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There was only one thing in life Tommy loved, and that was the pavement under his tires. The rushing of the wind as he weaved between the other bikers. 

He leaned with the bike as he took the turn. Even through his helmet, he could hear the crowd cheer as he passed by #5 and #9 on the interior turn. 

His heart beat harder in his chest as they entered the closing stretch. There were only two bikers in front of him. One of the bikes was a bright yellow and was owned by #3, Tubbo, and an orange bike on the right belonged to #7, Fundy. 

They were both cautious drivers, which had served them well on this course. 

But, there was one thing that Tommy Innit was not.

He was not cautious.

The racing organization's newsletter had called him by the nickname given to him by the other racers, Tommy Danger Innit. 

They had meant it by an insult, but Tommy had worn it with pride. 

It meant the other racers were scared of him. 

He smiled as he pushed the bike to go faster. 

The wheels started skipping on the wet pavement, but he adjusted his lean and pushed even faster. 

He was gaining on the two bikers who were neck and neck themselves. 

There wasn’t that much more track left, only one more jump, and then the end 300 yards past that. 

This was his only chance. Pushing the speed even faster, he was just behind them now. The crowds were cheering as he started to pass them on the ramp. 

The time slowed as they hung in the air. Tubbo was on his left, and Fundy was slightly behind them both. 

Tubbo was going to kill him back at base camp for this, but Tommy need to points this win would give him for rankings. He had a single goal when it came to his racing, getting the number one lifetime for his age division. There was only one racer who stood in his way. The Blade, no one knew who he was and where he had gone when he had stopped racing, but Tommy was going to beat his idol. 

He could feel the dip as his tires connected with the ground again. 

Not much longer now. 

They were so close Tommy could taste the win. 

The crowd erupted into screams as he crossed the line. 

Followed by Tubbo in a close second. Fundy had a comfortable third. 

He smiled.  This was going to give him a good amount of points for his time and win. 

It would be worth the yelling. 

Tubbo paced back and forth in their small area between their vans set up next to each other. 

“Do you understand how fucking dangerous that was, Tommy?” Tubbo was hushedly ranting. 

Tommy had resigned himself to the same result that happened after each race. 

Well, not every race, just the races, he did something stupid, as Tubbo called it. 

“I fucking won,” Tommy said as he looked up from his work on his bike. 

“At the risk of a career-ending crash. That ground was wetter than a lake. You know better than to go that fast.” 

“I’m Tommy Danger Innit. Not Tubbo cautious Underscore.” Tommy said as he smirked at Tubbo. 

Tubbo just huffed and sat down on his bench. 

They just sat working in silence for a minute. Each knowing what comes next in the routine. 

“You going to California?” Tubbo asked. 

Tommy finished tightening the belt he was working on before looking up and nodding. “Both of ‘em.” 

“Good. I need to beat you, can’t have the wins going to your fucking head now.” 

Tommy just laughed as he threw a towel at Tubbo. “Too late.”

Tommy fidgeted with his helmet strap as the racers all waited in the meeting room. Tubbo and Ranboo stood with him in the corner of the room. 

“Do you think we’ll race today?” Ranboo asked, looking around at the group. 

Everyone had their beats on whether or not the weather was going to hold off for the race time. 

Tubbo shook his head. “It’s been so dry in California. Any rain is going to be too much.” 

Tommy was opening his mouth to give his opinion when there was a clap from the front of the room to get everyone’s attention. 

A woman who Tommy recognized as Niki, the track supervisor, stood in the front holding a clipboard. 

Tommy groaned. That was not a good sign. 

“We regret to inform you all of the decision to postpone the race till tomorrow. The rain received yesterday was just too much to race in safely.” Niki said, talking over the grumbling of the other racers. 

Tommy’s heart dropped into his stomach, and the room went silent as the frames on the wall started to shake. 

Niki was the one to realize the quickest. “Earthquake. Everyone under the tables. Now.” She yelled out. 

Everyone dove under the snack tables scattered around the room. 

Tommy, Tubbo, Ranboo, and a new racer, Purpled, all crawled under the table with cups of water and punch. 

There was crashing as the frames fell to the ground and shattered. All the phones in the room began to buzz with the emergency warning of the earthquake. 

The rumbling kept going even after each time they expected it to stop. Windows started to shatter, sprinkling glass over the tables. 

Ranboo, who Tommy knew was from California, looked the calmest out of them all.

Eventually, it stopped. 

They all just sat there for a minute before they started to crawl from underneath the tables. 

“There could be aftershocks; we need to get to a safer spot,” Ranboo yelled out to the group.

The other racers just looked dazed and confused. 

“I agree. We have a shelter where the audience is now.” Niki said as she opened the door and motioned for them to follow her. 

The shelter was a larger interior room that had been set up for the awards banquet after the race. They had been sorted into groups with tables and snacks to wait out the aftershock. 

The three of them had been matched with another set of three from the audience. 

Tommy crawled under the table with them. It was an older man with blond hair, and two other young men in, he guessed, their late twenties. 

“Hey, mate. I’m Phil.” The older man said with a bit of a wave. “That’s Wilbur,” he pointed at the brown-haired one, “and that’s Techno.” He said, pointing at the one with the pink hair. 

“Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo,” Tommy said with a mouth full from a bag of chips as he pointed at each of them. 

“You’re number 6?” Wilbur asked, leaning forward. “Your style is insane.” 

“Reckless.” Techno corrected. 

Tommy yelped. 

“Thank you.” Tubbo dramatically said.

“I am not. I win,” Tommy hissed at Tubbo. “Do you race?” 

The three of them exchanged a glance. 

Phil was the one to answer. “We do. We are competing later tomorrow.” 

“So you race cars?” Ranboo asked as he reached for a snack in the bowl. 

Right as Phil opened his mouth to answer, the walls started to shake. 

They all groaned as another aftershock hit. 

Once it stopped, someone shouted out that the weather channel, which was monitoring the aftershocks, said that the activity was still continuing. 

They weren’t going to be able to leave anytime soon. 

Over the fucking eternity, that Tubbo claimed was only four hours, they spent under the table, the six of them exchanging stories. 

Wilbur, who named their kid fucking Wilbur, Tommy had no idea. He learned that Wilbur was in the age division above his for cars. 

Phil was in the senior's division. Wilbur had choked on his food when Tommy had pointed that out. He wasn’t wrong, especially for racers. Most were out of the sport by 30, at the damn latest. 

Techno was chill. He didn’t talk a lot. Phil had explained that Techno worked on the side of the pit for them. He used to race but retired. 

Eventually, Niki got up from under her table and announced that they were able to leave back to their accommodations. 

Wilbur insisted they all share social media to meet again when the races lined up. 

Tommy held out his phone with his discord. “Not a remark.” He hissed. 

Wilbur started to choke back laughter as soon as he saw Tommy’s @. 

“Danger Raccoon?” Wilbur hissed while failing to keep the laughter down. 

“You should see him when he first emerges from his van in the morning. That explains the raccoon part.” Tubbo said, taking his phone back from Phil. 

