A/N: Hey guys! I just got back from Phoenix Comicon two days ago. I have until Thursday off of work to recoop and relax but man, I just am SO pooped. That con really wiped me clean, but I had SO much fun nonetheless! My boyfriend, two best friends and I cosplayed Ralph, Taffyta, Vanellope and Rancis from my very own Wrecking Limits last Friday! We also cosplayed movie Wreck It Ralph on Saturday and Sunday! Go to my deviantART to see the pictures and the whole highlight of the convention!
My username on deviantART is Vyntresser :)
*Chapter 6*
"User," Taffyta hissed as she took off her now dusty, off-white racing gloves. She set them on the kitchen island and fixed her short, choppy white hair, "Where do we begin."
"It wasn't just me seeing things, right?" Vanellope snapped as she gestured her hand outward.
"No, wasn't just you," Taffyta heaved a hard sigh and rubbed her forehead, "Three smarties on one bike, in the middle of our tracks… Nearly slaughtered all three of them with the hoods of our cars."
"On Tessa's brand new bike, nonetheless," Vanellope growled as she glared towards the exit of the kitchen, "What does she think this is, some joke?"
"You didn't give Tessa access to that bike, right?" Taffyta wondered curiously, she slipped her pink racing jacket off and messily slumped in on the island along with her gloves. She brushed her arms free of candy dust as Rancis moseyed into their presence.
"No!" Vanellope urged, she pleadingly gazed at her sister, "Gloyd gave her the bike as a present for her coming of age party… She wasn't supposed to ride it until then and only then."
"It might have been too tempting, leaving it in the garage," Rancis eased, though he tried his hardest to remain anonymous about just who let the younglings have an inch of freedom.
"Potentially," Vanellope wondered as she fingered her lip, though she slumped her shoulders once Ralph made his presence known in the kitchen as well. He was slowly followed by Gloyd and Candlehead.
"That was certainly an interesting sight, on the tracks, today," Gloyd chimed in a low tone, as if to express charming sarcasm. Ralph quickly looked over his shoulder and shot Gloyd a confused look.
"What happened?" Ralph wondered as his eyes met everyone's in the room, though he could feel his heart stop as his gaze landed on Rancis. He just barely shook his head, as if to express that they were nearly in trouble, in this situation, as well.
"You'll never guess who decided to join us on the tracks, today," Vanellope barked as Gloyd, Ralph and Candlehead made their way closer to Taffyta, Vanellope and Rancis.
"Orion?" Ralph said cooly as he tried his hardest to fib his way out of the mess he caused.
"Don't we wish," Taffyta said dully; Rancis shot Ralph yet, another, concerned gaze.
"Who was it?" Ralph pretended to wonder.
"The three smarties that should have been at home for the day," Vanellope barked as she crossed her arms and leaned forward a little for emphasis.
"Tessa?" Ralph wondered again, though he figured this false wall of his would soon falter.
"On her new bike," Vanellope added with a sarcastic smile.
"Any idea why they decided to join us on our high speed race today?" Taffyta wondered loudly, she could practically see the sweat dripping from Rancis and Ralph.
"Tessa used the bike I made her?" Gloyd asked softly in a tone of curiosity, though it was clear he was a tad offended.
"Unfortunately," Vanellope growled, "I guess she thought it'd be fun to take a spin around the game with Oliver and Penny."
"I surely do wonder where she got the idea from," Taffyta said loudly as she slowly averted her hard, cold gaze to Rancis. He froze and sucked his bottom lip into his mouth.
"Yeah," Vanellope chirped as she averted her angered pose to her husband and Knight, "I wonder as well."
"Oh for User's sakes," Ralph barked, which caused everyone to jump, "So we gave the three a little breathing room… It's not like it's the end of the world. They're in their own game!"
"This was YOUR idea?" Vanellope barked as she dropped her hands to her sides, Ralph flinched.
"C'mon now," Rancis eased, "We only said they could play to Big Green and no farther… Taking the bike for a spin around the forest was not a part of the plan."
"You gave them an inch," Taffyta measured an inch with her fingers before wildly gesturing her arms outwards, "They took not only one mile, but four!"
"Ralph, all nine of us nearly ran the three of them over," Vanellope urged as she stepped closer to him. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"As awful as that sounds," Ralph started, "At least they'd regenerate."
"Sure, leave them scarred for life, run over my their family," Vanellope growled under her breath as she gazed upwards at Ralph. Her hazel eyes were a cold shade of unforgiving green.
"When you put it like that," Ralph started as he gestured his arm outwards.
"What should we do about it?" Rancis wondered nervously as everyone averted their attention to the King and Queen.
"Stifling and limiting them will only make them rebel further," Ralph said through a hard sigh as he unclenched his massive fists.
