Chapter 4

Ralph

As the train glides towards Game Central Station, I can't help feeling sorry for RJ. His sorrowful gaze at the tunnel entrance hits me again and again like a tidal wave. Poor guy, unable to fill his thirst of curiosity, just because he is a glitch and is unable to leave his game.

My thoughts drift to Vanellope, and that time she was unable to leave Sugar Rush during the Cy-bug apocalypse. I shiver and brush my arms with my fingertips, trying to swipe the thoughts of her almost being killed from my mind.

At least RJ won't be dying if he stays in Fix-it Felix jr…

The train slams on its brakes as I hear an overhead voice say "Welcome to Game Central Station." I get out and walk towards the gateway.

BEEP! BEEP! A red net-like coding falls upon me at the gateway. I put my head in my hands and groan. "Not again."

Surge Protector walks up to me to conduct a 'Random' Security Check. Oh, and I won't even bother to tell you that I will be involved in 5 more 'Random' Security Checks later on…

*Sigh*

As I walk across the station towards Sugar Rush, other characters wave and greet at me. "Hey, Ralph, how you're doing?" I hear one ask. "Yo Ralph; have anything to do tonight? If no, see you tonight at Tappers!" I hear another call.

It all seems surreal that just 2 years ago, everyone was avoiding me like I had the plague. It happened to most Bad Guys back then; other characters feared that we would, like, go berserk at any given time, and think that its 'better safe than sorry' to go and avoid us altogether. Now, of course, most have realized that Bad Guys, like other characters, are merely actors, and actually not that bad in real life. We've been frequently invited to various parties and game-jumps after that.

Smiling, I politely decline the invite to Tappers, since I do have other things to do tonight.

I reach the gateway to Sugar Rush and board the brightly-colored, heavily candy-themed train to the game. Since Vanellope regained power of Sugar Rush, she had made a few improvements and changes to the game; adding a train back to the power cord was one of them, since it is said Turbo had removed it during his reign, to prevent anyone from Sugar Rush from escaping. Vanellope had made sure that the new train will let any visitor know they are entering a candy-themed game.

But the train cannot be made out of candy itself. Obvious reason…

Before long, I am trekking through the candy-cane forest towards the magnificent castle in the distance, where Vanellope lived. As I look around the forest, I feel a slight pang of nostalgia, as my mind replayed the scenes from my quest for 'wreck-ognition'. I glance at the cliff that my spaceship had crashed into before, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Too bad all traces of it had been wiped away when the game had been reset.

After a while, I finally reach the gates of the castle. Sour Bill gestures for me to enter, and says that Vanellope will be returning soon from the Random Roster Race. I sit down in the hall for a moment, occupying 4 small chairs that are present there. Somehow, by luck, I think Vanellope will be the next trusted person to tell what happened in my game today. After all, that kid's a glitch, RJ can relate to her, right?

A bright blue flash darts in the end of the hallway. I don't even have time to look up when the flash shows up in front of me and burrows into my chest. I sigh and look down at the tiny girl wrapping her arms on my chest.

Her hair is again messy from the race, her clothes nothing like regal. Yup, that's my Vanellope.

"Hey Ralph! I can't believe you came. You should have told me earlier at what time you were coming, so I could postpone the time of the race."

"Well, Vanny, I was planning to see you in the race, but I can't because of…reasons." My voice drops down to a whisper. "How 'bout we go out and I'll tell you more."

"'kay." Vanellope glitches out of my grasp and vanishes. "Presumably to go get her kart ." I think.

I stand and walk out of the castle, and that's when I am greeted by the sound of a roaring motor. Vanellope appears around the corner in her kart. "Hop in!" She calls, pointing to the back.

I jump in the back, the kart rolling back a wee bit because of my weight. Vanellope revs the engine, and the kart shoots towards the candy-cane forest.

"So, what do you wanna tell me, Stinkbrain?" Vanellope asks me.

"Well, a player in our game got to the last level, and she, well…" I whisper "unlocked a new character."

"WHAT?!"

Very quickly I go over the details, about how RJ looked like me, how he couldn't leave, and also of the frequent tremors in our game lately. In fact, I was so focused on talking, that I haven't noticed that we are fast approaching the game's exit.

"So, RJ is like a recolor of you, right? I don't know much about him, but he sounds pretty fun. Oh! And this reminds me…" She quickly drives back into the forest, me clutching the sides of my sear for dear life.

"Hey wait, where you're going?" I ask when she finally stops.

Vanellope does not answer. Instead, she glitches towards the side of a trail, chocolate boulders littered everywhere. She looks up and down at them, then finally dives in one of them and tries to lift it up.

"It'll be rude if we didn't send him a welcoming gift. Hey Stinkbrain, help me out a bit?"

"You're not even sure if he likes them…" I mutter, but I go and help her out anyway.

After the chocolate boulder was loaded, we get back into the kart and start towards Game Central Station. "Not to be rude," I say "I actually planned to swipe a few cherries from Pac-Man, to see if he likes them."

"Then Pac-Man here we come!" Vanellope calls back. "We've got plenty of space here in the kart."

"Um…you're forgetting there is already a train in the power cord. You put it yourself." I point out.

"And you, Stinkbrain, are forgetting that as the President of Sugar Rush, I can do whatever I want in the game, power cord included. Hang on!"

Before I have time to resister what is happening, we are inside the power cord, and Vanellope uses her glitching powers to speed us along.

When it seems like we're going to crash into the passing train, Vanellope yells and in a few bursts of blue light, glitches us up, down, and away into Game Central Station, startling a few other characters that are near the gateway.

"Um, miss," Surge Protector appears next to the gateway after I activate the alarm, "this is Game Central Station, so I'm afraid you cannot-"

"Later sir!" Ignoring protests by Surge Protector, Vanellope drives straight to Pac-Man, and again glitches us along the power cord.

"You're such a law-breaker, Vanellope." I say, rolling my eyes.

"Hey, you break everything more than me." Vanellope shoots back.

"Whatever." I say with a snort, and I get off the kart. Vanellope glitches onto my shoulder, and we both enter the maze of Pac-Man.