A/N: I'm glad you guys are so thrilled about the introduction of some TurboTime characters and etc.,! I LITERALLY AM BURSTING AT THE SEAMS Y'GUYS. Oh and if you want some TT spoilers, go check my deviantART and see my most recent pic ;) Username - Vyntresser
Song Listened To : Land Ahead by Adam Young
I Wanna Know ft. Nico&Vinz by Alesso
*Chapter 21*
As Tessa, Zed and Lickity easily moseyed into the sky room, Royal and Ace pushed past them with much excitement as they played and chased. Royal fumbled over his paws, his large curl of a tail and floppy wings did everything they could to get a straight run on the slick tile undertow. All three adults chuffed laughter at their playful attempts at tag, though they carried on their game down the bend of the sky room. Lickity easily sauntered in behind Tessa and Zed as she let out an impatient chuff; she eyed Tessa, as if to silently express she was about to explode. Zed plopped down on one of the sectionals in the room, it poofed with comfort as he sunk into it, though he kept his alert attention to Tessa, to signify that he was still deeply intrigued.
"Did you meet Santa? Did you kill someone?" Lickity suddenly barked, Zed choked a laugh and wrinkled his nose in growing delight as Lickity spread her wings and gestured her large bat hands, the skin between her long and slender fingers, of her wings, held taut for a second and showed a dull pink through the sunshine that beamed into the sky room's glass. She shook her head in ogling annoyance, "What is it!"
"Okay, okay," Tessa urged as she gestured her hand and tucked some loose hair behind her right ear. She huffed a breath, crossed her arms and tilted her head down, though she kept sharp eye contact to Zed and Lickity, "Guys, please promise not to freak out."
"I think, between the three of us, there are no surprises anymore," Zed barked quietly, "Lickity can talk, I'm a brainwashed bad guy, and you..."
Tessa cocked an eyebrow and gave Zed a look as if to insinuate he was about to have his mind changed.
"...Are going to top all those things, somehow?" Zed pressed, his voice squeaked to nervous curiosity.
Tessa heaved a hard sigh, looked away and shook her head, though before she could open her mouth, Lickity huffed a snort and flapped her head, causing her ears to make a bit of a flapping noise.
"Tell!" Lickity urged through a sudden dribble of a growl, though this only caused Tessa to clench her fists.
"My last hour teacher is Turbo's old racing coach," Tessa rushed through a nervous, girly tone, though she scrunched her face in impending doom and wondered just how the two would take the sudden drop of information. Tessa furrowed her brows harder as Lickity and Zed fell silent, though Royal and Ace continued to loudly play at the other end of the room.
"Throttle," Zed's voice croaked, he side-eyed Tessa in growing cheek and slowly got off of the couch and to his feet.
"You know him?" Tessa loudly urged, though Lickity sloped her shocked expression and dart her eyes between the two.
"Wait, THE Turbo?" Lickity barked.
"I know OF him," Zed answered quietly as he stepped closer to Tessa, he squinted his eyes in growing fear, "Your last hour teacher... Is the same guy that taught TURBO?"
"I-I know it sounds bad, but he's-"
"Different?" Zed urged, his tone began to grow protective, though Tessa scrunched her shoulders in defensiveness.
"He teaches, he deeply regrets everything that went down with Turbo," Tessa began to rush, as if somehow she now had to prove to Zed he wasn't a bad guy.
"Oh I'm sure he's so sorry for nearly destroying the Arcade," Zed spat, though Lickity perked her ears and eyed Zed in growing confusion, as did Tessa.
"Well, don't take it from me, maybe YOU'D like to have a word with him?" Tessa tried to keep from getting angry at Zed, in front of Ace and Royal, though she was grateful they loudly entertained themselves.
"I'm not about to set foot in that guy's classroom," Zed growled, "He'd get the daylights knocked out of him. I'm surprised YOU didn't swing away!"
"I nearly did!" Tessa urged loudly, "I could hardly believe it."
"What'd he do, tell the whole class? Is that how he introduced himself?" Zed argued, though Tessa began to feel her blood boil.
"No, I stayed back to sign some forms," Tessa spat, though Zed crossed his arms and furrowed his brow.
