Original story by GND-KicaCris.
Revised and edited by The Phantom Soldier.
"Wreck-it Ralph" © Disney
Chapter10: And the winner is…
Calhoun's eyes went wide at the incoming swarm of cy-bugs. She quickly set her rifle to automatic mode and started to fire non-stop, killing every single creature that came towards her. Vanellope and Felix followed suit and started to shoot at the cy-bugs too, while still looking confused and scared.
One by one, the cy-bugs disintegrated as they kept shooting at them flawlessly without missing a single shot. Calhoun had to help her husband and Vanellope several times as she was more skilled in these kinds of situations than them, spinning around and firing without really aiming.
Suddenly, a light green mist settled around them, partially obscuring the cy-bugs, only allowing their glowing green eyes to be seen. Calhoun, Felix and Vanellope stood close to each other, with their backs turned and their guns aiming blindly at the many green glowing spots that seemed to float around them, moving slowly in circle as they waited for the cy-bugs to come at them again. The Hero's Duty protagonist growled in annoyance as she swore she heard the creatures screech in a laughing manner. Silence overwhelmed them, with no sign of movement whatsoever, making their heart beats raise rapidly. Felix started to slightly shake, his golden rifle trembling in his firm grasp while he desperately glanced around him with his eyebrows raised in fear. Vanellope breathed in and out rapidly as she too grasped at her tiny candy rifle with both hands, frowning defiantly as she tried to focus her ears and vision into detecting any kind of sound or movement. Tamora stood upright without lowering her rifle for an instant; she no longer saw the glowing eyes anymore through the thick mist.
"What the-?" she started but got interrupted just as a thunderous zapping sound alerted her again, followed by a scream.
"Aaaaah!" she heard and whirling around she saw the little candy president trapped and tied tightly by some sort of glowing fluorescent whip, and in a blink of an eye, it yanked her into the thick mist.
"VANELLOPE!" The handyman and the soldier screamed in fright and the wind started to whirl around the pair rapidly, dispersing the mist. They covered their eyes with their arms hopelessly as dust and tiny rocks floated around them in circular motion, blinding their vision.
When the wind finally stopped, and the dust and rocks fell down again, they opened their eyes to see Chocolette and Ralph on top of a large flying-mantis-like cy-bug, smirking at them with Vanellope trapped under Chocolette's arm.
"See ya on the Tower, losers!" Ralph said with a military salute and they flew rapidly high into the sky, glitching in purple a few times as they sped up, with the cy-bug army tailing after them.
Felix and Calhoun blinked silently as they both stood still with their brains slowly moving in comprehension.
Felix looked at his wife, smiling sheepishly at her with realization. "Did-did they just…did they just pull a…'kidnap the princess' move?" he asked her in amusement and disbelief, and his wife growled loudly in annoyance, detaching her hover board in one swift move.
-0-0-0-
(Gameplay time: 01:45:01.
Current Score: Blue Team 200,100; Red Team 0)
"Markowski! What in the name of everything that is sacred and holy was THAT?!" General Hologram bellowed to the soldier severely, a vein visibly pulsing in his neck while he was glaring daggers at the soldier.
The command room was in a complete ruckus, soldiers and scientists running from one side to another alerting all the marines' forces about the Boss Alert Code and preparing their weapons to control the situation. Markowski gulped, trying to force his brain to form an answer but nothing came to his mind.
"I-I don't know general!" His voice cracked with confusion. "They were fine before we lost their signal I swear! This has never happened before! We don't have protocols for this!" he defended, earning a deeper frown from the general.
Suddenly, the walls and floor trembled and everyone stumbled in shock. The General looked around in alarm, supporting himself against the planet's map console while the pounding tremor shook the facilities again, getting louder and stronger with each passing second.
"What the-?!"
And then one of the walls exploded sonorously, pieces of metal and concrete flying and ricocheting everywhere; the soldiers covered their eyes while the scientists ducked under the desks and consoles for shelter. The intruders alarm went off, and the lights dimmed red, indicating that something or someone had penetrated the base. General Hologram uncovered his eyes and very slowly the smoke coming from the destroyed wall started to clear. His eyes widened in shock as he saw none other than Ralph and Chocolette smirking at them with a couple of cy-bugs in tow.
