A/N: Okay, guys. Prepare your tissues, for it's gonna be emotional.
Enjoy, my friends. :)
Ralph
The operation takes place 3 hours later.
I am told by Dey that for the hours that led up to the operation, RJ still hasn't woke up. He said that it won't be a huge problem though, since they would be drugging him into unconsciousness before the operation anyhoo.
Dey told me not to wait outside the operation room, since he said, by experience, a typical Flare-removal operation takes at least 9 hours. Instead, he told me to leave the hospital and hang out with my friends and family in order to pass the time. And while I did leave the hospital like he said, I just didn't feel like celebrating. Like when Felix pulled me up to the penthouse to party with the Nicelanders, I just feel like this is the right attitude to face the current situation. Like, the seriousness of RJ's condition is far greater than all the joy that all the entertainment offered to me.
Uncomfortable, I look around, the party seems muted and going in slow-motion. With all the laughter around me, I feel seemingly out of place, as if this is a place that I somehow don't belong tonight.
Finally, I quietly retreated from the penthouse party, and slip down the building to the towering pile of bricks located near the edge of the game. Yeah, I know; since I built myself a lil' shack I admit I don't sleep there anymore, but tonight the bricks just seem welcoming to me, as if beckoning me to just go and bury myself into them. I climb slowly up, kicking aside any loose bricks that had fallen down from the top of the pile, and make my way to the stump that I used to rest my back upon while I slept.
I raise my fists and bring them down to the bricks that I'm standing on, then gather the flecks and sweep them over me as I sit down against the stump.
Just like the old times. I think in my head.
I lean back, pull the bricks over my chest like a blanket, and I let out a heavy sigh. Even from this distance, I can still hear the sounds from the penthouse party whooping loudly above me, and I wonder if I'm the only one who cares what had just happened in our game. Or in fact, if what I'm caring is not worth caring at all, that I'm just overreacting to seemingly ordinary stuff.
I let out a yawn and snuggle down to the makeshift bed, tossing all my worries and feelings aside, pushing the thoughts of RJ, Felix, Dey and the others out of my mind, clearing my head of everything. Unintentionally, I put one giant hand behind my head and rest against it, and my eyes close, pulling me out of this world and into another one, one that is free of all the troubles that I just encountered.
I tumble into that world, head first, embracing myself into it…
"RALPH, IT'S TIME! GAME ON! WAKE UP!"
I feel a rather violent slap on the cheek and startled, I wake up, only to see Felix's blue eyes looking into mine. "Huh? What? What happened?" I ask, still groggy.
"Arcade's open, kids are coming to play our games, we need to get ready. We're all at our positions, we're just waiting for you. Wait…so you just slept the whole night and you didn't realize it?!" He asks, surprised.
I shake my head and look around. I must have been more tired than I thought. "Yeah, I'm ready. Get to your place; I'll be here in a sec."
Felix nods at me, then bounds down the brick pile. I dust the brick flecks off my shirt and overalls, and hop off the brick pile myself. I then realize to my horror that because I dosed off last night, I didn't have time to check in on RJ, who may, or may not, have survived the operation. I didn't give myself the chance to see him before I head off to gameplay.
Shaking my head, I let that thought slide and I walk to a place near the screen. Just out of the corner of my eye, I see a little girl walk up and slip her quarter into our console. Felix was right: it was game time.
I give Felix, who is currently waiting on the other side of the screen, a thumbs-up, then I step forward and position myself under the programmed caption.
"I'M GONNA WRECK IT!"
I rush forward and land my fist onto the first window I see, kicking out all the thoughts in my head, only focusing on the game. Felix rushes forward and fixes my damage quickly while I head up to the next floor, chucking out a few Nicelanders in my way if necessary. But even with my concentration, I can tell that I'm not working in my best: Felix has won far more medals than he usually does. Even some of the Nicelanders are asking why I'd become slower in my wrecking during some games.
