Chapter 11- The Truth Behind A Legend
"T-That's The Hacker?!" I exclaimed in shock as I continued to watch the scene before me. "But how? I thought he was just a legend!"
Hailey spun me around and brought me towards her. "Oh but no!" She began in her usual creepy tone. "The Hacker is very much real! There's a lot of things that you know. A lot of things you think you know…"
I looked at her coldly. "Who are you really? And what's your connection with The Hacker?!"
She began to giggle eerily. "Who me? Why how nice of you to ask! My real name is Hailey of course, but when I'm in this form I'm know as The Scammer."
"Oh course you are…" I commented under my breath.
"But of course no one knows who I am because The Hacker's always hogging up the spotlight!
I rolled my eyes as she began to rant about how "irrelevant she is to the world" and etcetera. I honestly couldn't care less.
I turned my attention back towards The Hacker to get a good look at them. One major point for starters, the Hacker is apparently a woman rather than a male…
Yeah, had my head spinning a bit after realizing that. Not exactly sure we're people got the idea that she was a male in the legend but who am I to judge!
Anyways, like the Scammer, she was fully decked out in red. Red skin, red pants, red flats, red button up, long sleeve shirt, red eyes and of course glowing red hair that kinda looked like fire.
That's when I remembered, "Wait, she's at Google! Pepper might be there right now; she could be in DANGER!" I started to panic a little but tried my best to stay calm.
I immediately glitched from out of the Scammers hold and began to run towards Google. I didn't get that far however since she noticed and grabbed me once again.
But this time it was different, the moment she grabbed me a wave of blue pixels shined through out the green substance. I tried to glitch out again but I couldn't.
"Ah, Ah, Ah don't think you can get away that easily!" She said evilly as I struggled to break free.
"What did you do!" I grunted.
"I glitched proofed it silly!" She giggled. "But you're acting quite too naughty for my pleasure. I think a punishment should be in order!"
"Punishment?! Who are you my mom!" I hissed. "Let go of me you whack job!"
She said nothing as she took me to a small, brick building with two large iron doors. She opened the door on the right and said, "Well, if you insist!"
She then proceeded to throw me face first inside. I screamed and fell to floor once gravity started to kick in when I entered. The door immediately shut behind me, locking me inside.
I ran to the door and tried to glitch out but I still couldn't. I jumped up and grabbed the small iron bars sealing the door's only minimum opening.
The Scammer only sighed as she approached closer. "It's such a shame you backed out of the deal. Then I would have made your wish come true."
"Ok lady, would you drop the whole wish thing already! You we're never gonna-"
"Peppermint Swirl could have been right here with you."
I froze as my eyes widened. "W-What…?"
"Oh, no need to be coy. I've been watching you Vanellope. You two have great chemistry together ya know, but it doesn't matter now. Thanks to you, she'll be the first victim for the Hacker to take out!"
"Wait what! N-No LET ME OUT RIGHT NOW!"
"Enjoy your punishment!" She cooed as she began to turn away.
"NO NO PLEASE!" I screamed slamming my hands against the bars. I kept calling to her as loud as I could manage but it was no use. The Scammer was already gone…
"N-No" I said in a soft tone, my voice cracking slightly. I slowly let go of the bars and fell to my knees. "P-Please…" I felt my heart start to sink as tears began to form in my eyes.
"Don't hurt her…" I concluded sorrowfully. I shut my eyes tightly as I began to sob silently to myself.
I felt so helpless and defeated in that moment. I all hope seem to have been lost. "This is all might fault. If I had never taken that stupid box in the first place none of this would have happened!"
I broke out of thought however, when I suddenly heard a noise coming from the left interior wall. I looked up with my face wet with tears as I watched the bricks slowly start to shake out of place.
Without a moment to react, the entire brick wall came tumbling down. I shielded my face from dust and falling debris. I slowly opened my eyes seconds later to see the silhouette of a large figure.
It wasn't until the dust cleared up that I realized that it was… "Ralph?"
The large figure stepped forward proving to indeed be him. He seemed quite shocked and surprised to see me. "Kid?"
"Ralph!" I yelled joyously jumping in his arms. I rapped my hands around his neck as I began to hug him tightly.
"Hey there Kid!" He replied happily but then his expression changed completely when he began to hear my sniffling. "Woah Kid…. What's the matter?"
I looked up at him sadly and replied, "I messed up so bad Ralph…"
Meanwhile, The Hacker stood boldly on the top of the building letting out an evil cackle. "Ah, it's good to be back!" She cheered as she examined herself from head to toe.
She was suddenly interrupted however, by an irritating sound as she described it. She looked down to see Pepper still caught in her capture weapon.
She narrowed her eyes in annoyance at her as she watched her struggle to break free. "Right, I almost forgot." She suddenly threw Pepper across roof as she released her.
Pepper crashed into the small wall built around the roof top's edge from behind. She rubbed her head as she sat against the wall from the ruff landing.
"Aww, does someone have a boo boo?" The Hacker asked mockingly.
"No I do-" Pepper hissed but paused mid sentence when she finally got a good look at her Boss' current appearance. "I knew I wasn't seeing things… You really are The Hacker!" She continued in a shocked yet serious tone.
The Hacker laughed softly. "Well look who finally caught on!" Plus aren't you supposed to be a dude?!"
The Hacker began to laugh uproariously. "Of course, this is all meant unexpected Peppermint Swirl! My gender included. Everything about my existence is a tale as old as time… Except this tale…has been twisted… Twisted in your feeble little minds."
