Ralph and Calhoun exited eBay back into the noisy and bustling streets. Users walked around in straight lines, their eventual turns sharp and unnatural. Even the Nicelanders' movements were smoother and more natural.

Calhoun let out a heavy breath through her nose, placing her hands on her hips as she scanned the surroundings for the others. They luckily were nearby on a bench, looking still dower and hopeless. So the sergeant walked towards them, and Ralph was going to follow her, only to notice Vanellope wasn't with them. Feeling a bit worried, he looked around, and was instantly relieved when he spotted his friend a distance away leaning against the glass railing.

He made his way over carefully, but his worry slowly came back as he noticed the distressed glitching the racer was doing everything so often, and his heart ached. When he was next to her, the wrecker knelt down while not saying a word and rather looked out over the city before them. Vanellope continued to glitch, which always had a sniffle and a few tears accompanying it. After a bit of the two saying nothing, Ralph looked at the candy president.

"What's going on through your head, kid?" The wrecker's gaze was warm, but Vanellope pointedly turned her head away from it.

"Nothing that concerns you, Ralph", she said miserably. "I don't even know why you'd ask, this is about my game."

The wrecker's face gained a concerned frown. "You know why I'm asking, kid. Don't start spinning this as something only you need to fix."

The racer was silent for a moment. "I hate you, and hate that… that you're right…" She sniffled and glitched again, and fell silent for a moment. "I regret not telling the others…"

Ralph carefully placed a large hand on top of Vanellope's head, and pet her hair reassuringly. "What happened, happened, kid. And now we need to come up with a plan to fix this. Because we came this far, we can't give up now."

"But how can we, Ralph?" The racer's glitching became more frantic as she became more distressed. "We're video game characters. From an arcade! How can we scrounge up 30 thousand dollars in just two days?!" Her glitching was becoming more extreme, which caught the attention of the others. "We're in the internet and we don't have any way to get through this! Tell me, Ralph, what can we do?"

Ralph looked at her in shock as she devolved into a mess of pixels. "Kid-"

"WHAT CAN WE DO?!" Vanellope's glitching calmed down just enough so she could press into Ralph and unleash all her tears. "Why did this have to happen to us…"

Ralph picked her up with a sombre look, and hugged her close as the others approached with their faces etched in worry. Felix looked over Vanellope, shared a look with Calhoun, at the wrecker. "We need to figure something out. We're in the biggest place in the world, there has to be some way we can get 30 thousand dollars."

"I hate to break it to you, Fix-It", Calhoun said sadly. "But all I can expect to find is places that will either scam us or make Litwack a convicted felon. For once… I'm at a lost."

"But we can't give up!" Candlehead cried out. "There has to be something we can do!"

"Maybe the others will know", Rancis said as he looked at Taffyta. "Why not tell them to pester Sonic about what he knows? That way we can learn something that can help us."

"Not a bad idea, Fluggerbutter." The sassy semi-diva pulled out the walkie-talkie, and turned it on. "Hey, guys, we need some help."

"Oh, hey Taff", Gloyd's voice called out on the other end. "I was wondering if you'd call soon. How are things?"

"Kinda why we need help. Basically the steering wheel was part of this auction thing, and now we need 30 thousand dollars to buy it." There was silence on the other end, so Taffyta brought the device closer to her ear. "Guys?"

"WHHHHHAAAAAAAT?!?!" All the other racers shouted at once, making the speaker crackle. Everyone flinched as Taffyta yelped as ringing bounced around in her head, accidentally tossing the device in the air. Luckily, Rancis caught it as Muttonfudge nursed her sore ear.

"Yeah", Rancis said into the speaker. "So we need you guys to find Sonic or anyone else that knows a lot about the internet, get more info out of them, and tell us if there's any way to make that much money before the weekend is wrapped up."

"O-Oh…" Minty could be heard saying. "Yeah, sure Rancis. We're… We're on it."

There was a quick little buzz sound as the other end disconnected, and Rancis made a move to give the walkie-talkie back to Taffyta. But when he saw her still rubbing her sore ear, he pocketed the device.

"That'll help a bit, but it's not enough", Calhoun said sternly. "We don't know how long that could take, so we need a solution now."