I don't care. I don't care. I just wanted this day to end so that I can return to the hospital. But the day seems to drag on; the minutes feel forever to pass. Even the frequent waves from Vanellope across the console did nothing to lift my mood. But finally, at long last, Litwak ushered the last kid out of the arcade and locked the doors, leaving the whole place to ourselves.
I leap up from the mud puddle, scrub the dirt off my overalls, and run towards the direction of the hospital. Yet a call from Felix from behind stops me in my tracks. "What?" I ask, annoyed.
"Sorry to tell you this, but…uh…I asked Tammy out to Tapper's tonight. You know, it's our wedding anniversary. She'll give me a game-over with her gun if I turned her down."
I sigh "That's alright. You go ahead. I'll go and check on RJ." I turn and walk away from Felix.
"Oh, and tell RJ I said 'hi'." Felix calls behind my back. "If he's awake, that is." He quickly adds.
I make an 'okay' sign back. "Will do." Then I take off to downtown Niceland, where the hospital is located.
Like last night, the hospital is jam-packed with characters. However as soon as the receptionists caught sight of me, I am led down several alleys, up a few escalators, into the heart of the hospital, and am told to sit down and wait.
Occupying two of the large seats there, I glance at the characters walking to and fro; some who are patients, some who actually work here. It was quite a while before a nurse came up to me. "Wreck-it Ralph, is it?" She asked.
I nod.
"The operation was successful. RJ is now resting; do you want to go and visit him?"
I think for a moment, then I shake my head. "I don't know. I don't want to go and disturb him. He's gone through a lot lately."
"Well, if you want to visit him, he's in room 1102. That stands for 'eleventh floor, room two', which is right around this corner."
"Thank you for your information, but let him rest: I don't think he's ready." I lean back on the seats and stretched.
"Oh, and one more thing." The nurse mutters, then she leans in close to me.
"RJ's awake."
That sentence was enough to get me bolting to my feet and rushing towards the room that the nurse told me RJ was in.
RJ
Darkness.
All around me.
All was dark, and silence, and emptiness.
Buried underneath the waves.
Unmoving, untouchable.
Unable to resurface.
Wait.
No.
I am rising.
Slowly moving upward.
Like I'm being yanked up by the chest.
Pulling me up.
Higher and higher.
Not drowning in the water anymore.
But being tugged upwards.
Towards the light.
Light.
Light.
Where…
Where am I?
My head surfaces above the waves, and I open my eyes.
Instead of bobbing above the waters, I find myself in a room, lying on my back. Instead of the sky, a ceiling with a checkered pattern covers the space above me. My body is dumb and throbbing, as if there are hundreds of tiny needles piercing my skin simultaneously. A muffled beep causes my head to sway slightly to my left, where two machines are rested upon tables. Wires run to and fro the machines, and when I turn my head to the other side, I can see another machine by my side, this one with a buzzing sound.
My body hurts. Ugh, it hurts. I try to raise my arm, in order to see what is making it so uncomfortable, but something else holds it down, as if my arm's being bolted down on this thing I'm lying on. I try again, this time giving more strength…
"Sir, don't do that! The wires might snap! Here, let me help you out."
I feel a hand under my back, and very carefully, I'm being guided to a sitting position, and from there I can see the place I was in more clearly. I cock my head, confused, as this is a place I've never seen or been in before. I've never been to a place where there are so many characters wearing white robes walking around carrying clipboards, tall metallic things twisted into strange shapes, and yet more machines, all giving out some sort of weird sounds that I don't recognize.
I raise my arm again, and now I can see dozens of wires are plugged into it. My eyes widen a bit when I realize how…normal my arm looks, but I shake my head and trace the wires to the machines next to me, electricity crackling down them and into my body.
What is this place? Why am I being connected to these machines? And why do I feel so…so…small?! So weak?! So fragile?!
"Where…where am I? Who are ya?" I ask hoarsely, and then jerk back sharply: I do not remember myself having such a slight accent before, nor my voice being slightly high-pitched before.
