Chapter 5: Falling With Style
Night has once again fallen over the Magic Kingdom, bringing with it a November chill. Seemingly in defiance of the late autumn dark, the cinema was lit up brightly, with a pair of spot lights focused skyward flanking the doors, its marcee displaying the title of the currently showing film in bold black letters. In front of the doors leading into the building, a group of the Magic Kingdom's citizens had gathered.
Walking down the street, Ralph made his way towards the cinema along with Vanellope, Calhoun and Felix. Calhoun was dressed in a pair of forest camo colored cargo pants and a black tank top while her husband was dressed in his usually blue uniform. Calhoun quirked an eyebrow at the crowd before glancing over at Ralph.
"Pretty big crowd for a picture show," Calhoun commented.
"Everyone's always talkin' about how big of an event these things are," Felix spoke up, "I hope there are still tickets."
"I'm sure there are," Ralph replied, "I mean, the whole point of these things is that we're supposed to get a chance to know these people's stories before we meet them tomorrow, right?"
"I guess so," Felix agreed, though it didn't seem to ease his anxiety.
Glancing around at the crowd, Vanellope narrowed her eyes in confusion as she noticed something.
"Hey, Ralph," Vanellope said as she tugged on the wrecker's pant leg to get his attention before pointing towards the crowd, "I think that lady wants your attention."
Looking in the direction that Vanellope indicated, Ralph saw Seph standing with Jessica and her family, waving frantically at him.
"Oh, that's Persephone, Hades' wife," Ralph explained as he smiled and waved back, "She's a friend of mine."
"Hades is married?" Calhoun questioned, giving Ralph an incredulous look as she did.
"Yeah, come on, I'll introduce you guys," Ralph answered as he motioned for the others to follow him.
"Hey Ralph," Seph greeted with a bright grin as Ralph and the others reached her, "Are these the friends you've told me about?"
"Yeah, these are Vanellope, Felix and Calhoun," Ralph replied, indicating each in turn before turning his attention towards the others, "Guys, this is my friend Persephone."
"Please, call me Seph," Seph said as she grinned at the group.
"Come now, Ralph," Jessica said with a small smile before she turned her attention towards the others, "Surely you're going to introduce us to your friends as well?"
"Right," Ralph agreed with a nod, "You remember, Vanellope?"
"Yes," Jessica replied as she turned her attention towards Vanellope, "I believe we met in the administrative offices last year on your first day here."
"Yeah, I remember you," Vanellope agreed with a nod.
"Heya pal," Roger said as he stepped forward and held his hand out to Felix, "Roger Rabbit, pleasure to meet you."
"Fix-it Felix Junior," Felix replied as he shook the offered hand, "And, I assure you, the pleasure is all mine."
"And you must be the….," Jessica said, before pausing to give the blonde a look over, "Rugged Tamora Calhoun. Or should I say….Captain, correct?"
"Sergeant, actually," Calhoun replied, her eye twitching slightly.
"My apologies," Jessica said, laying a hand over her chest in what struck Ralph as a half-hearted gesture of embarrassment, "I'm Jessica Rabbit."
"Charmed," Calhoun said with what was clearly a fake smile.
Ralph glanced quickly between the two women, sensing the tension in the air before looking over at Seph and Lola. In reply, Seph could only shrug while Lola rolled her eyes and stepped in front of her mother.
"Hi, Lola Bunny," she said as he offered her hand to Calhoun, forcing the blonde to break eye contact with Jessica, "Nice to meet you."
Calhoun blinked in surprise at Lola's forwardness before taking the offered hand and shaking it.
"Same," Calhoun stated, letting go of Lola's hand and letting the rabbit introduce herself to Felix and Vanellope, "Wait, are you…."
"Our daughter?" Jessica finished before looping her arm around Lola's shoulders and resting her other hand on the rabbit's arm, "Yes, thank you for noticing."
"Play nice, Mom," Lola muttered.
"I'm just having a little fun, honey," Jessica whispered back.
