Chapter 6: Breaking the Ice
Ralph's house was a modest one, a squat, brick building consisting of combination kitchen and dining room, a bedroom and a bathroom. Simple, sturdy and surprisingly cozy, much like Ralph himself, it sat in the shadow of the apartment building that the other characters of Fix-It Felix Junior lived, beneath the eternally dark sky.
Inside, Ralph lay on his large bed, a patchwork blanket draped over his bulky frame as he slept in his t-shirt and boxers. Suddenly, the peace in the arcade cabinet was cut short as Vanellope came screaming down the tunnel that connected Fix-It Felix Junior to the other games in Flynn's Arcade on her go-kart. Skidding to a halt outside Ralph's house, kicking up bits of pixelated grass as she did, Vanellope quickly hopped out of the go-kart and ran up to the front door.
"Ralph!" Vanellope called as she banged on the door with both hands, "Ralph, get your lazy butt up and open the door!"
A moment later, heavy footfalls could be heard before the front door was yanked open, revealing a disheveled Ralph looking blearly down at Vanellope.
"What do you want, Vanellope?" Ralph questioned grumpily.
"Put on some pants and come on!" Vanellope answered as she gestured for Ralph to follow her, "I need your help!"
"Help?" Ralph questioned in confusion, wiping his eye with the palm of one of his large hands, "Help with what?"
"With my meeting with the new princess," Vanellope explained.
"Your meeting?" Ralph repeated, not following, "Why do you need my help with that?"
"Look, I'm feeling pretty nervous about it again," Vanellope answered with a pleading voice, "I know you told me I shouldn't worry but I am, so I really need you to come, pleasepleaseplease."
"Alright, alright," Ralph replied, waving his hand at Vanellope to get her to stop and sighing in defeat, "I'll go with you, but I'm only sticking around until you pick up this new princess. After that, you're on your own, okay?"
"Awesome!" Vanellope replied as she began jumping up and down excitedly, "You're the best, Ralph!"
"Yeah, yeah," Ralph replied with another dismissive wave, "Just give me a minute to get dressed and we can head out, okay?"
"Sure thing," Vanellope replied as she glitched back over to her go-kart, "I'll be waiting right here."
Ralph nodded as he turned away from Vanellope and made his way back into the house. As Ralph disappeared from view, Vanellope's smile turned sly and she rubbed her hands together eagerly.
"That's step one of the plan done," Vanellope muttered to herself, "Now on to step two."
Later,
Vanellope's go-kart zipped down the streets of the Magic Kingdom, apparently unperturbed by the extra weight it was now carrying. While Vanellope occupied her normal spot in the kart's driver seat, Ralph was left to sit hunched over on the rear end of the vehicle, doing his to distribute his weight so he wouldn't cause the kart to tip over while also holding on to the vehicle's sides for dear life.
"Do we have to go this fast!?" Ralph called over the whipping winds the tugged at his hair and brought tears to his eyes.
"Sorry, but I lost time picking you up!" Vanellope explained, her eyes focused ahead as the go-kart weaved its way around the other vehicles on the road, "I've got to make up for it!"
"We won't be making up any time if we die before we get there!" Ralph shouted back.
"Oh, don't be such a baby!" Vanellope replied as the kart zipped around an oncoming truck, causing Vanellope to laugh and Ralph to scream as the truck blared its horn at them.
Eventually, the duo left the more congested area of Downtown behind them as they sped towards the coast. As they went, Arendelle came into view and Ralph's eyes widened in surprise.
"Wow," Ralph marveled, "Is that a whole new mountain ahead?"
"I think so!" Vanellope agreed, doing her best to hide the fact that she had seen in before, "That's pretty nuts, huh?"
Ralph could only nod mutely as the kart reached the edges of the small city nestled between the mountain and the coast. Entering the city, Ralph discovered to his dismay that the roads were paved with cobblestones, the uneven road shaking the kart so badly that it threatened to buck the wrecker completely off. Zipping through the city streets, the kart barely avoided the people who were milling about with perplexed looks on their face as it raced up to the castle and crossed the lowered drawbridge.
