A/N: uhhh. Fanfiction is being really buggy, on me, lately. If I don't reply to your review, I'm not ignoring you. The view and review counter is all wonky lol.
Song Listened To: Dobat - Bear Ghost
*Chapter 94*
Hero's Duty's atmosphere was quiet and dark, like usual. Tessa was at the head of the trailing group, though she hung close with Lickity, and Otto who had fallen into conversation with her. The dark, charcoal tiles of the game map looked recently cleaned, a daily routine the game additions took on, to make sure the game was free of any cybug remains or debris. Tessa got a good look around; Hero's Duty's main tower hung in the distance, as if it were the literal point in which people came to game-over. She furrowed a hard glare at it. She knew, deep down, she should likely fear this place. The very place where her uncle Rancis died, and the very place where she was just barely spared her own life. She kept her eyes glued to the tower in growing hate, though it hung in the sky with all of it's horrific beauty. The little green accent lights that lined it looked foggy through the still atmosphere. She could practically feel her pupils dilate, as if to hone on her one true enemy, though she was lightly disturbed from her nervous thinking.
"Sheesh," Otto said quietly, though the chatter from Penny, Oliver, Tammy and Emery, behind them, bounced around the cold walls of the hull they strolled out from. Otto laid her ears flat, though she shot Tessa an excited look, "This game is so cool!"
"I'm not here as often as I'd like," Tessa finally smiled, "Though, I do appreciate it. Sugar Rush is always so bright and colorful. It's nice to have a bit of a switch up."
"Does the sun ever rise, here?" Otto wondered as her, Tessa and Lickity began to stroll off the beaten path and over to where the shooting range was; everyone lightly followed.
"Surprisingly, yes," Tessa chuckled as she gestured her hand towards the gloomy sky, which held no stars, "Hero's Duty has a reversed day and night cycle, so during the day, the Users, that play the game, get a nighttime atmosphere. The sun only barely rises on the horizon, during technical 'night time', closed arcade hours."
"Weird," Otto chuckled softly as she peered about; jagged rock and dark soil lined their path, as well as a few orange ground lights, "I can see how the switch up would be nice. My game is so bright and peppy, too. Sometimes it gives me a headache."
"Tammy always brings me here when I need to unwind," Tessa gave Otto a kind smile, though she felt her heart throb in a sense of mild annoyance as she could see Zed, in her peripheral, begin to attempt to catch up to the three.
"There aren't any of those... cybugs around, are there?" Otto worried as she pressed closer to Tessa. Tessa beamed her a kind smile and lightly pat the back of Lickity's neck.
"Well, if there were, Lickity would be freaking out, right now," Tessa chuckled, Lickity only lightly glanced up towards Tessa and Otto, "No, the eggs are kept safe in the tower... We don't go in there."
"I'm thankful for that," Otto scoffed as the two nervously peered towards the massive tower, in the distance. It was beginning to look like a haze, through the foggy, light debris.
"I'm sure Lickity could take on a cybug," Zed chimed quietly, he kept a few feet of distance behind Otto, Tessa and Lickity, though he pressed farther ahead than Penny, Emery, Tammy and Oliver.
"Y'think?" Otto kindly wondered to him, though Tessa glued her attention forward, towards the large, curious looking building they were fast approaching.
"The only way Lickity could even potentially take on a creature that's four times her size, is if she breathed fire," Tessa muttered, though loud enough so Zed could hear her, "Not really a situation I want to relive."
Zed furrowed his eyebrows gently and knew exactly what she was talking about; the experience her and Lickity went through, with Orph, held it's bite. Zed lightly looked Tessa over, in a fit of curious confusion, and felt his heart begin to dip with competitiveness. He held his tongue and knew she was struggling with something deep down, though he was now uncertain as to what it could be. Previously, he was almost certain it was because of her and Oliver's huge fight, though the more he studied his mysterious girlfriend, the more he began to notice that any dullness or snide remarks were only aimed towards him, and nowhere near Oliver's direction. He began to feel frustrated; Tessa's curvy body confidently stride ahead of the group, towards their destination. She was dressed in a pair of dark grey skinny jeans and a comfortable black t-shirt that draped her figure. Her fists were only lightly clenched; Zed was uncertain whether that was because of her wrecking programming, and it was a comfortable stance, or whether she was genuinely billowing with frustration. Zed squinted his eyes at the back of her head and began to feel overwhelmed; he knew he'd have to hone in on exactly what was going on.
