Heya folks! So very sorry for the long wait, but real life got in the way as usual.

I want to do a couple of announcements! As you might have noticed, I accepted the offer of dear ThePhantomSoldier as Beta Reader and he had already corrected the first 4 chapters of the story. You can go back now and check them out! He also worked on this chapter and will be from now on the story's main editor. I'm very thankful for his support, help and hard work on polishing the narrative of the story, really REALLY thankful. Please check his stories too! He is a great writer!

This chapter will be longer than previous ones as some sort of apology for the long delay.

Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Apples and Wicked Queens

As Wynchel and Duncan arrived, Ralph let out a sigh he didn't realize he had been holding.

"Madam President," the round donut officer said with his pastry eyebrows furrowed in worry. "Are you all right ma'am?! We were informed by the Sugar Racers that your sister had deliberately sabotaged the Random Roster Race and even compromised some of the racers!" Duncan pensively looked around, searching for any sign of imminent danger. He signaled the Oreo knights to form a protective perimeter around them. "We came as fast as we could with the whole army!"

Vanellope rolled her eyes and snorted at the exaggerated show of her security forces. From the lines of firm soldiers, a slim, mustachioed old man saluted her solemnly, a gesture that was immediately mimicked by the rest of the short cookie guards. He was dressed in a black and white military uniform, with a peppermint sword on his belt and the royal symbol of Sugar Rush on his tall black and white cake hat.

"Good evening Princess - I mean - Madam President Von Schweetz," the officer spoke in a thick aristocratic accent. "It's a great honor to meet you. I'm General Nabisco, your new chief of security."

His information was immediately uploaded into her memory data as Vanellope looked at the rigid old man, already bored from his stuffy accent.

"I must offer my deepest apologies for the Wicked Queen's interference. My soldiers and I are usually in charge of guarding the perimeters surrounding Black Cola Castle to prevent the queen and her racers from taking part in the Random Roster Races for obvious reasons, but I'm afraid that we were delayed momentarily due to the program still calibrating." General Nabisco took a moment to adjust the monocle supported by his big nose. "I give you my word that this situation will not occur again." The aged officer clicked his boot heels together and bowed at the waist to Vanellope.

"Right…," she said, eyeing the general indifferently. "Thank you, ah, general, but I don't think it's going to be necessary for such… ah… show of force… my sister just left and she didn't cause any unfixable problem."

She wondered why everybody was going crazy over the security since her sister had done nothing more than just unexpectedly race during the last part of the track. Sure, Chocolette did race in her own unique way, slightly reckless and dangerous even, but she hadn't hurt anyone… at least not too badly. She only attacked Snowanna, Rancis and Taffyta and the program regenerated the three immediately with no further issues. The Sour Racers didn't have a chance to do a thing as her sister had ordered them not to do so.

Vanellope was almost 100% sure that her sister wasn't bad. She could feel it in her code and had the strong resolution to prove it.

"Send the troops home, general, the party's over," she said waving her hand dismissively to the old officer and walking over to join Ralph and the others. The general saluted her in response and proceeded to head back to the castle, the army marching in perfect step behind him, much to Wynchel and Duncan's dismay.

-0-0-0-

Calhoun slapped Sour Bill hard across his round body. He woke up startled at the sudden pain, blinking several times while looking at the Hero's Duty NPC with hurt eyes.

"That was certainly uncalled for, Mrs. Fix-It," the sour candy complained drily while rubbing the side of his 'face'.

"Well I certainly found it amusing," Calhoun sniggered.

Bill noticed his surroundings and saw that the Oreo army was leaving. "Is Vanellope safe?" he asked.

Calhoun changed her smirk into a more serious expression. "She's safe and sound, cough-drop. The queen just gave us all a harmless scare, that's all."

Bill sighed and stood up on his tiny floating feet. "Thank Atari. The queen is so… how can I put this… 'Unreadable'… none knows what's going on in her head. She has such a finicky temperament." The sour majordomo sounded tired.

Ralph, Vanellope and Felix approached the two with quizzical eyes.

"You seem to know her well Bill, so spill the beans!" Ralph demanded seriously. He still wasn't completely sure if the queen was trustworthy, even though she hadn't threatened Vanellope… yet.

"Well, back story-wise, I do know the queen. I'm a sour candy citizen myself after all." He was dusting himself off from Calhoun's rough treatment.

