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Song Listened To :
Be Okay by Oh Honey
Finding Water by James Newton Howard
*Chapter 215*
Chocolate earth underfoot, the tower of gorgeous candy cane trees overhead, the kiss of delicious, pink, summery cotton candy clouds against the boast of Sugar Rush's minty sky, this land catered to every single sense. Although a few miles away from the palace, in a thin patch of trees inside Sugar Rush's massive, infamous candy cane forest, the group of gamers Turbo hand finally laid eyes on had his shoulders sagging in relief. Although nervous about this whole ordeal, the raw fact that he had gained over a dozen new coded family members, in this whole, messy ordeal called love, he could feel his heart continue to race for all sorts of different reasons. More used to dark, gloomy, cold code rooms and calculated procedures that required rearranging the whole of Sugar Rush, the brand new sensation of having his bare feet in Sugar Rush's lovely, fluffy earth, the kiss of hot sun against his now becoming-freckled skin, Turbo could feel the very fruit of his labor begin to blossom into full bloom, right before his eyes.
The way the gorgeous white leaves, high over head, glinted sunshine down to the lovely, swirled, chocolatey earth, the huge group that had gathered in lazy, littler sections of conversations, laughing fits, all which included all six of the palace's dragons, Turbo took a good, nervous look around and was relieved to see that every wrecker here was barefoot, dressed lightly, a casual mess of easiness, something he was worried he'd be sporting all by himself. In said silence, he quickly allowed his conscious to come back to him the second he heard Berri's soft giggle sent in his direction; Turbo raised his eyebrows in dewy unawares and stabbed his minty gaze tight to Berri's inquisitive stare; he was standing with Wren and Throttle, two gamers of which that joined in on the fun, even with their lack of wrecking powers. Turbo's nervous eyes dart between all three beings, he shrugged and shook his head.
"What!" Turbo plead in annoyance, to which all three beings blurt into soft laughter.
"You look terrified," Wren chimed with a chuckle, to which Throttle bobbed a nod.
"Ease up, this is fun!" Throttle assured, though Turbo easily sport a grumpy air and looked off.
"Easy for you to say," Turbo muttered, to which Berri finally approached and eased her hand to Turbo's lower arm.
"Babe, it's going to be fine," Berri sweetly eased to his soul in their tender bout of privacy, she peered up to Turbo's minty, muted eyes and relished in the sight of the sunlight that kissed his skin in waves of the leaves, which rustled in the warm breeze.
"I just don't want to be the center of attention," Turbo mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head, and just as Berri grimaced a look and opened her mouth to politely warn Turbo that he just might be, a familiar voice popped their fragile conversation, just to Turbo's left.
"Hate to break it to you, love, but you're gunna be," Tessa stated a little louder as she began to head over to the two; with said press of her voice, her Queenly disposition, the way she commanded the attention of a crowd, Turbo held his breath and stabbed his now grey and scared eyes tight to Tessa's, who nonchalantly began to approach with Ace and Zed lazily following suit, "Gotta get you up to speed, wrecker style. But, at least you're in good hands."
"It's much easier if you're in it with someone who is ALSO new to wrecking," Zed muttered in hot annoyance with a nod in Turbo's direction, as if to assure he went through similar nonsense.
"Uh, I'm literally right here," Nox blurt as he waggled his hand in an obnoxious fashion, to which Zed raised his eyebrows in surprise and dart his attention straight for Turbo's littlest brother; not much could get across before Ace urgently wrangled Nox into a playful, squirming headlock.
"Yeah, he's not wrong, never mind," Zed chuckled and gave Turbo a sheepish grin, and although Turbo playfully rolled his eyes and allowed a smile to grace his face, his muted eyes still permanently displayed just how lost in nervousness and fear he genuinely was.
"It's not so scary, you just gotta learn to overcome past circumstances that could make you angry and fuel your power, in that way," Nox choked in grinning irritation as he finally freed himself from Ace's grip. His straight, dark, charcoal grey hair shot in all directions, something he now desperately tried to manage. Inside Turbo's little group, that had gathered, was Ace, Berri, Nox, Zed, Tessa, Theo, Tatum, Throttle and Wren, though scattered across the thinner patch of field the group had melted into was Ralph, Vanellope, Emery, Oliver, Libby, Beaux, Mara and Koko. Nox straightened his shirt and looked over his shoulder, to where Ralph was; he was loudly laughing and bantering with Oliver and Beaux, across the way, "Not only do you have all of us to help you, but you have Arcade's original wrecker, AND glitcher."
