Vanellope's feet patted against the ground as she ran toward her destination. There was urgency as she went but a smile of glee was on her face as she found herself at the ride to Fix-It Felix Jr., where she would be visiting her friends.

She hopped on, alone and excitedly waiting for the departure as the worn carts clinked together and started off down the cord. The young girl was extremely excited—she always was when she was going to the game, but this time there was a special occasion going on that only happened once a year, which had her even more excited since she had never celebrated it with anyone before due to her years of solitude.

The station quickly came into sight as she saw the tunnel ending, and she glitched out of her seat and started off toward the tall penthouse that loomed overhead in the game. She felt herself smile when she noticed familiar faces standing around in the courtyard, where they had prepped a table and were placing food on it. Undetected, she glitched behind a bush to peek up and try to get a closer look. Her attention was grasped, however, as she turned her head and saw that her one and only best friend began to walk by and toward the table with a platter between his hands—and immediately, her actions came before her thoughts.

"Ralph!" a scream rattled out of her as she glitched in front of him, and his own yell came erupting from his throat, and he tossed up a plate into the air that was previously between his massive hands, to which she gasped. Thinking quickly, she glitched up and onto the top of his head, catching the silver platter atop her hands above her head as she balanced on top of the wrecker's skull.

A big duck, looking steamy and fresh—she figured it must've come from Duck Hunt—landed onto the platter, which Vanellope nearly dropped from the unexpected weight. But she didn't as she continued to balance the platter on top of her stubby fingers. Ralph looked up at her in shock and she looked down with the same look, giving an awkward laugh as she grinned.

"What's going on? We heard a scream!" a familiar voice came ringing through, and the pair's eyes darted forward to see Felix running up in concern, Calhoun not far behind with her gun already locked and loaded despite her being dressed in casual attire.

"Well, you see," Ralph started as he reached up and took the plate from Vanellope gingerly, to which she let out a sigh of relief now that she wasn't being nearly squashed by it since it was so big, "the kid here thought it would be fun to sneak up on me and nearly scare the dots out of me."

"When did you get so jumpy, Ralph?" Felix asked as he shook his head, and Calhoun slid her gun into the holster she was wearing around her waist, huffing.

"She's just a little lamb. Can't do no harm to someone as big as you." Calhoun said pointedly, and Vanellope sneered.

"Hey, Felix, has your wife ever heard of a jump-scare before?" Ralph demanded.

"Indeed she has." Felix said as he crossed his arms, looking up at his wife.

"I get jump-scared by thousands of Cybugs everyday, Ham-Hands." Calhoun responded easily, to which Felix nodded. "She could never scare me."

"I've tried." Vanellope agreed, "Sorry Ralph, you're just a scaredy-Chumbo."

"Do you get a kick out of embarrassing me, kid?" Ralph demanded to Vanellope, who was now standing on his shoulder, smirking.

The child's response started as a mischievous giggle as she glitched off of his head and between Felix and Calhoun, who were unfazed by the action, "You know you love me, Ralphie."

"Uh-huh," the wrecker rolled his eyes, "but you still almost ruined dinner. Do you know how long it took to cook this duck to perfection?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask him?" Vanellope motioned to Felix, who sheepishly looked on, wringing his hands together.

"I could've easily cooked this duck!" Ralph said as though it was so obvious, taken aback.

"No offense, Brother, but you can't even cook a cherry pie." Felix smiled, and Vanellope's smirk deepened.

"Thanks a lot." Ralph sighed.

"We all know that short stuff's got the knack for cooking," the sergeant gave an endearing look to her partner before glancing at Vanellope, "but let's eat the food and not paint Wreck-It in duck guts."

Ralph thought about that for a moment, and he made a disgusted face while Vanellope giggled.

"I'm sure that would be super funny to see, but sure thing Sarge!" she chirped, and Ralph began to walk again. The other three fell in line and followed along.

This was where she loved to be. This was her home—her life, and she enjoyed every moment of it. Christmas at the arcade was nice since she had all the time off in the world and she could go anywhere. Previously in her life she had had every day off, but now, she actually got the satisfaction of being able to have a well-deserved rest for the holidays, since the Arcade was closed for two weeks. She didn't care about anything and had no priorities, and she loved every waking moment of it.

Vanellope's eyes lit up at the huge table set up outside in front of the penthouse. She could already recognize some faces—Qbert and his friends, some of the Nicelanders, a couple of the bad guys had even turned out and even some of her Sugar Rush friends had joined them. She hurried over to the table as the adults continued their prepping.

"Where have you been, Vanellope?" Taffyta stared, an air of annoyance clear in her face. "We've been, like, waiting for you."

"And they almost sent Rancis after you," Candlehead added, a knowing look on her face, "but I think you would've enjoyed being escorted by him a little too much."

