*Chapter 64*
"Hey, Ol," Zed eased softly as he approached Oliver.
Zed lightly looked him over; over the past two months, Oliver had grown to be a strong, masculine, young gamer. His time to shine was now, though Zed knew it'd take a bit of force to get it out of him. He was a true, fully grown gamer, starting tomorrow, and Zed knew, from Tessa's experiences, that he'd have to have thick skin when it came to Academy. Oliver was only a few inches taller than Zed, though his build was bigger and stronger. He had large, wrecking hands; smaller than Ralph's, but larger than Tessa's. His big boned structure was perfect for wrecking, where as Tessa's daintier structure, much like her mother, was good for both wrecking and glitching. Oliver held fast to Ralph's bumbling figure, as well as his honey brown eyes, though his jet black hair lightly messied the top of his head. Oliver furrowed his strong eyebrows and lightly eyed Zed.
"Hey," Oliver uttered sadly, "Come to watch me humiliate myself?"
"What? How are you humiliating yourself?" Zed wondered as he crossed his arms.
"Because I just... I guess I'm not meant to be a wrecker," Oliver worried as he looked down at his hands, though he flinched once Zed scoffed.
"What in Arcade made you think THAT?" Zed barked with a smile, though Oliver's eyes pierced his, as if he didn't totally recognize Zed.
"I-I just..." Oliver trailed off lightly, though he flinched yet again, as Zed's voice overpowered his.
"You're the only son of the big, bad, Wreck-It Ralph," Zed largely gestured towards the small crowd on the bleachers, a few dozen feet away, "Just look at you! Of course you can wreck, Ol."
"I just don't have the proper mindset, I guess," Oliver furrowed his eyebrows and peered down to the ground.
"Yes you do," Zed lightly nudged him, "You just have to dig deep. You wanna know why wrecking comes so easy to Tessa? Because she channels her anger through her powers, then utilizes it. Surely you've wrecked stuff, before."
"I wrecked one of mom's vases, once," Oliver said sadly, "I-I felt so terrible."
"You've... You've never wrecked stuff for the hell of it?" Zed wondered softly.
"I mean, I have," Oliver gestured to the forest around him, "Some of this is my handiwork, but... Dad thinks I'm not putting my heart into it."
"Well, are you?" Zed asked as he crossed his arms.
"... Probably not," Oliver sighed, his deep voice was coated in conflicted sorrow, "I guess I just... Have a long fuse?"
"Well, then, let's get to the bottom of it," Zed said firmly with a confident smile, "What makes you mad?"
"Mad?" Oliver gazed at Zed in kind confusion, "Not a lot, really."
"C'mon," Zed gestured, "Surely something has made you so mad... So mad, you had to destroy something!"
"I-I can't really recall," Oliver squinted and lightly looked away in contemplation.
"What if someone was picking a fight with me?" Zed gestured to himself gently, though Oliver furrowed his eyebrows.
"I know you'd beat the snot out of 'em," Oliver retorted, as if he was kindly going to find a loophole to every suggestion Zed made from here on out.
"Say... Say someone chopped Lickity's wings off," Zed motioned to Lickity, across the way, before he put his hands on his hips.
"I'm pretty sure Lickity would fry them to ash," Oliver wrinkled his nose and laughed, though Zed took a gentle step closer to Oliver.
"Well, then, pretend I'm Selka," Zed dared, "You're protective of Tessa... I know that much..."
"I hate Selka," Oliver furrowed his eyebrows deeper, though Zed felt his heart jump at the fact that he was finally getting somewhere.
"We all do," Zed motioned his hands lightly, "I know how much you want to hate on a guy that wants Tessa's heart, the kingdom up for grabs..."
"I never really got to play the 'big brother' role," Oliver grumbled, though he kept his eyes honed on Zed.
"So, what would you say, if I eloped with Tessa? Got married without your guys' permission?" Zed chimed with a sly smile; he knew his intentions here were purely to make Oliver mad, though he wondered just how far he'd have to go.
"You wouldn't do that," Oliver growled as his eyebrows furrowed harder.
"I wouldn't?" Zed gestured to himself as he lightly began to circle Oliver, "I don't know... I might have to just test the limits."
"You're not that stupid," Oliver wrinkled a smile across his face as he lightly turned to keep his eyes on Zed.
"I was stupid enough to fall for a faux-code," Zed dared; he almost winced at his harsh, unintended words, though he knew at this point, he'd say anything to get results, "Much... like... You..."
"That's derogatory," Oliver snapped darkly as he tilted his head down, though he kept his shadowed eyes honed to Zed.
"C'mon, Olly," Zed dared as the two lightly began to circle each other, "Time to man up."
"I am a man," Oliver barked as he clenched his fists.
