My Best Friend and I Got Dragged into a Portal but We Actually Liked What was on the Other Side

by CartoonAlcaholic, yjhgvf

Summary:

Beacon Tyson and Willard Pickle lived a happy normal life in their not normal world. One day, a strange girl comes along and drags them to a parallel version of their home city, and it's even less normal.

In Other Words: briar and yj did a funny. chaos ensues

Chapter 1

It was a nice sunny day. The birds were chirping, the flowers were blooming, and the park was filled with kids and adults having a family fun time. The joyous aura was such a delight to Willy who was passing by.

"Wowie! It's such a nice day!" Willy exclaimed, obviously stating the obvious. In his hands was what appeared to be a thin box, which contained some doughnuts that he bought at the bakery not even ten minutes earlier. Not wanting to dawdle any longer, the green human quickly made his way past the park and toward Axle City's garage. 

“I'm here!" He yelled, practically bursting inside and thus catching the attention of a red-haired white guy nearby. 

"Oh! Hello Pickle!" The not-really-ginger greeted. "Lovely day we're having." 

"Hi, Blaze!" Willy gingerly placed the box of doughnuts on the table before looking around. "Where's everyone else? I thought Crusher would at least be here." 

"You know how it is, people to be helped, errands to be run." The aforementioned opened the box and shoved one of its contents into his mouth. "And they didn't want me to help because I apparently 'overworked myself." 

"Oh, I see." Willy shifted a little bit. "I'm sure that there's something exciting you can do today!" Willy was simply met with an eye roll. 

"Helping people is kind of my thing. What other exciting things could there be to do?"

"Well, maybe--" 

Before Willy could finish that sentence, something fell on their heads. 

A little girl came into their house with a smile and then dragged the grown men to a place unknown. 

Was two hours later that Willy and Blaze woke up to being dropped in the sky. 

And now they are falling. 

More than 3000 ft off the ground, they were falling.

"Oh. Well, there's something exciting!" Willy happily exclaimed. "See, Blaze, there are exciting things to do other than helping people!" Blaze couldn't really respond to Willy's remark though, mainly because he was too busy screaming. 

"You don't really sound too excited..." Willy put a hand to his chin. "That reminds me, did I write my will yet? I wanted to leave all my possessions to Gherkin. Say, do you have a pen and paper on you Blaze?" Again, no response, only screaming. This isn't as much of a conversation as it is a monologue.

It was two minutes later that both of them were swooped off from falling, but they were still very high on the ground. 

Blaze was still screaming. 

The one who caught them laughed and they turned ro see a tan man with red hair and orange highlights and deep ocean eyes. And a grin that says, bad boy. "Calm down, dude. You're safe now."

"Oh good! Looks like I can procrastinate on my will writing a little longer!" Willy exclaimed. "I don't need the pen and paper anymore Blaze. Thanks for looking though!" 

Blaze only stopped screaming when he sputtered and coughed. "Wh- oh... we're not falling..." He gave a sigh of relief as he moved to adjust his ponytail. "Thank you..." Blaze's voice did sound hoarse though, for obvious reasons.

The new man laughed. "I like you two already. And..." He turned to Blaze. "Your name's Blaze too?"

"Hm? No, that's not my name." Blaze explained. "It's just a nickname my friends gave me." 

"His real name is Beacon." Willy giggled. 

"Shush, Willy! You know how I feel about my first name!" The redhead gave his friend a light smack on the leg. "If you need a different name to refer to me as, you can just call me Tyson."

The man laughed and said, "well, name's Blaze. Blaze Blithe. Now, where'd you two want to head off to?"

"Nice to meet you, uh, Blithe!" Willy gave a small wave. "Is it fine if I just call you Blithe? I don't want to get confused and all." 

Tyson meanwhile looked down and around. The environment seemed similar to their own Axle City, but the real question is how and why they were dragged so high up in the sky. "Well, I guess the ground is a good start."

Blithe laughed and nodded. "You remind me of one of my friends," he said, turning to Tyson. He turned to Willy and nodded. "Sure. And, hold on." 

He flew back a bit and then began to zoom down on the ground and it looked like they were about to crash into the street.

"WAIT WAIT WAIT WE'RE GONNA DIE! S-SLOW DOWN!" Tyson scrambled to hold on as Blithe instructed. For supposedly being labeled a hero, Tyson was more or less acting like a coward. Can you blame him though? 

Willy though was having the time of his life, giggling like a maniac as he exclaimed "Weee!" As if he was on a rollercoaster.

Blithe laughed and slowed down as Tyson asked, gently setting him down near the park. "You're fine! See? You're alive." He booped his nose. "Such a scaredy cat."

Tyson once again breathed a sigh of relief as he was set down. Reeling back a bit at the boop to his nose. "Sorry that I'm not dropping out of the sky at eighty miles per hour every day and have a reasonable fear of death." He grabbed Willy's hand to help the latter hop down from Blithe's arms. 

"Hey, Tyson, we're still in Axle City!" Willy happily bounced in place. "But I've never seen Blithe around here before... Did you just move in Blithe?" Willy swayed in place and he moved his hands to the pockets of his hoodie. "It's great to have you here in Axle City! We have races, contests, food, and more races!" He seemed rather excited for someone who was practically on his deathbed 5 minutes ago.

Blithe tilted his head. "You sure you're in the right Axle? Been here for almost a year now," he chuckled. He patted his head and said, "well, never saw you before either. Maybe you could--" 

BOOM! Willy and Tyson turned their heads and they saw a large building about to fall into a park. 

"Excuse me. Duty calls," Blithe laughed. He stretched his fingers and then zoomed forward to save the building and other people. 

Another explosion happened and they turned to see a mouse lady throwing bombs around the city while rhyming.

"He's been here for a year? But Axle City is a rather small one. How come we've ne- oh!" Willy's train of thought was interrupted by Tyson suddenly grabbing him and running. 

"Nope nope nope nope nope! I'm not staying around for that shit and neither are you!" Tyson quickly navigated away from where the mouse lady last was and ducked behind a nearby dumpster. 

"Gasp! Blaze actually cursed! You normally never curse!" Willy more quietly exclaimed as they hid. 

"Shut up, Willy! Now's not the time to focus on that!" Tyson wished he had a gun right now, or some other weapon. If the two of them were attacked right now, he knew the law well enough to know that he won't be going to prison for murder if he took matters into his own hands.

It was a while and there was a lot of screaming and explosions when they heard cheering from Blithe's name outside as people watched. 

Were they crazy or what? 

"Are you planning to rob someone with that?" 

Willy and Tyson turned to see a man with blue hair on the side leaning on a wall near the dumpster. 

"Pretty sure you could get arrested if the person remembers your face," he chuckled, getting out a whip and staring at them like a deadly foe.

I guess they thought Tyson had a gun? Does Tyson have a gun? Whatever, Tyson has a pistol now, plot holes be damned. He turns the safety off on that motherfucker and points it at the blue gumball son of a bitch. 

"I have the right to self-defense if I or my friend here are under attack or threatened." Tyson confidently states, much unlike how he was a couple of minutes ago. 

"U-Uh! Blaze! Please don't be like Starla where she shoots first and asks later!" Willy stammers, backing up slightly in case there's more recoil than Tyson probably thinks. "He does have a point though. Didn't you see that strange mouse lady attacking people and buildings?"

The blue bitch raised his eyebrow. "Oh, you mean Treat Thief? Ah. You must be new here." Like a switch, he retreated his weapon and then yanked the gun out of Tyson's hands. "Nice to meet you. Go to an evacuation center if you're scared of a villain." 

There was a large BOOM and everyone was cheering and Blaze made a show of tying Treat Thief up, bowing, and whatnot. 

"Anyway, the villain is gone. You can go ahead and do whatever stuff you gotta do at Axle," the guy said, beginning to walk away.

"Oh! That's a relief to hear!" Willy said. He started to move from his position behind Tyson. 

"Wh- Could you give me my gun back?" Tyson asked, exasperated. "I kind of need that."

The blue man chuckled. "License for the gun?" He asked.

Tyson groaned as he began shifting through his pants pockets.

"Why do you need a license?" Willy asked the red-haired white boy. "Starla doesn't have one." 

"Name the last time one of our friends followed the law in regard to weaponry." Tyson rather bluntly stated as he took out a folded piece of paper. "Here you go. Make sure you give that back." The paper was handed to the blue man.

The man looked at the paper and raised a brow. "This is... Invalid. It doesn't have a QR code unless this was handed out in 2015, which we do not use anymore. I suggest you get a new license if you have not been informed, sir, because you will really get in trouble with the official authority." He handed it back to Tyson. "Are you from Australia or somewhere else?"

"Hm? Didn't realize that." Tyson took back the paper. "I'd say I'm from Axle City, but I'm not even sure if that's true anymore. I've never seen destructive mouse villains, or tan guys with superpowers and the same name as me, or even you." Tyson put a hand to his head as he refolded the paper and put it back in his pocket.

"I haven't seen you around either, and I've lived in Axle City almost my entire life!" Willy exclaimed. "Are you new here?"

Darington tilted his head at both of them. "Ah... You must be confused. I've been here for more than three years. Maybe you fell into another Axle City," the man joked. "Name's Darington, by the way. Axle City's Star Stuntman," he introduced with a nod.

There was a beat of silence, then Willy started laughing. "That's so funny! Imagine if we did fall into another Axle City, Blaze!" No response. "Blaze? Hello?"

Tyson meanwhile was in some form of shocked silence. "Darington? We have a friend who goes by that as a stage name..."

"Darry? Oh yeah! 'Darington' is his stage name!" Willy responded. He scanned this new so-called Darington. "But this one looks nothing like Darry. Maybe he's an imposter!" Tyson's face quickly morphed into a look of confusion.

Darington tilted his head. "Uh... What are your names again?"

"I'm Willard Pickle!" Willy exclaimed with a wave. "But everyone just either calls me 'Willy' or 'Pickle'." He then pointed to a still-confused Tyson. "And this is my friend, Beacon Tyson! But everyone calls him 'Blaze'."

"Pickle... And Blaze." The new guy let out another chuckle and then rubbed his forehead. "Okay... I see. Why don't I treat you two to lunch?" He asked.

Willy's eyes went wide. "Lunch! Oh boy, we get to eat! Can we invite Blithe as well? It can be a celebration of him beating up the mouse lady!" Tyson seemed to snap out of his trance at this point, yet he said nothing.

"Yeah. Sure. And I'll invite another friend if you don't mind," he said. He got his phone and then began to text rapidly. "C'mon. I'll lead you to a great place."

"Oh boy! I can't wait!" Willy grabbed Tyson's hand and began to lead him along as they followed Darington. Tyson hoped that this wasn't some sort of trap, but the man did seem to have good intentions. He also wasn't complaining at the prospect of hopefully free food.

They arrived at a restaurant with what looked like a rocky exterior. "Rocky Mountains," it said in golden cursive. Inside, it was like a mixture of modernity and a cave. With beautiful lights and decor while the walls were rocky while the floor was black marble flooring. It looked expensive. 

Darington got them a table and soon, Blithe came to join. "Hey! It's you two again," he laughed, sitting beside Darington and putting an arm around him. "How's Axle City so far?" 

Darington side-eyed the arm but didn't react, letting Blithe carry the conversation.

"It's... uh..." Willy didn't really know how to respond to the question. It was almost entirely identical to the Axle City he grew up in, but there were a couple of major differences. "Familiar... but very nice."

"It is very nice," Tyson noted the expensive surroundings. This wasn't going to be free, was it? Thank god he still had his wallet on him.

The waitress came and they turned to see a blonde girl with flowers in her hair. She gave them menus with a smile. "Hello. Welcome to the Rocky Mountains. May I take your order? Our special today is butter chicken, mango and cream smoothie, and blueberry cheesecake." 

"Sup, Watts?" Blaze greeted. "I'll take my usual."

