Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Therapy.

Tommy always hated therapy. Talking about your feelings didn’t make them go away. It was fucking useless, yet here he was. If this is what it would take to get his dad off of his back, then so be it. He was sitting in a chair, a rather comfortable one. In front of him was his new therapist, ‘Bad’. That probably wasn’t his real name, but it was what Tommy was given to call him.

They both sat in silence for another moment or two before the therapist spoke up. “So.. Thomas-” “Tommy. My name is Tommy.” Tommy locked eyes with the therapist, forcing a light smile.

“Right, Tommy. I’m sorry. Let’s start with some simple questions, does that sound alright to you?” Bad smiled softly, Tommy just stared at him coldly, nodding.

“Why did you decide on coming to therapy today?” Tommy blinked at him. Is this bitch for real? Tommy muttered under his breath before answering. “I didn’t. My dad wanted me to come, thinking it’ll keep me out of trouble. I don’t want to fuckin’ be here.”

Bad looked shocked, coughing quietly. “Let’s try to refrain from using bad language Tommy-” Oh my prime, this dude has got to be joking. “Let’s just move on-. What about your hobbies? What do you like to do Tommy?”

“Oh. Well, I like to do a lot of stuff. I can play guitar- my brother taught me a while ago. I can also play chess, thanks to my other brother. He taught me boxing along with basic defense skills too- and I still practice boxing with my friend sometimes; Grayson. I read a lot too, I still re-read my brother’s old book sometimes. It’s called uh- The Art of War. It’s by Sun Tzu- he left it behind for me when he left for college.”

“Wow, Tommy! You seem to keep yourself busy. It’s good that you have something to remember your brother by. Are you still close with both of them?”

Tommy nodded. “Yeah, we kept in contact after they both left for college- now it’s just me and my dad at the house. But it’s fine, we get along well and hang out a lot.” Bad smiled after hearing that.

“That’s great Tommy. Why don’t you tell me more about your father? Phillip, right?”

Tommy chuckled softly. “He prefers Phil- says Phillip makes him feel old. But uh- he’s nice. He has a high-up position in a company, so he works quite a bit... But he always makes time for me! We have dinner together usually, he cooks. He talks to my brothers all the time. I don’t mind it being just the two of us. We talk a whole bunch, so it’s not lonely or anything like that.”

Bad smiled, writing things down on a clipboard that he had in his hand.

Why do therapists do that? Writing down everything you say… It’s so creepy. Tommy got lost in his thoughts, quickly getting interrupted by the therapist once again.

“So, what about your friends?”

Tommy responded without missing a beat, a wide (forced) smile appearing across his face as he spoke. “I have lots! My closest friends are Grayson and Luke- but their nicknames are Purpled and Punz, couldn’t tell you why though. Their brothers- adopted siblings.”

“I see. I’m glad you have friends! That’s always good. What do you like to do with all your friends?” Bad held up his pen, ready to write down what Tommy said.

“Oh- well Purpled does boxing training with me like I mentioned earlier. That’s why we work out together sometimes- usually Punz tags along during workouts, but sometimes he’s busy. As for all of my friends together, we go to the arcade a lot! Punz always loses all his money on claw machines though.” Tommy laughed at that, recalling the memories of Punz and his stupid money choices.

“I see. Seems like you have a lot of fun with your friends Tommy. That’s nice, it’s good to have a support system like that. You should make sure that you don’t lose them.”

“Thanks, bitch- like I didn’t already know that.” Tommy rolled his eyes, huffing quietly and crossing his arms.

“Langua-” The therapist was suddenly cut off mid-word by an alarm, immediately lightening his expression.

“Oh! That’s the timer. Our session is over. Thanks for opening up to me about your family and friends Tommy. I’m really glad that you have a good relationship with them. I’ll see you next week, right? On Thursday?”

Tommy nodded, getting up quickly. He waved goodbye to his therapist and walked out of the building. As soon as he stepped outside he let out a sigh, stepping onto the sidewalk and letting raindrops fall onto him.

Lying. Tommy seemed to be good at it right? At least, he thought so. People seemed to believe him, or… were they lying to him? Well, either way, Tommy was sure as hell lying to them. To himself even. Therapist?, Definitely. His dad?, For sure! Close friends?, Probably- not that he had many to lie to anyway. His life wasn’t all awesome- his life sucked ass actually. His dad pushed him out and pretended he was invisible. Not to mention the fact that Wilbur and Techno didn't even bother trying to talk to him. He had some friends- and by some, he meant two, they were faithful and awesome!- but did he trust them? Tommy is the one person who probably has the worst trust issues ever. Such great attributes for a lonely teenager.

Tommy sighed again, starting his journey home. He didn’t mind walking in the rain, it was fun honestly. But everything has a downside, even walking in the rain. The downside to his walk was all the weird looks he would get from everyone. Nobody expects to see a teenager walking in the rain. Especially not a teenager that’s wearing a thin bright red hoodie. Tommy never paid much mind to the stares though, besides it’s his father’s reputation that gets ruined- not his. Not that he had a reputation to ruin anyway.

Tommy made his way to his front door, opened it, and walked inside his house. He began to quickly make his way to the stairs, trying to avoid his-

“Hey mate, how did your therapy go?”

-dad. He sighed before walking into the kitchen. His dad was sitting at the kitchen counter on one of the bar stools, he was turned to face his laptop. Tommy stood there for a good minute, staring blankly at him.

“Oh, uh- it went fine. I’ll stay out of trouble. Sorry.”

“Good- you know the more you get into fights, the worse my reputation as a highly respected worker goe-” Phil turned to look at Tommy, letting out a surprised and angry gasp when he set eyes on him. “Tommy! You’re Soaked! You are getting water everywhere! Go to your room and get changed NOW! What is wrong with you mate!?”

Tommy darted up the stairs, not really minding that he got yelled at by his ‘dad’. He was just happy to have an escape from that stupid conversation. He quickly took off his hoodie, tossing it into a nearby laundry basket. He turned toward his closet and grabbed a red and white t-shirt along with a dark blue pair of jeans.

He walked into the bathroom with his new outfit in hand. He then dried himself off with a towel, drying off his hair as best he could. He changed into his new outfit, walking back into the main part of his room and tossing the old wet clothes into the basket as well. He plopped down onto his bed, leaning back against one of the many pillows.

The plan was to just relax in his room, wait for Phil to go into his office, and swipe some popsicles from the freezer. He started to go over the plan in his head when his phone buzzed, drawing him out of his thoughts.

“If this is something stupid I’m gonna shove Purpled’s phone up his ass,” Tommy grumbled quietly, reaching over to his nightstand and grabbing his phone, putting in his password and going to his messages quickly.

—

Knock Off Violet: Tommy! Gess what!!

Big Man Tommy: What tf do you want man??

Knock Off Violet: Are u still loking for a job?

Big Man Tommy: Yah, I am. Y?

Knock Off Violet: I fund u a job bro
It’s at a mecbanic shop
U interested??
I’ll sign up too, itll be great

Big Man Tommy: You're so stupid
Yeah, sure whatever

Knock Off Violet: Cool! I’ll fill in ur info and sign u up, text u later with the interview time

Big Man Tommy: Don’t you have to put personal info on job things like that??

Knock Off Violet: yeah, y?

Big Man Tommy: How tf would u fill it out then???

Knock Off Violet: ………..

Big Man Tommy: r u staking me or sum???

Knock Off Violet: Mabe
Text u l8ter
Bi

Big Man Tommy: Bitch, duck yu
Fine-
Bye

—

Tommy tossed his phone onto the floor, stretching his legs and arms out. A job, huh? I guess that will do me some good. I need a distraction anyway.. With my birthday coming up and all. I don’t want to be disappointed again this year- so I’ll just ignore it by doing something else!- yeah... Yeah.

Tommy decided that he would still follow through with his previous popsicle related plans. He got up and stepped out of his room, rolling his shoulders back. He made his way downstairs and into the kitchen. He walked over to the fridge, opening up the freezer. Tommy reached in and grabbed a cherry popsicle, opening the wrapper and sticking the popsicle in his mouth. He tossed the wrapper into the trash, closing the freezer quickly afterward.

He dashed back upstairs, only to be met with his phone buzzing, someone was calling him. He picked up the phone to see the contact that was calling him. His screen lit up to show; ‘Knock-off Violet’.

He answered the call, taking the popsicle out of his mouth and pressing the phone up to his ear. “What the fuck do you want dude? I thought you had the information for the stupid work thing.”

Purpled replied instantly, not missing a beat. “I do!- Or I did. How dare you underestimate me!”

Tommy heard a loud sound in the background. It was what sounded like a car engine starting up. “Dude, where the fuck are you at, was that a car?”

“The Mechanic Shop!- It’s uh... Creepers’ Rides!” Tommy rolled his eyes, scoffing. “Why the hell are you there? Didn’t you like just sign up?” Tommy could feel Purpleds smug smirk through the phone. “Yeah, hurry up and get over here. For the interview!”

Tommy opened his mouth, only to close it again. What the actual fuck is this man on? “Dude- what do you mean?-” Purpled cut Tommy off, another loud engine noise going off. “The owner- Sam! He said he’d interview us right now if we weren’t busy- are you busy?” Tommy opened his mouth to answer, only to get cut off before he said anything. “Doesn’t matter- you aren’t busy anymore! Get your ass over here, I’ll send you the address. Oh, and if you don’t show up then I’m not bringing a coke for you to school on Monday.” The call then ended.

This bitch just threatened my caffeine supply, said my opinion didn’t matter, and hung up on me. Not to mention he still expects me to show up? I swear to god I’m gonna fucking backhand this stupid bitch. No way I’m going to this stupid shit now.

Tommys’ phone buzzed, right on time. Tommy picked up his phone to see a notification. A text from Purpled, of course.

—

Knock-off Violet: If u dont show up I’m gonna get punz to come get yu

Big Man Tommy: Oh my fucking god, ur totally stalking m- or like reding my brain or sum

Knock-Off Violet: I better see u in 10 minutes :)

Big Man Tommy: dick

—

Tommy was now walking into ‘Creepers’ Rides’, he sighed, looking around for Grayson. He saw an adult, some tall dude with a clipboard, some super short dude that was working on a motorcycle- but no purpled. What the fuck?

He walked around a bit before the tall one walked over to him.

Tommy looked up at the person in front of him, now having a crystal clear view of him.

TALL. I THOUGHT I WAS TALL BUT HOLY SHI–

There stood the tall dude with a clipboard. He had some fluffy side bangs, his hair was split dyed between black and white. Dang, that's some serious hair care. He wore sunglasses and a mask. He was also wearing a faded tie-dyed hoodie and some basic black jeans.

Tommy gawked at the man in front of him.

“Hello! My name is Ranboo. I’m the manager here at Creepers’ Rides! Are you here for some car parts, to get a car fixed up, new paint job-”

Tommy spoke up, cutting off Ranboo- or tall bitch as far as he’s concerned. “I’m here for an interview- uh, with Sam?”

Ranboo straightened his posture, staring at him for another moment. “I see! My apologies. Tommy, right? Your friend Grayson is in that room right there with Sam, he said you’d be here soon.” Ranboo pointed to a door right before turning around and going to scold the short dude about something.

Tommy quickly made his way into the room he was pointed toward, finding Purpled sitting in a chair in front of a desk. Behind the desk was a man he could only assume was Sam.

Purpled noticed him and stood up, spinning around to face him instantly. “Tommy! Glad you made it big man. I just finished up my interview, they said they’d let me know once you took yours. Don’t fuck it up!” Purpled smiled.

To any blind eye, it would seem like Grayson was just being kind, being friendly. But if you knew him- you would know that he only smiles like that to give off a; ‘you mess this up and I’ll slit your throat while you sleep’ type message.

Tommy rolled his eyes. “Yeah- whatever man.” Tommy sat down in the chair Purpled was in before as Purpled exited the room.

Sam spoke up, staring at Tommy. “So, let’s get started. First question! Why do you want to become a mechanic here?”

Tommy chuckled, a small smirk spreading across his face. “To be honest? Money. Also, if I wasn’t here right now I would probably either be getting beat up by Grayson or getting dragged out of mh house by Punz right about now. You know how it is, right big man?”

Sam nodded while chuckling, seeming pleased with Tommys' realistic answer. “Got any experience?”

“Nope.”

“Oh.-”

Tommy cut him off quickly. “Well actually- I have some. Not a lot. I’ve worked on my dads' car before. That’s about it though- I’ve done a tire change before, but that’s it. Well, other than washing cars? I don’t know if that really counts for anything. Seems like it probably wouldn’t.”

“Well, that’s more than your friend.” Tommy laughed, smiling. “Who? Grayson? Man has never looked at a car for more than two minutes in his life! Well, other than that one time he tried to drive his brother’s car. Crashed it into a house, his brother was furious... Oh, or that time he tried to drive his brother’s motorcycle, crashed that too though. Well, if you call purposely driving a motorcycle off of a bridge crashing.”

The interview went on like that for a good ten minutes. Sam would ask a question, and Tommy would reply, never seeming nervous. He knew better than to let people think that he was a wreck, even if he was crying inside.

“Well, I think that based on all of this I can make a decision now. Go ahead and get your friend back in here, might as well tell you both if you got the jobs at the same time right? It’s faster.”

Tommy stood up, walking back out. He saw Purpled chatting up a storm with the tall bitch from earlier. “PURPLE BITCH! GET OVER HERE!”

Purpled immediately spun around, walking over. “Don’t call me a bitch! I’ll backhand you.”

“You wanna go? It’s a bit early in the week for our usual fight- but I don’t mind.” Tommy smirked, just as Purpled was about to reply the tall bitch walked over.

“Can we please not start a fight in the shop?” Ranboo said it more as a statement than a question.

“Yeah- whatever. C’mon Purp, boss man wants to tell us if we are hired or not.” Tommy stepped back into the room where they both got interviewed, walking to the left side of the door and leaning up against the wall. Purpled followed in shortly afterward, deciding to sit in the chair once again.

Sam smiled at them both before standing up. “Congratulations! You are both hired. You don’t have any experience but as long as you pick up on everything fast it should be just fine. Besides, we used to take on newbies like you two all the time. You already know the pay rates. Your first shift can be on Monday? Since it’s Saturday that should give you some time to work stuff out with your family about your new jobs. Around 5? I assumed you were both still in school so I made your schedules up around that. We can go over your schedules and everything else work related on Monday.”

Purpled smiled, standing up. “Hell yeah! You hear that Tommy? Soon enough we’ll have money pouring in!- enough money to-’

Tommy cut purpled off, filling in the rest of the sentence for him while rolling his eyes. “-spend at the arcade, yeah yeah, you're addicted to the stupid shooting games. I get it Purp. I gotta get home, you know how it is with Phil and curfew. See ya Monday at school, maybe tomorrow if I’m not busy being depressed!”

Purpled clapped and spun around before making finger guns at Tommy. “First world problems, am I right? Tommy nodded, smiling at his friend’s antics. Tommy then turned to face Sam. “And I’ll see you on Monday bossman, at 5.”

Tommy turned around and began walking out, not paying attention to the muffled shouts of Grayson’s protests. Probably something about the rain. He always wants me to get picked up by Punz with him- ugh. Maybe I like walking in the rain! Ever think of that? No. Because you're a patronizing bitch Grayson. Tommy grumbled under his breath, cursing out Grayson as he walked home in the rain, enjoying how the drops of cold water felt as they fell onto him.

Tommy gazed up at the sky, sighing. What time is it? He gazed down toward his wrist, rolling up his hoodie sleeve to look at the watch underneath.

Phil had bought Tommy that watch a long time ago, Tommy’s tenth birthday to be exact. It was seven years old now, anyone could tell it was old as shit. It was a bit rusty, the glass covering it now cracked and dirty. Some spots had the glass missing even. The watch was an hour ahead, but trying to adjust the time on it had become a lost cause.

The watch read the time as 7:08, so it was basically 6. Tommy let out another sigh at that, beginning to prepare himself for an empty house. His father was usually never home when Tommy was. The only exceptions were; if he was sick, if he had an ‘off day’ (Which just meant he was in his office doing paperwork), if it was one of the days that he had calls scheduled with Wilbur- or Techno (but usually Wilbur), or if it was a holiday. They never spent holidays together though, it was always so awkward- without Wil or Tech there at least.

Tommy didn’t mind being alone!- He didn’t blame his brothers for leaving. He didn’t blame them as the reason Phil hates him. He doesn’t blame Wilbur for presenting him as a trophy to everyone he knew and trying to make him be another Wilbur, and he doesn’t blame Techno for only caring about him whenever he was doing something that Tech wanted to do. It’s not their fault, he was annoying- a handful, a problem child. Even if they don’t try to talk to him. Even though they left him without even saying goodbye, and without attempting to reach out at all to Tommy afterward- He didn’t blame them. It was his fault that Phil hated him anyway. He was the one who let his grades slip- who started having depressive episodes, nightmares, violent outbursts, panic attacks- you get the idea. He didn’t blame them, because it wasn’t their fault. Right?

Eventually, Tommy stopped his mental debate about his brothers and father once he arrived at the house. He opened the door, walking in and shutting the door slowly. He waited a minute silently after he closed the door, just in case Phil was there. He walked into the living room, looking around. His eyes landed on a piece of paper that was set on the coffee table. He walked toward it and picked it up, reading the writing that was on it.

‘Hey, I went to work. I texted you, but you didn’t answer. I’ll be back later. Eat something, and don’t leave the house after 11.’ -Phil

“Of course..”, Tommy muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes as he did.

He crumpled up the note from Phil, walking into the kitchen and quickly tossing it into a nearby trash can. Deciding to take his father's advice, he opened up the cabinet. His eyes landed on a bag of regular potato chips. He wasn’t that hungry, so that would do just fine. He swiped the bag of chips, closing the cabinet once again.

He hurried up the stairs before darting into his room. He didn’t stop in the hallway to look at old pictures of Tech, Wil, and Phil together- no way.

He slumped down onto his bed, opening the new bag of chips. He leaned up against the wall and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He had no new messages from Phil- he didn’t text him, shocker. He did have 27 missed calls from ‘Knock-off Violet’, but that was the norm with Purpled at this point.

Tommy decided awhile ago that it was probably best to just ignore Purpled sometimes. Besides, he’s probably pissed off that Tommy left while it was raining. If something important was happening then Punz would have reached out to him. It’s common knowledge to their trio that Tommy tends to ignore Purpled when he’s aware that Graysons mad, but he always answers Punz. Punz is like the panic button of their group, if he’s the one to text you then something is almost always wrong.

However, there are rare occasions where he’ll randomly call or message you for something, I guess he doesn’t realize that it gives people heart attacks. It’s terrifying whenever the person who never messages anyone unless it’s completely needed calls you to ask if you can go to the arcade later.

Tommy got comfortable in his bed and decided to let himself drift off into sleep. He was exhausted, and Phil always had Sundays off. So, he was gonna be out of the house all day tomorrow. He let out a sigh before he closed his eyes, letting his eyelids rest as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

It was 6 am when Tommy woke up the next day. He always woke up at the same time, even though he had never set an alarm before in his life. It was probably something to do with Insomnia or stress or something, but who cares? It helped aid in his routine and helped him keep a tight schedule.

He got out of bed, stretching out his arms and legs quickly. Phil usually woke up around 6:30, so to avoid him all Tommy had to do was get dressed, eat breakfast and leave the house in half an hour.

Phil and Tommy always did this. They danced around each other, making sure that they had as minimal contact as possible. Whether it’s by staying at a friend's house for a week or taking extra meetings at work. They didn’t hate each other- they just didn’t see eye to eye on anything. Ever since Wilbur and Techno left, Phil turned bitter toward Tommy. Not that he minded, of course, Phil was just like every other rich scum bag that fostered kids to show them off. Just like Wilbur and Techno, fucking pricks.

Tommy got changed, pulling on some dark blue jeans with rips near the knees. He then put on a black t-shirt, pulling a dark maroon-colored hoodie afterward. Typical Tommyinnit attire. He grabbed his empty dull-red backpack and shoved some stuff in it for the day. Everything that he ended up putting in his backpack was a black cloth face mask, an old water bottle, a few granola bars that he had been hiding from Phil, his phone, his phone charger, earbuds, and his
iPod.

He walked out of his room, tip-toeing down the stairs carefully. If he woke up Phil before leaving then this would all be for nothing anyway. He spotted Phil’s wallet on the kitchen island and walked over.

Do I need money? What’s going on today? Tommy thought to himself, before pulling out his phone and scrolling through his discord app. Then, he saw it. He knew what he was gonna do today.

