A/N: I know I know... I took a really long break and I'm sorry Dx I was in a rut.. But I'm finally getting out of it :D I just needed to do some brainstorming with the boyfriend, and now I feel bad because I've literally spoiled everything to him... The whole story, plot and climax of Defying Code. But I'm hoping he keeps the secrets, just that. It helped to talk about my ideas. I'm so used to just bottling everything xP
Anyways.. Enjoy guys!
*Chapter 13*
Unfiltered sunlight stroked the glossy floors of Game Central station, though only just barely. Tessa's eyes nervously floated about the baren station, as if she was uncertain that even being outside of her game was legal. Her larger, bare feet tenderly stepped out onto the golden tiles, as if she were walking a tight rope. One wrong move, and she was done for. She felt a lump gather in her throat; she had to wonder if sudden, this little idea of game jumping for just one quiet morning would result in something much larger than just a scolding from King and Queen Sugar Rush. Tessa was jolted from her thoughts as a familiar figured movement could be spot across the station, towards her destination.
Her alert eyes immediately focused on the difference in stillness, and she was relieved to see her aunt Taffyta. She was dressed in a warm, dark pink hoodie and her usual racing pants. Her white, choppy hair layered into the hood of her clothes and scattered lightly on her shoulders. She held her arms close to her chest for warmth, though her frozen, cold eyes laid still on Tessa's figure, as if she was a predator and had been watching her every movement since the dawn of time.
Tessa's shoulders lightly unscrunched as her aunt Taffyta gently waved her over, though the painful, lingering feeling of guilt somehow still hung over her, as if it were her own, personal and unwanted appetite suppressor. Tessa felt her heart jolt in a whirring way, as if her code was attempting to crawl out of her very skin and force itself back into the game where it came from. She could practically feel Sugar Rush's outlet glare the back of her head down; she kept her eyes forward and tried to shove away the need to look back.
"Did Vanellope see you leaving?" Taffyta wondered softly as Tessa finally neared with surprisingly agile and quiet footsteps.
"No, they're still asleep for some weird reason," Tessa wondered in a soft tone, as if speaking was something that wasn't allowed at this early hour of the only day off in the arcade. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and looked down in a confused manner, "Usually mom and dad are awake, doing their usual game-wide routines."
"It's not weird at all," Taffyta eased as she gazed back at Sugar Rush's outlet with pride, "Once every month, Rancis and I are in charge of the morning routines and game-wide checks. Him and I already completed everything, Vanellope and Ralph get the morning to relax or sleep in."
"Really?" Tessa wondered, she fixed her curious eyes on her aunt through the cold, stagnant morning air; she wondered on, "How come?"
"In case of an emergency, there needs to be back up to the throne," Taffyta gently explained, "User forbid anything happen to Ralph and Vanellope, there needs to be at least one person who knows how to run the game and the kingdom without them... Until you're old enough, that duty is mine and Rancis'."
"Why do I get the feeling that I am becoming more and more detached from the things I should be aware of by now?" Tessa asked in a mildly annoyed tone as she crossed her arms. She was wearing her usual mint hoodie with the torn sleeves, though she wore a pair of Sugar Rush racing pants that were made specifically for her own coming of age race-day.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Taffyta asked incredulously, she wrinkled her nose and finally eased an annoyed, toothy smirk, though she motioned for the two to carry on into their destination. They hung near the gaping, new entrace of Dead Zed.
"Well, from what I have gathered in the past few days, Sugar Rush, as well as my own flesh and code, seems to be harboring these weird secrets, as if you all know something about Sugar Rush's past that I don't," Tessa eyed her aunt in dark amusement, "As if Sugar Rush is secretly on the brink of a fallout or something. I recently have been getting the feeling that something isn't quite right."
"Well, if we were having this conversation a year ago, you'd definitely be correct," Taffyta half chuckled, her eyes lazily gazed ahead of her in a lull of forgotten thoughts she wish would remain just that.
"What exactly happened?" Tessa pried, "Why do I feel like secrets are being kept from me?"
"There are no secrets being kept from you, Tess," Taffyta eased gently as she rested her hand on her shoulder. The two slowly began to mosey into Dead Zed's game entrance. The long wired tunnel gave off a gentle glow in the distance.
"I don't believe you," Tessa suddenly urged, a little bit louder than prior, "I'm tired of being treated like a child. If Sugar Rush is my throne to be, then I deserve to know what all this sneaky 'you'll find out later' stuff is. What in Arcade's name is going on?"
"Tessa," Taffyta soothed, though she flinched once Tessa waved her hand around and stopped dead in her tracks.
"Is this some sort of sick joke?" Tessa barked, "I'm denied schooling, and then suddenly everyone thinks its a fun idea to deny me the right to know about Sugar Rush's past?!"
"Tessa Schweetz!" Taffyta urged back as she grabbed Tessa's larger hands and shook them, "Stop it," She hissed in a small laugh as she shook her head, though she kept her eyes locked to her nieces' worried stare.
