Chapter 70: Turbo's story

(Quick A/N: Finally get to explain who Turbo is in this story lol (side note: the previous chapters were mostly written just to have some extra fluff for Calhoun and Felix ;D They strayed majorly from the plot- but added to their growing relationship ;))

Whereas the other characters have been fairly easy to 'transfer over' into this Dog AU, making Turbo's character (and his backstory) fit into the storyline has been kinda a tricky one to handle. Honestly, I was grasping at straws for a while, trying to figure out how to make him effectively make sense and add to the story (he was a very MAJOR, IN-DEPTH character in the movie, after all, lol).

But I was finally able to concoct something that hopefully makes sense lol As a result, though, this Turbo has a completely different story than what WiR Turbo did (one that may make people pity him more?)...but I feel it will transfer over well in later chapters. Hope all enjoy and as always, thanks for reading!! :D)

As the train trudged along down the long stretch of tracks, its unsee cargo in the back sat at the edge in a still silence. All the corgi and the doberman could do was just pursed their furry lips together and stared out over the railing of the caboose, both of their minds running amuck.

For the first time since they met, Felix wasn't rambling on about who-knew-what, nor was he making goo-goo eyes at a certain doberman beside him. And in turn, Calhoun wasn't snarling and smirking down at him, annoying yet intrigued by the talkative, chipper corgi she was slowly begging to view as a friend.

For once in each of their lives, neither pooch knew what to say.

Both were secretly too afraid to speak anymore- especially to the other. They both felt they had already done a lot of emotional damage on the other and were beyond scared of pushing them even further away than they felt like they had...

And even though they were both feeling a mixture of very different emotions, each dog oddly welcomed the silence.

As the usual train sounds were the only noise filling the air, Felix sat in reticence, having nothing of importance to say. And Calhoun was all too stoic-

Up until a new line of thought hit her, causing one of her large, dark ears to twitch slightly.

"So...what's his deal, anyway?" She asked Felix suddenly, startlingly the corgi a little at hearing her speak.

Overcoming his shock of her unexpected words, Felix eyed up at the doberman- feeling that he, as usual, had completely missed something.

"Umm... Who now?"

"Ralph," the sergeant responded as if it was obvious, her eyes serious as she continued to peer over the edge of the railing. "What's his deal, huh? Why'd he really go A-WOL on ya- despite, of course, that immature disagreement he made with one of the other dogs in your pet shop," she added with an eye roll.

"Oh," Felix connected before biting his lip- somewhat unsure of how to truly answer her. "Well, that disagreement is really just half the story, Calhoun. I think it all goes back much further -and much deeper- than that..."

"Interesting," Calhoun mused as she raised a tan eyebrow, her eyes wandering down to look at him. "How so, Felix?"

"Well... see, Ralph has been the guard dog of our pet shop for five years now, protectin' us at all times," he told her, his voice slowly filling with more and more shame. "But the other dogs in the shop call him- well...a bad dog. Really for just doing his job and for him bein' his large size and all."

At his shocking words, the doberman jerked her head down to fully look at the cringing corgi sitting at her feet.

Sure, Ralph made some pretty bad choices...but calling another dog a flat-out bad dog like that, especially for him just doing his job or over things he couldn't control...

"Well, that's lower than a dachshund's stomach," Calhoun couldn't help but hiss irately under her breath.

"I know, right? I think it's wrong, too," Felix agreed quickly, his large orange ears slowly falling behind his head as a new reality hit him. "Well, at least, now I do. I've never known what it felt like to be called a bad dog... but now I can only imagine how much it must hurt... How much it must have hurt Ralph..."

Her rich, ebon eyes growing soft, Calhoun felt a strange smile of sympathy tug at her lips- but quickly swallow it down as Felix continued.

"Anyways, Ralph wanted to live inside the pet shop with us and all," the corgi lamented, "and to gain the respect and approval he wanted, too...Which I guess a good collar would've earned for him..."

Pausing, Felix crumbled a bit as he winced, afraid what of Calhoun's response would be at his words. When she said nothing, however, the corgi shook his large head and sighed, regaining his earlier guilt and pain.

"But I never thought Ralph would make a deal like that...," he gulped, his baby blue eyes widening. "A-and.. just go Turbo like that-"

"You keeping mentioning this Turbo fellow," Calhoun interrupted with a look of curiosity. "What -or who- is this Turbo?"

"Oh... I guess you hadn't heard the story of him, then," the corgi realized then, looking back up at her in surprise as he began. "Well, Turbo was a fairly well-known dog in Arcadia back in the day. He seemed to have it all for many years: being called a good dog, with a good life with a good owner. In fact, Turbo had the life that every dog in town wished to have. The relationship he had with his owner was super close. Those two did everythin' together- you know: lots of dog parks, drive-in movies, goin' on walks twice a day, and whatnot. They were always, always seen together, practically inseparable- and Turbo sure let everyone else know about it, that's for sure. If he wasn't with his owner, that pit bull was braggin' about how strong their relationship was.

"But then things for Turbo...changed all of a sudden," Felix continued cautiously. "His owner's new girlfriend moved in with them and...well, after that, things just went downhill for Turbo. His owner started to not take him anywhere anymore and just left him at home a lot. They were rarely ever seen together anymore- and it seemed like we barely even saw Turbo anymore. And then all of a sudden, we found out why. Turbo's owner had started chainin' him up outside- somethin' that Turbo wouldn't ever really explain why-"

"Well, two's a company, three's a crowd. Sounds like a conflict of interest was happening there," Calhoun bluntly intruded as she gradually laid down on the platform- making sure she was going easy on her still aching leg. "Seen it happen a million times before."