"No better place to be," Berri assured gently with a nod, to which Tessa joined in and tenderly swat at Turbo's center.
"C'mon, my guy, none of us are gunna bite," Tessa assured with a laugh, and although Turbo melted into a sweet, sheepish smile of understanding, Zed, Nox, Ace and Theo came about in loose camaraderie as Turbo nervously looked down to his feet; all four men pat Turbo's back and ushered him quiet notions of hype, hoping to get Turbo out of this nervous funk he had found himself in.
"I might," Tatum eased with great sass as she gently crossed her arms and looked off with a playful smile; everyone eased into laughter with each other as Theo cutely nudged Tatum's shoulder. She shrugged and gave Turbo a sweet smile, "Hey, if you ever need a point of safety, if you ever need someone who ALSO doesn't know what the hell is going on, I'll be here!"
"Thanks, Tatum," Turbo choked a laugh and gave Tatum a sweet smile of whole gratitude, it was here did the yellow in his eyes look as if it potentially wanted to come back for a split second.
"This event took a strange turn," Ralph's familiar, booming voice pressed as he approached Tessa's small group, everyone peered to the head of this shindig with smiles as Ralph dusted his hands off and gave Tatum a confused smile, "We went from wrecking to biting. I know nothing 'bout that."
"Ooo, biting, count me in," Lickity barked meanly as she grinned her sharp fangs, her bumbling body urgently began to scramble over to the group, and with such, Chester hobbled alongside her in playful, hyper fashion, their huge paws and claws kicked up chocolate dirt.
"BITING?" Chester barked excitedly, to which Tessa threw her hands up in hot irritation and shook her head.
"ALRIGHT, all flyers interested in tearing each other's heads off, go OVER THERE," Tessa urged as she began to shove on Lickity's fluffy, broad chest; everyone was lost in laughter the second Lickity finally decided to swiftly saunter away with Chester, and now Royal, tight on her tail sails. Tessa puffed some hair out of her eyes, the messy chaos of auburn goodness pulled up into a ponytail, the comfortable grey sweats and tight, darker grey tank top she sport, she put her hands on her hips and peered up to her father in grinning annoyance, "I don't think it was a good idea to invite the flyers, dad."
"Why? They add a certain something to these wreck-fests," Ralph argued, he furrowed his brow as Vanellope, as well as the rest of the group, slowly made both littler groups one, once and for all.
"This isn't your average wreck-fest, pops," Tessa quipped quietly as she crossed her arms, though she subtly gestured to Turbo's nervous disposition, stood poised with Berri, Ace, Nox, Zed, Theo and Tatum.
Ralph softened and finally allowed his eyes to find Turbo in the mess. Muted eyes void of color, sagged in nervousness, the show of potentially being scared to show even any shred of emotion, Ralph held his breath and was well aware he had a lot of tough love, a lot of work, a lot of digging to be given to this poor, shivering soul before him. Someone with an equal amount of time spent in the Arcade, and an even greater understanding of genuine pain, Ralph glossed his eyes about the group and knew this was definitely going to be a day to remember. The responsibility to wrangle the infamous Turbo into the fold of would-be destructive wreckers, the feat it'd be to see Turbo go on to control every single aspect of this tumultuous gift, this chaotic, unorganized gamer ability, Ralph scratched the back of his head and knew that with the massive group about him, no two wreckers were alike. Each one blessed and cursed with different positive and negative experiences, and although Ralph was prepared to continue on this trend, he felt a twinge of worry with just how many years of trauma he was now given, in student form.
"Never thought I'd see this day," Ralph mumbled warmly as him and Turbo finally caught eyes, a dance Ralph knew well, though Ralph was well aware he had had his blinders up; this particular dance was certain to very quickly turn into a show of arms.
"I was just gunna say," Vanellope cutely agreed, and as the group remained still in their messy, gathered formation, it was clear the group was due to beveling so that Ralph and Turbo were the epicenter. Vanellope inhaled a deep breath and crossed her arms over her minty green tank top, "Hate to break it to yah, Ralph, but I think I've started the WHOLE entire game on a trend of seeking bad guys and turning them to good boys."
"I wasn't a bad guy," Ralph grumbled in irritation, the thick furrow of his brow, he scratched his chest and was almost annoyed to allow his eyes to catch with the bright patch of blue that definitely liked to test his patience.
