Editor's Note: *coming in over the radio* Hello? Hello? Is this thing working? *tap, tap, tap* There once was a man from Nantucket… Oh wait they can hear me!

*clears throat* Good evening to the fine ladies and gentlemen who follow this fic. This is The Phantom Soldier reporting in for Ms. GND-KicaCris. Right now, our dear lady is touring North America, but has chosen to leave her laptop in the trusted hands of family in Florida due to its significant size and the hassle of carrying it around. As you can imagine, this makes updating this clever work rather difficult, so she has entrusted me with the task of posting this chapter in her stead rather than do so when she returns to the Sunshine State.

I feel I must personally apologize to all of you who have been so patiently awaiting an update on this wonderful work. It seemed as though every time I sat down to try and edit it, something would catch fire, explode or otherwise malfunction and delay me. I am truly sorry you all had to wait so long, but I do hope that the little moments of Ralph/Chocolette fluff ahead will make up for it.

And so, without further ado, I present to you the eleventh chapter of Sugar Queen!

Original story by GND-KicaCris.

Revised and edited by The Phantom Soldier.

"Wreck-it Ralph" © Disney

Chapter 11: Black Dresses & Bubble Baths

Ralph and Chocolette sat side by side on the train out of Hero's Duty with matching satisfied smirks, along with Vanellope and the Fix-Its.

Calhoun had an angry scowl plastered on her face and the corner of her mouth was wrinkled in pure indignation; one could almost see the steam coming out of her ears and nostrils as she had never felt more humiliated in her entire life. Felix looked at her with a wary smile, sitting by her side while sighing in resignation; he lovingly patted her clenched fist, earning himself a burning glare from her, but that didn't make him flinch one bit. He smiled widely at her, as if secretly telling her to calm down.

She exhaled hard with her eyes closed and very slowly she unclenched her fists, but her frown refused to leave her eyes as she looked at the baby cy-bug that was happily perched on Chocolette's right shoulder.

"I can't believe Hologram let you keep him after all the trouble we made him go through," Ralph said with a chuckle, looking at the queen's new pet in amusement.

"He said that as long as we don't step foot in his game again, I could keep as many cy-bugs as I wanted," she sniggered while tenderly scratching the head of the creature, who purred in content and snuggled closely to the queen's cheek.

"He even took the time to re-program him so he won't grow or multiply like crazy. He'll still eat a lot I guess but I don't think that would be a problem in Sugar Rush," she joked with a mocking smile. "Call me crazy, but I kinda liked the General. You did too, right Gumdrop?" She smiled sarcastically at the tiny bug, earning a laughing screech from him.

Vanellope looked at the baby cy-bug with curiosity. "Gumdrop?" She repeated the name in fun, and the little bug growled in annoyance at her. The younger Von Schweetz frowned at him and stuck out her tongue in response.

Chocolette rolled her eyes as the two shorties started a childish quarrel, blowing raspberries at each other. "Oh quit it you two!" she chuckled.

As the train pulled into the Game Central Station terminal and the characters debarked, Ralph's ears perked up at a mysterious sound like cheering emanated from Game Central Station. The royal siblings and the Fix-Its arched their eyebrows quizzically while the booming sound of applause and ovations grew louder.

As they stepped out of the terminal, the five characters gaped in surprise at the source of the strange noise as they all noticed the members of Bad Anon gathered expectantly at the Hero's Duty: World's Expansion terminal entrance with many other game characters. The crowd exploded with cheers, whistles and claps, surprising and confusing them even more.

Calhoun brushed her bangs out of her eyes, not grasping at all what was happening. "What now?" she said in annoyance noticing all the villainous characters' proud smiles.

The queen and the wrecker then yelped in surprise when Zangief abruptly rushed out of the crowd towards them and wrapped them both in a tight bear hug that almost crushed the air out of them. "What the-!?" they both said in protest with equal choking expressions and the Russian street fighter quickly let go of them, flashing a wide toothy grin at both.

"RALPH! CHOCO! In all his years of fighting, Zangief has to admit that he has never seen such a memorable fight like this ever!" he said in his thick Russian accent while brushing a tiny proud tear out of the corner of his eye.

Ralph and Chocolette exchanged shocked looks with each other before glancing back at their street fighter friend with blushing cheeks. "Y-you all saw us?!" Ralph questioned in embarrassment and Zangief nodded excitedly.

"Of course! We saw the whole thing!" The three heard and looked back to see Bowser standing tall with his arms crossed over his broad chest with a proud smile adorning his harsh features.

Zangief stepped aside as the legendary villain approached the already nervous wrecker and racing queen with a smirk, and in a swift move he raised them both in a tight hug and twirled them around in utter excitement.

Calhoun, Felix and Vanellope silently watched the whole scene without saying a single world, dumbfounded by the image of such an intimidating group of villains looking so happy and cheerful at their friends' unexpected victory.

Ralph blushed madly in mortification, ignoring the happy giggles of Chocolette. "Alright, alright, knock the hugging contest off already, old man!" he complained while trying to free himself from Bowser's strong grasp to no avail.

Bowser's booming laugh echoed through the whole station before he finally stopped his twirling and set the now dizzy couple down. He then proceeded to playfully nudge Ralph's head, much to the wrecker's bemusement. "I KNEW you had it in you, kiddo! It was about time you started acting like one of your kind!" the tall turtle dragon teased and all the bad-guys laughed with their leader.

Ralph grunted and flinched at the old bad-guy's hard nudges, feeling his face's pixels go hot in embarrassment. "STOP IT!" he hollered though he couldn't help himself as a tiny smile curled in the corner of his mouth, his soul feeling content and somehow liberated.

