A/N: I feel the need to sum this chapter up. Here we go; Turbo is now in reset mode. Therefore, my obsession is complete... Not really of course, no. I figured that with an old coding trying to be installed, if you like, in to a much more advanced system it would actually be a trial and error situation. So that is what Turbo is going through. I've spoilt it. I'm such a spoiler. Please have mercy with your torches and pitch-forks. It's not the end yet, so enjoy the rest of this chapter. I'll get the next one up probably Sunday.
The following characters does not belong to me. All characters belong to the creators of Wreck-It Ralph; Walt Disney.
It was a eerie silence as the trio trudged along slowly down the corridors. Ralph, who still held the unconscious racer in a single arm, peeked a look down at Turbo and Vanellope who had managed to settle herself in to the cradle position. The young girl could only stare with sorrowful eyes as she held Turbo's hand.
They soon came to a stop in-front of ginger-bread doors which Sour Bill pushed open allowing the small group in to a small bedroom. Vanellope hopped out of Ralph's arms and hurried over to the sponge cake bed, setting the racer's helmet down upon the accompanied table, and then she pulled the rice-paper sheets back for Ralph to lay Turbo down. The wrecker pulled the sheets over the racer and watched as Vanellope pulled herself up to sit on the edge of the bed, again holding Turbo's hand and staring down upon him.
"Vanellope, we - "
"I'm fine." Vanellope quickly spoke up without looking at the others. "I will be any way, I guess."
"Well, Vanellope, all we can do is hope for the best." said Felix.
"And hey, Felix can take a look in the code, can't you?" Ralph asked, looking down hopefully towards the handyman.
"Yes, of course." Felix answered. "I'll double check it and if it needs fixing then that I can and shall do straight away."
Vanellope could only nod to Felix's words. She was in such a state of a trance; candy eyes were unable to tear away from Turbo's unconscious form.
"Well, we'll give you some time alone, kid. Come on, troops." said Calhoun as she motioned for Ralph and Felix to follow her. She knew that Vanellope should be the one to watch over Turbo.
"You will come back, won't you?" Vanellope quickly asked.
"Of course. We'll be here first thing when the arcade is closed." Felix answered for the trio.
"Ok." Vanellope whispered.
"Well, we'll see you until then." said Ralph.
And so the trio took their leave. Ralph was the last to leave the room. So before he shut the ginger-bread doors, he gave a slight wave to Vanellope who returned the gesture as Ralph closed the doors.
Once Vanellope was alone, she shuffled up closer to Turbo, now grabbing both his pale, cold hands.
"I now know how you felt when I was in your position after that ruckus in Diet Cola mountain." Vanellope spoke softly to Turbo's prone form. She could not keep her tear filling eyes to hold back those clear droplets that now began to flow leaving a trail within their wake along her cheeks.
"Please, Turbo. Please wake up." Her grip tightened at his hands as she laid herself down by Turbo's side. She then nuzzled herself up close to the racer and continued her soft sobs until they eventually died down for she had done so to the point it had sent her in to a deep sleep.
It was not long before a soft voice ran through the girls hearing as she felt a hand on her shoulder that was shaking her gently. "Vanellope?"
"Hm? Turbo?" Vanellope questioned the voice for her still stirring awareness was unable to register to the one who spoke her name.
"I'm afraid not, Vanellope." a gentle, yet sorrowful voice spoke on. "It's me, Felix."
Vanellope supported herself up by her elbows and looked to see there standing by the bed was indeed the said handyman. Disappointment did cloud her hopes over, but she was glad to have a conscious company with her.
As Vanellope sat up, she noticed the rice-paper sheets had been pulled over her. "That's weird. I didn't get in the bed, I was laid atop of the sheets." Vanellope furrowed a brow as she looked down at Turbo's still form. His position had not changed at all. He remained flat on his back and all his limbs remained straight and at his sides. Vanellope then threw the sheets off of her while doing so accidentally removing them aside off of Turbo.
