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.
"Do we really have to hold hands?" Charley asked Jet as they exited the castle. I get that you're taking this seriously, but come on.. They headed to Crumbelina's kart which was parked nearby.
"Aww, but it's cute, isn't it?" Crumbelina asked as she grabbed his other hand. Might as well give this a shot..
Charley whined slightly. I can walk on my own. It's not like I'm going anywhere.
"So it might be a few days before you can have your ice cream shop, huh?" Jet said as they got into the kart.
"That's what he said," Charley said, "The chefs are still waiting for their restaurant too.. Where's it going to be, anyway?" An ice cream appeared in his hand. Best superpower ever. He licked it slowly.
"No idea.." Jet said plainly.
"Don't let it drip now," Crumbelina said. Is he really the one who tried to kill Jet, Ralph, and his friends? It's hard to believe..
"No worries," Charley said happily as he finished it in one big bite, "I never let ice cream melt." That only happened in the game when the players weren't good enough.
"So where shall we go then?" Jet asked, "We've got plenty of time.."
"Well, I haven't eaten yet," Crumbelina said, "Ice cream doesn't count as real food, by the way." She looked back at Charley with a smile. Just act natural.. He's harmless.
"I got nothing against normal food," Charley said with a shrug, "Ice cream's better though."
"Sounds like a plan then," Jet said. I'm not terribly hungry because of the ice cream earlier, but okay..
"So they're in here then.." Ralph said as he looked up at the sign to Undead Apocalypse 3. Kind of an odd place to bring kids though, but that's very like them.. He shrugged and went inside with a sigh.
After taking the short train ride into the game he looked around trying to find anything in the dark forest, spotting a few green lights off in the distance. Well that's a place to start. He walked for a while and stumbled into a small pit designed to make players trip on their way to the cabin. The player was meant to jump over it. "Great.." He said as he climbed out, mud slowly rolling off of his feet as if it were never there to begin with. Wish I could see where I was going. Okay there's a tree..
After fumbling around in the dark for a while he finally met up with the source of the green lights.
"H-hey Ralph.." little Crumbelina said with a nervous smile. Not often I see him..
"Hey Crumbelina," Ralph said with a sigh as he looked around, "I uh.. don't suppose you've seen Vanellope around here anywhere?" I'm sure she's with Vannie wherever she is..
"Haven't seen her since we started," little Minty said with a warm smile, "We're playing hide and seek."
"Not the best of strategies to hide in a group, is it?" Ralph asked with a smile. When I played with them that one time in the Candy Cane Forest they were better at it..
"Well we got bored just standing here," little Jubileena said, "We've been hiding for a while now so we decided to group back up." Ergo the glowsticks that likely led you to us.
"So is it true that you're Vanellope's dad now?" Minty asked with a big grin. I can't describe how cute that is. They always did look like a perfect match in that regard.. Too bad for King Candy though.
Ralph chuckled and said, "Yeah.. I suppose word has spread far and wide by now since this morning." Vanellope must be real proud of me. He smiled. "So do you have any idea which way the others went? I haven't seen any other lights around here.."
"Well, Taffyta was screaming about zombies a while ago," little Crumbelina said sincerely, "But Alex assured us they're harmless so she's probably fine. They might have gone find her."
"Oh yeah, I forgot I could just yell.." Ralph said, "You might want to cover your ears." The girls covered their ears, knowing full well just how loud he can be. "I'M GONNA W- woops.. HEY! ANYONE OUT THERE?!"
There was a brief moment of silence before they could hear Vanellope yell, "Ralph, we're over here!"
"WHERE'S OVER HERE?!" Ralph asked loudly. That's not telling me much of anything.
"Just follow our voices, Ralph! It's not that hard!" Vannie yelled back. Maybe we should head towards him..
Ralph gave the all clear for the girls to uncover their ears and they followed him towards the source of snark.
"Ralph!" Vanellope glitched into his chest happily.
Ralph laughed. He caught and hugged her then said, "Glad to see you too, kid.. So how has your day been?" He smiled down at her and then looked over to Vannie, still holding Vanellope in his arm.
"Well, it wasn't so bad," Vannie said with a smile as she walked over and hugged Ralph, "I got hit on twice while you were gone." She laughed. "Would have been nice to have you around at the time." She smiled mischievously. Guess who could use a bath.. Well it's not so bad.
"I'm glad you crushed their hopes and dreams into a fine powder," Ralph said with a grin, fighting the urge to kiss her. Not in front of the kids.. And zombies.. "So who are these guys? Uh.. No offense intended."
"Just us zombies.." the first zombie said while shrugging.