"It's clear Tessa was likely the drive behind this joy ride," Vanellope muttered, though Ralph quickly furrowed his eyebrows towards her as she continued, "I'm guessing Penny went along with it and Oliver wanted nothing to do with it."
"Sounds correct," Taffyta said dully, Rancis nodded in an uneasy way.
"Time out," Ralph urged, "Are you saying Tessa is the trouble starter in this sticky equation?"
"Do you REALLY think this grand scheme would have been Penny or Oliver's idea?" Vanellope barked as she gestured towards Rancis and Taffyta, "You KNOW Tessa has been itching to ride that new bike of hers."
"My bad," Gloyd muttered, though Vanellope shot him an apologetic look.
"It's clear she's grateful for her new bike, Gloyd," Vanellope assured, "Guess she just couldn't wait to ride it…"
"I'm sorry, Vanellope," Rancis chimed in gently as he waved his hand a little, "Ralph and I confused them by going against your orders… We thought maybe they'd enjoy some breathing room, but… I guess they took it up a notch farther than what we allowed."
"You can't hand the reigns over to Tessa," Vanellope stated gently as she crossed her arms, "You'll never get them back…"
"She's got a fire in her heart, that's for sure," Ralph grumbled, though he smiled towards the love for his only daughter.
"Fire can spread," Vanellope snapped, "User forbids she traipses into Academy with this sort of stubborn, headstrong attitude."
"One does have to be careful when dealing with new people," Rancis added with a small nod, "I'm sure she'll come around."
"Where are they, anyhow?" Candlehead softly wondered as she lightly shrugged.
"I'm sure they're upstairs, shaking in their boots," Vanellope muttered as she gently stepped over to the monitor on the far wall. She began to bring up a menu in which she could verbally communicate through.
"Quite the contrary," Tessa suddenly snapped in an annoyed tone as she slowly budged into the kitchen. All adults quickly whirled around in surprise and laid their eyes on the three Sugar Rush programmed kids that filed into the room.
"There you are," Vanellope said gently towards Tessa, Oliver and Penny, though she was beginning to feel her blood boil.
It hit a higher level once Tessa crossed her arms, her face was riddled with sass. Vanellope largely furrowed her eyebrows and kept her eyes locked to Tessa. She knew this wasn't the first time Tessa had deliberately disobeyed. Her patience with her first born was wearing thin, and she knew she had to somehow set things straight before she left the game every single day for Academy, rendering herself free game to the rest of the arcade. She knew dying outside of Sugar Rush or Fix-It Felix would mean game over for good.
"Just in time," Taffyta urged with a snarky smile as every parent in the room suddenly tensed and held high ground over the three younglings. Candlehead and Gloyd took that as their cue to quietly leave.
"Let me skip the drama," Tessa said with a relaxed, though sarcastic smile as she lazily gestured her arms and hands outwards, "You ground us, we're never allowed to leave the castle, we never have any more fun, we never find boyfriends, everyone lives happily ever after, yeah?"
"Boyfriends?" Oliver spat quietly to Tessa with a disgruntled facial expression; Tessa shot him a tested look.
"Oh, so you want to make things simple and skip the drama, I see," Vanellope started cooly, though Ralph, Rancis and Taffyta kept their mouths shut and wisely kept their eyes trained to the Queen. Vanellope shrugged her shoulders and idly looked away before her piercing hazel eyes practically stabbed Tessa's, "Too bad you're in my game."
"Your game," Tessa scoffed with an annoyed frown, "This is OUR game too."
"This IS your game," Vanellope agreed with sarcastic charm and polite wit as she took a step or two closer to Tessa, "But on open arcade hours… This is my game. And what I say, goes."
"What, so dad, the KING of Sugar Rush, suddenly has no say?" Tessa urged as she largely gestured her arm towards her father, though Ralph furrowed his eyebrows towards his daughter in a disgruntled way, as if to warn her to knock it off.
"I did have a say, Tessa," Ralph urged gently, though it was clear his frustration was billowing as well, "Uncle Rancis and I gave you three an inch and you took the whole forest."
"Riding on your brand new bike, nonetheless!" Vanellope's voice began to raise, "That bike was supposed to be saved for your birthday! The only reason you knew about it is because you walked in on Uncle Gloyd while he was making it."
"That's why you keep it unlocked in the garage, I suppose?" Tessa volleyed as her and her mother began to get closer and closer, "It's sitting there, taunting me. One measly spin around the game was going to hurt no one."
"Until you rocketed out onto our tracks," Taffyta argued gently, hoping not to interfere too much, though she was partially pleased to see Penny politely keeping out of the shouting match.
"We nearly ran you over," Vanellope urged as she gestured her arms towards the three before her, "Sure, you guys would've regenerated, but if the humans saw you?"
"So what if they saw us!" Tessa bellowed, she began to get angry, "It's not like you guys were doing a slow motion drive by, and seeing us would result in an unplug!"
