Reviews :
chuckiboo : Yyyyyyep D: Roy boy definitely doesn't handle it very well, unfortunately. You'll have to find out who Boss allows on his back, it's definitely not anyone anytime soon, however! He's a shy one.
Jay Sketchin : YAY I'm glad! Hopefully you all love him more as the story progresses.
Burgie : Aww that's sweet, you're definitely right :)
Snake557 : Yeah, Royal doesn't end up taking it so well. Also, I've drawn Boss and have talked about him in the past, on my deviantART, so I'm sure that's where you saw the name :)
Vsnyder : Hey, thanks so much for joining and for reading along! I'm glad you're enjoying everything. YES, this story is where all the TurboxBerri fanart is coming from. Those plot points are currently underway and we will be diving into all of it in the next few chapters, actually. I'm stoked, so stay tuned! Thanks again :)
Song Listened To :
Meridian, Shining by Joris de Man
In Great Strides by Joris de Man & The Flight
*Chapter 11*
On cold, marbleized, glistening palace tiles, Royal's chameleon paws heavily thudded about the bend of the racer's corridor. Said corridor looped in a circle about the entirety of the code room's dome of a hub, the safest most secure place in the entirety of the game. Said high ceilinged, swooping corridor was dimly lit in the comfort of Sugar Rush's cold nightfall. White walls casted in a honey glow of warmth, an even amount of tall, majestic doors tidily lined the outer rung of the donut-shaped corridor, each being the front door of each individual Sugar Rush racer, separate wings of the main hub. With each said front door properly clad and decorated to emulate just which racer lived there, Royal and Ace so quietly chit chat in boyish murmurs of tender silliness, an innocent, brotherly, dallying sway of winding down, the palpable sense of no amount of urgency coat the cold game's exterior with love. Although both boys were on the way to the code room, with Berri comfortably fast asleep in Ace's strong arms, they were aware they'd eventually run into other beings that reside in said palace; a lilt of rising coos could suddenly be heard as Jubileena, Candlehead and Minty spot the tiny baby in Ace's arms.
"Aww, big brother finally learning the ropes," Candlehead so sweetly teased, all three girls had long, wet hair down their back, they were dressed in comfortable attire for the night, a waft of sweet scented lotions and body washes easily soaked into Royal's and Ace's gravity as all three girls tip toed their sock-covered feet across palace tiles.
"Definitely trying," Ace huffed a warm chuckle, he so gingerly jostled Berri in the slightest and peered down to his baby sister; an adorable bundle of warm, pink, chubby cheeks, a mess of hot blue hair was properly crowned atop her head, the same exact pop of color Zed so proudly flaunted day in and day out.
"No doubt she's Zed's daughter, that's for sure," Minty's curt tone was something Ace was still trying to navigate; a seemingly cold and nearly uninviting individual on the surface, though as the weeks went on, Ace quickly discovered a warm and sensitive smile behind those cold green eyes. Minty dared to tilt her head in a show of submissive tenderness, her eyes narrowed as she assessed Sugar Rush's princess, "Does any one know if she has any glitching or wrecking abilities, just yet?"
"Not sure we'll find out too soon, but who knows," Candlehead shrugged her girly shoulders, cloaked in an oversized pink hoodie, "I remember Vanellope making mention of Tessa's glitching abilities right from the get-go, though... Baby Tessa would sneeze and she'd blob out in purple pixels."
"...Purple?" Ace tenderly wondered, his big hazel eyes soaked into Candlehead's warm eyes, though he inhaled a short breath and bobbed a quick nod of understanding, "Oh, her original coding, right."
"Silver, for this girl," Jubileena promptly addressed to Berri, Ace was thankful the women kept their eager, cooing voices to a shushed volume so that Berri could continue sleeping.
"Odd how that works," Ace chuckled dryly, though his smile only began to broaden, "So many code colors, so little time."