The white-clothed character, I assume the same one that helped me sit up earlier, walks over to me. "You're in the hospital. You were found having severe code damage and were unconscious, thus you were brought here for treatment. You have been out for at least a day on this bed. Oh, and an operation has been made while you were still under."
"Hold it, hold it. I cannot catch everythin' yer sayin'. Yer speakin' way too fast. What happened to me? What really happened?"
The character sighs and waves a clipboard at me. "Your code has been torn out, and that made you unconscious; that is, you cannot feel anything for the past few hours. The damage in your code has led to several great changes in your appearance and particulars; for example, as you've just heard it yourself, you have developed a slight accent."
No wonder I feel so small: I have really shrunk. My body, although still in pain, does not so heavy anymore, and this bed, the thing that I'm apparently lying on, seems wider for my frame. My lower part of my body feels numb, so I carefully shuffle my legs and feet to get the feeling away…
Wait…that's odd. If I'm not wrong, my left foot feels fine: I can feel it brushing against the sheets that I'm being covered in; but with my right foot…I can't…I can't feel anything. It is like that my foot is simply…gone; that I can't even feel the weight of it being attached to my right leg…
"However, the damage has also led to you developing a serious infection, the Flare. It is incurable, and it can kill. So…we had no choice but to…uh…Simply put: we, uh…" The character looks away, then finishes his sentence "We…cut off part of your right leg."
"WHAT? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ?" I yell, and at the same time, reach forward and try to pull back the sheets from the end of my bed. The character tries to stop me, but he's not fast enough: I have whipped the sheets covering my legs and tossed them aside.
When I see it, I let out a wail and bury my head into my hands, amid the squealing of the machines next to me, signaling that my wires have been torn out. The character quickly reattaches the wires to my arms and chest, but I take no care to his actions. All I see is that of my right leg is instead of ending in a foot like my left one was, it ended abruptly just under the knee, and nothing more. Thick bandages are wrapped around it, so that I can't really see how my leg really looks like. But still, I can't believe this is happening to me. My body, changed; part of my leg, gone. What is really happening to me?!
"I'm sorry, but it really had to be done. The Flare could be fatal if not treated quickly. Luckily your guardian gave us the permission to do the operation, so that we could stop it before it had gone any further."
"My…guardian?! Who's he?" I ask, confused.
"Wreck-it Ralph. Your brother. Wait, don't you know that?" The character asks me back.
"I don't, have, a brother." I shoot back bitterly, crossing my arms and looking away.
"Well, that's what he refers himself anyway. He should be coming soon as the arcade's closed."
Just then, I hear thumps, great big ones, getting louder and louder at every second, the ground shaking more and more violently at every approach. They seem to be coming from outside the door. Almost instantaneously, all the characters in the room rush and hold onto everything fixed to the wall, as if they know what is happening next. I grip the bars of my bed tightly, bracing myself for what is currently barreling down to our room.
Thump, Thump, THUMP!
I grip the bars tighter, afraid of what is coming.
Then…CRASH! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! The doors, and the wall surrounding it, bursts open, thrusting themselves into the room. Characters who were near the door at that moment scatter into the far corners of the room, sheltered from any more incoming blows if necessary. I jerk my head to where the door used to be, and through the door I can see a huge character brushing flecks from the broken door and wall off his shirt standing there.
Wait a minute, I know you!
Wreck-it Ralph, my original, stands in the doorway. He looks up from his shirt and catches sight of my bed. I shrink back at his gaze, hoping that he'll not come to my bed, that he'll not make me recall everything I wanted to forget.
He comes here anyway.
"Dr. Dey, how is he?" Ralph asks the character who had helped me earlier.
