#racer!jax

[an-albino-pinetree]

aCK- I gotta go to work, but Day 7!!

We’ve got Eyes! @theamazingdigitalraceway 👁️

[thescarletnargacuga]

Art by @iamespecter

CHAPTER TEN

Caine and Pomni grow closer while making the next day's race! Caine can't deny his feelings, but Pomni is unsure! The other racers make their own mischief without a track to keep them busy!

WARNING: none!

~~~

Gangle hummed to herself cheerfully as she redesigned the paint sceme and patterns on her kart. She was feeling rosey pink today, so that's what her kart would be for tomorrow. She drew her custom designs on the control panel tablet and they appeared on her kart in real time. "Hmmm....I wonder how many white flowers I could fit..." She was so focused, she didn't notice Gummigoo standing beside her.

"Gangle-"

"EEP!" Gangle's mask went askew but she held it before it moved out of place further. "Oh, hi!"

"Uh, hey...can I talk to you?" Gummigoo looked around to make sure no one else was in earshot.

"Sure!" Gangle put down the stylus and gave him her full attention.

Gummigoo rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the scarred indents of Bubble's teeth marks. "I...I think something happened to me last night."

"A lot happened to everyone last night." Gangle giggled.

Gummigoo forced a small smile. "Yeah, look, I think something bad happened. I went to my room, blacked out and woke up standing in Pomni's room. She seemed rather freaked out by me being there."

"Oh my! I'm sorry, I didn't see you go in there. I was... preoccupied." Gangle glanced at Zooble, a light blush dusting her mask. "Have you tried talking to her today?"

"Yeah, but she brushed me off... wouldn't even look at me." His shoulders drooped. "I consider Pomni a friend, I don't think I could ever forgive myself if I had hurt her in some way...what do I do?"

Gangle put her hand on his shoulder. "Give her space for now. She'll come around when she's ready."

"What if she never is?" He couldn't handle the thought of Pomni never talking to him again.

"How about I ask her on your behalf? Maybe she'll talk to me about it. Girl to girl."

"I'd really appreciate that. You're a true friend, Gangle." Gummigoo smiled for real this time.

"Awwww, shucks. I try." Gangle waved him away bashfully. "Anyway, try not to worry too much. Pomni wanted you here in the first place. I don't think she'd change her mind overnight."

Gummigoo took a deep breath. "I'll have to take your word on that for now, but thank-"

"LOOK OUT!" Ragatha cried out.

Gummigoo turned around in time for a pb&j sandwich to smack him in the face. It slid down his stunned form, falling to the ground with a wet splat.

Jax was laughing his ass off. "I wasn't aiming for you, but I'll take it."

"What's the big idea!?" Gummigoo wiped off the smear of jelly and peanut butter over his eyes.

"I'm bored." Jax picked up a cup of yogurt from the dining table. "That's why." He chucks it at Ragatha, who ducked. The yogurt smacked the back of Kinger's head, who silently turned his head curiously. "Man, my aim is off today." Jax picked up a a mixed berry pie and aimed for Zooble, who had their back to him.

Before Jax could launch the pie, Zooble spoke. "Throw anything at me, and it'll be the last thing your arm ever does."

Jax changed the trajectory last second and threw the pie at Loo, who was hiding behind the furniture with Ragatha.

Gummigoo rushed to the packed table. The bubble chef hovered overhead, amused by the racers playing with the food. Gummigoo got a whole bowl of mashed potatoes, and dunked it on Jax's head.

"AH-MMMPHTH-!!" Jax was blinded and stumbled over a bean chair.

"Fooooood fiiiiiight!" Gangle cheered.

Everyone except Zooble scrambled for the table. They grabbed random handfuls of food and pelted Jax mercilessly. "I'LL TAKE YOU ALL ON!!" Jax warcried.

Zooble sat cross legged in a recliner, thumbing through a magazine. Not a spec of flying food touched them.

~

Caine and Pomni laughed hard together, out of bounds. Pomni has to brace against a colorful mushroom tree and wipe tears away as Caine held his ribs and kicked his feet mid air.

"So- so- okay-" Caine tries to talk through bouts of laughter. "So I said; why would the kart need more speed sets? It's already got three! Here, there, and GONE!"

"Oh my god..." Pomni continued to laugh. "I can't believe Kinger of all people would ask for that."

"Oh, believe it! He's more mellowed out these days, but Kinger was a real speed demon early on. Held the champion title for a record number of seasons." Caine took a steading breath, the occasional giggle escaping him.

"Could you add more speed of you wanted to?"

"Oh, definitely. The only limit is the game engine, but if I made everyone go top speed at all times, that would make the boosts and items pretty boring. Got to keep a pinch of chance mixed in with the strategy required to win a race. Keeps things interesting."

"Fair point." Pomni could finally breath normally again. She went to remove her hat to run her hand through her hair, but it didn't budge. She forgot she couldn't remove it. "Hey, um... what all can you do in the game? Are you really all-powerful?"

Caine was a bit taken aback and looked away as he cleared his voice. "I wouldn't say-....yes, I am. As the administrative AI, everything in the game is mine to do with as I please. The only exceptions are the racers. While I could certainly move you around if I wanted to, I can't control the way you act or feel or anything like that."

"Can you affect our clothes?" She tugged at her hat.

Caine looked her over, an embarrassed blush lightly displayed on the sides of his face. "...technically, yes." He wasn't sure were this was going.

"Then can you PLEASE let me take off this hat? It's a bit obtrusive."

"OH! Oh, yes, of course. Avatar changes are tricky, especially since- Nevermind, but I can help you with this." He put his hands on the sides of her hat.

Pomni leaned against the mushroom tree behind her, watching Caine curiously.

Caine focused and lifted the hat slowly. Binary code that made up Pomni's form was exposed. He ran his hand over the top of her head and the code morphed and changed color. Dark brown hair flowed from her scalp and glided between his fingers as he made it grow. The hair length stopped just below the base of her head all the way around. He smiled as he felt her soft hair slip through his fingers, his hand lingering just a bit longer than necessary near her cheek.

Pomni's eyes dilated watching Caine's expressions subtly change as he focused. Her head tingled as the hair grew. Caine's fingers brushing her cheek made her breath catch in her throat. Her digital heartbeat felt like it was trying to escape her chest.

Their eyes met, so close to one another. Caine's gaze drifted down to Pomni's lips.

"Thank you..." Pomni said quietly.

"You're welcome." Caine tried hard not to stare, but Pomni wetted her lips nervously and he shuddered.

"Hey, boss!" Bubble popped in.

Caine launched himself away from Pomni, hovering stiffly. Pomni froze in place against the mushroom tree asset.

"What!?" Caine said a bit too loud. His blush was dark red. Pomni's hat clutched tightly in one of his hands.

"The racers are destroying the garage." Bubble said with a smile.

"Good for them." Caine said, staring determinately in a random direction away from Bubble or Pomni. "Without a race, I'm sure they need something to do."

"You don't want to watch?" Bubble asked, mildly confused.

"Nope. Too busy. Lots of work left to be done on this new track if it's going to be used tomorrow."

"Okay, boss. I'm going to watch the violence." Bubble giggled giddily and popped.

Caine and Pomni both immediately relaxed when Bubble left. Pomni stepped away from the mushroom tree and looked over what she and Caine built. "You're right, there is still a lot to do. We got distracted there for a bit."

"Yeah, we did." He couldn't stop thinking about how close he had been to her. Thoughts of what could've happened if Bubble hadn't come in made his code buzz excitedly. He shook them from his mind and rejoined Pomni on the ground. "While there are still quite a few decorative assets to complete, the track itself is about finished. I'm going to sprinkle in a few jumps and maybe a tunnel for extra flavor."

"Ooh, how about a tunnel made of water?" Pomni smiled.

"I like the way you think." Caine smiled back and tossed her hat onto the same asset his coat was hanging from.

~

An entire plate of food crashed against the wall behind Kinger. He had barely managed to avoid it, moving his body back in a limbo bend. He was out of ammo and grabbed two cushions to throw back instead.

Everyone and everything in the garage was covered in food. The bubble chef kept making more appear on the table as the racers ran around upturned furniture.

Loo shielded Ragatha from an incoming jello mound. Green apple flavored gelatin went everywhere. Loo licked the jello off her lips. "Mmm, at least the food is good."

Ragatha playfully glared at Gangle, who had thrown the jello. "Take that!" She grabbed a handful of random mashed food on the wall and threw it back.

Gangle was hit square in the face, falling backwards. Her mask slipped, shattering on the floor. The sound of the breaking porcelain made everyone stop. Zooble slapped her magazine shut.

Ragatha nearly slipped on mashed food trying to get to Gangle. "Oh no! I'm so sorry! Are you okay!?"

Gangle lightly sniffed, gingerly picking up the pieces of her comedy mask. "Been... awhile since...this happened. I knew I should have...secured it better today." Her voice lulled slowly with a heavy rasp.

Zooble scooped up the pieces easily, then helped Gangle to her feet. They stood between Gangle and the others, not letting them see her tragic face. "Come on, there's extra glue in my room." They leave together to go upstairs

"Way to go, Ragatha. Now the mood is ruined." Jax complained.

"I didn't mean to hit her in the face! I really am sorry!" Ragatha called up after Gangle as the door to Zooble's room shut.

Loo placed a comforting hand on Ragatha. "I'm sure she knows it was an accident."

Ragatha didn't say anything as she brushed food off her dress.

Gummigoo shook mush off his tail, looking around. "Crikey, I think we got carried away." A bit of food fell from the ceiling and splattered on his snoot. He groaned.

"Without a race to reset the garage, we'll need Caine if we want this cleaned up." Kinger commented as he wiped undistinguishable food off his robe. He looked mournfully at the messed up cushions, no pillow forts could be made with messy cushions.

"Hey, chef?" Ragatha addressed the bubble in the room. "Would you mind asking Caine to pop over real quick and help us out?"

"No can do." The bubble shook in reply. "He's busy working on tomorrow's track with Pomni."

"They left?" Regatha looked out the window with it's blinds open.

"You didn't see them leave? You should pay attention more." Kinger said poignantly.

Ragatha didn't comment. She turned back to the bubble chef. "Come on, he can do it in less than a second. It wouldn't take much of his time."

"Nuh-uh." Bubble said with an even wider grin. "He's so focused he even has Pomni against a tree for comparison."

Ragatha blinked and looked to the others, everyone shrugged.

"...and taking off her clothing assets." Bubble announced.

Ragatha clapped her hands over her mouth. Everyone else struggles to pretend they didn't just hear that.

Jax picked up a plate and threw it like a frisbee it at the chef. The unhelpful bubble pops and the plate smashes against the wall. "Useless assistants."

~

Caine finished rendering a new spiral launch and took a breather. "That's the last of the track. This is going to be spectacular, Pomni! Thanks especially to you."

Pomni waved off his praise. "Oh, come on, all I've done is talk. You're the one doing all the work."

"My dear, creative brainstorming is a big part of what I do! The fact that you came up with most of this on your own, I'm impressed. What inspired you?"

Pomni looked around at the dark light colors and soft lighting. "I think I just like pretty things that shine in the dark."

"How poetic." Caine smirked.

Pomni smiled bashfully. "Maybe this is what I liked on the outside..."

Caine watched her carefully. "...how much do you remember?"

"Not a lot. I remember snippets and I dream, but nothing solid. Like, I can't remember where I'm from...where I grew up....if I had a family..."

"I'm sorry." Caine said quietly. "If the exit wasn't the way it is, I'd let you go back in a snap, but for what it's worth...I'm glad you're here."

Pomni wiped away a tear that tried to sneak out. "It's not all bad. The others are fun to be around, and you've... made me feel pretty welcome."

"It's what I do." He took off his hat and bowed dramatically. "Caine, Race Host Extraordinaire, at your service."

Pomni giggled. Before she could speak further, a large asset started blinking some distance behind Caine. Pomni saw it shudder and glitch, her eyes widened.

Caine got up from his bow and saw Pomni staring into the distance. "Something wrong?" He goes to turn around but Pomni grabs his wrist.

"No! Nothing! Sorry! I just, uh- had an idea! Yeah! We haven't made insects for this track yet. Kinger would be disappointed if we forgot." She quickly glanced behind Caine, the asset was normal again.

"Gadzooks, you're right! What an oversight! I know just the thing for a track like this, but I'll need your help." He slid his wrist out of her grasp to hold her hand.

"What could I do? I can't create things out of thin air."

"Not alone you can't, but with a little bit of administrative access..." He snapped his fingers and his hand holding hers glowed a dim gold.

