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*Chapter 193*
"What exactly are we working with, here?" Turbo wondered nervously, he heaved a shaky sigh and leaned his bare upper body to his island's glossy dark marble counter, he leaned firmly on his elbows and peered to Berri, to his right, and hooked his eyes tight to her face. Her fully concentrated expression of pursed irritation softly scrolled through the plethora of Gunner's messages, a few times she'd shake her head in disagreeing irritation at whatever she was reading, "You're making me nervous..."
"No, it's just a whole world of upset, on his end, just... Regret, anger, resentment," Berri listed, she pointed to her phone lazily and shrugged, her bare figure was draped in Turbo's baggier, golden shirt, Turbo eyed her and was certain that whatever she wore, it would always keep a constant buzz of delight in the back of his brain. Berri opened her mouth to relay one of Gunner's messages, she hung open for a few moments while her eyes urgently scanned Gunner's words in rising irritation before she finally reread it aloud, "Like, here, he says 'none of that could've been spontaneous. You were plotting to get me out of there since day one. Of course the world loves Turbo NOW, he's swooped in and saved the day because I left, and now everyone just thinks I'm a monster.'"
"Because you ARE," Turbo choked in hot irritation, he shook his head and looked off, though he jolted in surprise the second Berri aimlessly held her phone in her left hand, whilst she crossed her right arm over her rib cage and held her left arm propped by such; the sudden tone of an impending phone call, to be picked up, suddenly began to ring clear from Berri's phone, now put on speaker. Turbo stood up in hot surprise and looked down to the caller ID, to just who Berri was calling, obviously none-other than Gunner. Turbo raised his eyebrows in shock and peered down to Berri's eyes with stun as he rushed on in a silent whisper, "O-Oh, you're calling him?"
"It just want to clear the air and get to the bottom of this," Berri hissed quietly as it continued to ring, though both Berri and Turbo froze in unmitigated surprise the second Gunner answered the call.
"Hey," His voice muttered in a deep, dark quip of hidden anger.
"Hey," Berri volleyed as she lulled her eyes closed and sagged her hand to her forehead in a whole show of already being overwhelmed; Turbo lovingly held his hand to her lower back and rubbed, to confidently prove that he was due to staying out of this fight, though he was definitely here for her, no matter what.
"Thanks for... Finally getting back to me," Gunner stated in a chirp of dripping irritation, he scoffed a small, snide laugh and grunted, as if to get up from sitting, "What have you been doing?"
"Oh, y'know, just picking my nose," Berri firmly sassed, though Turbo cocked an eyebrow and peered to Berri in a gentle slump of terror; in this swift volley of sass she effortlessly delivered, Turbo held his breath and was well aware he now had a front row seat to any future arguments the two would likely have, just how Berri would act in a full show of unhinged frustration, Turbo diligently took notes, though Berri flagged her hand out and peered across Turbo's lovely, sunny home, "What do you THINK I've been doing? I've been recuperating from the hugest, scariest day of my whole life."
"I just need you to know that whatever you and Turbo had plotted, against me, is all going to go to the press," Gunner warned, he sounded exhausted, his words were mumbled and croaked, though he still was sharply coherent.
"Fine, Gunner, I don't care, it's not like your assumptions would hold weight, anyways," Berri eased, she shook her head and softly set her phone onto Turbo's glossy island's counter, "None of it is true, so it'll just be a stupid rumor and then dissipate. You literally have no proof of what you're saying."
"I guess I look back and could see all the signs," Gunner stated dryly, "You had been talking about Turbo for weeks. I just... Didn't want to believe that you had actually moved on."
"But we were still friends, I just don't understand how you think I would just BE your friend and legitimately be plotting your downfall," Berri gestured to herself urgently, "Why would you accuse me of doing something so heinous? Is that because YOU'RE guilty of doing that with Tatum? You're suspicious of everyone else because your conscious isn't clear?"