Phils @ was simply @phil, very original. Tommy snickered. 

“Good luck tomorrow with the race,” Phil said as the three of them started to leave. 

Tubbo waved to them as well. “Good luck as well.” 

Tommy started to turn to walk toward the door, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. 

He turned back around to see Techno’s brown eyes staring at him. 

“You drive recklessly, kid. There’s a time for that, but the time is not right if you end up in a hospital bed.” Techno said with his voice level. “Don’t be stupid tomorrow.” 

“I’m Tommy Danger Innit. It will be fine.” He said with a smile. 

Techno’s expression didn’t change. It stayed the same. 

Not judging nor approving. 

Simply watching. 

They made their way back to the vans. 

Ranboo’s college schedule had allowed him to make this race, so he parked with the two of them. 

They cleaned up the things that had fallen from the shelves before meeting together before bed. 

“That was a fucking day,” Tommy mumbled as he ran through his pre–race routine. Check the belts, bolts, brakes, and tires. It was a routine his hands knew by memory. 

Tubbo was doing the same. “I’m glad we met them, though. Phil knows a lot about tires. We need to talk more about the ideal ones for the Maine track. I’ve still got no fucking clue.” 

Ranboo finished the checks for his bike and had it rolled back into the van. He was sitting on Tubbo’s bench, watching him work. 

The three of them just worked in silence for a moment. Each lost in the work. 

“Tommy, the track is going to be wet still tomorrow. Promise not to be dangerous?” Tubbo broke the quiet night.

Tommy’s hands paused. “I can’t. You know that, Tubbo.” 

Tubbo sighed. “I know.” 

It was the same question he asked each night before the races. 

Tommy would say yes. What he did wasn’t always dangerous. It was risky, but the risk was always worth it. 

Tubbo didn’t think any risk was worth it. 

That is why Tubbo was number 9 in the division's lifetime rankings. 

Tommy was going to be number 1 . 

Tommy glanced at his watch as he made his way to the line. He had put in a few extra minutes to talk with the others. 

Sure enough, Phil, Wilbur, and Techno stood just on the other side of the barer. 

Tubbo had beaten him and was already talking with them. 

He set his bike in the set-up position before walking over to the group. 

Wilbur was laughing as Tubbo was showing him something on his phone. 

“You really do look like a raccoon in the morning, Tommy,” Wilbur said, trying to wipe away the tears from laughing. 

Tommy snatched the phone that Tubbo was trying to hide. 

There was a photo of him this morning on his way to warm up his breakfast in the common room. 

Tommy yelped as he tried to avoid Tubbo grabbing the phone back. 

He managed to keep it away long enough to press the delete button. Tubbo made a noise once he saw what had happened. 

“Good thing you sent it to me, Tubbo,” Wilbur said, laughing even harder at the spectacle. 

Tommy jumped at the chainlink fence separating them. 

Wilbur yelped as he ducked behind Techno. 

Tommy was just starting to climb the fence to get to Wilbur’s phone when the whistle for the lineup sounded. 

Tubbo grabbed him by the cuff of his jacket and tried to pulled him off the fence. 

Tommy snarled as he hung onto the fence. Wilbur’s face was one of amusement and fear. 

Good.

Tommy was going to murder Wilbur, destroy the phone, then murder Tubbo. 

His hands started to slip from the wire. 

He was much fucking stronger than Tubbo, so it was his option to get down. 

No question. 

Tubbo would never know anything else. 

Tommy was still mumbling ways he was going to torture Tubbo and kill Wilbur as he got onto his bike. 

He kicked the kickstand up, and his body braced for the start sequence. While taking a deep breath to focus his mind, he glanced around. 

Tubbo was a row up to the left, and Ranboo was directly behind him. He was between two racers in the last row. The crowd started to roar as the flags were arranged. 

He glanced over at the people cheering. Phil, Wilbur, and Techno stood the front line. Each was waving one of the trio's colors. Phil had a yellow flag with #3 painted on it to look like a bee. Wilbur had a ½ black, ½ white flag with #15 on it for Ranboo. 

Tommy paused on Techno’s flag. It was a red and white flag with #6 painted on it with a pair of red wings under it. 

It was Tommy’s original symbol. 

He hadn’t used it for a long, long time.

“How the fuck did he find that?” Tommy mumbled as he turned back to face forwards. 

The symbol sat in his head. 

He had chosen it when he was first starting. 

Once his style became riskier, he ditched it for Tommy Danger Innit. 

He hadn’t known Techno long, but he knew him enough to know it was a reminder to ride calmly. 

The flag was raised, and everyone braced for it to drop. 

But safe didn’t win races. Risks did. 

He won races. 

Tommy was panting as he tore off his helmet in the dismount area of the track. He could hear the crowd cheering out for the last couple of racers finishing. 

He had finished fourth.  

The track had been horrible. Water was still all over. 

But that wasn’t an excuse. 

He should have won. 

Tubbo patted his shoulder with a smile on his face. “Congratulations, Toms.” 

“I didn’t win.” 

Tubbo looked at him for another minute. “You raced a good race. You finished fourth out of 12 racers.” 

Tommy locked his bike into its slot for it to wait till he packed it up later. Tubbo pushed his into the place next to his. 

“Good race!” Ranboo yelled as they caught up to the group. 

“You did amazing, Ranboo,” Tubbo said with so much joy in his voice. 

Ranboo smiled. “Ninth is a new personal best.” They said while smiling as he pushed the bike into a slot next to Tommy’s. “Congrats on your fifth, Tubbo, and your  fourth, Tommy.”

Tommy mumbled his thanks and congratulations to Ranboo. 

“Hey, mates! Let’s get lunch; Phil’s paying!” Wilbur yelled from over behind the fence while motioning for them to come over. 

Tommy’s stomach growled as soon as it heard the word lunch.

He was biting into a hamburger as it melted in his mouth. 

It was gone in 5 bites, followed by his fries and Tubbo’s fries. 

To his great displeasure. 

Wilbur moved his plate closer to him as Tommy started to eye it. 

Phil just laughed and ordered two more sides of fries. 

“You all had good races today,” Phil said as he handed Tommy and Tubbo each a plate of fries. 

“I finished fourth,” Tommy mumbled through the food. 

“It was amazing. You did a good job keeping Tubbo from getting ahead of you.” Wilbur continued. 

Tubbo coughed on a fry. “I had no want to get in front of him. He’s fucking terrifying to be in front of.” 

Tommy just looked down at his plate and picked at the fries. 

“Tommy, you did amazing today. Fourth is still really fucking good.” 

Tommy looked up at Phil, who was staring at him, concerned. 

“It’s not good enough. Do you know how many fourths The Blade got?” Tommy snarled. 

The name pushed the entire table into silence. 

Everyone just stared at him. 

His eyes dropped back down to his plate. 

“The Blade is his favorite lifetime racer in our division. Tommy’s goal is to take his number one spot before we age out of the division.” Tubbo explained. 

“46. The Blade got 46 4th-place finishes, 59 6th-11th place finishes, and three 12th-place finishes.” Phil said. His voice was even, and his eyes were staring at Tommy. There was a hint of pain he could see.

