Felix and Ralph made their way to the railway leading out of their game. They could see a glowing blue person standing there, seemingly waiting for them.
"Well it's about time you two got here," said the old surge protector in a dull voice. His name, which he didn't give out often, was William. He happened to have a medal around his neck, which was quite similar to the ones Felix would constantly win. So similar in fact that it could be nothing else.
Sensing that Ralph was about to say something rude or insulting, Felix hurriedly said, "Sorry sir, were you.. waiting for us?" He laughed nervously, his left hand was 'holding Ralph back', "Oh, is that a medal from this game, by any chance?" It has to be.. It says my name on it.
Ralph glanced down at the tiny hand and shrugged while scratching the back of his head. That kid really got me in a sour mood. What kind of insult is 'Stinkbrain' anyways? I need to calm down. Because otherwise I'm going to end up wrecking something. It's my job, being the Bad Guy of this game, but that doesn't mean I have to be like that on my down time, does it?
William sighed. He handed the medal from around his neck to Felix and said, "I was here, you know. Waiting for you two so that we could get the heck out of this place before it went down. Just barely made it out alive, thanks to that busted up backup battery. Litwak should really have that checked someday." Faulty connection. I could just barely squeeze in in time. Luckily it still gets juice from the outlets.
"Is that so?" Ralph asked in an attempt to feign interest. It wasn't a very good attempt admittedly, but points for trying.
"I got stuck, of course," William said with his arms crossed, "Didn't have any way to know I was getting unplugged until it happened. Everything just went dark.. I've seen games come and go, but I never realized just how frightening it can be." He shuddered. In any case, I made it out alright. "Anyways I saw the two of you sitting in the mine carts here, motionless.. like a pair of lifeless dolls." He cleared his throat. Saying it like that was a bit thoughtless.. "Well anyways, Felix here was clutching onto this medal pretty hard so I figured I would hold onto it and sit around in the battery until the game was plugged back in. Didn't feel right interrupting your 'game' though, so I just stood here out of sight."
"Thank you sir, for saving this," Felix said with tears in his eyes. It's okay, you made it.. But a medal! My very first medal! I'd better fix this leaky nose of mine before it gets out of hand.. He grinned and hit himself with his hammer. "Ha, nobody can fix a leak like me." Corny joke, I know.
"That's all nice and stuff, but aren't we supposed to be going to that Hero's Duty game?" Ralph asked. Yeah, the joke wasn't funny, Felix.
"Oh that's right! Almost forgot," Felix said, "Will you be coming with us as well, Mr. uh.. I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your name." I probably should know it already, but since we were reset..
"It's William," he answered, "I suppose so. Not really anything for me to do now, anyways." Technically I'm out of a job. No reason not to tag along. It beats being alone.
They each took a seat in the railway carts and made their way to Game Station West, as it would later be named.
It was still fairly empty inside, just the bare bones, no signs indicating which game is plugged in where on most outlets. Red lasers appeared around the outlet they came from, accompanied by a short, mildly annoying alarm.
Another surge protector appeared nearby and asked in a somewhat friendly manner, "Names?"
"Ah, hello there sir," Felix said cheerfully, "My name is Fix-It Felix Jr. from the game Fix-It Felix Jr. These are my friends Wreck-It Ralph, and William." Oh, I didn't catch his last name, did I?
"You must have been stationed at the old power strip," the new surge protector said, extending his hand for a handshake, "Can I get your last name?" Which brand were you with?
"Olsen," William said and sighed softly, shaking the other surge protector's hand. I don't miss this part of my job. Asking people who they were, where they came from, where they were going time and again. It becomes kind of hard to love your job when nobody seems to like you for doing it. It's obvious this guy is new to the job. When you do the same thing for 31 years you quickly find less to smile about.
"Alright, where are you three headed?" the surge protector asked, scribbling down on a notepad.
"We're meeting some dudes in Hero's Duty," Ralph quickly replied, not all together enjoying being held up answering questions. Why is it any of his business anyways?
The surge protector finished scribbling down on his notepad and said, "I'll show you the way. Oh, and my name is Alex Belkin. A pleasure to meet you.. Oh, almost forgot." He pointed at the empty sign above their outlet, and a tiny arc of electricity from his finger zapped it, changing it to reflect that the game is Fix-It Felix Jr. "Hero's Duty is right this way." He motioned for them to follow him.
They walked past 3 outlets to reach Hero's Duty, the last of which was Sugar Rush 2.
"Since you've got Mr. Olsen here, I'm sure you'll be alright, no offense," Alex said plainly, "But do be careful about the eggs in there. From what I was told by Mr. Marco a moment ago, these huge things called Cy-bugs hatch from them. They apparently don't even realize they're from a game and all they do is eat, kill, and multiply. Kind of scary if you think about it. And what's worse, they literally are what they eat. Had one get out a while ago with some kind of guns fused into its arms. Gave me one heck of a start. Luckily they have this huge building that shoots out a beam of light every now though. The bugs can't resist it, then bzzzt. That's a uh, a zapping sound." I just thought you should know what you're getting into.
Ralph nodded in understanding. He just goes on and on, doesn't he? I appreciate getting that kind of information before going in though. Who knows what could have happened otherwise? "Yeah, I get it. Thanks buddy," he said, not as rudely as you would expect. He even managed to crack a smile.
Alex nodded with a warm smile and zipped away, disappearing into the circuitry of the power strip.
"What a nice guy.. Well, shall we go in?" Felix asked cheerfully while walking inside slowly, then boarding a decently sized subway train. This is leagues above anything we have in our game..
"We get some rickety old carts and these guys get trains? That's fair," Ralph said in an annoyed tone as he stepped inside, followed by William.
Author's Note: If you're getting impatient for when Ralph meets Vannie, rest assured it's soon :p. It happens on chapter 10.