"Wow, you look really good for having a fully grown daughter," Calhoun stated before leaning in closer to Jessica and giving her a wicked grin, "What's your secret?"
"It would appear two can play at that game, Mother," Lola joked quietly before hissing in pain as Jessica dug her fingers into her daughter's arm.
"Alright!" Seph said stepping in the middle of the assembled group and loudly clapping her hands to draw attention to herself, a smile forced broadly across her face, "Who's ready to see a movie!?"
"Oooo! Oooo!" Roger called obliviously, jumping up and down while waving a hand above his head, "I do! I do!"
"Great!" Seph replied before she began herding the group towards the cinema, "Let's go!"
As the group began making its way into the cinema, Ralph noticed Vanellope hanging back.
"Hey, what's up?" Ralph questioned with a quirked eyebrow as he turned to face Vanellope.
"Nothing, I'm just…." Vanellope trailed off as she looked down at the ground while grinding the toe of one of her shoes into the dirt, "I'm just nervous, I guess."
"Nervous?" Ralph repeated with a snort of amusement, "You're nervous about seeing a movie?"
"No, I'm not nervous about seeing the movie," Vanellope replied in an exasperated tone, lifting her gaze to look Ralph in the eye, "I'm nervous about what I have to do tomorrow."
"What, meet with the new princess?" Ralph inquired.
"Yeah," Vanellope confirmed as she bit her lip nervously, "Do you think I should, I don't know, take notes or something?"
"I think that you are overthinking this," Ralph replied, pointing at Vanellope for emphasis, "You're showing this girl around tomorrow, not writing her biography. For tonight, you just have to relax and enjoy the movie, then tomorrow, all you need to do is be your normal, annoying self and everything will go fine."
"Gee, thanks," Vanellope sighed as she rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, "Real inspiring."
"Come on, you really need to lighten up a little," Ralph commented with a chuckle as he gestured towards the cinema, "Enjoy yourself."
"I'll try," Vanellope replied as they made their way into the cinema, "Though I warn you, I've never really been a big fan of movies."
Later,
Vanellope sat in her red folding theater seat staring at the projection screen with wide, amazed eyes as the film's credits began to roll and the the theater's lights came back on. For most of the theater's patrons, this broke the spell the film had over them, and they all began to stand and collect their things. However, Vanellope, for her part, remain seated in her place near the back of the theater, her gaze unbroken.
"Wow," Ralph commented as he began to rise from his seat, "That was pretty good, huh, Vanellope?"
A moment passed and Ralph received no reply, causing the wrecker to blink in confusion before he looked over at Vanellope, who was still staring at the screen in rapt attention. Glancing at the others, Ralph found them looking at him with concern and confusion. Ralph waved them off and his friends nodded before making their way out of the theatre.
"Vanellope?" Ralph questioned with a note of concern, as he reached down and snapped his fingers in front of her face, "You alright, kid?"
The action caused Vanellope's eyes to blink rapidly as if she was coming out of a dream. Slowly, Vanellope turned her gaze up towards Ralph before a broad grin spread across her features.
"That was amazing!" Vanellope exclaimed as she leapt out of her chair and began bouncing excitedly on her feet, "That was the best movie I've ever seen!"
"High praise," Ralph observed with a chuckle, motioning for Vanellope to follow him out of the theatre, "And here I thought you weren't a big fan of movies."
"Are you kidding!?" Vanellope exclaimed as she followed Ralph, "I loved every minute of it."
"So, I take it you're looking forward to meeting the new princess tomorrow, huh?" Ralph questioned as they entered the lobby.
"Anna?" Vanellope questioned with a quizzical expression, "Yeah, She seemed pretty cool. I'm really excited to meet Elsa though."
"Elsa?" Ralph asked in confusion, "Why her?"
"Come on, you had to have noticed," Vanellope chided, "We're exactly alike."
That comment caused Ralph to stop and stare at Vanellope.
"Did you and I watch the same movie?" Ralph asked as he quirked an eyebrow at Vanellope, "Because I don't really see the connection between you and the pretty, quiet lady with ice powers."
