He's Not Worth It – Chapter 3
Hey everyone! I'm back at it again! In this chapter, Ralph and Vanellope finally go to the internet. Instead of the story focusing on their journey, it'll focus on what happens in Game Central Station during their travel.
Disclaimer: I do not own Wreck-It Ralph/Ralph Breaks the Internet
Enjoy :)
For the rest of the day, Ralph's day was pretty gloomy, on account that he got his best friend/little sister's game unplugged. He had offered Vanellope and a few other racers to stay in his game, Fix-it Felix Jr., but the characters were too upset to utter a word to him, implying they declined. To Ralph's (somewhat) relief, no one has played Fix-it Felix Jr. during the time he was in Sugar Rush. Felix took notice of his current mood, and honestly, it broke his heart to see his brother in such a state.
"Ralph? What happened?" he asked.
"Sugar Rush got unplugged and it's a-"
"Oh my land!" Felix cried aloud. "Did Vanellope and the other characters make it out safely?!"
"Of course they did," Ralph responded with an exasperated sigh. "But it's all my fault! It's never coming back and Vanellope will hate me for eternity!" Ralph buried his head in his abnormally large hands. Felix patted his hand lightly. "Oh Ralph," Felix said. "It's not your fault. I actually saw what happened through the screen. If only that girl hadn't put so much pressure on the steering wheel, Sugar Rush could still be in order. Nothing lasts forever, I guess." Ralph tried to find something to retort, but he was at a loss for words. There was silence between the two for at least a minute, then Ralph broke the silence.
"Hey Felix, can I ask you a question?"
"Anything."
"Do you think I can be…clingy? Especially towards Vanellope?"
Felix had to ponder over this one. He knew Ralph and Vanellope were nearly inseparable, which was no different with his relationship with Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun. Over the years, Ralph had picked up some of Vanellope's childish, bratty and annoying habits, but it wasn't her fault. The two loved each other (friend-wise) and Ralph has never had a friend who was not all that different from him.
Felix didn't want to get in the way of that.
"I wouldn't say you're clingy," Felix finally answered. "You're just looking out for Vanny, and you're always there for her. She may not show it, but she loves and appreciates it. You're a good friend, Ralph. There is nothing anyone can say to change that." This gave Ralph some reassurance, but he was still skeptical.
"I dunno Felix. Sometimes I get the feeling she's tired of me!"
"What makes ya say that?"
"Well, over the last few weeks, I've been noticing there's been a slight difference of tone in her voice when she's around me! She seems less excited to do things with me! I know we've been through the whole arcade several times but come on!" Before Felix could say the next thing, a sound went off.
"QUARTER ALERT! QUARTER ALERT!"
"Looks like that's our cue, brother," Felix sighed. "I'll talk to ya later. As soon as the arcade closes, you bring the racers into the Niceland apartment, and Tammy and I will decide what we'll do with 'em. I'm guessing you got Vanny handled?"
"Of course," Ralph said and smiled. "Thanks Felix."
"Anytime Ralph."
The day went by pretty fast, and soon enough the arcade closed for today. It was Saturday, meaning tomorrow the arcade would be closed the whole day.
Ralph rushed to Game Central Station to gather up the racers. To his surprise, a variety of arcade characters were offering the candy NPCs shelter. As long as they weren't offering them to their grave, he was okay with that. Ralph, the 15 racers, and Sour Bill all took the trolley to Fix-it Felix Jr., with Ralph sitting next to Vanellope, and Sour Bill sitting on her lap. It was a long and silent trip. Once they arrived, Ralph directed the racers over to the Niceland apartment. Vanellope didn't comply. Instead, she climbed the ladder to the top of the building, so she can look at her now lifeless game with the 'Out of Order' sign on the screen. Ralph was eventually on top as well. He was scrimmaging with some left-over belongings from Sugar Rush.
"I can't believe I don't have a game anymore…" she said almost to herself. "What am I gonna do every day?" To hear Vanellope talking to Ralph again (a little, at least) put him at ease.
"C'mon, are ya kidding?" he replied. "Ya sleep in, ya do no work, and you can go to Tapper's with me every night! I've literally just described paradise."
"But I loved my game!"
"Oh come on, you were just bellyaching about the track being too easy!"