Vanellope glitched to their sides and she wrapped her arms around both of their necks as they gasped in surprise, "Oh, come on! Me, needing a guy to help me? Not in a million years!"

"It happened a year ago, Vanellope. A year ago." Taffyta pointed out.

"That was different and all because you guys had your brains scooped out by he who shall not be named. Besides, I don't like him. You guys are nuts." Vanellope grinned, "But I know that Taffyta has a thing for him. Riiight?" she nudged the racer, who immediately grew flustered.

"T-that's not true, cut it out!" she said, her cheeks quickly starting to glow. Vanellope snickered at this.

Some more conversation followed and the young girl only found herself enjoying herself more and more in the presence of those who mattered most to her. She took her seat at the table, right beside Ralph. The seat she sat in was so small in comparison to her best friend's that it made her laugh.

As more time passed and finally everyone sat down to enjoy a Christmas night together, Vanellope's heart only swelled with joy more and more as the seconds ticked by.

At the end of dinner when everyone was supposed to start heading home, she only smiled as she watched her friends go back to their game. She was planning to stay with her family for the night and wouldn't be heading back to Sugar Rush.

Once everything was cleaned up and finished and everyone was back at their own games, the four were ready to have their own little celebration inside. There was cheer and laughter and Vanellope couldn't be happier in the presence of her family. As things were winding down, Felix took a spot by the piano as he started to play a calm and soothing melodic Christmas song, to which Vanellope sat next to him, kicking her feet gently to the slow beat as he played.

Ralph, of course, couldn't help himself but decide to try and add in his own lyrics as he attempted to sing over the piano, to which Calhoun immediately told him to shut it, provoking a laugh out of Vanellope. Though all four of them were completely different, they all worked together perfectly somehow. Vanellope actually started to feel herself growing drowsy from the melody, until it stopped.

"Well, jiminey jaminey, we almost forgot!" Felix said as his blue eyes landed on his wife and friend, and Vanellope's head cocked slightly as she glanced at the other two adults.

"Huh?" Vanellope asked.

"Oh! Oh, oh!" Ralph immediately said in shock, expression stunned. Calhoun only rolled her eyes, but was smiling.

"I'll get it." She announced, standing up and disappearing to a different room in the penthouse. Felix had left his place by the piano and was making his way toward Ralph.

"Come over here, Vanellope." Felix invited as he took a place on the couch beside his bigger counterpart—admittedly a bit too small for someone of the wrecker's height, but it worked. Vanellope zipped over and took a seat beside the fixer, bouncing excitedly. They waited patiently in silence before Calhoun came back out, a bright-green and small gift box in between her hands as she gently placed it down in front of the child before taking a seat next to her.

"Is this some kinda sick joke? Am I gonna get a pie to the face?" Vanellope asked, suspicion in her tone as she arched a brow.

"No, ma'am. Even I can't make a pie that small." Felix replied with a smile.

"Open it, kid." Ralph encouraged, grinning.

Vanellope hesitated, but she tugged at the ribbon and it easily came off. She lifted the top off and looked inside, feeling surprise wash over her. She reached inside and lifted up a dainty little bracelet.

It was silver, and a few things were hanging off of it. She knew what this was—a charm bracelet. She had seen quite a few girls who picked her during the roster wearing them on their wrists. Her eyes widened as she examined the little charms.

One was of a small race car, the second one next to it was a closed fist, the third was a hammer and the fourth was a gun. She immediately realized what it was meant to be.

"It's supposed to represent all of us. Together." Ralph explained.

Vanellope stared down at it, not knowing what to say. She couldn't take her eyes off of the little charms.

"We know you aren't much for girly things, but still." Calhoun smiled.

"It was a little difficult to make. It took a lot of fixing since the charms were so tiny." Felix's familiar ring of his hammer could be heard as he pulled it out.

Vanellope closed her hands around it.

"I love it." She whispered, looking up gratefully.

Tears had quickly built up in her eyes, and as fast as they had come they rapidly breached the limit. She felt the familiar arms of Felix wrap around her, as did Calhoun's, and Ralph wrapped his arms around all of them. She cried out of both joy and emotional overload. She was so grateful to have them. Almost too lucky to have them.

"Merry Christmas, kid." Ralph said.

Vanellope's eyes opened and she gasped. She was staring up at her familiar ceiling of her room in Slaughter Race. There were tears at the corners of her eyes, as the dream felt all too real. She reached one arm up and ran it across her eyes, wiping away the remnants of her tears. As she went to lower her arm, she tugged her sleeve down to reveal the charm bracelet. A smile crossed her face as she looked at it, and then she sighed.

She couldn't stop thinking about her wonderful dream. It was the memory of her first Christmas with her three closest friends, and she wished she could go back. She wanted to be there with Ralph and Felix and Calhoun for Christmas, but she couldn't make it. Their update, scheduled in December, had been pushed back to January. She had been devastated by it, but duty called and she couldn't forget about it.

