Reviews :

Romantic Sapp : Haha! Yes, their talk is indeed awkward, for sure. Not going to spoil anything, but Berri is rather forward about it and I'm glad I can finally give you proper shoutouts with each chapter now! Woohoo!

Burgie : Really?! THANKS ;-; Seriously thank you, that means a ton.

CHICKENM4N : Heck yes, excite.

Snake557 : LOL! Where as Ace is a brooding and quiet hermit, Berri is a very loud and urgently outward worry wart. Makes for some interesting conversation!

Jay Sketchin : LMAO! She crushes WAY harder on Gunner, though as the story goes on, she develops a secret crush for Turbo that she's good at hiding. So any 'crushing' vibe you get from her now is strictly just her being nervous to talk to such a secluded stranger of the royal family lol. But you're not wrong.


Song Listened To :

Waiting ft. Otis Parker by West Coast Massive


*Chapter 31*

In the drum of Sugar Rush's steady rainfall, a cold and bitter show of just how unforgiving their winters really could be, each flyer was eased into whichever home and tower they were welcomed in to; Chester and Lickity made themselves comfortable in front of Tessa's and Zed's roaring fireplace, their home was dim and warm with love, the smell of a delicious Mexican dish cooked on the stove, with Tessa and Zed nonchalantly at work. All the while, they laughed and lovingly teased each other, a further blossoming bout of romance that was never-ending. Smiles, laughs, pokes, prods and swooping hugs galore, Berri could feel the amount of love from down the corridor, in which her bare feet gently tread. She wore a pair of thick, comfortable sweats that scrunched at the ankles, a faded grey with muted Sugar Rush logos. She wore one of Zed's much larger t-shirts, something he was due to give away, though Berri had successfully snatched it. She tucked her long blue hair behind her ears, kept her phone close to her chest and pressed into the warmly lit living area and kitchen.

"Bear, just in time," Tessa blurt through the dregs of a giggle, Zed gently unravelled her from a tenderly swaying embrace they shared, "You wanna pick your sides? Dinner's almost finished."

"Thanks mom, yeah, I can," Berri stated in a dull tone of mental exhaustion, she sat down at the kitchen island and gave her mother an apologetic look, as if to silently ask Tessa to bear with her.

"What's up? What's wrong," Tessa froze and peered to her second born in a roll of nervousness, though Berri shook her head and sadly looked down at her phone.

"... Archived Chaos split up," Berri stated sorrowfully, to which Zed peeled his eyes from his chore, on the stove, and shot his beautiful daughter a sympathetic frown.

"Aww, Blue," Zed droned in a gentle grumble of apology, he shook his head and softly began to stir what was on the stove, "I'm sorry... I know how much you love their music."

"Like, for good?" Tessa sagged her shoulders and peered to Berri for answers, having quite enjoyed their music as well, "Like... That's IT?"

"Yeah, well... There IS some good news," Berri gave her mother a knowing smirk, she was well aware Tessa was going to be starting up Academy with Berri, Wren and Theo next Monday, "Gunner is going to be attending Game Central Academy..."

Tessa gaped, held her hands to the kitchen island and peered hard into Berri's eyes with whole disbelief. Zed heaved a long, noisy sigh and scratched the back of his head.

"Hooo boy, here comes a life of living as chopped liver," Zed grumbled, though Tessa scrunched her face in irritation and flung her hand backwards; she tenderly swat Zed's upper arm, which encouraged a choke of a laugh out of him.

"He's... He's going to be attending with us next Monday?" Tessa blurt in a roll of a laugh, she shook her head and furrowed her eyebrows, "How is that even going to work? Body guard central?"

"Guess so... Aunt Penny told me he won't be starting until after New Years, next month, so," Berri shrugged and heaved a soft sigh, though she still had a look of forlorn on her rosy cheeks, "We'll see what that entails... Would be cool to try and talk to him, maybe encourage him to branch off and find other band members."