"Muddied," Minty lightly mumbled, as if to suggest her words held no amount of conscious malice, though with the draw of everyone's now confused expression, she stiffened in a bout of embarassment and flagged her hand, "I-I didn't mean that in a bad way, I guess... I just..."
"It's taboo, we get it," Royal tried not to snip, though with this hot topic now coming to a head, Ace raised his eyebrows in tender politeness and smiled to the three women about him.
"Royal and I were just about to meet up with Rancis and Turbo, in the code room," Ace eased as warmly and as gentlemanly as he could, so to sap the now rising anger out of the air, all built from Royal, "Hopefully you guys can hang with little Berri tomorrow, once she's awake."
"I'd love to get the chance to feed her, maybe after racing time?" Candlehead so sweetly pleaded, something she had been trying not to bug Tessa about; Ace nodded in conclusion and successfully began to ease him and Royal about the three women, in a beeline for the bend of the code room's massive round gape of an entrance, secure and shut in it's pristine, untouched defenses.
"Absolutely," Ace promised warmly, and with a nod and a gentle turn, he waved to the three women, "Goodnight, ladies."
"Goodnight," Only Jubileena and Candlehead called; Ace turned heel before he could even see Minty's likely dulled and mildly confused facial expression.
"Thanks," Royal just barely mouthed, he rolled his large, golden eyes, looked off and laid his bat ears flat to his head. His body slithered in his walk, a bow-legged step of a chameleon's, and with his huge, gorgeous white wings lazily drooped about him, his un-coiled tail barely hovered over the cold palace tiles, each color-changing scale only glistened with the sparkling palace tiles. Once the two were safe inside the sanctity of the code room, Royal further exhaled an annoyed sigh and looked up to the code room's glass dome, "I try to avoid Minty where I can."
"Supposedly, she's warming up to all of us," Ace shrugged in gentleness, "Just give her patience... She leads a very different lifestyle, than us swappers. Ma made clear that Minty's always been like this, but is slowly coming around."
"Maybe you should talk to her about it, then, if you seem so confident," Royal grumbled, only teasing; he eyed Ace with a brotherly smile and shrugged as both boys eased deeper into the massive code room, the whole place sung in the hum of electrified harmony.
"It was my plan," Ace sighed, he smiled down to Berri, the code room was aglow with warm silver, code boxes that didn't gleam too brightly, they properly illuminated the milky, starry sky overhead, "Who knows if she'll come around. I'd like to maybe get inside her head a little and see the other side of the coin. Just why people are so against code swapping."
"People like that want us code swappers dead," Royal quietly argued as they now began to approach Tessa's and Zed's workstation; it was all tidied and clean, due to their absence.
"Minty doesn't want us dead," Ace huffed through a raspy sigh, a headshake of disbelief and a tender, teasing side eye thrown in Royal's direction.
"So, what of this code room meeting, then?" Royal stated after a moment of soaked in the soothing breath of the code room's humming life.
"I guess Turbo and Uncle Rancis have a bit of a concern," Ace stated in a nonchalant tone, leading to suggest that he was confident he'd be able to quell both Sugar Rush's Knight's worries, "I guess since the castle, as well as the code room, was hanging over The End, when Lash was in charge, the game still occasionally believes it's in danger of being swallowed by The End. Annoying, blaring code room alarms."
"Any way around it?" Royal wondered softly, Ace shrugged and readjusted Berri's cute, warmly bundled sleeping figure.
"Surely, they just need a User's touch," Ace's voice emit humility with a gentle touch of sass, and with such, he eyed Royal with a smile, "Y'guys miss Lickity?"
"Oh sure," Royal honestly expelled, he bobbed a nod and innocently looked up, "Too bad our Honeydew Ridge got cut short, like it did. Mom wanted me to bring her back some of that jade rock candy. She loves that stuff."
"Ah well, you guys can go back sometime in the Spring, maybe?" Ace wondered, it was in this gentle segue did he now bite his lip and wonder just how he was going to go about warning Royal about Licity's potential escapades, in Dead Zed.
