Reviews :
Burgie : Very true! :) Thank you!
Firesong-Writes : I hate to say, but the race will disappoint you if you've been anticipating those things. Read my AN below, I'm really sorry about that. The race isn't expanded on, it was a huge plan of mine for awhile but I just do not have the energy for it right at this time. Thank you for your support, nonetheless.
chuckiboo : Oh that's okay! I appreciate you keeping up, I hope you're doing well. Thank you for the love!
Lyssdoodle : Woohoo! I'm glad you're enjoying it :)
A/N : I want to give one huge apology for those of you invested in the Turbo/Vanellope/Zed race. I do not have the mental capacity for such a massive, incredible scene, while I'm in school, and I'm sorry if this lets a lot of you down. My brain is goo - this second semester of college is literally butt rocking me into 2022 I'm serious. I have all A's, but the saga has suffered a tiny bit for it, in scenes such as this. I'm also trying to keep myself on a leash. You know how badly I want to do an insanely stupid time jump and get right into the drama with Gideon? I can't because of plot and the way I build things up, but I just hope you guys understand that my brain is goo, and summer break CANNOT come fast enough. I'm exhausted.
Anyways, sorry for the lackluster-ness. If it's any consolation, there's a rematch coming up. I'm hoping that'll be whilst I'm on summer break, where I can really sit and focus on such a scene. Racing or physical fighting scenes take a TON out of me, and like I said, my brain is already goo, so... Sorry to disappoint. Hopefully the rematch will win you guys over.
I appreciate all your guys love. It's getting me through. Thank you!
*Chapter 20*
"How long is this track? For User's sake," Nox mumbled softly as he rubbed his forehead and grimaced; Koko nudged his arm and giggled in mild annoyance, and though the group had begun to settle in the suspension of the potential of settled agitation, Nox's words caused a few people to groan, stand and aimlessly pace.
"It's a standard track, I don't know," Lash complained as he gestured his hands outwards, the stage lights, of Thunderbird Arena, blared into the massive stadium, void of the noisy crowds it usually held day in and day out, "We don't usually sit and wait for races to be over with, we're usually IN them."
"I keep looking at the back of my wrist like I'm wearing a watch... Like I WEAR watches, like I've ever WORN a watch in my ENTIRE life," Ralph quickly garbled in hot annoyance, he ruffled his crazy auburn hair and looked down the stretch of road, he nervously crossed his arms and tapped his large fingers against his large, slightly muscular biceps.
"Can you imagine a Ralph-sized wrist watch?" Throttle mumbled cutely, to which Wren choked a laugh and swat at Ralph's side, to get his attention, and though Ralph was cued in, he fidgeted in whole entire nervousness.
"Dude, the face of it would be the size of your head," Wren chuckled, though Throttle firmly furrowed his eyebrows and peered hard to Wren in mild, playful insult.
"... Why MY head? You think my head is big, or something?" Throttle barked, the group about them erupted in hard laughter, though just as Wren was about to continue on teasing Throttle, the familiar growl of angry, over-used, spitfires of engines now became entirely prominent, and with such, the group tensed into actions full of sharp, abrupt stands and hustles closer to the race track that they had wandered from.
"Here they come, here they come!" Lash barked with an excited waggle of his hand, he narrowed his gaze and eagerly assessed just who was in first.
"Who is it, who is it!" Mara hissed as she clenched her fists and narrowed her gaze, so to see just who was barreling towards them down the stretch, and with a heart-stopping pang of total surprise, Ralph grappled the hair on the side of his head and fell entirely speechless as Koko cutely announced the obvious that had already hit Ralph's retinas, information he wasn't sure was real.
"It's mom!" Koko squealed as she clapped her hands and bounced up and down a little, everyone urgently shot their excited attention to Ralph and grinned, though as they whirled around to watch the legitimate outcome of said race, all three racers approached a lot faster than anyone had anticipated, thus rocketing over the finish line nearly all at the same time.
