Hi everyone!

Before you get to reading, I just want to thank you so much for doing so! This story took over 7 months to complete! I started it May of last year, and finished it on December 31st! Like me, it's been through a lot in that bit of time, and for 3 months it'd come to a standstill due to so many things happening to me all at once. But I swore to myself I'd finish it before 2019, and here it is!

This is, by far, the longest story I have ever written on my own in my life. But my favorite thing about it is this:

I HAD NO PLAN AT ALL

This story's very first sentences are as they were over 7 months ago. I made no plan going into this, I just kept writing, and if it went one way it was just 'welp guess this is happening now'. I deleted next to nothing in this story, everything is as it was the day I wrote it. Of course I changed sentence structures and things like that, but you get my point!

Writing this was such an adventure and, believe it or not, it changed a lot of things in my life.

Please enjoy! ^w^

Chapter 1 - Rude Awakenings

Closed eyes slowly opened. The light of day (rather, artificial day) met the bearer's sight, and he gazed around, taking in his first look at life. He appeared to be placed in the middle of a ring, a ring that his subconscious told him was a racetrack. The yellowish-brown surface of the track itself stood out against the prominent, green grass surrounding it. Directly behind the figure was, to his surprise, two other characters. He turned, getting his first look at the rivals of his existence.

Both characters, who cast each other a glance, turned their attention to the shorter figure before them. Both they and the other character had similar thoughts as their gazes met. Names came into their heads, names of the people/person they were looking at.

"Turbo?" One of them spoke up.

Turbo's attention turned to him, then the other, thinking of their names respectively before making them vocal himself. "Ted...and Ned?" He questioned, something in his code telling him that these were the correct names to call them. Something else, as if a back thought in his mind, told him he was related to the two, and that they were related themselves. All three were brothers, he assumed.

Both Ted and Ned glanced at each other again before looking slightly up. Turbo's gaze followed theirs and he turned, curious to see what they were viewing. Up, adjacent to the sky, was a screen of sorts. At its center was a man they did not recognize, looking down at them.

"Well, there they are, clear as day!" He said, smiling at them. "Let's just get a quarter in there and see how this plays out."

A small clinking sound was heard, somehow below the racers' feet, as if it had come from underneath the ground itself. And, upon this, something switched in their minds. Something made them walk, then jog, to cars they hadn't noticed before, placed at the starting line of the racetrack. Turbo took note of the red car in the middle of two blue ones, the three cars all having a white stripe down their sides and a tail fin on their backs.

Hopping into the vehicles, the three gripped their respective steering wheels and gazed forward with looks of determination. Turbo found himself smiling, glancing to the twins on either side him. Something told him to win, that he was supposed to win. A song played in the backdrop of the game's atmosphere, and a voice spoke up.

"Ready? GO!"

Suddenly, all three shot forward, slamming their gas pedals. Turbo, at first, was a bit shocked. Not due to the speed, but due to the fact that he felt like he was being controlled. His gaze momentarily flicked up to the man in the screen, who was looking down at them with pursed lips.

"Seems everything's going smoothly," He murmured, and he turned, as if he was going to speak to someone that Turbo couldn't see. It was then that the control possessing Turbo stalled, and he was forced to continue going straight rather than turning at the upcoming curve. The man must have let go of the steering wheel controls as he had looked away, only testing the game as it was.

Turbo's eyes widened and every bit of him told him to jam the wheel to the left. But something told him he couldn't, that it was against the program of what world he was living in. He watched with widened eyes as the wall came dangerously close, and he promptly shut them as his vehicle made contact. Darkness met his vision at this time, and soon, he was flashing back into existence at the last part of the track he had been touching.

Blinking open his gaze as his regeneration completed, Turbo felt something in his mind prompt annoyance. Whoever this person was, he seemed to have no care regarding whether Turbo won or lost. And, in Turbo's mind, this was a disgrace. He HAD to win, he was supposed to. Glowering ahead, he started as the car suddenly began to move again and he was led through the final turn, passing over the finish line. And, to Turbo's further annoyance, he was dead last.

A force told him to hop out of the car and head towards a podium that was near the furthest stands, filled with unidentified, pixelated people. Stepping up onto the lowest tier, his gaze flicked up as one of the twins, whom he identified as Ted, took the trophy that had come into existence before him. A forced smile creeped its way onto Turbo's features as he looked at the screen before the control over him disappeared.

"Well, time to close up! Thanks for bringing this in, guys." The man on the other side of the screen stated, taking a few steps back before disappearing from sight. The lights within the outside world flickered off as the building was now empty.

As his body relaxed, Turbo's scowl returned and he trudged off the podium, stalking towards his vehicle. The twins, who also stepped off the podium, exchanged glances and began to head after the shorter racer.

"Turbo, are you okay?" One asked, and Turbo turned to look at him in his peripheral vision. Ned was the one who had spoken, his expression worried. This vexed Turbo, for a reason he couldn't identify.

"Oh, yeah I'm just great, thanks for asking." He growled, returning to his seat in his car and gripping the steering wheel with whitened knuckles. Ned flinched back at the evident sarcasm in his brother's voice.

