Post by Phantom on Jan 12, 2013 1:00:46 GMT -5
Related to the roleplay going on between me and Patchy at the moment. There are Wreck-it Ralph spoilers within, so read at your own risk! And I can only hope I didn't butcher Calhoun too badly. It's my first time writing for her.
Also, this ended up being much longer than I originally intended. xD
“She’s late.”
Ralph, Calhoun, and Felix stood at the entrance of Sugar Rush, as they had been for the past half hour, and appeared to be waiting for something. Or, rather, they were waiting for someone in particular. Vanellope had promised to meet her odd cross-game family to have a day of fun and relaxation in the candy cane forest, and with each passing second the little President was becoming later and later for the prearranged meeting time. Half an hour had passed by that point and it looked as though Ralph was getting tired of waiting for his best friend to arrive. He shifted his weight to one side and folded his arms across his massive chest, frowning visibly and breathing deeply as he gave Vanellope just a little more time to arrive. What was keeping her?
“Relax, Wreck-it. Ever consider the fact that maybe she got caught up in her duties? I’m sure she’ll be here soon.” Calhoun said. She didn’t appear terribly concerned, and Ralph was irritated by that fact. Felix looked more concerned, but it didn’t appear as though he was going to voice his concerns. Ralph groaned inwardly as that realization dawned on him. Of course he knew Vanellope better than the other two, as he had had more time to bond with her, but it didn’t mean the other two could be so nonchalant.
“It’s not like her to be late.” Ralph said. By that point, Ralph wasn’t going to wait any longer. He wanted to know what was keeping Vanellope and wanted to know right then.
“We should go look for her.”
“Ralph, maybe we shouldn’t. What if Tammy’s right and she’s on her way right now? We could miss her.” Felix pointed out. Ralph realized this was true, but on the off chance that it wasn’t… well, Ralph didn’t want to wait to find out if it was or not. He wanted to find his friend. So, ignoring Felix’s words, Ralph started to make his way down the rainbow sugar bridge and into the sugarcoated go-kart game. It wasn’t long before he heard the hurried footsteps of Felix and the more lax ones of Calhoun behind him.
Good, he thought, at least they’re coming with me.
As Ralph glanced back, he caught sight of a look on Calhoun’s face that seemed to say she was silently making fun of him. That smirk of hers always made him a little uneasy, but the particular smirk dancing on her lips made him wonder just what she was thinking. It wasn’t like it was out of the ordinary for Ralph to care about Vanellope’s well-being. She was essentially his best friend and little sister, so of course he was going to be concerned about her. He just… didn’t have a lot of opportunities to let that side of himself show since the entire Turbo escapade had been wrapped up. As the trio set foot on the frosted ground at the bottom of the bridge, Ralph heard Felix clear his throat a little. Apparently the handyman had something he wanted to say.
“Where do you suppose she would be now, Ralph?” Felix asked. That was a good question. Ralph hadn’t really thought that through, only letting the notion that his friend was late run through his mind beforehand, and he didn’t have much of an answer to it. So, Ralph was going to have to play a guessing game and try to determine where Vanellope was at that moment. He stopped walking and let one of his massive hands rest against the back of his neck as he tried to remember all the places in Sugar Rush that Vanellope had ever shown him, but as he thought he found it was difficult to remember just what he had seen. The Diet Cola Mountain hideout was right out since it had been destroyed with the defeat of Turbo, and the castle didn’t seem like it was some place she felt comfortable. Where did that leave?
“Maybe she’s hanging out with the other racers.” Ralph said. It seemed plausible enough, as the other racers had gone back to treating Vanellope kindly and like a friend, but he wondered if that really was the case. So maybe Vanellope had gotten caught up with hanging out somewhere with her new friends.
“Seems to me it’s a bit too quiet for that.” Calhoun stated. Ralph had to agree with her, as he had noticed it just moments after he had initially spoken. Usually Sugar Rush had at least a handful of the racers roaming after the random roster race, and he was positive that had ended a good hour prior to their arrival in the sweet themed game. That left Ralph to wonder about just what was going on.
“What do you think, Fix-it?” Calhoun asked.
“Well, Ma’am, I can’t say for certain. If I were to guess, though, I’d say it is a strange sight… seeing the game quiet like this, I mean.” Felix answered. He frowned a little as he finished speaking and looked to Ralph. The wrecker could se the concern easily in his expression, so he waited to hear what else Felix had to say.
“It’s kind of bothering me to not see racers around here. Maybe it would be a good idea to see if Vanellope is around here…”
That sealed the deal for Ralph. The lack of racers in the general area led him to believe that there was something amiss. If something had happened to the game then there was a good chance that Vanellope could have been hurt. He wanted to find out if that was the case or not. So, Ralph motioned with one of his massive hands for the lovely couple to continue following his lead and soon they were on their way again.
The rest of the way was passed in silence, almost as though none of them dared to bring up the thought that someone might have done something to harm their friend’s home, and it seemed as though they would only really be hearing each other breathe for a while. Ralph didn’t mind it, as it gave him time to think, though the silence didn’t really help the atmosphere around them. With every landmark they passed he grew more concerned. Vanellope was generally careful, even though she did have a strong desire to test her boundaries with her glitching power from time to time, so nothing should have gone wrong. Where, then, was his little friend?
“Ralph, look!”