"We have to keep strict normality in the game," Vanellope's tone matched Tessa's, "Any sort of mishap or confusion and the kids will tell Mr. Litwak about the issue. If we become unplugged, guess what, it's not just us on the roster down the digital drain, it's your hide down it as well, Tess."
"It was just a silly run around the forest," Tessa muttered.
"A run that should've never happened," Taffyta snapped, though she averted her gaze to her daughter, "Penny, you know better as well. I know this wasn't just Tessa's idea."
"It WAS my idea," Tessa barked in an annoyed tone as she looked at her cousin. As angry as she was, she knew disobeying wasn't Penny's idea, "Penny just was along for the ride."
"Nonetheless," Taffyta glanced at Tessa, "You three know better."
"If it's any consolation, I tried to stop them," Oliver quietly chimed in as he looked down to the ground, though Penny and Tessa largely looked at him in annoyed disgust and scoffed; Oliver flinched in surprise.
"Oliver, you are just as guilty for tagging along," Vanellope volleyed. Oliver gaped.
"I didn't tag along! I had to get Orion to come bring them home!" Oliver loudly argued as he clenched his fists.
"I don't care who did what," Vanellope snapped, Ralph and Rancis held their tongues and knew that things were escalating, "You three know to stay clear of the tracks. One more stunt like this, Tessa, and you can kiss your bike goodbye."
"What!?" Tessa urged in disbelief, "It was dad's idea to let us out of the castle!"
"Hey," Ralph suddenly barked, everyone jumped at his loud booming voice as Ralph stepped closer to the situation, "I let you PLAY to Big Green… Not once did I say you could take that bike for a ride."
"Whose side are you on, dad," Tessa muttered as she glared at her father, though Ralph raised his eyebrows in surprise. He inhaled a deep breath with his powerful chest and furrowed his eyebrows harder.
"I'm on your mother's side for this one, toots," Ralph barked gently, "You can't sit here and pretend like I let you three traipse into the forest with that bike and poorly attempt to throw me under the bus in the process. You know what you did wrong. And next time, Rancis and I will think twice about expanding the boundaries."
"Not like it matters," Tessa snapped as she crossed her arms, "Just one more month of this place and we'll be at Academy."
"Do you want that privilege taken away as well?" Vanellope yelled, Tessa flinched and gazed at her in slight shock, "Sugar Rush is where you lay your head at night, where we prepare all your meals, where you will do your homework, where you will play with your cousins and brother. You simply attend Academy for five hours a day and come home. It would be so easy to keep you home and have Penny bring you your school work."
"Vanellope," Ralph eased, he could see her fists clenched and the hot purple circuitry on her wrists were beginning to glow.
"I will kiss the ground you walk on so that I can go to Academy every day," Tessa said through a loud, disgruntled sigh as she slumped her whole body in an annoyed, tired way, "Anything to get away from this sorry dump."
"Watch your mouth," Vanellope spat which caused everyone to flinch, including Tessa. She gazed at her mom in sudden bewilderment as Vanellope took a step closer to her daughter, "You think dad and I want you to be excluded from game day? You think we WANT to keep you three cooped up in the castle all day long? You think this is fun for us? We fly around those tracks, hoping you guys are okay. Our minds soar, but our hearts are back here with you guys. You think you have it made in the shade?"
"Quite the contrary! We'll do anything to get out of this castle!" Tessa barked in a loud, annoyed tone, though she flinched as Vanellope's hands clenched harder.
"I can name at least a dozen gamers who would kill to be in your shoes," Vanellope spat.
"I can name at least three smarties in this ROOM who would kill to be in THEIR shoes!" Tessa hollered.
"Go to your room," Vanellope growled, though Tessa clenched her large fists and gestured as if she were about to wreck something, anything.
"Why don't you go to the Loft, then, if you're so high and mighty!" Tessa shrieked as she gestured one hand upwards, as if to signal to the Loft that hung high over the castle, though before she could open her mouth to let out more word vomit, she could suddenly feel the soles of her feet get hot.
She jumped and flinched as Vanellope gently glitched the ground she stood on, causing Tessa's code to wig out a little bit. The room sparked with sudden, hot purple pixels from both girls. Tessa gasped a small inhale and wobbled a few steps backwards. She held her hand to her forehead and gazed at her mom in pure confusion. Vanellope knew she didn't hurt Tessa, for glitching was in her code, but she also knew Tessa had no control over her glitching abilities yet, and any sort of spark under her feet was news to her. Vanellope inhaled a shallow growl of a breath and glared into Tessa's eyes.
"Upstairs. Now." Vanellope said deeply. She felt a twinge of sadness overcome her whole being as Tessa gazed back at her in pure betrayal. She shook her head just barely before quickly tearing out of the kitchen, leaving Oliver and Penny in stunned silence a few feet from where she stood.