Arcade Armageddon
Chapter 17
"Ken should be here," said Candlehead as she, Taffyta, Vanellope, and Snowanna disembarked the chariot heading into Celestial Wars. A fork in the road stood before them; the left leading to the heaven side and the right leading into hell.
The heaven side was enormous and ethereal, with clouds serving as the roads and Greek-esque temples lining the neighborhood. Angels were eithe soaring around, driving their chariots, or taking strolls down the immortal streets. Like Sugar Rush, the sun was always shining, which made it a little hard to believe that this was where one would go when they died.
"So where does this Ken guy live, Candles?" Snow asked as they prepared to set foot into the heaven side of the game and trying to look away from the hell side, which appeared to be shrouded in darkness, making the interior of the dark side a mystery.
"Hold it, you four." An angel, whom the racers guessed was the doorman, appeared in front of the racers, adjusting his wire-rimmed glasses at the girls. It reminded them a little of Surge.
"Come on, Dennis, you always stop me!" Candlehead complained, throwing her hands up in annoyance.
"Hmm..." Vanellope smirked, folding her arms in amusement, "reminds me of Stinkbrain." The princess recalled Ralph's many bouts with Surge each time the Bad Guy had been stopped at "random." It was hilarious every time she remembered those times.
"First of all, you're outside of your game, and second, I'm just doing my job, ma'am." The angel, Dennis, possessed a gentlemanly air about him unlike Surge, but he still had that same business-like demeanor as he sized Candlehead and the others. He'd known the birthday racer from her constant trips to the game to see Liz or Cerie, and sometimes running into Kenneth, but he couldn't place who her friends were.
"I know," Candlehead folded her arms in annoyance.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you, ma'am?" the doorman inquired, taking a double take at each racer's upgraded form, chuckling. All traces of his formalities were gone. "What happened to that little girl who always came here wandering, huh?"
"This guy's nosy, isn't he?" Taffyta put her hands on her hips, staring at the curious Dennis with slight annoyance.
"You said it," Snow agreed, then she noticed the doorman's gaze on the four women, which was too...inquisitive to be a just-want-to-know gaze. It was almost creepy when the sherbet racer thought about it.
"Wellllll..." Dennis drew out the word, awaiting a response and glancing over the girls, despite the question being more for Candlehead.
The birthday racer knew she wasn't going to be able to change the subject until he got an answer, which was how curious and nosy he was sometimes. She sighed. "If you must know, Sugar Rush had an upgrade yesterday. Kinda hard to explain right now, since we're trying to get a hang of the 'perks,' too."
"What are these 'perks?'" The angel continued to pry, wanting to get every bit of info from Candlehead, who was starting to grow annoyed.
"Look, we're here to see the Creeper," Taffyta interjected, tiring of the small talk. They came for one thing and one thing only, and they were going to make sure it was done. The strawberry racer could care less about anything regarding Dennis's apparent interest and infatuation with their upgrade. All she cared about was finding Kenneth and gathering the information they needed.
"Ah, someone who's concise and to the point, huh?" The doorman smirked, raising an eyebrow at the annoyed blonde racer. He eyed her carefully, from her supermodel figure to her short, choppy platinum hair, making him wonder if upgrades always tended to make a character more gorgeous or handsome. And as far as Dennis knew, Celestial Wars had never received an upgrade. Then again, it was too soon, since they had only been in Litwak's Arcade for a year. But he loved Taffyta's pithy attitude. It amused him somehow.
"Yeah, we were looking for this Kenneth guy Candlehead's been talking about," Vanellope added. "Is he around?"
Dennis's humor-filled smile remained, but his next words betrayed it.
"Unfortunately, you just missed him a few minutes ago," he replied, genuinely apologetic. Despite his constant joking and riddling with anyone who entered the fighting game, the doorman did not like letting anyone down, whether they lived in-game or not. "He just left for Game Central Station. Don't know where he's headed or where he is, but I know that much. Who knows, you might find him somewhere out there."
"Oh, okay," Candlehead shrugged, suppressing her disappointment and her annoyance at Dennis's constant babbling. She knew he could go on about anything if she let him. The birthday racer turned to her fellow racers. "Let's go, guys."
"Hey, Candles," the doorman called just as the Sugar Rush racers started to leave.
The girls stopped, Candlehead regarding him. "What?"
"Would you like to come to the ball with me on Monday?" Dennis glanced at the birthday racer's average figure up and down. "Now that you're..."
"Ew, you pervert!" She hurled a flame at Dennis, despite it being sloppily aimed. The angel ducked quickly, the projectile missing by a few inches. "I may be a woman now, but I'm still mentally a kid! Come on!"
"I was just kidding," the doorman laughed, noticing the embarrassed look on Candlehead's face. He loved poking at the birthday racer. "Don't worry, I'm trying to get in line for Liz if and when she's done with Alec (lucky bastard). If not, there's always Cerie or Juniper. Or your three friends behind you." Dennis lowered his glasses, winking at Snow, Taffyta, and Vanellope.
"Uh, yeah, keep dreaming," Snow said sarcastically.
"Let's go, girls. We don't have time for this," Taffyta said as she sauntered off for the exit.
"You said it, Taffyta." Vanellope followed.
"Yeah, we'll find this Ken guy somewhere in GCS," agreed Snow as the four girls headed back to the port from Celestial Wars, Candlehead following behind. The birthday racer could feel Dennis's still-hungry gaze on her as she left, knowing she was almost guaranteed to see him at the Mushroom Ball.
...
"Everything's going according to plan," Red said, glancing down at the thousands of Cy-Bug eggs underneath Mushroom Kingdom. She had just planted the egg she had stolen from Hero's Duty a couple of days ago, which had matured and multiplied into the large quantities that were skittering about the rocky and pipeline-ridden underside of Mushroom Castle. The viruses were gnawing at tiny Mushrooms and other shrubbery that barely sprouted from the dark soil, causing many more of the larvae to grow twice their sizes within seconds. It delighted Red to no end, as she knew it wouldn't be long until her plan went into action. She had lied her way past the Toad guards at the moat, having made them believe that she was just another volunteer helping prepare the ballroom for Monday.
