Traveling in the shuttle with Vanellope, Richard couldn't help but feel a mix of curiosity and hesitation. There were so many things he wanted to ask her, but he wasn't sure how much was too much.
He glanced at her, sitting next to him, fiddling absentmindedly with her hoodie strings. "So... uh…" he began. "The racers told me you left Sugar Rush to come here."
Vanellope let out a sigh as he said that. "So you where sent here to check up on me." She shot him a look, arms crossed, her expression unreadable.
Richard shook his head quickly. "N-No! Not at all! I just… I got bored and wanted to explore... The Internet..."
Vanellope narrowed her eyes, as if she wasn't quite convinced. Richard wanted too, but wasn't sure if he should come clean about not even being an arcade character, but something told him now wasn't the right time.
The silence in the shuttle grew heavy, broken only by the faint hum of other shuttles passing by outside. Finally, Vanellope sighed again.
"Look…" she began, leaning back in her seat. "I just needed a break." She paused before continuing, her voice softer now. "You're a game character too—you must know how it feels sometimes. Stuck doing the same thing, over and over, every day. It's like… we just want a little change, you know?" She slouched further into her seat, fiddling with her hoodie strings again. "Some would say we're just code, like we're not supposed to feel that way. But we do. Some of us do. Some of us even feel love—whether it's for love or for a friend or…" She trailed off, looking distant. "Ralph was like the big brother I never had, and I loved him."
Richard stayed quiet, listening intently. He could feel her words resonate. They weren't just ones and zeroes—they were alive. They're alive. They're allowed to feel feelings. They're allowed to have opinions. They're allowed to love.
"I understand you," he said after a moment, his voice steady.
Vanellope turned to him slowly. "You do? Wouldn't you say I went 'Torbo'? That's what most would say I'm sure."
"Well..." Richard started, "According to my knowledge of this 'Torbo' guy, he invaded games in a... bad way, right?"
Vanellope looked at him.
Richard was recalling on the things the three boys had told him. "Didn't he... change the code, and practically erase you and replaced you with himself to get what he wanted?"
Vanellope looked down for a moment, then back up. She nodded. "Uh-huh,"
"Well, you didn't do that with Slaughter Race, right?" Richard asked with a small smile. Then, he blinked nervously. "Uh… right?"
Vanellope chuckled, shaking her head. "No, Shank coded me in herself. No one had to be replaced. Probably because Slaughter Race has more memory than that old cabinet for Sugar Rush."
Richard nodded. "See? You're nothing like Turbo. He only cared about himself and didn't care who he hurt to get what he wanted. Wanting something for yourself isn't wrong—it's how you go about it that matters."
Vanellope smiled at his words, seeming to relax. "T-Thanks," she said softly.
The silence returned briefly until Vanellope turned back to him. "So… uh… what's your name, anyway? You never said."
"Oh, it's Richard," he replied with a nod.
Vanellope blinked, then snorted. "Richard? Wow, pretty mundane for an arcade character, huh? I was expecting something wild like The Shredder or something."
Richard rolled his eyes with a chuckle. "The Shredder? Do I look like a 'Shredder'? Geez."
Vanellope giggled. "It's just that your name sounds so… human." She smiled at him playfully, leaning back in her seat. "So, what game are you from, HD boy? Are you one of those console guys Shank talks about? Or maybe one of those online ones, like Slaugter Race?"
Richard looked away for a moment.
Vanellope continued to talk. "'Cause you kinda share similarities with Shank and her crew,"
"Uh… well—" Richard started, but Vanellope cut him off, her curiosity in overdrive.
"Kinda weird if you are, though, 'cause how'd you end up in Litwack's arcade? Did he start adding console games? Shank told me about those—they're like arcades but with PlayStations, Xboxes, and Nintendos instead of cabinets. Do those even exist?"
Richard chuckled nervously. "Yeah, they do. But, uh, I need to tell you something... a secret.."
"Ooh, I love secrets!" Vanellope's eyes lit up with excitement. "Spill it, HD boy. I promise I won't tell anyone." She smirked and leaned on the armrest.
Richard sighed, "Okay, so I'm not from Litwack's arcade. Heck, I'm not even from an arcade at all..."
After hearing that, Vanellope gasped. "No way!"
Richard shot her a glance.
