Reviews :
BanannaSammich : Hi! THANK YOU! I get such an adrenaline high when I write chapters with Lash being all aggressive and such, it's so much fun. I'm glad you enjoy it as well, he definitely was the saga's original villain. I like to remind everyone every now and then haha. I appreciate all the love, seriously! Thank you, you're the best!
Snake557 : Nope, Nox still has his powers! Gideon sneakily duplicated them while he was exterior swapping with him, that one time. Gideon's glitching abilities are next level - difficult skills that are learnable by the other glitches, but Gideon's tapped in as if it's nothing. Gideon has Nox's powers still, just is super secretive about it - an ability he eventually uses to his advantage.
Firesong-Writes : Yeah they're all pretty dense, rn... It only gets worse before it gets much better, unfortunately. Thank you for your feedback! I love hearing what you guys have to say.
chuckiboo : I am FLOORED you remember that from 2 whole stories ago. That's a massive compliment to me, seriously, thank you! Yes, you are absolutely right. Once she had that kick of User powers, Ace was nearly doomed, no equal exchange, just sourced pure hurt and anger and rode it out. Definitely something Gideon was tapped into, the ability to so freshly source hurt and use it as reckless fuel. It's something I, myself, am trying to get under control...
Song Listened To :
Sweet Dreams by Trinix
*Chapter 140*
In pacing, bare foot prints left in the veil-thin layer of snow on the city concrete, Gideon nervously held his phone lazily in front of him. Tabbed to his and Kepa's conversation, he was thrilled she had texted him once she made it safely to the lighthouse, prior to his class, though now that he had messaged her in preparation for his after-class visit, she wasn't responding. Gideon continuously looked at the time stamp, he wondered if he was going crazy, five minutes jumped to ten, jumped to twenty. He eventually moseyed into the cafe next door to Murphy's art studio and got himself a cup of water in continuous wait, though after a second confused text messaged sent, a collective almost forty-five minutes had gone by with not a single peep from Kepa. Gideon now felt guilt, fear and abandonment totally run away from him. The rational part of his brain promised that this was innocent, surely Kepa wasn't around her phone, though said part of his brain was so vehemently shushed by the angry swarm of wasps violently swirling around every single inch of his nervous system. Thwarted by it all, he could feel beads of sweat crown his forehead, suddenly the lovely, romantic notions of last night felt sour, he had given a piece of himself away and the dollop of trust he had handed over was now hissing away to hot steam right before his eyes. The world about him began to vignette in black, though he flinched the second he was getting a phone call. Entirely disappointed to find it wasn't Kepa calling him, he held his breath in rocked confusion and answered the phone.
"... Callum?" Gideon huffed a shaky chuckle; not one for phone calls, he wondered if Callum had accidentally butt-dailed him.
"Hey, where'yah at?" Callum prod, his deep voice lilted in curious, smiling sass.
"Uh... I'm in Vidrix, what's up?" Gideon suspiciously fished, he narrowed his gaze and stepped out into the streets, from the cafe, once more.
"I'm headed to Flint and Chase's new place right now, just wanted to see if you wanted to come. I guess it has a rooftop lookout over Cyclone City. Chase sent me a picture of it last night, it's INSANE," Callum happily drawled on, Gideon put his hand on his hip and looked up to Turbotime's glorious blue skies all speckled with snowy clouds, "I figured if you weren't busy, you'd like to come hang. I guess there's gunna be a huge marathon of the game, due to the new season coming up."
"... The game?" Gideon confusedly asked.
"Game Over?" Callum volleyed, Gideon flinched and felt his heart drop as he shook his head in discombobulated cuteness.
"Oh-oh, that game," Gideon mumbled, he exhaled a long drawn out sigh and squeezed his eyes shut, "Well, I WAS supposed to meet up with Kepa, but..."
"Girl trouble already?" Callum spat with a laugh, Gideon rolled his eyes.
