Chapter 14 – Minty Sakura's Clue

Splat.

As Ralph lumbered his way through Game Central Station, he failed to notice a single hamburger slipping out of the massive armload that he was carrying and landing on the waxed floor.

It was very early in the dark of morning, with still several hours before Litwak was due to arrive and open the arcade for a brand-new day. Characters from games far and wide mingled about the terminal, some heading off to visit neighbouring consoles, others chatting happily with mugs of root beer in hand. Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde were gliding silently along towards the entrance to Pac-Man, Paperboy was cycling leisure laps around the station perimeter, and Zangief was in the middle of a light-hearted conversation with Yuni Verse.

Ralph slowly realized that not one of them knew that there had been a near-miss in the arcade that had almost claimed the life of a fellow arcade game character.

On his way towards Sugar Rush's outlet, he spotted Felix sitting on one of the station's metallic benches, the one positioned directly in front of the outlet he was heading for. Felix was nose-deep in a very large book, with several more manuals and texts lying at his feet, as well as a tall stack on the bench. Locked by his own curiosity, Ralph adjusted his cargo and took a detour to see his gaming partner.

"S'up, Felix?"

Felix looked up when he heard his name. "Oh hello, Ralph! I see you're back from BurgerTime."

"Yep! Got the goods for Vanellope," the big man said, glancing down at the generous stash of hamburgers weighing one arm down. "I think it's beyond bonkers that the Internet has so much, but not a single BurgerTime shack. Guess that makes a good excuse for her to come back here for a visit!"

He scanned the area. "Hey, where'd Calhoun disappear off to?"

"My Lady Love went back to reorganize her troops," Felix answered. "She did take the whole night off to tend to this big ol' catastrophe, after all."

Glancing past Felix, Ralph saw that the repair man wasn't alone. Sandwiched between him and the tall stack of books was the most unlikely choice Felix could have picked for company. It was Minty Sakura, the Japanese-speaking racer who had seemingly appeared out of thin air before Vanellope's arrival.

"Hey, Sugar Rush kid," Ralph greeted.

Minty smiled up at him and bowed her head politely, her green hair tied in a tight chocolate-dipped bun sparkling in the station lights.

"So what's all this, Felix?" Ralph asked, pointing at the books surrounding them. "You don't usually do late-night reading."

Felix set down the heavy book in his lap. "Actually, Ralph, these are ancient records and technical manuals for video games past. I decided to tap into memory lane to see what I could dig up."

Ralph picked up one of the old books, recognizing the very retro symbols and codes printed on the cover. "Whoa, this stuff's gotta be like…almost 50 years old!" he stated. "Didn't think they still made them."

"They don't," Felix answered. "I only just remembered that Surge has a collection stashed in Game Central's archive vault, and so I asked him politely if I could root around for some research purposes."

"After all," he added in a now shaky voice, "it's not every day when a video game character manages to survive from a squirrely code box."

It now dawned upon Ralph what Felix had been after. "Yeah…that was kinda weird, huh?" he said, putting it mildly. "I'm just glad she did."

He took a seat on the neighbouring bench. "Did you find any good answers?" he asked, passing a burger from his pile to Felix.

The repairman accepted the snack. "Funny you ask that, Ralph," he said. "I think I may have landed on the tiniest little lead."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

Felix sighed. "Well according to all these records collected from video gaming history, there have been chilling tales of characters who experienced similar spells as what Crumbelina did tonight. Taking on damage as they normally would by sticking to their game's program, but realizing too late that their code box wasn't fully installed. These cases are rare, but not unheard of."

Ralph was listening carefully. "So? How'd they survive?"

Felix took off his hat. "Most of them didn't," he said gravely. "There's a whole mammoth list of characters who have disappeared off the map thanks to disabled codes. So many lives lost from so many games over so many years, and oh, my baby girl could have very well been one of them."

"But she's not," Ralph interjected. "Crumbelina came back, so...that means you can somehow jump back to your own game."

Rather than responding right away, Felix gazed forward at the outlet before them. The digital readout display designating SUGAR RUSH hung over the entrance and the candy train sat waiting for passengers to travel down the copper wire-lined tunnel to enter the very game where this near-tragedy had happened.

"There have been the rare lucky few who have managed to regenerate, even after suffering such calamity," he finally explained slowly. "These numbers are tricky to riddle out, but from what I gather, it seems that fragments their code get caught in a sort of whirlwind backup space of the game's data board while their body gets left behind in a silent state. And apparently, it has something to do with their existing database being able to bring them back."

Felix then turned to look back at Ralph, a strange mysterious glow now present in his eyes. "You see, Ralph, we had just left Crumbelina after she had regenerated, but I couldn't stop thinking about this. Don't you think it was strange how she simply managed to revive at a random point? By what miracle did she come back? And that made me remember Minty Sakura here."

