Chapter Text
Todd was left with nothing. No band, no girlfriend, no Lynette, NO VEGAN POWERS.. nothing! Of course, he wanted to pretend none of it was his fault, buuutttt it kinda was.
Thankfully, Envy was kind enough — probably too kind — to give him half the money from their most recent concert, which surprisingly was enough to rent a small apartment. He knew he’d need to get a job so he could be at least well off, so he chose to work at a nearby Walmart. The job was going relatively smoothly, minus the glares and whispers. He had some coworkers he got along with, despite his reputation. The pay was fine, at least good enough for Todd to stash the rest of the concert money in his savings. The longer he worked under the constant judgment of the public, the more he began to self reflect.
Of course, he tried to justify his actions by remembering it was initially Lynette’s idea. This was instantly shot down by the other side of him that was thinking about how he could’ve just said no. There was no full excuse for what he had done. The thoughts about that whole situation reappeared one last time as Todd clocked out, putting away his vest and name tag.
The next day, Todd was walking into the Walmart to start his shift. He walked through an employee only door to put on the vest and name tag, as well as clocking in. As he walked out from the little room, he noticed Lucas walking by. He chose not to say anything and went to one of the cash registers, flicking on the switch to display that it was now open. After handing a receipt to an older woman who thanked him, he turned over to see who was next in line. Instantly, he was met with the familiar face of Lucas Lee. He gave him the same civil nod greet they would usually share when addressing each other in the league. Force of habit.
“Lucas,” Todd said.
Lucas returned the nod, “Todd.”
Lucas’s lips curled into a casual smirk, almost playful. “Took after Ramona, huh?” He said, referencing Todd’s whole cheaty situation.
Todd rolled his eyes, “don’t remind me,” he said. Although he was initially annoyed, there was a slight hint of amusement in his expression. He started to bag Lucas’s items.
“So, how’s life?” Lucas asked, trying to start casual conversation.
Todd placed the final item in the last bag, setting it on the little side table where all the other bags were, waiting for Lucas to put them back into his cart. “Your total is $125.86.”
Lucas walked over and inserted his card into the reader, “That didn’t answer my question.” He pointed out.
“It’s been weird. I miss being a rockstar, and vegan.” Todd said with a shrug.
Lucas nodded, “Yeah, I bet.” he grabbed his last bag “Shoulda stayed loyal.”
Todd shot Lucas a semi-playful glare. “No shit. It’s not like I can go back and change it. Even if I was still vegan, the portals are only good for normal travel — not time travel.” The printer printed out a receipt, “Want your receipt?” Todd asked, swiftly ripping it from the little machine before holding it out to Lucas.
Lucas shook his head, “Nah.” With that, he toward the main entrance/exit area with his cart.
Todd watched as Lucas walked away for a moment before turning his attention back to his actual job, scanning and bagging the next person’s items.
Todd shut the apartment door behind him and tossed his stuff onto the counter before flopping himself down on the couch. After yet another day of judgemental glares and awkward customer service, he wanted to wind down. Before he could think of anything, though, his eye;ids became heavy and he drifted off into sleep.
He opened his eyes to find himself sitting on a bench. It was rainy out and he had a vegan portal as an umbrella – the first sign to the fact that this was not real. He heard the sounds of small wheels on the pavement behind him. He knew this could be 1 of 3 things: a stranger, Ramona, or Lucas. As much as Todd would love to fulfill his curiosities, he didn’t. Instead, he got up and walked away from the noise. No matter how much he walked, the wheels continued, the same distance and rate the entire time. As he turned around, he was only able to catch one small glance before he fell backward. Instead of hitting the ground, the dream had transformed and he continued to fall instead. He frantically tried to bring out a vegan portal to save himself but he couldn’t. His powers were gone. He tried to reach out for anything to grab, and felt a large, muscular hand brush his. This only lasted a moment before he was once again falling to his demise.