Finally stopping his friendly torturing antics, Bowser hugged the shoulders of both Chocolette and Ralph firmly. "You don't know how incredibly proud I am of you two right now. You gave a lesson to this arcade that will surely be remembered for many generations to come!" he said in his deep raspy voice, earning more sonorous applause and cheers from their comrades.

The Queen looked up at him with a curious glint in her green eyes. "A lesson?" she repeated, raising a questioning eyebrow at him.

The Koopa King looked down at her, his smile growing even wider. "Yes, a lesson!" he said, turning his eyes to Ralph and then to the other members of Bad Anon. "That we are more than just villains; we are more than just foes that heroes have to defeat and that we definitely and surely can accomplish whatever goal we set our minds and hearts to reach, regardless of any stupid gaming taboo there is!"

"BAD-GUYS CAN WIN MEDALS!" he bellowed in a guffaw and the crowd echoed the phrase repeatedly in excitement.

Ralph looked around him as the cheers got louder; almost all video game villains of Game Central Station were there, celebrating their victory as if no great deed had ever been attained before. He had never been praised like this, not even when he saved Sugar Rush and its princess last year; he did got a lot of respect and recognition after having proved that a Bad-Guy could also be a hero, but somehow that didn't make as much of a fuss as winning a simple Good-guys vs. Bad-Guys 'friendly' competition.

An unfamiliar but warming sense of pride started to slowly grow in his chest and his half smile grew wider. It wasn't that he hadn't felt proud of himself when he risked a permanent game over to save Vanellope and her game, no. But this, this was something completely different; He was being praised by his people, his kind, for having accomplished a victory by being himself and he would be a liar if he dared to say that it didn't feel good.

Bowser then raised both hands, signaling to his comrades to go silent again. "Alright fellows, listen up! Since this is such a unique occurrence, this must be celebrated properly and greatly with all of the honor that it deserves. And so tomorrow night I, Koopa King Bowser, will host the biggest rave this Arcade has ever had in my own castle! All bad-guys are invited!" And so the 'evil' crowd went wild with excitement once again.

Felix gulped at Bowser's announcement, "Jeepers…A bad-guy rave!" he said in a worried tone, peeking Vanellope's curiosity.

"What's a rave?" the little racer president innocently asked him and the handyman looked more flustered than before at the prospect of explaining the meaning to her.

"Ah…well you see…uhm," he started but was quickly saved by his wife.

"It's a… grown-ups kind of party, kiddo," Calhoun simply said, not wanting to go much into the details for the sake of her own sanity. She looked back at Ralph and Chocolette who looked surprised but thrilled; her brows furrowed in concern just like Felix's.

Bowser again silenced the crowd to speak again. "So whadda ya say, kids? You in? We can't have this party without our two guests of honor!" He winked at both while softly patting their shoulders.

Ralph seemed to truly give it a few seconds of thought as he had never been to a Bad-Guy Rave before, but he had certainly heard a few crazy stories regarding the parties at Bowser's Castle. He glanced at the Surge Protector who clearly wasn't too thrilled with the idea, his arms crossed over his chest while tapping his right foot. Ralph frowned in annoyance at him; knowing the guy he was probably being more judgmental than worried.

He then glanced back at the Fix-Its, who obviously seemed concerned, as if they could tell that this could be a bad idea, and then he looked at Vanellope who in her innocence actually looked excited; she even nodded repeatedly at him and encouraged him to say 'yes' with her mouth.

Finally he looked at the racer Queen at his side, and her green eyes looked back at his reddish brown ones in expectation. He gulped before asking her, "What do you think, sugar queen?" his pet name for her slipping out of his mouth unconsciously, and he mentally slapped himself in embarrassment at his brain's clumsiness. 'Why did I just say her pet name like that? Why am I encouraging her to go?'

Chocolette blushed a bit when hearing him say her pet name in public, earning a few chuckles from the crowd. She mentally composed herself and pretended not to be shocked, though inside she felt incredibly gleeful, like a schoolgirl who has finally been asked out on a date by her crush.

She faked a cough to clear her throat before answering, "Well…I guess… if you go I'll go, big guy," she smiled shyly with her eyes half lidded in a flirty way.

Ralph blushed too with his eyes slightly wide, but he quickly changed his hesitant expression into a cocky, handsome smile as a newfound sense of confidence started to awaken inside of him. "Well," he said, pausing for dramatic effect, "why the hell not, let's do this!"

The bad-guys shouted in excitement while chanting "rave, rave, rave, rave!" with enthusiasm and fist pumping in the air.

"Great, it's settled then. Tomorrow after the Arcade closes, you all are invited to my castle. No good-guys allowed of course, just bad-guys and evil minions will be allowed. Now if you two kids will excuse me, I better go and calm down the Surge Protector before he pierces my skull with that glare of his," the great Koopa King joked and he slowly walked towards the aforementioned officer who was already having an argument with Clyde about the security of such an event.

The crowd started to disperse, with most characters heading back to their games after such a long night, leaving Ralph and Chocolette standing alone in front of the Hero's Duty terminal.

Vanellope glitched and reappeared sitting on Ralph's shoulder, looking particularly tired. "So…you two are going to this party together, huh?" she said casually with a knowing smile as the Fix-Its joined them as well.

"Looks like it," Ralph said while glancing down at Chocolette who was distracted petting Gumdrop. He couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect of going to such a party with her.

Felix and Calhoun exchanged worried looks when noticing Ralph's smitten gaze, but decided not to say anything about it…just yet.

"Will this be like a date or something?" Vanellope pressed and both Fix-Its face palmed simultaneously at the littler racer's lack of tact regarding the subject.

But Ralph's answer caught all of them off guard. "Yeah, I guess so," he said nonchalantly as if it was the most natural thing in the world, throwing all of them off the hook.

