A/N: Y'guys still there? Hope you're ready for some nostalgia! I certainly had a ton of fun visiting the past with a certain wrecker. How weird when everything comes full circle, hmm? :D
*Chapter 119*
Tessa suddenly exhaled a hard choke as she wobbled out of the portal she had just stepped into. A confused cloud dust of fresh, Sugar Rush pixels kicked up into the air as the glowing, purple laced portal, from behind her, suddenly vanished. Tessa whispered a small few negative notions towards what had just happened, though she suddenly began to feel scared. She peered at the code room doors, before her, though she was delighted to see the castle was back to how it used to be, before Radex's coding messed it up. Tessa looked down at herself and jolted in confusion. She harshly furrowed her eyebrows and noticed that, because Tessa wasn't in existence during this time frame, the game slapped her into any old appearance it could think of. She was dressed in an old outfit she used to wear, a few months before she was a fully grown gamer. A mint hoodie, similar to her mothers, with torn sleeves and an orange shirt underneath. She also noticed she had all of her hair, messily tucked in long, low pigtails she used to like.
"Oh my user almighty I'm seriously going to throw myself off a building," Tessa muttered to herself, though she flinched once she heard her aunt's familiar voice call in her direction. She jolted and quickly looked around, as if she wanted to find a hiding spot, though she furrowed her eyebrows in growing confusion, and knew she had to be here, in this moment.
"Candlehead?" Taffyta curiously called.
Tessa whirled around and noticed her aunt Taffyta, dressed in comfortable clothes, slowly approach the hallway to the code room. It took all of every single last pixel, inside Tessa, to not go rocketing at her aunt and beg just how much she missed her upgraded self. She restrained herself, though she couldn't help but beam the widest smile.
"Taffyta!" Tessa urged as she began to approach her aunt, though she squinted in confusion as Taffyta began to largely step away, in pure confusion.
"Whoa, whoa, who are you? Where did you come from?" Taffyta urged loudly. Tessa knew, at this point, she was a total stranger to anyone and everyone here. It almost made Tessa want to break out into more, exhausted tears.
"I don't think you'd believe me, if I told you," Tessa uttered as she gestured to herself and then outwards. She felt her heart jump as Taffyta began to become comfortable with assessing the new addition to the game.
"You look... So familiar," Taffyta hissed in soft surprised as she eased closer to Tessa, "Are you from this game?"
"I guess you could say that," Tessa muttered as she brushed herself clean of more sugar dust that had settled on her clothes and skin.
"How come we've never seen you around, before?" Taffyta's eyes began to grow more and more curious.
"Well," Tessa said through a tired sigh as she slumped her shoulders and waved her hand about, "I-I technically don't exist yet."
"Are you related to Wreck-It Ralph?" Taffyta asked, in a louder tone, as if she had been searching her brain for just who Tessa looked like, "You two look so similar."
"I-I... Yes, I'm related to him," Tessa sheepishly urged to her aunt, though she suddenly began to feel nervous with the fact that she was trying her hardest to keep her true identity on the down low, "My name's Tessa."
"Are you his younger sister?" Taffyta wondered as she wrinkled her nose, "I'm so confused... How come you don't 'technically exist yet'?"
"If I told you, you'd never believe me," Tessa said softly, her circuits itched to get a better look around, during a time she wasn't even programmed yet.
"Try me," Taffyta challenged as she crossed her arms.
"Well," Tessa looked down slightly, "Would you believe if I said that I'm your niece?"
"I don't have a niece, nice try," Taffyta said plainly, in an annoyed tone.
"You don't, yet," Tessa chuckled as she shrugged. She gave Taffyta an almost annoyed facial expression; a facial expression she knew could only ever look like Ralph's. Taffyta flinched and gazed at her for a long few moments.
"Are you implying that you're from the future?" Taffyta said nervously as she looked past Tessa and into their large code room.
"It was your idea to send me here, actually," Tessa chuckled, though the thought of getting back to her own time frame had her heart jumping with nervousness, "You told me you'd put up a fight of disbelief."
