Chapter 43
Vanellope and the group stared up at the transformed T.K. and still-dazed Ralph, disappointed they weren't fast enough in figuring out the key's location, which shifted drastically and quickly, considering the immensely sexualized Takeru and purified Ralph. Now the succubus could have complete control over the arcade with the Bad Guy by her side.
"She's even sluttier than before," Taffyta pointed out.
"Is it that obvious?" Citrusella retorted. "We wouldn't have noticed."
"What is your problem?" Vanellope stepped forward, glitching through the crowd of cowering, angry, and just plain annoyed characters until she was face-to-face with T.K. The princess had never been so enraged in her life, and glancing at the entranced Ralph increased her anger anger even more to the point where glitches rippled through her body. She clenched her fists and glared at the succubus. The crowd around them parted in anticipation of a potential fight ensuing.
"My problem?" T.K. repeated, closing in until only inches separated their faces. "The question is what is this arcade's problem? My life had been shit, thanks to this damn arcade, my boyfriend, and – dare I say it – that brat Kari. Little bitch ended up with everything: popularity, guys, players, kindness. Me? I got a boatload of NOTHING! I never won a race in Red Moon Racing; I tried to outdo sweet, popular little witch Kari, I even try to attract players, but none of that happens! I was the fucking bad guy in my game. Even my best friends Sora did better than me." T.K.'s voice dropped to a somber tone as she shot a glare at the mentioned witch. "Then I met Ralph, who hasn't received recognition just because he's a bad guy. And any bad guy understands the treatment we receive."
"Received," corrected a character in the back.
"But back then, we didn't receive the same treatment as good guys like Mario, Mega Man, and even the late Fix-It Felix, Jr." T.K. smirked at the word "late."
"What?" Vanellope jumped back. "Hammer Time is..."
"Yes, you little piece of tooth decay. He's dead," the succubus confirmed. "So sorry, but his virus functioned better within me." She motioned to her spiked form. "His wife is in the sanctum picking up the pieces." She unleashed another cackle, snapping her spiked whip. "Maybe I should do the same to Ralph for rejecting me last time." T.K. lowered her whip to the Bad Guy's throat. "I still haven't punished him for that...all because of an upgrade to our game. Ralph didn't like what it did to after your little cavity-ridden game stole all of our players. I was still unpopular along with our game, and the upgrade made it worse. Along with destroying our game, it led to Ralph breaking up with me and moving on to that bratty, blossomed Kari. Apparently her realistic figure charmed Ralph so much that he forgot about me. So I made one final attempt to win him back, offering him everything I had, but that oaf pushed me away in front of the patrons at Tapper, who all laughed at and insulted me, calling me 'whore' and 'slut.' That burned me up; I was the laughing stock of the arcade."
"I remember that time, actually," a character in the front revealed to be Morrigan from Darkstalkers said. She was flanked by Mega Man and Roll, who nodded in agreement. "And you did deserve to be laughed at though I applaud you for making the attempt. I criticize you for doing it in front of witnesses. Even Lilith found your stunt amusing."
"What is 'it?'" Roll inquired, looking up at the Darkstalkers lead.
Morrigan had no time to respond, as T.K. wrapped her whip around the green-haired woman's neck, spikes digging into her flesh. T.K. squeezed harder, tugging her whip until Morrigan's head snapped off its shoulders and rolled in front of Mega Man and Roll, the latter squealing in horror and backing away and Mega Man standing in front of her, Buster aimed at the mad virus before them.
"This is so cute." T.K. laughed. "However, I don't have time to deal with runts who refuse to follow me." She regarded the crowd. "Yes, you all will recognize and follow me or suffer. That includes players. No more will I be the ass of jokes in the arcade or the target of laughter. And I will not be insulted or outshone by anyone, either. More importantly, nobody steals Ralph. He's mine." She looked pointedly at a glitching Vanellope. "Anyone who attempts anything I've listed will meet more than a mere game over." The succubus snapped her whip, then turned to Roll and Mega Man. "And I'll give you another example to make sure we understand each other." Takeru raised her whip to strike the two Capcom characters.
