Ralph sighed as he walked out onto the main floor of BuzzTube's towering structure, all the noise sounding somewhat muffled, like it was being screamed through water. There was also this thick static like sound over-top of it all, and Ralph had no idea why. Maybe the actual, true fatigue finally caught up to him. Or maybe it was homesickness? Maybe it was even both combining together into a painful combo.

Whatever the reason, Ralph found himself slowly making his way forward, looking around at all of the screens and users like any day in GCS. It only made him worse, solidifying it truly was just homesickness. He stopped in the middle of the crowd, and looked around. Even though he hasn't been here a full day, it felt like he's been trapped in BuzzTube for a few weeks.

All the purples and magentas were making his head hurt, and he longed to feel Niceland's soft grass beneath his feet. To hear Surge zipping about to keep things in order. To hear the Sugar karts revving their engines. To smile at Felix and Calhoun adorable flirting. To just… feel at home again.

He missed it all, and knew he would not go into the internet for this long ever again. He needed a reprieve.

Maybe he could go to the Capital and rest up for a week…

As he stood there, his thoughts stirring about, he jumped when he heard someone shouting his name. Looking over, he smiled lightly as the three racers ran up to him, smiles bright.

"Yesss gave us the good news", Rancis said as he slowed down, trying to steady his somewhat messy breathing. "Vanellope is coming back soon?"

"That's the hope", Ralph said. "Depends if she doesn't get any other ideas, like checking out this game or what."

"She wouldn't do that… Right?" Candlehead with a smile. Though it did look a bit forced.

"We're all fed up with this internet crap", Taffyta said bluntly, twirling her lollipop as her two friends gasped. "Oh shush, we hear Bill and the cops say that all the time. It's fine."

"Still, don't say that around Calhoun", Ralph said sternly. "She'd lose it if she heard any of you use that sort of dirty language."

"Noted…" Rancis winced at the potential of the sergeant, then shook his head. "Anyway, we came here because we wanted to check up on you! It's been a while, so we wanted to know if you were okay."

The wrecker hummed with zero infliction in his eyes. "I'm fine. Just homesick, that's it."

"So you are too?" Candlehead said sadly as she walked up and hugged Ralph's leg. "It's not just me?"

"We're all homesick, Candle", Taffyta said with a minor tone of sadness in her voice. "I've been missing the others, and they keep calling me to make that all the worse." She looked up at the wrecker. "Are we almost ready to head home?"

"Just need to wait for Yesss to give me the good news", the wrecker said, leading the group away from the middle of the crowded centre. "So yeah, we still have a little bit. But trust me, as soon as we get the money, we'll know."

The three racers nodded, then looked back out into the crowd, seemingly plotting something. "Should we do something to make this go by faster?" Rancis asked quietly.

"I say we 'suggest' some of these weirdos to watch our videos", Taffyta said sternly. "Because I have a massive feeling we are really close."

"Should we use our usual tactic?" Candlehead asked.

"I don't think that would be necessary. C'mon." The three racers disappeared into the crowd, and the wrecker absently shrugged as if someone asked him something. He just let the kids do their stuff, their progress on getting money was so good that even if it took most of Sunday, they'd be okay.

Being left all alone again, Ralph walked off over to a set of stairs that led up to the platform, towards the entrance. When he was up higher, he made his way over to the railing and leaned against it, looking over the busy centre. His videos and one part of the racers' trilogy were playing on the centre large screens, with hordes of users standing before them and giving hearts to them. Staff vacuumed the hearts up with ease, making the number rise more and more.

The sight made the wrecker smile lightly, feeling like all that hard work was paying off. But he still felt off.

Shaking his head, he looked around the rest of the space, taking in all the colours and lights for what he hoped was the last time. But as he did, something caught his attention.

On the lower floor was an area marked 'Comments', with no one heading into it. Curiosity peaked, the wrecker headed back down the stairs and headed towards the room. As he did, he glanced to his right to see the racers living up to their promise as they were running around, subtly pushing and guiding users back to their videos.

