked back at his wooden home and shrugged. "Well, sure. I mean, it's not like I have anywhere else to go, right?"

"That's not true! You have a house just over th-"

He was interrupted by a loud growl. The Bad Guy's stomach was getting tired of waiting so voiced its discontent. Ralph's eyes grew wide, his cheeks darkened, and he pressed his lips together in embarrassment as he self-consciously crossed one arm over his belly. He spluttered a poor excuse that went unheard. Felix roared with laughter, grabbed his friend's elbow, and steered him towards the trees. "Ralph, my friend, you have no idea how much that sets my mind at ease!"

As they got closer to the tree the wrecker noticed that the branches were laden with apples. "I'm not usually one for plain ol' apples," the fixer chatted, "but Tammy likes to have them around for a grab-n-go snack." He hopped up, grabbed a branch, and scrambled into the tree. "If you don't mind catchin', I'll pick enough for the both of us." The giant nodded, "Sounds good to me." Felix made short work of his task and when Ralph had an armful of the red fruit he jumped down to sit beside his friend under the tree.

Ralph was big enough (or the apples small enough) that he was able to eat the produce whole. "So, are those your trees?" he asked between mouthfuls. The protagonist grunted and rescued several of the fruits before they fell victim to the antagonist's ravenous appetite. "Oh, no, not just mine. Those trees belong to everyone in the game. Including you, friend." Ralph breathed a small sigh of relief. He wasn't going to starve and he wouldn't be stealing anything.

After the eighth whole bite, though, the overpowering taste of apple coated his tongue and he grimaced. "Man, not that I'm not grateful to have something to eat, but the same stuff every day is gonna get old real fast!" Felix laughed, "Tell me about it! Mary's pies are great an' all, but there's no way I'd survive on those alone! Thank goodness the programmers gave us cupboards that stock themselves."

The Bad Guy choked on a mouthful of fruit and pounded on his chest to clear the blockage.

"WHAT?!" he gasped, "You guys have magic cupboards?! How does that even work? And why are you out here picking apples?"

Felix hovered nervously until he saw that his friend was fine and sat down again. "Don't scare me like that, Ralph!" he scolded, "Jiminy jaminy, I thought you were gonna die!" He shook his head and sighed. "Well, I don't know how the cupboards work exactly. There's only one in each apartment or house that actually generates food and other necessary items. You just open the door and something is already in there. I think the game's programming puts together code from a pre-made database and the cupboard is the output location."

The little man snickered. "I don't know if the programmers didn't know what they were doing when they set up this system or just wanted to have some fun with us, but the cupboards generate everything randomly. Tammy calls it 'playing mess-hall roulette'." Ralph grunted in surprise and nodded. "So that's why yer out here. It's easier to gather something from somewhere you know for sure it's going to be than to trust your luck to a temperamental pantry. But how random is it?"

"Random enough, I suppose. I think there might be an internal time-clock that keeps the system in check so you don't get a box of noodles for breakfast, at least not often, but it is possible to open up the cabinet hoping for coffee beans and getting a casserole dish." They laughed at the ridiculousness of the arrangement.

Suddenly, Yuni from DDR called out from the front of the arcade, "Here comes Mr. Litwak, everyone! Get back to your games!"

The two frenemies chuckled and got up. "Well, thanks for the fruit, Francis. I'll see you on the demo screen." The little hero tipped his hat. "See ya there, pal. And it's actually 'Felix'." The gargantuan villain nodded, "Got it."

It was a good day at the arcade. Not many of the kids knew of the disastrous Saturday so Fix-It Felix, Jr. got plenty of attention. Ralph couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something was still wrong with him. He didn't feel right and was slowing down a bit. Also, there was a strange pressure building in his limbs and joints. In the middle of the sixth game pain shot up his arms and he figured out that the pressure was what was wrong with him.

"Psst! Finn!" he hissed. "Ralph," Felix hissed back, "not now! Wait 'til the end of the game!" Wincing and holding back a cry of pain, the wrecker continued his rampage.

