More weeks passed. Perry and Hadrig had visited Vanellope a few times, and met Ralph, Felix, Tamora, and many others the first time as well. Same with Humblecore, and Flip and the praying mantises visited their new friends a few times as well. Ralph was grateful to Perry and Humblecore for the potion, and especially grateful to Perry for saving Vanellope's life. Vanellope remembered to tell Ralph and her friends specifically how she and Perry met after the potion became permanent, not having done so before because she had her mind on hoping that Ralph would return her feelings
One day Felix and Ralph were doing their job as usual, when Mr. Litwak appeared near their game with the Owner's Manual for Sugar Rush. Mr. Litwak had a confused look, which caused Moppet Girl to approach him.
"Is everything okay Mr. Litwak?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'm just wondering what happened to King Candy." Mr. Litwak explained. "First he was a racer, which he wasn't supposed to be, and then he disappears completely."
Felix and Ralph continued through their 'not being played' motions, but listened in.
"What was he?" Moppet Girl asked.
"He was the referee, he called the start of the race and then waved the checkered flag for the winner. I know that marshmallow guy somehow became the referee, but King Candy is supposed to be the real one." Mr. Litwak explained. "I just can't figure out what happened to him. Oh well, whatever caused his disappearance didn't seem to mess up Sugar Rush so I suppose I should just let it go."
All the Nicelanders were stunned, Ralph and Felix most of all. King Candy is supposed to be a real character?
After the arcade closed Ralph and Felix went over to Hero's Duty to tell Tamora what they heard.
"You mean to tell me that that crazed-candy-king is supposed to be a real character?" Tamora couldn't believe it.
"Well that's what Mr. Litwak said, and he was looking at the Owner's Manual for Sugar Rush at the time." Felix shrugged.
"Sounds like Turbo got rid of him and took his place or something." Tamora shrugged.
"Either way, I have to tell Vanellope." Ralph said. "You two go enjoy yourselves, Vanellope and I will tell you what we've learned later."
"Okay." Felix sighed. "I just hope it has a happy ending."
"Me too, I'd hate for Vanellope to get hurt." Ralph sighed.
Ralph then headed for Sugar Rush and sought out Vanellope. Not hard, considering the Racers normally were around the track every time the arcade closed. Sure enough Vanellope was there with the other Racers.
"Vanellope?" Ralph said.
"Hey Stink-" Vanellope's smile faded when she saw his expression. "What's wrong?"
"The other Nicelanders and I found out something weird from Mr. Litwak earlier today." Ralph explained.
"What is it?" Candlehead asked.
"King Candy is a real character." Ralph said.
Vanellope and the other Racers looked upset, Vanellope most of all. Not surprising considering Turbo's version of King Candy and the way he treated her was going through her mind right now.
"W-what?" Vanellope said with distress. "Are you sure?"
"Well according to Mr. Litwak King Candy was the referee so yeah." Ralph shrugged awkwardly.
Vanellope started to sob a little.
"This can't be true..." She said. "I mean I'm the real ruler, that is I did gain a princess dress when the game reset..."
"Van easy." Ralph said. "Whoever the real King Candy is I'm sure he's nothing like Turbo. And I think I know just the person who can explain things: Sour Bill."
"Really?" Vanellope started to calm down.
"He was the one who told me how to reset the game." Ralph nodded. "Granted, he was loyal to Turbo's version of King Candy at the time so I did have to torture him a bit, but he told me."
"All right." Vanellope sighed.
"The rest of you stay here, I think it'll be easier to get answers from Sour Bill if it's just me and Van." Ralph said to the other Racers.
"Right." Taffyta nodded.
Ralph and Vanellope headed for the castle and searched for Sour Bill. Since he wasn't in the main rooms they decided to check his bedroom. When they got there they heard crying.
"Sour Bill?" Vanellope knocked then entered. "Are you okay?"
Sour Bill quickly hid something in his nightstand drawer.
