Reviews :

chuckiboo : Thank you so so SO much. It's much appreciated! I've considered Beaux's standing. He's in the next chapter, but I have to do what I feel is best for the story. Who knows where it will go, but I appreciate your support nonetheless. Thank you!

Lyssdoodle : Thank you! Don't worry too much about it, you know how I am with settled, happy endings. ;)

SuperSonic : First off, I just want to make clear, your review made my ENTIRE year. My entire year. Like seriously. I was grinning so wide reading everything you said, and I'm just SO elated that you have joined me on this journey and have been really enjoying everything thus far. I also want to THANK YOU for enjoying my jokes. Whenever I reread my saga, I'll die laughing at my own jokes and stupid remarks, like an idiot, and then I sigh and figure I MUST be the only one to think I'm funny. But then I get reviews like yours and I'm FOREVER relieved that there are people out there that get my humor, or that really find the shining, fun and funny moments. Although this saga can get extremely heavy, like with the topics you stated, I DO my very best to make sure it's littered with that comedic relief, strategically placed. Without it, it feels way too heavy, a slump you can't come back from. I like everything to be well rounded, and I'm so floored that it resonates with certain people. I'm so happy that you're truly enjoying the story, and I REALLY hope we do become review-buddies, here, cause I've lost the majority of the people I used to chit-chat with and it's honestly made my 2020 super depressing. I have not only the 5th story planned, but a 6th one as well, so there's no danger in shortage of chapters any time soon. I hope you tag along, and I just want to say again how appreciative I am for you coming out from lurking to say all of the nice things you did. It's reviews like yours that encourage me to keep on, and that what I'm doing has merit. So THANK YOU. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.


Song Listened To :

Trampoline by SHAED

When the End Comes by Andrew Belle


*Chapter 244*

With lithe footsteps and easy, silent movement across the whole of Game Central Station, Wren, Berri and Lash pressed into Sugar Rush's silent, empty golden outlet. Dressed appropriately for a nighttime excursion into Tron, Lash suspiciously moved them deeper into Sugar Rush's outlet, something Berri and Wren stole nervous glances to each other over. Although Lash heavily warned them from communicating until he deemed appropriate, Berri was well aware that both her and Wren were bursting at the seams. Lash finally stopped his movement, and as the three pressed up the lonely, silent stoop of the inner workings of Sugar Rush's outlet and inner wiring train dock, Berri huffed an agitated sigh as Lash dug in his pocket. All three beings were dressed in sleek black clothes, Berri knew this was simply Tron attire and was meshed so the three would easily fit in with the skin-tight like apparel, though the second Berri and Wren firmly caught eyes, once more, Berri finally heaved a hard, annoyed sigh and stabbed her eyes tight to Lash's.

"Lash, will you PLEASE give us a shred of info," Berri stabbed, to which Lash urgently shook his head and pleadingly peered into her eyes.

"Hang on," Lash mumbled, though just before he could open his palms and will his fresh, brand new User coding, Berri suddenly grappled the collar of Lash's shirt and tugged him in a jarring show of fully riled aggression, complete with a clenched, readied fist.

"I swear to god, Lash, if you don't give us SOMETHING RIGHT NOW," Berri stabbed through the grit of her teeth as she hovered tight in Lash's face, he flinched in whole surprise as the golden hue of his eyes easily diminished.

"Berri," Lash staggered, though Wren huffed a shaky noise and urgently grappled for Berri's arms, so to help free Lash.

"Berri, we NEED him, c'mon," Wren argued, and although it was a struggle, Berri finally unhanded Lash and gave him a death glower.

"I have a bone to pick with you," Berri snapped, Lash felt his heart begin to race at the sheer sight of the little flecks in Berri's irises turning red, a glow of certain doom, and although Lash felt confident in the raw fact that he was now an all-powerful being, even laying still in Berri's warpath was enough to freak him out. Berri hesitated to finally ease off of Lash's immediate bubble though she meanly carried on through a sharp, muttering tone, "A few bones, the whole skeleton for god's sakes."

"I'm aware you all hate me, I get it, look... You have every right to be mad, but we can't discuss anything here," Lash mumbled, he raised his eyebrows and lulled his eyes closed in an already-glossed show of exhaustion, "C'mon. I can explain a little once we're in Sugar Rush."

"Why are we even here?" Wren wondered in a whisper as Lash very bravely reached out, grabbed Berri's and Wren's hands, and in a whisk of a sudden amp of User-power, Lash easily teleported the three to Sugar Rush's lovely rainbow road entrance. The three visibly flinched, it was clear Lash was still getting used to the insane ump of power under his own skin. Wren nervously rubbed the back of his head as all three beings eased off of each other, "I thought we were going to Tron?"

"If you don't tell us everything, as quickly as you can, right here, I will physically fight you, Whiplash Black, is that what you want?" Berri's voice became authoritative, to which Lash eagerly recalled the one instance where she threw a swing at him, upon being officially unbubbled; an instance he was excited to not relive, ever again.