"Well that didn't mean I didn't love it! I mean sure the track was sort of predictable, but I still never really knew what would happen in a race. And that feeling of not knowing what was coming next it was just…"
Ralph was trying the best he could to keep up. He couldn't relate to racing or spontaneous moments, but he knew how it felt for a game to be unplugged. Not that his game has been unplugged, but in his 36 years of wrecking, seeing games come and go, and having friends that had their games unplugged, he didn't have to have an unplugged game to know what it felt like.
"If I'm not a racer, Ralph…what am I?"
"Well you're my best friend!" he responded.
"That's not enough." She muttered.
Ralph's expression dropped. "What?"
"No, no I-I-I'm so-o-o-ry!" Vanellope started glitching. "I know I'm be-e-eing weird it's just…" Vanellope let out a sigh. "Maybe it's just best if you leave me alone."
Ralph's heart sank. "O-okay! I'll meet you at Tapper's!"
No response.
"If you want…"
Still no response.
Meanwhile in the Niceland apartment,
"Alright, now we've already found homes for so many characters from Sugar Rush, and we're just hoping a few more of you would open your doors, and your hearts to fill their needs!" Felix said. He gathered a few Nicelanders and characters from other games like Chun-Li, Satine, M Bison, Zangief, and of course, his wife.
"Well, I suppose that large green olive will fit in my suite with my décor," Gene suggested.
"I'm a sour ball," Sour Bill corrected in his dreary voice.
"Well beggars can't be choosers, can they? Come on, peppermint."
"Mmmm, okay."
"Marvelous! That just leaves the racers!" Felix exclaimed.
"We're adorable," Taffyta said, and the 9 other racers made cute poses to prove her point.
"You sure are!" Felix cooed, "so any takers?" No one volunteered. Vanellope and the racers never had parents, which technically made them orphans. To see that no one would care for them, or even come near them, was a painful site.
"Anyone?"
Felix looked back at the racers, all on the verge of tears. Once Felix turned away, Rancis gave Taffyta a reassuring hand to her shoulder. "At least we have each other." The message was directed towards the rest of the racers. They forced a tiny smile of hope. The racers were startled from what they heard next.
"I know! It feels like the kind of thing you just JUMP into with both feet and MARRY a plan!" The racers stood dumbfounded.
"Felix and I will give them sanctuary!" Calhoun said proudly. They were overjoyed by the news. Once the other characters left, and Felix, Calhoun and the Surge went into the kitchen, they got settled in themselves. They rarely traveled outside their game, so all this was new to them.
"There are so many coins in this room!" Snowanna exclaimed.
"Toss one over here!" Jubileena said, and they started tossing the "coin" back and forth.
"Hey, I wanna play, too!" Gloyd whined, and eventually they were playing Monkey in the middle. A curtain caught Crumbelina's attention.
"Ooh, rock climbing!" she cried, and started climbing the curtain. Then, a giant painting filled Candlehead, Taffyta and Swizzle with delight.
"WOW, A TV!" they all said simultaneously. Immediately, Taffyta tried to get it working.
Out of nowhere, the children heard screaming. Which came from Minty, driving her pretend race car, being controlled by Rancis, and Adorabeezle acting as an obstacle by chasing them with huge scissors. The scream startled Felix and Calhoun. What they saw was a mayhem.
"Hey mom, why does your lame TV only have one channel?" Taffyta asked."
Surge chuckled. "Don't say I didn't warn y-OW!" he was knocked out with a trophy.
The sugar children were hyperactive for 5 more minutes. To the Fix-it's relief, they eventually they tired themselves out. Felix rarely needed a root beer, but tonight was just one of those nights. He offered his Tammy to come along, but she politely declined and headed back to her game. He made way to the trolley which lead to GCS, but before he could leave, he spotted Vanellope sitting on Ralph's stump, head buried in her lap and arms hugging her knees.
"Hey Vanny," Felix greeted. "You doin' okay?" She was a bit startled by his presence, considering they weren't around each other often, but for once, she was glad it was someone other than Ralph. She forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"I got some news for you, little lady," Felix continued as he booped her nose, which made her slightly giggle, "Tammy and I just welcomed you and your friends with loving, open arms! We're all now one, b-big, happy, f-f-family!" His eye twitched thinking of the 14 racers as family. Felix, Ralph and Calhoun could only tolerate Vanellope, but the 14 Sugar Rush racers were another story.
"Family?" Vanellope repeated as her eyes widened. She started to glitch from that one word. "T-that's great! I really ap-precriate it!"
He wasn't convinced she was happy. Something was clearly bothering her. "Is something the matter?"
"It's just," Vanellope sighed, "I've never had a mom, dad, or siblings before." She turned to Felix. "What does family feel like?"
