Chapter Text
Many inphernals know that a concrete jungle like Caterdust Capital almost never sleeps. With the vibrant colors of the unstable buildings that fall even during the middle of the night, combined with the consistent honking of cars that can barely drive through the road without almost running a pedestrian over, it still remains a beloved place by many, despite its architectural flaws.
Inside the city, there's a house squished in between two buildings. Cramped, and small, but a home nonetheless. Through the window, the table is set as sizzling bacon and eggs are over the stove. The oil on the pan occasionally pops, similar to how a fireplace crackles, and the savory aroma of brunch fills the home while the TV screen flashes with the Inpherno News, a broadcast that’s live daily at 12pm. Following the latest current events, a reporter switches to a more concerning topic. A handful of missing inphernal cases are still yet to be solved while the numbers have increased during the past month. The camera switches to show a dozen posters hanging on the walls of crossroads, decorating the alleys like moss between bricks or graffiti under bridges.
Until the reporter gets cut off by a button on a remote, switching to a live Phight instead. Skateboard lays on the couch, sinking himself into the soft maroon cushions, with a bag of chips to his right, listening to the voices of the Flipside brothers commentating through his crunches. The Skate Fam is busy behind him, until they notice Skateboard relaxing.
“Eating chips before lunch is evil.” Someone from behind comments on Skateboard.
“Hah?” The skater shoots back, pushing his head back against the cushion to look over the couch. “I’m hungry!”
“Well,” a family member chimes in, “food is ready now. Made one of your favorites, eat before it gets cold.”
“Yup, I’ll eat.” Skateboard replies, getting up and stretching with a sigh. “I have a Phight today with Boom after this!”
“Rest well bro! Don’t injure yourself!”
“And drink lots of water, okay?”
Skateboard smiles at the care he receives from his Fam. “Yeah, don’t worry.” He tells them, while checking his phone for his best friend’s latest text.
A little over half an hour later, Skateboard is seen riding his gear now in crossroads. Admiring the buildings while letting the air blow past him. A calmer side of his hobby where he can just take in the life around him, sometimes closing his eyes for a few seconds to just feel how the wind grazes his clothes.
While he skates, Boombox sits inside Thieve’s Rest, which is crowded tremendously more than usual. He’s glad he can catch an empty table during lunchtime on a Saturday. As he scrolls, he hears the sound of a skateboard rolling through the pavement outside, a familiar silhouette passes through the window he sat next to. His best friend nonchalantly walks into the cafe, holding his gear on his arm while fixing his helmet.
“Eyyy, Boom!” Skateboard smirks upon seeing his Best-Friend-Forever, taking the chair across from him.
“What’s good, man?” Boombox asks while removing his wired earbuds and shoving his phone down his pocket.
“You ready for this one?”
“You know it!” while talking, Slingshot slides in between the two with a tray of delights. The musician turns his head towards the approached baker, “business is ‘boom’ing, ain’t it?”
“Yeah, I’m glad. Again, sorry for the wait. It is crowded here.” Slingshot replies while catching his breath.
“I see what you did there.” Skateboard tells Boombox.
He places down the DJ’s regular; a lime parfait with a star cut kiwi, swirled with green syrup on top of the fluffy whipped cream. He then grabs from his tray a slice of chocolate flavored cake roll. The cake was accompanied by two mini forks, and a shiny cherry laid on top of the vanilla frosting dolloped on its side. The chocolate syrup on the plate was decorated to look like a cat, ears on top and whiskers on the sides of the roll.
Slingshot, looking at Skateboard now, continued while grabbing something else. “And I knew you were coming.” Slingshot places the skater's usual order in front of him. “Meduim coffee with a ‘tad bit of sugar.”
“Sweet, man!” Skateboard perks up from his seat, balancing the chair forward instead of leaning back on it. “Beat me to it!”
Boombox chuckles a bit, “technically I told him.”
Slingshot adds to the conversation, “Is Coil not phighting today?”
“Nah, he said he was busy.” Skateboard answers, recalling the last texts between them. “Pretty sure he has a boxing match later.”
“Yo, bro” Boombox puts his elbow on the table, resting his head on his hand, before speaking, “—you think it’s with them again?”
Skateboard’s eyes widen. “Who?… Steampunk?”
Boombox smirks. Both Boombox and Skateboard ‘Ooo’ in unison, increasing in pitch as they went on, collectively agreeing on the chemistry between the two boxers. Slingshot stares blankly at the two, slightly confused.