"I don't even have to tell that chick where to go, she practically knows where everything is," Tammy called from the back of the group, though loud enough for Tessa, Otto and Zed to hear. Otto let out a kind chuckle and lightly elbowed Tessa's arm.
"I don't know how Olly and Tess aren't wearing shoes, either," Penny called, everyone erupted with kind laughter.
"Not once have we ever worn shoes," Tessa called as she suddenly turned around, though she continued their quick pace in reverse. She back-stepped with agility, though it caused Zed to barely flinch in confusion, "We've gone our whole lives without shoes. What makes you think we're going to suddenly start wearing them now?"
"You're gunna regret it!" Penny called in a playfully annoyed tone.
"I think we would've regret it by now, if it wasn't in our coding," Oliver grumbled, though everyone chuckled at the notion.
Tessa beamed an annoyed grin and moved footwork to turn around and walk normally, though she caught eyes with Zed; their lightning fast string of annoyed eye contact was more than enough to confirm to Zed that she was, indeed, upset with him, and him only. Zed furrowed his eyebrows and lulled his gaze to the building beyond the three girls in front of him. He slumped his shoulders and knew this was bound to be interesting. He wondered if he could possibly worm the problem out of Tessa, before the night came to a close. He inhaled a hard breath and sighed an equally as heavy exhale, along with a drawn slump of his shoulders. He ran his fingers through his messy blue hair and lulled his eyes closed for a second, as if to mentally give himself more patience than necessary. He knew this was bound to get ugly, if the two didn't remain calm. He figured being as civil as he possibly could was his best bet.
"Alright, rule number one," Tammy chimed as everyone eventually filed into the massive shooting range.
It wasn't until Tammy hauled a massive lever, on the nearest wall, did all the lights immediately flicker on, one by one, illuminating the large, cold room. It was lined with a dozen stations to stand at, with appropriate targets at the end of each. On the opposite side, was a large sitting area with tables, loungers and the like; a typical place where the resident gamers could come and dude-out at the end of a long game day. With harsh, slanted, charcoal colored concrete ceilings, smooth, glassy silver tile, and accents of orange here and there, it boasted all of Hero's Duty's grunge, detail and sophistication.
"Don't give Lickity a gun," Penny muttered, though everyone burst with laughter towards her quiet, sarcastic comment. Everyone curiously averted their attention to Tessa and Lickity, who hung near the large back counter, where all the guns were decoratively and appropriately displayed. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and lulled her arm over the back of Lickity's neck, to lug her closer to her body. Lickity exhaled a small chuff of annoyance, towards the notion made at her, and relaxed her wings.
"Don't be an idiot," Tammy's dominant voice easily mocked Calhoun, "The second you start waving your gun around is the second I will chop your arms off and show you the door."
Everyone fell silent and glued their curious attention to Tammy, who knew exactly what it entailed to be one with the game. Tessa rolled her eyes and lulled into Lickity a little farther; she knew this pep talk was necessary, though she had to wonder just how many times she's gotten this run-down.
"Rule number two," Tammy started as she approached Tessa and Lickity, though she moved around the back counter. Everyone lightly followed, though they hung back, before Tessa and Lickity, in curious apprehension, "If you think your poor little shoulders can't handle the recoil from one of these, or loud noises frighten you, then maybe try sitting out instead."
"Little harsh, Tams," Tessa muttered over her shoulder; Lickity laid her ears flat and lulled her eyes closed, as if to agree with Tessa.
"Rule number three," Tammy barked as she gave Tessa an annoyed, challenging smile, "If you get decked in the eye by a shell, that is no one's fault but yourself...Only person void of wearing protective eye-gear, is your royal Ms. Highness, here."
"Why?" Oliver challenged in an annoyed, deep tone as he crossed his arms, though Tessa began to feel her blood boil as Zed shot Oliver an agreeing, annoyed smirk.
"Because I've been teaching this one to properly shoot since she was seven 'months' old," Tammy beamed as she put her hands on her hips, "All those times you didn't want to come along, because of loud noises, clearly didn't do you any good, when it comes to eye-wear, huh."
"They give me headaches," Tessa muttered.
"Why, cause it squeezes your big head?" Oliver dared, though Tessa harshly furrowed her eyebrows, squinted, and shot him a look of still death, one of which made Penny raise her eyebrows in surprise and look down to the ground.