"January can't come sooner. We miss you here." Ralph said when he was on the phone with her a few weeks prior.

"I know, I'm sorry, Stinkbrain," Vanellope sighed, staring at his hologram longingly, "have the others forgiven me yet?"

"Uhhh. . ." Ralph scratched his head, and some hope entered Vanellope's eyes, "Felix and Calhoun are still upset about no goodbye, kid. The racers too."

"Oh, tell 'em I'll be back super soon, will you, Chumbo? I'll make it up to them. I promise."

Vanellope hadn't spoken to Ralph since the call. She had a few missed calls from him, which she regretted, but she was so busy she couldn't take them. Slaughter Race demanded a lot from her constantly, and at times it got extremely tiring, but she still loved it. Her new friends were fun, her new job was fun, heck, her entire life was fun, and she only kept making better and better memories everyday.

Nowadays, though, she couldn't deny it—she was thinking about her old home. She was thinking about Christmas. There was something weird to her about spending the holidays with her new friends—it felt strange. And then a grand idea came upon her.

Vanellope jumped up excitedly and gained a new-found energy as she glitched out of her bed and leapt onto her dresser. She sat down as she began to get ready for the day as she pulled her hair up into her signature ponytail, and plotted. She had lots of money from beating players into the ground and helping Shank keep her car safe. She could take that money and do something good with it. Vanellope's inspiration was growing as she only grinned to herself.

She hopped out the door and was immediately met with a wild scream and she glitched right into the scratched-up wall and spun around, pressing back as she saw Pyro taunting Little Debbie who was only shouting at him to stop since he was waving around his flamethrower, scorching some of the wallpaper. He always had that crazy look in his eyes when he let the flames rip, and as the young girl got her bearings as some heat licked at her face, she frowned for a moment. She could've been burnt into code. Well, she would've just respawned, but what she didn't like was nearly being charred the second she woke up.

Vanellope only sighed and she glitched off into the kitchen. Her eyes trailed around to look for Shank, since she had to talk to her. Urgently. She was always at home in the mornings. Finally Vanellope's eyes landed on her friend, who was standing in front of the fridge.

"Shank!" Vanellope greeted with a grin, and Shank only smiled as she made her way toward the stove, a carton of eggs in tow.

"Hi, V. How are you today?" she asked over her shoulder as Vanellope trailed behind her.

"Just great. I had the best dream." The young girl responded, emphasizing with her hands as she spread them wide. Her enthusiasm kept up as she glitched onto the counter, sitting on the edge next to Shank who was cracking an egg.

"Oh, yeah? What was it about?" Shank asked curiously.

Vanellope opened her mouth excitedly, but felt hesitation. She didn't particularly like talking about those who resided at the arcade with her new friends. It felt uncomfortable for her.

"Y'know, just uh, chasing off some kids from your car. . ." she started awkwardly, losing some of her enthusiasm. Shank raised a brow at this. "And, uh, then a unicorn came! Yeah, and then Sonic was there—it was crazy!" she started laughing, and Shank only shook her head, but a smile was still on her face.

"Mm-hmm, I'm sure," Shank replied as she reached for another egg.

Vanellope's cheeks puffed out as she abruptly interrupted her own laughter, and she got a bit serious. She tapped the counter uncomfortably with her fingertips and she sighed. There was no putting off the question. She needed this.

"Shank. . . I wanna go to the arcade for Christmas."

The tall woman cracked her egg a little too hard as Vanellope said this, and the yolk went spraying out, missing the pan almost entirely. She had a look of shock on her face, and then she turned to her fellow racer and frowned as she tossed away the shell.

"Vanellope, we discussed this. You can't go. We need you here. My car's worth doubles in price this whole month and all the gamers are going to be trying for it. Not to mention our other duties. You cannot neglect them."

The young girl instantly got to her feet.

"I know that, but—"

"We also have many events to do. Have you forgotten the new quests that will be available? The stakes are very high right now."

"I-I know, Shank—!" she tried, but was once again interrupted.

"As you being part of the main group, you must be there to present yourself. This is not optional, Vanellope." Shank said firmly.

"I miss them!" Vanellope blurted out with a shout. Shank did a double-take, staring at the child, surprised by the outburst. "T-that's all, okay? I'm normally stone-faced about it but I miss my friends over at the arcade! I was so excited to see them for Christmas, and now I can't go, and I really wanted to, and it's so unfair because I haven't been able to see any of them since I've got here! I never even said goodbye. I've been horrible to them. I wanna make it up to them."

The girl ended her ramble in near tears, her vision quickly becoming blurry as she plopped back down in defeat, her arms crossed.