"Yeah. Sorry was going through a bad memory." Sour Bill said awkwardly. "What brings you here, I thought the two of you were going on another double-date with Felix and Calhoun."
"We found something out that changed plans." Ralph explained. "Sour Bill, who was King Candy? The real one who was the referee I mean."
Sour Bill dropped his mouth open.
"How did you find out?" He asked.
"Mr. Litwak, he was looking through the Owner's Manual for this game and was wondering where King Candy went." Ralph explained.
"Great, everytime you find out a truth it's because of something you see or hear outside the game." Sour Bill sighed. "And then you come to me...don't lick me!"
"Relax, I'm not gonna lick you this time." Ralph smirked. "Because I know that this time I won't have to."
"True." Sour Bill sighed.
"Wait a minute, you knew the truth about King Candy this whole time?" Vanellope realized with shock.
"Not long after our memories returned." Sour Bill confirmed. "Still not sure why all of my memories came back quicker than the rest of yours, but I've been thinking that it's because my role in the game never changed while your role and the other Racers' roles had been altered."
"Probably." Ralph shrugged. "So, who was the real King Candy?"
"King Candiel, actually, that's his real first name." Sour Bill said. "I guess Turbo just preferred simpler names."
"What's King Candiel's full name?" Vanellop crossed her arms.
Sour Bill cringed.
"King Candiel...Von Schweetz." He said.
Ralph and Vanellope dropped their mouths open and even paled a little. Vanellope most of all.
"W-what?" Ralph said. "But that would mean..."
"He's Vanellope's father." Sour Bill admitted, taking out what he had hidden in the drawer: it was a photo of him, a younger Princess Vanellope, and the real King Candiel.
Vanellope had to sit on Sour Bill's bed, and her eyes glazed over. She started hyperventilating, causing Ralph to hug her tightly. Not too tightly of course.
"Van, easy, come on." Ralph said gently, not wanting her to hurt herself in any way.
"M-my father?" Vanellope finally squeaked out. "My father? I had a father this whole time and you never told me?" She started to cry. "Why...what happened to him...?"
"What happened to him is why I never told you." Sour Bill sighed. "You see...I think Turbo killed him."
Vanellope's tears came faster.
"I never told you because you didn't seem to remember him. You never asked me about him until now anyway." Sour Bill looked away ashamed. "I didn't want to upset you."
Obviously this backfired big time, for Vanellope was more than upset. Actually, she seemed a bit traumatized.
"Did you actually see Turbo kill King Candiel?" Ralph asked, still hugging Vanellope.
"Well no, I just saw Turbo take him out of the throne room. I don't know what happened to him after that." Sour Bill shrugged. "However King Candiel was never seen again, not even after the game was reset, so I didn't know what else to think."
"What really happened?" Ralph asked.
Sour Bill began the story:
King Candiel was playing with Vanellope when Turbo first showed up. This wasn't too long after Sugar Rush had first been plugged in. Sour Bill approached King Candiel.
"Sire, a racer named Turbo wants to see you." He said.
King Candiel frowned. When they were first plugged in he and the racers decided to visit Game Central Station before they were played. It was a good thing, for they ended up learning about Turbo. So, King Candiel knew that Turbo was most likely not in a good mood.
"Vanellope, honey, go into the next room while I see to our guest." King Candiel said.
"Okay daddy." Vanellope smiled before skipping into the next room.
Turbo was shown in...and produced a sword!
"Hey!" King Candiel quickly unsheathed his own sword. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Thith is a takeover!" Turbo declared. "I'm going to be the next ruler of Thurgar Rush!"
"That's what you think!" King Candiel glared.
They sword fought until Turbo won. His sword being real metal and King Candiel's sword being candy mostly had to do with it. Turbo pinned King Candiel to the floor.
"I could kill you, but you'd regenerate anyway." Turbo pointed his sword at King Candiel's heart.
