Reviews :

chuckiboo : Haha thank you! You're absolutely right! Except for the yellow top she's added to it, but you're definitely right. As for Ace, Turbo does bump into him, but no, it's not Ace that gets on to him. He's involved by proxy, in this mess. He knows Turbo's pain, through Libby. He's not really one to be extremely confrontational, either - Ace, sure, is protective of his little sister, but he's not one to go jumping on someone when he's not really entirely involved. Him and Berri are close, but he hasn't been around to see their struggle. The person that gets in Turbo's face has been someone who has been quietly witness to all of this. And boy does Turbo get a face full.

faolan1230 : If you're curious, you can see a little bit of the guitar in one of my recent paintings. All of my artwork, of my crew here, is on my Insta - username Vyntastic. Thank you friend! I'm glad you're enjoying everything thus far.


Song Listened To :

All I Am by Jess Glynne


*Chapter 176*

"Hey, bud," Theo chimed sleepily, he groggily opened the tower's front door, and although Chester's big, boisterous figure was the main thing in his view, Sugar Rush's sweet, warm morning air still whisked past Chester, fluffed his fur and hit Theo head on. Theo inhaled a deep, revived breath, and although he had just woken up and pressed down to the kitchen for breakfast, Chester's whining and clawing at the front door was prominent. Chester eased a fang-filled smile of glee and perked his ears as Theo opened the door wider, "How long have you been out here?"

"Ten years," Chester's boyish, deep, playful voice loudly pressed. His wet dog snout firmly bumped Theo's cheek in hard, excited sniffling as he firmly tucked his beautiful scaly wings tight to his body and began to firmly push into the house. Theo barked a groggy laugh of irritation, fumbled to the side and wobbled as Chester's much bigger, fluffy body confidently stepped inside, "Where's Berri?"

"I don't know, I'm sure she's still asleep," Theo mumbled, he rubbed his eyes, closed and locked their tower's door and inhaled a gasp of a heavy, hard yawn. He carried on through the trail of said yawn, "I'm rethinking coming downstairs, to be honest. I'm still tired."

"Lazy bum, I've been woken since the sun," Chester fumbled, though in due confidence, he bobbed a nod as the two began to stroll down the sunny foyer corridor; Theo huffed a tired chuckle and pat his much larger hand to Chester's strong side.

"Awake... Been A-wake," Theo kindly corrected.

"What did I say?" Chester pressed quietly.

"You said you've 'been woken'," Theo blurt with a louder chuckle, though as the two softly rounded into the common room, Theo's emerald eyes caught with someone in the kitchen. In a heart-stopping pike of desperately trying to conceal his half-awake terror, his lovely green coding wigged in a few glitch-lines of nervous, discombobulation. His voice blipped out as his pixels desperately tried to realign. With this, Chester flattened his ears, halted his footwork and honed his blind attention in Theo's direction as Theo desperately tried to get the word out, "O-Oh, good... Morning, Tatum."

"Hey," Tatum sleepily mumbled as she closed the fridge, she curiously eyed Theo and Chester in cute, snarky, concealed delight. She wore a lazy, dark purple hoodie, her lovely, faded pink hair was down and splayed on her shoulders. She sleepily rubbed her eye and huffed a cute giggle to Chester's and Theo's now halted, prickled demeanors, "Didn't... Mean to disturb the peace."

"No, no you're not," Theo quietly encouraged with a loving smile, he rested his hand to his broad chest and shook his head, "I-If anything, it's this guy."

"HEY," Chester huffed in a deep tone of playful irritation.

"Chester, right?" Tatum wondered, her sweet, sleepy eyes laid into his soul with quiet, tender love, something that so urgently spoke to Theo's soft disposition.

"Yes'm," Chester bobbed a nod, and although Theo was previously en-route to heading back to his bedroom and getting a few extra moments of sleep, with Chester in tow, both boys now sagged their intentions to the kitchen, where Tatum now resided.

"I heard a commotion and came out to see what was going on, but just saw it was you guys," Tatum sighed, she looked back at the fridge in curious delight and finally peered her eyes to Theo's in sleepy sweetness, "Figured I might as well wake up, for good."

"I had the same thought, but then I remembered how cozy my bed is," Theo huffed an innocent, boyish look of cheek, though he cleared his throat and tried not to sound to close to the edge of insinuating something. He shook his head and gestured to Chester, "This guy was comin' with. I just had to let him in otherwise he probably would've clawed the door down."

"I think that's what I was hearing," Tatum mumbled a giggle as she pressed closer to the nook of the kitchen, the bend where the kitchen sink and large, lovely kitchen window sat, easily splaying in a healthy dose of morning sunlight, "You guys are BOTH going upstairs?"

"Yeah, I didn't want him down here pestering you," Theo eased plainly, and though he gave Tatum a sweet smile, Chester flattened his ears and urgently gestured his paw outwards.

"Guys I'm BLIND, not DEAF," Chester loudly barked, to which Tatum and Theo were thrown into a sleepy laughing fit.

