Reviews :

faolan1230 : LMAO wow, stressful joy. I'm glad you're at least having a good time? I think? hahaha

Snake557 : Thank you! :D


A/N :

Sorry for the delay! I was sick all week, and this chapter is EXTREMELY important... So I wanted it to be perfect :D Enjoy guys~

If you guys are confused by the end of this chapter... Go back to Chapter 143 of Defying Code ;)


Song Listened To :

First Steps Into Sunken Glades by Gareth Coker


*Chapter 127*

With apprehensive footwork, Lash felt his golden eyes mute into a softer grey of solitude. Although surrounded by amazing men that were seemingly en route to helping Lash out, he still felt the weight of the code room's aura don a figurative glower of suspicious concern. The motion of Lash's footsteps following his three brothers, as well as Zed and Rancis, to the larger, rounded exit of the code room, had his heart racing faster and faster. Being in purgatory for so long, seeing just what the outside of the code room was to now look like frightened his very existence. He grit his teeth in frustration, knowing full well that Tessa and Zed had surely kissed the whole palace with beauty, with high, white walls, with warm lights and the smell of pure happiness, he knew he had every single last chance to potentially strive for what he wanted, deep down; a home.

After reuniting with Nox and Throttle, a near-teary event, a huddle of brothers that hadn't been seen in decades, Lash felt his veins wiggle with uncertainty. With Zed tight on his tail, Turbo and Rancis in confident steps before him, as well as Throttle and Nox on his either side, he warily was lead out of the code room for the first time in over a year. A decision made strictly for Lash's good behavior upon being unbubbled a second time, Zed made sure Lash was stripped down to nearly no privileges. Simply a being that existed, even reaching for a door handle would cause his coding to phase through it. Although a tangible being, escaping or trying to do physical harm was not even written in his coding. Zed kept a sharp eye on their newest addition, one that was definitively on house arrest. Lash furrowed his eyebrows in softened surprise and allowed his eyes to widen at the gentle glow of love him and the other five men, around him, eased into.

In the tender steps from the entrance to the code room, all the way to the palace's main teleportation hub, Lash's eyes lit up in delicate surprise. As everyone slowly piled into the teleportation pad, a massive display that could easily fit upwards of ten bodies, Zed gingerly wormed his way to the front and cued to the master key of way points only the King and Queen could access. A massive splay of waypoints that towered to the dome of the teleportation hub, Zed fingered his lip and contemplated his next move. While all four Turbotime boys, as well as Rancis, hung in baited wait behind him, Rancis gently cleared his throat and was well aware Zed was struggling to find a proper place to have this important, exclusive palace meeting, one that only included the six men present.

"Might I suggest Turbo's upstairs loft?" Rancis chimed warmly, he dart his curious attention to his partner in crime, Knights that upheld the game with equal fervor in two very different ways. Turbo raised his eyebrows in soft contemplation and shrugged in agreeing as Rancis rushed to press on, "Th-that is, if you're okay with it, Turbo. Otherwise, I'd suggest Tessa's and Zed's study. Somewhere secure, with tight access to a code room."

"But not too jail-like," Nox mumbled with a cheeky grin in Zed's direction; he noted Lash roll his eyes in mild embarrassment.

"I don't mind, we can go to my loft," Turbo eased gently, though Lash choked a nearly annoyed chuckle.

"Loft?" Lash curiously pressed, "Awful dainty and romantic of you, there, dude. That's not like you at all."

"You don't know me anymore, Lash," Turbo tenderly delivered, though in his cadence was such care, such warmth, as if to lay Lash to sleep in a bed of thorny flowers, Lash nearly recoiled at the gentle stab; something so soft yet so powerful, it left him speechless in confused reeling.