"Yeah, that'd work," Royal shrugged, he narrowed his eyes in boyish plea and chuckled, "I want that rock candy now, though... It's so yummy!"
"It is good," Ace bugged his eyes and nodded; both boys got comfortable in each others presence as they waited for the anticipated union of Turbo and Rancis, in the code room. Ace was glad him and Royal had a second, and although he wanted to continue beating around the bush, he heaved a shaky breath and knew he needed to get this information off of his chest, and to Royal, "Roy, uh... Can I talk to you about something, real quick? It's about Lickity."
"Sure, what's wrong?" Royal pressed as he sat on his hind quarters, sagged his wings and got comfortable.
"Nothing's wrong, I just... I just need to, well... Prepare you, I guess," Ace staggered, he now wondered how exactly to go about this.
"Prepare me?" Royal pressed, now clearly becoming mildly apprehensive.
"It's nothing bad, well... At least I don't THINK it's bad," Ace nervously rubbed the back of his head and eyed Royal in tender confusion, though Royal shook his head and flattened his ears.
"What's going on?" Royal urged gently, inner frustration was brimming.
"Well... When dad and I took Lickity into Dead Zed, the other day, to search for their perfect honeymoon spot, well..." Ace gestured his hand, as if to express he was looking for the proper words to say, "Lickity nearly got caught up in the prospects of a suitor."
"... A suitor?" Royal pegged, his one ear perked in a show of near scoffing annoyance, "You mean like... A mate?"
"Lickity got so wrapped up in a mating call that she nearly took off, inside instinct," Ace eased as gently as he could, he shrugged and gave Royal a look of apologetic cuteness, "I guess... I'm not positive what taking her back into Dead Zed would mean for when they return, but-"
"Mom would bring home another MALE?" Royal now pressed in rising agitation, and it was in this show of burning agitation did Ace feel thankful he warned Royal before it was largely too late.
"We really won't know, but... I just wanted to prepare you, if something like that were to happen," Ace rushed to Royal's aid, it was clear he was now becoming mad.
"H-How could mom do that, though? Just... Up and swap with any old male with the right call and colors? She wouldn't just bring a strange male back to the pack," Royal shook his head in denial, absolutely certain of his words, "I'm the head of the pack, if she brings back another male, where the hell does that put me?"
"It doesn't put you anywhere, Royal, you're all family," Ace wavered in forced confidence, he sheepishly began to wonder if this now was the wrong time for this subject, due to both boys having to keep their voices painfully hushed.
"... A strange male that mom just randomly would bring home?" Royal argued in a gape of hot irritation, "No, not my family."
"Roy," Ace complained tenderly, "Think of your mother's feelings... Y'guys can hang with us and talk and all that jazz, but Roy... I've seen how lost in the mating game you become. When Balba first sent out that call, in Dead Zed, all that time ago? There was absolutely NO stopping you. Lickity is in that same boat, Roy."
"How could she just... I mean... You're telling me she's going to come home with a mate? One that can talk? One that we now HAVE to get along with and share our enclosure with?" Royal was now offended, "Old man will have to earn his keep... You come toe to toe with me, these are my grounds."
Ace shut his mouth and was prepared to let Royal continue, though he wondered if he should continue to interject where he could; as the dominant and only male of the group, outside of his unborn male pup, Ace knew this was likely a weird situation for Royal.
"I don't think Lickity went into Dead Zed thinking she'd come out of it with a mate, Roy... That sort of thing sort of just happens, with you guys," Ace shrugged, "Your genetic makeup and biology is far different than us humans. We share the common denominator of talking and reasoning, but you guys have instincts and abilities beyond ours."
"Exactly," Royal near growled as he looked Ace dead in the eye, and it was in this raw instance did Ace understand just what the palace was up against; a show of arms, a battle of the greats, a fight for dominance. Ace sagged his shoulders and now began to drown under Royal's powerful, though still hushed voice of reverberating power, "Imagine if Zed died and Tessa reversed her code, only to later randomly bring home another man. You can't look me in the eye and tell me you'd let the guy in with open arms, without some sort of show of firm boundary."
