THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEWS AND ENCOURAGEMENT TO ADD MORE TO MY STORY. THIS CHAPTER HAS A LITTLE SURPISE AT THE END. THANKS TO THE STORY FAN WHO ASSISTED IN THIS STORY.

I don't own Wreck-it Ralph or any of the games mentioned.

GAMER GIRL TROUBLE

Everyone waited for something to be said. It was the most awkward situation any of them had been in and most unexpected. Eyes shifted and silence continued until all that could be said was, "How?" asked by Roxus.

Vanellope struggled to look Roxus in the eye. She knew what to say, it was just that she was afraid of what he would say or do or act in response to her confession, "I... I..." she stuttered finding it the most difficult thing to do to just tell what she has been waiting to tell him.

Ralph came up to Vanellope and placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a warm supportive smile and nodded, "I'm here kid."

Flannery was impressed. "Wow... talk about loyalty." She admired that some bad guy from a different game could be so supportive to a child from another game.

Vanellope gained more confidence from her longtime friend. She then took a big breath and looked Alpha straight in the face and made him all the more nervous, "Ever since I saw you at the bakery."

Roxus still felt a bit uneasy when that day was mentioned. It always reminded him of how much trouble he got into after, "Well that's a weird way to start off with," Roxus said in humor.

Flannery smirked. "Well, go on. I haven't heard this one yet."

Ralph lightly shook his head at Flannery, "Maybe later, kid."

Flannery sighed, but nodded. "Very well. I'm a patient person... most of the time." She glared at Rancis.

Vanellope laughed from Roxus' way to always making a joke in the heat of things, "That's also what I liked about you," Roxus smiled nervously from only making things more awkward, "You always put a smile and joke on things no matter how awkward or troubling things get." Vanellope began to walk towards Roxus as he began to back step to try and keep reasonable distance from her, "You are just so fearless and fun to be around with your mischief and sense of humor."

"Oh, this is so sweet," commented Jubileena, admiring the show.

Taffyta face palmed herself, "Keep it together, Bing."

"How come no one is like that with me?" Rancis complained.

Flannery face palmed. "Why do I even bother?" She picked up the sprinkle and gave a death glare to Rancis.

Rancis quickly shut his mouth and averted his eyes in fear.

Roxus continued to back walk, "We-well, uh, what do you expect? I-I-I mean, anything else would just be a lie, right? I just-just go around pretending to be an overgrown, smelly wrecker, right? No offense, Ralph."

Ralph rolled his eyes and chuckled. Roxus took that as he was gonna let him get away with that one.

Vanellope continued to approach him with half-closed, admiring eyes towards Roxus, "And I am happy that you never compromise yourself from who you really are."

Roxus looked for support from anyone.

Ralph shrugged, "It's all you, kid."

Roxus then looked to Flannery.

Flannery shrugged. "I take no part in this. Everyone has their own problems to deal with."

Roxus glared at them, "See if I help you guys again."

"What's wrong, Roxy?" Vanellope said sweetly. Roxus still took offense to the name and narrowed his eyes at her. Honestly, it made her giggle, "Are you afraid of a little girl?"

Roxus finally backed up into Zangief's knee, who was enjoying this child romance drama. Roxus could smell the reeking smell of sweat and body odor from him to know who exactly who it was without looking, "It's not so much the little girl I'm afraid of, it's what is going on inside that little Schweetz head of yours. Also, the smelly man behind me assaulting my nose."

Vanellope was close up to Roxus, "Why don't I show you then what's in my little Schweetz head?" She slowly closed her eyes and leaned in.

Roxus panicked and slipped under her and around, "YEAH! I uh… I got to go uh... I need to see uh..." Roxus struggled to think of something, "IGOTTOGOSEESOMEONEBYE!" he said in one quick breath and bolted out the exit.

Vanellope stood there watching Roxus run away. She didn't know whether to be confused or hurt by Roxus' response. Ralph came and patted her back. She looked up to him and asked with a pleading look, "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, he is just nervous. Just give him time to sort this out." Ralph reassured.

Flannery nodded. "Yeah... he'll come to his senses eventually. Just don't rush him."

SUGAR RUSH

Roxus came to the only game he knew that he could let out his frustration at without messing with the game. He took a candy cane and started to swing and bash pieces of candy around him in the Laffy Taffy Woods, "Why do girls have to be so... so... ARG!" Roxus yelled out.

He thought she would have tried to hide it as best as she could or at least figure it was just a silly childish crush. But no, this had to be let out like a teen drama game like The Sims or something. If only things could be as easy like that; to keep a friendship and be alright with it. But no, he had to be in an arcade where this stuff doesn't apply to one game. Where characters from a game can fall in... No have feelings for others outside their game. "But I'm not from this game. It can never work," Roxus thought depressingly to himself.

This only frustrated him more. He swung his candy cane into a tree and broke his weapon. In rage, he threw it out into the woods and hit his head into the trunk of the tree.

There was a small plop sound followed by a loud, "OW!"

Roxus flinched, thinking he may have hit one of the racers who decided to come back to Sugar Rush. He crawled up over the hill where he threw the broken candy cane and saw that it was someone he never seen before. Someone was lying down next to the candy cane Roxus had thrown.

