Chapter 10
"Hey, did I tell you my robotics club entered a contest?" Dannen said quickly to avoid watching the commercials that flashed on the television that sat on the wall above the fireplace, "We're finally going to compete with it and throw basket balls into a hoop. It's going to be at the big convention downtown. Although I'm not sure if I should go or not. I can't really afford my own ticket."
"Please," I rolled my eyes, "You're going to spend all that time working on something and then not even go? What's wrong with you?"
"Like I said, I can't afford the ticket!" Dannen huffed a little, "I'm not rich like you."
"Don't make me laugh," I smiled half heartily, "I make minimum wage and I only get in like twenty hours a week, tops. And that's if I'm not taking any classes for college. You should be there to see the robot completed."
"I didn't program the thing, so it's not a big deal if I'm not there."
"Listen to me, yo." I looked him dead in the eye, "Regardless if you programmed that damn robot or not, you helped pull the team together, and in turn put that robot together. Your contribution is as valid as anyone else. Besides, I'm going to the convention too, it'll be cool to see you there."
"Are you cosplaying that fire princess, again?"
"You mean, Azula? Yeah I'm cosplaying her."
"You pulled her off really well last time. But I'd suggest you start acting mean. You're too nice."
"Hey, it's harder than it looks, especially when your having fun!" I raised my voice a little but was smiling all the while, "Conventions are fun as hell, you have to be pretty serious to not act like your having fun."
The sound of the commercials began to fade out and quickly the theme song to the show we were watching started to play. Immediately I saw my brothers eyes dart from me and to the screen, where he would avoid eye contact from that point. He was always one to get caught up in things, especially television. But as I stared at him, I couldn't help but notice just how happy he looked. Perhaps it was what I said that made a smile every so slightly drift across his mouth, or that by bringing up the simple fact that he contributed to such an amazing feat was all that was required to boost his self esteem. Sitting there looking at him, I wanted him to go to the convention. I wanted my little brother to travel through his wildest dreams, and reach so much higher levels than I could ever think possible for myself. Sometimes I didn't even see him as my brother, but a child; my baby. I was proud of him, so proud that I imagined him becoming the great speaker my mother had often told me she saw him become in her dreams. I remember fondly as a kid, when his speaking abilities were at a minimum. Speaking was hard for him, and as I recall, instead of saying my name as it should he would call me, "kay-lay" instead, and struggle to pronounce it right when I corrected him. Even his hand eye coordination was off, and he would watch me play video games, wondering how I was able to move my fingers so quickly on the controller and coordinate Megaman on the screen. These memories completely contrasted what he was now. Building robots that threw stuff, who knew? Being a leader of a team, and now going for a physics major? Forget it.
I saw the light from the outside grow dim, as if dark clouds were moving into the area. At first I didn't care much to pay attention, though despite my attempts to ignore it the outside grew darker, and suddenly a shade of violets and reds filtered through the windows and into the room. I heard thunder crack, but accompanying this blast of energy was that of falling rubble. I didn't know what to think of it. It sounded so unreal for my current situation that I thought it may have been the television show spitting out random sounds.
CRASH! In an instant the side of my house was torn in two, taken up by powerful winds and red dust that swept across the floors, causing the pale tile to disappear under the moving sands. The sky had taken on an unworldly purple color, and in the distance I could see objects flying in the air as if a tornado had swept them up, though by staring at the skies for a moment I realized there was no tornado whatsoever. Accompanying the wind, was the sound of laughter.
"I told you I'd find you!" It was his voice. This couldn't be really happening! I saw Turbo crawl over the torn and open walls from the outside and look down at me, as if I was a doll in his playhouse. A tunnel vision soon encased my surroundings, blacking out everything but the Cy-brid that now stood towering over me. Briefly Turbo glitched into his true persona, his yellow glowing eyes and matching snickering teeth directed at me as if I was a deer stuck in the middle of the road, at the mercy of an oncoming truck. After his glitching ceased he would default back to King Candy; his darkened eyes and sharp smirk remained glued to his face regardless. "Did you forget about me so soon?" was Turbo's next question, "What did I tell you! You don't need any of this anymore. I am all you need! I am what's under the spotlight to your stage! Quit running away!"
"Leave me alone!" I placed both hands on my head, though found my palms drift slowly down to cover my ears. Even this wasn't enough to shield myself from the sounds of chaos around me. I didn't know what else to do but cower at that moment. I felt my shoulders start to hunch, and my knees wobble underneath my weight.
"Kailey, kill him!" I heard Dannen's voice part through the darkened tunnel around my vision, "You have to kill him, there is no other way!"
After the wave of his voice hit me I suddenly felt something in my right hand. Sitting in my grasp, was a sword. I of course didn't know how this could possibly help me at first, but I had to do something. Immediately after l gained enough confidence I lifted my head and the blade in unison and looked up directly at Turbo, who continued to stare. But for some reason, even with my power, I couldn't do it. Although Turbo's expression remained all the same, evil and twisted like the animal he'd become, I simply couldn't swing the blade. When I looked up at him, I suddenly saw past the Cy-bug. I could picture that little guy, being consumed by the Cy-bug that took him. This wasn't justice, it couldn't be.
"Kailey, do it!" I suddenly heard Calhoun's voice yell at me, "End him!"
"There is no other way!" Steven's voice was next.
"He ruined my life! He destroyed Sugar Rush, my home, and the arcade! He'll do the same to your world too!" Vanellope's little voice was like the cherry on the cake, but despite this I again couldn't move my arms.
What was wrong with me?
"Cy-bugs are a virus." I said aloud, "All they do is kill, eat, multiply. They are monsters... creatures without a soul." I paused and looked down at the sword in my hands. It was scary, holding something like that. The metal glistened ever so lightly with that purple that filled the skies, and every so often I saw some red droplets of sand land on and stain the blade, making it look worn and weathered. My gaze lifted back up to the frightening creature before me, and despite Turbo's intimidating exterior, his brown eyes still contained a familiarity of someone I knew. Why was it when I looked at him then, despite all he's shown himself to be, I saw myself?