"That's... Entirely different," Ace dared to argue, with Royal perked his ears in mild offense and side-eyed his brother.
"Sure we have a different genetic makeup... My biology would say to show my size and physically demand respect from any other male to encroach on my pack, where as yours would be a strictly verbal approach," Royal smartly argued. Ace bit his tongue and couldn't seem to waver his eyes from Royal's hypnotizing, snake-like golden gaze, "A show of arms is still something we share as a common denominator here, as well, you can't deny."
Ace bobbed a nod and gingerly shrugged.
"But the difference here is-"
"I get the differences between Tessa finding another man and my mom, an animal, simply finding a mate. I get it," Royal snipped in a rise of protectiveness, his snout wrinkled in the show of his fangs, a snip of biter confidence; it was clear this frustration was strictly stemming from fear of the unknown, "Either way, I hope mom DOES bring home a random rogue..."
"She's not doing any of this to betray you, or your pack, Royal," Ace defended in now becoming-exhausted annoyance.
"It's just hot off the heels of my dad's death," Royal shook his head and looked off, a moment in time Royal had greatly taken to heart, "Seems careless."
"Lickity hardly even knew Orion, Roy... This isn't out of malice," Ace tried his hardest to get underneath Royal's stubborn, angry surface layer, though it was clear Royal had now made up his mind.
"No other male gets over those walls without going through me," Royal grumbled in riled, masculine irritation; Ace heaved a hot sigh and looked up in defeat.
"I'm going to have to fireproof the palace, aren't I," Ace's deep voice groaned, Royal cocked an eyebrow muscle and eyed Ace in challenging cheek.
"If that's what you think would be best."
"R-Ro... Oil," Boss staggered, his masculine voice did everything it could to find strength and avoid wavering, a confidence he'd eventually fall into.
"Royal," Lickity patiently repeated, she giggled; an easiness she was unsure she'd really ever find again.
"Roil," Boss stated again, gained confidence; Lickity continued to laugh, which had the glossing attention of Tessa and Zed, across the way.
Sat that the mouth of a gorgeous, sprawling river, Lickity and Boss sat on the comfortable, mossy shoreline whilst Tessa and Zed did everything they could to wade closer to the small, trickling stream of a few individual waterfalls nearby; they were clad in their swim wear, hair soaked, bodies glistening in the noon sunshine, and although it would be typical to leave the two honeymooning couple alone, said honeymoon very quickly began to morph into a fun and relaxing double date. With the overflow of Tessa's and Zed's laughter echoing across the glassy, serene pond and river they all were enjoying, Lickity sagged her posture a little and dared to drag her gaze back to her new mate.
An odd concept, being able to talk and also pick out a mate outside of human like abilities, Lickity observed her new other half and wondered if Boss was satisfied with this brand new installment. It was clear he was a bit of a loner, an older, much bigger male well beyond Lickity's years and wisdom, it was apparent that he likely had a lot of life experience, as a proper dragon, above Lickity. The way his intelligent blue eyes scanned the surroundings, the way his massive ears were always taut and ready to scour any bit of information the jungle had to offer, his gorgeous blue coat and underbelly was nearly always on the verge of being puffed with fight or flight agitation, the mark of an apex predator always on the prowl for prey.
In the day Lickity had with Boss, she was able to properly fill him in on her stature in Sugar Rush, her story of how Tessa saved her from the jungles, Lickity's past with Orph and how that all melted into her life, she was glad Boss was taking everything in stride and positivity, though with the raw and nervous look in Boss's eye, it was very clear that he had never been a part of a family unit. He seemed confused at the raw fact that Lickity's pack consisted of a chameleon dragon hybrid and two Dead Zed lykatas. Nothing about Lickity's dragon life made sense, though she was beginning to see that Boss's curiosity for it all was on overdrive, and the more Sugar Rush was talked about, the more he itched for this little shindig to be over with so they could all return home. Before Lickity could soak into more of her thoughts, Boss just barely relaxed and began to look as if he was about to form the word 'Royal' again.