“You know about him?” Tommy asked, meeting his gaze. 

“Of course. Everyone in the racing world does.” Phil laughed. “Even car drivers. I think we were all a little scared he would switch over and race cars.” Tommy thought he heard a hint of pain in his voice, but it was gone before he could focus on it. 

“Is that where you get your style from?” Techno asked. His voice sounded like he was bored of the conversation.

Tommy snorted. “Of fucking course. He made racing look exciting. Not just a boring planned event.” 

Phil smiled, and he pushed more fries to Tommy. He looked down to see that his plate was empty already.

“He was unsafe.” Techno snapped. “He took risks that were not worth it. You are already better than him. You were smart today. I saw you thinking about taking that spot on lap four. You would have crashed if you did.” 

Tommy flinched. He wished he had passed number 5 then.

“I wish I had,” Tommy whispered. 

Wil yelped. “There was a puddle right there. You would have gotten zero fucking traction.” 

“I’ve gone through worse.” He murmured, stuffing more fries into his mouth. 

He could feel Techno’s gaze resting on him. 

Techno didn’t push any further. 

“What time is you two’s race later?” Tubbo asked, facing Phil and Wil. 

Phil lifted his phone and made a surprise noise. “Way too fucking soon. We’ve got to go.” He grabbed the recite and slid out of the booth. 

Wil waved. “See you three at 5 pm.” 

Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo all pounded on the fence as the winners of car races were led up onto their pedestals for their division. 

Wilbur waved at them from his second-place spot for 25-35. 

Phil held a trophy above his head as the announcer announced his win in the 45 and over category. 

The three of them hooped and hollered their congratulations. 

Tommy smiled. The excitement was contagious. 

It was even better when it was friends on the podium. 

Racing Schedule for the joint Osetha Dirt Bike Cup and Eemleen Car Cup

Joint Races

Race 1- April 17th

Race 2- May 2nd

Race 3- May 16th

Separate race 4

Osetha

Location- Bakery Track CA

Date-  May 31st

Eemleen

Location- Pandora Track WA

Date- May 31st

1 Month Later…

Osetha Race 1

“Tommy!” Wilbur called out as Tommy was walking his bike to the prep area. 

He smiled as soon as he recognized the voice.

“I don’t have your fucking monopoly money,” Tommy yelled, laughing. The five of them had been up late this last night playing. Ranboo was on some school vacation, so they had skipped this cup. 

“I know. Techno does, and once I figure out where he fucking hid it, I’m claiming my rightful win.”

Tommy paused right before he went into the racers-only section that Wilbur couldn’t go. 

“Phil has his race right after, so it’s just me to cheer you on since Techno’s helping Phil.” 

“That’s fine,” Tommy said while fidgeting with his helmet. He didn’t need them thinking he was a kid that needed to be cheered on. 

“Your nervous.” The way Wilbur said it was halfway between a question and a statement. 

Tommy snorted. “No way. This big man doesn’t get nervous.” 

He was nervous. This was his best shot at a cup title.

Wilbur just hummed his disagreement. “You get one free shot at me.” 

“You’re fucking bald,” Tommy said, trying to stop from laughing.

Wilbur made a pained noise. “Go on run now before I tackle you.” He shooed him away. 

Tommy flipped him off as he crossed over into the track. 

He pushed his bike into a row with the others and smiled. His head was calm. He didn’t need to look around. His body knew its job. His nerves and worry were gone. 

He only looked at one place, which was over to the fence, to see Wilbur cheering him on, waving the same red and white flag.

The whistle sounded, the flag dropped, and they were off. 

Wilbur watched as the bikes sped around the course over the jumps and around the bends. 

There was the familiar rhythm of watching the race. He had watched the event hundreds of times. 

His breath hitched as Tommy was accelerating as the other riders slowed for a bend. 

“Slow down... Slow down… Slow down… Tommy, slow down, ” He whispered to himself. 

That had led to some fucking nasty accidents in the past. 

Career ending.

Wilbur grimaced as he passed by the other surprised riders. 

“Fucking idiot has a death wish.” He whispered to himself. 

His breath was let out as Tommy made it through safely. Wilbur glanced up at the leaderboard. It showed that #6 held a .61 of a second lead now.

Tommy just needed to hold that a bit longer… Nothing else dramatic. 

The next lap went by without any stunts, and the rest of the nerves let Wilbur's body as soon as he crossed the line. 

Osetha Race 2

Tommy looked out over the track. They had changed the approach of some of the jumps. 

He was picturing each lean of the bend and lift of the jumps. Tubbo had helped him pick up the type of tires for the sand they had put down. 

A hand tapped his shoulder gently, breaking him from his thoughts. 

His body immediately relaxed once he saw Phil standing there. 

“Hey, mate. They have Wil up first this time after you, so I’m here to cheer you on.” 

“Shouldn’t you be taking a nap before your big race, old man?” 

Phil laughed. “I see Wil has gotten to you.” 

“Well, you are practically in the seniors division,” Tommy said, shrugging while looking back at the course. 

“This is a tricky one. Are they seeding you all for it?” 

Tommy nodded. “I finished 2nd, so I’m placed 11th for this one. It’s a reverse seed.”

“What are you going to do for that serpentine up to the double jump?” 

Tommy knew what he was going to do. He also knew why Phil was asking. 

It was the same reason Tubbo had. 

It was risky. 

But it was a risk that paid off for him each time he tried it. 

“I don’t know.” 

They both knew it was a lie. 

Phil moved so that he was between Tommy and the track. Phil was looking him in the eyes, not allowing him to look away.

“Promise me you’ll ride safe.” 

Tommy would be annoyed, even angry, if anyone else had tried that, even Tubbo. 

They were judging his skills. 

They didn’t think he could. 

He searched Phil’s eyes for any of that. 

He couldn’t find any of it. 

They only had…concern. 

Phil was concerned for him. 

He bit back the words he would have thrown at anyone else. Instead, he just smiled. 

“Tubbo’s been trying to get that from me for over a year. I fucking can’t .” He turned away from Phil to begin to walk to get his bike ready. 

“I’m Tommy Danger Innit.” He waved as he walked away, feeling Phil’s gaze on him the entire time. 

Phil watched as the pack started to round the serpentine. They were all neck and neck. 

If Tommy played it safe, he could probably finish in a solid 4th or 5th. But he knew that was not good enough for him. 

“Don’t do it. Come on, mate. Be smart.” He mumbled to himself, each getting more desperate as he watched Tommy separate himself from the pack. 

He sped up along the edge before hitting a non-traction patch and starting to slide. 

“No, mate. Right it, right it,” Phil said almost as a prayer. 

His heart only unclenched after Tommy managed to rebalance. 

Right in time for the jump. 

He had a solid lead ahead of the others as he took off. 

His tires hit the ground again, and Phil let out the rest of his breath. 

Tommy had a solid lead now.

Phil smiled to himself. His heart did not miss the stress of watching reckless riders. He sighed. Wilbur was right. Tommy was going to get himself hurt. 