"How far would you go, to protect your sister?" Zed wondered, "How are you going to know which guy is best, for Tessa? You gunna let any bad guy waltz into Sugar Rush and stand by your side, as Sugar Rush's Prince?"
"You made my job easy," Oliver spat as his chest rose and fell with billowing anger, from months of stuffing it.
"Well, now I'm here to make your job hard," Zed dared angrily, his piercing blue eyes stabbed into Oliver's soft, tender ones, "No matter how much younger you are, than Tessa, you gunna stand and fight for her? As her brother?"
"Course I am," Oliver prod aggressively, his angry mannerisms and facial expressions were spitting image of Ralph's.
"I gotta get your blessing somehow, Olly," Zed smiled a snark, wide grin and opened his gesture towards himself, "I don't think I'm gunna get it at this rate, am I?"
"You already had it," Oliver glared at Zed; he knew Zed was only bluffing, for the sake of getting a rise out of him, though he hated to admit that it was working.
"Well, take it back!" Zed hollered, "It's time you fight, for your sister. You care about who she crowns as the next KING? You gotta prove you can protect her!"
"I can!" Oliver barked as he took a daring step closer to Zed; he side stepped and felt the coding under his skin prepare himself for a fight.
"Can yah?" Zed dared with a cheeky smile as the two continued to circle each other, "I don't know, you too worried you're going to hurt me?"
"I don't want to hurt anyone," Oliver muttered darkly.
"If it meant protecting your family?" Zed wondered as he side-eyed Oliver.
"I said I don't WANT to hurt anyone..." Oliver started as his glare turned more threatening, "I didn't say I couldn't..."
"Then what are you waiting for," Zed hollered loudly in Oliver's face as he dared to take a step closer to the idling beast.
"Get out of my face," Oliver dared loudly through grit teeth.
"Make me," Zed growled, though he immediately felt the gears in his mind turn faster than light as the two boys tensed into action.
Oliver exhaled a hard yell and, as aggressively as he could, he slammed both his fists down to the ground, in a proper wrecking form, though he inhaled a sharp gasp through his teeth as he missed his target. He whirled around and noticed Zed used his infamous glitching abilities to easily avoid Oliver's swipes. With a wide, accomplished smile, Zed quickly side stepped a few more times and dodged each and every single one of Oliver's angry, wrecking swipes. Zed ducked and bobbed a few times in nervousness as Oliver got pretty close. Zed exhaled a hard, grunt of a laugh before he quickly back stepped and turned around. He honed his attention on a massive chunk of candy tree trunk that lay sagged into the soft ground undertow.
With his curious glitching abilities, he reached his hands outwards, and as if he were in control of gravity, the chunk of candy tree quickly became riddled with Zed's dark blue code. With a hard grunt and a massive swipe, Zed levitated the chunk of tree with his abilities and sent it rocketing towards Oliver. Oliver largely clipped the heavy chunk that came rocketing his way, though as if it were merely a sheet of glass, it shattered into a dozen pieces with one single swipe of Oliver's fists. Zed continued to haul massive chunks of tree towards Oliver, though his wrecking form and quick agility never missed a beat; each heavy piece of candy tree that came his way was easily swiped aside with anger that overflowed from his being.
"C'mon, Ol," Zed hollered as he grew closer to the bleachers, "Is that the best you got?!"
Oliver exhaled a hard yell as he quickly stormed Zed, his knuckles practically whitened. He flung his arms towards left over tree stumps, in which his father had wrecked earlier. The world trembled underneath Sugar Rush's next, top wrecker; candy shards flew in every direction. Zed uttered a noise of pure worry as he quickly turned and noticed the two were quickly approaching the bleachers, where the five individuals he had left were now watching the show with wide, shocked expressions. Zed nervously glitched a few times and quickly banked a hard turn, just before he hit the bleachers, though he noticed everyone scramble for safety as Oliver was not far behind. Oliver largely swung his hands down and, with a few hard pounds, the bleachers crumbled under his power. He exhaled a grunt of a hard noise and quickly began to chase after Zed again; his eyes honed to Zed once he noticed Zed largely trip over a camouflaged candy tree trunk.
Oliver furrowed his eyebrows harder and, with overflowing rage, all he wanted to do was destroy the one thing that made him this angry. He hollered a loud battle cry and raised his fists high above his head, as he neared Zed, who was scrambling to get to his feet. Though, just as Oliver was about to throw his hands down to Zed's existence, for the ultimate game over, he was largely shoved to the ground by a force unknown to him. He harshly skid to the side and, with that, the ground underneath him kicked up dust and debris. He coughed a startled noise and quickly looked up to see just who he was going to wreck next, though he suddenly felt his skin grow cold as Lickity largely inhaled a hard breath, and with her wings widely spread, she let out a core shaking, angry bellow straight down into Oliver's existence. It was clear Lickity wasn't aware of the test Zed had put Oliver through; she largely stood over Zed, in a protective manner and snorted a hard few puffs of steam, as if to show she knew how to breathe fire, and wasn't afraid to show it. Her slits remained trained to Oliver in a show of ultimate dominance, she easily remained hovered over Zed's whole body, which was still crumpled to the ground.
