As Vanellope raced towards the cellar, she saw multiple racers crying and hugging each other. A few saw her go by and dropped thier eyes in shame. The Lemon Twist twins were sniffing and wiping thier tears, and the one in the angel food cake outfit was sitting down with Danny Drizzle, talking quietly.
She reached the doors and went to grab them, but a zip sounded and a line of code passed over the lock. A block of what looked to be a square jolly rancher had been fused to the handles, so that she couldn't get in.
"Turbo!" She screamed, kicking the door. "Turbo!!! I need to talk to you, come out of there!" She kicked the door again, the sound echoing through the empty hallway.
She blew out a frustrated breath, just as the others came around the corner.
"How's Sour Gum?" She asked, and Peppermark answered, "Good, Felix used his hammer and fixed him up."
"Good. Ralph, mind giving me a hand?" She pointed towards the green block of candy, "Or, should I say, a fist?
Ralph grinned and walked forward, bashing the door twice before it caved in. The tunnel leading to the code was alot darker, and there was no more laughter echoing.
Vanellope led the way, hoping in and running down the corridor. "Hey!" Someone called out behind her, but she ignored them, running faster.
She ran until her feet dropped from under her and she was floating, the code of the game right in front of her and casting an eerie blue glow.
"Turbo?" She called out, her heart beating quickly from the run and her breath still a bit heavy.
There was only silence in response. Vanellope scowled. Fine, if he wasn't coming to see her, she'd go and find him. She glitched from place to place, looking for the familiar white helmet with the big red "T."
She eventually found it, feeling triumphant, but when she glitched over, it was revealed be only the helmet, with no Turbo attached. It was tangled in the wires, and she began to look around.
She gasped when she saw him, just in front of her, sitting on a box and looking down to where he'd dropped (or..thrown, is what it looked like) the helmet. "Turbo...?"
"I never wanted to hurt anyone," he said suddenly, refusing to meet her eyes. "I just...I was selfish. I didn't want to reconnect myself into the game evey time you raced. You were the main character, and you were picked alot, so...yeah."
Vanellope was frozen in place. This man, this awful, horrible man, had attached himself to her game, turned her into a glitch, locked her away in some remote dungeon, and almost got Ralph's game unplugged...so why did she feel any pity at all towards him?
"I've heard the rumors about me. That I was just a jealous man who wanted the racing all to myself...but that's not true. You all saw how the Twins treated me...well, not you, anyway, your game wasn't around...every time I won, they'd be angry. And I...I didn't know why, I mean," he chuckled a bit, his shoulders staying slumped, "the player controlled me, that was the game, and I couldn't help it.
"So I tried to run off, to a game that would appreciate me. There were no other racing games until Road Blasters was plugged in. I felt trapped in my own world. And I thought, hey, cool, a racing game I can be a part of. I'll try that.
"But the game's code couldn't support me. I hadn't known then how to incorporate myself into the code and therefore the game. I'd made a mistake."
Vanellope tried to cut in, but the others had reached the room, Ralph in the lead. He called out, "Vanellope? Hey, kid, you in here?"
"Of course she's in here, where else could she go?" Someone responded, probably Sour Gum.
Vanellope turned to Turbo, the blue glow catching on his hair. "And then what?"
He sighed, but continued, "and then, I went to tappers. Had a few root beers. I know, I know, real mature of me...but I wouldn't go back to my game. Tapper had...connections. He knew people. As far as I know, he still does. I told him I wished there was a way to change my world.
"So he gave me a piece of paper, and told me I could. All I had to do was find the code. Finding it in my game was easy, but in the Sugar Rush games, they were more...hidden."
"Vanellope, we're coming in!" Felix called out.
"Did Turbo do something to you? Snap if you can hear us!" Peppermark called out.
Instead Vanellope turned back to him, his tired, amber eyes looking at her now. "Keep going. Hurry, before they get here."
"I hadn't had any practice and I had no idea what I was doing. I ended up ruining our game and glitching the Twins. Then the game was unplugged, along with Road Blasters, because I tried to format myself into it and screwed that game up, as well.
"So I fled. Hiding in different games and practicing my new power. Years passed, and I'd gotten good, and then, it was like my dreams had been answered. A new game had opened up, a racing one. I thought, hey, why not go there and make a home for myself. I was tired of running."
He paused to sigh and shake his head, then continued in a quiet voice, "and I'm still tired of running. I wanted this world to be mine...and hiding in the code didn't work in Sugar Rush, so I decided to be aggressive here. It...didn't work."
Vanellope looked at him when he'd finished, just a sad face cast with shadows. "I have one question, Turbo," she said.
"If you had killed me instead of put me in the fungeon, would I have been gone forever?"
Turbo was quiet...then he nodded.
"Last time, you remember, I tore all of the wires from your box, and so yes, you could have been killed. This time, I left some wires attached, so that even if they died, they could respawn."
Vanellope looked to him. "And what now? Why stop now?"
"I..." he dropped his gaze, "I couldn't do it. I wouldn't."
She looked to him, trying to find an inch of forgiveness for him, but having trouble.
"There, she's over there!"someone shouted. Vanellope gasped and pushed the box Turbo was on away from her, then moved the wires so that he was hidden behind them.
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These are getting kinda long...eh. About..two more chapters left? One? Ah, whateves. As always, check out TootsieRollYumYum, and, well, see you guys in the next chapter!
Poll...how many of you like my theory on Turbo? Just comment yes or no. :P Thanks!
