Chapter Text
--dragoon challenge where they race and then get out and fight
--sometimes newpaper and magazines show up at street races
--sapnap has sleeve flame tattoos
--peircings. peircings for everyone
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It all started with a race.
And it would end with a race.
Tommy was impulsive and awesome and the poggest man to ever exist, which is why he was going to be NASCAR's youngest driver ever to win all the races. All of them. He would be rookie of the year before he was even technically old enough to drive for NASCAR, they just had to see how absolutely incredible he is. So of course when some bitch in their fancy sports car was rolling up next to him at the stoplight with their loud as fuck engine and showing off to everyone around who really didn't care, Tommy decided that it didn't matter if he had only had his drivers license for a week, or that his own car was the slightly beat up kia forte that he and Tubbo had bought used, he was going to show this pussy who the real racer was and everyone would cheer for him because that guy's car was really obnoxious.
The light turned yellow, then green, and in an instant Tommy was a bright silver blur down the (thankfully empty) street, and even though the sports car easily caught and passed him, Tommy was faster to change lanes, bolder to speed around the corners, and the next time that fancy prick was ready to pass him Tommy wouldn't allow it. When they reached the next red light Tommy was first and shot the guy the bird before speeding off again. He needed to find his way home, he had gotten a bit lost.
But he had felt alive.
Sparks were still flying under his skin and his heart was pumping adrenaline to every inch of his body and everything was action movie music and the wind in his hair and bright cherry red fireworks that became his favorite color.
He pulled around the back of his and Tubbo's apartment complex just as the police sped by, way too slow and way too late. They probably weren't even coming for him. He laughed. He fumbled with the key to their unit and threw open the door and demanded that Tubbo use his fancy mechanic skills to turn their car into a real race car because Tubbo was a genius, of course he could do it! If anyone could it was Tommy's bestest buddy in the whole world, come on man think of how awesome it would be- !
Tubbo said no.
--------------------
The sleek black and purple car was only just coming around the corner when it's opponent was already at the other end of the final strip. Tommy groaned and dropped his face into his hands. What the fuck was he thinking, sponsoring a completely new racer that he didn't even know?! With money he barely had?! That had been stupid and impulsive even for him, and now it was coming back to bite him in the ass. Tommy couldn't watch. It was over, they had lo-
The crowed gasped loud and Tommy couldn't help the way his head shot back up, eyes hungrily finding the race strip, raw with hope. The purple flash had already almost completely faded, but there he was. Ender was right up next to his challenger and absolutely gunning it, easily passing him, just in time for the final corner. When the fuck did he-?! The other racer clearly hadn't recovered from the shock by the time Ender cut him off ruthlessly, forcing him to swerve wildly. Such an aggressive move wasn't necessary, the newbie would have passed the man by a long shot without it, no matter how weak he was around curves. Tommy hollered like a madman when he broke the finish line. HOLY SHIT, we won!!
--------------
"Ranboo bought me a honey bun and a couple to keep in the fridge. He's fucking rich and I'm in love with him forever. We're married now," Tubbo answered simply, as if that explained everything. In Tubbo's world and often Tommy's though, it did.
"I guess the way to a man's heart really is through his stomach, huh?"
"Damn right," Tubbo responded around a mouthfull of pastry.
-----------------
This new acceleration was insane!
;;
"Tubbs my gas pedal's all sticky, can you fix that?"
"No I did that on purpose. The last thing I want is for you to press too hard on accident and go rocketing off into some other car so I increased its resistance. You probably noticed your brake is a little softer though, that way it could be adjusted to your acceleration speed and so you dot. Have to worry about whether or not you should slow down before you even get to the finish line"
---------
The most dangerous part of being a drag racer, Tommy found out, wasn't the racing at all. In fact, it didn't even happen on the strip. The most dangerous part was when he was so used to the adrenaline fueled races that it made him numb to everything else. He had already lost track of how many times he had thought he was driving just fine, before realizing that he was coming up on the civilian in front of him way too fast, glanced down at his speedometer and realized he was at least twenty over the speed limit. At a minimum. Not to mention, when he would find himself drifting over the lane markers because he wasn't used to paying attention to them. He had gotten so used to racing, that often, he would misjudge when he would need to start stopping for a speed he didn't realize was as fast as it was and end up either rolling past or having to slam on his brakes, once coming dangerously close to the center of a major intersection.