Ralph was finally brought out of his thoughts by Felix’s suddenly exclamation. The trio had just about passed the fix-it station that Vanellope had made sure was added to the game, and because Ralph hadn’t been paying as much attention he had failed to notice there was something off about it. The large wrecker turned to face the direction Felix and Calhoun were looking, but when he did he almost immediately regretted it. There, alone in the fix-it station, was Vanellope’s precious Sprinksmidge. The kart that he and she had built together was all but abandoned and it looked as though it hadn’t been touched recently. There were tracks on the ground in front of it, indicating other racers had come and gone, but the tracks from Vanellope’s kart had faded. He couldn’t tell where they had come from or when they had appeared. He stepped forward, keen to investigate, but Calhoun held out a hand to stop him.
“Let’s see what we’re dealing with here.” Calhoun muttered. Ralph could only watch as Calhoun pulled a small scanner out from her pocket and proceeded to look over the area surrounding the Sprinksmidge. If anyone could determine what had happened, it probably would be Calhoun. As much as she bothered him at times, Ralph had to admit that she was good with this sort of thing. He decided to leave her to it. For several moments there was silence, but at long last a small beeping sound filled the air. Ralph held his breath, hopeful that the beeping was good, and waited for Calhoun’s prognosis of the situation.
“Well, Tammy?” Felix asked.
“Looks like it’s been sitting here for over a day now. The little half-pint hasn’t been in this kart recently.” Calhoun said. Ralph allowed his breath to leave his body as a look of disbelief crossed his features. Vanellope had abandoned the Sprinksmidge? He knew that she didn’t like driving the white, sugary kart that the former ruler of Sugar Rush had stolen from her and it seemed odd that she would abandon what was essentially her first real kart, so the prognosis that it had been abandoned alarmed him. Calhoun seemed to know what he was thinking at that moment, as when he turned to continue the search at a quicker pace she decided to speak up again.
“Cool your jets, Wreck-it. We’ll find her, but we can’t just go rushing off without thinking about what could have happened.”
“What do you mean? Vanellope’s missing and the Sprinksmidge got abandoned! That’s more than enough reason to try and find her ASAP!” Ralph said. He was still partly facing the opposite direction, ready to run off at a moment’s notice, as he spoke with the stone-faced sergeant. Ralph’s desire to put Vanellope’s needs before his own seemed to be resurfacing in that moment. It was something that really hadn’t shown in his features since he had almost given up his life to protect Sugar Rush. He was about to go on, but Felix hopping in between him and Calhoun immediately silenced the wrecker.
“She’s right, brother. We need to try and figure out what happened before we do anything rash. Please.” Felix said. Ralph opened his mouth to argue, but his brown gaze drifted to the ever-widening blue eyes of his colleague. The look he was being given was absolutely pitiful in Ralph’s eyes. However, it appeared to have worked its charm. Ralph just grunted in annoyance and turned properly so he could look at Calhoun and Felix. Felix appeared relieved, and just a moment after letting the pitiful look disappear from his face he looked to his wife again as though silently prompting her to make her hypothesis on what had happened known.
“If you ask me, it looks like the kid came here for something and just forgot to get her kart when it was done. Where she ended up afterwards, though…” Calhoun paused and looked I the direction Ralph had been trying to head out moments prior. It was her best guess on where Vanellope had gone, as that direction led to a path that Vanellope knew well.
“Hard to say. She could have gone anywhere after coming here if she went in that direction.” Calhoun stated. As she pocketed her scanner, the slender woman motioned in the direction indicated. This caused Ralph and Felix to look that way and gave them an opportunity to try and piece together where the missing President could have gone. In the distance, Ralph could see the Sugar Rush castle. Was it possible Vanellope could have just headed home and forgotten her kart?
“…That doesn’t make sense.” Ralph muttered. If Vanellope were to race, she’d need to have come back to get the Sprinksmidge. It wouldn’t have just gotten abandoned if she just went home. His brows knit together in concern and his eyes narrowed slightly; clearly, it was time that the trio headed to the castle to try and see if they could get some answers. Without waiting to hear if Felix had any answers, Ralph decided to take the lead again.
“If Vanellope went this way, then our best bet is to ask Sour Bill if he knows what happened. To do that, we gotta go to the castle. Come on.” Ralph said. He didn’t wait to see if Calhoun and Felix were following him, because as soon as those words had left his mouth Ralph was on his way. The only indication he got that the others had decided to go with him was the sound of lighter footsteps against the icing-coated ground. It was time to see what was going on in the home of the sweet themed racers.
Several minutes passed in silence as Ralph led Calhoun and Felix onward. He almost wished that someone would say something to break the silence, but at the same time he was grateful. The lack of conversation gave Ralph the opportunity to mull over the different scenarios that could have occurred while he, Felix, and Calhoun had been caught up with their own agendas the previous day. Ralph wished he had been able to visit Vanellope before then. It would have saved so much trouble if he’d just dropped in to say hi. But, what was done was done. All there was to do now was to continue onward to the castle.
