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Snake557 : Oh I hear that xD

faolan1230 : You AREN'T wrong LMAO

Lyssdoodle : Baww that's okay! No worries. And, thank you! YES school is going great!


Song Listened To :

Begin Again by Taylor Swift

Worse Things Than Love by Timeflies ft. Natalia La Rose


Chapter 232*

Mara inhaled a soft, slow breath and began to feel her eyes want to grow heavy. In a cozy snuggle deep in her lovely resort-home's downs, she readjusted her pillow in a bunch, snuggled deeper under her blankets and allowed her eyes to lazily transfix on the television of her cute living room. With Chester's slow, heavy breathing through his large wolf-like snout, it was clear he was out cold. Rested on his back, wings almost haphazardly sprawled, the crown of his head was plowed into the lovely tiles of Mara's little home whilst the nighttime ocean breeze whisked into their surroundings. With a tap of her finger, she illuminated her lock screen of her phone, void of notifications, she noted that it was nearly one in the morning and getting to sleep was probably wise. Through a thick inhale and a struggle to tense her core in the midsts of sitting up, she sharply furrowed her eyebrows and felt her phone suddenly vibrate in rhythmic tinkering; she stabbed her icy eyes tight to her lock screen, once more, and felt a weird sensation of confusion body slam her.

Frozen solid, eyes pierced to the odd sight on her screen, she rubbed her jaw as her phone confusedly suggested that this number was unknown, though with the 'this might be' notification underneath it that properly spelled out the name Whiplash Black. Mara almost hesitantly reached for her phone, hovered her thumb over the 'answer' button and now suspiciously looked about. Wondering if maybe she accidentally left the blinds open somewhere, she apprehensively answered the call and, as she tucked the phone to her ear, she scrunched her shoulders in bewildered, sleepy unawares and confusion. Her more alert eyes stabbed the television once more she opened her mouth to deliver an entirely confused and put-off greeting.

"Hello?" Mara meeped with uncertainty.

"Oh, phew, wait is this Mara? I-I mean, your highness?" Lash barked, it sounded like he was outside due to the windy feedback coming through. Lash grunted a noise of irritation and panted, as if he was speed walking somewhere, "No, I mean... Ms. Kalivar, er... Mara Kalivar. Which one did you prefer most? For User's sake. Er, for Mara's sake."

"... Lash?" Mara choked in solid confusion, she narrowed her eyes and did whatever she could to force her lips from curling into a smile, the hefty, solid, contagious laughter that Lash emit as he mumbled berating notions towards himself.

"Hey, super cool of you to uphold your end of the bargain while I upheld mine, toots- er, your highness," Lash chimed happily, he continued to breathe heavily, clearly still walking somewhere.

"What do you mean? It's one in the morning, where are you?" Mara wondered, she sunk a little further into the couch and felt a weird sensation crawl over her.

"I just told you, I'm holding up my end of the bargain, I'm going into the cave alone," Lash eased with solid confidence, he grunted a small chuckle as he seemingly stumbled and caught his footing, "And, you obviously slept with your phone on loud. I guess, uh... If I'm not around tomorrow, come and find me, cause I'd be lying if I said I wasn't terrified right now."

"Y-You're going NOW?" Mara blurt, she eagerly sat up and desperately peered to her patio's sliding glass doors. Although the blinds were closed, the curtain still ruffled from the soft ocean breeze. Understanding that everyone's patios exited right onto the beach itself, Mara was well aware she could potentially catch Lash before he really followed through with this silly task. She immediately yanked her blankets off of herself, got to a stand, did what she could to avoid waking Chester and swiftly rushed her patio. As she tore out of the curtains and blinds, and into the dark, ocean atmosphere, she inhaled a shaky breath and peered her nervous eyes tight to the creepy gape of an ocean cave, far off, barely seen by the clip of moonlight; Lash was nowhere to be found, she softly carried on, "You CAN'T tell me you're actually already in the cave."

"Yeah I'm neck deep in darkness babe- I-I mean, y-you're highness. I'm a goner," Lash blurt a hearty laugh.

Mara huffed a shaky breath of now whole terror and lowered her phone as her icy eyes scoured the shoreline and the entrance of the cave. She shook her head in entire dread, huffed Lash's name in entire, raw concern and urgently dart off of the side of her lovely, tiled patio and straight into the sand that lined each resort house in heavenly velvet. With the promise of garnering as much speed as she could on sand, she inhaled a deep breath and felt every single ounce of User powers come rushing to her aid, the urgency to hopefully rescue Lash from wherever he was, she grit her teeth and was en route to cueing her glorious, golden coding and speed-teleporting to the gape of a creepy cave. In the action of taking a longer stride in hopefully kept momentum, she cleared the gravity of her resort home and suddenly barreled coding first into something moving.

With a blobbing mess of now orangey, sun kissed coral coding, the grid about her, and whoever she slammed into, came alive with power and fervor, though with the sudden halting of purpose, Mara panted and eagerly peered up into the surprised gaze of golden eyes. Lash held his breath, long-blinked in hot surprise and softly panted as he firmly supported Mara's littler weight against his chest. He raised his eyebrows in solid shock, and although his hands and arms were cradled about Mara's upper back, he felt a weird tense of his muscles, as if to surely affirm that this predicament made zero sense to his brain. He panted lightly through his mouth as him and Mara firmly peered into each others eyes, though as a few seconds went by, the circle quickly completed itself, causing Lash to very slowly ease Mara sly, side-eyeing little smile of smug, sneaky delight. With Mara's hands and arms tucked in between the both of them, the two remained curiously and lightly tangled, though Lash finally huffed a shaky chuckle and pressed her a quiet, scheming notion.