"I'll never let you take over Sugar Rush." King Candiel glared.
"I know that too...but what about your daughter?" Turbo grinned evilly. "I could harm her inthtead...she's the real ruler anyway..."
"No!" King Candiel's defiant look was replaced with one of horror.
You're probably wondering where Sour Bill was now. Well he was in the same room as Vanellope and was watching the whole thing through the door. He didn't know what to do, he knew nothing about fighting.
"Please, don't hurt her." King Candiel pleaded.
"Well I have no choithe." Turbo shrugged, going over to where he had seen Vanellope leave (Sour Bill had left the front door open a crack).
"Wait!" King Candiel got onto his knees; he hung his head regretfully. "You can rule Sugar Rush. You can have my crown, you can even kill me, just don't harm her. Please spare her, I'll surrender if you promise not to harm her."
Turbo smirked.
"Very well, not even a cut or a hit." Turbo promised. "Let'th go."
"Hold on, just...just let me say goodbye first." King Candiel shed a tear.
"All right." Turbo shrugged.
King Candiel sadly walked into the room Vanellope had gone into. The look on her face indicated that she overheard everything. Sour Bill also looked at King Candiel sadly.
"Daddy, please don't do this." She sobbed.
"I'm sorry Vanellope, but I can't let you get hurt no matter what." King Candiel hugged her. "I love you."
"I love you too daddy." Vanellope hugged him back.
"Listen." King Candiel then whispered. "I don't trust Turbo. Once I leave the room teleport back into your room and put on your play clothes. Then you must teleport very far away from here. Close to Diet Cola Mountain even, there's a secret entrance. You'll be safe there."
"Okay." Vanellope wiped a tear. "I'll miss you daddy."
"I'll miss you too, so much. Remember: you'll always be my sugar cookie." King Candiel kissed her forehead and left.
Vanellope teleported away. Sour Bill went back to the door and watch as King Candiel let Turbo take him somewhere. He hesitated, not being a fighter, but then ran after them. However by the time he found Turbo he was already in the Code Room and was looking like King Candiel. Sour Bill knew it was Turbo and not King Candiel because of the height and shape of head difference. He watched as Turbo tried to delete Vanellope's code, and almost protested only for Turbo to lock up everyone's memories.
"I remembered 'King Candy' trying to delete Vanellope's code and his locking up the memories because I saw Vanellope's code floating away and the trunk that contained the memories." Sour Bill finished. "Frightened, and now not knowing what to do, I ran away. All I remembered was that I'm loyal to both the current ruler and King Candiel, which had been combined into one when Turbo took over. And I only remembered my loyalty because it's in my code."
Ralph and Vanellope were stunned by the story. By this point Vanellope had calmed down enough to not need Ralph's hugs.
"Well, at least the real King Candiel was selfless and cared about you." Ralph rubbed the back of his head awkwardly to Vanellope.
"Sugar cookie..." Vanellope said to herself.
"That was his nickname for you." Sour Bill nodded.
Vanellope suddenly winced as she put a hand to her head. Then she got a shocked look.
"I remember him...kinda..." She said. "I think...I think I even used to have dreams about him..."
"Don't you remember any of your dreams?" Sour Bill asked.
"No, when I first became a glitch I started getting a lot of nightmares." Vanellope shook her head. "They got so bad that eventually I trained myself to forget all my nightmares...I think it extended to my dreams too."
"I don't blame you Van, I saw how the other Racers used to treat you and that was already too much." Ralph put a hand on her shoulder. "So 'teleport' is the real name of Vanellope's ability?"
"Yeah." Sour Bill nodded. "She liked calling it 'glitch' instead so I never bothered to correct her."
Ralph thought for a moment.
"You know, I'll bet King Candiel is still alive." He said.
"Why do you think that?" Sour Bill asked.
