Chapter 7- Drown Out Your Sorrows
"Oh my GOODNESS, that's HORRIBLE!" Meg said as she handed Mary another tissue.
"An-and I don't know where he is!" Mary sobbed, patting her tear-stained cheeks. "It didn't seem to matter WHAT I said! He just…he just-! He just LEFT ME!"
"Gene? Just walkin' away like that?" Norwood said as he shook his head "Man, I've known Gene has done a lotta stuff, but I never would have thought he'd just up an' leave Mary like that!"
"We're not the only ones who haven't seen him!" Roy cut in, wringing his hands nervously "I called Tapper's, Pac-Man, Galaga! They haven't seen a TRACE of Gene!"
"TAPPER'S hasn't seen him?!" Nel said in a stunned voice "WOW! Things must be REALLY bad then!"
"I take that back….he WAS a Tapper's but…"
"Buuuut?" the other said, getting much too close for Roy's comfort.
"Buuuuut, Taps had to kick him out when Gene drank the supply to make the counter roll, TWICE!"
"Yeah, that sounds like Gene…" Lucy sighed, rolling her eyes.
As the other Nicelander chatted amongst themselves on the whereabouts of their leader, Ralph could do nothing more than look in worry towards the tram, expecting Calhoun and Felix to return at any moment with the mayor in tow. Every few seconds his eyes would dart to the trolley and then to the clock but nothing.
"C'mon guys, where are ya?"
Ralph couldn't believe he was admitting it, but he was worried about Gene.
Maybe it was because after all these years, the two were starting to come to an understanding with each other. Maybe it was because he knew that compared to a lot of characters in the arcade, Gene didn't stand a chance.
But after thinking over it so long, Ralph realized he was worried because, even if he and Gene didn't see eye to eye, he really didn't want anything horrible to happen to the man.
And even more, he knew that there was someone else who was worried sick of the mayor's whereabouts.
Mary.
Ralph turned towards Mary, the little woman sitting alone on the couch.
"Ms. Mary?" Ralph said in a gentle voice.
The small woman looked up, trying her best not to look too upset in front of the man.
"Y-Yes, Ralph. What is it?"
"I-I just want ya to know that Calhoun and Felix have everything in order and we'll see Gene again in no time!"
Ralph tried his best to smile in the face of adversity but the growing pit of fear in his stomach said otherwise. How he wished he could have joined his friends on their search but seeing as he was now doing in-game suspension, so much as stepping foot outside was out of the question.
"I-I know dear…." The woman sniffed as she blew her nose into her handkerchief "But I'm finding it a little difficult to keep positive…"
As the hours were ticking by, some games were still as busy as ever. Knowing that the arcade was going to be closed, a lot of characters took great advantage in the few hours that they had off and were indulging as much as possible. Needless to say, this meant that nearly all the bars in every game were busy,
For a person like Gene, this was the perfect way to drown out his sorrows but for Felix and Calhoun, all this meant was more time spent searching high and low for the man.
Calhoun had lost count of how many bars she and her husband had gone in to but with each tavern they came across, they were only left with few clues and no Gene.
All they knew was that if there was a bar, or a bakery for that matter, Gene had been there and he had also been kicked out when the owners felt that the little man had worn out his welcome.
"Okay, riddle me THIS." Calhoun said in an aggravated tone "How in the world can we NOT catch up to a short, blue, round thing that can't even get up to a decent runnin' speed?!"
"You don't know Big Gene as well as I do!" Felix said "Mention a bar or food to the guy, he's at it faster than lightening!"
"In that case, why don't we just hold up a sign over a box that says 'Free Beer' and trap him once he takes the bait?!"
"If it were that easy, don't you think I would have TRIED that?!" Felix said, pressing his hands on his temples.
"HEY!"
The two stopped in their tracks at the sudden yell. Looking around, they found none other than Sonic waving towards them.
"You two looking for Gene?" the hedgehog said.
"Er, yeah! Has he been by your way?" Felix asked.
"Has he? HAH! The guy stopped by our game for a hot second but then left when he found out we didn't have a bar!"
"Oh PLEASE tell me you know where he went!" Felix said, holding his hands together.
"Sure thing!" the hedgehog said with a grin, running his nose "I heard he stopped over at Dig-Dug for a moment but got kicked out for biting a Pooka when he thought it was a doughnut! THEN he ran over to that one game? Food Fight? Yeah, he stopped by there an' stole a buncha cakes or somethin'! Man, that guy was JETTIN' outta that place with a whole stack'a cakes in his arms an-!"