"You never know you probably did so while you were asleep. And I doubt Turbo will be comfortable with his boots still on." Felix then leaned over and unzipped the legs of the foot wear and tugged them off, setting them to floor and leaving the racer barefoot.
As Vanellope shuffled to the side of the bed she pulled the sheets back over Turbo which reached to the collar of his jumpsuit.
"He can thank us later." Felix chuckled heartedly with a beaming smile which instantly faded as he noticed the soreness of Vanellope's hazel eyes that was caused by endless crying. Felix then sat himself on the edge of the bed and cupped a hand at Vanellope's chin. The young girl reluctantly allowed her gaze to look upon the handyman.
"Come here, Vanellope." Felix then out stretched his arms open for the young girl to come in to them. Vanellope did so slowly and was now in a warm cradle the handyman could offer to hopefully lift her down sodden spirits.
"Why won't he wake up?" Vanellope muttered.
"He will, Vanellope, and that's a promise." Felix answered. "Resets can take some time, and depending on our era, which was thirty years ago, it could be awhile for Sugar Rush to do its work especially on one with a virus that should have been terminated straight away."
"Speaking of the that, did you check the code? Is that what you found in there?" Vanellope asked.
"Yes, Vanellope, I did. His file had a cloaking virus which was of course tricky to handle, but I've managed to terminate it. And a good thing too because it was reaching its next stage of destroying Turbo entirely from the inside." Felix answered as he looked down at Turbo. "The worst of it would have brought him out of his unconsciousness and... Well, let's just say witnessing it would scar anyone mentally forever."
Vanellope pulled back slowly from Felix's hold so she could look down at the racer properly. "So... he will be ok, right?" She asked.
"Absolutely. His reset mode should be done very soon. I can even check on it later."
"Please do. I'm so worried." Vanellope began to stutter as new tears began to over fill the brim of her eyes. "What if he won't wake up at all?"
"Shhh." Felix soothed as he pulled Vanellope back in to his comforting hold. "He will, Vanellope. He will. He just needs some time. We'll all make sure that he makes progress, I promise."
"Speaking of all, where is Ralph and your wife?" Vanellope asked, hoping the change of subject would lighten her sadness even just slightly.
"Ralph got caught in another Bad Anon meeting as he and I were coming here. As for Tamora, well, the code of Hero's Duty was on the blink so she was needed to stay and see to the problem." Felix answered the girl.
Vanellope hummed a reply to Felix. "What was Turbo like when he was with you in the past?" She asked looking the handyman at his blue eyes.
"Well, I met him in Tapper's on our first day that the arcade opened. We introduced ourselves and got in to talking about our games." Felix answered. A soft smile then slowly sprouted at the corner of his lips. "So from then on we would either meet one another outside our outlets or within the station or even in Tapper's. But after some time something changed within him."
"Was this before he caused his game to be unplugged?" Vanellope asked.
"Yes. He started to become paranoid about been played by a certain amount of gamers. He often complained about not been greatly popular when he was by far the most popular one of the arcade. Why even the day before Road Blasters arrived, Turbo began to hang on everyone's nerves." Felix's smile then began to fade. "His attention seeking got to the point that he tried to make himself heard among the others while the arcade was open. Even Litwak was surprised on how obnoxious he appeared towards those who played Turbo-Time."
"He really wanted to be known then. But why didn't he just wait to see that he would still be played?"
"No-one knows." Felix shrugged his shoulders lightly. "I saw him on the day he came out of his game. I came out of mine because I was far too worried after he told me he would go to the extremity to get rid of Road Blasters. He just drove in to the game like a mad man. When I saw him finally come out, I couldn't pull myself to even notice him. I was mortified that he did such a thing."
Vanellope peeked another look down at Turbo. "And then he came here. He disguised himself and made everyone forget everything and I was shunned just for having a glitch."
"The remarkable thing of it is that Turbo remembers all that he did here in Sugar Rush, and lately he has remembered his time he stayed in Game Central Station by dreaming them. That was the only place he could call home. No-one would allow him to even stay awhile in their games. I would have allowed him, and I did offer one time, but Ralph and the Nice-Landers despised him greatly."
