Reviews :
faolan1230 : Haha too true. Wren and Throttle definitely use that to their advantage.
Snake557 : Yeah he's not the most stable guy, hopefully you guys are coming to find xD
Song Listened To :
Hideaway by Grace Vanderwaal
*Chapter 140*
Through a sharp inhale, Berri's groggy eyes gently peeped open in regained consciousness. She remained frozen and allowed her blurry eyes to assess her surroundings. Having to be in a different bedroom every single night, whilst touring, she felt as if her anxiety doubled due to the lack of solid stability. She'd long blink in tired, secretive dread, the idea of her warm bedroom, back inside Sugar Rush, just begged her to come home. In the gentle sit she managed, in the massive king bed she was previously sprawled in, she was floored to find that she was, indeed, still alone. As she hugged her bare arms in a sweeping, sleepy motion of wondering if she could maybe get away with snoozing, she rubbed her forehead and began to search for her phone instead. Secure on her charger, she almost rolled her eyes at the idea that said notion is a rarity, whilst on tour. The team drinking themselves silly, into the early morning hours, often lead to phones haphazardly strewn about the place, dying batteries, smudged screens and scuffed cases. As she delicately retrieved her phone from the base it was charging on, she smiled in unfamiliar warmth; how she craved the delicate, orderly softness of mornings, such as this one. Such a morning typically never presented itself, whilst on tour.
As she tapped the larger screen of her touch-screen phone, she furrowed her eyebrows in whole confusion over the fact that she had zero messages, not a single soul tried to bug her. She froze in a hovered stare over her phone, for a moment, before she softly side-eyed her device in disbelief and unlocked it. She tabbed to her messages, everything was untouched and unwavering from the day prior. She sagged her shoulders in almost warm relief, and as her curious eyes glanced about her softly lit luxurious bedroom, she relished in the early morning sun's rays. No matter how unfamiliar Dig Dug was, as well as this lonely master bedroom, she smiled in eagerness and found solace in the raw fact that no one was shaking her awake, her phone wasn't haphazardly buzzing from band assistants and drivers, security and the like. She glossed her eyes to the drawn curtains of her floor to ceiling bedroom window, the view was something she could hardly wrap her mind around, and as she stood to further inspect, she wondered just what other gems of delight she could be presented with in the such few moments of being awake, for the day.
Wearing nothing but a larger black t-shirt that kissed her upper thighs, her beautiful blue hair was a ruffled mess. She felt refreshed, something Throttle and Wren definitely afforded her, due to their antics the night prior. Although she wanted to question just how they were able to accomplish such an incredible prank, she lulled her eyes closed in sweet, cheeky annoyance and figured she just shouldn't question it. She tucked her hair behind her ears and finally crossed her arms in laziness, she peered out to the massive city they were stationed in for their very first show, inside Dig Dug. The sun glinted against the beautiful buildings, rudimentary and sleek in sophistication, it was the sweetest kiss of irony she ever did see. Just as she was to sag her shoulders for good and wonder how long she could hide-away from the world, she flinched in surprise as her phone began to buzz. Like a popped bubble of a day dream, she rolled her eyes and began to trudge back to the bed, where she left her phone. She reached for it and very quickly assumed that either Gunner, or someone else important to the band, was trying to contact her, though as she neared, she felt her pupils tighten in a spike of concern; the one person she wouldn't think would ever call her, in a million years, so plainly splashed across her home screen in dainty, vibrating wait.
"... Hello?" Berri mumbled quietly after she finally answered the call and brought her phone to her ear, smushed to her messy, pillowy blue hair.
"Oh, wow, you're awake?" Lash staggered in whole, boyish surprise; he blurt a chuckle that scarily mocked Turbo's contagious laughter, Berri froze in unadulterated surprise as he tenderly carried on, "I-I was entirely anticipating leaving a voicemail. I've never done this before, I was NOT ready for you to actually answer, what the hell."
"Y-Yeah, that's... How phones work," Berri muttered, though she beamed in sneaky cuteness, her tone gave it all away, "Is everything okay? How come you're calling me?"
"Yeah, I, well... Took over Sugar Rush again, I just wanted to keep you informed," Lash lazily mumbled, and although Berri felt her stomach dip in terror, she beamed in annoyance and glossed her eyes back to Dig Dug's beautiful view. Lash's deep voice tenderly breathed a small chuckle as Berri finally sighed an annoyed giggle in return, "I'm stuck in white-wall purgatory hell until your future husband wakes up."
"... F-Future husb-"
"So, wait, if you HADN'T have picked up, then... What would've happened?" Lash pressed curiously, "Okay, okay, hang up on me, I'll call back, but don't pick up this time."