"Sonic…." Calhoun said in a dry voice "Can you just TELL us?"
"Alright lady, alright! The last thing I heard, he was headin' over to Hack n' Slash! They have a pretty decent background bar!" Sonic said, putting his arms behind his back.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you!" Felix said as he tore off to the next game "If ya need anything fixed, don't be afraid ta ask!"
"I think you should save that hammer for all the damage Gene has done to some of those bars!" Sonic said with a smirk.
"W-Was it THAT bad?" Felix asked, growing all the more nervous by the second.
Sonic shrugged before turning to walk away, "Let's just say I think Gene wrecked more bars than Ralph could ever wish to do in his life time!"
The husband and wife exchanged worried glances for a moment; they knew Gene could get himself into trouble, but not like this!
"Urgh, should we be prepared for the worst?" Calhoun said, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"At this time, YES." Felix said, shaking his head and pulling his hammer out of his holster.
It didn't take too long for the couple to make their way to the before mentioned Hack n' Slash, another old school game that had been at Litwak's since the beginning. Felix had known about it but he wasn't a regular at the place. The only thing he knew about the old beat-em-up was that it was from one of the rougher sides of the arcade.
And unfortunately, Felix wasn't a 'rough' character.
"Felix, have you ever BEEN in this game? At least THIS FAR into it?" Calhoun asked, on high alert for any sort of ill-activity.
"No." the repair man said, gulping back a bit "But if Gene is in here, I'll search EVERYWHERE til I find him!"
"Ho boy…" Calhoun said, taking one of her many guns from her holster "Now I am glad I took one of these tonight!"
The couple cautiously made their way through the game, finally spotting one of the many repeating background bars in the distance. Calhoun rubbed her chin as she looked at the establishments.
"Okay, found the bars. We just have to figure out which one Gene's in!"
"Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!" rose a loud voice from the last bar on the block "Has anyone here ever heard me SCREAM? It's like a combo of a cat and a crying baby! H-here, I'll do it now! NYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAARuuurrggh!"
"There he is!" Felix said happily, wasting no time in running in before Calhoun had a chance to stop him.
"Honey, WAIT!"
Felix bounded into the bar, finding that even for a busy weekend, it was surprisingly empty.
That is, except for a familiar, small round figure propped up on one of the barstools, four phone books planted under his butt just to help him reach the counter.
"Er, ya know I could get in trouble for serving minors here…." Said the barkeep, looking a bit bewildered to what was unfolding in front of her.
"MINOR? Ha! I'm older than what your bio says, BAAAAAAAAAABE! Now *HIC!* MORE of da heavy stuff, DEAR!" the tiny man said, pounding the counter.
Yup, it was Gene alright.
"Oh thank goodness!" Felix said as he ran over to the stool "You have no idea how much we were-!"
As Felix spun the stool around, the sight that met him halted him in his place since the figure in front of him somewhat RESEMBLED Gene but at this point, he wasn't sure if it was the REAL Gene.
"Uh, GENE?!" Felix said, blinking twice in surprise.
The mayor was a WRECK and it wasn't just because he was DRUNK. The mayor looked like he had been dragged all the way from one end of the arcade to the other! Not only were their MORE bruises on him from the previous fight, but several articles of his clothing were missing including his signature cardigan. His hair was a mess, there were signs of several cakes smeared on his remaining outer shirt and most surprising of all….
For some unknown reason, his beloved MUSTACHE was gone!
"Huh, no wonder the barkeep thought he was a minor…" Calhoun whispered to herself, not sure what to make of the sight before her.
Despite the way he looked, Gene was much too inebriated to been notice or even care. He grinned at the couple before him before giving them a friendly wave and a drunk grin.
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEY! It's my pals! Fixy-Mc-Fixer-Person an' his wife! Lady Kick-Butt!"
"Er, I take it you know this man?" asked the barkeeper, the look on her face simply BEGGING for the two to remove the mayor from her establishment.
"Not too well…" Calhoun said quickly, growing all the more embarrassed by the second.
"Oh my LAND!" Felix cried in horror as he ran up to the man "What in the world HAPPENED to ya?"!
"Whaaaaaaaaat? THIS?" Gene said as he rubbed his bare lip "I think I might have shaved it because it started talkin' ta me!"
"No, no, NO! I mean-! Your-! EVERYTHING!"