"Are you trying to mess with me?" Taffyta barked, though Tessa flinched. She could tell her aunt was beginning to feel defensive.
"No, I'm not," Tessa suddenly said sadly as she put her hands up, though she suddenly remembered just what Taffyta had suggested to be given to her, to bring to the past, as proof of her words. She pat her pants pockets, as well as her hoodie pocket, before she suddenly swiped at her neck and grappled for a necklace that was place around her neck. Strung onto it, was her mother's wedding ring, "Here. You told me to bring this as proof… Proof that I'm not lying. You told me that this would do the trick."
Taffyta carefully took what was in Tessa's larger hand and peered down at it curiously. Taffyta's eyes practically bulged out of her head as she came face to face with none other than Vanellope's crossed stripe engagement ring. She inhaled a soft gasp and stared hard down at the ring. She could feel all the code in her body practically freeze as she gripped the familiar ring that Ralph had beautifully hand carved himself. She could feel her eyes sting with tears as she looked Tessa in the eye. She inhaled a shaky breath and gripped the ring closer to her heart.
"A-are... Are you Ralph's and Vanellope's daughter?" Taffyta said in a whisper. Tessa let the same, familiar gapped tooth smile spread across her face.
"Guilty."
Taffyta exhaled a surprised chuckle before yelling with glee. She quickly scooped Tessa up into her arms and twirled her around once or twice before setting her down and squeezing her into the biggest hug she's ever given. Taffyta squealed and hugged her niece tight; she beamed with joy. She quickly gasped and shoved Tessa away but kept her hands firmly on her shoulders. Tessa jolted with a wide smile as the two quickly peered into each other's eyes.
"So if you exist, that means that we make it back to Litwak's Arcade," Taffyta said in surprise. Tessa wrinkled her nose and gazed up at her aunt in shock.
"I-I… Yes. But we-"
"So that means that we're getting out of here," Taffyta continued as she gripped Tessa's shoulders.
"Um, well yes, but we have to-"
"And that means that Ralph and Vanellope DO become reunited and DO get married!" Taffyta hissed in excitement as she gently shook Tessa's shoulders.
Tessa wobbled and felt it weird that Taffyta's worries were simply about Ralph and Vanellope getting married, and not about the game downgrading; she knew Taffyta had absolutely no knowledge, on the subject matter. Oh how badly she wanted to vent to her past-aunt.
"Aunt Taffyta, we should really-"
"Oh my gosh, how in the world are we going to get back?" Taffyta urged, "Are you taking us with you?"
"Aunt Taffyta!" Tessa hollered through a small giggle as she placed her large hands on Taffyta's shoulders as well, "Breathe, let me explain!"
"I can't believe this is happening," Taffyta urged with excitement.
"I can't really either, and I hope to User I can get back to my time frame in one piece, but-"
"Ohhh can you tell me about the future? What are we all like?" Taffyta pleaded, her eyes shone without a single worry.
"Aunt Taffyta, you told me not to tell you," Tessa said in a sheepish way. Taffyta slumped her shoulders.
"Why in the world would I say something like that! I take it back!" Taffyta barked.
"You told me you'd say that, and you also told me to say that future you says that I'm not allowed to tell you," Tessa wrinkled her nose and smiled.
"Foiled by my own self," Taffyta barked as she ripped her arms away from Tessa and looked away in a disgruntled way. She widened her eyes and beamed, "We have to go find Vanellope, she's going to be so happy!"
"Aunt Taffyta, we can't tell her that I'm her daughter," Tessa urged.
"Well, why not? It will fix everything!" Taffyta said in a sad tone as she motioned towards the castle's main hall. Tessa heaved a hard sigh and, in this moment, she almost wished that said notion really WOULD fix everything.
"You have to pretend like I'm Ralph's younger sister," Tessa urged again, this time more pleadingly, "Dad instructed me to keep it a secret from mom. If I don't, she will surely worm a lot of information out of me that I'm not supposed to tell anyone."
