How does adding Turbo change the climax of the movie? Not much, if I'm honest…
Chapter 8: The Man in a Thousand Mirrors
Turbo's walking slowed as his rage began to cool. He still couldn't believe Vanellope was willing to throw her life away just for something new, and after she'd promised to make him a racer. This was exactly the kind of behaviour he was punished for!
He sighed, wishing his Bad Anon group was there to help. Don't be hasty, he imagined M. Bison would say, and Clyde would tell him, Take others' feelings into consideration.
Of course he didn't mean it when he said he would go back to Turbo Time immediately. He'd just let his emotions cloud his judgement in a need to get away from all the negativity. How could he abandon Taffyta and his other friends? He wasn't going to make the same mistake as Vanellope. There had to be another way.
He turned around, deciding it was best to make amends with the other two first. Every fight they had solved nothing. It was time that one of them take charge of the situation, and Turbo figured he might as well be the one.
He found Ralph staring into a tunnel, facing away from him. He groaned to himself and appeared to be looking for something.
Turbo approached. "Hey, listen, Ralph. I'm sorry about what I said back there. I wasn't thinking clearly; I was just mad."
Ralph continued to groan and didn't look at him.
Wow, I know I joke about his low IQ, but this is bad even for him. He tried again, "I should've been there for you, but all I could think about was myself. I'm sorry."
No response.
Fed up, Turbo snapped, "Ralph, I'm baring my soul here, the least you could do is pay attention!"
The hulking man finally turned around with a scowl on his face.
Turbo shrank back. "You're not exactly Ralph, are you?"
Indeed he looked like the wrecker, but he was tinted reddish purple and behaved like a zombie. "Ralph" growled and charged at him with outstretched hands.
With a yelp, Turbo zipped away, not sure where he was going, just as long as it was far from the eerie character. He was nearly bowled over when someone crashed into him as he passed an alleyway. "Ow! Watch where you're-" But it was only Vanellope. "Oh. …Watch where you're going!"
She caught her breath, eyes round in fear. "Did you see-"
"The weird Ralph?"
"They're everywhere!"
Turbo swept his gaze around at different websites. Copies of Ralph were swarming the buildings, tearing them apart in some kind of desperate search. A giant screen featuring a news anchor was apparently reporting on the chaos in the human world.
"In breaking news, the Internet is under assault as a massive denial-of-service attack crashes servers across the web," she was saying. "The Wreck-it Ralph virus is fast-moving and destructive."
A Ralph-zombie crawling up the screen paused and turned his head, followed by the other Ralphs. "Friend?" they moaned.
Turbo took a step back, but then realized all their eyes were locked on Vanellope.
"Friend!" A lot more Ralph clones took notice and started to rush in their direction.
Vanellope glitched into a run. "Let's get outta here!"
Turbo followed closely at her heels, occasionally glancing back to see how far the Ralphs were. Good thing they were slow just like the real Ralph. Turbo then realized, "Hang on, why am I running? They just want you." Still, he continued until they came back to KnowsMore's searchbar, much to his reluctance. "Ugh. This guy."
Vanellope called out, "Mr. KnowsMore!" and ran up to the counter.
When KnowsMore saw her he smiled warmly. "Oh, delightful! You're that courteous little cherub who says 'please' and 'thank you'." He glanced at Turbo with less enthusiasm. "Oh, and that guy."
Turbo just scoffed, but Vanellope started, "There's a whole-"
"Whole foods? A hole in the ozone? Whole Lotta Love by British rockers, Led Zeppelin?"
"Shut up!" Turbo shouted irritably. "There's a whole bunch of Ralphs chasing us!"
As if to prove his point, the thudding footsteps of the approaching Ralphs got louder.
KnowsMore's pupils visibly shrank. "This would probably be an appropriate time for me to shelter my site."
While KnowsMore helped Vanellope get behind the counter, Turbo leapt over it himself and observed the Ralphs stampeding towards them. "Hurry, they're coming!" he warned. Seeing KnowsMore having difficulty pulling down a metal barricade, Turbo grabbed one end and helped shield them just in time.
The three of them backed into the bookshelf, illuminated by a single light, as one by one the Ralphs started pounding on the barricade.