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Sometimes Brotherly Bonding is Amassing Several Felonies
It didn't take Tommy long to realize that driving at the speed limit was the most frustrating experience on the planet. he already knew that most people didn't actually abide by the posted laws, either going too fast or infuriatingly slow, but he hadn't realized that everyone chose their own speed. He was technically doing perfectly fine, not under the limit at all, but he felt like he was crawling. Watching the other cars pass only made it more difficult to stay lawful. He knew he couldn't risk it though. Not after the raid the other night.
With a quiet groan, he flicked on his turn signal and did his checks. Then, at his last glance in the mirror, he realized that the silver car (now) almost beside his had sped up just enough for him not to get by. Can't you see I'm trying to change lanes here? Frowning, Tommy increased his speed just a miniscule amount, enough to start getting by, and waited for the guy to either slow back down, or pass him, if that's what they really wanted. The prick didn't make any attempt to to move, even speeding up with him to stay stubbornly in the Single Most Annoying Spot for Anyone Trying to Switch Lanes. Tommy could feel the muscles in his face tighten. He didn't have time for this, his turn was coming up.
Pressing his foot on the pedal, he deftly slipped in front of the bastard before they could catch him again and slowed back down to 40, making the silver car have to decrease speed as well. He had kind of cut them off but he wasn't sorry. After the turn the silver car switched lanes and sped off at the first chance they got.
A couple minutes later, Tommy was glad to be on the on ramp towards the highway (freeway?), where he could finally go a more reasonable speed. The feeling didn't last long. The car in front of him seemed just as surprised to have to stop so suddenly, but they both made it without bumping anyone. If Tommy thought he was going to slow before, he was incredibly miserable now; the arrow on his speedometer was stuck at barely five miles per hour. What's the holdup?
Sirens from behind made his heart jump and it continued to skip even as the police cars sped right by him and faded into the distance. A crash?
He found out soon enough. A mass of red and blue painted the sky out on the near horizon, far more than just a couple measly officers, all surrounding a sleek black mercedez. A short burst in traffic flow brought Tommy almost right up to the scene, but it quickly halted again. The blonde's mouth fell open when he realized that it was no crash, certainly no DUI arrest, but a full felony traffic stop and everyone else seemed just as eager to watch as he was.
Felon or not, Tommy thought the amount of police that had responded was a tad excessive. Not that he would know any better, that was just a lot of flashing lights for a single guy who was so compliantly turning away and dropping to their knees. Every officer had their guns trained on the person's back as hands adorned with several rings came up to cup the back of their head, blossom pink hair falling over their face, parting around a divoted ear so a golden sword earring and an emerald could glitter against their skin.
Holy fuck that was Technoblade.
Tommy had considered it when he saw the long pink hair, but he hadn't really thought- the guy was dressed like a fucking English major for fuck's sake- !
But there was no way he could mistake that ear and earring. Before he could even entertain the notion that this might be a bad idea, he was speeding out of his lane onto the (thankfully wide) shoulder of the road and skidding to a stop just behind the older racer. Immediately, everyone's heads whipped up to face him and he was looking down a few too many gun barrels for his liking. He was already out of the car. He was in too deep now.
"HANDS IN THE AIR! PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!" Tommy obliged, as he was very much allergic to getting shot, but boldly strode forward despite all the yelling not to. He stopped between The Blade and the officers and as compliant as he had been before, Technoblade risked craning his neck around to watch with utmost confusion and mild horror.
