Going Turbo
Chapter Three
Meanwhile, Turbo got caught up talking to Fix-It Felix. They weren't close friends or anything, but they still chatted when they saw each other. Felix was a swell guy that everyone liked to have around. Turbo thought he could use a little more excitement in his life but the mild-mannered young man seemed perfectly fine with his quiet, safe ways.
"Would you mind asking Mary to bring one of those cakes of hers to the party?" Turbo was asking him. "They're positively turbo-tastic, haha."
Felix imagined rolling his eyes, not daring to actually do it. He didn't have anything against the racer, he just thought he was a little too prideful at times. He did have to admit he knew how to throw a good party though and he was for the most part one of the easiest people to get along with. Their consoles had been next door to each other since Felix's game was plugged in, so the two saw each other a good bit after-hours.
He smiled at Turbo, his blue eyes glowing with friendliness as usual. "You bet! She'd love to. My lands, ten years already! Flies by, doesn't it?"
"Almost like a race car does."
Felix wanted to ask if he had met the new racers from RoadBlasters yet but he opted not too. After all, if a new wrecking/building game were to move into the arcade, Felix might not want someone asking him about it either.
"Say, where's ol' Ralph at? He's usually the one to show up at these things. No offense, but you're hardly the type to watch two guys beat each other up." Turbo jabbed Felix in the arm in jest.
"Haha, well just thought I'd take a peek," Felix replied half-heartedly, rubbing his arm where Turbo punched him. "I think he's at Tapper's, like he usually is."
"Not much for hanging out with you guys, huh?"
"Well...I don't think the others really want him around to be honest. Not that I blame them, I mean he is the villain."
"Ahh, I bet he's a big teddy bear."
Turbo's eyes fell on the tall strange man that had just walked up to Rosie's group. A cold chill passed through him almost instantly.
"Hey, do you know who that is?"
Felix focused on him for a few seconds. "I think that's the RoadBlasters guy."
So much for not bringing it up, he thought.
Turbo didn't say anything except "huh" and just kept staring at him. Whoever he was, he was a tall guy. Pretty decent looking too. He could see Summer and Raven fawning over him already. A real Romeo, this one apparently.
"Well! I need to get on back home before the Nicelanders send out a search party," Felix piped up in a cheery voice to break the awkward silence. "What kind of cake did you want Mary to make?"
"Um, chocolate's fine." Turbo quit looking at the newcomer long enough to wave Felix goodbye. "See ya later and thanks!"
Felix looked a little worried but he left regardless. Turbo took in a breath and decided he best go on over there and introduce himself to the new guy. No time like the present!
"Aw, crap, there he goes."
Ted and Teddy were watching Turbo make his way to where Rocky and the girls were congregated at. Teddy was slouched forward in his chair, watching Turbo's every move.
"I bet he's gonna challenge him to a race, you watch," Teddy opined. "Big man has to prove himself to the newbies."
"Isn't it a little wise to size up your rival?" Ted countered. "I mean, if that guy's game gets more popular than ours, we need a gameplan so we don't get unplugged."
"Quit making excuses for him," the other snapped. "He just wants to feel good about himself and feed his ego some more."
"All right, but if he goes over there, I'm going to watch."
"Heck, me too! I'd love to see his ass handed to him."
Rosie's "Oh Crap"-meter rose a few degrees when Turbo came up to them. The last thing she wanted was him getting into some crazy fight with this Rocky guy, should it come to that. She loved him but, bless his heart, he would get killed going up against this man.
She knew he meant business when he put his arm around her shoulders a little too tight, like he was being possessive of her. He hadn't done that since their first year of going out, and that was just because the Paperboy of all people was actually trying to hit on her.
"Summer, Raven," Turbo greeted with a tip of his head. "How're you gals doing?"
"We're good, thanks," Raven answered. "We were just talking about going to your party."
"Oh great!" he smiled. Rosie was smiling too but hers was a nervous one. "The more the merrier."
"Party, huh?" Rocky asked. "Special occassion, I assume? I'm Rocky, by the way, from RoadBlasters."