"That's NONE of your business," Gunner suddenly urged, though Turbo bit his lip in slick preparation, took a slow and nervous step away from Berri and flinched the second her soft and tender decibels began to spike.
"UH, YES it is! She lives with me! She lives with me because YOU ruined her LIFE," Berri firmly shouted, Turbo urgently kept his eyes tight to Berri as her angry, outward fervor was held in a two foot radius of her at Turbo's island, "You're just SO sure someone is out to get you because you're well aware karma was long overdue to chewing your ass up and spitting you back out."
"Well I hope her and Theo are VERY happy, now," Gunner pressed meanly, "You know how many spreads and articles are now hot on my heels? How much you slandered my name and image?"
"I imagine that's exactly how Tatum felt," Berri snipped.
"This is far worse, I didn't think you'd actually carry out with the ENTIRE concert without me, Berri," Gunner stabbed, "That was so fucked up of you to do, to take my parts and then allow that MONSTER on stage?"
"Ho," Turbo huffed through a hot breath as he looked off and bobbed a nod, though him and Berri cautiously caught eyes as Turbo eased a mean smile and silently gave her a look as if to insinuate that he had a lot of opinions, here, though promised he'd remain silent.
"This is defamation at its finest, and I oughta sue the pants right off of you," Gunner growled, to which Berri put her hands on her hips and bobbed a nod.
"Oh, then lawyer up, my dude, cause I'm READY," Berri shouted.
"With WHAT money?" Gunner dared with a mean laugh, he seemed slightly out of sorts, Berri sharply furrowed her eyebrows and gaped an ironic, mean smile of surprise.
"... It's not like I'm ROYALTY or anything? Or don't have any of my concert earnings? You come at me with lawyers, Gun, I'll make sure my name never falls from your mouth, ever again," Berri stated sharply, she crossed her arms and bobbed a firm nod, "I'm going to need you to listen to me very closely... The reason you lost your cool with me was because I slipped up and made clear that I've been housing Tatum. You lost your cool because you were caught with your pants down. I KNEW about how you betrayed Tatum a whole WEEK before our show in Arcadia, Gun."
"Get to the point," Gunner stabbed.
"I could've EASILY ruined your life, I could've taken Tatum and gone to the media and SPOILED everything for you, EVERYTHING! I had every single ball on the PLANET in my court," Berri growled, "But you know what, Gunner? I didn't. I didn't! Cause I knew just to finish this contract and wash my hands of this bullshit."
"Yeah, tell it to Theo," Gunner muttered.
"I don't control Theo, Theo is extremely protective of Tatum, that's like his HUGEST idol. We didn't tell Theo to say everything he did, about Tatum, to the press yesterday. He just went for it, and that's for him to speak on," Berri urged as she clapped her hands, "The point is, even WITH the press in our face, we could've trashed the SHIT out of you, and we didn't! Turbo even DODGED a question about you that could've painted you in a bad light! For fucking with the WRONG people, you should count your lucky stars for how desperately we're trying to let you come out of this unscathed."
"Oh yeah, that's EXACTLY what you're doing, doing the WHOLE damn show without me, and now the whole world is just in love with Turbo," Gunner loudly argued, "I've gotten death threats left and right, my name is ALL over the news-"
"BECAUSE YOU ABANDONED US!" Berri firmly clapped her hands, she bent over for emphasis, Turbo flinched in surprise as her angry voice reverberated all over the place, "Of course your name is a part of a smear campaign, you DITCHED us! I was due to doing that WHOLE show by myself, and the only reason Turbo was tossed into it is because he came onto the stage to give me an in-ear, and I enticed him to join. We have music together, it was just something that HAPPENED."
"Sure, sure," Gunner mocked in mean delight.
