"And the winners are... CRUSHER AND RUDY!"
The crowd reluctantly cheered as the cheater and his so-called teammate crossed the finish line first. Crusher cackled victoriously as he waved to the crowd.
For the first time in months, his cheating finally paid off. He finally beat Blaze at the race and won the Team Truck Challenge. His giant cheese balls managed to stop the red truck from ever reaching the finish line.
But at what cost?
A few minutes later, Blaze appeared at the finish line with AJ.
Alone.
Both had expressions of heartbreak and rage. Their eyes were redshot as they crossed the finish line. They turned to Crusher, who huffed at their dismay.
"So the unbeatable Blaze FINALLY lost a race, huh?" he smirked. "I KNEW that I was better than you,"
"Oh, enjoy your victory, Crusher, go on!" Blaze snarled. "You have NO idea what you just did!"
"Uh, cheat my way to win? Duh!" Crusher rolled his eyes before looking around. "Now where's Pickle? Don't tell me you left him to go fast and win by yourself? Psh, and they call YOU a great teammate,"
"He's..." AJ hissed, shutting his eyes to fight the tears as he dismounted from the driver's seat and clenched his fists. "He's gone,"
"What?" Crusher looked confused. "He left? In the middle of the race? Psh, of course he did. He couldn't stay focus on one activity, even if he wanted to,"
"No, he didn't leave." AJ gritted his teeth, glaring up. "He's... gone-gone."
"He's DEAD, Crusher!" Blaze yelled out. "HE'S FREAKING DEAD BECAUSE OF YOUR CHEAT!"
Crusher was taken back before scoffing, unconvinced. "Yeah right, like I'm gonna believe that. I'm not an idiot, Blaze,"
"HE IS DEAD, YOU... YOU BASTARD!" Blaze roared out, punching the dark blue truck with all his rage. "HE'S DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!"
"Still not buying it," Crusher rolled his eyes and turned around to leave. "Hey, PICKLE, when you're done with this game that you and Blaze are playing, meet me back at our place!"
Blaze and AJ stared at the other in disbelief as he left the desert.
He was gonna realize the truth.
And when he did, it was gonna ruin him.
X
It's been weeks since the Team Truck Challenge. Blaze had told the news to the other racers, and they all mourned for the green truck.
Only Crusher didn't. He didn't even show up in the Monster Dome the day after the challenge, or at any day after the challenge.
Instead, he was at home, waiting for Pickle to come back. He had cleaned up the place and cooked himself meals and organized the house over and over again. He had sat on the couch and waited for the green truck to arrive.
But he never came.
But Crusher never lost hope. Instead, he just thought of the scenarios that could happen once the green truck came back.
"Hey, Pickle, heard you lost the race? Eh, told you that you weren't up for racing,"
"Pickle, what took you so long to get back home? You couldn't have been THAT slow, right?"
"Pickle, the place's been cleaned so many times! What took you so long?!"
"Hey, Pickle, where've you been? DId you get lost getting home again?"
And this went on for weeks and weeks. Soon, those weeks turned into months.
And he never once left his apartment to race.
.
.
.
Blaze was hesitant as he stood in front of Crusher's apartment door. He knew that he should be mad at the dark blue truck for what had happened months ago at the race, and he really was, but it worried him that no one has seen tire nor skin of him since then.
"Are you sure he even wants to see us?" AJ asked.
"Definitely not, but we need to make sure he's okay," Blaze told him before knocking on the door.
After a while, Crusher answered it, opening the door. He looked exhausted, the bags visible under his eyes, but he still managed to smirk at them.
"Oh, what a surprise!" he cackled. "You two ready to challenge me to a race after your loss months ago?"
"And to think we were SO worried about you," AJ rolled his eyes.
"About what?" Crusher raised an eyebrow.
"Crusher... how long have you been staying inside your place?" Blaze asked.
"As long as I can to wait for Pickle to come back, duh,"
Blaze and AJ grimaced. The boy sighed and got off of Blaze's driver seat.
"Crusher... Pickle's long gone,"
"You're lying," Crusher huffed. "And whatever you guys are planning to try to humble me down, it's NOT gonna work,"
"But we aren't-"
SLAM!
The duo winced as the door slammed shut in front of them. AJ let out a sigh.
"Blaze... I don't think he's gonna accept the truth that easily,"
"I hope he does," Blaze shook his head. "but I know that it's hard to have your best friend suddenly... die, so I hope he'll be okay when he realizes the truth,"
X
The months stretched further than anyone could count. Crusher was still inside his apartment, waiting for his best friend.
He didn't eat. He didn't sleep. He didn't leave to race. He didn't do anything but... wait.
And he kept waiting.
Unmoving from his spot on the couch.
Until one day...
.
.
.
KRIIING! KRIIING!
Crusher picked up his phone to answer the call.
"Hello?"
["Hey, Crusher,"] the familiar voice of Pickle's sister Millie rang through. ["How are you?"]
"Doing fine," Crusher shrugged. "Is Pickle with you?"