There was silence, and she didn't look at Shank as she bit back her tears and sharp tongue. She already knew what was coming—another lecture about how she had to be responsible, surely, which she didn't want to hear. She kept her eyes in her lap, hoping that Shank wouldn't question her too much. Because of her avoiding the older girl's face, she didn't see the twinge of discomfort that passed her face for a brief second.

As the seconds ticked by, Vanellope grew more uncomfortable. She was about to glitch off and go take a ride to get her mind off of everything. She knew Shank was right—she had to upkeep her responsibilities in Slaughter Race. There was no way she'd ever be able to go back for the holidays.

A gentle hand found itself under Vanellope's chin as her head was tilted up. Shank was smiling as she pushed some stray hair from the young girl's face.

"Alright, V. If that's what you'd like, go on."

Her eyes widened as her tears spilled over her cheeks, not expecting that response. There was confusion clear in her expression.

"Huh?" she asked meekly as her eyes searched the other racer's face, and Shank only gave a small chuckle.

"I tend to forget you're still a child even though you act like such an adult," the older racer said, "and it's not healthy for you to be away from your friends for so long. You consider them family, don't you?"

Vanellope only nodded, biting her lip. Shank kept smiling, though there was some sadness and even a bit of jealousy in her eyes—though the younger racer didn't pick up on it.

"What do you say you go see them for Christmas, then? You aren't really supposed to leave, but you know what? I think I can let it slide just this once."

"Really?" Vanellope asked, sounding watery.

"Really." Shank smiled. The candy-girl broke into a smile.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" she said with glee, glitching to her feet and wrapping her arms around Shank as much as she could, while the other only patted her head and continued her own smile. Vanellope wiped her face when she backed off, sighing in relief.

"Around here we say 'Shank you,' little sis, did you forget about that?"

Vanellope only giggled as she nudged Shank in the arm. Her negative feelings left her quickly, and a smile found itself on her face again.

"This is so exciting! I've got to call Ralph and let him know. I can't wait to see them again." Vanellope glitched away and ran back off to her bedroom. Pyro and Little Debbie were still arguing outside, but she ignored it as she glitched right through the door and jumped onto her bed.

She grabbed her little phone which was sitting right on her nightstand and she rolled over as she called Ralph. There was a smile on her face as she dialed, and felt joy bursting up in her chest. She held her breath, waiting for him to answer so that she could scream the news to him, but she heard a monotonous beeping that stopped her in her tracks.

"The person you have called is unable to answer right now," a robotic voice spoke to her, "if you have a message for—Ralph! Wreck-It Ralph!" Ralph's voice came through clearly on the recording as an awkward interruption to the monotonous robot-sounding woman which made Vanellope smirk, "—then please leave a message after the beep. Hologram will start in three, two, one."

There was a beep and a little light turned on, and the girl held the phone close to her.

"Ralph, I've got exciting news! Call me back as soon as you can, okay? It's super important!" she grinned, and then closed it as she jumped back up. She tugged at a scarf that was hanging loosely around the doorknob. It was chilly with Slaughter Race's internal weathering clock which was now in the icy winter months. She threw it around her neck and jumped up to a little red pom-pom hat which was hanging precariously on one of her shelves, and she glitched off and back to meet Shank.

"Not going to eat?" the brunette asked, having eaten her breakfast all too quickly for her usual slow standard. She would have been lying if she said she wasn't experiencing anxiety in the moment.

"Nope, I'm way too excited for this! Are you gonna drive me there?" Vanellope asked.

"Of course." Shank replied with that famous smile, her brows slightly furrowed. "What are friends for?"

Vanellope felt a little weird about the way she had said that, but ignored it. She kicked at the ground slightly as Shank began to ready herself by leaving the room and disappearing elsewhere. A moment later she reappeared with a long and red, beat-up looking coat around her shoulders.

"Hey, Shank? You don't have to, if you don't wanna. I know the gamers are gonna be at your throat soon."

Shank's body seemed tense, but she glanced over at her little friend and only continued to smile.

"It's fine. The crew can handle it, you know?" she replied, "Besides, your safety is more important to me."

Vanellope only smiled back, but then she paused as Shank disappeared once more. She wondered what her Slaughter Race friends would be up to on Christmas. Did they celebrate Christmas? Did they even like Christmas? Was it wrong to leave them?

"I'm glad you're bundled up. Somebody could easily get frostbyte out here." Shank said as she came back, tugging on her own scratched up coat for emphasis. Vanellope was broken from her thoughts and hopped after her as she headed for the door.

"Me? Frostbyte? Never." Vanellope grinned.

They continued to talk as they got into Shank's car and headed out toward the Internet.

Vanellope never got over her awe of seeing the Internet and its hugeness. She leaned up against the door and rested her head where the window should have been, but now that they were out of the storm and into the warmer feeling environment of the world wide web, Shank put the top down and the two relaxed as they drove.