"Aww, so you DO like me," Lash's voice tenderly ushered about his shaky panting, though Mara's softened, curiously innocent expression very quickly turned into a molten, pursed look of solid annoyance. Lash grunted a choke of a laugh as Mara firmly unglued herself from Lash's chest and gave him a very solid shove. Lash wobbled as Mara furiously began to storm away, "Hey, hey, wait, come onnn. Just admit it!"

"Go drown," Mara stabbed, she could swear her face was as red as a beet, she clenched her fists and now angrily stormed back to her gaping patio, nearly a two dozen foot stretch from where her and Lash were; she shut her eyes tight in seething frustration as she could hear Lash's bare feet shuffle through the sand to keep up with her.

"You were gunna come rescue me, no, no! I think it's really nice," Lash urged, whatever he did, he couldn't figure out how to sound genuine about the words coming out of his mouth; he could tell this by the sheer fact that Mara continued to furiously storm away.

"Yeah, I'm some fantastic knight in shining armor, I LOVE being screwed with, it's my favorite thing ever," Mara stabbed in growling frustration, she threw her arms up, "Pick on the girl that takes everything WAY too seriously and gaslight her into next year! It'll be GREAT!"

Lash now frowned and slowed his footsteps, and upon finally easing to a stop, he opened his mouth to nervously reply. With a faltered breath that escaped him, he finally sagged his shoulders and felt the golden confidence of color leave his eyes. He grimaced, peered in the direction of his warpath, to the cave, and finally lulled his eyes closed. With a final sag of his shoulders, defenses released, ego shelved, he reopened his golden gaze and peered in Mara's direction, and although she was still walking away, he inhaled a readied breath and was well aware she was still in ear shot.

"Mara, I-I'm... I'm sorry," Lash admitted gently, and though he wasn't expecting her to turn heel and forgive him immediately, he was floored to see her halfheartedly look over her shoulder in a double take of curious frustration. Glad he was at least successful in being heard, Lash exhaled a long, hot sigh through his nose and allowed his gaze to pierce the moon-kissed shoreline far before them.

"... I'm sorry, was that... An apology that just came out of your mouth?" Mara lightly wondered in dripping sarcasm, she finally turned around and began to so slowly mosey back to Lash's positioning, about a dozen feet off. She crossed her arms and, although still in the dregs of fuming, she was thrilled to have Lash's eye contact. Her soft voice was still heard over the far-off sound of the crashing waves, "Words never before spoken by Whiplash... 'Whatever' Black? I didn't think that was in your vocabulary."

"Kieran," Lash mumbled as he sagged his hands into his pockets and almost felt a frown cross his face, he shyly looked down to his feet, properly buried in the sand.

"... What?" Mara wondered in blank curiosity, to which Lash furrowed his brow and did what he could to ease her a defeated smile.

"You said Whiplash 'Whatever' Black, so... I was just filling in the gap," Lash mumbled, he inhaled a steady breath and glossed his golden eyes to the ocean, his posture softened, "And yeah, I said what I said."

"... Whiplash Kieran Black," Mara recited gently, she finally came within a few feet of Lash and stopped her bare feet in the sand, she narrowed her gaze and peered into Lash's eyes in softened confusion.

"I didn't catch your name," Lash teasingly pressed, to which Mara remained frozen and tenderly delivered her answer in a perfect Teltokuan accent.

"Marathelke Talik'se Kalivar," She eased, to which Lash firmly furrowed his eyebrows.

"Gesundheit," Lash muttered, to which Mara desperately couldn't reserve an unhinged, childlike laugh. She grinned out to the ocean, nervously tucked her hair behind her ear and widely smiled. Lash easily grinned, he narrowed his gaze and hooked to the warm, contagious noises and emotions that overflowed from Mara's cold and icy exterior, he inhaled a shaky breath and was desperate to keep this raw and never-shown side of her continuing, "You can call me Lash, or... Whatever, I'm not picky. Nice to meet you."

"I'm still mad at you," Mara stifled through giggling she was desperate to now conceal, though as she brought her eyes back to Lash, she noticed his hand was out for a handshake. She inhaled a shaky breath and gingerly reached her hand for his, and in their gentle shake, she peered her lovely blue eyes tight to Lash's and eased an annoyed smile, "You don't have to keep calling me 'your highness' either, it's... Not like I'm going to-"

"Kill me?" Lash interrupted, Mara huffed a genuine laugh, once more, to which she desperately tried to conceal as they released hands, "It's fine, I was on my way to meeting my doom, I'll do the work for you."

"Lash," Mara rolled her eyes and chuckled, though she jolted the second Lash softly budged from their bubble and began to continue on his warpath towards the cave; Mara huffed a nervous notion, dropped her arms and urgently dart forward so to keep up with Lash's taller, longer and more determined stride in the sand, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're not serious, I mean, I came out here to stop you."