"Okay, this is going to sound impossible, but roll with it. I'm going to be bubbling the entirety of Sugar Rush," Lash rushed quietly, his golden eyes hooked tight to Berri's as Wren eagerly watched their heavy gravity almost collide in on each other. Both Berri and Wren peered to just what was in Lash's hand, a sleek, thick and heavy slate of metal with a gorgeous craft of engraved circuitry on the top; it looked like a heavy-duty hard drive. Lash gently waved it in front of himself and held his eyes tight to Berri's, Sugar Rush's gorgeous sky, right before sunrise, was dim and blue, coat with stars, Lash's confident cast of glowing eye contact was their only current light source, "Vye, Aroq and every one of their allies wants Sugar Rush obliterated, they think all of the Users are HERE."

"Get to the point," Berri snipped.

"Vye is going to send every single last ounce of her power straight for Sugar Rush, but what she doesn't know is... Sugar Rush won't be here," Lash's dark, deep, crackly voice eased in grumbly, smiling delight, a notion Berri had to keep reminding herself; Lash still had that knack for bad-guy tendencies, "Sugar Rush will be safe in this external... Once we get to Tron City, we have to keep a low profile, and get to the portal as fast as we can."

"Why take Sugar Rush with?" Wren worried, he shook his head and gestured down to the harddive in Lash's care, "If... User forbid we LOSE that hard drive, the ENTIRETY of Sugar Rush is just gone. The only thing left are our people."

"I'm not going to lose this hard drive... I'm taking it with just in case we don't get to the portal in time for Vye to worm her way into Litwak's Arcade, before we can unplug the router," Lash rushed to explain, his golden eyes gently cast between both beings before him, "Once the Arcade opens at noon, Mr. Litwak will likely plug the router back in... By then, we'll have rearranged the shit out of Sugar Rush, virus protections, a new spot in the Arcade, all that jazz. This buys us time."

"What if they get into the Arcade before we can unplug the router?" Wren continued, all questions that were hovered at the back of Berri's throat.

"That's what bubbling Sugar Rush is for," Lash waved the hard drive a little, "They'll pile into a black void and immediately be deleted. Sugar Rush's cabinet will be an empty husk of corrupted information. Not even viruses stand a chance against corrupted code."

"I thought viruses WERE corrupted code?" Berri muttered as she crossed her arms.

"Viruses are rewritten, corruptions can't be saved," Lash stated in a twinge of kindness, he gave Berri a knowing side-eye, "Y'know your little pal, Eighteen? She was a normal creation, rewired for destruction. She was a protector rewired to delete. Their kind isn't corrupted... Just rewired."

Berri finally fell silent of any snide quips, she looked across her gorgeous sprawl of a land, dark and entirely void of life. Tears nearly began to sting her eyes, though before she could open her mouth and spill more worry, Lash gingerly took her hands upon putting the hard drive back in his pocket.

"Berri... I know you're mad at me. I swapped codes with Mara, I know it may look like I'm this power hungry freak, I KNOW this looks bad," Lash's gentle amount of love and patience gave Berri pause, and as their hands gripped each other's, Berri finally allowed a few tears of vulnerability gloss her cheeks. She fervently frowned into Lash's tender, honest eye contact and finally felt her shoulders sag upon the meet of his familiar, brotherly warmth, "I was wrong about everything. About swapping, about the people around me, about love... I've been given a heavy dose of warmth, of what it means to truly be in a solid familial unit... I wouldn't for a second do anything to jeopardize this. Please hear me... I'm here to protect Sugar Rush, and to protect you guys."

"You just wanted to get this all over with, that's why you messaged Vye?" Berri whimpered, to which Wren raised his eyebrows in surprise and gave Lash a look of bewildered disbelief.

"Why, man, WHY! Why reach out to her," Wren barked quietly, to which Lash scrunched his face and urgently shook his head.

"Look, man, YOU be handed the WEALTH of Arcade's powers and tell me your head won't get to be the size of CHINA," Lash argued with a shake of a laugh, to which Berri sniffled and eased a nasally giggle as well; Wren grinned, rolled his eyes and looked off as Lash lovingly squeezed Berri's hands and returned his tender eye contact to hers, "But, you're not wrong... I DID just want this to end. This whole time, I've felt powerless, but now... Now that I've achieved all of this power in the right way, and have gained the trust and the love of so many people that I never thought, in my wildest dreams, would be so incredibly important to me... I'm not about to let any of you guys down."

Wren and Berri fell silent as they hovered in Lash's powerful yet tender presence. A man of tumultuous darkness, a past so wrought in hate and fear, Berri narrowed her eyes and could hardly even see Lash's past self in his lovely, warm gaze. A being once so despised, and rightfully so, Berri shook her head a little and had to wonder just how seamlessly he had endured this reversal. Knowing there were two sides to every single story, to every single person, Berri finally heaved a long, tired sigh as Sugar Rush's lovely wind whipped through their hair and thick clothes, as if the game was assuring its' future Queen that it is, indeed, in good hands, and any decision made here would be the right one. Berri finally bobbed a nod, looked down to her's and Lash's conjoined hands and relinquished control, once and for all.

