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Snake557 : Yeah Novus struggles to even so much as look at Gideon, it's sad. But it's okay. And yeah, Kepa... whew. Hands him his ass. It's my favorite thing ever haha


Song Listened To :

Say by John Mayer (first half)

Chrysalis by S. Carey (second half)


*Chapter 179*

In the scurry to meet Ralph where his waypoints lay, Zed's bare heels scuffed to a halt in the bend of Ralph's and Vanellope's backyard. He sloped in dreaded shock to see Ralph stood at Gideon's art wall with his fists clenched, as if in preparation, though as Zed bounced in a flutter of glitch-hopping to Ralph's six, he scuffed out of said glitching and slowed his roll. He furrowed his brow in forlorn understanding as both men stood in gentle silence, the only sound present was the sound of Ralph's shaky, frustrated panting through his nose. Zed sagged his shoulders, peered to Gideon's gorgeous art wall, all splayed with happy and sad memories of his childhood, it was something Ralph's teary eyes aggressively dart around, as if there were secret clues lay in between all the mess of color. Zed lulled his eyes closed in gentle knowing and rested his hand to the back of Ralph's huge one, still trembling in clenched rage.

"Ralph," Zed hushed lovingly, he peeled open his tired eyes and peered up to the side of Ralph's face. Ralph's chest heaved gently, his panting began to slow in subsiding release, though tears streamed his cheeks. Zed bobbed a nod and peered up into Gideon's gorgeous art wall, "I understand why you're angry... I may not feel the true depth of your current pain, or any pain you've felt long in your past, but... Please... Please spare Gideon's wall."

"I'm not going to do anything to it," Ralph whimpered, his deep voice crackled as he finally released the clench of his fist and firmly wiped his face free of tears. He softened, sagged his shoulders and grimaced a small noise as he shakily carried on, "That poor boy adopted every last ounce of my pain, from before I even met his mother... I haven't felt left out or mistreated in SO long, and still... It somehow wormed its way right into Gideon's heart. How the hell did it miss all my other children?"

"...Coding is a tricky, unusual thing," Zed stated quietly, the birds on the palace lot happily sung, the game was warm and lovely, a new day both men marinated in, and though Ralph was due to crumpling, Zed was eager to help rebuild, "Ralph... You gave, quite literally, your ALL when coding Gideon. Don't think I've forgotten."

"We wanted Gideon so badly," Ralph muttered shyly, he dared to choke a single huff of a small, teary laugh and glanced to Zed in boyish knowing, "Don't remind me... I slept for like fourteen hours, that night."

"You gave Gideon a HUGE amount of love, a huge amount of powers, incredible powers that even surpass our Users," Zed hissed in eye-narrowed, enchanted wonder as both men met eyes, "You know, without a doubt, every single ray of sun casts shadows. The more intense the sun, the more intense the shadows. Every incredible manifestation powers he was gifted, in the name of glitching and having coding so readily available, came at the cost of easily afforded trauma... Your trauma. If there's any two people in this whole world who could level with Gideon, it's you and Vanellope."

"Yeah, I-I know... Shortly before Gideon left, him and his mother had a solid heart to heart and... That seemed to put a bandaid on things," Ralph whimpered, he wiped his nose and took in a huge breath to do everything he could to stop crying, "The nasty things he was just saying to all of us..."

"... Were justified, Ralph," Zed huffed in gentle, apologetic deliverance as Ralph frowned and peered hard into Zed's understanding blue gaze, the amount of love in Zed's eyes was unreal. A true King ready to adhere to all sides, Ralph slumped his shoulders and finally allowed himself to face Zed, for this conversation, "We've done him a massive disservice... He's had two months away from us to wrought the world with hate, to allow his killing spree, to just STEW. Everything he said was pent up rage, it was all stuff he absolutely HAD to get out of his system. It had to be delivered in a way he saw fit... Sure, he could've done so without pulling a 'Whiplash' on us, but... I appreciate you stepping in, like that. That could've been incredibly ugly."

"You may be King, but I was here first," Ralph mumbled in nasally defeat, to which Zed grinned and bobbed a nod in agreeing.

"I can't ever dream of filling shoes as big as yours, but," Zed smiled and looked across his beautiful palace lot with pride, "I hope I make you and Vanellope proud."

"Immensely," Ralph delivered gently with a nod, he inhaled a huge, reviving breath and gingerly rested his fingers to Gideon's art wall as he looked up to the lot of it in warm, bittersweet adoring, "I've done a horrible job at stuffing my own issues and acting like they don't exist in Gideon... I treated him like every one of my other children, which isn't fair."

"Hey, you had a good taste of different treatment when it came to Koko," Zed shrugged, "Gideon requires a different show of love, and that's perfectly fine. It was the same way with Ace and Berri. Ace was a much needier child, I think Tessa and I were fortunate enough to jump through the huge hurdles with Ace first, and then having Berri afterwards was a walk in the park... You, unfortunately, had two lovely walks in the park, weren't around for Koko's childhood, and then... Suddenly were landed with Gideon, a vastly different child than the last two you had a hand in rearing."

