A/N: Alright, quick chapter here, just to let you know what is happening. :)

Chapter 13

~4 days later

Ralph

SPAT! I land on the mud puddle, face-first, after being thrown off the building; but for some reason, I don't want to pull myself up. For the past few days, it has been like this: I do my job as usual, yet it feels like I'm dragging myself through every game, nor do I feel myself doing anything at all.

It was if I didn't want to take one game at a time at all.

"All clear, the arcade's closed!" I hear Yuni's usual, perky voice signaling the end of the arcade's working hours. But still I lie on my face, as that that piece of information did nothing to the world for me.

"Brother, you okay?" I hear a voice call from above. I moan and roll over in the mud, forcing myself to sit up. I wipe the mud from my face and glance up, and surprise, surprise; Felix is there on the roof, pie in hand.

With a few giant leaps, Felix bounds down from the roof and lands next to me. "Here, have some pie. You look awful, brother." He observed, offering the pie.

"Nah, you save it for later. I'm not hungry." I wave my hand and turn my head to the other side, blinking back tears. No, Felix can't see me cry, he couldn't.

"Ralph. It is painfully obvious that something is up with you. You missed out on three straight Roaster Races, which, by the way, Vanellope is getting very annoyed about; skipped out the latest Bad-anon meeting, yeah they're quite worried about you; shut yourself up literally in our game; and to top it all off, closing yourself out even in our in-game gatherings."

"Look, I'm not, I'm not in the mood, okay? I just wanna…you know, be on my own for a while. Yeah." I mutter, hoping that Felix won't see the real reason why I behaved oddly like this lately.

He sees it.

"Is it because of…" He trails off, not saying the two letters aloud, yet we both know exactly what they stand for.

I sigh and turn back to him. "I don't know. I'm worried, I'm worried about RJ. And it feels like I should be glad that our game's fixed and far from being unplugged, and that our lives have returned to normal. I know, the Nicelanders are celebrating like everything never happened, and I don't blame them, considering we've just barely escaped being unplugged. But…yeah, I seriously can't stop thinking about him."

"Why?" He asked, and then quickly catches himself, "Sorry, stupid question."

"Never mind," I say, waving "I just want him to be okay, to be safe…but I'm afraid that, um…you know, he's not alright at all."

"What do you mean, 'he's not alright at all'?" Felix asks, curious, "Are you saying that there's more to the lockage than simply closing a chest over their code boxes?"

"Way more than you know, Felix." I say slowly, "You mean, RJ never told you about it?"

He shakes his head. So I spent a few minutes recalling everything RJ told me about his lockage to Felix. After I finished, I saw his eyes go wide and the color drained from his face. "You've got to be kidding me, Ralph. Is it really true that the conditions of being locked up are that terrible?"

I nod. "I thought he was faking it for my sympathy, but he looked terrified while describing it, to the point I thought he was comparing his lockage to an actual death. I still can't believe he made that choice to go back to that place to save our game, even it meant giving himself up, giving away his freedom." I sigh, "I want to imagine that after being locked up again, RJ's in a far better place than the rest of us are now, that he's happier and freer; but I know I'm lying to myself, 'cause he's not."

I look down, head drooped. "Wish I can do something to help, to help free RJ, to give him what he truly deserves…"

As I am swimming in my thoughts, I hear Felix mutter something under his breath. "Actually, there is a way…"

"What?!" I cry, leaping up to my feet, startling Felix. "you mean there is actually a way to fix RJ and you haven't told me?! Tell me, Felix; what is the solution?"

Felix jerks a bit, his actions a bit unnatural. "It's…it's to go and tear out the glitchy bits of the clone's code before they fully reconnect to the mains, and then give them a good ol' reboot afterwards. Sure, the clone might not be completely whole, but the reboot helps speed up the healing process. At least, that's what we'd assume back then. I remember once another clone was let out, and some characters who were concerned about her called me, along with a few others, for help. After all, I got my Magic Hammer, helps fix things and all…"

"Wait…so you actually know a solution to cure RJ and you've been through the process yourself, why didn't you tell me? Why did you just stood there on the side, watching RJ lose himself while you can actually do something about it?!" My voice raises, and I feel my temper bubbling, angry at Felix for his ignorance four days ago in the Code Room.

