*Chapter 4*
She emerged, shining like the sun. She was exactly Taffyta's height; same dirty haired racer. Her smile dwarfed the Sun's energy, making her the center of the universe. She wore proper racing gear, a mint green jacket with short sleeves. Her right sleeve was properly patched with her name and a legitimate Sugar Rush logo. Her curvy figure eagerly paced all the way across the field of rumbling cars. She was the epitome of joy, and the whole crowed cheered for their president. Her black silk hair gleamed and her pony tail flicked back and forth as she gazed around at the audience. She laughed and clapped her hands together and held them there.
"Let's race!" She yelled as all the racers amongst her quickly prepared to get into their car. Taffyta was the only one to remain motionless, her lollypop still firm in her mouth. She held her glare in Ralph's direction. Vanellope smiled and quickly began to head to her racecar, her sights in Ralph's general direction. She quickly glanced at Tafftyta.
"Taffyta, you ready?" Vanellope said sweetly before she suddenly caught eyes with Ralph and took a double take.
The whole audience froze. Everyone went quiet with mumbles and mutterings. Taffyta inhaled a deep breath and exhaled sharply, still glaring in Ralph's direction. Everyone was solid. The air became thick with tension, with remembering. Ralph felt as if he was about to pass out.
"Vanellope," Taffyta sharply, yet softly said with caution.
Ralph was frozen solid as him and Vanellope locked eyes. Ralph felt no matter what was to come of this situation, his heart would not stop pounding. He shook in his spot, feeling extremely overwhelmed.
The palpable tension and misunderstanding hung in the air like monstrous thunderheads. Before Ralph could remind himself to breathe, he noticed Vanellope's tall figure slowly begin to step across the race tracks in his direction. Ralph braced himself; he didn't know what to expect. Violence? Friendship? Vanellope's shocked facial expression was impossible to read past initial surprise. Ralph swallowed hard and kept his eyes on Vanellope like his life depended on it. The crowd gasped and mumbled as Vanellope quickened her pace, weaving her way around her racers' large race cars. Taffyta called after her in a protective manner; she yanked the lollypop from her mouth and place her hand on her hip.
Just as Vanellope was mere yards away from Ralph, he swallowed hard and nervously gave her his usual, gapped tooth smile. He couldn't find words, he didn't think words were appropriate. Vanellope, without a single hesitation, dove into Ralph's arms, slapping her arms fully around his neck. Ralph jolted and shut his eyes with shock. He quickly, yet gently, wrapped his hands around her as best as he possibly could. She hugged him as tight as she could, not daring to let him go. Ralph shut his eyes tight and pushed his face into her shoulder. He held onto her unfamiliar, taller, more mature body. He knew she had changed a lot, but actually holding the finished product was a whole other venture for his jumbled thoughts.
"Ralph," She sighed in disbelief into his shoulder, holding him tighter. She gently pulled away after a few moments. She gazed up into Ralph's eyes, her piercing hazel eyes happy and tearful. She gently slid her hands into his as best as she could.
"I thought I lost you," Ralph breathed shakily as he blinked back tears. He stared into her womanly face, her features more mature and beautiful. Her hair was longer, and the top of her head was level with Ralph's upper chest. He could hardly believe he was in front of Vanellope in this moment. Both suddenly became lost in wonder and confusion, mixed with glee and hurt. Vanellope wrinkled her nose like always and shook her head slightly. She opened her mouth to speak but was quickly cut off by Rancis.
"Vanellope," He snapped as he gently grabbed her arm. Vanellope snapped out of her's and Ralph's moment and gazed at Rancis innocently. His voice had gotten deeper. Everyone looked as if they had aged an entire decade. They held onto their racing youthfulness, but all of them were becoming. Rancis gently pushed Vanellope aside and pointed a swift and stiff finger upwards at Ralph.
"Don't you dare think for a SECOND that marching your hide all the way across arcade creation to our game gives you permission to act as if nothing happened here! How dare you think you can treat Vanellope the way you did, and come back to our humble game as if ditching Vanellope was just a fun little prank!" Rancis shouted. Ralph furrowed his eyebrows, wondering what he ever did to Rancis, or anyone for that matter, to make them so mad. Ralph opened his mouth to speak, but Rancis quickly jerked Vanellope away and kept his hand on the middle of her back. Vanellope was stunned, immobilized with surprise.
"C'mon Vanellope, we have a race to win," Rancis sneered at Ralph over his shoulder. Ralph stared dumbfounded at the two as they walked away. Vanellope gazed over her shoulder as she basically tripped over her own two feet. She loudly uttered a few stutters of protest but Rancis's firm hand still gripped on the small of her back. Ralph slumped his shoulders and felt rage rise from within him. He threw his arms up and slammed them back down to the race track ground as hard as he could, making the whole arena vibrate. The ground shattered under the pressure; everyone was silently still.
"How dare you accuse me of something I never was a part of!" Ralph bellowed, Vanellope flinched as Rancis continued to push her towards her car. Vanellope winced and was abruptly put in front of her race car. She put both of her hands on the side of the car and gazed into her reflection. She softly shook her head before getting into her race car. Rancis quickly marched to his car, his evil glare locked on Ralph. Ralph panted with frustration and clenched his fists, keeping his gaze strong on Rancis.
"Get lost, Ralph," Rancis barked as he smoothly slid his racing goggles over his face.
"If you know what's good for you," Ralph bellowed, "You'll mess with someone your own size, buddy."