The wrecker shook his fist nonchalantly; pieces of metal and dirt falling from it, and proceeded to lumber inside. "Good evening general. Sorry about the wall but no one answered the front door," he joked smugly. "I'll ask Felix to fix it for you later." He chuckled, his smirk never faltering.
The general frowned, not amused at all and in the blink of an eye every single soldier aimed their weapons at the duo.
"Tut, tut, tut, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Chocolette waved a clawed finger and with snap of her fingers, a smaller cy-bug rose up with Vanellope trapped in its six claws, her mouth covered and an annoyed frown plastered in her eyes. The soldiers gasped in unison. "I don't think you'll risk having a princess game over in your game now, would you?" She warned them with a playful snigger.
General Hologram raised his frown for a second but quickly grimaced again. "You wouldn't dare!" He barked seriously but Chocolette never dropped her smoldering smile.
"Wouldn't I?" The Queen batted her eyelashes teasingly to the General, playing with his mind.
The general stood still, glancing back and ford at both bad guys in silence and the little princess, debating what to do; he glanced at the many cy-bugs behind the three, who remained immobile and expectant; a few sweat drops rolled down his face as he finally made his decision and very slowly raised both hands in surrender.
"Hold your fire and lower your weapons, NOW!" He ordered and the marines slowly and with uncertainty did as ordered; the General didn't say another word.
Ralph snorted. "Thank you! I promise this will be quick." he sang in a friendly manner.
Chocolette started walking inside, swinging her hips while passing the frowning general and stopping in front of the console of the global map. She looked up at it in deep thought and soon her eyes widened when she noticed a yellow spot. She turned her head to look at Ralph.
"Told ya I saw it here!" she told him with a smirk, whistling softly. "Come here baby!" She called out loud and from behind Vanellope a tiny round baby cy-bug chirped happily, flying towards the queen and landing on her shoulder. The baby snuggled against her cheek lovingly, making her giggle.
"Alright cutie, mama needs you to do this quick so we can leave these meanie soldiers alone, okay? Go!" she ordered him with a loving tap on his head and the cy-bug nodded happily with a cute screech. He flew up high until he was in front of the pulsing yellow spot; his green round eyes shown brightly and with two gridded flat rays, he scanned the zone the spot signaled. A few seconds later, the rays disappeared and he flew down again to the Queen's face, screeching two times and making a cute military salute to her.
Chocolette nodded and turned on her heels to face Ralph again with the baby cy-bug back on her shoulder. "We got the coordinates," she said darkly to him with her eyes narrowed and he nodded with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
He then noticed a fast moving blue spot coming closer to where the name of the command base pulsed, and frowned a little, but maintained his smirk. "Calhoun and Felix will be here any minute," he mentioned and Chocolette glanced with a fastidious pout over the global map.
She looked at the General with a knowing smile and approached him slowly. The general arched an eyebrow as the queen fidgeted with his uniform's tie. "So general," she began, tugging a bit at the tie. "What's the fastest vehicle you have?" A dark, wild and wide grin spread across her lovely face.
-0-0-0-
(Gameplay time: 01:50:56.
Current Score: Blue Team 250,800; Red Team 0)
Felix fired repeatedly at the flying cy-bugs as Calhoun sped towards the command central of Hero's Duty. After Ralph and the Queen had disappeared, she quickly figured out that the bad-guys were heading towards the command room to retrieve the location of the game's Tower. Felix had argued with her insisting that they should've headed directly to the tower instead to end the game once and for all, but the stubborn sergeant refused to listen to him as her anger had blurred any logical thinking from her mind. She gritted her teeth in excitement just as the short building of the under ground base came into her view a few miles from them.
"The base!" Felix chirped as another cy-bug fell after being shot by his golden gun. "We're almost there!" He pointed with an armored hand and a broad smile, earning an approving snort from his wife.
