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Lyssdoodle : Thank you so much! And, you'll definitely see that with this chapter :D Thanks for sticking around!
Song Listened To :
Confident by Demi Lovato
*Chapter 246*
... I missed my opportunity to do this 2 chapters ago because of school work, but um... Here's the real amount of chapters to this freaking beast.
*Chapter 902*
"Probably the weirdest thing, to ever happen to me, is to have our children living with us here, on these grounds, where we grew up," Libby's gentle voice trailed; her and Ace warmly held hands a they strolled across their lovely field of fire flowers, the confidently orange glow that splayed the crisp, morning air. Mara and Beaux cutely were tight in tow, a sight every being on the lot would've likely killed to see, a year ago. Ace gave Libby the softest of glances, the warmest of smiles, their little bud of love had blossomed into something so true and beautiful. Libby shrugged a little and heaved a wistful sigh as their little family unit approached the jungle castle's patio door, a large, round mainframe that let into the main common and kitchen area of the palace, though her delicate, Teltokuan accent pressed on, "I-I always knew it'd be our future, but..."
"It's definitely weird to be right in the heart of it, huh," Ace mumbled with warmth as he swung the door open and allowed Libby and his two children inside; with Mara slipping in after Libby, Ace cutely caught Beaux in a playful, boyish headlock; both guys blurt into chuckles and a slew of swats and grunts.
Grateful to be out of her father's teasing, grappling clutches, Mara snuck into the building tightly behind her mother. A much taller, lither individual, Mara was grateful to be her mother's little shadow into the mess of family that awaited. Knowing that any shred of an exterior swap would be nothing short of devastating, an act that her whole family was rather abundant in partaking in, she tightly crossed her arms and wondered if she could make it out of this little pow-wow alive. In a nervous toss of a glance over her shoulder, she caught eyes with Beaux's grinning face. A formidable being, much like their father, he had a much sharper, sassier twinkle in his eye, than Ace. Although both boys quietly laughed to themselves and came out of their little dude-bro moment of mild wrestling, Beaux sneakily glossed his vivid almost translucent, greyish-hazel eyes tight to Mara's in a fit of lightning-speed knowing, as if he, too, was nervous for Mara here in this instance. Any whiff of her swapping codes with Lash, who was now entirely MIA, and the whole palace would likely burn to the ground by the hands of the King and Queen.
Mara bit her lip and urgently looked forward as Ace and Beaux cutely began to bicker, little quips of nonsensical, playful, familial irritation towards each other, Mara was grateful Libby was now busy with Tessa's motherly figure. Caught in a cute side hug, Tessa began to dote on Libby in an easy show of calm cuteness, a being that Tessa and Zed treated as their own, Mara continued to be grateful that she had successfully wormed into this meeting without grippy paws coming after her for a hug or anything in between. She sank to the back of the group that calmly stood between the massive island and the stove and plentiful counter tops. Knowing her figure was safe within Throttle's demeanor, she melted into his gravity, near Nox and Theo, and held her breath. Figuring she was safe, she felt her pupils tighten as she eavesdropped on Nox's and Throttle's conversation. Throttle's eyes were muted, a very rare sight out of such a collected being; the idea that Wren was MIA, as well, Mara held her breath and was now certain that somehow, somewhere in this meeting, her little secret was likely going to messily unfold. In another agitated toss of her eyes to her bigger twin brother, she was eternally grateful that he had diligently kept his word, seeing as him and Ace continued to cutely bicker about nothing, that is until Zed quietly put a stop to it, as if to wrangle in two teenagers and beg them to pay attention; Mara barely rolled her eyes.
"Alright, gang, we have a predicament," Zed instructed, and although a handful of the individuals at the island already knew what was up, the rest, who weren't clued in, nervously peered to Zed and Tessa, who held rank over the nearly overwhelming amount of people in the massive, sunny kitchen and common room. Zed placed his strong, able to hands to the counter and heaved a shaky sigh as his eyes glossed to his Queen, "We've done a head count, and three people are missing."
"Whose missing?" Ace suddenly huffed, the boyish, cute and playful demeanor he had just been sporting, with Beaux, switched to full-blown, tight-lipped seriousness in break-neck speeds, as did Beaux's; both apex predators in their own right.
"Your little sister," Zed grumbled in dread, to which Ace's face washed white; Tessa heaved a shaky sigh and softly held Ace's hand as Zed's trembling tone continued on with as much stoic collectiveness as he could, "Berri, Whiplash and Wren are missing..."
