Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Chapter Two
Level 1: Ready...Fight!
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The Surge Protector's Station was less of a station and more of a single room at the far end of the station like hub.

A hazy blue man who looked like a mall cop with a small wire coming out from the top of his head was sitting behind his desk, filling out various forms and papers while Layla and Ralph sat in front of him.

Layla sat angrily in her chair. Her right hand encased in a wierd pink bubble which kept her from shooting it to escape. Her arms were crossed in aggravation and even her breathing had taken on an angry tone.

Ralph meanwhile sat between her and the door and struggled to get comfy in the small seats, well, small for him.

The surge protector finally looked up at Ralph and Layla after a long wait and extended his hand to Ralph.

"Sorry for taking a moment to fill out papers, Ralph. How've you been?"

"Pretty good." Ralph said, shaking the hand of his friend, "Well for the most part."

Ralph motioned with his head over at Layla who was too busy angrily pouting to notice.

"Good, good. So let me get this straight." the blue man said, looking down at one of the papers on his desk,"You're here because the young lady has lost her game?"

"No!" Layla huffed, still looking angrily off to the side.

"Well, why don't you tell us what game you came out of?"

"I didn't come from a game." she hissed.

"If you didn't come from a game then it's only logical that you must be a virus." the surge protector stated, resting on his elbows and leaning forward.

"I'm not a Virus!" Layla yelled, standing up and slamming her hands on his desk, shaking all the contents on it.

The surge protector didn't flinch at Layla's outburst but Ralph stared at her wide eyed. He was surprised by the amount of anger that seemingly fumed
out of this small woman, which made him wonder if that was what it looked like when he lost his own temper.

"Well, It's simple enough to see if you are indeed a virus or not." the unfazed blue man said, adjusting his glasses.

"I'm not a Virus." she repeated sitting back down and crossing her arms again.

"If all we needed was your word then we'd be done here, but just in case." he mocked and searched through his desk, "Please hold out your hand, palm up."

Layla let out another aggravated sigh and put her right palm in front of the surge protector, the bubble around it making a bouncy sound.

"The palm that isn't in quarantine at the moment." he insisted.

Layla looked away from him and let out an audible breath from her nostrils and put her left palm on the desk. The surge protector quickly pulled out a thin, two pronged pen like machine and shoved it into her palm before pulling it back out just as quickly.

"OWE! What the Hell!?" Layla yelled, Ralph chuckling next to her until she shot him another angry look.

"Please watch your language, young lady." the surge protector said, pulling out another small machine with a screen on it. He put the pen tool in the
empty slot and turned the it on, causing it to ding and lite up for a few seconds before finally settling again.

"Well well..." he whispered to himself.

"I knew it, she's a virus." Ralph said, throwing his hands up into the air.

"Quite the opposite, according to this it's 98% positive she is not a virus."
Layla put her legs up on the power surge's desk in triumph and stuck her tongue out at Ralph, who rolled his eyes.

"But the meter isn't giving a 100 percent reading as to what game, if any, she came from...so looks like we're gonna have to keep an eye on you as a precaution, Miss."

"Well now that that's settled, always a pleasure seeing you, see ya Layla." Ralph said getting up.

"Actually, Ralph, if it wouldn't be too much trouble..." the surge protector started, looking down at other papers on his desk, "If it's no trouble could you monitor the young lady until she can get full clearance?"

"What!? Don't you have a cell you can shove her in or something?"

"We do, but protocol states no one with a ninety percent clearance or higher is to be quarantined in the cell.  So would you mind keeping an eye on her?"

"Are you serious!? How do you expect me to keep an eye on her? It's not like we can tie her up in the yard or put a bell around her neck."

The power surge again searched through his desk and pulled out two large clear rings, putting one on Ralph's left wrist and the other on Layla's right ankle that sat in front of him on his desk.

"Hey!" they both stammered as the rings adjusted to the appropriate sizes around them and a red wire of light appeared from one of the rings to the other. Then instantly the wire and rings both vanished, looking as if nothing was on the two of them at all.

"Wait! You can't do this! What about my vacation? I'm headed over to..."

"Sorry Ralph, until she gets full clearance you can't pass to the beach level of the racing game. It's protection protocol."

Ralph stood for a moment, he huffed and let out little aggravated sounds trying to find a way to get out of having to babysit but came up with no reason better than he just didn't want to.

He frantically searched through his mind in a last ditch effort to come up with a good reason when finally he gave up and could do nothing but slowly sit back down.

"Thanks Ralph, I owe you one."

Ralph buried his face in one of his large hands for a second before letting out a big, long sigh.

"Yeah, I know..." he finally groaned, getting up and walking out. "come on."

Layla flicked the ring around her ankle, which caused it to spark and appear for a second then disappear again.

She got up and quickly followed Ralph out the door, turning and bowing mockingly at the surge protector before disappearing around the corner. The surge protector just stared blankly at the door for a second before returning to the paper work on his desk.

The two of them walked out into the large empty station.

The usually bustling game hub was deserted, something Ralph had seen every year until recently during the vacation time.

After taking a few steps out of the surge protector's station the bubble around Layla's hand popped away.

She stretched and moved her fingers, inspecting and feeling her right hand to double check that the bubble hadn't done any damage.

"So does that mean I can shoot my hand again?" she said, thinking how wierd that sounded.

"Probably, but you're not a virus so you won't...right?" Ralph said, never looking down at her.

Layla gave him an irritated glare out of the corner of her eye before giving her hand a last look over.

"All I wanted to do was lay out in the sun...taking some time off to hang out with my friends. Drink those sweet drinks with the little umbrellas in them. I hate those drinks but I still wanted to get at least one. It's tradition." Ralph said out loud to himself, his disappointment apparent while Layla walked beside him.

"So, what are these things?" she asked pointing down to her ankle, feeling the need to interrupt his self loathing, "Doesn't feel like there's anything there at all."

"It's an overlook ring. They keep you from getting too far away from whoever you're attached to." he said, walking up his game terminal.

"That's pretty neat. Could have used these a couple times in Ever Wood." she said. "So what's that big train station called?"
Ralph looked down at her. She really wasn't from around there.

"This is Game Central Station. It connects all the games that are plugged in at the arcade."

Layla looked up at him, her eyes wide and a goofy smile forming on her face which made Ralph lean away from her. She hadn't heard the word 'arcade' in a long time. Almost felt like it was a foreign word to her.

Ralph just looked down at her, a confused look on his face.

"So we're in an arcade game?" she finally said, the excitement apparent in her voice.

"Not yet...but as soon as the trolley gets here..."

"Oh man! This is great! I've been to a lot of places, but never in a video game! This is so great!"

Ralph had no idea what to think as the trolley came dinging into the terminal. Layla almost jumped into the second to the last seat, her excitement bubbling up throughout her whole body.

They rode for a moment in silence when Layla finally turned around to talk to Ralph.

"So what's this about a beach level?"

"Not that it matters now, but you're little visit just ruined my vacation."

"Ah...I see...OH! That's right, the little umbrellas, right." she said, which bothered Ralph because he couldn't tell if she was making fun of him or not.

"Well, if it's any small consolation, I'm sorry you don't get to go anymore, especially because of me."

Ralph was surprised by her apology. He hadn't expected her to feel any sort of remorse based on how she'd carried herself since she'd arrived. Especially since she had tried to shoot a hole in his face earlier that night.

"Um...thanks."

Layla smiled and turned back around, still fidgeting with excitement in her seat. Ralph just stared down at the jittering woman in front of him. He had never met anyone who made him feel so lost and confused before, not to mention uneasy.

Based on how she'd acted in the short time he'd had to deal with her he couldn't tell if she was someone he had to watch his back around or if she was just some weirdo.

Suddenly Layla draped her head back over the back of the trolley to look at him, which surprised Ralph, who jumped and moved his focus down to his knees for fear that she'd caught him staring at her.

"So what are we gonna do now?" she asked, a smile on her upside down face.

"Um...well I need to call someone when we get to my game."

She continued to smile up at him for a second before raising her head and facing forward again.

Ralph looked up at the back of her head again without raising his at first, scared she might see him blushing from embarrassment.

When they got to the Fix it Felix station Ralph reached down into his pocket and pulled out a little hand held video communication device that Calhoun had given him the day before.

"What's that?" Layla asked, looking around the dark trolley station.

"A video link."

The little device clicked on and gave a few rings before a blond man with a big smile answered.

"Hey Brother! Wasn't expecting to hear from you till tomorrow."

"Hey Felix, yeah...well I got some bad news."

"Hey tidily winks, what time you think you'll be comin' in tomorrow" a tall blond woman said from over Felix's shoulder.

"Tidily winks?" Ralph said to himself, "Hey Calhoun, um, I won't be able to make it out this year."

"Awe well darn, why not?" Felix said, the disappointment in his voice equal to Ralph's tone in Game Central Station.

"I was lucky enough to get an overlook ring attached to me." he said, lifting up his arm and flicking it, causing the ring to spark and show itself for a moment.

"Overlooked, hm?" Calhoun said, now sitting next to Felix. "So who'd you get lucky enough to get overlooked to? Vanellope? Zangief? One of the zombies?"

"Well..." Ralph said moving the device so Felix and Calhoun could see Layla standing a few feet behind him.

"Who's that?" Calhoun and Felix both said at the same time.

"Her name's Layla...she's crazy." Ralph whispered into the link.

"I heard that!" Layla yelled.

"You kind of are!" Ralph yelled back while Layla looked at him angrily.

Calhoun and Felix smiled at each other for a moment.

"Don't think I've ever seen her around before, what game is she from?" Felix asked.

"She doesn't know, said she came from a portal."

"Portal? Is she a virus?" Calhoun whispered urgently, getting close to the screen.

"The Surge Protector says no, but she didn't get full clearance so that's why I can't make it."

"Well franks and beans! Sorry to hear that Ralph, we're sure gonna miss your company."

"There's always next year." Calhoun said.

"Yeah, next year." Ralph huffed.

"We'll be home soon enough, then we'll enjoy the rest of the time off together." Felix added, a reassuring smile on his face.

"Thanks guys, see you in a few days." Ralph sighed as they said their goodbyes and hung up.

"I'm not crazy." Layla repeated when Ralph walked past her, putting the video link back in his pocket.

"You tried killing me because you thought I was an Ogre, and not only that but you made a big deal about your 'not red' wavy black hair immediately after. Sorry if that doesn't scream 'of sound mind' to me."

Layla opened her mouth to say something before stopping to think about what Ralph had said.

"I see your point..." she agreed, which made her visibly annoyed, "but if you've been through what I have you would have probably acted the same way."

"So what have you been through? Maybe you should share, it might help us figure out where you came from so we can send you back."

Layla's face went from a calm annoyance to intimidatingly angry, so much so that Ralph immediately regretted saying what he had.

"Where I came from and what I've been through is no ones business, especially not yours! And if I had a choice I'd go back there in a heartbeat rather than wasting my time here being tied to a big, dumb, smelly...ogre!"

Ralph completely forgot his remorse and his temper began to flare. He hadn't been called an ogre so much in his entire life and the overuse of the word in past couple of hours helped him realize how much it bothered him.

"Oh no!" he responded sarcastically, "Does that mean I'm stuck with you?"

If looks could kill Ralph would have definitely been obliterated instantly from the look Layla gave him. She was caught off guard from the shift of mood
which would usually result in her losing her temper, which she immediately did as fast as Ralph lost his.

"If I'd known I'd end up in a world where I'd have to deal with such a sad excuse as yourself I'd never have agreed for us to visit all those worlds in the first place!"

Ralph hesitated for a second, thinking about what she'd just said.

"Us? Is there someone else being thrown out of portals around here? 'Cause I don't know if I wanna deal with two of you."

Layla's face instantly changed from angry to a wide eyed panic. She didn't realize she'd said what she had and the look on her face was enough to raise Ralph's suspicion.

"Who else is here?" Ralph insisted.

"No one." she snapped, a small amount of anger reappearing on her face.

"Well if no one else is here why'd you say 'us' just now?"

Layla's anger reappeared across her face, so much so that Ralph remembered his regret and although he never changed his expression his body language began to show his hesitation.

"I don't owe you anything, least of all an explanation! Especially about my life! I'm going back to Game Central, I'd much rather spend the night there instead of having to put up with you another second!" she yelled, walking toward the trolley depot.

Ralph watched her walk across the lawn and get almost to the platform when suddenly the overlook rings started to shine with an electric light before becoming visible again, tripping Layla mid-step, causing her to fall flat on her stomach. She tried to lift herself off the floor when the rings began to pull her closer to where Ralph stood, scooting her along the ground by her ankle.

Ralph just watched while Layla was basically dragged to a spot a few feet in front of him before the rings blinked off and went invisible again.

The two of them didn't say a word. Ralph stared down at Layla, who was still sitting on the ground, her arms crossed. She was embarrassed at what had just happened which made her temper subside and Ralph didn't think it would help the situation any if he not only kept asking her what she'd meant but also if he exploded in laughter like he wanted to.

"You enjoyed that didn't you?" she finally mumbled after a long silence, her cheeks a light shade of pink from the embarrassment.

"A little." He answered as gently as possible so not to start the argument again, "Come on, you can take the sofa for the night."

Ralph extended his hand but Layla ignored the gesture and got herself up before following Ralph to his home, the argument between them now forgotten.

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Chapter Three
Level 2: Choose Your Racer
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"Come on in." Ralph said, holding the door to his home open for Layla.

Layla walked in without looking at him and was imidiately surprised by the mood she felt once inside. His home was infinitely more cozy than she would have expected someone as intimidating looking as Ralph to live in.

It was small, not nearly as tall for a man of Ralph's height, but he didn't seem to mind having to duck slightly.

The layout was of the house was simple enough, only being a main room that served as living and dining room. A kitchen that was seperated from the main room by a half wall which served as both counter and extra seating.
Two rooms were off to the right of the living room, one of them being Ralph's bedroom and the other being a surprisingly small restroom. The large furniture seemed to be the only thing that fit Ralph in the house.

"Make yourself at home." he said interrupting her train of thought while he dissapeared into his bedroom. "Just try not to shoot anything."

Layla silently mimicked him before turning back to looking around the room.

Ralph had a minimal amount of decor, aside from a framed cookie metal hanging up on one of the walls.

The only other decor he had was many framed pictures hanging up on the walls and standing on side tables.

The photos were of various people staring back with large smiles on their faces, as to be expected, but the majority of the images were of Ralph himself and a little girl with black hair and what looked to be candy stuck to it.

Some of the pictures included the two people he'd talked to on the video link, but the majority was of just himself and the little girl.

Seeing the large man with an equally large and warm smile on his face made Layla forget her annoyance with him for a moment.

In the couple of hours she'd been in this 'game world' she'd only experienced his scowl and his temper, but she had to admit she hadn't really been the warmest person herself to warrent any other reaction.

She recalled what she'd felt when she first saw his face in the dim lights outside earlier. Even though she eventually thought him to be an ogre she felt an inexplicable calm overtake her while he stared back at her wide eyed before speaking.

She shook off the feeling and let out a huff of air, feeling silly for a moment. She gave the room a quick look and walked over to one of the photo frames, picking it up.

She hadn't been able to let her guard down in such a long time that she'd forgotten what it was like to just be herself.

Ralph hadn't done anything to deserve being treated the way she'd treated him up to that point, especially after his life had been put on hold because of her. She smiled down at the picture in her hand and the calm she'd felt earlier returned.

'From this point on I'll be nicer.' she thought, 'Or at least try to be more pleasant.'

She just hoped it wasn't too late to change his first impression of her. Layla looked worried for a moment, that might be hard considering his first impression of her was her trying to pull weapons out to kill him.

Not a great first impression.

"Here you go." Ralph said, coming into the room with a blanket and a pillow, "You can take the sofa tonight if that's okay. It's pretty comfy, and a girl as small as you can fit pretty well on it."

"Thanks." she said putting the picture down.

Ralph plopped them down on the sofa, gave her a forced smile and turned to go to his room.

"And um, sorry..." she said.

"For what?" he said, slowly turning around.

"For giving you such a hard time about everything, like calling you Ogre, and messing up you plans...and trying to ki...well, just everything. I'm sorry for everything."

That apology sounded better in her head.

"Oh..um, okay. Thanks." Ralph answered, again surprised by her seemingly genuine apology.

He took a few steps toward his room and stopped, turning to face her again.

"And I'm sorry for...you know, what happened out there." he said, motioning toward the depot with his head.

"Don't worry about it." she answered, fiddling with the tip of her long pony-tail.

