Song Listened To : Go Do - Jonsi

*Chapter 126*

Zed nodded softly and dared to let a smirk of a smile sprawl his face, though he gently back stepped towards the portal and gestured for Tessa to follow. She eagerly fell into step with him, even though she knew nothing of what to expect. He tenderly held her arm and, as easily as the two could, they stepped into the pulsing, inviting portal. The coding on their necks and inner arms began to just lightly sprawl circuits of their own coloring, as the game delightfully assessed just what it was dealing with. Tessa gasped a small noise and could practically feel the suction want to rid them of the gaming universe. She eagerly pierced her scared eyes into Zed, as they stood side by side, though he lovingly outreached his arm and held her around her upper back. He breathed a nervous chuckle and, above the portal's loud pulsing, he began to speak.

"It's okay," Zed eased to her, above the noise. She nodded, shut her eyes tight and shoved her forehead to his. Tears continued to fall down her cheeks, as if at this point, she couldn't help it. Zed lovingly held her closer with his right arm, though he prepared his stance with the light-disc in his left hand. He finally eased his head away from hers as they caught eyes, for the last time, "Y'ready?"

"Ready," Tessa whimpered, though she took her cue as Zed softly raised the light-disc above his head; she leaned into him and was almost too scared to be out of his immediate presence.

Zed furrowed his eyebrows and peered up, through the hollow of the light-disc, though he was certain he began to feel light-headed. He prayed to User this somehow would work, though he had no idea what to expect. As much as he wanted to keep his eyes open and get lost in the dizziness, he shut his eyes tight and steadied himself. He could feel Tessa's nervous hands grip around his back, as well as the front of his center. Her fingers shook, though he knew somehow, just somehow, they'd be okay. As if someone was pulling the circuits out of him, like peeling the protective film off of a shiny new device, he shivered at the tugging, slithering feeling. He furrowed his eyebrows, amidst his tight lipped, closed eyes and almost relished in the fresh experience that was overcoming him, as if his existence was being rewritten.

Tessa largely flinched and shut her eyes tight as she could practically feel the game rip the very last circuit from her entirety. Just as the loud, mind numbing pulsing, of the portal, was just about to burn itself into her ears, the air around her became painfully still and quiet. Tessa gasped, though she immediately felt as if she could feel every single inch of her insides. She choked out dusty air, though just as her brain cued her to move, she could feel her skin tighten with unfamiliarity. She largely furrowed her eyebrows and opened her eyes; she was greeted with a large, grey wall. The room was dim and painfully still, though she suddenly felt a presence next to her. She largely looked to her left and was floored to see a figure that curiously resembled Zed.

With a loud gasp and a clumsy handful of steps to her right, her back hit the wall adjacent to the one she was just staring at. Zed mocked her movements and, both of their backs thumped the walls opposite of each other, so that they were facing what they thought to be their significant others. Tessa's eyes bulged in hard realization as to just what happened, though she largely looked over the figure ten feet from her. He was tall and strapping, the familiar hue of blue hair still hung true, though it was shorter and easily a handful of shades darker. The reality of his very existence made her whole entire body plague with angry goosebumps. Tessa choked a small noise of glee and watched as Zed grew equally surprised. He pat his thighs, center, chest and then gripped his hair in his trembling fingers. It wasn't until he breathed a scoff of a laugh, and removed his back from the wall, did Tessa start to panic farther.

"I-It worked!" Zed loudly hissed with a wide smile as he crossed the room with a few nervous steps, though he noticed Tessa largely shove her back farther into the wall she was planted on, as if to want to retreat from Zed, for reasons beyond her.

