Reviews :
Burgie : I agree. Poor Turbo is just the largest melancholy hermit there is.
CHICKENM4N : Self hate a little, he's just a bit wary and insecure. I'm sure a lifetime of being hated would mess with one's self esteem.
Snake557 : Yeah :[
chuckiboo : Aww, that's sweet. I agree, he just needs friends. Boy does he get 'em xD
Song Listened To :
Meridian, Shining by Joris de Man
*Chapter 9*
Although Tessa and Zed had started their day out bright and early, a good portion of the day was blissfully lost on catching up with Zed's younger brothers. The second Dead Zed's two moons began to diligently show through the cold, crisp, clear night sky was the second the newlyweds began to think about heading to their lovely, honeymoon, jungle getaway. On Lickity's incredible wingspan, they soared above the stretching canopies of the jungle and head about an hour South of Zed's brothers jungle abode. Up the sloping, climbing reaches of jungle cliffside, Finn and Zed had so diligently programmed a proper getaway for the new King and Queen. A single tower that was comfortably nestled into the cliffside, shroud in the reaches of the most incredible reaches of jungle foliage, and to top it all off, it hung next to the wide, gaping sprawl of a cascading waterfall. A single room was all that was programmed, though with just how secluded and away from civilization this romantic getaway was, the majority of the single, large round room was all windows.
Lickity's gorgeous, new cream wings and dorsal feathers lofted through the cool skies, carrying her precious cargo, and although the getaway was so gorgeously kissed by moonlight and could so easily be seen glistening against the spray of the rushing waterfall near it, Zed was still eager to show her to a nice getaway for a few nights; no responsibilities, no game-duties, baby and worry free. In a soft bow, Lickity's sharp wings and tail sails caused her to bank around the single spire said hideaway was perched top, and as she successfully rounded it, she hovered in a few flaps, came to the proper landing spot of the massive, swooping balcony and allowed her sharp talons to come to the wood below. Lickity inhaled a deep breath, perked her ears in curiosity and allowed the surrounding jungle noises to coat her being, as if she had promised to play guard dog for the two, and was simply surveying her temporary domain.
"Wow," Tessa eased in whole excitement as she slid off of Lickity's spine, with Zed's diligent, gentlemanly help.
"Y'like?" Zed pressed in calm kindness, though it was clear the two were absolutely exhausted and ready for a good night's sleep.
"How did you find this place?" Tessa pressed as she looked about the proper landing plane, soft birch wood that lead up to a single room, a very decent sized hut-like domain, crowned in the most glorious architectural details, beams of birch wood that were carved with such delicacy, properly and royally seamed with untouched floor to ceiling windows the majority of the way around. Inside, a few lights were on, and it was clear right away that said abode was equipped with a small living space, a small kitchenette, and a gentle sneakway that Tessa was certain that lead to a cute, proper love nest. She eased her tired yet entirely grateful gaze to Zed's and shook her head, "You programmed this place, didn't you..."
"Only the finest for you," Zed's deep voice crawled over her skin like honey, and with a touch of impending romance to surely overflow, he tenderly took her left hand and placed a proper kiss to her knuckles, just above her gorgeous wedding ring.
"Alright, you two," Lickity started in a teasing grumble of a smile as she properly folded her wings to her body and flattened her ears, "Now... I'm grateful my eyesight sucks, because all that glass makes it too easy to spy on y'all. Certainly you've remembered my incredible hearing?"
"The whole building is sound proof, my friend," Zed grumbled in cheeky annoyance, though he lofted Tessa a near apologetic smile and shrugged, "But, methinks you're safe sleeping inside, with us tonight, Lickity... Pretty sure we're going to be out like a light, the second our heads hit the pillow."
"Now... One would think the honeymoon would be nothing but swapping codes left and right," Tessa began to sleepily rub her eye as she shot Lickity a knowing look, "That's for couples who don't already previously have a newborn."
"I've dedicated this honeymoon to catching up on sleep, I really don't know about you," Zed rushed in tired relief at Tessa's words, to which she also beamed him a cheeky, tired smile of entire elatedness and sagged.
"Oh, thank User, I'm so glad we're on the same page," Tessa huffed, though Lickity cocked an eyebrow and gave them both looks of wild disbelief.
"WHAT?" Lickity barked, Tessa and Zed both flinched in tender surprise, "You're going to wake up tomorrow morning just BEGGING me to go outside!"
"... You're probably right," Zed muttered in teasing cheek, to which Tessa playfully rolled her eyes, looked off and hoped her face wasn't turning too red.
"C'mon, I wanna see what the inside looks like," Tessa rushed, to begin cutting Zed's and Lickity's teasing antics at the quick.
