wintercrazed | Two heads are better than one

Two heads are better than one

[It's not uncommon that, after hours, Vanellope will suddenly show up via Fix-It Felix Jr's train from Game Central Station, bolting immediately to find Ralph. Half the time, she drags him off before he can even get a chance to ask her what's going on. This time is no different, and she seems really excited to show him something.

They barely have time to exit the train before she's lead him to Sugar Rush, calling over her shoulder and gesturing the whole way.]

C'mon slow poke, y'act like ya got a trail of molassass slowin' you down! Hurry up!!!

[Whatever it is, it must be something that just can't wait, because she's already darted into the port that leads to Sugar Rush.]

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[Vanellope comes to a stop when they're nearly at the entrance, panting now from the exertion of the treck. She waves a hand dismissively though, shaking her head a little.]

What? Nooo, course not! But c'mon Ralph, I explore this entire game by myself all the time. Have for fifteen years, and I'm still in one piece aren't I?

[The girl finally pauses to take a breath, leaning over on her tiptoes so she can better see into the cavernous opening of the mine. Smiling, she looks back up at Ralph, gesturing at him to wait where he is.]

Ok, ok, wait here! Don't move, I'm gonna go see if it's still there. I'll tell ya when you can come in!

[And before he can really respond she takes off again, darting into the cave's entrance.]

[Ralph frowns slightly.]

Well, yeah, you live here.

[If something did happen, Vanellope would be able to regenerate, but Ralph wouldn't. He'd just have to be careful and keep an eye on things.

He raises an eyebrow, whatever it was that she found could move around? Was it some kind of ice cream creature or something?

Ralph was going to say something about sticking around until the President told him to move, but she had already dashed off.

He sighs slightly and crosses his arms, waiting for Vanellope to give him the okay to come on in.]

[Well, as adventurous as Vanellope is, she doesn't really take the time to think about possible dangers that could be hiding in Sugar Rush. Nevertheless, she doesn't seem too worried anyway. Normally Sugar Rush wouldn't be dangerous in the first place.

There's a long pause in which there is nothing but silence, save for the incessant sound of the wind howling through the mine.

There might be cause for concern when the time he's been waiting stretches on to five minutes...ten....then fifteen, with absolutely no response from Vanellope whatsoever.

That is, of course, until a bloodcurdling scream erupts from deep within the mines.]

RAAAALPH!!!!

[At first, Ralph's not too worried about the wait, maybe whatever it was wandered off, so Vanellope had troubles finding it. Though, it's strange that he doesn't hear a single word from her.

As soon as he hears her scream out for him, he bolts into the mine without hesitation. He doesn't know quite where he's going, but he hopes he can reach Vanellope in time.]

I'm coming, kid! Hold on!

[Even as Ralph barrels into the entrance, the racer cries out again, and it's not long before he can probably see her running from the depths of the mine towards him. She looks scared right out of her wits, and she's breathless as she scrambles over to him.]

R-ralph! It's...it's a...!!

[She can't quite get out what she's trying to say before she skids around him, hiding herself behind one of his legs. In the darkness there's an ominous flash of green, and echoing clicking as something approaches.]

C-Cy-bug!!

[Once he sees Vanellope dashing towards him, Ralph slows down and stops so that they can talk.

She's clearly not acting, something's really got her spooked.

When Vanellope tells him that it's a Cy-Bug on the loose, he gives her a nod, then looks ahead, balling his hands up into fists.]

Stay behind me, kid. I'm not gonna let it get you.

[Here's hoping that eating ice cream had made its shell as soft as most of the others he had fought in Sugar Rush, they had shattered upon impact with his fists.]

[The clicking gets louder and louder, until a massive Cy-bug appears from the shadows, its jaws working after taking a bite out of something on the way. It's body is golden and looks to be fused with the Nougat stalactites scattered all throughout the mines.

Apparently it spotted Vanellope before and made a grab for her, who had just barely been able to get out of the way.

And it doesn't look like it want's to let it's little moving treat go, either.]

[Ralph watches as the Cy-Bug approaches, it's much bigger than he thought it'd be, that's for sure. Apparently it had just been growing and growing here in the safety of the mines.

He glances back at his friend.]

Vanellope, I want you to run and hide just a little bit away, this is gonna take longer than I thought.

[The child hesitates, but seeing how massive the bug is it doesn't take her long to decide to heed his warning, darting behind the nearest boulder to keep herself hidden and out of sight.

Meanwhile, the Cy-bug advances, it's claws digging deep ruts into the ground as it approaches Ralph. It can't see Vanellope anymore, but it's obviously still looking for her, its jaws opening and closing with a low hiss.]

[Vanellope's new hiding place gives Ralph an idea, so he hustles over to a boulder on the other side of the cavern and hefts it up.