Felix then sighed as he self-consciously stroked at Vanellope's raven hair. "Now, why don't you get some rest? I'm sure Turbo would want you to as well. He wouldn't want you to worry about him." Felix then suggested as he allowed his hold to loosen.
"Yeah. Ok. Are you going back to your game?" Vanellope asked.
"Yes. The arcade will be opening soon and I said to Tamora I would nip over in Hero's Duty and make sure it's running well."
Vanellope hummed again and pulled back, now sitting with her shoulders hunched over.
"Take care, Vanellope, and please promise me you'll get some rest." said Felix as he got to his feet.
"I promise." Vanellope whispered.
Felix smiled and turned on his heels. "Goodbye, Vanellope."
Vanellope gave a slow wave to the handyman as he left the room. "Well, I may as well go tell the other racers. I'm on the Roster, but I can't race today. I'll have to choose someone else to replace me." Vanellope spoke to herself.
As Vanellope got to her feet, Turbo began to jerk and twitch in strange positions. Vanellope immediately jumped back out of shock. She then stared at Turbo in horror. The racer appeared to be having a severe fit whilst also glitching vigorously.
Vanellope hurried to the door, swung it open and screamed, "Felix! Felix!" luckily the handyman was still close by. He spun on his toes and hurried to Vanellope's shouts. "Felix! Hurry, it's Turbo! There's something wrong with him!"
Felix managed to peer a look over Vanellope. He gasped as he saw Turbo still in a suspected fit. "Vanellope, stay here with Turbo. He could hurt himself if he isn't accompanied. I'm going to go look in the code. I only hope it isn't what I think it is."
"Then hurry!" Vanellope immediately shrieked to the top of her lungs. "Sour Bill will be in the grand hall. He'll get you in."
Felix instantly dashed down the corridor making his way to where Sour Bill would be to get him once again in the chamber of codes.
"Sour Bill!" Felix called out as he came to a halt before the throne in the grand hall. There, the lime-green cough drop appeared, hummed in question with his usual monotone voice. "Sour Bill, I need to get back in to the code chamber. There is something wrong with Turbo. He's greatly vulnerable right now."
"Ok, Fix-It. Follow me." Felix followed on after Sour Bill, heading deeper in to Sugar Rush. Finally, they entered the main entrance. The walls were neon sky-blue wires which were continuously fed of electrons. Sour Bill entered the cheat code among the Nintendo vault door which immediately swung open.
Felix hurriedly tied the licorice line around his waist and lunged himself in to the code, drifting along in the zero- gravity chamber. He urged himself along towards the outer files of the node graph until he spotted the odd one out; a steel-blue file. Felix suddenly gasped in horror. There sitting rather snug on Turbo's file was a strange, dark purple substance that was half the size of the file it had claimed which was also oozing with a crimson liquid.
"Oh, my land! The virus came back!" Felix exclaimed aloud. He then pulled his golden hammer out from its handle and tapped the substance with his tool. The substance appeared to curl within itself and less liquid refrained to dribble from inside the file.
Felix tapped at the substance again; it began to shrink and the oozing had stopped. Again. This time it tried to fend off the hammer. But Felix kept hitting the substance until finally, but shockingly a familiar pair of lime-green eyes glistened. "A... A Cy-Bug?!" Felix gasped, drifting further back slightly.
And indeed the cyphid virus it was. It was at its first stage of life; small and oddly looking of an infant which had been embraced in a coating of a more dangerous threat than the Cy-Bug was. Felix knew that if this Cy-Bug had tried to consume the substance it would have become it therefore becoming a greater threat to rather than just Turbo's file, but to the whole of Sugar Rush.
Felix mentally slapped himself out of his thoughts and immediately struck the Cy-Bug with his hammer. The creature hissed as it writhed around in agony. Felix then conked the Cy-Bug again. This time, it fell silent as though it was unconscious. Felix cautiously stretched out a hand and nudged the Cy-Bug. It did not stir to the action.
