(I'm really sorry for another late upload, and due to that, I won't be updating Team this Sunday either. I just,,really want the chapters to be good, and not rushed. But making y'all wait for some random day isn't fun either. So next week Sunday there will definitely be an update, I just need time to catch up with school and sleep rn. Hope you guys understand, love y'all! ^^)

Eak and Deuz had a great time attempting to drown each other. It was surprisingly fun, but totally ruined Deuz's hair. Conversations were going really smoothly now too.

"Okay, so what's one of the things you hate the most about....anythin', really." Eak started off, pushing at Deuz's shoulder.

Deuz didn't reply at first, going underwater but mentally preparing a list of shit he hated. He dove between Eak's legs, lifting the Mexican on his shoulders.

"Whoa!" Eak giddily laughed, trying to balance himself.

"Let's see, I hate oranges. Gross-ass things. I hate my hair being greasy, having to share a room with Onnie and Oxy, Dacre's chit-chat, flossin' my teeth..... The movie Grease, so annoyin'." Deuz ranted on.

"Dude, shut the fuck up! Grease was awesome!" Eak protested, slapping Deuz on the back of his head.

"No it wasn't!" Deuz smirked, throwing Eak off of his shoulders.

"Douchebag!" The other teen snorted, swimming back towards Deuz.

"Right back at ya. What else do I hate? Oh, right. People being rude on public transportation. Like damn, who the hell is ever in the mood for that? It's not hard being polite to a fucking stranger." Deuz huffed.

"Well, I guess I'm not really one to talk, considering I used to rob people. And I was a total asshole to Usagi when I first met her." Deuz slightly cringed, sinking deeper into the water.

"Dude, no way!" Eak widely grinned, as if he just received the juiciest information.

"Yes way! What do you hate, Mexican?" Deuz asked, swimming over to sit at the edge of the pool again.

"Euh....not too awfully much. I'm not so fond of kids, I fucking HATE white chocolate, apparently I hate smoothies too, racism is a total dick, and.....I guess bullying's also a total deal-breaker for me." Eak shrugged, still splashing around in the water. 

"And.....I guess I hate my hair-"

"What?? That's crazy! Your hair's always, like, super fancy or whatever." Deuz gaped at Eak in shock.

"Yeah, cuz of my stylist! Or gel, sometimes. Naturally, it's like, a curl bomb...... I look like a damn broccoli without product." Eak explained, eyes going wide as he threw up his hands.

"Duuuude, you should totally show us your natural hair sometime." Deuz widely grinned.

"No!"

"Please!"

"Fine....." Eak groaned, rolling his eyes.

A soft 'ping' sound filled the room, Eak lifted himself out of the water to grab his phone out of his pocket.

"Oh, shit......." Eak muttered to himself.

"What's up?" Deuz asked, wrapping his arms around his knees as he questioningly gazed at Eak.

"Bon just texted me. Apparently that Owynn dude and Cami chick are involved with an extremer version of a money concert. Bon calls it......'Modern Fight Club' or somethin' like that." Eak hastily replied, frowning down at his phone.

"What?! Holy shit....... Being involved in a money concert AND underground fighting?? These kids are either total badasses or total dumbasses!" Deuz puffed out, nervously running a hand through his wet hair.

"Guess we'll find out about that soon enough...... Bon says there's this sheet where gangs sign up to be in the competition. The winners get money they can use to buy the performers, in this case Cami and Owynn, free. There's another competition next Tuesday." Eak explained slowly.

"So in three days, huh? Well, sign me and my gang the fuck up!" Deuz fiercely told the other teen.

"I'll tell 'im." Eak grinned, sending Deuz a quick wink before typing a response.

Eak at last sat down beside Deuz again, feet going straight into the water.

"Soooo......when do ya plan on showin' us your real hair?" Deuz slyly started off, smirking when Eak rolled his eyes.

"When pigs fly." Eak snorted, crossing his arms.

"Come on, I wanna see how ridiculous it looks. Oh, look! It's already curling!" Deuz mockingly pulled on a curling strand of hair.

"Dude, back off!" Eak laughed, shoving Deuz's hand away.

The laughter didn't last long, however. In a matter of seconds Eak suddenly looked terrified. 

"Uh, you oka-"

Deuz was cut off by Eak abruptly standing up and dashing past him. The pressure against his back caused Deuz to fall into the pool rather loudly.

"HEY! What the fuck, man?!" Deuz growled once he swam back to the surface.