Ralph blinked and then looked over at the kimono-wearing racer who waved cheerfully at him. "Her?" he asked in confusion.

Felix nodded. "It occurred to me that not one of us had given the bite-sized morsel of thought as to how odd it was that Minty appeared right as we were waiting for Vanellope to come rushing back," he explained, putting a hand on Minty's shoulder.

Then he turned to look at her. "Miss Sakura, on behalf of everyone, I do hope you might accept my deepest apologies for rudely overlooking you throughout the whole night," he told her. "We were rather preoccupied with Crumbelina's situation."

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that, kid," Ralph put in, now feeling a bit guilty.

Minty smiled. "That is all right. It is only natural that you would be most concerned for your dear friend when her life was in danger," she said, her calm voice laced heavily with a strong Japanese accent. It was clear that she was struggling to speak English fluently.

Truth be told, Ralph hadn't given this surprise racer much thought besides the fact that he couldn't understand her Japanese. His thoughts all night had been filled with Vanellope's arrival and Crumbelina's survival.

"You kinda just popped out of nowhere, didn'ja?" he said to her. "Sorry for bein' blunt here, but…who are you exactly?"

Minty Sakura folded her hands in the sleeves of her pink kimono. "I believe it is more of a question of why I am here," she admitted in a tone that was calm, yet somewhat cryptic as she struggled to speak. "But all I know is that I was an official racer created by TobiKomi's original Sugar Rush. Exactly why I was carried over to the English edition, I am not sure."

Ralph frowned. He had forgotten that Sugar Rush originated from Japan; the Sugar Rush he knew was a dubbed version of it created specifically for the English side of the human world. He had once overheard Litwak telling the gamers that this was one of the only ones in the country too.

"I think the developers may have made a mistake by including my code in the carry-over," the girl continued. "Improperly, too. As far as I know, I only spawn when the game decides to. And that has not been so for many years. This is why my appearances in the game have always been undefined."

She sounded rather sad as she explained this. Her information sent a strange vibe to Ralph, who couldn't swallow the idea of being designed for a game, yet not have a secured spot in the code.

The word 'mistake' suddenly brought back a painful memory of something Vanellope had said to him on the night they had met: "Everyone here says I'm just a mistake and that I wasn't even supposed to exist."

"But Felix, what does all this have to do with Crumbelina?" he asked his game partner.

Felix was wringing his hammer in his hands. "That's what I wanted to know, Ralph," he answered. "So I decided to speak to Minty about how she spontaneously appeared out of the blue. And what did you say, honey?"

Minty gazed down at her boots for a moment, then back at the two men. "I sensed that someone was in danger," she hummed. "An emotional disturbance of great agony had shaken the game's spirit. I felt it within me…I didn't know what was happening out there, but I only remember that the more I focused on the imbalance present, the stronger of a connection I felt to my code. And the next thing I knew, I was fully virtual and one with the game again."

Ralph stared at her in bewilderment. "Wait, what?"

"I know it all sounds crazy, Ralph," Felix agreed. "But by puttin' two twos together I'm thinking that what Minty felt was the great turmoil we were all so overcome with when Crumbelina was lying in such a lifeless state. And then I remembered reading about such a phenomenon in these old manuals."

He gestured to the piles of dusty books. "These records seem to match with what Minty told me," he explained. "And I think that based on all this information, a video game character caught in limbo like that can jump back into the game, but only through feeling a certain spark and channeling an intensely emotional signature through their internal programming. They have to want to do it. And with more passion than anything they've ever wished possible. It sounds plain absurd, Ralph, but it very much means they would need to override their own code just to match it and zap back to virtual reality. The load of will power that strong would have to reach unimaginable limits to do something like that."

Ralph stared at Felix's wide eyes as he finished. He rubbed his chin, taking it all in. For his whole virtual life of nearly 40 years now, he had never heard of anything like this.

"Huh," he said at last. "Are you saying…that Crumbelina brought herself back by somehow wanting to do it?"

Felix nodded. "It would seem so. And I'd dare so far as to say that she was aware of her surroundings during the whole ordeal."

"You mean you think she was awake?"

"In a way," Felix answered. "But if she was, I am astonished that she was as calm as we saw her upon waking up. A near-death trauma like this would undoubtedly frighten the socks off of anyone! Especially an innocent soul as young as her."

Swiping a handkerchief from his toolbelt pocket, Felix mopped his face and sighed. "Tonight has just been chocked full of mysteries, but oh, good golly Miss Molly, that was just too close for comfort. We very well could have lost her, Ralph. I just don't want to imagine what life would be like. We already went through too much of a tailspin when Vanellope disappeared…who knows how we could handle such a loss as shattering as this."

