Felix stuck close by Tamora as they entered Tapper's, so as not to get separated in the crowd. Though as they traversed through the sea of characters, he couldn't help but spot a relatively large figure sitting some ways away at the bar.
"Oh, there's Ralph!" Felix exclaimed, hopping up somewhat and pointing towards the large wrecker, who was sitting with Q*Bert, Coily and some of the other Nicelanders. "Shall we say hello, m'lady?" He asked her with a smile.
Tamora wasn't too surprised to see Ralph at Tapper's, just because the wrecker frequented the place more than any of them combined. He and Tapper himself were chums, it seemed, and the quaint mustachioed bartender always made sure to take good care of the big guy, whether that entailed giving him a few extra root beers, or just providing an ear to listen. That might have been due in part to the fact that the both of them had been around for so long – and before the wrecker had been widely accepted amongst his own game, the friendly bartender was someone with whom he could relate.
"It'd be rude if we didn't," she replied, heading over to the table Ralph and the others occupied. The tall blonde greeted the hulking man with a typical punch to the shoulder (which actually hurt more than it should have, though his thick muscles usually cushioned the otherwise painful blow). "Good to see you, Wreck-It."
Behind her, Felix gave Ralph an amused wave as he hopped up onto his own seat next to him, making sure that there was one available beside him for his lovely lady.
Ralph nearly snorted into his pint due to the fact that he hadn't seen Calhoun approaching him. When he recovered (and wiped his face free of carbonated fizz), he turned and regarded her with an amused look. "Hey, Sarge. I almost got root beer up my nose because of you," he laughed, lifting up his glass. His friendly gaze then transferred to Felix. "Glad you guys decided to stop by. Princess pipsqueak should be here soon, too. After her race."
Beside Ralph, Q*Bert bounced and offered his own greeting to the newly arrived pair. " &? #!"
Upon seeing Q*Bert, Felix's eyes lit up with excitement. "Why, hi there, Q*Bert!" He greeted enthusiastically. "How are y- oh, wait… &^%!?~" He cleared his throat and smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, I have an awful accent."
Tamora slid into the chair beside Felix and set her duffel bag at her feet. She then proceeded to fold her long, lean, impressively toned arms along the bar top as she got comfortable. The happy couple hadn't been seated for more than fifteen seconds when Tapper slid them both fresh mugs of the finest root beer in the arcade.
"On the house," he told them, polishing off a glass.
"Thank you, Tapper." Felix nodded towards the bartender, and Tamora did the same. She took a small sip of the cold, refreshing beverage before she let her eyes wander. Tapper's was pretty busy for a Wednesday night, which must have been good for business. Tamora noticed Sonic and Tails sitting towards the back, talking with the Mario brothers. The speedy hedgehog had had perhaps too much to drink, because he was presently betting Luigi a chaos emerald that he could drink three mugs of root beer in under ten seconds.
Turning back to the members of her own party, the soldier looked at Ralph, who was now chatting with some of the Nicelanders. It was amazing how far they'd come when it came to the bad guy. They didn't necessarily offer him as much love or praise as they awarded Felix on a daily basis, but they gave Ralph enough positivity and friendliness to show the wrecker that they now considered him an acceptable part of their community.
It was a little sad that it had taken a calamity to bring them all closer together, but Tamora wouldn't deny that their little group of friends was a nice way to unwind after a rough day.
"Geronimo!~" A familiar voice suddenly rang out, breaking everyone out of their thoughts as the newfound ruler of Sugar Rush landed with a thud in Ralph's lap, taking the larger man off guard for a moment. She looked up at him with wide, excited eyes and a mischievous grin. "Miss me, fatso?" She asked him, innocently.
"Miss you?" Ralph asked, scrunching up his nose and sticking out his tongue, as though he were repulsed by the very idea. "No way. I was enjoying the peace and quiet without her royal talks-too-much around." The wrecker's sour expression melted away into a genuine gap-toothed smile as he reached down to pluck Vanellope up from his lap by the back of her hoodie.
He then set her on his shoulder, which was where she usually sat. Besides, it was practically the most comfortable seat in the house. "We'll take another root beer, Tapper. In a kid's cup," he teased.
"A kids cup!?" Vanellope exclaimed from her new perch atop Ralph's shoulder, raising her arms in incredulity as she watched Tapper go off to fulfil their request. "Why I oughta-!" The little racer placed both of her small hands on the side of Ralph's head in a playful attempt to throttle him.
Felix couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head a little at the display, shooting Tamora an amused look, which she returned with one of her own. Vanellope and Ralph's friendship had only grown since the Sugar Rush incident, and he was more than happy for that. She was the friend the big guy needed. The Nicelanders may have been treating him with respect now, but his friendship with Vanellope was genuine, and he'd needed that more than anything else.
