Call Ralph's Poke'Gear!

[rocketralph]

Hi there! Wanna thread but don't have time/want to set up a whole post for it?
Does your character just wanna call and shoot the breeze? LET'S DO IT.
Just use the CALL and MESSAGE threads below!

[Psst, if you need OOC contact, try here!]

Comments

[garbagechild]

<sub>[Wrath shows no hesitation in just... smashing his face right into the tiny plastic cup. It wasn't that he hadn't been fed well at the house-- he had. They'd taken care to bring food down at LEAST three times a day. Especially Al, who was a little more familiar with how often kids needed to eat than most.]

[But THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME and room-temperature Johto Foods-brand generic chocolate pudding is superior to any and all treats he possibly could have had while away from HQ.]

[He looks up, though, a smudge of pudding on his chin.]</sub>

The beginning of what?

_{[WRATH, YOU KNOW WHAT.]}

[rocketralph]

_{[Ralph gives the little wild child a look. Other people might be able to be thrown off by the innocent act, but not him.]}

[garbagechild]

<sub>[DARN.]

[Wrath puffs out his cheeks in a tiny huff of a sigh.]

[THERE'S NO GETTIN NOTHIN PAST YOU, RALPH.]</sub>

My old team decided they wanted me back.

So they got me.

[rocketralph]

Your old team...?

_{[He guesses that means Lust and Co. He guessed he should have guessed they were a team. What with their names. But that is not the most important thing here.]}

They got you?

[garbagechild]

They got me.

_{[Having inhaled the pudding cup in the space of about five seconds, he puts it down in a surprising display of self-control. He'll lick it clean once he's done satisfying Ralph's curiosity.]}

Do you remember that time we were coming back from a heist and we saw a bunch of people in the market trying to catch a Rattata that stole a whole cake? They had nets and there was lots of shouting.

It was like that.

Except I didn't have any cake.

[rocketralph]

_{[The wrecker's brick brows slowly come together. He remembers that day. He remembers the nets.]}

Go on...

[garbagechild]

When they got me, they took me to their house, and I lived under it for awhile.

Like five days.

_{[WRATH YOU WERE GONE FOR TWO MONTHS]}

[rocketralph]

Under the house? What, like a storm cellar? A basement?

_{[Surely they didn't just shove him into a crawlspace! Lust wouldn't do that!]}

I think it was a little longer than five days, kid.

[garbagechild]

I think it was called a basement.

There were stairs.

And it was at least five days.

_{[He quickly amends that.]}

[rocketralph]

_{[They kept him in a BASEMENT! Ralph had to work hard to keep his face from twisting into a pretzel of rage. It might spook the kid into clamming up.]}

Did they hurt you?

[garbagechild]

_{[Wrath slowly shakes his head.]}

N... o....

I don't think so.

My shoulders got pretty purple after awhile, but that was because I kept trying to knock the door down.

And I guess my hair got pulled a little when they were trying to catch me.

But nobody hurt me on purpose.

_{[He pauses, rubbing his chin, expression thoughtful.]}

They're not like they used to be.

[rocketralph]

_{[A frown sets itself deeply into Ralph's face as Wrath continues.]}

They feed you?

_{[Wrath was a pretty happy eater but that pudding cup CEASED EXISTING.]}

[garbagechild]

Ahuh.

At first I made sure not to eat anything they gave me, in case it was poisoned.

But then they started making sure all the snakes were dead.

And I was pretty hungry.

So I ate after that.

_{[To most people, that would sound like total nonsense. But Ralph is bound to have a near-encyclopedic knowledge of Wrathisms at this point, so he can probably put together that the Shark House Gang had somehow found a way to convince Wrath that bread was safe to eat.]}

[rocketralph]

_{[That finally gets a change of expression out of the wrecker. Killed the wh--oh. Oh, that. He thinks back to Lust again, wanting to trust his friend. He heaves a huge sigh and rubs the soft spots under his eyes.]}

Gotta kill those snakes. Did they let you go or did you escape?

[garbagechild]

They let me go.

Cuz I told 'em I'd get in trouble real bad. If you break the rules, you get punished.

I don't like getting punished.

Neither do they.

So that's probably why.

[rocketralph]

<sub>[That raises another question.]

