*Chapter 42*
Tessa marched down the small, worn path that lead from Zane's loft to the town not far down the hill. She was thrilled to feel Lickity's four, solid footsteps march behind her with equal rage. Her eyes scanned the horizon, though she wondered just when the color red would stop being the only color she could see. She shook her head and felt her heart pound with an incredible, protective rage. She knew Selka was in for it, though she almost felt a twinge of sadness hit her skin, with the fact that Selka was safe in his own game. She furrowed her eyebrows harder and knew wrecking, of any sort, with any outcome, would likely prove her point anyhow. She dared to push into town and was rather thrilled Penny, Oliver and Tammy were keeping their distance, albeit with eager temptation to stay right on Tessa's and Lickity's heels. Just as Tessa rounded a corner, near a few stray buildings on the edge of town, she was suddenly startled out of her thoughts.
"Hey, Queen Bee, you like what I did to Zane's loft, there?" Selka suddenly dared; Tessa skid to a stop and whirled her attention to her left.
"Beauty," chimed one of the two other guys Selka was with. The three skulked in an alley way, between two buildings, though they slowly emerged.
"I really think the broken windows match his character," Selka struggled to finish his sentence without laughing.
"What's your problem?" Tessa barked as she clenched her fists, though Selka's two friends lightly laughed.
"Watch out, she's going to 'wreck it'," one of them quipped sarcastically as he used air quotes, though all three of them immediately flinched and jolted their arms over their heads as Lickity largely came around the building with a loud, grunt of confusion.
"You didn't tell us she had a dragon, Selk!" hissed one of his friends; all three of them looked suddenly nervous, though Selka was the only one to stand his ground.
"I didn't think she'd have it with her," Selka spat in return, though he flinched once the air was solidified with a massive, reverberating roll of a bang.
Tessa released her angry fists from the crackled ground and largely swung her left fist into a nearby concrete pillar; much to her surprise, it practically crumbled at her will. In the wreck of it all, she managed to grip onto a shard of concrete, that crumbled from the damage. She immediately swiped it, like a throwing knife, and caught one of Selka's friend right in the gut. He exhaled a hard noise and was tossed backwards by the sheer force. With all of Tessa's strength, she picked up a heavy, metal tin, likely for storing trash. With an unyielding amount of strength, she easily lulled it into her larger palm and chucked it in the direction of Selka's last, standing teammate. With a loud, bone crunching pang, the metal tin went rocketing into his frame and knocked him clear down the alley way. Both boys endured an immediate game over, though they regenerated and lay helpless and confused on the ground far behind Selka. Selka exhaled a hard noise of confusion and glanced back at his friends in nervous horror. He whirled around and quickly caught eyes with Tessa, though she slowly approached him in a horrifying death march of pure, writhing fury. Her fists were tightly clenched, her face was written with nothing but hatred.
"Tessa, w-we can talk about this, right?" Selka nervously stated as he waved his hand, though he felt his stomach dip at the fact that Lickity slowly kept right on Tessa's heels.
Her large wings opened half way, to the width of the alley way, as if to express to the three boys that they weren't leaving without going through one of Dead Zed's fiercest of dragons. Tessa seethed, though she was thrilled to hear Lickity emit a deep, terrifying snarl; she was certain the look on Lickity's face was extremely unfamiliar. She almost wanted to whirl around and see the product of her furious, protective dragon, though she knew she had business to take care of.
"I hate you," Tessa voice trembled, she uttered darkly in a quip of a whimper as she kept her fists clenched to her sides.
"Oh come on, it was a-a... A harmless prank!" Selka worried as he tried his very hardest to stand his ground, though once Tessa was within three yards of him, he began to back step to keep the distance, though he knew he would run out of alley way eventually.
"What did you do to him?" Tessa urged through grit teeth; she could swear steam was billowing from the top of her head.
"Nothing!" Selka pleaded as he nervously glanced around Tessa's legs and to Lickity's bowed head; he felt his stomach dip at the mere sight of her sharp, bared teeth, her mouth lightly hung open. Her electric, snake like eyes gave him chills; her snarl was deep enough to cut straight to the core.