Vanellope smiled. "So you are from a console game!"
Richard blinked. "N-No,"
Vanellope tilted her head. "Oh! Maybe you jumped from a TV show to the arcade! What would you call that? Going 'showbo'? Haha!" She winced and quickly waved her hands. "Ugh, no, that was cringe. Ignore me. That was a terrible joke." She chuckled.
"Wait, it is a show thing, isn't it? What show? Definitely not mine, though. I mean, when we visited Oh My Disney again, we saw the racers… even me… and they were all 2D. Super trippy, to be honest."
Richard was now just starting at Vanellope with shock as she continued to talking, "C-Come again?"
"Huh? Oh, the show. It was called Sugar Kingdom," she explained. "Apparently, it aired from 1996 to 2002. Now all the show versions of us racers hang out at Oh My Disney."
Richard shook his head. "Wait—what is Oh My Disney?"
"It's a website," Vanellope said simply.
Richard blinked repeatedly. He'd been on that site before. Slowly, he looked away, still reeling from the idea of being inside the internet.
"So, wait… the show versions of you guys just… hang out on in a website?" he asked. Then he had the quick thought: Sugar Kingdom was produced published by Disney in a partnership with TobiKomi.
"Yup!" Vanellope chirped, then squinted at him. "Wait a minute—you still haven't told me what game you're from!"
Richard sighed. "Well, you kind of started monologuing…" He smirked.
Vanellope blinked, then laughed nervously. "Oh… yeah. I do that sometimes. Sorry, high-def boy."
Richard smiled. "It's fine, Vanellope." He looked her in the eye. "I'm just gonna say it. I'm human. I'm from real li—" He caught himself. "From outside the arcade world."
Vanellope stared at him, her jaw dropping slightly. "W-What?"
"There's no other way to put it," Richard said with an awkward chuckle. "I'm a human being. A 'player,' as I've heard the others say. I am the one who plays."
Vanellope blinked, then leaned forward, studying him. Her gaze traveled from his shoes to his face before she finally grinned. "You're not high-def boy… you're real-life boy!" She laughed.
Richard chuckled, scratching the back of his neck.
"Wait, how is that even possible?" she asked, tilting her head.
"No idea. We're still working on that one," Richard shrugged.
Vanellope shook her head, "That is so weird," she looked confused. "That never happened before. How did it even happen?" She asked.
Richard was still wondering how it did even. "To be honest, I'm not even too sure anymore. I just wanted to fix a cord I saw that was plugged to the outlet, and I think my finger touched the exposed prong? Next thing I new, I was in Game Central,"
"Hmm… I hope no one saw you zap in," Vanellope said, narrowing her eyes.
Richard shook his head. "Nah, the arcade was closed,"
Vanellope squinted. "Wait… why were you in the arcade after hours?"
"Oh, Grandpa wanted me to stay for the weekend," Richard said.
Vanellope stared at him. "Grandpa?" She asked.
"Yeah," Richard said with a nod. "You guys know him as Litwack, I think."
"Ohhh." Vanellope nodded. "That's right—you're Litwack's grandson, Richard! I think I've seen you through the screen a few times."
Richard smiled.
"But wait…" Vanellope tilted her head at him. "Do humans not age? How come you look exactly the same as you did the last time I saw you, which was, like, four or five years ago?"
Richard blinked. "W-What?"
Vanellope chuckled. "You must have some kind of human gene that keeps you young even when you're old."
"But I'm thirteen," Richard said, his head tilted in confusion.
Vanellope looked at him. "Oh, okay," She said.
The shuttle began to slow down.
"I think we're almost there," Vanellope gasped excitedly.
With a sharp jerk to the left, the shuttle stopped in front of KnowsMore's search bar.
"Hey! I remember him!" Vanellope said with a wide grin. "Mr. KnowsMore!" As the shuttle dematerialized, she hopped out instantly. Poor Richard, still not used to the abruptness, landed flat on his face again.
"And a good day to you!" KnowsMore called cheerfully to a user walking away from his stand. Then his face fell. "They never respond…"
"Mr. KnowsMore!" Vanellope beamed, running up to the search bar.
KnowsMore's face lit up. "Vanellope! My dear, how lovely to see you! How have you been after so long?"
"Pretty good! Just exploring the internet!" She smiled.
