Filling in the Empty Spots
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Chapter 12: The President's Legacy
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The six of them stood in the President's office: Felix, Calhoun, Sour Bill, the officiant, Ralph, and President Vanellope. "This won't be just a wedding," said Vanellope. "I have a few awards to bestow as well."
Sour Bill sighed heavily. "Fix-It Felix, Junior. Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun. Step forward," he said with all the enthusiasm of a man being held at gunpoint.
The two, married but a couple of weeks themselves, did so without questioning but wondering why.
Sour Bill brought out two presentation boxes and held them forth to the president.
Vanellope opened the first, revealing a large golden badge—the royal crest of Sugar Rush gripped defensively in the paws of a lion. She pinned it to Calhoun's chest, just below the couple of medals on her dress uniform. The second box held an identical badge, which she pinned to Felix's chest. "You two are now knights of the Kingdom of Sugar Rush. It is your duty to protect the von Schweetz family and the citizenry both in times of calm and times of crisis. You've both already demonstrated that you are willing to do this unselfishly."
She kissed each on the forehead.
"I know it's not much considering what you did for this game, and how much you risked, but it's the highest honor I can give...except of course for the one I'm going to give Ralph."
And with that she walked toward the officiant standing waiting near the window, picking up a little bouquet of flowers from her desk on the way. Taking her place before him she turned, smiled, and beckoned to Ralph.
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While the ball continued outside, Princess Vanellope stood before her desk at the end of the large, quiet room. Sour Bill had been sent off to find something to drink for them. "Now what's this about, Mr. Fix-It? Or is it Sir Felix? How is it that you are you a knight of Sugar Rush? I've never knighted anyone."
"You didn't, but you had a predecessor."
"A predecessor? What do you mean."
"You're the second Princess Vanellope. There was another before you."
She blinked at him. "I've been the only Princess here, and that's since two and a half years ago, when Sugar Rush was plugged in."
Felix shook his head. "No. Sugar Rush was plugged in long ago, back in 1997. Haven't you ever wondered why your graphics engine isn't quite as modern as one would expect?"
She paused, definitely thinking. "No...I guess I haven't. I just accepted everything."
"You accepted everything you were told."
She nodded somewhat sheepishly.
At the end of the hall, the doors opened and Ralph, Jubileena, and Calhoun entered. They approached the desk area. "Have a seat everyone. This is going to be a long night," said Felix.
Calhoun slumped easily into one of the chairs and slipped off her high-heeled shoes.
Ralph looked around, and then spotted what he was looking for. He walked to the side aisle of the room and tugged a strangely large chair out from the shadows into the sitting area, pulling it up next to the much standard size chair that Jubileena had taken. Like Calhoun, he kicked off his shoes and wiggled his toes inside of his socks.
The princess went around to behind her desk and hopped up into her chair there.
Seeing that they were all seated, Felix began again. "Now, I've just told you that you are not the first Princess Vanellope."
"Yes, as you apparently claim. And this first one is the one who knighted you?"
"Yes. And my wife as well," he said, gesturing to Calhoun.
Sgt. Calhoun hitched up her long skirt fairly high, revealing that between her stockings and slip a large pistol was strapped to her right thigh, and to its holster was pinned a badge identical to the one inside of Felix's jacket.
"What, only one gun?" Felix asked, half-teasing and half-surprised.
"I wasn't expecting much trouble tonight, Mr. Sergeant," she grinned back at him.
"So, and perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself, but what happened to this other Princess?"
Felix's confident expression suddenly melted into sorrow. "She died outside of Sugar Rush, and so could not regenerate here." Felix put his hand on the desk but his gaze fell to the floor. "The four of us were very close—Vanellope, myself, Tamora, and Ralph. We were always hanging out together, going places, other games. Vanellope, like yourself, loved racing. The faster and more powerful the car the bigger the thrill for her."
Felix paused as he collected his thoughts. The others all swallowed, knowing what was coming next. "She started racing in Formula One Xtreme after hours. She loved the tracks and the cars and the racers there. But one night...one night there was an accident. A bad one. She didn't make it. She died in Ralph's arms as he was trying to get her back to Sugar Rush."
Ralph turned his head to the side, his hand coming up to cover his eyes.
Jubileena reached over and put her hand atop her husband's other arm lying against the side of his chair.
"How tragic!" gasped Vanellope, taken aback.
"They always warn us that if you die outside of your game, you don't regenerate. But your character doesn't disappear. Just the character that held those memories is gone and a new one appears. You replaced her—a brand new von Schweetz princess to take over her duties."
"But then why not tell me?" she questioned, a touch of frustration in her voice. "Why would you all decide not to tell me that there had been another Princess Vanellope?"
"It was the vote of the citizenry." Felix approached her desk rather timidly. "There were some painful and somewhat embarrassing memories attached to the previous princess. I think that besides sparing you the details of your predecessor's traumatic life, there was the thought of simply wiping the slate clean of a rather awkward time in the history of your game. Tabula Rasa."
Ralph's thoughts immediately went back to the attack in the junkyard the day of the incident, where he had witnessed first hand the oppression King Candy had encouraged in the others. And from what Vanellope had said later, it was obvious that the confrontation had been just one of many unfortunate moments in her life.
The princess' brow furrowed. "What happened here in Sugar Rush that was so bad, that everyone would want to forget it?"
"There was a character from another game...who came to Sugar Rush."
Felix, aided by the other three, went on to explain the story of Turbo and his takeover of the candy kingdom, and how his reign had ended that fateful day in the arcade.
Princess Vanellope listened with amazement to hear of her predecessor's dreadful experience. First she sat in her chair, and then she sat on her desk, and then she simply paced the salon. The information was nearly too much to bear. "I thought that I was the first...that two and a half years ago our game was plugged in and everything was as it should be. I had no idea that this had all happened. And how awful!"
"We still ask ourselves if it really happened. It was all like some crazy dream."
"And so President Vanellope, my predecessor, knighted you for rescuing the kingdom from this Cy-Bug menace. And Ralph was knighted as well?" she asked, looking to him.
"Yes," said Ralph at the same time Felix said "No."
"Yes. She knighted me as well," said Ralph, glaring at Felix.
The two men locked eyes.
Felix's hand clenched into a fist. He hated to continue the deception. "Ralph, we've gone this far. We might as well complete the journey," he explained. "But, then again, your word holds more weight than mine, so if you feel otherwise..." He bowed slightly in deference.
The former wrecker sighed as if his heart would break, and then he glanced momentarily at Jubileena. "I've not even told her," he said to the others. And unlike Felix and Calhoun, he had been in favor of hiding the past from the new princess.
"Ralph. If you don't want me to know, I'll leave. I trust you," said Jubileena timidly.
He smiled down at her, and before he realized it, a tear had rolled out of one eye. "I still say they used too much sugar when they made you." And then he looked at Felix, and then at his wife, and then at the princess. "All right. If we're going to knock down all the walls tonight, then so be it."
"Maybe you should go get the casket first," suggested Calhoun. "This part will be a lot easier to explain with it."
"Yes, I suppose it would." Ralph turned again to his wife. "How fast can you drive home?"
"As fast as you want."
"We'll be back," he said to the others.
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Filling in the Empty Spots continues in:
Chapter 13: A Heavy Crown
Chapter 14: The Final Secret
Chapter 15: Filling in the Empty Spots Commentary
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Wreck-It Ralph and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Walt Disney Pictures. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.