A/N: Hey guys! Thank you so much for following along and jumping on board with me for my sequel! A lot of loose ends, from the intruder and Rancis, will be tied up in this sequel. IDK exactly how long it's going to be, but I'm going to try my hardest to make it thorough and fulfilling, like Wrecking Limits. I appreciate your guys' support so much! Thank you! :D
*Chapter 2*
"Dad, can't we just… I don't know… Hang around the candy tree forest?" Tessa asked softly.
Ralph, Tessa, Penny, Oliver and Rancis hung near the castle's gaping front door. Tessa made sure to get her father's attention while Rancis, Penny and Oliver were busy chattering in the background. Tessa slumped her shoulders as Ralph knelt to one knee, to get to Tessa's level. Next to Ralph, her eyes were exactly level with the worn button of his one overall strap.
"Tessa," Ralph started through a small sigh.
He scratched the back of his head before he peered into his daughter's eyes. She stood perfectly still in nervous inquisition. Her beautiful eyes pierced his, just like her mother's. Even though she was one month away from being a fully programmed and grown gamer, she still had a little bit of growing into her features left to do. Her adorable ears slightly peeked from the sides of her head, just like Ralph's. Her crazy auburn hair was now tidily tucked into two low pigtails that draped down her back in near chaotic, deep waves.
"Please, daddy," Tessa urged quietly. Her slightly girly, raspy voice held solid, however. She cocked an eyebrow and gave Ralph the best innocent look she could possibly muster.
"Your mother is right," Ralph said with an apologetic frown, "It's best if you stay in the castle."
"Dad, that's not fair," Tessa argued sorrowfully, "I-I'm almost fully grown, Sugar Rush is my game too."
"Sugar Rush is massive, Tessa… You also don't want to be seen by the humans," Ralph reminded as he furrowed his eyebrows, "Yes, Sugar Rush is your game, but… you, Penny and Oliver aren't a part of the game roster."
"We will be once we're fully grown," Tessa tried to protest.
"Only after hours," Ralph volleyed. Tessa slumped her shoulders and looked away in pure frustration. Before she could encourage herself to give up, she gave Ralph one last pleading look.
"C'mon dad, we have this castle mapped," Tessa urged quietly, "Can't we just stretch our legs into territory we don't normally go during game day?"
"Tessa," Ralph's tone began to become a tad bit firm.
"Please?" Tessa begged as she cupped her hands together. Ralph let out a disgruntled noise and glanced back at Rancis in curiosity, "Please daddy!"
"A-Alright," Ralph spat as he slumped his shoulders and lulled his head in his daughter's direction.
"I'd say a small amount of allowance for these three wouldn't do any harm," Rancis stated as him, Penny and Oliver slowly moseyed into their small conversation. Tessa beamed and nodded eagerly.
"So, candy tree forest?" Tessa urged, though Ralph and Rancis shot each other nervous glances; they knew the three younglings were still unaware of Vanilla Lake.
"Too far," Ralph stated as he kept his eyes to Rancis's, as if to ask for help for ideas.
"No further than big green," Rancis shrugged, though Tessa slumped her shoulders.
"Big green? That overgrown tree is hardly two hundred yards from the castle," Tessa said with a frown, though Ralph raised his eyebrows and gave her an almost annoyed look.
"It marks the start of the Evergreen Mint Forest. You can have that, and no farther," Ralph stated, "If you guys behave, that distance can potentially be stretched."
"I'll be Queen of Sugar Rush by the time I'm allowed to set foot into the candy tree forest," Tessa grumbled, though she widened her eyes and let out a small meep of a noise as Ralph gently scooped her into his large arm and chest. He squeezed her in a hug and ruffled the side of her head.
"Stay out of trouble," Ralph said firmly down to her as he released her and stood. He then quickly slid his large hand onto Oliver's small, but broad, shoulder, "Oliver will keep you safe."
"Oliver?" Tessa said loudly in an incredulous tone as she quickly averted her gaze to her little brother.