Fortunately for Ralph, the sugary building wasn’t far away. He admittedly had picked up his pace quite a bit and did have longer strides for Calhoun and Felix to match, but that didn’t matter. He’d led them on to the castle and they were about to get some answers. As they walked up the path leading to Vanellope’s home, Ralph was quick to notice that there was a lack of the usual Oreo guards in front of the castle. The thought occurred to him that they had been given a break, but it was still odd in his eyes. The sooner they got to Sour Bill, he realized, the better off they would be and the closer they would be to figuring out what had gone wrong. Soon they were standing in front of the door and ready to head inside. Ralph remembered that Vanellope had made it a rule that he and the rest of her cross-game family were allowed to come and go as they pleased in the castle. That fact meant that they would be able to just walk in and start asking questions without a problem. So, Ralph raised his hand and pulled the door open. He could see the uncertainty on Felix’s face as he proceeded onward, but ignored it. The fact that there was a missing President somewhere in Sugar Rush was what was spurring Ralph on to be a bit rash.
“Hello? Anybody home?”
Ralph’s question echoed a bit as he stepped inside the sweet castle. Quite obviously, there was no one present to answer him. Ralph frowned again and took a couple of steps further while Felix and Calhoun followed him in. No doughnut guards, no Vanellope, and apparently no Sour Bill either; just where was everybody?
Ralph opened his mouth to try again, but he stopped when he realized he had actually heard something. There was a light sound of footsteps and the sound of wheels rolling against the floor of the castle, which led Ralph to believe someone was coming. He held his breath and waited to see who was coming while watching Calhoun and Felix from the corner of his eye. The former was tense and the latter apparently was waiting as well. No one dared move until the owner of the footsteps actually stepped out from the hallway they were coming down.
Green. The first thing Ralph saw was green entering the throne room. It was Sour Bill, but he wasn’t the only thing he had noticed. The sound of wheels had come from a trolley the little ball of sour candy was pushing along. Ralph couldn’t see what was on it outside of a bowl of some kind, but now he had someone from the candy game in his sights. He had to ask what was going on.
“Hey! Sourpuss!”
Not the best way to go about doing it, but Ralph figured it would get Sour Bill’s attention. Grab his attention it did, as the instant Sour Bill realized that he was no longer alone the little ball of candy was quick to try and get away. In a flash, Ralph made his move to try and catch the little attendant of the President while Calhoun followed suit. He didn’t have to go too far, as Sour Bill was still rather slow in comparison to him, and soon enough the wrecker was grasping his one link to Vanellope at present in his large, square fingers. With Sour Bill caught, it appeared that Calhoun saw no reason to be as on guard as she had been before. So she dropped her guard and motioned for Ralph to do the questioning he needed to do.
“Where’s Vanellope?” Ralph really felt no need to ask anything more than that. Sour Bill was her attendant, so he probably knew better than anyone else. Instead of giving an answer, though, Sour Bill just sort of glared at Ralph. He supposed it was understandable, though. Ralph had threatened to eat him once before, after all, so there was definitely some bad code between them. Ralph opened his mouth to say something else, but he was cut off. Calhoun wanted to jump in next.
“You have exactly one minute to tell us where that half-pint is, or things might just get ugly here.” Calhoun hissed. Ralph was grateful that the woman was on their side; the last thing he wanted to do was cross paths with her when he had no idea what she was capable of. This little threat seemed to loosen Sour Bill up, thankfully, as he was whimpering a little and, to Ralph’s surprise, expressing an emotion beyond apathy.
“She’s here, she’s here! She just can’t leave the castle.”
“How come? What’s going on in this game now?” Calhoun asked. Sour Bill didn’t respond, causing Ralph to prod him with one of his square fingers, and just resolved himself to dangle there in silence. Whatever was going on, it looked as though Sour Bill didn’t want anyone outside of Sugar Rush to know about it.
“If you don’t tell us…” Ralph began, but he stopped when he finally took notice of the fact that Felix wasn’t next to him or Calhoun. Ralph started to look around the throne room when he realized this, and a few moments later he finally saw the blue-clad handyman next to the trolley that Sour Bill had been pushing. Sour Bill apparently had noticed it as well, as the little ball of candy quickly started waving his jellybean hands back and forth a little as though he didn’t want Felix to see something on it. It was too late, though, as Felix had finished examining the trolley and lifted his head to look at Calhoun and Ralph again.
“I think you two need to see this.” Felix said. Ralph and Calhoun exchanged glances briefly before complying with the handyman’s suggestion. Sour Bill still dangled from Ralph’s massive hand as the two approached, and he was only dropped to the floor when Ralph got a good look at what Felix had noticed. The bowl he had seen contained what appeared to be a soup of some kind, and there was something that had gone unnoticed because it was out of sight. The second thing on the trolley was a little thermometer tucked away in a colorful candy wrapper. Ralph and Calhoun once again exchanged glances and looked to Sour Bill. There was only one other person that lived in the castle to their knowledge, and if there was any doubt about what was going on then it had completely vanished in that instant. They wanted to hear it from Sour Bill, though, and so the trio looked down and waited for him to speak.
“She can’t leave the castle because… she’s ill.” Sour Bill finally said. It didn’t take a genius to deduce that Sour Bill was concerned about the little President. Even Ralph, who wasn’t necessarily the most brilliant game character in the arcade, could tell that Sour Bill’s present state was genuine. That was enough of a reason for Ralph to lose his desire to harm something. It also had given him the answer he needed about where Vanellope was. However, it wasn’t enough. Ralph wanted to know what was genuinely wrong with Vanellope.
“How ill?” Ralph asked. He needed to know that his friend was going to recover, and that she would be well enough to race again soon, before he would be able to say with certainty that he and the rest of his little group could leave. Only then would he be satisfied.
