Here's the next part for the wedding!
It was SO long that my laptop was lagging! Like, it was so glitchy and EVERYTHING! At least I'll be able to write this much better know :)
Enjoy!
X
X
X
X
X
RING-RING!
"Oh!" Grammy took out her phone to answer. "I've got a call... from Officer Anna!"
"O-Officer Anna?" Crusher's eyes widened as he cradled the twins to sleep. "Do you think...?"
Grammy got in her grandson's train of thought and paled. She answered the phone immediately.
"Hello? Yes, this is his grandmother, Calvin's mother. How may I help you?"
Grammy listened to her for a moment before nodding. She then handed the phone to Crusher, who gulped and set the twins down on their stroller then he shakily took the phone in his tires, almost dropping it out of nervousness but managed to grab it in a good grip.
"H-Hello?"
["Crusher, this is Officer Anna,"] the police spoke through the phone. ["Happy Wedding Day, but I was wondering if you're willing to answer some questions. It's regarding your parents,"]
Crusher swallowed but shook his head. "I can, but not now. How about... after the wedding? Like, maybe, tomorrow?"
["That's understandable,"] she answered. ["For the moment, we'll keep your parents under custody, and we'll look into the history of your family. Good day,"]
With that, she hung up. Crusher sighed and handed the phone back.
"They have Mother and Father," he told his grandmother. "I don't know whether to be happy that Mother and Father won't wreck my wedding day or scared of what the police might find out about them,"
"Calvin has taken things too far again..." Grammy shook her head. "I don't know what went wrong with him. I never raised him like that,"
"Probably Grandfather's fault," Crusher muttered. "He's the one who took things as far as Father does. Mother's family did too,"
"Perhaps," Grammy sighed and patted him on the back. "We will never know,"
"There is ONE thing I know." Crusher hissed. "I'll never forgive them for what they did to my boosters."
"An absolute sabotage, I know, my Crushy," Grammy squeezed her grandson into a hug. "but are you sure you don't want to admit the truth to the others? Especially to Pickle?"
"If they found out that I was a coward to not fight my parents when they traumatized me and forcibly removed my boosters after Dynama burnt the race track to kill me, they're gonna hate me more than they do already!" Crusher whimpered. "And Pickle's gonna leave me!"
"Oh, Crushy..." Grammy frowned. "Pickle would never leave you for that, and your friends don't hate you,"
"They do, and they're going to hate me MORE!" Crusher cried out.
"How about we tell them after the wedding?" Grammy suggested. "After our visit to the police tomorrow?"
"I... okay," Crusher nodded with a sigh. "I guess,"
"That's my grandson," Grammy smiled and patted his head. "Now, come on, let's get ready for the wedding. Have you chosen your best men yet?"
Crusher thought for a while before nodding with a smile. "Yes, I have,"
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Heya, guys!"
"BLAZE! AJ!" the friends cheered as the red truck zipped into the wedding venue.
"Hey, everyone," AJ greeted, jumping off the driver seat with a wave.
"Blaze! AJ!" Crusher ran out of his dressing room, eyes beaming uncharacteristically. "You're back!"
"Hey, Crusher!" Blaze waved a tire at the dark blue truck. "We've got everything! The suit, the bow tie..."
"...and the cake too!" AJ unhooked the wagon and opened the box to reveal the beautiful wedding cake.
"WOW!" Darington screamed. "THAT CAKE IS SO AWESOME!"
"And HUGE!" Zeg cried out. "Tall, TALL cake!"
"And it looks SO YUMMY!" Stripes licked his lips.
"Clive sure did a good job!" Starla grinned.
"He sure did," Blaze nodded in agreement then he turned to the dark blue truck. "Hey, Crusher, I'm sorry with what happened to your parents,"
"Well, it was to be expected," Crusher sighed. "I told you that they could be unbearable,"
"I'm surprised that we lasted that long," AJ groaned. "I was ready to scream! How did you bear them for so long?"