Zed raised his eyebrows due to Turbo's gentle, yet prickly words, and in the turn back to the splay of waypoints, hovered in the silver glow of the King's coding, Zed bit his lip and reserved a small laugh upon pressing his finger into the button of Turbo's home. With an easy zip of a coded flash, the six men were easily teleported to Turbo's second story loft, the bow of his upper-leveled living space that overlooked his couch-lined living room below, as well as had the best view of the city, including the palace, that anyone could dream of. As the six boys came into existence, bare feet on plush carpet, the dome of the glass that encompassed the very top of Turbo's sky scraper, the lovely glow of the late morning sun, Lash narrowed his gaze in bewilderment and held frozen for a moment as everyone else, around him, sagged into normality. Lash felt his heart thud in a further creep of confusion, as if his heart was begging him to succumb to the feeling of regret, the burn of sorrow that seemed to hover over him like a ghost, he nervously fiddled his fingers and allowed his expression to hang onto a disgruntled, bitter glower.

"Clearly," Lash retort, once and for all, the grumble of his voice had all five men gently lofting their gazes to him in concern.

Zed had hovered close, though Nox and Throttle moseyed the few feet away to sit on the bend of the sweeping, cozy sitting area that hung underneath Sugar Rush's morning glow. The splay of never-ending glass, over the place, sapped into Lash's retinas like a blank canvas. The only thing he has used to seeing, for the past year and a half, was white nothingness he was due to going crazy inside. Although Nox and Throttle sat down, with Rancis slowly in tow, Turbo and Zed stood near Lash, as if to make clear that not everyone could simply relax with Lash so blatantly outside of the code room. Lash got a good look around; the warm, homey touches inside Turbo's domain, such a stark difference from living in The End for so long. A cold and bitter state of existence Lash had thrusted the two into, somehow he wanted to keep secret just how jealous he was that this was Turbo's new life, a life Lash no longer was a part of, one he no longer had a grip on.

"Let's see, y'got a nice cozy couch here, easily could seat a whole army," Lash gestured out to where Nox and Throttle were sitting; although the two had reunited with Lash, not an hour or two prior, said greeting was not stable or as loving as maybe Nox and Throttle would've hoped. They sat in reserved nervousness, knowing that Lash was nearly filled to the brim with bitterness, and showing him an overflow of love likely would make things worse, due to his state. Lash inhaled a raspy breath and straightened his cream colored t-shirt, as well as a clean pair of faded grey jeans, a new pair of clothes given to him outside of purgatory. Lash went to ruffle his hair, though hesitated in remembrance that it had been tidied and cleaned, for him, in the code room. He grimaced in annoyance and allowed his creepy eyes to dart about Turbo's loft, he gestured firmly in staggered, beaming annoyance, "Wow, what a workstation... A whole twelve feet of desk, three monitors, and... What's THIS? HOUSE PLANTS?"

"Yeah, dude, there's this cool thing called FOLIAGE," Turbo barked in a short-fused rise of irritation, "Y'know, thing that grow outside of The End... A barren wasteland of snow and ice? Where nearly nothing should survive? The castle dangling on the edge, waiting to fall into a hell hole of no return?"

"Yeah, yeah, your life is just amazing and sunshine and house plants and bullshit, now, I get it," Lash snapped in dark, muttering irritation as he wormed closer to Turbo's lightly messy work station. Notepads, loose papers, an uncapped pen, an empty coffee mug, Lash's gentle fingers glossed over the details in mild musing. He finally outlined the dried crisps of a few coffee rings, on loose papers nearby, and narrowed his gaze in contemplation, "... Do you like this life, Turbo?"

"Of course I do," Turbo pressed in irritation, he shook his head and gave Lash a confused glower, "I was miserable, in The End. I was always out of the castle... You remember."

"Your grand adventures," Lash hissed in smiling, bittersweet remembrance, he finally lofted his curious gaze to Turbo's eyes and shook his head in wild confusion, "You'd run off for days on end, and then asked to be teleported home. You'd go to the weirdest reaches of Sugar Rush. I honestly thought you had lost your mind."

"I was doing myself a favor," Turbo grumbled, he caught eyes with Rancis and bobbed a gentle nod, "In all honesty, I was looking for Rancis, but like hell I'd ever tell you that."

"... You came looking for me?" Rancis wondered in soft concern, he laid his hand on his chest and choked a small chuckled, "I'm honored. I thought everyone had forgotten about me."

