Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There was once an engine and its racing partner.

The engine was a Diesel, as many were. His name was Galo, a Portuguese engine. He was a Red engine , different shades of the colour bedazzling his paint, and streaks running through his mullet. Fast one he was too, often placing in championship races, usually at least being in the top 5, if not the top 3. He wasn’t cocky, but simply confident. Charming too. Had a good sense of style.

His racing partner matched his drift, although he hadn’t the confidence of an engine, no, the confidence of someone who was happy with themselves. He was a Red Caboose, colour matching with his engine. He looked like a small toy soldier compared to his engine, but had the mouth of a trucker. He was known as a brake van, for how advanced his were, but he was actually an audio van, hence why his name was CB. He was charming, but in a different way to his engine. While his partner was handsome, he was sweet, endearing almost. Had the widest, cheeriest smile.

The two were practically inseparable, one of the fastest groups in the yard, aside from Greaseball and Dinah. The two were called the Red Terror, sweet and nice people outside of race nights, but absolute menaces on the tracks. Their signature quote? ‘Wide Smile, High Style, that’s us!’

There was a new engine in town. Electric, apparently, and they certainly looked the part. Lights a-blazing, eyes almost completely void-black, except for their iris glowing an icy blue. Seemed a bit eccentric in the way that they’re extremely flirtatious, but generally a pretty nice person to be around. Their entourage were a fiery lot, with the exceptions of their freezer and security truck, but the security truck seemed like the type to get aggressive when provoked.

The Red Terror duo were the first to approach the new engine - it was all ways like this. The two were the best with people, so it was always them who were pushed into introductions. Seemed like it wouldn’t be too hard - by looks alone, it looked like the train was the type for pleasantries.

“Goose. Your ears on?”
Galo called over radio.

“10-2 ‘Roos. Wadyawant?”
CB answered.

“How much you wanna bet that we get pleasantries?”
Galo joked, batting his eyes to the direction he knew the caboose was coming from.

CB snorted, replying with
“Betcha a tenner we get a peck from them.”

Galo guffawed, announcing
“Oh you are on!”

The Caboose cackled, then ended the conversation with
“We’re near the ‘lectric now, so best be off. 10-3, Rooster.”

Galo ended with a giggle
“Over and out Goose.”

The two made their way to the electric, who was quite a few inches taller than The Engine, and practically towered over The Caboose. Despite the fact that the new engine could probably pick them both up and snap them in half, the two rolled in with careful confidence, not enough to seem cocky or to seem like they wanted a scrap, but enough to show that they knew who they were, and where they stood.

“Hello friend!! I’m Galo, the engine representing Portugal here in the Apollo Victoria!”
Galo greeted the new engine, waving politely.

“Howdy! I’m The Red Caboose, but please, call me CB! I’m an audio van, and Galo’s racing partner!”
CB added, saluting to The Electric and their entourage

“And we’ll be showing yous the basic whereabouts of this yard, and your shed!”

The two announced, smiling wide at them.

The Electric engine smirked, looking the duo up and down, then tilted their head, saying.

“Well.. you two are certainly a lot sweeter than the other engine I ran into… What was his name? Greaseball? No matter. The names Electra, the AC train.”

Electra chirped, smirking at the two. They continued.

“With me are my components; Krupp - my security truck, Purse - my finances truck, Wrench - my repair truck, Joule - my dynamite truck, and Volta - my freezer truck”

“Jinkies! That’s a loooot of trainfolk!”
CB bayed half-jokingly, giggling after.

“Anyhow, best be starting now, wouldn’t want this to go through to the evening!”
Galo continued, coupling with CB to start the mini-tour. Electra done the same with their components, and trailed behind them.

The duo showed them the public areas first, starting with the greenery where trainfolk usually hung out. They passed the rockies and flat-top playing tennis on the upper end, waving at them. The freights saw the electric engine with them, and gaped. Well, except for Flat-Top, who rolled his eyes at the rockies.

Then, they moved to the shops, taking a particular look at the restaurant that Dinah & Espresso co-owned, and the bakery Buffy & Ashley owned, Joule taking a particular eye at some of the dishes from the restaurant.

“Stars Rooster, could you drop the hammer? We’re practically tortoises right now!”
CB whined, noticing how slow they were travelling.