"How long you think before they get in here?" Vanellope asked.
The side door rattled, prompting KnowsMore to reply, "Precisely one second."
"Some security…" muttered Turbo.
A Ralph burst through the door and quickly shut it behind him, but Turbo and the others wasted no time in chucking books at him. They were the only things they had on hand, but they worked at keeping him at bay and Turbo smirked at the thought of KnowsMore having to reorganize afterward.
"Ow, hey, it's me! It's the real me!" the Ralph yelled, right before getting a wooden ladder broken over his head. "Ow-ow-ow…"
"Ralph?" Turbo and Vanellope gasped.
KnowsMore, who had regained his composure after bludgeoning said ladder, uttered, "My apologies."
Huh, I never thought he could be so savage, Turbo thought. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.
"I followed those things here," the real Ralph told them. "I think they're looking for you, kid!"
Vanellope's snark returned. "Yeah, you think? What did you do?"
Ralph whimpered, "I'm so sorry, I don't know how this happened!"
"Well, I think it's fairly obvious," KnowsMore spoke up, stepping onto a thick book. He explained matter-of-factly, "It happened because an insecurity virus cloned all of your needy, clingy, self-destructive behaviour, the very behaviour which left unchecked can destroy friendships and in this case, the entire Internet!"
"Wow, I was just thinking the same thing!" said Turbo. "Funny how that happens."
Heavy pounding shook the site, and they knew it wouldn't be long before the clones forced their way in.
Turbo shut his eyes in concentration. After a few seconds of racking his brain for knowledge about coding and viruses, he lit up. "I got it!" He addressed the others, "The best way to get rid of a virus is to introduce a new virus!"
"Wouldn't we still have the same problem?" asked Vanellope.
"Not necessarily. If we can make an even more unstable insecurity virus, it should be able to take out the first one, but since we made it we can easily control it."
KnowsMore rubbed his chin. "That sounds like a highly roundabout plan…" He smiled. "It just might work!"
Ralph wondered, "But who do we know is insecure enough to be the template for the virus?"
Almost immediately, they all looked at Turbo, who was smiling knowingly.
The racer adjusted his helmet. "Just leave it to me."
"Oh, I am so sad! All my hopes and dreams are gone, and Wreck-it Ralph is the most popular meme on the Internet. Woe is me…" Turbo continued to wander, hoping his fake moans of depression would attract the insecurity virus.
A shuttle flew over his head and he saw Ralph and Vanellope wave at him through the window. Good thing Turbo decided to make a few calls. Hopefully Yesss would take them somewhere safe.
Turbo jumped as a Ralph clone bustled past him, chasing the shuttle. If he didn't stop the virus soon, it would spread to every site on the Internet, including Planet Emu.
A sob wracked his chest and he dropped to his knees. "What am I gonna do?" he cried, reaching into the depths of his emotions. "I want to go back to my friends in the arcade, but I also want to be with the twins in Turbo Time again. I can't choose! I just want everyone to be happy."
"Scanning for insecurities…"
Turbo looked up, and through his teary eyes he saw a worm-like creature slither into view.
It locked its vision on the racer and said in a deep robotic voice, "Insecurity detected."
Perfect, Turbo thought, holding back a smirk.
"Copying insecurity." The virus started shooting out bundles of pixels, which formed into purple-ish copies of Turbo. "Distributing insecurity." Then the virus moved on to dispense more clones elsewhere.
Turbo wiped the tears from his eyes and got to his feet. "All right, listen up, Turbos!" he called out loudly so the ones further away could hear. When most of their gazes turned to him, he declared, "The Wreck-it Ralph virus is standing between you and your happiness! Go destroy him!" He quickly added, "Oh, but refrain from destroying the real Ralph or the Internet. Pass it on!"
"Destroy Ralph! Destroy Ralph!" the clones growled as they went off, leaving Turbo disappointed that their level of intelligence was the same as Ralph's virus.
Still, he watched with satisfaction as his plan unfolded. The Turbos attacked the Ralphs, often mobbing each one until the enemy virus disintegrated. The Ralphs fought back of course, dealing devastating blows that seemingly required no effort at all. The Turbos had to be nimble in order to avoid getting one-shotted.