"Hey! Hey, easy gentlemen," he tilted his head to a couple officers. "And ladies. What's up? What's going on? Why- why are you arresting this very innocent man?" HE asked, completely baffled. One could not simply arrest a street racing legend, the Techno-blade himself!
"DO NOT TAKE ANOTHER STEP! TURN AROUND AND GET ON THE GROUND!"
"Um, no. Look fellas, this is my brother!"
"Heh?!"
"I SAID TURN AROUND AND GET ON THE GROUND!"
"No! No, I- you can't arrest my brother, you just can't. He's an innocent man!"
"He's a wanted felon!"
"Whaaat?! No! No, he's not, look at him, he's a fucking English major!" Technoblade had the audacity to look offended. "He's a total nerd! Seriously, this is not the man you are looking for."
"You can't use the force on us, this is real life," one cop deadpanned. Oop--he hadn't even realized he had done the hand thing. He was spending way too much time with Tubbo and Ranboob apparently. "Technoblade Watson is a wanted felon and you are both under arrest! Turn around and get on your knees!"
No way. There was no way his real name was actually Technoblade. And his last name is Watson? Fucking nerd.
"No, fellas, listen, this isn't- this is my brother! His name is-" Tommy panicked. "T- Tenathy? His name is Tenathy, my big bro!"
"Tenathy" choked. The officers were too stunned to speak. Baring his teeth at them was all Tommy could do to keep from cracking up laughing. "...Tenathy," a different officer repeated skeptically.
"...Yes."
"He's tellin' the truth! Th-" Technoblade let out a long suffering sigh. "That's my name." Well, he may be a felon, but at least he was smart enough to go along with it. "That's my brother, Oedipus."
"Oedipus?"
"Ha ha, yep! That's me! Dad had a real thing for weird names." What kind of gibberish word is Oedipus?
Tenathy cleared his throat. "That's why his nickname's motherfu-"
Tommy gasped. "LANGUAGE! What would mum say?!"
"Are you seriously goin' to 'language' me right now?!"
"I'm going to tell mom. Her oldest son is a wrong-un who says bad words."
"Go ahead, she always liked me better anyways."
Tommy feigned hurt. "No she doesn't...?"
A couple of the officers turned to each other and started muttering. The rest were still at a loss. All things considered, this completely unplanned daring rescue was going quite well. Surely there was no way they actually believed him though. Tommy racked his brain to try and-
He choked in surprise when a large hand grabbed his wrist in a vice grip and dragged him to his car, making him almost face plant into the cement in the process. Technoblade practically threw Tommy through the open car door and into the driver's seat and within moments was hurling himself into the passenger's seat on the other side with a shout of "DRIVE!"
What about the people in the road?! A car chase could put them in danger!
Tommy slammed his door shut without thinking. Blade yelled again.
Ok, I can avoid the civilians, but what about the cops?! I don't want anyone to get die! I-
Bullets sparked off Tommy's gorgeous red car. "KID, DRIVE!"
"FUCK!" Tommy floored it.
They out accelerated the police right away, giving the blonde plenty of time to find the gap in cars where he could swerve off the side shoulder and burn rubber down the highway.
Ok, ok, the cops can take care of themselves. If they couldn't keep up, that wasn't his fault. Adrenaline roared to life in his veins, only this time it wasn't fireworks and dragon flame, it was a whole wildfire and it was out of control.
The increasing volume of the sirens had Tommy's eyes flashing to the rear view mirror at the black and white hoard steadily catching up. He slipped left, then wove back through cars to the far right lane. As he expected, the officer's weren't quite as agile as him, but they were relentless nonetheless.
Technoblade's arm shot up to pound on the window. "There's an exit!" Tommy eyed the cars behind him. He decellerated just enough for his red warning lights to flare and angled the car toward the off ramp. Their pursuers fell hook, line and sinker.
They were closing in--too close for Tommy's comfort. He swerved towards the exit. At the last minute, he jerked the wheel and careened back to the highway, making Technoblade make a strangled noise and brace himself against the dashboard and door for dear life.