"Y-You BOTH were going to fit on that teleport pad?" Tatum stated through a hard giggle, and though Theo tossed his curious smile and eyes to the hull of a teleport pad, sunk into a larger archway in the corner of the kitchen, he furrowed his eyebrows and was well aware this wasn't a slight towards Theo, and more dire curiosity due to Chester's decent size.

"Yeah, it's a tight squeeze, but it works, watch," Theo gently cued to Chester and stepped into the hull of the teleport pad. With Chester's bumbling presence that nearly barreled into the hull of the teleport nook, Tatum let out a hard fit of giggling as she watched Chester worm his way about Theo's stood figure, a mess of fur, tail, wings and paws. Theo's eyes popped through the top of Chester's mane as Chester finally grunted Theo a boyish conclusion.

"Ready," Chester stated proudly, though Theo guffawed an annoyed noise and began to push Chester out of the teleport pad; Tatum was now wildly lost in laughter as both boys began to loudly bicker. Chester's fumbling paws and non-retractable claws loudly and firmly clacked against the kitchen tiles as Chester did what he could to squeeze out of the teleport nook, "WHAT! I'm related to Royal, y'can't blame me."

"So YOU are a self programmed gamer," Tatum wondered through desperately trying to collect her laughter, she was glad that both boys rejoined her in the kitchen; Theo stood a few feet from her, by her side, whilst Chester shook his head, in a dog-like manner, corrected the tufts of fur on his mane and chest, reset the positioning of his wings and finally settled to a full stand in the common room, just half a dozen feet from where Tatum and Theo calmly stood.

"I'yam," Chester eased with a wide smile, "My dad's Royal, my mom's Balba."

"So, the BIG white one and the green wolf looking one," Theo mumbled to Tatum, who only now looked as if she understood.

"Oh, okay, so your mom and dad are different breeds," Tatum pressed in further, cute curiosity; Theo's gentle, loving emerald eyes peered down to Tatum's much shorter, smaller, cuter figure, though he flinched as she dart her inquisitive, darker eyes up to his with question.

"Right, so... Lickity had Royal with a... Chameleon-dragon hybrid who unfortunately isn't with us anymore, his name was Orion," Theo gently explained, he peered into Tatum's eyes and almost couldn't even believe that this was his new normal. He swallowed hard and carried on, trying desperately to remain cool and stoic, "Royal would technically be a hybrid in of himself... But then he had Chester with Balba, who is full-bred lykata..."

"So that would make Chester..." Tatum lazily pointed to Chester, who firmly perked his ears, sat on his rear and tucked his paw to his chest in boyish, teasing delight.

"A coded MESS!" Chester proudly barked, he popped his wings just barely, though knew to be careful doing so, indoors, due to the sheer amount of furniture he's destroyed in the past.

"Case and point," Theo chuckled loudly and flung his arm out to Chester, though he softened to Tatum's eyes and crossed his arms, "I think Chester is more lykata than anything. Marble and Balba are both full-bred lykata. They're a winged-wolf species from Dead Zed."

"Oh, right," Tatum bobbed a nod, though she scratched her head and narrowed her gaze in cute, cheeky sweetness, "I'm still... Trying to wrap my mind around JUST how many home games are under one roof."

"Yeah, there's quite a few," Theo bobbed a nod and gave Chester a sweet smile, across the way, as he softened and eased his much larger presence closer to Tatum and Theo, "We all were born here, in Sugar Rush. Me, Berri, Chester... Except Wren, he was born in Dead Zed."

"'Sidering he's full Sugar Rush, and the rest of us aren't," Chester mumbled cutely, to which Theo shrugged and bobbed a nod in warm agreeing.

"I'm considered endangered, I guess," Tatum mumbled as she now did what she could to subtly and slowly tidy her appearance; she began to pull her soft, sweet hair into a loy ponytail with the hair tie around her little wrist. She inhaled a deep breath and smiled up to Theo's eyes, "My game got unplugged. It was Castle Run's predecessor. I'm a self-programmed gamer, as well. My dad was a gargoyle."

"No way," Theo peered down to her, his eyes widened with discovery, he gently sagged the side of his hip to the island's counter they were stationed at and got a bit more comfortable. Eager to learn more about Tatum, he gave her his full attention and now forgot that his bed even existed, "I saw all of those gargoyles had fire-breathing powers, and could make their wings appear and disappear at will... A-As well as turn to stone!"

"... Wanna guess which power I obtained?" Tatum sneakily smiled, she side-eyed Theo in scheming delight, her cute grin showed the prominent fangs that resided a bit deeper in her mouth, though Theo bugged his eyes and began to look a little scared.

"You can breathe fire, can't you," Theo huffed quietly in boyish anticipation, though Tatum rolled her eyes and looked off.

"Nooo, dammit," Tatum mumbled in now shy, smiling disappointment, "No one cares if you have wings. The majority of us can't turn to stone, that's actually a really rare trait."