"They ignored me, and in turn, I did too," Crusher shrugged. "Are you sure Officer Anna can hold them for so long? They can be pretty... you know,"
"I'm sure Officer Anna can handle them for a night," Gabby assured him. "At least they were arrested. I can't imagine letting trucks like them roaming around,"
"Officer Anna's also going to look up at their history, especially about Dynama's case," AJ told them. "Hopefully, they can get to the bottom of the family business and finally get them sued for all the times that they had cheated on their taxes and everything,"
"Thanks..." Crusher offered them a small smile. "You guys didn't have to do that,"
"We had to. They're business is illegal," Blaze pointed out. "They were doing something with illegal fireworks and whatnot,"
"Oh, that's for Dynama's sponsored races," Crusher cleared out. "They were planning to let out the fireworks for celebration purposes and the other things for bribary,"
"That sounds like them, alright," Watts shook her head.
"How long can Officer Anna hold them, Blaze?" Darington asked.
"A month, at the longest," Blaze told them. "Then she's gonna send them back to the city, so the police there can deal with their business and their arrest,"
"Good enough," Grammy spoke as she came forward. "Now, let's forget about the problems and focus on the big day!"
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Pickle was squealing internally as he stood at the end of the hall, in front of the doors. His dress was flowing, and it suited his small figure as he held the bouquet of flowers in his front tires.
"Are you ready, Pickle?" Grandpa Pickle asked his grandson, holding a tire out.
"Nervous and excited but ready as I'll ever be!" Pickle grinned as he took his grandfather's tire in his.
"Your parents would be proud to see you like this,"
"I... I know," Pickle tearfully smiled. "I'm sure they're watching the wedding from above. Front and center!"
"They sure are," Grandpa Pickle chuckled.
With that, they walked down the aisle.
Every truck that they all had befriended in Axle City were there. Those whom Blaze had helped and befriended mostly, but they were all friendly and supportive enough to come. Those who cheered the races from the crowd also came, especially the ones who had already theorized Crusher and Pickle being together for a long time (which was plenty, which left Crusher embarrassed for weeks since he was trying SO HARD to keep it a secret when he wasn't good at keeping it in the first place).
Pickle's sisters and cousins all lined up the first rows of seating, along with Grammy caring for the twins. Zeg and Stripes were there too, watching Grandpa Pickle led Pickle to the altar, handing his tire to Crusher (who admittingly looked gorgeous in his suit and tie). Starla, Watts and Gabby stood by one side of the altar as the bridesmaids while, to Pickle's surprise, Blaze, Darington, and AJ were the ones standing on the other side as the best men.
"They were good choices to me," Crusher whispered to answer the unspoken question.
"I think that they're GREAT choices," Pickle giggled as they made their way closer to the altar.
"And YOU are my best choice,"
Pickle blushed deeply before smiling, his eyes meeting the others. "And you were mine,"
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"So... little brother is getting married, huh?"
A similar scratchy voice growled as she watched the screen. She had installed spy cameras to watch her so-called brother's every move, every failed race and cheats. It was her entertainment, the only thing keeping her from going more insane than she was already.
But this was no entertainment, oh no. THIS was a complete DISGRACE to the show she usually watches.
"I swore to our ancestors that this... this kid brother of mine will not receive happiness from anything and anyone, especially after falling for a guy like that idiot." she snarled, a light in her body glowing neon purple swirl until a machine appeared behind her trunk, with a sledgehammer and a huge saw.
The whole prison began to shake as she broke through the wall and leapt out into the road. Her machine disappeared and reconstructed into a jetpack just as the police came out to chase after her. The jetpack activated, and she flew, up, up and away, into the clouds, out of sight from the police or from anyone who might catch her as she headed straight to Axle City.
"I will make sure Crusher remains miserable." she cackled. "or my name isn't Dynama, the Devil Racer!"
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The reception was lit up and full of life.