"So is this all of you now?" the second zombie asked.
"Yep, this is all of us," little Rancis said while holding little Taffyta's hand as discreetly as he could. Relax a little, Taffyta..
"Looks like the place is packed," Crumbelina said with a smile as she pulled up to the restaurant. Taffyta and Rancis were still sitting there talking to Leon's group who were about halfway done eating.
"What's up guys?" Jet asked nonchalantly as he and Crumbelina hopped out of her kart. Don't mind that we've got a kid with us. Nothing out of the ordinary.. Yeah.. Should have thought about what we would say in this kind of situation.
Charley hopped out shortly after. Great. Now what? There's no way this will go without an explanation..
"Jet!" Taffyta said with a big grin on her face, "You're.." Her thought process got hung up mid sentence.
Jet chuckled and said, "Yeah.. Sorry I worried you guys. This is Charley." Probably should have thought about that a bit more before telling them his name.
Taffyta and Rancis just stared at him for a moment, unsure how to react.
"I'm sorry, okay?" Charley said, "Jet, say something." I'm not used to this. Before all I would have to do is.. Wait.. How did I do it before? I made people listen to me, but I can't remember how.. Come on, that was useful..
"It's nothing to worry about," Jet said with a laugh as he placed a hand on Charley's shoulder, "I'm not really sure where to begin explaining it."
"So you didn't kill him, then," Rancis said with a sigh of relief, "But then.." I'm confused.. What happened earlier? Why did Ralph say Jet killed the kid? Was it someone else?
"So you're the one that.." Taffyta said, her words failing her again. She felt as though her blood was ready to boil.
"Relax, Taffyta," Jet said sincerely, "It's all good, okay?" I don't need you holding a grudge against him, come on..
"Seriously?" Taffyta asked in disbelief, "You.. but.." Guh.. Work a little faster here, brain. I need you..
"We're listening," Jubileena said with a sigh, "We're confused too over here.." There I go being rude again.. I need to stop doing that.
Garret looked at her with a knowing smile which made her blush ever so slightly. I like that about her for some reason..
Minty played with the strings of her hoodie, not sure what to make of the situation either. Jet seems fine though, so that's good. She smiled. And Crumbelina isn't looking worried anymore either, yay!
Jet sat down at yet another nearby table, Charley and Crumbelina joining him. Jet sighed and explained exactly what happened. "...And that's basically it, right Charley?"
"Pretty much," Charley said nervously. His face felt hot. It was as if all of the eyes watching him were burning a hole through him. So many people paying attention to me at once lately..
"So you don't remember any of it?" Luke asked Han and Leia, "Being in Dragon's Lair, I mean.." I wonder if that's maybe for the best.. Blah blah blah.
"I remember us going inside when our game was unplugged," Han said with a sigh, "But after that it's a bit hazy.." Yeah, it's a bi-
"t weird." Han said as he split off from himself. Free at last.. Haha. Sorry, kid. He smiled smugly.
"But when is MY turn?!" Luke asked. Now they're just doing this on purpose.. I swear I'm the one that wants it most and Ben is probably going to be next.
"Bromigo, relaaax," Bobby said with a smile, "It won't be much longer." This guy's a riot.
"So now that we've all assembled," Ralph said, "What shall we do now?"
"I'd just like to get out of here," little Taffyta said with a sigh, "It's so dark.." It's not even just the zombies.. This whole place is just creepy as all get-out.
Little Rancis sighed and said, "If someone can lead us to the exit I can bring her home from there."
"I'll go too," little Crumbelina said as she walked closer to them. This game of hide and seek kinda fell apart from the start..
"I'll do it.." the second zombie volunteered with a sigh. Why is it always like this? Well it's usually worse. I guess that's an improvement..
The four left for the exit after little Rancis apologetically waved goodbye to the others.
"Okay.." Ralph said "What shall we do now?" He couldn't help but smirk, watching Vannie's facial expression as little Taffyta left.
"Well, I don't know," Vannie said mischievously, "Hey, do you think that Ash guy would mind us checking out his cabin?"
"..We don't exactly get many visitors here.." the first zombie said, "I'm not really sure how he would react, to be honest." These are the first visitors that stayed more than a couple of minutes in a good long while.. Usually people just leave and take a few glowsticks with them on the way out. He shook his head.
"Well I say we should check it out," Vanellope said mischievously, "We came here to check the place out, and you said the majority of the game is played there, right?" I wonder what the cabin is like!
"You're a bold one, aren't you?" the zombie said with a smile. This one is refreshing..
"She's president of an entire game, after all.." Ralph said with a smile. She hasn't complained about being held this long yet.. This is a first..