They both walked back in utter silence, even when the pleasant surroundings of the search bar and the Google home area came into view. Eventually, they were forced to stop as they both sighed.
Vanellope broke the silence. "So, that was weird," she noted.
"Yeah, yeah it was weird."
"I… I didn't think I'd ever see another me before. I guess I never imagined it could even happen."
Ralph nodded. "Well, you know how arcades work. There are probably dozens of you out there."
She looked up in a worried expression. "Only dozens? That's it?"
"Uh, or hundreds, maybe thousands. Look, I don't know. The point is, the users make more than one machine. So it's not impossible to see what we saw. But… that was so weird."
She twirled around and glitched over to his shoulders. "You said she was acting funny. What'd ya mean?"
"You mean other than her drooling on herself?" Ralph glanced down to the empty canister, twirling it in his freakishly huge hands. "I… I think she was high, kid. High on drugs."
She blinked and tilted her head quizzically. "Uh, what's a drug? And she didn't look very high to me, looked kind of low..."
"No it's…" he trailed off and thought about it.
Ralph blinked and giggled. Well, she is just a kid, he thought. He always appreciated his friend's naive nature, it was refreshing how she saw things. Just like a child. But she is a child, he noted in his head.
A child who was now rudely knocking on his skull over and over. "Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello!"
Clenching his teeth and rolling his eyes. "Yes, what is it, my lady?"
"Oh, sorry, was just wondering where your brain went? You sure you're okay?" she asked, hanging upside down off of his head, staring at him face to face.
"Never better," he lied. Ralph set her down on the ground, thinking. She's a kid, which means any other Vanellope are kids. If she's using this stuff… I gotta find out why or how she even got a hold of it. Vanellope was now skipping around happily as they walked, though unlike the previous clone of the impish girl, her coordination was far more balanced.
"Well, how do you even know what this stuff is? No offense, barf breath, but, uh… you're not the most knowledgeable game character there is." He tried to argue but she held up a tiny hand. "Relax, I don't mean to call you dumb… for once. It's just you usually only hang out in Litwak's and it's not the biggest arcade in the universe."
It was a solid argument, he figured. "Well, your game wasn't around for the weird drug scar messages. But a lot of our machines used to warn the users about things called drugs and how only losers used them. And kid? She did not look like a winner in my book. 'Sides, I've heard a few guys at tappers talk about these," he noted, twirling the spent canister in his hand.
She nodded, seemingly deep in thought. So deep that her face scrunched up in annoyance with her tiny tongue sticking out.
"Uh, look, kid. I know we planned to hang out today since the arcade has the week off and all," he said, dreading how she was gonna react.
She blanched at him. "Ralph… what's this about."
He sighed. "I hate doing this, but I want you to get back to your game, now."
She halted in her steps. "What?! But you promised we'd hang out today! I had plans!" she yelled, looking downcast and hurt.
Ralph smiled while using his freakishly long finger to tilt her chin up. "Ah, kid. You know I'd never abandon ya, right?"
She pouted. "Yeah, sure sounds like it, barf brain!"
"I don't know what's going on with that other you, with that kid. Until I give the go, I want you back in your game where it's safe. Okay?"
She grunted her teeth and fumed. "I can take care of myself, you big buffoon! I may be a kid, but I was left alone for, well, forever in that stupid Sugar Rush game. I'm coming with you!"
"I…" he trailed off and thought about it. Not letting her get her way in the past had never ended well between the two. She's a capable girl, Ralph. Just trust her for once…
Finally, he smiled while offering his arm to her.
Her eyes lit up. "You mean it? I can come?!"
"Well, I'm just going to the search bar to get some answers. I guess it can't be that unsafe."
She glitched up to his shoulder and smiled ecstatically. "Let's go, munch butt!"
"Hello KnowsMore, how you been?" Vanellope exclaimed.
The purple coded wizard of knowledge beamed down at her. "I've been well, thank you kindly, young miss."
"Listen, uh, we're wondering where this might have come from?" she said while pointing to the dripping red canister in Ralph's hands.