Everyone was dancing, having fun. The cake had been cut, with Pickle sending their piece to Crusher's face. Crusher usually would rant at a mess, but the mood he had that day was too cheerful and happy to be ruined that he made his own comeback and grabbed a frosting to throw towards his new husband's nose. It made the other laugh, but luckily they stopped before a food fight could ensue.
They were both still left with cake on their faces more than their mouths, though, but Crusher didn't mind at all.
Pickle and him got the first dance. The green truck was a good dancer, and everyone seemed surprised that he was too.
Crusher just shrugged off the gasps. He was trained for these things, not racing, really. His parents practically forced him into this kind of training, to dance properly, to eat properly, and etc. At least he could use the dancing part to good use.
Soon, Pickle was dancing with his grandfather. His sisters and cousins were all letting loose and having fun too. His Grammy was playing Terra and Aquario for the last time since she had to leave the next day after talking to the police. Blaze and Darington were at the dancefloor, as were Starla and Watts and AJ and Gabby. Stripes was the conductor for the animal choir for the music while Zeg was putting on a show with some dinosaurs for those who didn't want to dance.
Crusher was at the table, watching everything unfold happily. He took a break from dancing and was resting, munching on some cake, which was HEAVENLY from the frosting to the flavors.
Everything was perfect to him. Everything was great. A new husband, amazing kids, an amazing new family.
He was so focused on the crowd that he failed to notice a shadow creeping up from behind him. His focus finally shifted, however, when he heard the sound of jetpack behind him. His whole body glowed with his inventing pouch out of instinct as he felt someone arrive.
"Hello, little brother."
There was a sudden swinging of a hammer, but his inventing pouch made a shield as he turned to see a familiar magenta truck with a neon purple swirl of light, along with a similar inventing pouch, but it was smaller and had a skull design painted on it.
"Dynama." he growled, glaring at the other with gritted his teeth as he kept pushing on the shield, so it could still block the hammer. "What are YOU doing here?! You should be in prison!"
"Do you REALLY think I'd let you be happiness when YOU ruined MY happiness?!" Dynama snarled, swinging her hammer harder this time. "YOU RUINED MY RACING CAREER!"
"YOU DID THAT TO YOURSELF!" Crusher shot back. "YOU were the one who's SO focus on killing me that you burnt the race track and ruined your own career!"
"YOU SON OF A-!" Dynama's swirl glowed once more, and her hammer enlarged into a sledgehammer... with spikes!
Crusher gasped as his shield broke at the impact of the weapon, sending him back towards the dancefloor. The music came to a halt as everyone turned to see him and his psycho big sister.
"CRUSHER!" Blaze and Pickle ran to him immediately, followed by the rest of their friends.
"Ha! You're SO weak and SO disgusting!" Dynama mocked with a laugh. "I mean, marrying and having kids with a GUY?! And I thought you needing friends was bad enough!"
"Watch who you callin' weak, scumbug!" Starla hissed, releasing her lasso as Watts charged up her tires beside her.
"Yeah!" Stripes roared out, claws appearing from his tires as Zeg swung his tail around threateningly while Darington came forward with a growl.
"Pathetic." Dynama rolled her eyes, but just as she did, her eyes caught her grandmother with her 'niece and nephew', causing her to smirk as an idea formed in her head. "Well, if I can't kill you, little brother, then I'll just have to take away something else you love!"
With that, she dashed towards Grammy, who gasped as she was pushed back. Crusher's eyes widened in horror as he was helped up.
"GRAMMY!"
Dynama snickered and grabbed the two crying baby trucks before driving off, through the crowd and out of the venue. Crusher drove over to help his grandmother up.
"You okay, Grammy?"
"Y-Yes," Grammy nodded shakily. "BUT DYNAMA TOOK THE TWINS!"
"WHAT?!" Everyone gasped, with Crusher's and Pickle's being screeches of fear.
"Don't worry, everyone," Blaze assured them. "AJ and I'll get them back!"
"Yeah!" AJ nodded and hopped onto his best friend's driver seat then he stepped on the gas, causing the red truck to suddenly zoom off after the magenta truck.
