Reviews :
Burgie : I'm glad! Yeah, it's a lot to expand on, that's for sure. And it's incredible intimidating... This is the first time I've written for a villain that wasn't Radex/Lash, so I'm trying my best to navigate this new take I'm doing haha
Snake557 : OH! Yes, I have, sorry. I love that movie! I was WAY into dinosaurs when I was a kid. I was a massive tomboy.
CHICKENM4N : Sorry about that, I'm glad you liked Otto so much! I already have a thousand OC's to wrangle. I'll try and squeeze an appearance with Otto into the story, if I can. She definitely was one of my favorite 'smaller' OC's, as well.
Jay Sketchin : LOL! It's actually not an internet virus, you'll come to find. It was helped along by the internet, but it's actually a home grown issue. Poor Litwaks xD Can't catch a break.
*Chapter 34*
Underneath the still proudly standing old oak of Academy's outdoor quad area, Tessa and her whole group sat haphazardly about two beautifully crafted stone tables and benches for lunch time. The air about Academy was brisk and cool, bright blue skies and puffy white clouds that hung overhead, although Academy wasn't technically considered a game, it still had its own day and night cycle. Without the severity of seasons, Academy was kept in a loose regimen of a constant spring time weather and temperature. The oak's leaves rustled over head, the two tables were lively with shared stories about everyone's first day, thus far, though the dreadful news, of Game Central Station's two unfortunate unplugs from this morning, remained a hot topic, in and outside of Tessa's gang of misfits.
"So, does anyone have the full story, yet?" Tammy barked in a lilt of agitation, it was clear she had been attempting to get the entire unplug story throughout the whole day and was unsuccessful, "Literally every single one of my teachers keeps saying 'we don't have an update on the situation, but once we know, you'll know' bullshit. Yeah, no one's buying it. Just tell us what happened."
"I heard rumor that Luigi just went nuts and abandoned his post," Penny muttered, though she eyed Tessa in sharp knowing. Everyone, with the knowledge of Turbo's past, knew not to mention Turbo's name outside of palace grounds. Although Penny wanted to carry on the topic and compare it to how Lash was absolutely tired of being in Turbo's shadow, thus taking over Sugar Rush, Penny kept it light and open for conversation, all whilst keeping Turbo's name out of it, "I-I guess being in Mario's shadow for so long takes a toll..."
"Seeing a trend," Emery sighed silently, only audible for Oliver and Tessa who sat close, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow and glossed her eyes across the small gap of two tables.
Berri, Wren, Theo and Koko sat at the other table. They happily ate their lunches and enjoyed each other's company, though it was clear that Berri was mulling over certain things. The look of absent minded concern in her vivid blue eyes, the way she prod her food in an aimless bout of mild disinterest, Tessa bit her lip and was beginning to feel the sting of regret come to the forefront of her mind. She knew, full well, Berri had done her part in trying to talk to Turbo, herself, and get his side of the story, though with just how reserved and secretive Tessa knew Turbo was, Tessa knew she'd likely have to intervene and either pair the two up herself, or simply give Berri a quick run down. She shook her head in a sullen show of becoming defeated once Oliver nudged her arm a little.
"What's wrong?" Oliver pressed, he cocked an eyebrow and glossed his gaze to his beautiful niece, across the way.
"Nothing, I just... This is not how I wanted the kids' first day, at Academy, to go," Tessa eased in soft sorrow, she shook her head and peered up to Oliver in a roll of now rising concern, "The amount of times I've heard the term 'gone Turbo' today is astounding... I can just see her drowning in a sea of confusion, over there."
"Well, why don't you pull her aside right now?" Oliver pressed in a gesture, "I mean... We gotta tell these kids, sooner or later, just exactly what those boys did to the Arcade, and Sugar Rush... No matter who was innocent and who wasn't."
"Just... Briefly tell her that we'll fill them in after school, once we're home," Emery shrugged with a hopeful nod, Tessa hooked her eyes to her sister in-law and grappled to any form of encouragement she could, "No one could've guessed that Turbo's name would ever be in abundance, today... Don't beat yourself up about it, y'know?"
"Like a bandaid," Penny gestured a ripping motion as everyone softly landed their knowing eyes to their Queen, and in a slump of dread, Tessa gently stood and bobbed a nod.
"Thanks guys," Tessa eased in a lull of quiet honesty, she finally began to step away, "I'll be right back."
"Not that it matters, anyways," Wren gabbed as he waggled about a pair of chopsticks he held, "Royalty or not, Gunner's likely going to just keep to himself. How else are you supposed to act after your band mates bail on you?"
"I'd be pissed," Theo bobbed a nod and bulged his eyes, he shot Berri and Wren a wide, cheeky smile and shook his head, "Don't ever bail on me, guys... Y'know what happens when you piss off a wrecker."
