Chapter 9: The Sting
The next day found Anna standing outside Flynn's Arcade, looking at it uncertainly. Inside, loud noise went off and bright lights flashed as the children inside played various games, prompting Anna to worry her bottom lip nervously as she looked around for anyone familiar.
"Can I help you, miss?" a voice suddenly asked her, catching Anna by surprise.
Turning towards the source of the voice, Anna found a middle aged man standing nearby, looking at her quizzically. He was a tall man, with greying brown hair, a bushy mustache, a Caucasian complexion and blue eyes behind a pair of thick glasses. He wore a black and white striped referee polo tucked into a pair of brown slacks along with brown loafers on his feet.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Anna apologized, "I was just looking for someone."
"Well, maybe I can help you with that?" the man suggested, "Your Anna, right? The new princess? The name's Litwack and I help run the place."
"Yes, that's me and, that's great!" Anna said with an excited smile, "You should be able to help me then. I'm looking for Vanellope von Schweetz."
"Well, you just missed her, I'm afraid," Litwack stated with an apologetic smile, "She just left."
"Oh shoot," Anna replied with a disappointed expression.
"But she left only a minute or so ago," Litwack continued as he pointed down the street, "She went walking in that direction, if I'm not mistaken. If you hurry, you might be able to catch her."
"Oh, great!" Anna exclaimed happily as she began running in the direction that he had indicated, "Thank you, Mr. Litwack!"
"Have a good day, princess!" Litwack called after her with a laugh.
Rushing down the sidewalk, Anna looked around wildly for any sign of Vanellope. Spotting something out of the corner of her eye, Anna skidded to a halt at the mouth of a small alleyway. Looking down it, Anna was surprised to see Vanellope conversing with Loki, the Cheshire Cat draped around the god's neck.
"Vanellope?" Anna questioned as she looked at the younger girl in confusion, causing Vanellope to spin around and gape at the other princess in surprise. Loki, for his part, merely looked over at Anna with a raised eyebrow.
"A-Anna!?" Vanellope exclaimed with a nervous chuckle, glancing rapidly between Loki and the princess, "What….what are you doing here?"
"I was looking for you," Anna explained as she walked down the alley, her confused gaze focused on Loki, who had begun to smirk back at her, "Who's your friend?"
"This is, uh…." Vanellope trailed off, clearly unsure how she should explain herself, "This is my….uncle."
"Your….uncle," Anna repeated dubiously. Loki, for his part, appeared disgusted by the quality of the lie and sighed in annoyance.
"Loki Laufeyson," Loki introduced himself, causing Vanellope to look at him in a panic as the villain bowed gracefully towards Anna, "At your service, Princess."
"Wait, Loki?" Anna inquired, pronouncing the villain's name slightly differently, "As in, Lokke Liesmith? That Lokke?"
"I see my reputation precedes me," Loki observed with a grin.
"You know him?" Vanellope questioned in confusion.
"Kind of," Anna replied as she looked at Loki with a puzzled expression, "I know of him. Old tales about the gods my people used to worship. But I didn't think you guys had gods here."
"Didn't you meet Hades yesterday?" Cheshire questioned in confusion, "Isn't he also a god?"
"I mean, that's not really the same thing," Anna argued awkwardly.
"Isn't it?" the Cheshire Cat pressed with a tilt of his head.
"Wait, aren't you that magic cat who tried to kidnap my sister?" Anna accused as she pointed at the Cheshire Cat.
"That was me," Cheshire confirmed with his too-wide grin, "And do thank your dear sister for flash freezing me. I had to sunbathe for hours before I got feeling back in my pads."
"I feel like you probably got what you deserved," Anna stated as she crossed her arms, "You did kidnap and impersonate someone just to try and get at Elsa."
"What did happen to Goofy anyway?" Vanellope questioned.
"I tricked him into walking through a door that led directly off a cliff," Cheshire replied nonchalantly.
Seeing Anna and Vanellope's expressions of shock and even Loki's surprised quirk of the eyebrow, Cheshire sighed dramatically.
"He's fine," Cheshire drolled, "Have you met him? He's practically made of rubber."
"Anyway, I just happened to be walking by when these guys-" Vanellope quickly began to say.
"Vanellope, come on," Anna sighed as she placed her hands on her hips, "I'm not stupid."
"That remains to be seen," Loki observed as he leaned against the alley wall, smirking as Anna shot him a glare.
"I know what's going on here," Anna continued as she turned her attention back towards Vanellope.
"...You do?" Vanellope questioned after a quiet, surprised moment.