By then, Richard was just about getting off of the floor. He rubbed his face with a groan. "I gotta get used to how these things just vanish under my butt... geez,"
Vanellope heard him and giggled. "He's new here," she explained. "Well, new to the internet in this perspective," She smiled.
"You two know each other?" KnowsMore asked with a curious smile. "He came by earlier to search for… Kid Powers." He adjusted his glasses and smiled again. "Ha! Would you look at that—my memory history's back. Lots of traffic today was messing with it. Lost a lot from this morning,"
Vanellope blinked. "K-Kid Powers?" She shot a look at Richard. "Why would you look that up?"
"Uh… reasons?" Richard shrugged.
Vanellope squinted at him suspiciously before turning back to KnowsMore. "Well, we can't stay and chat. I've got some friends to visit! It's been years." She smiled brightly and started running off, passing Richard. "Come on, human-boy!"
Richard nodded. "See you, KnowsMore." As he turned to follow Vanellope, he noticed she had frozen in place.
"What's wrong? Why'd you stop?" he asked.
Vanellope pointed ahead. "What is that? I don't remember it being here."
Richard followed her glance, and noticed that building he came out of at the very beginning. "Yeah, it's... a building? Well, I suppose website. Apparently it's a website for the arcade. I assume Grandpa made it. Er, well, maybe got someone too. I don't think he's computer savvy enough to make a website from scratch,"
"There was nothing here when I came with Ralph a few years ago," Vanellope said as they walked inside.
"Wowwww..." Vanellope said in astonishment seeing the interior. "Look! A list of all the arcade machines Mr. Litwack has!" she looked through all of them that were displayed on a screen. "Look, they got Sonic, Asteroids, BugerTime! And..." Then, she reached Sugar Rush. Richard couldn't see her reaction, but judging by how she placed her hand on the screen, he knew she was feeling some type of way.
"You… really miss your old game, don't you?" Richard asked gently.
Vanellope sighed. "I don't know. I love Slaughter Race—the chaos, the action. I live for that. It feels like I belong there. But… I miss my friends. I miss Ralph."
Richard stepped closer and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure your racer friends miss you too. They all talk highly of you,"
Vanellope sighed again. "What about Ralph? He's probably forgotten about me."
"Well, I haven't really hung around Ralph too much to say," Richard said. "But since you said he was like an older brother too you, it seems you had a close bond with him. It's safe to say he misses you dearly,"
"He was the only one who supported me leaving," Vanellope said quietly.
"Which is even more proof that he really cares about you. He valued your dreams and wishes, and let your spread you wings. And it didn't go in vain. You just said you really love Slaughter Race," Richard said calmly.
Vanellope stared at the screen some more, but once Richard said that, she smiled. "Wow, that's... really...," She hugged him. Richard gasped slightly at it.
"Thank you," Vanellope said.
Richard smiled. "You're welcome," he hugged her back.
Vanellope turned her head, as she was still hugging him, and noticed the gate. "Uhh, what's that?" She asked, breaking from the hug.
"Hmm?" Richard followed her glance. "Oh, that's a thing that's used to get back to the arcade,"
"Wow... so Surge really did fix it up for people to... come and go?" She asked. She noticed the sign, that said to always keep the gate closed, so the users don't accidentally go inside.
Richard walked up to the gate. "I assume I'd have to press the button?" He asked, since, this was technically he first time heading back.
Once he pressed it-
Warning… Internet Shuttle Activated. Stand clear of the pad.
"Whoa!" Vanellope gasped, watching as a holographic shuttle materialized on the pad. "That is so cool!"
Richard stared at the shuttle with a sigh. "I am not looking forward to riding this nightmare coaster again."
Vanellope then burst out laughing. "Oh I bet you were screaming like a little girl like Ralph was! Hahaha! Turns out they didn't slow it down one bit, well, that's fiber internet for you!"
"Ugh, this thing was horrible," Richard groaned, as both he and Vanellope climbed into the shuttle.
"I see that it's now a two seater at least," Vanellope smiled, nudging Richard's shoulder. "Well, to be honest, maybe it was a two seater when Ralph came here with me a few years ago, the big galoot could have barely fit anyways," She snorted.
The shuttle started to rise, and Richard braced himself, taking deep breaths, already dreading the impending speed.