What was that you may be asking? Well, Punz set off an announcement in a discord channel the Punz ran to be able to keep up with all his friends (He had a lot). The announcement was talking about his Race later that day at the famous motorcycle racing track; Creeper Circuit.

Which just so happened to be pretty much the only racing track around, but whatever. As far as Tommy knew Punz was known as ‘Mercenary’ due to constantly switching teams for better pay rates, fucking gold digger. But, Punz was on a team with Ender and Nuke, and they were pretty pog.

The ticket prices for the race this time around were 30 bucks, not too bad. Tommy decided to text Purpled to see if he was going- since Punz was his brother after all.

—
Big Man Tommy: Hey, r u going to Puns race?

Knock-off Violet: Wasnt planning on it, broke asf rn

Big Man Tommy: Wanna come with me? I’ll pay.

Knock-off Violet: rly? Fuck yeah! R u paying or is your dad? Lmao

Big Man Tommy: u know the answr to that one bro

Knock-off Violet; ur awful

Big Man Tommy: yup

Knock-off Violet: I’ll ride with Punz, prob be there like half an hour before it starts but whtever ig

Big Man Tommy: cool, meet u there Purp

Knock-off Violet: see u there!

—

Tommy looked over at Phils’ wallet and grabbed it off the counter, smirking as he pulled out a 100-dollar bill. Tommy quickly shoved it into his pocket, a grin creeping onto his face. He sat the wallet back down and walked out, deciding to make himself feel better as he walked once the guilt started to set in.

He didn’t need it. Probably won’t even realize that he’s gone. Plus, think of it as your birthday present Tommy! Yeah... yeah. He won’t get you anything like usual, so this is his gift this year. Plus, who the fuck keeps a 100-dollar bill in their wallet? Big man was asking to get robbed.

Tommy nodded to himself, deciding to go to the park to wait until it was time to head off to the race. If he showed up early then Purpled would probably be worried. Not that he would ever admit it of course, probably just decide on screaming at Tommy until he fessed up about his shit morning. He sat down on a nearby bench. He pulled out an old pair of earbuds.

Hey.. if I have some money left over… He fiddled with the earbuds, untangling them.

Maybe I can buy a new pair. Yeah, it’d be a shame for money to go to waste. Tommy was a little unhinged.

He put the jack plug into the headphone jack of his iPod and went to his music app. He looked through some albums before coming across Wilbur’s album. Wilbur being his total bitch brother. Tommy stared at the album for a bit before hitting shuffle. His album was an hour and thirty minutes long, he could have it on repeat for a little bit.

It's fine. He told himself. It's just your brother’s album, he loves you, remember? Tommy couldn’t remember a time when it was genuine love, but he knows he showed some care. He leaned back on the bench and looked at the sky for a while. Waiting till it was time to go.

After two and a half hours of listening to Wilburs’ shitty music (He liked it, but he’d never admit that to anyone), it was finally time to head over to the racing track. If he was late, he’d probably get stabbed at least 5 times, maybe 6.

That was enough motivation to make him get up off the bench he had been resting on. He looked down at his iPod, switching the songs over to Wilbur's other album before sticking the iPod into his pocket. He let out a sigh as he started walking toward the race track.

It took Tommy around 20 minutes to arrive at Creepers’ Circuit. He arrived to see that Punz was just now driving his car into the parking lot in front of the main entrance.

Okay, I’m right on time. I’ll just go buy the tickets quick...

Tommy walked over to the small booth that was set up near the entrance of the racing arena.

“Hey!- I’m Tommy, do you have any tickets for sale?” Tommy smiled as he pulled the 100-dollar bill out of his pocket.

The person sitting at the booth looked up at Tommy. “Hey, yeah. We do. I’m Ponk, you want any specific seats, kid?”

Ponk, weird name but alright? Damn, nice hair.

Ponk had dark brown hair with some red and yellow highlights. His skin tone was on the slightly darker side. He looked short from what Tommy could tell.

Hah! I’M TALLER THAN-

“Oh, uhm, yeah! I need two front-row seat tickets!” Tommy said, a little awkwardly.

“Kay’ that’ll be 62 dollars! Cash or credit?” Ponk said nonchalantly.

“Cash,” He handed Ponk the 100-dollar bill. “Is this place usually busy?”

Ponk took the 100-dollar bill while standing up and counted out the change.

“Later in the day, the race isn’t until 1 pm. I bet by 11 there’ll be a huge rush until tickets sell out!” He handed Tommy his change.

Tommy nodded. “Cool, Cool. Who’s your favorite Racer?”

Ponk smiled brightly before responding. “Creeper!”

Tommy shrugged, rolling his eyes slightly. “He’s like not even a racer- he’s a team coach-“

Ponk Cut Tommy off, huffing as he did so. “Well, when he does race he’s great! What about you then kid?”

Tommy grumbled to himself. “First of all you know my name, use it. Don’t call me to kid you asshat. Also, I guess I have to root for Mercenary, he’s the only person I watch, to be honest. I know him. But, he’s a gold-digger, kinda not Pog. But I mean hey, man always be on the grind am I right?”

Ponk stared at Tommy, looking at him like he was stupid or something. God, why was it so hard to talk to adults sometimes? “My bad forgot that you were old, big man. See ya!” Tommy turned and walked off toward Punz’s car, waving to Purpled.

Purpled waved back before running over and full force ramming into Tommy, causing them both to topple over.

“GRAYSON YOU WHORE!”

Purpled got off of Tommy, standing up swiftly. “Maybe if you had a better stance you would have been able to brace yourself for impact.”

“YOU JUST RAMMED YOURSELF INTO ME WITHOUT WARNING- STOP TRYING TO GET AN EXCUSE TO INSULT MY POSTURE YOU ABSOLUTE DICKHEAD!”

Tommy got up, flipping Purpled off as he did. Purpled just rolled his eyes, smirking. “Whatever, can I have my ticket, or were you too broke?”

“The correct statement would be; ‘or is your dad too broke’. And no, he’s not- who the fuck keeps 100 dollar bills in their wallet?” Tommy complained as he handed over one of the two tickets to Purpled.

“Phil does apparently. Thanks for the ticket, I’m sure Punz will be glad that we showed up.”

“Yeah? Well, he already ditched us to go start practicing so I dunno about all that.” Tommy chuckled lightly, pulling his ticket out of his pocket. “We still have a good while until the race starts, and I already insulted the dude handing out tickets- so what do we do now?”

“Well, we can go and watch Punz practice on his bike?” Purpled pointed to the back area, where the racers enter from.

“Aren’t you still banned from getting within 50 feet of his motorcycle after what you did two months ago?”

“Well- I stole his bike last night to do wheelies in the Tesco parking lot… so… no?”

“I-” Tommy paused, trying to find the right words to respond to the idiotic purple alien in front of him. “You have a death wish, don’t you?”

“Nah- ever since I paid him 300 bucks last month to let me borrow his bike, we are good. Maybe. I don’t know- I did try to suffocate him with a pillow a week ago… For the fifth time this month- allegedly of course, and it's only the second week of the month! But, oh well.” Purpled shrugged off the mention of his murder attempt easily.

“Uhm- okay then. Sure, let’s go I guess.” Tommy’s answer sounded more like a question than a statement.

Purpled started walking over to the back entrance, so Tommy followed behind. Even if his friend had a few murderous thoughts every once in a while, it was most definitely safe to follow him behind a building. Tommy knows every safety precaution ever! He’s a genius, or really, just a depressed teen somehow making it in life. But, oh well.

As they started getting closer they could both make out some sort of argument going on between everyone. They were able to make out some of the screams from the argument.

“-THEY FUCKING LEFT US FOR THE DREAM TEAM? I AM GONNA SHOVE QUACKITYS BIKE SO FAR UP HIS-” The yelling was cut off by the tall bitch, calming tubbo down by hugging him. Ew, companionship.

Purpled walked up behind Punz and wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling Punz backward.

“Grayson!-” Punz yelled out before turning around, causing Purpled to fall off of him, standing up immediately afterward. Purpled smiled brightly before throwing his fist into the air. “Murder attempt number 6!” Tommy stared at him. I’m totally gonna die by his hands.

Punz glared at Grayson coldly. “We are having a conversation-”

Purpled cut him off quickly. “I couldn’t care less- where is kaleidoscope?”

The short kid (Tubbo) screamed right after Purpled said that. “THAT COMPLETE FUCKING TRAITOR! DON’T GET ME STARTED- I AM GONNA RUN HIM SO FAR OFF THE FUCKING TRACK! *insert incomprehensible screaming* IAUDGDW:GWAGD”

… Was that a keyboard smash in real life...?

Tommy started laughing after that. He laughed for a good 5 minutes, wheezing once he was finally finished. “You’re like a chihuahua! You’re so short- but you are such an angry gremlin!-”

Tubbo looked at Tommy and glared. “ANGRY GREMLIN? ANGRY GREMLIN? SHUT YOUR TRAP YOU FUCKING TREE LOOKIN’ ASS! FAKE ASS BLONDE PROBABLY DYE YOUR HAIR EVERY FUCKING DAY! BASIC ASS HOE, PROBABLY HAS A MOMMY KIN–”

“Tubbo-” Ranboo(b) said, attempting to calm him down. “W H A T.” Tubbo said viciously.

Yeah, I’m not wrong. 100% on the money.

Tommy shrugged, a smug look appearing across his face. “Well, only one of us had two teammates leave their team, isn’t that right?”

Tubbo stared at him in silence, preparing for a scream. “I’M ABOUT TO NUKE ALL OF YOU!” Tubbo yelled while proceeding to dash towards Tommy. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” Tubbo kicked Tommy in the shins.

Tommy fell back, standing up quickly afterward. He was about to punch Tubbo in the face when all of a sudden Purpleds’ hand was on his shoulder.

When he spoke, his voice was deeper than usual. “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. -Sun Tzu, The Art of War.”

Tommy looked back and stared at Purpled for a good minute. “You did not just fucking quote that.”

Purpled spoke, glaring daggers toward Tommy. “It was the only way to stop you from causing a scene-”

“Grayson. I am about to cause a much larger scene than punching that stupid fuck would have been. Look at me in my eyes and tell me that you didn’t just do that you absolute dickhead.”

Grayson and Tommy locked eyes. “I can’t tell you that To-”

Tommy cut him off, screaming at him. “I WOULD HAVE RATHER MADE A SCENE THAN YOU SAY THAT SHIT! YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT THAT STUPID BOOK! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU JUST FUCKING SAID THAT! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU BROUGHT HIM UP-!” Tommy’s eyes began to water as he turned toward the exit and darted out, leaving everyone other than Purpled and Punz in complete shock.

Tubbo looked over at Purpled, no longer in the same rage as he had been in before. “Is he alright?”

Purpled nodded. “Yeah. He was about to punch you, so I said something that I knew would set him off- he’ll be back in half an hour-ish. Probably wanting to use Punz’s bike to blow off steam.”

Punz groaned. “Speaking of bikes- we are missing two players! How the fuck are we gonna compete!?”

Meanwhile, Tommy was now seated in the front seat of Punz’s car. Punz always left his car unlocked, so it was the perfect spot to calm down.

His bro- Techno used to always quote that book. Purpled knew that, so he quoted it full well knowing it would set Tommy off. What a dick.

He didn’t mean that, it’s fine. You were out of control- about to hit someone, and you punch really hard. Purpled did what he had to. He didn’t mean it. Techno didn’t- Techno? When did this become about him? I’m talking about Grayson. Not Techno-

All of Tommys’ thoughts immediately began to flash through all of his remaining memories of Techno. At first, it was good! The first time they watched movies together, or when Techno read books to him, or when Techno smiled as he told him about how he had aced his test… But, like all things. The good things soon came to an end.

The memories began to go to bad things. When Techno screamed at him to go away, telling him that he was annoying. When Techno got even angrier as Tommy started crying, telling Tommy that he was only of use when he wanted to do whatever Techno wanted to do. When Techno had said that Tommy was more like a glorified pet than a brother.

Tommy began to cry, trying to block out the memories of his brother. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop thinking about everything that Techno said, that Techo did, how he walked, how he looked, his favorite stories, everything.

Tommy sat in the car, alone for the next 25 minutes, collecting himself. Tommy did multiple breathing exercises, cracked his knuckles, and talked himself down from five different panic attacks.

He needed to go back out and watch Punz practice like he told Purpled he would. He was disappointing his friend, again. Even if Purpled was an awful person, he was all that Tommy had.

Tommy wiped his eyes and waited a few more minutes until he stopped looking like he had been crying. He got out of the car and took a deep breath. Then he soon began walking back toward the back entrance.

He shoved his hands into his pockets before walking in, he made his way over to purpled before punching him in the arm.

Purpled turned to begin screaming when he saw Tommy and smiled softly, putting his arm around Tommys’ shoulders. Tommy looked at the race track to see Tubbo- or Nuke, babbling to the tall bitch about something related to Las Navades, their old racing teammate.

Tommy ducked to get out of Purpleds’ grasp before walking over to Punz. “Sup.”

Punz looked over at Tommy and smiled. “Hey, you alright?” Tommy nodded. “I needed some time to myself. You know how it is.” Punz nodded in recognition before motioning toward his motorcycle.

“Feel free.”

A smirk grew on Tommys’ face as he walked over To Punzs’ motorcycle.

It wasn’t anything special. The motorcycle was white with gold tire rims and gold handles. So the bike was basically just a white bike with gold accents. Tommy didn’t have a helmet of his own, so he decided to just use none. No way was he getting caught dead in Punzs’ white helmet- with a gold-colored visor too, god he was such a rich kid.

Tommy grabbed the helmet off the bike seat and tossed it to the ground by the track, shrugging. He then grabbed his backpack and took out his iPod which was already connected to his earbuds. He was quick to toss the bag onto the ground afterward, next to the discarded helmet.

He pulled up ‘Brutal’ by Olivia Rodrigo and turned his volume up to 100% before starting to blast the song into his headphones. He stuck his iPod into his back pocket.

He put his hands on the handles. He kicked the kickstand and walked the bike onto the track, getting on it.

Woah. I feel so badass right now.

He glanced over at Punz who just nodded. Tommy took that as a cue to have some fun. With his headphones in, blasting ‘Brutal’ by Olivia Rodrigo, he leaned forward smirking.

Let’s have some fun.

He pressed the gas, taking his foot off the ground. He wasn’t going too fast, but boy did he feel awesome. Everyone watched him as he sped around the track, completing his first lap. The wind blew in his hair and he was smiling. Tommy loved how it felt when he drove motorcycles, how the world seemed to go by in a flash, how he had full control, how fast he was going…

This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

“Hey, he’s not that bad!” Tubbo applauded. “Yeah!” Ranboo(b) said happily. “You should have seen him on Punz’s old bike, he was a lot better. But uh… the bike had… an accident…” Purpled stumbled over his words, smiling nervously in his brothers’ direction. “If you call driving my bike into the FUCKING OCEAN- an accident, WHEN IT WAS ON PURPOSE, JUST TO FILM A TIKTOK-” Punz was in the middle of scolding him but cut him off. “Actually, the TikTok was an afterthought! You texted me to do my homework, so instead, we drove it off a bridge!” Purpled laughed, but Punz gained an irk mark on his forehead. “AFTERTHOUGHT?!” Punz yelled. “Yeah! It was just a new level of petty achie—”
“TUBBO!”

“What?”

“TOMMY’S ABOUT TO RUN YOU OVER!” Ranboo(b) pulled Tubbo off the track.”AH, WHAT THE FUCK-” Tommy zoomed past them and yelled a snarky remark. “WELL! THERE GO MY PLANS!”

“BASTARD!” Tubbo yelled. Tommy completed his final lap quickly after his alleged murder attempt. He came to a skidding stop next to where the bike had been previously, kicking up a bit of dirt as he did so. He got off of the bike and turned off his iPod. He took his headphones out and put the device back into his backpack, slinging the backpack over his shoulder easily. He put the bike’s kickstand up and joined the group. “How was I?”

“TERRIBLE” the angry gremlin yelled. “Wasn’t asking you, anyways, Punz, how was I?” Punz smiled, “Not terrible. Could use some work on staying in one lane…. AND NOT RUNNING SOMEONE OVER!”

“SHUT UP OR I’LL DRIVE THIS FANCY-ASS BIKE OFF A BRIDGE AGAIN!” Tommy replied.

“LIKE HELL YOU WILL-” Punz got cut off by Tommy pulling his house key out of his pocket.

“I’m gonna key the word bitch into the side of your bike!” All of the color in Punz’s face drained immediately as his eyes widened. “THOMATHY INNIT-”

Tommy gasped and walked over, punching Punz in the jaw in retaliation which caused Punz’s to fall over, before quickly running back to his bike. Tommy keyed the word; ‘BITCH’ into Punz’s motorcycle as quickly as possible before shoving his key back into his pocket.

Punz was now back on his feet as he darted toward Tommy. Tommy ran off immediately, hopping over the short wall that separated the seating area from the track and darting through the seats. “YOU’LL NEVER CATCH ME ALIVE PUSSY!”

Tommy hated running because of his past experiences on a track team, but when he did run, he ran FAST. Tommy darted through the seating area, which was thankfully empty other than the unsuspecting pigeon. He ran as fast as he used to when he was in track, laughing as he looked back to see Punz struggling to keep up in the slightest.

Tommy felt so free, so happy. That was until he ran straight into someone and fell back with a thud onto the ground. He hadn’t realized that he had ran all the way around the seats, so when he hopped back off of the seating area he was in the middle of the back entryway when he expected to be at the front.

“You okay kid?”

When Tommy looked up he saw none other than fucking Snapmap.

Snapmap- otherwise known as Sapnap, or Nick. was one of the main three racers on the Dream Team. In other words, he was with Karl- who was Tommys’ friend (sort of). So, when Karl showed up to practice upset- Tommy may or may not have gone to Sapnaps house and slashed the tires of his car, allegedly of course.

Tommy got up, snarling at Sapnap. “Don’t call me kid. I’m fine. Why don’t you go ask the team that you stole players from that question Snapmap.”

Sapnap glared at Tommy. “Stole? They came to our team willingly.” Tommy scoffed before he replied; “Sure. Let’s pretend that you were supportive of them being on an opposite racing team from you. Whatever lets you sleep better big man.”

Sapnap looked like he was about to scream when Punz walked over and stood behind Tommy, putting a hand on his shoulder, speaking shortly afterward. “Nick. Sorry, we were messing around.”

Sapnap smiled fakely at Punz. “No issue! I’d like an apology from both of you though.” He looked over at Tommy, right as Tommy took Punzs’ hand off of his shoulder.

“Yeah right. I would, but I have this whole thing with not apologizing to scum bags, sorry.” Tommy replied snarkily before walking off and heading back toward the rest of the group, hearing Punz sigh.

Purpled immediately rose a hand in a high-fiving gesture, so he and Tommy high-fived. “You did great! I haven’t seen you run like that in years. Ever since, you know…” Tommy hummed in acknowledgment before turning to face Tubbo.

“Hey, sorry. I wouldn’t have tried to run you over if I thought that you wouldn’t move. You know… Like uh, how you punch someone to see if they’ll block it? Same principle.” Tommy smirked which was met with a glare from Tubbo and a nervous look from Ranboo(b).

“Whatever. No harm, no foul Tommy. So, I have an offer for you. I already cleared it with our racing coach and stuff…”

Tommy nodded, raising an eyebrow as he prepared for whatever proposition that Tubbo was about to make.

Tubbo nodded as well before continuing. “Well, you rode on Punzs’ bike pretty well… and we can’t race today without having more people. So, you wanna join our racing team? At least for today!- if you want to back out afterward it’s fine. But, if you are the one to win todays’ matches then you’ll get some cash. It’s constant 1v1s against the other team- in this case, The Dream Team. This time one person sits out because there has to be someone to do quick bike repairs on all of their teammate’s bikes. Usually, that isn’t the case for team races- like when it’s 2v2 or 5v5, but in 1v1s it is. Because we don’t get a crew to fix up bikes on 1v1 races like this. The same goes for regular 1v1s, but this is team 1v1s so it’s a bit different in the sense that someone on the team has to sit out for team 1v1s. Since in regular 1v1s it would just be you vs one other person so someone on your team would just help since they wouldn’t be racing anyway.

The person on our team sitting out is probably gonna be Ranboo or Me because we work in the mechanic shop that you got hired for as you may or may not already know. But, Sam taught us all of the quick patches for this kind of race.

If someone on our team wins then the whole Team gets a prize of 10k to split, but the person who won gets an extra 5k for themselves plus their portion of the 10k, so in total if you won you’d make 7k.”

