Reviews :

Snake557 : yeah totally! And yes :D Novus joins!!!

ajk401 : that is so sweet. I'm really glad, Novus is a good one. He's tough, but has these boyish moments that I love!

Song Listened To :

Gomf Ft. BRIDGE by DVBBS

*Chapter 4*

With a skip, a peppy little bounce in her step, Gideon watched as Kepa pushed into the lower, sunny, glassy work room that was Tessa's and Zed's abode. Kepa flicked her tail upwards, was greeted by Mara and her mother with a swathe of lovely smiles and conversation, everyone seemed thrilled she was there. Although Gideon was well aware the air in here was warm and welcoming, a sunny display of familial love mixed with due-diligence of a tasked force eager to make sure this new-found spike of celebrity status, for Archived Chaos, ran smoothly, he still felt a heavy shift in the air he happened into. As soon as the notion of just what to do with all of his own new-found inner 'fame' hit him, a new set of godly coding Gideon and Kepa donned, Gideon could somehow sense the shift in the room as he entered it. Although respectful, he now could easily sense the creep of fear within everyone's lofted gazes and glances, happy smiles and warm deliverances given to Gideon were then followed with a subtle bulge of eyes and tender, shifting steps aside. All of these things they were certain Gideon maybe didn't catch, but due to his fresh, sparkly coding, he narrowed his gaze a little and could see everyone clearly, everyone's pain, suffering, struggles, happiness, all of it so blatantly in his face... And everyone knew it.

Inside this big group was Tessa, Zed, Ralph, Vanellope, Turbo, Berri, Sezeke, Elkuorra, Mara, and Lash. Although everyone loosely chit-chat, as Gideon was the last to step into the group, after Novus's bubbly body crossing the gap to be with Ralph and his big-hand head rubs, Gideon clenched his fists into the gaping pocket of his hoodie's pouch and suddenly felt a weird roll of unhinged frustration begin to eat him alive. The mixture of feeling suddenly feared, a strange switch-up of whispering that he was no stranger to, he narrowed his gaze and felt as if Novus's playful, innocent acts that seemingly has rattled his own feelings this morning was what now set the tone. Although new to this whole swapping and love-making realm, and in full understanding that it would genuinely be in full-supply due to Kepa's eager willingness, what was potentially a nice morning, woken up on the right side of the bed, was now a full day of remembering that he had been gifted this insane plow of power and responsibility. It was all things he eagerly embraced, though now at the cost of feeling everyone's wary tepidness, on-edge demeanors of surely hoping Gideon wasn't going to go awol with his powers. What was kind, confident eyes and smiles in Kepa's direction was almost sheepish glances in Gideon's, as if to silently request he remain cool, they'd be willing to do anything for the promise that he'd keep his powers in check. Gideon silently and secretly began to seethe, how easily their little, quiet, eyeing requests were now becoming counter-productive. Gideon kept a tight lid on all of it, though the second Zed cued to him was the second Gideon could feel himself coming undone.

"Hey, bud, glad you made it," Zed stated with such care, such warmth; a wonderful King, an even greater father, Gideon shot his fiery eyes tight to Zed's and could genuinely see Zed recoil with such a stab, even across the twenty foot gap of the circle everyone had gathered into.

"Yeah, sorry, I..." Gideon started, he faltered, his face suddenly turned beet red; how quickly he now had to navigate the very blatant obvious of having a genuine, sexual relationship with Kepa all while Sezeke and Elkuorra patiently listened and looked on, he rubbed the back of his head and nervously glanced in their direction, to his right.

"Was spreading that rainbow-road goodness to Kippy, and you clearly lost," Novus suddenly blurt, the jokes kept rolling, he perked his ears and showed a fluffy, cute little grin of full, innocent tease, though such a roll of intense energy suddenly coat the room.

