Reviews :
BanannaSammich : LOL! Any situations with Zed or Ralph are going to be expanded on a tiny bit in this story, though it's mostly reserved for the beginning of the 5th story. PAX is an old term me, and others, used to use on minecraft back in 2009. It meant then 'I come in peace' or 'I won't harm you' if we were playing survival games or something. We also would do the blocking motion with our swords. It more or less means 'I come in peace' but was a good way to trick the person and turn on them, gain their trust. You could then turn around and easily kill them and get their stuff.
chuckiboo : Thank you so so much! You're correct :D Vye and Aroq know each other. And, yes! Fluggerbutter number 3 was planned, he plays an important role in the upbringing, and ultimate downfall, of Gideon, the next story's main character. He's very important in Gideon's upbringing. IDK when I'll reveal his name, we'll see.
faolan1230 : LOL I like to turn shit upside down quick xD
Snake557 : :D
Lyssdoodle : It's so true haha. Rancis and Taffyta can't catch a break. They expand on this, coming up! And, as for your last statement, I would say yes, but it's more of a slow burn kind of thing. This issue spills over into the 5th story. I GUESS you could say Gideon eventually results from this mess, it's sort of correlated. Just drawn out over the course of a few months, seemingly.
Song Listened To :
The Wisp Sings by Winter Aid
Color Sky by Ben Prunty
*Chapter 242*
Berri felt her pupils tighten as she gently pushed out of the corridor of Turbo's warm home. In a hesitant stumble of further nervousness, Berri inhaled a shaky breath and pressed into the kitchen with her phone still painfully opened to her brand new conversation with Vye. In a weird rush of uncertainty, protectiveness, fear, her eyes glossed the gorgeous splay of Orion City underneath her, all pristine and glowing like the sun underneath Sugar Rush's untouched stars. Although absolutely sure Vye was potentially bluffing, with her threat, she grit her teeth and knew, bottom line, if she carelessly believed said bluff, and it turned out to be a genuine threat, she'd regret it for the last moments of her short lived life. With rose golden coding that now shot through her system with a very real amount of adrenaline, Berri began to tear towards the garage in search for Turbo.
"Babe," Berri's voice shook, and as she peeled into the gape of the garage door, she was thrilled that the unusual pang of terrified urgency, in her voice, piqued Turbo's immediate attention. He sat up a little, his sweaty white tank top was dirty with motor fluids, his music blared, though with a quick gesture of his live-wired hand, the music ceased as his golden eyes held tight to his Queen in a spike of full attention. Berri gestured down to her phone and shook her head in the ever-billowing show of terror, "I-I just got a text from Vye, herself. Sugar Rush's in danger, w-we need to tell my dad."
"Here," Turbo cooed in a deep, gentle tone, though his eyes held alert to Berri's phone as they eagerly dipped to gloss of glowing minty color.
He furrowed his thick eyebrows and glared down at Berri's phone, and although the little conversation with Vye was extremely short and one-sided, it spoke a trillion different words. Turbo gently stood, looked about his garage, and with another gesture of his live-wired right hand, he was successful in immediately turning the infrastructure of his vehicle, tools and everything in between, into a gridded structure of binary, and in a flash, it was absorbed for safe keeping in the code room, as if to hit 'save' on his project. Turbo switched the golden coding of his hands and allowed Berri's phone to angrily swarm with his coding. As his minty eyes peered hard into her's, his coding eagerly scoured and tracked every single last ounce of information Vye's number had to offer; location and all. With confirmation that this message did, indeed, come from the internet, Turbo felt his heart sink with a sudden hit to the face. Not only had it come from the internet, its true origin was that of the dark web.
"If this is all adding up, and this is ACTUALLY Vye Ketton, Game Over's top dog, then... This isn't a threat to take lightly," Turbo's voice began to shake, and as him and Berri tightly caught eyes, he yanked out his own phone and began to swiftly type in a certain special group message; a sensitive chat room that only Tessa, Zed, Vanellope, Wren, Turbo and Rancis had access to, Turbo successfully sent out a proper SOS, a confirmation that this wasn't a drill.
"What do we even do? What does... What does this even MEAN?" Berri started to show whole signs of panicking, to which Turbo heaved a shaky sigh and looked about his garage in a sweep of almost regretful longing, as if his life was now flashing right before his eyes and these final little glimpses of his achieved perfection was now spiraling down the drain. Berri felt tears well in her eyes, she took a fumbling step closer to Turbo and took note that his own strong, able hands began to tremble, "D-Do we have to leave Sugar Rush?"