Ralph looked off to the side in deep thought, when an idea flashed in his head. He remembered that surge being before they entered eBay, and more particularly what he had to say. That made an idea run through his head, and his eyes flashed with hope.

Felix caught it, and perked up. "You look like you have an idea, Ralph." That made everyone look at him with intrigue.

The wrecker glanced down at Vanellope, who was now looking up at him with a miserable but hopeful look, and Ralph's mouth twisted into a slowly growing smile. "I know you might not like it, Sarge, but before we went in, I was stopped by this guy who said something about making money by playing games or something."

Calhoun looked uncomfortable. "I don't know, Wreck-It. Those people didn't seem all that trustworthy, and I'd rather not have us get dragged into some sort of crime ring."

"But what other option do we have?" The wrecker set the president down and gave the sergeant a defiant look. "We're in the internet with no way to earn any real cash. Plus, even if that guy does lead us into something bad, we've got you, me and Felix to bail us out."

Tamora looked down in thought as one hand played with her pistol, which was in its holster. "I don't know…"

"He's got a point, Tammy", Felix said with a sense of hope. "Plus, 30 thousand is a massive number, so we need a way to get that much in two days."

Calhoun looked even more contemplative, but before she could speak the walkie-talkie in Rancis' pocket went off, making the racer pull it out.

"Did you guys find anything?" Rancis asked.

"Not a lot", Swizzle said back. "Sonic didn't know any specific ways to get that much money so fast, which is ironic. And everyone else we asked had nothing aside from what Sonic told us. So… yeah…"

Rancis looked up at Calhoun, whose face was shrouded in a conflicted shadow. She looked over at Ralph, and lifted her head to show a look of determination.

"Lead the way, Wreck-It."

The wrecker nodded and turned around, hoping he could spot the standout surge being that was still glued to his memory. Rancis said they found a solution into the walkie-talkie, and shut it off. Vanellope, still a bit shaken up from all the crying, decided that riding on Ralph's shoulder was best. She leaned against the side of his head, not saying a word as she stared out to the towering blue buildings as they stretched on forever.

She then closed her eyes, letting out deep breaths as she tried to steady her nerves and heartbeat. It was doing some help, but not enough. So she simply let her mind wander as the group walked back towards where they were dropped off. But slowly, a memory started forming in her head, and it made her fill with guilt and regret.

~

Vanellope had glitched on top of a playground that was within the confines of a massive indoor playplace within the capital, beaming in pride as she stood on the highest platform. She looked over everything like a queen does her kingdom.

Which, in hindsight, wasn't that far off from being just who she was literally.

As she leaned forward and grinned victoriously, Iris and McGee came up after her, looking exhausted. The candy president spun around at them, shooting them a smug grin.

"Looks like I won the race, chumbos", Vanny said with a sassy tone.

"That's because…" McGee said, pausing to take a deep breath. "You used your glitching thing! You cheated!"

Vanellope's expression twitched a bit, her smugness diminishing a bit. "Yeah, that… sorry about that. Sometimes it kinda… happens, when I get really emotional."

"You should talk to some of the adults about that", Iris said as she walked up to her friend. "Because I know from living with Ruby, Misery and Scaredy that talking about things really helps."

"Nah, it's nothing like that." Vanellope made her way closer to the slide that went all the way down. "Just… when I get really happy, really sad, really angry, all that, I just glitch without realising. It's just tied to anything going on, not one thing."

"That makes sense", McGee said with a shrug. "I'm like that when I get mad at Buttsquat or really excited to do something new at Lakebottom. You just do and don't think."

Vanellope snapped her fingers and pointed at the boy. "Exactly, yeah." She was about to go down the slide, only to pause and look around in confusion. "I thought Hilda was with ya', where'd she go?"

Iris rolled her eye and McGee chuckled. "She got distracted by the airsoft cannon area. I saw her eyes sparkle, and before I could say anything she was gone, and I wouldn't be surprised she headed into the forest themed area that was just beyond it."

"Well, that narrows it down." Vanellope got into position to head down the slide, shooting a look over her shoulder. "Let's try and find her. I'm getting hungry, and wanna see what this place has in store." She slid down the spiral after getting nods of agreement. As she jumped out at the bottom of the slide, with Iris and then McGee close behind, she was surprised to see Hilda already sitting at their table.