The newer clones started branching off, but instead of attacking the other virus, they ran up to net users, spouting "Turbo-tastic!" in their faces and just otherwise trying to get their attention.
"Wait! What are you guys doing?" Turbo demanded. "Didn't you get the message?!"
Evidently they hadn't, as most of them started swarming into websites. Once a certain amount had gone inside one, the entire building collapsed. He noticed the same thing happening on others; it appeared that every website could only hold so much activity before it broke down.
The reporter from earlier was back on with an update. "I've just got word that a second virus has spread all over the Internet in the form of 80's arcade racer, Turbo. Dozens of sites have already crashed due to overload, but unlike the Wreck-it Ralph virus, this one appears to only want exposure." The news report suddenly got flooded with Turbo sprites saying their catchphrase.
Turbo winced. Maaaaybe this wasn't as good an idea as he thought…
His BuzzzTube phone rang, and when he answered it Ralph was on the other end. "How's it going, Turbo?"
He looked off into the distance and replied, "Well, half of America just lost their Facebook."
"Ah, it was mostly Minion memes anyway," he heard Yesss casually remark from the driver's seat.
From the corner of his eye he saw a Ralph clone charge at him, and Turbo broke into a run, accidentally dropping his app, which got crushed under the clone's foot. "Wait! I'm not a virus!" he yelled.
Unfortunately, this attracted the attention of more Ralphs, who joined in angrily pursuing him.
Using his speed to his advantage, Turbo dashed ahead to the Art District and took refuge inside a site that hadn't been affected yet. A second later, he ran back out, screaming, "YOU'RE THE NEW DEVIANTART! YOU'RE SICK, PIXIV! YOU'RE SIIIIICK!"
The Ralphs had almost caught up to him, and Turbo accidentally ran into a wall while he was looking back. Seeing no way past them, the racer flattened against the wall and gulped in fear.
Rapid footsteps vibrated the floor, and then a large herd of emus stampeded all the Ralphs from the side.
Turbo beamed at the two racers herding the emus in their cars. "Thanks, guys!"
"We'll hold them off while you get somewhere safe!" Shift called over the roar of the engines.
Drift added, "You got this, Turbo!"
Turbo nodded and watched them steer the emus towards more clusters of Ralph copies before he ran off in another direction. The Online Gaming District had a fantasy-like site complete with a fortified wall surrounding it. Deeming it safe, Turbo pushed through the gate and slammed it shut behind him.
Characters from the game glanced over at him curiously, then their expressions turned to horror and they fled, screaming.
Turbo scowled. "Well that's rude." Then he heard a loud roar coming from outside and he backed away from the gate. Looking up, he saw a giant Ralph, made up of all the smaller Ralph clones, glaring down at him over the wall. "Wow, this is like that one anime where people were being attacked by a titan-sized monster. I think it was called 'Sword Art Online'."
But the giant Ralph didn't seem interested in defeating the smaller Turbo clones anymore, and he lumbered away to most likely search for Vanellope.
"Two can play at that game!" Turbo exited the site and wondered how he was going to get the attention of the Turbo virus. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted on a whim, "Hey look, it's Shank!"
"Where?!" just about every Turbo clone stopped to say, convening toward the real Turbo.
"Now that I have your attention, it's time to get super sized!" He improvised for motivation, "To, uh, prove to Shank that you're stronger than Ralph!"
They growled in determination and banded together until they formed a giant version of Turbo.
"Nice! Hey, uh, mind getting me to higher ground?" The giant reached his open hand down to him, and Turbo carefully stepped onto it, realizing he was standing on the clones making up his hand. "Sorry about that, guys."
The giant Turbo lifted him up and placed him on the very top of the Wikipedia tower, which was shaped like a big open book.
"Thanks." From his vantage point he noticed Vanellope seized in the hand of his target not far away. Great, now I have to save the princess. Turbo ordered, "Go show that bad friend who's boss!"
The Turbo legion gave out a battle cry of, "For Shank!"
This got the attention of the giant Ralph, who paused walking to turn around and roar in defiance.
Mega Turbo charged, its footsteps shaking buildings, towards the battle-ready opponent.