["..."] There was a pause from the other line before she responded. ["Crusher... Pickle's been dead for months now,"]
"He... what?" Crusher shook his head, refusing to believe it. "No, that can't be. It can't,"
["...oh, I see,"] Millie sighed. ["You're... You're still at THAT stage. Okay, I get it. Hope you feel better,"]
With that, the call ended. Crusher was confused as he glanced down at his phone. He sent texts to the rest of the Pickle Family, questioning if it was all true.
If Pickle was really gone.
And all he got were confirmations and pictures of the funeral. Of the tombstone.
Of the truth.
Crusher still couldn't believe what he was hearing and seeing. He had shakily dropped the phone and stared at the wall in horror.
HE was the one to blame this.
It was HIS cheat that had killed his best friend.
He saw it now.
And now, he wished he could take it all back.
X
Another few months flew by. Crusher was still inside his apartment.
But this time, he knew the truth, and it burnt in his mind and heart. Every word he had last spoken to the green truck guilted him.
Every time he had ignored him.
That one and only time he had used his cheats against him.
And now, he couldn't do anything to take back anything he did or said.
Now, he was too late.
Now, he could only think of scenarios of the past. Alternate scenarios of the things he could have said to his best friend before he died.
"Hey, Pickle, thanks for the cotton candy!"
"Maybe you're right, Pickle, maybe I shouldn't use this against them,"
"I know you're trying hard to help me, Pickle, and I appreciate your efforts,"
"You're right, Pickle, I shouldn't have taken the tools away,"
"You're right, maybe those bouncy tires aren't completely worth it..."
"Okay, Pickle, maybe it wasn't such a good idea kicking Darington out of his own stunt..."
"Thanks for helping me repair my boat, Pickle, I appreciate it,"
If only he had been nicer.
If only he had been better.
If only he hadn't cheated.
Things would have been nicer, better for them all if he hadn't cheated. A lot of things would have been better.
And Pickle wouldn't have died.
Just as he was downing himself and hugging himself at the corner of the living room, the door swung open, and he glanced up at a familiar figure entering the house...
X
"Hey, guys, I'm a little worried," Darington spoke up as he and the others gathered at Gabby's pit. "As much as I like racing without a cheat knocking us out, I'm kinda worried where Crusher is,"
"Same here," Stripes agreed.
"Crusher not showing up at races anymore," Zeg added.
"Blaze, AJ, didn't you boys say that you visited Crusher months ago?" Starla asked.
"We did," Blaze nodded. "but... he wasn't mentally stabled at that time,"
"He was still bragging about the Team Truck Challenge," AJ said. "and he was still in denial that Pickle's really gone,"
"Maybe we should head over and make sure he's okay," Gabby suggested.
"You're right, Gabby, we should," Blaze gave a nod of agreement.
The other racers agreed without hesitation then they all drove off out of the Monster Dome, with Gabby getting on her ATV. They all made it to Crusher's apartment, and Blaze was about to knock at the door when he heard laughing form inside.
"Is that... Crusher?"
"Yeah, it is," Starla frowned. "And he sounds... happy?"
"Why would he be happy? Pickle just died!" Darington cried out.
"Crusher, are you in there?" Blaze knocked on the door.
Laughter was the only response. worrying the monster machines. They opened the door and found Crusher at the corner, laughing to himself. The place was messier than they had thought as he stayed at the corner and didn't bother to move.
"Crusher...?"
"Oh, hey, guys!" Crusher turned to them with a wide smile that made them all wince.
"Crusher, are you okay?" Stripes asked.
"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?!" Crusher laughed.
"Crusher, Pickle's been dead for months," Starla pointed out.
"You guys are silly, he's right here!" Crusher motioned to the empty space beside him. "Right, Pickle?!"
"Uh, guys, I think he's hallucinating," Gabby whispered.
"I think that you might be right," AJ hissed and turned to his best friend. "Blaze?"
"Yeah..." Blaze sighed and drove forward. "Crusher... no one's there,"
"Psh, you're all crazy," Crusher chuckled.
"Look who's talking..." Stripes murmured.
"Stripes, be nice," Zeg told the tiger truck off.
"Crusher, please," Blaze sighed. "Do you want us to take you to the mental hospital? To a therapy? We wanna help, Crusher, please,"
"I'm fine, and so is Pickle!" Crusher insisted with a grin, wrapping his tire around nothing but air.
"Blaze, I don't think he's fine," Starla shook her head.
"I know, I know," Blaze frowned and turned away. "but we can't help if he doesn't want us to help,"
"Bye! Thanks for visiting!" Crusher giggled, his laughter off as the trucks all drove out of his apartment.
"We'll visit again tomorrow," Blaze told his friends as they left. "Maybe... Maybe he'll be fine by tomorrow,"
X
Months had passed. Crusher was still not better.
He was still inside his apartment, laughing and joking with the 'Pickle' he was seeing. The other racers came every day to check on him, but he still insisted that he was fine and that everything was fine.
That he was okay.
That Pickle was still alive.
After those months, however, they were horrified at the news of Crusher...
...and how the police found his body at the bottom of the bridge on the other side of Axle CIty...