In fact, he'd do anything and everything for the little racer; and Tamora felt sorry for whoever had the guts to threaten Vanellope. They sure as heck would be in for a rude awakening that may have involved a powerful pair of crushing fists. Of course, they'd also have to answer to her gun, and even though he was nowhere near the violent type, they would probably have to get through Felix as well.
The four of them were like a little family. A strange little family, but a family nonetheless.
"Did you smoke 'em at the races tonight, Schweetz?" Tamora asked, reaching out beneath the table to casually rest her hand on Felix's thigh, which caused his face to almost instantly light up with a bashful blush. He was so quick to embarrass, that one. Between the two of them she was definitely the more willing to initiate contact in public, if only because she enjoyed the fixer's company and didn't care who was around to see her express said enjoyment. But even so, his hand still travelled under the table to curl with hers.
"You bet I did!" The racer exclaimed, forgetting her attempt to throttle her friend. "Man, you should've seen it! Taffyta and Rancis were closing in on me, but at the last second I swerved outta the way of a candy cane blockade, and send both of 'em sailing straight into it!" She laughed loudly, and punctuated the statement with a slap to her knee. "Taffyta's face was priceless." She grinned.
"That's what I like to hear," she said, commenting on Vanellope's narration. "No mercy for those cotton-candied pansies." Though her words were somewhat harsh, her actions under the table starkly contrasted them. Her fingers, which were longer and more slender than Felix's, curled around the shorter and stubbier digits, holding them gently in her grasp.
"They should'a known better than to think they had a chance against you," Ralph commented, lifting up one of his massive hands for a fist-bump. "Top shelf."
"Top shelf!" The little racer exclaimed and reached over to bring her comparatively miniscule hand against Ralph's colossal one in a fist-bump, "And you bet!" she directed back towards Tamora with an excited grin. "They never saw it coming." She snickered a little.
It was then that some more familiar faces arrived, belonging to the members of Bad-Anon. Zangief led the line of bad guys over to sit with the group. The Nicelanders seemed a bit uncomfortable when Bowser decided to sit beside them, but that was expected. Just because they were okay with Ralph didn't mean they were ready to accept every single villain out there.
Felix also found himself tensing slightly at the arrival of the bad-guys, though smiled politely and tried not to show his uneasiness as they all made themselves comfortable at the table. He knew better than many people how misjudged the villains in the arcade could be. A fact for which he still found himself sometimes apologizing to Ralph for. The least he could do was give them the proper respect they deserved.
Having been trained to detect uneasiness without a physical indicator, Tamora's eyes shifted to Felix. She already knew that the presence of the larger, menacing bad guys must have made the little fixer feel awkward. Nonetheless, her husband was known for being too "nice" for his own good, and she knew that he'd never treat them badly on purpose. Her hand squeezed his reassuringly before she separated their fingers, so as to rest her arms back on the bar.
Vanellope unconsciously shifted closer to the wrecker from her seat atop his shoulder. After all, some of those guys were big; and the tiny racer bet that some of them might even have been able to give even Ralph a run for his money in terms of brute strength… then again, maybe not.
"Hey, Wrecker!" Bowser greeted him, clapping his large clawed hand forcefully against Ralph's back – an action that caused Vanellope to have to balance herself by hugging onto Ralph's head. Which she immediately released and stuck her tongue out at. "You missed the last meeting!" He brought his hand back down to rest on the table. "You're not too busy for us now, are ya?" He questioned, though it was in a joking matter.
As discreetly as he could without making it obvious that he was comforting Vanellope, Ralph reached up and gently rested one of his huge, thick fingers on her knee. To anyone else it looked like he was just holding her in place, but the truth of the matter was that he was soothing her. For all of her snippiness and insults, she was still just a little girl.
"Too busy? No way," he replied, finishing off what remained of his root beer. "I've just been busier, I guess. With, uh...stuff." Said "stuff" involved visiting Sugar Rush and enjoying his newly-built home in Niceland, but that was his business.
"Stuff, huh?" The Koopa King repeated with a chuckle. He hadn't been oblivious to what had happened all that time ago in Sugar Rush. Practically the whole arcade now knew about what had transpired that day. Or basic tidbits of what had happened anyway; and that Ralph had been the main factor in everything being resolved. It was still strange to Bowser personally, that a villain wouldn't be proud of what they did in their own games, despite the fact that they were 'bad guys' – though he knew many villains that preferred the term 'antagonist' – with a shrug of his large shoulders, he disregarded it. Even he knew that Ralph had been pretty upset with the way he was being treated, and he would have been lying if he said he didn't think that what Ralph had done was pretty awesome. "Hey, Tapper!" He spoke suddenly, and slammed the table to get the bartender's attention. "Could we get a couple more drinks around here?"
