*Chapter 52*
A few days later, Ralph quickly left his home after a decent night's reset; his routine becoming more and more apparent. Everyone in the arcade bustled with their own to do lists, people to see, things to talk about. He calmly and happily stepped into Game Central Station, his eager venture to Sugar Rush in his sights. He inhaled a deep breath of Game Central Station's cool air and closed his eyes for a split second. He beamed across the station to Sugar Rush's powerful outlet. He couldn't wait to see his sweet Vanellope.
Before Ralph could continue, Game Central Station shook to the core. Everyone stumbled and wobbled around; Ralph threw his hand down on one of the benches and felt his eyes grew wide. The whole place rumbled and roared with unbalanced life, everyone in Game Central Station became chaotic as they scrambled away from the outlets. Ralph instantly knew what was happening. He let his eyes dart around, he wondered which game was being unplugged. His eyes darted around to every single game in confusion; none of the outlets were moving. Before Ralph could comprehend everything, he quickly shot his terrified gaze to Sugar Rush just in time to see its outlet slowly slip from Game Central Station. Ralph felt his whole heart jump clear out of his throat as he instantly rocketed himself through the bumbling crowds.
He tore through people, not caring who he bumped into or caused to crash. He launched himself in front of Sugar Rush's outlet and yelled a loud holler of protest. He gazed down Sugar Rush's outlet in horror as the inside of it flickered and glitched before going black. Ralph clenched his fists and immediately bolted for the outlet; he was immediately thrown to the ground by the outlet's surge protector, it flashed hot red lines of coded material, sending painful shock waves through Ralph's body. Ralph practically roared in pain as the outlet electrocuted him. He arched his back and tried to shake off the volts that seared through his being. He steadied himself and inhaled a shaky breath as he practically had to unglue his eyes from the back of his skull. Ralph groaned in pain and rubbed his head anxiously before peering into Sugar Rush's used-to-be spot. The outside world stared him mockingly in the face. The two front doors to the arcade hung open like looming traps as two large men hoisted Sugar Rush onto a dolly. Ralph slumped his shoulders and gazed in absolute horror at what was happening. He felt tears sting his eyes as Sugar Rush was hauled out of Litwak's arcade, the front doors closing, seemingly forever.
Ralph gaped and inhaled a few confused, shaky breaths. His eyes billowed with tears as he gazed long and hard out into the dim arcade, through Sugar Rush's empty outlet hole. He shook his head in disbelief as hot tears stung his eyes harder. He caught his breath and suddenly felt as if his whole existence had been deleted. He slumped against the large, golden wall of the outlet hole, his shaking hands slid down the soft metal as he gazed out to the world in complete shock. He panted heavily at the rush of everything. He tried his hardest to get his mind to wrap around the simple tragedy that had just taken place. To everyone else, it was just a simple arcade loss. He furrowed his eyebrows at the thought of how much he had just lost with one simple unplug. Ralph shook his head in disbelief; he felt as if a massive ocean of grief had suddenly swallowed him, so deep, that not even his anger could rise out of it. Tears effortlessly slid down his cheeks as he gazed into the dark arcade, what used to be his new, sweet home. What used to be his would be Kingdom; his family. He could finally hear soft, curious mumblings from behind him as Game Central Station froze from the suddenness. He shut his eyes tight and tilted his head down. His fists clenched, but his grief stricken heart quelled any amount of anger that could potentially rise. He exhaled a fuming sigh and jolted just barely as a soft hand apprehensively met the top of his.
"Ralph," Felix said softly, he too looked horrified. Ralph opened his glassy eyes and peered down Sugar Rush's hull. Felix was panting, his little chest was heaving over and over, as he had sprint all the way from their outlet.
"They're gone," Ralph choked as he dare not peel his eyes away from the outlet. Tears spilled down his cheeks, "She's gone…"
Felix stared up at Ralph, his eyes full of sheer shock and terror. He gazed out into the dark arcade with Ralph, both brothers stood in stunned silence. Felix shook his head and removed his hat slowly. Ralph inhaled a shaky breath and furrowed his eyebrows in confused rage, his eyes producing more tears than he ever thought was possible. He shut his eyes and shook his head before coughing a choke of surprised anguish. He gazed down at Felix, his soul suddenly lost. Felix shot a concerned look up at Ralph and tried his hardest to smile.
"I-It's okay, Ralph," Felix soothed as he laid his small hand on Ralph's arm, "It'll be okay. Sh-she'll, be okay."