As the kart sped into the courtyard in front of the castle, Vanellope took a swerving turn while slamming on the brakes, the force of the sudden change in momentum finally dislodging Ralph from the back and sending him tumbling end over end across the ground. After a moment, Ralph rolled to a stop on his back, looking up at the clear blue sky above.
A moment later, a young woman came into view, looking down at Ralph with a mixture of confusion and concern. She had pale, delicate features with icy blue eyes and light platinum blonde hair that was one step away from being snow white which she wore in a loose braid with her bangs swept back from her face. She wore a flowing white and blue dress that left her shoulders bare and seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. Attacked to the dress was a long cape that appeared to be almost translucent.
Ralph's face heated up in embarrassment as he recognized her immediately.
"Are you alright?" the woman asked, her voice relatively low and raspy.
"Uh yeah," Ralph replied as he sat up, prompting the woman to take a step away so they wouldn't accidentally butt heads, "Nothing I can't handle."
"Wow, Ralph," a new voice spoke up, "I've heard of making an entrance, but that was ridiculous."
Turning from the woman, Ralph found Hades standing over him, grinning smarmaly.
"Need a hand?" Hades questioned as he offered his hand to Ralph.
"Thanks," Ralph replied, taking Hades' hand and letting the god help him to his feet, "Why are you here?"
"We got two new villains coming in," Hades explained, "I'm here to show them around."
"Do you volunteer for all these things?" Ralph inquired with a quirked eyebrow.
"What can I say?" Hades replied with a shrug, "I like meeting new people."
Ralph smirked and turned from Hades back to the woman, only to find a small group had gathered around her.
Standing directly next to the woman was a slightly younger woman, Ralph guessed eighteen at most, who shared a striking family resemblance with the older woman. Her hair, done in a pair of braids that hung past her shoulders, was strawberry blonde in color, and she looked up at Ralph with wide, blue eyes. She wore a simple dress that consisted of a light blue neck and sleeves, a black bodice and a dark blue skirt that hung down to her ankles. The bodice and skirt were decorated with green vines and red roses while a pair of high heeled boots covered her feet.
Next to the younger woman was a man roughly the same age. He had a brawny build, with sandy blonde hair, brown eyes and a wide nose. He was dressed in a light blue shirt beneath a black vest lined with green. Additionally he wore a pair of black pants, black, fur lined boots and a red sash tied around his waist. A large reindeer stood directly behind him.
The one figure who stood out most to Ralph was the one standing directly in front of the older woman. He was a snowman who stood roughly the same height as Vanellope. He had a lumpy, lopsided look to him, especially due to his head being disproportionately large. He had large eyes with black irises, a long, carrot nose and three twigs sticking out of the top of his head. His arms consisted of sticks that ended in four-fingered hands and three pieces of coal ran in a line like the buttons of a coat.
Standing off to the side were two men. The first was younger, with handsome features, green eyes, auburn hair and long sideburns. He wore a grey, winter coat with gold trim and matching pants along with a pair of white gloves and black riding boots. There other man was older and shorter, with a grey, receding hair like and a large, handlebar mustache. He wore a gold trimmed, black military officer's coat with golden medals pinned to the chest and a red sash crossing it along with a pair of grey pants tucked into black riding boots. A thick pair of glasses sat in front of his blue eyes on his prominent nose.
"Um, hey," Ralph greeted, finally breaking the awkward silence.
This seemed to break whatever spell was on the ground and the young woman blinked in surprise as her cheeks colored.
"Sorry, I know it's rude to stare," she said bashfully, "It's just….well, you're really big."
"It's alright, I get that a lot," Ralph replied with a smirk, "I'm Ralph, by the way. Wreck-It Ralph."
The group looked at Ralph in confused silence for a moment.
"Is Wreck-It, like, a title?" the young man questioned.
