Second Place, New Face

The celebration outside faded not long after the conclusion of results. Pulleytown’s arena was a mess of laughter, food, and confetti everywhere. Backstage, the noise barely reached past the concrete walls.

The locker room smelled like spray tan and despair.

Bart sat on a bench, still half-covered in bronzer, staring at his silver medal as if it had personally insulted him. Willow had joined them now, poking Bart's body like it was an illusion of sorts.

Gus was sitting cross-legged by the lockers, still eating a half-smashed pretzel he’d found on a bench outside. “You look like you lost your will to go on.” He said through a mouthful.

“I did,” Bart muttered. “Second place is just runner up to first. No one remembers second place.”

Willow poked his shoulder again. “No, this feels real. I can't believe you have been hiding such a pristine body from us all this time."

Bart sighed, still staring at his reflection in the dull metal of his medal. “Yeah, well, consider it a cursed blessing. Too much beauty is a burden.”

Willow snorted. “A burden? Most people would kill for a body like yours, just without the craziness that comes with it."

Bart slumped forward again, the bravado draining from his voice. “You know, second place doesn’t sound so bad until you actually get it after being so close to first. Everyone cheers for the winner, no one remembers the guy who almost changed the world.”

Willow softened a little. “Bart, why did you even join this contest in the first place?"

Bart hesitated, fingers brushing against the medal’s edge. For once, he didn’t have a quip ready.

“Why?” he echoed quietly. “Because I wanted to win against that crazy duck man Rico. I couldn't trust these two to win after I saw what they were up against."

Joren and Gus looked mildly offended at that remark, but it was a fair one, Rico was impossible for them to beat.

Willow tilted her head, half-smiling. “So you joined just to take him down?”

Bart shrugged, the medal clinking against his chest. “Someone had to. The guy’s been flexing on this city for nearly a decade. He’s got fan clubs and his own line of hair gel. I couldn’t let that stand. But then I took second place.”

Gus raised a brow. “Yeah, but I don't think the bet was on who would win the tournament, just who would beat the other.”

Bart paused mid-grumble, blinking. “Wait… what bet?”

Willow smirked. “The one you made when we got here today, remember? The one about him being our personal inventor or you giving up cheese."

Bart’s eyes lit up like someone had just handed him free money. “You’re right.” He straightened up, the medal gleaming faintly under the flickering lights. “You’re right! I did beat him! The Cheesemonger triumphs over the Duck King! History will remember this day!”

Joren, leaning against the wall with folded arms, chuckled. “I think history’s gonna remember Craig, actually.”

"They definitely will." A voice spoke up, catching everyone's attention. It was Rico.

Bart froze mid-pose.

He walked past the others and sat on the opposite bench, resting Clarence beside him. “Nine years, Bart. I stood on that stage nine years in a row and I thought I’d seen everything. That was until you rolled into my life like a wheel of cheese.”

Bart frowned, unsure whether to feel insulted or flattered. “You’re welcome?”

Rico nodded once. “You’re the first person to make me doubt if I could win.”

Bart blinked, caught off guard. “Wait… really?”

Rico smirked faintly. “Don’t let it go to your head, doubt’s not the same as defeat.”

Willow leaned forward, her devilish grin taking over. “Sounds close enough to me.”

“You know, I used to think winning was the only way to prove you were alive, but standing there today, watching you, watching Craig, I realized how small that stage really is.”

Gus, still half-chewing his pretzel, said, “It’s actually a pretty big stage.”

Rico gave him a look. “Philosophically speaking.”

“Oh. Right.” Gus nodded solemnly, as if he’d contributed some profound revelation.

Rico stood up. “Nine years of victory and it all ended because of someone who accidentally joined. Maybe that’s not a loss, it could be a new start.”

Bart raised an eyebrow. “A start to what?”

Rico met his gaze evenly. “Something beyond the stage, beyond this town. I did promise to be your personal inventor if I lost to one of you."

Bart blinked, caught between satisfaction and horror. “Wait, you were serious about that?”

Rico crossed his arms. “I don’t make promises I don’t intend to keep.”

Willow snickered. “Guess that means you’re ours now.”

Rico gave her a half-smile. “Guess so.”

Gus perked up. “You’re gonna help us build stuff? Like, actual working stuff?”

Rico spoke with full confidence. “I'm the son of Pulleytown's greatest inventor, if I'm making it, it will work better than you could ever hope."

Bart crossed his arms, pride already flaring. “Hmph. Well, you’re looking at the best inventor of Gloryhollow. I’ve designed everything from the Cheese Pulley to the Self-Stirring Kettle. Revolutionary devices. Some even worked.”

Willow blinked. “Some?”

Bart waved her off. “The ratio of success to failure is irrelevant, what matters is direction!”