Silence had reigned for a short while as Vanellope looked all around the place. Her excitement had not wavered, but as she glanced back at Shank she could see that the adult was gripping the wheel a little too tightly. There was a stressed look on her face, and when she noticed that, some sort of discomfort welled up in the younger girl as she glitched a little.

"Hey Shank," Vanellope said, trying her best to act ignorant to the fact something was up, "do you think that. . . do you think that they hate me now?"

"Who?" Shank asked.

"You know. . ." Vanellope trailed off, not wanting to directly reference her arcade friends.

"Nah, they'll be happy to see you back." Shank responded. "It's always great to have the whole family around for Christmas, you know?"

"Mm. . ." Vanellope rested her head on her sleeve for a few moments, until something began to catch her attention, and her head lifted back up.

Something blue was waving at her, and she immediately perked when she realized who it was.

"Shank! It's Yesss! Stop the car!" Vanellope said suddenly, and Shank quickly slowed down when she too noticed. The candy-themed racer's smile spread wider on her face, as she watched Yesss run up to the car.

"Hey sweetie pie! How's my favorite little munchkin doing?" the algorithm asked with a smile, one hand on her hip and the other leaning on the car door. BuzzzTube loomed behind her, and a crowd of Internet users were trying to get her attention as they tried to come after her before Maybe stopped them in their tracks.

"I'm doing great!" Vanellope replied excitedly. "I'm gonna be going back to the arcade for Christmas."

"Oh, yeah?" Yesss matched her enthusiasm easily, her eyes lighting up. "When you get there, make sure to tell my favorite big baby that I said 'hi.'"

"I will!" Vanellope replied, but then she paused. "Hey, why don't you come take a ride with us?"

"Me?" Yesss began to laugh, laying one hand against her chest. "I don't know about that."

"C'mon!" Vanellope pleaded. "It's not like you're leaving the Internet. Hey, wait, have you ever left the Internet before?"

Yesss actually began to think about it, tapping her foot as she wondered to herself, before responding, "No. One time I got lost in Instagram though, and let me just tell you, I felt like I was stuck in the real world for a little while. But if you insist, I'll come see you off!"

"Don't you have to stay here?" Shank asked.

"Maybe's got it covered," she turned and moved aside, revealing her flustered assistant who was being swarmed with users, "see?"

"Definitely." Vanellope giggled.

"You don't mind, right?" Yesss asked Shank, who shook her head. "I haven't seen you in a hot minute, girly. How've you been?"

A moment later Yesss had jumped into the car and was leaning over toward Shank's seat, talking with her and Vanellope.

There was only a smile on Vanellope's face as she realized they would be there soon.

There was a transportation area, which led directly to the arcade—rather, anywhere. It was a series of tubes—all one had to do was type their destination into a little computer, get in the tube, and then blast off. It was near the center hub where Vanellope and Ralph had been transported in the first time, in a nearby building where the tubes shot directly up to the 'sky' and took people to where they wanted to be. She saw Ralph off the last time he was there, which had been too long ago for Vanellope's tastes, so she knew how it worked. It took him forever to figure out, and she watched him while trying to hold back her laughter.

"How long will you be staying, sweetie?" Yesss piped up, and Vanellope rolled her shoulders.

"Oh, just for Christmas. It's in a few days. So I shouldn't be gone for more than a week. I just. . . geez, I really need a break." Vanellope sighed, and that's when her eyes widened. "Shank, hold up a sec! I wanted to go and buy Christmas gifts for everyone! Can we stop at some stores real quick?"

"Of course. That's a great idea." Shank smiled weakly.

For a while the three bounced around from Amazon to H&M looking for the perfect presents. Yesss and Vanellope were heavily debating whether or not a certain shirt was suitable for Ralph's tastes or not for quite a while before they finally agreed on something entirely different, while Shank just slowly shook her head, lost in thought.

Vanellope had decided on quite a few selections, but narrowed it down to only a few gifts. She was having a great time with her two friends, and she was truly enjoying herself. Her and Yesss laughed it up while Shank only lagged behind a little, her hands shoved in her pockets uneasily as they went on. She bit onto her lip apprehensively, looking on edge but snapping out of it whenever her young friend would ask her opinion on any of the presents she was picking out.

Once they went to check out of H&M and Vanellope had scored a plentiful amount of gifts for her friends, Yesss offered to paid for all of it, but the racer insisted on using her own money, to which Yesss let her—but never mentioned to Vanellope that she suddenly got all the money transferred back into her account that she'd spent, and then some. Yesss couldn't hide the fact that she truly cared about Vanellope and Ralph, and never minded looking out for them.

"We're out of this item, ma'am. I'm afraid you'll have to get something else." The cashier said, an orange sir who seemed extremely unamused. When he picked up the out of stocked items—two PJs in the form of a small and silvery, compacted rectangle with the icon of pajamas sitting inside—they disintegrated in his hands.