Gene looked down at himself again, blinking off "Ooooh! DIS!" the mayor then began to laugh loudly as he pulled on his shirt "I T'INK I traded in my shirty thing for some booze over in Double Dragon! Or…or I think I might have used it to wipe up some blood…."
"WHAT!?" screamed Felix, turning a bit pale at the confession.
"An' then I went over ta a bunch'a places an ate a lotta cakes!" Gene giggled gleefully, putting his hands on his stomach "I ate SOOOOOOOO much cake! I love cake. I love *hic!* cake more than I love…CAKE!"
"And your mustache?" Calhoun said, putting her finger under her nose.
"I HAD A MUSTACHE?" Gene asked, looking at the woman with startled eyes "AURGH! DON'T LET ANOTHER ONE GROW ON MY FACE! IT MIGHT EAT ME!"
If there were a time that Gene had gone over his limit, this was it.
"Ma'am! Please tell me ya capped him off or somethin'!" Felix asked the bartender.
"I tried! But every time I tried to take a drink away, he started crying! I didn't know WHAT to do with him!"
"Hey! Hey! Hey! HEEEEEEEEEEEY!" Gene said rubbing his hand on Felix's face, much to the repairman's discomfort "Did ya know I CRY like a cat too?! Norwood would be so proud'a me!"
Felix chuckled nervously, lowering the mayor's hand from his face, "Okay Gene, it seems that you've had a good time tonight but now, it's time for ya ta get home an' get inta bed!"
"Home? What is HOOOME?" asked the drunk Mayor, scratching his bare lip.
"Er, Niceland of course!" Felix replied, getting a little scared at just how hammered Gene was "It's nice an' warm, an' there is bed ya can go to so ya can sleep off ALL those…DRINKS an' cake ya ate!"
"Oooooh! THAT place!" the mayor chuckled "I had so many good times there! Like the time that lady I liked held my booty for a long time before we made out!"
"OH DEAR." Felix said, not sure whether to feel embarrassed for GENE or HIMSELF.
The mayor flopped forward, suddenly realizing what he just said "Oh, was that somethin' I shudda kept PRIVATE? WHOOPS."
Having had enough, Calhoun simply took Gene into her arms as if he were some sort of child, the mayor kicking his tiny legs to and from.
"Alright, I've had enough! We're getting' ya back to Niceland!"
"NoooO! I dun WANNA go back! I HATE it there!" whined Gene.
"What do ya mean ya hate it there?" asked Felix as he placed a hand on Gene's shoulder "Ya have so many friend back at Niceland an' they miss ya!"
"No they dooooooon't!" Gene wailed, a drunken pout appearing on his face "Don't act like I dun know what ya guys have been sayin' behind my BACK! I know ya hate me! I know ya all hate me!"
"Hate ya?!" shouted the offended repair man "HATE YA?! Gene, you're one of my BEST FRIENDS! How in the world could ya think-?!"
"Do ya r-really think I'm that ss-s-sSTUPID, Fixy Person!" Gene said, this time taking Felix's hat right off his head and putting it on his own "I know what ya guys say behind my back and it's all 'Gene is such a loser!' this and 'He's so mean!' that! Nngh, nngh, nngh! I've been hearin' it since the game got plugged in an' I've been hearin' it more since Ralph an' little candy annoying child person thingy beat all those bugs!"
Felix forced a smile, unsure what to do at the moment "You mean…VANELLLOPE?"
Gene shook his head, Felix's hat falling over his eyes "No, little annoying child person thingy!"
"I think you're still talking about Vanellope…." Calhoun said with a glare. She wasn't in the mood for this at all.
"YES! PRINCESS PEACH!" the mayor said much too loudly, a finger pointing in the air "Ever since those two busted loose, everyone's been flailin' on me as if I were the one who set those buggies lose! Or if I were Turbo, whichever one is WORSE!"
Felix blinked as he looked into Gene's eyes. Even in his drunken state, the man could tell that the mayor was being truthful in his statements. It was just unfortunate that it required so much alcohol for him to say what was really on his mind.
It was also unfortunate that he was too drunk to remember anyone's name, but at this point Felix was just happy that Gene was CONSIOUS, all things considered.
"Gene, if you've been havin' trouble with so many people in tha arcade, why didn't ya tell us?! Ya know we're here for ya!" Felix said in a reassuring tone and taking back his hat.
Gene snorted before looking off to the side, "Like that would have matteeeeered! Like ANYTHING I say MATTEEEEEEEEEEEEERS! Why do ya think I didn't tell any of ya guys that Ralph an….an….."