"We both have powers we have trouble controlling which made people see us as weirdos," Vanellope explained as if she was talking to a child, before she blinked and narrowed her eyes at Ralph, "Did you say you thought she was pretty?"
"No," Ralph replied defensively.
"You so did!" Vanellope exclaimed excitedly, pointing an accusatory finger at Ralph, "You think Queen Elsa is pretty!"
"Alright fine, I do, I have eyes don't I?" Ralph stated as he placed his hands on his hips and looked away from Vanellope, "I mean, I think most of the women around here are pretty, it's not that big of a deal."
"Mhm," Vanellope replied with a sly grin, "I'm sure it isn't."
"Anyway, I get what you're saying now about sharing a connection with Elsa," Ralph said, "I'm guessing you'll get on with her great at your princess meeting."
"Oh, Elsa won't be at the princess meeting," Vanellope explained as she made her way towards the exit.
"Why not?" Ralph questioned as they made their way out of the theatre.
"She's not a princess, she's a queen," Vanellope explained, looking at Ralph like she thought he was stupid, "So Anna is going to be part of our group."
"Is there a group of queens?" Ralph questioned as they stood on the sidewalk outside the theatre.
"I think so," Vanellope agreed with a nod, "I'm pretty sure a couple of people like Merida and Aurora's mothers are members."
"Boy, that sounds fun," Ralph commented with a snort, "Hanging out with women twice her age."
"I do it all the time," Vanellope stated with a thoughtful look on her face, "But I see your point."
"Anyway, I guess we'll all see how it shakes out tomorrow," Ralph said as he stretched his arms above his head, "Or, more likely, you will."
"What do you mean?" Vanellope asked as she looked up at Ralph in confusion.
"Well, it's not like I'm going to be spending a lot of time with her," Ralph explained, "I mean, the Magic Kingdom is a big place and all the people who live here don't move in the same social circles. I mean, when was the last time I've even talked to one of your princess friends other than Merida?"
"I guess that's true," Vanellope agreed with a sigh, "It's too bad. I bet you guys would have really hit it off."
"What makes you say that?" Ralph inquired, quirking an eyebrow as he looked down at Vanellope.
"You two are a lot alike, is all," Vanellope answered with a shrug.
"Okay, now you've really lost me," Ralph stated as he placed his hands on his hips.
"Look, you're both were outcasts because people were afraid of you and what you could do," Vanellope explained with a sigh, "You both tried to fit in more instead of being who you are and almost caused a disaster in the process."
"I guess that's true," Ralph agreed with a thoughtful shrug.
"But it's more than that, Ralph," Vanellope pushed, "You're the only villains turned into heroes."
"What are you talking about?" Ralph asked in confusion, "Elsa wasn't a villain."
"Come on, Ralph, I grew up in a candy-themed go kart racing game made in Japan and even I know that in the original story the Snow Queen was the bad guy," Vanellope said with an exasperated tone, emphasising the last two words as she spoke.
"I guess you're right," Ralph replied, blinking in surprise before his brow furrowed in confusion, "But so what? What are you driving at here, kid?"
At this question, Vanellope suddenly became bashful, sticking her hands into the pocket of her sweatshirt while turning her gaze towards her feet.
"It's….It's like I said," Vanellope replied quietly, kicking at a pebble sitting on the sidewalk, "I thought you guys could hit it off and…."
"And what?" Ralph pressed, not sure where Vanellope was going with this line of thought.
"And, I don't know," Vanellope mumbled, her face growing redder as she spoke, "Maybe you guys could date, or something."
A moment of silence passed between the two as Ralph stared at Vanellope like she had sprouted a second head while the girl continued to examine the toes of her shoes.
"You think Elsa and I….should date?" Ralph questioned finally.
Slowly, Vanellope raised her gaze to meet Ralph's, a small, hopeful smile spreading across her features as she nodded her head. The smile was immediately wiped off her face though as Ralph burst into uproarious laughter, the wrecker clenching his sides as he shook with mirth.