"Please win this," Berri stated gently, with Queenly authority, she peered into Lash's eyes and was floored that he had a shred of her coding now, like what she did for him, and in their grip, she gave him one final bob of a nod and squeezed his masculine hands, "Your family depends on it."

"We're Turbotime, we're Sugar Rush," Lash encouraged gently, he released one of Berri's hands and allowed it to grip the broad of Wren's nearest shoulder, ultimately including him in this pow-wow. Wren smiled as the three hovered in baited wait, greatness sparked from ambition, the calm before the storm, and it was with Lash's gentle continuation did they understand that life, after this, would never be the same, "All else fails, we have each other. We're all family now. Weird, yeah?"

"Uh, yeah, tell me again how you were able to convince my poor little niece to do the dirty with you?" Berri stabbed in smiling annoyance, to which Wren narrowed his gaze in cute suspicion.

"I'm not surprised, for the last half of our vacation, she kept sticking up for you and giving you goo-goo eyes," Wren muttered with a wide smile as he side-eyed Lash.

"Believe it or not, I have a few tricks up my sleeve," Lash's deep voice grunted in cheeky annoyance, he gave Berri a snide smile, "I may be inexperienced, but I AM related to the two men you guys are so insanely head-over-heels for."

"He's got a point," Wren deflated as he eyed Berri.

"Two studs in their own right, no one in the Black family is an inadequate ugly duckling," Lash gently eased out of Berri's and Wren's presence, the continuation of said cheeky, sultry smile was plastered to his face in official victory, and with such, he revealed the slick hard drive in his pocket, once more, "Sure, the thought of Mara's User powers was a tiny speckle in the back of my mind, but... Please believe me when I say... She caught me hook line and sinker. I love her. I hope that's clear."

"If you didn't, you'd have taken over the entire Arcade by now," Berri mumbled in defeat, as if to be sure that Lash's intentions would previously be sour, though the twinkle in her eye returned as she eyed Lash in pride, "Though, it's ultimately not US you have to answer to... My big brother is going to straight-up murder you."

"So I've been told," Lash chimed in a strange show of nonchalance, he shrugged and began to unravel a gentle show of coral-colored coding, a display of holographic menus and indexes that unfolded from the hard drive in his hands, ultimately illuminating the area. He shot Berri a cute smile and wrinkled his nose, "It's either Vye or Ace. Another User, or a literal internet gaming legend with so many kills under her belt already."

"Yeah, which death would be easier to endure?" Wren wondered, though both him and Berri gasped and took a few steps away in shock as the hard drive suddenly emit a small, glowing white orb and hovered in front of Lash, as if to await his instructions; Lash eyed the two over his shoulder and bobbed a nod.

"If I'm being honest, I'd rather the throw around from Ace," Lash stated politely, the white glow against his own skin and eyes looked haunting, easily muting the glow of his gaze, his vertically rectangular pupils hooked to Berri for emphasis, "At least with THAT battle, I'd be the only one to come out of it ripped to shreds."

Berri and Wren sagged their shoulders in sorrow, and it was in this weird instance did Berri feel a lump gather in her throat. The onset of ideas that came rushing her brain had her coding softly stop underneath her skin, the insinuation that Lash would rather sacrifice his own wellbeing for everyone else gave her a very worrisome amount of dread, as if Lash's tender show of foreshadowing was something she wondered she should cut right at the quick. Before she could think about delivering Lash a ntion of almost-motherly concern, the little white orb, in front of Lash, began to grow white with intensity.

"Guys, get to the inner wirings of the exit," Lash diligently instructed, though as Berri and Wren began to hesitantly follow his instructions, suddenly the wind kicked up and the grid, all about them, began to sprawl with the test of Lash's now incredible share of honeycombs, the lovely, orangey coral glow of his and Mara's combined coding had Berri wanting to stop and ogle the mess, though as Lash's further-stern eye contact caught with Berri's, he jostled his hands a little and delivered them a further press of worry, "Go, I'm bubbling the ENTIRE game, and I don't want to include you two in the mess."

"C'mon," Wren urged as he gripped Berri's arm, and as the two began to run to the inner bevel of Sugar Rush's entrance, suddenly the game illuminated a hot white, causing the two to stumble in a squint of wind-whipped hair and pupil-tightening chaos.

In the fumbling mess to get deep into the alcove of Sugar Rush's lovely smelling waffle cone entrance, the two held on to each other as the very scary, strange sight of Sugar Rush's almost stage-like lights beamed down onto the game. An odd sight outside of atmospheric ambience, a facade that the game controlled, suddenly everything began to warp and cascade straight for the orb in Lash's incredible care. Berri inhaled a sharp, nervous gasp and shook her head, as if to urgently worry that Lash was going to be take with it, though he diligently began to back-step as little flecks of Sugar Rush's rainbow road began to haphazardly melt into the powerful white orb hovered in Lash's hands. As everything began to bend in a kaleidoscope-like mess of colorful chaos, the reverberating bass of unlimited power, the whip of the wind in their ears, everything nearly became unbearable to physically stand, until, in the blink of an eye, everything fell silent. Nestled between the two was Lash, white orb and all, and directly in front of them was nothing but a sea of scary black; no palace, no city skyline, no gumdrops, just a wall of black water that bevelled and blobbed in confusion.

