WorldWide Wreck-It

When You Get Blue-Shelled

Ralph hummed a little melody as he worked over the stove to make some pan popcorn for himself and Vanellope. As the corn popped, he reached over to a cupboard and opened it, reaching in to pull out a stick of butter. He left the corn to cut off a bit of the hardened dairy block, left it on a plate, and stuck it in his microwave.

Vanellope herself, meanwhile, was making a jug of fruit juice. She used an egg beater to stir up the juice with the water, looking somewhat happy, somewhat melancholy. This night had a lot happen in such a short span, so curling in front of the wrecker's TV and watching a movie was a good idea.

Ralph watched Vanellope carefully as she finished making the juice and carried the jug into the living room, smiling as she somewhat struggled to carry the heavy juice. Luckily, the popcorn was finished just at that moment, so the wrecker turned off the stove, took the butter out of the microwave, and mixed the two things together.

With the buttered popcorn, Ralph headed into the living room to get all cosy. Vanellope was already tangled in the blanket from Ralph's bed, looking very comfortable.

"C'mon, Stinkbrain!" The racer sassed. "We don't have all night!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." The large man sat down on the couch's other end, setting the bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table and picked up the remote for the TV. "What movie were you thinking of?"

The racer looked contemplative for but a moment. "I say... Detective Pikachu? Caleb keeps screaming at me to watch it, so I wanna see what all the hubbub is about."

Ralph chuckled and grabbed a second remote, one that operated a special type of cable box that had access to Caleb's full collection of movies. He turned it on, waited for it to fully boot up, and used the search function to find the movie. It didn't take long, and pretty quickly he picked the movie and let it play.

As the studio logos started up, Vanellope shifted so she was leaning against Ralph.

"Ralph...", Vanellope asked in a surprisingly small voice. "Do you think everything will be okay?"

The wrecker hummed. "I hope so, kid. But so far it feels like something is building up. But, I'd like to think it's just us being paranoid."

"You really think so?"

Ralph looked down at her, and his heart broke at the uncertainty and worry in her eyes. He gently pat her head, giving her a reassuring smile. "You were able to survive in Sugar Rush after Turbo took over for 15 years before I showed up, and I was able to live 30 years when everyone saw me as just the 'big dumb guy that wreck the building'. No matter what happens, we can handle it. Plus..." He pulled out his phone. "If anything bad happens, we know who to call."

Vanellope gave her friend a long look, then smiled brightly. "You're right. You're right!" She jumped up on her feet, throwing the blanket off her. "We've been through so much! We've battled aliens and giant bears, we've escaped trolls and yakuza thugs, and we've seen places beyond our wildest dreams! So no matter what, we'll be okay!"

She sat back down and rewrapped herself. "Thanks Ralph. I really needed that."

"Yeah, don't ya' worry kid. We're in this together." The wrecker ruffled the racer's hair, and they both fell into a comfortable silence as the movie started with the sweeping shot of the main character's home town.

Already, Vanellope was left impressed with how the Pokemon looked. A good blend of realism and cartooniness. Ralph was just impressed this movie existed at all.

As the movie played on, Vanellope felt herself dozing off slightly, and was out like a light just after the halfway mark. Ralph smiled down at her and glanced at the wall clock he had, reading a firm 4AM on it. Time was flying by, and in four hours the arcade would be opened. With a sigh, the wrecker shut off the movie and stood up, stretching to get the knots out of his body. He walked towards the hallway, passing the doors to his bathroom and extra closet before entering his bedroom.