Reviews :

Burgie : He's the goodest boi. He's probably my favorite redemption arc written, thus far. I think the one, in FG, will probably eventually take the cake for me, but for now, it's Lash :)


*Chapter 19*

As the week had come and gone, and preparations for the three-man race was underway, nighttime had fallen in Turbotime. With the crowd that had dissipated and the quarter alerts that ceased due to the Arcade being closed, Turbo, and his three brothers, gathered in Thunderbird Arena's hub of a garage and work area. A massive sprawl of roadway, machinery and four proper garages, for each racer, said area was brightly lit up due to the sun having set. The racing day was long and tiring, and though Turbo didn't want to admit it, he could feel Lash's words, from last week, now bounce around in the inside of his tired skull. Not wanting to admit defeat before he had even begun, Turbo sourced his point of safety, on the grid. Tired, golden eyes that finally landed on Berri's figure, he sagged a little and eased a boyish little smile to himself as he looked over her figure. Well aware that he could easily lose this three-man race tonight, he fluttered his eyes and felt at peace for the first time in his life, as if losing was now something that wasn't so incredibly scary. He knew, no matter what, going home with Berri and being surrounded by family automatically made him a winner. In his slow mosey over to Berri, Wren and Theo, he could hear Lash preparing the course he had manufactured to branch off of Thunderbird Arena; a race course neither Turbo, Vanellope or Zed had ever been on, so to make said race fair.

"Can't tell me you're ALREADY tired, my guy," Wren mumbled cutely as Turbo lazily sauntered up to the three, and with his presence, he easily sagged into Berri's embrace and eventually let his muscular arms dangle. Berri grunted a cute giggle as she steadied Turbo's tired body up against hers, admist their cute, messy embrace. She secretly snuck a few smooches into the nook of his neck as Wren sweetly continued on, "Bah, it's probably right, what Lash said, anyways... You and Vanellope have been racing all day, Zed's the only one whose likely been getting all sorts of beauty rest and brushing up on his skill."

"Well, remember, he DID say he was rusty," Theo grumbled cutely as his emerald eyes glossed the bright garage they were in; he sourced Tatum and could see her happily chatting with Tessa, Zed, Throttle and Koko. Nox and Lash were a bit aways, arguing about just who would unfurl the brand new race track, and though everyone awaited Ralph and Vanellope's presence, it was clear that everyone was eager to get the show on the road. Theo inhaled a tired, steady breath and eyed Turbo as he finally peeled his tired, golden eyes open, which only glowed at half capacity, "Y'still down for that band practice tonight, dude?"

"No," Wren spat with a laugh, to which Turbo rolled his eyes and heaved a tired, raspy grunt as he corrected his stance and lovingly wove his arms about Berri's curvy figure.

"If I lose, no," Turbo muttered cutely, he tucked into Berri's little shoulder and squeezed her a little tighter.

"Why, so you can go win at other things?" Wren argued in annoyance, Theo wrinkled his nose in only teasing disgust.

"Yeah, duh," Turbo huffed with a shrug, to which Berri blurt a giggle, nudged his chest and eased out of his embrace. Turbo lovingly smiled into Berri's eyes before the grid, a bit aways, suddenly came live with a frenzy of coding; as Ralph and Vanellope materialized to the grid, near Lash and upon his own command, the two groups, across the way, began to loudly chatter and quickly form one, thus cueing Turbo and his little group that it was time to kick things into high gear, "Whoever wins this won't need sex, anyways."

"What? Not even victory sex? I mean surely," Theo mumbled with a laugh as the four moseyed closer to Ralph and crew, Turbo shook his head and lulled his tired eyes closed temporarily.

"You're REALLY not confident you're gunna win this one, huh," Wren stated to Turbo in hot shock, to which Turbo shrugged and shot him a cheeky, tired look of exhaustion.

"I spent the last thirty years of my life caring if I won or lost," Turbo's deep voice grunted as they finally came within earshot of the main, chatty group they were seeking to melt into, "I don't know, this time feels... Different. When I was calling for this race, I felt confident, it was something I always was doing, was challenging people to races, knowing that I would absolutely win, no questions asked. The second the proposal rolled out of my mouth, I don't know..."

"... It's not the thing that's most important to you, anymore," Theo stated with great warmth as both men caught eyes, "I think it's sweet. Priorities shifted, there's nothing wrong with it. Either you win or you lose, it's just a race."

"Yeah, but... I mean, come ON, you're up against Vanellope Von Schweetz and Dead Zed," Wren hissed as he narrowed his eyes in disbelief, "I'm sure you guys will be rematching each other until kingdom come."

"Well, great, I'm ALWAYS down for a race," Turbo bobbed a nod, "My integrity and character doesn't rely on winning, anymore, but... Doesn't mean I WANT to lose."

