Team (discontinued for now)

Chapter 6: Skaters

Towntrap hadn't felt this confident in a while. When he first met Eak, he thought the other boy was kinda crazy. He just had that really impossible-sounding idea of 'saving' Western City all of a sudden. Town could easily tell Eak was reckless to the point of just rushing into things without thinking ahead. Towntrap had been careful all his life. As a kid he never stepped on sidewalk tiles that had a tear in them or he never went outside to play after dark. His parents had been real troublemakers, however. And that was probably the reason why they always taught Towntrap to be careful with almost everything he did.

Take risks, but not too big ones. They might end up very badly. Their advice had stuck around with Town even after they went missing five years ago. They hadn't been careful enough. They took a risk that had been too big. It made Town feel scared. One little misstep, and he could go missing just like his parents did. So of course he felt rather unsure about Eak's insane offer. But were all big risks really bad? Sure, it could end up terribly, but Towntrap just had to think about all the good that would come from saving Western City and he was sold.

He had to stop thinking 'what if?' and just do it. With a bit of thinking ahead, of course. He had no idea how Eak was even able to walk straight after getting in two rough fights with barely any time between them. But he actually liked that risky attitude of his. He was tired of always just letting things happen and go along with what other people did. He was tired of ignoring the obvious problem with Western City's society. He was-

"Ay, Carnal! Get out here!"

Gonna get outside because he was at least six minutes too late for his meet-up with Eak.

"Oh, Eak! Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts....." Town quickly threw open his front door and stepped outside.

"It's cool, mate. Sorry for bein' late, by the way..... My mom wanted me to do the dishes first." Eak said with a dismissing gesture.

"Did you have fun with your fam?" Towntrap asked as he followed after Eak who already started walking ahead.

Towntrap hoped Eak wasn't gonna ask what he did before their meet-up. All Town really did was watch Netflix, eat ice cream and cry over the animal-shaped plate he broke earlier. Eak thankfully seemed rather talkative about himself today. He rambled on about how he played football with his parents in his yard, and Town couldn't help but feel bittersweet as he listened to Eak's talking.

"Man, I'm so excited to see our jackets! I still wonder how the hell Puppet and Mai could get those done in just one day." Eak thoughtfully said.

"They seemed like experts....so maybe they're just really quick in general?" Towntrap tried.

"That's true, I guess. By the way, do you also smell tomatoes when you're close to Spring? I do, and it's gross!"

They did the same walk to the fashion store as they did yesterday, and Eak felt excited as they neared Moon's Mystery. Towntrap nonchalantly pressed on the intercom button.

"Y'hello?" Spring's voice sounded.

"Hi! It's Towntrap and Eak! We're here to pick up the jackets." Town announced in a friendly tone.

"Oh, hey lads! Head on inside." The door opened up.

Mai and Puppet were already waiting for them, casually leaning onto the counter.

"Look who we've got there~" Puppet elegantly got up.

Eak cringed as he realized he was the shortest person in the room. It was already bad enough that Puppet, Spring and Towntrap basically towered over him. But the fact that Mai, a girl, was taller than Eak broke him.