*Chapter 22*
"Do you know where Taffyta went?" Vanellope asked Candlehead, the two of them linked arms with their dates, Swizzle and Gloyd.
"I don't know, but I saw her leave a few minutes ago with Calhoun," Candlehead stated as they entered Game Central Station.
The whole floor was lively with music and gamers. More people showed than Vanellope thought. The whole hall was lit with hanging lights, soft lanterns dotted the ceiling of Game Central Station. They hung down into the station, making it look like a starry night. Vanellope looked down at her teal, strapless dress, which went to her knees. It had beautiful tiers and ruffles all down it, light teal lace decorated the bottom of it. She then glanced up at Swizzle, his eyes were fixed out to the crowd, his smile was elegant and pompous. Vanellope heaved a short sigh and rolled her eyes, hoping that this would somehow phase Ralph. She was even considering letting Swizzle dance with her, if it meant getting Ralph's full attention. She hoped Ibuki didn't look too stunning tonight.
"Swizzle!" A few girls called. They were the rest of Sugar Rush's girl racers. They fawned over Swizzles outfit and complimented Vanellope, telling her how lucky she was. Vanellope waved them off, feeling bad for not being as excited as the girls hope she would be.
"Vin, you okay?" Candlehead asked gently as Gloyd began to take her deeper into the party.
"I'm fine," Vanellope smiled at her, "Go have fun!" Candlehead smiled and waved as her and Gloyd vanished amongst the crowd.
"I'm happy you asked me, tonight," Vanellope smiled at Swizzle half heartily.
"I would be too, if I were you," Swizzle said with sincerity as he wrapped an arm around Vanellope's waist. Vanellope wrinkled her nose and looked past Swizzle with a confused face before rolling her eyes. He looked amongst the crowd, not even batting an eyelash at Vanellope's disgusted facial expression.
"What a pig," Vanellope muttered as she caught eyes with Ralph's game outlet. Her heart skipped a beat as she began scouring the crowd. She couldn't spot her orange polo wearing wrecker. She hoped she'd run into him sooner or later.
"Okay, you know the drill," Taffyta explained as Calhoun slipped away to catch up with Felix, "Lots of hand holding, yada yada, act like you really like each other."
"I don't want to scare Vanellope away," Ralph frowned.
"You won't," Taffyta laughed, "Remember what I said? She won't stop until she gets what she wants. And believe me. She wants."
"Good to know," Ralph chuckled as his face turned red.
"Okay, good luck!" Taffyta smiled as she gave a thumbs up and disappeared into the crowd.
"All this trickery seems wrong to me," Ralph heaved a long sigh before he noticed a lot of the girls in the station eyeing him and whispering to their friends.
"Remember what I told you?" Ibuki laughed, "All is fair in love and war."
"I'm assuming this is the war part," Ralph sighed as the two began to stroll through the crowd. Ibuki and Ralph linked arms, making sure to put on their best act.
"Most definitely," Ibuki smiled. She pat his arm and gazed out at everyone, "Don't worry. You're sure to have Vanellope in your arms tonight."
"You really think so?" Ralph asked hopefully.
"I'm certain," Ibuki said cheerfully as everyone around them mingled and celebrated with snacks and drinks, "This is bound to be a good night for you."
"Well," Ralph gently took two glasses of champagne off of a platter a waiter was holding. He handed one glass to Ibuki, "Cheers to that."
"Cheers," Ibuki laughed and shook her head as they touched glasses, "I just hope I'm not mincemeat by the end of the night."
"I would love to tell you that you won't be," Ralph laughed before shrugging, "But I'm not so sure. Vanellope is a wild one. I'm not certain you will survive tonight."
"You really care about her, don't you," Ibuki smiled up at him hopefully.
"I love her," Ralph said quietly but honestly, "She's my best friend."
"That's so sweet," Ibuki smiled, "We're going to have to make this really believable. I hope we can pull this off."
"I think we already are," Ralph said nervously as a few other gamer characters around them began to silently fawn over the two walking by. They whispered amongst themselves.
"There's Vanellope and Swizzle," Ibuki stated calmly.
"Where?" Ralph asked, his heart nearly dropping.
"Near Hero's Duty's outlet," Ibuki said.