I felt then a heave of air consume me as a loud bang went off in the distance. The tunnel surrounding my vision consumed my sight, and with a swaying motion I suddenly found myself in my quarters in the castle. It had all been a dream.
It was still dark, and although I could faintly see my hands along both sides of my body along the covers, the rest of the room took on a black and white shade due to the lack of light. Very faint outlines showed me objects in the room, which frightened me as I stared. The contrast from my once pleasant dream of life as it was before, then becoming a nightmare, and then suddenly awakening to blackness should have been normal at this point, but of course, it was something I could never get used to.
BOOM! Another canon went off, similar to the one I had heard in my dream before I woke up. It left a very mild wave of light to come flashing into the room, but regardless, that light disappeared instantly with the sound itself. Those canons had been waking me up like this for almost four weeks, and ever since my first day in the castle, had slowly become more consistent. There wasn't an hour that would go by now, day or night, where I wouldn't hear the canons. Often, when the Cy-bugs regained their numbers, I could hear swarms depart the castle and off to the ever lingering battle just on the outside of the city. It was amazing as it was that the humans and their military were able to keep fighting this long. One would assume that they would have been defeated weeks ago, but humanities persistence proved to be its most powerful trait.
And yes, here I was, unable to do anything about it.
My days had been rather quiet for my situation. Ever since Turbo's recent out lash, I noticed how drawn back he was around me. It wasn't an attempt to be rude and ignore me out of spite, but rather whenever I came into the room where he was, he would withdraw himself, become more stoic and reserved and soft spoken. It was almost like he carried a little bit of shame, but that wasn't quite all of it. There was something else different ever changing about Turbo that I couldn't quite put my finger on, at least when he was around me. When I did see or hear him talking to someone else he was frustrated, demanding; almost as if he was losing control. But of course he wouldn't show that around me. He acted his best around me, which I didn't understand the reason.
As I sat there in the dark, I thought about the others again. A while back after the wreck during the race Rachel had hinted that there was a possibility they were okay, though I always pushed that thought from my mind as to not get my hopes up. Even if they did make it, how were they supposed to recreate the Shiva laser to make it effective against the Cy-bugs? I didn't know a thing about reverse engineering, or programming, so the mere idea was something completely out of my knowledge. And even then so, how would they make it through that fighting out there? It was easy to imagine Ralph or Calhoun fighting Cy-bugs, but I was scared to think of little Vanellope or Steven going up against those monsters. So far the only thing that had proved somewhat worthy of going up against the Cy-bugs was that Deviljho, but not only was it dead now, but I highly doubt it would think to join our side.
After a few moments of staring at the ceiling I thought it would be in my best interest to try and get back to sleep. Closing my eyes, I attempted to shove what thoughts I had lingering in my head out of the way, though despite my tiresome state I continued to anticipate another canon going off. These sudden booms weren't like fireworks on Fourth of July, even from the distance. The walls seemed to shake whenever they went off, and their flashing lights were like distant lightning, flickering and flashing before the sound wave hit my ears. However, instead of another battle tank shooting at Cy-bugs from afar, I heard my door creak open.
"Whose there?" My eyes shot open as I looked toward the doorway quickly, rising up from my laying position and leveling my body with my hands. I tried to look through the darkened room, but it was hard. I could still only make out shades and outlines. The door had been ever so slightly open, but nobody was standing there. "Hello?" I managed to call out again, but this time with more meekness. Again, there was no response.
Despite my hyper awareness of a door randomly cracking open I sat up further and placed my feet on the floor. I stared only briefly before I had the guts to stand up all the way, and slowly walk over to the door. As I grew closer I could see it's outline more finely. The white door seemed to faintly glow in the darkness, giving me a sense of where I was once I hit a certain point in the room. My hands reached out before me to help guide my path, my right hand in particular aiming for the door knob itself to grab and push the door shut again. Just as my fingertips were just about to touch the door knob, however, another hand reached from around the opening of the doorway and grabbed my wrist.
"What the flying shit!?" I cried out of terror, suddenly the door swinging fully open. Standing there in the hall behind the person who grabbed me were a small group of others from what I could tell. I wasn't sure what was happening, but the next thing I knew I was swung around and the persons free hand that had initially grabbed my wrist placed his hand over my mouth. With wide eyes I attempted to struggle away, but even this was no use to fight against whoever had a hold of me.
"Go, go..." I heard a voice from another person say and the group coordinately moved in unison down the hall and up the castle to higher levels. Because it was so dark, and not knowing the complete whereabouts of the castle even, I was growing scared. I had no idea where these people were taking me, let alone what the were doing in the first place. Although I attempted to wiggle from this persons grip, I slowly put up less of a fight, as to not hurt myself. Every time I moved his hand would drive my arm up backwards further.
It was only after a very large doorway was opened did I finally see where I was. Through the clouds the moon was able to shine enough light to where I could see I was up high, very high on the castles highest balcony. There was only a short stone railing that parted the balcony itself to a fall below, looking down toward the crumbled city as far as the eye could see. Those streets far below, cluttered with shattered glass and roaming Cy-bugs could be faintly seen far down like shadows, and we were growing ever closer to the edge. When this new fear hit me, I opened my mouth as wide as I could, causing the persons hands on my mouth to slip under my teeth as I let out a horrifying scream. "No! Stop!" I cried afterward, my voice bouncing of the castle stone as if I was in a cave. The wind started picking up once the edge came into view, and then immediately upon meeting it was I pushed down onto the flat railing, everything from my waist upward hovering over the dark and terrifying drop below.
"I'd push you right now if I didn't realize you were so afraid. This is for ruining my house! This is for causing my granddaughter all her misery! This is for what you did to us all, you fool!"