“It… it’s a virus. Unfortunately, I have no idea how she contracted it. I’ve been trying to take care of her-“
“That’s enough.” Ralph said. He didn’t want to hear anymore of what Sour Bill was going to say since the information he needed had been given. He turned his attention to Felix and Calhoun and started to walk in the direction Sour Bill had come from.
“You two stay here. I’m gonna check on the kid and find out how she’s doing.”
“Like fun you are, Wreck-it. What if you catch whatever she has?” Calhoun asked. Ralph stopped dead in his tracks with one foot raised in the air before looking back at the group. He supposed she had a point in what she said; if what Sour Bill said was true, then there was a possibility the sickness Vanellope had could be contagious. It could have been what caused the odd quiet they had been witnesses of in Sugar Rush that day.
“It won’t affect you. The virus hasn’t spread to anyone outside of Vanellope since she contracted it.” Sour Bill stated.
That explains why he isn’t sick, Ralph thought. If what Sour Bill said was true, then he had nothing to worry about. This left the wrecker with the choice of staying where he was or going on with his quest to check on Vanellope now that he knew where she was. Naturally, his desire was still firmly set on the latter track.
“In that case, you two still need to stay here. I’ll let you know how she’s doing.” Ralph said. Without giving the others a chance to react, Ralph hastened his steps and made his way down the hallway that Sour Bill had come from. This particular hallway, Ralph discovered, was rather interesting because of the layout; the doors were located on the left-hand side of the hall, and the hallway itself was rather wide… almost like it had been built for someone bigger than the Sugar Rush racers and other residents. So lost in thought was the wrecker that he almost missed the tiny, kittenish sneeze coming from behind one of the doors in the hall. A groan followed, and Ralph was able to pinpoint the location. Soon, he stood in front of a door that had a little sign with the letter ‘V’ written on it. Naturally, his mind jumped to his friend’s name and he proceeded to carefully open the door.
The sight within the room was rather pitiful to Ralph. As soon as he stepped inside, he was greeted by the image of little Vanellope bundled up in multiple candy wrapper blankets with her hair hanging freely from the usual ponytail it was kept in, an odd sight in and of itself since Ralph had always seen Vanellope with her hair up before, balled up tissues scattered across the floor, her boots tossed aside in a corner of the room, and what appeared to be a pile of empty cough drop wrappers near her bed. Ralph took a couple of steps forward to try and examine his friend, only to step back again when he saw her glitch violently beneath the blanket she was wrapped in as a coughing fit started. Even before Turbo had been defeated, Ralph had never seen Vanellope glitch in such a manner that looked painful. The glitching was beginning to cease at last, though, and this made Ralph feel more comfortable to step forward and gently place a finger against her back as it began to solidify again so he could try to soothe her. At length, the coughing stopped and Vanellope finally looked up.
“Ralph?” she asked. Her voice sounded weak and croaky, like it hurt for her to speak, and hearing her sound this way made Ralph hurt inside. Vanellope was clearly suffering from something horrible and he wished he had a way to make her feel better as soon as possible. He didn’t, though, and could only offer words to try and cheer her up to some degree.
“Hey, kid… heard you weren’t feeling so hot.”
“I… I feel like… doodie.” Vanellope stated. Although it should have been funny, Ralph didn’t have the heart to laugh at his friend’s statement. Not while she felt so horrible, anyway. Ralph tried to speak again, but his thought was interrupted when Vanellope went into another coughing fit and started to glitch again. When it finally stopped, the poor black-haired racer ended up on the floor in a crumpled up heap not unlike the tissues scattered about the room. Ralph wasted no time in scooping her up in his big hands and cradling her like the small child she was, all the while maintaining a combination of concern and fear in his features. Whatever Vanellope had caught, it was truly a serious virus.
“How did you get like this, Vanellope?” Ralph asked. He had to know. He had to know what had caused Vanellope to end up in a state of pain and suffering within a period of only a day or so. If Ralph didn’t find out, then he didn’t know what he would do. He didn’t think he could really go on like everything was normal while knowing his best friend was so terribly sick.
“I dunno…”
Another coughing fit followed, and Vanellope weakly grasped at Ralph’s fingers as though she were holding on for dear life. Ralph carefully cupped his fingers around the girl and just held her, trying to let her know she was safe, until the fit ceased. When it was over, Ralph laid Vanellope on her bed and covered her up before proceeding to kneel down at her eye level so that maybe she wouldn’t have to strain her voice for him to hear.
“Everything was… fine until recently. W-we got a new racer added to the… the roster. I tried to give her a tour, Ralph, but…” Vanellope stopped speaking then as she started to surrender to the apparent desire to sleep. Ralph wanted to hear more, though, and so he gently nudged her in an effort to wake her. When her brown-green eyes opened again, she made one final effort to get across what she wanted to say before deciding to give in to her desire to rest again.
“Something went… wrong. I glitched, and… felt something weird. In the coding…”
Ralph held his breath, hoping to hear more if he did, but no further words came. Vanellope allowed herself to slump forward and embraced a state of sleep. Ralph thought about trying to wake her again, but stopped himself and sighed; if she was that sick, then she needed her rest. He could get more out of her later. He gently patted her back with the tip of his finger and made his way out of her room as quietly as he could. When the door closed behind him, Ralph made a little promise to himself. He was going to find out what happened to make Vanellope sick. He would find out, or probably die trying. Whichever came first, he would make sure that Vanellope was cured somehow.
