Reviews :
Burgie : Thank you so so so much! I know, I'm excited to get back into my artwork again as well. I actually have a very very VERY big surprise coming up, pertaining to the whole saga. I'm bursting at the seams with this surprise and I can't wait to share it with you all. It'll be a little while, but I am hoping you guys will be as excited as I am when the big reveal happens :D
Snake557 : Yay! thank you! Yes, this chapter sort of kicks it all off... Enjoyyy *grits teeth*
Song Listened To :
Violence (REZZ Remix) by Grimes & i_o
*Chapter 91*
Silent flight, wing's that maneuvered through the trees in perfect precision, Novus made his way through their glorious, humid enclosure and sourced his pack. With gentle, deep, reverberating clacks of his jaw and puffs of air through his snout, he was able to use a form of echolocation to make his way through the near-pitch black, and as he neared his source, he could hear his father returning the favor in the form of returned clacks, to politely let Novus know where everyone was without shouting. Novus flattened his ears, smoothly glided through another thicket of huge trees and finally galloped to a trot on the ground. He heaved a satisfied little sigh, happy to hang out with his friends for the evening, he was always excited to come home and be with his kind. With an easy strut, he came to his mother's and father's den. With everyone's dens separate of one another, due to certain mates and family broods, Boss, Lickity's and Novus's secluded, cozy den was near the very back of the enclosure near a babbling brook and crystal clear lake. The only thing that would encourage Novus to move out of his parent's den is if he brought a mate back to palace grounds.
"Hi, mom," Novus stated with great warmth, and as he came up to Lickity's cozily curled figure in the den, he cutely nuzzled his snout firmly into hers.
"Hey, you," Lickity kindly returned as they firmly nuzzled into each other's necks and fluffy manes, though Lickity's eyes slid open in a draw of solid surprise as a very different, stark scent hit her snout. She perked her big ears high, firmly got to her feet and startled Novus out of their cozy show of nonchalant nuzzling. Lickity narrowed her intense green eyes and now fervently began to sniffle at Novus's fluffy mane. She finally ushered him a notion of almost teasing assurance as Novus stood frozen in confusion, "You, uh... You have a productive night or something?"
"Are there cats in Turbotime?" Boss grumbled in equal confusion as he came sauntering out of the back of their cozy den, securely tucked away in a rock formation.
"Cats?" Novus wondered in soft confusion, and though he was more thinking along the lines of much bigger creatures that Novus would get on with, he flattened his huge ears in a show of prickled terror, held his breath and now felt the blood leave his face as his mother and father began to circle him in a draw of protective confusion, "O-oh... Uh..."
"You gunna bring her home, son? It's obvious you like this girl, anyhow, why are you keeping her away from the pack?" Boss wondered with a soft chuckle, though his tone was teetering on stern authority.
"... N-No, it's not like that, she's not... For me," Novus staggered in hot uncertainty; quick to protect his hide, he realized doing so would give away Kepa's and Gideon's rather secretive, innocent flirtations.
"You sure? Your mane reeks of the blatant obvious," Lickity muttered cutely, Boss chuffed a hard breath out of his snout and now began to step away from Novus in a show of resistance.
"Seriously, for User's sake, you, uh... You didn't have to rush home, son, you're an adult, y'know," Boss crumpled into cute laughter, to which Novus now felt as if he was going to die of embarrassment.
"I'm serious, it's... Gideon and I have a friend in Turbotime, she's a lion gargoyle," Novus rushed nervously, he shifted on his paws as his parents finally let up the sniffling and sagged away from his presence in easy-going nonchalance, though Novus still tucked his wings tight to his body in nervous self consciousness, "Like Tatum, y'know?"
"I keep forgetting Tatum is half lion gargoyle," Lickity chimed warmly, her and Boss shared a soft bump of their skulls before Boss began to skulk back to where he had planned to nest for the night, their cozy den was almost too dark to see in.
"She was kneading my mane earlier, you know how cats do," Novus urged, he felt his legs shake a little, as if he had somehow been caught in a lie, though he knew this was all truth. Eager to attempt to keep Gideon's and Kepa's business under wraps, he could feel it all unravelling out of his control.
"Well, geez, does she have a thing for you, or something?" Boss wondered curiously as him and Lickity began to settle into each other for a small nap; although they were nocturnal creatures, their routine consisted of small increments of napping throughout the waning hours of the evening with heavier naps during the day.