The two of them awkwardly smiled at each other for a moment.

"Um... we better get some sleep, we've gotta get up early tomorrow." Ralph said breaking the awkward silence.

"For what?" Layla asked.

"We've got a race to get to in the morning. Have a good night...Layla was it?"

She nodded. "You too. See you in the morning, Ralph."

Ralph walked into his room leaving Layla alone. She looked down at the blanket and pillow and sat down, leaning on them while she stared out the window to her right. This world didn't seem bad at all, especially when compared to the other worlds she'd been thrown into before.

Layla lifted her right hand and simply stared at it for a second. Her added ability wasn't too bad, unexpected and at the moment not necessary, but pretty great none the less.

She turned her attention down to her information scanner and pushed a few buttons, going through the limited menus it gave her about the game world. She read through the even more limited information that came up and got a small rush from it.

"So I really am in a game..." she whispered to herself before searching through the menus again.

A grid came up on the small screen along with a special sonar. It blinked for a few moments, showing a faint blip in the center before righting itself and showing nothing but the grid itself.

Layla turned off the scanner and looked down at the floor.

'Good...all clear. Maybe he didn't follow me this time.' she thought, more to try and convince herself than actually stating a fact.

She looked up at the window again where she focused on her reflection.

This new look was really different from the last, and the dozen that preceded it, but she liked it. It looked most like the real her...or at least what she remembered. It had been a while since she'd looked in a mirror and saw her real self and she missed her own face looking back at her. She took off her boots and adjusted herself on the sofa.

'Hopefully he didn't follow...' she repeated before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

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Ralph closed the door to his room behind him after leaving Layla in the living room. He felt a little better about the whole situation, considering she'd just apologized to him for being a pain...and gave him a chance to apologize for being one too.

This whole day had taken such a drastic turn that he hadn't realised how tired he actually was until that moment. He laid down and stared out the little window in his room that faced the brick pile he used to call home. He remembered how no one had given him a chance or a second look until he met his best friend Vanellope a couple of years before. He thought that maybe he should give Layla some slack and not judge her too harshly...even though she did try to kill him.

'For someone so small I still can't believe she almost made me pass out' he thought to himself as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

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Bright and early the next morning the two of them rushed through Game Central Station and into one of the many transports. Layla didn't know what to expect from a game called 'Sugar Rush', especially considering Ralph wasn't giving too much away about what was at the end of the tram ride.

When they walked into the game Layla's eyes grew to the size of saucers. Up beat music played in the air complimenting the sight in front of her. She'd never seen such a vivid landscape and if the colors weren't enough to make her heart soar the entire landscape was made completely out of candy.

"Wow" she said in a long drawn out whisper, completely taken back by the wonderful view she would have only dreamed of.

Ralph looked down at her and let a small smile crack his stern expression for a moment.

"Come on, we need to get to the track before the race starts." he said.

The two rushed down the sour strip rainbow bridge and followed the path until they reached a wide racing track, bandstands full of cheering fans on either side of it. Candy people of all types lined the stands, screaming and hollering, getting pumped up for the race itself.

A large elaborately decorated sign went over the large road with a checkered banner hanging from below it glistening in the sun. A large winners cup adorning the very top center of it. Below it fourteen kids buffed and tweaked their racing cars which seemed to be, much like everything else, made of candy. Each kid representing a certain kind of candy or dessert and everyone of them exuded pure and unabashed confidence.

It was definitely a sight that Layla had never seen before. She found herself lost in the over stimulating surroundings when a loud high-pitched shriek broke her train of thought.

"General Booger Brain! You made it!"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world Conrad Tootie Tush!" Ralph said as the same little girl from the pictures jumped up into his arms.

She, like the rest of the racers was tiny, especially when compared to Ralph and to Layla herself for that matter, only maybe coming up to just below her hips. The little girl was all smiles looking at Ralph, talking about her racer and the games in general until she saw Layla standing behind him.

Layla waved at her sheepishly, an awkward smile on her face.

The girls big smile faded while she looked Layla up and down, looking at her like she was a commoner in the presence of royalty. Layla felt a shiver go up her back because of the icy stare that came from the little girl.

"Who's that?" the little girl asked.

"Oh I almost forgot. Vanellope this is Layla, Layla this is Vanellope von Schweets president of Sugar Rush."

"Nice to meet you. You really have an amazing game here."

"Thanks." Vanellope said, her face still stern, "What is she doing here?"

"Be nice, she's gonna be...around for a little while." Ralph said, not really sure how to quickly explain the situation.

Vanellope didn't say anything but her face grew slightly more annoyed.

"We're gonna start soon, I gotta get to my racer. See you later Ralph...Layla."

She turned and walked over to her car, the icy way she said Layla's name matching the stare she'd given her.

"Well she seems...nice." Layla mumbled.

"Sorry, she's not normally like that." Ralph answered, not knowing why she was acting the way she was. "Let's get to our seats. Ever seen a sugar race?"

"Can't say that I have."

"You're in for a great show." he said.

Vanellope kept her eyes on the two of them while they walked to their seats, especially Layla. She had an immediate dislike for the mystery woman, who was she and why was she hanging around Ralph?

There was something about her that Vanellope didn't fully trust either, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"What's the matter Vanellope?" a little boy with a peanut butter cup for a hat asked.

"Nothing yet, Rancis." Vanellope replied, walking to where the other racers had started to gather, "But whatever it is...I don't trust it."

Each of the racers gathered in front of the stands on one side of the road, waving to the crowd with confident smiles on their faces just as a small green candy ball with what looked like a lollipop stuck to his back walked out and introduced the honorable President Vanellope von Schweets.

"So what's happening now?" Layla whispered to Ralph.

"This is the introduction ceremony. Each racer has to pay a gold coin to race and have a chance to get added to the avatar board that the players will choose from when the arcade opens up again. It's also a chance to get re-introduced to the crowd, who really don't need to be reminded who the racers are, but it get's everyone fired up before the race."

Layla nodded and watched as each of the racers tossed a coin onto a flat drum like handle that instantly flung it into the trophy above the finish line. Followed by their name being added to the roster on the jumbo screen.

"They haven't even raced yet and I'm already really excited." Layla whispered.

Ralph gave her a small crooked smile while she intently watched what happened in front of her.

When all the racers had been added to the list they gave a final wave to the crowd and ran to their racers. Revving their engines while they waited for the green light.

A countdown started up on the screen and as soon as it reached zero and the lights on either side of the track turned green they were off!

The fans exploded with a deafening roar as the racers flew past the starting line and disappeared around the first turn. Everyone turned their attention to the jumbo screen which was now the only way to see who was in the lead.

The racers zoomed into their first obstacle, a short jump to a u-shaped track where giant gum-balls rolled up and down the high sides narrowly missing some of the racers while others were hit and taken out off the race.

Layla couldn't help herself. The cheering and excitement around her was too much to ignore. This was truly an amazing sight and she was fully enjoying the atmosphere as she shot up from her seat and joined the crowd in their excitement.

"Ralph, this is amazing!" she said, letting out a loud cry.

Ralph couldn't help but smile. Her excitement was infectious and seeing her reaction reminded him of the first time he'd seen Vanellope drive her racer. Layla hopped and threw her fists in the air, screaming and chanting toward the screen with everyone around them, looking over at Ralph every now and then. He almost couldn't believe that this was the same woman who attacked him the night before.

The racers flew into one obstacle after the next, rushing past each other in an almost dance through the track. The closer they got to the finish line the louder Layla got. She jumped up on her bench and leaned on Ralph for support yelling up into the air, "GO VANELLOPE!"

Ralph couldn't help but let down his demeanor and joined Layla in cheering for his best friend.

As the racers came around the final turn it was impossible to deny it, Vanellope zoomed past the finish line followed one by one of the other racers still in the game.

Layla and Ralph hopped out of their seats and roared in triumph along with the rest of the crowd. The stands were filled with a mess of screams while everyone jumped about and celebrated another amazing race!

Layla was so full of elation that she turned to Ralph and jumped into his chest, giving him a strong hug.

Ralph froze where he stood, he was completely surprised by the affectionate display and his face glowed with a shade of red he hadn't been in a long time.

Vanellope waved to the crowd, a large smile on her face from the feeling of a job well done.  That is until she looked up to her best friend and saw him with the new mystery girl's arms wrapped around him.

Vanellope's smile quickly faded and anger took it's place.

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"That was great! That was the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Layla yelled, finally realising that she was hugging Ralph and quickly pushed away, "um...sorry...it's been a while since I've let my guard down...sorry."

Layla stepped down off the bench she was standing on and averted her gaze, completely embarrassed at what she'd just done.

"Th-that's okay...it was a good race." Ralph finally murmured, not knowing what else to say, "Let's go congratulate Vanellope."

"Okay." Layla squeaked out, burying her face in her palm as he turned away before following behind.

Vanellope was still fuming when Ralph and Layla walked up but she tried her best not to let it show on her face.

"Hey kid, that was some great racing!" Ralph said to her.

"Thanks." Vanellope answered, shooting Layla a quick glare before deciding that the best thing to do was to ignore her completely. "So, when are we headed to the beach?"

Ralph's smile faded, he'd completely forgotten that he had to give Vanellope the bad news about missing their vacation.

"Um...I've got some bad news, Kid."

Vanellope put up one of her hands and looked away, the annoyance in her face was more than apparent when she finally turned back toward him.

"Let me guess..." she said, shooting a look over at Layla.

"I really am sorry about all this." Layla said.

"So why can't you go?" Vanellope asked Ralph, completely ignoring Layla.

"She's not allowed into that level yet and I can't leave her side, so..."

Vanellope pouted. She was looking forward to this day so much and now it had truly turned out to be the worst day she could remember...well in recent memory.

"Why can't she go into the beach level anyway?" she finally said after a few minutes of pouting.

"Well...she got thrown into my game through a portal." Ralph started.

"A portal?" Vanellope said confused.

"And because I don't have a game I don't have full clearance into some of the levels of the other games." Layla explained completely aware at the little girls annoyance, "And Ralph got stuck with keeping an eye on me."

Vanellope thought for a second, if Layla got thrown through a portal and she wasn't allowed to go into some levels that could only mean one thing.
Everything started to make sense and she began to form a plan to get Ralph away from the new woman.

"Well I can't be too mad at that can I?" Vanellope said, instantly changing her demeanor, which confused Ralph and Layla. "You know, this place is gonna be a ghost town in a few minutes, why don't I give you guys a full tour of the kingdom from my racer? You know, show Layla the sights first hand."

Ralph and Layla looked at each other. The shift in her mood was both surprising and slightly uneasy but at least she wasn't angry anymore.

"Sure kid, sounds good."

"Sounds like fun." Layla followed.

"Then it's settled." Vanellope said, a sly smile forming on her face.

-----------------------------------------

Vanellope was right, the whole game cleared out pretty quickly leaving the three of them alone to take a brisk tour of the whole game in peace. They piled onto Vanellope's racer, Ralph on the back and Layla sitting just behind Vanellope which although was a funny sight to see wasn't too bad.

They drove around the various roads throughout the kingdom, Vanellope pointing out places of interest every now and then.

After about an hour of touring Vanellope pulled onto the track where they had started. She looked over her shoulder for a second, double checking to see if it was a good time to put her plan into action.

'Now's the time' she thought to herself.

"So Layla, you said you came out of a portal?" Vanellope asked.

"Pretty much."

"Okay, so you didn't come out of a game and now Ralph's stuck following you around?"

"Well, he doesn't really follow me, but I guess that's technically right."

"That's all I needed to know." Vanellope said, shifting her racer into gear and gunning it past the starting line.

"Hey Kid, this isn't funny. Slow down!" Ralph said, while he and Layla tried to hold on for dear life.

Vanellope shifted again and took the racer even faster around the first curve. Layla struggled to grasp onto the racer and was almost immediately thrown off onto a marshmallow and hard candy patch on the side of the road.

"KID STOP! Layla flew out!" Ralph yelled.

"Don't worry Ralph, she landed in a marshmallow shrub. Besides, I had to get her away from you.  Virus' have been known to brainwash people you know."

"No you don't understand! She's not a..." Ralph started just as Vanellope sped up, nearly causing him to fall off himself.

Layla sat up and looked herself over. She was sitting on a round hard candy and aside from the sore bottom she had from landing on it she was fine.

"Well that was unpleasant." she said to herself, but before she could stand up the overlook ring around her ankle began to spark and become visible again.

"Oh no" Layla almost pleaded just as she was pulled back onto the track at break-neck speed, grasping onto the hard candy underneath her. The only thing keeping her from being dragged on the ground herself.

Ralph noticed the sparking ring around his wrist and looked back to see Layla speeding not too far behind.

"STOP KID! I'm begging you!" he said.

Vanellope rolled her eyes for a second.

She had to get her friend as far away from the virus as possible so it couldn't control him anymore.

She reached down and turned on her music making it almost impossible to hear his pleading.

Vanellope shot through the track and familiar turns with ease, completely oblivious to the panic happening behind her. Ralph looked up ahead and felt his stomach turn.  He faced her and tried to yell something to Layla, but she couldn't hear him over the music blaring from the car.

The final turn into the first obstacle finally shined the light onto what Ralph was trying to warn her about.

The racer flew into it's first jump, throwing Layla up into the air behind them and landing with a hard thud. causing her to slide recklessly across the track for a second narrowly missing being crushed by the first obstacle. Huge gum-balls rolled onto the track, barely missing her as she did her best to steer the hard candy under her.

The racer flew out of the gum-ball obstacle and into a large winding hill Layla shot through the air, grasping onto the candy for dear life a second time, nearly dropping it.

She landed again with a hard thud as Ralph tried his best to reel her in.

Just before he was able to reach out and grab her foot the three of them flew out of a straw at the top of the mountain, causing him to let go of the little bit of the glowing line he'd collected, shooting Layla back a few feet.

Again they were airborne and it was then that Layla noticed the icing covered track they were about to ride on.

This time the landing was softer but that didn't make it any less dangerous.

The snow like icing on the road caused Layla to veer uncontrollably across the track while she struggled to keep the candy underneath her. Layla shot up over the side of the track when she glanced ahead and saw a large, white peppermint tree shooting out from the side of the road.  A perfect ramp made of icing not too far from it.

Layla licked her lips and leaned hard to the left, her body only inches from the ground in a last ditch effort to steer it toward the frosting ramp.

She had only a second to think and she knew she had one chance.  If she messed up she could get severely hurt but the candy beneath her had started to break apart.

She knew it was only a matter of time before it broke completely and she had to do something.

"HOLD ON!" She yelled to Ralph as she positioned herself off the side of the road and up and over the frosting ramp and into the air. Layla let go of the candy and brought her hands up, taking half a second to aim then shooting at the peppermint tree, hitting it and knocking it down right in front of the racer.

"WHAT THE?" Vanellope yelled, instantly turning to avoid the tree.

They skidded for a second, turning completely around and crashing into the frosting on the opposite side of the road followed a second later by Layla who landed in the frosting a few feet behind them.

"LAYLA!" Ralph yelled before jumping off of the car and hurrying to where she landed.

"Ralph, it's okay." Vanellope said, turning off the car, "I got rid of the problem for you."

Ralph ignored her and continued to push through the thick frosting.

"RALPH!" Vanellope yelled after him, "Stop acting crazy! Layla's obviously a virus who had you under her control. She came through a portal, doesn't have a game AND she didn't get full clearance. That makes her a vi..."

"She's not a virus! The Surge Protector said so!" he yelled to her, continuing to push through the frosting.

"What's the deal? She landed on a marshmallow patch at the beginning of the track. She's probably waiting for us at the starting line with a sore bottom and a master plan to destroy the game."

"We're ringed!" Ralph yelled back at her, the look on his face angrier than she'd ever seen.

Only then did Vanellope realize that Ralph and Layla were attached with overlook rings.

She didn't just knock Layla off the car, but she dragged her through most of the race track.

"Layla! Layla!" he yelled getting closer to where she landed.

Ralph walked up to the shallow hole she'd made in the frosting when Layla lifted an arm and slowly popped up from where she landed.

"That was intense!" she laughed, her hair messed and covered in peppermint twigs and frosting.

"Are you okay? Nothing's broken?" he asked, rushing over to help her up.

"I'm fine...sore, but fine." Layla said, brushing off as much of the debris as she could.

Ralph let out a sigh of relief before turning back to Vanellope, who was standing on her racer. A worried look on her face while she twittled her fingers.

"Vanellope, what is wrong with you?! You could have deleted her!"

