Felicity slumped against the wall; her head in her hands.
"What are we going to do?" She asked. "We're trapped in here, no one can hear or see us, and if we touch the bars...well, I don't want to know what would happen!"
"And Teddy is fading away by the minute!" Jack added.
"Well, maybe we could..."
"We could what? Felicity, it's been a whole half hour since Turbo almost completely took over, and in another thirty minutes, Teddy will be gone! It's too late! Even if we get out now, we don't have time to save him!" He shouted; tears filling his eyes.
"Don't think like that, Jack. There's still a chance that we could-"
"Don't you get it? There is no chance that we could do anything! My brother is doomed, and it's all my fault!"
"How is it your fault?"
"If it wasn't for me, Turbo never would have existed in the first place!"
"You didn't seem so worried about that back when you messed with his code!"
"That was because I didn't know that he was my brother!"
"That's no excuse for... Wait. How on earth did you not know?"
"Because he erased my memory!"
"What?" Felicity asked. Jack sighed, sliding down the wall into a sitting position.
"After I edited his code the first time, and made so he could leave our game, our father was absolutely enraged. You see, while he was always important to me, Father was a very...violent man. He never seriously hurt either of us, but it was always a possibility. Teddy knew that something horrible was more than likely going to happen if I helped him any more than I had, but I refused to stop, and Teddy, being Teddy, didn't like the risk that came with that. He edited my code, making me forget how close we were. All positive memories of him were replaced with negative ones, and I no longer even knew that he was my brother. I didn't see him as my friend anymore, but as my enemy. Add that to my father's...unconventional parenting methods and the influence of all of the other racers in the game, who were no kinder than he was, and I became the jerk that you knew in school. I felt like I had to put on this tough-guy act all the time, and I guess that I forgot to actually be me. Though, even if I dropped the act, without Teddy, I'm nothing but a pathetic, worthless little-"
"I'm going to stop you right there." Felicity interrupted. "You are not pathetic, and you're certainly not worthless. Why do you think that I spent so much time with you when we first met?"
"I always thought that it was because I was popular. That's the only reason any girls seemed to look my way."
"Not for me, it wasn't. Not at all. I saw something in you, Jack. The real you. And now it's up to the real you to help me save your brother's life."
"But how-?"
"We'll find a way." Felicity said conclusively. As if on cue, marshmallow peep chirped outside. Her eyes widened happily as an idea came to her. "Wait a second...the window!" She shouted, sprinting towards it. "There's no spell on it!"
"Well, yeah. But that doesn't mean that there aren't bars!"
"Yeah, but they're made of chocolate!"
"What are we going to do, eat our way out?"
"Of course not. Don't be ridiculous."
"Well, what else could we do?"
"Don't you get it? These are incredibly weak!" Felicity rejoiced, tugging on one of the bars to test her theory. "And, for the first time ever, I am insanely grateful that I have little to nothing in common with my brother."
"Why?"
"Because, unlike him," She began, tearing one of the bars completely out of place. "I happen to be terrible at fixing things." She smiled as the bar rattled to the floor, and Jack knew exactly what to do. As quickly as he could, he rushed to join her, and they both began tearing out the bars that were keeping them trapped. Before long, the window was wide open. "Come on!" Felicity exclaimed as she squeezed through the gap. "Let's go save Teddy!"
Meanwhile, Deyanira and Turbo were trekking towards Diet Cola Mountain.
"Oh, it feels so good to be back!" The racer chuckled evilly.
"Well, you would have been back several days ago if you hadn't fought against the virus as much as you did."
"Yes, Teddy certainly resisted me more than I ever believed that such a pathetic, little weakling possibly could.
"You say that as if you and Teddy are two different people."
"Who says that we aren't?"
"Well, just about everyone! Even Teddy himself-"
"Teddy never knew the full extent of his situation. He has always underestimated me, and likely always will."
"Well, not always." Deyanira chuckled.
"What do you mean?" Turbo asked.
"Haven't you felt his resistance fading away, minute by minute?"
"Well, now that you mention it, I sort of do, but I don't see how..."
"Don't you get it? Yes, he is fighting you. I can tell even now that he is struggling. But, through that fight, he grows weaker and weaker. If he were to give up the fight, then he would fade away completely. No matter what he does, there will be the exact same outcome, and that outcome will come in less than a half an hour."
"And that outcome is...?"
"That you will no longer have to worry about fighting to stay in control."
"Wait, so you're saying that Teddy will be... dead?"
"In a word: yes." Carmella chuckled. A look of sheer terror flashed in the racer's yellow eyes, but was replaced almost immediately with one of relief and cruel anticipation, proving even further that Teddy was fading away, and quickly.