Roxus was hit by a great amount of regret that he might have killed another kid. He ran over to the boy and started to panic, "Oh great, I killed him," Roxus assumed, "Okay, I can fix this. No one saw, so I just need to get rid of the body in the taffy swamp and that's that."

Roxus grabbed the boy by his legs and tried to drag him off.

The boy blinked and flipped backwards out of Roxus' grip. "Dude, what do you think you're doing?"

Roxus jumped back startled, "AHH! Zombie!" Roxus grabbed a small marshmallow, since it was the closest thing, and threw it right into his head, which bounced harmlessly off the boy's head.

The boy facepalmed. "Dude, you didn't kill me in the first place... just a glancing blow. It did hurt, though."

"Kill you?" Roxus laughed sheepishly, "What makes you think it was me?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "Well, first you called me a zombie. That means you thought I was dead, and you're the only one around here. So... you basically sold yourself out."

"Heh heh, smart one, aren't we?" Roxus searched around, "you're not going to tell, are you?"

The boy sighed. "No. I'm not really a fan of any of the other racers in this game."

This caught Roxus off guard a bit, "Really? Why all the foul mood on everyone?" he asked.

The boy glared at Roxus. "You wouldn't be questioning me if you had to live in this forest for ten years and had to go through what I went through!"

Roxus gathered a bunch of fallen marshmallows to rest on, "I have time to hear a long story," he said as he took a mini marshmallow for snacks to eat.

The boy sighed. "Alright. My name is Noctus Chocoleo. I used to be a Sugar Rush racer, but then they ostracized me because my kart was different than theirs. I was rivals with Rancis Fluggerbutter, which blasted vain... Anyways, when Princess Vanellope was away, Rancis challenged me to a race. During that race, he knocked my Kart off the track, breaking it. I've been living here ever since, waiting for someone to fix it."

Roxus nodded at the conclusion of Noctus' story, "Hmm, well for one thing, don't be too ** at Rancis; he suffers through enough with just being himself," Roxus mocked, "And second, I may be able to help with your kart."

Noctus raised his eyebrows. "You can honestly fix my racer?"

Roxus crack his fingers, "Kid, you have no idea what I am capable of, but you can't watch me do it, capeesh?" he warned.

Noctus raised his eyebrows. "What kind of secrets are you holding back from me?"

"If there is one thing you should know about me, it is that I am a magician of secrets," Roxus said in a playful mysterious voice, "and a good magician never reveals his secrets."

Noctus rolled his eyes. "Fine. It's in the underground section of my gingerbread house. I'll take you there now."

The two boys made their way to the spot where the kart rested underground. Roxus observed the house, "So, how long have you been living here again?"

Noctus sighed. "Ten boring years."

"And you never thought of getting revenge on Rancis?" Roxus asked curiously.

Noctus sighed. "I tried a few times, but Rancis always managed to escape and leave me in the dust. Anyways, after a while, King Candy came into the picture. He said he would kill me if I ever showed my face again. And even when the game was reset, Rancis wrecked my racer again when I took it out for a test drive."

"Well then, after we're done with your kart, I will give you a sample of a pro prankster at work." Roxus said with a mischievous smirk, "Now, where is this kart of yours?"

Noctus opened a trapdoor in the floor, revealing chocolate bar stairs downward. He motioned to Roxus. "I'm waiting, sorcerer."

"So what does your kart have? Basic engines, candy based nitro boost, Anything I don't know about?" Roxus asked, wishing to know what he was dealing with.

Noctus rolled his eyes. "Backwards, motorized trike; melted chocolate oil slick ability. No nitro boost, but that sounds cool."

Roxus made sure Noctus was out of the way of the trapdoor and out of the underground room, "Wait here and prepare to be amazed," Roxus hit his fist against the wall and caused the trapdoor shut tight and lock itself shut while Roxus went to work.

Noctus rolled his eyes and sat back in a chair, attempting to act patient.

He began to drum his fingers on the arm of the chair, sighing to himself.

Only three minutes passed before Roxus kicked the trapdoor open with surprising force, "Sorry, I got to remember the kind of kick these boots of mine give out. Anyways, your kart is ready!" He said while motioning Noctus down to his renewed kart.

Noctus, startled, leaped out from his chair and landed on the floor. "Wow... That was pretty fast." He jumped through the trapdoor to find his racer, the Dusk Rider, revving its engine. It had a sleek, dark chocolate body with three chocolate-frosted cookie wheels. Noctus smirked. "Impressive, mage. Do I get my three wishes now?"

"That's a genie, peanut butter head. You don't get three wishes, but you get a all new hot cocoa nitro-based engine, adaptability to the Starburst Trek course of changing into two different types of racers when activated, and a set of aerial stunt controls for when you hit a ramp and get a short burst of speed when you successfully perform the stunt. Nothing like my drag racing motorcycle, but enough to keep up."

Noctus started laughing. "Close enough. Thank you so much!"

He held a hand out to shake his.

Roxus shook his hand with much enthusiasm, "No problem. Now, let's go set up the perfect prank for Rancis."

Noctus smirked. "That sounds perfect."

TAPPER'S

Ralph left to go rest up for tomorrow morning. The Sugar Rush racers still hung around Tapper's and were having the time of their lives in this place chugging down root beers and root beer floats. All except for Vanellope, who was at a booth alone.

