"Can it be your turn, Tammy?" Felix sighed, setting his hat and hammer down on the coffee table. "I'm pooped."
The kids cackled as they fooled around, playing a game of 'Chicken' on the living room sofas. Sticky Wipplesnit sat on top of Swizzle Malarkey's shoulders while trying to overthrow Crumbelina and Torvald.
"Torves, come on!" Crumbelina rushed her friend, still wrestling her hands onto Swizzle's. "Put some muscle into it!"
"Ugh, fine." Torvald completely shoved Sticky in her chest, making the duo tumble down on the carpet.
"Ooooh." The other kids dragged out.
"Someone's gonna be in trouble." Rancis mumbled.
"Dad! Torvald cheated and she hit me!" Sticky exaggerated as she cuddled next to her father.
"Oh please." Swizzle mumbled as he got up and rolled his eyes, making Crumbelina laugh.
"No I didn't. She's so dramatic." Torvald defended.
Felix stood up to the girls, his hands on his hips. "Now, girls-"
Tamora set her hand on his shoulder, making him look up at her. "I'll take it from here, trooper cakes." She confirmed. "Go get some rest. Ya been up all day."
Felix grinned at her heartwarmingly. "Thanks a lot, Tammy. Well, I'll be off to bed."
"Anytime." She whispered, pecking his lips before he strolled into their bedroom.
Tamora sat back down, blue eyes narrowed as if she was about to question some suspects, her assertive manner forcing the two bickering children to cease their argument.
"Torvald." She started, looking her daughter straight in the eye. "Did you push Sticky too hard? Be honest."
"No- well, I didn't mean to, Mom." The hazelnut-haired girl replied, chewing on her fingernail. "Crumbelina told me to push harder, since we were losing."
"Alright then. Crumbelina, don't tell her that again okay? I'm keepin' an eye on you two." She pointed her finger to Crumbelina, who was looking to the side as her hands held each other.
"Yes, Ma'am, I won't. Sorry, Torves." Answered the tiramisu girl, serene when her mother showed appreciation of her respect.
"It's okay." Torvald smiled.
"Yeah, it's alright." Agreed Sticky.
"Good, now carry on. And play nice."
Before the kids could collect again for a rematch, they were distracted by Jubileena's overjoyed voice.
"GUYS! Mama! Come look, hurry!" The redhead squealed up from the penthouse roof.
"YEAH! YOU GUYS WON'T BELIEVE IT!" Snowanna yelled along with her friend, purple eyes beaming at the arcade's view.
Candlehead looked at the ceiling, trying to identify the excited voice. "What the-"
"Let's just go!" Taffyta insisted, grabbing Adorabeezle's and Gloyd's hands.
"What is it, girls?" Tamora asked curiously.
"Yeah, and did ya have to scream about it?" Rancis said rhetorically, rubbing his ear.
"Just look up!"
The other racers got on their tippy toes, while Citrusella climbed on her mother's shoulders.
"Wait… is that our game?" She asked in disbelief.
"And get this. The colors came back." Jubileena answered.
"Obviously." Adorabeezle chimed.
"Whaaat? No way, lemme see." Swizzle lifted his arms up to his mother. She picked him up and showed him the dazzling screen.
"You guys. It's just like the good old days…" Swizzle grinned, hiding his tears of overwhelming joy.
The orange Sugar Rush logo proudly flashed on the screen, ready to be played by anyone that walked in. It took forever turning back to normal when Vanellope went in, but the lovable, candy world of their game… it was there. Just the way it should be.
"Ha, yes! I knew it'd turn on again!" Litwak chuckled with gleam. "Those kids are going to be nuts with them quarters tomorrow." He bent down, shutting the console off and flipped the sign on the glass door before he clocked out.
"Our game's saved!" Jubileena cheered as she hugged the other racers tightly, some sniffing silently.
"Finally, I can't wait to go back in my house." Taffyta added.
Ralph zoomed straight in front of Vanellope, hogging the basketball and slam dunking it into the hoop.
"Five to four. Again." He bragged, effortlessly spinning the ball on his finger. It was a bit tricky when his best friend introduced him to it, but it was safe to say he grew to be a pro at it in just a few short minutes.
Vanellope rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh. "Yeah, okay Knuckles. It's only 'cause of your freakishly big hands that's helping you beat me." She commented back as she twirled her hair.
"Eh, maybe. But I still won."
Vanellope sighed in defeat, pretending to accept that Ralph was going to win every round. "Yeah, guess you win, Stinkbrain."
