The Other Side of the Mirror

[wreckofaguy]

[Sour Bill had unexpectedly shown up to Fix-It Felix Jr. not so long ago and had told Ralph that Vanellope had something she wanted to show him and that he should come as soon as possible.

After Sour Bill had left, it had taken Ralph a bit to head over to Sugar Rush, he had helped to clean up the game after the arcade closed.

Finally, he made his way to Sugar Rush and poked his head into the castle where Vanellope now lived.]

Hey, kid, you in here?

Comments

[notaglitch]

[After a pause, she reaches back into her hoodie and pulls out the necklace, frowning. ...Looking at her reflection in it before glancing up at Ralph, and then back at the ruby encrusted in the strange artifact. As it turns slowly in the air it continues to glow strangely, causing her to glitch a bit here and there.

..then suddenly she looks back up again- only she's glaring this time.]

...No. No I-...I need to keep this on! It's- ....important to me, you got that?! And- ...and I'm gonna use it to- ....to teach everyone in this game a lesson! A-...after they treated me so badly for all those years, THEY'RE the ones who are gonna suffer this time!

Not me!!!

[wreckofaguy]

[Ralph shakes his head, he was going to try and reason with Vanellope, but if it didn't work, then he'd have to resort to trying to capture her again.]

What's the difference between keeping it on and holding it? You said yourself, you don't want me interfering, I plan on being stupid and continuing to try and stop you.

So, you've got two choices: take it off and I'll leave you alone to do whatever you want, or keep it on and you're stuck dealing with me.

[notaglitch]

[It looks like they've reached an impass at this point. Vanellope doesn't seem to want to take the necklace off- ...but at the same time, she's sick of dealing with Ralph, and apparently he won't leave her alone. She's too tired to run.

...so she smiles a bit, shaking her head as well.]

Well I'm not takin' it off. ...So you want me? Come an' get me.

[wreckofaguy]

[Ralph doesn't like that she's smiling, likely that means she's got something up her sticky sleeve, but he doesn't have much choice in the matter.]

Fine. Just remember, you chose this.

[With that, he charges at her again, lowering a hand so that he could scoop her up and keep on running if she didn't slip out of the way.]

[notaglitch]

!!!

[This time, Vanellope can't jump away in time. She's too tired- and all she can do is struggle, screaming.]

Let GO of me! Let GO!

[wreckofaguy]

[Considering all of his previous failures, Ralph's surprised that he actually managed to snag Vanellope.

He slows his run to a stop and then brings her up so that he can get a better look at his friend.

With his free hand, he's gonna try to grab the necklace.]

No! This ends now.

[notaglitch]

[Struggling even more, she does her best to pull back, fighting to keep away from his other hand.]

No! No stop! Let GO of me right N-OO-OW!!

[wreckofaguy]

[Ralph tightens his grip around Vanellope, but not enough to hurt her.]

This is for your own good!

[With that, he nabs the necklace and pulls up on it, trying to get it over Vanellope's head.

He thought about jerking it and trying to snap it, but he's not sure how sturdy it is and that could end up hurting his friend.]

[notaglitch]

[All Vanellope can do is continue to struggle, even more so when he gets a hold of the necklace. The movement causes her to glitch again, still red like before. But it's no use- she just can't get away from him.]

[wreckofaguy]

[Vanellope's struggles make it difficult for Ralph to remove the necklace, but finally, it's clear of her ponytail and completely off of her head.

He waits silently for several seconds before speaking.]

Vanellope?...

[notaglitch]

[As soon as the necklace leaves her neck, Vanellope glitches violently, going rigid in Ralph's hand. The necklace glows a bright red for a moment or two, vibrating- before it goes still, and Vanellope relaxes, slumping over his knuckles.

...After a moment her eyes blink back open and she looks up- before quickly lifting her head and looking around, the tone of her voice confused and frightened.]

W-what? W...what's happening? ...w-where am I?!

[wreckofaguy]

[Once Vanellope's back to normal, Ralph breathes a sigh of relief.]

We're in the dungeon, this [he holds up the necklace for her to get a good look at it] caused you to turn evil or something.

[With that, he moves the necklace into his fist and attempts to crush it. This thing doesn't need to be lying around for anyone else to get their hands on it.]

[notaglitch]

[Once Ralph gets the necklace in his fist, it's crushed easily without really any problem at all. It glows blindingly for a split second before completely going out, the ruby that was inside of it losing all of it's luster.

Meanwhile, Vanellope is stunned. Shifting, she moves to rest her hands against the side of Ralph's hand, horrified.]


It....it did what?

...Holy mother of monkey milk what did I DO?

[wreckofaguy]

[Now that the necklace has been destroyed, Ralph feels a lot better and manages to give Vanellope a weary smile.]

Nothing that I know of, thank goodness.

You did try to lock me up several times, though.

[notaglitch]

[Glancing over at the cell for a moment she looks back up at Ralph, grimacing.]

I-....I'm really sorry.. I-....that weird necklace I-....I just found it and after putting it on I...

...don't remember anything after that..

[wreckofaguy]

[Ralph brings up his free hand to gently rumple Vanellope's hair.]

Don't worry about it, kid, I figured that necklace was causing you to act that way.

I'm just glad you're back to normal now.

[notaglitch]

[She smiles weakly, folding her hands with a sigh.]

...I-...I just wanted to show you the necklace cause I thought it was cool. ...I didn't know it was all...posessed or somethin'.

[wreckofaguy]

[Ralph brings Vanellope up to his shoulder and releases his grip on her slightly, making it a hug instead of a hold.]

Thanks for thinking of me, too bad it was some kind of evil.

Wherever you got it from, you probably shouldn't go back there, who knows what else is going on there.

[notaglitch]

...I...I dunno, it was some kinda weird new game...

[Frowning, she hugs him back, resting her cheek on his shoulder.]

...it didn't seem bad though....but I guess I shouldn't have taken that necklace out of it anyways...

[wreckofaguy]

[Ralph nods.]

Next time we go out, show me the outlet it was at, and I'll make sure to remember to avoid it.

[He chuckles slightly.]

Nothing wrong with snagging things from time to time, but you must have had fun sneaking it past the Surge Protector.

I bring a snack from Pac-Man every now and then.

[notaglitch]

[Vanellope can't help but chuckle at that, nodding.]

Yeah, it was an adventure alright. Thing is though this- ....necklace might'a been important to the game I took it from, I dunno. ..I'm hopin' it was just some kinda item though, nothin' more than that.

[wreckofaguy]

[Ralph nods as well.]

If it's really important, it'll regenerate when the game's reset. If they realize it's gone, they'll reset it and things will get back to normal.

[notaglitch]

Alright...I forgot about that. That makes me feel better...

[She chuckles weakly.]

Feels less like stealin' now at least.

[But since when has she had a problem with stealing?]

[wreckofaguy]

[Ralph chuckles about this.]

You seem to be making a habit of nabbing things people wear around their necks, don't you?

[He shakes his head.]

Just...be more careful about it if you're gonna take something from another game, okay?

[Ralph really wasn't one to talk about grabbing stuff from games, but usually he just picked up food.]

[notaglitch]

...Hehe, yeah. ...Don't worry, I will. Or...I'll try, anyway.

[Cmon Ralph, seeing all those shiny trinkets in other games? It was just too darn tempting half the time.]