"A dream," Berri wistfully sighed, she blurt a small giggle as Lash grunted an annoyed noise.
"Alright, wow, I thought we were friends," Lash muttered, Berri beamed a wider grin and looked down to her bare feet; of the non-stop texting her and Lash had been doing the day prior, she felt a strange tug in his direction. A brotherly bond of love and annoyance very quickly molded her heart to permanence, something she was entirely uncertain would ever happen.
"We are, don't tell anyone," Berri giggled quietly, her bare feet pressed closer to the window of her bedroom; her pupils tightened to the draw of sunshine she softly stepped into, "So, what's up? Is everything okay?"
"Oh, yeah, great," Lash pressed, "Like I said, waiting for the man upstairs to unbubble me. I'm bored. How's tour going?"
"Oh, well, I guess... It's..." Berri trailed in spot of empty, almost hot silence, something Lash eagerly cued to.
"Not sounding too good," Lash muttered, "That's what happens when you leave Sugar Rush, my babe."
"Oh, for User's sake, not YOU TOO," Berri choked in annoyance, she pressed her palm to the window and dared to look down; a very far drop from the height of their floor of the resort they stayed in.
"Oh-ho, me too," Lash barked with a hearty laugh, "What, Turbo sings the same song?"
"DOES he?" Berri barked quietly, she flinched in cold realization that she was on borrowed time, she peered to her closed and locked bedroom door and kept a listening ear out for shuffling on the other side of it, "I like to think he's living vicariously through me."
"We both are," Lash mumbled with a small chuckle, "One step outside and we're done for."
"Yeah, Throttle's had some really close calls," Berri muttered in annoyance, "He hardly made it to the resort with all his pixels in tact. He had four random gamers LUNGE at him with KNIVES."
"REALLY?" Lash blurt in terror, to which Berri clutched her stomach and wheezed with quiet laughter.
"No! What the hell, man," Berri wiped her eye and eased a few giggles into her fist, "Everyone here loves Throttle. Turbo's old racing coach... Who woulda thunk, huh?"
"Yeah, yeah, he's the greatest racer ever, it's an awesome tale," Lash muttered, Berri could practically see him roll his eyes, "Fucks up the whole Arcade and then I spend the following three decades protecting him from certain doom."
"A noble task, really," Berri sneered, she scuffed the shaggy, white carpet under her feet and eased a soft giggle amidst shrugged shoulders, "Ah, I wish you and Turbo could see this place."
"What game are you touring in again?" Lash gently wondered, Berri heaved a long, hot sigh and lulled her eyes closed.
"Dig Dug," She mumbled, "I wished it was Pong... Or, better yet, Tron."
"You don't want to be in Tron right now, trust me," Lash muttered darkly, his warm and cheery tone was laced in throughout his sneaky quips of blackened mystery, "Besides. Vidrix was far cooler than both Tron or Pong put together... Especially at night."
Berri fell silent and allowed their gentle string of understanding melt into their separated coding. She bit her lip in warm contemplation and knew, full well, she was dancing with the devil, here. Like a flickering flame that beckoned her fragile, moth-like heart to the alluring glow of knowledge behind Lash's golden eyes, she scrunched her eyes shut and exhaled a trembling breath of impending regret. She knew Lash was a wild card, someone that her mother and father didn't even fully trust. The raw fact that Turbo was still bubbling Lash at night, even when Zed and Tessa weren't watching, she finally inhaled a deep breath and straightened her posture in certainty that she was traipsing into a void of uncertainty.
"Wh-what... Do you know about..." Berri could hardly get the words to form in her mouth, though the second she could hear Lash exhale the breaths of a chuckle through his nose, she held her breath and peered out to Dig Dug's gloriously spanning city of sunny sand and golden buildings.
"Litwak's Arcade?" Lash finished tenderly, he breathed a small chuckle and grunted a small noise, as if to insinuate he had sat down and gotten comfortable, "I know that TurboTime still exists in Mr. Litwak's back room. Is that the answer you wanted?"
"... One of," Berri muttered nervously, Lash choked a small chuckle and so easily marinated into this conversation, as if he was just waiting for it to finally unfold.
"You want to know how to leave Tron, leave the Arcade's circuited grip, beg Litwak to plug TurboTime back in, gifting us TurboTime boys with, quite possibly, the gift of a lifetime?" Lash slowly sauntered on the words, trailing Berri to their climax, as if he was simply holding her hand to her impending doom. He sighed a chuckle and sounded as if he was rubbing his face in sleepy agitation, "You know, you can do FAR less to get into Turbo's pants, right?"