The knowledge-based mascot gasped while backing away as quickly as he could. "Wh- where did you get s- something so v-v-vial!" he spat, his voice stuttering like crazy.
Ralph nervously glanced down at Vanellope who shared a quick glance. "Well, a, uh a little girl dropped it. A girl her age, KnowsMore," he admitted.
His eyes widened in shock as he shook his head. "That's horrible. Listen you two, that sort of thing can only come from The Dark Web. It's viral code, designed to mess with an avatar's inner self. It could screw someone up permanently, or worse, get them deleted."
The little racer backed away, horrified. "What? Deleted how?!" Vanellope said.
"It's practically a virus, an addictive one at that. If anyone was under the influence of one these wretched things and they ran into an anti-virus scanner, it would be game over for them."
"Why the hay would anyone ever use one of these, then?!" she asked him. At this, despite KnowsMore's nature in providing knowledge, he hesitated.
Ralph decided it was high time to interject. "Well, kid, it's nasty code. It… it makes you feel good, really good, but you have to keep using it or bad things start to happen to you and your, well… code," he explained in the best manner he could think of.
KnowsMore nodded rather solemnly. "Which is precisely why avatars should steer clear of them. If a child like her has truly gotten a hold of one of those, well, then it's likely not going to end well for them," he stated in a downcast manner.
Ralph and Vanellope shared a sidelong glance, both looking utterly depressed. Vanellope, in particular, couldn't believe what she was hearing.
They left the search bar in a hurry and found a nearby quiet bench to relax on. Vanellope had actually started using his freakishly large knee as a makeshift pillow while she contemplated everything.
"Hey, Ralph?"
"What's up, kid?"
"W- why do you think she's even here?"
"The other you?" he asked and she nodded. "Well, you're here I mean I dunno."
"Yeah, I'm here because my programming got screwed with and I'm not a prissy princess like the game wanted me to be. I left my game behind because I found something better. Just because there's a million of me out there, doesn't mean they're just like me!"
"Well I… I guess. I dunno, kid. Maybe her game got unplugged and she ended up here?"
It didn't seem like too far of a stretch considering how they found the internet. Vanellope nodded while cuddling closer to his leg.
"She really seemed in a bad way, kid. It's bugging me."
"Because she looks like me?" Vanellope questioned, glancing back up at him.
"I thought you said she didn't?" he teased.
She snorted. "Whatever."
What if Vanellope had ended up like her, he thought to himself.
"What ya thinking about?"
He groaned, knowing full well that such a young child did not need to know about anything involving drugs. "Look, I'm sorry this, you know, ruined our day together."
She snorted. "You really are a stink brain, huh? You didn't ruin anything, okay? Yeah, it got weird, but that's not anyone's fault. I had fun… in a weird way, I guess," she admitted bashfully.
"You did?" he asked in a confusing manner. Thinking back on it, she simply nodded.
"Yeah, because I got to be with you," she murmured with a shy smile. The adorable racer snuggled closer into his arms and sighed with content. "I… I dunno."
"Listen, not to harp on you, kid, but if all you want is to be with me, why'd leave the arcade?"
She sighed. "I wasn't… I wasn't happy with Sugar Rush. Too many bad memories, I guess."
Vanellope looked away, ashamed of herself. Ralph had a hunch she was keeping things inside, secrets she would never tell anyone but maybe him. She yawned and buried her face into his arm again.
"C'mon, kid, let's get ya home," he said warmly while carrying her over toward her new game: Slaughter Race.
"Nah sleepy…" she muttered tiredly.
"Sure you aren't, munchkin."
As they walked in silence, she shifted a bit around his arms. "Ralph?"
"What is it, kid?"
"Love you… stink brain," she mumbled.
He patted her back with his free hand as gently as he could and nodded. "Love you too, dirty-haired brat." Which only made her smile wider.
Ralph carefully tiptoed up to her new apartment, a place she shared with her new best friend, Shank. He spotted her bed, easy given how vastly different its design was from the rest of the world. While she had opted to try and blend in, it was clear that Vanellope still had a like for her old candy kingdom. With brightly colored bed sheets, candy-themed posters and plenty of other sugar-themed objects which littered her neck of the building. The rest of the place was anything but bright and cheery looking since it was basically a thug themed garage for Shank and her gang.