He furrowed his eyebrows and tried to assess her, for everything she was. He slumped his shoulders in gentle awe and now knew why she was panicking more so than he was. Her features were softer and smaller, her hands and feet were now a normal size and lacked any signs of wrecking abilities. She was a good amount shorter than what he was used to, though he squinted lightly and had to wonder if either she shrank or he gained height. She largely panted, her chest and shoulders erratically rose and fell as she continued to panic. Zed frowned and, as delicately as he could, he approached her, as if wondering how to reassure her was going to be a hard task. He lightly gestured for her hands and scoffed a trembling breath of a smile, as well.

"Tess, it's me, it's just me," Zed urged quietly as he gave her his sincere eye contact, "It's me, Zed. I-I can't believe that worked...!"

"My hands hurt," Tessa uttered, though she wrinkled her nose in growing confusion as the sound of her voice was coated in a softer tone than prior.

"Th-they shrunk," Zed chuckled, and as tenderly as he could, he let his hands meet hers. He raised his eyebrows in growing surprise as she let in a hard gasp and let her skin feel his, for the first time. She went wide eyed and stared him down, as if the surprises just kept coming. Zed slumped his shoulders and let his eyes soak into her realistic ones; he shook his head and, as if to be in awe, he squinted, "Wow..."

"I-I can't breathe," Tessa complained lightly, her voice was high and nervous, as was her digging stare into Zed's raw soul. Zed firmly gripped her upper arms and squeezed, though he felt as if a new sense of power had been given to his muscles.

"Relax, just relax... We made it," Zed's soft, deep voice coated her existence calm, something he knew only he could accomplish. He shook his head and slumped his shoulders, though he beamed her a smile of relief as he continued on, "I can't believe we made it..."

"Y-You look really good," Tessa said through a hard, bashful chuckle as her smile finally showed through; Zed was delightfully surprised to see that the gap, between her two front teeth, lightly remained; he jolted as his heart swelled with attracted delight, a rush of blood into veins he knew he had to re-learn.

"You're one to talk," Zed whispered quietly down to her, though as if every single worry and fear had teleported into the room, with them, he was suddenly slammed with every single horrid memory he had ever attained. Zed largely furrowed his eyebrows and, though hew knew Tessa was still mad at him, he had to wonder if they could potentially do things that would distract them from the inevitable; a dreaded conversation Zed was hoping to somehow avoid, even though he knew he'd have to face it eventually.

"A-Are we still in Litwak's?" Tessa wondered quietly, though Zed finally snapped back to the task at hand.

"I... I believe so," Zed eased away from Tessa and looked down to the ground.

He noticed his sturdy light-disc laid on the ground, as if he had dropped it on the transfer over. As he swiftly moved to retrieve it, his eyes finally led to a suspicious looking device across the room. Sat in a sturdy piece of machinery was, what looked to be, a laser of some sort. Housed in a tunnel that looked similar to a telescope, Zed knew, somehow, that was their way back home. As he slowly bent down and swiped his light-disc from the ground, he noticed the infamous Tron cabinet across the wall. He heard Tessa rummage through the backpack, as if to make room for Zed's light-disc. She tenderly took it from him and safely stored it in his pack. She quietly zipped the zipper and lugged the pack to her spine, the ropes on the shoulder paddings fastened softly. Zed wrinkled his nose in growing curiosity and slowly approached Tron's dusty cabinet.

He shook his head and tenderly let his fingers find the buttons. The game was on, and showed a demo of the light-cycle game play. It was juvenile, the graphics were from decades ago and the cabinet's housing looked loved and worn. Zed scoffed a noise, as if to be beside himself. He clumsily ran his hand through his shorter, dark blue hair and sagged his other hand into his free pocket. He furrowed his eyebrows and watched the choppy graphics behave strictly; it was nothing like how the interior of the game looked. He felt his heart jump as he heard a door open, though Tessa whispered a small apology as he jolted and whirled around in panic. She hung near the cracked door and eagerly gestured for him to come see. He quickly rushed her and peered out the small slit of the cracked door as well.

"It IS Litwak's," Tessa whispered as Zed hung over her. Their eyes scanned their home in total shock, the fact that they were now tangible beings and could meander through these cabinets was something they thought they'd never be able to say about themselves.