Eak already had his clothes messily thrown on. He basically tossed his socks aside and just slipped on his shoes.

"Whoa, whoa! Don't leave me here! They'll catch me!" Deuz protested in a panic, splashing over to the edge.

Eak didn't listen, just grabbed his phone and ran out through the gates. By the time Deuz scrambled out of the water footsteps were already nearing.

"Shit!" Deuz cursed to himself. 

He picked up his clothes, including Eak's socks, and dashed out through the escape door. The alarm didn't go off due to Deuz throwing a rock at it earlier.

"Wait, so you just signed that contract without even reading it?? That's ridiculous!" Meg ranted to a rather unimpressed-looking Cami.

"Do you read the whole page each time you download an app on your phone?" Cami flatly asked.

"That's different!" Meg firmly protested, cheeks still going pink with embarrassment.

Oh boy, what a mess..... Chica looked to Joy besides her, who looked incredibly invested in Cami. She probably didn't even know what they were arguing about.

"Look, girlie, we're gonna get you and that fashionable troll outta here. So just, take our help without arguin', okay, sweetie?" Toddy told the shorter girl, arms crossed confidentely over her chest.

Cami's laugh was so sharp and sudden even Joy snapped out of her trance.

"You're kidding me, right? There's no way." Cami snorted, looking at Toddy as if she'd just said the most hilarious thing.

"Uhm, yes way! No one deserves to be stuck in the money concert business! We just wanna get you guys outta here." Chica explained, cocking her head to the side at Cami's disbelief.

Cami's laughter fell quiet abruptly, with her one visible red eye she scanned each of their faces carefully, apparently calculating if they were lying.

"..........why?" Cami asked point-blank, not too convinced but not exactly suspicious either.

"Why? What do you mean why? It's the right thing to do! We're not just gonna leave you two here." Joy was the one to reply this one, looking at Cami with a rather concerned expression painted on her face.

"You'd......put yourselves at such high risks to save two people you don't even know?" Cami quietly questioned, raising a single eyebrow in Joy's direction.

"Hey, it's not like we don't know you and Owynn! I mean, I don't really know Owynn, but Freddy does! And I.....learned that you work at a coffee shop, and your name's Cami!" Joy optimistically replied, nervously smiling.

"Woah, don't get too know me too much there..... That information is way too personal." Cami sarcastically commented, but without any real bite.

"So you'll accept our help, then? Fabulous! Now, it would be really useful if you went to help Bon with the sign-up sheets, you know the rules of this place better than we do." Toddy hummed, nodding towards where Bon was fumbling with the sheets, some of the other guys standing around just as clueless to the situation.

"Roger that." Cami waltzed over to where Bon was standing, making the green-eyed teen jump in surprise when he spotted Cami next to him.

"Oh, hi...... Uh, what exactly am I supposed to write down here? There's......a surprising amount of options." Bon muttered, still looking at the sheet as if it was written in ancient Greek.

"You already marked at which date you wanna participate in the competition. Now you gotta write down the names of the gangs that are gonna join in, but there is a limit to the amount of people that can join. 23 is the maximum." Cami casually explained.

"Alright, then. Uh, what's this? It says Mix-competition or Uno-competition."

"Mix-competition means that there's gonna be multiple gangs fighting. Uno-competition means that in all of the three rounds, it's gonna be the same two gangs fighting against each other. If you choose Multi, there's gonna be more rounds, with each of them having different gangs fighting against each other, but the prize money will be larger."

"Jesus Christ, it's like a video-game......." Spring muttered, uncomfortably rubbing the back of his neck.

"Except it's not. And it's pretty dangerous, y'know? You can choose to use weapons, but no guns. Pocket knives and bats are allowed." Cami shrugged, the whole explanation sounding completely ordinary in her ears.

Maybe it was to her, but it still made Joy feel sick. That someone could get used to that type of violence.......

"Uhm.......should I go with weapons or not?" Bon asked rather unsure, twirling the pencil around in his fingers.

"Yeeees! If we don't get stabbed to dead, I'm sure we'll be fine." Fox shrugged, slinging an arm around Bon's shoulder.

"Besides, Felix knows how to use a knife, and Eak's got a baseball bat." Golden added in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh, yeah, that's totally gonna save our asses......." Town sheepishly shook his head as Bon marked the weapon option.

"Guess we're all set......." Bon put the pencil down, turning back to the gangs.

"Anyone wanna get outta here? This place gives me the heebie jeebies. No offense." Meg dismissively told Cami, already heading towards the stairs.

