A/N: Thank you all so much for your kind reviews! Sorry for the wait!
Monday came and went as slowly as Sour Bill explaining the laws of physics. Due to it being the beginning of the week, most of Ralph and Vanellope's day was spent in Felix's room, where the handyman was still snuggled under the covers. He was clearly starting to get antsy, after having been locked up in his room for a few days. At first, due to his weakened code, he showed some symptoms of a common cold; achy bones, runny nose, a bit of a cough. But the sickness quickly died down due to his constant bed rest. Now, other than the glitches that still often racked his body, he was fit as a fiddle, and was ready to spring to action.
Only, Ralph, Vanellope, Calhoun, and even Gene didn't think that Felix was well enough to leave his bed.
During the long breaks between Quarter Alerts on that lazy Monday afternoon, Felix would often quip, "So do ya think it'd be alright if I got up to stretch my legs a bit?" or something along those lines.
Fearful of Felix collapsing to the ground in a fit of glitches, Ralph would always heave a loud, obviously irked sigh, before grumbling, "No, brother, you need as much rest as you can get."
Usually by using the term 'brother,' Ralph was able to sedate any remaining protests Felix might have held upon the tip of his tongue. The handyman would fall into a reluctant silence, clear discomfort playing upon his face as he squirmed about restlessly, relishing any bit of movement his tiny body could soak in whilst remaining upon the bed.
Gene poked his mustachioed face into the room throughout the majority of the day, concerned for his almighty hero. His unwavering presence had been an unpleasant one to both Ralph and Vanellope, and, although he didn't openly complain about it, Felix didn't seem all too thrilled either. Gene frequently entered the room, shuffling over to the bed and propping his elbows up against the foot of the mattress.
"Felix," he would grunt in that painfully high-pitched voice of his, "how are you holding up?"
"Just dandy, Gene," Felix would respond, always sounding a little more exhausted than the last time he was forced to ground those 3 words out.
An awkward silence then stifled the room, never failing to grip the four. Only the rare yet familiar chime of a Quarter Alert was strong enough to break through the silence, and relief overcame Ralph and Vanellope. The two would bolt from the room as fast as they could, ever-so-grateful for the excuse to not have to talk to Gene.
Unfortunately, more often than not, when Felix's room suddenly suffered an onslaught of discomfort, it tended to stretch on for a while. At one point, it went on for so long that Vanellope grew impatient, and simply huffed, "Gene, can you just leave? I mean, y'know it's really awkward, so just… leave."
Hurt glinted in Gene's eyes, not so much from the words, but more from the voice speaking them. However, he managed to remind himself that, though she looked and sounded like Felix, in reality she was only an annoying 9-year-old girl. The vulnerable look vanishing from his eyes, Gene's thick mustache was buffeted by a small disgruntled sigh. Without a word, the mayor abruptly turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.
"Sheesh, what an angry little man," observed Ralph with a quiet snort of amusement. "Good job gettin' rid of him there, Captain Crudface." He nudged Vanellope's side lightly with a large elbow, chuckling a little.
"Thanks, Prince Poopy," Vanellope jokingly responded, a large grin on her face. The two giggled amongst themselves like little schoolgirls as they tossed a few more harmless insults at one another.
Suddenly, a shadow loomed over them, surprising them into silence. They peered up at the figure, to find that it was only Felix. Well, Felix in Vanellope's body. His long raven hair was all mussed up, ponytail still in place, yet slightly askew. His sweatshirt was wrinkled and his shoes were absent. His tights had been stretched to the point where holes had begun to tear through them, likely from him writhing about in his bed so much.
"Felix," Ralph snapped, getting to his feet and hastily ushering Felix towards his bed. "I thought I told you not to—"
"No." Felix's Vanellope voice was hushed. In a way, it was almost terrifying, and Ralph felt chills roll down his spine.
"What was that?" He asked, plucking Felix off of the ground by the hood of his sweatshirt so that the two could be on eye-level.