How do I end up getting myself into these situations?
Also, this ended up being much longer than I originally intended. xD
Viral Mystery
“She’s late.”
Ralph, Calhoun, and Felix stood at the entrance of Sugar Rush, as they had been for the past half hour, and appeared to be waiting for something. Or, rather, they were waiting for someone in particular. Vanellope had promised to meet her odd cross-game family to have a day of fun and relaxation in the candy cane forest, and with each passing second the little President was becoming later and later for the prearranged meeting time. Half an hour had passed by that point and it looked as though Ralph was getting tired of waiting for his best friend to arrive. He shifted his weight to one side and folded his arms across his massive chest, frowning visibly and breathing deeply as he gave Vanellope just a little more time to arrive. What was keeping her?
“Relax, Wreck-it. Ever consider the fact that maybe she got caught up in her duties? I’m sure she’ll be here soon.” Calhoun said. She didn’t appear terribly concerned, and Ralph was irritated by that fact. Felix looked more concerned, but it didn’t appear as though he was going to voice his concerns. Ralph groaned inwardly as that realization dawned on him. Of course he knew Vanellope better than the other two, as he had had more time to bond with her, but it didn’t mean the other two could be so nonchalant.
“It’s not like her to be late.” Ralph said. By that point, Ralph wasn’t going to wait any longer. He wanted to know what was keeping Vanellope and wanted to know right then.
“We should go look for her.”
“Ralph, maybe we shouldn’t. What if Tammy’s right and she’s on her way right now? We could miss her.” Felix pointed out. Ralph realized this was true, but on the off chance that it wasn’t… well, Ralph didn’t want to wait to find out if it was or not. He wanted to find his friend. So, ignoring Felix’s words, Ralph started to make his way down the rainbow sugar bridge and into the sugarcoated go-kart game. It wasn’t long before he heard the hurried footsteps of Felix and the more lax ones of Calhoun behind him.
Good, he thought, at least they’re coming with me.
As Ralph glanced back, he caught sight of a look on Calhoun’s face that seemed to say she was silently making fun of him. That smirk of hers always made him a little uneasy, but the particular smirk dancing on her lips made him wonder just what she was thinking. It wasn’t like it was out of the ordinary for Ralph to care about Vanellope’s well-being. She was essentially his best friend and little sister, so of course he was going to be concerned about her. He just… didn’t have a lot of opportunities to let that side of himself show since the entire Turbo escapade had been wrapped up. As the trio set foot on the frosted ground at the bottom of the bridge, Ralph heard Felix clear his throat a little. Apparently the handyman had something he wanted to say.
“Where do you suppose she would be now, Ralph?” Felix asked. That was a good question. Ralph hadn’t really thought that through, only letting the notion that his friend was late run through his mind beforehand, and he didn’t have much of an answer to it. So, Ralph was going to have to play a guessing game and try to determine where Vanellope was at that moment. He stopped walking and let one of his massive hands rest against the back of his neck as he tried to remember all the places in Sugar Rush that Vanellope had ever shown him, but as he thought he found it was difficult to remember just what he had seen. The Diet Cola Mountain hideout was right out since it had been destroyed with the defeat of Turbo, and the castle didn’t seem like it was some place she felt comfortable. Where did that leave?
“Maybe she’s hanging out with the other racers.” Ralph said. It seemed plausible enough, as the other racers had gone back to treating Vanellope kindly and like a friend, but he wondered if that really was the case. So maybe Vanellope had gotten caught up with hanging out somewhere with her new friends.
“Seems to me it’s a bit too quiet for that.” Calhoun stated. Ralph had to agree with her, as he had noticed it just moments after he had initially spoken. Usually Sugar Rush had at least a handful of the racers roaming after the random roster race, and he was positive that had ended a good hour prior to their arrival in the sweet themed game. That left Ralph to wonder about just what was going on.
“What do you think, Fix-it?” Calhoun asked.
“Well, Ma’am, I can’t say for certain. If I were to guess, though, I’d say it is a strange sight… seeing the game quiet like this, I mean.” Felix answered. He frowned a little as he finished speaking and looked to Ralph. The wrecker could se the concern easily in his expression, so he waited to hear what else Felix had to say.
“It’s kind of bothering me to not see racers around here. Maybe it would be a good idea to see if Vanellope is around here…”
That sealed the deal for Ralph. The lack of racers in the general area led him to believe that there was something amiss. If something had happened to the game then there was a good chance that Vanellope could have been hurt. He wanted to find out if that was the case or not. So, Ralph motioned with one of his massive hands for the lovely couple to continue following his lead and soon they were on their way again.
The rest of the way was passed in silence, almost as though none of them dared to bring up the thought that someone might have done something to harm their friend’s home, and it seemed as though they would only really be hearing each other breathe for a while. Ralph didn’t mind it, as it gave him time to think, though the silence didn’t really help the atmosphere around them. With every landmark they passed he grew more concerned. Vanellope was generally careful, even though she did have a strong desire to test her boundaries with her glitching power from time to time, so nothing should have gone wrong. Where, then, was his little friend?
“Ralph, look!”
