Chapter Text
It was a never-ending road. Orange ran as fast as his feet could carry him, telling himself over and over again not to look behind. A truck appeared in front of him and he dropped down into an open lane, allowing it to speed past. Glancing up at the scoreboard, he couldn’t help grinning as he read the numbers. His adrenaline was high and he tried to subdue the excitement building inside him. He was so close to winning!
“HE’S CATCHING UP, Orange!” Green’s panicky voice shook him out of his excitement. Whipping his head around, Orange saw the coyote closing the distance between them. Knowing looking behind would slow him down, he fixed his eyes ahead of him. He was so close; he wouldn’t let the coyote beat him!
“He’s catching up to you! RUN, RUN!” Red jumped up and down on the couch below, waving his arms around in excitement and narrowly missed hitting Blue.
“Hey!” Blue grabbed Red’s arm and yanked him down. “Why are you cheering for the wrong team?”
Orange shut out the Colour Gang’s chatter and focused on running. His legs were getting tired, but he had to push past it! Green was counting on him to beat Red and Blue’s score!
Suddenly, the trucks started moving faster. Orange dodged the oncoming traffic, panic building inside of him. Why was everything moving so fast so suddenly? He heard the reassuring sound of the coyote being run over which was a relief, but that was the least of his concerns now. It was getting harder and harder to keep avoiding the trucks when they were moving so fast! Red didn’t have this happen to him when he played the game!
“What’s gone wrong with the game?” Green’s voice reached Orange’s ears.
Orange’s concentration was broken for one second and in that time, he saw an incoming truck on his lane right before it rammed into him, sending him flying across the screen. His breath was knocked out by the impact and he took shaky deep breaths, trying to return his breathing to normal. Roars of laughter echoed from the couch. He looked up to see Red and Blue flopped on the couch, laughing helplessly.
Green ran over to Orange and helped him to his feet before turning to the others, frowning. “It’s not funny!”
“It is!” Red wiped the tears from his eyes. “You looked so hilarious being thrown by that truck!”
Orange frowned slightly as he brushed himself off. “Hey, it did hurt!”
Blue grinned. “It crashing into you is a skill issue, so…”
Orange crossed his arms. “Skill issue?! Those trucks aren’t supposed to go that fast!”
Red looked up at the scoreboard. “Looks like you were ten points behind me, so we win!”
Orange’s face fell. “Ten! I was so close! Why did the trucks only start going fast with me? None of you guys had that.”
Green’s eyes widened with realisation and he ran over to Orange’s single bedroom Minecraft house, throwing the door open. Inside, Yellow was seated on the bed, typing on his laptop. He quickly hid it behind his back upon seeing Green there. “Heeeeey Green!”
Green put his hands on his hips. “Get out here with that laptop of yours!”
Yellow sheepishly obeyed Green, holding the laptop carefully under his arm. “What’s up?”
“You messed with our game!” Green exclaimed angrily. “We would have won if you hadn’t cheated!”
Yellow held up his free hand and looked innocent. “I didn’t cheat. I just changed the game speed without any external programs.”
“That’s cheating!”
“But I only used commands already in the program!”
“It’s still cheating!”
Red stood up. “Come on, Green! There wasn’t a rule against changing the difficulty mid-way.”
“No rule??” Green looked flabbergasted. “No RULE? We were about to win, but you had to cheat your way to the top! It’s not fair if we don’t all play the same difficulty!”
“You do have to admit, Second being thrown was funny.” Blue snickered.
Green thrust up his hand. “Since this wasn’t fair, I’m calling a rematch!”
Red’s face fell. “Aww, Green! My legs are sore.”
“That’s too bad. You should have thought about that before cheating.” Green held out his hands expectantly, frowning at Yellow. “The laptop, please?”
Orange smiled slightly and put his hand on Green. “Just forget it. I’m too tired for a rematch. They win.”
Red let out a loud whoop, jumping up and down before giving Yellow a high five. Green glared at the others before storming back to the couch and settling down with his headset and phone.
Red glanced at Green, then mouthed, ‘Sore loser’.
Orange tried to stifle a yawn as he followed Green to the couch. He settled down next to Green and gave his friend a smile.
“How can you not get mad about it?” Green asked crossly. “They clearly cheated.”
“I’m too tired to care.” Orange yawned.
Green rolled his eyes, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “You’re not normal.”
Orange’s eyes widened and he stared at Green. “Hey!”
Green couldn’t refrain from grinning. “Well, your head is bigger and hollow unlike ours. And you sleep a lot…”
Orange crossed his arms as he sank deeper into the couch, trying to look offended. “Those are just different traits! At least I’m not a power wielding stick that blows stuff up. Then I would be different.”
Green snickered. “Okay.”
Orange’s smile faded. “Do you ever think about… the showdown?”
Green flinched. “I try not to. I’d rather not remember getting stabbed.” He shuddered.
Orange sighed. “It’s horrible.”
Green sat up straight. “Wait, you got stabbed too?”
Orange bit his lip as he closed his eyes. “Mmm…”
Green gave Orange a side hug. “You didn’t tell us!”
“I didn’t think about it.”
“Do you…” Green hesitated. “Get dreams about it?”
Orange’s eyes popped open. “Why are you asking that?”
“Just… wondering, that’s all.” Green looked away embarrassed. “I get them sometimes.”
Orange’s face softened. “Oh… I… I do too.”
Green took Orange’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
Orange smiled at his friend. “The reason I brought it up is… I can’t help wondering about that hollowhead. The one we tried to protect.” He made a face. “I don’t even know his name.”
“Yeah. He sure was something.” Green shook his head.
“Do you think he’s okay?”
“He has powers, so he should be fine.”
“But who is he?” Orange sat up straight. “That’s what I really want to know. And where the Dark Lord came from and why he shot this PC and just… everything.”
Green looked puzzled. “I’d rather not know honestly. Sometimes it’s safer not knowing things.”
“I suppose.” Orange nestled his head on the edge of the couch and closed his eyes for a few moments…
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Orange was jolted awake by a strange whirring sound coming from the taskbar. Turning his head towards it, he saw a hole through the wifi and a familiar black hollowhead stick stepping through it. A shiver of excitement and awe ran through him. He had returned!
The hollowhead didn’t say a word, just stared at them silently. The Colour Gang also remained silent, leaving the atmosphere feeling very awkward.
Orange slowly stood up. “Uh… hey! Do you… uh… want a drink or something?” Immediately, he regretted his choice of words. What was one supposed to say to such a powerful stick? He was unlike anyone Orange had ever met, besides the Dark Lord of course.
“No thanks,” the hollowhead said. “Just checking up on you.”
“Oh!” Orange scratched his head, desperately wishing the Colour Gang would cover for him so he didn’t have to do all the talking, but they remained silent, staring in amazement at the surprise visitor. “Uh… we’re good. Nothing new happening here.”
“Good.” The hollowhead jumped back through the wifi portal without another word.
Red finally found his voice. “What, was, THAT all about?”
Orange blinked. “I have no idea.”