Bad.

Techno was going to watch the next race. Then they could come up with a plan. 

Osetha Race 3

“Tubbo, I’ll catch up with you,” Tommy said as he split off from Tubbo on the way to the pre-race waiting area. 

Tubbo nodded and kept pushing his bike. 

Techno stood at the fence line, watching them. 

“Phil sent me to watch to see if you do anything stupid.” 

Tommy laughed. “I’m not going to do anything stupid.” 

Techno just hummed a noise of disagreement. “Be safe. I think Phil will kill me if something happens to you,” 

Tommy frowned. His brain couldn’t focus. “Why the fuck would they kill you?”

Techno looked startled. “For letting you do something stupid. We are worried something will happen to you while racing. Me, Phil, Wil, Tubbo, and Ranboo, we all care and worry about you.” 

His brain froze. Phil, Wil, and Techno were worried for him. That hadn’t happened with people older than him in a long time. Even though Tubbo and Ranboo were technically a year older than him, he didn’t count them. 

Techno’s face had a hint of sadness on it. 

“Ride safe.” 

“I’ll try.” 

They both knew it wasn’t a promise. It didn’t say to stop taking risks. It was simply a message to take calculated risks. 

It was a deal between the two of them that Tommy knew he understood. 

He waved as he walked back and mounted his bike to move to a line-up. 

His mind was focused on the task at hand. 

Win.

Techno knew that agreement. 

Hell, he had made that agreement. 

He watched as Tommy raced and raced. 

Taking risk after risk. 

Each was paying off, for now . 

He knew better than most that the time it didn’t would come. 

It might come now. It might come later. 

He watched the race silently, unable to cheer for the mistakes and risks. 

His breath released once Tommy crossed that finish line. Wilbur and Phil were right. The kid was going to get himself killed. 

Or worse. 

When that happened, who was going to help him? They had never seen him with anyone or mention anyone other than Tubbo and Ranboo. 

Techno sighed. He didn’t usually get attached so quickly. 

Maybe it was because of how much he saw himself in him. 

Maybe it was the fact that he didn’t want to see him make the same mistake.

Osetha Race 4

Tommy was pushing his bike to the start line and instinctively looked over to the crowd. His heart craved a familiar face, but he knew he wouldn’t find one. 

They were in a hotel in Washington State. 

He faced forwards and took a deep breath, but it didn’t stop the shaking in his hands. 

“Shit,” he mumbled. 

His body had forgotten how to calm itself before a race. 

Especially a big race .

This race would be the difference between a podium and not.

Cup winner or not.

He tried to think of how Phil would let him talk, or Wilbur would make him laugh. 

Hell, he even tried to think of how Techno would just listen. 

He took a deep breath. His mind still wouldn’t quite like it usually did when he raced. 

The whistle sounded as he turned his head to watch the flag as it dropped. 

Learning forwards, he took off with the pack. 

“Ha!” Wilbur let out a triumphant yell as the TV was filled with the live stream from youtube. He grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl that Phil had and sat back down on the hotel bed. 

“Looks like the kid needs a 5th or better to make the podium,” Techno said, reading the stats on the live stream. 

“He’ll get it,” Phil said through a mouth of popcorn. 

It was their big pre-race routine. 

A sense of normalcy watching whatever video or movie one of them had found. 

Both of them were up for a cup spot. 

It would be Phil’s second and his first. 

“When do the schedules come out, Tech?” Wil asked as the flag dropped for the bikers to begin. 

“Tonight, midnight for bikes.” 

Wilbur grimaced as Tommy took a spot that everyone else was leaving because of its location on the bend. 

“Something is going to happen to him,” Techno grumbled. “He needs to stop.” 

Wilbur snorted. “Good fucking luck. He’s not going to stop.” 

“He needs to at least not race as often,” Phil added. 

“So, are we going to try to get him to come to the joint races only?” Wilbur asked. 

It was the plan they had thought of. They didn’t have to entirely stop Tommy from racing, but they could keep an eye on him. 

Phil nodded. “You should message him after all the races this evening.” 

They all turned to watch as Tommy crossed with a solid 4th-place finish. 

He glanced over at Techno, who was counting the points in his head. 

“2nd?” Wilbur asked. 

Techno shook his head. “3rd.” 

Wilbur swung his feet over the side of the bed as he stretched out as he stood up. “He’s got a podium then.” 

“It won’t be good enough for him,” Phil said as he stood up from the chair. 

Wilbur frowned as he noticed Phil shift off of his left leg subtly. “Your leg?” 

Phil waved the concern away with a smile. “Just stiff. I can still race.” 

“Let’s go then,” he smiled as he tossed Phil his helmet. “Let’s race.” 

Wilbur’s phone dinged as he pushed open the unlocked hotel door and held it open for Phil before dropping it on a grumbling Techno, who already had his arm out expecting it. 

He pulled his phone out of his pocket to see that Quackity had texted him an article. He chuckled as he read the headline. 

“Listen to this, ‘Sleepy Bois Inc sweeps the Eemleen cup in two divisions.’” He read it out to the others. 

Phil smiled as he grabbed his cane from the coroner of the room. “I didn’t think I would be able to finish high enough tonight.”

Wilbur nodded. “I didn’t think either of us would for a podium, much less firsts.” 

He clicked away from the article and refreshed the news. The top article was the official podium photos for the bike races. 

“Tommy got 3rd.” 

Techno hummed. “Better than The Blade his first year. Make sure to remind him.” 

Wilbur nodded as he opened Discord and swiped down to find Tommy’s group chat. 

Wil: Congrats, gremlin child! Podium finish!

This evening had been a whirlwind for Tommy. All the interviews and fucking photos. 

So many photos.

It was past midnight by the time he and Tubbo got back to their vans. He pulled out his phone to see a mix of messages congratulating him on the 3rd and scrolled past them until he got to Wilbur’s message. 

It was a congratulation, an insult, and their race schedule. 

“Tubbo, have you thought about this next season's schedule?” He asked as he sat down on his bench to clean his bike.

Tubbo shook his head as he started to do the same. 

“Wilbur sent over their schedule. It’s all joint races, and they’ve invited us to show with them.” Tommy said as he typed up a reply. 

The biggest man: I’m thinking, bald man. Tell Phil congratulations for me.

Wilbur’s reply was almost insistent, even though it was late. 

Bald man: Ok. Also, text him your fucking self, and I WON my division too…

Tommy smiled as he texted back. 

The biggest man: L

Bald man: DON’T L ME. L YOU GREMLIN CHILD

Tommy put his phone into his pocket as he turned his attention back to his bike.

The buzz made him pull it back out and glance at the message. 

Bald man: You did better than the Blade did his first year. You did really, really fucking well, Tommy.

Tommy couldn’t think of what to reply and just sent a gif of a raccoon swimming. 

“I think I want to join them,” Tommy said with a sigh. 

“You know they are cutting back on your racing, right?” Tubbo asked with a hint of concern in his voice. 

Tommy was quiet for a minute as he thought about it. 

Tubbo was right. They both knew it. 