Ideally, all of those chasing them would have taken off down the exit and Tommy and Techno would have been home free. Realistically, it worked beautifully to have the first car speeding down the other road and a second close behind it. But while the rest of the group had managed to turn in time, the second car hadn't, not for lack of trying. Tommy flinched violently as it flipped, metal and glass crunching and rolled down towards the waiting intersection. He pried his eyes open. He had to watch the road. Oh god, what if they died?! What if he just caused an even bigger crash?! He didn't know, they had already faded in the distance. This wasn't fun anymore, he didn't sign up for this!
"What the hell was that?!"
"We gotta stay on the highway, it's safer!" Technoblade opened his mouth as if he wanted to retort, but ultimately had nothing to say.
They took the second exit--actually this time--and successfully feigned one more car off their tail, luckily with less crashing. By now the police had given up demanding that they pull over to be arrested over whatever car speaker thing they had (as if that was ever going to work in the first place). Tommy hated that they were heading full speed towards a relatively slow 40 mph zone full of bystanders, but his brain flickered off entirely when the flash of safety orange and silver reflective tape caught his eye. There, up ahead and to the right, was an unfinished bridge. Or, more appropriately, a finished bridge without half its railings, spanning over a wide dirt path crossing perpendicular underneath.
His passenger's eyes followed his own and widened. "Oh no. Kid don't you dare-" Helpfully, once Tommy's brain turned off, it stayed off.
Without wasting a second, the blonde plowed their car over the warning cones and onto the bridge that he was 85% sure was stable. It was fine, the potential drop wasn't too far...just...far enough that he would never consider it if he had other options.
The patrol cars behind them followed suit, whether bravely or stupidly was up for debate. The safety railings would be ending soon. Tommy stubbornly kept his eyes glues ahead and his foot on the gas. Sirens blared; sunlight flashed in his rear view mirror, temporarily hiding the threatening blue and red blur. For a moment, the world slowed. Tommy was acutely aware of every hair, every cell of his body, but very little else. He exhaled like it was the only clear sound in existence above the din of surrounding chaos.
Tommy ripped the wheel over to the right and they were suspended in open air for a single, ethereal moment before they crashed.
- - - - - (chapter break)
Technoblade's screams of "No, no, no, no, no, no- !" cut off abruptly when they hit the ground. For a terrifying moment, his entire body jolted with pain, all his breath exiting his lungs in a mind numbing gasp and he was completely frozen with shock. His heart jumped up into his throat when the car skidded on only two wheels over the slippery dirt, Tommy fighting with the steering and ground wheels desperately to regain some semblance of control. Half the car dropped down into the poorly taken care of grass beside the road and jarred Tommy again, enough to bring him back to his senses and slam his foot back on the pedal, this time with more defined purpose to the way he jerked the wheel to get them back on course. His hands were still shaking like a mad man's and the vehicle hadn't stopped bouncing from the impact, but they were fully on the road again, spraying dirt and pebbles in their wake.
In Tommy's adrenaline fueled, scared shitless mind, that whole circus of fearing every breath might be his last had gone on for far too long. To the rest of the world, it had only been a few minutes.
None of the patrol cars dared follow them, even if they had been able to turn in time. They skidded to a clumped up stop at the end of the bridge, completely harmless now. Techno and Tommy made a break for the woods.
;;;;
“Sorry about your car,” Tommy said eventually with a tight lipped grimace.
Technoblade sighed, then shook his head and shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, it wasn’t your fault. The Mercedes was my expendable car anyway, I like the Maseratis better.”
”What.”
