Author's Note: If I don't post another chapter for a while, don't worry. I haven't forgotten the story – I'm just busy with other stuff. I've taken on Larxillyan's comments and I'm going to add something slightly different to this chapter. I'll try to do it for the next few chapters too. Enjoy! :)
Fun Fact: Alan Tudyk, the voice of King Candy in "Wreck-It Ralph," also plays the Duke of Weaseltown – sorry, Weselton – in "Frozen." He's nothing if not versatile.
Chapter Eight: Vanellsa Von Arendelle
Double doors opened onto a rectangular space divided into two halves. On the left was a chocolate-brown turntable resembling one of Reece's Peanut Butter Cups. Two columns twisted like ropes of dark pink liquorice stood either side, and two arrows pointing in opposite directions were attached to the columns. On the right was a chest of drawers in the same shade of bright pink as the doors. The eight drawers were labelled Hats, Tops, Bottoms, Dresses, Gloves, Socks, Shoes and Accessories in yellow cursive.
"Chews your outfit!" the male announcer boomed when Vanellope walked in.
"Why did you make us stop here?" asked Ralph.
Vanellope just glared at him. "Well, were you really gonna go out in the snow dressed like that?"
Ralph looked down at his orange t-shirt and torn red dungarees. "Not really, but-"
"Then you gotta get changed."
Vanellope practically pushed him onto the turntable. She glitched up and pulled out the Hats drawer. Immediately the chest disappeared, to be replaced by little squares. Each square had a picture of a hat. They came in every possible style and in all the colours of the Skittles Rainbows.
Ralph blinked in shock. There were so many items. "Will these even fit?"
"Yeah, it grows or shrinks to your size. In your case, it just grows." Vanellope's gaze flew over the options. "Ooh, this is a good one!" She poked a square containing a red cap. Ping!
In less than a second Ralph felt something soft on his head. He lifted a hand, and his fingers stroked a white woolly ear flap. "Weird," he breathed.
Vanellope didn't hear his comment. She was here. She was there. She was glitching all over the place. Ping! Ping! Ping! Clothes appeared and disappeared faster than Ralph could keep up with. All the different colours and patterns flashing on him made his eyes hurt.
"What are you doing?!" he yelped.
"Making everything match, that's what!" Vanellope pixelated some more and finally came to rest in front of the turntable. "Okay, I'm done. What do you think?"
Ralph looked down. He now wore a padded, bright orange jacket trimmed with white fur. His big hands were encased in gloves with red and orange stripes. The waterproof trousers were the same cherry-red as the hat. His feet sat in thick orange socks and shiny black boots.
He shrugged. "Not bad."
"Give us a twirl!" Vanellope insisted, pressing one of the arrow buttons.
"Whoa!" The turntable spun quickly. Ralph's arms flailed as he tried to stay upright. He grabbed a column just as it stopped.
Calhoun nodded. "Good job."
"Who's next?" Ralph asked as he staggered off.
Calhoun took his place. "Might as well get it over with," she muttered.
She saw Vanellope grinning. "What?"
"Nothing," Vanellope replied too quickly. "I just had a great idea."
"Vanellope-" Ralph began, but he was too late. She was already darting from drawer to drawer and from square to square. Unlike Ralph, Calhoun stood still as a statue through it all, completely unfazed – until Vanellope had finished, that is.
"Well?"
Vanellope couldn't keep her face straight. Neither could Ralph. Their mouths wobbled, they sniggered, and finally they collapsed with laughter.
Calhoun looked ridiculous. Her outfit was every shade of pink: bright pink jacket, shocking pink trousers, light pink socks, dark pink trainers and a pink-and-white candy-striped bobble hat. She could have been a Barbie doll if she actually looked happy.
"Really?" she sighed. "Really?!"
Her words only made Ralph and Vanellope laugh even more.
Calhoun picked up Vanellope and plonked her on the turntable. "I'll have my revenge," she said. She frowned at the drawers. Her hands darted over the options, and only at the end of it did she crack a smile.