But just as they reached the place, they saw one of the glass windows explode, and Ralph and Chocolette burst out on a colossal cy-bug turned into some sort of black three wheeled motor bike, with the queen driving and Ralph sitting back behind her with Vanellope grasped under one of his arms. They sped away in a roaring burst of acceleration with three big butterfly type cy-bugs tailing after them at equal speed.
"Oh my land!" Felix said dumbfounded as the team escaped on the mutated vehicle in the direction of the Tower.
Calhoun knit her eyebrows in an unimpressed line. She had officially seen everything now. "I'm so gonna kill those two," she said monotonously, pressing down the hover board's accelerator and turning to follow them.
-0-0-0-
(Gameplay time: 01:53:00.
Current Score: Blue Team 310,100; Red Team 0)
"Have you two gone MAD?!" Vanellope yelled, wriggling under Ralph's right arm in annoyance with her dirty hair flying wildly against the strong wind as her sister kept driving fast across the planet's rocky landscape.
Ralph chuckled, his left hand wrapped tightly around the queen's waist to support himself. "Chill out kid! This was your idea originally, remember?" he grinned down at her as the cy-bug bike jumped a few times over the rocks.
Vanellope pouted angrily with puffy cheeks. "Yeah well, but you didn't have to be so LITERAL!" she barked back at him.
Chocolette sniggered. "You're just angry because we kidnapped you a la old school style, aren't ya?" she mocked without tearing her eyes off the road; she could see the Tower rising up on the horizon.
"OF COURSE I AM YOU JERKS!" she complained with blushing cheeks, her pride feeling incredibly hurt.
Both villains rolled their eyes in amusement, but their fun was rudely interrupted as one of the three cy-bugs that were following them fell in agony and disintegrated. Ralph turned around quizzically, his eyes locking onto the figures of the Fix-Its quickly catching up with them.
He smiled defiantly. "…Chocolette" he warned her and the queen glanced at the Blue Team through the bike's mirrors. She whistled loudly two times and the two remaining cy-bugs screeched in response and flew back towards the good guys.
Vanellope's hazel eyes widened as she saw the creatures slow down the Sergeant and the handyman. "Why? How? How do you -?" the little president questioned, looking up at Ralph and then to her sister's reflection in the mirror but neither of them answered her.
A few laser bolts brushed dangerously close at them, surprising the bad-guys and making the queen quickly maneuver side ways to avoid being hit. They both turned over with matching angry glares, and saw Calhoun openly snicker with her gun aimed at them while Felix kept grasping at her leg, smiling sheepishly with an apologetic smile aimed at the villains.
Ralph and Chocolette heard the unmistakable sound of their health bars getting lowered slightly and both growled through clenched teeth. "HEY!" Ralph snarled, covering Vanellope a bit more to protect her. "WATCH IT, WOULD YA!?"
Calhoun sniggered, stopping her fire without lowering her gun one inch. "Quit it you two! There are only eight minutes remaining and I won't let you climb that Tower."
"…Tammy…" Felix softly protested in an awkward smile as he saw with anxiety both bad-guys frowns deepen.
"So, she wants to play rough, huh?" Ralph said in between his teeth. He turned around and noticed a tall mountain trench formation ahead, and an idea popped into his head.
"Chocolette, go through that rocky trench! I have a plan", he spoke into the dark queen's ear, unconsciously nudging her with a rubbing thumb on her exposed stomach, which made her pixels blush profusely.
Vanellope cocked an eyebrow as she saw her sister shake her head furiously to compose herself, a wide knowing grin plastered on the facial features of the queen. "As you wish, big guy," she said flirtatiously, whirling the steering wheel towards where the wrecker had signaled her to go.
Calhoun raised a quizzical eyebrow but wasted no time in going after them, pressing down the accelerator to speed up.
The two teams entered the trench at full speed and Ralph smirked mischievously at his plan. He looked down at Vanellope to warn her. "Hang on tight Van, okay?" he told her and the little president did as told, grasping firmly onto his arm. "Chocolette, kept the bike moving straight and get closer to the wall!" he said and very slowly he let go of her waist, struggling with his balance a bit.
