A/N: Hey guys! Hold off your drawing requests until Chapter 100 (which is the NEXT one) - I know fanfiction states this is chapter 100, but because I played an april fool's joke on you guys, and refuse to remove chapter '28lol', the chapters are well... literally defying code! xD

PLEASE save your requests for the next chapter, because when I go back to reference everyone's requests, I'm going to be looking at the reviews for chapter 100 ONLY! That makes it easier for me, so I don't have to go sifting through notes and old reviews from previous chapters. So, if you have a drawing request in mind, from ANY chapter from Defying Code so far, hold your Lickitys until the next chapter pretty please! I know everyone's excited hahaha. I've already gotten a few people requesting as fast as they can, but if you want your request drawn, it'll have to be via REVIEW on the NEXT chapter! (or if you prefer deviantART or email as a way of communicating it, then that's alright too - the reviews just get so blurred together here, on FF)

Thanks for the cooperation guys :D You're the best!

*Chapter 99*

After a long, few hours of idle chit-chat, and a massive, humbling experience of showing off a dragon at Academy, Tessa's exhausted demeanor, as well as Zed's, found themselves in her uncle Felix's game cabinet, long after Academy and game day came to a close. After having a slight hiccup in the game's old, weary code room, in which Felix humbly elected Tessa to take a look at, Tessa, Ralph and Zed slowly began to stroll out of the game and into Game Central Station. The station was quiet and cool, a usual night-time atmosphere. It was in pristine condition, all cleaned and tidied for the next busy morning. Tessa softly, and sleepily, looked on to Sugar Rush and was beginning to feel the very existence of her own bed call her name. She let the feeling of sleepiness crawl under her skin; a feeling in which she delighted in. After mulling over the huge day she had just endured, she let her mind hum to her boyfriend's and her father's soft conversation.

"You still don't know how fast it goes?" Ralph wondered quietly to Zed, the two fell into idle, though matched footwork with each other, to cross the station.

"I mean," Zed shrugged and looked down at the sleek, matte black rod in his hand, which was his light-cycle all wrapped into one bundle of meshed coding, "I could guess the speed... I've never calculated it."

"Fast enough to burn your eyebrows off, dad," Tessa grumbled, though Ralph gave her a furrowed frown and looked over his shoulder, to his sleepy daughter.

"Maybe not that fast," Zed worried as, he too, shot her an incredulously nervous sort of look, as if to wonder if she was trying to, indeed, get him into trouble with the King.

"Pretty cool stuff, though," Ralph uttered softly as he shrugged off Tessa's comment and peered back down to the gorgeous baton in Zed's hand, the ends of it glowed a gentle blue to signify it still had life, "Anything from Tron is a rarity... I still can't believe you found that light cycle just lying around. We haven't seen any sort of life or existence from Tron for over twenty years."

"Shame," Zed hummed softly as his eyes scanned to Sugar Rush, though he furrowed his eyebrows and tried to keep his calm composure just that, "I've heard it was a gorgeous game."

"I've never been, myself," Ralph sighed, "But I was around when it was plugged in."

"Must've been popular," Zed inquired lightly and looked up to Ralph; his large, brooding footsteps slowed every once in awhile to let Tessa and Zed keep up, as if he had fallen into this habit a long while ago, for Vanellope, and now had it set as a default for everyone around him.

"Oh, you couldn't keep the kids away from it," Ralph frowned and lightly looked down to his large feet, "...The day it got unplugged was a massive mystery to all of us. Sort of scared us all. If a game as popular as Tron, could be unplugged, any one of our games could, too. With no warning."

"I try not to think about it, too much," Zed nervously chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head and stuck the baton, his light-cycle, in his back pocket.

"Just what I want, tonight," Tessa breathed an annoyed giggle as she crossed her arms and shrugged, "Nightmares!"

"Heya, family!" Felix chimed as him and Vanellope slowly moseyed out of Sugar Rush and into the station. The five finally came within a closer talking range to each other and finally relaxed, before Sugar Rush's outlet. Felix nervously peered back to his home game, as did Vanellope, though he continued on through the utmost politeness; a default everyone was certain he couldn't alter, "Did uh... You get the code-room hiccup figured out, Tessy?"