"What's the fun in being from the future if you can't give away all of life's secrets," Taffyta said in an annoyed manner; Tessa chuckled and lulled her head.
"Try telling that to dad, he wrecks everything," Tessa chuckled; she tried her ultimate best to remain light-hearted. This major, time-travelling distraction aided in getting her mind off of returning to the inevitable nightmare her and Zed had created. Taffyta gazed at her in silent disbelief before chuckling gently.
"This is so bizarre. Can you at least just tell me this one thing?" Taffyta asked softly, her tone genuine and pleading. Tessa wrinkled her nose before heaving a soft sigh and looking around nervously.
"Fine," Tessa said gently, "Just, please don't tell anyone that I'm spoiling stuff for you."
"Are Ralph and Vanellope still happily married, in your time frame?" Taffyta asked, her face serious but hopeful, "Please tell me they've kept Sugar Rush safe."
Tessa felt the most massive urge to frown, and break down in a sobbing mess, right then. She furrowed her eyebrows in growing, dire anguish, though as much as she desperately wanted to vent her worries away, it took everything inside her to remain stoic and happy-go-lucky. The fact that she had to fib about her kingdom, and how it was practically in ruins, made her want to lay down and never get back up.
"Of course," Tessa fibbed with a loving smile as she took her aunt's hands in her larger ones, "They care about Sugar Rush so much. You all do. Sugar Rush is safe in mom and dad's hands. M-mom's also expecting again, so that should tell you how well their married life is going."
"Wait, what?" Taffyta said with an excited look as her eyes bulged, Tessa cringed at the fact that she was potentially digging herself a deeper grave, "Vanellope's expecting 'again'? How many of there are you?"
"That's one too many questions," Tessa scoffed as she shook Taffyta's hands, "Now, c'mon. I need to hurry, or else dad will pace a hole into the floor with worry."
"Ralph sounds like he's turned into more of a softy than he already is," Taffyta laughed as Tessa quickly began to drag Taffyta into the main hall of the castle. They stopped briefly as Tessa looked around with a knowing smile.
"Wow, the castle looks so different," Tessa uttered she quickly began to head out of the castle's great hall and towards the large warehouse garage, where all the race cars were parked. She felt her heart swell in a nervous kind of way, as if she could so easily just split from Taffyta and soak in the feeling of her own home, just how it used to be; oh how she missed it. She tried her ultimate hardest to blink back tears as her familiar home, with the same smell, coat her existence and seemingly teased her for what it wasn't, anymore.
"You know your way around?" Taffyta asked curiously.
"Of course I do," Tessa chuckled, "I was born here. We don't have a game to play in while all you guys are at work, so we just play in the castle... That is, when we get back from Academy."
"Sounds like you guys have it made," Taffyta chuckled as the two strolled into the warehouse with purpose.
"It's only fun until Tammy begs me or Oliver to wreck stuff just so she can fix it," Tessa said nonchalantly before giving Taffyta a nervous, word vomit look.
"You're not very good at keeping all this future stuff secret, are you," Taffyta laughed as she gave Tessa surprised look.
"I'm practically bursting at the seams," Tessa said with a sheepish, Ralph-written gap toothed smile, "I want to tell you absolutely everything."
"I have two ears," Taffyta said slyly with a playful smile, "So, is Oliver my nephew?"
"Considering the fact that I just spilled that Oliver and I are wreckers? Your future self is a lot sharper than your past self. Your future self never told me that I spoiled all of this stuff to you, though," Tessa chuckled as the two moved across the warehouse.
"So? Maybe I just didn't tell you that you spoiled everything," Taffyta urged pleadingly, "Maybe that's just my little secret."
"Aunt Taffyta, what's the fun in living life if you know everything that's going to happen?" Tessa laughed as she gave her aunt a knowing, almost annoyed look, "You already know that Ralph and Vanellope are happily married with children, if I tell you much else, there will be no more surprises."
"Will you just spill?" Taffyta urged more as they approached the toolboxes.