"Yeah, you wreck it and glitch the shit out of people and go about your merry day with your powers, we get it," Wren rolled his eyes, "What I mean is... He's probably not here to make friends. He's here to distract himself. Why else? He just lost his band mates, he's coming to Academy to prove to them that he has better things to do. Take it from me."
"Petty Betty," Berri cued with a sly, teasing smile as her eyes finally looked up from the food she had been prodding, though before Wren could open his mouth and make a sassy retort, Tessa's loving hand laid upon Berri's left shoulder, causing Berri to whirl around and peer up in gentle surprise, "Oh, hi mom."
"Hey babe, can I talk to you for a sec?" Tessa gestured over to the trunk of the massive oak they sat under, in which they were maybe fifteen feet from.
"Sure, everything okay?" Berri prod as she quickly got up and began to follow her mother to the darker shade of the oak's trunk, she finally found purpose in her demeanor the second she wondered if her mother maybe had something exciting to tell her.
"Everything's fine, I guess... I just wanted to preface a few things for you," Tessa nearly whispered. She softly looked across the massive, glowing, green and grassy field of the quad. A few gamers threw a frisbee back and forth, others ate in the shade, sunbathed or studied in the grass, a lovely sight to behold. Berri's eyes hooked tight to her mother's hazel orbs as Tessa drew in a readied breath, "I-I'm... I'm sure you've heard Turbo's name more than once today, right?"
"I have," Berri hissed; she previously had dropped it and chalked the whole thing up to coincidence, though with her mother's words, a much larger amount of purpose came back to her skin as she stiffened and took a step closer to her mother for privacy, "What's that all about? I don't understand... They're not talking about OUR Turbo, are they?"
Tessa held her breath and knew this was the absolute moment of truth. She bit her bottom lip in a roll of courage, and as she peered to her second born, she felt time freeze. The gentle look of concerned curiosity held tight to Berri's beautiful, womanly face. Vivid blue eyes that Tessa could swear were Zed's, alongside her gorgeous, long blue hair that feathered in the wing, she was entirely a vision. Tessa shook her head a little and knew that time had so rapidly escaped her, triumphantly steamrolling right past the important information she likely should've told Berri a long time ago. Tessa finally sighed through her nose, looked down to her hands, and bobbed a nod.
"Yes, they are talking about our Turbo," Tessa kept her voice low and nervously looked about. Although they were far from any listening ears, she still felt paranoid, "It's... It's why I wanted you to reach out to Turbo and get all your questions answered from him... A more well rounded bout of information, but... I've seemingly dropped the ball, here. I should've probably warned you about a few things."
"Well, we didn't know today was going to pan out like it did," Berri stated warmly, though the look of entire concern still hung on her face, "I mean... When's the last time something's been unplugged, anyhow?"
"Long before I was born," Tessa bulged her eyes in concern and bobbed a nod, though she gently reached out and held her daughter's hand, "I just... I wanted to connect with you and reassure you that anything you hear today may sound weird or untrue. Just... Hold your tongue until we get back to the palace. We'll sit you, Wren and Theo down tonight and lay everything out on the table. Can you do that for me?"
"Yeah, mom," Berri's warm voice lilted in continued concern, alongside a small nod, though she long-blinked in confusion and felt as if all of those millions of burning questions were now beginning to seep into a molten puddle at the center of her brainstem, everything just pooling into one big haphazard mass of unintelligible questions and concerns.
"Thanks, Blue," Tessa sighed with relief, and in a gentle swing, Tessa began to slowly lead her and Berri back to the two tables of chatty groups, "You enjoying your first day so far?"
"I am," Berri lilted in an uplift of cuteness, a pep in her step that slowly returned, "I guess I can't get too comfortable, just yet, though..."
"Why?" Tessa prod as she tucked her auburn hair behind her right ear and eyed her daughter in cute curiosity.
"Because, we started Academy right before Christmas and New Year's break," Berri blurt a small laugh as her and Tessa eased into the gravity of Berri's lunch group and table.
"This week is more 'getting to know you before you stuff your face silly with holiday food and won't recognize you after break'," Koko air quoted, both Wren and Theo bursted out laughing.
"We'll all be tired and obese upon return," Wren choked, Koko shook her head in ironic agreeing and rolled her eyes.
"At least you guys can ogle over Gunner once you come back," Theo waggled his finger around, as if to pretend to be excited, though he was clearly the last one to be, "Merry Christmas to Berri, Penny and Wren ONLY!"
Everyone laughed, excluding Berri and Wren, who began to quietly mutter words of agreeing to each other. Tessa gently pat Berri's back amidst a small laugh, and in the saunter back to her own table, she heaved a refreshed sigh and felt a little better about the situation. As she returned to her spot next to Oliver and Penny, she shrugged and got comfortable in front of her lunch, once more.