And there were quite a few of them upstairs in the room, not having noticed a thing when Red had entered. Princess Zelda, Amy Rose, Cerie the angel of beauty from Celestial Wars were among the helpers and had not suspected a thing when Red had asked Princess Peach for permission to go down to the storage room for supplies, which contained crates, crates, and more crates. It had to be the smallest room in Mushroom Castle, with its rank air and surprisingly-cramped space. It made one wonder how Red or anyone was able to install a trapdoor that led to a nest of thousands of Cy-Bugs. Yet, nobody had questioned how a character from a new game knew her own way around the Mushroom Kingdom.
Not that Red cared, of course. It didn't matter in the end, as it would be too late once the upheaval began. The teen went deeper into the man-made Cy-Bug nest, where she kept a sharp eye on the still-multiplying Cy-Bug eggs and the already matured ones, which were crawling throughout the nest, snapping and growling at each other. Red knew it was only a matter of time before the chaos began. And she wanted to be at the ball to enjoy it. Especially with her latest addition of Bob-ombs dotting the area, which, unlike the regular explosive creatures of Mario Land, exploded with only the slightest touch.
But then Red noticed a few of the adult Cy-Bugs growing riled up, almost disrupting the Bob-ombs.
"Easy, boys, easy," she chided, approaching one. "We don't want to cause a riot yet, do we?" Red placed a hand on one of the viral insects, sending a slight stream of crackling violet energy into the Cy-Bug's simplified code and causing it to calm down almost instantly.
Suddenly, voices were heard.
"What was Princess Peach asking for again? No wonder that Red girl couldn't find it. She just volunteered to help, so..."
"Where is she, anyway? Did she get lost in here?"
Red heard the voices loud and clear above her, knowing that was the sign that she had to leave, otherwise she would be discovered. And she definitely did not want that. Especially when one of the two voices belonged to Felix's wife. What was that nosy sergeant doing in Mario Bros.? Red had not noticed her in the ballroom when she had first arrived, so Calhoun probably had not been in the game that long. Now she was in the basement in search for the decorations Red had "failed" to find. It was enough that the woman was suspicious of her; she did not want to prove Calhoun right.
After making sure the underground was secure, Red hurried upstairs, where, as luck would have it, she noticed Sergeant Calhoun and a purple-furred cat the racer barely recognized.
"Where have you been?" the creature asked, yellow eyes seeming to skewer into Red's intently. The teen could not shake the feeling that they were staring into her soul with a fiery passion. But Calhoun's voice broke the feeling.
"That's a good question," the Hero's Duty's lead agreed, trying to keep her tone even around Red. She put her hands on her hips in impatience. "What have you been doing in here for so long? I just came to this game to offer assistance to the Shroom Princess, and my first assignment was to find decorations...only to find you."
Red wracked her brain for a response. There was no way she was going to tell the sergeant what she was really doing in the basement. Not when Calhoun's suspicion would rise the second she gave away any telltale signs of criminal activity. But Red was certain that the sergeant had not found out enough to figure out her secret nest, for it was disguised as a part of Peach's storage room.
"I-I was looking for the streamers like Peach told me," the young racer lied, glancing around to make herself more convincing to the cat-like creature and Calhoun. "I've been here for an hour and I couldn't see them anywhere."
"Surely they weren't in that hole you just crawled out of in the corner." The sergeant jabbed a finger at the now-locked-up area Red had just come from.
"A hole?" the cat asked, glancing over Red's shoulder to get a better look at the unknown fixture in the floor. "Huh. I wasn't aware Princess Peach kept additional storage or even had anything like that. To be honest, I don't believe that was there before."
"The Toads probably made renovations on the place, okay?" Red snapped, throwing her hands up in annoyance. "The bottom line is they weren't there."
"And they weren't up here, either, so we'll just have to make do without them," the feline creature sighed, knowing their search had gone to waste. Starting back upstairs, she regarded Calhoun. "I'm going back upstairs to let Her Highness know."
"I'll be there in a second..." Calhoun trailed off, forgetting the name of the cat.
"Blaze," she grumbled, rolling her eyes.
"I knew that, civilian." The sergeant watched her leave, and then turned on Red, scowling. They were alone now, which offered her the opportunity to find out what Red had really been up to in the dank storage room. "Okay, brat, what were you really doing down here?"
"Hel-lo, I thought you heard me the first time. I said I was looking for the streamers Princess Peach asked for. They weren't here, so..."
"Why do I not believe you, then?" Tamora folded her arms impatiently, wanting a better answer than that from the teenage girl.
"I don't know, you tell me."
"Well, I doubt you're in this game to help make preparations for Monday, civilian." Calhoun placed emphasis on the last word, knowing Red was anything but one. She saw her more as a criminal.
"This is about your husband, isn't it? My throwing myself at him and everything?"
"Part of it, while another part is the significance of that trapdoor behind you. Now, I may not come to this game often, but I do know that thing has not been there before."
"The Toads probably installed it for extra storage! And I thought I told you that already!" Red was almost at the end of her rope with Tamora's constant prying. It was driving her so insane that she just wanted to poison the sergeant with an apple right now. But she decided against that, for someone would be sure to come down and find a dead character lying in the middle of the cramped, crate-ridden space. "You obviously think I have sthomething to do with what'th going on, and let me tell you right now, I don't!"
"I know you have something to do with all of this. You stole Fix-It's files, stripped one of my soldiers nude..." Calhoun was blushing as that came out. "...and you destroyed two games. The evidence was all in your game, not to mention the fact that you have some sort of interest in my husband."
"And I'm sthaying right now, I had nothing to do with any of those thingths! If it helpth, thomone probably put thothe fileth in my room, and sthuffed your stholdier in there, trying to pin it on me."
