A/N :
Hey guys! WOW. So sorry for such a smaller chapter. Coming off of a break is always weird, I have to find my footing and get back to it. I'm feeling confident though, and this year has started off SO well! I'm back on my normal upload schedule now :) Thanks for your patience guys, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Song Listened To :
Gold in a Brass Age by David Gray
*Chapter 130*
Zed heaved a tired sigh and gently rounded the corner into his and Tessa's lovely, warmly lit corridor. Although he was certain Berri escaped to the kitchen and living room, where he assumed Tessa was, he scuffed his bare feet to the tiles in a halt and furrowed his brow in collected finding. He could clearly hear Berri's voice sharply complain to Tessa, from up her narrow stairwell, where her childhood bedroom lay. Zed grit his teeth and did his best to listen in, though as he made his way to the stairwell, he pushed on, knowing it was much better to just drop in on their conversation than eavesdrop on the sidelines. Through a silent sigh of mild annoyance, Zed eased his feet to the loved, glossy wood of Berri's spiral stairwell and eased into the gaping entrance of her old bedroom.
Although once a cluttered, cute and delightful mess of that of a budding teenaged girl, Tessa and zed had transformed Berri's old bedroom into a lovely work and reading nook, complete with a small sky light and an area for a few of Sugar Rush's rarest, most temperamental flora. zed glossed his eyes across the cozy place, complete with new bookshelves fully stocked, a workstation for Tessa and a lounging area for two, Berri seemingly interrupted Tessa's quiet reading time, for herself. With the way Tessa's curled legs and body was sagged into her cozy recliner, the wool socks on her tucked feet, the look of now bewildered, frazzled surprise amidst nervously sagging a bookmark into her half-read book, Berri stood before Tessa with her hands on her hips, Tessa's sharp attention upwards at Berri was none-other than confused urgency.
"If you guys just don't want to include me in on anything, anymore, then just SAY something," Berri concluded, clearly at the very dregs of a long-winded tirade of entire frustration, one with big hand gestures and a sorrowful tone; Tessa peered to Zed in a stun of nervous confusion and looked grateful that Zed presented himself inside the cozy nook, which was once calm and serene.
"Berri, we didn't exclude you from our decision about Lash on purpose," Zed firmly interjected, to which Berri whirled around in heated, irritated surprise. Although she was on a roll, Zed's presence sapped the hot energy right out of her, giving both her parent's the floor, "We were going to tell you, but... Berri, it's hard to really fully include you on palace life, right now."
"Why!" Berri urged in now genuine sadness as she slumped her shoulders, her hands hit her thighs in defeat, "Am I just... STILL too immature for all of this? What about that talk you gave me, a few weeks ago? I just don't understand..."
"Bear, I meant everything I said to you, during that little chat of ours," Zed side-eyed Berri, and although Zed was well aware that Berri likely understood Tessa's full knowledge of Berri's and Turbo's secretive affairs, he still treated the situation with delicacy, "I told you what to do to sharpen your foresight... But, who are we to cram MORE food onto your plate? More than you can even begin to digest?"
"What do you mean?" Berri begged sorrowfully, it was here did Tessa inhale a deep breath through her nose, steady her popped bubble of thoughts and put her book down on the smaller table next to her.
"You already have all of your touring to worry about, you have band mates and a boyfriend to take care of," Zed stated in a tone of defeat, he shook his head and peered his vivid blue eyes into Berri's with a great amount of tenderness, something Berri easily craved. She sagged her shoulders and was thwarted, due to her silence, "Whatever happens inside Sugar Rush is something that me, your mother, your great Uncle Rancis and Turbo all have control of. Turbo is a valuable asset to this game... He's one of the men at my right hand."
"So, you just... Set Lash FREE," Berri urgently gestured towards the gaping window, one of which overlooked half of the castle's pool and a sliver of the outdoor courtyard, which housed the cross-striped tree's blooms, "H-Him and Turbo are just... Just...!"
"Listen to me," Zed instructed gently, he warmly eased his hand to Berri's lower arm and hovered above her, so to show authority and give her security, in one fell swoop, "Turbo is in charge of Lash... Lash is nearly in read-only mode. He can hardly do anything without Turbo's assistance."
"He can't even physically grab door handles. He's one step above being a hologram," Tessa mumbled in cheeky delight, she remained quietly tucked in her peaceful little nook of books and warmth.
"But... WHY?" Berri urged nervously, she shook her head and averted her attention from Tessa, straight into Zed's soul, one more time.
"Berri... He's Turbo's brother, and he's clearly been through some crap," Zed mumbled, he shook his head and glanced to Tessa in understanding, "All of those TurboTime boys, me, Tessa and Rancis all had a meeting inside Turbo's loft, this morning. Lash gave us some heavy leads to just whose been setting those deleters free, inside Arcade. Lash was just a puzzle piece inside this nasty mess. He hid Sugar Rush away to protect Turbo and start new."
"Whose to say he won't do that AGAIN? NOW?" Berri urged again, she firmly pointed, once more, out the gaping window of beautiful scenery, though just as Zed was about to frustratingly explain himself to Berri, once more, Tessa tilted her head and coyly chimed in.
