Unplugged

Chapter Twelve

Welcome to chapter twelve! (If the beginning of this chapter doesn't make any sense, I apologize.)

"You know..." Felix begins, "We should stop being so darn sad. Ralph and the Nicelanders are in a better place."

"You believe there's a heaven for us?" Vanellope asks. Felix pauses. He never did. He always thought once you die, you're dead. That's it. Always sleeping-never waking up. But, if he can get Vanellope to think Ralph's okay, then one little lie should do the trick.

"If you believe there's heaven, then there is."

Vanellope nods slowly. Felix wants to kick himself now. He rarely, rarely lies. But then he sees a smile form on Vanellope's face. She believes.

Vanellope turns her head and something catches her eyes. The socket that Fix-It Felix Jr was plugged into isn't empty any more. There's a plug wedged in once again.

"Felix, look!" Vanellope exclaims. She points at the outlet all the way on the other side of Game Central Station. Felix looks to where she's pointing and his eyes widen. Vanellope asks, "Is that your game?"

"Let's find out," Felix suggests. He hops off of the bench and begins jogging over to the game. Vanellope follows him. Once they arrive at the outlet Felix and Vanellope frown.

"Call of Duty: Dead Ops?" Felix reads the title of the game that's on a black screen above the outlet. The name sends a chill up his spine.

"Heh, heh. You said duty," Vanellope grins.

"Yep," Felix rolls his eyes. He puts his hands on his hips and slowly shakes his head. "Arcade games these days-full of violence and morbid mumbo jumbo."

"You know what this game's about?" Vanellope asks.

"Nah, I'm just assuming things. The last couple games plugged into this arcade are first person shooters with fighting junk."

"You don't like them?"

"I don't like the programming."

"And yet you married the sergeant of a first person shooter game."

"Tamora's game is different. You shoot evil mechanical bugs, not people."

Then a flash of blue light zaps by them and the surge protector appears again.

"Morning, Surge," Felix greets.

"What are you doing here?! The arcade just opened!" Surge exclaims. Felix scrunches his eyebrows and frowns.

"My game got unplugged yesterday. I have nothing else to do?"

"Yes ya do! You got to get to your game right now."

"I just said it--"

"It just got moved," Surge interrupts him. Now Felix is beyond confused.

"What are you talking about?" he slowly asks Surge.

"Fix-It Felix Jr just got moved to a different power strip because Mr.Litwak wanted to plug in the new game in this strip."

Vanellope, who is standing to the side while Felix and Surge talk, looks up at Felix. She notices his mouth is hanging open and his eyes are wide. It looks like he's trying to say something, but he can't find the words.

"So, my game's still here?" Felix asks.

"Yes, and you got to get there before a kid inserts a quarter!" Surge replies.

"Which power strip is the game plugged into?"

"Station three. You go through this strip's cord and travel through the wall cables. There are signs that will lead you to the right wires."

"Okay, thank you so much," Felix shakes Surge's hand with a grin on his face. Then Surge zaps out of sight again.

"Ralph's still here?" Vanellope asks.

"Ralph's still here!" Felix exclaims. Vanellope screams a delighted squeal and throws her arms around Felix to hug him. They only hug for a couple seconds and then Felix steps away from her.

"Okay, it was great chatting with you, but I have to get to my game," he says.

"I'll give you a ride. You'll get there so much faster!" Vanellope grins. She glitches several times to the outlet to Sugar Rush where she kept her kart. She jumps in, starts up the engine, and she dashes back to Felix. She drifts a bit and stops the kart right in front of him.

"Hop in," she says. Vanellope slides over in her gob seat, giving Felix enough room to squeeze in next to her. Without hesitation, Felix takes a seat beside her and Vanellope steps on the gas pedal. The kart immediately thrusts forward and the two zoom down the power strip's cord and into the wall cables.

Hooray! Fix-It Felix Jr is back! But, will it stay? That's the question.