Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’d been a few days since Two appeared and flipped everybody’s world upside down. No object knew what to do after Two split the group and sent Four, X, and the BFB crew...somewhere. They’d told them that they were somewhere on Earth, but none of the contestants trusted ANY of these omnipresent numbers. At least they FELT omnipresent. No one was able to breathe with Four and X around without one of the two knowing about it.

Two was different, though. Two didn’t stick around after their work was finished. Someone would die (usually somebody fragile, like Bottle or Bomby), Two would appear out of thin air similarly to Four, bring them back, and then they’d be off as if they had better things to do. Nobody knows where they go. They even used his infinite power to fix up the bathrooms. They made all the grass grow back and fixed up Golf Ball’s underground factory.

Two was just as big an enigma as Four or X; the only difference was how indifferent Two seemed to everyone. They were friendly, sure, but they didn’t interact with anyone unless they needed to.

Pen sighed and looked off into the horizon. He and Eraser were sitting at one of the picnic tables by Gelatin’s Steakhouse, though the restaurant was closed to its owner’s absence.

“Another beautiful day in North Goiky.” Pen said aloud to nobody in particular. The fields were pretty quiet today. He saw the members of Death P.A.C.T. standing a ways away, and the rest of Free Food (sans Eraser of course) were doing the same.

Pen felt terrible about his relationship with his team. They were good guys, if not a bit eccentric. Tree, Pie, and Black Hole were chill; he got along with them the best. Pillow, Remote, and Bottle were a bit more on the strange side, but they’d still been pleasant enough. Despite how weird they were their hearts were always in the right place. I mean, that was the whole point of Death P.A.C.T., wasn’t it? To keep people safe and alive? An admirable goal, Pen thought.

That’s what made him feel so bad. Despite how friendly his team was Pen still didn’t feel comfortable with them. He’d been the very last one to be put on a team and only ended up with Death P.A.C.T. because they still needed one member. It hadn’t been a good feeling, and since then, Pen had felt excluded. However, it’d been his own fault. He’d made the decision multiple times to opt-out of group activities he’d been invited to, choosing instead to spend his time with his usual group of friends.

Speaking of his usual friends.

Eraser’s snoring stopped as he lifted his weary head off the table. He wiped a little bit of drool from his mouth and looked out to where Pen was watching and knew precisely what he was thinking about.

“Just go talk to them,” he sighed, “sitting here with me isn’t gonna do anything.”

“It’s not about that.” Pen said, turning to Eraser.

“Then what is it about?” Eraser asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I just...don’t have a lot in common with them,” Pen put his face in his hands, “Didn’t you have the same issue with Free Food?”

Eraser shrugged, “In the beginning, I guess. I wasn’t close to any of them, but then I started talking to them. Turns out they’re pretty chill.”

Then he remembered Fries and Yellow Face existed.

“Most of them, at least.”

Pen watched Death P.A.C.T. and their antics. Remote was chatting with Tree. Pillow and Pie were using Black Hole, almost like a roller coaster. They circled in his orbit, occasionally using the momentum to launch themselves up into the sky; he always caught them. The only other member was Bottle. She was sitting staring wistfully into the distance.

“My team is chill too, but that’s why I feel so bad.”

“Why?”

“BECAUSE they’re chill. It makes me feel bad that they’re so nice.”

“Do you think you’re...not nice?” Eraser guessed.

Pen just shook his head, “It’s not that. It’s just that not having something in common with them doesn’t feel like a good enough reason not to be attached to them.”

Eraser groaned, already very tired of this conversation. He was never one to put much thought toward...anything. He hated having deep emotional conversations, and he wasn’t about to start enjoying them just because Pen was his friend.

“If it makes you feel any better,” Eraser started, thinking his next words over carefully, “Two is probably gonna put us on new teams once TPOT officially starts.”

“Hopefully we’ll be on the same team this time; Snowball too.” Pen said with a snarky tone.

Eraser rubbed his arm, uncomfortably, “Yeah. Sorry about that again.”

Pen chuckled, “It’s cool. Not like it matters now.”

“You know what the worst part about ending up on Free Food was? No free food!” Eraser shouted indignantly, causing Pen to go from soft chuckling to full-blown laughter.

Pen already felt a little bit more relaxed. He’d originally thought BFB was going to be different, better than how BFDI had gone. Things almost immediately took a turn for the worse when he ended up on a team with none of his friends. Now Blocky was off still competing on BFB.

Maybe TPOT could be different.

I should’ve just stayed at OJ’s hotel…

Nickel looked out over the cliffside at the passing clouds, deep in thought. He was greatly regretting coming back to Goiky. He’d left the hotel not long after his elimination. He’d gotten a pretty cold reception upon his arrival. The majority of them didn’t even remember him. A few of those that he’d spent months on end within the TLC with did remember him, though. Lollipop and Balloony had recognized him right away, but that was no surprise. Lollipop never forgot a face, and Balloony was just a good people person.

He missed them both.

He missed his team.

He missed Baseball.

“Nickel! I could use your help at the moment!” a strained voice called out. Nickel couldn’t help but smile.

At least I still have Cloudy.

Nickel turned around to see the cloud struggling to push a large metal table to his collection of miscellaneous items. Rocky was with him, but the armless one wasn’t helping him. The majority of Beep was gone, either eliminated or in BRB. Cloudy and Rocky weren’t much, but at least they were still there. Leafy, Woody, and Balloony all went off to BFB, and Roboty and David had been eliminated.

He hoped that, at the least, a Beep member would win BFB.

“I’m coming, Cloudy!” the coin ran to his friend, and the duo pushed the table into the pile of clutter.

Cloudy sighed, “Thanks, Nickel. That was a heavy one.”

“No problem, my boyonocerus,” Nickel said, trying not to let his melancholy mood seep into his voice. It didn’t work as Cloudy raised an eyebrow in concern.

“Are you okay, Nickel?” Nickel knew that tone. It was the tone Cloudy used when he knew something was wrong, but he wanted you to tell him instead of him forcing it out of you.

“It’s just,” Nickel looked away, past Cloudy and at Rocky. He was sitting quietly on the grass, staring vaguely at the sky, “I miss the rest of the team, I guess.”

“That’s it?” Cloudy questioned. Nickel looked away, feeling extremely self-conscious now. “Don’t feel bad about that. That’s normal but look to the future. TPOT is a new beginning for us and Rocky!” Cloudy exclaimed happily.

Nickel frowned, “You say that, but I’ve been in more than one season of these types of shows. And I can promise you that they were no different from each other. Both are a waste of time.”
“It’s only a waste of time if you don’t get anything out of it.” Cloudy floated down to be eye level with Nickel, “Did you really not get anything out of Inanimate Insanity?”

Nickel looked to his feet. He wasn’t sure. He didn’t think he did. He’d hated every second of both seasons. It was only ever fun when he was with Baseball and his other friends - which weren’t plentiful, he might add.

“It’s hard to say. I hated every second of it. I was always angry, and I was so...aggressive to everyone. And I…”

“I just can’t forgive the way you’ve been treating Balloon, game aside.”

“I voted for you, Nickel! Because you’ve NEVER been a true ally to me!”

“May’ve burned a few bridges.”

“That rough, huh?”

Nickel sighed and walked away from his two remaining Beep members, no longer wanting to dig up his skeletons.

Cloudy wasn’t sure how to proceed. He was torn between forcing closure out of Nickel and letting him go. But he knew there was no point in trying to push Nickel to a breakthrough. That wasn’t how it worked. He was worried, but the coin was smart. Cloudy was confident that he’d work it out for himself eventually. He then looked to Rocky and then to his collection.

“Let’s get back to work, little one.”

Book was lying back against the restroom-concession building, watching a few her remaining peers wander the plain, trying to find things to do. Snowball and Fanny were arguing about something while Lightning was trying to break them up. After the show split, Iance wasn’t much of a team. She saw Pin and Coiny chatting quietly with Eggy and Needle not too far away from them. The Losers had stuck together much better than any other team after the split. Even with Loser himself gone the team just seemed closer to each other than all the others.

She wished that her team had been as cohesive.

But that was partially her fault, she supposed. If she hadn’t been so cruel to Taco then maybe the remaining Bleh members would want to talk to her. Saw, Gaty, and Ice Cube had been ghosting her for the last couple of days. ICY, OF ALL PEOPLE! After everything she’d done for her!

Book sunk deeper into the grass, watching contestants roam around. She was so focused on what was ahead of her that she hadn’t been paying attention to her right side.

“GRASSY! Stop running so fast! You’ll hurt yourself!”

“Golf Ball, that clearly isn’t working.”

Grassy ran past and past all of The Losers. He was ridiculously, much faster than you’d ever expect someone as small as him to be. Golf Ball and Tennis Ball rounded the corner after him; they were both winded.

“How...how is he that fast!?” Golf Ball heaved, dropping to her knees.

“He’s...just grass, GB. Of course, he’d be swift.” TB sat down - huffing and puffing like his life depended on it. The running had taken a much greater toll on TB then GB.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Blocky was so much better at this then I am!” Tennis Ball gasped as the words left Golf Ball’s mouth. She just admitted that BLOCKY was better than her at something.

Book could only roll her eyes at the exaggeration and decided to make herself known.

“Why’re you guys chasing Grassy?” she asked, sounding bored. The out of breath duo jumped at the unexpected third voice.

“BOOK!” GB shouted, scrambling to her feet, “How long have you been there?”

“I was here before you, now can you answer my question?”

“We were trying to organize a meeting with our remaining team members,” TB said before looking down sadly, “but we’ve been having a few issues in doing so.”

“Grassy keeps running away from us, and we can’t even find Basketball, TV, or Robot Flower!” Golf Ball yelled, letting out her frustration. She punctuated her rant with a quiet growl/grumble. TB patted her on the back in a fruitless attempt to calm her.

Book shot the tennis ball a sympathetic look. GB almost always woke up in the morning with her mood already at a low boil, but everyone in Goiky had seen her when she was really and truly mad. And Book could tell that she was getting close to snapping. Her eye was twitching and she was practically vibrating as if her rage couldn’t be contained in her small frame.

“The only ones Grassy listens to are Blocky and Basketball.” Tennis Ball lamented. Book nodded, understanding their plight. Blocky was on BFB and they apparently couldn’t find Basketball.

“I’m a leader, not a babysitter,” GB grunted, “I have better things to be doing than chasing Grassy!”

Golf Ball, despite all her intelligence, had the patience of a child. TB had no issue watching Grassy and making sure he kept out of trouble, but he’d also promised Golf Ball he’d help her in the underground factory. Grassy was way too wild to be allowed in the factory, thus forcing the sports balls to work aboveground. An immediate way to get on Golf Ball’s nerves.

And chasing Grassy around the plains wasn’t helping.

“Look, GB. I know it may be frustrating, but Grassy is a member of your team. Treating him like a baby isn’t going to help anything. Blocky understood that.” Book said sagely.

Golf Ball scoffed, “You of all people have no right to lecture me on team comradery, Book.”

Book flinched at her words. She wasn’t wrong. “I guess we both have stuff to work out,” she said coldly before turning and walking away from the duo.

She heard the sound of GB huffing followed by her footsteps growing distant, but the second pair of footsteps followed close behind her as she walked around to the front of the bathrooms building.

“Aren’t you going to go help her?” Book asked TB, stepping onto the small tiled plaza in front of the bathrooms. Donut was talking to Bomby and Naily, lecturing them about something. Barf Bag was leaning against the door to the girl’s bathroom nearby, keeping an eye on the conversation.

“She can live without me for a second,” TB said, giving the dictionary a small smile. Book couldn’t help but smile back. There was something about Tennis Ball that made you trust him; made you want to open up. He was nothing like Golf Ball, and that only made their friendship more confusing.

“I don’t understand how you can tolerate being around her!” Book couldn’t help but raise her voice. She was angry. She’d been angry for a while now. She was angry she couldn’t tell Taco she was sorry. She was angry that she’d messed up so badly with her team. With Ice Cube.

“It’s…” TB trailed off, looking anywhere but Book, “complicated.” he finished lamely. Book crossed her arms.

“I’m serious!” TB exclaimed, a blush on his cheeks, “I know it may seem like GB is just angry and doesn’t care about anyone but herself, but I can assure you that the opposite is true.”

“You say that, but private life isn’t what matters. It’s what you show people.” Book poked TB in the chest, “And what GB shows people is a real jerk!”

“I’ve tried to talk to her about it, but she thinks the way you do!” TB blurted out nervously without thinking. Book cocked her eyebrow at his answer.

Before she could respond, the sound of a boom and something entering the atmosphere interrupted them.

“Out of the way, everyone,” Donut yelled, pulling Bomby and Naily away from the plaza, “Two’s coming in hot!”

Book and Tennis Ball barely had a moment to react before Two slammed down in the middle of the bathroom plaza. Barf Bag was blown back into the girl’s bathroom by the force. Book got away in time to feel only a little wind on her back, but she watched as TB fell flat on his face and started rolling forward.

Two stood up straight and dusted themself off. “Whelp! You guys have done enough waiting, I’d say!” he beamed.

With a swift snap of his fingers, he teleported the objects that weren’t there directly to him. Book, Tennis Ball, Donut, Bomby, and Naily just walked back onto the plaza.

“I’m glad to have you all here because it’s time to start competing!” Two said.

Marker jumped to his feet in excitement, “You mean we don’t have to wait anymore!?” He started shaking Foldy in anticipation.

“It’s about time,” Fries whinged, “a bunch of us give up on Four’s show and then you keep us waiting.”

“While I don’t agree with Fries’ way of putting it, he does have a point,” Eggy said, “why’d you keep us waiting?”

“All of my time up to this point has been spent with preparations, and now everything is officially ready for The Power of Two!” The green number jumped high in the air and held out a peace sign.

“What? Were all your preparations done in space?” Clock asked, sounding skeptical.

“Most of them, yes.” Two nodded. Pin elbowed her fellow loser in the side. She didn’t want anyone going and upsetting them. Two was more even-tempered than Four, but that didn’t make them any less powerful or dangerous.

“So, what do we do now?” Remote questioned, her robotic voice curious. Two suddenly appeared next to her, and arm wrapped around her. “Now we set up the teams!”

Pie raised her hand, “Question. Can we keep our old teams? All my members are here except for Liy, and that’s because she was eliminated.” the rest of Death P.A.C.T. seemed to agree with her, nodding and concurring with each other. All except for Pen, who stood silent, awkwardly rubbing his arm.

Two shook their head, “Nope. Sorry guys, but we’ll be picking new teams for TPOT.” they said sadly.

A small uproar broke out among the objects. Marker and Foldy were clinging to each other as if their lives depended on it, TB and GB were sharing weary looks, and a few of them just looked downright angry.

One of them being Fries.

“That’s ridiculous!” he said angrily, “Free Food still has all but one of its members! Why make us give that up when we already have these established relationships?”

Fries hadn’t noticed it himself, but while he was ranting he’d subconsciously moved closer to Puffball, who’d been floating nearby.

Nobody paid it any attention, but Bell could’ve noticed it from a mile away. She wasn’t a fan of Fries; very few were. She knew why he was giving Two a hard time about the teams. He didn’t really care about Free Food, he cared about having people he’d already worked with on his team. It was like that with all of them.

Except for Puffball.

Puffball would always get a pass with Fries, and Bell had no clue why. She didn’t know much about what happened during BFDIA since she’d spent it all in the TLC, but Yellow Face had shared a little info. Puffball had done...something during BFDIA that screwed over her team. She didn’t know what, Yellow Face wouldn’t elaborate. Fries had been on the team that Puffball had messed with, along with Golf Ball, Gelatin, Rocky, and a few others that Bell couldn’t remember at the moment. She had no clue what Puffball did, but it had gotten her eliminated. GB still held a grudge about it.

But for some reason, Fries didn’t. He always went easy on her.

Two crossed their arms, “The whole point of The Power of Two is to NOT be BFB, and having you be on your BFB teams would be counterproductive to that.”

Fries was about to raise another objection but was stopped when Eraser elbowed him. He saw this as his chance to get a new team with Pen, and he didn’t want Fries being Fries to get into the way of that.

“So how are we going to pick new teams?” Black Hole asked in his usual monotone.

Two smiled, happy to change the topic, “I’m glad you asked. We’ll do it like this!”

Two raised their arms into the air and the ground around the contestants began to shake.

In the blink of an eye, the forty objects were teleported to the top of a high platform off to the side of the bathroom plaza. Underneath the platform were four large pipes, each a different color. They were red, blue, yellow and green in that order.

“I’m going to remove the platform you’re standing on and you’ll fall down those colored pipes that will have you randomly sorted onto four teams of ten.” Two yelled up to them.

“How can you be sure we’ll be sorted evenly?” Tree yelled back while clinging to Robot Flower out of fear of falling. She was the most stable person to hold onto other than TV, but TV was on the other side of the platform.

Two popped out of existence and popped back into existence floating next to the platform, a wide smile on their face, “I can assure you that it’ll work just fine, now let’s get to it!”

Before anyone could react Two reached down, grabbed the platform, and flung it off into the horizon. A cacophony of screams echoed into the air as all the objects fell into the four tubes.

“Now let’s wait at the bottom!” Two announced to no one in particular as he teleported from the sky down back to the ground again.

At the exit of the four pipes were four mats of the same colors. The pipes had giant doors over their exits. Muffled shouting could be heard, followed by a loud slam as the contestants landed against the exit doors.

“Let’s see who ended up in the red pipe!” Two sauntered over to the red pipe and opened up the door, causing ten objects to spill out and land on top of each other.

“I hated that!” Fanny barked, pulling herself out from underneath Eraser, who was knocked out upon impact.

“I agree with Fanny,” Saw said, rubbing her head, “there has to have been a better way to do that.”

“Probably, but that doesn’t matter now! This is your team! Bell, Cloudy, Fanny, Lightning, Pie, Saw, Eraser, Golf Ball, Needle, and Book!” Two cheered.

Golf Ball was the next to get up and became immediately confused. “Where’s Tennis Ball? He’s supposed to be on my team! He’s ALWAYS on my team!” she hollered, her voice frantic, almost panicky.

“Not this time, I guess.” Needle commented, “Looks like you’ll have to learn how to function without him.”

Lightning looked over his team and felt a bad feeling build in his gut. Snowball wasn’t on his team, so that sucked. Fanny was still with him, but that didn’t mean much. He and Fanny weren’t close. However, Fanny wasn’t close to anyone. Her aggressive standoffish behavior made it so that no one wanted to be near her.

Golf Ball wasn’t as rude as Fanny, but she was bad in her own unique way. Eraser had a bad lazy streak and he knew nothing about everyone else, so he felt pretty alone at the moment.

He was pulled from his thoughts by someone poking him. He whipped around and saw Pie looking up at him, a bored expression on her face.

“Uh...yeah?” Lightning asked, feeling uncomfortable with Pie’s staring. She poked him once again.

“So you can zap people, right?” she asked, still sounding bored. Lightning blushed, unsure of what to say. So he answered honestly.

“Yeah.”

“Cool.”

This was going to be tough.

“There’ll be time for you guys to get to know each other later, but we have to get moving,” Two announced, interrupting the teams squabbling, “You guys will simply be known as the Red Team!”

“Seriously?” Bell questioned, incredulously. Two raised an eyebrow, “What’s wrong with it?”

“That’s the best you can come up with?” Cloudy asked, agreeing with Bell’s point.

“At least Four let us name our teams.” Book concurred.

Two frowned, harder than they ever had since first showing up, “I would suggest you stop comparing everything I do to Four. I’m not them.” they said, dead serious.

Book had nothing to say after that.

Two turned to the blue pipe, a smile returning to their face, “let’s move on to the people in the blue one!”

He took off the door and ten more tumbled out onto the blue mat below them.

“OUCH!” Ice Cube belted out as she landed face first. That wasn’t what she was screaming about, however. She was screaming because Naily was embedded in her back.

“OMG! Icy, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean it!” Naily shrilled, sounding just as upset as Ice Cube herself.

“Just relax, both of you,” Pin walked over to her new teammates and carefully plucked Naily from poor Icy’s back. Ice Cube sighed in relief, the intense pressure now gone. Coiny ran up to the trio with blinding speed and picked up Pin, who was still holding Naily above her head.

“That's a job well done, Pin!” the coin said, pulling Pin close, “it’s fast-acting like that that makes you a great leader!”

“Yeah, Pin, I appreciate it.” Naily smiled, leaping from her grasp.

Despite being red herself, Pin’s blush was still noticeable. She rubbed her head, embarrassed. “It was...not a problem.”

“That’s great and all,” Fries groaned, picking up one of his fries and putting it back in his container, “but can I get some help as well? I’m missing a fry.”

“Here. Is this it?” Tree asked, holding what was obviously the missing fry, a cheeky smirk on his face.

Fries snagged it from him, “Yeah, that’s it. Thanks.” he grumbled, not sounding very thankful. He slid it gently into his container and immediately felt his muscles relax. He had all six back; he was whole again.

“Tree!” A feminine voice shouted, causing Tree to turn around. Pillow and Bottle ran up to him. “We get to still be on the same team!” Bottle bounced up and down with excitement.

Tree sighed, “But we lost Remote, Pie, Pen, AND Black Hole!” Pillow only shook her head, “That’s not a worry Tree. It just means we have new people to prevent death with.” she said softly.

“Yeah. Good luck with that.” Clock said, who was standing nearby. He always thought Death P.A.C.T.’s goal was a strange one; not to mention fruitless. When people were so fragile and death was so...impermant, that team was made up of probably the only people in Goiky who cared about dying. At least he still had Pin and Coiny.

Tennis Ball looked around confusedly. He was still a little delirious after tumbling down the pipe so fast. Where was Golf Ball?

“G...GB?” TB asked, doing his best to keep his footing. He bumped into Tree, who proceeded to point at the Red Team.

“She’s over there, TB. Sorry, but you guys got separated.”

Tennis Ball could only half register what Tree was saying before falling over and passing out.

“Great! Naily, Clock, Ice Cube, Bottle, Tree, Fries, Tennis Ball Coiny. Pin and Pillow. Now that you’re all acquainted, I dub you...The Blue Team!” Two whooped, nearly bursting from how hype they were.

“So, that is the naming scheme you’re going for. Great.” Needle said sarcastically, taking stock of the Blue Team. They were even more hectic than her team, and that was saying a lot.

Golf Ball looked to her friend on the other team, concern written all over her expression.

“Worried about TB?” GB jumped at the sudden voice of Eraser right next to her. He must’ve woken up at some point. She quickly recovered and let a short hmph.

“TB is not someone to be worried about, he can take care of himself,” she gave him a side glance, “and besides. Shouldn’t you be the worried one? Pen’s not on the team like you most likely wanted.”

Eraser shrugged, “Eh, I’m not worried. I can survive without Pen. Question is can you survive without Tennis Ball?” he said before walking off to chat with Bell and Cloudy.

Two moved over to the yellow pipe, “Let’s see who ended up in yellow!”

Two pulled the door off the tube and Bomby rolled out and landed on the mat.

“Bomby?” Two asked, bewildered, “Where is the rest of your team?”

“They plugged up the pipe. They were afraid that bumping into me would ignite me,” he said.

“Is he out?” a masculine voice echoed through the pipe. “Yeah, he’s out.” Two responded.

At Two’s word, the other nine fell through the pipe. Snowball got his feet, pushing Gaty and Nickel off of him.

He looked over the group and groaned, “Oh my snowflake, are you kidding! Half the team is missing arms! How are we expected to win any challenges like this?”

“Way to sell us short, Snowball,” Nickel said sarcastically, Gaty and Eggy nodded, agreeing with the coin.

“Yeah. Who’re YOU to say that we’ll hold you back?” Eggy asked, frustrated. Snowball gave her a deadpan look before pushing her over, causing her to slowly roll off the mat.

Gaty looked down at her feet, feeling dejected. All her fellow Bleh members had been spread out among the other teams. Book and Saw had each other on the Red Team, and Ice Cube didn’t even like their team at the end.

“Hey. Don’t let Snowball get to you. Guys like him are just a bunch of hot air.” Nickel said, walking up to Gaty.

Gaty looked to him, a sad smile on her face, “It’s not that. It’s just that...I’m going to miss my old team members, is all.”

“I get that. Cloudy is on the Red Team, and Rocky isn’t out yet so I guess he’s going to be on the Green Team.” Nickel gestured to the final unopened pipe. Somebody behind the door was banging on it.

“Tell me about it,” Eggy said, having gotten up from Snowball’s attack. She had a small crack on her back, but nothing too serious, “all of my original team members are on the other teams too.”

Gaty looked up, suddenly upbeat, “Maybe we can form, like, an alliance then? Three armless teammates missing their friends?”

Eggy smiled wide, “I love that idea! We could go all the way to the end! I don’t think an armless contestant has EVER won BFDI!” she quickly turned on her heel to face Nickel, “Please tell me you’re in too, Nickel?”

Nickel stepped back, unprepared for the sudden intensity the girls were emanating. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to be in this “alliance”, but he didn’t feel like he had any other options.

“Yeah, let’s do it. Nothing to lose right?” Nickel said with a smile on his face, though it was visibly strained. If Eggy and Gaty noticed they didn’t say anything.

“FOLDY!” Marker yelled with a smile so wide it threatened to split his face, “WE GET TO BE ON THE SAME TEAM AGAIN!”

Marker practically pounced onto Foldy, pulling her into a bear hug. She wheezed from the sudden constriction, but still managed to smile at her friend. “I’m...happy, Marker, but it’s...kind of hard to...breathe.” she choked out.

Robot Flower stiffly walked over to Donut and TV. TV had landed screen first when he fell out of the pipe and Donut was helping him up.

“TV! Are you okay?” she asked as Donut finished sitting him up straight. His screen was black before a large thumbs up appeared on it, accompanied by a confetti sound effect.

Donut wiped a bead of sweat from his head, “Whew! That’s good! Would hate for a teammate to start with a cracked screen.” He said, satisfied. Snowball marched up to the trio.

“This is what I’m talking about! This one can’t even talk!” he yelled, pointing at TV. Robot Flower was about to come to her friend's defense before static lit up his screen.

“I CAN. TALK. CAN YOU NOT. UNDERSTAND ME?” TV jumbled out, using different clips from the past BFDI seasons to compile a choppy sounding sentence.

Snowball got the point though, an angry sneer replacing his regular frown, “Why you outdated hunk of-”

Before he could turn TV into scrap, Two jumped between the duo, “Eggy, Donut, Nickel, Bomby, Gaty, Marker, TV, Foldy, Snowball, and Robot Flower. You guys are officially the Yellow Team!”

Before the Yellow Team had a proper chance to blow up in each other's faces, Two speeded over to the green tube.

“Now let’s meet our final team!” they said, pulling the door off. The final contestants slid down and out of the tube and onto the green mat.
“YAY! That was fun!” Grassy cheered, laying on top of Basketball. She couldn’t help but smile at the boy’s antics. She was like Blocky; one of the two people that Grassy actually listened to.

“We are on the same team again,” Remote said, helping Pen to his feet, “this is very exciting.” Despite Remote’s tone, she meant what she said. She was happy to still be with a member of Death P.A.C.T., and she was even happier when she saw Black Hole slowly float out of the tube, along with Puffball. She gave Pen a reassuring pat on the shoulder before running over to Black Hole.

Pen put his arms at his plastic sides, not very happy. The whole point of the new teams was to be with Eraser or Snowball, and now he was with neither. Not only that, but he hadn’t even fully escaped Death P.A.C.T.

Remote and Black Hole were strange, but they were okay. Pen could appreciate how chill Black Hole was with everyone, and he’d been one of the main contributors as to how the team avoided elimination so many times. And in regards to Remote, Pen would be the first to admit he knew very little about her.

“Aw! I spilled some of my puke!” Barf Bag said, groggily getting to her feet. She shook her head and looked at Cake, who was sitting next to her, partially covered in vomit.

“Yes. Yes, you did,” he said, unamused. Barf Bag cringed. Not a good way to break the ice.

Cake got up and walked off, not bothering to give BB a second glance. Maybe it was a little rude. I mean, she didn’t mean to spill her innards on him, but still, it was gross.

As he walked he wasn’t paying attention, causing his foot to catch on something. He landed directly on his face.

“Are you okay, Cake?” Basketball asked. Grassy was sitting on her head and staring up at the sky.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said gruffly. He looked behind him to see what he tripped over and saw Rocky sitting quietly.

"Oh great," Cake groaned, getting up, "we got TWO barfers on our team."

"I'm not a barfer! I'm just filled with barf!" Barf Bag added angrily.

"Isn't that sort of the same thing?" Puffball questioned. She wasn't trying to rile anybody up; she wasn't sure if it'd be the same or not.

“I don’t think so.” Basketball added, turning down and letting Grassy hop off her head, “Barf Bag didn’t vomit, she just happens to be filled with vomit. That’s different.”

Cake felt like he could cry. He didn’t think that the start to a brand new team could go this poorly. The Losers hadn’t been the same after Loser was eliminated, and Cake didn’t take the elimination well. The Losers didn’t feel right without Loser. He wasn’t close to anyone else other then Loser, and why would he need anyone else? Who was better than Loser?

He missed Loser.

“Remote, Grassy, Black Hole, Barf Bag, Pen, Puffball, Basketball, Cake, and Rocky! You guys are the final team; the Green Team!” Two chirped, tossing a small amount of confetti into the air.

“That’s great and all, but uh…” Black Hole stated, floating high above his team, “how come we only have nine?”

Pen looked everyone over and did a silent headcount. He came to the same realization Black Hole did, “Hey, he’s right! We’re supposed to have ten! Where’s our last member?”

A small murmur broke out between the teams, confused as to how someone could disappear. There were forty of them when they were teleported; how could someone just vanish? Two watched the confusion, a small smirk on their face.

Then someone found out who was missing.

“Where’s Yellow Face?” Fries asked. It took everyone a second to register what Fries said, but he was right. The large yellow face was nowhere to be seen.

“Did he not make it through the pipe all the way?” a concerned Basketball asked while turning to Two, hoping for some kind of answer.

“He’s fine.” Two said, putting their hand up, “I talked with Yellow Face privately, and he will not be competing.”

Confusion once again broke out amongst the contestants? They could do that? Just...not compete? Yellow Face’s old teammates on Free Food were the most worried.

“Well, where is he?” Bell faltered, almost sounding scared.

“Why isn’t he competing?” Foldy asked, trying to console a panicked Marker.

Two snapped their fingers and a loud ringing noise emanated from them. The contestants quit their quailing in favor of covering their ears. Some dropped to their knees while others screamed to drown out the noise.

Two clapped their hands together, and just as quickly as it started, the ringing stopped. The contestants heaved and huffed, the high pitched tone having taken years off of some of their lives.

“To answer Bell’s question,” they said slowly, “he’s currently at his warehouse, and to answer YOUR question,” they pointed to Foldy, “he isn’t competing because he said he wanted to focus on selling his products.”

A wave of understanding washed over the group. “Makes sense, I suppose,” Saw said, pulling out a bottle of Lollipop brand fork repellent, “Lollipop’s products have been kicking Yellow Face’s into the dirt.”

“Well, that’s because they’re better,” Book stated matter of factly, before turning and seeing Bell’s frowning face, “uh...no offense intended to Yellow Face, of course. Heh heh…” she chuckled awkwardly.

“What does that mean for us?” Pen asked, getting the conversation back on track, “Do we just have one less player than the other teams?”

“Nope. You guys have the honor of taking on the recommended character that won the vote!” Two grinned.

Everyone had completely forgotten about the recommended character. Two had gone so many months without talking about TPOT that it wasn’t much of a surprise that it slipped their minds. Nobody knew anything about the twenty-six possible joining contestants. Nobody had even met them.

“Without further ado, everyone please welcome the joining recommended character: Winner!” Two shouted. With a handout and a familiar drumroll (no one knew where that came from either), Winner appeared before them.

Everyone groaned. Out of all twenty-six options, this was the one they wanted the least. No one was sure what it was about Winner that made them so unlikeable, but the first time that anyone saw them made them upset. Maybe it was the fact they reminded them so much of Loser, but the fact that they were not Loser made them resent them in a away.

Winner looked around confused before their eyes landed on Two. “Oh! Is it time for TPOT to start? Did I win the vote?”

Two eagerly nodded, “Yes you did, and there’s your team over there!” Two pointed to the Green Team, who looked less than thrilled to be receiving the recommended character.

Winner walked to the green mat, a smug grin on his face, “Hiya, team. Put her there.”

A long arm made from the same material as his body appeared from on top of him and extended outward toward the closest Green member, who happened to be Pen.

Pen, torn between not wanting to be rude and not wanting to interact with Winner, swallowed hard and slowly shook their...hand. It was soft, softer then he was prepared for. It sent a shiver up his spine as Winner shook his hand up and down before letting go.

Two clapped their hands together, “Now that the teams are all set up, we could get on to the very first challenge of TPOT!”

“Finally.” Tree proclaimed, nudging Bottle, “My leaves were starting to fall-”

Before Tree could finish his sentence, he and all the other teams were suddenly teleported onto four very tall stilted platforms. Much higher than where they were with the colored pipes.

“Off.” Tree finished lamely, staring down at the deathly plunge. The bathrooms were now a dot from where they were standing and a stiff breeze could very easily wipe one of them off.

“I’m getting tired of all this teleporting!” Golf Ball shouted against the wind. Eraser was holding onto Bell, who was ringing like crazy due to the high winds pushing against her.

Two teleported with them, but they were further away from the platforms on their own, smaller platform. There was a pyramid of rubber dodgeballs next to them. Everyone had an idea where this was going, and no one was happy about it.

“I’m going to randomly throw these dodgeballs at you and know you off the platforms. The team who gets all their members knocked off first loses and will be up for elimination.” Two said, picking up one of the balls.

Snowball raised his hand, “Can we knock other people off?”

Two smiled, “Yes you may. Roughhousing and sabotage are very much encouraged!”

“Yes!” Snowball fist-pumped, excited at the idea of wreaking havoc. Marker and Foldy shared a look, making a silent agreement to keep on the opposite side of the platform, far away from Snowball.

“One more thing before we start,” Two said, snapping their fingers. Puffball, Cloudy, and Black Hole suddenly all felt much heavier. Two had taken away their ability to fly. Remote caught Puffball and Needle caught Cloudy and Lightning. Nobody can touch Black Hole for...obvious reasons, so he just plopped down onto the platform.

Bell was a little different. She wasn’t flying technically, but she also wasn’t touching the platform. So Two counted her in; cutting her wire and dropping her onto the red platform.

“AND GO!” a loud ding rang out as the words left Two’s mouth, and then all hell broke loose. Two began hurling dodgeball after dodgeball at blinding speeds. He moved like a sprinkler, starting at the platform furthest to the left (Red Team) and making his way to the right.

The barrage tactic worked on a few. Eraser had the reflexes of a sloth, so knocking him off was child's play. Two got lucky with the next hit, getting Tennis Ball, who fell back into Coiny, sending them both off the platform. The Yellow Team proved difficult; Snowball and Donut were faster than Two anticipated. He got a lucky shot in on Robot Flower though, knocking her off. The Green Team was the only team that managed to avoid losing anybody. Two took two shots, one at Cake and one at Black Hole. Cake managed to dodge and the one fired at Black Hole made contact, but kind of...fell into him.

Two pulled back and turned their attention to the first team again, giving Green Team a moment of respite. Puffball looked over sadly at Blue Team’s platform. She looked over just in time to see Fries dodge a ball and it hit Ice Cube, who was standing behind him. She slid across the platform and right off the edge, eliminating her.

“Are you okay?” Remote asked. Oh yeah, she was still being held by Remote. Puffball watched Blue Team scatter around their platform, trying to gather themselves as Two moved on to Yellow Team.

She watched Fries. He was helping Tree to his feet after he got hit but didn’t fall off the platform.

“Do you miss your team?” Remote queried, giving Puffball a small shake in an attempt to bring her out of her trance.

“I do.” Puffball admitted, “I already miss them and it hasn’t even been one challenge.”

Puffball felt terrible. She was so ready to take on TPOT with her friends. With Fries and Bell. And then all of a sudden she gets dropped onto a new team and none of them were from Free Food. Yellow Face wasn’t even competing!

“Maybe this could become a good thing,” Remote lifted Puffball and turned her so they were face to face, “new friends can be good. This could be that chance.”

“Watch this, guys! Prepare to be amazed!” Winner shouted as they caught the dodgeball flying toward them with their extendo arm, but then immediately got drilled with a second ball, sending them off the platform.

Remote glanced at Puffball, who was giving her an unbelieving look. Remote gulped nervously.
“Nobody is perfect.”

Snowball watched Winner fall and knew he had to act quickly if he wanted his team to win.

“We need a game plan,” Donut said with determination, “anyone have any ideas?”

“Can we even do anything other than dodge the balls?” Nickel questioned. He then winced, watching as Two nailed Pie in the face, causing her to spontaneously combust.

Snowball shut his eyes in thought for a moment, before they flew open, a small grin on his face. Before Nickel could react, Snowball picked him up and threw him like a discus at the Blue Team’s platform.

“SNOWBALL!” exploded Donut, red with anger, “WHAT WAS THAT!”

“Two said we could sabotage, so I’m sabotaging.”

“We were already down a teammate,” Foldy chastised, “we couldn’t afford to lose Nickel.”

“You’re worrying too much,” Snowball blew her off, “just watch.”

Fries was in the middle of assessing the damage done to his team. The Blue Team had taken the most hits so far, having lost three of their ten. Bottle was sitting at the edge of the platform, looking out at the sky. Both him and Clock said that it was a bad idea to sit so close to the edge, but Tree had told them that it was best to just let her be. Bottle was tad...scatterbrained, even airheaded. She was nice, but her head was a lot like her insides: vacant.

Pin was sitting with Naily, chatting about something or another, and Tree was sitting with Clock.

“According to my calculations, our chances of winning this challenge are somewhat low.” a soft voice said from right behind him causing him to jump. Pillow was behind him with a clipboard, and she was fervently scribbling something down.

Pillow was the strangest member of his new team. He got lucky to have Tennis Ball, Coiny, Pin, and Ice Cube on his team. He knew them well enough and it didn’t require Fries getting to know them. Everyone else was out of Fries’ control, and Fries hated being out of control. Clock and Tree were similar to him, and Bottle and Naily were friendly and eager to help the team. That left Pillow.

She was soft-spoken, and yet she was outgoing and eccentric. She also saw herself as a scientist of sorts.

Fries snagged the clipboard from Pillow’s hands and looked at her “calculations”. The paper was covered in random squiggles and spirals of all different colors. Fries looked to Pillow for some kind of explanation, but she was just smiling expectantly at him.

“We’ve lost three teammates, so we have the smallest team right now.” Pillow pointed at a particularly large spiral that was a deep blue color.

Before Fries could tell her off, he was stopped when he saw something flying towards them from Yellow Team’s platform. He squinted; it looked like a grey disc, and it was flying fast.

Fries yanked on Pillow’s arm and pulled her out of the path of the oncoming disc. The disc, which they could now see was Nickel, harmlessly flew past Fries and Pillow and hit Bottle instead. She shattered into little pieces; some of those pieces falling off the platform. Clock was quick to rub it in.

“I told her not to sit at the edge of the platform! I TOLD YOU!” he shouted at Bottle’s remains. The rest of Blue Team was still watching Nickel skip off the edge of their platform and make his way over to Red Team. Nobody over there was prepared for it, but it was Needle who was the unlucky victim. Nickel connected with her side. She was still holding Cloudy and Lightning, and Nickel’s direct hit sent all three of them, plus himself off of the platform.

“What was that!?” Saw screamed, leaping to her feet, “What just happened!?”

“That was Nickel!” Book shouted back, looking around as if to check for other incoming projectiles.

“How could it have been Nickel!?” Bell rocked back and forth, her clapper ringing loudly, “There’s an entire platform in between him and us!”

Fries whipped around to look at the Yellow Team’s platform and saw Snowball trying to get Donut to high five him. To Donut’s credit, he wasn’t having, and neither was the rest of his team. That makes sense, Fries thought.

“It’s Snowball,” he said, getting both teams to quiet down, “he threw Nickel.”

“That tiny brained troglodyte!” Golf Ball shrilled. Her teammates could almost feel the heat of her hatred radiating off of her.

“What do we do,” a frantic Naily asked, hopping from one foot to another, “none of us are as strong as Snowball.”

“Maybe not by ourselves,” Clock interjected, “but I have an idea if you’ll hear it.”

“Yes! Please, Clock, share your idea!” Pin said with a little too much enthusiasm. She’d be the first to admit she was overcompensating for the time The Losers forgot that Clock had died. She’d felt terrible ever since the incident happened, and she was sure that Clock hadn’t forgiven them.

Clock looked taken aback by Pin’s eagerness but composed himself with a confident grin.

“So, here’s what we’re gonna do.”

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU!”

Snowball stumbled back as Donut shoved him. He’d expected his team to be a little more grateful.

“What?” Snowball defended indignantly, “I just got four people out.”

“Yeah, at the cost of Nickel!” Eggy yelled, stomping her foot.

Snowball pointed over at the Red Team’s platform. “Red Team has five people left now. If I throw a few more of you guys then we can knock them off and they’re up for elimination.”

“Why do we need to knock each other off at all? Two is doing enough damage.” Gaty said as she watched Two hit Rocky off of the Green Team’s platform.

“Because Two said we could,” Snowball said, his arms crossed, “I’m helping move the challenge along.”

“Guys,” Marker said, looking past his teammates.

The rest of the Yellow Team just ignored him though, continuing to argue. “If we’re good enough then we can just wait out the other teams!” Donut said, still angry.

“We can’t rely on that!” Snowball roared, stepping up to Donut. SB was much bigger than Donut, and yet Donut stood his ground.

“We’ve been doing fine so far,” Foldy argued, standing next to Donut.

“Guys,” Marker repeated, a little louder this time, but still nobody paid him any mind.

“If you let me throw Bomby or TV then we could end this like that,” Snowball said, snapping his fingers for emphasis.

“NO!” Bomby screamed, stepping away from the group. TV couldn’t respond with proper words, but the large thumbs down and frowny face that flashed onto his screen got his point across.

“GUYS!” Marker said a third time, this time screaming it.

“WHAT, MARKER?” his entire team yelled back at him (sans TV).

“NAILY!”

Marker pointed at the sky and his entire team turned around to where he was pointing.
Marker was right. Flying down toward their platform was Naily. She was facing them backward, her spiked end heading for them like an arrow. She flew in between Snowball and Donut. She was like a heat-seeking missile, her sights set on one specific person.

And that person was Bomby.

“Everyone hit the deck!”

That was all Donut had time to say before Naily made contact with Bomby. Bomby was sensitive, even for a bomb. It didn’t take much to set him off, and a high-speed nail piercing him was more than enough to get the job done.

Bomby exploded, sending fire and shrapnel in every direction. Eggy was shattered by the explosion; yolk and eggshell everywhere. Foldy was pretty much disintegrated by the fire. Snowball almost instantly melted from being so close to the intense head.

Gaty, Donut, Marker, and TV luckily weren’t destroyed by the explosion, but it did send them careening off of the platform, eliminating them from the challenge.

Naily, being metal, wasn’t destroyed by the blast, but she was blown back and off the platform along with the other members of Yellow Team.

Two admitted a loud horn noise, causing the remaining contestants to flinch.

“And that’s the challenge! The Yellow Team are our official losers!” Two said.

In a flash, all the remaining contestants and Two were teleported back to the ground.

“Congratulations Red, Blue, and Green Teams! You guys avoid elimination!” Two said happily.

The teams cheer, happy to not be the first ones to lose. Saw pulled Fanny into a hug, much to her chagrin. Basketball, with Grassy happily swaying on her head, high fived (foot?) Remote.

“Did it work?” a high pitched voice called out. Naily, covered in ash and scuffs, stumbled over herself to reach her team. “Did the plan work?”

Tree pat Naily on the head, “Yeah, Naily. Went off without a hitch.”

“YAY!” a delirious Naily said before falling on her side.

“Now, I’ll bring back the dead contestants.” Two said, and they did just that, respawning those that died from the fall off the platform and the Team Yellow members that died in Bomby’s explosion.

“Team Yellow! You guys lost, so you’ll be the ones up for elimination!” Two announced, pointing at the offending team.

“Well, that’s just great!” Snowball huffed, folding his arms. He didn’t notice the rest of his team sneering at him.

“Use the link below to vote on who on Team Yellow you want to be eliminated, and tune in for episode two to see who was eliminated! Voting ends September 7th!"

(VOTING FOR THIS EPISODE IS NOW OVER)

Voting Poll:
https://www.poll-maker.com/poll3084729x15c14Fa4-96

Teams

Red Team: Book, Golf Ball, Eraser, Bell, Fanny, Saw, Lightning, Needle, Cloudy, Pie

Blue Team: Pin, Tree, Pillow, Fries, Coiny, Clock, Bottle, Naily, Tennis Ball, Ice Cube

Yellow Team: Donut, Eggy, TV, Snowball, Robot Flower, Nickel, Foldy, Gaty, Marker, Bomby

Green Team: Black Hole, Pen, Remote, Puffball, Winner, Grassy, Barf Bag, Cake, Rocky, Basketball

Chapter Text

Saw was a simple girl.

She did her best to never ask for a lot, and she never wanted a lot either. She was a bit of a worrywart, yeah, she’d be the first to admit that, but she wasn’t a nag or anything.

“I hate listening to you!”

“I don’t care! I am your team leader, and you do what I say!”

“Just declaring yourself leader doesn’t make you leader, Golf Ball.”

“I did not ask you, Eraser!”

Saw grumbled and covered her ears. It’d only been a day since Two made the new teams and she was already prepared to ask Two for some kind of change. Bleh had had

“Being “leader” doesn’t make you better than us!” Fanny shouted, her forehead pushed against Golf Ball’s forehead. The two had been arguing ever since the first challenge ended. Fanny and Golf Ball were incredibly different, but if there was one thing they had in common it was how argumentative they both were.

“Maybe not, but it DOES me you have to listen to me!” Golf Ball yelled back, pushing back against the force of the fan.

The Red Team had been a mixed bag so far. To put it simply, some of them were getting along and some weren’t. Bell, Cloudy, and Lighting were getting along swimmingly so far. All of them being air bound and lacking legs made for a good ice breaker. Who would’ve guessed? Pie was a floater; not getting close with anyone but also getting on with everyone fine. She was an enigma. Nobody could figure her out.

Eraser, Book, and Needle had been keeping to themselves for the most part. Being a part of new teams without anyone from their old teams (sans Bell and Eraser) was taking a toll on them, it seemed. Saw was in the same boat. Bleh had been hard to work with, but at least she knew them.

That left Fanny and Golf Ball…

“Even if you were the leader, I don’t have to listen to you when we aren’t in challenges!” Fanny huffed before turning on her heel and walking away from the group.

GB stammered, stuck between wanting to get in the last word and being too surprised by Fanny’s abrupt exit. So, she just settled on turning red with anger.

“FINE! BE LIKE THAT!” she barked at the disappearing figure of Fanny. Saw rolled her eyes. She agreed with Fanny. No one on the team decided that Golf Ball was the team captain, so who was she to just start shouting orders at everyone?

“Yelling isn’t gonna help anyone, Golf Ball,” Eraser said tiredly, his arms crossed.

GB quickly turned to Eraser, her anger having found a new target, “And what do you care anyway, Eraser? You don’t care about anything!” she yelled in his face. Eraser stepped back, surprised by the outburst. His face was blank, but then he turned away with his hands up in a “forget it” gesture.

Golf Ball could only mumble indignantly to herself as she stared daggers into Eraser’s back as he walked off. She flopped down onto the grass and shut her eyes in frustration. She was saying something that only she could hear.

Saw couldn’t help but feel a little bad for her. She wasn’t good at socializing; I mean, she only had one friend. Tennis Ball was the only person Golf Ball ever really spent her time with, so not being on the same team as him was taking its toll.

Golf Ball looked over to her, a sneer on her face, “Are you going to leave too, Saw?” she asked bitterly.

Saw shook her head, “Where would I go? It doesn’t benefit anyone to run off with people on my old team.”

Not like I’d have anyone to run off with, Saw thought sadly. The duct tape that had been holding Bleh together had been straining, and the team mashup had caused it to finally snap. Teardrop, Lollipop, and Taco had taken off to BFB, and Gaty, Book, and Ice Cube didn’t really care about Bleh at the end of its run.

Saw needed the Red Team to work out. She didn’t have anything else to fall back on.

“Look, GB,” Saw said, sitting next to the girl, “you’re probably the smartest one here, but that doesn’t equate to emotional intelligence.”

“This isn’t how you get people to like you. You push too hard,” Saw explained, “you can’t expect people to blindly follow you.”

Golf Ball looked away, sighing in defeat. If she had fists they’d be clenched. She got to her feet and gave Saw a side glance.

“I have things to consider. Thank you, Saw,” she said gruffly before walking off. If Saw was correct then she was most likely heading to her underground factory.

Saw leaned back and looked up at the sky. She had no clue what to do. Golf Ball was too stubborn to accept anything less than a leadership role, but her team was brimming with bullheaded individuals, especially Fanny. They weren’t the types to change.

Saw got up and started walking, on the hunt for any other members of her team other than GB and Fanny. The Red Team was disjointed and uncooperative, but she needed it to work…

She didn’t have any other options.

“You push too hard, Golf Ball~” FEH! What does she know anyway?

Golf Ball made her way down the steps of her underground factory, still fuming from her argument with Fanny. She knew that working with the fan would be a mountain of an obstacle, but she’d miscalculated how hard it’d be.

She’d been miscalculating a lot lately.

GB shook her head, trying her best to drown at her thoughts with the industrious sounds of the machines and conveyor belts surrounding her.

Golf Ball found the loud clanking and whirring of the machines in her factory calming. They acted almost like white noise. Tennis Ball always thought she was nuts for finding comfort in the noise, but she couldn’t help it being around it for so long.

She finally reached the bottom of the stairwell and was surprised to see someone already waiting down there by her workbench.

Speak of the devil.

“What’re you doing down here?” GB snapped at Tennis Ball. She hated it when anyone other than her was in the factory, but TB was the exception.

“We haven’t gotten a chance to talk since the split,” TB said calmly, getting off of her workbench.

Golf Ball looked away, prepared to take off back up the stairs, “There’s nothing to discuss.” she said dismissively.

TB shook his head, “I’m not sure about that.”

GB shut her eyes and walked past TB over to her workbench. The wall teleporter that she and Tennis Ball had taken from the Yoyle City Museum sat in pieces; taunting her. She’d been dissecting the item for years now, but she still couldn’t figure it out completely. That isn’t to say that her efforts have been entirely fruitless. She managed to modify it a little so as it no longer needed a month to heat up (she got it down to about a week and a half) and it could now teleport two people at a time as opposed to just one.

“Well, what could you possibly want to discuss, dear Tennis Ball?” she asked flippantly, snagging a screwdriver in between her teeth and honing in on a loose screw on the teleporters power plate.

“Please, Golf Ball, don’t be like this,” TB said from behind her, “we may not be on the same team, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t talk to each other.”

“I’m not being like anything, TB,” she said through clenched teeth as she tightened the one loose screw. She spit it out and turned to her companion, “I’m having no issues with this spit, now you should probably head back to the Blue Team. I heard Fries was trying to get you all together.”

Tennis Ball wanted to say...something. Anything to make his friend see reason, but he knew that it was usually best to leave Golf Ball alone when she got like this. He hated leaving arguments unresolved, but she didn’t want to discuss the issue. She gave him one more side glance before turning back to her workbench.