"So stop me," Lash chimed in delight as he pressed forward, though unbeknownst to him, Mara slowed her footwork, secretly cued the ground underneath Lash's long stride and warped the grid in such away that turned into a sandy treadmill, just underneath Lash's line of action.

"I'm not going to stop you," Mara mumbled in defeat as Lash continued to simply walk in place, without even knowing it; he pressed on in full confidence that he was actually getting somewhere.

"Good, just come with and observe my stupidity," Lash eased as Mara shifted on her feet a yard or two away from Lash's heavy, continuous stride on the secretive, sandy treadmill she had manifested, a secretive way to stop him without him even knowing.

"Oh, I'm already observing some form of stupidity," Mara mumbled, she blurt a sharp giggle and watched as Lash still kept his heavy stride, merely going absolutely nowhere. Mara heaved a soft sigh, crossed her arms and figured there was now no better time to at least attempt to make nice with such a lost soul, "So, y'got a nick-name or something? Any dying secrets you'd like me to take to the grave?"

"I don't know, you can call me Lash, Whiplash... Turbo really only include my middle and last name if they're pissed at me, or something," Lash muttered with a smile, his stride still confident.

"Y'got that awesome apology out of the way, probably the only apology you've ever made in your life, am I right?" Mara muttered cutely, she tidied her short, lovely pastel blue hair as her eyes lazily fixated on the horizon; the loose t-shirt and cotton shorts she wore rippled with the ocean breeze.

"One of, for sure," Lash blurt with a nod, he furrowed his eyebrows in soft frustration and began to pick up his speed, so much so that every step he took included a puff of sand to spray forward, "For User's sake, how fucking far away is this stupid cave!"

"We're almost there, dubs, calm down," Mara encouraged as Lash continued to walk nowhere, she eased a crumpling giggle and eyed him in full curiosity, "So what do you think is actually in there? Monsters? Your doppelgänger?"

"Oh, no, the Arcade can't handle two of me, I already have three look-alikes," Lash choked a laugh and firmly looked over his shoulder, though with such, he took a sharp, jarring double-take and halted his angry footwork. Mara immediately erupted with laughter, held her stomach and curled over as Lash widely gaped, "HEY!"

"Holy crap that was the funniest thing EVER," Mara wheezed, she nearly plopped her rear to the sand below as she continued to crumple. She jolted in hot surprise the second Lash attempted to run at her, though he was still stuck in treadmill-mode and went absolutely nowhere. Mara fully fell to her rear with a thump, clutched her stomach, rolled onto her back and loudly continued to nearly howl with girly laughter as Lash frustratingly continued to desperately get out of the sandy loop he was in.

"Let me out!" Lash demanded with a hard choke of a laugh he desperately tried to stifle, though he finally stopped trying and firmly peered to Mara with a wide, annoyed grin, "C'mon, you can't leave me out here like this. I'm essentially trapped."

"I'm just using my powers for the greater good," Mara fully wheezed, she sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes as she desperately did what she could to stifle her giggling and catch her breath, "Hooo, won't my father be proud."

"Pretty sure your father would be offended, I keep him fed with my cinnamon rolls," Lash argued with a wider grin, to which Mara clumsily got to a stand and brushed the sand off of her legs.

"You made my dad cinnamon rolls?" Mara choked a giggle and continued to try and compose herself.

"It's a long story," Lash waved her off in nonchalance, to which he eyed her in cute curiosity and gestured to her, "You... You called me 'dubs', where did that come from?"

"Oh, I just... Thought, since your name starts with a double-u," Mara pressed in soft, unreserved kindness, a level of easiness Lash was desperate to remain on, "Dubs. Does it offend you?"

"Oh, no I just didn't know how you got to that," Lash sagged his hands into the pockets of his baggy, cozy black sweats, though as his golden eyes bashfully peered about, he shrugged and gave Mara a curious side-eye, "In that case, I'd call you Em."

"You could, my uncle Oliver calls my aunt Emery 'Em', though, so it might get weird," Mara muttered through her teeth, she shrugged and smiled into Lash's golden eyes.

"... Emmy?" Lash searched as he squinted in hovering anticipation as Mara looked off.

"... I guess that could work," Mara mumbled with great warmth, she opened her mouth through a smile and hesitated to continue on, "No one has ever called me that."

"Great, I'll be the first. Now get me off of this fucking treadmill before I cry," Lash barked as he pointed down to the patch of sand he was stuck on, Mara's eyes lit up.

"Ohh I'd love that very much, please start crying," Mara sharply encouraged with a nod, to which Lash grunted in hot frustration.

"So, do you just, like... ENJOY torturing others?" Lash firmly wondered, and although their conversation remained lighthearted, Mara frowned into Lash's eyes and felt the nerve he had very easily struck.

"Probably as much as you enjoy being a dick to people," Mara skillfully volleyed with a shrug, and with the gentle flick of her lovey, golden, powerful coding, Lash was free of his treadmill hell.

"C'mon, I'm only a dick because-"

"It's your defense mechanism, no I get it," Mara quipped dryly, she began to turn heel so to ease out of Lash's presence, "It's the same way you probably want to label me as a frigid bitch every day, yeah?"

"... Well, yeah, but I'd never say it to your face," Lash unintelligently blurt with a chuckle, though he raised his eyebrows in a hot sting of surprise and felt guilt immediately wash over him as Mara turned fully to leave. He grimaced in regret, quickly skipped to catch up with her and huffed out words he was certain weren't even real, "I-I... Didn't mean it like that, I'm sorry."