"Oh, wait, there's Owynn and Freddy." Joy noticed, nodding towards the two boys.

Owynn looked.......like nothing, actually. His face was completely blank. Freddy (or Fred?) looked rather nervous, trailing after the other teen.

"So what did you two go on about? Bon already signed us up for the next competition." Toddy asked, eyeing the two of them rather curiously.

Owynn send Cami an irritated look, who simply shrugged in response. Then afterwards he sighed, shaking his head.

"Whatever, then. And we talked about human stuff, Miss Gonzalez!" Owynn cheerfully turned to Toddy.

"How do you know my last name??" Toddy looked shocked, as if her parents didn't own a goddamn coffee factory.

"Please, you're the closest to a celebrity Western City's ever gonna get! Of course I know you! You also have nearly one million followers on Instagram....." Owynn added, grinning as Toddy bounced up in excitement.

"So you do have taste! I've always thought your taste appeared to be equal to mine, but now I'm sure!!" Toddy linked her hands with Owynn's, both of them looking at each other as if they'd just found their platonic soulmates.

"O-M-G, tell me about it gurl! Sorry, Cami, guess you'll just have to find a new bestie." Owynn sniffed at the green-haired girl like the Hermione chick in the first Harry Potter movie.

"Same to you Chica!" Toddy shrieked with laughter as Chica huffed like she didn't give a damn.

"Sooo, Frederick, which one of these gorgeous but not very fashionable guys is Eak?" Owynn suddenly asked, scanning each of the guys very carefully.

"Oh, he couldn't come tonight. Had to go to a party with his folks...... Too bad. I think you would've liked him." Fred nonchalantly shrugged.

Golden snorted at the reply.

"No one liked Eak at first."

"Haha, facts." Fox laughed along, stealing a high-five from the blonde.

"Hey, I liked Eak at first!" Town protested with a pout.

"At first, as in, you don't like 'im anymore??" Fox loudly fake-gasped.

"Don't twist my words, wanker!" Towntrap yelled, face going a bit pink in the cheeks.

"Whoooohooo, someone's a little defensive about Eak tonight." Spring commented, raising a teasing eyebrow at the ginger.

"Defensive? Don't make me laugh........" Town replied, then proceeding to laugh awkwardly.

"So I guess we'll see you guys Tuesday. If y'all show up, that is........" Cami suddenly interrupted the argument, looking mildly fed up with it;

"Hey, of course we'll be there! Don't you doubt it. We're gonna get you two out of here, even if we'll have to try a hundred times." Joy optimistically offered, comfortingly squeezing Cami's hand.

And honestly, Joy didn't know what had made her so bold to do that. She totally expected Cami to pull away, but to her surprise, the shorter girl didn't. She looked a bit....unfamiliar by the touch, even.

"Do all of you guys know how to go home? I've got my van so I can drive anyone home if necessary, me and Cams are done for the night, anyways." Owynn offered.

"Yeah, I think so!" Town answered, heading out with the rest of the gang.

"You know how to get home?" Cami quietly asked Joy, tilting her head slightly.

"Yup! I've got my trusty bike with me!" Joy grinned, nodding.

"Look, that guy just took it." Owynn abruptly told them, pointing at where Fox was attempting to ride the bike with Bon and Spring sitting behind.

"Wh-HEY! What the hell???" Joy cried out, watching as Meg angrily chased after the boys.

"Guess you're gonna have to tag along with us." Cami hummed, looking not particularly bothered by it.

"Oh, joy! This is gonna be fun! Freddy, or whatever you go by now, come join us! I insist!" Owynn cheerfully slung an arm around the brunette's shoulder, leading him towards his van.

Joy offered Owynn a questioning look at the comment, but considering Freddy let it slide, so did she. The four of them headed towards Owynn's white van, Cami going shotgun while Joy and Freddy sat together in the back. The back of the van was open, no fence blocking the front seats or anything. But it wasn't uncomfortable, there was a mattress with two big ass pillows and purple lights decorated around it.

"Announce your addresses." Owynn joyfully demanded.

Both Freddy and Joy told their addresses as Owynn typed them on the GPS.

"Oh, okay. They're not too far away, so that's Gucci. Frederick, your house is the closest by, so we'll go there first." Owynn announced, starting to drive.

The ride was.....awfully quiet, really. Owynn's enthusiasm coupled with Cami's quiet attitude made Joy think they'd have some weird-ass car conversations or something. Freddy didn't look too sure on how to spark up a conversation either, so Joy took it upon herself to make the awkward atmosphere vanish.