"Wh-wait? Aaron?" I gasped, "What did- how- why are you doing this?!" My words were stumbling from my bafflement and disbelief. My train of thought and attempt to get out that question was rudely shaken away as he dived his hand on the back of my head and shook me lightly, forcing my attention to come face to face with impending death. I was freaking out at that point. I felt my eyes grow wide as I gazed into that darkness, the chilly air acting as its touch as black wind swept my hair wildly around, trapping my warm breath around me and causing me to panic.
"You said you would stop this!" Aaron yelled again. This time I could hear other people snickering behind him. Apparently he had gathered followers who were against me too.
"I'm sorry!" I yelled, suddenly my eyes growing watery from the stress, "I tried! There was nothing I could do! I didn't know this would happen!"
"Bullshit!" His voice grew more intense, "I'm tired of lies! You must somehow be in on with this demon! Why else would he give you a nice bed to sleep in, food to eat and nice clothes while the rest of us rot in our own filth, constantly working for him!?"
"It's not what it seems!" I tried explaining, but he just didn't seem to get it. He was so blinded by his anger, so consumed by what had happened to the world, that he didn't see that I was suffering right along with him. The circumstances were different for the both of us, but we were all the same. People always needed to point fingers at something.
"Throw her off the edge!" I heard another mans voice yell behind Aaron. The small crowd snickered and then starting chanting in unison, "throw her, throw her, throw her, throw her..." over and over again. I felt their rage pelt me like stones; their anger filled my despair, and suddenly I found myself crying. Tears weld my eyes instantly, and I felt their tiny streams fall from my eyes and down my cheek briefly before they disappeared from my face and downward to the fall below me.
"Please, stop!" I wailed, but I still heard them chant, "throw her, throw her, throw her..." It would be so easy for Aaron to toss me. Despite being an elderly man, he was far more capable physically than I was. All it would take was one shove, just a few more inches, and I would go tumbling down to the depths below. Even in my own suffering, despite being a a prisoner, I still wanted my life.
Through the chants I heard rumbling and clawing, fast. The others didn't seem to pay much mind to this new sound, but I found it was growing louder by the second. Pounding wings started to accompany the wind that was whirling around me, and suddenly with a loud crash, something came through the door of the balcony behind us. Then, and only then, did Aaron turn around with me, finally lifting me from the edge.
Standing there at the doorway, was Turbo. His eyes were wild and flickered with green pixilation when he saw what was happening. His still position remained briefly before his right claw violently swiped the balcony around him, clearing Aaron's followers from their feet and to the side. I heard some scream as the powerful hit knocked them off the balconies edge instead, while others hollered in pain, clenching their legs or their sides. With another swift movement, Turbo pelted from the entrance and right in front of us, plucking me instantly from Aaron's grasp and slapping Aaron down to the ground. With the hand that struck him Turbo then aimed his sharp fingertip at Aaron's neck, "You pathetic wa'thste!" Turbo yelled directly at Aaron, "How dare you go behind my back and take what is mine! I will rip you limb from limb for this, and after your body parts'th are scattered across this stone I will let my Cy-bugs eat your carcass!"
I stared wide eyed at the situation. At this point I was so consumed with emotion that I couldn't let out a single syllable. I shook and struggled to keep myself sitting up right in Turbo's palm, even though I was no longer bearing my own weight.
"Stop!" I heard Rachel's voice cry out, along with the sound of her running footsteps coming up to the balcony doorway, "Please don't hurt my granddad, he doesn't know any better!" She must have been alerted of the situation like Turbo was and had come to investigate. I could only imagine what was going through her head.
"You expect me to believe this is a accident?!" Turbo was furious, "He is a traitor and a thief to my reign! And you know there will be none of those in my kingdom!" Turbo tensed his arm, driving it forward every so lightly as to impale Aaron's neck. He stopped once the very fine tip of his claw scratched the surface of his skin, halting momentarily when Aaron let out a frightened mumble accompanied by Rachel's cry.
"You promised you would keep him safe if I worked for you!" Rachel's fists clutched together. Even in the dark I could tell she was growing angry, but despite this she held it back, keeping poised as much as she could, "I did what you told me to do! A deal is a deal! Let him go!"
"Ridiculous'th!" Turbo yelled, "A deal was a deal before your elder decided to go off and do this! He's tried approaching Kailey wrongly before, and he's done it again! I can't trust to have him around anymore. I have to cut his head."
"Don't do it..." I suddenly stuttered, placing my small hand down on Turbo's in which encased me, "He doesn't have to die."
"You want him to live?" Turbo was baffled, but he suddenly turned his attention from Aaron and his granddaughter and to me, "Why would you want him to be kept alive, knowing he would do something like this? To you even!"
"He's just scared," I continued, breathing deep breaths in between as I tried to regain myself, "He needs a second chance, he's just scared."
The balcony grew quiet. All that remained was the strong breeze, spreading whistles across the the cracks in the stone. I could see through Turbo's glare he was contemplating. His mouth fell to a grimace and his grey eyebrows lowered as he seemed to withdraw within himself. The shadows with that pinch of pale moonlight only exaggerated his already darkened features. Rachel stood idly by, bringing her fists together and then clasping her palms against one another. Aaron on the other hand continued to stare irritably and slightly confusedly up at Turbo and I, huffing from the scaring he had received from Turbo nearly driving his claw through his neck.
"Take him." Turbo's final decision came out quickly, as if he was attempting to change his mind over and needed to get out the command fast enough before that happened, "Rachel, take your old man away. Place him in another section of the cath'stle as far away from this one as possible. If this happens again, I wont hesitate to kill him."
"Yes, of course." Rachel responded seriously, yet I could hear the relief in her voice, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"As for the rest of you..." Turbo continued his commands openly to the others without acknowledging Rachel, "Try as best as you can to not limp around my castle, lest the Cy-bugs see you as weak prey."
Rachel, as fast as she could, came up before us and helped her grandfather to his feet. The two struggled only a moment before they left without another word back through the doorway. The continuing muffled cries of Aaron's surviving followers, whose attempts to keep quiet in there pain at an utter failure, was all that accompanied the sound of the high winds. It was in this isolation, as I continued to sit in Turbo's palm, that I wondered why he even listened to me in the first place. In all respects, this was his castle and everyone in it were his subjects, yet he decided to listen to me.
