Ralph hummed a little melody as he worked over the stove to make some pan popcorn for himself and Vanellope. As the corn popped, he reached over to a cupboard and opened it, reaching in to pull out a stick of butter. He left the corn to cut off a bit of the hardened dairy block, left it on a plate, and stuck it in his microwave.
Vanellope herself, meanwhile, was making a jug of fruit juice. She used an egg beater to stir up the juice with the water, looking somewhat happy, somewhat melancholy. This night had a lot happen in such a short span, so curling in front of the wrecker's TV and watching a movie was a good idea.
Ralph watched Vanellope carefully as she finished making the juice and carried the jug into the living room, smiling as she somewhat struggled to carry the heavy juice. Luckily, the popcorn was finished just at that moment, so the wrecker turned off the stove, took the butter out of the microwave, and mixed the two things together.
With the buttered popcorn, Ralph headed into the living room to get all cosy. Vanellope was already tangled in the blanket from Ralph's bed, looking very comfortable.
"C'mon, Stinkbrain!" The racer sassed. "We don't have all night!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming." The large man sat down on the couch's other end, setting the bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table and picked up the remote for the TV. "What movie were you thinking of?"
The racer looked contemplative for but a moment. "I say… Detective Pikachu? Caleb keeps screaming at me to watch it, so I wanna see what all the hubbub is about."
Ralph chuckled and grabbed a second remote, one that operated a special type of cable box that had access to Caleb's full collection of movies. He turned it on, waited for it to fully boot up, and used the search function to find the movie. It didn't take long, and pretty quickly he picked the movie and let it play.
As the studio logos started up, Vanellope shifted so she was leaning against Ralph.
"Ralph…", Vanellope asked in a surprisingly small voice. "Do you think everything will be okay?"
The wrecker hummed. "I hope so, kid. But so far it feels like something is building up. But, I'd like to think it's just us being paranoid."
"You really think so?"
Ralph looked down at her, and his heart broke at the uncertainty and worry in her eyes. He gently pat her head, giving her a reassuring smile. "You were able to survive in Sugar Rush after Turbo took over for 15 years before I showed up, and I was able to live 30 years when everyone saw me as just the 'big dumb guy that wreck the building'. No matter what happens, we can handle it. Plus…" He pulled out his phone. "If anything bad happens, we know who to call."
Vanellope gave her friend a long look, then smiled brightly. "You're right. You're right!" She jumped up on her feet, throwing the blanket off her. "We've been through so much! We've battled aliens and giant bears, we've escaped trolls and yakuza thugs, and we've seen places beyond our wildest dreams! So no matter what, we'll be okay!"
She sat back down and rewrapped herself. "Thanks Ralph. I really needed that."
"Yeah, don't ya' worry kid. We're in this together." The wrecker ruffled the racer's hair, and they both fell into a comfortable silence as the movie started with the sweeping shot of the main character's home town.
Already, Vanellope was left impressed with how the Pokémon looked. A good blend of realism and cartooniness. Ralph was just impressed this movie existed at all.
As the movie played on, Vanellope felt herself dozing off slightly, and was out like a light just after the halfway mark. Ralph smiled down at her and glanced at the wall clock he had, reading a firm 4AM on it. Time was flying by, and in four hours the arcade would be opened. With a sigh, the wrecker shut off the movie and stood up, stretching to get the knots out of his body. He walked towards the hallway, passing the doors to his bathroom and extra closet before entering his bedroom.
He made his way inside, and looked around at the semi-messy space. It was just big enough for him to be comfortable, but still paled in comparison to his room back at the Capital's castle. Even still, he loved it, but right now the room felt… oddly empty. The wrecker shook his head and entered his own personal bathroom connected directly to his room, and made his way over to the mirror above the sink.
He looked himself over in the reflection, and sighed as he turned the sink's tap water on. It flowed down into the open drain, and he splashed some of the cold liquid in his face, which helped him wake up and get plenty more refreshed. Shaking his head, he looked back at his reflection and saw it brighter than before.
