Author's Note

I don't own Wreck-it Ralph

Well, here we are again. This chapter is entirely my friend, 'hrhowling's' work, so you can thank her. We'er still collaborating, so review this, please.

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hrhowling's Author Note: Hi guys! hrhowling here, and I hope you enjoy this latest chapter of Virus' Vengeance! For those of you who may be following my story Unlocked, I am so sorry for the delay. My laptop was confiscated so I can't update ATM, but thankfully I still have access to pen and paper, so I'll update as soon as I get it back. But other than that, everything is fine and dandy!

Why am I still prattling on? I don't know, but before I leave you to attack this fortress of imagination, I simply ask that you post a review. Criticism or praise, I for one certainly don't mind, but it would mean the world to both me and Liliana Dragonshard if you wrote something. Thank you very much, and I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it.

Chapter 4: Some Secrets Were Meant to Be Found

"Aaargh!"

Turbo bolted upright, his screams grating across his throat and echoing in his ears. He could still feel the virus's claws tearing at him, burning his flesh and searing his eyes. The world around him was a darkened blur that made no sense to him. In his panic, he thrashed around from side to side, the fabric of his jumpsuit rubbing against the burns on his skin and making the pain even worse.

Eventually, Turbo's screaming died down, and he simply lay on the bed, tangled in the sheets. Weak, shuddering sobs vibrated in his chest and along his throat, but he didn't care. He was scared, and he just wanted the twins.

The twins. Where were they?

Sniffling and wiping away tears, Turbo managed to kick away the bed sheets and get out of the bed. Despite feeling a little weak in the knees and still pained by his burns, he felt okay.

Brushing his hands against the head of the bed and the wall, he managed to find his way to the door and out of the room. Hesitantly, he wandered down the hallway, keeping a hand on the wall to serve as a guide.

Turbo kept walking for what felt like ages. He had no idea where he was or where he could find the twins. The only sounds around him was the soft padding of his bare feet on the cool floor, his soft sniffles and the barely audible noise of his hand brushing against the wall.

It wasn't long before he could feel thudding footsteps beneath his feet and hear voices; one male and one female.

"I just can't help but feel like they're hiding something, you know?" the man said.

Turbo stopped. He didn't know why, but the man's voice seemed familiar. The more he tried to remember where he knew the stranger from, the more the memories tried to elude him. All he could pull out of his memory was a feeling of unease. It had something to do with his time in Sugar Rush.

"H-hello?" he called out. "Who's there?"

The footsteps stopped, as did the voices. The whole corridor was deathly silent for a momentary eternity, until Turbo broke the tension.

"Um, I was wondering if-. Aaarch!"

Before he'd had time to finish asking his question, he was suddenly thrown against the wall, a massive thing wrapped around him, cutting off his breathing. Gasping for air, Turbo frantically tried to push away at whatever was trying to crush him.

"H-hey!" he choked. "Le-let go!"

"Fat chance, Turbo!" the man growled.

"Just how are you alive anyway!?" someone else demanded; a woman by the sounds of it. Turbo immediately felt a cold metal object being pushed against his face.

"I-I…" Turbo gasped, still struggling against the thing pressing him into the wall.

"You might want to loosen your grip, Wreck-it," the woman stated bluntly. "He can't really answer us if he's not breathing."

There was a disgruntled mumble of reluctance, but eventually, the vice-like grip around Turbo's throat loosened, finally allowing the blinded sprite to breathe properly.

"Okay, Turbo," the woman growled, shoving the metal object more forcefully into the side of Turbo's face. "Start talking."

"I-I don't know what's going on!" Turbo cried, his unseeing eyes wide with panic. "I-I was just l-looking for the twins! I-I haven't done anything!"

"And you expect us to believe that?!" the man called 'Wreck-it' snarled. "Do you think we're stupid or something?!"

"I-I don't even know who you are!" Turbo yelped as he felt the grip on his throat tighten. "I-I just-!"

That was when Turbo suddenly glitched. His words warped into incomprehensible whines and his entire body burst into bright red pixels. Through the red haze, Turbo's vision momentarily focused, allowing him to finally see just who was attacking him; a big man with spiky brown hair and hate written all over his face and a woman with short blonde hair and a hostile glint in her eyes. Turbo knew them from somewhere but… he just couldn't remember.

"Hey! What's going on here?!"

Turbo's head snapped over to where he'd heard Shift's voice.

"Did you know about this, Shift?" Wreck-it growled, shaking Turbo to emphasize what he meant.

"As a matter of fact I did!" Shift retorted. "Now put him down, you're scaring him!"

"I-."

"Now, Ralph!"

There was a few moments of silence – besides Turbo's choking – before Turbo was unceremoniously dropped onto the floor. Immediately, he was wrapped up in a hug from who he presumed was Shift.

"You okay?" the twin asked.

"I-I… Kind of…" Turbo whimpered, his throat sore from being strangled so viciously. "Wh-what's going on?"

"Good question," the blonde woman muttered. "One that need answers pretty soon before I start shooting someone."

Turbo felt Shift's hold on him tighten momentarily. "I'll give you the answers you need, but I won't let you hurt him."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Do we have to go through this a second time?!"

Turbo was sat in the dining room with Drift and Shift either side of him. Drift had him in an over-protective hug, which he gratefully accepted. Right now he wasn't in any position to be acting like an adult.

"No, you don't," Calhoun, the lady who'd shoved a gun into Turbo's face, stated. "What you said makes sense already."

"Good," Drift huffed, still hugging Turbo, who had been silent throughout the whole explanation.

"So you don't remember anything about RoadBlasters or the stuff with King Candy?" Ralph asked.