“Slingshot!” Vinestaff shouts across the cafe. Slingshot quirks his head to the side while she spoke, “we need your assistance back at the kitchen!”
“ ‘Kay,” Slingshot drops the empty tray to his side, not sparing a glance back at his friends before rushing. “Gotta go, good luck guys!”
“Thanks Sling!” Boombox yells back.
Looking back at their food, both of their mouths watered, staring back at the sweet treats on the table. The coffee, cake, and parfait practically glowed, the rays of sunlight from the window they sat next to landed onto the desserts. When Skateboard looked up, his friend was already scooping spoonfuls of delicious parfait into his mouth. But instead of indulging in his fresh coffee, Skateboard turns his head to look out of the window. A few missing posters were posted outside on the building in front of the cafe, some nearly flying away from the wind. He nearly forgot what he saw on the TV earlier this afternoon.
“Boom?” Skateboard grabs his attention, Boombox pauses on the star-cut kiwi he was biting into. “You ever worried ‘bout what’s been happening… around here?” He asks. Boombox turns his head to what Skateboard is referring to, seeing the missing posters as well.
“Well, kinda, yeah. I dunno what’s happening.” His response is slightly muffled by the parfait still in his mouth. Boombox looks back at Skateboard, still staring out the window. He could tell Skateboard was worried, the familiar way his eyebrows knit together and how his pupils were smaller than usual. The musician swallows before asking his friend, “you alright bro?”
Skateboard quickly turns back to Boombox, saying “Yeah, I’m good.”
“You think I’m going anywhere?” Boombox teased, with a little upward tilt on the corners of his lips.
“Nah! Nah, it’s just…” Skateboard’s mind goes blank, his sentence trails off to words that fail to form.
“… Look, dude.” Boombox grabs a small fork from the cake. While cutting a piece off, Skateboard subtly leans forward. “No matter what, I’ll find you wherever you go! And I’m not going anywhere without you knowing. Remember that, Skate. I won’t let it happen. We’re in this ride together!” Boombox smiles at Skateboard, before eating the cake. Skateboard exchanges back the smile, silently chuckling before bringing the coffee to his lips. What a weird superpower that his best friend has, to melt away his worry in a matter of seconds.
“…Yeah, thanks man.” Skateboard tells Boombox after he sips his coffee. Boombox laughs a bit. Switching topics.
“Well, you think it’s a bad idea to get full on desserts before a Phight?”
“Ehh… nahhh!’
After spending another half’ hour at Thieve’s Rest, they head their way to the Phight lobby before being teleported to Skateboard’s favorite map. BOGIO Skatepark. And both him and Boombox knew they were gonna absolutely crush this round.
The tense silence is heavy, their other teammates summon their gear, determined and prepared. Skateboard looks back at Boombox, who was already looking at him smiling, knowing what he’s about to ask.
“What’s the music choice for this match, Skate?”
“You already know it’s a bit of Dance and some Hiphop!”
Ready…
GET ‘EM!
“Let’s go!” Boombox yells. Skateboard jumps over the fence, hopping on his gear and riding over all the ramps in his way.
The round goes smoothly, especially with the coordination of the two playgrounders. Boombox supports his teammates, pulling them in for the other Phighters to strike. Getting the enemies low, he pushes them off the platform using his speed boost. While they fell, Skateboard rams in from behind to smack and stun them, including passing by a familiar sniper. So far, their team is winning by a whopping 50 points, successfully protecting the conquer point. At this point, Skateboard signals to Boombox that his Phinisher is ready. Boombox waits a bit, before his horns start glowing as well. They both jump to ground level on the left side from their spawn. Preparing for their ultimate move.
Valk and Dom both watch though an invisible camera, floating around zooming in on the intense combat. Valk perks up out of his seat. “Wow! The teamwork on the winning team is really shining through, see how they always stick together?”
Dom notices the duo in the corner, saying, “Looks like Boombox and Skateboard have something planned. Gonna wanna back up for this one.”
Back in the battle, Boombox turns on some Dance remixes. He shines his teeth at Skateboard, who watches him while he breakdances and boosts himself towards the point. Pulling the enemy team forward, and readying for a beat drop. “NOW, SKATE!”
“WATCH THIS TRICK!” Skateboard throws his gear in the air, and lays on it like a coffin. He dashes forward, stunning every enemy on point. Boombox hits the ground, raining tacos pulls everyone in. The rest of their teammates immediately pop all the low health phighters.
“WHAT AN AMAZING MOVE! An unstoppable duo, single-handedly wiping out the team! If it weren’t for missing Hyperlaser, it would’ve been PWNED!” Valk jumps from his chair while Dom claps at the teamwork.