He scanned his surroundings, trying not to seem to obvious. He quickly caught sight of his flower. She was standing away from the crowd with Swizzle. His arm was draped around her shoulder, and her facial expression was that of misery. Her teal dress was beautiful, it suited her perfectly. Ralph let a wide smile crawl across his face before he quickly snapped out of it and shook his head, pretending to not be ogling after her.
"She looks miserable," Ralph frowned as they moseyed around the party, lots of characters stood around chatting, some dancing. There was lots of hand holding, and lots of pretty girls, but Ralph had his sights set on the prettiest girl in the arcade, "I want to go over and hug her."
"Didn't she wrong you?" Ibuki asked gently as the two kept strolling.
"I guess you could say that," Ralph heaved a soft sigh.
"Let her come to you," Ibuki smiled, "I'm sure she feels bad about how she acted towards you."
"It was just a big misunderstanding," Ralph said, "But…I guess all is fair in love and war."
"Now you're getting it," Ibuki laughed.
"Should we go sit down somewhere?" Vanellope asked her date gently as she caught eyes with Taffyta, who was sat at a table with Candlehead, Gloyd and Minty Zaki.
"Sure thing," Swizzle smiled.
Vanellope quickly began to lead Swizzle towards the table their friends were at. She absent mindly scanned her surroundings before catching eyes with Ralph. She immediately double took and stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart nearly leaped out of her throat at the sight of him. He was absolutely dashing. She could hardly even recognize him. Vanellope felt her heart race faster as Ralph gently waved at her, his other arm gently wrapped around Ibuki's waist. Ibuki looked just as stunning as Ralph. Vanellope gently waved back at Ralph, she couldn't help but smile. Before she could take in the sight of him any longer, Swizzle gently tugged on her waist and pulled her into him.
"You coming?" Swizzle smiled as he led her to the table.
"Yeah, sorry," Vanellope smiled as she quickly looked over her shoulder to look at Ralph one last time. She sat down at the table with her friends, Taffyta had a knowing look on her face.
"Ralph looks awesome tonight," Taffyta whispered to her as she nudged her arm.
"Are you kidding me, he's smoking hot," Vanellope whispered in a breath as she gently fanned herself with her invitation. She stole another glance at Ralph. She was thankful he wasn't looking at her anymore, she ogled him for longer than she thought was appropriate, "My User, Taffyta."
"Are you going to be okay?" Taffyta laughed.
"I don't think so," Vanellope said desperately as she gave Taffyta a sad look, "Taffyta how the heck do I get him back?"
"I'm not sure," Taffyta frowned as she gazed at Ralph and Ibuki, "He seems pretty happy with Ibuki. Maybe you should just confess your feelings for him."
"That's bull roar, Taffyta," Vanellope sighed as she gazed across the way at Ralph, "Is that, stubble on his face?"
"I think so," Taffyta chuckled, "Looks pretty good on him, doesn't it?"
"Taffyta," Vanellope laughed as she fanned herself harder, "Does it look like I would disagree with that statement, even for a second?"
"Not totally," Taffyta sneered as she pat Vanellope's shoulder.
"Guh, look at her," Vanellope growled, "Getting all comfortable with my man."
"Your man?" Taffyta asked gently. Vanellope whirled around.
"You know just as well as I do that our kiss meant the world to me," Vanellope complained, "Why did I have to go and screw this all up?"
"Maybe you should just go tell him how you feel," Taffyta suggested gently.
"No, because you know what that would look like to him?" Vanellope asked as she put her hands up for air quotes, "'Oh hi Ralph! You look smoking hot, by the way, that kiss we shared that one day meant the world to me and I'd like to be your girlfriend, by the way did I mention you look smoking hot?'"
"So you think that he'll just think you're confessing your love to him just because he got a physical upgrade?" Taffyta laughed.
"You know he'd think I was just being shallow," Vanellope complained with an upset sigh.
"I still think you shouldn't give up on him," Taffyta smiled.
"You kidding, that chick will have a game over before I give up on Ralph," Vanellope said plainly as she sat forward and faced the rest of her friends, who were busy chatting.
"That's the spirit," Taffyta chuckled. She then subtly gave Ralph a thumbs up while Vanellope wasn't looking. Ralph tilted his head up as if to say he got the message.