Gene stopped, his brain working overtime to remember Vanellope's name.
"VANELLOPE?" Felix and Calhoun said.
"YES, JILL VALENTINE!" Gene said with a drunken smile "Why do ya think I didn't tell ya guys 'bout those two prankin' me? Ya think the bet was da only reason?"
"Actually, YES!" Calhoun said as she sat the little man back on the bartool, a little surprised to find that there might have been something more to Gene's behavior throughout the entire ordeal.
"Da OTHER reason I didn't tell…."
Gene then stopped, signaling Felix to come closer.
"Y-Yes, sir?" asked Felix nervously.
Gene then grabbed onto Felix, pulling him so close to his face that both their cheeks smushed together, the Mayor's eyes shrinking down to pin-points as a demented smile formed on his face.
"Was because I knew no one would have believed meeeeeeeeh….." Gene's voice came out in a rather scary, low tone.
Gene snickered drunkenly as slowly backed away, Felix much too petrified to even answer now.
"What? We wouldn't BELIEVE YOU?!" Calhoun said, pushing her still horrified husband to the side "Where in the arcade would you get an idea like THAT implanted into your skull!?"
"Ain't it simple, Army Lady? Youse would have th-thought I was LYIN'!" Gene said in creepily cheerful voice "You an' EEEEVERYONE else would have thought I was just makin' up stuff ta make the arcade's HEEEEEEEROES look bad! Those two could have beat me with two-by-fours an' no one would have batted a single eye! They couda stuffed me with feathers an'….an'….AN' DID THING an' no one would have cared!"
Felix slowly peeked from behind his wife, walking up to Gene, CAUTIOUSLY.
"N-Now c'mon Gene! I'm sure things wouldn't escalate THAT much!"
"BULL HONKEY!" Gene said in a much-too-loud voice, grabbing another mug of beer from the counter "We all know it's true! Any sort of pain inflicted on me, especially by those two, is seen as justice by the arcade!"
"J-Justice, Gene?"
Gene leaned forward and patted Felix on his head "Say it wit me Felix! JUSTICE! Sweet, sweet, 'let's bring as much pain to Gene as possible' JUS. TICE! правосудие!"
Calhoun jumped back a bit at Gene's final words "The HECK-! Did he just speak in Russian?!"
"An' I know deep, deep, deep down ya think tha same thing don't ya? DON'T YA?! Don't you frackin' LIE ta me, SERGENT! You've always wanted to see me writhe in pain TOO, haven't ya?!"
Gene dropped his mug on the ground, tears forming in his eyes as he began to sob bitterly.
"Don't think I've seen the smirk on your face when you an' your 'frieeeeeeeeeends' talk smack about me an' the others! JUST LIKE WHEN YOU PASTED THOSE PICTURES OF MY BUTT ALL OVER YOUR SHIPS!"
"Tammy, is that true?" Felix asked, looking up at his wife.
"UH."
"Oh, to be a Nicelander! Ta hafta ta go day in an' day out as bein' seen as some sort of weaklin' by everyone ya meet! Well, that was before the Turbo incident! Now, day in an' day out, we hafta deal with bein' seen as weakin's an as worse as VIRUSES!"
Gene sniffed as he looked over at the two beside him, a desperate look on his face.
"Ya see what I did there? With us Nicelanders? An' how everyone here thinks we're worse than viruese because of what we did to Ralph? Please tell me ya got the joke…."
"If we say yes, would you please stop scaring us?"
As the mayor prepared to say something, he felt a wave of nausea hit with full force. He lurched forward on the counter, hand clamped over his mouth in fear that there was going to be more of him in the bar than he wished. Thankfully the sickness faded but in that moment, it had robbed him of whatever energy his drunken high had given him. He leaned forward, his chubby cheeks planted on the wooden counter.
"Felix? Do ya wanna know why I'm so mad all the time?" the man said weakly, turning a bit pale in the face.
Felix looked at his wife but then turned back to the mayor. The man was obviously hurting now and after all the foolishness that he had done before, what he really needed was someone to take him seriously. Sighing heavily, the repair man placed a hand gently on the mayor's back, though not too hard as to cause another catastrophe in the bar.
"Why are ya so angry all the time, Gene?"
"Because…because I hear so much smack bein' said about us." The mayor groaned, turning his head over "I hear so many things that the others don't. Mean things, HORRIBLE things. Things that as mayor of our game, I have NEVER let them know about because I know it would HURT them."
