A/N: We're almost done with the story, guys! Just a couple more chapters. :)
Blink. Did she hear Mr. Litwak right? "Who?" she repeats.
Litwak grins. "You heard me. Wreck-It Ralph says he owes you."
"But he's just a video game character."
"I thought so, too," he says, placing his hands on his hips, "until just this morning." He checks to make sure they're away from prying ears before he tells her about Joe, the game, and spotting Ralph. He then shares everything that the video game people said. When he sees the look of disbelief on the girl's face, he adds, "You don't believe me, go play the game right now. Once the level starts, say hi to Ralph."
"Okay," she says, keeping herself from rolling her eyes. She knows Mr. Litwak is getting old, but she figures she'll humor him this once. But, suppose he is telling the truth...
"Oh, and Hannah," he says. She turns around. "Make sure you keep this between us."
She nods and goes over to Fix It, Felix Jr. She inserts her quarter and watches the game start. Everything is as it should be. The building is built, Ralph comes out, then Felix. Before she hits any controls, she murmurs, "Hey, Ralph."
The wrecker glances up at her and waves at her, winking.
Hannah stares over her shoulder at Mr. Litwak, who's standing with his arms crossed by the door. He gives her an I-told-you-so look before walking around. She turns back to the game. "You're real," she whispers.
"We are," Felix says loud enough for just Hannah to hear. "And we need your help."
"Is it just me," Vanellope says to her father as she pulls up alongside his kart, "or is Citrusella acting weird today?"
Candy's eyes scan the area until he finds the indigo racer behind a stand talking to some of the nuts. "What's she doing?" he asks.
Vanellope shrugs. "I dunno." She thinks about Citrusella and Ralph hanging out together during her race with her dad. Is that why she's acting all secretive all of a sudden? What are those two planning?
Sour Bill looks out from behind the popcorn stand. Vanellope and Candy are staring at Citrusella. He steps back around the stand with his back against it, looking down at an electric-blue note in his jelly-bean hands. Surge had been nice enough to send the word out about the party to all the other videogames, and so far half the games have pitched in. He needs to talk to Citrusella - but he can't, not when the two VIPs are watching her.
Another electric-blue note appears in front of the cough drop. He snatches it and reads it: "Bill, Litwak has talked to the girl already, and she knows about Ralph and Felix. She's willing to help us out. I know things are busy in Sugar Rush, but if you could make it to Pac-Man, she'd like to talk to you."
Sour Bill's pupils dilate. He's never left the game on his own, and even then, he's only been out once. And that was after hours. He can't do this...But, he knows how much this means to Ralph. During the race Litwak and that other guy were having, he found Bill and told him at least six times how much this meant to him. And Sour Bill would really rather not be put back in that filthy mouth again.
"Quarter alert! Quarter alert!"
Peeking back around the stand, he watches the nine roster racers (including the VIPs) rush into the selection room. If he leaves now, he would get caught by a gamer or one of the roster racers as they came back out. He shouts and jumps when something taps his shoulder. "Sorry," Candlehead says. "I was just wondering what you're doing hiding behind the royal stand."
Sour Bill makes sure no one is watching them before beckoning her closer with a jelly-bean hand and half-whispering, "I have to get to Pac-Man without being spotted."
"I could drive you," she offers, wanting to be of some use since she's not playing right now.
"But the gamers could spot you."
"I'll just drive behind the player in last place," she says matter-of-factly. "The gamers won't see us."
Bill contemplates this with half-lidded eyes. "Mmm, okay."
They hurry over to where Candlehead's kart rests with the other karts when they're not being used. They hop in and wait for the countdown to begin. They watch the roster racers rush to their karts, and two marshmallow cameramen aim their cameras at Tori and Jubileena. The light is green, and the racers take off. Candlehead pulls out and follows behind Gloyd until they come up on the rainbow path and veer off.
Sora is half-aware he's swinging again at the Heartless he's fighting. He's letting the gamer do all the work, allowing his mind to think of Kairi. How was she able to use the Keyblade? In his backstory, he remembers learning that only special heroes could use the Keyblade, as they were the only ones who had strong hearts. Is Kairi some sort of hero? But if she were, wouldn't she have her own Keyblade? And wouldn't she be more active in gameplay?
"Aauugghh!" he cries when the Heartless swipes him in the shoulder. It bloody hurts, and it takes all his strength not to make faces. Usually, he'd be used to hiding his pain from the players, but this time, with him all scatterbrained, it's harder for him to just play along. He bites his lip as the gamer makes him hit the creature again. I wish the gamer would heal me already.
Kairi is laying off to the side, as usual. Even though her eyes are closed and she's as still as if asleep, she doesn't hide the worried look on her face. No one's paying attention to her, though, leaving her to her thoughts. Sora's taking an awfully long time to finish this round. Even with a gamer's help, he can finish this round in a few minutes. Indeed, it's been about ten minutes since the final battle began. I hope he's okay. Maybe he's hurt or tired? After the game, I'll check on him.
Sora, after he blocks an attack, happens to glance over at Kairi and sees the look on her face. What's got her upset? He swings his blade harder at the Heartless, making it screech. An image of the Cy-Bug Heartless comes to mind. I hope she's not still shaken from those weird creatures. Those were pretty scary though. After the game, I'll check on her.
At last, the gamer wins, and after the ending scene, Riku goes off to play-fight against Leon and Hayner. Before Kairi can say anything, Sora goes up to her and says, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay?"
"I'm good."
"You're not tired or anything? You took longer than usual finishing the final round."
He rubs the back of his neck. "I was just, uh..." He was never a good liar. It's in his code to be honest. Letting out a sigh, he drops his hand and starts, "Look, I've been thinking about earlier, with Kingdom Hearts and you opening it."
Blink. That isn't what she was expecting to hear. "What about all that?"
"Well, see, from my backstory, I remembered that only certain people could use Keyblades. And I can't figure out why you were able to use it."
This doesn't make Kairi feel any better. But, she keeps a straight face and says, "I know I'm not a hero. I-"
"You are, though."
That comment surprises both of them. Kairi never thought anyone would think of her a hero, and Sora didn't realize what he said until he blurted it out. Now that he has, he nods and goes on, "Yeah, you've gotta be a hero. It's the only way you could've used the Keyblade."
Kairi smiles - finally, she's more than a passive female figure! - but then it fades as she considers something. "How could I have been a hero all this time and not know about it until this morning?"
"I'm still figuring that out," Sora says, putting a hand to his chin.
"Quarter alert! Quarter alert!"
They both decide they'll think about it later and bid each other good luck before rushing to their starting positions.
A/N: This is a rather short chapter, but I promise the next one will be longer. And I'm really sorry about taking so long to update. I've been reeeeaaaally busy and haven't really had a chance to write or post much. So, expect the next update in 2-4 weeks. We're almost done with this story, and I'm thinking about doing a series of one-shots around this. What do you guys think?
Thanks so much for sticking with me for this long, guys! :)