"They... They HAVE to be in Sugar Rush," Ace stabbed, now on fire to correct this issue, to which Zed shrugged and waggled his phone about, as if to insinuate that it was useless.
"We don't know, NONE of them are answering their phones," Zed huffed, though everyone flinched as Ace suddenly stiffened and began to storm towards the castle's massive front door.
"I'm going," Ace stabbed, though Zed grunted a noise and gripped Ace's shoulder in a halt, before he could even get two steps away.
"Nooo, ho-no," Zed urged in near-smiling irritation, to which Tessa eagerly gripped Ace's arm as well, the group tensed as it to show they were due to helping hold Ace back.
"I'm NOT losing TWO children today, I'm just not," Tessa firmly stabbed, it was clear tears were about to well in her eyes; with this, Vanellope made her presence just a little bit more known as Ace sagged and hesitantly relaxed next to Beaux's also stiffened and ready-to-fight disposition.
"We're safe here, puba, and nowhere else," Libby tenderly reminded, her voice trembled.
"Even Users can die outside their own game, for good," Zed urged, he glossed his eyes about the group, and much to Mara's dismay, her grandfather's striking, purposeful blue eyes caught with hers, "All Users, all residents under this roof are NOT to set FOOT out of my game. The ONLY people allowed to leave are individuals with a game day in another game. Do I make myself clear?"
The group unanimously mumbled gentle 'yes sir's and similar notions, though Ace huffed a shaky, irritated breath and began to desperately look off, as if a wild dog now on a tight leash.
"Dad, I HAVE to go look for them," Ace begged urgently, to which Zed furrowed his eyebrows and stabbed his authoritative gaze tight to his eldest.
"You ESPECIALLY aren't going anywhere until we figure out a game plan," Zed instructed, his voice became stern, a typically fun-loving guy, though the group stiffened with the knowledge of his tendencies to become the castle's ultimate top dog, a force even the Users above him couldn't contend with. Zed pointed to the seal of the castle's door and shook his head, "When Vanellope and crew head to Sugar Rush for the day, they will do a survey of the game and see if Lash, Wren and Berri are there. We cannot afford ANY of us being loose in Game Central Station, or any point outside of Dead Zed anymore than we have to-"
"So, my baby sister, cousin and Turbo's own brother are just out there, with no one to see if they're okay? We're just gunna ALLOW that? Literally for the next THREE hours?" Ace firmly argued, to which Zed inhaled a deep breath and finally stood to face Ace; Tessa nervously took a step back, and although she was well aware this wouldn't get physical, it was clear both boys were due to potentially getting in each other's faces, "You're REALLY gunna chain me up and NOT let me help? I'm a User, dad. Those poor three beings AREN'T."
"Uh," Mara quipped, though the second even the noise left her lips, she snapped her jaw shut and remembered that this was her sole secret to keep; with the way all eyes suddenly zipped to her in riled confusion, she immediately understood that this was now her secret to stupidly spoil. Mara raised her eyebrows in unmitigated terror and bit her tongue in her mouth. She could see Beaux's mouth lightly gape in hot shock, as if to assure her that she had eternally screwed up with that one little meep. Mara cleared her throat, crossed her arms and did whatever she could to play dumb and act as if she was just simply clearing her throat, though with the way every single pair of eyes, in this massive group, hooked to her in a glue of total suspicion, she felt her heart begin to race at the speed of light.
"Yes?" Ace's also stern and fatherly aura nearly began to dominate Zed's, and with the heavy show of now not letting up on Mara's figure, Beaux grit his teeth and rubbed his temple, as if to beg Mara to let this out as delicately as she could, to assure her that her secret was definitely safe with him, had she given him the whole chance.
"No, nothing," Mara huffed shakily, she tucked her short, shoulder-length pastel blue hair behind her ear and cautiously glossed her eyes to Turbo's; the fervent glow came rocketing back to all of the Turbotime guys' eyes, as if to show a shred of understanding at her little quip, having spent the last two weeks watching her's and Lash's little secretive friendship be anything but secretive.
"Share," Zed chirped in deathly sweet delight, Mara felt her pupils tighten as her eyes glossed her grandfather, a being far more intimidating than even her own father, Ace, something she was unsure could be rivaled.