"Th-that's... Not what this-"
"That's entirely what this is about," Lash interrupted abruptly, though his tone was tender and cheeky in his conclusion, "Why else would you risk literally everything you faux-codes are made of? You'd be traipsing right into Aroq's trap, lest some miracle of User strokes you right across the forehead and you're successful in worming your merry-little-way around Aroq, to get to Tron's portal?"
"I..." Berri held her breath and felt discovered, every single little hope and curious wondering she had for this fragile situation was now dancing on display, right before her, and so tauntingly exposed.
"Girly, if you can find the key to that portal, and can somehow come up with a plan to get around THAT army of deleters," Lash trailed in almost smiling dread, he finally heaved a shaky chuckle and quieted his tone, "Well, you better take me with you, cause that'd be one hell of a ride."
"... Y-You'd go with me?" Berri pressed quietly, she eased further away from her bedroom door and quieted her tone to that above a whisper.
"Who else would? Your band mates are too dewy eyed, Turbo refuses to leave his HOUSE, it seems," Lash blurt a soft laugh and grunted a sigh, "... Your mother and father already went through hell and back making that journey. The fact that they came back, unscathed, with a full-blown User is beyond me, really."
Berri slumped her shoulder to a nearby wall and now aimlessly gazed out to the sunny city below, she remained quiet and allowed Lash's experience with this whole mess gloss her at a new angle. She furrowed her eyebrows and wondered just how she could even predict that she'd be having this very conversation with the person she used to despise the most. She shook her head in continued silence, disbelief this was happening, as Lash warmly continued on.
"Look, your parents and I don't really get along very well, but, if you're anything like them, well..." Lash trailed off, and though Berri furrowed her eyebrows and was prepared for an insult, Lash calmly pressed on in tenderness, "I'm confident you'd come back in one piece."
"Thanks, Lash," Berri sighed in gentle conclusion; the whole idea of making the ultimate game jump seemed too far out of reach, though the fact that Lash so easily stepped up to the plate to assure her that he'd join simultaneously thrilled and scared her. Berri shook her head and heaved a hard sigh, "I'd... Obviously wait until after touring, but... I appreciate the camaraderie, nonetheless."
"I'm shocked you actually trust me," Lash barked a soft laugh, and though Berri knew he was simply being genuinely surprised, she felt her stomach clench in the gut-wrenching realization that Lash was, indeed, the trickiest of bad guys still on lock down inside the very game he sought to isolate from everyone important to it; she bobbed a nod and figured their ebb and flow of platonic closeness and urgency in gaining distance was something their dynamic would hopefully even out, eventually.
"Noted," Berri muttered as she raised her eyebrows, looked down, peeled herself off the wall and knew getting all soft and gooey with a potential foe wasn't something she should be doing, right now.
"I'm not asking you to dive head first into a seemingly dangerous situation, with me," Lash mumbled sweetly, humility that had Berri doing a figurative double-take, "The fact that we're even having this conversation is enough for me. TurboTime was my home. I'd kill for a second chance at keeping it afloat. We really... We really fucked that up, didn't we."
"Yeah, you did," Berri cheekily agreed with a widening smile, she appreciated the tender moments of vulnerability such a sharp individual would allow, she sighed softly and shook her head as she finally yanked herself back to the planet, "Alright, well... I-I gotta go find Gunner, I should probably go."
"FIND Gunner? What happened?" Lash pressed curiously, Berri beamed and began to cross the bedroom so to put on decent clothes.
"Yeah, we... Had a bit of a poltergeist activity here, last night, and... I have no clue where he laid off to," Berri giggled, Lash blew a raspberry and grunted a noise of cheeky dismay.
"What a baby," Lash muttered, to which Berri rolled her eyes and bobbed a nod of agreeing.
"I'm beginning to think Throttle and Wren had something to do with it," Berri mumbled.
"Oh, not Throttle, he's too serious for nonsense like that," Lash muttered in annoyance, to which Berri froze and furrowed her brow in confused agreeing.
"... Yeah, you're right," Berri eased in tender bewilderment, she eased a soft giggle and was now aware that Lash had no clue that Throttle and Wren had swapped codes, "Either way, I gotta go figure out what's going on for the day."
"Alright, I'll be here, in purgatory hell, don't you worry!" Lash eased in forced cheeriness that easily dulled to a mutter, "Donnn't, youuuu, worry..."
"Oh, I'm worried," Berri volleyed with a giggle, to which Lash finally eased a genuine chuckle.
"Sing your heart out, Blue," Lash gently mumbled, to which Berri froze in prickled sorrow, and although she wanted to painfully remind Lash that she, indeed, had no spot on the stage for singing, she furrowed her eyebrows in a rise of determination and peered across the empty bedroom in warm realization.
"... I will," Berri assured confidently.