"What, permission to sabotage another perfectly good racer, again? This time, added bonus: future Queen of Sugar Rush!" Zed joked, though he scoffed, shook his head and gave Tessa a dumbfounded look of disbelief.
"They were forms to give to the staff, I had to sign my name to let Academy's staff know I found his class," Tessa rushed darkly, she gave Zed a dirty look, "I just so happen to be one of very few that tested high enough to get into his class."
"Is this class a secret, hidden class that no one knows about, or something?" Zed retort, Lickity flattened her ears and nervously watched the show.
"It's at the top of the atrium, it's Throttle's HOME," Tessa felt her veins bulge in growing anger, "He can't EVER leave Academy or else he will be killed, right in the station! You know how many people would jump at the chance to end HIS life?"
"I can name a few people," Zed's deep voice reverberated in a spat of a mutter, though Tessa largely squinted and took a step closer to Zed.
"He's scared for his life, up there, doing everything he can to teach Virus Science to gamers smart enough to know a thing or two about coding," Tessa growled under her breath, she sternly argued and tried her hardest to keep a level head, "I'm really thankful for this class... Maybe I can get an idea of just what happened to Radex, and possibly learn a thing or two about evading force fields, while I'm at it."
"Radex is dead," Zed urged a little louder, though Tessa gave him a deeper look of floored annoyance.
"It still doesn't change the fact that he RUINED my life," Tessa hissed as she gained another aggressive step closer to Zed, though Lickity held out her wing a little and nudged it into the center of Tessa's chest.
"Cool it, ham hands," Lickity garbled, she gave Tessa a knowing glower as Tessa shot her a bewildered stare, "You can argue and keep things civil."
"You can't go back to that class," Zed nearly demanded, though Tessa straightened her spine and gestured her arm a little.
"Oh thanks, DAD, I'm so thrilled you're here to tell me what to do," Tessa muttered as she crossed her arms; her eyes immediately dart across the room as Royal and Ace let out hollers of playful banter and excitement as they rough-housed.
"Your dad would probably be saying the same thing I am," Zed's voice grew louder with the verbal hit below the belt Tessa delivered, "No WAY I want you hanging around a guy that encouraged a virus? The largest virus this Arcade has ever seen?"
"He was merely praising Turbo's racing, he wasn't trying to cause harm!" Tessa pleaded, "It just went to his head, that's why Turbo went... Well...!"
"Turbo," Lickity finished as she cocked an eyebrow muscle and gave Zed a knowing look.
"You can't go back," Zed uttered.
"Zed," Tessa gawked.
"You have my answer," Zed's loud, stern voice pierced her skin.
"It's the wrong one!" Tessa shouted in his face.
She clenched her fists, quickly turned heel and stormed out of the sky room. Zed opened his mouth to continue arguing, though he bit his tongue and quickly reeled to find where Ace and Royal were. He cocked an eyebrow and was beyond thrilled both boys were oblivious to the quiet, stabbing argument that took place, though he largely flinched once Lickity huffed an annoyed breath. He gave Lickity his concerned, floored eye contact and, before long, he could feel the disappointed heat, of Lickity's glare, sink into his skin.
"You have to agree with me," Zed muttered as he firmly gestured to where Tessa lay off to, "She can't just... E-everyday she'd be... I-I won't allow-!"
"Zed, you'd be stupid to keep her from this class," Lickity's stern voice held much weight over his; he flinched and held his fearful, concerned gaze straight into hers, "This could be one of the only ways she potentially can learn how to evade forcefields."
"It's Virus Science, not Forcefield Science," Zed muttered as he finally softened his stance and crossed his arms; he knew Lickity held rank over him, in this situation.
"You never know what an old bat, like Throttle, would know," Lickity eyed Zed, flattened her ears and side-eyed him, "You can't tell me you'd really want Tessa to stay cooped up in Dead Zed for the whole day, minus ONE class..."
Zed huffed a hard sigh of sorrow and looked down to the tiles underneath. He shook his head and now let his sad gaze chase after just where Tessa had stormed off. He closed his eyes, after they lazily glossed with the tiles, and slumped his shoulders in growing defeat.