"Lickity, down girl!" Tessa hollered as she quickly rushed over to alleviate the situation. She gently pushed on Lickity's neck, which cued her to lose the fang filled aggression. She peered up at Tessa in pure confusion, though her eyes remained slit, as if she was uncertain what to do.
"I swear to User, Zed, if you weren't just saying those things," Oliver panted angrily, he stood as he largely pointed down to Zed, who easily crawled out from underneath Lickity, "I'd wreck you into oblivion!"
"You DO know how to wreck," Zed hollered with a smile, though he largely panted, "If you're going to be a wrecker, you have to wear your heart on your sleeve, show your emotion, be proud!"
"He's got a point, Olly," Tessa eased, though they flinched as Penny, Taffyta and Vanellope quickly rushed over.
"You guys okay?" Vanellope worried as she assessed the situation.
"They're alright," Tessa chuckled, though she gave Oliver a proud smile, "Oliver out-wrecks us all, I think."
"For a moment there, I was genuinely scared," Zed tenderly admit as he panted and rubbed the back of his head, though he largely flinched once Oliver stepped closer.
"You better have been just spewing hot air," Oliver growled.
"Ol, of COURSE I was spewing hot air," Zed gave him a dull look, though he shook his head with an almost annoyed smile, "How else was I gunna get you mad?"
"You have a long fuse, Olly-bear," Penny said through a giggle as she crossed her arms.
"Now we know his weakness," Zed crossed his arms and gave Tessa a kind smile, "It's you, Tessa."
"Me?" Tessa wondered as she gave Oliver a nervous smile, though he only bashfully glanced at her, as if showing his affection towards her was unfamiliar.
"If I ever see that Selka jerk, I swear to User," Oliver panted through his nose, though he raised his eyebrows in dewy surprise as Ralph slowly moseyed over.
"User truly blessed Sugar Rush with two of the best wreckers I've ever seen," Ralph chuckled as he sunk his hands to Oliver's and Tessa's shoulders. He peered his curious eyes to Oliver, "Now that you know how to channel your wrecking power, you have to know how to control it... As easy as it is, to just let blind rage lead the way, you have to understand the balance."
"I have a long way to go," Oliver muttered as he stared down to the ground.
"Do you at least feel a little better?" Zed kindly wondered with a small shrug.
"I guess," Oliver uttered, though he let a small smile sprawl his face in renewed respect for his strong power.
"I believe I owe you a crown," Ralph said through a small sigh, though he chuckled gently and removed his wedding ring.
With a single plop, he set his large wedding band atop Zed's head, which made his blue faux-hawk cover his eyes. Everyone erupted with kind laughter towards the endearing situation as Zed scoffed a noise of delightful surprise. He tenderly removed Ralph's large wedding ring from the top of his head and gazed down at it in pure wonder, the sheer size of it. He furrowed his eyebrows and peered up to Ralph with kind, curious eyes.
"I hardly deserve this," Zed scoffed with a gentle smile, though it dwindled to gentle anguish as he peered into Oliver's eyes, "I said some pretty mean things... Will you forgive me Olly?"
Oliver furrowed his eyebrows and inhaled a reviving breath. He finally let a gentle smile sprawl his face as he gazed at Zed as a whole; he tenderly held his father's massive wedding ring in both his palms as Zed's honest eyes pierced his own. Zed peered to Oliver in frozen anticipation, which reassured Oliver that he was simply trying to help. He finally gave Zed a smile and gently nudged his arm with the back of his large knuckles.
"Yeah," Oliver breathed, "I know you didn't mean the stuff you said..."
"What did you say to him?" Tessa wondered as she crossed her arms and gave Zed a curious smile.
"Surely it was bad, I don't think I've ever seen Olly that pissed," Penny scrunched her shoulders.
"Let's just say, if I ever catch Selka so much as speaking to you," Oliver pointed a finger towards Tessa, "It's his head in the smasher... And I mean my fists."
Tessa exhaled a nervous laugh and shot Zed a curious smile, though Zed gave her a sheepish smile in return with a gentle shrug.
"Alright, I need that back," Ralph uttered through a grunt of a sigh as he lightly took his ring out of Zed's hands, "Kinda need my wife to stay just that."
"Thanks for the sentiment," Zed laughed softly, as did everyone else.