Deciding to get ready for the day, he pulled out his toothbrush and toothpaste and started brushing his teeth. As he brushed the white rocks in his mouth, he looked out the small window the bathroom had.
"Everything will be okay", he told himself. "Me and Vanellope are just being paranoid. Maybe it is just thanksgiving weekend impatience like Tapper said. We're just anxious to be free, so when the weekend starts everything will be back on track."
The wrecker paused to spit into the sink, then continued brushing. "Maybe before work I could talk to Felix, just see how he's feeling." He paused. "Yeah, I'm going to talk to Felix."
The wrecker made quick work with the rest of his brushing, making sure to rinse his mouth and use mouthwash. With his teeth all cleaned, he slapped on some deodorant and washed his face for a second time, and left feeling fresh and ready.
As he headed back into the hallway, he caught sight of Vanellope sleepily walking into the guest bathroom. He smiled and let her do her business, heading to the living room to clean up the mess that was left. He picked up the half finished jug of juice, the empty bowl of popcorn filled with loose garbage and headed into the kitchen. He put the bowl on the counter before putting the jug in the fridge.
He then dumped the contents off the bowl into the garbage can under the sink, and then placed the now empty bowl in the sink. As he did some more cleaning, Vanellope walked in looking freshened up.
"Hey there Ham-Hands!" She greeted Ralph cheerily. "Ready to get our last day of work over with?"
"You know it, Kid!" The wrecker said merrily. "Just need to get this place cleaned up, and we can head to Game Central to relax."
The racer nodded and glitched onto one of the bar stools, watching as Ralph tidied up the kitchen. "I'm hoping it's quieter today. I'd like to not feel like I'm going to explode after work."
"I'm with ya', kid. If We have a day just as busy as yesterday, My hands might fall off." To accentuate his point, he lifted his hands with an overdramatic frown on his face.
The racer let out a bout of giggles, nearly falling off the stool. "If that happens, do I have to call ya' Nubs instead of Ham-Hands?"
Ralph gave her a wide eyed gaze, before bursting out into an explosive laugh. "Maybe you'd need to, yeah!"
Both best friends continued to laugh for the next few minutes, but as they calmed back down Vanellope looked back at her friend. "Hey, Ralph… I gotta ask, but… Why did you get a house like this?"
The wrecker paused his cleaning, thinking about the question thoroughly. "It just felt right. I didn't want a massive mansion because we have that back at the Capital, and I wanted a small place to help me clear my head. Plus, I'm used to living in a stump. This is just perfect for me."
The racer gave her friend an innocent look. "That's… Kinda cool, Stinkbrain. I'm so used to having all my space for myself, but there is something nice to having a cosy little cabin like this."
Ralph nodded with a smile as he finished washing the bowl and placing it on the drying rack. "Yeah, Just my own little space. All that I need or want." There was a lull in the conversation as both friends fell silent, and Ralph gave the racer a long look. She looked back, seemingly thinking of something complicated.
"Something on your mind, Kid?" The wrecker asked carefully.
Vanellope hummed thoughtfully. "Just thinking, nothing else."
"You sure?"
The racer nodded. "Yeah, it's okay. Just kinda… distracted, that's all."
The wrecker shrugged and stretched, getting rid of the last knots in his system as he glanced at the clock. It was 5AM at this point, so he mentally knew it was time to get going.
"C'mon, Kid. We should get you to your game, we could have a busy day ahead of us." Ralph walked over to the doorless doorway, looking at the racer to follow.
"I'm coming, I'm coming…" Vanellope jumped down and ran after her friend, the two of them leaving Ralph's small house. It was around the backside of the massive brick pile, away from any chance of players seeing it. While it might make you think this means Ralph like living as a hermit, it was actually not that far from the new neighbourhood he and Felix built all those six years back.