Turbo sized the guy up. He was a big dude all right, even more so up close. He was about two heads taller than Turbo and all three girls, and he had muscles everywhere. His biceps looked like they had biceps!
The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
"Yeah, it's kind of an anniversary-type thing," Turbo responded rather non-nonchalantly. "Ten years."
Rocky let out a whistle. "Ten years, no fooling? Impressive. Say, since you've been around so long, maybe you'd like to come over and check out my place."
"Oh, no really, I couldn't impose."
"Come on! It'll be a blast." Rocky was slyly grinning, one might say even menacingly.
Rosie shook her head "no" but Turbo said, "If you really insist, don't see the harm in it."
Summer and Raven were practically drooling. "Can we come too?"
"Sure, can't have too many babes around."
Rosie was shooting daggers at them but they were already attached to Rocky's side, a girl to each arm, and walking away with him.
"I don't like this," she said quietly. "He seems shady."
"Don't worry about it, we're just going to take a little look-see."
"I can't believe they aren't gonna duke it out," Teddy commented. "Too bad, I was looking forward to it."
"Hey, but I think Turbo's gonna go over there. Think we should go with him?"
"I ain't going nowhere with him...but I will go."
"You're so dramatic sometimes. Come on."
The world of RoadBlasters was definitely much different than any of them had in mind. Sure there were cars and tracks, but it seemed rather hostile. Some other racers were already cruising along in their own race. It wasn't just cars though, there were motorcycles too and some plane would fly around every now and then. Some catchy rock music was playing in the background, which seemed fitting for the almost desert landscape and the tough attitudes that inhabited it.
Turbo thought it looked pretty cool but didn't see how it was much different than his own game. It was just a basic racing game, albeit with better graphics and slightly better music. He was beginning to think he had nothing to worry about and then-
"Whoa, was that gunfire?" Ted asked in an alarmed voice, ducking down a little as if to keep anything from hitting him.
"You betcha," Rocky answered. "We're like a shooting-racing combination. My job is collect weapons and fuel so I can destroy the enemy racers and make it to the finish line."
"Sounds totally badass," Summer told him, who was still by his side along with Raven.
"More like totally dangerous," Rosie said under her breath. "Can we go now?"
"Go? We just got here!" Turbo replied, walking forward a little bit to get a better view of the surroundings.
"Yeah, that's right!" Rocky agreed. "You haven't been given the official grand tour. My car's over here."
About time, thought Turbo, that's the real reason I wanted to come over here anyway.
Everyone followed Rocky to what looked like a locked-down garage. Rosie was hanging back behind Turbo, scared to death of what they were walking into. She could handle the bloody street fighting and the normal races, but this blowing-up-stuff and getting shot at was way out of her comfort zone.
Rocky opened up the garage and flung the doors open. "There she is. My pride and joy."
It looked heavily armored and red (like my car, Turbo realized), with silver pipes in the back and multiple places that looked where a weapon might go. Actually, there was already a gun holstered to the front of it.
"Dude, you have a gun on your car." Teddy was practically ogling it. "That is the most awesome thing ever!"
"That is my UZ Cannon. Works kinda like a machine gun. I also have some missiles, some nitro stuff to make the car faster, and an electrified shield to protect me."
"Must be a real warzone out there, huh?" Turbo asked, still looking over the car. It's much cooler than mine. The players will love this, especially the boys.
"You have no clue. Those guys are throwing bombs, setting mines, giant guns on the side, and laying out toxic waste to slip in the whole time. Not to mention some of them are bulletproof." Rocky took a second to flex an arm. "But I usually get by okay."
"Hey, I've got an idea," Rocky continued. "How's about me and you have a race. Friendly competition, you know. For fun."
Everybody stared at Turbo. Rosie shook her head "no" at him. Teddy nudged Ted's side and said something to him that Turbo couldn't hear. The racer wasn't one-hundred percent sure if he could even survive a race against a guy whose car had a gun mounted to it, but he couldn't very well back down. Could he?