Mara stopped dead in her tracks, causing Lash to jolt to a sandy halt as well, and as the two hovered a foot from each other, Mara curiously kept her hurt, bewildered and now softened gaze tight to Lash's. She narrowed her gaze, shook her head in further confusion and just barely eased a gentle, stupefied, gap-toothed smile.

"You said it again," Mara huffed quietly, to which Lash rolled his eyes, looked off and gulped a hard swallow of raw nervousness; he shrugged as his golden eyes aimlessly scanned the sprawl of Mara's lovely little resort house.

"Yeah, I... Don't know why I'm acting this way," Lash muttered in a slump of almost whispering vulnerability, and it was here did Mara freeze entirely in cold understanding; not only was Lash never one to openly apologize or show full guilt or regret, she felt astonished that he was doing all of these things, only for her eyes. She opened her mouth to curiously usher Lash some camaraderie, though he quietly carried on, after much debate, "I've... Never really had friends, so..."

"... I mean, me neither, really," Mara mumbled, the very tippy top of their bubble finally began to coat in a layer of much anticipated warmth, something the two were secretly desperate for. Mara shrugged and eased a soft chuckle of ironic, sighing despair as the ocean breeze whisked their hair and clothes about, "I mean, I HAD friends, they just... I don't know, I'm pretty sure I pushed them away."

"Nooo, not you, the ice queen," Lash hissed in dramatic sarcasm, to which Mara pursed an annoyed little smile and swat at Lash's upper arm. Lash chuckled and gave her an understanding nod, "You probably did. Maybe they're just too sensitive. You need tougher friends."

"What, like you?" Mara muttered, as if to show entire disinterest, Lash lit up and gestured to himself.

"Well, yeah, you can be a bitch to me all day long, I've seen it all, you kidding?" Lash rushed with a hearty chuckle, he sighed and shook his head, "You don't think I've pushed away the majority of the Arcade? The people I cling to are family members I'm desperate to repair relationships with. I have no room to deny friendship from anyone, I'm really in no position to picky."

"What a shame to be stuck with someone's friendship, such as myself," Mara mumbled, she gently smiled in teasing irritation, to which Lash shrugged and shook his head.

"I really know nothing else, I've never had friends," Lash eased in chuckling confidence, though he sharply furrowed his eyebrows and looked off in contemplation, "Well... I had one friend, but it was... Sort of your mother, like thirty years ago."

"It's weird," Mara clipped dryly, Lash urgently nodded and grimaced.

"Yeah sorry," Lash mumbled, Mara snapped her fingers and eased a small grin.

"Third time's a charm," Mara soothed with a smile, "Are you REALLY sorry or are you just saying that because I have this naivety about me and duping me into friendship is easy?"

"Oh, the latter, for sure," Lash teased with a nod, though Mara rolled her eyes and looked down with an almost defeated, sorrowful little smile, as if maybe she was certain this little moment were too good to be true, anyways. Lash sagged his shoulders and so desperately tried to soften, the crazy suit of armor he had been wearing his whole life was now due to suffocating him. He eased a shaky breath through his nose and was determined to at least show this fragile creature before him a more tender side, something that no one really got to see, a side he was desperate to reserve for his now only close friend that wasn't his family, "I'm... Just kidding, I... I am sorry, truly. I didn't mean to, I don't know... Freak you out."

Mara bobbed a nod and just barely glanced to Lash's line of sight, a confident golden glow of warmth she felt drawn to, her icy eyes scanned the shoreline that eventually lead to the scary cave that was now becoming island lore. She could see Lash crown a cute smile from her peripheral.

"I was surprised you came out here to stop me, like that," Lash's voice was now soft, deep and low, like peeling an onion and getting to the core of it all, he nearly shocked himself that this was a new hat he was now dutifully wearing.

"I'd... Want someone to do the same for me," Mara mumbled, she shrugged and softly crossed her arms in such a way that almost looked as if she was hugging herself, a snuggle of self soothe Lash quietly took note of.

"Well, now that we're friends, just know I'd do that for you," Lash gently assured with a nod, he inhaled a refreshed breath and now hoped to lighten to mood, a conclusion to their final landing point, he cutely held his hand out, yet again, and gave Mara a sweet, boyish smile, "Name's Dubs."

Mara raised her eyebrows and softly glanced to Lash's extended hand, as if they had to reintroduce themselves to each other every single time they hit a new layer of friendship. She eased a soft, curious giggle, bashfully tucked her hair behind her ears and sagged her shoulders in warm, melting defeat. With yet another warm grip of her hand into his, and a delicate shake of a proper introduction, yet again, she eased Lash an unreserved smile and shook her head, as if to also prove that she was playfully irritated by all of this run around.

"Emmy," She mumbled in cute defeat as they shook hands, once more, though with said warm grip that lingered for longer, Mara inhaled a brave breath and gestured to her beckoning back patio, that overlooked the shore line, "Do... You wanna hang out? I can make us something to drink, or... If you wanted to head to bed-"

"I'd love to hang out, wow, is THAT what it feels like to be asked to hang out?" Lash wondered in boyish bewilderment, he rubbed the back of his head and inhaled a shaky breath, "Wow, this... Is what it's like to have a friend that you're not related to."