"I don't know, once you're FLYING around the track, your adrenaline's gunna kick in and you'll suddenly be thinking otherwise," Wren muttered as he crossed his arms and eyed Turbo with a cheeky little smile, to which Zed came over and firmly pat Turbo on the back, thus easing into their conversation, "You'll see Zed fly right on by you and you'll be like, oh SHIT I'M LOSING!"

"For User's sake," Turbo mumbled with a cute smile, to which Lash held up a code room orb and shot Turbo a knowing little smile, his masculine voice glossed over the group.

"You've watched the races, Wren, I've won a handful of these quarter alerts now, with Turbo coming in dead last," Lash stated cutely with a nod.

"... Even THROTTLE beat you?" Zed barked incredulously, though he sagged and sourced Throttle as he crowned a huge, sheepish grin, "No offense, Tee."

"None taken," Throttle mumbled in playful dejection as he sagged his hands into his jean's pockets.

"C'mon guys, we know I could easily turn into a maniac asshole and make this friendly competition into something terrible," Turbo gestured to his chest and shook his head, he peered about the group in a pleading show of sweetness as everyone honed their eyes tight to Turbo's aura, "That behavior ruined me, it... It nearly ruined the Arcade. I proposed this race in a knee-jerk reaction to spice things up and make things interesting, but... The more time went on, the more I realized..."

"Placing first isn't the antidote to life's problems," Vanellope finished in wise sweetness as her and Turbo caught eyes in a whirl of solid understanding, lofted smiles and whispered, chuckling notions about the group proved to the stars above that this was simply a lighthearted gesture of fun.

"That's so sweet, I'll remember that when I cross the finish line first," Zed eased smoothly, to which Turbo and Vanellope somehow lifted with the sting of competitiveness that Zed had playfully crowned the place with, all fun and games the group easily laughed about.

"That's cute," Vanellope snipped, the mood quickly began to reverse through hypocrisy the three were now drowning in.

"I think you mean last, I mean... That IS in your name," Turbo mumbled bravely, to which Zed gave him an authoritative look. Turbo scrunched into himself and blurt a sheepish little chuckle, "Don't fire me."

"I'll have to think about that," Zed muttered playfully as both boys began to fall into a bit of a small nudge and shove fight amidst their banter and chuckling.

"Alright, ladies and gents, we got a new course here, designed by your's truly," Lash's voice continued to carry over the group, and as his dominant presence now flood the place, the code room orb, in which he was cradling in his care, expanded a bit and suddenly stabbed a beam of light into the ground directly underneath it. With a flicker of light, his and Mara's beautiful, coral coding and honeycombs sprawled the grid, allowed for physical alterations to the building about them, and temporarily expanded the roof and arena above them. With a heavy thud, and a ripple over the land, a massive chunk of road collapsed into the ground directly behind Lash and out into the sandy shore line and grassy hillside that Thunderbird Arena was tucked into. With the thunderous show of pixel lines, glitched grid squares and a haphazard snaking of his and Mara's beautiful coding, Lash put his hands on his hips and smiled about the group with knowing sass, "Got one single lap, one stretch from start to finish, starting and ending here in Thunderbird Arena. Y'all know the rules..."

"No spike traps," Zed mumbled, Turbo shot Zed a bewildered look.

"... What kind of races are you guys partaking in, over in Dead Zed land?" Turbo's voice clipped with a squeeze of cute shock, the group erupted into laughter as Lash poked around said code room orb and properly lined up Turbo's, Zed's and Vanellope's race cars, which were securely transported via code room coding.

"Only the best kinds," Zed hissed cutely as him, Turbo and Vanellope began to step out, though not without giving a finalized hug and kiss to their significant others.

In the whirl of a few moments of pushing past Tessa and Zed, as well as Turbo and Berri, Vanellope cutely saddled into a side-hug with her great granddaughter, Mara, though as her eyes caught with Ralph's, she sagged her shoulders a little and felt a whirl of confusion hit her. She knew, full well, their little vacation on Vidrix's shorelines started tonight, whether that included her finalized win or not, she wasn't sure. Ralph's face read nervous delight, he smiled into her eyes and narrowed his gaze with a knowing squeeze of wishing her good luck, as if to be sure that she was likely too far away to want to double back for a good luck hug and kiss. Much to his surprise, Vanellope skirt about Turbo's and Zed's figures, who had now departed from Tessa and Berri, and were well on their way to taking their seats in their race cares, though with a gentle blip of purple glitch lines and a bounce of her coding, she plopped into Ralph's embrace and giggled as Ralph grunted a cute noise and steadied her against his chest. Vanellope nervously gripped her arms about Ralph's neck and tightly nuzzled her face into the side of his neck, though just as she opened her mouth to issue him a sweet sentiment of love, she huffed a shaky breath and felt his strong arms and hands come crawling around her lower back.

"You're gunna win," Ralph sweetly whispered into her ear, though with as much courage as he could, he tucked his face a little tighter into her ear and warmly continued on with a trail of seductive delight he was excited to explore, once more. He snugged Vanellope's littler body tigher into his broad chest and fluttered his eyes closed with his silent, finalized notions to his bride, "Whether that be on the tracks, or in my arms... You're gunna get it, little lady."