"I can't trust any of these pathetic humans anymore." Turbo sighed, attempting to filter his irritation as his statement came out, "I can't even tru'thst them with you. I suppose I need to establish a tighter guard line on your behalf, but until then I don't want you to be by yourself." As he spoke he started to move. His insect legs tapped the ground randomly and and all at once, and once he took us back into the castle itself these many footsteps of his lingered and constantly returned to us in echoes. I couldn't see much of anything in the halls, but Turbo on the other hand apparently knew it like the back of his palm. I assumed being able to navigate in the dark anyway was a Cy-bug trait, which he still had as a Cy-brid.
"There is another set of smaller quarters next to my chambers." Turbo spoke up again upon walking the halls for a while, "You will be much safer with me."
"Oh..." I responded, but out of discomfort, though hid this as best I could. I enjoyed the time I had in my own room without him breathing down my back, yet now that was going to be taken away from me. The only relief I had was gone.
"I was going to wait and tell you until morning, but I have prepared you another racing car." Turbo told me, "This time, however I have given the thought to allow you to do time trails for me. After what happened last time, with those fools wrecking almost all my cars, I thought letting you drive alone would be more adequate."
"I... errr..."I stuttered, becoming reluctant about the idea of getting back in a vehicle, let alone racing one. I wasn't typically one to be nervous inside of cars, but since the crash I had been worried about racing again for Turbo. I wanted to tell him I was scared. I wanted to stand up for myself, but a the same time, within my memories of the crash, I recalled his sudden transformation. Turbo was so lost in his control that he didn't even realize it. That Cy-bug in him, that virus, was slowly devouring him from inside out. One wrong word and he could very well turn again.
For a brief few moments we went again without much of a conversation. Turbo began walking slower, this in return making it seem like it was taking a overly long time to get to where we needed to be. His eyes shifted from where he was walking and he glanced down at me, attempting again to return stoic like he often did when around me, "What is it you think about all the time?" Turbo asked, "It seems like you're always trapped inth'side that head of yours."
"What? Me? Nah!" I pulled instantly from within myself once he spoke, attempting to hide my constant and silent observations like a kid kicking dirt under a rug, "It's nothing."
"I have to beg to differ, Th'sweettart." Turbo responded, "You can't think and think of nothing at the same time. I see your eyes and how they move without the sight of the world that comes with them. Your withdrawn, hiding within yourself."
"So what."
"I know because I'm the same way. There is so much to think about, so much to foresee, so many things to decide all at once. When I attacked Sugar Rush for the first time I had to try and foresee every plan, every action and every possibility. Your planning something."
"Am not!" I finally looked directly up at him, "I just... well..."
"Spit it out!"
"I'm scared okay!" I finally broke. I was horrible at lying. I couldn't even lie straight up to my own mother without stumbling. "I'm scared, there! Are you happy now? That's what you want, isn't it? To make me into this shell of a person that I once was! To squeeze all the joy out of me that I can't have a normal functioning life anymore! I'm surprised you even saved me back there, let alone the time before that! By all means you should have just let me fall! You hate me and now the world hates me and it's all because of you!"
I didn't realize how loud my voice was until I stopped yelling, hearing myself in my own echoes. Turbo had come to a complete stop at that point as his brows raised and his flat expression melted, "Ha, hate you?" He smirked momentarily, "The only thing I hate, dear, is that glitch and her halitosis-riddled-warthog of a friend. I hate when people take away what is rightfully mine."
"And you also hate being alone, don't you?" I was still stern, though I wasn't yelling anymore, "That's why you keep me here. Even with all of these people working for you nobody really even likes you."
"Don't say that." His tone grew even more serious again, "Don't ever say that!"
"If you would please just listen to me!" I urged this time, bringing my hands together towards my chest, "There has to be another way. It doesn't have to be this way, you can be loved and not have to go to the extent you have done! Turbo Time may be gone, but you can still have a home!"
"No, it can't!" I could see his inner turmoil now as he slowly started to crumble before me, "I will take back what is mine at all costs! If someone gets in my way, I will push them off a cliff if I have to! I will have to destroy every single one of these people, because if I mess up nothing will be accomplished. Nobody will care about me!"
"I care!" This slipped uncontrollably, and I found I stalled after saying this. I could tell this caught Turbo by surprise as well, his face mirroring my own, stunned. "Just... take me to my room. Please." I lowered my head.
Despite my request and attempt to turn away from him he still remained silent, and I could feel him staring at me with that same expression. He grumbled momentarily, then shook slightly, "Yes... I agree." He said, but I could tell it was coming out very reluctantly, "You need your rest if your going to race for me tomorrow." His legs picked up again and we started walking. At that point it didn't take much longer for us to reach his quarters and mine, which was directly beside his and happened to be relativity close to the throne room itself. After he came to a stop before my new door he set me down and stood there, looking to either side of the hallway as if he was further concerned about a similar incident like the one that had just happened a few minutes ago would occur again. "I will have someone bring your racing suit to you in the morning. Be ready." He stated sternly, turning around again to retreat to his own area. It wasn't until after he left and I proceeded to make myself comfortable in my room did I finally realize how tired I was. I was awakened so abruptly that fear had been the driving force that had been keeping me awake, but now, I felt a little at ease again. At least I knew nobody could get to me that wasn't supposed to.
. . . . . . .
"No!" I was awoken abruptly to the sound of Turbo's hollering. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but despite being a ways from the throne room still and separated between dozens of walls, his voice shot through the castle like an auditorium would carry sound. I sat up from my new bed, allowing my morning sleepiness to escape me as I stared wide eyed at the door. Although I knew that someone sneaking into my room again was highly unlikely, my mind seemed to settled on the doorway like a hawk watching a mouse. I became hyper aware of my surroundings, and although I couldn't quite make out what the commotion was about, I continued to hear Turbo making some sort of commands.