"What do you mean Mr. Bill, sir?" Felix asked, sounding confused.

"I suppose I should start with telling you a little about her back story...," Bill began, but he suddenly glitched with wide eyes, startling Vanellope and the others for a second.

"What the-?" Ralph exclaimed.

"Or maybe not,' Bill said calmly, furrowing his brow. "It's seems that Queen Von Schweetz's back story is locked."

"WHAT?!" the four shouted in unison.

Vanellope thought deeply and also realized that she didn't know a thing about her sister's back story. "I got nothin' too! Why?! This is weird!" The saccharin sovereign frowned in frustration.

"It's seems that the only information we have about her majesty, apart from being the president's sister, is in the game's introduction," Bill said, thoughtfully stroking his chin with a tiny hand. He then started to narrate the introduction to them. "Accordingtothenewgameintro…"

"Princess Vanellope was celebrating her 13 birthday when the queen suddenly crashed the party with her racers, complaining about not having been invited to the celebration. Princess Vanellope was surprised, but her heart was full of joy since she hadn't seen her older sister for so many years and was happy to finally have her back in the kingdom.

But her joy didn't last long as the queen had been cursed and turned wicked. She wanted nothing more than to take revenge on Vanellope for having ruled the Kingdom in her place and claimed her right to be crowned as the true ruler. The racers and citizens refused to recognize her as their queen, for they saw how black and icy her heart was, and so they banished her from the kingdom, along with all of the sour candy citizens who were loyal to her.

But before leaving, the queen swore to her sister that she would never win another race again as long as she lived and that one way or another, the throne of Sugar Rush would one day be hers. She lives at Black Cola Castle on the outskirts of Diet Cola Mountain, where she rules with an iron fist over the vile Sour Racers, who are loyal to her and would do anything to carry out their queen's wishes."

Bill shook his head with a deep sigh as he finished the narration.

"Sounds like a normal bad-guy story if you ask me," Ralph said, scratching his head.

"That's the game's back story, not my sister's back story, Stinkbrain," Vanellope reminded him with a mocking smile.

"So there's more to it?" Felix asked with concern.

"But why's that part locked?" Calhoun said with narrowed eyes. "I think it's suspicious."

"I don't know," Bill droned. "It could either be because it's part of the game's story mode and therefore only a gamer will be able to unlock it… or the Queen has locked it on her own since that information is in the code room of Black Cola Castle, meaning only she has access to it."

"Wait, there's another code room in the game?!" Ralph shouted, astonished.

"It's a much smaller one," Bill elaborated. "It only contains the information of the main bad-guy and all data related to her. It's located in her castle because that way it's safe from any manipulation from the good-guy and other NPCs that might have unpleasant intentions towards her. Very few games have this feature."

Vanellope felt slightly offended, frowning sadly, but deep down she understood. Ralph noticed this and kneeled down to her level, lifting her chin with his right index finger.

"Hey kid, no need for the long face," Ralph told her softly, looking into her shining eyes. "Your sister is just watching her back, okay? That's one of the consequences of our job. I'm pretty sure that once she gets to know you better, she'll open up to you. Felix and I went through the same thing. Though I still have my doubts about her, I think we should give her a chance… So far she hasn't done anything too bad in my opinion." He glanced at Bill, Felix and Calhoun for more support.

"It's too early to say, but I'll keep a close eye on her," the sergeant said stubbornly, crossing her arms.

"Well, technically everybody is innocent until proven otherwise, so I'll agree with you on this brother," Felix said with a reassuring smile.

Vanellope smiled brightly, her spirits rising up again with new hopes for her and her sister to form a sisterly bond. She couldn't wait to start going on game jumping adventures with her and the others.

"I'll pay her a visit before the arcade opens!" she eagerly started but was stopped by a raised hand from Sour Bill.

"No you won't ma'am," Bill said in his monotone voice. "Sugar citizens cannot enter Black Cola Castle outside of gaming hours."

"Argh, why not?!" Vanellope said with a stomp of her tiny boot, crossing her arms in an adorable pout. "This is ridiculous! Somebody has to shake some sense into her!"

"Uhm, well what about you good sir?" Felix asked Sour Bill politely, holding his cap in his hands. "You did say you're a Sour Citizen yourself, right?"