Vanellope grinned wide at her sister who stood frozen in place with her hand hovering over Gumdrop's head and her face completely red. She blinked several times before her brain finally managed to reset and function again. "…a-a date?! Seriously?!" she babbled, not believing her own ears.

Felix, Calhoun and Vanellope glanced back and forth between both bad-guys.

Ralph's smoldering smile grew wider "Sure, why not? Unless of course you don't want it to be-"

"YES!" She suddenly shouted in a very girly way, startling all of them. They all looked in astonishment at her sudden out of character outburst with big fearful eyes as if she had abruptly become some sort of strange monster.

"I mean…" she tried to recompose herself again, clearing her throat and giving him her trademark smirk. "Yes," she said seductively while batting her eyelashes.

Vanellope cocked an eyebrow in confusion but smiled never the less when noticing her sister and Ralph exchanging blushing smitten looks. She then tried to cover a yawn but failed miserably as both villains turned their eyes on her.

"Looks like someone had too much fun tonight," Ralph chuckled, feeling Vanellope's head tilt over the side of his skull. He took her in one hand and carefully carried her in his arm.

"I'm not a baby, Stinkbrain! And I'm not tired!" she stubbornly protested but her tired expression didn't fool them one bit.

"Yeah right and you can barely keep your eyes open because…?" he pressed sarcastically.

Vanellope pouted at him but couldn't help herself to snuggle against his big, soft and warm arm. "Shut up," she barked with her eyes closed.

Chocolette smiled softly, feeling her own dark heart melt at the cute father/daughter moment in front of her. "Hehehe, come on lil' sis, let's get you back to your castle before you pass out," she said, and she gestured Ralph to give the sleepy princess to her.

He gaped at her gesture but decided to do as he was told; she carefully picked her up and carried her with both arms as though she was the most precious and delicate thing in the world.

Vanellope briefly opened her eyes to look up at her sister just to smile and close them again, snuggling happily against her chest and enjoying the somehow familiar warmth. She could easily tell that this was not the first time her older sister had carried her like this.

Chocolette felt the same too and smiled sadly while carrying her sister, but quickly brushed the feeling off as she pretended to readjust Vanellope's weight in her arms; unknowingly to her, Ralph noticed her sad smile but decided not to say anything.

"I'll take her back to Sugar Rush… thanks for…uh…inviting me to your game jumping night guys…and sorry again for the trouble, Tammy," the dark Queen said with a teasing smirk.

Calhoun's annoyed frown refused to disappear but a tiny smile curled in the corner of her mouth. "We'll have a rematch someday…Chocolette," she snorted and finally allowed herself to like the older Von Schweetz. Seeing her carrying Vanellope like that made her believe that maybe, just maybe, the dark racer queen wasn't as bad as she bragged to be.

Felix smiled broadly at his wife's change of demeanor and tipped the brim of his hat in farewell. "Good night ma'am! Surely you'll join us next time we game jump, right?"

Chocolette giggled at the handyman's politeness. "Well if you guys invite me again, that is…I don't actually have much to do after Arcade hours…except maybe race by myself, babysit the Sour Racers…plot against my sister…" she said and laughed heartily when she saw the alarmed expressions on their faces.

"Kidding, just kidding guys! Relax!" she reassured them with a dismissive wave of her hand and the three sighed with relief.

Ralph snorted at her. "Would you like me to escort you both back to Sugar Rush?" he offered gentlemanly but with a smirk.

Chocolette smirked back at him with flirty eyes. "Let's save it for tomorrow after the party, big guy," she winked at him and sniggered in delight while turning around on her heels; she walked away from them and towards Sugar Rush's port with Vanellope already asleep in her arms.

Ralph stood there, completely flustered and frozen in the spot while his brain tried to process her innuendo; he then shook his head furiously in a futile effort to silence his bad thoughts, but when he looked back at her parting figure, he couldn't help himself as a slight defiant smirk crept to the corner of his mouth and he allowed his eyes to wander over her back.

"RALPH!" Felix's voice suddenly brought him back to his normal self. Whirling around, he faced the knowing smiles of the Fix-Its.

"Wha-what?" he asked them, confused.

"Cheeky Wreck-It," Calhoun chuckled teasingly.

"What?!" he insisted again, obviously missing the joke.

"Jiminy Jaminy Ralph! You were…you were…uhm…" the short hero struggled to put it in 'nice words'. "You were shamelessly checking her out!" Felix scolded him with a smile.

Ralph choked with a deep blush. "No I wasn't!" he protested with indignation.

"Oooooh hohoho yes you were soldier, and I must say, in a not so very 'good way'," the Hero's Duty protagonist kept teasing.

Ralph grunted and turned around, beating a path straight to the Fix-It Felix Jr. terminal without saying another word.

-0-0-0-

The next day came and again the rain was pouring down, but much stronger than the day before. This time, not even the Moppet Girl or the rascal teen duo came to visit as it was truly too dangerous to walk or drive to the arcade with the wind blowing so strongly and the rain pelting the ground.

Litwak sighed in resignation, hoping that the seasonal bad weather would end before it significantly started to cause his business trouble. Glancing at his watch and noticing the almost empty arcade, he decided to close an hour earlier than usual and head home before the storm got any worse.

Turning the lights off and making sure that the store's emergency power plant was working well, the old owner locked his business's doors and went home.

"Enjoy the rest of the evening guys," he spoke aloud to no one in particular while walking towards his car, struggling to keep his umbrella from taking off in the gusts.

-0-0-0-

Ralph sighed in annoyance as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, his brow knit in a straight line; Right after Litwak had closed the arcade's doors, the wrecker had sprinted at match speed to clean himself up and dress for tonight's party at Bowser's castle, feeling extremely eager and excited at the prospect of having a fun night with his bad-guy comrades and also having the rare occasion to meet the rest of Bowser's pals from NES Central.