"No, she... Has a thing for Gideon, she just so happened to be kneading my mane later in the evening," Novus eased, almost regrettably. He kept his tone airy so to hopefully not get his mother and father way too intrigued, though with the way they both fell silent, Novus swallowed hard in full nervousness and now worried about these repercussions; knowing, full well, Lickity told absolutely everything to Tessa, Novus shut his eyes tight and knew he had to at least let Gideon know of this mishap. Having been able to tell of their flirty tendencies, on top of the conversation Novus had just had with Gideon and Lash, he knew this was all extremely touchy and brand new. Eager to rid himself of Kepa's smell so that he could properly cuddle into the dog pile and hopefully speed along the process of Lickity and Boss forgetting this conversation ever happened, Novus began to temporarily sag out of their den, "I'm... Gunna go take a dust bath and clean off, I'll be back in a second."
"Mkay," Lickity nonchalantly called over her shoulder as Boss huffed a deep guttural of a groan, and as both mates settled amidst a mess of curled bodies, tails, wings and limbs, Boss sweetly lapped his tongue along Lickity's cheek a few times in a show of gentle grooming. Although not nearly as spiny as a cat's tongue, their tongues were still equipped with gummier bristles that aided in grooming mats out of their fluffy, dense fur. Lickity lulled her eyes closed and relished in Boss's warm familiarity, though cheekily continued on once Novus was gone and out of ear shot, "Wait'll Tessa hears of this. I was told Gideon had made a friend but I didn't realize it was a 'special friend'."
"Just let the guy live, he's no longer a child," Boss muttered as he lapped his bigger tongue over his snout and settled, "Whoever that chick is, though, she's got it bad for Gideon. Whew, that was a WALL of full certianty Novus brought in here."
"I'm nosey," Lickity mumbled cutely, "I'm sad it's not someone for Novus, though."
"He'll find someone," Boss sighed with a smile, "Can't play matchmaker on all of them."
Gideon dusted his hands off, aimlessly straightened the wrinkles on his broad chest and began to thoroughly lock up Berri's riding stable. The hefty door thud shut, and as Gideon cued coding and locked the door, he smiled down to his feet and began to patiently walk home. A short distance between both buildings, Berri's and Chester's riding stable was securely tucked near the courtyard and main building, which housed the code room. A two minute walk from his home, Gideon sagged into the palace's wall's massive, outdoor corridor. Huge, glorious arches tidily lined with big orb lights, so to light the pathway at night, Gideon sagged his thumbs into the front pocket of his unzipped hoodie and allowed a world of thought hit his brain. Grateful Berri had allowed Gideon to keep Novus's saddle in her riding stable, alongside all of the other dragon's saddles, his mind began to melt into the gooey, forbidden topic of him and Kepa together.
Eager to get inside and have another long, fun-filled night full of ending pointless memes back and forth, meaningful conversation and the hope that things could maybe delve a bit deeper than just friendly conversation, Gideon heaved a happy sigh and glossed his eyes in the direction of his paint wall as he began to take a turn so to cross his backyard and head home, though in the glint of archway light, he took note of a figure standing at his mural wall, seemingly admiring Gideon's work. Gideon firmly scuffed his bigger bare feet to a halt, furrowed his eyebrows in a swing of whole shock and was floored to see Callum, of all people, standing at his wall. Gideon held his breath, forced a hefty gulp, his adam's apple slid down his jugular and returned in an audible swallow of now prickled nervousness, and as he hovered in silence and was grateful Callum didn't notice him, Gideon furrowed his eyebrows and felt anger begin to course him. Repeating Lash's wise words, he very quickly sourced his anger, understanding now that anger was protection, and with this information, the beast in him assured him that his wall was to be protected at all cost. With Callum's weird, negative aura now clouding about Gideon's sacred place of creativity, Gideon furrowed his eyebrows in rising, protective frustration and began to cautiously approach Callum's figure.
"Hey," Gideon's deep voice ushered, although a friendly little greeting, it was very clearly laced with nervous curiosity. Callum raised his eyebrows in a show of startled surprise, took a step away from Gideon's glorious paint wall and sagged his hands into his jacket's side pockets. Gideon eyed his creations, worried that maybe Callum was over here smearing pastels or any other fugitive, loose medium he had previously worked with. Not seeing anything blatant, Gideon stabbed his eyes tight to Callum and was forever grateful he had at least five inches over Callum's figure. A tower of a nightmare, a golden, frozen beast with fire in his eyes, Gideon eased a mean smile and shrugged a little, "What, uh... Whatcha doin'?"
