At 10:00 that morning, Litwak's Arcade and Family Fun Center opened its doors to the public as always. The usual crowd of game-hungry kids and teens filled the room in minutes, eager for another day of play. And at the outset, it looked like that was all it was going to be.

But word soon spread among the regulars that there was something new to experience.

"Whoa! Check this out! Sugar Rush got an upgrade!"

The bespectacled young girl in the driver's seat tugged her friend's sleeve, pointing to the character selection screen. Instead of nine racers to choose from, there were now sixteen - and several of them had never come up in the rotation before. Orangina Shimmerdust, Watermillie Mellonsweet, Richley Chocobatter, Mangus McTartenly, Caramelita Chugarrez…

"Awesome!" the girl's friend cheered. "They added the sequel characters! It's like two games in one!"

Indeed, there was more new content in Sugar Rush than just an expanded roster. There seemed to be more candy-faced spectators in the bleachers surrounding every track. New living obstacles were now present in old familiar tracks, like snapping Chocodiles and lumbering animal cracker elephants that the players had to dodge. And most notable of all, the game now featured its sequel's Double Dip mode, allowing two players to team up and race against the AI.

With all these fancy new features, the line for Sugar Rush didn't diminish all day.

"This is the absolute coolest!" the girl laughed, coasting Vanellope over the finish line alongside her friend's Orangina. "Thanks for the upgrade, Mr. Litwak!"

Mr. Litwak scratched his head. He could only assume that Bernie fellow had modified the game to include its sequel racers and features. Presumably, he'd also modded the character animations, because he'd never seen Vanellope leap across the twin screens to hug a fellow racer like that before.

"Ah, it was nothin'," he chuckled.

But of course, Sugar Rush was hardly the only hit of the day. Hero's Duty, being the newest and flashiest game in the arcade, still drew its usual crowd.

Unbeknownst to the players, however, there were slight changes in this game too.

"Quarter Alert. Quarter Alert. This is not a drill."

The alarm blared as soldiers lined up inside the hallway, ready to deploy. Steely-faced and dignified, Calhoun strode to the front of the line, eyeing her troops.

"All right, ladybritches, this isn't our first rodeo!" she snapped. "Let's get out there and show these slobbering sons of larvae what we're made of!" She glanced around. "Where's the new recruit?"

"Right here!"

BD sidled through the crowd, clad in a bulky set of armor and toting an impressive plasma rifle. His smile would've reached his ears had they been visible beneath his helmet. He flashed a swift salute with his free hand. "Private Bernie D. Gunderson, reporting for duty, bro! ...Uh, I mean, Sarge," he added hastily.

Calhoun smiled, locking her helmet into place as the first-person shooter droid scuttled up to her. "Practice makes perfect there, Gunderson," she chuckled.

The droid's screen blinked to life, revealing the player's face.

"We are humanity's last hope!" Calhoun declared, letting her programming take over. "Our mission: destroy all Cy-Bugs! You ready, rookie? Let's find out…"

The door to the container lowered, revealing the hellish bug-savaged apocalypse beyond. BD couldn't suppress his giggles.

"CHA-CHA-CHOW!" he bellowed as he and his fellow soldiers charged into battle, unleashing pattering streams of plasma into the snarling swarm of Cy-Bugs.

This wasn't to say that Litwak's selection of older games didn't attract their fair share of attention too. The retro gaming crowd congregated eagerly along the back wall, plunking quarter after quarter into BurgerTime, DigDug, Joust, and Dragon's Lair. Far and away, though, the biggest fan favorite as always was Fix-It Felix Jr., especially since that awesome Q-bert bonus level had been unlocked. And much to the gamers' delight, there was now a second bonus stage to be discovered all of a sudden - this one featuring Pac-Man and his familiar gaggle of ghosts.

Litwak leaned against the Space Invaders console, keeping a watchful eye on the rambunctious crowd as the familiar clanging sound effects of Felix's hammer met his ear. Gus sidled up to him, stowing his screwdriver and wiping his brow.

"Okay, Stan, everything checks out!" he said. "I gave the once-over to every game in the arcade, full check-up - you're runnin' at 100%, my friend. No other corroded circuits or frayed wires, far as I can tell. But you wanna check about once a month goin' forward, 'specially on these older models."

Litwak smiled. "Oh, you can count on it, Gus. I mean, jeez, broke my heart when I had to chuck Pac-Man - last thing I ever wanna do is junk a game. At this point, they're like family…"

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem," Gus said, as he and Litwak strolled away. "You keep these old machines in shape, and they'll be good to run at least another 30 years."

With the player's tap of the "Fix" button, Felix hammered the last window into place. "YOU FIXED IT!" In moments, he, Ralph, and the Nicelanders were on the roof, as the player beyond the screen pumped his fist in satisfied triumph.

"Sounds like we got a clean bill of health, eh, Ralphie?" Felix whispered as his medal draped around his neck.

Ralph smiled as the Nicelanders hoisted him aloft. He snuck a glance at Sugar Rush. There was Vanellope, out in the lead alongside Tsukara. She winked at him as they rounded a curve in the track.

"Yeah," Ralph chuckled. "Can't wait to start makin' the most of it."

And before he knew it, he'd landed facedown in the mud with a heavy splat.

"You all ready to go, kid?"

Vanellope strapped on her rose-colored racing goggles. "I was programmed ready, Ham-Hands!" she said, raising her fist. "Top shelf!"

Ralph returned the fist bump, his eager smile dominating his face. Beside him, Felix cuddled up close to Calhoun, both of them grinning with pride. BD had settled in beside them, his arms loaded with as many candy concessions as he could carry.

