(Tappers)
Ralph sat alone at a bar stool, drinking root beer from a tall glass. Before long, Felix sat next to him. A couple nights a week the 2 would come to the bar to drink and talk, and maybe do something together afterwards.
"Hey Ralph, hows castle life treating ya?" Felix asked
"Fine, everything's just fine" said Ralph
Felix could tell something was wrong immediately, and he questioned him.
"Well today at dinner, the twins were talking about how at school they had to write about their heroes. And they said they don't see me as theirs" said Ralph
"Well Ralph, not everyone can be Vanellope. The twins grew up differently than she did and-
"That's not all. They said I don't do much anymore. They said they've never seen me do much in terms of being a hero. It's got me thinking, have I outlived my purpose in life? I know I was meant to be a bad guy, but I saved sugar rush. I saved the Internet. I founded this city with Vanellope, fought to protect it several times. Though I admit I didn't do a lot of the work" said Ralph
"Ralph Don't be so hard on yourself. I know you're a great guy. The twins love you, Vanellope loves you" said Felix
"Yeah, I know. But still, it hurts I'm not their hero. I've never even heard of lucys hero, some chick named Samus" said Ralph
"Samus Aran? I've met her, tough but not as tough as me"
Sitting near the 2 was a muscular man, blonde haired, wearing sunglasses and a red tank top. He chugged down a mug of beer before throwing away a cigar he was smoking. He went closer to the 2.
"So, prince Kevin and princess Lucy don't appreciate you anymore huh? Well maybe I can help you"
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Ralph asked
"Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Duke Nukem, you may have heard of me"
"Never heard of you" Ralph and Felix replied
"Well you should, I was one of the coolest game characters of the 90's. I used to spend my days fighting aliens and meeting girls. Every boy out there who played my games wanted to be me. I was a role model, and I can show you how to be one too King Ralph" said Duke
"You want to help me? Why?" Ralph asked
"You're the king of the city, you shouldn't have to worry about your grandkids not liking you. First thing tomorrow, we're gonna do some work with you" said Duke
He then left the bar, leaving the 2 alone
(Later)
Felix was preparing to go to bed with his wife, and he was telling her about Duke.
"I don't know, maybe he can help Ralph, but then again I don't know this guy" said Felix
"What was his name, do you remember?" Calhoun asked
"I believe it was Duke Nukem" said Felix
"Duke Nukem? I know him. He came from a really bad game released in 2011. He might've been cool in the 90's but I don't know many people who think he's cool now. I'd wreck it thinks he can help him, then god have mercy on his soul" said Calhoun
(The next afternoon)
Ralph walked into tappers once again, this time with a new outfit. He wore sunglasses and held an unlit cigar in his mouth. He wore a leather jacket, red tank top, camo pants and large brown boots. He made his way to the bar and ordered a root beer
"Trying a new look Ralph?" Tapper asked
"I was told this was a cool look, trying to look cool to my grandkids" said Ralph
"Whatever you say" said Tapper
He gave him a mug and went to go help another customer. Ralph drank his root beer, and was then interrupted by lucys friend, Mocho, who was having lunch with his mom.
"Mr Ralph, is that you? You look different" said Mocho
"I know. Being honest this look isn't me, I'm trying to look cool for the twins" said Ralph "have some guy helping me out"
"How's that working for you?" Mocho asked
"Not good. Ever heard of a guy named Duke Nukem?" Ralph asked
"Never" said Mocho
"He's supposedly a really cool guy, he's not here now but he's helping me out. He chose this outfit, and he took me to a strip club. I don't want to discuss that" said Ralph
"I don't want to know either. Are you happy this way Ralph? I'm sure Lucy and Kevin love you for who you are. You should try talking to them" said Mocho
"I'll think about it. Right now I just want lunch" said Ralph
"You know I'm right Ralph, there's a reason Lucy trusts me so much. I did hide her when she was wanted by the police" said Mocho before he went back to his mom
Ralph thought about what Mocho said as he ate his lunch. He thought about it a lot, even as Duke took him outside the game.
"Wanna be cool, gotta fight an alien, I know just where to go" said Duke
He led him to a game called Destroy All Humans, a game set in a 1950's America and was modeled after the b movies of the day. Inside, a blue alien was busy blasting humans with a ray gun and collecting their brains.
"That's crypto 137, he's the main character of this game, but also a small alien. Go up to him and crush him under your fists and I'll get a picture" said Duke
"You're crazy if you think I'm doing that" said Ralph
"Look at him he's small" said Duke
"I'm not you. You can go kill him, I'm leaving"
Ralph turned to leave, and after returning to world designer, duke caught up with him.