But more importantly, he was secretly looking forward to having a great night with Vanellope's older sister, Queen Chocolette Von Schweetz.

But much to his luck, his enthusiasm dropped when his friends came to help him dress properly for the celebration, as the wrecker truly had nothing proper to wear for the occasion. He wrinkled his nose in disgust while looking at his current attire: he was wearing a ridiculous baby blue tuxedo with a white satin ruffled shirt and matching blue bowtie. He looked at Felix, who was at his side, looking proud and excited at his antagonist while cleaning a pair of lustrous white shoes that clearly belonged to a much distant time.

Ralph pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing deeply a couple of times to regain his patience while trying to ignore Vanellope's futile attempts to drown her uncontrollable giggles against one of the pillows of his living room's sofa.

"I'm not wearing this, Felix," he grumbled and started to untie the silly bowtie.

The short handyman looked back at him in confusion. "What?! Why not? Come on Ralph, you look great!" he insisted with one hand on his hips and the other carrying the oversized white shoes.

He looked down at him and held his index finger in the air. "One, because the 80's are long gone. And two, it's a rave Felix, not the high school prom," he finished as he threw his large blue tuxedo jacket over the short hero with a mocking smirk.

Felix yanked the jacket off of himself and frowned in disapproval, feeling slightly offended. Vanellope couldn't hold it in anymore and started to roar with laugher.

"But it's Bowser's Castle, Ralph! You're his guest of honor and you'll be representing our game in there! Don't you want to look good? What better way than using this magnificent suit!" he insisted but was quickly silenced again by another piece of flying clothing.

The wrecker sighed again, now clad in a white tank top and the blue pants of the old tuxedo, carefully choosing his words before offending his protagonist even more. "Look, I appreciate you guys trying to help, but there is no way in Satan's Hollow that I'll be wearing that Back to the Past tuxedo or the Trick or Treat Nightmare that Vanellope brought!" he said firmly and it was now Vanellope's turn to look offended.

"Hey! I spent HOURS making that for you, you ungrateful Brute!" she said with her arms crossed while glancing at the red velvet tuxedo that was currently hung up on Ralph's bedroom door. It didn't look half bad as Felix's 80's tuxedo, except for the fact that it was obviously made of red fondant and was absurdly covered in all sorts of candy sprinkles and white whip cream.

Ralph smiled apologetically at her. "I know kid. I'm sorry. I promise I'll wear it next time you have a party in Sugar Rush," he tried to assure her, earning an eye-roll and a huff from her.

Just then, Calhoun entered the shack with a grey duffle bag slung across her shoulder and froze at the fashion disaster zone in front of her. "Having dress problems I see," she chuckled with a cocked eyebrow.

Ralph snorted at her and looked away. "If you only came to mock me, then you can go back and have fun with the Cy-bug Queen, for all I care," he warned her, feeling his temper starting to rise.

She rolled her eyes and approached the couch where Vanellope was currently lying. "I think you'll be grateful that I came to save your fashion predicament, drama queen," she teased while opening the grey duffle in front of the little candy racer.

Ralph and Felix blinked silently at her as Vanellope gasped in wonder upon looking inside Calhoun's mysterious sack. "Whoa! Where did you get this?" The young president asked in wonder as Calhoun pulled out an oversized but clean looking Black Leather Pilot Jacket for all to see.

Ralph gaped in surprise and happiness while Felix wrinkled his nose in uncertainty.

"I figured that Wreck-It here would have trouble choosing something adequate to wear for a Bad-Guy Rave, so I went to check on my game's new code room to see if there was something there that could help us with this predicament. Lucky for you, our new character customization option comes with plenty of clothes to choose. I brought the ones that didn't look too military and the clothes are already adjusted to fit your size." She tossed the jacket to Ralph.

He caught it in one hand and tried it on. He marveled at how cool he actually looked while wearing it; the jacket was pitch black with a furry brown V-neck that went down to his upper chest, joined together by a golden brown zipper. It fit him perfectly, stretching over his toned biceps without tearing apart and he happily noticed that he could even close the zipper if he wanted to. He chuckled when he noticed that Calhoun had also taken the liberty to add a few distinctive embroidered patches to each shoulder; the right one had the red insignia of Bowser's face that was commonly used to identify a Bad-Guy, and the other was a simple patch of his name made with bricks that clearly read 'Wreck-It Ralph'.

He looked back at Calhoun with big sparking eyes full of gratitude and a wide gaping smile.

The sergeant smiled cockily at him. "You're very welcome," she winked with a military salute.

"Felix…if you weren't married to her, I swear I'd have kissed her right now," he joked while checking the back and sides of his jacket in the mirror.

Felix smiled proudly at his wife though his eyebrow was still cocked in uncertainty. "Lucky me! Though I still don't see what the fuss is about such an informal looking jacket," he complained and Ralph looked down at him in shock.

"Are you crazy?! This is the coolest piece of clothing I have ever worn in my 31 years! Sorry Calhoun, but I'm not giving this back. I might even add it to my code box in our code room after the party," he said while adjusting the collar with a smirk.

Vanellope giggled and Calhoun shook her head in restrained mirth. "Wait to see the rest of the gold that I brought here," she sniggered and proceeded to unpack the rest of her bag's contents.

-0-0-0-

Across the way from Fix-It Felix Jr. 2, another bad-guy was having her own dressing predicament.