"They don't make rule books on this kind of thing, do they," Ralph muttered sorrowfully, his eyes caught with the gorgeous lighthouse paintings Gideon's childhood self had left on the wall.

"No, but... It takes a village," Zed stated with gentle remorse and a nod of acceptance, "The village Gideon needed went on vacation and left him home alone... It's not every day the lot of a WHOLE village gets a second chance, like this. It'd all be full circle if Callum also came home, and we could wrangle both boys in and do it all over again, but... It sounds, to me, like Callum might be a lost cause, if what Gideon is saying is true."

"I-I have NO clue how we're going to break it to Rancis," Ralph muttered, though Zed grit his teeth and looked down.

"Uh, I... Hate to break this to you, but Rancis has known since the start of all of this," Zed mumbled regretfully, to which Ralph raised his eyebrows in shock and peered hard into Zed's eyes, "Rancis told us all of this in confidence, that's why we made him temporarily step down because he almost was going to just keep his mouth shut about all this and cover for Callum."

"What?" Ralph hissed in shock, Zed nodded and grimaced.

"Lash called him out on it, Rancis's defensives weren't so strong, anyhow... I wouldn't go banging down Rancis's door, or anything, he's... He's TRULY grieving the loss of his child, where the rest of us held out hope that Gideon would return," Zed mumbled sorrowfully, "We all leaned into the power of manifesting and truly believing Gideon would remember the good in him, where as... Rancis understood his issues, his trauma passed down, Callum is unfortunately way too far gone."

"He can't be, we shouldn't say stuff like that," Ralph mumbled sadly, Zed shrugged and heaved a long sigh.

"It would involve getting Callum alone, in a place like the Game Over Arena? The city the arena is in? It's highly unlikely," Zed staggered quietly, "Getting Callum to come home freely, like what Gideon did... A one in a million chance. I talked with Rancis a few days ago... Although Callum isn't dead, I think the Fluggerbutters are treating the situation as such."

"I don't think Gideon would want that," Ralph cued gently, he narrowed his gaze and peered to Gideon's art wall, "I really think Gideon would say otherwise, but... I've been wrong before."

"Hey, I'm open for that conversation, whatever needs to be done, within means," Zed stated confidently, though the trailing end of his sentence shook in a swing of fear, "I've been willing to dive into the depths for family, before... Thinking about going so far beyond the internet that it deals with the dark web terrifies the pixels out of me, but... If Gideon's lead determines that to be even an option on the table, then... I'd follow him to the ends of Arcade. Literally."

"He's a good kid," Ralph's voice crackled, he bobbed a nod and narrowed his loving gaze into Zed's, "They both are."

"We've really screwed the pooch on this whole operation, but..." Zed sighed and sagged his hands into his pockets, "Gideon's afforded us a second chance. This isn't something to even THINK about taking for granted."


"It says she's on this block of the grid," Lash muttered as he hurriedly scanned his finger on his phone.

The waypoints of Elkuorra's location was securely stationed on the outskirts of Orion City, near one of the city's many, vastly sprawling parks all alive with pink sugar grass. Vanellope and Boss stood tight with Lash in the sunshine, underneath the shade of a nearby tree. This quaint area, just off of Orion City, was alive with happy families, thrown frisbees, springtime picnic lunches near the water, it was a beautiful place to be. Someone of Kepa's relation, so fervently dug into nature and all of it's ways, Vanellope shifted on her feet and smiled in knowing. She was well aware she shouldn't be surprised that Elkuorra gravitated to this place.

"Ohh, a dragon," Elkuorra's tender, adorable voice cued with smiling easiness, and as Boss, Vanellope and Lash whirled around in curious wondering, they all froze as they peered hard into Elkuorra's figure, who approached from about a dozen feet off. She scuffed her adorable feet to a halt, flattened her lovely ears in a swing of discovered dread and allowed her tail to sag, "O-Oh, sorry... It's been a long time since I've seen a dragon."

"That's okay, my name's Boss," Boss's deep voice pushed gently, he eyed Vanellope and Lash in hot curiosity, as if to wonder if this was potentially just the cat they were looking for, and with a small giggle, Vanellope crossed her arms and eyed Lash in cheeky knowing.

"Ohh, you can talk!" Elkuorra grinned, it was a no brainer this beautiful creature was related to Kepa. Lash bobbed a nod, put his phone away and heaved the hugest sigh of relief as Elkuorra and Boss cutely pressed together with her hand to his big bat snout, "My name's Elkuorra."

"...That was easy," Lash muttered cutely, though due to his close relation to Kepa, he began to look lost in nerves, to which Vanellope rested her hand to the broad of Lash's chest, to silently tell him that she had this covered.

"Hi, Elkuorra, my name's Vanellope," Vanellope cued as she tucked her lovely black hair behind her ears, eased to Boss's side and reached for a handshake, "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?"