"Just admiring your work, Gid," Callum mumbled with a disarmed smile and demeanor, he shrugged and side-eyed Gideon in full, annoyed charm. Knowing he was making Gideon uneasy, he put on his best fit of cunning lightness and did whatever he could to seem non-threatening, "What, I can't come out here and admire what you've done?"
"Y'can, it's just..." Gideon now sagged and wondered if maybe all the hard times had gone to his head, as if maybe Callum was trying to make nice. He nervously looked about the palace grounds, although dark and void of any people, little fireflies lined the sprawl of fields far beyond his home, which was about fifty feet off. Gideon sighed and disarmed himself in full, curious apprehension, "Unlike you. Thank you, I'm glad you like it."
"How are you doing?" Callum gently wondered, and though Gideon could feel his shoulders sag and all walls come down, the desperation to be in good with his cousin, once more, he suddenly felt as if he had maybe disarmed himself too soon. With the cheeky stab of piercing blue eye contact Callum took to Gideon's soul, Gideon nearly recoiled as Callum donned a sly little smile of side-eyeing, prodding delight, "I WAS going to ask how you're liking your classes but... Word 'round campus is you've dropped Academy entirely."
"...Word around campus? What's that supposed to mean?" Gideon muttered nervously, Callum huffed a husky little laugh, shook his head and glossed his eyes all about Gideon's artwork, as if to secretly pick it apart. Gideon could feel the muscles in his lower arms tense in the action of desperately wanting to clench his fists, "You guys just... Gossip about me so much that somehow everyone in the whole fucking school knows?"
"How could we not know? Tessa got that traitor fired, your old guidance counselor," Callum huffed in incredulous, smiling disbelief. He shrugged and, in the gentle motion of said shrug and readjustment of his hands, Gideon could see a flicker of his shiny, much smaller dagger hilt. Gideon snapped his mouth shut, held his breath and now felt plagued with confusion over the fact that Callum was armed with a weapon. Sure him and his immediately family likely had just gotten through with sword and dagger training, Gideon desperately tried not to take said peak of his weapon as a threat as Callum's soft, dark, proper tone of elite cockiness carried on, "Rumor around campus is that he has ties to the dark web."
Gideon held his breath a bit harder and felt his pupils tighten. The pulse in his jugular now began to throb in hot confusion, and though Gideon wanted to fervently berate Callum for spouting such nonsense, he halted himself and felt a wash of cold regret fall over him, the raw fact that Callum was potentially correct, due to Flint giving Gideon the application papers to Game Over; not an easy feat. Gideon furrowed his brow and nervously glossed his eyes to his artwork, warmly illuminated by the glowing orb above the two, inside the outdoor archway in which Gideon's mural was housed in. Gideon now felt his blood boil, and with bravery, he gently glowered Callum down and felt his coding do a weird wiggle.
"I love that you're not denying it," Callum muttered darkly, Gideon furrowed his eyebrows and glowered Callum down a little harder as Callum shifted on his feet and gestured his hands, "I wasn't even sure... That was just a shot in the dark. Your silence says everything and answers ALL my questions."
"You came over here to goad me, not admire my artwork," Gideon sharply stabbed, "Why would I be so stupid to believe you ever cared about anything I do?"
"... That's LITERALLY why I came over here, cause I not only care about what you do, I care about who you associate with," Callum defended in now flaring frustration both men were becoming outward about, "I'm sworn to help aid in palace protection. Just knowing you're consorting with a guy that has ties to the dark web is enough to worry the hell out of everyone under the sun. We heard that you so much as gave him your number? The hell's that about, Gideon?"
"It's none of your business," Gideon squeezed through the grit of his teeth, with how fragile and delicate his feelings were right now, about palace life, he could feel anger so quickly running rampant through his coding. So much so, that his fingertips began to nearly tingle, the urge to splay deathly, molten energy all over Callum was almost too tempting to resist.
"It is my business, Gideon," Callum muttered as both men now faced each other in a show of masculine challenge, "I don't care who I protect this game from... Even if it IS you."
"I'm not a threat to the game, I don't know who the hell is feeding you THAT information," Gideon rushed, he squeezed his eyes shut and now felt as if he had been duped by everyone.
