Chapter 3:
Banoffee de Fairikaik: Hello again!
Well, I'm very glad you won't be trying to take-over your cousins game ;). And I bet he loves your visits.
Sorry, I didn't specify, but the Cherries are from the game Pac-Man. Like, the 1-Up Mushroom would be from the Mario games. I went ahead and corrected that fault.
And I am so very glad that the last chapter did not disappoint! And be prepared for some best friendly/brotherly antics in the future, 'cause it'll only get better until it ends horribly. As we know in the movie, Lol.
And, hey, you continue reviewing, I'm going to have to continue adding you to the A/Ns :).
Enjoy the next chapter! Sorry about the wait, btw.
Guest: Hello and thank you for reviewing. I didn't realize that was happening, how awful. I might not agree with them but I certainly wouldn't give them a hard time about it, myself. And I wasn't looking for any "competition", I assure you. There's enough space on this site for everyone.
A big thank you to MonalisaRomano17, Makolina, Turannoktonnos, and METTAcipher for Favoriting and Following my story.
A Quick Warning! I had to change the way I did scene breaks for the same POV, since isn't allowing the way I used to do it. You'll know when you come across it. Hopefully, it isn't too annoying or anything...
Disclaimer: I do not own Wreck-it Ralph, nor any of its characters.
This fiction is an AU and not to be considered canon.
Tan gloved hands slammed onto the table he sat at; nearly causing the drink he had brought up to his lips to spill, as he jolted in surprise.
"Turbo!" The character that had disturbed him yelled.
"What's the big idea?!" The feisty racer snarled, glaring at the offender.
Taking note of who it was, his eyes narrowed even further. It was that repairman that ran into him earlier. Couldn't he see that the racer wanted to eat in peace? Was he back for a fight?
Turbo's fists unconsciously clenched under the table.
"I need a word with you, sir." The dinner-crasher continued, ignoring the playable racer's animosity.
"Speak your mind, since you so obviously have something important to say." The feisty racer leaned back in his chair, doing a pretty good job of acting calm.
Underneath the table his leg bounced nervously.
"Thank you, I do indeed." The fixer took a seat.
Apparently this guy didn't know sarcasm.
"Alright, first off, I'd like to let you know that you're forgiven for what happened earlier—"
"—I'm forgiven?—"
"—and I'm willing to try again on what will be an amazing friendship." The handyman looked pleased with himself.
The racer's blood boiled.
"Look, I'm sorry, but—"
"Oh, your forgiven. Did I not just say that?" A glint seemed to form in the handyman's eyes.
The racer gaped a moment before snapping out of it.
"Alright, wise guy! Let's see how confident you are when I give you a knuckle sandwich." Turbo stood up, his chair falling over behind him, waving his fist in front of the fixer's face.
Felix faltered for a moment. The feisty racer was admittedly terrifying when angered. What with his ashen skin, yellow eyes, pitch black irises, dark rings surrounding his eyes —causing them to look sunken in—, and yellowed teeth.
What had this kid's developers been thinking when creating his game?
The handyman made an effort not to let it get to him. It was time for a different approach. Hadn't Shift mentioned guilt tripping?
"Why… why can't you just be nice for one conversation?"
Turbo froze, surprised.
"I can be nice!" He defended, bringing his fist down and guardingly crossed his arms.
"You haven't been nice to me all day." The fixer continued as he absentmindedly fiddled with one of his gloves, keeping his eyes down.
"To be fair, I've only ran into you once. Literally." Turbo's brows furrowed. "That doesn't technically constitute as a day, Fix-it."
Felix's eyes flew up in shock.
"You know who I—"
"—It ain't hard to guess" The racer chuckled bitterly. "Plus, you're the spitting image of your dad. Just younger."
"I am?" Felix asked genuinely, then rubbed his neck embarrassed. "I, uh, wasn't really programmed with any memories of him. Or— or my parents in general."
If being rude to the new game character made the racer feel bad, this was much worse.
