The Showdown.

During the walk and train rides from Tappers to Fix-it Felix, Jr., Vanellope got filled in on some of the player-character world. Tamora let her know that since some of this information was from her memory, she sometimes couldn't be sure how much was true. Vanellope was amazed at the human concept of 'school' where groups of humans went, for years and years, to slowly absorb code for what they would do later.

"You mean they don't know anything?" She asked. "How can they be so smart?"

Tamora shrugged. "Some of them get to be very smart. Those are the ones who build the games for us. But they're different than us. When we first wake up, we can play our game." Tamora looked at Vanellope seriously; "But we don't know anything else. The humans seem to just cram a little of everything in, then sort it out and decide later. Doesn't seem efficient, like the way we live, but it somehow works for them."

The slow Fix-it Felix train gave them some more time to exchange small talk until it slowed at the platform. Vanellope got out. There was the screen, and the tall building of Niceland. She looked over to the enormous pile of building parts; thirty years worth of wrecking. At the base was a single-story building. "That must be Ralph's.", Vanellope pointed; "But I sure don't see how he could complain about living in garbage. It looks nice."

Felix was walking around the corner of Niceland, with a happy smile on his face. They met near Ralph's house. Felix tipped his cap at them. "Good day, ladies."

He didn't get a chance to say anything else, because Tamora knelt down, grabbed his shoulders and kissed him soundly. Vanellope looked the other way, whistling and kicking a small piece of brick. She knew that Tamora was "testing" again.

"Gosh, Miss Tamora!" Felix gasped when she finally pulled away from him; "You… Umm…" He needed a moment to collect his thoughts together after that. Vanellope looked back and giggled.

"Look, Felix." Tamora smiled at him; "You've got to drop the 'Miss' thing right now. Makes me feel like an old lady."

Felix turned his pink face towards Vanellope. "Hello, your Highness… I…". Vanellope cut him off; "Nope. None of that here. I'm not Princess in here, okay? And where's Ralph?"

Felix pointed towards the smaller building as they started walking. "He's in there. Been a long night fixing it up…" He closed his mouth, because he didn't want to tell her they just built it that night. "Uh… lots to straighten up with just us guys here."

As they walked up to Ralph's, they could see him lying on the bed through the cathedral windows that circled the place.

Vanellope waved the others on; "You two go do your talking thing… or kiss some more… or whatever." She walked in the front door.

Felix waved Tamora to the apartment door. "Some tea? Maybe some pie?"

Tamora nodded as she had to crouch some to get through the front doors. Felix might be the one with the magic hammer, but she was about to drop a hammer of a different kind on him.

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Vanellope opened the inner door to Ralph's apartment. She looked around at the sparkling new home. She noticed her picture on the wall. Ralph lay across the bed, feet on the floor, on his back. She felt a bit weary herself, and glided over to the couch. "I'll just rest here a few minutes", she thought. "I'm still not sure how to get through to him." She lay down, thinking about what she had to accomplish here.

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Calhoun's entrance hadn't been unnoticed by the Nicelanders. Eyes had watched, and once they entered Felix's apartment, several of them gathered in the penthouse. Along with the general talk about how she really was a tall one, and how scary she looked in armor and carrying a gun, the biggest topic was; "How does this affect the game?" The Nicelanders, being simple folk, and having been through the worry of being unplugged after "The Ralph Incident", as they called it, now had characters from other games wandering about. And who was that black-haired girl going into Ralph's new place? They had watched the building of the second penthouse on the ground. It was pretty hard to ignore, what with all the banging and crashing. Personally, Gene felt relieved, since by his own words, he had promised to give Ralph the penthouse if he got a medal. That solution was fine with him.

Mary spoke up; "Well, just look at the tiny waist on that woman. I'll bet she could use a nice pie." Mary was the best baker, and she pretty much had one solution to fix everything. "We don't want to scare her off. What if she takes Felix with her?"

There was a collective gasp at that comment. It was quickly agreed that Mary would bake the biggest pie she could, and a committee was elected to pick a group to present it to Felix's apparent girlfriend. It wasn't until then that they tried to remember all the things Felix had tried to tell them the previous days. It was all so confusing! A nice, quiet life for thirty years and now all this!