After a few moments of this I heard the sound of footsteps coming toward my door. I sat up higher and let my legs off the bed, becoming prepared to make a dash if the time required it. However, instead of furthering my rude awakening, the door opened softly. It was Rachel.
"Get dressed, quickly." Rachel said, tossing in my racing suit that had been cleaned and prepped for me. Rachel, although attempting to look serious, had a sort of aura about her that alerted me.
"What's going on?" I asked, "What's all the yelling about?"
Rachel remained quiet for a moment, but responded again with her same command, "Just get dressed!"
She shut the door harshly, but even upon disappearing from my sight I could hear her waiting. Looking down at the familiar violet and white racing suit, I noticed in the boots was the Light Cycle. I could have sworn that she didn't know where I kept the thing, so I was very much surprised to see it. I recalled her saying how it was always a good idea to keep it in my shoes though, but her reasons behind it very much still alluded me. I decided it was best not to anger her further, so I slipped on the suit, prepped myself as best as I could and met her again once I stepped foot out of the room. Without hesitation she grabbed my arm and started escorting me back to the throne room, all the while the sound of Turbo's anxious yelling growing louder as I came closer.
"No, no, no, no!" He chanted. I could already feel my heart start to race.
"King Turbo." Rachel greeted as the doors opened, revealing the throne room in all its brightness. However, one thing was completely off. The cadge that had been holding my brother, had been opened. He was gone.
My reaction to my missing brother was paused when Turbo leaped from his large throne chair and scurried over to me, plucking me up from the ground beside Rachel, "What happened here?!" Turbo yelled, "Do you have any idea who could have done this?! Your grandfather had to have been up to this! He was after Kailey, so in all respects he would have tried to go for her brother next!"
"My granddad didn't do it!" Rachel fought, "He was on the other side of the castle all night long, just like you ordered him. Besides, nobody can open that cadge! Not without proper tools, which you have devoid us of!"
"Shut up!" Turbo responded irritably, his sharp teeth showing through his lips briefly, "Go... find out who did this. Find out where Kailey's brother is, or so help me, I will not hesitate to destroy the lot of you for treason!"
Rachel nodded and bowed her head as respectively as she could, though not before shooting me a look before she turned around to leave to fulfill Turbo's orders. It was that kind of look a father would give their son before their first baseball game; a sort of, 'don't disappoint me' stare. Although that was completely out of context. I didn't know what was going on or what to think of her silent message.
"No, NO! I won't let this be ruined!" Turbo's brows narrowed into a furrow as his teeth showed again, attempting to hold back a hiss that was part of his Cy-brid programming. "Finally when I catch a break, something wrong has to happen! I don't understand it! The human military is still pushed way back from the city! They couldn't have possibly made it in!" Turbo looked around, causing me to do the same. The odds of this being of military actions seemed to be far-fetched. The military would have probably used extensive force at this time when entering the castle. But this, this was different. There was literally no trace of a break in. Everything was as it should be; untouched. The only exception was the cadge itself.
"I can't let this get to me..." Turbo continued to talk aloud. I could tell he was losing it. "I can't let everyone think I'm... I'm afraid. You're going to race for me, Kailey. I don't care what just happened here. I've been waiting to long, have been working to hard to let some little idiot, take it away from me!"
With a powerful lift and without prior warning, Turbo launched us into the air. The large glass door above us, that would have normally opened for him, remained shut. Even with the glass still separating the throne room to the outside, Turbo rammed through it, only taking precaution as to shield me as we went through. After the sound of shattering glass breaking and hitting the floor vanished, did the sound of wind and distant thunder replace it. The clouds that had been thick for a long time were finally becoming its darkest, suddenly all traces of sunlight being shielded out from the sheer cloud cover.
Turbo was quick and furious with his flight pattern that for a brief moment I thought I was being carried by an actual Cy-bug. His landing, again, was very much so as we made it to the track. With a thunk he came to a stop, and instead of gently placing me down like he had done prior, he seemed to toss me. I managed to stay on me feet despite hitting the ground quickly.
"Go, start up the car." Turbo said, "I will be timing you. Make it around the highway loop track and meet me back here."
I stared at him for a moment. This was worrying me to such an extent for once I didn't want to leave him. I felt like he was the only one that could actually protect me at this time, but then again, if you get to comfortable planing with a lion in a cadge, especially when they start acting like this, it's best to leave them be. I couldn't disobey him today. Even with my nervous feeling of getting in that car, I had to break past it.
"Go!" He said impatiently.
With this statement I rushed over to the car and got in, making sure my helmet was properly set on my head, my matching boots were straight and my zipper was tightened. Even while trying to be prepared and confident, my arms were shaking. Again another crack of lightning erupted the skies, casing my heart to thunk as I started the car.
"Don't hesitate, just go!" Turbo hollered impatiently at me again, not even giving a moments notice of the countdown that was usually required for a race. My foot stepped on the gas, taking me from the starting point with a quick rev and launching me back onto the road. Through my rear-view mirror I saw him grow smaller as the car sped ahead, along with his castle that continued to look dark and hollow despite it's significant progress through the past four weeks. As difficult as it was to look away from I steered my gaze back to the road before me, hearing through the roar of my accelerating engine thunder continue to rumble and lightning crack in the skies. At certain moments replacing lighting bolts I saw light bubble in the clouds, flashing colorful rays onto the road ahead of me, bringing the darkened city shaded by clouds moments of luminosity. It was after a minute or two speeding down the empty loop, that rain started to pour on me. The raindrops were hard as I went this fast, pelting my windshield with thousands of tiny punches and clanks. I began to feel my steering wheel grow light the faster I went, but unlike my first try racing, I now felt extreme worry of messing up. Now that the rain covered the streets with a light layer of liquid, making one wrong turn in this could only bring disaster. I had to be careful, I had to keep my eyes on the road-.