"... You CAN'T tell me that I'm the first real friend you've had since Libby's existence thirty years ago," Mara rushed in a mutter of smiling dread, to which Lash bugged his eyes, shook his head and aimlessly looked off.

"That's embarrassing and I just admitted it to you, I hope that answers literally all of your questions," Lash barked with contagious laughter that Mara easily fell into.

"It does," Mara concluded with giggling warmth as the two so slowly turned and began to fall into step with each other, their final landing point being Mara's dimly lit little patio.

"We gotta keep this under wraps, though, I don't want my brothers thinking I've gone soft," Lash mumbled in shy irritation as the two trudged through the sand together, and though his tone was annoyed and quiet, Mara eased him a warm smile and knew, full well, they both had very bravely stumbled upon their own versions of gold, within each other.

"Your secret's safe with me," Mara gently assured, a smile of knowing camaraderie graced her blushing cheeks.


"Please feed me another fry," Chester mumbled quietly, he wrinkled his wolf snout and so gently nudged the wet tip of his squishy nose into Throttle's elbow.

"Last one, Wren's gunna kill me," Throttle whispered, he secretly eased a longer fry off of Wren's conglomerate of fast food wrappers and set it on Chester's turquoise tongue, just barely extended for said treat.

Throttle then cleared his throat, crossed his arms and lofted his forced nonchalant gaze across the stretch. Sat nestled between the main common room's building and Throttle's and Wren's resort home was a proper pool area, and although it was simply a wading pool with a bar and a gazebo included inside of it, it was still a smaller resting area, a place to cool off that wasn't the crashing waves. Whilst Chester's deep voice hummed a silent noise of cute content, Throttle's gaze pierced the sunshine outside of the shaded cover him, Wren, Lash, Turbo, Theo and Nox were lounged under. Sat at a table properly jutted out of the wading pool's water, all six boys were in their swim suits, happily eating their greasy burgers and fries. With Chester at Throttle's left, his larger, furry body was almost fully submerged in the four foot deep water, he lay with his ears flat, as if to quietly enjoy the cool water, as well as any tasty morsels Throttle could afford him.

"You should keep going until he notices," Lash muttered quietly to Throttle whilst Turbo, Nox and Wren loudly bickered.

"Yeah, I WANT my boyfriend to kill me," Throttle stabbed quietly, he crossed his arms tighter and snuck a curious look to Wren's now disappearing french fries, and though he promised he wouldn't take more, he cocked an eyebrow and peered down to Chester in continued contemplation.

"I can't imagine being butt-rocked wouldn't involve game overs, right?" Lash blurt with a wide, toothy grin; Throttle's whole face immediately turned beet red.

"Not smart of you to talk about stuff you know absolutely nothing about," Throttle retort, he huffed a shaky chuckle and bashfully glanced in Wren's direction, to which Lash eased a wider, happier grin, the faded cy-bug markings on his jaw stretched with the cute tease he easily lofted at his oldest brother.

"And I never will," Lash firmly assured, Throttle rolled his eyes and finally eased an annoyed smile. Lash scratched his bare chest, looked down to his empty wrappers and inhaled a satisfied, deep breath, "That was freaking delicious. We should do this again for dinner."

"No, don't encourage him," Turbo barked as he covered his face and grit his teeth, Wren grinned and gestured towards Lash with an excited smile.

"See, Lash gets it!" Wren choked a laugh as Turbos sagged his arms, elbows and face into the table in full defeat.

"What, to have nasty fast food again for dinner?" Lash wondered loudly, to which all five boys now laughed and sorrowfully gave Turbo cute, apologetic smiles, "We're on vacation! For User's sake, Turbo, get the crown out of your ass."

"Lighten up, dude, so we gain ten pounds," Nox muttered, he took a huge bite of his delicious burger and sighed in full satisfied happiness, through his nose, as he chewed.

"Nothing a code room can't solve," Throttle gingerly reminded in defeat, to which Chester perked his ears.

"Anyone want to spare a fry?" Chester mumbled, to which Turbo lofted him one in full defeat; everyone loudly erupted into happy laughter, though Wren's smile turned into a curious peak of cuteness as he peered across the stretch of crystal clear pool water to another wading table the girls were gathered around. Berri, Tatum, Mara and Koko all loudly giggled and sat close at their own round table, all gorgeously strapped in bikinis, hair in full beach waves, they were beautiful.

Wren cocked an eyebrow and glanced his eyes to the men present around him, "Y'guys wanna keep your figures for the ladies, thank User we don't have our weight in numbers above our heads."

"Ooo, like Game Over? I always wished we had our health points on display, like they do in Game Over," Lash urged as he pointed to Wren, his golden eyes lit up in hot excitement.

"Why, so we can see how quick it'd be to kill you?" Theo muttered, everyone loudly laughed as Lash gestured to himself in defense.

"C'mon, to see whose health points are highest! Who would be the hardest to kill?" Lash rushed with a scheming smile.

"Why are we talking about this like it's a GOOD thing?" Throttle wondered dryly, Wren loudly agreed, "I don't want to constantly watch my back for someone like YOU to come rushing from behind and-"

"Butt-rock you?" Lash quickly finished through a loud snort of a stifling laugh; Nox urgently did what he could to stifle his own laughter as Turbo rubbed his face in irritation.

