Reviews :
Burgie : Aww wow, thank you! That's encouraging!
CHICKENM4N : Well, I'm glad it correlated with something you're going through! Hopefully that situation pans out. It's hard doing the right thing sometime, I understand. Thank you!
Snake557 : Thank you! And, I check PM's every day :)
Alisi Thorndyke : You're not wrong! LOL! Zed's definitely in for one wild ride, when it comes to Berri and Turbo. Lots of excitement to come :) Thank you, friend!
A/N : GUYS I got an iPadPro... I say this because we got it like 2 days ago and I swear to User I have done everything in my power to not let it consume my life but I've been drawing a piece on it, in Procreate, and I'm SUPER excited to finish it. Thus, why I'm late uploading a chapter.
Another reason I'm slow to upload is because when I get sick, Cory then gets sick shortly after... And vice versa. So we've spend the better half of last and this week alternating taking care of one another whilst we're sick. So, I got the flu shot, because it's absolutely required because I work in operating rooms at the hospital... But, EVERY TIME I get the flu shot, I get sick. Which, I understand why, but every time I DON'T get the flu shot, I DON'T get sick. Sucks that now that I absolutely have to get the flu shot, I can schedule when I'm going to be sick. I hate this.
I'm alive, but still. Ew.
Song Listened To :
Morrison by Frenship
*Chapter 3*
"Alright, little Blue, this is Game Central Station," Zed stated in a tender coo as he just barely lifted Berri out of the tight, snug chest sling about Zed's broad front. Berri's incredible blue eyes squinted in a scan across the glowing, golden station, easily swallowing every single last one of her glances at this bright, beautiful new world. Koko snorted a small laugh and crossed her arms as her and Ace eased their endeared sights towards Zed and his new infant, "This is where game outlets are plugged in, you can go from game to game, Bear. 'Course, Turbo sort of, well... Made it taboo. But don't worry, he's a good dude."
"You should show her the information stations, dad," Ace's deep voice eased in the roll of wanting to laugh, he softly waved his large, wrecking hand in the direction of the few stands, full of glorious, glowing screens tiered with information. Ace and Koko caught eyes in a string of teasing love as they honed their gazes back to Zed's tender, though exhaustedly happy blue gaze, "She'll be sure to go nuts over the size of those screens."
"Genius," Zed huffed as he quickly began to march off, Berri squealed a noise of entire delight as Zed began to cross the small gap just outside Sugar Rush's marvelous outlet.
"... Tell me, how in Arcade did Queen Bee allow that bad guy out of the game with her new princess?" Ralph's voice trailed in a roll of near-terrified disbelief as he strolled up, both Ace and Koko blurt into hard laughter.
"Blame Tessa's pure exhaustion," Koko giggled, everyone was clad in comfortable hoodies and jeans for the winter, though Ralph was strictly in his game attire; same old ripped up overalls and plaid, orange shirt. Koko inhaled a deep breath, put her hands on her hips, peered to Zed across the way and continued on through the exhale of a delighted sigh, "It's so cute to see Zed dote on a baby."
"It's been interesting to watch," Ace bobbed a nod and crossed his arms, though he happily leaned into Ralph for a welcoming side hug in the process, "I guess Uncle Finn told me that dad did similar stuff with me, when I was a baby. 'Course, now it's different because, well... Berri's a girl."
"Poor dude is gunna have his hands full, that's for sure," Ralph huffed a hard sigh as the group continued to watch Zed, from across the gap; he eagerly spoke in soft words down to his daughter, her incredible blue eyes remained absolutely entranced on the massive displays of information, colors and lights on the screens Zed stood before, and pointed to, "Raising a daughter is, well..."
"Happy you missed out on my upbringing, there, dad?" Koko sneered, though it was strictly playful; Ralph rolled his eyes and pleadingly looked off as Ace blurt out into hard laughter.
"I walked right into that one," Ralph grumbled as he rubbed his chin and begrudgingly held tight eye contact with anywhere that wasn't Koko's, though he finally stopped resisting her burning gaze and apologetically smiled into her eyes, "You know how Tessa is-"
"I'm telling on you," Koko snipped, which had Ace laughing even harder; Ralph grappled his hair and garbled a loud groan to Game Central Station's stretch of an arched ceilings.
"I give up," Ralph groaned with a small, annoyed smile.
"I do too," Lickity barked in hard annoyance as she finally sauntered up; having just caught up with everyone, Ace, Koko and Ralph softly turned to peer to their lucky bat dragon with nervous, inquisitive gazes, the sheer fact that Lickity's voice was entirely nasally and congested. Lickity persisted, her large bat ears sagged and her fluffy, velvety cream mane looked as if she had been neglecting it, due to being sick, "I'm hoping this crap isn't contagious..."