"Steak, medium rare. And Rocky Road sundae."

"Sorry, Star. Out of Rocky Road," the waitress said as she wrote down their orders. "Cookies and cream are available, though." 

"I'll take that," Darington said. 

The waitress turned to the other two. "And you, sirs?"

"Oh! Uh..." Tyson fumbled with the menu a little, choosing to ignore the third familiar name. "You said you had a butter chicken? I'll take that, please."

"Can I have the blueberry cheesecake please?" Willy enthusiastically swung his legs in small arcs, being careful to not hit anyone. "I love cheesecake."

The waitress nodded and then went to get their orders from the chef. 

"So, uh..." Blithe looked over at Tyson and Willy. "Why are you two here with Darington?"

"Darington said he'd treat us to lunch," Willy explained. "I wanted you to come as well! You could celebrate beating that mouse lady!" Tyson gave a small nod, though his mind was still hung up on this Watts, and by extension the Watts he knows.

Blithe laughed. "Aweee, how thoughtful of you. But don't worry about Treaty. She's a normal occurrence by now. I always beat her." 

Someone came in and then a tall man with blue hair sat with Blithe and Darington. "Sorry, I'm late. I was helping Pickle."

"No worries, Crushy," Blithe grinned, patting his head but the man slapped it away, annoyed. "Ow, what did I ever do to you?"

"Want a list?"

"Willy, Tyson," Darington called. He pointed at a new man and said, "this is our Crusher. Or you can call him Kurasha if you want."

The new guy nodded and extended his hand. "Greetings."

Tyson leaned to grab and shake Kurasha's hand. "Uh, a pleasure to meet you... Kurasha." This wasn't a coincidence anymore, this wasn't a fucking coincidence anymore. Crusher, Pickle, and now this Darington using 'our Crusher' in introductions. Did they somehow travel across dimensions as Darington joked? He seemed to be shaking Kurasha's hand for eternity.

It was now Willy's turn to go dead silent at the mention of his name. Well, the name was not really his, now was it? But it still felt... strange. And seeing Crusher, and him looking similar to the one he knew... "Uh, yes. A pleasure to meet you Ceres." Willy rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ceres?" Kurasha repeated, tilting his head. 

"Iz, this is Blaze Tyson and Willy Pickle," Darington said. 

Kurasha blinked then he pulled his hand away and snapped his fingers. "Ah! Alright, I see... So--"

"What? I don't get it," Blithe interjected. 

"They're most probably from another dimension," Kurasha explained. 

"Which explains them being new to the city," Darington said.

Their orders came and Darington pushed the steak toward Kurasha. "Here. Not hungry."

"But, I--"

"I'm paying."

"You're not the only rich one here, Dior," Kurasha huffed, though a small smile curved on his lips. "But I'll accept. Thank you."

Kurasha turned back to Tyson and Willy and asked, "may I know how you got here in our world? Did you fall into a wormhole? Opened a door? Pulled into a black corner?"

"Uh..." Oh god, they really did fall into a wormhole. Tyson was right about something seems wrong. "Well, there was this girl. She grabbed us and started dragging us. Then it all went black. And when we came too. We were falling in the sky." He explained as he cut his chicken.

Willy started to eat his cheesecake as he nodded along with Tyson's story.

"Ah. Briar," Darington chuckled. 

"Who?" Blithe asked. 

"No need to worry about her."

Kurasha hummed. "Well... I'll see what I can do to help you get back home. But, um, do you know anything about your universe? Your universe code or anything?" He asked.

"Our what?" Tyson was bewildered. "I don't know what a universe code is, but our Axle City is pretty similar to yours... minus the villains destroying everything and some things like this restaurant."

"Briar? Is she like that teleporting couch person?" Willy asked.

"The what ?" Tyson turned to Willy.

"You've never seen them? Blue hoodie, white skin, glowing green eye sometimes, always on a couch no matter where they are. Things always kind of go out of wack when they're around."

"No??? Was this something I was unaware of?"

"I guess. They're really nice. They always wave back when I wave to them."

"Right..." Tyson turned back to the alternate versions of him and his friends. "But yeah, no universe code or anything."

Kurasha hummed. "Okay... Well, I'll figure something out eventually."

"In the meantime, you need housing," Darington said. "You could come bunk in at my place. I have enough rooms. Or if you prefer, our other friends could provide housing," he offered.

"Oh! That sounds like a good idea!" Willy turned to Tyson. "What do you think Blaze?" 

"I mean, it works fine," Tyson responded with a shrug. "I don't really know anywhere else we can go right now."

Darington nodded. "I'll get someone to pick us up later."

"After you settle in, I need you two to visit me in my lab," Kurasha said, finishing his final piece of steak. "I need to get a few samples from you two. Is that alright?"

"Samples?" Tyson asked as he finished off his chicken. "Like blood samples or saliva samples?"

"Saliva and hair samples are alright," Kurasha clarified.

"Oh! Ok. Yeah, that's fine." Tyson confirmed. Willy simply gave a nod as he finished the cheesecake.

Later, the bill came. 

And... Damn, they should have checked the prices before they ordered. But it had a nice 20% discount. It was still a bit pricey, though.

Tyson swore under his breath upon seeing the bill.

"Wow. This place isn't cheap." Willy commented as Tyson took out his wallet.

"Put that away," Darington said as he took out his wallet. "I'm paying." He gave the waitress his card.

"And thank you, Star," Blithe laughed, patting his head.

Tyson just stared for a few seconds, then did as he was told. 

"Wow! You must be rich in order to pay for a place like this!" Willy commented.

"I'm technically the guy who funds this place," Darington chuckled. "This is Zeg's place. He wanted a restaurant of his own so I gave him one," he flaunted.

"Your Zeg owns a restaurant?!" It seemed to come as a shock to Willy. "Our Zeg would never dream of owning a restaurant. Much less an expensive one like this."

"Yeah. Ours is more content living in the valley, playing with the dinosaurs, and shoving inedible things into his mouth to chew." Tyson explained. "Not that it's a bad thing. If he's happy, I don't complain."

"Dinosaurs?" Blithe's eyes widened. "You have dinos living in your universe?"

"Uh... yeah? Isn't that a universal constant? Like Stripes being King of Animal Island?" Willy asked.

"Stripes is a king?!" Blithe gasped. "Damn." He turned to Dior. "I blame you for holding him back."

Darington scowled at him. "Your Stripes sounds nice," he said, turning to Willy and Tyson with a smile.

Willy simply smiled back.

"He's very nice. Everyone in my universe is very nice." Tyson confirmed. "Except Richard. He's a fucking asshole who keeps stealing my pizza rolls."

Blithe laughed. 

Kurasha tilted his head and asked, "who's Richard?"

"Oh right, he's probably not called that here. He's my half-brother and he's a race car racer. I believe his alias is 'Speedrick'." Tyson explained. "He's a good guy... except for him stealing my food."

Darington made a smile. "Ah. Speedy."

"He's my brother here too," Blithe grinned. 

"A better brother," Kurasha snorted and Blithe pouted. "Actually, I'm going to meet with Speedrick for this case," he informed. "He likes the topic of multiverses and whatnot."

"Oh cool!" Tyson exclaimed. "Richard is more interested in racing and anime than multiverses. But I'm glad your version of him likes multiversal stuff."

"Yeah!" Willy confirmed. "I hope you two have fun, Ceres!"

"Kurasha." Tyson corrected.

"Kurasha!" Willy repeated.

Kurasha chuckled and tilted his head at Willy. "It's alright." He patted his head.

Willy gave a small purr at the head pats. Green boy likes affection. Tyson smiled fondly at the scene.

Kurasha was shocked, and he blushed. The blush quickly faded though, and he patted his head more, amused. 

Soon, Darington announced, "our ride is here. We'll have to go."

"See you around, boys," Blithe said, waving goodbye.

Tyson waved goodbye as he followed Darington. Willy pouted at the loss of head pats but waved as well as he followed the group.

Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Summary:

Tyson and Willy are shown around their new home

Notes:

Thanks for all the 'wonderful' comments on the first chapter. Unfortunately for you, this fic has been in the works for 4 to 5 months, and therefore, we're not going to stop it just because you want us to. Cry about it. :] -YJ (with approval from Briar)

They went out and Darington headed to a black limo. He opened the door and then turned to Tyson and Willy expectantly.

Tyson gasped at the limo as Willy giggled excitedly. Willy hopped in almost immediately, while Tyson hesitated a little before stepping inside.

Darington went after them and then closed the door behind them. The limo began to drive off. 

"So, in this world, you need to follow a few rules. But if you're with Blithe's group, you can break a few. Are any of you magic users?" He asked.

Tyson thought for a moment. "Uh, I'm not. Willy?"

Willy looked up at his friend for a moment before answering. "Hmm. I don't think I am."

"A magic-user is a person who uses magic. Any magic. Or any unnatural ability you two have," Darington further explained.

"Oh. I guess I am in that case." Willy commented.

"No unnatural abilities from me," Tyson stated.

Darington nodded. "Okay. I'm going to have you fill out a form later," he said. "If you need or want anything, you can come to me. Explore the city as you wish but please do not go beyond the borders."

"A form?!" Willy groaned. "But I hate paperwork!"

"Don't worry Willy. I'm sure it's just to keep you safe." Tyson gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "Why can't we go beyond the borders?"

"There are magic hunters out. For cores. Cores are like the powerhouse of a magic-user or an enchanted item. Without it, magic users die. And also, there are a lot of weirdos and creeps out there. You can go, only if, you have an escort," Darington explained. "And don't worry, Willy. You can do it virtually. The form is for your magic license to keep the magic users listed."

"Core?" Willy seemed a little confused. "I didn't know I had a core inside of me."

"You probably don't," Tyson commented. "This universe works differently from our own. It's still better to be safe than sorry though. Creeps just suck."

Darington laughed. "Yeah. They do."

They arrived soon in a glorious gated mansion. The gate had a silver cursive D on the front and wow, were the insides amazing. They had a lot of roses in the garden and the double doors of the entrance were just as exquisite as the gate with the letter D on the front.

"Wow. I wonder what letter Darington's name starts with?" Willy commented rather sarcastically. Tyson giggled at the comment.

"Your home looks very nice Darington." Tyson complimented.

"Thank you," Darington grinned. "And the D is for my initial, not for my first name," he chuckled. "Just keeping up tradition..." 

They walked inside and it was a glorious display of blue, silver, marble, and painted wood with a chandelier hanging above them. Staff lined up and bowed when Darington entered. "Welcome back, Master Darington," they greeted, and the other grinned and he flaunted off his wealth to the other two.

Willy waved hello to the staff as he passed by. Tyson simply followed in silence as he looked around.

Darington escorted them into the guest ward and showed them to their rooms. "Here are your rooms. Your rooms will be here and my office and room will be there." He pointed the direction towards the way they came in. "Take a left. If you need anything, you can look for me or ask the staff to help you."

"Wow! Thank you, Darington!" Willy immediately went inside one of the rooms Darington showed them.

"He seems excited," Tyson commented. "And yes. Thank you for your hospitality. It's very much appreciated."

Darington nodded. He asked, "Which do you prefer? Cars or motorcycles?"

"Cars, probably," Tyson responded. "I'm used to driving them."

Darington nodded. He got out his wallet and then gave it to Tyson. "Here. You can have them as a means of transportation around the city. Return when you're going back."

Holy shit an entire wallet with a shit ton of money. Tyson must remain mature despite the fact that he's very excited about being temporarily rich. "Uh, yes. Thank you so much." With that, he retreated into his room.

He dropped the wallet and out went Darington's credit cards and hundred-dollar bills. And car keys. He has car keys. He could drive around in an awesome car, throw money around, AND also live in a mansion!

Holy shit there are so many credit cards and dollar bills. Tyson gets on the ground to pick up the fallen credit cards and dollar bills and places them back into the wallet because they're not gonna be doing much spending on the ground now, are they? As for the keys, he places them into his pocket for later use. Tyson chuckles at the idea of throwing around money while living in a mansion but ultimately decides against it.