After the others had left, Gene looked around his penthouse. He had really not wanted to leave, even when they were going to be unplugged. He had stayed until the last moments. He tried to wrestle with new thoughts, something he had never had to do in his simple life. "Did I drive Ralph to do what he did?" Gene said to the walls. "Did we think too badly about Ralph?" He had never considered that Ralph was more important than any of the Nicelanders. Without a Bad Guy, it seems, you don't need a Good Guy. Or anyone else. Gene began to think about Ralph as an equal part of the game.

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tamora and Felix were sitting on the couch, sipping tea from mugs. They had been talking about little things, and about the Princess, and Ralph, and the arcade in general. She looked around the spotless, neat apartment. Nothing out of the ordinary… tasteful furniture, very clean, and a row of medals hanging on one wall. That seemed to explain Wreck-it feeling he deserved some respect.

"So this is the whole game?" She asked. "It's so… quiet here."

Felix knew his game looked pretty boring next to all the chaos and excitement of Hero's Duty. He shrugged; "Well, thirty years ago it was state of the art. But I guess things change."

Then Tamora surprised Felix. She stretched her legs out, leaned back on the couch, closed her eyes and smiled. "Who needs all that change anyway? No 'bugs. You can relax here." At her game, there was always the threat of something getting through the perimeter. The area had to be watched and patrolled constantly. You might regenerate by the next quarter alert, but it wasn't fun to have body parts chewed off. For all her training and technology, Tamora could really appreciate quiet.

She was at peace, but there was still work to be done. She sat up. "Look, Felix, we might as well have this out right now." She sat up, and looked straight into his eyes.

"I knew it." Felix thought. He waited for the bad news. "She would never be happy with someone like me."

Tamora looked around. "Look, there isn't any easy way to say this. We come from two completely different worlds. We probably never would have even crossed paths if Ralph hadn't gotten the itch for a medal."

"Here it comes.", Thought the thoroughly depressed handyman.

Tamora stared back at him; "So we might as well start sorting out the wedding." She delivered this bombshell in such a matter-of-fact voice that Felix almost missed it in his misery.

He sat like a statue, mouth open, for so long she started to worry his code broke. She leaned over and waved a hand in front of his face. "Hey! Felix! Snap out of it." "Time for drastic measures here.", she thought. She reached over, grabbed the collar of his shirt, and drew him in for another kiss.

Felix had his dazed expression still, but seemed to be functioning… barely. "But… I thought… us? Marr… marry… married?"

"Just like any other bachelor, isn't he?" Thought Tamora as she calmly picked up her mug for a drink. "Well, I'll give you some time to get used to the idea. I thought if I waited for you to come around, you'd still be calling me 'Miss' twenty years from now." She looked at him closely. "Okay, I know I could have put it better, but I'm no politician." She squinted her eyes at him; "Unless I'm wrong? Maybe you don't care about…"

Felix jumped up, waving both hands at her. "No! No no… no." He tried to catch his breath. "I'm… okay… but… I have to know why!"

Tamora sighed. "The Princess there. She helped me sort out what I can trust." She pointed a finger at Felix; "And you, my man, are real." She leaned back again. "And the thing I feel in my code is that I'm going to get married." She looked downward; "I can't say that's the best reason. But I can say this… you're the best choice." She looked into his face. "I've got some old, bad code in me, Felix. But one thing I do know; you make the… bad stuff disappear. I won't let you get out of this that easy."

Felix took his hat off and dropped it. He sat back down beside her. "Well, Miss… I mean… Tamora, I guess I will just have to put up with being married to you then." He had a smile back. "You can't fight the code." He had a sudden worry. "But is it right? I don't want to take advantage of it… you… if your code… says you have to."

She shook her head. "Nope. Something feels right about it. This time, I don't want to fight the game about it." She took his hand. "Even from different games, it feels right."

Felix felt… well, there wasn't anything to compare it to. He got up to make more tea, smiling and humming to himself. His movements were a bit slow, since his mind was racing and bouncing around.

Tamora smiled as she watched him, distracted, almost stumbling around the kitchen, trying to appear normal. "Well, he didn't tell me to get lost… so far, so good."

She worried how far the code would let her replace the painful, but totally false feelings for Brad with the wonderful real ones for Felix? Will it work? Will I end up hurting Felix in the end?

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Something nibbled at the edge of Ralph's mind. He felt comfortable, yes. He was in a bed for the first time in thirty years. But this was something else. A feeling. A presence. As he came awake there was something else. I smell chocolate. He leaned up on his elbows. He just barely stopped himself from yelling as he looked towards the couch. Vanellope was laying with her back to him. Her head was resting on the arm, black ponytail hanging down.