Crusher watched as the they left. The twins... HIS twins... HIS kids... his OWN sister kidnapped them and were planning to KILL them! Blaze and AJ were there to catch her, but they didn't know her tricks. They didn't know how dirty she could play. How DARK she could play when it comes to chases, especially when she has an AWFUL idea in her head.
They didn't know her. HE did. He knew every trick she had, every deadly scheme she played on him to kill him while they were growing up. She was HIS sister, after all. And those were HIS kids.
He had to stop her. He had to save them. They were all HIS responsibility, after all.
"Blaze's gonna need help!" Pickle cried out.
"But how?" Darington asked.
"Yeah! No one can go as fast as Blaze," Stripes agreed.
It was true. Well, Crusher could, but not when the red truck used blazing speed. The only way he could catch up if he-
"Here, Crusher!"
"Huh?" Crusher turned to see Gabby handing out two familiar pads. "Wait, OH, no, no, no-!"
"It's okay, Crusher," Gabby smiled. "It wasn't banged up that badly, and I fixed some of the dents up just in case,"
"B-But... I..."
"Yippee!" Pickle cheered. "You can use your boosters and catch up with Blaze to stope Dynama and get the twins!"
"P-Pickle, I..."
"That mechanic was a liar," Gabby told him. "It was an easy fix, and once we removed that piece of metal on your back, you can easily-!"
"I CAN'T!" Crusher yelled out, silencing everyone in an instant.
"You... what do you mean?" Starla was confused. "It's YOUR boosters,"
"Yes... but I... I can't wear them," Crusher shook his head and placed his tires in front of his face. "I... I can't wear them... Not anymore..."
"Crusher..." Pickle looked surprised as he reached out at his new husband. "what do you mean?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Stripes tilted his head.
"What he means is... he can't mentally use them anymore," Grammy told them, driving to her grandson's side to comfort him. "Crushy, I think you need to explain the rest to them,"
"I... okay," Crusher sighed and pulled his tires away from his face. "You guys know about the fire that Dynama did to the race track to cheat? Well, that isn't true. Well, not entirely the whole story. Only me, Grammy and Pry, the name I gave my former best friend, knew the truth. The fire at the race track wasn't there, so Dynama could cheat and win. It was... It was to kill me... and it wasn't meant to spread,"
Everyone gasped. Crusher gulped but went on.
"There's... There's more. The fire... it wasn't supposed to spread. She placed oil on the track, yes, to cheat, but also to catch me alone, so she could kill me without anyone noticing. She was about to burn me with a flamethrower she invented when I... I used my boosters to get away. It worked, yes, but the fire she shot out flew into the sky and went towards the oil, sending the whole track on fire. Pry and I barely escaped,"
Everyone was silent as they listened to the tale. By the end, Gabby took a glance at the pads in her hands before smiling. She still went forward and handed them to him.
"You can't possibly think that we blame you for what happened,"
"Yeah," Watts nodded in agreement. "It was an accident,"
"You were only trying to defend yourself from that psycho," Stripes agreed. "If I had a whackjob chasing me like that, I'd do the same without a doubt,"
"Friends no blame Crusher for what happened," Zeg gave a nod.
"I don't blame you either," Pickle smiled and hugged his husband. "You were just trying to get away,"
"But because of my cowardness, I got SO many hurt and killed," Crusher whimpered. "That's why my boosters were removed. My parents pinned the blame on me, but Grammy was in my defense after catching everything on camera. Dynama was imprisoned, and my parents were enraged. They tried to burn me in my sleep, and they didn't rest when it came to reminding me that I got my very own sister imprisoned. They then threatened to leave me and burn the house, so I... we compromised, and I gave up my boosters,"
"That's harsh," Darington frowned. "What kind of parents do you have? Devils?"