"I don't think we have a choice," Turbo staggered nervously, though in the blink of an eye, their coding was suddenly teleported to Sugar Rush's code room.
With a flash, Turbo and Berri urgently peered to the small group about them; Sugar Rush's King and Queen, Rancis, Wren and Vanellope, the code room nervously sung with the show of kings and queens, right hand men, both past, present and future, the only thing the group could do was to shoot terrified glances to each other in the small bout of hot silence. Zed finally was the one to inhale a shaky breath with the expansion of his strong chest, everyone was dressed in comfortable clothes for the night, the way this one, tiny little message suddenly turned everything upside down. Zed finally hooked his firm eye contact tight to his daughter and narrowed his gaze.
"This text was unprompted," Zed stated, though said statement held a lilt of a questionable air; Berri vigorously nodded, though her heart began to race at the sheer fact that she was now having to skillfully cover for Lash, something she hadn't had time to even digest as to even why she was covering for him.
"Turbo and I had just finished dinner, he was in the garage working on his car," Berri rushed, she gestured to Turbo's messy attire as proof before she gestured to herself, "I was just cleaning up the kitchen, my phone lit up, and... That was the message I received. I wasn't even on my phone."
"You sourced it?" Zed instructed as his authoritative gaze pierced Turbo's, so much that Turbo visibly flinched.
"Yes, sir, dark web," Turbo mumbled regretfully; Tessa heaved a shaky sigh and sagged her forehead into her hand, in which Vanellope largely frowned and held her hand to her daughter's shoulder. Turbo gently handed Zed Berri's phone, still painfully illuminated with Berri's and Vye's conversation, a conversation that was only meant for Lash, "What's the plan, we gotta think quick."
"Don't respond to her. We have to evacuate," Zed stated, his voice croaked, the whole group peered to him in hard surprise.
"E-Everyone?" Vanellope staggered in uncertainty, to which Zed shook his head in an ironic show of agreeing and gently gestured for the code room's main orb.
"Everyone. All two million of everyone coded to Sugar Rush's code room," Zed's voice was laced in sorrow, and as he opened the code room's orb and tabbed to a few hidden, smaller menus, he opened a box that was clearly labelled 'game-wide emergency'. Tessa shook her head and held her hands to her temples in despair, as if to not even know how to handle the information being lofted their way. Zed diligently continued on, though it was entirely clear the group was due to crumpling to tears shortly, "We'll follow the protocols, we'll take everyone's coding to Dead Zed."
"Is there a back up plan in case Vye comes for Dead Zed?" Berri rushed her worries in, though Zed's hands worked faster than what anyone could keep up with; in a flash, the code room suddenly settled to a dim glow of a neutral white, making clear that something was definitely up.
"Dead Zed is far newer than Sugar Rush, I've programmed Dead Zed's code room to match compatibility with Sugar Rush's infrastructure," Zed diligently explained, "The back up plan, if Vye comes for Dead Zed, is to hull away in Hero's Duty with all residents basically bubbled. Keeping two million individuals bubbled, for too long, is a recipe for disaster."
"We'll house Sugar Rush's residents in Dead Zed, temporarily," Tessa mumbled, she rubbed her forehead and lulled her eyes closed, "We've duplicated all of Sugar Rush's cities, a save file in Dead Zed's code room... Just in case."
"Never thought we'd EVER have to use it," Rancis's deep voice mumbled, he rubbed his chest and began to show a truer show of terror, more so than what anyone would expect; Turbo cued to this, though kept quiet, "I must've told Zed a thousand times that duplicating all those cities was a complete waste of time... I'm glad he didn't listen to me."
"It was a lot of work, but... I'm glad it's our reality," Zed nodded, he gingerly held his hand to Tessa's shoulder and gave her a knowing look, as if to assure everyone that the night was now due to being very long, "I'll warn our people. I'll send out the evacuation notice and make clear this isn't a drill."
"We need to tell everyone in the palace," Turbo instructed, Zed gave him a kind nod and pointed to Turbo.
"Turbo, you'll help me with this evacuation order, we need to make sure we start one city at a time," Zed explained, Turbo diligently nodded, "You'll be my shadow, in this mess. Leave no one behind."
"Sir," Turbo affirmed.
"Rancis, warn every single being on the palace lot," Zed directed his haunting blue gaze tight to Rancis's eyes, "Wrangle the flyers, utilize the User's help."