The young adventurer looked over and beamed, beckoning her friends over. They all swiftly joined her, sitting at their own spots. Vanny sat next to her, and gave her a curious look. "How come you're here, Hilda?"

The blue-haired girl shrugged. "I was getting bored after exploring the forest area, and decided to try and get some food. So here I am."

"Did you order yet?" McGee asked, leaning back so he could glance at the main concessions counter.

"Not yet. Just waiting for a waitress, so you guys showed up at the right time."

"Lucky us", Iris said with a smirk.

After that, the quartet spent the next while happily chatting as they waited, ordered, got their drinks, then food, and enjoyed their meal of pizza and cheesy bread.

Afterwards, as the group left the building to make their way to the limo sent to pick them up, Vanellope and Hilda found themselves trailing behind.

"And you just rode on the water guy like it was nothing?" The racer said in impressed disbelief. "Just to meet a dragon?"

"Well, considering everything, I'd say it was just another day."

The two girls fell silent, before Vanellope looked at her friend, noticing a look in her eye. "Is everything okay, Hilda?"

"I'm just… thinking. See, back home, there's this new… force… You met them when you first showed up to Trolberg."

"Oh, that Erik Ahlerg guy. He said he was part of the 'Safety Patrol', whatever that means."

"Well, I don't like how things are with them", Hilda said in a quiet tone. "They've been setting up all these… things, that keep Trolberg 'safe' from all of the wonderful life outside the walls. Bells, patrols, curfews… It's all because of Jellybean scaring the town so much…"

Vanellope winced. She knew about that story all too well, when she visited Trolberg to hang out with Hilda, Twig and her friends there. That whole incident was a big scare, and considering the legends she heard, it wasn't surprising this was the reaction.

"Hey, Hilda…" The blue-haired girl looked at the racer. "If any of this really gets to you, you know you can tell me, right?"

"Of course, Vanny." Hilda shot her a smile. "We're sisters, after all.

"We can tell each other anything."

~

Vanellope scrunched up her face to keep guilt-filled tears from spilling out. Luckily, she was able to distract herself when Ralph shifted his shoulder, silently letting her know that they had reached their destination.

"Okay, so", the wrecker began, clapping his hands together as Vanellope hopped onto the ground. "This was where I last saw that guy, so we should try lurking around here to find him."

Vanellope, and the rest of the racers who immediately came to her side, leaned to the right, and winced. "Found him", they all said as one, pointing.

The three adults looked over, and frowned at the aftermath of their target having been pushed to the ground by a surge being that looked like a celebrity's security officer.

as the user and her bodyguard walked off, the green guy sighed and used his hat to dust himself off. As he looked up, he jumped to see Ralph suddenly leaning over him, offering a hand to help.

"You okay?" The wrecker asked.

The green guy sighed again and took the hand with no hesitation, standing back up in no time. "Eh, I'm used to it. More people have been taking in ad blockers, so while it;s bad for business, it won't stop me!" A flash of realisation went through his eyes, and he looked back up at Ralph. "Ooooohhhh, I see, you actually decided to take up my services!"

The wrecker chuckled as the others all stood beside him. "Yeah, we need a lot of cash, and I remembered you, so here we are."

"Well that's amazing! Here…" The surge being pulled out a small disk thing, and when he set it down on the ground. After a second, it became a vehicle similar to the one the group used before, only it was all metal and looked very, very rickety. "Hop on board and we'll head to my place!"

"Hang on", Felix said, looking at the vehicle carefully. He pulled out his hammer, and with a few good swings on the transport, it looked good as new. The handyman spun his hammer and put it back on his utility belt. "There we go!"

The green being's jaw dropped, then he looked over the whole group. "You ain't from the internet, are you?"

"That's correct", Calhoun said firmly. "We'll explain on the way."

~X~

The whole group fit in the vehicle with ease. Calhoun was in the passenger seat at the front, Felix and the racers were in the back, and Ralph was hanging onto the back like before. As they travelled, Calhoun and Ralph chimed in with their whole predicament to the surge being, who introduced himself as J.P.Spamley.

Spamley sighed, looking at the sergeant in pity. "Boy, that sounds rough. I am really sorry to hear that. A whole game like that getting unplugged and so many people being left homeless is basically never heard of on the internet."