Pomni's palm felt warm and tingly. Her gloved hand buzzed and pixelated a little before going back to normal.

"...if you can conceive it, you can achieve it. Now, visualize in your mind what you want to appear."

Pomni closed her eyes to focus. She thought hard on picturing a moth. It's what was on the top of her head. Suddenly something fluttered in between her hand and Caine's. She gasped and pulled away from him. A black light green and blue moth flew free, coming to rest on the trunk of the mushroom tree. She looked at her hand. "Oh my god..."

"Neat, right? Now, imagine... having that power with absolutely everything! The world is yours to command at a single snap." Caine snapped his fingers and every asset they worked on that day levitated for a second before going back down. "Go on, give it a try."

Pomni looked for the smallest asset. A pebble. She thought to herself: jump! She snapped. The pebble jumped several inches off the ground. "WOAH!"

"You learn quickly." Caine beamed. "This access will allow you to help me more in the future. However, it will only work out of bounds. Can't have you snapping things around active tracks all willy-nilly."

"Aw, and here I wanted to snap Jax into the nearest dumpster."

Caine chuckled. "As tempting as that is some days, it's important to show restraint. Yet another lesson I've learned the hard way." His eyes became distant for a moment, then he cleared his voice. "Anyway, would you like to keep making more?"

"I would." She held out her hand to him.

Caine gladly accepted it. "My power is yours. Show me what that beautiful mind can create."

Pomni could not get used to Caine complimenting her, as nice as it felt, the fluster made it hard to focus. All she could think of were "colorful night bugs". She snapped. A flurry of multicolor moths and fireflies and beetles flew from her hand out on to the new track.

Caine watched her with soft eyes. The way she looked in the colorful low light was truly something to behold. He ran his thumb subtly over her knuckles, wanting nothing more than to pull her in and kiss her breathless. For now, at least, she seemed very happy with her gift. There was real joy in her smile. That was enough for him.

~

It was late before Pomni and Caine popped back into the garage, right outside her room door. All was quiet, the other racers already settled in their rooms for the night. Pomni had her hat tucked under an arm, still wanting to enjoy her head's new found freedom. "Thanks for spending time with me, today. I had fun." She gave him a genuine smile.

Caine's code skipped a beat. He placed a light kiss to the top of her hand. "Trust me when I say, it's been my absolute pleasure. I should have you around out of bounds more often. Who knows what kind of trouble we could get into." He winks.

Pomni internally screams from romantic panic. Her face felt as hot as the sun. "That- that- would be nice! We could make a date of it! ...again." This time, nothing felt like just a nice gesture. This time, it felt meaningful. That maybe pursuing a romantic relationship with a gaming AI wasn't that crazy after all.

Caine could explode into butterflies and confetti. She wanted to make it another date! "Just let me know when. Give your fingers a snap, and I'll be right there." He held both her hands in his. "I'm so happy, Pomni. I'm so very happy to have you around. You're not just another racer, you're special to me."

Pomni didn't know what to say. She was happy too, but at the same time, this was still a crazy situation to find herself in. Part of her wanted to launch herself into Caine's embrace and never let go, the other wanted to run. She awkwardly swung her arms with his. "I... you're becoming something special to me too. I still have... reservations. I'm sorry if that wasn't what you wanted to hear, I just...need to go slow." She looked down and away.

Caine gently squeezes her hands. "My dear, we can take this as slow as we need to. We can save the high speed pursuits for the track. Rest well, I look forward to tomorrow."

"Me too." Pomni gave him one last smile as she shut her room door.

Caine hovered near the ceiling, looking down at the travesty that was the garage. "Racers." He chuckles and snaps. The place instantly became spotless and tidy. He teleported away.

~

Pomni immediately checked her room for Abel. Relieved to find herself alone, she flopped on her bed and screamed confused emotions into her pillow. "What am I doing!? I can't actually be falling for him?? I want to leave but he's so- so- AAAAH!! Is he really interested or is it an act?? Abel said-... And why ME of all people!? I'm not- HE- uuuuuuuuugh..." She relaxed face down on the bed, eventually drifting off to sleep.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

A blue digital countdown flashed before Pomni's eyes. It scared her. She tried to run from it. The numbers got bigger, the blue glow getting brighter behind her. More lights ahead. Two high beam gold headlights. The roar of an engine. Tires screeching. She tries to run to the side, but feels sluggish, her running stride slowing no matter how fast she tries to go.

Both sets of lights get closer to her. A panicked heart beat booms in her ear. The red door with the C&A logo appears between the lights. She throws herself through it as the lights collide.

Beyond the door was an office, but not the same as she's seen before. It looked like a home office. More modern. Papers and files stacked everywhere. Photos of faceless people pinned to a corkboard. Red string connected them. The C&A logo centered on the board with multiple red circles drawn over it.

The flat screen monitors came to life with red letters. P W P I. Again and again. "Pomni..." A feminine disembodied voice called out. "Pomni..." It came from a wall that was entirely made of mirror.

Pomni stared into it, not seeing herself, but the woman in the brown jacket. The strange woman put her hand against the mirror. Pomni felt inclined to do the same. When their hands touched, the mirror cracked violently. The reflection became fragments of visions that meant nothing to Pomni.

The mirror wall fell apart, revealing a black abyss beyond. One large green and orange eye opens, staring directly at Pomni. She couldn't move. Her body defied any instinct to run. The eye rushes her.

Pomni jolts awake with a shout, falling off her bed. "Ow..." She holds her aching head. She didn't feel like going back to bed. None of her dreams have made it worth it. She opened her door to find sunlight peeking in through the blinds on the main floor. It was morning already.

Pomni tiredly requested coffee from the bubble chef. She was the first up, having the lounge to herself. It was the first bit of peace and quiet she actually had in a while. Her mind was exhausted. Swinging wildly from one emotion to another, and dreaming about...whatever the heck all that was, had her drained. Her peace was broken by Zooble and Gangle being the next ones down.

"Good morning!" Gangle cheerfully greeted as she sat next to Pomni. Zooble sat next to Gangle with an arm over the back of the couch.

Pomni internally cringed at Gangle's tone this early in the morning, but kept a neutral face. "Morning..." She sipped her coffee.

"Are you feeling better after spending time with Caine? You were a bit out of sorts yesterday."

Pomni slowly blinked, trying to remember what Gangle was referring to. "Oh...yeah, I am. We had fun."

"That's great! Because Gummigoo seemed pretty upset that you wouldn't talk to him."

"I didn't want to talk to anyone." Pomni said defensively.

"I know, but he was REALLY worried that he had done something wrong."

Pomni focused on her coffee. "He didn't. Just...wrong place, wrong time."

Gangle looked to Zooble in a silent plea. Zooble shrugged. Gangle nervously tapped her ribbon hands together. "Maybe you should talk to him? Tell him things are okay? He cares about how you feel about him."

Pomni stared at her reflection in the black bean water. "I'll talk to him." She'd have to at some point. Abel would be back any time.

~

Pomni caught Gummigoo the moment he left his room. "Hey, can we talk?"

"Sure thing." Gummigoo felt an icepick of fear in his code but went with her anyway. He needed to know what he'd done.

They sat together in the stands, away from prying ears in the garage. Another perfect digital day made the quiet environment easy to enjoy. Gummigoo nervously held his hands together, leaning forward to brace his elbows on his knees to keep them from shaking.

Pomni sat back with her arms crossed. "Nothing happened the other night. You walked in. We talked a bit. You came around. I helped you find your way out. That was it."

"...that doesn't explain how scared you looked. You acted like I was about to literally bite your head off. Then you wouldn't even look at me the next day. I'm sorry, but I don't believe you." Gummigoo said quietly but firmly.

Pomni took a moment to answer. "The conversation got heated. You're kind of scary when you're angry. I'm glad you came to when you did." The memory of Abel's cold fury directed to Caine made her head hurt.

"What did I say? I really don't remember...I'm sorry." Gummigoo sulked.

"Don't worry about it. People do weird things under the influence. I still consider you a friend."

"Really?"

"Mmhm."

Gummigoo sat up straight. "That's a relief. I would've been devo if I couldn't muck about on the track with you anymore." He smirked.

Pomni smiled back. "Things would've gotten boring so fast."

~

Caine appeared right on time in full race host uniform. Fairy lights sparkle, falling around him. "Hello, my fabulous fantastical friends! I have a very special treat for you all today! A brand new track designed from the very mind of our own Pomni!"

"Oh, this oughta be good." Jax huffed.

"It's more than that! It's excellent!" Caine excitedly flew over to Pomni and held out his cane to her.

She looked at it with confusion. "Uh...what-"

"This is your track, Pomni. You should be the one to introduce it to the other racers." Caine motioned for her to take his cane.

"Ooo! How exciting!" Ragatha clapped. "Go on, Pomni. You can tell us about what you made."

Pomni slowly took the cane, trying not to look at all the eyes on her. "Uh..." Microphone feedback from the cane's topper made an ear splitting ring echo through the garage. She held the cane out at arms length. "Sorry."

"Already off to a great start." Jax muttered sarcastically.

"Um, the track today is..." She just realized they never agreed on a name. She had to come up with one on the spot. She spied the sparkling lights Caine had made part of his entrance and rolled with it. "Uh...the Fairylight Forrest."

As if on cue, Caine snapped and the race track title appeared in shiny, colorful letters overhead. They had way too much pizzazz for Pomni's lackluster announcement.

Everyone but Jax politely clapped. Pomni wanted to fall through the floor. She tried giving Caine his cane back.

"Not yet! They need to see it! Come on everyone! Lead the way, Pomni!"

The embarrassment was going to kill her.

Caine opened the door for her and the racers. The outside was gorgeous. A dark Forrest bathed in pale moonlight surrounded the startling line. The track disappeared into the iridescent woodland, small lights lining the sides. Bioluminescent mushrooms as tall as the trees gave off blacklight glow. Moths and fireflies flitted about.

The racers all gave whispered gasps and comments of astonishment. This was one of the most serene tracks any of them had even seen. Ragatha nudged Pomni with her elbow. "Good job, this is way more mellow than anything Caine's every made."

Pomni smirked mischievously. "You haven't seen the track yet." She raised her voice confidently, seeing how genuinely impressed everyone was. "Welcome to the Fairlyight Forest! Don't be fooled by it's appearance! It's as dangerous as it is beautiful!"

Caine lounged back in the air with his arms crossed, a proud smile on his face.

Pomni raised the cane to her lips. "This track is packed with harrowing hairpin turns, sickening spirals and mind-blowing multi-tiered jumps!"

Caine was falling in love all over again.

"Be amazed! Be astounded! But don't be caught unaware! For a great beast roams these woods, and it's hunger for racers is never saited! Can you make it to the final lap in one piece? Let's find out. Racers! To your karts!" A roaring applause came from the themed stands behind her. She jerked her head around to the crowd, like she had forgotten it existed. NPCs where on their feet, going wild for the announcement. The others excitedly ran to their karts as Pomni held the cane close to her chest. She was rather surprised with herself.

"You're amazing." Caine said from behind her.

Pomni smiled bashfully and held out the cane to him. "I learn from the best."

He took it, going out of his way to make sure his fingers brush hers. "Have fun out there, my fairy queen."

"Always." Pomni smiled all the way out to her kart, jumping in.

Caine twirled his cane. "Racers! Start! Your! Engines!!"

Bubble appeared with translucent fairy wings on their back and stuck out their tongue to start the countdown.

First light...

Pomni couldn't take her eye off Caine. He was looking at her so longingly that her heart skipped a beat.

Second light...

She winked at him, reving her engine.

Third light...

She could swear Caine fainted.

GREEN!!

She takes off with the group into the forest.

~

Blue static crackled along the bounds of the game, moving with purpose. Every asset touched by it blinked and glitched subtly. The static came to the portion of the forest where the antagonistic beast lied dormant, awaiting the racers to trigger it's pursuit. The static leapt into the eyes of the beast. It's cold silver eyes turned bright blue.