The game ended finally and he was thrown off the roof, landing in the mud with a wet "splat!" The gamer went to a different game and Felix climbed down the fire escape as quickly as he could. He found Ralph struggling to get up. "Jiminy jaminy!" he exclaimed, "Lemme help you up, brother." He grasped the giant's hand and steadied him as he hauled himself up. "Thanks, bud," he muttered, holding his limp arm with his still usable one. A kid passed the screen and they both held their breath. When she left they breathed a sigh of relief and the Bad Guy jerked his head towards the building. "C'mon, I need to talk to you real quick. Behind the building should be safe enough."

Felix ran ahead and Ralph hobbled behind. "What's wrong with your arm, Ralph?" the smaller man inquired. "I don't know, but I was hoping you could fix it with that hammer of yours."

"I would be happy to, friend."

With a swing of his tool and a happy little "ding!" the villain was able to move his appendages freely once more. Well, as freely as an 8-bit character could anyway. Unfortunately, the pressure returned several more times that day. When the arcade finally closed Ralph fought against the muck holding him down and the strange injuries holding him back but to no avail.

"Need some help, Ralph?" Felix chuckled when he came down from the roof. "No," Ralph grunted, "it's personal now!" He squirmed and wriggled and thrashed but he just couldn't put any weight on his limbs so was unable get up. "Augh!" he growled after slipping again, "Fine! Yes, I need help." This time when Felix pulled him up and hit him with the mallet the pain didn't go away. They both frowned as Ralph tried to massage feeling back into his poor arm.

"Got any ideas, Shorty?" The repairman shrugged in defeat, sighing, "Not a clue." The two men stayed there, thinking, when the boom of an engine firing in the power cord tunnel startled them. Calhoun came into Niceland and landed on the grass by the apartment. "C'mon, you duck-billed pansy pussies!" she shouted, "I don't know what's keepin' ya but you two were supposed to meet me in Game Central twenty minutes ago." The hero in blue gasped and put a hand in front of his mouth. "Jiminy jaminy, Honey Bunch! I forgot about Vanellope's race!" He turned to his game-time foe. "Ralph, can you make it to Sugar Rush? It would mean the world to Vanellope if you were there."

Ralph's cheeks turned a faint pink. "Why? I mean, sure I'll come, but why would she even want me there?" Felix smiled the cheesiest grin he could and chirped, "Because she lo-" His wife covered his mouth with her hand "Ix-nay on the ove-lay!" she hissed in his ear, "They need to figure it out themselves, remember!" He nodded and she released him. "You an' Cavatina were best friends before this whole reset business. You may not remember but she does."

The giant rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at the screen trying to glimpse the sugary racing game. He could feel a headache coming on but payed it no mind. "If we don't go, brother," the little man added, "Vanellope won't have anyone to cheer her on. All the racers have a fan section except for her." Ralph shook his head and held up his good hand nonchalantly. "I don't know why you guys are still trying to convince me. I did say I was going!"

He turned towards the small tram platform and staggered towards it. Calhoun raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Uh, Wreck-It? What's with the gimp?" He shrugged. "Dunno. It's been like this all day." He eased himself up the station stairs. "Honestly, it kinda feels like I need to stretch and/or pop something, but I can't figure out what." The soldier came up next to him, grabbing his shoulder and wrist. "I'm no medic," she cautioned, "but I think this might help." Before he could object she snapped his arm straight out, pulled it slightly out of its socket and back, then manually rotated it through its full range of motion. The wrecking man screamed and tried to slip out of her grasp. "What's yer problem, Lady?! Lemme go!"

The woman smirked and let go. He scowled and shook his arm out which caused him to gasp in awe, "You fixed my arm…"

"I'll do the other one too, if you want."

Hesitantly, he held out the limb and bit back another cry as she went to work. When she was done, Ralph rubbed some of the lingering pain away. "How did you know to do that?"

"My men an' I hold up heavy weapons all day. You pick up a few tricks doin' this kind of work." Felix pointed and gasped, "Oh my land! Ralph, look! Your arms rotate smoother now." So they did. Ralph was now moving in a continuous flow like before the reboot. "Thanks for the help," he said. "We should probably get goin', though."

They made it Sugar Rush just in time for the roster race.

Disclaimer: Do not pop you or your buddy's arms out of their sockets! The shoulder is a really sucky joint on a good day so don't mess with it!