"...What about you, Wren and Theo?" Zed suggested with a shrug, to which Tessa bobbed a nod and gestured her hand in tender encouraging, "I mean... Surely you three could rise to the challenge."

"We're not professionals, dad," Berri sighed, she still seemed a little more aloof than normal, typically she had bright eyes and was excited for everything; Tessa immediately cued to this.

"What's going on with you?" Tessa prod as she glanced over her shoulder to see Zed tending to the few pots on the stove with diligence, "You're awfully melancholy tonight, is everything okay?"

"I'm okay, mom, I just... Really have been thinking about what you told me last night," Berri narrowed her mature eyes, looked off and heaved a gentle sigh. As if she had been avoiding it, she peered back down to her phone, unlocked it and thumbed to her's and Turbo's text conversation, "I messaged Turbo... On Wren's accord, which is annoying."

"Oh, you got ahold of Turbo?" Zed prod, and although both Tessa and Zed massively reserved their excitement for the situation at hand, Berri could tell they were both bursting at the seams, "Did he write you back?"

"Yeah, he did," Berri bobbed a nod of uncertainty, she cocked an eyebrow and shook her head, "He... He's really good at being allusive, I didn't get an answer out of him... Hardly anything, rather."

"Well how did the conversation go?" Tessa wondered tenderly, she knew not to seem way too invested in this mess, due to potentially scaring Berri off, though much to her delight, Berri inhaled a readied breath and properly recited her's and Turbo's small conversation.

Blue : Hi Turbo, it's Berri. My mom filled me in on some stuff last night and I was wondering if you could answer some of the questions I had?

Black : Your highness. I'd be interested to know just how much Tessa filled in you on? I knew the day would come where you, Wren and Theo would likely have questions about Sugar Rush's past, I'm happy to fill in the blanks wherever is appropriate.

Blue : My mom mentioned that you have a third brother that no one talks about. Is this true?

Black : Yeah, Lash. He's, well... Currently in code room purgatory. Nothing to fear, your highness, Sugar Rush is safe.

Blue : Safe from what, exactly?

"And then he didn't reply," Berri sagged, she peered to her mother and father in a dire roll of urgency, as if she was near the point of demanding answers, though she shook her head and long-blinked down to her's and Turbo's conversation in defeat, "This was a few hours ago."

"He probably doesn't know where to begin," Zed muttered, he shook his head, dusted his hands free of spices he was using, turned the burner on low and softly turned around to face Berri. He confidently stood next to Tessa, bobbed her a nod of assurance and shrugged, "Should we just give her the entire run down?"

"Can you do it quickly? Cause I'm hungry," Tessa mumbled, though Berri furrowed her eyebrows and perked up a little.

"Rundown?" Berri inquired, though as Zed inhaled a deep breath and expanded his chest, Tessa rubbed her cheek and cocked an eyebrow, as if to brace herself for Zed's impending throw around.

"Once upon a time, Sugar Rush was plagued with a virus... Said virus was Turbo's younger brother, Lash... He put on a disguise and called himself King Candy, he had thrown your grandmother out of the code room, wiped the citizen's memories, the whole shebang," Zed started, Berri's eyes lit up with the overflow of information her father was now willingly pouring over her soul, "Very long story short, Lash was eaten by a cybug from Hero's Duty, your grandfather Ralph saved Sugar Rush via the diet cola beacon, the cybug version of Lash was deleted in the beacon, though... Lash regenerated to Sugar Rush's code room, a very weakened being."

"In which said weak coding was shoved into your great uncle Rancis's code box," Tessa rattled, Zed bobbed a nod as the two continued on in near-rapid fire comments and quips.

"Ultimately dragging Rancis into this mess... Sugar Rush got an upgrade, you remember your grandmother telling the stories about how they used to be itty bitty gamers?" Zed questioned Berri, to which she lit up and blurt a giggle.

"Yeah, is that why everyone is now taller and more mature? The upgrade?" Berri prod, Zed firmly nodded.