"You're trying to set Ralph up with my sister," Anna said with a smile.
A shocked silence fell over the alley as Vanellope looked at Anna with wide, terrified eyes. Loki, for his part, wore an impressed expression and he broke the silence after a moment by applauding politely at Anna.
"A-Anna," Vanellope began to say, clearly on the verge of panic as she tried to find the right words to say, "Look, I….I can explain…."
"I want in," Anna interrupted as she leaned down closer to Vanellope, her smile expanding into an excited, megawatt grin.
"You….what?" Vanellope questioned, clearly having trouble processing what Anna had just said.
"A twist!" the Cheshire Cat laughed as his head spun about his neck in excitement, "I love twists!"
"You want to help us?" Vanellope asked, earning a nod from Anna, "Why? I thought you'd be mad."
"Why would I be mad?" Anna questioned in confusion.
"Because we are essentially manipulating people's emotions for our own benefit," Loki explained, "One of those people is your sister."
"True," Anna agreed as she nodded hesitantly, "But it's not just for our benefit. We're trying to make Ralph and Elsa happy."
Anna paused as she gave Loki a suspicious look.
"Well, Vanellope and I are, at least," Anna stated as she pointed at Loki, "I don't know what you're hoping to get out of this."
"Perhaps I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart?" Loki suggested with a shrug.
"Wow, that was absolutely a lie," Anna replied, her expression totally unconvinced, "What I'm not sure is if you're lying because you're hiding something or because it's some kind of reflex for you."
Loki's only response was to shrug enigmatically.
"Wait, you said you were doing this so both Ralph and Elsa can be happy," Vanellope observed, a look of dawning comprehension forming on her features, "Are….Are you saying that Elsa likes Ralph?"
"Only if you're saying that Ralph likes Elsa," Anna replied with a wide grin.
"Holy bits!" Vanellope exclaimed as she began to bounce up and down excitedly, "Holy bits, holy bits, holy bits! It's working!"
"Yes, yes, this is all very exciting," Loki said with an annoyed expression, "Stop shouting."
"So, what's the next step?" Anna questioned as she glanced between Vanellope and Loki.
"Well, we were just trying to figure that out," Vanellope answered.
"In that case, I think I have an idea," Anna stated with a confident smirk.
"Oh, do you now?" Loki asked with a dubious tone, causing Anna to shoot him another glare.
"Just shut up and come here," Anna said as she leaned towards the others and began whispering conspiratorially with them.
Later,
Ralph sat alone in the Ink and Paint Club's back room, a content if somewhat bored expression on his face as he glanced at the circle of folding chairs and snacks put out on a nearby table. As he sat, his thoughts began to drift, as they often did as of late, to a specific topic. Or, more accurately, a specific person.
Sighing as he rested his chin on the palm of his hand, a small smile spread across his face as he pictured Elsa sitting across from him, his heart skipping a beat as he remembered the way she had laughed at one of his jokes. As a dreamy expression spread across his features, he could almost believe that Elsa was standing in front of him, smiling at him and saying his name.
"Ralph," Hades' voice suddenly cut through Ralph's daydream, "Hey, Ralph, you there? Anybody home?"
Blinking his eyes and shaking his head, Ralph brought himself back to reality and found Hades standing before him, a perplexed look on the god's face.
"You okay there, Ralph?" Hades questioned as he made his way over to the refreshment table.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Ralph replied, shrugging as he regained his composure, "Just, you know, lost in thought."
"Yeah, but what were you lost in thought about?" Hades asked with a grin as he picked up a cookie and tossed it into his mouth.
"I don't see how that's any of your business, Hades," Ralph said as he narrowed his eyes at the god.
"Look, I just know that rumors have been floating around about you and a certain Snow Queen, and I thought that she might have been on your mind," Hades observed as he took a seat.
Looking at Ralph, Hades' brows furrowed in confusion as he watched the wrecker's face turn bright red before a look of realization spread across his own features.
"Wait, do you actually have a thing for the new chick?" Hades question, eyes wide as he leaned forward.
"I-I don't have a thing for Elsa," Ralph sputtered as he avoided Hades' gaze.
"You remembered her name!" Hades exclaimed as he grinned and pointed an accusatory finger at Ralph, "That proves you have a thing for her!"
"The fact that I remember Elsa's name does not mean I have a thing for her," Ralph replied in annoyance.
"I didn't remember her name," Hades argued as he touched a hand to his chest.
"Hades, I don't think you remember the name of most of the other villains you hang around with," Ralph countered with a narrowed gaze.