“Rooster?” Electra questioned.

“My name translates to Rooster in English. And I call him Goose because it sounds similar to Caboose. Also because he is feral when drunk.”
Galo answered. He continued
“And CB, no, not really. I can a tad bit, but I wouldn’t want to blow out at once just for a simple tour.”
Answering CB’s question. The Caboose replied with some sort of response that was more akin to a grumble, and rolled his eyes.

They moved onto the residential areas for the second & final part of the tour, briefly showing the freight & coaches area, then showing them the McCoy shed, telling them about the 3 steamers who resided there ; Poppa McCoy, Belle ‘Drowzi’ McCoy, and Rusty McCoy.

The Diesel Engine and The Caboose quickly ran through the story of how Poppa and Belle were the first locomotives running when the Apollo Victoria opened. Galo made sure to tell The Electrics to ask them about the races, as they knew best about all the dos and donts of the track.

They then pointed out the shed beside it, The Grand Shed, where Control & The Marshals resided. There was no need to introduce that part, as you had to go there when applying for a residency in the yard.

Finally, they finished with The Engine residential area, simply going to where the new shed was.

The shed was newly painted, the roof and windows redone, and a new sign done up on the door. The keys hung from the door handle, ready to grab and open the shed.

“Oo! You’re only down the road from us, that’s nice!”
CB quipped, smile wide as ever.

“Yeah! Make sure to call or tune in on the radio if you need anything from us!”
Galo continued, running a hand through his mullet.

“You two are honestly too kind. Not at all like the others that I met previously..”

Electra purred, then bent down and kissed both The Engine and his Caboose.

CB turned to Galo with a smug look, and Galo replied with a shout of
“Oh for Stars sake!”
And handed him a tenner.

This amused Electra, and they showed it by laughing.
“You were betting on me doing that? The horror!”
They chuckled jokingly.

“Not my fault CB can read people like open books!”
Galo pouted.

“What can I say? It’s what I do best.”
CB retorted, doing a mock curtesy, and giggled.

Galo rolled his eyes at that, and stated
“We best be off though. Wouldn’t want you to keep you out here. 10-10, Electra!”

“10-10, components!”
CB continued, coupling with his Engine.

“Red line, hanging loose,”
Galo sang, readying up.

“Galo and The Red Caboose!”
CB continued, and they bolted off to their shed.

They liked them.

Chapter Text

The locomotives were changing in the locker rooms; Cb and Galo chatting with Electra and Volta. They’d be racing each other, and although that was a fact, that didn’t stop The Portuguese engine and The Caboose from hyping up The Electric train and The Freezer truck. The conversation eventually drifted to a different topic though.

“So, how did you and Galo meet then?”
Electra asked, putting on their fake lashes.

CB replied, mid stretching
“Oh, it was pretty simple, really. Although the company who made me was German, and his Portuguese, we both were shipped by the same company, so we got here at about the same time. I got here a few days before Galo, so we weren’t rolled out together, however we have always shared a shed. Not sure why they didn’t just introduce us at the same time tho-“

“This is Control! Race time in 3 minutes! Engine introduction in 1 minute! That is Race time in 3 minutes! Engine introduction in 1 minute!”
Overcame the intercom, cutting off CB.

The four got the last of their things together, and coupled up with their respective partners. Electra came after Galo in the introductory, so they trailed behind them, and headed off.

None of them were paying attention to the other nationals’ speeches, only listening in when control announced Galo & CB’s intro.

“Washing over with solidarity and confidence, give it up for Galo, The Portuguese National Engine!”

Galo and CB rolled in with a straight face, but Electra swore they saw a wink and a smirk from The Caboose.

“Clear my track, The Crimson Terror, watch us as you loose, clear my track!”
Galo sang, and posed handsomely. He moved to the side, and got in his lane.

”Oh? What’s this? A new challenger? Shocking us all with their magnetism, Give it up, For Electra, The AC Train!”

Electra skated in, and sang
“Clear my track, I am the future, Electric’s taking charge, clear my track!”
Then posed elegantly, and finally skated to their lane.

Control counted down , and everybody got their helmets and gear ready.
”6, 5,”

Galo threw the AC train a thumbs up, and CB threw Volta a salute, to which both received a nod.