Berri gasped in stark fear, took a handful of steps back and peered up at the now crumpled waffle cone entrance above and about them, and although the wall of black, eerie water was contained and reserved to only the waypoints of Sugar Rush's beginning and end, Berri still felt hot tears sting her eyes. She shook her head, covered her mouth and immediately crumpled at the thought of how real all of this was, how easily Lash was able to accomplish all of this within on single keystroke, the idea of everything having to fall apart before it could come back stronger was too much for her mind to take in, all at once. Before she could even fully allow her mind to believe the inevitable in front of her, she covered her face and silently burst into tears, a whole show of desperate vulnerability, a show she knew was safe within the presence of the men she was with. She scoffed a few silent, raspy cries into her hands and stood still in her hunched show of defeat, emotion that finally overflowed from her heart, pure despair and worry she was praying Lash and Wren would soothe.

"Does it have to look so ominous?" Wren's voice wavered in a spike of fear, as if the raw reality now right before them was what they truly needed in order for all of this to feel real, and as Wren carefully approached Berri, he raveled her into his strong, loving embrace; she easily cried into his chest.

"A clean transfer, but... You're not wrong," Lash panted, he so carefully sealed the whole of Sugar Rush into the slick hard drive he had, and for safe keeping, he unzipped his thicker black biker jacket, secured it into an inner-chest pocket, zipped said pocket and finally zipped his jacket back up.

He lovingly pat the hard drive to his chest and inhaled a shaky breath as his eyes caught with the sad sight of Berri now becoming mildly unglued in Wren's strong grip. He knew he needed to step forth and really solidify his trust with Berri, really show her that he was committed to this side of history, to prove that, from now on, his motives here were inclusive of everyone under Sugar Rush's care. Wren tenderly pet the back of Berri's hair, though as Lash neared, Wren carefully unravelled his arms from Berri's back and was sure that Lash needed a turn to put Berri's heart back together, he ultimately being the one to cause this mess.

"C'mere," Lash's deep voice mumbled in apologetic sweetness, and although his tone shook and seemed wrought with an equal amount of worry, he was thrilled that upon opening an arm and inviting her in for a hug, she easily sagged into Lash's embrace and buried her face into his shoulder. She blurt a quiet cry and grappled her arms about his middle, and in a squeeze, she grit her teeth amidst her silent cries and could feel the sturdy hard drive tenderly wedged between the press of their chests, the very thing she was due to being in charge of, one day, the idea that it was all so carefully secure in Lash's care, all bundled into a vulnerable, tangible brick, made her head spin. She continued to cry, though Lash finally inhaled a readied breath, held the back of her head and eased his soft, deep voice into her ear, a true act of brotherly love he knew he needed to fully deploy on her shivering heart as fast as he could, "Look, I know it's all really scary right now, but I promise... No matter what I have to do. I'll right my wrongs."

"How can you be so sure?" Berri whimpered into the side of his neck, she squeezed her eyes shut and began to feel lightheaded with the amount of panicked breathing she was doing. Lash tenderly shushed her and began to pet the back of her head, down her long braid, her soft hair so meticulously and perfectly woven in blue waves. Wren easily rubbed up and down Berri's back as well, to prove that he also stood for Lash's gentle words, though Berri's trembling voice carried on, "H-How are we ever going to survive this mess..."

"I'm sure, because Mara took me to Vanilla Lake," Lash mumbled cutely, he finally tucked his chin to the top of Berri's head and gave Wren a cute, knowing little smirk of sheepish warmth; Wren bugged his eyes in surprise as both men held eyes, though Lash delivered his conclusory notions down to Berri's shivering soul, "The lake didn't take me. I've earned Sugar Rush's trust... I only hope I can earn yours."

Berri heaved a soft, trembly whine of a cry and eventually eased out of Lash's tight embrace, though they hovered close. She fearfully peered up to the warping wall of black water, all glistening with nervous, confused white and silver coding, as if the void was uncertain of what to do with all of this breathing room. She finally returned her gaze to Lash's and felt her heart ease a bit more snug into Lash's, a proverbial coded glue that the three were now sapped in, and it wasn't until Lash tenderly took Berri's hand and pushed it firm to the thin brick secured in his jacket, right over his heart. He squeezed her hand tight to the brick, and his chest, and peered into her eyes for emphasis, a truth he was willing to go to the ends of the Earth to prove was innocent and pure. Berri's scared, glassy eyes peered hard into Lash's, to which he finally huffed her a silent plea of a whisper.

"We will win this," Lash ushered quietly, though certainly, he eased the smallest smile and almost gave her a twinkling side eye, "Wanna know why I'm so sure?"

