A/N: Hey guys, real quick! I'm sorry if my updating, for this week, seems a bit slow, but I will be attending Phoenix Comicon with my lovely boyfriend and best friend Michaela, and Jake again! We will be cosplaying Ralph, Vanellope, Taffyta and Felix. We had 2 other cosplays planned, which was How To Train Your Dragon 2 and Five Nights At Freddy's but... Unfortunately, due to time constraints, they fell through, and are being pushed back to PHXcon 2016... But it's okay. We'll be running around as WIR dorks the whole weekend, so that should be fun xD
If any of you guys are going, keep an eye out for us! Michaela and I will be as Vanellope and Taffyta (movie version, NOT AU) the whole weekend, so if you spot us, don't be shy! We love getting to know people/taking pictures and such. Just please don't attack us while we're eating/in the bathroom or something, cause chances are, we legit are hungry/tired and need a small break from the chaos xD Last year I'm pretty sure I almost had like 3 blood-sugar attacks cause I was so wrapped up in seeing people and taking pictures lol.
Next year, my boyfriend and I have been discussing it, but we are going to potentially be cosplaying Tessa and Zed for PHXcon2016! He mentioned wanting to grow out and style his hair like Zed's, and we figured, balls deep...! xD So I guess we'll see how that goes!
I haven't forgotten about the sketchdump, either! I will be posting that probably by the end of next week. I already have half of it completed, I just need to add a few more doodles and it'll be ready to post.
If you'd like to keep up with our shenanigans for Comicon, I always post all our Comicon BS to my Instagram. We will be decking out Lickity's back windshield with car paint for the occasion, and I will be posting that as well, so stay tuned for all our crazy, fun nonsense! My Instagram username is - Vyntastic
*breathes* HOKAY have an intense as fuck chapter bye.
Song Listened To - Take U There by Skrillex (sue me I love Skrillex it's a problem.)
*Chapter 58*
With a nervous demeanor, Zane gently entered Sugar Rush's gentle, cloud speckled afternoon sky aboard Lickity. He inhaled Sugar Rush's sinful, sweet air and smiled as he eased his position on Lickity's back. He knew he was always welcomed at the castle, where Tessa resided for the lazy, Sugar Rush off hours, though he also knew Sugar Rush was home to fierce defenders, a game that had been struck with viruses in the past, though was powerful enough to pull through each time. He knew the core was a force to be reckoned with, though he also knew they had good reasons to be on edge. With outdated virus protection and a game on the cusp of good and bad coding, he knew the leads of Sugar Rush were strict for reasons and situations he could hardly begin to imagine. He swallowed a nervous gulp and peered off towards the direction of the castle, far off. He smiled a happy smile and enjoyed the intoxicating scents of Sugar Rush, the atmosphere was gently coated in the sweetest of smells; he was certain Lickity was happiest when she was here.
Zane softly pat Lickity's side, as if to cue to her that she could take him where they needed to be, though with a sudden, hum of a zip, the air around them began to crackle in a nervous fit of a hot purple light display. He largely flinched and tucked closer to Lickity, though he began to feel helpless. Lickity exhaled a hard, nervous bellow as a sudden grip of a force field seemingly took over her code. Lickity largely flapped her wings, though she quickly lost altitude and nearly came close to a nose dive straight to Sugar Rush's massive, dark and light chocolate swirled grounds. Zane largely tugged up on Lickity's saddle, to attempt to bring her back to normality, though he suddenly felt as if he was trying to steer a car with faulty power steering. He largely hunkered to Lickity and prepared for a hard landing, though just before the two crashed to the ground, Lickity quickly regained balance and largely flapped her wings in a confused manner. She bellowed a nervous noise as she largely skid to the ground, as if she was brought down by a massive leash.
Zane exhaled a hard, nervous noise and shook his head in hard confusion as Lickity tried her hardest to regain her position in the world. He largely sat up and peered around in extreme offense and confusion, though his vision quickly snapped. He felt his heart jolt clear out of his chest as the grid lines of Sugar Rush glowed a hot, angry purple; he knew he had maybe confused the core of the game by idly flying in, unannounced. He felt his heart drop and was quick to put his hands up, to express that he was harmless, though he quickly felt a wave of confusion come over him as the Queen's painfully powerful glitch of a grip wigged out his and Lickity's code. He felt his eyes widen with nervousness as the inevitable happened, and his code largely glitched with Vanellope's. He coughed a hard noise, as the power of the core challenged him. The feel of it was similar to Tessa's, one of which he had barely felt prior, though he could practically taste the protectiveness in the harsh electricity that wiped his code practically clean; it was clear her coding was eons more powerful, in the respect of her being a user-made gamer.