"Or a family name?" the younger woman suggested.
"Both, I guess," Ralph answered with a shrug, earning him more puzzled looks.
"Well, Mr. Wreck-It," the older woman began to say as she stepped forward, "Let me introduce-"
"Wait, wait, I've got this," Ralph interrupted with a grin before pointing at each person in turn, "Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, Kristoff, Sven the reindeer, and Olaf the snowman."
As the group blinked at Ralph in surprise, he turned from them and indicated towards the two men standing apart from them.
"Over there, we have Prince Hans and the Duke of Weaseltown," Ralph continued.
"It's Weselton," the older man replied indignantly.
"Right, sorry," Ralph apologized, barely hiding the small upward quirk of his lips as Hades snorted in amusement behind him.
"How did you know all of that?" Elsa questioned in befuddlement.
"I watched your movie," Ralph answered with a shrug.
"What's a movie?" Olaf asked in confusion.
Now it was Ralph's turn to blink in surprise.
"You don't know what a movie is?" Ralph questioned.
"Oh, Ralph, my naive little friend," Hades spoke up, as he tried and failed to wrap his arm around the wrecker's shoulders, "They're from a different time period."
"Wait so…." Ralph started to say as he put things together in his head.
"They don't about anything past the middle ages," Hades finished, "They're going to have a lot of things explained to them. Trust me, I came from Ancient Greece. Indoor plumbing blew my mind."
"I'm sorry, but I don't really understand what either of you are talking about," Elsa spoke up, looking up at the two taller men with a perplexed expression.
"Don't worry, toots, you'll get the hang of it," Hades said condescendingly, prompting Ralph to elbow him in the gut as Elsa furrowed her brow at him.
"What I think my friend here was trying to say is that all of this is a lot to take in at first, but after awhile, you get used to it," Ralph explained.
"And are you the one who is supposed to get us acquainted with everything here?" Elsa questioned.
"Uh no, not me, personally," Ralph replied awkwardly as he glanced around, "I'm just here for my friend…."
It was at that moment that Ralph realized that Vanellope wasn't anywhere near him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Vanellope was still over by her go-kart, practically hiding behind it, in fact.
"Vanellope!" Ralph called out while waving the girl over, "Come on, what are you doing over there!?"
Ironically, when Vanellope had come up with the idea of pretending to be nervous while scheming with Loki the previous night, she had never considered the idea that she would actually be nervous when it came time to meet the new arrivals. But now that she was standing here, mere yards away from Queen Elsa, Vanellope suddenly found that her courage had abandoned her and her feet had become rooted to the cobblestone.
"Uh, yeah," Vanellope replied with a nervous chuckle, "I'll uh, I'll be right there!"
Cautiously, Vanellope made her way over to the rest of the group, her eyes locked on Elsa who was giving her a friendly, if slightly bemused, smile. Stopping in next to Ralph, Vanellope nervously played with the edges of her skirt.
"Uh, hi, I mean…." Vanellope began to say before doing a quick curtsey in Elsa's direction, causing Ralph to choke back a laugh as the girl's face turned a bright shade of red, "Your Highness. My name is Princ-, I-I mean, Principa-, no, no, President, I meant to say President Vanellope von Schweetz."
"It's an honor to meet you," Elsa replied, giving Vanellope a curtsey of her own, "Are you the one who is supposed to get us acquainted with…."
"The Magic Kingdom," Vanellope provided, "And no, technically, I'm just here for your, uh, your sister, Anna."
"I don't understand," Elsa stated with a puzzled expression.
"I-I know, I'm sorry, I'm uh, I'm not really explaining this well," Vanellope babbled as she looked down at her feet, her face becoming redder as she spoke.
"What Vanellope is trying to say is that usually we break this kind of thing up into groups," Ralph stepped in, indicating towards Hades as he spoke, "For instance, Hades, the Dark Lord of the Underworld here."
"Hey, how are ya?" Hades asked as he snapped his fingers before pointing at the group before him.