Gene reached weakly for his mug, taking a small sip before groaning in disgust.
"I know people don't take us seriously. I know people don't take ME seriously, but ever since the Turbo incident, people have just gotten MEAN. And I'm not talking people just being grumpy or something. I mean, they really do feel the need to show how much disdain they have for us Nicelanders…"
Felix gave the man a shocked look. Since when was THIS going on?
"Maybe we deserve it? I don't now….but people have gone too far." The mayor continued "They don't just say guff against me, they say it against EVERYONE. Roy, Don, Meg….EVERYONE. If you could hear it, it would make your blood boil too. But the reason they don't hear it is because whenever I hear someone start to go off, I take the guff for them. I step in, pull the people over to the side and tell them if they have any problems, they should take it out on me."
"And do they?" asked Calhoun.
"Boy, DO THEY!" the mayor replied "I know we're in a T game at the moment, but I don't think it would be polite of me to REPEAT some of the things said!"
Calhoun looked rather stunned at the confession but her mood quickly shifted, becoming angrier the more she heard.
"Wait a sec. This has been goin' on for HOW long?! An' you've never told us?!" the woman growled, looking as if she were ready to beat someone up herself.
"As I said before, no one would ever believe ME!" Gene mumbled, a weak look on his face "So whenever someone tried to say something, I'd just step in and…and take the fall."
It was at that moment things began to click; everyone knew that Gene had always been hot-headed but this explained why more than ever it seemed that the man was irritated. Day in and day out, he had to deal with people who made it their hobby to mess with the Nicelanders and the man had made it his responsibility to ensure that the other Nicelanders were not brought down by all the negativity and anger that was directed towards them. Gene heard it constantly again and again, so it was no wonder he was angry. Anyone would be angry after hearing so many hateful words directed towards them and most importantly, their FRIENDS.
But it still didn't make sense why Gene thought that Felix wouldn't believe him.
Was it pride?
Was it fear?
Perhaps it was both. After all, so many things had been exchanged between the citizens of Fix-it-Felix Jr. since the Turbo incident so maybe Gene had somehow made himself believe that Felix didn't value him as a friend anymore. Sure, Felix had become closer to the others since he had gotten to know them better but he was astonished to discover that Gene thought he had just abandoned him like that!
"Oh Gene…" Felix said softly, rubbing the man on his shoulders "Look buddy, you know you could have saved yourself a lotta trouble had ya just come ta us! We're your FRIENDS!"
"I just didn't want to be a bother by bringing you into OUR messes. You don't deserve to be brought down by US." The mayor said sadly "And beside, the fact that no one else knew? It wasn't hurting them and I wanted it to stay that way. Up until NOW, nothing had escalated above just some verbal exchanges….."
Gene faltered, shaking his head as those horrible memories of the fight in the station came rushing back to him, more painful than ever.
"But tonight….."
"Tonight it came full circle…." Calhoun said, shaking her head.
"It was worse than that!" sobbed the mayor, placing his face in his hands "I FINALLY got a taste of how USELESS I really am!"
"Gene, you're not usel-!"
"I AM FELIX!" the man shouted, grabbing Felix by the collar "I AM USELESS! I COULDN'T EVEN PROTECT MARY WHEN SHE WAS IN DANGER!"
Gene shook his head, sniffing back as the very thought of the woman brought more tears to his eyes "I never wanted things to get this bad! I don't CARE if everyone directs their anger towards ME! But to hear them saying such horrible things to MARY!? She doesn't deserve any of that! And the horrible truth of it all! To see everyone LAUGH at my inability to even HELP her when we were being harassed tonight! I just-! I can't come home! I don't WANT to come home! Not after that!"
After such a huge deluge of confession, Gene slammed his head on the wooden counter. He just wanted all the madness to end. Was that so hard to ask for?
"Ya wanna know something?" Gene mumbled "I wish I were like you, Felix."
Felix blushed brightly as he looked down at Gene, "M-M-ME? But why?"
"Because I envy your way you can take so much at once. I don't know what to do anymore but I'm sure if you were in the same position, you would have already gone hoppin' along to find something to make things better. You always do. But me? I make things WORSE."
The man drug his finger onto the shiny countertop, glaring at one of the martini olives nearby.
"Heh, I break under the pressure. I always come out as a joke. A coward." the Nicelander said, flicking the olive into the distance "I can't even tell the woman I've admired for THIRTY YEARS that I love her. I can't even PROTECT her. What kind of hus….FRIEND would I be to her?"