"Yeah, who could forget about you," Lash grunted in darkening irritation, he gave Rancis a firm glower and dared to take a few steps closer to Rancis, "Your stupid code box was the first thing I was shoved into, upon Ralph setting off that stupid... Diet Cola mountain beacon. You think I would've picked your code box to dwell in while I worked up my own strength?"

"No... I'm honored to be the lucky one chosen," Rancis stabbed in whole sarcasm, to which Lash wrinkled a mean, annoyed smile.

"So WHILE you guys just enjoy this brand new palace life, full of pristine walls and women that will clearly fall to their knees for you, are ALL you pricks just eating all of this up while you're well aware I'm just rotting in purgatory?" Lash barked in now cold irritation, he shot each of his brothers a dirty look.

"You were rotting in purgatory for the mess you made," Throttle's deep, reverberating voice suddenly dared; he stood with a grunt, brushed off his black slacks and allowed his haunting white eyes to stab into his little, long-lost brother's angry, scared eyes, "You were rotting in purgatory for making Vanellope give birth without the aid of the code room. You were rotting for splitting up families, for leaving everyone to barely survive in Sugar Rush's wild, for the amounts of sleepless, tearful nights nearly everyone had suffered due to your careless, selfish actions."

Lash glowered Throttle down and understood he secretly did have a leg to stand on, though Throttle expanded his rib cage and gave Lash an already exhausted, authoritative look as he pressed within Lash's bubble.

"And not all of us have women 'falling to their knees for us'," Throttle dared with a mean glower of a smile, to which Lash furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "You've had your head so far up your ass, you had NO clue that Turbo, as well as the rest of us, maybe enjoy this more domestic, beautiful and warm way of life. You have no clue just what great things have been happening around here. You'd have no clue that I have a boyfriend, you'd have NO clue that Nox has a swap mate."

Lash raised his eyebrows in unadulterated surprise and shot his eyes to his littlest brother, he gaped a little and huffed a noise to nervously protest, though Throttle waggled his hand and grabbed Lash's attention, once more.

"You're SO hung up on all of this being taboo... Lash, times have changed, we know how to avoid the opposed code deletion, we've grown and moved on," Throttle begged gently, "If anything, Turbo spearheaded this whole movement. By doing the unthinkable, by swapping with Libby, ALL those years ago, he started a movement... A movement to better times."

"HOW does that make things better?" Lash begged in irritation, to which Rancis cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows in plucked delight.

"You lived with Turbo for thirty years and didn't even THINK to ask just how wonderful swapping with someone is?" Rancis pressed with a blurt of a chuckle, to which everyone, excluding Lash, eased into soft laughter, "It's a risk, sure... If your swap mate dies, you spiral into sorrowful confusion, but... You get to share your EVERYTHING to the one person you adore. The love of your life. It's a rare feeling, but I wouldn't trade any of it for the world... It's why I so fervently fought for Tessa's code box, all that time ago. I understand how precious that life was... Her code box was created out of nothing but pure, selfless love."

"It's just unnatural," Lash muttered in weak defense, to which Zed gestured in rising confusion.

"Humans do it all the time," Zed staggered a soft laugh, "Sure, we're not humans, but... We were made by them. It's only natural to follow in their example."

"But... You just end up with creating half-lives, faux-codes," Lash urged genuinely, cueing to everyone here that he was simply riding on his own beliefs, entirely sapped with ignorance; everyone grit their teeth and nervously shot their eyes to Zed, who easily lay a Kingly glower deep into Lash's eyes.

"Every single being in this room is somehow tied to or involved with a self-programmed gamer," Zed growled in defense for not only his wife, but his children. He stared Lash down and was floored to find the confident glow, in Lash's eyes, gingerly sap out of his existence, "They will easily tell you that self-programmed gamers have more wit, more strength and more smarts than anyone in this Arcade."

Every single being, besides Zed and Lash, eagerly nodded in full agreeing to Zed's strong words; Lash blurt a small laugh and shrugged.

"I've learned SO much, from Koko," Nox pressed warmly as he finally stood and approached the group of five about him, "When our gamer powers mixed... Wow... I leveled UP. Hardcore."

