WorldWide Wreck-It

The Last Few Stops

As Ralph stepped out the front doors of BuzzTube and closed his eyes, soaking up the digital sunlight, Vanellope glitched over to him and onto his shoulder. She had since finished her milkshake, and was now just holding an empty cup as she chewed on the straw. She looked to be a bit distracted, probably the whiplash of the of the past few hours.

"How are you holding up, Kid?" The wrecker asked, bobbing his shoulder a bit.

Vanellope blinked slowly, but still looked a bit dazed. "I... A lot."

Ralph nodded. "You... You want to talk about it?"

The racer didn't respond as the approached the others, with the racers all climbing into Spamley's vehicle while the adults hovered outside and talked. They glanced at Ralph, and frowned a bit at his concerned look directed at Vanellope.

"Is everything okay, Ralph?" Felix asked gently.

"Yeah. Everything is fine. I think the kid just had a lot of excitement for today." The wrecker looked at the other adults, the racer bristling a bit with the unwanted attention. "I'm gonna have the two of us take our own browser to eBay, you guys can go ahead."

"Are you sure about this, Wreck-It?" Calhoun asked, voice dripping with concern. When he nodded in response, she sighed. "Alright, but if anything happens, call us."

"And don't worry, we'll wait for you two", Felix added reassuringly. "This was a group effort, and we're not finishing this without you two there."

The wrecker nodded. "Thanks guys."

"Alright, we'll catch ya' later Ralph!" Spamley said happily as he moved towards his vehicle's driver seat. "Everyone better buckle up, because I'm probably going to break all known speed laws to get you there as soon as possible."

"Don't you dare, Spamley!" The sergeant growled as she and her husband joined him inside. As soon as the door closed, they sped off, leaving behind a smiling Ralph and a completely silent and unreadable Vanellope.

With their friends gone, Ralph faced his friend again with a concerned expression. "Alright kid, it's just us now. What's up?"

The racer just shook her head, not saying a word. Her teeth clenched the straw tight as her pupils flicked between different sizes occasionally. So Ralph just let out a sigh as he walked over to the nearest console to search up eBay.

"I don't know what we are, Ralph..." A strangled voice sounded off suddenly. The wrecker paused his typing, his finger hovering over the enter key, and subtly glanced at his friend. "When I went to Oh My Disney... I felt so awful. So weird. So hollow. Like a part of my heart I never thought I knew existed was ripped out..."

"And I'm assuming it's because...?" The wrecker turned his head a bit more.

"We just... didn't exist", the racer continued as her eyes became more wild. "We're Disney characters, yet Disney exists in our world. What... What are we, really?"

The wrecker hit the enter key with a slight shrug and sigh. "I don't know, kid. But I wish I did." He paused as the vehicle spawned in and headed inside, setting Vanellope on his lap. "Because trust me, as soon as Yesss went over and explained to me the site, I was trying to convince her otherwise. But she didn't want to listen..."

Vanellope, still in her trance, continued like Ralph never said anything. "There's a Merida here, Ralph. But she's... wrong. She talked in a thick accent to the point I could understand her. Her face was off, because it looked like mine. And she didn't act like Merida..." She sucked in a very harsh breath. "You don't know what I saw there, Ralph. I told the princesses I'd be back, but... I don't think I can do it..."