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Snake557 : You're definitely right. Thank you, friend. Much appreciated.

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Song Listened To :

Sweet Dreams by Trinix


*Chapter 203*

With held breath, a predatory gaze made of nothing but hellfire, Gideon peered across the palace's gorgeous dining hall in preparation to entirely eavesdrop, with Kepa, Lash and Novus tight at his side. Both Gideon and Kepa hung hidden in the shadows of the entry way into the dining hall, a few steps in front of Lash and Novus, from the area of the palace's main, massive teleportation hub, it was also a corridor that lead to the code room and the other racer's homes, which now included Rancis and Taffyta, once more. Kepa stood tight to Gideon's side, though she perked her ears and softly tossed her gaze up into the side of Gideon's face. He was tense with frozen, riled frustration that already was brimming over the edge, he already was born with a whole world of passion in his eyes, though having been around the darkened bend and popped back out through a mess of insane trauma Kepa could only even barely imagine, his terrifying stare exuded every single last ounce of Arcade's darkness and intimidation. Like a black-maned, mangled, seasoned old lion hidden in the shadows, just waiting to maul the innocent prey he was wholly fixated on, Kepa finally swallowed a nervous gulp and continued to peer up to the side of Gideon's chiseled face in raw terror and admiration.

Gideon continued to watch as Rancis nonchalantly made himself into the dining hall, around the nearest kitchen island. The palace's dining hall had two main kitchen islands, massive slabs of a gathering area that could easily house fifteen bodies at once, the dining hall was dimly lit, warm with easy-going nighttime presences, the hum and drum of voices was soothing and welcoming, or so Gideon thought. As Gideon watched his uncle cautiously approach Gloyd, he was at least delighted to see Gloyd relay a kind greeting and fall into small talk, though as Gideon noticed Zed make his cued entrance from across the way, to the other more western entrance, one that lead directly outside, Gideon fervently glossed his eyes about the other five beings at the island Rancis and Gloyd were at, and was hard-pressed to find welcoming auras. Jubileena tossed a mean side eye and now eagerly began muttering notions under her breath to Torvald, Candlehead stood with the two and nervously tossed her eyes to Rancis, though just as the girls began to meanly snicker and step away, Swizzle and Snowanna eagerly joined and began to abandon Gloyd and now Rancis at the island. Gideon felt his pupils tighten, and though he flexed to jump out, he hesitated and firmly peered back to Gloyd to see if Gloyd would be the one good, shining example gleaned from this mess; much to Gideon's dismay, Gloyd began to nervously tug his collar, take a few cautious side-steps away in an attempt to escape and now warily tossed his eyes to the small group that was now leaving Gloyd for dead.

"Hey, guys," Gideon chimed happily as he suddenly lurched from his lean and swiftly left Kepa's side; she flinched, flattened her ears and wholly understood this raw, foreign tone of sickly, sarcastic delight wasn't just for show, she bugged her eyes and peered to him in preparation to suddenly see Gideon in a very different light.

Gideon pressed out into the dining hall with purpose, passed Rancis and Gloyd and was successful in getting the attention of every single being inside the dining hall, which consisted of all of the racers, excluding Taffyta and Vanellope. Gideon clasped his hands together and immediately felt the thrill of dark web memories come rushing him, the very vision of everyone in his vicinity now sagging and taking wary steps away in a show of pure terror, Gideon knew this was likely one of the last highs he'd ever get, a high he was now eager to fully ride out, no matter the cost. He tucked his arms behind his back in full scheming, tossed his eyes to Rancis, from behind him a ways, and returned his gaze to the group that was en-route to migrating to the other side of the dining hall, surely to continue gossiping about Rancis out of earshot. Gideon meanly narrowed his gaze, shrugged, tossed his eyes back to Rancis in a swing of obviousness and firmly dug his eyes into Jubileena's. The look of pure, discovered terror on each of their faces was obvious, Gideon sucked in a huge breath and was fully prepared to scare everyone shitless, even with Zed watching.