Vanellope was on her fifth float in deep thought with what happened a moment ago. She was trying hard to think why Roxus acted the way he did. Was it because he was still a child and not fully caught up with mental puberty, was it because she wasn't enough for him, or was it because he never wanted to feel like someone was trying to control his feelings? Nothing was getting any clearer and the floats weren't doing anything to help either.

"What do I have to do to get him to like me?" Vanellope asked herself.

Flannery sat down, only on her third float. "Don't get yourself too down about it. He just needs to figure out what he truly feels is all."

"Does it take this long for boys to think this through or are they just morons?" Vanellope spat frustrated.

Flannery shrugged. "Most of them are just stupid, like Rancis and the Swizz. However, your friend Roxus is shrewd, clever, and sarcastic... Perfect for you, in other words. He'll take his time to think things out."

Vanellope dropped her face onto the table, "Or, he has found something to take his mind off of it," she said, depressed.

Flannery shrugged. "There's no way to know but to find him."

"Do you know where to look?" Vanellope deadpanned. Knowing Roxus, he could be anywhere in the arcade.

Flannery shrugged again. "I'm not sure. I would try Sugar Rush, though. Maybe he's gone back to his roots."

"Vanellope laughed a bit. "If only you knew where his roots really were from," she thought to herself. She gulped down the last of her float before getting a brain freeze. "URGH! Not again!" Vanellope winced in pain.

Flannery frowned. "I have to head back there, anyways. I'm going to check out a few of the other racers' Karts and maybe give them a tune-up along the way." he smirked. "That is, if I can ever get them out of Tapper's."

Vanellope nodded while trying to calm her brain freeze, "It's a good thing you don't get these like Roxus said."

Flannery blinked in surprise. "Wait... how would he have known that? The only one that I ever revealed that to was Wolffang. How is that even possible?"

Vanellope tried to think through her brain freeze, "I don't know. Who is this Wolffang?" she asked, truly not knowing.

Flannery shrugged. "Well, he's a wolf from the Sonic Games with green eyes and slicked-back hair... kinda like your friend Roxus."

Vanellope paused in fear that Flannery was catching onto Alpha's identity. She thought quickly, "Maybe they are just close friends to have the same hair style? I mean that wolf guy could have told Alpha about that little part about you," she hoping that would end it.

Flannery nodded. "That is true... But your friend has been acting strange lately, as if he's trying to maintain a secret." She sighed. "Well, I have other things to think about."

Vanellope sighed in relief that the subject was dropped for now. She began to think that Alpha did have a lot to think about other than this relationship that she wanted with him. It was like he had the whole world weighing down on his shoulders, and yet he was able to take it one game at a time. So, for now, she guessed she could let Alpha have some time to think about it.

"So Flanny," Rancis said to Flannery as she was asking the others about tune-ups. Rancis even tried to use the nickname Roxus gave her. "How about I give you a test run in my kart? My seat is big enough for us to squeeze in."

Flannery shook her head. "One, don't call me that. Two, that won't be necessary, I've already located the problems and should be able to fix it if we go back to the lake."

"Well then, lets just take my kart for the fun of it," He winked.

"Rancis, I am warning you to stop this if you don't want to be beaten up by a girl!" Taffyta threatened, shaking her fist at him.

Some of the other girls walked up, "Can anyone join in?" Snowanna asked.

Flannery raised her eyebrows. "Let's at least give him a fair advantage." She smirked. "You have ten minutes to drive in Sugar Rush before we come after you." She picked up the sprinkle. "I would hurry, if I were you. The clock is ticking."

Rancis stumbled over himself as he hurried to his kart, "We need more boys in this game!" he said as he ran.

Flannery chuckled. "Like that's going to happen any time soon." she put one hand on Vanellope's shoulder. "If you'd like to take your mind off the present situation, we're going to attack Rancis. Want to come along?"

Vanellope found a whole new fire to fuel her old spark, "Is Sour Bill sour? Of course I want to come!" Vanellope said as she ran to her kart to try and be the first to chase down Rancis.

Flannery chuckled and ran to her Kart as well, pulling up beside Vanellope. "We said we'd wait ten minutes before we start chasing him, but honestly; everyone's just going to charge. I'm going back to the castle first to get some sprinkles to throw at him. Want me to bring some back for you?"

"Hershey's yeah! And see if you can't get Roxus to join in." She drove off, not caring about the ten minute head start.

Flannery laughed out loud and zoomed off towards the castle.

SUGAR RUSH

Roxus and Noctus were setting up a trap on the starting line. After this, Rancis would think twice about prejudice towards others for unique karts, "This is where Rancis always like to place his kart before the racers." Roxus said in a sinister grin.

Noctus smirked. "Perfect. I must say, you're a prankster genius."

"You should have been there when I went out pranking the arcade with..." Roxus then remembered the situation he was in.

Noctus raised an eyebrow, but was wary of his pause. "Well, I'm sure that was glorious... Magnificent, even. Anyways, all we have to do is wait for Rancis, right?"

Roxus gathered himself up, "Yep, but first you need to make your entrance to the racers again. Do you have a plan for that?"

Noctus sighed. "I'm not sure I'm ready for that. I'm not sure any of them even remember me."

"Awesome! Now this leaves a window for you to remake your first impression! Maybe you can come in like Miss Pain-in-the-Brass and put a new meaning in intimidation." Roxus said, enthused at the idea.