"What happened to Uncle Rancis?" Tessa finally said softly, "Something tells me that whatever it was, it wasn't your run of the mill glitch hiccup in the code room."
"I don't think I'm the right person to tell you exactly what happened last year," Taffyta said gently as she looked down to the ground and furrowed her eyebrows, "I know it's hard for anyone to talk about, but I also know that I'm certain Vanellope and Ralph would want to tell you everything that happened when you're ready."
"I AM ready," Tessa urged loudly, "What makes you think I'm not ready?"
"Well, Tess," Taffyta started with a cocked eyebrow and an annoyed smirk, "You throw hissy fits for being held back one measely month, and clearly you're not ready to deal with Sugar Rush's serious matters," Taffyta thwarted straight into her niece's heart, though Tessa's stunned expression lead to suggest Taffyta's words called check mate in the conversation. Taffyta side eyed her teasingly before nudging her a little, "C'mon... Enough about this. Tell me why you want to come to Dead Zed anyways. Does Zane know we're coming?"
"Yes," Tessa said gently, she didn't want to drop the topic they had unwillingly traipsed into, though she figured dropping it would be best; she knew Taffyta was a force to be reckoned with.
"Good," Taffyta smiled as a hazy, cool and misty breeze picked up a little as they neared Dead Zed's gaping entrance, "Y'know, the act of 'game jumping' is actually a lot different than what we're doing right now."
"I'm aware, will you just amuse me for once?" Tessa glowered, her pupils shrank as the two were graced with a misty beam of humid sunlight that bobbed and weaved through a few scattered jungle trees that had grown their way into the wirey entrace of Dead Zed.
"Have you ever been here before?" Taffyta wondered kindly, though Tessa shot her an even more annoyed glower.
"Are you seriously asking me that right now?" Tessa tiredly barked; Taffyta furrowed her eyebrows in a stumped way.
"You mean you really AREN'T the rebel you make yourself out to be?" Taffyta pretended to act surprised, "You mean that one night, that I caught you sneaking out, that was your very first attempt?"
"Go... choke on a taffy," Tessa muttered, though Taffyta largely rolled her eyes with an amused grin.
"You wouldn't even know how to get one, let alone get me to choke on one," Taffyta laughed softly, she nudged her niece firmly with her elbow, causing Tessa to wobble and grunt an annoyed meep.
Tessa opened her mouth to confidently protest, though a sudden, wailing holler was present, and before they could take a few more steps into the game, a wobbling, flailing body thumped from a few high branches and into a bush nearby. The bush rustled a little bit as a familiar voice made a few disgruntled comments to himself.
"Zane?" Tessa wondered with a curious, confused smirk, "What in User's name are you doing?"
"Uhg," Zane let out an airy, exasperated breath as he finally stood and wobbled out of the bush. He brushed off his tattered knee length shorts and straightened his dark grey tank. His choppy, razored, yet somehow unkept hair stuck up in odd places. Zane finally let a wide, toothy grin grace his cheery face, "I'm okay!"
"Ohhh User," Taffyta mumbled to herself as she eyed Tessa. She watched her young niece quickly stroll up to her friend. She eagerly assessed the two and was eager to see just how they conversed and got along.
"Why were you up in that tree?" Tessa asked as she plucked a twig from Zane's shirt.
"Well," Zane hissed a hard sigh and lightly, yet nervously, glanced at Taffyta as she neared, "I-I was hoping to jump down and scare you, but then I saw you were with someone else and... I'm sure a good scare wouldn't be a good way to welcome a stranger into my game."
"Not totally," Taffyta said with a distant laugh, though she gave him a kind smile.
"Sorry, Zane, this is my Aunt Taffyta," Tessa politely motioned towards her aunt. Taffyta inwardly felt a shockwave go over herself as Tessa's polite tone coated the air in a delicate, unfamiliar sweetness. Taffyta locked her eyes on her niece in calm bewilderment as she continued, "She wanted to come along because, she too has never been to Dead Zed."
"No need to be sorry, the more the merrier!" Zane beamed as he reached out for a kind hand shake towards Taffyta; she eagerly accepted and included herself in Tessa's and Zane's loose and comfortable bubble. Zane put his hands on his hips and gave Taffyta a confused, yet polite side eyed smile, "Taffyta... Why does that name sound so familiar?"
"Hmm really?" Taffyta furrowed her eyebrows, though she lightly shrugged, "Well, I am one of the main racers in Sugar Rush. My picture is on the side of the game cabinet."
"That must be it," Zane said softly with a small nod, though he kept his eyebrows furrowed, as if he wasn't certain of his conclusion. "Anyhow, welcome to Dead Zed! Watch your step, it's... sort of easy to get lost, here."
"I can see that," Taffyta's eyes gently bulged as the three finally looked around. They were surrounded by nothing but looming, freshly pricked jungle trees. Taffyta eagerly let her eyes enjoy the sunlight that pierced their dim, yet peaceful haze.