"What's our time frame?" Wren urged, him and Berri caught glances in a squeeze of adrenaline that now soaked their home.
"This all should be done within the hour," Zed stated, he began to do diligence by Orion City, snip loose ends, his fingers worked the glowing hologram menus before him, "You got that message about four minutes ago... Meaning we're already four minutes behind schedule."
"I'm going to head to Dead Zed, gather your brothers and prepare the game for the addition," Tessa stated with a nod, she eyed Berri and Vanellope, "You two will come with me to help."
"Where-" Wren started, though was firmly interrupted.
"With me," Turbo assured, he gripped Wren's shoulder and gave him a nod, as if to assure to Wren that he was due to being Turbo's right hand man; Zed bobbed a nod, as if to further affirm that Turbo's decision was wise.
"Th-this... This CAN'T be it, you guys, this CAN'T be it," Berri suddenly soaked the code room with a now unhinged show of terror, and though everyone dragged their scared eyes to their future Queen, Zed was the only one that held a stoic amount of tenderness towards his princess. Berri firmly gestured her arm out towards her father and shook her head, "W-we can't just... Abandon the game, how long do we have to hunker down before the coast is clear? What if... Vye comes in and destroys Sugar Rush?"
"No one, nothing can destroy Sugar Rush," Zed firmly stated, his voice reined supreme, Berri tried to rival it.
"She LITERALLY said-"
"WE are Sugar Rush," Zed's voice grew a little louder, ultimately silencing Berri. Zed inhaled a thick breath through his nose and firmly continued on, "Look around, my babe. This is just a game cabinet, it's a shell. The beings inside make up the heart of it all. Let's get Sugar Rush to Dead Zed and go from there."
"Where are we all even going to stay?" Berri began to outwardly show the billow of tears in her eyes, to which Zed finally pressed closer to her presence, across the gap, "Suddenly, everything is just uprooted, and... We're all to be separated and just tossed across Dead Zed?"
"This is the last thing anyone wants," Zed's finally calmed for Berri's now closer presence, he lovingly cupped her teary face and allowed the feeling of becoming choked up to drown him, as well, "No one is going to be separated... No one. No one will be left behind. You hear me?"
"Yeah," Berri meeped sadly, and as they all held in the painful silence for a moment, Zed finally gave Berri's forehead a kiss as his eyes firmly glossed about his small group of diligent warriors, a chess board he had so carefully crafted throughout the stretch of his reign.
"Pack whatever you think you'll need, keep your phone on loud, stick together," Zed quickly instructed, knowing that they had already lost precious time, "We'll stay at the Kalivar Castle until this mess is sorted out."
"Not a bad place to be stuck at, if I do say so myself," Vanellope mumbled under her breath, desperate to see at least someone crack a hint of a smile; she was successful in getting Tessa to break.
"Alright, guys. Gotta be quick," Zed stated with a lilt of uplift, a desperate notion to keep the group from sagging into immobilized fear, "Move out."
Through the unfamiliar kiss of hot, nighttime humidity, Berri's ears prickled to the sound of leaves rustling in the jungle trees nearby. Although the murmur of her mother, grandmother, uncle Finn and aunt Tammy continued on, Berri stood a few feet away from the group with her arms crossed. Although wrought in a very heavy amount of sorrow, she felt that itching bite of guilt hover over her skin. Although she was due to lulling her eyes closed and forever slinking into the shadows, due to now having to skillfully cover for Lash, for reasons beyond her, she cocked an eyebrow and softly averted her gaze to the back of her mother's head. Tessa stood, proudly surrounded by a few of Dead Zed's code room's inner workings, and although Finn stood close and aided, Tessa was successful in laying every single city, from Sugar Rush, in the massive gape of an expansive valley the team had found, a secluded part of the map cleared specifically for this instance.
Big, dark buildings began to thud into existence, a mess of road work and dark skyscrapers kissed Dead Zed's twinkling, starry sky, its two moons smiled down on its temporary guests, and though the haunting sight of a dark monster-sized city looked foreign and weird, Berri allowed her eyes to soak the mess as her mother's diligent hand so carefully fit the pieces of the puzzle together. Berri furrowed her eyebrows and quickly realized that all of Sugar Rush's cities formed a giant circle, a perfect show of jagged pieces coming together in harmonic unity, a utopia of dark beauty. Knowing the city lights would be turned on shortly, Berri continued to let her eyes get lost in the dark cityscape below them, and although they were on a high clifftop that overlooked everything, the gorgeous land that was her father's original game, she sagged her shoulders and allowed tears to sting her eyes, the raw fact that little gumdrops couldn't be seen in the distance.