"Just clearing my throat," Mara lied, she sniffled and rubbed her jaw, all while shaking her head, she begged the universe for a distraction, though every single pair of eyes here remained glued; gazes that included Zed, Tessa, Ace, Libby, Beaux, Oliver, Emery, Theo, Tatum, Penny, Orph, Taffyta, Rancis, Ralph, Vanellope, Turbo, Nox, Throttle, and Koko, an eagle eye show of bevelled perspective Mara was sure was the stuff of absolute nightmares, of which also included the haunting gazes of Chester, Lickity, Boss and Royal, all hung near the gape of the back door.
"No, no, floors yours, doll, we're invested," Zed stated again, sickly sweet sarcasm dripping in venomous dominance, he crossed his strong arms and bobbed his precious granddaughter a nod of understanding, "Three incredibly important people, not only to YOU, but to everyone, are out and about in the midst of a terrifying dark web attack, in which all three beings are just helpless, average gamers. Yeah?"
"Yeah," Mara huffed softly, she took a daring swoop of eye contact and felt her stomach clench with the raw show of unmitigated terror that read on her parent's faces. Her heart throbbed with hot uncertainty, though as the stares eagerly wouldn't let up, Mara was well aware she was caught. She heaved a short sigh through her nose and dared not to let her eyes waver from Zed's, she knew he was the one she was answering to, as well as the blue-haired being stood next to him, "...No."
"Cool, so... I'm gunna take a stab, just a WILD guess, a little... Shot in the dark here," Zed sneered, his loving and smiling show was anything but promised warmth, a sarcastic show he only put on when he was well-beyond anger, something even Ace visibly began to sag to, "Since I know you're not swapping codes with your aunt or cousin, I'm gunna assume that, oh I don't know... Whiplash was the recipient of your User coding? I don't know, just an educated guess."
"Y-You..." Turbo's deep voice huffed in a shaky show of rising terror, he shook his head and blurt a sarcastic chuckle as all three Turbotime boys ushered quips of terrified little chuckles, as well. They all stole urgent glances to each other before Turbo grinned in rising horror and kept his still golden eyes tight to Mara's, "You didn't swap with Lash, tell me that's not what happened."
"Yeah, that's what happened," Mara huffed with a shrug, clearly not something she took lightly, though with the way the group was now slowly becoming unglued, she figured trying to soften it with nonchalance would help, though she began to wonder if that tactic was making things worse.
"Oh, yeah! It's no biggie," Zed's voice lilted to a high-pitched tone of pure sarcasm as he shrugged, he looked up and fingered his lip, "Y'know, JUST the guy to give User powers to, the one who had our whole lives in a headlock."
"Marathelka," Ace shakily huffed in melting, unhinged horror as Libby covered her mouth in pure shock; Beaux held his forehead and did whatever he could not to quietly laugh out of now pure emotional exhaustion.
"I get it, you weren't alive to see the shit show, how would you know that was likely the stupidest decision of the century?" Zed barked, to which Mara now felt heat hit her fresh coding, she clenched her fists and softly glanced to her great grandfather; Ralph looked bemused, though he strangely had a look of floored hope written on his cheeks, something Mara took note of. She stabbed her icy eyes back to Zed's and began to glare him down as she stood a little taller, "Berri and Wren are just traipsing around the Arcade with a brand new User that probably hasn't a SINGLE clue how detrimental wielding THAT much power is?"
"H-He's a changed man, but..." Turbo stumbled on his words and wondered just whose aid to rush to, he apprehensively glanced in Zed's direction, though still gave Mara a very nervous look of floored terror, "St-still... H-He's... Probably the LAST person who should harbor THAT much power."
"So, you KNEW that Lash, Berri and Wren left?" Libby now pressed in rising concern, "You... You didn't care to TELL us just what was going on?"
"Course she knew, he's in her code stream," Taffyta stabbed as she flippantly gestured towards Mara.
"We're fucked," Rancis muttered as he rubbed his forehead in defeat, though he blurt a hard chuckle and wildly gestured his arm, "Lookit that! For ONCE it's not my fault!"
"So, you're saying this mess is MY fault?" Mara stabbed in irritation, to which Zed inhaled a deep, readied breath and gave her the sassiest side-eye he could afford, alongside a wide, sarcastic grin.
"If the code fits, my babe!" Zed barked in cheery, sly sarcasm, to which Mara now glowered Zed down, "The ONLY reason I'm not turning this entire castle upside down, right now, is the plain fact that Berri and Wren are somehow along for this ride. User knows even where they WENT."
