Sorry for the long wait between chapters but hopefully it was worth the wait.
Turbo sat on the edge of Felix's bed, holding a coconut cookie (specially requested and baked by Mary) in his hand. Skittles snapped at it, but he kept it out of reach of the silly candy unicorn.
At last, the game day ended and Felix walked in as the lights in the game dimmed.
"Turbo!" Felix greeted him. "You're back early."
"Hardly surprising," Turbo huffed. "Thought you of all people wouldn't be surprised by that, Felix."
"Now, why so glum?" Felix asked as he sat on the bed beside him. Turbo crushed the cookie in his hand.
"I don't know what I'm feeling!" Turbo groaned. He leaned over and clutched at Felix, leaving cookie crumbs on his shirt.
"Did something happen with Vanellope? Did you have a fight?" Felix guessed. Turbo laughed, a harsh, bitter sound.
"Oh yes, of course we had a fight." He glared at the ground. "And then I found out something that made me like this." He gestured to his sad state.
"And that is?" Felix prompted. He took Turbo's hand and squeezed it gently.
"Her game was coded from mine," he mumbled, so quietly that he bit his tongue with every other word. "My code was turned into King Candy."
"Vanellope's father," Felix realised, his eyes widening. "But that means-"
"I know what it means," Turbo groaned. "It means that I'm her father, Felix."
"And that's put you in a kind of fugue," Felix summed up.
"What?"
"A fugue, it's when you can only think of one thing. At least, I think that's what it is. Tammy mentioned it the other day."
"Of course," Turbo growled. "Here I am, moping around, and you have your girlfriend to focus on. Go meet her, she probably misses you." He looked up at Felix, his yellow eyes watery with tears.
"No, Turbo, I'm going to stay here. Who knows what you'll do in your current state?" Felix reasoned, resting a hand on his shoulder.
"Drink Tappers dry," Turbo responded seriously. "That's what I feel like doing. Or drinking everything in the soda fountain in Sugar Rush."
"And that's why I'm going to stay with you," Felix declared.
"But-"
"No buts, mister! I'll have a night in tonight and if Tammy comes over, I'll send her away." Turbo smiled at Felix's generosity.
"Really? You'd do that for me?" Turbo asked, blinking away his tears. Felix nodded and Turbo hugged him. "Thanks, Felix." An annoying part of him told him that this was how to get Felix's attention, but he squashed it down. He didn't want to ever take Felix's love for granted again.
They decided to stay in the penthouse. Felix asked Mary to bring up ice cream, and they ate it sitting on the couch. Just like they had the very first time they'd kissed. But this time, they didn't kiss. Although Turbo did really want to kiss him.
Turbo ate his ice cream quietly, unable to stop himself from smiling. Felix was spoiling him, like he had when they'd dated. It was refreshing to see this kind of kindness that was sweet without being overly sweet.
"Y'know, all my time in Sugar Rush there was one thing I missed more than anything except you," Turbo remarked, leaning against Felix.
"And what's that?" Felix wondered. He didn't push him away like Turbo expected him to.
"Companionship," the racer shrugged. "Before, I had you and the twins to talk to. Mostly you. But Sour Bill and all those candies and racers aren't exactly great talkers. I don't think the candies even can talk."
"Even the greatest racer ever needs a friend," Felix offered. "Maybe I could just be your friend."
"No," Turbo decided, glaring at him. "I can't be you friend, Felix. I'm in love with you. I can either be your lover or nothing to you."
"Turbo," Felix groaned. "Why talk about this now?"
"You brought it up," Turbo huffed. He put the ice cream on the little coffee table and stood from his seat. He swayed slightly, as though he were drunk. Maybe Mary had put alcohol in his dessert. It had tasted different to Sugar Rush ice cream, after all. His head had even begun to pound.
"Turbo?" Felix's voice sounded almost like it was coming through a tunnel from far away.
"What did she put in my ice cream?" he asked. He swung around, intending to face Felix, but instead he fell into the handyman's arms. He felt Felix's ungloved hand on his forehead, the tough skin calming. And then the world swirled away into blackness, but not before he heard the door opening and heavy footsteps entering the room.
Felix was worried. Turbo had seemed absolutely fine, until he'd stood up. And then he'd gone so pale that his already-grey skin seemed to become several shades greyer.
He looked up as Ralph walked into the room, one hand still on Turbo's forehead while he held him in his arms.
"Oh, you're busy. Never mind, I'll come back later," Ralph decided, and ducked to walk back out the double doors.
"No, Ralph, wait!" Felix called after him. The larger man turned around, smiling at being allowed in the penthouse. Felix felt a pang of guilt at having kept his friend out of it for so long.
"What happened to him?" the giant asked, finally noticing the state that Turbo was in. "Did you get him drunk or something?"
"No," Felix said firmly. "You know how I feel about him drinking. Even before. It's something else."
"And you expect me to know what it is," Ralph stated. "Me, the lumbering oaf with no brain."