"Why," Berri whimpered.

"Because I love you," Lash assured, to which Wren smiled and looked down to his feet in warm contemplation, "Because you're my sister. Because we're each other's family now... And we'll win this together. I may be new to this User nonsense, but I'm pretty confident in my skillset."

"Convinced me," Wren mumbled with a nervous little smile, he finally looked up to the colossal wall of water and sagged his hands into his pockets, "Next stop..."

"Tron," Lash assured tenderly, as carefully as he could, he swiped his thumbs to Berri's cheeks and rid her of tears, to which she softened in his loving presence and allowed the overflow of care. Lash bobbed a nod, glanced back at the water, pat the firm brick tucked tight into his clothes and inhaled a readied breath, "Alright, team. It's go-time."


"You, uh, want some COFFEE with your cream?" Taffyta barked in Vanellope's direction; although the Arcade opened and closed later on Saturdays, they still treated the first part of Saturday mornings as if it were a day off. Lounged in comfy clothes, the seven AM sunshine glinted into Kalivar castle's familiar tint of windows, not a single speck of dust was amiss. With Zed and Tessa lazily lounged with Taffyta and Vanellope, at the kitchen island, Zed cocked an eyebrow and happily watched Taffyta and Vanellope unfold with their typical banter.

"Don't even talk to me, you frost your cupcakes in such a way that is literally just frosting and a crumble of cake," Vanellope quickly retort, a smooth volley of sass both girls were experts at, and with such a deliverance, Taffyta opted to heave a tired, smiling sigh as she swirled her spoon in her hot, steamy coffee.

"Reports?" Zed quietly asked Tessa, to which she finished her hearty swig of her own mug of hot coffee, her tired eyes lulled closed in acknowledging Zed's words, to which she pulled up her phone and leaned a little deeper into Zed's bubble next to her.

"No damage, everything was cleanly moved," Tessa's voice croaked with a smile, her eyes trained to Zed's in such a way that assured to him that she had a restful night amidst the chaos, she finally lifted her mug in a proverbial cheers to her own husband, "My hat's off to you, good sir. No complaints from anyone."

"Which I'm SHOCKED by," Taffyta barked, though she grimaced suddenly and held her side in a way that had Vanellope eyeing her in almost irritated concern.

"I'm not," Vanellope volleyed, though before she could quickly inquire just what Taffyta was grimacing about, Rancis and Ralph's figures slowly began to mosey from the Sky Room; they chit chat in casual banter, Sugar Rush's previous King and current Knight in their usual swing of things, a reminiscent sight of warmth that strangely made Vanellope feel cold.

She locked her eyes to Ralph and felt her heart begin to thud with uncertainty, and with as much of a causal glance that she could afford, she subtly volleyed her eyes to Zed's. Catching on, he tenderly lulled his brilliant blue eyes closed, just barely nodded his head and silently assured to her to keep her cool, to act natural, a tender nod of affirmation that she was in control, here. Taffyta perked up a little and was easily welcomed into a small hug and kiss, from Rancis, and as he swung his arm about her waist and held her in his side embrace, at the island, Vanellope un-crossed her arms and wondered just what Ralph would do. Although not exactly what she had hoped would happen, Ralph did manage to ease his larger figure to the head of the island and nudge Zed's shoulder on the way, standing in the wide gape between Zed and Vanellope. Zed smiled up to Ralph's tall, towering and standing figure, from his bar stool, to which Ralph jostled his larger finger around and gave Zed a cheeky, annoyed grin.

"Hey, Mr. In Charge, the hell did you do to everyone's coding last night?" Ralph wondered with a tired smile, something Vanellope hadn't seen in days, her twinkling, hazel eyes glued up to his figure as he continued to fixate on Zed's aura, "I haven't gotten THAT great of a night's sleep in, I don't know... Months. It's been forever."

"I was just gunna say," Rancis grumbled with a tired smile as he rubbed his eye, everyone kindly perked up as Turbo slowly made himself present from the corridor of bedrooms that a handful of people were still sleeping in; he was wearing a simple white t-shirt and grey sweats, bed head galore, though his golden eyes were suspiciously muted. Rancis gently reached out for a lazily hand-grapple of a handshake high-five hybrid, as Turbo neared, "Hey, man, you sleep amazingly as well?"

"Yeah, like a LOG," Turbo's deep voice grumbled as he rubbed his eye, and though he looked mildly concerned, phone out, ready to say something, Zed blurt a chuckle and gave Ralph a cheeky toss of eye contact.

"I MAY or may not have upped everyone's melatonin levels," Zed mumbled cutely, he shrugged and looked about his peers, "Yesterday was incredibly stressful. We're useless if we don't get sleep... I figured everyone could use the boost."

"Best idea ever," Tessa muttered into her mug with dreamy, sleepy delight.

