A/N: West coast represent, with this chapter! Featuring my all-time favorite burger joint... :) I had a bit of fun throwing real life elements into these next dozen or so chapters.

*Chapter 127*

Tessa gasped a small inhale and softly let her eyes lull open. She was graced with what looked to be a massive lot, with all sorts of wonky looking race cars, neatly parked and sat in hot waiting. Tessa let her eyes wander her strange surroundings, though she flinched once she finally felt the bottoms of her feet begin to burn; a sensation she was definitely not used to. She largely flinched and looked down in wild bewilderment, though once she finally realized that the ground was hot, she yelped a hard noise and quickly began to search for shade to stand in. Once she noticed the side of the building was still casting a morning shadow, to her right, she quickly rushed away and jumped into the shade. She finally peered up to Zed's whereabouts, though he was frozen before the entrance to Litwak's; he had a wide grin on his face, as if he was totally curious about everything and anything that graced his retinas.

"Gotta have shoes on Earth, Tess," Zed laughed as he sagged his hands into his pockets, as if to try and convey casualness to the rest of the world, though his mind raced at the speed of light.

"What, and blue hair is natural around here?" Tessa grumbled as she tightly crossed her arms, to avoid showing her still shaking hands. She squinted and watched Zed move into the soft, cool shade.

"Natural, no," Zed scoffed with a soft bob of his head, he eagerly peered about the parking lot, which was still in view, though the two hung around the side of the building. The only company they had was a lazy dumpster, a chain link fence and dry, pathetic weeds that attempted to reclaim the land. A little bit further, to the left of the building, was a massive batting cage; it sounded as if it were being used. Zed gently averted his gaze to Tessa's feet, though he carried on, "But, I assure you, there will be weirder looking people here, than me."

"Really?" Tessa's snotty side showed through as she crossed her arms, "I thought maybe you capped it."

"Says someone who doesn't believe in shoes," Zed muttered as he reached into his back pocket and thankfully pulled out his materializer. He could see Tessa's eyes go from a dull, annoyed stare, to hopeful revival, though Zed knew just what she was going to inquire about, "Now... This materializer can't be abused. It gives unlimited supply, in the inner workings of the game, but out here, it only can be used so many times."

"What, you're going to materialize me shoes?" Tessa said loudly with an incredulous giggle, though no sooner did she say that, Zed pressed a few buttons and barely thrust a pair of lazy black flip flops to the ground. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and gazed down at the shoes in an annoyed stupor, "You're going to materialize me shoes..."

"Yep," Zed chirped as he gestured towards them and nervously swiped out his baton, "C'mon, put those on and uh... Maybe I should check the map. See what's around."

"You mean we're actually going to socialize with people from here?" Tessa suddenly worried, "Zed I-I... They're going to find us out, for sure."

"No they won't, you just have to act natural, which you're failing at currently," Zed snapped, "C'mon, put on the shoes."

Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and peered to Zed in a sad manner. She cursed herself with how much of a cry baby she had become as she, yet again, could feel tears sting her eyes. She glanced down at the shoes, something of which she had never had to wear once in her life, and she immediately felt even more lost than she already did; the fact that the very person that used to be so warm and kind towards her, now held an incredible amount of impatience. She figured it was because of the nasty cold front she had been dishing, prior, though even though she played a fair part in this stabbing nonsense, she couldn't help but selfishly feel like the victim. Zed held out the materializer in front of him, which thankfully doubled as a simple-grade GPS. He scanned his finger around the holographic map, though just as he was about to suggest a place he noticed, on the map, he flinched as Tessa suddenly groaned a nervous noise.

"Zed, this is ridiculous," Tessa barked, "How... How are we even going to get around? How are we going to pay for anything? Where will we stay?"

"Calm down," Zed urged, though his annoyed front began to drop as he began to notice Tessa's voice raise to a genuine tone of further growing panic. Zed raised his eyebrows in surprise and softly slipped the device back into his pocket, "Take it easy... Everything we will need, the materializer will give us."