As if she knew he was awake, she rolled over, stretched, and looked at him. "Hi."

Ralph sat up; "Hey, you can't just sneak around here anytime you want. You could get in trouble." His heart wasn't in the argument, though. He was glad to see her under any circumstance, and he couldn't deny that.

Vanellope sat up, pushing some hair out of her eyes. They were large. She waved at him; "Hush. Wait a second…" She looked like she was trying to remember something. "They're not there.", she said in almost a whisper.

She jumped up and started twirling around, arms out, and laughing. "They're gone! It works! Whhooo!"

Ralph watched this for a while. "Calm down there, Princess. What's going on now? What's not where?"

Vanellope stopped, facing him. She had a brilliant smile. "The dreams, you big goof." She walked over and jumped up to sit beside him. She didn't quite look at him. "Look… as far as I can remember, I've had bad dreams. About Candy, about being chased, the fungeon… just always." She looked at him then. "Lately I keep dreaming about Turbo laughing… and you falling… and I can't get there in time… and…" She trailed off for a moment.

She perked up quickly. "But with you, they don't happen! Nothing bad." She jumped down and starting pacing around the room. "You can make me a room over there." she said. "Over by that corner. And I can stay when I can't rest." She looked at Ralph; "And… I'll make you up a room at the castle, right next to mine. We've got tons of goodies."

Ralph stood up; "Look, sister. You just can't start… hanging around here. It's not… proper!"

Vanellope tried to look puzzled. This was not going to be easy. "And why not?"

Ralph fumed; "Because I'm… and you're… just a… and because I say so!" He waved an arm towards Niceland; "What's everybody going to think about that? About me… running around with you?"

Vanellope was starting to get a bit angry now. She put her fists on her hips. "Ralph, you doofus, you just don't get it. We've all been talking. Tamora, Tapper… even the Sorceress! Do you know there's a guy dating a… a… big yellow ball? With a pink ribbon?" She pointed towards the door. "There's a girl dating a dragon, 'fer cryin' out loud! And you can't go on about 'what others might think' because guess what, Stinkbrain? The whole blasted arcade already knows it! That's right! And every single one of them think it's just dandy!"

She deflated a bit, dropping her arms. "Just who do you think is going to care the tiniest bit about us… besides YOU!?"

Ralph sat down, straight to the floor. It's true, maybe, he thought. He looked up; "I… don't want you to go away. I can't quite think about you like… that. But you make me happy." Ralph looked very sad by then. "I can't fight you anymore. I don't want to. Felix said you're smart enough for the both of us."

He gave a small smile; "Blast you… I can't be angry with you even when I want to anymore."

Vanellope walked over to where he was sitting cross-legged on the floor. She hopped up on his raised knee. "That's right. You can't get mad at me no matter what I do. You just remember that from now on, and we'll get along fine."

She leaped at him, grabbing him around the neck. His hands came up and caught her. She sat back in those hands, and looked into his eyes. "That's what I need, Ralph. Been too scared. You won't hurt me, and you won't let anything else hurt me. You can't leave me alone again." She used her ultimate weapon. Her eyes couldn't get any larger as they stared into his.

"You almost died for me, Ralph. Why is it so hard to love me?"

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tamora sat on the couch, when she heard the crash of some dish, followed by the chime of Felix fixing it. She sighed and got up, walking over to the kitchen. "We have to do something about these doors." She remarked, bending over to enter. Felix was quiet. He was standing at the counter, as if he were trying to memorize something on the wall.

She knelt down, sitting on her feet, hands resting on her knees. "Look, if you're really that upset about it, we can jus…"

Felix whirled around. "No! Umm… that's not it." He scratched his head. "I mean… well… I'd marry you tomorrow. Even today." His brain couldn't keep up with his heart. "It's just… when you came in here, I was sure you were going to leave. Forever. I couldn't figure out how you liked me in the first place. Ralph… Ralph thinks it's because I'm different than… the others in your game."

Felix stepped over and stood in front of her. They were almost eye to eye; "Instead… you gave me everything. You're amazing." Then he looked down. "But I can't stop worrying that you'll change your mind one day. That I'm too different. I'm no soldier… I can't even use one of those guns." He chanced looking into those big, blue eyes again; "And when everybody was fighting, when Ralph… jumped… I couldn't do anything to help anybody. Vanellope would have died and I just stood there."