The queen nodded and very carefully she brought their vehicle closer to the rocky wall flawlessly without making any sudden movement. Ralph raised his free fist, clenching it in its wrecking form, a smirk curling around the corner of his lips.
Felix's eyes went wide in awareness, as he recognized his brother's movement. "TAMMY LOOK OUT!" he screamed at her but it was too late as Ralph pounded the wall with all of his mighty power, cracking the wall with a thunderous tremor and initiating a sudden avalanche.
Calhoun yelped as rocks and earth started to fall uncontrollably, slowing them considerably as she maneuvered the hover board to dodge the debris. More and more large rocks fell rapidly and Tamora feared that she wouldn't be able to dodge fast enough when suddenly Felix jumped on her back, his golden hammer in hand.
"Felix! What are you-?"
"Keep dodging!" he bellowed to her bravely with his brow furrowed as a giant crystal rock came closer. He waited as it inched closer with each passing second, tiny drops of sweat rolling down his forehead as he braced himself. Just a second before the big rock hit them, he tapered it with his hammer in a shift move, and after a bleeping noise the boulder disappeared in a golden flash.
Calhoun's eye went big as plates, not believing her own eyes; her broad smile returned as her husband sat on her shoulders, throwing away his helmet and putting on his cap again. "Let's go, my dynamite girl!" he said with his hammer raised proudly and that familiar brave smile that always made her heart skip a beat.
She grinned with renewed excitement, reloaded her rifle and propelled the hover board forward at full speed.
-0-0-0-
With Ralph's hand wrapped around her waist again, Chocolette sped up as the avalanche kept falling after them. They both smiled in anticipated victory as the tall sharp Tower of Hero's Duty came into view at the end of the trench.
"We are almost there!" Chocolette cheered and Vanellope had to peek again out of Ralph's arm to see better.
But then, booming gunshots echoed close behind them and the three gasped in shock as they glanced back to see the Fix-Its at their tails again, with Calhoun firing non-stop and Felix on her shoulders hammering and vanishing the fallen debris that threatened their path.
Ralph bowed his head lower as a laser shot almost left him bald. "Dammit Fix-It!" he grumbled in annoyance, forgetting completely that his protagonist had brought his trademark golden tool with him to the game.
The queen frowned deeply, her patience running out. "That's it! I'm done playing nice!" she snarled and lifting her left hand she stretched out her holographic claws dangerously. She glanced back a Ralph who looked at her quizzically. "Hang on tight." she ordered him with a smirk.
She turned around and after taking a deep breath, she glitched them through a hot mess of purple pixels and re-appeared next to the Fix-Its. Blue Team gasped in surprise and in a swift movement, Chocolette swiped her claws against Calhoun's hover board's thrust unit, damaging it severely. Both Calhoun and Felix struggled with their balance as the board started to shake and descend slowly and un-responding, with smoke and electrical sparks coming out of the damaged engine.
Calhoun growled in frustration as she locked eyes with the dark queen who winked at her before glitching one more time.
But just as they reappeared at the exit of the rocky trench, entering the final stretch of the long metallic bridge that lead to the Hero's Duty Tower… the cy-bug motorbike suddenly trembled furiously with a sonorous blast coming from its rear; Chocolette and Ralph whirled around in confusion and saw the end of their vehicle and back wheels completely destroyed.
They both glanced back at the Fix-Its and saw Calhoun salute them with her gun before falling down with Felix in a thick cloud of dust.
-0-0-0-
(Gameplay time: 01:55:00.
Current Score: Blue Team 410,250; Red Team 0)
Chocolette stopped the bike carefully as the vehicle started to disintegrate in millions of grey and green pixels, jumping out of it before it completely vanished. They both looked up at the game's remaining time with frantic eyes.
"C'mon! We gotta run now!" Ralph urged with Vanellope still safe under his arm and both started to sprint rapidly across the bridge, reaching the base of the tower in a few seconds.