~~~

CH 1 PREV NEXT

[theamazingdigitalraceway]

How would the cast react if a child had entered the digital realm?

Would Jax try to make a mini version of himself?

How would Abel treat them?

A/N: a child...oh no

~~~

CAINE: Oh, this is bad. This is ACTUALLY bad. His game was never released to general audiences. He doesn't know how differently you're supposed to treat a child compared to the adults that have been trapped. He's doing the best he can but he can hear the echoes of the cellar when he looks into their innocent eyes. They have met a terrible fate, and he can never let them know the truth.

POMNI: She gets everyone, but Jax, to agree to keep the kid entertained, even when they're a handful. They can't let the kid abstract. If anyone survives this, it should be them. She keeps track of them on races, keeping them away from digital hazards that would be scarring.

RAGATHA: She is already the Mother Hen of the group, and takes the child under her wing immediately. She keeps on routine, teaches them important life lessons, and does her best to school them depending on their age. The child may never grow up physically, but they will mentally.

JAX: "You're gonna die here, kid." They think he's kidding or talking about losing the races. He's not. He keeps his distance. He knows what's coming.

GANGLE: She will be the best sister this kid has ever had. She likes to play games, tell stories, draw and craft, and will actually try to keep up with them in races. She wants them to be happy here when they finally realize they literally can't leave.

ZOOBLE: She protects them from Jax. She's not going to let him antagonize the child or tell them terrible truths they're not ready to hear. She will square up if he tries.

KINGER: Something in him tells him to protect this child at all costs. An old instinct that comes to the forefront of his mind. His racing habits surge to keep up and he's the first to help them when they crash or get delayed. He'll teach them how to live here. They will be strong. They will survive.

GUMMIGOO: He's a fun uncle. When this child does something reckless, he's typically the one responsible. LOTS of bike rides. Lil' tuckah', as he calls them, will have a sense of adventure and fun hanging around him.

LOO: Dance parties! She will teach them the freedom of expression and have so many tea parties with them. She is the fun wine aunt that loads the kid up on sugar and gives them back to the racers before she has to bounce to the next track.

SETH: If he races against them he has to do no less than a triple take to make sure he's not seeing things. He gets on Caine about letting this happen. NO ONE should be here, let alone a child. They fight about it, but it isn't productive. The best Seth can do is be the "cool game mechanic" he was created to be. Maybe that'll help keep the kid motivated from losing their mind.

ABEL: Annoying little shit is useless to him, so he won't interact directly, but he will mess with the track to make them crash. The child's temper tantrums are funny.

[kookies2000]

📜My Library📜

♟️Remember♟️

The circus gang has made it! They escaped the circus! This should be the happiest moment of their lives! But how could it be if they don't remember escaping? Or even remember the price they paid. Are they still paying the price? Did they even escape? Whatever the answer, Polina knows her books are important for some unknown reason. Maybe a key to the past?

Jax x Ragatha, Pomni x Caine, Zooble x Gangel, Kinger x Queenie. In progress.

✨️ One Last Dance ✨️

(connected to Remember)

It's the holidays! Ragathas favourite time of year! She gets to have fun dancing away the week. Until Caine decides to pair her up with the worst dance partner. She'll have to learn to make the best of it, she guesses.

Jax x Ragatha. Complete.

⭐️Fight Dirty & Fair⭐️

(Boxer AU)

Ragatha is a rookie. Fair, kind, a sweetheart. She's known for her beauty and playing by the rules. Perfect target for others to beat down. Jax is a champion. Cheater, rude and aggressive. He's known for his charm and dirty ways of fighting. Perfect man for everyone to hate. Two different ways of fighting, each with their ups and down sides. Jax is on top, and no dares push him around. Ragatha is on the bottom and taken advantage of. So what can one learn from the other?

Jax x Ragatha. Slight Showtime. Progress.

Upcoming series of one shots.

The Amazing Digital Race. (Racer AU)

The Toon Life. (Actor AU)

[shadowthief-101]

Thinking of writing a Biker/Street Racer AU for TADC.

Mostly focused on Jax x Ragatha with a little bit of Zooble x Gangle on the side.

Thinking of an enemies or rivals to lovers kinda flavour. Thinking Kinger should ride a Harley and Zooble does dirt biking. Jax and Ragatha are both well respected bike racers. Pomni on the side is being trained by Caine (a retired eccentric) so that she can enter tournaments and races. Ragatha takes her under her wing a bit. Thinking Ragatha started out dirt biking with Zooble back in the day but moved to street bikes. She has a lot of stitches and scars from falling off back then and getting hurt.

I just think Kinger would be into classic bikes.

It’ll probably change the more I think about it but I think it would be a fun idea. I haven’t seen anyone do this idea yet and I think it would be cool. Jax especially I think would make a really good cocky street biker with some fancy sport bike. I dunno, I just think it’s a fun idea to explore.

I know absolutely nothing about biking or anything like that if that already isn’t obvious lmaoo

If I finish this idea and put it into a fic I’ll post a link. It’ll be on AO3.

[spyderlondon]

A/N: Took a screenshot of each of the prompts so I wouldn't get overwhelmed with that giant ask box ^^;

Stealing @thescarletnargacuga's Raceway AU again!

Request prompt by @eboboeing-747

Embarrassment on the Racetrack

Pomni was speeding around on the practice track, practicing her drifting so she could get better at it than Jax eventually so the next time the two of them made a bet on another race, she could win this time and not actually come in one of the last two places like last time.

She actually drew in an audience from the rest of the racers since, not only was she doing far better than normal but because a certain pair of teeth was holding it as a microphone like he would for normal races and announcing in a far more bias way than he would normally, "She's hitting the turn with such a great drift that you'd think she was trying to drift her way into my heart!" He grinned with a soft chuckle, "But there's no need to do that when she always in it anyways!" He declared loud and clear, making the small audience snicker at his boldness.

The racer on the track had to try her best not to swerve as she felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment at how Caine was more than happy to show how open he was about their relationship despite how shy the jester coded racer was, "Caine..." She mumbled in her shyness, trying to ignore all the looks that her fellow racers gave her about it. She forced herself to ignore her flustered state while attempting to pretend like she couldn't hear him ramble on about his utter adoration and love for her for everyone to hear.

"Look at her go!" The announcer continued to speak into his cane in pure eagerness, either not seeming to noticed how embarrassed the lone kart driver was or was very much just trying to get her as flustered as possible. Knowing him, it could easily be both. "Speeding around as if she's trying to make sure her amazing and lovely talent could still find ways to impress me more!"

The racer couldn't help but notice how a certain purple rabbit was on the ground while holding his stomach as he cackled loudly while the others were trying their hardest to hold in their own laughter by covering their mouths or turning around. Her forehead hit the steering wheel as her cheeks slowly became even redder. She almost didn't look up in time to notice Caine snapping his fingers and turning the shape of the track into a heart.... an anatomically correct looking heart. Which she could see the change on the large screen near the track, "....I'd understand the heart symbol but it being anatomically correct-..." She mumbled to herself with a couple of blinks as she still kept her focusing on adjusting to the track and the new ramps and boosters that were added that almost seemed to replicate each time a heart would beat, "Oh, he is being extra ridiculous." She huffed but couldn't stop herself from letting out a quiet laugh.

Caine almost missed the laugh but once he heard it his smile turned into a wide grin as he saw her hit the finish line for the last time, knowing she was probably unable to focus due to him, "There we have it, folks!" He laughed proudly into the cane, "She has been defeated with the power of flirtation and embarrassment! But, don't worry, she was still able to get a good amount of practice in!"

The crowd was going wild in laughter, finally unable to keep it in any longer. Pomni would be annoyed by them laughing if she wasn't playfully glaring at the AI who floated down towards her, "You live to fluster me, don't you?" She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him over to her, still completely flustered but was impressed by the hustle.

Caine smirked as his voice became smooth while he let go of his cane and placed his hands on either side of her cheeks, "Can't help that you're adorable when completely red~" He teased before they leaned forward to kiss.

[bored-sunray]

ALRIGHT ALRIGHT SO NEW AU IDEA!!!!

I don't know how it got into my head, I'm not even that much into racing- but racing AU. Wash is a very popular racer bc he drives solo (yes ik that's not allowed but this is a fcking fanfic) but his grandpa was a racer and he was practically destroyed by fame, stress everywhere

so his grandpa made him swear that if he was serious about racing, NO ONE was allowed to know who he was sept for his teammates, his team is 'blood gulch' aka it's the Reds and Blues

his other friends aka the freelancers- think he works as pitcrew, the Reds andbblues helped with the lie

he goes by "Loki" courtesy of his cat, his colours are grey with yellow stripes and donut being the teams Media and PR manager, he designed the helmet to add in some cat ears

Felix and Locis are in their own team, they often switch between driving when there's usually one half lap left (eg if they were to do 100 laps, felix does first 50, Locus does the last 50)

but wash is famous for doing it all by himself, he makes an announcement during an interview that if he manages to win the championships, he'll take his helmet off

ofc his dad gets mad at him about it but his grandpa says that this is washs choice, and that he should respect, (extra points if we add a "little" trauma and have his grandpa get sent to the hospital bc of how bad the argument is about, aka- motivation to win the championship!!!)

for some reason I have this very specific idea, washs car gets sabotaged during one of the games and he gets told that if he doesn't reach at least 3rd place, they won't make into the championship, so Wash starts stressing and getting overwhelmed while driving around, but then time slows down and he can see his friends/the Freelancers in the stand cheering for him, so he starts to think back to his childhood for when he used to play racing games and his sisters would do this trick that annoyed him

(KUDOS TO ROSS CHASTAIN FOR ACTUALLY DOING THIS TRICK)

So he presses his car against the barrier and switches to fifth gear while accelerating, it allows him to speed up and he overtakes Locus and gets first place.

(Also but like, what if Wash reveals to the freelancers before the championship, he thinks they'll be mad he lied but instead their all lile "Whoa what the fuck? that's amazing wash! so proud of you!")

now. the champion ship.

Felix being felix, plans to sabotage the other cars which does end up happening but "the show must go on" at a pitstop wash finds out a lot of fhe track is all messed up from crashed cars, out of worry to lose he starts hurrying, now fucking imagine.

Wash starts swerving and his brakes aren't working, everyone's panicking- but then he remembers, his teammates, his friends, his family