"You're so mature, Whiplash," Turbo grumbled, though a chuckle finally escaped him.

"You don't have to be jealous of Throttle, Lash, there's enough of me to go around," Wren's deep voice pressed, and although everyone was well aware Wren was strictly joking, the confident, golden glow immediately left Lash's eyes.

"No, no, I'm... ALL set," Lash choked nervously, everyone erupted into laughter.

"I think it'd be funny to see just where each one of us stood, I think the highest health points ever recorded was over three hundred... I think it was one of the six Game Over winners," Nox bobbed a nod and chuckled.

"I think I remember that season, was it the first winner?" Wren wondered, Nox shrugged and looked off to quickly contemplate.

"Either that or second, those guys are no joke," Nox muttered as he fingers his chin, which was now becoming covered in darker grey stubble.

"I could win Game Over," Lash boasted with a firm nod, all five men loudly groaned him noises of detest and disagreeing, "I COULD! Now that I have my powers back, thanks Turbo."

"Don't mention it," Turbo grumbled, he rubbed his face in smiling irritation as Theo playfully nudged Turbo's arm.

"Your health point count is probably like twelve," Throttle's deep voice delivered through stifled laughter, though everyone joined in on said chuckling.

"I'll bet it's at LEAST two hundred, at least," Lash tested, he dug his thumb into his bare chest and nodded in further confidence, "I think us Turbotime men would have higher counts."

"Why, cause you guys are older?" Theo muttered in an irritated tone with a cheeky smile and side-eye.

"We've already established self-programmed gamers are stronger," Wren quickly added, to which Throttle cocked an eyebrow and shot his little brother a snarky look.

"Especially if they have a swap-mate, my guy," Throttle cutely added.

"Oof, you're zero-for-two," Turbo stabbed, to which Lash wrinkled his nose and sat a little straighter.

"Okay, why don't we prove it? Turbo, you're Mr. code room master, Mr... To-be King of every-fucking-thing, why don't you cue up our HP counter, then?" Lash suggested in light nonchalance, though he crossed his arms and smiled in dripping sarcasm to be further deployed.

"I'm on vacation," Turbo mumbled with a small smile, everyone choked laughter at Turbo's reply.

"You're a chicken-shit," Lash stabbed, Turbo furrowed his eyebrows and stiffened his spine.

"Listen, the last time I nosed about the code room whilst I'm supposed to be relaxing, Ace came down from the freaking sky and nearly deleted me," Turbo rushed as he grinned in concealed terror, the group was lost in laughter as Turbo ruffled his messy, wavy, damp hair, "I don't care who you are, you don't mess with Users."

"Speaking of Users, why don't you ask Mara that favor, then? She's someone who can, well..." Wren trailed off and furrowed his brow as his eyes aimlessly glossed the sloshy water about them.

"Do ANYTHING," Theo finished, Wren bobbed a nod as Lash now nervously peered over his shoulder to the sunny group of girls far out of ear shot.

"Tell you what," Wren started in scheming delight as he sat forward a little, "If you go ask Mara to cue up ALL of our health points, and your health counter is higher than any of ours, I'll let you give me a game over. Sound fair?"

The group of men bugged their eyes and slowly trailed their gazes to Lash. Lash and Wren held eyes tight for a moment before Lash allowed a small, scheming little smile to sprawl his face. Although no one knew of his and Mara's brand new little friendship, he felt his heart surge at the raw fact that he had a leg up on the competition, strictly for the fact that asking Mara said question would be easy. The only thing weighing down his confidence was the uncertainty of just where everyone's health points lay. Lash inhaled a shaky breath, gave Wren a snarky squint of mean challenge, bravely got off of his underwater stool and began to swim out to the group of girls basking in the sun far across the way.

"Guys, I didn't want this vacation to turn into Lord of the Flies," Turbo blurt a hard laugh as he began to pick at his food, once more; everyone laughed as Lash was now long gone, "You realize you just gave Whiplash Black permission to murder you."

"If his health points are higher than mine," Wren volleyed with a confident smile, "You've admitted yourself us self-programmed gamers are stronger. You can't really sit here and tell me that Berri's health points wouldn't be higher than yours strictly because you're an original gamer, huh?"

Turbo cocked an eyebrow and froze, to which Nox and Throttle gave him knowing, flat looks of defeat. Turbo exhaled a hot sigh through his nose and sagged his shoulders as he delivered Wren his mumbled conclusion, "No, I can't."


"I'll let you give me a game over, sound fair?" Lash muttered, clearly mocking Wren. He dipped under the water, skillfully took a few strides and popped out of the surface in a breath of air. He eagle-eyed the group of girls he was now happening upon, "I'll show him."

"It's not like it hurts or anything, I just think it feels weird," Berri urged with a hard giggle, Koko urgently nodded.

"Yeah, Nox did that to me one time and I accidentally swung at him," Koko muttered as she clenched her fists and made clear that being decked by said wrecking hands wasn't to be taken lightly; all three girls erupted with girly, dreaded laughter, in loo of Nox.

"I'll take a swing at Nox," Lash blurt cutely as he approached the table, he successfully stood at said wading table between Tatum and Mara as the cool water sloshed around, upon his arrival, and with a quick glance of all four girls, he could feel his heart suddenly begin to pound at the raw fact that he had just sank himself into the lionesses den. He bravely pressed on, though he did what he could to try and make his confident front believable, "Whatcha girls talkin' about?"

