WildVirus : LOL I catch myself doing that sometimes as well, I try and not do it while I'm with other people tho cause everyone's like omg shut UP xD

MightyNinja2000 : That's true! Though, Orion had no good reason to be a hermit - Throttle literally depends on Academy for his life xD

Nikki Firesong : Well, their situations are both extremely different, but they have similar traits :)

Alisi Thorndyke : No... I've never stated that Nox and Lash are from Roadblasters xD You yourself said they're like your story's TurboTwins Jet and Set lol... I've never introduced any characters from Roadblasters. LOL yeah Nox is trustworthy, surprisingly. He's sort of like Throttle - after x amount of years, you're sort of like eh f**k it.

Alanshee The Guardian : Thank you! Yeah there's a lot you guys will learn about Turbo, via Throttle and Nox :) Nox is definitely a good companion for Ace, he keeps him in check for sure! xD

Retrokill : Thank you! Well, it doesn't matter how long you've been drawing, you just always have to keep pushing yourself to try new things. I do that with every piece of mine. Also, the guy from the 'You're My Hero' drawing is... someone else. :)

TwizzleCreampuff : Yeah, Orph is the kind of person that needs to warm up to strangers. He wasn't technically friendly with Tessa, or Lickity, at first either. xD

*Chapter 36*

"Alright, gimme another," Ace's deep voice muttered, he gestured towards his mother in a hype of well-contained nervousness.

"Alright, uh... List and describe the four phases of a virus," Tessa waggled her finger lightly.

As the two slowly moseyed up Academy's stoop, they lingered here and there to buy a few extra minutes of time. Throttle's end-of-the-semester exam was something he was allowing Ace to participate in, since he was now nearly two weeks shy to being of age. Ace uttered a hard, exasperated sigh and gave his mother a pleading look. He idly adjusted the collar of his blank, black t-shirt, nearly faded to a charcoal grey. Tessa lugged her book bag further up her right shoulder, in which Jax continued to let her borrow. She was dressed in slimming, worn jeans and a dark blue girly shirt she typically wouldn't be seen wearing, though she semi-hid it well underneath Zed's hot blue zip-up hoodie. She grappled for Academy's large handle, the double-door entrance that towered above them. As she let her and Ace inside, Ace finally huffed a readied breath and gave his mother nervous eye contact as their eyes adjusted to the dimer surroundings.

"There's... Dormant, the stationary phase in which the coding of the virus basically gets settled. Then there's uh... Propaganda?"

"Propagation," Tessa blurt through a giggle, which caused Ace to beam an annoyed smile.

"The phase in which the coding of the virus multiplies," Ace stated through the grin of his gapped-tooth smile. The two began to saunter down the corridor in which lead to their first hour class, both of their bare feet slapped against the gorgeous array of cold, grey hexagonal tiles Academy was lined with, "The third is triggering... Something activates the coding of the virus and it starts to cause physical and behavioral abnormalities."

"That or it can work alongside an already damaged area of coding," Tessa clued in, referring to her previous state of blindness when Ace was just a baby.

"Aaand fourth, the execution phase," Ace gestured his hands outwards, as if to express an explosion, "Bomb dropped, game over."

"Very good," Tessa urged quietly, she gingerly linked her arm with Ace's and the two began to now confidently march towards Mr. Kitchi's class, "You'll do great. I'm sure Throttle will be impressed."

"I can still attend Academy with you, after I turn one, right?" Ace gently worried, Tessa hooked her gaze into his with a smile.

"Of course, both my teachers have no problem with it," Tessa smiled, though she looked on in growing apprehension, "When I enroll in other classes, however, it might get a bit tricky... Since you're not a child anymore, there's really no reason why you'd need me to 'look after' you, day in and out. You're an adult now, you can do what you'd like."