"H-How could you just...?" Lash hissed in concern, he gestured his hands in softening curiosity, as if to show that he was more intrigued than disgusted; Nox shrugged and heaved a chuckle, as did Throttle and Turbo.

"I remember the days we used to sit at the very top of Vidrix tower and ponder what swapping codes even meant, and how dangerous and silly it seemed, but..." Nox shook his head and smiled into Lash's eyes, "It's really not that huge of a deal. I, too, could've sworn that spending all that time with Turbo would've taught you something."

"Same, how did you NOT have a million questions for him?" Throttle begged, "He was trapped with Libby's coding, for years, and you didn't think to ask him ONCE how that all made him feel?"

"I didn't even turn into a virus, like everyone assumed I would," Turbo grumbled as he crossed his arms.

"It was too much to swallow," Lash muttered in gentle defeat, though his brothers were still hot on the topic.

"Surely you pulled your head out of your ass for two seconds to ask if he was okay, I mean, come ON, Lash," Throttle firmly delivered, to which Lash's angry, feverous confidence suddenly rose from the dead.

"Maybe I didn't vocalize my concern, but I went above and beyond to figure out how to save him from the misery he was in," Lash firmly defended, the strength in his voice had everyone suddenly flinching in reeling, frozen concern. Lash inhaled a shaky breath, pointed down to the ground and glowered deep into Throttle's eyes, "I can't tell you how many times I sought just HOW to reverse his coding..."

"Only a User can do that," Zed mumbled in delicate concern, to which Lash shot him a cheeky, annoyed look and shook his head.

"Exactly why I was in and out of Tron like my whole life depended on it," Lash spat, "You don't think I didn't want my big brother back? How sad and sullen and exhausted he was every single day? After we got done muddying Rancis' coding and torturing the fuck out of everyone inside Sugar Rush, he wanted to be alone... He wanted nothing to do with the fun and games, anymore."

"I was trying to fill a void," Turbo muttered as he looked down, "Simply toying with and torturing everyone important to Sugar Rush and Dead Zed quickly lost its appeal."

"Yeah, and so did you," Lash stabbed meanly, and though Turbo took the jab like a man, he still shot Lash a dirty look, "I went to Tron to help you out. I went to see if there was ANY way we could get your coding back to normal."

"Not only did you not TELL me ANY of this, you weren't doing any of that for my benefit," Turbo barked in a spike of irritation, to which Throttle gently eased his masculine hand to Turbo's left shoulder, so to hopefully calm him, "You did it so I would hopefully pep up and jump right back into torturing everyone, like you loved to do. But the damage was already done... Everyone was already kicked out of Sugar Rush, split up, abandoned, locked out for good... And then you rearranged the game all to hell, what hope did ANY of us have?"

"Yeah, what was with putting the palace in The End, anyways?" Zed barked in irritation, "We ended up finding you, anyways."

"With my help," Rancis muttered as he eyed Lash in seething irritation, though Lash firmly gestured outwards.

"I was protecting Turbo," Lash stabbed, his voice crackled in desperation as everyone fell silent, "Look, I... I'm not good with my words. At first, it was just a way to have control, but... It quickly turned into a fight for Turbo's life."

"What? What do you mean?" Turbo huffed nervously as he now softly pressed closer to Lash, he shook his head in dire concern and peered his terrified eyes into Turbo's, "Lash, what aren't you telling me..."

Lash inhaled a shaky breath through his nose and urgently peered up into Turbo's eyes. Both boys hovered as if it was only yesterday that they had lived together. What thirty years looked like to simply a year of secluded purgatory, the spark in Lash's eyes was gone. Lash peered to Turbo in whole exhaustion, as if the massive time-out he was in softened his mean, edgy, otherwise bitey demeanor. Turbo gingerly shook his head and narrowed his gaze in desperation, a swathe of irritation, as if so much time had already been lost.