Oliver furrowed his black eyebrows and glared at his older sister. He was strapping and built strong. His soft demeanor was quickly revoked by his sharp, dark brown gaze. He had a quiet air about himself, his shyness was often mistook for ignorance or unfriendliness, though the twinkle in his eye proved otherwise. He almost let an annoyed smile sprawl across his face as he crossed his large arms; both him and Tessa got the full wrecking gene from Ralph.
"I think dad just put me in charge," Oliver chimed softly. Ralph exhaled an annoyed grunt as he laid his gentle hand atop Oliver's straight, black haired head, as if to size him up. Ralph kept his eyes trained to his son. Though he was younger than Tessa by three months, he was still almost her height. Ralph felt a small, nostalgic smile crawl across his face as he could tell Oliver's voice was beginning to deepen somewhat.
"Dad, you said I was in charge," Tessa said in dull annoyance, ultimately snapping Ralph out of his thoughts. He shook his head slightly and gazed at Tessa, almost pleadingly.
"You all need to look out for each other," Ralph stated firmly as he nudged Tessa's arm, "We're all family. You stick together."
"Or else Orion will come find you," Rancis stated nonchalantly, though he was thrilled at the way the three children's eyes grew wide in remembrance.
"Orion wouldn't hurt a fly," Tessa argued, though Penny held up her finger.
"Technically, his kind eats the dragon-fruit flies," She stated in a matter of fact like tone; Tessa shot her a dull glare.
"Nonetheless," Ralph sighed as him and Rancis made their way towards the exit, "Stay out of trouble… Go no further than big green, and none of this gets back to your mother… Deal?"
"Deal," Tessa said as she kept her annoyed gaze glued to her father's.
"Sure thing, uncle," Penny chimed in a cooperative way, causing Rancis to smile a small, proud grin.
"Don't worry, dad," Oliver said quietly as he stole a glance at his sister. He was certain her stare was full of daggers.
"See you after game day," Rancis called to the three as they all said their goodbyes. The castle was quiet a few seconds after the castle doors closed. Tessa continued to keep her glare on Oliver, though she inhaled a deep breath and slowly tucked her hands behind her back.
"Alright, Mr. Puberty," Tessa started with a wide, teasing gapped tooth grin. Oliver easily beamed back in her face, as if to mock her; he held true to the same, gapped tooth smile that they obtained from their father.
"Yes, Ms. Fists for brains?" Oliver spat back in return. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and pointed a finger towards her little brother.
"Don't ruin our fun, today," Tessa urged, "Dad let us have some breathing room today. User so help your code if you tattle on us and get us all in trouble."
"Maybe we should just stay in the castle then," Penny shrugged, her bright yellow summer dress's sleeves bunched with her shoulders a little. The frills peeked out the bottom of it, revealing her tan knees, "We'd avoid any conflict by doing that."
"Yeah, then you could stay in your pajamas all day," Oliver spat to his sister with a teasing grin, though Tessa shot him a dirty look.
"Alright, goodie two shoes," Tessa barked, her voice echoed across the great hall of their now empty home, "Why don't we play hide and go seek, then? Stay in the castle and just bore ourselves to tears."
"We could go hang out in dad's garden," Penny said with an eager smile, though Tessa shot her attention back to Oliver.
"Hide and seek sounds fun," Oliver slightly nodded, "Anything to get away from you."
"I'll count first," Tessa urged as she covered her eyes and inhaled a deep breath, "One, two, three-"
Tessa peeked through her large fingers just in time to see Oliver stumble away and make a run for it down Candlehead's wing, towards the backyard and pool. Tessa dropped her hands and beamed an annoyed smile in his direction as she continued to loudly count, though she scrambled to grab Penny's arm, to keep her from running away. Penny meeped a small noise as she was harshly brought back to her cousin. She gazed at Tessa in pure confusion as she continued to loudly count, though she quickly caught on to Tessa's little scheme as she began dragging her in the opposite direction in which Oliver took off, which were the castle's looming, awaiting front doors.
"We're ditching Oliver?" Penny whispered nervously as Tessa quickly dragged her outside the front doors. She made sure they closed silently, as massive as they were.
"Yes," Tessa hissed as she continued to hold Penny's hand.