Tommy opened his mouth to decline before he was hit in the arm by Purpleds’ elbow, which meant ‘shut the fuck up or I’ll kill you bitch’ in Purpled terms, usually at least. Tommy hummed quietly in annoyance before Purpled spoke.

“Since Tommy and I are best friends, we usually talk stuff like this over!-” (Not true in the slightest you purple fuck) “So, can we have a minute to discuss?”

Tubbo grumbled but nodded before looking at Tommy. “We have some new racing bikes at the shop, so if you say yeah then you can have one- to keep. Even if you back out after the race you can keep it, since we don’t need to keep it anyway. We could even get it painted and get you a helmet to match before the race starts today.”

Tommy nodded in acknowledgment before he was practically dragged out of the arena by Purpled. Purpled dragged him over by Punz’s car. As he did so, Tommy looked around the parking lot and noticed that there were a few more cars than before.

Probably the stupid Dream Team pricks. Other than Karl and Quackity of course, they could never be pricks. Whiny bitches maybe, but not pricks. Tommy nodded to himself before he was shoved into the passenger seat of the car.

Tommy groaned but slouched into the seat, shutting the door and turning to look over at Grayson who was now sitting in the driver's seat of the car.

“LISTEN,” Purpled yelled. “I’m listening, I’m listening..” Tommy lazily replied while rolling his eyes. “YOU JOIN THAT TEAM—“ Tommy gave him an unamused look. “I wasn’t planning on it…” Tommy was bored and done with purpled’s shit. Purpled glared daggers at Tommy. “You like riding motorcycles, you like going fast, and you like being away from your dad, right?” Tommy nodded. “Okay, so you are just gonna turn down the chance to join and get a free motorcycle and get to race for the first time in your life?”

Tommy grumbled. “I guess you’re right… but what if I’m not good enough?” “NOT GOOD ENO- BITCH YOU WENT PRETTY FAST DAMN FAST ON THE TRACK- NOT TO MENTION THAT STOP YOU MADE WAS EPIC AS SHIT!” Tommy knew that Purpled was just spewing bullshit to get him to agree, but it felt nice to be complimented.

Tommy reluctantly nodded after a few minutes. “Okay, then- I’ll join and then quit after this race. Just for the bike.”

“NO- I MEAN…..” Purpled smirked. “Man, I really wanna be on this team too!” He said. “Mmm… k? What am I gonna do about it?” Tommy said, confused. “Ugh- dense—“ There was a small pause before Tommy realized he had been called dense. “RU—-!”, “SHUSH!”

“Listen, join that team but say you’ll only join if I join as well, alright?” Purpled said, attempting to persuade Tommy. “Oi’ this is my choice man, how about you just ask to join?” Tommy rolled his eyes. “No, that’s RUDE!” Purpled fought back. “Since when did you care about manners?” Tommy eyed him suspiciously. “You literally walked straight up to that woman last week who was complaining she was broke and asked for 10 bucks Purp. I don’t think you even know the definition of manners”

“That’s- THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT. What is important is that we both get on the team! Tommy, I won’t be able to get another chance like this! Plus, you’d have your bestie on the team!” Purpled was trying to persuade Tommy the best he could, without death threats, alleged death threats of course.

“Mmm… hard pass—-“ Tommy looked at Purpled who was slightly annoyed. “OI! TELL THEM THAT OR I’LL TELL PHIL EVERYTHING YOU’VE DONE, AND CRASH PHILS FUCKING CAR AND BLAME IT ON YOU!” Tommy stared at Purpled who was calming down. “That cool with you?” He laughed it off nervously. “Uh…huh… got that….” Tommy replied hesitantly. “Cool!” Purpled smiled and got out of the car. “Let’s go! Can’t keep them waiting!” Tommy took the lead, making his way to the back entrance. Purpled walked up behind him and said in a low voice, “If you don’t do this I’ll fucking choke you with a god damn spoon.” Tommy just stared at him. Purpled was just smiling.

“Whatever man- we are definitely not besties- Besties do not pull family cards like that. And that whole Techno stunt from earlier! I oughta beat you the fuck up for that man!” Tommy turned to look at purpled who was now chuckling nervously.

“Well… Just saying… the spoon… is always an option.”

Tommy rolled his eyes before walking over to the entryway.

Tommy made his way over to Tubbo, who was now speaking with stupid fucking SnApMaP of all people. Just Tommys’ Luck.

Tubbo saw them, looking annoyed as shit. Probably at how long they took- since they had been chatting for a good ten minutes at the least.

Tommy came to a stop in front of him, Purpled stopping a bit behind Tommy.

“Have you decided yet? You two took fucking forever- I had to start talking to Sapnap for company.” Tubbo gestured over to the now offended-looking man who stood next to him as he rolled his eyes.

“Uh- yeah. We- or well, I came to my decision.” He paused for dramatic effect, but of course, Tubbo had no theatrical class.

“Get the fuck on with it then-”

“God, it’s called drama big man.” Tubbo rolled his eyes again, glaring at him. “Anyway, my decision is….”

Tommy looked over his shoulder at Purpled who was grinning widely. How does someone manage to look so happy, yet so murderous at the same time?

“My answer is yes. But, If I join then Purpled joins. Easy enough, right?”

Chapter Text

Tubbo stared at Tommy, giving him a ‘are you fucking serious’ type of look. They all stood in silence before Tubbo took a deep breath in and began speaking. “So… you will only join if your friend joins… Which means two motorcycles and two helmets. For free.”

Tommy shrugged lightly and nodded, Purpled on the other hand had a devious-looking grin plastered on his face.

Tubbo stared at him for a long while, Sapnap having already walked off at this point. It seemed as though a million thoughts were spinning around in Tubbo’s head as he debated Tommy’s ultimatum.

“Okay… Okay. Let me go and call Sam, I’ll see if we can spare two bikes and helmets.” Tommy let out a hum in acknowledgment as Tubbo walked away, quickly pulling out his phone.

When Tubbo got out of ear-shot, Purpled put a hand on Tommys’ shoulder. “See? Now we can be on a race team together! The best buds, figuring out how to get through life-! Not to mention we can be rolling in cash-” “And the women?” “Sure Tommy, and woman. Cash and woman, that’s what we’ll have soon.” Purpled nodded, smiling brightly.

Tommy hummed, a small smirk spreading across his face.

This is gonna be so much fun. I can’t wait to have my own motorcycle… God, wait until Phil-!

Tommy’s face paled, his eyes widening in realization. He began to feel nauseous, most likely on the brink of a panic attack. “Oh my fucking god. Phil is gonna murder me.”

Purpled cackled, a wild expression appearing on his face. “We can just hide your identity! Like how Dream does!- Or how Ender does. It’s fine. Don’t be a pussy, Tommy.” Purpled moved his hand off of Tommy’s shoulder and shoved it into his jean pocket.

Tommy nodded. “Yeah… yeah. You’re right. Also, I could never be a pussy! I am the biggest man.” The wave of panic subsided just as quickly as it took over Tommy. He let out a sigh of relief once the nauseous feeling in his stomach went away.

Tommy started to mess with his hoodie strings, waiting for Tubbo to finish up his phone call. “So, what’s your racing brand gonna be big man?”

Purpled’s eyes immediately lit up as he smiled brightly. “Purple! For sure. I’ll be like a space dude, like an alien. It’ll be great. I’ll be called like... UFO or some shit like that.”

Tommy rolled his eyes, glancing over at Purpled. “Really? That’s the best you could come up with? Purple alien boy?” Purpled rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. “And what about you then Tommy?”

Tommy shrugged. “No idea. I’ll just figure it out by picking through stuff they have. I want red and black stuff, you know? Like, uh. Like a devil or something. It’ll be cool. Probably.”

Purpled shrugged. “I guess we both don’t really know what we’re doing-” Grayson stopped in the middle of his sentence as Tubbo began to walk back over to them.

Tubbo stopped in front of them, sliding his phone away into his pocket. “Alright, I spoke with Sam. You both know him, right? You got interviewed at the shop with him. Well, if you don’t know he also runs the race track.”

Tommy nodded. How had he not put the pieces together beforehand? The whole creeper theme was pretty obvious in both places. He needed to pay more attention to stuff like this.

“Anyway, he said that we can spare the two bikes. Plus, we need to have 6 people on the team to compete without issues. Adding both of you both we would have Tommy, Purpled, Ender, Mercenary, and me. With Creeper as our coach obviously.” Tubbo cleared his throat before continuing, obviously trying to focus. “So, you can both join-“

He got cut off by Purpled throwing his fist up in the air. “HELL YEAH” Tommy looked back to see Purpled, who looked like a kid who had won at one of the claw machine games. (Cough Cough, Punz on multiple occasions.)

The victorious feeling was soon cut off by the smaller beginning to speak again. “But!- We’ve only got around 4 hours give or take to get you both into your racing personas. That means customizing your bikes, getting you helmets, picking your outfits, getting you both a team jacket, and picking racer names.”

Tommy was a bit taken aback by that, it seemed like they had a lot to do and not a lot of time in comparison to do it.

“Uh- yeah, okay big man. Where to first?”

Tubbo looked down at his phone, typing something into it. Probably texting someone? “Well, we should go to the shop first. We need to get your bikes fixed up however you want them- plus we can get helmets from there. Oh, and we have the team jackets there I think.” Tubbo paused his speech to scoff loudly. “Not like Karl or Quackity will be needing them. FUCKING TRAITORS!”

Karl turned to look at Tubbo before hiding behind Sapnap. Quackity just looked at him for a while before flipping him off, which caused an offended-sounding squeak to escape Tubbo. ”Bastards!” He stopped his foot on the ground like an angry toddler.

Tommy rolled his eyes at Tubbo, grinning as he got an idea. “I’ve got an idea. Tubbo, did you come here in your car, well if you even have one?” Tubbo blinked, shaking his head, clearly confused.

“Well, it just so happens… That Punz is currently chatting with George. And he always leaves his keys in his center console… so…”

Purpled had a wide grin quickly appear on his face once he realized where this conversation was going. “C’mon, Punz said I could drive his car!-” Purpled voice became quieter as he mumbled the rest of the sentence. “Like two months ago…”

Tubbo shrugged. “Okay, sure. Let’s take his car then, it’ll be fine since he said you could drive it. Ranboo has to stay behind to help set up the repair area for later though.”

Tommy nodded, instantly taking the lead. He walked out of the racing area through the back, making his way to Punz’s car and getting into the front passenger seat. Purpled got into the driver's seat right after, and Tubbo got into the back seat of the car.

Tommy took off his backpack and got himself settled, sitting his bag down on the floorboard of the car. He then put his seat belt on, being the last one to do so as usual.

“I’m pretty sure that I know the way to shop already, so don’t worry about trying to give me directions or anything, it’s annoying.” Purpled opened up the center console and grabbed the car keys, quickly starting up the car.

The drive was boring at first, the three of them just sitting in silence for the first few minutes of the ride. The awkward silence was soon broken, however, by the person seated in the back of the vehicle.

“So, why’d you freak like that earlier? With the stupid book quote or whatever?- One moment you were fine bu-” “Shut the fuck up.”

Tommy turned his head back to look at Tubbo. “Look, okay? I don’t give a fuck if you invited me to your stupid team. We ARE NOT friends. Don’t ask about my personal shit like that.”

Purpled chuckled. “He’s traumatized” “I have no fucking trauma! Why do you even say it like that? You’re like; ‘trauma, traumatized.’ It’s pronounced trauma bitch!”

Purpled and Tommy soon fell into a familiar pattern. Purpled would chatter about something random that was on his mind, and once he said something that Tommy deemed stupid he would cut in. Usually just adding in curse words or a cocky sentence.

Tubbo sat in the back in awe, anybody would think that they were brothers with their reactions to each other. It was as if they knew exactly how the conversation was going to go before it had even started.

Tubbo quickly realized something about Tommy. He didn’t even know who Tommy was. Did Purpled even know who Tommy was? He went from chaotic and happy, to sad, to angry. When Tommy acted happy he was so happy, making everyone around him happy as well. But, when Tommy was angry or upset, his words were laced with venom. When something was wrong with Tommy, it affected everyone around him. His energy was contagious.

It was not only confusing but also terrifying.

Soon enough the car began to slow as they pulled into the shop which was called Creepers’ Rides. Funny enough, Sam ran the shop and the race track- which meant that Tommy was gonna have him as a boss on two different fronts.

The car pulled into a parking space as Purpled shut it off and shoved the keys into the back pocket of his jeans. Tommy hummed as he unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door. He looked over at his bag and got out of the car, deciding to just leave it for now. He shut his door and looked at the shop to see Tubbo and Purpled already making their way to the front door.

Tommy ran over, falling into the rhythm of their walking. The three boys entered the shop, and Tubbo led them all over to one of the back rooms.

Tubbo opened the door, stepping inside the room. “Alright, grab a jacket that fits you. You can blow your money on a custom jacket or a racing suit after the race, but there’s no time for that now.”

Tommy took a moment to look around the room. There were metal shelves lining almost all of the walls, boxes full of racing gear and jackets cluttered onto the shelves.

Tommy saw a cardboard box that had his size written on the front in what he assumed to be sharpie, so he walked over and peered inside, pulling a jacket out.

The jacket was made of some sort of leather material, which he could only assume was for crash landings. The jacket’s base color was white. On both of the long sleeves of the jacket, there was a single stripe going down the center. On the left sleeve, it was a mocha brown, however, on the right sleeve, it was a sage green color. The bottom trim, sleeve cuffs, and upper trim of the jacket matched the stripe colors. Meaning that the left of the jacket had mocha brown trims and cuffs, but the right of the jacket had sage green trims and cuffs.

At least the color isn’t too bad. Besides, I’ll save some money up and get myself a new custom one, as Tubbo said. Well, if I decide to stick around on the team that is.

Tommy nodded contently to himself before slipping the jacket on, humming at the nice fit. He looked over at Purpled to see that they were wearing identical jackets.

“What does it say on the back?” Tommy questioned, trying to make out the letters on the back of his friend's jacket. “Oh! It says Rage Riots. It’s the team name! When you get a custom jacket as long as there’s the name of the team on the back and the team colors somewhere it doesn’t matter. The team colors are the mocha-ish brown and the sage green if you hadn’t noticed. Also, on your custom jacket, it doesn’t have to have the colors in a big portion of it. Just somewhere, ya know?”

Tommy and Purpled both nodded.

“Alright, c’mon.” Tubbo led them out of the room, walking over to a back corner of the shop where two brand new motorcycles sat. “These are gonna be yours! We should have time for paint jobs and some LEDs if you guys want.”

Tubbo asked a bunch of questions about colors accents, LEDs, patterns, etc. He wrote down everything that Purpled or Tommy said and suggested that they wanted on their motorcycles and helmets.

The next two hours were spent with Tubbo and someone who was introduced as Foolish working on the two bikes. Foolish was the adult mechanic Tommy had seen but not spoken to right before his interview previously.

The two mechanics made both Tommy and Purpled wait in the indoor area of the garage while they worked on the bikes. Not that either of them was complaining though, they got to hang out in a lounge area carefree. Both of them just hung out in the lounge and chatted while messing around on their phones for two hours.

Tommy was busy scrolling through his for you page on TikTok when Tubbo called out for them.

“GUYS! COME SEE THE BIKES! THEY’RE DONE!”

Purpled practically jumped out of the chair that he had been seated in and raced out of the door, running over to where the bikes had been previously. Tommy soon followed, but neither of them was prepared for what the bikes looked like.

Purpled’s bike was neon purple toward the top, but it faded into a darker purple toward the bottom of the motorcycle. There were purple LEDs on his tires, making them light up a neon purple. A motorcycle helmet sat on top of the bike seat as well. The helmet had the same neon purple to dark purple gradient as the bike. Two neon purple alien-looking antennas suck out from the top of the helmet.

On the other hand, Tommy’s bike had a jet-black base, on the sides it had blood-red stripes going across it. Along those stripes were red LED lights that were pretty well hidden, unless you were right next to the motorcycle you wouldn’t be able to tell that there were any LEDs unless they were turned on. Near the tires, there was a gradient from black to bright red going toward the bottom. His helmet sat on top of the bike seat. The helmet was black with two blood-red stripes, there were LEDs along with the two stripes, matching the motorcycle. His helmet also had gold accents.

They both stared at the motorcycles in awe for a while, Purpled was the first to speak up. “These are so fucking cool! What the hell? They completely match everything that we asked for!” He ran toward his motorcycle, picking up the helmet and staring at it. Tubbo nodded. “Foolish and I know what we’re doin’ boss man.”

Tommy walked over to his motorcycle, picking up the helmet that was sitting on the seat of it. After a few moments of taking his bike in, he stood up after deciding that the seat was comfortable enough. “This is sick, thanks, Big T. Won’t let you down at the races.” Purpled elbowed Tommy in the gut, causing Tommy to cough and stumbled backward, hitting the wall in the process. Thankfully, he managed to hold onto his motorcycle helmet. “WHAT THE FU-”

“Shut up!” Purpled glared at Tommy. “Don’t you dare go into your whole; ‘I’m a disappointment’ mood. This is supposed to be fun Tommy- keyword f u n, fun. So stop worrying about if you are gonna do good and just focus on racing- I know that you like racing. I saw your face when you were riding Punz’s bike.”

Tommy smiled lightly. “Yeah… Yeah. You’re right, big man. Thanks. However, IF YOU ELBOW ME IN THE RIBS AGAIN, PRIME HELP ME I WILL-“

Foolish cut off Tommy quickly. “Hush! There is a customer near the front, and they’re gonna hear you! If we get another bad review during race prep time Sam is gonna never let me hear the end of it! I already managed to spill water all over that old lady…”

Tommy rolled his eyes but decided to listen, stopping his rant as Foolish requested.

Tubbo smiled brightly, the excitement practically radiating off of him. “Okay, okay, okay! You both need to pick your racer names so I can send them over to Sam- for the announcers, you know?”

Purpled and Tommy both stood silently for a good while, Purpled breaking the silence first.

“My racing name could be UFO? You know, to match with the whole alien concept of my helmet?” Tubbo nodded typing on his phone.

Tubbo looked up at Tommy who was still deep in thought. “What about you, big man?”

Tommy looked up. “Oh.. uhm..” He looked down at his helmet in his hands and then his motorbike. “Akuma? It means demon in Japanese, so…”

Tubbo nodded before typing on his phone some more. Purpled shoved his fist into the air, smiling widely. “Let’s go! Today, we become racers!”

Tommy looked over at Tubbo. “Speaking of becoming racers… Tubbo, I’m gonna be wearing my helmet the whole time. I don’t feel comfortable with certain people knowing that I’m going this kind of stuff.”

Tubbo nodded. “Not a problem! Ranboo does that too. But if you decide to stick around on the team you’ll need a mask for after parties and interviews and stuff. So, just think about what you would want for that.”

Tommy hummed softly, looking down at the ground while Tubbo continued to type on his phone, most likely texting back and forth with Sam.

“I’m not too sure on what I’d want for a mask yet…” Tubbo chimed in, “that’s alright! Our team usually doesn’t get invited to after parties or interviews anyway- we’re sort of on a losing streak at the moment.”

Purpled smiled widely and wrapped an arm around Tommy’s shoulders. “Well, don’t worry! Tommy and I will fix that right up.”

“Sure big man- I swear your cocky attitude is gonna get you shot or somethin’. Not to mention your very shootable face!” “I- Shootable face?” “Yep. Let me demonstrate”

Tommy pushed Purpled’s hand off of his shoulder and backed up. He then made a finger gun and pointed it right at Grayson's face. “BAM! Your shot, die bitch.”

Purpled rolled his eyes, clearly not too thrilled with Tommy’s presentation.

Tommy just cackled.

Tubbo smiled, holding back a laugh of his own at Tommy’s antics. “Okay, guys- anyway. We need to get both your bikes and helmets over to the track. You could ride them over, but I don’t know what you would do with your brother's car. I can’t drive, but I’ll just walk- I prefer the walk anyway.”

A devilish smirk crept onto Purpled’s face. “No problem! I’ve got it. My brother will come to get his car.” Tubbo raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think he’ll agree to-” Purpled scoffed, shushing Tubbo. Then Purpled pulled his phone out and called Punz, putting it on speaker.

Punz picked up immediately, right after the first ring. “Where the hell are you and Tommy? I’ve been looking around for like- ten minutes! I still haven’t gotten to scream at him for keying my bike!”

Purpled only tsk’d. “That’s kind of rude- tell me, have you checked the parking lot recently, punz?”