"See? Told you-"
"SIKE!" She glitched over to him, yanking the ball out of his hands and tossed it in the hoop.
"Oh, it is so on." He challenged, priming himself for more competition.
"Gotta c-catch me-e!" Vanellope replied as she glitched faster, teleporting from every side until she caught up to the hoop again.
"A-ha! I GOT IT!" She laughed, skipping up and down in victory, her ponytail flowing as they were in the dry arcade train station. Ralph chuckled, his hands in the pockets of his overalls as he crouched down to her level.
"Okay, fair enough. You're a little better than me." He bantered. "See ya learned basketball on the internet too, Huh?"
She nodded, a much giddy smile on her face before grabbing his red shirt sleeve. "Well, Duke Doofus, is there anything you wanna do?"
"Well, yeah actually."
"What?" She asked curiously.
"Good Ol' Root Beer Tapper's?" He answered in a cheesy tone. He believed seeing a hint of excitement when Vanellope smiled up at him.
"Oh. Sure we can if your up for it." She agreed, slightly surprising Ralph. "All that dribbling's been getting me parched."
"I know, right? Still fun though." Ralph added as they trotted out of the subway station.
Tapper's bar was just as cozy and warm as it had always been, welcoming all the arcade characters inside with nothing but laughs and perpetual conversation.
He slid a glass cup of fuzzy root beer over the counter. "Here you are, Z."
"Thank you, Tapper." Zangief said, handing the bartender his money.
"Oh, hello Ralph. Welcome back!" Zangief laughed hoarsely, throwing one arm over his friends big shoulder. "How was trip?"
"It was great, I'll tell you all about it. Hey Tapps, could ya get me two drinks by the way?"
Tapper winked and gave the wrecker a finger gun. "Right on it."
Vanellope sipped her shiny mug with her eyes closed, savoring the bittersweet soda. Across from her, a few inches away, Ralph, Bowser, and a few good guys debated on whatever weird things they were talking about.
She pulled out her notebook from her sweater, admiring the new pages of adventurous drawings she and Ralph made back at her castle. He even made a new superhero!
It sort of resembled him because of his huge hands, except he was orange with horns and a silly face. Ralph named him "Captain Carrot" when coloring green for his hair. She smiled at the comic panel the more she read it.
But it was more than the comic. It was that her and Ralph hanging out felt like a part of her dream, in a way. Sure, she knew he'd want to do the same routine at some point tonight, like going to Tapper's and maybe goofing off in Sugar Rush later, but when they did do that same routine, a tsunami of memories came pouring into her head.
She nearly forgot how many times Ralph made her laugh in the wee hours of the night when they would have sleepovers and do karaoke, and Felix would come politely knocking at the door.
"Ralph, Van, you fellows mind toning it down just a little? The kids have to sleep." He would say. And of course, they would do as requested, although covering their mouths with their pajama shirts when they snickered.
Or when they would prank Taffyta with Gloyd using gummy spiders that looked undeniably realistic. They shoved them in her Pink Lightning kart's glove compartment and in her seat after she scolded Ralph about making extra tracks around the game, as she thought it was a distraction that kept her from winning.
"AHHHH! MOM, SPIDERS, THERE'S SPIDERS!" She'd cry, scaring all the other focused racers, while Ralph and Vanellope smirked at each other.
She squeezed the cookie medal that was still strangely safe underneath her sweater. Her best friend was right there with her, yet it was all far away. Like she's missed out on so much.
"Dude, Zangeif. We're all real, I promise. We're just as real as those players out there." Sonic insisted.
"Yeah, Zang. What's with the new theory anyway?" Ralph asked, spinning his now empty cup. "Speakin' of which, where's Zombie?"
"He stressed out. Need alone time, you know? Those games can get you sometime." Zangeif explained.
"Anyway, they're not really called players. I hear they go by..." He waved his hand to lean in his other three friends so he could whisper. "...humans!"
Bowser awkwardly tapped his cup with his claws, glancing at Ralph and Eggman to see if they were going to say anything.
"Who said that? And you just figured this out?" The wrecker asked.
"Oh, candy children say so."
Ralph exhaled through his mouth, standing up and straightening his clothes. "Well this has been fun you guys, but I think I'm gonna, uh, zoom out. You comin' kid?"
"Yeah, one minute!" She snapped out of her deep thoughts, putting her notebook away safely.
"Wait, you didn't tell us about the Internet." Bowser said.
"I'll tell you in Bad-Anon tomorrow. Save my spot for me." he said, already walking out of the bar with Vanellope.