"He represents the villains around here," Ralph continued while indicating towards Hans and the Duke of Weselton, "So, he's going to take those two and show them around."
Reaching down, Ralph grabbed Vanellope by the hood of her sweatshirt and lifted her up into the air, ignoring her squeak of protest.
"The pipsqueak, on the other hand, is here to represent the little princess club they have in the Magic Kingdom," Ralph explained as he indicated towards Vanellope, who glared at him, "So, she's here for Anna."
"Princess club?" Anna questioned with a grin.
"They're kind of a big deal around here," Ralph explained as he dropped Vanellope to the ground where she promptly kicked him in the shin, which he ignored.
"And what of you, Mr. Wreck-It?" Elsa questioned, unable to hide a small smile at the pair's antics, "Who are you here for?"
"Me?" Ralph replied as he pointed at himself, "I'm just here to help Vanellope get over her nerves."
"Nerves?" Elsa asked as her brow knitted together, "What does she have to be nervous about?"
"Well, this is her first time doing this sort of thing," Ralph explained before he leaned down to Elsa and stage whispered to her, "Plus, she's kind of started to look up to you."
"Quit it!" Vanellope hissed at Ralph as she kicked him in the shin again, causing Elsa's small smile to grow slightly.
"Anyway," Ralph continued with a chuckle, "There should be someone coming along shortly to show the rest of your around."
"Speaking of which, it's probably about time for me to hit the road," Hades spoke up before he pointed towards Hans and the Duke, "Alright you two, you're with me. Let's get out of here before things get even more saccharine."
Sparing a few glances at the others from their movie, Hans and the Duke walked over to Hades, who turned and began leading them out of the courtyard.
"See you at the next meeting, Hades?" Ralph questioned.
Hades paused and seemed to consider the question for a moment before looking back at Ralph and smirking.
"Yeah, sure," Hades answered with a shrug, "I suppose I don't have anything better to do."
With that, Hades resumed leading the other villains away, giving Ralph a wave from over his shoulder as he went. Ralph snorted with amusement at the act before turning his attention back to the others.
"We should probably be going too, Princess," Vanellope spoke up as she eyed Ralph.
"Oh, uh, alright," Anna replied, looking slightly nervous as she glanced at the others.
"You nervous?" Vanellope questioned as she cocked an eyebrow at the other princess.
"A little," Anna admitted, "This is all just kind of a lot to take in, you know?"
"Trust me, I know," Vanellope reassured her, the grin on the girl's face widening as she glanced over at Kristoph, "Why don't you bring your friend along?"
Following Vanellope's gaze, Anna locked eyes with Kristoff for a moment before quickly looking away again, a light blush coloring her cheeks.
"Is, uh, that allowed?" Anna questioned, "I thought you said this was more of a princesses only thing."
"It is, but I'm not exactly one for following rules," Vanellope answered with a shrug before turning her attention towards Kristoff, "What do you say, big guy?"
"I mean, I'd love to," Kristoff answered before he glanced over at Elsa.
"Don't worry about me, Kristoff," Elsa stated with a small smile, "You go with Anna. I'll have Olaf to keep me company."
Smiling at her sister, Anna grabbed hold of Kristoff's arm and practically dragged him over to Vanellope, Sven clopping along behind them.
"Okay, so I only really have space for one other person in my kart," Vanellope explained as she led them over to her vehicle, "Which means Kristoff is going to have to follow us on his four-legged friend here."
"Hey!" Ralph called, giving Vanellope an annoyed look as he threw his hands into the air in exasperation, "What about me!?"
"Sorry, Ralph!" Vanellope replied as she gave Ralph a cat-that-caught-the-canary grin, "Official princess business! Besides, you could use the walk!"
"Typical," Ralph sighed as he rolled his eyes.
Giggling, Vanellope hopped into the seat of her go-kart, Anna managing to squeeze in behind the girl and watching in wonder as she fired up the motor.
"Are you two going to manage to keep up?" Vanellope questioned as she watched Kristoff mount Sven.