There was a light static noise along with some shuffling. “Grayson. If I walk out to the parking lot and my car is not there, god fucking help me when I get my goddamn hands on-”

There was a long silence before Punz took a deep breath. “WHERE THE FUCK IS MY CAR PURPLED?”

Tubbo and Tommy started laughing and Purpled only rolled his eyes. “I could tell you- but, you said you would do bad things to me, not to mention your plan to scold Tommy… I don’t know if I want to enable you…”

There was another deep breath from the other side of the phone as Tommy began to wheeze.

“Purpled. I will not be upset with you, just tell me where my car is.”

“At Sam’s shop- I would drive it back… but, Tommy and I are going for a spin on our new motorcycles- you know how it is.”

“PURPLED- BRING MY FUCKING CAR BACK RIGHT NOW.”

“Mm…” Purpled tilted his head to the side, pretending to think which only caused Tommy to laugh more, gasping for air as he did so. Tubbo on the other hand, who had finished laughing a few moments ago, was watching Tommy’s struggle with amusement.

“No- Ima leave your keys in the front seat, you don’t even deserve the center console- I suggest you start walking before someone comes and steals your car.”

“PURPLED- I SWEAR TO GOD! BRING MY FUCKING CAR BACK OR I AM GOING TO STA-”

The yelling was cut off by Purpled ending the call, looking over at Tommy who was now sitting on the ground, helmet discarded next to him as he gasped for air.

Purpled put his phone back into his pocket as he shrugged. “Welp, guess he’s gonna be heading over to pick up his car now.” Purpled took Punz’s car keys out of his pocket and ran out, returning a few minutes later without the keys.

Tommy had finally managed to catch his breath and stop laughing, a wide smile across his face. He got up and picked up his helmet once again, tucking it under his right arm. “That was great- that’s what he gets. We may die- but don’t worry, I can shank him!”

Tommy pulled a pocket knife out of his pocket and flicked it open. He then began making a stabbing motion in the air.

Purpled rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay. Whatever you say-” “SHANK!” “Oh my god shut up you-”

Tubbo cut Purpled off. “Sorry to cut this- amazing moment short. But, you both need to get over to the racing track ASAP.”

Tommy nodded. “Oh crap- I forgot my backpack in Punz’s car. I’ll be right back and then we can leave Purp- go ahead and get going Tubbo.”

Tubbo nodded before leaving through the back door. Tommy darted out the front door and ran over to Punz’s car. He opened the passenger side door and grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder.

Just as Tommy was about to close the car door, he spotted something. Sitting in the cup holder of the car was a pack of cigarettes. He picked them up, flipping the top open to see five cigarettes in the package.

Tommy let out a shaky exhale. He needed some cigarettes. Shlatt was out of town, he hadn’t had a cigarette in a week. A week.

Maybe Punz won’t notice…

Before Tommy could talk himself out of it, he took off his backpack and shoved the pack of cigarettes into the front pocket. He put the bag back on and shut the car door, running inside.

“I got my backpack! Sorry, Purp.” Purpled nodded in his direction, his helmet already on. Tommy walked over to his motorcycle and put on his helmet.

Purpled began to walk his motorcycle out through the back door, Tommy following soon after. Once they both made it to the road that went around the back of the shop, they got onto their bikes. Sure, Tommy didn’t have a license- but it’s fine…

They both drove down the street, luckily not getting stopped by any red lights. They reached the racing arena 15 minutes later and drove their bikes in through the back entrance. Tommy came to a skidding stop next to Punz’s bike and got off his bike. He kicked up the kickstand and took off his helmet, setting it on his tire.

Purpled came to a slow stop and got off, copying what Tommy did. They both walked over to where Ranboo was chatting with The Dream Team and joined in.

Everything was calm for the next thirty minutes. The atmosphere was filled with happiness and laughter. Well, until Punz showed back up.

Punz ran over and grabbed pulled, throwing him over his shoulder and slamming him to the ground. He stood up after and pointed a finger at Purpled. “YOU LITTLE SHIT!”

Purpled started coughing as he quickly got back up. Tommy in the meantime was laughing his ass off. Once Purpled finished his coughing fit he tackled Punz.

They both fought playfully, occasionally yelling out or laughing at the other. They fought for another ten minutes, finally stopping because Punz was tired.

They both stared at each other before Punz snapped. “Right! Did you guys see a pack of cigarettes in the car? Their Schlatt’s cigarettes. I was supposed to give them back, so I’m hoping I didn’t lose them.” Punz chuckled.

Oh. Shit.

“Huh? Nope-” Tommy shrugged. Purpled looked at Punz with a puzzled look. “Nada’ bro.” Punz sighed. “He’s gonna kill me! Oh well, I’ll find them sooner or later.” Punz then walked off back to his car, most likely to search for the missing cigarettes.

“Crazy’ innit?” Tommy rubbed the back of his neck, praying to whatever god there was that Purpled wouldn’t say anything.

“Tommy.”

“Huh? What's up?”

“Give them back.”

Fuck. Fuck you, god.

“Huh? What do you mean- haha-” Tommy chuckled nervously. “There's no reason to play dumb. I know you’ve taken them.” Tommy realized there wasn’t any true way out of this and so he came clean.

“Fine. Sure, I took them. But.. It's been a week! Cut me some fucking slack!”

“No, Tommy!” Purpled had a hint of venom in his voice. Shocked by Purpleds reaction, Tommy stepped back, his shoulders tensing slightly. “No matter how fucking hard your god damn life is you shouldn’t resort to shitty things like that!”

This fucking bastard.

“You don’t know my goddamn life! Ok, sure, it’s bad. I know it's bad! But, if I can cope like this then so be it!” Tommy looked at Purpled, enraged, that he’d even bring his personal life into his matter. It is none of his fucking business! Purpled gave him an equal look of anger back. “Well, you have a therapist… please! For fuck sake just stop. Not to mention you’ll go to the lengths of stealing?!”

“GOD! JUST SHUT UP! YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND.”
“SURE I DON’T. BUT YOU TALKING OR- OR- JUST– SOMETHING OTHER THAN THIS! OTHER THINGS CAN HELP YOU COPE, PLEASE.”

Purpled's continuous persistence in wanting him to stop smoking annoyed Tommy. Their screaming fight continued for around five minutes before Tommy got fed up. He knew it wasn’t healthy, but Purpled needed to get off of his back about it!

“So, please! Just return them damn it!”

“URGH! JUST- SHUT THE HELL UP GRAYSON!”

Grayson?
.
.
.
.
.
GRAYSON?!

THWACK!

“You..” Purpled brought his hand up to his nose. A look of horror came onto his face when he pulled his hand away from his nose.

Blood.

“Oh- I’m- uh-” Tommy stuttered out, guilt and regret immediately filling his senses.

“HOW DARE YOU CALL ME GRAYSON!” The previous horror-filled expression on Purpled’s face turned to one of blind rage. Purpled punched Tommy in the stomach with the same force behind his swing.

THUNK

“You– fucking.. BASTARD!” Tommy yelled out before delivering another blow to Purpled’s face, hitting his jaw this time.

THUWCK

“Wait! Tommy! I don’t want to-” All previous anger was gone when Purpled spoke. He now looked distressed and sad.

“Enough chit chat bitch! We’re DONE here.” Tommy sneered, ignoring the pain in his stomach as he ran out of the racing track. He didn’t bother getting his motorcycle. He’d be damned if he raced after what just happened.

Tommy ran down the sidewalk, taking familiar turns and shortcuts through alleyways. His mind was on autopilot as he ran, tears blurring his vision slightly. The small thump of the backpack hitting against his back as he ran kept him grounded.

He ran away from the busy chatter and tall buildings of Manberg (or as he calls it, L’manberg). He was heading to Pogtopia.

Pogtopia is an old abandoned apartment building near the edge of the forest. Tommy originally found it with Wilbur… but!- he eventually brought Purpled and Punz to it, and it became their hideout.

Tommy and Wilbur had spray-painted ‘POGTOPIA’ in large neon-red letters on the side of the building. The first and second floors were left as is (other than a few repairs on the stairs) in case cops showed up.

The third floor however had multiple rooms cleared out for different purposes. There was a workout/training room, a pantry-type room, a hangout room with beanbags, and three different bedrooms. Of course, it wasn’t the nicest place ever, and it still looked completely abandoned on the outside… but, it was a place that the three mutually agreed to as the spot for their worries to slip away.

Tommy ran into the abandoned building, hopping through a broken window to get in. He went up the stairs, tears streaming down his face. Eventually, he found himself on the flat roof of the building. Thankfully, the roof was still holding up great other than the railings being missing from multiple spots along the edges.

A small area of the roof had a tent overhang with chairs, blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals. Not to mention the many different board and card games. A small radio also sat next to the chairs, but the radio stopped working due to water damage a few months after Wilbur left.

Tommy walked toward the edge of the roof and sat down, sliding his backpack off of his shoulders. The backpack hit the ground with a quiet thud. Tommy opened the backpack and pulled out the stolen cigarettes along with an old lighter.

The lighter was a dark red color. It had been Wilbur’s lighter, something that he had left behind in his nightstand drawer after leaving for college.

Tommy hung his legs off the side of the apartment complex. He began to swing his legs, his tears coming to a pause as he focused on the quiet thuds that were coming from his heels hitting the building lightly. He stared down at the city, or at least what he could see of the city.

He flipped open the pack of cigarettes, pulling one out. The cigarette pack was then placed back into his backpack, the backpack being zipped up. Tommy flicked his lighter on and lit the cigarette in his hand with perfected motions.

He took a drag from his cigarette. The smoke wrapped around his tongue, causing him to relish in the taste. It was fulfilling as if the nicotine was the only thing he would ever need in his body. The taste itself was rich and earthy, but Tommy could taste something slightly sour that was hidden underneath the nicotine. He had always preferred menthols for their minty taste, but beggars can’t be choosers.

He let the smoke flow out of his mouth. Tommy had always hated how when he held the smoke for too long in his mouth it would cause his saliva to build up.

He set down his dark red lighter on the concrete of the roof. When his gaze lowered, he found that his right hand oddly resembled Wilbur’s hand. He held his cigarette in between his pointer and middle finger, built-up dirt showing clearly underneath his nails. For some reason, the normally weightless cigarette felt heavy in his hand.

Tommy took another drag of his cigarette, flicking the spent ash into a small pile on the concrete roof. He closed his eyes and decided to do something he doesn’t do by choice very often. As he inhaled the scent of smoke, he thought.

He thought about Wilbur, about Techno, he even thought about fucking Phil. He would probably never say it out loud, but he missed them. He missed them so much. Maybe if they didn’t leave for college Phil would still act as if he cared.

Why did they leave?

…

…

…

Tommy’s intrusive thoughts began to whisper. Logically, he knew that what they said to him wasn’t true- but it felt so real. While he sat on the edge of the building, cigarette in hand, he couldn’t help but listen to and believe the voices in his head as they spoke.

‘They left because you aren’t good enough. Wilbur left because you weren’t smart enough to find new ways to entertain him anymore, and Techno left because you weren’t strong enough to put up a fight. They didn’t bother to keep in contact because they don’t need you. You hear them every Sunday night on the phone with Phil. They like Phil, they talk to Phil. They don’t talk to you. You’re useless-’

The voices were cut off by the sound of a metal door closing. He opened his eyes. Tommy looked back to see Purpled running across the roof, heading straight toward him. He sighed, looking down at his cigarette which he was only halfway done with.

Purpled sat down next to him, hanging his legs over the edge in a similar fashion. They both sat in silence as Tommy took the next five minutes to finish his cigarette. Once he was done, he pressed the bud onto the concrete roof and tossed it onto the ground.

Purpled sighed. “So…” He trailed off. Neither of them knew how to begin this conversation.

Tommy nodded. “So.”

Purpled looked at Tommy, and Tommy looked at Purpled. They were both sitting on a thin line, waiting for the other to cross first. Purpled crossed.

“Since.. uh. Since you never stopped smoking- or you just picked it up again? Did you…” Purpled raised his left arm, motioning toward his wrist.

Tommy paled once he realized what Purpled was referring to. He shook his head quickly. “No, I’m still clean in that category.”

Purpled nodded. “Right.” His arm lowered.

A long silence stretched between them. Eventually, Purpled sighed. “I’m gonna be honest- I’m pissed. I didn’t want to fight with you Tommy, but you called me.. that. Not to mention the smoking. Seriously man? You said that you had quit. You promised that you had fucking quit!”

Tommy nodded, staring off. “Yeah, you’re right. I lied to you, and I’m sorry. I called you something I knew would set you off because I was angry, and I’m sorry. You kind of deserve it for the Techno thing though.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I won’t bring up your family anymore.” Tommy nodded in acknowledgment, sighing. “Your nose okay Purp?”

Purpled chuckles. “Yeah, you didn’t break it or anything. Just gave me a pretty bad nose bleed-. I didn’t tell anyone about what happened either, just covered the nose bleed up by saying that I fell. Uh, they think that we left to get something to eat quickly by the way- at least, that’s what I said. I wanted to keep this between us. It seemed like a you and me issue, you know?”

Tommy nodded. “Yeah, I know. Thanks for that. It would have been really awkward having to talk to everybody else about it.”

Purpled nodded, humming softly. Purpled soon shuffled rather awkwardly to move himself to sit closer to Tommy. “I have a question. Which is probably really personal- and I know that you... close yourself off when I ask about personal stuff, but I need to know.”

Tommy looked up at Purpled, confused. ‘What is he on about?’ He nodded at Purpled, clearly confused.

“Why can’t you just-.. stop smoking?.” Tommy glared hard at Purpled, causing his friend to rush to defend himself. “I mean!- Of Course, I know it’s hard! But Punz and I could have been your support system!-” Purpled continued to ramble on.

Tommy raised his hand, effectively shutting Purpled the fuck up. Tommy then ran his hand through his hair, a nervous habit he picked up from Wilbur a long time ago.

“I think..” Tommy paused, unsure of how to word what he was thinking. “I think that part of me is still waiting for my brothers to come back.”

Purpled groaned jokingly, throwing his hands up. “Really? Still? They left you dude!- they aren’t coming back.” Purpled huffed, frowning slightly.

Purpled’s joke fell flat. Instead of feeling amused, Tommy only felt angrier.

Tommy nodded subtly before standing up, his hands now clenched into tight fists. “Look, I know okay?! I know that they left me! I know that my family doesn’t love me! I don’t even fucking need them, okay?!” Tommy ranted angrily, his vision blurring with tears.

Purple realized that his joke hadn't been perceived well and he stood up and hugged Tommy. “Sorry- I-. Sorry, Tommy. I didn’t mean that.”

Tommy sighed, pushing Purpled away. He wiped the tears gathered in his eyes that were threatening to spill. “I know exactly how you fucking meant it Purpled.” He practically growled as he spoke. Purpled’s frown deepened.

His anger quickly subsided, and he sighed. He stretched his arms out, moving to stand so that the ends of his feet hung off the building’s ledge just barely.

Tommy looked down, peering at the ground beneath the building. He stared at it as he spoke, part of him wondering how long it would take for him to reach it if he jumped.

“You know, there have been at least ten times. Ten times that I’ve stood up here and almost ended it all. Ten different times I wanted to kill myself because-.” Tommy paused, tears running down his face again. “Purpled, I... I don’t like anything about myself. I’m not good enough for my family- they don’t even like anything about me!- they don’t even know me! I hear Phil on the phone with Wilbur and Techno every fucking Saturday. EVERY GODDAMN SATURDAY THEY SIT ON A PHONE CALL FOR HOURS!- WITHOUT ME!” Tommy began to cry, stepping back from the edge of the building.

Purpled looked at his friend in shock. Tommy didn’t cry. He just… didn’t. This was serious. Purpled needed to figure out a solution to his crying Tommy issue ASAP.

Purpled grabbed Tommy’s arm and pulled him closer, hugging him once again. Tommy didn’t pull away this time, instead, he hugged back as he sobbed into his friend’s shoulder.

Alright, so this was really serious. Tommy hated physical affection except for when he was extremely upset to the point where he wasn’t thinking coherently…..

“I’m so sorry Tommy. I-.” Purpled sighed deeply, his eyebrows furrowing. “Look, okay? No offense- but your family can go eat a bag of dicks! They suck ass man! You know what? Fuck their family calls on Saturday! From now on we’re going out somewhere together every goddamn Saturday afternoon, you hear me?!”

Tommy sniffled as he chuckled wetly, his sobs reduced to soft cries. Purpled continued talking while he rubbed circles into Tommy’s back, attempting to comfort him.

“I’ll tell you what- we’ll go to the race, we’ll kick fucking ass!- then, we can go shopping and get you a total fucking makeover with the prize money. I’m talking shit like completely new furniture for your room, new posters, new decorations, new clothes- hell, maybe even get some more piercings or a stick and poke tattoo!”

Tommy was no longer crying as he began laughing. He rubbed the rest of his tears off his cheeks and shoved Purpled. “We get it, man- you like racing! Jesus fuck!-”

Purpled faked an annoyed look at the fact that Tommy had pushed him away, but he couldn’t have been happier. His being pushed away meant that Tommy was starting to get cheered up- Purpled was on the path to success!

After a moment, Purpled laughed as well. “You like it too, you can’t even lie! Besides, it’s currently the easiest access we have to money. You better shut up before I get my hands on a spoon!-” He punched Tommy softly in the shoulder.

Tommy laughed before he smiled softly. “I think... I think that I would really like that Purpled. The whole makeover thing-. You know, maybe I need a whole new personality and style that I’ll like to fit with me… with Akuma. Maybe I just need to become someone that I like, not someone that my nonexistent family likes. Maybe this whole racing thing can seriously work out for me… and you..”

Purpled nodded, a smile mirroring Tommy’s appearing on his face. “Fuck yeah!” He pumped his fist into the air.

Tommy rolled his eyes jokingly. “Uh. Can we maybe.. not- uh. Not tell Punz that I stole his cigarettes?”

Purpled sighed deeply. A few moments later he grabbed Tommy’s hand. “Yeah, it can be our secret. But uh, just don’t steal from him again like that. If you’re gonna keep smoking- I won’t judge you. Just, don’t lie to me about it.”

Tommy nodded, his grip momentarily tightening on Purpled’s hand. “Yeah. Alright.”

The two of them walked back to the racing track together. They mindlessly made conversation as they strode down the sidewalk, occasionally getting weird looks from others.

The weird looks were mostly aimed at Tommy, given to him by parents that weren’t fond of his loud cursing. It didn’t stop Tommy’s insults or Purpled’s threats though.

Eventually, they reached the racing tracks. They both walked in through the back entrance.

Tommy for the first time in a long time, as he looked around at the few people that were beginning to fill the stadium’s seats, felt confident.

As he and Purpled began walking over to where the rest of their team was, he couldn’t help but feel excited. Tommy was gonna race. He was gonna fucking race!-

As Tommy looked over at his motorcycle, he sighed softly. This was it. This was the last moment before he became someone new. Before he became Akuma.

Tommy couldn’t help but relish in the moment of silence that he was given. The only thing heard was the clinking of last-minute fixes being done on motorcycles and the repair stations being set up for the races.

Tommy wanted to stay in this moment forever. He wanted to stay feeling how he was right now, calm and yet somehow so hyper. Excited yet someone how nervous.

Tommy closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. This is it. This is ever-

“WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN?! YOU LEAVE TO GET FOOD AND YOU DON’T SHOW BACK UP UNTIL FIVE FUCKING MINUTES BEFORE THE RACE STARTS?!”

Tommy opened his eyes, grumbling. Right, everything has its downsides. Turns out that the downside to being on the racing team just so happens to be an angry gremlin named Tubbo.

Chapter Text

“Tubboooooo- my mannnn!” Tommy chuckled awkwardly while rubbing the back of his neck. He was most definitely not expecting a scolding right after the argument he had with Purpled. Honestly, he didn’t know if he could take it… But, he is Tommy after all!- He can bullshit his way out of pretty much anything.

Tubbo only shook his head angrily in response. “The races are literally starting in like five fucking minutes!” His hands were both thrown up in the air to emphasize his anger. Rather than seeming intimidating, it only made him look sort of like an…… iron golem?

Purpled waved his hand dismissively. “So? We made it here before they started, didn’t we? I’m not a fan of your gaslight, gatekeep, girl bossing right now.”

Tommy began to cackle loudly as Tubbo threw his hands up in the air once again. “IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE IF YOU HAD BOTH SHOWED UP FOR THE FUCKING PRACTICE LAPS! NOW THE DREAM TEAM HAS NO IDEA WHAT TO EXPECT-”

Purpled rolled his eyes. “Isn’t that for the best anyway? We’re unpredictable new members. That should work in the Rage Riots favor.” Before Tubbo could respond (most likely by yelling) Purpled continued. “Look man, we’re wasting precious time talking to you right now. Are you gonna tell us what you want or what?”

