Chapter Text
It was another day down Ralphs home made house, Felix had fixed it up for him which made him happy.
It had been a couple years since his fateful Turbo time, since then his life had been well pretty good.
Two people sat on top of the house watching the arcade at night time.
A 9 foot tall grump with hands the size of wheels and a kid who wouldn't sit still.
Ralph hoisted the girl onto his shoulders, she couldn't glitch outside of her own game which was a shame, the bonus level could have been fun with her input in it. maybe for the best, he was just happy to see his best friend.
Vanellope gives his head a ruffle. Which "annoys" the grump.
"How was you day diaper baby?"
He gave a smirk and pulled her of his head.
She poked her tongue out at him as he sat her next to him, she still swung her legs about restless and somehow full of energy even after a full day of racing.
"It was ok, saw you winning a couple races, although more people seem involved in that halo game than anything else right now. High def and all that rage."
Vanellope gave him a stare and motioned to Calhoun who was glaring, almost like she had a sixth sense when her rival game was being talked about.
Ralph threw a brick at her laughing.
It broke a window as she dodged it instantly and she sighed at him.
"Honey. Ralph broke another window. again."
She was throughroly disappointed in Ralph and vanelopes childish antics, this she expected from the sweet tooth driver not wacka mole Ralph.
Felix jumped into view appearing from god knows where and gave the pair a look.
He fixed the window without much of a word, which was odd for the talkative bloke.
He dusted himself of beckoning himself over.
"Good day guys?"
The pair shrugged.
Felix ran a hand through his hair, hat in hand eyes sweeping to his wife. Calhoun was talking to quebert about the bonus games and how's he feels living here.
"My darling hasn't had a good day. That darn tootin' halo game has been tearing asunder. Hero's duty was used once or twice today.."
Vanellope stated the obvious, giving Felix a pat on the back, "She's scared of getting unplugged."
Felix gave vanellope a nod, heaving a sigh.
Ralph just shrugged. "She could always stay here. If that happens, you guys are married now to be fair."
Felix smiled and blushed, "Its been 2 years, I didn't ever think I would ever find love, and especially a cross game relationship." He blinked and gave the giant a stare. "That would be the worst option, if it comes down to it then, yes, but, it would destroy her."
Vanellope walked across to Calhoun and gave a groan as she walked, she hated not being able to teleport outside of her own games.
It was a fine thing she guessed, at least she could explore now. Since the defeat of Turbo she transversed across the arcade, got in a fight with Ken, drank beer with Ralph, attended Felix and Calhouns wedding, hating the formal attire and met a hedgehog named Amy rose. Her favourite place to go was around Amy's place, she loved watching all of them race. Sonic was a bit of a prick but who blamed him for that, he's worked more tirelessly than most considering he's the only character people pick. Still vanellope stayed out of his way.
Calhoun gave her a smile as she approached. "its the cabbage patch kid, how you holding up Elly?"
Vanellope gave quebert a pat and shrugged. "Hasn't been much change on my part, people still love sugar rush. Ralphs bonus game still getting attention though."
The taller women gave a smirk. Leaning casually on the brick wall. "have you grown at all?"
"Yes!", The short stack flashed red, "An inch or two."
Calhoun didn't seem convinced but she just hoisted the girl onto her shoulders.
"Wanna check out hero's duty? I'll let you chat to the crew, they like your wild storys."
vanellope enjoyed Calhouns team, they were tough big men but to be honest they weren't entirely that scary. They all enjoyed venellopes company and candy she smuggled in.
Since the turbo fiasco it had became more accepted for people to venture and explore other games. Donkey kong, the leader of the arcade regrets his misinformation on sugar rush and wishes he'd known about turbo from the beginning. Arcadians wanted safety and it was decreed that 1 character from each game could be chosen in an elective council to represent themselves and any problems inside there games.
Calhoun represented héros duty, Felix represented his game, Vanellope represented her game. Really the main characters did. Some exceptions like Donkey Kong and Zombie but that was it really. The council had started a sense of ease for the arcadians in there games and outside. Little did they know just the effect creating such a council would have for the people who sort out power over everything.