"Because King Candiel was never a real threat." Ralph said. "It was Vanellope who was the threat since she's the best racer and also the real ruler. Turbo could've destroyed her code completely, but since he couldn't he made her an outcast instead. It's already obvious that he found some loopholes in his promise to not harm her, after all the Racers did use to harm her and he did lock her up in the fungeon. I mean it's not like he promised to keep the other Racers from harming her or to not harm her emotionally. And destroying her code technically wouldn't be harming her, at least not like 'a cut or a hit' as he promised. Then after I came along and started to ruin everything for Turbo, he still didn't destroy her code. He just locked her up."
"This is true..." Vanellope had to admit.
"Besides, it would be tricky for Turbo to take King Candiel outside the game to kill him. There was too big a risk of being spotted by another character." Ralph added. "And he certainly didn't destroy King Candiel's code since he needed it for his disguise. I bet...I bet King Candiel is somewhere in the dungeons."
"I haven't been in the dungeons for years..." Sour Bill admitted.
"Then it's settled, Vanellope and I will search the dungeons for him." Ralph decided.
"What...me...?" Vanellope hesitated.
"Don't worry, I'll tell him our story before letting him see you." Ralph reassured her. "And I think seeing your father as soon as possible will help restore more of your memories."
"Well...okay." Vanellope gave in.
So Ralph and Vanellope slowly went through the dungeons, looking in each prison for a sign of King Candiel. Then they heard crying.
"Uh, I'd better check it out first." Ralph whispered.
Vanellope nodded, so Ralph headed towards the crying and looked into the prison it was coming from. There he saw someone crying who resembled King Candy, though it was hard to tell due to the bars and the fact that the person had his head in his hands.
"Hello?" Ralph said.
The person gave a startled yelp and backed away.
"It's okay, I'm here to free you." Ralph said. "Stand back."
Ralph broke through the door and part of the wall. Now he could see the person clearly.
It was King Candiel all right, he looked almost exactly like Turbo's version of King Candy. There were only two major differences: King Candiel was quite a bit taller and didn't have as large a head.
"You're King Candiel aren't you?" Ralph guessed.
"Yes..." The person frowned with confusion before getting a look of recognition. "Wait a minute, I think I've seen you before...and the way you destroyed the wall..." He thought for a moment. "Are you from Fix-It-Felix Jr?"
"That's me." Ralph smiled. "The name is Wreck-It-Ralph but my friends call me Ralph."
"So what happened to Turbo? I know he's been defeated since I don't look like him anymore." King Candiel said. "Not long after he locked me up in here I started to look like a taller version of him. I think he combined his code with mine and had us switch appearances."
"I think so too, he did look like you before his true identity was revealed." Ralph nodded. "Except he was shorter of course, and had a bigger head...though that was obviously because of his helmet."
"Yeah..." King Candiel scowled. "Man, using my image to tyrannically rule over my subjects...I've got a feeling I'm not going to get a warm reception."
"Don't worry, Sour Bill and I will help with that."
"Sour Bill?" King Candiel then smiled. "My old friend...glad he remembers me. I think everyone else forgot me."
"Yeah their memories are still slowly returning." Ralph nodded. "Including Vanellope's."
"Vanellope?" King Candiel gasped. "My daughter...she's still alive? I thought Turbo would've broken his promise and killed her by now."
"Yeah, she's still alive." Ralph nodded. "She just, uh, looks different now."
King Candiel started to shed tears of joy anyway.
"I don't care what she looks like as long as she's alive and has the same sweet heart I remember." He said. "My memories were the only ones Turbo didn't tamper with. He even later tossed in all these old photo albums." He pointed to some albums on the floor. "I think he was mocking me with the memories of what I had lost. Where is my daughter? I really want to see her again."
"Hold on, I'd better explain what happened before you see her." Ralph raised a hand.
King Candiel agreed, so Ralph told him the story of how he tried to get a medal in order to earn more respect in his game. He continued until he reached the final showdown with Turbo and Vanellope resetting the game. King Candiel was disgusted with how Turbo had acted, and was glad that Vanellope had been restored to her rightful place. Ralph then told King Candiel about Turbo's return as a Cy-Bug hybrid, and how it led to Vanellope falling in love with him.