"I've been begging Turbo for MONTHS to leave Sugar Rush, I nearly dumped him entirely because it was something he refused to sway on," Berri rushed in a spike of growling anger, something Turbo now diligently took note of, and though he could only really see Berri's profile, Turbo sharply furrowed his eyebrows and froze in a cold swathe of terror. He long-blinked in wild disbelief as he could see a gentle kiss of a glowing orange splay the bridge of Berri's cute nose and cheeks, though as he so cautiously began to lean around so he could properly see Berri's face, she sharply pressed on, "This was our FINAL show, and he was FINALLY going to just show up and surprise me... But of course he had to walk in RIGHT as you were man handling me-"
"Do NOT EVEN say that!" Gunner loudly yelled, her phone speaker cracked with static as Gunner firmly continued, "I didn't even TOUCH you!"
"You are an ACTUAL asshole and I am SHOCKED that Turbo didn't beat you up while he had the chance!" Berri hollered into her phone, now shivering on the counter top, left on speaker, though as Turbo finally was able to see Berri's face, he raised his eyebrows in a wash of unadulterated surprise at the sight before him. Berri's irises were faintly glowing a vivid, angry orange, something she was way too frustrated and flustered to notice, though Turbo swallowed hard and now immediately knew he needed to somehow curb this conversation, for good. Berri firmly clenched her fists before firmly pointing down into her phone, though she finally swiped it into her hand and urgently continued on. The flecks of color in her eyes glossed with red power as her predatory gaze scanned Turbo's home, "He did you a favor, he got in your face and nothing more, THAT could've been REALLY bad for you."
"Well, Berri, I hope you're REALLY happy with that scum of a bad guy, then, I'm REALLY thrilled you found someone ugly enough to match your personality," Gunner pressed in mean delight, though Turbo grit his teeth and wondered how Berri was still standing still, "I really thought your beautiful looks were a mirror to your soul, but... Can't have it all, I guess. Is Turbo aware of all of this? All your silly little secrets? Y'tell him that you're scared to use your wrecking powers? Like a child, you're terrified of the dark? Surely he should be made aware that the carpet likely matches the drapes, too?"
"A-plus, Gunner, I'm so proud that you're smart enough to put two and two together," Berri seethed, though her voice pressed in dainty, sarcastic charm, "That's USUALLY the case with someone's natural hair color, I'm really impressed your little brain was able to piece that together, just now, do... Do you want me to tell the press of your accomplishment?"
"You're such a bitch, a REAL piece of work, my babe," Gunner choked a soft laugh, and though Turbo felt his blood begin to boil, he flinched in surprise as Berri began to storm about in pacing agitation, her fists clenched; though as she turned about to face her phone, and the island, from a different direction, Turbo froze at the raw sight before him. Not only was Berri's irises aglow a hot red, her pupils were shrunk to mere specks of whole, riled anger. Gunner choked a bit of a louder laugh and continued on, "You wanna tell me what the freak has that I don't? Y'know what, don't answer, cause I know anything you say, from here, is just going to be you proverbially sucking him off. Not like you ever did me any favors."
"I didn't do you any favors cause I wouldn't have had anything to work with, sweetheart," Berri so eloquently stated, such grace and tenderness to her tone, Turbo sharply raised his eyebrows, gaped a little and covered his mouth with the back of his hand as Berri softly tossed her lovely hair over the back of her shoulder and gently gestured down to her phone, "Remember that one time you came out of the bathroom naked, after your shower, and acted all shocked because I saw you? You ducked away and got outta there quick, and I pretended not to see anything, but I most definitely saw. And, now that I look BACK at that scenario, I know you just wanted a reaction out of me. Which is really sick, of you, by the way."
"Why would I just DO that on purpose?" Gunner weakly pleaded in an angry tone, to which Berri looked off in seething, aimless frustration and shrugged.
"I don't know, so I could one day confidently tell you that I wasn't impressed in the slightest," Berri stated in firm, sarcastic charm, she shook her head and narrowed her gaze, "Now, you listen here, and you listen good. I'll keep your name out of my ENTIRE crew's mouths if you do yourself a huge favor and never call or message me, ever again. I thought we could salvage friendship, here, but it's clear you're just alive to burn bridges. We'll be rebranding ourselves, and will have absolutely nothing to do with you. So if you don't want my entire team of warhorses on your doorstep, you'd be wise to delete my number."