Though it was a close race, nearly neck-and-neck, Vanellope was the clear winner. The group loudly clapped and cheered as the three incredible, loud, fast race cars rocketed into Thunderbird's oval Arena and rounded the bend of the track inside, so to properly slow down and circle around. Although Zed and Turbo had lost, Lash curiously went back and watched the footage he had caught of said completion of the race. Though Vanellope was the winner, Lash was eager to find out just who had placed last. While his nose was buried in figuring it out, Vanellope's car roared up to the start line she had just crossed, and with a proper drift and a kick of loose dust and asphalt, her incredible, gorgeous race car came to a final screech of a halt. With the shift into park, she leaped out of her car, threw her hands up and nearly couldn't get words out amidst her excited giggling. With the group of family that had loudly surrounded her, cheered, clapped and applauded, Ralph hung back in entire disbelief and continued to hold the sides of his head, as if to prove he was frozen in entire shock. Previously confident she would win, he was floored it actually played out against two of the most formidable racers in this entire Arcade.
"Congratulations, mom!" Koko cried in entire excitement as both girls hugged, and though this could potentially be a sensitive show of disappointment for Turbo and Zed, they had pulled up, exited their cars and cutely joined the loud crowd in full support and excitement.
"That was SO close, surely it was nearly a three-way tie," Theo urged with a laugh as he wrangled Vanellope into a big hug.
"I COULD NOT get Turbo away from me, the ENTIRE race," Zed barked in entire, grinning annoyance; both men quickly were lost in laughter as Berri and Tessa draped them with a show of loving support.
"I felt the same way," Turbo wheezed as he rubbed his forehead, he had one of his arms lovingly wrapped about Berri's lower back, "I was like, User-dammit, Zed, get off my tail."
"No, you were on MY tail," Zed argued as Ralph finally strolled up, to which the crowd began to cutely part between him and Vanellope.
"Damn, I mean... I knew you were good, but, for User's sake," Ralph grunted with a soft, shaky laugh as he approached Vanellope, she practically glowed with pride and excitement, and with the eruption of warmth coming from the two, they collided in a huge embrace full of wide smiles and soft laughter. Ralph shut his eyes tight, lifted Vanellope off of her feet, delicately twirled her once and relished in the squealing little giggle and eased from her figure. With a heavy, shaky sigh, he set Vanellope back to her feet and eased off of her, though as her gentle hands sagged down his broad chest, they held eyes in a hovering show of anticipatory nervousness. Ralph's grin broadened, he shook his head and relished in the gorgeous glow of her womanly face, she looked renewed, as if this win was just a premise of what the night were to entail, "I'm so proud of you, I can't believe you WON!"
"I won!" Vanellope squealed with a giggle as she bounced on her feet a little, though as Turbo and Zed approached, Vanellope eased out of Ralph's embrace and gazed to her peers in a show of smiling humility.
"Congratulations, Vanellope," Zed eased with sweetness as he politely reached out for Vanellope's hand, though as she slipped her hand into his, she breathed a giggle and tugged him into a tight hug. Zed choked a small laugh and lovingly hugged Vanellope in return, and as they eased out of each other's presences, she easily wrangled Turbo into a hug, as well.
"You kicked ass," Turbo mumbled warmly with a nod, "I couldn't get ahead of you to save my entire life."
"Me neither, I think I was successful ONCE," Zed mumbled in smiling irritation, "Y'kept cutting us short."
"Wait, so who came in second?" Nox hurriedly wondered as Lash and Mara suspiciously hung back and tightly mumbled to each other, almost as if in nervous secrecy, though as the group lofted their gazes over their shoulders and peered to the pair, they looked up, amidst the camera footage that Lash was replaying over and over, and nervously shot each other looks of almost smiling dread, "What the heck are you two doing, over there?"
"Who lost?" Wren urgently wondered.
"It was probably me," Zed muttered, he eyed Turbo in hot irritation and gestured to Turbo, "Vanellope wasn't the only one quick to cut people off."
"I tried to fight fair," Turbo shyly mumbled as he caught eyes with Berri in a show of coy sweetness; she rolled her eyes and bashfully looked away with a smile.