An awkward hush overtook them as they tried to find something to say. The racer took the time to fix his chair and sit back on it.
"I can be nice." Turbo reiterated in an attempt to bring back the argument. Arguments were something that he knew. They were safe. He had a harder time with this more heartfelt stuff. With arguments he had a better chance of turning the conversation to his favor. He knew how to manipulate with his words.
And manipulation was easiest when tension was high and the opponent wasn't as concerned with what they were saying.
"Then prove it." Felix's determined look had returned.
"Maybe I will."
"Great, then meet me at my game cabinet tomorrow and—"
"No." The racer braced his arms on the table, his hands clasped together. "If we're doing this, it'll be on my terms. Or did you forget, you were the one who interrupted my dinner?"
"Okay, okay. Your terms." The fixer's face grew red.
"If you're truly —and I mean truly!— interested in being my... friend, then stop by Turbotime after hours tomorrow and we'll go from there okay?" Then he glared at Felix thoughtfully. "My brothers didn't put you up to this, did they?"
"No, sir! They only told me to get you to apologize to me; the friendship thing was my own idea." The fixer puffed out his chest and placed his hands on his waist, as if proud of that fact.
Turbo was thrown off by this new character yet again.
The absolute honesty and naivety of the handyman was blinding. This guy was going to get eaten alive by the cruelty of the other characters.
The racer supposed, if this wound up working, then he had to add in this moron to his tiny list of people he had to take care of.
How annoying.
"...Right." The lead driver stood back up and withdrew a tiny bag from his pocket. Reaching inside the pouch, the racer brought out the coins necessary to pay for his meal and then threw the rest of the bag into the startled hands of his uninvited guest. "Here, get yourself a nice, warm meal. On me, chump."
Ignoring the confused gaze of the handyman, Turbo swiped what was left of his burger and made his leave. It seemed his moping time was to be cut short today.
It, luckily, wasn't too long of a wait for the Burgertime cord-train and soon enough the racer was walking out into Game Central. Passing through the game's invisible barrier, Surge appeared after a heart-stopping alarm and red light.
The lead character, however, didn't seem to be too bothered and merely continued on his way.
"You know there's no food allowed outside of games, Turbo." The blue man huffed, crossing his arms in annoyance.
"Stick it up your tailpipe!" Was the racer's response, making sure to take an especially large mouthful of his food.
The protector merely sighed and marked down yet another violation onto the ever growing list of "Turbo Offenses".
He couldn't do much else, these days. He wouldn't hear the end of it from the LCC if he had restrained the lead of their star game cabinet, despite it being proper procedure for this circumstance. Letting the feisty racer go wasn't too hard of a decision, to be honest.
It wasn't like he was any true threat to the arcade, just an obnoxious troublemaker.
So, with a wave goodbye at the racer's retreating form, Surge disappeared as quickly as he came.
The rest of the trip back home was, thankfully, uneventful. Which suited Turbo just fine at the moment.
Alas, nothing considerably good in his life ever lasted for very long. Although, that was probably a bit of a stretch to say, since his cabinet had only been plugged in for a year.
The lead driver turned his head sluggishly from his seat within his beloved T-Racer, a shout had been called out to him, and rolled his eyes as his older brothers came up to greet him.
"So…" Gears smirked, once he and his twin had reached their lead, his nose upturned. "How was your "important business"?"
The youngest racer snorted.
"I never said I had "important business", just that I had better places to be."
"And… Burgertime was the best place you could think of?" Shift lifted an eyebrow. His little bro was quite the character, indeed. Where had he gone wrong? "I mean, at least go to a place with some actual, decent food. Like Tappers."
Despite the game only being about serving drinks, after hours Tapper always had a surprisingly wide set of food options to sell.
Nobody knew where the bartender got his supply from and no one dared to ask; although some have mentioned noticing him talk to Surge in private every great while.