Turbo watched with utmost anticipation. What better way to save the Internet than with an epic clash of the titans!
Ralphzilla drew his free arm back, then let loose the first punch when Mega Turbo was in range, sending all the racer copies flying into disintegration.
And that was it.
Turbo's mouth hung open in astonishment. "…Well. That was anticlimactic." Then again, he wasn't much of a brawler anyway.
"Was this part of your plan?!" he heard Vanellope shriek to him as her captor thudded past.
Ralphzilla's other hand knocked against the Wikipedia tower, causing it to wobble and crack.
"Whoa, nononono!" Turbo did his best to keep his balance, but it would do nothing to stop the top portion of the tower from falling away, which is exactly what happened.
"Quick, Turbo, jump!"
As the tower tipped over, Turbo saw Ralph piloting some kind of small delivery train floating in front of him. Seeing no other option, Turbo raced to the edge and leapt down, landing inside the empty car behind Ralph.
The broken part of the tower fell upon KissAnime, completely obliterating it. Duck, who had just exited the site prior to its destruction, fell to her knees and screamed skyward, "NOOOOOO!"
Turbo cringed at the devastation he'd inadvertently caused, but there was nothing he could do about it now. "Thanks, Ralph," he said, catching his breath. "Hey, how're you flying this thing?"
"I have no idea!"
"Well, keep it up!" He pointed. "Look! It's heading for the top of the Google building!"
Ralph angled the train up. "Hang on!"
Turbo gripped the sides of the car and tried not to look down. He wasn't exactly at ease with Ralph at the wheel, especially being so high up, but it would be too difficult to switch places now.
Ralphzilla stood up when he saw them coming. The hand holding Vanellope was lowered protectively while his other was curled into a fist.
"Ok, I'm gonna let you off the train now," Ralph said unexpectedly.
"Wait, what?" Before Turbo was even prepared, the train flipped over and he tumbled out with a startled cry. He landed on a purple block floating beside the Google tower and scrambled away from the edge.
Ralph maneuvered over the head of Ralphzilla, dodging a swipe, and came back around to charge at him from the front.
"Ralph, I hope you know what you're doing," Turbo breathed anxiously.
Ralphzilla punched at the train, shattering it, but Ralph had jumped at the last second and landed on a swinging yellow cube. He swung towards the monster's other hand and scooped up Vanellope, placing her safely on a blue cube at the highest part of his swing. But as he swayed back, Ralphzilla clutched him in his hand.
"Ralph! No!" Vanellope yelled, her voice shrill with horror. "Don't hurt him! Please, no! You're gonna kill my best friend!"
Turbo watched helplessly as Ralphzilla slowly crushed Ralph. There was nothing he could do. His plan had failed, and now he was forced to see one of his only friends die in front of him. He was so paralyzed he couldn't even scream.
Finally, Vanellope blurted out, "Fine, you win! You win, ok? Please put him down. I'll be your only friend, ok? Let him go."
Ralphzilla turned his head to her. "Huh?"
"Vanellope, what are you…" But the girl glitched away to another cube before Turbo could finish.
Ralphzilla gently held her in his hand and relaxed the other one constricting Ralph.
"No, kid, no!" the wrecker protested in dismay.
She kept encouraging, "That's it. That's it, yeah. Let him down, and I'll go with you." Her voice calmed despite the tears in her eyes. "We'll be best friends forever, just me and you. That's what you want, right?"
"Well that's not what I want!" Ralph spoke up, surprising everyone. "It's not right to hold a friend back from her dreams." He directed to the monster, "You don't own her! That's not how friendship works! You need to let her go!" More gently, but no less painfully, he repeated, "You need to let her go."
Ralphzilla groaned sadly and looked at Vanellope again. With a shake of his head he held her close and breathed shallowly in distress. His fist holding Ralph tightened slightly.
Fearing a relapse, Turbo called out, "Ralph, wait! That is, the giant Ralph!" The creature looked at him warily. "You're letting your jealousy turn you into a monster. Believe me, I've been there, and we both know how that turned out."
Ralphzilla lowered his head, but his expression was still full of conflict.
