Vanellope's mind stopped and she felt her heart pick up in speed as she realized what Red had said, "Ralph…?" Vanellope asked as if she hadn't heard him right. Red nodded and, with the help of Marshmallow and Taffyta, stood up clutching his stomach. Vanellope swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded her head, showing that she understood. Nelly had been evil, truly evil; she wanted Vanellope to feel her wrath and to be effected by it.
She had controlled her kart to delete the girl she loved, she had destroyed the candy villages and now she took control over Ralph. Nelly was making this personal, deeply personal. "Well, it looks like we've got quite a battle ahead of us.." Vanellope laughed, trying not to sound so upset. Taffyta quickly took her hand and held onto it, tight, showing the girl through that little moment that she wasn't alone. "We can do it Vanellope, we'll get Ralph back." Taffyta stated and Vanellope nodded, believing the girls words.
"How do you suppose we do that, I've heard of this Ralph…he's a tough guy." The Turbo Twins said as they entered the conversation, they were sulking earlier for their friend Turbo and feeling sorry for both themselves and for him, but now they seemed to get out of their funk and only had rage left for destroying this evil villain Nelly. "Ralph is a tough guy, but he's a good guy at heart…we just have to get through to him.." Vanellope said, Taffyta and Marshmallow agreeing with her.
"All we have to do is try and convince him to come back..if he has a reason to be good and to not be afraid of Nelly and her evil ways..he'll come back." Red stated and the group looked at him curiously. "It's why Taffyta wasn't changed..she had reasons to be good, she remembered those and was able to stay on the side of good, reason why I didn't change either…" Red explained further while the rest of the group listened. "But why did the other's change so easily than, why did they go to the side of evil?" Marshmallow asked and looked up at Vanellope who shrugged her shoulders.
"My only guess is that they were afraid…" Vanellope simply said, causing the group to grow silent as they figured the matter. "Regardless…we know the source of your villain's power, fear…" one of the Turbo Twins stated and the other nodded, "We will have to bring your friends back, together, and remind them that they have no reason to be afraid..that will be the way we can defeat this evil Nelly.".
It was decided; the group would have to go into the castle, arms swinging, and try and take back their friends from the evil Princess Nelly. It was possible that Nelly could easily overcome them, that they would be corrupted and that she would rule Sugar Rush again through her trickery and fear. But Vanellope knew that as long as she had Marshmallow, Taffyta and all of her friends at her side, nothing could stop her from trying.
"Then let's go already!" Marshmallow beamed and ran to the kart, hoping inside. The Turbo Twins quickly followed while Vanellope helped Taffyta move Red to the kart as well. The space inside the kart was cramped and they all had to squeeze in to make room for them all, but eventually they were off and down the road to the famous Sugar Rush Castle.
Turbo came crashing inside the castle, knocking over several Oreo guards as he did and making a terrible noise out of his frustration. Ralph immediately tensed, getting ready to fight, but upon seeing that it was only Turbo relaxed and turned to Nelly for any other commands. Nelly scowled terribly at the being and watched as he fought with himself in the center of the throne room before sighing and descending the throne towards him.
"You have been so helpful up until now…" she stated and rolled her eyes as he screamed at her. "Why now are you choosing to fight the darkness that's inside your heart?" she questioned and Turbo fell to his knees and looked up at the girl. His helmet was starting to glow a bright white and his suit seemed to be a little less torn than before. But as Nelly touched him he immediately went back to the ghoul like look he had before, "You are so weak…" she snickered and turned away from him towards Ralph. "You however are strong, I need you as my second in line…" she commented, smiling at the large character.
Turbo spoke and Nelly turned towards him, "You have no right to be my second in line when you have failed me so…I asked for Taffyta…where is she?" Nelly asked and Turbo turned away, whispering something else. Nelly flinched and looked at him, her glare etching into his skin. "What was that?" she asked and Turbo spoke again, louder this time. Nelly's breath was caught and she seemed startled for the first time in weeks, but she quickly smiled and turned away from the being to conceal her worry.
"So Vanellope is on her way to the castle…with my love Taffyta…" she said, laughing at the foolishness of the girls. "Fine, let them come…I'd like to see them try and beat me again.". Turbo whispered something else and Nelly turned towards him, her eyes filled with anger. "Why are they here?!" she yelled, her voice echoing throughout the throne room. Guards flinched and some of the racers stopped what they were doing to see why someone had upset their ruler. Nelly looked around and immediately became enraged, "I DID NOT COMMAND YOU TO STOP!" she screamed, her voice sounding inhuman. The castle buzzed alive again, fearful that their Princess would somehow make them pay for their foolish ways.
"RALPH!" she screamed and Ralph quickly approached her, ready for orders. "Ralph, I command you protect the castle and your Princess from the intruders…Vanellope Von Schweetz and her group." She demanded and Ralph nodded, immediately beating his chest with his fists and screaming loudly as he took off towards the entrance.
Nelly clenched her fists and turned towards Turbo, "You will pay for your actions…" she said as she shot her hand out at him and shocked him furiously his body collapsing to the ground. As soon as the being fell, a dark cloud lifted from his body and went to Nelly, engulfing her. It could be seen that her face was twisted along with her body, bending to the matter that had surrounded her. In that next second it completely filled her and formed to her body, taking in whatever had left Turbo.
Nelly sighed and smiled evily, "Welcome back.." she laughed and looked out at the racers and guards who were working so hard on the castle. "We will need to get rid of them…it's too risky to have Vanellope see them." She said, nodding at herself. "Right…will do." And Nelly snapped her fingers, immediately causing every soul in that room aside herself and Turbo to disappear, transported to another place of her choosing. "We cannot fail…I hope you remember this, chose wisely in these next hours Nelly.." Nelly said, although her voice now was sounding inhumanly different. "Of course, I know exactly what I am doing.".