"Uh, Throttle, I... I'm gunna need to know how you predicted this outcome," Lash mumbled nervously as him and Mara stepped deeper into the group, and with the roll of words from Lash's figure, everyone froze and urgently dart their shocked eyes tight to Throttle's; the glow in his white eyes immediately dimmed as he stiffened, though as him and Wren sharply caught gazes, Wren was the first to erupt into shocked laughter. Lash finally grinned in a whole show of shocked nervousness and joined in on Wren's laughter, "Uh, so... Vanellope won, but Zed and Turbo were a tie for second... Like Throttle predicted."
"You predicted that?" Zed dryly wondered as he shot Throttle a cheeky, playfully annoyed glower.
"Aww, you thought I'd win?" Vanellope eased sweetly, though Throttle dart his eyes about the group before he finally caught with Sugar Rush's Queen, Tessa's piercing, narrowed hazel gaze of full, motherly suspicion.
"... So, when did you wanna have that little sit-down chat, then, my dude?" Tessa wondered gently as she crossed her arms and peered into Throttle's eyes, as if to be suspicious of this weird, other-worldly knowledge he had.
"Fuck, does this mean Zed and I have to have a rematch?" Turbo grunted as he flagged his hands outwards, the group erupted into excited laughter.
"Yep! Your job is on the line, this time, Sir Black," Zed chimed sweetly as he firmly pat Turbo's back, to which Turbo lulled his eyes closed and firmly rubbed his forehead in playful agitation.
"How did you even do that?" Ralph wondered to Throttle as he welcomed Vanellope into his chest, his large hand firmly cupped her lower back, and though he did what he could to focus on Throttle's words, the feel of Vanellope's curvy body tight against his had his head swimming.
"Uh," Throttle staggered shyly as he looked down to his hands, though Tessa now very obviously began to lean in and playfully make clear to Throttle that she was very eagerly listening to every single word he had to say. The group about the two loudly laughed at Tessa's show of intent listening, to which Throttle eased a shaky sigh of understanding and rested his hand to Tessa's littler shoulder, "We can chat more about it, Your Majesty, I promise."
"Like, now, y'coming back to the palace?" Tessa loudly wondered as she pointed off in the direction of Turbotime's entrance.
"Ooo, count me in," Wren hissed in nodding delight.
"Uh, me too," Lash barked, though he firmly gestured to Ralph and Vanellope and shook his head, "Lemme get these two squared away at the resort, and then I'll be over, I gotta hear this."
"I think we're all gunna be cramming into the code room, for this one," Zed assured, "What else can you predict?"
"It's not that deep, y'guys," Throttle mumbled shyly as he rubbed the back of his head.
"I forgot about your guy's little getaway," Wren stated to Vanellope in a great deal of warmth, though it easily slipped to that of a sly smirk as he waggled his eyebrows, "Y'get to take the winner home, tonight, Wreck-It."
"I'm excited to unplug, truly," Vanellope huffed through an exhausted sigh as she brushed her hair from her eyes, though she breathed a small giggle as Ralph's big, strong arm and hand continued to remain glued about her little waist. With a subtle tug, she wobbled on her feet as he snugged her tighter into his side, alongside a sneaky little smirk down into her eyes as she bashfully peered up to him, "Amongst the beach and... Other things, I guess."
"Subtle," Nox choked, the group exploded with laughter as Vanellope and Ralph deflated in annoyed smiles, though before any other teasing remarks could be given, Lash waggled his finger towards the two and eased a happy grin.
"You guys are gunna die over the room I gotcha," Lash cooed, he tossed his eyes back to Tessa's and pointed, "I'll be in the code room in ten, PLEASE don't discuss anything without me."
"No promises, my guy," Tessa playfully muttered, though before Lash could whisk himself, Vanellope and Ralph away, she wrinkled her nose at him and flagged him off, "I'm PLAYING, git."
"Hold your breath," Lash's teasing, deep voice stated with a chuckle as his, Ralph's and Vanellope's coding suddenly blipped about in a coded frenzy of proper, glitching teleportation, and with said departure, the air popped with a final kiss of coding and settled.