Gideon slowly allowed his terrifying glower to now be on full display, he clenched his fists hard in his front pocket, such a contortion of cloth that was now noticeable, he allowed every last ounce of air leave his lungs and menacingly hovered. The whole group fell entirely silent in a spike of nervousness, and though Kepa flattened her ears and peered to Gideon in a show of sheepish, apologetic love, she eagerly caught eyes with her mother and father and was thrilled to at least see them hiding a show of grimacing, as if they were well aware said sacred acts between two lovers was private, two brand new lovers, two brand new god-like gamers to boot, none of it was anything anyone found a laughing matter; none except Novus.

"Had I not landed on their roof," Novus started, though Zed lovingly rested his hand to Novus's snout so to politely shush him, and with such a notion, Novus sagged a little, peered to Zed in a sting of boyish confusion and allowed his ears to droop.

"Let's discuss the plan. I'm not positive when the four of you will be headed out to the internet, whether that be today, tomorrow or the next, but we should definitely have a game plan nailed down," Tessa started delicately; Gideon sucked in a thick, neverending inhale through his nose and continued to keep his fists in a contorted show of doing absolutely everything he could to keep his cool as he aimlessly glowered on. Ralph grit his teeth in a grimace of nervousness, Vanellope rubbed her temple in equal stress, both of which stood across the gap from Gideon. With Sezeke stood closest to Gideon, he was the only soul brave enough to take a step closer to Gideon and lovingly rub his bigger hand to the back of Gideon's right shoulder. Tessa watched as Sezeke kindly stood to Gideon's side, their long, beautiful dragon tails sidled tight to each other, she tried not to draw attention to the fact that Sezeke was very bravely doing what he could to silently keep Gideon calm, likely the only beast here immediately willing besides Kepa. Tessa pressed on with a very convincing show of easiness, "As much as I want to sit here and dissect just how scared all of us are about you, Lash, Kepa and Mara leaving and diving face-first into the internet, we don't have that luxury. We have to pick up the pace and act fast."

"Our motive is to find the Sundog, or..." Kepa fingered her lip and could see Gideon and her father in her peripheral, it was clear Sezeke's kind, fatherly presence was doing the trick to calm Gideon down, "At least SOME safe spot for Archived Chaos to exist... I think, either way, Gideon and I can do work to make sure the place is totally secure."

"I think finding the Sundog is ideal, but, Kepa's right," Turbo shrugged with a nod and smiled to Tessa, "Finding a safe place quickly is key. We're grateful you four are willing... User, I never thought, in my wildest dreams, we'd be diving into the internet..."

"No, not after those months of hardly even having the will-power to step into Sugarbucks, of all places," Berri mumbled warmly, Turbo scoffed a small laugh and rolled his eyes. Berri lit up as the group softened with warm laughter, though Novus sagged and now almost sorrowfully peered to Gideon in nervous apology, "And THEN getting you out of Sugar Rush... Yeah, this is brand new territory for us, but for you?"

"I-I'll be alright, the shows we've been doing around Litwak's has helped me," Turbo muttered shakily, he still gripped his collar and showed tepid willingness, though it was clear he was very wary of this new adventure; it was something Kepa could blatantly see, she bobbed a nod and rested her hand to her sternum.

"I promise, we'll make sure everyone involved will be safe and sound," Kepa assured lovingly.

"Well... What does that mean for all of us, back here? Back home?" Vanellope piped up softly, she looked somber, she peered to her son with a show of joy and sadness, a weird mixture of grief and nostalgia, she did everything she could to fight back tears, "Like... W-will you guys come visit?"

"You'll be living on the internet full time, bud?" Ralph pressed to Gideon, bravely, Gideon's eyes lifted a little as he finally had unclenched his fists in his pocket. He had stepped a bit tighter into Sezeke's taller figure, although Gideon knew he had his own father to lean on, somehow having this new breed of family tight in his grips was something he was eager to keep melting into. Ralph looked on, he loved the image of more individuals eagerly taking Gideon under their wings, proverbially or not, "Not to say that wouldn't be something we'd be VERY excited you'd get to experience, but... I mean..."