"Well, that's just not true," Hades scoffed as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Good afternoon everyone," Loki greeted as he entered the room.
"Hey, there he is!" Hades said enthusiastically as he looked back at Loki, "My man, Doctor Doom!"
"Not even close," Ralph stated with a shake of his head as Loki took his seat while looking at Hades in confusion.
"Whatever," Hades replied flippantly as he turned to face Ralph again, "My point still stands and you are trying to change the subject."
"What subject?" Loki inquired.
"Ralph here has got the hots for the new ice princess," Hades answered before chuckling to himself, "Heh, hots, ice princess. That's good."
"Do you now?" Loki asked as he turned towards Ralph and gave the wrecker an amused grin.
"Oh come on, not you too," Ralph groaned, "We're not here to talk about whether I like a girl or not."
"On the contrary," Loki argued, "We're here to talk about our feelings. I believe that includes yours, don't they?"
"Why are we talking about Ralph's feelings?" Turbo questioned as he entered the room as the wrecker in question pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"It would appear that Ralph has feelings for one of the new princesses," Loki explained as Turbo grabbed a cookie.
"The redhead?" Turbo questioned as he took a seat.
"No, the blonde," Hades corrected.
"Alright, really, that's enough of that," Ralph said as he stood up, "Can we get this meeting started now?"
"Wait!" a voice called out from the hall, "Wait, wait, wait! I'm here! Don't start without me!"
A moment later, Anna came bounding through the door, sliding to a stop next to one of the folding chairs before she took her seat. A silence fell over the room as everyone stared at Anna, the silence only broken by the sound of the redhead catching her breath.
"Okay, I'm ready whenever you guys are," Anna said as she smiled at the others.
"Um, Anna?" Ralph questioned in confusion.
"Yeah, Ralph?" Anna asked as she turned her attention towards the wrecker.
"What are you doing here?" Ralph inquired as he gestured at her with his hand.
"I'm here for the meeting," Anna answered chipperly.
"This is a Bad Guys Anonymous meeting," Hades said as he looked at Anna like she was stupid, "You're not actually a bad guy, are you, sweetie?"
"I don't know, I can be pretty bad when I want to be," Anna replied with a threatening tone as she glared back at Hades, prompting Turbo to let out an impressed laugh as the god narrowed his gaze at the princess, "See what happens if you call me sweetie again."
"He does have a point, Anna," Ralph argued gently.
"Fine, maybe I'm not a bad guy," Anna said as she crossed her arms over her chest and turned her attention towards Ralph, "But where is it written that only bad guys can come?"
Ralph looked ready to argue before a surprised expression crossed his face, causing Loki to chuckle.
"I believe she has you there, Ralph," Loki commented with a smirk.
"Maybe," Ralph admitted, "But I do wonder why you wanted to come to this meeting, Anna."
"I thought it seemed interesting," Anna answered with a shrug.
Clearly not believing her, Ralph began to say something else but was interrupted as Hades sighed dramatically.
"Yeah, this is all super interesting, but can we get this show on the road?" Hades requested as he crossed his arms and began taping his finger on his bicep impatiently, "Because I don't have all day to sit here and chitchat."
"Alright, alright," Ralph said as he made a placating gesture while standing, "I suppose if Anna wants to attend, she can. How about we start with the Bad Guy Affirmation?"
Nodding their heads, Hades, Loki and Turbo rose to their feet, prompting Anna to as well. Lowering his gaze, Ralph recited the Bad Guy Affirmation, with Hades and Turbo mumbling along with the parts they remembered. Her brow furrowing, Anna glanced over at Loki, who merely smirked at her and shrugged. Once he was done, Ralph raised his gaze back to the others and they all retook their seats.
"I liked that," Anna commented with a smile, "Now what?"
"Now we usually talk about ourselves," Ralph explained.
"In fact, since you're the new one here, that means you have to talk first," Hades stated as he pointed at Anna.
"Is that a rule?" Turbo questioned dubiously.
"It is now," Hades declared with a smirk.
"Anna, you don't have to if you don't want to," Ralph stated with a reassuring look.
"No, no, I don't mind," Anna replied with a smile and a shake of her head as she rose to her feet, "How should I start?"
"Introduce yourself," Ralph answered with a smile.
"Alright," Anna replied with a nod before standing up straighter and folding her hands in front of her, "I am Princess Anna of Arendelle."
"Hi, Anna," the group replied in unison, causing Anna to chuckle.
"Sorry, that was a little too formal, wasn't it?" Ann asked as she glanced around at the others.