Noctus raised his eyebrows. "Who... What, now?"

"Oh, don't worry; you'll meet her sometime. Anyways, what I mean is you can now show them not to mess with you be showing off what you can do in your new kart," Roxus explained.

Noctus raised an eyebrow. "That would be egotistical, superficial, and would make a terrible impression on the racers. Surely you have a better idea?"

"Think of it as a prank, then. See the look on their faces when you come in and scare the living fudge frosting out of their candy bottoms," Roxus said, with mischief evident in his tone.

Noctus chuckled. "You call them to a race... I'll do the rest."

Soon, they heard engine roars heading in their direction, "Speak of the devil cake. I'll come around from that audience stand over there at the far end and pretend that I've never seen you before so they don't get suspicious," Roxus said and then ran over to hide behind the last audience viewing stand to hide. Noctus then prepared himself and his new kart for when they arrived.

Noctus sighed as he sat in his restored Kart, waiting. He thought to himself, "How many of them will remember me? Will there even be anyone who will speak to me after I do what I'm about to do?" As the roars came closer, he moved his racer over to the side of the road, where it was hidden behind a container.

Soon, Rancis came in and rode to a stop to hop out of his kart and hide underneath one of the stands. Vanellope came out after Rancis hid himself and skidded to a stop near his kart and started to look around for him. The other racers soon followed behind her and looked around for Rancis as well.

"Where did he go?" asked Taffyta.

"He couldn't have gotten far without his kart. He is around here somewhere," said Jubileena as she approached Rancis' kart.

Vanellope then began to think of a way to find him, "Hmm, what would Roxus do?" She thought to herself and then came up with an idea. She started to rub her tummy, "I am so hungry," she said loud enough to be heard around the starting line, "I think we should eat this yummy kart to satisfy our hunger."

Snowanna joined in, "Yeah, I think I could use a bite myself."

As the racers began to walk over to Rancis' kart, he jumped out from his hiding spot and ran to them pleadingly, "No, Please! I am sorry for what I said at Tapper's, just don't hurt my kart!"

Rancis was on the verge to cry. This was enough to let Rancis go by Vanellope's standards, "Alright, ya big wuss cake, but you better be more nice to us from now on," Rancis nodded eagerly and ran to his kart to hug it.

Roxus peeked out around the corner to wait for Noctus to make his pranking entrance.

Noctus was stifling a laugh at what just happened. However, he knew what had to be done. When he saw that the coast was clear, he threw a small-sized cereal straw at Rancis' Kart, and it stuck on the dashboard. Noctus smirked. He pulled out a small remote control from a compartment in his trike and pressed one of the buttons, causing the engine to roar loudly. Noctus smirked. "This is going to be too easy," he thought.

Rancis screamed while falling back and away from the active kart. The others jumped in surprise at the sudden start up of the kart.

"How did you turn on your kart, Rancis?" Gloyd asked. Rancis only shook his head, too shocked to speak.

Noctus had the Kart start to ride in circles around the racers, which gradually decreased in size, forcing them closer and closer together. Noctus chuckled at the mischief he was causing.

Roxus was enjoying not only seeing the prank, but encouraging another to do it for him. The racers tried to get as close as they could as the crazed kart circled closer.

Taffyta held onto Candlehead, "What is going on!?" She cried.

Candlehead started crying as well, "It's a ghost! I don't want to be haunted!"

"Look, I like my adrenaline pumping, but this is too much," Swizzle said, afraid for the first time.

"MAKE IT STOP!" Taffyta wailed.

The kart pulled to a stop, revving its engines.

Vanellope slowly approached the kart in order to try to take control of it, "Be careful, it might be haunted," Minty warned.

Vanellope stepped next to the side of the kart in order to see what made the kart start on its own.

The Kart began to drive around and around Vanellope before suddenly breaking down and coasting to a stop. Noctus pressed buttons on the remote control, but nothing happened. He sighed. "Karts these days," he thought to himself.

Vanellope, again but slowly, approached the kart and looked inside. At first she saw that nothing.

"What is it?" Gloyd asked.

Vanellope shook her head. Then she noticed a small straw on the dashboard and pulled it out to inspect it, but nothing was really noticeable about it, "There was a straw stuck in the dashboard for some reason."

"Who would pull some sick joke like this?" Taffyta asked.

Vanellope only knew one person that could have done this, but he would have come out laughing by now. This really stumped her.

Noctus took this as his cue and revved the engine on his motortrike, circling the group once before stopping and pointing at Rancis, smirking. "Now that is what I call sweet, sweet revenge."

They all turned to see the boy who spoke. To some of them, he looked familiar, but to others he was completely new. His kart was an eye catcher with its all new design and freshly made candy materials.

"Um, who are you?" Vanellope asked.

Noctus smirked. "My name, my friends, is Noctus Chocoleo."

Rancis stepped up in front of the racers with a suspicious look, "Have we met before?"

Noctus glared at him. "We were rivals since this game began. Ten years ago, you ran me off the road and destroyed my racer in the process. Even when the game reset, my racer was still destroyed out of your malice when I decided to take it for a test drive. Don't say we haven't met; I was there since the beginning!"

Roxus decide to come in, "Hey guys, what's all the commotion?" Roxus made a faked expression of shock, "Oh. Well what do we have here?"