"We'd miss you," Vanellope squeaked gently, she tucked the back of her hand to her mouth and looked off, so to avoid crying; the group gently cooed her loving notions as Ralph sweetly held her into a side embrace, this had Gideon finally beginning to soften.

"I was thinking about this last night," Gideon grumbled, he still seemed thorny, "I'm sure Kepa and I can come up with SOME sort of teleportation pad or... Zone."

"I think... We should start with finding a secure place, and we can figure out the tiny details afterwards," Kepa nodded in agreeing, "Gideon's right, there's definitely going to be a way, between the two of us, where accessing Sugar Rush or Litwak's quickly is entirely possible."

"Good," Vanellope murmured through the tears that she blinked back, and though Gideon was prepared to step out into the circle and comfort his mother, he uttered the group one final notion before he was due to crossing the gap and consoling Vanellope.

"Who knows if we're the most powerful beings out there-" Gideon immediately halted his words; due to gesturing his hand outwards in the act of conversing, everyone to his left eagerly flinched and took a hesitant step back as his arm gently stretched outwards. Gideon raised his eyebrows, snapped his jaw shut and now fully understood the wreck of chaos inside of him was now due to crawling out of his own skin. He slowly narrowed his gaze, sucked in another huge breath through his nose, tucked his hands behind his back and now meanly tossed his eyes about the group in a full swathe of eager dominance he swiftly gathered into a chokehold, "... I see what's going on here. You guys are scared of me."

"Gideon," Tessa dared in a spike of motherly frustration, though Gideon raised his hand, shook his head and very bravely silenced the Queen; this was something that had Zed and Ralph bugging their eyes in feverish stun.

"So NOW that I have world-ending power, now that it genuinely IS all in the palm of my hand, there's that notion in the back of everyone's heads, isn't there," Gideon now loudly stabbed out to the room, of which prickled in terrified silence. He dominantly removed himself from Sezeke's side, kept his arms loosely behind his back and now sauntered about the gape of the middle of the huge circle, such circle harbored incredibly important people, all of which he was adamant about protecting no matter what. It was in this instance did Gideon realize he had the daunting task of re-teaching everyone how he would want to be treated. His sassy, deep voice carried on in fully-earned dominance, he was well aware Tessa's and Zed's ability as King and Queen didn't hold a candle to his unbridled, unfathomable power, "The notion of... 'User, it's a good thing this all didn't happen to Gideon when he first came back from Game Over.'"

Ralph furrowed his brow in a rise of protection over his kin, excluding Gideon in this instance. The haunting image of killing his own son for the sake of rescuing Tessa's precious code room, even Litwak's Arcade, the trauma and immense healing that followed, Ralph narrowed his gaze in a boil of frustration as Gideon began to slowly circle about the gape of the group. His beautiful, terrifyingly sharp tail laid in a low-hover and sassy sway behind him as he continued to step in a slow, confident, cocky saunter.

"This may be day two, but I'm already hating this treatment," Gideon growled in full frustration, "It's only NOW that I have every ounce of power in my hand, leagues beyond Sugar Rush's twenty-something year old code room, that everyone has a fear-driven respect for me."

"Gideon," Tessa dared once more, this time in a lilt of offense.

"It's only NOW that I have the ability to wipe Sugar Rush, all of Litwak's, entirely CLEAN!" Gideon now shouted, the veins in his temple were now visible, his tail stiffened as he clenched his fists by his sides, "It wasn't when I was doughy and innocent and needed camaraderie... No, not sorry-little Gideon."

"This is hardly fair," Tessa bravely challenged, though her heart stopped the second his terrifyingly fiery, golden eyes stabbed tight to hers; he took a brave few steps over to her as she continued on, "Sure, we're all a little on edge. We let bygones be bygones, but yeah, YOU wield so much power, a being we heavily wronged in the past... But you can't seriously look back on the last month or so and think that none of us have done work to make our relationships better?"