"A-And what! If someone asks where we're from? 'Oh! I'm from SUGAR RUSH. A fictional situation where we actually do, indeed, exist, though everyone on planet Earth seems to think otherwise," Tessa began to pant between her words as tears welled in her eyes. Zed slumped his shoulders and felt his heart crumple at just how badly he wanted to scoop her into a hug, though she sharply carried on, "A-and now I have to wear SHOES! I-I... I hate shoes! I've never worn them in my life and WHY AM I CRYING!"

"It's okayyy," Zed cooed through a soft laugh as he finally pushed closer to her and, with surprising success, he was able to pull Tessa into a warm hug. He furrowed his eyebrows in secretive surprise as she pushed her familiar, yet strangely unfamiliar, body to his. He squeezed her lovingly as she heaved a few uneven breaths into the comfort of his chest.

"I-I certainly hope you know what you're doing because..." Tessa gripped her arms around Zed desperately, though she largely furrowed her eyebrows and wormed her way out of Zed's chest, with one final shove, "Wait! No! I'm still mad at you!"

"Tessa," Zed eased, though he couldn't help but exhale a hard few laughs as Tessa slumped her back against Litwak's bricks. She clumsily slid down to her rump and shoved her elbows to her knees. Zed finally controlled his laughter and sat next to her. He cocked an eyebrow and peered to her with a curious smile.

"I don't think you understand how much those scare me," Tessa uttered through a few sniffles.

"I think I can imagine," Zed breathed with a smile as he glanced at the small, regular black flip flops, "It's something you've never had to wear before, because of your programming... But, if you go around California, with no shoes, I'm pretty sure we could be denied service... Unless you're near the beach. I think."

"They have a beach?" Tessa softly side-eyed Zed, as if she so badly wanted to be his friend again, though she held onto stubbornness.

"Yes," Zed chuckled as he pulled out the materializer and began swiping at the map, "Not too far from here, actually."

Tessa heaved a soft sigh and angrily stared the flip flops down. She knew she'd have to overcome her discomfort and figure out her life, before too long. She suddenly flinched as she felt her stomach let out a strange, hard growl. She furrowed her eyebrows and peered to Zed in pure confusion, as if she had never experienced true hunger before. She held her stomach and felt her face get hot.

"Uhh.. Excuse me? I guess?" Tessa uttered through a scrunched facial expression, "What just happened?"

"You're hungry," Zed gave her a tired smile, "I am too... I found a burger joint, not too far from here."

"Yeah? How do we get there?" Tessa muttered, though she finally began to feel a little bit more at ease, with the fact that Zed had at least a few bases covered. She softly glanced down at the holographic map, he had in front of him. He softly leaned over, so she could see a bit easier.

"See, we're right here, at Litwak's Arcade... Right off of Route 83," Zed softly pointed, though he trailed his finger up a little bit, "A few miles North, there's this uh... Really highly rated burger place. I figured it was the closest thing, and it has nearly five stars."

"They have burgers in this world?" Tessa wondered as she curiously looked at the layout of the map; she began to feel dizzy with just how complicated it looked.

"Yeah, this place is called In-N-Out," Zed furrowed his eyebrows, "I hope it's not like... Legitimate fast food."

"What, inhale your food and run away?" Tessa giggled as Zed grunted and got to his feet, though as he put his device away, he held his hands out to Tessa, to help her up; she continued, "I mean, with how hungry I am, that might not be a problem."

"I-I think it's just a part of the fast food advertising," Zed mumbled as he slipped his hands into Tessa's and helped her to her feet, "Alright, uhh... While you get used to your sandals, I'm going to get us a few things."

"Like what?" Tessa asked softly as she crossed her arms and almost angrily peered down at the sandals that begged to be used.

"Well, for one, we need money for food... We also need ID's, and helmets... My bike needs a California plate," Zed listed as he rubbed his forehead in growing frustration, though he gently looked over his shoulder, as if to assess the parking lot, "User, I didn't take into consideration that... My light-cycle looks nothing like Earth's vehicles."

"So we'll be the coolest people on the streets," Tessa shrugged, though she turned over one of her upside down flip flops with the tips of her toes and dared to inch her foot into it, albeit clumsily, "How do you know so much about Earth?"

"I may be a user-made gamer, but I did attend Academy for two years... That library has a few books about Earth," Zed eased, though he furrowed his eyebrows and gave Tessa his inquisitive gaze, "Uhh... I WAS a user-made gamer."