"Poor thing," Koko pressed as the small group sagged to welcome Lickity into their bubble, her study, scary claws clacked on Game Central Station's tiles, "Tessa hasn't checked out your coding, or stats or anything? Surely there's something that can be done to simply reverse a cold."
"Well... Although I'm programmed for Sugar Rush, finding our way around the common cold seems to be pretty difficult, actually," Lickity garbled, her eyes were a little sunken in, and although she didn't look to be in too bad of shape, it was clear she was well on her way if she didn't take it easy, "Marble offered to take Zed into his game, today, but... I think there's something in Sugar Rush's air that's aiding in my allergies."
"All those sugar particles," Ralph stated knowingly with a small bob of a nod, he put his large hands on his hips and everyone softly peered to the cute sight of Zed doting on his newest child, "I had one hell of a go the first winter I spent, in Sugar Rush. I think you'll get used to it, Lickity, I wouldn't worry."
"You could probably have dad just reset your coding in Dead Zed," Ace shrugged as he crossed his arms, everyone peered to the adorable sight across the small gap of the station; a few passing gamers cutely cooed at just how adorable the sight of Zed was, with his new infant, as well; Ace pressed on through a content sigh, "Surely that'll do the trick."
"See, here, Bear," Zed eased, he softly glanced over his shoulder and took note that he had likely wandered too far; the station softly chimed the two minute warning for the open Arcade call. Zed peered his electric blue eyes tight to the massive display before him and Berri, and as he dragged his eyes down to the baby strapped to his chest, he huffed a small chuckle at the sheer sight of entire bewilderment on her adorable expression, "This board updates us on the potential of incoming games, to our station! We used to be able to cast our votes, but, the Wifi's been down for some reason..."
"Dad, grampa wants to hold Berri before he goes to work," Ace called from across the open, golden stretch.
"Coming," Zed called, and as he began to step out to return to his small group of family, his pocket began to buzz and vibrate, alongside a proper, eight-bit tune of Sugar Rush's theme song. Zed fumbled for his phone, eased the shiny device out of his dark, cargo pant's pocket and peered to the screen in delight. He softly slid his thumb on the touch display and waggled the phone before Berri, "Look who it is, lil bluuue. Hey, Tess, what's going on?"
"I just wanted to make sure you made it to Dead Zed safe and sound," Tessa's voice eased from the speaker on the bottom of the device, though she grunted a small noise of mild annoyance once Zed cued a video call without asking; her face came up on the screen, and upon seeing Berri's little face, the focus of the call, she melted out of the bout of annoyance and tucked her hair behind her ears. It was clear she was comfortably tucked inside hers and Zed's love nest of a tower, on palace grounds, "Aww, there's my Berri babe. I'm SO thrilled to see that you're still in Game Central Station, a grey area of loss-of-coding potential, Zedian."
"W-We were just heading out," Zed staggered as he came upon Ace, Ralph, Koko and Lickity's gentle conversing. He waggled his phone about, which had the video chat of Tessa on display, "See? Got the best of the best."
"No one's harming a little blue hair on Berri's head, so long as I'M around," Lickity barked, her nasally voice made it impossible to understand her; everyone blurt into hard laughter.
"We're all shaking," Ace muttered, though he choked a laugh once Lickity's wing popped him in the shoulder. He largely wobbled and did everything he could to catch his footing, with Ralph's teasingly apprehensive help.
"No one's going to harm Berri because you'll chase them off with your runny nose, there, Lucky," Koko crossed her arms and although the banter didn't let up, she smiled her kind eyes into Lickity's.
"The lot of you should probably have a reset in Dead Zed," Tessa grumbled through the device, she sleepily rubbed her eye and heaved a hard, exhausted yawn as she continued, "The sugar particles aren't the only thing bothering our noses, this winter."
"GREAT," Lickity huffed in a hard whisper as she flattened her ears, though she largely wrinkled her nose and almost went cross-eyed in preparation for a sneeze.
"Duck and cover," Ace grunted as he hunched his shoulders and scoot behind Ralph, though before anyone else could react, Lickity largely thrusted her head down and forward and hacked the loudest, gnarliest sneeze her body could muster.
Alongside the noise, her gorgeous, cream, feathery mane stood on end in a puffy fuzz of an unsettled mess, though just as she sagged her wings and gasped for air, cueing everyone to rest easy that said sneeze was a one and done, Berri suddenly began to kick her feet in a fit of raw excitement alongside the cutest burst of solid laughter. Everyone froze in bug-eyed surprise and peered their dewy, excited gazes straight for Berri, and in a heart-melting settle of love, everyone eagerly began to coo words of approval to little Berri. Tessa's eyes popped open in a rile of surprise, a second wind she was praying for.