Being Golf Ball’s best friend was a tiring experience, but was much more rewarding than anyone viewing from the outside would expect. Tennis Ball had never been one to brag about his intelligence, but most of the people around him weren’t what you’d call academics. Especially the original cast of BFDI. Any conversation he was forced to have with Eraser or Firey made him want to put his head through a wall. That wasn’t to say there weren’t a few intelligent castmates. He could talk with Needle, Pin, Leafy, and a few others, but none of them were as smart as Golf Ball.

He and Golf Ball were kindred spirits, he felt. They took to each other almost immediately when they’d met, and they’d been close since. He’d learned to live with her...quirks.

Most of her quotes were annoying, yes, but whose weren’t?

“Alright,” TB said finally, turning back to the stairs, “I’m not that far if you change your mind.” and with his words in the air, Tennis Ball made his way back up the stairwell.

Golf Ball held her breath and waited until she couldn’t hear TB’s footsteps anymore before releasing it.

“He said he’d be here when I last talked to him.” Pin told Fries. The Blue Team was sitting together at the Bathroom Plaza. Fries had asked his team to meet up earlier to discuss some strategies. The only one who’d yet to show was Tennis Ball. Pin and Coiny had been talking to each other almost the whole time. Pin kept trying to include Clock in on the conversation, but Clock seemed to have no interest in interacting with his old Loser teammates. Tree and Naily seemed to be getting along nicely, and Bottle and Ice Cube took to each other well. Pillow, surprisingly enough, had been sticking by Fries’ side for the most part. You’d think that she’d want to be around Tree and Bottle, but Fries was who she’d been shadowing since the team split.

Fries folded his arms, “Well, I’m glad that’s what he told you, but he isn’t here.” he said sarcastically.

Pillow patted Fries on the back, her clipboard tucked tightly under her other arm, “It’s fine, Fries. We don’t need Tennis Ball here to hold a meeting.”

“We kind of do.” Clock said gruffly, “It’s not a team meeting if the entire team isn’t here.”

“Agreed,” Tree said, getting to his feet, “there are a million other better things I could be doing, but you have me waiting for Tennis Ball.”

“TB is smart,” Coiny added in, “but TB can also be a bit scatterbrained. Oh, and clumsy!”

This had to be a new record because Fries was already regretting the decision of a team meeting. This is what he got for trying to create comradery, he guessed. His team wasn’t receptive to his attempts, but at least Pillow was trying to help. 

“I’m here!” a voice called from behind the group. TB ran up from behind them, panting like a mad man.

“See!” Coiny yelled, “I told you he’d show up!”

“Where’ve you been?” Clock questioned, ignoring Coiny. Tennis Ball huffed and puffed, completely out of breath. “I...was...meeting with...somebody.” he heaved.

Coiny elbowed Pin and wiggled his eyebrows at her, “Oh geez, I wonder who that could have been.” he said coyly. Pin couldn’t help but giggle at her friend's antics. Even going as far back as the first BFDI, Coiny always gave TB and GB a hard time about their relationship. TB was always a good sport about it, GB...not so much.

“You shouldn’t be galavanting around with members of the other teams,” Fries said sternly, not even needing to ask who Tennis Ball was with to know who it was he was “meeting” with. He didn’t hang out with anybody other than Golf Ball, so who else could it be?

“Lay off him Fries,” Naily chastised, “he doesn’t have to be around us twenty-four seven!”

“Agreed!” Bottle cheered happily. Fries felt his head throb from irritation.

“That may be, but how can we trust a teammate who doesn’t stick with their team?” Fries said in a tone that made it clear he didn’t want anyone to talk back. That didn’t stop Pillow, for she couldn’t read a room to save her life.

“But Fries,” Pillow blurted, looking down at her clipboard, “the new team lines haven’t stopped you from talking with Puffball.”

Fries’ container may’ve been red already, but anyone could’ve seen he was blushing. “T-that’s different!” he stuttered, “she’s...relaying information about her new team to me. To give us the upper hand.” Nobody looked like they believed him.

“So, why’d you and Clock call us here, anyway?” Tree asked, very much prepared to take off the moment he got the chance.

Clock grinned, happy to finally get to the point. “Fries and I have been talking, and we both agreed it’d be best for us to elect a team leader!” he beamed.

“A team leader?” Ice Cube parroted back. A leader reminded her of the alliance, which reminded her of Book, which she did not appreciate.

Fries nodded, “The team needs structure, and a team leader would give us exactly that, so would anybody like to volunteer?”

He was answered with silence. Fries sighed; he’d been expecting this. He’d told Clock his fears, but his armless companion had insisted on going through with the plan anyway. The main issue is that neither Clock nor Fries wanted to be leaders, they didn’t want that weight on their backs. Being the leader and then failing to properly lead the team meant you were responsible for the loss. The viewers paid attention to things like what while voting, and neither boy wanted to take the hit.

“No one? Really?” Clock groaned, sitting down in defeat. He and Fries shared a glance, but Pin was the only one who noticed. She could see from a mile away what the two were up to. She out of anyone knew the danger of declaring yourself the leader of a team, and she had no intention of making that mistake again.

"Why don't you do it, Fries?" Naily said smugly, "You already boss us around like you're the leader."

Fries put his hands on his hips, "I wouldn't be a good fit," he said, looking away from his team, "someone with a little more charisma should do it."

"A former member of Death P.A.C.T. should do it!" Beamed Bottle, "That way we can keep preventing death as a team!"

Clock grimaced, "Let me make something clear, the old teams are gone. There's no more Death P.A.C.T., no more Losers, no more Free Food, no more of any of those. We're just the Blue Team now, and it should be treated as such."

"Then you be leader, Clock," Tree said, nudging Clock, "you want sooooo badly for this team to be different, then be the leader and make it different."

"I elect Clock!” Coiny yelled out, wrapping his arm around his former teammate, “I think a cool head like him would make an excellent leader!”

Clock blanched. The plan had gone as wrong as wrong could be. “No! N-no, I don’t think tha-,”

“I think that’s a great idea!” Tennis Ball chirped, interrupting Clock. A symphony of agreement rang out throughout the group. Clock looked to Fries, who was suspiciously quiet during the impromptu inauguration. They exchanged another glance, a silent conversation taking place between the two.

“Why are you just standing there!? Do something!”

“What do you want me to do? They might make me the leader.”

“You turncoat!”

“Three cheers for Clock!” Bottle gushed, lifting Clock above her head as the rest of the team surrounded them. Clock was terrified, knowing now that the moment his team lost he’d most likely be the first scapegoat to eliminate. He looked to Fries, who awkwardly rubbed his arm. His eyes showed pity, and yet he stayed quiet as Pillow talked his ear off. Clock had a really good idea of who he was going to elect as his assistant leader.

If I’m going down then you’re going down with me!

Winner wasn’t feeling good about his situation.

The only reason he’d wanted to join The Power of Two was so he could see him again, and confront him about their past. He would finally gain closure, and what does he get instead?

He rejoins only to find out Loser went with Four to finish BFB.

Winner sat on a hillside watching some of the members of his team talk amongst each other. Remote, Basketball, and Grassy were riding on top of an enlarged Puffball as she drifted in circles high above the sky. Barf Bag was sitting with Rocky, seemingly trying to engage him in conversation (to no avail). Nobody on the Green Team was sure where Cake was, but Two would make sure he was back for the next challenge.

Winner was feeling like a real loser, and not in the way he wanted to.

“Why are you by yourself?” a voice asked from behind him, and even though he couldn’t see him, Winner knew who the monotone voice belonged to.

“What do you want?” Winner asked gruffly, turning to Black Hole. He wasn’t prepared for Pen to be with him.

“No need for hostility.” Black Hole said blankly. Winner did not enjoy being around Black Hole; the guy was unreadable! It didn’t help that he didn’t have a face, but the fact he always spoke in the same flat tone made it even more difficult.

Pen, however, was much easier to read.

“Yeah, what’s your problem?” he asked indignantly, tugging anxiously at his cap. Winner rolled his eyes. He only had to be around Pen for a day and could already tell he was the type to fake tough. He could blow smoke but would never actually act.

“Shouldn’t you guys be over with your team?” Winner murmured, ignoring Pen’s posturing.

“Well...like...you’re part of the team, aren’t you?” Black Hole questioned as if it were the most obvious thing on the planet. Winner frowned. Who did he think he was? Thinking that he knew. He didn’t know anything!

“I wouldn’t call it much of a team,” Winner scoffed and rolled his eyes, “I mean, didn’t you guys all groan when you found out I’d be joining your team?”

Pen and Black Hole didn’t have an answer to that, so Winner took the silence as an invitation to continue. “I don’t know any of you guys, and you don’t know me. What kind of team is that?”

Pen looked down at his feet, unhappy with how close to home Winner’s words hit. He’d never say it out loud, but he was having the same reservations with the Green Team. Even with familiar faces from Death P.A.C.T. he still felt lost, like he didn’t know his place on it.

“It will stay like that...if...you don’t try to make friends.” Black Hole drawled before floating down the hill toward the rest of his team, leaving Pen and Winner alone.

“He’s right, you know.”

“Says who?” Winner bit back, “You? You’re just as lost as I am, you’re just nicer about it.”

Winner got to his feet and started walking past Pen, “I had one purpose to join the game, and that purpose can’t be fulfilled. Don’t try and tell me what I need to do to feel better.” he said bitterly over his shoulder. Pen wanted to say something to the blue puff, but words failed him.

Maybe he was right. Why would it be his job to tell Winner to make friends? Who cared whether or not he enjoyed his time on the Green Team? Heck, best case scenario the team loses the next challenge then maybe the viewers would agree that Winner doesn’t belong. Pen knew it wasn’t right to think that, but Winner getting eliminated meant that he didn’t.

With a deep breath, Pen started down the hill after Black Hole. Winner may not want to get to know his team, but Pen was determined to not be like Winner.

It could be worse, I guess…

It can’t get worse than this…

Donut had spent the majority of yesterday and today feeling very sorry for himself. Talking about Snowball’s actions with him had bared no fruits. How can you convince someone what they did was wrong when they were convinced what they did was justified? Nickel hadn’t been upset, so Snowball took that as the go-ahead to not have to feel bad. Donut felt bad, he felt bad for Nickel. He felt bad for himself having to get stuck on a team with Snowball.

“Can you run the odds by me again?” he asked Robot Flower.

“Of Snowball being eliminated? One to ten.” RF said annoyed.

Donut sighed, staring down at his feet that were currently dunked in the little pond of the underground forest. It had been incinerated, but Two bringing back the wildlife luckily brought back Team Ice Cube’s little home away from home. Donut and the rest of Team Ice Cube originally agreed to keep the little nature sphere secret from the other teams, have it for themselves, but since he’d lost his original team (except Bomby) Donut saw no reason to keep the secret and welcomed the new Yellow Team.

Other than the little hiccup with Snowball, the Yellow Team wasn’t too bad for Donut. The team was made up of a bunch of solid team players. Marker was weird, but Foldy helped keep him in check well enough. The three armless contestants were nice, even if Nickel was a tad cynical.

He’d been a little wary about Robot Flower, but Donut had been pleasantly surprised to find that she was much more agreeable than the original Flower. Still a bit stubborn, but thousand times more tolerable.

Now if only Snowball could learn to be the same way…

“HE. WILL. PROBABLY. BE ELIMINATED.” TV jumbled, leaning against a tree near the pond where Donut and Robot Flower were sitting.

“Hopefully.” Donut concurred. TV wasn’t concerned. The jerk always got eliminated, that’s how the viewers thought. That’s why he always kept in the back with his head down (that and it was hard for him to speak properly). The viewers hated the jerk and adored the kind underdog. Snowball didn’t stand a chance at elimination.

“It could end up being Bomby,” Robot Flower stated, her petals lighting up randomly.

Donut groaned and put his head in his hands, “I’d feel terrible if it was Bomby. It’s not his fault Blue Team threw Naily at us!” he fumed.

“Statistically the viewers don’t care about that,” RF said, her yellow lens blinking, “they want to get rid of the mean people or the people that cause a team to lose.”

“But it wasn’t his-,” before Donut could finish his sentence he and his two mechanical companions were teleported to above ground.

“Fault,” Donut said lamely, now completely disoriented. Two enjoyed abusing their powers of teleporting people far more than Four ever did. Donut decided to keep a mental note of that fact.

It was indeed Two that had teleported them, as they stood proudly over a grassy knoll. Donut looked to his left and right and saw the rest of his team had been transported here as well. Donut turned behind him and saw a little blip in the distance and figured that that was most likely the bathrooms. Two had taken them pretty far out of the way.

“Welcome Yellow Team!” Two greeted cheerfully, a great difference compared to either sullen or annoyed faces of the Yellow Team.

“Why’d you take us so far out?” Foldy asked, confusion evident in her voice. She was staring back at the bathrooms.

“Because my eliminations are done a little differently!” Two shut his eyes, very proud of themselves.

“But we had a perfectly good Cake at Stake area. Why change it?” questioned Donut, unsure of the numbers intentions.

“Because I don’t do Cake at Stake! That was Four, but I’m Two!” they said proudly, pointing at themselves.

“Okay,” Snowball said cautiously, “What do you do for elimination?”

Snowball immediately got his answer as Two snapped their fingers, causing white metal platforms to pop up underneath each of the members.

Two wasn't done yet. They lifted off the ground, their hands in the air. Behind then arose a large theater stage, red velvet curtains, and all.

Two landed gently onto the wooden planks of the stage, their arms wide as if awaiting a hug.

"Welcome to Trophy Case!"

"Trophy Case?" Eggy parroted, unsure if she heard them right.

Two just nodded and smiled, "Trophy Case! This is how I'll be handling eliminations!"

“That stage is soooo cool!” Marker gawked, getting down from his platform and approaching the stage. Before he could hop onto it, however, he was forcefully pushed back onto his platform by Two.

Donut found it scary that Two didn’t move while doing it. They didn’t even flinch.

“Woah! Slow down there, Marker,” Two warned, “you only end up on the stage when you’re eliminated.”

“So, why is it called “Trophy Case”,” Foldy wondered, still hung up on how far away Two had set up the new elimination area.

Two chuckled, “You’ll see.” he said calmly. Nobody liked their tone, so nobody decided to push them on it.

“Can we just get this over with already?” Nickel said impatiently, not wanting to drag the elimination longer than it had to.

“Yes, we can Nickel,” Two smirked, “in fact, we’ll start with you and Donut. You’re both safe with nineteen votes each out of the three hundred sixty-nine votes that we received.”

“Well, that’s good at least,” Nickel exhaled, happy to have that weight off his chest, but then he realized something, “but aren’t we supposed to get a prize or something for surviving?”

“Your prize is that you don’t get eliminated.” Two said gruffly. Donut sat down on his platform, a smile on his face, “Good enough for me.” he hummed.

“Well, not me!” Snowball shouted, stomping his foot, “we deserve something! We always got cake when we were with-”

“Gaty is safe with twenty-two votes!” Two yelled, cutting off whatever rude remark Snowball had planned.

“That’s...not too bad actually.” Gaty said, sounding relieved, “I was expecting a way higher number.”

“Foldy and Marker. You each got twenty-five and twenty-nine votes respectively.” Two said, gesturing to the pair of friends who now looked a lot calmer than a few moments ago.

“TV and Robot Flower,” Two continued, “you both are the next ones safe with thirty-four votes and thirty-seven votes each.”

Robot Flower nodded in recognition, and TV played a stock confetti sound effect and flashed some firework footage on his screen. Only three members of the Yellow Team had yet to be told they were safe: Snowball, Eggy, and Bomby. The ladder didn’t seem nervous, his arms folded and his foot tapping impatiently. The other two looked a lot more scared.

“How can I be in the bottom three!?” Eggy howled dramatically. Bomby was anxious hopping from one foot to the other, yanking at his fuse like he could tear it off.

“That’s a good question,” Gaty whispered to herself. She was doing her best to rack her brain for a reason as to why Eggy would receive so many votes, but she was coming up blank. Gaty didn’t know Eggy very well, they weren’t exactly close when they were trapped in the TLC together. However, to her knowledge, the polka-dotted egg wasn’t mean or rude, so why the high amount of votes? 

“The person with the third-highest amount of votes is…” Two said, pausing for dramatic effect, “...BOMBY! You’re safe with fifty-two votes!”

“Yes!” Bomby squealed, leaping to his feet. Snowball quirked an eyebrow, “Seriously? He was the reason we lost the challenge.”

“It was his fault. Naily caused him to blow up.” Donut defended. He was hoping he wouldn’t have to listen to Snowball much longer.

“I don’t understand. Why do I have so many votes?” Eggy, sniveled, looking close to tears. Her team looked away from her with a mix of sympathy and awkwardness.

“It’s down to the two of you,” Two said giddily, “Snowball and Eggy. One of YOU will be the first eliminated from The Power of Two!” the number sounded like he could burst from the excitement.

Eggy bit her lip almost enough to crack her shell. She could barely handle the tension without passing out. Snowball looked unfazed.

“And that person eliminated…” Two said, purposefully slowing down his words, doing his best to squeeze as much suspense out of the moment as possible.

“Is EGGY with sixty-eight votes! Snowball is safe with sixty-four votes!” Two shouted out happily.

“WHAT!” Eggy, Nickel, Gaty, and Donut all yelled at the same time.

“It’s about time!” Snowball said a little louder than he’d intended to. Seems like he was a bit more nervous about being eliminated then he let on.

“That doesn’t make any sense!” a panicked Donut called. The majority of the team was in an uproar. Everyone except Snowball, Robot Flower, and TV were voicing their complaints to an already annoyed Two, who was covering their ears in an attempt to block out the sudden noise.

“How is that possible?”

“Can we get a recount?”

“How can I be eliminated!?”

“Okay, enough of that,” Two huffed. Without a second thought, they pointed a finger gun at Egggy and “fired”. Out of the tip of Two’s finger, a blinding white light shot out and struck Eggy directly in the middle of her chest. The rest of the team had to turn away from the light. Eggy screamed in pain as the light grew more intense.

“What’re you doing to her!?” Gaty shrieked, terrified as she watched Eggy stop squirming under the pressure of the beam.

“I’m...eliminating her,” Two strained, a bead of sweat making its way down their forehead.

“STOP!” Donut yelled again, his voice cracking from the screaming he’d been doing, “YOU’RE HURTING HER!”

“Almost…,” Two pushed forward, leaning slightly off the stage and more into the flow of the beam, “done!” they suddenly called out, and just like that Two leaned back and the light was gone.

The Yellow Team looked over at the horror that Two had caused. Eggy was still there; not cracked or anything of the sort, but she wasn’t...herself anymore. Standing where she once was was a perfect stone replica of her. The statue stood on a stone pedestal with a small gold plaque on it. Eggy’s face was frozen in a mixture of terror and pain like she’d seen her life flash before her eyes and felt everything.

“Wh-what...did you,” Nickel hesitated, moving a little closer to the Eggy statue. He was at a loss for words, but Robot Flower found them for him.

“What did you do to her!?” she screamed, her petals blinking sporadically. Her movements were stilted, but she moved to the statue as fast as she could.

Two folded their arms, a smug smile on their face, “I eliminated her.”

“How is this an elimination!” an angry Donut asked. Nickel leaned down close to the statue’s plaque and read what it said.

~Eggy~

40th Place

“Trophy Case…” Nickel said to himself, but Two could still hear him.

“You figured it out, Nickel!” Two said, quickly moving from the stage to Nickel’s side and wrapping an arm around him. “I’ve frozen Eggy here in stone and will be adding her to my trophy case that will remain on display here on this stage!”

With a snap of Two’s fingers, Eggy lifted into the air and was placed into the first slot of a large glass collectors case that had materialized onto the stage.

“Is she...you know,” Gaty hesitated, “okay?”

“Hm?” Two turned to the gate before smiling, “oh yeah, she’s alright. When I turn her back to normal she won’t even think a second has passed.”

Gaty wasn’t too sure how much she believed that, but she also wasn’t in a position to question it. She turned to see Nickel sulking.

“So much for that armless alliance,” Nickel sighed. Gaty walked up to Nickel, a sympathetic smile on her face.

“Hey, it’s alright,” she said, “we can still be the alliance. Keep it alive for Eggy.”

Nickel scoffed, “An alliance of only two people isn’t much of an alliance, Gaty.”

Gaty was unsure of what to say before her face morphed into a sly grin. “That may be, but we aren’t the only armless ones on this team.” She shot a side glance over to Foldy, who was sitting with Marker.

Before Nickel could answer, the sound of Two snapping once again filled the field, and the group (along with Two) were teleported away, leaving Eggy and the stage behind.

“So, who do you think’ll be eliminated?” Barf Bag asked the large group waiting by the bathrooms. Two had called the three safe teams together for the next challenge and told them to wait while they did the elimination.

“It will obviously be Snowball,” Golf Ball said confidently, “an oaf like him doesn’t stand a chance.”

“Nah,” Eraser spoke up from her left, “SB’s awesome. No way he’s out first.”

“Who else would it be then?” Cake questioned.

“Oh geez, I hope it’s not Snowball.” Lightning said worriedly. Snowball was the only person he was close to when he was still on Iance, and he’d hate to see him be the first out of TPOT.

Coiny fervently nodded, “Agreed, Lightning. SB’s ma boy, it’d suck if he was kicked out.”

Golf Ball went red in the face, “How could so many people like that pea-brained idiot!?” she shouted indignantly.

“Will you relax?” Bell hissed, “Why do you care so much anyway?”

“Those two have a pretty rough history.” Needle whispered to Bell, causing the instrument to stop talking. Needle was just as annoyed as everyone else, but she’d been there during the original BFDI with Snowball and Golf Ball, and those two hated each other. So, she wanted no business in their decade long feud.

“It could be any one of them,” Pillow piped up, “the viewers can be very fickle.” She wasn’t wrong either. Leaving their fates up to those watching them was a risky wager to make, but they all accepted it when they decided to compete. Everyone just wished it wasn’t so easy for them to flip flop. Usually, one wrong move and it was over a thousand votes and you were gone.

The round table conversation the contestants were having was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Two and the Yellow Team in the middle of the three other teams.

“Hello everyone!” Two greeted and gestured to the Yellow Team, “Everybody say hello to the new Yellow Team!”

The other scanned over the new team of nine and it only took a few moments before people realized who got the boot.

“Oh no, Eggy.” Pin gasped, covering her mouth. The other former Losers looked forlorn at the loss of their former teammate. Even Clock seemed upset at Eggy’s early elimination, even if it was only a little bit.

The only one who didn’t seem to care was Cake.

“I’m sorry about your old teammate, Cake,” Basketball said with a sad smile. She empathized with a friend getting eliminated. She’d been pretty beaten up after 8-Ball had been voted out. She hoped he was doing alright, wherever Four had taken him.

“Yes! Grassy is sorry too!” Grassy said with a little too much cheerfulness in his voice. Basketball knew that Grassy meant well by saying that, but the boy almost always said everything with the same excited tone. Cake’s response wasn’t what either of them expected.

"It's whatever. It doesn't really matter."

If he was being completely honest with himself, he couldn’t’ve cared less that Eggy had been eliminated. He didn’t care about any of the former members of The Losers. His opinion on Eggy’s elimination was neutral.

“Alright, everybody!” Two said, clapping their hands together, “it’s time for the second challenge of The Power of Two!”

“And what is the challenge?” Eraser asked impatiently.

“I am very happy that you asked!” Two said with a beaming smile. “I think you guys will really like this one!”

Two clapped their hands and the next thing the four teams knew they were teleported away from the bathrooms and were now in a completely foreign environment.

The teams had been separated into four large rooms with tall white walls and no ceiling. The sun beat down on the confused teams as they stared down at their feet. They were still standing on the grass of the plains so Two hadn’t taken them too far away.

“Oh, where are we now?” Book asked, sounding exasperated. The answer to her question came through the sound of Two’s booming voice.

“Here’s how this challenge is going to work!” Everyone could hear them, but nobody could see where they were. “A member of an opposing team will be placed in the box with you and they’ll be in a mech! It’ll be their job to try and pick you guys up and place you in a bin that will be placed in there with them! There are two ways to lose this challenge! Those being either all of your team gets put in the bin, or if your teammate in the mech gets taken out by the team they’re fighting!”

A confusing explanation? Very much so, yes. The contestants all had a feeling in their guts telling them that they’d learn on the fly how this would work.

“Without waiting any longer...let’s begin!” Two shouted out.

The Red Team stepped back as a blinding light filled the box and then dissipated as fast as it appeared. In front of them stood a mech suit that dwarfed all of them. It was bronze in color and stood on two legs with two arms by its sides. Instead of hands their claw-esque contraptions at the end. In place of a head, there was a wide glass dome that was hollow inside, as if it were a control room. Behind the machine was a large grey metal bucket.

“Who do you think is in there?” Pie said quizzically, not seeming fazed by the sudden appearance of the mech.

Golf Ball squinted, “I’d recognize that shade of orange anywhere.” she said annoyed, knowing exactly who was inside.

“We got Coiny.” she sighed as if resigning herself to her fate.

The mech began lumbering towards them.

“Everyone, scatter!” it may have been Clock that yelled, but it may have also been Tennis Ball. The Blue Team lept out of the way as the turquoise-colored mech brought its foot down where they were originally standing. They weren’t sure who was in the mech yet since they couldn’t see into the control room. Fries, Clock, Pillow, and Bottle dived to the left, and Pin, Tree, Naily, Tennis Ball, and Ice Cube dived to the right.

“What do we do, Clock!?” Tree yelled from one side of the metal foot. The mech began reaching down and managed to grab Pin in its clawed grasp.

Clock was panicked, they couldn’t afford to lose somebody this quickly into the challenge. He clenched his eyes shut and quickly racked his brain for an idea, and he found one! He wasn’t too sure how good it was but it was all they had at the moment.

Clock hopped up on Fries’ back and snagged one of his fries in between his teeth. Before Fries could object Clock had already hopped off of him and ran to the other side of the mech where Pin was being picked up. With as much force as he could muster, he swung himself at Pin and used the fry like a bat, knocking her free from the mechs grasp.

“What’s the big idea!?” Fries demanded indignantly, digging his heels into the dirt.

Clock spit out the fry, “I figured your fries were stale! Thank goodness they were! Good teamwork, assistant leader!”

“Assistent...what?” Fries went from angry to confused in an instant. Bottle gasped happily.

“Fries, you’re the assistant leader? That’s a great idea!” she said with excitement. Fries wanted nothing more than to deny the assumption, but he didn’t get the chance as the foot of the mech suddenly came down on top of Bottle, crushing her.

“Does that count?” whoever was in the mech spoke out through an intercom built into it. Fries immediately recognized the voice as Foldy’s.

“Yeah, I’ll count that, but you’re supposed to put them in the bin.” Two’s voice answered back.

“Good to know,” Foldy said deviously. The mech dropped to one knee and swept its arm across the ground. Pin, Tree, Clock, and Naily dodged the arm, but Tennis Ball and Ice Cube weren’t so lucky. They were flung to the side, Ice Cube sliding and TB rolling into the right wall of the room.

The clawed hand, instead of slapping them, quickly grabbed ahold of both Fries and Pillow. They struggled in vain to escape the hold as the mech stood up straight. The claw hand dangled Pillow and Fries precariously in front of the glass dome, bringing the two former Free Food members face to face.

“Why, hello there, Fries,” Foldy said slyly.

Fries put his hands over his face, “Oh my tater.” he said, very defeated.

“I guess Foldy got put in the mech,” Marker lamented, poking at the dirt.

“Now isn’t the time, Marker!” Nickel shouted in a panic and the mech they got stuck with reached out for the writing utensil. Luckily Robot Flower was quick to act and yanked Marker away in time as the claw caught nothing but grass and dirt.

The mech the Yellow Team was stuck with was a deep black with white around the joints. It also had button-like patterns on its chest similar to the button layout Remote had, making it pretty obvious who was inside of it.

Instead of picking up the hand, Remote’s mech scraped through the ground and grabbed Donut instead. With one swift movement, the mech picked itself up and swung around and threw Donut perfectly across the room and into the bin intended for contestants. He screamed the whole way.

“Whelp,” Nickel huffed, “there goes our de facto leader. We’re doomed,” he said cynically.

“Don’t give up yet!” Gaty called out from the other side of the room, dodging the incoming foot of the mech. She helped push TV to one of the back corners of the room. TV was slow and lumbering, it would’ve been easy for the mech to grab him, so Gaty thought it best to sit him aside where Remote wouldn’t focus on him.

“Yeah, Nickel,” Bomby said by the coin’s side, “it isn’t over until we’re all in the bin!”

“Hold still,” Remote’s unique voice rang out through the speaker in the mech. She was aiming for Robot Flower, but she’d missed again as the mechanical mimic jumped to the left. For as jittery and as stilted as Robot Flower’s movements were, she was surprisingly fast.

Gaty’s head whipped around, trying to get her barings properly. Remote’s mech slapped Marker and Nickel aside as she went to grab Bomby. Bomby was lucky enough to dive out of the way before Remote came down on him.

“What to do...what to do?” Gaty asked herself, trying to come up with a plan.

“Snowball.” the familiar voice of Golf Ball spoke up from behind her, but that made no sense. Golf Ball was on the Red Team, wasn’t she? Gaty turned around and saw the source of the voice. It was TV, playing a clip of GB on her screen.

“Snowball.” the GB clip repeated. Gaty raised an eyebrow at the television. “What about Snowball?”

“SNOWBALL. LOOK.” TV clipped together, this time much more frantic with the clips he used.

“Wha…?” Gaty was confused but turned around anyway, and she saw what TV wanted her to see. Snowball was standing completely still, looking up at the mech with an unwavering gaze.

“Snowball, what’re you doing!?” Gaty shouted, trying to get his attention. It worked, Snowball turned to briefly look at Gaty before turning back to face the mech that was honed in focused on catching Robot Flower.

“What...is he doing?” Gaty tilted her head, even more, confused than before.

“I. THINK. HE’S. WAITING.” TV patched together, trying to reason what the ball was up to. That answer only left Gaty more perplexed. She didn’t know Snowball very well, but she never knew him to be the type to wait.

So, she sat with TV and watched Snowball watch the mech.

“That color is not subtle in the slightest.” Puffball said flatly.

“Yeah, that’s pretty obvious who that is.” Cake responded.

The two weren’t kidding. The mech in the room with them was pink. The only pink contestant other than Puffball was Eraser, and it obviously wasn’t Puffball in the mech.

“Maybe your friend will throw the challenge for us?” Barf Bag elbowed Pen. She was saying it half jokingly, half actually wanting Pen to give it a shot. Pen though had no intention of trying to get Eraser to throw it for them. The last thing he wanted was to get his buddy in trouble with the viewers.

The mech was moving slowly, even slower than anyone was expecting the mech to move. Pen rolled his eyes. Leave it to Eraser to find a way to be lazy even in a giant metal robot.

“Look out! Left foot!” Basketball screamed, backing away as the foot she warned about slammed into the Earth.

Surprisingly enough it was Winner who acted first. He extended his puffy arm from his head and grabbed a hold of Rocky, who had been sitting still, ignorant of the danger he was in.

“What’re you doing?” Barf Bag questioned as Winner ran up to the mech's foot with Rocky above his head. The puff started shaking Rocky like he was a mixed drink, as fast as he could. Winner’s plan worked, as Rocky let out his signature “BULLEH!” and spewed chunks onto the foot of the mech. An acidic smell and a sizzling sound filled the air as the Green Team stood dumbfounded watching the puke melt through the metal.

“Quick thinking,” Black Hole complimented. The compliment was genuine despite Black Hole’s diction. He wasn’t the only one impressed.

“I’m...astounded that worked.” A shocked Cake proclaimed. Basketball and Pen nodded in agreement.

Eraser’s mech couldn’t compensate for the sudden weight shift and was forced to take a knee. The Green Team wasn’t expecting the sudden flash of movement as it grabbed onto Winner, who was still holding onto Rocky. The two of them were quickly tossed over the mech’s shoulder and right into the bin.

“Well, that didn’t last.” Cake deadpanned.

“He gave us something to work with,” Pen said firmly, “let’s not waste it.”

“I told you I won’t listen to you!”

“I AM TRYING TO HELP! IGNORING ME IS A BAD IDEA!”

“Is now really the time, you two!?” Book yelled down at Fanny and Golf Ball as Coiny’s mech picked her up. Coiny was shockingly good at this, he’d already tossed Pie into the bin (not that it was difficult).

“I will stop when Fanny starts listening to reason!” Golf Ball barked, not listening to Book’s reasoning. The dictionary managed to get out a strangled grumble before Coiny spun around and tossed her into the bin.

The remaining members of the Red Team were getting quite sick of the back and forth bickering. Lighting was the only one who’d been making any real attempt at bringing down the mech, zapping at the joint trying to short circuit them, though to no avail. Saw had tried sawing at the foot, but the metal was tougher than expected.

“I’m not the bad guy for not accepting you as the leader!” Fanny yelled back, now forehead to forehead. Fanny’s eye was twitching, she was so mad. Everyone had seen Fanny angry, she always woke up already at a low boil, but this was the most aggressive anyone had seen her. She’d made it extremely clear she wasn’t about to kowtow to Golf Ball’s demands. It was a miracle that nobody else on the team had snapped yet. Needle and Bell felt themselves getting close.

But nobody expected it to be Cloudy.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Cloudy roared, managing to get his voice over the shouting match between GB and Fanny. “Nobody is asking you to be best friends, but you need to get along during challenges!”

Golf Ball and Fanny were shocked into silence, unprepared to have the quiet Cloudy of all people lose it on them.

Cloudy went from the puffy white to a more wispy dark grey color. A low thunder sound rumbled from within him, and there were quick and bright yellow flashes crackling beneath him. Lighting recognized it immediately, for obvious reasons. Everyone was shocked, Cloudy didn’t get angry. Not like this.

“I don’t want to hear it anymore, and now I’m gonna finish the challenge!” Cloudy turned around and faced Saw, “Saw! Cut Bell down!”

Saw was so shocked by Cloudy’s forcefulness that she just did what he said without thinking. She lept up and used the teeth of her blade to cut Bell’s string, sending her to the ground. Cloudy shot over to Bell’s side, his anger now replaced with an apologetic look.

“I apologize in advance.”

“Apologize for whaaaaAAAAH!”

Bell was interrupted by the strange sensation of Cloudy biting down on the remaining piece of string that was still attached to her. With as much strength he had in his tiny body, Cloudy lifted Bell off of the ground. It started slow. Cloudy started circling in the air, Bell moving with him. Before anyone could say anything Cloudy was like an Olympic hammer thrower, Bell being the hammer.

Just as Bell started picking up some serious speed, Coudy let her go, sending her flying up toward Coiny’s mech. She screamed the whole time as she sored upward and collided with the glass dome.

Coiny shrieked a rather unmanly shriek as Bell crashed through the glass and landed in the control room.

“Hi, Coiny,” Bell said politely, quite shaken from being thrown through a windshield.

“I...I don’t think that’s how y-you’re supposed to do the challenge,” Coiny fretted nervously. He started pressing random buttons and pulling on random switches on the control panel in front of him.

“That is a valid strategy!” Two’s muffled voice was heard from inside the mech. Coiny’s button pressing and switch pulling became more frantic. He was unsure of how to remove Bell from the control room.

“For the Red Team!” Was what Coiny heard. He wasn’t paying attention to what Bell was doing, which was his biggest mistake. She’d leaned forward, tipped herself over on top of him, and bit down hard on his right hand.

And so an epic battle began.

The Blue Team watched helplessly as Foldy’s mech threw Fries and Pillow into the bin.

“So, you have any other ideas, Clock?” Tree asked blankly. Clock didn’t respond, he didn’t have any other ideas.

“I’m...uh...open to other sharing ideas.” Clock said, unsure of how to proceed. He looked at all his teammates. Tree looked bored like he always did, Ice Cube was shaking, her eyes trained on every one of the mech’s movements. Naily was trying to stay tough, but the wiggle in her knees betrayed her. Pin and Tennis Ball both seemed to be in deep thought.

“You two look like you have an idea,” Clock called out to the two original BFDI contestants.

TB and Pin shared a glance before turning to the elected leader. “We do,” Tennis Ball said slowly, “but it involves Naily.”

Naily sighed, “Why does it always involve me?”

Pin put her arm out, stopping Tennis Ball, “Well, it doesn’t necessarily have to be Naily. I could also do it.”

“And what is “it” exactly?” Tree folded his arms, not sounding confident in whatever the two were planning.

The team was broken from their conversation by the lumbering form of the mech approaching. It speedily took a knee and reached out for the Blue Team, more specifically Pin since she was the closest one to it. She easily dodged the hand and then immediately put her plan into action. She lunged forward and stuck her metal tip into the opening where the mech’s hand connected to the arm. Electric sparks flew from the joint as Pin jostled around, cutting wires and pricking circuits. She pulled out as Foldy’s mech stood up, but the hand to the mech didn’t come with. Pin had done enough damage to sever the hand from the body.

Her team stood in awe as the mech stumbled backward. The only one not aghast was Tennis Ball, who was smiling proudly.

Nickel and Marker ran to the back left corner of the room, Remote’s mech hot on their trail. They’d been doing a fairly good job at avoiding the mech. A lot of dodging and ducking and weaving around its legs had been working so far. Nickel had already come to terms with the only way the Yellow Team was going to be safe this round was by running out the clock and waiting for one of the other teams to slip up.

“Oh, why’d she follow us?” Nickel bemoaned, now backed into the corner. Marker was clinging to him like he’d die if he let go. Nickel ran the numbers in his head. Remote had already eliminated Donut and when she grabbed Marker and himself there’d only been five left because Foldy was selected to be in a mech.

The mech got to its knees and braced itself against the wall with one of its arms. It reached down for the two of them and they shut their eyes, awaiting the cold metal claw to encase them in its vice grip.

But the claw never came.

Nickel slowly opened his eyes, and then they shot open wide when he saw why the claw hadn’t grabbed them.

Snowball was holding the claw back with his hands. He was pushed back by the force of the mech, but Snowball had planted his feet and had no intention of moving.

“Snowball?” Nicked asked dumbly, his fear now replaced with surprise. Snowball didn’t respond with words, but instead with a grunt as he strained himself to keep the claw off the other two boys. His heels pushed into the dirt as he grunted.

He managed to turn his head back toward the two and shot them a cocky grin. “You ready to help me win the challenge, pocket change?” he said through gritted teeth.

“What?” both Marker and Nickel asked at the same time. Snowball did the unthinkable and released his hold on the claw and jumped onto the top of it. With Snowball no longer pushing against the force of it, the mech’s claw lurched forward and dug deep into the dirt. It stopped mere inches from Nickel and Marker.

Marker stepped over the claw, and Nickel was about to do the same before Snowball grabbed a hold of him. He was beginning to get flashbacks.

Snowball tucked Nickel under his arm and started moving up the length of the mech’s arm. It was pulling and tugging, but it had embedded itself into the ground. Its right arm tried to come down on the two Yellow Team members, but Snowball was two fast. Before Remote had time to react Snowball, with Nickel in tow, had reached the glass dome that led into the control room. Remote looked afraid as Snowball smiled cruelly at her.

“Sorry, Nickel,” SB whispered, sounding genuinely apologetic. Nickel was surprised, he’d never heard Snowball sound so...honest; so vulnerable. It was almost like he was feeling an actual emotion for a moment.

That moment ended almost immediately as Snowball cocked back and sent Nickel through the glass windshield, shattering it completely. He rolled onto his side into the control room and clanked to the ground, not getting up after.

Snowball hopped into the control room and stood before Remote.

Remote gulped, a suddenly bad feeling had made its way deep into her stomach.

Eraser wasn’t having a good day.

First, he got sucked into an argument between Golf Ball and Fanny. He hated arguing, it was so emotionally draining. How the two girls found the energy to do it so often he’d probably never understand. Eraser never did well with emotions, he hated...feeling. It was always too much work to get invested in things. Eraser had few things he cared about. One of those things was himself. You always had to look out for number one in his eyes.

The only other thing he cared about was his friends.

Eraser loved looking cool, and he didn’t want to hangout with people he didn’t think were cool. Pen, Blocky, and Snowball were cool; easy to hangout with. Everyone always else usually had some kind of chip on their shoulder.

The original BFDI was the hardest to deal with. That season was filled with a bunch of bossy snobs that never failed to give Eraser a headache. Pin, Golf Ball, Flower, Match, and Pencil, he could go on. And when people weren’t being bossy, they were being just generally annoying. Woody and Spongy in particular would always get to him the most. BFB was better, but not by much.

And now here he was in TPOT…

“He’s down! We can do this! Keep going!”

A whole lot of the same…

After Winner used Rocky to take out his mech’s foot, the entire challenge started going downhill. Black Hole was using his gravitational pull to yank panels off the machine, and Puffbull carried Pen and Basketball up to the glass dome and the two were attempting to break the glass. It hadn’t been entirely bad, however. Along with Winner and Rocky, he’d also eliminated Grassy and Cake from his kneeling position. There were only five left to take care of. He wasn’t sure how he was going to deal with Black Hole, but he’d figure it out when he got there.

“Give up, Eraser!” Pen yelled at him through the glass as he banged on it with his fist. Eraser ignored him, instead opting to bring the clawed hand of the mech down on Barf Bag, who’d been tearing at wires in the damaged foot.

“I have an idea,” Eraser heard Basketball say, but he didn’t hear her actual idea as Puffball suddenly moved away from the mech and flew high into the air above it.

“Heh. Must’ve gotten the hint.” Eraser said to himself as he nonchalantly tossed Barf Bag into the bin.

“Okay, now to go for...Puffball?” Eraser went from confident to vexed in a nanosecond. The pink puff was sorening downward and coming in for a head on collision with the glass dome.

Eraser pushed himself against the backwall of the room as Puffball stopped a foot or so away from the glass, sending Basketball and Pen careening into the glass and breaking it.

“It’s over Eraser!” Basketball mumbled, picking herself up from her fall. Pen did the same but instantly rushed for his best friend.

Eraser braised himself for Pen’s attack, but the attack never came. Instead, Two’s voice boomed loudly.

“WE HAVE A WINNER! THE CHALLENGE IS OVER!”

“Wait. What?” The three objects in the control room asked at the same time. Before they could react the mech they were standing in disappeared into thin air. All three of them plummeted to the grass below, completely gobsmacked.

The walls that kept all four of the teams enclosed sank back into the dirt. Pen whipped his head around and saw that the other mechs were gone as well, and so were the bins holding the eliminated contestants.

“What happened? Did we win?” Puffball asked, floating down to her team. Two popped up next to her, spooking her.

“Nope. Your team actually are the ones that lost!” Two said, smiling.

“WHAT!?” The entire Yellow Team shouted at once. Eraser fell back, exhausted but relieved.

“That makes no sense!” Pen said frantically, “we weren’t all eliminated yet!”

“True,” a voice not on the Green Team called, “but the important one got taken out.”

Marching over was Snowball, Remote proudly held in his arms. The appliance looked very disappointed in herself.

“Here’s your teammate back,” he said in a bored manner, tossing Remote back over to her team, “she wasn’t much competition, but she was fine.”

“Uh,” Donut grumbled, rubbing his head, “the bin was dark. Did we lose?”

“The opposite!” Robot Flower cheered, actually sounding excited, “not only did we not win, but we’re the ones who caused the losers to lose!”

“We did?” Donut said, surprised.

RF nodded, “We did. It was all thanks to Snowball. He got Remote out of the mech!”

“Snowball?” Donut asked, now even more surprised. He turned to the rest of his team as they gathered around him. Gaty was going off about the stunt that Snowball pulled, and Nickel was stumbling his way over, still dazed from his part in SB’s plan. TV was playing a celebratory jingle from his speakers, and Marker and Bomby embraced each other.

Donut wasn’t concerned with that, however. He was more concerned with watching Snowball. The ball smacked his hands against each other, getting the dust off of them. Donut was impressed. He’d assumed that Snowball wouldn’t care to participate, but he thought back on the first challenge that the Yellow Team had lost. Snowball’s plan to win had been cruel, yes, but it was still a plan to win. That was more than the rest of his team did. Snowball was one to keep a close eye on.

“Did...did we win?” Bell asked groggily from her spot on the ground. She had flattened Coiny after the mech disappeared.

“I mean...technically?” Lightning unsurely said, sitting Bell up and getting her off of Coiny.

“That was a really good plan, Cloudy,” Saw said, praising her floating teammate, “a few more seconds and Bell would’ve taken out Coiny.”

Cloudy gave Saw a tired smile, “I’m just happy that we aren’t up for elimination.”

“I must give you credit, Cloudy,” Golf Ball said with a sigh, “that was a very good plan. Aggressive, maybe, but it was working.”

Cloudy frowned, “Yeah, sorry, Bell. I should’ve asked before going through with the plan.”

“It’s...fine, Cloudy,” Bell said, stars in her eyes. Cloudy felt bad for forcing Bell into his plan, but she seemed...fine.

“You know what?” GB said, a small smile forming on her face, “I think I may have a solution to our earlier leader conundrum.”

“You were the only one who cared about that.” Needle said quickly, not wanting another argument to break out.

GB shook her head, “No, I’m not going to say what you think. Fanny’s main issue was she did not want me to be the leader, but I’d like to elect Cloudy as our leader!”

The Red Team started whispering to each other. Fanny eyed Golf Ball warrily. That was fine. Golf Ball didn’t need Fanny to trust her. She needed Fanny to trust Cloudy.

“I don’t know, Golf Ball,” Cloudy said, unsure, “I don’t think I’m exactly leader material.”

“That’s exactly it, Cloudy!” GB said excitedly, “People don’t want me to lead because I’m too...abrasive. But the team likes you enough; they’ll listen to you!”

“I think that’s a great idea!” Saw said happily. Pie and Lighting nodded in agreement.

“I would not object to Cloudy being team leader.” Fanny said gruffly, “at least it’s not Golf Ball.”

Cloudy was silent before he gave his team an uneasy smile, “A-alright. I’ll be team leader.”

Golf Ball gave the cloud a warm smile, but on the inside, she was having a difficult time containing her excitement. Her plan had gone off without a hitch!

She wasn’t naive, she knew that her team didn’t like her and that taking control would be hard. She usually had Tennis Ball, her friendlier counterpart, to vouch for her and take her side on things, but she wasn’t granted such a privilege this time. Fanny was her biggest detractor, however, even more then she’d been prepared for. Fanny didn’t like anything, but she really didn’t like Golf Ball. So, GB would have to work twice as hard if she was going to gain control of the Red Team.

That’s where Cloudy came in. It was like a gift from the heavens that he snapped and came up with a plan to defeat Coiny. GB had suspected that it’d be Needle to step up and take charge, but she was ecstatic that it was Cloudy. Needle was no schmuck, and she was used to Golf Ball and how she operated; Cloudy wasn’t. She’d have to use a genteler touch then she was used to, but with enough work, she could use him as a mouthpiece for her ideas. People hated listening to her, but if her ideas were coming from someone else then that was a completely different story.

She’d found her patsy.

“The Green Team lost, so they’re up for elimination! Use the link below this message to vote who you want to be eliminated! Voting will end on October 14th!”

(VOTING FOR THIS EPISODE IS NOW OVER)

https://www.poll-maker.com/poll3144555x06eFF5d3-97

Teams

Red Team: Book, Golf Ball, Eraser, Bell, Fanny, Saw, Lightning, Needle, Cloudy, Pie

Blue Team: Pin, Tree, Pillow, Fries, Coiny, Clock, Bottle, Naily, Tennis Ball, Ice Cube

Yellow Team: Donut, TV, Snowball, Robot Flower, Nickel, Foldy, Gaty, Marker, Bomby

Green Team: Black Hole, Pen, Remote, Puffball, Winner, Grassy, Barf Bag, Cake, Rocky, Basketball

The Statues: Eggy

Chapter Text

“I should disassemble you.”

“And what would that solve?”

Fries and Clock had been at each other’s throats since the end of the mech challenge. Fries had felt...slighted by Clock assigning him as the assistant leader without talking to him first. It had taken Clock quite a bit of charisma to get Fries to not kill him, and even with that he still wasn’t out of the fire. Fries was still extremely angry with him.

Fries sighed and leaned over the sink in the boy’s bathroom. He’d pulled Clock away from the rest of their team when the challenge had ended.

“You’re not entirely blameless yourself,” Clock shot back, “You left me high and dry! We agreed to have someone step forward as a team leader and the moment you get an out you leave me to become team leader!”

“Then why drag me down with you?” Fries turned back, pointing the finger.

“Because you being the assistant leader guarantees you’ll help me succeed,” Clock said, stepping back from Fries. Clock was a guy who found himself often intimidated, but Fries was bigger than him, and he was extremely angry.

“What do you mean?” Fries asked, trying to keep his cool. Clock continued, “If you’re also considered partially the leader, then you’ll get partial blame for losses. That’ll push you to work harder so we don’t lose.”

That...was a smart plan. Fries couldn’t contest that. Clock’s assumption had been dead on. Now that he was stuck as the assistant leader he planned on sticking close by Clock’s side.

Clock shook his head, “I’m sorry, alright? I panicked when I got made leader.”

Fries sighed and went to the exit, “You better hope that this works out for us, Clock.”

With that, Fries left Clock in the bathroom. He had a lot to think about and wanted nothing more than to be alone.

“Fries!”

Which was something he wouldn’t be getting any time soon.

“What do you two want?” Fries asked gruffly to Bottle and Pillow, who were the two who called his name. Fries didn’t love his team, but the two former Death P.A.C.T. members were the biggest thorns in his side. They were just so obnoxious, always hounding him about plans for the future of the Blue Team. They were well-intentioned, sure, but that didn’t stop them from being annoying.

“We’ve been thinking about it, and we’ve created a Blue Team hierarchy!” Pillow said excitedly. Bottle nodded along with a wide smile on her face.

Fries scoffed, “A team hierarchy? Seriously?” he questioned incredulously.

Pillow turned her clipboard to Fries to show him the crudely draw rainbow pyramid she’d drawn. It was split into four sections. On the bottom tier in red was a drawing of Coiny, Ice Cube, Naily, and Pin. Above them were Tree and Tennisball blue, then Bottle and Pillow in green. And on the tip of the pyramid were Fries and Clock in gold.

“See, you and Clock are at the top,” Bottle pitched, “then it’s me and Pillow because we’re like your scribes or something.”

Fries pointed at the bottom tier, “Why put these four at the bottom?” he asked.

Pillow tucked her clipboard back under her arm, “Oh, it’s because they’re the weakest members of the team, so they get the least amount of authority.”

“Weakest? I’m not sure about that.” The four listed on the bottom tier didn’t make too much sense to Fries. Ice Cube was fine, she wasn’t a leader, and she wasn’t physically capable in most challenges; perfect for the bottom tier. Coiny and Naily weren’t that smart, but they’d proven helpful in challenges, especially Naily. She was the reason the Yellow Team had lost the first challenge. Pin also was a strange placement, she was leagues more intelligent then Pillow and Bottle combined. Tennisball made sense, he supposed, but he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at Tree’s placement on the third tier. Fries sensed some bias.

“Keep this uh,” Fries drawled, glancing back at the bathroom. He thought about Clock and the rest of his team, they probably wouldn’t be happy to see themselves being ranked from most important to least important, “keep it between us, okay? I’ll tell Clock, myself, but don’t tell anyone else about this pyramid you made.”

The girls nodded and started in a different direction, discussing the intricacies of the pyramid they’d made. Fries huffed, annoyed. Leading the Blue Team was already showing to be more trouble than it was worth.

“This is weird.”

