He's Not Worth It – Chapter 5
Hey everyone! I'm back with another chapter. I love all of your ideas! Let's go!
Disclaimer: I do not own Wreck-It Ralph/Ralph Breaks the Internet, but I still have my dignity.
Enjoy :)
In the internet,
"What would Ralph say if it turns out I stay, in this PLACE CALLED SLAUGHTER RAAAACE?"
Vanellope had thought about her friends and family back at home.
"In this place…"
Felix, Ralph and Calhoun.
"Called…"
The Sugar Rush racers.
"Slaughter…"
Rancis.
"Race…"
Vanellope has found the place of her dreams. She wanted Slaughter Race to be her new life. She did not know much about the pros and cons of being in an online game, but if she had to risk it all, she'd die a happy death knowing she had fulfilled her dream. She never gave a thought of how the others would feel if she betrayed them. She was in a sticky situation. She decided to go to her new sisterly figure, Shank, for advice.
"There's no law saying best friends have to have the same dreams."
Ralph heard everything. To see that Vanellope was willing to give up everything she had worked for 15 years was beyond him. He wanted to get her back, and fast. A virus would make her wanna stop coming to Slaughter Race, he thought. But boy, was he wrong. Instead of fixing, again, he only wrecked. He hurt himself more than he hurt Vanellope. Why do I wreck everything I touch?! Ralph asked himself. Instead of taking the blame, she blamed herself for everything.
"It's all because of me and the glitch! I should've just stayed with you instead of following some stupid dream!"
It broke Ralph's heart to hear this. Her taking the blame was guilt eating him alive.
"I didn't mean for this to happen."
Vanellope was confused. "You didn't mean for what to happen…?"
"I kinda sorta maybe inserted a teeny tiny virus in the game?" he nervously chuckled.
"A virus?" she repeated. "Y-y-you did this!"
"Well I wouldn't have done anything if I hadn't heard you tell Shank that you wanted to live in Slaughter Race forever!" he retorted.
"You were spying on me?"
"You're not exactly innocent here, you're just gonna ditch everybody and abandon Sugar Rush!"
"Oh, please, I'm one of 16 racers they won't miss me!" she said.
"And what about me?!"
Vanellope was silent for a moment.
"Why would I spend another SECOND with you after what YOU did?!"
With that, she ripped his cookie medal and threw it into the seemingly bottomless bit.
"NO!"
It was gone. The one thing that told him he was a bad guy, was gone. No…
"Vanellope, where are you going?!""
"Wherever you're not."
"Wait a minute, I can explain-"
"NO! You will NOT follow me!"
"Vanellope ple-"
"A FRIEND WOULD NEVER DO WHAT YOU DID, NEVER! So just LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Now the only friend that told Ralph he wasn't a bad guy was gone. Please, don't leave me…
Meanwhile in the penthouse
The racers – Taffyta still outside – were all still mingling in a much nicer way. It's almost as if Felix and Calhoun completely reprogrammed them! They went from sour to sweet in one night. The group of children were gathered in a circle with Swizzle and Candlehead in the middle, the new potential couple of Sugar Rush. Most were happy for the 2, while others – mainly the boys – would take some getting used to. Every time Rancis looked up at the couple, he thought about him and Vanellope. Every time he thought of him and Vanellope, he thought of their RV1 they had made together. The kart really meant something to him. It's what made them become closer, but he never got to confess his true feelings. Even if I did confess, in what world would she feel the same way? The group has been talking about Ralph and Vanellope's going to the internet, and what they could possibly discover.
"Who do you think they'll meet?"
"Will they see our developer?"
"What does the internet smell like?"
"Who is the leader of the internet?"
"What if they get lost?!"
"What's an internet?"
"Hey Swizzy," Candlehead said to her 'boyfriend,' who had his arm linked around hers. She wore a worried expression on her face. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure Candles, what's up?"
The rest of the group listened up to see if it was a question they could answer for themselves.
"W-what if Vanellope finds a new game in the internet, a-and she wants to stay in that game instead, and she ditches all of us? If our game gets plugged in, what if it gets unplugged again?! What i-" Swizzle shushed her. Now all the racers had worried looks on their faces. Felix was not too far away from the racers, for he was washing the dishes from dinner. He had the same anxious expression. Even if they didn't talk often, he would miss her as much as Ralph and the racers would. "Candles, you know Vanny would never ditch us. We're all family, and I'm sure she feels the same way."
"I would miss her so much if she left," Minty said, while the other racers murmured 'me too.'
"There are 16 of us, who would tell the difference?" Sticky asked.
"Um, only everybody," Snowanna smartly responded back. "Vanellope was like, the most popular racer in our game. The gamers would be devastated if she just disappeared."
"Well someone oughtta teach those gamers that nothing lasts forever!" Gloyd said. "The show must go on!"