He smiled, then continued along his trek to the mysterious room. It was filled with a dark blue light, which made the wrecker feel like he was in the Aquarium in the Capital. Which was only punctuated with the muffled sounds and odd noise that resembled a… honestly, he couldn't describe it properly. It was so forgiven to him.

Pushing that train of thought aside, he continued along till he came up to a small room that had three screens. The screens reached high up, and Ralph noticed that every few seconds what seemed to be a message of some kind popped up, moving the massive list up by one.

Walking closer, it finally clicked to him that this was where the comments for the videos were stored. And he felt momentarily silly for not noticing sooner. Shaking his head, he walked up fully and looked over each screen like a hawk, trying to spot any comments for his own videos.

Soon, he was able to catch sight of some. They were pretty positive, if simple with what they said. Stuff like "Wreck-It Ralph is cool", "he's so silly, i love him", and "Very nice!" were the few he spotted that made him smile lightly.

But the more he looked, the more his smile fell as the more uglier, vicious comments started to show up. "He's just some idiot from the dump, why's he such a big deal?", "This video sucks", "Whoever is making these are cringe", and a lot of stuff that got progressively more hostile. But despite that… Ralph was unfazed. Perhaps it was his 30 years of being belittled and excluded, maybe it was his own growth… Or maybe it's because these comments were just not that threatening.

Was it demoralising? Absolutely. But they were so simple and, in all honesty, very childish, that the wrecker failed to find himself caring. Especially since he didn't know these people, and they thought they were talking to a real human. But Ralph did find himself deeply disturbed by the death threats that showed up occasionally, only for them to be instantly deleted by the site's automated systems.

"Is this really how things work here…?" Ralph mumbled to himself.

"Sadly… Yes." The wrecker jumped slightly, and turned around to see a downtrodden Yesss walk in, looking over the screens with a forlorn look. "This… This is the internet for you, Muscles…"

Ralph raised an eyebrow and looked back at the screens. "Is it really this bad?"

"Not all the time", the algorithm said with a head shake. "But it is there, and noticeable sometimes. It's why I almost never come here, because I kinda just want to shut it out…"

Ralph Glanced at her, and Yesss continued. "The reason I took control of your videos is because I was worried about this. People on here, YouTube and any other video sharing site always find ways to be negative about something. And that negativity is usually rewarded with a lot of likes and views. So it makes the content creators lean more into negativity…"

The wrecker winced, glancing at the screens in a different light. "Yeesh, that's… I'm really sorry to hear that, Yesss."

"Don't be, Ralph. It's how it is." Yesss sighed, her shoulders sagging. "Hate and rage are one of the big reasons the internet thrives. People hate-watch bad shows or stuff they don't like, leading to it being made more. Arguments spawn between people across the planet because they have different opinions on the latest game release. People are harassed for a mistake and are doxxed."

"Doxxed?"

"Basically people looking all over to find your address and other personal details about you so nearby harassers can go to your home personally."

Ralph baulked at that, his eyes wide and skin going pale. "WHAT?! Please tell me that's just a joke, Yesss!"

"It's not, sadly. I've seen it happen. Heck, I've seen it happen on my own site, where someone made a callout video towards someone else, and it had the other person's address. As soon as I caught wind, I terminated that freak's channel. But people knew, and the target of the callout had to leave for their own safety…"

The wrecker looked at the screens in horrified disbelief, and took a rep back. "Well… That's…" He trailed off and fell silent for a moment. "Let's get out of here."

Yesss nodded sombrely and followed the bad guy out of the room, leaning against the wall with a shaky breath as soon as they were in the hallway. "I'm sorry about this, Ralph. I know I usually seem so in control of everything, but when you have my job, you see and hear people say a lot of awful things."

"Jeez…" Ralph looked down, before putting a hand on her shoulder. 'What did you hear? If it's too much, you don't have to say anything."

"You know, the usual hateful stuff. Slurs, homophobia, transphobia, racism, all of that. I've heard and read it all, and everytime it makes me sick…" She sighed, then took a deep breath. "But, whatever. It's my job to regulate that, and that's fine."

ralph gave her a sad smile, but didn't say anything.

