XXI.
Back where he'd sadly wrecked the kart,
Ralph found small Sour Bill, with broom
in hand—sweeping quietly bits
of kart into a bin. Ralph said:
"Hey, cough drop! Come and tell me this!
If Van is just a glitch, then tell me
why her picture is upon
the cabinet of 'Sugar Rush'?"
Bill ran away—but Ralph caught up,
grabbed him roughly. "What goes on here
in this candy-coated heart
of darkness?" "N-n-nothing," stammered Bill.
"Talk!" "I won't!" "I'll lick!" "You won't!"
"Try me!" and Ralph gave a lick
to Sour Bill. "Ugh—it's like sandpaper!"
cried S.B. "I wonder how many
licks it takes to reach your center—"
"I'll take it to my grave," groaned Bill.
"Well, suit yourself," said Ralph, and popped
the sour ball straight in his mouth.
Sour William's muffled screams
mixed in with Ralph's amuséd grin:
"They call you Sour Bill with reason!"
Ralph did relent, pulled S.B. out.
"Had enough?" "I'll talk! I'll talk!
Vanellope, she was indeed
a racer once—until the king
tried to delete her code." "So that
is why she is a glitch! Why did
he this?" "Don't know." "Back in my mouth!"
Bill shrieked, "I swear 'tis true! The king
has locked up all our memories,
and I cannot recall just why."
He leaned in then—said furtively—
"I do know this: King Candy will do
anything to stop her racing; for
should she cross the finish line,
the game resets—she's glitch no more!"
"Where is she now?" "She's in the castle
dungeon with this 'Fix-it Felix'."
Ralph cried, "Felix? What is this?"
"That's all I know—now please don't put me
in your mouth another time!"
Ralph stuck the gumball on a tree—
told him to stay—"I will! I will!"—
and took the ruins of the kart,
to give to Felix, them to fix;
and then to free Vanellope,
the race to run, game to reset.
Not far away, Calhoun did hunt
the cy-bug that was lately lost.
All of a sudden, ground gave way—
she almost fell, but grabbed a vine.
What she saw made her quite grim:
cy-bugs in massive multitudes.
"This is disaster! There's no doubt,
too far beyond controlling is
this infestation—this game's doomed."
All alone poor Felix sat
within a cell, without much hope;
"Hello? Hello?" called through the bars,
and sat again. Of a sudden,
the wall collapsed—and there was Ralph!
Jumping up, embracing him,
"I'm glad to see you!—Wait, I'm not.
What have you to say?—Wait, I won't hear."
Ralph said to him, "Okay, don't talk.
That's fine. Just kindly fix for me
this racing kart; and that, quickly."
"I'm not doing boo for you!
I'm so cross with you, I'll burst!
Do you know how much trouble you
have put me through? First I searched
all over, then—I almost drowned in
quicksand, then—I met a woman,
what a dream! But she rejected
me, and then—I got thrown in this jail!"
"Felix, calm yourself, please do."
"No, Ralph, you don't know what 'tis,
to face rejection, and be treated
like a criminal—you don't!"
Ralph now calmly Felix told:
"I know that feeling all too well—
every single day I live
is much like that." Felix, gaping,
said, "It is?" He'd had no clue.
"That's why I ran. I tried to be
a Good Guy, but I'm plainly not.
I'm just a Bad Guy, and I need
your help—there is a little girl
whose only hope is this go-kart.
Fix it, Felix, please—I pledge,
to never try the Good again."
Felix smiled and understood.
Down the hall, another cell,
there sat our Van, going through hell.
She sat and thought—why did Ralph turn
against her? 'Twas so sudden-like.
To've had the hope of racing brought
within her grasp, and then sent off,
was to her worse than never having
kart at all. "But come on, wait—
think back on it—he was so kind—
the bakery, and then the track.
He isn't bad—I spoke in haste—
but my frustration was intense!
But none of it will matter now;
I'm sitting here in glitch-proof chains—
I'll never leave this room again."
Just then the door came crashing down.
"What the—" thought she—and there was—Ralph?
And with him—the restoréd kart!
Ralph knew he had to buck her up;
that last meet, poison for them both.
So on his sword he'd gladly fall;
he'd take the blame, if only Van
would trust again. "I know," he said,
"I am a fool." She, nonplussed,
replied then: "And?" "A real numbskull."
"And?" "A selfish diaper baby." "And?"
"A—stinkbrain?" Now she smiled wide:
"The stinkiest brain that ever was!"
Hé removed her fetters; and
the trio, they began to make
their way towárds the starting line.
Once more a team, both Ralph and Van
felt happy now; no matter what
the future brought, they'd not be sundered:
undying friendship, evermore.