"You're gunna catch up on sleep, wake up refreshed and realize you're on your HONEYMOON," Lickity barked with a wide, fang-filled smile as Zed maneuvered his way about Tessa, so he could open the sliding glass door for her and let both girls inside, "You know for sure you guys are going to go back with another loading bar."
"NO," Both Tessa and Zed suddenly blurt as they eagerly peered to Lickity, as if to beg her not to jinx them.
"I've literally tripled our firewall protection, while we're here," Zed muttered in whole dismay as he opened the door, Tessa excitedly stepped inside as Lickity gave Zed a bewildered, teasing look of disbelief and shook her head, "I certainly do love having children with that woman, but... Can we at least put a year between these happenings?"
"So you DO want a third?" Lickity pressed as Zed rolled his eyes and began to open the span of the sliding glass door to its full potential, leaving a wide gape into their little abode; a lovely feature that allowed all the sounds and atmosphere of the jungle into their senses.
"I mean maybe, eventually," Zed shook his head and grunted as he finally pushed the sliding door to its full, opened potential. He cocked an eyebrow and peered to Tessa in their small getaway, she daintily soaked up the sight of their cute little home and ogled the high ceilings, "I just got the hang of caring for a second baby. I need a breather."
"Can't relate," Lickity stated with great cheek, she shot Zed a fang-filled smile that only proved she was a loving, teasing being. Zed narrowed his gentle gaze, wrinkled his nose and gave her a snotty, playful look in return.
"Holy User, this place is so cute," Tessa eased in gently girliness she rarely showed. Zed slowly drummed to a gentle stop as he neared the small kitchen island, a perfect seat for maybe only two or three. He leaned his hip against it, crossed his arms and peered to his wife in entire, coy delight.
"I knew you'd like it," Zed's masculine voice gently grumbled, Lickity's bumbling, padded claws could be heard easing towards the gaping entrance, in preparation to come inside. Zed warmly gestured his hand about to the light fixtures, cocked an eyebrow and gently shrugged, "Finnigan Atlas gave the place a few touches of his love, as well. I laid the ground work, he customized it."
"How come you had him do all the little detailed work?" Tessa wondered as she finally turned and peered to Zed in loving inquiry.
"Because, I wanted this place to look different than Sugar Rush's palace," Zed gently shrugged, "Finn's only been to the palace maybe twice. I wanted this to be an entire getaway from the norm... So, I had Finn put in his ideas."
"Well, it's perfect," Tessa bobbed a kind nod and crossed her arms, "You... Also said something about a lagoon nearby?"
"Sparkling, crystal clear waters," Zed explained in a riveting tone of impending delight, an exciting few days they had ahead of them, "A gorgeous waterfall at one end of it... It's incredible, I can't wait to show you."
"Well, why don't we just go check it out now? I mean, I know it's dark and all, but-" Tessa was abruptly interrupted by a call of a sound, a guttural of a roar from the great beyond, rattling the moon and stars, and in a frozen collection of hot realization, both Tessa and Zed bugged their eyes and threw their gaze to Lickity, who nearly reeled from the sudden, sharp halt she brought upon her large body.
Tessa held her breath in a pang of nervous fear that now coat her being, and much to her conflicting dismay, Lickity's massive ears perked higher than ever before, her whole body stiffened in a reel of bewildered curiosity, and as her pupils dilated to mere the entire orbs of her eyes, she whirled around, propped her wings in readiness and heavily began to sniff the breeze that whisked about their lovely little jungle escape. The scent through the trees seemed to hit Lickity's snout just right, the way her agile paws slithered her towards the edge of the landing platform, she eagerly peered out to the great beyond, and in a huge expansion of her rib cage, she threw her head back in a chirp of a few grunting calls and allowed her voice to carry for seemingly miles. Her whole demeanor was tense in animalistic instinct, very different form her usual, lackadaisy stance and aura.
Tessa and Zed remained entirely frozen in curious bewilderment, and much to everyone's surprise, Lickity's loud, vibrating call was eagerly answered by a suitor, far in the distance. Lickity's whole body tensed in a bow of a pounce, and just as Tessa could feel her pupils tighten in raw fear, she flung her arm out and merely grunted Lickity's name the second her large, bat-like body eagerly lunged off of the landing platform. In a whisk, Lickity's silent flight swooped her deep into the dark, wet jungle beyond, immediately out of sight and sound. Tessa held her breath, jolted in a pang of entire sorrow and halted her clumsy, lunging footsteps. Tessa peered her scared eyes into the patch of jungle in which Lickity disappeared, and in a roll of rising sorrow, confusion and uncertainty, Tessa hugged her hand to her chest and bit her lip, as if to beg herself not to allow tears to form.