"Wha—huh? Aww, man! Sarge and Felix would've loved them!" Vanellope exclaimed in exasperation. "Matching pajamas? What couple doesn't love matching pajamas?" she went on in disappointment, staring at Yesss.

"I'm sorry, but this item is in too many people's carts already. We've ran out." The orange man responded.

"It clearly said there was a few pieces left. Why was it on the shelf?" Vanellope asked with a frown.

"That I cannot explain. It must be our servers acting buggy. Find something else, please, or pay upfront now." The cashier went on impatiently.

Yesss had been silent, but now her mouth pulled into a frown.

"Do you know who I am?" Yesss demanded as she slammed a fist down on the counter. The cashier didn't flinch, but waited for an explanation. "I'm Yesss from BuzzzTube. Do you really want your store to have a bad reputation for misleading their customers into thinking that sold out items are still available? Making Christmas a misery for. . . for a little girl, of all people!" she went on, sounding more appalled as the seconds ticked by. She had already pulled out her phone and her camera was rolling. This seemed to cause a slight reaction from the cashier as he twitched. "This is horrible! I can't believe that you would do such a thing."

Vanellope let out a wail, a bit fake, but still convincing enough.

"This store is making their customers cry. Can you believe it?" Yesss asked the camera.

"Alright, alright! Fine, fine!" the cashier glanced over and saw another customer not far away, an Internet user browsing other clothes. The cashier, quick as a flash sped toward the user, removed the pajamas from the cart, and scurried back behind the counter as though nothing had happened.

Yesss and Vanellope were extremely content after that with their items in tow, and they walked out giggling.

On the car ride to go back to the arcade, Vanellope's mind began to race.

She thought about Sugar Rush and all her friends. She missed it, as much as she hated to admit it. Her memories in the game were fairly terrible—being treated horribly by the other racers for years, the tyrant of her life also known as 'he who shall not be named' trying to kill her, and because of much more, she couldn't help but feel strange about missing it.

It was in her code to want to race, but maybe it was in her code to want to race in Sugar Rush. After all, what did she really do in Slaughter Race? Sure, she raced when they had the time to and she had all the freedom in the world, but most of the time she was a 'NPC' that stood around waiting for fools to try and snag Shank's ride, only to chase them off. It wasn't right to her. . . was it?

Shank pulled up and got out of her car, going over to set up the send-off for Vanellope. Her and Yesss got out of the car too, slowly following after her.

"Well Vanellope, you should really come by BuzzzTube more often. You're always welcome there." Yesss was saying, and Vanellope only cheerily nodded as they walked into the building, getting onto a line to wait to be transported.

"Soon! Maybe I can convince the whole gang to come along. I think Felix and Calhoun would really like you."

"You four could make a video together and go viral if you wanted. The people will be calling it the crossover of the year. Don't worry, I'll help you out." Yesss winked.

The line went by fairly quickly as Internet user after Internet user zoomed up the tube and disappeared. When it was her turn, Vanellope glitched to one of the tubes and Yesss followed along, handing her the things that the little girl had bought. Vanellope only smiled up at her.

"Thanks, Yesss," she said gratefully, "you didn't have to almost get that guy fired, though."

"No problem Sugarplum, and I've always got your back. Therefore it's my job to get people who are nasty to little girls almost fired." Yesss pointed her fingers at her, smiling widely.

Shank came over hesitantly as Yesss backed off. The other racer bent down to Vanellope's level.

"I hope that you have a good time there." She said, but in her eyes spoke a different story. They reflected anxiety and nervousness, but Vanellope missed it entirely.

"Shank you, Shank." Vanellope grinned. She hugged the older woman until a moment later they split apart.

Vanellope awaited her little pod to come suck her and her items up. She bit onto her lip as she stared up, preparing her tiny body for a fun time traveling back.

Shank and Yesss were talking out of earshot as she waited patiently. But there was something off. Vanellope immediately got suspicious as she saw them both standing over the control panel, their expressions perplexed and mixed.

"Hey, c'mon, what's the hold up? I'm not getting any younger!" Vanellope called.

"Litwak's Arcade, right?" Yesss asked, and Vanellope nodded. "How do you spell that?"

"Oh, sweet mother of monkey milk." Vanellope rolled her eyes in irritation and glitched back over, right between Yesss's hands, who caught onto her just in time. Vanellope read the words on the mini screen and was a bit surprised to see everything was in order, but there was a different story on-screen.

Destination does not exist.

"Huh. . . this machine must be broken." she concluded.

She glitched over to the next one and hopped up, typing in the same place. This machine said the same thing, and Vanellope felt a sprout of anxiety grow in the pit of her stomach. She looked at the two adults who shared an uncertain glance. Vanellope took in a breath as she glitched, and then she raced over to the next one, shoving an Internet user aside violently in her nervous state. The same message came up.