"Methinks you should unify all the cities, once we go home," Vanellope's patient voice so gently meshed with the calming sound of the wind that gusted up the face of the cliff's side. Their hair whipped about as Tammy cutely shot her a curious smile, "Y'know? The city looks so freaking cool like this."
"How many cities are there, anyways?" Finn gawked cutely, he stood close to Tessa as her eyes looked back and forth from the expansion below her, to the holographic displays right in front of her.
"Sugar Rush has five major cities, with tinier little villages in outskirts or badlands," Tessa wisely stated with a nod, "We have Westwind, Plumdrop, Jujubee, Pepperfrost, and Orion. All in one..."
"Didn't you combine two cities already?" Tammy questioned gently, to which Tessa bobbed a nod.
"We combined Starkrem and Stonecrest to make Orion City," Tessa quietly explained, she lulled her eyes closed and shook her head, "They're better separated... Each city is fa enough away from the other that... It creates this unique diversity that Sugar Rush is famous for."
"Jujubee's honeybee-like residents," Berri finally chimed, to which everyone lofted their curious gazes over their shoulders. Berri heaved a defeated sigh and finally joined everyone, "The striking variety of colors you see in Pepperfrost's people."
"Westwind's architecture," Tessa volleyed warmly.
"Plumdrop's incredible road system, their candy foliage is unmatched," Berri listed, she lulled her teary eyes closed and allowed herself to near the cliffside, "Orion's... Memories."
"It's still here, my love," Tessa quietly explained, to which Berri shook her head and heaved a hot sigh through her nose. Tessa adamantly carried on, knowing Berri was now spiraling, "It's all preserved... Sure, this next chapter of our lives is going to be rocky, but we'll be okay. You forget, we have four Users on our side. Whatever Vye throws our way, Users are stronger."
"Ace is ultimately how we saved Sugar Rush last time," Vanellope shrugged, "Without him, we wouldn't have been able to get through those forcefields."
"We'd be nowhere without Ace... AND Libby," Tammy added, though as Tessa gently flicked a few options suddenly the dark and creepy valley, below, illuminated with an on-switch of gorgeous city lights, like a flood gate of familiar goodness Berri was desperate for. Tammy inhaled a gasp and grinned, "Ohh wow, that's insanely beautiful."
"Holy cow," Vanellope blurt a giggle, and as the group gawked at the sight for a moment, Tessa finally brought up much smaller options and turned around.
"Alright... Now for the Kalivar Castle," Tessa stated with a heavy sigh, she bobbed a nod and sneakily grinned, "I could've very easily duplicated Sugar Rush's palace, but... If I'm being honest, I really missed Dead Zed's castle."
"You guys had a castle, too?" Berri wondered, to which Finn grinned and looked down.
"It was beautiful. We let Tessa design it, cause she had just lost her home in Sugar Rush... Ultimately because of Lash," Finn mumbled, to which Berri felt her pupils tighten; the more Lash's name was brought to the forefront of her mind, the more irritated she grew, though she desperately tried to hide the fact that she was becoming angry.
"This castle was where Wren was born," Tessa stated cutely, and with a heavy thud, she materialized the entire Kalivar grounds right before them, starting with the gorgeous teals of their infamous front gate, a towering structure that was only rivaled by the glass of the Sky Room. Vanellope covered her mouth and breathed a giggle as Tessa continued, "Lots of memories were made in this castle... Good, bad, ugly, everything."
"I remember it like it was yesterday," Tammy stated through a sigh, and as all the castle's twinkling lights came on, everyone began to push towards the untouched Kalivar lot.
Berri held her breath and was delighted to find that her mother's touch was literally everywhere; a much more robust, darker version of anything Tessa had recently created in Sugar Rush, the Kalivar lot was gorgeously crafted with darker marbles, darker woods and finer, more heftier structures of overhangs in which foliage easily littered in such a way that could almost make this beast of a castle look like a magical cottage buried deep in the woods. Berri sagged her shoulders and was grateful for the distraction, grateful she was able to see the very place her mother experienced her greatest hardships and successes, Ace's childhood home and a bookmark for greater things to come. Upon stepping inside the familiar, lovely golden tiled foyer, Berri felt tears sting her eyes as the group audibly sagged into the vat of nostalgia brought upon them.