"That was easier than I thought," Tessa chimed, Penny looked over her shoulder and eyed Berri's small, chatty group, "Took it like a champ. I'm so used to really doing everything I can so that Ace doesn't worry. Berri's an entirely different story."
"Maybe she's just more internal about it," Oliver warned as he, too, eyed his niece in gentle knowing, across the way, "She must've been prodding her bag of chips for at least ten minutes before she finally picked one up and ate it."
"He's not wrong," Tammy agreed, which had Tessa's lifted spirits now quickly deflating.
"I really dropped the ball, here," Tessa muttered as she sagged her cheek into her hand and slumped her shoulders, though Oliver frowned and was quick to rush to her aid.
"Don't beat yourself up about it, you're the Queen of Sugar Rush," Oliver protested softly, to which Penny bobbed a nod.
"Not an easy task," Penny mumbled, knowing full well that she had a front row seat to Tessa's responsibilities, as Tessa's right hand woman.
"But still, she's my own daughter, my own successor," Tessa now began to look more deflated than what everyone thought would happen, "I guess... This incident, in the Arcade, sucks, but... It's a good segue into the conversation at hand."
"They're all really sharp, smart kids," Tammy assured, in which Tessa, Emery and Oliver gave her grateful smiles for, "They'll bounce back and understand the weight of it."
"Better to get it out of the way before they have to come back after break, when the REAL work begins," Penny nodded in knowing.
With moseying footsteps, it was Berri's turn to finally have a class all by herself. Her last hour class was at the reaches of Academy's D hall, a massive, great hall with huge, outdoor arches that reached straight into the sunshine. Although the bustling crowd, about Academy, was usually really quick and flustered, everything seemed to settle the second she eased into D hall. More mature gamers and students hung around, all shapes and sizes. They loitered in small groups and awaited the bell, Berri's last hour class was a class designed for third year students. Due to being trained under Tessa's teachings of everything code room and coding alike, Berri was successfully placed in a year three coding class. With a pep in her step, a nervous heart, eyes and mind both eager to soak in as much information as she could, she finally rounded a small bend and eased into her last hour class.
A gorgeous, open-aired room with one wall that was entirely windows, she was thrilled to be welcomed into such a beautiful, peaceful environment. With a lilt of rising excitement, due to the gentle and curious stares of her classmates, she decided that she would be bold and take a seat near the front of the class. With a proud posture, such a high honor to be bumped into a class that was technically out of her year range, she sat down, tidied her bag and her books and awaited for her new class to mold her mind in ways she could hardly wait for. The eagerness to learn, the willingness to be broken down and built back up again held tight to her skin, she could feel the further curious gazes of her classmates on the back of her head and vivid blue hair, though the teacher's voice gingerly broke the chain of rising concern.
"Hello class, your teacher is home sick today, so I will be substituting," Came the voice of an older woman. She swiftly marched into the peaceful classroom, ultimately leaving the gentle, untouched air now disturbed and full of tense energy. Berri let it roll, she assumed today would maybe be a little rocky and tomorrow she could properly meet her real teacher. Their substitute carried on in a lilt of dismay, she was a feral looking creature, an older, anthro, fighting type individual that had a look of cold, disinterested annoyance in her dark eyes, it was clear that the entire class was not in favor of said substitute being here due to the awkward shifts of chairs and attitudes that radiated from behind Berri, "My name is Coral, your teacher has left me with a teaching plan for the day, but... Due to recent events, we may deviate."
Berri sagged in her chair a little, all the energy she had for hopefully impressing her new teacher went out the opened windows before her. She relaxed a little and figured tomorrow would be a nice reset, and for now, she knew it'd likely be best if she kept her eyes down. As Coral began to sift through her real teacher's notes, the ones that were diligently left, Berri examined her tattered claws and grey, scarred hands. Her long, black tail looked as if it was previously mangled, and only came back to half health. An extremely interesting creature in of herself, Berri knew by her demeanor to keep any curious, wandering questions to herself. She replayed her mother's words in her head and knew that tomorrow would look different.
"Alright, so... Your teacher has left a teaching guide on the topics of game regimen and the effects that code blocking can have on one's not only concentration, but loyalty to your game," Coral listed as she flipped through a few pages. She cocked an eyebrow and gently eyed the class in cheek, "Though, I know everyone really wants to talk about the unplug."
With this, Berri was floored to hear the class about her groan and murmur gentle notions of entire agreeing to Coral's words, as if they were grateful they were open to further chat about it. Berri looked about in a roll of soft surprise and also felt her veins do a little dance of glee, as if open this can of worms further was exactly what her curious heart was desiring. The whole rush of Turbo came back to the forefront of her mind, and although she was previously excited to delve into a topic that pertained to her studies, she felt as if a little class gossip was not something she was going to complain about, either.
