Threats Left and Right!

Flashbacks hit Turbo like a brick wall. Getting eaten by the cy-bug. Awakening to being a cybrid. Fighting Ralph on Diet Cola Mountain. The pillar of molten cola rising into the air. Going toward the light, even though he knew it meant instant death…

Stop it, Turbo! You're not dead! You're alive right now! And you have brats to retrieve!

As he got closer, his stomach dropped into his legs. The mountain was shaking. He could see small bursts of cola shooting from the cracks in the damaged mountain. The heavy scent of carbonated soft drink hit his nose.

Diet Cola Mountain was erupting.

But how? Who was dumb enough to set it off again?

…Was someone trying to kill his brats with it?!

That thought alone erased all his previous fear and hesitation. He shot toward the rumbling mountain, following that strange buzzing in his head. He eventually no longer needed the buzzing, though.

He could hear a pair of high-pitched squeaks coming from within the mountain. Two of his brats were in there! And they were terrified.

He shot in through the open top of the mountain. Huge pillars of mentos, having survived the first eruption, coated the walls and remaining ceiling. They were shaking, chunks falling into the pool of molten death below. Turbo dodged around them, following the squeaking.

He caught sight of the pair, huddled against the far wall, squeaking for their lives. One was bright pink with lighter pink accents and red eyes. The other had red and white stripes across its armor. Turbalina and Turbio.

Their squeaking grew louder when they saw him coming. Turbo landed quickly, gathering the two terrified babies up in his claws. They snuggled close to his chest and neck, crying loudly.

Turbo wondered briefly if cy-bugs could shed tears…

The buzzing in his head caught his attention. There was another brat in here? He turned, looking around. He couldn't see anyone.

Then he looked at the pool of diet cola and realization hit like lightning.

"No…" he whispered.

The third brat was already dead. It had perished somehow in the molten cola. Its death had likely been fast…but excruciatingly painful. Just like how Turbo had felt when he died before…

He hugged the crying cy-bug babies even closer. In one day, he'd lost two of his brats. One to the soldier woman… One to Diet Cola Mountain…

"It's okay. I'm here. Don't cry. I've got you," he said gently, trying to calm the pair of crying babies. "…Daddy's here. Don't cry. We'll go home and be safe, okay? It'll all be fine. Don't worry. Daddy's here. Daddy will protect you."

What the heck? Might as well submit to it. I'm a dad. Turbo-tastic…

"Let's get out of here, yeah?" Turbo asked.

The two bawling babies quieted, looking up at him. They trembled, nodding. They wanted away from this horrible place that ate their sibling.

"Yeah, I agree. Let's get out of here," Turbo said, turning so he could angle his flight out a little better.

He froze when he saw an all-too-familiar form on the other side of the pool.

It looked nearly identical to his own, cy-bug features and all. The only difference was the head, bald with tufts of silvery hair on the sides and a big, round nose. A small golden crown was perched atop the head.

King Candy?! But how! He's just fragments of incomplete code! He doesn't have a real avatar of his own! He shouldn't be here! That's impossible!

Deep beneath his confused and panicked thoughts, instinct reared its head.

Danger. Rival cy-bug. Not part of colony. Enemy to offspring. Threat to territory. Danger.

Turbo stepped back, teeth bared and neon pink wings flared out. He held the two baby cy-bugs close to his chest, chest legs covering them as an added defense. He straightened up as tall as he could, extending his neck as an added height bonus. His yellow eyes were narrowed in rage. His posture sent an easy message.

Back off or else!

King Candy simply stared at him. The roaring of the mountain erupting around them deafened anything King Candy might've said. Turbo could barely see two small figures behind him. No doubt two of the Sugar Rush racers, the traitorous brats!

The important thing was that King Candy was either too shocked or too stupid to dare approach. His point clearly made, Turbo shot toward the opening above and flew away as fast as his wings could carry him. He didn't dare look back.

How is King Candy here? He's not…complete…

.o.o.o.o.

The buzzing was extremely faint in his head now. There was at least one wayward baby left to collect. As much as Turbo wanted to set out and finally end this crazed baby hunt, he was sore all over from flying so fast and searching all over the map. He'd leave the last baby for later tonight or early tomorrow, parenting instincts be damned!

He needed sleep, if only for a few hours.

The babies seemed to recognize this, as their level of activity had lessened and they'd gone oddly quiet. That…or they realized two of their siblings were never coming back to the den. Ever.