"I was, c'mon Ralph, just admit it, the ladies love it," Zed's deep voice pressed in cheeky confidence, something Ralph's grimace grew tighter over, and though Zed linked his arm about Tessa's hip, Tessa rolled her eyes and looked upwards in sagged, neutral annoyance, "I think you should just own it."
"Yeah? Huh, does that somehow work out in the bedroom or something?" Ralph barked in solid irritation, and although Ralph wasn't too keen on the topic, Zed grinned a cocky grin and tilted his head in flashy nonchalance.
"Why don't we ask the Queen," Zed muttered cooly, to which Tessa pursed her lips and side-eyed Zed into next week.
"You should ask Sugar Rush's future Queen, too," Ralph grunted in irritation as he lofted his eyes over to Turbo and Berri, just in time to see Turbo sneakily hook his arm about Berri's waist.
Turbo cutely cleared his throat, looked off in playful nonchalance and was floored Berri immediately burst out into hard laughter, amidst the lesson Ralph was quick to deliver; Zed immediately dropped his act, furrowed his eyebrows in hot irritation and shot Turbo a look of fatherly challenge.
"Dude, I don't want to hear it," Zed argued as his cocky air dropped, though he flinched in hot surprise the second Ralph leaned down and just lightly got in Zed's face.
"Then what makes you think I do?" Ralph sharply and loudly hissed, to which Zed took a wavering step away; the whole group was lost in laughter, to which Tessa covered her face and did what she could to not show she was also laughing at Zed's expense, "You may be King, my guy, but I always will have that first crown. It's all fun and games until your OWN precious daughter is involved, huh..."
"Fine, fine, sorry," Zed muttered in defeat as he straightened his thinner tank top, eyed Turbo in dutifully delivered, fatherly authority and then finally tossed his nervous, sheepish glance to his Queen.
"You walked right in to that one, babe," Tessa cutely mumbled as she crossed her arms, and though her and Zed cutely began to bicker, Ralph eased off of Zed's disposition and broadened his gaze back to Turbo's stance, a dozen or so feet out before him.
"Alright, all my non-wrecking beauties, follow me," Emery chimed as she waggled her hand and began to press across the group, though in doing so, her and Ralph touched hands in cute departure.
"Next time, Ems?" Ralph wondered warmly, and as Tatum, Wren and Throttle began to trail after Emery, she sweetly looked over her shoulder and gave Ralph a nod.
"Next time, I promise," She assured, and as she took the group away, Ralph inhaled a deep breath and peered to Turbo in kind contemplation.
"Alright, my guy, usually we start off with stance, and move into the more physical aspect of wrecking, but... Looks as if we're going to have to dig into the more emotion aspect of this all, first," Ralph stated through a sigh as the group finally eased into a loose circle about the two, and as Turbo bravely stepped forward, stood before Arcade's hugest, most intimidating wrecker of them all, Ralph softened and took in the details of Turbo's frail disposition.
A man of great strength and stature, someone who was lightly sculpted, ready for anything, as sharp and as intelligent as they come, it was clear the light in his eyes and soul was flickering in a wavering wind of whole uncertainty; something Turbo wasn't caught sporting, especially as of late. Ralph put his hands on his hips and peered down to Turbo in contemplation, he finally looked about the group and eyed Nox for future reference.
"Have you wrecked anything, or tested your strength at all, yet?" Ralph wondered, to which Turbo shook his head and did whatever he could to pretend he was relaxed; he sagged his shaking hands into his sweats, cool looking black pants that hugged his lower legs and were a bit baggier in his thighs for easier movement; he was cozily dressed in a faded cream t-shirt, his bare feet and nothing more.
Ralph narrowed his gaze as Turbo rushed to continue, "I-I mean, I've tested my glitching, that comes easily to me, because, well..."
"That's a power you know likely better than the lot of us, you were a glitch for over thirty years," Ralph grumbled with a nod as him and Turbo casually tossed their gazes to Libby's positioning, in the group, "No, I'm not worried about that right now, what I AM worried about is if you even have the ability. Something we have learned to start out with FIRST."
"... I-I run the risk of not even having the ability?" Turbo pressed in confusion, to which Ralph lofted his gaze to Nox, across the small gap.