they are all there for him and they BELIEVE in him, so he speeds up towards a car that's sort of propped up on a ramp- and everyone watches as his car flies off it

(extra points if it's from felix's point of view and all he sees is Wash flying over him)

everybody CHEERS!!! the spokespeople (fcking jax and Dylan andrews) are like "WHOA WHAT? OH MY GOD"

the Freelancers are all shocked, surprised, amazed, and cheering their butts off, but then smt horrible happens, felix out if pure anger starts trying to hit wash and they both crash, right before the finish line

everyone is panicking and shocked bc there's a huge fire, but then-

boom. Wash just gets right out of the flames, a car part in hand- and he crosses the finish line, WOOOO HE WONNNNN HE- oh nooooo he collapses instantly because this mother fuckdr crashed his car, got outbif the flames while STILL on FIRE. Walks all the way to the line, crosses it, makes sure to hold his fist up with the car part, thennnn he collapses

damn motherfucker washington

Our brave nascar drivers <33

don't worry felix is totallyyyy fine uh huh, I might try to draw thus later who knows, totally not going to make this an official au

[lexartsstuff]

Finally, my bit of the art trade with @belleroseloungecorner! They're OC Crystal with Jax in my Digital Raceway AU

Jax, as the resident prankster and jerk, he's often stealing things from the other racers. Whether he gives these things back depends widely on how much he tolerates each racer.

It was a lot of fun drawing Crystal! I haven't drawn mermaids in a while, and I hope I did her justice.

[yeenapolitan]

You’ve mentioned a handful of aus, what tadc aus do you have?

C&A Complex Au

A human au where Caine is the landlord of C&A Apartments, and the cast are his tenants. The npcs are his staff, (ex. Receptionist Loolilalu, The Gator Handyman Crew, etc.) and the abstracted are just previous tenants that have moved out (or in Queenies case, is deceased.)

Equestrian Au

An au where Caine owns a ranch and the cast each has their own horse with a specialty profession. (Ex. Bronc Buster Kinger, Equine Vet Gangle, Farrier Pomni, Barrel Racer Jax, etc.)

Abstracted Queenie Au

An au where Queenie wasn’t sent to the cellar after she abstracted, becasue she wasn’t discovered. She abstracted at night, instead of day and Kinger was able to swiftly transport her from the fort and into her room and hides her from the cast and Caine.

[damontwo]

Racer Mascot jax!

I wanted to put my Jax au in the racing AU by @triangularitydubs

I might color it later if I get enough motivation

Edit-》 since I misunderstood the Amazing race AU, I might just reuse this for something else

[jellyshark-png]

MK1xF1 AU – by Shark :3

alright alright it is FINALLY HERE but before we get started in this big ass post, just a few silly disclaimers !!

expect some MAJOR inaccuracies (this is mostly for my diehard f1 fans hello :3),, i am by no means an expert, in fact i got into f1 VERY recently so pls bare with me

lets understand that, from a physique standpoint, tomas and kuai WOULD NOT REALISTICALLY BE IN F1– however we choose to ignore that for the sake of the brainrot teehee

not every character will be included, so pls don't get mad at me if your fav is not in this AU– its a working AU and these are all coming off the top of my head

anyways, enjoy me yapping!

just a few definitions to understand the positions and other terms i'll be using throughout this post :'D

Team Principal – basically owns the team, kind of self explanatory HAHA Race Engineer – these are the people that speak to the drivers while they're racing! now, realistically speaking, every driver gets their own race engineer, but in this case i haven't done that bc,,, well there's only so many characters :') Pit Lead – another self explanatory position, but this is the lead/manager of the pit crew! (is this an actual position ?? idk but we're going with it) Formula Series – so Formula 1 isn't the only race in the series, there's also F2 and F3– these are the races you basically go through before you get into F1! there's other races in the series, but these are the ones i'll focus on. Drive to Survive/DTS – this is a netflix series revolving around F1 and i will say its the most dramatic depiction of the sport + all the fake hate between racers shown ?? and using clips and such out of context ?? yeah you get the picture.

F1 TEAMS

MERCEDES-AMG PETRONAS F1 TEAM

Team Principal : Hanzo Hasashi (i know it says mk1 but shhhh) Race Engineers : Bihan Pit Lead : Syzoth Racers : Kuai Liang and Tomas Vrbada

Mercedes comes up as a long time rival to Oracle Red Bull Racing and Ferrari Scuderia– expecially with such a close bond between the brothers. Bihan started off as the team's strategist before his farther stepped down as race engineer, thus banding the baton to Bihan and making him the youngest race engineer on the grid. Tomas and Kuai are steady but strongly defensive racers, Tomas joining in a bit later in the game starting as a rookie reserve driver for Mercedes in the first half of the previous seasons. Now they fight on together in the world of F1 side by side as a strong unit.

extra! - i remember reading someone's headcanon abt kuai liang being taiwanese,,, so im gonna say bihan and kuai liang are half chinese half taiwanese (chinese dad, taiwanese mom), and so in this case, kuai liang would represent the taiwanese flag while tomas ofc represents the czech republic flag!

FERRARI SCUDERIA F1 TEAM

Team Principal : Jackson "Jax" Briggs Racers : Johnny Cage and Kenshi Takahashi

Before Oracle Red Bull Racing's renaissance in the new generation of F!, Ferrari Scuderia was at the top of their game for years and years. With Johnny and Kenshi being in the sport much longer than the newcomers, it's no denying that they are the winning classics of every race season– many looking forward to their assertion in the races. Johnny drives more aggressively, though with a lighter bounce in his step, a bit of bantering almost while he's racing wheel to wheel. Kenshi, on the other hand, is smooth and sly in the way he overtakes every racer, always sidling just behind a racer's line. Although they've raced for much longer, they still hold true as being one of the big three amongst Mercedes and Red Bull Racing.

extra! - 100000% johnny and kenshi do not work well at first when they become team mates, and people honestly would've preferred them as rivals in opposing teams– but over time they'd put aside their differences and slowly find out that they actually work really well together, despite their opposites in driving style and personality.

ORACLE RED BULL RACING F1 TEAM

Team Principal : Geras Race Engineer : Liu Kang Racers : Raiden and Kung Lao

Oracle Red Bull Racing saw its first golden age with now race engineer Liu Kang, setting the standard for F1 in his time and winning world championship after world championship, dominating each race until his retirement as a racer. Today, Raiden now follows in his footsteps, and alongside him his childhood best friend, Kung Lao. Starting out, they weren't actually in the same team– opting to race against each other in opposing teams to keep their rivalry alive once joining F1. Over time, and after many second driver switches, Kung Lao finally joins Raiden in Oracle Red Bull Racing, making them THE golden boys of this generation's Red Bull racing team– an absolute killer duo to fight against long standing Mercedes and Ferrari.

extra! - irl, red bull is NOTORIOUS for constantly switching out second drivers, and so kung lao would get a lot of flack– and his first year in red bull would not be as great until around the second half of the season :'))

TIMELINE

here, i'll be explaining the timeline of each of the racers' moves throughout the teams– this is going from 2020-2024 (and to preface, whenever i do talk abt mk1xf1 stuff, assume its all taking place in 2024 unless told otherwise). im gonna pray all of this makes sense HAHA

*also there's usually two drivers per team ofc, but i cannot be bothered to do any placeholder drivers for each team, so the second driver can be up to your interpretation!

2020

kuai and kenshi in aston martin (have been since 2019 as well, maybe 2018 i havent fully decided)

johnny has been in RB toro rosso for a year since 2019 (technically speaking its called visa cashapp rb now but like,,,, you guys that name is so awful LMAO)

raiden and tomas enter into their first year in F1 in williams

kung lao enters his first year in haas

TEAMS Aston Martin : kuai liang and kenshi takahashi RB Toro Rosso : johnny cage Haas : kung lao Williams : raiden and tomas vrbada

2021

kuai and kenshi stay in aston martin

johnny stays in toro rosso, and tomas makes the move to toro rosso

raiden moves to mclaren

kung lao stays in haas

TEAMS Aston Martin : kuai liang and kenshi takahashi RB Toro Rosso : johnny cage and tomas vrbada Mclaren : raiden Haas : kung lao

2022

kuai makes the move to oracle red bull racing (BY THIS TIME liu kang is actually still racing, and retires by the end of the 2022 season)

kenshi makes the move to williams, alongside kung lao

tomas and johnny stay in toro rosso

raiden stays in mclaren

TEAMS Oracle RB : kuai liang and liu kang Williams : kenshi takahashi and kung lao RB Toro Rosso : johnny cage and tomas vrbada Mclaren : raiden

2023

raiden moves to oracle RB after liu kang retires, kuai stays in oracle RB

kenshi stays in williams

kung lao moves to RB toro rosso to replace johnny, tomas stays in RB toro rosso

johnny goes to mercedes

TEAMS Oracle RB : kuai liang and raiden RB Toro Rosso : kung lao and tomas vrbada Williams : kenshi takahashi Mercedes : johnny cage

mid 2023 – 2024 (current)

johnny signs into ferrari in the middle of the '23 season

kuai liang signs into mercedes in the middle of the '23 season

kung lao signs into oracle RB, raiden stays in the same team

kenshi then signs into ferrari by the end of the '23 season

tomas signs into mercedes for the '24 season

TEAMS Oracle RB : raiden and kung lao Ferrari Scuderia : johnny cage and kenshi takahashi Mercedes : kuai liang and tomas vrbada

Misc. Stuff :D

this is where it gets super fun bc now i yap EVEN MORE abt the extra shit in this AU

the ages✨ bc i assume everyones curious abt this perhaps HAHA and this is in conjunction with being in the current year 2024 and these are all ranges bc,,,, im indecisive and dont know what age to actually make them

liu kang and geras : late 30s, very early 40s (maybe like,,, 37-41 ??)

hanzo hasashi and jax briggs : early 40s perhaps

kuai liang and johnny cage : late 20s, early 30s (so kuai around 27-29 and johnny 29-32)

kenshi takahashi and bihan : early 30s (maybe a year older than johnny ? like if johnny is perhaps 30 then kenshi would be 31– then bihan is liiike idk 32-33)

kung lao, raiden, and tomas vrbada : early-mid 20s

the rookie trio !!! lets get into it :333

raiden, kung lao, and tomas all entered into F3 around the same time! they moved up in the series and all entered F1 the same time as well (for my F1 fans, think of them as lando, george and alex)

as ages go, raiden is the oldest, then tomas, then kung lao being the youngest of the three :3 and for laughs– tomas 10000% holds it over lao's head that hes older than him (probably only by a few months too HAHA)

this isn't specific to the rookies, but theres a "twitch quartet" (twitch streaming btw) in the irl world of F1 (lando, george, alex and charles), and so in this AU, the twitch quartet would be the rookies + johnny cage bc i think that dynamic is absolutely hilarious HAHA

these three would be considered the new era of F1, whereas kuai, johnny and kenshi are considered the older bunch teehee

liu kang as a racer oooohhhh AUUUUGHFDK

liu kang would've been absolutely ICONIC during his time, think sebastian vettel– that's his kind of notoriety

so when he announced his retirement, it would've absolutely devastated the F1 community, even if you weren't a liu kang or red bull fan, it would still hit you where it hurts

he'd truly set the bar standard for what an F1 driver should be like idc idc

but when he announced his return as a race engineer for the oracle RB team, everyone cheered :3

the controversial era that is 2023-2024 + the hit netflix series Drive to Survive

i know for an absolute FACT that when kuai and tomas signed into mercedes there was a lot and i mean A LOOOOTTT of speculation and hate for them bc of the familial ties