"Well, well," Vanellope chimed as she suddenly glitched a dozen or so feet in front of Lickity. She crossed her arms in a delighted sort of way, though her dominance over the situation was near terrifying. She sported a casual pair of tattered, black racing jeans, obviously retired from a different time. She also wore a tight, mint green tank top. Her silky black hair was down and fell down to the middle of her back. She lightly side stepped in her sleek, black racing shoes and tilted her head curiously, "A Mr. Dead Zed has sneakily come to grace us with his presence."
"Hooo, can I please pop popcorn," Taffyta muttered as she rubbed her hands together and appeared around the other side of Lickity. She slowly moseyed so her and Vanellope could gently hone in on Zed. Zed quickly got off of Lickity and put his hands up, in a gesture of not wanting to be aggressive, though he held a confused, nervous glare.
"Ease up, Taff," Rancis suddenly glossed over the two girls, though mostly to his wife; the three had Lickity and Zed surrounded, "It's not going to be much of a show."
"It won't, if everyone cooperates," Vanellope eased darkly as the three began to slowly ease closer to Zed, to get within comfortable talking distance. Zed nervously whirled around and faced the three of the four powerful, fierce leaders of Sugar Rush. He exhaled a noise of question and finally lowered his hands as he began to feel more and more helpless and confused. Lickity gently bowed away from the three; she knew exactly who was in charge.
"What's going on?" Zed wondered loudly as he glanced at Taffyta through a furrowed expression.
She gave him a knowing smile, though Zed felt his heart sink at the fact that his identity was exposed, and not in the way he would have liked. He knew this was the moment of truth, the typical run down; he felt his heart throb in nervousness, though he was starting to quickly realize that the wolf pack Tessa ran with was extremely tight knit and protective. He knew he was bound to get the typical, rough throw around, the verbal beat down of his life, in order to properly court Sugar Rush's heir came with a hard price. A smack down from every single head above Tessa. He knew he was outmatched, in every aspect. His competitive heart cried to fight back, though he knew if he was ever going to get things to go smoothly with him and Tessa, he had no choice but to keep his eyes down and take the beating from the ones who loved her most.
"Looks like it's story time, from all bends of this winding track," Vanellope braved, the three stood around him within a four or five foot radius. Zed nervously glanced to Rancis, though he knew to keep his undivided attention on the ultimate head; she continued on as she put her hands on her hips, the purest form of dominant display, "Let's start with the obvious bullet, first. Just when were you going to come out with your little secret, here, 'Zane'?"
"I-I wasn't planning on keeping it a secret for much longer," Zed eased gently as he remained frozen in nervousness, though he held his confident gaze to the Queen. He was casually dressed in a comfortable shirt and cargo pants, as was everyone else. Each gamer was properly laced with their own logos.
"I don't think it really matters," Taffyta dared as she crossed her arms, "We've known you were Zed since before Tessa started Academy."
"How did you guys know?" Zed wondered with a nervous look as he glanced at Taffyta.
"It's sort of a dead giveaway, when you mention the very name of the virus that wrought both of our games in terror, last year," Rancis suddenly dared, which caused Zed to flinch and peer to his right, where Rancis was. Rancis had his sword sheathed, though it was obvious he was prepared for anything.
"Radex?" Zed wondered as the edge of his mouth wanted to curl into a curious smile, though he flinched once Rancis dared to take a step closer.
"Radex is dead," Rancis barked in anger, Zed lightly eased his body language to state that he wasn't going to fight, though Rancis pushed on, "You mentioned him as if he was your long lost buddy."
"Buddy," Zed squinted his eyes in mild offense, "I hated him. What makes you guys think I was associated with him? I hardly knew him."
"It's obvious he hung out in Dead Zed," Vanellope glowered, "He wanted to overthrow my kingdom. He was going to stop at NOTHING."
"If it weren't for me," Rancis started darkly, "You wouldn't be next in line for Sugar Rush's King..."
"What are you insinuating?" Zed dared as he began to feel protective of his intentions, "If you're implying I'm only with Tessa, for the throne, then you've lost your mind."
"Just seems fishy," Taffyta muttered as she crossed her arms, though every being easily jumped as Vanellope's voice pierced the air.
"You're going to tell me everything you know about Radex," Vanellope spat as she took a confident step closer to Zed; his interior visibly shrunk as she neared, "Why didn't he overthrow Dead Zed? How come you sent him after Sugar Rush?"