"Gideon, everyone here deserves to feel wary of us," Kepa mumbled in Tessa's defense, she crossed her arms and was thrilled to see Gideon sag, due to her word, "We've upgraded ourselves with nothing but our own willpower... Something everyone can achieve. Of COURSE they're going to want to make sure you're happy. You're the one that was drastically hurt, but y'know what Gideon?"

Gideon furrowed his brow and looked at Kepa over his shoulder; although he kept a respectful stare in her direction, he still boiled as she carried on.

"You hurt others in this mess, as well," Kepa bravely stabbed as she pointed down to the ground, "We're here to HELP. Nothing more than that... We were GIFTED this coding, and the fact that you're still stuck on the past assures me that you still have some major soul-searching to do."

"And do it quick, this fucking sucks," Lash very bravely stabbed, having been boiling off to the side this entire time; the whole group rolled in recoils as Gideon whipped his predatory attention tight to Lash, from his extended stare to Kepa in the sheer-opposite direction.

"Yeah? Does it suck?" Gideon stated in such a kiss of ironic, lovely warmth, he narrowed his scary gaze and began to fervently power on towards Lash; no one was brave enough to stop him, though the second Lash stood his ground and cued his incredible User coding all over his fists and lower arms was the second everyone understood this could very wildly get out of hand.

"You may be a sad-sack sapped in divine power, but I'm still a User that can give you a run for your money, my dude, y'better not try it," Lash firmly stabbed, Gideon's terrifying aura now hovered closer to Lash without signs of stopping, "NONE of us asked for any of this. Yeah, we're scared of you, dude, you have the ability to just DELETE anyone with one single gesture!"

"I wouldn't dare do that," Gideon growled as he pressed even closer to Lash, who kept his position tight to the grid, "You guys ACTING like I will is really isolating. I already had an isolating upbringing. So what WAS a really sad and lonely childhood is now segued into fear-driven relationships in adulthood. Y'all better quickly lay off this act of horror."

"Or else what?" Lash snapped as he clenched his fists harder, though Lash was shocked to see Gideon start to get in his face, "We have EVERY right to feel scared of you, our feelings of fear is entirely valid."

"So where was all this fear last night, then?" Gideon meanly hushed into Lash's face, and though Gideon was confident of allowing himself to just have this tantrum of confused frustration, he felt a wiggle of fear the second Lash's eyes suddenly dipped to a crimson red, the slit-like pupils of a viper that immediately came out to play, Lash sucked in a huge breath and allowed his frustration to eagerly use Gideon's as a launch pad into outer space.

"Woven in the words of LOVE I gave to you in confidence!" Lash loudly shouted into Gideon's face, which shockingly had Gideon flinching in a recoil of taking a small step out of the hover of Lash's face. Lash sucked in a trembling breath and clenched his fists harder, his angry User coding swarmed the ground near his feet, which had everyone eagerly taking steps away in a rise of helpless terror, "But since you like this whole DISPLAY of being an asshole, I can play one right back atcha! As someone who HAD everyone in a chokehold at one point, I can only IMAGINE how terrified everyone would be of me if I somehow appointed myself as the User of all Users!"

Gideon panted through his nose and was immediately thwarted, Lash pointed a firm finger down to the ground and now filled the gap to get into Gideon's face, this time.

"You did SUCH amazing work to get here, and now you want to throw it away because you maybe woke up on the wrong side of the bed? You're SO eager to want to play into this weird hero-villain complex, as if you're due to being martyred, dude it's NOT personal any longer!" Lash hollered, Gideon sagged even more so and dart his becoming-teary eyes about Lash's face in a full show of conflicting thoughts, "ANYONE in this room could be gifted your incredible User powers, it wouldn't matter who, and we'd all be scared SHITLESS!"

Everyone was silent, even Gideon. Both men trembled in each other's faces, riled with frustration, sorrow, anger, Lash sucked in another huge breath and narrowed his angry gaze tight into Gideon's.

