Fallen Angels

"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?"