"Aww, babe," Zed's understanding voice so tenderly grumbled, and as he came along side her, he inhaled a raspy breath, rubbed up and down her back and allowed the two to stand firm in the middle of the landing platform's gorgeous white wood. The breeze whisked about their hair and clothes, and as quickly as Lickity had filled their bubble with love, she vanished into the night, not leaving a single trace as to where she was going or when she'd be back, "It'll be okay, Tess... She'll come back."
"What if she doesn't?" Tessa wondered in a huff of a nervous whisper as she kept her arms close to her chest in a fit of needing comfort, she aimlessly began to fiddle with her long, wavy auburn hair, a distraction more or less.
"She will, Tess, we'll be here for three whole days," Zed shrugged with a widening smile.
"And if she doesn't?" Tessa wondered, and as the idea of Lickity now being gone began to soak more into her mind, she sagged her shoulders and peered out to the jungle. She knew Lickity had to eventually return. There was no way someone so great and so reliable would suddenly just forget where she was needed and loved.
"That's not an option, my love... She WILL return," Zed affirmed in tender sternness as he grabbed her hand. In a delicate swoop, he kissed the back of her hand in a gentlemanly way and peered to her with a certain twinkle in his eye, "... We best be utilizing her absence while we can."
"Zed," Tessa complained, though with the broadening of her smile, Zed was glad he was able to begin to persuade her; he so gently began to lead her back indoors, he shrugged his masculine shoulders and gave Tessa a bewildered, nearly offended smile.
"Lickity's allowed to get some but I'm not?" Zed barked with a laugh, though he grunted and flinched a little as Tessa blurt a small giggle and swat her free hand at his chest and shoulder, "Whaaaat, I may be King, but SOMEONE'S gotta play the part of the Jester."
"Leave that nonsense to Orph," Tessa choked a laugh, the two were a stumbling mess amidst vanishing inside their temporary, romantic love nest.
"Aaaand TIME!" Libby called in whole excitement, and in the rush of a spew of cold snow, she covered her head and face and softly ducked away; the morning sun flickered through a few nearby candy cane trees that seemingly thrived in the cold.
At top, lightning speeds, Balba and Marble had whipped past the small group, a race to see just who was the fastest lykata, a single lap around the palace's inner wall. Deep in the thicket of the single wall that encompassed Tessa's entire lot, a hollow, inner corridor made for a seamless, rounding path about the entire grounds. Although not the fastest way to get from point A to point B, it still aided in palace lot travel, majority shielded from the elements and always lit with crowns and tiers of beautiful silver light aided by the code room. Although Royal, Balba and Marble were supposed to spend a few days at Honeydew Ridge, their trip was cut short due to a blizzard that encompassed the better half of the ridge; with the free time, Balba and Marble were constantly going head to head to see just who was the fastest.
"Balba won that lap," Libby called, her mitten-covered hands cupped over her mouth as she called to the two lykatas. They both came to a rolling trot, banked about the bend of Throttle's abode and slowly began to trot their way back to the small group, whom of which hung in the overhang of said inner wall's open aired corridor.
"Did it while pregnant, too," Balba playfully sneered as she approached, she flickered her tail and began to now trot in a much flouncier, girlier manner, which had Marble huffing in an annoyed aspect, rolled eyes included.
"It's okay, Marble, I'm not pregnant and I couldn't run to save my life," Royal's bellyaching coat the frozen cold corridors that him, Nox, Ace, Libby, Oliver and Emery properly lounged in. Protectively and securely underneath a coded bubble of warmth, via Ace's User powers, both Berri and Theo could also remain in the group without having to withstand the bitter, Sugar Rush snowy winter. Royal eased more into his lean, which eventually sagged into a lazy, slumped sitting position, "Now, CLIMBING, on the other hand... I have all y'all beat."
"No fair," Babla smirked as she came alongside Libby, a gentle loving nudge given to her sister, "Marble and I don't have retractable claws."
"Neither do I," Royal argued; him and Balba carried on in a cute show of arms as Nox furrowed his brow and gave Ace and Oliver a curious smile.
"I was just reminded of something," Nox huffed, he pushed himself to a stand with the help of Oliver's larger gloved hand, "I saw a really weird commercial, on tv, last night."
"Oh, is the Wifi working again?" Ace pressed in curiosity as Libby, Balba and Marble slowly neared underneath the massive stretch of ceiling above them, the neverending winding corridor of palace wall.
"It's been spotty for the last few weeks," Emery shrugged, though everyone honed their attention to Nox, "We sort of gave up on it... Curious it's back on, though."
"It's probably because Litwak keeps moving the plug for it," Ace stated, though his tone held gentle wonder, as if to state he was not confident of his words.