"What did you do to him!" Tessa hollered, her piercing voice echoed along the alley way, which caused Selka to largely flinch.
"He ran off! I don't know where he went," Selka yelled back, though he knew Tessa was clearly on higher ground from this stand point.
"You're a coward," Tessa spat, "You're nothing but a selfish coward. A little friendly fire is going to ruin your life? You stole Zane's date last year, and didn't even end up staying with her! Zane did NOTHING to you, for what you did! Can't you just leave Zane well enough alone? You two are even! Get over yourself!"
"Jeska meant nothing to me," Selka argued, "She was just fun to be around! Zane doesn't deserve royalty, like you. He wouldn't know how to handle himself in a high position over a game! I have experience on the matter. What does that idiot have that I don't! Everybody loves me, every girl who is any girl is lucky to be with ME!"
"Maybe girls who are braindead!" Tessa barked with a sarcastic smile and a large, judgmental side-eye, though her and Lickity continued to press on, "You're pretentious, selfish, and stupid!"
"Just give me a chance," Selka argued loudly, though Tessa scoffed a hard, spat of a laugh.
"You'll be lucky if I give you a chance to regenerate," Tessa muttered darkly as she and Lickity pushed on.
"Just hear me out!" Selka begged, though his voice was laced with crazed anger; the veins on his forehead bulged in searing, mental pain.
"I will never," Tessa spat darkly, "Now leave Zane and I alone."
"What, so you two can muddy your codes even farther? I saw you two at Tapper's, yesterday," Selka daringly muttered through a hard glare, "Though I guess after those events, I wouldn't be surprised if he already gave you his ugly blue code."
Tessa inhaled a sharp breath and felt her anger hit the breaking point. She let out the air that hardly had time to process in her lungs, though she lulled her eyes closed for a split second, as if to recognize the mere inch of calm before the storm, as if to say a quick prayer to User, to somehow forgive her for what was about to unfold. With a minor wind up, Tessa clenched her fist and, with every last ounce of wrecking power she was blessed with, she rocketed her fist straight into Selka's jaw and the side of his nose. She exhaled a hard noise and brought her fist back from the recoil; through the dust, she was sickeningly pleased with just how far Selka skid. He hit the back end of the alley wall with a hard thud and a yelp of pure anguish. She flicked her hand downward and felt the sticky sensation of blood on her knuckles. She quipped a brief exhale of a blow in front of her, as if to kindly convey to Selka that she was only warming up.
She dared to move across the few feet of dirt marks Selka's body had made. She felt tears quickly stream her cheeks as she grit her teeth. Selka's body quickly beeped in it's usual, regenerative noise; his body came back to the grid as a brand new being, though he flinched once he saw Tessa quickly step over to him. Tessa exhaled a hard, grunt of a cry as she largely swat her unbelievably strong grip straight into Selka's head, yet again. He jolted and loudly endured a second game over, though just as he regenerated before Tessa's eyes, she bent down and gripped the collar of his shirt. She raised him up off his feet and, with another wind up, she harshly shoved Selka's back into the wall in which he crashed into; his head painfully smashed into the cracked wall, which caused his pixels to crumble into yet another game over. He coughed a hard, confused few hacks and shook his head in a flurry of confusion. His eyes jolted about, as if he had to realign his eyesight, though once he properly regenerated, Tessa held him firmly against the wall and dared to push her large, pulsing knuckles into his wind pipe. He choked a noise and pleadingly pushed at Tessa's large hand; he gave her an extremely apologetic, terrified look and shook his head, as if to beg for her wrecking spree to be over. He flinched and uttered a shaky, silent plea as Tessa dominantly shoved her forehead to his.
"Next time, I'll make sure you're out of your own game," Tessa hissed into his face before she largely swiped her grip to the side and tossed his sorry self to the ground.