"Break it down, it's two syllables," Lickity's motherly voice sapped into Boss's gorgeous, dark brown fur. He inhaled a deep breath, one of mildly losing patience, a show of playfulness he was only just beginning to show. He grunted a noise, readjusted his lazy sitting position and tucked his large, dark wings tighter to his body as Lickity added in a further snip of information, "Roy-Al. Royal. Next, we'll try Royalty."
"Tryin'teh kill me," Boss muttered, his incredibly blue eyes hooked into Lickity's as he eased a playful smirk of mild annoyance.
"If that's what we're going with, then sure," Lickity barked a laugh, to which had Boss in further stitches.
"Royal," Boss finally eased through a chuckling sigh, to which Lickity perked her ears and sat up, she pushed her self up with her forelegs and sat on her hind quarters in a sag.
"Y'got it," Lickity encouraged; Boss slowly emulated Lickity's shift in positioning and mirrored her for comfort, so she wasn't simply hovering over him.
"Royal's your... Son," Boss pressed in tenderness, his eyes hooked to Lickity's in mild confusion, and with such, Lickity now felt the weight of this situation begin to seep deeper into their tender, newfound relationship, "Wh-where's, uh... Royal's dad?"
Lickity held her breath, stiffened in a slow rile of pent up confusion and allowed her eyes to only just barely remained glued to Boss's hypnotizing blue orbs. Lickity finally released the pent up frustration and anxiety through a hot exhale, through her nose. She dragged her lime green eyes across the span of jungle river they comfortably sat in the presence of. Tessa and Zed loudly laughed, off in the distance, they draped in hugs and tender smooches, here and there, absolutely soaking up the away-from-baby time they were graciously allowed. Lickity smiled at the two, across the stretch of water and finally knew she had to face this awkward situation, head on.
"Orion and I, well... Had a night of fun, shortly before I was locked out of Sugar Rush, the game I was telling you all about earlier," Lickity gently explained, "Said night of fun resulted in me becoming pregnant with Royal."
"That's how we... c-can talk?" Boss navigated his words as easily as he could, each sentence was structured a little bit neater and cleaner than the last.
"Through Orion, yeah... He was a big dragon-like chameleon, with the ability to talk. He passed it to me, in which I in turn passed to Royal," Lickity sighed in wistful annoyance and gave Boss her dallying, sassy gaze of knowing, "Which, in turn, got passed to you. Welcome to the club."
"Tell me a-about... Th-the lykatas," Boss continued to fumble, his eyes searched for words in his brain, a brand new language he now was fluent in, though somehow mastering the manual was what was proving to be difficult.
"Oh, Balba and Marble?" Lickity sighed wistfully, thinking highly of her family, "Well, Marble was actually Dead Zed's first programmed lykata, so that's pretty cool. Balba is Royal's mate, they're expecting a cub in a few months."
"W-Wait... Royal isn't little?" Boss wondered in a now sharp rise of concern, to which Lickity confusedly cued to.
"User, no... Royal's fully grown, he's about as big as you," Lickity pressed, though as the words were coming out of her mouth, she cued back to her old life, of strictly being a non-talking dragon, and remembered pack notions, hierarchies that lie within. She sagged her ears in a droop of now nervousness and eyed Boss, as if to somehow pray that they could maybe set said animalistic tendencies aside, "H-He's... Technically the alpha male, on the lot. The ONLY male, really. Their cub is a boy, but that's different."
"Will this work?" Boss tenderly worried, he shook his head and showed Lickity a side of gentle concern, though the look of pure, dominant masculinity in his eyes spoke of a thousand different notions, all of which made clear to Lickity that if him and Royal were to go toe to toe, it'd most certainly be a show to remember.
"I didn't think any of this through," Lickity grumbled as she finally got to a stand, and in a dallying saunter of now defeated confusion, she began to slowly wander off.