It was an hour after settling down when Darington permitted them to go outside to go see the rest of the city. "I could ask someone to tour you two if you like," Darington offered.

"Oh! That would be wonderful!" Willy exclaimed. "I'm so excited to see what's different between this Axle City and our Axle City!" 

Tyson nodded. "It would be interesting."

Darington called someone and soon, a cheery green-haired man with turquoise eyes came in. He looked around and beamed at the sight of Tyson and Willy. "Hi! You must be the counterparts? It's so awesome to meet you two!" He greeted. "Hi! I'm Pickle!"

"Wow! You're like me! I'm Willy!" Willy gave a small wave before placing his hands in his hoodie pockets. "This is my friend Tyson!" He gave a small lean to the side towards Tyson, who also waved.

"Oh! You're other me!" Pickle giggled. 

"Pickle will be your tour guide. Is that alright?" Darington asked, going over to pet Pickle's head. Pickle leaned in on the touch.

"Yeah, that's fine." Tyson gave a thumbs up. "Pleasure to meet you, Pickle."

"Pleasure to meet you too," Pickle grinned. 

Pickle got Tyson's and Willy's hands and toured them in Central first. "We have five divisions of Axle. This is the first one! Central. This is where the popular things are like malls, arcades, and tourist spots. North Central is where the schools are. I run a school too, a small one. But I rather it is somewhere in Southeast Central where the poorer kids are. You could come by during your visit if you want," he explained as they rode and walked in an arcade.

"Five divisions? We don't even have one in our Axle City." Willy remarked. 

"Our Axle City also isn't really a city. It's more of a medium-sized town." Tyson responded. "Nice that you run a school though."

"Thanks!" Pickle smiled. "The other four divisions are West, North, South, and East. You're staying in the North and that means you're living with the rich people." Pickle bought them tokens and then handed Tyson and Willy some. "Have fun!"

"Oh boy! An arcade!" Willy happily went off to play some game similar to piano keys or space invaders, leaving Pickle and Tyson alone.

"There he goes..." Tyson gives an affectionate smile. "He's a good guy. Really sweet."

Pickle giggled. "I could tell." He turned to Tyson and asked, "are you two together?"

"Hm? O-Oh!" Tyson blushed slightly. "No. We're not romantically involved. He's not too interested in me that way."

Pickle tilted his head. "Why? You're a very handsome man," he complimented.

Tyson blushed more. "O-Oh! Why thank you!" He put a hand to his mouth in a rather poor attempt to cover the blush. "Uh, you look handsome too."

Pickle giggled. "Thank you." He took Tyson's hand away from his mouth. "And don't cover that pretty face of yours. I like it," he flirted.

Oh god, Pickle, you're killing him. (/lh) "Oh... o-ok." Poor Tyson is blushing madly. He doesn't know what to do with himself. "U-Uh, thank you."

Pickle giggled and then took his hand and led him further inside. "C'mon! Let's go play!"

"Ok!" Tyson's voice cracked with the response, but he was happy to play games. He rather enjoys the arcade.

After the arcade, they went to tour the night market where they sell street food. Pickle went and got all kinds of food and invited Tyson and Willy to dig in.

"Wow! This looks so good! Thank you, other me!" Willy happily dug in. Tyson gave a nod as he also dug in.

"You're welcome!" Pickle happily replied.

"This night market looks very nice," Tyson remarked as he looked around. "Is it open every night? Or is it just certain nights?"

"Every weekend," Pickle replied as they roamed around more and took a seat. "My friends come here sometimes. Also, it's a great place for dates!" He said happily.

"Dates?" Tyson shifted in his seat. Whether it was out of anticipation or nervousness, he didn't know.

"Woah! It must be around here so often!" Willy stated. "Wouldn't you get bored of it after a while?"

Pickle hummed in thought before answering, "maybe. But to me, this place is like a slice of familiarity. I made a lot of memories here and it would be nice to make more."

"Aww! How cute!" Willy cooed. "It reminds me of my behavior with my friends!"

"Yes, how... cute." Tyson is still caught up on the date part of Pickle's previous statement. He ate his food nonetheless, perhaps in an attempt to clear his mind of it.

After the night market, Pickle led them down an old road where there was a playground and a movie theatre nearby. "Want to watch a movie?" He asked.

"Oooh! What movies are they showing?" Willy looked up at the board where they say what movies are showing that day.

It was two romance movies called, "Jillie and Jill," and "Have Me in Your Arms." There were other two like, "Killing a Mockingbird," which was a thriller, and, "Lovely World," which was a zombie comedy.

"Huh." Willy seemed surprised. "Not much showing."

"It's late at night," Tyson commented. "It makes sense that not many movies are showing." 

"That's true..." Willy thought for a few seconds. "Why don't we watch Lovely World? You like comedies, don't you Blaze?"

"Yeah, when they're done well," Tyson responded with a nod. "What do you think, Pickle?"

Pickle shrugged. "Sure!" Pickle bought them tickets and then turned happily ro Tyson and Willy. "Want popcorn?" He asked.

"Of course!" Tyson responded with a thumbs-up.

"Yeah! It wouldn't be a movie without popcorn!" Willy threw his arms up as if he was cheering but quickly returned them to his pockets.

"Yay! Movie time!" Willy quietly cheered as the group entered the theatre. Tyson giggled as the three sat down together.

The movie was...

Uh, good? Well, the main protagonist was actually a man wanting to become a zombie but keeps failing. He found a family of zombies and begged them to let him be a zombie too but the zombies declined. Instead, they adopted him and now it's more of a found-family trope with zombie jokes.

Willy is crying. He loves found-family tropes. Tyson meanwhile is... bored? No. Interested? Also no. It's kinda hard to tell how Tyson is feeling with the movie. He laughed a few times at least.

Pickle was just eating popcorn and laughed at some scenes. He cried a bit when the zombies defended the guy he forgot the name of from the zombies.

Willy cried the most at that part as well. Tyson acted like it was sad, but he secretly hoped that the guy would die. Both because the guy was kinda a dick and because it could have made a nice message about not realizing the worth of something until it's gone. ... It's a comedy, Tyson. It doesn't have to have an emotional message.

After the movie, a limo came to escort them back home. They went inside and the butler inside offered Willy a tissue. 

Pickle watched but he was very amused by Willy's antics. He got some wine and began to take small sips as he was driven home.

"Thank you..." A still choked-up Willy said to the butler. He took the tissue with one hand, then flicked his other hand in the air, materializing a rose. Willy placed the rose in the butler's hands before moving to wipe his eyes. "That was such a good movie!" 

"It was fine. Though I wouldn't really call it a comedy." Tyson commented, rubbing his neck. "It had funny moments, but I'd more describe it as a feel-good family movie."

"Same," Pickle replied. "And there were moments where jokes could have been taken advantage of, but I guess the directors didn't think of that," he commented.

"Yeah..." Tyson agreed. "Solid 6 or 7 out of 10. Wasn't too bad."

They arrived near a small house later. 

"Well, this is my stop." Pickle turned to Tyson and Willy and smiled at them. "I'll see you tomorrow!" He said then left.

Willy and Tyson waved goodbye to Pickle before the limo continued on its way. "He's very nice," Willy commented.

"Yep," Tyson confirmed. "He sure is."

They went back to Dior Manor and Darington greeted them before going off to work in his office.

"Oh, there he goes." Willy watched as Darington retreated to his office. "No 'did you two have fun?'"

"He's probably just busy," Tyson explained as he led the green male to their guest rooms. "Not everyone has an infinite amount of free time like you do." Willy gave a small shrug in return.

Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Summary:

Tyson and Willy go to Crusher's

The next day, they were free to wander off since their tour guide was a bit busy. They joined Darington for breakfast before giving Willy a wallet. "Here. You two have fun out. Or in. Do whatever you like as long as you stay safe and out of trouble," he said. "I gotta head to training. I'll see you two later," he said then left.

Willy... wasn't too interested in the wallet. At first he was excited, quickly opening it up, but was rather disappointed to find only dollar bills and credit cards. He didn't outwardly show it though, because that would be rude.

"We should probably go to Crusher's first." Tyson decided. "Since we need to visit him to give our samples.

"Do we have to?" Willy pouted.

"It won't take too long. Better now than later."

They went to find Crusher's office. They asked around and they were led to a large building called, "Izumi Industries."

"Wow. I wonder what his last name is." Willy commented, stifling a giggle. Tyson rolled his eyes as he led the way inside.

They asked the receptionist for Crusher and the receptionist tilted her head. "Um... Crusher Gray, Crusher Jayford, Crusher Kristofferson, or Crusher Izumi?" She asked.

"Uh, Izumi." Tyson replied. He didn't realize there were so many Crushers in this universe.

The female made a small phone call and then gave them cards. "Top floor. Have the card scanned in the elevator and you'll have temporary access," she instructed.

"Thank you." Tyson took the cards, handing one of them to Willy. The two went to the elevator, scanning the cards as told and pressing the button for the top floor.

"Hey, you think something like that mouse lady attack is going to happen again while we're here?" Willy asked, looking up at his friend.

"Hm? Hopefully not." Tyson responded, slightly concerned. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering." 

"Wondering what?"

"Wondering if she's going to attack while we're in this elevator, sending us plummeting thousands of feet to our deaths and burying us under tons of rubble."

"Oh..." Tyson moved a bit away from Willy, at least as much as the elevator allowed. Thankfully he didn't have to deal with the conversation much longer as the elevator doors opened.

In they came to a very fancy office and on the table read, "CEO Crusher Izumi." But he was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a door open and they heard clanking inside.

"Should we wait out here?" Tyson asked. He waited a bit for a response, but got none. He looked to his side to find Willy gone, and looked back to the door to see him slipping inside. "Shit! Willy, wait!" He scrambled to follow Willy, opening the door more and entering.

Inside was a maze of inventions, from helping hands to bubble machines to kinetic force fields, to-- 

There was a lot. 

He saw Willy going towards the bubble machine. He pressed a button and the bubble enveloped him, beginning to have him fly away inside the bubble.

"God..." Tyson walked over to where Willy pretty much was. "Willy, what did you do?" The latter looked down to see his friend, giving an enthusiastic wave.

"Oh hey Blaze! This bubble machine is just like the one Ceres made when he cheated at your first race! Remember?" Willy, unsurprisingly, wasn't super concerned with basically being trapped.

"Yes, I remember. It wasn't a fun experience and actually kind of traumatizing."

"I thought you liked it. You were smiling the whole time!"

"Have you ever heard of the phrase 'smile through the pain?'"

"Nope."

"Well that's what I was doing. Now can you get out of the bubble so we can find Crusher?"

"Nope."

"Why don't you want to?"

"It's not that I don't want to." Willy gave the side of the bubble a somewhat forceful hit. "It's that I can't. The bubble is very durable." Tyson blinked a couple of times, before breathing out hard.

"This is why I wanted to wait..."

It took a few minutes before they heard a crash and the light went off. "FUCKING DICK!" they heard someone yell.

A few minutes later, the lights turned on, and out came a grumpy Crusher with the tips of his burnt and his face covered in charcoal. He paused when he saw Willy and Tyson and then stopped in his tracks. 

"... Oh," he coughed. "I wasn't expecting you. I didn't get a text from Darington." He looked up at Willy and hummed. He looked around and got a gun. "Sit still," he said, aiming the gun at the bubble.

"Did you mess up an experiment?" Willy asked, doing as told. Tyson meanwhile moved under the bubble. "Ceres, I mean my Crusher, has a habit of messing up his experiments when he's tired."

Crusher laughed and nodded. "Yeah. I did." He shot the gun and then held up his arms as Willy fell down. He caught him and then added, "coffee got spilled on my work."