The castle was only a few feet away for the heroic group now, Marshmallow pointed as he saw the Castle doors unguarded and open for them to simply walk in. "Nelly must have them off doing her bidding, that's going to be her biggest mistake yet!" the little treat laughed but Vanellope and the others weren't so sure. "This is Nelly we're talking about Marsh.." Vanellope said as she slowed the kart down before the Castle steps, "She's up to something..".
Vanellope slowly stepped out of the kart and walked up the steps, not waiting for anyone in the kart to follow. "Vanellope!" Taffyta called as she tried to scramble out, but stopped as she saw Vanellope hold out a hand at the group. She wanted to test the stairs and see if Nelly had any traps waiting for them or guards ready to pop out of nowhere at any given moment. But as she reached the top of the stairs and still nothing happened, Vanellope turned back to give the thumbs up to the group of hero's and beckoned them forward.
"What, so Nelly is that confident that she doesn't even…" Marshmallow began to say but the sound of loud booming noises interrupted him. Vanellope shook as the ground moved underneath her and she turned to the doorway of the castle crashing open and Ralph breaking through, screaming "I'M GONNA WRECK IT!". Vanellope screamed and ducked underneath the large pieces of candy door flying everywhere.
Taffyta dodged a few as well, grabbing Marshmallow and tumbling to the floor. The Turbo Twins were hit by a few pieces but ultimately were okay while Red hid inside the kart to protect himself from a large piece that was aimed right at his head. No sooner had the group recovered from the large blast were they hit with another and then another. Ralph had spot the intruders and was relentless at picking up pieces of the Castle and chucking it at them, purposefully trying to harm them the best way he could.
"Ralph stop, it's your friends!" Taffyta cried and dodged another flying piece of candy that Ralph flung at her. "WRECK IT!" Ralph screamed again and bashed his hands into the ground, causing the group to lose their footing and fall and stumble over themselves. "Ralph please, don't let Nelly control you!" Marshmallow yelped, having tripped over a destroyed piece of Castle walls and bumped his head. Ralph took the opportunity to bring a particularly large piece of rubble over his head and aim it right on top of Marshmallow.
Vanellope darted towards Marshmallow and glitched as she grabbed him, just in time, falling away from the attack. Vanellope glitched again as Ralph threw another piece of door at her and a third time when he picked up another to hurt Taffyta. This assault on the group was never ending and Vanellope soon grew tired and her muscles ached from the dodging and glitching she was doing. "Vanellope we need a new plan!" The Turbo Twins yelled in unison as they raced out of the way of Ralph's fist. Vanellope agreed with them, but how was she going to devise a new one right then and there?
Just then she heard the engine click on from Turbo's kart, "Hey!" Red called, he was sitting in the kart with his foot down on the gas and his one hand on the wheel, a piece of doorway in his hand. Red quickly threw the rubble at Ralph's head which immediately smashed to pieces, gaining the attention of the beast that Red needed. "Let's race loser!" he laughed and hit the gas, shooting off in the direction of the rainbow bridge.
Ralph screamed and chased after the boy and the kart, forgetting his duties at the castle and only thinking about his rage. Vanellope watched as they went and started to chase after them on foot but was stopped by the Twins. "He needs our help, both of them do!" Vanellope said as she watched Ralph and Red disappear out of sight. "He did that to get Ralph away from us…so we could stop Nelly, don't put his heroic actions to shame.." they said and started to climb the castle steps, that were now littered with broken doorway and walls. Vanellope went to argue but realized they were right and although it pained her to walk away from her two friends, one on the side of evil and the other on the side of good, she ascended after the Twins up and into the castle with Taffyta and Marshmallow following closely behind.
"What do you mean we can't go inside?" Felix complained as he stamped his foot down at the Oreo guards protecting their own game portal. The Oreo guards seemed a little off that day, and rather moody, but what was really strange was how they wouldn't allow Felix nor Calhoun in the game of Sugar Rush. "We are doing updates in our game, you walking in now would only be a problem.." One of the guards stated and clenched harder onto their weapons.
The other guard nodded and stuck their nose in the air at the two, "We've asked you more than enough times, leave or face the consequences!" he hollered. The arcade all seemed to notice the little spat in front of Sugar Rush and slowed down as they walked around the lobby that evening, being nosey, but no one seemed to care enough to stop and assess the situation.
"Fine..you see Ralph, tell him Felix is looking for him!" Felix commanded and turned away, stomping off towards his own game with Calhoun in tow. "I've never seen you get so angry, geeze you think finding a giant ape man would be easy around here?" Calhoun laughed and Felix had to smile at his wife's silly words. The guards were honestly lucky she didn't add her two cents to the matter, an angry Calhoun was hard to calm down. But the duo knew if they caused problems and started a fight in the center of the lobby, that they would be the ones found wrong or in trouble since they were the ones trying to invade another game for their own personal reasons. "Ralph knows not to go wandering off during arcade times again..I was hopeful he might be with Vanellope, but with tough guards like that..it's hard to believe even Ralph got past them!" Felix said, sounding annoyed.
Calhoun looked at the guards than at Felix, scratching her chin. "Something's wrong with those guards, they don't seem cheerful and dopey like they normally do.." Calhoun questioned and Felix had to agree with her. Normally the guards were silly and animated like; they hardly ever took things super serious. "I wonder what's going on in there…." Felix wondered, looking up at the sign that read a bright color of 'Sugar Rush'.