"My favorite part of this castle was the fact that Finn's room was only accessible via teleport pad," Tammy breathed a giggle as they pushed into the untouched kitchen area, in which Finn's powered down teleport pad was off to the side.
The castle was furniture-less, item-less, only structure due to being materialized and stored in the code room for safe keeping. Although Tammy and Finn were now in charge of Dead Zed, the two of them, including Duke, Jax and Tej, were stationed inside a much smaller abode, code room and all. Due to the sheer amount of room this castle provided, Tessa lazily strolled into the kitchen with tears in her eyes and was forever grateful it was preserved, a place they could revisit at any time, a getaway when times were rough. The Kalivar lot shone under all of its beauty, a safe haven during the in between, it's always been a place of refuge when the world about her had crumpled, and as tears slipped down Tessa's cheeks, she rested her hand to the kitchen's island and blurt a shaky giggle as everyone else, excluding Berri, was now wrought with teary memories, both good and bad.
"I always thought... We'd come back here for vacation," Tessa mumbled tearfully, "Not... As a repeat of what happened to me, all those years ago..."
"This isn't a repeat," Vanellope instructed firmly, she approached Tessa and held her upper arms, "Sugar Rush is still safe and well. This is just precaution. This is a place of shelter where we can ride out the storm. This was a smart move, on everyone's part."
"Dead Zed's virus protection is, unfortunately, much stronger than Sugar Rush's," Finn stated regretfully as he caught eyes with Tammy, though they hadn't noticed Berri had begun to slip away, "Whatever is thrown Sugar Rush's way, Dead Zed would have a much easier time dealing with it."
"Yeah, Sugar Rush has... Definitely been capped for its protection, for awhile," Vanellope said sorrowfully as she looked down, though she kept Tessa in her grip as the four kept close about the island, "You can't add better protection to it because it's just so old."
"Surely you can venture out to the internet for help, though, right?" Tammy's gentle wonderings could still be heard in Berri's ears, though she silently wormed her way around the corner and headed into aspects of the castle in which she had obviously never been before.
In the swoop of her eye contact, she pressed down a short bend of a corridor and came to what she assumed was Kalivar lot's infamous Sky Room. A massive dome of glass, clearly a precursor to Sugar Rush's current code room, Berri cupped her hands over her mouth and allowed her tears to flow freely. A variety of different emotions struck her heart like a dagger, the view of the insane amount of stars, overhead, was something she quickly cued to in enjoyment, though with the stark realization that these stars really had never gotten the chance to get to know Berri, at all, she sagged into a crumpled mess and quietly cried. Although this being her father's game, the coding of said infrastructure was apart of her circuitry, she felt her heart pang in time lost. As if this beautiful game was adamant about keeping her, and her entire future kingdom safe, though somehow the sense of unfamiliarity made hr sure that she didn't deserve this.
Berri sagged her shoulders and crossed her arms; the Sky Room's gorgeous, swirling tiles housed no furniture, though Berri's teary, lost gaze glossed about to the three different doors that hugged the spherical structure of the Sky Room, clearly three larger bedrooms. She was sure that this palace, in its hay-day, was a beaming beacon of warmth, of safety. She had only heard stories from Taffyta, Throttle, Nox, anyone else that was safely housed here, and as ideas of Ace's and Libby's fireflower field came to mind, the idea of the flyer's enclosure, the sandy pool that everyone have raved about, she felt a bubbling feeling of protectiveness come over her. Although not immediately hers to reminisce about, she soaked into the memories of her loved ones and slowly felt belonging want to creep into her veins. With said warm feeling, the camaraderie her, Turbo, Wren and Theo had, due to not spending any amount of time here, she finally stabbed her mental energy to Lash's character and felt confusion and frustration now begin to bubble to something a bit more sinister, something a bit more angry. He was previously the cause of all of this mess, and now that he was caught in the crosshairs of it all again, he had entrusted Berri with likely the hugest secret of the century; keeping Lash out of the mix, once and for all.
Although Zed and crew had successfully made the massive transition of evacuating every single last being inside of Sugar Rush, with his own footsteps being the very last pair to leave the game, the Kalivar lot was alive with conversation. With a structure that Tessa had very quickly whipped up, there was a proper building, just outside the Kalivar lot, that securely housed all of Sugar Rush's racers, and although the night was now nearing midnight, the kitchen was a beacon of energy that seemingly no one could settle. With Zed tight to the middle of the island, and Turbo standing near, every one important to Sugar Rush's decision making diligently hugged the island. Although the castle was brand new to a handful of people here, there was simply no time to give a proper tour, to reminisce about old times, and though Berri so badly wanted to slink away and find her's and Turbo's temporary bedroom, which was previously Duke's old room, she sat at a farther corner of the gorgeous, glossy island's counter, on one of the multitudinous amounts of bar stools that only a handful of people here utilized.