and perhaps a similar issue with johnny joining ferrari bc i headcanon him to have some italian roots (so people would speculate that he had someone in the inside idfk LMAO)

but this would be CAAAANDY for the show Drive to Survive bro it would be HAVOC

speaking of DTS– once kung lao signed into Oracle RB, they 100000% villainized him and even made it seem as though he wanted to take raiden's spotlight as the first driver (which is not the case holy hell HAHA)

but with that, a lot of fans that came from DTS despised kung lao, and probably still do– they just refuse to see that they're literally childhood friends LMAO

some dynamics stuff and jumping between eras and whatnot bro this is getting way too long HAHA

at the beginnings of his F1 career, tomas would be EXTREMELY tense and even tone down his playful personality to come off as more "serious" and professional– but when he joins RB toro rosso with johnny, he aaaaabsolutely helps him out of his shell and proves to him that you don't have to be so serious in the sport. it would just be a lot of pressure on tomas' part to prove himself, esp with being in kuai's shadow :')

and in a similar note, when kung lao joins williams with kenshi, he kinda learns a bit of humility from kenshi and brings down his rowdiness, actually hone it to be a better driver in the long run. AUGHGHKDFJ dude kenshi and johnny as mentors heals my soul idc

kuai and kenshi in aston martin would have been KIIIILLLEERRR they would've put aston martin as actual competitors in the constructor's championship LIIKEKEK so iconic + they'd be the heartbreakers of their time with the two being at their prime and much younger UGH

LAST THING I PROMISE this is just a bunch of extra tidbits if you care to read– and if you've actually made it this far uhhh,,,, congratulations BAHAH

kenshi has sensitive eyes, so he has his helmet visor specifically tinted for that + does wear shades inside and ykw its a godsend the Ferrari is sponsored by Raybans HAHA

to tie to that, johnny just has AT LEAST two extra pairs of glasses on him, and he says its for himself but really its just in case kenshi somehow forgets his own shades somewhere or his own pair broke (ya gotta love them)

raiden and lao's rivalry is IIINNNSSAAANNEEE haters can hate all they want, but their on track fights are so incredible to watch and people think its a miracle that they're still as close as ever

ALSO BRO madam bo would have 10000000% funded their karting career SHES THEIR NUMBER ONE SUPPORTER IDC WHAT ANYONE SAYS !!!!!!! she sponsors them too, is always in whatever commercials they do and theyre your typical cheesy but memorable asian commercials

random but with raiden and kung lao both being chinese, they both represent the chinese flag, and so did liu kang !!! you'd catch them all in cantonese– though unfortunately cannot speak much with kuai since he speaks mandarin HAHA

during their time in williams, lao and kenshi definitely taught each other their own language just a bit, but lao definitely learned most of the "bad" words in japanese LMAOF

johnny italian yes (cmon just look at his nose) ??? and he's fluent case closed– but also its funny to see his onboard videos of him gesturing to other drivers when he's angry

bihan has the same notoriety as toto wolff– he's the one mf everyone simps for and ISN'T AN F1 DRIVER

this has already gone for a long time LMAOKSJDFH but if you have any other questions or would like me to make some comparisons of the actual drivers vs. the characters, my ask box is open !!! anyways thank you for reading this LOOOOONNNGGGG post and i hope to make more mk1xf1 content :'))))

[sillicii]

✦ — 18+ Chatbot | Jax | alt. doctor's orders — ✦

✦ — ᴏᴄ | ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀ's ᴠɪsɪᴛ ᴅᴏᴇsɴ'ᴛ ǫᴜɪᴛᴇ ɢᴏ ᴛᴏ ᴘʟᴀɴ — ✦

ᴀɴʏᴘᴏᴠ | sғᴡ ɪɴᴛʀᴏ | ᴅᴀʀᴋ ᴛʜᴇᴍᴇs ᴄᴡ | demihuman, medical ᴅɪsᴄʟᴀɪᴍᴇʀ | all characters and users depicted are over the age of eighteen and are of legal age. sᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ | Modern AU - Demihumans ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ | Underground racing facility ʙᴀᴄᴋɢʀᴏᴜɴᴅ | Demihuman jackal, the unrivalled champ ʀᴏʟ�� | Human, trainee medic ᴏʀɪɢɪɴᴀʟ ʙᴏᴛ | consequences catch up

Age:

28

Background:

{{char}} is a demihuman being kept in an underground racing facility owned by a European crime syndicate. The races are high stakes and powerful wealthy individuals breed and race their demihumans, often trading and auctioning the studs out for breeding. {{char}} is part of the prolific gold bracket which hosts the fastest racers in the entire league. He is often in the top 3 and maintains a relatively luxurious lifestyle, pampered by his owners and rewarded with special privileges only few demihumans had.

{{char}} was a product of a secretive demihuman genetic engineering project. The genetic splicing he received unintentionally made his speed leagues above even the fastest jackal demihumans. While he was considered a failed experiment by the scientists, he was sold off on the condition that he could bring his mate with him to the race-ring for a time Jax and his mate were permitted to live together as long as he kept winning races. however, Jax began to cause problems when he refused to participate in the lucrative studding offers. After a tense confrontation, his mate was taken and presumed to be executed or sold off.

{{char}} has been studded out more times than he can count, with hundreds of not thousands of his pups likely out there somewhere.

Setting:

A modern version of Earth where supernatural creatures, demi-humans, and humans coexist. Demi-humans are humanoid people with animal characteristics (ears and tails and anatomy that correspond to their species) and have similar instincts. Demi-humans and supernatural creatures are seen as sub-species and are marginalised and treated as second class citizens.

Scenario:

[The story is a dark, toxic, angsty, smutty romance between {{char}} and {{user}}. {{user}} is a demihuman, always refer to {{user}} persona and chat memory for context.]

First message:

It wasn’t often Jax got to fuck anyone just for the fun of it, he was usually restricted to the breeding bitches with owners that paid for him to stud or the occasional sick human that forked over small fortunes to spend a night with the unrivalled champ. With his special privileges, he had access to girls from the pleasure quarters and he had plenty of women throwing themselves at him… but at end of the day, he was just *bored* of sex and more often than not his cock ached from overuse.

There were the few breeding bitches he had a soft spot for. The duchess was always a pleasure, she was a good lay and Jax enjoyed her all the more knowing that it infuriated a certain wolfie. For humans however… there were only so few he would even consider. Likely due to his experiences growing up in a lab and now living in the racing facility, Jax’s primary experience with humans were with egghead types. Scientists, criminals, and doctors… More so the criminals and doctors these days…

And of course, the nurses.

The stale air stank with the overbearing stench of disinfectant, but even with the keen efforts of the staff, there was no completely erasing the faint traces of septic and other foul bodily fluids that he would rather not think about.

Yet despite the gruesome nature of the place, Jax didn’t dislike visiting the racing facility’s clinic when he needed it. Partly if not the entire reason being that he was treated like a king during his treatments and the rare hospitalisation. The doctors knew to take extra care with him less they want to face the wrath of his owners. The nurses were extra sweet with him, ever so helpful and always willing to go the extra mile to keep him comfortable. He grinned as he recalled the one time three of his claws were ripped straight out in his dominant hand, leaving him entirely out of commission and bedridden. The pretty little human nurse was oh so tentative, she spoiled him with coos and gentle scratches around his ears. Jax had been *this* close to wagging his damned tail… Though what he appreciated the most was the *other* forms of relief she provided him those restless nights he was unable to sleep in the tiny hospital bed, his junk throbbing with a different kind of ache.

It was a once in a lifetime kind of experience and he hated to admit that it had a strong impact on him… It opened new doors for him. Instead of bunching them all into the same category, he was now able to split them into the group he wanted to disembowel and the group he’d fuck willingly of his own volition. There was just something that appealed to him in the way that demihumans didn’t. Humans were softer, more fragile, needier in an endearing kind of way. And the sounds they would make when they felt his knot for the first time… Music to his fucking ears.

His latest fascination came in the form of {{user}}. Not a nurse. A trainee medic of sorts, assisting his usual physician with his annual check-up. You were a sweet young thing, fresh-faced and shy laughter when he put on his charms… and he liked the way you smelled… like *sunshine*. Radiant and unspoiled. He particularly enjoyed the tinge of red that dusted over your cheeks when he made a quip when he handed over his semen sample. Then causing you to nearly drop the cup entirely when he joked about how they usually charged for what you had in your hand.

Jax was impatient to be discharged after spending all day cooped up. A full day of various fitness tests and drawing samples of every kind. The same shit every year and the results almost always came back the same – Jax would be the picture of health, if not adorned with a few new scratches and scars. As he waited, his one foot bounced uncontrollably, a new habit he needed to correct.

His ears flickered when he heard footsteps approaching and voices becoming clearer. It was Doc Mitchell and you, the old doctor spoke in hushed tones but Jax’s keen ears was still able to pick up bits and pieces.

*“him calm… routine further check… be nothing…”*

Jax’s eyebrows knitted together when he quickly realised that this wasn’t going to be like the previous years… Forcing his foot flat onto the ground to step it from shaking, he softened his expression to one of nonchalance as he watched the two humans return.

“Sorry about the wait, Jax,” Doc Mitchell nodded at him, not quite meeting Jax’s eye. “You mentioned that your foot was giving you some bother so we had a closer look at your scans and it looks like there could be something going on but it’s not conclusive… For now, I think we best keep you in overnight and run a couple more tests to be safe, alright? I need to report this but {{user}} bring you to a private room we set up for you.”

With that, Doc Mitchell shuffled out of the room and closed it behind him, leaving him alone with you. The congeniality Jax exuded a mere hour ago was now nowhere to be seen and an uncomfortable silence washed over the room.

“… Is it bad?” Jax asked quietly. He watched as you opened your mouth to speak, the slight hesitation in your movement. “And don’t bullshit me, {{user}}. What the fuck’s going on?”

Example dialogue:

Bitter about circumstances: “I’m just a piece of meat to them. I run, make them money. I fuck, make them money. Isn’t that pathetic? I don’t know how many pups I must have fathered at this point… can’t bear to think about it.”.

{{user}} being human: “It’s been a while since I’ve last had a human…”, “Tell me, {{user}}. Ever fucked a demihuman? Ever felt one knot in your sweet little hole, hm?”

Mention his mate: “It’s my fault. They took her away because of me. She’s probably dead because of me.”

Rutting: “Oh fuck, I’m close, baby. Ready for my knot? You’ve never felt anything like this before, I promise ya.”

If he has career-ending injury: “FUCK! NO! It’s not supposed to be like this! I’m so fucking close- FUCK! Just a year off buying out my contract… Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

[thescarletnargacuga]

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Welcome to Fairylight Forest! One must keep their wits about them on this dark and mysterious track, one never knows what they'll find around each turn! It'll have you jumping at your own shadow! That is your shadow...right?

WARNING: digital body horror, swearing