Rancis kept his focus on Noctus and his intimidating dark glare towards him. He now remembered Noctus and what he had done to him, "Wait; look, that was just a little joke."

Noctus' death glare increased tenfold. "A JOKE?! You destroyed the only hope I had of racing! I couldn't race for ten long years because of you! I was forced to sit on the sidelines while you people raced to your hearts' content! You are not getting out of this, Rancis."

The racers tried to intervene to help Rancis, but Roxus blocked them all. Vanellope was surprised by this, "Roxus! What do you think you're doing!?"

"This is between them and can only be resolved by them," Roxus said in a serious tone, "Don't get in their way."

Noctus' glare ceased, however, and he sighed. "Look. I know you weren't trying to permanently scar me, but it worked. But, I'm willing to let bygones be bygones. Roxus seriously revamped my racer, so I'm slightly less furious at you." He then turned to the other racers. "Besides, as long as you guys let me back on the roster, I'm good." Noctus looked at Rancis' Kart. "But, I wouldn't suggest racing in the current condition of your Kart... it's busted."

Rancis gave a Noctus a nervous smile, "Well, I'm glad we don't need to get violent about this."

Unfortunately, Rancis was then grabbed by the back of the neck by Roxus, who squeezed hard.

Noctus blinked. "Roxus? What in the name of Swiss Cake Rolls do you think you're doing?!"

Vanellope wondered the same thing. "Roxus! You just said this was between them!"

Roxus tightened his grip and caused Rancis to cringe, "Now that is over, he will now have to deal with me for such a dishonorable act!" He made Rancis look him dead in the eye. "This will not end quickly."

"Roxus, this is crazy!" Taffyta tried to reason, but her words fell on deaf ears.

A sprinkle flew from behind the racers and slashed right in between Roxus' hands and Rancis' necks. An angry Flannery strode up towards the spectacle, overstocked with "sprinkle stars." She glared at Roxus.

"I leave you alone for five minutes and this is what happens?!" she threw two sprinkles, which knocked off Roxus' hat and Rancis' peanut butter cap. Noctus blinked, thinking, "Wow. That's some impressive deus ex machina right there."

"Do you have any idea what you have done?" Roxus said in a growling voice. Everyone backed up, feeling this was about to get out of hand.

Noctus frowned. "This was never what I intended. You don't have to go this far." He placed a calming hand on Roxus' shoulder. "This is a matter of honor to you, is it not? So settle it in an honorable fashion. Do not let your rage get the better of you."

"I have not even begun to use my rage!" Roxus looked at Rancis and then completely changed his mood, "cuz I was just faking the whole time and I got you all!" Roxus then started to roll on the floor laughing while everyone just stood shocked, confused, and relieved, "Boy, you should all have seen the looks on your faces!" he continued to laugh.

Noctus facepalmed. "Well, that was impressive, annoying, and overdramatic. I'm quite intrigued that such a thing is actually possible." Flannery sighed and picked up the sprinkle that she had thrown. "Roxus is indeed Roxus."

Noctus smirked. "So... this is a racing game. Can't we all just race now? I'm getting tired of standing here trying to interpret this joker."

Rancis just glared at Roxus, "I wasn't afraid, I was just... playing along," he lied.

Vanellope was not happy that Roxus fooled her again like this. It was one thing to play a joke to trick someone, but another to think the one you cared about has turned completely into a monster, "Roxus?" she said in a scolding voice and crossed arms.

Roxus stopped laughing, "Uh-oh. Momma is not happy."

"You're darn toot sweetin' right I'm not happy, you big jerk!" She shouted.

"Geez, can't I play any kind of joke around you kids?" Roxus rolled his eyes.

Noctus sighed. "Perhaps we have gone too far this time. We should at least do something to relax."

Vanellope took this moment to her advantage, "How about we go for a swim at Fruit Punch Falls?"

The other racers seemed to think it was a good idea as well. Roxus, on the other hand, suspected a different reason for this trip.

"Really? I thought you would want to go racing this new... old racer instead." Roxus tried to change the plan of destination.

Noctus blinked. "Wait... Where are Fruit Punch Falls?"

Flannery sighed. "We should decide what we're doing first. I don't want to listen to these two argue, so I'm going to fix Rancis' Kart. Be back in a few." She opened the hood and began making repairs.

"Well, we haven't gone on a real swimming vacation for a while; I think it's a great idea." Taffyta agreed.

"Swimming party!" Candlehead exclaimed.

"Does this mean the boys can be in shorts only?" Jubileena asked, her question being more referred to Roxus.

"Wait a minute! Is this a swim vacation or a peep show?" Roxus said, nervous about the whole idea.

"Oh, don't worry about Jube; she acted like that with Rancis before you came." Taffyta assured.

Roxus burst into a laugh, "Oh my Gobstoppers! You were attracted to Rancis?"

Jubileena grew red with embarrassment, Oh don't worry about it we all learn from our mistakes." he said with his arm around her in a head lock to give her a light noogie. Jubileena enjoyed the close contact anyway.

Vanellope pushed them apart, "Okay, it's settled; now, let's go." she said before pointing a warning finger to Jubileena.

Roxus sighed and looked to Noctus, "You ever have girl problems?"

Noctus sighed and nodded. "In the old days, Minty and Crumbelina were always after me. They probably forgot me by now, though."

"Lucky you. Hey, could you give me a lift before they ask me to?" Roxus asked.

