*throws Echo losing control of their hoverboard at half the speed of sound leading to them crashing face first into Colt at you*
Yum yum. Before the sob sob
Also special mention @riooooooooo child
Collision Course
The hoverboard was not supposed to do that.
One moment, Echo was cruising down the street, wind whipping past their ears, and the next—
The stabilizers screamed. The speed gauge shot into the red.
“Oh, no, no, NO—!”
Half a second later, Echo was launched forward at half the speed of sound, a streak of panic and bad decisions.
Colt didn’t even have time to turn around before—
WHAM.
They hit him full-force in the ribs, the hoverboard clattering off somewhere into the distance. Both went down in a tangle of limbs and swears.
Colt blinked, dazed, looking at the younger chaos gremlin sprawled across his chest.
They were grinning. Why were they grinning?
“…Hi,” Echo wheezed. “Nice catch.”
Colt just stared for a beat, then sighed — that long, I should’ve seen this coming sigh — and sat up, still holding onto the kid so they wouldn’t fall over.
“Great,” he muttered. “Another one.”
Echo tilted their head. “Another what?”
Colt gave them a flat look. “Chaos child. You’re mine now. No take-backs.”
Echo blinked, then grinned wider. “Cool. I’ve always wanted a brother.”
Somewhere down the street, the hoverboard exploded.
Colt didn’t even flinch.
.. a hour later..
Colt wasn’t entirely sure how he’d ended up here — trudging through the junkyard, arms piled high with scrap that clinked and clanged like a death rattle — but he knew exactly why.
It was the grinning gremlin trailing behind him, tossing another broken gear onto the pile like it weighed nothing.
“C’mon, Colt! Jesse said it’s cool! And since I’m family now, family rules apply!”
Colt grumbled something under his breath that probably translated to I didn’t agree to this adoption paperwork. His tail twitched irritably… until it instinctively looped around Echo’s waist, tugging them closer.
“Hey—!”
The moment later, they found out why.
Right in front of them: a ditch.
A ditch filled with very sharp, very pointy, very rusty metal shards.
Colt gave it a flat, unimpressed look.
“That’s a tetanus buffet,” he muttered.
And then—because the universe hated him—Echo tripped.
Colt yanked them back just in time, but in the process lost his own balance and half-slid into the pit. He caught himself with one hand, metal pile still balanced in the other, tail still locked tight around Echo.
“You okay?” Echo asked, blinking down at him.
Colt scowled up at them. “I almost became a kebab. With extra tetanus seasoning.”
Echo grinned. “Then it’s a good thing I’m here to save you, huh?”
Colt snorted, hauling himself out. “…Kid, if you’re my family, you’re definitely the reckless little sibling.”
Echo just beamed.
Colt just sighed.
Somewhere in the distance, Jesse yelled, “HEY—DON’T TAKE ALL THE GOOD PARTS!”
