The next day was Ralph's weekly visit to Bad-Anon at the Pac-Man game. While the other villains were talking about "resisting violence," Ralph was not paying much attention.
"So, one day I'm minding my own business, and here comes Sonic. This blue pinball thinks it's okay to call me "Egghead" and "Robotnerd."
As Doctor Robotnik broke down crying, the other bad guys did their best to console him.
"Not only does it hurt, it's not even original." Robotnik wailed.
"So, what did you do, Ivo?" Clyde, the floating orange ghost, asked.
Robotnik sniffled. "I counted to ten, and did not use any of my weapons to kill him."
The fellow bad guys applauded Robotnik. It was Clyde who finally realized that Ralph was distracted.
"Ralph, is there something that you'd like to share with us?" Clyde asked.
Ralph shrugged. "Not particularly."
"Now Ralph, haven't we always said that if you bottle up your feelings that it will lead to rage. Remember, rage is a huge no-no outside of our games. So, tell us what is going on."
"Well..." Ralph sighed deeply. "I have this friend. It's not me, of course. Anyway, my friend's friend just told my friend that he and his wife want to have a baby and in order to do that, they have to...change their code."
Everyone looked at Ralph for a moment, and then began to shout and panic all at once. After awhile, Clyde got everyone to settle down.
"Ralph, we are all your brothers here..."
Clyde was cut off when the villainess Poison cleared her throat. All Clyde did was sigh and face Ralph again.
"We are all your brothers AND sisters here. That being said...ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY CRAZY?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL YOUR FRIEND THAT CHANGING CODES COULD LEAD TO COMPLETE DISASTER FOR THE ENTIRE ARCADE?!"
"I-I never said he was my friend. I said that he was a friend's friend."
"Oh come on, Ralph, we weren't all plugged in yesterday." Poison said. "Actually, to be perfectly honest, I was one of the first to come to this ar-"
"Oh shut up, Poison! If we wanted your opinion we'd ask for it." Clyde shouted as Poison began to pout.
"Listen guys, this is really what Felix wants to do."
"This is Felix Fix It's idea?" Robotnik asked. "I'm not surprised. He is not exactly a smart fellow. Once, at game station, he tells me that I should try to be friends with Sonic...I stuck his head in toilet."
"Was that why he was glitchy last week?" Ralph asked.
Robotnik shrugged. "It was a bad day."
"Ralph, you have got to stop Felix somehow." Clyde said calmly.
"I tried talking him out of it. What else am I suppose to do?"
Poison began to file her nails. "Report him to the Game Patrol."
There was gasps and murmurs amongst the villains.
"She's right, Ralph. There is no other choice, and it'll probably snap some sense into him."
"Clyde, you've seen what the GP does to anyone who breaks the rules of the arcade. I can't do that to Felix."
"Fine then, Ralph. Let him destroy the arcade and put us all in danger. Just remember, when we're all getting our plugs pulled, you were the one who caused it." Clyde said.
Ralph looked around the room, seeing looks of disgust and anger on the faces of the villains. It hurt him right down to his code to know that he was putting everyone in jeopardy by not stopping Felix; but how could he even think of doing that? When Ralph had tried to stop being the bad guy, who was it that tried to bring him back to his senses? Felix. Who had Felix asked to be his best man at his wedding? Ralph. No, he couldn't do this to his best friend, his only friend. But then what of the arcade? What of the hundreds of games that would be shut down? He could just imagine hundreds of characters filling Game Central Station, begging for something to eat to survive, even Vanellope...That spunky kid being reduced to begging.
"I'm taking a walk."
With that, Ralph stood and left the Pac-Man game. All of the villains were quiet for awhile, not sure what to say.
"Well, are we going to let them get away with this?" Robotnik asked.
"No." Clyde assured. "We may be bad guys, but we care about the arcade. I'll inform the Game Patrol."