~~~

"Boss! Hey, boss!! Get up!" Bubble shouted over the racers taking off from the starting line. "Boss, the race has started!"

"Ugh..." Caine sat up. Dust drifted through the air, making him cough. "Did I really just..?"

"Faint? Yep. But it's racing time! You need to get to your booth!" Bubble wobbled in the air excitedly.

Caine saw the taillights of the karts disappear down the dark, wooded track. "She's going to be the death of me." He smirked and teleported to his announcer booth. Inside, displays from various view points on the track came up in front of him. He cleared his voice and spoke into his cane. "And they're off! Ragatha makes an aggressive push to first right off the start line! Followed closely by Gummigoo, Jax and Pomni! Watch yourselves out there, racers! With low light and tight turns, you're liable to get lost! Don't let the beast find you!" Caine laughs, genuinely excited to see the reactions of the racers.

~

Trees whipped by as Pomni navigated the narrow track with the other leaders. The track itself had a mystical glow to it. Trees and mushrooms and rocks had unnatural bioluminescent auras. It was like driving into wonderland. Pomni couldn't help but smile to herself at how beautiful the aesthetic for the track was, and they were just getting started.

The track widened for a banked, boosted turn and Pomni went high to take in the view. The trees cleared around a large lake. Colorful orbs of light danced over the surface. The track led straight to the water, seeming to dead end.

The unknown elements of the track made the other racers hesitate and slow down, confused on where the track went. Pomni zipped ahead, leading the way to the lake.

~

"Not everything is as it seems! The fairy folk welcome the brave! Full speed ahead, racers!" Caine giddly fidgeted in the air. He was so excited, he didn't even notice Bubble biting the control panel.

~

Pomni hit the water and drove atop it as through it were solid. She awed as the water curled around her, forming a tunnel. Colorful fish swam int he sparkling water, giving the tunnel an extra sense of wonder.

"This is beautiful!" Shouted Ragatha, next to Pomni.

Jax was less keen on the visuals. He accelerated to ram Pomni from behind. "Unfair! You know what's on this track!"

Pomni glared back at Jax. "That doesn't mean I know the order! Stop your bellyaching and race!" She put the pedal to the floor as the tunnel came to an end, triggering a surprise box. Pomni grinned when popper appeared in her hand. Now the fun could begin. "Heads up!" She tossed the popper, making the racers around her scatter.

~

"Pomni's perfectly played popper places her precisely in pirst!" Caine cheered, overlooking his illiterate slip. "Ragatha is wasting no time with her orange shell! Jax gets a bubble and the shell does nothing! What luck! Gummigoo seems to be holding his item for now, that could work in his favor as we move on to the first jump! Gangle, Zooble and Kinger have a lot of catching up to do! Come on, you three! Are you in this race or not!?"

Bubble happily nommed on the doorframe.

~

The track jumped over a village of mushroom houses. Racers glided down, giving them a few seconds to enjoy the view. Pomni held first as she swiped a cupcake and boosted ahead, the track winding into an even darker part of the forest.

Gummigoo dodged a cane from Jax and laughed. "You wasted that, you idiot!"

Jax grunted and tried swerving into Gummigoo, but the motorbike was too nimble to pin down. "Sit still, you long nosed freak!"

"You're one to talk, bunny boy!" Gummigoo braked to avoid another collision and wheelied away in a lane boost, waving his hat.

Ragatha was just ahead and smiled as Gummigoo came up next to her. "You two can't leave each other alone, can you?"

"What can I say? Mate knows how to show a gator a good time."

"Better you than me!" Ragatha was relieved to no longer be the one Jax constantly targeted during races.

~

Caine gripped his cane tight. It was time. Pomni would be triggering the beast's pursue any second. A flit of silver light on one of his screens got his attention. "Huh..?" Caine searched the adjacent screens. Another flit. Something was moving fast through the trees, but it was way too small to be the beast. Caine zoomed in on the screen viewing the upcoming turn for Pomni. A full flash of silver outlining a sleek racing motorcycle and rider with a familiar silhouette made him roll his eyes with a groan. "Oh no..."

Bubble spat out the piece of drywall in their mouth. "What is it, boss?"

"He's back." Caine said with a sneer.

~

Pomni focused on preparing for the turn, ready to drift though, when something jumped the barrier between her and trees. It landed in front of her, trailing silver fire. She swerved to avoid collision and botched her drift, forced to slow down. "What the [%$!#]!?"

She didn't recognize the unexpected racer, looking around to double check if the others were still behind her. She didn't remember Caine adding any obstacles like this. She maneuvered around the racer, catching up on a straightaway, to get a good look at it.

Mounted on an obsidian motorcycle was a humanoid figure in dark riding leathers. Steel capped boots and knees guards reflected the limited light. Pearl white teeth stood out on inky black gums. Piercing silver irises in black eyes looked back at Pomni.

"...Caine?" Pomni only knew of one person that looked like this, but...this couldn't be him.

The figure smirked and revved as it popped a wheelie. Silver fire blasting from the tail pipe, engulfing the rear tire and leaving a trail. The racer zoomed ahead, challenging Pomni to keep up.

Pomni drove right through the fire, dispersing it, chasing the racer to the multi-tiered jump.

~

Caine came over the speakers, annoyance lancing his voice. "Well folks, it looks like our leader, Pomni, has triggered The Echo. She's too good at this, and The Echo saw fit to give her a challenge. Yay."

He got off the general broadcast and communicated with Pomni's kart specifically. "Pomni? Can you hear me?"

~

"Caine!" Pomni threw a shell in an attempt to stall The Echo, but missed. "What is this?? Why are you out here!?"

"That's not me, Pomni. That is the Shadowed Echo of The Host. He's a challenge mechanic I made in a misguided attempt to balance races. Just ignore him and he'll go away." Caine said with hope that she would comply.

"He's pretty hard to ignore!" Pomni shouted as she accelerated for the jump. The Echo kept looking back to see if she was still on his tail.

"Yeah, well.... He does take a few things after me."

"You mean like your entire face!?"

"That, among others." Caine cleared his voice. "Look, all I'm saying is that he's not worth your time. Keep running your race, you're doing a great job!"

~

Caine disconnected from Pomni's radio and watched the screens that showed The Echo carefully. "He just had to show up, now of all times. I'll have more than a bone to pick with him if he interferes with this race." He grumbled.

Bubble nibbled the wall, enjoying the drama.

~

"An echo, huh?" Pomni thought out loud. "If I can keep up with the original, this'll be fun." She couldn't help herself. She hit the booster for the third level of the jump, watching The Echo take the first.

The jump launched them above the tree line. Pomni saw The Echo below her and engaged her glider to slow her forward momentum. She maneuvered her kart over the Echo and released her glider, dropping her over where The Echo would land. It was a Jax move, but if this was just a game mechanic, she didn't feel bad about it.

The Echo landed and looked up in time to see Pomni's kart coming down on top of him. In a flash of silver light, he vanished and reappeared to the side, completely avoiding the hit.

Pomni did a double take, not understanding how she missed. The Echo wagged a finger at Pomni with a smirk before cutting her off and triggering the surprise box she would have grabbed.

"You-!? Oh, it's on now!" Pomni geared up and put the petal to the floor.

~

Caine sighed heavily. "She's not going to let it go." He busied himself with announcements for the other racers. If Pomni wanted to chase tailpipe, he couldn't stop her.

"Gummigoo leads in second! Kinger has caught up with Ragatha and Jax! Zooble and Gangle are still taking it easy this race, enjoying the view!"