Tubbo huffed loudly. “Well, since Tommy doesn’t want his identity to be shown we, COUGH COUGH I, got him a mask to wear in between races. I sort of just improvised since you WEREN’T FUCKING HERE to help me pick anything out. Let me go get the mask.” Tubbo walked off toward Ranboo’s repair station that had been previously set up.

Tommy smiled brightly. “I’m so fucking pumped big P, you have got no idea.”

Purpled rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I’m gonna move our bikes over to Punz's bike while you get your secret crap set up with Tubbo.” Purpled grabbed his bike handlebars and began to walk it over toward Punz’s bike.

Tommy hummed softly, rocking back and forth on his heels. He was fucking excited. He didn’t look around to see more people beginning to file into the seats.

Tubbo soon appeared holding a mask out for Tommy to take. He grabbed the mask, staring at it in awe. ‘This is fucking epic.’

The mask that Tommy was given was in the shape of a fox. It looked like it would only cover the upper half of his face. The mask was mainly black, but it had some red on it as well.

There were two stripes on both cheeks of the mask, perfectly symmetrical to each other. There was also a stripe going from above the nose to the forehead. Two smaller stripes angled at the large forehead stripe were also visible. All of the stripes were bright red. The two triangles inside of the mask’s ears were the same bright red.

A small black button was visible on the inner left side of the mask. Tommy clicked the button. A gasp left his mouth.

LEDs lit up that were previously not visible on the mask. There were LEDs outlining the entire mask, the mask’s eye holes, the nose, and the inner ear triangles. Tommy pressed a finger through the eye hole, only for it to get caught on something.

Upon further inspection he realized something. There was a black fabric on the inside of the mask covering the eye holes. Tommy lifted the mask to his face, positioning it accordingly. He snapped the strap together behind his head, smiling when the mask fits snugly against his face.

Tubbo smiled as well, a smile that he assumed was as bright as his own. “It looks great!- I went with a fox to match a kitsune. You know, the Japanese foxes from folklore? I thought it would fit since your racing name is also Japanese.”

Tommy’s eyes widened. He did not doubt that if his eyes had not been covered by the mask, he would have been laughed at for his expression. “I- Wow. Uh, thanks a lot, big man. Appreciate it.”

Tubbo nodded before grabbing Tommy’s hand. “Now, come on! We need to get to the racing seats.”

Tommy was dragged around the stadium, but he made no complaints. He was brought up the stairs and through the growing crowds of people in the stands. People were constantly turning to look at him.

It honestly made him rather uncomfortable.. but, he was with a popular racer- so it made sense. Not to mention his glowing mask which was bound to catch some attention.

Eventually, they made it to their seats. Tubbo left to sit by Ranboo(b) as Tommy looked through everybody. He saw Sam sitting with Puffy, Karl sitting with Quackity, and Dream sitting by George and Sapnap.

He couldn’t find Purpled or Punz. That was until he looked at the back. Tommy saw Purpled and Punz and rushed over. He sat next to Purpled who was staring at him with astonishment on his face.

“Dude- your mask is fucking sick! Now I’m wishing I went faceless just to get a cool mask.” Punz chimed in with his own noises of agreement.

Tommy laughed. “Well, you fucking didn’t bitch- now you have to live with the fact that all the women will be watching me and my mystery mask.”

“Sureeee- Whatever you say, Tommy”

“I do fucking say Purpled!”

Their conversation was cut off by a sound echoing from the speakers. Tommy looked downward at the track. A good distance in front of the track was a stage. On said stage was a desk with two seats which were currently filled with two people. Two microphones sat on the desk, a perfect spot for commentary.

“Welcome everybody to Creeper’s Circuit!”

The crowd cheered loudly. Tommy glanced over at Purpled to see his friend clapping, so he followed suit and clapped as well.

“My name is MrBeast! I’ll be your main announcer once again!”

The crowd cheered louder. Tommy’s own cheers joined the crowd this time.

“With me today is Chris-” “HELLO EVERYBODY!”

Something that seemed impossible happened. The cheers got louder. Tommy’s ears felt as if they were going to split open, but he would take the overbearing loud of the stadium over the quiet of his home any day. So, he cheered as well.

“Oh, would you look at that, Jimmy- Karl’s here... I’m surprised he’s not losing another island…”

Karl stood up immediately, cupping his hands around his mouth. “SHUT UP YOU NIMROD!”

Mrbeast (Jimmy?) and Chris both cackled into the microphones, their laughter coming through the speakers loudly.

Mrbeast spoke again next. “Alright Chris, enough making fun of Karl. We need to get these races started… but the crowd doesn’t seem very excited yet. Any ideas Chris?”

The crowd quieted down. Tommy was unsure of what was going on since he and Purpled usually went to watch the car races rather than the motorcycle ones. He followed along with the crowd though.

Chris smiled brightly. He smiled so widely that people from the very back of the stadium could see his smile. “I think we should have both of the team captains race- Creeper and Captain! Won’t count towards anything of course though. What does the crowd think?!”

Many people stood up and the crowd roared. Random cheering and screaming came from every direction. Sam and another woman stood up in their section.

Tommy assumed that the woman was the other team’s captain- Puffy if what Punz told him was correct.

She had long curly hair that had been dyed pure white and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a white collared shirt with golden buttons. Dark brown pants were paired with her top, a golden belt matching the top’s buttons. Puffy’s outfit was topped off with her team’s jacket, much like Tommy’s own. The only differences were that her jacket was in the colors white, orange, green, and blue. Also, the name on the back was ‘Dream Team’.

Puffy and Sam both walked down the stairs, exiting through the gate meant only for racers. Ranboo and Karl followed soon after.

Karl and Ranboo both moved over to their stations that had been previously set up for bike repairs. Sam and Puffy on the other hand moved to their bikes.

They each moved their bikes towards the track. Workers stationed on the sidelines handed them their helmets and other various gear. While Puffy was putting her hair up, she got an idea. “Say…” She looked over at Mr.Beast aka Jimmy. She quickly made her way over to the small stage and reached a hand out towards him. “Hand me the mic will ya?” Mr.Beast did so and the crowd cheered once again. It was as if the crowd cheered whenever someone spoke- similar to a hive mind.

“Well hello to you too!” She smiled. “Welcome everyone, to the first race of the season!” The crowd roared and got louder with each passing second. Puffy raised her hand and the crowd eventually quieted down a bit so she could continue speaking; however, she still had to speak over everyone. “Ok! Well, looks like we’re all pretty excited huh? We are too! But.. oh..” The crowd went nearly silent. “I just have this feeling… we.. we won’t know who’ll win!” The crowd began chanting the various team names. “Oh, well, looks like we’ll never know! I hear both the team names at once!” She giggled. “Well, enough of this– Hey Sam, how many laps are we thinkin’?” “2? Keep it short? Leave the spotlight for what they really came for.” “I say 3– ok crowd! Two or three laps?” The crowd began chanting “Three! Three!” Over and over again. “You heard 'em’ three it is!” Sam just shrugged and put his knee scrapers on. Puffy gave the mic back over to Mr.Beast so he could entertain them while they waited for the two to gear up.

“This is gonna be so sick!” Purpled and Tommy said simultaneously, both smiling. “And what's better is, we’re in it!” Purpled’s eyes practically glistened at the thought of racing. “Heh, yeah. It's gonna be amazing! We’re, COUGH COUGH, I’m totally gonna win!” “Ug- rude! I have a chance as well, you know!” Tommy smirked. “Sure.. sure..” Before Purpled could reply an even more hyped voice of Mr.Beast went through the speakers.

“OK! Who’s ready for some RACING!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Yelling and cheering came from every part of the stadium. “Our wonderful team captains are now ready to race and give you all a show!”

“I can’t wait!! Purpled was practically jumping out of his seat.
Before walking their bikes onto the track and putting their helmets on, they each bid each other good luck. “I see you have the knee scrapers?” “So do you.” “Auto-pilot.” “Same.” “Welp, good luck?” “Hah, as if I’ll need it. But.. you’ll probably need it. Good luck!” And with that, he walked his bike up onto the track and put his helmet on. Puffy fake gasped at his comment. “The nerve!” She smiled and then did the same as Sam.

“Now, as per usual, the bets came rolling in. Sadly, we didn’t put any warning that they’d be racing! But, that's fine. All we need is to be SUPER HYPED!” Again the crowd roared. “Let's get right into it! Chris, would you do the honor of shooting the gun?” “Why yes of course!” Chris walked over to a platform and grabbed the starting pistol. He climbed up and was in position.

“Racers! Get on your bikes!”

The crowd was excited.

“Oh! Oh! Oh! It's happening!!” Purpled’s smile was huge.

“And on your mark,”
“Get set….”
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The crowd eagerly waited as Chris had a contemplating look on his face.
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PSSSSSSSSSST “AND GO!”

VROOOOOOOOOOOM. The two motorcycle engines roared to life as they sped through the track. Tommy and Purpled were enticed by how polished their racing skills were. As Puffy came to a turn, she stood up and waved to the crowd. Who of course waved back enthusiastically (If Purpled and Tommy were part of the people who waved, nobody said anything about it). Sam zoomed past her, and Puffy’s competitive side started showing. She sat back down and pressed hard on the gas pedal. She leaned down as close as the handles would let her. Both racers were neck and neck in no time, but before Sam could get ahead, he decided to have some fun. Putting his weight on the back of the motorcycle, bringing the front wheel up, and doing a wheelie. The crowd seemed to love this even though it's clearly overused. Puffy rolled her eyes and took her hands off the handles. Waving at the crowd again but occasionally made little hearts with her hands.

“Hah, you should make a heart back!” He elbowed Purpled. “What? If anything, Big man Tom- COUGH COUGH, AKUMA- should do it!” “Pfft, Fine! Only for 20 bucks though.” “20 bucks granted!” Tommy then made a small heart back to Puffy, which, to the luck of Big Man Tommy, Puffy saw and made eye contact with him. “OH SHIT SHE SAW ME-” He quickly put his hands down. Puffy just silently laughed after seeing his reaction. By now both Sam and Puffy were back to normal racing.

Purpled was left laughing his ass off at Tommy’s misfortune. Tommy slapped Purpled hard against the back of his head, efficiently shutting him up… for about two seconds. “WHAT THE FUCK TOMMY?!”

Tommy mocked Purpled by using an awful American accent. “WhAt ThE fUcK tOmMy- DON’T LAUGH AT ME BITCH! AND USE MY STAGE NAME BITCH.” Purpled scoffed before crossing his arms.

Tommy shrugged. “Anyway. Why the hell are they doing stuff like that? They’re doing a bunch of weird stuff like waving and doing wheelies. Why aren’t they just focused on beating each other?” Purpled paused before responding, looking back at the track to see what looked like Puffy playfully attempting to run Sam off the track.

“I’m honestly not too sure-? In the car races, they didn’t do any crap like this…” He trailed off only to be cut off by Tubbo leaning down from the seat above him and answering. “Well, Let me provide the answer.”

Tommy looked over and so did Purpled. Tubbo cleared his throat. “Since Creepers Circuit is owned by Sam instead of some random company it’s less focused on the actual racing aspect. You see, racers make a profit off of not only prize money during races like this- but also the betting money that people lose. The more entertained the crowd is, the more likely they are to come back next time. So the racers tend to try and pull off tricks. Plus- Sam gives the person who gets betted on the most a bonus of like 100 bucks. The more popular you are, the more money you get.”

Tommy nodded. “Well, that won’t be a problem for big man Akuma here. All the ladies will L O V E me!” Purpled shook his head at Tommy’s antics, looking much like a disappointed parent. Tubbo rolled his eyes and went back to sitting normally to watch the race.

Tommy laughed for a bit. Then, he looked back down at the track along with Purpled to continue watching the race. The embarrassing memory of the events that just happened with Puffy was quickly pushed away. Tommy could only hope that she wouldn’t bring it up in any future conversations between the two.

By now, Sam and Puffy were on their final lap. Both Sam and Puffy had the idea of; Let's add some spice. So, on the next turn, Sam and Puffy turned on their pro-racer personas. They both sped up, Sam going a little bit faster than Puffy. Both of the riders shifted their motorcycles into sixth gear at top speed. Puffy sped up, now going faster than Sam. She was the one who got to take the turn first.

She pushed the right handlebar downward as she began to lean closer to the track. Her body was shifted to the right side of the bike to aid in gravity pulling the bike downward. She braked slightly, but not all the way, to slow the bike slightly as she turned. Puffy positioned her knee as her knee scraper came into contact with the ground as the bike turned. Once the curve was finished she brought her body weight back up, efficiently bringing the bike back up as well.

Sam soon followed, copying her turn. The crowd went wild as the two experienced racers went back to fighting each other for first place. The race was once again neck and neck.

“Woah! What the hell?!” Tommy gawked at the sight in front of him. “Their knees were practically on the track! How did they get so low?!” Purpled asked. Tubbo just grumbled at the two annoying idiots' lack of knowledge about racing.

Why fucking race when you have NO CLUE WHAT'S HAPPENING?!?!

It was the last stretch. Whoever wins this will have eternal glory for the rest of the season (and not to mention bragging rights) and it will tell everyone which team will have the upper hand today! The fates of both the teams on this fateful day will be wholly decided based on——

“AND IT'S A TIE!”

Tommy gasped loudly. “WHAT?!” Purpled threw his hands up in the air. “No way it was a tie!”

Tubbo rolled his eyes and leaned over once again. These idiots seriously don’t know anything. “Of course, it’s a tie.”

Purpled scoffed. “What do you mean ‘of course’?” Tubbo smirked. “It’s staged, duh.” Tommy’s eyes widened dramatically under his mask. “HUH?”

Tubbo laughed quietly as Ranboo spoke up from behind them. “Well, they always call their races a tie. Usually, Puffy and Sam will make it close on purpose so that the race can be called a tie. The announcers often use Puffy and Sam to get the races going since they can do cool tricks and turns easily… but if they called one of them a winner it would most likely make the crowd unhappy that one of them lost. By the announcers claiming that it was a tie it keeps their rivalry going until the next race.”

“Oh. That actually makes a lot of sense.” Tommy nodded along with Purpled’s statement. It sucked that they didn’t get to know who the actual winner was- but he could probably ask Sam who actually won later.

The crowd had been screeching in disagreement while the four spoke. Now that their conversation was over, they all listened in on what various people were yelling.

“No! Puffy obviously won!”
“SAM WAS FASTER!”
Continued petty arguments broke out until an annoying screech of the microphone broke them up.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The two racers were now standing on the stage along with the announcers. Sam looked a bit upset at the crowds arguing.

“Mm... I think it was a tie. What do you think Chris?” “Well, it was pretty close and…… IT WAS A TIE!” Sam then grabbed a microphone from Chris as the crowd continued to argue.

“Ok. Ok. We can hear you guys. Lo and behold it was a tie–” Grumbling from the crowd could be heard. “Oh but just wait. Lets- let's look at the positive side here. Ironically, we have some newbies racing with us today on the team after THE BETRAYAL OF NOT ONLY NEVADAS... BUT ALSO KALEIDOSCOPE! Not to fear, however, we have got two brand new people to replace the traitors on our team!”

Sam looked over to where Purpled and Tommy were sitting and waved to them both. Purpled stood up and grabbed Tommy’s arm, forcing the other to stand up as well. They both waved while looking around the crowd at people staring at them.

And with the mentions of newbies, the crowd erupted with cheer. Each and every one of them wanted to know how it would play out. Many people were also yelling out things about how they would miss the two previous members of the team. Puffy took the mic from Sam.

“Don’t worry everyone!- Both Nevadas and Kaleidoscope will be continuing to race, but now they are with The Dream Team!!! Show them some love!”

The crowd cheered once again. The previously upset people were now also cheering along. Karl and Quackity both stood up to wave as Purpled and Tommy sat back down.

Puffy spoke into the mic once again after all racers had sat back down. “Now, who’s ready for some more racing?!”

The crowd erupted into cheering and screaming. Everyone seemed to be thrilled to watch them race, it was everything Tommy hoped it would be. Everyone wanted to see him race. They were going to be watching him!

Purpled must have sensed Tommy’s excitement rush because he placed his hand on the blonde’s shoulder. Tommy looked over to see his friend smiling. Purpled mouthed the words; ‘told you it was a good idea’ before Puffy continued.

“As much as I love talking to everyone-” She blew a kiss to the crowd as Sam rolled his eyes and fake barfed. Most of the crowd laughed, racers included.

Puffy punched Sam’s arm lightly before she continued. “To be able to get on with today's race- I have to give this microphone back to our wonderful announcers. Hope you guys enjoy the show!” Puffy quickly handed the microphone back to Chris.

The two racers went to their separate repair stations to take off their knee scrapers and return the rest of their gear. The two motorcycles were both moved off the track by more sideline workers.

Puffy and Sam both walked up the stairs, and back into their stadium seats in the racer section. Puffy sat with The Dream Team and Sam sat with The Rage Riots. Puffy may have sent a look to Tommy, but he also may have been imagining it due to the still very fresh embarrassment he felt due to the…… heart situation.

MrBeast cleared his throat, making the attention of the audience once again turn to the announcers’ stage. “Well, I’m sure that we all enjoyed that amazing beginning race. However, we need to begin the races that actually count towards the first winning team of the season!”

“Of course Jimmy, you’re right. We don’t want to waste all day chatting about the captains’ race anyway. Do you think we should let the audience decide who races next?” Chris smiled when MrBeast turned his head to face the audience. “Hm, I don’t know. Would you guys like to pick?”

The audience roared out with various affirmations. An adequate response.

“Alright, Alright! Chris and I have heard you. Now... Let’s see what our options are.” Jimmy paused as he put the microphone back onto its’ stand. He picked up a piece of paper (which Tommy assumed was the racing order?). (cough, anyway.)

“We can either have Burning Blaze and Nuke race-” He was cut off by the loud cheering coming from the crowd. A few minutes later, the cheering died down and he was able to continue. “Or!- We can have 404 and UFO, one of the two newbies, race.”

The crowd began screaming different things. Most of the crowd seemed to want to see Purpled and George race, so that’s what was decided. “Alright then! Let’s have the first official race. UFO, 404, come down and get geared up!”

Tommy looked over at his friend in excitement. Purpled is gonna fuckin’ race!

Purpled… did not share the same sentiment. Purpled’s face had paled significantly and he was definitely not going down to the track.

“Uh... Big P?” “Oh my god- I have to face first out of everyone on the team?! What the shit?!” Tommy laughed. “You’re the one who was so excited about all this!” Purpled gawked at him. “Yeah- but that was before I was thrown to the fucking wolves!”

Tommy punched him in the shoulder. “Stop being so overdramatic you scene kid fuck.” Purpled was about to protest, but Tommy shoved him. “Dude!- 404 is already down there getting geared up. So stop being such a pussy and go!”

Purpled huffed loudly, but he got up. “I’m gonna yell at and possibly threaten you for that scene kid comment when I get back.”

Purpled made his way down, angrily muttering threats that he’d oh so casually relay back to Tommy. Once down there, he couldn’t help but stare for another good 30 seconds at how cool everything was. Tommy was staring at him and rolled his eyes.

Purpled didn’t know what to do. But thankfully, the angry gremlin protector was there. So he walked over and greeted him nervously. “Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey! Angry gremlin protector right?” Said gremlin protector gave a confused look before catching on, he heavily sighed before replying. “Yes….” “Great! Now, I’m not exactly sure what I do……..” Angry Gremlin protector aka Ranboo just nodded and tilted his head over to Purpled’s gear. “Put the knee pads on, you can put your helmet on now or wait till you're on the track.” Purpled face lit up but soon went dim. “Ehh? No fancy metal thingies?” Ranboo(b) shook his head. “Nope. Those are their own I guess– they do racing as a profession, so...” Purpled just silently walked over in despair.

Why must everyone else be so cool... I’m over here still getting whiplash from my emo phase… we don’t talk or think about that, shut up thoughts.

He put on his knee pads and held his helmet with his arm, he then walked his bike over to the track. 404 was already there with his helmet on. Purpled took note of George’s very basic yet cool helmet. The helmet was dark blue with white stripes along the middle and back. The lenses were black and the numbers, “404” were in white lettering on the back.

But.. mine’s... Cooler...

He got onto the track and propped his motorcycle up as he shoved his helmet on.

Hehe. Aliens.

The familiar voice of Mr.Beast came back over the speakers.

