*Chapter 48*
Tessa and Zane quickly darted into Game Central Station in a flurry of wild, confused emotions. Tessa exhaled a hard laugh of disbelief and shook her head as she gripped Zane's hand. Her light and happy demeanor quickly sunk, however, once Zane nervously peered over his shoulder. The two whirled around as Selka and his three friends largely burst out of Academy's front doors. With a loud yell and a sudden, electric air that was set upon the place, Selka and his teammates quickly began to chase after Tessa and Zane. Zane quickly grabbed Tessa's hand and began to drag her, quickly, across the massive station.
"C'mon, we've got to get into my game," Zane urged as he quickly peered over to Sugar Rush. He beamed a wide, excited smile as he noticed Penny, Tammy, Emery and Lickity quickly skid into the station, from Sugar Rush. He laughed a little and squeezed Tessa's hand.
"What made you come back?" Tessa urged as she nervously looked over her shoulder, "H-How did you... Glitch, like that?!"
"I've got something I have to tell you," Zane urged as the two slowed a little and stumbled on, Zane squeezed her hands and backstepped a little as he kept his kind, though urgent eyes on her, "We have to get across Dead Zed, though."
"Do you have your lightbike?" Tessa worried as she peered down the station and noticed Selka and his gang were gaining speed.
"Better," Zane eased as he peered towards Sugar Rush. He suddenly chirped a high pitched whistle and motioned his head towards Dead Zed, which caused Lickity's whole existence to perk up, "C'mon, Lickity, ready to fly?"
Lickity exhaled an excited noise and, as happy as ever, she bound across the station with her wings lightly sprawled, as if she had been waiting for this moment her whole life. She garbled a few high pitched noises of happiness and quickly shoved her snout into Zane's center. Zane beamed a wide smile and rubbed the top of her head eagerly as he leaned down and pushed a kind smooch to her snout.
"Missed you too, girly," Zane laughed quietly, though the two quickly perked up as Selka was now merely two dozen feet away. He quickly grabbed Tessa's hand and began running towards Dead Zed's outlet, "C'mon, we gotta hurry."
"Fly!" Tessa worried as the three ran, as fast as they could, down Dead Zed's wires, with Selka hot on their feet.
"You heard me," Zane exhaled as the three sprinted. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and nervously peered at him.
"I-I know I haven't seen you in awhile, but," Tessa breathed through hers and Zane's lightning fast pace, "I-I haven't made time to learn how to fly her!"
"Guess there's a first for everything, then!" Zane lightly nudged Tessa's arm, which caused her to wobble. She breathed an annoyed laugh and shoved him back as they pushed into Dead Zed's outlet, though they skid to a stop and nervously peered behind them. Zane quickly put his hands on Lickity's snout to slow and calm her down, "Alright alright, we gotta go."
"Zane, this is crazy! We can't fly her," Tessa worried as she began to feel flustered from everything that was happening, "I-I'm not in my own game, what if I fall!"
"I won't let any harm come to you!" Zane suddenly ordered as he quickly slipped his tender hands to Tessa's cheeks and made her look him in the face; the two panted in a whirl of delightful confusion, though Zane's steady hands and eye contact never wavered, he shook his head and scoffed a small laugh of anguished delight, "I promised you... I won't ever let anything bad happen to you."
"Zane," Tessa breathed softly through their wild panting, though they both flinched as Selka's loud voice came closer.
"C'mon, we gotta go," Zane urged as he quickly turned to Lickity. As if she knew exactly what had to be done, she bowed her body lightly and let Zane on board. He flung his hand out to her and peered at Tessa expectantly, "You ready?"
Tessa nervously gazed at Zane's open hand and could see Lickity nervously and expectantly peering at her from her peripheral. Tessa quickly caught eyes with Zane and contemplated everything that had just happened. She exhaled a startled noise as Selka suddenly came rocketing out of Dead Zed's wires and was merely two dozen feet away. Tessa quickly threw her arm out and latched onto Zane like a lifeline. As quickly as he could pull her up, she clumsily boarded Lickity, behind Zane, and latched her arms around his center. She peered over her shoulder in a fit of fear as Selka quickly approached Lickity in blind rage.