The character, Dey, nods in my direction and says. "The operation was successful: the main part of the Flare has been removed, and he's healing quickly: quicker than I imagined!" He looks down at his pad again. "Since he is in his original game, I've given him several reboots, with safety measures," he gives Ralph a glaring look at this sentence, and my original looks away "to speed up the healing process. It is safe to say he has responded nicely to these reboots, and one of them even helped him wake up. I expect a few more days for his leg to fully heal until we are able to get him a prosthetic to walk with. Mind you, he's still an unstoppable glitch. He'll need to rely on a portable stabilizer to stabilize his code, but still, keep a good eye on him."
"Done said, I will." Ralph says back to the doctor, then he turns to me. I turn around in my bed, shifting to the other side, away from him. But Ralph simply walks around to the other side instead.
"Hey, you feeling better?" He asks, looking me up and down, possibly taking in all my features and places I had changed. Still, I avoid eye contact with him, not wanting to answer.
He clears his throat, and then continues. "I'm…I'm sorry I made you look like this. Felix and I didn't know what you'd go through in the process, how you suffered. But it was mostly my fault. I shouldn't have torn out your code. And changed your appearance. And caused you to lose part of your leg. I'm sorry."
I scowl. So he's the reason why I changed so much. "Ya wasted yer time." I mutter. "Ya should have kept yer promise, and should have kept me locked up."
"We'd thought you'd deserved a second chance! And I just cannot think of you being locked up in that dark place forever! We didn't know the consequences of a lockage!" Ralph explains.
"Second chance?" I sit up straighter in my bed. "Second chance?! Ya, have got to be kiddin' me. What makes ya think I have a second chance?"
"I mean, I-" Ralph starts, but I cut him off.
"I was NEVER supposed to be unlocked, NEVER! Ya know that, right?! I'm a glitch, I'm a mistake, and I'm a threat to the game! How can ya not see that?!" I wring my hands out, the machines again beeping madly by my side.
As Dey reconnects the wires again, Ralph reaches out and grabs hold of my shoulders. In pain, I wince, and Ralph softens his grip a bit. "Tell me then, Ralph Junior, why do you think you were never meant to be unlocked?" He asks me, staring straight into my eyes. I try to look away from them, but I force myself to glare forward.
"I'd wronged ya far too many times!" I protest "Look, I lied about my past, I made ya thought I was a normal character, I had put yer game in danger and still done nothin' 'bout it! Why would ya unlock me again?! I was locked up by the programmers for a reason!"
"RJ…"
"I DON'T DESERVE TO HAVE A SECOND CHANCE!" I scream, banging my hands down on my bed. With all the air knocked out of me, I gasp deeply, my body suddenly dizzy. I find myself leaning backward, tired, when a hand—Dey's, steadies me to the end of the bed. The doctor sighs and attaches two more wires to my chest, and although I can't see it, I can feel electricity entering through these wires, supplying me with energy. But it isn't enough for me to verbally fight back with Ralph.
Ralph shakes his head and glances at Dey, who shrugs his shoulders. "You really think you don't deserve a second chance? Really?" Ralph asks me back, his face mixed with emotions.
I nod. "No one with such actions should be allowed out again. Plus, I'm a clone, a bundle of codin' which everyone is either fearful of or shuns at first glance. Nobody thinks I deserve to be here, so why should ya even think about it? Ya don't even know how I felt!"
"Oh, then you don't know much about me, right?" Ralph sighs and sits down next to my bed. "If I told you who I was before the man I am now, you'll probably have a rethink about what you just said."
"I doubt it," I mutter, crossing my hands "But please, do tell."
Ralph sighs again. "For 30 years, I have been the Bad Guy of this game. I used to be the face of terror everyone had known. Characters screamed at me when I passed, no one offered any help at all when I was in trouble, and I was extremely miserable. It got to a point where I thought that the only way to fix all this…is to get a medal, to prove myself. Well, there were no medals for me to get in this game, if you didn't count stealing as a method. So, uh…I, uh…I game-jumped."
"Ya did what?!" I ask, leaning forward, unable to hear everything.