Before anything else could be said or done, all the racers sped off in a dusty, engine growling fury. Ralph coughed and fanned the air in front of his face. Just as fast as the cars disappeared, Ralph found himself alone in the middle of an arena where all eyes locked on him. The dust hung in the air like tangible specks of embarrassment, dancing around him and mocking him. Ralph shook his head and grumbled just as a few other donut cops came up and began shoving Ralph out of the arena. Ralph obliged before knocking each officer down. He angrily trudged back up Sugar Rush's rainbow road. The crystals underneath his feet glimmered with happiness, mocking his mood. Ralph groaned aloud and threw his fists down again, his whole mind flooded with too many emotions. He quickly exited Sugar Rush, giving it glaring, dirty looks as he left.
He sat, helplessly furious on the Power Strip's train through the arcade walls. He glared down at the medal Vanellope had made him years ago. Ralph was overjoyed, furious, confused, but hurt over all. He couldn't wrap his mind around everything that had happened just now. It felt like a whole eternity had passed over the course of just two hours. He could hardly believe everything that had happened. He felt as if everything and nothing was solved all at the same time. All of his questions were answered, though unfortunately replacing his old questions with new ones.
Ralph's train stopped in Game Central Station, a station Ralph was certain he'd never see again. He trudged into the station, a few familiar faces hung around, including Sonic. Both characters caught eyes. Sonic looked towards Ralph hopefully, but Ralph gave him a pathetic, defeated look. Sonic's demeanor immediately flickered. Ralph grumbled and trudged back to his game outlet. He felt as if he had stepped into the past as he hopped into his dinky train in the Fix-It Felix Jr. train station. It slowly putt along, a happy tinker car, dutiful and true.
As the train entered his familiar game, he awkwardly squeezed his way out of the train cart. He was immediately greeted by Felix, Gene and Calhoun. All of them asking questions at once. Ralph dully gazed at all of them, not knowing where to start. He put a giant hand up to silence the three, almost wishing he had never gone to Sugar Rush.
"Ralph, did you see Vanellope?" Felix innocently asked, his face lit up.
"Yes," Ralph sighed
"Don't be too excited about it now, Wreck-It," Calhoun spat. Ralph furrowed his brow.
"For some reason, they all are mad at me. Especially that little Rancis brat," Ralph chuckled in disbelief and shook his head, "Taffyta warned me to never return."
"You have to go back and figure out why they're mad at you, Ralph," Gene suggested, "Surely it's a misunderstanding, unless you wrecked their carts or something."
"I didn't wreck anything," Ralph breathed as he slowly began to inch in the direction of his home. Everyone eagerly followed as Ralph continued, "The only thing I can think of is, I overslept on a day where I told Vanellope I'd pay her a visit."
"Surely Vanellope would've forgiven that," Felix said surely. Ralph shrugged.
"I guess she took it really hard," Ralph said, taking off his coat, being mindful of the medal in his coat pocket, "It seems as though Rancis took it a lot harder though."
"Rancis?" Felix questioned, "Is he protective of Vanellope?"
"It sure seems like it," Ralph rolled his eyes, "If I go back, I will cause more public humiliation for Vanellope, for everyone. I don't think it's wise to go back, at least anytime soon," Ralph breathed as he reached his home. He stepped in and almost closed the door before gazing out at his three friends. He smiled genuinely.
"Thanks you guys…" Ralph looked down and sighed, "If it weren't for you three, I would've never known Vanellope was alive." Ralph softly shut his front door.
"I think we need to go beat some sense into those jokers," Calhoun exclaimed as the three began to walk back to the Niceland building, "It sounds like all those sugar particles and fancy updates have all of them with their heads in the cotton candy clouds."
"You said it," Felix said slowly in a low, irritated tone.
Ralph quickly went to sleep to recharge for the next game day. His gameplay the next day was better than usual. They were able to rack in more quarter alerts than usual, and Felix was left with a small amount of medals, a lot less than usual. Ralph felt accomplished. He felt better than ever just knowing that Vanellope was alive, the fact that she dove into Ralph's arms and embraced him like never before was enough for Ralph to know that she missed him.
Ralph slipped into his house again, after a long game day, and slumped onto his makeshift bed. He got comfortable and tried to go to sleep, but the thought of Vanellope kept coming into his mind. He wondered if maybe he should revisit Sugar Rush. Demand to speak with Vanellope, use force on the guards if he has to, though he didn't want to make Vanellope or anyone else even more mad than they already are. He shook his head and figured he'd think more about it tomorrow. He slowly slipped into a comfortable sleep, more comfortable than it has been for over a year and a half now. All was peaceful in Niceland until Ralph was abruptly woken up hours later.
"Wreck-it," called a familiar voice, "Wreck-it, wake up."
"Wha?" Ralph coughed and sat up a little and scanned his room, "T-Taffyta? It's the middle of the night."
"Ralph, you have to come back to Sugar Rush," Taffyta said in an annoyed manner, almost not wanting to say those words. Ralph sat up.
"Wait, what? How did you get in here?" Ralph questioned.
"Felix let me in," Taffyta said, darting her eyes to Ralph's door. Felix stood outside Ralph's door with a sheepish grin.
"She needed to speak to you, Ralph. It's about Vanellope. I figured you wouldn't mind," Felix said honestly. Ralph nodded in agreement and averted his attention to Taffyta.
"Why do I need to go back? Is something wrong?" Ralph questioned eagerly.
"Vanellope wants to see you again," Taffyta said, her face earnest and almost showing kindness this time, "She doesn't feel comfortable leaving Sugar Rush right now. She's asked me to collect you."
"Of course," Ralph said as he stood up, his head nearly hitting the ceiling, "Let's go, no time to waste."
"Go get 'em, brother," Felix chimed and pat Ralph's arm as Ralph and Taffyta made their way out of Ralph's home, and out of the newer Niceland village Felix had made years prior.