"Of course not," Zed eased as clarity flood his circuits.
"Throttle is a PROFESSOR at Academy," Lickity urged as the hand on her wing grappled for Zed's shoulder and shook him a bit, "Academy doesn't just let ANYONE teach... She's safe there, Zed... Trust me, this isn't technically news I'd want to hear, either, but... If it means she gets a higher education, and maybe a chance at learning a thing or two about how the Arcade ticks, from one of the oldest gamers here, well..."
Zed nodded and let his eyes glaze to the scales and small feathers that lined Lickity's powerful front and chest. He finally closed his eyes in defeat and huffed a long breath through his nose.
"Give her space," Lickity urged quietly, though kindly, "I'm sure today has been a rollercoaster, for her."
As humid air suddenly flood the garage and sent a good puff of a breeze into her face, Tessa wrinkled her nose and softly peered up from her hard work, hunched over her project car. She squinted through the goggles on her face, and as gravity finally brought the beads of sweat down her temples, she swiped her brow and only merely glanced at the five figures, aboard grumbling bikes, that entered their massive garage. She could feel the entirety of each pixel shake at the mere presence of all five powerful bikes that flood the vicinity with bass, core-shaking power, though her noise canceling over-ear headphones muted any sort of outside sound, disconnecting her brain from the thought of actually being able to process just what said bikes sounded like in that moment. The fact that her skin could differentiate the music from the reality of the bikes had chills reverberate down her spine. Before she could accidentally convey interest in speaking to anyone, she returned her attention to her chore before her; a widely popped hood with mechanical tools askew and blacked hands from motor oil and other slippery vehicle fluids.
"Hey, Tess," Jax chimed with a kind smile once all five boys shut off their now tidily parked bikes, though as Tessa remained oblivious to his greeting, the five boys stole nervous glances to each other.
"Her and Zed are fighting," Duke grumbled, Finn nodded as everyone dismounted their bikes. Their racing uniforms were splattered with mud and all kinds of dirty debris.
"How can you tell? She hasn't said a single thing," Jax mumbled as the five boys tiredly moseyed towards the exit of their massively sprawling garage. They each held their nervous attention to their Queen Bee at the far end.
"Jax, she's face deep in one of Dead Zed's most powerful race cars, with her headphones on," Finn gestured, everyone chuckled in a knowing way, "She only puts those on and works on a project in solitude if she's fighting with someone."
"How observant," Tej chuckled, though Finn shrugged and looked to Orph for help.
"It's true," Orph huffed as he yanked his helmet off. His silver hair was sweaty and matted to his scalp, "Notice she's not taking off her headphones to greet us? She doesn't want to talk. Sure-fire way of knowing a girl is mad."
"Take note, any future girlfriend of yours will appreciate that knowledge," Finn muttered, though Orph finally shot him an angry glare.
"Hey meat-head, just cause I'm an ass doesn't mean I don't know how to treat a lady," Orph dared as everyone finally came to the back door of the garage, which exited to a path that lead to the front of their home, "Get us racers back to Sugar Rush and I'll show you how it's done."
"Will you, now," Finn said through an exasperated sigh.
"Y'guys seen Tess?" Zed wondered as he popped the garage door open and nervously peered in, though he flinched once everyone began to file past him, one by one.
"She's got her headphones on, dude, y'know what that means," Duke muttered, he slapped Zed's shoulder in a brotherly fashion; Zed grunted and barely flinched in surprise.
"Y'know, motor oil stains clothes," Finn reminded as he pat Zed's shoulder as well, "Keep a five foot distance..."
"Oh, you're screwed," Jax ogled with an eager smile as he swat at Zed's chest and gave him a gentle shove; Zed grunted again and began to furrow his brow in deeper confusion.
"And not in the good way," Tej eyed Zed with boyish cheek he only ever felt comfortable showing his oldest brother.
"Might wanna remove her from the vicinity of the blow-torch and gasoline," Orph choked in a whisper of a pretend secret as he looked back to Tessa's positioning in the garage, "I don't think a code-swap could save yah now."