"Why's that?" Candlehead asked, tilting her head.

Spamley looked in the rear-view mirror. "Well, when a website goes down, everyone working there either just goes to work in another website, or becomes a pop-up like me. This place never sleeps, and there's' no still moment."

"Sounds stressful…" Felix said quietly. "Although considering how much we work, I'm kinda surprised I never felt that way…"

"That's because you guys were programmed to be in your games. Us here in the internet… we never were. We're more restless, always moving. Heck, I advertise my services everywhere I can. eBay, YouTube, Wikipedia, Deviantart, and plenty more. It's just wherever I feel like."

"Well, you must be glad we showed up then", Ralph said with a smile, leaning down so he could look into the right hand mirror.

Spamley nodded, but still looked a bit downtrottened. "Yeah. But like I said before, more people are getting ad blockers, which means us pop-ups are getting less work. I'm getting by, but I'm worried this won't last long…"

"And, what, you'll need to get a job in another website?" Taffyta asked bluntly.

"I don't want to. I left my old job to be a pop-up because I wanted to not be bogged down so much with all these corporate mandates. See… I used to work in an online store for selling games, called Steam. But all the corporate chit-chat and very… unfair and awful regulations made me leave to presume my own business. One that could be my own thing."

"Well, that's pretty cool", Rancis said with a light smile. "And, I guess if it means anything, you having this job really helped us."

Spamley smiled, then looked at Calhoun. "So, how much cash do you need to save up?"

Calhoun sighed heavily. "30 thousand dollars." The pop-up did a double take, giving the sergeant a look of complete disbelief. "It was a complete accident, but yeah…"

"I'm sorry…" Candlehead whispered. Taffyta frowned and hugged her friend, which made the pop-up give them a brief glance through the mirror.

"Oof, okay. Well, I'll see what I can do…" Spamley drove his vehicle down away from the main roads and below where all the users were, down more and more till the group spotted a small trailer on it's lonesome on an empty platform.

Spamley drove his vehicle to the back, and parked. "Well, here we are! My humble abode!"

As the group all dismounted and took in the new location, Spamley walked over to his front door with a spring in his step. "Just give me a moment to clean up, I don't usually get this many customers at once." He headed inside, and when the door closed, there were sounds of banging, muttering, and things being moved inside.

The group all looked at the trailer with an odd look, shared a look, and shrugged before splitting up to explore a bit. Felix and Calhoun decided to scan the outside of the trailer, Taffyta and the others stuck by the vehicle, and Ralph and Vanellope headed over to the railing. The two friends leaned against it, taking in the sights of the much dimmer area.

"Ralph…" Vanellope began after a moment of silence. "Do you think we can trust Spamley?"

The wrecker glanced back at the trailer, then looked forward again with a contemplative look. "I don't know, kid. I honestly don't know. He seems fine, but look at what happened with King Candy. Heck, even Turbo way back when. Even the kindest of demeanors could hide something dark."

"True… But… What about the others?"

Ralph's look became pinched, knowing exactly what she meant. "They're different. They were bad before they became our friends. So I don't see it as similar." He shook his head. "Especially since they've made it clear we're all in this together. So would I consider them like Spamley? No."

The racer buried her face in her arms, and glanced down at the dark abyss below. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Just… a part of me wants to trust him, despite everything else telling me to just stay back… Maybe I'm going crazy…"

"No, That's' normal kid, don't worry."

The two of them returned to silence, before simultaneously looking up at the city above. All the vehicles darted about in neat lines, which was somewhat mesmerising to watch from below.

"This place is so big…" Vanellope whispered. "Honestly, if anything happened at Litwack's, I wouldn't mind living here…"

"Same here, kid", the wrecker said.

They were both snapped out of the stupor when Spamley opened his trailer's door and called everyone over, looking extremely happy. The group all made their way inside, and took in the interior.

"I know it's not much", Spamley said as he walked around a desk. "But it's home. Oh, that's Gord." He pointed at something, and everyone glanced over at a short guy with big eyes and wrapped in a fluffy brown sweater.

Candlehead cooed and made her way over, hugging Gord and lifting him up, yet the odd… thing… didn't react.