"It doesn't matter, what DOES matter is the fact that you're falling in too deep with people that likely don't have good intentions for you, for this game, for Arcade," Callum gestured his hands outwards, "Sure, Lash is trustworthy, but... He's someone that had ties to Vye, and Aroq. He's someone who was previously in on this nonsense, and now you're just... Flippantly glued to his hip? On top of Flint? Someone rumored to have previously snooped about the dark web?"
"Are you just jealous that I no longer am puppy-dogging after you? No longer desperate for your attention, Callum?" Gideon barked with a wide grin, "Y'jealous that I maybe outgrew your shadow? We could've remained very close, Callum. YOU'RE the one who chose to abandon me."
"I didn't ABANDON you, Gideon, I was a teenager, you were... A kid! Look, I'm sorry, truly," Callum gently urged, as if he maybe was sincerely genuine here, though Gideon didn't make the same mistake as earlier, the mistake of letting his guard down. Callum could sense this due to the darkened, mean, hardening look in his eye the longer time went on with Gideon's tight-lip look of persistence, "That's the nature of our age gap. That's the nature of your placement in this whole family. So, you were temporarily left out. Tough tits, dude, I mean really, grow up. Just embrace the dynamic."
"I know what this is, it's jealousy," Gideon affirmed in confident, sarcastic glee as he allowed an equally as sarcastic, mean smile to sprawl his face, "You're just jealous because I escaped a shadow I was tied to, and you didn't. You're just another cog in the machine. You eat lunch with said shadows every day while I'm off free to do whatever the hell I want."
"You're a real piece of work, Gideon, it's a true shame you shaped up to be this way," Callum firmly uttered, and much to Gideon's surprise, Callum took a challenging step deeper into Gideon's bubble and dared to show potential of getting into Gideon's face. Gideon inhaled a thick breath through his nose and glowered Callum down from their gap of height difference, he knew Callum was brave, and surely no match for Gideon whatsoever, though with the thought of Callum's dagger, Gideon clenched his teeth and knew that with said weapon, Callum had a very steep advantage. Callum inhaled a trembling breath, purely from the spike of anger both men were now drowning in, "At least I have the smarts not to go after a ratty homeless woman..."
Gideon blinked in delirious knock back, Callum's sly words stabbed into his heart like a hot poker, and with the recoil of words that came back to his brain over and over, Gideon did whatever he could to understand the fervent pot of protective anger now boiling over, to understand just how the hell Callum was getting all of this information, the desperation Gideon had to keep his second life under wraps was now falling apart at the seams, right before his eyes. Gideon shut his eyes, shook his head a little, as if to make clear to Callum that he couldn't really believe Callum's statement, and before Gideon could protest, Callum huffed a soft little laugh in Gideon's face and eased a mean smile.
"That's right," Callum whispered, "We know all about your new little friend, Kepa. Really nice of you to do charity work, but the palace needs you, it's Prince, to help aid in keeping the dark web off of our scent."
"Say something else about Kepa," Gideon chirped darkly, he bobbed a nod, his deep voice shook with rage, though Callum scoffed a laugh, looked off and rolled his eyes, "No, I'm serious. Say something else about her and watch what happens, it'll be fun."
"You wanna fight?" Callum stabbed, though he flinched as Gideon leaned down and nearly sagged his forehead to Callum's, and though Callum barely blinked in a flinch and was prepared for Gideon's booming voice to explode all over him, he was shocked to hear Gideon inhale a silent, shaky breath and carry on in a delicate though husky tone.
"You can say anything you want about me. You can say anything you want about Flint. You can say anything you want about my whereabouts," Gideon delivered with such softness, though the tremble in his slow, readied inhales promised boiling rage that popped in searing bubbles of scalding sorrow underneath his skin as he meanly delivered his conclusion into Callum's face. He clenched his teeth and now properly white-knuckled into fists of a full flex down by his sides, "Say a single thing about Kepa, and I will put you in the ground."
"Are you threatening to kill me?" Callum wondered in firm shock as he now pushed his forehead tight into Gideon's, to which Gideon now grit his teeth and huffed a mean laugh into Callum's face; although both men were hurt and confused, the height of all this anger allowed them to run down a road of darkness neither would sanely go down in a soft and collected setting.
"Oh, buddy," Gideon growled as his fists trembled, the quake of his vivid coding now climbed up his arms in full rage, "I've been waiting for the day."
"I'd like to see you try," Callum hissed through his teeth, though within the blink of an eye, both men became animated in full rage.