“Well, well, well, folks! Looks like our two, looooooooooooooooooooooovely racers are ready! Who’s excited to see how this newbie races?!” The crowd roared with cheers and shouts. “Ohohoho! We’re excited, aren’t we? Well, Chris, take it away!”

“Well Jimmy, don’t mind if I do.”

He got back onto the platform and took the starting gun.

“AND ON YOUR MARKS…”
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“GET SETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT…..”
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Just hurry up you insolent human. 404 was not pleased.

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“AND A GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Purpled started just a second faster than 404, but that was enough to put him in the lead. “Huh!?” 404 was a little startled but quickly regained his composure and put on a more, ‘fierce racing look’. Purpled on the other hand was ecstatic as this new experience was way more fun than he expected. His wild grin was thankfully hidden behind his helmet.

Holy shit! I’m actually doing this! Holy FUCK!

404 being 404 wanted to speed up, yet his brain told him not to. It simply wasn’t logical to take such a risk while racing with UFO.

He’s a newbie. Probably scared to even speed up! I’ll win this. For sure!

Oh. How horribly that played out for 404. Just his luck, Purpled decided to speed up and went zooming across the track! Shocking the crowd at how fearless he was. In reality, Purpled just wanted to go vroom vroom.

And vroom vroom he went.

You know, you’d think that with someone who has so little racing and driving experience, they’d be scared to even race. Not for Purpled. Nuh-uh, no sirree. His utter determination to win, blind confidence, and joy blocked out all fear. 404 was pissed at this and sped up as well. He pulled the throttle back towards him as much as he could as his bike began to speed up to his opponent’s.

“Wow! Holy shit! Purp’s really going after it!” Tommy smiled while watching Purpled gleefully speeding.

HAH! THE COPS CAN’T SAY ANYTHING NOW! Purpled needs help. Not just any help, mental help.

“Wow!” Mr.Beast’s voice rang throughout the stadium. “He’s good! Are you sure he’s a newbie Sam?” He looked over at him and Sam just nodded. “So fearless!”

To Purpled, those words felt awesome. He’s getting complimented by someone and it isn’t sarcastic!- People think he’s cool!- they are completely right of course. He is very cool.

I will not let this little- dumb baby boy newbie win! I’ve raced for years! (It's been 2, chill out bro.) I’m not gonna let some dumb dumb baby boy win first tr—

“AND UFO WINS!”

“WHAT!?” Various members of the Dream Team shouted out.

“LETS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!” Tommy shot up from his seat and started cheering.

Purpled skidded to a stop and put his kickstand down. He got off and took his helmet off, waving to the crowd. Suddenly, the crowd started chanting, “UFO. UFO. UFO.” and Tommy joined in happily. Purpled’s smile was huge as he was resisting the urge not to scream. 404’s team members came running down as soon as he got off the track.

“George! You let some newbie beat you!?” Dream exclaimed. “Oh shush up. It is not– it's not my fault I’m colorblind!” “HOW DOES THAT PLAY WITHIN THIS?!” “HE PROBABLY USED THAT AGAINST ME!” Purpled overheard and smirked. He walked over to 404 aka George and held his chin up high. “Yes! I did indeed use all the colors against you.” “SEE!?” Everyone but George just sighed while Purpled laughed hysterically. George pouted.

“Well, if they both say it… then I guess it must be tru-” “SHUT UP YOU SIMP-!” “I AM NOT A SIMP SAPNAP!” “YES YOU ARE- MISTER DREAMIE WEAMIE IS SIMPING FOR GOGY-”

Chris coughed into the microphone. “As much as I hate to break up this… thrilling conversation, all of you get back to the stand because it is time for our next race!”

Everyone went back to their seats in the crowd as George and Purpled’s bikes were put up. The second Purpled sat down, Tommy was ranting.

“Oh my god, big man! You looked so fucking cool-! George is so stupid and slow and colorblind- and your so manly and purple!- and-”

Purpled put his hand over Tommy’s mouth to get him to shut up. Tommy licked his hand, causing Purpled to immediately pull away. “EW! WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“Oh shut up Purpled- you literally made out with Punz’s car tire for thirty bucks last week.”

“HE DID WHAT?!” Punz looked absolutely horrified.

“BESIDES THE POINT!” Purpled crossed his arms, huffing loudly. “As much as I love you and your endless talking Tommy- I have a headache from dealing with the stupidity of 404.”

Tommy was going to complain- but he took a moment to think. Huh. “Honestly… fair.” Tommy leaned back. He didn’t really have any room to complain as long as he wasn’t getting yelled at for-

“As for that ’scene kid’ comment.” He spoke too soon. “HOW FUCKING DARE-”

Purpled was cut off by Tommy’s saving grace; Mr.Beast. “Alllll right everybodyyyy! The score is currently 1 - 0 with The Rage Riots currently in the lead. Next up is the race between Burning Blaze and Nuke! Come on down guys!”

Purpled sent Tommy a ‘we’ll talk about this later’ look. …Amazing.

“Looks like it’s my time to shine fuckers!” Tubbo gleefully stood up and immediately tripped. Falling back into his seat. “Yeah, so much for your time to shine.” Tommy sneered. “Shut the fuck up!” Tubbo once again stood up and successfully made his way down. There, he did all the basic procedures but before heading on to the track, he decided to talk to Ranboo.

“Tommy and his stupid blonde self made fun of me! Can you believe them?!” He huffed loudly while stopping his foot on the ground.

“No wonder they call me angry gremlin protector…” Ranboo is tired. Please get this man some help. Please.

“What!?” “Tubbo, just go race— and leave it alone. If you’re angry you won’t race as well.” “Ugh. Fine Momboo!!” “Thank you.” Tubbo rolled his eyes and walked his bike onto the track. Sapnap was already there.

“Well hello there- traitor!”

“Oh shush! Let’s just get this over with.” Tubbo shook his head angrily and shoved his helmet on. He got onto his bike and was ready for some racing fun!

“OK OK!” Chris shouted. He was still on the platform.
“LET'S GET THIS RACE A-GOING, WITH A READY..”
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“SET……”

I am going to kill that traitor bitch! Except I haven’t raced in a while….

“GO!!!!”

ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM Sapnap took off with a fiery start! Easily taking the lead and leaving an even angrier Tubbo to catch up.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I GET A PENALTY! CMON… THEY DESERVED TO BE RUN OVER! GOD!

Even though missing a little bit of racing isn’t terrible in most cases, it was for Tubbo! Just to his luck Sapnap has been training and doing racing stuff more often during those 3 weeks of his no racing punishment. Compared to Sapnap— Tubbo was rusty.

He tried to speed up but almost lost control and crashed, luckily— he didn’t. Medical bills are to now one's worries.

GAWD DAMN IT

The crowd roared with chants and laughter at the comedic race. Tubbo did successfully speed up eventually and they were now neck and neck! Sapnap looked over to a scowling Tubbo.

He rolled his eyes and leaned forward— letting momentum take control and got ahead of Tubbo. Finishing the race with a prideful smile.

“GOOD JOB BURNING BLAZE! THEY BEAT THE ANGER-FILLED NUKE!”

Everyone clapped, though many grumbled and said minor insults.

The dream team ran down as soon as he walked it off the track and set it up. “Nice redemption arc man!” Dream shouted. “Hah. Yep— at least I won, unlike little 404 over here.” Sapnap mocked 404, who was getting a bit annoyed.

Tubbo fell silent and walked his bike off the track. He walked over to Ranboo and took his helmet off.

“I hate it here.” Tubbo huffed. Ranboo chuckled. “Hey— that wasn’t bad! You were good, maybe If you didn’t get the penalty for three weeks… you could’ve practiced…” Ranboo says teasingly. To that, Tubbo rolled his eyes. “LISTEN, OK— HE WAS ANNOYING ME!” “Sure. Whatever.”

Sapnap walked over with a smirk on his face. “And look who won, Nuke.” Tubbo glared at him. “Shut it dickface. I haven’t raced in a while.” “And who’s fault is that? You decided to punch the person.” Sapnap remarked. “WELL YES— AND I DO NOT REGRET IT!” “Ugh— stop screaming, your high-pitched baby voice is getting annoying.” Sapnap scratched his head. This was the last straw for Tubbo— first, he didn’t win. Second, he didn’t beat the traitor bitch, third, said traitor bitch has come to brag!

“URGH. SHUT UP!” Tubbo crossed his arms. “I don’t think I will.” Sapnap did the same gesture, still smirking. “I mean— C'mon Tubs! What happened to the confident and cocky attitude?” Tubbo stayed silent and walked over to his bike. “Hey! Aw, Come back over!” Sapnap called out. Tubbo came back, walking his bike back over. “What’s that for? The race is done.” Sapnap snickered. Ranboo shook his head. “Tubbo— please. Don’t.” Sapnap turned to face Ranboo, leaving his back to Tubbo. Big mistake. “What’s he gonna do?” Before Ranboo responded it happened. Tubbo picked his bike up and threw it at Sapnap. Hitting his lower back and making him fall over. The crowd erupted with laughter while Sapnap groaned in pain.

“Hmph! Better now bitch?” Tubbo mocked. “Hell no! That fuckin’ hurt! And now there’s a goddamn motorcycle on top of me!” Sapnap struggles to sit up but manages to get the motorcycle off him. He looked over to his team members who were— not to anyone's surprise, laughing their asses off.

“PFFT. OH MY GOD!” Tommy was gasping for air. Both he and purpled were laughing hysterically at what just happened.

“I was not expecting that!” Purpled pointed in the general direction of Sapnap’s direction. “Who knew Tubbo was that strong? You’d think he would have a harder time picking up a goddamn motorcycle.”

Tommy’s laughter fizzled out. “Yeah, that is kinda-” Before he could finish his sentence Punz joined in the conversation. “Well, actually, that’s because Tubbo has a motorcycle more on the lightweight side of things.”

Tommy huffed, annoyance clear in his expression from being cut off. Purpled shoved him in the shoulder, causing him to fall out of his seat and onto the ground. “FUCKIN’ BITCH! WHAT THE HELL?!”

Purpled began cackling loudly again as Tommy stood up. “Anyway, the reason he has a lightweight bike is that-” Punz tried to continue his thought process, but Tommy had other plans.

Tommy grabbed a handful of Purpled’s hair. “LET GO!-” Before Purpled could continue Tommy yanked hard. Purpled fell out of his seat and face-planted, barely missing hitting the back of the row of seats below their row.

During Tommy and Purpled's quarrel, a few medical attendants came over and made sure Sapnap was alright– they took him inside to check for any more injuries. Tubbo crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. “Maybe that’ll give you a warning to not trash talk me!” Before Tubbo could walk back to his seat– Sam came down. “Oi’ Tubbo. Come over here– I need to talk to you.” Sam pointed to a more discrete location near the track and waited for Tubbo’s answer. “Ugh… fine.” They walked over to the area, where Sam was probably yelling at Tubbo. Ranboo picked up his bike and checked it for damage– nothing serious. He walked it back over to look at later.

Mr.Beast and Chris were laughing behind the scenes. The crowd was still as loud as ever but hushed when Mr.Beast’s voice rang out. “Well! Wasn’t that fun? Nuke always comes up with surprises! Now— I think it's about time we get on with our next race!” The crowd cheered. “Great! Oh– and it appears the next two racers are some of the bests! IT'S DREAM VERSUS MERCENARY!!” Whoops, and cheers came out of the crowd– even Tommy and Purpled cheered. Punz got up and started walking towards the stairs before Purpled stopped him. “Good luck!” Purpled smiled, Tommy put his fist in the air. “Beat his ass!” He said, smiling as well. “Hah, thanks. I’ll try.” And he made his way down. “IF YOU DON’T WIN I’LL KEY YOUR CAR!” Purpled shouted out, earning an annoyed eye roll from Punz.

By the time Punz made it to the track Dream was already putting his helmet on. Dream noticed Punz and sent him a halfhearted wave.

Punz walked over to his bike which happened to be next to Dream’s. He started to put his helmet on when Dream spoke up.

“So, you gonna crash your bike as you did over at Davidsons?” Dream snickered.

“You wish. Besides, I was wasted when I did that- and I only fucking crashed because you jumped out in front of me!” “I was drunk too, Punz- what did you expect?!”

The two started banter as they finished putting their helmets on and zipping up their jackets.

Jimmy cleared his throat into the mic. “Can our racers hurry it up?” Noises of agreement could be heard coming from the crowd.

Dream rolled his eyes and walked his bike over to the starting line, Punz following closely behind. They both prepared for the race to begin.

“Alright Chris, you know the drill!” Jimmy smiled widely.

Chris got into position, holding the starting gun up. He smiled for a moment before beginning.

“ON YOUR MARKS!-”
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“GET READY!-”
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Both racers began to lean forward slightly, ensuring that they would start up fast.
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The sound of the starting gun being shot echoed through the stadium.

Both racers took off at the same time, the race starting neck and neck. Surprisingly, Punz was one of the few people who could easily match against and sometimes even beat Dream when it comes to racing.

(And if that was because Dream had taken time to help train Punz for racing during Punz being placed at Dream’s home, nobody said anything.)

Punz called out, his yelling barely louder than the screaming crowd... “Hey, you neon green traffic cone-!”

Dream turned to look at him only to see Punz speeding past him. Dream scoffed at himself for falling for the distraction as he sped up to hopefully get ahead. The crowd roared at Punz’s trick.

Soon enough Dream caught up, making the race close once again. “C’mon Punz, you can do a hell of a lot better than that. Didn’t you make your little brother win his race? Seems like one of you has more talent than the other…” “OH FUCK OFF DREAM-“

The two began arguing again, not really paying attention to the crowd they were supposed to be entertaining. Not that anyone paid much mind, the simps went wild at the two guys yelling while racing. (Losers)

They began to approach the finish line and it clicked for Dream that he needed to hurry the hell up and win. Unfortunately, Punz didn’t come to the same realization since he was busy bullying Dream’s favorite color (neon green).

Dream leaned down to his bike and sped up, maximizing his speed while still going at a relativity-safe rate. Punz realized what was happening and did the same, but he was too late.

Dream crossed the finish line.

Punz crossed the finish line

The crowd screamed.

The sound of Chris and Mr.Beast’s loud ‘OOO’ came through the microphone. Dream skidded to a stop and took off his helmet. Letting out his signature yell.

“LETS GOO!!” He pumped his fist in the air while the crowd cheered. Punz came to a reluctant stop and took his helmet off as well, frowning. “Stupid neon bitch.” Dream just smiled back at him.

“WOW, FOLKS! I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THAT!” Chris yelled into his very bad head mic. (Tight Budget..)

Mr.Beast rang in. “NEITHER WAS I!” He smiled before clearing his throat. “Now now, that was very epic. But I think it’s time we move on. It’s getting a bit late here.” Chris nodded in agreement. “We’ll be back shortly after a quick clean-up!” Chris added.

Dream and Punz walked their bikes off the track.

“Maybe this happened because when you fell down the stairs three years ago you hit your head so hard you couldn’t think right.” Dream smirked while putting his bike in the small mechanic area. Punz just rolled his eyes. “Oh well, maybe you won because the world felt bad for you since you never got any redemption from the toilet incident.” “THAT- BUT. UHM.” “No no. The guests that came over would’ve given them a huge money bonus… lost because of a toilet..” Punz shook his head, clicking his tongue. “Listen here—“

“ALRIGHT, FOLKS! OUR NEXT RACERS ARE….”

The crowd banged their feet on the bleachers.

“NEVEDAS….”
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“V.S….”
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“ONE OF OUR NEWBIES! EVERYONE GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE TO AKUMA!!” Mr.Beast pointed in Tommy’s direction.

“C'mon man— stand up!” Purpled patted his shoulder while Tommy stared at the crowd clapping. He stood up nervously and waved.

“Would you two please come down to the track and start getting ready!!” Tommy took a few seconds before shaking his head and putting his hands on his hips. “OK! I GOT THIS.” He let out a huge sigh. “Of course you do! Kick his ass!” Purpled smiled enthusiastically. Tommy smiled nervously and began his trek down the stairs, not even noticing Punz passing him. “Wow. He seems nervous.” Punz went and sat back down. “Of course he is– and oh no! I have bad news!” “What?” He lifted his eyebrow curiously. “Looks like I’ll have to key someone's car today–!” Punz stood up. “NO.” Purpled snickered to himself.

While Tommy walked, millions of thoughts raced through his head. Where had the excitement gone? He was so excited at the beginning- why not now when it was happening? Suddenly, his hands begin to shake. What if he got hurt– what would Phil think? Would he not be able to do any of this again? Even if it had only been a few hours, this is the most fun Tommy had ever had-! His world would crumble if it ended. Tommy’s worries came to end as he came to the end of the stairwell. He looked through the crowd and smiled widely.

This is why I’m doing this.

The crowd was cheering when he made his appearance. He waltzed out with pride and went over to his bike, waving to the crowd. “Eyyy–!! Ranboo!” Ranboo looked up and smiled. “Feeling excited?” “Pumped! I can’t wait to beat his ass!” Tommy pumped his hand in the air. “I’m sure you will. But uh- a bit of difficulty. You’ll have to take off your mask to put your helmet on.” Tommy stared for a few seconds. “Oh. Uh– Is there a more private area I can do that?” Ranboo nodded and pointed to a sideline area. He took his helmet and jogged over.

Please please please please please no one sees my face.

Tommy came back and placed the mask down on the gear table. He gave a thumbs up to Ranboo, who nodded back.

Few minutes prior…

“Eyyy! Quackity! Beat his ass, and don’t pull a Sapnap.” Dream patted his back. “Hah! I won’t. I won’t.” He walked down to the mechanic area, greeting Karl in the process. “Good luck!” Karl shouted as Quackity walked away with his gear and bike.

This is going to be easy!

Present time…

The crowd chanted and shouted with anticipation. Tommy and Quackity had walked their bikes over to the track and were now on them, waiting for the starting gun to fire.

“Before we start this highly anticipated race, let's give another round of applause for our wonderful racers!” Mr.Beast shouted into his microphone and clapped into the mic. The crowd clapped happily and we’re now even more excited. “Alright! Chris, if you would do the honors?”

“With pleasure!” Chris nodded and took the gun.

“ON YOUR MARK!”
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“GET SET…….”

Tommy couldn’t wait.
This was his starting point at a new beginning.
His way of finding the happiness he needs. He wanted.
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PSSSSSSSSSSSST “GO!”

Tommy rushed off with pure adrenaline, leaning as far into the bike as he could go. Nevadas quickly sped up after him. Tommy was far ahead of him, but that didn’t matter. Quackity was entertaining the crowd. He stood up on his bike and waved. Tommy looked behind him and decided to have some fun. His adrenaline rush prevented any fear from forming in his body. He pressed a button on his bike and his LED lights started flashing, he sped up and attempted a wheelie. The crowd ‘ooh’d and ‘awed’ at this trick. Needless to say, Nevadas was impressed at the trick but knew he could do better. He sped up and did multiple donuts on the track.

Well, fuck. Now I gotta be cooler!

Tommy felt the need to be better than that probably homeless druggie-looking bitch. On his last lap, he sped up to do a wheelie. He stayed up for a while until he got a certain idea… An idea that was sure to get him smacked and stabbed by Purpled at least twice… Not to mention hit with the spoon… He internally shuddered. Suddenly, he felt his lower body lift from the seat– the only part of him still on the bike were his hands, holding on tight to the handlebars. The crowd gawked at this. The leftover speed carried him over the finish line.

It’s then that he realizes a flaw in his plan. His sweaty palms.

Tommy’s grip faltered and the handlebars slipped out of his grasp. Tommy fell off of it and Tumbled, but he managed to recover. He quickly got up and readjusted his helmet.

The bike on the other hand was not so lucky. The bike kept moving and flung towards Karl’s medical station.

“KARL!” Chris screamed over the announcements.

Karl ducked out of the way just in time as the motorcycle crashed into his station, flinging things everywhere. The motorcycle came to a stop, falling over onto the ground. Quackity skidded to a stop next to Tommy. “Ey! Are you alright?” Tommy shrugged. “Been through worse.” Quackity chuckled and took his helmet off. “Wow, you’re strong. That was impressive!”

Tommy shrugged. “Eh- I need to go check on Karl- and my bike for that matter- Tubbo’s gonna kill me if I fucked it up.” Quackity laughed as Tommy ran towards where Karl was now getting up.

“Hey man, I’m so sorry- I’ll pay you back for the medical supplies, yeah? It was a failed trick- you know how it is- right big man?”

Karl chuckled lightly as he brushed the dirt off of his pants. “It’s not a big deal Tommy- I get it. You’re a newbie and competing with Quackity for cool points is difficult. Just don’t let it happen again, yeah?”