"Seriously, Tee? Was this just a fluke prediction or did you ACTUALLY discern the race's outcome?" Tessa wondered gently as the group began to sag and discuss plans for the rest of the night, whether that included the long conversation to be had, concerning Throttle, or whatever came afterwards.
"I... I genuinely discerned it," Throttle stated humbly with a shrug, "I don't know how to describe it. Upon mine and Wren's swap, earlier this year, we gained telekinesis, but... Alongside it, I feel as if I've tapped into another coded realm. It's weird."
"Do you ever feel that way, Wren?" Tessa wondered as she shot her attention to her cousin; he stiffened and genuinely frowned.
"No, I wish I did, though. It sounds fun," Wren mumbled, though he shrugged and gave Throttle a loving smile, "I mean, I got more than I asked for, when Throttle and I gained powers from nothing. I genuinely have no room to complain."
"How extraordinary," Zed hissed with a chuckle as he put his hands on his hips, "Usually, a swapped pair have the same powers, no matter what, due to sharing... I've never come across a pair that then discover powers outside of their swapped coding, manifested on its own."
"I guess it's not something that can be transferred, to Wren," Tessa mumbled sadly, "Seeing as you guys SURELY have swapped past your initial swap."
"No, we haven't," Wren tried his best to sound convincing, though the group erupted with laughter as Wren broke and beamed a playful grin down to his feet.
"Uh, YES you have, of the how many concerts Throttle has joined in on and you two shared a room that unfortunately wasn't sound proof?" Theo loudly argued, to which Berri covered her face and burst out into laughter, alongside joining in on Theo's playful notions, "Yeah, I'll say that's a load of shit."
"C'mon, guys," Tessa giggled as she cued her coding and glossed her eyes about her family, "We got a lot to discuss, clearly."
"Listen, I KNOW you're gunna drive my car back to Sugar Rush," Vanellope muttered. Her, Ralph and Lash stood in the high ceilinged foyer of their temporary love nest. An incredible, golden archway of luxurious goodness that hung above them, just a tiny peak at the lovely resort room Lash had just toured Ralph and Vanellope to, though now that it was all quickly said and done, Lash knew to see himself out and leave Ralph and Vanellope to it. With the tinker of metal, Vanellope dangled her keys and keychain out before herself, in between her and Lash. The glint of Lash's lovely, golden eyes sparkled against the shiny metal of Vanellope's keys, and though Lash gingerly reached his hand out to retrieve said keys, Vanellope daintily ripped them a few inches out of his reach and was glad to sharply catch the mute of his golden eyes in boyish cuteness, "If you do so, you're to drive TO Sugar Rush, and no where else."
"Be a little easier on him, babe, he gifted us this resort," Ralph mumbled under his breath as he tugged at his collar and bashfully looked up and about. Gorgeous crown molding, sleek beige walls, fine, luxurious details that had Ralph equally feeling like a King and entirely out of place, all in one, he cocked an eyebrow and slyly eyed Vanellope with a warm smirk, "You have to remember... The dude's a User, now. He could duplicate your car a thousand times over again with a snap of his fingers."
"Glad someone said it," Lash hissed as he followed through and snapped his fingers, and with the sag of Vanellope's hand at the defeat of Ralph's true, warm words, Lash cutely snatched the keys from Vanellope's hand and replaced it with two room keys.
"I mean, it's practically my baby," Vanellope mumbled cutely as she sagged her shoulders and nervously smiled into Lash's eyes, "Surely you understand."
"Oh, I do, but trust me... It's in good hands, as are you two," Lash mumbled cutely, he began to back step towards towards the towering, glossy black double doors, in which one was agape. Lash blurt a sarcastic chuckle and gestured towards Ralph, "Besides, you have another big baby to care for, anyways."
"Hey," Ralph lilted in chuckling offense as Lash smiled and waved him off, to assure his playful nature, and with a small sag out of their vicinity, he began to shut their massive door, ultimately sealing the two in for good.
