The Path Not Taken

Turbo was sure he felt a bone crack in his hand when it connected to Rocky's jaw. The other man's head reeled backwards from the unexpected force applied to his perfectly rugged face, some blood trickling from his bottom lip. The gray-skinned racer took advantage of Rocky's temporary disorientation and lunged for his throat, throwing his whole body into it to knock the larger man down before wrapping his small hands around his thick neck. He heard the twins behind him begging him to stop but he wasn't listening. He was too busy trying to choke the life out of his rival...his replacement...ignoring the growing pain in his surely broken hand

Jud swung into action and delivered a hard uppercut under Turbo's chin to knock him clean off of Rocky, the smaller man sent flying clumsily into the air and rolling against the tile floor of GCS. His sides hurt but Turbo didn't stay down long; no, he had a score to settle and he had just begun. Rud had snatched up the twins by their collars to prevent them from intervening, both of them trying to call out to him but he could not hear them anymore. Teeth bared, Turbo pulled himself off the floor just as Rocky was doing the same. The buff rival wiped his lip with his hand and observed the crimson liquid that was now there, his gray eyes getting stormier as he lifted them up to where Turbo was standing.

"You have just made the worst mistake of your life, lightbulb eyes," he stated darkly as he marched swiftly to his opponent.

"The only mistake I made is not doing this sooner," Turbo growled back, rage filling him as he blindly went back into the attack.

Rocky was more calculating a fighter though; he was used to serious rough-housing with his own men. When Turbo came at him, he simply grabbed him by the suit and flung him like a ragdoll to the side. Air whizzed past him and he crashed into a bench face-first, hard enough to topple it over with him flipping completely in a circle. The three RoadBlasters' men hooted with mocking laughter as he tried to crawl himself over the side of the bench, the fiery spirit still burning in his eyes. Ted was crying and hiding his face behind his hands, too afraid to watch the disastrous spectacle, while Teddy kept trying to fight his way out of Rud's clutches so that he could help Turbo.

Turbo felt woozy from his injuries, his vision blurry and his legs like jelly as he tried to stand and make his way back to his enemy. He felt something wet on his face, sure it was blood, but from where he did not know. The cacophony of laughter swam in his ears and he felt nauseous from all his senses being altered this way. Rocky watched him with grim amusement as he tried to walk, having to keep a grip on certain surrounding obstacles in order to keep from falling.

"This is pathetic," he spat, running his hand through his hair. "You can't even hold your own against two attacks. What makes you think you can ever beat me at anything?"

Ted peeped his eyes out from behind his hands, gasping when he saw the large gash spread on Turbo's face. "Turbo, don't listen to him, you're going to get yourself killed!"

Rud sneered down at him and popped Ted in the back of the head to shut him up. To do this though, he had to release his hold on Teddy, who swiftly rammed his foot up into Rud's groin, causing him to let go of Ted also and fall onto his knees in pain. Teddy ran up behind Rocky and began to punch him repeatedly in his lower back area, which was the tallest that he could reach.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size!"

Rocky spun around and snatched Teddy up by his arms, his shoulders nearly becoming dislocated from the swift movement. His muscles and ligaments screamed in agony as he hung there in Rocky's grasp, who tossed him more in the air before catching him by the collar of his suit.

"You ashy rugrats are really starting to bug me," he growled, rearing his fist back and punching Teddy in the nose.

Teddy felt something crack in his face and he went flying backwards until he hit a large potted tree, too dizzy to move afterwards. His brother screamed for him and ran to him, holding his head in his lap to try to keep him from attempting to get up just yet. He removed Teddy's helmet, petting his head to give him a sense of comfort, tears flowing freely from his eyes. Why wouldn't anyone help them? Everyone in the GCS had either stopped to watch from a distance or wisely avoided the thing altogether. Didn't they understand that they could possibly die from this? Did anyone care?

Turbo's foggy vision and his slightly impaired hearing told him that something had happened to one of the twins, Teddy if he had to guess, and something entirely new snapped in him. Nobody messed with the twins except him.

"Hey, Roxy, leave them alone!" he wailed out, tasting the metallic taste of the blood that was steady running down his face and into his own mouth. "You want me, so come get me!"

Rocky motioned for his boys to come beside him, the three of them a formidable foe when together. Any one of them could easily kill him on his own, ripping his head clean off his shoulders if they wished. Hate and bitter rage continued to well up inside Turbo's soul, finally having made it to about two feet in front of where Rocky was standing, finding it harder to breathe the more he moved.

"You're just asking for a whoopin', ain't ya?" Jud snickered, cracking his knuckles.

Turbo's earlier yell had taken much of his strength, his voice now cracking weakly. "Leave...them...alone," he repeated to them, still foolishly maintaining his stubborn streak.

"Well, then," Rocky chortled deeply. "Guess we'll just let you be our personal punching bag then, since you're so willing to be a martyr."

The three of them snickered but Turbo wasn't going to move now. He wasn't about to show cowardice to these three; they'd never let him hear the end of it. The great Turbo, scared of a trio of newbies because they slapped him around some. He wasn't about to have that skeleton hanging in his closet, not if he was seriously wanting to start a new path in life...whatever that may be.

If he even had a life after this.

"Say your prayers, has-been," sneered Rocky as he prepared to launch another punch.

Turbo braced himself but the punch never came. Like a flash, Ted was in front of him, holding his arms out as if to keep Rocky from approaching Turbo anymore. He was obviously terrified but there he stood anyway.

"L-leave him alone!" he stuttered out, his knees shaking underneath him. "You're bigger than he is, you m-might kill him!"

The three men cackled at him, making Ted feel rather foolish but he still stood there like a living shield. Turbo glared at the back of his helmet and then grabbed him by the shoulder with the hand that wasn't broken.

"What are you doing?" he hissed at him by his ear.

Ted looked behind just enough to see him out of the corner of his eye. "Turbo, I know you might not care about anyone or even yourself, but I care and Teddy cares. We're not gonna sit by and watch you dig your own grave."

Turbo didn't have a response to that, only continued to stare at him and breathe painfully, releasing the other's shoulder and using it to press his side where he was sure he had cracked some ribs. He dropped his eyes to the ground and tried to calm himself, wincing with every breath he took.

Rocky spat to the side. "All right, ladies, kissy time is over. I'll let you freaks off this time but next time-" He leaned in close to Ted's face, who leaned back slightly in fear. "Next time, you won't have to wait until Litwak pulls your plug to die, because I'll take care of that for you."

He cocked his head to the side to signal to his goons to follow him elsewhere, leaving the TurboTime trio on their own. Teddy had begun to stir and was now sitting up with his hand pressed against his face. Turbo felt more lightheaded than before, finding it more difficult to stand. He ended up collapsing onto his knees and Ted turned to try holding him up in his arms.

"Turbo! Turbo, are you all right!" he was screaming at him. "TURBO!"

What have I done now? Turbo pondered as he felt himself drift away. What's going to happen to me later?

His yellow eyes dimmed before he closed them completely, passing out in Ted's arms.