Chapter Twenty-Three

The Darkest Corner of the Web

The room in which Vanellope found herself was dimly lit, with translucent, half-formed walls and irregularly shaped openings where the doors would normally have been. The light extended only as far as the openings themselves; beyond those, she could see nothing but blackness. There were no images, no lines of text, no signs of decoration at all. She could not hear any noise, save the sound of her own breathing.

There was the cold, however. It swept over her like a blast of air from an open freezer, seeping into her flesh, chilling her to her very coding. She shuddered.

Best keep moving; easiest way to keep warm.

Gingerly, she began to move towards the nearest of the openings. Her breathing became more rapid as she approached it, until she began to feel as though a panic attack was about to come on.

Stop it, Vanellope. You can be afraid, but you've got to keep going.

She started to move forward once more, only to pause in mid-stride when she heard a familiar voice calling her name.

"Ralph?" She turned to see her friend hurrying towards her from the direction of the portal.

"Vanellope," said Ralph, coming to a stop before her. "Thank goodness you're alright. We'd better stay together. If he turns into one of us, we won't be fooled."

At this warning, Vanellope hesitated. "Ralph?" she asked. "Is that really you?"

"Of course it's me," said Ralph. "I just came out of the portal."

Vanellope still hesitated.

"I know what you're thinking," Ralph continued. "But don't worry- it's really me." He held out his hand. Cautiously, Vanellope took it.

"See?" said Ralph. "Same old grubby paw. It's me."

Vanellope couldn't help but smile at the remark. "Yeah," she said. "Same old dirt."

"You believe me now?"

Vanellope leaped onto Ralph's shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her, giving her the same familiar embrace he had many times before. "Now I do," she said, glitching back onto the ground.

"Glad to hear it," said Ralph. "Now stay with me. We'd better stick together here."

Vanellope turned back towards the opening she had been preparing to enter. She stared for several moments, and then rubbed her eyes.

Is that…?

She raced through the opening.

"Hey, wait up!" she heard Ralph cry behind her.

"Ralphie, come on!" Vanellope called back. "He's this way."

She continued running, glitching several times as she continued on down various twists and turns. Suddenly, she stopped.

Where am I?

She glanced around. The room she was in was even more dimly lit than the one she had been in when she had first passed through the portal; she could only see a few feet ahead in any direction.

"Ralph?" Her voice was tentative, nervous.

"Ralph? Where are you?" There was no response.

"Hey, Stinkbrain, where'd you go?"

She felt the same blast of frigid air once more. She wrapped her arms tightly about herself, but it was no use- she couldn't stop herself from shivering violently.

"R-Ra-Ralph?" she said through chattering teeth. Again, there was no response.

Still shivering, Vanellope sat down on the ground. She tucked her knees under her chin and wrapped her arms even more tightly around her body.

"So…cold…"

She heard pounding footsteps: where from, she wasn't sure, for she had lost all clear sense of direction.

"Huh?"

Ralph emerged beside her, panting hard.

"I told you to stay with me," he said. "You know I can't keep up when you run that fast."

"Ralph," said Vanellope. "I'm so…cold."

Ralph scooped her up in his arms. "Here," he said. "Relax now. You're safe with me."

Vanellope closed her eyes, allowing her friend's body heat to warm her.

"Don't worry me like that again," she heard Ralph say. She snuggled against his shoulder, her eyes still closed.

Several pricks against her back jolted her eyes open. She felt curved, sharpened objects clawing down her back. The pain came quickly- acute, stinging. With a cry, she tumbled to the ground.

"Iron-wolf claws," said Darien, holding up an armored fist with a claw at each fingertip. "You won't die from so few stripes. But you'll be in severe pain for some time. Perhaps this'll finally teach you not to interfere with justice."

Vanellope had landed on her side. At the sound of Darien's voice, she tried to raise herself on one hand. The effort made her wince; she only caught the briefest glimpse of his face before she fell back to the ground.

"Good-bye for now, Vanellope," said Darien. "I've got to settle with your other friends at the moment." He rose into the air and floated away.

Vanellope tried to rise once more. She managed to drag herself to the nearest wall, but her effort to stand up proved a failure. She landed on her back, which only increased the pain. She felt the blood trickling down her back.

She shivered.

The first thing Gene saw when he emerged from the portal was Vanellope.

"Hey Gene!" she cried, as soon as she saw him. "What're you doing here?"

"Have you found Darien yet?" he asked.

"I've been walking in circles here," Vanellope replied. "This place is a maze." She shivered. "Cold, too."

"Now that you mention it," said Gene, "it is cold."

Vanellope ran towards him. "Better stick with me, chump," she said. "We've got a villain to catch."

Gene blinked. "Stick with…? When did you get so cooperative?"