"No you won't!" Vanellope glitched between T.K. and the Capcom pair to grab the spiked whip. The princess winced at how the spikes bit into her palms like a thornbush. She tugged at the weapon, allowing Roll and Mega Man the opportunity to escape harm's way.
"You fucking cavity!" T.K. swore, yanking the whip out of hand and causing Vanellope nearly face first to the floor. The princess examined her bloodied palms but then was snapped to attention by the succubus. "You'll be next, then." T.K. raised her whip to the president, but was then met by a sudden barrage of bullets that pelted her from the side. She and everyone else turned to see Calhoun, Shulk, Rosalina, and Lucina coming out of a wall next to an empty port. The galaxy princess and the warrior from a doomed future carried an infected Dyne and Aika.
"Sergeant Smiles." Vanellope recovered to see the approaching group.
"You killed my husband!" Tamora aimed her rifle at the succubus.
"Yes, I did. Thanks for reminding me of that." T.K. gave the sergeant a twisted smirk.
"Get the cavity out of the way!" Tamora urged to Taffyta's group.
"Vanellope!" Taffyta and the others started rushing in under the sergeant's orders.
"Mario trio and all of my corrupted lovelies, come forth and make sure they don't interfere!" T.K. called.
The strawberry racer's crew froze midway through the crowd upon seeing hundreds of corrupted minions glitch between characters, most of them in Hero's Duty gear. The infected beings attacked the free characters, some even corrupting or killing them. Five of them blocked Taffyta's group, consisting of Luigi, Daisy, Peach, and two unknown Hero's Duty soldiers.
"Really?" Citrusella groaned, sizing up the opponents. She looked over their shoulders at Vanellope, who had received and prepared to defend herself against T.K.
"Attack them!" T.K. ordered her corrupt minions.
"I thought Red controlled the minions," Calhoun said as she knocked away a couple of corrupted characters to get to a fighting Vanellope and T.K., where Vanellope wasn't faring well against the succubus. T.K. had Vanellope wrapped by her whip. Tamora and her group rushed to Takeru, but Rosalina and the others were stopped by more infected characters.
"That traitor never controlled my virus-ridden soldiers," the succubus explained. "She was merely a carrier of my virus. I only gave her a small dosage of my malware, so she had a little control of my minions, but I had the main control over my subjects. And they're multiplying."
Vanellope and Calhoun noticed the corrupt characters gripping and infecting the defending free characters. The uninfected characters' numbers were dwindling quickly, almost to the point where they would be the last one remaining. The princess struggled against the whip, staring down at Ralph, who was still staring into space. She wondered if she could save him from the witch claiming herself the queen of the arcade. She found it difficult to save herself; T.K. had grown even after absorbing the virus in Felix and the key to the arcade. She felt the spikes in her whip dig into her body as the whip hugged the princess. Calhoun fired at T.K., but it only made her flinch though not to the point where she'd release Vanellope. Both women looked around to see that their allies were having just as much trouble as they were. Vanellope tried to struggle free again, but couldn't. She even attempted to glitch out but the pixels couldn't penetrate Takeru's whip. The princess also tried to will her new ability to activate, but she still wasn't in enough practice on it yet; not one spark generated.
"Ralph, go after the sergeant!" T.K. ordered.
Ralph obeyed, rising to his feet and charging for Tamora, who shifted her focus to the Bad Guy.
"Sergeant Smiles! Ralph! Don't!" Vanellope urged. "We're friends!"
But Ralph didn't listen as he lunged for Calhoun, who jumped back.
"Sorry, cavity. He's not giving me a choice," said Tamora, firing at the wrecker.