Gideon sharply grit his teeth in a full grimace and was only due to giving Callum a stun of knock back with nothing but the electrifying shock of his glitching powers, though in the split second jolt of action both men took, Gideon fervently back tracked and saw Callum very blatantly grapple for the handle of his dagger. With the switched gears, Gideon now knew he had to up his game and get Callum away from him as fast as possible, and with said notion, Gideon redirected his power and took a full swing at Callum's face. Although successful in popping Callum clear in the jaw and sending him sharply thrusted to the ground, Gideon suddenly cried a near-roar of full pain as Callum was successful in swiping Gideon's inner, upper arm with the razor-sharp slice of his jawbreaker dagger. Inside Sugar Rush's mechanics, Gideon's whole body blobbed about in agitated red pixels to insinuate he had taken substantial damage and was now down health points. Gideon stumbled, firmly peered down to his right arm in hot shock and, although the pain now immediately coursed through him and blood began to trickle down his arm, he now saw red. Dilated pupils that sourced Callum getting to a hesitant stand, Gideon felt rage spill over him, he knew now that all bets were totally off.
As if operating on a much more advanced operating system, Gideon inhaled a thick breath, took a firm few steps in Callum's direction and allowed every last ounce of adrenaline harden the coding in his body. As his palms glowed and pulsed his now molten-white, angry coding, Gideon took a few warning shots at Callum's feet and was successful in materializing the still unknown, searing hot shards of glass he had remembered was apart of his programming. With the loud crackles of said glass now stabbing the concrete at Callum's feet, Callum huffed a shaky noise of protest, took a few wobbly steps backwards and watched in terror as Gideon continued to swipe said shards in his direction. Callum firmly held out his dagger and braced to swat any and all pelts of glass rocketed his way, though he yelped a deep, loud noise of shock as Gideon firmly swiped his hand down, flicked a rather hefty shard of glass directly for Callum's hand and was successful in slicing his jawbreaker dagger clean in half, or more. Although on a roll, his body urgently blipped in red pixels, once more, a chirp of a warning noise pressed outward from his area as his body now continued to take damage from the loss of blood.
Gideon inhaled a thick, raspy breath through his nose and watched as Callum now nervously began to stumble backwards in further shock and defeat, and now seeing that his dagger was useless, Callum shakily dropped his destroyed dagger and held his hands up in terrified defeat, though he was stunned to see Gideon continue on his warpath. Callum uttered a few notions of very nervously giving up, which then turned into louder pleas for Gideon to cease his warpath, though Gideon glowered him down as if he was the devil himself, the sheer power in his direct, firm drive into Callum's bubble, with no sign of stopping, had Callum now shriveling in outward terror. Gideon shook his head, he glowered Callum down, a full, menacing look of pure hatred in the glint of his golden eyes, Gideon cued the coding all along his arms and was strangely successful in levelling out long sword-like daggers of molten glass that Gideon was ready to slice Callum off of the map with. With steam coming off of Gideon's palms, he clenched his teeth and raised said long, jagged swords in preparation to finish Callum, though before anymore unforgivable wounds could be delivered, Gideon flinched in full disarm and was jolted backwards.
"What the HELL has gotten into you two?!" Tessa suddenly bellowed in full, immediate rage as she successfully wiped Gideon of his power, temporarily, and was able to stun both boys into submission; all three beings panted, though Gideon looked to be hit the hardest with the downswing. Tessa glanced to Callum and could see the rocked look of terror on his face, though as she drew her confused, enraged gaze to Gideon, she could see that he was still in full-fight mode, full anger oozed from his being like toxic goo. Tessa scoffed a hard noise and could hear Ralph barreling out his back door, to cross the backyard, in which Rancis immediately teleported to the teleport pad directly out front of Ralph's and Vanellope's house. Having gotten the palace's confused SOS involving Gideon's and Callum's coding on the grid, the right people urgently began to appear. Tessa gestured her arms outwards and glanced between both battered men, "ANYONE care to explain what the hell is going on?!"
"You keep that motherfucker AWAY from me," Gideon's raspy voice yelled as he dared to take a step or two closer, he firmly pointed and looked to be unfazed by the bleeding wound on his upper inner right arm.
"What happened?" Ralph demanded as he rushed the group of three, they stood in the gentle light of the corridor's safety. Ralph looked between both men and glued his confused, nervous gaze tight to Gideon's figure, "Gideon, you're bleeding, what the hell happened?"