Besides her, Felix cocked his head to the side.

"Say what now?" he asked innocently in his rich deep accent.

Smirking at his naivety, the doberman rolled her eyes and playfully pushed Felix over with her long snout.

"It's a fancy way of saying that I think Turbo and his owner's new girlfriend didn't quite get along. She may've even been afraid of him as a pit bull," she explained as the corgi quickly scrambled back up and shook his head clear of the gentle shove. "So when it came down to it, his owner had to choose either the girl or the dog- and evidently chose the girl. Sounds like he somewhat abandoned Turbo without actually abandoning him. As I said, I've seen it happen countless times- especially with pit bulls."

"I guess that makes sense," the corgi replied, biting the inside of his lip in an overly cute way as he thought. "That would explain a lot...like how after his owner died, Turbo wasn't taken in by the girlfriend. He was just placed quickly in the pound."

"Ooh, ouch. Losing an owner, then going from a home to a pound? Tough break," Calhoun whistled softly. "What happened to his owner?"

"I dunno," Felix shrugged, scooting over to lay down right beside the doberman. "Some sort of trauma to his head and face, I heard. Turbo was the only animal who knew for sure what had happened- and since he was in the pound at that point, nothin' was ever confirmed through the gossip spread around town...

"But what's sad, too, is that once in the pound, Turbo never got adopted out again, never got a second chance," the corgi explained sadly. "Not only did he have to deal with the grief of losing his owner, but when people would come in to adopt a dog out, they'd take one look at him and label him a bad dog, solely based on his breed as a pit bull, I guess...

"At any rate, Turbo got sick of it all and somehow escape the pound," Felix continued as he laid his head down on his paws. "And within days, he quickly became notorious in the town by all dogs around for being vicious and cruel, crafty and manipulative. Some even claimed he had told them in private that Turbo himself had killed his owner, although he denied it, of course. Point was, he was no longer called a good dog with a good life...

"He became a flat-out bad dog all of a sudden. It was as if all the pain he'd gone through made a sudden shift happen in his DNA, or who he was as a dog, or somethin' crazy..."

"Impossible," Calhoun scoffed his theory off, rolling her eyes yet again. "A dog can't just change his DNA like that. Change in personality due to emotional wounds, yeah...," she mumbled out softly, "but you can't just change who you are. A leopard can't just lose its spots."

"Yeah, I guess," the corgi agreed softly, although not sounding so sure. "Something seemed to snap in him, though...Anyways, Turbo ended up livin' and hidin' in the same junkyard that Ralph did for years. They both, with several other abandoned or disregarded dogs labeled as bad, had formed a strong pack... with Turbo as their harsh leader. He practically bullied the other pack members into submission and tried to make them become vicious, bad dogs like him. He even made each of them swear that none of them would ever bond with a human or be adopted by one- for 'their own protection', as Turbo claimed."

"Jeez," the doberman beside Felix broke in, shaking her head in a stupor. "That Turbo mutt sounded a little embittered...and toxic, really. Those two emotions never mix very well."

"But you can't really blame him, though," the sympathetic corgi told her, his eyes wide and compassionate. "Turbo had been hurt so bad... He had every right to be embittered."

"Maybe," Calhoun mused, "but he was allowing himself to become embittered over something he couldn't even control. As much as he may've wanted to, Turbo couldn't control his owner died, nor could he control the stigma attached to his breed, either."

The doberman abruptly paused to sigh, now avoiding looking at the corgi beside her at all cost.

"And even more so, Turbo couldn't control that his owner fell in love with someone," she admitted dangerously softly. "No one can control a power or a force that strong..."

"Th-that's true...," Felix connected slowly, unable to look anywhere but Calhoun all at once- which made the doberman squirm uncomfortably.

Shaking his head hard to clear it of any mushy feelings threatening to surface inside it, the corgi sighed.

"Anyways, one day Zangief, a husky in their pack, was found and then got adopted as a family dog," he voiced, "and the others saw how happy he was and wanted that life instead of what they had. So slowly, one by one, the other dogs became useful family pets as well. Or, in Ralph's case, became the guard dog for the pet shop.

"Then Turbo kinda lost it; couldn't handle the pain of rejection- all over again, I guess...That, and he was no doubt jealous all the others got adopted but he didn't yet again. At least, that's what Ralph thinks," Felix pointed out.

"Because of it all, Turbo had reached a breaking point. One day he swore loudly to all the other dogs, former pack members or not, that he would be a good dog and gain a good life -and get another owner," the corgi raised his eyebrows. "He'd even change his look, he said, somehow magically becoming an actual good dog breed if he had to...and that everyone who betrayed him would pay. After that, he was never seen again."

Feeling a strange shiver running up her back, the doberman looked right at the corgi now shivering himself beside her.

"What ever began of him?" She asked curiously.

"No one really knows," the corgi admitted mysteriously. "Even now that months upon months have passed, he's never been truly spotted. Some dogs claim they saw him in some town in the south awhile back; others say you can still see himself roaming through the back streets of Arcadia, though I think that's just a myth."

Sitting back up, the corgi went airborne for a moment as the train hit a bump in the track.

"A part of me thinks that although he was once well-loved by his owner at one point, Turbo was just really bad to his core," he suddenly surprised Calhoun by saying as he regained his footing. "And although he wanted to change it and be good, maybe Turbo -wherever he is now- will never be able to be good...and not just because of his breed."