"I wondered why I woke up feeling all refreshed," Vanellope pressed with a giggle, she desperately did what she could to give off a lighthearted air about herself, and although her conversation with Zed, this morning, was difficult and pressing, she quickly held fast to the homework Zed had given her; to pay Ralph a compliment. In mulling over just what she should say, the twinkling wedding ring on Ralph's finger caught her eye, so much so that she narrowed her gaze and got a better look down at it. It looked cleanly, freshly polished, as if Ralph had personally done something to it. Eager to complete her homework quick and get results, she lovingly tapped the back of Ralph's left hand and was glad to get the toss of his whole, humbled eye contact. Aware Zed was cutely and nonchalantly paying attention to their interaction, Vanellope did what she could to come across as easy going and as natural as possible, "Your ring looks so shiny, Ralph, did you... Did you polish it?"

"Oh, yeah, I... I had to clean it up, it fell off as I was leaving the Niceland building the other day, and sank into the mud pit I'm usually thrown into," Ralph grumbled, he took his much larger wedding ring off and held it up for Vanellope to see, "Since, well... It's seen better days, the bark has started to become porous, so the mud kind of soaked into the crevices. I buffed and polished it... Brand new."

"You did really well," Vanellope encouraged softly, she bobbed a nod and was genuine in her compliment, her words easing through the group like honey, and although Tessa and Taffyta continued to chit-chat, Vanellope smiled into Ralph's eyes and lazily crossed her arms, "Wanna do mine? You did such a good job with yours."

"Yeah, I can," Ralph stated with easiness, easiness Vanellope hadn't endured in weeks. Shocked at just how seamless and how far Zed's advice went, she could see him stifling the hugest smile in her peripheral as he desperately included himself in Tessa's and Taffyta's conversation, "Your's is much smaller, though, so I might need your help."

"Name a time and place, I'd love that," Vanellope eased with happiness as Ralph gave her a soft, almost hesitant smile, though Vanellope could swear she could hear every single bird in the universe sing dewy, cheery love songs, just for them.

"Here and NOW," Taffyta barked a she playfully slammed her fist down on the counter, to which everyone rocketed into laughter and tossed their knowing eye contact straight for Turbo; he shut his eyes, lulled his head back in teasing irritation and grinned up to the ceiling, though before Turbo could get out any notions of playful defiance, Taffyta grimaced, once more, and now fully held her stomach, "Ohh, I need to go lay down."

"Okay, WHAT is going on with you," Vanellope mumbled as she hesitantly peeled from her's and Ralph's tender moment, she pointed a finger towards the stove and wildly gestured her arm, "You haven't eaten a single thing, you told me my CEREAL smelled bad. Cereal! That's not even something that gets cooked!"

"It REEKED, man," Taffyta grunted, though Rancis rubbed his forehead and looked down with a sheepish smile, he knew the cat was due to being out of the bag.

"You keep giving this weird, gassy look and holding your side and stomach, I mean, look, if you need to go take a shit then just DO it, my God," Vanellope barked as she swung her arm around; the group erupted in laughter, though as the group riled for a moment, everyone was shocked to find Rancis tenderly ease his arm about Taffyta's waist, once more.

"I guess... There's something we should probably tell you guys," Rancis mumbled cutely as him and Taffyta caught gazes, though with such a collection of words, the group froze in unadulterated shock; Tessa firmly covered her mouth with both hands and bugged her eyes.

"Don't say it," Tessa grunted into her hands with the rush of pure, elated joy, to which Taffyta and Rancis were now lost in cute smiles stolen into each other's eyes.

"... No, you're KIDDING," Vanellope gawked, everyone glued their attention tight to the two as Taffyta cutely raised her shirt, to expose her lower stomach.

"Fluggerbutter number three," Taffyta's voice croaked in cute delight, to which Tessa urgently squealed a noise and rocketed to a stand; both her and Vanellope erupted with loud wails of hot excitement as they clamored Taffyta and Rancis, everyone was all smiles, though it was here did Zed's grin turn to suspicious cheek.

"I'm noticing a pattern, here, my guy," Zed rubbed his chin and gave Rancis a wide grin of pure apology, to which Rancis flung his arm out and garnered everyone's attention.

"I was JUST SAYING THIS!" Rancis barked with a hearty laugh, "I feel like I'm cursed! Every SINGLE time I get Taffyta pregnant, Sugar Rush falls apart."

"Soooo maybe we stop here," Taffyta rubbed her forehead and grinned in sweet delight as Tessa and Vanellope swamped her with hugs, eagerly assessed her adorable, confidently glowing orange loading bar.

"Congratulations you guys," Turbo stated with great, smiling warmth as he firmly pat Rancis's upper back, "I know you've wanted this for an eternity now."

"I'm... SO excited," Rancis huffed through a shaky, trembling chuckle as him and Turbo caught eyes.

"Finally broke me down," Taffyta mumbled cutely as she shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Do you guys know the gender yet?" Ralph wondered with kind, calm excitement, to which Rancis shook his head and shrugged.

"I'm sure we could find out soon, I've been dying to tell Wren and Penny, but... Once this all happened," Rancis trailed, though Vanellope waggled her hands.