Vanellope was now decked out in bright shades of blue (almost turquoise) and garish orange. You didn't have to see her outfit to know that those colours would not go well together.
Vanellope folded her arms. "At least your pinks don't clash!"
. . .
The pod taxied just above the ground and stopped at the foot of Diet Cola Mountain. The three characters climbed out and trudged through the snow towards the sugar-free lollipops. Vanellope was the first to pass through the wall, followed by Ralph and then Calhoun.
"What makes you think he'd be here?" Calhoun asked Vanellope.
"Trust me," Vanellope explained, "if there's a perfect place for anyone who's a little weird and wants to be alone, it's Diet Cola Mountain."
Everyone took small baby steps across the icy floor. Approaching the hot springs, they gasped together. Instead of Mentos dropping into the cola lava, shiny stalactites hung from above. The pool of once-broiling-hot Diet Cola had become an ice rink. Frozen cola droplets glistened like Christmas lights. As Ralph ducked under an arch, he knocked a strand and made them tinkle like chimes.
"I never thought winter could look like this," he whispered.
"Me neither!" said a voice like Vanellope's. "It's beautiful, isn't it? But it's so white. Do we have to bleach the joy out of it all?"
Ralph raised an eyebrow at his little companion. Her mouth had stayed closed. She raised an eyebrow back, just as baffled as him.
The rambling continued. "I'm thinking a little crimson over here, some royal blue over there . . . and how about a bit of yellow? Wait, no, no way. Yellow and snow? Yuck!"
The voice wandered up behind the group. Ralph and Calhoun looked down. A snow-girl with a ponytail and a blue baseball cap looked up. "Don't you agree?"
Calhoun screamed. Army reflexes took over and she kicked the snow-girl's head. It flew off her body into Ralph's hands.
The head still smiled. "Hello!"
Ralph held her at arm's length. "You're creepy." He reached out to Calhoun. "You take it."
"What? No!"
"It's just a head."
"Exactly."
The snow-girl's body ran in circles, arms waving. "We got off to a bad start, didn't we?" her head said. "Put my head back and let's start again."
Ralph promptly dropped the head. The snow-girl's body caught it and repositioned it. "Now I'm perfect."
"Almost." Vanellope held up an ice cream cone – just as the snow-girl turned around. The cone slammed through her head.
The snow-girl went cross-eyed when she spotted a tiny piece of cone poking through. "Wow, thanks! I always wanted a nose. Aww, isn't that cute? It's like a baby unicorn."
The bulk of the cone stuck out of the back of her head. Vanellope pushed it through. At first the snow-girl's eyes widened in alarm, but when the bigger nose emerged the smile quickly returned. "I like it even more now."
She scampered about, sniffing the air. Her face suddenly wrinkled in disgust. "What is that stink?" She crept towards Ralph. "Oh, it's just the big guy."
Ralph sniffed his armpits. "Is it that bad?"
The snow-girl opened her mouth again, but then quickly shook her head. "Where are my manners? Okay, I'll try again. I'm Vanellsa Von Arendelle and I like warm hugs."
She opened her arms out wide. Vanellope dove in and returned the hug. "Nice to meet you, Vanellsa."
"And you are?"
The girls pulled apart.
"Oh, yeah. Vanellope Von Schweetz, President of Sugar Rush."
Vanellsa immediately curtseyed.
Vanellope blushed. "Come on, you don't need to do that." She turned to her friends. "The woman who kicked you is Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun from Hero's Duty. And the big smelly guy is Wreck-It Ralph from Fix-It Felix Jr."
Vanellsa gasped. "Felix? That's the man who built me!"
"He is?" Ralph whipped the cap off Vanellsa's head. Sure enough, the letters FF were printed on a yellow square. "This is his hat."
Vanellsa snatched it back. "I thought it was mine."
"Well, what did you think FF stood for?" Calhoun asked.
Vanellsa shrugged. "Frozen and Fabulous. That's me to a T. Or an F." She sniggered.
"So Felix built you?" Ralph asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
Ralph knelt down. "Does that mean you know where he is?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Can you show us the way?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Because we're going to bring back summer," Vanellope declared.
