The pod bounced back and forth on the walls down the tunnel. Engineer was clinging to the wind shield for dear life as Ralph was fighting off the baby cy-bug that mutated to a larger size. They shot out the end of the tunnel into a bright blue sky full of pink clouds. Engineer looked forward as the pod ripped through a pink cloud which then covered the ship. Engineer realized it was cotton candy. Engineer took a look to the ground and discovered that it was all candy. Part of the fluffy, sugary material got sucked into the engine. There was a loud pop and the pod jerked downward on top of a giant cake. Engineer was covered in a caramel frosting as it slammed to the surface. It continued off the ledge as Engie braced himself for the impact of the candy cane forest that they were about to crash into. The pod tore through the soft cake-like soil and rock candy mints that covered the ground, leaving a trail of sweet debris in its wake. The pod came to an abrupt stop at the edge of a cliff by the large build-up of frosting that slowed the ship. Ralph and the cy-bug sat there for a moment in pure shock from the wild ride and Engineer picked his head up off the glass and took a huge exhale, wiping the whipped cream from his goggles. Then there was a loud beeping sound as everyone looked at the dashboard; the emergency eject had been activated.
" Dang dag na…" Engineer cursed until the glass exploded as Engie, Ralph, and the cy-bug flew into the air. Ralph smacked face first into the top of a candy tree and loosely tangled his arms on the branches. Engineer landed on a branch slightly lower in the tree, hitting him square in the fold of his stomach. The cy-bug however, flew even further, slamming into a tree and sinking into a liquid taffy pool at the bottom of the tree.
" Sayonara, sucker!" Ralph called out.
" Ralph, what in sam heck were you thinkin'?" Engineer shouted back. Ralph just ignored him but was instead distracted by the muffled, but obviously present music. Both turned and saw in bold letters across a small section of a field 'Sugar Rush'.
" Oh no!" Ralph said. " It's that candy go-kart game over by the 'Whack-a-Mole'. I gotta get out of here." Ralph felt his chest and realized that his medal was gone. He panicked. " Oh no! My medal! Where did..." Ralph looked around in a frenzy and saw his medal sitting atop a nearby tree. " No, no, no, no, my medal!" Ralph exclaimed. He quickly climbed down the tree with Engie in close pursuit. Ralph staggered over the ground, tripping over chocolate rocks and lollipop twigs to the tree where he was met with another taffy pool.
" Ralph, hold on what going on, what is Felix's medal doing here?" Engie asked. Engineer just assumed that the medal was Felix's because where else could have Ralph gotten it? Villains don't win medals.
" I'll explain it later. Just give me a hand." Ralph said. Ralph used gumdrops that were floating on top of the sticky candy and jumped across to the tree. Engie on the other hand found a low hanging branch and jumped onto it then pulled himself up. They both began to climb. Ralph was moving at a much more rapid pace.
" Hey, mister." A young female voice said. The unexpected greeting frightened Ralph as he lost his grip and fell a few feet right to where the voice came from. Ralph pivoted his head left to see a small raven-haired young girl in a teal colored hoodie, brown Reece's Peanut Butter cup styled skirt, mismatched leggings, and small black boots. " Hello." She reiterated with a friendly smile.
" Man, you scared me, kid. I nearly soiled myself." Ralph exhaled.
" Aww, well I wouldn't say it was that surprising." Engineer said as he pulled himself up to a branch just below them.
" What's your name's?" The teal hoodie girl asked.
" Ralph, Wreck-it Ralph." Ralph said staring up at the medal.
" Engineer at your service, ma'am." Engie said tilting his helmet.
" You're not from here, are you?" The girl said resting her chin on her hand.
" No, well, yeah. I mean, not from right in this area." Ralph explained. Engineer was wondering why Ralph was saying that until he turned around and took a second look at the destruction they caused.
" Yeah," Engineer thought to himself. " probably best to try to fit in."
" I'm just doing some work here." Ralph continued.
" What kinda work?" The raven-haired girl butted in.
" Some routine candy tree trimming. You would probably want to stand back. In fact, whole area is technically closed while we're trimming." Ralph said.
" Who's 'we'?" The raven-haired girl asked.
" Candy tree department." Ralph answered.
" Oh, where is everybody else?" The girl said sitting up now.
" It's just me and Engie today. Uhh…" Ralph said trying to make up more excuses.
" So you just meant like the royal 'we'?" The girl said trying to understand.
" Yep. That's right." Ralph said starting to be annoyed.
" Hey, are you a hobo?" The girl asked swinging down from a branch higher than she was before.
" No, I am not a hobo, but I am busy so go home…." Ralph said waving her away.
" What's that? Didn't hear ya. Your breath is so bad, it made my ears numb." The girl mocked.
" Listen, I tried to be nice…"
" I tried to be nice." The raven-haired girl mimicked
"You're mimicking me."
" You're mimicking me." The girl copied again.
" Okay. That is rude and this conversation is over." Ralph said as the girl mimicked him the whole time. Ralph continued climbing as Engie was just a branch above him.
" Oh come on Ralph. The kid was just playing a joke." Engineer said trying to calm the situation.
" Yes, I know, but…" Ralph started before being interrupted.
" I wouldn't grab that branch if I were you." The girl insisted as she twirled the licorice string on her hoodie. Ralph just shrugged it off and kept climbing.
" I'm from the candy tree department, so I know what.." Ralph ensured as his hand reached for a branch that began to glow as soon as he touched it.
" It's a double stripe." She said. The branch completely disappeared and Ralph fell six feet and narrowly grabbed another branch.