"I still can't believe this is happening," Zed uttered quietly; the Arcade was bustling with adults and children alike. They both knew it was bound to be a busy, summer Saturday.

"Could we get out with no one noticing?" Tessa wondered as she just barely glanced up; Zed was pushed to her back, his chin was about level with the top of her head.

"Probably," Zed eased as his eyes looked about for any sort of Litwak's Arcade workers, "We just... Have to act natural."

"Right," Tessa's voice dulled to sarcasm that Zed knew was bound to transfer over, as well, "We've never been to this world, before, and we will act juuust like normal."

"C'mon... Just head for the exit and once we're out, we're good," Zed argued silently as he softly tapped the tops of her shoulders, as if to seem impatient.

"THEN what?" Tessa hissed, though Zed groaned.

"I-I don't have every single answer right this second," Zed rushed in a whisper, "Let's just... Get out, and we'll go from there."

Tessa inhaled a deep breath, and as if she were about to dive into deep water, she slowly stepped out of the dark room they had come to be tangible in. She felt Zed's presence softly rush her, though as quietly as he could, he shut the door behind him. The two peered about and, once and for all, took in every single aspect of their homeland. Tessa lightly rested her small hand over her chest and felt completely in awe. Every single sound and fun game noise rung true in familiarity, though the fact that the air between them was crisp and clean, meant every single sound she was used to, was a thousand times more clear. She shook her head let her eyes grace every single game cabinet she had come to know and love. She harshly furrowed her eyebrows and scanned the room for Sugar Rush, though her heart nearly dipped right out of her existence as she finally spot it from across the massive room. She gasped and felt her hand softly travel to her side, though her fingers caught with Zed's. The two raised their eyebrows and looked down to their hands, though they quickly caught eyes.

Zed peered at her curiously, though he raised his eyebrows in plucked surprise and was pleased to see the natural light illuminate her raw beauty, once and for all. Her dark auburn hair was a slight mess, though he couldn't tell if that was just the way it waved from her shoulders. The tiny, buzzed hairs on the left side of her scalp remained, though it showed some imperfections, from Penny's shaving job. Zed barely let a smile peek from his mouth as he took in every single inch of this moment, the magnitude that she gave off, even in a world where she was totally uncertain, was extremely palpable. His heart jumped as she finally gave him a smile, in return, though he knew she had one burning desire; to check up on her homeland.

"We can't stay in here," Zed whispered as he finally forced himself to tear his eyes from the dream before him. He nervously glanced about and bit his bottom lip, "We can check up on Sugar Rush later... I think I even see some kids playing it."

Tessa largely looked over and stood on tip toes. She held her breath and was floored to see two children sitting at Sugar Rush's driving cabinet, happily giggling and playing away. Tessa bit her bottom lip firmly and felt those pesky tears sting her eyes, yet again, though she was jolted out of her thoughts as Zed gently grabbed her hand and began to step away, to suggest leaving.

"C'mon... The game is safe," Zed assured softly with a nod, "We'll be back tomorrow. I promise."

"Okay," Tessa breathed, to finally conclude her worries.

She shut her eyes tight, to blink back tears, though she curiously peered about as Zed led her through the backside of the Arcade, near all the games that belonged to End Of Line station. She was thankful the arcade was busy and bustling with all sorts of energetic, late Saturday morning energy. She felt her heart swell with the fact that her homeland was in such a solid, strong arcade, though she began to feel the hairs, on the back of her neck, stick on end as they neared the exit. Somehow, the blinding sunshine, that flood the double doors and the massive 'Litwak's Arcade' welcome mat, made her feel as if this was beyond foreign. She squinted her eyes almost shut and felt scared to leave her homeland, for good, though the hot, California sunshine practically begged the two to come out and play. As gently as Zed could, he pushed open the large, creaking glass door and let them step out into the world, for the first time.