"This asshole took a swipe at me with his dagger!" Gideon bellowed as he gestured his left arm outwards, though he tightly grimaced and gripped his upper right arm, it was clear the adrenaline was beginning to slip and his brain coding was now fervently being reminded of the pain.
"As opposed to your molten glass shards of DEATH?" Callum yelled, "I was just defending myself! Y'wanna fight like a man? Leave your powers OUT of it!"
"Is it just because you don't HAVE powers?" Gideon bellowed as he now pressed tighter to Tessa, though looked past her; Tessa grunted and firmly put her hands on Gideon's broad, strong chest, to hold him back. Gideon's shaking, deep voice loudly shouted over the gap of huge height distance him and Tessa had, the veins in his jugular bulged and pulsed in full anger, "You're just jealous of EVERYTHING I am? You jealous that all you have to protect your sorry ass is a DAGGER?"
"Gideon Fox," Ralph urged in disappointed caution due to Rancis hovering tight to the group, as well.
"It's not his fault he was born without powers," Rancis stabbed in defense, and though both men were in the wrong, in this fight, Rancis still glanced to Callum in a full show of fatherly protection.
"Try this in Arcadia Station, next time, without the security of regenerating, you fucking wuss," Gideon growled, he nearly shook with anger, he inhaled a raspy, quick breath and allowed his anger to ride out, from here, "I've let you mess with me for far too long but it ENDS HERE!"
"Gideon, Gideon," Tessa urged quietly as she stumbled backwards in attempt to keep Gideon's strong, bulldozing strength from lunging at Callum's throat.
"Hey," Ralph firmly urged as he grappled Gideon's left shoulder, shoved him back a few paces and got all the heat off of Tessa. Gideon darkly glanced up into his father's eyes, his face was soaked with sweat and tears, adrenaline still desperately coursed through him, and it was now clear to everyone here that Gideon's world of pent up sorrow and frustration was now coming out in avenues everyone was wary about; full blown, murderous rage. Ralph narrowed his gaze for emphasis and jostled Gideon's shoulder, once more, "Snap OUT of it, son, snap out of it."
"What happened?" Rancis tightly demanded as he shot Callum a disappointed look of full, stern, fatherly frustration.
"He goaded me into a fight," Gideon clamored for the truth to be told first, before Callum could sprinkle it with deceit, "I thought he was over here to admire my art and maybe make nice with me but instead he shit all over everything I've been up to!"
"Is it worth the blood shed and busted forehead veins, Gideon?" Ralph firmly urged down to Gideon, and though Gideon could feel a fight still left in him, he felt his tail want to sink between his legs; he knew he was absolutely no match for his father, likely the only person in Arcade who could lay Gideon flat with one swing.
"I was cautioning him about the dark web, all the shit we've heard, how he's running off," Callum sharply corrected as he panted and tried to adjust the collar of his shirt.
"Callum, you and everyone involved shouldn't be gossiping about Gideon, I don't care what information you've heard through the grape vine, you should come to the source if you have questions," Tessa fervently defended, she knew this was a chance to really show Gideon that she was in his corner. Desperate to keep Gideon's feet in the palace's camp, she knew it meant risking her's and Callum's friendly relationship, temporarily, "Gideon isn't your enemy. You can talk to him like family, you know. So what if he's running off and doing his own thing, why don't you ASK him instead of goad him?"
"I wasn't goading him," Callum barked, Gideon seethed.
"You ASKED me if I wanted to FIGHT!" Gideon firmly bellowed, to which Ralph jolted as Gideon challenged Ralph's strength and attempted a lunge at Callum, once more.
"Dude," Rancis muttered to Callum in full disappoint, now, though Callum shook his head and gestured down to his destroyed dagger.
"He sliced my dagger in half," Callum urged, "And, you threatened me first! Sure, a fist fight. A FIST FIGHT! Not a weapons fight!"
"You drew your dagger on me!" Gideon's deep voice so loudly urged, still over the top of Tessa's head; both her and Ralph jolted, once more, to keep Gideon from lunging at Callum again.
"Only because you cued your coding," Callum sharply volleyed, though Rancis regrettably glanced between all three glitchers before him and Callum, "I'm NO match to coded power, like that."