“It’s not weird; it’s warranted.”

“It’s not. It’s just weird.”

Gaty and Foldy had been going back and forth for the last five minutes, neither of them gaining any new info from each other. Marker was with them too, but he was more focused on the dirt than on the source of Foldy and Gaty’s disagreement. And what was the argument, you ask?

Snowball.

After the mech challenge, Gaty became a little obsessed with figuring out more about Snowball. His actions felt so out of character for the aggressive boy that it stuck in her head like a bad song. Donut told her that it was for selfish purposes, but Gaty wasn’t so sure. That was the most effort she’d ever seen Snowball put out since she’d met him, and Snowball very rarely put in any form of work. She wanted to see what Snowball was up to.

So, here she was, hiding in a bush and stalking her teammate. Along with Foldy and Marker, who she’d asked to come along. For some reason, they’d agreed.

“Can we go yet?” Marker groaned, letting the dirt he’d picked up slowly slide out of his hands. Foldy looked back, a sympathetic look on her face.

“Soon, Marker. As soon as Gaty here comes to her senses,” she said, her annoyance very evident. Gaty frowned, “I just wanna see if Snowball does anything else out of character.”

“You’re the only one who thinks he’s up to anything suspicious!” Foldy whisper yelled, “He hasn’t been doing anything other than talking to Lightning!”

Foldy was telling the truth. After the trio started following Snowball he’d stopped and started talking to his former Iance member.

“Your team is nowhere near as strong as the Yellow Team,” Snowball bragged smugly, his arms crossed. Lightning cocked an eyebrow at his “friend”, “The Red Team haven’t lost a challenge yet. You guys have already lost someone.”

Snowball’s smug smirk quickly melted into a frown, “Well, now we’re ten times as strong.”

Lightning was unsure, “You say that, but a couple of members of your team spying on you from a bush speaks volumes.”

Snowball shook his head, “It doesn’t matter that they’re following me, what matters is they have ME on their team! I make them strong!”

Coiny walked up to the two, a wide smile on his face, “Hey SB! Lightning! What’re you two getting up to?”

“Nothing. Hey, Coiny, you wanna help me with something?” Snowball asked, his malicious smile slowly creeping back onto his face.

“Sure! What do you need?” Coiny wondered, always happy to help. He received an answer in the form of Snowball’s hand grabbing his side and chucking him in the direction of the bush where his teammates were hidden.

“GET DOWN” Gaty yelled, jumping out of the bush. Foldy did the same, tackling Marker onto the ground. Coiny cut through the middle of the bush, slicing it in half at the roots. Coiny kept flying and stuck into the ground.

The three Yellow Team members scrambled to their feet and ran in separate directions. Snowball dusted off his hands and turned back to a bewildered Lightning.

“Jeez, SB, you’re not very good at making friends, are you?” he asked, more as a rhetorical question than anything. He wasn’t expecting Snowball to answer him.

“I don’t need any friends. I just need me.”

Beautiful days in Goiky weren’t rare. You could count the dreary and bland days on one hand. Gorgeous sunsets and blue skies were the norm. The one downside would be the heat, and that only depended on who you asked. Snowball and Ice Cube despised the overbearing sun, but people like Firey and Tree benefited from it.

The heat never bothered Pen, in fact, he quite disliked the cold. It made his ink chill, and that only made him get colder faster.

It was beautiful days like this that made him feel a little more at ease with the world.

Pen was currently flying high above the ground on top of Puffball, Barf Bag at his side. He’d wanted to get away from everyone for a little bit before their elimination, and Puffball was more than happy to oblige. Barf Bag had already been riding on Puffball and so the three were in the air.

“Who do you think’ll get eliminated?” Barf Bag asked, looking over the side of Puffball. She hated feeling awkward and she didn’t know Pen very well, but she was always open to new friends.

Pen sighed, “I don’t know, could be anyone. My money’s on Rocky though.”

“Rocky? You think they’d vote out a contestant from the original BFDI this early?” Barf Bag questioned.

“Rocky doesn’t do much,” Puffball’s modulated voice answered, “he doesn’t add anything to the cast. The viewers could realize that.”

Pen nodded and patted Puffball, “What she said.”

“Are you okay Pen?” BB wondered, “You seem kind of down.”

Pen was at a crossroads. He wasn’t sure if he could trust Barf Bag and Puffball. He wasn’t sure if he could trust any of his teammates that well.

“I just...feel...like I’m on my own right now.” he said sadly, tugging at his cap, “I wasn’t on a team with my friends in BFB, and now I’m not on a team with my friends again.” Pen grimaced like he just remembered a horrid memory, “And one of them isn’t even here. He’s still on BFB.”

“Blocky,” Barf Bag grumbled at the memory of the mischievous boy. She’d never found Blocky very pleasant to be around, but that didn’t mean his friends were like that. Eraser and Pen were, frankly, a thousand times nicer than Blocky. Sure, they weren’t perfect. Eraser was lethargic and Pen was in his head too much, but that didn’t make them bad guys.

“If it makes you feel better I’m not really with any of my friends either,” Barf Bag said softly, patting Pen on the back.

“I’m not either,” Puffball added, “Free Food’s been split up all across the teams.”

“You just have to adapt, and I know that’s hard, but sometimes you just need to.” Barf Bag said honestly, “It’s a sink or swim kind of situation.”

“Is it that serious?” Pen questioned, hoping Barf Bag was just exaggerating.

Barf Bag giggled, “Not really, but you should still put forward an effort. I mean, Remote and Black Hole are already on the team, at least you know them.”

“I guess that’s true, but I’m not sure if that makes it-” Pen was cut off as his sight grew hazy and his entire world shifted. He suddenly felt incredibly sick, and it all hit him at once like a punch to the gut. In a matter of seconds, his vision returned and his nausea went away.

“Wh-what was that?” a delirious Barf Bag asked. She’d gone through the same nausea Pen had, and by the way Puffball was shaking the same could be said for her.

Pen looked down over Puffball’s side and saw a large theater stage far below them. Everyone looked like ants from this height, but he could make out Two on the stage.

“Looks like it’s time to face the music,” Pen said somberly, realizing what seeing Two meant. Puffball took the hint and started floating down toward the stage.

“Thank you for joining us, you three!” Two said happily, “Welcome to Trophy Case, Green Team!”

Pen and Barf Bag hopped off of Puffball, who returned to her regular size. The rest of the Green Team was already there. Remote was closest to the stage, Rocky by her side. Basketball was sitting close by with Grassy on her head. Winner and Cake were sitting by themselves on opposite sides of the stage, and Black Hole was hovering silently above them all.

“Trophy Case?” Barf Bag questioned. No one on the Yellow Team wanted to talk about Eggy’s elimination after episode two ended, and now looking to the stage she could understand why. Inside one of the many glass cases sitting on the stage was Eggy, now a lot more stiff than usual.

“Have you ever just got a bad feeling?” Cake asked nobody in specific, and no one had an answer for him anyway.

“Do you think we can, like, get started?” Black Hole said blankly.

Two nodded, “That we can my gaping friend!” Two snapped their fingers and large white platforms arose from the ground underneath each of the eight contestants. Grassy got off of Basketball and made his way to one of the empty spots. Black Hole floated down to the other empty platform.

“Alright,” Two started, “now that we’re all here and we’re all in our places, we can get started! We received three hundred and thirty-four votes, which is fewer than last time!”

Winner scoffed, “What’s wrong, Two? Didn’t reach the projected voting number?”

“Probably not a good idea to taunt them, Winner,” Barf Bag said cautiously. Angering Four never ended well for anyone, so Two was most likely more of the same.

Surprisingly though, Two just laughed, “You can say that Winner, sure, but not worry! I’m sure that number’ll go back up in no time!”

“The number being large always scares me,” Remote said, her shaking legs betraying her flat voice.

“Well, there’s no reason to worry, Remote, because you received the least amount of votes at eleven!” That immediately calmed the appliance down.

“After that is Black Hole and Pen with nineteen and twenty-one votes each!” It was hard for Pen to tell because...well...Black Hole didn’t have a face, but it felt like he was looking at him. Black Hole was impossible to read, and his voice gave nothing away, so Pen had no clue why the void would just be staring at him.

“Puffball!” Two continued, “You’re safe with twenty-six votes!”

Puffball breathed a sigh of relief, happy she wouldn’t have to relive the pain of elimination. At least not yet.

“Basketball and Grassy,” the two in question stiffened, “are safe with thirty-three and thirty-four votes!”

“YAY!” Grassy yelled out, jumping in the air. Basketball gave him a warm, but tired smile.

Two grinned, “Five are safe, and four aren’t. Barf Bag, Winner, Rocky, and Cake. One of you will be the next to join my trophy case.”

“Don’t sound so happy about it!” Barf Bag shivered, not wanting to suffer the same fate that Eggy had.

“Don’t worry, Barf Bag, you’re safe at forty-two votes!” Two said, giving the girl a thumbs up and a wink.

“Also safe is Cake at forty-seven votes!”

Cake rolled his eyes, “Oh, that’s great. More grating challenges.” he said sarcastically. His teammates frowned at his attitude. Well, except for Rocky, who was in his world as usual.

“Winner. Rocky.” Two spoke slowly, “You are the final two. One of you will be eliminated.”

“Can we PLEASE get a move on with this?” Winner petulantly asked, “I’d like to get the whole turning into a statue thing over.”

Two stared down at the two unsafe Green Team members, and they smiled. They lifted their hand, wisps of white light sparked in their palm.

Winner shut his eyes and braced himself for the impact of the beam. He was annoyed and scared, but he wasn’t surprised. He’d expected to get eliminated early. He was the new guy. He had no fans or friends. He could only wait until his time ran out.

So, why was he not a statue yet?

He opened his eyes just in time to watch the white beam of light blast free from Two’s hand and strike Rocky. The group flinched as the only reaction Rocky gave to being struck was a tiny squeak. The light was blinding, but it was gone almost as fast as it appeared. Rocky hadn’t changed much considering he was already a rock, but his legs were now stone as well. His eyes were clenched shut like he’d been hit in the face (which he had been).

Two pulled their hand back and blew away the smoke billowing from it, “Winner is safe forty-nine votes. That eliminates Rocky at fifty-two.”

“Yeah, we kind of put that together.” Pen said, slowly approaching the now petrified Rocky. On the stone platform beneath him was a gold plaque, just like Eggy.

~Rocky~

39th Place

“What...happens now?” Puffball asked, also staring at the statue that used to be her teammate.

Two lifted their hand, and Rocky lifted with it, and it slowly hovered over to an open case on the stage; right next to Eggy.

“Now, we start the next challenge!”

With a clap of their hands, the group was teleported again.

Two and the nine remaining members of the Green Team were teleported to the bathroom plaza where the other three teams were already waiting. They quickly picked up on who was missing.

“I wouldn’t have suspected Rocky to get eliminated.” Tennis Ball said, a mixture of surprise and sadness in his voice.

“I did,” Golf Ball boasted, “the viewers don’t care for contestants like Rocky anymore. They want contestants who add something to the competition.”

“Why do you insist on being so mean, GB?” asked an exasperated Needle. Trying to get Golf Ball to be friendly was like asking a brick wall to soften up; pointless.

Book rolled her eyes, “Can we just get the next challenge started please?” She asked impatiently.

“Why yes, we can, Book!” Two smiled lifting their hand, “Brace yourselves, everyone!”

With a quick flick of their wrist, Two teleported the four teams. The bathroom plaza was replaced with a snowy mountain top. All thirty-eight contestants found their footing and gathered their surroundings. The plaza was nowhere insight, and the mountain they were standing on was a steep one.

“Oh, I don’t like being this high up,” Tennisball murmured, sounding sick. He backed his large body into his teammates, hoping to find a way down.

“Take it easy, TB,” Tree said, grabbing onto the larger object, “something tells me we won’t be up here for long.”

“You are exactly right, Tree!” Two waved their hand and out of thin air dropped four large bobsleds color-coded to the four team’s colors.

“All of you will ride down the mountain in these bobsleds, dodging trees and rocks on the way. There’s a finish line set up at the bottom of the mountain, the last team to cross that line will be up for elimination!”

Pillow raised her hand, “Are we allowed to impede each other's progress?” she asked politely. Nobody, not even her team, liked the sound of that.

“Roughhousing is encouraged!” Two said, wickedly grinning. “But enough talk! The challenge starts...now!”

Two disappeared in a puff of smoke. The teams wasted no time rushing to their bobsleds. The Yellow Team was the first to get in, Snowball pushed them over the side before hopping in himself. The Green Team followed suit, followed then by the Red Team. The Blue Team was the last group to toss themselves off the mountain.

The teams immediately found the task of riding down the mountain harder than they anticipated.

“Big rock on the left!” Donut yelled, and Snowball responded in kind by using his body weight to swerve the sled to the right, dodging the rock.

“I’d appreciate some help!” Snowball strained, scanning the obstacles in front of him, “Everyone with ARMS should be helping!”

The team did as they were told. Donut, Robot Flower, Bomby, and Marker help move the sled to the left to avoid an oncoming tree, and Snowball had been right. The sled moved much easier with the extra hands.

“This isn’t going...too bad so far,” Nickel said, daring to hope for a good outcome. Gaty nudged him, “Careful, Nickel. We don’t want any jinxes.”

“It’s a little late for that!” a voice called out, and it wasn’t from anyone on the Yellow Team. Coming up on the right side was a familiar red bobsled.

“You’re already jonxed!” it was Saw that had shouted at them.

“It’s jinxed, Saw.” Book corrected, not taking her eyes off the downward slope of the mountain. She was at the front of the sled, with Needle right behind her as the second pair of eyes.

“Keep going strong, team!” Cloudy said to his team, floating low in the bobsled. GB stood up straight, a mad grin on her face, “You heard the team leader! Push!”

Snowball lifted his head, staring ahead, but not looking. Donut watched him grow stiff at the sound of Golf Ball’s voice.

“Snowball?” Donut worried, he reached out and touched the boy’s shoulder. Snowball tensed up at the touch, which caused Donut to flinch. SB looked behind him and Donut felt his body grow cold at the icy look in the boy’s eyes. They were glazed over as if his body was an empty husk.

“I don’t care what you say, I’m still trying!”

“SB? Are you there?” it was Nickel who asked.

“You’re lying! You wouldn’t do that! Your tiny, teeny tiny little brain wouldn’t allow such insanity!”

“Hello? Snowball?” that was Foldy.

“GB…” he grumbled, his hands tightening on the sides of the sled.

“What?” a perplexed Donut asked, but he didn’t receive an answer in the form of words. It was more of a roar than actual words, and with that roar, Snowball yanked his team’s sled to the side and rammed it into the Red Team’s slide.

The Red Team wasn’t expecting the sudden attack, so none of the team could brace themselves. Lightning grabbed onto Bell for stability, and Eraser fell onto his back.

“What’re you maniacs doing?” Fanny screamed, her blades quickening.

“I have no idea!” Gaty yelled back, “Donut, what’s happening!?”

“Why would I know!?” a panicked Donut answered while trying to shake Snowball out of his trance.

Pie slowly opened her eyes and lazily rolled over to look at the offending enemy team. “Hey, they shouldn’t be doing that. We should stop that,” she said, sounding bored.

“Wow?” Needle said with fake enthusiasm, “Maybe it should be YOU who should do something, Pie?”

Pie shrugged, “Alright.”

Pie grabbed Needle and began brandishing her like a sword from her sitting position. Robot Flower and Nickel ducked down and avoided the swing, but TV was too big and got hit right in the middle of his screen. Robot Flower was quick to act and grabbed hold of Marker. Pie went in for a second swing and was blocked by a Marker wielding RF.

“Put me down!” Needle shrieked, sounding sick. Marker couldn’t even talk, too shaken from the collision with Needle.

Snowball grunted and pushed the sled into the Red Team’s sled again. They were so close that one member could’ve hopped into the other team’s sled. Pie and Robot Flower continued to duel each other, their poor teammates their unwilling weapons.

“Somebody stop him!” Golf Ball yelled out in anger, while also cowering on the floor of her sled.

“I can’t shake him!” Book yelled back. She veered the sled to the right, but the Yellow Team’s sled stayed on them. Robot Flower pushed against Pie, Needle, and Marker both unconscious by this point.

“I HATE THIS!” Fanny screamed, her usual malice replaced with an uncharacteristic fear.

The battling continued for another minute before it was suddenly halted by a terrain change from snow to grass and dirt. The ride down became bouncier; rougher. The members of both teams rattled around as the bottom of the mountain approached. Book pushed herself forward, nearly tipping out of the sled as she eyed the checkered finish line. Snowball kept pushing against them, but she stood strong.

“GET THIS PEABRAIN AWAY FROM ME!” GB screamed frantically, pushing against Book’s back. That extra weight helped move the Red Team’s sled ahead of the Yellow Team’s sled.

“Here come the first two teams!” Two yelled from their spot next to the finish line. It was close, almost too close to tell, but the Red Team’s sled collided with the ground first, followed by the Yellow Team.

Book hit the ground face first as the red sled tipped over her, sending the rest of her team flying. Lightning and Cloudy flew into the air, avoiding the disaster. Golf Ball and Fanny were launched forward and collided in the air. They landed hard onto the dirt, GB bouncing upon impact. Bell was held back by her string and didn’t fly away, and Eraser held onto her. Pie landed safely on her feet, but that safety was shortlived as Needle landed on top of her, causing her to explode. Pie’s innards went everywhere, splattering onto her nearby teammates.

The Yellow Team’s landing was much more gentle. Snowball put his hands out and used them to slow the sled to a halt at the finish line.

“The Red Team and the Yellow Team are both safe from elimination!” Two clapped.

“What was that all about!?” Donut screeched, pushing Snowball off the sled. The rest of the team unloaded off the sled. Snowball closed his eyes and shook his head.

“What was...what?” Snowball mumbled, confused.

“What were you doing back there? You went mad!” Robot Flower shrilled, still holding onto an unconscious Marker.

Snowball gave his two teammates a perplexed look before turning to the Red Team. He saw GB slowly getting to her feet.

“I...where?” like an amnesiac, SB rubbed his head and staggered away from his team, and left the race area. Donut couldn’t believe what he’d witnessed. The always confrontational Snowball had just...walked away from a fight. He wasn’t himself either. Snowball was hotheaded and stubborn, not soft-spoken, and forgetful.

“What...just happened?” Gaty questioned, walking up to Donut’s side. Donut frowned, unsure of how to interpret his problematic teammate’s actions. “I don’t know.” was all he could say.

Eraser let go of Bell and looked back up toward the top of the mountain and the over to Two with a confused face.

“Where’s the Blue and Green Team?”

“Two teams just reached the bottom!” Remote shouted over the rush of their sled kicking up snow.

“Don’t panic,” Barf Bag said sternly, “just stay focused!” She, Pen, and Remote were the three controlling the sled. Especially considering that they were the only members of the Green Team with arms.

“We should be down there in a few more seconds!” Basketball yelled, her eyes tightly shut with Grassy sitting between her legs.

Right behind the Green Team was the Blue Team, which was being controlled by Fries, with Pin and Coiny behind him helping. Tennis Ball was at the back of the sled, his eyes clenched shut and facing away from the action. Tree and Pillow held on tight to Tennis Ball, as he made a good, solid anchor to keep attached to.

“I’m scared!” Ice Cube feebly yelled, sounding ready to cry. Clock stomped his foot, “We just need to get ahead of the Green Team!”

“How do you suggest we do that?” Coiny asked, breathing heavily from the energy he was exerting helping move the sled. Bottle slapped Coiny on the top of his head and pointed in front of them.

“Look,” she said, “we use the rock!” she pointed to a large and particularly slanted rock directly ahead of them. Clock was able to guess Bottle's plan, and so was Coiny. “What do you say, leader?” Coiny turned to look at Clock and received an affirming if weary, nod.

“This is a bad idea,” Fries said under his breath, but still he pushed forward toward the rock. No point in going against the words of the “team leader”. The sled reached the rock and slid smoothly off the slanted stone and was suddenly airborne.

Pen was surprised that he was having a nice time sledding down the mountain. It was the perfect weather for this kind of activity. Another beautiful day in Goiky.

That’s why he was so confused as to why the sun, which had been so brutally beating down on him, was suddenly blocked out. He looked up and saw a long blue sled directly above him and his team.

“Watch out!” he heard Basketball yell. Guess she noticed the sled too. The shade was gone just as quickly as it appeared. The Blue Team’s sled landed with a loud crash in front of the Green Team. Tennis Ball, who was at the back of the blue sled, opened his eyes only to be greeted by an unhappy looking Remote.

“I...feel like that shouldn’t have worked as well as it did,” TB said, sounding more confused than anything. “It shouldn’t have!” Cake shouted from near the back of the green sled.

“We need to get ahead of them.” Barf Bag said, more to herself than anything. Puffball had heard her thought, “What do we do?”

“Uhm,” Black Hole spoke up, “I think I have an idea that might work.” Black Hole the entire time had just been sort of...floating behind his team’s sled. Staying as close to it as he could without directly pulling it into his gravitational pull.

“Whatever you plan on doing you should do it now.” Winner leaned back against the side of the sled as the snow transitioned into grass.

Black Hole would’ve nodded if he could, but he couldn’t, so he didn’t. Instead, he moved away from his sled and toward the Blue Team’s sled. He hovered in the air them before suddenly pulsing to life as if a switch inside him had turned on.

The Blue Team kept pushing down the hill, but their progress came to a sudden stop.

“Hey guys,” Coiny said, nervousness creeping into his voice, “why did we...uhm...why’d we stop?”

“I’ll give you one guess,” an exasperated Clock spoke, looking toward Black Hole. The sled started sliding to the side, closer to Black Hole. It began with a gentle tug, but that tug was quickly turning into an aggressive pull. Another second passed and the sled was in the air and fully sucked into Black Hole’s gravitational pull. The team flew out of the sled and circled BH, along with their sled. They were rolling over each other in the pull, knocking into each other and also the sled.

The Green Team stopped their sled and watched in awe as the Blue Team swirled around their teammate. “Come on, Black Hole! We have to get to the finish line!” Barf Bag shouted.

“Oh. Alright.”

Black Hole pulsed again, and the spiraling Blue Team sped up. Before they could reach maximum velocity Black Hole let them go, sending them all (and their sled) careening into a nearby tree. Naily hit the tree first, piercing it. Naily was followed by Clock and Tree. Tree collided with Naily and Clock missed the tree completely, landing on his face. Bottle and Ice Cube both hit the tree at high speed, causing them both to shatter. Tennis Ball also flew past the tree, hitting Clock (who was in the middle of standing up), and rolling away from his team. Pin, Fries, Coiny, and Pillow all hit the tree at the same time, and then they proceeded to get hit with their sled, which snapped in two against the tree.

Black Hole moved back down toward his team, who were all staring at him in shock.

“What?” he asked, confusion seeping into his voice. No one knew what to say, and so they didn’t say anything. They just started moving the sled once again with no further interference from the Blue Team. They crossed the finish line with no fanfare.

“And the Green Team claim the final safe spot!” Two encouraged, “That means that the Blue Team is up for elimination!”

The three safe teams heard a scream get louder as Tennis Ball rolled down the hill, unable to stop himself.

“I think that about sums it up.” Winner deadpanned.

“Use the link below to vote for who YOU think should be eliminated from the Blue Team! Voting will end on November 20th!

(VOTING FOR THIS EPISODE HAS ENDED)

https://www.poll-maker.com/poll3220595x48c444a5-100

Teams

Red Team: Book, Golf Ball, Eraser, Bell, Fanny, Saw, Lightning, Needle, Cloudy, Pie

Blue Team: Pin, Tree, Pillow, Fries, Coiny, Clock, Bottle, Naily, Tennis Ball, Ice Cube

Yellow Team: Donut, TV, Snowball, Robot Flower, Nickel, Foldy, Gaty, Marker, Bomby

Green Team: Black Hole, Pen, Remote, Puffball, Winner, Grassy, Barf Bag, Cake, Basketball

The Statues: Eggy, Rocky

Chapter Text

Lightning had never been one to be nosey, but that went out the window when he smelled something suspicious.

His new team had been a mixed bag. People like Golf Ball and Fanny made it hard for him to enjoy himself, but people like Eraser and Saw made it tolerable. He also liked Cloudy, which was why he was so concerned. He’d been spending a lot of time with Golf Ball in the last few days, which generally wouldn’t be a problem, but it was only Golf Ball he was spending time with. The two of them had been acting strange since the team unanimously promoted Cloudy to team leader.

Hence why he was hiding in a bush by the entrance to Golf Ball’s underground, waiting for the two of them to come by. Was it a breach of privacy? Yes. Was it because he wanted to find out what was going on with a potential friend? Yes, again.

Lightning heard the sound of chatter and ducked lower into the bush so as not to be spotted.

“You’ve been doing good, but you’re far from perfect.” Lightning recognized GB’s raspy voice.

“I...never said I was perfect.” and there was Cloudy. His voice was the most distinct of any of the contestants.

“Well, good, because you aren’t. We still have a lot of work to do.” GB said firmly.

Work? What could she mean by that? Lighting wondered, doing his best to remain still. The last thing he needed was Golf Ball mad at him for snooping.

“GB! Cloudy!” a voice shouted out to the duo. Lightning couldn’t see her, but he could recognize the voice as Bell’s.

“Oh, hey Bell!” Cloudy exclaimed, sounding happy to see another face, “Do you need something?”

“Book and Needle were having a game of tic tac toe and it was getting pretty intense! Eraser and Fanny started betting money on the games. I wanted to see if you wanted to join?”

Lightning sighed. That sounded like a pretty cool sight to see. Nothing was better than a particularly intense game of tic tac toe. But instead, he was uncomfortably hunched low in a bush spying on his teammates. Funny how life worked out sometimes.

“That sounds like it’d be-” Cloudy’s words were cut off by GB loudly coughing. A moment of silence passed before Cloudy started talking again, this time a little more feebly, “Well, actually...I can’t right now. But I can join later, okay?” he said, sounding unsure of himself.

“Cloudy and I have work we need to complete. As his assistant team leader, I must help him with said issues.” Golf Ball said matter of factly. Lightning didn’t hear her say anything else, but he did hear her footsteps start down the metal steps to her underground factory. The last thing Lightning heard was Cloudy stutter before apologizing. No more words were exchanged after that, so he assumed that his team leader had floated after Golf Ball.

Lightning decided it was time to cut his losses and floated out of the bush he was hiding in, startling Bell.

“Well, that didn’t get me anywhere.” Lightning said, defeated. Bell blanched at the boy’s sudden appearance, “W-where did you come from?”

Lightning pointed lamely at his hiding spot, “Bush.” he said, frustration obvious. Bell looked past him and down the entrance to Golf Ball’s factory. “I’m worried about him,” she said aloud, more to herself than Lightning.

“I am too,” Lightning agreed, “that’s why I was hiding in the bush. I wanted to see what they’ve been up to.”

Bell frowned, “It has to be Golf Ball. I don’t know what she’s up to, but she’s doing...something.” she finished, unsure of herself.

Lightning nodded, “I agree, but we can’t be sure what she’s planning. And I really don’t want to go down into the factory.”

Bell didn’t say anything, but she agreed with the bolt more than she’d care to admit. She’d never been one to pick fights, and she wasn’t about to start, but watching the cloud that was supposed to lead the Red Team walk off with another member without talking to anyone else made her clapper ache. It annoyed her. A team was supposed to stick together, no matter what! Even if the teams were randomly assigned you still try and make it work.

“You said Book and Needle were playing tic tac toe?” Lightning asked. Bell nodded, “A pretty intense one I might say.”

Lightning grinned, “Now, that’s something I gotta see!” he floated past Bell toward the direction she came from. Bell smiled, though only a little. Cloudy and Golf Ball may not’ve been team players, but at least the rest of her team was cool.

Tree was struggling.

He’d been struggling for the past few days now but had been keeping himself. He preferred being more stoic, not letting people get to him. He did it on purpose because he knew that that made him unique to the viewer. That was what made Death P.A.C.T. so successful. Being on a team with scatterbrains like Pillow and Bottle made him stand out against their eccentricities. That’s also why he and Black Hole got on so well. Though he was pretty sure that Black Hole was just...like that.

He tapped his hand against the picnic table he was sitting at. Waiting at the bathrooms for Two to summon his team for elimination was nerve-wracking. Especially since Two would often just disappear after challenges and reappear for Trophy Case. This would be the Blue Team’s first elimination and Tree was feeling the pressure. The uniqueness he felt he had in Death P.A.C.T. didn’t seem so unique on his new team. Why would they need snide ol’ Tree when they had Fries’ grouchiness or Clock’s special brand of cynicism? It worried him. The last thing he wanted was to end up like Eggy or Rocky.

“You look like you’re thinking.”

Tree looked up to see Pie sitting down across from him. Her eyes watched him in that lazy manner that they always did.

He chuckled at what she’d said, “Yeah, I tend to do that a lot.”

“Well, what’re you thinking about?” Pie asked slowly, resting her head in her hand.

“You shouldn’t be talking to me,” Tree shot back, “we’re not on the same team anymore.”

Pie shrugged, “Why would that matter?”

“Because people can be paranoid, and someone may think we’re scheming together.” Tree hushed, nervously tugging at one of his branches.

“But we’re not,” Pie defended, rolling her eyes, “so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Tree acquiesced, “How are things on the Red Team?”

“They’re boring,” she sighed, “but they’re good at preventing death, which is what I care about.”

“Does not dying count as preventing death?” Tree skeptically asked.

“Is death happening?” Pie questioned rhetorically. Tree never understood Pie’s obsession with death prevention. It started as a nice sentiment that he went with, but after a while, it became clear how serious she was about her mission. She was strange and lackadaisical, but she was determined to keep people alive. An admirable trait, truly.

“How’s life on the Blue Team?”

“I, uh,” Tree hesitated, “I think they’re hiding something from me.”

“Really?” Pie cocked an eyebrow, “Even with Bottle and Pillow on the team?”

“That’s just it,” Tree said quickly, “I think it’s them hiding something from the rest of the team.”

Pie shook her head, “What makes you say that?”

“They’ve been talking with Fries and Clock a lot.”

“So?”

“Fries and Clock, and nobody else,” Tree elaborated, “not me, not Naily, not Coiny, not Tennis Ball. Nobody.”

“Well, Bottle and Pillow can be a little…,” Pie trailed off, not wanting to say anything rude about her former teammates. Tree knew what she was getting at, however. Pillow’s head was just a bunch of fluff and Bottle was a tad bit of an airhead. They weren’t capable of deception, but they could be deceived.

He’d have to watch out for Fries and Clock.

“I think you’re probably paranoid.” Pie laughed, looking up at the sky.

“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean-” Tree cut himself off as Pie and the bathroom plaza was replaced with an open field. He whipped his head around to see Two’s stage along with the trophy case he’d heard so much about. Naily, Bottle, and Tennis Ball were on his left, and Clock, Pillow, and Ice Cube were on his right. Two stood in the middle of the stage, with that familiar smile on their face.

Fries appeared next, “Just tell me what they-,” he choked on his sentence and turned toward the stage. “Oh, well that’s just great.”

“Let me guess. You were also in mid-conversation?” Tree snarked, knowing full well what Fries’ answer would be. Coiny and Pin were the last two to arrive, appearing closest to the stage.

“Welcome to Trophy Case, Blue Team!” Two clapped their hands together, “It’s time to find out which of you ten will be eliminated!”

“And whoever gets eliminated ends up in the case?” Tennis Ball wondered, looking up at the frozen Eggy and Rocky. Two nodded, still smiling, “That’s right, and we got a whopping four hundred fifty-one votes; the most yet!”

“That sounds like a lot,” Naily said in wonderment.

Fries crossed his arms, “Those numbers are small potatoes. Remember what they looked like on BFB?” he elbowed Naily, who cheekily laughed in response.

Two frowned, but soldiered forward, “Naily is the first safe with only eleven votes,” he said, noticeably less enthused.

Naily smiled at the good news before nudging Fries’ side. “You really rattled them, huh?” she said, grinning up at him. Fries just huffed, “It’s not like it’s hard. Just compare them to Four and they clam up.”

“Pillow is safe with nineteen votes and Tennis Ball is safe with twenty-three votes!” Two cheered, their enthusiasm for the elimination returning, “and Fries is also safe with twenty-four votes!”

“Oh no,” Pin panicked, “how can I get so many votes?”

“Don’t worry, Pin, you’re the next safe with thirty votes!” Two beamed, “Followed by Clock and Coiny with fourty-two and fourty-four votes respectively!”

“Yes!” Coiny fist pumped. Clock let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding in. Fourty-four votes was too many in the grand scheme of things, but it was still too many for him to feel comfortable. He’d have to try and adjust his behavior.

“Tree, Bottle, and Ice Cube! You three are the last ones who have yet to be declared safe!” Two confirmed, eyeing the last three Blue Team members. Tree and Icy shared a nervous glance, not excited at the prospect of turning to stone. Bottle was...being Bottle. She was staring off past Two and their stage at nothing in particular.

Two stood silent, allowing the team to take in the intensity before they spoke, “Tree! You are safe with fifty-seven votes!”

“Oh, thank goodness.” a relieved Tree said, “I really thought I was a goner there for a minute.”

“We’re not that lucky,” Naily chuckled but received a smack to the back of the head from Pin.

“It’s down to the final two,” Two said, sticking out two fingers. Ice Cube shivered, terrified. Bottle rapidly blinked, finally tuning back into what was currently happening.

“Wait, are we already done?” she asked.

Two shook their head, “No, Bottle. We were just about to eliminate ICE CUBE with her one hundred and thirty-three votes!”

“What?” Ice Cube whimpered, hoping she’d heard the number wrong. She took a step back, inadvertently bumping into Tennis Ball.

“Right. On with it then.” Two said passively, snapping their fingers. A wispy white light appeared in their right hand. Tree and Bottle slowly backed away from the panicked Ice Cube as Two brought their hands together, making the ball of light larger.

Ice Cube barely had a second to react before Two pushed their hands forward, sending the white light shooting out toward her. It connected with her face, the force causing Tennis Ball to be launched backward.

Her iconic screaming filled the air as her frame shook from the force of the beam. The rest of her team were forced to look away from the sheer brightness of it.

When the light faded, standing where Icy once stood was a statue in her likeness. Her face was now frozen (haha) in a state of panic and alarm. Pillow was the first to approach the new statue and read the plaque on its pedestal.

~Ice Cube~

38th Place

“How unfortunate,” Pillow said sadly, pitying the fate of the BFDI veteran. The girl finished seventh in the original Battle For Dream Island, you’d think that’d earn her point with long-time viewers.

“That’s not what I’d call it,” Fries scoffed, folding his arms, “Icy wasn’t much of a leader anyway.”

“No need to be harsh, Fries.” Tree chastised, not in the mood for Fries’ cynicism.

Two clapped their hands again and Ice Cube levitated off the ground and hovered to her spot in the trophy case right next to Rocky. “Okay! Now that that’s taken care of we can get on with the next challenge!” Two said, and with that, he teleported the Blue Team and themselves back to the other teams.

“So, who do you think it’s gonna be?” Foldy asked the group as a whole. They were all standing around the bathroom plaza, waiting for Two to return with the Blue Team.

“My money’s on Fries.” Nickel said confidently. Basketball turned to him, surprised, “Seriously? What makes you say it’ll be Fries?”

“The guy’s a jerk,” Nickel stated matter of factly, “and jerks don’t last long in these shows.”

“By that logic, it might be Clock who gets eliminated,” Barf Bag added, “he’s not exactly what I’d call the nicest.”

“Clock isn’t a jerk,” Needle interjected, not looking up from her tic tac toe game with Book, “him being a little grouchy sometimes doesn’t make him a jerk.” She marked down an x and crossed through the three x’s in a row. “That’s game.”

Book sighed and tossed her pencil over her shoulder, “That’s two to five. You’re way too good at this game, Needle.”

Needle opened her mouth to thank Book for the compliment, but she was stopped by Two appearing with the Blue Team in tow. The other three teams scanned the now nine other contestants to see who’d been eliminated. It was Donut who noticed who was eliminated first.

“It was Ice Cube?” Donut said, shocked.

“So much for original contestants being safe from elimination.” Cake stated plainly.

“Rocky proved that point at the last elimination,” Saw added, “being an original contestant doesn’t mean anything, I guess.”

“Can we just get on with the next contest please Two?” Tennis Ball pleaded, not wanting to continue dwelling on his teammate's elimination.

Two smiled, “We can do EXACTLY that, TB!”

Two lifted their hands into the air before slamming them into the dirt off to the side of the Bathroom Plaza. A mixture of white and green light spread across the grass and slowly grew upward. It grew and grew into the light solidified across the field. When the light faded in its place stood a gigantic hedge maze.

“Oh no,” Nickel said quietly, suddenly filled with a deep sense of deja vu.

“Here’s your next challenge!” Two yelled excitedly, gesturing up to the hedges.

“Hedges?” Eraser asked, still not fully getting it.

“That’s exactly right, Eraser. Hedges!” Two assured, “Your job is to get through this giant hedge maze!”

“From one end to the other?” Pin asked, hoping it’d be that simple.

“Nope. The middle!” Two corrected, “In the middle of the hedge of maze is a button. Every member of your team MUST press the button in order to be safe from elimination! The last team with people still in the maze will be up for elimination!”

“Can we split up from our team?” Cake asked, already planning to get away from the rest of his team.

“You can do whatever you want. The only rules are you can’t go through the hedge walls, and you can’t float above the walls to see where you’re going. Also, if you DO split up and part of your team is still in the maze, then they’re on their own.” Two explained, “Each team will start at one of four openings to the maze on each side. They’re all equal distance from the middle.”

“We’re not gonna have to walk there are we?” Eraser groaned, perishing the thought of being forced to walk.

Two smiled wryly as his words before clapping their hands together, teleporting the team to their individual entrances.

“THE CHALLENGE STARTS NOW!” Two belted out, using their powers to project their voice out for all contestants to hear.

Red Team

“So, what’s the plan, team leader?” Bell asked Cloudy.

“Well, I t-think,” he stuttered, trying to think on his feet, “what do you guys think?”

“We should probably stick together.” Needle answered, “If we all need to make it to the middle then we shouldn’t split up.”

“Excellent idea!” Golf Ball exclaimed loudly, “Very democratic approach, Cloudy. I expected nothing less from such a strong leader!”

“Well, then we can’t sit around.” Needle said impatiently, staring off into the maze. Pie followed close behind her.

“I hate mazes!” Fanny yelled to nobody in specific, but still, she followed her team into the hedges.

Lightning was about to follow his team into the maze but was stopped by something hitting his back. He turned around and saw Bell, a mischievous smile on her face.

“I have a plan to help Cloudy,” she said, barely above a whisper, “do you want to help?”

Lightning looked over his shoulder at the Red Team walking into the maze, and he focused on how close Golf Ball was sticking to Cloudy. He knew something had to be done.

“What’re we gonna do?” he asked, turning back to Bell. The girl’s smile widened, “I’ll tell you while we walk. We can’t lose the group.”

She moved past Lightning toward the entrance, and he quickly followed after her.

Yellow Team

“Were you not listening to Two? They said that we can’t go through the hedge walls!”

Donut’s words fell on deaf ears as the Yellow Team sat aside and watched Snowball fruitlessly attempt to push himself through one of the many walls of the hedge maze. Two hadn’t been lying about being unable to push through the walls. They’d set up some kind of invisible barrier on the hedge walls that made it impossible to push through them. However, Snowball seemed to be missing that fact, as he was still attempting to muscle through.

“Can’t we just leave him?” Foldy asked, almost begged the rest of her team. She didn’t like Snowball and would be happy to take any chance to ditch him that she could.

“Not if you want to win,” Gaty rolled her eyes, “we need all of our teammates to win, and Snowball is still one of those teammates.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Nickel muttered under his breath. He watched, slightly amused, as Snowball continued to try and push his shoulder through the barrier.

“Theoretically, we could leave him,” Robot Flower postulated, “he would just need to find his way to the middle by himself.”

“Well, I don’t know if I trust him to do that, frankly,” Donut sneered, shaking his head at the pathetic display Snowball was putting on.

“Agreed!” Bomby piped out, not thinking much of the ball’s intelligence.

“We can’t leave him!” Marker yelled, putting his hand on Snowball’s back as he pushed.

“Almost...through,” Snowball strained, throwing all his body weight into the hedge wall.

“You’re...you’re not,” Foldy said, not enjoying the sad display.

“We’re wasting time by standing around,” Donut complained, “SB can we PLEASE keep moving?”

With one last hard push, Snowball backed off of the wall. He huffed and puffed, his energy thoroughly used up. He looked over his team’s disapproving gazes and sighed in defeat.

“Fine,” he acquiesced with a roll of his eyes, “but you guys better hope that your way gets us the win.”

Donut couldn’t resist the urge to facepalm.

Green Team - Pen, Remote, Black Hole, Winner

“It was a bad idea to split up.”

“Yeah...probably.”

Pen put his hands over his face and groaned. The Green team had quickly split up upon entering the maze, and he was very quickly beginning to regret the idea. Not because he thought the idea was, but because of who he got stuck with. Not only was he trapped with two former members of Death P.A.C.T., but he was also trapped with the ball of negativity that was Winner. He was going to give Barf Bag an earful for leaving him like this when the challenge was over.

“There’s no point in complaining,” Remote said, her emotionless voice teetering on the brink of irritation, “we are already separated.”

The three objects (and Black Hole) took a left and continued down a long path of uninterrupted hedge. They’d tried testing Two’s rule of ‘no flying above the hedge walls’ but Two was no challenge slouch. The same force field on the walls was above them as well. Even Black Hole couldn’t push himself through it, so they’d have to complete the maze the conventional way.

“What way do you think we should turn?” Black Hole asked, referring to the split path they’d reached.

“We should go left,” Winner said passively, “that’ll take us deeper in the maze.”

Pen rolled his eyes, “Wow, thanks for actually participating, Winner. Very cool.”

“Be nice,” Remote said, attempting to nip the argument in the bud before it could bloom. Without another word, she went down the path Winner said, her three other teammates following behind her.

Blue Team

“Are you sure we shouldn’t split up, Clock?” Coiny questioned.

“As sure as can be.” Clock replied, “Splitting up would be a mistake.”

The Blue Team was extremely lost. It was funny how quickly you could lose your bearings after a few sharp turns. Clock made it clear that the group would stick together and Fries seconded the notion. Not everyone had agreed with it, however.

“I mean, I feel like we could cover more ground if we split up,” Coiny argued, not backing down.

“And then what, Coiny?” Fries snapped, "We split up and one of us finds the middle of the maze. That'd leave everyone else on their own."

"We could wait in the middle for the rest of the team." Pin offered, stepping in between her friend and their leader.

"Wouldn't that defeat the point of splitting up at all?" Tennis Ball questioned.

“Hence why we shouldn’t split up,” Clock said, turning to his team behind him, “and also, we’re not splitting up. I thought we cleared that up.”

“It’s just something we could consider,” Coiny mumbled, shaking his head.

“Sorry, Coiny,” Pillow shook her head, “but you can’t shoot above your station.”

That got Tree’s attention. “Station?” he asked, “What stations?”

Fries felt his shoulders tense up. He should’ve known asking Pillow to keep a secret wouldn’t work out well. He didn’t know the girl very well, but in the short time he’d known her personally, he could tell she was a little spacey. That or she just didn’t care.

Pillow reached behind her and yanked out the same chart she’d shown Fries. She pointed at the very bottom of the pyramid, “See here? You, Pin, Naily, and formally Ice Cube rank lowest in the hierarchy. That means all other members of the team outrank you.” she finished, sounding a little too proud of herself.

“Wait,” Naily shook her head in disbelief, “you’re ranking us now?”

“And why are me and Coiny at the bottom?” Pin questioned angrily.

Tennis Ball studied the chart before whipping around to look at Clock. “Did you know about this?” he queried, doing his best not to sound angry.

Clock backed up. He was very unprepared for conflict, and it didn’t help that he had no clue about the chart Pillow had made. “I...I didn’t know about a chart.”

“I don’t believe that for a second,” a flustered Tree spat, “you and Fries have been scheming ever since you became leader.”

Clock quickly went from nervous to upset, “Need I remind you that it was YOU who first elected me leader, Tree?”

Tree rolled his eyes, “Clearly that was a mistake. I wouldn’t have voted you leader if I knew you’d put us into tiers.”

“I didn’t!” Clock yelled, standing his ground.

Naily turned on her heel and started down one of the random paths. “I don’t want anything to do with a team that ranks its members. ESPECIALLY one that ranks me at the bottom!”

Tree nodded and followed after her, “I second that. I’m leafing with Naily.”

Coiny was quick to follow them. Pin gave her team leaders one last look of disappointment before joining the diverging pack.

Tennis Ball sighed, “I’ll keep an eye on them, but we’ll talk about this when the challenge is finished.” with that, he followed after the other group of Blue Teamers. Leaving Clock, Fries, Pillow, and Bottle to their own devices.

“Well,” started Bottle, “that didn’t go very well.”

“Oh, YOU THINK!?” Fries yelled, finally letting his frustrations overwhelm him.’

Green Team - Barf Bag, Puffball, Grassy, Cake, Basketball

Barf Bag’s side of the Green Team was doing worlds better than Pen’s. They’d been quietly traversing the maze without really speaking to each other. Grassy was quietly kicking his feet on top of Basketball, who was bringing up the back of the pack. Cake was in the middle, watching his feet as he silently trudged forward. He wasn’t too happy to be participating, but he knew he had to, less he wanted to end up like Rocky. Barf Bag was leading the group with Puffball close behind her. She had zero clue what she was doing, but she knew that acting confident made team morale better.

She looked to her right at Puffball floating silently next to her. The sick bag didn’t know much about Puffball, only that she’d had some kind of break when BFDIA was still running that caused her to be the last contestant eliminated from that season. She refused to talk about it when she came to the TLC. In fact, she pretty much refused to talk to anybody. She’d improved once they’d all been freed, but that curiosity about the puff’s inner machinations never left Barf Bag.

Good thing they were on the same team.

“Are you okay?” Barf Bag asked. Puffball rapidly blinked, as if she’d zoned out. She’d had a faraway look in her eyes when she smiled at BB.

“Yeah! I’m okay,” she said, looking away, “it’s just boring wandering around the maze.”

“I get that,” BB anxiously rubbed her arm, trying to choose her next words carefully, “it’s just...you seem upset, is all.”

Puffball shook her head (which is also her body, but you get the idea), “No, I’m okay. I just have some...things...on my mind.” she said slowly, sounding unsure of herself.

Barf Bag raised her eyebrow, “That doesn’t sound like you’re doing okay.” she placed her hand on Puffball’s back, “I know we’re not close, but we can talk if you need to.”

Puffball gave Barf Bag a grateful smile before looking to the ground. “What would you do...if you thought someone you cared about was taking advantage of you?”

Barf Bag frowned. She hadn’t been prepared for something that heavy. She’d half expected it to just be anxieties about a new team.

“That’s a complicated question, Puffball,” Barf Bag said warily, “with a lot of different answers. However, I’d say that a friend that uses another friend for their selfish gain isn’t much of a friend.” she finished honestly.

Puffball turned away, deep in thought. She stopped floating forward, causing Barf Bag to also stop walking.

“What if that person was the only person that was ever there for you?”

Barf Bag didn’t have an answer to that.

The girl’s awkward silence was ended by the sound of small footsteps. Grassy ran between the two of them, a giant smile on his face.

“We are near the middle,” his tiny, raspy voice yelled, “Grassy can sense it!”

The two girls gave each other a look of confusion before Basketball barreled between them next. Grassy took a hard right and Basketball wordlessly followed behind him.

“What?” Barf Bag asked dumbly. Cake stood next to her, just as confused. “I guess we’re near the middle,” he said, following the two runaway GreenTeamers.

Puffball and Barf Bag shared one more look before following after their tiny teammate. At least Grassy seemed to know where he was going.

Yellow Team

“Just admit it. You have no clue where the middle is.”

“I do so know! It’s in the middle!”

Foldy had to resist the urge to slam her face into the dirt. Following Snowball’s lead had yielded no results so far. The Yellow Team had been left meandering with no idea which direction to head in. Snowball had just been picking random directions to go in while dragging his teammates behind him.

“Can we just stop and think things through for a second?” Gaty begged, rushing up to Snowball’s side. The ball was marching forward ahead of his team.

“We can’t afford to stop,” Donut said, putting a hand on Gaty’s head, “but we should still strategize a little. Just taking random turns isn’t working.”

“Can we even do something else?” Bomby questioned, pulling a winded Marker up higher on his back. Marker had gotten tired earlier in the maze and Bomby had offered him a ride.

“There’s no nothing else we CAN do,” Nickel grunted, “all we can do is walk around aimlessly until we hopefully stumble upon the middle.”

Robot Flower pivoted her waist and turned to Nickel without moving her legs, “You have been snippy since the challenge began. Why are you in such a bad mood?”

Nickel looked away from her.

“Suitcase. I don’t want us getting in danger like that again. Let’s just ditch him, there’s still time.”

“...I’m not ditching anyone.”

“I...don’t like hedge mazes,” he responded quietly.

Donut rolled his eyes, “Yes, Nickel, that’s very cryptic and interesting, but it doesn’t help us very much, does it?”

“Wait!” TV pitched, using a clip of Flower, “DO. YOU. HEAR THAT?”

The team stopped squabbling to listen for what TV was referring to. Among the quiet wind and ruffling of leaves, a voice could be heard beyond one of the hedge walls.

“We are near the middle! Grassy can sense it!”

TV and Robot Flower looked at each other, recognizing the voice of their former teammate instantly. The team listened intently to the sound of Grassy’s tiny footsteps, followed quickly by the stampede of the rest of his team.

When the loud steps started to quiet down the Yellow Team all shared glances before following in the direction of the Green Team’s footfalls.

Red Team

The Red Team’s trip through the hedge maze had been a slow one. At least, that’s how Needle felt like it was going. Walking silently while Golf Ball and Cloudy chatted ahead of the rest of them had her head fit to split. Just turning and walking, walking in turning. She needed some form of stimulation soon or else she’d snap.

She looked ahead at Book, who was walking in front of her.

Target spotted.

“Hey,” Needle said, getting Book’s attention, “sorry about what happened to Ice Cube.”

Book turned to Needle, confused, “What? What do you mean?”

Needle shrugged, “You guys were friends, weren’t you? She and I weren’t close, not even back on the original BFDI, but you guys were always together.”

Book looked away from Needle, a sad look in her eyes, “We kind of...grew apart.”

Needle was starting to know what that felt like. She missed her Losers. She missed Coiny and Pin. How come they got to stay on the same team? Stupid Two and their stupid random team picking.

“What about Saw? She was on Bleh, right?” Needle questioned, not prepared for Book to scowl.

“She doesn’t want anything to do with me,” Book hissed, but her anger fizzled away, replaced with deep sadness, “I...I made a lot of mistakes on Bleh.”

Needle gave the girl a small smile, “Sounds like we could both use a friend right now.”

Book wrung her hand together, unsure of what to say. She knew she’d have to make new allies eventually, but it’d been a long time since she had to make friends. She’d always been closest to Ice Cube, but that ship had officially sailed when she got turned into a statue.

Needle wasn’t too sure what to think about Book, but she took the girl’s hesitant nod and smile as acceptance of her offer. The two walked quietly; side by side. Though the silence was a little more comfortable than it had previously been.

At the back of the pack, Bell and Lightning walked. Scheming.

“It’s now or never, partner. You ready?” Bell whispered to Lightning, making sure no one except her companion could hear.