Skateboard is bashing around the walls. Going as fast as he possibly could. Hitting every ramp and edge. And he’s almost going too fast. He can’t dismount or stop his skateboard. He goes around the whole map, not watching what’s in front of him.
He’s behind the point platform behind the big walls, in the dark shadowy area directly next to the bridge pillars. And about to absolutely slam right into the wall.
“FFFFUCKKK!!!”
His hands fold up, he looks to his side, closing his eyes to prepare for the impact.
…an impact… that comes a few seconds later than it should.
While his eyes closed, the air suddenly changes. It gets cold. The noise completely drowns out. A low electrical humming with the isolated sound of the wheels of the skateboard skidding against carpet with how fast he’s going. Before Skateboard realizes his surroundings have changed, he hits a wall, face first. His helmet comes a little loose from the impact, slipping off from his chin and falling to the ground. Skateboard trips off his skateboard, falling onto yellow stained carpet. His brain is even more rattled seeing the blurry yellow walls, the lights blinding him more than the darkness creeping up in the corners of his vision. A second more, until his skateboard despawns, and his eyelids fall closed, the darkness completely consuming his consciousness.
“YEAH!” Boombox jumps. Looking around for his friend, who is suddenly nowhere to be found, not even seen skating around the map. Boombox gets concerned before being interrupted by the respawned enemy team. With less than a minute left, he supports his team like usual, taking seconds in between to briefly look around for his friend.
3
2
1
VICTORY!
“An incredible Phight we’ve seen here, folks!” Valk enthusiastically comments on the round, planting his hands on the desk they do their commentary at. Dom’s expression becomes uneasy looking at the amount of phighters remaining. “Aaaaaaannnd our MVP for this match is—“
“Mic.” Dom quickly turns to his brother. “Pause on that for a sec.”
“… We’ll be back fellas!” Valk despawns his microphone, looking at Dom confused and worried.
“Look.” Dom points at the screen displaying their K/D/A’s and stats. Along with the overhead camera of the map the match happens on, that includes the location of each phighter. “Skateboard’s nowhere to be seen. And it says Skateboard is out.”
Valk stares blankly before responding, “…what? Wha— that doesn’t make sense! If he tapped out, he should be in the lobby! Another phighter would fill in immediately too!
“Right? But… he’s not…”
Boombox is seen yelling Skateboard’s name for a few moments while the victory is sealed. The phighters, shortly after, get teleported to the lobby. Boombox looks around to find Skateboard, only to find out that his best friend didn't even get teleported alongside the others. His breathing is more frantic, ignoring the endorsements he received from his teammates while excusing himself to go find the Flipside brothers.
Valk and Dom are seen chatting with backstage staff in front of the entrance of the Flipside building. Boombox rushes to Valk first, asking where his friend went. “Mic, where’s—“
“I don’t know, Boom.” Valk answers hastily when he cuts him off, putting his thumb nail in between his teeth, clearly worried for Skateboard as well. He waves his free hand in front of the staff as he turns towards the DJ. “I don’t know either, we’re trying to figure it out. Gosh, he signed up for another phighting session for next week, why did he have to go missing now?!”
“Don’t you have the locations of every phighter during the match???” Boombox shouts.
“Yes! His location disappeared out of thin air!” The idol raises his hands to exaggerate the fact. “I thought you would know since you were in the match with him!”
“No, Mic! I don’t!” Boombox looks at the ground. His eyebrows knit together as a bead of sweat forms down his neck, both from the intense Phight and the disappearance of his newspawnhood friend.
Valk exhales, reaching out with one hand to hold Boombox on the shoulder. “Look, me and Dom will have access to the camera footage by tomorrow evening. I’ll text you and send anything I can find.” Boombox tilts his head higher to meet eyes with the yellow inphernal while he continued to speak. “Just… take it easy until we find something, alright? I know how hard this is for you.”
Dom walks up behind Valk to talk to Boombox. “Yeah, what he said. Take it easy.” The brothers turn and walk away, Valk giving another glance to the DJ as he’s making his way further down into the building.
Boombox’s head spirals. Eyes behind the visor darting everywhere on the tiled floor, hands clutching, fingernails digging into the gloved palms, the sound of his own shallow breathing registering in his ears. Standing there practically paralyzed while Behind-The-Scenes staff walk past him.
After a solid minute, he throws both hands to his face. Letting out a long groan before looking at his palms, pathetically whispering to himself,
“… what do I even do..?”