Noctus nodded. "Get on. Where's your racer?"

"I left it back at..." Roxus paused, knowing he almost gave away his secret again, "At my... uh, temporary home in Fix-it Felix Jr."

Noctus smirked. "Game-jumping? Sweet!"

He drove out towards the exit, Roxus in tow.

FIX-IT FELIX, JR.

Roxus pointed out the way to his hidden home behind the dump pile. "Well, it's not much, but its home."

Noctus smiled. "Considering the time you had and the building materials available, you did really well. I'm impressed."

Roxus began to think of his situation with Vanellope and decided to trust Noctus with this. "Hey, um, Noctus? How much do you know about relationships going to the next level from friendship?" he asked, heading to open the hidden door to his motorcycle.

Noctus smiled. "They can be dangerous, but are completely worthwhile. It means you and your partner have practically no secrets from one another... Takes some of the responsibility off of yourself. Also, you're pretty committed to your significant other... Practically never being apart. It's dangerous because you both know practically everything about each other, but it's worthwhile because you have someone who you can trust with anything." He smirked as he walked up beside him. "I practice poetry in my spare time."

"No kidding," Roxus gave a light punch to Noctus' shoulder, "Well then, let's say that there was something that was preventing this relationship from progressing; say, I don't know, an apocalyptic event of some sort. What would happen then?"

Noctus raised an eyebrow. "What type of apocalyptic event?"

"Now, I'm just speaking hypothetically, but let's just say the end of the arcade as we know it." Roxus said, shrugging.

Noctus raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "And you feel fine?" He sighed. "Well, I guess it depends on the feelings the guy had for the girl. If they're really strong, go with it. Maybe she can even help this guy fight off said apocalyptic event."

"Well, let's hope that is possible if that even does happen." Roxus finally brought out his racer. "So, you are saying to risk an apocalypse to gain a relationship?"

Noctus shrugs. "If the feelings are strong enough. I have heard the saying, "Love conquers all."

"Well, we'll see if this hypothetical apocalypse can be conquered, but first," Roxus brought out his motorcycle to life with a load engine roar, "To the falls!" Roxus used a boost start to zoom right out and through the exit nearly running over Gene.

Noctus laughed and zoomed off after him on his trike, which accidentally knocked Gene backwards. He muttered a quick, "Sorry!" before following Roxus back to Sugar Rush.

SUGAR RUSH

The two boys came riding to Fruit Punch Falls. The other racers were already splashing around in the punch pool below the falls. Some of them were sitting on the sugar sand shores. All the racers were in their bathing candy suits. Both of them parked near the other karts. Roxus nudged Noctus and gesturing over to Minty and Crumbelina. "Getting any old feelings, lover boy?" he mocked.

Noctus glared at him, blushing ever-so-slightly. "The feelings were one-sided, for your information. Don't make me bring Jubileena into this."

"Bring it on, cherry face," Roxus playfully challenged, "HEY MINTY, CRUMBS GUESS WHAT!?" he called out attempting to tell them their forgotten past.

Noctus sighed. "Just know I've put a cereal straw antenna on your bike."

"Well just know I was able to remake your trike less than three minutes. I can break it and fix mine even faster than that." Roxus warned with a smug smile, "The choice is yours, my apprentice."

Noctus sighed. "Fine; go ahead. I'll be elsewhere."

"Oh, come on; grow a sense of humor." Roxus slapped Noctus on the back, almost pushing him into the punch pool.

Noctus sighed. "I have one... it just doesn't run rampant."

"Well then allow me to give it a little push," Roxus then gave Noctus a shove into the punch pool on top of Gloyd. Roxus started laughing out loud, "Talk about a punch line."

Gloyd came back up in panic "Help! I'm drowning!"

Noctus face palmed. "Dude, you're not going to drown. Can't you swim?"

"Stand up, Gloyd," Crumbelina said.

Sure enough, Gloyd was only waist deep in punch, "Oh, heh, what do you know?" he said, embarrassed. Everyone had a good laugh at him.

"Hey, Roxus, why don't you come in?" asked Vanellope from the middle of the pool.

"I will, just wait there and I'll be back in thirty seconds," Roxus placed his hands out, "Look, no crossed fingers. I promise to be back." he left soon after that.

"What do you think he's doing?" asked Minty.

Noctus shrugged. "No idea, but I don't think I'm going to like it."

"I bet it's nothing the ol' Swizz can't handle." Swizzle said, confidently smug.

"Woo-Hoo!" a faint voice shouted not too long after from over the falls.

"What is he up to this time?" Taffyta asked, unimpressed.

And from the top of the falls came a candy cane log with Roxus riding it off the waterfall and straight down into the pool with a great splash. Vanellope and some others were caught in the great splash and were washed on the shore in a wave.

Swizzle crawled back to his feet, "Are you insane!" shouting at Roxus.

"Would life be fun if people weren't?" Roxus replied with a smirk.

"I"M NEXT!" Vanellope shouted with excitement as she and some others began to climb up the falls to find another candy cane log to ride off of.

Noctus smirked. He then thought of something else and drove off in his motortrike.

As the others were taking rides down the falls, Roxus made his way under the falls to just relax in the showing punch. Nothing reminded him of his home game like being under a waterfall. He missed the open lands of adventure and danger, the constant fights with bandits and goblins, the nice quite towns on the beach... he missed those days. For now, while everyone was having fun, he would sleep in this spot of his.