"Ralph I'm sorry I didn't know you were ringed, I...I thought she was a virus...I'm sorry."

"No, Vanellope. I'm sorry's not good enough. I don't know if you did this to get back at me for something, or if you were jealous of Layla being around, but what you did was one of the most dangerous and, and stupid things you've ever done!" he said turning his back to her, "Come on Layla, let's get out of here."

"Ralph, really I didn't mean to."

Ralph didn't say a word, continuing to walk away. Layla reached out to him as he stormed past her and looked back at Vanellope before turning to follow him down the road.

Vanellope was lost in what had just happened, she couldn't think of what to say or do so she went to the next best thing, anger.

"Fine! LEAVE! I don't want you here anyway!" she screamed after him, "You're both not welcomed here ANYMORE!"

Vanellope jumped up and landed in the drivers seat of her racer.

She didn't mean to drag Layla all through the racing track, she just wanted to toss her out of the car. She thought she was helping her friend by getting away from the virus.

Vanellope looked up at the sky for a second.

She was sure that Layla was a virus. She played with her hood string for awhile before what Ralph had said began to play over and over again in her mind.

Was she jealous? Had she done all this not because she was trying to help Ralph but just because she was...NO! That isn't the reason at all!

She quickly shrugged off the idea that she was jealous of someone else being around Ralph. He's ringed to her! He probably didn't even really want her around. He was just worried about doing a good baby sitting job. Besides, Layla was fine..there's nothing to worry about...nothing at all.

She hopped out of her racer to see if it was damaged. While she circled it she stopped at the signature on the side of the racer and placed her hand on Ralph's name for a moment.

Maybe she was jealous. She had never really had to share him with anyone and now there's this wierd lady hugging him.

She thought about the two of them in the stands at the end of the race.  She immediately followed it by kicking the racer and jumping to sit back in the drivers seat, her hands crossed.

She'd really messed up this time, and she knew it.

Chapter Five
Level 4: Admittance Denied
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ralph sat atop the large pile of bricks he once called home.

He was staring up at the moon and found himself lost in its size. It seemed bigger than usual and was shining brighter than he'd ever seen.

"What are you looking at?" he heard a soft voice say behind him.

He turned to see Layla, sitting on the corner of his stump, which still sat atop the brick pile.

"The moon." he answered, smiling at her.

"Oh..." she said, making her way over to the bricks next to him and taking a seat.

"I used to do this all the time, back when I...didn't have many friends." he said, becoming embarrassed that he'd just admitted that to her.

Layla smiled at him then returned to looking at the moon.

"So does that mean we're friends?" Layla asked.

Ralph looked down at her and let out a breathy laugh before smiling and nodding.

"I mean, I guess." 

Layla laughed and kicked a brick in front of her when they both heard a loud groan come from behind them.

They both turned to see a green fog billowing up the brick pile toward them.

Ralph turned to Layla, the soft smile on her face was gone and a worried look took its place.

"Ralph?" she whispered as she began to disappear in front of him.

He reached out, trying to grab onto her to no avail. She was gone just as the billowing fog surrounded Ralph making it hard to breath.

"LAYLA!" he yelled, coughing from lack of oxygen in the thick fog.

Suddenly the wind picked up and blew the fog away. Ralph let out one last cough before realising he wasn't on top of his brick pile anymore, instead he was in a dark room.

"Where am I? Layla! Layla are you there?" he yelled, his voice echoing around him.

Suddenly a light shined on a woman wearing a hooded cloak standing at the opposite end of the room with her back to him.

"Who are you? What am I doing here?" Ralph asked, still completely lost at what was happening.

The woman turned and took the hood off. She had white hair that fell in a messy wave to just above her shoulders, wafting around her face in the breeze making it hard to make out her features and covering her eyes. She had two lines tattooed below her left eye all the way down to her chin. A single dot also tattooed beside them on the inner part of her face.

"Wha...who are..." Ralph started, just as the entire room lit up in an eerie green light revealing all the other game characters tied up to the walls around him.

Ralph stood in shock and horror, all of his friends as well as all the other characters were hanging around him, tied from their arms and bodies to the walls. Glowing green water dripped from their feet into canals that flowed along the floor toward the woman, disappearing behind her.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THEM?!" Ralph yelled, anger welling up inside of him.

The woman just stared at him for a moment before saying something so quietly Ralph couldn't make it out.

"Who are you?" he said again when the woman repeated what she said, loud enough for him to hear.

"Run..." she said, just as a thick green cloud came rushing from behind her toward Ralph. A deep raspy laugh echoing through the air before the fog surrounded him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"NO!" Ralph yelled, shooting straight up from where he'd been sleeping on his sofa.

"AH!" Layla yelled next to him, dropping the book in her hand and nearly falling to the floor herself.

Ralph was breathing heavily from fear while he frantically looked around the room. The green cloud was gone and he was back in his house again.

"A dream?" he whispered to himself looking at the ground, trying to calm himself down.

"Ralph why are you yelling? Are you okay? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Layla said, her hands over her heart.

"Yeah...yeah... sorry. I'm fine. Just...had a bad dream." he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Must have been a pretty bad one to get you to yell like that."

"I guess." Ralph said, resting back against the sofa not sure what to make of the dream.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Layla asked, sitting up herself.

"I'm fine..." he said, looking over at her and smiling so she knew he was okay.

She smiled back at him before picking up the book from where she dropped it just as a small but forceful knock came from the front door.

"I wonder who that could be." Layla said, trying to hide her smile but not doing a great job.

Ralph gave her a suspicious look before getting up and opening the door to see Vanellope standing on the other side twiddling her fingers.

"Hey'ya Stink Brain." She said, shyly.

Ralph didn't say anything at first, he just stood silent and looked down at her with a stern look on his face.

"What is it Vanellope." he asked, the tone of his voice matching the expression on his face.

"Okay, okay I know you're still mad, which you have the right to be, but hear me out. I-I'm really sorry for what happened today. I-really didn't mean it, and I know that won't make up for almost deleting your girlfriend over there."

"She's not my girlfriend." Ralph murmured while Vanellope continued.

"But I wasn't trying to hurt anyone, and I didn't know you two were ringed. If I'd known I wouldn't have dragged her all over the track, I swear! So...Corpral Long Johns...forgive me?"

Ralph stared down at her, his face unchanging.

"I really am sorry." Vanellope said, getting a little nervous.

"Come on Ralph. She's sorry." Layla whispered from behind him.

Ralph stared at her for a moment longer before letting out a long sigh and rubbing his eyes with his large hand.

"You promise not to do anything like that again?" he asked.

"Cross my heart." Vanellope said, doing the motion.

"And if you get an idea like that again, talk to me first?"

"You bet'cha! I'll never do anything dumb like that again without checking with you first."

Ralph again looked down at the little girl in front of him. She really did look like she was sorry for what she did, enough to apologize which was something she rarely did, especially doing it first.

"So...are we friends again?" she asked, smiling up at him.

"We're friends again." he said, giving her a small smile in return.

"Great! Now that we're best pals again...I've got a surprise for you!"

"A surprise?" Ralph said, not sure what to think.

"Yup. So I was thinking, since you always look forward to the vacation at the beach, and since you can't go because you're stuck here with your girlfriend this year..."

"She's not my girlfriend." he repeated.

"Don't interrupt," she said before continuing, "well, I came up with a pretty convincing alternative."

Ralph looked back at Layla, who was now wearing the big smile she was trying so hard to hide before.

"What you waitin' for? Come on!" Vanellope said, running to the side of Ralph's house.

Ralph walked out and followed to find a couple of chairs and a big umbrella set up next to some towels sprawled across the grass. A big yellow paper sun with a face drawn on it was mounted to a stick behind the umbrella.

"When did you do this...how did you do this?" he said, looking back at Layla.

"Oh well...Vanellope came while you were asleep to apologize and we came up with this idea to make up for the fact that you were missing out on the beach." she said.

"Go on, sit!" Vanellope insisted, running up to Ralph and pulling at his hand.

Ralph sat down on one of the chairs as the girls placed a large straw hat, a pair of large round sunglasses and a necklace of daisies around his neck.

"What's this?" he said lifting up the flowers.

"A lei...come on, we didn't have a long time to do all this." Vanellope said.

"Where'd you get the flowers?" he asked.

"Over there." Vanellope said, pointing at the flower bed in front of the Nicelander building that was filled with flowers earlier that day.

Ralph smiled, Mary might be a little angry that her flowers would be gone when she got back from her vacation. Hopefully they grew back when someone put a quarter in the game.

"This is really nice you two." he said.

"Oh we're not done yet." Layla said, turning on a small fan with a bowl of roasted candied coconut shavings in front of it.

"Smells like sun lotion right, and here's something else for your senses!" Vanellope said, pressing play on a pink candy portable tape player.

The sound of waves and seagulls came out of it, with a Hawaiian luau song following soon after.

"I feel like I'm actually there. The only thing missing is..."

"Tut tut. We got you covered." Vanellope said, trying to carry a large glass of something with a small hand-made umbrella in it before Layla walked up to help her give it Ralph.

"Hah! You girls' thought of everything!" he said about to take a drink, "Wait, where'd you get this kid?"

"Don't worry, Vanellope didn't put anything...adult in it." Layla laughed.

"Yeah, everything in that drink is kid friendly and approved." she said, giving him a thumbs up.

"Oh, well what's in it then?" he said taking a large gulp.

"Water...blended with lots of crushed candies."

Ralph choked for a second on the super sugary drink, trying his best to look like it wasn't as sweet as it was.

"Mmm...good." he said, coughing.

"I know its not the same, but..."

"You kidding me? This is better! Thanks Professor Pooper Scooper. Thanks Layla."

"That's Madame Sissy Pants." Layla said, laughing.

"I named her that earlier." Vanellope announced.

Ralph let out a loud laugh as he raised his glass to the two ladies that helped make his surprise possible.

The three of them sat on the make-shift beach for hours, laughing and just enjoying each others company. The time passed slowly, and Ralph had forgotten all about the dream he'd had, instead focussing on the smiling faces of the young ladies in front of him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" Vanellope asked at the terminal to the racing game leading to the beach level.

"We'd love to have you kid, but I don't want you to give up your vacation just because we can't make it." Ralph said, handing the small bag she'd brought.

"You sure you'll be okay?" she asked one last time.

"I'll be fine."

"And you..." Vanellope said to Layla, "I don't want to come back to Ralph being zombified or missing a hand."

"You have my word." Layla said.

Vanellope scooted off on the tram into the game and quickly disappeared around the corner leaving Ralph and Layla waving at the terminal.

"She is a pretty great kid." Layla said, as they turned and walked back toward Game Central Station.

Again the two of them walked saying nothing until Ralph looked over at Layla from the corner of his eye.

"Thanks." he said.

"For what?"

"You know for what. For talking to Vanellope."

"Who said I talked to her?"

"No one, but Vanellope can be just as stubborn as I am, and I know she wouldn't have apologized let alone put together the little beach excursion without some coaxing. So thanks."

"I'm not saying that I did anything...but you're welcome." Layla said as they walked past the terminal for Heroes Duty.

Layla's info scanner turned itself on and let out a small clicking sound before turning itself off again. She stopped and raised her arm, taking notice before looking at the large entryway to the game's terminal.

"What's the matter?" Ralph asked, turning to see why she'd stopped.

"Where does this lead to?" she said, pointing at the game terminal.

"Heroes Duty. That's the game where Felix's wife came from. You know, the two people I talked to on the video link."

"Oh..." Layla said, lowering her arm, an uneasy feeling coming across her.

"Come on, there's still some of that candy water left. Let's see who can drink a cup without passing out from a sugar overdose."

"You're on." she said, taking one last look at the terminal before running to catch up to Ralph.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night Layla couldn't sleep.

Yes, it was mainly because of the sugar high bubbling inside her, but she also couldn't ignore what had happened outside of 'Hero's Duty'.

The only time her scanner normally turned itself on was when the sonar picked up on an anomaly or an enemy she'd inputed into it's memory banks.  

Nothing it hadn't done before but it had never turned itself on and off before.

She looked at the device for a moment.  She tapped it and hit her side to see if she accidentally hit it to make it turn on but nothing happened.

Layla let out a confused sigh then turned the device onto the scanning grid again. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Even though she was getting an all clear she couldn't ignore that feeling she got when she walked in front of the Hero's Duty Terminal.

Although she couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong she'd learned from years of hopping from place to place that even the smallest inkling that something could be up was never to be overlooked.

She got up and overrode the rings code again placing it around the lamp she'd placed it before. Layla snuck out as quietly as she could and rode the trolley to Grand Central.

The lights were off and it was unusually dark which made the room seem creepier than she would have thought. Her info scanner lit the way as each step echoed in the empty station, until she came to the entry way for Hero's Duty.

Layla got the same feeling she'd gotten before.

"Maybe I should scan this area...just to be safe." she said, looking down at her scanner again.

She inputed the function and although the area scan turned on it only showed the immediate area around the terminal.

"Damn, I gotta go into the game." she whispered, stepping into the large terminal and up to the trams.

The trams were big, much bigger than the other transportation into games she'd seen so far.

'Ralph would fit okay in these trams.' she thought, thinking about the little trolley that he had to squeeze into just to get in and out of his own game.

The ride in was smooth and quiet.  The tram came to a stop in front of a large area lined with lockers and rooms. Most likely the living areas for the characters of that game.

Directly in front of the tram loading area was a long impressive hallway. Lights and futuristic pipes that let out tufts of steam lined the walls.

Layla slowly made her way up the hallway until she came to a large bay door separating her from the actual game.

She looked down at her scanner again and although she got the all clear for the loading area, the area within the actual game was still coming in unclear.

"Stupid thing." she said, looking up, "So how do you open these doors?"

She raised her hands over the doors, searching for a lever or a button that could open them when suddenly someone grabbed her arm and spun her around. Layla gasped, ready to have to do some explaining but eased up when she found herself face to 'face' with a screen with arms.

Standing in front of her was a machine on two large treaded wheels, arms shooting out from the long pole that the screen rested on. Weapons lined up neatly behind it with locks on all of them except one.

'Hero's Duty clearance number?' a message typed onto the machines screen.

Layla just stood motionless, not really sure what to do.

'Hero's Duty clearance number?' it typed out on the screen again, while the machines arms rested on it's 'hips', showing that it was getting annoyed.

"Um...I don't have one." she said, shrugging at the screen.

'Game origin?' typed the screen.

"Are...you asking what game I came from?"

The machine crossed one of it's arm while the other slapped up against it's screen. This machine had an attitude on it.

'Game origin!?' it re-typed.

"Um...I don't have one of those either." Layla said, smiling an awkward smile.

'VIRUS VIRUS VIRUS!' the machine typed turning to scoot away when Layla reached out and grabbed its arm.

"No no! I'm not a virus!" she said, "I was just scanning the area to make sure nothing bad was here."

'Virus scans show virus detection at zero.' typed the screen, pulling it's arm away from her.

"That's not what I'm searching for. Plus if scans show virus detection at zero then how can I be a virus?"

The machine froze for a second before making a snapping movement, realizing that she was right.

'You can not be.' typed the screen, 'State reason for appearing on the loading doc.'

"I told you, besides, I wasn't searching for a virus, I'm searching for...something else."

'State search subject.'

"I'm not really at liberty to say."

'Scans of foreign life forms within game/ negative. State search subject.' the machine typed again.

"You're a persistent little bugger aren't you?" she said.

'Admittance into game not permitted without clearance number for posted duration unless an emergency is detected. Emergency detected?'

"Well, no, but..."

'No clearance permitted for entrance into game.'

"Not even a peek?"

'No clearance permitted for...'

"Okay, okay...I got it, I'm not allowed in. Fine...guess I'll find a way to check later. See ya R2." Layla said turning to leave when the machine grabbed her palm and placed it onto its screen.

"HEY!" she yelled just as it scanned her hand.

'Palm scan complete...Subject Name: Layla (no last name on file), Game: unknown, Gender: Female, Game Central Clearance: Denied without escort...Escort detection...negative. Code 5672 violation in progress/ action required. Detain Detain Detain.'

The machine reached out and grabbed Layla by the left wrist and fought with her to grab the other.

"Stop it! You piece of junk! Let me go!" she said, flailing around and pulling trying to get away from the machine.

The machine fought with her dragging her toward the tram. Layla pulled and tried her hardest to keep from getting dragged any further when she lifted her other arm, shooting a stream of electricity toward the machine.