"Lash, y-you CAN'T keep doing this to us, you HAVE to tell us what's going on," Turbo begged nervously as he finally grappled Lash's left shoulder and jostled for emphasis. Lash heaved a shaky breath and begrudgingly looked off, "We've all pressed on, we've all rebuilt... We so desperately want to share this with you, but we CAN'T if you just hold on to all these secrets... You had THIRTY YEARS to get good, Lash."

"Aroq is in charge of this genocide," Lash muttered in soft honesty, a white flag of defeat he finally felt brave enough to raise, and with such information, Zed raised his eyebrows in frozen, unadulterated terror. Lash nervously gave Zed his grey, muted gaze and shook his head in tender apology, "I knew all about it and was... Too scared to step forth and try and stop it."

Zed huffed a shaky noise of a breath and excused himself from the tight circle. As Turbo unhanded Lash's shoulder, all five men peered to their King. Now disheveled and hovered by the balcony of Turbo's second story loft, a thin, golden railing that simply peered out to the city below, as well as Turbo's main living room, Zed sagged his face into his hand and shook his head in whole entire defeat. Lash swallowed nervously and felt his veins wiggle with release, though with said reveal, more information immediately came spilling to the forefront of his mind like a dam being broken, a stronghold that held tight for decades, only to come spilling all over the dry, thirsty land, desperate for relinquished life.

"I-I went to Tron to see if there was some way they had discovered a code-reversal process, like Users do... Aroq told me that... He'd let me out into the human world, to seek the answers, if only I..." Lash hesitated on his words and didn't dare look Turbo in the eye, his deep voice glossed Zed's back like a cold wave of sorrow, "... Turned Turbo over to him."

Turbo raised his eyebrows in soft horror and held his breath, and as the gang hovered in terrified silence, stolen glances of unmitigated horror, Turbo lulled his eyes closed and allowed every single little scenario of confusion finally come full circle as Lash desperately pressed on.

"Turbo is wanted... For causing so many games to go out of commission, gamers that escaped the unplug had found their way onto the internet and... Wanted revenge," Lash nervously danced about his words and swallowed hard as sunlight seemingly beamed down on him, a figurative spotlight of telling, centerstage of this whole mess, "The amount of money Aroq offered me was... Asinine, I couldn't even wrap my mind around how rich I'd suddenly be."

Turbo heaved a trembling breath and looked down to his feet, and although he had been doing well for himself in this conversation, his eyes finally began to well with tears the second he heard Lash's voice crumple in crackling, drowning sorrow.

"I couldn't turn over my big brother," Lash desperately held back his weeping, though he grit his teeth and finally stabbed his teary gaze in Turbo's direction, "He wanted me to turn Turbo over so they could properly fund their malware protection... Faux-code genocide. I only agreed so that I could sneak away without anyone seeing."

"You saved Turbo's life," Throttle mumbled in surprise, to which Lash whirled around and pointed a hefty finger in Zed's direction.

"I saved EVERYONE'S lives," Lash suddenly barked in a nasally tone as tears now streamed his cheeks, "I may have caused you all a year of grief, but I slowed down the funding process towards this genocide. All because your FRIEND is following in Clu's desperate desire for PERFECTION."

"Aroq is NOT my friend," Zed suddenly stabbed as he whirled around and pointed an even heftier finger back in Lash's face, "I once defended Tron with my life, I was promised that I could use the portal and escape, because I believed I had NOTHING! You want to know WHY I thought that?"

"Do not blame me for this," Lash viciously spat, to which Zed dared to get in Lash's face, teeth grit in whole anger.

"Because you BRAINWASHED me into believing my brothers didn't exist, you BRAINWASHED me into believing I was the biggest lowlife in the history of Arcade," Zed growled in Lash's face, "It wasn't until I met Tessa did I finally feel as if everything was coming together... It wasn't until I met Tessa did I decide that leaving maybe wasn't such a good plan. I was only friends with Aroq because I truly thought we were striving for greatness, the ability to come and go, from the human world, as we pleased. Don't you DARE group me in on his heinous plans to murder innocent lives, don't you DARE!"

"I may be dancing on the edge of good and evil, here, but I would never commit to the genocide he was for," Lash muttered in return, and although Zed was in his face, Lash didn't waver from his stance, "How could you go a whole entire year defending Tron, alongside other innocent games, and NOT KNOW that he was out for blood?"