"Fly, Lickity, fly!" Zane urged as he hunched over and lightly gripped her fur in his determined hands.
With a small grunt of acknowledgement, Lickity lunged forward and with a deep, readied inhale, Lickity finally galloped a few powerful steps. Her wings largely sprawled and with one easy push, she leaped into the air and let her powerful wings do the rest of the work. Tessa exhaled a noise of protest as she felt her stomach dip in confusion. She nervously peered her eyes open and choked a gasp as the massive, sprawling jungles suddenly were becoming smaller and smaller the higher they got; Lickity's long, powerful wings slowly flapped, as if the wind was doing all of the work. Tessa bravely looked over her shoulder and peered down at Dead Zed's entrance. She could hardly see Selka and his three chumps dot the ground in a disarray of anger and confusion, though Tessa largely flinched once Lickity's massive, bat like wings whipped a loud, flapping noise as they caught Dead Zed's powerful, high altitude air. She peered down Lickity's strong tail and spine; her tail fins and sails were sprawled open wide and larger than she had ever seen before. She finally scoffed a noise of disbelief and peered back to Zane, who was sat in front of her.
"Oh my User, we're flying!" Tessa laughed with excitement, Zane smiled at her over his shoulder and hunkered down to Lickity.
"She did it!" Zane laughed, though he motioned for her to follow suit, "Hold on tight, let's see just how fast this cat can go."
With no complaints, Tessa scoot closer to Zane's back and quickly gripped her arms tight around his strong center. The two bent down to lay closer to Lickity's back. Tessa squinted through the whipping wind as hers and Zane's hair viciously licked about. She nervously pushed her chin to Zane's shoulder and peered out to the gorgeous green world below them. She felt a twinge of nervousness as Zane calmly saddled the two to Lickity's spine, once and for all. She could feel him inhale a breath, as if to ready himself, though as softly as he could, he eased encouraging, quick words to Lickity's ears, which were flat against the back of her skull and neck. He finished it off with a quick, loving pat and rub along Lickity's neck, and with that, she could feel something in Lickity change.
Lickity's whole body slowly tensed, her massive wing span sprawled to it's full potential for a moment before, with a sudden dip, she lightly brought her wings closer to her body and laid her ears flatter than before. Tessa eagerly peeked over her shoulders to find Lickity's tail fins were also open to half capacity, though they were taught and sharp, as if she was prepared for high speeds. Tessa raised her eyebrows in surprise as Lickity suddenly started losing altitude, though in a fit of an escalating nose dive. Tessa widened her eyes and tightened her grip on Zane as the three suddenly gained speeds Tessa wasn't even sure was possible.
Tessa held her breath as the world seemingly beveled underneath them. She latched onto Zane, like her life truly depended on it. With Lickity's gentle, sloping nose dive, she suddenly perked her wings out just barely and caught a little more air, though they rocketed forward with much more speed than prior. Tessa exhaled a hard noise of delight and beamed a wide, proud smile; she could hardly believe this speed demon was all hers.
"Yeah Lickity!" Zane passionately urged as he lightly gripped her fur, though Tessa paid extra attention to how he handled her spitfire of a dragon.
Tessa eagerly peered at Zane's hands and felt his gentle body movement. He steered her with his own body, as kindly as he could. Like surfing crystal waves through the sky, he lightly leaned to their right and pushed down on Lickity's right wing, cueing her to bank that way. With no hesitation, Lickity kindly obliged, though in doing so, she tucked her right wing closer to her body and caught even more speed than Tessa thought was possible.
Tessa gasped in disbelief as Lickity finally eased in the direction Zane cued, though she was beginning to fear just how small Dead Zed looked under them. She largely flinched as they suddenly were thrown into wisps of weightless, white puffy clouds. She let her eyes widen at the surreal surroundings, a whole atmosphere untouched by no one but them. The clouds smiled upon them as they darted through the heavenly abyss. She lightly loosened her grip on Zane and sat up a little more, though just barely, so not to go flying off.