The blast barely missed it but shot at a pipe on the side of the hallway which came flying back, striking the machine in the back of the screen. The machine flew up against the wall of the hallway before twitching for a second and powering down, it's arms and screen slumped forward.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" Layla repeated, running up to the screen to see what had happened to it.

The pipe had dislodged some wires and casing from the back of the machine, which now hung in a clump.

Layla panicked and typed into her info scanner to see if it was able to find a way of repairing the machine. A list came up with instructions which Layla followed in a frenzy.

After a few minutes she turned the machine and pressed the power button, which did nothing at first. After a few seconds the machine straightened up, it's arms to its side, a flashing line appearing in the top left corner of the screen.
Slowly the life began to return to the machine and its arms began to move.

Layla let out a sigh of relief.

"Scared me for a second there R2, I was sure you'd..."

She stopped mid-sentence when suddenly a picture of a rabbit appeared on the screen and an old song began to play on the screens speakers. The machine began to hop around the room and danced to the song, spinning in circles and gliding on one set of treads as if it were skating across an ice rink.

Finally completing a full eight 360 spins, ending on a pose at the end of the song before suddenly twitching, complete with sparks and freezing in a straight position, an old idle screen saver appearing on its screen.

Layla stood wide eyed, staring at the frozen machine in front of her.

She reached out and nudged it.

"R2?" she said before grabbing the machine and shoving it into the first room she opened, which turned out to be a small broom closet, shutting it and walking away into the tram.

"That could have ended better." she said to herself, standing alone in the tram heading back to the terminal.

Layla snuck back into Ralph's house, reconnecting the overlook ring to her ankle and laying down on the sofa.

She felt a little at ease, although she'd just broken a pretty impressive looking piece of machinery.

'The machine said it's scans showed no life forms, so maybe my feeling of uneasiness really was nothing.' Layla thought, reassuring herself that her feeling was nothing, replaying it over and over in her mind before she finally fell off to sleep.

Ralph had wanted to sleep in the next morning.

The amount of sugar-water he and Layla had drunk the day before had left him with a pretty bad headache.

He tossed and turned most of night and only had managed a few hours of sleep when the sound of someone in his room stirred him awake.

Ralph rolled over and opened his eyes to see Layla hovering over him.

Where the sugar-water had left him with a headache it had left Layla with a continued sugar high that apparently had lasted through the night.

"You awake?" she whispered.

"I don't want to be...but I am now." he said, giving her a tired look.

"Good...what are we gonna do today?"

Ralph blinked a few times and groaned. He had no idea what they were gonna do today, although the thought of going back to sleep seemed like a great plan.

"What time is it?" he managed to get out.

"I dunno, it was five thirty last I checked."

Ralph looked over at the clock by his bedside. Five-forty.

"You know what sounds fun right now?"

"What?" Layla asked, excited.

"Going back to sleep." he said, rolling over away from her.

Layla's smile faded to a frown, she hopped off the floor and started jumping on the little part of bed by his feet that Ralph didn't cover.

"Come on Ralph! Get up! I can't go back to sleep now! The sun is up...kinda...stomp being a lump!"

"What are you? Ten?" he said, trying his best to ignore her, "Stop jumping on my bed."

"Don't worry I don't have shoes on."

"That's not what I mean." he said, a smile forming on his face that he tried to hide from her.

"Ra-ahlph! Get up!"

"That's it, no more sugar-water for you." Ralph said, still facing away from her.

"Oh please, you're the one that made me chug out of the same size cup you had."

"Those aren't big cups."

She stopped jumping for a second to gawk at him.

"They're the size of my head! I had to use both hands just to pick it up!"

She started jumping on the bed again, mimicking how large the cup was with her hands.

"Don't go blaming the cup for you not knowing your limit...stop jumping on my bed."

"Nope, not till you get up." she said, continuing to jump.

Ralph looked down at her and moved his foot so it knocked her off the side of his bed. She made the same yelp she'd done when she fell on the lawn the day before followed by the same little thud.

"That was mean." she grumbled, pouting angrily at him from the floor.

"Yeah..." he said, finally sitting up and stretching, "Okay, you win, I'm up."

"Good!" she almost yelled, running out of the room, "Get ready! We need to do things!"

Ralph let out a quiet breathy almost confused laugh. He knew it was mainly the sugar-water, but her energy was as infectious as it had been when they were watching the race in Sugar Rush.

'She's gonna have one heck of a crash once the sugar wares off.' he thought.

A few minutes later he came into the living room, which seemed to be Layla's cue to pop her head out from the kitchen.

"SIT!" she demanded.

Ralph rushed over and plopped down at his table quickly followed by Layla who, likewise, plopped a plate of french toast topped with an apple and cinnamon topping. Ralph took a whiff of the food and looked at her, confused.

"Where did this come from?" he said.

"Your kitchen, you had bread and butter, and that one apple you offered me earlier, found some other stuff too. Hurry up and eat, I thought of something we can do."

"Aren't you gonna eat?" he said, taking a bite, "Wow, this is really good!"

"Thanks, I already ate, you took a while to get yourself pretty."

"I didn't take that long." he grumbled, continuing to eat his food.

After Ralph finished eating the two of them walked out of his house and Layla quickly ran to the front of the Nicelanders apartment building.

"Come on!" she said, hopping in place.

'She's gonna explode from the sugar before she crashes.' he thought, walking over.

"So what's the plan?" he asked.

"It's a surprise, but we gotta find some supplies first." she said, opening the doors and rushing in.

Ralph walked in behind her. She had stopped in the middle of the front hallway and was clicking away on her info scanner until it made a beeping noise which caused her to rush around the corner followed by the sound of a door knob jiggling.

"Um...wouldn't happen to have a key would you?" she said, smiling at him as she popped her head back around the corner.

"I don't feel too comfortable being an accessory to your day of breaking and entering into the Nicelanders apartments." he said walking over.

"Okay I'll take that into consideration, OFFICER, but don't start your tattler just yet. This isn't one of the apartments."

Ralph walked over and saw that the room she wanted to get into was the janitor's closet.

"You want to...clean today?" he asked.

"Yes, because I'm so wired that cleaning sounds like the best outlet for that...do I look like a retiree?!" she said, taking a step back from the door, "So...you gonna open it or not?"

Ralph furrowed his brow, he wasn't sure how to feel about what Layla was asking him to do and that little voice in the back of his head was starting to get a little louder.

He took a final look around before easily pushing the door open, breaking the door knob.

Layla raised her eyebrows and a sly smile formed across her face as she walked into the room.

"Don't do great with peer pressure do you? You're lucky I'm not trying to get you to do something bad...well...too bad." she laughed, which now caused the little voice in the back of Ralph's head to start screaming.

"JACKPOT!" she yelled running out and shoving jugs of liquid soap into Ralph's chest. "Hold this!"

"Soap? What are we gonna do with soap?"

"What's the matter? You don't trust me?"

Ralph really didn't know how to answer that at the moment. 

"It's a surprise remember." she said, shoving another two jugs into his arms.

Before Ralph knew it the both of them were standing in the middle of Grand Central Station surrounded by the jugs of liquid soap they'd lugged from his game.

"So, what do we do n..." he started.

"Open the jugs and start pouring."

"Into what?"

"The floor, genius." she said, grabbing a jug and pouring out its contents on the floor.

"Whoe! This...this doesn't feel like a good idea...I mean we'll make a mess."

"What, first you're my parole officer now you're my mom? I promise I'll clean it up when we're done, now pour!"

Ralph grabbed a jug and started pouring the detergent on the floor in front of him, while Layla smiled up at him.

"Yeah you really can't handle peer pressure." she said, smiling over at him.

He just looked over at her with an annoyed look on his face.

After they finished pouring the jugs onto the floor Layla ran over to the wall in front of them and grabbed the emergency fire water hose that was coiled along it, turning it on and showering the area they'd covered in soap with water for before turning it off and dropping it, taking off her boots.

"What are you..."

"Watch. I've always wanted to do this." she said, readying herself before running toward the large soapy area and gliding across the floor.

Layla had a large smile on her face while she flew across the floor before faltering for a second and falling flat on her back, finally stopping in front of Ralph.

She laughed so hard she snorted, while Ralph looked down at her still unsure if this was a good idea.

"I don't know if..."

"Come on Ralph, how often is this place deserted enough to make a soapy skating rink on the floor?" she said sitting up, her wavy hair covered in soap and bubbles.

Ralph still felt unsure while he took a last glance around the station, convinced that someone was gonna walk in and get the two of them in trouble.

"Come on Ralph...you can blame it on peer pressure." She said, struggling to stand up on the slippery mess.

Ralph's brow furrowed again, but before he knew it he was taking a few steps back and without any further hesitation closed his eyes and started running toward the soapy mess.

"Wait Ralph," Layla yelled, trying to move furiously across the floor, "let me get out of the..."

Before she could finish her sentence Ralph came skidding across the floor and crashed right into her. The two of them glided for a moment, holding onto each other when Ralph fell and didn't stop until he smacked into the wall where the hose was, followed by Layla who bumped into him, laying on her stomach.

"Layla are you okay?!" Ralph asked, sure he'd hurt her just as she turned to look at him.

Instantly she burst out in deep laughter followed by Ralph who was relieved she was okay.

They struggled to get up and passed the next few hours skidding and gliding on the large soap slick. They scooted and slid back and forth, pushing each other across the floor and doing the best to try to stay standing themselves.

Ralph hadn't had fun like that in a long time and every now and then his thoughts would wander over to Vanellope and how much fun she would have enjoyed this if she were there.

He thought about his best friend and this new woman. They really were a lot alike.  Proud, stubborn, sure of themselves...fun.

If Layla was gonna be around for a while then she and Vanellope could become great friends.

"Vanellope would have loved this." Layla said, sliding across the floor in front of him, breaking Ralph's train of thought.

He looked at her surprised that she was thinking the same thing he was while she again attempted to stand. Ralph watched while she did her best to get up with not much luck, looking like a little kid on a skating rink for the time.

Finally giving up on that venture she sat up and laughed in his direction, he smiled back, lost in the image of her in front of him. Layla was covered in soap and water, and her hair was a mess of bubbles and strands of it clung to her face and neck.

"You feeling sick?" she finally asked, sliding over to him as best she could.

"What?" he huffed, realizing he'd been staring again.

"You had a weird look on your face." she said making some progress, but doing more of a slow spin than a straight movement toward him.

"Oh...um...did I..." Ralph answered, followed by the pang of embarrassment.

Layla tried to stand again, finally getting to her feet for a few seconds when she began to wobble again, her arms swirling in the air and her feet gliding in all directions. She was just about to lose her footing but before she could fall Ralph instinctively reached out and was able to catch her in one of his hands.

She looked up at him and gave him a small, soft smile while she held tightly onto his hand with both her arms.

"Thanks." she said.

Ralph's face began to turn pink and he tried to hide it by looking down at his feet and up towards the game terminals.

"Y-your welcome..." he answered, not sure what else to do when they were suddenly interrupted.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" someone yelled, surprising the two of them enough to make them both slip to the floor.

Ralph and Layla sat up to see an outraged surge protector staring wide-eyed at the two of them. Layla immediately pointed at Ralph, who reacted with a shocked look before gesturing that it was her idea.

"My office...NOW!" he yelled, turning and walking back toward the Power Surge Station.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ralph and Layla were sitting in front of the power surge's desk, just as they had been two days earlier except now they both sat with their heads buried in their shoulders looking more like school kids who'd been caught by the principal. Completely covered in soap and water, guilty smiles on both their faces.

"I can't even begin to imagine what could have gotten into your minds to make you think THAT was okay!?" the surge protector yelled, gesturing toward the station, "Pouring soap all over the floor!? I mean, come on!"

"It's not Ralph's fault, he only had a small hand in this. It's not his fault he can't say no to this face." Layla said framing her face with her hands.

Ralph muffled a laugh before the surge protector glared up at him shutting him right up.

"You're already on thin ice as it is around here, young lady! Now you're bringing down one of our better citizens with you! If I were in your standings I'd be doing everything in my power to stay below the radar!" the surge protector scolded.

He followed his rant by letting out a calming breath and closing his eyes, sitting down in his chair, burying his eyes in his palm, completely overwhelmed with the situation.

"Well, I just don't know what to do, I've never had to deal with something like this before." he said, throwing his hands up in the air.

"We were going to clean up the mess." Ralph said, feeling a little bad.

"You're darn right you'll clean it!" the surge protector sighed, "I'll get you the mops and buckets...and just...I don't want to have to deal with anything like this again!"

The two of them shook their heads as he got up and walked out of the room. Layla and Ralph slowly looked at each other and let out muffled laughs that they struggled to keep silent.

"GET OUT HERE NOW!" the surge protector yelled, making the two of them jump up and run out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the next hour Ralph and Layla cleaned up the soap slick they'd made in the middle of Game Central.

Although it was hard work the two of them had almost as much fun cleaning up the slick as they had skating on it. They spent most of the time laughing at the fun they'd had and how angry the surge protector had looked.

"Well that was fun." Layla said, looking around Grand Central while they returned the mops and buckets, letting a yawn escape her lips.

"Looks like the sugar's wearing off." Ralph chuckled.

"I think you're right...so what should we do now?"

"I don't know, there's not a lot of places we can visit right now." Ralph said, burying his hands in his pocket when he pulled something out, "I know where we can go, it's not as exciting as a soapy skating rink though."

"What is it?" Layla asked.

"Come on..." he said leading her back to his game.

The two of them made their way back to Ralph's game and up to the top-level of the Nicelanders building. Layla had no idea what they could be doing up there, even up to the point when Ralph unlocked the only set of double doors she'd seen in the building.

Layla walked into the room just as Ralph flicked the lights on. She was surprised to see a large modern penthouse almost glistening in front of her.

Everything was streamlined and looked as if it could have been an upscale apartment in New York.

Ralph didn't even have to bend to keep from hitting his head once they stepped down from the entryway because of the high ceilings. Layla walked into the center of the room and turned to smile at Ralph.

"Ralph...what is this? This place is beautiful!"

"It's...my penthouse." he said, slightly embarrassed.

"Your penthouse? You mean to tell me that this is all yours? You're the owner of a penthouse!" she said, continuing to look around the room.

"Yeah, I won it in a sort of bet a couple of years ago."

"Ralph! This place is amazing! Why don't you live up here?" she said, opening up the doors that lead out to the balcony which had a perfect view of not only the game itself but also the large player viewing window in the sky, "I mean the view alone is enough."

"I did live here for a little while, but...I...missed my brick pile. So Felix helped me build my house and...well...you know. I normally just let the Nicelanders use it for parties. They like to dance, so any excuse for a party."

Layla smiled softly up at Ralph while giving the room another look over and looking down at his home.

"Well, your house is a lot cozier than this place...so you made a good choice." she said, giving him a tired smile followed by a soft yawn.

"Need a nap?"

"That sounds pretty good, right now." Layla answered, massaging her hands for a moment before deciding to take off her information scanner, "Wh-what's this?!"

She held her arm in front of her for a second before extending it out to show Ralph what she'd found. On her arm, shining through her dark sleeve was a set of five light green glowing squares, the top square slowly pulsating.

"What is that? Is this normal?" Layla asked, getting worried.

"I think that might be your life gauge." Ralph said.

"Life gauge?" she repeated putting her info scanner on her left arm so she could examine the gauge easier.

The second she fastened the clasp on the scanner it turned itself on and began to beep. They both watched as her right hand began to glow and two more blocks lit up on her arm, the blocks color changed from light green to dark green and the top block no longer pulsated like it had before.

"...what just happened?" she said, looking up at Ralph.

Ralph saw the worry on her face and did his best to give her a reassuring smile.

"Looks like you're at full life now, guess when you put that doohicky of yours back on it restored your health."

Layla looked down at her arm, her worry now giving way to what could only be described as a cautious realisation.

"Restored my health? You mean like a real video game character..." she almost whispered.

"Yup. A lot of the video game characters have gauge's like that somewhere on their body. So it's nothing to be worried about."

A smile formed across her face while she continued to look down at her arm.

Ralph just stared down at her, she was lost in her newly found feature giving it her full attention for a moment. She trailed her fingertips over the lights the same way she did with the picture of Robin Hood, which Ralph quickly realized was turning into something he liked to see her do.

"You have that look on your face again." Layla said.

"Wh-I..no..what look?" Ralph said, trying to think of something to quickly bring up to get the focus off of himself and his no doubt red cheeks, "So..um...what was it like where you came from? Forever Wood was it?"

Layla nodded.