"No, no I was just with her last night and this morning, we're fine, I just..." Gideon felt the words spilling out of his mouth, somehow Callum had a way about him, a lure of bait Gideon couldn't resist, the promise of more camaraderie Gideon couldn't ever get enough of.
"Shit, you swap with her or something? She spent the night?" Callum boyishly dogged, he chuckled in a sense of light, airy happiness and continued to make space for Gideon, "Finally, dude, I always told you that you were moving too slow."
"N-No, I didn't swap with her," Gideon mused, he heaved a shaky breath and squeezed his eyes shut, "I-It's fine, we're fine, I just... Thought we were going to meet up after my class, but she's not responding to me."
"... It's probably cause you didn't swap with her last night, you guys do anything in that vein?" Callum's voice dropped to gentle seriousness, to which Gideon felt his heart drop with further guilt.
"W-well, yeah, we did, but-" Gideon choked an inhale and felt confused as to why he wasn't putting his foot in his mouth, he aimlessly looked about and felt his heart begin to race, as if the urge to spill his guts was suddenly something he definitely couldn't control nor understand why.
"Rule number one, my guy, don't ever finish first," Callum cockily muttered into the phone, to which Gideon felt his insides clench in full terror, "Don't fret on it, she'll give you the silent treatment for the day and you'll come hang with the guys. She'll get over it."
"...You think that's REALLY why she's not responding to me?" Gideon worried, he shook his head and narrowed his gaze, "I-It felt... Like mutual respect, she was floored to be doing what she was doing."
"WAS she, though? I mean maybe with the promise that you'd finish her off, too, you fool," Callum cackled, he sighed with a swing of boyish camaraderie and seemed to be walking somewhere due to the feedback, "Just let it breathe, come hang, we'll have a smoke and some food and watch the game. They play Vye's and Albar's highlights throughout, so that'll get your mind off of your girl trouble."
"I don't know, I think I should just go talk to Kepa," Gideon worried, Callum uttered a staggering noise of full disapproval.
"Nah-no, leave her be, when women recluse, trying to get at them while they're upset will only make matters worse," Callum gently mused, "Just let her have the day, why don't you just call her much later tonight, or even tomorrow? She obviously needs alone time."
"Yeah, I guess she did plainly allude to that, earlier," Gideon now felt nauseous with worry, he heaved a shaky sigh and was now desperate for a distraction, "Alright, where are you?"
"I'm headed to Arcadia Train Station now, my guy, better hurry before I leave without you," Callum warned with a dorky laugh, to which Gideon stiffened and began to head in the direction of the train that spanned all the way to Turbotime's entrance.
"This would be so much easier if I had Novus," Gideon muttered.
"C'mon, Wreck-It," Callum added as he slumped in a lean against one of the train station's many glorious pillars, "The forgetful abyss that is Flint's house awaits us."
"Forgetful," Gideon repeated darkly as he rushed to the little train hub of Vidrix's meticulous train system and boarded said train, "Sounds nice, right about now..."
Upon Callum and Gideon arriving to Cyclone City, and to Flint and Chase's new home, Gideon felt shell-shocked at the sheer upgrade Flint had been given. A very luxurious apartment deep in the belly of Cyclone City, Flint's 53rd story apartment view was quite literally to die for. The neon from the city was otherworldly, a permanent night-cycle the city was crowned in, a sight that was very similar to Tron's glorious light-cities, though unfortunately not nearly as expansive. Glossy white tiles that hugged the floors, walls and ceilings, huge windows that boasted the city lights, luxurious furniture and appliances made for kings, Gideon allowed his eyes to take in everything and certainly felt right at home due to his palace life, Lash's arena, and even the finishings in Kepa's lighthouse, a place in which he drew inspiration for such luxuries. Happy to unwind with his friends and forget about the confusing troubles he had going on in his own head, pertaining to him and Kepa, he was beyond happy to manifest the four a swathe of food, alcohol, weed, the works.