"Wai-wai-wait, how long have you guys known?" Vanellope prod cutely, though Rancis sagged his shoulders and gave the group a pleading look of sheepish apology.

"It's been a few days, but... We were trying to find a right time to tell everyone, but then all THIS happened, y'know," Rancis rushed with a sigh, to which Taffyta bobbed a knowing nod but kept Tessa in a cute little wrangle of a side-hug.

"It's still exciting, no matter what," Tessa prod, "I'm shocked Penny isn't awake yet, she's such an early bird."

"Oh, I know for fact we won't see Wren until later in the evening," Taffyta muttered cutely, though it was here did Turbo feel the need to pop the bubble of warmth with something a little bit more detrimental.

"Guys, I'm kind of worried, have any of you seen Berri?" Turbo pressed softly, definitely not trying to take away from such a sweet moment, though the worry in his tone was beyond palpable, "I woke up alone, and... I've been texting and calling her, like crazy, and she's not answering."

"Lemme check her waypoints," Zed mumbled nervously; not typically a nosey individual, Zed could sense the tension here and was paranoid about keeping everyone under the same roof in this trying time. Upon trying to locate Berri, Zed sharply furrowed his eyebrows and scanned his phone's results, the remote code room's diligent splay of information, Zed shook his head in a spike of becoming-terror and felt his pupils tighten, "She's... She's not even in the game. Dead Zed can't locate her."

"... What?" Tessa hissed in a show of stinging nervousness that now cloaked everyone, though she remained tight in Taffyta's embrace, so to continue doting on her aunt and brand new cousin's loading bar form.

"She's not here," Zed worried, his eyes glossed the group in a nervous show of rising dominance, and as he finally stabbed his eyes tight to Turbo's, his heart sank with the show of Turbo's muted, grey eyes, only something that ever happened due to a slump of apprehension or a lack of confidence in a situation, a rare color for Turbo.

"H-How do we find her? Where do we even begin?" Ralph staggered, hot worry coat the small group in the kitchen.

"Y'think she went back to Sugar Rush cause she forgot something?" Rancis prod, Tessa finally unglued herself from Taffyta and yanked her phone out of her pocket.

"She one hundred percent would've told Turbo, or at the very least, me," Tessa mumbled in a rush of nervousness.

"How long has she been gone?" Vanellope hurried, her scared eyes glossed the group, though Zed cleared his throat, raised his eyebrows and gave the group a knowing look of nervous disappointment.

"She's not the only one gone," Zed concluded, "Wren and Lash are gone, as well."


"Alright, guys, here's the game plan," Lash whispered quietly, he reached out his hands to both Berri and Wren, and gingerly gripped their upper arms amidst a rush of an exterior code swap, with both beings.

Stood in Tron's dark, gorgeous atmosphere, the three had found the tippy tops of a few staggering hills. Buried into a cliffside, far from reach, hidden from the public, near impossible to find, was the entrance into Litwak's Arcade. A route only the sharpest, bravest gamers would even dare to seek, let alone even find. Tron's cold rush of wind whipped their hair about, the glow of Tron City bevelled into a beautiful, hauntingly dark and gloomy valley seemingly acted like a beacon of light and hope, a tribute to the true beacon of light and hope just beyond the Sea of Simulation, far beyond the blackened mountain ranges behind Tron City. Berri's scared eyes scanned the mass that was Tron's darkness, how void of life they were currently drowning in, the surrounding landscape that hugged the city was so barren and gloomy, a much different sight than what they were used to. With the sky dot with repetitive stars, lined like the topside of the inner workings of a computer, Berri sagged into Lash's warm hug of powerful coding, having suddenly felt so extremely small from all kinds of angles. Berri's ears prickled at the sound of the fluent Teltokuan that suddenly came spilling from Lash's figure.

"We're to speak ONLY in Teltokuan to each other... Although I'm fluent, and Berri is nearly there, Wren isn't," Lash tilted his head in Wren's direction, though Wren's eyes bugged in hot surprise with the raw fact that he could understand the near-native sounding Teltokuan coming out of Lash's figure, an eternally strange sight and sound. Lash's golden eyes glossed the glorious sprawl of a glowing blue and green city before them, a place where they would be traversing, "You're going to have to remain in an almost constant exterior swap with Wren, Berri. The way we're going to get away with this is, you'll need to be constantly holding his hand. No matter where we are, no matter where we go, you need to keep that exterior swap up. Pretend to be dating, I don't know, but you mustn't lose that connection."

"Why?" Berri prod nervously, and although both beings were on board with Lash's plan, they hung on his every word and nearly begged for further information.

"No one, and I mean NO ONE here knows Teltokuan... It's such a secluded, native tribe to Dead Zed, it's specific to the game and is such a tiny tribe buried and rooted so deep in its own culture, no one knows about it," Lash's easy flow of Teltokuan was like music to their ears, though they hung tight to Lash's powerful exterior swap, hovering in unlimited power, power that was certain to get them through this mess, "If I need to discuss a game plan with you, in public, or say sensitive information to you, I'm going to do so in Teltokuan... And I need both of you to be able to understand me. So, hold hands. Act like a couple, I know it may be weird, but this is serious. We have ONE shot."