"Plus, I came here to get you because your friends are here. There's a short guy in a blue hat, a very beautiful woman in armour, and some green guy." She added an almost silent "He looks familiar…"

"Oh, really? Thanks…"

"They're at the entrance." As Yesss walked off, she glanced over her shoulder. "And I'll be honest, I'm honestly jealous of the short guy. I'd kill for a gal like that."

The wrecker was left in slight shock and the blatant statement, then smiled warmly at Yesss' retreating form, which was a bit faster than before. As she left, Ralph got an idea, and smiled devilishly.

"You could talk to Shank!" He shouted at his retreating friend.

Ralph chuckled as Yesss sped off even faster, shoulders hunching up as she vanished around a corner. The wrecker shook his head and headed down the hall, taking a different turn as he made his way to the entrance to meet back up with the others.

As he did, he smiled brightly.

~X~

Vanellope kicked her legs as she drank a milkshake, looking over the balcony she and Maybe were on as they simply relaxed. The BuzzTube assistant was looking over something on his tablet, drinking his own milkshake lazily. They had been out and about for a while, with the assistant saying it was per Yesss' permission.

It seemed they were in the home stretch, which made her so happy.

Ever since she got back to Maybe after the princesses helped her escape, Vanellope was fairly quiet as she recovered from all the turmoil, the colour slowly returning to her the longer she was out and about. And this milkshake was definitely helping. She blinked as she took in the sight from their raised vantage point, and the racer suddenly felt very… odd. This parlour's placement was very similar to Rocket Shots, where it was high up to allow an excellent view of the city.

It made Vanellope feel more at peace, despite not being home.

She sighed lightly through her nose as she returned to her drink, her mind wandering to the last time she went to Rocket Shots. As the memory reformed in her head, she gained a sad smile.

~

Vanellope and Hilda giggled as they ran around the rustic grounds atop the skyscraper, Twig prancing with them as all of the others sat at or around tables in front of the ever popular ice cream parlour. Izzy was talking Merida's ear off, Corey was swapping song ideas with Laney, Marco and Star, and Galacta Knight was sitting with Dry Bowser, both of them reading some books they brought.

Inside, Caleb was placing the massive amount of orders for everyone with Katania and Gladius.

Why was everyone here? Because, simply put, it was Rememberance Day. And the young goy decided to take everyone out as a way to escape the stuffiness of the castle so they could relax and such.

Vanellope laughed, doing a twirl as she fell on her back. Hilda laid on the ground next to her, and the deerfox curled up between them.

"So, what's your plans for the day after this, Hild?" The racer asked.

The young adventurer shrugged, her smile not leaving her face. "Just whatever comes to mind. I don't really have any sort of set in stone plan, but I am hoping whatever I come up with is fun."

"Maybe I could tag along with ya' in Trolberg and we could try and find some buried treasure." The racer rolled over one her side.

Hilda bobbed her head in a nod, a thoughtful look on her face. "That would be fun. I could get Frida and David in on it, and we could go to the beach and start our search there."

"Then it's a treasure hunt!" Vanellope rolled back onto her back and looked up to the beautiful mess of clouds above. As a plane soared overhead, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, the song of the city relaxing her excited nerves.

Hilda copied her friend subconsciously, then cracked her eyes open as her hand moved to pet Twig. "Vanellope?" The racer hummed in response. "Do you ever dream of flying? Or have those flying dreams?"

"Sometimes. Why do you ask?"

"You ever wish you could fly forever?"

"I mean, we kinda can", the racer said with a sassy infliction. "We've got a bunch of friends who can fly us around, and we've got the TARDIS. So we can fly for as long as we want to."

The adventurer giggled. "Good point."

"Plus, you get to ride those fluffy dog things back at your home. So you can fly whenever you want!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got that…" Hilda lightly pushed her friend, and both girls started giggling and playfully fighting. Twig joined in, and the trio started rolling around in the grass and dirt.