"Summer?" Vanellsa turned away, gazing wistfully into space. "I don't know why, but I've always wanted to see summer."
"Really?" Calhoun folded her arms. "I'm guessing you don't have much experience with heat."
Vanellsa shook her head. "Nope! But sometimes I like to imagine what'll happen when summer does come." She closed her eyes. "Maybe I'll be skipping through a grassy meadow –" she walked blindly towards the ice rink "– or maybe I'll be lying on the burning sand at the beach, with a cool drink in my hand." She flopped onto her back on the frozen Diet Cola, sighed, and then got up again. She glided in circles. "Perhaps I'll sail away in a boat and the summer breeze will take me to new lands. And I'll make friends with other snowmen – no, sandmen! They'll see me and think I'm so cool." She laughed and kicked up her heels. "I'll tap dance with seagulls, and then drink hot chocolate in a hot tub to wind down. 'Cause, you know, winter's great for staying inside, but in summer I'll be. . ."
"A puddle?" Calhoun mumbled.
"A truly happy snow-girl!" Vanellsa cried. "It's gonna be rough, but if I hold on to my dream, then someday I'll be under a blue sky, having a picnic with you guys. . ." She paused. "And I'll finally find out what happens to solid water when it gets warm!"
Vanellsa opened her eyes and spotted the other characters, who were simply staring at her. "Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked. "Let's go bring back summer!"
She grabbed Vanellope's hand and scampered off. "Felix is this way!" she called.
Ralph and Calhoun watched them go, but still didn't move.
"I'm gonna tell her," said Calhoun.
"Don't you dare!" hissed Ralph. He ran after the girls.
Calhoun thought they were all nuts. Somebody's gotta tell her.
. . .
Like a light in the dark, Sour Bill moved through the crowd of candy citizens. "Who needs cloaks?" he droned, using his usual dreary tone of voice.
At once, anthropomorphic popcorn, peppermints and Push Pops crowded around, snatching candy wrappers from Wynnchel and Duncan's wheelbarrows. The "Thank yous" were endless.
The racers also approached. Taffyta Muttonfudge led them, storming up to Sour Bill with a face like thunder. "Why are you giving away blankets to tiny little pieces of candy when the actual racers only have Candlehead's measly candle?"
"Vanellope put me in charge and-"
"And that's another thing. Has anyone considered the possibility that Vanellope might be flying all over the place looking for a wizard because she wants to destroy us all? The cold could've gotten to her brain!" Taffyta screeched.
"Whoa, girl!" Gloyd put a hand on Taffyta's shoulder. "I think the cold is getting to your brain. Have a lollipop." He offered her a strawberry heart on a stick, but she glared at him and didn't take it.
Just then, the crowd parted. The Sorceress, now in a royal-blue velvet dress and fur coat, passed through. She was followed by ten creatures. They all had pointy ears, yellow skin and hunched backs. They were all bald, their heads covered in brown liver spots. They all carried weapons. They all wore nothing but torn brown leather around their waists. They were all chattering their teeth and shivering.
Mutters spread among the citizens of Sugar Rush.
"Isn't she Ralph's girlfriend?"
"What's happened?"
"Why is she here?"
The Sorceress's voice rung out loud and clear. "My trolls cannot cope with this weather – and neither can anyone else in this arcade. Sitting back and doing nothing has not helped; if anything, the weather is worse than before. If we're not careful, characters could die. No characters, no games. No games. . ." her eyes narrowed into slits ". . . no arcade."
The anxiety of the NPCs reached new levels. They shook not just with the cold, but with fear. A few even screamed. The recolours, close to crying, hugged each other.
"We cannot allow that to happen," the Sorceress continued. "It's about time someone took action, and fast." She focused her gaze on the Ice Cream Mountains. "That's why I will be heading out in search of Felix myself. But I need volunteers! And they must be prepared for anything!"
Candies rushed over, still clutching their cloaks. The Sorceress led them through the castle gates. She bent down and whispered in one troll's ear, making him grin.
"When we find Fix-It Felix Jr., we are going to put an end to this winter once and for all."