Chapter 4: 8-Beat Heartbreak

Once Ralph returned to his house yet again, he immediately went to create the ultimate confession card. 20 minutes & 2 messes later, it was finally finished. Ralph stood to look at his masterpiece that would have made the best child macaroni artist cry in joyous defeat. "It's a good thing Mr. Litwack only came in to start the update for Sugar Rush or else I wouldn't have been able to create this. Thank you Monday." thought Ralph. He had recently just finished the project he had been working on for Vanellope. It was a miniature statue of him with Vanellope on his shoulder while they were fighting a dragon in that foreign arcade game that one time. Ralph had metal gauntlets & Vanellope had a rifle.

Ralph chuckled to himself as he thought, "Fighting dragons is fun." Ralph then grabbed a box, also made from bricks, & carefully put the statue in it. He wrapped it up & even put a bow on it. "Ah, perfect." Ralph said in a satisfied tone. And that's when Felix burst through the door. "Ralph!" yelled Felix. "Ahh!" screamed Ralph as he almost dropped the box, but fortunately caught it before it hit the ground; "What the heck Felix?!" "Sorry Ralph, but you need to get out here. The Surge Protector wants to tell us something." Felix said before running back out the door. Ralph just sighed & carried his gift out the door with him.

1 Walk & Ride Later: Game Central Station|Fix-It Felix Jr.'s Entrance

"Alright Surge, what is it?" Ralph asked in an annoyed tone as he & Felix walked up to the Surge Protector.

"It is my duty to inform you that a dangerous virus was spotted yesterday. From what data I was able to gather, the virus is corrupted data from some dragon titled '53w r' from some internet game." the Surge Protector stated as he adjusted his glassed.

"The game it came didn't happen to be named 'Dracoslayer Online', did it?" Ralph asked worriedly.

"Why yes it was. Do you know something about this?" asked the Surge Protector, causing everyone else to look at Ralph expectantly.

"Kinda…" Ralph said as he rubbed his hair worringly before sighing & allowing his shoulders to droop; "Yeah, I do. Me and Vanellope killed the dragon from the game." "So THAT'S where you two went last week," said Felix. "It was supposed to be a secret, but it's out now." Ralph said sadly.

"Interesting. That information has been noted. Along with my notice of the viral sighting, I came to advise anyone who spots the virus to tell someone immediately and for everyone to stay in their games this week." said the Surge Protector before turning around.

"Ah come on Surge, you can't-" asked Ralph.

The Surge Protector stopped & sighed. "I won't stop any of you from leaving your games. I just came to warn, not to force." replied the Surge Protector as he stared away from them; "Oh-" The Surge Protector looked back at seriously as he said; "And Ralph?"

"Yes?" Ralph asked, a bit worried.

The Surge Protector smiled slightly & said; "Sugar Rush's update is done." Ralph was speechless as the Surge Protector disappeared as a zap of blue electricity.

Ralph smiled as he & Felix parted ways across the GCS, with Felix heading towards Hero's Duty & Ralph towards Sugar Rush with his present with 0 security checks.

Later: Sugar Rush

Ralph made his way towards the castle with slight haste. "I can't wait to see her again. I hope she hasn't changed though." Ralph thought before he arrived near the castle. He soon wished he hadn't, for when he did, he saw Vanellope playing. Not with him, or any of their friends, but with a big, fat man wearing a crown. "Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Why…?" Ralph thought as he dropped his present. The present fell into a nearby bush, but somehow didn't break. Ralph didn't notice it though, he was too busy slapping his face.

Slap! "Come on Ralph, get it together! Just 'cause she has another grown-up friend doesn't mean anything. I'm sure this will all work out just fine." Ralph quietly reassured himself as he also thought of how weird his words sounded outloud. The next words he heard from Vanellope's mouth crushed what little hope he had left of not being worried.

"Thanks for playing with me Daddy." said Vanellope. "You're welcome my little sugar cube." said the fat man.

Daddy. That was the word that broke it all. His hope, his dreams, & most of all, his heart. Tears stinged his eyes as he turned around & ran back towards the exit of Sugar Rush, hoping to return to the safety of his house.

Vanellope turned the direction of where Ralph once stood. "What's wrong daughter?" asked the fat man. "Nothing I guess. I just thought I heard something." answered Vanellope as she resumed playing with the fat man. "Ralph…" thought Vanellope as she looked at Sugar Rush's exit while the fat man wasn't looking, "…where are you Stinkbrain?"

A.N.: As always, remember to review if there are any problems you see so far with the story.