Tessa finally slipped on one of her sandals, though she felt her heart jump at Zed's words. She largely furrowed her eyebrows and, just as she was about to brainlessly breeze past Zed's notion, she largely looked up at him and pointed her finger.

"W-Wait a second, we don't have coding anymore," Tessa wondered aloud, though Zed raised his eyebrows and bashfully looked down.

"Uh, no," Zed scoffed with a growing smile down to his feet, though his hand nervously reached for the materializer, yet again.

"We're Users," Tessa realized with a boasting, though confused smile as her gaze idly fell to the tables, crowned with yellow and white umbrellas, not too far from the batting cage, "So... You and I aren't opposed codes anymore."

"Nope," Zed said, though he nervously coughed into his fist and largely squinted as he looked up and about, as if to somehow prove to Tessa he was doing something important, by navigating just where they were on the planet.

"So, how does that work, can ANYONE swap codes... Er..." Tessa wrinkled her nose in growing confusion and scratched the back of her head, though Zed could swear his skin bubbled to a hot, embarrassed pink, "Swap...? What do humans swap, here?"

"Uh," Zed choked as he nervously dug into the materializer, "Uh... Germs? Disease? Babies? Love? Really depends on the person, I guess."

"No coding is involved?" Tessa wondered, though she finally glanced at Zed's chest, and as realization hit her, she immediately began to reel away from the conversation, as if it was hot to the touch. She shook her head and furrowed her eyebrows. Her brain so badly wanted to ponder the ideas that had come to her wiggly thoughts, though she finally slipped her second sandal on and scoffed an embarrassed breath; she eventually caught on to why Zed was acting so painfully bashful, "W-Well, that's weird. So uh... Where's this place again?"

"N-North, for about 5 miles," Zed chirped, as if he was both happy and sad they had left that incredibly touchy topic.

"Awesome," Tessa muttered shyly as she finally began to step away, in her flip flops.

She clumsily wobbled about, though she finally got the hang of it and moseyed over to the empty, umbrella ridden tables. The glorious, sunny yellow umbrellas lazily were tilted above green-netted tables. Some crumbs, of left over food, as well as small bits of trash, hung around here and there, though for the most part, the park was inviting. She squinted her eyes in growing curiosity and spot a small family hanging a dozen tables over. Clearly a mother with two younger children. The mother bickered with her oldest child, who pleaded for money to play some arcade games, though with much disobeying and arguing, from both ends, the mother quietly threatened the child a spanking. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and smiled, as if she knew exactly how those words sounded coming from a parental figure; she rolled her eyes and immediately thought of her childhood, though she softly peered back to Zed. She tucked her hair behind her ear and lazily crossed her arms.

She finally began to slowly head back to him, and she inhaled a deep breath, as if to scold herself for letting her emotions fly off of the handle. She had gotten used to the sandals a lot easier than she thought, though she softly peered her attention to Zed as he tediously worked. He had gathered a small pile of two helmets, a license plate and a small folder. He was just as handsome as he had always been, though his human form was a bit taller and bigger. His hair, though shorter and a lot darker of a blue, was still fun to look at. It held some of it's shape, from the mo-hawk he had styled it into, for prom. Tessa scoffed a silent noise of surprise and nearly couldn't even believe that said event was merely the night prior. She finally got within ear shot, of Zed, and moved back into the shade.

"So, spanking exists here?" Tessa nonchalantly asked, though Zed's eyes bulged as they gripped Tessa's in hard surprise, as if his mind was still lingering on their conversation she had left him with. Tessa largely flinched and gave him a look of incredulous bewilderment, "What's with you!"

"Where did that come from?" Zed choked as his face turned beet red.

"That... Family over there was bickering," Tessa laughed as she held onto a highly confused facial expression, she softly pointed, "The mother threatened spanking the child."

"Ohh," Zed said through a hard sigh of relief as he covered his chest with a lazy palm and, as if to hide it, he swiped his face in a bashfully agitated way.

"What's your deal?" Tessa wrinkled her nose and looked him over; she felt her face get hot with the structure of his figure, and the way his clothes hung on him. She tried not to ogle.