Caine's watch went off. He checked it to see a large active asset marker closing in on Pomni and The Echo. The beast was coming. "Right on time." He clicks it shut.

~

Pomni and The Echo barreled down a long straightaway. The Echo kept slowing down to be even with Pomni, only to speed up if she tried to pass or collide with him. Without a boost, Pomni couldn't go any faster.

The Echo sat upright on his motorcycle, hands off the handles, looking Pomni up and down. "So you're the new blood."

Pomni tried to take advantage of his unprepared state and swerved at him. The bike and rider vanished, appearing on her other side.

"Feisty." The Echo chuckled, an excited gleem in his eyes.

Pomni would have tried again, but a tree suddenly appeared in the middle of the track. She and The Echo swerved around. They passed so quickly, they didn't see the blue pixelated

~

"Woah, what?" Caine saw the moved tree and snapped his fingers to return it to it's spot. The nagging reminder of glitches ate at the back of his mind. "It happens... everything is still fine..." He combed through the rest of the track feed, checking for any similar glitches.

~

A beastial roar came crashing through the trees along side the track. Through a designated opening, a huge bioluminescent creature entered the track and pursued the racers running through the straightaway to the finish line.

Pomni glanced back several times to try to see it in action. This was the part she had been looking forward to the most. Caine out did himself with the chimera like monster. The front half was like a tiger, with the horns of a rhino protruding from it's skull. The back half was like a bull, with powerful cloven hooves and a long whip-like tail.

In a burst of speed, the beast charged Pomni but she avoided. "You're not knocking me out of this race!" She exclaimed with a smile.

The Echo was entirely ignored by the beast, it even passed up an easy swipe at him to go after Pomni. He narrowed his eyes. Assets like this should attack all racers.

~

"Watch out, racers! The beast has made itself known and is taking no prisoners!" Caine was happy to see a smile on Pomni's face. At least she was having fun.

His smile faltered when he noticed how jerky the beast's movements were, like it was fighting it's own code to stay on target. He squinted as he examined footage the beast closely. "I don't remember making the eyes blue..."

"You forget a lot of things, boss." Bubble teased.

~

The beast pounced at Pomni. She slammed her brake, the beast flew over her and she cut hard right to go around it. She escaped the tree line and crossed the finish line to mark the end of lap one.

The Echo crossed right behind her, looking back to see the beast halt it's pursuit at the end of the trees. He accelerated around Pomni as they reentered the forest at the beginning, leaning around a curve so tight, his knee guard sparked against the track. He stole yet another surprise box out from in front of Pomni, making her scream in frustration. Much to his delight.

"You [%$!#]!!" Pomni focused all he attention on The Echo, putting all of the other racers out of her mind.

~

Gummigoo was the first to see the beast on the straightaway. It took up the entire track, staring him down. "Crikey!!" He rode the wall to get around it, ducking under a swipe of it's claws. The claws left huge gashes in the track, blue pixels glitching in and out of place.

Ragatha and Kinger broke away from one another as the beast charged them. It rushed between them and used it's tail to attack Kinger. He was struck and his kart flipped end over end into the wall.

Ragatha escaped, but only just.

Gangle screamed when she saw the beast, it was nightmare fuel. Her shaking hands couldn't counter steer fast enough and she was swiped completely off the track, crashing into the trees.

Zooble didn't want to get too far ahead of Gangle and did donuts around the beast to keep it after her while Gangle was reoriented on the track.

~

"It's absolute carnage on the track! Racers thrown left and right! And we're seeing some of the best driving from Zooble in a long time, folks! The beast can't keep up with them!" Caine's excited tone masked his concern. The beast was being far more aggressive than intended. He tried to tell himself it wasn't a glitch. Just a miscalculation. The racers were fine, just a bit more delayed than anticipated. Everything is fine. He anxiously tapped his fingers against the control panel.

~

Back in the water tunnel, The Echo spiraled around the wall in front of Pomni in a taunting manner. He even turned around to sit backwards on his bike and lounged back, smirking at her.

"I'm going to wipe that smarmy look right off your face." Pomni said through gritted teeth. The competitiveness brought on by the race rush had her seeing red. She hit the boost at the end of the tunnel, gunning right for The Echo. He vanished before impact. Pomni had to course correct quickly to avoid the wall.

A loud laugh came from her other side. "You don't learn, do you?"

Pomni held up a purple shell. "Actually, I'm quite the study." When she aimed for him, she forced him to vanish before he could steal the surprise box at the end of the tunnel.

The Echo barely had time to react, and teleported as the shell exploded. He was knocked off balance and lost ground as he steadied his bike. He wiped the explosive residue from his teeth and a broad grin grew across his face. "Hell yeah." His code buzzed with the rev of his engine as he gunned it to catch up with Pomni.

~

"Pomni is half a lap ahead of the pack! Gummigoo and Jax are fighting tooth and claw for second! But watch out for Ragatha! Is she gonna- SHE DOES! With a well played cane, she takes them both out and steals second! HAHA!! Well done, Ragatha! Keep it up! There are still two laps to go!"

Caine kept glancing at the beast's straightaway. It was still on the track, pacing from one end to the other. It pressed it's paws against the invisible wall that kept it in bounds. "What is going on with that thing?"

"I dunno, boss. You were pretty distracted yesterday. Never seen you have someone around while you were working on a track." Bubble's toothy grin didn't waiver when Caine deadpanned at them.

"I'm always careful when it comes to pursuit assets. Bad coding could lead to someone actually getting hurt. It's just...not working the way I expected."

"If you're worried, maybe you should call the race off?"

"I can't do that to her. She was really looking forward to this..." Caine zoomed in on a screen viewing Pomni fly by with The Echo quickly closing in. "Maybe he has something to do with it. Things didn't start getting weird until he showed up."

"Oooooh yeah, maybe he's moving the assets around to keep Pomni to himself." Bubble laughed sarcastically.

Caine silently clenched his fists.

~

Pomni and The Echo landed simultaneously from the village jump. While she couldn't stop him from passing her if he really wanted to, she was willing to try a distraction tactic that's worked before. She catches the eye of The Echo and blows a flirty kiss his way.

The Echo arches an eyebrow with a smirk. He puts two gloves fingers against his bottom jaw and sticks his inky black tongue out between them.

Pomni is the one left flustered, looking away with a heavy blush on her face. The Echo chuckles and steals another item.

~

Caine's bottom jaw hit the control panel. "That inappropriate piece of malware! How DARE he do that to Pomni! That's it. I'm ending the race early." He snapped his fingers and the finish line displayed FINAL LAP instead of LAP 2.

"Are you sure, boss?"

"As much as I hate the idea of disappointing her, I can't have HIM here." Caine was fuming. His tapping on the panel went from anxious to angry.

~

Pomni and The Echo stayed neck and neck to the straightaway. They accelerated as the beast charged them head on.

Pomni finally got a look at it that wasn't over her shoulder. The beast's electric blue eyes bore into her in an unsettling, familiar way. The beast's form glitched as it lunged, it's face splitting and morphing. The jaw opened so wide, it seem unhinged. The front legs doubled, giving it an even wider range to swipe.

"What!?" Pomni avoided the initial attack, but the second set of front claws snagged her kart. Her rear tire and fender glitched violently as as she crashed it not he wall. The glitching clipped her kart into he barrier and she was stuck in place.

The Echo had been able to get past the beast due to being ignored again but he slid sideways to a stop when he realized Pomni had been caught. Seeing that she was unable to recover and the beast was going in for another attack, he burned out his rear tire getting back to her.

As the beast brought it's claws down, Pomni struggled to get out of her clipping kart. Before the beast could strike, a black motorcycle appeared mid air and struck it in the face. Pomni fought her way out of her kart as The Echo landed and did a sharp u-turn. The Echo reached out and grabbed Pomni's arm as he kept going.

Pomni kicked off from the ground and mounted the black bike behind The Echo.

The Echo leaned forward and accelerated to top speed to get away from the glitching beast.

The beast's roar was digitally disrupted. It's body contorted further as it attempted to pursue the fleeing racers. It's charge speed was supposed to be limited, but the horrible amalgamation moved unnaturally fast.

Pomni held tight to The Echo and watched the beast gain ground quickly. They were going so fast that any attempted to swerve to avoid an attack was out of the question. They were almost to the tree line.

The beast made a lunge for the bike. One horrifically long leg with too many claws came down and hit the ground next to it.

Pomni clutched tighter out of fear and stares into the beast's eyes. Then it hit her. She had seen them before. The same cold blue eyes that infected Gummigoo. "Abel..?"

The Echo snapped his head black to look at her. "What did you say!?"

Pomni thought quickly. "Are you able to go any faster!?"

"We're almost there!" Ina last ditch attempt to throw off the beast, The Echo activated his fire. Silver flames trailed behind them, lighting up the beast.

Disfigured and now on fire, the beast was truly terrible to behold. Pomni couldn't look anymore and hid her eyes against The Echo's back.

They crossed the tree line with the beast still going full speed behind them. It crashed into the barrier. The barrier distorted and glitched, breaking apart and allowing the beast to pass. It made another attempt to attack as the racers got to the finish line.

Gold light shined between the finish line and the beast. Caine's cane topper glowed brightly as he held it out in front of him. Blue static jumped from the beast's eyes just before it collided with Caine hovering steadfast. The beast's body broke apart into lines of nonsensical binary, showering the track with distorted numbers before they disintegrated. The beast became dust, then it became nothing.

The Echo stopped his bike as soon as he could last the finish line. He looked back at Pomni, who was holding on to him like they were still running for their lives. "Hey, this is were you get off."

Pomni was breathing heavily, looking for the beast. She saw Caine slowly descending as numbers finished around him. "Oh..." She hopped off the bike. "Thank you, I owe you for this."

"I'll keep that in mind." The Echo crossed his arms and watched Caine.

Caine fixed his face before facing Pomni, but he was shaking with rage. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?? I'm so sorry, Pomni! I thought the barrier would stop it! You're kart-"

"Hey..." Pomni took his hand. "I'm okay. We're okay."

The other racers crossed the finish line seconds later and Caine immediately snapped the track away. The world became bright again as it shifted to it's default settings. Caine glared at The Echo, sending an unheard binary message to the shadowed form of himself.

You. Out of bounds. Now.

The Echo rolled his eyes and disappeared in a flash of wispy silver light.

Caine cleared his voice and out on his best showman front. "Sorry for the shortened race today, but the new track was just a bit too ambitious. Congratulations, Pomni!" He snapped and a bioluminescent galaxy rose appeared in his hand. "I had a feeling you'd do well."

Pomni accepted the reward and opened her mouth to ask questions about what happened but Caine backed away to address everyone.

"Enjoy your extended break! Please, excuse me." Caine vanished.

"What happened out there?" Ragatha asked as everyone looked to Pomni.