"Yes, give it up, brat!" T.K. pulled Vanellope closer to her. "Besides, I'd worry about my own ass if I were you!" She squeezed harder, emitting a scream from the princess. "Beautiful sound! Keep singing!" The succubus was enjoying every minute of her enemy's suffering. She could continue it all day during her upcoming reign.
However, a silver stream of energy cut her enjoyment short, causing her to flinch a little. Another, stronger one followed, this one making her stumble to the side a little. Her whip loosened slightly – just enough for Vanellope to narrowly slip out. Both looked up to notice Sora standing inches from them, scowling and with her hands engulfed in plumes of silver magic.
"White Hair!" Vanellope slowly rose to her feet, staggering a little toward the witch.
"Sora..." T.K. growled. "So you still have a little fight in you for an old hag, fighting through my onslaught."
"And this 'old hag's' not letting you take this arcade," said Sora as Vanellope joined her. "Let's stop her, Vanellope. Think you can learn how to control your power in a crash course?"
"Like I have a choice." Vanellope prepared herself to fight.
…
"You're going to tell us what those viruses do," said Kohut, dragging a tied-up Erholtz into T.K.'s office. They had decided to backtrack for more information before heading to find T.K. The second-in-command, Tails, and a weakened Surge had found the corrupt angel in the area where they'd been imprisoned, then used a rose vine Erholtz had produced upon waking up and defending himself. Erholtz had been weak, so restraining him hadn't been difficult.
Tails opened the vault filled with red patches for Erholtz to see.
"I had no idea." The angel gasped, staring at the stowed malware. "This is the first time I've seen those viruses."
"Right." Kohut refused to believe that. "So you don't know what Takeru plans to do with these viruses."
"I really don't know," Erholtz pleaded. "But I know she wants to take over the arcade with them. As for what they do, I truly haven't the slightest idea. Don't kill me!"
"We know you know more than that," Surge said, taking deep breaths trying to stay alive. "Please tell us what else you know."
"Otherwise, you'll be a real angel," added Kohut. "If you know what I mean."
"Hey, why don't test one of the panels on Erholtz?" Tails suggested. He plucked a panel from the vault. "We'll see how he enjoys it."
Surge and Kohut's eyes widened at the fox's surprisingly mischievous attitude.
"This is unexpected from you,, Miles." Surge cleared his throat, moving aside for Tails to deliver the viral fragment to a cowering Erholtz.
"Though I still don't know how to interrogate anyone," Tails said sheepishly as he neared the angel with the malware.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Kohut asked, feeling uneasy. "Do you want me to take that?"
"I'll be fine, don't..." However, a surge of crimson sparks coursed through the fox's arm. Tails screamed at the pain, feeling as if one of Dr. Eggman's machines were torturing him. The fox dropped the panel, feeling a movement within his arm, which felt heavy. Claws sprouted from his arm that took on a dull yellow color, the arm grew muscular like that of Sonic in his Werehog form. Tails had difficulty lifting it; it was as heavy as the Golden Hammer from Wrecking Crew. "What the...?"
Though his vision threatened to dim, Surge's eyes widened, as the arcade guardian stepped away from the dropped panel. He was already weak from the key being tampered with; he did not want to meet the fate of Tails' arm.
"What the hell?" Kohut wondered, staring quizzically at the panel.
"I've never seen that before." Erholtz was actually at a loss.
"The imprisoned should keep quiet." Kohut shook the tied-up angel.
"What happened to me?" Tails shrieked, trying to move his mutated arm.
"These viruses must still be active," Surge guessed.
"Is it that obvious?" Erholtz retorted, earning him another shake from the second-in-command.
"I hope there's a way to fix this!" Tails' voice took a shrill edge.
"We need to research it first," said Surge. "After that we, can approach a possible antidote...if I can make it to my office."
"And my arm doesn't weigh us down," added the fox.
"The angel's coming with us," Kohut decided, yanking Erholtz's rose leash.