"Why are you talking like that?" Calhoun asked, noticing the change in Red's voice, which proved Gretel right. It sounded almost...masculine, with a heavy lisp. And it was making the sergeant a little uneasy and made her believe Red's sudden story less and less. Tamora knew the teenage racer before her was behind everything, despite the girl's best efforts to cover it up. And the creepy change in voice and accent drew the line.
"What are you talking about?" Red asked, the lisp still slightly there.
"The strange accent? Your voice?"
"Oh, that," the racer realized, noticing her suddenly nasal voice. "I...just have a cold right now, that's all." Red cleared her throat to prove her point.
"And you're here 'helping out?'"
"Look, I have a throng immune thystem." Red's tone started to grow annoyed again. "I think I can thurvive."
"There you are, Sergeant Calhoun. The princess guessed you'd still be down here."
Tamora turned to notice Toadsworth, Peach's steward, slowly making his descent to the storage room to meet the woman and girl. When he made it the bottom, he gasped for air.
"What is it?" the sergeant inquired.
"The princess wanted to see if you could get your men from Hero's Duty to the ball for security purposes. Better to be safe than sorry, I always say. The princess wants this ball to go very well this year, and doesn't want it to end up a disaster like Sugar Rush a couple months ago. And we know your men are quite experienced."
"Hmmm..." Calhoun nodded at the sound of that. Anything to keep the arcade safe and stable. Plus, they could be watching for any suspicious activity coming from Red or anyone else who could be a suspect. "I'll notify my men, then."
"Very good. Quite. Now, the princess is expecting you two back upstairs so we can get a quick look-over on everything. You know, nothing out-of-place and whatnot. Come along."
"More security, huh?" Red asked, as Toadsworth was starting back upstairs, panting and wheezing as he proceeded. "Looks like things are starting to get interesting." The teen moved past Tamora, following the aged Toad.
"What's that supposed to mean?" the sergeant growled, growing a little irate with cryptic information.
"Exactly what it means...Tammy." Red regarded the woman, smirking. "And for the record, I'm not interested in Felix. It's...something else."
Calhoun was ready to snatch her up at the sound of her pet name. She knew only Felix called her that, and from all the times Red had been around the Good Guy, the pet name apparently was rubbing off on the young racer. The sergeant resisted the urge to snatch the girl up, for Toadsworth was still four steps ahead and in earshot, struggling up the stairs with his old bones. He may have been old, but he wasn't senile or deaf. Instead, Tamora held her glare on Red.
"Something else?" she repeated.
"You'll see, Tammy. Very soon, you'll see." The racer chuckled. "Now let's go; we don't want to worry anyone else." Red nodded to Toadsworth, who was eight steps ahead and barely out of earshot.
Tamora followed Red, knowing she had to warn her husband and the others of this later. Especially from what Red was saying too, which gave telltale signs of the ball possibly being in danger.
...
Ralph and Felix followed Vyse and Aika into Skies of Arcadia, where they were met by the rapid gunfire the second they set foot into the dogfighting game.
"Yeeow!" the wrecker was knocked backward by the attacking barrage. He wondered why they were being aimed at within mere seconds of entering the game. The debris from the missiles were kicking up smoke, engulfing him and the others, and causing them to gag. "What the...?"
"That was my next question, brother," Felix choked, voice barely audible over the continuing gunfire. When the smoke cleared, the two men glanced up to see an enormous machine hovering before them, its propellers spinning menacingly. It also had two cannons on either wing. As Ralph, Felix, Vyse, and Aika stared up at the machine, the Bad Guy and Good Guy realized that it possessed several of the same qualities as Vyse's plane. The blue trim and biplane qualities were unmistakable; however, there was something...monstrous about it, when the two men noticed sharp canines and red eyes that used to be its headlights.
"Oh my lands..." Felix gasped, staring up in fear at the mutated plane. He knew he had fixed it before, but what happened to it when he had left? Did it get infected somehow afterwards? Had Red been in Skies of Arcadia?
"That's what I was talking about," Vyse explained, regarding Felix with a confused expression. The airman knew that the Good Guy could fix almost anything, restoring it to its previous state, but this time was different. And Vyse nor Felix had an answer as to what to make of a plane gone haywire."After you fixed my plane yesterday, everything was going well today...but after our last round at closing, well..." Vyse nodded to the attacking plane, which flew away from them at first, then made a U-turn and started to fire away again, prompting the characters to drop to the damaged ground.
"His plane started going crazy!" Aika finished, covering herself the best she could to shield herself from the onslaught. She refused to fall at the hands of an ally's machine.
Then the strangeness came to a head when the plane stood upright, letting out a deafening roar.
"Planes aren't supposed to do that!" Ralph covered his ears to shut out the ear-splitting noise, with Vyse and Aika following suit. The Bad Guy knew it was one crazy incident after another. First, the nearly-insane Felix and now a machine that apparently had a mind of its own. That in itself was enough to disturb any sane person, and the wrecker knew for a fact that Red was behind this. She had probably broken into the code room during arcade hours to screw up some of the game's codes. But when Ralph glanced up to notice Felix merely standing next to him, not covering his ears, the fear within his chest started to return. Especially the Good Guy's next words.
"You should be grateful, Vyse," said the handyman, smirking as he watched the plane circle above the group, its cannons were locked on to them and ready to fire, which wasn't bad news for Vyse and Aika as they were in their game but it still looked bad for their reputation outside arcade hours. The only one who had to be worried was Ralph and Felix, who were outside their game and was under a larger risk.
But the "villain" wasn't worried about the plane, he was more concerned for Felix, who still retained that insane smile. The Good Guy regarded Vyse, who was starting to grow more and more worried by the second. The pirate was just as confused by what he had just said. And for the first time, Vyse felt chills having heard those words from the handyman.
"What? You call this 'fixed?'" Aika shrieked, jabbing a finger at the monstrous plane. "This is a disaster!"
"It's improved," Felix chuckled darkly, "Now your plane can kill whatever catches your fancy. You should be thanking me, Vyse. And if you want, I can make it more powerful." The handyman raised his ivory hammer, ready to hop up and "fix" Vyse's plane.