"W-welcome home, Gideon," Swizzle mumbled happily, he gave Gideon an apologetic smile, a look as if to beg for mercy, everyone here knew Gideon was home but had yet to see him out and about. Although the crew was reassured that Gideon was far from going awol and destroying the place, they still could sense the switch up, they could feel his darkened, ready-to-jump demeanor tight on the edge of his aura. Swizzle swallowed a firm gulp and glanced down to the few friends he stood with before he peered back into Gideon's eyes, "You, uh... You doing okay?"

"No, I'm actually not doing okay, I'm real glad you asked," Gideon loudly chimed as he sarcastically looked up and fingered his lip. He snapped his fingers, as if to come to a conclusion, and gestured back to the island the group was previously at, "Y'know what, I'll tell you why, how about we alllll just come on back to the island, a BIG family chat, whatdoyasay?"

Massively hesitant, the group slowly stole terrified glances before cautiously moving into the action of returning to the island, though as the five nervously filed past Gideon stood figure, he glowered down the rest of the room, the rest of the racers across the way lazily lounged in nearby cozy chairs with a good book and a cup of tea, the roaring fire securely housed in the intricate, gorgeously crafted brick and stone work of the fireplace, Gideon broadened the boom of his terrifying voice and filled every pixel of the dining hall with his raw authority.

"I don't wanna see a SINGLE body on the walls of this room," Gideon suddenly yelled, his deep voice made the glass rattle, and with his threat laid, the beings across the hall nervously stole glances to one another, got to their feet and very apprehensively began to make their way to the massive island that Rancis and Gloyd were still stationed at. Gideon turned heel, and as Kepa crossed Gideon's path so to stand with Zed, who was likely the only being allowed to grab a wall and stand at it, Gideon lovingly rubbed her upper back as she passed, further proof that he was doing absolutely everything he could to adhere to the heart of gold he had fervently kept in tact. Although Lash and a Novus were also present, they hung back and only made clear that they were here for back up, a notion of intimidating camaraderie in Gideon's camp and nearly nothing more unless otherwise provoked. Gideon sucked in a huge breath, pressed to the island, eased his bigger hands to the cold counter top and stood loosely between Rancis and Gloyd at the head of the island, "I don't care about pleasantries. You don't need to ask me how I'm doing, it's been hell, we'll just put it at that. I got heroin taking forever to find its way out of me and the lay lines that was once my stick-straight coding is now a mess of corrupted coils. Ohh but I got stamina..."

The whole group fell silent, Kepa sagged her ears in almost awestruck dread as she had a perfect view of Gideon from where she stood, at the opposite end of the massive island Gideon had wrangled everyone around. Although Zed and Kepa stood a few feet outside of the mess, Kepa had a tunnel-visioned sight of Gideon's strong figure at the head of the island, the overhead lights beamed down on his handsome, big figure, the snide, grinning look on his face was saturated with almost mean, maniacal bliss, he darkly eyed the group of shriveling racers all about him and leaned into the counter a little. He stuck out his neck for emphasis and hissed the group a snarling notion as he prepared to hand every single one of them their asses.

"I got time," Gideon snipped, like lasers, he firmly stabbed his golden gaze to Jubileena, across the island and to his left, "Why don't we start out with Ms. Jubileena, huh? Why don't you tell the class what you meanly muttered to Torvald and Candlehead? Say it to Uncle Rancis's face, eh?"

"I-I... I didn't," Jubileena staggered in girly terror as she nervously rubbed her chin, warily gestured to Candlehead, glanced her way in a silent beg for help and returned her gaze to Gideon's, which scarily hadn't wavered.

"I physically watched you shoot my uncle a dirty look, tell Torvald and Candlehead some sort of bullshit in whispers and then the lot of you left the island nearly just as soon as uncle Rancis walked up," Gideon barked as he flung his arm outward, though Gloyd, who stood to Gideon's left, jumped clear out of his skin the second Gideon sharply diverted his full attention to him and firmly pointed into his chest, "And YOU! Over here sidling away from uncle Rancis like he's about to stab you while you're not looking. I'm sure whatever uncle Rancis said to you, it was kind and included small talk. You two are best friends, are you not?"

"I-it's... Been rough," Gloyd gently defended, he stood brave in Gideon's presence, though jumped in shock the second Gideon's booming voice made the room shake.