"Kay, well I'm going to the press about you all," Gunner stabbed, "You haven't heard the last of me, unfortunately."
"I don't care what you do, just LEAVE ME ALONE!" Berri now hollered down to her phone.
"ANYTHING for you, YOUR HIGHNESS," Gunner yelled in mean delight, though as the call suddenly blipped to and end, on Gunner's accord, Turbo hardly had any time to even collect just what had taken place, and what was shortly to come.
With a sharp, thick inhale through her nose, Berri clenched her fists, rounded Turbo's island, and although she looked as if she was just en-route to simply start pacing the entirety of Turbo's home, Turbo largely jolted in whole terror as Berri suddenly cupped her fists together, reeled back and took a firm, lunging swing at the corner wall entrance of the corridor to Turbo's bedroom. With a pang of a rumble and a sudden pop of dust, concrete suddenly crackled to Turbo's tiles as she easily clapped a very decent sized divot right out of the wall. With the cough of debris that angrily splayed the tile, Turbo felt his fresh coding suddenly swarm him in the memory of glitching that came rushing back to him, and with a small bounce of rosey coding, he easily zipped a few feet before her and was quick to halt her in the rush of his sudden, urging words.
"WHOA whoa, Berri-Berri-Berri," Turbo rushed in sudden, terrified fervor, though as he swung within her gravity, he was successful in grappling her upper arms and halting her in her warpath; her beautiful blue hair angrily fell in front of her face and splayed her shoulders, she heavily panted through the grit of her teeth, her eyes peered tight into Turbo's in ballistic, red rage, an entirely bizarre sight. Turbo shook his head and urgently flood her upper arms with the swathe of their shared coding, so to immediately attempt to calm her down, "Baby, easy, easy... He's not worth this, he's just an idiot, this is what he WANTS."
"I hate him," Berri growled in trembling anger, such a swathe of immediate, wrecking anger Turbo had never ever witnessed in Berri before, and with said swathe of sudden emotion, Turbo felt his heart sink in a sag of realization; the decades of emotion Turbo had been successfully stuffing and attempting to heal now had a fresh new body and mind to run rampant in, such emotions had an updated, wrecking outlet to utilize at its fullest, something Turbo grit his teeth to and at least was thrilled said immediate exterior swap was quick to calm her down. Berri shook her head as big tears immediately welled in her glowing eyes, red irises that peered tight into Turbo's eyes, almost in desperation, "What do we do, from here? I called to try and clear the air and it back fired!"
"He handled it poorly, he knows he's wrong so he's doing ANYTHING to get under your skin," Turbo urged, he kept his hand gripped tight to her upper arms, and though Turbo wanted to be equally as angry towards Gunner, he eagerly switched his energy and directed every single last one of his priorities to his bride. He gripped her with tighter fervor and shook his head as they locked eyes, her lip trembled as her shoulders equally shook with the rise and fall of such an intense emotion, Turbo shook his head, once more, and leaned a little closer to her, his voice eased to her in a soft verbal embrace of tenderness he so desperately hoped she'd latch onto, "You're above it. You're above his nonsense. He's not going to come for you cause he knows better-"
"Turbo, I still wronged him, I still didn't do my best in honestly telling him I was in love with YOU, while I was WITH him," Berri staggered in whole, trembling conflict, the red anger in her eyes softly eased back to her normal turquoise-blue eyes, big tears spilled down her cheeks as her and Turbo stood in the still of the rubble from the concrete of his now destroyed wall, "I played a part, here, he's not... The only one in the wrong. I wasn't honest with him."
