((I'm so sorry I didn't update this chapter sooner! I've been swamped with stuff and I'm going to attend college in a few days. Don't worry, I will complete this story and not leave you guys hanging~))

((Anyway, in this chapter Swizzle meets a certain wrecker...))

Chapter 9

Swizzle walked out of the tunnel and saw the familiar graffiti around him. He looked ahead to see various video game characters walking and interacting with each other around Game Central Station. The arcade has been closed for half an hour.

He hoped no harm would befall on him, but he's always been a risk-taker and he can't stay safe inside his game forever. He held his deep breath and stepped in the station. A moment passed, and he could feel the doubt, fear, and burden lifted from his chest. Swizzle began to laugh, run, and jump with joy annoying a few game characters nearby.

He almost bumped against the Pac-man ghosts and a zombie; Paperboy tried to avoid Swizzle's excited outbursts and ends up crashing into a character named Bowser who was talking to Chun-Li. He spilled his hot coffee all over her and, in her anger, kicked him where sun doesn't shine.

"This is so awesome!" Swizzle screamed at the top of his voice, unaware of the chaos he caused around him. "So many places to go and I don't know where to start! Oh, I wish Vanellope was here to see this!"

He went over to sit on one of the benches to think. He noticed Surge Protector walking past, who was trying to solve the problems that were started, and waved at him.

"Hey, man, off for some interior decorating?" he joked.

The electrical blue man stopped, and looked at Swizzle with confusion and fear. Swizzle realized that nobody knew Surge Protector has been vandalizing the walls and judging by his nervous expression, he didn't want anyone to know he did.

Swizzle laughed. "I'm just messing with ya, man!"

Surge Protector glared at him before walking away. "I'm watching you, boy," he warned him.

The young racer just grinned and looked around, trying to find the nearest game he wants to visit. He saw a hulking guy wearing a torn red suspenders walking nearby. He looked grouchy and gloomy, and his hands were huge and seemed strong enough to wreck anything.

Swizzle was intimidated by this guy's giant stature. However, he mustered up some courage and confidently marched up to him and greeted him in a loud voice, "Hey, big guy!"

The suspenders-wearing hulk heard someone calling him and he looked around for the source until he looked down to see Swizzle grinning up at him.

"Oh, hey there, kid," he returned the greeting, he seemed confused. "I'm not used to anyone approaching a Bad Guy like me, especially if they're young kids."

"I'm not just some young kid!" Swizzle protested. "I'm a racer and resident from Sugar Rush!"

The hulk knew what he was talking about. "That candy go-kart game next to the Whack-o-Mole?"

"The one, the only and the same!" the boy grinned. "Everyone calls me The Swizz! What should I call you, Mister Big-Hands?"

"Uh, Wreck-It Ralph?" the Bad Guy replied.

"Wreck-It Ralph..." Swizzle repeated. "Can I call you The Wreck?"

Ralph stared at him for a moment. "No." Then he took lumbering steps, leaving the go-kart racer behind. Swizzle tried to catch up to him.

"Hey, wait, Wreck!" he gasped, coming alongside with him. "I haven't been this out from my game for fifteen years since it's plugged in. Can't you cut me some slack that I'm so excited right now?"

Ralph stopped walking and turned to him. He seemed to regret talking to this annoying, hyperactive kid.

"First of all, don't call me Wreck. It's Ralph," he said. "And second, why are you following me?"

Swizzle adjusted his beanie. "Well, I wanted to see which game you're going because I wanted to see some new places and meet new people."

"Well, I'm heading to Tapper's to drown my sorrows," Ralph said sarcastically as he and Swizzle walked together. "Except the little jerks learned how to swim lately."

"Why?" Swizzle asked curiously.

"Because I'm the Bad Guy in my game, remember?" Ralph replied.

They both reached a game called Tapper. They tried to answer when a buzzer sounded off. Surge Protector materializes beside Ralph, his clipboard ready.

"Name?" Surge Protector asked.

"Why do you always stop me?!" Wreck-It Ralph groaned.