"I know it was hard, but, Crusher, Blaze and AJ NEED your help," Gabby insisted. "The twins NEED your help. You're the only one who know how to use these boosters and the only who CAN use them. You need to prove to your parents and to Dynama that despite what they did to you, you won't back down. You won't be a coward, and you won't let them step over you. You'll prove to them that whatever they do to bring you down and whatever they do to threaten you won't hurt you and won't affect you whatsoever,"
Crusher took in everything she said. For years, he had been taking in everything his parents and his sister had been doing to him. 'ABUSE', as Pry had laid out to him on their last argument. He didn't listen, shrugging it off and stating that it was natural. It ruined their 10-year friendship, and Pry left the city the next day to head back to his family in the jungle.
But when he left, he seemed to consider the idea. Each abuse from them had left him numb, left him hard, left him cold enough to care for no one else's emotions... even his own. Only his grandmother had helped him to release his own emotions, spoiling him, so that he could be confident enough to talk for himself no matter what anyone else said.
But talking back to his parents and sisters face-front was difficult. With his sister, it was easier now, but with his parents? Never. It was only a miracle that they're imprisoned now.
But could he really battle his sister now? The sister who would not hesitate to kill him in one go? It was a suicide mission.
Crusher took one look at his boosters, his mind conflicted before turning to look at everyone else. Grammy's was a soft expression while the others looked hopeful and desperate. Pickle's looked about the same as the rest, but his was also different, in a sense that it was clearly stating that if he had to, he would zoom off and help Blaze and AJ to rescue the twins himself.
Crusher couldn't risk it, he knew he couldn't. He just got a family now, a better family than where he came from. He's got new friends, friends that he swore he'll never lose again. He wasn't going to lose any of it. Not now, not ever.
"Alright," he nodded and turned around, so Gabby could remove the metal from his back.
He wasn't whole-heartedly ready for this, to get back his boosters, to stop his sister, but he knew that in his heart that his twins, his KIDS, needed him more now than they had ever needed him. He knew they probably won't remember this, they were only a few months old, after all, but he didn't care if they remembered. All he cared about is that he could hold them in his tires again and embrace them again.
He soon felt the two heavy pads on their slots, followed by a familiar sound of thrust from the boosters. He felt the metal spread out into fiery blue fire as an unfamiliar feeling of quickness filled his whole body, causing his body to glow in the same light as when he invents. Gasps were heard from behind, but he ignored them as he revved his engine.
'I'll make sure that Dynama regrets breaking out of prison.'
With that, he zoomed off, out of the venue and into the night sky.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Argh! Stop crying!" Dynama yelled as she held the sobbing baby trucks in both tires. "You two are lucky that I've got a better plan with what to do with you, or I'd be dropping you both here with no hesitation!"
"DYNAMA!" she turned to see Blaze and AJ just below here, with the red truck transformed as a tow truck to prepare to bring her down. "Give back the twins!"
"Ha! You can't stop me, Blaze!" Dynama cackled before flying up into the clouds.
Blaze hissed as he came into a stop. "Gaskets! She got away!"
"I know! Let's transform into a jet with bright lights to see through the clouds," AJ suggested.
"Let's do it!" Blaze agreed, but before he could say anything, the sound of someone speeding towards them. "Wait, listen. Do you hear that?"
"Yeah," AJ nodded slowly. "It sounds like-"
Suddenly, there was a dash of blue, and the two turned to see a familar dark blue truck standing beside them.
"CRUSHER?!"
"What? Couldn't let you do the rescue alone?" Crusher chuckled. "Now, where's Dynama?"
"She flew up into the clouds," AJ pointed up. "We were just gonna transform to catch up with her,"
"No, she'll knock you off the sky," Crusher shook his head. "I'll go up, and you stay here. I'll give you twins then I'll get her,"
"How?" Blaze asked.
Crusher didn't reply. He didn't really need to. His whole body glowed blue as his inventing pouch opened up and threw metal scraps towards his boosters, fusing them together until it formed a jetpack. He was soon into the sky and soaring up into the clouds at top speed.
Meanwhile, Dynama was flying over, twins in tires when she heard a familiar zoom from below her. She came to a stop for a moment as she tried to remind herself where she had heard that sound.