"But you DID protect her!" Calhoun snapped, having enough of Gene's sad-sack attitude "You stood your ground against those THUGS because you knew it was the right thing ta do!"
"Yeah?" Gene groaned as he gave Calhoun a sarcastic look "But who ended up in the trash and got Ralph in trouble? Just something else people will blame me for, by the way."
"THAT DOESN'T MATTER!" the woman roared "What matters is that you were willing ta do ANYTHING to protect Mary from those guys! You didn't run away, you didn't cower! You stood your ground!"
Gene shyly looked away, circling his finger on the bar counter "I-it was just somethin' I had to do…."
"EXACTLY!" the woman said as she suddenly picked Gene up off the stool, the little man squeaking in shock "So why are ya runnin' away NOW?! There is a woman in Niceland waiting for you and she is worried sick over where you've been!"
Gene's face began to light up a bit, though Calhoun wasn't sure that was because he was finally gaining some confidence or if it were due to the alcohol.
"Mary's worried for me?" the mayor said in a thin voice.
"Gene, that woman LOVES you!" Felix said "Don't think no one else can see it! She KNOWS that you would do anything for her an' if ya wanna do somethin' REALLY big, you'd march your butt outta here an' get back home to her!"
There was something about Felix's words that began to clear Gene's mind. Though he was still dizzy and his mind was in a bit of a buzz, the feeling in his heart was beginning to beat all of that.
What in the world had he been doing all these hours? He had allowed himself to be walked over AGAIN and he was going through so much self-pity that he didn't realize that there was indeed a home he could go to where people cared for him.
And most of all, there was Mary.
The woman he loved, the woman he cherished.
He had almost let the entire bet and the situation in the station destroy EVERYTHING that had been building up for the past week.
There was no way he was going to let things break now!
"Y-YEAH!" Gene said, wriggling free from Calhoun's grasp "I gotta get home!"
Felix clapped his hands happily once he saw that he had broken through to the man, "Oh thank the PROGRAMMERS!"
"Er, are ya sure ya can walk there solider?" Calhoun asked, noticing the obvious sway in Gene's steps.
"Y-Yes, ma'am! I am fine! You don't become the best known partier in the arcade without building up some strength!"
Of course, Gene's words would have been taken more seriously had he not walked right into a wall on his way to the door. The little man flopped onto the ground, the entire world spinning in his eyes.
"I got him…." Calhoun said with a sigh, picking the man up and holding him in her arms like a doll.
"Well, at least he's still conscious." Felix said, scratching the back of his neck.
Gene moaned sickly, placing his hands on his now aching stomach.
It had appeared that the copious amounts of hard drinks and pastiries had finally caught up with him.
"Orrrrp, my tummy hurts!" Gene groaned, turning a bit green.
Calhoun turned and glared at her husband "I just want you to know, if he gets sick on me YOU'RE fixin' my uniform, FELIX. BY HAND."
"Yes, dear…." Felix said with a sigh.
Back at Niceland, Mary sat alone in her apartment, much too upset to even consider thinking about what Gene was doing. Every time a thought crossed her mind, it was always worse than the last.
What if he had gotten lost somewhere?
What if he were being accosted by more game characters?
What if he had somehow gotten his way into the cord?
And if he were in the cords….
The woman felt a chill run up her spine at the very thought but she knew she couldn't allow herself to become swallowed by her worry. Gene wouldn't want her to worry so much over him.
But with the way he left, she wasn't so sure anymore.
Mary had so many 'what ifs' but none of them brought back Gene.
"Wait, is that Felix?" a voice rang from the hallway.
"Yeah, and I think!" said another.
"What?" Mary said to herself, looking over towards her front door.
"Holy cow, It's GENE!" Deanna cried out happily from the hall.
Mary jumped to her feet as she ran to her door, pushing it open without any regards to who was standing beside it.
"GENE'S BACK?!" the woman cried looking around the hall frantically.
"Whoa, calm down Mary!" Don said, moving out of the way just in time before the door hit him "As far as I can see, Calhoun is carrying SOMETHING blue in her arms!"
Norwood peeked from the window "Well, it's either Gene or some miniature blue whale! Take your pick!"
"GENE!" Mary cried in happiness as she ran towards the stairs, her little feet moving as if they had suddenly grown wings.
Back outside Ralph approached the group, relieved to see that Gene was in once piece.