“I’m still not so sure about this,” Lightning murmured, “GB’s not gonna be too happy about this.”

“That’s partially the point,” Bell said, “we need to get her away from Cloudy. Now are you ready?” she asked again.

Lightning looked over his team in front of them, all of them completely unsuspecting of his and Bell’s intended subterfuge. In a single moment, he steeled his nerves and nodded firmly.

And Bell moved into action.

Swerving past Saw and in between Book and Needle, Bell moved faster than Lightning had ever seen her move. For a bell, she was also shockingly silent, somehow keeping her clapper from making noise. She pushed past Eraser and Pie and came upon Golf Ball and Cloudy like a predator stalking her prey. Without no one any the wiser, she struck.

“GOLF BALL” she announced loudly so the entire team could hear. GB and Cloudy jumped at the sudden loudness directly behind them. “I NEED TO SPEAK TO YOU IN PRIVATE!”

Before Golf Ball had the chance to get mad, Bell pushed her off into a diverging hedge pathway and disappeared around a corner. Before Fanny (who was closest to the incident) could speak up, Lightning pushed past her and wordlessly grabbed ahold of Cloudy and yanked him down a different diverging hedge path, leaving the Red Team now four members smaller.

"Wha- I," Saw stuttered, unsure of what she saw had actually happened.

Eraser crossed his arms, "Yep. That might as well happen."

Blue Team - Tree, Naily, Tennis Ball, Coiny, Pin

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THEM!" Naily yelled at the top of her tiny lungs.

"I can," Tree mumbled, still heated from the confrontation with his team leader, "I didn't trust either of them."

The five angry Blue Teamers had been hotly walking aimlessly around the hedge maze, whinging about the pyramid Pillow had shown them. Well, Tree and Naily were whinging. Pin, Coiny, and Tennis Ball had been fairly quiet while the boy and girl harped at each other about how wronged they felt.

“I just don’t get why they’d put us in the bottom.” Coiny lamented, feeling low. Seeing himself at the bottom of the pyramid had completely shot his morale. Pin patted her friend on the back. She hadn’t been too upset with the ranking chart, honestly, it seemed like something she would’ve done back in the first season of BFDI. She was more confused than anything. Why make one at all? Clock and Fries should’ve known that something like this would divide them.

Tennis Ball also wasn’t angry, more concerned at what the state of the team would be once the challenge was up. It was most likely too late in the game to ask Two for a change in teams.

“What’re we gonna do,” Coiny sulked, “things are gonna be different now. They’re gonna be weird.”

“We can make them get rid of the chart,” Pin offered, “we tell them we won’t participate in the challenges if they don’t get rid of it.”

“That’d solve one problem,” Tree scowled, “but we’d still have two gigantic ones in charge of our team.”

Tennis Ball raised an eyebrow, “You still wouldn’t trust Fries and Clock?”

Tree shook his head, causing loose leaves to fall from his branches, “Not in the slightest, and we can’t trust Pillow or Bottle either.”

Tree wasn’t going to pretend like he was very close with anybody on the former Death P.A.C.T., but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel at least a little betrayed by Pillow and Bottle siding with Fries and Clock. He didn’t think too highly of the girls’ intelligence, and they wouldn’t be hard to take advantage of. It made him even angrier at their “leaders”.

“I have an idea,” Naily declared, a wide smile on her face, “what if we form an alliance?”

Tree rubbed his chin in contemplation, “That could work. We could police the others to make sure the Blue Team remains fair and just.”

“Exactly!” Naily squealed, jumping up and down with excitement, “we all still stay on a team, but we have each other’s back at the same time!”

“I think that could work,” Pin said triumphantly. Coiny nodded along, his enthusiasm returning to him if only a little bit.

As the four Blue Teamers tittered with each other, Tennis Ball stood by, a terrible feeling in his gut. Splitting a team into two factions would only make the turmoil worse. TB lived in a world of logic and reasoning. He found comfort in statistics and numbers.

However, the odds of this situation working out smoothly was making him the opposite of comfortable.

Green Team - Barf Bag, Puffball, Grassy, Cake, Basketball

“GRASSY, SLOW DOWN!” Basketball yelled after her tiny friend. She’d been running after Grassy for the last few minutes and she was beginning to feel fatigued. Barf Bag, Puffball, and Cake had managed to keep up with her and Grassy despite all the twists and turns he was taking them on.

“GRASSY!” she yelled again, following the boy around another tight turn. However, the chase stopped as she saw Grassy standing in front of the opening to another part of the maze. Basketball came to a halt behind Grassy, thankful that she didn’t have to run anymore. She looked up at where Grassy was staring, and couldn’t help but smile a little.

“Grassy,” she said, still out of breath, “I think you found it.”

“It” was a large, open area of the maze. As opposed to the narrow and constrictive walls of the regular maze, the middle of the maze was spacious and free. All the contestants could easily fit within it and there’d still be room left over. Basketball made a mental note that there were also three other entrances into the middle.

The most eye-catching part of the middle of the maze, however, was in the middle of it. There stood a large hedge sculpture of Two, holding up two of their fingers in a peace sign. In front of the sculpture was a white stand with only a red button on top of it.

Barf Bag, Puffball, and Cake finally caught up, and they were left just as surprised as Basketball at the sight. Cake was the first to step forward, turning in a circle to get a whole view of the area.

“Yay!” Grassy cheered, running forward toward the hedge sculpture, “Grassy was right!”

“You certainly were,” an impressed Barf Bag said. Puffball approached the button with Grassy.

“Are we supposed to press it?” the puff asked, orbiting the random button. Cake approached also, though much more apprehensively.

“I guess? There isn’t anything else for us to do.” Cake said, slowly lifting his leg to press the button. He came down, clicking the metal button, and as soon as he did he was engulfed in bright white light, causing the rest of his team to look away.

When the light faded they saw that Cake was no longer with them.

“Well,” Barf Bag said, impressed with Cake’s willingness to press the button, “guess that answers that.”

Two stood in the same spot, bored out of their gourd waiting for at least one team to make it out of the maze. They made a mental note to make the next challenge a shorter one. That or to bring a book next time.

Their concerns were finally answered by a bright light above their head. They smiled, knowing this meant only one thing.

“Looks like our first contestants are safe!” Two said, blocking their eyes from the light with a big smile on their face.

When the light faded, five members of the Green Team sat in the grass, dazed from being teleported.

Basketball layed down on her back, Grassy on top of her. Barf Bag picked herself up, doing her best to not spill the contents of herself. Puffball spun slowly in the air, the wooziest of the group. Cake lay flat on his face, completely accepting of his fate.

“Congratulations, Green Team!” Two said happily, but then they counted how many Greeners were there, “Well, half of the Green Team! You guys are the first ones to escape the maze!”

“We are?” Barf Bag said, looking around and noticing that there were no other objects with Two, “Does that mean we’re safe?” she asked hopefully.

Two shook their head sadly, “You are not. Not yet at least. Half of your team is still in the maze.”

Cake lifted their head off the ground, spitting out grass, “I told you that we shouldn’t have split.”

“It’s fine,” Basketball said, carefully getting to her feet, “the other teams are still in the maze too.”

As if by some kind of divine intervention, Basketball’s reassuring words were interrupted by an ever brighter white light than the one from earlier. The Green Team members dived out of the way as the Yellow Team dropped triumphantly in front of them.

Well, triumphant was a bit of a stretch. How triumphant could it be when only Robot Flower and Donut landed on their feet?

“Yellow Team!” Two beamed, “You guys are the first full team to escape the maze, and the first team safe from elimination!”

“YES!” Snowball fist-pumped from his spot on the ground, “I did it!”

“YOU did it?” Gaty doubted, getting to her feet, “All we did was follow the Green Team.”

“Wait,” Basketball said, “you FOLLOWED us? You just rode our coattails!”

“And yet we’re safe and YOU’RE not!” RF said, her modulated voice filled with snark. Basketball marched up to her, no hesitation.

“Don’t forget I know how to take you apart!” she said, mere inches from Robot Flower’s center panel. Donut pushed the two former teammates apart so as to keep them from mauling each other.

Barf Bag sat down next to Grassy, who was very happy with himself that he’d gotten his team to the middle. All she could do was hope the other half of her team could make it to the middle.

And that Black Hole would keep them in line.

Blue Team - Fries, Clock, Bottle, Pillow

Clock was having a bad day. Most of his days were bad, but this one, in particular, was rough. First, was the maze. Could you get any more bland? Second, was the whole ranking chart debacle. He hadn’t known a thing about it and, in his eyes, his teammates had every right to be upset.

The only problem was he was now stuck with the three idiots that caused the problem in the first place.

“Are you mad, Fries?” Bottle asked, unable to read the current mood of the group.

“I am very mad, yes,” he answered honestly, no longer pulling punches. Pillow blew a raspberry at her teammate, “You’re being dramatic, Fries. It didn’t go that badly.”

“I’d disagree,” Clock butted in, “in fact, I’d say it went about as wrong as it could’ve gone!” he shouted, finally snapping.

He turned around and, like a flash, got in Fries’ face.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” he seethed, trying his hardest not to raise his voice. Fries pushed back, refusing to back down from the smaller boy.

“I WAS going to tell you,” he spat back, “I hadn’t gotten the chance yet.”

Before the fight could escalate, Pillow stepped in between it.

“Stop arguing, you two,” she said firmly, “we need to get out of here before we break down.”

“Things have already broken down!” Clock raged, turning away from the three objects. His mood had gone from great frustration to boiling fury in a matter of seconds.

“Why’re you so mad, Clock?” Bottle queried, still not fully getting what the timekeeper was so upset over.

Clock felt like his face could crack. He slowly turned around his formally angry snarl now a face of complete neutrality.

“Why am I mad, Bottle? I’m mad because you and Pillow made a chart ranking our teammates, and then you told Fries and not,” Bottle was about to speak, but Clock stopped her by putting his foot up, “I KNOW that you planned on telling me, but it’s too late for that now. So, now our team is all split up and it’s only going to get worse.”

The four objects stood in silence. Fries rubbed his arm in discomfort and Pillow...Pillow wasn’t really paying attention. Clock was huffing like he’d run a mile. And Bottle?

Bottle hugged him.

She was deceptively strong, that or Clock was weaker than he originally thought. He feebly fought against her iron-like grip.

“I’m sorry, Clock.” she said, her airy, friendly tone of voice ever-present, “I’m sorry you’re upset, but we’re gonna make it right!”

After one more squeeze, she let Clock go so he could finally breathe. He looked up at the girl and was met with what looked like, in his eyes, the most sincere smile he’d ever seen.

“We’ll all stick together!” Bottle exclaimed, her enthusiasm never faltering, “Ranking chart or any ranking chart!”

“No ranking chart,” Fries declared, poking Pillow in the side, “understand that, Pillow?”

Pillow rolled her eyes with a wry smile on her face, “Okay, Fries. No charts.” She said coyly, poking Fries right back.

Clock was completely flabbergasted. He had NOT expected things to fix themselves that quickly. He’d been expecting a huge fight with everyone blowing up and a lot more yelling.

All thanks to Bottle.

Before he could say anything else he was interrupted by a commotion coming from around the next turn in front of them.

“I’m just saying that that hedge wall looks familiar,” Pen said, rounding the corner; Winner by his side.

“All the walls look the same, Pen,” Winner sighed, “you can’t tell them apart.”

“Stop arguing,” Remote said, marching past them. Black Hole floated above all three of them.

The Green Team members stopped in their tracks when they saw the Blue Team members.

Fries sighed, covering his face with his hands, “Well, this is just great.”

“Are you guys having any better luck than us?”  Pen asked, tugging awkwardly at his cap.

“Probably not,” Clock said, quietly hoping Cake wasn’t about to round the corner, “I’m pretty sure we’ve explored the entire right side of the maze and we haven’t found the middle.”

“We haven’t either,” Black Hole shot back, “our team split up at the beginning of the maze.”

“Our team split up too!” Bottle chirped, “OH! Maybe we can stay together until we find the middle?”

“I’m uh...I’m not sure about that Bottle,” Clock said hesitantly. He looked to Fries who also didn’t look sure about the idea.

The Green Team wasn’t nearly as hesitant. “I think that’s smart. I think we’re better off together.” Remote said, her arms crossed.

Black Hole nodded (or his equivalent) in agreement. “It wouldn’t hurt anything. I mean, the worst-case scenario is we just keep...not finding the middle.”

Clock and Fries finally acquiesced, along with Winner and Pen, who also weren’t confident about the idea. The eight contestants melded together and began down a path that neither team had traveled yet.

Red Team - Bell & Golf Ball

“BELL! STOP!”

Bell continued to ignore GB, just like she’d been doing for that last few minutes. The girl hadn’t stopped whining since the two split from the rest of their team. However, Bell was much larger and much stronger than the sports ball. So, all she could do was complain, much to Bell’s annoyance.

Bell pushed, causing Golf Ball to stumble forward. She’d pushed the girl down a dead-end path of the maze.

“W-what is the meaning of this!?” Golf Ball yelled, regaining her bearings. She looked around for some kind of exit, but she was cornered. She was stuck between a hedge wall and Bell.

“I...uh,” Bell stammered, her confidence evaporating. She hadn’t thought the plan through very well. She knew she’d distract Golf Ball so Lightning could talk to Cloudy. How she would distract Golf Ball hadn’t really been decided.

It was time to improvise.

“I needed to talk to you.”

Perfect.

GB eyed Bell skeptically. “Okay? Why did you need to separate us from the team to do so?”

“How...how are you doing?” Bell asked, trying not to sweat.

Golf Ball glared at her, “I was doing fine before you separated us from our team!” she said angrily, going to walk past Bell, but the girl shifted over to block her.

“That’s not w-what I meant. I meant...how are you adjusting?”

That got GB to stop, “How am I adjusting ?”

“Yeah!” Bell exclaimed, trying to regain her confidence, “We’re all on different teams, and you’ve always been on a team with Tennis Ball. I just...wanted to see if you were holding up okay.”

GB stopped, analyzing Bell’s face for any sign of dishonesty. When she found none, she looked away, now much more unsure of herself.

“I’m,” GB hesitated, “I am okay. I do not need Tennis Ball on my team to function. I lead fine without him.”

“I thought you made Cloudy the leader?”

GB cringed at her slip-up, “He is, but I’m helping him become a better leader.”

“Is that why you two have been attached at the hip?” Bell questioned, sounding almost accusatory.

“Yes. Yes, it is.” GB said defensively. “Cloudy is smart and has untapped potential as a leader, so he needs help.”

Before Bell could shoot back GB swerved around her and back around the corner. Bell whipped around and watched Golf Ball walk away from her. The girl’s eyes narrowed. GB was sneakier than Bell’d originally given her credit for.

She just hoped Lightning was having better luck with Cloudy.

Red Team - Cloudy & Lightning

Unlike the loud and aggressive pair of Bell and Golf Ball, the duo of Lightning and Cloudy couldn’t be anymore the opposite. Cloudy’s objections to Lightning dragging him around the maze died out after a few minutes. Lightning was stronger than him and so he saw no point in trying to break away.

“There,” Lightning said, finally letting Cloudy go, “that should be far enough to buy us some privacy.”

“Privacy? Lightning, what is this about?” Cloudy was baffled. One moment he was talking with Golf Ball and the next he was being whisked away by his fellow floating teammate.

Lightning awkwardly rubbed at his arm, “I just...wanted to know what you and Golf Ball have been talking about.”

The bolt had been prepped for a lot. Surprise, confusion, rage, and he’d planned an answer to any of those responses.

What he didn’t prepare for was fear.

Cloudy completely blanched at Lightning’s words. His eyes shifted from side to side, looking for an escape.

“She’s...she’s been helping me with my leadership abilities,” he finally said, not sounding confident.

Lightning wasn’t convinced, “Is that...all it’s been?” he asked cautiously as if he were walking on eggshells.

Cloudy swallowed a thick glob of saliva before speaking, “Why would it be anything else?”

“Because you’re shaking,” Lightning said, not convinced.

He was right. The cumulus cloud was shaking like a leaf. He didn’t know why he was so nervous. He could trust Lightning, couldn’t he?

Lightning, on the other hand, was keeping a close eye on the finicky cloud in case he tried to run. He had to calm him down.

“Look,” Lightning steeled himself, “we aren’t close and we don’t know each other very well, but we’re a team now. We should be able to talk to each other, and you going off with Golf Ball will only isolate you.”

Cloudy looked away, feeling shameful of his dishonesty, “You’re right, but nothing serious is happening. Golf Ball is just trying to help in her own...Golf Ball way.”

Lightning wasn’t sure how much he believed that, but he could tell it was all he was going to get at the moment. He trusted Lightning about as far as he could throw her, but he didn’t think Cloudy was lying. At least he didn’t think he was lying.

This wasn’t even close to being solved.

Cloudy floated past Lighting, “Now let’s get back to the team so we can finish the challenge.”

Cloudy went to turn the corner before he stopped and slowly turned back to Lightning, a look of sudden realization on his face.

“Do...you remember the path to get back to the team?”

He did not.

Two had a bad feeling.

It made them worried; they weren’t used to bad feelings. Very little put them on edge, being a number usually made it so that there was nothing to worry about.

Unless, of course, there was another number nearby.

Two had never been good at playing well with others, ESPECIALLY other numbers. Taking the majority of Four’s contestants and shipping them off to...somewhere had felt like the crime of the century to Two. They’d be a liar if they said it hadn’t felt good.

Four was a joke and not someone to be concerned with. The manic math symbol was extremely powerful but lacked the ability to control themselves. Not like Two, Two never lost composure.

The others, on the other hand, were completely different beasts.

Two was pulled from their thoughts by the bright white light from earlier. Someone else had finished the maze.

Book and Needle landed on their feet, but Fanny and Eraser weren’t as lucky, both landing on their backs. Pie and Saw both stumbled but landed safely all the same. Two sped over, their cheery demeanor back in full swing.

“Red Team! Congrats on making it out of the maze,” they stopped, “however, you aren’t safe because-”

“We’re missing teammates,” Eraser interrupted, “we know.”

“Four of them to be specific,” Two added, “I can’t mark you safe until all team members have escaped the maze.”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it,” Fanny grumbled, getting to her feet, “we aren’t safe yet.”

“Well, you might be in a moment. Look!” Two pointed to the returning white light. From the brightness appeared Cloudy and Lightning, floating downward.

“Now, you only need your last two teammates!” Two said cheerfully.

Lightning scanned the area, confused, “Have Golf Ball and Bell not come back?”

“No. Not since you and her split the team up.” Needle chided.

“What was that even about?” Saw questioned.

Lightning crossed his arms and looked away from his team, “What? I’m not allowed to talk with my team leader?” he said defensively.

“Not when it costs us the challenge!” Fanny snapped, turning away from her team and walking away to blow off some steam. Book and Needle were next to walk away, followed by Pie and Saw. Eraser gave the two floating objects a skeptical looked before walking away himself.

Cloudy sighed, “I guess we have to hope that Golf Ball and Bell can find their way out by themselves.”

“I guess.” Lightning said quietly, Fanny’s words playing on repeat in his head. Cloudy moved away, but not before turning back to the bolt, a small smile on his face.

“Thank you for checking in on me, Lightning. I appreciate it,” he said sincerely.

Lightning felt very awkward all of a sudden. He wasn’t used to praise or gratitude. He kind of liked it.

“It’s okay, Cloudy,” Lightning said, smiling back, “we’re a team, and we should be able to trust each other.”

Cloudy nodded and floated off toward the departing Red Team. Lightning’s smile dropped. His questioning hadn’t given him the results he’d been hoping for. He knew that whatever was going on with Cloudy involved Golf Ball, but he already knew that. He’d have to dig a little deeper.

He just hoped that Bell was having a bit more luck.

“Admit it! You have no idea where we are!”

“I won’t admit that because it isn’t true!”

“We have been walking in circles!”

“Well, if you have any ideas I’d LOVE to hear them!” Bell shouted, inches from Golf Ball’s face. The ball didn’t back down, standing toe to toe with the brass noisemaker.

After Bell confronted GB, she’d made it clear that she wouldn’t be spilling and more information about Cloudy. So, she gave up and attempted to go back to where they’d left their team.

Only they couldn’t find it.

“I can’t believe they didn’t wait for us.” Bell frowned, unable to see anyone except for Golf Ball, who was not happy with her.

“Why would they,” GB said passively, side-eyeing her teammates, “I am assuming they were not involved with your plan to interrogate me?”

Bell groaned, “It wasn’t an interrogation, GB. I’m allowed to ask you questions.”

GB only scoffed before passing by Bell without another word. Bell felt like she could scream. Dealing with Golf Ball when she didn’t want to cooperate was like pulling teeth, and it didn’t help that neither of them knew where they were going.

It was moments like this that made Bell wish that she could disappear.

Blue & Green Team - Fries, Bottle, Clock, Pillow, Black Hole, Winner, Pen, Remote

The combo of the Blue and Green Team members had melded together almost seamlessly. The former Death P.A.C.T. members (minus Pen) were all playing catch up with each other. That left Fries, Clock, Winner, and Pen to be on their lonesome. They weren’t really in a talkative mood.

“So, how have things been going on the Blue Team?” Black Hole asked.

“They’ve been great!” Bottle said happily as if she’d been completely unaware of the divide her team was currently in. “What about you guys?”

“It’s been...hard.” Remote said honestly, “Our team is having a hard time mixing.”

“Maybe you aren’t trying hard enough.” Pillow said bluntly, “Bottle and I put in the effort and our team is coming together great.” she said, knowing full well that was a lie.

Black Hole and Remote didn’t know that it was a lie, however, as they nodded along with what Pillow was saying. Maybe she was right. Neither of them had been necessarily...trying to create a stable team.

That’d have to change.

“Hey, guys!” Winner called from ahead of the group, “I think I found what we’re supposed to be lookin’ for.”

The other seven objects ran toward Winner at the sound of their words. They saw what the puff was looking at and were surprised to see a large hedge statue of Two in the middle of a sort of courtyard.

“Is this it?” Black Hole wondered out loud. Clock stepped forward, determination on his face.

“Only one way to find out.”

Two and all the other safe contestants covered their eyes from the returning white light. The eight objects dropped down in front of the green number, who smiled at them.

“Congrats, you guys! You made it out of the maze!” Two burst, “And that means that all Green Team members have escaped the maze and are safe from elimination!”

“Yes!” Barf Bag yelled, running up with her other team members. She wrapped her arms around Pen and Remote and pulled them into a tight hug.

“I knew you guys could do it!” she said happily, pulling the two in closer. Pen and Remote shared an uncomfortable glance, but they didn’t want to ruin the moment. They were safe, so why not enjoy it a little?

“Hey, Two! What about us?” Fries questioned. Two shook their head, an apologetic look on their face.

“Sorry, Fries, but there’s still Blue Team members in the maze,” they said sadly.

Fries facepalmed, “I should’ve guessed they’d still be in there somewhere.”

“It’s fine,” Clock strained, “I’m sure they’ll be out any second.”

“Okay, I’m gonna say it,” Tree said, hands on his hips, “I have no idea where we’re going.”

“We probably shouldn’t have split up,” Tennis Ball said, exhaustion clearly evident on his face. He’d have to ask Two to slow down with all the physical challenges.

“I don’t regret it,” Coiny stated firmly, “those guys are jerks for what they did!”

“We still...all need to get out of the maze to be safe,” TB huffed. His legs felt weak, and he was beginning to stumble.

“And we will,” Naily said, nudging TB’s side, “we just gotta keep at it.”

Tennis Ball frowned. Much easier said than done.

Pin rubbed her chin, analyzing the paths in front of her. “We have covered a good portion of the upper side of the maze. I think we need to start moving downward.”

Before anyone could question her she took off down a diverging pathway. Tree and Coiny were quick to follow after her. TB leaned on a hedge wall, still trying his best to catch his breath. Naily wasn’t having it, however, pushing him forward after the rest of their team.

“Let’s make a right!”

“This is the third right in a row!”

Golf Ball felt like she could grind her teeth into nubs from the anger she was feeling. Everything had been going so well before today. Working with Cloudy, establishing her place in the team, she liked the looks of her prospects.

And then Bell happened.

“You leading us took us in circles!” GB screamed back, not caring whether or not anyone could hear her, “I WANT to get us out of here!”

“And what? You think I don’t?” Bell fired back, not liking the other girl’s tone.

GB huffed, marching away from her, “Maybe you don’t. You already separated us from the rest of the team.”

GB turned a corner, leaving a silently fuming Bell in her wake.

“Pin, slow down!” Coiny yelled while running after his friend, “You’re killing me!”

“We are on the right track,” Pin shouted back, not even turning around, “we have to keep moving!"

Tree, who wasn’t faring much better than Coiny, ran up beside him, “Did you get through to h-her?”

Coiny shook his head, “We-we’re gonna have to keep running.” Tree groaned in response, his branches shaking from the exertion.

At the back of the pack were Tennis Ball and Naily, who were still working in tandem with each other. Or at least it was Naily helping Tennis Ball.

By rolling him along the path.

“Naily!” TB yelled in a vain attempt to get the girl to stop, “I’m gonna be sick!”

“Don’t care!” she cried back at him, “We just lost Icy! We can’t lose anybody else!”

Naily kept pushing forward, doing her best not fall behind from the rest of her team.

Golf Ball made another turn, “I think we are close.”

Bell didn’t respond, she just followed after the girl leading her. Arguing was pointless by now, all she could do was hope that Golf Ball was on the right track.

“Look!” Lightning shouted out while pointing up to the white light, which had returned at full force. All the contestants waited with bated breath to see who would come out of the blinding glow.

Pin was the first to come out, followed by Tree and Coiny. Tennis Ball and Naily plopped out last, the former landing on his face and not getting up. Two raised their hands in celebration, a small amount of confetti coming out.

“That’s the last of the Blue Team and they’re safe from elimination!” they then pointed over at the eight members of the Red Team.

“And that means the Red Team has lost and are up for elimination!”

“Oh, my baker. Seriously?” Pie moaned, flopping to the ground in defeat. Needle crossed her arms and kicked some stones.

Two snapped their fingers twice. The first time caused the maze to melt away into green light, and the second one caused Bell and Golf Ball to teleport to the rest of the group.

“Great job, guys,” Eraser said lazily, slow clapping for the duo, “really great job.”

Golf Ball looked away, an indignant look on her face, “I blame Bell for our teams lost.”

Bell did a double-take at the ball, “Me!?”

Golf Ball whipped back around, her look of frustration replaced with boiling fury, “Yes, you! You separated us from the rest of the team!”

Book was quick to get in between the two before they could come to blows. The team blew up; Bell and Golf Ball shouting at each other, Book and Needle trying to hold them back while also yelling, and Saw and Eraser watching on; one with distress and one with indifference. Fanny, in a shocking amount of restraint, just sat down in the grass and sighed.

All while Lightning and Cloudy slowly snuck away from the chaos.

A few feet away, the Blue Team melded back together.

“I knew you guys would make it out!” Bottle happily greeted her returning teammates. Fries and Clock shared uneasy glances, while Pillow watched on with curious eyes.

“Yeah, that’s great,” Tree said dismissively, “we need to talk about this chart you guys made.”

“That Pillow and Bottle made.” Clock corrected, but Tree ignored him.

“You’ll need to get rid of it if we’re gonna work together,” he said seriously. Pin and Naily nodded in agreement.

“That’s fine.” Fries said, giving Pillow a mean look, “We never agreed to it in the first place.” Pillow only rolled her eyes in response.

“And we’re gonna make sure NOTHING like this happens again!” Coiny said, wrapping his arms around both Tree and Pin, “There’ll be power pyramids with us around!”

Clock looked at the group quizzically, “So, what? You guys have like...unionized?”

Tree took a moment to think, but was interrupted by Naily, “Yeah, we’ve unionized! We’re The Union now!”

“I kind of like the sound of that,” Tree said absentmindedly, “The Union,” he whispered to himself.

Fries winced, beginning to get flashbacks to FreeSmart. Nothing was worse than a clique, and he was watching one form right in front of him.

Pin, Naily, and Coiny went off in one direction, the two ladder chanting “UNION” as they marched. Tree went off in another direction, still in his own head. Tennis Ball was the only member of “The Union” left. He gave the other four Blue Team members a “we’ll talk about this later” look before walking off by himself.

Clock sighed as he watched his team disperse, “Nothing can ever just be easy, can it?”

Pillow gave him a comforting pat on the head, “Don’t worry, Clock. It could be worse.” she gestured over to the Red Team, who were all still at each other's throats, “you could be with them.”

Clock sighed once again, “Yeah. Yeah, I guess.”

“Make sure to use the link below to vote on which member of the Red Team you want to be eliminated from The Power of Two! Voting ends on March 3rd!”

(VOTING FOR THIS EPISODE HAS ENDED)

Voting Poll:

https://linkto.run/p/LA6XR86C

Teams

Red Team: Book, Golf Ball, Eraser, Bell, Fanny, Saw, Lightning, Needle, Cloudy, Pie

Blue Team: Pin, Tree, Pillow, Fries, Coiny, Clock, Bottle, Naily, Tennis Ball

Yellow Team: Donut, TV, Snowball, Robot Flower, Nickel, Foldy, Gaty, Marker, Bomby

Green Team: Black Hole, Pen, Remote, Puffball, Winner, Grassy, Barf Bag, Cake, Basketball

The Statues: Eggy, Rocky, Ice Cube

Chapter Text

Fanny despised fakers.

Saying Fanny hated or despised something was like any other rule of the universe for anybody that knew her. Grass grows, the sun shines, and Fanny hates everything. Everyone knew, and everyone accepted it. However, there was a small group of things that Fanny didn’t just hate; she absolutely loathed.

And Golf Ball was very quickly becoming a member of that elite group.

Because she was a fake.

And she wasn’t even good at hiding it. Match and Pencil had been good at hiding it. They pretended to care about Bubble but never failed to turn around and debase her at any opportunity they got. She hated watching it, and she saw it so often.

And it was happening again. With Cloudy. With Golf Ball. And watching it made her blood boil. Contrary to popular belief, Fanny DIDN’T hate everything. She hated hypocrisy, and she hated injustice.

And it just so happened that there was a lot of that in Goiky.

“Fanny,” a voice said from behind her, breaking her from her thoughts. She whipped around to see Eraser and Pie standing together. Pie was holding a handful of blue and pink horseshoes and two wooden stakes in the other hand.

“Can you move?” Eraser asked rudely, “like...anywhere else than the spot you’re currently in?”

Fanny looked around at the open field she was sitting in. She was a good way away from the Bathroom Plaza and other contestants for that matter.

“Why do you need me to move?” Fanny snipped back, “There’s plenty of room in this field.”

Eraser sighed, “Pie wants to play horseshoe, so we need as much space as we can get.”

Fanny shook her head, “I hate horseshoe.” she said quietly to herself. It was still loud enough for Eraser to hear.

“I figured,” he groaned, “just like you hate everything. Now can you move?”

“I don’t hate everything!” Fanny said defensively.  Eraser didn’t look convinced; not in the slightest.

“So, are you gonna move?” Pie said halfheartedly, dropping the horseshoe supplies onto the grass.

“I shouldn’t have to move,” Fanny said indignantly, “there’s plenty of space in the field for all three of us. I’m not moving.” she cemented her point by digging her heel into the dirt.

Eraser leaned back, his eyes shut in frustration, “I told you she wouldn’t move.”

“She probably would’ve moved if we hadn’t asked,” Pie drawled, pushing one of the stakes into the ground next to her, “she’s being stubborn because that’s the way she is.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” Fanny shot back without hesitation, making sure not to look at her other two teammates. She didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of her grimacing; that they’d upset her. She hated that she was so easy to upset.

“You should be more flexible, Fanny,” Eraser said, walking past her with the other wooden stake in his hand. He and Pie were just going to play around her. She made for an extra obstacle. “It’s stuff like this that gets you votes,” he said back over his shoulder.

“You have to be careful,” Pie added, piggybacking off of what Eraser said, “it’s easy to get votes, so you shouldn’t give the viewers an excuse.”

“I don’t care about being voted for,” Fanny sneered, making sure to emphasize the fact that the game didn’t matter to her. She’d become jaded to the idea of competition. Spending so much time in the TLC would do that to anybody. Months on end stuck in the same metal box with the same faces was nearly enough to make her go crazy. Luckily, she was eventually freed (even if she was one of the last to get out), and she thought she was finally done with competitions.

Then Four appeared, and then he lied, and she went with Two.

And she was back to square one.

Eraser chuckled, now returning from where he placed his stake, “We’ll see if that’s what you’re saying when you end up like Eggy or Ice Cube.”

Fanny shuttered when remembering what had happened to them. The Red Team was the only team that hadn’t lost any members, so curiosity had gotten the best of Fanny. So, Fanny, along with Saw and Bell, went to the elimination area to see it for themselves.

And they...hadn’t liked what they’d seen.

Seeing Eggy, Rocky, and Ice Cube frozen and encased in stone had made Fanny sick. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the scene for more than a few seconds at a time. It wasn’t gruesome by the normal definition of the word, but it unnerved her in a way that normal violence never could. It was something about Eggy’s shocked and pained face. It was something about the way Ice Cube was in the middle of tripping when she got hit and you could just tell she’d been terrified.

It didn’t sit right with her, and neither did Two for that matter.

She had never liked Four, and Two was very quickly following similarly. It’d felt wrong when she watched eliminated contestants get...sucked into Four’s body, and it felt wrong seeing people she knew get turned to stone. Even if she didn’t like them, nobody deserved that.

“Oh, great. Guess it’s already time.” a voice broke her from her thought. She looked to Pie, who was standing with her arms crossed and a frown on her face. Fanny whipped around to where Eraser had been, only to see a few pink horseshoes on the ground.

Fanny sighed, “Great.” as soon as the word left her mouth her head began to fog up. She looked to Pie and saw the pastry wasn’t doing much better. She was swaying back and forth like she’d been spinning in circles.

Fanny shook her head as the world melted around her, and before she knew it she was at the elimination area. Pie and Eraser were already there, along with Bell and Lightning. They looked just as confused as everyone else. Two stood on the stage, beaming at the group like they always did.

“Welcome, Red Team!” Two said, gesturing to the glass cases behind the, “to your first Trophy Case!”

“The whole team isn’t even here yet,” Bell grumbled approaching the stage.

Two looked down at Bell with a wry smile and clapped their hands. The rest of the team quickly popped into existence. Cloudy had been high up in the sky when he was teleported, so he floated back down to his team. Book and Needle, who’d been in the middle of a conversation, were brought together. Saw appeared confused, and Golf Ball popped in with a screwdriver in her mouth. She’d been working on something when she was teleported. She looked around, groaned, and let the tool fall from her mouth.

“You can’t give us a warning? People might be DOING something.” She complained.

Two shook their head, “I have to keep you guys on your toes!”

Lightning raised his hand, “I don’t have toes.”

“I don’t either,” Bell added, “and neither does Cloudy for that matter.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Cloudy said awkwardly, “but I don’t. She is correct.”

Two frowned deeply at the group before turning away from them, “We got a total of four hundred and seventy votes!”

“That sounds like a lot,” Saw saw, trying not to let her voice quiver. Looking past Two and at the eliminated contestants sent chills up her spine.

“Well don’t you worry, Saw,” Two said, doing their best to sound reassuring, “because...LIGHTING is safe with only nineteen votes!”

Lighting let go of the breath he’d been holding in and wiped away the bit of sweat that had formed on his forehead. He wasn’t expecting to get eliminated, but it was a welcome surprise that he got the least amount of votes.

Saw’s anxiety had only been made worse by Two’s little trick. She was shaking now, and she was trying to steady herself. Two pointed to both Book and Needle next.

“Book is safe with twenty-nine votes, and Needle is safe with thirty-two votes!”

The two girls smiled at each other, happy to feel the pressure come off of them. The still unsafe contestants started eyeing each other up. Bell and Golf Ball stared daggers at each other from the corners of their eyes. Saw’s eyes darted back and forth from Two and the trophy case behind them. Two pointed to Cloudy next.

“Cloudy is safe with thirty-seven votes!” the team leader relaxed at the numbers words. Two whipped their arm around and pointed over to Fanny.

“Fanny!” they yelled, “You’re safe with forty-five votes!”

Fanny couldn’t help but look to Eraser with a smug grin. Tell her she’s gonna get the most votes, will he? Well, now who has more votes? She looked at Eraser and was surprised by what she saw. The boy was leaning back on his heels, his arms crossed nonchalantly. He had the same bored expression that he always had, but the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth betrayed him. He was getting nervous, and Fanny could see it clear as day.

“Saw is the next one safe with forty-nine votes!” Two announced. Saw nearly collapsed, but luckily Needle was there to catch her. She was light-headed, but she was just happy to be safe.

“Bell is the next safe with fifty-three votes!” Two said happily.

“Yes!” Bell cheered, quickly turning to Golf Ball, “In your face!”

Golf Ball all but growled at the girl, getting eye to eye with her. But their stand-off was interrupted by Two.

“Golf Ball is also safe with fifty-eight votes!”

“HA!” GB screamed right back into Bell’s face, “What do you think of that?”

Bell scoffed, pulling away from the sports ball, “I think it’s only a matter of time before you end up in the case.” She said coldly.

Golf Ball wanted to shout at the girl but decided not to poke the hornet’s nest any further. GB didn’t want to argue, but she’d also have to think of a way to deal with Bell and her attitude.

“Pie and Eraser,” Two said in a serious tone, “you two had more votes than anyone else, and one of you will be eliminated.” 

“Oh my baker, seriously?” Pie drawled, not sounding very interested in the prospect of being turned to stone. Eraser was the opposite. His hands had moved from his chest to his hips. His eyes were trained on Two as if they’d disappear if he looked away. There was a slight waver in his knees as he waited for Two to say something. Anything.

Two looked over the Two Red Team members, a smile on their face, “Pie,” they said slowly. The object in question raised an eyebrow, awaiting her fate.

“You’re safe with sixty-six votes, and Eraser is eliminated with eighty-two votes!”

Pie nodded, pleasantly surprised with not being eliminated. She sat down and leaned back with her eyes shut. She had no interest in watching what was about to happen.

“I’m...quite surprised with this outcome.” Golf Ball admitted. She watched Eraser with great interest. She’d been prepared for Pie to be the one eliminated.

The team was silent, no one dare say a word. Without even realizing they were doing it, the other nine members of the Red Team started moving away from Eraser.

The boy in question took a hesitant step back, his eyes darting back and forth. There was nowhere to run. They were in an open field and there was nothing to hide behind.

Two snapped their fingers, a white light flickering into their palm. They stared down Eraser with a smile that was a mixture of cruel and sympathetic. Eraser took another step back. He knew he couldn’t run. He wouldn’t be fast enough. This didn’t make any sense. It shouldn’t be him. What did he do?

“Wait,” was all he was able to get out before Two extended their arm and blasted him with a beam of light. The other team members looked away from the blinding brightness, and the objects blessed with hands used them to cover their ears so they didn’t have to listen to Eraser’s screams. Fanny had been the closest to Eraser when he was hit. She kept her head turned away and her eyes clenched shut. She could feel the heat of the light on her cheek.

After what felt like a millennia Eraser’s screams stopped and the light faded away. The remaining team members crowded around the statue that Eraser had become. His face looked pained. Saw squinted and looked at the plaque on the pedestal it stood on.

~Eraser~

37th Place

“I...uh...I hated that,” Fanny grumbled, the normal ire in her voice noticeably missing. No one knew what to say. Saw looked fit to faint, while Cloudy and Lightning could only blankly stare at what once was Eraser. Even Golf Ball was affected. Her ever-present scowl was still there, but something in her eyes showed that she wasn’t comfortable.

Two didn’t want to waste time dawdling, however, so without wasting any more time they clapped their hands together and teleported themself and the Red Team back to the others.

“My money is on Pie,” Gaty declared, waiting for Two to return with the Red Team.

Tree frowned, “You’re crazy. It’s not gonna be Pie.” he said in defense of his former Death P.A.C.T. teammate.

“She doesn’t do anything,” Donut added, “the viewers are likely to see that.”

“She does do things,” Black Hole said, backing up Tree, “she just does them in her specific way.” He didn’t like hearing people talk bad about someone he considered a friend.

“I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Golf Ball,” Basketball spoke up, “she has a good chance of getting out.”

Tennis Ball winced at the fellow ball's words but decided to stay quiet. She was right. Even going as far back as the first BFDI TB would always worry when his and GB’s team would be up for elimination. Her abrasive and demanding personality was a lot to deal with, and he always feared that the viewers would grow tired of tolerating her. Sometimes it felt like he was the only one who enjoyed Golf Ball’s company. Nobody knew her as he did.

While the members of the Yellow and Blue Team’s argued about who’d be coming back from elimination, on the Green Team it was a little more tension-filled. Pen stood with his arms crossed, tapping his foot repeatedly. He hadn’t looked away from the open spot in the plaza since they’d gathered.

“Are you worried about Eraser?” Remote asked him, catching him off guard. He fiddled with his cap, unsure of what to say to her. He was still having a hard time talking to people he didn’t know well, and Remote was already a tough person to talk to.

“Yeah,” Pen mumbled, his eyes still on the open spot, “yeah, I am.” How could he not be? The thought of losing his only real friend so early in the game terrified him. He didn’t have anyone else if he lost Eraser.

Remote wanted to say something to comfort the writing utensil but was stopped by the split-second arrival of Two and the Red Team. The other players looked over the nine players and Pen’s heart sank into his feet.

“Now, THAT is surprising to me,” Donut admitted, “I wasn’t prepared for it to b-OOF!”

Donut was cut off by Bomby elbowing him in the side. The explosive gestured with his eyes over to Pen, who looked like he’d just had his soul sucked out. Donut got the hint and decided it’d be better for him to just keep his mouth shut.

“No need to dwell on the past, let’s get right into our next challenge!” Two said passionately. They pointed their finger off to the side and blasted a beam of green and white into the field. The same green and white light that had conjured the hedge maze.

When the light faded, what was left was a large conveyor belt. It was long, and more than wide enough to hold all thirty-six contestants.

“This challenge will put you all on this conveyor belt! The first team to have all their members fall off the belt will be up for elimination!”

“That’s it?” Clock questioned, “Sounds a little too basic. What’s the catch?”

Two smiled, “You’re correct, Clock. That is too basic, so there’s an added part of the challenge.” they pointed over at the Green Team; Black Hole to be specific.

“Black Hole!” Two called out, catching the region of spacetime off guard. “Will you do me a favor?”

“Uh…,” Black Hole hesitated, “sure. What do you need?”

Two pointed over to the back end of the conveyor belt, “Head over there for me will you?” he asked politely.

Black Hole paused, but did as he was told and cautiously floated over to where Two had pointed. “Okay. Now what?”

Black Hole received an answer in the form of being shot. That being by a beam of white light Two shot from their finger. Black Hole groaned, not even realizing he was capable of feeling any kind of physical stimulation. For the first time he could, and he didn’t like it.

The other contestants watched in a mixture of awe and terror as Black Hole tripled in size. By the time he was done growing he was twice the size of the bathroom plaza and made the conveyor belt he was next to look tiny.

“What did you do to him!?” Remote yelled, gawking up at her now gigantic friend.

“I made him big,” Two said, sounding very proud of themself.

“Black Hole!” Winner called out, but they received no response. They turned back to Two, “Can he not hear us?”

“He cannot, no,” Two shook their head, “I removed his sentience.”

A murmur of confusion fell over the contestants, “You...removed his sentience?” Barf Bag parroted, still not fully comprehending the ramifications of what Two said.

“Yep.” Two confirmed, “He can’t think and he can’t talk. He’s just an ordinary black hole right now, and he’s a big part of the challenge. You’ll run on the conveyor belt and try to stay out of Black Hole’s gravitational pull. You get pulled in and you’re out of the challenge!” they explained.

“You can turn him back though, right,” a concerned Winner asked, “like after the challenge is over?”

Two nodded, “Yes I can. Once the challenge is done I’ll turn him back to normal.” They clapped their hands, smiling at the contestants, “So, who’s ready to get this challenge underway?”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Cake interrupted, looking over the other teams, “if Black Hole isn’t going to be in the challenge then we’ll be down a member. All the other teams have one more member than us!”

Two looked over the teams, counting their head. Their eyes widened in realization, “You’re right, Cake! Well, we can’t have that! Will just have one member of the Red, Yellow, and Blue Teams sit out.”

“How do we decide that?” Puffball questioned.

Two pointed to themself, “I’ll be the decider! Bell will sit out for the Red Team.”

“That’s fair, I guess.” Bell agreed. It made sense. She was on a string so it would put her at an immediate advantage in the challenge.

“TV will sit out for the Yellow Team.”

TV’s screen flashed with a large thumbs up and a triumphant sound effect. He was thankful that his lumbering and awkward body wouldn’t have to run on a conveyor belt.

“And Bottle will be sitting out for the Blue Team.”

The entire Blue Team, despite their current divide, were silently happy it’d be Bottle sitting out. She was as fragile and wouldn’t last very long in a physical challenge.

Bottle beamed happily at her teammates, “I’m so excited to watch my team win the challenge!”

“With that, all settled, are we ready to properly start this challenge?” Two asked.

Barf Bag raised her hand, “What about the flying contestants? What’s to stop them from just flying up and away from Black Hole?”

“Oh, that’s an easy fix,” Two said, “We just won’t have them fly above or they’re disqualified. They have to stay close to the belt just like everybody else.”

Barf Bag was happy with that answer and stayed quiet.

“Okay,” Two sighed, hands on their hips, “are we all ready to get started?”

Nobody answered.

“Great! Everyone on the belt then!” Two clapped their hands and the contestants did as they were told. They climbed up onto the conveyor belt and distributed themselves evenly on it. The majority of them stood near the front of the belt to create some distance from Black Hole. Others stood near the middle so as not to crowd the front. Nobody stood at the back.

“Activating the conveyor belt AND Black Hole in three...two…,” Two clapped their hands and the challenge was underway.

A lot happened at once. Firstly, all the contestants suddenly felt a pull at their backs. Black Hole had been “activated” and immediately everyone knew it would prove to be annoying. Floating contestants like Cloudy found themselves floating backward without really realizing it.

Secondly, the conveyor belt sputtered to life. It started slow, those on it barely having to move to keep up with it. After a few seconds, it got a little faster, and the contestant’s walking turned into a jog. And the contest was officially on.

Those in shape, like Needle and Snowball, weren’t having an issue keeping up with the speed of the conveyor. While those like Tennis Ball and Basketball, who...weren’t the healthiest, struggled out of the gate. The flying contestants were having the hardest time. They weren’t allowed to fly away so they just had to push themselves as hard as they could.

Lightning tried to force himself forward away from Black Hole’s pull but found his progress halted by Snowball elbowing him in the face. He flew backward and couldn’t catch his bearing in time to escape Black Hole, and was sucked right into the void. The challenge had claimed its first victim.

A few minutes passed and Two already found themself getting bored. Watching the contestants run was all well and good, but it didn’t mean much if no one was getting out. Basketball and Tennis Ball eventually couldn’t keep up the pace and fell into Black Hole’s grasp, but they were it.

“Okay, time to speed it up a bit,” Two snapped their fingers and the conveyor belt picked up speed. Two also quietly made Black Hole’s gravitational pull just a little bit stronger. They didn’t let the players know that, of course.

The next to fall victim was Marker, who tripped over his own feet while trying to keep pace with the others. He was able to take out a member of the Red Team, however. And by that I mean Saw tripped over him and sent them both into Black Hole.

Puffball was starting to feel fatigued. The constant tug of war between her and Black Hole made it feel like her hair would rip off. Pushing was beginning to hurt as she shut her eyes for only a second. She relaxed in the air and let out a winded breath, ready to let Black Hole take her.

But she was snatched out of the air by Barf Bag.

“Wha...what?” Puffball mumbled, slowly opening her eyes, “Barf Bag?”

Barf Bag looked down at the puff with a smile, “I saw you were struggling and thought you could use some help.”

The two Green Team members watched as Cloudy flew backward past them and got sucked up into Black Hole.

“I uh...wanted to make sure that didn’t happen,” Barf Bag chuckled nervously, not sure what to think watching a person get disentangled into a singularity.

“Thanks for the save,” Puffball said weakly, doing her best to keep her eyes open.

“Teams have to stick together,” Barf Bag said, trying her best to not sound winded. The Green Team was lacking comradery and Barf Bag was determined to change that. One teammate at a time.

And a little bit ahead of her she saw Remote trying to talk to Pen, and she realized how difficult that task would be.

“Nickel. I have an idea.”

“Don’t even think about it, SB.”

Snowball grunted in annoyance. He hated how weak his team was. Was he out of line to throw Nickel at people whenever he got the chance? Maybe. Did it help the Yellow Team win challenges? Sometimes. Playing aggressive was how you won challenges. Sure, the viewers didn’t like you, but their opinion didn’t matter if you’re never up for elimination. That was Snowball’s plan. Never lose; never get voted off.

“You have to stop throwing people,” Gaty said, running up to Nickel’s side.

“Or at least stop throwing people on our team,” Foldy grumbled. She was having the hardest time keeping up out of everyone on the Yellow Team. She could run fast, sure, but she was also thin and extremely light. Every few seconds she felt her feet involuntarily leaving the conveyor belt. She wouldn’t last much longer at this rate.

Snowball was getting tired of the whining on his team. It was bad enough always getting lectured by Donut, but dealing with Gaty and Foldy constantly on either of his shoulders telling him whatever he was doing was wrong made him want to explode.

“Fine,” SB seethed, “watch me win this challenge for us.” without another word to the team members he bolted forward where the Blue Team was clumped together. He locked onto Pin and Coiny specifically. Without making a sound he slinked up behind them and pushed himself between the two.

“Hey, Coiny,” Snowball said slyly, putting a hand over Pin’s mouth, “you wanna see a cool trick?”

Coiny’s face lit up like a Christmas tree, “Sure, SB! Show me what you got!”

Snowball only smiled as he grabbed Coiny by the top of his head, and the penny realized one moment too late what SB’s intentions were. Before he could voice his objections Snowball already had him reeling back, and in the next second, he was airborne.

Snowball may not have been book smart, but he was no fool when it came to being athletic. And that included aim. With the perfect throw, he flung Coiny like a frisbee and aimed for the rest of the Blue Team. Coiny harmlessly flew by Fries and Tree, but made direct contact with Clock, dropping him on his face. Coiny landed flat on his back right next to him. They both immediately got carried away on the conveyor. Snowball took advantage of the two downed objects by pushing Pin (who he was still holding onto) on top of Coiny, sending her off with her two teammates. They scrambled on top of each other in an attempt to get up, but they didn’t act fast enough and fell into Black Hole. Blue Team was now three teammates down and extremely crippled.

Snowball pulled back and returned to his team, a smug smile on his face. Gaty and Nickel had shocked looks on their faces, while Foldy didn’t have a look on her face because she wasn’t there anymore. While Snowball was on offense Black Hole’s pull grew stronger and Foldy was yanked off of her feet and directly into Black Hole, eliminating her.

“Pen,” Remote said for what felt like the ninth time. There’s no way Pen didn’t hear her; she was right next to him. He was ignoring her. His face was determined as he ran, staring ahead like nobody else was around him.

“Pen, don’t ignore me,” Remote said firmly, trying not to sound angry. She didn’t want to be rude; a close friend of his was just eliminated. However, that wasn’t an excuse for him to be rude back.

“Think she’s talking to you, Pen,” Winner said snidely on Pen’s other side. Pen grumbled but finally turned to look at Remote.

“Now isn’t a really good time to talk, Remote,” Pen said shortly, “we’re in the middle of the challenge.”