"Oh, Gideon, can you manifest those stupid little gummies I was telling you about the other day? Did you manage to get your hands on some so manifesting them is possible?" Callum prod happily, he yanked his grey hoodie off to reveal a lazy black tank top, said yank ruffled his already messy, golden hair.
"I can try," Gideon held out his right hand, though he furrowed his brow and felt a lick of intuitive information firmly nudge the back of his brain.
As if Kepa was cued in on all the magic he was delivering, he could somehow hear Kepa's voice lilt through his ears. A soft voice reminding him that his right hand was his giving hand, while left was receiving. Having to obtain the energy from within him, he knew if he wanted to drum up magic that wasn't offensive or protective, he should be using his left hand. Gideon sharply furrowed his eyebrows and suddenly felt a strange kick of opposition come about him, as if he didn't want to listen to Kepa's wise words, in this instance, mild rebellion for her not replying to his messages. He grunted a soft noise and successfully manifested the treat Callum had requested, though ad Callum hissed a celebratory noise and gratefully took the treat from Gideon's right hand, Gideon grimaced and felt his spine wiggle in a sting of confusion.
"Thanks, man!" Callum cheered, Chase cutely eyed him with his huge, creepy lizard eyes.
"Must be nice, dude," Chase huffed in playful dread.
"What, that I can will stuff into existence?" Gideon mumbled, as if it had its pros and cons, he nervously rubbed his right wrist for emphasis as his spinal cord began to sting.
"Yeah, unlimited, it's wild," Chase muttered, Callum began to munch on his gummies while Flint crackled open one of the beers available; all four boys lazily sat about in Flint's new, pristinely gorgeous living room with both the sixty inch flat screen and the city views as their front and center.
"I'm tellin' yah, man, can you imagine Gideon's powers in the Go Arena?" Callum exclaimed as he chewed, Gideon sighed and slowly sat down as he slumped his elbows to his knees and looked to his lazily opened palms.
"No, cause then we'd never see him ever again," Chase mumbled sadly as the television began to drone on about Game Over, announcers telling everyone about the new season approaching.
"You mean if he won? Or died?" Callum wondered, Chase bugged his eyes and gestured his hands outwards.
"Both!" Chase rolled into laughter Callum was wrangled into, as well.
"He could come back," Flint muttered regrettably through a thick and heavy exhale of smoke that steamed out of his fox-snout. Gideon furrowed his brow and eyed Flint in dark suspicion, "May not ever be the same, may have to strong-arm some fools to get where you'd want to be, but... Yeah, worse people have made their way into Litwak's, from the Internet. Only thing is not getting caught..."
"Overthrow Sugar Rush, please, I'm begging you," Callum darkly muttered, to which Gideon sharply stabbed his wildly curious and almost insulted eyes tight into Callum's.
"Wait, what? Why would you say that?" Gideon defended, though he felt his stomach dip the second Callum returned the stab of confident eye contact.
"You're kidding, right? For how shitty they all treat you? You know you're the Queen's crux... You're her weakness," Callum grumbled as he tilted his head down and honed his eyes dug tight into Gideon's, his sinister smile somehow read delight in warm camaraderie in Gideon's corner, "If you won Game Over and came back demanding the code room? They'd all fall to their knees... They'd grovel before you so quickly."
"Wish my family would do that," Chase looked off in hateful frustration, "Stupid fuckers..."
"So we all just collectively hate our families?" Flint erupted into laughter, "Shit, mine doesn't exist anymore, they went down with the unplug. Callum, you're on the outs with your dad? I thought you guys were getting along well?"
"We are, I just... He's the King's right hand man, so he's constantly preaching to me that I need to behave and be friendly to everyone," Callum muttered in annoyance, "There's some weird switch that happened, once Gideon and I came of age. Something happened to the palace... I can't put my finger on it, the hierarchy just feels as if it's on thin ice."