"Typical," Ace's deep voice grumbled, he lovingly squeezed his mother's arm tighter into his and playfully bumped into her while they walked, "Y'think growing up will earn you all kinds of freedoms when, in reality, you lose a lot of it. Sort of backwards."

"Well, be thankful you and your father don't have quarter alerts," Tessa stated through a sigh, "Now you guys have Nox to hang with, not to mention the dragons. At least you have buddies to dude-about with."

"Nox is so cool, mom, he told me all about Turbo last night," Ace ogled, Tessa smiled lovingly.

"Yeah?" Tessa encouraged, she recalled the conversation her and Nox had a few nights prior, "He's pretty cool, huh. He could probably teach you a thing or two about the Arcade's origins, and the like."

"He has, a little bit," Ace stared off towards their classroom, in which they slowly were happening upon, "I think he gets tired of the topic, quickly."

"It's probably hard to dwell in the past, for too long," Tessa assured, "It also might be hard for him to recall. He IS over thirty Arcade years old."

"How many Arcade years old is dad and the uncles?" Ace wondered.

"Dead Zed and all it's gamers are about three Arcade years old," Tessa explained, though she began to feel a sweep of nervousness come over her as she could feel Ace want to push the topic harder.

"And you're a year and a half older than me?" Ace stated as he looked down to their bare feet. He furrowed his brow and let his handsome hazel eyes gloss into his mother's with care, "If you're a self-programmed gamer... Where are your parents?"

Tessa raised her eyebrows in hard concern and felt as if Ace was ready to hear the truth. She steadied her thoughts and wondered if she should potentially halt the conversation until after school was over, so not to distract him from Throttle's exam, though she desperately fought to find the right words to utter first. Before she could properly, and honestly, answer his innocent question, the two were gently waved over by an authoritative head of Academy. Tessa jolted, and though she noticed her classmates file into Mr. Kitchi's class and the corridor go quiet, she nervously eyed said staff member and gave him an inquiring look, as if to wonder if he was meaning to accidentally make them tardy for class.

"Mrs. Kalivar, if I may?" He uttered quietly, he gestured Tessa and Ace away from the classroom and gave an apologetic look, "I've told Mr. Kitchi to... Excuse your tardiness."

"Alright then," Tessa eased curiously as she stepped away from the classroom, Ace nervously kept in step with her, though he hung back in anxious wait.

"Mrs. Kalivar, we have a bit of an issue that has come about," the staff member stated sorrowfully, "We have had a total of seven self-programmed gamers permanently game over due to... Attempted code-swap with select User-made gamers."

"What? Recently?" Tessa hissed in a pang of sad surprise, she covered her chest with her palm in shock and nervously glanced to Ace.

"All within the span of this month," He stated as he gave Tessa a look of now dominant frustration, "...We have collected information from the loved ones, of said gamers, and, unfortunately, your name was brought up every time. A Mrs. Tessa Kalivar cheat the system, and they have been desperately attempting to follow in your footsteps, with no prevail."

"... Y-You're blaming me for the deaths of these seven gamers?" Tessa stated in a gentle growl of growing irritation she knew she should try and collect as soon as possible.

"You are not to blame for their deaths, though we are wary that your bad influence has brought a string of game-overs to the community," He stated as he folded his arms behind his back and took a dominant stance, "We are sorry to say we are revoking your right to attend Academy. You, and your kin, are forbidden to return to End Of Line Academy."

"... Wait, let me make sure I'm hearing this right," Tessa stated in a growing vat of dark sarcasm she knew to use well, she knew she had a sharp tongue, and even sharper wit, though she desperately attempted to soak that over her billowing mass of wrecking power that so badly wanted to come to fruition, "You're keeping me from learning... Because of my lifestyle?"

"You are continuing to be the talk of Academy, and we do not want to see the death-toll rise. We've had the most deaths last week than we have in the past three years... With those numbers rising, our school rating and everything we've worked so hard to achieve, will fall. It is for the school's best interest you bow out."