"Alright, fine!" Vanellope snapped, glaring up at Ralph, "It's a dumb idea, I get it. You don't have to be a jerk about it!"
"I….I'm sorry, kid," Ralph replied as he took a few deep breaths to calm his laughs, "I'm not trying to be a jerk. It's just an idea that could never happen."
"Why not?" Vanellope asked in confusion.
"Have you looked at me?" Ralph questioned as he indicated to himself, "You really think a pretty woman, let alone a queen would want anything to do with a schmuck who spent his life living in a dump?"
"Look, I don't know anything about dating and stuff, but I seriously think you're selling yourself short," Vanellope replied.
"If you say so, kid," Ralph said with a snort, "But it likes I said, it doesn't matter. In all likelihood I'll never end up meeting Elsa anyway."
"I guess," Vanellope agreed with a shrug, a pensive look on her face.
"How about we head back home?" Ralph stated as he nodded towards the arcade.
"Why don't….why don't you go ahead?" Vanellope suggested, "I don't think I want to go back just yet."
"You okay?" Ralph questioned as he quirked an eyebrow at Vanellope.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Vanellope reassured him, "I'm just not tired and I was hoping to get some fresh air or something."
"Okay," Ralph replied with a small smile, "Just don't stay out too late, alright?"
"Sure thing, Dad," Vanellope replied with a roll of her eyes and a grin of her own.
Nodding in reply, Ralph turned and made his way towards the arcade. Vanellope watched him go for a moment before she stuck her hands into the pocket of her sweatshirt and turned her attention towards the night sky.
As her gaze fixed in on the shinning stars hanging above, glowing brighter than she would have thought possible over a city. Pulling her attention away from the stars, Vanellope looked over the rooftops of the buildings surrounding the cinema. An idea forming in her head, Vanellope closed her eyes before disappearing in a cloud of blue pixels.
A split second later, Vanellope reappeared on top of the cinema in another burst of pixels. Opening her eyes, Vanellope took in the sight of the roads and rooftops stretching out before her perch on the relatively tall roof. As she looked down at the streets, she saw that the crowd that had emerged from the cinema had now dispersed, leaving the area quiet and empty.
As she looked around, Vanellope's mind drifted back to the conversation she had just finished with Ralph. She replayed the part where she had told Ralph how she had felt like she had a bond with Elsa. Standing atop the cinema made Vanellope remember Elsa standing on the mountain by herself and testing the full limit of her powers for the first time. Vanellope wondered what that had been like.
Taking one of her hands out of her sweatshirt, Vanellope held it up in front of her face. Slowly, Vanellope formed a fist as the image of Elsa forming bursts of snowflake in her palm played in her head. Closing her eyes, Vanellope concentrated on her fist as she squeezed it as tightly as she could. A moment later, her hand seemed to phase in and out of existence while blue pixels sparked off of it. After another moment, Vanellope reopened her eyes and snapped her hand open, causing a cloud of pixels to come bursting out.
Blinking in surprise, Vanellope took a few hesitant steps back as the cloud of pixels quickly dissipated. She had never done anything like that before, but then again, she had never tried. It was then that Vanellope realized that since learning to control her glitching, she had never really tested the limits beyond taking a vehicle with her when she glitched. As her thought process continued, she recalled talking to Dash a few nights ago about her glitching was a gift and a skill, and she would only get better at it by practicing it.
"Well, no time like the present," Vanellope mused as she looked up towards the night sky again. As she did, music from the film began playing in her head, and though she wasn't as much a fan of singing as some of her friends, she found she couldn't help but be carried along by the melody.
"The snow glows white on the mountain tonight," Vanellope sang softly to herself, "Not a footprint to be seen."
"A kingdom of isolation," Vanellope continued as she began to walk along the edge of the cinema's rooftop, and chuckled slightly to herself, "And it looks like I'm the Queen."
"The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside," Vanellope sang as she reached the edge of the cinema's roof, looking down the street at the roof of the arcade, "Couldn't keep it in; Heaven knows I've tried."
"Don't let them in, don't let them see," Vanellope continued as she glitched over to the next rooftop, before continuing on down the street in a rapid series of glitches, "Be the good girl you always have to be."
"Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know," Vanellope sang as she began glitching back and forth across the street, running and skipping along the rooftops for brief bursts before glitching again, "Well now they know."
Vanellope abruptly stopped singing as she reached the edge of rooftop. Looking beyond it, Vanellope could see a park across the street from the building, it's confines full of shady trees and tall pines. As she studied the park for a moment, an idea formed in Vanellope's head and a smile spread across her features as she took a leap towards the park.
"Let it go, let it go," Vanellope sang as she glitched through the air and landed on the branch of a elm tree before she bounced off and glitched to the next tree, "Can't hold it back anymore!"
"Let it go, let it go," Vanellope continued as she bounced off of trunks, swung from branches, flipped through the air and glitched from tree to tree, "Turn away and slam the door!"
"I don't care what they're going to say!" Vanellope went on as she leapt into the boughs of a particularly large pine tree and began glitching her way up the tree, zipping from branch to branch as she went, "Let the storm rage on."
"The cold never bothered me anyway," Vanellope said to herself as she reached the top of the tree and perched upon its point, the pine swaying underneath her weight. Looking across the park, Vanellope's eyes were drawn to the downtown area and the castle that loomed above it. As her eyes were drawn to the highest point of the castle, a smile spread across her face.
"It's funny how some distance, makes everything seem small," Vanellope sang as she glitched off of the pine and went racing across the park before glitching her way onto the rooftops of downtown, "And the fears that once controlled me, can't get to me at all!"
"It's time to see what I can do, to test the limits and break through," Vanellope continued as she stopped on the rooftop of a building right next to the castle, looking up at the looming structure while stretching out her shoulders and legs.
"No right, no wrong, no rules for me!" Vanellope declared as she rushed towards the edge of the roof and leapt off, glitching through the air until she landed on one of the castle's battlements, "I'm free!"
"Let it go, let it go," Vanellope sang as she glitched up to a higher wall on the castle before hopping off, grabbing hold of a flagpole secured to the wall and flipping herself into the air, "I am one with the wind and sky!"
"Let it go, let it go," Vanellope continued as she glitched over to the top of one of the castle's shorter towers, grabbed onto the flagpole at its top and swung herself around it to slow her momentum, "You'll never see me cry!"
"Here I stand and here I'll stay," Vanellope sang as she looked out at the surrounding area before her gaze was drawn to the castle's tallest tower, "Let the storm rage on."
Glitching away from her perch, Vanellope began rapidly hopping between different parts of the castle, quickly ascending towards the top of the structure.
"My power flurries through the air into the ground," Vanellope called as she rapidly hopped and glitched from battlement to battlement.
"My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around," Vanellope sang as she leapt at one of the castle's large, plate glass windows, glitched into the hallway on the other side of it before she ran down the hall and performed the same trick on the window at the other end.
"And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast," Vanellope continued as she reached the very top of the castle's tallest tower, looking at the Magic Kingdom stretched out before her. As she stood balancing on the very tip of the tower's pointed roof, a idea came to Vanellope and she turned her attention towards the moon hanging overhead.
"I'm never going back," Vanellope sang as she looked down from the dizzying height, clearly trying to psyche herself up for what she was about to do, "The past is in the past!"
With that, Vanellope leapt from the tower, sending her plummeting towards the courtyard below. For a few, brief, terrifying moments, Vanellope froze up as panic gripped her. Then, closing her eyes, Vanellope pushed away her fears and concentrated on her ability to glitch, willing it to do what she wanted. Then, a moment before she struck the ground, Vanellope vanished in a flurry of blue pixels. A split-second later, Vanellope reappeared back near the top of the castle's tallest tower, only now her downward momentum had turned upward, sending her rocketing into the air, exhilaration replacing fear in her heart.
"Let it go, let it go!" Vanellope sang as her momentum slowed and she reached her apex just above the cloudline, twirling in the air as she looked around in wonder at the star filled sky, "And I'll rise like the break of dawn!"