"Yes I could, but her majesty won't trust me since I'm her younger sister's loyal majordomo and advisor," he said rolling his eyes, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Anyway, it's getting late so why don't we call it a night and head home?" Calhoun said grabbing Felix by his suspenders and throwing him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "We'll deal with the queen tomorrow."

Just then, Vanellope's face lit up with a smile as an idea popped into her head.

"The Bad Anon!" she cheered excitedly, earning surprised looks from everyone. "Ralph! You HAVE to take my sister to tomorrow's Bad Anon meeting!" She glitched, appearing on Ralph's head and pulling his hair.

"I HAVE TO WHAT?!" Ralph cried in confusion. "No kid! Bad idea, trust me! I'm not the right guy for the job… I'll tell Clyde to send her an invi-"

"NO RALPH!" she interrupted him, still grinning from ear to ear. "It has to be you! She likes you! She'll trust you right away!"

Ralph turned all kinds of red and almost lost his balance. "What?! What do you mean?! Come on Vanellope don't be silly!" He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, turning his face away so none could see his blush.

"My sister has it bad for you, major body-odor," Vanellope insisted with a strong pull of his hair, making him turn his head again, making Ralph frown in annoyance. "I can feel it in my code!"

Calhoun and Felix exchanged knowing nods with each other. "I must agree with Vanellope here, brother," Felix told him with a cautious smile. "It did seem like Chocolette was quite interested in you."

Calhoun snickered, one hand on her hip while Felix was still wrapped in the other. "Interested? The girl couldn't take her eyes off you, Wreck-It!"

Ralph frowned at them incredulously as Vanellope kept pulling his hair. "She's programmed to be flirty; it's a pretty common trait among 'bad-girls'. She's not doing it because she likes me. C'mon you guys, it's me we are talking about!"

Vanellope leaned upside down to look directly in his eyes "I think you are in denial, Ralph mah man," she said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"And I think you guys know nothing about bad-guys," he said, taking Vanellope by her hoodie and putting her down on the ground again.

She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at him with rosy cheeks.

"If may I interject, sir, I actually think that it's a good idea if you'd be the one to approach the queen first," Sour Bill admitted, earning surprised looks from everyone. "Bad Guys will surely be welcome at Black Cola Castle, but I also think that it'll be better if you're the one to handle the invitation yourself since she's already met you and she seems… curious about you sir. I even expect she'll receive you… personally."

Ralph sighed and looked away frustrated.

"Ralph please… you have to do this," she said with pleading eyes, gripping one of his massive hands with her one of her own tiny ones. "You're the only one who can give her a proper welcome! I don't want her to go through the same things you went through for 30 years. I don't want her to believe whatever back story she has and be isolated by everyone in my game just because of her role. She's my family, just like you, Sarge and Hammer-time here are!"

Ralph looked down at her with concern.

"Please Ralph… do this for me, pretty please," she finished with a small pleading smile and big shining puppy-dog eyes.

He looked back at the Fix-Its for support, and they also smiled softly at him with a shrug. He felt cornered. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he exhaled deeply and finally looked back at his partner in crime with an unsure smile.

"All right, I promise I'll pay her a visit tomorrow before going to the meeting," he said, half smiling.

"YES! YES! YES! Thank you! Thank you! I knew I could count on you, Stinkbrain!" Vanellope was glitching all over the place in sheer joy.

"Well of course you can always count on me President Fartfeathers," he said, raising his big fist to her. "Top shelf?"

"Top shelf," she answered, fist pounding him with a big grin.

-0-0-0-

The next day, the arcade was packed full of kids and teenagers as the rumors of the addition of newer and updated games spread through town. Sugar Rush Speed Way 2 garnered a long waiting line just as Mr. Litwak had expected; Hero's Duty: World's Expansion and Fix-it Felix Jr. 2: Wreck-it Ralph's Return had also received three times more quarters than ever, and the new Nintendo Wii Console Modulator zone was crammed with loud teenagers who had already assembled an improvised fighting tournament. Things were looking better than ever for his business.

The moppet girl snorted with frustration as the 'Game Over' screen blinked at her repeatedly after having been defeated by Ralph at the 4th Boss Level. She hadn't come the previous day and was surprised to find her favorite game updated with new graphics and more difficult levels. She greatly enjoyed the new game style, though she found it exasperating how the 'Wrecking Guy' had gotten more difficult to defeat than ever.