The others all looked over at them, and smiled at the adorable sight. Alfur, who was sitting on the edge of Flowey's flower pot, looked over, and smiled warmly. He was so happy Hilda found a friend as special as Vanellope.

It was then Caleb came walking out with a few trays loaded with all the desserts. Katania and Gladius followed close behind, carrying trays of their own with more desserts. Each one was adorned with a Poppy, the symbol of the sombre day.

"Alright gang!" The bespectacled boy announced. "Come and get your stuff and enjoy!"

The two girls and deerfox stopped their roughhousing and stood up, dusting off the dirt that now caked their clothes. They shared a smile, and ran off towards the tables, ready to enjoy the chilled treats on this warm autumn day.

~

The racer sighed as the memory ended, feeling melancholy that things were so idly now. She was still fearing for when Hilda found out about all of this, and the ramifications with her stubbornness and such.

Maybe noticed her dower expression, and gave her a concerned look. "Vanellope, are you okay?"

The racer blinked, shook her head, and looked at the assistant. "Yeah, no, I-" She took a deep breath. "I'm okay. Just thinking, that's all."

"What are you thinking about?"

She sighed. "My friend, Hilda. She's basically my sister, and I never told her anything about what's happened. I told Ralph not to tell her, I didn't tell her, and now I'm scared about when she finds out. Because we promised to tell each other everything. And now…" She trailed off, her hand nervously gripping the milkshake.

The BuzzTube assistant frowned lightly. "Well, from my experience, you did make a mistake. But now you can learn from this, and not make the same mistake. Trust me, I've made that mistake not telling Yesss important things, and she made it known I messed up."

Vanellope nodded sadly. "I'm just scared."

"Well, remember this: She obviously still cares about you, so no matter what she'll hear you out and understand."

Vanellope nodded and returned to drinking her treat, still worried about what was to come after all of this. But for now, she could only wonder.

As she drank, she caught sight of Maybe looking down at his tablet, his eyes widening at whatever he was seeing. Then, a massive and bright smile graced his face, and he looked up at Vanellope. "Looks like we should head back, Vanellope. Because I have good news you are going to love…"

The racer looked at him in confusion, but simply shrugged and silently followed after him as she continued to drink her milkshake, careful as to not spill a drop as they entered the browser vehicle and took off.

~X~

Ralph made his way up the stairs towards the entrance once again, and when he made it to the top, he smiled as he caught sight of Felix, Calhoun and Spamley waiting there for him, already mingling with the other three racers. As he approached, Felix looked over and beamed. Like he was suddenly super-charged, he ran over and hugged his brother, making his wife chuckle as the others all approached.

"Nice to see you again, Wreck-It", the sergeant said with a smile.

"Back at you, Sarge."

"You guys missed so much!" Candlehead cried out. "But we made so many videos, and we're making a lot of money!"

GCalhoun glanced at the large screen to see Ralph's intentionally failed pie baking. She grimaced. "I still don't understand why kidsa these days like this stuff…"

"That's the changing times for you, Calhoun!" Spamley said in a jolly tone, walking up to Ralph and shaking his hand. "I have to thank you, Ralph. My business has never been as profitable as it is now!"

"Well, I mean, no problem", the wrecker said with an unsure smile. "But me and the racers ditched you after Shank told us about here."

"Sure, yeah, but you saying you'll think about what I told you was still the big part of it."

Ralph shrugged in understanding, then looked at the married couple. "So how come you guys are here?"

"We got the money!" Felix said happily. "So we all decided to come here and help you out a little bit more."

"Means a lot, guys, really, but Yesss said I made enough videos", the wrecker explained. "I was just running around minding my own business until she told me all of you guys were here."

"Well, regardless, now it's just a waiting game…" Calhoun walked up to the railing and looked over the main floor. "Where's Vanellope?"

"She went out with Maybe got run pop-up duty", Taffyta explained. "We let her because she really wanted to go."

"I trusted her, and she's still with Maybe now", Ralph explained as he pat Taff on the head. "So she'll be here soon."