The six Sour Racers of Black Cola Castle stood still while watching in collective confusion as numerous articles of clothing and different dresses flew high into the air towards their position. They were in Black Cola Castle's royal master bedroom, where the queen usually rested. It consisted of a large, fancy white room with its floor covered in a wooly white rug and mostly black furniture; in the middle sat a large comfortable looking black leather chamois sofa with a round glossy black coffee table in front and a black and gold chandelier hanging up on the ceiling. A white marble hairdresser with a matching wooden chair rested in the corner of the room with a full body mirror at its side. Two sets of tall black doors lay to the side, leading to the master closet and bathroom respectively, with a set of ornate black changing screens situated near the closet doors. The centerpiece of the room was a king size bed covered by translucent white curtains. The bed had a fuzzy black comforter with golden ornaments and various giant puffy white pillows with matching golden decorations too; it was truly a bedroom fit for a queen.

The six minions silently blinked and watched with concern and confusion as their ever so fearful monarch walked in circles while trying on and tossing away different outfits madly.

Bonbon Lola observed as well, completely bored, looking almost like her old friend Sour Bill even, unfazed by the mess the queen was currently making while dressing and undressing tirelessly behind her bedroom's black changing screens.

Deciding that enough was enough, the Sour Racer leader finally snapped. "Would you please just pick a damn dress already for crying out loud?!" Razz shouted, earning incredulous wide-eyed looks from her partners who gaped at her as if she had just signed her own game over warrant.

The queen suddenly stopped her struggling and peeked out from one of her changing screens, glaring daggers at the orange racer. Her long black and white ponytail was in disarray, falling wildly out of her crown. "This is serious business Razz! My plan depends on this, so shut your mouth and help me pick something!" she fumed at her and returned to trying on more clothes.

Razz rolled her eyes in desperation, "Yeah sure, you have all six of us here, wasting our time by picking out your fashion mess just for your 'evil plan' and not because you're actually concerned about what Wreck-It is actually going to think about your outfit." She teased sarcastically and again the rest of her team gasped in shock at her boldness.

"I don't know what you're babbling about, Razz," the queen sang from behind the screens.

"Admit it boss…YOU have it BAD for the guy," Razz pressed again and chuckled when she heard her queen trip and fall to the floor.

"No-no! HE has it BAD for me, silly!" she stuttered to correct her and Razz would have bet anything that the evil queen was blushing madly behind the screens.

"Whatever, just pick a dress already and let us go!" Razz insisted with a frustrated expression.

Chocolette suddenly stopped behind the screens; she smiled mischievously and stepped out, wearing a black knee-length silk robe. She brushed away a few ivory strands of her loosened ponytail and walked towards her large mirror in the corner of the bedroom.

"Oh, I didn't know you guys already had plans for tonight," she said in tone of affected surprise. "And here I was thinking on actually letting you go with me to the party." She picked up two discarded dresses from the floor and pretended to check out how she would look in them without actually trying them on.

The six racers straightened up immediately, curiosity and surprise washing across their faces. "Wait-what?" Razz questioned, uncrossing her arms.

"Are you serious Boss?!" Warhead suddenly shouted with his green eyes poking out from his afro.

"Please don't – kid with us about this!" Zoet and Zurr begged.

Even Franknerd looked surprise as he climbed over Rocko's shoulder like a monkey, with his spiral racing goggles barely hanging on his nose, showing his shocked purple eyes.

Rocko lowered his sun glasses to look at his queen more clearly, his red eyes shining in disbelief. "Don't play mind tricks with us, boss," he said in his thick Mexican accent.

Chocolette hummed a playful tune as she continued to check on both dresses. "I'm serious; you fools already learned your lesson and I think it's about time you get your chance to get out of the castle. And Lola does need a break from babysitting you." She giggled when they started to cheer in utter happiness.

"Woohoo! Alright dogs!" Warhead shouted and started to high-five his pals.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaa! We're going to the party! We're going to the party!" the twins screamed and jumped in a tight, victorious hug.

Warhead froze while trying to high-five Razz when he noticed her straight line frown. "What's the catch?" she asked in an un-amused tone.

Chocolette cocked an eyebrow and turned around to face them with a mischievous smirk.

Their excited faces quickly dropped, mimicking Razz's expression. "Of course…there has to be a catch," Warhead complained with his arms crossed over his bare chest.

Chocolette laughed maniacally at them. "Relax dearies, I promise you'll have plenty of fun tonight…I just need you to help me with a little…musical number," she said with a sinister smile, earning six matching grins of excitement from them.

-0-0-0-

An hour later, Ralph found himself walking the familiar Lollypop Plain that surrounded Black Cola Castle to pick up Chocolette. As he was walking, he couldn't avoid remembering his last conversation with his friends before departing.

-0-0-0-

He was finally fully dressed, clad in his black leather pilot jacket over a tight, black shirt, a pair of brown jeans and a set of black combat boots. He had even left his brown fingerless gloves on seeing that they matched his outfit perfectly. His wild spiky auburn hair was clean and combed slightly backwards, though he could tell that it was a matter of time before it returned to its naturally messy form. He smirked confidently at his reflection in the mirror while Felix kept lecturing him.

"Now brother, I know you'll be playing your role tonight according to your original plan but please hear me out… don't let yourself get into it too much." The short hero warned him kindly with a worried frown.

The wrecker rolled his eyes for the tenth time that day and turned around to face his protagonist. "Felix for the last time, I'll be fine! I'll just go there, have some fun and return home safe and sound. If everything works well, I might find out tonight if Chocolette has a cat in the bag or not," he smirked confidentially at him with his hands in his jeans' pockets.

"He'll be fine, short stack. The worst thing that could happen to him would be Queenie biting him or something like that…And I don't think Wreck-It would mind it at all," Calhoun joked while sitting next to Vanellope on the couch.

Vanellope giggled and smiled excitedly at her giant of a man best friend. "Aren't you gonna give her flowers or something, Stinkbrain?" she asked him with big girly eyes and a wide enthusiastic grin.

