Reviews :

Burgie : Aww, it's true! :) Thank you so much.

Nikki Firesong : Turbo's the softest boyo. Secret softy lol! And yes, Turbo's middle name is actually a point of contention with him xD He detests it for certain reasons. You'll find out! Thank you so much, friend :)

Jay Sketchin : True! Deployed in times of fire need lmao.

Snake557 : Thanks! Yeahhhh it takes her awhile to bounce back from this one.


A/N :

Hey guys, just wanted to say something really quick. While I was brainstorming with Cory last night, for tying plot points and etc. for Out of the Blue, I noticed my brain beginning to desperately try and cut corners, so to get to the entire plot and deeper love triangle drama faster, but... It hurt my heart. This, I guess, is just a warning to you guys. This story will likely easily be as long as Rectifying Origin. There's just too much I want to add, SOOO much more I want to put in, I'm almost 100 chapters into this beast and already the word count is rivaling both Wrecking Limits and Defying Code. I have a LOT to talk about, a lot I've dreamed up, and even MORE coming for the 5th story. I just wanted to warn you guys, this story is easily going to be likely about the size of Rectifying Origin, either by word count, or chapter count. I don't want to stifle my creativity JUST to see the end of another book. I've never looked back on my books and felt like I rushed - I don't want to feel that way with this, or the next one. Just a fair warning - there's a LOT to come, and I SO appreciate the lot of you that have stuck with me these past 6 years. It's insanity, but it's how I get ALL my creative ideas out, it's how my mind keeps turning, and I'm grateful that you guys are along for the ride.

THANK YOU!


*Chapter 73*

In an agitated grimace of grumpy sleepiness, the sound of a gentle, sweet, tinkering tune of an alarm buzzed on the cushions a bit away from Turbo's head. He peeled his eyes open in a tight narrow of grogginess, though as his muted, golden gaze splayed all over what was before him, he raised his sleepy eyebrows in surprise and nearly reeled. As if the entirety of last night just came rushing right back to him, he froze and allowed his consciousness to return to his limbs. Snuggled deep into the broad of his chest was Berri, lovingly cocooned, her face pressed lazily into the gentle sag of his jugular and Adam's apple, her limp arms safely fastened about his middle. With the tinkering tune still quietly going off, Turbo dared to unravel his right arm from around Berri's back, so to reach for his phone and quiet his alarm. Upon gently silencing everything, he pulled his phone up above the two squinted into the gentle glare of his screen's light and wholly dreaded the numbers that glowered back at him; six a.m.

Through a groggy exhale, he slumped his phone back to the cushion, above his head, and tightly returned his grip about Berri's upper body. The easy sag back to their little bubble of love was something he was entirely uncertain was even real, the way the both of them vanished into the plumes and billows of his incredibly heavy, comfortable downs, the shared pillows they squished into, the both of them soundly snoozed on the incredible, swooping couch-like seating area in his second story loft. With the glass ceiling high above them, the morning, winter sun only just barely began to show progress of wanting to rise, kissing the pale Sugar Rush sky a very lovely, dim periwinkle, with no sign of clouds. Turbo burrowed his face into the top of Berri's head and inhaled a deep, relaxing breath; the smell of her clean, sweetly scented blue hair sent his now racing heart over the edge, a tight cuddle he knew he could afford right now, though he was well aware he set said dreaded alarm for a reason, to simply catch Zed before anyone else did.

Although entirely positive this wasn't a romantic snuggle session, Turbo's itching arms held her as close as he could, a squeeze of love he was excited that he could sweetly afford, in this instance. In the feel of her hot skin on his face, he lulled his glowing eyes closed and felt bravery continue to soak his rusty, red honeycombs. As if in an agonizing grimace of pure want, he so gently pressed his warm lips to her forehead and held a patient, firm kiss to her skin. Upon release, after a few moments of tender, innocent relishing, he peeled his muted eyes open and curiously peered down at her. Although he was thrilled she was still asleep, he almost wished she'd wake up in this instance, the little boost of bravery he had given himself now had his groggy, half awake circuits certain that if she were peering up at him right now, fully conscious, he'd confess everything to her, right here and now. In the contemplative thought of maybe waking her up, to allow that all to be true, he furrowed his eyes in tender confusion and noticed something dimly glowing along the sides of her temples.