"Yeah, it should be alright, uncle Felix," Tessa smiled down to her uncle; she felt her heart swell, though almost in an annoyed way. She knew she would only allow her adorable uncle Felix, or close family, call her that pet name, "Just seemed to be clogged with too much information... When's the last time you reset the game?"

"User," Felix looked down to his shoes, in a bashful manner, before his nervous eyes peered up to Vanellope's, as if to show embarrassment in not wanting to answer that question.

"It's okay," Vanellope chuckled, she shook her head and caught eyes with Ralph, "Sometimes we forget, as well... Our games are more durable than we think. It just helps to baby the coding."

"I'm just glad I'm family with a bunch of coding masters," Felix beamed a proud smile and put his hands on his hips, though he double took on Zed, who looked rather mildly bashful, in a sorrowful, nervous kind of way. Felix slumped his shoulders in gentle confusion, "O-Oh... I sort of forgot a Mr. Zed here isn't totally family."

"I-It's okay," Zed smiled politely and waved him off, though he felt his stomach dip as a look of mischievous delight hung in Felix's eyes.

"Well, hey now, you COULD be family," Felix wagged his finger and beamed, "I heard allll about your proposal, today."

"H-He asked me to prom, Uncle," Tessa corrected as she nervously waved her hand; her and Zed caught shy glances.

"Ah, but you know how it goes," Felix garbled as he waved his gloved hand back; his cheeks blushed alongside his wide, excited grin, "Prom-posals turn into proposals."

"Here we go," Ralph muttered as he looked away, though he side-eyed his littler brother after a moment, in annoyed cheek.

"Wedding bells turns into a baby crying in the room over," Felix stated wistfully, as if he was slowly going into his own little world.

"Uncle," Tessa urged quietly with a bashful giggle, though her and Zed quickly caught eyes. Tessa glued her whole attention to Zed, and as if it were painful at first, like sinking face first into scalding, jacuzzi water, she finally softened and was surprised to feel Zed's eyes scan her face a little, as if to wonder if these bashful topics were too sensitive to touch, too soon, or perhaps not.

"I mean, you know me, I love being a father," Felix continued on, quickly, in his adorable, peppy voice. He took his hat off and heaved a soft sigh as he fiddled with the brim of his cap between his thick, glove-covered fingers, "And, I love being an uncle, that's for sure!"

"You DO have three of us, to dote on, y'know," Tessa smiled politely down to her cute uncle, though she furrowed her eyebrows and gestured to herself, "Sure, we're not children anymore, but-"

"Oh but I would just LOVE to be a great-uncle," Felix rushed in delight, "Wouldn't that be something? Not everyone, in Arcade, can say that they're a great-uncle!"

"Hmm, y'see, if you look at this chart," Zed started sarcastically as he swiped out his light-cycle, which was still in it's long, baton form. He pretended to scan a chart before him, as he held out his deactivated light-cycle and leaned closer to Tessa, "You'll see that this conversation could NOT get any more awkward. We've covered a lot of ground in the span of, I'd say... Thirty seconds?" Zed wondered as he continued to keep his act going; he squinted his eyes and peered at Tessa, who easily let out a soft few laughs towards his playful notions.

"One step at a time, Felix," Vanellope laughed as she lovingly nudged Felix's shoulder, "You're going to scare the poor boy off."

"Yeah, then NONE of us will get our wish, so hush up," Ralph hissed down to Felix in playful annoyance, though Tessa furrowed her eyebrows in delightful confusion, as to just what her father was insinuating.

"Do you think blue hair is dominant, or recessive?" Felix kindly wondered as he peered up at Zed and held his own chin, in contemplation, in his gloved hand.

"It's dominant," Zed blurted casually, though he furrowed his eyebrows in hard annoyance and suddenly exhaled a hard, forced cough into his hand, in hopes to somehow convince the King and Queen, as well as his princess, that he didn't just say that.