But Tommy also really enjoyed his time with them. 

The fewer races just meant he would have to be more aggressive in each one. 

It was worth it, though, for the late-night games and pre-race talks.

“I’m saying yes. You don’t have to, though, Tubbo,” 

Tubbo laughed. “This is not going to be the first fucking year we drive separately. Clingy duo for the win. I’m in.”

Wilbur glanced down at his phone and smiled. 

“They are joining us for the season.” 

Phil looked up from his book. “That’s great, mate. When’s the first race?” 

Techno looked up from the paper he was writing on at the hotel desk. “3 weeks in North Dakota.” 

“Perfect,” Phil said as he started to re-tape his helmet. 

They had a tradition of adding a strip each time they signed up for a new season. 

Phil tossed over a sand-colored roll of tape that he had put on top of his emerald green band. 

Wilbur pulled the tape and lined it up with his blue line from the past season. He tossed it to Techno, who added it to his headset. 

“Let’s go, SBI; this is going to be a fucking good season.” 

Tommy grinned as he looked at the band of tape on his helmet. It was a sand color to match what the others had on theirs. 

Wilbur had given him the roll of tape last night while they played Minecraft. 

All three of them had seen him and Tubbo off to the start line. He looked over to the crowd and saw them cheering. Wilbur and Techno each had a flag for Tommy and Tubbo. Phil was sitting in a chair, cheering. 

He rolled his bike up to its starting position. Because he was traveling with them, he missed out on four races. That meant he needed to finish higher than average in each he was doing to make up for it. 

He took a deep breath as his mind cleared, only focusing on the course ahead of him as the whistle sounded. 

With that, they were off. 

Phil watched and cheered as they took off from the start line. 

There was an uneasy feeling under his skin. It wasn’t just the ache in his leg. 

Tommy had been less willing to make eye contact as they walked to the set-up area. He also could have sworn he flinched when Techno had told him to drive safely. 

It was achingly familiar. 

He watched as the pack drove around the track, taking each jump, trying to break free of the other rider. 

The turn coming up was a sharp one. Most riders wouldn’t pass at this spot, so he watched Tommy extra carefully. 

Sure enough, he could feel his breath stop as Tommy tried to get around #7. 

At the same time as #5.

The crowd went silent as they realized an accident was unavoidable. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he mumbled to himself as he fought to keep control of the bike. 

It was impossible. His brain knew that. 

#5 ahead of him had recovered and taken the spot, but his front wheel had been pushed pretty much from under him. 

Damage control. 

He tried to find a spot to bail outside of the pack. If he didn’t, he risked getting run over.  

There was a spot of to his left that he took. 

Instead of continuing the turn, he kept going straight. 

As the bike started going down, he used the rest of the momentum he had to jump off the bike as it skidded across the concrete. 

His right shoulder slammed into the concrete, as he groaned at the impact. The helmet thudded against the ground. 

He grit his teeth at the pain. 

He had till medics got there to get up and continue racing. 

A DNF ( Did not finish) would plummet his ranking—even a medical one. 

The world swayed as he pushed up off the ground. 

He could hear the crowd start to cheer as he put his arms up in the air in victory. 

The throbbing in his shoulder got worse, but the fact that he could do that told him it wasn’t broken. 

Hopefully.

He ran back over to his bike and climbed back on. 

He wasn’t crazy, he knew he wouldn’t place, but that would be better than a DNF. 

Climbing back onto his bike, he drove forwards. Each bump or jump shot daggers through his shoulder. 

He grimaced but still pushed forwards as the crowd cheered. 

They all knew it could have been a lot worse.

He started to gain on the stragglers of the pack during the last lap. He managed to pass #13 Eryn, who he had met at a race last season. 

Well, at least he wouldn’t be last this time. 

That was something. 

He accelerated as he leapt over the last jump. The pain was slightly less, with no bumps jolting it. 

He hissed as the impact of the landing shot through his body. 

His left arm had to fight harder to stabilize the front wheel, and his right arm just hung on for life. 

The crowd cheered even louder as he crossed the line. He could see the medics waiting in the dismount area. 

With Phil.

Tommy groaned as he dismounted his bike and walked over to the group that was standing next to his dismount section. 

He pulled off his helmet before waving away the medics. “I’m fucking fine.” 

The deal was if the track medics examined you and found an injury, you would have to be cleared by a doctor before racing again. 

Tommy did not have the time or money for the shit that is the American healthcare system. 

“Let them check you out, mate,” Phil said, coming over to the trio. 

“ Fine. ” 

He could probably hide his shoulder. It really wasn’t that bad. 

The medics poked and prodded him as they tested his different reflexes. 

They turned to Phil and nodded. “He’s fine. Some slight bruising, but that’s it.” 

Phil nodded, not looking totally convinced. “Thanks, mates.” 

Tommy went back to working his bike into its lock and putting his tools into his box. He could feel Phil’s eyes watching him, so he made sure to use both of his arms while doing the tasks, even with the pain in his left. 

Once he was done, they walked down the cement hallway back to the others. The walk was silent other than the footsteps and the quiet clack of Phil’s cane.

Before they turned the corner to the others, Phil stopped. 

Tommy stopped as well before turning to face him. “I’m fine, Phil.” 

Phil had a sad look on his face. “Even small injuries can be a big deal.” He motioned down at his leg. “This is from a crash. I didn’t feel a fucking thing, so I didn’t think I needed to be checked out.” He said that last point with a hint of sternness. “It was broken and didn’t heal correctly, so now it has arthritis a lot earlier than it should.” 

“I was checked out,” Tommy mumbled before smiling and turning to look him in the eye. “Tommy Danger Innit doesn’t get hurt.” He waved as he continued down the hallway. 

He could feel Phil’s gaze following him as he walked behind him. 

“Tommy!” Tubbo screeched as he hugged Tommy. 

Tommy could just barely resist flinching. 

Wilbur and Techno followed behind with a concerned look on their faces.

“You ok, kid?” Techno asked while looking him up and down looking for any signs of injury. 

“I’m fine.” He raised both of his arms to escape Tubbo’s hug. 

Phil made a doubtful noise. “The medics cleared him.” 

“Which is the exact same,” Tommy groaned. 

The three of them exchanged a glance. 

There was a difference, and they all knew it. 

Tommy spent the entire evening trying to only move his shoulder as little as possible. Thank fucking prime, he only had to hide it from Tubbo for most of the time. 

Phil had pulled out of his race, so they only watched Wilbur’s. 

Wilbur finished with a tough won first place.

The five of them went out to an all-night dinner to celebrate. 

Phil’s treat. 

He devoured his food in seconds to Wil’s cackling over his speed. 

He could feel Techno and Phil’s scrutinizing gaze most of the night, trying to see any sign of injury. 

He could tell there was something that Phil had wanted to say throughout the evening, but each time he would start to, Tommy would get Tubbo started on a new subject. 

He had avoided it the entire evening till they were leaving. 

It was only a short walk back to the track where they were all camped. 

Phil let the others walk ahead as he pulled Tommy back. 