"Berri, have you ever deceived a band-mate and forced her into homelessness? Have you ever disrespected Gunner with hateful name-calling?" Turbo eagerly rattled, Berri exhaled a raspy breath and softly shook her head, though she felt a whole wave of a million lifetimes of emotions just hit her square between the eyes. She grit her teeth and crumpled into soft, silent cries of despair, though Turbo adamantly shook his head and finally gripped Berri into a tight hug. She scrunched her face, grit her teeth and shoved the side of her head into the broad of Turbo's chest, he firmly held the back of her head with one hand and wrapped her shoulders in his other arm, secured in a gooey grip of their still connected exterior swap. Turbo pressed his mouth and face into the top of her head and continued to quietly speak over her, "Sure, you both played a part in this weird downhill slide, but... He's carrying it on with a far nastier grip of hate. He knows the things he did were far worse, and that's the difference. We just need to leave him be... No going to the press, no mention of his name, we can't keep stirring the pot."
"What if he does, though?" Berri hissed in exhaustion as she shut her eyes tight, her fists were still clenched, though they trembled in the onset of lost adrenaline.
"Then he does, and we carry on with our heads held high," Turbo shrugged, he heaved a shaky breath and finally eyed the chunk taken out of his wall. Knowing, full well, it all could be easily fixed with the press of a button in the code room, he still cocked an eyebrow and felt a wave of humility course through him. Very well aware that he, too, had wrecking powers, seeing it come forth, in Berri, a typically happy and more glitch-leaning gamer, he felt his heart sink in gentle understanding; forgetting that he was in a full exterior swap with his brand new swap-mate, Berri heaved a soft, regretful sigh and buried her face into Turbo's strong chest.
"I know, I just... Hit the first thing I could that could be fixed, I'm sorry," Berri staggered nervously, "I know I don't usually wreck spontaneously, like that, I just... Have so much... More emotion inside of me. I just couldn't help it."
"You've... Downloaded thirty years worth," Turbo mumbled sorrowfully, the two peeled away from each other in a sag of nervousness, they peered tight into each other's eyes in a show of apprehensive dread, "Your stress marks are entirely gone, but... It... Looks like we likely will have another animal to defeat, here. You've adopted all my feelings, mood ring-eyes and all."
"... What?" Berri flinched in confusion, having been following along until his final statement; Turbo huffed a nervous chuckle and bobbed a nod.
"Yeah, babe, your eyes were glowing red, you didn't notice it on the bridge of your nose?" Turbo faltered his words with a wary though impressed smile, Berri looked shocked as she looked about the rubble by her feet.
"N-No, I didn't, I just... Have never felt such an intense swing of emotion, like that, in my entire life," Berri mumbled in curiosity, she finally opened her palms and took note of the divots in her palms, where her nails firmly dug into her skin, she long-blinked in soft terror, at herself, and shook her head, "I have... So much on my mind, all at once, it's just... Really intense."
"I guess... I didn't consider any of this, when we swapped," Turbo choked a small, nervous laugh, though as he unhanded Berri and ceased their loving exterior swap, he apprehensively pulled out his phone and began to cue the code room options he was in charge of. With a few blips, the concrete of his wall corrected itself and the mess was cleaned. Turbo sighed, sagged his shoulders and finally reached up to wipe the tears from Berri's cheeks, "My love... You're such a fighter. You have so much courage, and... I really admire how loyal you are to the good people in your life."
"But...?" Berri mumbled sorrowfully, her glistening blue eyes peered up into Turbo's in a sag of defeat, though Turbo sharply furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head in confusion.
"... 'But' what?" Turbo wondered warmly, though Berri long-blinked in confusion and looked to Turbo's chest in an aimless gaze.
"O-Oh, I thought there were to be negative connotations to follow," Berri intelligently quipped with a soft shrug, though Turbo raised his eyebrows in delightful surprise and continued to hold her face cupped, he huffed a sweet chuckle and shook his head.
"No, love. I guess I didn't... Realize just how heavy my coding would be, for you," Turbo mumbled, he furrowed his brow in soft confusion and eased a gentle smile, "Last time I did this, I was only a handful of Arcade-years old, I didn't have ALL of this heaviness in me, to give to Libby, once upon a time... I'm sorry, baby."