I have to do something! He thought. If Turbo comes back for good, then the whole arcade is doomed! But how can I stop him? I'm so weak that I- No, I-I shouldn't think like that. I can still beat him! I just have to work harder!
Turbo shook his head, trying to stop the thoughts of his former self from ringing in his head as clearly as if they were his own. Almost immediately, Deyanira took notice of this and scowled. She turned towards her partner, and looked him directly in his cold, yellow eyes.
"Turbo, I need you to relinquish control for a moment. Now, Teddy. This is directed at you, and you alone." She said. "I know that you are trying to fight, and I know that you feel as if you have to stop us, but I will give you this advice: give up. Your struggling will get you nowhere, and you are smart enough to know it."
"No." Teddy's voice squeaked out. "I will never give up! I will never let you win!"
"Oh, but you will. In about ten minutes now, you will have no choice."
"Then I'll just have to beat you before then!" He growled. Deyanira paused in confusion.
"Why are you so determined?" She asked. "You're an intelligent person. You know that you have no chance of winning."
"There's always a small chance, and some people are worth fighting the tough battles for, no matter what the odds may be."
"Some people? Who- ? Wait a second..." She said; an idea forming in her head. "That's why you struggle so hard! You're holding on for your precious little Felicity! If only you knew..."
"Kn-knew what?"
"Don't you see, Teddy?" She chuckled, marveling both at her own brilliance in coming up with her plan, and her stupidity in not thinking of it sooner. "Felicity is dead, and she has been for fifteen years!"
"W-what?" Teddy asked, his eyes filling with incomparable sorrow, and Deyanira knew that her ruse has worked.
"Don't you see? She was a part of my game. When it was unplugged, she had no time to escape, and went down with the ship."
"I-I don't believe you! Y-you're lying!"
"Oh, really? Then tell me: where has she been for the last fifteen years? Why has she had no contact with anyone, even her twin brother? And if she is alive, then where is she?"
"I don't know. But-"
"Oh, and then of course, there's your precious brother, too."
"Jack!" Teddy exclaimed. "What have you done with him?"
"Let's just say that he's no more likely to foil my plans than Felicity is."
"No! I-it can't be true!"
"Well, it is. And tell me, Teddy. If the two people that you care about the most are gone, then what do you have left to struggle for, especially considering that failure is all but inevitable?" Deyanira asked. Teddy closed his eyes with a mournful sigh, allowing a tear to escape and slide down his cheek, until it reached his lips, and filled his mouth with a sickening, salty taste. He shuddered, and turned his eyes up to meet those of the person that he had really only just met, but already loathed more than anyone in the world. Her eyes filled with an expression that showed that she knew exactly what the disgruntled racer was implying, but feared to say. She was winning, and he knew it.
"It's all my fault." He said so quietly that it was basically inaudible; the final words intertwined with an anguished sob that was powerful enough to escape his mouth, despite his desperate attempt to not let the wicked sorceress see the effect that her words had on him. She smiled cruelly, putting a hand on his shoulder, and looking him straight in his forlorn, yellow eyes.
"Then stop fighting us." She growled. Without a word, the soft expression on the racer's face faded away, and Deyanira knew that Teddy wouldn't interfere with her plans any more. His eyes filled with a cold malice as Turbo regained control once again, this time with incredible ease.
"He's...given up." The racer said in shock.
"Why wouldn't he?" She asked. Turbo shrugged and continued to walk towards Diet Cola Mountain, not realizing that the wicked witch wasn't following him. Once he was out of earshot, Deyanira chuckled and muttered to herself. "It sure took long enough. Who knew that it would be that simple to get him to give up? Either way, at least we won't be having any trouble with him now."
"That may be true," a voice called from behind them. "But you'll have plenty of it with us!" Deyanira gasped at the sight of a group of people who were previously concealed behind a giant gumdrop, and now were slowly walking out of the shadow, and into the open. In the front stood the one that had spoken, who she immediately recognized as Fix-It Felix Jr. Behind the handyman stood three others who, along with Felix, had been awarded the nickname "the core four:" Wreck-It Ralph, Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun, and Vanellope Von Schweetz. They weren't what worried her, though. She knew all of their strengths and weaknesses. They couldn't get in her way. No, what worried her were the two people who stepped out from behind the group of four; the two people that her partner had to believe were gone for good, and they were close enough to him that it wouldn't be long before he realized that they were most certainly not.
"Well, hello there Deyanira." Felicity said with the sweet, yet somehow intimidating tone that may be used by a teacher scolding an unruly student. Jack walked forwards to stand next to her, crossing his arms; a smug look on his face, finishing Felicity's statement in a manner even more nerve-wracking than she had.
"Long time, no see."