"Ohh, it's been ROUGH!" Gideon beamed, bobbed a nod, stood to correction, crossed his arms and now deviously gave everyone at the island a scheming, lip-biting grin, "Huh... It's been rough for you, yeah?"

"I know you've... Been through-" Gloyd was firmly interrupted.

"Oh, a whole field of tulips, it's just been DANDY," Gideon mocked with the same smile he previously donned, he bobbed a fervent nod and easily looked as if he could be having spirited, genuine smalltalk with Gloyd, though the whole group knew it was sapped in poison. Gideon lazily peered down to his fingernails and shrugged, "We're gunna never mind the load of hell I've been through, the code-rob, the drugs, putting a target on the back of my future mother-in-law's head for so much as saving my life... And now Sugar Rush, but you're right, it's probably been REALLY rough for you, huh..."

Kepa looked down to her twiddling fingers and hid a tiny smile, a blip of fluttery joy at Gideon's words, pertaining to her own mother; Zed sweetly rubbed Kepa's upper back, as if to make clear that he, too, caught Gideon's very blatant insinuation.

"Y'wanna know who's had it rougher than you, outside of me?" Gideon whispered gently, though he raised his eyebrows in firm deliverance and with his arms still crossed, he took one huge step back and revealed Rancis, who was stood to Gideon's right. Gloyd and Rancis met eyes in a whirl of sorrowful understanding, to which Gloyd finally heaved a shaky breath through his nose, looked down and bobbed a nod of apologetic defeat. Gideon closed the gap, pushed a hefty finger down into the counter and glared everyone down for emphasis, "Y'wanna know what you jerks are doing to my uncle? Y'wanna know the effects of alienation to a singular person that maybe no longer fits in? Do you WANT a visual representation of the bullshit that could happen if an individual is pushed too far away?"

Gideon sucked in a huge breath, stood to correction, held his arms out lazily and gestured his fingers back to himself. Aglow from the lights above, cast in the throw of his beautiful tattoos and piercings, the thorny, terrifying beast he had become, it was here did Kepa softly cross her arms and do everything she could to not get caught dreamily staring. She sagged over the idea that the lot of every single person here was treated to this rather brash, confident, daring personality of a villain, and she was the one lucky duck that got to see the layers peel back in private, the one lucky duck that had the key to Gideon's gooey heart and warm, cuddly, innocently boyish core. Previously, she would've hated seeing him be so mean and so riled, though somehow watching him go to war for a family member, to stand up for what was right and look terrifyingly badass while doing it, had Kepa now beginning to feel the mild frustration over this incredible slow burn, it was now something that tickled the underside of her brain and had all of her strongholds of solid inhibitions now bowing to intense carnal instincts.

"I see all the signs... I've been in this position before. A toss of mean looks, whispery notions that I couldn't hear as people stepped away from me, I came back and had Sugar Rush in my grasp, all for the taking," Gideon growled, and with such a hit of an idea, the racers took turns now shooting Zed looks of terrified disbelief. Zed sighed, caught eyes with a few of his friends and finally looked down in a show of defeat that proved Gideon's words to be right. As they turned to now peer to Gideon in a further swing of terror, Gideon glared everyone down and shook his head, "Now, I'm not saying I'm a good person. I'm not saying I fought tooth and nail and was eventually talked down, you guys have my dad to thank over the fact that I'm not the one in charge, right now... Cause if it were me..."

The group collectively froze and could see Rancis look down in a show of nervous humility, as if he could definitely put himself in Gideon's mindset. Gideon gripped the counter and snipped everyone a deathly notion of a threat.

"I would've likely fucked up everyone's lives and spared little to no one," Gideon's deep, raspy voice muttered. He sucked in a huge breath and pressed on, "I know what it's like on the other end. I know what it's like to be treated like how you guys are treating my Uncle Rancis... I'm the product of that alienation, and I'm here to cut this at the quick REAL fast..."

"We don't feel as if we can trust Rancis," Swizzle bravely spoke up, and though everyone stiffened in a show of terror that Swizzle was actually speaking out, Gideon furrowed his brow in a slow pause. Although Gideon's stab of eye contact was terrifying, it was proof that he was at least compliant with allowing a healthy back and forth. Swizzle very bravely spoke on, though his voice shook, "H-How do we go about normalcy with the idea that Rancis could turn on us?"