He watches as the Cy-Bug searches around, then he chucks the large frosty rock at the robot.]

Hey! Why don't you pick on somebody closer to your size, huh?!

[The rock collides with the Cy-bug's side, causing it to wheel around and let out a loud hiss, directing its attention to Ralph for a moment, before charging.

No matter, destroy the threat before tracking down the prey.]

[Well, that was something of the response Ralph had thought he wanted, but it was worse than he had imagined it to go. At least it wasn't looking for Vanellope now.

Ralph looks around frantically for another boulder, but the closest one is the one Vanellope's behind, so it's not an option.

He's going to get close to a wall as quickly as possible and hold his ground.

Once the Cy-Bug gets close, he's going to throw himself off to the side, hoping that the giant beast will smack into the wall of the mine instead of him.]

[Completely distracted for the moment, the Cy-Bug circles around, orienting itself in front of Ralph again. It obviously looks angry at its hunt being disrupted, and every now and then it lets out a low, ominous hiss. If it had been eating something like, say, ice cream for a few months Ralph would have been able to destroy it with one punch.

But Nougat is a bit more durable.

It does exactly as he predicts though and charges, its legs scrabbling a little against the dirt to gain purchase before launching itself right at Ralph, jaws wide.]

[Ralph can tell that it looks sturdier than the other bugs he had faced, and all of those had been on the smaller side, at least compared to this bug. He'd have to be more clever in getting rid of this one.

At the last moment, he dives off to the right, hitting the ground with a large thud. It seems like he was almost too late, one of its teeth grazed his foot, causing it to bleed some. He's a tough dude and has been through worse, but it still hurts.

He'll deal with that later, though, as he scrambles up to his feet and hustles to a short distance away, trying to figure out the best way to take out this monster.

If it hit its head enough times, would that kill it? Or would he have to take more desperate action and try to bring down the mine on top of it?]

[Vanellope covers her mouth to keep from crying out when she sees Ralph get nicked, but she doesn't have much time to think about anything else. The mine rumbles loudly when the Cy-Bug suddenly collides with the wall, letting out an ear-splitting screech.

It falls back onto its side, its legs kicking in the air a bit. It's shell is cracked down both sides and the middle, even as it struggled to its feet.

Looks like a good, square punch now might do the trick.]

[Once Ralph stands up, he notices the nasty crack that goes all the way through the bug. Seems like he got pretty lucky here, that is if he can pull this off.

He rushes at the bug, hauling back for a good solid punch aimed right at the crack.]

[Smaller cracks fan out from the large one, and the bug is helpless when the punch is enough to cause it to explode on impact, completely obliterated into nothing more than candy dust.

There's a long pause before the sound of rapid footsteps can be heard approaching Ralph.]

Ralph! Ralph, are you ok?

[Ralph stands there breathing heavily for a moment before he realizes that Vanellope has spoken to him.

He nods and looks back towards her, then smiles.]

Yeah, I'm fine.

[He taps his injured foot on the ground, but no more blood comes out.]

Looks like the cold's stopped the bleeding. Are you okay? That thing didn't gnaw on you or anything, did it?

I- I'm fine, I'm fine!

[The only evidence of her NOT being fine is the rip in the hood of her hoodie where the Cy-bug grabbed her with its jaws, but she was able to wriggle free.]

I didn't...I didn't even know that thing was in there! I thought they all got killed before!

[Ralph gives her a look over, he notices the rip in her hood, but since she seems okay otherwise, he's not going to mention it.

He shakes his head.]

I thought so too...the volcano should have gotten them all.

[He runs a hand over his hair.]

It must have been an egg or something, or, if it was in here, it couldn't even see the light...

We gotta make sure there aren't any more running around here. We can do a quick check ourselves and then talk to Calhoun. She'll know how to find out if there's any more lurking here.

Yeah, yeah ok..

[She nods a little, looking back over her shoulder into the mines.]

...You don't think it laid...more eggs down there....do ya?

[Ralph takes a breath and gives her something of a nod.]

It's possible. That one that tagged along with me did, and this one's been in hiding for a while. There could be a whole new mess of Cy-Bugs we've gotta deal with.

[Nervously, Vanellope looks over into the mines again, playing a little with the licorice drawstrings of her hoodie.]

...but....all the mentos are gone, right? ...How would we get rid of them all this time...?

[Ralph shrugs.]

I don't know... Are you sure they're all gone? I mean, the game reset, wouldn't that put everything back to normal?

Well, it didn't work for that guy, so I guess it doesn't matter how many Mentos we've got if they can't see them down here.

[Vanellope nods sagely. That was true- since the game reset, that should mean all the mentos were back, right? ...regardless though, Ralph nearly got himself killed dislodging them before. She doesn't want that to happen again.]

...Well no matter what, we need'ta....just figure out if there are any eggs to worry about in the first place, right?

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