"You can smirk at me all you want, but I swear that I'll beat you up soon Wrecking-Guy," she said while stepping aside to allow another kid waiting in line to play. She then noticed a familiar pair of teens also waiting to play the new Fix-it Felix Jr. She remembered them always playing Sugar Rush before and found herself intrigued by their sudden appearance in the line.

"You guys are going to play Fix-It Felix 2? I though you only liked to play Sugar Rush," she said with a mocking smile.

The teens snorted at her with indignation.

"Have you seen the waiting line, smarty pants?" the chubby teen barked with his eyes fixed on Fix-It Felix 2's console screen. "We left our quarters there to try it out again later. The game got insane with that new Bad-Girl!"

She looked back at them with curiosity sparkling in her eyes. "Really? There's a new villain in Sugar Rush 2?"

"Yeah, some sort of wicked queen and she is so badass and hot," The tall, lanky one said dreamily. "But man! She's so freaking brutal too! Nobody has been able to pass the second track yet! And those Sour Racers are such a pain in the ass!" His trashy talk earned him a frown of disapproval from the Moppet Girl.

She glanced back at Sugar Rush Speed Way 2's twin consoles and saw a pair of kids stand up off their seats with angry frowns, but still returning to the end of the line to try the game one more time. She noticed a dark haired woman laughing maniacally on the game's 'Game Over' screen.

"Uhmm… now I want to try that," she said eagerly and rushed to join the waiting line with her last pair of quarters.

-0-0-0-

"ALL CLEAR, THE ARCADE IS CLOSED," Yuni shouted her cue as usual.

Ralph dropped his arms and sighed deeply as he heard Felix also shout "Quitting Time!" to the town. He stretched his sore muscles, feeling the reset take effect as his health bar was restored once again and the streets around him were instantly rebuilt in the blink of an eye.

He started to walk towards his house when Felix hopped off of a roof and landed graciously in front of him with a bright smile.

"Ready for the big mission, brother?" He chirped, picking the tip of his cap. "I am so excited for you!"

Ralph rolled his eyes. "Calhoun is rubbing off on ya pal; I don't see what the big deal is," he said as he and Felix kept walking together. "I'll just go there, knock on the door, drop the invitation and leave. She probably won't be attending tonight." He finished just as they reached the front door of his home.

"I don't know brother," he said, stopping behind him. "I have a good feeling about this! Do you want help with… you know, getting fixed up and presentable?"

Ralph scowled at his sheepish offer. "NO! I mean, no thank you. I'll just take a quick shower and I'll be on my way. I'll see you at Tapper's after the meeting!" He entered his home and shut the door quickly before Felix could offer any more assistance.

"All right Ralph, good luck," he heard Felix say faintly behind the door.

-0-0-0-

Ralph walked slowly through the deserted Lollipop Plains that surrounded Black Cola Castle. He noticed that the sky was darkened by big, puffy purple cotton candy clouds that circled in a perfect spiral formation around the tall towers of the dark and scary castle. Though there was a significant lack of thunder, lightning and strong winds this evening, the place looked just as nerve-wracking as it did yesterday.

He stopped in front of the big, dark chocolate gates and gasped at its majestic decorations. He noticed two winged dragons carved on each of the gates surfaces, one black while the other was white, spitting what looked like fire at each other. The wall that protected the castle reached high into the sky, looking as though it was touching some of the puffy clouds while much taller bottle towers rose even higher into the sky, extending far beyond the cloud layer. He noticed a sign carved in the chocolate wall that proudly and elegantly read 'Black Cola Castle', and just under it, in tiny letters there was a message that Ralph could barely manage to read as saying 'Sugar Citizens and Good-Guys will be licorice whipped on sight. Enter at your own risk'.

Ralph rolled his eyes and proceeded to knock firmly at the gates. He glanced at both sides with a frown, expecting some kind of attack after knocking. His eyes refocused on the gates as he heard them opening with a creaking whine. But to his shock, he saw no one behind them. He arched an eyebrow in confusion as he peeked inside, searching for the person who had supposedly opened them.

"Bon soir monsieur, May I help you?" he heard a sweet soft voice with a French accent sat to him. He glanced to both sides but found no one.

"Down here monsieur!" he heard again and he looked down in surprise. There, supporting the big door was a round, light pink candy with tiny floating hands and feet, blinking at him with her large eyelashes and pink eyes shining innocently at him. He blinked a couple of times as he processed the bizarre image of a female looking Sour Bill in front of him.