"After the upgrade, Lash came all the way to Dead Zed and befriended me... And by befriend I mean he wiped my memories, placed a code-pact in my sensitive brain coding and escaped back to Sugar Rush," Zed shook his head and looked off, "He wanted me to join him in overthrowing Sugar Rush, but when I declined, he... Well... Tried to ruin my life."

"Why did he mess with your brain coding? Where was mom in this mess?" Berri pushed, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow and eyed Zed down, as if to teasingly express that she still, to this day, was full on prepared to tease Zed about him actually falling in love with her.

"He knew he'd need a back up plan," Tessa huffed a small sigh and looked down to the counter, "Lash took my unborn code box out of Sugar Rush and threatened to delete me if he wasn't offered the crown, from Vanellope, right then and there..."

"What happened then?" Berri was wholly reeled in.

"Uncle Rancis reintigrated himself for me," Tessa nodded in humility, "Since Lash's code box had merged with Rancis's, killing Lash meant killing Rancis."

"But... Rancis is alive now," Berri stated in confusion, though Tessa smiled and sighed.

"At that same time, Aunt Taffyta was pregnant with Penny, and Rancis was revived through Penny's baby coding."

"Oh, wow," Berri huffed, she shook her head amidst the roller coaster she was now on, "So, where did mom end up in this mess, then?"

"...Your mother wasn't born yet, you know that I'm a User-made gamer and your mother is a self programmed gamer, right?" Zed instructed, Berri nodded gently and eyed her mother in suspicion as Zed continued on, "He set something in my coding to seek out Sugar Rush's heir, no matter which one... In the hopes of one day code swapping with said heir and, thus... Lash would ultimately be re-released back into Sugar Rush's mainframe."

"Oh no, dad, you didn't," Berri sagged her shoulders and sat up a little straighter, though Tessa blurt a hard laugh as Zed froze in a recoil. Berri shook her head and tsked her father a knowing sound, "C'mon, dad, I know it's probably difficult to abstain..."

"Okay," Zed grunted as he attempted to defend himself, though Tessa and Berri were lost in laughter. Zed scrunched his shoulders and desperately peered to both girls, "It was just a source-code placement! The forbidden swap was too tricky to think about tackling in one night, c'mon, it was a sweet sentiment, I was trying to tide your mother over."

"Oh, DO NOT blame that on me, good sir," Tessa firmly sassed with a finger wag and all.

"Okay, so that didn't do any harm, then?" Berri giggled as she wiped her eyes; although she had gotten the 'swapping codes' talk a month or two ago, the concept of a source-code placement was still a little foreign to her.

"Try every single last pixel of harm the arcade had to offer," Tessa muttered into her hands as she rubbed her face in agitation, "Lash was reintroduced into Sugar Rush, he desperately tried to downgrade the game, he eventually flipped Sugar Rush upside down, rearranged everything and everyone... Put forcefields over the entrance, kicked everyone out he deemed to be threatening, annnd... Good times."

"Wait, so how did you guys fix it? Clearly, we're all sitting here, Sugar Rush is totally fine and in your guys' rule," Berri exclaimed as she gestured her hands on the kitchen island's counter, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow and caught eyes with Zed in inquiry.

"...Should we tell her?" Tessa prod quietly, knowing full well that Berri could hear; Berri choked a noise and gestured to herself.

"Come on, I turn one in a few days, please, I'm old enough, just tell meeee," Berri pleaded as she cupped her hands and gave her father a look of whole desperation, "You mentioned Tron earlier, is... Is that what this is all about?"

Zed sagged his shoulders, softly glanced from his beautiful daughter and wife. He held his breath and felt a wave of weirdness fall over him. He knew he had previously had this chat with Ace, about how he was a User all along, though somehow he felt as if it were harder to deliver this news to Berri. He prayed she wouldn't suddenly feel inadequate, or as if she wasn't strong or good enough, just because her big brother, not to mention sister in law, niece and nephew, were all demi-gods. Zed sighed a long breath through his nose, looked down to his hands and bobbed a gentle nod.

