Author's Note: Also read 28-30 for the full ending. There will be a couple of bonus chapters coming soon, so please follow/favorite so you know when they come up ;).
"Knowing them, it's got to be Sugar Rush," Felix said cheerfully. Leave it to Ralph to meet Vanellope in Sugar Rush 2 right away.
Felix and Calhoun went to Game Station East and met up with Ralph, Vannie, and Vanellope on their way to Sugar Rush. Vanellope was on Ralph's shoulder, per the norm.
"Hey guys, we were just coming look for you," Ralph said with a nervous chuckle, "There's uh.. Well, there's something that needs fixing.." It couldn't be helped..
"What is it this time?" Calhoun asked firmly as she crossed her arms. Who knows what untold destruction lay ahead in Sugar Rush.. Was the castle demolished? Did he sneak another Cy-bug in? No that couldn't be it..
"No, no, it's nothing serious," Ralph said with a smirk, "There's just a door, that's all." It's an important door, but still in all, it's just a door.
"What happened to your hands, Ralph?!" Felix asked worriedly as he noticed the dried blood on Ralph's knuckles.
"Oh this.. Yeah, about that door," Ralph said while holding his hand out for Felix to hit it with his hammer, "It was a really hard door."
"I'd like to see this door," Calhoun said. If anything can put a hurting on Ralph, it has to be made of something exceptional. It could make a better armor for her soldiers as far as I'm concerned..
As they went inside Sugar Rush, Felix glitched for a moment as his memory files automatically merged to syncronize with the changes made in Hero's Duty. "Oh, so I've got some medals laying around in here somewhere," Felix mused. Well isn't that wonderful.. And this one under the armor I'm wearing.. Good, I've got the most important one already.
"Yeah, and that's exactly what caused this mess," Ralph said jokingly, "It's fine though, really. Couldn't be happier about it." They didn't remember the last moments in Fix-It Felix Jr. before the game was unplugged, but they could put the pieces together easily enough.
"Oh, so your memory is back, I take it," Calhoun said plainly. I didn't want to mess with your memory files while you weren't there..
"Yeah, turns out King Candy has a real knack for this sort of thing," Ralph said with a grin, "Oh, and he's not Turbo. So don't give him any flack about that."
Calhoun looked at Vanellope for confirmation. That true?
Vanellope nodded confidently. He's a good guy..
"So are you going to introduce us to your friend here, Ralph?" Felix asked coyly.
"Oh, right," Ralph said with a nervous chuckle, "Well she's clearly Vanellope von Schweetz, from Sugar Rush 2. She's uh.." He stopped dead in his mental tracks. Am I allowed to say it? What if she changed her mind, or if we technically aren't going out yet? I still have to apologize and everything..
"I'm his girlfriend is what he wants to say," Vannie said as confidently as she could, briefly hugging him while patting him on the back, "He had a hard time about it." Please let me be right about that. He's dropped several hints as far as I can tell..
Ralph cleared his throat and with a nervous smile, said, "Yeah, that.." I'm still a little worried that others might think it's weird, but they wouldn't dare say anything to us about it at least..
"That's fantastic, Ralph," Felix said with a cheesy grin as he slapped his knee, "It's nice to meet you, er.. Older Vanellope.. That's gonna take some getting used to. But about this door.." I've got a fixin' itch to scratch..
"Right! It's at the castle!" Vanellope said happily, "Hero here busted down the door to the code room since we didn't have the code for it." It was great..
"Hey, it got us inside, didn't it?" Ralph said wryly. They don't call me Wreck-It for nothing.
"It was such a mess!" Vanellope said with a sigh, "Ugh.. I don't even want to think about what could have possibly happened if we were any later getting in there.." I don't know if it would have changed anything or not though, to be honest..
"I take it we missed something pretty serious," Calhoun said. You did too..
"Yeah, me and Vannie here were all mixed up in the same body," Vanellope said, "It was like.. It was so weird, you know? Like we could hear each other's thoughts and stuff." I'm glad that's all over with.
"That's when Dad stepped in and split us back up," Vannie said with a smile.
"Jeepers.." Felix said, "Well I'm glad to hear that King Candy showed up when he did." 'Vannie', huh? I'll remember that..
"We'd better get to the code room," Calhoun said seriously, "It's risky leaving something like that exposed." We don't need another case of someone going Turbo.
The door, oddly enough, took several hits with Felix's hammer to fully restore. Calhoun helped King Candy change the code to the door just in case someone should come by in an attempt to do the same thing Turbo did. With that Ralph, and the gang excused themselves and left Sugar Rush to pay a visit to X-Treme E-Z Livin' 2.
The setting of E-Z Livin', as most people referred to it, was a large fictional city set in the 80's. There were several copies of the same few character models in every direction. They were all friendly, for the most part, though they were prone to getting into fights if someone did something they didn't 'like'. Or just getting into fights with copies of themselves. Calhoun had explained the situation about Bobby Dunderson and the Turbo Twins on the way there.