"I said no," repeated Felix, anger flashing in his hazel-green eyes.
Ralph frowned. This wasn't good. It seemed that Felix was in a Vanellope-like state again. He felt that it was blamable on how stir-crazy the handyman had begun to get throughout the day. Maybe he should have let him roam about. "Felix, get ahold of yourself, please." The last thing he wanted was for the handyman to begin glitching due to the Vanellope persona temporarily taking over.
"I'm not Felix," hissed Vanellope's body, glitches beginning to jolt through his form. One of the glitches pricked Ralph's finger, resulting in Felix tumbling out of Ralph's grasp. As he made contact with the floor, he began to shriek in pain, his body becoming unrecognizable as glitches seized him, smothering his voice like a boot on a dying flame.
Ralph and Vanellope could only watch in horror. This wasn't any glitch attack they were familiar with; it was violent and without mercy, leaving no trace of their friend in the thrashing mess of blue code on the floor. Felix's shrieking had morphed into a noise not unlike static on a TV.
After a long, painful moment, the large chunk of blue code stilled. Vanellope's body was revealed with a flourish, as if a hand had descended from the heavens and simply swept the glitch off of his body. Felix was left in a heap on the floor, groaning quietly in agony as he squirmed about weakly, as if he were struggling to fight something off.
"Felix," whispered Ralph sadly as he scooped his friend into his arms, cradling him carefully; he seemed extremely fragile, and Ralph was terrified that even the slightest touch would cause Felix's Vanellope body to erupt in a frenzy of glitches once more. "Are you okay, there, buddy?" he asked softly. Vanellope clambered up Ralph's back, perching herself on her friend's shoulder and peering down thoughtfully at Felix, who was unresponsive, eyes screwed shut and teeth clenched tightly.
"Hey, small fry, c'mon," she pitched in, snapping her fingers in front of Felix's nose. "Wake up already. You're fine, ain'cha?" Though her words were playful, her Felix voice no longer held a hint of amusement; she spoke quietly and flatly, her azure eyes round with concern.
A soft whimper rose from Felix's throat, causing a small reassured smile to light up Ralph's face. He very gingerly prodded Felix's cheek, hoping to gain a response. Felix whined, his voice growing in volume as he rolled onto his side.
Ralph and Vanellope exchanged a relieved glance. Though Felix sounded like he was—at the very least—uncomfortable, he was able to move about, a good sign that he was okay.
"Let's get you back to bed," Ralph muttered to Felix, who groaned incoherently in response, continuing to squirm about. The wrecker lumbered over to Felix's bed, carefully setting the fixer back upon the mattress. Vanellope hopped off of Ralph's shoulder, taking hold of the covers and pulling them up over Felix's body.
Before she could tuck him in, Felix began to toss and turn, his eyebrows knitting in assumed pain. In the midst of his agonized floundering, he had unintentionally knocked Vanellope off of the bed. A few glitches sparked through Felix violently, and a small cry of pain left his throat. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped, and Felix's Vanellope body was restored to its original form once more.
"It's almost as if something's attacking him," Ralph mused, an astonished look still lingering on his face due to the aftershock of Felix's glitch. "Ease up a little there, buddy," he attempted to coax his friend, planting a large hand upon Felix's Vanellope body comfortingly. Felix remained unresponsive, tiny moans of pain puncturing his silence.
"Do y'think he can hear us?" Vanellope pondered, looking up to her 9 foot tall friend.
"Not sure," Ralph admitted with a sigh, "but it wouldn't hurt to just act as if he can."
Vanellope shrugged in agreement as she hopped aboard Felix's bed again. She opened her mouth to say something to him, but just then, a Quarter Alert chirped in the distance. "You better be awake when we get back, Dippin' Dot, alright?" she grumbled to Felix, teasingly tapping his forehead and earning a quiet whimper in response. "I'll take that as a yes," she added, a large smile gracing her Felix face.