"Yeah, in a real glass!" Vanellope finally spoke up.
Meanwhile, another member of Bad-Anon squeezed himself beside Tamora, on the opposite side of Felix. Zangief, the hulking Russian wrestler, clad in nothing more than his signature wrestling trunks, spoke: "So, when we have arm wrestling competition again, ah? You beat Zangief last time, Sarge," the large man said, grinning.
Calhoun smirked confidently. "And I'll gladly take you down again, Muscles," she proposed, causing the fighter to laugh heartily.
"A challenge!" he boomed, slapping the table.
Felix watched the conversation play out between the wrestler and sergeant, his own hands clasping each other on top of the table. Tamora had actually won against that guy? He couldn't help the look of surprise from crossing his face at that bit of information. He was absolutely massive! Though, he knew Tamora was much stronger than she looked. She was the only one he knew that could floor Ralph with a single punch, after all.
Still, the idea of an arm wrestling match, especially amongst this crowd did seem a tad… violent.
"Be careful, Tammy." The fixer spoke.
Tamora had never been one to turn down a challenge. She was fiercely competitive as it was, and she welcomed whatever obstacle came her way. Thus, she scooted her seat back a little and readied her right arm; her dog tags caught the light, causing the silver to glint. Zangief mimicked the pose and clasped his huge hand around Tamora's, holding it.
"Felix is lucky man," he said in a low, husky voice as he squeezed her hand in preparation of their match.
It was the poorest attempt at flirting the blonde had ever seen. Tamora said nothing and simply began counting. "On three. One…two…three!"
And just like that, the two began putting their strength to the test. Neither of them made any sounds, save for a few grunts that Zangief released, but they still caught the attention of nearby characters. It wasn't long at all before quite a few pairs of eyes were looking in. Ralph was among the spectators. "Sweet Mother Hubbard!" he exclaimed, unable to believe that the sarge was actually keeping up with Zangief's unmatched strength. This definitely wasn't something you saw every day.
"Hah! C'mon, Zangief. Show her who's boss!" Bowser chortled, getting great amusement from the look of strain that was appearing on his friends face. He had heard about Sergeant Calhoun from the various stories that had gone around the arcade after the Sugar Rush incident. And in every single one she was portrayed as a raging badass. He was starting to believe that it was actually true, now that he saw her in action. "You gonna let her beat ya?" He taunted the wrestler, and couldn't help but notice the crowd of other patrons the match was drawing in. He was loving this.
Felix meanwhile was trying to keep himself from sinking under the table. He was far too close to the action for his own liking, though he did like the fact that he was close by, just in the event that anything were to go wrong. He was never much into the whole 'conflict' thing. Though his wife certainly was, and good golly, she was good at it too. "Oh my land." He stuttered in surprise, his eyes widening in shock at how well she was fairing against the muscle-bound wrestler. At the sight, he found himself inwardly thanking his luck that he was rarely the focus of her ferocity.
Zangief would never admit it to his fellow antagonists, but he was actually putting some serious effort into winning the arm-wrestling competition. Sergeant Calhoun was deceptively strong, and he didn't know whether that was alarming or attractive. Probably both. She didn't exactly look like a delicate flower, but she also didn't look like she could beat him in a contest of strength, which was exactly what she was doing at the moment. In one final stretch of stored power, he put everything into his right hand and gave it his all.
Tamora actually struggled for a second. Her arm sunk dangerously close to the table, but she absolutely refused to give in. She pushed back, keeping her eyes on his. She fought foes that were bigger and uglier than Zangief on a daily basis. She could handle whatever the wrestler threw at her. That much she knew.
The voices of the other paying customers around them grew louder in a series of chants as they coaxed whomever they wanted to win. Most were cheering for Calhoun, but since Zangief was a favored individual amongst the bad guys - who also had bad, loud voices - his name could still be heard throughout Tapper's. Ralph, who was a friend of both, refrained from using either name. He simply cheered in a general sort of way that could have been applied to either side.
Vanellope was really getting into it. The little racer jumped into a standing position on Ralph's shoulders and hooted and hollered with delight. Whoever won, it didn't really matter. But it sure was exciting!
Bowser on the other hand was cheering exclusively for his fellow villain, at some point standing from his seat in the excitement and forcing a few of the Nicelanders that were sitting beside him to huddle closely beside each other in order to avoid his spiky shell. Gene in particular looked very annoyed at this, though didn't make a move to voice his frustration and simply crossed his arms in a huff.
Calhoun's arm dipped dangerously low to the table, and Felix's eyes widened in suspense as it just hovered there momentarily. She fought to keep her arm from touching the table, and just when it seemed that Zangief had gained the upper-hand, Tamora's arm thrust forward and slammed the larger wrestler's down onto it.