Boss perked his ears, cued to Lickity's movement and very quickly got to his feet to follow her. Lickity heaved a hard sigh and, in the typical fashion of having Royal usually come to her aid whilst she was sad, she felt an odd sense of relief come over her. The silent, padded paws of Boss's large, intimidating clawed paws eased into rhythm with hers, his much larger body came alongside her, and in the cue of navigating their new, blossoming partnership, Boss's much larger tail very carefuly slipped underneath the tip of hers, causing a delicate curl of an intertwine.
"What's wrong?" Boss's deep voice cued, he kept his demeanor at arms length, as if he, too was still trying to figure himself out, and any bout of information given to Lickity was also brand new information to him, something he tried to keep reeled so he could properly assess this new side of himself, as well.
"I didn't really think about the repercussions of bringing you back home, to Sugar Rush," Lickity eased as she looked down and to the side, Boss hung close in a new level of warm, tender loving care Lickity wasn't used to receiving; anything Royal had to give was strictly platonic and didn't last for way too long, due to him being busied with Balba and their upcoming new baby. Lickity hovered in the stillness of Boss's wise demeanor, and as they locked eyes, she felt relief hit her fur, even though she was still stuck in a sticky situation, "Royal's sort of head honcho, of our lot and enclosure. I just... Hope you two get along, I guess."
"I m-may be... Older," Boss started, he wanted so desperately to carrying out conversation with her without any fumbling, though he knew it'd at least take time, "A-And... Th-that would technically put me in charge, but... I'll keep my head down, i-if... That's wh-what you think to be best."
"I know Royal won't be happy," Lickity sighed, she shook her head and eyed Boss in rising apprehension, "He just watched his own father die, not to months ago, and now... I-I'm coming home with an entirely new 'father' figure. I REALLY didn't consider any of this."
"You were riding on instinct," Boss shrugged, he sagged his ears and now sat close to Lickity's warmth, though just as he was about to carry on, he jolted in a small nudge of confusion as Lickity began to nuzzle her whole face and snout into the dark, velvety mane of Boss's chest and neck, though she managed to huff a hard sigh into his fur, ultimately exposing the pop of cerulean blues that lined his ventral. Boss smiled, relaxed a little and was beginning to feel a sense of high walls that wanted to come down, and although he knew it'd take time and a whole world of adjustment, he still felt content in this instance. His deep, warm voice carried on in cheek, "I don't like fighting, and I don't do it often."
"You fought off that other male, last night," Lickity chuckled as she reopened her eyes and peered across the crystal clear lake, it rippled with the warm breeze, shadows of the jungle trees casted sunlit freckles unto their gorgeous splays of fur.
"I knew you were a catch," Boss grumbled, as if now exposing a more romantic side was extremely bizarre, he navigated it with narrowed eyes that gazed off in mild confusion at himself, "I-I fought off another male from getting to you, but... D-Doesn't feel right to encroach on your own kin."
"I'm sure Royal will read you the riot act, so I guess just... Be prepared," Lickity huffed in mild, nervous annoyance, knowing full well how stubborn and hard-headed Royal could be, at times.
A/N : Hey guys! I want to thank you for being patient while I was away for a week. My staycation was really nice, and much needed! I'm back at the story and my artwork, once again. I have a handful of Sugar Rush palace pieces I WANT to upload, but I'm waiting until I have a decent amount built up so I can do a proper sketch dump, if you will. So, it's all comin'! Stay tuned! :)
ALSO, this could probably be seen as *SPOILERS* but I just wanted to let you guys know that the story begins to pick up after Tessa and Zed come back from their honeymoon - a time jump happens, and it'll segue into Berri finally becoming the main character, and what that all looks like for Wren and Theo. Just to keep you guys in the loop! I felt it right to slowly segue into all of that, and really get a good chance to show you guys what palace life feels like, with the characters you guys have come to know and love from Rectifying Origin. I like easing into my hot topics, and not so much just thrusting everyone into it head first. More chapters, more content, more to love I guess. Enjoy guys! :)