Swizzle went in ahead and walked into what it seemed like a tavern game. Tapper, a mustached bartender, approached the boy who just took a seat.

"I haven't seen you before around here, kid," Tapper said as he wiped a mug. "Which game are you from?"

"Sugar Rush," Swizzle replied.

"Sugar Rush..." Tapper's voice trailed off. He perked up as though he remembered a fond memory. "Oh, I remember that game! Especially the day it was plugged in. I remember serving root beer to your ruler who first stepped into my game. What a charming person."

Swizzle snorted; King Candy is many things but he's not exactly charming as of late. Someone called for Tapper, who hurried to take their orders. Then he returned with a frothy mug of root beer and serves to Swizzle.

"This one's on the house, kid," Tapper smiled at him.

"Aw, thanks, man!" Swizzle takes the mug and sips it. He giggled and hiccuped a bit. "This is pretty good! Say, do you serve regular beer besides this kiddie drink?"

Tapper looks a bit offended after hearing that his root beer is called a "kiddie drink". "Yeah, but they're served for adult characters."

"My game's fifteen-years-old and I look like a ten-year-old. So that makes me... Twenty-five years-old!" Swizzle took another sip of the root beer; he could feel himself becoming giddier. "So, I'm not exactly underage!"

"Sorry, kid, I don't serve regular beer anymore ever since the Zangief Incident," Tapper told him. "Speaking of which, how's your princess? I haven't heard a word from her in fifteen years."

"Princess?" Swizzle looked up from his drink. He wondered if he's hearing things thanks to the root beer. "We don't have a princess ruling Sugar Rush. We got King Candy."

Tapper became confused, looking away. "But I could have sworn I remember meeting a princess. She's a racer like you, and she's one of the sweetest girls I ever met. What was her name again...?"

"Was does she look like? Is she cute?" Swizzle asked, thinking he wouldn't mind date a princess.

At this moment, Wreck-It Ralph came in, looking grouchier than ever. The bartender left Swizzle to take his order. Swizzle wanted to ask more questions about this "princess" Tapper was talking about but he remembered that he must return to his game or else Vanellope might get worried. When nobody is looking, he hides the mug inside his jacket and quickly leaves the game.

He glanced sideways to make sure Surge Protector isn't around and makes a quick dash towards Sugar Rush. He stopped halfway when he came across a small group of homeless video game characters sitting on the benches in the center of Game Central Station. Q*Bert and his friends glance up and stare at Swizzle with sad eyes.

Swizzle felt his heart tugged and he sighed. As much he wanted to sneak in a mug of exclusive root beer and share it with Vanellope, he knows that these poor little guys deserve it more. He offered them the mug and smiled warmly.

"Here, it's not much," he said. Q*Bert said something in gibberish which Swizzle didn't understand. He waved them good-bye and walked back to his game. He was about to enter the tunnel when he heard Surge Protector's voice behind him.

"I saw what you did, Malarkey," he said.

Swizzle spun around to see him standing at the bottom of the steps. He didn't look angry.

"Are you aware that you smuggled out drinks without Tapper's permission?" Surge Protector asked.

"Yeah, so?" Swizzle said angrily. "Am I going to jail for that?"

"No, you're not going anywhere," the blue electrical fellow said. Swizzle thought he saw him smile for a moment. "I was going to say that I misjudged you. I thought you were just an ordinary delinquent, but you showed little kindness to others who no longer have anywhere else to go."

Swizzle blinked and checked his ears to see if he's hearing right. Did this guy really said all that?

"So, I'm gonna let you go for now," Surge Protector said. "But don't let me catch smuggling anything else ever again. I have an important job to do."

Surge Protector turned to leave but Swizzle stopped him.

"Wait! I have something to ask you," he said. "You seemed like a guy who follows his own rules. Why did you... you know... make graffiti and stuff?"

Surge Protector didn't look at him but he replied, "Well, I guess it's because... it's really hard to love your job when everyone else just hates you for doing it. If the other people saw all of the graffiti I did, they'd comment and wonder on who did it..."

