Reviews :

Firesong-Write : I've added your request to the list! Some of them are a little vague though, so I might have to interperet it how I see fit, if that's okay! Thank you so much for sticking with me, friend. Yeah, Gideon and Vanellope always have this strong bond, and though it's strained with misunderstanding from time to time, they still heavily lean on each other.

Burgie : Always, no matter what. Her and Tessa - this becomes far more prevalent as the story carries on, I'm glad that's obvious so early on! Thank you!

HairyBeary : I am HONORED that you remember those tiny details. I do whatever I can to sprinkle in my own sense of humor and such throughout the story, and I'm so glad it's remembered! The whole 'gamble on a fart and lost' is an inside joke with me and my husband - gets a laugh every single time lmao

BanannaSammich : I know I already responded to you in private, but I just need you to know how grateful I am for your words. I'm shocked people are coming out of the woodwork to level with me. I guess I always knew that I wasn't the only person on the planet to struggle with all of this, but feeling camaraderie come around me has REALLY helped me, a ton. This story is very hard for me to write, but I'm glad I'm getting it all off my chest. It's been eating me alive.


Song Listened To :

Tidal by Noah Kahan

The Hunter by Adam Jensen


*Chapter 53*

"I'm gunna grab a snack, I'll meet you at our spot, okay?" Chase chimed excitedly as he nudged Gideon's chest.

"Kay," Gideon bobbed a nod, and as him and Chase separated ways temporarily, Gideon strolled away from his locker and head to the restrooms just a few lockers down from his.

After two or three days of properly settling into Pre-Academy life, Gideon and Chase cutely set up their own routine during the half an hour grace period they had before Academy started. What included Chase getting a morning snack and Gideon tidying his locker, so to meet at their usual spot under their favorite tree, by the basketball courts, was now something Gideon looked forward to every single day. He pressed down Academy's gorgeous white corridor, eased into the noisy restroom and allowed his ears to adjust to the bouncy, echoey noise of other boys already in here loudly chatting and doing their business. Making quick work to head inside, find a urinal and take care of his own business, Gideon aimlessly stared down at himself before his ears eagerly cued to a familiar voice. Gideon raised his thick eyebrows, urgently glowered down the flush handle of his urinal in his direct line of vision and hurried to source the voice in the mess of reverberating nonsense.

Callum could be heard loudly laughing and joking with older boys his age, and though Gideon felt the knee jerk reaction to finish his business and urgently source Callum, thank User he finally found him, he held his breath and allowed the excited, happy feeling to very quickly dip to that of frustrated sorrow. Gideon zipped his pants, pressed to the sinks with his eyes down and quietly washed his hands. Although he could still hear Callum somewhere within the bathroom, he dried his hands and quickly left; somehow, the strange feeling to not be discovered overrode the urge to seek out his family and hopefully garner a simple greeting. Gideon eased out of the boy's restroom and, in a flustered show of double-backed confusion, he approached his locker once more, turned the dial of his lock for no reason and opened his tidy locker. Pretending to look inside and seem busy, he urgently shot his attention back to the bathrooms and patiently waited to see if Callum would come out of said bathrooms; in pupil-tightening surprise, Gideon inhaled a tight breath and immediately noticed Callum saunter out of the bathroom with a few other boys his age, they loudly joked and made a small scene of whole, masculine confidence.

Gideon raised his eyebrows in further surprise the second all four boys hovered a dozen feet from the bathroom and loudly chattered, though as Callum continued on their loud conversation, above the other chatter of the multitudinous students about them, Callum's eyes softly double-took on Gideon's figure. Feeling like his spine stiffened into an ice pick, Gideon resorted to gently doing what he wanted to do all along. With the tiniest little wave of his bigger hand and fingers, he felt his heart thud as Callum stiffly glanced away from Gideon a few times before he finally resorted to giving Gideon a tiny, down-low wave in return and facing away from him, for good. Gideon continued to hold his breath and very swiftly understood, from here, Callum was entirely unapproachable. Gideon bit his lip in contemplation, urgently busied himself with nothing in his locker and scoured his brain for just what to do with this mild form of both acceptance and rejection from his older cousin. He scrunched his eyes tight, accepted the fate of now knowing Callum didn't want to be approached, and cautiously closed his locker, so to meet up with Chase.

"It finally happened, I finally found Callum," Gideon's voice mumbled as he plopped down at the table with Chase; their shady area was simultaneously out in the open courtyard and secluded from too much foot traffic. Alone, the two found solace in each other, and though Chase began to chew faster so to properly get words out, Gideon snuck in one last comment, "Looked embarrassed to even know me."