"Now, you know I don't think of you like that," Felix reminded him. "I just want you to taste this ice cream, see what's wrong with it. And then ask around to see if anyone knows who contaminated Turbo's food. Clearly, someone wants to kill him."
"Alright," Ralph nodded. He walked slowly over to the table, flinching everytime something rattled. The ground shook underfoot, possibly scaring the other residents. But if one of them was responsible for the sick racer in his arms... well, they deserved to be scared.
Ralph dipped his finger in the ice cream, tasted it, and grimaced. "Well, it certainly doesn't taste anything like the ice cream over at Sugar Rush. It's kinda bitter." He shuddered and put it back down. "That better not make me sick."
"Ralph, you're a big guy. I asked you to taste it because whatever poison is in it is obviously just enough to put a smaller guy out of action. You'd probably get a little stomach bug at worst," Felix assured. Turbo's forehead was becoming alarmingly hot, yet his skin still had such a pale appearance.
"I haven't tasted poison- well, not since I once ate bug poison, and I never made that mistake again- but I'm guessing that's what it'd taste like," Ralph confirmed. "It's definitely not alcohol." Felix sighed in resignation. He really didn't want to ask but...
"D'you think you could maybe go around, scare up some information on who did this?" he requested, cringing but grinning. "I hate to ask you to use your natural scare factor, but..."
"It probably could've been anyone in the arcade," Ralph warned him. "You know everyone hates him."
"I know," Felix nodded. "He knows it, too." He stroked Turbo's messy black hair and found it sweaty. This was not good. He turned a worried expression on Ralph. "Try to hurry?"
"I can try," Ralph promised. "But I'm only doing it for you. I couldn't care less whether or not he died, but you'd be upset if he did. I remember what you were like when he first disappeared."
And Ralph walked away, out of the penthouse. Felix heard him going down the stairs that he'd enlarged specifically for the wrecker. He owed him a lot- it had been him, after all, who he'd leaned on for comfort after Turbo went Turbo.
The arcade had maintained a hushed silence and atmosphere of fear ever since Turbo Time and Road Blasters had been taken away. Everyone was scared that someone they loved would be unplugged. It had never happened before, but now they knew that it was a possibility. They never saw anyone from the unplugged games again, so they assumed them to be dead. The games never came back, either.
After game day, one week after Turbo's disappearance, Felix headed straight for the dump rather than the penthouse. Nobody followed him- they could all see how upset he was.
He ended up sitting on a pile of bricks in the dump. He hid his face in his knees as he finally allowed himself to cry. Every day, he had to stay strong for the people in his game and the people in the arcade. More than a few, especially Tapper, had known what Turbo meant to him. But nobody really cared that the troublemaker was gone. Some were even glad.
"Felix?" He looked up, eyes streaming, to see the game's resident wrecker. He looked away. They weren't friends, not yet. They weren't antagonistic to each other, either.
"Hey, Ralph," Felix greeted him glumly, and wiped his eyes with his gloves. Ralph sat next to him, and his hulking form blocked out the ambient light. That was good.
"You okay?" Ralph asked. It was really a redundant question, and yet no one had cared to ask it.
"No," Felix responded. "Turbo's gone. He's d-dead and it's all my fault!"
"Hey," Ralph said, placing a gentle finger on Felix's shoulder. "It's not your fault, Felix. Nobody could've stopped him from gamejumping. He was just jealous."
"But I could've stopped him!" Felix exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "If I'd just talked to him about it. If I'd told him how great he was. But all I could say was that the game's graphics were so high-quality." He took his hat off and fisted his hands in it. "I wish Road Blasters had never been plugged in."
"You and me both," Ralph admitted. Felix looked at him curiously.
"Why would you care about another game?" he wondered. "You're just a bad guy."
"Those racers were jerks!" Ralph elaborated. "All high and mighty, acting like they owned the place. No wonder Turbo got jealous!"
"Really?" Felix straightened, feeling somewhat lighter. "So it wasn't my fault?"
"No," Ralph assured him. "It wasn't. It was their fault."
"But I never heard them talking like that," Felix commented.
"You don't leave the game much," Ralph sighed. "Those guys strut around like they're the best."
"Turbo does too," Felix pointed out.
"But only when he wins a race," Ralph reminded him. "Those guys, even if they lose, boast all the time! They have the best graphics, they have the best controls, the kids like them best- it's enough to drive a guy nuts!"
"Just like it did to Turbo," Felix realised. "Oh, if I could only turn back time! I'd spend more time with him, make sure he never had to hear a nasty word they said. Too late now."
"Felix," Ralph said, but he didn't say anything else. There was nothing else to say. So they sat, together, on the brick pile. Just waiting for the tears to stop.
Felix trusted Ralph. If anyone could fix this, he could. He sighed and stroked Turbo's cheek. He couldn't have prevented this, either. But at least this time he could do something about it. As long as it wasn't too late...