"How you likin' the military life, BD?" Felix asked as he swung his legs over the edge of the bench.

BD shoveled a handful of caramel corn into his mouth. "S'awesome, Jumpman!" he said through a half-chewed mouthful. With the hand that was full of peppermint sticks, he gestured to his hair, buzzed short to his scalp as to better fit his helmet. "'Specially lovin' the new 'do! No more bangs to play tug-of-war with!" He extended his arm, offering the caramel corn to his friends. "Wanna get in on this? Better move fast, I can't promise it'll survive the first lap."

"Hold that thought, Gunderson," Calhoun said, fishing into her pack. "Gotta keep my digits sticky-free while I give Little Miss Commander-In-Chief her new present."

Vanellope's eyes lit up as Calhoun produced a shiny new framed photograph from her bag. "Wow!" she gasped, taking the photo in her tiny hands. "Talk about fancy-schmancy! Thanks, Calhoun!"

"Consider it from all of us," Calhoun said, squeezing Felix's hand. "Got a hunch where you wanna put it?"

Vanellope hugged the frame close to her. "I know just the place."

With a genuine smile, Sour Bill waddled up behind Vanellope. "Shall we begin, Miss President?"

"I think we shall," Vanellope giggled. Leaning into the megaphone at the front of the top box, she waved at her fellow racers - all 29 of them, their karts idling at the starting line, raring to go.

"Who wants to do this thing?" she shouted. The candy crowd erupted in cheers.

Vanellope reached up and grabbed the taffy rope above. "See you in a few!" she said cheerily to her family.

Ralph waved a giant hand at her. "Have the time of your life out there, Vanellope!" he said.

Giggling, Vanellope pulled the rope, unfurling the bubblegum ramp. "Every dang day, Ralphie."

She bounded out of the box and slid down the ramp, catching air and glitching safely onto the pavement. As she jogged to her kart, she paused briefly at Rancis' vehicle.

"Good luck out there, doofus," she chirped, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek.

Taffyta and Candlehead snickered playfully behind them, between Fritzle and Drizella's karts. "Rancis 'n Vanellope, sittin' in a tree!" Candlehead sang. "K-I-S-S-E-N-G!"

"Ooh, so close," Taffyta sighed.

Rancis didn't care. He just smiled, his cheeks red as ever, as he watched Vanellope hop safely into her kart. It was back to its old familiar self, thanks to a tap from Felix's hammer; no more hang glider or pontoons or nitro cola booster, but Vanellope liked it better like this anyway. She didn't need any of that extra junk - as far as she was concerned, the kart was perfect just the way she and Ralph had built it.

She removed her new photograph from its frame and pinned it to her dashboard. She had quite the collection now - there was her old photo, the one of her, Ralph, Felix, and Calhoun, crumpled and mutilated almost beyond recognition. And now, next to it, was a shiny new one of her, Ralph, Felix, Calhoun, and BD, taken in Game Central Station, the golden ceiling glimmering above them. All five of them together, as a family. Just the way she loved it.

A few days ago, had she been asked, Vanellope would've said that her life couldn't possibly get any better.

And as she smiled at her friends both old and new, at the Sugar Rush II kids grinning gratefully back and waving enthusiastically over the rumble of their engines, at Rancis blushing an adorable crimson beneath the sugar glass of his racing helmet, she realized she'd never been happier to be wrong.

The lights above turned yellow, then green. And as thirty candy karts roared over the checkered starting line, Vanellope couldn't help grinning as she squinted through the sugar dust at her friends. She fixed her focus on the track ahead, and a single exhilarating thought filled her mind:

This is gonna be awesome.

THE END

A/N: Wow! I gotta say, I'm proud of myself - this is the longest fanfiction I've ever written to completion! This has been one of the most satisfying projects I've worked on in years, and I want to give a few special words of thanks to the people who encouraged me along the way.

First off, thanks to everyone on my DeviantArt page who sympathized with my longing for a better Wreck-It Ralph sequel, including DanGuy96, who encouraged me to pull this story concept out of mothballs and attempt it again; Joey245, who hung on every word and who found my accompanying sketchy illustrations extremely helpful; TheJayster49, who motivated me to write from a place of genuine love for the first movie instead of bitter disappointment with the sequel; and MunkTransformerLover, a.k.a. Awesomo3000, who recommended my first two Wreck-It Ralph stories to the movie's Fanfic Recs page on TV Tropes.

Extra big thanks to fellow fanfic writer Thumbtax, whose story "Locked and Downloaded" inspired me and got my head wheels a-turning six years ago, thinking about what a grand thrilling adventure a Wreck-It Ralph sequel could truly be. Seriously, go check that one out, it's epic.

Thanks, of course, to Rich Moore, Phil Johnston, Jim Reardon, Jennifer Lee, Josie Trinidad, Cory Loftis, Lorelay Bove, and all the other immensely talented Disney artists who worked on Wreck-It Ralph and made it my favorite Disney movie of all time. These wonderful men and women came up with so many great ideas that they wouldn't all fit in one movie, and I'm glad I got the opportunity to let General Lockload, Private Dunderson, and Extreme E-Z Livin' 2 see the light of day, in some capacity at least.

And of course, thanks to you, dear readers, for joining me on this ride for the last six months. To everyone who left their wonderful feedback, your kind words are what make it all worthwhile. I set out to give the Wreck-It Ralph fan community a stronger and less controversial sequel than Ralph Breaks the Internet was, and judging by your enthusiastic feedback, I succeeded.

It's been fun but now I've got to go. What other fanfictions will I produce in the future? Probably not anything this large and elaborate anytime soon, but I definitely have a few ideas still left in the hopper. Stay tuned...