Mystery girl pushed to the back of his mind, Sora drew his keyblade and refocused on the oncoming swarm of Cy-Bugs. Much like the others, these ones also had a look of Heartless about them, with the jaunty limbs and bright yellow eyes. Though that could've been how they looked normally, he supposed. Blocking out the very sun itself with their sheer volume, they must've numbered in the thousands at least.
"Alright Goof, we need to get closer." Sora made his first instruction. "Calhoun's got range, so she's fine, but-"
"-No time for that, kid!" Ralph practically wrenched his arm off. He sat Sora on his shoulders, then tucked both Donald and Goofy under an arm each. "Hold on tight, okay?!"
Sora wasn't going to argue with the giant. He grabbed onto whatever he could as Ralph suddenly took off running. With an enormous, lunging step, he cleared a good ten metres in a single bound. That distance was doubled with the next jump, followed by an almighty leap towards the race track in the distance. Ralph cannonballed into a giant cotton candy bush, then freed up just enough room for the other three to squirm their way out of it.
"No no no, don't worry about me!" Ralph forestalled Sora's attempts to heave him out of the bush. "Just get in there and start fighting! I'll catch up!"
Sora hesitated for just a moment, then nodded. "A-alright then. You were a great help! C'mon guys!"
The trio had made but a few steps before the need for action arose. An enormous Cy-Bug burst out from behind one of the stands and screeched at Sora, who reacted and lit it up from within using a Firaga spell. The Cy-Bug exploded into a goopy mess, and Donald cottoned on, igniting another one as it swooped in. Goofy would bounce Cy-Bugs left and right with his shield, as a near constant stream of bullets flashed through the sky courtesy of Calhoun's blaster.
Ralph eventually pulled himself out of the bush and joined in, crushing one Cy-Bug between his mighty hands and running it into the business end of Goofy's shield. With another ridiculous leap he practically took off skywards, plucking one from the skies and bringing his full weight down upon it. Sora and Donald charged up and combined Firaga spells, launching a super-heated ball of flame into the heavens and frying dozens at once.
Suddenly, a heavy weight barrelled into Sora from the side and knocked him over. He compensated into a clumsy commando roll and slashed his Keyblade outwards, but it merely scratched against tough shell as a huge, imposing Cy-Bug stood over him. It shrieked once again, illuminating a bright green glow from within, and Sora had to tumble out of the way to avoid a belching mass of some liquid. A liquid that quickly melted its way through the floor.
"…phew! Close one." He wiped his brow. Ralph's fist connected with it however, sending it soaring off into the distance. Meanwhile another Cy-Bug had learned to keep Goofy at bay by vibrating its wings. The vibrations carried through Goofy's shield, rendering him entirely immobile. A Firaga spell from Donald was slowed down to a crawl from the pulsing sound waves, and even Calhoun's bullets couldn't break through. Others started following its lead, also vibrating their wings and magnifying the effect.
"Aw man. What can we do now?!" Sora cried, as his Thundaga spell bounced helplessly from the sound waves. Blizzaga was only blown right back at him too. The fierce vibrations were growing stronger with every passing second, building a steady wind with it that was uprooting plants and blowing away trash cans. The gust strengthened, and one of the viewing stands collapsed shut like a mousetrap.
"Don't… know!" Donald squawked, holding onto a nearby tree for all he was worth. Goofy held his shield in front of him, edging slowly closer, but the duck's grip ultimately gave way, sending him rolling across the ground.
"I gotcha!" Ralph's enormous hand caught Donald like he were merely a wayward tennis ball. "We gotta find a way to stop them from doing that!"
"Uhh…" Donald tapped his staff against his forehead. "S-Sora! Try charging up your spells for more power!"
Sora had pierced the ground his with Keyblade, and hopefully that would stop him from getting blown away too. "I'll… I'll give it a shot! Goofy, can ya cover me?!"
"O-kay, Sora!" Goofy cried, sidestepping his way in front of Sora. The piercing winds whistled furiously around Goofy's shield instead, and Sora focused his energy the best he could, building up a glowing ball of flame from behind the shield's safety. The super concentrated fireball rippled with power for all of a moment, but quickly withered and died, snuffed out like a candle the moment it left Goofy's safety barrier.
"Ungh…!" Sora grunted, and screwed his face up with even more concentration. "A-any luck, Donald?!"
