"What was that about?" Tamora asked in concern, pointing to the phone.
"I don't know. She just panicked." Ralph answered, unaware of Shank's new attitude.
"Brother, what's happening?" Felix asked, taking off his hat.
"Shank needs us to find Vanellope"
"She should be in Slaughter Race, though." Spamley wondered.
"Right."
"I think we should help her out. She could be in danger." Felix added.
"Don't be scared, Fix-it. She'll get home if she makes a path with the code I gave her." Spamley said patting Felix's back. "The big problem would be that it's prone to glitches."
Ralph set the phone down slowly on the table, and putting his hands on his hips. "What did you just say?"
"The pathway I showed her. It's sensitive to glitches."
Ralph, Tamora and Felix all looked at Spamley like he was stupid.
"You IDIOT! She is a glitch!" Ralph yelled in distress.
"Oh. OH- I forgot! I'm so sorry!" Spamley said with widened eyes.
Tamora took off his hat and smacked him as hard as she could with it. "What do you mean you forgot? She never glitched in front of you before?!"
"Well, no, she doesn't do it that much anymore." Spamley answered shaking.
"Oh my land, Oh my LAND, she could die- oooh she's gonna die! That's how viruses are made-" Felix started shaking and breathing heavily with Spamley.
"Nobody's going to die!" Ralph stated with his hands up. "If we get her back in time she won't turn into a virus."
"And how do you know that, Wreck-it? What if other codes hurt her and it spreads over here. Then what?" Tamora said as if she knew it was the end.
"That's not- no. That won't happen, she's- she's fine, we gotta trust her." Ralph insisted.
"Do you even know how fast viruses start? How long can we trust her? She needs us." The blonde said back.
"Ralph... she needs you." Felix stated softly, finishing off his wife's sentence.
Ralph sighed deeply, angry and annoyed he had to go back to the internet for probably nothing.
"Fine."
"Alright, let's go people, grab what you'll need." Tamora ordered as she tied her armor back on and loaded her gun.
"What about the kids?"
The Sugar Rush racers immediately rang the door to the floor they lived on and Tamora opened the door for them.
"Hi Mom. We're ho-"
"Look kids, we're gonna be busy and uh- Gene will take care o' you! We love you okay?" Tamora said quickly, right before she led the three men out of Game Central Station.
The area was crowded as always when game characters could hang out, and the four waited for the surge projector to move from the Wi-Fi outlet so they can get on their mission.
Standing proudly in the internet barrier, she turned to Ralph.
"You ready?"
Ralph held the half heart cookie in his hand that once fully said 'Your My Hero', remembering when he fell into Diet Cola Mountain and clutched it in his hand tightly the same way.
"Definitely."
•••••
Dried tears stained her face as Vanellope continued all over the internet, not knowing where to go next. She'd have to accept the fact that nobody wanted her anywhere.
Her first instinct was to go to the arcade, but she was pretty sure they wouldn't want a mistake ruining their games either.
She continued to look down at the ground, hood on her head and hands in her pockets.
Her foot stubbed onto an unknown object and she fell into a metal tunnel, it's thin rail gates screeching as it opened.
"Oof! Ow..." She rubbed her shoulder after tumbling straight inside, sniffling at the isolated facility she just came into.
Even though she had no idea where to go, this wasn't the place she had in mind at all.
The place was exactly like the internet, but dark and small, with much less people walking around. She took a few glances here and there, seeing the abandoned websites that gave her some chills.
"I don't think I've ever been here before." The kid said to herself, looking at the abandoned neighborhoods.
Before she knew it, the area turned black all around her. How long has she been walking for? All she saw was what looked like a big, endless void of nothing.
Just like me, she thought. Nothing.
She found out the more she stepped into the room, a tiny collection of old codes and stacks of numbers flickered on the black floor.
"What is all this?" The girl said as she spun around in a circle, discovering what was codes, hacks, and cheats.
Vanellope's mind drowned in fantasy as she thought of all the things she could do, the limitless surprises waiting for her to jump in. She glitched tenderly, triggering a row of colorful, bright codes back and forth in the room that was once pitch black.
She attempted to protect herself, hiding in her sweater the best she can, but failed as glitches around the room stung her in the back.
The girl tried not to glitch again, yet the codes flashed rapidly, and it was all some rainbow blur to her. Her body limped, looking for something, anything that would get her out of this death trap.
"HELP! PLEASE!" The racer screamed, her stomach throbbing in agony, her glitch making codes sputter in different colors when they reached her. She cried and rolled around, too distracted to notice all her senses going away.
She flashed in different colors and she gagged before passing out, her saliva and tears dripping down.
•••••
Hours later, Vanellope lifted her head to the same room of nothingness. She no longer felt any pain, except for in her hands. She picked herself up slowly, trying to remind herself how she got there.
She was shocked as a purple motorbike glitched in her presence. She grabbed the handles, and a thick sensation went down her back when she exhaled, as if she was being recharged.
The engine revved like no other, it's tanks shot out fire and smoke from the back, a smirk smearing on her face.
Her sweater was swapped for a long teal cloak that matched her hood like before, and a licorice track suit going up her collar.
The motorbike zapped into a convertible and her clothes changed again, showing off it's powers. Vanellope looked down at both of her hands.
She didn't know that was coming. She didn't know cars could even do that...
She giggled psychotically, grabbing on the steering wheel and teleported out of the dark net.