"Berri, do you trust Turbo?" Tessa eased warmly, Berri whirled her attention to her mother and nearly shot her an irritated look of thwarted stubbornness.
"Wh-why?" Berri staggered in frustration, Tessa shrugged her shoulders and briefly looked off.
"Simple. The adequate amount of worry you should hold on to is directly correlated to how much you trust Turbo," Tessa wisely soothed Berri's soul, something that had Berri's stiff shoulders sagging, "With how much you're freaking out, it's clear you maybe don't trust Turbo has much as you lead on, love."
Berri furrowed her eyebrows and now gave her mother a dirty look of mild betrayal, something a bratty child would potentially give, though before she allowed her old self to take over for good, Berri looked down to her feet and decided to take a deep breath of revival, or attempted as such. Tessa heaved a soft giggle and gave Zed and understanding smile of success.
"You clearly trust that man with your heart," Tessa so warmly concluded as her and Berri locked eyes, Berri's shivering orbs of continuously being discovered, she had no more rebuttals left inside of her trembling heart, "Your heart is worth far more than the entirety of Sugar Rush, love... Methinks you should take a step back and assess just who is in charge of this task, and his intentions with every single little branch connected to it."
With nervous footsteps, Throttle nearly scolded himself for being so hasty with his decisions. His heart raced as he teleported himself from his sleepy little teleport pad, allt hew ay to Turbo's dimly lit foyer sixty four floors above Orion City. He had previously sent Turbo a mildly urgent text message, simply stating that he needed to come over and have a chat; about what, Throttle left to Turbo's imagination for merely moments before his hesitant footsteps pressed to Turbo's front door. With it wide open and prepared for such a fragile guest, Throttle allowed himself inside with a weight comparable to a rushing, tropical storm. Upon pushing inside Turbo's warm home, he opened his mouth to sling a swathe of apology and urgency in Turbo's direction, though was thwarted the second both Turbo's and Lash's eyes stabbed in Throttle's quickly moving energy. Throttle froze and felt his heart shrivel back into his dark and lonely cave of nervousness.
"Tee," Turbo chimed warmly, though quickly noting the muted glow in Throttle's eyes, and the way both him and Lash almost meanly peered to each other, Turbo immediately understood that maybe inviting Throttle over, while Lash was still awake and unbubbled, likely wasn't the best thing he could've done.
"O-Oh, I... I-I can just come back later," Throttle staggered, clearly running on a whole rush of other thoughts, any words that came out of his mouth now were not filtered well, "I didn't realize Lash was still unbubbled."
"I can go?" Lash barked in a muttering stagger of irritation, he shot Turbo a disgruntled look, as if to clearly prove to Throttle that both of his younger brothers were potentially having a wonderful conversation prior to Throttle showing up.
"No, no," Turbo enforced, he gave Throttle a pleading look and gestured for him to approach, "Come on, enough of the tension... C'mere, Tee, everything's fine."
"Turbo, I really want to speak to you in private," Throttle urged nervously, his deep voice croaked as he began to hesitantly step closer to the entrance he just stormed through, now capable of fleeing at the drop of a hat.
"You really are gunna do that to me? Surely whatever you can say to Turbo, you can say to me," Lash grumbled in whole irritation as he slumped at Turbo's warmly lit kitchen island, he gestured his hand out to Throttle and pressed on with a cheeky smile of mild meanness, the faded cy-bug markings, on his face, only made him look more menacing, "We're both your younger brother's."
"You've had upwards of three decades-worth of life lived with Turbo," Throttle growled, he peered hard into Lash's eyes and began to feel confidence surge him, the prospects of his and Wren's romance teetering on the edge of success or failure is simply why Throttle began to feel his chest puff with dominance, a revival of one true understanding; he was purely ready to allow another soul into his own coding, something that surged his veins with purpose no matter who was on the other end of his sharp words, "You don't know me anymore. I'd like to tell Turbo something important, if you don't mind."
"Is everything okay?" Turbo pressed nervously, though he finally peeled his leaning upper body from his kitchen island, in preparation to cave and potentially bring Lash down to his code room, so to bubble him for the night.
"Just, please... I'd like privacy," Throttle continued on in dominant urgency, though so skillfully laced with poised wisdom; Lash shot Throttle and dirty look and hesitantly began to comply.
"What could you possibly have to tell Turbo that I wouldn't understand?" Lash delivered meanly, and it was here did Throttle furrow his eyebrows and allow the truth to spill out in the form of a full check-mate.
"I want to know how I can swap codes with Wren," Throttle stated through his grit teeth, the nastiest look he could deliver, a volley of information that had both Turbo and Lash frozen in their steps; Turbo finally heaved a small chuckle, placed his hand on his chest in delightful defeat and gave Throttle a proud look of cute surprise.
"Wow, Tee, that's... That's GREAT!" Turbo pressed in cautious excitement, though he could immediately see a look of confused dictate on Lash's face, urgently followed by a hot, angry swathe of full defense on Throttle's, Turbo grit his teeth and glanced between both of his brothers, knowing full well that he was now put in this Arcade to simply mediate the argument of the century.