Ralph was finally brought out of his thoughts by Felix’s suddenly exclamation. The trio had just about passed the fix-it station that Vanellope had made sure was added to the game, and because Ralph hadn’t been paying as much attention he had failed to notice there was something off about it. The large wrecker turned to face the direction Felix and Calhoun were looking, but when he did he almost immediately regretted it. There, alone in the fix-it station, was Vanellope’s precious Sprinksmidge. The kart that he and she had built together was all but abandoned and it looked as though it hadn’t been touched recently. There were tracks on the ground in front of it, indicating other racers had come and gone, but the tracks from Vanellope’s kart had faded. He couldn’t tell where they had come from or when they had appeared. He stepped forward, keen to investigate, but Calhoun held out a hand to stop him.
“Let’s see what we’re dealing with here.” Calhoun muttered. Ralph could only watch as Calhoun pulled a small scanner out from her pocket and proceeded to look over the area surrounding the Sprinksmidge. If anyone could determine what had happened, it probably would be Calhoun. As much as she bothered him at times, Ralph had to admit that she was good with this sort of thing. He decided to leave her to it. For several moments there was silence, but at long last a small beeping sound filled the air. Ralph held his breath, hopeful that the beeping was good, and waited for Calhoun’s prognosis of the situation.
“Well, Tammy?” Felix asked.
“Looks like it’s been sitting here for over a day now. The little half-pint hasn’t been in this kart recently.” Calhoun said. Ralph allowed his breath to leave his body as a look of disbelief crossed his features. Vanellope had abandoned the Sprinksmidge? He knew that she didn’t like driving the white, sugary kart that the former ruler of Sugar Rush had stolen from her and it seemed odd that she would abandon what was essentially her first real kart, so the prognosis that it had been abandoned alarmed him. Calhoun seemed to know what he was thinking at that moment, as when he turned to continue the search at a quicker pace she decided to speak up again.
“Cool your jets, Wreck-it. We’ll find her, but we can’t just go rushing off without thinking about what could have happened.”
“What do you mean? Vanellope’s missing and the Sprinksmidge got abandoned! That’s more than enough reason to try and find her ASAP!” Ralph said. He was still partly facing the opposite direction, ready to run off at a moment’s notice, as he spoke with the stone-faced sergeant. Ralph’s desire to put Vanellope’s needs before his own seemed to be resurfacing in that moment. It was something that really hadn’t shown in his features since he had almost given up his life to protect Sugar Rush. He was about to go on, but Felix hopping in between him and Calhoun immediately silenced the wrecker.
“She’s right, brother. We need to try and figure out what happened before we do anything rash. Please.” Felix said. Ralph opened his mouth to argue, but his brown gaze drifted to the ever-widening blue eyes of his colleague. The look he was being given was absolutely pitiful in Ralph’s eyes. However, it appeared to have worked its charm. Ralph just grunted in annoyance and turned properly so he could look at Calhoun and Felix. Felix appeared relieved, and just a moment after letting the pitiful look disappear from his face he looked to his wife again as though silently prompting her to make her hypothesis on what had happened known.
“If you ask me, it looks like the kid came here for something and just forgot to get her kart when it was done. Where she ended up afterwards, though…” Calhoun paused and looked I the direction Ralph had been trying to head out moments prior. It was her best guess on where Vanellope had gone, as that direction led to a path that Vanellope knew well.
“Hard to say. She could have gone anywhere after coming here if she went in that direction.” Calhoun stated. As she pocketed her scanner, the slender woman motioned in the direction indicated. This caused Ralph and Felix to look that way and gave them an opportunity to try and piece together where the missing President could have gone. In the distance, Ralph could see the Sugar Rush castle. Was it possible Vanellope could have just headed home and forgotten her kart?
“…That doesn’t make sense.” Ralph muttered. If Vanellope were to race, she’d need to have come back to get the Sprinksmidge. It wouldn’t have just gotten abandoned if she just went home. His brows knit together in concern and his eyes narrowed slightly; clearly, it was time that the trio headed to the castle to try and see if they could get some answers. Without waiting to hear if Felix had any answers, Ralph decided to take the lead again.
“If Vanellope went this way, then our best bet is to ask Sour Bill if he knows what happened. To do that, we gotta go to the castle. Come on.” Ralph said. He didn’t wait to see if Calhoun and Felix were following him, because as soon as those words had left his mouth Ralph was on his way. The only indication he got that the others had decided to go with him was the sound of lighter footsteps against the icing-coated ground. It was time to see what was going on in the home of the sweet themed racers.
Several minutes passed in silence as Ralph led Calhoun and Felix onward. He almost wished that someone would say something to break the silence, but at the same time he was grateful. The lack of conversation gave Ralph the opportunity to mull over the different scenarios that could have occurred while he, Felix, and Calhoun had been caught up with their own agendas the previous day. Ralph wished he had been able to visit Vanellope before then. It would have saved so much trouble if he’d just dropped in to say hi. But, what was done was done. All there was to do now was to continue onward to the castle.
Fortunately for Ralph, the sugary building wasn’t far away. He admittedly had picked up his pace quite a bit and did have longer strides for Calhoun and Felix to match, but that didn’t matter. He’d led them on to the castle and they were about to get some answers. As they walked up the path leading to Vanellope’s home, Ralph was quick to notice that there was a lack of the usual Oreo guards in front of the castle. The thought occurred to him that they had been given a break, but it was still odd in his eyes. The sooner they got to Sour Bill, he realized, the better off they would be and the closer they would be to figuring out what had gone wrong. Soon they were standing in front of the door and ready to head inside. Ralph remembered that Vanellope had made it a rule that he and the rest of her cross-game family were allowed to come and go as they pleased in the castle. That fact meant that they would be able to just walk in and start asking questions without a problem. So, Ralph raised his hand and pulled the door open. He could see the uncertainty on Felix’s face as he proceeded onward, but ignored it. The fact that there was a missing President somewhere in Sugar Rush was what was spurring Ralph on to be a bit rash.