"That she will!" Yesss said as she suddenly wormed her way into the group, making everyone jump. "Because I have some good news to share!" She glanced at Spamley, and narrowed her eyes. "Hang on, what are you doing here?"

The arcade denizens looked between the two surge beings in confusion. "You two know each other?"

"I used to come around here with my pop-up", Spamley said as he grabbed his hat and nervously wrung it in his grasp.

"If I knew it was you, I'd kick you out as soon as you showed up…" The algorithm said dangerously.

"Hey, look, he's only gonna be here for a little bit", Ralph said firmly, getting between the two of them. "Regardless of the bad blood between you two, can we not focus on that right now."

"Well, Ralph… See… Yesss… Is my ex…"

The arcade denizens all winced as Yesss fumed. "J.P. here was the love of my life, till we broke up because he just wouldn't listen to me!"

"Again!" Ralph said even more firmly. "Regardless, whatever happened before doesn't matter now. Spamley will go as soon as you tell us what good news you have for us, Yesss."

The algorithm let out a shuddering breath, levelled a light glare at her ex, then faced the others. "Well, what I was going to say was… Congratulations!"

The group all shared confused looks. "Congratulations to… what?" Rancis asked.

"You got your 10 thousand dollars", Yesss elaborated. "Congrats, you can get your wheel now!"

The group were silent as they processed the news, then all the arcade denizens let out relieved and happy sighs.

"Oh my land, thank goodness!" Felix said first. "After all that running around, I was worried we'd have more work to do! I was just about ready to collapse after the last job."

"Yeah, same…" Calhoun mumbled.

Ralph smiled as he let out an airy chuckle, then looked at Yesss. "I'm assuming you told Maybe?"

She nodded firmly. "He's on his way with Vanellope, so don't you worry."

"Worry about what?"

The whole group o looked over and saw as Maybe and Vanellope approached. The candy president was still drinking her milkshake, and she looked a bit lost. Ralph caught that glint of exhaustion behind her eyes, but didn't bring it up.

"We got the money!!!" Candlehead cheered, running up and hugging her friend tightly. "We saved Sugar Rush!"

Taffyta and Rancis rolled their eyes with smiles on their faces and walked up to the silent and confused president. Calhoun walked up to Yesss and dealt with all the money stuff with her husband.

Spamley, feeling the tension between him and Yesss getting thicker, excused himself and went to wait outside for the others.

When the money was given, Ralph smiled at the two operators of the website. "Thanks you two. This… This means so much to me. You helped us more than you could ever imagine."

"Ah, don't worry about it, Ralph", Yesss said with a nonchalant hand wave. "You helped me get this site more viewership, so I should be thanking you instead. Hopefully things go well for y'all!"

"We'll keep in touch!" The wrecker shouted with a wave as he left the site, following after his friends as they went to finally make their purchase. Vanellope still looked to be in some sort of catatonic shock, but a smile had graced her lips as they all headed over to where Spamley was with his transport.

Ralph closed his eyes and took a deep breath, finally glad all this headache was done and over with. But while he was happy this was done, a new worry slowly started to rise inside of him. One he felt was going to be so much worse than this ever could be…

Facing the others about not telling them…

Caleb probably cracked at this point…

~X~

And that's it! They got the cash! A bit of a simpler chapter, yes, but I felt it was a needed one to wind down after all the previous stuff. Plus, I just want the conclusion to more relaxed and simple compared to the previous two stories, which is really important to me. Not every story needs to have a massive emotional fallout ending and such.

And based on that, it's pretty obvious now… Ralphzilla, the dark web stuff and the insecurity virus have been axed. Yes, really. I axed them because having a retelling of RBTI like this means they don't have a place without things feeling forced. I did already kinda push it with how Sugar Rush was broken, so I didn't want to push it any more than that.

So now these last five chapters before the epilogue will just be the falling action. Just everything coming together in a nicely done up bow. So expect a lot of more chill vibes in the coming chapters!

Hope y'all enjoyed!

Up next: With their money earned and the wheel bought, Vanellope comes up with a simple idea of how they can spend the rest of their vacation time…

~Caleb~