"Ya didn't run into any trouble finding him, did ya?!" Ralph asked in worry.
"Not at all, big guy!" Calhoun said with a smile "But….um, there is an issue we have to talk about involving the TABS this guy ran up."
"…How much do we owe THIS time?"
"GENE! Oh, thank GOODNESS you're okay!" cried an elated Mary, running right up to Calhoun and holding her arms up for the man.
Gene moaned, feeling worse than before, "This is OKAY?!"
Before Gene could say another word Mary jumped the poor man, knocking him over on his butt and burying her face in his chest.
"Gene, I'm so GLAD your home!" the woman cried out, her cries muffled in Gene's chest "You have no idea how worried I was for you!"
Mary then stood on her feet, pulling the queasy Gene up as well though she didn't seem to notice the green color in his cheeks.
"Don't you ever, EVER run away like that again, you hear?! If anything happens, we can work it out together, but you-!"
The little Nicelander then felt the weight of the man falling forwards on her but thankfully she caught him before he took her down with him. She looked up at the man in shock, finally realizing the condition he was in.
"You look AWFUL!"
With Mary as his only support, Gene could do nothing more than sway to and fro in her arms, his head pounding and his stomach doing cartwheels inside of him.
"Urp, I love you too honey…."
The woman then began to lead the staggering Gene back to the apartments "You poor thing! Once we get inside, I'll take care of you!"
"Th-that's sweet of you dear…." Gene panted, feeling even worse by the second "B-but there is something I want to say first!"
Mary turned towards Gene, a worried look on her face "Gene, please! Don't do this to yourself right now! You're sick!"
"No, no, no! I need to say this!" the man said as he pushed Mary away gently, trying his best to stand on his own feet "What I did was FOOLISH. Everything I've done this week was FOOLISH and I had no right dragging you into this!"
Mary took a hold of Gene's hands, gripping them tightly "Darling, there is no reason to blame yourself!"
"But I should have known better. And I want to apologize for running away from you like I did! That is no way a responsible adult should behave and….."
Gene looked off to the side, blushing like mad.
"I'm sorry, Mary. I am very, truly sorry."
Mary couldn't help but smile as she looked up at Gene, a few tears coming from her eyes.
"It's alright dear….It's alright."
Mary then gave Gene a peck on the lips, but pulled away quickly, "But please tell me you're going to let Felix fix your mustache. It feels a bit…ODD not to feel it when we kiss! Plus…you look like you're twelve."
"O-Oh right…" Gene said bashfully as he rubbed his upper lip with his finger "I-I…I forgot about that."
Gene stopped, his eye twitching as his face began to pale again. Mary blinked, taking his hands.
"Dear? Gene, are you alright?"
Without saying a word, the mayor gave the woman a calm look, clearing his throat and holding a finger up.
"H-Hold on, I have to take care of something!"
"What? WHAT?" Mary said, watching Gene as he staggered over towards the side of the apartments.
The man fumbled his way over to one of the bushes near the side of the building and not a second later-
"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRFGH!"
"OH! GEEZE!" winced Ralph.
"YUP. Right on time…" Calhoun said, wincing a bit.
"Gene, how much cake did you eat?!" Mary shouted, worry in her voice as she ran towards the sick mayor.
"Uuurggh! I DON'T KNOW!" Gene sobbed, holding his aching stomach before dropping to his knees.
"Aw man, I'm EXHAUSTED!" Calhoun said as she flopped on Felix's loveseat "I've been on some tough missions before but I didn't think searching for a lil chunk-ball in blue would be that annoying!"
"At least we got him back!" Felix said from the kitchen, getting himself a slice of left over pie "An' seein' how happy he was with Mary? Well, that made it worthwhile…."
The repair man then stopped for a moment, a sour look coming on his face.
"Well, until he got SICK. Everythin' was FINE up until that point!"
"So is that the reason why he said he didn't want you to 'fix' his mustache until he got better?" Calhoun said with a cheeky smile.
"I guess? Maybe he was afraid he would do a repeat performance before I had a chance to place my hammer on him."
"I suppose that makes SOME sense…" Calhoun said "Wait a moment, no it DOESN'T. But whatever. It's not like I WANT to argue with the mayor, now do I?"
"Y-Yeah…" Felix said gloomily, taking a tiny bite of his pie.
"Hey, what's wrong solider?" asked Calhoun, snuggling up against her love.