"What does this jerk look like?" Chase blurt a laugh, his mouth was full of the chocolate chip cookie he had gotten himself, though Gideon flagged his hand in annoyance.

"Doesn't matter... I finally found him, I waved, he sort of waved back, and, at least now I know he probably wants nothing to do with me while we're here," Gideon heaved a hard sigh and rested his chin in his hand, "If even at ALL."

"Your family sounds like a bummer," Chase blurt a shaky little laugh of uncertainty, "Anyone else at your place that's cool?"

"Novus, you'd like Novus," Gideon's eyes brightened, "Wanna come over after school sometime this week? We can finally show each other our powers, y'know?"

"Yeah that'd be awesome," Chase's demeanor lit up, as well, "I... I have poison powers my mom says I can't use until I'm one. I'll have to ask my parents if I can come home with you, y'know? I'm sure it'll be okay."

"I can have my oldest sister code you for Sugar Rush, so you'll be safe there," Gideon bobbed a nod, heaved a sigh and shook his head, "Other than Novus, and maybe Tessa, there's no one else that we'd be able to play with. Everyone's having babies and crap. Super annoying."

"Everyone?" Chase ogled, Gideon grinned and rolled his eyes.

"No, not everyone, my nephew's girlfriend is pregnant and it's this huge ordeal," Gideon shrugged, "I think it's cool, but now it's being dragged out. They didn't really care to know what my first day was like, or anything."

"I'm sorry," Chase frowned, "My parents and siblings all threw a party for me the weekend before I started. Maybe my family can adopt you."

"Dang, you got a whole party?" Gideon gawked, to which Chase bobbed a nod and chuckled.

"I mean, I don't ever STOP getting treated like a baby, but yeah, I had a party," Chase mumbled cutely, he eyed Gideon in gentle suspicion and shook his head, "Really? Nothing? You think they're saving it for when you turn one?"

"I sure hope so," Gideon heaved a gentle sigh, "I'm tired of feeling as if I'm old news. I get that I'm the youngest and nothing is exciting anymore, but... Feels bad."

"Maybe you can come hang at my house, too, sometime," Chase shrugged, to which Gideon bobbed an excited nod and felt the hug of inclusion and camaraderie glue both boys together even more, "My siblings would love you. What's your powers again? Imagination?"

"Ohh, you just wait and see, friend," Gideon smiled, "Get Novus involved, we'll go flying around, it'll be awesome."

"Hell yeah," Chase muttered with a sneaky grin, to which both boys warmly laughed with one another.

In the easy sag of yet another Academy day coming to a close, Gideon and Chase sweetly parted ways at their typical meet and departure spot just outside of Arcadia Academy's entrance, which also was a nice gateway right into Arcadia's massive train station. They both gave lazy slaps of high-fives, promised to meet in their usual spot tomorrow morning and said their sweet goodbyes. With a tight inhale of a deep breath and a gloss of golden eyes across Arcadia's sunny game station, Gideon set his eyes tight to Sugar Rush's outlet, six slots down. He glanced to the massive entrance of Midnight Moon's gorgeous amphitheater, at the very far, opposite end of said sunny station, and tenderly replayed his mother's words. Although fully capable of walking himself to Sugar Rush's outlet, he softly shifted his eyes about and felt a very real, uneasy feeling of vulnerability hit him; he was well aware his mother was always right, but now feeling the realness of just how starkly out in the open he was had him realizing that maybe he should heed his elder's words. With that thought though, he furrowed his brow in a pique of hot annoyance and peered to Sugar Rush's outlet once more to see Oliver hurridledy stumbling out of it.

"Gid," Oliver called sheepishly, he bumbled over and firmly nudged Gideon's arm as both boys came within each other's vicinities, now half way between Academy and Sugar Rush, "My guy, you gotta wait at Academy's entrance for me to come get you, no one wants you walking the stretch of the station alone."

"I thought you forgot, sorry," Gideon mumbled, and though he desperately wanted to remain bitter towards his big brother, somehow Oliver's loving, humble gooeyness was way too charming and warm to resist. He eased a shy smile as Oliver hooked his honey-brown eyes tight into Gideon's and grinned in incredulous stun, "What! You forgot the other day!"

"I know, that wasn't cool of me, I'm sorry, dude," Oliver mumbled sincerely, he lovingly tossed his much huger arm over Gideon's shoulder. With both boys exuding every single last ounce of Ralph's big-boned, proper wrecking genes, it was clear that Oliver would still hold height and stature over Gideon once Gideon was fully grown. Much closer to Ace's or even Theo's physique, Gideon was a bit more lean than Oliver or Ralph with the same touch of bigger features, such as hands, feet and ears. Gideon heaved a hard, disgruntled sigh, though it was clear that from here, both boys were sapped in brotherly playfulness, "C'mon, tell me how today went? Y'hang with Chase?"