"Smart thinking, Olly... Pick a fight with the second best gun-woman in this room," Tammy muttered under her breath as she suddenly slumped a large box, full of sloppy, used eye-wear goggles onto the counter. Oliver furrowed his eyebrows in defeat towards his older cousin and kept his mouth shut, though Tessa beamed a victorious smirk and looked away. Tammy shook her head, chuckled and looked to Otto, Emery and Zed, in apologetic annoyance, "And finally! Rule number Four..."
Tessa furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and looked over her shoulder to Tammy; she knew she only ever preached three rules.
"Don't give Lickity a gun," Tammy stifled through a breath of an annoyed chuckle as she lovingly nudged the side of Lickity's wing; she peered back at Tammy through large, curiously dilated, green eyes. She grumbled a small purr of inquisition and flinched once everyone released a breath of held in laughter.
"Alright, if you're shootin', come to me, if not," Tammy shrugged and looked back at the sitting area, "Well, then, goodbye!"
"Count me out," Emery worried, Penny nodded eagerly as well.
"I'm with yah," Penny chuckled, though Oliver rolled his eyes.
"Oh, come on, it's fun!" Oliver gestured towards the rows of shooting ranges.
"I'm certain!" Emery chuckled as she gave Oliver a kind smirk.
"I'm more of a swords and daggers kinda gal," Penny mumbled as her and Emery slowly began to mosey away.
"Want your usual, Tess?" Tammy wondered to her softly as she methodically unlocked the massive glass case, hung on the wall, that displayed all kinds of different war guns, hand guns, laser guns and the like.
"You know me," Tessa sighed in an annoyed tone, as she could practically feel the stress begin to try and slide off of her.
Zed curiously watched Tammy open the case and gingerly reach inside. He half expected her to reach for the biggest, baddest gun on the face of Arcade, though he was almost delightfully surprised to see her delicately pull a smaller handgun down and move over to Tessa with it. Zed heaved a small chuckle, through his teeth, though he tried not to seem too snotty, or condescending, as much as he wanted to play along with Tessa's snide attitude. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows in growing anger, towards him, and squinted lightly.
"What's so funny, there, lover boy," Tammy wondered in a dull tone as she gingerly handed Tessa the gun; it was gorgeous. A solid, matte black handgun with Hero's Duty's beautiful, hot orange accents. It was small enough, though as plain as it may have looked, Tessa knew it was a mean piece of machinery.
"Oh, no, nothing," Zed urged gently, as if he wanted so badly to take an innocent stab in Tessa's direction, as if his dominance in this little game was slipping, like cheap shots were his only advantage; he knew just how powerful Tessa's demeanor was. He shrugged lightly and caught eyes with Tessa's prominent, annoyed stare, "I-I just figured you'd go big or go home."
"N-No, you don't want to give Tessa one of the war guns," Tammy muttered as Tessa confidently stepped away, though not without giving Zed a proper stare down and a brush of their shoulders, just barely. Zed flinched once Tessa loudly clacked the magazine into place, in her gun. Tammy chuckled and shook her head at Zed, she continued on in a quiet tone, so Tessa couldn't hear, "As much control as that girl has, I kind of want to keep the range in one piece. Besides... That's her favorite gun."
"Win a volleyball tournament, it'll make your ego so huge, you're bound to explode!" Oliver hissed towards Zed, though Zed only nervously caught eyes with him, as if he so badly wanted to be mean and mad, though his whole existence knew to be gentle towards the reputation Tessa held in his heart.
"What gun should I get, Tammy?" Otto wondered with excited eyes; her and Tammy continued to volley back and forth, with questions and answers on everything Tammy knew.
"I've used the handgun Tessa's using now, before," Oliver muttered as him and Zed eagerly assessed each gun on display before them, "...Most terrifying experience of my entire life."
"What?" Zed hissed with a wide, incredulous smile, "The gun that Tessa has right now?"
"Yeah," Oliver scoffed as his eyes bulged, though he looked on, as if to suggest giving Tessa kind compliments, in these heated moments, wasn't something he wanted to afford. Zed furrowed his eyebrows in disbelief and breathed a chuckle.
"Alright, boys, which ones are you interested in?" Tammy asked as she strolled up to the two, who leaned on the counter in curiosity, "No, you cannot pick any of the laser guns. The boys will kill me, if they hear I let two chumps, like you, mess with their guns."