Dressed in one of her black hoodies, she had the hood tucked lazily over her head. She sat comfortably next to Penny and Wren, and though the group loudly argued and went back and forth about just what the heck Vye Ketton could even do to Sugar Rush, Berri angrily glared down the aimless scrolling she did on her phone and knew, full well, there was one person at this island that knew exactly what was up, someone who had all of this valuable information. Without moving her head, which was angled down, Berri's icy eyes finally slid across the gap and fixated on Lash. A master of disguise, a cunning, mischievous beast all carefully packaged in a cy-bug marked, matte grey, porcelain show of almost untouched fragility. As if he had gone so incredibly long weaseling his way out of predicaments, Berri was well aware this was a fire she had to immediately tame, or else. The sheer amount of removed nonchalance Lash was forcing proved to Berri that he was certainly someone she underestimated. His broad chest inhaled a lazy breath as he carelessly went for a sip of his beer, though in the toss of his soft, creepy eye contact, he hooked tight to Berri, thus furthering the notion of adamant secret keeping.
Berri held her breath and continued to stab Lash a secretive glower as she remained still with her chin slumped into her hand. He nearly gave her a small little curl of his lips, though he lulled his eyes closed and took a swig of his beer. Upon coming down and setting the glass bottle on the counter before him, Wren continued to firmly become up in arms over a notion someone had said, he very adamantly went on and on, and though the conversation was now becoming noise that Berri was drowning out, due to her wildly conflicting thoughts, Zed largely furrowed his eyebrows and gestured to Berri. His broad, powerful voice coat the room with dominance, the group was now unravelling with theories and conspiracies as to just what the hell was going to take place. Berri's eyes snapped to her father's the second her name rolled from the depths of his throat.
"It's not like Berri TEXTED Vye and asked for this nonsense, of COURSE they're going to target Berri, she's Sugar Rush's next heir!" Zed shouted, to which Wren firmly clapped his hands together.
"THIS. IS. A. SETUP!" Wren shouted, for the hundredth time, to which Zed finally sagged his shoulders and looked down to the splay of holograms before him; Lash dared to look down to his twiddling fingers in his lap, and it was here did Berri truly understand just how much of a mastermind he was. He was the cause of this mess, though making sure he hung out in plain sight, sat right next to the King of literally everything, Berri nearly seethed at just how carefully crafted Lash's little game was. Wren loudly carried on, "Why didn't Vye just text Ace herself? She clearly as Berri's number, this is to SCARE us. She could've just texted Ace and said, yo, I know you are a User and have created three Users out of simply just being YOU. Why don't you hand yourself over and the game goes untouched?"
"And what, just allow Ace to waltz into the dark web, children and all?" Penny firmly interjected, she sat right next to him, causing Wren to dramatically whirl about.
"Please don't make us," Beaux gently muttered, he sat near Vanellope and shot her a concerned look.
"Y'can't just ELECT all four Users, here, to just... DO something so incredibly selfish and unasked for," Taffyta urged.
"If it means Sugar Rush's safety, then-" Ace's voice shook, though was wildly interrupted.
"NO ONE IS GOING ANYWHERE!" Tessa suddenly yelled from the head of the island, and for the first time in this near-hour long debate, the room fell dead silent. Tessa meanly looked everyone in the eye and shook her head, "We are to STAY PUT. I don't care HOW long we have to all hunker down, we are to STAY PUT until we can come up with a game plan. Whether that be scouring the internet for ideas, getting Surge on our side, somehow find Sugar Rush a much better virus protection... We are to STAY PUT until we have ALL of our ducks in a row."
"No way in hell any one of you guys are going to go waltzing into the internet looking for Vye, let alone the dark web," Zed's deep voice aided Tessa's, "Everyone is to stay put. We'll give it a week before we peak our head from the rubble."
"And what of game day?" Vanellope worried, to which Rancis and Taffyta urgently peered to Tessa and Zed in unravelling terror, "I mean... Us racers HAVE to go back."