"Let it go, let it go!" Vanellope continued as she began to fall back to earth, flipping through the air as she went, "That perfect girl is gone!"
"Here I stand!" Vanellope sang as she glitched a short distance forward through the air with every word, giving the impression that she was skipping across the sky, "In the light of day!"
"Let the storm rage on!" Vanellope called as she let her momentum carry her through the air, her eye closed in bliss even as a giant cloud of golden sparkles began to rise up from the ground in front of her, "The cold never bothered me anyway!"
And then Vanellope slammed face first into the side of a mountain.
Luckily for Vanellope, the part of the mountain she crashed into was covered in a thick layer of fluffy snow, cushioning her as her impact sent a large cloud of snowflakes shooting into the air.
For a moment, Vanellope lay half buried in the snow, too stunned by what had just happened to think straight. Then, after blinking her eyes a few times and shaking her head clear, Vanellope sat up and glanced around at her surroundings.
"What the bits!?" Vanellope exclaimed in confusion before spinning around in an attempt to regain her bearings, "Who put this mountain here!?"
Looking around, Vanellope noticed she was not far from the mountain's peak. Quickly glitching over to it, Vanellope stood on the mountain's summit and looked back the way she had come. Sure enough, judging by where she was based off the other landmarks surrounding the mountain, there had not been any sort of landmass here just five minutes ago when she had been standing on top of the castle.
"What's going-" Vanellope began to say as she began to turn around to see what the other side of the mountain looked like, only to let out a shocked gasp at what she beheld. Not far below her, sitting in the shadow of the mountain's peak, was a castle constructed entirely out of ice. Made up mainly of thin towers and spindly spires with a long, elegant staircase that bridged a crevice between the front door and the snow covered ground, the ice castle seemed to sparkle in the moonlight.
"Oh my gosh," Vanellope whispered, her eyes wide with wonder, "That's Elsa's castle!"
Looking around, Vanellope spotted a village built around another castle sat at the base of the mountain, now occupying its own spot on the Magic Kingdom's long coastline.
"Arendelle," Vanellope surmised before a smile spread across her features, "Oh my gosh, they must have just been brought in. And that means…."
Letting out a giddy laugh, Vanellope glitched herself off the mountain peak before she began speeding down the steep, snow covered incline in rapid bursts of blue pixels. Soon enough, Vanellope found herself racing across the rooftops of Arendelle, her feet sliding across slick shingles before glitching her way to the next building. Eventually, she reached the walls surrounding the castle and glitched on top of them.
Taking a moment to look at the castle in wonder, Vanellope spotted what she was looking for near the highest point of the structure. Hopping up, Vanellope began glitching through the air directly up to a balcony. She came to a stop on the balcony's railing, pinwheeling her arms for a moment to keep her balance before hoping down.
Looking at the elegant, windowed door before her, Vanellope quietly creeped up to it and peered through. The room beyond was a large, lavish bedroom, dominated by a four poster bed. Squinting her eye to better see through the gloom of the darkened room, Vanellope could just make out the shape of something huddled underneath the bed's blankets.
"Oh my gosh, it's her," Vanellope whispered in excitement as she stepped away from the door, "I can't believe it's her!"
As Vanellope spoke, a realization struck her and her expression turned to one of embarrassment and she buried her face in her hands.
"And I can't believe I'm watching her while she sleeps," Vanellope groaned into her hands, "That's so creepy!"
"I'll say," a new voice said from right next to Vanellope, "I mean, you haven't even met the poor woman yet."
Vanellope let out a squeak of surprise and reflexively glitched away from the source of the voice, leaving her standing on the railing again, her arms stretched out to hold her balance. Looking towards the source of the voice, Vanellope found Loki standing on the balcony opposite her, leaning lazily against the railing with the Cheshire Cat draped around his neck.
"Good evening," Loki greeted with a sneer.
"Who the bits are you!?" Vanellope exclaimed before quickly clamping her hands over her mouth upon realizing how loud she was speaking, glancing around to see if she had disturbed anyone's slumber. As she did, realization struck Vanellope.