"Lemme put it this way," Gideon grunted as he held his hands out for emphasis, "Do you guys feel as if you can trust me?"

The whole group was dead silent, a very blatant answer. Gideon blurt a mean chuckle, shook his head and gently pointed to Kepa.

"There's only one bean in this entire universe that trusts me almost in full," Gideon mumbled as everyone softly tossed their eyes into Kepa's dewy direction. She perked up, shyly looked about and sagged a bit deeper into Zed's side as she curled her tail up towards herself and began to nervously pick at the fur. She relaxed the second all eyes drew away from her, "Not even Zed trusts me fully, but... It's been over a week, and guess what? He trusts me to have this conversation with you guys. Wow! Earned trust... How is that possible?"

Gideon rubbed his chin in pondering and carried on.

"Hmm. If only we maybe had hard conversations with Rancis and came to common ground, we could all pick up and move on, we can do work and rebuild shattered trust," Gideon kindly suggested, though he glowered everyone down and became animated in a hiss of mean retorts, once more, "But no, y'all would rather send him nasty side-eyes and mutter mean things under your breath and avoid him like the plague."

"Wh-where do we even start?" Snowanna also bravely spoke out, though Gideon sarcastically brightened and meanly gestured to Jubileena.

"We can start with the nasty words Jubileena must've said, why don't we dissect THAT?" Gideon barked, Jubileena sagged, once more, and now began to look blistered in revisited terror. Gideon crossed his arms, gestured to Rancis and firmly kept his glower deep into Jubileena's wavering, becoming-teary gaze, "Sucks being put on the spot, doesn't it. SUCKS being called out for being jerks... No one stood for me when I was struggling, I will NEVER let another soul go without defense, because I know what it feels like to have NO ONE, palace side."

"I-It... Wasn't kind, I don't want to repeat it," Jubileena nervously whimpered as she tucked her hands to her chest, Gideon deepened his glare.

"We know about how Callum has your powers, we know that he wants to come back and take over," Swizzle braved, once more, and though Gideon wanted to keep prying at Jubileena, to really drive the issue home, he temporarily separated from it, once more, and stiffened to peer hard into Swizzle's eyes, "We know that... Rancis was due to helping Callum to it."

"Uncle Rancis, if Callum came back and asked you to help him destroy everything in a take-over but you'd be spared if you joined him, what would you do?" Gideon now stabbed in Rancis's direction, tight to his right, which caused Rancis to flinch at said sudden delivery of Gideon's booming voice.

"I-I would do EVERYTHING I could to talk Callum out of it. I would exhaust all other options," Rancis immediately became emotional as huge tears welled in his eyes, he looked off and tried to cough to keep composed, he tucked the back of his hand to his mouth and staggered to carry on as he nearly turned away from everyone, "H-Having your own child betray everyone under the sun, that you love, is... Extremely painful..."

"It's ALMOST as if uncle Rancis needs a FRIEND!" Gideon yelled as he held his arm out and behind Rancis, to kindly keep Rancis involved, to make clear that Gideon was available for a hug, to prove that he was included in this fold no matter the cost. Gideon meanly glared everyone down and stabbed them a hiss of unadulterated disappointment, "This is a WARNING. This warning has been delivered before, and no one heeded it... I'm LIVING proof that bullying, alienating, isolating and the whole other mess of shit you guys are putting Rancis through, is the REASON someone eventually snaps and goes awol. You're dooming yourself to a reality you're manifesting for yourselves. Y'want your fears to be realized? Keep poking the bear... A cute and cuddly cub can turn into a mauling grizzly in one game jump, my friends."

Gideon gestured to himself and cocked an eyebrow, a full show of said cuddly cub, in Rancis, and the example of said mauling grizzly Gideon represented as he stood to full height and kept everyone's undivided, terrified attention.