"I wouldn't worry about it, toots," Hades answered before gesturing towards Loki with his thumb, "You should have been here for Mr. "Burdened-With-Glorious-Purpose" here's intro.
Ralph and Turbo laughed at the comment as Loki merely rolled his eyes.
"Now, tell us about yourself," Ralph instructed.
"I mean, don't they already know all that?" Anna inquired with a chuckle, "They all saw the movie, didn't they?"
Glancing around at the others, Anna's brow furrowed in confusion as the gathered villains gave her looks that expressed the negative.
"Going to the movies isn't really our scene," Hades explained, looking away from Anna. Glancing at Ralph and wordlessly shooting him a question, a concerned expression spread across her features as Ralph offered her a helpless shrug.
"Right" Anna said, taking a breath to collect herself before smiling at the others, "I guess I should start from the beginning then."
As Anna told her life story to the gathered villains, Ralph couldn't help but smile at the scene unfolding in front of him. While Loki, Hades and Turbo weren't above interrupting with their observations and comments here and there, they appeared happy to listen to Anna as she went over the major events of her life. Ralph remembered just last session, the three couldn't resist needling each other, but now they seemed to be at ease not just with each other, but Anna as well.
Maybe this whole thing was a good idea after all.
"Okay, tell me honestly, Annie, how'd it feel to hit him?" Hades questioned, "Like, I know you goodie-two-shoes are always like "Violence is bad" and "We should settle things with words" and blah blah blah, but come on. It felt good, right?"
Anna worried her bottom lip as a smile pulled as the edges of her mouth.
"Yeah," she admitted with a nod, "If felt so good."
"Hahaha, that's great!" Hades laughed, clapping his hands as he leaned back in his chair, "That's beautiful. I'm gonna give that smug prick so much crap for that."
"Prick?" Anna asked with a bemused smile, "It sounds like you don't like Hans."
"Well, if you ask me, your ex is kind of full of himself," Turbo answered.
"That's the nice way of saying it," Hades added with a snort as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"But I thought all you, you know, bad guys kinda got along," Anna stated, a questioning look on her face.
"Oh sure, most of the other villains are great folk, love hanging with them," Hades elaborated before grimacing, "But some of them…."
"Let's just say that if you ever run into a guy named Claude Frollo, you should walk the other way," Turbo stated.
"Actually, since you're a girl, you should probably run in that case," Hades clarified, a completely serious look on his face.
"But surely you can't use this against Hans," Loki spoke up, "After all, we've all been beaten before. It's all part of playing the villain, after all."
"Yeah, but you can still look cool while losing," Hades explained, "When I lost, it was because Jerkules, who has super strength by the way, uppercutted me into whirlpool of souls. Hell, from what I understand, Ralph here blew up Turbo with a volcano."
"It was a volcano made of Mentos and Coca Cola," Turbo clarified while shrugging, "But yeah, it was pretty intense."
"But our buddy Hans?" Hades went on, "He broke his sword on some ice and then got knocked on his ass by a hundred pound girl. Not exactly what I'd call cool."
"I suppose that's true," Anna replied with a chuckle and a nod.
"Well, on that note, we should probably call this meeting for the week," Ralph spoke up as he gently clapped his hands together, "We at least need to be out of here before Jessica opens for the night."
"Right, right," Hades agreed with a nod as he rose from his seat and stretched, prompting the other villains to stand as well, "Got to say Ralph, starting to thing these meetings are worth my time."
"I fear I must agree," Loki stated with a nod, "These meetings are much more….enjoyable that I would have initially expected."
"Aw, he likes us," Turbo sneered at Loki, "He really likes us."
"Thanks again for letting me join your meeting," Anna said with a smile.
"Don't mention it, Annie," Hades replied, grabbing some of the snacks off the table as he made his way towards the door, "You really livened up the place."
As Loki and Turbo followed Hades out the door, the god's expression turned perplexed.
"Say," Hades began as he stuffed a cookie in his mouth, "Where's your cat?"
"The Cheshire Cat does not belong to me," Loki explained, "He comes and goes as he pleases."
"That just sounds like every cat," Turbo commented, earning chuckles from the others as they all left the room.
Smiling and shaking his head, Ralph turned his attention to putting away the folding chairs they had been using.
"Need some help?" Anna asked.
"Sure," Ralph replied with a nod, prompting Anna to begin folding up her own chair.
"So, I'm gonna be honest," Anna said as she carried her folded chair over to where Ralph had brought the others, "I may have had an ulterior motive for attending the meeting."