"Did she just LAUGH?" Tessa loudly urged in a whole rile of lovestruck excitement, to which Zed eagerly nodded and made sure to point his phone's camera to where Tessa could see.
"Sure did sound like it," Ralph stated with pure pride as he put his hands on his hips.
"Thank User I called," Tessa urged in an almost girly tone as she began to encourage her small baby, Berri's blue eyes so happily and eagerly held tight to the device's screen, fixated on her mother's face in unadulterated awe.
"You're welcome," Ace staggered, Koko giggled and nudged his arm a little.
"Am I chopped liver?" Lickity barked, although clearly teasing, she flapped her wings a little and lazily gesture her clawed paw to Ace's figure, "If I'm not mistaken, I ALSO got this little User-nugget's first laugh outta him."
"You ARE pretty funny looking," Zed repeated from his and Tessa's conversation earlier, which had her loudly giggling on the video call.
"The Arcade is now open," An automated voice called over the gorgeous, echoey golden tiles of Game Central Station, and with such, Ralph's spine stiffened.
"Darnit, uh, well..." Ralph staggered in a rush of gentle plea as he began to step away, he gestured to Zed and Berri with a smile of mild desperation, "I call dibs on the baby, after game day, dude."
"She's all yours," Zed assured as the small group waved Ralph off, and after a few minutes, the golden station was silent.
"Alright, an empty station is a dangerous station, guys, dark outlet alleys everywhere," Tessa sleepily instructed, heightened information that pertained to everyone now that her helpless infant was outside of any of her home games.
"C'mon, guys, I'm excited to see just what Finn and the boys did with the blueprints Tessa left for them," Zed urged, and in a rush, the small group began to hustle down the stretch of the station, and straight for the train.
"Take pictures for me!" Tessa's voice gently begged on the video call.
In Dead Zed's January winter, the cool, minty green of the jungle held shroud in a fog of humidity, as if the jungle floor seemed to eke leftover heat from the summer and fall that had long past. Finn's crew had a new set up; although they had deconstructed the Kalivar castle, Finn and Tammy made sure to keep the castle's blue prints in hopes of revisiting it for the summer. An exciting, jungle getaway of a summer vacation hung on the horizon, in which the crew would all come together for a long, well deserved holiday at any destination, in Dead Zed, of their choice. Such fragile, much needed blueprints of Kalivar's castle remained safely tucked away in the gridlock of the code room's clutches. With the new year and the refresh of the entire group, Finn had brought him and his four younger brothers back to the roots of their past. Although they were separated from Zed, due to him being crowned Sugar Rush's King, they relived the bachelor days of tree house living, with the touches of modern and futuristic architecture.
In a dense thicket of jungle just North of where the Kalivar castle previously lay, Finn had loose, vast, outdoor treehouse-like batches of individual homes that held tightly suspended high above the jungle floors. Gorgeous, white little abodes all connected by sturdy wooden bridges, Finn and Tammy's held tight to the largest of said suspended homes. With Duke, Orph, Jax and Tej each enjoying their own abodes that loosley surrounded Finn's, each home had a wonderful view of Ekreth City off of their jungle cliff side. An incredible perch with a view, Zed and his crew eagerly gawked at the gorgeous, futuristic architecture that seemingly sung with Dead Zed's late morning glint of sunshine; not a cloud in sight. Stood on a massive, suspended outdoor plank, a huge gathering spot that had the delicate design of a lotus on the jungle wood they stood on, everyone stood in the peace of Finn's wonderful little getaway, a mini community of the utmost tranquility.
"I feel like I have to whisper, here," Koko stated in a tone that was barely above a whisper, she scrunched her shoulders and bashfully peered to Tammy; her and Finn were dressed in comfortable, warm clothes, as if they maybe had been previously relaxing for the day.
"It's definitely hard getting out of bed, in the morning," Finn grumbled as he crossed his arms, everyone had a wonderful view of Ekreth through a few dangling vines and jungle leaves, glints of sunshine that speckled the planks of sturdy, art-kissed wood they stood on, "Pretty sure all the boys feel the same."
"I'm so glad I don't have a game day," Tammy huffed with a small laugh, to which Koko bugged her eyes and nodded in entire agreeing, "I'm pretty nervous, though... Academy starts up again, next Monday."
"You're attending this year, right?" Zed encouraged, having remembered that Tammy dropped out upon hearing the false news of Tessa's and Zed's death, all that time ago.