"We were able to catch the end of the Pacman finals, but... Alongside the show's credits, a commercial played with it," Nox pressed curiously, though he narrowed his gaze and merely grimaced a nervous expression to Ace's now frozen demeanor, "I guess... A new game is being advertised. It's in the internet... It's called Game Over."
"JUST where I want to go," Libby's cute, gentle voice only sarcastically chimed; everyone blurt into kind laughter, she was the master at lifting the mood, no matter what.
"Game Over?" Ace chuckled as he narrowed his gaze; he had Berri securely strapped to his chest, he lovingly held his large hand about her back and little head, inside the sling, and softly glanced down to her, "Is it a place you go to die, then I guess?"
"Pretty much," Nox huffed nervously, his demeanor unchanging; the gentle lilt Libby put everyone in so softly began to subside in a dewy sting of cold nervousness, "I guess... It's where the best of the best go head to head with other gamers. The victor walks away with his life, and the honor of being, well... The best."
"And the loser...?" Oliver nervously pressed as him and Emery urgently locked eyes.
"... Game Over," Nox uttered nervously, with a shrug, "Th-they made it seem like, you sign yourself up, you know what you're getting yourself into. I guess... Gamers can get all sorts of DLC, you can add onto your coding inside the game, DLC you've purchased, and then once you're in the arena, well... Guess you just have at it, against your one opponent."
"This... Seems extremely barbaric," Libby pressed as she crossed her arms and nervously peered to Emery, who nodded in agreeing, "So, what, you go in knowing that you'll either be killed for good, or... You have blood on your hands?"
"Surely there's consequences," Ace pressed in rising horror.
"It's at your own risk," Nox staggered as he raised his hands in gentle defense, he shrugged and peered to Ace in gentle confusion, "It's... Where the best gamers become legends, what the commercial said. If you leave with your life, then-"
"You're due to spend the rest of said life watching your back," Emery snipped in riled confusion, "Who would ever want to go to such a game?"
"Gamers with nothing to lose," Nox muttered, he nervously peered to Throttle's abode, across the plushy, gentle hills of snow between the stretch.
"This is advertised to be broadcasted?" Oliver grunted in a chuckle of disbelief.
"Said sometime this coming Winter, the end of this new year... I guess they're still working out the rules and the kinks," Nox shrugged, "Gotta secure a spot on the internet where gamers can willingly come to die, for good. Guess... Think of it as the internet's trash can of no return."
"Only people that survive are going to be looked at as a God," Oliver grumbled, and in a nervous draw of cold silence that befell everyone, they dragged their gazes straight to Ace and Libby, the only two know User's in all of Arcade.
"Libby and I aren't stupid enough to throw ourselves headlong into a void of potential no return," Ace loudly argued with a laugh of tender, confused disbelief, "Surely you can't be worried about us, we're about to welcome two babies into the world. I don't need the honor of being the best gamer ever. I know where I'm needed."
"It's not you two I'm worried about," Nox grumbled as he fixated his gaze on Throttle's abode, once more, "It's Turbo."
"Turbo?" Ace worried, and with the entire weight of heat now off of Ace and Libby, everyone slowly volleyed longing looks of concern to just where Turbo was resting his head, for the next three nights.
"I know I'm not extremely serious all of the time, but trust me when I say, guys," Nox bobbed a nod and huffed a shaky breath of impending urgency, "The guy is in desperate need of some attention."
"Okay, so how do we supply him with it?" Libby pressed, her sing-song accent so cutely continued to sag the sorrow out of any situation, "He's become so much of a hermit, it's really impossible to break beyond that shell of his."
"Persist," Nox eased, his glossy golden eyes hooked to the side of Throttle's front door and porch of his abode, he shook his head and allowed his gaze to get lost in the snow about Throttle's patio, "That's all we can do. I know Turbo wouldn't do anything to break our trust, and he's an honest man until the end, but... I could see the gears turning in his head, when that commercial played, last night..."
"He's needed in Orion City, though," Ace pressed, though Nox tenderly interrupted him and gave Ace his creepy, golden stare.
"He knows where he's needed... But it's more than just his lonely loft, nearly seventy stories above the entirety of the game," Nox rushed, he shook his head in a fit of becoming defeat and sighed out to the cold, morning crisp about them, "Come this time next year, we need to be doing anything and everything to make sure he doesn't cave and... Find himself signing up for such an event."
"How would we even begin to keep tabs on him, like that?" Emery wondered in a huff of concern.
"Bang down his door, if we have to," Nox's soft voice stated, a conclusive promise the group sought out to uphold, "Whatever keeps him inside Sugar Rush."