"They're all, gone," Ralph repeated in shock before he gave Felix a confused look, his eyes held so many unanswerable questions. Felix shook his head and blinked a long, confused blink. The two brother's gazed out to the massive world before them. They suddenly felt extremely small, extremely insignificant, and horribly lost.
Vanellope choked a small, surprise gasp and sat up straight in bed. She felt her code travel up her arm in an erratic, confused manner. She immediately bursted out of her room and out of the castle. Her hair was down and messy, and she was wearing a small tank with a pair of comfortable pants. She hurried outside of her castle barefoot and immediately bumped into Taffyta.
"Taffyta," Vanellope exclaimed. Taffyta slapped her hands over the sides of her head and looked around nervously.
"Did we just go through an unplug?" Taffyta barked in confusion as the two girls looked around curiously.
"To what part of the arcade did we get moved to THIS time?" Vanellope complained a the two girls began to run towards Sugar Rush's exit.
"I'm going to bet we got moved to the back again," Taffyta yelled to Vanellope as they ran up the slopping rainbow road, "That might be my fault. I haven't been racing very well lately."
"Don't beat yourself up about it," Vanellope heaved as the two quickly exited Sugar Rush.
The two girls quickly stepped into their outlet and curiously gazed out. Vanellope immediately slowed down as her eyes caught with many strange gamers. She nervously stepped out of her outlet and gazed around at the station they were parked in. It was a very large station, much larger than any of the stations in Litwak's Arcade. The station was gloriously enveloped in shiny, blue metal. Black and silver accents lined each outlet and station beautifully. Vanellope heaved a confused noise of protest before she quickly looked at Taffyta in a confused way.
"Donkey Kong Junior? Super Mario? Ms. Pacman?" Taffyta listed off all of the games in the station before she gave Vanellope a confused look, "These are, certainly different games…games that Litwak's Arcade doesn't have, Vin."
"Where are we," Vanellope barked, but her voice caught. She inhaled a shaky breath and looked around eagerly at each game. Her eyes caught with the familiar 'Fix-It Felix' name plate, though it lacked the 'Jr.' addition.
"I don't think we're in Litwak's Arcade anymore," Taffyta mumbled as the two girls looked around in confusion.
"Is, that Ralph's game?" Vanellope whimpered as she pointed. Just as she was about to turn around, her eyes immediately landed on her familiar wrecking companion. She felt her heart jolt as she threw her arm up, "Ralph!"
"Vin!" Taffyta barked as she grabbed her arm and yanked it down to their sides, "I don't…think that's your Ralph."
"That's Ralph, Taff," Vanellope urged, her eyes becoming glassy. She gazed long and hard at the figure across the station. He was slouched, and looked really angry. His hands dragged on the floor as he vanished into his game outlet. She wrinkled her nose before looking down at the ground in shock.
"Vanellope," Taffyta croaked as both girls looked like deer in headlights.
"Where are we," Vanellope whimpered in a nervous, fearful voice. She looked up at Taffyta in horror, her eyes billowing with tears. She immediately whirled around and got the attention of the first gamer she saw.
"Excuse me," Vanellope barked, her voice crackling, "But, wh-where are we? We're new here."
"Welcome!" Barked an updated version of one of the pac-man ghosts, "You're in Flynn's arcade. You're the lucky new addition to Disneyland's famous arcade. There's a lot to see, just don't get lost."
"D-Disneyland?" Vanellope barked as she widened her eyes, she nervously looked around the beautiful, luxurious station they were parked in. She inhaled a short, surprised breath and gazed at Taffyta nervously, "We're in Disneyland?"
"This, is HUGE," Taffyta barked before her mind finally caught up with her. She furrowed her eyebrows and quickly looked at Vanellope in a panicked way, "But, where's Litwak's Arcade?"
"Nowhere near Disneyland, I'm sure," Vanellope said meekly as tears billowed in her eyes. She gazed at Taffyta in sheer terror, the tears immediately spilled over her cheeks.
"W-we, got moved?" Taffyta breathed as she furrowed her eyebrows. She slumped her shoulders with sadness.
"I should be excited that our game is big enough to be placed in an amusement park with such a high stature, but…" Vanellope trailed off and covered her face with her hands. She silently sobbed into her hands, her shoulders trembling, "I-Is it worth losing my family over?"
Taffyta frowned and slowly pulled Vanellope into her arms, her eyes turning glassy with tears as well. Vanellope hugged Taffyta firmly and shoved her face into her shoulder. Taffyta inhaled a shaky breath and gave the luxurious station around the two a dull, annoyed look as she held the back of Vanellope's head.