"I could be completely lying, too," Tessa said loudly with a small, sly laugh, "What if I'm a stranger in your castle, pretending to be your niece while I secretly snatch Sugar Rush's code book?"
"Well you'd be down here for a VERY long time, then, because it's not even in the warehouse," Taffyta said plainly with an annoyed chuckle.
"What? It's always kept in this chest. Mom would slaughter any of us if it was removed," Tessa worried as she opened the chest and began digging to the bottom of it. The small box, where the code book used to be, was hollow and empty. She knew, before Tessa was born and even before she was a fully grown gamer, the code book was always kept safe in said chest. Tessa shot Taffyta a confused, scared look.
"It's, not in the game," Taffyta said in an uneasy tone. Tessa look horrified.
"Well then, where in the blue blazes is it?" Tessa almost hollered, her mannerisms mocking Vanellope's almost perfectly; her rage echoed Ralph's.
"Well, now I KNOW you're not lying, because you have Ralph's hands and you move just like my sister," Taffyta chuckled, hoping the subject change would progress.
"Aunt Taffyta," Tessa pleaded, "You have to tell me where the code book is. I need it, if our plan is going to work."
"It's with Ralph," Taffyta said nervously.
"But he's not even in this arcade," Tessa hollered, "You guys are in Flynn's arcade right now, correct?"
"Yeah, in Disneyland," Taffyta stated plainly.
"Dad is half way across the state of California with OUR game's code book?" Tessa said, becoming angrier, "You never told me that! How come you decided to leave out that tiny detail!"
"Well because I guess I REALLY like to make things difficult," Taffyta shouted in a sarcastic way as Tessa threw her large hands up and stepped away a little bit; she heaved a long, annoyed sigh.
"I guess I'm just going to have to do this by memory, then," Tessa finally said after a long break of silence between the two. She knew she had to somehow get so the game cabinet read that it was only playable in Litwak's Arcade, so they could go home and return to the timeline everyone fell into. She furrowed her eyebrows and wondered just exactly what index that option would be in.
"Do what, exactly?" Taffyta worried as Tessa grabbed her hand firmly in her large, wrecking one.
"I'll show you," Tessa urged, "Follow me."
"So how many years into the future are you?" Taffyta asked, hoping Tessa would continue to give more information.
"I'm almost two years ahead of this time," Tessa said casually as the two quickly began to trek their way back to Sugar Rush's code room.
"Two years?" Taffyta said in a surprised way, "I guess that all makes sense. I'm glad we're all still together."
Tessa was silent for a few moments as both girls marched across the castle's great hall. Tessa mulled over every single detail that this day consisted of. She could have sworn, not two seconds ago, her and Zed were playfully fighting over just what to make for a midnight snack. She snapped out of her thoughts, though, as she caught onto her aunt's curious vibe. Taffyta shot Tessa a concerned look and grabbed her arm. Both girls halted to a stop as Tessa gave Taffyta an almost annoyed expression.
"We ARE, all still together in the future," Taffyta worried as she cocked her eyebrow, "Right?"
"Everything is fine, will you breathe?" Tessa scoffed as she rolled her eyes. She wondered, if she fibbed about it enough, if even she would potentially start believing it were true.
"Don't scare me like that," Taffyta said sharply before the two began to press on.
They immediately stopped in their tracks as they both caught eyes with Vanellope, who was stood frozen at the end of her spiral staircase. Taffyta could hear Tessa inhale a surprised breath as the two locked eyes. It was as if time had completely frozen altogether, both girls gazed at each other as if they had known each other their whole lives. Taffyta glanced at Tessa; she had a longing, happy but concerned smile on her face. Vanellope, on the other hand, looked ill, tired and confused.
"Vanellope," Taffyta breathed happily as she moved over to her sister. She held both of her hands lovingly as Tessa hung back, "You're never going to believe this."
"Why does that stranger look so much like Ralph?" Vanellope barked, feeling toyed with. She kept her unbelieving gaze on Tessa. Tessa felt her skin grow cold, though she almost felt as if she was a little child again, and all she wanted to do was run to her mother's strong, welcoming embrace. She could feel her voice quiver, in her throat, as well as hot tears sting her eyes. How badly she wanted to sink into her mother's arms and apologize for everything that this version of Vanellope wouldn't even begin to understand.