"Just because Burgertime doesn't have such a big selection, doesn't make them bad." Turbo puffed out his cheeks. "Besides, I like the atmosphere… less people to deal with."
The twins' expressions softened in understanding. Being popular wasn't all it was cracked up to be; even if their lead practically revelled in attention.
Then their youngest brother's face hardened.
"At least, it was peaceful, until that— that… handyman showed up." The lead racer's hands flew up in a dramatic display, his face turning as red as his stripes.
Shift and Gears exchanged amused gazes. The gruffer of the two had to bite his lip to keep from chuckling.
"O-oh yeah?" The calmer twin choked out, raising a hand to cover his mouth in an attempt to keep his own amusement under control. He couldn't wait to hear his baby brother's tale; he had twenty coins on the line, after all. "What happened with this *snirk*... this handyman?"
Gears grabbed a hold of his twin's arm in an effort to steady himself and the calmer twin noticed that his gruffer counterpart was biting onto his fist.
Luckily, Turbo had yet to catch on, too caught up in his rant.
"ARGH!" The lead snarled. "He said he "forgave me" and that he was "willing to still be friends with me"."
The twins were now choking on air, it was getting harder for them to hold on to their laughter.
By now, Turbo had jumped out of his racecar and began to pace, arms still swinging around him dangerously.
"Then he accused me of not being nice and when I defended myself he challenged me to prove it!"
Roaring chortles snapped the feisty racer out of his tizzy and he stopped his movements in order to glare at his brothers.
Were they laughing at him?!
"Wow, J-Junior is more diesel than I originally gave him credit for!" Gears coughed out as he practically hung off his twin. His chest heaved up and down as he gasped for air. "Didn't think the guy had what it— it took to stand up to you like that."
"Oh, man… yeah." Shift wiped his watery eyes, knees shaking from having to keep both himself and his twin from falling on the dirt that made up their game's ground. "We must have really given him a speed boost."
The lead had opened his mouth to give them a piece of his mind, but stopped short when their mention of the handyman had registered.
He recalled the new game cabinet in place of its old predecessor. Right next door to their own cabinet.
"Fix-it Felix Jr." Turbo thought out loud, without really meaning to.
The sudden calmness of their youngest sobered the twins up; they gave each other an uneasy glance.
"Yes…" The calmer twin hesitantly nodded. "That would be his name. I'm sure you must have noticed his cabinet is one of the ones just plugged in."
Turbo's lack of a sarcastic comment at the obviousness was a cause for concern, unsettling the twins.
Gears, for once, attempted to be a bit more gentle.
"Look, uh, I know how much the Fix-its were to you. I mean, we were just as close to them—!"
"Shut up." The lead racer bared his teeth, crinkling his nose. "Just. Shut up. I don't want to talk about this anymore."
There was a moment of solemn quiet among the racers until Turbo had managed to gather himself.
"I made an agreement with… the handyman. He'll be coming around tomorrow after the arcade closes. If you find him first, send him to me. I was hoping to tweak some things within our code room before he and I went off and proved my ability to be "nice"." The feisty racer rolled his eyes and made his way inside the dilapidated garage that they called a home.
"Maybe you could try and figure out how to make us a mansion, while you're in there." The gruff racer spoke up, trying to regain a lighter atmosphere. He honestly hated going to bed with such thick tension sitting heavily over them; it had become unfortunately more common in the last months.
He and his twin had followed their lead, both moving to walk on either side of their youngest brother.
"Ha, I'll do you one better! If I figure out how to make buildings, I'll make us a castle." Turbo's willingness to joke broke the ice and soon all three were laughing and teasing each other as they got ready for bed.
For once, they rested peacefully.
Well, that conversation was exhausting.
Felix rubbed his stomach and sighed, moving to sit in one of the little passenger carts that made up the cord-train to his cabinet.
At least the feisty little racer was thoughtful enough to pay for his meal.
Felix wasn't exactly certain if medals would be considered a type of currency in Game Central Station. He'd have to ask Surge about it when he next got the chance.