"Oh?" Ralph questioned with a quirked eyebrow as he gathered up the remains of the refreshments, "And what would that be?"
"I need your help with something," Anna said as she looked at Ralph awkwardly.
"What could you possibly need my help with?" Ralph inquired.
"Well, you know Kristoff?" Anna began, her face heating up as she talked, "And how he and I have a….a thing?"
"You mean how you made out with him at the end of your movie?" Ralph questioned with a smirk.
"You don't need to make it sound so crude!" Anna grumbled as her face turned bright red.
"Sorry," Ralph said with a chuckle as he held his hands up in a placating gesture, "So, what about you and Kristoff?"
"Well, I like him, obviously" Anna continued as she began nervously playing with one of her braids, "But, I don't want to rush into anything, you know?"
"Yeah, I get that," Ralph replied with a nod.
"So, I wanted to do something where I could, I don't know, get to know him better," Anna went on.
"Like a date?" Ralph inquired with a confused tone.
"Yes, exactly!" Anna replied, pointing at Ralph excitedly.
"I'm still not seeing how I'm going to help you out with this," Ralph admitted with a confused expression.
"Well, you seem to know a lot about the Magic Kingdom," Anna explained, "So, I was thinking that maybe you could come with us and take us somewhere we might enjoy?"
"I don't know, Anna," Ralph replied uncomfortably as he scratched the back of his head, "I'd like to help but I don't really feel like being a third wheel."
"Third wheel?" Anna repeated in confusion.
"Like, you and Kristoff will be there doing couple stuff, and then I'll be there, with you but kind of awkwardly by myself, you know?" Ralph attempted to explain.
"Oh, I suppose that makes sense," Anna replied as she thoughtfully tapped her finger against her chin before a megawatt smile suddenly lit up her face, "Wait, I've got an idea!"
"What's that?" Ralph questioned with a snort of amusement.
"I'll bring Elsa along!" Anna declared.
"W-What?" Ralph mumbled, his cheeks turning red as his eyes went wide.
"Yeah!" Anna went on, "You guys got along great when you showed her around. I'm sure she'll love to spend more time with you!"
"I-I don't know, Anna," Ralph replied, averting his eyes as he felt his face grow hotter.
"Come on, Ralph, please?" Anna pressed, walking around so that she could look the wrecker in the face, pouting out her bottom lip as she gazed up at him, "It would mean a lot to me if you did."
Looking down at Anna, watching as unshed tears seemed to glisten in the princess' eyes, Ralph sighed in defeat.
"Alright, fine," Ralph said as he wiped his hand across his face, "I guess, if….if Elsa wants to go, then I'll do it."
"Yes!" Anna exclaimed, happily hopping up and down as her expression performed a complete turn around, "Thank you, Ralph!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ralph replied with a dismissive wave of his hand, "So, when do you want to do this?"
"Um, how about tomorrow night?" Anna suggested thoughtfully.
"Yeah, sure," Ralph answered with a shrug, "Sounds good."
"Great!" Anna replied as she began prancing her way out the door, waving as she went, "See you then!"
"See you," Ralph replied with a half-hearted wave, before sighing and rubbing the back of his neck with a troubled expression.
Making her way out of the Ink and Paint Club's back hallways, Anna entered the main room, where she spotted Hades, Loki and Turbo sitting at the bar. Catching Loki's attention, Anna winked at him before making her way to the door. Smirking, Loki winked back at her.
"What was that?" Hades questioned.
"What was what?" Loki replied with a straight face.
"You just winked," Hades explained as he looked over at Anna in confusion, "At the princess. What was that about?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Loki lied, as he made a thumbs up out of Hades' sight.
A few moments later, Ralph walked into the room, a pensive and worried expression on his face as he made his way towards the door.
"Alright, Ralph, you've got a chance," he muttered to himself, "But where could I possibly bring them that would impress Elsa?"
As Ralph send this, one of the Club's penguin waiters wandered in front of him, carrying a foldable sign. Stopping near the door, the penguin set the sign up, before wiping his brow and waddling away. Looking down at the sign, Ralph saw that it said the "Ink and Paint Club Music Night" was scheduled for tomorrow evening.
"Hey, Elsa said she was interested in this Jazz Era stuff" Ralph said, a smile spreading across his face as he snapped his fingers, "That might just be the ticket!"
In his excitement, Ralph quickly left, failing to notice as the penguin's eyes suddenly turned cat-like and a too-wide, toothy grin spread across its features.
A/N: Well, this one ended up getting away from me a little, but I ended up having a lot of fun with it. Hope you guys liked it as well! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!