Chapter 11 - Character Development Isn't Very Fun
Turbo slammed his door shut behind him, ripping his helmet off in a similar fashion to Ted before throwing it across the room. His glare followed it as it rolled slightly upon hitting the floor, its form growing blurry as mere seconds passed. At this, Turbo quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve, his chest and shoulders heaving with his breathing. How he hated himself, god how he hated himself.
"Why are you such an ass, huh?!" He hissed out hoarsely, speaking to no one other than himself. "You're such a fuck up—now your game is getting unplugged because you're such a fucking fuck up!" He could feel the pit in his stomach growing more intense, the burning sensation of a lump in his throat slowly becoming unbearable. "Y-you're a fuck up—you shouldn't e-even exist…!" His statement wavered as sobs began to lace into it, and he took shaky steps back. "F-fuck…! Stop being s-such a fucking screw up…!"
Ned quickly made his way up the steps, now seconds away from knocking on Turbo's door to see if he was alright. But, he froze as he caught something in his hearing, and he slowly lowered his arm from where it had been about to knock. His eyes widened as he realized what he was listening to, one hand going up to his mouth.
At this point, Turbo was on the brink of a sobbing fit, gazing down at his hands as a glitch shuddered through them. His pupils flicking over the momentary red binary, Turbo's body shuddered as a wave of hyperventilation washed over him, and he could feel several streams of tears running down his cheeks. He barely even heard Ned open the door, realizing it a second too late as Ned was suddenly pulling him into a hug.
Panic flashed through Turbo now and he shoved against Ned's hold. "F-fuck you! Get the fuck off me...!" He rasped out, pushing with as much force as he could against Ned's torso, with little success of escaping at that.
Ned gazed down at him slightly, tightening his embrace. "H-hey...relax…"
Seconds of Turbo's struggling continued, his breathing only beginning to grow more hoarse. "N-Ned get the f-fuck off! St-stop…!" He begged, his voice wavering.
Ned closed his eyes as he could feel Turbo's relent starting to ease, and with this lowered amount of struggling came a greater indication of Turbo's imminent sobbing fit. "It's okay…"
"I-It's not fucking o-okay…!" Turbo cried, feeling a wave of heat slither up his spine. "G-get off…!"
"Shh…" Ned breathed out, hugging Turbo closer as the shorter racer had now ceased trying to escape. Resting his chin on the top of Turbo's head, concern edged into him at the essence of heat he could feel. And, a further sadness etched itself on his expression as he sensed Turbo's body shudder with a held back sob.
"St-stop helping me…!" Turbo began shakily. "I-I've never d-done anything good to you!"
"That's not true…just relax…" Ned eased, trying to get his own posture to relax as well. As Turbo weakly pushed against him again, Ned gripped him closer. "It's not your fault…"
"Y-yes it is…!" Turbo finally sobbed, burying his head against Ned's chest. "I f-fucked it all up…!"
"No you didn't…" The twin assured quietly, slowly beginning to rub Turbo's back. "It's not your fault...you didn't do this on purpose…"
"I don't c-care…! I-I still fucking hate myself…!" Turbo confessed amidst a sob, a glitch shuddering through his body. This time, though, it wasn't strong enough to pass onto Ned. And, upon occurring, it only reminded Turbo of everything that had happened, proving that what was taking place was actually real. This thought prompted Turbo's held back sobbing fit, his body crumpling forward slightly.
Ned let out a quiet sigh through his nose as he felt Turbo beginning to break down, whispering out quiet assurances through Turbo's sobs. "Shh...it's okay...shh…"
Oh, how Ned wished Ted could see this. Maybe it would actually make Ted feel some sort of pity, maybe it would help him realize what he'd done.
Turbo's continuing sobs caused Ned's own eyes to wetten with tears, but he kept them back as he knew Turbo needed him more. "I-it's okay...it's okay—just breathe…" He soothed, now feeling Turbo's tensed posture beginning to relent to one of defeat.
"I-I'm a horrible person…" Turbo continued on, though it was frailer than his previous exclamations. "I'm getting u-us unplugged—it's all my f-fault…!"
Ned shook his head at this, resting his head a little more into Turbo's hair. "It's not your fault...it's not, I know it's not…"
As the seconds passed, Turbo's weakened sobs were the only sound to be heard. This didn't keep Ned from ceasing to hold him close, and currently, Turbo had, in essence, relaxed into Ned's taller form. Silence soon reigned, now prompting Ned to draw back with his hands on Turbo's shoulders. He leaned down so he could be eye to eye with the shorter racer, worry and concern flooding his gaze.
Turbo, in turn, kept his sight downwards, blinking any remaining tears from his eyes. Ned's expression shifted slightly at this, and he slowly reached up, brushing the stray tears from Turbo's cheek. "It's okay...I promise it's okay…" He assured, trying to smile in a reassuring manner. "We'll get it all figured out…"
Turbo's gaze turned up to Ned now, his pupils flicking ever so slightly in observation of Ned's face. He drew in a shaking breath before quickly looking away once more, his brows furrowing as a small glitch shuddered through his body. "I-I just...want t-to know why this happening…" He rasped out, sounding broken and confused.
If only they knew that Ted had all the answers. Or, Ted thought he did anyway. At this point in time, the wayward twin had already made his way into the hallway leading to the code room, his nerves sending chills throughout his body. He was more scared than not to see what had happened to Turbo's code, and as he neared the door, he took a moment to pause. Well...might as well get it over with. Upon retrieving the tether and securing himself to one of the wires, Ted input the code for the door to open, and-
"Oh shit…!"
The light from the hallway flickered its way into the code room, illuminating the disaster that was culminating. Ted's gaze flicked over what he could see, further amounts of terror etching onto his expression.
