Chapter Twenty

Gale's Punishment

The first thing Vanellope noticed about the homepage of Pickles was that it was completely empty. The force field was gone, and so were Gale and Mr. Morton. The only sign of movement was that of the dancing pickle on the wall.

Oh no, did they leave?

Cautiously, she crept further into the room, gazing about her on all sides. The other three doors were closed.

But Mr. Morton came out of the one in the back wall. Maybe he went through there again…

She opened the door in question and peered beyond it. A large room lay beyond, with more scattered blocks of text and pickle images adorning the walls, with a door in both the left and right walls. The back part of the room was cut off from the rest by a wall of energy with a greenish tint. Behind the wall, Vanellope could make out the limp form of a man lying on the ground.

She hurried forward, allowing the door to slam shut behind her. She reached the energy wall within moments. "Gale!" she cried. "Gale! Get up."

Gale groaned. Slowly, a pained expression on his face, he rose into a sitting position. His eyes widened as soon as he saw Vanellope.

"You came back?"

"Yeah, what happened to you?"

"You shouldn't have come back here," said Gale. "Mr. Morton'll be furious."

"Let him be mad," Vanellope replied. "I gotta tell you something."

"Dare I hope you can forgive me now?"

Vanellope lowered her head, unable to meet Gale's gaze any longer. "I'm the one who needs your forgiveness," she said.

"What?"

"I…I ran out on you. I've…never done that to anyone who apologized to me. I'm…sorry."

Gale shook his head. "It was probably as much as I deserved," he said. "But if it bothers you that much…then yes, I forgive you."

Vanellope sighed with relief. "Thank you," she said. She raised her head, her eyes meeting Gale's once more.

"And I forgive you," she said.

"You mean that?"

"Course I do."

Gale smiled ever so slightly. "That…means the world to me," he said. "Now go. Go before anyone sees you."

As Vanellope turned to leave, she heard Gale let out a pained groan. Abruptly, she turned back. "Are you hurt?" she asked.

"I told you to go," said Gale. "Mr. Morton might be back any minute."

"You sound like you're hurt," Vanellope said again.

"I said go."

"You're hiding something," said Vanellope. "I know you are. What happened to you?"

"It's not a sight for a child's eyes," said Gale.

"I've seen things no person should see," Vanellope replied. "Show me."

With visible reluctance, Gale lifted his shirt, revealing numerous jagged bleeding wounds.

Vanellope blanched. "What…"

Gale lowered his shirt. "I told you it wasn't a sight for a child's eyes," he said. "That's the work of iron wolf claws. Thank the developers it didn't happen to you."

"That's evil!"

"That's part of my punishment," said Gale. He coughed. "Not deep enough to kill me…but painful nonetheless." He groaned again. "Now…go."

"I'm not leaving you like this," said Vanellope. "Where's the switch to this force field? I've got to get you back to your game."

"I don't have a game."

Vanellope started. "But you said-"

"I said…I was from…an online…game," said Gale, forcing the words out. "But that game…no longer exists." He coughed yet again. "When Mr. Morton crashed what…was left of SANG…he wiped out every last…copy of my game. No one's cared enough…to put any more copies online."

"But that means if you die now…"

"That's it. I'll be gone forever…unless someone re-uploads my game from some device. But that'll be…a different Gale. A new one."

Vanellope stared, horrified.

"Go!" Gale urged once more. "I can already hear…him coming…again."

"No, I'm going to talk to him," said Vanellope. "Give him a piece of my mind."

"No, you idiot!" Gale cried. "You don't know him. You don't-"

The door to Vanellope's right opened. She turned to see Mr. Morton entering the room.

"Why Vanellope," he said, his voice full of surprise. "I thought you'd left. What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" said Vanellope.

"My job," Mr. Morton replied. "I'm giving this jerk what he deserves."

"You're torturing him," said Vanellope.

"Maybe I am," said Mr. Morton, shutting the door behind him, "but he deserves it. You never did."

"He doesn't deserve it," Vanellope retorted. "He's sorry now, and you've no right to hurt him like that."

Mr. Morton gave Vanellope a sympathetic smile. "Vanellope, I understand your confusion," he said. "I know you're under a lot of stress, too. But you must understand: when someone is as evil as Gale, he deserves to be punished accordingly. Surely you can see that?"

"No, I don't see it," said Vanellope. "All I see is a jerk who won't believe an apology."

Mr. Morton's smile vanished "Jerk?" he said. "How am I a jerk? He's the jerk. I'm the one saving you and your friends from him."

"We don't need to be saved from him anymore."

"Oh really?" Mr. Morton snorted. "Let me tell you a little something. If Gale were really sorry, he'd tell me where the rest of his old buddies from SANG's Ruling Council are hiding."

"I've…already told you, I don't…know where they are," said Gale. "I haven't seen…any of them…since I fled…from the old blog."

"I'll get the information from him sooner or later," said Mr. Morton. "Meantime Vanellope, I suggest you go back to your friends. I'm sure they're worried about you."

"I'm not going anywhere," said Vanellope. "Not until you let Gale go and promise not to hurt him anymore."

"I'll never let him go," said Mr. Morton. "And I won't stop torturing him until he tells me where the last two members of the Ruling Council are."

"Vanellope," Gale said. "Please believe me…I don't know where…they are."

"I believe you," Vanellope replied.

"Vanellope," said Mr. Morton, "please, go back to your friends."

"No."

"I'm warning you," said Mr. Morton, this time more sternly. "I'm on your side, but I don't have infinite patience."

"Let Gale go," said Vanellope.

"Alright, Vanellope," said Mr. Morton. "I've tried being nice, but you're clearly too stubborn for your own good."

Before Vanellope could blink twice, Mr. Morton had her pinioned in his arms.

"Let me go!" she cried. She tried to glitch out of his reach, but he held on all the more tightly, ignoring the resulting shocks to his body. He then threw a switch on the wall, deactivating the force field, and dropped her next to Gale.

"I'll just have to keep you here until I can find your friends again," said Mr. Morton as he re-activated the field. "I'll track them down -I know every nook and cranny of this part of the web- and then I'll deliver you to them safe and sound."

Vanellope rose to her feet and glared at Mr. Morton.

"Don't be too angry at me," said Mr. Morton. "Give it a few days and I'm sure you'll come to understand."

Vanellope could only watch as her captor left the room for the main page.