~~~
Calhoun hoisted her crafter up taking in the stench of her game, it smelt like cybugs and petrol. She noticed the security measures put in place so Cybugs couldn't escape, if one did they would be pulsed to death by an EMP. She shivered at the memories of sugar rush being molested by the bugs. Eaten and spat out.
She glanced at the kid next to her. She wouldn't admit it to vanellope but she really considers that girl like a daughter to her. She considered her comrades like brothers and sisters but shed never felt motherly before. Maybe it's because arcadians can't ever have off spring, its not coded to happen, so, you just end up finding family.
The world was dark and bleak, it found anything light and innocent and murdered it.
Sure, it was an edge lords dream and Calhoun rather enjoyed killing cybugs it was more than that now.
Since the day with the attack on sugar rush it was a great pressure to keep said bugs all dead and away from the entrance.
Calhoun also had more reasons to make sure the virus could never escape.
She had her husband and friends to think about.
All of her squad were cautious to make sure that could never happen again.
Vanellope zoomed to the marine squadron and threw herself at one of them.
Sergeant Theo caught her and laughed. "What's a sugar pop like you doing in this game?"
She gave him some candy and shrugged. "Doing my part for the community, who else wants candy?"
Cal could tell vanellope was doing this to cheer her comrades up. After such a shit day she couldn't blame anyone.
That new halo shooter game, god she would curse the creator litwik for that stupid deal he made, it was stealing the attention of kids, it was new enough but it was about the master chief and something something.. He had been plugged in for a while now about a month and Calhoun was really hoping it was a phase. But nope.
Heros duty was played decently enough
Cal liked liquorice the best and wasn't pleased to see someone steal her pieces. She left it slide for now whilst the kid was here.
Later she would have words.
Vanellope didn't really like like it in heros duty that much, she really only came to spend time with Calhoun and her squad sometimes.
Ralph was right, it was serious and edgy and gunky.
Gunky felt the wrong word but she couldn't think of anything else.
Everyone was so detailed, and tall, lord wow they were big.
Same size as Ralph.
Maybe less.
Sometimes she would feel home sick and want to just hug her friend.
She considered Ralph like family, always had done.
Calhoun was family aswell, like a protective strict cool mum all in one.
Felix enjoyed fixing the other racers damaged cars and helping them make new tracks.
He didn't ask for anything in return for them but vanellope knew he had a soft spot for butter candys and made sure to keep a bag on hand.
Ralphs favourite sweet treat was chocolate, anything to do with it. Maybe he saw chocolate as a god send after it saved his life who knows.
Vanellope didn't really enjoy many sweets, it loses the appeal after living in it for a decade.
She did enjoy a lemon drop, no one ate those so they normally got thrown away.
A comfort for her really. She was the odd one, just like a lemon sweet.
Even after her reform, she really was different from the other racers.
10 years in isolation and constant bullying did that to you. Anyways.. the sugar crew have decided to be nicer and she's decided to try and forgive them, in the crews defence king can- turbo. He was Turbo and he ruined your life. Vanelope reminded herself as she began to eat a lemon drop. Turbo brainwashed everyone and made her an outcast so she could never race.
She stared down at the wrapper in her hand, she was the one colourful thing in this world actually she began to think about other things.
If vanellope could agree on one thing was that sweets showed your personality off a lot.
The whole team stayed in a bunker behind the main entrance, it led underground and was huge and warm and safe. It was metal and hard still, vanellope missed her colourful sugar world a little bit.
She was passed a drink of hot cocao as a thanks and listened to the other people talking about there life outside of games.
Some people very much enjoyed going to the sonic world because of how sunny and lovely it was. Some liked to go to the princess dress up games, they laughed and grinned at each other like teenagers after saying that and Calhoun smacked them on the head.
"not infront of the kid, idiots."
Vanellope realised she was to young and the joke luckily went over her head.
The night carried on and soon it was almost opening times.