"Done some research, haven't you!" Vanellope crumpled with laughter and put her hand on her hip; she intrigued herself further into this delightfully embarrassing topic everyone was traipsing into.

"What about wrecking, you'd think that'd be-"

"Dominant," Tessa chimed, as she interrupted her uncle, though she shot a nervous glance to Zed and inhaled a shaky breath, "Yeah, can we uh, change topics or something?"

"Y'know, I think I saw a segue over there, just a minute ago," Zed pointed his thumb aimlessly behind himself as he drew closer to Tessa; she easily laughed.

"Oh, User, but I forgot," Felix droned on, without a care, "You guys are opposed-codes... Welp, it was nice knowing you, little Tessy."

"Uncle!" Tessa beamed a beyond embarrassed smile and crossed her arms, though Zed conjoined his fingers together and lightly moved his hands about his center.

"Segue, segue, segue," Zed chimed quietly as he looked up to Game Central Station's massive, gloriously arched ceilings.

"Alright, shows over," Vanellope laughed as she took Felix's hat and firmly tucked it over the top of his head; he let out a small yelp and wobbled with a small chuckle, "I'm sure we could continue teasing these two, forever, but I kind of would like to see the station in one piece, if you know what I mean."

"I know what you mean," Ralph gestured his large hand to himself, though he exhaled a hard sigh and lightly nudged Zed's arm, which caused him to wobble. He then largely ruffled his hand over the top of Zed's tidy, blue faux-hawk, "But this one might not."

"I could easily say something you probably wouldn't enjoy hearing," Zed dared with a cheeky smile as he ran his hands all along his hair, in a flustered kind of way.

"What, that you'll understand how to wreck someday?" Ralph blurted with a wide smile as he clenched his fists, "Yeah, then we can really see who holds the wrecking record, over Sugar Rush."

"Yeahhh, I'll pass," Zed chimed nervously as he slumped and crossed his arms; he knew he was absolutely no match for Ralph, wrecking abilities or not.

"Pretty sure Tess could out-wreck us all," Vanellope said kindly to her young daughter, though she wrinkled her nose at her husband, who in turn shot her an annoyed grimace. Vanellope finally heaved a soft sigh and gave Felix a final nod, "I'm glad the game is back in working condition, love. Anytime you need someone to look at it, or need pointers, don't be afraid to ask one of us, including Tess."

"I surely do appreciate it, your highness," Felix said with the utmost regard as he took off his hat and very lightly, and playfully, bowed. He slowly began to slink away, "See y'all in the mornin'!"

"Bye uncle," Tessa smiled and waved her fingers a little as she looked over her shoulder, though she brought her attention back to her mother and father.

"Alright, well," Vanellope sighed as she gave Ralph a sort of knowing look. He softly shrugged and nodded, as if the two were merely sharing secrets, "You think now's a good time?"

"I'd say," Ralph stated softly as he peered to Sugar Rush, though he honed his attention back to his young daughter, and her boyfriend, who kept close to her, whether it was out of nervousness or habit, Ralph wasn't sure.

"Good time for what?" Tessa nervously wondered as she shot her soft glance to Zed, the two caught glimpses for a second before they gave their full attention to the King and Queen.

"Tess, we need to talk to you," Vanellope eased in a soft tone, so not to suggest she was in trouble, or anything dire had come about.

"Is everything okay?" Tessa suddenly worried, though she held onto the gentleness of her mother's assuring voice.

"Perfectly fine," Vanellope waved her hand and wrinkled her nose, "You and your father are so much alike... Stop worrying!"

"When you say 'we need to talk', Vin," Ralph grumbled as he motioned his hand, as if he didn't need to continue on, for the sake of the arguement; Zed chuckled as Vanellope slumped her shoulders.

"A-Alright, well," Tessa rushed quietly as she peered to Zed; she gave him a loving, though apologetic smile, "Did you want to take Lickity home?"