"Uhm, hi?" he stuttered, still staring in belief at the tiny candy. "My name is Ralph. Wreck-It Ralph. I'm from the game Fix-It Felix Jr."

"Nice to meet you Sir Wreck-It," she said sweetly in her strong accent. "Je m'appelle Bonbon Lola, but you may call me Lola. I'm Black Cola Castle's majordomo and her majesty's loyal advisor. What can I do for you?"

"Oh well I," Ralph managed to mumble out. "…I'm here as a representative of the Bad Anon group of Game Central Station. We, ah, we're a group made up of most of the arcade's Bad-Guys and we organize weekly meetings in which we offer support to other Bad-Guys and their troubles. It's a friendly and trusting environment for all of us and well, we wanted to formally welcome her… majesty… and invite her to attend the meetings." He offered a half smile, despite not feeling very confident.

The tiny female candy looked surprised and excited. "Oh mon Dieu! What a splendid idea! Her majesty will certainly be interested! Come in s'il vous plait! I'll gladly announce you!" She opened the gates wider to allow him to enter.

Ralph looked taken aback as he was not expecting to talk to the queen in person.

"Ah, I don't wanna bother her majesty," he said, rubbing the back of his neck shyly. "I just thought I'd drop the invitation and leave…"

"Nonsense monsieur,'' Lola said firmly, stepping aside to let him in."She will be greatly offended if she doesn't receive this invitation directly from you. I must insist!"

Ralph snorted but decided to play by their rules this time. He took three heavy footsteps as he entered the grand hall of the castle. Bonbon Lola closed the doors and quickly marched a few steps ahead of him.

"Follow me s'il vous plait," she asked, and Ralph did as told.

He gasped at the contrasting elegancy of Black Cola Castle's insides. To his shock, the castle's interior was mostly white with a few touches of black on the furniture and on the tapestries and abstract paintings that adorned the walls. The floor was black, so clean and shining that he could see his reflection in the sparkling surface of the black marble while noting that it felt really cold against his bare feet. Everything looked sparkling clean and elegant, but with a certain air of loneliness. He wondered where the loud Sour Racers were as he noticed that no one else seemed to inhabit the castle.

"It's certainly different from Sugar Rush Castle," he thought out loud.

"Oh, Monsieur has visited young Princess Vanellope's Castle?" Bonbon Lola asked him with curiosity, slightly glancing back at him.

Ralph went wide eyed, cursing his brain for allowing that thought to slip out.

"Ye-yes, I've known the 'president' for quite a while now," he admitted, looking forward to the female majordomo's reaction. "We've been friends for over a year now."

"C'est magnifique! I wish the princess could come and visit her grace. I shall convince her majesty to make an exception for the little lady. I have so many good memories of the two of them before the…," Lola was interrupted as she glitched slightly, just like Sour Bill had. "Oh mon Dieu, I may have said too much!" she said, covering her mouth and looking straight ahead again, though with a slight look of sadness in her eyes.

Ralph noticed this but chose not to say anything. It was obvious that whatever Lola almost told him was related to the locked back story of Chocolette.

Suddenly, Ralph noticed a sweet, mysterious aroma waft into his nostrils and he unconsciously licked his lips as an unknown hunger set in.

"What is that smell?" he said sniffing, unable to get enough of the delicious scent.

"That must be the queen!" Lola piped in delight. "You're lucky Sir Wreck-It! The queen must be in a good mood if she is baking." She practically bounced over to a set of ornate doors.

As she opened them, the aroma of apples hit Ralph's nose with full force. He inhaled deeply, marveled by such a delicious smell when Lola speaking again brought him back to reality.

"Your majesty, you have a visitor," Lola bowed deeply as Ralph gasped at the sight in front of him.

There, dressed in a simple tight, black, long sleeve off-the-shoulder dress, with her back turned towards them, was Dark Queen Chocolette Von Schweetz, leaning over a chromed table with a hand on her hip and looking straight into a big black oven in front of her.

Ralph gulped as he felt his face turn hot when noticing the bare back of her dress. He heard her snort in annoyance without looking back at them.

"It better not be Razz again, or I swear to Atari that I'll turn her into a chocolate frog and serve her as dinner to the other racers tonight," the queen sang in a soft but threatening voice through gritted teeth. "I already told her that I'll repair the karts AFTER I'm done with this." She brushed her long black and white curly ponytail over her shoulder with her black nails, not even bothering to look at them.