In the form of very tiny slivers of circuit lines, her silver coding so faintly pulsed in a show of her heartbeat, right on her skin. Turbo urgently furrowed his brows and knew this wasn't normal, and as he got a greater look, he felt his heart begin to surge in worry. Although not entirely certain, he quickly gathered that these could simply be stress lines, a nervous overflow her motherboard was now loaded with, from the traumatizing night prior. Turbo shut his eyes tight in a sag, he was well aware he could just lay here, with Berri, all day and night, for the rest of his life, but he knew he had a duty to uphold, and to remain true to the safety of Sugar Rush, as well as the safety of Arcade. With the raw information he was sitting on, he knew he shouldn't waste anymore time in getting the attention of the higher ups. Much to his dismay, he so carefully peeled himself from Berri's warm, inviting arms, and so to not leave her entirely hanging, he yanked off his thick pull over and lovingly draped it on top of her and over her shoulders. As he then tucked the blanket back over her and made sure she was snug, he grabbed his phone and head for the spiral staircase, the exit of his second story loft.

With as much care and litheness that he could afford, he managed to escape the loft in silence. He further pressed down the dark hallway, that lead strictly to his code room's teleportation pad, and once he was quietly whisked away to the code room underneath his feet, he inhaled a deep breath and got a good look about the glorious, three-sixty degree view of Sugar Rush, in its entirety. The gorgeous sunrise, just barely trying to peak its tired, winter rays just beyond the palace, the awakening of Orion City, everything was as it should be, right at peace. He shook his head in further dread and knew that everything beyond Sugar Rush was a sick facade, and if it weren't for Berri's incredible, quick thinking, he shut his eyes tight and was well aware he would've lost his best friend. In an attempt to blink back tears, he urgently panned to his phone and began to thumb for Zed's contact information. He inhaled a shaky, readied breath and hit the 'call' button, knowing full well the lot of them were early risers, and even at this early hour, there was no risk in waking them up.

Turbo held his phone to his ear, he lazily paced his span of a gorgeous, seemingly untouched code room in his favorite red sweats and a worn, black wife-beater. Although it took a second for Zed to pick up, he felt his skin prickle the second Zed's stern, nervous tone was almost knowingly sure that something was wrong, due to just how random a phone call from Turbo was, at this hour of the early morning.

"...Turbo, you're up early," Zed stated nervously, though he huffed a chuckle, as if to somehow beg Turbo that this call was simply a mistake.

"Yeah, I'm... Not too thrilled about it," Turbo eased a nervous chuckle, alongside Zed's, though he shook his head and peered off to Sugar Rush's palace, in the distance, "Hey, uh... Everything's fine, everyone is okay, but... I'm going to need you to come to my code room, ASAP. I, uh... Have something to tell, and show, you."

"We're coming," Zed chirped, although his tone was light, with the stern and firmness of it, as well as the sudden ended call, Turbo raised his eyebrows and was constantly reminded as to just why Zed was King; his attentiveness and willingness to spring into action, no matter what, was what set him apart from the rest.

In a matter of maybe fifteen seconds, the teleportation pad, in Turbo's lovely code room, came alive with Tessa's and Zed's silver coding, and with such arrival, both Tessa and Zed's beings came into fruition. Although they had likely been awake for an hour or so, Zed was dressed in a lazy white t-shirt and grey sweats, in which Tessa donned a very similar attire, though more clean and form fitting. With bare feet, hair undone, relaxing before another typical day of royal duties and Academy galore, they urgently began to cross Turbo's code room, so to meet him in the middle. Turbo raised his eyebrows in a gesture of a small 'hello' and began to approach them, as well.

"Thanks, I'm... Sorry if I'm disrupting your morning," Turbo assured nervously, though Tessa tucked her hair behind her ears, shook her head and gave Turbo a look of tender, attentive apprehension.

"No, you haven't, clearly whatever it is you're going to tell us is so important that you're literally awake before the sun," Tessa rushed with a small, nervous giggle, to which Zed bobbed a nod.

Upon the three reaching each other, Zed gave Turbo's upper back a loving, brotherly pat, his vivid blue eyes held tight to his in undivided wait. The way his sweet, concerned gaze so easily mocked Berri's had Turbo's heart sagging even further, the raw fact that he was the one to deliver this weird and unfortunate news to the two, though just as Turbo was about to maybe attempt to segue into the detrimental topic at hand, his teleportation pad hummed to life, once more, showing a very vivid orange coding along with it. In a stride of nervous confidence, Rancis eased off of his pad and began to make his way to the center of Turbo's code room, where everyone else stood. Turbo raised his eyebrows, though somehow knew he shouldn't be surprised. He was well aware Rancis shared Knightly duties, here, though he began to feel like the odd one out, the sheer fact that everyone seemed to be early risers, around here. Rancis sleepily sauntered up wearing equally as lazy sweats, as the rest of them, and a loose red tank top. His long, golden hair was out of its typical style, of a decent, swooping curl, and was lazily and haphazardly draped about his jaw and neck. He cleared his throat, raised his eyebrows to Tessa and Zed and politely closed his eyes with a small nod.