"If we don't go back, the game will get unplugged," Rancis's voice muttered, though as Tessa and Zed fell silent, he understood everyone was now in a stale mate, "Either the virus comes for us while we're inside, and the game goes down with US in it, or... We don't show up ONCE and the game gets immediately unplugged."
"You could find Tron, you could then plug it back in," Penny pointed to Zed bravely, "LET Sugar Rush get unplugged, but then... Quickly go to the human world and plug it back in! Let Vye THINK it got unplugged for good!"
"Going to the human world was as risky as any of this gets," Zed countered, "Tessa and I got EXTREMELY lucky."
"We're aware," Berri muttered darkly, the boiling point of her frustration was now starting to split at the seams; she could see Lash cock an eyebrow in the corner of her eye, though she flinched the second Zed eagle-eyed his attention straight for his second born.
"Y'got any more wisecracks up your sleeve, your highness?" Zed stabbed, to which Berri rolled her eyes and began to get off of her chair, so to leave.
"No, I'll see myself out," Berri muttered meanly, and though she caught eyes with Turbo's defeated look of exhaustion, she finally gave Lash a mean glance of a glower, "There's nothing ANY of us can do, right now, but just sit and wait out this bullshit."
"None of us have any answers, Bear, we're ALL in this problem together, what's with the sudden 'tude?" Ace wondered in rising frustration, to which Berri began to make her way across the gap and to the spiral staircase cozily tucked away in the nook of Zed's brother's old wing of up and downstairs bedrooms.
"Im sure someone will come up with an answer, eventually," Berri retort, ultimately leaving the group entirely confused.
"What the hell does that even mean!" Taffyta hissed in irritation as Berri was finally gone, to which Turbo rubbed his face in agitation and knew he should shortly follow Berri, so to comfort her and ease her frustration.
"Who knows," Zed mumbled, he glanced about the group and heaved a shaky sigh, and though the group longingly glanced in the direction Berri left, Lash did whatever he could not to visibly sag, as if having Berri at the island was leverage for feeling confident and proving it to himself.
In the silence of the night, dead stillness Berri was sure would be impossible to navigate just as quietly, she gently clacked her's and Turbo's bedroom door shut. Innocently in search for a drink, her bare feet hovered like a ghost as she effortlessly glided down the staircase and into the dark kitchen. Although it was still pitch black outside, she knew that within an hour or so, the sun would start to rise, and surely her mother and father would be up and about. Having tossed and turned the entire night, she was almost glad she could enjoy a beverage, in her own company, and potentially sleep the majority of the day away. Anything to get away from Lash's gripping, creepy gaze, a pleading, silent tug of war the two were now secretly thrusted into. She knew she needed to somehow get lash alone and make him explain himself, ease her guilt of weirdly covering his tracks, a sisterly act Berri understood that she signed up for when she promised to be Turbo's wife. Wrought in frustration, it only spiked the second she remembered she had left one of her favorite beverages, only purchasable in Sugar Rush, in the garage's fridge. With an eye roll only the dim, still house witnessed, she silently pushed to the palace's side door, one that lead to the garage's main entrance, but also out to the flyer's enclosure and the bedroom corridor's outdoor side entrance; a hub of easy traffic.
Once outside, she was grateful she didn't have to be extremely silent anymore. Still careful to keep the noise down, she pushed into the Kalivar's gorgeous, untouched garage. With a flick of one of the lights, she refrained from turning on the stretch of garage lights, seeing as she only needed to see her way to the fridge. A decent sized garage, though not nearly as large as Sugar Rush's palace garage, she was aware said garage only had to house about six vehicles. Void of any vehicles, however, it was just a splay of clean concrete, gorgeous, high white walls and dark sky lights that allowed starlight to sprinkle in. She quickly rushed to the fridge, and with a swing, she suddenly felt a strange sensation coat the back of her neck's hairs in a frozen prickle of uncertainty, a feeling only her coding could cue to. Although second-guessing if maybe the chill of the fridge's rush of cold air is what maybe caused this, her shrunken pupils urgently peered into the fridge, she stood frozen in a spike of unmitigated dread, the feel of a presence tight behind her, the sneakiest, most cunning gamer in this entire Arcade.
"Yah'selke kit talmha'te, sozo'do kem," I'll tell you everything, under one condition, Lash's deep, gentle whisper hovered over her shoulder, almost as if it wasn't even real, and said hushed notion was a figment of Berri's imagination; she refrained to whirl around, though with the very idea that Lash was speaking fluent, proper Teltokuan, she held her breath and felt the still-open fridge to coat her body in a surrender to the cold.