"My name's Tessa," Tessa urged as she stepped closer to Vanellope and Taffyta as she motioned her large hand towards herself. Vanellope flinched and kept her teary eyes locked on Tessa's every familiar move, "I-I'm, Ralph's younger sister."
"Ralph has a sister?" Vanellope breathed, "My Ralph? From Litwak's Arcade?"
"Yeah! She somehow managed to time travel via our code room," Taffya explained, "Tessa's from the future. She knows how to get us back to Litwak's Arcade."
"You look so much like him," Vanellope whimpered as tears slid down her cheeks. She hesitantly took a step closer to Tessa.
"And you look so sad," Tessa breathed empathetically, "Future Taffyta told me you'd be grieving over your separation from Ralph and Litwak's Arcade."
"Future Taffyta," Vanellope said with a small chuckle as she looked at Taffyta in an almost confused manner, "You mean, this is all real? You really time traveled? How did you manage that?"
"Well," Tessa breathed, "It's in your code book. Anyone who is programmed for your Sugar Rush can time travel within this game."
"Let's go, then," Vanellope urged, "I-I want to find out if I'll ever get back to… Wait, anyone who is programmed for my Sugar Rush?"
"Um," Tessa chuckled with a small smile, her cheeks grew painfully red as she realized just what she let slip.
"If you're Ralph's younger sister, then you couldn't have been programmed in Sugar Rush," Vanellope ventured curiously as the tears dried on her cheeks.
"We should really go see how to manage this," Taffyta urged, trying to keep Tessa's little secret just that.
"It'll be hard to remember without your code book," Tessa said gently as her and Taffyta pushed on to the code room; Vanellope eagerly followed.
"Our code book is in the warehouse, where it always has been," Vanellope said as she motioned behind her. Taffyta and Tessa turned around and gave each other sheepish looks.
"I... Sort of gave the code book to Ralph before our unplug," Taffyta rushed with a small smile, "He has our code book."
"Ralph, has our code book?!" Vanellope hollered, her voice echoing through the blue veined hallways, "Why in the world would you let our code book leave our game?! And how can Tessa time travel in our code room if she's not even apart of this game?"
"Vanellope," Taffyta urged, Vanellope quickly continued talking.
"Is this some sort of sick joke?" Vanellope shouted, "You just found someone from outside our game and dragged her in here to make all of this bull roar up, just so you could somehow get me to feel better?"
"Vanellope," Tessa said firmly as she took a step towards Vanellope. She thought it weird that she had to use her mother's and aunt's name on a first-name basis.
"You're not even apart of this game," Vanellope hollered to Tessa, tears streaming her cheeks.
"I AM apart of this game," Tessa hollered back, her gap toothed facial expression getting more and more impatient.
"How? You're related to Ralph, aren't you?" Vanellope and Tessa grew closer and closer, angrier and angrier.
"Of course I'm related to Ralph," Tessa urged as she clenched her large hands into fists and gestured towards Vanellope, "Just LOOK at me!"
"Then how on Earth were you programmed for this game?" Vanellope yelled through a closed mind.
"I'm programmed for this game because," Tessa faltered and glanced at Taffyta, who had kept her distance from the shouting match. Tessa looked Vanellope square in the eye and heaved a sharp sigh, "Because… I'm your daughter."
"My... Daughter?" Vanellope breathed as her shoulders slowly slumped. Her facial expression sloped into gentle surprise.
"Vanellope," Taffyta hissed happily as she gently grabbed her arm, "Tessa's here to get us back to Litwak's. She's from our future, and she's here to help this crazy thing, called life, move along."
"Is this a joke?" Vanellope said softly as she gazed at Taffyta earnestly and almost pleadingly. Taffyta chuckled and looked at Tessa long and hard.