It was basically at the end of the road, which gave Ralph a nice view from his front lawn. It made him feel included, which was a nice change of pace from his thirty year practical exile.
The duo left past the front fence gate, making their way to the train station. The game was just starting to wake up, with Nicelanders running about trying to get everything cleaned up before the arcade opened. Felix was with them, and waved at the duo as he worked to fix up the main Niceland apartment.
The wrecker waved back as the racer zipped ahead to the train, bouncing on her feet and whining impatiently loudly for her nine foot friend to hurry up. Ralph chuckled as he scaled the steps and onto the platform, swiftly boarding the still fairly rustic tram with his friend.
The tram shifted as it headed through the tunnel, travelling slowly as electricity sparked between the copper wiring. Ralph leaned back, taking up one whole seat as the racer bobbed her head to an invisible beat across from him. He watched her carefully, and smiled.
"Got a song playing in your head, Kid?"
Vanellope opened her eyes, smiling up at her friend. "You know it, Ralph. Just getting myself pumped up."
The wrecker hummed. "What song is it this time?"
"Just some song Star made me listen to", she said with a smile and eye roll. "It always finds a way to worm back into my head, but it's a good song so I ain't complaining."
Things fell into a comfortable silence as Vanellope returned her attention to the song in her head, making Ralph quietly laugh to himself and shake his head. Music was always a through line between the two of them and the others, mainly thanks to Maria and Manolo's love for it and their bi-weekly karaoke nights. And he loved it, as the excess of music made him lighten up a lot more.
Maybe that was the magic he was dearly missing when he was living in the brick pile.
The duo was knocked out of their musings when the tram came to a halt at the other end of the line, and they both hopped off and walked into Game Central's main area. Characters from all over were making their ways back into the games for the morning, which made the duo share a look.
"Looks like we gotta do our duty", Vanellope said, punctuating the duty with a silly.
The wrecker chuckled. "You got that right, sister. Good luck for today, and trust me when I say I have a lot planned for this weekend."
"You better mean it, Ralph. Otherwise I'll lock you in the dungeon all weekend." The racer shot her friend a very pointed but joking look.
"Trust me, you royal crumb-muncher, you won't be disappointed." Ralph held his fist up, and the duo shared a fist bump. Vanellope waved goodbye and ran to her game's entrance.
As she glitched off, disappearing into the crowd, Ralph let out a happy breath and put his hands on his hips, watching as everyone went back to work. It was nice to see, but he was feeling somewhat sad that the night was over. But regardless, made his way back towards his game's entrance to start his day of work.
~X~
The arcade ended up having a fairly average amount of gamers in the early morning, which was a relief to everyone after yesterday's massive rush. Vanellope was watching her friends race in her raised box, a beaming smile plastered on her face as she watched the chosen racers speed off.
Usually, whenever she wasn't a winner of the random roster race, she just relegated herself to being an audience so it was more fair for the players. She glanced up at the Jumbotron, which showed a smaller screen with the player in the arcade. They looked to be having a lot of fun, even if things were tense.
But the candy president was able to catch sight of that weird kid some of the racers said they spotted last night, and seeing him now made her feel… uneasy. He was staring at the game intently, almost like he was staring right at her.
Swallowing down her nervousness, she turned her attention to Sour Bill, who had brought the two of them drinks.
"Here you go, Vanellope", the living sour candy droned out in his monotone voice.
"Thanks Bill." The president took her drink as Sour Bill sat in his own high chair and joined in with the watching. "Do you think the player will win this time around?"
"Hmmmmmm… Maybe. This one kid has been pretty good, so I'd say he has a fair shot."
Vanellope smiled, happy that her encouraging Sour Bill to be more positive was working out. He was just more sarcastic now, which everyone preferred.