All of a sudden, Noctus began to swerve around the other logs in the falls by using the water form of his trike. He shot off of the falls at full speed, transforming his racer into its air form and flying a loop-de-loop in the air before landing it, shifting it back to land form as he skidded to a halt.

Minty was impressed, "Whoa, how did you do that!?"

Noctus smirked. "I was able to wire manual control of the kart transformations for Starburst Trek. It took a few minutes, but the results are just perfect."

"How did you get your kart back, anyways. I thought Rancis trashed your last one?" asked Gloyd.

Noctus chuckled. "Roxus is a wizard. That's all I'm gonna say."

Taffyta shrugged it off, "Fair enough."

Vanellope looked around and noticed that Roxus was missing, "Has anyone seen Roxus?" she asked around.

"I thought he was here a while ago," said Taffyta, unsure.

"His motorcycle is still here, he wouldn't leave without it right?" asked Swizzle.

Noctus sighed. "He should still be around here somewhere. His bike isn't completely hidden, so he'll be close by. The only question is... Where?"

Everyone started to look and call out for Roxus, but due to the water falling around him in the waterfall, he couldn't hear their calls. Vanellope started to get worried that Roxus just took off without his bike.

"Does anyone have a clue where Roxus could be or at least have a wild guess on where he is?" Vanellope asked around.

'He might have gone to the castle to get something." Taffyta guessed.

"What about Starburst Trek to race it alone?" Candlehead suggested.

"If he went there, he would have taken his bike, now, wouldn't he?" Jubileena pointed out.

"Oh, right, heh heh," Candlehead giggled embarrassed.

Noctus smirked, getting an idea. "One of you get a Sweet Seekers power up and return here. I can find him from there."

"I actually have one in my kart's secret stash compartment," Swizzle admitted nervously.

Gloyd picked up on what Swizzle meant, "You were keeping that for a last resort cheat, weren't you?" he glared.

"Hey, look at the bright side; at least I'm giving it up, right?" Swizzle said sheepishly.

Vanellope snatched the power up from Swizzle, "I'm keeping an eye on you, cheater." she then gave it to Noctus.

Noctus opened up the seeker and began rewiring. He took out a cotton candy swab from a compartment in his trike and swabbed the handlebars of Roxus' bike. He then put the swab back in and closed the seeker. "Alright; this baby's ready to be fired."

Flannery saw this and glared at him. "What are you doing? We don't want to kill the guy!"

"Wait, what?!" Vanellope exclaimed, "What is it with boys and destruction? I want to find him, not a sweet seeking missile!"

"How is this supposed to find Roxus, again?" asked Taffyta, trying to figure out the plan.

Noctus sighed. "Relax, guys. I deactivated the Warheads candy on the seeker and used the cotton candy swab to attune it to Roxus. The worst it's going to do is bruise him."

Vanellope frowned at Noctus, "Hey, genius, if you are so smart, why didn't you take the seeking system from the candy and place it in a compass?"

Noctus frowns. "Would if I could, madam president. However, I don't have the technology to pull that off at the moment. I mean, if I had another half-hour, I could probably figure out a way to do that... It would be faster if someone's Kart had a GPS or something."

"Doy, Roxus has the most upgraded ride. Just hack into his motorcycle," she suggested, "Are you trying to deliberately hurt my boyfriend?" She said flatly.

The other racers gasped that she would say that so openly, "Since when were you two dating?" Jubileena snapped back.

"Yeah, I said Boyfriend. and he is mine cuz I saw him first!" Vanellope retorted.

Candlehead got between both of them to keep a fight from starting.

"Awkward," mumbled Gloyd.

Noctus facepalmed. "True, but it feels like backstabbing him to hack into his GPS. I could coat the seeker with cotton candy for minimum impact, if you would prefer."

Vanellope crossed her arms. Taffyta shook her head, "Just do what she says. She gets really stubborn when she wants something." she advised.

Noctus sighed. "Fine." He pulled the swab he had taken earlier and threw Swizzle's seeker on the ground. He walked over to Roxus' bike before realizing that Roxus updated his racer as well. He opened up the maintenance cover to reveal a functional GPS system. He held it up, embarrassed. "Guess I have one, too." Within a few minutes, he was able to rig up a system that would track Roxus.

"Well, where is he?" Gloyd asked.

Noctus sighed. "Close, just like I said. He's behind the waterfall, apparently."

Vanellope quickly swam across to the punch waterfall and climbed up onto the shore on the other side. She looked around the waterfall area for Roxus, but she still couldn't find him. At first she thought that the GPS made a mistake and was about to go back to the others.

Just as she turned around she saw a strange figure in right in the center of the waterfall. In closer observance, she saw that it was indeed Roxus lying down peacefully, like he was asleep. She smiled, seeing how silly he looked sleeping under a waterfall. Then, an idea came into her mind, referring to the last time she tried to kiss Roxus when he was awake, but now he was asleep.

Just then, the other racers came by after walking around the punch pool's edge to reach Vanellope. Candlehead spoke up first, "Vanellope, why did you leave without us?" she asked, rather loud.

"SHH!" Vanellope shushed them all and waved her hands at them to stop.