Tamora surprised him with her smile. She reached out and rubbed a hand along his cheek. "Don't you understand yet? Anyone can fire a gun. I'll teach you. But I haven't been around long, you know. I'm sorry if I'm rude, but it's all I've known." She reached and held his hand. "You… you're polite… too polite sometimes, but you stick to your own rules better than any of my troops."

She looked around the apartment. "And you live in a world where things can be calm, and relaxed. I live my game well, but that's not the life I want all the time." She was holding both of his hands in hers. "This is what I want, Felix. This is what I need. And that means you."

She released his hands and stood almost straight. "I can't make it any clearer than that. I don't know what you think of me about it." She went to go sit back down. "But another cup of tea would be nice if it can quit sounding like Wreck-it's in there."

"Ralph said that all along." Felix said to her back. Tamora stopped and turned, her head tilted and the question in her eyes. Felix went on; "That's what started this whole thing. He was tired of being thought of as only Bad. He wanted a little respect for doing his job well all these years, even if it was destroying things." Felix seemed to have bags under his eyes. "When I saw him set off the mountain to save Miss Vanellope, it wasn't until that moment that I knew how good a person he really was."

Then Felix looked up at her and smiled. "Ralph tried to get me to understand that the game we live and the person we are can be different. I took thirty years to get that with him. I'm sure not going to waste that time with you." He turned back to the kitchen. "Snacks and drinks in a minute. Sit down and relax your back a bit." He looked up. "I wonder if I can fix the ceiling higher in here?"

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Ralph closed his eyes. "It's not that at all." He was mumbling softly. "It's too easy to love you." He opened his eyes again, staring into the huge, hazel ones of Vanellope. "I wasn't being noble or anything. I was going to die because I was stupid. I brought the bugs in the first place… because I wanted a stupid medal. I smashed your cart because I was too stupid to figure out Candy was lying." He sighed. "Everything came down to one truth at the very end. You would die because I was stupid."

He stared down at her feet, afraid to look at her. "So I did the only thing I could do to make it right. So that the last thought anybody had wouldn't be about how stupid I was."

He went on; "And now… you're Princess… and you have everyone in the whole arcade to love you… and I'll still just be smelly old stupid… me." He chanced looking in her eyes again. "And one day… you'll wake up and know that."

What he expected to see in her was disappointment, but not the reaction he got…

"Geez!" Vanellope burst out; "I can't believe you people. First Tamora and her high and mighty guilt, and now you!" She stood up, one foot in each of Ralph's huge hands. She reached out and grabbed his nose in her fist to keep him from looking away. "Maybe the two of you should get together… you're both such… stinkbrains!" She reached out and grabbed his ears. This put her eyes about an inch from his.

"I don't care what you did… or why you did it! I don't care that Tamora almost did this, or you almost did that. What matters is that it's over! Turbo was trying to get rid of me forever!"

She released his ears and sat down again. "All those years I was trapped. The only stupid thing is you arguing about it. And here! In your game! Where I would never have lived to see if you hadn't been so stupid!"

She wound down. She looked down at her own feet now. In a small voice she said, "And you haven't blamed me once about that medal."

Ralph tried to take that in. "Huh? Why would I blame you for…"

Vanellope broke in; "Because I didn't care about you! I took the medal and laughed… while you begged me for it! Now you think I'm all nice and sweet and too good for you!" Tears started running down her cheeks. "But you're wrong. You didn't mean to bring the bugs. You thought you were protecting me when you smashed my cart." She stared intently at him with her wet eyes. "But I knew exactly what I was doing. I was the Bad Guy. You had your medal and almost died because of me."

They stared at each other quietly for some time. There was the occasional sniff from Vanellope, and she wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

Ralph broke the silence. "We're some pair, aren't we? So many people have fights because they blame each other. We're fighting because we're blaming ourselves. This can't be what people do. It shouldn't be so… hard to figure out."

He pointed a finger at her. "But you've got more smart. I know my limits… now."

Vanellope sniffed and tried on a smile. "The Sorceress said I would have to make up your mind for you, you know. So did Tamora."

Ralph smiled back. "You women all stick together anyway."

Vanellope stood up and grabbed his ears again. This time she kissed him softly on the lips. And there was the smell of chocolate. She looked in his eyes, and said; "Now. Where's the powder room? I need to wash my face and we can go see how Felix is taking his news."

Distracted, he sort of waved to the back of the apartment. He would never hate chocolate again.

"Wait… what news?"

oooooooooooooooooooooooo