"Wait a minute, I do know you," Vanellope whispered as she pointed an accusatory finger at the man, "You're Loki!"
"I'm happy to see that my reputation still proceeds me," Loki replied with a grin, "And you must be Vanellope von Schweetz."
"And I'm the Cheshire Cat," the Cat purred, "In case anyone was wondering."
"What the bits are you doing here!?" Vanellope demanded.
"I could ask you the same question," Loki countered.
"I was just out for a walk when I saw the mountain show up out of nowhere," Vanellope lied, glancing away from Loki as she spoke, "So, I came over here to check it out."
"Out for a walk?" Loki parroted with an amused chuckle, "Is that what you call flying through the air while singing your lungs out?"
"You have a beautiful singing voice, by the way," the Cheshire Cat added.
Vanellope eyes went wide as a blush crept across her features.
"Were you spying on me!?" Vanellope hissed in anger.
Loki and the Cheshire Cat shared a glance before looking back at Vanellope and nodding.
"Why!?" Vanellope demanded, the volume of her voice raising dangerously high again.
"I've taken an interest in you," Loki stated, before pausing and making a dismissive gesture at Vanellope, "Well, not you, obviously. Your friend."
"This is about Ralph?" Vanellope questioned in confusion before realization struck her, "This is about the Bad Guys Anon meeting, isn't it? You're still mad that Ralph didn't fall flat on his face!"
"Hardly," Loki replied with another dismissive wave, "Do I really seem that petty to you?"
"Yes," Vanellope replied flatly.
"Regardless, what I mean is that I find your Ralph to be an interesting fellow," Loki explained, "Certainly not the buffoon I had expected."
"I'll be sure to tell him that," Vanellope replied, "That doesn't explain what you're doing here, talking to me, though."
"Well, while I was watching you and Ralph this evening, I couldn't help but overhear a certain conversation the two of you were having," Loki elaborated, "The one about the similarities between him and a certain Snow Queen."
"You heard that?" Vanellope questioned in surprise.
"You'd be shocked at half the things we hear," the Cheshire Cat replied.
"Alright, fine, what of it?" Vanellope asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she spoke.
"It's merely that I couldn't help but sympathize with you," Loki explained, "I too feel that our friend Ralph is selling himself short when it comes to his chances with the queen."
"...You do?" Vanellope questioned, quirking an eyebrow at Loki in confusion.
"But of course," Loki replied magnanimously, "I think that all Ralph needs to sweep the queen off her feet is the right opportunity and that's where you and I come in."
"What do you mean?" Vanellope asked.
"There is a love story at play here," Loki answered, taping his nose as he spoke, "And you and I have been cast in the role of Cyrano de Bergerac."
There was a pause as Vanellope blinked up at Loki.
"Who?" she questioned in confusion.
"Nevermind," Loki answered with an exasperated sigh, "What I'm trying to say is that tomorrow, you and I are going to give Ralph the chance he thought he'd never had."
"Is this a trick?" Vanellope demanded, "This feels like a trick."
"Perhaps," Loki admitted with a shrug, "But let me ask you this, Vanellope von Schweetz. What do you have to lose and what do you have to gain?"
Vanellope fell silent for a moment as she considered what Loki had said. Glancing at the door into the castle, Vanellope could see Elsa's form shift under her blankets as the girl's thoughts drifted to Ralph. Eventually, Vanellope turned her chocolate brown gaze back to Loki.
"Okay," Vanellope agreed with a nod, "Alright, let's do it."
"That's what I like to hear," Loki commented cheerfully, "You've made the right choice."
"So, what's the plan?" Vanellope asked as she quirked an eyebrow at Loki, "You have a plan, right?"
"Of course," Loki answered, "And like all great plans, it involves a little manipulation."
"A little magic," the Cheshire Cat added.
"And a little mischief," the two said together, both smiling like the cat that caught the canary.
A/N: Well, I have to say that this chapter was a blast to write, got to do and set in motion a bunch of things I've been planning for awhile. Hope you guys liked it! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!