Felix then put away his hammer and picked up the Cy-Bug by its tassel tail. He then turned his attention to Turbo's file and tapped it twice. The file flashed as it became transparent. There an option box appeared which read; "Reset failed. Retry?"
"It's the only way. So he's likely to be unconscious longer because of the virus." Felix muttered to himself as he then tapped the "Retry" option. The file flashed again with another option; "Reset?" Felix tapped the word and once again the words "Reset Initializing..." appeared.
"Now, to get rid of you." Felix said as he looked down at the Cy-Bug he held. Felix tugged on the licorice line to have Sour Bill pull him back safely.
Meanwhile, Turbo's fit immediately subsided. The racer shot up in a straight position and his eyes snapped open which he instantly shielded from the immediate brightness of the room that welcomed him.
"Turbo?" the racer looked up to see Vanellope now appear in his sight.
"V... Vanellope." Turbo spoke in a dry voice.
Vanellope then reached out to take hold of his hand that hung over his eyes. "Are you ok?" She then asked.
Turbo could only shake his head. "Vanellope, I... I can't k - keep awake." He whispered as he allowed himself to lay his head to rest back down against the plush marsh-mellow pillow. "It... feels like wh - when I got out of the... the mountain."
"It's ok. You'll be fine. You won't be going any where. You'll just be asleep for awhile." said Vanellope.
"I don't want to go under. What if I... if I d - die?" Turbo stuttered.
"You won't die!" Vanellope said sternly, squeezing Turbo's hand rather tightly. "You'll be waking up again before you even realized you went under."
"Promise me... please?"
"I promise, Turbo."
"Vanellope!" the said girl turned her head to see Felix come racing in to the room. "It was a virus and - !" the handyman fell silent to the scene that met his eyes. "Oh... Has he?"
"He's still awake," Vanellope answered. "but only for abit though. He says he can't keep himself awake."
Felix then hurried over to Turbo's bed side and leaned over so the racer could see the handyman.
"Felix... thank you. Take care of Vanellope until I wake up again. Someone h - has to keep her in order after all." Turbo said as he chuckled softly.
Felix couldn't help but chuckle softly. "I promise, Turbo. Now you just rest. The reset is continuing. You're safe now." Turbo smiled weakly as his eyes drooped shut. His hold on Vanellope's hand went limp. He was once again in blissful unconsciousness.
Vanellope made sure it was unconsciousness Turbo had befallen to and not her worst fears. She laid the side of head upon his chest to hear for the racer's breathing and of course his heart. Both confirmed that he was simply out cold.
Vanellope pulled back, sighing with relief before remembering she had company behind her. "I was afraid that - "
"It's ok, Vanellope." Felix set a hand on to the girl's shoulder. "To be honest, I would have done the same just to be on the safe side."
Vanellope looked up at Felix and smiled weakly. She then looked down at the Cy-Bug that was still passed out and that Felix still held. "Where did that come from?" She asked nervously, pointing a trembling finger at the cyphid virus.
Felix hoisted up the threat. "It was in the code among Turbo's file. Luckily it was contained in a substance that was the cloaking virus which returned or else it would have consumed everything." He then looked the Cy-Bug over. "I'm not sure how it got in Sugar Rush, but we must get rid of it."
"And before it wakes up." Vanellope continued. "If your wife was here she'd definitely shoot it or Ralph would have crushed it. Did you only manage to knock it out?"
"Yes. Luckily it didn't respond to the fixing technique."
"But how can we get rid of it?" Vanellope asked in a still fearful tone.
"The only way would be to kill it, and I can only suggest the lava of Diet Cola mountain." Felix then looked at Vanellope hopefully. "Could you possibly drive me there so I can get rid of this before it wakes up?" He asked the young girl who then felt tears prick at the corner of her eyes.
Vanellope still didn't feel comfortable on leaving Turbo's side. She knew right now she had to think about her game and the safety that she had to ensure for all the citizens of Sugar Rush. Vanellope looked up at Felix as a tear flowed freely down her cheek. "Ok. Let's go."