"Wait... isn't that-"
ZOOM!
"GAH!" Dynama screamed as a flash of blue zoomed towards her, ripping one of the engines of her jetpack.
Her grip on the baby trucks loosened, and Terra and Aquario were crying as they fell. There was another a zip and zoom, swiftly catching the baby trucks before they could hit the trees. They stopped crying, and they looked up to see their father staring down at them with a smile. They cheered and squealed at the sight of him.
"Aww, I missed you guys too," Crusher giggled, kissing each of their foreheads as he turned to fly the other way. "For now, I want you to go with Uncle Blaze and AJ while daddy catches your mean Auntie, okay?"
The baby trucks nodded absentmindedly, not really understanding what their father was telling them, but Crusher took it as a confirmation as he zoomed down to where Blaze and AJ were waiting for him. They waved over to call his attention as he landed in front of them.
"Here," he gave the twins to them then turned. "Now I have a sister to stop,"
"Good luck!" Blaze told him. "And be careful,"
"Knowing her tricks, I'm gonna need luck," Crusher let out a shaky breath before activating his jetpack and soaring back up.
If there was a right time to stop his sister, it was DEFINITELY now.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Drat! Where did he go?!" Dymana cursed as she looked around the sky. "I SWEAR if he has what I think he has, then I swear to our ancestors-"
"Swear to them what?"
She froze before turning around to see Crusher hovering behind her, towering over as he glared down at her. She returned the glare.
"So you DID get your boosters back." she hissed. "The same boosters that could've killed off Prider and the rest of your so-called friends,"
"YOU wanted to kill me. I acted out of self-defense," Crusher huffed. "Nothing that you tell me will bring me down. Not this time. I have friends again, I have a husband, I have kids, I have an actual family! Better than you or our parents or any of our relatives!"
"A family? Pah-lease!" Dynama rolled her eyes. "You're not good enough for ANY family,"
"I'm never good enough, I know that. You and everyone else had never gotten tired of reminding me everyday, every second of my life, but Pickle and his family accept me anyway," Crusher countered back. "Grammy accepted me. Despite my cheats, Blaze and the other racers accepted me. I don't care if I'm not good enough for your family anymore. As long as MY family think that what I am is enough then I know that I AM enough. Your opinion doesn't matter to me, not anymore."
Dynama growled. This was one thing that she had been trying to avoid. Crusher knew it well. She and the rest of their family had been making him look bad, so that no one would love him. No one would accept him.
But their efforts were in vain. At the end of the day, Grammy had stayed by his side no matter what, and Crusher had found a new, better family to accept who he was and to help him through his troubles. A family that could change and undo everything that his former family had done to him.
"YOU DON'T DESERVE THEM!" Dynama roared out, her whole body glowing as her own inventing pouch released scraps to make a huge sword. "AND I WILL MAKE SURE YOU WILL NEVER GET NEAR THEM!"
Crusher sighed, his own body glowing to take out his own sword. He wanted to stop his sister, but he didn't want to hurt her. He hated being soft when it comes to family, but despite the many times that she had tried to kill him, SHE was still HIS sister. She was still family, no matter what.
But if it meant protecting the family that accepted him then so be it.
Dynama attacked first, releasing her battle cry as her eyes screamed rage and craziness. Crusher hissed as he pushed forward, swinging his sword to clash with hers. Both metal let out a loud CLANG! as they met, the force of the weapons sending them back. Their jetpacks managed to keep them from falling from the sky, and they were soon hovering apart, just near the trees.
"Argh!" Dynama flew forward to attack again, but Crusher was quick, and he swung to defend once more before turning to slash one of her jetpack engines again. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT, YOU LITTLE-!"
Her actions spoke before her words as she suddenly raised her sword and brought it down faster than Crusher could act. She slashed his jetback straight in the middle then slashed it in half. Crusher gasped, eyes widening in horror as he began to fall.