"I game-jumped. I abandoned my entire game and snuck into another one, one that I knew I'd find a medal. I didn't know it, but that action nearly killed our game in the process: our game cannot operate without a villain, which is me. Not only that, when I got my medal, I accidently brought a dangerous creature, a cy-bug, into another game, causing a chain reaction of events that nearly led up to a cy-bug apocalypse. You'd thought when I brought the cy-bug into the other game I would have stopped, I would have turned back and tried to fix everything before it was too late; but no, no. I was so blinded in my actions that I didn't realize the danger I'd put everyone in. I nearly killed everyone, even you." Ralph looks up at me.
Honestly, I am shocked: I had never thought that a character like Ralph would cause that much damage. Sure, he is Wreck-it Ralph, but what are the odds of him causing such a catastrophe?!
"I would have gone much further, done more destruction, if it not for a certain glitch called Vanellope Von Schweetz. Yep, that's President FartFeathers right there. Sure, she was annoying and all, even stole my medal the very first time we met; yet she changed me, made me realize that I don't need a medal to prove that I'm a Good Guy, that I'm not as bad as my code wants me to be. Liken when everyone just sees me as a Bad Guy, as Wreck-it Ralph, I can show that I can be someone else despite my programming…"
"Seriously, what I wanna say is that it's not just you, RJ. Everyone makes mistakes every now and then. Just chuck away your background for a moment and you'll see we're not really that different."
He's true: we're not really that different after all.
"Look, RJ. I'm not forcing you to stay, to be a part of this game, to be my brother. But I just wanna say is…" Ralph looks away, a bit emotional "You deserve more than being locked up. I don't wanna say it, but…you changed me. A lot. You made me realize that even for a character who was never meant to be released, he could even stand up for what he did, that he could even have a sense of bravery that many of the normal characters haven't…" He wipes the stray tears from his eye, and I'm surprised to find my vision starting to blur up as well.
"I mean, you could just walk out-well, not literally, of this hospital and down to the nearest game and give yourself a permanent game over. You could end your life if you want to; I mean, I don't think I have the right to stop you from doing that. What I am, however, is giving you a second chance, a restart in life, a chance to begin again. To throw your past behind, and start over."
"Yer…really giving me a second chance?" I peep "Are ya sure? I don't deserve this, why are ya doin' this to me?"
"Because everyone deserves a second chance. Even you, RJ, no matter whatever you say." He's crying, hard, and now uses one giant finger to rubs his eyes dry, yet with no success. "If a Bad Guy like me, who was selfish enough to steal without thinking and single-handedly start an apocalypse could have a restart on life, I believe you deserve one as well."
Someone hands me a tissue from my left, and I blow my nose noisily into it. But even after that I find myself asking for more and more tissues, to the point I need someone to place a full box on my lap and just simply stuff my teary, blotchy face into them.
"So, are you willing to accept your permanent place in our game, and train to become a true character, and…become my brother?" Ralph asks me, his eyes hopeful.
I start to answer, but my voice chokes up, my words trapped inside my throat, unable to get out. I let out a small cry and try and reach out to Ralph, as if his choices suddenly became tangible. I desperately wanted to answer, despite my mind telling me to go the other way. To be honest, I desperately want to say 'yes', to become a true member of his game, to fully leave my past behind. But another part fiercely pulls me back, yelling that I don't deserve this future, that I should just leave and try to find a way to lock myself up again.
But I really want to call this place home, to have someone to love me, to have a sense of belonging…
You don't deserve this!
I try and push the thoughts down, shove them to somewhere that I would never find them again. But each time I do so, they fight back up with a vengeance, taunting me that a clone can never have a chance of redemption, that Ralph is just lying about the future he's about to give me. I put my head into my hands, for it is hurting like mad, and I can tell it is not just from the natural pain that I already have.
"I…" I start again, but the negative thoughts again win me over, binding my voice down, muting me. I bite down on my lip and I taste code, trying to get my words out. I close my eyes and fight back, trying to fight back my thoughts, fight back the voices telling me that I should deny Ralph's offer.