Chocolette looked up at the top with a frown "Ralph…we're never going to make it on time!" she said in between pants but was again surprised by Ralph's words.
"Yes we will! Here!" he said handing Vanellope to her carefully. Both sisters exchanged confused eyes as Chocolette carried the princess made president in her arms.
He then kneeled down in front of the queen, his back facing her. "Hop on my back" he hurried and Vanellope's eyes widened in recognition. The queen blushed but nodded with a decisive brow, grabbing Vanellope ungracefully under one arm, as if she was a sack of potatoes, and wrapping her other arm and legs around Ralph's neck and waist. They both reddened at the awkward contact of their bodies but shrugged it off as Ralph bent his knees and with a deep breath, jumped up high and fast towards the top.
When gravity finally slowed him down just as he reached the first quarter of the building, he stretched both arms and buried his clawed fingers deep into the cold metallic surface of the tower, supporting himself effortlessly. The Von Schweetz sisters opened their eyes and looked down at the distant ground, mesmerized by Ralph's powerful strength and endurance.
"That…was…so…COOL!" Vanellope cheered with both arms in the air as Chocolette kept her secured under her grasp. "Do it again! Do it again!"
Ralph glanced at her and then at the Queen with a cocky and handsome smile. "Piece of cake," he told her as he braced himself to jump up again.
-0-0-0-
(Gameplay time: 01:56:33.
Current Score: Blue Team 410,250; Red Team 0)
Calhoun and Felix arrived at the tower a minute later, both looking up in distress as Ralph jumped again and reached the second quarter of the Tower rapidly. The Sergeant unpacked and loaded her two last large rifles, tossing her back pack aside and blowing her bangs from her face. "C'mon, I know a short cut to the top," she told Felix with a smirk.
He nodded and followed right behind her as they both crossed the main entrance of the Tower.
(Gameplay time: 01:58:01.
Current Score: Blue Team 410,250; Red Team 0)
Ralph raised himself up, finally reaching the top of the Tower. Resting his hands on his knees, he tried to recover his breath while Chocolette stepped down from his back with Vanellope in her arm. "You okay, Stinkbrain?" The little racer asked him in concern; the queen patted his back and the wrecker looked at the young Von Schweetz with a half satisfied smile.
The familiar sound of a gun being cocked startled them; Ralph and Chocolette slowly looked in front of them and saw none other than Sergeant Tarmora Calhoun, aiming two guns at them with Fix-It Felix standing behind her with his golden hammer in hand. Both looked tired and their blue armored suits were completely tattered. They were surrounded by millions of cy-bug eggs and the famous golden medal floated right behind the pair, at the top of the illuminated pedestal.
The shock on their faces quickly disappeared, replaced with burning glares and gritted teeth. Ralph blew hot air through his nose in annoyance, straightening up to his full height with his fists clenched. "How did you get here so fast?" he asked very slowly without lessening his angry frown.
Calhoun smirked, her fingers brushing dangerously close to the triggers. "This is my game, Wreck-It. I do know one or two short cuts," she sniggered, earning a defiant growl from the bad-guy pair.
"Guys…aren't you taking this too seriously?" Vanellope questioned, her eyes glancing back and forth to Calhoun, her sister and Ralph as the three held their stares.
But the Sergeant didn't hear her. "It's game over," she said barely loud enough with the final minute starting to run.
"Get that medal, honey!" she ordered her husband with a wide smile and the short handy man darted towards the pedestal without even looking back.
(60 seconds)
Ralph and Chocolette gasped in unison. "NO!"
(55 seconds)
Felix kept running up the blue holographic stairs, inching closer to his objective. "Almost there" he said to himself.
(50 seconds)
"Not so fast!" Chocolette grinned and putting two fingers in her mouth she whistled loudly and long.
(45 seconds)
The wall behind the pedestal unexpectedly exploded and a giant grotesque cy-bug emerged from the cloud of dirt, roaring at Felix.