She began to lead her across the front, open patio and beyond the gates. Before Penny could adjust to what was going on, the two girls slowly slipped down the small hill, around the side of the front entrance, and began heading to the backdoors of the kitchen. Tessa finally exhaled a hard breath and could feel her ears prick at the sound of the typical, daily alerts for oncoming quarters. As faintly as ever, her elder's massive, powerful, grumbling race cars could be heard revving far off in the distance. She could feel her heart race with want. She easily let a small smile sprawl across her face. She knew racing was in her code, and for good reason. She knew she had only raced Penny and Oliver on their bicycles, and won every time, though she knew she had to get some sort of taste of legitimate racing. Even if it meant breaking some rules.
"Won't Aunt Vanellope and Uncle Ralph be mad?" Penny worried as she struggled to keep up.
"Why would they?" Tessa wondered, she kept her eyes trained to her mother's and father's massive, crossed striped tree in the distance. It sprawled it's beautiful branches and was in full bloom with pretty, white honey suckle blossoms.
"Because Oliver isn't almost a fully grown gamer like us," Penny continued on, the two girls pushed through the thick, candy green grass underneath their bare feet. The early spring summer sunshine was hot and lively.
"Hey, he can feed himself, he doesn't need us to go to the bathroom, and he certainly doesn't need us to keep himself entertained," Tessa shrugged as she glanced over her shoulder to Penny with eager inquisition, "Besides... When do we ever get a day where we can run free and do whatever we want?"
"Never..." Penny said, as if that was the first time that thought had hit her brain. The two girls ran side by side finally as they came close to the large, backyard patio on the side of the castle. The massive, rounded, glass patio doors that lead into the kitchen were closed.
"Exactly," Tessa hissed as they jumped up the stairs and entered the shade of the mint green flowered vines that draped the patio. The two girls slightly panted, though Tessa pushed towards the doors, "Just one day won't hurt anyone..."
"Where are we going?" Penny wondered as she glanced back over her shoulder to the large, sprawling field behind her.
"I wanted to get to the garage without Oliver hearing us," Tessa assured as she carefully opened the patio doors and stepped into the quiet kitchen.
"Why are we going to the garage?" Penny whispered. Tessa closed the doors behind Penny once they were both inside.
"Because that's where my racing bike is," Tessa said in a dull tone, though she slumped her shoulders with annoyance once Penny shot her a nervous look.
"That fast thing that Uncle Gloyd built for you?" Penny worried. Tessa largely rolled her eyes as she motioned for her cousin to follow.
"Stop being such a baby," Tessa laughed quietly, "It'll be fun! One run around the forest, and we'll head right back before Oliver knows we're gone."
"You sure our moms won't see us?" Penny continued to rattle off her apprehensions.
"Why would they?" Tessa finally spoke at a normal speaking tone as the garage door quietly closed behind them. She marched over to her bike, which was covered in a protective tarp. She ripped it off and unveiled her beautiful, mint colored bike underneath as she continued, "Sugar Rush's race tracks don't run anywhere near the dirt path that we're going to go on."
"Aren't you not allowed to ride this thing until we're fully grown?" Penny wondered as she put her hands on her hips, Tessa idly rubbed the body of her flawless bike and beamed an excited smile.
"Penny, we're daughters of the fastest racers in this arcade," Tessa said in a dull tone as she stood up straight and gave her cousin a pleading look, "Racing is in our blood. One spin around the Evergreen Mint Forest isn't going to hurt us."
"Maybe not physically," Penny said in a snarky way as she crossed her arms. She gazed at Tessa with a look that easily mocked Taffyta.
"You worry too much," Tessa spat as she gestured towards her bike, "You're just like Uncle Rancis."
"For good reason!" Penny laughed as she flung her arms outwards, "Do you know what would happen if we were caught going past Big Green, let alone flying around the whole forest on the very bike you're not allowed to touch until you turn one?"
"We're not going to get caught, Penny, now come on!" Tessa urged with an annoyed laugh. Penny finally slumped her shoulders in defeat.
"Fine... One run."