"Since I learned not to rush into things too soon," Vanellope replied.

Gene frowned.

"Okay, fine, I ran in here impulsively. Whatever, man. But let's get going."

"Hold a second," said Gene. "Vanellope, I want you to glitch."

"What?"

"Just glitch for me, will you?"

"Why?"

"Okay, Darien," said Gene, raising his laser pistol. "Game's up."

"Well," said Darien, shifting back to his true form, "it was worth a go."

"You can't adopt a character's powers when you transform, can you?"

"Not Vanellope's glitching. She wasn't designed to be able to do that."

Gene trained the barrel of his pistol on Darien.

"Gene, Gene," said Darien, smiling. "You wouldn't mar my suit, would you? You're a man of taste- you must like it."

Gene fired. Darien simply floated out of the way. The laser blast ricocheted off of the half formed walls, forcing Gene to hop out of its path several times. It finally dissipated against the floor after about a minute.

Gene glanced about the room. Darien had vanished.

So much for the gun.

Ralph hurried forward as quickly as he could, following the sound of Vanellope's voice and movements. After a while, the sounds faded away, leaving him with no clue, no sign of which way to go.

"Vanellope?" he called. "Vanellope?"

As he entered the next room, he spotted a small form laying face up on the floor. "Vanellope?"

Vanellope stirred. She turned her head. Her eyes widened. "Get away!" she gasped.

"Vanellope? It's me. It's Ralph."

Vanellope rolled over onto her side, and then onto her stomach.

"Hey," said Ralph. "What's the matter?"

"Get away!" she shrieked, trying desperately to crawl away from him. "Get away, Darien."

"But I'm not Darien," said Ralph. "Don't you recognize me?"

"You're not…f-fooling m-m-me ag-g-gain!"

"You cold or something?"

"Go…away- agh!"

Vanellope stopped crawling. Her head sank down again, her arms tucked under her chest.

Slowly, Ralph crept closer. He knelt down beside his friend. That was when he saw the blood.

Ralph gritted his teeth. What did he do?

"So," said a familiar voice, "none of you will learn."

Ralph stood up. He turned, fixing Darien with his fiercest glare.

"I didn't kill her," said Darien. "I don't want to kill her. I don't want to kill any of you."

Behind Ralph, Vanellope began to rise to her knees. She steadied herself against the wall, so she could take in the situation. "Ralph?"

"Yep," said Ralph, not turning away from Darien, "it's me."

"I never thanked you properly for taking care of my sister," said Darien. "I suppose I should; she became quite a menace to society." He frowned. "Yet it's one of those funny feelings that I've got. I should feel sad. She was my sister. But all I can feel is regret that I didn't watch her die."

"Then you're as evil as she was," Ralph retorted.

"Oh really?" said Darien. "Is that all you can call me? Evil? Who's prevented SANG from rising again so far? I have. Who's finishing the job so that they never will? I am."

"And look how you've done it," said Ralph. "I don't want SANG coming back any more than you do. But your methods have stained whatever good intent you had."

"That does it!" Darien cried. Swiftly, he levitated into the air and swooped towards Ralph. Before the wrecker could react, Darien raked him several times across the body and face with his clawed gauntlets.

"I've had enough of you!" Darien snarled, punctuating every word with a blow. "You'll never learn anything. You're hopeless!"

Ralph backed up, desperate to escape the savage blows. He soon found himself against the wall. Darien pressed in closer, claws at the ready.

"I could do this all day," said Darien, "but I'm not one to waste time. Goodbye, Ralph."

"No!" Vanellope cried. She tried to climb to her feet, but she couldn't muster enough strength. Darien raised his gauntlets for another strike.

A small form darted quickly into the space between Ralph and Darien. There was a flash of metal. And then Darien lowered his hands. He dropped to the floor, barely managing to keep his feet. Slowly, his eyes strayed downwards towards the knife in his breast.

"I do like your suit," said Gene. "I don't like you."

Darien glared at the three arcade characters. "If…SANG…ever rises…again…be it on your own heads!"

So saying, he drew the dagger from his breast. With a defiant flourish, he tossed it at Gene's feet. Then, he collapsed onto the ground.

Gene picked up the dagger. He then hopped towards the still form of Darien and examined it. "Stone dead," he said after a moment. He turned back to Ralph. "Just in time, I guess."

"You sure were," said Ralph.

"Oh, Ralph," said Gene. "Are you badly hurt?"

"Not too badly," said Ralph. "I can take a ton of damage, you know."

"And Vanellope?"

Carefully, Ralph scooped up Vanellope in his arms.

"Follow me," said Gene. "I know the way out from here. We'll see Sergeant Calhoun about treating your all's wounds."