Tyson, expecting to catch Willy, was surprised when Crusher caught him instead. Not that Tyson was complaining, he was content as long as Willy wasn't a mess on the floor.

"Oh..." Willy meanwhile... Oh dear, where to start? "That's... unfortunate." Crusher's arms were surprisingly soft, and comforting to boot. It was similar to his own Crusher's arms, except these arms probably wouldn't sling him over the connecting shoulder with no warning and keep him there as the connecting torso and legs practically forced him along to a menial location. "Are you alright?"

Crusher shrugged. "Yeah." He set him down. "Are you?"

"Me?" Willy wanted to be back in Crusher's arms. "I'm... alright. Your inventions are very nice."

Crusher smiled. "Glad you think so." He patted his head. He turned to the two and guessed, "so, are you two here for the sampling?"

Willy leaned slightly into the affection, only for it to be gone as soon as it came. Why must affectionate physical touch be so hard to get?

"Yep, we're here for the samples." Tyson confirmed.

Crusher nodded. "Follow me," he instructed as he went around the inventions. "Be careful."

Tyson grabbed Willy's hand as he followed Crusher, mainly to make sure the little bastard (affectionate) didn't mess with anything else. "So what are the samples going to exactly do?"

"It will help me find where you came from. Each of us is littered with an aura from the place we stay in. Usually, it develops after a year of staying in one place. More like... It's like a skunk sprayed on you and the smell stays. Not a pleasant example but it's the only example I could think of right now," he explained. They arrived at a cleaner area where seats were placed and large monitors littered the walls. "You can just sit down while I prepare things."

"Uh, is this safe?" Tyson asked as Willy sat down without question. "Not that I doubt you or anything! It just looks..." Tyson wanted to say 'suspicious,' but that would sound rude, "confusing?"

Crusher chuckled. "Yes, don't worry. It'll be like a massage," he assured. He pressed a button and two helmets dropped down on their heads. After a while, it started vibrating and two metallic hands went to pluck hair samples from their heads. 

Data showed on Crusher's screens and he started taking notes.

"Oh." It indeed wasn't as bad as Tyson thought it could be. "That was fast."

Crusher let out another chuckle. "Yes. Do you expect something worse?"

"Yes. Like needles." Tyson commented.

"Or this being a trap from the mouse lady!" Willy jumped in. "Your universe is pretty extreme, in all fairness."

Crusher laughed. "Oh. Yes. The mouse lady is called Treat Thief. And... I guess it isn't the norm in other cities." He hummed in thought for a moment before opening a drawer. "But speaking of needles... Would you like to try one out?" He pulled out a medium-sized needle, like the size of his hand. If Tyson looked further, there was more. "Since you brought it up..."

"Ha ha..." Tyson wasn't deathly afraid of needles, but he was still uncomfortable with them. "I think I'll pass on that offer."

"Don't we have a Treat Thief?" Willy asked.

"Yes, but she was only around like once. Then she got arrested and we never saw her again."

Crusher put the needle away. "Hm. She sounded east to deal with." 

There was a rumble and Crusher checked his phone. "Oh... Looks like Litter Critter is causing trouble again." He looked at the data and continued to work. 

There was another rumble.

"Well, she wasn't really destroying cities like yours is doing." Willy said seemingly in unaware bliss. Tyson was put on edge by the rumbling.

"Is it just me... or is the rumbling not coming from your phone?" Tyson asked, getting up from the chair.

"Yes. Um, we have three villains here, actually. The one causing the disruption now is Litter Critter. He's like... Treat Thief's honorary brother," Kurasha explained.

"Oh." Tyson was rather clearly exasperated. "Next thing you're gonna tell me is that he's going to burst through the floor and start destroying everything here."

"You don't have future sight, Blaze." Willy commented, now getting up as well.

"No, but with the track record so far, I just have a feeling." Tyson explained.

Someone burst through the floor and in came Blithe, spitting out blood. "Sorry for the floor, Izzy!" He turned and saw Tyson and Willy. "Oh, hey! The counterparts! Anyway--" he grabbed a gun nearby. "See ya!" He left, dashing off. 

Kurasha groaned and called for a repairman to fix his floor. And the other floors Blithe probably ruined.

Willy shot a look at Tyson.

"Okay, well when I said 'he' I was talking about Litter Critter, so I was technically wrong!" Tyson said, putting his hands up in mock surrender. "You can't blame me for the floor being destroyed!"

Crusher laughed. "It's no problem. This is a normal thing by now."

"I don't think your corporate building being destroyed should be in the category of 'normal things.'" Willy commented. 

"Well neither should magic licenses, or taking away guns from people trying to defend themselves because their gun license was supposedly outdated!" Yes, Tyson is still pissed about Darington taking away his pistol.

Crusher laughed. "Well, sorry about that... Axle is trying to adapt to the large demands on magic safety and there have been a lot of shootings recently." He hummed and said, "well... If you two want, we could go to the beach with the others next weekend."

"If we're still around? Of course!" Willy excitedly clapped his hands. 

"Magic safety? Have people been misusing magic or something?" Tyson asked. "What about people with harmless powers, like Willy?"

"No magic is harmless," Crusher sighed. "We thought so too with Pickle's wand but it turned out he could do great damage with the right spells," he explained. "It caused an of discrimination in the first few months but it seemed to settle down now. At least it wasn't as worrisome as when the city welcomed hybrids."

"Discrimination?" Willy questioned. "But I've never been able to do any harm with my magic! I have been able to create a lot of flowers lately though!" He flicked his wrist, and out came a tulip.

"I think what Crusher means is that through the right methods, you could cause damage with your powers." Tyson explained. "With your flower trick, you could create poison ivy, or some other poisonous plant."

"I've never made poison ivy before. Let me try!"

"DON'T! It was just an example!"

Crusher laughed at the way Willy took it seriously. He patted his head and said, "you're adorable." His phone rang and he moved away to take the phone call.

"I'm adorable?!" Willy happily asked. Oh, Kurasha, you're making his day. He's so happy with the compliments and affection, he might just become a simp if he wasn't already one. Tyson giggled at Willy's antics.

Later, Crusher came back and he smiled at Willy's happy face. "Yes, you are." He pressed a few things on his computer and the computer pulled back on the helmets. "You're free to go if you like," he said.

"Oh... maybe we should stay around a bit, Tyson." Willy said, blushing now like the simp he is.

"Oh my god, Willy." Tyson groaned, though it didn't seem to be out of malice. "Alright, just don't touch anything else."

Crusher smiled at their company and continued to work. 

Thirty minutes later, someone came in. He was a red-head with light skin and he got a lab coat. He looked very excited and then saw Willy and Tyson. 

"Crush?"

"Oh, Speedrick." Crusher stood up and then gestured at the man. "Tyson, Willy, this is Speedrick, Blithe's brother. Speedy, this is Tyson and Willy, the counterparts." 

Speedrick's eyes widened and he did a small squeal before going to offer his hand for a shake. "Hi! I'm Speedrick! Speedrick Gale. It is SO great to meet you!" He said.

"It's great to meet you too!" Willy took Speedrick's hand and shook it. 

"Same here." Tyson said, shaking Sppedrick's hand as well once Willy was done. "You are quite similar to my half-brother."

"Oh? Your half brother?" Speedrick repeated. He took out a pen and paper and asked, "Blaze Tyson, right? Could you tell me more about your half-brother?"

"His name's actually Beacon Tyson." Willy corrected, earning himself a glare from Tyson.

"Sure, I can tell you a bit about him." Tyson agreed. "His name's Richard, and he's older than me. We both have the same mom, but it turns out that my mom was cheating on his dad with my dad and ended up getting pregnant with me, so she left his dad and married my dad." Tyson rubbed the back of his neck. "Richard is... still not over that, but that doesn't stop him from being a nice person to me and Sparkle. Richard is a professional racer in Velocityville, racing race cars. But he's also really into anime. He introduced me to this anime called High School DxD last week." Tyson smiled. "It's pretty good... And we were going to watch more episodes, on the day that Willy and I were dragged to this dimension..." Tyson trailed off. He just stood there in silence, seemingly processing what he said.

Speedrick was oblivious as he just wrote down everything Tyson said. He then stopped and turned to Tyson, tilting his head in concern. 

Kurasha went to put a gentle hand on his shoulder and asked, "are you okay?"

"I just... miss him." Tyson responded. "I mean, I've been having fun here and all... but I'm also worried about him and my other friends. Like, is time still passing on without us there? Did we just become nonexistent in that timeline? Do they simply think we've gone missing? My family's probably looking for me..." Willy seemed to show no reaction, but he was very much thinking the same thing.

Speedrick wrote the possibilities down and then assisted the two to sit on the chairs. Crusher went to get them hot cocoa.

"We'll try our best and get you home as soon as possible," he promised.

"Thank you... It means a lot to me." Tyson wasn't crying, at least not yet. Willy would be offering advice right now, but he has a habit of accidentally saying the wrong thing, so he simply chose to remain silent.

Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Summary:

Pickle takes Tyson and Willy to get ice cream

Notes:

A few notes about upload dates.

This fic is gonna be pretty long, and with the current one chapter a week schedule, it'll probably be 2024 when we get done and to the next part of this fic (yes, there's 2 parts). So when winter break begins (in about 2 weeks), I (YJ. I'm the one who updates this fic) am most likely gonna begin updating multiple chapters either 2 or 3 times a week (maybe 4? Idk)

The same will go for summer break and spring semester will most likely either retain the 1 chapter a week schedule or go to 2.

Not sure what days they're gonna be. Gonna try and stay consistent like I have been, but that's all from me. Enjoy!

-YJ

Later, Pickle came by and saw the sour mood. He turned to Crusher and Speedeick to find answers but he replied with, "homesickness."

Pickle's face softened and he nodded. He took Willy's and Tyson's hands and offered, "what about some ice cream? Or smoothies to cheer you two up?"

"Oooh! Yay! Ice cream!" And, Willy's no longer sad, at least not outwardly. 

"Oh, sure. Ice cream sounds good." Tyson, on the other hand, was just trudging along like I do when I get a depressive episode (sorry, couldn't think of a better comparison). He was just... tired, but not physically. Perhaps ice cream and a break would indeed cheer him up.

Pickle nodded and gently led them out to the ice cream parlor. 

They arrived and Pickle ordered the party option on the menu and gave Willy and Tyson as much ice cream as they needed. He sat beside them too in case they needed a hug.

Willy ordered some cotton candy ice cream and happily dug in. Tyson meanwhile ordered vanilla and slowly ate. Not too slowly though, he doesn't want it to melt.

Pickle let them be, not asking many questions since it seems they want to be in their own head spaces for a while.

"Uh," Willy was the first to break the silence, "thank you for the ice cream, other me." Tyson didn't say anything, still silently eating.

"Hm? Oh, no problem," Pickle nodded. "Tell me whatever else you want. I'll do my best to provide."

"I don't think I need anything else right now," Willy looked up towards Pickle. Not looking directly at, but rather past him, "but, if you could, please keep an eye on Tyson." Tyson didn't seem to be listening to the conversation, probably zoned out. "I'm just worried for him right now."

Pickle turned to Tyson and nodded. He turned back to Willy and smiled. "I'll do my best," he said.

Willy breathed a sigh of relief, giving his counterpart a smile. "Thank you." Willy lifted his hand, and with a flick of the wrist, a carnation appeared in his hand. He gingerly placed the flower into Pickle's hand. "A gift for your time."

Pickle made a small smile and then wrapped the flower on his wrist. "Thank you. Although, you don't need to give me anything. I enjoy helping you," he said.

"I know." Willy rubbed the back of his head. "But I still want to compensate you in some way."

"Hm?" Tyson was brought back to reality by the mention of compensation, like the greedy little bastard for money he is. Is having a rich person's wallet on loan not enough for you, Tyson? Actually it probably isn't, you did grow up really poor.