"That happened to me," Nox pressed nervously as he gestured to himself, he stood confidently between Ace and Koko, "When Koko and I swapped, somehow all the glitching abilities made its way to me, but wrecking only showed up recessive."
"He... Tried to wreck a boulder outside of the castle in Dead Zed, and..." Ace grit his teeth in whole distaste and nervously rubbed the back of his head while he looked down.
"I destroyed both of my hands because I went at it with FULL force," Nox explained cautiously, he narrowed his gaze in apologetic sorrow, "I could've sworn I've told you this story, Turbo."
"You didn't know he'd swap codes with a wrecker, it wasn't totally relevant," Koko warmly assured, she gave Turbo and Berri a knowing smile, from their different positions in the gathered group.
"I like to put new wreckers through a small grip test, first and foremost," Ralph started out, he lofted his gaze over his shoulder; the group flinched in surprise as Vanellope cued her royal purple coding and shot off, in a glitch-bounce, to User-knows-where. In a flash, she immediately returned and was holding on to a smaller piece of hollowed out candy cane branch. As Vanellope approached Ralph, and he graciously received the bark from her, Vanellope remained to Ralph's side for this little show of an experiment as all eyes held to Turbo, "Alright, so... This grip test is more just to see if you actually have the strength and ability first. Anyone without the ability to wreck can't simply grip candy cane bark, like such, and have it crumple upon the pressure."
"I-I... Are you sure I should be testing my skill just yet?" Turbo pressed, it was clear he was now becoming reserved in his nervousness, the way his muted grey eyes remained tight to conceal any emotion, "This all seems a little fast, I just don't want to... I-I don't know..."
"You should be just fine, it's just a grip test," Ralph warmly assured, though he furrowed his brow and now reluctantly relinquished ownership of the hollow chunk of bark now in Turbo's possession. Easily the size of a grapefruit, Turbo's eyes nervously assessed the hefty chunk of wood, a piece that no normal gamer could just easily crush. A formidable, hardy material, Turbo held it in his palm in such a way to prove that he was now prepared to squeeze it and prove whether or not he had the wrecking skill. Ralph swallowed hard, straightened his shirt and shot Vanellope an almost apprehensive look of wariness; he was grateful she gave it right back to him and began to so slowly slink away. Said slinking cued the group, about Ralph and Turbo, to take a few steps back out of respect and nervousness, "If... If you successfully wreck the hollow bark, here, we'll carry on to how said small bout of wrecking made you feel, and we can mitigate any negative emotions that come up. Baby steps."
"... Baby steps," Turbo whispered to himself as his muted eyes honed tight to the gorgeous block of hollow candy cane wood in his hand.
Although his muted eyes scanned the gorgeous pops of reds and cream bark in his hand, Turbo inhaled a deep breath and sought to crumple it, at will. Nervous this wouldn't end the way he wanted, he now held his breath and slowly began to count down from three. Eager to get this ball rolling, to hopefully assure himself that this wasn't such a big deal and the raging, tumultuous, dreaded memories of emotions were all in his head, he grit his teeth and allowed his grip to firmly clench down on the bark. On par with the ease of simply popping a flimsy water balloon, the bark immediately crumpled in a crackling fit of Turbo's success in garnering the wrecking skill. Turbo flinched in hot surprise and froze as he watched the sturdy pieces of wood crumple from his grip, though he immediately perked up with likely the widest grin he could afford, wider than anything anyone had seen all day.
"Phew!" Nox ushered out to the group as everyone eagerly clapped and gave Turbo loud, joyous notions of a job well done.
"Kay, one less thing to worry about," Ralph eased his infamous gap-toothed smile and peered deep into Turbo's lovely, now golden glowing eyes.
"I did it," Turbo chimed in happiness as his chest heaved a little in the rush of coded excitement, the brand new ability he was successful in obtaining, though in the gentle kiss of lovely joy and happy excitement lofted his way, Turbo's eyebrows so gently began to furrow in a fit of climbing confusion as said wave of happiness rose and fell.
As if the world about him tightened from a bright draw of lovely, heavenly light, he suddenly felt as if the atmosphere was beginning to shroud with a heavy fog, a sink to the bottom of a black ocean, Turbo sagged his shoulders and watched as the last bits of wood fell from his opened palm. With the rush of excitement now came a spew of rushing emotion Turbo was well aware he had no control of, a rushing, explosive, bursting dam that caved in on itself and was prepared to flood and destroy the city of purified hard work he had manifested within himself. Stings of old, buried memories came to peel away the fresh suit of armor he had crowned himself with, what was left underneath was a mess of stuffed frustration and anger, Turbo long-blinked in trembling nervousness and felt as if every single lighted soul about him merely sauntered out of his bubble, as if he was now so severely a lost cause. Turbo began to heavily pant through his nose as the vibrant gold against the bridge of his nose began to dreadfully sag to something far more sinister.