"You're right, it does involve Tron... Your mother and I left the Arcade to fix Sugar Rush from the outside," Zed explained, Berri gaped in whole disbelief and shook her head.

Berri tenderly furrowed her brows, and although she was likely sharper than nearly anyone on this lot, she pondered her father's words in whole confusion. She reeled in the fact that even leaving the Arcade was a possibility, but as the gears and cogs started turning, her entirely bemused and surprised eye contact hooked tight into her father's nervous grimace.

"...You guys were HUMANS?" Berri gawked, Tessa shifted on her feet and loved seeing the riled, excited look of dewy eyes and eager dispositions anytime this story was told to a fresh, new soul, "H-How... When?"

"We left Litwak's Arcade, stayed the night in a hotel, came back the next day and reset Sugar Rush's cabinet," Zed explained, he heaved a trembling breath and was worried when this bomb would be dropped on Berri, though her illuminated, excited eyes never ceased to show eagerness for this unfolding conversation.

"So then that's when you rushed the code room, right? The horrible, reoccurring nightmare mom and I keep having?" Berri innocently inquired, though Tessa shook her head and looked down to the kitchen island.

"Our reset only put Lash back on the grid, physically... And since he had begun rearranging everything, every city, everyone's standpoints, he was regenerated in Sugar Rush's code room with full access," Tessa pressed, the way Zed peered to her with tender readiness, it was clear he likely was thankful that Tessa was to deliver this weird, huge wave of news onto Berri's quivering soul, "I couldn't get back into Sugar Rush... Lash had disguised himself as Rancis, he met me at the entrance and told me that I made a huge mistake and that I needd some time outside of Sugar Rush to think about what I had done."

"They kicked you out?" Berri stabbed in entire defense, she shook her head in rising rage and furrowed her brows, "That's not fair."

"It was Lash... I only thought it was uncle Rancis," Tessa shrugged, "Mom and dad never would've done that to me, or to us... So... I sought refuge in Dead Zed, we had Ace, and... Spent the year of Ace's childhood just laying low."

"Wow, so Ace is a Dead Zed native, then," Berri chuckled, to which Tessa and Zed nodded, though Berri furrowed her eyebrows and began to notice the nervous strings of eye contact her parents were giving each other. Berri side-eyed the both of them, faltered on a few words and felt a cold roll of nervousness come over her, "So... H-How did you guys get past the forcefield, then?"

Tessa heaved a finalized sigh, sagged her hands to the island's counter, and with a gentle look of knowing, she gave Berri a humble smile, "Ace got us through the forcefields."

"How is that possible?" Berri stabbed, desperate for more information.

"That one, fateful night we were outside of the Arcade, Ace was conceived," Zed affirmed tenderly with a small nod, though with such information that was rolling through Berri's brain, both him and Tessa froze and wondered just how she was going to react.

"Ace was made while you two were humans?" Berri staggered, the whole wash of realization soaked over her skin like a ghost, and in a trembling stand, she abandoned her phone on the island, looked out the gorgeous bay windows, to her right, her eyes met with the gloss of steady rain and thunder, she shook her head and peered back to Tessa and Zed in unadulterated shock, "A-Ace is... A User?"

Tessa and Zed gently nodded in unison, praying that Berri would take this news with grace. So far, the only thing she was successful in getting out of her system was a scoff of entire disbelief, she shook her head and held her temples, as if to rethink her entire life.

"A-Ace is a HUMAN?" Berri gawked, Tessa blurt a small laugh, shrugged and looked off.

"May have all those cool, User powers, but... He'd be the first one to tell you that he only knows how to use a small shred of said powers," Tessa smiled, Berri looked entirely rocked off the face of the Earth.

"M-My older brother," Berri trailed off, she shook her head and finally sat back down at the kitchen island, though she looked wholly disheveled. Before she could slump too far into herself, she perked up and gave her mother and father a look of reeling shock, "WAIT. What about Libby then? Beaux and Mara?"