"User DOES know," Ace muttered in hot irritation as he put his hands on his hips and gave his precious daughter the ultimate look of floored disappointment, cutely sprinkled with a shred of very well concealed pride.
"You boys getting all bent out of shape is..." Ralph huffed quietly, he blurt a cute chuckle and, in the action of a playful chef's kiss, he raised his larger hand in the air and shot Zed a cocky look of pure karma, "Welcome to my world, my friend. Not only did you get to feel mine and Vanellope's pain, through Turbo pursuing Berri, but now Ace gets to deal with this, first hand, with Lash and Mara... And it's spilling on to you! This is... I'm grateful for the front row seat."
"Yeah, I'm so glad you're finding HUMOR in all of this, Ralph, it's the best!" Zed suddenly barked in now full irritation he didn't try to mask with sarcasm, to which Ace crossed his arms and gave Ralph an equally as irritated glower, though to both Zed's and Ace's shock, Tessa covered her mouth and blurt a laugh amidst the differential. Zed wildly raised his eyebrows and lowered his arms, to which he laid a dumbfounded look into Tessa's soul, "... YEAH? You too?"
"Yeah, me too," Tessa barked with a hard giggle as she waggled her hand towards her granddaughter, a small yet fierce being who cutely stood her ground amidst a tight-lipped show of not backing down against the formidable show of pure, masculine dominance tight above her, "My dad's right, this chain of torture in watching all of the palace princesses traipse after bad guys, I mean, really... It's comical, at this point."
"Really, lookit all of us," Nox muttered cutely as he shot Koko a knowing smile, though he swung back around to Turbo and Throttle, all who equally gave Zed and Ace nervous, knowing smiles.
"BOTH you boys are really gunna sit here and act SURPRISED?" Tessa urgently waggled her hand towards Mara, once more, and now fully grinned, "Mara's a beautiful girl who hangs out with the right crowd. You're gunna sit here and insult Turbo, and his brothers, like this?"
Turbo exhaled a shaky breath and was at least thrilled someone said it, lest he bubble to a boil; he gently gave Nox and Throttle knowing eye contact, to which they returned it with knowing fervor.
"I-I'm... Not TRYING to insult anyone," Zed staggered in crumpling irritation, to which Ace rubbed his forehead and immediately threw in the towel and knew now that they no longer had legs to stand on; Zed shook his head and didn't give in so easily, "Turbo, Nox and Throttle are entirely different, they're... They've REALLY proven themselves, they've shown nothing but adamancy to help. There's no shred of betrayal in them."
"Whiplash literally tried to MURDER you and Berri, mom, is this even a conversation?" Ace revisited with gumption, he gave his mother a firm glower and allowed his defeated self to rise from the dead.
"Why don't we get to the source?" Turbo dared, he gave Mara a warm smile and began to press closer to her. With a swathe of care, he gently reached his hand for hers and gave her the cutest side-eye he could afford, a heart-warming smile he was well aware she needed in this time of standing alone, "Mara is the only being in this ENTIRE Arcade that now has Lash's coding, once and for all, if there's anyone here who now FULLY knows Lash's intentions, it's Mara."
"I took him to Vanilla Lake," Mara assured as she narrowed her eyes and now firmly peered into Zed's eyes.
"AND?" Zed huffed shakily, to which Mara dart her eyes to her father's, mother's, and back to Zed's.
"Don't..." Ace grimaced and now rubbed forehead, now fully and entirely understanding Zed's positioning as a father to a young girl, "Ask... For details, dad, the hell's your problem."
"Oh, we frolicked, we swam, we made out," Mara meanly listed on her fingers as she looked up; Turbo grinned in hot surprise and shot Nox and Throttle a whole look of riled disbelief, though Ace groaned an annoyed noise and grappled his hair, to which Zed sagged his shoulders and looked off in stewing, irritated defeat. Mara cocked an eyebrow and gave her grandfather the sassiest look she could afford, "Oh, and he survived."
"The most unforgiving thing in the entirety of Arcade let Lash go, and then some," Ralph muttered as he rubbed his face and shot Zed a wide smile, to which Zed nervously locked eyes with Tessa's father, "I may not be King anymore, but I DO know that User-forsaken lake is the ultimate end-all. If that lake let Lash run free, then NONE of us have ANYTHING to worry about, when it comes to Lash's intentions."