"Welcome home," Zed stated unenthusiastically as he dazed his eyes into the depths of the garage. Orph gave him one final, brotherly pat to the back before all five boys vanished with the quick shut of the heavy garage back-door.
White dust speckled under the large, crisp lights overhead, the concrete housing of echoey garage walls held a solid volume of loved coolness. Tessa's curvy body stood before the popped hood of her very first project race car. A gorgeous, hard-top beast clad in a beautiful matte charcoal brown and a flawless, sharp display of proper, aerodynamic form. With mean headlights and gaping exhaust pipes, he knew she was onto something, though he also knew said beast held a lot of her secrets; she constantly muttered her worries to the silent parts of the engine, a powerful rocket that quietly listened to the things that were bothering her that day. Zed squinted and assessed her; she had changed into her lazy black tank and cotton grey pants that were ripped and cut at the knees. Her hair was still tucked into a braid that had grown messy over the course of her exciting day. Her warm voice hummed a tune and daintily sang a few words here and there, her nice headphones blocked out anything but her music. Her demeanor reeked of a gentle, motherly understanding Zed was very well aware was simply a facade, in this moment. Her powerful hands were blackened with the work she had been successful at, tender fingers that were agile with everything she did, though he was certain that hours prior, she was prepared to wreck the daylights out of him. Zed let a nervous smile sprawl his face and finally dared to push through the kicked up dust that hung in the air.
"Love," Zed's deep voice cooed, though Tessa didn't hear. He tenderly let their silver circuits sprawl from his body, into the grid of the garage and worm their way over to her. Once they came in contact with the soles of her bare feet, she flinched and drew her hawk-eye attention straight into his soul, causing him to nearly flinch.
"What?" Tessa demanded in immediate annoyance as she slipped her headphones off of her head and to rest on her shoulders, around her neck.
"Dinner will be ready, soon," Zed stated calmly as he was likely the only being in Arcade to dare to continue to approach her.
"Kay," Tessa eased through her teeth as she snottily dared to sink the headphones back over her head, her attention quickly sank back into what she was working on, though Zed interrupted her process.
"How's it coming?" Zed prod, though Tessa hesitantly slumped the headphones back to her collar.
"Fine," Tessa stabbed, though her eyes finally gained the slightest degree of warmth as Zed gained a three-foot distance. He crossed his arms and peered into the hood of her engine bay.
"Beauty," Zed eased as he cocked an eyebrow and looked Tessa over briefly, as if to have her wondering if he was talking about her or the racecar, "What's wrong with her? Not running, just yet?"
"The air intake is wonky," Tessa huffed quietly, "Somehow there's too much air getting to the cylinders... Though once I adjust it, she keeps stalling. Forget getting out of second gear."
"Just a few adjustments and she'll be right as rain," Zed assured, he peered at Tessa through the corner of his eye, "Been telling the car all the awful things about me?"
"Yeah," Tessa admitted with a mean, bashful smile. She shook her head and, with her hands held out before her, she slid her fingertips along her palms and relished in the slippery oil on her hands, "She's not too keen of you, right now. Maybe she'll let you drive her in a few days..."
"Fast friends, I see," Zed muttered as he lovingly pat the front, driver side, near the headlight.
"Y'gunna restrain me from driving this race car, once it's finished, as well?" Tessa stabbed with mean delight, she gave Zed a squinty grin of billowing frustration, though Zed huffed a long sigh and stepped back a little.
"Well, if it has a bad influence on you and can single-handedly destroy everything you worked so hard for, then, maybe," Zed daintily shrugged, his strong shoulders peeked through his lazy grey t-shirt; it was clad with an outdated Dead Zed logo.
"What if looks are just deceiving?" Tessa prod; she knew, at this point, they were no longer talking about her race-car.
Zed furrowed his brow and hooked his whole attention to Tessa. He opened his mouth to retort, though he was aware that anything he had to say would be extremely hypocritical, and from giving off this vibe, he knew Tessa had cued to his insecurity.
"A Mr. Dead Zed, bad guy with only winning on his mind... Is a total jerk to anyone who thinks they're better," Tessa spat with a knowing smile as she side-eyed him, "I was totally duped the day Zane spilled the beans and revealed that he was, indeed, the meanest bad guy on the block."