She quickly turned heel and began to head out of the alley way. She was surprised to see Lickity hanging back, as if she knew Tessa had the fight under control. Tessa gazed at Lickity and lightly tilted her head up. She quipped a small, whistle of a noise, as if to communicate to Lickity that the fight was over. Lickity lightly ducked her head down and tucked her wings to her body, yet again. She hid her fangs, though her ears remained aggressively flat against her head. Her pupils were barely visible slits; Tessa pushed past Lickity, though she felt a hard chill go up her spine and had to wonder just what Lickity's fighting face looked like. She largely pat Lickity's back, as if to express gratitude, and pushed past her. Lickity chuffed a hard, steaming puff of heat and made sure to give Selka one last, toothy snarl, before she too turned around and followed the leader.
"Couldn't have done it better, myself," Oliver muttered darkly, though he gave his older sister an impressed smile. Tessa quickly pushed out of the alley way and glared about the town.
"Here's what we're going to do," Tessa urged in a dominant way as she gestured her hand about; all three pairs of eyes immediately held to their future leader. They knew, sooner or later, Tessa was going to permanently call the shots, and they knew somehow they'd have to start somewhere. They all huddled close to each other, though not without nervously glancing down the alley way in which Tessa had just emerged from, "Tammy, you take Penny and Oliver back to Zane's loft. Fix everything you possibly can, with your hammer."
"Gotcha covered," Tammy nodded with a fierce smile as she quickly grabbed her precious, golden hammer from the loop of her belt.
"Watch your backs," Tessa ordered as she peered over her shoulder, "These three idiots are no competition, though they are in their own game, and we're not. This is their turf. Do not waste any time at Zane's. Fix it, and get out."
"What if we're not quick enough?" Penny worried, though the three held their mature gazes to Tessa for guidance.
"You will be if we split now," Tessa nodded, "These three aren't interested in bringing any harm to you... It's me and Zane, who they're after."
"Where are you going?" Oliver wondered as he furrowed his eyebrows.
"I'm going to find Zane," Tessa glanced at Lickity with a twinge of nervousness, "I know where he is..."
"You're flying Lickity?" Penny raised her eyebrows in surprise, though Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and peered at Lickity curiously.
"I don't think we're quite ready for that adventure," Tessa quickly wondered as Lickity budged into their bubble, "But I know she can run."
"Be safe," Tammy urged as her, Penny and Oliver began to slowly tear from their bubble.
"You guys too," Tessa nodded, though she nervously flinched as the three gamers, she had just destroyed, largely scrambled out of the alley way and head for town, in the opposite direction of Zane's loft.
"Looks like we'll be just fine," Tammy rolled her eyes, "Don't fly Lickity if you're not certain of the outcome. One minor slip, and you'll find yourself rocketing to your death."
"I try not to think about that hard fact," Tessa glowered, though she lightly waved the three off, "I'll meet you guys at the castle. If I'm not home in two hours, well..."
"We'll see you," Tammy ordered as she pointed a finger, Tessa nodded, as if she had to force herself to remain positive, even in this dire time.
She lightly waved as the three began to quickly head in the direction of Zane's loft. She eagerly peered back at Lickity and ran her hand on her snout. Lickity perked her ears in kind confusion, though Tessa could tell every last scale on her body still wanted to hold onto the protective rage she was feeding off of Tessa.
"C'mon girl, it's now or never," Tessa heaved a nervous breath and moved alongside Lickity, "Will you run, for me?"
Lickity curiously peered back at Tessa, though as if to question why it had taken this long to wonder these things. Lickity lightly lowered her body for Tessa and gave her a look of earnest inquisition, as if all Tessa had to do was just ask. Tessa raised her eyebrows and, as gently as she could, climbed aboard her dragon. She heaved a nervous sigh and found a spot to get comfortable, though she instantly cursed herself for not fashioning together a makeshift saddle of any sort; anything but bare-back. She nervously gripped Lickity's fur, on the shoulder blades of her wings, and lightly winced.
"Alright, Lickity," Tessa exhaled as she finally peered down the slightly hidden path, in which she knew lead to Zane. She furrowed her eyebrows and felt a rush of adrenaline take over, as if these life-threatening adventures were what made game-life worth living. She lightly gripped Lickity's fur and braced herself, "Let's ride."