"So, here's what the lot of everyone's gunna do," Gideon's voice lilted to sarcastic cheeriness, he gently pulled out his phone and, in the act of perfectly multitasking, he texted his aunt Taffyta and his mother as his deep, concise words pressed on in a stab of full confidence, "We're gunna keep this short and sweet. I'm going to get my mom and aunt Taffyta here, and when they arrive, we're all going to take turns expressing our worries, getting resolution and reassurance for said worries, and then we'll all hug and properly welcome Rancis back to the palace. We BOTH made it home... I can understand why the lot of you are terrified of me, but Uncle Rancis? Innocent, maybe took the notion of wanting to protect one of his babies a little too far, but..."

Gideon glanced to Rancis and now felt a whole swathe of an odd predicament fall over him. Although he didn't have children, he suddenly felt as if he could somehow empathize with Rancis, in an odd way. He put himself into Rancis shoes, and with even just a few seconds of standing there without even tying the laces was enough pain for Gideon to visibly recoil. He angrily glowered everyone down and pointed to Rancis.

"NONE of you fuckers have children, none of you guys understand the sheer wall of pain uncle Rancis is feeling! Not only that, but NONE of you guys have even attempted to ask him if he's okay!" Gideon now meanly shouted, which caused the people nearest him to flinch and take a wary step away. As Gideon's deep voice began to echo about, Taffyta and Vanellope were heard nervously scuffling up to the group in a file past Novus and Lash, dressed in comfortable clothes for the night. They approached, though Gideon continued on his warpath, the veins in his forehead bulged, the darkened, angry, harrowing vision Kepa had of him was absolutely terrifying, "You want to push uncle Rancis out of the fold for good? You want him to look at Callum's predicament and think, hm, teaming up against everyone inside Sugar Rush actually sounds like a good idea, none of them even liked me anyways... Then KEEP doing what you're fucking doing. I've been there..."

"H-How do we even attempt to build trust?" Minty wondered delicately, Gideon peered to Rancis and then back to the group.

"I was asking the same question last week when I arrived battered and bloodied, code-less and in ruin... How the hell to I even begin to rebuild?" Gideon pressed as he narrowed his gaze for emphasis, "It took my dad literally beating the snot out of me to come to my senses, to allow myself to be vulnerable and humble. To prove to the people around you that you're available to answer hard questions without judgement or being explosive. Sure, I have my moments, but... Come ON, you guys. Even aunt Taffyta! The both of them were best friends with all of you, and every last one of you have FAILED."

The whole entire group fell silent, Taffyta and Vanellope held tight in a lock of hands, they stood nearest Gideon and Rancis and sorrowfully peered about the group, though the second Taffyta erupted into silent tears was the second everyone began to sag and understand the true weight of all of this. Due to Taffyta fully losing it, Rancis easily did as well. Although Gideon now switched gears and wondered just which one of these shivering beings to pull into a hug, he flinched in surprise as Gloyd softly pushed around Gideon, an act of bravery, and pushed into Rancis's bubble. With a soft collide, Gloyd gripped Rancis into a tight hug, one of which that had Rancis sagging his forehead hard into Gloyd's shoulder. Rancis silently shook with an eruption of tears, it was here did Gideon sag his shoulders and feel relief finally hit him. Gloyd inhaled in a huge, shaky breath and eyed the group, over Rancis's shoulder.

"Gideon's right, guys... This sucks," Gloyd murmured as Rancis sucked in a trembling breath and now fully unloaded, however silently he could.

"We're all just scared, and... I know the Users and Zed and Tessa have it all under control, but... Knowing Gideon was lurking around somewhere was scary enough as it was," Snowanna defended, her and Gideon caught eyes as she shot him an apologetic look, "N-No offense, Gideon..."

"None taken, it's not Rancis who you should be worried about," Gideon grumbled meanly, and though Gideon was well aware he'd never turn against the innocent lives he was surrounded by, he still knew his weight, in this situation. A full-blown criminal, a beast who didn't hold back on his killing spree, it was now something he wanted to turn around, a notion of a hardened war hound now reformed into a proper guard dog for the palace. He rubbed the back of his head and softly peered to his mother and his aunt Taffyta, of which Vanellope held onto Taffyta for dear life, "I don't want anyone leaving this dining hall until differences are settled... I'm SO deep in uncle Rancis's corner that if I so much as hear ONE thing about any one of you jerks, it's ON."