Thankfully, he and Dynama weren't far from the ground, and he fell into the nearby bush with a yelp.
"Crusher!" Dazily, said dark blue truck looked up to find Blaze and AJ driving towards him, the twins asleep and strapped safely on the seat beside the boy. "Are you okay?"
"M'fine..." Crusher hissed, struggling to pull himself back on his tires. "You should all get out of here. Dynama's still up there and-"
"MWUHAHAHAHAHA!" the group looked up to see Dynama smirking as she took out a flamethrower. "Guess it's time to HEAT THINGS UP AROUND HERE! MWUHAHAHAHAHA!"
Crusher's eyes were wide as a cliff as his sister proceeded to burn the whole forest. HIs inventing pouch glowed up once more, and a bouncing bubble came up, clasping Blaze, AJ, Terra, and Aquario inside and bouncing them out. They bounced off just in time as the flames occupied the trees and bushes at Crusher's side, causing the dark blue truck to jump back and fall onto the ground.
"Oh shoot-!" he hissed and covered his face with his tires to not take in any smoke.
Luck didn't seem to be on his side, and in a few minutes, he was coughing and wheezing for air like crazy. The smoke from the flames soon filled the air, matching the wicked laughter that echoed through the air above the smoke. It drowned him in smoke and flames, and he felt himself starting to lose conscious as he backed up into a tree, his eyes dazed and weak from lack of oxygen.
The last thing he heard and saw before blacking out was the sound of a familiar engine zooming towards him and a shadow approaching him...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Where are they?" Darington let out a hiss as he, Starla, Stripes, Watts, Gabby, Zeg, Pickle, and Grammy searched the outer part of the forest for the others. "Crusher's booster tracks stop right here, but where could they have gone?"
"Don't know," Starla shook her head with a sigh.
"I just hope that they're all alright," Watts sighed. "They've been gone for a while,"
"Wait, guys," Stripes's ear shot up, picking up a noise from afar. "Do you guys hear that? Sounds like... a bouncing ball... and Blaze!"
Sure enough, a huge transparent bubble bounced towards them, breaking apart as it reached the ground. Blaze and AJ were dazed as they fell onto the floor while Terra and Aquario giggled, clapping their tires at the 'ride'. Pickle gasped.
"TERRA! AQUARIO!" he took his kids into his own tires, drowning the two baby trucks in kisses. "Thank goodness you two are safe!"
"Are you two okay?" Gabby asked as she helped AJ onto the ground as Darington immediately snatched his boyfriend into a worrying hug.
"We're fine," AJ nodded. "A little dizzy, but fine enough,"
"FINE?! You were up against a complete PSYCHOPATH!" Darington growled, glaring up at the red truck. "I know you two want to stop her, but THAT WAS RECKLESS! And I LOVE being reckless!"
"Yeah, yeah, sorry for worrying you," Blaze offered his lover a smile and a small kiss then he turned to everyone else. "but Crusher's still in the forest, and Dynama's setting the WHOLE PLACE ON FIRE!"
"WHAT?!" Everyone gasped.
As if on cue, the trees and bushes erupted into flames. The group all yelped and drove off to avoid being burned.
"CRUSHER!" Pickle handed the twins to Grammy and planned to dive into the fire when Blaze stopped him.
"Pickle, NO! It's too risky!" he told him.
"Yeah, Blaze and I'll do it," AJ offered.
"You two are INSANE! NO!" Darington shook his head.
"Fire too big for Blaze and AJ!" Zeg cried out.
"But if we won't do it then who's gonna save Crusher?!" Blaze questioned. "The rest of the firefighters aren't going to get here on time, and-"
Suddenly, interrupting the red truck. There was a whirl of a jetpack, and everyone looked up to see Dynama cackling as she aimed to attack them with her huge sword.
"Oh NO you don't!" Starla twirled her lasso and threw it, taking one of the thrusters in her hoop before pulling on it.
"ACK!" Dynama yelped, dropping her sword in shock. "DAMMIT!"