Bonbon Lola cleared her throat and glanced back at Ralph with apologetic eyes.

"M'lady, it is not Lady Razz who has come to visit you…again," the majordomo chirped politely. "You have an outside visitor!"

"An outside visitor? Who," she said as she looked over her shoulder and gasped when she noticed a tall, familiar figure behind her advisor.

"This is Sir Wreck-It Ralph, your grace. He is a bad guy from the game Fix-It Felix Jr. He has come to personally deliver a very important invitation to her majesty." Bonbon Lola bowed in respect as she presented Ralph.

Ralph mentally cursed the tiny candy for having spoiled his intentions so embarrassingly.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite big guy," the queen said, smirking and turning around to fully look at him. "This really is a very nice surprise visit." She began to slowly walk towards them, gently swaying her hips as she did.

Ralph gulped again as he became more nervous with each step she took.

"Oh, I didn't know you already knew each other!" Lola piped in delight as she raised her body again.

"Oh yes, I had the pleasure of meeting him yesterday after my surprise intervention at the Random Roster Race," she said stopping a few inches away from them.

"…your majesty," the pink majordomo scolded. "That was reckless! The poor little princess must have been so scared! I highly advised you against that idea!"

Chocolette smirk changed into a disapproving frown as she looked down at Bonbon Lola. "And it's my decision whether or not to follow your advice, my dear," the queen told her, annoyed by her scolding.

"Well of course m'lady, but..."

"Bonbon dear, why don't you go back to your chores," she said elegantly while narrowing her eyes at Ralph. "I'm pretty sure you still have lots of things to do and I don't want to waste your precious time anymore. I'll deal with our guest… personally."

'PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH HER!' Ralph mentally pleaded as he glanced nervously at Lola for support.

"Oui your grace, I'll go now," she said with a bow. "Enjoy your visit monsieur! Please send my sincere regards to the little princess and to my dear friend Sour Bill when you see them again. Excusez-moi." She bowed to Ralph and quickly disappeared behind the kitchen doors.

Ralph watched silently as the doors bounced behind her until they finally stood still, closed tight. He took a deep breath and slowly turned around to face Chocolette.

"Uhm so uh…I-I came here to…"

"Do you like apple pies Ralphie?" the queen interrupted him suddenly, with a familiar excited glint in her eyes.

"Wha-What?" he barely said, confused at her sudden change in demeanor.

She giggled at how shy he was acting. "I said: do you like apple pies, Ralphie?" she repeated slowly with a half smile.

"Uh… I…I haven't tried apple pies yet I think," he told her honestly with an arched eyebrow.

"Would you like a piece?" she said, signaling the oven. "I just made my very first today and I need somebody to taste it with me." She began walking over to the oven, moving her hips slowly in a swinging motion.

Ralph made a huge effort to not stare at her.

"Ah yeah sure, why not?" he said with uncertainty. She glanced back at him with the first sincere smile that he had ever seen on her.

"Great!" she said as she opened the oven to reveal a delicious looking smoking golden pie. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll serve it to you in just a moment."

Ralph noticed a large black table right nearby and decided to do as he was told. He was very intrigued by this new home-making side of her. Very slowly and carefully, he sat in one of the chairs next to the chair at the head of table that he supposed was for her since it looked 'fancier' than the rest, and sighed with relief as it supported his weight.

Chocolette came just a few minutes later with the piping hot pie on a silver plate, with two plates, a pair of forks and a long sharp knife that Ralph eyed suspiciously. She proceeded to cut a large portion of the pie (nearly three quarters of it) and served it to him while she kept the remaining piece for herself. She put his plate in front of him as she sat next to him at the head chair, putting a napkin over her lap and picking a fork.

She eyed him when she noticed that he was closely inspecting the pie with his fork. "Something bothering you big guy?" she asked him with a mischievous smirk.

Ralph sniffed the pie and then looked at her with a frown. "It's not… poisonous, is it?" he questioned her suspiciously to which the queen sniggered.

"Is it because it's an apple pie and I'm a wicked queen?" she smiled devilishly at him just as she took a bite of her own piece with gusto. "You're quite judgmental with me, big guy."

Ralph looked at her, stupefied as he dropped his frown immediately. What was he doing? He was judging her unjustifiably just as everybody in the arcade usually did towards the games' villains! He mentally scolded himself.

