Guess what? I got an unexpected snow day, so here's a new chapter!
-Linebreak
"Put me down Ralph! I have to go back for Felix!" Steve yelled.
"It's dangerous there, Steve!" said Ralph.
"This way, all of you!" Sargent Calhoun pointed to a train station between street Fighters II and Pac-Man. "This should take us to Outlet Central."
"This is going to sound like a stupid question, but don't you two have games to go to?" asked Steve.
"I'm not racing today. Sour Bell said I needed to take the day off or the humans would get suspicious." said Vanellope.
"My men have been trained for this situation," said Sargent Calhoun. "And besides, Felix is much more important than my game."
The train left game central station just as the five minute warning was being announced.
"I've heard rumors that Turbo's back, but I thought they were just...well...rumors. I never thought he was back, much less in my son's game," Steve sighed. "How long has he been there?"
"Ten days," Vanellope told Steve.
Steve raised his eyebrows. "Only ten days? I've been hearing rumors about him for longer."
"What sort of rumors?" asked Sargent Calhoun.
"He's been recruiting homeless characters to take over the arcade, he's been seen in Tappers, he tried to take over a game called Sugar Rush... "
"That last rumor is true. Turbo tried to take over my game about six months ago. But Turbo should have died in that Dr. Pepper and Mentos fountain!" Vanellope told Steve.
"Hm..." muttered Steve. "That's odd. That would do most game characters in. Unless..."
Steve was interrupted by the sudden stop of the train. "We're here," said Steve. "Welcome to Outlet Central."
Outlet Central was huge. Trains departed for all destinations, such as the mall, Logan Snider's house, Mayor Thorn's house, Game Central Station, and many more places. Wires were all over the ceiling, occasionally flashing with blue light. A fountain sat in the middle.
"Welcome to Outlet Central, more commonly known as the power line. It's pretty amazing, don't you think?"
"Woah," Vanellope said.
"Woah indeed," Steve agreed.
"Where's that friend of yours?" asked Sargent Calhoun.
"He spends most of his time at the Tappers in Logan Snider's house. Logan is an arcade game collector, you see," Steve said. He glanced a Vanellope. "By the way, Tappers doesn't let anyone under the age of 21 in, so you'll have to stay here."
"No fair!" yelled Vanellope.
"Those are the rules Vanellope. Either your game has to be on for 21 years or you have to be programed as that age. Sorry," said Steve.
Vanellope frowned. "I'll stay with you." Ralph said quickly.
"I guess I'm going with you then." said Sargent Calhoun.
"Alright then." Steve adjusted his hat. "Let's go."
-LineBreak
Steve took a deep breath. It had been awhile since his last visit to a Tappers game, and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. The circumstances were much different then, he told himself. This isn't going to turn out the same way.
The inside was just like Steve remembered. Dark, Damp, and smelly.
"Yuck," said Sargent Calhoun. "This is nothing like the Tappers at Game Central station."
"That's because this one sells real beer. The Tappers there sells Root Beer. Litwack's arcade did for a time have one that sold real beer too. I decided to go Turbo and take it down. I can't even tell you how many characters were going crazy because of that game and screwing up on the job."
"That's why you went Turbo!" said Calhoun. "Why didn't you tell Felix though?"
"Because Gene was right," said Steve. "I didn't think, and I almost put our entire game out of commission. Fortunately, I'm such a minor character, most people didn't even notice I was part of Fix-it Felix Jr. So kicking me out of the game wasn't to hard."
Calhoun stared at Steve for a minute. "So you got kicked out. Why did you come back?"
"Well," Steve took a big breath. "It turns out that after you've been homeless for about twenty-some years, you glitch away. Some game characters get a longer time, some less. I wanted to go back to my game, at least for a little while, because I was scared that was going to happen to me."
Calhoun raised her eyebrows. "Really?"
"It's not common knowledge, because video games haven't been around for much longer than that, but it's true. I've seen it happen," Steve said. "But I believe we were looking for my friend, not talking about my past."
"Sorry." Calhoun said.
"Ah. Here he is." Steve pointed to a boy with a red racing helmet with a red stripe. "Speedy," called Steve.
Speedy turned around. His face was a light shade of brown, and he had reddish hair. "Hullo..." muttered Speedy. "What time is it?"
Steve pulled Speedy towards the bathroom.
"Where are we going?" he muttered sleeply.
Steve reached the bathroom, turned on the sink, and started to splash water on Speedy's face.
"Hey..." muttered Speedy, glitching.
"Are you better now?" asked Steve.
Speedy's eyes lit up with recognition. "Hey, it's Slippery Steve! Still playing Rugby?"
"Yep. Nice to see you too, Speedy," Steve said.
"Have you found Jack?" asked Speedy hopefully.
"Nope," said Steve. "I know how much you need his help."
Speedy frowned. "But you said you wouldn't come back until you found him!"
"Plans change. I need your help," said Steve. He explained how Turbo had taken over Fix-it Felix Jr.
"So, you need my coding expertise," said Speedy.
"I'll go back to looking for Jack right after you help Felix. Please?" Steve begged. "I...I'm just not sure that there's enough time to find him."
Speedy nodded. "If you insist. Besides, you've helped me more times than I can count. I suppose it's time I pay you back a favor."
Steve broke into a huge grin. "Great! Let's get started then."