"Oh, hi Tyson!" Willy gave a soft smile and a tiny wave.

Pickle turned to Tyson and giggled. "Hey, Tyson. Need more ice cream? Yours already melted."

"What?" Tyson looked down at his hand, and though there wasn't really too much ice cream left in the first place, it was indeed still melted.

"I could also try refreezing it for you!" Willy offered. "I do need to practice my ice related magic."

"No thanks, Willy... I don't need your overpowered jack-of-all-trades abilities right now." Tyson simply tipped the cone, drinking the melted ice cream... or is it just milk?

Willy pouted. "They're not overpowered! If they were, I would have given myself plot armor a long time ago!" Was that a joke? Tyson can't quite tell, and neither can anyone within earshot of the conversation.

Pickle offered, "I could order you some more."

Before Tyson could answer, a large explosion occurred just beside the building, making their ears ring. 

"Ice cream on a hot day, how mighty fine. Now, EVERYONE OUT! The treats of this city are MINE!" They heard someone rhyme and they turned to see Treat Thief approaching the Ice Cream place. 

Pickle began alert and got his wand out to put a bubble shield on all of them and rushed everyone outside so no one could get hurt.

"Oh my god." Tyson groaned. He was having absolutely none of this. "FUCK OFF YOU MOUSE BITCH!" He shouted, because he apparently has a death wish. "I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF A DEPRESSIVE EPISODE! FUCKING DO THIS LATER!" Wow, Tyson must really have a death wish.

"Why don't you just buy some ice cream yourself, mouse lady?" Willy asked loudly, also apparently having a (lesser) death wish.

Treaty blinked then began to laugh. "Do you think I give a fuck? To me, you're better off as a roasted duck!" She got out a whip and then got Willy and Tyson tied up. "You must be new to the city. Welcome! Now, let me get this straight, everything this city has belongs to *me.*"

"HEY!" Pickle got out of the store and his wand was making a blazing green color. "FUCK OFF!" He shot the mouse lady a blast, sending her off to a tree. 

She growled and then attacked with detonators and daggers. Pickle screamed in fear as he dodged most of them with his small size and bubble shield, but he got sliced on his right cheek and ear. 

"You shouldn't have gotten in my way," Treaty growled. "Now, Magician. You'll have to pay."

"Oh shit!" Tyson was shocked. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

"Your rhyming sucks ass." Willy stated. "Maybe you should go back to English class." 

"Oh god Willy, please no." Tyson really did not need this right now.

"There's no need to act so rash. What are you, a piece of trash?" Willy, what are you trying to do? Out-rhyme the rhymer?

Treaty growled at Willy. She kicked Pickle back and then got a dagger. "Shut the fuck up! Do you want to die?!" She growled. She raised her dagger and then said, "well, GOODNIGHT!"

She swung down but she was pushed off. In came to Blaze, panting with some swamp roots on his hair. "Piece of shit..." He muttered before going to fight the villain.

"Ah damn." Willy was somewhat upset that he didn't get to do a rhyme off of sorts with Treat Thief. "You still suck for not just paying the five bucks for ice cream, mouse lady."

"Pickle? Are you alright?" Tyson asked, looking over the best he could at the other green boy. "What a fucking asshole..."

Pickle turned to Tyson and nodded. "Y--Yeah, I'm--" he tried to move his arm but then yelped in pain. "FUCK!" He cried.

"Motherfucker..." Tyson began to struggle in the whip. "Willy! Use one of your overpowered jack-of-all-trades abilities to get rid of the rope!"

"Wow, Blithe's really going at her." Willy didn't hear him. He's a little too distracted by Blithe beating up Treat Thief.

"Of course..." Tyson groaned. He began to mess with the whip in an attempt to break it. "Hang on, Pickle! I'll make sure you're okay! Somehow..."

It was a bit of struggling before he found the center of the knot. Now, how was he going to pull it…

"Alright." It's a good thing that Tyson was in boy scouts when he was younger. He began to twist one of the ends of the rope near the knot.

"Get her Blithe! You can do it!" Willy was busy cheering for Blithe instead of, you know, helping. Blithe probably doesn't even need the cheering, but it's the thought that counts. Tyson meanwhile, had twisted the end of the rope a numerous amount of times, and proceeded to push the twisted end through the knot, loosening it. It was then as simple as pulling the knot apart and freeing them.

"Ha! Take that, stupid whip! You're no match for my practicality!" Tyson gloated as he grabbed Willy and made his way towards Pickle.

Pickle was laying down and covering his pained arm, trying to shield himself from any incoming dangers. 

Before Willy and Tyson could catch him, a large guy with strong arms carried Pickle up and ran to the park, hiding behind the trees. Wait, what the hell? Who?

"Oh my god!" Tyson can't catch a break, now can he? He raced after the mysterious guy, Willy following somewhat closely behind.

They followed the guy until he saw him setting Pickle down on the ground and getting a medkit out of his backpack. The guy had green hair and dark skin. "Show Zeg where hurt," he said.

Wait, Zeg?

Pickle looked at him then obliged, gesturing to his arm. 

Zeg gently checked it, but the slightest press made Pickle yelp in pain. Zeg hissed and began making a small cast. "Probably broken arm," he said.

Pickle whimpered. He looked around and said, "Tyson! A--And Willy!"

"Tyson and Willy?" Zeg repeated.

"Hello there!" Willy greeted in a way that was far too cheerful for the situation. "We're friends of his!"

"Yep." Tyson confirmed. "Willy, maybe you can use your overpowered jack-of-all-trades abilities to heal Pickle."

"Is that really the only way?" Willy questioned with a head tilt. "We can't just get him to the hospital?" Tyson wanted to slap his friend. This is gonna be a running theme, isn't it?

Pickle gestured to them. "Zeg, this is Willy and Tyson. Counterparts of Blaze and I. Guys, this is our Zeg. And-- SHIT! MY WAND!" He looked around in a panic and Zeg put his hand in his hair and then pulled out his wand. "Oh..." Pickle smiled and accepted it. "Thanks, big guy!"

"Maybe Pickle needs hospital to get proper cast," Zeg said. He got his stuff packed and then gently carried Pickle up. "Is Tyson and Willy coming?" He asked.

"Yep! We're coming!" Tyson confirmed. "Better than sitting here and getting kidnapped again."

"I wouldn't call it kidnapping..." Willy commented. "But we are coming along!"

Zeg nodded. He smiled and said, "follow Zeg," then he began to walk through the park, jogging to stay away as possible from the fight.

Willy looked up to Tyson. "How is jogging gonna get us to the hospital fast?" He asked. Tyson gave a shrug as he began to follow Zeg, with Willy trailing behind him.

Chapter 5: Chapter 5

Summary:

Tyson and Willy accompany Zeg to the hospital

Notes:

Ok so a certain dumbass (me) may have forgotten to upload a chapter last week due to being focused on personal stuff. So because of that, and because this chapter is much shorter than the others, there will be two uploads today, with a second one coming later.

They soon arrived at a nearby hospital. Zeg checked Pickle in and made sure he was gently taken care of. He turned to Willy and Tyson and asked, "how did counterparts come here?"

"Long story. Your Crusher can probably explain it to you better, but to put it short, dimensional wormhole." Tyson explained.

"Oh." Zeg nodded. He looked around and saw a vending machine. "Does Tyson and Willy want anything?" He asked.

"I'm good." Tyson said, refusing politely.

"Same here." Willy said. "How are you doing, Zeg? Other than the whole friend getting majorly injured thing."

"Oh, Zeg good," Zeg replied, nodding. He sat down on a waiting chair and said, "Zeg hopes Pickle be okay... So, how is Tyson's and Willy's stay so far?"

"Fine, aside from the mouse fuck destroying everything during my depressive episode that developed out of homesickness." Tyson commented.

"I've been liking it so far." Willy stated. "But I do wish to return home soon."

Zeg gave them pats and assured them, "Zeg sure Willy and Tyson going to go home soon."

"Thanks, big guy." Tyson smiled a little. Willy meanwhile was purring again from the pats.

Zeg found it amusing and continued to pet Willy. He reminded him a bit of Pickle.

Willy continued to purr, and he loved the affection. Tyson rolled his eyes at the scene, not out of malice but out of amusement.

Soon, Pickle came out with a sling on his arm. "Hey, guys... I hope I didn't worry you too much," he chuckled nervously.

"Oh thank god, you're okay." Tyson sighed in relief. "Thought you were gonna lose the arm with how badly it was damaged."

Pickle laughed and said, "don't worry. I've survived worse!"

Zeg smiled and petted his head too. "Friends glad Pickle okay."

Pickle giggled and leaned closer to Zeg's touch affectionately.

"Yeah, we are." Tyson agreed. "Swear to god, if you weren't, I was gonna go beat the hell out of that mouse."

"Don't forget that you aggravating the mouse got us into this situation in the first place." Willy reminded.

"Hey! You pissed her off too, with your annoying rhyming."

"Yeah, but that's because you called her a bitch first."

Pickle laughed and Zeg grew concerned. 

"Maybe best Tyson and Willy not anger other villains more..." He suggested. 

"It was funny, though," Pickle giggled.

"Yeah. There's a good chance we have a target on our backs now though." Tyson thought aloud. "With us being from another dimension, combined with Willy's plot-breaking yet-to-be-shown abilities, and combined with us pissing them off. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up getting kidnapped and taken to their lair in the near future." 

"Don't give them any ideas, Tyson." Willy told him.

Zeg was confused but Pickle just laughed because he thought it was a joke. 

Soon, Darington came to get them, exhausted. He glanced at Pickle then sighed. "You okay?" He asked. 

Pickle nodded. "Yep!"

"How about you two?" Darington asked, turning to Tyson and Willy.

"We're fine!" Willy answered. "Tyson is a little angry at the mouse lady though. He was going through a sad time and she impeded on his brooding."

"Well, I know a bar you can get drunk in if you're that sad," Darington chuckled. He turned to Zeg and beamed, getting closer to kiss his cheek. "Hey, Zeggy."

"Star," Zeg nodded. "How is Stella?"

"Very well. Are you free later?" 

"No."

Darington pouted and let go. "I see..."

"So, are we going home?" Pickle asked.

"Yes," Darington said. He gestured then to follow him and then went to his limo.

"Home time!" Willy cheered, still too positive for the situation. He and Tyson followed Darington and got inside the limo.

Pickle waved Zeg goodbye and for a ride back home. 

Tyson and Willy arrived at their mansion and had dinner with Darington, asking them of how their day was with Crusher, and whatnot.

"It was good!" Willy commented. "Crusher got the samples he needed, we met Speedrick, Blithe broke through the floor, Pickle took us for ice cream, and you know what happened from there."

"Good to see you enjoyed yourself," Darington smiled. After they finished dinner, they went to sleep.

Chapter 6: Chapter 6

Summary:

Tyson and Willy hang out with Zeg more

Notes:

Second upload for today to make up for last week. Might also upload later in the week but idk

The next day, they had breakfast, went out with Pickle to another location, then went to the park where they saw Zeg again, feeding ducks.

"Duckies!" Willy exclaimed, surprisingly not scaring off the ducks.

"Oh yeah." Tyson observed. "Those are some nice looking ducks."

Zeg turned to them and smiled, waving at them. "Hello, friends."

"Hey, Zeg!" Pickle chirped, going beside him and sitting down. "How are you?"

"Zeg fine." He handed Willy the bag of feeds. "Does Willy wanna feed ducks?"

"Yes!" Willy was practically shaking out of excitement. He grabbed the bag that was handed to him.

"Don't be too loud, Willy." Tyson softly told him. "You'll scare the ducks if you're not careful."

Zeg gave a small chuckle at the other's excited behavior. It was cute. He began to pet Pickle's head as he watched the ducks gather.

Willy gingerly tossed food for the ducks to eat joyfully giggling as they quacked and ate. Tyson watched with a small smile.

It was calm for the four of them.