He smiled and gently tucked the ex-princess into her bed with her happily snoozing away.
"Was wondering when she'd get back, Ralph."
Ralph whipped around, finding the virtual leader of Slaughter Race, Shank. She stood there with a smug smile with her hands firmly grasped on her hips.
"Oh, uh yeah, sorry about keeping her out late and all…"
The woman shrugged. "You know she talks about you so much. It's a shame your arcade can't just… I dunno, be here, on the internet."
Ralph sighed and nodded. "Yeah… listen, Shank? I know I've said this a lot to you, but I really do appreciate you taking care of her. You know when I can't," he said, muttering the last part.
"Yeah well- Ralph! What the heck is this?!" she said in a harsh whisper. She had reached out and yanked the empty canister out of his hands. "Are you doing digital drugs?!"
"Woah, easy there, Shank I-"
"Because I swear to the users if you are-"
"Enough," he said, making sure not to keep his voice too loud. "Can we talk about this downstairs? And I am not doing… those, I promise."
She gave him a skeptical stare and then eventually nodded, motioning for him to follow. She motioned for him to take a seat on her couch, which he reluctantly did though that left zero room for her.
"Okay, spill it. What is this about, Ralph?" she asked while motioning to the canister.
He took a deep breath and sighed. "I was waiting around for Vanellope, earlier this morning, just like we planned. I thought she was late and I was about to call her when I found her, or so I thought…"
Shank tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean, Wrecker? Thought?"
"It was another Vanellope von Schweetz, Shank. From another arcade."
The gruff racer nodded, her eyes widening a little bit. "I… see. That doesn't explain this."
"I'm getting to that. Anyway, I greeted her but she was acting super funny, well, like she was high on those things," he admitted. Shank gasped.
"No…"
Ralph explained everything he saw about the other Vanellope, how she acted when she got scared and how they tried to catch up to her. And how the canister got into their possession.
Shank slowly slipped onto the other couch, her eyes frozen in shock. A child? Using drugs? A child as young as Vanellope?! Impossible. A child that essentially was Vanellope?!
"There's something else, Shank," Ralph muttered.
More, there was more?!
"She glitched in front of me, but this wasn't any cute superpower, it looked painful. Vial, red, like a-"
"Like a virus," Shank finished.
"Y- yeah, just like a virus," Ralph replied, looking suddenly ashamed of himself. He had tampered with viruses before, thinking he had been doing the right thing. That was a mistake he would never make again.
Ralph slumped against his couch and moaned. "What do I do, Shank? If I go try and find this… this girl and help her-"
"Woah, woah, woah, little man. Who said anything about that? Are you nuts?!"
"...What?" Ralph couldn't believe what he was hearing.
She marched forward and pointed her finger accusingly on him. "You want to march off to creator knows where just to find this… this girl, that you don't even know, Ralph. And you're gonna leave Vanellope. What if you get hurt? What if you get derezzed?!" her voice rose a few notches higher with each word, making him flinch.
He looked down like a child being scolded by their parent but said nothing.
"You mean the world to Vanellope, Ralph. What do you think she would do with herself if you vanished?"
At first, he considered the darker meaning in her words, mulling them over and groaned. "She'd follow me. She'd run out to find me…"
"Exactl-"
"What's going on?"
Both of them whipped their heads around and found a sleepy looking Vanellope walking down the stairs. She rubbed her eyes and yawned a bit. "Heard some shouting."
"Uh, nothing's going on. Just talking," Ralph said in an incredibly nervous manner.
Vanellope scanned the two and was about to turn around when her eyes locked onto the spent drug canister on the table. "Talking, huh? About what?" she asked her adorably tiny hands on her hips.
Ralph drew a blank. "Uh…."
Shank pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Vanellope, just please go to bed."
She pouted and shook her head. "You're going after her, aren't ya?!"
"Well, I…" Ralph shared an uncomfortable stare with Shank and eventually nodded. "Yeah, kid. I'm going after her."