"He's my best friend and assistant", Spamley continued with a smile, quietly laughing at the sight. "He helps me find my jobs."

Calhoun's attention was snapped back to the pop-up, and she narrowed her eyes. "So what do we do, exactly?"

Spamley reached under his desk and pulled out a stack of green cards, a stack the three adults shuffled through with confused looks.

"Fishwife's Amulet, Wizard's Quest, three dollars…" Ralph said as he looked over some of the cards. "Foxhole Hammer, Zombie Crusades, five dollars?"

"Now, some of those are your more commonplace, low dollar items", the pop-up explained. "But considering you guys need a lot of cash, I could see if I have some more profitable stuff…"

"Wait…", Felix said in uncertainty. "So if we get you any of this stuff… and bring it back to you, then someone will pay us?"

"That's right! Welcome to the exciting world of Loot Hunting! Folks go into games, they harvest the most coveted items, and they sell them on my website to the highest bidder!" Spamley did a dramatic pose, which made all the group share a look.

Calhoun looked particularly conflicted. "So you want us to steal this stuff for you?"

"Hey, it's how the internet works, lady", Spamley said bluntly. "You should have seen it when Fallout 76 was released. People were doing this all over the in-game shops and stuff just because they could. My site is no different than that."

"Still doesn't sound the best…" Ralph mumbled. He glanced at Felix and Calhoun, and made a decision. "Since you two are usually the ones that know what would be the right call, I'm going to take the kids out so you three can talk things out and come to some sort of conclusion."

"Good call, Ralph." Felix and Calhoun shared a look, and turned their attention to Spamley as the wrecker took the kids back outside.

Vanellope looked very conflicted, Taffyta and Rancis seemed more for the idea (both for different reasons), and Candlehead was sad she had to say goodbye to Gord.

When they were outside, the racers all looked at Ralph. "So what's the plan, Mountain Man?" Taffyta said sassily. "Where do you stand with this?"

"I'm not sure…", the wrecker admitted. "I know I take the cherries from Pac-Man every so often, but this seems a bit extreme."

"I think we should just do it, Ralph", Rancis said with an uncertain look. "I know it's not good to steal, but we don't have any other choice. And doing bad did help you and all of us in the end…"

Vanellope frowned a bit as she shot her friend a side glance. "Flugger has a point…" She looked up at Ralph. "If you didn't break every rule in the arcade, Turbo would have still been causing chaos. I would have… yeah, you guys get it…"

The wrecker winced a bit at the memory, then nodded. "I know I did that. But I was angry and careless. Plus, that was home, where I did know the ins and outs… Not here. The internet is a lot different."

"But then… what do we do?" Candlehead asked. "Do we just go home and tell the others we couldn't do it?"

Ralph was silent for a moment, before sighing. "Yeah, we need this. I hope Calhoun and Felix get it…"

Just then, the door opened, and those outside turned to face Calhoun in the open door. She looked stern, more so than usual.

"Alright, soldiers!" She barked. "I want you to know we're doing this for the sake of Sugar Rush and nothing else. Get in here so we can find some items to get."

Taffyta, Candlehead and Rancis all beamed and ran inside, while Vanellope hesitated. She looked up at Ralph silently, who looked back down at her. He gave her a reassuring nod, and she let out a shaky breath. She followed after her fellow racers, with the wrecker heading in last to figure out how they'll do things.

Maybe they finally got the big break they needed…

~X~

And here we are, Spamley has finally been fully introduced! I'll be honest, he was my favourite new character in the sequel. I felt he was really compelling, and should have been in the movie more as a sort of sleazy but still kind-hearted guide for Ralph and Vanellope for the ins and outs of the internet. And I am fascinated with the concept of 'Loot Hunting'.

Now, things will play out a lot differently from this point on. Not only will Spamley have a much larger role, but we will actually see more of a build up to what happens in the movie. I won't spoil much, but I will say we aren't instantly jumping to Slaughter Race ;)

I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter, it was really fun finally getting to Spamley, and expect more cute moments with Gord and Candlehead.

Up next: The gang split up to try and gather the items on Spamley's massive list, but when it's too slow, the pop-up offers a big potential payout that has a lot of danger attached…

~Caleb~