"Yeah, he's my best friend," Gideon mumbled shyly as they both fell into step with each other and slowly gained upon Sugar Rush's shiny, golden outlet, "There's this one girl, though..."

"Uh-oh," Oliver choked, he gave Gideon a wide, Ralph-sized smile and side-eye, "What's she like? Get her number?"

"Wait, what? User, no, she hates me!" Gideon wildly grinned and gained Oliver's eye contact, to which he finally gave the side of Oliver's broad chest a brotherly shove. Both boys stumbled in cute banter as the sun finally healed their previous emotional ruin, "I was gunna say that she keeps making fun of the size of my hands and feet."

"If only she knew," Oliver grunted, to which Gideon finally felt a whole, genuine grin of cheeky boasting cross his face.

"... That DOES mean that she thinks I have...Y-Y'know..." Gideon shyly staggered on his words and peered to his big brother in sheepish, smiling uncertainty.

"A whole package too big to be considered cheap, first class mail? Yeah, it's a euphemism," Oliver choked a hard, stifled laugh and rubbed his forehead as Gideon rolled his eyes and did what he could to keep from laughing, "I still get those comments. It's a compliment, no matter how bullying it may seem. I mean, is she being mean about it?"

"She's said it like three times now, and everyone around her giggles and says snotty comments," Gideon mumbled, and though said remark was strangely complimentary, Gideon still felt the sting of being singled out.

"Yeah, and for kids your age, it's not really cool to be put on blast, like that, while you guys are still coming into your own," Oliver eased in the downswing of playfulness, coming off of this seemingly lighthearted, brotherly topic, "Just ignore her comments, it's REALLY none of her business. Methinks she has a crush on you, why else would she be saying that? She's curious what you're working with."

"I'm not even THINKING about that," Gideon barked in irritation as both boys began to cutely mosey to Sugar Rush's outlet dock, which traversed into the wires.

"Yeah, you're not one yet, you don't need to worry about that kind of crap," Oliver mumbled as the two saddled onto one of the mobile discs that took them through Sugar Rush's wires, "You're still a kid, she's too young to be wondering what you got goin' on. That's weird, seems a bit forward to me. Have you told any faculty about it? Kind of seems like bullying, or harassment."

"I told my counselor, I just asked him what the term meant and he said that my parents should explain it," Gideon eased in a mild sting of dejection as the two began to sag into the dark wires that took them home, "I didn't need to ask mom or dad cause... It kind of clicked in the moment."

"Us Schweetz men have a lot to offer, and it's painfully obvious. Just keep your head up, at least they're not teasing you about the opposite of all of that," Oliver assured lovingly, "If you ever need girl advice, please text me. I'm sure going to mom or dad about all that would be awkward."

"It would," Gideon admitted shyly with a shaky chuckle and a soft nod; although he was feeling sore about the other day, his first day at Pre-A being robbed, he felt a glimmer of warmth return to him as Oliver seemingly extended an olive branch of rekindled trust. Although wary to stick his neck out, once more, and willingly give trust, he figured he was safe in Oliver's presence, from here, "Thanks, man..."

"Hey, I always promised I'd be here for you," Oliver confirmed with a loving smile and a nod, "No matter if I have to rush to the outlet to be on time."

Gideon rolled his eyes in sly tease, and though he was playing, deep down he desperately wanted to cockily agree with Oliver's little slight, towards himself. Not in the arena to messily pick and choose battles with swipes of closed eyes and hurt feelings, Gideon dropped it and both boys returned to the palace in moseying time. As the evening went on, and game day came to a close, Gideon enjoyed a quiet dinner with Ralph and Vanellope before being kindly reminded of his thankfully lengthening bedtime and curfew. After a hot shower and preparation for bed, Gideon sleepily moseyed out of his bathroom and ruffled a towel over his damp hair. Wearing nothing but his black sweats, he stepped into his dim bedroom, halted his movement and froze, so to listen for residual sound that typically emanated from the living room. In a sag of mild dread, Gideon felt his pupils tighten to the sound of absolutely nothing, dead silence. Gideon ruffled his hair a little harder, so to dry it from droplets faster, and in the expedited, hurried, silent footwork to his closed bedroom door, he cautiously cracked it open and sagged his ear to the opened crack to see if maybe his mother and father were having a quiet conversation in the kitchen or elsewhere.