"I didn't know everything about Aroq, just like he didn't know everything about me," Zed stated firmly, "He fought on account of his home game being unplugged from a virus."

"You know JUST what he deems a virus?" Lash suddenly barked in a new spark of fervor, "Self-programmed gamers! He thinks they're devil-spawn, created from selfish desires, created to muddy up our Arcade. Of course he's not going to just openly tell you that, the Arcade is filled with all sorts of self-programmed gamers. Those fuckers probably outnumber User-made gamers fifty to one!"

"If you were so against swapping, and everything that entailed, how come you secretly jumped to Turbo's aid?" Rancis pressed in whole, gentle confusion, hoping to ease the tension.

"Because I have a heart, believe it or NOT," Lash stabbed, and although he wasn't outwardly weeping, his eyes still held welled with tears as he shot Rancis a dirty look. He finally dragged his disheveled gaze to Turbo's frozen, shocked figure, "Because I love all of my brothers. It'd make me the richest, most sought-after celebrity on the face of Arcade, to turn Turbo over... But nothing was worth that. I... I couldn't go through with it."

"After all the other bullshit you pulled, I'm shocked," Throttle muttered in authoritative irritation, seemingly only him and Turbo were the only older beings, above him, that he allowed to lay dominance over his shivering soul.

"Everything else I did was out of pure jealousy," Lash mumbled as he looked off, though he finally narrowed his gaze and gave Turbo a look of pure detest, "You got the princess, you swapped with her... You were STUPID enough to let your jealousy over another racing game, that was plugged in, RUIN our lives, and you SOMEHOW came out on top, afterwards. Everything you touched was gold, every time the sun hit you, I was in your shadow... Withering away."

"Lash, you KNOW I didn't put you there-"

"I put myself there!" Lash suddenly barked as he blinked tears down his cheeks, he shook his head and firmly gestured outwards, "I'm well aware I put myself there... It all came to a head the second I had a choice... I could turn you in as a criminal and run away with all the money I could ever DREAM about, or..."

Turbo softened and peered his forlorn look right into his brother's eyes, everyone softened in the gentle silence of Lash's shaky inhale.

"I could just take us deeper into Sugar Rush's depths and... Hope to ride out this nonsense," Lash mumbled, to which Zed shook his head in irritation.

"Destroying Sugar Rush's integrity while you were at it," Zed quietly stabbed, to which Lash clenched his fists and barked Zed a firm retort.

"You'd do the SAME THING for your brothers and you KNOW it," Lash spat as he finally pointed another firm finger in Zed's direction; said notion had Zed silently looking off in defeated contemplation, "Aroq was terrified that a User had been let into Arcade, shortly after that all happened, he BEGGED me to turn Turbo over and to seek out the unborn User... He promised me a position as a Tron defender, he promised me all the money I could dream... He promised me so much real-estate on the internet, so many golden opportunities to finally shine in the sun and be OUT of Turbo's shadow..."

Nox, Throttle and Rancis sorrowfully peered to Turbo in cold surprise as everything unfolded, though Lash heaved a nasally sigh, shook his head and slumped his shoulders in defeat.

"I knew... I KNEW I was turning down the greatest opportunity... Singlehandedly the most incredible experience I'd ever get a grab at," Lash looked off in warm understanding and finally brought his gaze back to Turbo's in renewed, though stifled, love, "I... I would never forgive myself. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I had done something so treacherous. I ALREADY muddied up my life and tore a whole royal family apart... I couldn't adopt the idea that my brother would never forgive me, and I'd be on the leaderboards to this faux-code genocide. I couldn't..."

"I'm... I'm so shocked that you never told me ANY of this," Turbo mumbled in great sorrow, he shook his head and gave Lash a pleading look of desperation.

"All I wanted was to create a brand new metropolis, to combine all of Sugar Rush's cities and... Live like a King, for once," Lash muttered, "I'd give... ANYTHING, to have Turbotime back. I was promised the WORLD..."