"I-I... I guess I'm just really hungry, too," Zed furrowed his eyebrows in growing annoyance, towards himself, though he bent down and gently handed Tessa one of the helmets; it looked similar to the ones they acquired in Tron, "Here. It's almost exactly noon. I'm sure the lunch rush is probably crazy, so we should get there soon."

"Are we in a hurry?" Tessa wondered, as if to potentially bring Zed back down to the planet. He squinted his eyes and began carefully putting the folder, which contained fake ID's for the both of them as well as a good chunk of money, away in the backpack.

"Good point," Zed shrugged as he gently handed Tessa the backpack, "Alright... Y'ready?"

"Yep," Tessa agreed as she fastened the backpack to her spine; she knew if Zed was driving, she was the pack wearer. She finally peered to Zed's nervous hands as he swiped out his baton of a light-cycle. She squinted and gave him her eye contact, "Zed... Will the light-cycle work here?"

"I most certainly hope so," Zed muttered, though with a final, thorough look around, he noticed that any bystanders had moved away.

He largely slid the baton apart and let go, his usual way of getting the bike to come out of it's hiding spot, though he beamed a curious smile and was delightfully surprised to see the bike form, though with much effort and futuristic clanking of gears and metal, it finally flickered it's hot blue light and came to be. Zed scoffed a noise of surprise and sagged his hands into his pockets with a wide, accomplished smile. The bike was flawless; it easily looked a lot more dangerous, a mean piece of machinery that looked smooth to the touch, though it housed an engine that could take off your fingers. Tessa rubbed her forehead in surprise and beamed.

"I'm pretty sure we're not going to be able to go anywhere without anyone questioning just WHERE you got this thing," Tessa giggled as Zed moved around the back of the bike. He twirled the license plate, in his hands, before he finally showed it to Tessa. Written, on the white, California plate, was the arrangement 'DEADZED'. Tessa crossed her arms and grinned, "You didn't."

"I did," Zed nodded as he began to clumsily fashion it to the back of his bike.

"Y'sure no one will notice us, and be suspicious?" Tessa worried as Zed finally stood and dusted his hands off.

"Oh, they'll notice us, alright," Zed chuckled as he finally slipped his helmet over his head and opened the visor, to converse with Tessa, "I have a kickass bike, a beautiful woman..."

Tessa raised her eyebrows softly and, for the first time in hours, she let softness, towards Zed, come back to her skin, even if it was brief. She dared to give him a thankful smile, though she knew the two still had a lot of work to do before they were back at the point where they originally were. She shook her head and bashfully glued her eyes to Zed's gorgeous bike. He mounted it and kindly gestured for Tessa to follow suit. He gave her a kind, charming smile and, with one hint of daring eye contact, Tessa finally took in the whole situation for what it was. The way California's boasting, beautiful sunshine gleamed down on the two, she could swear that this world was everything she hated, and everything she desired. She furrowed her eyebrows and was kindly lured into Zed's presence; she finally mounted the bike behind Zed and felt the metal. She wondered just how heightened every single one of her senses could potentially get, out here.

She finally slid her helmet on, and before she could become to riddled with 'what-if's', Zed cranked the engine of his bike. It roared to life, it's powerful engine sounded a lot more crisp and excited out in the loose, salty smelling air. Tessa beamed an annoyed smile and, as they both slapped their visors over their faces, they knew they were eventually done for. Tessa fastened herself to Zed's spine and knew this ride was bound to get bumpy. She wondered just how fast the bike could go, or was allowed to go, though she figured Zed would find out real quick. As Zed nervously eased his bike forward and approached the lot, he slowed to let another strange looking vehicle pass. Tessa felt her heart lightly sink as they ever so slowly began to leave the lot; the only plot of land Tessa had ever known. She peered back at Litwak's Arcade in humbled awe, though she made a silent wish, a hope that her home would be safe while they were gone. She tightly gripped Zed's center and, with one last, final longing look goodbye, the two eased out of the parking lot and into the unknown, Californian traffic.

A/N: I drew fanart for this chapter. It's a handful of pictures back, in my deviantART gallery, titled 'No Shoes No Service' :) Username - Vyntresser