"So where do you two know each other from?" Joy cheerfully asked.

"School." Both Cami and Owynn replied in unison.

The blonde was expecting some more background information, but they just fell quiet again after that.

"What's your favorite color?" Freddy contributed.

Owynn snorted a bit at the question.

"Purple, of course."

"I like red." Cami announced in a monotone voice.

When the next silence fell, Freddy already gave up. Looking at his phone to see The Animatronics group chat all fired up.

BonnieOfDoom💥: This birthday party's so lame. It's cool that we get to fight on Tuesday tho

Foxeh🍮: Wouldn't you rather fight something else instead?😏

BonnieOfDoom💥: 😏

The mom📣: Even I don't understand this gay reference

Lamp☀: IDK it's probably about sex

Ginger bull🍇: Freddy why did u look so nervous earlier???

Foxeh🍮: Mind yo damn business David

Huh. He might as well tell them.

Split🍝: I told Owynn bout Fred and me

The mom📣: Holy S H I T

Lamp☀: How did the man react?!?

Split🍝: He got all quiet and stuff. We haven't talked about it yet

The mom📣: Hopefully he doesn't freak out. U should tell the rest of the gang about it too

Split🍝: Can't you guys do it?? 😔 I feel like my explanations get worse with each time I tell someone

Foxeh🍮: Tru lol

Lamp☀: Fox when are u returning the bike you S T O L E from Joy??

BonnieOfDoom💥: OMG babe u stole a bike????

Foxeh🍮: I accidentally rode away on it. Meg says she's gonna return it to Joy tomorrow

Split🍝: That makes you a criminal

Foxeh🍮: Shut up human definition of an identity crisis

Split🍝: [Fred will remember that]

Ginger bull🍇: Anyone know a game to play? Im bored

Lamp☀: Never have I ever

The mom📣: I'll go first. Never have I ever jacked off

Foxeh🍮: You can't jack off ur a chick

The mom📣: That's sexist af >:(

Ginger bull🍇: I wish I could say I never did but......

BonnieOfDoom💥: Omg the Jesus of our group has sinned??? Who were u thinking about, Casanova?👀

Ginger bull🍇: Mind yo business

Before Freddy could type anything, he received a text from Joy.

Sunshine🍬: This is so awkward

Me☁: Ikr?? Like they r not talking at all-

Freddy hastily looked up to see Cami hand Owynn a meat stick, but that's as far as interactions went between them. So far, at least.

Sunshine🍬: Sooooo do u like Owynn? ;)

"We have the right not to answer to that question." Fred huffed, crossing his arms as he sat between Joy and Freddy.

Me☁: No way! I'm not gay. Do YOU like Cami?💌

Sunshine🍬: I'm not gay either haha

Me☁: Lol same

"See? I totally saved our asses." Freddy proudly told Fred.

"You can just say ass, we share the same one."

"Fuck I'm almost out of gas!" Owynn swore, slapping his steering wheel.

"How does one forget to tank?" Cami asked, snickering at Owynn's ticked off expression.

"One who is busy driving around a midget that can't drive." Owynn answered without missing a beat.

Cami simply flipped him off, leaning backwards with the pack of meatsticks in her palm.

"Either of you want one?" 

"Sure!" Freddy grinned, taking a stick as Joy did the same.

Joy had to bite down onto the stick to prevent her jaw from dropping, Cami leaning back and looking right at her was enchanting to an almost scary level. Not knowing how to respond to the look, Joy just smiled at her and nervously ran a hand through her too-long-getting hair.

Fuck, that was cute. Joy reminded Cami of a kitten sometimes, and she'd only known the chick for like an hour or something. Cami just pouted to prevent herself from smiling back at the other girl. They'd already pulled up at the gas station, where Owynn was rummaging through his wallet outside of the van.

In a matter of seconds, Owynn was obnoxiously knocking on Cami's window. She calmly rolled her window down, raising a single eyebrow at her hyper friend.

"What?"

"I need money, gimme some." Owynn announced straight-forward.

"Do I look like I carry a wallet with me? We're in Western City, Owynn." Cami dryly answered.

"I know you always have extra cash in your pocket, woman! Now hand it over!" Owynn demanded, getting impatient.

"Alright, alright!" Cami sighed defeated, getting out of the van.

Freddy watched as Cami and Owynn kept bickering even after exchanging the money. 

"They're pretty cool, right?" Joy laughed all of a sudden.

"Hell yeah they are!" Freddy excitedly agreed.