Pepper looked at her confused. "W-What are you talking about…"
She let out a soft, evil grin. "Surprising you don't know…" She smirked but her tone shifted into an angered one. "Since you have everything to do with this…"
She then began to look back at her past and explained everything…
Many years ago, two sisters rose to the top after once struggling. They were the head algorithms of a once popular website named YouTube. But it wasn't always like this.
When they started, the website was quite small and merely irrelevant compared the current popular websites out there, but after years of hard work and dedication, they managed to become successful!
The two sisters, who went by the names Holly and Hailey, were quite proud of this major accomplishment. Hailey was quite humble at first despite all of the sudden fame but Holly was quite the opposite.
She enjoyed every second of praise the company had received…..to the point were she got obsessed… She wanted more. More fame and popularity than anyone in the internet no matter what it took! That's when she discovered something that could do just that…
Hacking…
She started off by using it minorly to fix small problems but as time went by, her experience and tactics grew larger…
Things didn't get out of hand however, until that one fateful day… When Buzztube came along…
Suddenly, YouTube's popularity began to drop at a rapid paste, while Buzztube's was only growing and growing as the days went by…
Holly was furious about this. So furious that she wanted nothing more than revenge…
Not only on Buzztube, but every single person that inhabited the internet…
During that time, Holly decided to confront Hailey about the matter. She was more than displeased as well and they both seemed share the same motives.
That's when Holly found out a way to hack her code, turning herself into that powerful beast known as The Hacker…
She let Hailey in on her plan as well and offered to hack her code to make her just as equally powerful. Hailey agreed to join her and became the sneaky manipulator known today as The Scammer.
The two sisters then took over the Internet, making everyday into a living nightmare for everyone else. That was until someone decided to put a stop to them…
One day, a mysterious hero came out from the shadows with nothing but a ring and the clothes behind their backs.
The Hacker at first only turned a blind eye to them. "Trying to play the hero I see!" She mocked. "Try all you want, there's nothing you can do to stop me!" She cackled.
Suddenly the person raised their arm and pointed the ring at her. She began to feel weak all of a sudden then noticed what was happening. The person's ring…had the ability to absorb her hacked coding.
In a matter off seconds The Hacker was stripped from her power and was now left vulnerable. Everything good in the internet had been resorted and the brave soul was then named The Internet Hero!
"The Internet Hero….was the one who defeated you…" Pepper recapped. "But I don't understand… What does any of that have to do with me!"
The Hacker let out another laugh. "What does that have to do with?" She chuckled but her tone quickly shifted into an angered one. "Don't you get it… You're the reason I was left powerless all these years! You're the reason I had to lower myself to running this disgraceful company! YOU'RE THE REASON FOR EVERYTHING BECAUSE YOU WERE THE INTERNET HERO!"
A loud clap of thunder echoed throughout the area as the Hacker spoke those last few words.
Pepper was left dumbfounded. "N-No t-that's impossible… right?!"
"Oh I can assure that you it's all true! After you stripped me off my power, I woke up alone in the shadows defenseless with little to no chance at hope. But as you fled, you dropped something in the process. A red ring that contained very little of my power."
She lifted up her hand and showed Pepper the ring she was talking about. It was the same red ring she had been wearing this whole time.
"I restored my power back along with my sister's," She continued. "Since it contained most of her power. We later learned that there was another ring that contained the rest of our power. Since my sister could do more, she spent her life searching for it in hopes for us to both rain supreme once again."
A small smile creeped up on her face. "Using the little I had at the time, I decided to begin my revenge. Every person in the internet's memory became alternate, making that fateful day remembered as nothing but a legend! As for you, I wiped everything single memory of your past clean and made you start a new life, a new life of endless torture…"
Pepper's eyes widened once again. "What…" She had a hard time processing everything. She couldn't believe it; her whole life was a lie! She gave the Hacker an angered looked. "Ok, if all this is really true, why are you telling me?"
She giggled once more eerily. "Oh Pepper, don't you see. The truth no longer needs to be hidden. Now that I have back my power, things are gonna get a lot worse… Not just for you, but the entire internet!" She began to laugh menacingly as she lifted her head and spread out her arms as a celebration of her victory.
Pepper fumed her brows and got to her feet. "This is all crazy!" She thought to herself. "But if I'm really the internet hero, I have to do something to stop her." She let out a sudden gasp. "And V! I have to find her, but I gotta get away from The Hacker first but how…?"
She began to look at her surroundings and noticed a near by running wire not too far from the building's rooftop. She then took a look at her right hand and noticed that she was still holding her candy-cane.
That's when she came up with an idea to escape but it was quite risky. Pepper then extended her candy-cane and kept her eyes fixed on The Hacker.
She brought out the candy-cane's point and placed it point down on the ground. She pushed down on it and suddenly lunged herself feet first towards the Hacker's direction. At full speed she put her legs together and extended her right arm.
Without a warning, The Hacker lowered her head once again and was immediately hit in the face by Pepper's sudden attack. She stumbled back slightly from the impact but was uninjured.
Pepper's candy-cane ended up hooking onto the near by wire giving her a quick escape. She sighed a breath of relief as she zipped away from the scene. "That was close…" She sighed. "I'm coming V!"
A/N: Oof! Took a while with this chapter didn't I. I apologize for the wait. Been pretty busy lately since I started online school recently. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see ya next chapter. :)