Vanellope raised her eyebrows in delerious surprise and huffed a shaky breath over Ralph's broad shoulder, though as he pushed a few firm smooches into her neck and cheek, and ultimately released her to join Turbo and Zed, his handsome, smiling eyes caught with hers as she peered to him in a shell-shock show of a pure, nervous stupor. She huffed a shaky giggle, bounced on her feet a little and turned to finally keep up with Turbo and Zed, though she allowed for a few girly skips, knowing, full well, the group would likely now be cued in to just what Ralph had manifested between the two. Ralph stood to correction, watched Vanellope walk away and proudly put his hands on his hips as he took in a deep, steady breath. He could see the three remaining Turbotime men, in his right peripheral, staring up at him with the pierce of their glowing, teasing eye contact. Ralph finally furrowed his eyebrows and braved them, once and for all.

"So, uh... How many firewalls should I be putting on your's and Vanellope's coding, tonight?" Lash muttered as he stepped closer to Ralph's figure, opened up a few intimate code room options and gestured to his and Vanellope's firewall options, in which he had brought up at lightning speed.

"All of them," Ralph grunted in full, smiling confidence, he bobbed a nod and lazily waggled his bigger finger towards Lash's code room workings, "You're gunna need every last byte of info, my guy. Mark my words."

"... Well, damn," Lash cutely mumbled as the few people, within earshot, stifled laughter at his and Ralph's back-and-forth. Lash cleared his throat, pressed to the side lines of the race track and kindly ushered and advised everyone to do the same. With everyone on the same side, eager to watch the race, Lash's voice called over the three racers that were eagerly awaiting the call to start their engines, "You know the rules, fight dirty and you'll have to answer to me. This is strictly a race of SPEED, no gamer abilities are allowed, no glitching, no teleporting, no nothing, heard?"

"Heard," Vanellope, Lash and Zed all called, almost in mild irritation, though with a flicker of the code room orb's sudden absence, Lash's incredible powers manifested a pop-gun into his hand, and as he raised it high above his head, he smiled to the three across the stretch.

"Start your engines," Lash called, and with the sudden amp of bass, all three racers turned over the ignitions of their gorgeous, meticulously crafted race cars, sending a frenzy of sound all about the depths of Thunderbird Arena, in which they were due to zooming right out of.

Lash bit his lip and looked off to the readied signal light ahead of the three, and as it began to light down from the three-marked countdown, the second it hit the last green light, Lash grit his teeth and pulled the trigger. With the nonsense, all three cars suddenly shot out of the starting line and rocketed down the tracks at near-record speeds, and as all three shot away like bolts of lightning, they seamlessly weaved about the first bend and were officially out of sight. Although the three were long gone from sight, their cars could still be heard echoing tight into Vidrix's gorgeous, grassy landscape. Ralph now nervously rubbed the back of his head, bit his lip and hoped for the very best. Knowing Vanellope was extremely competitive, he was certain that if she were to lose this race, it'd likely put her in a rightfully-earned sour mood for the rest of the night. Wondering how he could go above and beyond, to hopefully bring her mood back around if, User forbid, she did lose the race, he began to feel as if he had way too much confidence and not enough of it, all in one weird ironic bundle of nerves.

"Alright, we taking bets?" Lash mumbled to the group as the racer's engines now was far enough away that conversing was possible; the group erupted in laughter.

"You're aware that me, my mom or my grandpa can't bet on anyone but our respective spouse, right?" Berri snapped with a cute smile as she crossed her arms, her beautiful, shoulder length blue hair flickered in the golden glow of Thunderbird Arena's gorgeous stadium lights.

"Yeah, but the rest of us can wager," Lash argued, to which Throttle rubbed his chin and narrowed his gaze in pondering.

"I'm going to say, right off the bat, SOMEONE is going to come out in a tie," Throttle mumbled seriously, as if he was certain of his findings, "Only thing is... Really, WHO the said two losers will be."

"You're predicting that there will be ONE winner and two losers that tie for second," Lash reiterated, to which Throttle nodded with a smile.

"Oddly specific," Wren side-eyed his future husband.

"I've been working on my intuition," Throttle mumbled cutely, he tapped his finger into the center of his forehead in insinuate he was using his third eye, "If I'm right on this, it's a tell-tale sign I'm getting better."

"You... Predict things often?" Tessa prod with a giggle as she crossed her arms, to which Throttle waggled his finger in her direction and blurt a chuckle.

"Been meaning to have a sit-down with you, missy," Throttle's deep voice rasped in her direction, and as the group continued to bicker, Ralph allowed the murmuring notions to become background noise as his eyes peered out into Vidrix's beautiful, nighttime landscape.

"Go get'm, babe," Ralph huffed quietly, one last, silent wish that Vanellope had this in the bag, the last ump of wishful thinking he had left inside of him.