"It was exciting, hardly a day went by were we weren't protecting the capital city from sabre wolves, or giant lizards. Not to mention the surrounding kingdoms trying to invade and conquer. If it wasn't one thing it was another."

"Sounds tiring." Ralph remarked, still trying to hide his face without making it obvious.

"That's an understatement, but it was nothing compared to some of the other worlds I'd been thrown into. There was this one world that was completely covered in water! Absolutely no dry land whatsoever!"

"No land?" Ralph said, looking over at her, his curiosity pushing his embarrassment down, "So did the people there live on boats? Or floating cities?"

"Oh, there were no people." Layla said, which shocked Ralph, "believe me, there's almost no bigger shock than looking down and seeing a fin where your legs should have been, not to mention the white and blue scales that came with it."

"Wait, but...so you're not a...person?" he asked, somewhat confused by what she was telling him.

"No...I mean yes I am but... see the information scanner changes my appearance for each world I get thrown into. It's to help me adapt to each world I visit...at least that's what I was told. Been so long since I've seen my real face I've almost forgotten how I actually look."

"How do you know you don't look like the real you right now?"

"Because I don't have the scar I got when I was eight over my left eyebrow. When I see that I'll know I'm home."

"Now I understand why you acted the way you did when you saw your reflection that first time." Ralph laughed.

"Yeah, I forget other people don't have to deal with stuff like that. I must have looked crazy."

Ralph shrugged, which made Layla giggle.

"So do you have control over when you leave one world for another?"

"Not anymore...I used to, but after Garrick..." Layla started before stopping herself mid sentence.

"Who's Garrick?" Ralph asked.

Layla said nothing at first before replacing her info scanner back to her right arm and smiling up at him.

"Someone I wish I could forget..." she said, brushing some hair out of her face, "I had a really fun day, Ralph. Thanks for showing me this great view...and for letting me get you in trouble."

Ralph smiled at her. He couldn't argue, today had turned out to be more fun than he would have expected.  Even with the berating by the Surge Protector and the hour they spent cleaning up. It was a great day.

"Any time." he said.

Just then a series of small dings were heard in the distance, interrupting the moment.

"What was that?" Layla asked, looking in the direction that the chimes were coming from.

Ralph looked out in the same direction.

"That sounded like the trolley bell, but no one's supposed to be back for another couple of days. We better check it out." he said, the two of them rushing down to the depot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay everyone, stay together. We'll take a final head count when everyone's come in from Game Central Station." a short well dressed man said while other short men and women piled out of the trolleys.

"Gene? What're you guys doing back so soon?" Ralph said, walking up to the small group.

"Ralph, there's been a...WHO'S THAT!?" Gene yelled, followed by the other men and women who huddled up behind him in fear.

They all pointed and stared at Layla as if they were looking at a ghost.

"What's wrong with you all? This is Layla." Ralph answered, confused and surprised by their reaction to seeing her.

"A VIRUS! Ralph you let a virus in!" one of the women screamed.

"She's the one, she has to be the one doing all this!" one of the men yelled, pointing at Layla.

"Quick Gene, get her!" another woman said, grabbing onto Gene's arm.

"Wait, wait everybody, hold on. She's not a virus, she's already been cleared by the surge protector. Gene, what's going on? What is everyone talking about and why are you all back so soon?"

"Are you sure she's not a virus?" Gene asked, looking at Layla suspiciously.

"I'm positive, now will someone please tell me what's going on?"

"It seems that some of the other video game characters have gone missing." Gene said, stepping away from the small group and adjusting his tie, "We were given strict instructions to return to our games until we can figure out where they've gone or who's taken them. That's why we're all so on edge."

"Gone missing?" Ralph said, thinking for a moment before walking over to one of the trolleys and squeezing in, followed by Layla.

"We were told to stay in our games once we got in." Gene said, trying to stop them from leaving.

"We'll be right back, I just need to check something out." Ralph answered just as the trolleys went out of the depot back to Game Central Station.

The once quiet and calm station was now a bedlam of confusion and hysteria. Characters came pouring out from the racing game terminal where they had all been vacationing, everyone trying to find their fellow characters or make their way to their own games.

"Ralph, maybe we should go back to your game. This place is a mess." Layla said while the two of them fought with the crowd to go the other direction.

"We will, I just need to make sure..."

"Ralph, Ralph over here." came a voice from over the crowd.

The two of them stopped to see Felix and Calhoun making their way toward them.

"Didn't expect to see you out here to meet us." Felix said, looking over at Layla, "Well this must be Miss Layla. It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. I'm Fix It Felix, Jr. and this is my wife, Tamara Calhoun."

"Can the small talk," Calhoun said, interrupting the pleasantries, "just in case you couldn't tell we're in crisis mode!"

"Well that's no excuse to forget our manners, dear." Felix said, "You'll have to excuse her."

"Sorry for the blunt orders, missy, but in case everyone hasn't realized there are people missing! Now's not the time to be pleasant with each other! I've got to get to my game and take a roll call. Make sure none of my men are among the unaccounted for."

"I understand." Layla said.

"Hey Felix, have you seen Vanellope? I wanna make sure she makes it to her game okay."

Felix and Calhoun looked at each other before looking back at Ralph.

"Ralph...we..."

"Felix, where's Vanellope?" Ralph asked, the worry in his voice becoming more apparent.

Felix looked over at his wife for a moment before looking back up to his friend.

"We haven't seen Vanellope since before we left."

"What do you mean you haven't seen her?!" Ralph shouted.

"She never met up with us in the game." Felix replied, "We figured that since she didn't show she must have stayed back with the two of you."

Ralph looked away from his friends and began to scan Game Central. The noise and confusion that surrounded all of them began to grow distant while he searched through his mind for what to do next. He began to take a few steps away from them still lost in his shock.

"Ralph...Ralph are you okay?" Layla asked, noticing the panic on his face.

Suddenly Ralph sprang away from them and began to push through the crowd toward the racing game where they last saw Vanellope.

"Wait! Ralph, come back!" Felix yelled, running after his friend, hopping over the crowd best he could.

"Stand down, Wreck-it!" Calhoun called after him.

"Ralph!" Layla shouted, following Felix and Calhoun after him.

Ralph ignored the cries from his friends behind him. Vanellope was missing and all he could think about was how he was going to find her.

"Brother, stop!" Felix pleaded, finally reaching his friend before he entered the terminal into the racing game.

"Get out of the way, Felix!" Ralph demanded, still trying to push through.

"It's not safe for you in there, Ralph! Now I know you gotta be more worried than a long tailed cat in a room of rocking chairs, but that's no excuse to go running in there all willy nilly. It's dangerous." Felix pleaded, trying to persuade his friend to stop.

"He's right Wreck-It." Calhoun interjected, finally catching up to them, "Not even the people from that game are stickin' around. It's best to stay back and figure out what's going on before you go getting yourself lost too."

"I don't care! Vanellope's my best friend and I can't just stand by while she's who knows where! I'm going into that game whether you like it or not!"

Ralph again tried to push through his friends when he felt a soft but firm grasp around his arm. He turned to see Layla holding onto him, the look of worry on her face was enough to keep him from instantly pulling his arm away.

"You need to listen to them, Ralph. I know you're worried, we're all worried, but they're right. If we want to help Vanellope the best thing to do is find out what's going on before we go running into that game."

He stared down at her, the strain in his face began to disappear before he looked back at Felix and Calhoun, then up to the racing game terminal in front of him.

Every bone in his body wanted to burst into the game to search for Vanellope, but he knew they were right. He closed his eyes and hung his head before slowly pulling his arm out from Layla's grasp and walked over to one of the long benches, sitting down without saying another word.

The three of them watched as Ralph hung his head into his hands.

"I'm mighty appreciative for that Miss Layla." Felix said, thanking her, "Ralph's a stubborn one. It's hard to reason with him sometimes."

"Just glad he was finally able to listen to reason." Layla replied, still watching Ralph for a second before turning to them and giving them a small smile, "It's good to meet the two of you, you know, rather than through a small screen."

"Likewise." Felix answered along with a silent nod of aggreeance by Calhoun.

"I better get back to 'Hero's Duty', make sure all my soldiers are accounted for." Calhoun said, bending down to give her husband a kiss goodbye, "Thanks again for stopping Wreck-it."

Calhoun gave Layla a quick salute before walking off toward her game.

"I best be getting back to the Nicelanders too, before they panic themselves into a fainting spell." Felix chuckled awkwardly for a moment, "You'll be all right here with him and let us know if you find Vanellope?"

Layla nodded.

"We'll see if we can find out anything before heading back to your game." she reassured.

"Well that sounds like a mighty fine plan. I'll see you when you get back to the game then." Felix proclaimed in his optimistic way, which did help Layla feel at ease for a second.

He walked passed her and proceeded to make his way back toward his game, disappearing almost instantly into the crowd.

Layla stood for a moment amongst the large crowd when a message rang on the intercom system, echoing throughout the station.

"Please proceed to your games, I repeat, proceed to your games. A temporary reporting station has been set up to report missing colleagues or any information, located directly in front of the entrance of the Surge Protector's station. Others please proceed to your games, I repeat, please proceed to your games."

Layla turned to where Ralph sat, his back to where they'd all been standing while he sat hunched over, his arms resting on his legs while he stared down at the floor. She walked over and sat down on the bench across from him without saying a word.

She watched him for a moment, wondering if he would look up or say anything but after a few minutes of no movement from him she finally turned her attention over to the crowd around them.

They sat amongst the chaos and noise.

The movement around them was both deafening and dizzying, a mess of every emotion. People called out across the station to one another while others yelled with worry at the news that their friends were one of the missing.  

Even through all the commotion the two of them sat across from each other...saying nothing.

There would be time for talk, time for consoling and discussion, but right now the best thing Layla could do was just sit across from Ralph and not say a word.

At least he wasn't alone, she thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took a long time for Game Central to mostly clear out. Where once there was noise and confusion now only a few people remained, meandering through either the benches around where Ralph and Layla still sat in silence or gathering near one of the corners.

The majority of the people still in Game Central were the large group that had gathered in front of the makeshift reporting station, which was also where the majority of the noise in the station was coming from.

They had spent the last hour yelling and hollering toward the Surge Protector, who tried in vain to calm the mass of panic in front of him.

"Everyone, everyone please. We're doing all we can at the moment but I need everyone to stay calm." the surge protector yelled, trying to get the horde of people in front of his station to settle down.

"How can we stay calm!? Half of the fighters from our game have been missing for a few days now!" one of the characters from the wrestling game yelled over the crowd.

"Same here!" yelled another character from one of the many fighting games in the arcade.

"Our main character's gone missing too! What if they don't get found by the time Mr. Litwack returns? We could get unplugged!" another character yelled, which caused the whole group to erupt the way it had before.

"Please, everyone, Please..." the surge protector continued to cry out, trying to get everyone to listen.

"There's more people missing than I'd thought." Layla whispered to herself while she watched the crowd continue to yell at the Surge Protector in front of them.

Ralph and Layla had been sitting across from each other without saying a single word the entire time since Felix left them in the station.

Layla had wanted to speak up on occasion but every time she thought of something to say she would quickly brush it aside. She figured nothing she could say to Ralph was the right thing to say at the moment.

"I should have let her stay...she'd be safe if I hadn't let her go into the game alone." Ralph finally said, breaking his long silence which was a huge relief for Layla.

He continued to stare down at the ground, hanging his head like he'd been doing the entire time.

"This isn't your fault, Ralph." she answered, taking the moment to try and help him feel better.

"Why do you even care?" he snapped lifting his head up to face her suddenly, "You just got here so why does it make a difference to you, anyway?"

Layla looked stunned, his remark had caught her completely off guard and she had no idea how to react.

"And if it's not my fault then who's? All I had to do was let her stay behind like she wanted. Instead I carted her off to who knows where! Serving her up on a silver platter!"

"It's...it's no ones fault...least of all yours." Layla managed out, trying to ignore his last remark toward her, "You didn't cause this, no one knew this was going to happen."

"How do you know?" he yelled, unable to control his frustration any longer and exploding in an angry tirade, "How could you possibly know anything!? You just got here! You don't know her, you don't know any of us! We don't know anything about you! You're basically a stranger to us! You only stay in one place for a little while anyway, right? How could you possibly care what happens to anyone!"

"Ralph..." Layla almost whimpered, shocked by what he was saying.

"I'm starting to question if you're even capable of caring about anyone, seeing as how you barely have enough time to breath before the universe fairy carries you off to another world! We would have been better off if you had never come here!"

Layla moved her shocked gaze down to her hands which were now clutched into tight fists in front of her.

She'd heard this before, from countless people blaming her for the problems they faced. She'd learned to ignore it but for some reason, at this moment, she couldn't.

The echoes began to well up inside of her while Ralph continued to vent his frustration at her expense. With each word the more they began to hit the long guarded nerve she'd so carefully protected inside of her and the more her confusion was replaced by a hard and boiling anger.

"Have you ever known anyone long enough to really miss them...or do you just meddle in their lives to instantly forget about them the second you disappear? We're nothing to you and you'll be nothing to us! You're nothing but a ghost! A ghost we'll forget about the second you leave!"

Finally Layla couldn't hold it in any longer and she shot up, giving Ralph a hard punch to the arm.

"Stop it! Just STOP!" she yelled, her voice echoing through the station.

Ralph stared down at her wide-eyed, her reaction and the look on her face was more than enough to take the wind out of his tirade.

"You...you have no right...I...you...UGH!" she roared, punching him in the arm again before turning away and marching off.

Ralph watched while Layla walked away in an angry march before stopping herself a few feet away from him. She stood for a moment shaking with aggravation then suddenly raised her arms and let out a raspy yell that again echoed through the station, giving the bench beside her a swift kick which caused the overlook rings to become visible for a second before taking a seat on the bench, her back to him.

Ralph stood shocked at what had just happened, standing motionless and wide eyed. He finally reached up and massaged the place on his arm where she'd punched it, surprised that it hurt as much as it did.

He hadn't expected Layla to react like that, he actually had been so lost in his own tirade that he was completely unaware of anything but his own guilt and frustration.

It was then that he noticed the station around him, realizing the majority of the other characters nearby were staring in his direction. His face instantly turned a shade of pink before he gave them a shrug and an awkward smile, trying his best to not let anyone know how embarrassed he was that he was now becoming the center of attention.

"Is there any problem here?" a voice asked from his right.

Ralph turned to see the Surge Protector looking up at him.

"Um...no..no problem." he laughed trying to act like what had just happened hadn't.

"You sure about that? That was quite a spectacle you two just gave everyone a moment ago...had to reassure a couple of them that Layla wasn't someone they needed to worry about because of it." the Surge Protector said, "Is everything okay with Miss Layla?"

"Yeah...we just...I..." Ralph started, letting out a long sigh before deciding to change the subject, "Does anyone know what's going on with the missing characters?"

The Surge Protector let out an equally long sigh, realizing what Ralph was doing but deciding to let the lack of explanation slide.

"I'm sorry, Ralph, but no one's come forward with any new information. It's like all the characters just, up and disappeared."

"But...that's impossible...how could that happen?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out..." the Surge Protector replied.

"Listen, Vanellope's gone missing...I don't know what to do." Ralph admitted before he could stop himself.

The Surge Protector took off his glasses and gave them a quick cleaning, understanding what Ralph must be going through and what must have caused the loud argument between him and Layla.

"Why don't you two get back to your game. If anything comes up I'll send word right away." the Surge Protector said, putting his glasses back on his face and giving Ralph another pat on the shoulder before walking back to the makeshift reporting station.

Ralph watched him go back to the front of the crowd before finally turning to where Layla was, her body language still rigid and angry.

He walked over and sat down on the row of seats connected to the bench behind her, looking over his shoulder at her so she wouldn't notice he was watching her.

"Um...maybe we should get back to my game." he said.

Layla said nothing.

Ralph let out an uncomfortable cough.

"There really isn't any reason for us to stay here." he said, hoping to get some sort of reaction from her.

Layla again said nothing, instead she simply got up and started walking toward his games terminal.

Ralph felt worse. He let out another sigh and got up from his seat, following a few steps behind her into the terminal for his game.

The two of them stood in silence while they waited for the trolley to come. Ralph wanted to say something to her, but he didn't know what. He knew what he said to her wasn't the nicest and he knew he was taking his frustration out on her, but he still couldn't bring himself to apologize just yet.

"So...we...I...the trollies taking forever, isn't it." he managed to get out, trying his best to get a dialogue started.

Layla continued to stare away from him and even though he couldn't see the expression on her face he was sure it was an angry one.