"Dude, you're also no match to a FIST fight with ham hands, here," Ralph steadily argued, he choked a knowing, shaky laugh and gestured down to Gideon's fists, "You don't want to get into a fight with Gideon... Powers or no powers, goading Gideon into a fight isn't wise."
"Y'calling Callum weak, then?" Rancis now gently defended, to which Tessa and Ralph guffawed fully irritated coos of pure, disappointed dismay at Rancis.
"Uncle Rancis, come on, seriously," Tessa desperately urged as Gideon bobbed a nod of still-seething sarcasm.
"Yeah, I would say that, definitely," Gideon chirped meanly, to which Callum now jolted outwards and was sharply stopped by Rancis's firm hands to his broad chest.
"C'mon, let's part ways for now, nothing is getting solved right now," Tessa quickly rattled in full authority, "Both you boys should be ashamed. Nothing is worth this. We can solve this once we've all settled and gotten cleaned up."
"Forget it, I don't want to fucking talk to you ever again, I have absolutely nothing productive to say to you," Gideon stabbed as he pierced his fervent, livid gaze tight into Callum's, "Direct all questions to someone else, I don't give a flying shit about your concerns."
"Gideon," Tessa urged in full dismay, though everyone flinched as Gideon now took a surprising few steps away from the situation, consumed his being with his glitching abilities and suddenly shot off and away from the group in a full, lightning-quick glitch hop towards the nearest teleport pad, just outside his home, and within a blink of an eye, Gideon's purple pixels collected on the pad and whisked away. Tessa heaved a long, shaky sigh and felt the pin-prickle amount of silence between her and the three men she was left with, she sorrowfully peered about the disheveled group and shook her head, "Great. Just great."
"We had JUST wrangled him in," Ralph mumbled in full defeat, to which everyone peered to Callum in dark question.
"Look, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to swipe at him, I was just protecting myself," Callum muttered, and though Rancis desperately wanted to defend his child against Ralph and Tessa, Rancis heaved a long sigh through his nose and knew that if Gideon were the one to cause Callum to bleed his own blood, Ralph would allow Rancis to hand Gideon his ass.
"Callum, you're safe to game over where you're standing. There is no sense in drawing a weapon on someone when you're in a safe zone, especially with a family member. I'm going to say this once and once only," Ralph started firmly as he held up his large finger and glared Callum down, "That poor guy is not our enemy. I don't care what gossip you've heard, if you want the truth, you are to come straight to ME. Am I understood?"
"Yes, sir," Callum mumbled, Ralph kept his angry, fatherly gaze tight to Callum's nervous eyes.
"Tessa's done a wonderful job at garnering Gideon back to base camp and beginning the process of healing old wounds, and whatever goading and tempting you're doing to flare Gideon to THIS level of rage is undoing ALL of Tessa's hard work," Ralph rattled tightly, it was clear he was now becoming angrier, "You owe your Queen an apology."
"I'm sorry, Tessa," Callum murmured in full humility, and though Tessa wanted to usher him a notion of forgiveness, she remained silent and did what she could to not allow tears of full sorrow and frustration to billow in her eyes.
"Where'd he go, anyways?" Rancis worried, to which Tessa heaved a shaky sigh and looked down to the mysterious shards of still-hot shards of glass that pierced the concrete nearby.
"Anywhere but Sugar Rush, I can tell you that," Tessa mumbled in a whisper, though she knelt down to get a closer look at the glass on the ground, "Callum... What's all this?"
"I have no clue, it's what he used to destroy my dagger, it's really hot to the touch, so be careful," Callum hurriedly worried as he gestured his hand down, though Rancis furrowed his eyebrows in soft confusion and sourced Callum's destroyed dagger.
"Son, your... Dagger is jawbreaker," Rancis worried as he brought the evidence up between the four beings; the blade of Callum's dagger was so cleanly severed, nearly seven inches had been taken off of the nine inch dagger, a perfect sear of such clean handiwork now had the group frozen in full stun, the realization that spilled out of Rancis's being, "H-how... Jawbreaker is one of the toughest materials in this whole Arcade."
"He was literally SHOOTING this glass from his hands, like molten shurikens," Callum urged in further worry, to which Ralph heaved a long sigh through his nose and rubbed the back of his head in terrified defeat.
"I'm going to sample this and run some tests," Tessa assured quietly, she cautiously tapped her finger pads to the still-hot glass and shook her head in full shock, "If this is simply Gideon's form of protection inside an adrenaline rush, we're in deeper shit than I realized..."
