Author's Note: This story has finally been rewritten in a new style! In case you're in the middle of the story when you catch eyes with this note, I've done the same for all of the previous chapters as well. I apologize if it's a bit sudden, haha.
"Here she is. Old Faithful.." Litwak said in a bittersweet tone as he held up his old surge protector, "Been having the same surge protector for 31 years now and it hasn't failed once. Though thinking about it, heh, it wasn't really the best idea to have 24 games hooked up to the same one. Best to just split them up." I'm lucky this baby hasn't gone kaput. Although there was the second Star Wars cabinet I bought that nearly caught fire a good few years back. Could be coincidence.
The delivery guy honestly didn't care very much, but nodded in agreement. My job is over.. Can you tell me what you need done so I can go? If you weren't such a nice guy I'd have left already.
"I was originally going to buy just one surge protector and use 'Old Faithful' as well," Litwak said to make conversation, "but it's really not the brightest idea to use such an ancient model. So instead I bought two 15 outlet surge protectors with 'uninterruptible power supplies'." That way I don't have to worry about the generator so much. Man of few words.
The delivery guy simply nodded as Litwak plugged the first surge protector into an outlet across the room, saving the side with Sugar Rush 2 and Fix-It Felix Jr. for last.
"I guess I'll unplug some of these extension cords as well, won't be needing them anymore," Litwak said as he pulled a dozen extension cords from the cabinets they were plugged into and plugged the machines directly into the brand new surge protector, "There we go.. Oh, can you slide this one over a bit?" It would look better like this..
The first games to be plugged back in were Dragon's Lair, Hoop Jamz, Pac-Man, Paperboy, Root Beer Tapper, Silver Strike 2007, Sonic the Hedgehog, Street Fighter II, Sugar Rush, Super Mario Arcade GP, Target Bravo, and X-Treme E-Z Livin' 2.
The power came on for those games as if the power was only out for a few seconds, quickly booting up to their title screens. The title screens were a bit off, however, having no characters in them, as well as many of them having no highscores.
Litwak refused to look at the screens, though he knew they sounded wrong. Ignore your ears, Stanley. If you look up, you'll prove you've gone cuckoo.
"Anyone seen Fix-It?" Calhoun asked firmly with a hint of worry. She was still not fully accustomed to calling him Felix, especially not around others. She was standing at the exit of Sugar Rush next to Vanellope and the Nicelanders right where they were when the games were first unplugged. He'd better be alright, or else Wreck-It will have to answer for it.
"Stinkbrain didn't show back up since he went go check on Felix," Vanellope said plainly, "They probably went to E-Z Livin' instead." But why would they do that? Ralph, you better be okay..
For Felix it was a given, but Gene and the other Nicelanders were also worried about Ralph. And not just out of concern for their game. It was an interesting experience for them, because if they were true to themselves, they still somewhat held Ralph going Turbo for a day against him. They kept it to themselves, however, understanding that they too were to blame.
It was finally Fix-It Felix Jr.'s turn, getting plugged into the other surge protector. Altered Beast, Blood and Thunder, BurgerTime, Dance Dance Revolution X2, Dig Dug, Finish Line, Frogger, Hero's Duty, The House of the Dead, Satan's Hollow, Street Fighter II, Sugar Rush 2, and Undead Apocalypse 3. There were a few others, such as the Space Invaders and the Wak-a-Troll game being among them, however they were all plugged directly into wall outlets.
As each game was plugged in, the respective characters rushed over to their games, except for those plugged into the one Fix-it Felix Jr. was plugged into, as there was no way for them to get there. At least not yet..
At this point Litwak's skin was practically crawling. I really have gone cuckoo.. It's just the new setup, Stanley. Everything is fine whenever you check.
Ralph and Felix, like getting plugged in for the very first time, had no idea what was going on and did their best to emulate the title screen with just the two of them.
To the delivery guy's relief, Litwak thanked him, and gave him a twenty for staying to move the machines for him. Just like that he left, not quite getting the whole 'leaving your house to play games' thing.
Before anything else, Litwak instantly jumped into the driver's seat of Sugar Rush 2's cabinet and was instantly hooked.
A new addition in Sugar Rush 2 was scripted taunts and monologues that were used when passing up a racer. Each racer also had a backstory that was revealed over the course of the races in their story mode, which could only feasibly be completed if progress was saved to a memory card. Luckily, Litwak also happened to have said memory cards for sale.
"Hey uh.. Felix, you have any idea where everyone else is?" Ralph asked confusedly when he was sure Litwak couldn't hear them. Our game must be busted. It's just the two of us..
"Why no, Ralph.. Just where is everyone?" Felix wondered aloud nervously, "Luckily the owner hasn't noticed anything wrong." Oh my land.. We're going to get unplugged on our first day unless I can fix this somehow..
Chills shot down their spines, fearing the worst, completely unaware of the circumstances.
After playing nearly 4 hours, Litwak called it a day and headed home to try to get some rest. He hadn't slept a single wink the previous night, unable to think about anything but having that new game. He felt like a kid again. It was enough to make him forget that the demo screens sounded wrong all that time.