Ralph scratched the back of his head. He didn't mean what he'd said, especially since all Layla had done was try and make him feel better.

'Come on Ralph,' he thought, 'just apologize. Let her know you didn't mean it.'

"Listen, Layla I..." he started before Layla abruptly turned to him.

"No! You listen here!" Layla yelled, her anger more than apparent, "You know nothing of me! Especially about how I feel, or what I've been through!"

Ralph began to cower at the force in front of him. The woman glaring up at him, who couldn't even be as tall as Calhoun, seemed to be twelve feet tall in that moment. She leaned toward him, letting out her anger in what can only be described as a storm of emotion.  Her temper seemingly engulfing the room.

"I've known hundreds of people since I was given the scanner, and I've known hundreds before! I've known hundreds of faces and names, troubles and heartaches and I could tell you every single one of their lives stories! I may not have known Vanellope for that long but that doesn't make me incapable of worry! Or unworthy of it! Don't you ever forget that!" she roared just as the trollies dinged in front of them.

Layla turned and sat in the first cart, adjusting so her back was to Ralph.

Ralph stood for a moment, trying to get back his composure before letting out a guilty sigh and sitting down in the last trolley cart, leaving an empty cart between them just as the trolley dinged and they were off, again in silence.

He watched as the wind moved her hair lightly around the back of her head. She was angry at him, all right, that much was a given and she had the right to be. He'd not only accused her of not caring, but also told her that they didn't care about her. That she wasn't worth caring about because she'd be gone soon.

Ralph buried his head in his hand for a moment.

Now she was mad at him, he wouldn't be surprised if she hated him. Put that on top of the fact that he was no closer to figuring out what to do about Vanellope's disappearance and came to one simple fact.

He'd messed up.

He looked up at Layla again, not expecting to see much of a change, but instead of the rigid position she had been sitting in he noticed the anger in her body language begin to disappear. She was now slightly hunched forward, her shoulders hanging low while her head stared down at her lap rather than straight ahead or off to her side like she had before.

When the trollies came into the station Ralph immediately got out of his cart but Layla just sat for a moment. The anger that had resonated off of her since they had been in the station was now gone and was replaced with sadness while she slowly stepped out of the cart.

Ralph watched as she continued to keep from looking at him but before he could get the courage up to say anything to her again they were interrupted by Felix.

"Ralph! Miss Layla!" he yelled from in front of the Nicelander building, where he was talking to Gene.

The two of them walked off of the platform to meet Felix, who was running toward them.

"Glad to see the two of you finally making it back to the game." Felix said, "What news have you got for us? Any word on where the missing folk have been taken off to?"

Ralph shook his head 'no'.

"Oh no...so no one knows anything?" he asked

"Nope...nothing?" Ralph answered.

"I'd hoped there'd be something." Felix said looking over at Layla and noticing her change in demeanor, "Well my goodness! What's wrong, Miss Layla? You're looking mighty low right now."

Layla gave Felix a soft forced smile.

"I'm fine, Felix. I'm just...I think I'm just tired from the day. Excuse me." she said, walking away into Ralph's home, shutting the door behind her.

Felix stared for a moment before glaring up at Ralph, a suspicious look on his face.

"What in the heaven's did you do to her?" he scolded.

"Me!?" Ralph stammered, shocked at Felix's assumption, "What makes you think I did anything?"

"Well I know I just met Miss Layla, but that young woman who stopped you in Game Central Station seemed like a completely different person from the one that just sulked into your house, and seeing as how she tried her darndest to keep from looking at you!"

Ralph furrowed his brow and quickly looked away from Felix, which made it clear that he was right.

"Ralph...?" Felix said.

"Okay! Okay...I lost my temper in the station. I said some...things."

"What type of things?" Felix insisted.

"Not nice things! Okay! I pretty much told her we didn't care about her and she didn't care about us."

"Ralph I am ashamed of you!" Felix said, crossing his arms, "What would possess you to do something like that?"

The large man shrugged his shoulders.

"Well if I know anything it's how to fix things. Get in there and apologise right away! I would like to get to know that young woman from earlier and that isn't possible until she's feeling like herself!"

"I'm not sure I'm the person she wants to see right now. Can I stay out here with you for a..."

"Now brother!" Felix insisted, interrupting Ralph before he could finish his excuse.

Ralph turned with a deep grumble back toward his home. He knew Felix was absolutely right, but that didn't change the fact that he didn't want to apologize just yet, especially when he felt like he was being forced.

He walked into his home, shutting the door behind him. The annoyed expression quickly leaving his face when he saw Layla sitting on his sofa.

She was sitting cross-legged, her shoulders hunched down in what can only be described as defeat.

She was lightly trailing her fingertips onto her left palm the same way she'd done with her life gauge and the picture of Robin Hood. She seemed to be tracing an imaginary line over it while she looked lost in what she was doing.

Ralph quickly lost his nerve, deciding that now was not a good time when he was interrupted by the low hushed voice that finally broke the silence.

"You know when I first started world jumping I was just out of high school. That seems like forever ago." Layla started, "I never thought I'd be gone this long...I never thought I'd be so..."

Her voice cracked for a moment before she regained her composure.

"I'm sorry Ralph." she said, which confused him more than anything.

"Wh-what do you have to be sorry for?" he blurted out.

"You were right..." she said, her voice low, "About no one knowing anything about me..."

She continued to look down at her hands. Ralph felt horrible for not only saying what he had but for making her feel the way she was, especially because she had apologized to him first when it should have been the other way around.

"I've learned to keep my secrets, guard them from everyone I've met...not because I don't want anyone to know...it's just..." she paused for moment, trying to get her thoughts together, "it's just I don't want anyone to worry."

Ralph hesitated for a moment before walking over and sitting down on the sofa beside her.

"You deserve to know..." she started again while he took a seat, "and I'll let you know...eventually. I'm just not ready to tell you now, and I know it's a lot to ask, especially since I'm basically a stranger...but I need you to trust me..."

Layla looked up at him, her eyes were tired and a sad desperation fell across her face which added to Ralph's guilt.

"I just...I'm sorry..." she repeated.

"Don't be...you don't owe anyone an explination...least of all me," he said, raising his large hands to scratch the back of his head, "and I should be the one to apologize. I shouldn't have said all those things in Game Central. You didn't deserve any of it."

"You were frustrated..."

"That's no excuse." he answered, "I'm sorry."

Layla let a small sleepy smile form on her face before looking down at her hand again. Turning them over onto her lap.

"Layla...?" Ralph started.

"Yeah?" she asked quietly.

"I don't think you're a ghost...you're more important than that, and when you dissappear...I'll miss you." he muttered, quickly turning a shade of pink after realizing what he'd actually said.

She looked up at him, her smile had gotten slightly bigger.

"Um..." Ralph started, letting out a loud cough and adjusting in his seat, trying to think of something to quickly change the subject, "you...um...we..."

While he shifted around a picture that rested on the table beside the sofa fell to the floor. Ralph leaned over and picked it up. It was one of the many pictures he had of himself and Vanellope making funny faces at the camera. Ralph stared down at the picture, the glass had cracked from the fall but he hardly noticed it.

"We'll find her..." Layla said softly, now sitting a little closer to see what he had been looking at.

"I know..." he whispered, the fear and worry returning before he tried to think of something else, "you know what, Vanellope's a resourceful kid. She can handle anything. I mean, if she could survive years hiding from Turbo and adapting to life the way she did I'm sure she can handle whoever took her!"

"Who's Turbo?" Layla asked.

"He's the viru...I mean...he's the guy who took over Vanellope's game and tried to delete her not too long ago."

"No wonder she was so weary of me when she thought I was a virus." Layla added, "So what happened to him? Is he still around?"

Ralph began to tell her the whole story. How he had once been feared for being a villain and how Vanellope became his first friend. How they'd defeated Turbo and reclaimed Vanellope's game and how Felix and Calhoun met, not to mention how he'd won the penthouse key.

"That's amazing...you really became a hero that day." Layla said after he'd finished telling her the whole story, followed by a quiet yawn.

"Yeah...but that's why I'm not too worried about Vanellope...she's probably talking the ear off of whoever took her. Making bad jokes and just being her tough self. They're probably trying to find a way to give her back as we spea..."

Ralph was interrupted mid-sentence by the sensation of Layla leaning against his arm. A shot flew up his spine, causing him to straighten up in his seat and his heart to nearly beat out of his chest.

He stared straight ahead, shock and almost dread on his face not to mention a heat that he was sure could be seen on his cheeks.

He frantically looked around the room in a panic before taking a deep breath and finally looking down at her, expecting to see her smiling face but instead he saw the top of her head. He tilted his forward to see that she was leaning against him because she had fallen fast asleep.

Ralph raised his head and went back to frantically looking around the room.
'Should I move her? If I move her she might wake up.' He thought to himself, tilting his head to see her face again.

She had a small smile across it while she adjusted in her sleep, scooting closer to him and bringing her arm up to hug his.

He again straightened up in his seat, his face becoming warmer while his heart beat furiously in his chest.

It was then that he finally remembered that she'd never come down from her sugar high from yesterday. She looked like she was ready to take a nap when he was showing her the penthouse earlier and in all the commotion she must have ignored how tired she was to...

'To make sure I was okay in the station.' he thought, looking down at her again.

His face felt less hot and his heart began to calm inside of him.

"She must have been exhausted..." he whispered to himself, deciding not to risk waking her.

He continued to look down at her for a moment longer, letting a small smile form across his face before quietly coughing it away.

Ralph leaned back slightly and before he knew it he had also fallen asleep not too long after.

After a day like today they both deserved some sleep. Sleep would do them both a world of good.

Chapter 8
Level 7: Past Truths
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Layla leaned up against a rock beside the small pond where she'd been waiting alone for longer than she thought she would be.

She would have normally felt uneasy being left alone in an unfamiliar place but the forest where she found herself calmed her.  Especially with the sound of water flowing into the pond.

She closed her eyes for a moment.

The warm wind and smells of the plants and water it carried engulfed her senses. The feeling of her hair whisping against her face and the grass beneath her hands made it almost impossible for her not to smile.

She opened her eyes again and turned toward the pond. She leaned over it catching her reflection in the its surface.

'Hmm...blond. I look good, even if that's not exactly my face,' she thought with a laugh. She lightly began trailing her hand over its cool surface before dipping her fingers into it.

Suddenly a small mechanical bird came shooting out from the plants beside her.

It zoomed around her, making a buzzing sound as it did before hovering for a second in front of her.

Layla was in awe, its small wings a blur but it's body was a perfect metal replica or an organic bird. It's metallic colors glistening in the sun until it flew around her for a final time then disappeared into the forest.

"I see you made a friend while I was gone." a man said, walking out from the trees behind her.

Layla smiled.

"I think I scared him more than anything else...what's the town look like?"

"Come on, I'll show you." the man said, taking her by the hand and leading her through the forest.

They walked for a few minutes, emerging on top of a hill overlooking a massive city that reached far past the horizon.

The city looked like nothing Layla had ever seen before. If the small bird was a sight to behold then the city was something far more impressive.

Forest and machinery intertwined, seeming to meld so beautifully that it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began.

Massive trees sprang skyward, reaching toward the sun but the more Layla stared at them the more she realized that some of them weren't trees at all, but rather buildings built into them.  Or buildings made to look like trees, she couldn't tell.

Large wheels turned, either powered by the streams that flowed from within or by the wind itself.

The city was in motion, it flowed and moved, puffs of steam came shooting out from various points through out and monuments sprang up of impressive looking men and women. Most likely people of importance for the town or simply works of art made for enjoyment. Either way they were beautiful.

Fantastic vehicles moved in and out of tunnels and onto roadways while cabled carts shifted and maneuvered high above. The flow of tiny people could be seen, looking more like masses of ants over a log from the distance they were at.

The city was alive.

"It's amazing!" Layla exclaimed, squeezing the mans hand and turning to give him a large enthusiastic smile.

The man laughed and smiled back for a moment when his face suddenly changed. The sound of a deep rumbling in the distance broke through, causing him to forget what was happening.

He looked up toward the once bright sky, a look of worry on his face.

The wind began to pick up when Layla moved her attention to the sky as well, the sound of thunder broke the calm.

Black clouds rolled in overhead, blocking out the warmth of the sun.

"This doesn't look good..." she whispered when she felt the man let go of her hand.

She turned to see why he only to find herself standing alone on a grand balcony.

The clothes she had been wearing were gone and she now found herself dressed in a beautiful red gown.

Layla felt her heart sink and begin to quicken.

"No! No, dear God please no!" she began to yell, looking down at the intricate details in the dress.

She rushed for the door trying to pry it open but it wouldn't budge.

The fear began to well up inside her.

She knew this.

She had been here before.

Suddenly a deep, low, raspy laugh began to roll in on the wind like the sound of thunder.

Layla turned and stared in horror at the silhouette of a man who stood only feet away.

"NO!" she pleaded, pressing back against the door just as the man began to take a few steps closer.

She fought again with the door, frantically trying to get away when it flew open causing her to fall to the ground.

She lifted herself up, only to come face to face with a lifeless body sprawled across the floor.

Fear took its hold on Layla while shuffled herself against the frame of the door, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Not again! Dear god please! Not again!" she managed to say in only a whisper.  Her fear keeping her from yelling out.

Suddenly someone placed their hands over her mouth and eyes, plunging her into black waters where she struggled to breath.

She fought with the arms pulling down as her lungs began to burn and ache for air.  Further and further until she felt her last breath leave her body and then, darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Layla sprang up from where she was sleeping with a quick but quiet gasp.

She scanned the room frantically trying to remember where she was when she turned and saw Ralph beside her still fast asleep.

Finally she remembered and the fear inside her began to subside while she struggled to catch her breath.

"A dream?" she whispered, even though she knew it was more than just a dream.

The panic it left was something she hadn't felt in a while, especially since she'd come to this world.

Layla stared down at her scanner before slowly getting up and making her way outside of the house, trying her best not to wake Ralph.

Once outside she closed the door behind her and walked around the side of the house.

Layla looked at the houses in front of her and tried to tell herself her dream didn't mean anything.

She began to press commands into the scanner faster than she'd ever done before.

'Immediate proximity scan: Negative'

'Identification scan: No anomalies registered'

'Native variants: Accounted for; no anomalies registered.'

Every scan Layla could think of she proceeded to input into the device.

She went through the settings and adjusted the scanning criteria in any way she could think of before performing the scans a second and  then a third time.

She went through every file, searching for anything she may have overlooked and with each search she made the more her heart began to slow.

'Nothing...you've found nothing' she thought as she slowly lowered her hand away from her scanner and allowed a deep sigh of relief to leave her lungs.

She slid down the wall behind her and rested on the ground with a soft thud.

"Nothing..." she whispered, placing her hand on her head, trying the best to calm down from not only the scare of the dream but also the possibility that what she was searching for could have actually been there.

"It's okay...it's all okay." she quietly repeated to herself when the sound of someone walking nearby broke her concentration.

"Oh...you're still here." the person said, stopping not far from where she sat.

Layla looked up to see one of the Nicelanders from the day before standing proudly and looking down at her with a hint of disdain in his expression, a small walking cain in one of his hands.

"What...?" she asked, not sure if she'd heard him right.

"Didn't think you'd still be around." he answered, adjusting his sleeves, "Considering all the things that have happened I was sure they'd put you somewhere they could keep a better eye on you."

Layla's brow furrowed.

She was in no mood to deal with condescension right now, and for the most part she'd been able to keep her normally short fused temper under control but because of the scare she'd just put herself through that control was long gone and the short fuse was even shorter and nearly at its end.

"Why do you say that...Gene, was it?" she managed to get out calmly, but still in a way that sounded more like a warning than an actual question.

"Well, I've heard about all these disappearances. Thank goodness no one from our game is missing, but quite a few of the characters from the others have simply up and vanished. Not just the original few I'd thought it was. So I got to talking with some of the other characters and I come to find out that the mystery woman who's been hanging around with Ralph doesn't seem to have a game of her own."

Layla stared up at the little man who looked down his nose at her. She knew where this was going, but the will it took to keep her from flying off the handle then and there kept her from speaking up to stop Gene from finishing.

"So it got me to thinking." Gene continued, "Here's this girl who doesn't seem to come from any game walking around and she shows up about the same time people begin to start disappearing. I find it a little more than odd that both of those rare events just...sync up."

Layla glared down at him while she stood up off of the floor.

"What are you saying?" she said through her teeth.

"I would think that would be obvious" he answered, glaring back up at her.

