Twisted Wonderland

Early Morning Ride With Deuce

You wake up to the buzzing coming from your phone. Looking at the screen, you see it's Deuce calling. The sun hasn't come out yet so why is he calling this early. You begrudgingly answer the phone.

"Hello?" You say sleepily.

"Have you ever been in a blastcycle?"

"A what?"

"A blastcycle."

You pause. "I have no idea what that is."

"Okay, I guess that answers it for me. I'll be there shortly. Bring a jacket."

Deuce hangs up before you can ask any questions. What in the world?

You get dressed even though your mind is screaming at you to go back to bed. You finished putting a jacket on when you here a knock coming from the front door. Making sure not to wake Grim, you make your way into the foyer. You open the door to see Deuce.

"Please tell me why we're up so late."

"Well, since you've never been in a blastcycle, I thought this would be the perfect time to ride one."

"Okay but what even is this blast-thingy?"

Deuce laughs. Come with me and I'll show you."

He holds out his hand for you to take. You look at his hand, debating whether to just go back to bed. You take his hand and Deuce's smile widens. You close the door behind you and Deuce leads you to the front gates to your dorm. I'm front of the gates was the most peculiar contraption you have ever seen.

"This is a blastcycle!" Deuce proudly gestures at the thingamabob.

You tilt your head, examining it. It had one large wheel in the center and it looked like a cross between a motorcycle and one of the cycles from Tron. It was painted a deep blue.

"Uhhh, how does it even work with just one wheel?" You ask quizzically.

Deuce grins. "I can show you."

He gets on the cycle and holds out a hand to help you get on. You warily take his hand and sit behind him. Deuce looks over his shoulder at you, grinning.

"Hang on."

He starts the engine and blasts your way down to Main Street. You immediately cling on to Deuce, your arms wrapped around his waist. It feels like this machine is going a thousand miles an hour. Your hair whipping behind you. You press your cheek against Deuce's back, squeezing your eyes shut.

You quickly zoom past the school's gates and wind your way down the mountain. Your heart beats rapidly as adrenaline rushes through your body. Before you know it, Deuce slows to a stop. You open your eyes and look around.

You see Deuce brought you to a cliff resting below the school. Deuce hops of the cycle and holds out a hand. You shakily hold onto him as you get yourself off the speed machine of death.

Deuce laughs and wraps an arm around your shoulder and helps you sit down by the cliffs edge. Looking around, you see the vast ocean that surrounds the island lit up by the glimmering stars. The town further down beneath the mountain glows with a few remaining lights.

"This is where I wanted to bring you."

You quirk an eye at him. "This early in the morning?"

Deuce rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well we just need to wait a few more minutes and then you'll see."

You turn back to gaze at the stars. You can't recognize any of them or find any familiar constellations. Only proving that you're nowhere near home. A sad sigh escapes you. Deuce looks to you worryingly.

"Is there something wrong?"

You turn to Deuce, giving him a sad smile. "Just feeling a little homesick."

Deuce nods understandingly. "I feel homesick all the time too though I'm sure it's nothing compared to what you feel. I'm so used to taking care of my mom and sisters, I still feel like I need to go grocery shopping or making sure my sisters aren't up to any trouble."

Deuce chuckles and you laugh with him. He looks to the stars. "But I know that they'd be proud of me and what I've been able to accomplish." Deuce looks to you. "Together, we've done some amazing things this year already."

You smile and nod, thinking back on it all. "That's true. I wouldn't have done anything like that if I wasn't here." You laugh. "Honestly my life would've been pretty bored compared to this."

Deuce nudges you with his arm. "At least you didn't have to do it alone. You had me and Ace with you the whole time."

He wraps an arm around you, pulling you close. "And I promise I'll continue to always be here for you."

You lean into his embrace, feeling that if you had to be in another world, your glad you had Deuce to help you through it.

The sun was beginning to rise above the ocean, painting the sky beautiful shades of pink and orange, reflecting onto the ocean. Your eyes widen, taking in the natural wonders before you.

"Here's what I wanted to show you." Deuce says pointing to the sunrise. "The best view in all of Twisted Wonderland."

"It's so beautiful!" You say, still staring at the sunrise.

"Yeah, beautiful..." Deuce says while looking at you but you don't notice, too enraptured.

You and Deuce stay sitting on the cliff, watching the sun rise above the ocean. The sun casts amazing different colors the further it climbs, illuminating the island.

"We should probably head back." Deuce says reluctantly.

You nod, getting up. You and Deuce hop back on the blastcycle, wrapping your arms around him.

"Thank you for bringing me here." You say to Deuce. "It was incredible."

Deuce smiles over his shoulder at you. "Anytime."

With that, Deuce starts the engine and you blast your way back to the school.