Gideon held his breath and listened into the still-lit house to find that there was absolutely no sound, just the hum of the appliances in the kitchen, and with such a switch up, Gideon raised his eyebrows in prickled nervousness and stepped into the dim corridor of their lovely, cozy home. With a hurried press out into the open aired kitchen area, Gideon noticed the stove light was on, as well as a single living room light, and nothing more. He sharply furrowed his brow in a further spike of fear as he quickly wretched his neck and noticed his parent's bedroom door was agape, opened to a dark room void of any bodies. With rushed nervousness, Gideon hurried back to his room, swiped his new phone off of the charger and hurriedly began to thumb to his and Vanellope's text conversation. Although beyond the age to be responsibly left home alone, Gideon still felt it odd that he was suddenly alone without anyone telling him. He nervously thumbed his mother a text and held his breath as the phone screen dimly illuminated his worried, golden eyes.

FauxFox : Mom where did you and dad go?

VerySchweet : Sorry baby, we went to the rec hall. I texted you where we were going before we left, did it not go through?

Gideon furrowed his eyebrows in a sting of soft regret and scrolled up, though upon rereading his and his mother's previous messages, he quickly noted that her message, indeed, didn't go through. He quickly thumbed Vanellope a reply.

FauxFox : No I guess it didn't.

VerySchweet : Don't worry bud, dad and I will be back in an hour or so. We're just having a little shindig to celebrate Tatum and Theo's new loading bar with Berri and crew.

Gideon held his breath and felt a very weird, surreal toss of confusion hit him square between the eyes. The ironic lick of two very opposing feelings suddenly draped his heart in scalding and frigid confusion. He shook his head, tabbed his mother's message way, tossed his phone on his bed and crossed his arms in mild, mulling debate as he desperately did what he could to discern the emotions hitting him, in this instance. On one hand, he lulled his eyes closed and felt the annoyed kick of Tatum's successes continuously being brought up, due to how it overshadowed one of his successes, though in a new swing of confusion, he felt the very cold, lonely sag of being entirely left out of said hang out, not even an invite. Knowing it was due to this evening being a school night, he furrowed his eyebrows and quickly thought of all his older cousins and siblings that also had Academy the next morning. Gideon heaved a long, hot sigh and felt tears of frustration sting his eyes. Knowing, full well, he was no longer a baby, he felt weird that even though this was certainly a hang out he'd probably not enjoy, due to the now annoying topic at hand, the desperation to be included overrode the previous bitterness. He scrunched his eyes closed and sweetly promised the universe that he'd give anything to just be included, even if the party was centered around a seemingly exciting topic that wouldn't let up, just to feel as if his fragile presence was wanted there was enough.

With a thick inhale of wondering just what he could do to hurriedly quell the rush of frustration that suddenly had overcome him, he gently lunged to grapple his phone on his messy bed, once more, and began to storm out of his room with a rush of sudden, dominant purpose. With fire in his eyes, stomp in his step, he fervently pushed into his very empty and still home, thrilled he could truly express himself without anyone around. He shoved his phone into his pocket and pushed through the kitchen, straight to the dim, back door area with clenched his fists. As much as he wanted to barrel the door down, he grit his teeth, popped the lock in a single swift moment and erupted from their hefty back door. With a solid slam behind him, his bare feet pressed out into the cooler grass of their open-airy backyard area of the palace grounds. Cutely tucked to the wall Tessa had generously gifted him, moonlight glinted off the top of it, leaving all of his previous artwork shroud in shadow. Gideon glowered down the seemingly black wall and felt a wiggle go rushing through his electrified coding, as if to do a dance of solid defiance.

With the stride of an apex predator, Gideon heaved a long, hot sigh through his teeth and felt certain that given the right circumstances, he could breathe fire. With white-knuckled fists, Gideon cued his powerful, electric purple coding and felt the dark world about him warble in speckles of confusion. His heavy footsteps thud closer to his magnificent, blackened wall, and though he gave the wall before him a glower of challenge, he tossed his gaze over his shoulder and easily sourced the recreational hall sheer across the palace lot. Illuminated with lovely lights, the soft tinkering of music could be heard, as well as the very faint toss of a group of voices and echoes of laughs, a sweet tune of a wonderful time being had, Gideon sharply grit his teeth and allowed bitterness to course through his coding. Wanting desperately to wreck the world around him, he opted for throwing his fists down by his side in a sudden jolt of electric heat, and with a hard choke of defiance that bounced off the wall, Gideon felt a rocket of hot, white electricity shoot out of his hands and cause the ground on either side of him to crackle and erupt in the confusion.