"With that little thing?" Kristoff retorted with a chuckle, "Yeah, I think we'll manage."
"Oh my, that sounds dangerously close to a challenge," Vanellope replied, a predatory grin spread across her face, "I love challenges!"
With that, Vanellope slammed her foot on the accelerator and, after a moment of furiously burning rubber, the kart shot off like a bullet fired from a gun, Anna letting out a cry of surprise and exhilaration as the vehicle zoomed out of the courtyard and disappeared from sight. For a moment, Kristoff and Sven could do nothing but stare at the spot the go-kart had occupied a moment before, the pair wearing matching dumbfounded expressions. Then, Kristoff managed to regain his wits and urged Sven forward, the reindeer hustling as fast as he could to catch up with the speeding go-kart.
"Wow," Olaf commented as he turned his attention towards Ralph, "She's pretty fast."
"You don't know the half of it, pal," Ralph stated with a snort.
"I apologize for you having been stranded here on our accountant, Mr. Wreck-It," Elsa spoke up, giving Ralph an apologetic look in the process.
"Trust me, Your Highness, I've been dropped off in much worse places," Ralph replied with a shrug, "I had a heck of a first day when I got here, let me tell you."
"Well then, I hope you enjoy your time in Arendelle today," Elsa stated with a courtly manner, "I would hate to keep you waiting any longer than necessary."
"It's no trouble," Ralph said as he waved off her concern, before glancing over towards the entrance to the courtyard and smiled, "Besides, I think you tour guide just arrived."
Following Ralph's gaze, Elsa watched as someone approached them. As they drew closer, Elsa realized, to her surprise, that the person was actually some sort of anthropomorphic dog, with black skin and expressive, dark brown eyes. Specifically, his face resembled a hunting dog's, with a long, wrinkled snout and floppy ears. He had a tall and lanky build over which he wore an orange turtleneck sweater and a green vest along with blue jeans, brown shoes, white gloves and a small green hat with a few black hairs sticking out from underneath it.
"Hey, Goofy!" Ralph greeted with a friendly wave as Elsa continued to look at the figure in surprise.
"Hello there, my friend!" Goofy replied with a wave of his own.
As the response reached Ralph's ears, in blinked in surprised confusion and he lowered his hand hesitantly.
"Ah, you must be Queen Elsa," Goofy said as he reached the two, before he doffed his hat and gave her a graceful bow, causing Ralph's brow to furrow in confusion, "Goofy, at your service."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Goofy," Elsa replied with a small smile, "I take it you're to guide Olaf and I around today?"
"Indeed, I am," Goofy answered as he straightened back up and placed his hat back on his head, "Shall we be off?"
"Certainly," Elsa replied with a nod.
"Thank you for keeping the queen company until my arrival, Ralph," Goofy said as he turned his attention towards the wrecker, whose eyes had narrowed dangerously.
"Sure thing, pal," Ralph replied with a dangerous smile, "One question before you go though."
"What would that be?" Goofy questioned before Ralph suddenly reached out and grabbed him by the throat, the pressure from the wrecker's grip causing Goofy's eye to bulge in their sockets as he was lifted off his feet.
"Where's the real Goofy?" Ralph snarled as he held Goofy up so they were eye to eye, the character's leg kicking spasmodically in the air.
"What are you doing!?" Elsa demanded, looking at the unfolding scene in shock, "Mr. Wreck-It, what is the meaning of this!?"
"Sorry, Your Highness," Ralph apologized as he looked over at her, "But this isn't the real Goofy."
"It's not?" Olaf questioned in confusion.
"No, this is an imposter," Ralph explained as he pointed an accusatory finger at Goofy before he looked back at him, "In fact, I think I know exactly who this is. Isn't that right, Cheshire?"
As Ralph spoke the name "Goofy" suddenly stopped struggling. Turning his attention fully towards Ralph before blinking, his eyes changing to the yellow ones of a cat while a far too wide grin spread across his features.