(finds out techno's family is absurdly rich from Phil's nascar days and winning so many big street races, also "here wilbur, this kid is as crazy and suicidal as you are")
--------------
"FELONY ALLUDING, FELONY MENACING, INTERFERENCE OF JUSTICE--OH, WELL AT LEAST THAT ONE'S ONLY A MISDEMEANOR," Tubbo roared, throwing his hands up in scathing, sarcastic fury. The brunette had practically paced a trench in the floor and wasn't stopping any time soon. "AND ON TOP OF IT ALL, THIRD DEGREE MURDER!!" Tommy actually violently flinched away from that one, teeth worrying into his lip. He hadn't meant for that to happen. I-it wasn't his fault. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
His housemate didn't even know what to say, only hung his head. For a few minutes, Tubbo's shouting devolved into stutters, also clearly at a loss. Then finally, venomously, "What could have possibly possessed you to get into this mess?! What were you thinking?!"
It took a moment for Tommy's voice to work again. "Technoblade was getting arrested."
There was a sharp intake of breath and the silence before Tubbo spoke next was electrified. "You're telling me...that you started this whole entire mess...for a complete stranger?"
His tone made Tommy feel like there wasn't possibly a right answer to this. "Well, he's not a stranger, he's- "
"'NOT A STRANGER'?! YOU BARELY TALKED TO HIM ONCE FROM BEHIND MASKS AND FAKE NAMES!!"
Tommy grit his teeth. "See, Technoblade is his real name actually- "
"THAT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER! THINK, TOMMY! YOU JEAPORDIZED- YOU- YOU
-------------
"If they could accelerate at ten miles a second in 1970-something, and NASCAR goes zero to sixty in 3 minimum," Tubbo grumbled. "Then I can get you to at least fifteen in half."
"Fifteen miles...in 1.5 seconds?" Ranboo inquired, plastering on a pretend confused smile that quite frankly did nothing to hide their fearful apprehension.
Tubbo looked over his shoulder, face twisted in a grimace of 'are you serious?' "Fifteen in 0.5 seconds."
The tall man whimpered. "I was afraid of that."
"Then don't be a racer."
"I'll never be able to control that much speed!"
"That's what practice is for."
Ranboo's eyebrows furrowed. He made his way over and placed a gentle hand on the little mechanic's shoulder. Tubbo tried to shake him off, but Ranboo didn't relent. Kneeling beside his friend, he asked, "Tubbo, is everything ok?"
The boy slowed his work and closed his eyes, letting a long exhale out his nose. After a minute, he dropped his hands completely. "Tommy's gone. He ran off with the freaking Syndicate after a race and- and he hasn't come home and he was at the last race all buddy-buddy with them. And he won, Boo. He won by a fucking landslide--better than ever when he was living with me and that means that the Syndicate has- has a better mechanic than me and now he's all tricked out and doesn't need me anymore. What if he leaves forever? What if he doesn't need me as a friend anymore either?" His voice trembled and broke.
-----------
There’s a cop parked on Tommy and Tubbo’s block.
There’s been a cop parked on their block for just over a week now, and Tommy knows it’s a cop because there’s always either a cop car or a clean black truck parked in the exact same spot, which isn’t even a reasonable place to park. It’s not close enough to the building to justify living in or visiting someone there, even if all the other parking spots were taken up, which they almost never are, and it’s not close enough to the small playground nearby to be watching out for any children who might be there. The car is never parked in front of anything but it’s been there for over a week.
There’s a cop parked on Tommy’s block and Tommy is getting nervous. He calls Technoblade.
————-
Driving felt dangerous.
Tubbo was too angry and upset to care whether or not he swerved off to either side of the rode and crashed. His speed was only fifty, but it felt fast--too fast. Every twitch into one direction, every massive truck that could flatten him in his car like a bug on a windshield, every blinding flash of someone's headlights in his eyes that could send him careening off course...it scared him. It felt like just enough moments not completely focused on keeping him on the road in the right direction would inevitably lead to destruction. Even so, he couldn’t stop fading in and out of the present, speed slowly raising to 55…60…70…
Tommy would love this, Tubbo thought. He would have no problem with the speed, no problem with the winds blowing his hair, even though it would just as soon tear him apart.