”3, 2, 1, GO!!”

The race was looking good for the red duo. Galo had used enough momentum to push them into third place, with Electra in second and (as cliche,) Greaseball in first. CB glided easily, breaking at appropriate times, and letting go in others.

It seemed like The Starlight was on their side, as by some miracle, Galo had managed to push them into first, and right before the crucial and tough hill too! He was elated, and pushed on - he could see it. Galo - the Crimson Wing, The new world champion, bringing pride to his home country, and prosperity to him and CB.

But no, something just had to go wrong at the crucial moment. They were going up a steep hill, and it seemed he was being held back, but by what?

“CB!”
Galo yelled over radio.

“10-2, Rooster!”
CB shouted back, seeming like he was trying to push on as well.

“What’s going on back there‽”
Galo pleaded, having to accelerate even more just to get a more-than-decent speed

CB panicked loudly
“I-I don’t know! There’s something going on with the tracks themselves seemingly, and it’s making my brakes jig! Just keep on dropping the hammers!”

Galo nodded, understanding he’d have to overwork himself to keep his place in the race.

Although there was struggle, it seemed that he managed to keep in the lead. Greaseball and Electra seemed to be in tied second behind him, but they were quickly gaining on him. But if he could just keep a good pace, just get over this last bit of the hill-

“Hey, Galo?”
CB asked a lot calmer than before, seeming like he wanted Galo to look at him. So he did just that.

CB was smiling, a lot wider than usual, which wasn’t out of character for him, but it seemed… wrong. It didn’t look warm and welcoming, no. It looked violent and hungry. He mumbled, but just loud enough that Galo could hear
“I lied.”

CB uncoupled with Galo, sending him sparks ablaze - and something certainly was wrong with the tracks, because that was all it took to set them ablaze, and him tumbling down, engulfed in flames.

To say he hurt was an understatement. All he could feel in that was anguish and pain, his plating melting with pure heat. He bled blood and oil from slices and scrapes created from the fall, but they were almost immediately boiling and drying onto his skin, creating even more burns that was created from the fire.. He screamed with as much power as he could, which was almost none at that point, a large ravine in his chest opening up so his engine could be seen, which was too being melted away. It was also hard, because the latex that formed his face was dripping down onto his arm. Still, he agonized, yelling

“10-78! 10-78! 10-38, needed in final third of the Apollo Victoria Race track! I repeat, 10-38 needed in the final third of the Apollo Victoria yard Race Track!”

To which he was just met with static. His radio had either been disabled, or burnt away, which was the more likely option. His right eye had been fully burnt away by then, along with all but 1 of his limbs; his left arm, being a sorry, burnt, bloody mess of latex, melted iron, oil, and blood.

He heard a giggle from behind him, and turned to see- CB‽ How fucking dare he, show up and laugh at him? He was practically a melted nub by then, while CB was just a tad bit charred‽

tried to yell something at him, but it just came out as a gargled mess of noise. CB let out a full - fletched laugh at that, and kneeled down, cradling Galo’s somewhat-head in his hand.

“10-7 Good buddy. Trust no one on the track.”

“Y-Y-O-UuuU…. MON-S-S-S-TeRRRrrrRR!”
Galo finally strangled out, and died on the spot, body almost entirely unrecognisable, bloody and burnt.

CB stepped away, some of his outer plating melted down and scraped, due to the fake fall he performed after uncoupling. He sat down, watching as the remainder of Galo’s parts failed.
He cackled, but it could sound like violent sobs to someone who was unaware of The Caboose’s mental state, which was everyone outside of himself. He was elated, on cloud nine. Oh, how he missed hearing their screams, and the captivating feel of adrenaline trickling through his spine, and into his mind and heart. He hadn’t been able to experience a crash for a while after his upgrade, so he was stuck being the goody-two-shoes Caboose for months! But now? Another flawless crash performed, he even looked the part! Charred and scraped, looking down upon another train’s lifeless body!

.•°* - *°•.

Electra had washed the crash happen. Right infront of them, actually. Galo had gone flying, with CB uncoupling, maybe trying to save himself, or just malfunctioning, they didn’t know. What they did know, is that CB toppled down only seconds after, managing to keep his balance for a few seconds, before rolling down into the now ablaze tracks.

