Gatherings.

"ALL CLEAR!"

The work day was over. Tomorrow was a human do-something-else day, and the arcade was closed. But tonight was different from every night previous but one. All over the arcade, characters of all games were hustling to the trains. Everyone was heading to Game Central. The previous night had heard the most amazing stories, rumors, and just plain lies bounce from end to end of the entire arcade. The real problem was that there was just enough verified truth that even the most ridiculous whoppers found willing ears.

Wreck-it Ralph had gone Turbo! He had broken into Hero's Duty, stolen a medal, a spaceship, and taken a very, very dangerous virus into yet another game. His own game was declared 'Out of Order' without him, and the other characters had emerged with their luggage, with stories of how he crashed a party, wrecked the penthouse, smashed the cake and left in a fit of anger. Others re-told the story from Markowski of how Ralph had attacked him, and stolen his uniform. Felix, Surge and Q*bert had been overheard telling Calhoun how he had snuck into Hero's Duty disguised as Markowski, and then flown the stolen pod into Sugar Rush.

The only good news had been when the escape pod had emerged from Sugar Rush, dropped off Ralph and Felix, and everyone ran to their own games. The Sergeant and Felix must have somehow gotten the madman under control. Work had kept everyone busy, but it was the next night, now. Time enough had passed for the tales to permeate to every nook of the arcade.

People were scared. Was their game safe? There were a couple of games that had locked their trains in, to protect themselves tonight. Others went to hang out with the Street Fighter crowd, sure that they could stop Ralph.

Where were the Space Marines? What was Ralph going to do? And what about the mysterious Sugar Rush? The three games everyone wanted to know about were the only ones who had not disgorged anyone into the growing mass of people. The noise was deafening. Nobody was drinking, since Tapper himself was standing at the entrance to his game. There were a couple of others near him. Tapper… the philosopher, part-time bartender, and the one who sees and hears everything, seemed to be the calmest one there. Maybe a bit contagious, he seemed to spread a circle of stillness to include those around him.

One of those was Zangief. As a Bad Guy himself, he knew the anger you could feel sometimes. But he had found his inner self, found grudging acceptance from other characters, and he also felt he knew Ralph better than most. He looked over at Tapper. Tapper scratched his mustache, and said in his gravelly voice, to no one in particular; "If nothing else, I'd like to know why nobody has gone in or come out the Sugar Rush terminal going on 15 years.". Zangief raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't see how it fit into the picture.

"This wrong. Very wrong. Ralph does not want to be bad. Something else here." That was the best Zangief could do with his thought that Ralph was not as wretched as the evidence was going. The Sorceress, standing on his other side, nodded in agreement. Bad Guys were getting some nastier than usual looks tonight.

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Kohut was the first squad leader. When the Sergeant went into Sugar Rush, he was in charge of the troops. The first thing he did was have Smythe rig a camera and comm unit into the gate at the terminal. From a station in the living zone, they now saw what was going on. Kohut was making sure nobody snuck up on them again. Calhoun looked over Kohut's shoulder at the screen. She wasn't particularly angry at anyone in particular, but she felt, at that moment, that she would walk across that terminal over a sea of bodies with a Gatling gun if they were going to keep her away from Felix. She had to know.

"There's going to be a lynch mob happening if we don't get that under control.", she told the men standing around her. "Stand by for my word." She went into her small office at the end of the building, flipped a small switch at her desk, and called Markowski in.

"Look soldier, you've got one chance to tell me what really happened." Tamora leaned forward on her elbows, her fingers intertwined, with a predatory look in her eyes. It was a look the men knew well, the one moments before charging into a swarm of bugs.

Markowski cleared his throat. And again. His eyes darting around, he would look anywhere except straight at her face. "Well.", he started, "I may have gone just a bit too far with it. I just didn't want the guys to… I'm pretty sure that I just…". Over the next few minutes, every detail was narrowed down to the simple fact that the trooper, while drunk, knocked himself out.