"So how do you want to do this?" Ralph asked Calhoun as he cracked his knuckles. I know how you get..
"First we go in and have a little talk," Calhoun said firmly, "Depending on how that goes, we'll see. Just be ready in case anything goes down." They had made their way towards the game's center, as that's where code rooms tend to be located. Locating it was one of the few things that Calhoun's sensor ever came in handy for. There always being something in the atmosphere jamming it. This time it was smog.
Calhoun entered a bar, as that's where the sensor indicated the code room might be located. The bar was nearly packed full of characters from the game. Ralph and the others were instructed to wait outside unless a fight broke out. It could make things more difficult if they seemed to be there to cause trouble.
"Like it, like it," the bartender said cheerfully, "Good?"
Calhoun sat down at the bar, in front of the bartender and rested her chin on the back of her hands which were clasped together, with her elbows firmly placed on the counter. I don't know if this guy is even going to understand what I'm about to ask.. She raised her head up, straightened her back, and asked, "Do you know where we can find Bobby Dunderson?" The bartender raised an eyebrow as he continued cleaning a glass with a rag.
"Well it depends on why you're looking for him," a voice said from behind her. It came from someone sitting at a wooden table across the room. His hair was dark and fairly long. It was slicked back into a pony tail. He wore glasses and a dark pinstripe business suit with a grey tie. "The name's Sonny," he said.
Calhoun got up from her seat and walked over to him and said, "Well, it's a long story." How are you related to Bobby?
"Let me guess," Sonny said with a sigh before leaning back in his chair, "Bobby has been handing out cheat codes and someone took over your game.. It's a bad habit of his, but people usually just ignore him." Everyone knows what happens to people who go Turbo.
Calhoun cocked an eyebrow. I'm shocked that he would come out and say it so easily. So he's also involved in this? Set did say Bobby wasn't alone..
"It's regrettable.." Sonny said softly, "How do you suppose we should resolve this, I wonder?" He took a sip from his glass and looked her in the eye.
"Well that all depends," Calhoun said firmly, "Let's hear your thoughts on it before I go any further." What's your story?
"My thoughts, huh?" Sonny said with a chuckle, "Well first of all, I would like to stress that Bobby and I are nothing like that fool Turbo was, and whoever it was who took over your game, Mrs. Fix-It.." He casually took another sip from his glass. "Bobby and I go way back. These characters aren't what we originally looked like, as you would probably guess. But Turbo was a real idiot. We made our own characters from scratch. We had plenty of time on our hands to learn. We were welcomed into this game with open arms once they learned what we could do for them."
"So what you're saying is.." Calhoun said as she carefully wrapped her head around what he was saying.
"What I'm saying is, we've done nothing wrong," Sonny said seriously, "Bobby is just a little too.. laid back, I guess you could say. He can't help but espouse the virtues of breaking free of your programming, with no regard to the consequences."
"So why haven't you fixed that little problem of his if you're all so innocent?" Calhoun asked callously.
Sonny sighed, still leaning back into his chair and said, "It's not that simple, you know? It's a part of who he is, and if done correctly it can be a new lease on life for all those characters out there with no home. Take me, for example.. I've been with this arcade since it was founded. My game was unplugged fairly early on. The screen went out, and it would have been too expensive for Litwak to replace it, so he unplugged it and sold it off."
"And what was your game?" Calhoun asked. You've got me curious with that..
"Centipede," Sonny said, "Even now I still kind of miss it. It's what I was programmed for, after all. It's not so bad here though. All the free food and drinks I want, steal a car for a bit of fun. Nobody cares." And then there's the area I made to act out my programming..
"Centipede.." Calhoun said in disbelief, "So then.. Tell me who Bobby really is.." I've heard of Centipede..
"Don't be surprised now. He's actually quite famous.. Well, I guess I am too," Sonny said, "He's the ship from Asteroids. Just don't spread it around, he doesn't like the attention. Neither do I." I'm sure under these circumstances he wouldn't mind..
"So how would you suggest we handle this?" Calhoun asked, "We can't have just anybody knowing the code to every game in the arcade.." In fact I don't too much like the idea of you knowing it either..
Sonny sighed and rested his head on the back of his chair. "Well, I don't know.. But we're not leaving this game, if that's what you're getting at. They don't even want us to."
"That's not necessarily what I'm after," Calhoun said after thinking for a moment, "If all you really did was make these characters yourselves and haven't caused any trouble.. Then all that needs to be settled is the code sharing." If it's truly what these guys want, and it doesn't get their game unplugged, who am I to judge? I'll just have to check for myself.
"Oh really?" Sonny asked in disbelief. I thought for sure that she would have freaked out long ago while we were having this little discussion. She wouldn't be able to kill me anyway though. And even if she could, I would just regenerate. She's clearly at a disadvantage from the start, and she knows this..
