"Well don't worry, Sour Bill will catch that," King Candy said while trying to ignore the knock at the door. The door could very faintly be heard opening, and closing shortly after. He listened intently, one eye to the door behind him, expecting whoever it was to reveal themselves. He gave up after a moment when it became apparent no one was coming. "Nevermind then.. So tell me Ralph, what's your game like?" I'm curious.
"Mine? Uhh.." Ralph said hesitantly. I didn't expect that question. "Well, how do I put this? It's not nearly as graphically impressive as this one, that's for sure. It starts out with me going to sleep in my stump." He had the urge to wince as he said it. "So anyways, this bulldozer comes along and pushes it to this big pile of bricks and broken building parts." Again, he wanted to wince. Why a stump? I couldn't have had a broken down cabin after 12 years?
"What?! That's terrible!" King Candy said in a shocked tone. Not only living in a stump from the beginning, but to also get pushed from your property into a dump. What absolute nerve!
Vanellope stifled her laughter, but Ralph could see she found it quite funny. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't laugh," she said sheepishly. I feel bad for laughing, promise..
"Right.." Ralph said with a sigh, "So anyways, when that happens, I yell at them for moving my stump and go over to this giant apartment building they built in place of my stump and scream, 'I'M GONNA WRECK IT!' and proceed to do just that. Quite well, I might add. I'm quite the professional at wrecking things, believe it or not." They don't call me Wreck-It for nothing.
"So that's why you're Wreck-It Ralph, then," Vanellope said with a chuckle. I did hear you yelling that until the arcade owner left.
"Right. So I'm having a good time destroying the apartment, and then my counterpart, Fix-It Felix Jr., arrives to fix what I'd broken," Ralph said, "He yells, 'I can fix it!', while brandishing his golden hammer that magically fixes things. It was handed down to him from his father, so the story goes."
"He must be quite strong as well. Gold is quite heavy, you know," King Candy said seriously.
"Hmm.. Well I guess you could say that. But he's actually pretty scrawny and about yay high," Ralph said while putting his hand quite low to the ground, "And I'm not so sure he could bring himself to hurt a fly to be honest."
"So you beat this guy up, right?" Vanellope asked intently. I would..
"Yeah, well sort of," Ralph said with a chuckle, "I had climbed up the building some by then, and he's near the bottom. I keep banging on the building, which makes bricks come down, which Felix is meant to avoid while fixing the door, windows, that sort of thing."
"So how do you win?" Vanellope asked. You have to hit him with a lot of bricks or something?
"Well, technically I'm not meant to win, since I'm not the character being played," Ralph said with a smile, "After a while Mary bakes a pie and a Nicelander puts it out on a window sill for Felix that he eats to get a power-up that makes him immune to damage and increases his speed long enough to fix just about everything on the game screen. I climb up higher doing the same thing until we reach the top of the level."
"So the big battle starts at the top then, right?" King Candy asked moving his hands in a fisticuffs motion. This Felix guy ought to get tossed off the building, judging by Ralph's size.
"Well no, I wouldn't call it that really," Ralph said, "If Felix doesn't run out of lives before then, I get tossed off the building and land on the ground in a big puddle of mud. It's not the most dignified way to go, I'll be honest." But that's life.
"Well that's.. That's just wrong!" King Candy said in a disgruntled tone, "That the game would have the player take the role of the Bad Guy.. What are they trying to teach these kids?" No wonder he smelled bad though, being thrown in mud..
Ralph laughed and said, "Well actually I'm supposed to be the Bad Guy." I do like that logic though.
"So wait.." Vanellope said confusedly, "They forcibly relocate your home and steal your land, and expect you to not retaliate? How does that make you the Bad Guy? If it was me heck yeah I'd wreck the place!" I'd beat the stuffing out of Felix in that position..
Ralph smirked at her. She's getting more worked up over it than she has any need to.. These guys are good people after all. "It's fine though, really," he said insistently, "Felix is a pretty nice guy. I don't know about the others. Memory loss and all." He gestured with his hands. I haven't met them personally since getting plugged back in. I can't blame them for doing something they're programmed to do.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door again, more intense than the previous time.
"Well now who could that be?" King Candy said, snapped out of his imaginings of what Ralph's game must be like. Sour Bill, get that..
A while passed and the knocking persisted.
"Sour Bill! There's someone at the door, you know?" King Candy said in an annoyed tone, "I'm going find him, because I'm certainly not going to answer my own door." He got up and stormed off to search for Sour Bill.
"He gets like that sometimes," Vanellope said with a laugh, "I'll go get it. Go ahead and finish your steak." It'll get too cold otherwise. Not that you have much left.
Ralph looked down at his plate. I was so busy telling my story I forgot. What's wrong with me? He took another bite. It's still delicious, despite going a bit cold. How does Spicy Jill do it?