"I thought Tessa and Zed had it under control?" Flint mused curiously, everyone began to snack, smoke, drink and get cozier in Flint's incredible living room.
"They do, just..." Callum held his breath and eyed Gideon in dark suspicion, "I'm telling yah... There's something about Gideon's existence that upset the balance. It's like they care about Gideon but are scared to get too close."
"Am I THAT intimidating?" Gideon growled, all three men stopped chewing and froze in the slid of eyes tight into Gideon's, as if to prove that he was, indeed, that intimidating. Gideon rolled his eyes and looked off, "It's just cause I'm big, I can't help that I'm Wreck-It Ralph's son."
"Well, so is Oliver, but he's not NEARLY as intimidating as you," Callum volleyed smartly, him and Gideon held eyes, "You're intimidating because you know too much. You see through the masks they've put up, you're one blow away from calling out literally everyone on their shit. You're dangerous... That's why you're kept at arm's length, it has nothing to do with you being weird or different. You're the lynchpin, my guy."
Gideon sagged his shoulders and aimlessly peered across Flint's dim living room and to the gorgeous sight of Cyclone City far below. He felt a weird sense of dread gloss over him, though somehow it tickled his brain and felt good. He cocked an eyebrow and slid his side-eyeing gaze tight to the television flush against the wall. The announcer droned on about beginning the search for fifty new contestants starting in the next two weeks, there was something about even the shred of an idea of Gideon actually going that had him holding his breath. Knowing he'd never take the plunge, he fantasized about it, every word out of Callum's mouth was gold, every idea that the lot of Sugar Rush would simply just bow to him had his adrenaline pumping like never before. He subtly clenched his fists and allowed the fantasy to take over, his eyes glossed in an enchanted haze as he held to the television in rapid-fire clips of Vye's winning, final death-strike. He clenched his teeth and knew, deep down, those final strikes would be a cake walk for someone like him, and strangely having a Sugar Rush palace resident fervently stroking his ego, fervently standing in his corner having been witness to the drama unfolding, only fueled him. His phone buzzed, ultimately snapping him out of his darkened haze, a flood of messages came to his phone all at once.
"For User's sake, you're popular," Callum muttered with a chuckle after a few moments of everyone sagging in and out of nonchalant conversation.
"No, it's the reception way up here, sometimes stuff doesn't get through immediately," Flint murmured as he waggled his paw-like hand.
Gideon felt his pupils tighten as he opened the sheer-wall of messages sent from Kepa.
Pebbles : Sorry, babe! I got carried away watering my garden, my phone was on the charger and I didn't realize you had messaged me. Totally come over! I have lunch prepared.
Pebbles : Y'okay? Haven't heard from you in a bit... You still coming?
Pebbles : Gideon, you're worrying me, are you ignoring me? You can still come over, you don't have to worry about what I said earlier, about wanting space. I still would love to see you no matter what.
Pebbles : You're really gunna play this game? Like, really? Can you just communicate to me how you're feeling, like last night? I don't think it's fair of you to just flat out ignore me, like this, Gid.
Pebbles : And Lash just said you're not even in Turbotime, so that's real cool of you... Just message me when you're ready to talk, I'm pretty frustrated, tbh.
LashedOut : Hey man, did you want to meet at the confectionary after game day? I guess Mara got in a new flavor of ice cream she wants us to try. Just message me when you're available!
Gideon felt his heart sink in now full dread, he inhaled a trembling breath and locked his phone, so to put it away. He now mildly glowered at the television and felt the disconnect, his already-hardened heart violently surged in ripe confusion, he shook his head a little and now understood this was going to be a battle of wits, a battle of just who would lower their defenses first. Eager to numb and totally dull the world of problems currently drowning him, he grappled for one of the beers and allowed all inhibitions to escape him. He knew regret would come much later, though for now, he was floored to be hovered high above the city, in a place no one could source him, not even the blackened sea of sorrow that viciously licked at his heels.