They walked in silence for a block before Phil finally broke it. 

“You need to sit the next race out.” 

Tommy’s breath caught. 

“Absolutely fucking not.” 

Phil turned to him. “You don’t know if the medics missed something, so the least you can do is sit one out. Your body needs time to heal.” 

“We can’t miss races. Rules are rules.” 

“We both know there are exceptions for injuries.” 

“The medics cleared me,” he hissed. 

“You could still have something wrong since you refuse to go to fucking hospital.” 

“I’m fine.” 

“Stop being so stubborn,” Phil scolded. 

“I’m Tommy Danger Innit. I am fucking stubborn. That’s how I’ve gotten this far. That’s how I’ve survived.” He could tell his voice was starting to get loud, but he didn’t care. 

They had made it back to the parking lot by this time. 

“I’ll be at the race,” he snarled. 

He already had lost a lot of points with this last race. 

He couldn’t lose another. 

The feeling of the group watching his leave without saying goodbye or teasing Wilbur followed him, but he didn’t care. 

The next race was in two weeks. 

He would be ok. 

He had to.

He dug through a medical supplies bin in the back of Tubbo’s van. 

Finally, he found a roll of support wrap. 

Snickering at the design that Tubbo had chosen. It was red with black race cars on it. 

“Thanks, Tubbo.” 

Since they always travel together, they split the necessities between the two vans.

“Of course, Toms.” He glanced at Tommy’s shoulder. 

Tommy had told him while he was working on his bike after they had gotten back from the dinner. 

He had twisted it wrong and couldn’t bite down the curse that followed. 

“Maybe Phil’s right, and you should sit this one out.” 

“Don’t fucking tell them,” Tommy snarled as he wrapped his shoulder. 

The pressure was already relieving some of the pain. 

“I won’t.” 

Tommy sat back down at his bench and went back to working on his bike. They had to leave early to get to the next race. They were meeting Ranboo in MI before heading back down the Bakery Track in CA. 

Tubbo finished cleaning first and shouted his good night to him as he locked up his van. 

Tommy wasn’t much longer before loading everything up and pulling out his pallet next to the bike in the van.

He had to punch his pillows to figure out a good position for his shoulder. 

Eventually, the adrenaline started to fade, and the sleep started to pull him into the dreams. 

Tubbo stared at the phone in his hand. 

There was a message typed up to Phil. 

It was a brief “Hey Phil, Tommy’s shoulder is hurt. He still wants to race, though.” 

His thumb hovered over the send button, but he couldn’t press it. 

It had taken a long time for Tommy to trust him. 

He was happy that Tommy hadn’t tried to hide it from him. 

His finger slid to the delete button as he pressed down, deleting the entire thing. 

Tommy needed to be able to tell someone, and Tubbo knew that if he did this, Tommy wouldn’t tell anyone.

It was late when the three of them pulled into the Bakery camping area. 

Tommy’s van was first followed by Tubbo, then Ranboo. 

Tommy was a mix of feelings as he parked. The excitement that was always there the day before the race mixed with the dread of having to see Phil and the others. 

They had texted that they had gotten in the day before. 

The three of them would have gotten there that day as well, but Tubbo begged to stop at a giant fucking beehive museum in MI. 

Tommy had been dragged along since Ranboo had also wanted to see it, which outvoted him. 

Fuck democracy. He wanted anarchy now. 

Tubbo had just laughed as Tommy tried to convert Ranboo. 

There was a ding on his phone as he turned the van off. It was the group chat of the six of them.

Tubbo: We are here! Time to party. 

It was quickly followed by another ding. 

Bald Man: Fuck ya! We’ll be there in 5 minutes.

Tommy groaned. He didn’t want to talk to them. 

The throb in his shoulder had gotten better. He was still wearing the wrap, so he tore that off and threw it into the corner of his van. It fell next to his bed, good since he would have to wrap it before bed. 

He started to fall into the familiar routine of unloading as he laid out their mats in the little area inside the circle that the vans made. 

Familiar voices started to drift towards him. 

He finished laying that mat down and went back inside of his van. He had finished all the tasks inside already, so he just laid down and started to scroll through youtube. 

Most of the videos were racing-related, and he wasn’t in the mood for that, so he clicked on a Minecraft video and just let it play. He wasn’t really listening to it but still just let it play. 

“Hey, Tommy, the others are here. We are going to get some food. Want to come?” Tubbo yelled. 

Without thinking, he shouted back. “Go without me.” 

There was a pause before his phone dinged. 

Bald man: Am I hearing this fucking right? Did hell freeze? Tommy refusing free food….

Do you want us to bring you back something?

Tommy: Pizza. 

Bald man: Alright, gremlin child

Tommy spent the next couple of hours just flipping through videos. Eventually, he ended up on his playlist of The Blade’s races. 

He watched as his signature pink braid swung behind.

He was fully enthralled with the videos, like he was a little kid again.

A knock on his door startled him. 

He glanced up to see Phil’s golden hair through the top window. 

Groaning, he got up. He had been hoping it would be anyone but Phil. 

Well, and Techno. 

He opened the door and took the box that was held out to him. 

Phil started to say something. 

“I’m racing. Thanks for the food.” 

He shut the door and began to tear into his food.

Tommy sighed as he turned his bike around, spotting the figure waiting at the mouth of the tunnel. 

He had gone to the far tunnel in an attempt to avoid Phil or Techno. 

Wilbur had been texting him into the night to the point where he had shut off his notifications. 

Most of it had been funny videos of raccoons and cats. It was an attempt just to get Tommy to reply. 

The figure didn’t seem to notice him as he began the trek to the furthest tunnel. 

Tommy resisted his urge to look over at the three of them standing in the audience like he did before every other race. 

Instead, he focused on his competitors. 

Most were familiar faces, Ranboo, Tubbo, Purpled, Fundy, and Eryn. One of them he needed to think a little longer on before recognizing them. It was Eret—the Queen Of The Track , as nicknamed by the newsletter. 

She was probably the only other super-aggressive driver here today. 

He braced his body as the whistle sounded, followed by the flag dropping. 

He pushed the bike forwards as the pack surged. His brain calculated all the different positions that everyone was in. 

The Queen had won against him once before. 

Not again. 

“The Queen and Danger Innit are fighting hard for that first place.” The announcer spoke into the loudspeaker. 

Techno frowned. 

“Tommy should be able to beat her. He’s feeling an injury. You can see it in his handling.”  Techno said to the others. 

“I don’t know how you can fucking see anything. They are going so fast.” Wilbur said while squinting. 

Techno raised his eyebrow in amusement and doubt. Wilbur just flipped him off and went back to watching the race. 

The unease was back in Techno’s bones. This play was too familiar for his liking. 

Tommy was smiling as he walked back to the vans. Tubbo and Ranboo had already congratulated them before heading off to get sweets with the others. 

This win was a new track record for the division, so it would give him more than enough points needed to cover the fucking disaster that was that last race.

He pushed his bike through the summer night air. It was already getting dark. 

In the little light there was, he could see someone waiting for him in the middle of the vans. 