"Alright, lovebirds. Don't show your faces until Monday morning," Lash cooed with a cute smile, and with a clack of the heavy door and an electronic little blip of locked and sealed approval, Ralph and Vanellope were finally alone.
A few floors up with a gorgeous, full view of the ocean, the resort practically sung with abundant love for the two, though as Ralph's eyes nervously glossed the trim of the doorway, to the floorboards, the gorgeous black marble tiles underfoot, he shyly caught eyes with Vanellope and felt the air get insanely thick. Confused, he furrowed his eyebrows and was well aware this evening had snuck up on the two. Although abstaining due to feuding, the past two weeks had been a switch of anticipation, as if they were now holding out for a redo of their honeymoon of sorts. Although years of marriage under their belt, three beautiful children, a healthy swathe of grand children and great grandchildren, Ralph still felt the little flecks of gold in Vanellope's eyes taunt him with mystery. The cute curl of her shy smile, the way she looked down to the key cards in her hands in aimless, bashful, twiddling delight, the huff of a whispery giggle that eased from the back of her throat, Ralph was certain he'd never fully have their finalized version of love in his grasp. A beautiful, energetic, mysteriously flowing thing, he was floored the spark was an ebb and flow, a continuous rise and fall of fireworks and embers, a marriage of gained intention and lost inhibitions. Everything they stood for was now balanced on the head of a nail, as if redoing something so sacred and precious maybe wasn't so scary after all.
"You won," Ralph whispered cutely, so not to startle her, though to also match the room's energy; her smile eagerly broadened into a shy smile as she continued to look down to the key cards in her hands. Behind them was a grand, open living area that cutely branched into an equally as open kitchen area, and with their massive bedroom and bathroom tucked down a bend of a corridor, Ralph bit his lip and was wondering just even what to say or how to be, in this raw and confusing time. Ralph inhaled a readied breath and broadened his eyes and disposition to the glowing, warm and homey living space behind them. He expanded his chest in a thick inhale, stretched his arms out a little and began to lazily mosey out of the corridor they were left in, "Welp... I guess the beach is out of the question, this late."
"Yeah, I was thinking that," Vanellope mumbled sadly, though she still held onto that cute, shy smile of hers as her little feet lazily followed Ralph's equally as lazy meandering out into the living space. High ceilings, a room crowned with gorgeous, modern furniture and flawless white tiles, the place was alive with an airy, luxurious, beachy feel. Vanellope heaved a happy sigh as the two eased into the area of the open-aired kitchen, and as she pressed to the thick slab of glossy concrete, that was the kitchen island, she rested the keys on the broad of it and happily looked about, "Guess we can just go swimming, or... I don't know... Shower?"
"Shower? In our swim suits," Ralph mumbled cutely, he eyed Vanellope in sneaking suspicion as her face turned red, she cutely looked off with a pursed look of irritation as she tried not to smile, "Hey, didn't... You say you were going to get a new bikini for this trip?"
"Yeah, I did agree to that," Vanellope nodded, she looked down to her fingers for a moment of shy hesitation before she stabbed her purposeful, though still shy gaze tight into Ralph's, "You, uh... You wanna see them?"
"You're gunna put them on for me?" Ralph wondered dumbly, he huffed a shaky chuckle and rubbed the back of his head as Vanellope firmly gestured her arms outwards in annoyance, looked off and gaped in a huff of a sigh she forcibly expelled, visibily showing full annoyance though still with a true, playful air of love. Ralph barked a laugh at her continued, annoyed notions and shook his head through the narrow of his grinning, lovely brown eyes, "I'd love to see. Y'think we'll make it to the pool?"
"I doubt it," Vanellope mumbled cutely as she began to step away and gestured for Ralph to follow, "I have a few to try on, but I wanna see just which one's gunna make you lose your mind."
"It's probably too late for that, truthfully," Ralph muttered darkly with a coy smile as he lifted his lean off of the counter and began to cutely trail after Vanellope's seductive, alluring saunter away.