"The jungle shape-shifts," Zane said gently as he motioned outwards, "Though, that only really happens on game days when there's a race in session."
"Race?" Taffyta suddenly prod with alert eyes, she gazed at Zane with pure curiosity. Zane beamed a wide smile and nodded, he looked to be only a tad bit older than Tessa, though his cheery eyes and smile held onto a heaping grab of youth.
"Yeah!" Zane expressed happily, "Dead Zed is a racing game, just like Sugar Rush, yeah?"
"Right," Taffyta assured, "You guys race carts?"
"Better," Zane hissed with a sly beam, "Bikes."
"Psh," Taffyta spat, though she tried not to let her competitiveness get the better of her, "Where are the tracks?"
"Oh," Zane said with a sudden slump in his tone; he gestured off into the jungles, "You see, since the game is so massive, we have to utilize the shapeshifting jungle to get from course to course. When a game is in session, the core of the game sort of takes care of the racers when it comes time to racing on different tracks."
"You mean you can't just happen upon any of the tracks?" Tessa wondered curiously, Zane lightly shrugged.
"I mean, I'm sure you could," Zane assured as he peered out towards the end of the clearing they were sat in, "It'd probably take you awhile to get there, but... I THINK it's possible!"
"For a racer, you sure don't know a whole ton about the mechanisms of your game, do you?" Taffyta worried in a gentle, confused tone. Zane gave Taffyta a bewildered look, before him and Tessa began chuckling.
"Me? A racer? Oh no," Zane heaved a few more quiet laughs, "I-I'm just a lowly commoner. There are a few of us in the game, we live in the city, alongside the racers."
"Oh," Taffyta dropped her slightly aggressive stance, "So, you're just an extra in your game?"
"I guess you could say that," Zane said with a calm shrug, "We live in peace. On off hours, the racers are just like one of us."
"Sounds similar to Sugar Rush," Tessa said lightly as she glanced at her aunt, Taffyta nodded in agreement.
"Come! I'll show you the city! It's just a mile or two south from here," Zane said eagerly as the three began to head onwards.
"So, what does the title of your game mean?" Taffyta wondered as the three strolled through the jungles cool, misty morning. Tessa glanced at her aunt and then back at Zane, as if Taffyta was asking all of the questions she had been meaning to ask her friend.
"Oh, Dead Zed?" Zane said casually, "Zed is the final boss."
"You have a boss? In a racing game?" Taffyta wondered in an unamused way, Zane furrowed his eyebrows and nodded in her direction.
"Yeah, he's the last boss... hence the name 'Dead Zed'," Zane used his fingers for air quotes, "He is the Dead Last boss."
"Sounds intimidating," Taffyta said in a dull tone, Zane beamed an annoyed grin.
"Well, it should," Zane chuckled, "He is unbeatable."
"No one in this arcade is unbeatable," Taffyta sneered, "Even I will admit to that."
"He's serious," Tessa urged gently with a humbled expression, "No one is even able to reach his level, that's how hard Zane's game is."
"I'm sure I could beat him," Taffyta barked as she pointed to herself.
"Well, then you'd have to go through every other racer in the game to get to him," Zane chuckled, "Only one person has ever come within 2 racers of competing with Zed. He came into the arcade every day for the last month until he finally went mad and gave up. I'm positive that kid wasted at least a hundred dollars in quarters, just trying to get to Zed."
"Where is this guy, Zad? I'm sure he's not THAT grand," Taffyta argued, though Zane shrugged.
"No one knows... The code states he's in the game, but somehow he's alluded us all. He's used the shape-shifting jungle to his advantage, and no one knows where his hideout is," Zane explained, the three gently stepped along a now pebbled path. The city could be seen in the distance, just past a few breaks in the jungle trees. The sun was now a decent distance in the sky.
"He doesn't ever come around after game day?" Tessa urged with a furrowed expression, Zane sadly shook his head.
"No one has seen him in months," Zane said quietly, "Since he doesn't ever have to race anyone, he remains hidden in the depths of the game, lost in another dimension... Like a higher platform that no one can access. The game's code states he's alive and carrying on in the game, but his whereabouts are unknown."
"Coward," Taffyta spat quietly.
"Probably for the better," Zane hissed with a sorrowful sigh, "From what I've heard, he's a real jerk. Who woulda thunk that a racing game would have a bad guy. You know how it is with some bad guys, anyhow."
Tessa furrowed her eyebrows harder and tensed, as if to begin ranting and sticking up for bad guys, though the blow hit her like a pile of bricks. She softened her stance and felt her heart sink at the thought of her father. She eagerly looked to Taffyta to see how she would react, though much to her surprise, her and Zane continued on with their lightening conversation. Tessa gazed at her aunt in confusion before figuring Ralph's bad guy days and status were long gone. She eased her aggressiveness and gazed upwards towards the sky. She had to wonder just how much of a bad guy this Zed racer really was.