"Wait, y-you have wings? You can make them appear?" Theo wondered in a further show of curiosity, though Tatum crossed her arms and gave Theo a further shy look of blushing reservedness.

"Yes, but I don't ever show anyone," Tatum smiled cutely, and although she held a welcoming air about her, Theo could see her shell away in curt, nervous protection.

"Man, what I'd give to have the ability to fly," Theo scoffed, he could tell Tatum was due to now shelling away for good, so he quickly looked off and made the conversation about him, so to take attention away from her, "I would spend ALL day just flying wherever. You winged folks are so lucky."

"I can fly, but I don't like to," Chester muttered, he flattened his ears and gave Theo a cheeky, fang-filled grin, "Can't see."

"Yeah, Chester's a runner, which... Is probably for the better, considering Berri's fear of insane heights," Theo chuckled, he gave Chester a sweet smile, full of understanding, though he returned his gaze to Tatum and softened as much as he could, "I don't blame you, for your choices. You've been in the spotlight long enough."

"I don't really fit in," Tatum worried with a nervous smile, she looked down and bashfully shrugged, "I mean... Everyone I ever hung out with didn't have wings or anything. I always felt out of place whenever I showed mine. They're not particularly small or cute, or fit a social setting."

"... I'd beg to differ, but it's your decision," Theo stated as warmly as he could, he then opened his palms and gave Tatum a snarky look of agreeing, "I mean, I guess I could say the same thing about my hands. I AM Wreck-It Ralph's grandson, after all... And I can't hide these bad boys."

"Your hands are great," Tatum sweetly smiled, she dared to press her much littler hand into Theo's open palm, as daintily as she could.

"Thank you," Theo mumbled warmly, how badly he wanted to close his large, gentle hand about her little one, he resisted the urge and stayed still for her seemingly trembling aura. He side-eyed her with a cute, sneaky smile and narrowed his gaze, "You can't say that having the ability to fly pretty much trumps everyone's opinion, though, I mean, come on. I'd kill for that."

"It IS pretty great," Tatum huffed with a cute smile as she seemed to unravel from her previously shelling-away disposition.

"Knew it," Theo nodded and peered to Chester in sweet, confirmed conclusion, though with Tatum's little hand still confidently laid in his open palm, Theo inhaled a brave breath and warmly closed his larger hand about hers in gentle looseness, though a gooey enough grip to show camaraderie, "Well, your secret is safe with me. Rest assured."

"Thank you," Tatum stated in a mild lilt of taken aback disbelief. She held her free hand to her chest in a further show of plucked delight and gave Theo a wider smile of now blushing release, "That's... Really sweet."

"That IS in my last name, after all," Theo's deep voice pressed calmly, he gave Tatum a coy smile of assurance, alongside her hand a good, loving squeeze, before he gently unhanded her and knew his job here was done; any amount of flirting and daintily trying to allure Tatum in was now weighing in his favor, "Welp... I should probably head upstairs and think about packing."

"How long will you guys be gone, this time?" Tatum wondered casually, though her aura radiated openness, as if she now didn't want Theo to leave.

"Theo Schweetz?" Chester finally pressed in warm confusion, "Ohh, oh... Sweets... Schweetz."

"Welcome to the conversation Chessy," Theo mumbled, Tatum blurt a hard giggle as Theo eased her a dorky smile; Chester flattened his ears and gave his blind attention elsewhere in smiling annoyance, "We'll be gone for one night... I don't have much packing to do, but I always get nervous and over pack. The usual."

"I was the same way, always," Tatum assured with a small nod, though as the group began to gently disperse, Theo and Chester head for the teleport pad, once again. Tatum eased closer to the fridge, once more, though cheekily eyed their situation, watching Theo and Chester pile into the teleport hull was a funny sight to behold, "We'd be gone for two nights and I'd pack for a whole freaking week."

"Seriously, and last tour, we were gone for two weeks. You'd think I was going on a three month sabbatical to an Arcade far far away," Theo huffed a hard laugh, though he jolted as Chester firmly joined him on the teleport pad.

"Alright, love birds, I want a nap now," Chester barked cutely as Theo grunted to get the pad's display to work beyond the mess of Chester's wings, limbs and fur.

"W-Will I be able to see you before you leave?" Tatum bravely ask, her voice shook in uncertainty, though Theo's eyes lit up with sweet, rushing surprise.

"Oh, of course," Theo chimed, he bobbed her a nod and gave her a wide smile of assurance, "I'll text you before we're about to leave, you can see us off, y'know?"

"Yeah, I'd... Like that," Tatum eased cutely as she stood on tip-toes, in order to gain eye contact with Theo beyond Chester's mess of fur.

"I'll be in touch," Theo assured sweetly, and as they said their gentle parting notions, Chester and Theo were easily whisked off in a mess of green and golden swirling coding; Tatum bit her lip, sagged back to the flat of her feet and gently rested her little fist to her chest in a sag of smiling warmth that filled her once cold, hardened heart, a sweet line of butterflies she was almost uncertain of just what to do with.