" Ralph! Are you alright?" Engie called down.
" Double stripes break. Doi!" The raven-haired girl said chewing on the hoodie string. " Hey, why are your hands so freakishly big?" She said pointing at his hands.
" Oh I don't know. Why are you so freakishly annoying?" Ralph countered.
" Well why are freakishly…" She gasped as she looked up and saw the medal hanging from the top branch. " Sweet mother of monkey milk, a gold coin!" She yelled.
" Don't even think about it. That is mine!" Ralph said harshly.
" Race ya for it!" She said as she bolted up the tree. Engineer and Ralph climbed after her as fast as they could.
" Hey. I don't have to race for it because it's mine!" Ralph grunted as he tried to grab for the girl. The raven-haired girl dodged as Ralph grabbed onto another double stripe. The girl made it to the top and snatched the medal from the candy cane branch.
" The winner!" She proclaimed holding the medal up in the air.
" Give it back! Give it." Ralph said angrily as he pulled down the bottom of the branch the girl was standing on and catapulted her up. Ralph grabbed the medal that she dropped. " Ha!" He laughs. The girl came back down and "Mario" hopped on Ralph's head which made him drop the medal and tumble down more branches. Engie caught the medal as it bounced around the foliage.
" Got it!" Engineered bellowed to Ralph. The girl came down with a force as she landed on the end of Engie's branch and caused it to bend until he lost his footing and slid to the end of the branch. The girl then released the branch, catapulting Engineer far off into the woods. Also dropping the medal in the process. Engineer hit nearly every branch on the way down until landing on a soft bed of marshmallow mushrooms. Engineer lifted his head off the ground, dazed and shook up from the fall. " Ah, good night, Irene." Engie said picking himself off the ground.
" Engineer? Are you there?" a staticy voice said from Engie's PDA. Engineer pulled it to respond.
" I'm here, Doc." Engineer said.
" Oh thank goodness." Medic said relieved. " Are you alright? What's going on?"
" I'm fine, It just seems Ralph is having some trouble holding onto one of Felix's medals for some reason." Engineer said.
" Okay, I'll head out as soon as everyone else gets back." Medic announced.
" Nah, no need. I got this." Engineer said confidently.
" Uh, you sure?" Medic asked.
" Yeah, I'll just get the medal back to Ralph and I'll be back. It shouldn't take that long." Engie reassured.
" Um, alright. Just contact me if you need anything." Medic said hesitantly.
" Got it." Engie says. Engie stuffs his PDA back into his utility belt pouch and runs back up the hill. Engineer followed the trail of broken branches on the ground that he assumed he caused from his flight through the trees. Engie got back to the opening from where the escapade happened only to find the area empty. " Well, darn." Engie says. Engineer was clueless on where Ralph or the little girl went. He then turned to the pool of taffy at the bottom of the tree and noticed a trail from the swamp leading into the sugary forest. There was no question as to who caused the trail; there was no way the girl caused tracks so large. " Well, I guess that'll do." Engineer sighs. Engineer proceeded to follow the trail after Ralph.
"Yeah, he flew around here a bit and flew down that sweet game like a crazy person." Surge said to Calhoun and Felix. Meanwhile, the mercenaries arrived shortly after Calhoun to the mess that was the station.
"MEDIC!" Soldier shouts. He runs up behind Medic, spun him around, and grabbed him by the collar of his lab coat. " What's going on here, maggot!" Soldier shouted obnoxiously.
"Well, as Surge said, The rocket flew around here and shot down through that 'Sugar Rush' game." Medic said unbothered by Soldier's usual exaggerated behavior.
"Oh" Soldier said, dumbfounded. Soldier released Medic's collar and sheepishly creeped back behind the others. Scout walked forward with concern.
"Where's Engie?" Scout asked.
"He was taken with the rocket", Medic said. Scout was struck with surprise.
"We're going to go after him, right?" Scout said.
"Actually, Engineer told us to wait and he will call us when he needs help." said Medic.
"Are you sure about that Dr.? You didn't think he…"Sniper said before being cut off.
"Wrong, viruses do not stop!" Calhoun barked at Felix. " Once those Cy-Bugs finish off Sugar Rush, they'll invade every other game until this arcade is nothing but a smoking husk of forgotten dreams." Scout whipped his head back around to Medic.
"That reason enough for you now, Doc?" Scout yelled anxiously.
"Well, all of us charging in all at once won't help," Medic said getting irritated. " Look let's just see if Engineer can sort this out by himself. If he needs the help, He'll call us."
" Ugh, Fine." Scout groaned.
" Good. I promise, Everything is going to be fine." Medic said confidently. The group of mercenaries started to make the way over to the benches to where they would wait. All except Pyro, who stared with his head on a tilt like a confused puppy at the entrance to 'Sugar Rush'.
Author's Note: I'll be honest, There was much more I wanted to put in this chapter, but with the amount of time that has past has left me no choice. I apologize for my absence, I've been very busy with other affairs. That doesn't excuse me for pushing this off however. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to slow production of this even slower, at least until summer time. This doesn't mean I'm stopping. ( I'm far from that option, not with all the ideas i have) Once summer starts up and I have almost unlimited free time I'll try to work on it some more. Fortunately, I'm taking a creative writings class next semester so that will probably help make the story even better and give me even more confidence in what I do. Until then, I'll see you in the next chapter.
-Thegamer98
p.s. If anyone has any ideas, suggestion, or offer of advice or help, please contact me through PM. I will almost always answer.