"I heard both games got unplugged because Luigi was tired of being in Mario's shadow, for this long," One classmate stated gently, everyone murmured their own ideas as others spoke up.
"I thought it maybe was Bowser's fault?" Someone else prod, more questions rose, Berri felt as if her ears could not retain enough information.
"Poor Street Fighter," Someone else stabbed in defense, "It's just like what Turbo did to Roadblasters... It's not fair!"
With this, Berri felt every single last ounce of her tender, excited curiosity now come to a drum of boiling anxiety. That molten pit of a million questions now easily morphed into a sludge monster of awakened defiance, as if all this talk about Turbo was now going to just rot her from within. With listening ears that now included the narrow of her eyes and a gentle slump in her seat, she began to stew in a weird feeling of protectiveness towards Turbo. Even though her mother made clear that Turbo was, indeed, involved in some sort of this mess, she still felt as if she had no choice but to stand with Turbo as royalty, and him as one of her future kingdom's knight. She tried her hardest to actually want to keep her mouth shut, she physically resorted to biting her tongue in order to avoid butting in.
"I understand it's confusing, and I understand that this is injustice at it's finest," Coral settled the class, all eyes held to the front, "It's scary knowing that gamers can, indeed, still go Turbo... We still have no idea what could've made Turbo do just what he did. No one I think will ever know."
"He wanted to be in first, right?" Someone wondered, from the front.
"That is very true, on the outside," Coral agreed in a crackling, grumbling drum carried conversing, "Although we know full well that he wanted Roadblasters out of the picture... What exactly drove him to act on his thoughts? Had to've been something..."
"Obviously it was different with Super Mario's," A girl across the class interjected, "They're not in competition with Street Fighter..."
"You think someone game jumped to Street Fighter to prove their strength or worth?" The girl next to her concluded in a lilt of cute, though nervous, curiosity.
"Whatever the case," Coral started, she flattened her tattered ears and held her hands behind her back, as if to presume the fun was only beginning, "I will forever detest Turbo's actions, for starting such a horrible trend... He was the absolute scum of Arcade, and I hope he's currently rotting in hell."
"Take that back," Berri suddenly stabbed through grit teeth.
In the drag of eyes and wretched necks that eagerly glossed their nervous gazes to Berri, she inhaled a deep breath, held it and knew she couldn't handle this weird bout of hate being spewed at someone so noble and so untouched. She furrowed her eyebrows and rode the wave of protectiveness she had for someone she hardly knew. Although she was flying blind, she knew, without a doubt, anyone that her mother and father entrusted with a third of Sugar Rush's code room, was most definitely someone who was worthy of praise and loyalty. Berri knew, as Sugar Rush's princess, she had absolutely no choice but to stand in defense of Turbo Black, no matter the hateful comments to be now easily lofted her way. She tried not to glance around the room, she knew full well, from the kind of day that she had been witness to, that her opinion here was highly unpopular.
"...I beg your pardon?" Coral snipped in a stab of now molten, angry confusion.
"Turbo is my friend," Berri pressed as she slowly got to her feet, she knew standing alone was one thing, though she was certain the physical act of it would hopefully burn into the memory into her classmates for the rest of their lives. She shook her head and felt her circuits begin to tremble with both terror and relished in the invigorating feelings of justice she sought, "I just was with him last night... I don't know why the lot of you decided this whole mess was Turbo's fault, but I assure you, you're wrong."
"... Honey, I don't think we're talking about the same gamer," Coral now sagged in relief and peered her annoyed gaze to Berri, as if to now side-step Berri's fervor, "Just... Take a seat, we're talking about a crazy kook gamer who is long gone."
"Grey skin? Yellow eyes?" Berri stabbed as she gestured to her face, "Over thirty years old? Secretive and is never seen? Turbo lives in my game... And I assure you, he wouldn't do anything to harm a single person... Hell, I bumped into him the other day and he practically held me like I was made of glass. All this negative talk about Turbo isn't fair, and I'm here to put an end to it."
Everyone in the class was frozen in terror as they peered to Berri. In the gentle glance she finally braved of her classmates, she could feel her heart drop to yet another degree of uncertainty. She furrowed her eyebrows a little and wondered just how big this can of worms actually was, just how deep of a hole Turbo had potentially dug himself, and just how impossible it seemed to be to reverse the damages. Whatever Turbo had previously done, Berri now felt as if the water was beginning to bubble over her head. She stood firm in her stance, peered hard into Coral's angry, concerned gaze and was absolutely certain her substitute teacher was two minutes away from either forcing Berri to the front office, or having Academy's security whisk her away, never to be seen again.