"W-Well, why can't I teach the safe way to make it work?" Tessa began to feel that creep of desperation fall over her, once more, the same cringing feeling she got in the pit of her stomach when she was kicked out of Sugar Rush, the rush of adrenaline to keep from her Uncle Rancis from walking away, "I-I know exactly how to keep from being deleted. I know the secrets, why don't I make it clear to everyone so it can be performed safely?"

"It's too much hassle, and it's just... Way out of social conduct. We already have Code Ed. teachers, who are doing a marvelous job at keeping the peace and keeping things... How they should be," The staff member muttered, he glanced to Ace in a near side-eye of disapproving disgust. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows hard in growing anger.

"Just because I made a forbidden code-swap work, suddenly I'm an outcast?" Tessa felt her voice want to raise, though she desperately tried to keep calm; a notion in which her mother reminded her, she always kept the title of Queen at the forefront of her mind, "No one is interested in learning just how it works so we can all avoid deletion together? I have the secrets right here!" She urged in sarcastic annoyance, she gently stabbed her two fingers to the temple of her skull to get the point across.

"I'm afraid I need to see you out, now," He stated firmly.

"C-Can I at least see my last hour teacher, quickly?" Tessa fumbled in hard annoyance, "W-We're good friends, I need to let him know where to find me."

"I'm sure Throttle knows you're from Dead Zed," He urged in darker irritation, "He'll come see you if he wishes."

"I'd really appreciate if you'd just let me have this one thing, and then I will leave," Tessa stated boldly as she peered straight into his eyes. She began to take a step in the direction of Throttle's class.

"I have very specific orders to escort you, and your child, out," He demanded quietly, though it wasn't until he gently grappled Tessa's upper arm did Ace finally make his brewing presence known.

Ace firmly stepped forward and in a swift swipe of grace and dominance, he yanked the staff member's hand from Tessa's arm, stood in between the two and nearly hovered his forehead before his authority.

"Keep your hands off of my mother," Ace growled, he gave the staff member a dark look of intimidation, one of which wasn't taken lightly; he nervously stepped back once or twice, from Ace and Tessa. He anxiously straightened out his flashy suit's sleeves.

"I must escort you two out," He demanded in a growing crumple of defeat.

"You had the chance to do so, and I would've gladly given you said right, though the second you put your hands on my mother is the second you lost it," Ace barked, his voice began to carry down the towering corridor, "I will be escorting her and myself out. You can take yourself, your grubby paws, and your black hole of a heart back to your elitist office in the atrium. You'll be sorry you expelled one of the greatest students you could ever receive."

Ace leaned forward slightly, so to show a greater stretch of dominance in the staff members face, though before too long, Ace gently grappled Tessa's hand and began to march the two down the corridor, in the direction of Academy's exit. The both of them stewed in silence as they head through Academy's silent halls, as if the school was simply saying a sorrowful goodbye too soon. Tessa gripped Ace's hand and let him lead her out of the building, her teary eyes glossed the now foggy tiles undertow, her heart sank in desperation; the one place she thought she'd be safe of rejection. She felt numb, and though she knew she still had the hope of potentially attending West Arcade Academy, she still felt as if she was simply now running from herself. As much as she wanted to destroy things, to show her anger, to boast just how powerful she was without the world on her side, she felt the creep of defeat turn into a plow of an overwhelming K.O.

"They'll be sorry," Ace muttered firmly as they jostled their way down the stoop of Academy and into End Of Line station, which was now only lightly littered with gamers due to the Arcade now being open. He shook his head and finally let Tessa's hand slip from his, though his firm march towards Dead Zed held strong; he fumed as he continued on, he was nearly talking to himself at this point, "How can they be so close-minded? They can't just DO something like that to a student who is just there to LEARN. That's what Academy is for."

"It's okay, bud," Tessa mumbled through the clog of her nose.