(40 seconds)
Felix yelped and stopped dead in his track as the enormous creature screeched and blocked the path towards the medal.
(45 seconds)
Tamora whirled around, her eyes wide as plates as she recognized the creature. "The Cy-bug Queen?!" she exclaimed.
(40 seconds)
Both bad-guys grinned wide. "Hey Sarge! Catch this!" The queen shouted at Calhoun, throwing Vanellope to her suddenly.
(35 seconds)
"Wow!" Vanellope yelped in the air. Tamora whirled again and caught the racer princess in an automatic reflex, dropping both guns.
(30 seconds)
Chocolette's eyes glowed green as she unfurled a fluorescent green whip from her hip and spun it around her with sonorous whipping zaps.
(25 seconds)
Calhoun and Vanellope gaped when the queen wrapped her whip tight around them in a swift movement.
(20 seconds)
Ralph and Chocolette dashed forward with their eyes glowing green and red respectively. The queen pulled her whip hard, throwing her sister and the Sargent towards a wall, while Ralph skipped ahead of her.
(15 seconds)
Felix screamed in panic, terrified by the screeching Cy-bug Queen and unable to move; He then yelped in surprise after Ralph reached his side, pulled him from his armor collar and threw him backward towards where Calhoun and Vanellope had crashed, landing ungracefully on his back.
(10 seconds)
Blue Team shook their heads in confusion and then gasped in fear; a massive claw of the Cy-bug Queen kept them pressed and trapped against the wall. The creature loomed towards them with her mouth open, gruesome sticky green drops of saliva running down her many fangs.
(5 seconds)
"OH GUM I DON'T WANNA BE A CY-BUG!"
"AAAAAAAAAGGGRGH!"
"THIS IS THE END! THIS IS THE END!"
The three closed their eyes instinctively when they felt the breath of the creature in their faces.
(0)
'Game Over!' the mechanical voice of the computer announced and everything went silent for a long minute.
Blue Team kept stiff with their eyes closed, waiting for their terrible fate…but nothing happened.
They slowly and uncertainly started to open their eyes again with their brows arched in confusion. The Cy-bug Queen was still there, inches from their noses, but she wasn't moving or snarling anymore. Instead, she was just blinking at them curiously. Vanellope, Calhoun and Felix opened their eyes completely and blinked back at her silently, not knowing what to do or why the giant bug had stopped her advances.
And then, something amazing happened. The Cy-bug Queen screeched softly in a mocking laughing way, her six eyes squished in secret fun. She loosened her grip around the three while her screechy laugh got louder and unbearable, throwing her head back and squeezing her chest.
The heroes gaped in surprise, not believing their own eyes as the creature became hysterical, making the floor tremble slightly.
Calhoun growled exasperatedly, sensing something 'fishy' going on. "What the hell is wrong with this godforsaken creature?!" she hollered with her arms in the air.
"She's just enjoying herself, chill out Sarge" the unmistakable voice of Ralph chuckled behind the big monster.
Tamora cocked an eyebrow and the Cy-Bug Queen stepped aside a bit, revealing Chocolette and Ralph at the top of the pedestal, looking cocky and with matching knowing smiles.
The creature stopped her hysterical laugh momentarily and screeched repeatedly at them, hiccupping in between surprised laughs.
"Yeah you almost made them game over in fear, so hilarious!" the queen snorted at the Cy-bug with a mocking wave of her hand, and the infamous Hero's Duty lead character lost all color in her face.
"Y-you…you can understand her?!" Calhoun mumbled in disbelief, looking in utter shock as the creature smiled at them.
"Yeah, sort of," Chocolette admitted, earning a collective gasp from the heroes.
"H-How?!" Felix asked in astonishment, helping Vanellope rise to her feet again.
Chocolette and Ralph looked at each other and then back to them. "Well…it's a funny story actually," the wrecker started with a flashback coming to him.
-0-0-0-
The Cy-Bug Queen kept screeching sonorously and angrily at them, making Ralph and Chocolette step back in fear.