That I should just give in and get locked up again.
Just give in and reject, you don't deserve this. The voice taunts me again.
I squeeze my eyes tighter and grip the bars of my bed harder, fighting back. I can hear the machines beeping loudly next to me, but I don't care, I don't care!
No!I fight back, pushing the thoughts harder and harder down.
I want a second chance!
I want a restart on life!
I want a future where I have a place that I can belong!
Give me my future back!
Give it back to me!
Give it!
GIVE IT! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Finally, with a loud cry, I collapse onto my bed, the energy completely gone from me. As I plunge into tiredness, I feel a hand, a giant one, gently slide under my body and guide me back to a sitting position. When I reopen my eyes, I look straight into Ralph's eyes, warm and friendly and full of hope. And in them, I find the courage to overpower my thoughts, and I find my voice.
"I am willin'; I will become yer brother."
Ralph smiles, and wraps his arms around me in a bear hug, embracing me tightly. I feel my arms and chest prickle because of his grip, some of my wires falling from me, but I ignore it completely. This sense of belonging, of love, is far greater than any pain I have, and overwrites it entirely.
"We'll help you out," Ralph mutters, his face half-buried in my body "We'll get you a prosthetic leg and also a stabilizer, and help you get used to them. I'll teach you how to become a wrecker, how to destroy even without your original powers. And don't worry much about your glitch: we'll keep it at bay, put it to good use: you won't believe how powerful a glitch is until someone uses it in the right way…"
"Wait, do ya really think I can be a part of yer game after all, that I might help ya out in gameplay?" I ask, my voice eager.
"Why not? I don't see the point of wasting a perfectly good character." He hugs me tighter, and I slowly lift my wire-filled arms and embrace him back, my body flickering slightly, my face messy with tears. I don't know if I'm crying because of sadness or from happiness, but I don't care. All I know is that I had made the right choice, that I will indeed become a part of Ralph's game, that I would finally have a place to belong.
We were like this for quite a while, simply hugging each other, until Dr. Dey clears his throat and shatters the silence. "I'm afraid that visiting time is over. RJ needs some rest. You can come back to visit him tomorrow. I'll keep a close eye on him while you're gone."
"Thanks doc." Ralph gently releases his grip on me, and slowly walks backward towards the exit, his eyes never leaving mine. I might have imagined it, but his smile seems brighter, his eyes sparkling with joy. "You take care of yourself, brother. Okay?"
I can't help but grin: the word 'brother' just seems so natural, so fitting to me.
"I will." I promise, sitting up straighter in my bed. "I won't die, brother." I shoot back playfully at him, winking.
He lets out a laugh. "Can't help but think how much fun you'll bring to our game later on." Ralph laughs again "Oh, and Felix says 'hi'. Can't believe I forgot that…"
This time I let out a laugh "Tell him RJ says 'hi' back. Oh, and he'll soon bring a whole load of new stuff and destruction into our game, so watch out!"
I hear chuckles all around; not just from Ralph, but from some other characters working in the room. I find myself grinning widely as well. Ralph manages to stifle his giggles and waves "See you later, RJ."
I smile brightly and return his wave. "See ya, bro."
As Ralph leaves through the hole that he created, Dr. Dey turns and catches me smiling like an idiot. He raises his eyebrows. "Well, well, well. Looks who's home." He mutters.
I beam brightly and rest my back upon the end of my bed, for I know the answer to that very well.
"I am."
"I am indeed home."
A/N: Spoiler Alert: we're nearing the end of Unlocked. I got a few more chapters before this fully wraps up. Don't think anyone will still follow this, I'm ending this for the sake of ending it; but I really wanna say thanks for all who actually care about this story of mine.
I'll address everything in more detail in a later pic. :)
And I'm gonna say it again: Unlocked has not ended yet. Just wanna say thanks a bit earlier. :)
Till then, I'm out! :D