"No, no, it's... It's really fascinating," Berri hissed in exhaustion, though she gave Turbo a humble smile, "It's a LOT to sift through, but it's... Vastly interesting. I thought I had a good grip on reality, but... Wow, adding all of your knowledge to myself is really humbling. It's like all the little things don't matter, now. I think that's why this issue, with Gunner, is really driving me up a wall. It's all so silly and pointless. There are far greater issues."
"It's a lot to digest," Turbo mumbled, "I think... Let's go to this palace meeting, let's download everything with the rest of the group, and... Methinks you, me and the band need a bit of a getaway. It's been a long few months, for ALL of us."
"A getaway?" Berri chimed gently, piqued curiosity, she eased a tired smile and patiently glued her cute eyes to Turbo's, "You have my attention."
"We can discuss it further," Turbo chuckled, he pulled Berri a little closer and softly smooched her forehead a few times as she sagged into Turbo's strong, bare chest, "Let's prepare for this impromptu palace meeting and... I guess pray your father doesn't murder me, afterwards."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot," Berri blurt a nasally chuckle and lulled her eyes closed, she carried on with her teasing notions, "What if he doesn't want to beat you up for swapping with me?"
"I mean, half of me wants to believe it's NOT about that because, well... I proposed to you last night," Turbo wrinkled his nose and gestured his hand in irritation, "What did he THINK would take place afterwards? I mean really?"
"You won't know unless we get this palace meeting out of the way," Berri mumbled, she sagged her exhausted figure into Turbo's as he supported her.
"C'mon, lets..." Turbo started, he heaved a long, exasperated sigh and really did whatever he could to swallow absolutely everything that had taken place in the last twenty four hours. To speak on it would only bring him to further disbelief, though he eased a dorky smile and looked off, "Let's... Maybe go our separate ways for now, take showers, get dressed for the day, and... I'll meet you at the meeting."
"Y'think it'd be suspicious if we arrived TOGETHER or SEPARATE, or..." Berri emphasized as she side-eyed Turbo in raw curiosity and let her mouth hang agape, as if she wasn't quite done with her inquiry, though wasn't sure quite how to piece it all together; Turbo held his breath, puffed his cheeks and allowed his golden eyes to dart about Berri's face in searching, conflicted curiosity, though he blurt a soft, sighing laugh, lulled his eyes closed and shook his head as Berri joined in on his nervous laughter and carried on, "I think we're damned if we do, damned if we don't."
"Let's just... Arrive separate, act nonchalant, I'm sure at least Tessa and Zed are aware, let's just... Try not to bring too much attention to ourselves," Turbo sighed, he rubbed the back of his head and gave Berri an apprehensive, bashful smile, "Maybe we can just quietly spill the beans to Wren and Theo, afterwards. Discuss our getaway and-"
"Well WREN will be able to pick it out of us just by looking at us, you KNOW how quick he is," Berri muttered with a nervous smile as she crossed her arms, "He'll want to know just what's up with Gunner, I'll have to call Bedgy at some point, I'm POSITIVE we can't do anything or go anywhere without a final press conference..."
"It's... A lot, let's just take it one issue at a time," Turbo heaved a long, hard sigh as he shook his head and gave Berri a pleading look of gentle delight, "At least... We have each other to hold at the end of the night."
"... When you say 'have each other to hold' you meannn," Berri playfully twiddled her hands and side-eyed Turbo in blushing cheek, though Turbo raised his eyebrows in plucked, boyish concern and faltered on a few words.
"I-I mean like... I-If you want, we can-"
"Uh, yeah, pencil me in, good sir," Berri chirped with a small laugh and a look as if to politely say he should be expecting said cheeky neediness, from now on.
"Duly noted," Turbo concluded with a nod and a shy smile to his feet.
A/N : I drew fanart of Berri's red-rage eyes! Probably not as terrifying as Turbo's, but it's on my Instagram username Vyntastic :)