Later, they waved goodbye to Zeg and then went on to go around the park, showing the playground and the attractions tourists mostly go to when they come to Axle.

"Playground!" Willy excitedly ran to the playground and started swinging on the swings, with all the parents with their infants around him looking confused. "Push me Tyson!" Tyson chuckled as he walked over, starting to push Willy. Now all the parents were really confused on why these two grown men were having so much fun on the swings in a kids area.

Pickle just laughed. He took a stand and began to entertain the other kids so they won't question much. He was a magician and all. Also, he could get some cash out of this. It's a win-win.

Willy and Tyson didn't seem to mind the magic show. They just continued playing on the swings, with Willy continuously telling Tyson to "Push me higher!"

Well, Tyson pushed Willy too high and he went off flying into someone's arms. He looked up and saw Zeg, looking confused but amused. "Hello, Willy," he said, petting his head.

"Hi Zeg!" Willy greeted. "Tyson and I are playing on the swings!" He pointed towards the swing-set, and by extension, at a confused Tyson still processing what the hell happened.

Zeg chuckled and nodded, carrying Willy back and putting him down beside Tyson. "Hello, Tyson," he greeted.

"Huh? Oh. There you are, Willy" Tyson gave Willy a small pat on the back. "Hello Zeg. Lovely day we're having." Tyson greeted with a wave.

Zeg nodded. "Yes. Very lovely." 

Willy and Tyson played more before Pickle called them to go get dinner. Zeg offered his restaurant, so they went.

"Back at the expensive place..." Tyson muttered under his breath. If he wasn't given temporary rich person privileges, he would have objected to going to Zeg's restaurant. Luckily, capitalism smiles upon him, so here they are.

"Your restaurant is so nice Zeg!" Wily happily complimented. "I heard that Darington helped you build it! You two must be such good friends."

Zeg smiled and nodded. "Yes, we are. Darington gave Zeg a lot and Zeg so grateful,"  he said. "Zeg going to give a discount to friends. Anything you want?" 

Pickle and the others sat and then they scrolled down the menu. There wa port options, beef, chicken, vegan options... 

Pickle took the meatloaf. He hasn't eaten that in a while and he wanted to taste it again.

Tyson chose to simply have some medium rare steak, just to see how good it is. Willy chose the blue cheesecake, because he likes blue cheesecake.

"This place seems to be popular." Tyson said, observing the other customers. "The food must be really good if it's this populated."

"Oh! That makes sense!" Willy exclaimed. "It's basically free promotion! That's so smart!"

Pickle nodded. "Yep! It's great!"

Soon, their orders came but Zeg didn't come with.

"Oh. Where's Zeg?" Willy asked.

"Probably doing paperwork, since he is the owner of this place." Tyson explained.

"Boo! Paperwork's boring!"

Pickle laughed. "No. Darington does the paperwork so he could have Zeg enjoy being the head chef. Maybe he just encountered a problem in the kitchen," he corrected.

"Oh. Makes sense." Tyson responded.

"It doesn't look like the kitchen's burning down at least." Willy commented.

Fire alarms blared and out came the chefs. Waitresses began to evacuate the staff and Watts went to get Pickle, Tyson, and Willy.

"Really?" Tyson asked, turning to Willy. "This is how you use your overpowered jack-of-all-trades abilities? By predicting the kitchen burning down?" He got up and began to exit with Watts and co.

"You know, I more call it situational irony than my ever-changing yet-to-be-properly-established powers." Willy responded with a pout aa he followed. 

"That doesn't change the fact that the kitchen burned down after you said that!" Tyson exclaimed as they went outside.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Willy asked. "Clap my hands and magically reverse time? Would you like me to send us home while I'm at it?" He crossed his arms with a frown. "I can't actually do that, by the way."

It was a while when Pickle looked at the smoking restaurant. "... Zeg isn't coming out," he said, starting to worry.

"Maybe he left through the back door or something." Tyson said, reassuring Pickle with a few pats on the back. Willy didn't say anything as he simply stared at the restaurant.

It took a while but Zeg finally went out, a bit charred. "Zeg!" Pickle ran to him, but tripped, falling on his injured arm. "ARGH!"

"Pickle!" Zeg began to limp towards him. "D--Don't run! Be careful!"

Pickle and Tyson could see his left leg looking a bit... Twisted.

"Oh no no no!" Tyson ran up to Zeg, grabbing him and swiftly, but gently, moving him to a sitting position. "Don't move too much, your leg looks injured!" 

Willy meanwhile walked over to Pickle and helped him up. "You're very clumsy." He commented.

"Are you alright?" Willy asked, tilting his head a little and staring at the injured arm. "That looked like a hard fall."

Pickle nodded. "Yeah... It just hurts... Very much." 

Zeg winced. He wanted to go and hug Pickle but he can't move with his injured leg. 

Soon, the fire trucks came and then an ambulance shortly after. They went and helped Zeg up to the ambulance. Pickle waved goodbye at him and Zeg returned the gesture.

"Bye Zeg! Feel better soon!" Willy yelled as he and Tyson waved goodbye as well.

"You know, I'm starting to think that we might be a bad omen for these people." Tyson whispered to Willy.

“What makes you say that?"

"Well, Crusher's floor got broken, Pickle got his arm injured, and now Zeg twisted his leg." Tyson gave a brief gesture in Zeg and Pickle's directions when whispering their names. "Should we even be staying here still? At this rate, I fear that the city will be in ruins because of us."

"I think you're worrying too much." Willy whispered back. "You're a logical person. You can see that there were factors besides our presence that could have influenced those events."

"Yeah, but..." Tyson trailed off at this point, looking down in thought.

Chapter 7: Chapter 7

Summary:

Tyson and Willy head home after a day with Pickle and Zeg

Notes:

Warning for Vague Mentions of Sexual Content in this Chapter!

Not Graphic but it's Still There!

It was a while when Pickle went to go to the aquarium with Willy and Tyson. "Sorry about what happened with lunch," he apologized.

"No worries!" Tyson reassured him. "I'm just glad Zeg wasn't majorly hurt."

"Or killed!" Willy added. Tyson shot him a glare, causing the former to turn his focus to the cool fishes rather than the conversation.

"I'm also happy that your little trip didn't hurt you too bad." Tyson commented as well. "And besides, we got lunch anyway. It's all good."

Pickle smiled, although the part of being killed was concerning. 

They had a walk around the aquarium and after that, they went home. 

Tyson and Willy went back to the manor and they were about to go to the movie room when they saw Darington and Stripes doing the... Uh... The naughty .

Oh. Well... that is an unexpected thing to walk into. Maybe if Tyson just slowly walks backwards and pretends like he wasn't just scarred for life, nothing will go wron- Oh, there goes Willy, who casually sits on the floor in front of the couch or other soft surface where... that is happening, and puts on a movie as if the sounds of the activity aren't present at all. Tyson groans, staying near the back of the room, but now making his way closer along the wall.

Darington stopped for a moment and glared at the two before dragging Stripes to another room to continue. 

Dammit. He just wanted playtime with his tiger.

Oh thank god, they're gone. Now Tyson can sit on the couch and watch his movie in pea- oh ew they made a mess with their stupid substance on the couch. Tyson resorts to sitting on the floor with Willy instead. "Can you maybe clean the couch?" He asks his friend. "I feel bad for the butlers if they have to clean that shit."

Willy looks back at Tyson with an unamused expression. He just wants to watch his movie dammit. He sighs, lifts his hand up in the air, waves it around, and with a snap, the couch is clean. 

"Thanks." Tyson says as Willy turns his attention back to the movie.

Later, dinner time  came and Darington was grumpy.

Stripes waved hi to Tyson and Willy then apologized for getting caught in the movie room.

"Hi Stripes!" Willy greeted. "Sorry I didn't properly say hello to you earlier."

"Yes. Hello." Tyson was somewhat grumpy as well, but not as much as Darington. "I'd inquire on why you were doing that in the movie room of all places, but I think it's best if I don't comment on the matter any longer."

"The movie was really good! You two should have joined us when you were done."

"This is my house and I can do whatever the fuck I want," Darington huffed. 

Stripes calmed him down and then turned back to Willy. "I'm glad you enjoyed the movies!" he turned to Tyson and once again, apologized, "I'm really sorry about that. We didn't expect you back so soon."

"It's okay! No need to apologize!" Willy told him. 

"Yes... It's okay." Tyson did feel that there was a need to apologize for scarring him with that image, but he kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to get kicked out of the house, after all. 

"I cleaned up the couch in the movie room by the way, so there's no need for you to clean it yourself... or I guess have your servants clean it is the correct term." Maybe it was best for Willy to change the subject. "Anyway, what's for dinner?"

Darington clapped his hands and his servants all brought out silver trays of food for them. Turkey, mashed potatoes, salad, grilled fish, and ham. 

Rich people and meat.

"Oh! Yummy!" Willy exclaimed, he grabbed a serving of everything except the fish, because he didn't feel like being the third person to go to the hospital during his stay for an allergic reaction.

"Your servants always make the best looking food." Tyson commented, opting to grab some turkey, salad, and grilled fish.

Some of the servants gleamed at the compliment and one passed it on to the head chef. 

Darington smiled and said, "thanks. They do their best."

He got some salad, mashed potatoes and turkey.

Stripes got each of the meat and began to eat as not-messy as he could.

Willy nodded as he began to eat. "Yeah! The food is always good, and this meal is no exception!" Man, the servants are getting flooded with compliments today.

"Yeah. This food is good." Tyson said as he ate his meal.

Darington watched as his staff beamed and he chuckled. "You're making a lot of them feel good today... So, what did you two do today?" he asked.

"Oh! We fed ducks today, and went to the playground with other me and Zeg!" Willy began to recount. "Then we went to eat lunch at Zeg's restaurant, but it burned down and Zeg twisted his ankle from it, so he had to go to the hospital." Willy grimaced at that part, but his face returned to a smile. "But he's at the hospital, so he should be okay! We also went to the aquarium afterwards! Then after that we came back here!" 

Tyson nodded along as he listened. "Yeah. Pickle felt really bad about what happened at the restaurant. He also accidentally hurt his arm more from tripping."

Darington's happy mood soured at the mention of Zeg getting hurt. He nodded. "I see... At least you two are alright," he said. 

Stripes was worried for both of his friends.

"Yeah. I'm happy me and Tyson are alright, but I'm sad that Zeg got hurt." Willy commented.

Darington nodded. "I'll visit him tomorrow." 

The next day, Darington did as he said and left early, probably to see what happened to the restaurant and Zeg. 

Pickle took a break from touring and Watts replaced them instead. "Hi!" she waved. "I'm Watts Vasiliev. Nice to officially meet you, Willy Pickle and Beacon Tyson," she said, extending her hand.

"Oh hello!" Willy greeted, shaking her hand. "It's nice to meet you too!"

"Likewise." Tyson said, shaking her hand after Willy was finished.

"So, Beacon and Willy. What places have you visited yet?" Watts asked.

"You can just call me Tyson." Tyson told her. "So far we visited Zeg's restaurant, Crusher's lab, the ice cream parlor, the park, and the aquarium." He turned to Willy. "Did I miss anything?"

"I don't think so. Pretty sure you covered it all." Willy confirmed.

"Hmm... What about the roller skating derby?" Watts suggested. "That's my favorite place."

"Roller skating?" Willy questioned. "We haven't gone there yet."

"Sounds interesting." Tyson commented. "We can do that."

Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Summary:

Willy and Tyson hang out with Watts

Notes:

Oops someone got a little too distracted to upload last week. Yeah, sorry about that, but I made sure not to forget for this week. AO3 should really have a queue feature.

Watts beamed and drove them to the roller skating derby. It was thirty minutes that they arrived. Watts said, "welcome to the West District of the city! This is where most products are made, including Izumi Industries products and Blithe merch. A lot of people live in small apartments here and cinemas and cafes are popular here."