And before Vanellope could take a step forth, Felix stopped her by placing a gloved hand on her shoulder. "I'll make it quick so you can be back here to watch over Turbo."
Vanellope nodded her head lightly before Felix wiped away the new tears that began to stray down the young girls rosy cheeks.
Soon the young racer and handyman had entered the secret entrance to the boiling pit of Diet Cola mountain. Vanellope shifted the cart in to neutral and switched off the engine. Felix hopped off the cart. He then picked up the Cy-Bug by its tassel tail.
As Vanellope got out of her cart, Felix wandered over to the edge of the Cola. Vanellope, who was now standing by Felix's side watched the handyman raise the Cy-Bug over the pit and release his grip. The Cy-Bug immediately began to disintegrate in the bubbling liquid.
"Now Sugar Rush is safe." Felix muttered.
"And so is Turbo." Vanellope spoke up, but in a whisper. Felix looked down at Vanellope and wrapped a comforting arm over the young girl's shoulder. Vanellope leaned against Felix and began to sob. "I'm sorry." She whispered as she tried to fight back the already flowing tears. "It's just whenever I think about him now because of how he is..."
"Shhh." Felix soothed as he allowed Vanellope to embrace him to gain little comfort whilst he stroked lightly at her back. "I understand, Vanellope." He then cupped her chin so the young girl would now look at him directly at his baby blue eyes. "But you just remember, even if it's hard to do so, to think positive and try to carry on. He wouldn't want you to be upset."
"I know." Vanellope murmured through another sob that made her bottom lip quiver. "Can we head back, now?" She asked.
"We may." Felix answered. "But I really need to get to Tamora and check the code of Hero's Duty before the arcade opens."
"I'll drive you up to the exit." Vanellope back and made her way to her cart with Felix following on behind her.
Once Vanellope had dropped Felix off at the exit, she was quick to make her way back to the castle. But before she was within the area, in his appointed bedroom, Turbo was slowly regaining consciousness. He groaned softly as he fluttered open his eyes. The world before him was in a sea of a blurry obscurity.
'Ugh! I hate waking up after blacking out. It's always a blur.'
Turbo then furrowed his brow as he tried to unearth the answer as to why he was waking up in a unfamiliar place. 'Just like my memory; Where am I?' as Turbo blinked several times to clear the unconscious blur, he then saw two grey and steel-blue figures standing over him.
After another one or two blinks, the figures became clearer; the Turbo-Time twins! He was hallucinating. He was sure of it. The steel-blue jumpsuit wearing twins weren't alive. Right?
"Are... are you real?" Turbo asked weakly.
"Have you heard him, Jack?" Russel snickered to his twin. "Of course we are, Turbo."
"Well... y - you've never lied to me before." Turbo muttered under his breath. "At least I - I don't remember that you have ever mis - mislead me. Although I... I still believe I'm hallucinating."
"We would never steer you wrong, Turbo." said Jack as he placed a hand on to Turbo's shoulder. He could feel the warmth radiating from his brother's palm.
"S - So you are alive?" Turbo asked.
"We always were." Russel answered. "We took a detour here in Sugar Rush and we've stayed far away from the tracks. Not to mention a couple of days ago when we first arrived we overheard a rather heated conversation between you and the lead character of this game."
"We have tried to catch you alone," Jack continued, "but she was with you all the time as though you were joined at the hip or something."
"That was Vanellope." Turbo whispered in a husky tone. "She was and has been helping me to control my glitch."
"So she's not your girlfriend then?" Russel asked, snickering.
"She's n - nine, you idiots!" Turbo snapped weakly. "Don't be so vulgar."
"We're just kidding, Turbo. Relax." Jack soothed his brother.
"You better be." Turbo snarled lightly. "Because that is just plain wrong if you thought of it in that way."
"Come on, Turbo, have you really forgotten that much about us?" Russel asked as he gave the invalid racer a nudge at his shoulder.