"I am," Tammy encouraged with a smile, Finn proudly stood by her side and held his hand to her back in full show of support. Tammy inhaled a shaky breath and shrugged, "I-I'm sort of nervous though, because, well... Emery's not attending until the Fall."
"Because she just had Theo," Ace finished tenderly with a knowing nod, to which Tammy also nodded as she caught eyes with her second cousin.
"I don't blame her, I just have never attended Academy without Emery... We were there for Tessa's, Oliver's and Penny's first day," Tammy began to rattle off, though she shook her head and shrugged, "I'm... I'm sure I'll run into Otto, or some of my other friends, it'll just be lonely without her."
"...M-Maybe I could attend with you?" Koko started in a rise of confused nervousness; the group began to softly brighten with the idea.
"Yeah, have Koko go with you, this semester!" Zed pressed in further encouragement; Berri squealed a small noise of inquiry and waggled her cute little hands about, "And, come the Fall semester, Emery and Tessa will join again."
"Then, come the NEXT Spring semester," Ace waggled his eyebrows and softly gestured to his baby sister, "You'll have Berri, Wren and Theo to take on THEIR first days."
"...I totally forgot about that," Tammy's eyes lit up, it was clear said information was enough to turn her view around. She slumped her shoulders in relief and gave everyone a kind look of appreciation, though the sass very quickly began to build, "Way to turn it around on me, guys... Not that I don't appreciate it."
"You're the GCA pro, Tams... Gotta show the kiddos the ropes," Zed shrugged, everyone bobbed nods and gave Tammy looks and smiles of continued encouragement.
"That I can do," Tammy cocked an eyebrow and peered her kind, teasing gaze to her younger cousin, Koko, "You're in for a rough ride, my friend."
"... What did I just sign up for," Koko eased in a shaky bout of confusion.
"When we leave, we can stop by Game Central Academy and get you signed up, I'm sure it's not too late," Zed kindly pressed, though before he and Koko could continue on with their conversation, Lickity suddenly let out a loud, strange whooping call of a noise to the jungles beyond, a guttural call unlike any other.
Everyone flinched in a rile of surprise and peered their bewildered gazes straight for their lucky dragon. Without anyone noticing, Lickity had successfully snuck down the planked walk way and nearly all the way to Finn's sunlight doorstep. He large bat ears and eyes were absolutely fixed to the jungles beyond, as if she was entirely engulfed, on a mission no one else knew about, and just as Lickity began to softly sprawl her wings and begin to look like she was due to taking off, Zed barked a noise of confusion and began to urgently shuffle closer to her.
"Hey, hey, Lickity," Zed called as he waved his hands, though with this, Lickity largely flinched, sagged her wings and dart her entire attention to Zed. As if snapped out of a trance, her massive eyes hooked tight to Zed's, her pupils were almost entirely dilated, a scary sight to see from such a formidable, apex predator. Zed scuffed to a nervous halt and held his hands up, "You, uh... You okay, girly?"
"I-I... I'm fine, what were we just talking about?" Lickity furrowed her brow and began to gently pant, as if to come off of an adrenaline rush. Her feathers, along her mane and down her belly, began to show a gentle touch of different hues of ceruleans and turquoises, a strange display for her typically muted tans, creams, chocolates and browns.
"We were discussing Academy when you started calling out to the jungle, like that," Zed began to feel a peak of almost humorous confusion, though Lickity's dilated eyes finally went back to normal, as did the coloring on her chest which gently began to vanish, "You see something?"
"No, I didn't, I... I don't know what came over me," Lickity held her paw to her chest in gentle confusion, though she peered back out to the jungle and flattened her ears, as if she simply fell into a trance she was unaware of.
"Okay, so we're ruling out the fact that it could either be Uncle Rancis, Turbo OR Lash," Koko loudly counted on her fingers, she waggled her hand as everyone, excluding Zed and Lickity, began to laugh, "We JUST got out of a castle, game-wide mess. Can we just, I don't know... Go a YEAR without incident?"
"I don't think we have anything to worry about," Finn stated in a gentle, at-ease, knowing manner, to which Tammy rubbed her forehead with a bashful grimace.
"How can you be so sure?" Ace worried, he began to feel his User coding surge through his veins, as if he, too, was irritated that they potentially couldn't catch a break.
"We've been seeing Lickity's breed around here, a LOT, lately," Finn bobbed a nod and eyed Tammy, as if this was likely becoming a bit of a nuisance.
"Mating season," Tammy quipped, and with Zed and Lickity out of earshot, the group loudly burst into knowing laughter.
"Shouldn't stay in these parts for too much longer," Ace grumbled as he rubbed his face in agitated relief, "Our only ride home will ditch us without thinking twice about it."