"Fine, FINE," Zed urged as he waved his arms and heaved a shaky sigh, and for the first time in this whole conversation, he gave Mara look of nervous, defeated willingness, "Fine... So, Berri and Wren are in good hands. Please tell me you know where they went..."
"You're not gunna like it," Mara muttered tightly, and though the group fell silent, Zed raised his eyebrows in the act of piecing together Mara's subtle insinuation, and at lightning-speed, Zed yanked out his phone and began to flip through hidden files in the code room, his own personal files that absolutely no one had access to, aside from Tessa. Mara grinned, crossed her arms and felt camaraderie begin to glue her to Throttle, Turbo and Nox; they hung near her in a show of smiling pride as she shifted on her feet and gave her grandfather another cheeky look of whole dominance, "It's a place you know well, papa."
"What are you looking for?" Ace worried to his father, though his heart sank in a further show of terror as Tessa covered her face and sagged in the dreaded realization as Zed's hands and disposition came to a halt. Ace dart his eyes between his mother and father and finally grappled Zed's shoulder as their silence became deafening, "Dad, what are you LOOKING for!"
"My light disc," Zed muttered in defeat, to which the group gently huffed noises of pure, defeated shock. Zed shook his head and gave Mara a further look of deflated worry as he huffed her a trembling conclusion, "Tron..."
"If Berri brings back a User baby, I swear, I WILL move SO far away from all of you guys," Oliver suddenly piped up, to which a handful of people, in the group, erupted in laughter, "I'M EXHAUSTED OVER THIS."
"... You realize that'd mean she'd either have to have sex with Wren, her gay cousin, or Lash, her future brother in law," Tessa stabbed to her younger brother, to which Oliver suddenly choked a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his head.
"I need to sit down," Ace muttered as he rubbed his temples and did whatever he could to alleviate his dizziness; he sat down at a nearby stool, at the island, and held his forehead.
"She's not going to bring back a User," Zed muttered in tired, defeated irritation as he thumbed through his files, knowing, full well, Lash had yoinked his light disc and it wasn't present, though he somehow hoped the scan-through would make the disc present itself, however futile it all felt.
"What's their intentions, here?" Libby prod nervously as she eyed her daughter, "What does going to the human world help, here?"
"They're going to unplug the router," Mara revealed, to which everyone chimed in with positive notions of assured understanding.
"Right to the source," Vanellope chirped, she crossed her arms and gave Mara a sneaky, proud little smile, "Really, if there's ANYONE to have on the side of full-blown User powers, ANYONE to be on our team, it's Lash. All of the Turbotime guys have a WORLD of information."
"Y'think they're gone already?" Tessa worried, she shook her head as Zed sorrowfully peered to her over his shoulder, "I-I know they'll be safe in Litwak's, but... Leaving the Arcade is TERRIFYING. It's not easy, or fun."
"They'll be okay," Zed assured gently, and though he knew his words were simply to comfort and held no actual, tangible proof, he was well aware that only him and Tessa could even speak on this ordeal and all the situations being in the human world presented.
"Y'think they stopped by Sugar Rush first?" Vanellope worried gently, and with this, unbeknownst to everyone in the group, Chester flattened his ears, got a gentle look about the whole group before him, and began to ever so silently back out of the building.
"What for?" Rancis wondered as the whole group began to nervously chit-chat amongst themselves.
"I don't know, supplies?" Vanellope shrugged, to which Chester successfully stepped out onto the back patio's lovely terracotta tiles.
"He's a User," Beaux tenderly interrupted, knowledge he knew he could speak on, "Anything they need is all stuff he can basically will upon them with nothing but his knowledge of the Arcade, his own coding..."
Chester did what he could to make it so his non-retractable claws made no noise, and once he was successfully out of the sight of the group, in the gape of the opened back door, he heaved a shaky breath, sprawled his wings and urgently bound into the air. Although he had flown before, he still struggled to gain quick height, he silently soared away from Kalivar castle grounds and scanned the lovely, glowing horizon, kissed with Dead Zed's morning sun, and with a bevel into a change in speed, he aimed directly for Dead Zed's entrance, tight on the line where the sky met the land. With a racing heart, he hoped and prayed he could somehow catch the crew before they were gone, and although simply a long shot, he knew he had to risk it all and do everything he could to gain as much information as he could, the gift of his own eyesight now giving him the ability to truly help where it was needed.
