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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[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?

Yeah, but that's gonna be hard to know if we found them all, it looked like they were under nearly all of the island...

We can do a quick look to see if there's any nearby, but I really think we need to talk to Calhoun and her buddies, they'll know what to do.

Yeah, no argument there.

[Now she's wondering if what she thought she saw BEFORE...was just that Cy-bug glowing in the darkness. That's a massive bummer if so, but she ignores that for now.]

Well c'mon, we better hurry just incase there are more bugs down there!

[Ralph nods.]

Right. And if there are any, let's hope they're not as big as that guy was, I don't know how many of them I can take on at once.

[The child nods, but instead of heading down into the mines herself, she gets a bit closer to Ralph, hopping up onto his shoulder.]

Maybe uuh...you should...go first. I'll see if I can spot any from up here.

How about you keep an eye up on the ceiling and the walls, just in case they're sneaking around?

[Ralph doubted that there'd be any Cy-Bugs there, which is exactly why he told Vanellope to watch those places. She was obviously nervous, and rightfully so, so, if he could spot them first and get her out before things got ugly, then all the better.]

Yeah, sounds good!

[Phew. Better up here where Ralph would be able to protect her than down on the ground. Not that she didn't think he'd keep her safe, but Cy-bugs weren't on the list of her favorite things.]

[After Vanellope agrees to his idea, Ralph nods and starts heading through the mines, keeping his eyes out for anything that even seemed remotely out of place.]

...It's pretty quiet, so far.

[The child nods, keeping her eyes trained on the ceiling and walls like Ralph told her. There's no sign of any green glowing though, not from eyes in the darkness OR from the eggs. That was relief enough, but the mines WERE pretty big.

Still, if any Cy-bugs were lurking, they would have heard them and come to investigate by now. Right?]

[Ralph seems to have had a similar thought to Vanellope, he takes a deep breath, cups his hands around his mouth, and bellows.]

Hello?!

[His call echoes loudly through the caverns, if there are any Cy-Bugs around, they'll certainly have heard them now.]

[The little racer winces, lifting her hands to clamp them over her ears. Ralph's voice causes pieces of nougat to roll from walls and fall from the ceiling, the entire area vibrating somewhat. ...But no Cy-Bugs seem to appear.]

[Ralph waits for several tense minutes as there's nothing but nougat that moves.

He shrugs slightly and looks over at Vanellope.]

Well, if there's any bugs around, they're probably just eggs.

[With that, he keeps on walking through the caves, looking for any signs of eggs, glowing or otherwise.]

Edited 2013-03-25 01:28 (UTC)

[Vanellope nods, making sure to keep her eyes on the floor this time, since there are no bugs around to be seen. Still though, she can't help but be wary.]

We'll be lucky if there aren't any...but that bug WAS in there for a while..

Right. That other one that tagged along with me obviously laid a whole load of eggs...maybe this one was too busy eating to do so?

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