"Sorry, I-I didn't mean to…," he started to apologize but got interrupted by a dismissive gesture of her hand.

"It's ok dearie," she said with a half smile. "I usually give that first impression. You better taste it now while it's still warm though."

Ralph took his fork again, grasping it with two of his fingers and gave it a try. He marveled at the taste of the crunchy golden surface and the mushy soft and hot stuffing of the pie. He munched in delight at the naturally sweet flavor of the cinnamon and apples as they combined in his mouth with the crunchy textures, and swallowed with a blank expression on his features.

"So," the queen asked him softly with an eyebrow arched. "What do you think?"

Ralph looked at her, silently blinking a couple of times before smiling at her in amazement.

"I've gotta to admit that this is one of the best pies I have ever tried," he heartily complimented her and to his surprise, the queen blushed profusely at his words dropping her devilish smile as a shocked expression was drawn on her dark lips.

"You really think so?" she asked him as she kept eating her own slice. "Have you even ever tried a pie before?" she asked him intrigued.

Ralph put down his fork, picked up the entire piece in his hand and took a huge bite out of it with newfound hunger, munching with full cheeks in contentment.

"Well Mary, who's an NPC character in our game, bakes pies for Felix," he said with his mouth full, forgetting his manners. "They usually give him extra speed and resistance against my attacks for a short period of time. She also bakes them for us when we're not in game mode, for parties and stuff like that. They're quite good, though this one that you made will surely give her a run for her money." He took another bite of the pie, slightly moaning in delight.

Chocolette smirked at his last comment with pride. "That is very flattering to hear," she said as she continued eating her modest slice with regal elegance.

"This is so good," he said as he took the finishing bite of his piece. "I love that it's so crunchy on the outside and really soft and warm on the inside. I never imagined you could bake something as sweet as this. I mean, no offense, but you don't seem to be very fond of sweet things." He swallowed slowly, licking his lips to capture any remaining traces of the delicious pie.

"And I'm not. That pie doesn't have any sugar. Its sweet flavor comes from the natural sweetness of the apples and the cinnamon. Nothing else." She began cleaning her mouth delicately, picking away stray crumbs.

"That's really impressive," he said, cleaning his hands with the napkin that he had completely ignored until then.

The queen giggled at him in amusement. "So big guy, as much as it greatly pleases me to have you visiting me, I must ask you about the mysterious reason that brought you here. Has my sister sent you for something?" Her jovial smile became a serious frown, her vibrant green eyes shining at him with unbound curiosity.

Ralph stared at her intensively as his brain quickly debated between telling her the full truth… or hiding a few bits of it.

"Not really," he partially lied. He didn't want her to think that Vanellope was responsible for him coming to the queen's castle, worried about what kind of reaction the older Von Schweetz could have. "Though she does want to see you outside game hours and do some sisters bonding stuff. Anyway, I came here on behalf of Bad Anon to invite you to join us."

The queen looked at him quizzically. "Bad Anon? Sounds like a support group," she said with a judging frown.

"It's exactly that and don't judge," he scolded her by jabbing his index finger toward her, surprising her a bit. "Only bad guys attend the meetings and it's quite enjoyable. It offers a safe and trusting environment for us, where we can speak about our troubles or about anything we want to share with other fellow bad-guys who can better understand what we do and how we live."

The queen's eyes widened with interest. "Really? And all of the arcade's bad-guys attend these meetings?" she asked him with curiosity.

"Well no, not ALL of them, I mean I guess, except for Bowser, only those who don't live in the NES Central attend."

"How long has Bad Anon existed?" she asked him, supporting her chin with the back of her hand.

"For as long as I can remember, I guess," Ralph replied, searching his memory for answers. "Bowser and Clyde were the ones who founded it about a year before my game got plugged in. Clyde is the one who usually leads the meetings. He's from the classic game Pacman and Bowser originally came with his Good-Guy partner, Mario, in their first arcade version, but they've been upgraded so much lately that I'm not sure-"

Ralph was cut short in the middle of his explanation when he felt the queen's hand pressed softly against his cheek. His mind went blank as he looked into Chocolette's lime green eyes with his own shocked light brown ones, not understanding what was happening. She was smirking at him with her eyes half-lidded in a very seductive way. He felt her thumb softly and slowly caressing his cheek, before she retracted her hand back towards her face, looking at it smugly.