Ralph snorted, blushing slightly and scratching the back of his neck. "Erhm…no kid, I'm not…" he admitted to her and internally begged the programmers for her not to ask him why.

Alas, he should have known better as Vanellope frowned in disapproval. "Why not?!" she shouted, outraged and feeling overprotective towards her older sister.

The Sergeant quickly patted her head in a motherly way to quell her anger. "Bad-guys date differently, kiddo. I'll explain it to you someday if you ever get yourself an age upgrade," she reassured her and the little racer pouted back at her in confusion.

Felix looked over his shoulder towards Vanellope and Calhoun and glanced back at Ralph again with uncertainty. "Just don't let your bad-guy code get control of you, okay? …and remember to always be a gentleman!" he warned him in a brotherly tone with his index finger held in the air.

-0-0-0-

"Worry wart! I've got everything under control," Ralph snorted in amusement, knocking on the massive black and white doors of the castle's entrance. He waited patiently a minute or two before a door swung open and Bonbon Lola received him with a kind smile.

"Bon soir Mssr. Wreck-It! Her majesty told me that you'd come to pick her up for tonight's party. Unfortunately, the queen is still not ready yet and she kindly asked if you could wait for her a few more minutes." The pink round majordomo looked up at him with a nervous brow.

Ralph arched an eyebrow and shook his head knowingly. "I should have expected it. Well alright, I'll wait. I'm not going to the party without her anyways."

"Magnifique! Follow me s'il vous plait!" and Lola gleefully opened the doors wider to allow him to enter.

She guided him through a different long corridor to the southern part of the castle. He looked around the walls curiously as he had never been in this part of the castle before, noticing the fancier looking gold decorations on the walls and tapestries. Turning left, they entered another long corridor with walls that sported gigantic purple windows that provided a natural source of light. At the end of the corridor stood two tall, white marzipan doors with extravagant black and gold swirled engravings.

Ralph stared in confusion as Lola opened the doors and revealed to him what he could easily guess was the Queen's private chamber.

Bonbon Lola looked up at him with a kind warm smile. "Make yourself comfortable, s'il vous plait! The queen will join you soon enough." She bowed politely and quickly closed the doors behind him, leaving him completely alone in Chocolette's bedroom.

He gulped nervously, stretching his shirt's collar with his index finger upon hearing the doors close tight. The wrecker anxiously glanced around him, looking at every single detail of her private room and gasping in shock at the titanic king size bed in the corner, which was clearly big enough for two grown men of his size.

He was taking in more of the details when his ears picked up a soft, vague humming. Looking around, he discovered that the humming seemed to be coming from beyond one of the tall black doors that was slightly ajar. His curiosity piqued and without giving it much thought, he walked towards the source of the musical sound with large, slow footsteps.

When he was but a few inches away from the door, the humming turned into singing. His ears also registered the sounds of splashing water, but his mind was so entranced by the strange tune and the beautiful voice that he didn't really care. Just as he was about to peek into the crack between the door and the frame, his feet were caught in a carelessly discarded dress. Before he even knew what happened, Ralph tripped over the dress and fell forward, crashing ungracefully through the doors and landing flat on his face against the lustrous marble floor.

"Ugh…sweet Mother Hubbard…" For a moment, Ralph didn't know what to do. He felt like an absolute fool lying on the cold tiled floor. Still, he mustered himself and picked himself up. After dusting himself off, he finally looked up and, though a small part of his mind cheered and hollered in joy at the sight before him, a large portion of his mind told him he'd have been better off trying to pass himself off as a rug on the floor.

"Uhmm... Uh..." Ralph tried and utterly failed to form a coherent thought. The sight before him was one that would be forever burned into his mind. With only her head visible above a mountain of bubbles, Dark Queen Chocolette Von Schweetz was lying in an opulent bathtub that looked like it could've held Ralph too with room to spare (a thought that Ralph knew was going to be stuck in his mind for days). Even worse, despite the fact that he could only see her head, with her long ebony and ivory curls drenched and flowing all around, framing her beautiful face, his mind was beginning to form images of just what lay beneath the waves of the sudsy surface...

For her part, Chocolette blinked silently at him with her brain registering what had just happened without saying a single word, still looking slightly surprised. She then giggled mischievously at him; any other woman in her right mind would have screamed her lungs out in complete terror for certain, perhaps even throw things at his head in rage... but the Dark Queen was not any other woman as she was completely amused by the situation her favorite guy had involuntary gotten himself into.

"Gee Ralphie, you're always in such a hurry sometimes... I was expecting us to be this comfortable after the party," she joked while raising a leg teasingly out of the water, slowly running a large sponge along its length. "You're making it too easy and fun for me."

Ralph was ready to rebuke her initial jibe, but he found his resolve shut down the moment she raised that long and graceful leg out of the tub. Just the way she slowly ran the sponge over it, sensually, intimately... He was never this dumbstruck, not even after a full day of landing straight on his head in Fix-It Felix.

Chocolette noticed his hypnotized gawk and blushed a bit darker while keeping her unfazed act. The party hadn't even started yet and she was already having some teasing fun with him. "It's not 'nice' to stare for so long like that, big guy. Lucky for you, I don't like nice guys." She grinned mockingly. "I wouldn't mind if you joined me, though Bowser won't be happy if we arrive late to the party." She comically bent her leg in his direction, poking a few bubbles with her toes.

Ralph finally managed to rein his thoughts and imagination in and turned around, though he didn't immediately storm out of the bathroom.

"So," he said, finally finding his voice. "I take it you're not mad at me?" The gentleman inside of him called out to him that he should apologize, but his inner bad-guy, perhaps emboldened by his new outfit or even the events of the previous night, told him to play it cool and act unrepentant.