"Makeup," Tatum sarcastically blurt.

"Our bra sizes," Berri skillfully added.

"We've synced up, even," Koko chimed, Lash urgently wrinkled his nose and stabbed his eyes tight to Mara's, who was directly to his right; she cocked an eyebrow and allowed an easy, sassy smile to sprawl her cheeks.

"You come to the girl's table to discuss your feewings?" Mara's soft, girly voice sarcastically chimed, to which Lash rolled his eyes and looked off towards the sunny beach, far before them. All four girls loudly giggled, to which Mara inhaled a revived breath and nudged Lash's upper arm, "We're talking about glitching abilities, and how they're heightened in water. I can test it out on you, if you'd like."

"Hoooo NO that won't be necessary, I don't think you guys wanna be swimming in my piss, do you?" Lash loudly argued.

"It's probably too late," Berri muttered, she had her chin rested in her hand in pure, annoyed nonchalance.

"I came over here because I have a request," Lash pressed with a refreshed smile, and though he glossed his eyes about Tatum, Berri and Koko's faces, he finally landed on Mara's and held his breath. Now sat right in the thick of all four women's intimidating gazes, Lash swallowed hard and firmly did absolutely everything that he could to not ogle each gorgeous girl, each one strapped in semi-revealing, wet bikinis. He heaved a silent, shaky breath and nearly glued his eyes to Mara's, understanding full well that none of them could tell if he was utilizing his peripherals for sneaky glances downward, "The guys and I got to talking, and-"

"Never a good start," Tatum mumbled, all four girls snickered.

"... We THOUGHT it'd be a cool idea, if..." Lash barked in now cheeky irritation as he glanced to Tatum, though he brought his hesitant gaze tight to Mara's, "We could see each other's health points tally, who has the highest and lowest."

"Why, you looking to kill someone?" Mara muttered in annoyed searching, to which Lash rested his hand to his bare chest and chuckled; he inhaled a long deep breath, the faded cy-bug markings, that ran down his neck, shoulders and chest, easily sank into the skin of his strong clavicles.

"... I may or may not have a bet with someone," Lash started, the wind very easily began to escape his sails.

"So, you came over here, on your own accord?" Koko side-eyed Lash and knew, full well, he was dared.

"You want our health points on display?" Tatum barked with a shaky giggle, as if this could potentially be embarrassing for everyone.

"You just want to ridicule whoever is closest to a game over?" Berri wondered with a sneaky grin, to which Koko flicked her hair over her shoulder and looked down to the table in a sassy manner.

"And then kill them for easy bonus points," Koko muttered with a smirk, under her breath.

"Let me get this straight, you want to live out some sick fantasy of killing whoever is closest to a game over," Mara started daintily as her eyes curiously traversed the interesting, faded markings that were symmetrical down Lash's face and body. She finally brought her skillful eye contact back to Lash's matte yellow gaze and gave him a secretive little smirk, "You already asked Turbo to cue up code room abilities, to make this possible, but he denied you because he's on vacation and my dad would likely murder him if he set one pixel into the code room one more time."

"I-I... Just..." Lash grinned nervously, though his heart began to race, he peered his eyes tight to Mara's and somehow felt lured in to her lightning-quick response time, the ability to lay Lash in a grave all tidily finished with a lovely bedtime story and a kiss goodnight on the forehead.

"You then were dared to come ask ME to do it for you, in which, I'll happily oblige, but I promise you will not like the outcome," Mara gently quipped, Berri, Tatum and Koko bugged their eyes and silently traded glances of riled, grinning surprise. Mara cleared her throat and daintily rested her hand to the back of Lash's, which was rested on the table next to her. She narrowed her gaze and softened her voice, and although everyone could still hear her, she direct all her energy to him and locked gazes with his, "You came to a table with four self-programmed gamers and a User, and you want to walk away with your masculinity in tact."

"You came over here to be humbled?" Koko pressed, though each girl peered to him as if to potentially wonder if he maybe had that in mind, and they could somehow cutely deliver him to such state.

"Listen, I just need to win a bet against Wren, I don't care about your guys' scores," Lash stabbed to Mara, he desperately tried not to grin, though as Mara slowly reeled to peer over her shoulder and stare down the group of boys in the shade, far across the way, Lash successfully did what he could to secretively get an eye-full of Mara's beautiful body and bikini.

"You want to know your score against, hmm.. Let's see, my uncle Nox who shares his coding with a self-programmed gamer, Turbo who shares his coding with, let's see... A self-programmed gamer, Throttle who, wow... ALSO shares his coding with a self-programmed gamer, annnnnd..." Mara trailed off and finally brought her eyes tight to Lash's in scheming delight, "My cousins Wren and Theo, who ARE self programmed gamers."

"What about Chester?" Tatum playfully muttered, Berri and Koko erupted with laughter.

"He's also a self-programmed gamer," Berri quickly added through her giggling.

"The highest official health points score ever to be recorded, in gaming history, was the very first Game Over winner, the legend herself, Vye Ketton, with a total score of three hundred and ninety one," Mara skillfully delivered to Lash's frozen disposition, and with a sudden blip of her glorious, incredible golden coding, little displays immediately flickered above everyone's heads, causing Lash to urgently peer up to Mara's tally; said number confidently read a total score of a solid five hundred. Lash raised his eyebrows in hot, drowning surprise and peered his succumbed, almost delightfully terrified gaze tight to Mara's, "I'll keep the tally up for as long as you need me to, Mr. 'one hundred and thirteen' health points."