"Happiness is a choice." Turbo smiled a little when the giant looked back at him. "That's what one of my best friends once told me. I didn't understand him at first, but now I do. Things will not go your way all the time, but that doesn't mean it's all hopeless and bleak. You can still try to make the most of the situation by having a positive attitude, because that's the only thing you can control. I know, it's gonna hurt a bit." He revised, "Ah, who am I kidding? It's gonna hurt a lot. But you'll be ok, because you won't be alone; you had my back when I was getting readjusted, now I've got yours." Turbo glanced at his friend. "Right, Ralph?"
Ralph smiled back. "Right, Turbo. We're gonna be ok." He turned to Vanellope. "Right, kid?"
She wiped her eyes. "Of course we are. Always."
Ralph addressed the giant, "See? No matter where she goes or where she lives, she's always gonna be our friend. You just gotta trust her, 'cause that's what best friends do. Right?"
Ralphzilla's smile was complete and he carefully set Vanellope down on the building.
"Thanks, buddy," she said softly.
Then the giant reached up and patted Turbo's helmet with one finger.
The racer chuckled and straightened it. "You're welcome, pal."
Ralph let out a sigh of relief. "I feel good about this."
As he was speaking, the Ralph clones started to glow brightly until they all dissolved back into the ether. Unfortunately, there was nothing holding Ralph up now, so he fell.
"Ralph, no!" Vanellope cried, glitching her way down the building.
"Hurry!" Then Turbo realized something. "Wait, how am I supposed to get down?" He cautiously peeked over the edge and saw Ralph plummeting towards Spamley's flying vehicle.
But instead of landing in it, Ralph simply crashed right through it.
"Well there goes my idea," Turbo muttered.
Thankfully, but also somewhat unexpectedly, a group of Disney princesses appeared and used a combination of their powers and skills to rescue Ralph, getting him to the bottom and doting on him to make sure he was ok.
Turbo threw his head back and said incredulously, "What is the appeal of Ralph?!" He tried waving and calling down to them. "Hey! A little help up here? Anyone?!" When he figured they couldn't hear him, Turbo looked around to see if there was anything he could do.
A nearby cube was suspended by a propeller. If he could get to it, he could use the propeller to fly down.
Turbo ran to the edge of the block he was on, then jumped.
And missed.
And fell.
The racer tumbled in the air, arms instinctively reaching for anything to grab onto. But there was nothing. Time slowed as he recalled significant moments in his life, including the other times his life flashed before his eyes. The only regret he had now was that he couldn't keep his promise to Taffyta about coming back. But thinking about his friends and the fond memories of them made him realize that he really had been able to find happiness despite not all his dreams coming true. Even as he fell to his death, Turbo smiled in satisfaction knowing that he was a good guy who helped save an arcade game and the entire Internet.
The End
Just kidding.
A car smashed through the Google building right below Turbo and caught him in midair.
"Oof!" Turbo righted himself in the backseat and brushed the broken glass off his jumpsuit. He looked at the driver and gasped in shock. "Shank?!"
"Thought you could use a lift," she said with quick backwards glance.
Before Turbo could thank her, he was distracted by where they were being pitched. "We're gonna crash right into that building!"
"Yeah, but it's gonna look really cool!" Shank shifted gears as her car sailed into the website adjacent to Google.
Turbo braced himself and screamed, hearing the windows and bricks shatter around them, the squeal of the brakes, and finally, the engine idling. He opened his eyes and saw that they were safely on one of the middle floors at Pinterest.
"Whew." Shank ran a hand through her hair. "Always wanted to try that."
After removing his white knuckles from the seat he was holding, Turbo hopped out of the car and gazed at the hole in the wall, right across from the one in the Google building. "You mean you haven't done that before?" He had to grin in admiration. "You really are Wonder Woman!"
She leaned over her seat to smile at him with an eyebrow raised.
"I—I mean, you're ok," he quickly backtracked. He cleared his throat and avoided eye contact. "Um, thanks."
"My pleasure." Shank cleared a smudge on her side mirror and said, "Now how about we join the others at the bottom?"
Turbo sheepishly fiddled with his hands. "Might I suggest taking the elevator? I've had enough thrills for one day."