"Oh, sure," Elkuorra eased kindly, her gorgeous blue eyes held tight to Vanellope's in a sudden swing of obvious nervousness, further made obvious by the way she curled her beautiful tan and creamy brown tail about her thin ankles.

Lash scoffed a shaky noise and looked off, after assessing Elkuorra in hot disbelief. An adorable feline of a creature, such dainty cat features that mocked Kepa's perfectly, though the raw idea that Elkuorra was the one who was the thoroughbred lion gargoyle had Lash's head spinning. Had he known what these rare creatures looked like, he knew he could sniff out all of Kepa's secret keeping long ago. Trying not to get way too hung up in the old details that no longer matter, he beamed and could easily see Kepa's lovely demeanor in Elkuorra's aura, she radiated every single last ounce of peppy, innocent love Kepa was adamanet about holding onto. He hung back and so lovingly admired the beautiful creature that brought Kepa into this world, his mind raced at just how many backflips Kepa and Sezeke were going to do at the raw idea that not only Gideon came home, but Elkuorra too, alive and well.

"So... My son says that you're the one that rescued him, last night," Vanellope started, she did everything she could to conceal tears, though she smiled as Elkuorra perked her ears high and brightened.

"Gideon!" Elkuorra eased with the hugest amount of relief as she clutched her chest, "Okay, good... Is he okay?"

"He's on his way, he'll be alright," Vanellope assured, she long-blinked and shook her head, "What, exactly, have you been told? Did you and Gideon talk at all?"

"We did, he made clear that Kepa was nearby," Elkuorra eased shakily, she seemed as if she wasn't in any hurry to push or force anything, and though Lash was certain she'd be clawing to get her arms around Kepa, and even furthermore Sezeke, Lash somehow felt this sweet easiness about her, a go-with-the-flow kind of vibe that allowed for goodness to fall into her lap. It was clear the love and adoration in her eyes for the family she thought she lost, though she held the world's amount of patience, something Lash deeply admired, "I told him to settle into the palace first and foremost and to just come find me later. I'm just happy to be in the sunshine... I told him to take his time, I know how badly he was beaten up."

"Well... That's exactly why we're here," Vanellope stated with a nod and a sigh, "I'm Gideon's mother, Sugar Rush's previous Queen."

"O-Oh, wow," Elkuorra's face sloped in stunned apology, though just as she clutched her chest and readied herself for a humble bow, Vanellope blurt a giggle and lovingly rested her hand to Elkuorra's shoulder to bring her back to an upright stand.

"Oh, that's... That's wildly unnecessary, please, I don't need you to bow," Vanellope lovingly pleaded through a giggle as Elkuorra centered herself upright, once more, and peered into Vanellope's eyes in a swing of adorable innocence.

"Well, I'm honored, thank you for letting me take refuge in Sugar Rush," Elkuorra mumbled warmly with a nod, she squinted and peered up to the sun, "I'm just... So happy to be in the sun. I wish... I-I wish Vye was here, with me, too..."

"Vye Ketton," Lash repeated in gentle curiosity, to which Elkuorra bobbed a wary nod and understood that name was due to striking fear into everyone's hearts.

"Sh-she's really not... As horrible as she's been made out to be," Elkuorra gently begged as Vanellope, Boss and Lash held tight to her in curious wait, "She ultimately was the one to bring Gideon to me, so we could escape together. She saved our lives... I-I don't know how I'll ever repay her."

"She saved Gideon?" Lash huffed in delirious wonder, he bugged his eyes and scoffed a noise of shock, "Wow, I'm... That's wild, I would've never expected that."

"I'm sure Gideon has many stories about his stay in the Arena," Elkuorra mused tenderly, she was equally in the dark about everything that has been happening.

"Well... We've come to collect you, Elkuorra. We'd love to temporarily set you up in the palace, if you're willing," Vanellope explained, "Gideon is currently going through about a week of rehab, and after he's feeling better, we can talk about releasing you to go find Kepa, who's with Sezeke."

"Sezeke," Elkuorra hissed in a stiffen of shock as her ears perked high on her head, she clutched her chest and looked as if she was now due to wanting to come unglued, "Sh-she's with her father?"

"Yeah, they're together," Vanellope warmly smiled with a nod, though as Elkuorra's adorable little cat nose began to wrinkle with the urge to stifle tears, Vanellope scoffed a bittersweet giggle of understanding and cupped Elkuorra's shoulder, "Aww, don't cry... It's okay, everyone's safe and sound."

"I'm so glad," Elkuorra whimpered as her ears sagged, she covered her face and scoffed the sweetest little cry, to which Lash fervently looked off in a full glower and was extremely irritated that literally anything could get him to erupt into tears, as well, especially people as adorable as the women in the Favor family.

"C'mon... You and Gideon deserve a week of rest before jumping back into excitement," Vanellope cooed as she sweetly pulled Elkuorra into a tender embrace, one of which Elkuorra happily agreed to. Elkuorra nodded with a show of silent, teary gratitude, to which Vanellope gave her a loving squeeze and quietly continued on, "User knows we all need a good reset, after all of these intense events..."