Galo. And CB. Both probably dead.

Electra stared in horror, turning to Greaseball and Dinah for support, as they were the nearest. Dinah matched their facial expression, but GB? GB looked solemn. Like he had run this race so many times before, and had become numb to its adrenaline.

Greaseball shook his head almost unnoticeably, warning Electra to not go after the Caboose. But they couldn’t. Just couldn’t.

They only had 2 friends in this yard, and they were down in that ditch. So they were sure as fuck not going to let them die there.

They forcefully uncoupled from Volta, and bolted into the flames.

.•°* - *°•.

Electra was panting by the time they got down to the end of the hill, resorting to running in their toe stops instead of skating, as the track was charred by then. They could hear sobbing from near the ramps, and sprinted as fast as they could towards it.

They saw a figure curled up in a ball shaking next to- oh stars, was that… Galo? Or what was left of him, atleast… So that meant, the figure next to him had to be-

CB turned to the trudging noise, and it was- Electra. The megastar, the megawatt themselves, looking oh so scared. Delicious. and the way that the fire complimented all of their curves? He could eat them right up on the spot. He wondered what it would be like to see them crash and squeal, limbs twisting and bending, eventually snapping entirely from strain. Whether they were scared of him, or for him, he didn’t know. All he knew is that he probably looked mental.

Electra looked at The Caboose, and he wasn’t crying, no… he was laughing. Cackling even. He looked manic, insane even, body situated over the remainders of his companions corpse, or what everyone thought was his companion, but was really just another train he successfully manipulated. His eyes though, is what was odd. They swirled with red and white, like a spiral waiting to trap you in its trance. It was a lot like their own magnetism, in a sense.

And worst of all?

They found it hot.

Call their taste awful (because it absolutely was - even they couldn’t deny that.), but Electra was also pretty fucked up in the head, seducing people and then hurting them for their own gain. A lot like CB in a way.

“Electra.”
CB snarled, malice full in his voice. Oh stars, Electra was really fucked up, ‘cause that just made their feelings for him worse.

“Caboose.”
Electra answered frantically, but before they could continue further, he cut them off, retorting

“Don’t bother trying to call the marshals. They’ll only suspend you if you ever tell.”

Oh stars, he had even pre-bribed them. The Caboose had wits, and charm, and he was handsome, and that fire made him look.. It made him look horrific.

The AC Train kissed them right then and there, not caring how awful they both looked. Thank the stars, CB reciprocated, pulling them down onto him, swallowing all of the electric shocks that went into his throat. The feral way that they grabbed him, and practically drank him up immediately? Ough, so pretty.

They both deepened the kiss, Electra rolling onto their back so CB could take control. The Caboose gladly took the opportunity, propping them both up using his elbows, then biting down on their lower lip. He moved to their ear, biting down on it, which released a yelp from Electra, Christ, that noise was beautiful, who kissed his jawline happily, laying back down onto the ground. The both knew they could die there if they didn’t move within a few minutes, but neither really cared enough to do anything, until CB kissed Electra’s ear, then pulling them up so he was sitting on their lap, mumbled

“We needa get out of here, before anyone comes looking.

“Got it. Put on your best scared face love, I know you’re good at acting~”
Electra purred, whisking The Caboose into their arms.

“10-4, Meine Liebe.”
CB replied, kissing Electra on the neck one last time before they got out.

In an instant, the two switched expressions.

.•°* - *°•.

The Apollo Victoria yard saw them as they walked out of the fire. Electra looked shell shocked, and in their arms was CB, shaking and sobbing, looking traumatised out of his mind. Everyone was busting the duo with questions on what had happened, what they saw, but when CB curled in harder into Electra’s chest, and when Electra held them tighter, they knew not to push until they were ready to speak.

Electra looked ready to say something, and letting out a shaky breath, they announced

“I-I think we need to go home and rest.”

And then whizzed away to their shed, shaking Caboose in the arms of a rapidly emotionally breaking down engine.

And rest they did, rest in the arms of each other, heads content with the fact that the entire yard was so soluble to their manipulation And lies, that they believed their little act of vulnerability.