"Internet users are breathing a collective sigh of relief tonight. Just as mysteriously as they had appeared, the Wreck-it Ralph and Turbo viruses have vanished." As the reporter made the announcement, the Internet was busy rebuilding itself.
"Hey, Shank!" Vanellope greeted, lighting up at seeing the woman racer walk up to her and Ralph with Turbo.
Ralph stepped forward, seeming a little regretful. "Sorry I misjudged you, Shank. You're not so bad after all."
"It's all good. I thought it was great that you were so concerned about Vanellope," she complimented. "And Turbo, I heard you really shed some vulnerable tears earlier."
Turbo tugged on his collar in embarrassment. "Oh yeah, uh, that was just to lure the virus. I wasn't actually that sad…"
"By the way," Ralph started with a smile, "thanks for what you said."
Turbo shrugged, trying to appear casual. "Ah, no problem. I said it 'cause I meant it. Plus, I was starting to feel like a side character in someone else's story."
"Turbo!" Shift and Drift drove up to them and got out of their vehicles. "You're ok!"
"Guys!" Turbo gestured to the twins and explained to the others, "This is Shift and Drift, the same ones from my old game!"
Ralph looked closely at them. "No way!"
They nodded, and Drift said, "Good to see you again, Ralph!"
Vanellope raised her eyebrows. "Huh, so you were telling the truth about joining their game."
Shift gasped in delight and asked Turbo, "So you are coming back?"
"I've given it a lot of thought…" Turbo began, almost enjoying the suspense on everyone's faces. "And I've decided to take a third option. Shift and Drift, I want you to come with me."
"What?" they said in unison, giving him a puzzled look.
"It may not be Turbo Time," he went on, "but the game I'm in has become my home. My family lives in the arcade, and I want you guys to be part of it. And I'll tell you what: if it turns out you're not happy there, we can go back to the emulator. What do you say?"
Shift and Drift exchanged thoughtful glances, and it didn't take long for them to beam happy smiles at their old friend. "Turbo-tastic!"
Turbo let out a laugh. "Good answer!" He couldn't resist adding to Vanellope, "See? That's how you resolve conflict."
She rolled her eyes and groaned, "Whatever happened to me being allowed to follow my dream?"
"Oh, so when Vanellope goes Turbo, nobody bats an eye. But when I do it, everyone loses their minds."
Ralph sighed. "Again, Turbo, those are two different scenarios."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," he admitted with a slump.
"Speaking of which," Shank said to Vanellope, "let's get you set up."
While Shank worked on the code—adding to Turbo's amazement—he, Ralph, Vanellope, Shift, and Drift waited on the bench in front of the Slaughter Race entrance, catching up on lost time and filling in parts of their adventure that others didn't get to see.
"You know what I just realized?" said Ralph after a lull in the conversation. "The sun never rises or sets here 'cause everything is always on."
Vanellope mused, "Isn't that an astute observation."
"Other than KnowsMore, I'm probably the smartest guy in the Internet."
"Actually, a few other search engines are even better," Shift informed. "Like Bing and Google."
Drift pointed out, "But at least they're all smarter than Jeeves."
Shank walked down the steps. "Yo, V! We're about to come back online. You ready?"
"Be right there!" she answered.
"Hey, Ralph. Don't be a stranger."
Ralph responded cheekily, "Well, I can't be much stranger than you, Shank!"
She chuckled. "That's a good dad joke."
Turbo furrowed his brows pensively. Does she mean she thinks he's funny? Or that his humour is outdated? Or that he'd make a good dad? Am I reading too much into this?
"Turbo?"
He jumped. "Yes!"
Shank smiled in amusement. "I look forward to our race. Don't keep me waiting." She winked before turning around and heading back into her game.
The pale racer, who was not so pale anymore, watched her leave while his wired brain was trying to figure out what was going on. I've never gotten so many mixed signals before in my life.
"A race? Cool!" exclaimed Shift. "Can we join too?"
"Trust me, you don't wanna go in there."
"Ohh, is this more like a date?" Drift asked.
"You think so?" Turbo caught himself, but couldn't make a smooth recovery. "That's not—I just—errrHey! We better get going!"
