XXV.
Van and Ralph flew through the air,
abandoned kart, and aimed to land
in liquid—not quicksand, or taffy.
The landing spot some chocolate was;
Ralph had made his feelings clear
about this substance in the past;
but now 'twas changed—he said to her:
"Chocolate! I love chocolate! Wheee!"
They had some horseplay in the pool,
two kids: one big, one small.
Calhoun and Felix stood agape:
Ralph's longshot plan had brought success!
Felix jumped about and said:
"You did it, Ralph—oh, way to go!"
Next to him, Calhoun did stand—
a gentle grin played on her face.
Feeling there was naught to lose,
Felix leapt, and kissed her cheek.
With shocked eyes she did look at him—
he worried then: what might she do?
She grabbed him roughly by his shirt—
expression quite intense and mean—
held him quite close—he sweated then.
And suddenly she grinned at him;
drew him closer, drew him in.
Passionate their kiss then was—
the feelings mutual, finally.
All four of them now made their way
tówards where did lie Van's kart;
together, they did fix it up,
and finish line they made like new.
Calhoun and Felix stood aside
while Van sat in the kart, and Ralph
prepared to push her past the line.
"You ready for this?" Ralph said to her;
with great relief she did reply,
"Ready as I'll ever be."
Ralph now gave the kart a push.
O'er the glowing finish line
she now did cross—at last, at last.
The finish line changed color now;
began to blink and change its glow.
But this was not the strangest part—
Van was lifted from her kart,
by force unseen. Scintillating
sparks did fly around and round
Vanellope. She cried out, "Whoa!—
What's with all the magic sparkles?"
She spiraled gently in the air;
began to change—her clothes and hair,
they underwent an alteration.
Her rough-and-tumble street-kid wear
became a formal gown, most debonair.
Her hair changed from her ponytail
into a bun; and atop all this,
instead of red licorice hair tie,
now perched upon her raven hair
a red tiara stood. A scepter—
'pon which, crown inscribed—came out
of nowhere; went in her hand.
Full attired, she did now land;
and spreading out from 'neath her feet,
the world of 'Sugar Rush' did heal,
resuming its once-brilliant shine.
Deep in the code room of the game,
things also did begin to change—
the module for Vanellope
was reconnected to them all;
and more than this: the fell box made
by Turbo to brainwash them all
did fly apart. Their memories
returned to them, all looked about;
'twas just like waking from a dream.
Assembled all the racers were—
and Sour Bill—when memory
returned to them. Quite suddenly,
Bill spoke aloud: "Now I remember!"—
and waddling to Vanellope's side,
in serious tone then did proclaim:
"All hail the rightful ruler of
our game: Princess Vanellope!"
All were in shock, including Van;
mem'ries of a long-past time
came creeping back—the Royal Kart;
respect from racers; a full heart.
The racers did begin to cringe;
they'd done the evil bidding of
a personage most foul and base.
Taffyta did take the lead:
"We are so sorry that we did
treat you like that—" then Rancis said:
"Yeah, those were only—jokes," and laughed
a nervous laugh quite full of fear.
Candlehead cut in and cried:
"I was only doing what
Taffyta said that I should do!"
This simpering display did lend
Vanellope glee without end.
"Tut-tut!" she royally intoned;
"As your princess merciful,
I decree hereby that everyone
who ever once was mean to me
shall be—" and paused. The racers hoped
for clemency; instead Van now said:
"Executed." They all did wail;
'twas in her power; but in a moment,
she did grin: "Oh, I'm only
kidding you." Her gaze fell on
the one in front, better to taunt:
"Stop cryin', Taffyta." "I'm trying, but—
it just won't stop." And Van enjoyed
small recompense for years of torment
that they'd all laid heavy on her.
Disoriented too was Ralph.
He ambled over and did say:
"So, this is the real you, eh?
Princess, huh?" She felt the jab;
but unbeknownst to him, she had
not faint intent to take this job.
Within her mind, the picture clear:
the crown itself had been the leaf
behind which, hid the evil one.
His fell deed done, the fact his word
did stand as law—to her appeared
the problem true. "No more of this;
though I now am restored to state—
I am the state, l'etat c'est moi—
this arbitrary power is
a tool that tempts its evil use.
The crown I will abjure; yet I
shall lead—with checks upon my power." Said she:
"Aaah, Ralph; what are you, nuts? This isn't
me at all—" and then she glitched
right back into her usual look—
"This is me!" He looked confused.
"I know the code may say that I
am princess of this place, but I
know who I really am, dear Ralph—
I am a racer with the greatest
super-power in history!
I'm glitching here; I'm glitching there;
I'm even glitching through the walls!
I'll not give that up easily!"
The donut cops, they spoke up then.
With hat in hand, one of them asked:
"Pardon me for asking, but:
without a princess—who will lead us?"
Now she did make quick reply:
"Uh: me! I'd quite prefer to rule
an equalized democracy.
President Vanellope
von Schweetz!—" she beamed—"It sounds good, no?"
All did agree, 'twas meet.
The nighttime drew unto a close—
"Fix-it! Wreck-it! The arcade
will open soon! Let's move 'em out!"
called Tamora. Felix did follow.
But Ralph and Van stood where they were.
What they'd been through was right intense—
they needed time, things to digest.
Ralph took a knee, as done in past,
their different heights to even out.
Looking at her, he could see
her eyes now wet—she looked at him,
and then leapt up, into his arms.
He held her close—they'd peace at last.
She ached to think of how the folks
back in his game did treat him bad.
Tearful, she exclaimed to him:
"You know, you could stay here, and live
right in the castle; I would give
you your own wing—where no one ever
would complain about your breath
or stench—no one would treat you bad
e'ermore. You could be happy—"
It did his heart well, this to hear—
just like a normal kid, who simply
doesn't want her friend to go—
not a fugitive, on the run.
"I am happy without that—
I've got the best friend in the world."
She stared at him in happiness.
"Plus I've got my job to do—"
and here he felt: "I need to nudge her
back to mirth—the day starts soon—
she needs to work!" Continued he:
"It may not quite so fancy be
as office of the pres'den'cy;
but it's my duty—and what's more,
it's a big 'doody'!" Here she smirked,
despite herself—gave in to mirth.
Felix called out to him then:
"You coming, brother?"—Ralph looked at Van.
He put her down upon the ground;
gave fist to bump, and told her now:
"So long, President Fartfeathers."
"Admiral Underpants—au revior."
"Baroness Boogerface—a fond farewell!"
"Major Bodyodor—see you soon!"
Losing patience, Felix cried,
"Ralph!"—he did not want to waste
their chance to convince good Litwak
their game was fine. "To be continued!"
Ralph to her called.
"Yeah!" came her joyful reply.
As the 'Hero's Duty' craft
took off, both Ralph and Felix did
wave back at Van—she waved back, too.
The racers came up close to her
and made their peaceable overtures;
Van did accept—all jumped with joy—
and then they made their way towárds
the starting line: 'twas time to race!