"Guys," Rancis chimed as a greeting, his voice deeply croaked with sleepiness, which now had Turbo understanding that this segue into detrimental information was likely due to Zed then calling Rancis and waking him up.

"Thanks for coming so quickly," Turbo started gently, and it was here did he feel his hands begin to shake. The detrimental stare down from all three of his peers, two of which held a solid amount of power over him, he suddenly felt a lump gather in his throat. As if wanting to both protect and defend Berri in one go, he felt odd that he was not only giving her away, but also making clear just her impressive act. He inhaled a shaky breath and hooked his gaze tight to Zed's, knowing he was, ultimately, the head honcho, here, "A-At about two or three this morning, I got a phone call from Berri... Sh-she's upstairs, asleep in my loft, safe and sound. Just to clarify, before I continue. She's safe."

"That was my first question," Zed stated sternly with a small, nervous smile and a bob of a nod, and although Turbo wanted to now crawl into a hole with nervousness, he patiently carried on.

"... Berri is terrified to tell you guys that she snuck out last night, to see Gunner, in EZ Living," Turbo eased quietly, though he held up his hand and now grew protective of Berri, "She called me at two or three this morning-"

"Literal hours ago?" Rancis groggily barked, it was clear he was still trying to wake up due to the narrowed look of crankiness on his face, as well as the fact that this was his precious great niece.

"Yes, I... I set an alarm to get up, so I could tell you guys before the whole of Arcade could tell you first," Turbo urged, to which Zed put his hands on his hips and now glowered Turbo down in a rising spike of authority.

"Tell us what," Zed gently demanded, and as Turbo held his own, he inhaled a deep breath through his broadening chest and lulled his eyes closed.

"...She ran into one of the deletion viruses on her way back to Sugar Rush... She called me after, what seemed to be, a pretty graphic battle with the thing," Turbo nervously eased, to which Tessa covered her mouth in horror; this information had Rancis rapidly blinking his eyes, praying he'd wake up further, "She... She arrived on my doorstep pretty badly beaten up, but... I reset her, she's perfectly fine."

"Physically," Rancis barked in whole concern, "Did she say what this creature looked like?"

"How'd she fight it off?" Zed staggered in now shaking concern.

"Certainly she just glitch-hopped away, or something," Tessa rushed in greater concern.

Turbo inhaled a nervous breath through his nose, gestured his hand upwards and quietly cued his main code room orb. In a gentle bob, it was clear it was harboring the bubbled, severed arm that Berri brought home, and upon the orb gently releasing said silver bubble, the three, before Turbo, froze in whole entire horror. Turbo gingerly allowed the silver bubble to hover over his right hand, he was careful that he didn't touch Berri's handiwork, though with the clear image of the size of strictly this creature's hand, wrist and part of its forearm, Tessa now covered her face in whole entire dread and sagged into herself. Zed held his forehead in defeat, shook his head and nervously lofted his worried gaze to Rancis, who easily, yet sleepily, gave it right back.

"This is only a shred of what we're up against," Turbo's voice darkly carried on, "I don't know what kind of a battle that poor girl endured, but... I assure you, with just how she arrived at my doorstep, I mean... I hardly recognized her."

"Did she tell you how she fought it off?" Zed wondered, the sternness in his voice wavered with the onslaught of fear and worry, for his second born.

"No, she... She was an entire wreck, I... I-I've never heard her cry so hard, or so loud," Turbo's voice shook as he looked off, as if the thought of Berri going through such trauma was too much for him to handle. He nervously peered to the morbid, severed arm and wrinkled his nose in whole dismay, "I don't know the whole story, but I'm sure, after she gets some solid sleep, she'd be willing to explain."

Just as Zed opened his mouth to prod and potentially wonder if they could go upstairs and see Berri, his phone, in his sweat's pocket, began to gently ring. Zed furrowed his brows in whole confusion and shot his gaze straight to Tessa, and as him and his Queen held tight, apprehensive, confused eye contact for nearly half of the phone call's ringing duration, Zed finally, and hesitantly, slid his phone out of his pocket. He scoffed a nervous noise down at the screen of his phone and diligently picked up; it was one of the palace guards.

"Hey, Chief," Zed eased gently, and through the stillness of Turbo's code room, the guard's voice could barely be heard.