"Agh! Easy!" Turbo hissed lightly under his breath. Sadly the simplest of a soft nudge was not very welcoming to Turbo's still recovering form. Not to mention he still had a few cuts and bruises that decided to linger after been born from the several chunks of rock and spits of Cola lava that had come in contact with the racer. "I have been comatose for... Well, I - I don't know how long for."
"We wouldn't know either," said Jack with a quick shrug. "This is the only time we've managed to sneak in the castle."
"Yeah, we're risking it just to see how our Turbs is doing. But you're looking definitely beaten up; all these grazes. What have you been doing to yourself?" Russel asked as he gently touched one of the cuts among Turbo's arm that was mostly bare due to his jumpsuit been tattered and displaying more wounds.
Sadly Turbo, who could not remember why he was covered in wounds could only look at the twins crestfallen.
"I can't remember, but I'm afraid I w - won't be mu... much talkative now." Turbo stuttered weakly. Russel and Jack's golden eyes grew wide with wonder along with shock towards Turbo's spoken words. "I just can't keep awake." He exhaled through a shuddering breath.
Russel glared at Jack. "He... He's not dying! Right?!"
Jack appeared to go paler than Russel or even Turbo. Both Twins looked down at Turbo whose eyes were drooping shut. "He's not deteriorating among his body." Jack mumbled under his breath. "Turbo?" He set a hand on the invalid racer's arm. The said racer forced his weary eyes to open. "Are you just - ?"
"Sleeping." Turbo quickly replied. He could feel himself drifting in to blissful slumber all too quickly. "I just need more... more r - rest." Turbo's eyes gave in instantly. He was now out cold once again.
Jack and Russel could only stare down at Turbo with warm smiles. "He looks so... peaceful." said Jack as he reached out a hand to brush along the gravity defying fringe of Turbo's Mohawk.
"And that's definitely new to us." Russel continued. "I can't believe we found him, but I couldn't apologise to him."
"It's ok, Russel." said Jack as he set a comforting hand on his twin's shoulder. "We'll be hanging around in this game. You'll be able to tell him when he's conscious again."
"I hope so." Russel murmured as he looked down at Turbo. "I just wish I had been more, well, just abit more gullible like you always were towards him."
"No. You should have been more understanding towards his personality." said Jack.
Russel eyed his twin and then he looked down at Turbo. He wasn't sure what came over him for he had leaned forward and pulled Turbo gently in to a warm embrace. "Just wake up for me, Turbo." Russel stammered as he held his brother. "Please, just for a moment. I want you to hear my apology."
Before Jack could say otherwise, the sound of squeaking boots on the cookie-tiled floor caught his attention. "Oh, Mod! Russel, we have to go. Now!" Jack exclaimed as he grasped his twin by his arm, tugging at him rather roughly.
"Ok, ok!" Russel snapped as he pried his arm free from the twins grips. "Come on! Hurry!"
Jack and Russel kicked up their feet as they made a mad dash out of the room and hurried along the corridor and just in time. Vanellope had just approached around the corner. Luckily for the twins they had managed to leave the area undetected.
The young girl trudged on in to the room where Turbo remained. Unfortunately for her, it was nothing new; Turbo was still unconscious. Vanellope sighed as she dawdled up to Turbo's bedside.
As she came to the bed she pushed herself up to sit on the edge and look down at the comatose racer crestfallen. She was just thankful that the worst had not befallen the racer. Vanellope wouldn't be sure on what to do with herself if he died. Losing a dear friend was just too much for even the thought to settle within her mind. But it was hard for her to not pay it any attention.
Tears began to flow along from the young girls eyes. Through a stammering sob, Vanellope laid herself against Turbo, allowing her head to come to rest and nuzzle at the nape of the racer's neck.
The young girl continued on crying softly as she embraced the unconscious racer. She remained there, sobbing quietly, her tears staining the shoulders of Turbo's white jumpsuit. Vanellope of course could not help it. At this present time, the situation was becoming too much for the young girl. There was nothing else she could do.
Well, there's more to that and more on the way. Some parts need a read-over and such until I'm satisfied this will end well. See you in two days with chapter 26.