"One big happy User family," Zed blurt a chuckle and bobbed a nod, he looked out the massive bay windows, across the stretch and sighed, "We owe a lot to Ace and Libby... They really did help us out, when it came to winning Sugar Rush back."

"Just exactly how much crap went down before I was born?" Berri ogled in continued, reeling confusion, "I-I... I never imagined it to go this deep, or to stem back this far."

"It's a lot... More than just this conversation can encompass, I promise you that. Many months of scouts into Sugar Rush, desperately searching for the castle, we were roughing it for every trip," Tessa nodded, she looked down and shook her head, "Though, I'm telling you... Without Turbo's immense help, we would've been running in circles."

"How exactly did he help you?" Berri prod, though it was with this did she understand that her parents would likely just refer her to Turbo, for her burning questions, once again, though Tessa indulged.

"He knew exactly where the castle was," Tessa stated as she stood up a little straighter and finally gave her attention to the turned-off burners of the stove, she eased into it's bubble and began to cook, once more, though still invested in their conversation, "I know you hate hearing it, but... You really should ask Turbo for his side of the story. I think it'd mean more, coming from him. He has his whole angle, to tell, anyhow. That's stuff that even we don't know."

"There are no more surprises, are there?" Berri stabbed in a rise of inquiring annoyance, though Zed grit his teeth and shot Tessa a look of dismay. Berri sagged her shoulders and looked up, "Oh, of course. Just great. Love that for us."

"You now have a direct line to Turbo," Zed shrugged, "Maybe catch him the next time he's at the palace?"

"Or go and knock on his door?" Tessa prod nonchalantly, "There have been a few times where I'd have to teleport myself all the way over to his sixty-fourth story perch, strictly because he was being vague through text messages and I needed a clear, direct answer."

"He's just an old soul, I think this new messaging thing is weird for him," Zed affirmed, to which Tessa nodded in understanding.

Berri fingered her lip, peered down to her locked phone and narrowed her gaze. Although so much was going through her mind, she shook her head and peered to her mother and father.

"You guys raised a User?" Berri hissed in disbelief, a whole bout of awe she was uncertain she could contain, "I-I mean... How did you tell Ace? Do Beaux and Mara know?"

"No, they don't... Ace and Libby will tell them once they turn one, like what your mother and I did for Ace near his first birthday," Zed sighed, he gave his daughter an apologetic look of tenderness, "It's not like we WANTED to keep this information from you, OR Ace... It's just a lot, it's life altering. We wanted you kids to grow up as carefree as you possibly could."

"You should talk to your brother, just let him know that we told you what was up," Tessa looked over her shoulder from the stirring and prepping she did, "He'll probably be relieved... He told us, the other day, that he nearly spilled it to you."

"I wouldn't have complained," Zed grunted as he rubbed his face, Berri gave him a wily look of girly cheek.

"Keep the pressure off of you, huh dad?" Berri teased, though Zed gave her a playful look of challenge.

"Alongside running the entirety of Sugar Rush, my dear? Yeah," Zed scoffed with a firm nod, to which Berri shrugged in defeat and nodded alongside his fervor.

"Fair... Thanks for, well... Getting me this far, in the story," Berri stated in humble gratitude, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow.

"You have no idea, kid," Tessa muttered through a chuckle, "I've earned my stripes."

"... THAT'S where you got your burns from, mom?" Berri prod, ultimately opening up another hot topic, "Did you get your burns coming in and out of Arcade?"

"No, I got my burns giving birth to Ace," Tessa stated in teasing exhaustion, she gave Berri a knowing look and lazily waggled about her spatula, "You give birth to a User and come out of the other end of it unscathed."

"She went blind for two weeks, too," Zed bugged his eyes and shook his head, "It was wild."

"I'll tell you what else is wild," Berri stabbed as she gently stood from the island, rounded it and came deeper into the kitchen, to inspect the food that was being made for the three, "I have three relatives and one in-law that have the capability to delete me in one single key-stroke. WHOSE HUNGRY?"