"Wow! This place is much more lively than the North District!" Willy commented. 

"Yeah. It's pretty busy." Tyson observed.

Watts nodded. She parks by a car and then got out. In front of them was a large roller skating rink with neon lights and old songs playing inside, bringing in the old disco vibe. "Ready to go in?" she asked.

"Yeah! I've never gone roller skating before!" Willy exclaimed.

"I've been. It's pretty fun." Tyson told him. "Let's go inside."

Watts rented them some skates and then they went to the floor to go dance.

There goes Tyson, skating around the rink at a speed that wasn't too fast, but still somewhat speedy. "It's been quite a while since I've done this! I'm surprised I haven't gotten worse!" He said, not shouting, but still loud enough to be somewhat heard over the music.

Willy meanwhile was hanging on to the side barrier, trying to find his balance and get used to the new set of wheels on his feet. He kept almost falling and looked like a baby giraffe learning how to walk. "Wow! You're- oof!" This time he actually did fall. "You're doing so well!" Willy dragged himself back up the wall as he watched Tyson.

Watts skated with Tyson, happily bonding with the man. 

Willy was left to waddle waddle when a familiar voice spoke. "You're doing good." He turned to see Crusher. "Hey."

Oh, so Willy's being replaced by Watts as Tyson's close friend? Tyson doesn't even want to help him? Well fine then! Willy doesn't need Tyson's help to learn how to skate! Tyson can go ahead and replace him, he doesn't nee- Oh it's Crusher. "Oh! Hi Crusher!" Willy said, pretending as if he definitely wasn't jealous of Tyson suddenly not being by his side. "I'm trying my best." Willy almost fell as he said that.

Crusher let out a small chuckle and then got his own skates. "I'll help," he offered, skating beside him.

Crusher held his hand while Willy's other hand was on the rings and they began to slowly skate. Crusher made sure to catch him if he falls.

Tyson meanwhile was still skating around with Watts. He spotted Willy and Crusher making their way around the ring. "You're doing great Willy!" He shouted. Willy looked over and gave a nod before returning to skating. Tyson also returned his focus to skating with Watts.

They were just separately skating. And after that, Watts treated them to smoothies.

"Smoothies!" Willy exclaimed. "What flavors are there?"

"Probably the standard one fruit flavors, some mixtures of fruits, and just straight milkshakes." Tyson replied.

"What would you two like?" Watts asked. 

Crusher left a while ago.

"Oh! I'll get a strawberry smoothie!" Willy said, talking out the money it cost.

"I might as well get blueberry." Tyson decided, also taking out the amount of money for it. Willy handed him the money he took out, and Tyson went to purchase the smoothies.

Watts got strawberry banana for herself. They went to sit down.

Tyson happily drank his smoothie. "Very refreshing." He concluded. "The smoothies are very good."

"Mhm!" Willy agreed. "They're tasty! Don't you think, Watts?"

"Yep!" Watts nodded in agreement. "Thus is actually my favorite spot! Hmm... What else do you guys enjoy?"

"I liked the part where Blithe beat the shit out of a villain!" Willy exclaimed.

"She's talking about in general, Willy." Tyson explained. "I like board games. They're pretty fun."

"Oh, ok! I like sports and cheering!" Willy corrected.

"Hmm..." she got her phone and looked up places with those things. She found one and smiled. "There's a board game competition tomorrow and a talent show in the afternoon in the Greenfield Gym in the South district. Wanna go there tomorrow?" she offered.

"Yeah!" Willy shouted. "Tyson can kick ass at board games and I can kick ass at sports!" 

"You'd more be showing off your cheer skills." Tyson commented. "But it sounds fun. We can do that."

Watts smiled. "Great then!"

"Yay!" Willy cheered. "I'm so excited!" He bounced a little in his seat as he briefly threw his hands up.

"You must be excited about this." Tyson observed. "You're the loudest you've been yet. No offense."

"None taken! I am indeed excited!" Willy responded.

Watts giggled at their reaction. She looked around and asked, "I have a party this Saturday. Do you guys want to come?"

"A party?" Willy asked. "I've never been to one of those before."

"Mainly because no one's ever invited you to one." Tyson responded. "That and Ceres forgets to tell you about any invitations you two receive and just goes without you." 

"Can we go Tyson?" Willy begged. "Please?"

"I think I'll pass on the party. But you can go if you want." Tyson told him.

Watts smiled. "Don't worry, others will be there, so you don't have to worry about too much," she assured.

"Well..." Willy felt more comfortable with people he knew well, hence why he's been sticking by Tyson's side almost this entire time. But the people he's met here are like his friends in some ways. Maybe he'd feel comfortable with them? But what if he didn't? Well, he didn't know yet. "I guess I can go without Tyson..." He decided. Tyson gave a nod of affirmation.

Well, it was set. Watts told Darington and he raised an eyebrow. "Willy's going?" he repeated. He glanced at the green man and then hummed. "I feel like... Your parties will be too much for him."

"He'll be fine!" she laughed. 

Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Summary:

Tyson competes in a board game competition

Notes:

You may have noticed that the fic is getting uploaded less frequently. This is nothing to worry about, but due to the increased busyness of Briar and I's schedules, we're changing it so that, starting this week, this fic will be updated every two weeks instead of every week. It will still generally be on Tuesday, but if any uploads come between then, those will be bonus uploads.
-YJ

The next day, Watts took Tyson and Willy to Greenfield Gym. A lot of people came to enter the board game competitions mostly because money is involved. Watts paid for Tyson's entrance and signed Willy up for his talent show. She turned to him and asked, "you're going to do your cheering?"

"Yeah!" Willy confirmed, a pair of pom-poms in his hand. Where did he get those from? Who the hell knows. "There's a lot of people here for the board game competition. Are you sure you're gonna win, Tyson?"

"I hope." Tyson answered. "But I like board games regardless of if I win or not, so I'm going to be having fun either way."

Watts put them both in the competition then explained the rules to Tyson for most of the round. "They said that no magic is allowed in the Gym unless you need it for specific situations like a health situation," she explained. "There would be someone explaining the rules to you in the board games and you could only compete in three."

"Well, I don't have magic. So that first one shouldn't be an issue." Tyson responded. "What board games to they have here? If I'm going to be competing in three, I want to pick the ones I'm best at."

"Chess, Monopoly, Scrabble, Codenames, Battleship, Checkers, Backgamon,  and Stratego," Watts listed.

"Hm..." Tyson thought aloud. "Quite a few good options."

"You should definitely do monopoly!" Willy snickered.

" No ." If Tyson plays monopoly, his opponents are gonna have to thank their lucky stars that Darington took away his pistol. Best for Tyson to stay away from it. "I think I'll do Battleship, Chess, and Scrabble. I think I'm good enough at those three to have a fair shot at winning."

Watts nodded. She gave him copies of his slips and said, "just give them to the person being the referee in the games. They'll sign you up on the board."

"Oh! Thanks!" Tyson went around the gym, handing the slips to the respective referees.

"How much money do you get if you win a game?" Willy asked Watts, watching as Tyson traveled.

"Mmm... 700 dollars," Watts replied.

"Woah! Just for winning one game?!" Willy seemed shocked. His Axle City could never afford to give out 700 dollars to people just for winning a simple board game. "That's a lot of money!"

"No, that's for winning five rounds. They just keep calling you when you win until you win all five, then you'll get the money. It's like a tournament," Watts shrugged.

"Oh! I see!" Willy thought for a bit as Tyson came back.

"All signed up!" He exclaimed, rejoining the group. "There's a lot of people here. Must be a popular competition."

"Yep!" Watts nodded. "A lot here are from the East, actually. I could see Starla and her brothers." She pointed to three dark-skinned people. One was a girl with purple braided hair and a cowboy hat while the other two had blue hair and looked as if they were twins. "To others, this is an easy win. It's also a much more fun alternative then illegal gambling," she waved off.

"Oh! I didn't notice her!" Tyson remarked. "She looks very similar to Stacy, our Starla, minus the braids."

"Alternative to illegal gambling?!" Willy questioned. "What's wrong with illegal gambling?!"

"Willy!" Tyson scolded. "Don't listen to him, Watts. He isn't even old enough to gamble."

"I almost am though!"

"That doesn't mean you can casually talk about illegal gambling!" Tyson pressed a hand to his forehead.

"How old are you?" Watts asked.

"I'm 20 years old!" Willy proudly proclaimed. "But I'll be 21 in about 2 months!" Unsurprisingly, Willy doesn't look or act remotely 20 years old. In fact, Tyson wouldn't have been surprised if Watts thought that Willy was somewhere around 13-15 years old.

"He's telling the truth." Tyson confirmed, just in case Watts thought Willy was a liar. "I'm 22, if you're wondering."

Watts giggled. "Alright. Well, the illegal gambling thing here doesn't really care about ages." She leaned in closer and whispered, "just don't get caught." She pointed on the board and said, "Tyson, you're up first game! Scrabble first."

Willy giggled at Watts' comment. Tyson rolled his eyes. "Scrabble's first? Alright." His dictionary knowledge was pretty good last time he checked. "Wish me luck!" 

Willy nodded. "I hope you win!"

~~~

It was a while and so far, Tyson won 3 games of scrabble, 4 battleships, and 1 game of chess. Starla's brother was good. 

He only had 3 more games left. 2 for Scrabble and 1 for battleships. He keeps losing at Chess. 

Watts and Willy stayed on the sides and ate snacks.

"Go Tyson! You can do it!" Willy cheered before shoving some popcorn in his mouth. Tyson looked back at him and gave a thumbs up before returning his focus to the board games. "Wow. I never knew board games could be this intense." Willy commented to Watts.

Watts laughed. "Yeah. Actually, Darington and Zeg compete here most of the time for fun. No one could win Chess with those two around," he laughed.

"Dang. I'm surprised." Willy said. "The Zeg from my universe could never grasp chess, even when Tyson tried to teach him. He kept doing the same first moves and Tyson always won with what he called 'the fool's mate.'" Willy shook his head. "I'm not surprised, but I'm also not one to talk. I've never been able to completely understand chess either."

"Well, here, Zeg is actually number one at Chess," Watts laughed. "Maybe he and Tyson could play sometime.

"Given Tyson's performance against Starla's brother, I think we both know how the game would turn out." Willy said, grinning.

Watts let out a snort then began to laugh. "Poor Tyson!" he said.

Willy laughed along with her. "Yeah. At least he has fun with it though. Fun is sort of what matters most to him. Of course he has more fun when winning, but he still has fun with board games in general." Tyson meanwhile was in another very intense game of scrabble. One of his opponents just expanded 'RAT' to fucking 'BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC'. How is that even possible?! There's only 7 letters in a player's hand to use! And how the hell is he even supposed to counter that and catch up?! He never knew scrabble could be this bullshit.

Watts and Willy watched in amusement as Tyson tried to play. She got a picture and sent it to her friends and everyone was laughing with them.

Tyson goddamn knows that Willy is laughing his ass off at him. He knows Willy well, and he's not going too fucking tolerate that. Connecting to both the last c in 'BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC' and a u in some other word I don't feel like making up to put here, Tyson easily spelled out 'CROQUET.' It was even on the triple word score space, netting him 54 points. Fuck yeah.

In the end, he won by a hair and he just needed one more round to win the prize money.

Yes! Get fucked person who was probably cheating with their stupid biostratigraphic! That or Tyson was just salty, either way, a win is a win! He turned back to see Willy clapping for him.

Watts gave him a thumbs up. 

~~~

Next was battleships and... Was this guy a fortune teller? Fuck .

Oh fuck. Who the hell is this guy? Tyson placed his ships in as strategic of a position as possible. He specifically made sure to have his ships not be too close or too far, as well as not be in a pattern or too close to the middle or edge. Tyson was pretty sure he had the win, but he knew overconfidence never helped anyone.