Right now, the handyman just wanted a good rest.
Thoughts of a warm pillow and blanket popped, however, when the sight of the crowd of small NPCs came into view at the other end of the track.
He stifled a groan and placed on a smile, instead. A smile which turned more genuine when he could fully see the fear and near panic on their faces.
"What happened, Felix?" One of the Nicelanders spoke up. Felix vaguely recalled that his name was Roy.
"Oh, plenty happened! I met some nice fellow characters and got a bit of a history recap by these two wonderful new friends I made. You'll have to meet 'em!"
Relief relaxed the group of NPCs' shoulders and they nodded amongst themselves. All except for Gene.
The mayor narrowed his eyes.
"Nothing bad then?" His words brought some tension back into the group. Their eyes pointedly going back to Felix.
"Well…," The fixer rubbed the back of his head. "I did get into a little bit of an… let's say an argument. Nothing too bad! I assure you! In fact, Turbo and I made plans to, well, hang out with each other after hours, tomorrow."
"This "Turbo" was causing you problems?" An eyebrow raised, unquelled, on the mayor's face. Gene didn't believe he even liked the name of this character; it seemed too… flashy. Potentially self-absorbed. Nothing that Felix needed to "hang out" around. There was also a bit of a stabbing pain in his chest at the thought of his lead character deciding to spend time with others outside his game. "Are you sure it's a good idea, Felix, to surround yourself with a fishy character that likes to start fights?"
"Oh, my land! No. He— he wasn't trying to start a fight. I just happened to accidentally… unintentionally… bump into him, is all. It was just a misunderstanding, nothing more." The handyman knew he needed to get off this subject and quickly. He had intended for the rest of the night to get along much more peacefully; without thinking about the embarrassing evening he's already had. "Besides! There's plenty more to talk about. Like, the Lead Character Council and what Game Central Station is like —come on now! Let's not dilly-dally."
The lead ushered his NPCs toward the apartments, answering questions and keeping a lookout for any vicious ducks on the prowl. He didn't notice the pair of eyes watching them from beyond the brick stacks that made up the dump.
100000001000001000001
The next day came and with it, their second day of Opening Hours.
Quarters were being shoved into their cabinet left and right; it was a busy day. All the children had wanted to get their hands on the new Fix-it Felix game. Especially since this one had a story to it!
It left Felix forgetting about the made plans until the still yet unfamiliar howl of "Arcade's closed!" signified that his work was done.
The remembrance of the "bet" brought with it Felix's social anxiety.
Which found the lead character locking himself into his room, biting on one of his gloved fingers within his walk in closet, and listening to the bangs against his door as his Nicelanders pleaded with him to get out.
What had he been thinking?! Challenging the arcade's most popular and influential game character?
Where had his common sense gone yesterday?!
"Felix, dear, we know you're in there. Please come out!" The sweet voice of Mary came up to his ears, muffled by the white painted wood that made up his door.
"Yeah, you can't hide in there forever! Don't you remember what you're supposed to be doing today? You're going to spend time with that T-tur… T-to… uh, that racing guy next door!" The handyman cringed at Norwood's reminder. That's what he was trying to hide from.
Felix tried fake coughing.
"*cough, cough* Y'—Y'know guys… I don't think I'm *cough* feeling so good. Maybe we should just call the whole thing off."
There was a bit of silence on the other side. The fixer's hopes were brought up the longer it took for them to answer.
Then a muffled, "Is he seriously trying to play sick? Game characters don't get sick… do they?", sounded through the door and he groaned leaning back against the wall.
He had to get out of here.
With a swift motion and powerful leap, the lead fixer jumped out the window and landed safely onto the sidewalk in front of the apartment building.
Looking left-to-right, ensuring no one had yet caught on, he scurried to the back of the game; the other side of the lake, where the rather tiny woods area resided.