She leaped down from the bed, bounding out of the apartment. "C'mon, Ralph, no slackin'," she called behind her before disappearing around the corner.
"I'm coming," Ralph called after her, giving chase at a lamely slow pace. As he reached the threshold, he paused, whirling about to face Felix's bed. He stared at his friend for a moment, concern flooding him as a frown reached his face. "Get well soon, brother," he muttered, more to himself than to Felix. With that, he turned back around, ducking through the door frame and heading outside the apartment to begin the game.
Unfortunately, Vanellope and Ralph were stuck working for about an hour straight. The player was a terrible one, but had a large supply of quarters at the ready just for the occasion. He played the game about 5 times in a row, his main goal seeming to be getting to a level higher than 3. When he finally got to level 4, but lost halfway through due to a duck moving at a leisurely pace, he gave up.
However, the player was one of the few who had anger management problems, it seemed. He loudly swore at the machine, giving the console a swift kick, as if it was the game's fault that he was such a terrible gamer. The machine rattled, creating a miniature earthquake within Niceland. Vanellope cried out as she collided with the ground. Unfortunately, she had still been in the process of attempting to enter the apartment unnoticed, and was therefore still on the screen, in plain sight.
Ralph, unaffected by the small tremors, hastily scooped up Vanellope and rushed off-screen, hoping the player hadn't noticed their little fiasco.
Of course, the player had noticed. Great, just our luck, Ralph thought, gritting his teeth in annoyance and bracing himself as the player took hold of the machine and shook it violently. The ground beneath them moved this way and that, threatening to bowl Ralph over. He crouched down, bunching his muscles together and pressing Vanellope's Felix body against his chest. "Hang tight, kid," he hissed to her.
"Hey!" Litwak's enraged voice was a godsend, and Ralph felt himself relax slightly as the ground beneath him steadied. "What do you think you're doing, son? If you wanted another quarter, I'd be glad to lend you one, but don't ever touch the machines, alright?"
"I don't want a dumb ol' quarter," the kid snapped in response.
"Then why were you shaking the machine so angrily, son?" A pause, and then Litwak added, "Can't win every game, y'know."
"The characters moved all on their own," the kid explained, his frustration seeming to build. "This game is rigged, old man! Those characters are probably being controlled by some weirdo in the machine!"
Ralph and Vanellope held their breath, hoping Litwak wouldn't believe the angry little child.
"Well, y'know, son, in between games, they're supposed to move on their own; that's just the start-up screen." Litwak chuckled, ruffling the kid's hair. The child's face was beet red, and he opened his mouth, preparing for a retort, but Litwak quickly cut him off. "Why don't you go let out your anger on Whack-a-Mole? I'll even spot ya, if you promise not to kick or shake the machines again."
The kid contemplated this, the anger draining from his face. "Okay, I promise," he finally relented, smiling a little as Litwak led him to the Whack-a-Mole game.
Ralph and Vanellope both let out huge sighs of relief and heaved themselves to their feet. Ralph set Vanellope upon his shoulder before hurrying into the apartment building, making sure to not be spotted this time.
Inside, Nicelanders were bustling about, fretting over knocked-over tables and cracked vases. Gene was rushing down hallways and straightening all the crooked frames of paintings, while Mary used a dustpan to sweep up broken bits of glass. Norwood and Deanna aided one another in propping the furniture back onto their legs, and Nel was using a giant towel to soak up any spilled liquids upon the floor.
In truth, it was mayhem, and something finally dawned on Ralph. "Felix," he said quietly to himself before breaking into a sprint up the stairs.
As he ran, he shook the apartment a little more, and he could hear the Nicelanders emit screeches of surprise from the floor below. He noticed Vanellope had gotten unusually quiet. "Doing alright there, kid?" he asked aloud. However, instead of receiving an answer, a flash of plain struck his shoulder. Without thinking, he brushed whatever was hurting him away, causing poor glitching Vanellope to tumble to the ground.