Donald took in a breath, grunting with effort as another, even brighter ball of flame began to glow at the top of his staff, with Ralph's enormous frame providing an ample barrier against the wind.
"I'll give it a go…!" He gasped, limbering up for the attack. Staff in hand, Donald threw the ball of flame forward, which surged against the howling winds. Reality itself was distorting from the energy being released, but despite the efforts, even Donald's powered up Firaga couldn't pierce the barrier. It lasted longer than Sora's, but it too waned before long, evaporating into a wisp. Donald crashed down onto one knee, gasping and spluttering.
The race track was starting to come apart now, with the winds blowing away signs, tearing chunks out of the chocolate asphalt and even shaking buildings. The jester guy and the green guy continued to huddle together at the top of the commentator's tower, all while the winds only got fiercer. Sora could've sworn there were even flashes of lightning from within.
"…we gotta try again, Donald!" Sora cried, staggering back to his feet. His hands were shaking from the effort, but he reckoned he had enough in him for maybe one more shot at this. Forehead creased and breathing ragged, Sora focused as much mana as he could…
"Hey!" A voice called from the distance. "Give this a try!"
Sora glanced back over his shoulder just in time to see Calhoun holding a glowing red thing. She threw it towards them, where it covered about a third of the distance and landed in the cotton candy grass. A crimson blast exploded from it, sending a pulse of light into the skies above. Almost immediately the vibrations stopped, followed by the surging winds, as the horde of Cy-Bugs lit up in curiosity. Murmuring like a hive of bees, the thousands of Cy-Bugs floated lazily over to the bright red glowstick thing that Calhoun had thrown, seemingly entranced by it. Sora simply watched, smirking, but then remembered himself. "…oh! That's right! Donald, now's our chance!"
"Alright…" Donald let out a low hiss and grasped at the top of his staff with both wings. Sora pinched at the bridge of his nose, taking in a deep breath.
"T…" he stumbled. "Tor…nado!"
Immediately his arm seized from the effort, but it was worth it for the viciously whirling cyclone that enveloped the Cy-Bug horde. Angry buzzing could be heard from within it, but this time it was their vibrations that couldn't pierce the raging winds.
"Okay Donald… go!" Sora cried, and Donald took aim.
Donald pointed his staff at the Cy-Bug tornado. Eyes lidded, breathing heavy, he gave it his best.
"Flare!" The duck shrieked, unleashing an almighty blast of energy from his staff. It was swallowed into the tornado for all of a moment, before igniting the entire vortex. Waves of energy pulsed outwards from the maelstrom, knocking down buildings, trees, and everything in their path except for Ralph, who received a stop sign to the face for his efforts.
Myriads of pained screams escaped the flare-nado as Cy-Bugs began exploding en masse, spilling green goop everywhere. Another burst of energy throbbed outwards, this one bowling even Ralph over, before the firestorm slowly dissipated into the atmosphere, leaving behind a ring of scorched ground and a crater full of goop.
"Whoa…" Ralph pushed himself back to his feet. "And I thought I was good at wrecking things. This place is a mess!"
"I'll say," Calhoun was, for once, without a snarky reply. "You must've taken out hundreds of them there, in one attack. That was ama-"
Sora looked up just in time, and caught the half a smile on her lips.
"…ahem." Calhoun cleared her throat. "G-good work, troops. We just took out a huge number of Cy-Bugs there. Couldn't have done it without you guys."
She held out a hand, helping Sora to his feet.
"Th-thanks…" He suddenly felt twice as heavy, now that the adrenaline had worn off. "Oh, whoa…" he wobbled, clutching at his head. "Does… does anyone have any Ether? I could really use one of those right now."
"Hmm…" Goofy rattled through his pockets. "Nnnope! I'm all out, Sora! Sorry!"
"Don't worry about it," Sora groaned. "What about you, Donald?"
But there was no sarcastic reply from Donald either. Odd, Sora noted. He was almost starting to miss those. But on closer inspection, it turned out that Donald's lack of sarcasm was because he was just lying there, on the ground, all tuckered out.
"…Heh. You too, buddy?" He couldn't help but chuckle. "Man, we kicked some butt huh?"
Donald muttered a few noncommittal duck noises, flapping a wing in Sora's vague direction.
Sora knelt down next to him. "Yeah, don't blame you there. Think we can maybe take a rest, S-Sarge?"