Vanellope hopped off the bench and faced Ralph. "Don't forget, you know, Shank added my code in and everything, so I'll be able to regenerate. I'm gonna be totally safe."
"I know. It's gonna be great!" Ralph replied. "You found your dream game."
"Yeah, I did. I did." But she seemed to hesitate. "So… I should probably head in there now, you know?"
"Before you go, I wanted to give you this." Ralph reached in his pocket and took out one half of his cookie medal with the ribbon fixed.
The girl frowned when she saw it. "Oh, I'm so sorry I broke it, Ralph. I should've just told you about wanting to stay, then none of this would've happened."
"Ahem?" Turbo spoke up, tapping his foot. "Is there anything else you want to apologize for?"
The girl threw her head back and sighed. "Ok, ok. Sorry I got my old game unplugged and for toying with your ego."
Turbo glared for a second, then shrugged. "Eh, I'll take it."
"But I shouldn't have taken it out on you, Ralph," she told him remorsefully. "You were just trying to be a good friend. I wasn't any better."
"No, no, it's ok. Now we can both have a half." He showed her the other piece of the medal around his neck. "See?"
Vanellope slipped the medal over her head and smiled at it. "Yeah." Her eyes started to well up and she jumped up to hug Ralph. "I love you so much," she whispered. "I'm really gonna miss you."
Ralph closed his eyes and hugged her back. "I'm gonna miss you too, kid. I really am." Even the halves of their medals lined up one last time.
Turbo felt bad for him. He couldn't imagine ever saying goodbye to Taffyta. The wrecker would definitely need a lot of support. It must've been hard for Vanellope as well, though not enough for her to want to compromise.
"Alright. Ok, you're getting a little clingy on me here," Ralph joked. He put his friend down and wiped away a tear on her cheek.
She giggled a little, then turned to Shift and Drift. "I don't know you very well, but you're welcome to stay in Sugar Rush. It was nice to meet someone from Turbo's game that's not a total jerk."
"Thanks!" they responded, taking that as a compliment.
Vanellope finally acknowledged the other racer, "Don't worry, I didn't forget about you, Turbs."
"I'm flattered."
She put her hands in her pockets and glanced at her shuffling feet. "I know we're not friends… But we're not enemies anymore, either." She handed him a slip of paper with writing on it. "This is for you. Sorry it took so long."
Turbo stared at it, and his eyes widened. "Is this…?"
"Yes, doi, the password to the Sugar Rush code vault." Vanellope looked at him, and for the first time with real sincerity. "Look, I'm only gonna say this once. When you weren't tormenting me, you actually were a good king. I mean, the game even lasted longer when you were in charge. Maybe this really is where you belong. After all, Taffyta adores you. All the racers look up to you. The throne is yours, Turbo. But this time you've earned it."
He was speechless. Never before had he thought Vanellope would ever be so kind. He could tell she must've been somewhat reluctant to admit all that, but it made him appreciate the gesture even more. He glanced at the paper and started, "There's something I want to say, but I'm not sure how to put it…"
Vanellope presumed, "I think I know what it is. After going on your life-changing journey, you now realize you don't want what you thought you wanted. What you really wanted was inside you all along."
"Are you crazy? This is the greatest day of my life!" Turbo laughed ecstatically, and when he calmed down, he smiled at her without any maliciousness or sarcasm. "I guess what I mean is… thank you, Vanellope."
She nodded and smiled silently.
"…We don't have to hug, do we?"
"Ew, no way!"
"Oh, thank goodness!"
Ralph laughed. "Go on, get out of here. The world's waiting for you, kid."
The little girl skipped towards the steps. She walked up them backwards to keep waving at the others until she was gone from view.
Turbo started to leave with the twins, but he stopped when he noticed Ralph was still looking at the friend who wasn't there anymore. He went to his side, staring understandingly in the same direction. Turbo reached up and wordlessly patted the back of Ralph's hand.
I don't think I fooled anyone with that fake ending. How could I kill off my favourite character?
Anyway, I guess I could've wrote it so that Turbo gets his happiest ending with Vanellope still going home like a good person, but I decided to keep it close to the movie in case there's ever a sequel that fixes this one. What do you think?