Ralph managed to snatch her off the ground before her glitching Felix body could roll down the stairs. Ignoring the blistering pain that attacked his large meaty hands, he bounded up the stairs as fast as he could. Once in Felix's room, he rushed to dump Vanellope upon Felix's empty bed. Wait… empty?
Ralph glanced about before spotting Felix on the floor; he, too, was suffering from a violent glitching spell, entangled in a bundle of blankets. Ralph groaned, putting a large hand to his forehead. He could feel a headache coming on. It was bad enough having to deal with Felix glitching, but now Vanellope was too.
As soon as the arcade closed, Ralph gathered Vanellope and Felix in his arms and took them to Game Central Station to meet up with Calhoun. While originally, they all planned on meeting in Fix-it Felix Jr., Ralph felt that Felix needed some fresh air.
Upon entering Game Central, Ralph immediately spotted Calhoun, who was already making her way over to their game. He waited impatiently for her to approach them. When she was within earshot, he burst into a panicked explanation of everything that had happened.
The Sergeant appeared to be listening, though she looked utterly bewildered. When he finally stopped for breath, she growled, "Spare me the details, soldier, you're rambling."
Ralph frowned. "I don't know how to explain it without the details. But if it makes you happy, I'll try." He rolled his eyes at her, before sighing deeply. "Hokay, let's see. Well, Gene was being an ass, but that's a given…"
"I said spare me the details," Calhoun sternly reminded him.
"I know," he grumbled, then continued, "I guess, basically, Felix went bonkers and was glitching a whole lot. I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty bad. You couldn't even see him beneath all that blue stuff! Van—"
"Is he okay now?" Calhoun cut in, eyes round with concern. Her gaze flickered to Felix, who was tucked safely within Ralph's elbow, fast asleep. He had been in and out of consciousness for most of the day, mostly due to—Ralph guessed—exhaustion.
"Don't worry, he's fine," Ralph reassured her. "Anyway, as I was saying. Vanellope had a really bad glitch attack too. It was just as bad as Felix's, and suddenly, they were both glitching up really bad, at the same time. And when they stopped glitching…" he trailed off, a grim look on his face, as if he were reliving the event.
"Well? Spit it out, soldier," Calhoun pressed, worry eating at her.
"Well, it was almost as if they were in each other's bodies," Ralph explained. "Or, technically, back in their own bodies. Vanellope's body was being all snarky, and Felix's body was being all polite. I got a bit hopeful for a moment that they'd glitched back to normal or something, but then, they were both hit with another glitch, which wasn't nearly as bad as the first one, and just like that, they were back to their ol' body-switched selves again."
Ralph allowed Calhoun to take in all the information he had just thrown at her. After a few minutes of silence, she let out a heavy sigh. "Is that everything?"
"Yep," he confirmed.
"I know I told you to spare me the details before, but do you think you could better explain that glitch-switch business?" Calhoun inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Sure, but you might want to sit down for this." Calhoun and Ralph settled upon an empty bench that was seated directly beside Fix-it Felix Jr. Calhoun carefully removed Felix from Ralph's arm, gingerly placing him on her lap. He nuzzled against her, light snores escaping his Vanellope mouth, undisturbed by the new arrangements. Vanellope herself was snuggled safely between Ralph's shirt and overalls, snoring softly as well.
"Alright, Wreck-it, shoot," Calhoun prompted.
Ralph nodded before launching into details of what had happened only a few hours prior.
Felix and Vanellope's glitching had waned off rather quickly, almost in synchronization. Ralph had huddled them up into his arms, settling them both on the bed. Unlike earlier, Felix was alert, his hazel Vanellope eyes as wide as saucers. Vanellope, meanwhile, looked more somber, her cobalt Felix eyes downcast.
"Are you two alright?" Ralph asked, staring hard at them. They seemed… off, to say the least.
"Oh, I'm fine, brother," Vanellope chirruped, her head snapping up to look Ralph in the eyes as a bubbly smile lit up her Felix face.