Rico smirked. “Sounds like someone who’s a novice. Not everyone can be an inventor."

Bart froze, staring at him like he’d just been insulted in a language only geniuses understood. “A novice? I’ll have you know my work has redefined local mechanics!”

Rico tilted his head slightly. “Local mechanics? You mean farm tools?”

Bart’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me, but the Cheese Pulley is not a farm tool! It’s a revolutionary load-bearing system designed to revolutionize dairy transport.”

Willow leaned over to Gus, whispering, “So… a conveyer belt for cheese?”

Gus nodded. “Pretty much.”

Bart spun on them, scandalized. “It’s not pretty much! It’s a marvel of engineering! I even used counterweights!”

Rico smirked. “Congratulations. You’ve invented something that already exists.”

Willow stifled a laugh behind her hand. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”

Bart squared his shoulders, glaring. “You think you’re clever, huh? You with your fancy machines and duck hats?”

"I do, actually." Rico retorted.

Bart blinked, momentarily stunned by the speed of the reply. “Oh, so you admit it. Good! Because now I know what I’m dealing with: an arrogant, muscle-bound showoff with an ego the size of a dairy vat.”

Rico folded his arms. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Willow leaned back, smirking. “It kind of sounds like you’re describing yourself, Bart.”

Bart whipped his head toward her. “Excuse me, I am humble!”

Gus raised his hand without looking up from his pretzel. “You were just sulking about getting second place."

Bart spun toward him, scandalized. “That was mourning, not sulking! There’s a difference!”

Willow snorted. “You were literally pouting into a mirror, Bart.”

“I was reflecting!” he snapped.

Rico’s faint smirk returned. “You’ve got spirit, Cheesemonger. I’ll give you that."

Bart crossed his arms. “You don’t even know me.”

Rico tilted his head. “Of course I do. We just flexed on stage side-by-side. By now we are closer than brothers."

Bart blinked, utterly appalled. “Closer than brothers? We’re not even neighbors!”

Rico just ignored his ranting and turned to the rest of them. "So, what are you guys planning on doing now?"

Joren spoke up from the corner, “We were actually on our way to Carnival City, this was just somewhere we were stopping through."

Rico turned his head toward him, intrigued. “Carnival City… the one with the old fairgrounds and the games?”

Willow nodded. “That’s the one. Place is loud, busy, full of performers and madness. You’d fit right in.”

Rico smiled faintly. “Sounds like my kind of chaos.”

Bart scoffed. “Wonderful. Another reason for him to follow us.”

Rico ignored him again. “What takes you there?”

Joren shrugged. “Just sounded like a neat place to go. Willow and I are Auspex, so we can't stay around places too long."

Rico’s expression shifted, curiosity flickering across his face. “Right. The government tracking, registries, all that.”

Willow nodded. “Yeah. It would be nice if people stopped stigmatizing us, guess it will take a long time to make that happen."

"That's true, might not even happen in your lifetime unfortunately." Rico said.

Willow gave a small, crooked smile. “You really know how to make a girl feel optimistic.”

Rico shrugged. “I’m a realist. If change were easy, it wouldn’t be worth chasing. Is that what set you out on this adventure or was it something else?”

Willow thought for a moment. "Not really, just trying to stay safe. If I can help people realize not everyone is some monster then that's a bonus."

Joren leaned against the wall, watching the exchange with a quiet curiosity. “She’s right, though. Most people only see the disasters Auspex cause. They never see the ones do good things or stop the bad ones."

Rico chuckled under his breath. “Seems I joined the right group.”

Bart crossed his arms, pretending not to care. “Yeah, well membership’s temporary, pal. We don’t need more muscle or ego.”

Willow smirked. “That’s funny, coming from you.”

Bart frowned, but there wasn’t much fire left in it. The earlier tension had burned out, leaving behind the Bart everyone knew.

Rico leaned against the doorframe. “You know, for a group that’s supposedly on the run, you all seem… comfortable.”

"Then you better get comfortable, too." Gus said, patting him on the shoulder.

Rico nodded. "I guess so."

Willow stretched, the tension leaving her shoulders. “Guess that’s one way to end a night.”

Bart sighed, glancing down at his medal one last time. “Second place. Feels like losing, but not quite.”

Rico went back to being loud and opinionated. “I don't know why you're complaining so much, I got third place."

Bart had no idea what to say now.

Rico chuckled, heading for the door. “Get some sleep, Cheesemonger. Tomorrow we see if you’re as good on the road as you are on stage.”

Bart slumped against the bench, muttering, “I hate that man.”

Willow yawned. “You’ll learn to like him.”

“Unlikely.” Bart replied.

They made their way back to the Inn, for tomorrow they would be on the road again with a new friend in tow.