"I'm surprised the notion of murdering innocent self-programmed gamers is what stopped you from living that life you wanted, from getting Turbotime back," Zed mumbled in dismay, "With how against it you were... I just don't understand."

"I didn't like the choices Turbo made, but... That doesn't mean I want to go around killing innocent lives," Lash stated as he sniffled and wiped his face free of tears, "I moved the palace to The End and... Pretended it was due to wanting a clean slate, so to make that huge, Sugar Rush city I desired, but..."

"... It was a ploy, so that Aroq could never find Turbo," Nox mumbled in soft, sorrowful understanding.

"It may have slowed Aroq down, but... It didn't stop him," Lash gestured out to the great sight of Orion City, below the six, "They didn't get the funds for Turbo's warrant, but... They still did everything they could to amass that nasty malware protection they had promised about. They did everything to make sure that every faux-code was enroute to being wiped out, alongside the single User that Zed and Tessa had brought into the Arcade... Aroq felt so betrayed, by you, Zed..."

"We didn't bring Ace into the Arcade on purpose," Zed corrected in a show of softening defeat, he looked off and finally lulled his eyes closed, "We were simply trying to erase Sugar Rush's issues, and... Ace hitched a ride."

"You were trying to get rid of me," Lash mumbled in softness, in understanding. He shook his head and finally shot Zed a cheeky smile, "I get it. I'd... I'd be trying to get rid of me, too..."

"None of this would have happened if I didn't get Turbotime unplugged," Turbo staggered with the promise of oncoming emotion. He looked down in hot regret and sighed a shaky breath, "I wish we could get it back..."

"Litwak still has it," Lash eased casually, to which Turbo's eyes popped open in hot surprise, the attention in the room suddenly sky rocketed.

"H-He... He DOES?" Turbo huffed shakily as he took a step closer to Lash, "H-How do you know this?"

"There was a lot I kept from you, Turbo... Aroq told me I could have everything I ever wanted, which included Turbotime," Lash muttered as he looked off, "I would rule Vidrix by myself... I'd basically take your place."

"Like you've always wanted," Throttle eased in mild irritation, to which Lash pleadingly peered to his eldest brother.

"The bottom line is, I didn't turn Turbo in... I couldn't follow through with all that garbage," Lash begged, "The process is slowed, because of my decision."

"But is well on its way to being fulfilled," Zed pressed, he gestured to himself and shook his head, "My daughter was nearly killed by one of those deleters... They're everywhere, and they have an invisibility power. One touch from them and they're gone."

"Oh, I know," Lash grumbled as he looked off, "I've seen them in action... I know what they're about. They're a simple malware protection rewired and reprogrammed to go after self-programmed gamers. I was there for the entirety of the amassment of them... That's the only reason I was able to escape. A few guards tried to get me to stay, but I managed to escape without confronting Aroq. I just... Took Turbo and ran."

"The End," Rancis cooed in sorrowful understanding, "The farthest reaches of the game..."

"So, how do we move forward, then?" Turbo urged, he peered to Zed in hot desperation and gestured out to the group, "The damage has been done, we now have all the information... How do we stop Aroq?"

"Y'can't just waltz into Tron and ask if he'll listen to reason," Lash muttered, to which Zed bobbed a nod of agreeing.

"He's... Pretty hard-headed, that one," Zed sighed, he lulled his eyes closed in regret and sagged his face into his hand, "Why didn't I see any of this coming... It was right in front of me..."

"Look, dude, I've spent the majority of my life looking back and feeling dire regret and over-analyzing JUST what I could've done RIGHT," Lash urged firmly, he gently glossed his now golden gaze to every being in the room and shook his head, "I know I've lost your guys' trust, entirely, and I understand the consequences with that, but... I hope at least one thing resonates from all that I said, if all else doesn't..."

"What?" Turbo pressed nervously, to which Lash inhaled a deep breath and glowered Orion City a look of understanding.

"We're running out of time to correct this mess both Turbo and I have created," Lash stated gently, he finally hooked his gaze into Turbo's and concluded his notion in a new swathe of uncomfortable warmth, "We started this bullshit... It's up to us to finish it."