Vanellope's panic began to rise up in her throat as she ran around to every single machine, throwing beside various Internet users and desperately trying to get any single one to work. Her glitching increased as her panic surged up in her chest, and she could hear her two friends calling after her to stop. She didn't stop though—she would never stop.

She was a flurry of pixels jumping back and forth until she reached the final one and still, her destination—her home—did not exist.

Her determination relinquished as she stood still in shock, and realized something was very, very wrong. Once again her pixels burst into a flurry of blue and codes, and she tore her phone out shakily. She called Ralph's number again and hoped, no, prayed that he would pick up. She bit her lip and tapped a foot impatiently, her face twisting with anxiety.

"Please, please, please. . ." she chanted quietly, her eyes shutting. The ringing stopped, and for a moment, she had hope, until once again the monotonous voice began to blare, and she closed her phone in shock. What had happened to her best friend? Everyone else? Why was it not coming up as a destination?

"Are you okay sweetie?" Vanellope hardly heard Yesss, who was sitting on her knees next to the young girl.

"N-no. . . n-no, I'm n-not!" she stammered, her glitches becoming more violent. "Why? Why can't I go back? W-what's happening?" she asked with a piercing cry.

"It's probably a malfunction, honey. We'll get you there, I promise." Yesss said reassuringly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"It's not a malfunction."

Yesss and Vanellope's heads both whirled toward Shank. She had a grim look on her face.

"What?" Yesss asked, frowning. "What makes you say that?"

"Because. . ." Shank trailed off. She hesitated, before sighing. "Check your voicemail, Vanellope."

The girl's eyes widened a little before she reached back for her phone, moving closer to Yesss as she went to her inbox. A frown crossed her face and she stared up at Shank.

"You went through them? Without asking me?" Vanellope demanded, who didn't even know there was any messages for her since they had all been played already, and therefore gave her no notification whatsoever. There was no answer from Shank, but now Vanellope was furious as she pulled up at least seven missed voicemails. She played the first one and was greeted with Ralph's smiling face as the blue hologram appeared in front of her.

"Hey kid! Uh, I hope you're doing good over there. I was thinking of dropping by in a few days. You're probably busy, but uh—"

"Move over Wreck-It!" Calhoun's voice was somewhere in the background, and she came into view a moment later, clearly stealing the phone from Ralph. She looked around the holographic screen for a moment before she began to nod in approval. "We could really use some of these in my game. It would make communication so much easier. If only the numb-nuts who programmed my game knew any better."

Felix's face poked up in front of her shoulder—he was probably standing tiptoe on something, probably the couch in Ralph's apartment, to just be able to be seen.

"Oh my land, they have holograms on the Internet?"

"They have everything on the Internet." Ralph interjected from somewhere.

"Right you are, Wreck-It. Anyway, we just wanted to say that we miss you around here." Calhoun spoke, smiling softly.

"Yes! We do, and we can't wait to see you back." Felix added. "I'm still disappointed that we never received a good-bye, little lady."

"Yeah, what's that all about?" Calhoun asked, putting on a half-scowl, the corners of her mouth still turned up despite her frown. "We forgive you, but next time all you have to do is mosey down to Game Central Station to say goodbye and we'll be satisfied, if it isn't too much trouble."

"That's right," Felix agreed, his smile still plastered onto his face, "and we're going to have so much fun once you get back. Maybe you can even beat the other kids in a race or two!"

"I think they need to be knocked down a few pegs. They've gotten too cocky in your absence." Calhoun smirked, and Felix only nodded in agreement.

"But, uh, we miss you, kid." The hologram switched back over to Ralph. "We're always here for you, though. And, uh. . . well, this message is getting long," he scratched the back of his neck, "so we'll let you go. Get back to me soon, okay?"

"We love you kiddo!" Felix's voice came in as he popped up near Ralph's shoulder, Calhoun on the other side.

"Don't forget it soldier." She said, her smile bright.

"Bye Vanellope." Ralph said with a smile as the other two waved, and then, silence.

The hologram ended. Vanellope's heart had swelled up with happiness to see the three of them again, even if it was just a message.

"They really do love you." Yesss said gently, smiling at the little girl. Vanellope looked to her.

"Yeah. . ." she replied with her own smile.

She pulled up the next one.

"Hey kid. Uh, it's been a while. . . I hope you got my last message. It was kind of long, so I'll make this one short. Uh. . ." Ralph seemed distracted by something for a moment as his gaze left his phone, and he looked lost in thought. Silence reigned for a few moments. Then, he looked back at the camera, "We all miss you here. Things. . . are going alright. Going okay. Call me back, kid."

It ended abruptly. Vanellope felt off-put by the message, and she stared uneasily as she clicked the next one. Yesss's attention was glued to the hologram, too, while Shank seemed unable to watch.