She blinked back tears and finally unglued her eyes from the ground. She peered down End Of Line's station; a humble station, not nearly as large or as glorious as Game Central, though it still held it's grand arches over head, a warm glow against the soft, pale blue tiles. Tessa's eyes dragged to the game titles that were written in bold, red, scrolling text above each outlet. How desperately she wished she could see Sugar Rush's title once more; even Fix-It Felix Jr., Hero's Duty or Tapper's would be enough to calm her now defeated soul. She shook her head in a lull of surprise she couldn't shake, though just as she dragged her teary eyes towards the train station across the way, her gaze glossed over a certain gamer, in which her brain registered as familiar looking. In a sweep of sudden confusion, her eyes confusedly double-took at the figure across the way.

Tessa suddenly froze in hard shock, a ripple-effect through her entire coding. Like a deer in headlights, she pierced her surprised gaze across the station and was floored to be holding eye contact with none-other than her Uncle Rancis. He was dressed in his proper racing attire, his clothes looked pristine, as if he had just reset everything about himself. Tessa immediately felt the dusty cogs, in that area of her brain, come to life. She kept her undivided attention to Rancis's, and in a flicker of confusion, she quickly assessed that he looked unapproachable. She gingerly took a step forward anyhow, a silent question to ask if it were okay to attempt to converse with him, though the second she took another step, Rancis's unapproachable demeanor remained as he sorrowfully shook his head, as if to express to Tessa they were not ready to have her home. Tessa froze and, even though she knew chasing after her estranged family would likely make them push her away even more, she so desperately wanted to bolt across the station and demand answers from her uncle.

Before Tessa could take another step and challenge her uncle, who had a higher standing in Sugar Rush at the moment, she bit her bottom lip and tried, with all her might, to keep her eyes glued to Rancis's figure, from way across the station. Before she knew it, gamers weaved in and out of her line of sight, and within mere seconds, Rancis had slipped away. Tessa froze and kept her eagle-eyesight in determined concentration, though after a few hard minutes of over-calculating silence, she jumped in hard surprise as Ace's deep voice burst her bubble.

"Mom, y'okay?" Ace urged, as if to be mildly annoyed that she wasn't listening to his complaints this entire time, nor was she following him any longer. Tessa jolted and tried to glue her boggled mind and attention to her son before her.

"I-I'm fine... I thought I saw someone I knew," Tessa urged, she tried so hard to remain nonchalant. Ace furrowed his brow harder and scanned the train station area, across the way, though he shrugged and shook his head lightly.

"Was it?" Ace inquired, and though Tessa was on the edge of spilling everything to Ace, a teary mess of fessing up and revealing the truth behind everything, she knew she was unstable, and it'd only cause a mess. She shook her head and looked down to Ace's strong chest.

"No, I don't think so," She fibbed quietly, she was thrilled Ace believed her; he took her hand in his, yet again, and began to lead the two home.

"C'mon... Surely Dad, Nox, Royal and Lickity will be up in arms about this whole mess," Ace grumbled as the two began to approach their home outlet, "Do you think dad could convince them to let us back in?"

"User-made gamers don't have much say, when it comes to Academies," Tessa stated through a shaky sigh, though her eyes wandered back to the train station; she wondered if it were merely her mind playing tricks on her, though she desperately tried to seek Rancis out, once more. She furrowed her brow and let her eyes finally gloss to the back of Ace's head, "I'm sure a User would have precedence, however..."

"Believe me, if I was a User, I'd storm the castle," Ace mumbled, merely a metaphor he was unaware hit Tessa's heart square in the weak spot.

She furrowed her brow and, though she continued to bite her tongue, she began to wonder just how much of an influence Ace could potentially have over all of her problems. Tessa knew his power wasn't to be abused, and he had the right to accept or deny any future inquiries of said 'castle-storming', though her mind raced with sudden, new possibilities. She bit her lip in contemplation and counted, in her head, just how many days she had left until Ace's first birthday.