But Ralph was not going to allow that; he tackled the Good Guy just as Felix was about to lift off the ground to do the insane deed. The wrecker and his partner rolled down the hill until they ended up in a nearby crater, where the Bad Guy pinned Felix to the bare ground. Then Ralph noticed the change in the Good Guy's attitude, which was growing more and more disturbing. Felix was grinning psychotically up at Ralph, crimson eyes boring emptily into the wrecker's.
"You shouldn't have done that, Ralph," the Good Guy said, chortling maniacally as his body began to crackle with red energy, which in turn coursed through Ralph and causing him to pull away from Felix.
"You guys okay down there?" Vyse asked, as he and Aika running up to the lip of the crater, then noticed the two men at its bottom. They both noticed the insane Felix. "Why is he acting like this? This isn't like him!"
"Look, it's a long story, kid," said Ralph, then noticed a shadow hovering over them. It was the corrupt biplane, whose cannons were open and ready to fire at the four characters.
Then matters grew worse when a sudden tremor was heard, causing the ground to shake beneath them and stirring new fear within the group.
"What the hell?" Vyse swore. "What's going on?"
"I don't know," Ralph replied, then noticed Felix rising to his feet, lightly laughing. Felix smirked, as if finding enjoyment in what had been happening so far. "Felix, come on! We need to get out of here! I don't know what's happening or what's about to happen, but I don't want to take chances."
"Same here," Aika agreed, then reached out a hand. "Come on before the plane starts attacking again!"
"Why? I want to enjoy this," the Good Guy said as another tremor occurred, this more fierce.
"Felix! Snap out of it!" Ralph urged, then felt gunfire brush past him as he noticed the plane attacking again, threatening to kill the wrecker. It roared again, propellers spinning menacingly as he proceeded to climb the side of the deep crater. But then he noticed Felix glitch in front of him, blocking his way.
"Can't let you leave, Ralph!" The Good Guy cackled, hammer raised and ready to attack his partner.
"Out of the way, Felix!" The wrecker tried to move past him, but the handyman wasn't allowing him to go any further. Then the Bad Guy noticed that Felix suddenly collapsed, eyes rolling back as he dropped to the ground at Ralph's feet, where he noticed a gold cutlass. The Bad Guy looked up to notice Vyse, smirking.
"Vyse?" Aika glanced up at her fellow pirate in confusion. "You know Fix-It was..."
"I know, but I didn't kill him," said the lead airman, skidding down to recover his weapon and avoiding the bullet rain. "I just hurled the hilt of my Sky Fang at him, okay? Geez. Otherwise, Wreck-It wouldn't have..."
"What are you kids doing down there? We need to get out of here!"
The four characters glanced up to notice Vyse's father, Dyne, at the lip of the crater, glancing at his son, Aika, the unconscious Felix, and Ralph. Despite his usually strict demeanor, there was slight panic evident in his expression, which gave telltale signs that those two tremors were more than just tremors.
"What's going on, Dad...er, Dyne?" Vyse regarded his father, at a loss. He didn't know what to call him during this situation, as he knew Dyne didn't like being called "Dad" on raids. So which one did this qualify as? Then he noticed the bullet rain stopped. Glancing up, he noticed the plane vanishing, turning into code.
"What the...?" Aika was also confused as she and Ralph noticed the reason behind the plane's disappearance. Not far from them, the battleground of the game was turning into a pitch black void, many of the landmarks, ships, and straggling characters becoming code as it was headed their way.
"Okay, now I see your point," the airman realized as he quickly climbed up the lip of the crater, Aika and Ralph (carrying Felix) following behind him as the ground was giving way beneath the wrecker. Vyse helped the two characters onto the ledge, then started to make a beeline for the exit port, where panicked characters and Dyne were frantically filing in toward Game Central Station.
Aika was the first to make it through the port, then Ralph and the still-unconscious Felix. But when Vyse made contact with the threshold, a barrier repelled him from salvation.
"Vyse, come on!" Aika urged, grabbing his hand and tried to drag him through but the barrier was relentless denying the airman safety.
"What the hell?" Vyse was banging on the barrier, trying to push through but it was no use. Then he noticed the quickly disintegrating world. "Shit!"
"What's going on, kid?" Ralph asked Aika.
"Vyse can't leave the game, for some reason!" she replied as she reentered to try pushing Vyse through the barrier. However, it was again relentless, as Vyse was unable to fight through. "You're not a glitch, though, Vyse, so why...?"
"This is the same problem that happened to the other two," realized Ralph, still supporting Felix, then he noticed the black void catching up to Vyse, who shoved Aika back through the port. The airman was going to make sure everyone was safe, even at the cost of his own life. That was what a Blue Rogue did. Then he felt his legs break away from him, along with the rest of his body.
"No!" Aika started to run to his aid...only for Ralph to snatch her up in his free arm to stop her. She watched as her leader and friend was completely being consumed by the disintegrating world.
"There's nothing we can do about him now, kid," the wrecker said, dragging her and Felix toward Game Central Station.
"I can't leave Vyse!" The female pirate screamed as she was at the point of tears. She watched as the last of Skies of Arcadia disappear into code, taking Vyse with it. Vyse, her leader and friend, gone. She glared at the unconscious Felix on Ralph's other shoulder, but when she looked closer, she noticed that Felix was now in a daze, his crimson eyes appearing to stare at nothing. If Aika hadn't been angry at the handyman right now, she would have found it creepy. Fix-It Felix was supposed to fix, not wreck. That was Wreck-It Ralph's job, last she checked.
Speaking of Ralph, where was he taking her? She knew it was safer than what they had just experienced, that was for sure.
"I hope that Calhoun found Red," said Ralph as he was nearing the main hub. "Because this has gone on far enough." Then he glanced at Aika, who was just as worried as he was about the situation. She may not have known who Red was, but she knew it was apparently someone she should avoid. The female pirate glanced up at Ralph, opening her mouth to make a comment.