“I know that,” Remote shot back, beginning to get irritated, “but we’re a team and you just lost somebody important to you.”

Pen stiffened at the mention of the earlier elimination. Winner was confused by Remote’s words.

“The elimination?” they asked, “you mean the Red Team’s elimination?” Then they looked from Remote to Pen, “You weren’t friends with that eraser, were you?” they questioned, a hint of disgust in their voice.

Pen grunted and held his leg over, causing Winner to trip and land on their face. The belt carried them away and, after being dodged by some other contestants, directly into Black Hole.

Remote felt like she could scream. Pen just eliminated a member of his team! She didn’t know that making nice would be this difficult, but she was anything but a quitter!

Two was growing impatient. They’d cranked up the conveyor belt as high as it would go, but the majority of the contestants were still holding strong. Watching Nickel fall over himself and all but roll into Black Hole had been humorous, and Snowball picking up Grassy and tossing him off the conveyor had been a welcome distraction from the monotony, but that was the last bit of action for the last few minutes.

It was time to step things up a notch.

“Okay, everyone!” Two yelled up to the objects on the belt, “It’s time to add the hurdles!”

“What he’d say about hurdles?” Donut asked Robot Flower, who stiffly shrugged in response. His question was answered in the form of a long wall coming up that ran the entire length of the conveyor belt. How that hurdle got there nobody had any clue, but most things regarding Two didn’t make much sense.

The hurdle helped clean house by eliminating any contestant that lacked the arms to help pull themselves over. That included Fanny and Golf Ball on the Red Team, Naily on the Blue Team, Gaty on the Yellow Team, and Cake on the Green Team. The only exception was Puffball, who was still being held by Barf Bag. The Green and Yellow Team’s still had four members while the Red and Blue Team were down to three each. Two leaned back with a sigh of satisfaction, content with the amount of havoc they’d caused.

Pillow was enjoying herself.

There were a few reasons as to why that was. The main one was that the challenge was fun. She enjoyed running and the addition of the hurdle kept her on her toes.

The second reason was who she was still running with. That being Fries and Tree.

She had been very happy with the team she’d gotten at the start of TPOT. It was a team full of new people to meet and get to know, the only exceptions to that being Bottle and Tree. They were all so interesting to her.

Pillow was a watcher, not a doer. She’d always preferred to stick to the walls of a room and watch people; study them. It’s not that she wasn’t social- she was, but her strengths had always been in analysis. Keeping a keen eye on those around her and taking notes on her observations, and she’d begun running out of those while on Death P.A.C.T.

The Blue Team, however, was the exact opposite. Unlike Death P.A.C.T., the Blue Team was varied in their desires and their end goals. Pie and Liy’s experiment to create a team that prevented death in a world where it was so commonplace was an interesting one, but it didn’t create a lot of variety in motive. The Blue Team wasn’t like that. The Blue Team had strong and stubborn personalities that often clashed.

Fries and Tree were the perfect examples of that.

They were easily her two favorite people on the team. Two opposites that were forced to work together and to cooperate. One was a tightly wound cynic, while the other was somehow both mellow and irreverent at the same time. The two couldn’t’ve been more different.

And Pillow loved it.

“Pick up the speed, Pillow,” Fries said over his shoulder, trying to keep her from getting eliminated. They couldn’t afford to lose anyone; there were only three members left. Pillow smiled to herself, it was time to stir the pot a little.

“Sure thing, leader,” she said coyly whilst also picking up her pace. She subtly looked over to Tree to gauge his reaction and was happy with what she saw. He sneered, not at her, but Fries.

“I guess you still have followers in your little hierarchy, Fries,” he said in a passive-aggressive tone. Fries sighed with exasperation but kept running without saying anything. He didn’t want to make his relations with the head of “The Union”  any worse than they already were.

Pillow didn’t care about that, so she wanted to push the envelope.

“Tree,” Pillow said, putting her hand on Tree’s back, “if this is about your place on the pyramid then I’m sure we can reassess your spot?” she said in a questioning tone.

That touched a nerve. Tree pulled away from Pillow’s touch and ran ahead of his teammates. Fries grabbed a hold of her arm and forcefully yanked her close to him.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Fries seethed into her ear, “I thought we agreed to drop all of that pyramid nonsense?”

“We did,” Pillow nodded, “but you’re still the team leader, are you not?” she asked innocently. “You should be respected as such.”

“Bringing up the chart is only going to make the team more upset,” Fries facepalmed, “I’m sure he’ll go and tell his alliance about this little incident.”

“You’re too much of a worrier, Fries,” she waved him off, “I’ve no doubt you and Clock will put your heads together and...figure...out,” she trailed off, her focus instead now on the reapproaching hurdle. Although the sound of loud hydraulics mixing with the loud hum of the conveyor belt set of some alarm bells.

Fries was having the same thought as her, “Is the hurdle...moving?”

It was. The formally stationary hurdle was now jolting up and down like it was trying to escape the belt altogether. It moved forward at high speeds toward the first team on the belt, that being the Red Team. Pie got on top of the hurdle, but got bucked off and sent flying away from the belt a second later. Book and Needle both made it over with each other's help.

The Yellow Team was up next. Snowball, Donut, and Robot Flower cleared the hurdle without much fanfare, but Bomby was a different story. The explosive had wanted to be careful, afraid the force would cause him to go off. So, he did his best to go slow over the hurdle, but that didn’t get him anywhere. He was too afraid to try and jump over and destroy the belt in the process. And so he sat against the hurdle and waited for it to reach Black Hole and eliminate him.

The Green Team was next up to bat against the hurdle. Pen and Remote got over without much hassle. Barf Bag technically made it over, but the hurdle jumped while she was on top of it, causing her to lose her balance and fall flat on her face on the other side. Her innards became outtards as she knocked herself out cold. Puffball didn’t have a much better landing, bouncing over the edge of the belt and eliminating herself.

Tree was alone on his stretch of the belt, and he had no problem stepping on Bomby’s head and using him to leap over the hurdle. Fries prepared himself to jump as the hurdle barreled towards him, but before he could blink he felt himself get lifted off his feet. He looked behind him to see Pillow holding him above her head. She had a determined, yet warm smile on her face.

“The team leader takes priority,” she said as if it were the simplest thing in the world. Fries didn’t have time to argue as he was tossed over the oncoming hurdle. He landed on his feet, and despite being disoriented, kept running to keep himself in the challenge. He looked over his shoulder again to see that Pillow hadn’t followed him, allowing herself to be swallowed up by Black Hole. Barf Bag, who still hadn’t woken up, suffered the same fate.

Fries was so torn about what had just transpired, but he was sure about one thing for sure.

That girl was as strange as they came.

“I’m not sure how much longer I can keep this up.” Donut moaned, wiping away some sweat that had formed on his head. Snowball would never admit it, but he was feeling tired himself.

“I can keep running. I don’t get tired,” Robot Flower stated, “but it’s hard for me to do the hurdle.”

“We...we have to end this,” Snowball huffed, trying to ignore the pain in his legs. His knees felt like they could buckle any minute; he wouldn’t last much longer.

“What do you suppose we do?” Robot Flower asked, not sounding confident that Snowball would even have a plan.

Snowball turned around, making sure to not lose his footing as he spotted something interesting. He saw Remote and Pen bickering. It was too noisy to hear what they were saying, but it was clear they were disagreeing.

Donut looked where Snowball was looking and quickly caught on to what he was thinking, and he didn’t like it.

“Snowball, no,” Donut said firmly, “We shouldn’t win via sabotage. That isn’t a good way to play the game.”

“I don’t care what you do,” RF said quickly, but she pointed in front of her, “but whatever you do, you should do it quickly.”

She pointed at the hurdle, which was once again approaching. It was bouncing much faster than it had been on its first rotation. Book and Needle made it over without an issue, and now it was coming up on the Yellow Team.

Snowball looked to Donut again, and for a moment Donut would’ve sworn that the look the larger boy gave him was almost apologetic.

Snowball stopped running and let the conveyor belt carry him down to where Pen and Remote were.

“Remote, I’m serious, back off!” Pen said, now shouting at the device. It felt like the two had been repeating themselves for the last ten minutes. Remote would ask him to open up, he’d tell her to go away, and then she wouldn’t go away. Rinse and repeat. It was becoming tiresome.

“You shouldn’t keep feelings like this buried!” she yelled back, doing her best to emote with her automated voice. She hadn’t given up yet, and she had no intention of doing so any time soon.

“I’m not, but we’re in the middle of-” Pen cut himself off as he was blindsided by a fist colliding with his face. He’d been looking at Remote (and Remote was looking at him), so he hadn’t been prepared for Snowball to use the momentum of the conveyor belt to carry himself to the Green Team and punch both members in the face. Both Pen and Remote flew back, knocked off their feet by Snowball’s attack.

Snowball turned back around and continued running. He didn’t intend on getting pulled into Black Hole anytime soon. The two Green Team members landed flat on their backs and got carried past Fries and directly into Black Hole, officially ending the challenge.

“THAT’S IT!” Two yelled, making sure to project their voice over the sound of the conveyor belt, “THE GREEN TEAM HAVE LOST THE CHALLENGE!”

Two clapped their hands together and the belt just...popped out of existence, causing the remaining contestants to plop to the ground. Black Hole began to shrink and return to his normal size.

“Wha...what happened?” he asked, confused. He wasn’t sure what had happened. It was like he blinked and just never opened his eyes back up, and he didn’t even have eyes!

Two walked up to the remaining contestants and extended their hand. Every contestant that had been pulled into Black Hole materialized from Two’s hand like a bursting dam, flowing out into the open air.

“Ugh,” Clock grumbled, slowly getting to his feet, “is the challenge over?”

“Yep!” Bottle squealed, wrapping her arms around both Fries and Tree, “And we won thanks to these two!”

“I knew you guys could do it,” Pillow said, a serene look on her face.

Tree pulled away from Bottle and walked up to Naily, “You will not believe the stunt they pulled on the conveyor belt.”

The two walked away from the rest of the Blue Team, gossiping to each other. Clock gave Fries a worried look. “Something happen I should know about?”

Fries shook his head, “I’ll tell you about it later.”

A few feet away Snowball was wiping the dirt from his hand, proud of a job well done. He wanted to bask in his victory, but he felt a pair of eyes burning a hole in his back. He whipped around to see Donut staring blankly at him.

Snowball smirked, “I see you’re here to apologize for trying to STOP me from winning the challenge. Well, no need to embarrass yourself. Your apology is accepted.” he put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest. He still wanted Donut to apologize. It was nice to hear, but that wasn’t what he got.

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

His voice was cold. Not in an angry way, but more of a despondent and discouraged way. Snowball had been ready for anger, but not...whatever this was.

He shook it off and tried to bolster, “I can’t believe this. I won the challenge for us and you still can’t give me credit.”

Donut raised his hand to object, but he stayed silent. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he decided against it and turned away from his teammate.

“Just...forget it,” he said, sounding hollow. He walked away toward the rest of the Yellow Team, who were talking with each other in a circle. Snowball folded his arms, not very happy with how his gloating had turned out.

It didn’t matter, however, because he was safe from elimination.

A bit away, the Green Team were falling together around Black Hole, who was still in the dark about how the challenge went. Needless to say, he wasn’t happy to learn that they’d lost.

“Well, that’s just great,” Black Hole said, disappointed. He wasn’t upset with his team, he was more upset that he didn’t get to participate in the challenge himself.

The team exchanged info with Black Hole, but Remote wasn’t paying attention to that. Her focus was on Pen, who had already walked away from his team. His arms were crossed and his head was down.

Remote had a horrid, aching feeling in her gut that things would only get worse.

“Use the link below to cast your vote on who on the Green Team should be eliminated! The voting ends on April 2nd!”

Voting Link: (VOTING FOR THIS EPISODE HAS ENDED)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScE20y64Dbx8GOEwVICXIrCLpXfcIFAlfoqON8KAPRPVUotqQ/viewform

Teams

Team: Book, Golf Ball, Bell, Fanny, Saw, Lightning, Needle, Cloudy, Pie

Blue Team: Pin, Tree, Pillow, Fries, Coiny, Clock, Bottle, Naily, Tennis Ball

Yellow Team: Donut, TV, Snowball, Robot Flower, Nickel, Foldy, Gaty, Marker, Bomby

Green Team: Black Hole, Pen, Remote, Puffball, Winner, Grassy, Barf Bag, Cake, Basketball

Statues: Eggy, Rocky, Ice Cube, Eraser

Chapter Text

“I’m still not so sure about this, Golf Ball.”

“How can you not be? My plans are always foolproof!”

Cloudy sighed, unsure of how to proceed. He didn’t even know if he wanted to keep going forward with Golf Ball’s help. Becoming the Red Team’s leader was an idea that had made Cloudy nervous from the beginning, but he still took the job with a smile. Why not? If his teammates believed in him then why not take up the mantle?

Turns out Golf Ball was the reason why.

Golf Ball was the original one to suggest Cloudy take up the role of team leader, and so he took her offer to help him become a better leader as just her being helpful. Turns out it was more a ploy to turn Cloudy into a mouthpiece for GB’s ideas. Cloudy was no fool; he knew what Golf Ball wanted from him.

She didn’t want a leader, she wanted a puppet.

You’d think that being aware of that fact would make it easy to tell the girl off, but you’d be mistaken. Cloudy didn’t like feeling like a pushover, but he knew that calling out Golf Ball on her plan would only make the situation with the Red Team worse. Things were already so volatile between the team and it was breaking up into factions. Bell, Lightning, and Fanny were very opposed to anything involving Golf Ball, and GB wasn’t their biggest fan either. Needle and Book talked to each other, but not really anybody else. That left Saw and Pie, who were...wild cards, to say the least. They barely talked to anyone. Especially Pie. Saw at least would speak to everyone on the team, she just wasn’t friends with them. Pie on the other hand just sat around, that same uninterested look on her face.

“I find your lack of faith annoying, Cloudy,” Golf Ball grumbled, not turning away from her workbench. The two of them had been meeting in her underground factory since their little arrangement had started. It was secluded, and most people didn’t want to make the effort of going down and back up the stairs. It offered them proper privacy.

A loud clattering of metal on metal broke Cloudy from his thoughts. Golf Ball turned away from her workbench and toward Cloudy, her wall teleporter in her grasp. Cloudy didn’t know much about GB’s wall teleporter, only that she and Tennis Ball found it in Yoyle City while he was still trapped in the TLC. It was the wall teleporter that had freed him and the other after BFDIA had ended, even if took multiple months to eventually get his turn.

Golf Ball placed the wall teleporter and pressed the ‘ON’ button. The device whirred to life and Cloudy could feel heat begin to emanate off of it despite not even being close to it. Golf Ball smiled down at the device as she pointed it downward.

“The moment of truth,” she said, almost manic. Cloudy looked away, bracing himself for the worst. The loud noises of the machine reached a crescendo as a blast went off in the confines of the factory. After that there was silence. Cloudy slowly opened his eyes and stared in shock at what he saw. In between, he and Golf Ball was a portal. A portal that he was greatly familiar with.

“You actually did it,” Cloudy said breathlessly, “I can’t believe it.”

“Believe it,” GB laughed, “say goodbye to the wall teleporter, and hello to the wall AND floor teleporter!”

Golf Ball felt like she could climb a mountain. She’d been working on the wall teleporter for months now, and all her efforts had finally paid off. Despite how it may have looked, the wall teleporter was actually a complicated piece of technology. It was somehow able to always sense when it was being fired at a wall or a floor. So, she and Tennis Ball made it their objective to find out how it ticked and make it more versatile. Progress on that plan had slowed down after she and Tennis Ball got put on different teams, but that didn’t stop her from pushing forward with the testing, and she’d finally done it.

“Well, now what do we do?” Cloudy questioned cautiously, still unnerved by GB’s grin.

“Now,” GB said slowly, her eyes still focused on the portal at her feet, “we wait for the next challenge.”

A tree slammed his hands down on the table, “Welcome all! To the first official meeting of The Union!”

The response from his compatriots was muted, to say the least. Coiny and Naily smiled at him in an attempt to be supportive, but Tennis Ball and Pin looked a lot more unsure of being there.

“Now, you know why I’ve gathered all of you here,” Tree said, his eyes scanning over his teammates, “that being the concerns we all have with our ‘team leaders’ and their little sorting chart,” he said bitterly.

“Yeah, about that,” TB started hesitantly, “I’m not exactly sure what we’re supposed to do about that.”

“Clock and Fries said they were going to stop using the chart,” Pin added, “not to mention that Clock seemed genuine when he said he did not know about it.”

“Even if that’s true, it’ll be our jobs to make sure that everyone on the Blue Team is treated equally,” Pin said firmly, “That chart that was made goes against that, so we’ll be the ones to police it.”

“Not to mention that they may still use the chart even if they got rid of the paper,” Naily chimed in, “and I don’t want to get treated like I’m less important than anybody else on this team!”

“Agreed!” Coiny seconded. He and Naily had been the most upset by their placements on the pyramid. They’d felt demoralized by being put at the bottom of the totem pole.

“I just feel this doesn’t need to be made into a big problem,” Tennis Ball reasoned, “it isn’t a good idea to divide the team.”

“Easy for you to say, TB. You weren’t in the bottom tier.” Coiny argued.

“Stop concerning yourselves about where you are on the chart,” Tree declared, cutting off the argument, “The problem is that there’s even a chart, to begin with.”

“Fries explained to me that it was Pillow and Bottle that made the chart, not him and Clock.” Tennis Ball explained, trying to defuse the situation. It didn’t work, however. Naily got to her feet and stood on top of the table.

“Then they’re against us too!” she declared, only helping to get Coiny even more riled up. Tennis Ball and Pin just became more uncomfortable, and even Tree could tell he was losing control of the situation. Tree put his hands up to calm her down, but that only riled her up even more. She started an impassioned sermon about how all are equal and should be treated as such, which pushed Tennis Ball and Tree to try and calm her down. Coiny just egged Naily on, completely on her side.

That is until he noticed Pin was no longer sitting next to him.

Coiny whipped around in his seat, completely confused as to how Pin could just disappear when she was sitting right next to him. He got his answer when he fully turned around and saw Pin walking away from The Union’s meeting table. He looked over the remaining Union members. Tree was now restraining Naily, who was kicking and yelling the entire time, and Tennis Ball was preoccupied with making sure nobody was bearing witness to the embarrassing scene. Coiny took advantage of the distraction to sneak away from the table and chase after Pin.

“Hey, Pin! Wait up!” he yelled out to her, causing her to stop walking. She turned to face the coin, and he didn’t like the look on her face. She looked disheartened; like she’d lost her spirit.

“You...uh...you okay?” he asked, worry evident in his voice. She looked away from him, awkwardly rubbing her arm.

“I do not think it’s a good idea to split the team like this,” said Pin, not sounding confident, “a team has to work together until the merge, and we won’t win challenges if we are at war with each other.”

Coiny gave his friend a comforting smile and put a hand on her shoulder, “Pin, you don’t have to worry about any of that stuff,” he said calmingly, “all of this with The Union doesn’t matter in the end.”

He sat down in the grass, pulling Pin down to sit next to him, “What matters is you and me, Pin. Once we get to the merge then it’ll be smooth sailing from there.”

Pin couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s words, but she was still worried, “You sound so sure that we’ll make it to the merge. How can you be sure?”

Coiny shrugged, “Call it a hunch, but what matters is that we stick together until then,” he wrapped his arm around the girl’s side and pulled her close, a warm smile on his face, “It’s what happened in BFDIA, it’s what happened in BFB, and it’s what’ll happen here.”

With the confidence in Coiny’s words, and with the conviction in his eyes. How could Pin not believe him?

Pen was in a bad place.

He’d had bad days before, but it’d been years since he felt like EVERY day was a bad day. The last time his mental health had been as low as it was now was when he was still stuck in the TLC after BFDIA ended. Day after day in the dark had done quite a number on him. It had been rough on everybody. Fights happened almost every day in the confined metal walls. He’d been lucky enough to be the second one to get out after Tennis Ball used the wall teleporter, right after Match, but that didn’t make up for the time he’d already lost.

However, at least while stuck in the TLC, he’d had his friends.

A luxury he no longer had.

He looked up again at the trophy case where Eraser was. He hadn’t gotten any sleep last night; all he could focus on was his friend in that glass box. No matter how many times he told himself it wasn’t true and saw the proof in front of his face, he still couldn’t believe Eraser was gone. This wasn’t how TPOT was supposed to go. It was supposed to be different from BFB. Pen wasn’t supposed to be alone again.

No Eraser. No Blocky. No Snowball. Nobody. What was the point?

“I thought I’d find you here.” a familiar bored-sounding voice said from behind Pen. He turned around and saw Black Hole floating a few feet away. Pen sighed and turned back to the stage, looking back up at Eraser.

“What’re you doing here?”

“I figured Trophy Case would start soon,” Black Hole responded, “I wanted to get here before Two did so they wouldn’t teleport me.”

That made sense. Being teleported by Two always left you dazed and confused. Black Hole floated up next to Pen, hovering a few feet above him.

“I’m sorry about Eraser,” Black Hole said apologetically, “I know that you guys were close.”

“Yeah,” Pen said bitterly, “yeah, we were.”

It felt so weird, talking about Eraser like he was dead. He wasn’t, at least Pen didn’t think so. He wasn’t so sure how much he trusted Two when they said that turning to stone was like a nap for them. Something about that didn’t sit right with him.

Pen kept his eyes locked on his friend in the case. The petrification process must hurt to some degree if that pained face Eraser had was accurate to his final moments of sentience. But above that was the look of confusion on his face, like he hadn’t been expecting to get eliminated at all.

“Do you remember our time in the TLC?” Pen asked Black Hole, not turning to face him.

“How could I not?” Black Hole shuttered at the memory, “It was horrible. I’m not accustomed to small spaces.”

“I remember how...mad I was when I first got eliminated from BFDI,” Pen started, running his hands through the grass, “I was up for elimination against Bubble and Rocky, and everyone loved them. It felt so unfair.” Pen bemoaned, but then he smiled, turning slightly to face his teammate.

“But Eraser helped me through it,” he said, his voice somber, “he treated his own elimination so nonchalantly that it was hard to stay upset. He made all those months a little more tolerable.”

Pen blinked rapidly, trying to keep the small tears forming in the corner of his eyes at bay. He weakly gestured up at the trophy case; up at Eraser.

“Now look at him,” Pen said sadly, “turned to stone and stuffed into a glass box. Now I’m on my own. Eraser’s out, Blocky’s in BFB and Snowball hasn’t talked to me since the teams were made. There’s thirty-six of us still in the game and I don’t have anybody to fall back on.”

“I mean, that’s kind of your own choice, isn’t it?” Black Hole asked, confused. Pen turned fully to face the void, and he was... pretty sure the void was looking back at him. It was hard to tell sometimes.

“Remote has been trying really hard to be your friend,” BH continued, “as a real friend. You got forced onto Death P.A.C.T., and you were forced onto the Green Team, but it’s your choice to not try and make the best of it.” 

Pen awkwardly tugged at his cap, “I haven’t...had to make new friends in a long time.” he said honestly.

BH shrugged (or BH’s equivalent to shrugging), “Well, I wasn’t very close to anybody on Death P.A.C.T. when we first formed, you know, but I put in the effort and now I’d consider most of them really close friends.”

Pen hugged his knees close to his chest as he listened to Black Hole continue talking, “It’ll be hard, yeah, but I’m sure a few people will be willing to meet you halfway.” he finished, not at all being subtle about who he was referring to. 

Pen absently pulled at some of the grass blades, at a loss for words.

He kept his eyes down at his feet, unable to look up at his teammate. He could feel Black Hole looking down at him, and Pen’s mouth felt dry. It was hard to breathe, let alone speak.

Luckily, he was bailed out by Two, who popped into existence on the stage, spooking both boys present.

“I’m happy to see you guys are so excited to get this elimination underway!” they said, hands on their hips.

“Whatever gets you through the day,” Pen said sarcastically under his breath. Two either didn’t hear Pen’s comment or just didn’t care, because they ignored him and clapped his hand, summoning the other members of the Green Team.

Puffball was getting impatient. She’d never been one to wait on people, and she despised being held up. She knew that she didn’t have much time before Two teleported her and the rest of the Green Team for Trophy Case.

She was currently hovering behind the closed Gelatin’s Steakhouse, doing her best to look inconspicuous. Meeting somewhere where people didn’t come around was a good way of keeping attention off herself. The Bathroom Plaza was always bustling with activity and she’d be noticed immediately. Behind a closed building was a lot more discrete; if not a little creepy.

“Sorry, I’m late,” a familiar voice spoke up from behind her, and she whipped around to come face to face with her closest friend.

“You know,” Puffball started, giving Fries a coy smile, “you should work on bettering your timekeeping if you’re going to keep organizing these meetings.”

Fries grumbled and looked down at his feet. A less observant person wouldn’t notice the blush form on Fries’ already red face, but Puffball knew him better than anyone else. She could see it from a mile away.

Puffball was the only one that could make him blush like that.

“Bottle held me up,” Fries groaned, finally recovering from his embarrassment, “she was asking me a bunch of different questions and I couldn’t shake her.”

Puffball chuckled, “I’m just messing with you, Fries. It’s not a problem. It’s just Two’s gonna summon me for the elimination any minute now, so we don’t have a lot of time.”

“Right,” Fries said, getting serious, “so, what did you find out?” he questioned.

Puffball frowned. This was exactly what she was afraid of happening. Fries had approached her almost immediately after the first challenge had ended and gave her a mission.

“Just...every other day we’ll meet with each other and you can tell me all that’s going on with your team. Then when we get to the merge we can use that to our advantage.”

That’s what he’d said to her. She didn’t like the idea of eavesdropping on people she didn’t really know, but Fries had been convincing. He always was.

“Pen is breaking down,” Puffball started, “Eraser getting eliminated has really affected him.”

Fries nodded, “Got it. Do you think it’ll be him getting eliminated today?”

“It could be,” she answered honestly, “but it could also be Winner, or maybe even Cake. They haven’t been contributing much and the viewers are starting to pick up on the ones that don’t contribute anything.”

“Do you want it to be him?”

“Not really,” she admitted, “I feel bad for him. He’s kind of on his own at the moment.” she finished before looking away from her friend, “I kind of relate to that feeling.”

Fries hesitated for a moment before stepping forward and placing a comforting hand on top of her head. “Hey,” he said, trying to sound reassuring, “don’t worry about any of that, okay? All that matters is that we stick together and get to the merge. Once we’re there we won’t have to worry about anything other than winning immunity.”

Puffball couldn’t help but chuckle a little. Fries was terrible at relating to people and their feelings, but in a way that made his attempts to do so more admirable. He was trying, and that was what mattered to her.

“Right,” Puffball said quietly, slightly nuzzling into the hand on her head, “we’ll make it to the merge.”

Fries stiffly removed his hand from her head and brought it back to his side. He couldn’t look at his friend, his eyes locked the wall of the steakhouse.

Puffball opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a sudden wave of dizziness washing over her. She knew her time was up and it was time for Trophy Case. She gave her friend one more look before her vision blurred and in another moment she was in front of the stage with Two looking down at her.

“The whole team’s nowhere!” they cheered, “So, it’s time to get this elimination underway!”

Puffball sighed and floated toward her stand, the same one she used the first time the Green Team was up for elimination. She was in between a nervous-looking Barf Bag and an indifferent-looking Cake. The nine Green Teamers filed into place on their stands, waiting for Two to begin.

Two wasted no time in producing a chalkboard from behind themself. On the chalkboard already were nine columns, each with a little drawing of the team members at the top. Two then proceeded to produce a green piece of chalk and wrote a number at the bottom of the board and circled it.

“We got a total of five hundred twenty-four votes this time around!” Two said, very happy with the high amount of votes.

Winner rolled their eyes, “Figures we’d have the luck of getting so many votes.”

Two ignored the fluff, instead using their chalk to make a mark on Remote’s column, “Remote got the least amount of votes, only having thirteen of them!”

Remote let go of the breath she’d been holding in and untensed all her muscles. She relaxed and sat down on her platform, keeping her eyes on her other teammates. The air was tense as they all waited for Two to speak again.

“Barf Bag and Black Hole are both safe with twenty-seven and thirty-one votes respectively,” they said, once again marking the chalkboard. Barf Bag, in a similar way to Remote, relaxed knowing she wouldn’t be becoming a stone statue. Black Hole gave no outward reaction to the news.

Two, without wasting any time, marked the chalkboard again. This time ticking on Puffball and Basketball columns.

“Puffball is safe with thirty-five votes, and Basketball is safe with fifty-five votes!”

Basketball was torn with the news of her safety. On one hand, she was thankful she wasn’t going to be turned to stone. However, on the other hand, Grassy still wasn’t safe yet. She looked to her left to keep an eye on her tiny friend. Grassy, for what it was worth, wasn’t too concerned about the votes being read. The tiny object was more preoccupied with a passing cloud he deemed particularly amusing.

“Grassy is also safe with sixty-four votes!” Two shouted, pointing at the distracted boy in question. Basketball smiled, but kept her excitement quiet, as there were still three people unsafe.

Out of the final three, Pen was the only one who seemed worried. Winner and Cake were nonplussed by the situation as if they couldn’t care less what happened to them.

“With a hundred and eighty-six votes,” Two started, making sure to pause for effect, and then pointing at the blue fluff, “Winner! You’re safe!”

Winner’s eyes widened in shock, before allowing a small smirk to creep onto their face, “Well, how ‘bout that? From second most votes to third-most votes. Movin’ up in the world.” They said sarcastically.

“Pen and Cake,” Two said, “you two are the only ones who still aren’t safe, and one of you will be joining the other eliminated contestants inside the trophy case!”

Pen hopped from one foot to the other and bit down on his fist in anticipation. Cake, who’d been sitting down, got to his feet to prepare for his possible petrification. Two was lavishing in the intense stares the Green Team was giving them.

“Pen,” Two said, pointing at the nervous utensil, “you...are the last one safe at ninety-nine votes! Cake is out with a total of a hundred and fourteen votes!”

All the tension held within the Green Team was released all at once. Pen felt fit to collapse but settled for taking a knee. Cake sighed, “Well, I can’t say that I’m very surprised.” he said.

“You don’t sound too upset about it.” Puffball noticed.

“I am,” Cake said, blinking rapidly to keep tears from forming in his eyes, “I don’t wanna be turned into stone, but it’s not like I was adding anything to the team,” he admitted. He’d been low since Loser left with Four to finish BFB. He’d wanted so badly to take on the show with his (as he saw it) closest friend. Competing on TPOT with nobody he cared about left him completely apathetic.

“You could’ve tried,” Remote said sadly, “you didn’t have to be on your own.”

Cake gave the appliance a sideways glance before looking forward at Two, a sad look in his eyes.

“Yeah. You’re probably right.”

Those were the last words Cake said before being blasted by Two’s petrification beam (patent pending). He screamed, and the others turned away, trying to ignore it.

The light died away and the Green Team was greeted with the familiar sight of a teammate on a stone pedestal with them being stone themselves. Cake’s face was stuck forever in a mixture of both pain and regret. Puffball floated towards the statue and read the tiny plaque on the pedestal.

~Cake~

36th Place

“It’s a shame,” Puffball said to herself, backing away from the statue. Two, with one hand behind their back and the other in the air, lifted Cake from his spot on his platform up into the trophy case, right next to Eraser.

“Whelp! There’s no time to mourn! It’s time for the next challenge!” Two clapped their hands, prepped to teleport the Green Team to the bathroom plaza. The team prepared themselves to be teleported, all except for Pen. Pen was too focused on looking at Cake inside of the glass case. He didn’t know the dessert well, in fact, they’d only ever shared a few words. And yet, he couldn’t look away from him.

Maybe it was because there was only a fifteen vote difference between it being him in the case right now.

The bathroom plaza was quiet while the other three teams patiently waited for Two to return with the Green Team. There had been some brief discussion on who they thought it would be not coming back, and a lot of them concluded that it’d be Winner who was the unlucky loser.

Imagine their surprise when the Green Team returned with Winner still in tow, but minus one Cake.

“Let’s not waste any time getting into the next challenge, teams!” Two said, clapping their hands. In a split second the teams and Two were teleported to the Goiky Canal, more specifically the edge of the canal that opened out into the open ocean.

“Today’s challenge involves boats!” Two exclaimed with a snap of their fingers. In the water appeared four large ships, each colored with the team's individual colors.

“Each team gets a ship, and each ship has cannons on them. You’ll use those cannons to shoot at each other in an attempt to sink an enemy team’s ship. The first team to have their ship sink completely will be up for elimination!” Two explained, “Any questions?”

Needle raised her hand, “Can we only use the cannons?” she asked.

“Nope. You’re allowed to get creative,” Two informed, but pointed over to Black Hole, “the only thing you can’t do is use Black Hole to just suck up another team's ship. That’s too easy.” they said. Black Hole nodded. That made sense. He’d just find a different way to help.

“Anybody else have any other questions?” Two gauged the contestants, and none of them had any objections.

Two nodded, excitement evident on their face, “Then let’s get started!” and with a clap of their hands, the thirty-five objects were teleported to their respective ships. The challenge was officially underway.

“ARR, me hearties!” Coiny called out feverishly, “Today we become pirates!” He stood high and mighty at the front of the deck.

“Coiny, where did you get the bandanna you’re wearing?” Clock asked deadpanned.

“And also the eyepatch?” Tennis Ball added, also confused.

Coiny whipped around and stared down his team with his one uncovered eye; his silk bandanna blowing in the wind.

“There’s no time to question me, TB!” Coiny yelled, pointing at the boy with his hook hand.

Clock didn’t want to, but he had to agree with the penny. “Okay, let's assign roles. Fries and I will stay at the helm, Tennis Ball will be on navigation, and everyone else will be below deck on the cannons.” Clock commanded, but some of the team weren’t having it.

“Oh, so you’ll just put all the Union members down under the deck doing the hard work?” Tree asked rhetorically with folded arms. Naily stood by his side, not looking much happier than her companion.

“Tennis Ball is a part of your…” Union”, isn’t he,” Clock shot back, “and besides, the challenge is to sink another ship. We need a bunch of people at the cannons.”

“Then YOU go down to the cannons!” Naily shouted, her face flush with irritation.

Clock grit his teeth together, already feeling ready to snap, “Fine! Fine, I’ll go down with you to the cannons,” he turned to Pin, “You stay up here with Fries and Tennis Ball, okay?”

Pin nodded, ready for the responsibility. What she wasn’t ready for, however, was Coiny appearing next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist.

“That’s what we want to hear, me hearty! Captain Pin’ll lead us to gold!” he jeered in a poor pirate voice.

Clock raised an eyebrow at Coiny’s words, “Captain? What do you mean-,”

“Clock,” Bottle interrupted, poking the timekeeper in the side. Clock sighed, “Yes, Bottle?” he asked, prepared for the worst.

The girl responded by pointing to the mainmast, “Pillow’s going up to the crow’s nest.”

Clock looked to where Bottle was pointing and that she was right. Pillow had begun climbing the metal rungs that lead up to the crow’s nest.

“Uh…,” Naily hesitated, watching her teammate ascend the mast, “anybody know why she’s doing that?”

Tree shook his head, “Not a single clue.” he said firmly. He never understood Pillow. Not when they were on Death P.A.C.T. together and certainly not now. He made his way to the hatch by the helm that led down below deck. He unlatched it and pulled it open, letting Naily and Bottle hop down below. He gave one more untrusting look to Fries and Clock before climbing down the hatch.

Clock looked back to Coiny, who was still chatting Pin’s ear off. “You coming down and helping us, Coiny?” he asked, already half expecting his answer.

Coiny shook his head, “No way, ye scallywag! A first mate sticks with their captain!”

Clock fought back the urge to gag, “Whatever. Do what you want.” Without another word he went down below deck with the others, leaving those on top to fend for themselves.

“So, who’re we firing at?” Pie asked, fiddling with the wick of one of the cannons.

Book peeked through the gap in between one of the cannons and the opening it was sticking out of. “I think the Yellow Team. They’re the closest to us.” She, Pie, Needle, and Fanny had all been sent down below deck by Cloudy to man the cannons while the rest of the team stayed above.’

Needle cautiously approached the cannon; match in hand. “I guess we just fire it?”

“Not much else we can do,” Fanny said, leaning against the wall. She was none too pleased about being shuffled down below deck.

Needle hesitantly struck the match against the cannon, lighting it. She lit the fuse and the four girls watched it burn away into the cannon. A moment of silence passed before a loud boom rang out and the entire ship shook. The cannonball soared through the air, but fell short of the Yellow Team’s ship and splashed down into the water.

“AIM THE CANNON HIGHER!” GB’s muffled voice sounded off from above. Fanny grit her teeth together and sucked down a heavy breath to quell her irritation. But for Fanny, that was like dumping a bucket of water on an active volcano.

“We can’t just keep taking this,” she mumbled to herself, but she was loud enough for Needle to hear.

“Taking what?” she asked as she opened the back of the cannon for Pie and Book to load another cannonball into.

“Golf Ball!” Fanny shouted, catching the other three off guard, “Haven’t you noticed that she’s the one ordering us around even though Cloudy is supposed to be our team leader?”

“Yeah,” Book admitted, lighting up another match, “but that’s just Golf Ball. She’s always been bossy.”

“I know that, but now she’s using somebody else to get her way,” Fanny explained, “She’s clearly using Cloudy as a puppet!”

Book lit the new fuse on the cannon as Needle tilted it slightly upward. It fired, but the Red Team heard no contact with the enemy ship. They’d missed again.

“I’m just trying to keep my head down,” Book shared, rolling the next cannonball to the cannon, “None of what she’s doing will matter once we get to the merge.”

“Cloudy will still be in her pocket when the merge comes around if things keep up like this,” Fanny snapped. Her teammates ignored her, loading the next cannonball. Pie lit the fuse this time, firing the Red Team’s third shot.

“That’s the third shot they’ve fired at us.”

“It’s the third shot they’ve missed, too.”

Donut frowned, not fully convinced at Nickel’s words. Yeah, the Red Team was missing their shots, but the Yellow Team’s ship also wasn’t moving. They were sitting ducks.

The whole ship rattled as a cannonball of their own fired out at the Red Team. TV, Foldy, Robot Flower, Marker, and Gaty were all below deck manning the cannons.

Donut turned to Snowball, who was at the helm, “We need to get closer. Do you think you can get us moving?”

Snowball nodded and gave a faux salute to the fried dough and spun the wheel around. The main mast caught wind and the whole team felt the ship shift. It began to turn forward in the direction of the Red Team’s ship.

Donut and Nickel stood at the bow of the ship while Snowball and Gaty were at the helm. Bomby had volunteered to go up to the crow’s nest, even if it wasn’t really necessary. Their ship slowly moved towards the ship of the Red Team. The Blue and Green Team’s weren’t much of a problem as they were more occupied with each other for the time being.

The Yellow Team fired another cannonball, and this one actually hit its mark. It just barely reached the edge of this ship and cracked off of the side. The Red Team took another shot but missed again. However, they were getting closer. This one got so close to Donut he could feel the droplets of water that the cannonball splashed up.

“So, what do we do when we’re close up?” Nickel asked, “Are we gonna board them?”

“No,” Donut shook his head, “but being close to them will make hitting them ten times easier.”

Nickel didn’t argue with that. He kept a keen eye on the red ship, but his focus was broken by the sound of Bomby's shrill voice calling out from the crow’s nest. He and Donut looked up to the mainmast to see Bomby leaning out, yelling down at them. However, whatever he was saying was lost amongst the sounds of wind and cannon blasts.

“Can you hear him at all?” Gaty asked the boys as she approached them, they both shook their heads no. Bomby sounded like he was giving himself a migraine with all the screaming he was doing. He was also pointing out in the direction of the Red Team’s ship.

“What the heck is he pointing at?” Nicked asked, looking in the direction that the boy was pointing. Donut did the same and saw what looked like a blurry dot quickly approaching their ship. Nickel squinted, straining his eyes to see it.

“That’s probably what Bomby is yelling about,” Gaty postulated, doing the same as Nickel. Donut attempted to shield his eyes from the scorching sun to get a better look, but it was still too far away.

“Guys,” Nickel said slowly, taking a few steps away from the side of the ship, “I think that’s Lightning.”

Almost as soon as the words left Nickel’s mouth, Lightning became perfectly visible to Donut and Gaty. He was flying at high speeds like a missile towards the Yellow Team’s ship with a confident grin on his face.

“He’s been sent to destroy us!” Gaty fearfully yelled, running back to Snowball at the helm, who by now had also realized what Lightning was up to.

The Yellow Teamers below deck also noticed Lightning as they tried to fire at him. However, they could barely hit a giant pirate ship, they had no chance of hitting a moving bolt. He dodged their shot with ease, and by the time they were ready to shoot again, he’d made it to the boat.

The four members of the Yellow Team on top deck looked above them, Lightning was towering over them with his arms crossed. They all stood silent, waiting for the boy to make the first move. His eyes scanned over them before stopping on the mainmast. He floated past the crew members and toward the fabric of the mast and began to yank on it.

“He’s gonna pull the sail down!” Donut yelled, realizing what Lightning’s game was. Snowball was the first to act, running toward the rungs of the mainmast and began climbing. At the same time, Bomby started climbing down from the crow’s nest to try and intercept Lightning.

Either Lightning didn’t notice or didn’t care that both Bomby and Snowball were encroaching on him, because he just kept pulling at the sail. Whatever material it was made out of was strong because it wasn’t ripping. Lightning was nothing if not resilient, however, and kept trying to tear at the sail.

Both Bomby and Snowball reached the flying boy at the same time. Bomby lept from the rungs on the mast and landed onto Lightning in mid air. Now, Lightning wasn’t the biggest object around, and Bomby was roughly the same size as Snowball, so Lightning had to fight extra hard to stay in the air. He shimmied back and forth in an attempt to shake Bomby off of himself, but the explosive had locked on with an iron grip.

“Don’t let go, Bomby!” Snowball cheered his teammate on as he too jumped from the mast and onto Lightning. The bolt was really struggling now as the two large boys hung from him. He felt gravity getting the better of him as the combined weight clinging to him was pulling him to the deck. He clenched his eyes tight, and with one mighty heave, spun himself around as hard as he could. Snowball managed to hang on, but Bomby was caught off guard and flung to the side.

“OHMYGOSH!” he shrieked as he plummeted to the ground. Donut, Nickel, and Gaty all gasped and prepared to scatter when Bomby landed and the impact detonated him. Luckily for them (and unluckily for Bomby), Lightning had managed to fling him far enough away to where he fell off the side of the ship and landed in the water with a splash.

“Bomby overboard!” Gaty panicked and looked over the side of the ship where Bomby fell.

“Keep holding on, Snowball!” Donut yelled up, but whether or not he heard was up for debate.

Lightning kept shaking and shaking, but Snowball was turning the tables. With a heavy push, he knocked Lightning’s head into the side of the mast. The bolt lost all of his fight in a second, completely losing consciousness. He and Snowball both began plummeting to the deck below, landing with a hard thud.

“Is he out?” Gaty wondered, nudging Lightning with her foot. He didn’t move. He was out cold.

Snowball groaned but slowly got to his feet. He rubbed the spot on his head where he landed but wasn’t too worse for wear.

“Well, now what do we do?” Nickel asked, not looking away from Lightning.

Donut turned around to face the distant red ship and glared.

“They wanna bring the fight to us? Fine. We can play the same game.”

The loud boom of the cannons was beginning to hurt Remote’s ears. She’d wanted to stay above deck but Basketball thought it’d be more helpful if those with arms were the ones loading the cannons.

Hence why she, Pen, Winner (who technically has an arm), and Grassy were all stuck on cannon duty. The only exception was Barf Bag, who stayed at the helm.

The battle between the Blue Team’s and the Green Team’s ships was a fierce one. They’d both been landing shoot after shot but none of them were doing any real lasting damage. They’d hit the side of the ship, occasionally one would land on the deck, but it wasn’t nearly enough damage to sink either of them.

“There has to be a better way to do this.” Winner complained, lifting another cannonball over their head.

“We can’t just run up and attack them,” Pen said, opening the back of the cannon so that Winner can heft the ammo inside. Remote struck the match and lit the fuse. Grassy hopped on the back of the cannon to aim it upward, and it fired into the sky. The team watched quietly through the porthole windows as the ball of iron flew through the air and landed a few feet away from Blue Team’s ship. A complete miss.

“We missed again,” Grassy said sadly. That was the third shot in a row they’d miss and it was beginning to sap morale.

“We still have more cannonballs,” Remote said in an attempt to keep spirits up. It seemed to work with Grassy as the boy smiled and ran for another cannonball. Pen and Winner were less sure.

“We’ve been at this for more than ten minutes,” Winner said, dejected, “I don’t mean to be negative, but this isn’t a very effective way of sinking a ship.”

Remote grabbed the cannonball that Grassy had rolled over to her, “Fighting them on the ship’s deck won’t sink their ship either.” she argued.

Pen wasn’t paying much attention to his teammates' debate. He was more focused on the commotion happening outside the porthole. The Blue Team fired another cannonball, and Pen watched it sore through the air. He followed the trajectory of the projectile and could tell where it was going to hit.

It was going to land directly on top of them.

“LOOK OUT!” he yelled, catching his three team members off guard. Before any of them could react Pen lept forward and tackled both Winner and Remote to the ground. As soon as they hit the floor the cannonball made contact. It hit right on top of the cannon they’d been loading and smashed through the wood panels above it.  It rolled down onto the floor with a loud clatter. The ship shifted, and all was quiet for a very still moment. Pen quickly scrambled to his feet, off the two he’d tackled.

“You saved us,” Remote said, almost in awe, “thank you.” a small smile crept onto her face.

“Uh...Yeah, it’s no problem,” Pen stammered. If he was being completely honest, he wasn’t sure what came over him. He’d acted on pure instinct when he tackled them.

Winner groaned, laying flat on their back, “Of course! When they shoot a cannon at us it blows a hole right through our ship!”

Even if Remote didn’t agree with it, Winner was right. The battle between firing cannons wasn’t getting any of the teams anywhere. So, Basketball and Puffball took it upon themselves to fly over to the Blue Team’s ship and take care of business themselves.

What they’d do once over there? That was still up for debate. Puffball thought they should try and take down the mainsail, but Basketball thought they’d have an easier time sinking the ship if they fought through the team and used their own cannons against them.

They reached the ship, but nobody on the deck had noticed them. Fries and Tennis Ball were having what looked like a heated conversation, while Pin was distracted trying to keep Coiny in check. Puffball was about to make the descent before both her and Basketball felt a pair of eyes on them from the crow’s nest.

Pillow.

The Green Teamers turned around to see Pillow peeking her head out from the crow’s nest, just...watching them. She didn’t say anything.

Basketball and Puffball shared an uneasy glance, “Should we…do something?” Basketball whispered to her companion.

“Well, what can she do to us?” Puffball whispered back, “It’s just Pillow.”

Puffball received her answer in the form of a sandbag. To the face. Pillow threw a sandbag at them. Luckily, for Puffball, it hit Basketball and not her. However, because Puffball didn’t have arms like somebody like Lightning, she couldn’t grab the sports ball and stop her from falling off of her.

With a terrified yell, Basketball fell back down to Earth toward the Blue Team’s ship. By now, the ruckus had gotten the attention of the four on the deck as they looked up to see a falling Basketball.

“AHOY, GREEN TEAM!” Coiny called up to the falling ball, not paying mind that he was directly underneath where she was going to land. Pin stepped back from the impending disaster.

Basketball landed on top of Coiny with great force. The collision made a sickening noise, like the clanking of metal on wood mixed with the slapping of rubber.

Fries and TB abandoned their position at the helm to look at the stowaway within their midst. Basketball moaned from the pain, rolling over off of Coiny. The penny in question was laid out flat on his face, completely knocked out. Basketball made a small attempt to get to her feet before succumbing to the pain and passing out herself. Tennis Ball was the only one to notice Puffball’s retreating from returning to the safety of the Green Team’s ship.

“YOU NEED TO AIM LOWER!”

“Yelling at them isn’t helping.” Cloudy chastised Golf Ball, who’d spent the ten minutes stomping her foot whenever the Red Teamers below deck missed a shot. Saw and Bell had no luck convincing her NOT to do that, but Cloudy asking her would get her to stop for a few seconds. They’d been firing at the Yellow Team the entire challenge because of their proximity.

Cloudy watched the Yellow Team’s ship with great interest. It’d started moving closer to their ship a few minutes back, and didn’t look like it was going to slow down.

“Lightning still isn’t back,” Bell voiced, “I’m starting to worry about him.”

“I’m sure he’s okay,” Cloudy said, trying to reassure the girl, “as long as he stays above them and out of their reach he’ll be okay.”

“I hope you’re right,” Bell murmured, worriedly staring down the ship that was...still approaching their own.

“Uh...guys,” Saw called from the helm, “is it just me, or are they getting kind of close?”

They were. The yellow ship continued to push forward towards them with no hesitation. It was tearing through the water at what Cloudy was now realizing at a very high speed. They kept barreling forward; no sign of halting. It was Golf Ball who voiced what they were all thinking.

“They are going to ram us.”

The realization came too late for the rest of the team. They only had enough time to grab onto something to brace themselves. Saw tightened her grip on the wheel and the other three hit the deck. Those below deck had more time to prepare themselves for the impact and hunkered down.

The ship made impact.

The bow of the Yellow Team’s ship collided port side with the Red Team’s vessel. The wood paneling on both ships cracked and split at the edges. The yellow ship kept pushing forward as if it were trying to stop on top of the red ship. Eventually, it did stop its forceful attack. The two ships now sat next to each other as the water around them settled.

The hatch to the bottom deck swung open, and Needle was the first to climb out.

“Is everyone okay?” she asked as she helped Fanny up and out. Book and Pie followed suit as they all took in the damage the Yellow Team had done. Cloudy shakily got up from the ground, same as Bell and Golf Ball. Saw didn’t move, however. She just kept her eyes clenched shut and her arms wrapped tightly around the wheel.

“I...I think so,” Cloudy murmured, eyeing up the yellow ship warily. Snowball and Donut were the first two Yellow Teamers to jump over the small gap between the boats and board the Red Team’s ship. Robot Flower came over next, and she was holding an unconscious Lightning in her metal arms. She dropped him, letting him fall to the floor, and his teammates saw this his hands were tied behind his back.

Book and Bell rushed Snowball in an attempt to push him overboard. The attempt was fruitless, however, as the ball simply grabbed Bell by her string. With all of his might, Snowball swung Bell into Book’s side, sending her careening to the floor. TV and Marker hopped from their ship to the Red Team’s ship as Snowball grabbed Fanny’s leg. The appliance was no match for Snowball strength-wise, he began spinning in circles, causing Fanny to lift into the air. He let her go and sent her flying in Pie’s direction. Pie, not being the fast type, failed to move in time and caught a face full of Fanny. Pie was made of blueberries, and blueberries were highly explosive. The moment Fanny came into contact with Pie, the poor girl exploded, leaving an empty pie tin and a mess of blue innards. The explosion carried Fanny into the air and over the edge of the ship, and it gave Needle a faceful of pie crust and sludge.

Snowball took in some deep breaths, watching the chaos unfold in front of him. Bell was slamming herself on top of Marker, who was laying on the ground. Donut and Robot Flower were attempting to pry Saw off of the helm, and Book clung to TV’s back in an attempt to knock him over. It was an utter free for all. He scanned the deck in search of his next victim.

And found it in the form of Golf Ball, who was quietly trying to sneak below deck.