"Hey," Oliver complained, though Zed nodded in a bob of agreeing.
"Can't argue with that, Ol," Zed mumbled, Oliver rolled his eyes.
"Fine... I'll need one of the bigger guns, Tams," Oliver said in a pleading sort of tone, with a hint of mild annoyance towards his large hands, "That last time, I couldn't fit my finger to pull the trigger."
"Right," Tammy chuckled as she fingered her lip and curiously peered to the guns on display.
"I want one that will blow the target right off the stand," Zed urged with a boyish smile, he knew he could come out of his shell, a little more, in this realm.
"Well, then, what you want is the gun that Tessa's currently walking away with," Tammy mumbled as he motioned to her younger cousin, who was about a dozen feet away, though she was still within earshot.
"What?" Zed furrowed his eyebrows and merely glanced back to his vanishing girlfriend.
"Yeah," Tammy said in a dull tone, "Your main squeeze, there, has the most powerful handgun in this warehouse. You want that gun? You're going to have to fight her for it."
Zed raised his eyebrows in surprise and caught stares with Tammy's snide, playful, closed-mouth grin. She heaved a small laugh as Zed's facial expression continued to slide from cockiness to readied nervousness.
"And I'm not mopping your jaw from the floor, so pick a gun, quick," Tammy lazily gestured her hands to the guns behind her, "Cause I haven't had my daily shoot-out today."
"Damn," Otto chuckled as she ogled the gun, in which she carefully held, it was a little larger than Tessa's, with a longer barrel. Otto's glorious cat-like eyes lit up as her ears perked atop her head in excited delight, "I should get me one of these... You think boys like a girl who knows how to shoot one of these?"
"Great way to get a date to prom!" Emery called, her and Penny heaved excited laughs, though Otto beamed and rolled her eyes.
"You all going to prom, by the way?" Otto wondered innocently.
Tessa raised her eyebrows in hard surprise and felt her feet immediately want to stop working, though she pushed on-wards. She kept her ears expertly trained to the conversation she could clearly still hear. She slowed a little, and once she finally neared her shooting box, she just barely peered her curious side-gaze in Zed's direction, as if to eagerly await news she had been waiting for, for a lifetime.
"I am!" Emery beamed, "Penny's my date!"
"Isn't that considered just stag?" Oliver chuckled, though he bashfully glanced towards Emery.
"Emery is MY date, Oliver, you can't have her," Penny argued, though her and Emery eagerly giggled with each other in quiet, scheming goodness. Oliver rolled his eyes lightly and peered at Zed in an annoyed way.
"What about you, Zed, you going?" Otto wondered as she exhaled a small laugh towards Penny and Emery's chattering notions.
"Eh," Zed lightly shrugged, though he began to feel his heart race with uncertainty. He could practically feel Tessa's hot stare on him. He bit his bottom lip and kept his attention on Otto in a sweep of expert control, though he felt his face get nervously hot as Otto flattened her ears and gave him a sorrowful, confused look.
"Mixed feelings?" Otto kindly wondered, though she largely looked to Tessa in a curious, confused way, "I mean... It's being held in your game, and everything."
"Yeah," Zed gestured his hand lazily, and kept his tone cool and disinterested, "I-I don't think prom is really my thing. Academy can host it in Dead Zed, if they want, but... I don't think I feel like going. There's really no point."
Zed gently tore his eyes from the counter top straight into Otto's eyes, though before he could open his mouth and pour out more of the lies he was hoping to trick Tessa with, the room was suddenly filled with reverberating, ear-piercing pangs of bass. Everyone jolted in hard surprise as Tessa suddenly let three bullets fly, down the shooting range. With a startled heart and an escalating pulse, everyone eagerly peered over to Tessa in horrified confusion. Tessa's stance was dominant, though almost lulled in lazy knowing, as if shooting like so was second nature. She finally unpeeled from her stance and heaved a hard, annoyed chuckle. Zed raised his eyebrows in scared surprise as she slowly began to dominantly saunter on over to the four at the counter. The barrel of her gun flowed with a very small wisp of smoke, though she gently huffed at it to get it to go away.
"There's only one thing, in this room, that you should be more scared of, over this gun," Tessa started in a sarcastically slick, delightful tone, "And it's not Lickity."