"Oh, come on, they wouldn't just delete you," Zed shook his head and gently scooped Berri into a side hug.

"I'M the one with that power," Tessa stated with dark cheek as she waggled her eyebrows and peered to Berri down the bridge of her nose, though Zed reached out and prod his pointer finger into her stomach, causing her to flinch and retreat due to being tickled, "HEY!"

"High and mighty, your majesty," Zed grumbled with a wider smile, though he successfully roped Berri into a loving hug and firmly kissed the top of her head, "We love you. We just wanted you to have this information when you were ready."

"She probably was ready a month or two ago, to be honest," Tessa mumbled as she gently bent over and took a platter out of the oven, "Girly has an eagle-eye sense for any tiny little thing that seems to be out of place."

"Won't get past any of the boys at Academy, eh?" Zed wondered, hoping Berri would agree, though she slumped herself into Zed's figure and loudly groaned.

"Yes sir," Berri grumbled in tired, cheeky annoyance.

"Let's eat. Got a lot more than food to digest," Zed eased as he finally unhanded Berri, the three passed out their plates and began to dig in.

With the hot topic of Archived Chaos splitting up, Turbo being vague and not answering Berri's questions, and the whole slew of information lobbed at Sugar Rush's princess, dinner, dessert and the wildly unravelling conversation snuck well into the night. As the evening easily crept up to about eleven at night, all three family members helped clean up after dinner, said their goodnights to each other, and quietly dispersed to their separate quarters, with Lickity following Tessa and Zed, and Chester keeping tight to Berri's footsteps. In a spike of adrenaline that seemingly was impossible to stuff, Berri hurried up her staircase, helped Chester along the way and finally tabbed back into her phone, after the hours of abandoning it at the kitchen island, due to being wrapped in conversation with her mother and father. Her heart jumped in surprise, the sheer fact that Turbo had replied to her.

Black : Safe from Lash, unfortunately. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Berri slowed her roll once she let Chester into her dimly lit room. She flicked on her lamp, heaved a shaky sigh and thumbed the sides of her phones. She noticed the timestamp of Turbo's message, and although he had sent said message an hour prior, she figured it might be too late to reply to him anymore for the day. Another being she knew was the epitome of a night owl was her big brother. Her stomach churned at the thought of her goofy, lovable big brother wielding the entirety of Arcade's power, such a tender-hearted individual really needed no introduction, though with the title 'demi-god' plastered to his existence, Berri bit her lip and wondered just how hard it must've been for Ace to keep such a huge secret from all of Sugar Rush's younglings, as well as society as a whole. Berri furrowed her brow, tabbed to Ace's contact information, in her phone, and opted to flat out calling him, knowing full well that he'd be awake. The phone rang twice, though she felt her heart jolt the second Ace picked up.

"Hey sis, what's up?" Ace's voice was kind and gentle, deep and quiet, it was clear that although they were nightowls, they were probably on their way to thinking about winding down for the night.

"Hey, I... I just wanted to call you, and..." Berri drifted, she looked around her room in nervousness and wondered why she could feel her eyes well with tears. She shook her head and relished the sound of Ace's soothing voice, one of her best friends growing up, she heaved a trembling sigh and held her hand to her forehead, "I-I really don't know why I called you, to be honest, I just... Wanted to tell you that I love you."

Ace was quiet on the other end. Not because he had no response, though simply because he was contemplating just what the issue was, here. After a moment, Ace breathed a small chuckle and sounded as if he had potentially been discovered.

"Mom and dad told you, huh," Ace grumbled with a small laugh, which only grew the second Berri beamed a wide smile and joined in on his contagious laughter, "I love you too, Blue... Wanna come over for a little bit? Beaux and Mara are asleep, but Libby and I just popped some popcorn."

"I-I'd love that," Berri nodded with a small sigh, she wondered if Ace potentially had even further information for her than Tessa and Zed, and with a conclusive nod, she eyed Chester with a smile and lovingly pet his broad chest, "I'll be right over."