Gideon softened, stumbled on his feet and now heavily panted as he opened his palms in the downswing of adrenaline that was previously pent up inside him. In a further spike of confusion, Gideon sharply peered down to the ground by his feet and froze in unadulterated confusion. What had seemingly rocketed out of his hands was the manifestation of solidified, genuine coding into hot white shards that jut from the earth underneath him. Gideon's strong, broadening chest heaved with his erratic panting through his nose, and as he opened his palms to assess, his golden eyes sharply scanned his trembling, opened palms in a hot pursuit of discovery. His coding surged with his racing heartbeat, from vivid, dark purple, straight through cyan and right on through to blinding white, the circuits all over his skin glowed like limitless, iridescent power. Gideon firmly peered down to the strange shards of seemingly weaponized coding, and as he knelt down to gently tap his finger to it, he sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth and yanked his hand away due to said shards being lava-hot to the touch.

With a further show of a heaving chest, a powerful stance, the realization that he was able to manifest such a powerful, dangerous tool, Gideon's fiery eyes peered into his hands in dark realization. He dragged his molten gaze straight for the recreational hall, far across palace grounds, and dared to let a menacing, devious smile cross his face as he continued to desperately try to catch his breath. Eager to test this all out, once again, he stiffened the tendons in his thick neck, flared his hot, angry coding once more and thrusted his tense, opened palm to the ground once more. With a grunt of surprise and a recoil as if to fire off a gun, searing hot white shards of weaponized coding shot out of his palms, once more, and stabbed into the ground at lightning speed, as if simply cutting through melted butter. Gideon stumbled backwards a little, lazily allowed his arms to droop at his sides and now heavily continued to pant as each release drained him further and further. Eager to get this all under control, to really figure out just what this was about, Gideon desperately steadied his footing and clenched his jaw in a rise of devious excitement. With a suddenly draw to the wall of blackened mystery before him, he cued his manifestation powers tightly to something he was already used to, and with such, he began to viciously paint over his beautiful creations with whatever color his heart was feeling in this raw moment of pent up anger.

Gideon lulled his eyes closed and eagerly imagined the world about him to a warble of difference, and as he seemingly stepped into a nightmare, he somehow relished in this bout of darkness he had stumbled into. Gideon heavily panted and glowered down the scene out before him. A blackened plane with only the lighthouse dead center in his field of vision. The light in the tower of the house beamed at full volume, it spun in solid, hefty drones of desperately doing what it could to draw Gideon in, and with the course of adrenaline that continued to hit his soul like the loveliest, most addicting drug, Gideon sharply allowed his glitching abilities to rocket him to the threshold of the lighthouse. With the door now clear in his line of view, bevelled in the vision of him rocketing at warp speed towards the door, Gideon inhaled a tight noise, grit his teeth and outwardly allowed his deep voice to bellow a hearty war cry as he clenched his fists and was successful in barreling down the fragile wooden door of the lighthouse. Although successful at getting inside, Gideon gasped in tight terror and was now immediately free falling down a terrifying, illuminated, never-ending tunnel of a drop. As his fall urgently began to pick up speed, in split seconds of dropping that didn't compute or make any sense, Gideon finally hit the ground in a black and white flash of a game over.

Gideon sharply gasped a tight noise, lurched his strong core and brought himself to an upright sit, and as his terrified eyes suddenly looked about in said further pang of fear, he felt his brain nervously do whatever it could to source just what the hell was going on. Once his coding understood that he was safely laid right at the base of his wall, he took note that the sky was turning periwinkle, and the palace lot began to so cutely sing with early morning song birds. Gideon heavily panted through his mouth, his bare skin now speckled with dirt and paint as he had unfortunately passed out in the midsts of his painting, coding, wrecking fit. Gideon's trembling gaze sourced the recreational hall, which was now dark and still, void of life, he finally scanned his home for life and very quickly came to grips with the idea that everyone had gone home for the night, to which Ralph and Vanellope surely assumed Gideon was fast asleep in his bed. Gideon sagged as tears softly stung his eyes, though just before he began to take a stand and assure himself that he may have slept walked and this was all some strange dream, his eyes caught with angry, jagged sharps of thick, hefty purple glass-like material jut from the concrete, of all places. Gideon froze and recoiled with the imagery hitting his brain, the ignition that hit his soul, once more, reminding him that his discovery, last night, was certainly very real, a switch up to his powers he was floored to keep securely to himself, a secret power he was beyond excited to hone; although this notion confused him, something deep inside of his heart assured him that one day, he'd need it.