"I did nothing of the sort," Zed fought, "I'll have you know, I fought for Sugar Rush. I nearly ended his life, in my code room... He escaped Dead Zed before I could finish him off. He had an incredibly fast glitch... Much like yours, Vanellope."
"You weren't his partner in this kingdom take-over?" Taffyta wondered as her and Vanellope caught eyes.
"No," Zed begged in a deep tone as he gestured his arms, "I hated the guy... My memory is a little fuzzy, on the topic, but I know I couldn't follow through with any of his nonsense. My game was new to the Litwak's. What a GREAT way to begin new Arcade life, by immediately overthrowing another game. Makes perfect sense to me!"
"So exactly what are you doing here, then?" Rancis dared as he, too, took a step closer to Zed; Zed eagerly peered at him and furrowed his blue eyebrows, "Radex is dead, and suddenly you have no competition... You come here, to be with Tessa? Hope to one day be King? Maybe get your hand in the code room, and have your way?"
"How dare you," Zed tilted his head down lightly, though he kept his challenging glare to Rancis's.
"What are your intentions, with Tessa?" Rancis deeply braved, though Zed stood his ground; the two were about the same height. Rancis dared to step closer to Zed and come at eye level, "What is the point of a user-made gamer being with a self-programmed gamer, anyhow? You know the code swap wouldn't work..."
"You think I'm here to be KING?" Zed barked, he furrowed his eyebrows and held his ground, "I don't like Tessa because she's royalty. I like her because she's my best friend. She's taught me a lot about being comfortable with myself and to try and carry out a life as who I am, and not hiding behind a persona."
"What's that about, anyhow?" Taffyta suddenly chimed, though she held a stern tone.
"My game mates hate me," Zed spat as he shot his attention to Taffyta, which caused her to flinch, "How would you feel, being coded to be a perfect gamer... I'm unbeatable. Every gamer's dream, right?"
"Right," Taffyta shrugged, though she flinched again as Zed switched his body language slightly, to face her.
"Wrong!" Zed darkly snapped, "YOU try having everyone hate you for merely being programmed to be unbeatable. I can't help being unbeatable. My game-mates disowned me, they shunned me strictly to my home and my code room. I don't GET a game day. I don't get to race anyone, because I always know the outcome."
"You coded yourself differently so you could live a normal life," Vanellope eased, she knew Zed was near the breaking point.
"Yeah," Zed heaved a huff of a breath as he glared into Vanellope's eyes, "I befriended Emery, who lived in the town I moved to... Emery was best friends with Tammy. Who is Tammy related to?"
The three fell silent in gentle contemplation, though Zed gently gestured his hands and beamed a closed-mouth, cocky smile.
"The brother of Sugar Rush's King..." Zed dared as he widened his arms and gestured to the game; the three leaders kept their quiet, contemplative gazes to Zed, "Tessa's my best friend. This poor coincidence makes my positioning look awful, but I would never let any harm come to Tessa, or Sugar Rush. I defended Sugar Rush, last year... I'd do it again, in a heart beat."
"What do you think, Vin," Taffyta said softly to Vanellope; Zed merely glanced at the two, though Rancis pushed on.
"You know the myths of user-made and self-programmed gamers," Rancis dared; Zed furrowed his eyebrows in light confusion.
"I know it's uncommon, but..." Zed trailed off lightly.
"You're planning on being with Tessa, for a long while, no?" Rancis wondered as he side eyed Zed, as if to convey that his answer was detrimental to him seeing her ever again.
"Of course," Zed said, almost sorrowfully, as if having to prove his obvious motives was painfully curious.
"You can't sit here and honestly believe, that for the rest of yours and Tessa's relationship, you're going to be holding hands and kissing cheeks," Rancis said in a dull tone, though Vanellope and Taffyta held their curious gazes to the two men in the group.
"I really don't think it's appropriate for me to talk about this, in front of my girlfriend's mother," Zed dared as he gestured to Vanellope, "Not to mention, the Queen. Do you enjoy setting me up for failure?"
"If it means Tessa's life, I don't care if this is uncomfortable, or not," Rancis barked as he pointed to the ground, his dominant demeanor overpowered Zed, "You know the myths... The stories of the 'final swap'. You could take Tessa's life, as a user-made gamer, with just ONE stupid blow."
"I don't think that's fact," Taffyta lightly shrugged, in hopes of easing the tension in the group, "I think, there are complications, if the swap is done wrong..."
"How can a swap be DONE wrong?" Rancis urged, though he wildly gestured his hand at Taffyta as she opened her mouth to sarcastically reply, "That was rhetorical!"
Vanellope covered her face as her and Taffyta largely stifled a few laughs.
