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The first day back had been a blur, but none of the Nicelanders complained about how popular they suddenly seemed to be. By the time the arcade closed, everything had settled back into a nice rhythm. After the last game of the day, Felix received his final kiss as the Nicelanders heaved Ralph over the side of the building. There was his usual scream and a splat and then the victory screen scrolled through the sky. There was a long pause where everybody bounced in place before the call rang out.
"Arcade's closed!"
All of them gave a sigh of relief, and Mary reached out for Felix. "You should come over. I'm making a roast."
"Thank you, ma'am, but I have another thing to do today," Felix said. "I'm sure Dale would love some of your roast though. He's had a sparkle in his eye whenever he looks at you for the longest time now."
Mary blushed. "You really think so?"
"Excuse me, ma'am," Felix said, and he put his hat on and hopped off the side of the building.
Humming softly, he bounded from windowsill to windowsill until he got to the ground floor. He landed nimbly and went around to the side of the building to see a mud pit but no Ralph. There were footprints that led around the back of the building, and Felix followed them to find Ralph wiping mud from his feet. He looked tired, and Felix paused, unsure of what to do. He'd never had to have a conversation like this.
"Um, Ralph?" Felix asked hesitantly.
Ralph started then slipped in the mud and crashed into a tree. It snapped and fizzled angrily. It wasn't supposed to get broken. Felix jumped over and tugged out his hammer. Tapping the tree, it immediately repaired itself, and there was a soft ding as the action was registered. That done, Felix hung his hammer in his belt and turned to Ralph.
"You okay there?"
"Yeah. Fine," Ralph muttered. He stood up and grasped his arm, glancing uneasily at Felix. "Good game, yeah?"
"Yes, Ralph. A very good game." Felix hesitated. "Care to go for a drink?"
"Wouldn't want to bother you," Ralph said.
"Oh, it's no bother, brother," Felix said. "Please, my treat."
"Okay, sure," Ralph said. He squirmed for a moment, unsure of what to do then he gestured to the rail cart. Felix hopped in with a jaunty bounce tone and Ralph squeezed into the back. The ride was quiet and awkward. As soon as they passed through the surge protector, there was a grating growl as a security alert went off. Felix had never experienced that before, but Ralph sighed and turned to face the protector.
"Sorry, sir. Random security check. Name?"
"Wreck-It Ralph," Ralph intoned in a bored voice.
"Where are you coming from?"
"Fix-It Felix Junior."
"Where are you going?"
"Tappers."
"Anything to declare?"
"I hate you."
"You say that every time, sir. Have a good evening."
Ralph began plodding through the hall and Felix scrambled after him. He couldn't help but notice the looks Ralph was given by most of the characters. Ralph just continued straight for Tappers, ignoring whispers and sharp glances. He passed through the surge protector then automatically turned as another grating alarm sounded out.
"Random security check, sir."
"Yep. Random, just like every time."
"Name?"
Ralph went through the whole spiel again as Felix passed through without a single ripple of electricity.
"Do you do that every time?" he asked Ralph when the protector left again.
"Only time I didn't have to was when I put on that armor. I passed through and thought, 'Wow. This is nice. Nobody cares where I go and what I do now. All it took was becoming something completely different.'"
Ralph sighed then turned and plodded inside. He went to the back and settled on a stool. Felix hopped up beside him and Tapper slid over.
"Hey Ralph. Hey… Felix?" Tapper looked surprised but slid them each a root beer. "Everything okay?"
"Fine," Ralph muttered.
"Funny rumors going around," Tapper prodded.
"Later, Tapper."
"Suit yourself. But the rumors are all over the place."
"Later, Tapper," Ralph said.
Tapper nodded then turned to serve more patrons. Ralph wrapped his large hand around the glass and glanced at Felix.
"So… what did you want to talk about?"
Felix stared at Ralph, unsure of where to begin. He took his hat off and twisted it in his hands. "I, um, I don't know how to say this, Ralph, but let me try?"
"Sure."
There was a pause as Felix took a drink of root beer. "Okay, well, with all the crazy that happened last night, I thought we could talk about it, so I'll start. I should never have treated you the way I did. You're a bad guy, yes, but you're not a bad guy… I'm sorry, this isn't coming out right."
"No. No, I get it, Felix," Ralph assured him. "It makes perfect sense. The guys at Bad-Anon said something like that. I didn't get it then, but I do now."
"Bad-Anon?" Felix asked. He hesitated. "What kind of things do they do there? I've heard some things…"
Ralph snorted. "Which ones?"
"Beg pardon?" Felix asked.
"Which things have you heard? There's over a dozen things people say about Bad-Anon. But nobody really ever takes the time to go. There's a visiting hour where you can come and ask questions, but nobody has ever done it. So it's literally just whichever bad guys show up talking to each other for an hour. Man, that was awkward."
Felix took another swallow of root beer and peered at Ralph. "Do you have any friends, Ralph?"
Ralph blinked and looked at Felix, surprised. "Huh?"
"Well, you never really go out much and you don't invite people over. I was just wondering if… if you have friends?" Felix's face burned, and he swallowed the rest of his root beer. He felt like such a jerk because he knew the answer already.
"I do, actually."
"You do?" Felix was startled. "Who?"
"That kid from Sugar Rush. Vanellope. She said she'd be my friend." Ralph's face was so soft, and his happiness was raw.
Felix's heart squeezed as he pressed. "Anybody else?"
Ralph looked away and finished his root beer. He put a hand up and Tapper swung back by and gave them both a refill before leaving again. Felix felt terrible.
"I'm so sorry, Ralph."
"Do you mean that?" Ralph asked.
"Yes. I don't know how you've lived for thirty years without friends."
"Ah, you find stuff to do. Like crushing bricks…" Ralph trailed off and slumped.