She pulled back and cracked her knuckles as though the previous task had been nothing.
The crowd that had gathered, and that had been getting into the action all erupted into their various cheers or shouts of disbelief the moment it ended.
"Mama-mia!" An unseen voice shouted from somewhere.
"Hah! You did it, Tammy!" Felix hopped up on his seat and cheered excitedly, a look of adoration in his eyes. "I knew you could do it!"
Tamora looked at Felix and smiled at the genuine flush of excitement on his face. He was her biggest fan and supporter, and it made her feel good to have him on her side. "All in a day's work, Fix-It," she said, pulling back to take a swig of her root beer.
"Yeah! Way to go, Sarge!" Vanellope cheered, pumping a victorious fist up into the air, and breaking out into laughter.
Zangief chuckled. "One day Zangief will win."
Tamora smirked. "Don't bet on it. And speaking of betting…" She turned to their spectators. "Alright. For everyone who betted against me, cough it up."
A few of the observing characters handed over their own individual methods of payment, such as gold coins, rings, and even fruit to their betting partners, who happily collected their winnings.
"That's some arm you got there, Sarge," Ralph commented, nodding at the indicated limb.
Tamora sipped some of her root beer. "It takes a lot more than just a tough attitude and strict policy to keep my soldiers in line, Wreck-It."
"I think you deserve a toast! That was amazing." Felix spoke to Tamora happily, raising his mug up a little.
"Yeah. If you ever get bored of shooting those bug-dealies, I bet you'd make a great addition to the Koopa Troop." Bowser chortled, clinking his comparatively larger mug against Felix's.
Tamora didn't seem to mind that she was the current source of attention. It wasn't in her programming to be shy or modest, so she accepted the toast like a champ and even polished off the remnants of her root beer to it. Upon hearing Bowser's statement, she couldn't help but smirk at the overgrown turtle.
"That's awfully tempting, Spikes, but I've got obligations. Someone's gotta bark orders at my platoon," she replied, shrugging. Besides, she doubted she'd do well fighting alongside the Koopa Troop. The sound of clunking shells would have her going mad before the end of the first week. Not to mention kidnapping princesses wasn't Tamora's style.
"Fair enough." Bowser shrugged. In all honesty, he hadn't actually been expecting her to take him up on his offer, though it was worth a shot. She definitely would have been a welcome addition; if not a little out of place. "Can't say I blame you. I wouldn't wanna work with 'em either. Don't know how many times I've told those green-shelled Goomba-brains to stay away from cliff edges…" He grumbled to himself, hoisting his mug up to his mouth again to drink what was left of it.
Felix shifted a little awkwardly at the Koopa King's grumbling, and looked back and forth between him and Tamora, folding his hands in his lap politely and twiddling his thumbs as he waited for someone to say something. He didn't have to wait long for someone else to speak, as he soon felt Tamora's breath on his ear, low and smoky.
"Ready to get out of here, soldier?"
That sent a shiver up his spine, and he instantly found himself nodding at her question. "Yes ma'am!" He answered eagerly, and moved to slip off of his seat. Though not before turning to the party still at the table and waving goodbye to everyone there. "Bye everyone, tonight's been great! And thanks, Q*bert, for setting this up." He smiled at them all, and nodded towards Q*bert.
"See ya." Bowser grunted, still snout-deep in his own mug.
"Bye!" Vanellope waved back just as Tapper returned and handed her a 'real' mug of root beer (that was much too large for her, and forced her to hug onto it with both hands). With a mischievous snicker, she reached down into the mug, pulled out an ice cube, and made the move to drop it down the back of Ralph's shirt.
Vanellope's threat coaxed Ralph to shudder, even though a single ice cube hadn't met with his back; it was the thought of having something cold slip down his shirt that gave him goosebumps. "Don't you even think about it," he warned, narrowing his eyes. It was about to get real in Tapper's. Luckily, Felix and Calhoun were leaving, so Princess Pain-in-the-Butt was spared from the wrecker's precautionary movements. "Later, you two."
Tamora stood from her seat as well and reached down to grab her duffel bag. After slinging it back over her shoulder, she glanced back towards Felix and gave a nod of her head towards the entryway of Tapper's, a signal for him to follow, before she began heading out, knowing that he wouldn't be far behind.
He wasn't. Sprinting up beside her, he craned his neck upwards to look at her with a proud, adoring grin. He was absolutely beaming, and for one of the many times since he'd gotten married to her, he felt like he was the luckiest guy in the arcade.
Reaching up to take her hand in his own, the two exited Tapper's and made their way towards Fix-It Felix Jr.
A/N: The title will begin to come into play next chapter :)
Oh wait, smiley face, what? That's bad.