"You and I had an unspoken moment last night, with Mara and Kepa as witnesses. You know, without a shred of a single doubt, that you've swiftly saddled me as your right hand man," Lash growled in Gideon's face, "And I don't care what that means for you, but in this moment, it means keeping your sorry-ass in LINE. You have dozens of people here who ADORE you, who love you immensely..."

Gideon frowned and felt guilt immediately plague his system, those imperfect thoughts and emotions he was happily and cutely dancing with last night was now rearing its ugly head and eager to warn him that these out of control emotions could be his detriment. Lash narrowed his becoming-teary gaze and shook his head in the subtle downswing of softness he was eager to give Gideon, now that both men were coming to a fervent understanding.

"None more than me," Lash aggressively stabbed, his voice lilted in a crackle of weakness, he now glared Gideon down as if this was his crux, something Lash didn't initially want to put on full display, "It is because I love you that I HAVE to put you in your place, here. We are ALL allowed to feel fearful of your power, it is terrifying..."

"I'm NOT going to hurt anyone," Gideon stabbed in a revisit of frustration, Lash squeezed his eyes shut, thus spilling tears down his grey cheeks and bold facial, cy-bug markings.

"We KNOW," Lash urged angrily, he revisited his eyes into Gideon's, "It's the IDEA that we are now resource-guarding two powerhouses of ability, sure, we're all on good terms, but everyone's on edge with the notion that, you could so much as revisit an old grudge you harbored and just turn..."

"You did it once," Zed bravely muttered, Gideon only weakly glanced in his and Tessa's directions; both beings teary, though with a sweep about the group, Gideon could see everyone now becoming lost in tears of joy, frustration, confusion, bewilderment, it was all way too much emotion for everyone to swallow in such a tiny amount of time.

"You have to promise us, right now, that NO issue sprung up will be too big to just simply TALK through, Gideon," Lash hissed in a downswing of sorrow, his eyes easily gaped to the fervor of hot blue, a spike of sadness that he was bravely putting on in front of everyone, even his own big brother Turbo, "There's too much goodness here, there's too much love, too much willingness to right wrongs. We've all come so far, we CAN'T start this journey out on the wrong foot, dude..."

"I... May have made matters worse," Novus murmured sorrowfully, he sagged his ears and looked off in regret, "I-I didn't mean to interrupt you two... In all honesty, I have a twinge of fear too, but truthfully?"

Gideon frowned and collected his teary gaze with Novus's as his best friend mumbled on in a lilt of cute, boyish excitement, excitement that had easily wilted under the pressure of Gideon's huge feelings and emotions.

"I-I'm so excited to fly with you, what that whole journey will entail for you, on top of now scouting the internet for this mysterious place you're almost certain exists. I'm just excited that... You're here, you made it," Novus lilted sweetly; the group murmured in cute, rising notions of whispering, tender agreeing to Novus's musings.

"Gideon... You are wildly misunderstood, seemingly," Ralph cautiously started with a chuckle, Gideon peered to his father in a swing of regret and sagged his shoulders, once and for all, "But, we're all here, BEYOND eager to understand, to level with you. All of us want nothing but to collect with you and really help you shine. Whatever all-powerful energy above you obviously deems you worthy... Who are we to disagree?"

"It just comes with the potential of you souring it all," Lash argued sorrowfully, though as the realization hit him, he narrowed his gaze and shook his head, "Thus... All your immense powers would be used for evil."

"I'm not like that," Gideon plead sorrowfully, Lash squeezed his eyes shut in agreeing agitation and shook his head.

"But you STILL show tendency," Lash demanded, he shook his head, once more, and fervently peered into Gideon's eyes, "I'll follow you into the darkest reaches of the internet, but you have to promise that you'll keep your head... We're all on your team... PLEASE be on ours."

Gideon sagged his shoulders further and allowed tears to slip down his cheeks, finally. He bobbed a nod, looked down, allowed his tail to sag to the ground in a hefty thump of defeat and aid in said notion of a downswing by aimlessly peering at his twiddling fingers.