[A question that, if answered, might change Ralph's whole outlook on Wrath and his Other Team. He's an old game and he's set in his ways and isn't sure he wants to carry that kind of responsibility. The backstories of these other game characters are so, so important to them.]</sub>

Punished, huh...?

[garbagechild]

Ahuh.

_{[He doesn't seem to catch Ralph's curiosity-- or not quite, anyway. The truth is that he has no idea that 'punishment' needs explaining at all. That everybody doesn't just know exactly what he means when he says it. Although...]}

Envy said that punishments are different here, but I mean, he does lie.

Either way, I didn't wanna take chances.

_{[You might have to ask him directly, Ralph. WILL YOU TAKE ON THAT LOAD?]}

[rocketralph]

_{[HE ISN'T SURE.]}

Well...if the team thought you'd deserted 'em they might have outed your name and then the law would look for you for a while...least that's what I hear. Or maybe they'd cut your pay and put you on cleaning duty.

[garbagechild]

<sub>[Wrath FROWNS!]

[On one hand, Ralph is unknowingly backing Envy's claims that punishment worked differently here. Which should be reassuring! But it's also frustrating.]</sub>

That's what Envy said, but-- but none of those things are punishments!

It doesn't make sense.

[rocketralph]

_{[He knows he has no right to be as frustrated as he's growing with trying to get info out of this kid, but he's Wreck-It Ralph and he wouldn't be himself without a temper.]}

Just what kinda punishments are you expectin' outta this place?

[garbagechild]

<sub>[Okay Ralph.]

[You asked.]</sub>

Well... since I haven't messed up before this... I thought it'd be like the first time I messed up back home.

_{[He pauses, fumbling a little with his shirt before pulling it up and indicating a spot a few inches above his navel.]}

The first spear went here, through the spine.

Then the other two went here, and here-- _{[He drops the hem of his shirt and pats two spots on his thighs, a little above his knees.]}

And then one more, through my foot.

It had to be broken so that the Ouroborous would face out, so everyone could see where the spear was going, but also so that it could stick into the wall with the rest.

I had to stay like that 'till I learned my lesson.

_{[A solemn pause, as he looks down at the circular little 'tattoo' on the sole of his foot.]}

... But I learn fast.

I'm good.

[rocketralph]

<sub>[In Ralph's world, there were very serious and strict rules against harming children in video games. Death happened, but it was always the player's fault and non graphic. Wrath didn't really scream 'main character' to him and after talking to Lust, he knew it was so.]

[And he knew that the kid was from a rough place. How could he not be with his scruffy ways and horrible little goblin teeth?]

[However, on the list of things Ralph is prepared for: NOT THIS.]

[Color drains from the wrecker's face as Wrath details each part of these punishments he's received as a result of his 'messing up'. When Wrath mentioned his foot being broken and turned, Ralph felt the meager remains of his dinner rising up. He swallowed and didn't dare interrupt and when the boy was done, he let out a breath that he'd been holding.]</sub>

That's...some punishment.

_{[He looks down at one of his hands and flexes a fist. He knows he's got a temper on him, but it's nowhere near bad enough to overreact the same way as whoever was in charge of this kid.]}

[garbagechild]

_{[Wrath nods, his mouth a grim line. Although not seeming to be entirely aware of just how horrified Ralph IS at this information, he obviously doesn't particularly like to talk about it.]}

Yeah.

But if it wasn't bad, it wouldn't be a punishment.

_{[He says this almost robotically, a dull look in his eye. As morbid as he sometimes gets, it's doubtful he came up with that sentence himself. It's like he's quoting someone else.]}

[rocketralph]

<sub>[Ralph has...some heavy thought bricks to sort through now and he doesn't like a single one of them. Who...who would make a game like that? Why would anyone pay money to see that? WHAT WERE THE KIDS PLAYING THESE DAYS SWEET MOTHER HUBBARD?]

[He's quiet for some time. Then he gets up. It looks like he's going to abandon Wrath but soon he returns with another pudding cup. He peels the top off and starts eating the gross, room-temp stuff himself as he stares into nothing.]</sub>

[garbagechild]

<sub>[KIDS THESE DAYS ARE MESSED UP, RALPH.]

[CASE IN POINT: the one sitting on the table in front of you, soberly licking at his empty pudding up.]

[He tilts his head when Ralph 'leaves', but just watches as he returns with another cup.]</sub>

... Ralph?