"Gideon," Vanellope cooed in nervous caution, to which Gideon gently sagged his shoulders and tossed a softened gaze in his mother's direction.

"I wouldn't dare harm anyone on palace grounds, I know my place, I know where I'm needed... This is my home, the majority of the people here are my coded family, but... I love everyone here, you can count on me to be the world's biggest advocate for lost souls, from here on out," Gideon gestured to himself and then to Rancis, who still held tight to Gloyd's unwavering embrace, "We're all working together to stand as a unit... There's a target on our point of the grid, due to me coming home, I know the consequences of my actions, but... We'll be dead on sight if we're all just feuding and hating each other, here. If we go down, at least we'll go down knowing there's no bad blood between all of us."

"Gideon's right," Zed felt as if he could chime in, he pressed past Kepa and approached the island, once and for all. He sighed, looked about the haggard, nervous group and then to Rancis, "I've dropped the ball here, too... I'm not side-eyeing Rancis or saying mean things, but the first twenty four hours of your return here hasn't been the warmest, and... I could've done more to make you feel as if you were welcome. I apologize, to both Taffyta and Rancis."

"It's okay," Rancis whimpered as him and Gloyd finally separated, though Gloyd lovingly kept a firm hand to Rancis's shoulder.

"Thank you, Gid," Zed eased lovingly as him and Gideon caught eyes from across the stretch. Gideon held fervent eye contact with him and bobbed a certain nod. Zed looked down to his hands, inhaled a huge, reviving breath and finally dragged his gaze to Rancis's, "Rancis, I think Turbo is getting a little lonely, while at work... I'd be honored if you returned to your post."

"R-Really?" Rancis wondered gently as he wiped his face and scoffed a shaky, nasally chuckle, to which Zed grinned as the group began to softly paw notions at the two.

"Yeah, it's... I'm done throwing a pity party about it, I'm done taking it personally," Zed mumbled sorrowfully, he and Gideon pierced gazes, once more, "It's not often I'm thwarted by someone else's lecture... I appreciate you keeping me in check, Gideon."

"... M-Me?" Gideon staggered in confusion as Kepa sweetly rounded to his side and slipped her hand into his, he raised his eyebrows in a swing of surprise and softly smiled down into her eyes.

"Yes, you... You were originally the one to feel alienated and pushed out, and yet, here you are," Zed gestured out to the group as everyone softened into smiles and peered to the head of this whole operation, Gideon practically glowed as Zed sweetly delivered him a final compliment, "Keeping everyone here in tact and together, under one roof. You may have had your tribulations, upon returning, but ever since, you've made clear your path, you've made clear your needs, you've adamantly been a beacon of hope for nearly everyone involved with you..."

"You're the light in the lighthouse, I'm telling you," Kepa gently murmured, the group roused into knowing laughter as Taffyta and Vanellope pressed to Gideon's other side and rubbed his arm and back in a show of sweet camaraderie and appreciation.

"I know what it's like to not have nearly anyone to fall back on," Gideon mumbled knowingly as he sighed and glanced about the group, "I will never let anyone ever feel this awful, ever... I would do the same for anyone standing here, I'm only going so hard for uncle Rancis because his situation is really sticky and confusing. He's already going through a world of pain, and to have everyone just... Guh..."

"It's going to be better, moving forward," Zed assured with a nod as he looked about his crew, "Guys, please heed Gideon's word. Please spend time with Rancis, he's been away for as long as Gideon's been gone... NONE of this is easy for anyone, but trust me, outside of Gideon, Rancis is having the hardest time. So let's do work to include and be a shoulder. He'd do the same for us."

"Thanks, guys," Rancis mumbled sweetly, he finally peered up into Gideon's eyes with a huge swathe of teary gratitude, "Thank you, bud... Y-You have no clue what this all means to me."

"I love you, Uncle Rancis, we'll get through this whole mess together," Gideon assured with a nod as he reached his bigger hand past and behind Kepa's upper back and cutely locked hands with Rancis. With a final jostle of their arms and a nod of twinkling eye contact, Gideon huffed Rancis a conclusion of earnest, "I promise."