"Vanellope, do you even see her right now? Does this LOOK like a joke?" Taffyta chuckled as Tessa fiddled her fingers and gave both girls an innocent look. Taffyta rubbed Vanellope's shoulder and leaned closer to her, "She has your eyes. She has his smile."
"You're, really my future daughter?" Vanellope asked as tears billowed in her eyes effortlessly. She stepped closer to Tessa, who welcomed her with ease.
"...I promised dad I wouldn't tell you that I was your daughter so that you wouldn't lose sight of the importance of surprise in life, but… I feel it's necessary. Just please don't tell dad… er, Ralph." Tessa said with a small smile and a chuckle as Vanellope stood in front of her. Vanellope's hand were pushed to the middle of her own chest as she gazed at her daughter with eager disbelief.
"Do you have any sort of proof that this is real?" Vanellope asked softly as she wrinkled her nose, still set in disbelief.
"Well, I have-" Tessa was cut off by Taffyta quickly shaking her head behind Vanellope. Tessa's hand was half way to reaching the crossed stripe wedding ring underneath her shirt, "Um… I-I can tell you that Tammy is my cousin."
"Tammy," Vanellope breathed, a small smile broke across her face for the first time in weeks, "You know Tammy!"
"Yeah, she fixes everything," Tessa chuckled, "Aunt Calhoun and I go cy-bug hunting every once in awhile. Tammy used to, but she's kind of hit a germaphobe phase for some reason."
"I knew it," Taffyta scoffed with a small laugh, "That girl is such a neat freak."
"You and dad used to take me and the others to swim at Vanilla Lake every once in awhile," Tessa continued as she gazed earnestly into her mother's eyes.
"You know of Vanilla Lake?" Vanellope asked softly as a tear trickled down her smiling face. Tessa warmly gripped Vanellope's hands in her larger, wrecking ones, though her heart painfully itched for more of her mother's warm comfort.
"Only because of you and dad," Tessa smiled, her medium sized hands squeezed Vanellope's small ones, "Dad and Taffyta are the ones that helped me discover this time travel through the code room. They both thought this would be a nice thing to do for you, because of how upset you were about the idea of never being able to see Ralph, or your extended family, ever again. They sent me as a small reminder that everything is going to be okay." Tessa grit her teeth, past her load of lies, and wondered if she would ever make it out of here without spoiling the fact that Sugar Rush was slowly going to waste. She knew she had to push on, for Oliver's sake.
"Taff," Vanellope breathed as she glanced at her sister. Taffyta chuckled and shrugged.
"I was only sent here to comfort you for the future," Tessa fibbed softly, "But, o-on the way over here, I found a way to make it so your game is only playable at Litwak's Arcade, rendering your game useless at any other arcade in the world."
"Isn't that dangerous?" Vanellope worried.
"Not as dangerous as playing horribly," Tessa said gently, "I know that's pretty much your only other option. I'm beginning to think that dad and Taffyta sent me here to figure out and complete this mission on my own. They only told me I was going to be a comfort for you and Aunt Taffyta, but in all actuality, I'm beginning to think I'm the main character in this twisted time travel fiasco."
"Sounds like Ralph's and Taffyta's usual banter business," Vanellope said with a small giggle, which felt foreign to her. She continued with a worried look, "How would the humans know to put our game back at Litwak's Arcade? This all sounds a bit risky. I don't want our game to be unplugged for good."
"I'll show you," Tessa said gently as she kept one of her hands firmly gripping her mother's.
She dragged her to the code room doors, the large Nintendo remote remained in it's closed position ominously. Vanellope wrinkled her nose and gazed at the back of Tessa's head. She knew that if Tessa couldn't get the password to the code room, then this was all a joke. Vanellope knew that any children, that she might have in the future, would know all the in's and out's to Sugar Rush. Tessa, without any hesitation, pushed both her hands to each button in it's proper order, causing the code room walls to chime a positive tone. The code room doors quickly flew open as Tessa turned and gave her mom a small, confident smile. Vanellope exhaled a surprised breath and gazed at Tessa in slight shock.