"Just don't kiss me and we'll be fine," Wren muttered, though he raised his eyebrows in unadulterated surprise at the raw fact that he effortlessly spoke fluent Teltokuan; Berri blurt a soft laugh and shook her head.

"I won't kiss you," Berri muttered in smiling annoyance, though she eyed Lash and shook her head, "But... Why are we going to be spending TIME here? We need to rush the portal."

"The portal was shattered years ago, but... They fixed it, and now it's always open due to the reboot," Lash instructed, his eyes glossed over the horizon of the city and landed to the spill of light nearly leagues away, something they desperately were due to pursuing, "I'm going to book us a room for an hour or two, in the city. NONE of us have slept, we need to maximize our abilities and we can't operate at our best with no sleep."

"How do you know I haven't slept?" Wren mumbled in mild irritation, though he immediately regretted his words the second Lash's golden eyes hooked tight to Wren's in a show of full, cheeky dominance.

"Your entire existence is in the palm of my hand, right this second," Lash muttered cutely, his dark tone held a sophisticated bite, Berri raised her eyebrows and knew to never underestimate this creature ever again, "I know what you had for dinner two weeks ago. I know the last time you and Throttle had sex. I know your code type, your biggest fears, what you dreamed about the other night-"

"Alright, alright, I get it, holy shit," Wren hissed in irritation, and though he kept his hand glued to Lash's, he still fervently waggled both their arms about in a fit of playful frustration; Lash grunted a cute laugh and shook his head as he made sure to keep Wren's and Berri's attention.

"We'll check in for an hour and a half... I'll make sure you two can get the most out of that hour," Lash explained, he bobbed a nod and looked off, "I've discovered an expedited way to getting rest that I think will work... Eight hours worth crammed into one hour. We just need a safe place to rest our heads."

"What if we're caught?" Berri mumbled nervously, Lash shook his head.

"We won't be. Keep ahold of Wren's hand, play the part, stay aware of your surroundings," Lash stated softly, "This is a big, integrated city. We won't stick out, but we have to act natural."

"What's natural about three people getting a hotel room together in the middle of the morning?" Wren argued, to which Lash tilted his head in Berri's direction.

"It's LESS natural having two dudes taking a beautiful woman to a hotel room, I have to work with what we got... Hence, YOU two pretending you're a couple," Lash grunted, "I'll be the disgruntled friend tagging along. This city is full of night clubs... Let's just pretend we're far from home, stumbled out of a bar, need a place to stay."

"This better work," Berri worried, her blue braid began to unravel with the wind, though she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and peered tight to Lash's eyes, "Wait a second... If you're able to get us around, via teleportation, why can't you just teleport us to the portal?"

"The activity would be recorded," Lash retort in a mumble of irritation, "Every blip of information I give the grid is gained... If they discover a User floating around, we're fucked. We have to fly there. Once we get to the hotel, I'll be programming each of our discs with a proper flyer, and we'll get there together."

"You want ME to fly a PLANE," Wren barked, Beri erupted into laughter, "Sorry, you want ME to pretend to be straight and fawn all over my COUSIN and THEN fly a PLANE. DO YOU SEE ME."

"I see you, and I get it, your world is upside down," Lash and Berri joined together in cute laughter, though Lash softened and warmly carried on, "But, if we don't carefully plot this out and take necessary steps to get to the portal in one piece, both physically and mentally... Then Litwak's will be upside down."

"It's either your world for two hours, or Litwak's for... Ever," Berri grimaced, to which Wren heaved a hot sigh, lulled his eyes closed and allowed Tron's cold, soothing air to flit through his white, choppy hair.

"For the band," Wren hissed through a chuckle as he looked up to Tron's dark sky, in a pleading manner, and shook his head, "Forgive me, Throttle."

"Oh, STOP, it's not like we're going to make out and code swap or anything, just hold my hand! Hug me!" Berri fervently waggled her's and Wren's conjoined hands, causing Wren's figure to shake a deep chuckle from his rib cage, "It's stuff we do anyways, these stipulations are easy. We just have to be smart."

"We'll be okay, we just have to blend in," Lash mumbled as the three finally peered to the city as a whole, their hand-holding remained so that Wren could fully understand their fluent show of Teltokuan.

"Easy," Wren muttered in stewing, sarcastic dread.


A/N : Hey guys! I'm finally finished with my first semester of college, starting this Friday! So, that means, I'll be uploading a NORMAL chapter for 245, and then will be BACK on my every other day uploads! I'll finish OOTB like this, and hopefully I'll be unveiling my 5th story sometime in January. I am SO. EXCITED to carry on with you guys!

ANOTHER THING! Chapter 250 marks the sketch dump! Be thinking what you want drawn, cause I have ALL of winter break to drum up your guys' ideas :D Thanks again guys! Hope you are enjoying everything so far!