Felix sighed. "I know I've said it already, but I feel as if 'I'm sorry' just doesn't cover it."
"It's a start, Felix," Ralph said. "After thirty years of nothing changing, that's something."
"You're a good man, Ralph," Felix said. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
Ralph hesitated then glanced away. "Since you mentioned it…"
"Yes?" Felix asked, his face lighting up. "Whatever it is Ralph, I'll sure try."
"I… I've always wanted…" Ralph's cheeks turned pink. "Can you make me a house? You know, off-screen? So I have a place to sleep. Maybe I could even have a bed!"
Felix watched Ralph's face light up with pure joy as he talked about having a bed. Something Felix had never gone without and that he could easily make. But Ralph couldn't work with his hands like that. They were so large and he was so clumsy that all he was able to do was destroy things. That was by design, and without that particular design, they didn't have a game. Despite Ralph's importance to their very existence, he didn't even have a place to sleep or wash or cook.
A memory suddenly came to him.
Ralph stood in the doorway, the night before everything had gone down. "Cake?" he'd asked, what seemed to be a menacing look in his eyes—but it hadn't been menace, had it? "Heard about this cake. Never had it. No one seems to throw it out so it never ends up in the dump. I never actually tasted it."
Felix suddenly shoved back and staggered away, feeling sick with himself.
"Felix!" Ralph called. "Never mind, okay? I'm sorry!"
Felix couldn't answer, unable to speak as he staggered out into grand central station. This wasn't something an apology could fix. Despite his name, there was no way to fix it this time. He barely even registered where he was going, but he found himself riding the tram back home.
'He eats out of the trash,' Felix thought numbly. 'He actually eats out of the trash. Oh, what have we done?'
"Felix?"
Felix looked up to see several Nicelanders staring at him.
"Hm?" was all he could manage.
"Are you okay, dear?"
The rest of the Nicelanders came over as Felix sat there, his hat twisted in his hands and he gazed at them forlornly.
"Did you know Ralph eats our leftovers out of the trash?" he asked, his voice quavering. "He told me he'd never even had cake before our anniversary party. Still hasn't. Because we made him destroy it."
Silence. Felix got up and walked for the building, feeling the Nicelanders' eyes on him. He didn't care to stay and talk. There was nothing he could do to make up for thirty years of neglect.
"Felix?" Gene asked.
He stopped and glanced back. "Hm?"
"Fix it?" It was a desperate plea from all of them.
"I don't think that's possible this time, Gene," Felix said, his voice hollow. "My hammer won't work on this."
With that, he turned and went upstairs to bed. The next day the arcade opened on time, and Ralph was his usual self. He didn't miss a beat, despite the others' stares. Why would he, Felix asked himself, when Ralph was stared at like that every day? Still, that didn't make it right, and Felix allowed his programming to take over as he spent the day thinking about what he could do.
After the final game and the call that the arcade was closed, Felix turned to the Nicelanders. "Would you mind fixing something good for supper, Mary? Make enough for Ralph, please."
"Of course," Mary said. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to do what Ralph asked me to do yesterday," Felix said.
With that, he followed the same path he'd taken the day before, hopping from sill to sill until he landed with a jaunty bounce tone on the ground. He followed Ralph's footprints around the back of the building and into the dump. Ralph was adjusting a pile of bricks when he noticed Felix.
"Hey, Felix. I'm sorry about yesterday."
"No, Ralph," Felix said stoutly. "I'm sorry. It was very rude of me to leave like that. I just… never realized how poorly we treated you."
"Oh, it's fine," Ralph said.
"No, it's not Ralph. And I would like to apologize. I'm willing to make it up to you, and I'd like to start by building you a house." Felix pulled his hammer out and smiled. "And then I'd like to invite you for dinner. No more eating out of the trash."
Ralph looked hopeful. "You mean that?"
"Of course," Felix said.
"Huh," Ralph murmured. He hesitated. "Hey, do you think we can take some to Q-Bert? He and some others had their games unplugged recently, and they're always hungry."
Felix raised his eyebrows. "Oh, I'm sure we could do something about that." He thought for a moment. "Maybe we could do more than that."
"More?" Ralph asked.
"Well, anybody can destroy our building. And we do have a bonus level," Felix said, a smile lifting his mouth.
Ralph's entire face lit up. "Hey, yeah! And you could build them houses, too! I can't imagine having to stay in Grand Central Station all the time. Everybody's always staring…" Ralph squirmed at the thought.
"Sure thing, Ralph," Felix said. "Now what kind of house do you want? We could even experiment if you'd like."
Ralph grinned. "Guess that's true. If I don't like it, I can just… wreck it."
"And I can fix it," Felix said, waving his hammer. "But I have a lot to fix and it might take time."
Ralph shrugged. "I've already waited thirty years. What's a bit more time? At least things are finally changing."
Felix nodded, then he bounced his hammer and turned to see what he had to work with. Things were changing, and hopefully for the better.
"Hey, Felix?" Ralph asked.
"Hm?" Felix asked absently.
"One game at a time."
"Beg pardon?" Felix asked in surprise.
"That's how you get through this. One game at a time." Ralph rubbed the back of his neck. "It's something the guys at Bad-Anon say. And I think I get it now. Don't focus on what you can't change. Focus on what you can do right now."
Felix thought about this and reached out to tap some of the bricks with his hammer. They burst into a house with a jaunty tone. Ralph looked at it then down at Felix. "I won't fit in that door."
"Well, clean the slate then."
Ralph and Felix grinned at each other and Ralph raised his fists and smashed the house to pieces. Felix laughed as the bricks erupted around them. He knew Ralph's advice was good, though it would be hard to take at first. But they would get through it. One game at a time.