She bid them farewell borrowing a cruiser to get back to her game faster, after a quick security check she was clean of any cybug eggs or particles.
Her day was relatively normal after that, she wasn't picked but that was okay, she enjoyed the freedom of being an NPC sometimes, she would win sometimes even though it was protocol to let the player win.
Didn't want the game to seem bugged, after losing once or twice the person would start to learn and win. That's just how it works it seems.
Venllope enjoyed when experienced players came, who knew how to control her or the characters well, that was a challenge and that was fun.
After an eventful race and Mr Litwick the creator closed for the night she thanked her companions for a good race.
She couldn't really be good friends with any of these girls or guys, especially after almost 10 years of bullying.
Turbo propaganda but still. It still hurt.
She assumed everyone was also okay with that.
Normally she'd finish the preparations and start with a friendly race against each other.
After the Turbo fiasco she decided to get rid of the choosing race, brought a lot of sad lonely memories back aswell.
It was more a friendly race now and at the end they would all play tomorrow depending on how they scored today overall or pick names from a hat or do rock paper scissors. It changed all the time which made it fun but also inclusive.
Vanellope was polishing her head light and tracing the letters on her car, she really loved the car her and Ralph had made.
She always missed her best friend, sometimes more than normal.
He was the first person who made her feel normal.
The first person to like her for who she was and, wasn't a bully.
She heard a scream.
It wasn't an 'excited to race like normal scream' but a 'terrified like the cybugs returned scream'.
She glitched across the track at the sight of smoke and gun fire.
Vanellope froze at the sight of it, knuckles the hedgehog and a bunch of aliens had collected up her people.
Not the racers, they were on the track but the sugar creatures.
The innocent sugar creatures.
Knuckles smashed one in half.
Eating it.
"Nightleds for life! Nightleds for life!"
Vanellope glitched into the centre of this conundrum, glaring.
An alien held a pistol in her face.
"Human, submit to the nightleds."
"Candy bitch."
She growled at the crowd.
It was the first time she had ever encountered this group.
She was 4 feet tall and felt like a midget compared to this group.
She had no idea what they wanted or what they were doing here all she knew was they were pretty stupid for coming into a different game.
"We have come for some hostages."
An alien towered above her, he had tentacles on his face and was long and lean. With smart looking orange armour.
He stared down at her like she was nothing.
"Hostages?"
Vanellope couldn't help the abject terror in her voice.
The alien jabbed a gun at her head forcing her to her knees.
"Our terms are simple sugar leader, hand over 5 hostages and we won't harm anyone else."
Vanellope felt anger boiling in her seems, her limbs trembled with glitching energy.
"Why are you doing this? What have our humble game done to you?"
She glanced feverishly back at the track.
The other racers had gathered something was up and were retreating back to the castle.
Vanellope gave Taffida, the most leading one a stare, practically pleading her to get help.
The white haired girl nodded beginning to make her way outside of sugar rush and to god knows where.
Vanellope could only hope it was going to help her and her subjects.
She glanced up, almost craning her neck so she could stare the alien in the eyes.
She hoped he felt ashamed.
She glanced at knuckles the hedgehog and glared at him.
He walked up to her and jabbed her in the face with his knuckle, it was enough for her nose to bleed.
"Did you not listen to him? 5 hostages now. Guess that includes you princess."
She spat her blood at the red rodent, watching as her and an array of sugar creatures were tied up with metallic string.
He wiped it off with his white glove glaring.
He sent shivers down Vanellopes spine.
Horrible shivers.
"I can't wait for our way of life to rule. I will make you pay for this lack of respect, I don't care if your a child either."
He was holding a gun and slipped it into his hoister.
Vanellope couldn't believe that knuckles of all arcadians would be part of some violent gang.
She didn't understand it, it felt wrong.
Knuckles was always nice to people.
Maybe she really was just a child.
The red rodent hoisted her onto his back, she hated this.
It was string from another game so she couldn't glitch out even if she wanted to.
She fought against it snarling.