"Well…" Calhoun looked upon Donald's lethargic state with both hands on her hips. "We've still got to make a sweep of the game, flush out any remaining Cy-Bugs, plus there's another Coin Duty coming up soon…"
Sora grimaced. Things weren't sounding hopeful. The last thing he wanted was to burden Calhoun, even if he did just save the day with a super awesome fire tornado.
But then Calhoun shrugged. "Ah, hell. Take five, gentlemen. You've earned it."
The tension melted from Sora's shoulders almost instantly. With a sigh of relief, he collapsed into a sitting position on the ground. Calhoun merely glanced around, surveying the damage, while Goofy joined up with the other members of his trio and Ralph stomped towards the commentator's tower, which was somehow still standing.
"Hmm…" the big man mused, tugging at the weary structure. A frightened yelp burst from its depths, and Ralph wove an arm into the rickety remains, feeling around for something. The muffled screaming got louder as Ralph searched about like a crow in a vending machine, eventually plucking the source of it all from within.
The jester guy and his little green friend continued to scream while holding onto each other, despite being safe from the building. Ralph and Calhoun simply shared an exasperated glance, waiting for the screaming to end. The green one eventually opened its eyes and then only redoubled its efforts upon seeing Ralph holding it. "No no no, don't eat us…!"
Ralph's face fell. "I'm not gonna eat you. Why would I do that?"
"Y… you're not a monster?" The little green guy muttered.
"Hard as it is to believe, no I am not." Ralph deadpanned.
"…oh." The green guy said. His companion finally stopped whimpering, only to immediately frown.
"Wreck-It Ralph?" He spluttered. "What're… what're you doing here?!"
"Saving your hiney?" Ralph said darkly. "That's a funny way to say thank you, ya little-"
"A bad guy? Saving someone? Hah!" The jester whooped with laughter. "Should villainy ever cease being profitable, I can see a future for you in comedy!"
Ralph grumbled, and dropped the two of them with an audible thud.
"Some saviour you are," The jester dusted himself off. "Look at all the damage you've done to the town! This'll take weeks to repair!"
"Weeks?" Calhoun frowned at him. "That's a little overdramatic. Just reset your game. That'll fix-"
"N-no!" The Jester spluttered. "I'm not sure what backwater cartridge you come from, but we at Sugar Rush have a little thing called High Scores. To reset the game is to destroy our legacy, Sergeant Calhoun. Where is your sense of achievement?"
"You have your values and I have mine, Candy." Calhoun's lip tensed.
"That's King Candy to you commoners!" The jester thrust an arm at her.
"Uh huh. Well maybe we can agree to disagree." Calhoun blanked him.
"Disagree? Hmph! That I'll agree with!" King Candy huffed. "What are we to do?!"
"Well… better start rebuilding I guess…" The green guy deadpanned.
"Oh nonsense Sour Bill," King Candy snorted. "You wouldn't know where to begin!"
"It's better than just complaining…" Sour Bill rolled his eyes.
Calhoun buried her face in her hand. "Look, I get the High Scores thing, really I do. But we can't just leave the game like this. Coin Duty's in just over an hour, and if you get found like this your entire game could be deleted. So could you please just reset and make it easier for all of us?"
"Impossible!" Candy swiped both arms outwards. "Do you know how long it would take to re-establish High Scores this lucrative? I'll take the entire game down with me before I lose those High Scores!"
Calhoun took in a deep breath, but channelled it all into a tensed fist and a sigh. "…fine. Anyone else got any ideas? Bear in mind we've got about an hour to do it."
Donald was still half asleep, and the best Sora could manage was a confused grunt. So who was going to use the communal brain cell, Calhoun wondered.
Ralph tapped a giant hand against his chin, while Goofy seemed on the cusp of an idea.
"Hmm…" he muttered. "Well, how about ya make it into a new racetrack? Would that work?"
King Candy's forehead creased. "Well it doesn't exactly fit in with our theme. Our game is all about candy! Where does the apocalypse fit into a candy go kart game?!"
"Maybe… a bonus level?" Ralph shrugged. "You can… use this here tower as a tunnel thing, and then the big pool of goop as like a feature, say it's peppermint or something. That's a candy right?"
"Yes, peppermint is a candy." King Candy couldn't even chuckle. "Maybe you should leave the ideas to someone who's not a bad guy, and knows something about candy?!"