"So" the Sergeant stared at the totally embarrassed man, "You have single-handedly made everyone believe that we now have a mad, dangerous game-jumper on our hands. What it seems to be is a whole lot of single accidents, and now we are the only ones equipped to deal with it, partly because of you." Markowski shivered as she actually smiled. "I'm going to spend the next few days trying to come up with worst possible punishment for this, so don't run off."

Then she looked up at the ceiling, and called out. "Kohut!" There was a crackle as someone found a switch. "Here.", came a soft reply from the wall speaker. Markowski started, and the Sergeant looked at him. "Yes, I wanted to make sure that if my platoon was angry, then they were angry for the right reason." She faced the wall. "Kohut, grab a number three comm unit and meet me at the station. Forrest, Hundall… grab a couple of launchers and be at the train in five… make that three minutes. Full armor." She stood and walked quickly from the room. She checked her sidearm as she hurried to the station. "We'll still need a miracle to stop this."

The train was there, its doors open. Calhoun was giving instructions to Kohut. On her belt was the most powerful hand-held radio they had. Kohut was carrying a number three. It was an advanced radio that could cut through bunkers, steel buildings, and even between spaceships. Getting a signal between two game consoles shouldn't be a problem. She was giving him some strange orders, but the most important was that he keep Felix and Ralph from leaving until she had satisfied the people outside. Kohut frowned. "And how am I supposed to get to that game through this mob?" He was sure to be swamped with questions, or even set off the crowd if he went to Fix-it Felix Jr.

Tamora smiled. She held out a small box. This was a special award for the player who reached level 13. It would guarantee a couple of minutes of almost total invisibility. In the game, it was the only way to complete level 13, and climb closer to the medal. "It's good for a few minutes at best. And, it's a one-shot deal, so when it goes, it's junk after that. You get a few minutes head start, then we're going to get everyone's attention. Just remember… no one leaves that game without my signal."

Kohut suspected her sanity sometimes, and he wondered why the concern was so great for that old game. But deep inside, he was programmed to obey without question. He stepped into the car, the door hissed shut, and the train sped down the tunnel.

Hundall and Forrest puffed up behind her. She had picked them because they were the tallest in the group. They were also carrying 60 millimeter grenade launchers, which ought to impress the civilians. She didn't want to use outright fear on the poor people, who just didn't know what's what, but a little intimidation might do the job nicely. "Okay" She filled them in. "Make sure those are not loaded. Get me? NOT loaded. I don't want any accidents. When we get down there you do nothing, and you say nothing. You just stand behind me, at port arms, and keep your sun visors down."

Then it was just waiting for the train to return. They checked everything once again, then just a minute later, boarded the returned train as soon as the doors opened. There was total silence during the short trip to the Game Central terminal. Leaving the train, she made one last check, looked at the men, and set off down the hall, saying "It's show time."

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Vanellope was back in her regular green outfit after work. She was skipping down the long hallway to the throne room, her arms loaded with some paper, a ribbon, and a few bags of goodies. She had changed one thing, though… her dresser had a long row of exotic, fragrant perfumes. She had stared at it, and run her finger up the row, thinking. "Cotton candy… coconut… chocolate!" She picked up the bottle and sprinkled it quite liberally on her neck, her shoulders, her legs, her arms. Rubbing some into her face like cream, she thought it would work, thinking of Ralph laughing at the chocolate after the mountain. The entire room smelled of the finest chocolate as she walked out.

Meanwhile, Winchell was rushing down the rainbow road to the castle, his motorcycle taking curves quite badly.

Duncan and Winchell had had several talks. They were the Royal Police. They were the ones solely responsible for the safety of the Princess… and they had failed completely, utterly. Not only had they failed to protect her, they had chased, harassed, threatened… well, the list of what they had done to her went on quite a while. They knew they weren't doing it knowingly, but that didn't help much. And the other thing… after the years of being ordered about, and told to do a lot of nasty things over all that time, now they had a Princess who asked them for advice, with things they were not accustomed to; someone saying "Please", and "Thank you", and "What would you think is right?".

