Corruption Of The Moonstone

The Moonstone

The sun was setting down the hill as Crusher and Pickle drove through the forest, heading back to Axle City.

Earlier, there had been a race. Crusher cheated but lost and threw a tantrum, like the usual, so Pickle brought him out of the Monster Dome to an empty field, far from the city, to clear his head and take his anger out into the air. The race had been this morning, but the duo realized too late that they had spent too long out and were driving back as fast as they can.

"Argh, I can't believe it's so late..." Crusher whined.

"It's okay, big fella," Pickle reassured him with a smile. "The next race isn't until tomorrow, so you didn't miss out on anything!"

"Still," Crusher sighed before beginning to rant about the race once more. "It's not FAIR! I should have won the race! The only reason BLAZE won is because of his Blazing Speed and his so-called powers,"

"D'aww, I'm sure you'll beat him next time," Pickle told him. "And maybe you can do it by not cheating,"

"Psh, that won't work," Crusher huffed. "I can't win without cheating,"

Pickle stopped in his tracks and stared at the dark blue truck with a half-glare and a raised eyebrow. Crusher gulped before clearing his throat.

"O-Okay, there were like, one or two times that I won without cheating, yes, but at those time, Blaze still won WITH me!" He then let out a growl and turned to drive away. "I mean, why does Blaze ALWAYS have to win EVERY race?! What's the big deal?! Why does he have so much good luck to win all the ti— GAH!"

Just as he ranted, he tripped on something and fell on his face. He snarled and got up, dusting himself off before glaring down at whatever tripped him.

"Hey! What was that?!"

"Huh, it came from the down there," Pickle pointed down at something blue and shiny poking out from the road.

"What is it?" Crusher asked, driving over to see it.

"Something... blue!" Pickle cried out. "Ooh! And shiny!"

"Shiny?!" Crusher's eyes lit up. "Ooh! Ooh! Where?!"

"There!" Pickle pointed down, and the duo gasped to see the glowing stone stuck in the road.

Crusher looked down, and his eyes widened as the stone's shimmer reflected into his eyes. Desperately and excitedly, he took out a shovel and attempted to pry the stone off the road.

"Come on... Come on... AHA!" Finally, he managed to remove the stone before taking it onto his tire. "Got it!"

Just as he did, the stone suddenly began to spark up and glow. The duo panicked as the stone shook in Crusher's tire, out of control and looking ready to explode. The dark blue truck then let out a scream as the stone began to float up from his tire before forcing itself into him, causing him to let out another shriek.

"CRUSHER!" Pickle called out to the other before gasping once he saw little crescents beginning to glow all over his best friend's body. "Woah..."

As the crescents glowed, Crusher shut his eyes and let out a pained cry, causing a group of black rocks with icy blue streaks to sprout out from ground. Pickle yelped and jumped back in shock as the dark blue truck painted and struggled to open his eyes.

"Wh-What happened...?"

He managed to get his eyes opened, and Pickle was amazed at the glowing orbs staring over at him.

"Woah..." he spoke. "Crusher... your eyes... they... they're crystal blue!"

"They... They are...?" Crusher took out a mirror and gasped. "Woah! They are blue! But how???"

"Maybe the stone has something to do with it?" Pickle questioned. "Your whole body's glowing crescent moon-shaped markings, after all,"

"Hmm..." Crusher gave it a thought. "Moon... stone... maybe..." he then gasped. "The Moonstone!"

"Moonstone?" Pickle looked confused. "You mean... the one from one of stories my Grandpa used to tell us when we kids during camp outs?"

"Yeah! That one!" Crusher grinned. "This is amazing! I have powers now! Just like Blaze!"

"Yeah..." Pickle raised an eyebrow. "but uh, Crusher, I don't think Blaze's powers are this... um, extreme,"

"Extreme how?" Crusher crossed his tires and raised an eyebrow.

"Extreme as in, he can't make black rocks appear from the ground like... that," Pickle pointed down at pointy rocks bursting out from the road.

"Woah, I didn't even notice that," Crusher glances down at the smallest rock, holding up his tire, which suddenly, glowed with an icy blue streak.

The small rock's streak began to glow as much as his tire before slowly rising more from the road. Crusher gasped before smirking.

"Ooh, I LOVE this new change..." he cackled with a snicker. "Come on, Pickle. Let's head back to Axle City. I cannot WAIT for the race tomorrow,"

"Crusher, wait!" Pickle drove in front of him. "Don't you think Blaze or Stripes would realize something's going on with you? I mean, your eyes give it away a little too much, honestly,"

"Huh, good point," Crusher gave it a thought before grinning. "Okay! Let me try something..."

He shook his head repeatedly, shutting his eyes as tight as he could. After a while, he stopped and opened his eyes once more, revealing coal black orbs.

"Better?"

"Much," Pickle nodded. "but Crusher, is this a good idea? I mean, Grandpa always told us that the moonstone's pretty unpredictable..."

"Nah, it's fine," Crusher waved him off. "I can learn how to control the stone, no problem. Tomorrow, I'LL win the race! Me! Me! ME!"

At his last outburst, he stomped one of his tires into the road, which caused more black rocks to burst out from underground and caused Pickle to jump back.

"Woah! That's what I mean, Crusher!"

"Okay, okay," Crusher sighed. "I admit that I didn't control that outburst, but it's not MY fault technically... how did the rocks even pop out, anyway?"

"Maybe your emotions are linked with your powers?" Pickle suggested. "Like, if you feel a powerful emotion, your magic will burst all... boom!"

"Huh, maybe," Crusher frowned but shrugged off the issue. "Eh, we'll figure it out later. Come on, Pickle! Let's go home,"

"Whatever you say, big guy," Pickle let out a sigh in defeat before following after his best friend as they made their way to the city coming into view...