She smirked and resumed her bath, picking up the hand-held showerhead to rinse the bubbles off. "Why would I be?" she questioned him playfully. Chocolette then noticed his outfit and took her chance to shamelessly check him out, her eyes roaming over every inch of him. "My oh my Ralph! You look so sharp! Really digging the 'bad-boy' style here!"

The steam from the showerhead was raising the humidity level in the bathroom considerably. Ralph knew that she was baiting him, but he could also feel her eyes on him at the same time. 'Alright Sugar Queen... you want a show? I'll give you a show.' Ralph unzipped his jacket and shrugged it off of his shoulders, removing it from his massive arms and hanging it on a nearby hook. Now clad only in his tight fitting black t-shirt, Ralph stretched his arms out, giving the Queen a perfect view of every well defined muscle in his back. "You can thank Calhoun for it. If Felix or your sister had had their way, believe me you'd have run as fast as those legs could carry you."

Chocolette froze with the hand-held showerhead spouting water above her opposite shoulder with her mouth shut and her eyes wide as plates, almost not hearing him speak the last part. She yelped when she noticed the water beginning to overflow and she clumsily but silently opened the drain to fix the problem. She hoped he hadn't noticed it. Clearing her throat, she proceeded to wrap her long wavy hair in a messy bun while she waited for the water to finish draining. She then remembered him mentioning her sister. "What did my cavity of a sister and your handyman do now?"

'Got distracted, did you your highness? Good.' Ralph didn't trust himself to turn around yet, but he knew by the sound of splashing water, her yelp, and her lack of registering his comment that he had taken her off balance. He pressed his advantage by stretching his arms backwards, really giving her a view of his solid deltoids and the bulging biceps sprouting from his shirt's sleeves. "Your sister wanted me to wear something that looked like the kart bakery had a heart attack and Felix wanted me to wear a baby blue tuxedo. Like I said, Calhoun came to our rescue with this ensemble."

She rolled her eyes at that. "My sister really doesn't know when to stop adding so much sugar to her pies and your good-guy should get his fashion tastes cleansed," she said sarcastically while enjoying the view of his clenched muscles. 'I wonder if he's doing that on purpose…'

She shivered when the great bathtub was finally empty and the cool air brushed against her damp, naked figure. She stood up and grabbed a nearby black towel and proceeded to dry herself off. "Who would have guessed that dear Sergeant Grumpy panties would become my heroine? Now I'll have to give her a kiss on the cheek, as it is the mandatory price for a hero who has saved a royal damsel in distress." She found it completely amusing that the tough-as-nails soldier would be the one with the best fashion sense of the group.

"Calhoun's not so bad once you get to know her. Did I ever tell you that the first time we met she slugged me? Several times?" He could hear her feet stepping onto the tiles of the floor and his temptation was pushing him to turn around. But he wouldn't give her the satisfaction… not yet.

Chocolette suddenly perked up at the mention of Calhoun's part with a frown. "She did what?!" She fumed but then sensed that he was perhaps joking. Still, she became overwhelmed with jealously. "Never mind...I don't want to know." She didn't sound too happy.

"Gumdrop dear! Bring mommy her robe please!" she shouted and the little baby-cybug came flying from the bedroom with a knee length black silk robe clutched in his tiny paws.

Ralph stepped to the side as the little cy-bug flew in carrying the robe, finding the image endearing. Her tone of voice at hearing how the sergeant had repeatedly clocked him brought a little bit of excitement to his heart, telling him that she did care.

He kept his feet rooted to the spot while she dried herself off. "And give your sister a break. I know she can get over excited, but she just wants to help everyone around her. Besides, she can be pretty wicked herself sometimes."

"My sister? Wicked? Oh Ralphie, you don't know what wicked truly is," she flirted while Gumdrop helped her slide the robe onto her bare shoulders.

"I dunno Chocolette," he said with a knowing smile. "Threatening to execute all of the people in this game who were ever mean to her the moment she took the throne seems like a pretty wicked thing to me."

Chocolette froze at that, the short robe tied tightly while Gumdrop flew towards Ralph and landed happily on his shoulder, screeching at him and waving his short tail happily.

"Really? My goodie-goodie sister said that?" she asked, sounding astonished. With her hands on her waist, she walked past him with wide swings of her hips, stepping out of the royal bathroom and heading towards her hairdresser.

"Surely she didn't actually mean it. She might have a sharp tongue like me, but she wouldn't hurt a fly. Still, I can't help but feel slightly proud of her." She giggled darkly and took a seat to brush her long curly bicolored hair.

Ralph reached up to his shoulder and stroked Gumdrop's shell, earning him a happy purring sound from the cy-bug. He couldn't help his eyes as they followed the movement of Chocolette's hips and her still exposed legs. "Nah, she didn't mean it. But Chocolette, you'd have loved it. One minute, it seems like she's gonna let everyone off the hook, then WHAM! The second she said "executed," the look on the Sugar Racers' faces was priceless! All of them started crying and begging for their lives, and then your sister told them she was only joking." The sight of her brushing her long hair was a wondrous sight indeed, keeping his attention as he leaned on the doorframe of the bathroom.

Chocolette looked at his reflection in her mirror and cocked an eyebrow at him, finding it cute how proud he seemed at such a rare display of dark humor from her sister. But she still couldn't wrap her mind around the idea of her sister being slightly 'evil'.

"Perhaps my sister's glitch has twisted her original program a bit." With her hair perfectly combed and dried in soft smooth waves, she whirled around to face him with her legs crossed. "The cavities are a bunch of cry babies though. I would have kept my word if I'd been in Vannie's shoes. The Sour Racers can tell you that much." She sniggered darkly with a sexy smile.