Ralph froze and held his now poised, readied eyes tight to Turbo's, and it was with great displeasure did he notice the lovely, golden glow of Turbo's eyes begin to dip to that of a crimson orange, a slippery slope to that of a hatred of red, pupils that narrowed into the slits of a viper, Ralph held his breath and was certain the group about the two were now paralyzed with fearful uncertainty. Turbo finally began to breath through his mouth, he sagged his shoulders and began to nervously dart his creepy, red eyes about in hot confusion, thus cueing to Ralph that Turbo wasn't a threat to anyone but his own self. Ralph dared to take one small step closer to Turbo with a tender, outstretched hand, though in the simple act of wanting to soothe Turbo's now rushing, blind, angry and confused worries, Turbo hooked his scary eyes tight to Ralph and allowed his body to become consumed with his and Berri's lovely, rosy gold coding. In a flash, lightning quick glitching abilities mixed with his own time warping powers, Turbo was gone. Ralph choked a huff of a noise and opened his mouth to begin ushering Turbo the notion to hold still, though the group now came alive with terrified worry.
"Whoa, whoa, wait, where'd he go?" Zed urged in a rise of nervous, Kingly terror as he pointed out to where Turbo was originally standing; he quickly pulled out his phone and prepared to utilize his code room's remote abilities.
"Someone better get him, and quick," Nox rushed as the group began to become lively with worry; Emery, Throttle, Wren and Tatum all looked on in confusion, from across the gap.
"Dammit, time warping, I forgot all about his ability to just up and go, like that," Ralph hissed in frustration to himself as he nudged his huge knuckles into his forehead.
"Where'd he go?" Oliver blurt in a spike of fear, to which Ralph glowered Zed down in suspected wait.
"To the source of ALL of his problems," Ralph bellowed in full confidence, to which Zed inhaled a shaky breath and jostled his phone's small map in a showy kind of way.
"H-He's... He's at The End," Zed worried, he gestured down to the map and grit his teeth in a full show of confusion, "That's... SO incredibly far away, it's too much for the remoteness of the code room to handle teleportation, like such."
"We gotta get back to the palace, then," Tessa rushed, to which Ralph shook his head and eyed his granddaughter, who stood frozen in dread with Ace and Theo.
"There's no time," Berri staggered as she stepped out into the crowd, which began to grow messy in pacing confusion, she outstretched her hand to her grandfather and looked up into his eyes with a show of rising fear, "The only way to get to Turbo, without code room teleportation, is through me."
"I thought Turbo's time warping powers only work to send you to locations and times you've previously visited," Ralph rushed in genuine confusion, to which Berri bobbed a quick nod and glanced in her mother's direction.
"I've been to The End," Berri firmly assured, her little hand was outstretched to Ralph's, as if to ask him to hold on tight and pursue this with her.
"She was there simply as a loading bar, but she's not wrong, she WAS physically there," Zed mumbled in assurance as he nervously glanced between Ralph and her second born.
"I'm not going without you, grandpa, no one can get Turbo out of this mess but you," Berri rushed in a stagger of rising fear, tears she desperately held back, "No time to waste, take my hand."
Ralph felt fear swathe him, having never been to The End, he swallowed hard and glanced down to Berri's little hand in a show of now drowning, engulfed apprehension. Prepared for the worst, certain this was something he could easily shake Turbo from, he wondered if doing it mere feet from their coded demise was smart. Somehow praying he could bribe Turbo into returning to the safety of the palace, Ralph knew he'd have to do everything he could to goad this fragile, fully loaded, tumultuously tortured and fragmented soul he now shared codes with, by proxy. With a thick inhale and the relief of hearing Tessa instruct Zed, Ace, Libby and Vanellope to head back to the palace's code room for backup, Ralph sagged his much larger hand into Berri's and allowed her rosy coding to engulf his electric purple pixels with purpose. Like a bolt of lightning that navigated the hot to cold land with such perfect precision, the two were off in a flash of messy, confused, white pixels.