Felix had to dig deep. Describing family wasn't the easiest thing to do. He had a family, but it was part of his backstory. It wasn't a sad backstory, but he wanted something that was more than just data, and he finally got it.
"Family is like sacrificing yourself for others," he finally said. "You would willingly do something for them, without having to feel bad, because you love them. Your smiles, hugs, and laughter mean something. You would have bad feelings towards them sometimes if an awful situation occurred, because they matter to you and you would expect them to know better. Kind of like how Ralph risked his life for you all those years ago so you could be a racer and save Sugar Rush from all those cybugs, and now making a new track to satisfy you."
"So I'm… family to Ralph?" Vanellope asked.
"Absolutely." Felix responded. "And to Tammy and me as well, and don't you forget it. I'm heading to Tapper's, wanna come with?"
"No thanks, I think I'll just stay here."
Felix nodded in understanding and headed back to the trolley.
"Hey Felix?"
He stopped and turned around to face Vanellope once more.
"Thanks."
He tipped his hat towards her.
"No problem, Vanny."
Vanellope was fast asleep while the racers went to mingle with other video game characters outside of Fix-it Felix Jr. Surprisingly, she was having a peaceful dream after the unplugging fiasco. She was dreaming about a Random Roster Race taking place, and she was in the lead, with Taffyta and Rancis following suit. Felix and Calhoun were watching all their newly adopted children from Vanellope's "VVS" grandstand and cheering each racer on. She was about 1,000 feet away from the finish line. Everything was fine and dandy until she saw Ralph standing in front of the finish line.
"Hey Kid!" he hollered.
"Ralph?!" she called out, trying to slow down, but she couldn't move her feet, and the current speed was unchanging.
"Get off the road!"
Ralph didn't comply.
Everything around her, except Ralph, seemed to disappear. She was less than 100 feet away.
"WAKE UP!"
Vanellope woke up glitching onto the stump, taken aback by the message. She saw Ralph standing in front of her, looking all joyful. "Ralph, what is wrong with you?!" Ralph ignored her question.
"Start churnin' butter, and put on your church shoes, little sister, 'cause we're about to blast off!"
Vanellope stood bewildered. "Ralph, what is it that you're trying to say?"
"We're going to the internet."
"What?!"
"Yeah, to find the part to fix your game!"
"No way!"
Ralph and Vanellope made a beeline for the Wi-Fi entrance. Surprisingly, the Surge was not guarding it because he was still out cold from the trophy to the face. Before they could proceed, a familiar voice was heard.
"Vanellope!"
Taffyta was talking to one of the angel kids from the game, well, Angel Kids. She needed some fresh air after being surrounded by 8-bit atmosphere. "Why are you going into that Wi-Fi place?"
"Me and Stinkbrain over here are gonna get the steering wheel from the internet so we can fix Sugar Rush!" Vanellope said with confidence.
"You should let me and the racers come with you! It's our game too!" Taffyta recommended.
"Sorry, Laffy Taffy, but you should sit this one out," Ralph said. "Vanellope and I are ALWAYS a team of 2."
"Uh, Vanellope, can I talk to you? ALONE?" Taffyta emphasized.
"Oh, uh, sure!" she said. Taffyta pulled her over, and far enough to be out of earshot with Ralph.
"Don't you think Ralph has 'helped' enough in trying to save our game?" Taffyta air quoted.
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is when Ralph wants to help contribute in keeping our game safe and in order, HE'S the one to start the mess in the first place! Would you really trust a buffoon like him to go running around the Internet, destroying and breaking everything in sight?"
Vanellope furrowed her eyebrows at the nickname. "Hey, it's not like he does it intentionally! He's only trying to be a hero!"
"Kissing up to someone isn't the same as being a hero, Van."
Vanellope's face reddened. "K-Kiss up?! Who said anything about Ralph being a kiss-up?! You've clearly never had real friends before and you CLEARLY don't know the true value of friendship!" Before Taffyta could say anything, Vanellope turned away and made her way back towards the Wi-Fi entrance. "Come on, Ralph, we don't have time for this." Ralph glanced at Vanellope, then at Taffyta, then back at Vanellope. He was at a loss for words, so he just followed Vanellope into the Wi-Fi router.
A real friend…?
That's all for now, folks! The next chapter might take a little longer to make since I have an idea what I want to do next, but at the same time, I don't. Your reviews and feedback are appreciated! Thanks for reading! :)