As the racers all crossed the finish line, the player winding up in third, things were calm for a moment. That was until the mysterious kid walked over as the seat was freed up, which made Vanellope feel very on edge. The other racers all watched the Jumbotron carefully as the kid selected Jubileena, and everyone got into position. Jubi looked extremely nervous, and even from her high spot Vanellope could see that she was gripping her wheel far too tightly.
The president looked back up at the Jumbotron, and wished that things would end up okay.
Meanwhile, Ralph was at the top of the Niceland apartment for his game's gameplay demo, watching Sugar Rush carefully as best he could. He could make out the top half of the mysterious kid, which made him feel very uncomfortable. Mainly because he could see the look of apprehension in Jubileena's eyes as he picked her.
The nervousness made it clear to him this was the same kid from yesterday, which made him become so distracted he barely registered when a player came up until they blocked his view of Sugar Rush. Snapping back to reality, he focused on his job as the player inserted their quarter.
This kid was good, so much so he had the third highest score on the game. Which meant Ralph knew he was in for a long one. So he did his best to try to focus on his job, occasionally squeezing glimpses at Sugar Rush whenever he could. It was hard, but he was trying his best.
At some point, the kid jerked the steering while fiercely to the left, and Ralph's heart skipped a beat.
Vanellope and the rest of the audience at the starting line gasped as the kid very roughly jerked the wheel, clearly wanting to take a shortcut that wasn't actually possible. The president stood out of her chair to get as close as she could, watching in terror as Jubileena tried to wrestle control to course correct. But the player was undeterred, to the point he was drawing a crowd behind him.
And that's when the kid did somewhat do it, forcing poor Jubi off the track and into the icing field. Jubi did her best to try and get back on track, but fighting against the player only made things worse.
And the worst was the console's wheel being ripped right off, making Jubi spiral and crash.
Vanellope watched with horrified eyes as the audience all gasped at what happened, the crowd behind the kid all gawked at what had happened. One of them ran off to get Litwack while the others made sure the offender didn't run away.
All the racers blasted to the finish line and scrambled out, all looking at the jumbotron in panic. As Vanellope looked over Jubi to make sure she was okay, she made sure to keep her attention also on the outside.
The commotion happening at Sugar Rush distracted everyone away from Fix-It Felix Jr., which allowed everyone in the game (who were all at the top of the building as the level ended), to get a full look at what was happening.
"Sweet mother Hubbard no…" Ralph whispered in dread and panic.
"Ralph, I'm sure it's fine", Felix said reassuringly. "I'm sure it's a quick fix!"
"I'm sorry, kids", Litwack said sadly, which made Felix's face become more strained. "But after the other console's screen died, I've been looking to load off Sugar Rush. It's just been… a lot to manage…"
Ralph's eyes bugged out and he looked at the only working screen of Sugar Rush, seeing everyone including Vanellope go into a frenzy, looking horrified at the revelation.
"So… That means you're getting rid of Sugar Rush?" One kid asked.
Litwack glanced at the kid, then at… The power bar. Game Central. Ralph felt time slow to a crawl.
"Yeah…"
Before the owner could even move, Ralph and Felix sprinted down the complex's fire escape and scrambled to the exit. They boarded the tram, and Felix whacked it with his hammer to give it a much needed speed boost.
Vanellope was gesturing everyone up to the exit, knowing they were on very short borrowed time. Luckily, everyone was able to get out, so she glitched after them as they all loaded up onto the train. When she boarded, Wynnchel and Duncan ran to the front and kicked the train into overdrive. It shot down the cord at rapid speeds, with everyone getting jostled and knocked off their feet.
Ralph and Felix ran into Game Central, catching sight of Surge. He looked over at them, giving them a flabbergasted look.
"What are you two doing here, the arcade's open!" The security officer cried.
"Sugar Rush is getting unplugged!" Ralph barked. "Some kid ripped off the steering wheel!"
Surge's blue skin visibly paled, and he looked back at the entrance of Sugar Rush. On cue, everyone from the game came flooding out in a panic, the massive crowd almost suffocating.