“Okay, Karl- thanks a lot man!” Tommy ran towards the bike. Thankfully he didn’t see any damage other than some scratches on the paint. Ranboo can totally fix that—

Tubbo ran over to Tommy. “WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“Boss man- I am so sorry-! I fell, complete and total accident! You can get Ranboo to fix the paint mess-ups on the bike right? No harm no foul?- haha-”

Tubbo glared at him- if looks could kill, he’d be long gone. Tubbo opened his mouth to most likely scold Tommy, but he ran over to Ranboo’s station before he could. Tommy grabbed his mask and switched his helmet out for it, facing away from the crowd to hide his face.

Tommy quickly made his way back to his seat to avoid any angry gremlins.

Purpled was in shock when Tommy arrived. “DUDE, WHAT THE FUCK?”

“Uh- I crashed-” “YEAH I GATHERED THAT PART DIPSHIT-” “THEN WHAT ARE YOU ASKING!” “ARE YOU OK?” “YES!” Tommy crossed his arms and sighed, shaking his head. “Of course I’m alright! Big man To— I mean.. Akuma-! Will always be ok!” Purpled grumbled while Tommy sat back down. “Well don’t pull that again!” “No promises.”

Quackity helped Karl gather his materials and reorganize his whole collection that a certain someone ruined. Karl thanked him and Quackity went back to his seat.

“Hey! Those donuts were sick!” Sapnap patted him on the back. “I know right? And man, Akuma was awesome out there wasn’t he?” They all nodded. “It's a shame he fell off, though that recovery was fast.” George replayed the fall in his head, laughing quietly. Dream nodded. “That was impressive, but, probably beginners luck. He’s still a newbie.” Quackity rolled his eyes. “Oh whatever Mr.Observant.” “Hey!”

“Man was that awesome!” Mr.Beast's voice quieted the crowd. “Ya know, I think Akuma won the cool points for this one. Being a newbie, nailing two wheelies in a row? With an amazing bike? Just wow!” The crowd clapped. “But hey! Let's get on with our next race shall we?” The crowd cheered, anticipating another amazing race. “COME ON UP, UFO VERSUS DREAM!”

Purpled fell silent and his face went pale. “Eh? Purp?” Tommy looked over at Purpled and shook him slightly. “DREAM?!” Tommy flinched at the sudden noise from him and he fell back in his seat. “It's fine! Beginners luck?” “NOT AGAINST DREAM!” “Oh shush.” Tommy pushed Purpled out of his seat. “Just go down there!” Purpled pouted and reluctantly walked down. Ranboo handed him his helmet, along with a bit of nice good luck. “Thanks..” Purpled shoved his Helmet on and got his bike, walking it to the track.

Meanwhile, Dream was weighing his options. “Should I Beat his ass? Or have some fun, while winning of course.” Karl looked up and shrugged. “He’s good but he went against George, so we really don’t know if he’s amazing—“ “HEY!” George stood up and pointed at Karl. “I HEARD THAT!” “Oops…” Karl gave his signature laugh, and dream chuckled. “Alright, I’ll decide. Have fun!” Dream grabbed his helmet and went off to go grab his bike, walking to the track and shoving his helmet on.

“Well well well! This is going to be fun, right Chris?” “Oh most definitely! Let’s see if beginner luck is real! Hey—! Crowd!” Chris looked over and smiled. “Raise your hands for Dream!”

The crowd raised their hand for Dream.

“For UFO?”

The crowd raised their hands for UFO.

“Well, let’s just see what the future holds. Are you ready?”

Purpled and Dream nodded.

“WELL THEN! ON YOUR MARKS…”

Purpled’s hands shook. Sure he has ridden and gone fast on a motorcycle, but those times were when he was screwin’ around! Not when embarrassment is on the line!

“GET SET….”
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Chris’ hand was on the trigger. Pressing down slightly.
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“GO!”

Huh? No starting pistol? Should he go? He looked over at Dream, unsure. He sat on his bike. Unfazed.

PSSSSSST

Dream zoomed past the startled Purpled. “H-HUH?” Purples started his bike and was attempting to get to Dream's speed. He was almost there until Dream looked back, and shook his head. Dream sped up way ahead of him and Purpled’s hopes were in the dumps. Attempting his best at keeping pace with Dream, which was a failure as Dream kept speeding up whenever he was close. The race ended with a joyful dream and an annoyed Purpled. Dream crossed the finish line with a skid and took his helmet off. The crowd booed and yelled at him, to which he chuckled. Purpled stopped and got off as quickly as he could. Taking his helmet off and walked his bike off the track.

“Oh! Looks like the great UFO’s mood was soured! How could you dream?” Mr.Beast laughed into the mic.

“Yeah man, let me tell you. That was rude!” Dream rolled his eyes and walked his bike off the track. He stationed it and walked over to Purpled.

“Hey! Uh-“

“Purpled….” He was staring at the ground. “No hard feelings..?” Dream scratched the back of his neck nervously. “Uh- yeah. No hard feelings, but I’ll beat you someday!” Purpled’s mood instantly lightened, Dream put his hand out to shake, which he did happily. “Glad to hear! Hope it’s some time soon!” Purpled nodded and waved goodbye.

Purpled quickly made his way back to his seat. “Hey T- Akuma-” “Hey Purp, how’s it feeling being a loser? L O S E R”

“Oh, shut up. I have a spoon with your name on it-” “what’s that? Is that the sound of that guy lost and has no bitches? Zero bitches? Absolutely no bitches in sight? Not even any male bitches!?”

“I LITERALLY GET MORE FUCKING BITCHES THAN YOU DO YOU FUCKING TOE HEAD!” “YOU ARE LITERALLY BLONDE TOO- WHAT?”

The two began arguing, no end in sight.

Dream made it up to his seat, ignoring the yelling he heard while getting there. He sat down.

Sapnap tapped him. “That was harsh man- didn’t even let the kid have a chance?” Dream rolled his eyes. “If he wants a shot against me, he’s gotta earn it- besides he’s a newbie. He’s gotta learn that I don’t let others beat me somehow.”

Sapnap smirked. “Is that so? So, your gonna do the same to the other newbie?” “Yeah, that’s right,”

Sapnap remembered how Tommy crashed. His gut told him to have faith in the kid for some reason. So, he did. “Well, I bet 20 bucks he’ll make it to the top two against you and win.” Dream busted out laughing. “No offense Sap- but what?! You’ve been known to make crazy bets- but this? This is a new level- no way man.”

“50 bucks.” “Sap, no.” “100!” “100 dollars on a new kid beating me?! You know what, fine- but don’t come crying to me when you lose bitchnap!” Sapnap rolled his eyes.

“Alright, folks! Everyone seems to be itching for the next race, can I please have Akuma and Burning Blaze down to the track!”

“Oh? Looks like it’s my time to shine.” “Hey! You have to let him win unless you want to lose 100 bucks.” Sapnap scoffed. “Blah blah. I’ll show you he’s good!” Sapnap sassily walked away and went to get ready.

Tommy stood up and stretched. “Well, great time arguing with you but I gotta go beat someone's ass.” Purpled rolled his eyes, and in a mocking tone he mumbled, “yeah yeah hopeless romantic.” “Huh?” “Nothing! Go beat his ass!” “Hah. Will do!” Tommy then rushed down the stairs.

He felt excited. The previous fear that formed over 10 minutes ago was nothing. Maybe he’s still on his adrenaline high, or maybe confidence? But nothing mattered to Tommy except winning this match.

He grabbed his helmet and went to his private little area and switched his mask out. He set the mask down on the mechanic's table. “Fixed the scratched paint on your bike.” “Thanks, Ranboo!” He velcroed his foam knee pads back on and grabbed his bike. “Good luck!” “Thanks!” Tommy walked off with his bike happily.

Burning Blaze was already there on his bike, waiting for Chris to give the signal. Tommy mounted his bike and waited. Pure excitement left no room for fear. He felt awesome.

Chris grabbed the starting pistol and put it up in the air.

“ON YOUR MARK…”
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“GET SET…..”
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“GO— oh wait!”

Tommy looked up slightly and saw Chris looking at the gun, then the crowd. The crowd murmured between themselves as Chris has never done this. Tommy took it as what Chris was trying to do with Purpled’s match. He was having none of it. He focused on the pistol till—

PSSSSSSST
“GO!”

He was sent flying on the track just barely making it ahead of Burning Blaze. He narrowed in into the edge of the track, speeding up near the turn. Burning Blaze was slightly behind him, trying to speed up. He leaned closer to the handlebars and gradually gained more speed. Sadly, this wasn’t enough to keep the angry adrenaline-filled Tommy behind him. Tommy’s pure joy and determination to win, forced himself to speed up even more. At last on his final lap, Sapnap passed by him, but— this did not last long as he skyrocketed past him while flipping him off of course. He past the finish line with remarkable speed and skidded loudly to a stop. Leaving skid marks on the track.

“LETS FUCKING GO!” He pumped his hand in the air while Burning Blaze completed the race. He looked up at Dream who seemed to be slightly annoyed. Arms crossed and everything. He stopped and took his helmet off, walking over to Tommy. “Ey! Amazing skills man! You sure you're a newbie?” Tommy just nodded and got off his bike, taking hold of the handlebars, and preparing to walk back over. “Well dang! Good luck man, you’re up against Dream next.”

During their conversation, Mr.Beast was talking to the crowd.

“WOW! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT! THAT WAS CRAZY!” The crowd cheered and yelled various phrases.

Tommy walked his bike over to the mechanic section and set the bike down. He grabbed his mask and discreetly changed them out. Going back and placing his helmet down. Just then, Ranboo came back from doing whatever Ranboo does and greeted him. “I didn't get to see it, how’d you do?” Tommy puffed his chest up. “I beat that bastard's ass into the ground!” He placed his hands on his hips, showing off his bravado. Ranboo chuckled and congratulated him.

“WOW, FOLKS! I CAN’T BELIEVE A NEWBIE IS GOING UP AGAINST DREAM!” Mr.beast was enthusiastic. “HEY, WHO’S FOR AKUMA HERE?” The crowd then started chanting ‘A-ku-ma! A-ku-ma!’ The whole crowd could see Tommy’s big grin. He waved to the crowd and thanked them. “DREAM?” The crowd started chanting ‘Dre—am! Dre—-am!’ He stood up happily, waving to the crowd. The crowd’s chanting slowly morphed into a ‘A-ku-ma! Dre—-am!’

Before the final race starts, the bikes need to be checked and readied to ensure the best quality racing possible. Dream walked down to talk to Tommy in the meantime. “Hey, newbie!” Tommy looked over and scoffed. “I'm no newbie by now!” Dream crossed his arms. “Tough luck kid, have to race for at least half a season to not be one in my books, greenie.” Dream smirked and looked at an annoyed Tommy. “I’m not even annoyed you called me a newbie- but the maze runner reference, really?”

“Like the opinion of a neon green traffic cone lookin’ mother fucker matters-” “What’s wrong with the color green?!” “It’s not green- it’s neon green.”

Dream facepalmed. “It barely makes a difference!” “EXCUSE ME? ARE YOU COLORBLIND LIKE MISTER GOGS OR JUST A RETARD? IF I WORE A SAGE GREEN SHIRT PEOPLE WOULD SAY: ‘hey look, that dude looks pretty poggers-‘ IF I WORE A NEON GREEN SHIRT PEOPLE WOULD SAY: ‘hey look, that kid looks like he’s trying to get into a rave.”

Dream gasped, fake horror on his face. “THEY WOULD NOT SAY THAT-! AND I’M NOT COLORBLIND OR RETARTED YOU OVERSIZED MCDONALDS HAPPY MEAL-”

The two continued bickers for the next {insert however long it takes to check the bikes} minutes about Dream’s awful choice in color for his brand.

“Akuma! Are you ready?” Ranboo looked up from Tommy’s fully checked and prepared bike, over to Tommy. “Yes, I am big man!” Karl yelled the same thing to dream. “To kick a kid's ass? Hell yeah!” “HEY! I’LL BE DOING THE ASS KICKING TODAY!” Dream snickered while Ranboo and Karl gave a thumbs up to Mr.Beast.

“WELL, FOLKS! I BELIEVE ITS TIME FOR THE FINAL RACE! LET'S GET INTO IT!”

Tommy’s face lit up while his body welled up with fear.

HELL YEAH! IT'S THE BIG FINISH! Wait, it's against Dream…

“RACERS! GET READY!”

Tommy rushed to grab his helmet while Dream did the same.

Quickly changing his mask for his helmet he rushed back and set his mask down.

“Good luck!” Ranboo clapped and Tommy smiled, nodding. “I’m gonna win this thing!”

He ran off to his bike and walked it over to the track.

“Wow! Looks like someone is eager!” Mr.Beast said.

Purpled leaned back in his seat, looking down at Tommy.

Punz chuckled. “What are you looking at?- He’s totally gonna lose- I mean, no offense to Tommy! But Dream is really good.”

Purpled recoiled after hearing Punz say that. HOW DARE MY IDIOTIC BROTHER BASH MY FRIEND?

Purpled slowly turned his head. “Dear brother, if you say another thing like that about Tommy I will crush your jugular, cut off your head, stick your head on a dinner platter, and set it on top of your car. I will then gouge out your eyes with a spoon and feed them to the nearest squirrel. DO NOT underestimate Tommy because you're salty that you lost. He will win, and then I will take him shopping- AND I WILL DRAG YOU ALONG.”

Punz's eyes widened. “NO- PLEASE, NOT SHOPPING-”

“SHOPPING.”

Dream soon finished talking to his team members and walked his bike over. He stepped onto the track, placing his bike in the right place. He got on, holding the handlebars with one foot on the track for balance. Tommy did the same.

Dream glanced at Tommy. His eyebrows were furrowed and he held the handlebars tight. Dream chuckled slightly and shook his head.

This kid’s delusional.

Chris grabbed the gun and held it high. High for everyone to see. Tommy focused on the track— the sounds, everything around him but Dream. He listened closely for the starting sound. The sound that will both begin and end it all.

Tommy’s only thought was to win. Win what he started and win what he got thrown into by Purpled.

He’ll admit- at first he wasn’t too happy, but with what has happened leading up to this moment- he was ecstatic and so thankful for Purpled’s stupidity (And Stalkery? Tommy hasn’t forgotten about how Purpled filled his private info in!).

Tommy gripped the handlebars even tighter in anticipation.

Chris and Mr.Beast smiled at the crowd. For the first race of the season— the hype from the crowd was expected. Except, they got more than expected. The crowd— laughing, cheering, singing motivational songs— chanting even! This moment was magical for everyone, but especially for Tommy.

For the first time, Tommy was getting attention for being good. Not because he was in trouble or because of Phil— no. He’s getting attention because people actually want to see him. They want to see his skills- they want to see him race. They wanted him. Not Phil the businessman’s son, not Wilbur or Techno’s annoying little brother, no. They wanted Akuma.

Chris opened his mouth and spoke, yet— Tommy heard nothing. The only thing Tommy would hear was the starting pistol.

The sound to mark his debut as an official racer. The sound that will signal a moment that’ll be remembered forever at this racing track. Creeper Circuits.

And there it was. The sound he needed to begin his journey.

“AND GO!” PSSSSSSST

Both racers were sent flying on the track. Tommy hadn’t realized how much he wanted to win this. They neared the first turn— Dream got ahead. They neared the second turn— Tommy was ahead. Third— fourth— the first lap was a constant battle of being ahead. Neither had a place set in stone.

Tommy gritted his teeth, annoyed. He knows Dreams is one of the best racers out there- yet why couldn’t Tommy just use beginner's luck? Or his main character energy!?

They finished their second lap, with Dream in the lead. Only one lap left to go. Tommy couldn’t bear the thought of Dream winning. No, it shouldn’t happen. Tommy is supposed to win this! And.. well.. win he did… sort of.

Dream neared the finish line, with Tommy just behind him. Tommy didn’t understand why he was scared. Just, speed up, right? He didn’t know why he was reluctant to do so. His mental battle between safety and winning was endless. Safety is what he wanted. But winning is what he needed. He sped up— no. He was like a lightning built crossing the finish line.

Even dream was surprised. A newbie— one that could speed up that fast confidently within only riding for a few races? Outstanding! The crowd cheered, whooped, astonished that Dream was beaten, by a newbie! Except.. he is still a newbie after all— all good things come to the end.

Tommy crossed the finish line with outstanding speed, speed he couldn’t control that is. Within a few seconds of him crossing the finish line— his adrenaline stopped. Fear instead kicked in. He slammed on the brakes yet they could only do so much. He slid, and he slid fast crashing into Ranboo’s workstation. He jumped off and rolled onto the outer areas. His mask fell as his bike crashed into the shelves, the bike ran over the mask and ruined it. It cracked in half. The led lights dimmed down on the cracked kitsune mask.

Ranboo yelled out as he barely avoided being crushed by Tommy’s motorcycle. Tommy ran over, trying to assess the damage done. He tried to ignore the pang of guilt in his chest at how he had broken the mask and probably damaged the bike.

“چه کردی لعنتی ای نوجوان کاملا احمق؟!”

Tommy stood there for a moment, in… what was left of Ranboo’s stand. He stared at Ranboo for a while. ‘What the hell did he just yell…?’

“Uh... Bonjour mi amigo..?” Ranboo went over to the stand, looking at it in horror. “ONE, TWO DIFFERENT LANGUAGES. TWO, YOU COMPLETELY DESTROYED THE STAND, YOU DIMWIT! THREE, YOU WILL BE GIVING UP SOME OF THAT WINNING MONEY TO FIX YOUR BIKE’S PAINT JOB AND MASK YOU, ABSOLUTE IDIOT!”

“Uh… yeah- my bad… OH MY GOD WAIT- I WON, LET’S GOOOOOO!”

“TOMMY!” “RIGHT UH- WHOOPSIES, SO SORRY RANBOOB.” “YOU RUIN MY STAND AND INSULT ME?” “YOUR MAN BOOBIES ARE NOTHING TO BE INSECURE ABOUT RANB-“

Their argument was quickly cut off by the announcers before the crowd could begin to clearly hear and assess the argument going on between the two.

“WOW- I, JUST WOW!” Chris and Mr.Beast shouted out simultaneously. “WE HAVE A WINNER!” AKUMA- COME ON OUT!” Tommy looked at Ranboo, then Chris— motioning for him to come out. Tommy nodded and waltzed out proudly, waving to the crowd. The crowd cheered happily, clapping, stomping, and singing encouraging songs.

Chris met Tommy down on the track and shook his hand. “Congrats!” “Thank you!” Chris then held Tommy’s arm in the air and the crowd became even louder.

Tommy felt more relieved than happy, though that came to an end as Mr.Beast ran over and gave the mic to him. “Say something will you, winner?” Tommy looked at the mic for s free seconds before taking it.

“Uh..- thank you!! I’m uh.. so happy I got to win, it was all thanks to this amazing team and especially you! The crowd!” Tommy pointed and excited screams were let out.

“Thank you Creeper Circuits! But most importantly, THANK YOU, CROWD!!” They erupted with cheer and a small jingle-like noise came out of the speakers, signaling it was time for them to pack up and leave.

Mr.Beast quickly took the mic back and patted his shoulder before going back over to his previous spot. “Right!- well, we all know that sound! Everybody, please pack up promptly. As for the Executive Bitches, you know who you are, pack up and stay in your seats! The racers will be ready for you shortly.”

Tommy looked between Mr.Beast and Chris for a while, waiting for someone to explain. After a while when they didn’t, he spoke up. “Uhm- excuse me, what’s an executive bitch?”

Chris laughed. “Oh- my bad kid. It's a code word for the meet and greets passes. We can’t have everyone who attends stay after for the meet and greet you know? We’d never get home.”

Tommy nodded. “Oh, right.. right.” He walked back over to Ranboo’s stand. His mind raced the entire way there ‘I never knew there was a meet and greet- Do I have to be met? More socializing? What about my mask? What do I-’

Dream stopped him by calling his name before he made it to the messed-up stand. “TOMMY!”

Tommy whipped around to see the neon man walking right towards him. He almost laughed at the frustration he could clearly see radiating off of him.

“Hey, I’ve got a message from Sam. After you go and pick up your prize money from Ponk you can help Ranboo pick up and head out. Your mask is broken and they don’t want to make you suffocate in your helmet for the next few hours.”

Tommy smiled. Boo-fucking-yah bitch! “Oh, alright- awesome! I guess I did sort of mess up Ranboo’s stand...” “Yeah- speaking of which, why the hell would you go that fast if you couldn’t control it?!-” Pause. ''uh…” Tommy made a moving forward motion with his hands. “Zoom-Zoom?”