She heaved a nervous breath of amazement and peered around, though she lightly looked at the back of Zane's head and wondered if this was all real. She smiled a tender smile and got a good look at Lickity's wingspan, which had sprawled to it's full potential again, to level out and slow down for the scenery. She felt her heart race at the speed of light; being at this level with Zane gave flying a whole new meaning. She lightly tucked herself back into Zane and beamed a curious smile, though she could feel the anger rise in her blood slightly, over the fact that she mentally lost a whole week of operating like a normal gamer because of this guy. She furrowed her eyebrows and was hoping Zane was ready for some tough words, though she figured if he was brave enough to go through this mess, then he must have a good reason as to why he was keeping secrets and being so squirrelly.
Tessa suddenly furrowed her eyebrows and realized that they weren't heading in the direction of The Flip Side, like she originally thought. She felt a pang of confusion hit her skin, though she largely flinched and widened her eyes as the three suddenly came clear of the clouds. Zane tenderly pushed down on Lickity, which conveyed to her to lose altitude. She gently obliged, but with a full wingspan, so not to nose dive again. As tenderly as they could, they began to bank softly towards a brilliantly gorgeous, green peak; it was crowned with the prettiest of jungle trees, sprawling large leaves that rejoiced with Dead Zed's calm breeze. Lickity bellowed a kind, enthusiastic roar to the world as her wings hugged the whipping wind; she banked around the peak once, and finally became level with a curious, paved landing spot that was clean cut, tidy road tar. As easily as Zane could muster, he tugged up on Lickity and cued her to land; she wildly flapped her wings against the wind, to slow down, as she finally let her sturdy feet thud with the landing, which was solid pavement.
Tessa flinched as her hair whipped about for the last time, and she finally got a good look around. They were planted before a gaping hole in the side of the mountain, which was ever so neatly paved and led straight to the heart of the mountain. The road was delicately illuminated along the tunnel with light blue, mesmerizing lights that dotted the ground, though Dead Zed's powerful sunshine made it easier to see inside. She furrowed her eyebrows and noticed this road led all the way down the side of the mountain. She opened her mouth to ask the billions of questions she had, though she flinched once Lickity bellowed a soft noise of accomplishment into the tunnel, which caused Zane to exhale a genuine laugh. Tessa curiously smiled and finally sat up as Lickity tucked her wings close to her body, once and for all.
"Awesome, Lickity," Zane praised as he softly slid off of her, though once on the ground, he reached his hands out to Tessa to help her, "She certainly is something. You can tell she was bred for racing. Whoever had her prior had a strict regimen, because, she knew all the cues."
"That was nuts," Tessa hissed as she gripped Zane's hands and lightly got off of Lickity. She grumbled a noise of accomplishment and let her tongue hang out of her mouth, slightly. She gently sniffed Tessa's hands as she neared, Tessa lovingly held her under her chin and beamed a happy smile.
"I knew she'd be fast, but," Zane scoffed a noise of surprise and raised his eyebrows as Lickity lovingly came alongside Tessa, "Sheesh."
"Where are we?" Tessa softly wondered as she peered out to the vast, crawling green valley below. She nervously peered down the long, dark alley way that lead curiously into the mountain; it looked tidy and well maintained, as if it had been cleanly carved out.
"Uh," Zane softly rubbed the back of his head and nervously peered around, though he flinched as he was gently interrupted.
"I think you have a really good amount of explaining to do," Tessa snapped, though quietly.
Zane nervously peered at her and knew this was the moment of ultimate truth. He almost felt a shiver go down his spine at just how dominant her stare was on his. He had to figure she inherited it from her mother; a Queenly trait that was graciously passed on, no doubt. He exhaled a gentle sigh and looked out to their vast, gorgeous scenery. Zane's little town could still be seen, far off on the distance. He opened his mouth to speak, though Tessa largely cut him off.
"I know you saved my hide back there, but it definitely doesn't make up for the hell you've put me through," Tessa dared as she pointed to the ground, Lickity kindly hung to her side, as if to agree with everything she was saying.
"I know," Zane said sorrowfully, "What I did to you was wrong and immature..."
"Bet your ass," Tessa argued as she harshly furrowed her eyebrows, "I didn't know you had glitch-like abilities... When were you going to tell me this?"