I was caught by surprise then. Accompanying the thunder, was an explosion. My eyes darted back toward my rear-view mirror, and in the distance I saw the side of the castle erupt into flames. The smoke puffed into the skies with a heave of power, this black smog adding to the already darkened halo that hovered over the city. With wide eyes I stared, despite knowing my attention was away from the road. Like a domino effect another portion of the castle exploded, this time startling up the Cy-bugs. The swarm that was constantly droning the castle and the city all began to rise at once, like a beehive that had been struck or an ant hill that had been kicked. This confusion didn't last for long however, as the organized viruses started to circle their home, constantly flying around the castle and diving in certain increments when they saw something worth plucking. But from this far, I still couldn't tell what had caused this.
My eyes darted back to the road when I quickly saw at the corner of the track a large figure leap upward onto it, and begin waving his hands in the air. Growing closer, I was brought back with this strange familiarity. I started to slow down because of this, and soon, through the thick rain, I saw who it was. It was Ralph.
I gasped, pushing hard on my breaks and coming to a stop directly beside him. His expression had a mix of relief and distress alike as he saw me through the window. "Kailey, hurry, we gotta go!" He said, "Get out, hurry! There's no time!"
Opening my car door I stepped out to face him, though I was immediately plucked up once I did so. Like a football player rushing towards the goal, Ralph tucked me gently to his side, running quickly down the road and jumping clear off the track and down to the smaller streets below. The further we ran, the more chaos I began to take in. The battles that had been constantly raging just outside my line of sight had all been around here. Tanks were torn in two, vehicles were smashed and gun powder and other black dust blanketed the streets and grass. Even when we got to the point where the city itself was turning to forest and more rural areas, I saw the trunks of these trees had turned from brown to black, and sometimes grey and white from burns. I didn't realize the urgency from all this until Calhoun, Vanellope, Felix and Steven stepped out of the treeline once Ralph and I came into view. It was also following them, in which I saw my brother.
"Dannen, Calhoun... You guys are alive!" I gasped as Ralph and I came to a stop before the group. Looking over their expressions I saw how puffed up they looked.
With wide eyes and a scowl Calhoun expressed her caution first, "Okay, Steven set that thing up, we don't have much time."
"It's almost ready, it's at ninety-eight percent capacity right now. I can't launch the sequence until it's finished all the way."
"No, it has to be now! Are you crazy? Turbo would have probably realized Kailey is missing at this point!"
"Tell me what's happening!" I broke through Calhoun's orders anxiously. I was left in silence until Felix firstly decided to speak.
"Steven has successfully recreated the Shiva laser in a handheld device. Though the reverse engineering aspect he had initially thought of is not going to work with what we have. When Turbo comes looking for you, we're going to shot him with the laser, and trap him inside the flash drive attached to it."
"Then, we destroy it." Calhoun spat out, her blue eyes as icy as could be, "So nobody has to die at that fowl mans hands again. I wouldn't even call him a man anymore at this point."
"Wait, what!?" I gasped, "You can't destroy it! If that's the only flash drive you got how are we going to use it against other Cy-bugs?"
"All in due time..." Dannen said, "Kailey, it has to happen this way. There is no other choice. This is gone on long enough."
"It can't end this way!" I cried again, loudly this time, "You can't do that!"
"What in the blazes is screwing with your head?" Calhoun turned to look at me, continuing to carry her intense scowl, but by hearing my words this only making it look worse, "Are you telling us you feel sorry for that monster? That you have feelings for him?"
Our stare latched on for a moment longer. I felt my lips want to part with an answer. The thing about answering something like that in a quick instant, was hard. I had a long time to think about it, to dream about it, to grow and understand why I didn't want this to happen, but when the time came to explain why, I was left silent. Looking at the others, the only person who felt even a little bit like me, was Dannen. He was the one who first expressed his disdain for this. But I could tell he believed this needed to happen.
"Steven!" Calhoun swept her concern for my out lash and to Steven, who was messing with the little Shiva gun laser in his grasp.
"Almost there, it's almost there!"
"NO! YOU FILTH!" Turbo's voice screamed and filled the air, even through the pelting rain his loud voice booming like thunder. Rising over the treetops the pounding of his wings shot it's own hurricane, causing the rain to go swirling into a mist around his back. The group stared with held back terror as Turbo, without talk or show, landed harshly on the ground, and swept his clawed hand at us with all the ferocity he could manage. Ralph was able to push him aside briefly, but I saw he alone wouldn't be able to do this.
Calhoun retrieved the large gun at her back, preparing it with ease to use it if she had to. Up until this point I wasn't sure if her Hero's Duty gun would work on a Cy-brid, but I saw that she was ready to kill, or be killed if required.
Turbo was fast, though.
Like a predator Turbo shot from his spot a few yards from me, and encased me in his hands. I heard from the fast paced thunks of his wings he was ready to take off with me, but he hesitated then, lifting me upward as he rose to look down at the others. "Heh, not today." He stared, attempting to break through his anger briefly to show amusement in this like he normally would have, but despite so his emotion at this point was rather uncontrolled, "Sorry, but you wont be getting the princess at this cas'thle! If you want her, you're going to have to try harder than that! Because of your inadequacy to properly go about your pathetic plan, I'm going to kill you all!"
"Just shoot it!" I yelled at Steven, who within all this chaos continued to look up at Turbo and then to the Shiva gun laser. He was apparently reluctant to use it at this point. I was trapped in Turbo's claws, so if that were to go off, I would be sent into the flash drive with Turbo. I knew I couldn't be something that held them back anymore. I had to let them do what they came here to do, despite whatever I thought. "Shoot us!"
Steven, on the spot and with a quick decision, lifted the Shiva gun, and pulled the trigger.
Instantly, like the original Shiva laser in the arcade, light encased us. I felt the real world vanish from around me; it's rainy dark chaos suddenly replaced by a blank slate of the flash-drive. Along with this, I felt Turbo's grip on me release, allowing me to fall into this new world separately from him.