She largely moved in a strong, bee-line, straight for Zed. She gently lulled the gun in the air and caught it again, though this time by the barrel. She held it upside down and out in front of her slightly, though once she reached Zed, she firmly pushed the butt of the gun into the center of Zed's chest. He choked a small noise and only barely wobbled backwards, though his nervous hand grappled for the gun, so not to get anywhere near the trigger. He finally dug his horrifed gaze into Tessa's, as she lightly got in his face.
"It's me," Tessa darkly snapped.
Zed raised his eyebrows in nervous surprise as she squinted her eyes, gave him a smile of mean delight, and back-stepped a few times. Everyone flinched, yet again, as Tessa exhaled a sudden, short, sharp whistle meant just for Lickity. Her dragon largely perked up and exhaled an excited noise; she knew Tessa's notion meant it was time to fly. She largely bumbled from her sitting position and approached Tessa with eager readiness, though she curiously followed Tessa as she head towards the exit. Instead of leaving through the door they came into, she largely shoved another lever down, which hung on the wall next to the light-switch lever.
All at once, a large warehouse door began to largely roll open, with loud, clanking chains that hung over head. Before anyone could get any surprised words out, Tessa easily mounted Lickity, and with a quick urge of an order, Lickity opened her massive wingspan and leaped into the sky. A few papers, on a stray counter near the front door, largely whirled into the room as the down-swipe of Lickity's wings caused a sudden draft. After a second or two, Lickity's loud, excited bellow could be heard from afar, in Hero's Duty's dark sky. Zed held Tessa's gun in his trembling hands, though he finally gained courage to swallow his pride and nervousness, once and for all. He eagerly peered back to Tammy and Oliver; both looked bemused, though Tammy just looked mildly annoyed.
"Y'see what you did," Tammy barked suddenly as she gestured her arm outward, "What kind of shit is that! You can't just announce you're not going to prom, right in front of your girlfriend, like that, the hell you thinking?!"
"Of COURSE I'm going to prom!" Zed largely argued as he firmly planted the gun to the counter top, he laughed in an annoyed way as he gestured his arms, "You really think I'm going to let Academy host prom, in my game, and not GO to it? With the woman of my dreams? I love to dance, you saw me at the Academy Ball! I'm the one that taught Tessa to dance! Of course I'm going to ask her to prom!"
"Aw," Otto kindly cooed as she looked down with a smile.
"It's all a trick," Penny eased as her and Emery slowly sauntered up to the group, "He wants to make Tessa believe he's not interested, but then ask her, to throw her off."
"Ahh," Tammy lightened up as she rubbed her chin and let her eyes pierce into Zed's, "I see. Get her riled and then make her beg forgiveness?"
"What?" Zed beamed an annoyed smile and shook his head through incredulous, squinted eyes.
"I'm surprised you still want to go with her, after everything that happened today," Oliver chuckled as he shook his head.
"Setting volleyball courts on fire and threatening your boyfriend with the most powerful handgun, in the room," Otto shrugged in a sarcastic way, "Screams romance to me!"
"She'll feel bad, but it'll work out," Penny waved her hand off, though Zed nervously peered his gaze to Tammy.
"I told you to watch out for her," Tammy chuckled as she shook her head at Zed, "Why don't you go take a look at her target, and then come back and have the gall to tell me you don't have new-found respect for that girl."
Zed nervously gazed into Tammy's eyes, as if he didn't even want to see what he knew was likely there. As cautiously as he could, he gingerly turned heel, took a few steps towards her shooting range, and peered into the box in which she was previously standing. He raised his eyebrows in surprise, and was nervously shocked to see Tessa's target, though still hung on the opposite wall, had only one bullet hole straight through the bulls-eye. Zed opened his mouth to inquire about it, though Tammy beat him to it.
"One hole, three shots fired," Tammy stated in an annoyed tone, as if it were routine, "Told you she was a sharp-shooter."
A/N: I get a LOT of personal messages where you guys are asking if I've done any drawings of my characters, or if I could really go into detail when describing them, so you guys know what they look like ...! I'm telling you now, GO TO MY DEVIANTART - I have a fuck ton of drawings, of everyone (mostly Tessa and Zed sorry not sorry) - and I draw them to exactly how they look like! Full detail! Down to every single last one of Zed's chin hairs, I'm serious just GO look at my deviantART! I still get people that tell me, that they're shocked I have all these drawings xD
My username, over on deviantART is Vyntresser. Or, if you want to remove the spaces from this nonsense, then go for it
www . vyntresser . deviantart . com