“Hello? Anybody home?”
Ralph’s question echoed a bit as he stepped inside the sweet castle. Quite obviously, there was no one present to answer him. Ralph frowned again and took a couple of steps further while Felix and Calhoun followed him in. No doughnut guards, no Vanellope, and apparently no Sour Bill either; just where was everybody?
Ralph opened his mouth to try again, but he stopped when he realized he had actually heard something. There was a light sound of footsteps and the sound of wheels rolling against the floor of the castle, which led Ralph to believe someone was coming. He held his breath and waited to see who was coming while watching Calhoun and Felix from the corner of his eye. The former was tense and the latter apparently was waiting as well. No one dared move until the owner of the footsteps actually stepped out from the hallway they were coming down.
Green. The first thing Ralph saw was green entering the throne room. It was Sour Bill, but he wasn’t the only thing he had noticed. The sound of wheels had come from a trolley the little ball of sour candy was pushing along. Ralph couldn’t see what was on it outside of a bowl of some kind, but now he had someone from the candy game in his sights. He had to ask what was going on.
“Hey! Sourpuss!”
Not the best way to go about doing it, but Ralph figured it would get Sour Bill’s attention. Grab his attention it did, as the instant Sour Bill realized that he was no longer alone the little ball of candy was quick to try and get away. In a flash, Ralph made his move to try and catch the little attendant of the President while Calhoun followed suit. He didn’t have to go too far, as Sour Bill was still rather slow in comparison to him, and soon enough the wrecker was grasping his one link to Vanellope at present in his large, square fingers. With Sour Bill caught, it appeared that Calhoun saw no reason to be as on guard as she had been before. So she dropped her guard and motioned for Ralph to do the questioning he needed to do.
“Where’s Vanellope?” Ralph really felt no need to ask anything more than that. Sour Bill was her attendant, so he probably knew better than anyone else. Instead of giving an answer, though, Sour Bill just sort of glared at Ralph. He supposed it was understandable, though. Ralph had threatened to eat him once before, after all, so there was definitely some bad code between them. Ralph opened his mouth to say something else, but he was cut off. Calhoun wanted to jump in next.
“You have exactly one minute to tell us where that half-pint is, or things might just get ugly here.” Calhoun hissed. Ralph was grateful that the woman was on their side; the last thing he wanted to do was cross paths with her when he had no idea what she was capable of. This little threat seemed to loosen Sour Bill up, thankfully, as he was whimpering a little and, to Ralph’s surprise, expressing an emotion beyond apathy.
“She’s here, she’s here! She just can’t leave the castle.”
“How come? What’s going on in this game now?” Calhoun asked. Sour Bill didn’t respond, causing Ralph to prod him with one of his square fingers, and just resolved himself to dangle there in silence. Whatever was going on, it looked as though Sour Bill didn’t want anyone outside of Sugar Rush to know about it.
“If you don’t tell us…” Ralph began, but he stopped when he finally took notice of the fact that Felix wasn’t next to him or Calhoun. Ralph started to look around the throne room when he realized this, and a few moments later he finally saw the blue-clad handyman next to the trolley that Sour Bill had been pushing. Sour Bill apparently had noticed it as well, as the little ball of candy quickly started waving his jellybean hands back and forth a little as though he didn’t want Felix to see something on it. It was too late, though, as Felix had finished examining the trolley and lifted his head to look at Calhoun and Ralph again.
“I think you two need to see this.” Felix said. Ralph and Calhoun exchanged glances briefly before complying with the handyman’s suggestion. Sour Bill still dangled from Ralph’s massive hand as the two approached, and he was only dropped to the floor when Ralph got a good look at what Felix had noticed. The bowl he had seen contained what appeared to be a soup of some kind, and there was something that had gone unnoticed because it was out of sight. The second thing on the trolley was a little thermometer tucked away in a colorful candy wrapper. Ralph and Calhoun once again exchanged glances and looked to Sour Bill. There was only one other person that lived in the castle to their knowledge, and if there was any doubt about what was going on then it had completely vanished in that instant. They wanted to hear it from Sour Bill, though, and so the trio looked down and waited for him to speak.
“She can’t leave the castle because… she’s ill.” Sour Bill finally said. It didn’t take a genius to deduce that Sour Bill was concerned about the little President. Even Ralph, who wasn’t necessarily the most brilliant game character in the arcade, could tell that Sour Bill’s present state was genuine. That was enough of a reason for Ralph to lose his desire to harm something. It also had given him the answer he needed about where Vanellope was. However, it wasn’t enough. Ralph wanted to know what was genuinely wrong with Vanellope.
“How ill?” Ralph asked. He needed to know that his friend was going to recover, and that she would be well enough to race again soon, before he would be able to say with certainty that he and the rest of his little group could leave. Only then would he be satisfied.