We don't need another racer going missing, Ralph instantly thought to himself. One is enough.

"Maybe when Crumbelina wakes up, we can ask her if she remembers anything," he suggested, "and then figure out how she zoned back to life."

Felix smiled. "I intend to," he responded with determination strengthening his voice. He then took an aggressively large bite out of the burger Ralph has given him, dribbling ketchup on one of the books as he chewed with vigor. "As her father, it's my sworn duty to look after my children and tend to their every need!"

Ralph chuckled. Then he turned to the mysterious racer.

"Hey, uh…Minty was it?" he asked her. "You say that you've only managed to bounce back to the game when the game wants you in it?"

Minty Sakura nodded in response, once again looking despondent. "Hai. That seems to be the only way I have ever been able to return besides feeling this emotional impact," she intoned.

She gazed longingly at the outlet terminal. "But I would so very much love to be a part of Sugar Rush like all the others. Everyone has been so friendly. And tonight, I have seen it for myself: it is clear…from your concern for your friend Crumbelina to the compassion you have shown Gloyd that you all care very much for one another. I have never known such bonds of friendship before. It is a beautiful treasure. One that I have always wished to have."

"How I would love to join them and take part in the races," she intoned with a wistful sigh. "But I simply was not thought of to do that. I don't even know how much longer I have today before I disappear once more."

All at once, Wreck-It Ralph was forcibly reminded of a certain best friend, who had wasted away far too many years of her life as a prisoner within her own game, without any way of taking part in it like the racer she was. Frowning big time, he saw much too much of Vanellope in this sad little racer.

"Hey, hey now, don't think like that, kid," he said firmly. "I for one know that it's just flat out dumb for a racer made for Sugar Rush to not get to play in her own game. I say we gotta fix that right here, right now!"

He turned to his attention to Felix. "What d'ya think, Felix?" he asked. "If Minty's a racer, then her code ought to be down there somewhere, just waiting to be put into place where it belongs. Should we give this kid the chance to prove her worth to the game or what?"

Felix smiled, instantly picking up on the idea. "Ralph, my friend, I was thinking the very same!"

He wiped the crumbs off his gloves on his handkerchief and faced Minty again. "Young lady, I have no reason whatsoever to believe that you should remain a mere ghost within the game you were made for. Our good friend Vanellope can vouch for that! How would you feel if I were to locate your code box down in that big ol' vault and find a way to make you a permanent resident of Sugar Rush?"

Minty Sakura's green eyes widened, and now she faced Felix with a most hopeful look. "Oh, Mr. Felix, can you really do that?" she asked incredulously.

"Certainly!" Felix exclaimed. "It should be a piece of cake! Ralph and I have, after all, been around for 37 years, and won't hesitate to offer any game character a home of their own! We arcade citizens must pull together whatever the weather. And not to toot my horn, but I do know my way around the codes that hold our games together. Me and my trusty hammer, of course," he added, patting his signature tool, which emitted its metallic sheen.

The light in Minty's face shone like diamonds. "Oh, that would be wonderful! Arigato, Mr. Felix," she said with tears of happiness already appearing. It was clear that she had been waiting for this moment for a very long time.

Felix matched her smile. "Better yet, why not become a member of our family? We'd love to have you join us!" he declared. "In a family of 16 like ours, there's always room for one more."

Ralph's heart glowed warmly as he watched Minty throw her long kimono-sleeved arms around Felix, tackling him in a joyful hug. The smile on her face was exactly like Vanellope's, seven years ago when she had been positively gushing over the sloppy, yet fully functional racing kart that they had built together. To this day, Ralph greatly treasured that squealing look on his best friend's face; it had been the first time he had seen her so happy, and for good reason: she had been one step closer to achieving her dream of being a full-fledged racer.

And now, Minty Sakura was too.

"You're a good daddy, Felix," he said, patting the repairman's shoulder. "Ever since you and Calhoun took those little pop-tarts in as your own, I've never seen them so happy. And you guys too, for that matter."

Felix could only beam in agreement.

Leaning back against the bench, Ralph sighed. "Well, all's well that ends well. Crumbelina's safe now, that's what matters," he said with relief. "I'm just glad it's finally over."

He shook his head. "But we really don't need that kind of excitement happening any time soon."

Felix too leaned back, feeling relief wash through his programming. "I wholeheartedly agree, Ralph."

He glanced forward again, staring down the long dark tunnel that spanned through Sugar Rush's copper-lined wire.

"But until we get the chance to ask Crumbelina for ourselves, it boggles my mind…how exactly did she manage to come back?" he wondered out loud. "We may never know for certain what happened."

Minty Sakura followed Felix's gaze down the passage. "There is only one thing that I can say for certain," she whispered. "Whatever it was that triggered Crumbelina's emotional state, it had to have been very, very strong."