"Hey heyyy, at least I'm havin' ideas!" Ralph fired right back. "'Sides, I live in a dump. I've never even had cake before. Gimme a break, huh?"
"That explains the smell," King Candy turned his nose up at Ralph, who just frowned back at him. "A bonus level is a lovely idea, but you'll have to do better than a scorchmark and a building, for caramel's sake! Where's the rest of the tra-"
The ground shook as Ralph punched into it. Reducing the chocolate soil to dust in moments, his enormous hands were practically a blur as they forged new ground, connecting the crater of goop to the fallen tower, which then looped around and went straight over the top of it. Ralph wove between a few felled trees, got stuck in half a dozen cotton candy bushes, and then traversed some hard gobstoppers to meet up with the start.
"There!" He dusted off his hands. "Little rough, but it'll do. You can work out a name later. Pretty good for a bad guy, huh?"
"I suppose it has… rustic charm." King Candy squinted at Ralph's creation. "…fine! It is acceptable. Sour Bill, please show our esteemed guests to a motel so they can rest while I go sign this bonus level into the city charter."
"…very well," Soul Bill drawled. "All of you, please follow me to the Sweet Dreams Motel. It's a short walk this way…"
Sora staggered back to his feet and offered a hand to help Donald up, but the duck still wasn't responding. He and Goofy shared a concerned look.
"I got it." Ralph obliged, picking Donald up by the foot and slapping him over his back like a wet towel. Donald simply hung limp from Ralph's shoulder as their little group followed after Sour Bill.
"Hey Wreck-It, remember we've got Coin Duty comin' up." Calhoun made the effort to remind him.
"Oh uhh, sure. Just lemme do this thing and I'll be with ya." Ralph gestured after the rest of the group.
"Sure, sure…" she shook her head fondly. "Hey Wreck-It, don't forget. Just because you're a bad guy in your game, that doesn't mean you're a bad guy in every game. You've done good today."
"I… I have, haven't I?" Ralph's eyes brightened. After carefully setting down a still woozy Donald, he bid the trio farewell before chasing after Calhoun. A smile touched at his lips, and he jumped into the air, tapping both heels together in mid jump.
"Call us if you need us, Sora." She nodded, before saluting the three of them and turning on her heel.
"Y-you got it," Sora said.
Sour Bill cleared his throat. "Please feel free to spend the night here, you three. King Candy is busy adding the new err, track, into the game's charter, and Coin Duty is fast approaching, so it would be best if the three of you were… here."
Sora merely nodded. "Th-thanks…"
With a shaky hand, he grabbed at the door handle, only for it to turn green and pixel out on him. Sora grimaced. He still didn't have this under control?
"Ugh…!" He groaned, massaging his forehead. "Stupid computer… thing!"
"Suspicious, is what it is…" Sour Bill narrowed his eyes. "Just be careful please…"
The three of them checked into their motel at last, across the city King Candy was immersed in a realm of darkness, swimming in mid air amongst a bunch of large purplish blocks.
"Peppermint lake… collapsed tower bridge…" he muttered to himself, tapping at a holographic keyboard. "Gobstopper obstacle field… new bonus level… alright, that should do it. The things I go through for this game…"
King Candy tapped out a name on his keyboard, and 'Cotton Candy Chaos!' was christened.
"What to replace it with…" Candy mused to himself. "Ahh, here we are. Sorry Candlehead. It's nothing personal. Though you were getting close to breaking my High Score on Fudge Mountain…"
There was a glint in King Candy's eye as he tore at the wire connecting one of the blocks to the enormous, interweaving web. Sparks and bolts of lightning bled from the wires as it was torn before the block darkened out, floating emptily. With a shrug, King Candy discarded the darkened-out block, throwing it out into the distance where it bumped into two others. One had a name consisting mostly of mossy greenish blocks, while the other was named Vanellope.
Author's Note:
Hey there people. Quite a lot happens in this chapter. I'd like to think I did a decent job with the actiony stuff, and hope it isn't too talky (though sometimes that's impossible to avoid). There's some foreshadowing and a wee mention of Vanellope, who'll of course be useful in upcoming chapters. As always, feel free to leave feedback if you have anything. Over and out. :3
Oh, and if someone can think up a better pun name for a post-apocalypse candy go kart track, please feel free to suggest. I just spitballed 'Cotton Candy Chaos' as a placeholder thing lol.