"Oh, no it's okay, I have my trusty light-bike," Zed gently pulled out the black baton and showed Tessa, kindly. Tessa shut her eyes in hard annoyance and shook her head.

"How could I forget," Tessa hissed to herself, though she immediately opened back up and gently held Zed's lower arm, as if to convey their loving 'goodbye' should be kept short and simple, because of their particular audience, "I-I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Of course," Zed assured with a soft nod to her.

"You're leaving?" Vanellope wondered in a confused tone, though Tessa and Zed froze with uncertainty.

"O-Oh... I thought this was a family matter," Zed urged gently as he gestured to Vanellope and Ralph, "I don't want to intrude."

"Well, you are family, aren't you?" Vanellope kindly wondered, though the tone in her voice led to suggest a higher dominance over Zed and his standing. Zed raised his eyebrows in gentle surprise and let his shoulders relax; Vanellope continued on through a soft inhale and a casual slump of crossed arms, "This talk, we need to have with Tessa, sort of involves you, anyhow."

"It does?" Zed wondered curiously, though Tessa lightly held his hand, as if to suggest he wasn't alone in his confusion.

"I mean... You're hoping to become a future Prince, to Sugar Rush, one day, aren't you?" Vanellope's tone softened and deepened even more as she honed her tender gaze to Zed's quivering, yet confident soul.

Zed stared straight into her eyes and had to wonder exactly what planet he was sat on. He furrowed his eyebrows in a sweep of soft knowing and, as if he had to remind himself what love felt like, he inhaled a faltered breath and lightly looked down to the tiles before him and Vanellope. Before too much time had passed, he softly averted his gaze to his true Queen; Tessa was only lightly peering at him, as if to be careful not to put any pressure on him. With innocence as pure as an untouched flower, her eyes held to his in the gentlest of curiosity. Zed finally scoffed a small breath of a chuckle and squinted his eyes, as if to peer harder into Tessa's rare soul. He squeezed Tessa's hand a little harder and gave his now confident gaze back to the two he'd have to ultimately answer to.

"Yes," Zed eased confidently, "I am."

"Tessa's uncle Felix is pretty spot on, when it comes to his little analogies," Vanellope giggled as she lightly ran her hand over her left arm, her tender fingers finally found her own wedding ring, "I never went to prom, but... It only took Ralph two dance 'proposals' to suddenly be sat in the real deal."

"You're two for two, dude," Ralph chuckled as he gave Zed a knowing look, "If you're anything like me."

"We figured, it was time to start involving you in family matters," Vanellope said deeply as she finally slid her tiny hand into Ralph's massive one, "It's no pressure, on you two or anything, but if you're going to step things up eventually, well then... It'd be best to prepare you two for what's to come. We figured, if you've been around this long... And you've known Tessa since she was so young."

"Let's not go there, those were dark times," Tessa grumbled.

"I liked your pig-tails," Zed complained as he finally snapped out of the stoic moment before him; he gave Tessa a look of cheek as Vanellope and Ralph laughed towards their daughter, in a knowing way.

"C'mon," Vanellope motioned towards Sugar Rush, "Taffyta and Rancis are waiting for us."

"Oh, it's a whole entire meeting?" Tessa wondered as the four began to slowly mosey to their outlet, "Y-you're... You mean we're actually invited to a castle meeting?"

"You've always begged and begged to be a part of them," Vanellope softly nudged her daughter's arm, "Isn't this what you wanted?"

"It is, I'm just..." Tessa shook her head and beamed a curiously excited smile, "I had no idea it'd include me and Zed. And so willingly."

"I had to fight your aunt Taffyta for it," Vanellope muttered, Ralph peered back at her.

"Trust me, if your mother and I didn't have majority rule, neither of you would be coming to this meeting right now," Ralph laughed, Zed raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"It's just a protocol meeting, right?" Tessa wondered nervously as the four slowly budged into Sugar Rush's cool aired outlet, "Why would Aunt Taffyta not want us to be included on that?"

"Its more than just a protocol meeting," Ralph assured softly, "You'll see."