"Well, well, well," "Goofy" stated, his voice completely changing to that of the Cheshire Cat, "It seems you've grown more clever than I would give you credit for Ralph."
As he finished talking, "Goofy's" head suddenly detached from the rest of his body, causing it to drop back to the ground and land unsteadily on its feet. Elsa let out a gasp and covered her mouth in shock while Ralph made a disgusted noise and let go of the disembodied head, causing it to fall into the bodies waiting hands.
"I didn't think most people were able to do that," Olaf commented as he watched "Goofy" place his head back on his neck.
"That's not a person," Ralph said as he glared at "Goofy", "That's the Cheshire Cat."
As Ralph spoke, "Goofy" was covered in a cloud of purple fog, which disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving the Cheshire Cat floating in its wake.
"What is the Cheshire Cat?" Elsa inquired, her astonished gaze glued to the creature in question.
"A nuisance," Ralph grumbled as he continued to glare at the cat.
"Oh, Ralph," Cheshire purred as he rolled over onto his back, "Why must you say such hurtful things."
"I'm just speaking the truth," Ralph shot back, "Now, where is Goofy?"
"He's here," Cheshire mused, rolling his head in one direction and then the other, "And there. He could be just about anywhere at this point, really."
"Is Loki in on this?" Ralph questioned, "If I find out one of you hurt the guy."
"You'll what?" Cheshire challenged with his caught the canary grin.
"I'll make you regret it," Elsa suddenly spoke up, causing Ralph to look at her in surprise, "Now, tell us what you've done with this Goofy."
"I think not, Your Highness," Cheshire replied as his form began to fade from view, "I think it will be much more fun watching you figure it out for yourselves."
"Oh no, you don't," Elsa said as she pointed a finger at Cheshire. A moment later, a ray of snowflakes shot out of her fingertip and struck Cheshire, causing a block of ice to form around him, freezing him solid. The Cheshire Cat let out a muffled, confused squeak before the ice block holding him thudded to the ground.
A silence fell over the courtyard as Elsa lowered her hand and Ralph blinked down at the frozen cat in surprise, watching as his eyes shifted nervously back and forth.
"Mr. Wreck-It," Elsa stated as she turned her attention back to Ralph, "What do you think be done with him?"
"Oh, uh, I guess the Sheriff will probably want to talk to him," Ralph said, blinking rapidly as his surprise waned, "It will make tracking Goofy down that much easier."
"Very well," Elsa agreed with a nod, "If you wouldn't mind carrying him, we can bring him to the proper authorities."
"We?" Ralph parroted as he quirked an eyebrow at Elsa.
"Yes, we," Elsa insisted, "This….creature has done something to someone in order to get to me. It's only right that I help to rectify the situation."
"Well, when you put it that way," Ralph stated with a nod before he leaned down and scooped up the block of ice containing the Cheshire Cat and bounced it in his palm.
"Well, I've got to say, this day is already turning out better than I had expected," Ralph observed as he grinned at the trapped cat.
"I take it you've had run ins with him before?" Elsa guessed.
"He gave me a real runaround my first day here," Ralph explained as he turned his attention fully towards Elsa, "Looking back on it, it's a pretty funny story though. I'll have to tell it to you sometime."
"Well, I believe we'll have some time while we're making our way to the Sheriff," Elsa observed as she began making her way out of the courtyard, "Why don't you tell it to me on the way there, Mr. Wreck-It? As long as I'm not imposing, that is."
"Not at all, Your Highness," Ralph replied with a grin as he tucked the ice block under his arm and followed Elsa, "So, it all started with me waking up in Game Central Station…."
As the two walked side by side out of the courtyard, Olaf lingered behind, watching them for a moment. As he did, a large smile spread across his face.
"I like him," Olaf said to himself before hurrying after the pair.
A/N: So, I've finally introduced the Frozen characters! I know many of you were eagerly waiting for this, and I have to say, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Hope you guys liked it as well. As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!