"It's nothin' Tammy…"
"Liar…" the woman said as she brushed her lips softly against Felix's cheeks "If there wasn't something on your mind, you wouldn't be acting this grumpy."
"Weeell….it's just what Gene said in the bar…." Felix replied.
"You'll have to remind me again because Big Gene said a LOT of things. A lot of DRUNK things!"
"I still can't get over how he thought I wouldn't have believed him if somethin' was happenin' ta him AN' tha rest of the Nicelanders!" the repair man said in a worried tone "It's like…it's like he really does think that I feel the same way as the rest of the arcade does, or SOMETHIN'!"
"Or SOMETHIN'?" Calhoun echoed " Babe, I can assure you, both you AND Gene are worrying too much an' as we witnessed ourselves, nothing good can come from it!"
"Maybe you're right…." Felix sighed, leaning closer onto Calhoun "But can ya really blame me? All this stuff happened because of that stupid bet we made with Gene."
Calhoun rolled her eyes as she let out a chuckle "The bet. YES. I find it ironic that all this time, Gene still hasn't gotten angry. He cried like a baby, but he didn't get angry ONCE in the bar! That takes nerves of steel to do, especially when one is DRUNK!"
"I just hope that nothin' else happens! We only have ONE day of this madness to go an' after that, NO MORE!" Felix said in a surprisingly mad voice "An' on top of that, I'm gonna crack down on those guys who apparently have issues with our game!"
"Is that so, big boy?" Calhoun said in a cheeky voice, embracing her love closer to her "Well, don't be TOO rough on 'em! What will people think if Fix-it-Felix Jr. starts actin' like a tough guy, hmmm?"
"Awww, Tammy…." Felix laughed, a smile finally appearing on his face.
Ralph stretched, yawning loudly as he plodded to his bed.
"Might as well just sleep. It's not like I can go anywhere…" the man grumbled as he fell face first into the mattress.
While he was glad that things had calmed down, he was still a little miffed on receiving a game arrest from Surge. Of all the things he could have gotten in trouble for, coming to the aid of a friend was the most grating!
Even worse, Ralph could remember the arrogant smirk that Gritz had given him as the two parted ways. Something in the wrecker's brain knew that no good was going to come from that. His gut was telling him it would only be a matter of time before he ran into the gang again, and who knew what they were planning for him AND the rest of the residence of Fix-it-Felix Jr.
The big man rolled over on his stomach, feeling much too sleepy to even be that frustrated anymore.
"Aw, forget 'em Ralph…" the wrecker said with another yawn "They're just a bunch'a….a bunch'a 8-bit punks. If they try anything else, you'll know what to do!"
In no time at all, Ralph had dozed off, snoring softly as his mind drifted into a peaceful dream.
Peace; that was something that was going on in Niceland.
Things were back together, people were finally calming down.
Nothing could break this up.
Nothing.
In the midst of his sleep, Ralph could hear a faint whistling noise coming from somewhere in the distance. Whatever it was, it was working its way into his dreams, the wrecker snickering cutely as he fidgeted a bit.
"N-No Pauline! That's cute but ya don't have to do that for me!" the man snickered to himself.
Of course, once the whistling began to grow louder, Ralph's subconscious jolted him awake.
"W-what in the w-?!"
BOOOOOM!
Ralph was knocked off his bed just as a large explosion rocked through his little shack. Everything in his room was blown back, hitting the wall with great force, his entire body still feeling the aftereffects of the huge jolt.
The wrecker wasn't the only person who felt the blast as everyone in Niceland woke up with a scream, the entire game shaking from the blast.
In the mayor's apartment, Gene fumbled out of bed, looking around in fright.
"Aw come on, what NOW?!"
Back in his shack, Ralph jumped to his feet and made his way towards the door. When he got there, he was more than a little surprised to find that there was no door. In fact, a missing door was the least of his problem since the entire front end of his house was now gone, blasted away by some sort of bomb.
"MY HOUSE!" Ralph screamed, looking right into the gaping hole.
"Well, if it is the big red-wrecker!" cackled a familiar voice.
Ralph looked over to the side to come face-to-face with none other than Gritz, his gang standing right behind him. Suffice to say, Ralph was none too pleased to see the gang and without even thinking twice, he rushed over to the leader, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and lifting him off the ground as if he weighed nothing.
"JUST WHAT IN THE WORLD DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOIN'?!" Ralph roared in anger.
Gritz was undeterred, almost as if he were humored by Ralph's rage "Isn't it obvious big guy? We're finishing what we started back in the station!"