It seemed like a few seconds before I was able to adjust to this new reality. The chilled wind became numbing and calm, and within a blink of an eye the bright light that had transported me dissipated, setting me down onto the flash drive platform.
Here, in this small digital grid, there was absolutely nothing. The ground and the skies were black, making it seem like I was walking in open space. The only thing that I could make sense of, was when the ground breathed white and sent glowing veins through the horizon every now and again. Even the skies here, much mimicking the storm in the real world, erupted with light that flashed in it's dark skies. The very essence of the flash drive platform came alive with potential power from being attached to the Shiva gun that had become it's plug.
In the far distance I could see the portal leading back again to the real world. Because of the slates far deepness and blankness, this seemed like a dream. Looking at the portal from this far was like staring at a single tower among a flat ocean or watching a waving flag in which had prevailed against a battle. It was my only hope to escape, but it was so far away.
"You're not going anywhere!" I heard Turbo grumble behind me. I could tell he was trying to keep his control over seeing the light of the portal, "You're either going to leave with me, or stay here with me!"
"I'm sorry!" I yelled, unable to settled on what I was exactly feeling, "I'm sorry this happened to you! I'm sorry you lost your game and you feel lost, but you can't do this anymore! Please, listen to me! We can work through this, it doesn't have to end this way!"
"No! Gahh!" He hollered again, but this time in a struggle. His hands encased his head as he violently started to glitch between personas. His entire body started to tremble, as his teeth clenched together in some sort of effort to stop what was happening to him. The mixture of the portals light, his anger and the virus that had taken over him was to much to bear, and once his eyes shot open again green pixelation finally overcame what was left. I saw that now he had completely lost himself in the Cy-bug coding, and with his new sickly emerald pixeled eyes, he charged at me, this time for the kill.
Seeing this caused me to scream and with all the strength I had in my legs I tried running away again. However, no matter how hard I thought I was running, it wasn't enough. Every millisecond that passed he got closer, and I could hear his fist pounding the ground as he did so, causing the world around me to shake from his power. "Where do you think, you're going?!" His voice was maniacal now, "I'm not through with you yet!"
I felt the pound of his wings at my back then, stirring up my long hair behind me. My helmet that continued to sit on my head even was tossed around slightly, moving left and right which caused swooshing sounds to engulf my ears. It was then, a final pound that Turbo sent onto the ground, that I heard something break. The ground around us, literally, shattered like glass.
We both went falling into a void, hovering, drifting and falling in this blackness as if we were lost in space. From the fall I watched as the broken ground I had just been standing on moments earlier, distance itself away from me as if I were falling into a pit, looking up at my only exit. Although I was still able to breathe, any form of sound was vanquished as I was distanced from Turbo, and I could then hear my own breath and heart beating loudly into my ears. I started to panic as I kicked my legs about and stretched my arms around me to attempt to grab something, but even with this effort I was left without anything to hold onto. Because of this sense of unbalance my panic turned into utter chaos. My breathing escalated and my entire body felt as if it wanted to jump out of its own skin. "HELP!" I pleaded, my voice in this strange world seemingly not being carried far whatsoever. Here there was no echo, or feedback. It was devoid; a type of nothingness.
Until I saw a light.
At first this brightness was like headlights. Very slowly I gazed over to this source of energy, blinking rapidly as my eyes got used to this change. When my eyes did focus though, this blinding light started to take form. Like a star, and then breaking into a familiar structure, I saw a floating DNA helix, and beside it a large light of square containing the words 'King Candy' on it.
"Wh- what is this?" My breathing was starting to relax a bit as I stared in awe at the structure. Even in my weightless state and upon growing calm, I regained some ability to stop my random floating. Instead of wailing my arms around and kicking without thought, I grew still, treating the weightlessness around me like I was submerged in water.
I first set my eyes on the DNA structure, having curiosity take over the fear. With my relaxed state, I pushed my legs outward, as if I were swimming and started drifting slowly but surely to where it was. The light that escaped it, neither grew more light or dark as I approached it. It was as if the light was rather infinite, and would not grow lighter or darker the closer or further back I got.
Once I had made it over towards the DNA helix, I reached my hand into the transparent light. However, this transparency proved to be real. My hands fell into and through the code, leaving me grabbing nothing but air.
Again, I gazed up at it in awe. There was so much detail in this structure, it was as if it was the written work of something that was real. I felt my heart flutter once I realized what it was. My mind steered back to tales my brother told me about the process of programming and little lessons I learned from small and insignificant ways of doing so, by creating things like HTML for web sites, and then to what Steven had showed me. The Omni-Tool had revealed to us what Dell, the Cy-bug was, at a small and invisible level. The Cy-bug had an RNA structure, which wasn't quite as complex as the one I was looking at now, but it was all the same in it's impact on me. Like HTML, it was the code under the reality. It was the written blueprint. This, right here, was my untouchable, unchangeable human blue print. It was everything I was. It was my code.
This caused my attention to dart over toward the large square next to it. Kicking my legs coordinately again I started drifting over to King Candy's box next. I guided my hand into it, but unlike my DNA example beside it, my touch triggered something in this one. The King Candy box disappeared, then revealing his code. It's structure was exactly like mine.
The only difference was I could touch and tamper with his. I tapped the open space around the helix, this suddenly zooming into the detail of the coding. Here I saw everything that made Turbo- well, in this case as written, King Candy everything he was. I saw the coding for what he looked like, what he wore, his crown, how he talked laughed and cried. I even saw what made him a racer. It was all here. The difference between King Candy and Turbo's coding was the simple fact they were intertwined; sewed and together thus making them almost one and the same. The different coding of either one could be told apart in shades of blue and green, but overall it looked difficult to extract.