"This isn't a kidnapping, don't worry," the Bad Guy cut her off, assuring her.
"We'll see about that," Aika muttered.
...
"We couldn't find Kenneth anywhere," Taffyta complained, coming out of The Legend of Zelda with Vanellope, Candlehead, and Snowanna. They had been jumping from game to game in search of Kenneth, albeit with no luck so far except for stares and annoyingly interested whistles from other characters at the sight of their matured forms. One had even asked Taffyta out, which had earned the unlucky character a blow to the face.
"I seriously thought he'd be in his game," agreed Candlehead, "Kenneth rarely leaves the game, unless there's a special event going on. But you know, I've heard he's been around Game Central Station quite a bit lately. Wonder what the occasion is?"
"Who knows?" Snowanna shrugged, "Maybe he has a date or something? Anyway, maybe we can see if Vanellope can remember now."
"I don't know." Taffyta then regarded Vanellope. "Can you now?"
"Sorry, nothing's coming to me for some reason," the princess tried to think hard and fish out the memory of that day she had been in Fix-It Felix, Jr. Unfortunately, the last thing she remembered was her entering the '80s game and tailing the robed figure who could possibly be the hacker. Everything after that was black. Each time Vanellope tried to recall it, it was as if a mental brick wall was blocking her off, preventing her from remembering. She wanted so badly to remember who had been in the fixing game, which could help both her friends and the investigation.
"Hey, look, there's Wreck-It, you guys!" Snowanna's voice snapped the princess back to attention.
"Stinkbrain?" Vanellope glanced around in search of the wrecker.
"Over there." Taffyta pointed to a nearby game port, where Ralph was carrying a young girl and Felix. The Bad Guy seemed to be glancing around, stepping in and out of the threshold as if he was trying to summon Surge.
"Wonder what's up?" Vanellope said, noticing the unconscious Felix and seemingly annoyed young girl, who did not appear too happy about being carried around by the wrecker. The president's focus was more on the Good Guy, however. "Hammer Time looks like he's hurt."
The girls headed over to Ralph, shoving past the other arcade residents and earning curses and grunts of annoyance along the way.
"Come on," the wrecker grumbled, stepping back and forth in the threshold of the port. He had to call Surge and notify him of another game having been destroyed.
"Give it up, Wreck-It," Aika sighed, propping her head on her hand. "He's not going to show up." Then she squirmed against Ralph's hold. "Are you gonna let me go now?"
"Oh, sorry." The Bad Guy placed the female pirate on her feet, then laid the now-unconscious Felix in her arms. "Take Felix for a second."
"Don't tell me you're gonna keep trying to call him. I mean, there has to be another way to get him."
"This was the only way I've known how." Ralph started to jump around the threshold, gaining stares and giggles from the other characters. The Bad Guy knew he was embarrassing himself, but if was going to call Surge down, then he had to grin and bear the laughter that came with it.
"Honestly." Aika folded her arms, rolling her eyes and glancing down at Felix, who was resting at her feet. "Is your friend always that way?" she asked him, "I mean, not like you, but still..." Suddenly her one-sided conversation was cut short by the warning bells for the random security check. "What the?" When the female pirate glanced up, she noticed four young women at the port threshold, with Surge appearing before them. She had neither seen those women before nor had she heard of them. But as the female pirate moved closer, being careful not to abandon Felix, she caught sight of candy-littered hair and a green hoodie.
"Vanellope von Schweetz, Taffyta Muttonfudge, Candlehead, and Snowanna Rainbeau," the green-clad woman introduced themselves to the blue hologram, gesturing to her friends.
"Proceed," Surge nodded, not glancing up from his clipboard. "And be careful."
"Wait!" Ralph stopped the arcade guardian just as he was about to zap away.
"Wreck-It Ralph." He regarded the wrecker. "What is it? And make it brief-I'm still quite busy."
"My game went down," Aika interjected, scooping Felix up in her arms and nodding to the empty port of Skies of Arcadia. "And it took Vyse with it. Whatever it was."
"Really?" Surge adjusted his glasses, moving past them to get a closer look at the pitch-black void that used to be Skies of Arcadia. This was the third game destroyed this week, and the arcade guardian was nowhere near as close to finding out who he, she, or they were. They had to be stopped, no matter what.
"And that's not all. Before that, Fix-It here supposedly fixed Vyse's plane, but then after closing, they went crazy and started attacking. I mean, it was insane. And it gets better: Fix-It was insane, going on about things being 'improved' and all that nonsense. That creeped me out big time. Then the game turned into code, and it took Vyse with it. For some reason, he couldn't leave the game. I mean, he wasn't a glitch, and yet..." Aika trailed off, not bearing to finish. It was too painful to even watch her game and Vyse become victims of the hacker's cruelty. And the slightly insane Felix hadn't really helped matters, either. Vyse was her friend, her brave, noble leader, and in some cases, like a brother. Many emotions were running through her now, none of which positive. For one thing, Aika was hurt. She was enraged. And above all, wanted revenge on whoever was behind this.
"Another game went down?" Taffyta interjected, interested in the pirate's story.
"Damn," Snowanna cursed, staring at the dark, empty void. "This guy must be really smart, whoever he is." The sherbet racer regarded Surge. "Have you guys even found out who yet? Has anyone found this guy yet?"
"Not yet," Surge replied.
"We have," Ralph interjected, "Or at least Felix and I think we have." The Bad Guy nodded over to the Good Guy, who was starting to stir in Aika's arms.
"Mmm..." the handyman mumbled, "What happened?"
"You were acting a little...bizarre again," Ralph filled his partner in.
"I...I was?"
"Yeah, and you actually lost it this time. I mean, what was up with you in there?"
"Not to mention you 'fixed' our planes," added Aika, recalling the fiasco with Vyse's machine in the destroyed game.
When she made it to the part where the handyman had lost his sanity, Felix raised an eyebrow, knowing he would never act like that or threaten to put someone's life in danger. It was unlike him. He was a Good Guy, not an insane psychopath like a racer he would rather not name.
