A/N: Lots of good words for this idea were said. Yay. Quick note, Yuni Berth is the name of the blonde DDR gal who cameo'd. Also, I'm just making up all this upgrade stuff as I go. I WANTED to pretend like I knew all about the workings of arcades and stuff... but I'm too lazy to actually research it to make it technically believable. This is why I write fanfiction instead of actual books.
On with the story.

Chapter 1: Doubts

After the meeting Vanellope went back to Sugar Rush to relay the good news. While none of the citizens seemed to know what to say to all of this, Taffyta really took it rather hard.

"But... what does that mean? They're going to change how we look? Are they going to change my hair? I LOVE my hair, they can't do that!" Taffyta howled. She grabbed at her white/pink hair and started to cry.

Vanellope decided it was sort of nice to have someone like Taffyta around. Now that Taffyta was being so very vocal about the vanity part of the problem Vanellope realized that she didn't need to be.

When she really thought about it, Vanellope didn't think it was the cosmetics of it all that were bothering her. Sure, she was pretty comfortable with how she looked and how she was dressed, but switching that up wasn't the problem. Looks had never meant very much in her opinion. It's just that her whole BODY was going to change. Right down to the coding.

What if they got rid of her glitch? What if they took away what it was that made the players like her so much? What if they gave her new code and she forgot how to drive? What if...

What if they wiped all of the code completely for the upgrade and she forgot about everything that had happened? What if she forgot Ralph?!

That terrifying thought sent her running out of Sugar Rush to find Ralph.

As she ran she gained just a little bit of confidence. She just knew that Ralph would know all about this 'upgrade' business. She was sure of it. He could tell her all about how to go about it and what to do and if it really meant the end of her whole world.

She reflected on Taffyta and all the other people of Sugar Rush. She wondered if any of them had someone outside of game to talk to about this. To be able to talk to someone about all of her fears... that was so special.

+++[Elsewhere...]+++

Felix was catching everyone from Fix-It Felix up on the quarterly report. Nothing significant was happened to them, but it was interesting to gossip about which games made the most money, and who was getting what updates and when.

A few of the Nicelanders mused over what new songs DDR was getting, Mary was keen on the new recipes she thought the bakery game might be getting, and of course there was a buzz about Sugar Rush's huge upgrade.

"That's a bit step. Sugar Rush is old enough that I'm a little surprised that the expansions are still available." Deanna commented.

"Nah, lots of games from the 90's are still getting upgraded. Look at DDR." Someone else commented.

"It's not one of those upgrades that we need to worry about is it?" Ralph asked. "Nothing like an overhaul or anything?"

"Nope." Felix assured. "Standard expansion. But they are getting a graphics card update."

Everyone ooh'd and aah'd over that.

Those were almost unheard of. Usually a game could expect to stay in an arcade for years and years and never get better graphics. Only the real money-makers ever got updated like that. DDR was prime example. It's graphics generally got updated every time Mr. Litwak got the money.

"Sugar Rush must being doing really well for Mr. Litwak to invest in it like that." Ralph said proudly.

Sugar Rush had always been popular, being a sit down racing game like it was, but ever since Vanellope had been reintroduced to the roster it had definitely gotten even more popular. Ralph couldn't be prouder of her.

Just as Ralph finished that thought something came barreling down the track from Game Central Station. The blur curved and zoomed straight for where the Nicelanders were gathered.

Everyone except Ralph scattered out a bit to get out of the way.

Ralph, knowingly, just put his foot out and the blur collided with it. Once stopped Vanellope beamed up at him from her kart.

"Ralph!" Vanellope squealed. She jumped out of her seat and clung to Ralph's neck, hugging him tightly. Ralph hugged her back with a smile.

"So, did you hear about the upgrade?" Vanellope asked as she let go and Ralph lowered her to the ground.

"Sure did, that's pretty big news. Felix was just telling us all about it." Ralph said, gesturing to the Nicelanders who were gathering around again.

"It's... it's gonna be okay though, right?" Vanellope asked, excited but unsure at the same time. "I mean... nothin' weird is gonna happen or anything, right?"

"Weird? Probably not. Lots of games get expansions without anything going wrong." Ralph said, putting a hand on his chin as he thought about it.

"Oh, that's good." Vanellope said quickly. "Because... because when I told everyone in Sugar Rush about the update a whole bunch of people panicked, and Taffyta started pulling her hair, and we... I mean they were all worried about the new graphics n'... all that kinda stuff." She finished lamely, fidgeting with the strings on her hoodie.

There was a short pause where everyone processed what she said. Ralph and Felix both saw through it immediately. Ralph had to try really hard to keep the smile off of his face. Seeing Vanellope looking genuinely worried about something was odd and endearing and suddenly made her 10 times cuter in his eyes.

"I got it!" Felix said with a jump and a chime. "Why don't you go visit DDR?" Felix asked.

"What?" Vanellope asked. Ralph, coming out of his cute induced stupor, understood what Felix was on about.

"That's a great idea." Ralph said. "Yuni would be able to explain all about what goes on during an upgrade like this. They've gone through this a nuch of times. She'll be able to tell you all about it, then you can take that back to everyone at Sugar Rush. How's that sound Vanellope?"

"Perfect!" Vanellope shouted. She bounced up and hugged Ralph again.

"I just knew you'd know what to do about all of this." She said confidently.

Ralph didn't have the heart to remind her it was Felix's idea. He looked down at Felix who just waved it off.

"C'mon, DDR is a ways away. We'll wanna get going if you want to talk to them." Ralph said as he picked Vanellope off of him.

"Nah, we got plenty of time. I brought my kart, remember? It goes five times faster than those silly trains." Vanellope said as she got into the drivers seat.

"It's dangerous to drive this thing through Game Central y'know." Ralph admonished as he sat on the back of the kart.

Vanellope did a grunting impersonation of him.

"Yeah yeah, whatever, lets go." She said quickly as she put it in gear and drove off.

Ralph just rolled his eyes.

"I'll see you guys later!" Ralph shouted as he waved to Felix and the Nicelanders before they zoomed out the exit of Fix-It Felix Jr.

A/N:Kay. There you go. This isn't up to par just yet, admittedly. But it might take me a few chapters to get into the swing of things. I know where I'm going, just... gimmie a few chapters to find the right direction. Anyway... Reviewer Response!

BoredParanoia: Yeah, that's really the exact same problem I have with most of the fanfics I see. It just doesn't strike me as... quite the right way to go about it. And lazy on the author's part. It's one of the things I'm bound to fix.
Nunyeahbusiness: It's a good idea... good idea. But my only problem with it is that game characters don't age at all. It's why you need the 'upgrade' plot device at all. So, consider this an acknowledgment, but I can't see myself using it at all. It's just not canonical enough. Thanks for the interest though.