"I-I guess... When I-" Zane was quickly cut off.
"And how did you use them at Academy, when clearly every self-programmed gamer's powers are disabled?" Tessa urged as she dared to step closer; Zane raised his eyebrows in dewy surprise and nervousness.
"You see, I-I... I just-!"
"Or if I can even call you a self programmed gamer," Tessa said darkly as she angrily furrowed her eyebrows.
"Tessa, you have to understand how hard this is for me to do," Zane urged gently and quietly, though he flinched once Tessa took another daring step towards him. Lickity gently hung back and lowered her head, her large eyes curiously held to Tessa, as if to wonder when the two would stop fighting.
"Why did you come back?" Tessa wondered as she crossed her arms, Zane kindly raised his eyebrows, though he still looked almost hopelessly worried.
"Because, Tess," Zane hissed as he squinted his eyes and shook his head lightly, in an incredulous way, "All five days I just sat... Sat and realized what an idiot I was to push you away. I wondered if you'd ever want to see me ever again, after all of that... I'm just glad Penny knocked some sense into me."
"You talked to Penny?" Tessa wondered curiously, though her defenses only barely dropped.
"Yeah... It took a good shouting match and your guys'... Dragon thing to bust all my windows!" Zane exclaimed with a hard, annoyed laugh.
"Dragon thing?" Tessa beamed curiously; she knew he wasn't talking about Lickity, "Sugar Rush doesn't have dra-...ORION...! Penny got Orion to leave the game?!"
"He was huge! His roar shattered all my windows!" Zane cried with a pitiful laugh and an embarrassed smile, "Does he usually not take orders from anyone? Because he was pretty obedient to Penny, that's for sure."
"User," Tessa beamed with an annoyed laugh, though she curiously peered at Zane through inquisitive eyes, "It was Penny's idea to get you to come back?"
"Yeah," Zane truthfully breathed, "You have to understand... Letting people this deep into my life is not something I've ever done. I don't think I was programmed for it."
"If you're not a faux-code," Tessa started curiously, "Then... Who are you? Is Dead Zed your game?"
"Oh yeah," Zane lightly bulged his eyes and looked down, "It's my game..."
"Are you one of the racers, then, or something?" Tessa wondered with furrowed eyebrows. Zane peered at her curiously through an almost annoyed smile.
"It's really not obvious?" Zane laughed softly after a few moments, "I swear, everything I've done has been nothing but neon lights."
"You're not aiding in the 'get Tessa to forgive you' act, Z," Tessa muttered darkly as she crossed her arms; Zane dropped his obnoxious act and gazed at her earnestly.
"I guess... If your nose is pressed to the painting," Zane started as his eyes gently held to hers, "It's hard to see the bigger picture."
"Just tell me what's going on," Tessa urged nervously, though Lickity lightly made a grumbling noise towards Zane, in a polite manner, as if she knew Zane's secret and encouraged him to open up.
Zane slumped his shoulders and peered at Tessa through nervous eyes. He furrowed his eyebrows and wondered just how this would go down. He knew, after this, they'd enter a whole new realm of understanding, though with that, he knew they were bound to run into other problems in the future. He nervously let his eyes pierce the land below as he inhaled a readied breath.
"I'm so scared to tell you," Zane eased softly as he shook his head.
"Why?" Tessa urged in an annoyed tone as she gestured her arms outwards, "It's just us up here... You said you can trust me with anything!"
"I know," Zane sorrowfully hissed.
"That's why, when you pushed me away, I second guessed our entire friendship," Tessa said deeply as she peered hard into his eyes. He gazed at her longingly.
"Well, hopefully, this makes up for the mess I've caused," Zane eased softly as he looked down.
"Spit it out," Tessa urged quietly.
"User... I can't!" Zane laughed as he grabbed his hair and pulled it a little. He shook his head and beamed, "I just... I would hate if you thought differently of me."
"Are you secretly a woman or something?" Tessa barked with a wide laugh, which caused Zane to laugh as well, "Cause if not, nothing will surprise me at this point."
"Hit me," Zane suddenly quipped as he gestured to his jaw. Tessa largely furrowed her eyebrows.