"Not exactly," Turbo mumbled. "It's really hazy, like a dream, but I kind of remember I got my game unplugged and took over another. The exact details are hard to reach."

Not that Turbo could see it, but Calhoun was nodding slowly. "So you don't fully remember anything from before Vanellope and the twins found you in Diet Cola Mountain."

Turbo shrugged. "I can remember stuff from… I dunno, a couple of months before RoadBlasters was plugged in I guess." He lifted his head to look in the general direction of where he thought Ralph was sat. "Such as Gene's constant complaining about Ralph. And that time when Pac-Man got really drunk at Tapper's and tried to eat me because he thought I was a cherry."

"I remember that!" Drift piped cheerfully. "It took an hour to get him off of your head! Hehe."

"And you," Calhoun said, turning her attention towards a nervous-looking Felix. "You knew about this?"

The 8-bit handyman cringed, wringing his hands together. "Yes, but they convinced me to keep quiet!" he flustered. "He was in a pretty bad state too. If you or Ralph had found out, then I'm guessing you would have torn him apart! Or blasted him to pieces!"

Ralph had to admit, he couldn't argue with Felix about that. If it had been Ralph that Vanellope and the twins had turned to, then Turbo would have probably been nothing more than a red-and-white smudge on the ground.

"What's with your eyes?" Ralph suddenly asked. "They're all pale and freaky-looking."

At that, Turbo winced. "I'm blind," he mumbled in response. "My eyes got burned."

"Oh."

"You're also a glitch," Calhoun stated. "How'd that happen?"

"Not sure. I guess it's because I've spent so long in this game, it recognizes me as a character. Not that it'll do me any good now. I can't even race."Feeling thoroughly miserable, Turbo buried his face into Drift's shoulder. The twin noticed and gave Turbo a gentle squeeze. The racer's inability to race was a rather sensitive subject, and the fact that said racer had just blatantly admitted to it was a sure sign he was upset.

"Hey! Who started the dinner party without me?"

Turbo whimpered softly as he heard Vanellope's footsteps entering the room. He was in trouble, he knew it. He shouldn't have left the bedroom. Oh, code, she was going to be so mad…

"Okay, young lady," Calhoun said, her tone brisk and commanding. "Care to elaborate on why a game-jumping psycho is hanging out in your castle?"

The moment the remark left Calhoun's lips, Drift tightened his hold on Turbo protectively. How dare this woman talk about his brother like that! She barely even knew him, for code's sake!

"Game jumping psycho? Drift and-. Oh, right. I see what you mean."

Turbo braced himself for the worst.

"I was gonna let you guys know about him in an easier manner, but I suppose this works too," Vanellope sighed. "So long as they don't try beating you to a pulp." That last part was aimed at Turbo.

Confused, Turbo lifted his head slightly. She wasn't mad? At all?

"If you ask me, Ralph came pretty close to it," Shift muttered bitterly.

Sighing, Vanellope turned her attention to Ralph. "Okay, Stinkbrain. What happened?"

"Umm…" Ralph hesitated, wondering what to say next. "Well, Calhoun and I bumped into him and… we got into a little… disagreement? Is that the right word?"

"Disagreement?" Shift scoffed, his defensive side immediately taking effect. "You tried to crush him!"

"Well, what do you expect, small fry?! It's not as if we've ever gotten along recently!"

"That's no reason to-!"

"ENOUGH!" Vanellope shouted, stomping her foot and glitching onto the table to get right in the faces of the bickering characters. "Both of you, just can it!"

Dumbstruck, the racer and the wrecker fell silent; Ralph feeling awkward and Shift placing a protective hand on Turbo's shoulder. Felix, Calhoun, Drift and Turbo were equally shocked. The first two had fallen prey to some of the president's small temper tantrums, but the commanding voice she'd just used was certainly a new development.

Remembering what Sour Bill told her, Vanellope took a deep breath, counted to three, and let it out.

"Okay," she began. "Let me get something straight. Turbo is a part of this game now, and as lead character, I say he stays."

No one said anything, but Turbo let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't going to get kicked out.

Vanellope continued. "And I want you guys –" She pointed at Ralph and Calhoun. "- to try and be nice to him. After the reset, his codes got damaged, and although Felix has fixed him up as best he could, well… let's just say he's not exactly perfect… Y'know, 'cuz of the glitching and stuff…"

Turbo cringed, but didn't say anything. After all, Vanellope was right about the imperfection in his codes.

"You planning on letting your co-workers know about him, Vanellope?" Calhoun asked bluntly.

"That's his choice."

"Really?" Ralph asked. "You're letting him-?"

"Ralph…"

"Okay, whatever you say, President Fart-feathers."

"Fart-feathers?" Turbo inquired.

"Don't ask."

"So, Turbo," Felix cut in. "Since Tammy asked, do you think you want to go visit some of the other racers some time?"

Turbo tilted his head, thinking it over. It'd probably be nice to get out of the castle for a while, but the impending worry brought on by his bad reputation and hazy memories put him off a little.

"Uh… sure," he eventually concluded. "Just… just so long as my brothers can come with me."

He immediately heard Drift chuckle in his ear and felt Shift squeeze his shoulder gently.

"Heh, you wouldn't be able to get rid of us anyway," Drift stated cheerfully. "Not in a million years."

Well, that was fun. All I really did was some tweaks to the spelling, but otherwise, this is all hrhowling's work. I give her full credit for this chapter. I'll let you know what else is hers, of course, and whats mine, and that's all I'mm gonna say for now.

Please review! Reviews are our hugs! Whether it be praise or criticism, please, give it to us!?