Blaze followed in pursuit, aiming at the other thruster to help the cowgirl truck with his own lasso then Stripes jumped up, claws out to slash the jetpack into half. He landed on the ground and drove towards his friends just in time for the psycho truck to fall.
"Ow~" Dynama was dazy as she forced herself up and tried to get away.
"Not on our watch!" Watts hissed, her electric wheels lighting up. "Electric CHARGE!"
She blasted the magenta truck, knocking her out in an instant. Gabby gave Officer Anna a quick message just as Dynama fell back unconscious while Starla wrapped her up to make sure she didn't get away.
"That's one problem taken care of," Darington sighed in relief.
"But... But what about Crusher?!" Pickle cried out. "He's still out there!"
The friends all exchanged glances. They honestly don't know what to do. The forest fire was too much, too risky for any of them to enter, or at least put out.
What could they do?
Before any of them could offer a reply, however, there was a rumble of an engine coming from the flames. They all turned to find someone driving towards them, a fireproof shield around them as they came out from the fire, something, or someone, out with his line and hook. The shield hid his identity, but as soon as they, and whatever else they were dragging, were out of danger, the shield lowered. Stripes gasped.
"PRIDER?!"
"Hey, cousin," the white tiger truck spoke in a cool, deep voice as he grinned, purple eyes shimmering under the light of the moon.
"Oh my god, what are you doing here?!" Stripes drove up to the other. "You never said that you were coming to Axle City!"
"I wasn't planning to," Prider confessed. "but then I heard that my former best friend was getting married from Ms. Grammy, so I wanted to head over to surprise him," He then turned to the truck he had been dragging. "Thank goodness I did,"
"CRUSHER!" Pickle ran over to his unconscious husband, wrapping him in his tires as soon as he could. "OH, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!"
"It's no trouble at all," Prider smiled. "You're... Pickle, right?"
"Yes, he is," Grammy nodded as she drove forward with the baby trucks in her tires. "And these are their twins; Terra and Aquario,"
"Well, hello, you little cuties," Prider cooed at the sight of the twins. "You two look just like your parents, but I have feeling that you're going to be a little more troublesome, just like your father,"
"So YOU'RE Crusher's former best friend," AJ concluded.
"Yeah, I am," Prider nodded. "I haven't seen him in a long while since I came to Axle City to join Stripes. I had to clear my head since Crush had his issues, I knew I couldn't change his mind that easily, so I had to leave. When my head was finally clear, I went back to the other city to see him, but when I got there, Grammy told me that he left for Axle City to get away from his parents and his old life, and I was already too late,"
"Yeesh, talk about crazy luck," Darington commented.
"Yeah," Prider sighed. "I wanted to head back to talk to him, but seeing his attitude during races made me realize that he was still sorting things out, so I left him be and stayed at the city to keep an eye on Krisha and Calvin,"
"At least you came to his wedding," Watts said.
"Even if it IS late," Stripes held back a snicker. "but we're glad you came anyway,"
"I knew that I was gonna be late," Prider shrugged. "I was conflicting with myself whether I should go or not. I knew that I wanted to see Crush and see how he's doing, but I didn't know if he was ready to see me, especially after everything we've been through,"
"I think he would've been thrilled to see you," Blaze offered him a smile. "He wouldn't remember you if he didn't miss you,"
"Nor would he still call you 'Pry' if he didn't want to remember you," AJ added with a nod.
"He... He still calls me 'Pry'?" Prider looked touched. "Really?"
"As much as I would LOVE to continue this reunion, I think we need to take Crusher to the garage, in case of any burns or other damages," Gabby told them.
"What about Dynama?" Zeg asked, pointing to the magenta truck, who was still unconscious. "Dynama might escape,"
"Don't worry," Blaze said. "AJ and I will watch over her before the rest of the police get here,"
"Alright, Blaze," Gabby nodded then she turned to the white tiger truck again. "Prider, can you carry Crusher to my garage?"
"Of course," Prider gave a nod and a smile.