Ralph matched her grin, making sure to keep his eyes locked with hers instead of trailing lower to her crossed legs. "I don't doubt it. To be honest, even I haven't completely forgiven them for how they treated your sister, so I don't mind seeing them getting taken down a peg or two every now and then. The way I see it, every missile you and your Racers launch at them goes a little bit towards helping even out the balance."

Chocolette grinned wider at his dark confession. "Ralphie! That is so not 'nice' of you to think like that...not that I mind." She held her beautiful green eyes with him, looking a bit smitten while playfully twirling a loose ebony curl around her index finger. "I can make you a kart if you wish to give them a lesson one of these days. It's harmless for them of course, as they can always regenerate afterwards."

'She looks so cute when she does that,' he thought, watching as she twirled her hair. Whether he knew it or not, Ralph had delved slightly deeper into his bad-guy code during his banter with Chocolette. "Thanks your highness, but I'm a Wrecker, not a racer. And besides, you never saw them break your sister's kart apart and push her in the mud."

Before Chocolette could respond, there was a knock at the door followed by Razz letting herself in, completely forgetting to wait for the Queen's permission to do so. She was already dressed for the party, wearing a black leather jacket with tiny orange spikes on the shoulders over an orange tank top and a black leather short skirt with black leather boots.

"You ready, Boss?" She asked before gasping in surprise at the sight of Ralph in the room, leaning against the bathroom door, dressed quite nicely, and her queen still in her black robe sitting at her hairdresser with her exposed legs crossed.

Chocolette glared daggers at her for the intrusion while the orange racer blinked nervously at both. She felt the urge to mock her for not being ready but she immediately thought against it, as she knew better than to embarrass her boss level monarch in front of her boss level crush. "Uhmm...am I interrupting something?" She nervously questioned them.

Ralph felt a slight rise in his ire, but he let it slide. After all, Chocolette still called the shots around here. He merely looked over to the villainess and offered a smirk that seemed to say 'what do you think?'

"Not yet," Chocolette told her in between clenched teeth. She watched as beads of sweat appeared on Razz's forehead, the queen enjoying the sight of her minion sweating it out.

After what seemed like a tense eternity to Razz, Chocolette finally eased her intense gaze. "Get out," she ordered her softly but severely.

Razz gulped and bowed her head apologetically "Y-yes of course! I'm sorry...your grace. We'll wait outside," she stuttered and hurried to leave the room as fast as she could.

Ralph snorted once the evil racer left the room. 'So, they're also attending to the party, eh?' he thought with mild curiosity. "You enjoy terrorizing them, don't you?" Ralph asked, smiling at the Queen. 'Then again, Ralph, didn't you feel the same way when you protected Vanellope?' he internally admitted.

Chocolette exhaled deeply as she quelled her programmed fury. She rose to her feet and started to untie her robe while walking towards her black changing screens. "If the fools weren't so clumsy at doing their jobs, I wouldn't have the need to do so! You're lucky you don't have minions," she said with her back at him, smirking and letting the robe slowly slide down her shoulders.

Ralph knew she was teasing him, the sight of her bared back catching his breath in his throat, only to have any further views of anything lower obscured by the screens. "Not really sure what I'd do with them even if I had them. Not really a leader type." He reached into the bathroom and retrieved his jacket, slinging it over his shoulders as he watched her lithe silhouette move behind the screens.

She softly chuckled as she conjured two swirling clouds of smoke around her and they soon started to twirl and dance around her body, shifting into the shape of what seemed to form a dress. She moved her curves in a dancing way as the smoke dressed her. "Oh please! You just haven't had the chance to try it yet! You have a very ... intimidating figure... so you won't really have too much trouble making people obey you...if little ol' me can do it, surely you'd do it without really trying. Maybe one day you'll have your chance" she implied with a seductive lilt to her voice.

Despite the silhouette show he was getting, Ralph couldn't help but laugh at what she was saying. "I may have the body, but I don't have the head for it," he said as he rapped a knuckle lightly against his temple. "No, my dear, there'll be no minions for King Ralph the Wrecker anytime soon."

She stopped dancing and the smoke vanished. "King Ralph the Wrecker?" She repeated softly with a gleeful giggle. "I like the sound of that." And with that, she stepped out from behind the screens.

She was dressed in a somehow semi formal black dress which was really short in the front, a few inches above her knees and dangerously exposing her long legs, while the back tail was longer, reaching her ankles. From the black skirt, black and white swirls went up all along her tight corset until her cleavage, where the two black and white swirling lines almost seemed to form a heart across her generous breasts. Her shoulders were completely exposed, with her long loosened wavy hair brushing delicately over her bare back. She had a smoky night eye make-up applied which highlighted her green eyes incredibly and her lips were painted cherry red, the same color as her heels. She let her bang cover her right eye as she smiled sexily at him. "What do you think?"

The Wrecker decided to take charge and see if he could throw her off balance again. With a confident smirk, he looked her dead in the eye and said, "In thirty one years, I don't think I've seen a more beautiful woman." He folded his arms across his chest and grinned, approving her dress and looking forward to seeing how she danced in it.

She blushed brightly at his honest words and confident smirk, even looking surprised. Chocolette then matched his grin with her own prideful one, planting her hands on her hips and leaning to one side. "Well of course! I have to look good for my date, don't I?" She winked at him.

Ralph simply slipped his jacket back on and walked over to her, offering her one of his massive arms. "Don't you mean you have to look 'bad' for this date, your highness?" he said with a wink of his own.

She let a girly giggle escape. "You're terrible!" She joked and took his arm gladly, walking out of her bedroom with him, while Gumdrop followed them with a happy wag of his tail.

-0-0-0-

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