Numbly he noticed that he had drifted over to ride the center line. He should really fix that before something bad happened, but he really couldn't bring himself to care.
It was fine, he decided. This road was always empty anyway, and no one else would be out here this late at night.
(gets absolutely smashed by a big truck)
-------------------
Tommy had seen cars with tacky flames before--everyone had seen cars with tacky flames before--but this one was painted with some semblance of grace, in a wild, patternless dance that shimmered across the hood and down the sides in chromaflair orange and gold.
;;;
"Oh please, those flames are absolutely tacky. They're the tackiest!"
"Shut up man, you don't know what you're talking about. My flames are so fucking cool." Sapnap argued back.
"You're delusional," Dream and George chorused.
---------------------
"Wh- how are you guys this fucking rich?!?! You have so many cars!"
"Phil used to be a first place NASCAR racer," Wilbur answered offhandedly, as if that wasn't Tommy's biggest dream (that he couldn't achieve?).
------------------
“Well, for one thing, yer burnin’ up all yer gas constantly bein’ on the pedal like that.” (i have no idea what im saying)
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Grant Me Once this Petty Respite:
"Look Wilbur, gamblers are superstitious as fuck, but what you're saying is just crazy. I'm not your 'unlucky charm', give it a rest." The ire in Quackity's voice made it clear that he was nearing the end of his rope.
"You absolutely are. Every time you bet against me, I lose!"
"Have you ever considered that you're just bad?" Fundy interjected from his place leaning against his car, not bothering to look up from his phone.
Wilbur gasped incredulously. "FUndy! I am good! I literally taught you to race and you win all the time!"
"You did not teach me how to race," he grumbled.
"Fundy's right Wilbur. Just get good."
"Stop betting against me!"
"What, are you jealous?"
Wilbur glared.
;;;;;
Suddenly, Wilbur’s face lit up. “Hey do you want to see how Techno got his first felony??” Excitedly, he turned the phone to face Tommy and there on the screen was a screenshot of a Snapchat story of an already pink haired Technoblade posing in a jail cell with a hunched over old man in the cell behind him. The caption read “punched a senior citizen for hitting his wife so now we’re both in jail”
Tommy wasn’t even sure what to say at first, then after a moment he broke down laughing. “ Pfft-ahahaha- what the fuck?!” Wilbur laughed along with him, scrunching his face in delight. “How did he even get a phone in there?!”
”He has two,” the brunette explained casually, “the police didn’t know and they didn’t bother to search him. That’s literally all he used it for, it was so funny. Of course, Phil wasn’t even mad, but we did have to negotiate for the guy not to press charges.”
;;;;;;
"Heyyy, Tommy," Dream's easy going voice rang clear across the track. Without having to look, he could imagine the way he was waving lazily and strutting towards them. Tommy was not in the mood to deal with this. The green fucker came up behind them and slung his arm around Tommy's shoulders. Immediately he wrenched himself away and kept walking. He could see the cherry red shorts of Dream's flag boy--George, Tommy was pretty sure--in his peripheral vision following them as well. Ranboo twisted his hands together again. "So, I heard what happened to Tubbo."
Tommy stiffened and stopped dead in his tracks. Ranboo seemed about to say something but Dream kept on going. "Really a shame. Too bad he was your only mechanic, what eve-" Before he could even finish, Tommy's fist was driving deep into Dream's face. He could feel the bones in his nose breaking and it would almost be satisfying if fury wasn't consuming him like a flash fire. He didn't know when or how Dream got on the ground, but Tommy was ready to keep punching. People started shouting, blood went flying and Tommy was screaming.
"WAS IT YOU!? DREAM I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU HAD ANY PART OF THIS I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!"
"IT WASN'T- JESUS TOMMY GET OFF! MOTHERFUCKER- TOMMY!"
———
The screech of metal on metal hurt his ears before the jagged debris ever reached his skin. When he opened his eyes he thought he must've gone blind, for the smoke in his vision was far too thick to see out of and burned his eyes, but dancing fire imps flickering through the darkness told him he could still see; everything was burning.