"How about this?" Calhoun asked, "I go into this code room here and erase the code from both of your memories, as well as any of your other buddies." She pointed to the back room of the bar which was the most likely place for the code room to be.
"That would cause a bit of a problem," Sonny said, "You see, we quite enjoy modding this game. It's one of the things that keeps it so popular, after all." Without that, the players might get bored eventually.
"Alright. Then I'll change the code to this game, and give you the new one," Calhoun said, "Deal?" This is about as much as we can compromise on this..
"Well.." Sonny said with a contemplative smile, "Actually that would be fine with me.. Of course, I would like to hear Bobby's opinion on this before agreeing on anything." We're in this together.. "You're all free to wait around for him.."
"And just when do you expect him back?" Calhoun asked, "The arcade will be opening in a couple of hours." So he knows the others are outside.
"He's probably in Tapper's right now," Sonny said with a shrug, "You can try checking there." He's probably trying to give someone the code about now..
Felix was standing at the entrance to the bar listening. I can't help but worry. We're technically in enemy territory, though they don't actually seem at all hostile.
"Shall I have Ralph head over there now?" Felix asked. I need to stay.. Who knows what could happen if Calhoun is left alone here. For all I know, she could get reprogrammed to be on their side or something..
"That works," Calhoun said as she briefly looked over to Felix with a smile before turning her attention back to Sonny. "So what does Bobby look like?" A description will help..
"Well, I very much doubt that Ralph doesn't know him by now," Sonny said, "But he's got really curly brown hair and goes on and on about cheats. He's always calling people bro and amigo as well. Sometimes bromigo if he likes the person enough."
"Relay that to Ralph, would you?" Calhoun asked Felix.
"Sure thing, Tammy," Felix said with a smile, "Did you get that Ralph?" Or do I have to repeat it for you?
"Yeah, I got it," Ralph scoffed, "These walls are paper thin. I could hear the whole thing. So would you two accompany me to Tapper's?" The answer is obviously yes.
"Well duh," Vannie said at the same time Vanellope said, "Adoi."
So to Tapper's the three of them went. Bobby was bothering Zangief who looked as if he were ready to snap. Luckily Zangief just ignored him, much like everyone else who frequented Tapper's did by then. Ralph walked up to Bobby and said, "Bobby, we would like to have a word with you."
"Ah, Ralph," Zangief said with a relieved smile, "It is very good to see you. Life treating you well, I see." He smiled as he looked over to Vannie. It is quite obvious. She is girlfriend.
"Bromigo! Changed your mind, eh?" Bobby said ecstatically. He must have made an older copy of his little girl somehow.. I wonder why he didn't just make the little one older.
"Not quite," Ralph scoffed, "Your friend Sonny would like to speak with you, he's waiting in your game at the bar." Do you seriously think I'd program a new character to be my girlfriend?
"Woah, must be like pretty important then," Bobby said, "Lead the way man, the layout of this place is like so confusing right now." Game Station East.. That'll take getting used to.
With that, they returned to E-Z Livin' with Bobby, who was more or less receptive to the idea, and Calhoun made changes to the code while the others kept watch. She left the room and said, "You're good to go.. Stay clean." I still feel uneasy about this whole messing with people's memories thing, but in the end, maybe it's for the best.. It turned out that Turbo and Markowski had been the only ones who outright accepted the code, though Turbo received it from Sonny, not Bobby. Some characters who were offered the code simply opted to live in E-Z Livin' as unique NPC's. I'll have to have a little talk with Markowski later.
Since it was getting close to opening time, everyone went to their games and prepared for the days first quarter alerts.
Calhoun chewed out Markowski for wanting to reprogram himself, but not too harshly, considering it was his actions that saved Loya and Spears.
Jet missed out on that day's races, but as a result he met a nice girl, who much to his surprise didn't freak out as much as he expected when he told her about himself.
Vanellope had a good time telling Sour Bill all about the day's events.
Vannie had her character data re-adjusted in time to race.
And Ralph.. Well he grabbed his few items from Sugar Rush and helped Felix drag back his medals. But in the end, the most hilarious thing of all for them, was that when Felix placed the medals back on the highscores wall in his small apartment room, they realized that their memories would have returned anyways as they glitched one last time, remembering the last moments before their game was unplugged.
Author's Note: Alright, so that's the end of 'A Sudden Surge'! Thank you so much to everyone who has read and especially followed/favorited/reviewed this series. I really don't think I could have done it without all the support its received.
The sequel to this story, 'The Honeyglow Surge', has well over 100 chapters now if you're itching to know what happens to the gang after this. It's a story about their day to day lives, and focuses more heavily on the romantic aspect of their relationships. There is still a plot, of course, but it's not always about a character, game or the arcade itself being in danger. They get to relax and have fun more often than not.