Upon my close observation of this, was when I took notice of something else. The one reoccurring thing scattered throughout King Candy's code was a handful of red dots. These red dots pulsed with energy, suddenly sending waves through the rest of the coding and making it glitch and shake. It frightened me for a moment. Even though it was coding, it looked painful. It was almost like looking at heart-worms on a dogs heart, or cancer cells taking over human tissue. I found that my fingers hovered over the code reluctantly as I suddenly began to ponder over it, feeling brief flows of shivers come over me like a quick blast of winter air had come from my own body. This was what the virus was doing to him. Those red dots, were the Cy-bug's coding taking over.
Sound was blunt in this void, but I suddenly felt a presence behind me. As the hairs stood up on my neck I turned my head around, quickly then, taking notice of Turbo heading straight towards me. The mixture of the light of his code and me already being a target drove him insane as his wings silently pounded behind him, with every waking moment this enough to make him approach me closer and closer by the second.
Although my heart began to race again out of fear, I didn't run away just then. Instead, I looked from him and to the coding in front of me. I didn't know what I was doing, but my instinct suddenly helped me make a decision to dive my hands into the code, and start ripping the Cy-bug virus out.
I wasn't paying attention to what was happening behind me now. I didn't know if he was still charging at me or if he had stopped dead in his tracks. My focus was purely on the coding as my fingers grabbed, tore and tossed the red out and away from it. As the red dots were shredded from the code, I saw they started to lump together into their own form. With every step I took to clean the virus away and separate it from Turbo, was when it started to become it's own individual creature again. It was like it was developing right in front of me. The viruses code started to obtain a structure similar to Dell's as I saw through the Omni-Tool.
Then, I stopped. The coding of the virus, was now completely separated from Turbo's. It was finished.
I finally had the courage to turn around then. As my eyes left the coding and into the void, I felt my mouth part open and my lungs become depleted of air as I gasped, bringing my hands to my face as if that in itself was enough to save my breath. Instead of the single Cy-brid that was once set on destroying me, I saw two separate beings. The lights in the colorful candy shaded Cy-bugs eyes were still shut down from the transfer as it floated stiffly in the large coding space. Beside him, was Turbo, in this case, King Candy. The glitching had seemed to stop at this point, resulting in his default King Candy persona taking over once more. He was also unconscious, so he didn't know what had just occurred.
After staring with jaw dropping awe for what it seemed like a long time, my eyes finally broke their link onto Turbo and the Cy-bug and up toward the broken sky above me. I could make my escape now and get out before the portal closed. I realized that Steven may have to make the decision whether or not to destroy the flash drive, like he had intended, but I soon grew thankful that he hadn't already done so. Surely they would be happy to see me exit the flash drive, but what about Turbo? I couldn't just... leave him here. I wouldn't leave him here.
My mind was made up and I acted then. Quickly I glided over towards Turbo who still hovered unconscious. As I tried to heave him into my arms and position him in a way I could safety and effectively get him and I out of the coding space, I saw the Cy-bug's eyes stare to glow again.
My heart sank and fell into my stomach.
My alertness grew ten times full as I used the slowly awakening Cy-bug as a foot spring, and kicked off of it into the air. As the weightless air around me carried me upward after my jump, I positioned myself in a way to push Turbo off of me and onto the platform of grid itself. I was rather surprised that this worked, though. After Turbo safely toppled on top of the grid, I followed him, though not before taking notice of the Cy-bug below me opening it's bright green eyes fully. Once I was in its line of sight, it wiggled around and started up its wings, set on destroying me once and for all.
I let out yelp as I heaved myself from the void and onto the platform myself, taking note of my surroundings and what to do next. The portal was very far away still, so making a run for it all the while carrying Turbo wasn't going to end well. Instead, I reached inside my boot, and took out the Light Cycle.
I knew I had to get a head start, so quickly and without hesitation I started to run and place it before me as I held the Light Cycle tightly in my palms. Once I thought I was making a fast enough pace, I leaped, triggering the Light Cycle to form underneath me. The vehicle took me by surprise briefly as it drove ahead quickly, though with all the focus I had I turned the thing around and stopped beside Turbo, taking him by his vest and plopping him in front of me. I looked down momentarily into the void to see the Cy-bug blazing upwards now and very much fully awake.
I looked away with a shiver and a cringe and set my legs onto the Light Cycle, and zoomed forward. It was just as I started making ground, did the sound of the Cy-bug return and fill the blank grid with a loud screech. It had made it out!
I didn't look back, but I could hear it catching up. Although I was moving fast on the Light Cycle, it seemed this Cy-bug had a vendetta now against me. I heard it screaming and screeching as its wings pounded behind it, sending it flying from behind as it gained up on me, narrowing the chase down to once single mess up on my behalf. I accelerated faster, and blindly then, suddenly the realization that if I messed up now, and allowed the Cy-bug to eat me and then Turbo, it would happen all over again and all that I had went through would have been for nothing. The only difference would be that I would be dead.
"No!" I hollered as I felt my eyebrows narrow on my forehead and a determined scowl overcome my mouth. I sped forth with all my might and all my focus then, creating a tunnel vision to the portal ahead of me. It got closer and brighter, and then suddenly, the grid vanished.
Through a powerful light, and transition of worldly proportions, the grid vanquished around me as my Light Cycle took me into the real world. Rain quickly resumed around me as I slammed on my breaks, taking note of the silence that only seemed to be slain by thunder that quaked and spread into the world. Once I came to a complete stop, I heaved myself up with what strength I had left, and grabbed Turbo into my arms, falling with his weight onto my knees. With my absence the Light Cycle began to tumble over, but retreated before it hit the ground into its simple stick like form.
"Bloody hell!?" I heard Steven cry out, but all my focus was still on Turbo who remained asleep on the soaking ground before me. I didn't even pay attention to every ones running footsteps as they surrounded me, only their shadows causing my gaze to look upward from Turbo and to them. Their expressions seemed to mimic my own: surprised and shocked.
"Oh my land!" Felix said through wide eyes, "Kailey... how- how did this happen?" Everyone else remained speechless as they waited for my answer, each of there awe consumed expressions matching like a little girls doll set.
"I don't... really know." I stated as I slowly then looked back down at the little man who was now half my size, "I-I just did."