"I'm... I'm sorry guys," Gideon mused apologetically, he turned to peer into Tessa's eyes, "I'm sorry, Tess... I'm just... Fragile."

"That's understandable," Tessa whimpered with a nod as she looked off, having been reserving her tears beautifully until now, "This is SO much information all at once, we all have to keep our heads."

"I-I know, I'm... I'm sorry, I'm trying," Gideon pressed sadly with a nod, "This may be a lot for you guys, but..."

"... Yeah, only I can vouch for Gideon, here," Kepa piped up confidently with a hefty nod and a stern glance into everyone in the group, "This level of gifted power overnight? It's... Equally exciting and terrifying. If YOU guys are wary? Think how me and especially Gideon feels. We know none of you are putting expectations on us, but you have to know that this level of game-ending power comes with built-in expectations, no matter what."

"If we're going to go diving into the internet, equally a beautiful and hostile place, we need to all be on the same page," Lash muttered, mostly for Gideon's sake. Gideon dragged his sorrowful eyes into Lash's and hovered in the bated wait for Lash to tenderly carry on, his eyes still proudly glowing blue, "We're to go, attempt to find the Sundog, and if not, a safe place for us and the band to reside... Whether that be temporarily and we return to Sugar Rush, or... Permanently and we make sure there's an easy way to portal back and forth from Litwak's."

"It's possible," Gideon mused tearfully with a nod, having now had time to ponder just what that would take, he knew it would require the use of both his and Kepa's incredible power, "I promise to keep my head... I-I'm sorry, but Novus's innocent antics is what drove me over the edge."

"You were already about to boil over," Kepa murmured knowingly, and without saying it, everyone knew that due to their bout of sexual antics this morning, Kepa was obviously vastly cued in to every emotion Gideon was dolling her way.

"I'm sorry," Novus plead gently, Gideon squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

"You don't need to be, you're just happy and excited and I let you down," Gideon rushed sadly, Novus looked down in a sweet show of apologetic guffawing and shrugged, though Gideon hurried on, "I've been mean to you all morning and... I'm really sorry. This is a LOT, I know you guys know that, but I need to reiterate it over and over. I'm going through it... I have moments where I want to erupt into tears, jump for joy, help the needy, RUSH off to save Vye... It's all..."

"A lot, I know, it's... It's more than any of us could handle," Lash cooed gently as his eyes began to sag back to a normal golden glow, though much to his whole entire surprise, Gideon grimaced a small look he tried to hide by plowing his bigger body into Lash's for a cling of an embrace. Lash grunted a noise, wobbled on his feet and choked a shaky laugh as the group fell silent in prickled surprise. The second Lash uttered a loving, nasally chuckle and firmly grappled his arms about Gideon's back for a few hefty pats was the second the group began to slowly close in on the two, so to properly love on Gideon, and each other. Lash grinned in teary delight and rested his head against Gideon's in a loving, brotherly snug of an embrace, "My guy, you have a whole battalion behind you... We're with you 'till the end. You won't be doing any of this work alone... You hear me?"

"No way, we wouldn't let you," Ralph mumbled warmly as he firmly pat Gideon's upper back and snugged him and Lash into a bigger group hug of a squeeze.

"Let's... Set up a game plan for your guy's scout, and it's probably best if you guys git, sooner than later," Zed assured, though he gently held his hand to Tessa's lower back and could tell she was having a hard time composing herself; still, he pressed on so not to draw attention to her. He knew her and Gideon were likely due a heart to heart before him and his small team very bravely dove out into the internet in search for sunny solace, "Sitting and stewing on all of these notions aren't helping... We gotta take small steps of action, get this ball rolling."

"Can't keep the people waiting," Turbo murmured in gentle, cheeky agreeing, and though this all rode on Gideon and Kepa finding the band a safe spot, the excitement of internet-wide fame was now slowly beginning to seep into the cracks, to rise to the surface of this crucial time, it was only now did everyone understand this was an exciting time equally littered with dire circumstances; not a predicament forgiving of fumbles or missteps.