"She wanted to be with me but didn't want me to become an outcast again, so she found a game with wizards in it." Ralph finished. "She took this aging potion the game had, but it only lasts a month unless the drinker proves that his or her reason for taking the potion is a good one. At the end of the month I finally realized my feelings for Vanellope, with some help from some friends of mine, and kissed her since I found it hard to tell her. It made her adult form permanent, and we've been together ever since."
"Well, considering all that you've done for Vanellope I have to say I approve of this relationship." King Candiel smiled. "Thank you Ralph, thank you for everything. Now, can I please see her again? I've missed her so much..."
"One sec." Ralph left to where Vanellope was waiting. "Come on Van."
Vanellope hesitantly entered her father's field of vision.
"Vanellope." King Candiel sobbed with joy. "You really are alive...and you're now as beautiful as your mother was."
"My mother?" Vanellope was shocked again.
"Oh she was never a real character, just a backstory one." King Candiel explained. "According to the backstory she died giving birth to you."
"Oh." Vanellope shrugged.
King Candiel then looked sad. No joyous greetings or hugs or anything. He knew that Vanellope was still having a hard time remembering him, and that Turbo having masqueraded as him wasn't helping matters.
"Vanellope, I understand why you're hesitant to accept me back into your life." King Candiel sighed. "I know your memories are still returning, and I can wait for you. Knowing that you're alive and happy, kid or adult, is good enough for me. I'm also proud of you, instead of wanting total power over our subjects you decided to let them have a say in who leads them."
"Oh don't get me wrong, I am glad to have my father back...I just don't remember you that well." Vanellope hung her head. "So I'm going to need time to get used to you."
"I understand completely." King Candiel smiled sadly. "Just remember: no matter what happens to either of us, you'll always be my Sugar Cookie."
Vanellope's eyes widened and she gasped slightly. Suddenly she was having a rush of memories of her younger self happily being with King Candiel. Her father.
"Good-night my little sugar cookie." King Candiel smiled as he tucked her into bed.
"Hey come back here Sugar Cookie!" King Candiel laughed as he chased her.
"I know you'll be the best racer ever." King Candiel hugged her in front of her original kart. "Go get 'em Sugar Cookie!"
"I'll miss you daddy." Younger Vanellope said.
"I'll miss you too, so much. Just remember: you'll always be my sugar cookie." King Candiel kissed her forehead and started to leave.
Vanellope started to cry.
"Daddy?" She sobbed.
King Candiel looked at her with happy surprise. Ralph looked happy too.
"Vanellope?" King Candiel said hopefully.
Vanelope suddenly hugged him.
"Daddy!" She sobbed joyfully. "Oh I've missed you so much. Deep down I mean."
"I've missed you so much too." King Candiel sobbed with joy too. "I thought I'd never see you again. And now look at you, like I said before you're as beautiful as your mother was. You know she was a lot like you too, full of energy and kind to everyone. She also had an interesting sense of humor, but then again so do I." He laughed. "She wasn't really into racing though, you got your love of racing from me. I always loved racing, even after I retired and passed the crown onto you. Not literally but...well you know what I mean."
"That's right Turbo said that Vanellope was the real ruler...you mean you passed your crown down onto a kid?" Ralph frowned with confusion. "Not that I have anything against it, I just never heard of such a thing before."
"It's the ways of our kingdom." King Candiel shrugged. "Each ruler starts ruling when he or she is six and then passes the crown down onto his or her first child when that child turns six. Our kingdom is a land of mostly children and sweets after all, not really an adult's sort of kingdom when you think about it."
"Yeah, I get what you mean." Ralph nodded. "Well, I think it's time we got you out of here."
"I'm with you, I got sick of this place over a decade ago." King Candiel agreed.