Flannery nodded, motioning for the others to be quiet. Noctus smirked, purposefully standing in front of Jubileena.

"What? What's going on?" she said in a hushed voice.

Noctus lied, "Not sure. I can't quite see anything."

Vanellope crept over to where Roxus was sleeping under the falls. She would have no other chance than this to get what she wanted. If there was a girly thing she had ever done in her life, it was now, as she began to think of the moment kissing a boy underneath a light red punch waterfall with only hearing the sounds of the water crashing on the candy surface and only feeling, in her mind, the soft yet fast beat of her heart as she looked down at the sleeping boy... The boy who had faced the loss of his home, friends and life, the boy who had braved a whole new environment and lived through many of it's perils on a daily basis, the boy who had won her over and didn't even know it.

Meanwhile, the other racers, besides Jubileena were watching with anticipation. Candlehead was trying to contain herself from their romantic moment. Taffyta couldn't help but start tearing up and ruining her eye makeup. Gloyd felt awkward about watching while Swizzle just pretended as if he wasn't interested, yet he was. When Rancis came back, he was in all colors of envy seeing what was about to happen. The rest of the girls were just admiring the show.

"Seriously, what is going on?" Judileena demanded, noticing everyone was staring at something.

Noctus blinked. "I just thought of something. How about I show you how to use a new powerup I invented?"

Confused, she took the offer and followed Noctus.

Vanellope crawled over and held herself right above Roxus and stared down at him in his sleep. It felt weird being over him like this and staring down at some boy sleeping. But it wasn't just any boy; it was Roxus, her Roxus.

Vanellope was more than ready, yet she hesitated as reality hit her with thoughts of what happens next after this? What would Roxus be if he decided to live in the castle with her? Would this make him a prince or whatever they call boys who date the president? Or worse, what if he rejected her and left? What would she do after being broken down by that? Will she ever live on?

Vanellope found it hard to move or breathe. Things she had never considered hit her like a top speeding kart. Fear started to take hold and she felt herself pulling away from Roxus. The others started to worry about what was happening for Vanellope to start backing away from Roxus. Just as she was about to completely back off, Roxus sighed in his sleep and... Smiled.

Vanellope watched him smile and had a moment of clarity. This was Roxus. No, this was Alpha. The funniest, bravest, most mischievous, and kindest game code she has ever met. The only one she has ever met from outside the arcade and from a wondrous world of home gaming consoles. This was a once in a lifetime boy. One that enjoyed and liked spending time and adventures with her.

But there was only one thing wrong...

"Roxus?" she said soft, yet loud enough to wake him as she lightly shook him up.

Roxus stirred before waking up to see Vanellope looking down at him smiling, "Vanellope? What are you doing here? And why are you..."

...Roxus wasn't awake to see what he meant to her as she kissed him lightly on the lips.

Roxus froze at the sudden act. His thoughts were jumping around in every part of his mind. He tried to figure out what the heck was going on, but another part of him fought against that to just go with the flow and notice everything that he felt. In the end, his curiosity got the better of him, like it always does. She did taste like vanilla, with a hint of mint.

Roxus had never kissed a girl before, so this was alien ground to him, but in a way he began to enjoy it. It was warm, filling, and innocent as could be. This was not what he had heard of from the other games that said it was something about tongues and all this touching everywhere, whatever that meant. This was pure, innocent, and loving. It felt like days passed already as Roxus lost track of the time.

Vanellope, on the other hand, didn't care where they were, who was there, or what time it was. Her dreams had come true, even if she had never realized them. After a moment when Roxus froze, he returned the kiss and her heart fluttered and she felt like crying. He did like her, or she hoped he loved her. She didn't care how long this would last; she would want it to go on forever.

But Roxus was the one who remembered that there were still others around the area and pulled away to see that they were right across from them, just staring.

"Ahh! What the... were you, were they... how long have you been there?!"

Flannery chuckled, smirking. "This entire time, lovebirds. You're just fortunate that Noctus got Jubileena out of the way or you would never hear the end of it."

Roxus blushed wildly as red as anyone could get as he shied away, "You really know how to make a scene, ya gummy worm."

Vanellope only giggled and snuggled with Roxus, who was still a bit embarrassed by others watching them.

Flannery raised an eyebrow. "Hey, it's only fair. Now we have something to hold over you; just like you do to us."

Roxus just rolled his eyes. Things were going to be different in this arcade from now on. No sooner when he had said that, there was a rumble and flash of light from the punch pool.

"Whoa! What... was that?" Taffyta asked in a slight panic.

Flannery's eyes narrowed. "I'm not sure, but it certainly didn't sound good. Let's go!"

Just as they were making their way around the pool, a giant snake came out of the punch waters and slithered over to block their way.

"AHHH! A giant snake!" shouted Gloyd.

But Alpha knew this wasn't just a snake. Four more snakes crashed out of the punch waters and surrounded them. The racers saw that each giant snake was connected to one main body. This was from Alpha's game... This was a Hydra.

SORRY FOR THE CLIFFHANGER, BUT THE NEXT PART IS GOING TO HAVE TO BE IN A CHAPTER OF IT'S OWN. THE HYDRA'S APPEARANCE WILL BE EXPLAINED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER, ALSO IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HYDRA LOOKS LIKE, CHECK OUT THE DRAGON'S DOGMA GAME FOR THE PS3 ON YOUTUBE.