The other twin, Ted, now looked as annoyed as Turbo was. He watched as Turbo's gaze seemed to flick towards the trophy in his hands, and the twin scoffed. "Are you mad about losing?" He inquired, his eyes narrowing as Turbo grit his teeth.

"Oh, no, what makes you think that?" Turbo retorted, not looking at Ted or Ned.

Ted's eyes narrowed further and he took a step towards Turbo and his car. "Don't be such a baby, Turbo. You're going to lose sometimes, deal with it."

"It's not that I just lost, it's the fact it was my first race AND I lost! You numbskull NPC's shouldn't have beaten me!" Turbo snapped, and before Ted to could respond, Turbo slammed the gas and sped off, leaving the twins in his dust.

The twins coughed for a moment until the particles dissipated, both attempting to wave it away with their hands. Ted watched with a fire in his eyes as Turbo headed into the garage that was off-screen to the outside world. Turning to look at the trophy in his grip, Ted scoffed and swiveled to get into his own car. "C'mon Ned, let's go."

It didn't take too long for the twins to enter the garage as well. They parked their cars in their respective places before hopping out and heading towards the door that was to the side. Allowing Ned to enter first, Ted gave a last glance at Turbo's car with a glare before heading in behind his brother.

The interior of their house wasn't exactly glamourous, but it was enough. Upon entering, directly in front of Ted and Ned was what appeared to be a living room, furnished with a couch, a television, a table, and a few windows. Ted stepped into the room a bit further, placing his trophy on the table that was present. To their right was a staircase, and both twins promptly made their way up it. As they arrived at the top, they found themselves at the beginning of a hallway, with two doors across from each other on either sides of the walls.

Looking between the two doors, the twins took a guess as to which one was theirs. Ted opened the door to the left, but jolted as he was met with Turbo's figure in front of him. Turbo appeared to have been about ready to take off his helmet, his back to the door. But, upon hearing it open, his head whipped to face them, his eyes narrowed. "Get out."

Ted's expression shifted to that of anger and he backed up, slamming the door shut. Ned flinched at the loud noise it caused, his hands drawn up in a nervous gesture as Ted turned to look at him. The twin's expression softened and he murmured a sorry before casting a glare to the entrance of Turbo's room. "He should lighten up. There's no reason for him to be ticked." He muttered.

"Yes there is! Don't you guys have some dirt to lick instead of gossiping outside my door?!" Came Turbo's voice from behind the door, and Ted's glare narrowed. Before he could snap anything back, Ned quickly shook his head in a silent gesture of pleading peace. Ted sighed and gazed to the adjacent door before opening it and heading inside. Ned stepped in after him, closing the door behind him.

Turbo himself was filled with an annoyance he couldn't place, and that angered him further. Glaring at the door behind him, he debated giving it a kick, though he thought otherwise before turning towards his bed. Flopping down on it after removing his helmet, which was now placed on the bedside table, Turbo glared at the ceiling with all the anger in his heart.

"Idiot twins, they're NPC's, they're not SUPPOSED to win." He growled under his breath, his thoughts darkening as time passed. He began trying to process what his existence meant, and how he knew what he did. He knew he was a racer, the greatest racer at that. He knew his life was that of a game, his freedom limited in the waking hours of what he identified as an arcade. He wondered how he knew these things, his annoyance fading as he slowly began to forget about the race and started thinking of wandering topics.

Ted and Ned, on the other hand, were talking quietly among themselves. Ned was sitting on the edge of the bed, while Ted was anxiously pacing, back and forth he moved across the span of the room. "What are we, Ted…?" Ned breathed, his voice quiet and soft.

Ted found the answer coming to him faster than he thought. "We're in a game, I think," He responded, one hand up to his mouth in consideration. He stopped pacing and turned to look at his twin. "We're racers, I know that. It's what we're supposed to do, it's in our code."

"Code?" Ned responded, his head lifting.

Ted nodded, beginning to pace again. "It's what we're made of. And, that man on the screen, he was a player. He controls what Turbo does."

"Why doesn't he control us too?" Ned questioned, his dangling legs swaying.

Ted thought for a moment and recalled what Turbo referred to them as earlier. "I think we're NPC's. Non-playable characters. We're programmed to be Turbo's competition."

"Is that all we are…?" Ned whispered, his voice sounding hesitant.

Ted paused his gait, surprise filling him at Ned's uncertainty. "No—no of course not!" He replied, turning at that. He sat beside Ned, wrapping his arm around his twin's shoulder. "I'm positive we're more than that. We're brothers, and that counts for something." Pausing, he muttered under his breath, "Even if we are brothers to Turbo too."

"Does Turbo hate us…?" Ned responded after a moment, prompting Ted to shake his head.

"He's just upset because he didn't win. I think that's going to be a recurring thing, so we should try and get used to it. He seems to be a bit of a short fuse."

Ned nodded slightly, his mood beginning to drop further. "I wish Turbo could be happy," He stated, resting a bit of his weight against Ted. "I don't want him to be mad at us just because we did what we're programmed to do."

Ted allowed his cheek to lay against the top of Ned's helmet as Ned began to relax. "He won't be mad forever, he's just being a baby. He'll get over it."