Instantly the little pixie sized racer glitch teleported over to his shoulder, fully donned out in her traditional mint green jacket and tights. "Alright, Ralphie Boy. You really wanna go rescue her then I'm coming with ya!"
Shank scoffed, giving the wrecker an angry stare. As if to say do something!
"Kid, I'm going down to the Dark Web. You know the place that scared the jebbies out of ya?"
While it was a good point, Vanellope stood firm. "If you're going, I'm sticking to ya like syrup! No, if, ands or butts about it!" she exclaimed while playfully wiggling her butt in his face.
But there was no giggles to follow, only deeply rooted frowns from both of her friends. "Why are you both looking at me like that? What? You don't think I can take care of myself?"
"Vanellope! Where I'm going is dangerous. Simple. And-"
"Save it! If it's dangerous then I wanna be there to protect you, booger breath!"
"Protect me?! Kid, I've eaten cherries out of Pac-Man bigger than you!"
"Size isn't everything," she argued and glitched back over to his shoulder. "Can you glitch? Can you teleport?" she asked rhetorically then shook his head for him from side to side with her tiny hands. "Sides, with how big you are, you'll stick out like a sore thumb!"
He snorted. "Oh, and a candy munching little driving pixie fits so naturally in with the internet's most despicable scum?"
"Why you…" she started, her facing turning beet red from anger. Her body full on glitched out of control as she seethed and panted, trying to relax. "I'm going, Ralph. And you can't stop me."
Both adults responded in unison, "NO!"
Vanellope jumped back in shock and glitched again. "You can't tell me-"
"No, you're right, Vanellope," Shank butted in, standing over her like a protective parent. "We can't tell you what to do. But I wish you would listen and stay put," she started and the little racer tilted her head in silence. "You know there used to be another gamer here, another friend. Shrill started going down and making friends with the wrong sort, down in the Dark Web. He- he got addicted to those… things," she spat. Vanellope stiffened up, looking up at Shank with a worried expression. "And as much as I believe you when you say you can look after yourself, I don't think either of us could live with ourselves if something happened to you," she declared, her eyes closed.
Vanellope hesitated, deep in thought as her eyes searched around, searched for an answer. "I…" she knew what she wanted to say, she just wasn't sure about blurting something out, for once.
"I won't stop you, hun. But I know you'll do the right thing," she finished then stood up and gave a silent nod to Ralph before departing.
Vanellope slumped into a chair and sighed.
"Kid- No, Vanellope," he started, gaining her full attention. "You know we love you," he started and she went to rebuttal, no doubt to say it back, but he held up his hand and she buttoned up her lip. "I know you can take care of yourself, hey, you're stronger than me!"
She looked up, a deep solemn expression etched on her face. She wanted to retort, she wanted to say something, anything. Instead, she nodded.
"You're clever, you're sweet, you're rambunctious, but more importantly you're strong. But I need you to be more than clever I-"
Vanellope reached her tiny hand out to silence him, resting on his large set of hands. "I get it, Ralph. I'll stay, for you."
The response was instantaneous, Ralph brought her in for a code crunching hug. There was nothing else to say.
Vanellope sniffed and slowly let go. "Just… come back in one piece, okay you big lug?"
Ralph gave her a sad smile and slowly nodded. "Hey, I'm the wrecker here. Not some scum from the internet. I'll be back, kid. Before you know it."
He started to leave, but Vanellope's hand remained firmly grasped in his own. "Do you even know where to start looking?"
At this Ralph smiled.
So, that was chapter one. Normally I try to keep word length consistent and usually that means each chapter of my stories caps at around five thousand words, but this one is just three and maybe that will be the norm. Who knows, but I think it's far more important to have more consistent updates anyway.
What do you all think? I know this chapter didn't focus on the other strange Vanellope, but I'm getting to that! I promise.
On a side down, the non-altered cover art for this fic comes from the user "kaiyuan" over on DeviantArt!
Also,
Anyone wishing to discuss WiR fics, story ideas or just to chat about writing, I have created a new Discord channel which can be found here: discordDOTgg/fkE5SnT (just replace the DOT with a .)