Ralph's eyebrows furrowed. "Seriously, Vanellope, don't say that."
"Say what?" Felix piped up, crawling over to the edge of the bed and sitting up on his haunches, his Vanellope eyes peering up at Ralph expectantly.
Uh… I wasn't talking to you," Ralph said slowly, his frown deepening. Okay, this is getting weird, he mused inwardly. "Are you sure you're alright?" He redirected his attention to Vanellope, watching her closely.
"Fit as a fiddle," she confirmed, swinging her arm in front of her chest, which was an extremely Felix-y action.
"Are you two…" he faltered, a bit hesitant to ask the question that sat on the tip of his tongue.
"Are we what?" Felix squeaked, giving Ralph an annoyed look that suited the Vanellope face he wore. "Well? Spit it out, Stinkbrain," he added impatiently.
That just about confirms it. "…back to normal?" he finished, his voice weak with confusion.
As soon as the words left his lips, both Vanellope and Felix's eyes widened. Felix opened his mouth to say something, but just then, the two were rocked with a violent yet quick glitch. The two were knocked backwards onto the bed, a few aftershock glitches rolling through them. The glitch attack was measly when compared to the one they had suffered earlier, and within a matter of seconds, the two were sitting back up again, wide eyes locked on Ralph.
"What happened?" Felix was the first to speak, his Vanellope voice even more hoarse than usual.
"I have no idea," Ralph admitted. "You two… switched minds or something."
Felix and Vanellope stared at him in confusion and Ralph proceeded to recount what had happened to them.
"And that's what happened," Ralph finished, leaning back slightly in satisfaction.
Calhoun received the story in silence, her lips puckered as she contemplated everything that Ralph had told her. Finally, she sighed, resting her forehead in the palm of her hand.
"Hey," Ralph began, gingerly laying a large hand on her back. "Don't worry so much. It seems like mentioning that they're acting weird turns them back to normal, so at least we have that going for us."
Calhoun was silent for a moment before mumbling, "But how do you know for sure that they're back to normal?" She removed a hand from her face and turned to face Ralph, and for the first time, he noticed how exhausted and sorrowful the sergeant looked. It truly looked as if she had been through hell and back. A pang of pity struck his chest; he should've realized that Calhoun was the one emotionally struggling the most with all of this. Her husband's life was very likely at stake.
"Trust me, I'm sure," he promised, raising a hand as if reciting an oath. "From the way they were acting, they were definitely back to normal."
Calhoun looked skeptical. "How did they act, though?" she pressed, clearly unhappy with the minimal information that she was receiving.
"Y'know, just... like themselves."
"But what if they're just acting that way but in his head, Felix is really Vanellope now? What if Vanellope is Felix now? What if my husband isn't the same anymore?" As she spoke, her voice began to lose vigor, cracking as she whispered the last sentence. She tilted her head downwards, allowing her bangs to cover her eyes.
"Sarge," Ralph said, voice hushed, "pull yourself together, okay? Felix will be fine." A pause, before he went on to add, "I bet you that come Wednesday, those Coders will know exactly what to do, and we can get this whole mess cleaned up like that," he snapped his fingers for emphasis.
His coaxing words were met with silence. Finally, Calhoun took one, final shaky breath, before turning her attention to Ralph once more, a newfound determination sparking in her gaze. "You're right, Wreck-it." With that, Calhoun got to her feet, cradling Felix in her arms. "C'mon," she said to Ralph, signaling for him to follow her with a jerk of her head.
Ralph obediently got to his feet, using a large hand to steady the handyman-shaped Vanellope lump that jutted out from the top of his overalls. "Where are we going?" he quipped as he began to lumber after her, careful not to drop Vanellope from the precarious spot in which she slumbered, unperturbed.
"Sugar Rush. I think we need a bit of a mental vacation, and that diabetes-inflicting, marshmallow-smothered land of mayhem is just the place to take one."