"Listen...Gene." Layla started, still trying her best to keep her cool, "Whatever's going on I assure you I have nothing to do with it."

"And why should I take your word at face value?" he said with a smug turn of his head.

"Because I haven't been more than a few feet away from Ralph the entire time I've been here, so I couldn't have taken anyone anywhere!."

"And that's another thing," he again started, now glaring up at her with same amount of intensity, "Ralph may not be my favorite person but he's a good guy. He doesn't deserve to be chained to someone like you!"

"And how am I like? I've only met you for a few minutes. Aside from your assumptions how could you know anything about me?" she said angrily, not sure how much longer she could hold her temper in.

"I know a liar when I see one!" Gene snapped.

Layla's right hand began to spark with surge's of electricity. She'd had enough. This smug little man had managed to push her buttons to the point where she wanted nothing more than to beat the living daylight out of him, and she was sure that was going to be her next move when suddenly a large hand extended out in front of her.

"That's enough Gene." Ralph said, stepping in between the two of them.

"You can't be serious!" the little man scoffed, "She knows more than she's letting on, Ralph, and instead of getting to the bottom of it you're defending her! What about Vanellope?"

"I said that's enough, Gene!" Ralph demanded, his voice becoming stern.

Gene frowned up at the two of them for a second before returning to his smug expression and adjusting his sweater again.

"I think that's enough for my morning stroll, I better get back to my apartment. Good day, Ralph." he said, turning and walking back into the Nicelanders building, leaving the two of them alone in the blue light of early morning.

"You okay?" Ralph asked as soon as Gene disappeared.

Layla didn't say anything. She just turned away and nodded, her temper still boiling inside of her.

"Don't listen to him. Gene's not the warmest of Nicelanders...I know from personal experience."

Layla again said nothing for a few seconds, but the intensity of her anger proved to be too much for her to keep in.

"Who the hell does he think he is!?" she insisted, the snap of her voice causing Ralph to straighten up slightly.

"Listen Layla, I know you're angry. Gene has a way of pushing peoples buttons, but you need to calm down. I'm scared you're gonna accidentally shoot me or something."

She stared at him slightly confused when he motioned toward her right hand. She looked down at it and finally realized that it was indeed still sparking.

"Sorry," she said, closing her eyes and letting out a couple of calming breaths, which helped her hand return to normal but didn't do much for her anger.

She looked down at her hand again before crossing her arms in front of her.

"How dare he call me a liar!" she huffed, "As if being called a virus wasn't bad enough. He's probably spreading that like wildfire to the rest of the Nicelanders."

Ralph let a small crooked smile form across his face.

"Don't worry, Gene has some say around here but as long as Felix thinks you're okay, which he does, no one will question it."

Layla began to pout.

Ralph's smile got slightly bigger. He couldn't help but smile at the image of the pouting woman in front of him.

"I wanna show you something." he said, turning and walking away from her.

Layla followed, curiosity taking place of some of her anger and annoyance while he lead her to and up the brick pile behind his home.

"Is this necessary?" Layla contested, "I don't feel much like a hike right now."

"We're almost there. It's not my fault you've got short legs." he laughed.

At the top there was an old, beat up stump, which seemed out-of-place considering the pile they stood on consisted of old and broken building materials.

Ralph sat down in front of it, while Layla just stared at him, confusion sprawled across her face.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked

She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

"A stump?"

"Well, yeah, but it's not just any stump...it's my stump. Welcome to my old home."

Layla's whole body seemed to jump from the shock at hearing this.

"You're home?! You used to live in a stump?" she gasped out.

Ralph laughed at her reaction.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Well look at me...the Nicelanders all got nice, clean new..ish clothes and I'm a giant in overalls.  Not just any overalls but ripped up overalls! It never crossed your mind that I probably didn't live in a nice apartment building like they did."

A confused smile formed across Layla's face. She never really thought about it, but Ralph did look like he belonged in an old picture of an Appalachian family from the late 1800's.

She shrugged again and walked up to stump and trailed her hand over its rim before hopping inside of it. It was huge, more than enough room for her to sprawl out inside of with room to spare. She hopped up and crossed her arms over its side, looking down at Ralph who sat smiling beside it.

"Cozy," she said with a small smile, "but I can't help but feel you didn't bring me up here just to show me this."

"You're right, so if you haven't guessed, I'm the villain of my game."

"No!" Layla said mockingly.

"Ha ha...Like I was saying, I'm the villain of my game and the Nicelanders built on the land where my stump was, which made me very angry. So every game I try to wreck their building and Felix fixes it. That's why his full name's Fix-It Felix and mine's Wreck-it Ralph."

"Ha...'Wreck-It Ralph' That name suits you."

"Thank you...don't interrupt. And for the first 30 years we were in Litwack's Arcade I was treated as the villain. Not just during the game but outside of the game too. We all were. If you were a bad guy then you were feared...or hated."

Ralph looked back at her, his smile slightly fading.

"I know all this, you told me last night." Layla said, still not sure what he was trying to get at.

"Gene was one of the worst when it came to how others treated me. He was rude and would lead in one way or another when it came to reminding me of my place. He still doesn't think too highly of me, but at least the way he treats me has gotten better."

Ralph's smile came back while he turned to look at Layla, who still had a confused look on her face.

"The point I'm trying to make is Gene's not a trusting guy and when there's something or someone around that might threaten the Nicelanders he put's up his defences, but just because his heart may be in the right place that doesn't mean he's right. He used to tell me I was nothing more than a bad guy...and he was wrong about that. So what he said to you, don't listen to him...'cause he's wrong about that too. They all are."

Layla lifted her head while a calm surprise took the place of the confused expression she'd been wearing.

She wasn't expecting that at all, and the feeling she was left with was no longer anger, but rather a warm sort of calm.

A smile formed across her face and she let out a soft breathy laugh.

"What?" Ralph asked, still smiling up at her.

"Anyone ever tell you you're a sweetheart?" she said, which was something that Ralph definitely wasn't expecting either.

His smile instantly faded into shock and his cheeks simultaneously turned a shade of red. He turned away and began to laugh and babble uncontrollably.

"N...no...not rescently..." he managed to get out trying his best to play off his reaction. Which he wasn't doing well with at all.

Layla's smile got bigger while she rested her head back down on her arms over the side of the stump.

"Thanks Ralph..." she said, "I really needed that."

"It's...it's nothing." he replied, still trying to laugh off his embarrassment.

She looked down at the rim of the stump in front of her and began to play with the pieces of wood that poked out here and there.

"What about you...how're you feeling today?" she asked Ralph, who by now had started to return to his natural shade, just slightly pinker.

He shrugged, he was still worried about Vanellope but he didn't feel as lost as he had the day before.

"I guess I'm feeling as good as I can be. Maybe later we can go back to Game Central and see if there's anything else we can do?"

Layla nodded.

The two sat in silence while the sun could be seen rising outside of the player viewing window. Lighting up the arcade outside of the game.

"So..." Ralph started, trying to think of something else to say, "why'd you come out of the house? You seemed worried."

Layla looked at him without raising her head. She wasn't sure if she wanted to bring up everything the dream had reminded her of, but the way she felt, the way he'd made her feel, brought with it a feeling she hadn't felt in a while.

"I had a nightmare about the first world I was transported into, or more accurately the man I met there."

Ralph nodded. 

The two sat again in silence for a few minutes.  Ralph didn't want to press Layla any further on the subject.  He didn't want her to rehash anything she wasn't ready to share.  Layla picked up on his intentions immediately. 

"Did I ever tell you why I world jump?"

"You started to." he replied.

"Yeah well I used to be able to control where and when I could go from one world to another, but before I could use that function on my scanner 'he' got a hold of it." she started.

"He...you mean that Garrick guy?"

"Garrick..." Layla almost growled as she said his name, her tone making it more than clear that she didn't much like the man who belonged to that name.

"That snake! I thought I could trust him...instead he used that to steal my scanner and broke it trying to figure out how he could use it to gain more power! I didn't realize he'd done anything to it until after I managed to get it back and jump to the next world. Now I can't control where or when I go from one place to another, so I'm stuck, basically floating from one world to the next hoping that I somehow end up back home."

Ralph looked up at her. She continued to play with the fibers in the stump, lost in her memories of this 'Garrick'.

"Listen to me...talking about things I should have forgotten."

"Why haven't you?"

Layla's smile completely left her face. She stood up and turned so Ralph couldn't see her face.

"He took something away that was very important to me." she said in a hushed tone, wiping her eye for a second.

"Listen, Layla...I know I made a big deal about not knowing you, but I don't want you to feel like you have to tell me everything. Especially if it brings up some bad memories."

Layla smiled then looked up at Ralph.

"It's okay, I don't mind telling you." she said, hopping out of the stump, "You make me feel at ease...plus it's good to get some stuff out. I haven't trusted anyone the way I trust you in a long time. I don't mind telling you."

Ralph felt his face getting warm again when they heard someone yell up to them.

"Good mornin' Ralph...Miss Layla!" Felix called from the bottom of the brick pile.

"Good Morning, Felix." Layla replied, making her way down the pile to meet him.

"She trusts me..." Ralph whispered to himself while he got up and decided to join the others at the bottom of the pile.

"Mighty fine mornin' if I do say so myself, and I see you're looking much better since yesterday."

"I'm feeling much better, thank you." Layla said with a large smile.

"No need for thanks, just glad to see it. So, I see Ralph's showing you around his old stompin' grounds. I hope he's being cordial." Felix said, giving Ralph a look over her shoulder.

"Yes, he's being quite the gentleman today." Layla laughed.

"That's great to hear, say are you all busy at the moment? I would much like to introduce you to the Nicelanders. Let them know you're no one to fear and as tame as a kitten."

"That sounds like a good idea, Layla had a run in earlier with Gene." Ralph added once he got to the bottom of the brick pile, which made Layla's face scrunch up.

"And I take it from Miss Layla's expression it wasn't a good one." Felix sighed, shaking his head, "That Gene...please don't think too negatively of him. He's just taken to watching over the other Nicelanders a little more aggressively than I would. I'll have a talk with him if you'd like."

"No, that's not necessary..thank you for the offer though." Layla replied with a smile.

Suddenly the front doors of the large apartment building opened and a group of Nicelanders came pouring out, all looking slightly uneasy.

"Well, seems like we've got our chance sooner than I thought. Come on, I'll see if they're ready themselves." Felix laughed, making his way to the group.

"You sure you're ready for this?" Ralph asked as they walked toward the group.

"I think so. Felix is right, this is the best way of letting them know I mean no harm." she replied, followed by an audible gulp.

The Nicelanders took a while to warm up to the thought of speaking with Layla let alone introducing themselves to her, opting to stay huddled in a cautious group. Even with all the prodding and reassuring from Felix the majority of them weren't too willing to make the first move. Layla was sure Gene had gotten to some of them, even though she couldn't really prove it.

"Are you sure we can trust her?" one of the Nicelanders whispered to Felix, "Gene was telling Mary that he doesn't think we should."

"I assure you, Meg, Layla's as nice and as good a person as they come." he replied.

"But how can you be sure?" Norwood, another Nicelander asked, joining the whispered conversation.

"Well because of Ralph. He's known her the longest and if there was anything to be worried about I'm sure he'd let us know." Felix reassured.

"Give us a minute, Felix?" Nel asked, while the group went into a huddle to discuss what they should do.

Felix walked over to where Ralph and Layla were standing.

"What are they doing now?" Layla asked, now completely nervous after having to wait for a while.

"Oh don't worry they do this for almost everything new they attempt. They've grown accustomed to moving as a group. They're most likely just trying to figure which of them will introduce themselves first."

Just then the group pushed out one of the women in front of the group. She walked up to Layla in her Nicelander way, clearing her throat and adjusting her little hat.

"Hello...Miss Layla, let me be the first to apologize on behalf of the whole group. We haven't been very welcoming. My name is Deanna." she said, extending her small hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, Deanna." Layla answered with a smile, taking her hand and shaking it.

"Oh, yes, very proper I see. That's always good...let me introduce you to the others." Deanna smiled, leading Layla closer to where the rest of the group were, "This is Nel, Don, Mary, Lucy, Roy..."

Deanna went through each Nicelander, who replied with a cheerful 'hello' or 'hi' the further along down the line Deanna got. Layla smiled at each one and did her best to seem cordial.

"So, how long exactly have you been in our neck of the woods?" Don asked, once the introductions were through.

"Only a few days." Layla answered.

"And what game did you come from exactly? I wasn't aware we'd gotten some new tenants." Mary followed.

"Oh...I didn't come from a game." Layla replied, which she quickly regretted based on the looks on the Nicelanders faces.

"You didn't come from a game?" Gretchen, one of the older Nicelanders asked, hesitantly.

"Well, I, um...I came from a different world. That's why I don't have a game. I world jump because of this." Layla explained, pointing at her scanner.

"Oh..." The Nicelanders all said, nodding uneasily.

"So you've...traveled?" Deanna asked.

Layla nodded.

"I've been all over...to many different kinds of places." she said, hoping they were still willing to talk.

"Well...how're you liking being in...our world?" Lionel asked. "Hopefully everyone's treated you, well, better than we have."

Everyone chuckled, which lightened the mood greatly and brought everyone at ease.

"I've been lucky. Ralph here has been very accommodating."

"Yes, Felix was telling us you and Ralph have been spending quite a lot of time together." Fillipe said with a flutter of his brow.

"Oh...is that so?" Deanna added, in an insinuating tone of voice.

"Well I don't have much of a choice, considering we're Overlooked to each other." Layla said, completely missing what the Nicelanders were hinting at.

As soon as they heard the word 'overlooked' the smiles on their faces disappeared and all their eyes widened to the size of saucers.

It was more than obvious that maybe bringing up that fact wasn't the smartest thing to do.

"Oh but that's not because I did anything...it's only because I'm only partly cleared by the Surge Protector." she stammered, trying to explain why she was overlooked.

The look of dread on their faces made it more than clear that that probably wasn't the smartest explanation to go with.

"Maybe it's best if we end the meet and greet there" Felix interrupted before whispering to Layla, "Go on with Ralph, maybe there's some good news over in Game Central Station...I'll fix this by the time you come back."

"Thanks Felix." Layla replied, scurrying off to Ralph and walking past him without saying a word.

They walked to the trolley in silence while Felix and the Nicelanders went back into their building. Layla stared at the ground with an apprehensive look on her face while Ralph would occasionally look down at her through the corner of his eye.

"Not too great with first impressions are you?" he laughed, just as the trolley dinged into the station.

Layla gave him an annoyed look before it quickly turned into a small smile.

"Shut up..." she laughed, giving him a playful hit to the arm while the two of them piled into the trolley.

Chapter 10

Level 9: Mistaken Identity
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tapper was checking on a large pile of boxes that had been stacked against the opposite wall of Grand Central Station.

He looked inside one of them, taking a few moments to write down what its contents were on the clipboard he was carrying when Ralph had finally made his way to his friend.

"Tapper?" Ralph whispered trying his best not to make too much noise.

"Ralph! Oh thank goodness you're still here." Tapper said, leaning against a box in relief.

"I'm okay, so is everyone else in my game. What's going on here, though? Why's everyone in the station?"

"You haven't heard? Almost all the games have lost most of their players. That sweet racing game your little friend comes from has been hit the worst. Nearly all of the playable characters are gone along with a large amount of the background sprites."

"Sugar Rush?"

"Yes, I'm sorry to say.  The majority of games in the whole arcade have been hit pretty hard. Folk have been doing their best to keep things calm, or help out where they can. As soon as I heard of the most recent disappearances I figured I'd do everything in my power to help out. Was allowing folks to stay in my game until it got deemed unsafe after people started disappearing there too so we came here along with everyone else who's left their games."

"Wait, hold on a second…you mean people are leaving their games by choice?" Ralph asked, shocked.

Tapper nodded.

The worry in Ralph's stomach grew. His game had been in Litwak's Arcade almost as long as it had been open and he had never heard of people leaving their games, at least not by choice.

"Does anyone have a clue who or what could be happening?" he almost pleaded, hoping at least someone had some answers.

Tapper shook his head.

"No one knows anything. One minute people are together with their loved ones and the next some of them are gone. Only your game and about two others haven't lost any players yet, but I'm sorry to say I don't think that will last very long. Might be best if you and all them Nicelanders evacuate soon too. No one knows where or who this thing will strike next."

Ralph looked up and around the room again. Who could be taking everyone, and why? Where could they be taking everyone? Most importantly, did he have any hope of ever seeing Vanellope again?

"This isn't happening." Ralph said the shock on his face turning into worry.