"I promised I would never harm Tessa," Zed said as he gazed down to the ground, near his and Vanellope's feet, "If it meant never reaching that point with her, for fear of something going wrong, then so be it."
"C'mon, man," Rancis dared darkly as he furrowed his eyebrows and bravely stepped closer to Zed, "You have everything you could ever want... The throne is nearly in the palm of your hands. You can't sit here, and tell me, you'd actually sacrifice that aspect of a relationship, and stay in said relationship."
"I know you guys may think I'm heartless," Zed dared as he faced Rancis, the two boys looked as if they were about to fight; Vanellope kept her steady eye on the situation and knew she'd intervene if anything flared, Zed continued on, "But I'd never hurt Sugar Rush's heir. Even if it meant protecting her from myself."
"Cute story," Rancis growled, "We all know it's not true."
"How can I prove to you that I'm telling you the truth?" Zed urged as their foreheads nearly touched; he knew he shouldn't challenge the Queen's right hand man, though he had to wonder if this was a test, and he was set to rise to the challenge.
"Why are you really with Tessa?" Rancis wondered deeply in Zed's face; he could feel his heart throb with uncertainty, though he knew he had to get it out, someway or another.
"Because I'm in love with her," Zed urged in Rancis's face, with a voice coated with near desperation and honesty. He slumped his shoulders and kept his nervous gaze fixated on Rancis's, as if telling Tessa's protective uncle his true feelings was a million times harder than telling Tessa herself.
"Rancis," Vanellope urged as she gripped his shoulder; he quickly fixed his surprised gaze onto hers and waited for her ultimate judging, Vanellope squeezed his shoulder and let a smirk of a knowing smile cross her face, "He's telling the truth... All of it is truth."
The coding underneath Zed's feet lightly flickered, which caused his code to wig out a tiny bit, as if she had been keeping tabs on his heart rate and other factors, to see if he was indeed telling the truth.
"User, you couldn't have told, sooner?" Rancis grumbled as he lightly stepped away. Zed furrowed his eyebrows in the utmost confusion and peered at him and Vanellope with his mouth gentle agape.
"Man, you had to stop it there?" Taffyta complained, "That would have been such a cool fight to see."
"...Was this a set up?" Zed argued as he furrowed his eyebrows.
"It was and it wasn't," Vanellope chimed as she firmly gripped Zed's shoulder and peered deep into his eyes, "I'm just glad all of this is out in the air. You had all of us, here at Sugar Rush, worried sick."
"I did?" Zed heaved as he nervously peered into Vanellope's eyes, she shook her head with an incredulous smile.
"My daughter has been traipsing in and out of Dead Zed with you," Vanellope chuckled, "A place in which we knew Radex was once hanging around. Who knows whose minds he's warped."
"If it's not already obvious," Taffyta whirled her finger around, "We're extremely careful about who we let into the castle's circle."
"Dutifully noted," Zed stated in a mildly annoyed tone, though he nervously peered to Vanellope; he shook his head gently, "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding... I didn't realize how much grief my secret was causing."
"It's okay," Vanellope eased softly as she removed her hand from his shoulder, "From now on... No more secrets."
"Yes ma'am," Zed quipped gently as he held his softening gaze to hers, though he finally felt as if they were all on even ground.
Vanellope lightly crossed her arms and got a good look at Zed; he was strapping, a medium build in which could be underestimated, though she knew his core held a great deal of power and greatness. She gave him a light smirk and for the first time, felt her heart swell towards him and Tessa. She let her teeth finally show through her smile, though once Zed curiously smiled back to her in return, as if to be confused, she lightly shook her head and glanced about his blue eyes and striking blue hair. Vanellope had always wondered just what kind of a guy her first born would eventually land, though she felt alien that the moment was actually right here, and said gamer was directly in front of her.
"Have you told Tessa your feelings, yet?" Vanellope gently wondered, though Zed felt his skin grow cold.
"Uh," Zed exhaled a faltered breath as his face turned beet red, "N-No... I'm sort of trying to ease into all of this, myself. I've never had a girlfriend."
"Well, if THIS isn't one big 'welcome to the family', I really don't know what is," Taffyta said through a small laugh as she gestured to the three before her.
"Nothing like being ganged up on," Rancis said dully, though he lightly nudged Zed's upper arm, in a friendly sort of way, "Sorry for getting you riled. Queen's orders."
"Guess I should get used to it," Zed finally smiled a genuine smile, though his heart continued to race.
"I told you I'd have your head, if you hurt my kin," Vanellope chimed in a deathly sweet voice that practically made Zed's skin crawl.
"I always keep my promises," Zed eased softly, "No matter what."