Berri so tenderly shut the fridge door, ultimately leaving the two in the splay of Lash's golden, glowing eyes. Berri heaved a shaky, trembling sigh that she did whatever she could to keep silent, her heart raced, and though she just barely turned to look at Lash over her shoulder, she narrowed her eyes and bravely dared to give him a shocked glower of discovery. Though she was sure he'd maybe look sheepish in this instance, having been caught red-handed with Mara's coding, she froze and very quickly pieced together the raw inevitable in front of her. The scariest, sharpest, most cunning being in existence was now kissed with god-like powers, powers in which Ace, Libby, Mara and Beaux were still doing whatever they could to come to grips with. Berri's scared eyes stabbed into Lash's, understanding, full well, if there were anyone on Earth who knew just what to do with unlimited power, it was the still, frozen, nearly-majestic beast that stood not even a foot from her face.
"Pebe kunjima ahor, yah'selke kit talmha'te firt'malta," Either we leave now, and I tell you everything on the way, Lash started, perfect Teltokuan, his dark, raspy voice matched with the gorgeous sing-song like Teltokuan accent that only previously Libby was a master at, his golden eyes hooked tight to hers, his vertical rectangle pupils nearly began to melt the flesh off of her face, "Ek, yah'kunji ahor, kit'solmha'te." Or, I leave now, and you don't get answers.
"Sehmea?" Where? Berri just barely whispered, and although her Teltokuan was rusty, she was well aware Lash was only speaking in this language so to keep from any of the flyers, in their nearby enclosure, from understanding what was being said, lest they be eavesdropping.
Lash ever so carefully revealed just what he was holding down by the side of his thigh, his wrist just barely angled in such a way to peel the thing he was holding, in his hand, from his person. Without moving a single muscle, Berri dart her eyes down to Lash's side, and upon seeing her father's light disc, Berri dart her scared eyes tight to Lash's, once more, and held her breath. Dressed in nothing but a long, black baggy night shirt that draped her lower thighs, she just barely shook her head, as if to wonder even where to begin, the raw fact that she was not physically, mentally or emotionally ready for such a terrifying trip. Although wrought with fear and confusion, Berri stabbed her further scared eyes into Lash's and pressed on in a hushed whisper.
"Seh'kunji TEHMEA kanji a'oseh?" What is going THERE going to solve? Berri whispered, to which Lash lulled his golden eyes closed and just barely shook his head.
"Yah'timfet first malta kunjima, tenah se'a kehe ek ein tem'kanna'sen," I said I'd give answers on the way, this is a yes or no kind of conversation, Lash rushed quietly, he reopened his eyes and peered deep into Berri's icy gaze, the sudden ring of camaraderie the two shared, the raw fact that Lash was saddled with what would ultimately be a branch of her own coding, seeing as her and Mara were blood related. Berri heaved a shaky breath and felt the weight of this game suddenly come crashing down on her, the risk to take the leap, like what they had always danced around, or to stay home and sulk whilst Lash did all the heavy lifting. Aware that he was on her side, she battled with her answer as his voice gently made her hair stand on end, "Kit'kunjima yah?" Y'coming with me?
"Kehe," Yes, Berri whispered, though just as the word simply left her lips, Lash gently raised his other hand, cued his and Mara's incredible, coral-colored honeycombs and circuit lines, and in the blink of an eye, he had successfully changed every single last detail of Berri's clothes and physical appearance; she wore dark, protective clothes tight to her body though easy to move in, her beautiful blue hair was tucked into a tight low braid down her back, she gaped a little and peered down at herself, though she was aware she shouldn't be surprised. Any ounce of unlimited power, lofted Lash's way, was something he was absolutely confident in utilizing, unflinchingly.
"Ein kawltapteh kotepth," No time to waste, Lash quietly volleyed, though as he first tensed into action, so to prepare the two to leave, they both jolted in pure terror as to just who was hanging in the gape of the garage's open doorway; dressed in lazy sweats and nothing more, Wren stood with his arms tightly woven across his broad, masculine bare chest, his white hair was un-styled and splayed all over the cleanly shaven parts of his scalp, he had a mean glower plastered to his face.
"Wren," Berri whispered tightly as him and Lash froze in unmitigated terror, and before Lash could potentially rush him and make clear he was to remain quiet about this, Wren shook his head, just barely, and quipped the two a silent ultimatum.
"If you don't include me on your plan, I'll snitch."