This seemed to comfort Ned slightly, who grew quiet. Ted listened to the sound of his twin's breathing, his thoughts racing around his mind. He debated talking to Turbo about what happened, but it seemed pointless as he thought about it more. Turbo would just snap back at them again. He then briefly considered having Ned talk to Turbo instead since he was a bit kinder, but quickly pushed that away. If Turbo did snap back, his sensitive brother would only grow more hurt. He couldn't take Turbo's snapping comebacks as well as Ted himself could.

"What do we do…?" Ned questioned, and Ted blinked as Ned's voice was shaking.

"Woah, are you okay?" Ted responded quickly, drawing back to look his brother in the eyes.

Ned returned the gaze, his pupils flicking ever so slightly back and forth as he studied Ted's face. Drawing in a slow breath, his brows furrowed and he slowly shook his head. This prompted Ted's expression to grow increasingly worried. "What's wrong?"

"I...I just think that Turbo is going to be unhappy all the time…" He breathed, looking to the door as if he expected Turbo to appear. "I don't want him to be mad at us…"

Ted bit his a lip a little in thought. "I'm sure he'll be okay, his day just started off bad."

"But...but if he had won instead, we would have been happy for him…! W-Why can't he do the same for us?" Ned rasped out, and Ted blinked as he watched tears form in Ned's eyes.

"Hey—it's okay, don't cry, it's okay," Ted began in a slight panic, hugging Ned to him as if on instinct. Ned stiffened at this, but gradually began to relax as he allowed his head to bury into the side of Ted's neck. Though, to Ted's further anxiety, Ned began to shake and breathe raggedly through his nose.

"Why can't he be happy for us...w-what did we do to him?"

For a moment, Ted felt some sort of resentment at Turbo for causing Ned to get upset like this. He tried to push it away, but it festered further as Ned only shuddered more. "Hey...hey...it's okay...don't cry bro…" He breathed, hugging his twin a bit tighter. He hoped this would relay his care so Ned wouldn't feel so dejected.

Luckily for Ted, Ned seemed to take it this way after a few more ragged breaths, and he began to grow calmer and quieter. It was silent in the room again, though Ted's head pricked as he heard a creak outside. His brows raised as he lifted his head, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Turbo, if you're out there, what do you want?" He stated, though it came out more annoyed than he would have wanted, considering Ned's emotional level. Ned stiffened at this, and Ted quickly murmured an apology as the door opened.

Turbo stepped into the room, but it seemed like he wanted to leave the moment he did. Regardless, he shut the door behind him and leaned back against it, crossing his arms. Ted only stared at him, waiting to see what he would say. Ned looked up as well, though only slightly, one eye visible. After the silence pressed on for a few more moments, Ted rolled his eyes and spoke up. "What is it?"

Turbo looked down, seeming to be thinking of what to say. After he said nothing, Ted decided to prompt the conversation further. "How much of this did you hear?"

Turbo opened his mouth to reply, but shut it and glowered off to the side, his crossed arms tightening their positions. "Not much." He replied flatly.

"Not much? What did you hear first?" Ted responded, a bit impatient at Turbo's vague reply.

Turbo didn't respond right away again, but Ted decided to let the silence hang until Turbo would grow uncomfortable enough to talk.

"I'm sorry, okay?"

Ted jolted, his eyes widening. Ned's head lifted further, and Turbo flinched as he looked at the two of them and saw Ned's tear stained cheeks. "I'm sorry, I…" He looked as though he was now forcing the words through his teeth. "I shouldn't have done that to you guys."

As if a cat had gotten hold of his tongue, Ted was speechless, his mind buzzing with possible replies. Was Turbo being serious? He couldn't tell, but before he could open his mouth, Ned spoke up.

"I-it's okay...we're not mad at you."

Turbo blinked, his gaze flicking to Ted. The emotion in the shorter racer's eyes made Ted shift a little; it was as if Turbo was silently asking if this were true. Turbo knew that Ned wouldn't have been mad at him, but the reliability of this statement regarding Ted made him uncertain.

"Uh...yeah, yeah," Ted stammered out, his gaze flicking to Ned before it returned to Turbo. "We're not mad."

Turbo seemed to visibly relax, but his expression stated otherwise. "Can we start over?" He asked, quietly at that. Ted almost didn't hear him, and Ned sat up as Turbo spoke. Ted blinked as he noticed a small smile on Ned's face, and he released his twin from his hold.

"Yeah," Ned began, his eyes a little brighter than before. "I'm glad you're feeling better." He added.

Ted murmured a word of agreement, and he swore he saw guilt flash in Turbo's eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it had existed, now replaced with a stony expression. "Yeah, yeah, whatever, thanks." Turbo stated dismissively.

Ted quickly turned his attention back to Ned, fearing his twin would be hurt by this, but it didn't seem to affect him. "Let's just get this over with," Ted started, earning Turbo's attention. "We need to figure out what's going on."

Tis the beginning! Next chapter will be uploaded on Sunday!

Leave a review if you liked it, or just have any comments in general!

~nightfuryshadows