Felix, upon entering the trees, hid behind the largest trunk he could find and held his breath. His eyes darted to-and-fro, as he waited for any sounds of rushing feet.
When it became clear that he hadn't yet been found out, the handyman released his breath with a sigh.
Then he turned his head to the left and screamed.
Without realizing it, Ralph had snuck up to him and was now giving him a confused glare.
"What are you doing?" The wrecker title his head and crossed his arms.
"I, uh…" The handyman bit his lip, then shook his head and tried to look stern. "Well, what are you doing? Creepin' up on me like ya are."
The wrecker's eyes widened and he took a step back, rubbing the back of his head.
"Ah gee, sorry, Felix. I wasn't trying to startle you. Ya're just acting a little… fishy. What with all the hiding and sneaking."
The smaller character wilted and sighed, taking his hat off his head and messing with the rim.
"No, I'm sorry Ralph. I'm sure you only meant the best; I shouldn't have accused you of anything less." The playable fixer scuffed his shoe against the ground and frowned. "I… I've just got the nervy jitters, something awful."
"Is it because of that one game character you're meeting up with?" The Bad Guy sat down on the ground and settled in.
"You over heard that, huh?" Felix followed his antagonist's example, giving the NPC a small smile.
"It wasn't too hard to hear, considering all the— the… panic over whatever's outside." There was a hesitance that overtook the larger avatar. "...is it nice? The other side of the cord, I mean."
Felix gave him a comforting pat.
"Yeah, it honestly isn't too bad. Different, that's for sure. I think you might like it; everybody that I interacted with was pretty welcoming for the most part."
"With the exception of that one guy, right?"
"Heh, yeah. With the exception of Turbo." The handyman chuckled. "But I'm planning on remedying that today, when… when…"
Ralph tilted his head as he waited for Felix to finish. Unfortunately, the fixer seemed more determined to wring out his hat.
"When you… meet up with him?" The wrecker narrowed his eyes. "Wait, why are you meeting up with the one guy who wants nothing to do with you? That seems… stupid. No offense."
"It does seem a bit foolish, I'll admit. But he has these twin brothers who kind of came up to me and, well, talked me into it… I-I don't know what I was thinking, now that I've had time to process it."
Ralph looked on in sympathy, fingers twitching as he resisted the urge to reach out. He wasn't too certain of his strength and didn't want to accidentally harm his fellow character.
"Well…" the wrecker tried to find words instead. "At least you're reaching out and trying to… make friends? I'm sorry. I'm not entirely certain what you're trying to do."
"I… I think I might be trying to help a fellow in need, Ralph." Felix could feel the same determination that had welled up in him the day before, coming back. "He needs someone. Someone with good influence, I mean. And— and I'm willing to be that someone."
"...Okay. Just. Be careful, Felix." The bigger avatar sighed. "You still don't know this guy. He could turn out to be really bad and harm you."
The handyman looked up, beyond the leaves and branches that hung over them, and to the floating lights that made up their "stars".
"I'll admit. I have some misgivings about this… but I have a good feeling that —in the end— things are gonna turn out okay." Felix looked back to his cabinet's Bad Guy and smiled genuinely. "Thank you, Ralph. I needed to talk. I'll be seein' ya later."
"Sure, sure. See ya." The wrecker's gaze followed his Hero as he made the trek to the cord-train and hopped in. Then he shifted his gaze upon the big building that stood in the direct middle of his game's map.
Perhaps it was time for some courage of his own?
A/N: Poor Felix, Haha. And what is Ralph up to?
It honestly took me way longer to write this than it should have. I got a little discouraged when I realized how little of my plot I wrote down and how little I could remember it.
But I'm back! And definitely know where I want this to go.
I'm just- so excited guys. Like, I'm literally going over my outline for this story and giggling over all of the silly/fun subplots; then i'm getting all sad and listening to depressing music that just goes with the angst that I'll be writing towards the end of this fic.
Anyways, don't be afraid to let me know how you think of my story and I wish you all a good day/night.