"Vanellope!" Ralph cried, rushing forward. Felix and Surge followed after him, checking up on everyone they passed. As the wrecker frantically looked around, the candy president glitched over and into his arms, her eyes wide with horror.
"Ralph, oh I'm so glad you're here!" She sounded stressed and close to tears.
"Did everyone get out?"
Vanellope nodded miserably, only to snap her head around back at the entrance to Sugar Rush as two deep beeps sounded off. Everyone watched as the plug was pulled out, and a barrier was set up on the now closed entrance.
There was a beat of silence as everyone stared at the now closed way, before Wynnchel wailed out a miserable "We're homeless!" As he and Duncan hugged and cried.
This set everyone off, as candy citizens ran about in a frantic panic, the racers looked dumbfounded, miserable, or a combo of the two, and the CLAW officers there were desperately trying to reign everyone in. Sour Bill waddled up next to Surge, who looked terribly lost.
"EVERYONE!" The security officer roared. Everyone fell silent and looked at him. "Look, we haven't had an unplugging this bad since Space Invaders, but if I know one thing, we'll figure something out. Till the arcade closes for the weekend. Ralph, Felix, you two need to go back to your game."
The wrecker looked down at the racer in his arms, who gave him a reassuring look. "I'll be fine Ralph. Just… Need to be the leader, that's all."
"Okay… if anything goes wrong, call me, okay?"
Vanellope nodded, and Ralph set her down. He and Felix left with melancholy expressions, glancing back at Vanellope before they disappeared into the entrance to their game.
Surge sighed as everyone started talking about the severity of the situation, before walking up to Vanellope. She had returned to Jubileena's side, who looked especially shaken as the other racers encircled them.
"Okay, Vanellope", Surge began, earning the president's attention. "I want you to tell me what happened."
"O-Okay", she responded with a shaky breath. Surge pulled out a notepad and started to scribble down everything Vanellope told him, with some of the other racers chiming in with their own little bouts of evidence.
When all was said and done, Surge nodded and walked off to where Wynnchel and Duncan had grouped up with the CLAW officers and devil dogs. When he walked off, Taffyta looked at Vanellope.
"Van, what do we do now?" She asked. "We're gameless, lost our karts, everything."
"Y-Yeah!" Rancis said, having taken off his hat and fiddling with it. "You have to have some sort of plan! You always do!"
As the racers and Sour Bill all looked at her, she crumpled. "I… I don't know what I can do…" She looked down, tears pooling in her eyes. "I can't think of any way to fix this…" She curled up into herself. "I'm a horrible president."
Snowanna and Gloyd ran up to her, hugging her on both sides in a weak attempt to keep her from breaking down completely. Candlehead sobbed and played with her pigtails, Francis looked close to fainting, and Taffyta was trying and failing to keep her two friends grounded.
It was utter pandemonium, just without the volume. Vanellope looked around at all her people, her heart feeling emptier at the situation she was trapped in. This was… A nightmare comes to reality.
Maybe she had every right to be paranoid.
~X~
A bit of a shorter chapter mainly to be a set up for the next one, but this was still a really fun one to write. I really want to exemplify Ralph and Vanellope's relationship, especially with how it differs from Breaks The Internet. That was one issue of many I had with the original sequel's execution.
But yeah, Sugar Rush was unplugged, this time by someone who wanted to break the game. Even if the consequences were unintentional. Also, yeah, not a lot of focus on the real world this time around. This is Ralph and Vanellope's story, so the real world is there to help add to them, not take away.
Hopefully y'all liked this chapter! I'm slowly getting into the groove of more consistent updates like TIYCC, so I'll try to keep up to date.
Up next: The first night of Thanksgiving weekend is filled with misery and sadness as the arcade grapples with the massive loss, Ralph thinks of a solution, and Vanellope gets sucked into a pit of despair…
~Caleb~