(Tommy ends up crashing as well, except he's fine, the car is just totaled, so he needs a new one to win a race to pay for Tubbo's hospital builds/stop dream from doing something horrible)
--------
“Hey, Big Q, what are those rings you’re always wearing?”
Quackity balked. His eyes were wide when he turned to look at Tommy. “What?”
”Those rings? On the chain around your neck,” he asked.
Almost subconsciously, Quackity’s hands went to fiddle with the strange necklace. “Uh they’re…a couple years ago some people got into more than they could handle,” he explained. Ah, gambling and drugs Tommy thought solemnly. “They’re supposed to come back for them…” he muttered. “They uh, had to give me some kind of collateral, you know?” The rings were expensive, but not exorbitantly. They had several years worth of wear, just barely starting to lose their shine.
———-
(Dead Man's Hand) (Tommy somehow kinda wrecks his car or at least needs a new one in time for an important race so he goes to Quackity. Quackity just so happens to have his dream car--a bright red hellcat)
"Are you old enough to be gambling?" Quackity raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
"I don't know, am I old enough for you to collect money off my already illegal races?"
The man paused his shuffling for a millisecond. "...You look young for 21, but that's not my business. Five card?"
"Yes."
He dealt and dropped the keys to the car into the pot. "Jacks are wild." They both picked up their cards.
One pair...two pair and one is high...and a wild card. This is a great fucking hand!
;;
Tommy flipped over his hand. Eight of Spades, Eight of Clubs, Ace of Spades, Ace of Clubs, and a Jack. "Full house."
Quackity stared in horror.
----------- (Tommy needs Tubbos help to be able to win (probably against dream even in the better car so they reconcile and ranboo techno or philza are tommy's team vs sapnap and bbh or fundy? George? they all race at once, if at least two out of three of one team beats 2/3 racers from the other team you win )
"I don't know, it was really weird! And then he just shooed me out with this look! I don't think it was the fact that I won that was bothering him, but he was staring at my cards like that's what freaked him out. How stupid is that?! Techno what was it? Why did he do that?"
Techno only snorted. "Fuck if I know kid. Gamblers are always superstitious, especially about their game. It doesn't mean anything so don't worry about it."
---------------
This was how he was gonna go. Not tonight, Ranboo decided, but someday, this would be it. He loathed the rain and snow was a close second for good reason. It packed itself in the edges of his windshield, combined with the car frame obscuring a considerable part of his vision. The rest of the windows weren't much better: All three of them were frozen with fog so stubborn that his windshield wipers were essentially obsolete, he had rolled both side windows down to clear them, but they were already grayed again. He couldn't even pretend to see out of any of them.
Ranboo shrieked when his car jerked violently and he realized his front right tire had dropped off the side of the road. He swerved back on course just in time to avoid his mirror getting destroyed by a sign post. Oh boy. Oh no. Maybe tonight was going to be the night he died.
No, no, no--he had to just keep paying attention. This would have to be fine right now, it was all he had unless he wanted to ditch his car by the side of the road and call an uber, but no one else would have any better luck in this rotten weather.
——
When Tommy heard that his brother was in the hospital on life support, he drove faster than he ever had in his life.
-------------@ the hospital
"Tommy! You're here?!"
"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be here?! Tubbo what the hell happened?! "
Tubbo hiccuped on a cry. "I- I thought you were spending so much time with your other friends and they were giving-g you better shit that you didn't ne- need me anymore! You were leaving me behind!"
——————- (right after meting tubbo in the hospital0
…Suddenly everything around him was too real, and that bone deep fatigue sank into his bones again. He stopped, mouth slightly ajar, before shaking his head and trying to get back to driving but it was as if he had forgotten how. No! Forget this bullshit, donuts are fun they should cheer me up! Usually even just thinking about it would bring a grin to his face but he couldn’t distract himself anymore.