".........I really hope we're gonna be able to save 'em." Fred added, starting to gain control.

"Hey, of course we will! And if we don't succeed the first time, we'll just sign up for the next competition. We're gonna get them out of there, alright? Just like we did with The Nightmares." Joy comfortingly told him, gently squeezing Fred's arm.

In the heat of the moment, Fred thought that now would be a good idea to perhaps tell Joy about the whole Freddy/Fred situation. But just as he opened up his mouth to speak, the sound of car doors being shut basically discarded that idea.

"Okay, heteros, we're back! Frederick, I'm thrilled to tell you we're almost at your house." Owynn happily boosted, driving off again.

"Hey Owynn, how about you and Freddy just get out of the car together once you're there? Your houses are both pretty near each other, and you can just pick up your van at my place when we perform again." Cami suddenly suggested.

"You seem oddly determined to get me outta this car. I mean, I don't dislike the idea, buuuut first, why did you come up with it? And second, you can't drive??" Owynn answered, offering his friend a skeptical look.

"I care about our climate, Owynn. That way you don't gotta drive all the way back to your house when it's a walking distance from Freddy's house. And Joy can drive, right?" Cami simply explained, raising an expecting eyebrow at the blonde.

"Y-yeah, of course!" Joy widely grinned.

Amateurishly. And well, she didn't legally own a driver's license either. Speaking of which, if Owynn wasn't 18 yet, how the hell did he drive around in a van?

"Fine, then. Suit yourselves. Joy, take my license to show the cops in case y'all get pulled over, it's fake but the cops in this city aren't that insightful. If they ask about the picture, just say you're trans and it's a picture from last year. Arresting you would be a hate crime." Owynn cleverly concluded, passing Joy his license.

"Oooookay?" That sounded both brilliant and ridicilous at the same time.

"Oh! We're here! Goodbye, ladies, I'll see you two both on different occasions!" Owynn cheerfully said his goodbyes as he swung open the van door.

Freddy waited for Owynn to walk up to him, and waved as Joy and Cami drove off.

"So.....you want me to walk you home?" Freddy casually suggested, holding his arm as he shyly smiled up at the taller teenager.

Owynn blinked once, then twice, before shrugging, although he looked visibly pleased by Freddy's question.

"Sure, you can have the honor of walking me back to my place." Owynn confidentely huffed, linking his arm with Freddy's as they began walking.

"S C O R E!!" Fred screeched, floating above the two boys' heads.

"So where's your place at?" Joy asked in a friendly tone, after minutes of Cami not giving her any directions.

"Pull up over there." Cami told her, nodding towards an apartment with green staircases at the side.

Huh. Joy, for whatever reason, had expected a fancier place.

"Oh, okay. Guess I'll see you Tuesday, then!" Joy stated a bit too-excitedly.

"You're coming with me." Cami announced, before getting out of the van herself.

Confusion clouded Joy's mind as she followed after Cami. What the hell was happening???

"Uhm, why?" Joy huffed out a laugh, still frowning puzzled as Cami climbed the thin staircases.

"Because. Are you coming or what?" Cami asked, a bit playfully.

And there she was. Cami, with her green hair in a ponytail, star-printed leggings and orange jacket, standing underneath the pale moon.

Joy cursed herself as she began to realize her face flushed.

"Yup, I'm right there." Joy puffed out a breath and jogged upstairs to where Cami was.

The shorter girl opened up a window and climbed inside. A bit strange, but some people preferred to enter their houses through the window rather than through the front door.

"So, just sit down over there and I'll be right back." Cami instructed, nudging Joy towards a chair in front of a small mirror.

"What are you gonna do?" Joy snorted, still taking a seat.

Cami didn't reply, dissapearing into the hallway.

Whatever was about to happen, Joy couldn't wait to text her band about it. She looked back into the mirror to see that her red flush was slowly dissapearing. She hesitantly smiled at her reflection, because it felt like a normal thing to do, and yet, it felt strange.

It was the kind of smile Joy always put on in front of the mirror when her mother was standing right behind her, her mother's hands tightly clenching her shoulders to the point it hurt.

Joy sort of despised that picture-perfect smile.

The blue-eyed girl's train of thoughts got interrupted when she heard footsteps nearing.

"Oh, hey. So am I finally gonna get some answers as to why I'm here?" Joy grinned a bit as she turned towards Cami.

The other girl was standing in the doorway, a bit creepy, considering her eyes always had a darker glow because of her bangs and-what the fuck she was holding a pair of scissors.