"Your majesty, Surge is at the palace gates. He needs to speak with you," The guard nervously instructed, "H-He... He says it's extremely urgent, he has something he needs to show you and the Queen."

"Let him in, take him to the main teleportation hub," Zed instructed, and with the polite affirmation of such chore, Zed hung up the call and sagged his phone back into his pocket.

Without word, Zed gently cued Turbo's orb and got to work. Turbo flinched, and although this strictly was his shred of the code room, he was well aware that Zed was in full control of the entirety of it. As the orb eased into Zed's presence, it gingerly turned silver, to signify who it was currently working for, obedience that surpassed Turbo, something that he knew didn't happen too often. He hung tight with Berri's bubble of a souvenir as Zed gently cued to the coding of the teleportation hub, on the palace's main grounds. The four quietly and patiently waited for Surge's presence to show up on the teleportation pad, and the second it did, Zed quickly cued for Surge's presence to then join the four in Turbo's code room. Turbo felt a wash of fear come over him; he was well aware that only a handful of people, outside of the Arcade, genuinely knew of Turbo's existence and had the honor of almost meeting him, in which Surge was one of said people.

"Holy User," Surge staggered with a hearty chuckle, his holographic, light blue state flickered a bit as he appeared on Turbo's teleportation pad, just across the way. He gently began to stroll over to the four, though upon reaching them, he slowed to a nervous halt and eyed not only what Turbo was protecting, but also Turbo as a whole, "W-Wow, w-would you, uh... Lookit that. I-I can't believe it's Turbo. Of Turbotime... My User, it's Turbo."

"Pleasure," Turbo's nervous voice crackled with a bashful chuckle, he barely waved his hand and now gave Tessa an apprehensive look of sheer, boyish uncertainty; she lovingly pat the back of his upper arm and stood with him, to signify that she wouldn't leave him hanging.

"Surge, is everything okay?" Zed stated nervously, though Surge raised his eyebrows and waggled about the shiny object in his hand.

"Welp, I came into Sugar Rush thinking I had some HUGE news to tell you guys, but... Looks like you four must already be aware of, well... What took place a few hours ago," Surge cocked an eyebrow and peered up to Zed in nervous concern, "I can only hope you're daughter is home safely..."

"She's upstairs, sound asleep," Turbo gently affirmed, to which Surge let out a hard, nervous breath of whole entire relief.

"She bumped into one of the deleter viruses," Zed urged, he shook his head as the five stood in a loose circle; Surge gave Zed a stern, terrified look of disbelief and shook his head.

"If by 'bumped into' you mean 'massacred in the train tunnels'," Surge barked in terror, though he finally eased a gentle smile and heaved a hearty laugh in Tessa's direction, "My fine lady, you are due to being one proud mother, I'll tell yah... The glitching abilities, on that girl. Sheesh."

"Massacred?" Zed huffed in terrified disbelief, though Surge waggled about said shiny object, in his hand, one more time.

"Our trains, that go all about Arcade, have security cameras on them... This is because our trains are singlehandedly the largest places for game-overs. This is due to fighting, this is due to being in a confined area with no escape," Surge cocked an eyebrow and so gently handed Zed the small, shiny, blue glowing disc of a code box, "...Poor girl thought she was on that train cab all by herself..."

"Wh-what happened?" Tessa urged quietly, the tremble in her voice made clear that she wasn't prepared for the answer, though Surge gingerly handed over the disc, to Zed, and shook his head in a dismissing hand gesture.

"Th-there's no amount of explaining I could do to properly sum up JUST what that camera caught," Surge sighed in almost proud defeat, he sneakily shot Zed a smile and remained humble before all four higher-ups, of Sugar Rush, "It's... Pretty graphic, but... I know the footage will make you immensely proud. Y'got a fighter, on your hands. That girl does NOT go down without a fight."

Turbo felt his airways tighten, the stillness of the group now also humbled by Surge's words, the way Zed peered down at the disc like a death wish was on it, he swallowed hard and gently cued Turbo's code orb, once more. In doing so, he gently inserted the disc-like box into a specific drop down menu, amidst the holographic display, and with a zip of new information, Turbo's code room eagerly sprawled a decent-sized screen, out before everyone, so they could see the security footage of the train cab Berri was trapped in. On a cue, the footage crackled in all of it's undefined glory, the view of the empty, worn train cart down below, Turbo nervously crossed his arms and felt his pupils tighten the second Berri was then seen getting on the train cab, all by herself. As all five beings held their eyes tight to the screen, Turbo held his breath and now was entirely certain that he wasn't prepared for just what he was about to witness.