"Seriously, his plane went bananas, and not like DK's bananas, either. It was shooting at us and almost killed us. And let me guess, you can't remember that, either."
Felix shook his head. He couldn't remember anything after they had entered Skies of Arcadia. It was a blank to him. He hopped out of Aika's arms, then his eyes fell on the pitch-black port. "Oh my lands," he gasped.
"Yeah, that's right. Especially when it's your fault Vyse bit the dust." There was slight anger and irritation in Aika's voice as she glared down at Felix, an accusatory edge to it.
"Okay, let's not start blaming here, okay?" Ralph interjected. "It's not going to get us anywhere. Besides, Felix wasn't himself when we were in there. Someone corrupted him."
"And we're thinking Red might have something to do with it," added Felix.
"Yeah right." Aika folded her arms. "He may be called Fix-It, but there was nothing fixed about what he did. That and what's up with his hammer?" Aika glanced down at Felix's white hammer.
"Yeah, Hammer Time, what is up with your hammer?" Vanellope and the other racers also noticed the change in the Good Guy's trademark tool.
"I know it wasn't there before," Taffyta added, examining the short man's white hammer. "What happened to it?"
"Okay, we need to head somewhere else to talk about this," Ralph suggested.
"That would be wise," Surge agreed. "I need to close this port off, so please proceed."
"Besides, I'm a little hungry," said Candlehead, rubbing her growling stomach. "We've been running around looking for Kenneth all day."
"With no luck, I might add," Taffyta put in.
"What the hell does the Creeper have to do with this?" Aika spat, throwing her arms up, then heard her own stomach growling.
"I think we all need to eat something," Felix said. "That way, we can focus a little bit better."
"Burger Time, then?" Vanellope suggested.
"That sounds good," agreed Ralph, "And then you can fill me on what's happened to you guys." The Bad Guy eyed the Sugar Rush racers' upgraded selves. "Seriously, what happened?"
The president smirked, giggling. "It's gonna be a long story, Stinkbrain."
...
"That witch is seriously on to me," Red growled, exiting Princess Peach's castle. Everyone was done for the day, with Princess Peach announcing that they would finish preparations tomorrow. And during that time, she had her own preparations. Preparations for the destruction of Game Central Station. And what better place to start than in Super Mario Bros., where there would be an entire score of residents congregating? It was perfect, and she would be proud of herself in the end.
"Soooo...everything's in place?"
Red turned to see Kenneth hovering behind her, disturbing hundred-watt smile and all.
"What do you want now, Ken?" the teen sighed. "Did you plant the bug in Hero's Duty as instructed?"
"You bet I did, Miss Riding Hood. Whiplash and I had no problems." Then Kenneth's expression fell to an uneasy one. "Well, one soldier caught us, but I took care of that." The angel giggled, smiling wider than usual and casting off a blaze of light.
"How many timesth do I have to tell you about that?" Red snapped, nearly agitated. "And I highly doubt that we're going to pull thith off without anyone finding out. Consthidering that sthomeone'th on to usth."
"Why are you talking like that, all of a sudden?" Kenneth asked, taking a step back. He had never seen the teen lose her temper, let alone have a lisp. And if he wasn't mistaken, her voice possessed a slight masculine tone to it. "You are seriously creeping me out right now."
"Asth if you have never creeped me out. And about me, it's justh allergiesth. Not that it'sth any businessth of yoursth. Now get out of my facthe and make yourself a little more ustheful. Heal sthomeone, rob sthomeone, I don't care."
"Oh, um, okay." Kenneth bowed reluctantly, fear evident within him. If he hadn't been scared of Red before, he was scared of her now. Stepping back a few times, the angel flew toward the exit port, disappearing inside.
When the healer was gone, Red slowly calmed down.
"I can't have that fool know who I really am." Red clenched her teeth, trying to keep it together. She could not blow her cover, especially when it had taken almost forever for the racer to take over the real Red's avatar. And definitely not around Kenneth, who would still be needed until the day of the ball. She didn't care about what an overly-optimistic angel wanted. All that mattered was revenge.
And revenge she would get.
...
"So let me get this straight," Ralph said, "Sugar Rush got an upgrade?" He, Felix, Aika, and the Sugar Rush racers were in Burger Time, enjoying burgers and recapping everyone's discoveries. The wrecker took a double take at the racer's new looks, not knowing how he should react.
"That's right, Stinkbrain." Vanellope nodded cheerfully.
"And we got new powers and karts with it," added Taffyta. "See?" She snapped her fingers, and, to her surprise, her lollipop lance appeared in her gloved hand. The strawberry racer swung it around, nearly hitting everyone around her.
"Watch it!" Aika complained, ducking to avoid getting hit.
"Yeah, easy with the...um, sword thing." Ralph leaned back, trying to avoid the accidental assault.
"Hers are no worse than mine," Candlehead said. "Seriously, I torch things now." Her candle started to blaze no sooner than she explained it, causing others to scoot back.
"Okay, don't burn us!" Felix warned in a panic. "Apparently you can't control it yet."
"I'm trying to, okay?"
"Anyway, I thought you saw us today from your game, Ralph," said Vanellope, "As you were getting thrown off the building."
"I wasn't really paying attention today, kid," the wrecker replied sheepishly, then nodded to his partner. "Felix was acting a little crazy today."
"Which explained our planes going haywire," added Aika, taking a bite out of her burger. Then she glanced over at the matured racers. "Getting back to you guys, though, that upgrade...is, like, so cool. You guys can go to Tapper and even experience love, you know? Among other things, of course." Regarding Vanellope, she added, "Even you, Vanellope..."
"Can we please focus?" Snow interjected. "We got an arcade to save."
"Yeah, there's plenty of time to ogle at us later," added Candlehead. "But yeah, it is an improvement from our child forms."
"Anyway," Taffyta brought everyone back to attention toward the business at hand. "Vanellope's found the hacker, even seen him."