Phil.

There was nowhere else Tommy could go, and he just wanted to pass out on his pallet. 

But, there was no way to get past him. 

He rolled the bike into the middle of the circle as Phil walked up to him. 

“You’re hurt.” 

It wasn’t a question.

“I just got a fucking first against the Queen,” Tommy said, holding out the medal. 

“Techno could see it in your handling.” 

Tommy scoffed. “Techno is a bike expert?” The sarcasm was dripping from his voice. 

“He knows signs of injury.” 

Tommy just laughed. “I fucking doubt it. He would see I have none.” 

“You need to stop racing till you’re healed.” 

Phil took a step towards him. 

Tommy’s head was a mess of all the emotions compounded by exhaustion. 

“I can’t.” 

He started to put his helmet back on. They usually didn’t drive in the campsite, but he needed to clear his head. 

“Tommy, wait-“

Tommy ignored him as he started his bike and drove out of the campsite. 

He needed to just breathe . 

Breathe .

He could feel his heart beating faster as he tried to breathe enough to calm down. 

He rode along the tree line looking for one of the paths they could practice on. 

The first one his eyes landed on, he was already turning down. 

He didn’t care where it went. He just needs to get away . 

Techno’s phone buzzed. He shifted the ice cream to his other hand before pulling it out and looking at the message. 

They were on their way back to the vans already to meet Phil. 

His breath stopped. 

“We have to get there now ,” Techno yelled as he broke into a run toward the vans. 

“What’s wrong?” Wilbur yelled as he struggled to keep up. 

“Tommy,” was the only word he got out as he pushed his body faster in a run. 

Suddenly, Tubbo was running in front of him. 

They made it all back to the camp, where Phil stood with a flashlight. 

It was dark to the point that as soon as you left the normal camping, you needed flashlights. 

“Tommy ran off. Someone needs to find him before something happens.” Phil said, the concern dripped from his voice. “He took one of the forest paths.” 

Tubbo gasped. “It’s pitch dark.” 

“Only a bike can fit through there,” Techno added, already seeing where this was going. “You two don’t have the skills to go after him.” 

“Well, then, who? Someone needs to go after him.” Tubbo yelled, panicked. 

“I will. Ranboo, can I use your bike? Tubbo’s is too small.” Techno asked as he started to walk towards it.

“Of course. Can you ride?” 

Techno grimly nodded as he pulled his helmet on. “I used to race.” 

He took a second to look over the display. 

It hadn’t changed in all these years. 

“Go get him, Techno,” Phil said as he stepped to the side. 

Techno nodded and drove into the darkness. 

His eyes glanced along the wood line, looking for a path he could take. 

Finally, they landed on one as he turned down it. The tree roots caused the bike to bounce as he drove. 

He could hear the telling whine of another bike out in the woods. 

Unless Niki had changed the trials when she became track manager, all the tracks should lead to a practice course. 

It had way too many jumps to be done safely in the dark, healthy, and they were much more dangerous with an injury. 

He pushed the bike to go faster down the trail. 

He had to get there before something happened. 

Tommy hadn’t even noticed the whirling of the other bike till someone started to shout at him. 

He braked and turned to see someone at the edge of the track in the beam of their own headlights. 

He recognized the bike as Ranboo’s, but the figure wasn’t theirs. 

It was taller than Tubbo, though. 

They adjusted to the point where he could see a pink braid in the light.

It was Techno?

Since when could he ride?

“Tommy, come back!” 

Tommy ignored the calls as he focused back on the course and started to take off again. He still needed to drive. 

His head was too busy, and talking to Techno would not help. 

This time, he was aware of the whir of the bike behind him. 

The practice course had different levels of difficulty. He had been just looping the easiest, but this time he took the most demanding jump. 

If Techno was smart, he wouldn’t even attempt it. 

Tommy felt the air as he was vaulted into the sky by the ramp. 

He landed it with a simple half-turn. 

Techno wasn’t slowing down. 

Tommy started to ride again while looking to his side as the track curved. 

Techno launched into the sky and landed without a misstep. 

He needed to lose him. Everyone could get lucky once on a tricky jump. 

He turned his bike to line it up for the largest jump on the course. He sped towards it. 

He could feel the bike start to shake. Glancing down showed it wasn’t the bike… It was the ground beginning to shake. 

It was too late to bail on the jump as he launched himself into the air. 

The thundering of the earthquake was so loud that he could hear it over the drone of the engines. 

His body braced for impact as he started to fall. There was no way to make this landing if the fucking ground was moving. 

As soon as his wheels touched the ground, they shot from under him, causing him to fall to the side again. 

The same fucking shoulder couldn’t catch a break as it was slammed into the ground again. It was quickly followed by his head. 

Tommy heard his scream of agony before he registered that it was him making it. 

Something was most definitely wrong this time.

Phil’s blood ran cold as he could feel the ground start to shake, followed by the scream. 

They had all known that it was Tommy. 

He pulled out his phone to call 911. 

He mumbled off a prayer to Mumza as he lifted the phone to his ear. 

“This is 911. What’s your emergency?” 

Techno felt the ground start to shake and immediately hit the brakes.

His bike slid to a stop. 

His heart stopped beating as he watched Tommy take the jump. 

That kid was going to kill himself. 

He let the bike drop to its side as he started to run towards Tommy. His feet only went faster as the scream broke the night. 

He saw Tommy lying way too still and awkward with the bike on top of him. 

“Mumza protect him,” he whispered as he ran up to him. 

The ground was still shaking as he pushed the bike off of his leg. 

He took his helmet off to try to wake him up. Either the pain or the impact had knocked him unconscious. 

Techno put his fingers on Tommy’s wrist as he watched him breathe. 

He was alive.

He fumbled through his pocket before groaning. “My phone is at the campsite. I must have set it down when I grabbed a helmet.” 

Phil and the others knew they were out here with the earthquake, and Tommy’s scream someone would come find them.

Hopefully. 

Tommy woke up to Techno kneeling next to him, trying to hold him still while the ground still shook. 

All he could manage was a whimper of pain. 

He started to close his eyes again till there was a tapping on his cheek. 

“Wake up, kid. Can’t have you sleeping.” 

“My shoulder hurts,” Tommy cried. 

Techno just went back to focusing on holding Tommy still in his lap. 

“I know.” 

“It hurt yesterday too.” 

“I know. Why did you race today?” 

Tommy bit back a sob. 

“I want to make The Blade proud of my record,” he whispered. 

He winced at how fucking childish it sounded. 

“By riding injured?” Techno said with an emotion Tommy didn’t have the energy to figure out. 

“I needed the points to beat his record before I age out of the division. I couldn’t miss a single race.” 

“The Blade would be a lot more proud if you didn’t risk your own health for a record .” 

The stars were starting to fill his vision again. “How would you know?”

“Because I am so proud of you, Tommy. You are reckless, but you race for the thrill and love of the sport. Do I wish you were safer? Of course, but you’ve accomplished amazing things for your age.” 