“It… it’s a virus. Unfortunately, I have no idea how she contracted it. I’ve been trying to take care of her-“
“That’s enough.” Ralph said. He didn’t want to hear anymore of what Sour Bill was going to say since the information he needed had been given. He turned his attention to Felix and Calhoun and started to walk in the direction Sour Bill had come from.
“You two stay here. I’m gonna check on the kid and find out how she’s doing.”
“Like fun you are, Wreck-it. What if you catch whatever she has?” Calhoun asked. Ralph stopped dead in his tracks with one foot raised in the air before looking back at the group. He supposed she had a point in what she said; if what Sour Bill said was true, then there was a possibility the sickness Vanellope had could be contagious. It could have been what caused the odd quiet they had been witnesses of in Sugar Rush that day.
“It won’t affect you. The virus hasn’t spread to anyone outside of Vanellope since she contracted it.” Sour Bill stated.
That explains why he isn’t sick, Ralph thought. If what Sour Bill said was true, then he had nothing to worry about. This left the wrecker with the choice of staying where he was or going on with his quest to check on Vanellope now that he knew where she was. Naturally, his desire was still firmly set on the latter track.
“In that case, you two still need to stay here. I’ll let you know how she’s doing.” Ralph said. Without giving the others a chance to react, Ralph hastened his steps and made his way down the hallway that Sour Bill had come from. This particular hallway, Ralph discovered, was rather interesting because of the layout; the doors were located on the left-hand side of the hall, and the hallway itself was rather wide… almost like it had been built for someone bigger than the Sugar Rush racers and other residents. So lost in thought was the wrecker that he almost missed the tiny, kittenish sneeze coming from behind one of the doors in the hall. A groan followed, and Ralph was able to pinpoint the location. Soon, he stood in front of a door that had a little sign with the letter ‘V’ written on it. Naturally, his mind jumped to his friend’s name and he proceeded to carefully open the door.
The sight within the room was rather pitiful to Ralph. As soon as he stepped inside, he was greeted by the image of little Vanellope bundled up in multiple candy wrapper blankets with her hair hanging freely from the usual ponytail it was kept in, an odd sight in and of itself since Ralph had always seen Vanellope with her hair up before, balled up tissues scattered across the floor, her boots tossed aside in a corner of the room, and what appeared to be a pile of empty cough drop wrappers near her bed. Ralph took a couple of steps forward to try and examine his friend, only to step back again when he saw her glitch violently beneath the blanket she was wrapped in as a coughing fit started. Even before Turbo had been defeated, Ralph had never seen Vanellope glitch in such a manner that looked painful. The glitching was beginning to cease at last, though, and this made Ralph feel more comfortable to step forward and gently place a finger against her back as it began to solidify again so he could try to soothe her. At length, the coughing stopped and Vanellope finally looked up.
“Ralph?” she asked. Her voice sounded weak and croaky, like it hurt for her to speak, and hearing her sound this way made Ralph hurt inside. Vanellope was clearly suffering from something horrible and he wished he had a way to make her feel better as soon as possible. He didn’t, though, and could only offer words to try and cheer her up to some degree.
“Hey, kid… heard you weren’t feeling so hot.”
“I… I feel like… doodie.” Vanellope stated. Although it should have been funny, Ralph didn’t have the heart to laugh at his friend’s statement. Not while she felt so horrible, anyway. Ralph tried to speak again, but his thought was interrupted when Vanellope went into another coughing fit and started to glitch again. When it finally stopped, the poor black-haired racer ended up on the floor in a crumpled up heap not unlike the tissues scattered about the room. Ralph wasted no time in scooping her up in his big hands and cradling her like the small child she was, all the while maintaining a combination of concern and fear in his features. Whatever Vanellope had caught, it was truly a serious virus.
“How did you get like this, Vanellope?” Ralph asked. He had to know. He had to know what had caused Vanellope to end up in a state of pain and suffering within a period of only a day or so. If Ralph didn’t find out, then he didn’t know what he would do. He didn’t think he could really go on like everything was normal while knowing his best friend was so terribly sick.
“I dunno…”
Another coughing fit followed, and Vanellope weakly grasped at Ralph’s fingers as though she were holding on for dear life. Ralph carefully cupped his fingers around the girl and just held her, trying to let her know she was safe, until the fit ceased. When it was over, Ralph laid Vanellope on her bed and covered her up before proceeding to kneel down at her eye level so that maybe she wouldn’t have to strain her voice for him to hear.
“Everything was… fine until recently. W-we got a new racer added to the… the roster. I tried to give her a tour, Ralph, but…” Vanellope stopped speaking then as she started to surrender to the apparent desire to sleep. Ralph wanted to hear more, though, and so he gently nudged her in an effort to wake her. When her brown-green eyes opened again, she made one final effort to get across what she wanted to say before deciding to give in to her desire to rest again.
“Something went… wrong. I glitched, and… felt something weird. In the coding…”
Ralph held his breath, hoping to hear more if he did, but no further words came. Vanellope allowed herself to slump forward and embraced a state of sleep. Ralph thought about trying to wake her again, but stopped himself and sighed; if she was that sick, then she needed her rest. He could get more out of her later. He gently patted her back with the tip of his finger and made his way out of her room as quietly as he could. When the door closed behind him, Ralph made a little promise to himself. He was going to find out what happened to make Vanellope sick. He would find out, or probably die trying. Whichever came first, he would make sure that Vanellope was cured somehow.
How do I end up getting myself into these situations?