"No—no no…!" He breathed out, now wasting no time to enter the gravity-defying space. He, as quickly as he could, made his way over to where Turbo's code was located, his hands shaking as he held them back to keep from touching anything.
The box where Turbo's complete code was located had shattering cracks on its surface, small amounts of red light shining through. In the places where the cracks had formed into holes, code was edging its way out, small error symbols flashing in their vicinity. Hesitantly, Ted reached out and tapped on the broken box. His yelp echoed through the room as it flashed open and bits of binary scattered upon being released. They stuck to Ted at first, but, upon finding that he was not a viable source of life, promptly abandoned him.
Ted's gaze followed them before it turned back to Turbo's tragedy ridden code. The boxes that were still intact were glitching lightly, the tops and bottoms of them sparking as if wires had been disconnected. And, the boxes that had been rid of use were flashing in and out of existence, wavering in form. Ted could barely make out what the boxes had been; all he knew was that he had seriously messed up. How could it have come to all this from touching ONE little thing?!
Ted's sight now returned to the boxes that were still somewhat of use. His brows furrowed at the small sparks of light that came from them, and he, in turn, turned to look around the code room for any lost wires that could have come loose. Upon not finding anything, he pivoted his gaze back to the boxes. "Crap—crap...what the fuck do I do…?!"
Slowly reaching forward, Ted tried to grab a box that read 'Emotions', the label itself glitching red. His expression shifted in confusion; hadn't Turbo's emotions been in the 'Attributes' box…? As his fingers grazed it, the box opened, a distorted sound accompanying it. Ted's gaze flicked over the mess of words and code that were released, drawing in a slow breath as a sensation of lightheadedness washed over him. Great—he forgot that the code room did that.
Further uncertainty inscribed its way onto Ted's expression as the seconds passed. Most of the words he could make out weren't even emotions! "What the…" He whispered out, reaching towards an icon that read 'Regeneration'. Upon touching it, however, the familiar sting of pain met Ted's fingers and the icon shattered in a glitching mess of code. "Ohh shit…!" Ted breathed, a panicked feeling wracking its way into his chest.
Did this mean that Turbo couldn't regenerate anymore?!
Upon its ceasing, the 'Regeneration' box dispersed a small amount of binary in its wake. Ted's widened gaze followed it as the bits of code attached themselves onto icons in the nearby vicinity. And, at this, Ted rasped out a 'no' as partial amounts of the binary engraved themselves into the icon regarding Turbo's general anger. The icon flickered as it was forced to accept the code, the wires tethering it in place slowly beginning to snap away. "Fuck—fuck stop…!" He cried, grasping out to grab the disappearing wires.
The remaining code that hadn't violated its way into Turbo's anger attribute had driven itself into other attributes, those of which involved Turbo's various emotions, as well as his coordination and stamina. And, upon unsuccessfully trying to stop the wires that were disappearing, Ted drew back, his panicked gaze flicking over the disaster that was unfolding before his eyes.
What remained of Turbo's code flashed and glitched in its place, the small icons and boxes seeming to be unable to handle the stress they were being forced to deal with. Ted inhaled sharply as the familiar feeling of nausea creeped into his stomach and his vision began to waver, his lightheadedness now returning.
Shakily waving his arms to steady himself, Ted allowed his vision to relay back to the area around Turbo's 'Emotions' box. The scattered code had settled itself into the icons that were nearby, no doubt interfering with what they entered. Ted's breathing began to grow rapid in both distress and nausea, and he blindly outstretched his grasp to grab at the glitching code. "Stop—just go back to how you used to be…!" He begged, hissing through his teeth as pain shocked its way into his fingertips from touching the binary.
Turbo's gaze flicked up from where it had been centered on the floor. He was currently sitting on the edge of his bed with Ned kneeling in front of him, blinking in momentary confusion. And, seconds later, his eyes narrowed at Ned, who at this point had stopped speaking. "Turbo, what is it…?"
A small glitch flickered through Turbo's body as his expression shifted. In a sudden motion, he had left the bed and shoved Ned to the floor, towering over the twin's shocked form. "Get the fuck away from me!"
Ned's eyes were wide in shock, and he began to try sitting up, now propped on his elbows. "T-Turbo…! Why—"
"Did you not hear me?" Turbo growled out, his head tilting slightly at this. Now taking a step forward, he leaned down and grabbed at Ned's collar to hold him closer. He had no plans at trying to lift Ned up, as he knew this would be impossible, but instead opted to bring Ned's head forward slightly. "I don't fucking need you, so get out of my sight."
Ned barely knew what to say. "W-what happened…?! I thought y-you—"
"You thought I actually cared? That I was going to be all emotional around you?" Turbo retorted icily, his gaze thinning and his grip tightening on Ned's collar. "You're an idiot if you think I give two fucks about you."
Ned's eyes began to wetten with panicked tears. "I-I don't understand…!" He rasped out, his breathing growing shallow. "Y-you were crying and you let me h-help you and—...!" His voice broke off with a gasp of pain as he was struck on his cheek, his head flinching to the side.
Turbo drew his fist away, promptly letting go of Ned's collar and watching the twin fall back onto the floor. Upon being released, Ned's hand whisked up to his face and soon under his nose as blood began to flow. His body quickly wracked itself with a sob, and he gazed at Turbo with eyes as wide as saucers. "I-I'm sorry…!" He cried out, struggling to back up.
Turbo opened his mouth to reply, but his head pricked as he sensed motion near the entrance of the room. He blinked as he realized it was Ted, who had now taken a step back, trying to process what was currently taking place.
OH BOY WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN OWO
~nightfuryshadows