"But then who would be our leader?"
"The show must be put on pause!"
Before anyone could further continue the conversation, Calhoun and Taffyta walked into the penthouse, hand in hand. Now the last time they saw her, she stormed out of the family. Currently, she was looking calm and collected.
"I'm gonna go ahead and fill Fix-it in on everything," the sergeant whispered to her. "I'll let you take it from here."
"Thanks, ma'am." Taffyta said, giving her a salute. She walked to the group circle and was silent for a few moments. The strawberry-themed racer was greeted with dumbfounded looks, some whispering to one another, or some scared what was about to come next.
"Is something on your mind, Taffyta?" Jubileena asked to break the silence.
"Y-yeah," Taffyta replied. "I was just wondering…how you guys…y'know, feel about me."
Within seconds, the racers started blurting out answers, which Taffyta could not hear all at once. She waved her hands wildly to gesture them to stop talking.
"One at a time, please!"
The racers complied in a strange way, by forming a single file line.
"What are you guys doing…?"
"You want us to go one at a time, don't you?" Crumbelina remarked. Taffyta was still confused, but eventually shook it off and took what she got. "Okay, but Candlehead and Rancis, you stay in the back." They looked at each other and back at the pink racer, but shrugged it off and followed. Minty was the first in line.
"Well, Taffyta," Minty began. "You're a great racer and all…" Taffyta rolled her eyes at the obvious statement.
"…but sometimes we find it hard to be around you after hours because you can be a little, I dunno…"
"-conceited?" Swizzle, who was next in line to speak, finished for her, which earned a couple 'yeah's from the racers behind.
"Me? Conceited?" Taffyta asked. "W-what do you mean?"
"Well, you tend to act like you're above everyone in Sugar Rush, when really, Vanellope is," Gloyd, third in line, said, "and she still talks to us and hangs around like we're all on the same level of importance."
So, she's just outgoing to everybody…
"Speaking of Vanellope," Citrusella, next in line, continued, "you were the leader when it came to bullying her. I just couldn't stand someone like us being treated like us! Right, recolors?" Sticky, Nougetsia, and Torvald were all behind her, nodding in agreement. "Hey! I feel as bad about it as you do!" Taffyta retorted, cheeks turning red. Crumbelina, who was behind the recolors, spoke next, giving her a skeptical look. "Really? Because these last 6 years, it seems like all you ever wanna do is compete with her." Taffyta clenched her fist and furrowed her eyebrows, she didn't like hearing the same accusations of her and Vanellope's rivalry.
"You're all wrong!" she yelled, grabbing Felix and Calhoun's attention, and making the racers clamp their mouths shut. "Vanellope's more than just a coworker to me! She's more than just a racing partner to me! She's a friend! A true friend! Something all of you aren't! I value her as much as you guys do, during and after arcade hours! If she were here right now, I would've given her a big hug! In front of all of you! And I would be proud, mod DARN IT!"
The racers' and the couples' mouths were agape. They did not expect that at all. The last 3 racers didn't know what to say. Candlehead and Rancis, who were last in the line, stepped up.
"Taffyta…" Rancis said, "we're so sorry… we had no idea you felt this way!"
"No idea?" Taffyta sneered. "How oblivious can this family possibly get?!"
"You can't blame us!" Candlehead shot back. "We thought you wanted nothing to do with us after arcade hours! You were so obsessed with all your cups and trophies, we thought you didn't even need friends, when all you had was your glory!"
"All this time, you guys never cared about winning?" Taffyta asked quietly, but still audible to the group.
"Why would we care about winning? I mean sure, racing and getting our game played is great and all, but our friendships mean more!" Adorabeezle affirmed as soon as she found her voice.
"You're our best friend, Taffyta," Jubileena said. Taffyta has gone completely silent.
"It would be great if you considered us your best friend, too," Snowanna said with an audible wink. Within a second, Taffyta was bawling her eyes out, in front of everyone.
"I-I-I'm so s-s-sorry you guys! Of course you all are my b-best friends!" she said in between tears and sniffles. Candlehead and Rancis were the first to embrace her, and soon the rest of the group, including Felix and Calhoun, followed suit.
"We love you, Taffyta." They all said.
The 4-letter sentence warmed her heart. She would never forget it.
"I love you guys too."
That's all for now, folks! If this story didn't really make sense, I apologize since I'm still kind of a rookie when it comes to writing stories XD hope you enjoyed the chapter, though! Your reviews and feedback are appreciated! Thanks for reading! :)
-GOOD NEWS!-
I'm thinking of making a side story on the Fix-it Family visiting Vanellope in the internet! It won't be based on the events on this story in particular, but more of the movie itself. I may start on January 4th (my birthday :D) but it would be pretty short. Considering making it a reality ;)