"Zane!" Tessa whined, she beamed a curious smile and largely motioned her arms with a loud laugh.
"I'm serious," Zane laughed, almost desperately, "Look... I-I... I've never had a game over."
"You WHAT?" Tessa laughed with a baffled smile.
"Cross my heart," Zane gazed into her eyes earnestly, he raised his hands slightly and furrowed his eyebrows in an embarrassed way, "Just... Hit me a few times, with your wrecking power, and I-I'll game over, and then I'll show you what's up."
"Zane, I'm not going to hit you," Tessa scoffed an annoyed laugh, "I just can't believe you've never had a game over, before!"
"No one has ever had the opportunity," Zane dared as he gave her an almost annoyed look, "I know it'll make you feel better, and... It'll make up for what an ass I've been. Come on. Hit me, I'll game over, we'll go inside and discuss all this crap over a drink."
"I don't know what hitting you will solve," Tessa argued, "Though I could use a drink after all this, cause this is bullshit!"
"I can't... I can't tell you, I just can't. I can't find the proper words," Zane heaved nervously, "But I can show you..."
"I don't want to make you game over," Tessa volleyed softly as she gazed about in a fit of disbelief, "I can't imagine doing that to you!"
Zane heaved a soft sigh and lightly looked down, he tapped his sides firmly with his fingers and let his eyes dart around in a contemplative way, as if he was trying to think of another way around this mess. He exhaled a faltered breath and shook his head nervously, as if he was on the edge of his world, wondering if actions would potentially speak louder than words, in this moment, or vice versa. Zane finally peered into Tessa's curious eyes and wondered just how scared she must feel, though Zane inwardly felt a twinge of camaraderie with her, as if they both felt the same fear, for different reasons. He knew this moment was detrimental, though getting there proved to be nearly impossible.
"Please... Just... Get it over with," Zane worried gently, "I want to prove to you that... You're the only one I trust with these things. You're the only one I've ever allowed to break down my walls... I-I need you to do this, for me. It'll all make sense afterwards, now just hit me, hurry!"
"Zane, I-!"
"Do it!" Zane loudly snapped.
Tessa harshly furrowed her eyebrows and felt a weird wave slip over her, she knew deep down she wanted to beat the sense into him all week. She figured, since given permission, she better live it up. She inhaled a sharp breath and, with a half-hearted swipe, she firmly backhanded Zane across the face. She flinched and nervously peered at him with an apologetic frown as she scrunched her shoulders. His whole body riddled with dark blue pixels, as if to make it clear his gamer core took damage. He exhaled a nervous noise and shook his head before he peered at Tessa like a deer in headlights.
"Ow," Zane choked, though he quickly gestured his hand towards himself once he noticed Tessa's look of horror increase, "No, no, it's okay! It's okay! One more time, just... Give me your worst..."
"Zane, I really-"
"Tessa!" Zane barked an annoyed laughed as he largely gestured to himself, again.
Tessa took less time to decipher whether or not she should argue. With a little bit more of her wrecking force, she wound up and back handed him, yet again. She jolted and furrowed her eyebrows in delightful confusion as she watched Zane's body riddle with confused, dead pixels. The game made its usual, quiet, regenerative noise and he quickly was plopped back to the grid, in front of Tessa. She beamed a curious smile and watched the pixels realign themselves to just how he was before she started hitting him, though with a quick, confused swipe of the game, his jet black hair smoothly dipped to a brilliant, hot, electric blue color.
Tessa beamed a curious smile and wrinkled her nose as her eyes darted about his figure in a delighted, naive way, though she suddenly felt her skin grow cold at the massive sweep of realization that searingly melted over her frozen existence. She widened her eyes and felt her heart jolt as Zane's bluer eyes gripped to hers in an almost delightful mix of renewed apology and pride. She inhaled a silent gasp and raised her eyebrows in surprise as she took two or three clumsy, apprehensive steps backwards. She nervously, and just barely, pointed her finger at him and felt her heart race at the speed of light.
"You're," Tessa breathed through a shaky, nervous look of dumbfounded surprise.
"Zed," He kindly breathed with a gentle, humbled smile.