"That's different," Zed mumbled, though he knew he was wrong.
"Not in the slightest," Tessa eased as she finally took a few steps away, reached for a clean work towel she had, near a fresh glass of water; she began to clean her hands off as she continued, "Zed, why do you think Throttle trusted me with his secret?"
Zed slumped his shoulders and kept his attention glued to Tessa's in growing defeat. He lightly shook his head, as if to quietly convey that he had given up arguing with her before he even started.
"The same reason you trusted me with yours," Tessa eased, "I'm of importance to Arcade... And even more so, I'm trustworthy. How many important gamers can you name have that same value?"
"Aside from your mom and dad," Zed sighed and looked away, "Really can't think of... Anyone..."
"I know Throttle has a lot he needs to tell me," Tessa stated as she finally removed the gunk from her hands, though her skin still remained stained until properly washed, "I left his class before I could really get a lot of insight... Not to mention, I cut it short due to wanting to have the last word..."
"Good job," Zed gently joked, though he cocked an eyebrow, as if to insinuate half of him wanted her to turn right around and get every single last drop of information Throttle had to offer.
"So I'm stubborn and don't think before I speak, sue me," Tessa huffed as she lazily slapped her hands to her sides, "I have to go back to that class, Zed... Who knows what Throttle knows about... About the virus problems Sugar Rush had? About forcefields? I could even get insight as to truly why Turbo went crazy, and what we can do to prevent anything like that from happening ever again."
"Well, I can tell you one thing, a code-swap will fix that right up," Zed chuckled, and though Tessa smiled, she rolled her eyes.
"Turbo never had a code-swap mate, there's no way a swap would've fixed his problems," Tessa grumbled, though Zed side-eyed her.
"Hey, y'never know, every gamer has a closet of skeletons," Zed beamed in cheeky delight, Tessa's smile broadened as her walls slowly came down.
"Yeah, the cockiest, douche-bag of a virus had a swap-mate," Tessa ogled as she waved her hands about, "I'd like to know just what girl, in her right mind, gave him the right."
Zed sighed, and just as he was about to eagerly ask Tessa to inquire about it, to Throttle, in tomorrow's class, he caught himself and knew that would ultimately be his move straight into losing this game. He was very aware he was losing either way, though he knew prolonging death made things a bit more interesting.
"I'll be sure to ask Throttle about it tomorrow, along with the other list of questions you want me to ask him," Tessa spat with a victorious smile, though it only broadened as Zed let out a long sigh and rubbed the back of his head.
"I apologize," Zed stated quietly, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms as he slowly carried on, "I just... I just am protective of you. Of this game, and what you mean to it."
Tessa let her bratty smirk slope to a genuine look of concern, and just as she shook her head and opened her mouth to inquire Zed's notion's further, he carried on.
"You're the only other person I'd want to share this game with," Zed's voice grew quiet and sincere, as if it were a secret, "I don't want anything bad to happen to you... There's too many people here, that rely on you."
Tessa's frown broadened gently, her eyes glossed Zed's chest and strong arms, though she brought her concerned eye contact back to his.
"You're worried Throttle will hurt me?" Tessa quietly asked, though Zed huffed a sigh and looked down.
"I guess I'm just worried you'll be too trusting and invite someone in that is eager to do harm... You can't blame me for being wary," Zed urged gently, "He's the sole reason we have anti-virus coding in our game."
"Maybe you should meet up with me, after school," Tessa inquired in a gentle eagerness that was quiet enough to be polite, "Leave Ace with Lickity and... Maybe we can talk to him together, get some good insight on maybe his take on the whole Radex drama."
"I'm not a self-programmed gamer," Zed worried, though his eyes lightly glossed with growing, nervous excitement, as if he was now floored to finally get to meet this guy, whether he was upset about it or not.
"That won't matter," Tessa shrugged, "You're not visiting Academy to take classes. Simply to talk to one of my teachers."
"Sounds fair," Zed assured, though he cocked an eyebrow and gave Tessa a nervous smirk, "This should be interesting."