"Ok I admit, going to that game would've killed you. Let's try this, one last idea" said Duke
Duke took Ralph to Velocitron, and outside Maccadams oil house was Decepticon Thundercracker, sitting outside looking drunk on energon. Duke walked up to him with Ralph following
"Go on Ralph, show this jet bot what we discussed" said Duke
Ralph walked up to him, but couldn't bring himself to hurt the con.
"I won't do it. He's done nothing wrong. Last thing I need is starting an incident with the Decepticons" said Ralph
"You wanna be cool to the kids or not?" Duke asked
"I do, but not like this" said Ralph
"Hey, I know you. You're Duke Nukem" said Thundercracker
"Yeah, I am, fan of mine?" Duke asked
"You're one of them anti transformer jerks if I remember. Trying to make wreck it Ralph follow that stupid path huh?" Thundercracker asked
Ralph turned to Duke.
"You're anti transformer league? I get it, you wanted me to start an incident, have them thrown out. Well I'm not falling for that" said Ralph angrily
"If you won't hurt him, I'll do it myself" said Duke
Duke pulled a weapon out of his pants and aimed it at Thundercrackers head, but Ralph grabbed him and threw him off into the distance. Thundercracker thanked Ralph and offered to take him home, but he chose to walk, wanting to think. It was a long walk back to the castle, the sun was soon to set by the time he got back. As he walked through the gate, he heard the sound of a motorcycle approaching. He turned to see Lucy in what appeared to be a motorcycle driving up, but the cycle had 1 large wheel covering it rather than 2. It also had a German iron cross painted on both sides, as well as a Nazi eagle painted on the front by the handlebars.
"Hi grandpa" said Lucy
"Hey kid" said Ralph
"You have a bad day too? You look sad" said Lucy
"Yeah. What's this thing?" Ralph asked
"Nazi monowheel. I tried doing something, it didn't work out the way I hoped" said Lucy
"You gonna be ok?" Ralph asked
"I don't know. I just need to think" said Lucy
"Yeah, me too" said Ralph
Ralph went to his room and changed back to his normal outfit, and when he did, the rest of the family entered, worried about him. Vanellope questioned him about what was bothering him, and he talked about what the twins said the other day, which made them feel guilty.
"We're sorry we said that grandpa" said Kevin "we didn't mean it that way. I learned about your old accomplishments at the museum today"
"And I looked at old videos last night of you. You are brave and strong" said Lucy
"You're not our hero, but that doesn't mean we don't love you any less. We love hanging out with you" said Kevin
"It's just we have a lot going on is all. My kingdom. His arcade and toy store, it's stressful" said Lucy
"I understand" said Ralph
"We love you grandpa. We may be getting older but we still need you in our lives. You're always there for us" said Kevin
Ralph picked up the twins and hugged them
"I love you guys too. Mocho was right, I should've just talked to you, instead I almost started a war because of an anti transformer guy. But I'd never hurt the cons willingly" said Ralph
The whole family hugged Ralph for a minute before he put the twins down. He stood up from his chair.
"Since I've been doing some thinking today, I got a couple gifts for you kids, I think you're ready for them" said Ralph
Ralph led the family to the castles attic, and went to a pile of his stuff. For Kevin he pulled out some papers
"I know you're struggling where to put your business and how to design this Kevin, as well as where to get games. This paperwork and blueprints will help you" said Ralph
Kevin took the papers and looked them over, they were just what he needed.
"How'd you get this stuff grandpa?" Kevin asked
"Question for another time. As for you Lucy, if you're gonna be queen, it's best you look like one"
Ralph opened a chest and pulled out vanellopes old princess dress from sugar rush. Lucy looked at it for a moment, speechless.
"Well, what do you think sweetie?" Rancis asked
"I love it. I LOVE IT I LOVE IT. It's the perfect outfit for a pretty girl like me. I love it, thank you grandpa" Lucy shouted before glitching herself into the outfit
"Your welcome kid. You're gonna be a great queen" said Ralph
The twins hugged their grandpa before heading out of the attic. Ralph went over to something covered with a blanket. He removed the blanket to reveal a type of droid, made from mismatched parts.
"Is that-
"Yes it is Rancis" said Ralph
"You kept him all these years?" Vanellope asked
"One day I hope to get him fixed, for all he's done for us" said Ralph
Vanellope approached the droid and put her hand on its chest.
"Thank you for keeping my baby girl safe all those years ago" said Vanellope
"Let's hope she be a great queen" said Ralph
"But there is one thing that still bothers me" said Rancis
"What's that?" Ralph asked
"He was sent to protect Lucy from that other machine. But I still wonder, why would anyone want to kill our little princess?" Rancis asked