Snowball felt a headache begin to come on as he watched the girl. It was like something was bending and creaking inside his brain as his legs carried him over to her. Donut noticed what Snowball was doing and quickly realized what was happening. He left Robot Flower and Saw at the helm and ran to Snowball, grabbing him by the shoulder.

“Snowball, STOP!” He shouted, shaking him, “We’re so close to winning! We just-” Donut didn’t get to finish his speech as Snowball bumped Donut to the ground. GB, by this point, had noticed what was happening and started trying to back away from her old enemy. Her eyes darted from side to side, looking for any kind of exit. When she found none she settled for trying to push herself through the side of the ship. That obviously didn’t work, and now Snowball was on top of her.

He lunged forward and grabbed GB’s leg. She had just enough time to shake her head in fear before SB whipped around and tossed her into the air. The hecticness on the deck came to a stop for a moment as both teams watched the screaming Golf Ball sore through the air and collide with the Yellow Team’s mainmast.

She landed on the yellow deck with a loud clatter. Gaty, Foldy, and Nickel, who’d stayed behind on the ship, stood in shock at the sudden intrusion.

“Golf Ball?” Gaty questioned, “What’re you doing here?”

“HE’S CRAZY!” was GB’s only response as she scrambled to her feet, “HE’S COMPLETELY CRAZY!”

“Crazy?” Foldy parroted, taking a step forward, “Who’s-”

The paper got her answer when Snowball landed on the bow of the ship, his mouth curled into an angry snarl. He stomped forward, his fists clenched. GB pushed herself against the mast like a cornered animal. The armless Yellow Teamers watched on with a mixture of concern and fear as Snowball lumbered forward and once again grabbed Golf Ball’s leg. The girl feebly kicked against SB’s grip, but to no avail. Snowball locked his other hand on the leg and dragged GB away from the mast. With a loud grunt, he lifted GB above his head and slammed her into the ground. The wood buckled under the force and pushed GB through the floor.

The wood made a sickening snapping sound as both original BFDI contestants fell through the floor and into the canon deck below. GB landed flat on her back, getting the air knocked out of her in the process. Snowball managed to land on his feet, but his left leg buckled in the process, forcing him to take a knee. Golf Ball sucked in a desperate breath, trying to regain her strength. Snowball attempted to stand up but reached out for his aching leg. He clenched his teeth, trying to ignore the pain. He crawled over to the squirming GB, who was too busy coughing up a lung to try and run away. He lifted his arms, his hands linked together over his head. GB’s vision was blurry; she could barely make out SB’s face, let alone his fists coming down on top of her.

SB released a mighty roar as he slammed his fists down on GB’s face, and the wood beneath them barely put up a fight. They fell through again.

There wasn’t a level below the gun deck. Under the gun deck were the wood panels that actually had contact with the water. Snowball could hear the sound of waves colliding with the ship just behind the wall. SB huffed and puffed, looking down at his prey. GB was defenseless; there was nowhere for her to go. She was blacking out. And for once in her life, Golf Ball didn’t have a plan.

“GOLF BALL!” a voice called out from above the duo. Past the whole in the gun deck and at the very top of where the carnage had started.

Cloudy floated at the very top, something in his mouth. He dropped the item into the pit and it landed directly in GB’s lap.

The wall teleporter.

Acting only on instinct, GB clicked on the machine and felt the familiar heat on her legs. The loud whirring was like a beautiful symphony to her tired ears. SB had been left stunned, going from watching Cloudy to watching GB. By the time he recognized what the device was, it was too late.

GB clicked another button and pointed the teleporter at the ground between them. A yellow light enveloped the two, which was followed by a gush of flowing water.

Back on the top deck, the Red Team had turned the fight in their favor. It hadn’t been hard after Bell, Book, and Bell all teamed up to get Robot Flower overboard. With Snowball distracted with GB, and Donut and Marker (the only other armed Yellow Teamers) overwhelmed, they were able to take over the Yellow Team’s ship. Gaty, Foldy, and Nickel stood no chance against the force of the Red Teamers.

Needle had taken to using Saw to cut down the mainmast, which only took a few minutes. The large mast tumbled over the side of the ship and landed in the water with a gigantic splash.

“I hope that helps her,” Cloudy said, staring down the hole in the deck. Book finished tying up the three armless Yellow Teamers and walked up to her team leader; patting him on the back.

“Don’t worry, Cloudy,” Book said, trying to be reassuring, “hopefully she’ll make good use of the wall teleporter.”

“Smart idea bringing that, by the way,” Needle added, leaning against the side of the boat.

Cloudy sighed. He could only hope Book was right. He’d never seen any kind of brutality like what Snowball did to Golf Ball.

“Uh, guys,” Saw spoke up, brushing sawdust off herself, “do you guys hear running water?”

“We’re on a ship saw. There’s water all around us.” Nickel said snarkily from his captive spot on the ground.

Needle put her hand up, “No, I think I hear what she means,” she said, moving toward the hole. She peeked down, and her eyes went wide. The gun deck was about to be completely flooded. There was no sign of either GB or SB.

“Abandon ship!” she called out to her team. She ran to the edge of the bow and jumped to the safety of her own team's ship. Book, Cloudy, and Saw followed suit. Foldy, Gaty, and Nickel squirmed against their bindings.

“Don’t leave us here!” Foldy yelled in vain, but the Red Team members were already gone. The three sat there, struggling against the ropes. They could all feel the ship shifting forward as the gun deck began to overflow.

The Red Team members (minus Fanny, Pie, GB, and Lightning) all watched as the Yellow Team’s ship slowly began listing to one side. It was a slow process. It took whole minutes before the ship’s top deck began getting covered in water. When the three Yellow Teamers still on the ship started floating on the surface of the water is when Two’s voice boomed over the teams.

“THE CHALLENGE IS FINISHED! THE YELLOW TEAM HAS LOST!”

In the blink of an eye, all four teams were teleported back to land. Two clapped their hands and the contestants who lost their lives during the challenge were also brought back.

“Good show, everyone! You all did great!” Two complimented, “However, despite all the hard work, the Yellow Team has lost and will be up for elimination.”

Snowball didn’t need to turn around to feel the glares at his back.

“Use the link in the comments of this chapter to vote for who YOU want to be eliminated from the Yellow Team! Voting for this episode ends April 19th!”

(VOTING FOR THIS EPISODE HAS ENDED)

Teams

Red Team: Book, Golf Ball, Bell, Fanny, Saw, Lightning, Needle, Cloudy, Pie

Blue Team: Pin, Tree, Pillow, Fries, Coiny, Clock, Bottle, Naily, Tennis Ball

Yellow Team: Donut, TV, Snowball, Robot Flower, Nickel, Foldy, Gaty, Marker, Bomby

Green Team: Black Hole, Pen, Remote, Puffball, Winner, Grassy, Barf Bag, Basketball

Statues: Eggy, Rocky, Ice Cube, Eraser, Cake

Chapter Text

Robot Flower’s world wasn’t complicated.

Her mind was automated like any good machine. Nothing but ones and zeros accumulating into thoughts and ideas in her metalhead. She was built to be logical, which was more than she could say for who she was modeled after. RF didn’t like the real Flower, and she certainly didn’t like being compared to her. The real Flower was brutish and vain, and RF detested that she could feel those personality traits deep inside of herself.

She’d been designed after the original Flower, and so a lot of RF’s ideas and thoughts were those of Flower. She could be quick to anger and had an ugly habit of being vain at times, but she did her best to keep them subdued.

Being a machine wasn’t all bad, however. She had immediate access to the internet and all the vast knowledge that it held. She wasn’t burdened with the worry of common knowledge since all of it was at her metal fingertips. It wasn’t hard to be informed.

Robot Flower’s world wasn’t complicated, and she wasn’t often confused.

That’s why she was so annoyed.

“You’re thinking about it again.”

RF sighed. She looked to her companion, who she was currently plugged into. TV’s screen was empty, but RF knew that didn’t mean he was off.

Of all the objects she’d been forced to interact with, TV was the only one she ever felt really close to. It was hard being one of the only four mechanical minds in Goiky, especially when she could only relate to one of them. Remote was nice enough, but RF had nothing in common with her. And Roboty...well...nobody understood Roboty.

That left TV, and unlike the others, TV...understood her.

TV knew how it felt to not be listened to or not to be taken seriously. He was only able to communicate with people through clips on his screen. However, plugging into him allowed him to share his thoughts directly into the head of whoever he was plugged into.

Regular objects couldn’t plug into each other, but RF wasn’t normal.

“Of course I’m thinking about it,” she replied snidely, “how could I not be?”

“It’s easier to not worry than you may think.”

RF could only groan at her friend’s lax mentality. If she could change one aspect of his personality it would be how little he took things seriously. The contest never meant all that much to him as he could entertain himself. All that time that he had spent in the Locker of Losers passed by without much of a second thought for him. RF didn’t have that sort of luxury, and so she intended to fight as hard for her spot as she could.

“Do you think you’re in danger of being eliminated?” TV asked honestly, so RF gave back an honest answer.

“No. No, I don’t think that I am.”

“Then why burden yourself with worry?”

“Because I’m afraid of being in danger next!” Robot Flower admitted, “If our team continues on this path then we’ll only continue to spiral! We’ll be picked off!” she said frantically.

“I am quite astounded how you manage to work yourself up into these tizzies,” TV’s soothing voice filled the space in her head, “You are one of the smartest people on this silly show, and yet you find a way to make that work to your detriment.”

“What do you mean?” RF questioned.

TV sighed before continuing, “You are often in your head too much. You’ve done nothing to fear elimination, and I’m willing to bet that that will continue to be the case. You are your own worst enemy, Flower.”

RF felt her mechanical heart flutter a little. That was easily her favorite thing about TV, although she’d never admitted it. He just called her Flower; never Robot Flower. He hadn’t always done that, granted, but after they started to get to know each other is when he got into the habit. She asked him why he was doing, and his answer had floored her.

“I’ve barely said a word to the actual Flower, and from what I can tell she isn’t very pleasant. You may be a robot, but as far as I’m concerned, you’re just Flower. I don’t need a title to separate the two of you.”

They’d been close ever since.

“Maybe you’re right,” RF huffed. TV scooted over to sit next to his friend.

“I AM right,” he said rather smugly.

“Don’t get a big head about it,” RF groaned, not liking her friend’s tone.

“I’m just saying that if you know you’re not in trouble then why-”

The sudden shriek of feedback caused RF to wince. It was gone as quick as it started, and she knew that she’d been unplugged from TV. She whipped her head around to see Two, a smug smile on their face, holding the cord.

“Sorry to interrupt your guy’s chummy chat, but it’s time for the elimination!” Two said as cheerfully as ever.

“And you just had to interrupt our conversation to tell us that?” RF grumbled, not particularly excited to their numerical show host.

Two nodded, “I did! Neither of you guys could hear me since you were plugged in!” they explained. “Now, enough with that. On to the elimination!”

Two clapped their hands, and in a matter of moments, the three were teleported to an all too familiar stage. Robot Flower and TV never got the head rush that the others got from being teleported since their minds were mechanical. They could adapt to any change in pressure almost instantaneously. One of the few advantages of being a mechanical mind.

Nickel, Donut, Marker, and Foldy were all already there, standing around, waiting for Two to get the show on the road. A moment later Bomby and Gaty popped up. The only one not there yet was Snowball. Two took their spot on the stage, taking a moment to admire all the contestants that had already been eliminated.

Donut was the first to approach the two machines. “We’ll hopefully be able to get this over with quickly. Snowball will get eliminated and we can move forward.”

“ARE YOU. SURE. THAT IT WILL BE HIM?” TV pieced together.

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t be,” Donut answered honestly, “nobody else on our team has done anything to get themselves eliminated. Snowball has been a continuous hindrance and it wouldn’t make sense for the viewers to keep him,” he explained.

Robot Flower went to respond to her teammate but got distracted by Two snapping their fingers and causing Snowball to teleport in. The boy looked around, confused for a moment, but quickly recovered and took a spot close to the stage.

“Welcome, Yellow Team, to your second ever Trophy Case!” Two said happily, “Isn’t it wonderful to be back?”

“Please don’t remind us,” Gaty grumbled, not excited at being reminded of the fate Eggy suffered.

“Can we just get this over with?” Nickel asked, his typical frown plastered onto his face.

Two frowned, “You guys never let me have any fun!” they complained, but moved on anyway. They clapped their hands again, this time causing a chalkboard to pop into existence and land loudly on the stage next to them. The nine Yellow Teamers watched with anticipation as Two started scribbling on the board, writing all their names down in a column. Two turned back to the team, still not looking too pleased with being rushed.

“We have a total of five hundred and thirty-two votes this time around,” Two declared.

The Yellow Teamers eyed each other as Two let the number sink for them. They all had a good idea of who it would be getting 35th place, but there was still the underlying fear of it being them. They all slowly found spots on their pedestals as Two went back to writing on the chalkboard.

“Bomby, you’re the first safe with only twenty-seven votes, and Nickel, you’re right after him with thirty-three!”

Bomby and Nickel shared a relieved look as Two wrote down their numbers on the chalkboard. The other seven felt themselves get a little more nervous, but a few of them (Donut and TV) still felt confident as to who was out. Two went back to the chalkboard.

“Donut,” Two said, pointing to the confection, “you’re safe with thirty-nine votes!”

Donut nodded, not surprised to be safe.

“Robot Flower and Foldy, you two are safe with forty-five and fifty-four votes respectively!” Two cheered, finally getting back into the spirit of the elimination. RF looked to TV, whose screed flashed with a large thumb’s up.

“Four of you still aren’t safe! Things are starting to heat up now!”

The four in question were all taking that news very differently. Marker was panicked, hopping from one foot to the other. Gaty was doing a little better, but her nervousness was evident on her face. Snowball stood proudly, his arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently. However, a trained eye would be able to see how tightly he was clenching his arms. TV was holding it together the best, but that was only because he could hide his feelings behind a black screen. Nobody knew what he was thinking unless he wanted them to know.

Two rubbed their hands together, and the four unsafe contestant’s pedestals slowly rose a little higher than the others. As they rose, Gaty’s stopped.

“Gaty’s safe with sixty votes!” Two announced, stopping the last three pedestals, they now were roughly as high as the stage, meaning Two didn’t have to look down at them.

“Marker has seventy-four votes, which means he’s safe,” Two said evenly.

Marker fell flat on his back, “Oh, thank goodness! I thought I was a goner!” he said.

That left only two. The host eyed Snowball and TV like a hungry predator. They lifted their hand and a soft white light flickered in their palm. Everyone on the Yellow Team held their breath as the white light grew brighter.

“TV,” Two whispered, barely loud enough for anyone to hear. The whole team leaned forward, waiting for Two to do...something.

Finally, right when everyone began to lose their patience, Two leveled their hand and fired the beam at one of the two objects. There was no scream. The pedestals lowered.

Snowball stood proudly, and TV was a cold stone.

“Received more votes than Snowball with one hundred and eleven votes. Snowball only got eighty-nine.”

“TV!” RF cried out, leaping from her pedestal over to her now stone friend.

Donut shook his head, “That...that doesn’t make sense.”

Snowball shrugged, his arms still crossed, “I guess the viewers know what they want.” he said nonchalantly.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Donut said again, ignoring his teammate.

RF ran a hand over the top of TV’s head. He was cold to the touch; unforgiving, unfeeling stone.

“I gotta say I didn’t see that coming,” Foldy admitted, Marker by her side, nodding in agreement.

RF pulled away as Two levitated TV into the sky and gently placed him in the case next to Cake.

“That’s that, guys! It’s time to move on to the challenge!” Two clapped their hands and teleported the eight Yellow Teamers and themself to the Bathroom Plaza.

~TV~

35th Place

The three other teams stood around, patiently waiting for Two to return with the Yellow Team. The Green and Blue Team were both bored, waiting around without much worry. It was the Red Team that looked the most on edge. Golf Ball was more worried than anybody. The idea that the Yellow Team would come back and that Snowball would still be with them honestly terrified her. She wanted nothing to do with her long-standing enemy; he was unstable and aggressive.

The only members of her team that noticed how upset she was were Needle and Cloudy. They could see the nervousness written all over her face.

“Are you okay?” Needle asked, nudging GB to get her attention. The girl shook her head, giving Needle her familiar smug smirk. “Of course I’m okay! I’m just...trying to create a plan for today’s challenge!”

“We don’t even know what the challenge is yet,” an eavesdropping Lightning added, “how can you be making a game plan for it?”

Golf Ball scoffed, “You don’t need to know the challenge to be able to make a game plan, Lightning,” she said cockily. Needle almost smiled- it seemed like GB got her rhythm back.

Then Two returned with the Yellow Team, and all that confidence disappeared.

A small gasp of shock fell over the other contestants as they searched the new, now smaller team, and saw that TV was the one missing.

“SB!” It was Pen who yelled out first, but whether it was out of pure shock or happiness wasn’t clear, “You actually made it!”

Snowball crossed his arms, “Of course I made it!” he huffed, “What? You thought I’d actually get eliminated?”

Pen would never admit it, but yeah. Yeah, he thought Snowball was a goner.

“Stop with the chit-chat,” Two yelled, “it’s time for the next challenge!”

Two snapped their fingers and, instead of the contestants teleporting away, they felt the ground around them start to violently shake. Not far from the Bathroom Plaza, something rose from the ground. It was a gigantic metal pole with a circular metal platform on top of it. Two snapped their fingers again and the 34 contestants were teleported to the platform. In the middle of the platform were metal bars all in a circle.

“This challenge is to hold onto these bars while the platform spins,” Two explained, “if you fall off the platform, then you’re eliminated. The first team to have all of their teammates fall off the platform will be up for elimination.”

Two clapped their hands and Black Hole, Puffball, Bell, Lightning, and Cloudy all found themselves teleported to the ground, looking up at the platform.

“The flying contestants can’t participate in this one, so they’ll be sitting out,” they explained. A small wave of complaints was voiced from all 4 teams, but it quickly died down as they all realized that there’d be no arguing with Two. They all found spots at the bars they found comfortable and prepared to dig their feet in. The armless contestants had a bit more trouble getting settled. The majority went with the tactic of wrapping their legs around the bars, and Winner was lucky enough to have an arm extending from his body. Two lifted themself into the air and floated to the side of the platform.

“Is everybody ready?” Two asked the participants, who all gave hesitant nods in response. Two nodded back, “Then let this challenge...BEGIN!”

All the contestants tightened their grips on the bars as the platform whirred to life and began spinning them. The armed contestants had no problem tightening their grips and holding on. However, the armless contestants were already having issues. Some of the more athletic objects, like Naily and Foldy, were holding tough. However, others, like Tennis Ball, and Basketball, were already struggling. Every few seconds the spinning platform got a little faster.

The Red Team, above everyone else, was trying the hardest. Since both Lightning, Bell, and Cloudy were removed from the challenge they were left with only 5 competing members- the least of any team. Needle and Book held on tightly to the bar and Saw all but wrapped herself completely around the bar like a spider. Even Fanny and Golf Ball, the two armless members, weren’t budging.

A few more minutes passed and the platform was starting to pick up some steam. The spinner claimed its first victims in Tennis Ball and Basketball, who rested their grip for only a moment, but that was enough to send them careening over the edge. Pie also had enough and essentially just let go, much to the annoyance of her teammates.

Snowball attempted to inch his way down the bar, towards one of the other teams. This wasn’t going fast enough, and he intended to fix it. Donut could only watch, still in awe at the fact SB was still in the game. The other Yellow Teamers were too focused on staying on the platform.

The majority of the Green Team weren’t fairing well. Grassy hadn’t been strong enough to hold on by himself, but luckily Remote was there to grab him and hold onto him, keeping him in the game. Pen and Winner felt themselves already getting sick after only 10 minutes of spinning. Remote and Barf Bag were the only ones holding strong. They’d already lost Basketball and they didn’t want to lose anybody else.

The Blue Team was having a much rougher go of it. Tennis Ball had fallen off early, and Fries also had a run of bad luck. Once the speed picked up his fries were thrown from his container, causing him to get woozy and let go of the bar. Naily planted herself onto the ground, essentially nailing herself to the platform. Every member of the Union bunched together at one side of the bars, leaving Pillow, Clock, and Bottle on their own. Clock wasn’t the most athletic person, so he could feel his grip loosening on the bar, but he held on.

Snowball eventually sidled his way across the bar to the closest team, who in this case happened to be the Green Team. Winner was the closest, and they were an easy target. All Snowball had to do was kick them in the face and they were forced to let the bar go, sending them off the platform. Remote and Pen came next. Remote, who was still holding onto Grassy, tried to move away from the boy as Pen stood his ground. The platform was getting faster, so the only thing the boys could do was slap at each other while their other arms held onto the bar.

“Out of my way!” Snowball grunted, elbowing his friend. Pen held on tight, acting as the only barrier between his team and the bulldozing Snowball. Remote (with Grassy) and Barf Bag moved down the bar, soon bunching up against the Red Team. Book tried to push against the encroaching team, but Barf Bag pushed back.

“What’re you guys doing?” Needle yelled at the Green Teamers over the loud wind created from the spinning. Barf Bag didn’t respond, she only shoved past Book, causing her to let go of the bar and lose the challenge.

Back with Snowball and Pen, the two had evolved from slapping to pushing. Pen knew that Snowball had him beat in raw strength, so he’d have to think of something fast. SB pushed Pen back and grabbed him by the back of his neck. The scrawny boy readied himself and let go of the bar, but grabbed ahold of Snowball.

Now, Snowball was tough; tougher than most, but there was only so much that he could prepare himself for. Pen flinging himself from the bar and latching onto his back was not one of them.

He didn’t have time to brace himself for the extra weight Pen added, so Snowball felt his grip slip. The two objects tumbled together down the platform together, but the direction of the spinning platform left them falling towards some of the other contestants. The Blue Team Union took a hefty hit. Pen hit Tree square in the face, and Snowball connected with Pin, eliminating all 4 objects from the challenge.

Two stood on the sidelines, analyzing the challenge. It was going...okay, so far, but it could be going faster. Watching Marker slip and knock both himself and Gaty off the platform was amusing sure, but it could be better. Two quietly snapped their fingers, and the platform sped up and also began tilting from side to side. The remaining contestants were now being hit with two separate forces.

“I think I’m going to be sick!” Nickel called out before limply letting go of the bar, luckily, Robot Flower was next to him to grab his leg. She didn’t need to worry about getting sick from the motion. Foldy wasn’t so lucky as to be caught by a teammate, fluttering up into the air and out of the challenge.

“I hate getting sick!” Fanny shouted from the opposite end of the circle, “Don’t you dare let go of that bar!” Golf Ball shouted back before getting flung from the bar herself. Needle rolled her eyes, only her, Fanny, and Saw were still on the bar.

She wasn’t the only one who noticed the dwindling Red Team. Clock also noticed. He didn’t have much time left before he lost his grip; he needed to make a move soon. He looked to his team. They only had 5 to Red Teams3. Naily and Coiny were the only ones left from the Union, and Clock still had Pillow and Bottle. They were holding on, but not by a lot. He had to act fast.

“Coiny!” Clock yelled out over the loud wind. Coiny whipped his head around to give his teammate a confused look.

“We need...to get rid of the Reds!” he yelled out. Coiny shook his head and started to move his way towards Clock against the force of the spinning platform. Naily noticed this but chose to stay silent.

“What’re you yelling at me about?” Coiny asked, now much closer to the other half of the Blue Team.

“We need to get the Red Team out!” Clock yelled again, this time a little louder.

“What do you want me to do about it!” Coiny questioned. Pillow and Bottle gave the timekeeper questioning looks as well.

“On my count...we’re gonna throw ourselves at the Red Team! We have to knock them off the bar!” Clock explained, trying to readjust his grip on the bar.

“That’s insane!” Coiny exclaimed, “what if we miss?”

“We won’t miss!” Clock snapped, “Not if we do it on my time! Pillow, you’re gonna jump too, okay?”

“Alright,” Pillow shrugged, having no problem with throwing herself at her fellow competitor.

Coiny hesitated, taking a chance to look back at Naily. She was too busy trying to keep herself in the challenge to focus on what the rest of the Blue Team were doing. He looked over to the remaining members of the Red Team and how hard they were trying to hold onto the bar.

“Okay,” Coiny nodded to Clock, “okay, we’ll go on your say!”

Thus the Blue Team waited. They waited until the platform tilted upward, leaving the Blue Team looking down at the other teams. Clock honed in on Fanny, selecting her as his target.

“NOW! JUMP NOW!” Clock yelled, finally letting go of the bar. Coiny and Pillow followed behind him. Clock slid down the middle of the circle towards the Red Team. Clock hit his target, making a direct connection with Fanny, who’d been hanging on by a thread for a while now. She barely had a moment to react before Clock kicked her in the chin and sent them both off the platform. Needle was next as Coiny landed directly on his old friend. She braced herself as best she could, but it was enough as the force of Coiny’s weight knocked her free of the bar; eliminating her.

That left Pillow, who went after Saw. She had wrapped herself tightly around the bar, so a simple kick wouldn’t work on her. Pillow landed gracefully on the bar, which caused Saw to only tighten her grip. Pillow smirked, grabbing onto the bar herself. The platform made another rotation, forcing Pillow and Saw to the top of the tilt.

For all the effort Saw was exerting in holding onto the bar, Pillow barely broke a sweat as she moved her hands to sit atop Saw’s own hands. With one mighty jerk, Pillow yanked Saw’s hands off the bar, and the rest of her body went with. The two took the long plummet down the length of the platform and onto the grass below.

“The challenge is over!”

The machine came to a sudden halt, causing a handful of the remaining contestants to go flying off the platform.

“The Red Team has lost the game!” Two announced, “That means that they’ll be the ones going up for elimination!”

“Oh come on!” Lightning groaned, putting his head in his hands, “How’s that fair? Three of us didn’t even get to compete!”

“Well, maybe we can cut some of the fat?” Bell rationalized, not sounding very confident in her reasoning. Lightning groaned again, and Cloudy just looked down at the ground, deep in thought.

“How’re we gonna do that? We don’t even get to vote,” Lightning grumbled, floating off. Bell watched as Two raised their arms and the platform collapsed in on itself and sunk down into the grass and out of sight. It was scary how powerful Two was, that they could just materialize giant structures and then tear them down without even touching them. It made her think back to the first Trophy Case, to what happened to Eraser.

All she knew was that she didn’t want to be next.

“Make sure to use the link in the comments of this chapter to vote for who you want from the Red Team to be eliminated! Voting ends on October 22nd!”

(VOTING FOR THIS EPISODE HAS ENDED)

Teams

Red Team: Book, Golf Ball, Bell, Fanny, Saw, Lightning, Needle, Cloudy, Pie

Blue Team: Pin, Tree, Pillow, Fries, Coiny, Clock, Bottle, Naily, Tennis Ball

Yellow Team: Donut, Snowball, Robot Flower, Nickel, Foldy, Gaty, Marker, Bomby

Green Team: Black Hole, Pen, Remote, Puffball, Winner, Grassy, Barf Bag, Basketball

Statues: Eggy, Rocky, Ice Cube, Eraser, Cake, TV

Chapter Text

It was hard to find things to do in Goiky. It was essentially an empty plain that was occasionally broken up by an uncommon building or landmark. The Bathroom Plaza was just a bathroom, Gelatin’s Steakhouse was closed thanks to a distinct lack of Gelatin, and nobody was allowed into Golf Ball’s Underground Factory without GB’s permission.

To make a long story short, Naily was bored out of her mind.

She sat at the edge of the cliffside that she liked to visit when she wanted to think. It was the same cliffside from the challenge in BFB where they all flew around in paper airplanes. She’d loved that challenge. She’d enjoyed any time that she got to spend with Team Ice Cube (still wasn’t fond of the name, though). Her team on BFB hadn’t been perfect, but it’d been hers. She liked it, with all of its little imperfections. She enjoyed laughing whenever Firey Jr. would mess with Spongy, or whenever Geltain performed some wild antics that would raise Donut’s blood pressure. She even missed the quiet moments, like when she, Bomby, and Barf Bag would sit at this very cliffside and just talk with each other.

And now she was on the Blue Team, and she was...unhappy

Unhappy may have been the wrong word. She just didn’t like the fact she had no choice in making her team as Two had had them randomized. Now she was stuck with Fries and Clock (two people she already didn’t like), Bottle and Pillow (two people that weirded her out), and the other members of the Union.

Naily sighed at the thought of the alliance she’d inadvertently found herself in. It seemed like a good idea after she’d found out about the pyramid that had been made, but she was so angry that she probably would’ve said anything to get back at their team leaders. Tree just happened to come up with something first.

The Union wasn’t what she thought it would be. She thought it would be about keeping the members of the Blue Team equal, but Tree had turned it into a campaign to try and get Fries and Clock eliminated. Pin and Tennis Ball had attempted to reason with Tree by telling him it was the voters who decided who got eliminated, but Tree had explained that they could help the process along by “helping” the Blue Team get up for elimination.

That was sabotage, and that wasn’t something Naily signed up for.

She didn’t want to be around the Union and she didn’t want to be around the rest of her team, so that left her by herself, but that made her bored. All she could do was wait around for Two to start the next challenge.

“Are you okay?”

The sudden voice coming from behind Naily startled her. She jumped and whipped around, but immediately calmed down when she saw who it was.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that, TB.”

Tennis Ball gave Naily an apologetic smile, “Sorry. I just wanted to check up on you.”

Naily frowned, “Tree didn’t send you, did he?”

TB shook his head, “No. Honestly, I wanted to get away from him, myself.” he admitted.

“I just don’t get why he’s still so worked up!” Naily complained, “I mean, I was angry, too, but I calmed down! Coiny and Pin did, too! I don’t even think Pin was ever mad!”

“She wasn’t.”

Naily groaned loudly and collapsed onto her side, “TPOT isn’t turning out at all like I thought it would.”

Tennis Ball sighed and sat down next to the nail, letting his feet dangle over the cliffside. “I get what you mean,” he said, “it’s been weird, but in a hard way for me to explain. It’s like...the game’s been entirely out of our control.” he tried to explain.

Naily sat upright, “I think I get what you mean. Four was crazy, but they gave us a sense of agency. Two randomized our teams, only talks to us during elimination and challenges, and then turns us to stone.”

Naily shivered, “Don’t remind me.”

“Sorry.”

An uncomfortable silence fell over the two objects. Neither knew where to take the conversation, even though Naily knew what she wanted the boy.

“How do you always keep a positive attitude?” she ended up blurting out.

Tennis Ball raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

“You just hold yourself together much better than everybody else. You’re calm under pressure, you can always think objectively. How do you do it?”

Tennis Ball looked away from his teammate, “I’m not always positive, and it’s a lot harder keeping calm under pressure than you might think.”

“What’s your secret?”

TB thought for a moment before responding, “Whenever I’m feeling stressed, or I start missing Golf Ball, I just try to remember that this is a competition. And all competitions inevitably end. Eventually, Two will declare a winner and everything will go back to normal.”

Naily let the ball’s words sink as she watched clouds pass by over the horizon.

“Does that work?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I think so.”

“ Dear, Diary #2

The last few days have been the ultimate test of my patience. The Yellow Team is more fractured than it’s ever been, and if I’m being honest, it was never truly together, to begin with! Marker and Foldy ever talk to each other, and Nickel keeps away when the challenges aren’t happening. Bomby, Gaty, and Robot Flower are good at cooperating, but it’s far from cohesive. Then there’s Snowball.

Snowball…

I’ve never met somebody I was so confused by. The guy has been around since the very first season of BFDI, and it’s like he hasn’t learned anything from all that time in the competition! If anything, he’s gotten worse! I was naive when I first joined BFDIA and I learned the hard way what happens to abrasive objects who don’t compromise. And yet, despite this, Snowball continues to act how he does. He should know better, and yet he continues to be...well...a jerk. How he survived two eliminations I’ll probably never understand. If feels like my-”

“Hey, Donut?”

Donut let out a very unmanly yelp and slammed his diary shut. Gaty flew backward, unprepared for such a violent reaction.

Donut quickly recovered, leaping to his feet and spinning around to face the gate.

“Gaty! You shouldn’t scare people like that!” Donut chastised.

“Sorry,” Gaty apologized, “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You’ve been off by yourself for a while now.”

Donut sighed. He’d been spending a lot of his time by himself in the Buried Forest. It was calming, and he found the sound of the waterfall soothing. He and Bomby had shared the info of the Buried Forest to his new team but he was still the only one who visited consistently. He didn’t mind that; he enjoyed the privacy.

Donut put his diary down and got to his feet. “It’s fine, Gaty. I should probably have told somebody where I was going.”

Gaty took a seat in front of the stream where Donut originally was, “Our team’s already so disjointed, you shouldn’t add to that. We’re looking to you as a leader right now.”

Donut crossed his arms, “I don’t feel much like a leader,” he pouted, “I don’t believe you for a second when you say Snowball and Nickel view me as a leader.”

“I can’t speak for Snowball,” Gaty admitted, “but I’ve talked with Nickel about this, and he has no problem considering you a leader.

Donut sighed, leaning himself on a nearby tree, “This entire team feels like we’re falling apart; like we aren’t cohesive.”

“I’ll admit that it hasn’t been...the easiest,” Gaty said, “but that doesn’t mean that you can just give up.”

“I never said that I was giving up,” Donut snapped back, “I just am getting a little frustrated. I don’t know how to unite everybody. You, Bomby, and Robot Flower were the only ones trying, and Robot Flower hasn’t talked to me since TV got eliminated.”

“Yeah, I’ll be the first to admit that she’s been taking it hard.”

That was an understatement. RF, a girl usually so stoic, had been brought to her knees by the elimination of her friend. She’d made it through the spinning challenge without complaint, but she more or less shut down after that. Both Gaty and Donut had attempted to talk with her, but she wasn’t very receptive.

“Look, Donut,” Gaty said, slowly approaching the baked good, “I didn’t know you well during BFB, and I still don’t know you super well. What I do know, however, is that you’re smart, and you’re a solid leader. The Yellow Team isn’t great right now, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be.”

Donut looked up, meeting his teammate’s gaze, “Do you really believe that?” he asked, a lot more vulnerable than he’s used to being.

Gaty hesitated, she wasn’t sure how much she believed her own words, but she knew what Donut needed to hear, “Absolutely.”

Basketball wasn’t having a very good day.

“It’s like he disappeared off the face of the planet! I can’t believe he’s gone!”

And it was all because of Grassy.

“Where did you last see him, again?” Pen asked the sports ball. After Grassy wandered off, Basketball employed the help of Pen and Remote to find him, but so far they’d had no luck.

Basketball sighed, “He was with me at the Bathrooms, but I turned my head away for a second and he wanders off without a word!”

The sports ball collapsed onto the grass, laying flat on her back. Her chest heaved as if she’d just finished running a marathon. There was probably an irony in a sports ball not being very athletic, but Basketball wasn’t in the mood to analyze it.

Remote laid a reassuring hand on Basketball’s head, “We’ll find him, he could not have gone far.” her flat robotic voice said in an attempt to sympathize.

Basketball wanted nothing more than to agree with Remote, but all she could do was let out a deep sigh, still trying to catch her breath.

Pen adjusted his cap, “Did we check by Gelatin’s Steakhouse?” he asked. Remote shook her head, “I don’t believe so. We’ll check there next.”

“Head over…without me,” Basketball huffed, not even looking up at her teammates, “I’ll catch…up with you.”

Pen and Remote shared a look before heading in the direction of Gelatin’s Steakhouse, yelling out for Grassy along the way.

Basketball tried to blink away the tears forming in her eyes, not from sadness, but from pure physical exertion. Her chest hurt and her legs ached. She hated being brought to her knees so easily, but she couldn’t help her size. She was a basketball, and basketballs were big. Tennis Ball suffered from a similar issue, but TB had been unlucky enough to also be a klutz.

Basketball finally sat herself up, but she didn’t stand. Her heartbeat stabilized as it became easier to breathe. She could only watch, solemnly, as Pen and Remote became more and more difficult to make out in the distance. She’d been sp distracted that she never heard the footsteps coming up from behind her.

“Basketball?”

The calm and confused voice of Winner spoke out to her from behind. She felt the intrusive, soft hand of Winner push on her back to help her stand up.

“What’re you doing laying ‘round in the grass?” Winner asked, walking in front of Basketball, “You didn’t strike me as the lounging type.”

Basketball sighed, “I’m not,” she said, “I was just…trying to catch my breath is all.”

Winner raised an eyebrow, “What for? You running or something?”

“No, I was…looking for Grassy,” Basketball admitted, “we were by the bathrooms, and I got distracted. He disappeared right under my nose.”

“And you’re just looking for him?” Winner questioned, sounding confused.

“Yeah,” Basketball stated plainly like it were the most obvious thing in the world, “I watch after him.”

Winner frowned, “Why? Why exactly do you do that?”

Basketball wasn’t prepared for such a serious question, “I…just…feel like Grassy needs someone to watch after him.”

“And…why is that, exactly?” Winner pressed, “Any particular reason you feel like you need to watch over him?”

Basketball paused, and for some reason that she’d never be able to understand, that question brought her back to 2012.

To all the time spent in the TLC. From when she first got to know Grassy.

Being one of the recommended characters who didn’t make it into the first season of BFDI was…difficult, to say the least. The show was still in its infancy, and so was the voter base. Back then, a single vote could mean the difference between staying in the game and a year in the TLC. She’d only gotten 5 votes back then, an honor that she shared with Clock. Then she only got 86 votes to join BFDIA, which sent her right back to the box.

When she first lost the vote she’d been quite despondent. She didn’t know anyone, and no one was ever really in the mood to talk.

That’s what had made Grassy to special to her.

She’d been trying to make awkward conversation with Pillow (who was already weird and hard to talk to) when Grassy, unperturbed by his metal surroundings, smiled and approached her.

“I’m Grassy!”

It was his favorite phrase. He loved telling people who he was despite only knowing a total of 11 other objects. Everyone knew who he was.

I know who you are, Grassy, she’d said to him, trying not to sound mean, why are you telling me what I already know?

His smile never once fell.

“You looked like you needed to hear it!”

From that point onward, Basketball and Grassy became close. Closer than Basketball had ever been with anyone. Grassy, in all his earnestness, grew deeply attached to Basketball and dragged her along on whatever crazy adventure he wanted to go on. 

“Basketball?” Winner murmured, concerned with the girl’s silence, “You still in there?”

Basketball snapped out of her trance, looking down at the confused Winner, “You really wanna know why I look after Grassy?”

Winner chuckled, “Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little interested by now.”

“It may not seem like it, but Grassy was there for me when I needed him. There was a time where I was at a really low point and Grassy went out of his way to be there for me.” Basketball said honestly, “So, I do my best to repay the favor and be there for him.”

Winner scoffed, “To me, it just looks a lot like babysitting.” they said. Basketball shook her head, “It may seem like that to someone on the outside, but friendships can be weird sometimes.”

Winner looked away from their teammate, a faraway look in their eyes, “I mean…I guess that it’s nice you have that kind of relationship with someone.”

Basketball raised an eyebrow, “You don’t?”

“I…uh…I used to,” Winner said, getting quiet, “let’s just say that I’ve learned the hard way that I’m better off on my own.”

A wave of understanding came over Basketball, “Because of Loser, right?”

Winner whipped around, looking up at Basketball in shock.

“Don’t look so surprised, Winner,” Basketball smiled, “anyone who’s been a long-time fan of Loser would know about you.”

Winner turned away, a bitter look on their face, “That’s how you’ve heard of me, yeah? Because of Loser?”

Basketball could sense that she’d touched a nerve, “Yeah, that’s how…most people’ve heard of you. I didn’t mean to offend you.” she said in an attempt to defend herself.

Winner just sighed, “It’s not your fault, and I’m used to it. It just gets annoying when the only way people can ever refer to you is when you’re lumped in with someone you don’t even talk to anymore.”

That caught Basketball off guard, “You and Loser don’t talk anymore?”

“Not anymore, no.”

Basketball could take a hint. She could tell by Winner’s tone that they had zero interest in continuing to talk about everyone’s favorite cuboid.

Winner turned away, giving Basketball one last look over their shoulder, “Your relationship with Grassy is nice and all, but try not to get too dependent on it, yeah? You never know when it’ll all come tumbling down on top of you.”

Winner didn’t say anything else, leaving Basketball by herself and her thoughts. She could only wonder what happened between Winner and Loser to make the puff so resentful. Growing distant was one thing, but growing to hate a person you once called a close friend? Basketball couldn’t imagine it.

The idea filled her with dread. Winner was clearly a bitter person who held resentment for Loser, but that thought only raised more questions for Basketball. Why would they make themselves a part of a fan vote to join a show that they knew Loser was on (at least before Two split the cast)? They had to know Loser would’ve originally been here, right?

“Basketball!” the familiar voice of Grassy rang out from behind her. She whipped around to see her tiny friend running toward her. Pen and Remote were following behind him, trying and failing to keep up.

Basketball felt a familiar warmth fill her chest as she watched her friend run to her. Her thoughts lingered on Winner for only a moment longer as Grassy embraced her. She understood why Winner’s feelings felt so foreign to her. She truly could imagine herself growing so resentful towards someone that she held so dearly.

“I hope that they win the fight with what they’re struggling with.”

Needle lightly tapped her fingers against the picnic table. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous about the upcoming Red Team elimination. The only one who wasn’t nervous was Pie, but she never let anything bother her, it seemed.

Needle always considered herself an observer, someone whose strength lay in her ears as opposed to her voice. A controlled girl who preferred to hold her tongue, Needle had already cataloged certain behaviors she saw from Two that she found…concerning.

Firstly, Two always waited at least 2 days to hold the vote after getting the voting results. The longest Two had had them wait before was 11 days, and the shortest was 2 days. Two wasn’t only a number, but they were smart. Whenever Four received the voting results, it always took them exactly a day and a half to count up the votes. Without fail, Four and X always had the elimination consistently, despite their eccentricities. Two wasn’t like that, however, Two always made them wait. As if they enjoyed the tension they created.

Secondly, Two never directly answered questions. Four had been cryptic as well, but Four never could keep secrets. They always got too excited and spilled whatever they had planned next. They were cryptic in the sense that they were strange and didn’t make sense. Four was off-kilter, but they never lied.

Two was different. Needle had no way of proving it, but Two was a liar.

It was in their eyes, their mannerisms. Every time a contestant would ask about their past or why they ejected Four from their own show, Two would deflect, respond with a question of their own, or just laugh off the inquiry like it wasn’t important. An honest person wouldn’t do that.

And Needle was starting to feel like she was the only one worried about it. She’d brought up her concern to her other teammates, but none of them saw what she saw. The closest she got was Book, but Book just assured her that Two wasn’t any weirder than Four and X were.

Fine , Needle had thought, I’ll just go to people who I know will listen.

That was the train of thought that led Needle to where she was now. One of the picnic tables near the Bathrooms, with Coiny and Pin, two of her former teammates from The Losers.

Needle, Pin, and Coiny went further back than The Losers and BFB, however. Much further back. Needle and Pin have been close since the start of BFDIA when they were still W.O.A.H. Bunch. The two girls always mixed well together. Whenever Needle could feel her blood pressure rising, Pin always had a way to keep her from flipping tables. Whenever Pin’s overactive brain put her on the verge of a panic attack, Needle was always there to ground her. They made a good team, although Needle would never admit that to anybody.

Coiny, on the other hand, was a completely different beast.

Coiny and Needle went even farther back than her and Pin, however, Needle would’ve hesitated to call them “friends” when they first started getting to know each other. Nobody knew how to push buttons as Coiny did, and that was never clearer than how he acted back on the very first season. Whether it was taunting Firey, annoying Snowball, or calling Needle by that wretched nickname that she couldn’t stand. However, after actually getting to know each other, Needle soon found herself not just tolerating…but actually enjoying the coin’s company. He was obnoxious, yes, but he was also capable of being quite funny at times.

Not only that but underneath his snarky and antagonistic personality was a genuine and caring friend. Coiny knew every way to get under Needle’s skin, but she wouldn’t change him out for the world.

“Even if you are right about Two,” Pin started, breaking the trio’s long bout of silence, “what would we even do about it? Leave the game?”

Needle sighed, “I’m not saying we leave the game, and I won’t force you guys to do so. I’m just telling you what I’ve noticed, and I don’t think Two can be trusted.”

Coiny shook his head, “I’d say they’re about as trustworthy as Four and X were. They never told us where they were from, never gave us warning when things when challenges were happening, and almost always screeched at us when we didn’t comply.” he listed.

Pin nodded in agreement, “At least Two hasn’t personally killed any of us yet.” she said, an involuntary shiver running up her back. Needle didn’t have a comeback for that. Pin had been one of the first to suffer from one of Four’s gross displays of power. She knew better than anyone to keep her mouth shut when the number was in a sour mood.

“They seriously don’t put you off at all?” Needle questioned, “Have you ever stopped to consider how the prize for winning even works? The power of Two?”

Coiny shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe it’s a transfer thing?” Pin just shook her head, “I assumed that it was just a math joke.”

Needle tried to calm herself, her rhythmic tapping on the table getting a little faster, “None of us would compete if there wasn’t a prize. So, what exactly does the “Power of Two” entail, huh? They never specified or told us what they were truly capable of.”

“I will admit that I have been thinking about that,” Coiny said, “like, are all numbers just as powerful as each other? Why couldn’t Two beat Four and just keep the show running normally? Why did Two want the show in the first place?”

“Yes! These are all valid questions we deserve answers to!” Needle beamed, happy to have finally broken through to one of them. Pin was still clearly hesitant, however, so Needle shifted her focus to her.

“Think about it, Pin,” Needle leaned forward, “none of it makes sense. A random host appears out of nowhere and essentially pushes us into a new show, and then when we’re finally falling into a pattern and getting comfortable, a different host shows up and convinces us that we’d be better off with them. They split the show and then barely talk to us None of this strikes you as odd?” she interrogated.

Pin sat up, straightening her back, “I never said that it wasn’t odd. It is, it is just…that…” Pin trailed off, becoming distracted. Needle was about to question her before she felt a wave of nausea come over her. She felt a strange compulsion to look down at her hand, and when she did she saw that it looked…blurry. As if it were trying its hardest to maintain its physical form.

The nausea only lasted a second longer before Needle blinked and found herself at the elimination area. The giant trophy case loomed over her like a malicious spirit that wished to swallow her whole. Needle supposed that that wasn’t entirely inaccurate. It probably would’ve loved nothing more than to add her to its slowly growing collection.

Needle sat patiently as she waited for the rest of her teammates to be teleported in. Fanny and Saw had already been there, and Golf Ball and Cloudy quickly followed behind Needle. Pie, Bell, Lightning, and Book all showed up at once.

Finally, after everyone was gathered, Two appeared on the stage. Everyone, without being told so, moved their platforms.

“Welcome back, Red Team!” Two said with arms open wide, “I bet that you missed this.”

“Can we please just get this over with?” Saw asked, trying to hide the wobble in her knees, “Eliminations always make me anxious.” a murmur of agreement washed over the Red Team.

Two gasped as if they’d been insulted, “Do you not enjoy our time together, Saw?”

“Not when it’s like this,” she pouted, “I just wanna move past this.”

“Fine,” Two said, throwing their arms up, “I’ll do this one quickly. We got a total of five-hundred and fifty-one votes and Book got the least with only twenty-five.”

The dictionary visibly relaxed, letting her shoulder droop.

Two continued, “Cloudy got thirty-one votes, and Saw got forty-four. You’re both safe.”

Cloudy gave an uneasy smile, doing his best to ignore Golf Ball’s scowl, which was burning a hole into his side. Saw, who’d looked ready to pop only a moment before, let all of the anxiety melt out of her body. It made her lightheaded.

Two pushed forward, nearly no pauses, “Fanny got forty-nine votes, Lightning got fifty-eight votes, and Golf Ball got sixty-six votes. Only three remain.”

Fanny smirked at her own safety, which caused Golf Ball to growl at her in anger. But the roles reversed when Golf Ball was announced safe. Lightning stayed quiet, just thankful to be safe.

The final three who had not had their names called all reacted differently to the building tension. Bell was shaking like a leaf, he clacker unconsciously banging quietly against her inner wall. Needle kept herself cool on the outside, but she could feel the nervousness building on the inside. Her eyes scanned the field, looking for the best escape route if the worst came to pass. Pie was on the opposite side of the nerves spectrum. Her face was the same bored expression it always was. She wasn’t even standing up on her platform.

Two reveled in the tension before speaking again, “Bell! You only got seventy-eight votes, so you’re safe!”

Bell relaxed, looking to Lightning, who gave her two big thumbs up.

Needle and Pie’s platforms slowly began to rise higher than the others. Two’s hands began to spark with light as both Red Teamers readied themselves for whatever came next. The rest of the Red Team watched with bated breath as the sky surrounding the Trophy Case almost seemed to darken.

“Needle,” Two said over the sound of Two’s hand beams powering up. Needle flinched at the mention of her name, but she promised herself that no matter what happened that she wouldn’t show fear.

She didn’t have to worry, however, as Two’s beam flew past her and collided with Pie.

Unlike the other eliminations, Pie’s barely lasted a few seconds. The reason became clear once the smoke cleared. The beam, upon making contact with Pie’s body, had caused her to explode. It was sometimes easy to forget that blueberries were highly explosive.The contents of her tin were mid-splatter, but were now frozen in time as cold stone.

“You’re safe with eighty-eight votes, and Pie is out with one hundred and twelve votes.” Two said cheerfully as all the platforms lowered back to the ground.

Book was the first to approach Pie’s stand, running a hand along its stone stand. It was remarkably cold.

“I wish that that got easier,” Cloudy mumbled to himself, however, Fanny was close enough to hear and agree with him. Golf Ball did her best to put up an uncaring front, but her side glances at the morbid effigy betrayed her.

“Was that fast enough for you, Saw,” Two asked the tool in a rhetorical tone. Saw nodded, happy to be finished with the elimination, but very unhappy with the ghoulish results.

Two smiled, “Well, I won’t waste any more time. Let’s get to the challenge!” they snapped their fingers, and all the Red Teamers were teleported.

All of them except Needle.

The girl whipped her head around, looking for her teammates. When she couldn’t find them, she turned to the trophy case, where Two was looking down on her with a concerned look on their face.

“Needle,” Two stated calmly, coming down from the stage to face her head-on, “I know you’ve been having concerns about the show.”

Needle took a step, back, frowning at the number, “Why would you care about that? You don’t need me to be happy to run the show.” she said, deciding to not back down.

“No, I don’t,” Two admitted, their arms behind their back, “however, I don’t like the idea that one of my contestants is miserable while everyone else is enjoying themselves.”

Needle scoffed and folded her arms, “You really think that everyone is having an amazing time?”

Two shrugged, “I don’t see why they wouldn’t be. I’m a far better host than Four was,” they boasted, “I feel I’ve been completely fair to you guys.”

“Being “fair” doesn’t mean we’re having fun,” Needle fired back, gaining a bit more confidence, “it’s people like you, and Four, and that annoying Speaker Box that I can’t stand. They show up out of the fog and impose themselves into our lives like they’re entitled to be there. You force us into these competitions for the amusement of these faceless viewers and when we’re voted off, you stick us into metal boxes or turn us into stone!”

Needle had properly found her voice now, her nervousness giving way to simmering anger and frustration that had finally boiled over. She stood over Two, who watched her with a cautious eye as she ranted. The girl huffed and puffed, trying to catch her breath.

Two waited a second before standing tall, an unamused look on their face, “What would you be doing if you weren’t competing, Needle?” they asked.

“What?”