Nothing would harm her ever again on their watch. So when Vanellope starting getting ready for her first outing ever, they decided to check things out. Winchell rode up to the tunnel, and rode the train to Game Central. As the sleek, quiet car glided into the terminal, he stopped… and listened… and frowned. Sneaking up to the exit, but not looking around the corner, he heard the noise of hundreds of voices. "Sure is busy." he thought as he listened for anything informative.

Then he caught bits of conversation; raised voices in the general murmur… "Who's going to control Ralph?"… "What happened to that game?"… I don't want him coming near MY game!". It sounded like they were angry about the big guy. The very same big guy that his Princess… or President… was about to visit. He couldn't let her walk out into a mob like that! After a few minutes of information gathering he slinked back to the train, he worried that they might have to lock even her up for her own good. That won't go over well.

Now, something needs to be explained. The racers of Sugar Rush had problems. A racer of Sugar Rush was programmed to be confident, arrogant, and sure in their belief that they were just a bit better than every other racer. It is that programming that made the game fun and exciting for the humans. Under the rule of King Candy, he had fed those feelings to help him in his campaign against the glitch. With his full permission and assistance, Taffyta had attracted Rancis and Candlehead to her, to form the Terrible Trio, whose main mission was to make sure that the glitch never got near a Random Roster Race. They had been very effective in that task. Now all they had known was a lie.

So new emotions, especially ones like guilt… and sorrow… didn't come easily. As the ones who had done the most harm, Taffyta and her friends held a meeting of all the racers. She explained that SHE, most of all, and her closest friends, needed to be the first to try and fix things up. She did something she had never done in her life, and begged to be the first to go. After a lot of whispering, and a few arguments, it was agreed that they would get the chance.

So Taffyta, Rancis, and Candlehead were approaching the palace doors when Winchell, covered in sugary road dust, screeched to a halt, dropped his motorcycle, and ran for the door. They followed him inside. And Winchell stopped so fast that Candlehead oofed against his back. Vanellope was kneeling on the floor. She was tying a pink bow on a ribbon that wrapped around a square, flat parcel in mint green paper. She looked up and smiled. "Just a little something for my main man." She explained.

Winchell froze. Her eyes had none of the cunning, the deceit, and often, the malice he was so accustomed to. Bad news used to mean yelling and punishment for somebody. But her large, trusting eyes… made him wish he was anywhere else. He stood straight, took a deep breath, and…

"Princess…" he walked over, and held out a hand. "Please get off the floor. There's a problem in Game Central. I don't think you should go." Duncan was walking in from the other hall, and hurried his pace at this news.

That got her attention. "What? But wh…" Her eyes narrowed as her mind sorted this out. "What's happened out there? Who could cause such a fuss? Surely not Ral…" It dawned on her that that had to be exactly what it was. She sighed. Only her Ralph could cause so much trouble. Hadn't people from two different games come here looking for him? "And why do I call him MY Ralph all the time in my head?"

Winchell pushed on, every eye and ear on him now. "There's a mob in Game Central. They are all carrying on about Ralph game-jumping. He's accused of everything, and I mean everything. They're talking about locking him in his own game and destroying the train. He may never leave his game again."

Vanellope gasped. She almost went down on her knees, and would have if Winchell wasn't still holding her hand. Duncan and Taffyta both helped her stand straight. Duncan chipped in; "Maybe we should secure the station until this is over."

"NO!" Vanellope shook off the supporting hands. She sort-of calmly walked a few feet away. She grabbed her chin with one hand, walking around in a very small circle. "Just wait a minute." She paced and thought… "They think Ralph's a Bad Guy. Well, he is, but he's… " she stopped.

She spun and faced the group so fast they jumped. "He's a hero!" She started to form her plan.