Well, the guy ended up placing the same exact way Tyson had but with slight differences on the side. He was close to winning and Tyson was on the verge of losing because of this guy.

Tyson had only his 2 tile ship left, while his opponent had their two 3 tile ships and their 5 tile ship. Thankfully, his opponent's surprising accuracy and luck meant that there was a lot of spaces left for his opponent to pick to hit next. He was pretty sure that his opponent wouldn't be finding the 2 tile ship any time soon. There was also only a couple spots for the longer ships his opponent had left to have the possibility of being. If Tyson can hold out, he has a pretty good chance of making a comeback.

It was a rough battle but now it was a one on one.

His opponent was getting frustrated.

Tyson was close to winning. He could practically taste it, but he must stay focused. He still had his 2 tile, while his opponent had their 3 tile. He picked a tile, miss.  Tyson narrowed the possibilities down, he had this down pat. His opponent picked a tile, miss. He knew his opponent was running out of options for where his 2 tile ship was. He picked another tile, miss. Tyson was going to get hit sooner or later. His opponent picked another tile, miss. 

If he could just hold out a little while longer... He picked yet another tile, hit. One down. His opponent picked, miss. The easy part was done, now the hard part. Tyson picked again, miss. Damn it. His opponent picked, hit. Shit. 

He saw his opponent smirk, but it wasn't over yet. Another pick from Tyson, miss. Even with the miss, Tyson was still ahead of his opponent in a way. The opponent picked, miss. Tyson now had a 50/50 chance. He picked a tile, hit.

His opponent's turn. This was for the game. The win or loss. The 700 dollars.

His opponent may have a 33% chance, but if his opponent is lucky... 33 isn't as small of a number as one might think.

Tyson watched his opponent. His opponent's face had a look of intense concentration. It stayed like that for a long time, then, the smirk returned.

"E8." His opponent finally stated.

"..." Tyson stared at his opponent. His mouth morphed into a grin. "Miss. B4." Silence.

"Hit. You sunk my battleship." Victory for Tyson!

Willy and Watts cheered for Tyson below. 

AWESOME!

HE WON 700 DOLLARS.

Also, he had fun.

BUT HE WON 700 DOLLARS.

WOAH! 700 DOLLARS! Tyson could have only dreamed of having 700 dollars when he was little. 700 dollars could have helped his family out of poverty, and now he had it!

"Congrats Tyson!" Willy exclaimed, running up to him after Tyson collected the money.

"Thanks. That was really intense." Tyson commented. "I still have a scrabble game to do. "Hope I win that one too."

"If you win that one, then you'll have 1,400 dollars!" Willy pointed out. "Unless there's a rule about not being able to win twice."

"There's none," Watts smirked. "You're free to continue the scrabble game. Good luck!"

"Thanks!" Tyson said, his eyes lighting up, as he went to try and win an extra 700 dollars.

"Do you gamble, Watts?" Willy suddenly asked her as soon as Tyson was gone. "You seem like the type to gamble. Like not so much that you get an addiction, but enough that you lose a fair amount of money while also winning a good amount of money."

Watts gave a chuckle. She looked around to see if no one was watching before she pulled out a poster. It read, "MAGIC DUEL. SUNSET CORNER." 

" This is my way of gambling. It's a tournament between magic users and you bet a ton for one. And when you win, you get at least 30k or more," she explained. "I go there a bunch of times. I win a lot."

"Woah..." Willy gasped. "30,000 dollars? That's a lot of money."

Watts laughed. "I know. A lot of people would kill for entertainment around here. And it's also an easy but risky way to get cash as an unregistered magic user."

"Oh. That's good to know." Willy replied. "He probably wasn't going to do it, especially with how dangerous it sounded. But it was still a good thing to know.

It was a while before Tyson's next match.

One more scrabble win and he can get another 700 dollars. Then he'll have 1,400 and be shot way out of poverty! Focus up Tyson! The rest of your life depends on it. Willy and Watts watched in anticipation as Tyson played against his opponents.

Well...

Aren't these smart asses. 

Fucking scientists probably ate more than dictionaries because they were making up words Tyson barely knew. Something about Math Theory and Science and whatnot. Who the fuck are they? Einstein's incarnation?

This is fucking bullshit. They're definitely cheating with their long-ass words. Tyson can't even fucking compete. It's no surprise that he fucking lost.

Watts and Willy comforted him. "Hey. At least you won the other game."

"I know..." Tyson said. "1,400 dollars would have been great though."

"Yeah, but 700 dollars is better than 0 dollars!" Willy pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right." Tyson agreed. "You better get ready for your cheer routine. Isn't the talent show starting in like an hour?"

"Yeah. The gym is already clearing," Watts nodded, looking around to see people moving the chairs and tables.

"Oh yeah!" Willy watched as the people worked. "Wow! It's soon gonna look like there was no board game competition at all!"

"That goes to show the efficiency of the workers." Tyson commented.

Watts smiled. "Well, better get ready, Willy! The prize is 13 hundred bucks!"

"Wow!" Willy exclaimed. "That's a lot of money!" 

"Almost double the board game competition's prize!" Tyson exclaimed as well. "There's bound to be more intense competition!"

" Definitely. "

Chapter 10: Chapter 10

Summary:

Willy does his cheerleading act for the talent show

Notes:

I did not accidentally forget about uploading the chapters shut up /lh -YJ

It was thirty minutes in and a lot of Willy's competitors started coming in. Some were on groups and some were in solos. Willy and Tyson saw Starla's other brother again. The other twin who best Tyson's ass in chest.

"Hm." Tyson watched the competitors. Some were practicing, while others were simply relaxing. He looked to Willy, who was busy going through his cheer routine. "I think you'll do great Willy." He didn't actually think that completely. A lot of the competition seemed to have far more interesting talents than a simple cheer routine. Interesting is what the judges are probably wanting, after all. But maybe if Willy has more confidence, he'll perform better.

Watts gave a thumbs up and said, "yeah! Definitely!"

"Aww! Thanks guys!" Willy smiled, shuffling his feet a bit. "I hope I do well too!" He was feeling a little nervous, in all honesty, but he tried not to focus on it.

The show stated ten minutes late, but that didnt matter. Pickle was contestant 33 out of 40. 

The previous contestants before him all had amazing acts like gymnastic and ballet routines and some even had pretty sand paintings.

"Woah..." Willy's eyes glittered at the amazing acts happening before him. They were truly spectacular and he pelt a pang of jealousy, if he's being honest.

Tyson, in the audience with Watts, was also dumbfounded by the acts. They were really great, in his opinion. But did Willy even have a chance against them? Tyson didn't really think so, but he'll have to wait and see.

Soon, it was Willy's turn.

Oh! It's his turn! Willy went out onto the stage and did a small bow towards the judges. "Hello! My name is Willard Pickle! And I'm going to do cheerleading as my talent for this talent show!" He paused, in case any of the judges wanted to say anything.

The judges looked at each other, not impressed. A female judge smiled at him and said, "well, hello, Willard. Go ahead and do your act."

Not much to say, huh?

"Oh, that's not good..." Tyson whispered. The other contestants had these long ass introductions detailing their life stories and interesting and magical acts to go along with them. But Tyson knows that Willy isn't a fan of long and detailed, with a short greeting and explanation being enough for him. Tyson can only hope that Willy doesn't majorly embarrass himself.

Willy gave a nod to the female judge. "Alright!" He responded. Willy stood back, adjusted his pom-poms, breathed, and clasped his hands. He clapped, did a cone motion, squatted, and jumped. He did a toe-touch in the air, then landed. A simple jump, and one of the most basic. Hardly impressive, but Willy was only starting. 

Another clasp, a touchdown, high-v, squat, jump, a pike this time, land. Willy did some motions for flair, shaking his pom-poms as he glided across the stage and to the side. He threw his hands up, releasing the pom-poms into the air. The jingling of bells resonating throughout the gym as Willy performed a handstand, then immediately sprung into a flip, no, two flips. No, three flips! He landed successfully and effortlessly grabbed the pom-poms as they fell. 

He bowed slightly, but he still wasn't done. He did more motions as he glided around the stage again. Some jumps here, some cartwheels there, many pom-pom shakes everywhere. Eventually, he reached the other side of the stage. He shook his pom-poms a little more, then crouched, and he sprinted. He jumped, turned in the air, and landed on his hands. Then he sprung off his hands, and flipped again to land on his feet, and sprung again to land on his hands, and continued with back-handspring after back-handspring, flipping and turning and jingling until he reached where he previously was. Then round-offs and more handstands and more back-handsprings. Jumps and squats and clasps and spins and other motions that I'm too lazy to look up and name. But now, it was time for the finale.

He was back in the center of the stage, raising a pom-pommed  arm. He began to spin, rotating slowly at first, but quickly getting faster. Sparkles bagan to fall from the raised pom-pom as Willy crouched down, still spinning. He then jumped, higher than before, almost flying up as he flipped one, two, three, four, almost a countless number of times. He reached the peak, throwing his arms out as glitter burst out from his form, then he began to rapidly drop. He spun more, almost becoming a top. Purplish forms began to rise out of the stage from where the first batch of sparkles fell, morphing into figures that got into a position, and easily caught Willy's feet, leaving him finished out standing on the figures' arms with his arms in a V.

The crowd cheered and clapped for Willy. They were whistling and throwing flowers at him and the judges  smiled, very pleased. 

"WOOHOO!" Watts cheered. "Wow, that was awesome!"

Willy smiled. He climbed down from the figures, and with a flick of the wrist, the figures disintegrated into sparkles. "Oh thank you! You all are too kind!" Willy said as he took a bow. He gingerly, but quickly, picked up the flowers that were thrown at him, flicked his wrist again to clean the sparkles and glitter, and exited stage right.

His friends all cheered for him, happily. "That was amazing, Willy!" Watts said.

"She's right." Tyson confirmed, ruffling Willy's hair. "That was really cool."

"Aw, thank you." Willy blushed a little from the compliments. "I'm just glad I didn't fall during that."

"I think you're too amazing to do that..." the group turned to see Crusher heading their way with a smile. "That was brilliant, Willy. I didn't know you were entering the competition," he commented.

"Oh!" Willy was surprised to see Crusher. "I didn't know that you were here Crusher! I'm glad you liked my performance!"

"Hell yeah. It was pretty amazing." Tyson said.

Crusher smiled and patted his head. "I was here for a friend."

After that, there was a low rumble and they all looked up to see the roof of the gym being taken apart by a giant robot with a raccoon hybrid inside. 

"Oh, fuck," Watts muttered as people started to panic.

"Hm?" Willy squinted to get a better look.

"Oh come on!" Tyson shouted. He began to stomp forward to once again insult someone ruining his day, but Willy grabbed his hand, stopping him.

"Don't." Willy told him. "Let the raccoon speak first."

"Well, well, well... A little talent show again ?" he laughed. "Thought you shits quit after I ruined the last one. Anyway--" He raised his robot fist and then brought it down to smash a wall. "Time to dump this place!"

Watts tapped her shoes then roller blades came out of them. She began to rush in, her hands glowing yellow before she sent a shock to debris that was about to fall on people. 

Crusher got his gun and began helping others out as well, trying as much as he could to not get hurt. 

The robot continued to stomp around and then after, it began to walk away, but he had caused a lot of damage.

"Holy shit!" Tyson was thankfully unhurt from the destruction. "What is with these people and ruining shit? Do the police just not give a fuck about them?" Tyson expected a witty response in return, but silence followed. "Willy?" He turned to where Willy was before the destruction, but the green man was no longer there. "What the- Willy? Where the hell did you go?" Tyson began to walk around the ruined gym, looking around for his friend.

Crusher panicked and sent a Code AU to his friends. They all affirmed and began to search.

Tyson meanwhile went outside the gym and began to search nearby. "Willy? You out here somewhere? The raccoon fuck is gone now, you can come out." He looked around. "Hello? What is this, world's most difficult game of hide and seek?"