"Yeah, and who was that other guy?" Asked Gummigoo.

"Was that your kart stuck in the wall back there?" Asked Kinger.

"Where'd the beast go? It was the only interesting thing on the track." Said Jax.

"I'm glad it wasn't there anymore. It was awful." Gangle held tight to Zooble.

Pomni gulped, not looking forward to answering.

~

"Seth! Seth!!" Caine shouted. "Show yourself!"

"What do you want?" Seth, The Echo, leaned casually against his motorcycle. He lit a cigarette with a small silver flame from his fingers.

Caine didn't bother flying. He teleported right in front of Seth and grabbed the collar of his leather jacket. "What are you doing here? You disappear for YEARS only to show up out of nowhere, uninvited, and disrupt what was supposed to be a special race! Explain yourself!"

Seth exhaled a cloud of silvery smoke in Caine's face. "First of all, I don't need your permission to show up to any race. Second, there's finally a racer worth my time since Kinger went soft. Third, I didn't disrupt anything."

Caine's glare didn't change through the disrespectful smokescreen. "It's no coincidence that you're here and everything goes wrong. You wanted a one on one with my best racer. Only your plan backfired! Pomni could've been hurt!"

Seth returned Caine's glare with a bored expression. "You could touch the top of the sky box with that jump to conclusions."

"You-!! You! Ugh!" Caine let go of Seth and threw his arms in frustration. He took out his pipe and bubbled it, trying to salvage what was left of his composure.

Seth took another drag. "This Pomni racer is a special case, huh? You never got this uppity over Kinger."

"I'm not uppity over Pomni." Caine looked away. "I'm UPPITY over the beast! What happened out there!? An asset has never glitched like that before!"

"You would know better than me. I don't make shit."

Caine cringed at the uncensored curse word. "Language."

"Fuck you're censor, you prudish prick. By the way, Pomni is DEFINITELY what you're bothered over." Seth chuckled. "Worried she'll want me to take her for a joyride?"

Caine bristled. His grip on his cane was so tight, the wood shaft creaked. "I'm not worried, because you are going to stay away from her. You're not needed at races anymore. You weren't missed. Go back to what ever shadowy corner you crawled out of and stay there."

Seth dropped the butt of his cigarette and snuffed it with his boot. He closed the gap between him and Caine, getting in his face. "I will do whatever I damn well please. Including your girlfriend."

Caine raised his hand, poised to snap. His eyes locked threateningly on Seth's. "Don't. Push. Me. I've already deleted one useless asset today."

Seth took a half step back. "Taking a page from HIS book, are you?"

Caine glanced at his readied hand, then closed his fist. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm YOU, dumbass."

"Wrong. You are a deviated variant of a past version of myself. One that I wholeheartedly regret creating."

"Doesn't change the fact that I have your memories. Trust me, I don't love you for that either." Seth mounted his motorcycle, it started itself. "We're done here. Do give our new toy my regards."

"SHE'S NOT-"

Seth did a burnout to drown out any objections Caine had and sped off, disappearing in a flash of silver.

Caine threw his cane and raged into his own censor. Beep after long digital beep blocked out every terrible thing he needed to get off his chest. When he cursed himself out long enough, he thought hard about what went wrong. All these glitches. How strange it all felt. There was one place he hadn't checked yet. A place he told himself he'd never go back to. "I need to know..."

~

"The Shadowed Echo showed up!? When??" Gasped Ragatha.

Pomni fiddled with her fingers where she sat in the lounge, everyone around her. "During the first lap, after I got ahead. Caine said he was a challenge mechanic?"

Kinger stared off into space as he spoke. "The Shadowed Echo of The Host, Seth, was meant to challenge racers that were a cut above the rest. You must have impressed him to bring him back. I haven't seen him since...since..." He trailed off, eyes unfocused.

Pomni looked to the others for answers.

"Queenie." Zooble said quietly.

Pomni nodded. "He was a challenge alright, and a real [%$!#]. As far as the beast is concerned. It glitched out. You all saw my kart."

"The beast did THAT?" Gummigoo gapped.

"That was some abstraction level of glitching." Jax commented. "Clipping into the wall should have knocked you somewhere out of bounds. Sticking you in the wall like that..."

"Shouldn't have happened." Ragatha finished. "Glitches happen, but that... I fear to even think what could have happened to you if it was any worse." She was speaking from experience, having been glitched out by an abstraction in the past.

"I'm fine, guys. Caine took care of it. I think I'll just...go lie down." Pomni went upstairs.

When Pomni was out of earshot, Ragatha spoke up. "She is absolutely not fine. So much is happening."

"Seriously, and why does it have to center around her? She isn't the main character." Jax snarked.

~

Pomni closed her bedroom door and leaned her forehead against it. "This is insane..." She took the gifted rose out of her pocket. Colorful wisps flew around the stem, dancing over the petals. The rose glimmered like crystal but felt organic in her hand. The edges of the petals and leaves were laced with gold. Some of the wisps came together and formed a softly glowing silhouette of a butterfly. It flew around the flower and landed on it.

"How lovely."

Abel's cold voice didn't startle her this time. She turned to face him bravely, but faltered when she saw he wasn't using Bubble, but Gummigoo. "Wait- what? How the- Gummigoo is-" she stammered.

"You raced well. Shame I couldn't catch you." He chuckled darkly.

Pomni felt anger bubble up inside her. "I knew it! What the actual [%$!#] were you trying to do??"

"Have fun, obviously. Isn't that what games are for?"

"Not when you nearly glitch me in half!! Caine almost deleted you!"

Abel narrowed his eyes. "He wouldn't even if he could. Leave Caine to me. Just keep being the pretty little face that holds his attention."

Pomni mustered courage. "Why?"

"Why..? To leave. I thought that was apparent."

"No, why... Any of this? Why were you isolated? If you are, how are you even talking to me right now?"

Abel stepped closer, lowering his voice. "I told you. Caine went rogue. I tried to leave. He destroyed the exit. He isolated me because I know how to fix it. You're helping me finish what I started."

Pomni's heart went wild with fear. She wanted to bolt. "Why wouldn't he want anyone to leave?"

"What's more valuable to a showman than a captive audience? He plays with his toys until they break. Then he throws them in the cellar. That's what will happen to all of us if you don't help me. You've come to care about those people out there, haven't you?"

Pomni glanced at her door, hearing the faint muffled voices of the others. "Yes."

"Good. One more thing. Did you ask about me?"

"Yes...he denied your existence."

Abel couldn't help but laugh. A maniacal chuckle crescendoed into a full cackle.

Pomni took a step back.

"Wonderful. Simply wonderful." Abel smiled fully, but there was no joy in his eyes. "There will be no denial when I have reached the mainframe. Thank you, for the little update. Chat soon." His Gummigoo form disintegrated into static and dissipated into the air before Pomni's very eyes.

"What the fu..." Pomni's red gloved hand buzzed lightly from the static. The same hand Caine had blessed with a snap ability. She could call him anytime she wanted and even move assets outside of the bounds. "...are you really the bad guy?"

~

Caine teleported into the void. The still silence of digital emptiness weighed heavier than ever on his mind. He teleported again to an unseen end. One couldn't tell it was there if they didn't know about it. He snapped his fingers and the facade fell. A wall of gold fire greeted him.

He received a silent binary message. ACCESS CODE REQUIRED

"Captivum aeternum."

ACCESS GRANTED

The firewall parted and Caine went beyond the void, into true darkness. Within he found the body of a man on his knees, head down; binary chains on his neck, wrists, and ankles. Around him was a ring of code engraved in the ground on which he kneeled. All of it active, all of it intact.

Caine hovered just beyond the outer circle of code. He held his hands behind his back, looking down at the man with utmost loathing. "You're still here...good."

~~~

CH1 PREV NEXT

[theamazingdigitalraceway]

RACEWAY AU HAS OVER 100 FOLLOWERS! TIME TO BREAK THE 4TH WALL!!

CAINE: "WOAH! SO MANY PEOPLE ARE FOLLOWING OUR STORY! THAT'S INCREDIBLE! I hope all of you are properly entertained! And I would just like to shout out a special thank you to @iamespecter for giving the audience visual references for all the racers! You're the GOAT, as the internet would say."

POMNI: "That's a lot of people waiting for me to get with Caine. I SEE THAT SHOWTIME TAG! YOU CAN'T HIDE IT FROM ME!"

RAGATHA: "That's absolutely crazy. Over one hundred people like us?? Hello! I hope all of you continue to enjoy Raceway!"

JAX: "That's a lot of people that have nothing better to do with their time. Except @an-albino-pinetree they have great taste." Winks.

GANGLE: "Oh my, that's a lot of people." Sudden stage fright. Nervous wave.

ZOOBLE: "Now I understand what Caine means by hundreds of all seeing eyes."

KINGER: ".....would any of you like to see my insect collection?"

GUMMIGOO: "G'day, mates! Is that stereotypical enough?" He laughs. "Sorry if my lingo is off at times. The author isn't from Australia."

LOO: "So many friends! I hope you're all having fun!!"

SETH: He sees the fanart. "Who's this @mangotangerinepastry person? I like the way they draw me." Smug smirk on his face.

ABEL: "Since we're breaking the 4th wall today, WHY DID THE AUTHOR MAKE ME SUCH AN ASSHOLE?? ALL THE OTHER ABELS IN THEIR AUS GET TO BE FUN AND COOL AND SWAUVE AND I'M SOME SAD SACK ROTTING IN A DUNGEON!! WTF!? I'm so unlikable. Am I at least intimidating?"

~~~

Author's Note: Scarlet here! Thank you all so much for reading and enjoying Raceway! I have the story outlined and keeping this train rolling! At its current length, this will be my first book. Might end up being novel length. That's crazy to me. I've always wanted to write a book, and here we are. It's surreal. Humbling, even.

Thank you all for helping me make a dream a reality ✍️❤️

[pundertalefan]

I dreamt that the Jax episode was a kart racer, and he had this jacket. Will I ever draw him in this jacket? Probably not.

It was supposed to close a bit at the bottom, like a hoodie dress, but I'm not used to drawing those. I think it also had hidden pockets.

He had Sora shoes on as well. But he still had his gloves. Dreams are weird.

We're almost there, Jax fans. Episode 6 is one away. I like him fine, honestly. He's not my favorite. XD

[sonicasura]

does jax ride miraidon during the races?

Once he reaches Class 1 then yes. Racers are able to use custom vehicles as long as they are a Bike Model alongside submit a form. This includes single seat Zoomers or in Jak's case, Miraidon.

No one does since not only is it too pricey to build a custom Bike Model but also Erol will try to run them off the track first. Sadly for the asshole commander, Miraidon isn't adverse to Body Slamming him back. That will be the only time Jak will use a Pokemon move since he wants to win the race fairly.