"I know he's a hero. But we have to make sure they know it. All I know is that somebody, somebody really important…" she looked up and smiled, "Somebody nice… has to tell them. And tell them so they'll believe it, forever." She looked at Duncan and Winchell, who were starting to follow her, but didn't like where she was leading. "Do you guys have any dressy frosting?" They looked at each other, Duncan shrugged, and they stared back. She reached out a hand. "Taffyta, Candlehead… I need your help. Help me save Ralph?". "Yes!", they said at the same time. They followed Vanellope as she rushed to her dressing room. She looked over her shoulder and pointed; "And don't forget that package!". She almost tripped over Sour Bill, coming up from the kitchen. She knelt down, and to his dismay, gave him a hug. "Great mother of monkey milk! I'm glad you showed up. It wouldn't be proper without you!" She rushed on, in the biggest hurry she had ever been in… "Look, go with Duncan, and this is a Full Princess Mode emergency! We're going to save Ralph!" Sour Bill hadn't had time for a single syllable as he watched the girls disappear down the hallway.

Minutes longer than she wanted, they were heading towards the station. Duncan and Winchell led on the bikes, Candlehead, accompanied by Sour Bill, who had a look nobody had ever seen before except Ralph… fear. Hanging onto the door of the cart, he closed his eyes and awaited his doom. Then Taffyta, leaning over because of the flat green package sharing her driver's seat. But the most spectacular sight was Rancis, driving behind everyone. Having picked his car because it had the flattest trunk area, Vanellope was leaning over the rear of the car, facing backwards. Her puffy gown, a deep emerald green, billowed out behind the car like a reverse parachute. "I sure didn't want anybody driving behind me", she thought. "Cause it sure feels drafty. What I do for you, Ralph."

Sliding off the car at the station, she endured Candlehead straightening her tiara, her collar and seams, while Taffyta brushed off any dust that clung to her. They got in the train, and as it started out, she began telling everyone what she needed them to do.

A few minutes later, they were leaving the train and walking to the exit. She looked down, checking her appearance, and hoping she could play the part. "But you were born a Princess.", she thought "You can do this… you have to do this. It's the only way to be happy forever."

She could see the brightly lit entrance to Game Central, and the brightly colored, close-packed groups of people milling around. "Places!" She said, and pointing her wand like a sword, led her little procession into battle.

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

At the all clear, Ralph didn't have much to do to get ready. He had seen Felix across the way, talking with one or the other of the Nicelanders during breaks. He didn't know what he was saying, but there was some arguing, and the angriest gestures Felix could think of during a particularly heated 'discussion' with Gene.

If he could understand it all, he would have known it was just the programming. A new game, one like Hero's Duty, had enormous resources. The latest processor, graphics chips, and huge amounts of memory let humans make a game in which every character had decisions to make, they could move around on their own… in other words, they had a choice. But thirty years ago it was different. Parts for games were expensive. The humans who programmed the games often put no more in than was necessary to fulfill the requirements to play.

The Nicelanders were the result of such thinking. For thirty years, they had never gone visiting other games, or had more than a general knowledge of what happened elsewhere. They were happy in their own world. Their thoughts were simple, and rarely went at all beyond the basic; "Respect Felix, fear Ralph, and be content when our home is fixed". Only the absolute specter of true, permanent death drove them into the hall of Game Central at all. Ralph and Felix, being the Good Guy and Bad Guy of the game, had a more complex mind, but even that had a point where new things took time to absorb. Ralph mainly felt the rage of being moved to the dump, and Felix had been guilty of too much pride of doing a job well done. A pride, he found out, that had no place outside his own little world.

Now Felix was trying to explain that Ralph wasn't trying to destroy his game. He tried to tell Mary about Ralph saving Vanellope… He told Gene about Turbo still alive and controlling another game… He told Don about his 'dynamite gal'…, but in the end, not much sank in at all. They wanted to be assured that Ralph wouldn't do that again. They wanted Felix to spend the rest of his life watching Ralph.

That was why Ralph and Felix were completely unaware of the happenings outside when Ralph walked over to the front door of the apartments. Felix was starting up the stairs, to get cleaned up for a visit outside. His mind wasn't working too well tonight.