"You had a crumb on your face," she said, snickering evilly as Ralph felt the cheek that she had just touched go cold.

"And you attend the meetings regularly, big guy?" she said, quickly licking her thumb in front of him. She giggled mischievously as she noticed him blush profusely.

"I-I-… why did you?... don't do that again!" he barely managed to reprimand her with a blushing glare, earning more sniggers from her. He cleared his throat and proceeded to answer her question, trying his best to ignore the annoying electrical sensation that was going through his code. "Ye-Yes, I do attend them regularly. The meetings are on Mondays, two hours after the arcade closes."

The queen tangled her fingers with each other and made a thoughtful expression. "And you want me to attend these meetings and meet other bad-guys like us?" she asked him with both eyebrows raised in a doubtful manner.

"Well… yeah… I mean, it's nice and I don't think you've left your game yet so you don't really know how hard it actually is to be a bad-guy out there," he told her, frowning.

She went silent for a long minute, staring at the ceiling in deep concentration. Without warning, she hit the table with a toothy grin aimed at Ralph.

"All right big guy, I'll go but under two conditions," she said, leaning in to look him straight in the eyes, barely inches away from his face.

Ralph rolled his eyes while slightly backing away as he once again felt goose bumps in his code. "It's not wise to make deals with bad guys," he said, eyeing her with slight suspicion. "There's always a trap."

"Only if you're a good-guy," she said seductively while batting her eyelashes. "Trust me on this, it's a really good deal." She glanced playfully at his lips as she closed the gap between their faces.

Ralph froze, not knowing how to react or what to do. Part of his brain was screaming at him to run away from her as fast as his legs could carry him while the other part kept him immobile, glued to his chair, hypnotized by the queen's glittering eyes.

"One," she said, flexing her index finger at him. "If I don't like it the first time, you'll not force me to go back if I don't want to, ok?" She looked at him with a childish pout that strongly reminded him of Vanellope's.

"And two," she said as she slowly breathed into his ear, much to his shock. "You'll call me by my name." She finished with a playful giggle.

Ralph blinked, the red color of his cheeks fading. "That's it? Just that?" he asked her doubtfully. "What's the catch?"

Chocolette laughed maniacally, stepping back a few steps from him while putting her hands on her hips. "There's no catch, here big guy. I told you, it's a simple deal." Her smug expression had the wrecker convinced otherwise.

Ralph narrowed his eyes at her as the shadow of a smile appeared over his features. "All right, but you'll also call me by my name. No more pet names," he demanded with a smug grin of his own.

"Awwww, but I love pet names!" she pouted and Ralph again saw Vanellope in her.

"Do we have a deal or not?" he asked her.

She frowned but quickly smirked at him once again. "You have it… Ralphie," she giggled and Ralph rolled his eyes, knowing that it was only a matter of time before she broke the deal about the pet names.

"Alright, let me change into something more comfortable," she told him. She snapped her fingers and a thick purple smoke covered her from head to toe and in the blink of an eye it disappeared, revealing the queen's outfit had changed to her black and purple racing jump suit.

"Wait… you're coming to today's meeting?" he said in shock while standing back.

"Well of course! I think we have half an hour left before it starts so we better get going. BONBON!" she shouted and the tiny pink candy instantly appeared.

"Oui your grace?" Lola bowed, waiting for her orders.

"I'm leaving with Ralph to Game Central Station, which means that you're in charge of the castle and the Sour Racers. Don't wait up for me," she ordered her loyal servant, as both Lola and Ralph exchanged shocked expressions with each other.

"Let's go Ralph!" she said walking ahead of him.

"Oh boy…" was the only thing that Ralph could think of to say as he followed her.

-0-0-0-

End of chapter 5! Hope it has been worth the long wait! Chapter 6 will be up next shortly.

Sorry if your questions about the queen's back story weren't answered. This will be revealed later.

Quick question for all my readers, if Chocolette had a villainous Disney musical theme number, what song do you think will work better for her? For now I'm thinking something along the lines of "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga, but I'm curious to know what are your opinions about the matter. If you are wondering how her voice sounds like, I constantly imagine her being voiced by Lana Parrilla, the actress who plays as the evil queen from Once Upon a Time TV series. She is so awesome!

Anyways! Thank you for reading and please don't forget to leave a review!