Ralph could hear two people shrieking all of a sudden. I'm glad I'm not at ground zero.. But if that goes on much longer it will definitely make this headache worse. He sighed a sigh of relief when it didn't continue.
Ralph then heard Vannie and someone else talking excitedly. Should I get up? He gulped down the last bits of steak. He started to get up to see what all the excitement was about when all of a sudden Vanellope came in the room, holding Vannie's hand.
"Ralph!" Vanellope yelled excitedly before glitching onto his chest and giving him a big hug. Well, as big as she could muster with her small size. "So you really were here, you son of a gun! And what's with the suit?" She investigated the purple suit with interest. It doesn't suit you at all..
Vannie raised an eyebrow. What was that she did just now? And I wonder how she knows Ralph..
Ralph laughed nervously with his hands in the air and wiggled his fingers. It was the first time he'd ever been hugged, as far as he could remember. I shouldn't touch her in case I use too much force to get her off of me. This isn't her game. She might get seriously hurt. Or die.. What's this feeling though? It's like I should know who she is, but.. I just can't remember her at all.
"So umm.. how do we know each other?" Ralph asked with a nervous smile. He didn't exactly think about how he should word that. The words just came out on their own..
"You really don't remember anything?" Vanellope asked somberly. I thought without a doubt you would remember me as soon as you saw me again.. When the realization that he'd really and truly forgotten everything hit her, tears started welling up in her eyes. No, Ralph.. You can't forget me.. Please remember.. She pushed her face into his chest, partially to hide the fact that she was crying as best as she could.
Vannie couldn't help but feel like crying as well, seeing her younger self so distraught. That's so sad.. Ralph can't help it because of his memory being wiped, but.. It's clear he means so much to her..
"Sorry," Ralph said softly, "Well, I know your name.." Does that count? Well, at least I'm pretty sure she should have the same name as her.. I made her cry..
"That doesn't count," Vanellope said with a sniffle, "You already met her, so you can't count that." Are you falling in love with her? You're all cleaned up and having dinner..
"Ah.." Vannie said embarrassedly. What should I say? I don't know how I can make this situation any better..
A frustrated King Candy came back in the room.
"Well I couldn't find Sour Bill anywhere," King Candy said with a deep sigh and sat down in his chair. Then his gaze fell upon Vanellope. "Oh my.. Vanellope? But.." How? I'm speechless.. I guess she's from the first Sugar Rush game.
Vanellope gasped and glitched behind Ralph, holding onto his leg while peeking around him. He was her first and last line of defense. Ralph doesn't remember me, but he will definitely protect me. Nothing can stop him.. I don't know how Turbo is alive, but I won't let him take advantage of this situation.
"What's the matter?" King Candy asked earnestly. He slowly got out of his seat and started to approach her. "Don't you recognize me?" It's okay, Vanellope..
"Oh I recognize you alright, Turbo," Vanellope said bitterly while tightly holding onto Ralph's overalls. You even tricked older me this time..
"Turbo? Who's that?" Vannie asked King Candy. Why does she hate you? I know I didn't accept you as a father right away as a kid, but..
"I- I haven't got a clue," King Candy said somberly. His whole body felt hot from the humiliation of being rejected by his adoptive daughter. Who is Turbo? Nothing comes to mind.. She should recognize me as her adoptive father not this Turbo person.. He sat back down in his chair and massaged his temple.
"Look, kid. You made him feel bad," Ralph said chidingly in a soft tone, "I don't know what this Turbo thing is all about, but this guy's game was just plugged in so you must be thinking of someone else." I don't mean to make you upset. I definitely don't. But I can't let you be mean to my friend like that..
Vanellope's grip on Ralph somewhat loosened. I can't believe it, but how could that be wrong? I saw Turbo die with my own eyes that day while I was falling..
"Now say you're sorry," Ralph said softly as he leaned down, then rubbed the top of her back as lightly as he could. These hands don't make this easy. I hope I'm not hurting her..
"That's not fair Ralph.." Vanellope said as she wiped her eyes with her hoodie, "If you remembered, you would understand." She took a deep breath to help her calm down. "I'm.. sorry." The words came out slowly, and she nearly choked on them. If Ralph says so, then I'll give this guy the benefit of the doubt. But I've got my eye on him.
Oblivious to the mood, Spicy Jill came in with a food cart with three ice cream sundaes on trays. "Oh my, had I known we have another guest.." she said.
"No.. it's fine.." King Candy said dejectedly and waved her off, "She can have mine, I'm full." He tilted his head up as if to look at the ceiling and closed his eyes. Thank you, Ralph.. I don't know how better to have handled the situation.
"Come on, you can sit by me," Ralph said to Vanellope while patting a nearby chair after pulling it closer. If there's one person in the world I don't want to see hurt, it's you.. I've felt this for a while now.. Why is that?
Vanellope slowly sat in the chair without objecting. I'm not hungry though.. Please remember me soon, Ralph.. She continued to cry softly as she took a bite. It's good..