All four girls peered to the number above Lash's head, and although it was a decent score in their terms, all four girls about him had scores easily in the two hundreds, outside from Mara's incredible User score. Lash swallowed hard and felt the sting, he narrowed his gaze and felt a weird wave of sticky camaraderie come over him as he peered deep into Mara's eyes. Although he had cutely asked Mara to keep their friendship as a secret, he was delightfully floored to see that she was adamant to stick to their loving promise, to treat Lash as if he was a nuisance, somehow the sweet reminder that, behind closed doors, she'd be his best friend, had him wanting to fly to the moon. Lash cleared his throat and was well aware Mara had won, here, on the surface, though deep down, he was certain he was the winner here; he assured himself that securing Mara's friendship was one of the biggest feats he could accomplish.

"I hope you win that bet, my love," Mara chimed cutely as Lash painfully began to so slowly peel from the group of giggling girls, and although he could feel the playfully mean-spirited snickering of all four girls behind him, as he left, he inhaled a shaky breath and peered back to the group of men he had parted from, somehow strangely feeling like a million bucks.


"What does it say, what does it say," Wren rushed with excited, whispering fervor as Turbo firmly squinted and peered to the little, hot red holographic display above Lash's head.

"A hundred and thirteen, that's actually not bad," Turbo muttered in smiling defeat, "For a User-made gamer, anyways."

"Thats normal?" Throttle dryly wondered.

"Yeah, it's usually in the one-to-two hundreds for User made gamers, and in the two-to-three hundreds for self programmed," Turbo nonchalantly explained as he relaxed.

"Is there any way to make the score higher?" Wren patiently wondered, to which Turbo nodded and took a healthy swig of his soda.

"Oh yeah, lots of training, but sure," Turbo cutely went on, "I don't think it's possible to go past the four hundreds, but... I'm sure Mara's score is, like... Infinite."

"It says five hundred," Theo mumbled as he, took, extended his neck and squinted as Lash finally made his way over to the group of guys, however slowly.

"Heyyy, Mr. One-thirteen!" Throttle teased with mocking happiness, to which Lash wrinkled his nose at his eldest brother and shot him a dirty look.

"I think it's great, don't beat yourself up over it," Wren sarcastically cooed, to which Lash sneakily smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Turbo, I... Can I ask you a question?" Theo gently wondered as he sat next to Turbo; Wren, Throttle, Nox and Lash began to loudly tease each other as Theo's and Turbo's warm conversing pressed on for their own ears.

"Sure, what's up?" Turbo softened.

"I know you're not supposed to nose into the code room anymore, but... I'm curious if you can ask my uncle Zed for an exception?" Theo asked gently, to which Turbo furrowed his brow in confusion and peered to Theo's emerald gaze; both boys did what they could to not forget just where they were, though they sunk into their usual, gooey vat of brotherly love.

"I'm sure, why? What do you need?" Turbo felt thwarted by confusion, he searched for reasons just why Theo would want this while he cutely gathered the courage to explain to Turbo just why.

"Well, uh... Tatum and I have, uh, well... Decided that we want to officially swap codes," Theo delivered quietly, he was grateful that Wren, Throttle, Nox and Lash continued to loudly laugh and argue.

"That's great, Teddy," Turbo encouraged with a nod, though he furrowed his brow and looked off in realization, "Ohh, you want Tatum's code block reversed, yeah?"

"That'd be helpful," Theo bashfully chuckled, to which Turbo bobbed a nod and continued to eat his food, he shot Theo a cute look of full confidence.

"We can definitely do that, I just have to tell Zed what's up. I'm absolutely positive he'd understand, as long as that's the ONLY thing I do, in the code room," Turbo chuckled and shook his head, though Theo grimaced and looked off in soft dread.

"Tatum... Has made a request," Theo started cautiously, causing Turbo to halt what he was doing and peer his now nervous eyes tight to Theo's shimmering, nervous, emerald stare.

"What request?" Turbo mumbled, Theo's broad, strong bare chest inhaled a readied breath as he finally brought his gaze back to Turbo's.

"She's requested that we reverse Gunner's code block, as well," Theo delivered nervously, to which the golden glow of Turbo's eyes gently dimmed in dread.

"... That WAS a point in our conversation, huh," Turbo muttered in irritation towards himself, though he grit his teeth and threw his gaze far across the way, to his gorgeous blue-haired beauty, she giggled and had a grand time with her family and friends, all basked in the sunshine.

"It's best to get it over with," Theo mumbled nervously, he shrugged and kept his eyes tight to Turbo's disposition, "All the band drama would cease, too, y'know?"

"Bring Gunner to the island?" Turbo aimlessly wondered in now full, sagging dread, to which Theo choked a small laugh and shrugged.

"I mean, no one knows we're out here, Gunner wouldn't be followed," Theo jostled ideas around, "Just... Like a band-aid."

"I... Guess you're not wrong," Turbo concluded, his aimless gaze peered out to Berri's sunny point on the grid as he ushered Theo one last sighing statement, "Berri's not gunna like this."