Turbo collapsed on his marshmallow nest. A few of the babies joined him, including the two he'd rescued from Diet Cola Mountain. Turbio crawled up and hid beneath Turbo's chin while Turbalina snuggled beneath a wing case. Chubby Turbelot was buried amongst the marshmallows, barely visible.

The cybrid was out like a light…

.o.o.o.o.

Turbo awoke to explosions.

The whole lair was lit up. Turbo covered his eyes, praying that the cy-bug side didn't gain control and fly toward the darned thing. The cavern was trembling, sloshing the syrup far below on the main cave floor. The light grew bigger.

Then Turbo figured out why the light was getting bigger—the entire ceiling was falling down!

The baby cy-bugs squeaked and squealed in terror, hiding beneath their parent. The handful that dared to skitter toward the light found themselves roughly yanked back and stuffed beneath Turbo's bulk. He got to all four legs and hunkered down low over the eggs and baby cy-bugs, intent on defending them against whatever threat the falling ceiling hit him with.

"Hurry up! Get in there! Don't leave a single gap unguarded! We can't let these cy-bugs escape!"

The soldier woman! Turbo realized in horror.

He'd been found…

Small, heavily-armored figures descended from the ceiling on hover boards, guns specially designed to kill cy-bugs held in their hands. At the head of the squad was a familiar blonde woman—Sgt. Calhoun. Turbo's worst nightmare as of recently.

Images of the destroyed baby shot through his mind. Neon pink wings flared, Turbo felt his cy-bug code screaming for blood. Turbo was all too happy to let it out. Eyes turning brilliant blue, the cybrid surged forward with a scream of rage.

Everything was a blur. Claws swiped, bullets were fired, soldiers fell and rose and buzzed about like flies. The ceiling of the cavern was completely gone. He could hear screaming, human and cy-bug.

His brats! They were trying to kill his brats!

Turbo twisted, bloodlust taking over him. A sudden yank to his throat stopped him. He reached up, clawing at the nuisance. A cable? Idiots! He was part cy-bug! A stupid cable wasn't going to stop him!

His vision suddenly flashed white. Electricity? The cable was electrified. They had just shocked him with it. Turbo was aware that he was falling, crash landing in the chocolate syrup far below. His body was on fire, every nerve shot a hundredfold.

He wanted to close his eyes and sleep and never get up again…

Something smacked him on the head. Good thing he had a helmet on. Loud squeaks echoed in his ears. Turbo struggled to open his eyes. Mod, he was so tired!

It was Turbelot. The chubby cy-bug was suddenly a bit bigger than it was earlier in the day. It must've drunk from the hot chocolate spring again, the little bugger. A bunch of small cy-bug babies clung to its back, all looking at Turbo in terror.

Turbelot chattered fearfully, nudging Turbo's face. The babies squeaked and wailed loudly. Turbo groaned, slowly lifting his head. Chocolate syrup dripped from his face and neck. He snorted, clearing his nose of the goopy sugar.

Loud screeches made him look up at the den. A huge explosion tore through it, flinging shattered cy-bug parts and broken eggs to the syrupy ground below. Turbo froze, shocked. Then anger hit him. Rising to his legs, wings flared and he pounced into the sky to retake his den and rescue his brats.

…or he would've, if Turbelot hadn't latched onto his leg and frighteningly chattered to him.

Just the raw fear in the squeaks of the cy-bugs below him made Turbo think twice. The buzzing in his head was growing fainter by the second. Any little ones and eggs still in the den above…were gone…

Have to get out! Can't let them kill these ones! Won't let them kill my brats! Never! Mine!

Turbo bared his teeth in rage, glowing yellow eyes narrowed hatefully at the ruined den entrance. Sgt. Calhoun had emerged, cleaning her gun. Spotting Turbo, she turned and pointed her gun at him. There wasn't even the slightest sliver of regret or mercy in her eyes.

Turbo jumped back, dodging the bullet. Sgt. Calhoun was shouting at her men, firing more energy bullets at the cybrid. Turbo dodged them all, scooping up Turbelot and the newborns clinging to his back. Wings spread, Turbo shot through the opened ceiling and into the dark night sky above.

A shower of bullets chased him. Turbelot and the newborns squealed in terror. Turbo shushed them lightly, speeding away as fast as his wings could carry him.

I'll have to find a new place to hide…and fast! Turbo thought, teeth grit in frustration. So not turbo-tastic…