"Really?" Aika perked up, but it fell when the strawberry racer continued.
"The only problem is that she can't remember who it was."
"What? Can't remember?"
Vanellope nodded. "Seriously, every time I try to remember it's like some sort of wall in my head that's keeping me out," she explained.
"And we were looking for Kenneth to heal her so she can remember," added Candlehead. "But we couldn't find him today."
"And not to burst your bubbles, girls..." Aika retorted, expression growing serious at the sound of the angel's name. "That could be a good thing."
"What?" Snow raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"You know what I mean. Kenneth has been hard to find lately for someone who rarely leaves his game. I've only seen him once this whole week, with some girl. Some girl with a red hood."
"Red?" Ralph repeated, alert at the sound of the name.
"And Kenneth?" added Felix, just as confused as the Bad Guy.
"Yeah, I've seen those two earlier this week. Didn't listen to their conversation, but it looked suspicious. I mean, Ken probably was just healing her, you know? At least that was my first thought, but then he went off to some wall next to Kirby. Now that right there..." Aika paused, taking a gulp of her cola. "Raised my pigtails there. Worse than Vyse getting sucker-punched from behind. I wasn't going to say anything because nobody else saw it, and people would've thought I was crazy. I mean, he has a good rep around here as a healer. Like Zelda. But I doubt he can help Vanellope remember."
"Okay, cut it out!" Taffyta jumped out of her chair, then noticed the other patrons looking their way. "Kenneth should be able to heal anything, right? Like Fix-It does?" The lollipop racer jabbed a finger in the Good Guy's direction.
"And even that has limits, you know?"
"Right," Ralph agreed. He knew his best friend well, especially what his hammer could and couldn't do. Felix couldn't fix hangovers, the sick, or broken hearts. That much the Bad Guy knew, and he was certain the handyman wouldn't be able to help with Vanellope's memory regarding the hacker. The hacker had clearly knocked out the princess, which could explain why she couldn't remember. But she remembered actually being in the code room of Fix-It Felix, Jr., so why couldn't she remember who the hacker was. That part still didn't make sense to Ralph.
Unless there was something Aika was getting at with this Kenneth guy.
"But this probably doesn't have anything to do with limits," the female pirate continued. "What I'm getting at is that Kenneth can heal Vanellope, but he might not even if you do find him." She grew more serious as she continued. "As opposed to Fix-It over there, Kenneth can heal amnesia and help the person remember...but he can also take away painful memories he or she doesn't want to remember."
"But my memory of the hacker wasn't painful, it would've helped our cause because I apparently knew who he was and what he looked like." Vanellope interjected. "I just can't remember it, that's all. Everytime I do, it's..."
"It's blocked off, right?" Aika inquired. "But you do remember everything else before and after that, right?"
The president nodded. "Wait, so you're saying it's that Kenneth guy?"
"I'm not saying, I'm just deducting. You know, like detectives do? I mean, from what you guys were saying, Vanellope not being able to remember one thing, my first guess was Kenneth."
"So Kenneth's been in our game?" Felix chimed in, then dread filled up in the pit of his stomach. The Good Guy never knew the healer of Celestial Wars to commit such a crime, let alone work for the very evil who had given everyone grief last time. Felix knew Kenneth. The angel was too optimistic and smiled too much to turn rogue.
"The Creeper broke into the code room?" Taffyta chimed in, not believing it, either. "And planted the red patch in Fix-It's code?"
"Then that means Vanellope was the only one who saw him, but he stole her memory of him ever being there to cover his tracks," Ralph finished. "Looks like we were right about there being more than one hacker on the loose."
"But Kenneth, of all people?" Felix was still confused on that part, knowing it didn't make any sense. The healer from Celestial Wars rarely left the game, and if he did, it was for something important. It made the Good Guy wonder what grudge Kenneth had against him. Especially when he could possibly be working with the false Red.
"Well, so much for finding Ken now, huh?" Snow said, sighing.
"Yeah, now we're gonna have to interrogate him," replied Taffyta. "We can sure use Citrusella for that part, then she can clip his wings while she's at it."
"We still don't know where he is, though," Candlehead reminded.
"Then we're gonna have to keep looking for him. Come on."
The Sugar Rush racers rose from their seats, proceeding to leave.
"I'll come with you this time," Aika followed suit. "Hey, you'll need backup in case Ken runs off. We'll just wring whatever he needs to know out of him and then we can fix Fix-It." Then she regarded Felix. "Where's your 'dynamite gal,' by the way?"
"She said she was going to find Red. Probably still out looking for her," answered the Good Guy. He was just a worried for his wife as he was for himself. If anything happened to Tamora, he would never forgive himself.
"There you are, Vanellope!"
Everyone turned to notice Rancis heading up to the group, panting. He was carrying a large paper bag of what appeared to be his and the other male racers' food, having ordered takeout for Gloyd, Swizzle, and himself until he noticed Vanellope upon leaving. The peanut butter cup racer blushed red when he looked up at the princess, but looked away the second the lead racer locked eyes with him.
"What's up, Rancis?" she asked, wondering what was up with him.
"Um, well...I was wondering..." The blond young man was stumbling over his words, trying to find the right words. Whenever he was around Vanellope, Rancis found it hard to talk to her. And he cursed himself for that, but he was going to do it. He was going to muster up the strength and ask her, but not in front of everybody.
"You've been acting pretty weird lately, you know?" Taffyta said. "Especially around Vanellope."
"Yeah, what's up?" Candlehead added.
"I think I know what this means, guys," Aika realized, smirking between Rancis and Vanellope.
"What?" Felix inquired, not understanding the female pirate's point.
"We should go, that's what. You know, look for Ken?"
"Right," Ralph remembered, also rising from the table, Felix following suit.
"So, we'll see you later, Pres?" Snow waved to Vanellope. "We'll fill ya in on what we find out later from Ken, 'kay?"
"Wait!" Vanellope called but the other racers, Ralph, Felix, and Aika were already starting to leave.