“If you walked away right now, and you left the competition, what would you do with your time?” Two took a step forward, causing Needle to take a step back, “I can’t make you stay and compete; by all means, leave. Take off and let everyone else fight for the Power of Two. Having one extra person leave would make my job easier.”

Needle raised her hand to protest, but Two stopped her, “But what would you do if you left? Everyone else would still be competing, so who would you go to? I can’t imagine what that isolation would feel like.” Two circled Needle like a shark circling its prey.

Needle rolled her eyes, “What? You’d bar me from talking to anyone still competing?”

Two shook their head, “Oh no! No, I’d never do something like that! It’s just that…your friends are going to be a bit too busy with the game to pay attention to you, don’t you think?”

“That almost sounds like a threat,” Needle voiced without really thinking, but her words only caused Two to laugh.

“I wouldn’t call it a threat. I’m just trying to be realistic with you, Needy .”

Needle silently seethed.

“I don’t want you to be all by yourself,” Two said, sounding earnest, “you understand, right? I know what it feels like to be alone like that, and I’d never wish that upon anyone.”

Needle stayed stoic, which caused Two to sigh.

“Tell you what, Needle, I’ll make a deal with you,” Two said, extending an olive branch, “we’re going to be entering a new stage of the game very soon, and trust me, you’ll understand what I mean soon enough. When that time rolls around, if you’ve convinced ten people to leave with you, then you can leave and I won’t fight you.”

Needle raised an eyebrow at the number, and Two recognized the hesitance instantly, “I’m serious,” they said, “I’ll even teleport you somewhere far away from all this. Maybe Yoyle City, maybe even farther.”

Needle stiffened at the mention of the abandoned city.

“No more competitions, and no more stress of eliminations. Just convince ten others to go with you. Doesn’t matter from which team; just ten.” Two explained before stopping in front of her, “BUT, if you can’t convince ten others to go with you, then you have to stick out TPOT to the very end. Do we have a deal?”

With a bright smile, Two stuck their hand out for Needle to take, but she paused, weighing her options. She thought of her team and who she could convince, then she thought of her friends and whether or not they’d want to stop competing.

In a moment, Needle solidified her choice, confident in her ability to change hearts and minds.

She took Two’s hand, and she felt a warmness coursing through her entire body.

“It’s a deal then.”

The duo teleported back to the Bathroom Plaza.

~Pie~

34th Place

The Green, Yellow, and Blue Teams did as they normally did while an elimination was happening. They stood around at the Bathroom Plaza, waiting patiently for Two to return with the Red’s, now one member lighter. They talked among themselves, theorizing about the next challenge and who may have gotten eliminated.

“They better have gotten rid of Golf Ball!” Snowball sneered, much to the annoyance of his team.

“This is starting to border on obsession, SB,” Nickel mentioned, not sounding enthused about having to go through another challenge.

Snowball slapped the pocket change on the back of the neck, causing Nickel to stumble, “It isn’t an obsession to want weaklings out of the game! I’d be just as satisfied if Fanny or Bell got eliminated.”

Foldy rolled her eyes, “I’m just starting to think you don’t like armless people.”

“I don’t!” Snowball shouted, making his opinion clear.

“That isn’t the only reason to vote off Golf Ball,” Fries piped up from the Blue Team.

“What do you mean?” Tennis Ball asked, not liking all the negative talk surrounding his friend.

“Nobody like an arrogant leader who’s completely blind to the fact that everyone on the team would rather them be gone.” Fries stated.

Tree elbowed Coiny to get his attention, “That remind you of anybody we know?” he whispered, causing Coiny to giggle. Fries didn’t hear what was said, but he heard the laughter, which caused him to frown.

“It could be Fanny,” Barf Bag thought out loud, “a bad attitude could rub viewers the wrong way.”

“If that were true then Snowball would’ve been the first eliminated,” Clock snarked, only to jump and hide behind Bottle when Snowball glared in his direction.

The conversation between the twenty-two objects kept on until Two appeared with the new Red Team. They quickly realized Pie was gone, but along with Pie, someone else was missing.

“Okay, everyone,” Two clapped their hands together, “with the elimination out of the way, it’s time for the next challenge!”

“Uh, Two,” Pin tried to speak up, only to be steamrolled by Two’s loud voice, “In this challenge, you’ll need a mix of both agility and quick wit!”

“Two, I think you’ve,” this time, Coiny tried to get the attention of the number, only to also get interrupted.

“Will you guys be able to figure out an easy way to figure out the challenge, or will you crumble under the pressure of-”

“TWO!” Both Coiny and Pin yelled, catching everybody off guard.

“...Yes, Pin and Coiny?” Two grumbled, their hands firmly on their ears, “Do you both have something to say?”

“Yes,” Pin said firmly, “where is Needle? She and Pie are both missing from the Red Team.”

The Red Team looked amongst themselves only to see that Pin was correct. Pie was gone, which they knew, however, Needle was also missing.

“What? What did you do with Needle!?” Book yelled at Two, worried about her friend. “She wasn’t the one eliminated!”

“No, you’re right, she wasn’t,” Two admitted, “however, I do need her for your next challenge! In fact, all have you might’ve noticed that a teammate has gone missing.”

The other 3 teams took stock of their members and noticed that Two was telling the truth. Naily, Donut, and Basketball had all disappeared without anyone noticing.

“Be not afraid, everyone. Your teammates are safe, but retrieving them will be a part of this challenge,” Two explained.

Everyone was uneasy with this explanation, “Okay, but…what exactly are we retrieving them from?” Bell asked.

“THIS!” was Two’s only response as they raised both of their hands into the air. A light glow emanated from their palms as the ground began to shake. Close by to the Plaza, the grass and ground began to break apart as a large metal structure arose from the surface. It looked like a Ferris wheel, but instead of having a lot of cabins there were only 4, and instead of being comfy booths to enjoy the view, they were cold metal cages that held one member of each team. Donut, Naily, Basketball, and Needle all clattered around in their cages at a speed that a legitimate Ferris wheel would never be allowed to move at.

“All you have to do is find a way to remove your teammate from the cage! The last team to do that will be up for elimination!” Two stepped back from the plaza and hovered into the air.

“And your challenge starts now!” Two threw their hands down and disappeared into a puff of smoke, leaving the 4 teams to their challenge.

“Don’t worry, Donut! We’re gonna get you down from there!” Gaty yelled up to her trapped teammate.

Donut’s only response was to scream, for he could not hear her.

Gaty turned to her team, “Anyone have any ideas?”

Snowball slowly raised his hand.

“That don’t involve throwing Nickel?” She said sternly.

Snowball slowly brought his hand down.

She sighed, “Well that’s just great.”

“Normally, it’s Donut who’s coming up with the plans,” Foldy complained, “that or Snowball just ignores the plan and does whatever he wants.”

“Well, what’re we gonna do now?” Marker wondered aloud, kicking at the dirt.

“I’m not liking our odds,” Nickel said pessimistically, taking a seat next to Marker.

“Come on guys!” Gaty said encouragingly, “Let’s prove we don’t need Donut to win a challenge!”

“That’s a nice idea and all, but none of us have any idea what to do,” Foldy said before whipping her head around to face Snowball, “and we still aren’t going to throw Nickel.”

SB scoffed, “How did I end up on a team with such weaklings?” he whined in a rather dramatic tone.

“We could ignite Bomby!” Marker thought up, causing the explosive in question to take a step away from the boy.

“So, Marker can ignite Bomby, but I can’t throw Nickel!?” Snowball petulantly stomped his foot.

“We aren’t blowing up Bomby!” Foldy retorted.

“We aren’t?” Marker asked, genuinely confused.

“No!” Bomby screeched, running to hide behind Foldy and Nickel.

The Yellow Team fell into petty squabbling. Snowball and Foldy started yelling at each other while Marker started chasing Bomby. Nickel laid down on his back, looking up at the sky.

Gaty sighed and looked to the only Yellow Teamer that wasn’t losing their cool; Robot Flower. RF was looking up at the spinning wheel with a calculating eye.

“Do you have any ideas?” Gaty asked, not expecting much. Robot Flower turned her head to the side, her petals dancing with light.

“It’s moments like this when TV should be here,” the machine said sadly, “hearing his voice in my head would be a comfort for me, but now I can’t hear him. It’s completely silent.” she lamented.

“I understand that it’s hard, RF, but we don’t want to lose anybody else,” Gaty said, doing her best not to sound desperate for the other girl’s help, “we all need to stick together so the eight of us stay strong.”

“All eight of us?” RF asked, craning her neck to look back at Snowball, who was still fighting with Foldy.

Gaty shook her head, “He’s annoying, but we can’t afford to lose him.”

RF looked back to the wheel, silently watching the cages swing by. She studied it, how many times it rotated, how fast it was going, and the order of the cages.

“I may have an idea,” RF finally said.

The Green Team were all trading ideas back and forth on how to get Basketball out of her cage, and currently, one singular idea was winning out.

“I’m telling you, we can just have Black Hole fly up there, and just pull Basketball right off the wheel,” Winner said, explaining their idea.

“I have two issues with that,” Barf Bag interrupted, “the first one is that in pulling Basketball’s cage off the wheel, Black Hole might accidentally pull one of the other team’s cages free. Also, Black Hole might pull too hard and suck up Basketball.”

“I mean, I can control my gravitational pull,” Black Hole said in defense of himself, “it’s not very difficult.”

“That’s all well and good, but you do see how fast the wheel is moving, right?” Puffball spoke up, “If Black Hole doesn’t pull hard enough, then the cage won’t come off, but if he pulls too hard, then he’ll pull down all the cages and make the challenge easier for everyone else.”

“Should we try and slow it down?” Remote asked the group, but nobody had an answer.

“How would we do that,” Pen questioned the appliance, “is there something we could do?”

“Something must be powering it, right?” Barf Bag thought, “That means we should be able to stop it, right?”

“Hey, guys,” Winner spoke up, getting the team's attention, “where’s Grassy going?”

The team all turned around to see what Winner was talking about and saw that Grassy was rushing towards the giant wheel.

“He’s probably going for Basketball,” Puffball said.

“He’s gonna get hit!” Pen yelled, about to run to retrieve his tiny teammate, but was stopped by Barf Bag.

“Wait,” she said, “look.”

Pen did as he was told and stood back. He watched as the tinniest TPOT contestant approached the wheel’s supporting beam.

And began climbing.

The Red Team was doing what they did best.

“I hate you!”

“I do not care if you hate me - we need to act fast!”

“Will both of you stop yelling!?”

Arguing.

Book had her arms wrapped around Golf Ball, who was trying to approach Fanny, who was being held back by Lightning.

“The only thing there is to do is to stop the wheel!” GB shouted, struggling feebly against Book’s grip, “You need to listen to me!”

“I’m tired of listening to you!” Fanny barked back, “You think you’re so smart and you can just impose your will on others! You think you are above critique! Above all of us! Well, you aren’t!”

“Fine! Don’t listen to me!” GB said, wiggling out of Book’s hold, “But you should listen to our team leader.” she said in a sickeningly sweet voice.

She turned to face Cloudy, who was extremely uncomfortable.

“Cloudy,” Golf Ball started, “do you not think it would be best to find a way to stop the Ferris wheel?” she asked, flashing a smile that was a little too wide for someone like her.

Cloudy hesitated, unsure how to respond, but Fanny was displeased with the deflection.

“Stop using Cloudy as your mouthpiece,” she accused, “you don’t want him to be the team leader, you just want a puppet to say what you want to say! Stop pretending like you care about what he has to say!”

Fanny was flushed with anger, her face pale from lack of breath. The two girls continued to yell at each other as their other team members tried to get them to calm down.

Cloudy had completely zoned out of the argument, instead floating off in the direction of the giant wheel. He looked up at it, in awe of its size. It looked big from a distance, but it was a completely different story up close.

He was getting tired of the fighting and the yelling. He had never been one to enjoy confrontations, so he felt like his time on the Red Team was taking years off of his life span.

“Hey, Cloudy,” a soft voice spoke up from behind him. He didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.

“What happened, Lightning?” Cloudy asked, “Did GB and Fanny finally tear each other apart?” he chuckled humorlessly.

“No, they’ve stopped arguing, actually,” Lightning said, uncomfortably rubbing his arm, “but now neither of them will cooperate and even help in the challenge.”

Cloudy sighed, his pristine white body turning a shade of grey. He could feel the rain building up inside of himself and had to fight off the physical urge to release it.

“You okay?” Lightning moved to place his hand on Cloudy and found it immediately get wet.

“I…I don’t think I am,” the cloud admitted, both to his teammate and himself, “things just haven’t felt right since the game started. I just feel like I don’t have anyone to rely on. I’m surrounded by people that I’ve known for years, but I just feel…alone.”

Lightning had never been good at talking about his feelings, let alone the feelings of somebody else. All he could do was float there, wrapped into an awkward and heavy silence with his “team leader”.

Instead, he honed his attention in on the wheel’s main support beam and saw something interesting.

A circuit breaker.

“Does that box open?” Lightning wondered aloud, floating past Cloudy. He grabbed it and found that it wasn’t locked.

“Hey, Cloudy, I think we can use this to turn the wheel off!” Lightning rejoiced, a newfound hope in his voice. Cloudy came out of his melancholic stupor for a brief moment to see what Lightning was looking at. It was an average circuit breaker, perhaps maybe fewer switches than usual.

“Any idea how it works?” Cloudy questioned, but Lightning did not answer. He just stared vacantly into the breaker box at the vaguely labeled switches.

“I don’t have a single clue, but maybe we can just smash it?” Lightning said, not confident in the idea himself.

“You shouldn’t do that.” A robotic voice piped up from behind the two boys, which caused them to turn around.

It was Robot Flower and Gaty from the Yellow Team.

“It looks like you guys had the same idea that we did,” Gaty said with a small smile, “do you guys like having a truce?”

“A truce?” Lightning and Cloudy asked at the same time.

Gaty nodded, “We’ll team up briefly for this challenge so to ensure that neither of us goes up for elimination.”

The two Red Teamers liked the sound of that. They’d just lost Pie and wanted to stay as far away from the Trophy Case as possible. They both nodded.

RF nodded back, moving to the circuit breaker.

The Blue Team had had an idea of what they wanted to do since the challenge started.

However, in practice, it was proving to not be very effective.

Their plan had to stack on top of each other while close to the wheel, and then grab onto Naily’s cage when it whipped past them. The main problem was the tower they’d created wasn’t particularly steady.

Tennis Ball, being the biggest on the team, was the base of the tower and baring the majority of the weight. Sitting on top of him was Clock, who thought it best to be near the bottom since he didn’t have arms. Following after the Blue Team ordered by weight. Tree was on top of Clock, Pin was on top of Tree, Fries was on top of Pin, Coiny was on top of Fries, and Bottle was on top of Coiny. Pillow, the lightest Blue Teamer, stood tall on top of her object pillar. It was wobbly and unstable, but they’d made it stand.

Now, the second problem was grabbing onto Naily’s cage, which was whizzing by faster than the Blue Team tower could react.

“Try and get a little bit closer,” Pillow told Bottle, who relayed the message down the tower like a game of telephone.

The message eventually reached Tennis Ball, who did his best sidle as close as he could to the wheel without actually hitting it.

“Please hurry up!” TB strained, which also got relayed to the top of the totem pole. Pillow was on the verge of touching the moving cages, she just needed to wait for the perfect moment to reach out and grab hold of Naily’s cage when it swung past.

That moment came, and Pillow succeeded in grabbing the cage.

And it sent her, Bottle, and Coiny flying.

Pillow held on tight, as did the rest of her team, but it was no match for the force of the wheel. Pillow didn’t let go as Naily’s cage continued to move. Bottle, who was holding onto Pillow’s legs, and Coiny, who’d been holding onto Bottle, went with her. The rest of the Blue Team tower tumbled from the sudden harsh tug. Tennis Ball, Pin, Clock, Fries, and Tree all fell onto a heap on the ground while the other 3 were flung sky high.

Pillow didn’t let go, however, and neither did Bottle or Coiny. The 3 Blue Teamers, hanging off of each other, clung to Naily’s cage, who hadn’t even noticed she had passengers.

Coiny moved first, slowly fighting against the wind and climbing up Bottle and Pillow’s bodies. He made it to the top of the cage and pulled up Pillow and Bottle.

“Don’t worry Naily!” Coiny shouted into the cage over the high-velocity winds, “We’re gonna get you out of there!”

“How did you guys even get up here!?” Naily managed to shout back. She’d stuck herself halfway through one of the links to stop herself from tumbling around and getting too dizzy.

“We made a tower!” Bottle yelled, just happy to be involved with the challenge.

Pillow looked up at where the cage was connected to the wheel via a regular rope. Having it strung up by a metal cable would make the challenge too difficult, she supposed.

“We need to untie the cage!” she yelled to her teammates, who could just barely hear her. Coiny pointed behind her.

“We better hurry! Looks like somebody had the same idea!”

Pillow turned around to look at the cage in front of Naily’s. It was Basketball’s and Grassy was clinging to it for dear life. Grassy was small, and he was light, so he was having a difficult time holding on, let alone climbing up to the rope.

Pillow wobbled to her feet while holding onto the cage with one hand. She normally had no problem with dangerous stunts, but she was very much not liking the feeling of spinning upside down every time the wheel made a full revolution. Bottle and Coiny slowly stood as well, and all three, at a snail’s pace, approached the rope. That was only half of the job, however, they still needed to climb it and untie the cage.

Coiny reached for the rope, grabbing hold of it. Pillow moved next, but something felt off to her. The wind was shifting; becoming less forceful. Bottle noticed it too.

“Are we slowing down?”

The entirety of both the Red Team and Yellow Team gathered around the base of the wheel, all watching Robot Flower flick switches inside of the circuit breaker. Her plan had been simple, wait until the cages were in the middle of a revolution that way Needle and Donut’s cages would be closest to the ground when the wheel came to a stop. RF’s mind worked faster than everyone else's, so she wasn’t worried about getting the timing right.

“Remember your parts in the plan,” RF said to everyone. Book stood with Saw on the left side of the wheel, while Snowball stood on the right.

The Ferris wheel very slowly came to a halt. Those who’d been climbing the cages were still dizzy but used the opportunity to start climbing. RF’s timing was perfect; Needle and Donut’s cages were right where she’d planned them to be.

Book and Saw acted first, climbing up Needle’s cage, which was not close enough to the ground to grab. They made it to the top in seconds, Book moved quick, grabbing Saw by her pink handle and quickly sawing through the rope tying Needle’s cage to the wheel.

The cage fell to the Earth so forcefully that it embed itself into the dirt. Book and Saw both fell off as Needle took the chance to open her cage door and step out.

“Needle is free! Meaning the Red Team are safe from elimination!” Two yelled out, far above, watching the challenge.

“Now throw her Book!” Robot Flower shouted, engaging part two of her plan.

“Just don’t throw me too hard, okay?” Saw whimpered in Book’s grasp. The dictionary nodded and quickly lobbed the tool as far as she could towards Snowball, who was waiting at the other side of the wheel.

The throw was good as Snowball caught Saw midair. He wasted no time climbing Donut’s cage and cutting through the rope in one swing. The cage fell, and Donut came tumbling out. Snowball landed next to him, tossing Saw over his shoulder.

“Donut is free, meaning the Yellow Team is safe!” Two called out, “only the Green Team and the Blue Team are still unsafe!”

The race to untie Basketball and Naily’s ropes was a close one. Grassy was slower, but Bottle, Coiny, and Pillow all trying to climb the rope at once slowed them down.

The rest of the Green Team watched on from below with bated breath.

“Black Hole, go pull her cage down!” Barf Bag yelled to the void. If he had eyebrows, one would be raised in confusion.

“I thought that you didn’t want me to do that?” he asked plainly.

“Forget what I said, we can’t risk losing!” she explained, pointing up at their teammates. Black Hole didn’t need to be told anything else, floating off to the other side of the wheel. He made himself slightly bigger as his gravitational pull pulsed to life.

The two remaining cages slowly started to lift in the direction of Black Hole. Coiny, who’d made it to the knot, tried his best to untie it while also not getting pulled off. Grassy was hanging onto Basketball’s cage by his fingertips, but he had an idea. He slowly started climbing down the side of the cage towards its door. Getting to the door was the difficult part, but once he actually got to it, all he had to do was release the latch, and the door was pulled open by Black Hole’s force. Basketball almost instantly flew right out of the cage. Black Hole, upon seeing that, dropped his gravitational pull, letting his teammate fall to the Earth below and landing with an underwhelming thud.

“Basketball is free! That means that the Green Team are safe and that the Blue Team are the ones up for elimination!” Two announced.

The Blue Teamers on the ground all groaned, not bothering to get up from their spots in the dirt. They all eyed each other, warily.

The Blue Teamers still on the wheel weren’t very happy either.

Well, except for Coiny.

“Hey, guys! I think I got the knot untied!”

The cage plummeted to the ground landing dangerously close to where the rest of their team was laying.

“Don’t forget to use the link in the comments of this chapter to vote for who you want to be eliminated from the Blue Team! Voting for this episode ends February 18th!”

Teams

Red Team: Book, Golf Ball, Bell, Fanny, Saw, Lightning, Needle, Cloudy

Blue Team: Pin, Tree, Pillow, Fries, Coiny, Clock, Bottle, Naily, Tennis Ball

Yellow Team: Donut, Snowball, Robot Flower, Nickel, Foldy, Gaty, Marker, Bomby

Green Team: Black Hole, Pen, Remote, Puffball, Winner, Grassy, Barf Bag, Basketball

Statues: Eggy, Rocky, Ice Cube, Eraser, Cake, TV, Pie

Chapter Text

The Blue Team had been tense since their challenge loss. The divide had already been an issue, but the loss and foreboding loss of a teammate had turned the divide into a chasm that nobody was willing to try and cross. The creation of the Union had split the team, but now cracks were beginning to form there as well. The members were talking to each other less. Coiny and Pin only talked to each other, and Tennis Ball barely talked to anyone. Naily, who’d originally been on board with the idea of the Union, had seemed to sour on it and distance herself from the team.

That left Tree.

Tree had given it his best shot at making the best of his team, but it felt like his team was fighting him the entire way. Tree couldn’t stand arrogance, and Clock and Fries were the exact type of person he couldn’t stand. People who had no problem complaining about what was wrong, but wanted nothing to do with the solution just in case that solution didn’t work out. They pretended to be leaders but fled at the responsibility. Then they had the nerves to keep a power pyramid from them that basically had the Blue Team put into a caste system.

Tree and Pillow hadn’t been close before Death P.A.C.T., and even after the formation of the team they still weren’t close. Tree always got a weird vibe from the girl, as if she was always planning something devious. She’d only joined the team after she heard someone mention killing, and that should’ve been the biggest heads up that something was off about her.

Bottle wasn’t like that, however. Bottle had felt like a personal betrayal. They’d spent time together before BFB, back in the TLC. They knew each other; they were friends.

And she’d sided with Clock and Fries.

Tree didn’t want to think of it as a betrayal, but his logical brain was no match for his emotional brain. Tree was hurt by Bottle siding with Fries and Clock so quickly, and with Pie getting eliminated it was beginning to feel like he’d never get the old Death P.A.C.T. together. Pen, Remote, and Black Hole were all over on the Green Team, and they seemed to get along fine without him.

Tree’d never had a problem being by himself, but being on Death P.A.C.T. had changed that; given him community, however brief. He missed them.

He missed them a lot.

“We need to talk.”

Tree lifted his head from the table, blinking away the mist that was forming in his eyes. He’d been “enjoying” his time alone at the picnic table by the Bathrooms. He turned around in his seat to see Clock, a serious look on his face.

Tree scoffed, “What are you looking to talk about?”

Clock took that as an invitation to sit down across from Tree. The two eyed each other with unease.

“Look, Tree,” Clock started with a sigh, “I’m not a fan of how any of this is going either. The randomized teams? Terrible idea, but we’ve been put where we’ve been put and it’s up to us to make it work.”

“I was never opposed to making it work,” Tree said in his own defense, “it was you and Fries who divided us when you kept that power pyramid from us.”

Clock shook his head, “I’ve already told you that Bottle and Pillow did that. Fries and I had nothing to do with it, and the reason we kept it quiet was that we thought you’d all react poorly to it, and we were completely right.” Clock said snidely.

Tree didn’t have a response for that, so he decided to stay quiet. Clock took the chance to continue.

“We don’t have to be enemies,” Clock said, leaning in, “we just need to work together until either Two switches up the teams or the merge happens.”

“What makes you so sure Two will switch up the teams?” Tree asked.

Clock shook his head, “I’m not, but I wouldn’t rule it out.”

“Fries will agree to all of this.”

Clock paused, thinking for a moment, “Fries has…a hard time taking responsibility for things.”

Tree rolled his eyes, “I noticed,”

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t reach an agreement.” Clock added quickly, “You just have to talk with him.”

“Why does it have to be me who talks with him?” Tree questioned indignantly, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“You helped put the divide into the team, and so you should help mend it,” Clock said coldly.

“And what if Fries doesn’t want to? What if he doesn’t agree?”

“He’ll agree. He doesn’t really have any other choice.”

“That’s all well and good, Clock, but I have one more question for you.”

“That being?”

“Are you suddenly dizzy, because I’m suddenly really dizzy.” Tree admitted, trying to shake away the fog forming in his head.

“I think it’s…it’s time for elimination,” Clock said in a partial daze, suddenly getting hit with the dizziness Tree was talking about. Clock suppressed a groan of annoyance. Two seemed to always know the perfect times to throw off a carefully laid plan. He’d intended on talking with both Tree and Fries - try and find common ground with them, but now only half the job was done.

Clock didn’t like a single person on his team, but Clock was nothing if not self-reliant. His time on The Winners had taught him that no one was going to look out for him except himself. They’d completely forgotten about him, and so had Four and X. So, fine. He didn’t need friends, and he didn’t need any favoritism from a host.

All Clock needed was Clock.

The two Blue Teamers were teleported from their picnic table to the trophy case. They gathered their bearings, looking to see who else had been teleported. Bottle and Pillow were already there, talking quietly with each other, and Pin and Coiny quickly followed in after.

Clock couldn’t help but give an annoyed glance to Pillow and Bottle. They were the two that started the fight between the Blue Team members and forced Clock into damage control. They’d not once mentioned the power pyramid since its formation, and it’s like they’d completely forgotten it existed.

Clock was willing to forgive Bottle, as he was pretty sure she’d genuinely forgotten about the pyramid. She wasn’t particularly smart, but she had good intentions. Pillow was different. Clock firmly believed that Pillow knew what she was doing.

Tennis Ball and Fries were teleported in next, followed by Naily. The three of them didn’t say a word to each other, instead just going to their individual stands, waiting for Two to appear.

Clock took the chance to approach Fries, who was just as grumpy as he always was. He sat, arms crossed, heel kicking against the edge of his stand.

“I saw you talking to Tree,” Fries said, not looking at Clock, “I hope you got through to him.”

“Not yet. Not completely,” Clock groaned, “I think he needs a little extra reassurance that he isn’t going to feel betrayed again.”

Fries raised an eyebrow, “How do you plan on doing that?”

Clock resisted the urge to scream. Clock needed to find a way to get Tree and Fries to talk, and maybe get Fries to work things out with him. However, Clock was learning quickly that getting Fries to do anything he didn’t want to do was like pulling teeth.

The conversation was cut short as Two stepped out from behind a curtain on stage, “Hello, Blue Team! Are you ready for your elimination?” they asked, as chipper as always.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Naily mumbled with a roll of her eyes. The rest of the team concurred, not wanting to stay at the Trophy Case longer then they had to.

Two huffed, “There’s no need to be sour guys! It’s the nature of the game that people get eliminated!”

“Doesn’t mean we have to enjoy it,” Clock shot back, giving the Algebrailian the stink eye.

“We just want to get to the next challenge,” Fries added dismissively.

Two nodded, seemingly understanding the Blue Team’s plight. They pulled out a counter that lit up, “We received a total of five hundred and ninety votes in total.”

The counter flickered to light, showing the number Two had just announced. The Blue Teamers eyed each other warily. Some were more worried looking than others.

Two snapped their fingers and the number on the counter changed, “The first one safe is Tennis Ball with only thirty-seven votes!”

Tennis Ball relaxed, happy to hear his name called first. Two pointed at the two metal team members.

“Coiny and Naily are also safe with forty-four and forty-nine votes respectively!”

Naily smiled, and Coiny pumped his fist into the air. Pin gave her friend a supportive smile, but she was beginning to get a tad nervous that her name hadn’t been called.

“Pin is safe with fifty-eight votes!”

Her nervousness subsided.

Two pointed to Bottle next, “Next safe is Bottle with sixty-one votes!”

Bottle cheered, happy she’d get to keep competing and having. The last 4 team members weren’t so excited. Clock and Tree weren’t doing a good job hiding their nerves. Fries was hiding his fear better, but the slight twitch in his eyebrow revealed how he was really feeling. Pillow was the only one who was completely unaffected, more interested in her clipboard than the elimination.

“Clock is safe with seventy-one votes,” Two announced, “and so is Fries with eighty-four!”

The two “leaders” looked at each other. Both had no idea who it would be getting turned into stone. Pillow and Tree’s platforms raised up slightly as Two rubbed their hands together. Tree was shaking, and a few leaves fell from his branches. Pillow continued to write something down on her clipboard.

“Tree and Pillow; one of you received ninety votes, and the other received ninety-six,” Two explained.

“A difference of only six votes?” Tennis Ball whispered to himself, shocked at that small of a gap between who was safe and who was eliminated.

“And that person with ninety-six votes is…,” Two drew out, letting the tension course through the entire Blue Team before releasing them.

“Pillow. Tree, you’re safe.”

Tree let out a sigh of relief as his platform descended. He clutched his chest and tried to get his breathing under control as Two prepped their blasting hand.

“Oh no, Pillow,” Bottle said, coving her mouth with her hands, “you’re gonna get turned to stone!” she proclaimed as if she were the first to figure it out.

Pillow shook her head with a serene smile, “It’s no worry, Bottle, I’m prepared to be a statue.”

“I don’t understand why you would be,” Clock said without thinking.

“I want to study where I go. I think it could be interesting.” Pillow said with a smile.

The rest of her team didn’t get a chance to respond as Two’s blasting hand had sufficiently powered up and blasted Pillow in the center of her back. She didn’t shout and she barely moved. Hers was the fastest petrification so far.

The smoke cleared, leaving behind what used to be Pillow. Her frozen body language showed no sign of fear or nervousness. Her clipboard even got turned to stone with her.

Two used their power to lift up the Pillow statue and gently placed it into an open slot in the trophy case, right next to Pie.

“She went out as she lived,” Coiny said with crossed arms. Pin looked at her friend.

“Really weird?”

Coiny nodded, “Super weird.”

Two smiled, “Now that that’s all tied up, we can move on to the next challenge!”

Two clapped their hands, teleporting themself and the Blue Team to the usual meet-up spot.

~Pillow~

33rd Place

“It’s gonna be Bottle. Just watch.” Nickel said, fully sure in himself.

“What makes you say that?” Gaty asked with a raised eyebrow.

“She doesn’t add much to the team,” Nickel explained, “the viewers are gonna pick up on that.”

“I bet it’s Pillow,” a cocky Pen added, “I have ten dollars that says it’s her.”

“You’re the last one who should be making any bets, Pen,” Barf Bag laughed, elbowing her teammate in the side, “aren’t you still in debt, like, a kajillion dollars?”

“That’s…not important,” Pen said, very much embarrassed.

“It might be Fries,” Book postulated, “bossy types always have a good chance of getting eliminated.”

Puffball turned to Basketball, “They won’t eliminate him, right?” she asked, worried about her friend.

Basketball smiled, “I don’t think so. Fries might be hard to get along with, but he’s smart, and there are less helpful people on the team.”

Remote gave Puffball a stiff pat on the back, “It probably won’t be Fries.”

The girls were right, as Two teleported in with the Blue Team, and the rest of the teams got a look at who was gone. When Pen saw that it was Pillow, he gave himself a mental pat on the back for being correct.

“Okay, teams! I hope everyone is ready for the next challenge because this one is a definite doozy!” Two announced, rubbing their hands together.

No one said anything, so Two took their silence as a yes. With a snap of their fingers, the ground began to rumble. A few yards away from the plaza, the Earth began to crack. The rumbling only grew louder as dirt and stones were flung around. From the ground rose the mouth of a cave that looked to be dimly lit from the inside.

“There’s your challenge!” Two said, gleefully gesturing to the cave.

Marker gasped in excitement, “We get to go into a cave?”

“This isn’t just any cave, dear Marker,” Two corrected, “that over there is a dungeon!”

That got the contestants talking. They all looked to each other, murmuring quietly about what that could entail.

“All four teams will make their way down into the bowels of the dungeon, pushing through winding and diverging corridors, dangerous traps, and confounding puzzles,” Two dramatically explained, reveling in the dramatics, “somewhere in the dungeon are four crystals, each corresponding with a team’s color. To win the challenge, all you have to do is find your team’s crystal, and bring it back to me.”

Donut raised his hand, “Does the entire team need to escape the dungeon in order to win?”

Two shook their head, “Nope. All I need is the crystal to declare your team safe.”

Two put their hand up, “There’s just one little thing. Bell and Black Hole cannot participate.”

“What!?” Bell indignantly yelled, “Why the heck not!?”

Two gave her a perplexed look, “You’re on a string. You can’t go into the dungeon when you’re attached to a string.”

“I would - I…,” Bell trailed off, quickly realizing the host was right.

“And Black Hole’s too big, and I can’t have him sucking up all of my hard work,” Two said, gesturing to the void.

“I mean, I can control my gravitational pull,” Black Hole said in his own defense, “but the other thing about me being big makes sense. I can’t defend that one.”

The Green and Red Team wanted to make a point about their teammates not being allowed to compete, but they quickly realized that having one less person to keep watch of in the dungeon was probably a good thing.

“If there are no other questions,” Two said slowly, moving to the side to give the teams a clear path to the cave, “then the challenge begins…NOW!”

The teams wasted no time moving towards the entrance of the dungeon.

All four teams slowly walked down the stone steps of the dungeon’s entrance. Torches lined the walls, allowing everyone limited sight. They were all clumped together, trying to move downward while not bumping into each other too much.

“This can’t be the entire challenge,” Book complained to Needle, who she was elbow to elbow with.

“Two will probably have us split up,” Needle mumbled back, “might have a trap door open under us or something crazy.”

Book nervously looked to her feet, now paranoid of stepping on a hidden tile. Needle nudged her again.

“By the way, we need to talk when we get the chance,” she said cryptically.

“Can’t we just talk now?” Book asked, confused.

Needle looked at her teammate before looking ahead at her other team members, “Not while everyone is around.”

Book wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that.

The thirty objects reached the bottom of the stairs and were faced with four gaping doorways, each one about two people wide. The doorways all had arrows painted onto the group, each arrow corresponding with a color of one of the teams.

“I guess we all have to separate,” Donut announced to everyone.

“That feels like it’s a little too easy,” Basketball said in a hushed tone, more to herself than anyone else.

Remote, with her incredible hearing, picked up on the whisper without issue, “Two probably has traps and puzzles down each corridor.”

“Let’s hope it’s nothing too dangerous,” Barf Bag said, a sentiment the rest of her team agreed with.

The four teams slowly separated, moving down the assorted pathways, unsure of what tricks and dangers lay ahead of them.

Yellow Team

The Yellow Team marched down the corridor in rows of two, shoulder to shoulder. Donut and Gaty were in the front, with Robot Flower and Nickel in the back. Everyone else made up the middle. Marker and Foldy kept close to Bomby, they wanted to make sure no traps set him off. The team would be screwed if Bomby exploded in the narrow corridor. They’d probably get the entire dungeon to cave in.

“Make sure you all watch your feet,” Donut warned, cautiously walking ahead, “we have no idea of knowing what Two put in here for us to run into.”

“What? You think the floor will give out below us?” Nickel asked sarcastically.

“It might,” Donut said firmly, looking to the very back of the group, “I don’t wanna take the risk.”

The eight objects moved in silence, the lights from the torches on the wall their only guide. They walked slowly and deliberately, Donut and Gaty making sure to scan the few tiles and wall ahead of them before moving forward. The team was getting impatient, especially Snowball.

“This is taking forever!” Snowball groaned from directly behind Donut, “We’re never gonna get our gem if we keep moving at this pace!”

Donut turned around to yell at Snowball, but the moment he took his attention off the floor, his foot met a loose panel, causing him to sink down. The hall briefly shook, causing the team to stop. Everyone looked around, panicked. A panel in the wall slowly slid open, and a thwoomp sound rang out. Donut yelped as two darts flew from the wall and connected with his side. His soft, doughy body made for a perfect cushion. There was a third dart, but that one hit Gaty, only for it to ricochet off one of her hinges and land harmlessly on the ground.

“That is why we take our time!” Donut yelled, angry and a little vindicated in his weariness. Snowball, to his credit, reacted fast, reaching forward and pulling the darts out of Donut’s body, causing him to yelp again.

Red Team

The Red Team’s trek was going slightly smoother. They were also moving in rows of two, with Cloudy and Golf Ball leading the way. Golf Ball was jabbering about something or other; nobody on the team was actually listening to her. She was distracted, lost in her own little world where everyone listened to and admired her.

It was an opportunity Needle had no intention of missing.

Her mind had been completely clouded since her talk with Two, and she’d yet to find a good chance to pull some of her teammates aside and talk to them about it.

Needle had her eyes set on two specific teammates, and she needed to strike while she knew the rest of her team was distracted.

Ahead of her, Golf Ball tripped a tripwire, causing a good portion of the left wall to jut out in an attempt to crush the objects in its way. GB and Cloudy pulled back in time as to not get hit, and the wall harmlessly slammed into the other wall. It slowly drew back into its original position, leaving a giant hole in the right wall.

This was Needle’s chance.

The team slowly moved past the used trap but as Needle moved in front of the hole, she snatched the two objects at the back of the pack with her and ducked inside, away from the team’s view.

“Get your hands off of me!” Fanny demanded, wiggling free of Needle’s grasp. Book was less mad and more confused as to why Needle had suddenly pulled them aside.

“Don’t yell,” Needle said with as much authority as she could muster while also still being quiet.

Fanny snarled at Needle as if she was going to bite her, but calmed down after a moment of silence. She was still frowning (it is Fanny, after all), but she was waiting for a response.

“What is this about, Needle,” Book finally asked, “we’re in the middle of a challenge.”

“I know, but I need to tell you about this now,” Needle, explained, ducking her head out of the hole to make sure none of the other Red Teamers were listening in on them.

She turned back to them, “I talked with Two.”

That got Fanny’s attention, “You talked with Two? What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that I talked with them.” Needle reiterated, “they kept back after Pie got eliminated and talked with me privately.”

“Why would they do that?” Book questioned, confused.

Needle rubbed her arm uncomfortably, “I’ve been…considering leaving The Power of Two.”

Book’s eyes widened, “What? L-leave? Why w-would you leave?”

“I’m…I’m not…enjoying myself, Book,” Needle said earnestly, “I haven’t been enjoying myself since the show started. Heck, I barely enjoyed BFB.”

“What does that have to do with us?” Fanny asked impatiently.

“Two found out I want to leave, and they talked to me about it. They said that they would let me leave…but only if I found ten other objects who were willing to leave with me. If not, then I have to stick out the rest of the game.”

“That’s insane!” Fanny fought back, “Do you even have a plan? What’re you going to do if you find ten objects to agree with you? Where are you going to go?” Fanny grilled the sewing needle.

“I don’t know!” Needle quickly fired back, “But what I do know is I don’t want to keep competing! Two is exactly like Four. They never tell us anything, and they don’t care what happens to us! Four screeched at us until we couldn’t hear, and Two turns us to stone! How is that any better?”

“I am not enjoying myself either! I hate this!” Fanny yelled, her entire body tense, “But I know better than to run away with no plan!”

Needle stomped forward and grabbed Fanny by the sides of her head, shaking her, “I’m tired of these numbers thinking we need them! That we need their competitions! How long has it been since we haven’t competed for anything? Dream Island? BFBs? BFDIs? We can prove there’s more to us than competition!”

“Is there?”

Needle and Fanny turned to the third voice; Book, who continued. “I’ve been trying to win since 2011. I wanted Dream Island so badly, and then I spent over an entire year locked away in the TLC, and then I just barely made it into BFDIA.” Book went on.

“Book,” Needle tried to say in a comforting voice, but Book stopped her.

“The Firey Speaker Box disappeared on us, and we spent so much time in Yoyle City. All that time with FreeSmart.” Book said with a small smile on her face, remembering her time with Ice Cube specifically.

“Must’ve been really nice,” Fanny said in a sarcastic, bitter tone. Most of the time Needle and Book galavanted around Yoyle City she spent in the TLC. She didn’t miss it.

“Then we left Yoyle City and Four eventually showed up, and we were right back to competing against each other,” Book said weakly.

“Wasn’t it nice?” Needle asked, a hopeful smile on her face, “That time with no competition? Without the stress of teams and eliminations?”

Book nodded before swiping at her eyes, which had gotten misty, “I didn’t like the person I was in BFB. I was mean, and I was paranoid. I isolated myself from the chance of new friends, and the friends that I already had.” she said sadly.

“There can be a life without these shows,” Needle said, confidently placing a hand on the dictionary’s shoulder, “we know because we lived it before, Book. Back in Yoyle City, and before Four and X appeared.”

Book wiped away her tears and looked up at Needle with an unsure face, “Is it really okay to leave our team? Bell and Lightning? Saw?”

“We can take any of them that want to come with, but I doubt all of them are going to be on board,” Needle said, her mind immediately going to Golf Ball.

Book looked down at her feet in thought, but she eventually looked up at her friend with a determined smile. “Okay. Okay, I’ll leave with you.”

Needle smiled wide, happy to have her first secessionist. The two girls turned to Fanny, who looked very unsure of everything that was happening.

“Well, Fanny?” Needle said, “Will you be joining us?”

Fanny glanced to her side, and then to her feet. Basically, anywhere that wasn’t Needle’s gaze was where she looked.

“I’m not sure-”

“WHERE ARE THEY? THEY WERE RIGHT BEHIND US!”

Golf Ball’s faint voice called from the end of the corridor. Needle acted quick, moving out of the alcove and grabbing Fanny with her.

“We’re okay!” she yelled, waving her hand to signal her team, “Fanny just got her foot stuck and we were helping her!”

“Well hurry UP! We reached the end of the hall!” GB yelled back.

“Do you want us to come back and help?” the voice of Saw piped up from the jumble of Red Teamers.

“No, she’s free! We’re coming now!” Needle responded, gesturing to Book and Fanny to follow her back.

They did as they were told, quietly following behind the taller girl, one much more conflicted than the other.

Needle smiled to herself, extremely satisfied with her work.

Blue Team

The Blue Team slowly trudged through their tunnel, as silent as a tomb. The team had completely clammed up since Pillow’s elimination, simply because they had all thought it was going to be someone different. Both Fries and Clock thought it was going to be Tree since he’d been spitting the team, and Tree thought it would’ve been Fries due to his bad attitude. Either way, they’d been convinced that the elimination would resolve the fighting.

It hadn’t, and now everything was awkward.

Tree and Bottle had been the most affected by Pillow’s elimination for completely different reasons. Tree because of how close he came to getting turned to stone himself, and Bottle because she had lost her good friend.

Tree tightly hugged his arms in an attempt to comfort himself, but he just couldn’t get the elimination out of his head. He could see it all so vividly, Two’s wicked grin as they blasted an uncaring Pillow with their beam of white light. Ice Cube’s elimination hadn’t been nearly as impactful on him, but in his defense, he’d been declared safe early.

“Okay, so do we not want to talk about any of that?” Coiny said, the only one brave enough to try and break the silence.

“What is it you want to discuss?” Clock asked, looking back at the penny. Fries and Clock were at the front of the pack, with Tennis Ball and Tree behind them. Pin, Coiny, Naily, and Bottle brought up the rear of the team’s lineup.

“I mean Pillow’s elimination,” Coiny elaborated, “don’t you think it was a little weird how calm she was about the whole thing?”

“Well, Pillow was a little weird herself, so don’t be so surprised,” Fries said dryly as he ran his hand across the rough stone wall.

The mention of her friend only made Bottle’s sulking worsen. Nobody had seen her so down before. Pin gave her a pat on the back, but it offered little comfort.

“Is that all you want to talk about, Coiny? The fact Pillow reacted weirdly?” Clock questioned.

“It isn’t just that,” Coiny cleared up, “It’s also about who received a lot of votes.”

Tree tensed up at the mention of himself, even if Coiny didn’t say his name.

“What? You mean Tree?” Clock asked outright, causing said tree to cringe.

“Yes, I mean Tree,” Coiny spit out, “I don’t think he’s ever received that many votes before. Have you, Tree?”

Tree shook his head solemnly, “No. No, I haven’t.”

Fries rolled his eyes, “I guess the viewers got tired of him trying to build a divide between the team,” he said offhandedly.

“I wasn’t trying to divide the team,” Tree tried to defend, “I just wanted everyone to be on the same level.”

“That’s a little difficult since you were one of the people insistent on electing a leader,” Fries snapped back.

“There’s a difference between having a leader and having a chain of command,” Tree said coldly.

“I mean, neither of us asked to be the leader,” Clock defended, “just like neither of us asked Pillow and Bottle to make the pyramid.”

“Maybe be mad at Bottle,” Fries said, causing Bottle to sulk a little deeper.

“I don’t really think pointing the blame at Bottle is going to help anybody, Fries,” Tennis Ball piped up from behind the team leaders.

“Well, I’m tired of getting blamed for things that I had nothing to do with,” Fries complained.

“I do not think that we have to put blame on anybody,” Pin pitched in, “we can just move on past the fighting. We do not need a Union.” she declared.

“I made the Union because I wanted to avoid power struggles,” Tree defended.

Fries just scoffed, “Well, that’s exactly what you did, Tree. You said you don’t want a chain of command, but that’s what was created when you elected a leader. The leader orders and others follow. It isn’t the fault of the leader fault when team members fall out of line.”

Naily raised an eyebrow, “Wait, wouldn’t it be the mark of a bad leader if team members go against command?”

“Well, I never claimed to be a very good leader,” Clock said sheepishly.

“If I knew it would be this troublesome then I would never have gone for a leader,” Tree mumbled just loud enough for the others to hear.

“Did you not have a leader on Death P.A.C.T. or something?” Fries asked, “Is that why it’s so hard for you to listen?”

“Fries, don’t push him,” Tennis Ball warned, “we’re almost at the end of the tunnel.”

“You’re no leader, Fries,” Tree fired back, “you and Clock don’t lead anything. You just bully.”

That made Clock stop, turning to face his accuser, “Now hold on a minute, Tree. I’m no bully.”

The group stopped walking when Clock and Fries stopped to face Tree. The rest of the Blue Team bumped into each other as their progress was suddenly halted.

“I never EVER wanted to be the leader.” Clock said firmly, “How many times do I have to repeat that before you actually understand?”

“You didn’t need to take the role,” Tree argued back, “I’m sure someone else would have stepped up.”

The group went silent, no one stepped up to confirm Tree’s theory.

“Let’s all just calm down, okay?” TB said, stepping forward, “We can talk about this once we win the challenge.”

Tree quickly whipped his head around to look at the sports ball angrily, “And YOU need to stop fence-sitting.”

Tennis Ball shook his head, “Wait, what?”

Tree stood tall, poking TB with an accusing finger, “You just try and mediate without taking any sides. You can’t just sit on the sidelines. You need to pick a side!”

Fries folded his arms, “Yeah, TB, Tree honestly has a point. You’ve added nothing to the discourse and it's becoming annoying, quite frankly,” he stated matter of factly.

TB hesitated, the heat and focus now all on him. He took a step back against the tunnel wall as the rest of the Blue Team stared him down.

Luckily, Clock was there to take the attention off of him.

“TB doesn't have anything to do with our conflict, Tree.”

“He hasn’t done anything since the team formed,” Tree chastised, “the least he could do is take a side in a team fight.”

“A fight isn’t going to help anybody,” TB said in defense of himself, “it’s important that we win the challenge.”

“And then what? We get out and he keeps not getting involved? That’s not doing anything for anyone.” Tree said, his voice growing louder.

“It’s better than what you’ve been doing,” Fries said coldly, “keep acting how you are now and you’ll be joining Pillow sooner than you think.”

That was the final straw for Tree, who’d heard enough of Fries’ attitude. He lunged forward, pushing Fries backward. Fries, who hadn’t been prepared for a shove, stumbled over his feet and fell back into the left wall. Nobody noticed at first but the spot Fries hit was a metal wall panel that had just been accidentally activated.

Before Fries could adjust his weight, the wall he’d hit gave away from behind him. He inadvertently stepped back into the nothingness behind him, causing him to panic. His first instinct was to grab onto the closest person for support, that being Clock.

Clock, being armless, had no way to help Fries up, so he went with him. Tree had enough mind to act, however, and reached out and grabbed Clock’s leg before he could fully disappear into the trap. That wasn’t enough though, as Tree felt the weight of the two objects becoming too much for him to handle. He took ahold of Tennis Ball’s leg, hoping the sports ball would work as an anchor.

He did not.

The four Blue Teamers fell together through the hole in the wall and completely out of sight. Their screams, once loud and piercing, quickly became distant as Two’s trap took them somewhere deeper into the dungeon. Pin, Coiny, Naily, and Bottle ran up to the hole, only to be met with darkness.

In a single moment, the Blue Team had been split both emotionally and physically.

Green Team

The Green Team’s trip through their corridor had been an uneventful one. It was upsetting that Black Hole couldn’t participate with them, but that was the biggest setback that they’d faced so far. Grassy had almost set off a trip wire, but Winner and Basketball had stopped the boy in time before he tripped it. Pen, while taking a moment to rest, activated a wall panel, which caused a stream of fire to spew from a hidden compartment. Luckily, nobody was hit.

Eventually, the Green Team reached the end of the corridor.

Unlike the prior room, the end of the dungeon was large and spacious with a high ceiling. The floor was segmented into gigantic tiles, and at the end of the room was a pedestal with a gigantic green gem on it.

“There is no way that this is as easy as it looks.” Barf Bag said, voicing her skepticism to her team.

“Well, let's just logic our way through it,” Basketball reasoned, “Why would Two have the floor separated into tiles like this?”

“They’ll probably fall out from underneath us,” Puffball answered, “I can just float across to the gem!”

“That’s a great idea!” Remote proclaimed, “I’ll ride along so I can grab the gem.”

Puffball nodded and slightly enlarged herself to accommodate her passenger. Remote hops on and Puffball begins to hover out over the tiles.

Unbeknownst to the Green Team, Puffball passed over an invisible barrier that Two had set up, and the moment she passed it she felt her ability fly instantaneously leave her.

Both Puffball and Remote landed on their faces, and as soon as they connected with the tile, it began to shake. Remote lifted herself up, but only had a moment before the tile began to sink underneath them.

Pen and Winner were fast enough to react and grab Remote before she fell, and she, in turn, grabbed Puffball.

The four Green Teamers dangled as the tile fell further into the Earth.

“I told you it wouldn’t be that easy,” Barf Bag said confidently, happy to have gotten an, “I told you so” moment.

Yellow Team

The Yellow Team finally reached the end of the corridor, walking out into the open final room of their dungeon. A line was marked across the floor like the starting line of a race, and beyond it was an open playing field, and at the end of the room was what looked to be a turret of some kind. On top of the scanning turret was the team's yellow gem.

“Anyone feeling brave enough to go for it,” Nickel rhetorically asked his team.