“I-… that’s… I SERIOUSLY LOST TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS TO ZOOM ZOOM?”

“I’M JUST BUILT DIFFERENT BITCH! AND IT’S ONLY 7K YOU FUCKING RETARD, REVISIT KINDERGARTEN YOU TELETUBBY BUILT ASS BITCH!”

Dream burst into laughter, Tommy’s laughter soon following. Eventually, the laughter dissolved from loud laughter to quiet chuckling.

“You’re not so bad kid- tell you what. All the racers from our teams usually get together over at Kinoko Cafe to ‘party’ after big races like this. How about you and your friend- uh, purple dude?” “Purpled?” “Yeah, yeah- him. Why don’t you two come by and join us?”

Tommy paused for a minute ‘OH MY FUCKING GOD I JUST GOT INVITED TO A PARTY BY SUPER SUPER SUPER AMAZING RACER- OKAY TOMMY, PLAY IT COOL.’

“Oh- I mean, I’ll let Purp know and we’ll think about it. When does it start?”

“It starts at 7:30- usually ends around ten but you're welcome to show and leave whenever you know. I gotta go help set up for the meet and greet- but hopefully, I’ll see you there!” Dream waved and walked off.

Tommy nodded. He took a moment to cool down the small fanboy inside of him before walking back to Ranboo’s stand.

“Eyy!!... uh..” Ranboo whipped his head around only to look disappointed and look back at the mess.

“I’m sorry!! I’ll help you clean up!!--” Ranboo then turned around again. “Fine. You can’t take that back! Fix all the tables, fold them, carry them over that spot—“ he pointed to a corner where Karl was, putting away his own plastic tables. “—And maybe I’ll forgive you!”

Tommy looked at him. He frowned. “Ugh.. fine Ranboob…..” He stretched his arms and went straight into the pile of plastic tables. For some reason stretching his arms felt different than normal, but oh well.

Ranboo looked at him, feeling victorious. He then began to clean up the mechanical parts. Something he could never trust Tommy with.

Tommy shoved the miscellaneous items off the table and picked them up. He set it down and folded the legs in. He continued this till all 3 were done. He picked them up with a grunt and fell backward, letting out an ‘oof’ noise.

He heard ranboo’s chuckles and grumbled. Tommy stood up and only took one table at a time. He fell back the first time because his arm gave out… maybe it was just tired? Yeah, that was probably it. He made the three-minute walk three times to return all of the tables, only using his left arm to carry them for the most part.

Once returned he noticed everything but the tent had been cleaned up.

“Wow! You’re fast-!” Ranboo nodded, cleaning a few tools up. “Well, I've been doing this for a while.” He put the tool away and looked at Tommy. “Put the tent up, simple, right?“ Tommy stared at him. Ranboo did as well, before picking up the toolboxes and walking off. “Have fun!”

“Bitch!” Tommy crossed his arms for a moment before deciding how to take the tent down, but before he could make a decision he heard footsteps coming near him.

Tommy turned around. Being able to hear footsteps and sense who was coming was a talent he picked up after trying to avoid his drunk older brother… (but we don’t talk about that).

So, before he turned around he already knew it was most likely either Burning Blaze or Nevadas. Burning Blaze because his posture caused his footsteps to sound heavier. Nevadas because he wore quite a bit of flashy golden (probably fake because he seems like a cheapskate) rings and bracelets that weighed him down and made his footsteps heavier as well.

He would have a more definitive answer but he barely knew the group… so he was mainly guessing. Anyway, it doesn’t matter much because he was correct! Turns out Nevadas was coming toward him wearing a concerned-looking expression.

Once he finally reached Tommy the two held eye contact for a good five moments before either spoke. “..what the fuck happened to your arm?”

Tommy looked down at his arm, or more accurately his shoulder. “Huh.” Well, that explains why it was so difficult to carry the tables… looks like he dislocated his right shoulder.

“Huh?! What do you mean huh?! Aren’t you in extreme pain or something?!-“

Purpled walked over and smacked Quackity across the back of the head with his spoon. “DON’T BE SCOLDING MY BEST FRIEND- THAT’S MY JOB.” “DID YOU JUST HIT ME WITH A SPOON?!” “SHUT UP.”

Purpled turned to look at Tommy, pointing to him with his spoon that was now slightly bent. “WHAT- oh. Wait, why are we being upset at him?”

Quackity gawked at the two of them. “HIS SHOULDER?!-” Purpled looked at it. “Oh. Why is that a big deal?- I taught him how to do that to get five hundred bucks from Phil for a ‘hospital’. Lazy fuck didn’t wanna take his own kid.”

Quackity blinked at the mentally ill teenagers in front of him. “Well, FIX IT?”

Purpled shrugged and put his spoon back into his pocket, walking over.

“Oh yeah- sure.” Tommy put his hand on his upper arm and pushed the shoulder back in. It made a pop! sound. Earning a cringing and disgusting noise from Nevadas. “Bro.. are you sure that's normal-?” Nevadas looked more concerned than disgusted. Tommy shrugged. “Yep. Happens to me all the time- guess it was because I jumped off a bike… hm..” Tommy laughed to himself a bit while Nevadas stared at him blankly.

“Yeah, for the SECOND TIME!” “Hey!-- the first time I fell off… this time I actually made an effort to fall off!” Tommy huffed and crossed his arms. “WHY?!” Nevadas threw his hands up in an annoyed gesture. “I was gonna crash, duh. I can’t believe people these days!” Tommy scoffed.

Purpled elbowed Tommy. “I know right? What a moron-” Quackity scoffed, clearly offended. “Excuse-” “you hear that Purp? Sounds like a little bitch-”

Quackity threw his arms up into the air before storming off. The two teens burst into laughter. “He was so freaked out!” “I know, right?! Remind me to try that on more adults that aren’t Phil!” “Maybe we can scam some money off of them to feed our gambling addictions!” “Purpled, arcade games aren’t gambling…” “They are the way Punz plays 'em!”

The two continued their banter for the next ten minutes before Punz came up to them. “Hey, guys- are you both gonna head out? They’re about to start the whole fan meet and greet shit- if you’re here when we start you’ve gotta stick around.”

Tommy shook his head. “Nah, I’m gonna head out.” Purpled frowned. “Oh, okay- well I’m gonna head out too then. I don’t think I finished my chores anyway…” Punz gasped. “PURPLED! YOU BETTER FINISH THEM OR NO AFTER PARTY!”

Purpled only rolled his eyes. “Whatever, whatever- so can we take our bikes?” Punz nodded, smiling. Tommy’s facial expression underneath his helmet was one of worry. “If Phil sees a motorcycle in the garage, I’m dead meat.”

Purpled patted him on the back. “No worries! You can store it in Punz and I’s garage. Right bro?” Punz shrugged. “Sure, I don’t care.” Tommy smiled. “Thanks, guys. Wanna come with me to pick up prize money from Ponk?”

Purpled pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket and handed it to Tommy. “I already grabbed it actually- both of ours. That should be 7k like it was agreed already- I picked up my 2k as well.” “Oh, alright- Epic! I’m storing my team jacket and helmet at your place too, FYI.” Tommy shoved the cash into his jacket pocket and zipped it up as Purpled nodded. “To the bikes!”

The two of them went over to their bikes and walked with them out of the arena. Just in case a certain someone (cough, cough, Tommy, cough, cough.) decided to crash into something again.

As the two of them walked out into the parking lot they started up another conversation. After all, walking in silence is rather awkward in their opinion.

“So, you know how we got invited to the after party and shit? Punz said you got invited by Dream or something.” Tommy nodded. “Well, do you actually like- wanna go?”

Tommy shrugged. “I mean- we can. It would be fun- and a good way to meet everyone since I think we can both agree racing on the team is gonna be long-term. But uh, I have to take care of some stuff first. Make sure that Phil knows I’m gonna be out late.”

“Oh, right. And make sure.. that he isn’t... Schlatt- you know?” Tommy nodded. “He probably won’t be Schlatt this early- but you never know. I mean, if he is then it’ll be easier to get him to agree to let me go, to be honest.” “Fair enough.”

The two stopped chatting once they reached the middle of the parking lot. “Well, to your place Purp?” “Yep!”

The two teens started up their bikes and rode out of the parking lot. They rode off together, occasionally screaming jokes at each other. They usually fell flat- partly because they both had sore throats so laughing sort of hurt, and partly because they couldn’t hear each other too well.

Eventually, they both pulled into Purpled’s driveway. Purpled stopped his bike slowly while Tommy came to a skidded stop, almost falling over his bike again in the progress. “Note to self, practice stopping.”

They both parked the bikes and got off of them.

“Well, you’ve got to deal with Phil, eh?” “That I do. I’ll see you at the party. I’ll probably show up at around like— 8.” “It starts at 7:30 though…” “yeah, but I have to talk to Phil- and I have to walk home and to the party at Kinoko cafe.” “Fair.” “Exactly!”

Tommy slid his racing jacket off and grabbed the money out of the jacket pocket. He then slid it into his front pocket next to his pocket knife. “Alright, well I’m gonna head out than big P.” Tommy set the jacket on the back of his bike. “Can you put the bike in your garage for me?” Purpled nodded. “Sure, no problem.” “Cool, bye!”

Tommy started walking down the sidewalk, humming to himself. He should have brought an extra hoodie to wear after the races- now he’s stuck in his plain black T-shirt. That’s what he gets for leaving his hoodie in his backpack-

His backpack.

OH MY GOD, HE LEFT HIS FUCKING BACKPACK-

Tommy had an internal freak-out for the rest of his walk home. Once he had finally reached his destination he concluded that he could just circle back to the arena after the party.

Tommy stood on the front doorstep of the house for a few minutes, silently praying to prime that Phil was either not inside or inside and drunk. However, considering that his car is in the driveway the latter has a better chance of happening.

Realizing that he would inevitably have to open the door, he decided to do it like how someone would pull off a bandaid. Sudden and fast. He swung the door open, making sure it didn’t collide with the wall. “PHIL!?”

A “In here!” came from the living room. Tommy followed the voice and saw Phil sitting on the couch with a book in his hand.

Tommy opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Phil. “Why have I said about yelling in my house Thomas?” Tommy silently gritted his teeth together at the use of his full name. He would have started an argument, but considering he needed Phil to say he could go out- it probably wasn’t in his best interest.

“Right, sorry. Anyway… I’m gonna be out late tonight. Probably until around ten- but I might be spending the whole night out.” Phil closed his book and set it on the coffee table. “And what will you be doing all night?”

Shit. Your time to shine, improv classes!

“Oh, I’m going to be with Grayson. We’re studying. For uh- for our upcoming language arts test.” Phil raised an eyebrow. “It’s the beginning of summer.” WOOPS- “Well, you can never get too much practice! Ah- you know, therapy has really opened my eyes. I’m trying to be a respectful member of society Phil.”

Tommy cringed internally after saying that. Respectful member of society? Oh, please. What a load of bullcrap. Seemed to work just fine for Phil though.

Phil smiled. “That’s great Tommy. I’ll cancel your next appointment- no point in continuing when the problem has clearly already been solved. Have fun studying, yeah?” Tommy nodded. “Yeah Phil, thanks. Anyway- I better start walking to his house now so that I don’t get there when it’s too late.”

Tommy spun around and walked towards the front door once more. He open the door, about to step out when Phil decided to make him feel like he was going to throw up.

“Love ya Tommy!”

What a manipulative, lying, stupid asshole.

“Mhm!” Tommy walked out and shut the door, a small thud could be heard from how hard he shut it. Not quite slamming it, but almost.

He began his walk in silence. Halfway through he pulled out his pocket knife and flicked it open, playing with it in his hands. Partially because he needed to blow off steam so he could mask his anger at the party, and partially because walking around with a pocket knife in his hand would make him less of a target for muggers.

As expected, he ended up reaching Kinoko Cafe at 7:53 pm. Granted, he had to take a few longer routes due to the area being filled with muggers, traffic making it hard to cross roads, construction blockages, etc.

After living in the same area for most of his life with nothing to do but walk around, he eventually memorized most of the routes in town. He had been into Kinoko Cafe a few times before, but never for a party like this.

Tommy walked up to the cafe and swung the doors open. A sweet scent immediately filled his nose as the bell went off to signal someone coming into the cafe. He looked around the cottage core cafe, taking note of who all was there- aka everybody except Sam.

He locked eyes with Purpled and sent over a wave. He was about to walk towards where Purpled was chatting with Punz, Karl, and Sapnap when Dream came up to him. “Hey! I’m glad you decided to show up tonight Tommy. I uh- I found your backpack over at the arena so I thought I’d bring it to give to you if you showed.”

“Oh, awesome! I thought I was gonna have to go get it from the arena!” Tommy grabbed his backpack from Dream, but paused when he noticed something. There was a newly added keychain hanging from the zipper on the main pocket of his bag.

The keychain was a 2d thin wooden carving hanging on a silver chain. The carving itself was a possum with his mouth wide open, looking like he was about to bite down on something. Its’ tail curled into a loop where the chain could hang off of.

Dream must have noticed Tommy staring at it because he said something. “Oh uh- you uh- I-” Snickering could be heard from George who was listening in on the conversation. “I bought a keychain that matches with it- and you know, uh, I only wanted the one- so uh- keep it?” Dream pulled his keys out of his pocket to display a similar keychain.

Dreams’ keychain was a wooden 2d carved raccoon. The raccoon was shaped to have its head resting on the possum's tail and the raccoon’s tail fitting with the possum’s mouth. There was a small hole on the back near the edge of the wooden piece where a chain hung out of the wooden piece.

Tommy looked between the keychains, forcing down a smile. He felt his heart warm at the gift he was receiving. Even if it wasn’t purchased specifically for him, Tommy loved receiving gifts. It made him feel appreciated and cared about.

He nodded. “Yeah, thanks Big D!” “I- Don’t call that Tommy- it’s sort of inappropriate-” “So Small D?” “WHA- NO!” Tommy laughed at Dream as he continued sputtering. Eventually, Tommy just slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked over to where Purpled was.

“Yeah, so if Tommy agrees I think it would be cool-” Tommy raised an eyebrow at what he walked over to hear Karl saying. “Huh?” “Oh, Tommy! I was just talking about you! Are you cool with fireworks? I have some in the back that I was gonna let Mister Pyro over here light up. Just wanted to make sure everyone was cool with it first.” Sapnap was practically bouncing up and down with excitement. “Uh- yeah, sure I don’t care.”

Karl smiled. “Alright, Tommy!” Sapnap grabbed Karl’s hand. “Let’s go get the fireworks! Come on, come on!” Sapnap pulled Karl towards the ‘employee’s only’ door, to assumingly go and get fireworks.

Punz ruffled Purpled’s hair, earning him a few muffled curse words from the blonde boy in question. Punz then walked off as Purpled fixed his hair. “Fucking idiot.” Once finished fixing his hair, Purpled turned to Tommy with a mischievous look on his face.

“Hey, Tommy- There’s a ladder out back from when they got roof repairs last week- or that’s what Karl said. What do you say we go up onto the roof to get a better view of the fireworks-? I know how much you love them!”

Tommy nodded. “I do like them quite a bit… sure, let’s go-”

Purpled grabbed Tommy’s hand and led him out through the back entrance. He pointed to a ladder that was leaned up against the side of the building. “To-daaaaaaa!- it’s not that safe, but uh- eh.”

Tommy walked over and held the ladder. “You first, I’ll go up after.” Purpled nodded and headed up the ladder. Tommy followed up slowly after.

The two sat down, their legs dangling off the side of the roof. “Safety? I don’t know her-” Tommy chuckled, kicking his legs so that every once and a while they hit the building lightly. He hummed, looking up at the sky.

“When do you think the fireworks will start? I’m honestly kinda excited- we haven’t seen fireworks in a while.” Purpled nodded. “Well-” Purpled pointed down to Sapnap who was already setting up fireworks, lighter in hand. “Probably soon.”

“Guess so!” Tommy laid back, staring up at the sky. Purpled soon followed suit. Both waited for the fireworks to start, idly chit-chatting away.

Soon enough,

BAM! BOOM! PSCK!

The fireworks began going off, with no sign of them stopping any time soon. As soon as one ended, another one went up. Seems like Sapnap has little to no self-control in this regard.

Tommy smiled as he watched each firework explode, painting colors across the night sky. “Hey, Tommy?” “Hm?” “Why do you like the fireworks so much anyway? You always make such a big deal out of them.”

Tommy paused. Truth be told there were many reasons he liked them as much as he did. However, one reason definitely weighed in more than the others. Would he be able to tell Purpled though? His friend deserved to know. Well, here goes nothing?

“Well- I mean. I like to imagine that whenever I go-... Whenever I… die. Well, I’d like to think that I’ll go out just as beautifully as the fireworks.”

Purpled’s mouth opened in shock as he sat up. That was definitely not the sort of answer that he was expecting. He turned to look at Tommy.

“Hey- uhm…” Tommy sat up as well. Purpled laughed, but there was no humor behind it. Rather a bit of worry was hidden in his tone. “Please don’t say stuff like that Tommy-... Even as a joke. I need you, man. I love you- as a friend.” Purpled’s eyes watered slightly.

After a bit of silence, Tommy smiled softly and hugged Purpled. Purpled hugged back, but his arms were in a rather awkward position due to Tommy’s backpack. “Yeah, Purpled. Sorry. I just- it’s the truth, you know?” Purpled nodded.

The hug soon ended and they both continued to watch the fireworks silently, together.

As the people below them began screaming about Sapnap lighting someone’s jacket on fire- Tommy realized something.

Before, he didn’t have a family. Before, he didn’t have anyone who truly cared- he had Purpled and Punz, but two people can’t always be with him.

But now? Now he has a family. Granted their not perfect- some of them are fucking insane- but that’s what makes it home.

Because now Tommy’s a racer. He’s a part of Creepers’ Circuit now.

“OH MY FUCKING GOD- TOMMY, TOMMY HELP ME PUT MY JACKET OUT!” Purpled who had joined the chaos at the bottom had his signature purple hoodie’s sleeve on fire.

And even though they were complete and utter morons- they always had each other's backs. They truly were family, no matter how crazy or idiotic they are- they’re family. Tommy’s family.

“COMING BIG P!”

Chapter Text

Hey guys. So, what’s up?

I know it’s been a while— but I just wanna say that we’re sorry for not updating this sooner. I know, it’s literally been a year and a half. Almost two. We swear this isn’t abandoned just,, under new management? And no, no one is adopting this. Me and the other creator (WillowTrew) have huge plans, big, really.

But on the first note, We apologize for the lack of communication from us. We have received all of your comments and so many times have we thought to hey, let’s maybe… update?

But on that note, let me explain why we will NOT be continuing this fanfic.

I’m sure all of you know what has happened within the MCYT community around dream and now recently, Wilbur. And it’s safe to say; we don’t want to be in that. The dream scandal was huge, and now Wilbur’s is just horrible. It’s not something me nor WillowTrew want to involve ourselves in. And I know, the characters aren’t actually them. But they played and acted out those characters. It’s still apart of them. And just being completely honest, we haven’t had much interest to continue. Me and them have spoken numerous times about updating it and giving you guys at least a small chapter. But neither of us have the time nor motivation to do so.

But! Don’t go yet, don’t GO! We have huge plans. I know me and WillowTrew adore the story line itself, the car racing and the intricate plot that follows. So, we decided it’s in our best interest to rewrite it with original characters. And I know, that probably isn’t as interesting which is why we are giving you the choice of us uploading it publicly or not. It won’t be held against you if you don’t read, I can assure you I don’t really reach out to original characters on here. But, if you’re looking for more works from us, than please be our guest to read!

If you have any questions, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! Ask us in the comments. We will be watching like a HAWK!!

Chapter Text

Hello! It's been so long since either creator touched this work, and yet we're back again. Previously, we decided to discontinue this fanfic because of the subject material and the problematic actions of multiple people centered in this story. However, we've decided to continue the story-- just not how you may expect.

This story and AU will be carried on, but with an entirely different fandom as the base for it. After much deliberation, both authors decided that we loved this work too much to let it continue unfinished. The new fandom will be DC, with it instead being a found family AU centered around the Batfamily. Damian will take Tommy's place, and various other characters will slot into various previous characters. While the storyline will not be completely the same, it will be similar! We have not yet decided if this fanfic will be updated again with the link to our new work (once the first chapter is published), so if you're interested and would like us to update this fanfiction with a link to the new story, please let us know! A big thanks to everyone who read and enjoyed this fic.