"Chocolette listen to me," Ralph started, wrapping an arm around the queen's waist and pulling her close to him while he kept glaring at the creature. "Hold on tight, I'm gonna try to punch her in the face and then catapult us up to the ceiling to get us out of here, okay?" he told her but the older Von Schweetz seemed to not hear him, her green eyes fixated on the six angry eyes of the monster.
Ralph growled in frustration; he knew his plan was suicidal but he couldn't think of a better option. He took a deep breath and mentally braced himself.
Letting out a booming roar he started to dart towards the creature when suddenly, Chocolette started to squirm in his grasp.
"Wait! WAIT! RALPH STOP!" She pleaded loudly and the wrecker stopped in mid sprint violently.
Breaking free from his grasp, the queen marched towards the Cy-bug Queen with a decisive look in her eyes, shocking Ralph. "Chocolette what are you-!?"
"We're sorry! We didn't mean to kill your babies!" the queen shouted at the creature and the monster went silent with her six eyes wide in surprise.
"You have all the right to be angry! I apologize! We were told you guys were only mindless killing programs," Chocolette said softly with her hands held in the air.
The Cy-bug Queen leaned her head in curiosity and loomed closer towards the racer queen, eyeing her suspiciously. She squealed softly a few times.
"Yes…I understand you," she admitted, making Ralph, the giant creature and the many cy-bugs around them gasp in astonishment.
"YOU WHAT?! How?!" Ralph stuttered not believing what was happening.
The monster squawked again in a questioning tone.
"Well yeah, I'm…I'm a queen too. We're not from this game." the villain smiled softly and the Cy-bug Queen screeched in comprehension.
She shrieked lightly in conversation and Chocolette's eyes went wide in amazement. "So that's why we can understand each other!" she smiled and turned around to face Ralph.
The wrecker blinked silently as he waited expectantly for her clarification.
"We are both royals, we can listen and understand each other because our programs acknowledge each other's power and leadership!" she said with a wide grin.
Ralph's jaw dropped as he remembered Clyde's words the previous night: 'You're a royal bad-guy…it is a big deal…you'll understand in due time.'
The queen skipped eagerly towards him and pulling his hand she forced him to come closer to the Cy-bug Queen's presence. He smiled sheepishly at the monster upon coming to the light and the creature growled slightly at him with a frown.
"It's okay, he is my friend. He is not going to hurt you or your babies anymore," Chocolette assured her and the giant bug loomed closer to his face with a wary look.
The monster sniffed his face, making Ralph cringe in awkwardness; the Cy-bug Queen's eyes went wide and she immediately sniffed the racer queen in realization, making the racer giggle with tickles.
She raised her head above them and screeched quizzically. Chocolette arched both eyebrows, "Yes we are both villains in our games, why do you ask?" and the moment she said those words, the many cy-bugs around them cheered happily.
A couple of them ventured closer to the pair, sniffing and nuzzling them affectionately. One tall ant-like cy-bug even dared to lick the side of Ralph's face, and the wrecker grunted in annoyance and revulsion.
The Cy-Bug Queen seemed to smile, bowing her head several times while squeaking in explanation.
"What is she saying?! Tell her to tell her 'kids' to quit the twaddle!" he barked, pushing away the head of another licking cy-bug.
Chocolette turned her head towards him with a cocked eyebrow; the corner of her mouth wrinkled in mockery.
He blinked at her in wonder. "What?"
"She said that if they had known that we were bad guys, they wouldn't have attacked us! That they got confused because of the armor!" she scolded him in annoyance.
Ralph opened his mouth but nothing came out as his brain couldn't form any comeback; he then frowned apologetically to the Cy-bug Queen.
"I'm…I'm really sorry" he said very slowly and the creature bowed in acceptance.
-0-0-0-
A cute baby cy-bug popped out from behind Chocolette's shoulder, flew towards Ralph and nuzzled against his check with a purring loving squeak. He tapped his tiny head with one of his clawed fingers, "Turns out that these killing monsters are actually cuter and more harmless than what we thought" he explained, much to the heroes' astonishment.