"What's wrong, Ralph?" Layla asked, coming out from behind him when she noticed his demeanor change.

Tapper took one look at Layla and an expression of sheer terror washed across his face. Tapper froze where he stood, dropping his clipboard which Layla quickly reached out and grabbed before it hit the ground, handing it back to Tapper.

"Th-thank you…" Tapper said in a shaky voice, to which Layla replied with a friendly nod of her head.

"Tapper, you okay, pal? You look like you've seen a ghost." Ralph asked.

"Ralph…wh-who's your…who's that here?" Tapper asked, trying to keep his fear from showing.

"This is my…friend, Layla." He replied.

Tapper gestured for Ralph to come closer to him.

"Listen Ralph, whoever this is I've heard some awful things about an unknown woman in a red jacket. People are sayin' she showed up around the same time everyone started to disappear. You need to be careful."

"Whatever anyone's said about Layla, absolutely none of it is true!" Ralph snapped in a way he'd never done to Tapper before.

He took a moment to calm himself down before returning to his hushed tone.

"She's been with me since she got here! She couldn't have done anything without me knowing!"

Tapper looked down at the ground and adjusted his bow tie for a moment.

"Okay Ralph, I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions." Tapper said, raising his palms up and shaking his head, "You've always been a straight forward kind of guy. You've never given me any reason to question you or your judgment so if you say this young woman isn't involved then I believe you, but you still need to be careful."

Tapper leaned in closer not wanting Layla to hear.

"It's not safe for her here. Lots of folks are lookin' for anyone to blame, for whatever reason. We've already had a few fights that needed to be broken up. People are so desperate to find where the blame lies and your friend here is prime target number one. People are likely to start a riot if they notice she's out here…if anything get back to your game before she or you get hurt."

Ralph looked around the room again and realized that the crowd around them had already started to take notice, whispering and pointing toward Layla.

"Thanks, Tapper. C'mon Layla, we're heading back to my game." Ralph said.

Layla again nodded toward Tapper before turning to follow closely behind Ralph again.

"So what happened? What did he tell you?" Layla asked.

"I'll tell you when we get back to the game." Ralph answered, reaching behind him to form a barrier around her with his large hand.

Layla took the gesture to mean whatever that man had told Ralph it couldn't have been anything good.

They slowly made their way again through the dense crowd, inching closer and closer to the entrance to 'Fix-it Felix, Jr.' when suddenly the already quiet crowd somehow managed to get even quieter.

An uneasy feeling seemed to take over every single person in the station. Everyone who had been walking around stopped in their tracks and all anyone could do was bring their attention to the room around them.

"What's happening?" Layla whispered, just as a loud deep sound engulfed the station.

Everyone ducked and placed their hands over their ears at what could only be described as the sound of metal being bent and twisted.

The sound seemed to echo throughout the station when just as suddenly as it started the sound stopped.

People again looked around the room. Slowly they began to remove their hands from their ears. They helped each other up, people shaking their heads and shrugging their shoulders.

"What was that?" someone finally shouted, breaking the confused silence.

Ralph turned to check on Layla, who looked just as confused and worried as the crowd.

Layla looked up at him for some sort of reassurance that he knew the source of the noise, which worried her more when it was apparent from the look on his own face there was none.

"…Ralph…" she said, just as the entire room began to rumble and shake.

People all around the station began to scream and duck, huddling underneath benches and into the person next to them. The large crowd began to run, pushing and shoving at each other in a desperate attempt to find shelter or just to get away.

Ralph fell to one knee trying to keep from falling completely not only from the shaking but from the massive surge of people pushing against him. He instinctively reached out and wrapped his arm around Layla, bringing her close to him.

"Hold on!" he yelled, but before she could grab onto him she was ripped out of his grasp by the panicking crowd.

"Ralph!" she yelled before she disappeared from view.

"Layla!" Ralph shouted, frantically searching the crowd nearby in hopes of finding her to no avail.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Layla struggled to stand. The crowd continued to push and shove their way around her in an attempt to get away from the shaking.

Without warning Layla was abruptly pushed into a large character from one of the wrestling games and the both of them fell to the ground with a loud thud.

She landed hard on her right wrist, instantly sending a surge of pain up her arm and throughout the rest of her body. She brought the arm close to her when the shaking finally stopped.

"Who the hell do you think you are, you…you…" the wrestler started, stopping mid-sentence when he saw who was lying on the floor next to him, "Wait a minute! You're that lady everyone's been talking about!"

Layla quickly stood up without hesitation even though her arm was still in considerable pain and tried to walk away but was blocked in by the crowd around them.

Their attention now on what was happening before them.

"It's that lady everyone's been talking about! The red jacket lady!" the wrestler continued to yell, bringing more attention to them.

Layla scanned around herself, frantically looking for a way out of the situation but was only met with more and more people walking closer to the two of them.

"You're the one everyone's been saying is a virus!" the wrestler continued.

"No! No, please! I'm not who everyone says I am." Layla pleaded, turning toward the crowd.

"It's her! It's the one everyone's been talking about!" someone in the crowd began to shout.

"She's the one taking everyone, I just know it!" another followed.

"She's probably the reason for the earth quake!" yet another called out.

"No, I didn't do any of that! I don't know where everyone is, please I…" Layla began to plead when the wrestler reached out and grabbed her by her injured wrist.

Waves of pain shot through Layla's arm and without hesitation she punched the man with her other arm which caused him to let go only to be met with an upward elbow to the nose and a swift kick to the chest.

The man fell back into the crowd of people behind him, which was the only reason he did not fall to the floor.

Audible gasps could be heard throughout the on looking crowd before again everyone fell silent.

"I…I'm sorry, that was a reflex. I didn't mean to do that, I swear I didn't…" Layla started, taking a few steps back away from the wrestler when she tripped over a shield lying on the ground.

She fell back onto the floor which caused her leg to slam down on the shield, making the overlook ring spark and become visible for a few seconds.

"She's overlooked!" the wrestler proclaimed, "She's a fugitive! Get her before she takes the rest of us!"

Layla pushed off the ground and tried to run when someone reached out and grabbed onto her hair. Her head shot back, stopping her in her tracks when the rest of crowd came down on her.

They clawed and grabbed at her, any bit of clothing they could grasp to keep her from running away.

They held onto her, pulling her in all directions. Some of them had even grabbed onto her injured wrist like the wrestler before.

Shots of pain flew through her body while she pleaded with the crowd.

"No, I didn't do any of it, please let me go! Let me go!" she begged, tears beginning to fall from her eyes from the excruciating pain.

"You're not getting away with what you've done, virus!" the wrestler shouted.

"No…please…" Layla pleaded when a large shadow began to form over all of them.

The crowd immediately dropped Layla onto the ground and scattered just in time for Ralph to land with a hard and loud 'crash' onto the floor.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" He growled, loud enough for his thunderous voice to echo throughout the station.

Ralph took a moment to turn to Layla, who was clutching her arm on the floor in a fetal position.

"Get out of the way, Wreck-it! That virus has to pay for what she's done!" the wrestler yelled, followed by agreements from the crowd around him.

"She's done nothing! Everything you've heard is a lie!" Ralph replied.

"She's brainwashed him!" someone called from the crowd.

"That has to be it, we have to delete her, she's too powerful!" another person followed, which only suited to anger Ralph even more.

"She hasn't brainwashed me!" he insisted.

"You can't stop all of us!" The wrestler yelled out, "So we'll only ask this once, get out of the way!"

"I won't let you hurt her! If you want to try, you'll have to get through me!" Ralph called out, bringing his fists up into the air.

The crowd lunged toward Ralph who braced himself for a fight when a blue flash shot out from in between them, causing everyone to come to a halt and shield their eyes.

"ENOUGH!" the surge protector called out in a voice that dwarfed Ralph's.

The crowd stood motionless, shock and fear across their faces. No one had ever seen the surge protector display himself in such a way.

"What do you mean 'stop'!?" the wrestler protested, "The virus is right there! You're putting every game character in danger by not deleting her this second!"

The crowd let out several calls of agreement to what the wrestler was saying.

"I said enough! This girl has special clearance from me personally and it is impossible for her to have committed any of the charges you're accusing her of without my knowledge!"

"You've made a mistake!" someone called out.

"It has to be her, she's overlooked!" another followed.

"Not even you can be everywhere!" cried out the wrestler, "If you can't deal with the virus then we'll find a way of dealing with her!"

"You will do nothing of the sort! Anyone who wishes to continue with this violent show will be restrained and sentenced to 'in game' detention!"

The thought of having to return to their abandoned games was the final straw that defused the crowd's anger and fear.

They began to step away from Ralph and Layla, not wanting to risk what the surge protector had promised.

"Keep an eye on that virus, Wreck-it!" the wrestler threatened.

Ralph continued to glare at the man with such distain that the wrestler struggled to keep his smug smile on his face. As soon as he disappeared into the crowd Ralph turned and ran to Layla, who was still huddled on the ground behind him.

"Layla, Layla…are you okay?" he whispered.

"She doesn't look too good, quick get her back to your game terminal." the Surge Protector instructed, glancing over his shoulder at the two of them.

Ralph wasted no time and picked her up as gently as he could, almost going into a full sprint to his game. She continued to clutch her arm as he moved his focus from his injured friend and his game terminal, which seemed like it was taking an eternity to get to.

Ch. 14

Level 13: Out of the Smoke
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Layla fell back against the wall and covered her face.

The green smoke filled the corridor leading into 'Hero's Duty' in a matter of seconds.

She looked up and tried to see what was going on around her.  It was thick and made it impossible to see more than an arms length in front of you.

Instantly chaos overtook the barracks and the sound of the soldiers and their weapons rang out all around.

She could see faint shadows of something hurdling out from the opening to her left and the sounds of soldiers crying out as they were dragged away into their game.

Layla froze at their cries of terror in the unknown smoke while they were rushed past her.

'I need to get out of here! I can't stay here!' she thought in a panic lifting herself off the floor and using the wall to guide herself and try to get away.

The pops of the soldier's weapons echoed through the long corridor while she slowly pushed herself further away from the door.

Whatever was dragging the soldiers into the opening never slowed and although the soldiers were highly trained they were no match for the unseen force.

'Please, don't let it get me! Please just let me find a way out' she started reciting to herself over and over while she struggled in vain to ignore the yells around her.

Suddenly a few shots rang out above her and ricocheted off the metal wall with a few loud clangs.

Layla yelled and ducked, grabbing onto her head, falling onto the floor.

"Oh god! I can't...I can't do this! I can't…" she called out when suddenly something grabbed onto her ankle and began to drag her back toward the entrance.

Layla screamed and frantically pawed at the ground around her before managing to latch onto a pipe coming out from the wall.

Whatever had grabbed onto her had begun to claw at her leg and she struggled to break free of it's grasp.

It pulled with such force that it lifted her off the ground before ripping her away from her saving grace.

She fell hard onto her back and looked down to see a soldier trying desperately to get a better grip on her leg.

"Don't let it get me! Don't let it get me...NO!" he screamed finally losing his grip on Layla and was dragged out of sight.

Layla didn't hesitate and sprang to her feet. She sprinted as fast as she could away from where the soldier had left her, ignoring the frenzy that continued to erupt around her.

It was then that she was able to focus more on what was happening.

Black tubes and wires burst from the smoke all around her, ensnaring the panicked soldiers with such force that some were even being lifted into the air and flew past her.

She ran blindly into the smoke trying not to trip over the debris and weapons that had been dropped onto the floor. She had no idea where she was going and ultimately had no plan for how to get out of the game when someone crashed into her, knocking them both to the ground.

"What the...YOU!" Kawolski growled, "What are you doing to my platoon!?"

Kawolski glared down at her. He had lost his helmet and his head was bleeding from the deep scratches across his face.

"I'm not doing anything!? I have no idea what's going on!?"

"Then what's taking all of us…" he yelled just as a black tube came shooting from the fog behind them.

"Look out!" Layla cried, pushing him out of the way and shooting the tube with her electric blast.

The end of the tube exploded into hundreds of pieces before it retreated back into the smoke.

Kawolski stared wide-eyed toward where the tube had been before looking over at Layla and grabbing her by the wrist.

"Come on, we have to get out of here!" he said, lifting them both off of the floor and running off with Layla following close behind.

"How?! Where are we going?" she asked, keeping her focus on the smoke around the two of them.

"Sargeant said if we ever get attacked in the barracks we need to make our way to the trams and warn Game Central. DUCK!"

Layla followed his command without hesitation when Kawolski fired at the tube behind her.

Again the tube exploded into hundreds of pieces before retreating and being replaced by three other tubes reaching for the two of them.

Layla and Kawolski shot at the seemingly endless stream of tubes and wires that erupted from the smoke, but just as one tube was dealt with it seemed like two were there to take it's place.

They began to struggle pushing the other out of the way before they were grabbed and dragged away just in time for the other to return the favor.

"We can't do this forever!" Layla called out.

"Keep firing, until we see an opening we don't have a choice!" Kawolski responded just as a tube wrapped around his arm.

"Kawolski!" Layla yelled when a tube wrapped around her arms as well.

The two pulled and struggled, feeling as though their time had finally come when a bright beam of red shot from the fog cutting the tubes in two causing them to retreat back into the smoke.

"You two! This Way!" Calhoun ordered, raising her weapon and motioning for them to follow.

The two rushed by her side and the three of them were able to make their way through the mayhem and chaos only stopping when they finally reached the outside of the trams beside the loading platform.

"Cover me, soldiers! I need to override the emergency shut off code so we can get out of here!" Calhoun ordered as she ripped off the control panel cover beside the door.

The tubes continued to shoot out from the smoke while Layla and Kawolski gave their all to keep Callhoun covered while she punched in the override code.

Just as before it seemed as if the tubes and wires would never end when suddenly the barracks grew silent and the tubes ceased to come from the smoke.

The three of them paused. The only sound in the barracks were their heavy breaths that they struggled to still.

"Wh-what happened?" Kawolski whispered.

Layla shook her head, still too worried to speak.

The smoke continued to waft around them but aside from that the room became eerily still.

There were no more cries from the soldiers around them and where only a few moments ago was complete pandemonium now only silence remained.

Calhoun looked around for a moment before finally overriding the code, causing the doors to the tram to slide open with an uneasy swish.

"We need to get out of here and destroy the tracks behind us. Whatever is taking the soldiers can't be able to follow into Game Central." Calhoun whispered, reaching into one of her pockets and pulling out two grenade bombs.

"Here, Sparky. In case we get separated." she said, handing one of the bombs to Layla, "You still have your reserve, Kawolski?"

The soldier nodded, never taking his focus from the smoke around them.

"Good, inside, the two of you." Calhoun whispered just as a tube came shooting out from the smoke behind her.

"SERGEANT!" Kawolski cried, pushing her out of the way just as the tubes wrapped around his body and lifted him away.

"DAMN IT!" Calhoun yelled when five more tubes came shooting out toward the two remaining women.

"Get to Game Central! Let them know what happened here!" Calhoun yelled to Layla.

"Wait, aren't you…" Layla began to ask just as Calhoun shoved her into the tram and closed the doors before the tubes finally latched onto her body.

"Calhoun! What are you doing!?" Layla cried to her friend, pounding on the window beside where Calhoun finished punching the commands into the control panel.

"Get to Game Central and warn everyone!" Calhoun yelled out before the tram began to roll out of the station and she was pulled out of sight.

"CALHOUN!" Layla screamed as the platform drew further and further away.

Her heart was pounding and she struggled to find her bearings for a moment.

What had just happened? What had caused the smoke to fill the barracks and more importantly what was controlling the the tubes and wires that dragged everyone away?

Layla leaned against the doors and tried to catch her breath. Her nerves had caused her to shake and she knew that whatever had caused the chaos in the game would be blamed on her. She needed to get back to game central. She needed to come clean and tell Ralph what had happened.

'They would believe him.' she thought when the tram began to slow and finally came to a stop.

All the lights in the cabin went out and again an eerie quiet took over.

She stilled her breath and slowly stepped away from the windows.

'Oh god…' she thought when multiple tubes broke through the windows and wrapped themselves around her.

Layla cried out and struggled to move her arms and legs to no avail.

'No! No, this can't be happening!' she thought just as a deep, raspy laugh began to echo through the tram.

Layla's eyes grew large and she took in a wavering breath. The fear inside of her began to rise and she frantically looked around her.

She knew that laugh. She knew that laugh just as she knew her own and she feared that laugh more than anything when the man she dreaded appeared in front of her.

"Garrick…"