"It's okay… I'm here, I-I'm here," Taffyta said shakily as she clung to her sister. Her heart slowly sunk with the realization that she may never see Ralph, Tammy, Calhoun, or Felix ever again. She shut her eyes tight, letting the anticipating tears spill down her cheeks. She inhaled a shaky breath and shoved her face to Vanellope's shoulder as well.
"W-We won't ever see them again," Vanellope whispered shakily as she silently sobbed into Taffyta's shoulder and neck. Taffyta shut her eyes tight and squeezed Vanellope to her; she shook her head in agreement and locked her arms around her sister.
They remained in a silent lock, as if the only thing they had was each other in this vast world of new confusion. Taffya slowly removed herself from Vanellope and gripped her shoulders. She gave Vanellope a confused, but hopeful look as she glanced at Fix-It Felix across the station. She bit her lip with uncertainty before giving her attention back to Vanellope.
"What do you say we head over to that game and see if we can get any information on how to possibly get back to Litwak's?" Taffyta urged. Vanellope exhaled an annoyed sigh before nodding in a sullen way.
Taffyta grabbed Vanellope's hand and quickly began to lead her into uncharted territory. The two slowly and nervously moseyed into Fix-It Felix, it looked very different from what they were used to. It looked a little bit older, more antique. It looked like it had been restored and fixed up nicely. Vanellope blinked a few tears down her cheeks as the shock continued to shake her to her core. As the two arrived in the train station, they came upon a very familiar sight of the tall, looming Niceland building. Everything looked similar, just older. They nervously head for the Niceland building; all the Nicelanders were gathered outside.
"Excuse me?" Taffyta urged as Vanellope nervously stood behind her, "Is Felix anywhere?"
"He's inside hanging his medal," said the familiar Gene; he looked a bit more pixelly than normal, "He'll be out soon. Who are you guys?"
"I-I'm Taffyta, and this is my sister Vanellope. We're from Sugar Rush. We just got plugged in and, we need to talk to Felix."
"Felix doesn't just talk to anyone," Gene snorted as Felix slowly emerged from the building. He was taller and older looking. He had a scruffily, light brown mustache. It was clear that this guy was Felix Sr.
"It's okay, Gene," Felix Sr. chuffed as he gazed out at Taffyta and Vanellope, "Can we help you two ladies?"
"W-we're in a bit of a bind," Taffyta urged softly. Felix Sr. stepped closer to them as the Nicelanders slowly moseyed into the Niceland building.
"You guys look like you've just seen a ghost," Felix Sr. chuckled as he put his hands on his hips, his golden hammer flickered and glistened on his belt loop.
"We just got unplugged from our home," Taffyta said gently, "Where we come from, the Fix-It Felix Jr. crew was practically our family."
"Jr.?" Felix Sr. said with surprise as he looked around curiously.
"I'm assuming the Felix we know is your son," Taffyta said with a small chuckle.
"I have a son?" Felix Sr. chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head, "That's awkward, wh-why wasn't I told?"
"We're feeling a little lost…Felix and Ralph were our family. Do you know of any way we can get back to Litwak's Arcade?" Taffyta said pleadingly as Vanellope finally peered around Taffyta's shoulder.
"You guys were friends with Ralph?" Felix Sr. barked in surprise as he lulled his head to the side and chuckled, "We're lucky if we even get a word out of our Ralph."
"Ralph was my boyfriend, back home," Vanellope urged as she curiously peered over her shoulder. Her eyes caught with the large mountain of bricks, Ralph's old lifestyle back home. She could see a figure looming on top of the bricks, sat uncomfortably. She inhaled a nervous breath and gave Felix Sr. her attention again, "We want to go back home. Do you know where Litwak's Arcade is? Is there any way we can get home?"
"I hate to say, but I've never heard of that arcade," Felix Sr. said sadly, "There is a way you can get out of here, though."
"How?" Taffyta urged.
"You have to play horribly," Felix Sr. chuckled before he put up his finger, "But that could land you with an unplugged game cabinet. For good."
"For good?" Vanellope frowned as her and Taffyta exchanged a nervous look.
"It's a risky business," Felix Sr. sighed, "I'm sorry I can't help you ladies out any farther. If you wouldn't mind telling me, how did you get your Ralph, back at Litwak's, to actually become friends with you guys?"
"Accept him," Vanellope said softly as her eyes billowed with tears. She looked down and breathed in an unsteady breath.
"I'm so sorry for your loss," Felix Sr. said after a few long moments.
"Somehow, we'll manage," Taffyta said gently as she rubbed Vanellope's shoulder.