“But you don’t know if he would be proud. He’s the reason I started racing. He’s who I watched on the TV when I was trying to escape the stress of home.” Tommy could feel the tears start to fall, but he didn’t care. He could lie later and say it was the pain.

The ground had stopped shaking at some point, but Tommy hadn’t noticed till now. Techno still held him tightly in his lap as if scared that he would injure himself more if he moved at all. 

“Tommy, I told you I used to race.” He paused as if waiting for Tommy to make a connection. 

“You said cars.”

Techno shook his head. “I never said. You assumed cars.” 

Techno went back to just staring at him. 

His head, shoulder, and now his fucking leg hurt too bad to be playing these games. 

“Techno, just fucking tell me. I’m in too much pain to play guessing games.” 

A new wave of concern flashed over Techno’s face. 

“Where?” 

“Every fucking where,” Tommy groaned. The stars started to try to take over all his view again. His mind was beginning to get cloudy. 

“Techno, I’m tired.” He moaned as he rested his head against Techno. 

“Stay awake, kid.” 

“I can’t.” 

“This might help. I know The Blade is proud because I am proud.” 

It finally fucking clicked.

The braid. 

The tricks. 

The looks they would exchange. 

Everything. 

“You’re The Blade.” 

It wasn’t a question. 

But, Techno still confirmed it by nodding. 

“You tried to stop me from racing. You said I was reckless.” Everything that he had told Tommy was swarming through his head. 

The biggest thing was swarming his head even harder. 

“You didn’t tell me.” 

A part of him hurt at that realization, and another part was mad about it. But he was just tired. 

“I didn’t.” 

“I need to sleep.” 

There were flashes of light starting to come through the wood line. 

“You can now. They’ve found us.” 

Techno watched as they strapped Tommy onto the backboard and moved him onto the UTV. 

An EMT handed him a clipboard with a pen. 

“The track doesn’t have any emergency contacts other than an old foster home. Do you have anyone more updated?” 

“Yes,” he took that clipboard and started to fill in the blanks. 

Wilbur would be annoyed that he didn’t list him, but he didn’t care. 

He wrote down his phone number as the first and Phil’s as the second. 

He skimmed the rest of the board, filling out whatever information he knew before handing it back to the EMT. They motioned for him to slide into the bed next to the board. 

“Are you hurt anywhere?” 

Techno just shook his head, staring at Tommy’s body. 

He had to remind himself to keep breathing. 

There was the jolt of the UTV starting to lurch forwards through the dirt. 

Another medic worked on getting vitals and helping try to keep him still as they drove through the dark to the waiting ambulance. 

His Icarus had fallen from the sky when he got too confident. 

Just like the first.

His wings had failed to remind him of the gravity that he defied till it was too late. 

Unlike the other one, his Icarus would live. 

He couldn’t lose his family.

Tommy squeezed his eyes shut from the bright light he was greeted with when he opened them.

This time he slowly opened them to see Techno sitting in the chair with Wilbur and Phil asleep on the couch next to him. 

The only light on was a small lamp. 

“Can you turn off the light?” He groaned. 

“Good morning, Icarus,” Techno said with a hint of concern as he set his book aside. He then proceeded to kick Wilbur, who woke up in a start. 

That then caused Phil to wake up. 

“How do you feel, Tommy? Do you need more pain meds?” Phil asked, coming over to the side of the bed. 

He shook his head no. “They gave me fucking crazy dreams. I dreamt that Techno was The Blade.” 

They all went still. 

“It wasn’t a dream.” 

Techno shook his head, confirming it. 

“You didn’t tell us you were a foster kid,” Phil interrupted. 

“Because I didn’t need your pity,” Tommy spat. 

“We were too.” 

Tommy glanced over at Wilbur, who was pointing at himself and Techno. 

Phil’s phone dinged. He pulled it out before smiling. “Tubbo’s ten-minute update request.” 

“Now you can change it from what you’ve sent the last hundred times,” Wilbur said with a smile. 

“We probably have twenty minutes before he gets here,” Phil said while sticking his phone back in his pocket. “We have a bit to talk about that before then.” 

“The first is that I’m sorry, Tommy. I should have told you who I was. I was scared that you would then be even more aggressive and make the same mistakes I did to make the person I looked up to proud.” 

“I’m fucking angry, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. But, I need to know one thing, are you really proud of me, or did I fucking dream that shit too.” Tommy could feel the tears threaten to fall as he bit them back. 

He could hear the chair creak as Techno walked over to him. 

“Tommy, you are a remarkably talented driver. I am super proud of what you’ve accomplished. We will, however, be working on you being safer when you start to ride again.” 

“I’m still mad you didn’t tell me.” 

“And that’s fair.” His voice was even without any sound of blame. He was just simply stating a fact. 

“On the topic of riding, that is not going to be happening for a long, long time. You have a broken kneecap, concussion, and broken collarbone. Your collarbone break is going to take a while to heal, given the previous injury. Somehow that’s it.” Phil said, reading from a list in front of him.

Tommy groaned. “That’s going to be a huge fucking bill.” 

Phil sighed. “The state wanted to put you into foster care again.” 

Tommy screeched. “Hell no.” 

Phil held up his hand. “I don’t get a say in it. You were emancipated, but for obvious reasons, you don’t meet the requirements anymore.” 

“I still have a little money left in my trust-“ He started to say. 

“I don’t get any say on the fact that you go into care, but, I do get a say where in a sense. If you are ok with it, I would like to recommend placement with us.” Phil said with a smile. 

Tommy froze. 

He had always had his racing family, but he would enjoy having them be his family as well. 

“Can I still race?” 

Phil sighed. “We will have rules, but I don’t think I would be able to stop you, mate.” 

Techno snorted. “Oh, Phil, you learned that with me.” 

The door flew open as Tubbo screeched, “TOMMMMYYYY.” 

He grabbed Tommy into a hug avoiding his shoulder in the sling. 

He stood back and stared at Tommy. 

Tommy could feel his blood run cold. He could count on a single hand how many times he had seen Tubbo angry. 

“Hey, Tubbo,” he said nervously. 

“You ever fucking do that again, and I will kill you myself.”

The look in his eye told him that Tubbo absolutely fucking would. 

“Good to see you too, Tubbo,” he responded with a grin. 

Tommy fumbled with the crutches as he moved up the front sidewalk. 

He had finally been released from the hospital yesterday, and today had been spent driving. His van was sitting in the driveway where Wilbur had parked it after driving it from California. 

Wilbur had a huge smile on his face as he pulled open the front door. 

Tommy smiled as he saw the banner hanging over the second-level stairs down into the entry hallway. 

In messy handwriting, it read Welcome Home, Tommy Icuars Watson. 

“Welcome home, Theseus,” Techno said from his side. 

“Oh, switching up names already?” 

Techno shrugged. “They both fit. But I get the feeling you’ll make your own legend.” 

“The Blade and Icarus pairing up? Of fucking course, I’ll make my own legend.” 

The others laughed. He knew he had a while before that, but he had no doubt it would happen. 

Maybe it wouldn’t be by beating the Blade’s record, but he would figure out his own way to leave a legend on this world.