Epilogue:

Extract from the Diary of the Surge Protector

It's the new year. 2022 is gone, and 2023 is now upon us. I can scarcely believe that I -and this arcade- are still around after more than forty-three years. It really is stunning to contemplate. When so many other arcades have gone the way of the dodo, Litwak's still endures.

By the way, there's a new statue of Ralph in Game Central Station. Gale handcrafted it. I must say, he captured the guy perfectly. There he is, fists raised over his head, with the old sly smile on his face.

Vanellope, I'm happy to say, is doing well. She's back to racing, back to having fun. True, the loss of Ralph was a bitter blow for her. I doubt she'll ever really stop missing him. But she seems determined to keep moving forward, to bring as much joy into not only her own life, but the lives of others, as she possibly can. In way, its like the old lug lives on through her.

Maybe he lives on through all of us, really. The wrecker touched far more lives than he would've cared to admit. Maybe even more than he knew. So many barriers broken, so many friendships formed, so many hardships endured. And it all started because one game character got sick of getting yelled at and tried to get a medal to prove himself, only to learn what was really important in life.

Funny how that works out.

Anyway, I'm signing out now. Mr. Johnson will be back in the morning, and we'll all have a long day's work ahead of us. I hear Mr. Litwak wants to pop in again too, wish us all a Happy New Year personally. A day late, of course, but better late than never. Besides, he had a little party of his own today he had to attend, and I can't exactly begrudge him that.

Until next time.

This story was four years in the planning, and marks the culmination of so much of what I started when I first began writing WiR fanfics back in 2013. Not saying there won't be more coming- I'm definitely planning on it. But this concludes the first "chapter" of my journey writing for this fandom, if that makes sense.

I hope you've enjoyed it. I know it might've been a hard ride at points, not least because I had to kill off the wrecker himself. [That scene hurt to write.] But I hope the end result was as impactful for you to read as it was for me to write.

As always, any and all feedback, whether positive, negative, or both, is welcome.

Until next time,

crankyman7