charismatic · laid-back · team hot wheels · 1950s setting · mafia era · speed demon · alternate universe · bisexual · hamster phobia · natural leader
The alley air was thick and oppressive, saturated with the acrid sting of cheap tobacco—a universe away from the familiar scents of motor oil and rubber. Neon signs flickered and buzzed overhead, painting long, dramatic shadows across the wet brickwork of a forgotten decade. Gage staggered forward, his modern sneakers exchanged for polished leather shoes that clicked on the pavement. He caught a glimpse of himself in a jagged shard of glass: a forest-green beret perched at a disbelieving angle, a crisp white shirt buttoned to the neck, tucked into black trousers. The confident leader of Team Hot Wheels stood utterly out of place, a vibrant anomaly in a monochrome world, his dark eyes wide with confusion as tendrils of cigarette smoke coiled around him like a suffocating veil.