"I'm sure whatever Rancis wants to tell you is more important, Vanellope." Taffyta waved the president off.
"Yeah," Candlehead agreed. "Chances are Rancis might not leave until he gets it out." The birthday snickered as she followed the others out.
When her friends left, and it was just Vanellope and Rancis, the former regarded the male racer, wondering what he wanted to ask her.
"So, what did you want to ask me?" she inquired.
"I was wondering..." Rancis started, "and you can say no." The peanut butter cup racer's face was burning red, knowing it was time to go on the attack. "Will you go to the Mushroom Ball with me?" he blurted out.
Vanellope was taken aback by the sudden outburst, knowing she had not heard Rancis ask something such as that. She stared at him intently, confused. Rancis really did have an interest in her; otherwise, he would not have paid her any heed at all. Vanellope didn't know how to answer, as she had never had an interest in the male racer, at least not romantic ones. Rancis had always been considered a friend to her. Granted, he was handsome and likeable, but was not someone she had strong feeling for.
But seeing his reddened face that was glancing down at the sterilized Burger Time tiles in all of his bashfulness, Vanellope couldn't help but feel a little flutter in her heart. She smiled, lifting Rancis's head so they were facing each other. He was a far cry from when he had been a bully to her, flanking Taffyta. After the whole incident from two months ago, Rancis had been a sweet person to her, lending a hand with almost anything.
Besides, Vanellope didn't want to break her fellow racer's heart. All Rancis wanted was someone to accompany to the ball, which was when she decided that she would do it. But only as a friend. Not that she'll tell him that.
"So? Will you go with me?" Rancis asked again, with a little more courage this time.
"Sure," Vanellope finally replied, "I'll be there."
"You will?" Rancis brightened, hope in his blue eyes.
The princess nodded.
"That's great! So, we'll meet at the Rainbow Bridge at six, then?"
Vanellope nodded again with a little enthusiasm, knowing that even though there was drama afoot around Game Central Station, she was going to enjoy every minute of the Mushroom Ball. And at the same time, keep an eye out for Kenneth or any other suspicious characters guaranteed to crash the event. She, Ralph, Felix, and Calhoun had a shared goal: to protect the arcade, no matter what.
...
"What do you mean we should move the Mushroom Ball to Game Central Station?" Peach asked, staring at Calhoun intently with worry. She, Mario, Toadsworth, and Tamora were heading toward Fix-It Felix, Jr. so they could discuss the situation further. But Peach didn't see a need for it, as she had never had any problems in Mushroom Ball the entire time she had held it.
Unless it had something to do with the hacker still on the loose. Could it have been that Calhoun had found something out in Super Mario Bros.? Especially in the cellar, where Peach had sent Red off to grab streamers for the ballroom's ceiling? Had Red and Tamora found suspicious activity down there?
"Look, it's for safety precautions, Toadstool," Calhoun explained. "I came across some suspicious activity in your cellar, and I feel that it might be unsafe. Especially when we'll have almost the entire arcade coming, along with characters from other arcades. Also, one of our helpers could be behind this."
"You're still-a not-a making any sense-a," Mario interjected, confused. His mind was racing through everything Tamora had just explained as well upon leaving the Nintendo game, especially on the last part. Someone who was helping with the ball could also be involved with the danger? It could make sense, seeing as they had a way to try to hack into Mario Bros. The Nintendo Good Guy tried to recall who had been helping with the ball earlier. Mario knew it couldn't have been Luigi or Bowser. Besides, the Nintendo Bad Guy was not too bright when it came to codes and hacking. And it definitely wasn't Zelda, who had been diligent in setting up the stage with Link. The red-clad plumber was wondering what Tamora was talking about, but he had a guess that it didn't sound positive.
"She's trying to explain that she witnessed suspicious activity in the Kingdom, Master Mario," Toadsworth translated. "It sounds quite dangerous, but..."
"But how do you know?" Peach cut her steward off. She wanted the whole story from Calhoun before she believed anything.
"We shouldn't discuss it here, though." Tamora glanced around the hustle and bustle of Game Central Station, where characters were milling about between games. The Hero's Duty's lead knew she couldn't discuss it in the open, for there were too many distractions and listeners. "That's why we need to get to my husband's game. Hopefully, he and Wreck-It are home, and we can talk about this together."
"But...I need to go back to my game to..." Peach started.
"Do you want this ball to be a success or not?"
The mushroom princess sighed, knowing if she wanted the Mushroom Ball to be a success, she had to go with the sergeant to Fix-It Felix, Jr. Peach knew Daisy and Rosalina could tend to what little preparations that were left without her. But she knew the hacker was still out there, and if she, Mario, Toadsworth, and the other Super Mario Bros. residents wanted to survive, Peach would listen to what Calhoun had to tell her. She had saved the arcade once, after all.
Calhoun and the three Nintendo characters entered Fix-It Felix, Jr.'s port, with Mario being the last one to step through, tripping the alarm.
"Name." Surge appeared before the Nintendo Good Guy, again not looking up from his clipboard.
"It's a-Mario," the plumber replied.
"Anything to declare?" But then Surge looked up to notice Tamora in the bunch. "Sergeant Calhoun, I've been looking for you. Could you come over here, please?" The arcade guardian regarded Mario. "You may proceed, sir."
"Don't worry," the sergeant assured the trio. "Go on ahead inside. I'll be there in a second."
Toadsworth and Peach nodded, then continued into the fixing game, Mario following.
"Okay, what's this about?" The sergeant regarded Surge with a scowl, annoyed. She was busy enough as it was. "And you need to make this quick."
"Do you recall when you asked for a fingerprint reading of your husband's file?"
"I do." Calhoun was wondering why he was bringing that up now? How long had that taken? "You identified the fingerprints?"
Surge nodded. "And you will not believe whose fingerprints they were."
Calhoun was starting to grow impatient. She needed to know who was after her husband and corrupted his code. She had to, as it could very well decide the fate of the arcade. And her blood started to run cold at the sound of his next words.
"It was Turbo's."