"Felix!" Ralph called, and waved at him as the handyman stopped on the bottom step. "I was… um… gee, this is embarrassing… will…" He stopped and looked down. "Do you have an extra toothbrush? And maybe some… soap?" Just because he was programmed to be a smelly mean wrecker didn't mean he had to stay that way all the time. He thought Vanellope, and maybe others, might appreciate a little less… Ralph smell.

Felix cheered up a bit at that. "Aha! You're going to see Miss Vanellope, I would bet." Now that they had more in common now, it was easier to talk to Ralph. "I'm just going to wash my face. I'll get you some stuff." He looked at the building. "Ralph, I don't think you can get into my apartment, and maybe you should stay out of the penthouse for a while. You'll have to use the station washroom."

Ralph understood. The tiny (to him) doors and low ceilings made it impossible to navigate the regular apartments without… well… wrecking them. And even thought that's how they spent their days, he figured correctly that they would frown on a ceiling falling on them during their off time.

Ralph just sort of hung around, swinging his arms back and forth, and thought, until Felix came back down. He handed a bag to him. "I think this'll get you started, big guy, and we'll go by where you can stock up."

As they sauntered over to the train, with Ralph taking very small steps, so Felix could stay with him. Even that was new, the fact that he was walking with someone. He stopped. Felix looked around at him, and Ralph couldn't help but try and apologize.

"Look, Felix, I'm not real good at this, but I know I almost caused the game to be unplugged, maybe even two games… maybe even more. But I thought that a medal would get me some respect. I thought that for once, people wouldn't jump out of my way, or close doors when I walk by, or…" His voice sort of died out. He looked down at his clenched fists. "Why does the anger come back so fast?" He thought. "I'm mad at the world again. The first and only time I was happy about anything was with…" Felix looked up, slightly concerned, because Ralph had totally frozen in place. His eyes had a faraway look, like he was staring at something a world away.

Felix smiled. Ralph was getting the idea. He cleared his throat with a loud "AHEM!" Ralph snapped his head up. "Sorry, Felix. Let's get going." Ralph muttered as he turned towards the train. It wasn't there, so he pushed the button to call it back from the terminal.

Felix looked up at his new friend and said "Looks like you found your own dynamite gal. I sure hope you have it easier that I do.", with just a tiny touch of worry.

Ralph started. "NO! No no no! It's not like that at all. For crying out loud, Felix, she's just a kid! I don't think about her like…", he furrowed his brow and closed his eyes to thin slits as he leveled the full power of his stare at Felix "That!"

Felix laughed, and stopped when he saw Ralph start to raise a fist. Ralph's face was red, and he had that look he got just before smashing the penthouse to rubble. Better fix it fast…

"Ralph! Wait! I'm not laughing at you! You don't get it, do you? I'm the guilty one. Miss Tamora is less than TWO WEEKS OLD!" Ralph stopped dead still, his face started to drain a bit.

"We're never going to change, Ralph. Think about it. Don't you dare mistreat Miss Vanellope because… because you know how the humans change, and get older and bigger. We won't, Ralph, we CAN'T, and she will never be the least bit different than she is right this second!" Felix looked around, wondering what he could say to make his point. "Ralph, you know how Mario is dating the blond from DDR? And Princess Peach is dating one of the knights from Joust. We're not the humans, Ralph. Most of us don't even LOOK like humans. But we're all made of the same things. Even dating, and ma… marr… uh, marriage are really just copying what we learn from the humans."

Felix put a hand on Ralph's arm, now hanging limp at his side. "Ralph, have you ever seen any game like that?"

Ralph slowly turned to the train, coming to a stop at the stand. "You've made me think, Felix. You know I'm not very good at it." They walked over to the train.

Suddenly, the air flickered in front of them. There was a spark, and a fully armed Space Marine stood in front of them. Ralph stepped back and prepared to smash the intruder. Felix waved his arms as wide as he could. "NO Ralph! I know him!"

"You're… Kohut?" Felix asked, his head tilted to one side. Many small things had been lost after the world-changing battle of Sugar Rush.

"Yes sir." He said. "And right now you can't leave the game for any reason until Calhoun says so."