"Sorry, uh, I'm not sure how to tell you about this news, but I'm going to come to the Internet as soon as possible. Things are getting kind of crazy around here. Uh. . . strange stuff is happening. Pac-Man started acting up today, and it never acts up. Don't worry, everyone made it out of the game okay! Litwak said something about it overheating, so it got unplugged, but it was pretty glitchy these past few days, I heard some kids complaining about it. This is uh. . . the second game that this has happened to. I don't want you to be worried or anything though. I'm sure things will get better, I just gotta come and tell you about some stuff that's going on."

That was alarming. It also cut off pretty abruptly.

The next one. . . after this, there was only a few more.

"Kid, things on this end are going pretty horribly around here. Well. . . I just gotta tell you that our game's been unplugged and a few others have too," and at this, Vanellope gasped, "and it's a miracle we got out. Apparently it was randomly pulled out without warning. A lot of the Nicelanders. . . well, they had no idea. We had no idea, but it was for the same reason—apparently we were overheating, and bugging out a little, but we still have no clue why. So. . . uh, most of them are gone. We're taking it pretty hard. Felix and I are fine, but, listen, I just sound like I'm worrying you. Call me when you get the chance."

Vanellope felt uneasy and hesitant as she clicked onto the next one.

It was a load of garbled static, and Vanellope only shook her head in disbelief. She clicked onto the next one. More garbled static. Panic began to take back over when she heard screams through the garbles. She was confused as it cut off. She only shook her head more as she clicked onto the next one. The hologram came up looking a bit dodgy and static-filled. Ralph was there, looking disheveled and messy, breathing hard.

"Kid, you wouldn't believe what's going on over here. Listen, there's no time to explain, but we're trying to get out. Game Central Station is in trouble. It makes no sense, I know, but something happened. The outlet. . . there was too much overheating, that's what we're thinking happened. I just wanted to call you and tell you that if we don't get out of here, which might be a possibility . . . that I love you, Vanellope. We all do."

There was more yells in the background and Ralph started to cough, and then, it ended again.

Vanellope's eyes widened as she realized that was the last message she'd received. She looked at Yesss, who was equally as alarmed, and then she looked at Shank.

"W-what is this? What does this mean?" the girl cried, demanding answers.

The adult racer looked away, running a hand through her hair hesitantly.

"Vanellope. . ." she trailed off.

"What's going on? You obviously know something is up, Shank. C'mon, don't lie." Yesss said as she got to her feet.

"Alright. . . I do know." Shank said hesitantly, "But I don't know how to tell her."

"Tell me right now!" Vanellope shouted, a glitch running through her violently. "I need to know! You can't keep it from me!" her voice got louder.

"Litwak's is closed Vanellope." Shank finally said, and the girl's eyes widened.

"What are you talking about?" Vanellope's voice cracked. "You're lying!"

"I'm not lying." Shank said, her voice rising in pain. "It's not a lie, I promise."

"Why would it close?" Vanellope shrieked.

"Because. . . because. . ." Shank hesitated. "Because it burned down."

Vanellope's jaw slackened, and the phone slipped between her fingers.

Time felt slow. Everything around Vanellope tuned out as she fell onto her knees.

Litwak's was gone? Her home. . . was gone? Everything she knew. . . was gone? Everyone she knew, was gone?

"I'm so sorry Vanellope. They're calling it a freak accident. When I watched the messages over I went to the search bar to see if it was true that something had become of Litwak's. The whole place burned down in the middle of the night, and they think that it's because of a faulty outlet or screwy wiring. Apparently there was too many things plugged in, the entire thing overheated and caught flames, and. . ."

Vanellope became distant as she stopped listening, and her mind went elsewhere. She thought about how she never properly said goodbye to her friends. She thought about how she never saw Ralph again. She thought about how she broke her promise to Ralph that she would return for Christmas. She thought about how much she was desiring to go back, but there was nowhere to go back to.

And she could only assume all her friends were dead. Her family was dead, because if they weren't, they would have come to Slaughter Race to see her.

The loudest scream of pain immediately came tumbling out of Vanellope at this sudden realization.

Her glitches became fervent as her fingers ran through her hair as she gripped at her roots, pulling harshly on them, and she screamed even louder, which was now garbled from the glitching. Eventually her voice gave out, and she began to sputter as her throat burned, and she only let out a half-sob, half-choke of pain.

She had been right. She wouldn't be seeing them for the holidays after all. Everyone she loved was gone, and she was never going to see them again.

Author's note:

Nothing like some good old Christmas themed angst, right?

In all seriousness, this was going to just be a one-shot where it ended just like that. But of course, I can't allow myself, and I'll be continuing this. At most this will have one or two more chapters, that's all. I wanted to play around with the idea of, what if Game Central Station was gone? What if all the games got unplugged and Vanellope could never go back? How would she react?

Thus, because of my wild imagination, this was born. Anywho, see you in the next chapter.