The baby cy-bug flew down towards them, stopping in front of Vanellope to sniff her; "Aw you are so adorable!" she chirped in delight, but when she tried to pet it with her tiny hand, the creature snarled at her and she pulled her hand back immediately in fear.
"Well, I guess they're only nice towards bad guys," the wrecker said sheepishly, scratching the side of his head as Vanellope blew a raspberry at the meanie mini bug.
"Anyways, after a brief explanation of what we were doing in Hero's Duty, the Cy-bug Queen offered us her support. She kinda wanted to give a lesson to Calhoun and the General for all the meaningless cy-bug exterminations they've done outside of Arcade hours, and so…" he paused glancing down at Chocolette with an eyebrow arched.
She smiled playfully back at him "She used her program to mutate our armor and gave us command over some of her babies to make sure to give you all a good scare. These marks are just paint!" They proved their point by rubbing their faces and erasing the 'cy-bug facial markings'. "We even really didn't need to crash the Command Head Quarters, since the cy-bugs already know where the Tower is by instinct; but dearie here insisted on us paying Hologram a quick visit." Chocolette said with a thumb signaling the giant royal monster.
The baby cy-bug flew back towards the racer queen, chirping happily in her shoulder. The queen let a girly giggle escape, "Oh you're such an evil cutie patootie, aren't ya Gumdrop?" she said, grabbing the bug with both her hands and nuzzling her nose against his face, making him snigger with tickles.
Calhoun, Felix and Vanellope blinked silently at the bizarre image as Ralph too patted the Cy-bug queen's head without fear. Then their eyes suddenly widened in surprise and their mouths hung open when Ralph started to twirl the medal of Hero's Duty around his finger.
"Bad-Guys don't win medals my behind!" he chuckled and Chocolette smiled wide at him with a blush. They held their eyes for a couple of seconds and Ralph felt his pixels burn in embarrassment but didn't mind one bit.
"I think the queen here deserves it more than us, Ralph," Chocolette told him glancing up at the massive creature. "If it wasn't for her, we would have lost for sure." she admitted and the cy-bug made an embarrassed dismissive gesture with one of her claws.
Ralph nodded in agreement. "You're totally right, sugar queen. Here! Catch!" he said and threw the medal towards the Cy-bug Queen.
She opened her mouth and swallowed the tiny medal in one bite, savoring its victorious flavor. The monster's skin color changed from green to metallic gold as the code of the medal fused with her own.
Calhoun knit her eyebrows in a straight line with a blank expression written all over her face; she then blew her bangs in annoyance, dusted herself off and turned her frown into a scolding look.
"You two are SO banned from this game!"
-0-0-0-
You guys! Wow! Thank you so much for the HUGE amount of reviews! Almost 100?! This is crazy! I never imagined this story to become so popular.
I want to thank my dear Phantom for being such an amazing friend and awesome Beta Reader! This story wouldn't be the same without him!
I'm kinda shocked at how many of you wish to know more about the Sour Racers! I'm so GLAD you guys liked them! It's pretty rare for readers to like so much secondary OCs T_T You'll get to read a lot more about them the next chapter and after that, I promise.
I'm accepting drawing requests as always! Please check my DA account (GND-KicaCris) and my Tumblr (KicaCris) for art updates and also for comments and polls about the story. You can also ask me anything there if you wish or just talk with me, it's fine really.
Anyways! As always please don't forget to leave a review! I always read them all!
Side Note: Phantom and I already talked about this but we kinda wanted to know your opinion. Chapter 13 is planned to be an M rated episode and well since this story is already rated T we may or may not publish it here on as a separated chapter or perhaps I could publish it on my Tumblr account. It's even already written so chapter 13 will come much faster than previous chapters. So…the question is would you guys be ok with the special M rated episode? I'll understand if you are not, honestly and the last thing I wish to do is to scare you away with this, so I'll leave it to your choice. If you guys are not ok with this, I'll still publish the episode on my Tumblr for those who might want to still give it a shot.
Anyways! As always please don't forget to leave a review! I always read them all!