She just hoped Ralph wasn't dealing with this donkey crap.
~~~
Another day well done.
Ralph had been thrown off the building a couple times which is, yeah not nice but at least he got to see his best friend racing.
Today ended up a little strangely.
For starters he had never seen Taffyta without her silly car and secondly what was she doing in the fix it Felix jr?
He for the life of him couldn't dercern a time shes ever left the game ever before this.
She practically ran full speed at Ralph, terrified.
Terrified of him and being outside of her game maybe.. Although it's not like cybugs were gonna jump out of the sky or anything.
"Ralph oh god biscuits you have to help us!"
She was frantic and panting.
Tears down her face.
Her clothes had tears in.
Calhoun and Felix had gone away to tappers already and Ralph groaned at the annoyance of that.
He'd go to get them in a second, he wanted to understand what was wrong first.
"What's going on?"
Taffyta panted catching her frantic breaths.
"It's- Its vanellope. A groups of people have gone bananas! They killed sugar people and last time I saw vanellope she was at their mercy. They have blasters like hers duty but bigger!"
Ralph growled.
Not his best friend.
Not her.
He hoisted the munchkin onto his back and began to make his way to sugar rush.
~~~
As he expected sugar rush was eerily quiet.
No music.
No racing.
Just silence.
Ralph felt tense at being back in sugar rush in such negative conditions.
He always enjoyed how peaceful and care free sugar rush had become now adays. He brandished onto the top of Taffytas car and they both zoomed as fast as they could to the middle of the racing tracks.
taffyta was shaking at the sight of it and Ralph craned his head to see the sight.
It was 5 of them.
Knuckles the hedgehog, 3 little ones about 4 feet tall so the same size as the sugar rush kids, brandishing orange armour a lot like hers duty and purple guns and a tall hunched over alien.
Ralph and Taffyda slowed down a little bit away to have the element of surprise.
It was hard not to miss the group, there dark muted colours stuck out like a thorn in the candy filled land.
His knuckles turned white at the sight ov Vanellope in ropes, metallic ropes and he suspected she couldn't glitch out of code from other games.
Not that Ralph understood how her powers worked anyway, a symptom and scar of turbos disgusting meddling.
Vanellope and a bunch of other sugar rush citizens were in chains.
The hunched over alien pointing a gun at vanellope.
"Now. We wouldn't be so stupid as to keep hostages in the games they originate from, we take them to secret sympathiser games and keep them there until sections of the original game are given to our course."
He was talking to Vanellope like she was the leader of these people, he was right of course but he was talking like he was part of some revolution or something.
First time Ralph had heard of these guys though.
Since the saving of sugar rush it had become more accepted for arcadians to traverse games, but to own parts of games that belonged to the arcadians who worked hard in said game?
That felt cruel.
Ralph made himself known by practically throwing taffytas car at the group.
They all fired at the car and it blew up into different coloured specks.
Knuckles dropped Vanellope and she fell breaking her arm.
She screamed in pain and Ralph threw a jaw breaker at the hedgehog and he rolled over dodging it.
It was a good enough distraction for Taffyta to steal a presumed gun of the hunched alien.
he snarled and she jumped back activating the weapon.
This wasn't really a gun, she found that out and she used two hands and activated it.
It made a big whoosh sound and was about half her body size.
She didn't enjoy the violence it had been coded with at all.
It Felt completely against her programming to hold something like this.
She sliced at the metallic rope and the sugar rush people broke free.
The group began to flee, grabbing a couple sugar people and dragging them out with them.
They spewed curses and chanted, "Night leds!"
Vanellope began to glitch around trying to save her citizens, but unfortunately about 5 of the sugar creatures had been taken out of the game.
She wasn't fast enough.
Vanellope didn't enjoy the feeling of fear as she saw them step out.
Game central station was a free for all.
If they shot her out there, she really would be dead.
She held onto her broken arm crying in frustration.
At herself.
At what had happened.
What kind off a leader was she..
She gulped down more tears.
That wasn't important right now.
What was, was caring to her citizens.