Felix bit his lip "I…I don't want to do it. I don't want to risk it…"

"Risk what? Your Hammer, your fame?" I huff "Stupid excuse to say when you have no connection with the clone…"

"Ralph!" Felix cries.

"WHAT?!" I yell back, aghast at his refusal.

Felix lowers his head, "The clone died. You know that, Ralph?" He pauses, and then continues, "We told her about the risks, telling her that she might risk a permanent game-over if the process goes wrong. Still, she was determined to go through the process, for some reason… However, we were barely halfway through the process when she started screaming, glitching, and breaking up; similar to what RJ went through, only it was much, much more extreme. We tried everything to save her, but she was breaking up too fast, we couldn't piece her remaining code into something sustainable. It was too late; she was gone before we could do anything else…"

"Since then, all operations regarding freeing clones have been halted, and this issue was never brought up again: we'd let it fade away. But still, some nights, I would think about that character, about that clone, who'd rather risk giving up her life than to face storage again. I never understood why she thought that was a good idea…until now, brother."

Felix turns away from me "No wonder they don't wanna go back; they'd rather risk a permanent game-over rather than go back. If only I knew how terrible their locked-up conditions are…If only…" He mutters.

As I see Felix look away from me, I realize how little I knew about the whole situation. Of course, Felix won't go and help free RJ; he knew the risks, he knew RJ might suffer a permanent game-over, a fate much worse than being locked up. He also knew RJ wouldn't want to force Felix to find him a possible cure for his glitch, that it would mean to the others that he's not willing to leave, not willing to pay for his mistakes.

My mind recalls to the fight we'd had after our building crashed, how I called RJ a 'selfish scoundrel', a character whose only propose was to destroy our game. Little did I know he'd take these insults very literally, enough for him to build up the courage to admit his mistakes and face his terrible fate. Thinking about him, I can't help but to remember him with awe, with a sort of respect that I can never repay…

But…although risky, it's a solution nonetheless…right?

"I think…" I say slowly to Felix, letting the words roll slowly out "I think we should go and try it. It'll be risky, but I'll be willing to take that-"

"I know you'll be willing either way, but is RJ willing?" Felix cuts me off.

I pause in my tracks; Felix is right. Even I said I'll be willing to take the risks, my code won't be the one being torn out in the process, my code won't be the one bearing all the pain, facing the risk of being deleted. All while I'm predicting that he'll survive and be alright. Compared with what RJ had done to save our game, my decision seemed unbearably selfish, neglecting all other variables in order to free him again. And with that, even he won't approve me for doing this…

Besides, given that Felix's the one with the Magic Hammer, I'll definitely be the one who will be tearing out the glitchy bits in RJ's code; his fate is literally in my hands. One little mistake could end up with RJ dying, and it would be my entire fault that he's dead. And hearing what Felix said…I'm afraid that he just won't survive this, he won't survive my wrecking on his code, and then he'll never even have the chance of getting his freedom back…

The urge inside me is so great, it sickens me. But somehow I know if I really do go and put this plan into action, RJ might not come back alive.

"But…there's no harm in trying, right?" Felix pipes up. I jerk my head, surprised that he said something like that, suddenly swapping sides, suddenly thinking that RJ might have a chance of survival. "I mean…don't want to be selfish, I think if we're careful enough, RJ might not have to suffer that much before he's rebooted, right?" He looks away again.

Oh, so Felix also wanted to free RJ using this method as well, but he's not certain about the results. And frankly, I can't blame him, especially when there's death involved. No one likes to talk about death, and no one wants to cause it either. "Just…forget it." I say, starting to push the thought out of my head.

But…I just can't think of playful, spirited RJ being locked up forever in eternal loneliness forever…

"RJ's a fighter." I finally say, "And a pretty feisty one too. He won't go down without a fight, especially one for his life. He won't give in, even if he's not in charge of everything happening at the time."

Felix cocks his head "Does that mean you're saying we should try and free him?" He grips his hammer tighter.

I nod. "Let's go save him." I say, and these words we get up from the mud puddle, and head down to the Code Room once more.

"We're getting you out of there, brother, just hang in there…"

A/N: So, Operation 'Get RJ out of lockage' is officially launched. I mean, what could go wrong?!

*Coughs* Everything...