Swizzle stares at him, realizing that Surge Protector is more than just a strait-laced officer. He knows what it's like to get some recognition despite being shunned by others around him. He then remembers Vanellope and hurries into the tunnel, hoping she's still waiting for him on the other side.

When he came out of the tunnel, he saw Vanellope smiling oddly at him.

"Welcome back, Swizz, I have some good news! I know another way of how I'm going to get a new kart and enter the Random Roster Race!" she said.

Swizzle was surprised. "How? I told you before, Vanellope. You need a lot of money if you want to bake a new kart, and one coin to enter the race."

"I got it all covered, buddy!" she grinned and showed him the wanted poster of him.

Swizzle's heart dropped and grabbed the poster, staring dumbstruck. "No… this can't be!"

"I know... it's really hard to see you're a criminal just like me," Vanellope said, trying to comfort him. She felt a small twinge of guilt looking at his expression. Maybe she shouldn't go with her plan after all…

"They didn't get my face right!" Swizzle cried in outrage. "They made me chubby!"

Meanwhile, back at the Royal Raceway, everyone is getting ready for another day for the random roster race. All the candy citizens were cheering for their favorite racers, except the jolly ranchers fans. When they realized Swizzle was never coming back to race, they stopped coming to watch. The podium that once held them is now bare.

"I sure hope we have another good day, even though one of our own can no longer race with us," King Candy spoke into the megaphone, referring to Swizzle. "It really is unfortunate that his career has been cut short, he truly is a decent racer..."

Taffyta and Candlehead shared a nasty chuckle under their breaths.

King Candy tried to act cheerful but he's secretly having problems; he hoped that Duncan and Wynchell find Swizzle soon, or everything he worked on for all these years will be gone... He still hadn't figured out why Swizzle's coin chest suddenly empty despite the unlimited coin hacking he had made a long time ago to ensure that everyone can still pay to race no matter how many losses they get.

Despite his paranoia, he puts on his jolly smile for the young racers before him, each holding their coins from their previous winnings. He must remember to give another announcement as soon everyone paid their fee. There is a special event coming up in a few days, and but he hasn't said anything about it yet since it's going to be a surprise for everyone.

"But! Let us not dwell on the past," he continued, "we must go on and focus on what is good for this kingdom and the arcade! I shall go first, ha ha, as usual!"

King Candy threw his golden coin into the trophy cup. Taffyta and her posse came next, followed by Gloyd, Crumbelina, and then Snowanna and her own posse. The crowd were cheering while the announcer calls out the names of the contestants who paid their entrance.

Jubileena held up her coin and tossed it into the air. She waited for her name to be called as the coin fell into the cup. To her shock, her name wasn't called out. Instead, her name on the board was blinking and it was replaced by big red letters reading, "ERROR".

Everyone, racer and citizen, were gasping and muttering with confusion. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Jubileena began to panic and she was tugging her pigtails.

"I don't get it! I enter my coin! I... I should be in the race!" she cried.

"It's alright, don't be alarmed, everyone!" King Candy told the confused crowd. Jubileena's fans were shouting.

"Jubileena Bing-Bing!" the king turned to the cherry-themed racer. "The coin you tossed into that trophy cup... Did you win that?"

Jubileena was crying and she shook her head.

"N-no! Minty Zaki lend it to me because... because..." she took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. "BECAUSE MY COIN CHEST HAS GONE EMPTY THIS MORNING!"

Everyone gasped louder, even King Candy was nearly taken aback. Before he can say anything else, the recolor racers did something unusual. Nougetsia, Torvald, and Sticky dropped their own coins and backed away, looking guilty.

"You too, girls?" King Candy asked, his jaw dropped.

"Us recolors hardly win these races," Torvald said, staring up to him. Nougetsia and Sticky are now holding each other, crying as well. "However, Citrusella is luckier than the rest of us and today she lends us her coins... Turns out our chests are empty too."

((Oooh, the plot thickens~))