Chapter 13

Slowly, Ralph struggled to his feet. The last thing he remembered was being chucked off of an airship by a massive windstorm. And now, here he was, at the façade of the palace he had sought to enter from the very beginning of the journey.

Behind him was a massive window, which Ralph quickly realized would be his only way into the castle at this rate. He looked down from the window's balcony and spotted the airship, which slid out of sight.

Ralph considered his options: Things were indeed bad, but if he could make his way inside and find Bowser… surely, Bowser would listen to one of his fellow bad guys, right? Couldn't they still relate? If not, well… things could only get worse…

A sudden clicking noise from behind him distracted him, but it was the voice that followed that made him jump. "Ralph?"

Ralph knew that voice… He whipped around.

Vanellope Von Schweetz was sitting in a cage on the other side of the window.

…

"What do we do now-a?" Luigi asked the others.

"Well, one thing's clear!" announced Felix. "We gotta find Vanellope and Ralph!"

"And stop-a Bowser!" Mario added. "Stop him before he takes-a over the arcade!"

Everyone fell silent. "Before he does… WHAT?!" Calhoun demanded.

Mario cleared his throat. "When I got-a captured, I overheard Bowser's plans-a. Apparently, there was-a supposed to be a new-a game where Bowser was-a the main character, but it's-a been scrapped! Now Bowser wants-a to get revenge-a and take over this entire arcade so he can make it his own-a! I didn't hear-a the rest, but he said something about-a some kind of legendary superpower… whatever that-a could be, we gotta stop him before-a he unleashes it on-a the arcade!"

"Then we don't have a choice. We're going in!" declared Calhoun.

"Not so fast, chumps! This party's not over yet!" came a screeching voice.

The heroes looked up. Kamek soared high above them on his broomstick, having resumed control of the airship, and began firing magic blasts in Mario's direction.

"Hey, you meanie! You tried to kill Mario!"

Everyone glanced at Candlehead, whose flame had violently reignited. Felix and Calhoun braced themselves for another attack, but it didn't come. Her words, they realized, were directed at Kamek.

With a powerful Super Jump- one that made even Mario's jaw drop- the flaming ex-minion flung herself high into the air right at Kamek. "You'll PAY for what you did to him!" she screamed as she came down hard on his cranium, causing him to spiral to the floor of the airship.

Candlehead landed triumphantly on the ship's bow. Kamek, separated from his broomstick, landed face-first before the mast.

"One-a more stomp and you're-a toast," Luigi taunted him.

"Looks like the tables have turned," said Felix, brandishing his hammer.

"Ha! That's what you think!" the crazed Magikoopa cackled. "But I got one more ace up my sleeve! Yahahaw!"

Kamek mounted his broomstick, hovered high in the air over the ship, pressed a button high atop the mast, and sped off. He was a safe distance away by the time the airship finally exploded.

…

"C'mon, Ralph! C'mon! Wreck faster!" Vanellope pleaded.

"I'm trying! I'm wrecking as fast as I can here!" Ralph yelled as he continued to beat his fists against the window. It seemed like an eternity had passed, and all Ralph had been able to produce were mere cracks in the candy stained glass. 30 years and I just now find the hardest window I've ever had to break, he thought to himself.

"Okay, I almost got it! Stand back, 'Nelly!" Ralph ordered as he got a running start and finally rammed his way through the glass. Vanellope shielded her eyes as bits of glass rained down upon her. "Ralph, you did it! Now get me outta this cage!"

Ralph took a step back. "Okay, kid, don't move. I'm gonna find a way to get you outta here. I promise, you're gonna be okay," he said, cracking his knuckles.

A sudden rumbling sound startled him. For the moment, Ralph forgot Vanellope and hurried back to the balcony. As he took in the sight below him, his heart plummeted into his stomach. Where before there had been an airship, there was now a pile of smoldering, charred rubble. Felix, Calhoun, and the Mario Bros. were nowhere in sight. "MARIO!"

Suddenly, Mario's voice found Ralph's ears. "Ralph?"

"Mario!" Ralph yelled again, this time with excitement. "Hey! We're up here!"

He was too distracted to notice the large hunk of debris from the downed airship that was headed right for him. "Ralph!" Vanellope screeched. "LOOK OUT!"

Vanellope shielded her eyes again as the debris struck the balcony. When she opened them again, Ralph was dangling from the edge by his fingers, losing consciousness.

"K-kid…" he said weakly. Vanellope could see his strength was leaving him.

"Ralph, no! Hang in there, Ralph, just hang on! Please, Ralph, please! PLEASE!"

With his last ounce of strength, he pulled his face above the edge, and his eyes met hers. "I'm so proud of you, kid…" he started to say, before he lost his consciousness- and his grip on the balcony's ledge. Vanellope was powerless to watch as he fell to his doom.

"No… nonono… NONONO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOO!" Vanellope wailed, as her best friend sank out of sight. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALPH!"

Vanellope sank to her knees and buried her face in her hands. She knew it was over. He was gone for good. "Ralph…" she sobbed. A single tear streamed down her cheek.

The throne room door flung open, and Bowser entered, flanked by Kamek. His initial rage at the sight of the wrecked window vanished at the sight of Vanellope crying. Rather, it appeared almost as if he were excited. "Quickly! A flask!" he ordered Kamek.

Vanellope shut her eyes again. For a moment, she felt herself being removed from her cage and hoisted into the air. There was the sensation of something cold being pressed against her cheek, before she returned to the ground. She opened her eyes, and Bowser was standing above her with a flask in his hand, which contained one of her tears.

Bowser held the flask high above his head- and suddenly it exploded in a shower of sparks. An ominous red glow enveloped the powerful Koopa King.

"YES!" he roared. "At last, the power to bend the fabric of this world is MINE!"