A/N: Way waaaay overdue, I know. I do have the majority of next chapter complete, and this story is almost done in itself, but I don't want to promise a date as to when the next chapter will be out. It shouldn't take as long as this one did though. And I promise you I WILL finish it eventually. So enjoy :)!

Much to everyone's relief, the day started out slow. The quarters weren't rolling as quickly as they normally would, which was a nice change-up. It might have been that the arcade wasn't that busy, or maybe they were just lucky. Regardless of the actual reason, Ralph was more than happy not to push his luck any more than he already had been. No one would be able to tell unless they knew him personally, but he really wasn't putting too much effort into wrecking. His punches were comparably weaker than his usual ones; they didn't shake as many bricks off.

And when it came time to throw Gene out the window - sick, miserable, unpleasant Gene - he lightly tossed the Nicelander out instead of chucking him halfway across the game like he normally did.

What might have been relief (or at least something akin to it) flooded Ralph when closing time rolled around. Aside from a stray glitch that was easily overlooked, he hadn't suffered an episode all day. Maybe Felix had been right. Maybe there was nothing to worry about anymore. But the wrecker wouldn't count his blessings just yet. Not with one more player shooting in the last quarter of the night.

He could do this. He could do this.

Once the opening sequence ended and he was in position atop the apartment building, Ralph prepared to do what he did best. He lifted his fists and prepared to smash them into the ledge when he suddenly realized he couldn't move.

'No.'

He tried not to panic, but repressing his anxiety had him visibly glitching. The edges of his eyesight began to glow bright orange, which instantly had him dropping his hands and rubbing his fingers into his eye sockets.

'Please, no.'

The familiar mechanical hiss of a voice purred into his head, just like it had earlier that day, only this time… it was louder. Stronger, and completely devoted to snatching his mind permanently.

'I can't give in. I can't forget!'

The obvious lack of wrecking was delaying the game and confusing the player, who was staring at the screen with a bewildered expression. "Why isn't he breaking anything?" the blonde girl questioned, watching as the pixelated 'wrecking guy' just stood on the ledge, shoving his huge hands over his head. "Hey, Mr. Litwack…?"

Even in their virus-infected state, the Nicelanders began to fret. They hissed up at Ralph to move, to wreck, to do something! Anything! But he was unresponsive outside of pained grunts and groans as he fought with the invisible force; he could feel his sanity slipping like fine grains of sand between his fingers, rushing away beneath the white noise that was steadily turning into red-hot screeching.

He was losing himself.

"What is it, sweetie?" The elderly man, came over looking to the young girl with a warm smile.

"I think something's wrong with the game," the girl spoke, releasing the controls and gesturing to the screen. Litwak leaned forward and adjusted his glasses in front of his eyes to get a better look.

"Ooh-boy, look's like old Ralph's seen better days," he said, pulling back and reaching for the quarter dispenser that was attached to his belt. "He looks like one of my granddaughter's dolls… after she takes it out of the blender." He scratched his head a moment. Then with a light chuckle, he took a quarter from the dispenser and handed it to the girl. "Here you go, honey." He said with a sweet smile. His expression fell as the girl walked off, and he turned back towards the flickering glow of the console.

He walked off for a moment to retrieve something from the front counter, and once again came to a stop in front of the screen. "I wish this was the first time I've had to do this today." He said to himself, bringing up the piece of orange paper that read 'out of order' and sticking it onto the screen of the game.

Whatever was happening to this game, seemed to be happening to a few of the other games as well. He looked at it for a moment more, before sighing once more and walking away.

Felix stared in horror as the game was overshadowed in an orange light. It was clear what had happened, and he could already hear the panicked murmurs of the Nicelanders through the windows as the full realization hit them.

The high-pitched whine inconveniently chose then to make a reappearance at that moment; though this time was far more concentrated than it had been before. It felt like it was reverberating through his skull, and he hissed through his teeth as a hand flew up to his head to quell the sensation. Thankfully, it didn't last too long, but it left him groaning in utter irritation.

'Oh no, Ralph.'

He remembered suddenly, and his head shot up to look in the direction of the wrecker. What he saw made his stomach twist in terror. His friend was glitching again. He looked almost frozen; and the unmistakable expression of fear had spread across the wrecker's face.

"Ralph!" The fixer shouted, hopping up a few ledges so he could be closer to his friend. He stood on the ledge beneath the roof where the wrecker was, and waved his arms wildly in an attempt to get his attention. "Ralph, snap out of it!" He demanded, his voice wavering between chastising and totally panic-stricken.

Ralph could comprehend very little of what was happening outside of the immense amount of pain that was crushing his skull from the inside out. He tried to focus, to regain a sense of clarity, but the pressure of shifting between himself and the virus was becoming far too much for him to physically endure. Neon code flashed in his eyes, blinding him, as the sickness finally evolved into its truest form.

A new kind of horror spread through him when he realized that, try as he might, he wouldn't be able to stop it. No matter what he did, no matter how valiantly he fought it off, it had officially taken root in his mind.

With a restrained grunt, he fell onto his knees and relied on the last haul of strength he could provide, so as to grant him the ability to speak to Felix. "I…hngh…I-I'm sorry, Felix, but I can't…zzxxxkkk-!" A shuddering glitch rippled through him, replacing his form with numbers for a split second. "Get…get away from…"

Felix watched his friend with growing horror until, all at once, Ralph grew deadly still.

"… Ralph?" Felix spoke lowly, breaking the momentary silence that filled the air, but before he could say anything more, the wrecker let out a loud roar of pure rage, slamming his fists down onto the building with such intensity that it shook the entire thing.

The trademark wrecker of Fix-It Felix Jr. was no more. His angered eyes were painted a magnificent orange, and a stream of code continuously travelled along their surface.

Ralph wasted no further time rearing back his previously useless fists and pummeling them along the ledge, destroying the brick and cement with newfound power; he was much stronger now, for there was no reason to hold back; a blind, insatiable rage fueled his actions, and it wasn't going stop any time soon.

Once the ledge was reduced to nothing, he sprung onto the ledge beneath and began to approach Felix with intentions to crush the fixer; he appeared more menacing than most villains in other games - tall and massive and scary - and he seemed intent on ensuring that absolutely everything was destroyed.

That included his friends.