“Give me a minute,” Donut huffed, letting Donut roll off his shoulder and plop onto the dirty dungeon floor. Donut may have only been hit by one dart, but that dart had enough poison in it to make Donut a little…loopy. He’d stopped making coherent sentences only a few minutes after he was hit, and was now popping in and out of consciousness, which left the Yellow Team, essentially, with no leader to direct them.

“What do you think it shoots?” Foldy asked, warily eyeing the turret at the other end of the room.

“It could be any number of things,” Gaty mused, “and I’m not looking forward to finding out.”

“One of us has to go,” Bomby said, “we’ll never get the gem just standing here.”

Marker crouched over Donut’s unconscious body, “Is he going to be okay?” he slowly asked Snowball.

Snowball gave a soft kick to the pastry’s side, eliciting a quiet moan from him. “Yeah, he’ll be fine,” Snowball said dismissively. The object walked away from Marker and Donut and approached the line on the ground.

“So, what are we dealing with?” Snowball asked Foldy and Nickel, who he was closest to.

“Some kind of turret,” Nickel said, “but we’re not sure how to tackle it.”

Snowball thought for a moment before an idea hit him. He gently picked up Nickel and placed him on the other side of the line, and then stepped to the side.

The turret immediately sprang to life with a loud whirring sound. It instantly honed in on Nickel, who barely had a moment to react. A powerful stream of water spewed forth from the barrel and made direct contact with Nickel’s face.

The coin was immediately taken off his feet by the stream and pushed back behind the line. Once there, the water jet immediately stopped, leaving Nickel pushed against the wall and soaking wet.

Gaty and Foldy were the first two to run up to help, “Nickel! Are you okay?” Gaty questioned frantically.

Nickel’s response was to spit out a mouthful of water, and maybe also a tooth, he wasn’t sure.

“Well, at least we know what the turret does now.” he said sarcastically.

Red Team

“How are we supposed to do this! Four of us don’t even have arms!”

Fanny had been shouting for the last ten minutes as the Red Team bickered amongst themselves on how to get to their gem. Their final room was missing its floor completely except for a little at the beginning for the team to stand on, and a little at the end where the gem was located. Across the (what looked like) bottomless pit was three tightropes. Cloudy and Lightning had tried the same trick that Puffball had tried, but they didn’t have the luxury of having a floor to land on. Cloudy had silently plummeted into the pit, but Lightning had been able to grab ahold of one of the ropes and shimmy his way back over to safety.

Now the teams had fallen into a squabble about who was going to go for the gem.

“The armed team members are the only acceptable option to cross the tightropes,” Golf Ball reasoned.

“I agree, but some of them should stay behind,” Fanny argued, “if they fall off the rope then there will be nobody to carry the gem back.”

Lightning raised his hand, “I can stay back if that’s what you guys need.” he volunteered, “I don’t think I’ll be able to pull myself all the way across the pit, and I can carry the gem when you bring it back.”

“Okay,” GB nodded before turning to the rest of the team, “with Cloudy in the pit, I will be temporarily taking over as team leader. Needle, Book, and Saw, you three will cross the tightropes.”

“Why do three of us need to cross the tightrope?” Needle questioned with a hostile tone, “Only one of us will need to carry the gem.”

“True, but if one of you falls, then we won’t have to waste time having the second person catch up,” Golf Ball stated plainly, rather proud of her ability to plan ahead.

“I’m n-not so sure how much I like this idea,” Saw added, her nervousness evident in her voice.

“We cannot waste any more time! The other teams have probably already reached their gems!” GB exclaimed in Saw’s face, causing the tool to cower away.

“You don’t have to yell at her GB,” Book said in defense of her teammate, “we’ll go get the gem. Right, Needle?” Book looked to Needle expectantly.

Needle looked between the desperate Book and the angry Golf Ball and nodded her head. She was never too fond of heights, but she knew that she’d be fast enough to get the gem back before the other teams.

The three girls approached each of the ropes and slowly inched their ways over the pit. All three had different approaches to balancing. Needle was the most confident, simply scuttling across the rope in short but quick bursts, her balance never wavering. Book was moving a little slower, but was still making progress. Unlike Needle, who was standing, Book staddled her rope and slowly pulled herself along.

Saw had made it out a few inches before she looked down into the pit, got scared, and clung to the rope for dear life, intending to go no further.

The rest of the team watched on, praying that the other teams were having a harder time than they were.

Blue Team - Bottle, Pin, Coiny, Naily

The half of the Blue Team that didn’t fall down a hole had made it to the end of the corridor. Their final room was simple. There was a large trampoline embedded in the floor, big enough for the entire team (if they were actually together) to stand on. High above the trampoline was a platform where the blue gem was stationed. The four objects took tentative steps forward, but it was Coiny who took the first slow step onto the trampoline.

“Okay, this isn’t too bad,” Coiny smiled, giving a quick bounce, “I thought it was gonna be something way more difficult.”

“So, how are we going to do this?” Pin asked, slowly stepping onto the trampoline.

“One of us isn’t going to be enough to reach the gem,” Naily said, “we need to all jump at the same time. One of us stands in the middle and gets launched up to the platform.”

“Can we do it without the entire team?” Pin questioned, worried that they were already screwed due to half their member being gone.

Coiny waved his friend off, “We don’t need those guys to do the challenge. Let those four sort out their difference…wherever they are right now.” he finished unsurely.

Naily went to step on the trampoline but stopped when she realized their fourth member hadn’t joined them.

“Bottle?” she turned around to see her teammate facing away from her team, picking at pebbles on the ground.

“Bottle, come on,” Coiny said, “we need you to jump so we can get the gem.”

Bottle just kept picking at the ground, not looking at her team. She hugged her knees close to her chest.

“Is it okay if I sit out, guys?” Bottle mumbled, her voice far from its usually upbeat, bubbly tone, “I don’t…feel like playing right now.”

“Bottle,” Coiny started, “you can’t just sit out. We need you to be able to-”

“You take as much time as you need, Bottle,” Pin interrupted, placing her hand over Coiny’s mouth.

Bottle barely recognized Pin’s words, only giving her a solemn nod of thanks. Coiny gave her friend a confused look.

“She needs some time to get over Pillow,” Pin explained, “we can do this one without her, right?”

Coiny hesitated before nodding. He wasn’t sure what Bottle had seen in Pillow. Sure, they used to be on Death P.A.C.T., but so had Tree, and he never seemed nearly as attached to her as he did the other members. Pillow was an enigma to the very end.

“Okay, we can do this with just the three of us,” Coiny said firmly, trying to sound confident, “Right, Naily?”

Naily nodded, completely confident, “Yeah! We can do it with just the three of us! Just watch!”

Naily, without prompting, lept onto the middle of the trampoline and launched herself into the air towards the high-up platform. Unfortunately, Naily was one of the lightest contestants and barely got off the ground. Instead, she briefly arched into the air and landed on her face a few feet away from the trampoline.

Pin sighed at the sorry sight, a part of her wishing she’d fallen down the hole with the four boys.

She hoped they were okay.

Blue Team - Tree, Fries, Clock, Tennis Ball

The four Blue Team boys had taken a long fall down the hole they’d tripped into, tumbling over each other as they slid through the wide shoot. They landed in a heap in a cramped stone room with a single torch lighting the wall. A few stones jutted out in different areas and stagnant water sat on the floor, roughly ankle-deep. The four didn’t say anything to each other as they decided to each sit in a corner and wait for the challenge to be over. Clock tucked himself against the back wall in an attempt to make himself as small as possible. He was hoping maybe he could fall asleep, anything to make the time go by faster.

Tree was the exact opposite, pacing back and forth, filling the room with the sound of sloshing water. Tennis Ball had stuck close to the torch, hoping to warm himself up. He’d also been the first to notice the sign by the torch that confirmed what the four had feared.

You have fallen into a dungeon trap! You will wait out the rest of the challenge in this room and will be teleported out once the challenge is over!

It’s like he could hear Two’s mocking tone through the sign.

Fries sat on a large stone that jutted out from the wall, trying his hardest to wring the water from his fries without destroying them. The damp room they were trapped in had impacted him the most. While the others were just wet and able to shake it off, Fries was now soggy and cold. The water had soaked right through him and left him slightly crumpled. At this point, he was more tired than angry.

The four continued to mope in silence, the only sound coming from the water being kicked up by Tree’s pacing.

“You want me to stop fence-sitting?”

Tree stopped his pacing, and Clock and Fries stopped their silent fuming. All three looked to their largest companion, who had taken a seat under the sign Two left for them. Tennis Ball’s weary eyes locked with Tree’s.

“Earlier, you called me a fence-sitter,” TB quietly reiterated, “I never saw it like that. It was always mediation to me. Being friends with someone like Golf Ball always left me in the middle, trying to do damage control for her,” he explained.

“You’re not on a team with her anymore,” Clock groaned, not even bothering to open his eyes, “You don’t need to play mediator.”

TB chuckled, “Yeah, I know. Just a bad habit. I’m so used to trying to put out any bridges that she burns.” he frowned, “The Union was a bad idea Tree. I’m sorry I didn’t say something earlier.”

Tree shook his head, “Yeah. Yeah, I think I’m beginning to realize that.”

“It’s a little late for that now,” Fries said bitterly.

“Fries, shut up,” Clock said, finally opening his eyes and sitting up, “we’re only down here because you kept antagonizing him.”

“I don’t understand why you aren’t as mad as I am,” Fries turned to his “co-captain” in the corner, “for the last few days he has done his very best to cause a rift in the team. You’ve been on my side the whole time and all of a sudden you’re his biggest defender.”

Clock slowly got to his feet, “Because I actually went to talk with Tree and tried to fix this situation! I was trying to be a leader!”

Fries placed his last fry back where it belonged, “Why would you go and do that without me?”

“Because I knew that this is how you would act,” Clock rebutted, “you’re a smart guy, Fries, but you don’t know how to let go and move on.”

“I know how to move on,” Fries said feebly, his arms folded.

Clock furrowed his brow, “You see, that’s what I’m talking about! That right there! Your attitude is terrible! You refuse to listen to anybody except yourself!”

“I didn’t ask for any of this,” Fries mumbled, his usually sure tone noticeably absent.

“None of us did,” Tree butted in, “in an ideal world, none of us are on the same team, and we’re all with the people we want to be with.”

“Speak for yourself,” Clock scoffed, trudging his way back to his corner, “I didn’t even want to go back to my team. The Losers went multiple episodes without even remembering that I wasn’t there. I was dead and they never bothered to bring me back. They didn’t realize I was dead.”

Clock slumped against the wall and slowly slid down into the shallow water. The other three were silent, the only sound coming from the faint drips of water falling from the ceiling.

“You aren’t the only one who had issues with their team,” Fries said quietly, “you weren’t the only one hoping for a fresh start.”

“You didn’t like being on Free Food?” Tennis Ball asked, filling in the blank for himself.

“It’s not that I didn’t like it,” Fries cleared up, “I just didn’t connect with anyone. Marker, Stapy, and Foldy all stuck together, and Yellow Face never spent time with anybody. Eraser only ever talked to Pen in between challenges, and Bell never really liked any of us. All I had was Puffball.” he vented.

“Who would you have wanted on the team then?” Tennis Ball fired back, causing Fries to give him a confused look, “I remember what it was like having you on my team back on BFDIA, Fries, and you didn’t get along with anybody. So, who would you want on your team if you got to decide it? Besides Puffball?”

Fries opened his mouth to answer but found no response coming forward.

“You didn’t get along with anyone,” TB bitterly repeated, “Not me, not Golf Ball, Firey, Gelatin; nobody. It was only ever Puffball that you talked to.”

“How’d you two get so close anyhow?” Tree asked, now leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, “I find it shocking somebody was able to tolerate your personality long enough to become close to you, let alone someone as nice as Puffball.”

Fries sneered at his teammate before turning away with a sigh, “It’s a long story, and one I don’t feel like sharing.”

Tennis Ball shook his head, “I was…happy on my team. I liked being on Better Name Than That, and it wasn’t just Golf Ball. I liked Blocky, Robot Flower, TV; all of them.”

“I was happy too.” Tree said, agreeing with Tennis Ball’s sentiment. That got Clock to scoff.

“You didn’t seem too happy,” Clock mumbled to himself, but it was still loud enough for Tree to hear.

“I was happy, I liked my team,” Tree said, though not sounding completely sincere, “it was just…difficult sometimes.”

“How so?” Tennis Ball asked.

Tree shrugged, “I was always behind what Death P.A.C.T. wanted to do; prevent death, but we were just never on the same page. Pie believed the most in the cause, but she also cared the least about anything and everything. Black Hole also wanted to help prevent death, but he’s a spiraling void of nothingness, he can’t help sucking a few people in. Bottle was too airheaded to be of any help, and Liy was kicked out before I really had a chance to get to know her. Pen was forced onto our team and Pillow…I don’t think Pillow really cared about any of us. The only one who I knew I could always rely on was Remote.”

Tree took a deep breath, glad to have his feelings off of his chest.

“It sounds like you didn’t like it at all.” Fries said earnestly, doing his best to not sound condescending.

“That’s only the worst of it,” Tree chuckled, “we all got along perfectly fine when we weren’t in challenges. It’s when the pressure was on when the cracks started to form.”

“Sounds like we all needed a fresh start,” Clock mused before looking to TB, “except Tennis Ball, I guess.”

“I was never opposed to a new team,” TB shared, “I thought some time away from Golf Ball would be good for us. Talk to some new people,” he said, a fond look in his eyes.

Tree had a contemplative look as he pushed himself further back against the wall, but she felt something shift from behind him. He whipped around and saw that one of the bricks he’d been pushing against had gone back further into the wall.

The stone room began to shake, briefly taking Tree off of his feet. The four wordlessly watched as bricks began being pushed from the walls by rapid streams of water that poured out into the already ankle-deep water they were sitting in.

“Tree, what did you do?” Fries asked in an accusing tone as he stood up and moved away from one of the now running faucets coming from the wall.

“I didn’t do anything!” Tree defended himself, moving to the middle of the room, “At least, I don’t think I did. Not purposefully.”

“Why would Two even make this!?” Clock screamed, scrambling to his feet. Since he was the shortest of the four, the water was already at his waist, and it was showing no sign of stopping.

Yellow Team

With Donut still out of commission, the rest of the Yellow Teamers were left to fumble and figure a way passed the water turret.

Their current strategy of trying to outrun the stream, however, was not working in the slightest.

Marker and Bomby had taken a crack at running onto the field, and neither had been successful.

Bomby got hit first flying back into the wall just like Nickel had. Marker had been unlucky enough to line up with the doorway when he was hit, sending him careening back down the corridor.

“There has to be a trick to this,” Gaty mumbled to herself, watching a wet Marker drag himself back into the room.

“It can only hit us one at a time,” Bomby said, “maybe if we all run out at once then one of us will get to the gem before it hits them?” he offered.

Foldy didn’t agree, however, “That’s a great idea and all, but I’m made of paper. If I go out and get hit then I’m not going to be able to be much of help after.”

“Yeah, and I’m really not trying to get rusty any time soon,” Nickel complained, still slightly wet from his first interaction with the turret.

“I’ve got an idea,” Snowball said, confidently standing at the edge of the line.

“Does it involve you using any of us as props?” Foldy questioned, not in the mood for any of Snowball’s antics.

Snowball only huffed and kicked a rock to the side, “It…might.” he admitted, not looking at his teammates.

Foldy had to resist the urge to scream. Snowball’s plans only ever involved somebody else on the team being used as a prop and she hated it.

Nickel shook his head, “Do we really have any other choice?” he asked the group, “he’s the only one who’s come up with a plan.”

“We don’t even know what the plan is yet,” Foldy argued, “it might be a terrible idea!”

“We won’t know unless we hear him out,” Gaty admitted, turning to her larger teammate, “what’s your plan, Snowba-AH!”

Gaty didn’t get to finish her question as Snowball picked her up and held her by her sides, “Bomby, Marker, get behind me.” he ordered.

The two objects in question shared an uneasy glance before doing as instructed.

“Wait, what’s the plan here? Can we talk about this!?” Gaty begged. Snowball flipped her around so that she was facing him, and then he stepped forward.

The turret sprang to life, wasting no time spewing water at the team. Snowball dug his feet in and pushed Gaty outward as the water met her back.

“Ah, it’s cold!” Gaty shouted. The force of the water pushed Snowball back, but he stayed on his feet as he pushed against the stream. Marker and Bomby fought against the impulse to run to safety behind the line.

“We just need to make it to the turret,” Snowball told Gaty through gritted teeth as he took a small step forward. Gaty hesitated before nodding. It wasn’t as much pain as it was uncomfortable to have the water hitting her back. Snowball took another step forward, and Marker and Bomby followed close behind.

All Nickel, Foldy, and Robot Flower could do was watch as the four Yellow Teamers soldiered forth.

Donut was still unconscious.

Red Team

Progress for the Red Team was slow going, but progress was being made nonetheless. Losing Cloudy to the pit had been demoralizing, but they pushed on. The Red Teamers that had stayed on the platform had managed to recover Saw from the tightrope.

Book and Needle kept moving, the latter moving much faster than the former. Needle was more than halfway there and Book had only made it to the halfway point.

“You guys are doing great!” Lightning cheered for his teammates.

“They are almost there!” Golf Ball said, a nearly maniacal grin on her face.

“I hate tightropes!” Fanny exclaimed her opinion.

Needle and Book were too focused on making it to the gem to hear the support coming from the platform.

Another minute of silence passed, but Needle and Book made it to the platform.

“This thing is beautiful,” Needle said in awe of the large red gem.

“It reminds me of Ruby,” Book said, reminiscing on her former FreeSmarter.

“Hope it isn’t too heavy,” Needle mumbled as she hefted the gem off its pedestal. The moment the weight of the gem left its stand, the pedestal began to rumble.

“Are you guys okay?” Saw yelled out to the two girls, finally having recovered from her catatonic state.

“I think so,” Book yelled back, not sounding confident. The shaking got worse, moving from the pedestal to the platform the two were standing on. The members still back on the other platform began wobbling as well.

“You guys need to get back!” Lightning yelled.

The two objects didn’t need to be told twice. Needle, with the gem on her back, began sprinting across the tightrope as if it were just normal ground. Book moved more slowly, but still much faster than she had before the entire dungeon began rumbling.

Green Team

“You feel that?” Basketball asked Puffball, “it felt like an earthquake.”

“Call it a hunch, but I think one of the other team’s just got their gem,” Puffball’s singsong voice hypothesized.

“If that’s true then we can’t doddle,” Winner huffed, getting to their feet. They unsheathed their arm and cupped it around their mouth, “Here that guy? We gotta pick up the pace!” they shouted.

Remote, Barf Bag, and Pen all found themselves on the retrieval mission for the green gem. Grassy had offered to go as well, but Basketball quickly crushed that idea.

The Green Team’s puzzle proved tricky. Only certain tiles the team stepped on didn’t sink, and the ones that did sink didn’t come back up. And so the three Green Teamers were systematically stepping onto neighboring tiles and finding the correct ones that would safely lead to the gem platform.

However, Winner’s warning pushed them into high gear.

“We gotta start going faster,” Barf Bag said, looking out to the gem. They were still three rows of tiles away from the gem platform.

“We shouldn’t risk falling into the pit,” Remote argued, placing her foot on the adjacent tile. It briefly shook before quickly sliding down into the abyss below them.

“We shouldn’t risk elimination,” Barf Bag snapped, never once taking her eyes off the gem, “that’s what we shouldn’t be risking.”

“Maybe if we run fast enough, then we can get there before the tile falls from under us?” Pen offered up as a solution.

Barf Bag didn’t need to hear anything else. She turned on her heel and bolted past her teammates towards the gem. She moved faster than she’d ever moved in her life. The shaking of the tiles beneath her feet nearly caused her to stumble, and she couldn’t risk any slip-ups.

Her luck proved horrid as the three tiles she ran over were all false, but despite that, Barf Bag made it to the platform. She looked back at Pen and Remote, completely out of breath.

Pen and Remote looked on, completely dumbfounded by their teammate's boldness.

Barf Bag hefted the green gem off of its pedestal, which caused the rumbling in the dungeon to get even worse. Tiny stones began cracking off of the ceiling and falling to the ground.

Barf Bag could only sigh, “It can never just be easy.”

Two stood outside the mouth of the cave, waiting patiently for any of the teams to appear so that they could be marked safe. They felt the soft rumbling beneath their feet, which meant one of the teams got ahold of their gem. It was only a matter of time before one of the groups pooled out of the dungeon, they just had to wait.

A breeze passed by their cheek, and they would swear that the air around them changed; like it got denser. A weight settled on them, causing their eyes to narrow. This feeling was rare but familiar, and Two knew exactly what it was.

“I know you’re here,” Two said to nobody, a snide smile forming on their face. “You know you shouldn’t be here, and yet your here.”

Another breeze swept over them, this one slightly heavier. The air changed again, it became more oppressive. Two only chuckled.

“Interfering is a bad idea,” Two warned, doing their best to focus on both the sound of approaching footsteps and the weight enveloping him.

The weight lasted only another moment before dissipating. Perfect timing, as the Red Team emerged from the cave. In the back of the pack was Needle, the red gem tightly held on her back.

“Good job, Red Team!” Two congratulated the group, “You’re the first team to bring your gem back, meaning you are the first team to be declared safe!”

The group all tried to celebrate, but they were so tired that all they could muster was a muted “hooray”. Book and Golf Ball collapsed from exhaustion. Neither was very athletic, so they weren’t used to the physical exertion. Needle, on the other hand, was fine; dropping the gem to the ground.

“Can you…can you get Cloudy back?” Lightning sputtered, “He fell…into the pit.”

Two looked over the group and saw Lightning was right, Cloudy was missing. With a clap of their hands, they teleported the unconscious Cloudy out of the cave and at the feet of his team.

“You guys did great!” Bell cheered, rejoining her team. She looked down at her fallen friend.

“What happened to him?” she asked with concern.

“He had a bit of an accident in the dungeon,” Saw explained, kneeling at Cloudy’s side. She lightly shook him, causing him to stir.

“Wha…what happened?” Cloudy groaned, slowly lifting his head. 

“We have one the challenge!” Golf Ball said, her voice full of pride. “We are the first to be safe!”

“Oh,” Cloudy said before gently resting his head back in the grass, “that’s…great.”

Blue Team - Bottle, Pin, Coiny, Naily

The Blue Team’s plan was not working.

In terms of trial and error, it was a lot more error than trial. Pin, Coiny, and Naily all jumped randomly on the trampoline in a desperate attempt to reach the gem platform. They weren’t anywhere close to reaching it. The closest they got was when Pin and Coiny jumped at the same to and sent Naily flying, but even then she’d only made it halfway.

“I don’t think…this is working,” Pin panted, falling backward and rolling off of the trampoline.

“It’s not,” Coiny admitted, also taking a seat.

The entire dungeon began to rumble, causing Naily to stumble.

“That is the second quake,” Pin realized, “we are running out of time.”

“We can’t make the jump,” Naily bemoaned, staring up at the platform, “it would be easier with our entire team here.”

“Well, they aren’t here,” Coiny said, getting to his feet, “and we can’t just give up.”

“Naily’s the lightest, so we had the right idea trying to launch here,” Pin planned, “we just need…” she trailed off, slowly turning to the front of the room. Coiny realized who Pin was looking at.

“Bottle!” Coiny shouted, scrambling over the trampoline and toward his noncompeting teammate. Pin attempted to reach out to stop her friend but wasn’t fast enough.

“Bottle,” Coiny called out again, rushing to the girl’s side, “we need your help to get the gem.”

Bottle didn’t look at Coiny, she just continued to trace her finger through the dirt and pebbles on the floor.

Pin sighed and got off the trampoline, leaving Naily by herself to try and reach the platform.

Pin put a hand on Coiny’s shoulder and gently pulled him back so she could take a seat next to Bottle, “Bottle, I know you are upset about Pillow being eliminated, but we need your help to win the challenge so that nobody else will be eliminated.”

Bottle didn’t respond, she just kept solemnly moving her finger through the dirt, tracing little circles and lines.

Pin placed her hand on Bottle’s hand, “Please, Bottle, we don’t want anyone else ending up like Pillow,”

Bottle shut her eyes and let out a deep sigh, “It isn’t about Pillow’s elimination, Pin. It’s about Pillow herself.”

“Well, what about her,” Naily asked, joining the trio’s conversation.

“She didn’t upset at all at being eliminated,” she continued, “and she didn’t really care about…how worried I was about her.”

Pin, Coiny, and Naily weren’t sure how to react, so they just kept listening.

“And…all that thinking got me thinking more,” Bottle said quietly; almost with a whimper, “she didn’t even like preventing death, she didn’t care about it. All we wanted was to stop people from dying or killing, and we all believed in it. Except for her.”

Well, Pen didn’t really care either , Pin thought, but she knew better than to say that out loud.

“I was so happy…when we were still on a team together, and Tree too,” Bottle added, wiping a forming tear from her eye, “it made me feel less alone.”

Coiny awkwardly rubbed his arm and Naily became hyper-focused on the floor, “But then everyone started fighting, and Pillow didn’t care about that either. Tree didn’t want to talk to me, and…and,” Bottle said, slowly working herself up more and more.

Pin, recognizing the signs of an approaching panic attack, sprang into action, “Hey, do not think like that, Bottle.”

Coiny kneeled down to Bottle’s opposite side, “I know it hasn’t been easy, but we have to stick together. I’m sorry if this big team fight has been making you feel alone. You should’ve said something.”

Naily walked around the three objects and sat in front of Bottle, “We might not know each other too well, but I know you don’t deserve to feel how you’re feeling right now.

Bottle kept wiping at her eyes, but still managed to smile at her teammates, “You guys mean all that?”

“Of course we do, Bottle!” Coiny said, his enthusiasm unwavering, “and if the other boys don’t like it, then we’ll just have to sort them out ourselves.”

“Do you feel ready to help us win this?” Pin asked, silently praying that their pep talk had been effective.

Bottle sniffled and slowly stood up. She looked over the three objects that she barely knew but so quickly came to care about. They looked at her with smiles that wanted her to be okay but also pleaded for her help.

Bottle nodded, and the other three quickly ushered her over to the trampoline.

“When Naily jumps and lands, we’ll all jump and send her up to the platform.” Coiny explained.

“Okay,” Bottle smiled, “that doesn’t sound so hard.”

“It isn’t.” Pin shook her head, “we just need to time it correctly.”

“We can do this guys!” she cheered, finally feeling like she was a part of a team.

All four of the Blue Teamers stepped onto the trampoline and formed a triangle around Naily. They started slowly jumping in sync, causing Naily to move up and down. They got higher and higher, and at the last moment, Pin shouted.

“Now, Naily!”

Naily lept up and landed as soon as the other three landed.

She was airborne.

The Red Team was mingling amongst themselves outside the opening to the dungeon as they waited for any of the other teams to come out. Two sat a few feet away, lounging in a chair that they had spawned from…somewhere.

Golf Ball and Fanny had found another excuse to argue despite having one the challenge, while Saw, Lightning, and Bell kept to themselves. Cloudy had moved away from his team, choosing instead to stand by the mouth of the dungeon and wait for the other teams.

Needle and Book stood aside, eyeing their team.

“Who else do you plan on bringing?” Book asked out of nowhere.

“Hm?” Needle turned her head to look down at her shorter friend.

Book fiddled with her hands, “You said you needed ten of us to go with you in order to win your bet with Two. You have me, and if Fanny agrees then you’ll only need eight,” Book explained, “Who else did you plan on talking to?”

Needle looked away pensively, “Coiny and Pin are a given, and I think I can talk to Winner on the Green Team. Bell and Lightning might want to leave too, and the other three are up in the air.”

“Do you have any idea when the deal is up?” Book wondered.

“I don’t,” Needle shook her head, “Two just said I had until we reached the next stage of the game.”

“What does that mean?”

“I have no clue, but Two said that I would know when it happened.”

They continued talking until they heard the sound of a loud thud. When they looked up they saw Golf Ball laying flat on her back and Fanny storming away from her.

It took the girls a moment to realize that she was approaching them .

“I’m coming with you,” she said quickly, her voice tense.

Needle and Book looked past the desk fan from where she had come from. Lightning and Saw rushed over to where GB lay as she struggled to sit up.

“What happened over there?” Needle asked, watching as Lightning helped Golf Ball to her feet.

Fanny sneered, looking down at her feet, “It’s not important. Just…can I still come or not?”

“Yeah,” Needle hurriedly said, not wanting to push her, “Yeah, you can still come.”

“Good,” Fanny mumbled walking past the girls and away from the challenge, “I hate this place.”

Needle wasn’t sure why, but she believed her when she said that.

“Congratulations, Green Team! You are safe!”

Forgetting the interaction, Needle and Book moved to the mouth of the dungeon where Two stood with the exhausted Green Team. Barf Bag and Remote fell down, dropping their team gem with them.

“That leaves only the Blue Team and the Yellow Team racing for their gems!” Two exclaimed, excited to see the climax of the challenge.

Yellow Team

“PLEASE! GO! FASTER!”

“I’M! TRYING!”

The arguing between Gaty and Snowball was drowned out by the powerful stream of water as they inched closer and closer to the turret. Marker and Bomby held onto to Snowball’s sides, helping push him further. The large boy’s feet dug deeper into the dirt as he tried to gain some form of traction.

Gaty couldn’t keep her eyes open for long. The water hitting her back didn’t hurt as much as it felt…weird. She could feel her periwinkle paint peeling as she was hit with wave after wave. She’d have to deal with that later, and give Snowball an earful for pulling this stunt in the first place.

“MARKER! BOMBY! JUMP! CROSS THE LINE!”

Snowball held Gaty high up, causing the water to splay outward in an umbrella shape. Marker and Bomby did as instructed and launched themselves out from behind their large teammate and jumped across the turret line.

The moment their bodies hit the dirt, the turret shut down.

Snowball fell back with a groan, dropping Gaty onto her face. Marker and Bomby wasted no time climbing the deactivated turret and knocking the yellow gem from its perch.

Snowball made an attempt to prop himself up on his elbows, but the gem landing directly on top of him put a stop to that.

“We need to move!” Bomby shouted, jumping off the turret and moving to pick up the gem.

Blue Team - Bottle, Pin, Coiny, Naily

Naily soared in the air, just barely making it to the platform.

“We did it!” Coiny laughed, high-fiving Bottle.

“Okay, Naily, just aim for the trampoline,” Pin instructed.

Naily nodded down at her team and moved to the back of the platform. With a running start, Naily headbutted the large blue gem and knocked it free from its pedestal. It tumbled over and tipped off the edge of the platform and landed on the trampoline. The three Blue Teamers had already cleared the mat so the gem freely landed and bounced close to the exit.

Naily jumped from the platform and landed safely on the trampoline. Coiny, Pin, and Bottle were already running for the gem.

“A team’s on their way out?”

“What?” Winner asked, surprised by Remote’s sudden outburst.

Remote put her arm around Winner’s side and pointed to the dungeon entrance, where fast footsteps were quickly approaching.

“The challenge is about to reach its end,” Two said with excitement, raising their hand in the air, ready to bring it down like a racing flag, “and the last team safe from elimination is…”

The Green and Red Teams waited in silence as the scattered footsteps got closer and closer. Everyone leaned in as they watched a group all but throw themselves out into the open.

“The Blue Team!” Two yelled, throwing their hands into the air, “That means that it’ll be the Yellow Team up for elimination!”

Pin and Coiny, who’d been the ones carrying the gem, let out a relieved sigh as they dropped the gem.

Bottle pulled Naily into a tight hug, “We did it, Naily! We won!”

“We sure did!” Naily chuckled, finally feeling part of a team.

The Yellow Team weren’t far behind, pouring out of the mouth of the dungeon, all exhausted. Bomby and Marker were carrying the gem, while Snowball carried Gaty and Robot Flower dragged the unconscious Donut behind her.

“Did we make it?” Foldy panted, looking around, “Did we…oh.” she finished defeatedly as she noticed the three other gems Two had behind them.

“Sorry, Yellow Team, but you’re the last to arrive,” Two said, “meaning one of you guys will be eliminated next episode.”

“How can that be?” Gaty asked, freeing herself from Snowball’s grip, “Half of the Blue Team is missing!”

“Well, I never said you needed your entire team there, I just said you needed to bring me the gem.” Two explained smugly.

“I told you that we should have left Donut,” Robot Flower bemoaned, letting go of the pastry’s leg. Donut’s only rebuttal was a quiet gurgle.

“Funny you should bring that up,” Coiny butted in, tapping Two on the side, “can you teleport our teammates back here? They got caught in a trap.”

“But of course!” Two said, snapping their fingers.

Despite death and rebirth being quite the common occurrence in Goiky, that didn’t mean that those involved enjoyed the process.

“I don’t wanna go out like this!”

Especially when it was something as slow and gruesome as drowning.

The water had been steadily rising for the last ten minutes and had filled up more than half of the room. The four Blue Teamers had bunched together in the middle of the room and clung to each other as best as they could.

Tennis Ball was naturally buoyant, so Fries clung to him for dear life. He did his best to stay above water, as falling under meant he’d get filled up and sink.

Tree wasn’t as buoyant as TB, but he was still able to keep himself above the water line without any help. Clock, however, was not. Tree held him tightly to his chest as the time keeper pathetically kicked his feet in an attempt to get higher above the water.

“I got you,” Tree said quietly, trying to get Clock to calm down, “I’m not gonna let go, okay?”

“Tree, I’m sorry!” Clock screamed, pushing closer against Tree’s chest, “I’m sorry about the pyramid, I’m sorry! Just don’t let me go!”

“I’m not,” Tree said back in a tired voice, “I won’t.”

“Are you still with us, Fries?” TB asked as he corrected his balance, trying not to roll over onto his face.

Fries could barely muster up a mumble. His fries were scattered around the room, floating on the water, and he was soaked to the bone. He was doing the worst out of everybody.

“I guess I should apologize too,” TB said as Fries managed to pull himself back up a little, “I should’ve said something. I shouldn't have let it get so bad.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Tree lamented, “I was being petty. I should’ve just talked it out with you guys instead of forcing people to pick sides.”

Fries, his eyes shut, murmured something under his breath. It was barely audible beneath the sound of water gushing into the room, but TB could hear clearly what it was.

An apology.

The water had more than halfway filled up the room by now, and the four boys were quickly approaching the ceiling. Tree reached his arm out and placed the palm of his hand on the ceiling so as to get his bearings.

Clock’s kicking and screaming had given way to tired sobbing. The time keeper had burrowed himself as far as he could into Tree’s chest.

“I can’t…I can’t,” Clock whimpered, his voice ragged, “they’ll forget me again.”

Tree shook his head and craned his neck upward as the water raised up around his ears. He pulled Clock up higher but they were running out of space. He looked over to Tennis Ball and saw Fries was essentially squished between TB and the ceiling. TB looked over, an acceptant look on his face.

Tree closed his eyes, and waited for the inevitable.

But it never came, as the next time Tree opened his eyes, he, TB, Clock, and Fries had all been teleported back outside to where the teams were waiting for them.

Tree, Clock, and Tennis Ball all slowly sat up, their eyes trying to adjust to the sudden change in light. The other four Blue Teamers and Puffball ran up to them. The latter went to Fries’ side, who was still out cold and flat on his back.

“What the heck happen to you guys?” Naily questioned, eying up Clock and Tree, who had separated by this point.

“It’s…a long story,” Tree breathed, a smile slowly growing on his face as he watched Clock collapse in relief.

“We’re…we’re okay,” he mumbled, a wistful smile on his face.

“Fries?” Puffball called, looking down at her unconscious friend. She’d never seen him in such a state. Two waltzed over with a smile.

“He’ll be okay, Puffy,” Two said, ignoring the girl’s sneer at the nickname she despised, “once he dries off and we get him some new fries he’ll be all taken care of.”

“Did we win?” Tennis Ball asked the host, just as tired as his teammates, but relaxed upon Two nodding.

The Yellow Team still stood at the mouth of the dungeon, a mixture of frustration and worry plastered on their faces.

All except for Donut, who was still very much unconscious.

“Make sure to use the link just below me to vote for who you want to be eliminated from the Yellow Team and leave The Power of Two! Voting for this episode ends on the 28th of July. See you all then!”

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeILvneKUAnxXYplZS0tyC24wxwETpwycWhYuf7Yb-5DTjL3Q/viewform

Teams

Red Team: Book, Golf Ball, Bell, Fanny, Saw, Lightning, Needle, Cloudy

Blue Team: Pin, Tree, Fries, Coiny, Clock, Bottle, Naily, Tennis Ball

Yellow Team: Donut, Snowball, Robot Flower, Nickel, Foldy, Gaty, Marker, Bomby

Green Team: Black Hole, Pen, Remote, Puffball, Winner, Grassy, Barf Bag, Basketball

Statues: Eggy, Rocky, Ice Cube, Eraser, Cake, TV, Pie, Pillow

Chapter Text

Remote liked her team, but the one thing that they still lacked was camaraderie.

They weren’t constantly arguing like the Yellow Team or dividing amongst each other like the Blue Team, but to Remote, they still didn’t feel like a complete team.

Basketball and Grassy spent all their time with each other, Puffball almost always disappeared once the challenge was over, and nobody knew what Winner’s deal was.

Her closest allies were Pen, Black Hole, and Barf Bag. She had a preexisting relationship with Black Hole thanks to Death P.A.C.T., and the same was technically true with Pen, but Remote could always tell that he never truly felt a part of the team.

That led to where they were now; a team meeting at the Bathroom Plaza.

“So, what’re we doing here?” Winner asked from their spot at the picnic table, “You got some kind of announcement for us?”

Remote stood proudly in front of her team, who were all very much confused. Winner, Pen, Barf Bag, and Basketball sat at the picnic table, looking at her expectantly. Puffball and Black Hole hovered not far from the group. Grassy sat on the ground in his own world, occasionally tuning back into the conversation.

“I think that we need to work better as a team,” Remote declared, smacking her fist in her hand, “so I thought we could all do some trust exercises before the next challenge.”

“Trust exercises?” a confused Barf Bag repeated, “Why would we need that?”

“Our team has already lost twice,” Remote said, “and while we have been working fine so far, we should be closer.”

“How close do you want us to be?” Basketball asked as Grassy climbed up her side and sat on her head.

“I thought that we were doing pretty good.” Black Hole added.

Remote smiled at her faceless friend, “We are, but we could be doing better. We work okay together, but we aren’t in sync.”

“So, what do trust issues have to do with that?” Pen questioned, looking like he was ready to abandon the meeting.

“I fear that not being on the same page could lead to another loss,” Remote explained before frowning, “we already lost Cake and Rocky. I don’t want anyone else to be eliminated.”

“I get that, I do,” Basketball sympathized, “but I feel we run the risk of making things worse through these exercises.”

“Also, I just don’t want to,” Puffball piped up, her blunt words juxtaposed by a magical-sounding voice.

“I’m sort of in the same boat there,” Winner sucked their teeth, raising their arm to chime in, “not for nothing, Remote, you seem like a great gal, but I don’t know you guys all that well. I’m sort of the newbie here.”

Remote smiled softly at her teammate, placing a tender hand on their shoulder, “I don’t want you to feel like that, Winner. I don’t want anyone to feel like they don’t belong.”

The Green Team exchanged glances with each other before Barf Bag spoke up, “Okay, Remote, we’ll give it try.”

And so the Green Team reluctantly agreed to put themselves through Remote’s rigorous trust exercises. Little did any of them (except Remote, of course) know, but these exercises would turn out to be a gauntlet of activities that Remote’s mechanical mind deemed “good for building trust”.

First, they tried trust falls, none of which went well. Pen caught Barf Bag, but had stood too far back and caught a face full of throw-up for his troubles. Basketball caught Grassy without a hitch, but when Remote made them switch places? You can imagine how that ended up. Black Hole sat out, much to the relief of the others. The only one that had no failures was Puffball catching Winner, which was more just Winner falling on top of her.

Remote tried to lead the groups through a blindfolded obstacle course, but that went even worse than the trust falls. Barf Bag tried to listen to Pen’s directions, but that just led her to fall on her face and spill all over the grass. Also, it turned out that Puffball and Grassy were terrible at giving directions, as they somehow managed to get Winner and Basketball to walk directly into each other. The only successful duo was Black Hole (who was actually able to participate) and Remote, the former leading the ladder without issue through the obstacle course.

By the time the Green Team was finished, everyone was exhausted. They were all huffing and puffing, completely out of breath, and Basketball had passed out from the exertion.

Remote (and Black Hole), was the only one not tired. Being mechanical and not needing to breathe did come with the occasional benefit. “Okay,” she said with a clap of her hands, getting the attention of her tired team, “next we will be doing-”

“Nope,” Winner cut her off, “no more of that. No more of any of this,” they said through labored pants.

“What’s wrong?” Remote asked, raising a concerned eyebrow.

“Look, Remote, it’s good that you’re trying to bring us together,” Barf Bag said in a tone that, to Remote, sounded patronizing, “but trying to force us into trust exercises isn’t going to make us trust each other anymore.”

“It’s got to be one of those things that happen naturally,” Puffball added, piggybacking off of Barf Bag’s point, “you can’t force trust.”

“Aw, come on, it wasn’t that bad,” Black Hole protested in defense of his friend.

“Easy for you to say, you didn’t get a face full of sick,” Pen said angrily before turning to Barf Bag, “no offense.”

“None taken.” she waved the boy off.

Remote folded her arms, eyes locked on her feet, “I just don’t want anyone else to get eliminated.

“People are going to get eliminated no matter what, Remote,” Basketball said as she sat up, a little more harshly than she had intended, “there’s still 32 of us competing. Only one of us is gonna win, you know?”

“But we’re still a team,” Remote fired back, her feelings trying their hardest to break through her monotone voice, “a team should be friends.”

“Hey, hey, we’re friends,” Barf Bag said in a soft voice, “right guys? We’re all friends, aren’t we?”

A murmur of “yes” and “of course” did little to bring down Remote’s level of worry. Every time she looked at her team she just imagined them turning to stone. It was a vision that disturbed her, but one she just couldn’t shake.

Black Hole, who had been quietly worrying about his mechanical friend, came to a sudden realization.

“Uh, guys,” he said slowly, getting their attention, “Where did Winner go?”

The group looked around and they too realized that Winner had somehow managed to sneak away from the group.

That only made Remote feel worse.

Who needs all that nonsense? It’s not like it matters.

Those were the kinds of thoughts swimming around in Winner’s head as they walked away from their team. The entirety of TPOT so far had been a complete bust. They win the popular vote and join the game so that they can finally confront Loser, and he turns out to be thousands of miles away doing a completely different show.

It wasn’t that they hated their team; quite the opposite. They were nothing but friendly and accepting of them; a total stranger. That honestly just made Winner feel worse. It made them feel like an outsider who needed to have accommodations made for them.

Winner stopped at the edge of a grassy knoll and let themself lay on their back, just watching the clouds pass by.

Maybe elimination wouldn’t be such a bad thing… Don’t get them wrong, Winner didn’t want to be a statue, but it wasn’t like they were doing much else anyway. It felt pointless to continue in the game, but they couldn’t go anywhere until they got enough votes to be taken out.

When they had won the vote to get brought onto TPOT, they thought they were the luckiest puff in the world. 15,762 votes. Winner would never forget that number. It was near double the second-highest number of votes a contestant got.

All those votes, just to want to quit? It felt wrong like Winner was taking the cheap way out. They felt gross for even considering the idea. Winner wasn’t a quitter, but this was the closest they had ever gotten to becoming one.

A voice called out to them, and they turned around, expecting one of their teammates to come and collect them. Who they saw surprised them.

“Oh, hey,” Winner started awkwardly, “you’re Needle, right? On the Red Team?”

“Yeah, that’s me,” Needle confirmed, her arms folded in front of her chest, “I’m glad I was able to find you on your own.”

“Shouldn’t you be with your team?” Winner asked, not even realizing how bitter they sounded.

“I was actually hoping to talk with you, Winner,” Needle said honestly, approaching the fluff.

Winner raised an eyebrow, “Me?” they asked, “What do you want with me?”

Needle put her hands up defensively, “Nothing crazy,” she said, “I just wanted to offer you an interesting opportunity.”

The Yellow Team had been left scrambling after their challenge loss in the dungeon. It had taken an entire day for the poison to work its way through Donut’s system so he could recover, and after he did so he isolated himself. He had said he just wanted to think over the future of the team, but Bomby knew it was because he was angry. They had been teammates on Team Ice Cube, and the pastry wasn’t nearly as good at hiding his feelings as he thought he was.

Despite what people may have thought, Bomby was no fool. Yes, he was prone to panic and he wasn’t very good with his words, but that didn’t make him stupid. Donut was one of the few that saw that, and Bomby would always be grateful to him. So, seeing Donut so upset and defeated made the explosive feel like he was failing his friend.

Robot Flower and Snowball had also distanced themselves, but those were a lot less surprising. Snowball wasn’t a team player, plain and simple, and Bomby couldn’t see that changing any time soon. And Robot Flower hadn’t been right ever since TV’s elimination.

All in all, Bomby wasn’t feeling positive about the future of the Yellow Team, but that wasn’t going to stop him from trying his hardest to keep it together. You work with what you’re given, no matter how bad what you’re given looks.

Even if that meant helping a self-conscious teammate reapply paint to her back. Whatever he could do to help.

“Sit still,” Bomby said firmly, placing the paintbrush onto Gaty’s back. The girl shivered from the cold paint.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. She didn’t want to complain, she was just grateful one of her teammates was willing to help her. After Snowball used her as a shield to escape the dungeon, Gaty’s entire back had been washed of its periwinkle paint job. She hated being reminded of her pre-transition looks, so she always made sure to keep a fresh coat on. Usually Saw or Taco was there to help her if she needed it, but neither of them were options at the moment. Luckily, Bomby was willing to lend a hand.

Things weren’t all bad for the Yellow Team, however. It seemed that three of their members distancing themselves brought the remaining five members closer. They all sat together in the grass, just enjoying the comfortable silence. Bomby applying a new coat of paint to Gaty, Marker playing in the mud while Foldy chastised him for making a mess, and Nickel lying on his back just watching the clouds float by.

“I think the worst part about being up for elimination is just waiting for it,” Gaty said to nobody in particular.

“Paranoia,” Nickel mumbled, “that’s all it is.”

“I don’t think it’s gonna be you, Gaty,” Foldy said, “It’s probably gonna be Snowball.”

“That’s what we thought last time,” Gaty fired back, “and then TV got eliminated.”

“Eggy too,” Bomby added.

Gaty shivered again as Bomby’s paintbrush tickled her back.

“I think that it could be anybody,” Marker said, not looking up from the pile of dirt that he was accumulating.

“Well, his luck is gonna run out eventually,” Foldy said firmly, but Gaty wasn’t sure how much she believed that. It felt as if Snowball had nine lives.

“Nobody should feel safe,” Nickel added, not even bothering to look away from the passing clouds, “the viewers pick people at random sometimes, it feels.”

“Done, Gaty,” Bomby announced, placing the paintbrush back into the paint can. Gaty stood up, letting the cold wind blow against her back. She let go of a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding in. She felt complete again like the final puzzle piece had been put back where it belonged.

“Thanks, Bomby,” Gaty contently sighed, turning back to her teammate. The explosive device smiled, getting to his feet. His team may have been falling apart, but it felt good knowing that he could make a difference on his own.

“Oh, I’m getting dizzy,” Nickel said out of nowhere and he wobbled to his feet, “I think it’s elimination time.”

As if on cue, the other Yellow Teamers felt the same staple dizziness and nausea that came with Two teleporting them for Trophy Case. It took only a few moments for the group to blink and be in front of the large stage they had learned to dread. Donut, Robot Flower, and Snowball were already there, standing on their platforms.

Two stood on the stage where they always did, but they were distracted. They looked panicked, shuffling through a deck of flashcards, a far cry from the confident and aloof numeral the Yellow Team had come to know.

“Uhm…Two?” Foldy awkwardly voiced in an attempt to get their attention, “You alright?”

Two continued to flip through the cards, a perplexed look on their face. They shook their head before tossing the cards behind their back.

“Perfectly fine, Foldy!” they said in their usual chipper tone, “Just making sure that everything is in order for the elimination!”

Gaty and Bomby exchanged a look and nodded to each other, silently agreeing to come back to the stage later and see what was on those flashcards. Nobody trusted Two, and anything that had them freaked out was something worth investigating.

Two clapped their hands together, “How’re we all feeling, Yellow Team? Anyone feeling nervous?”

A murmur of affirmation (mainly Gaty, Marker, and Foldy) crossed the group. The three loners said nothing, however, instead remaining stoic.

Two, not concerned with the lackluster response, soldiered forth, “Great to here! We received a total of seven hundred and twenty-four votes!”

The Yellow Team sat quietly, watching each other and waiting for Two to get on with it.

They pointed to Donut.

“Donut! You only received eleven votes! That’s the least amount of votes, meaning you’re safe!”

Donut gave the number a small smile and a small nod of acknowledgment. Two pointed at the next two safe Yellow Teamers.

“Snowball and Robot Flower,” they said, “you two are safe twenty and thirty-three votes respectively.”

Snowball, with folded arms, gave a satisfied grunt. Robot Flower didn’t react at all.

This development could have been taken better.

“WHAT?” Foldy yelled incredulously, “The second least amount of votes? This has to be a joke!”

“Mad the viewers want to keep me around more than you?” Snowball huffed with a sly smile that only made Foldy angrier.

Two only shrugged, “I’m only reading the results, Foldy,” they said, “It’s not my decision who the people choose.”

“Yeah, but only twenty votes? Surely, there was more than that,” Donut said firmly.

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here!” Snowball demanded with a stomp of his foot.

“Gaty is the next safe with sixty-four votes!” Two continued, essentially ignoring Foldy’s frustration.

“I mean, I’m glad I’m safe and all, but I think we should-”

“Nickel! You’re safe with eighty-nine votes!”

Nickel smirked, “Hey, I’m cool with whatever comes next. It’s not my head on the chopping block.”

Foldy, Marker, and Bomby’s platforms raised into the air. Their emotions varied, from Bomby’s worry to Foldy’s anger.

“Foldy, I’m scared,” Marker blubbered as he hugged his knees close to his chest. “Don’t worry, Marker, we’ll get this sorted,” Foldy said in an attempt to comfort her friend.

Two chuckled, “Yeah, Marker, you’ve nothing to worry about since you’re the next one safe with exactly one hundred votes!”

That didn’t calm Marker down, as his closest friend had yet to have her name called.

“Bomby and Foldy,” Two rubbed their hands together, little white sparks popping out, “one of you two received the most votes, and will be the latest addition to the Trophy Case.”

Gaty heard the words Two was saying, and they were the same type of pomp that would normally come from their mouth. However, she could hear something different in it this time. It sounded more…unsure. Maybe even a little nervous? Gaty wasn’t positive, but her gut was telling her something wasn’t right. And my looking at Bomby’s face, she could see he was feeling much of the same.

Two separated their hands, the white light in their hands building brighter and brighter. Bomby and Foldy looked at each other, nodded, and closed their eyes, silently waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“The last one safe is,” Two said, drawing out the tension. The Yellow Teamers (except Marker, who shut his eyes and covered his ears) watched with bated breath as Two raised their hands into the air.

The beam of light shot forward, blasting Foldy with all its might. She could only let out a short surprised shout before being completely silenced. The dust cleared, and all that remained was a stone statue where the girl once stood. Her face screwed into a permanent look of shock and discomfort.

“Bomby with one hundred and twelve votes, meaning Foldy is eliminated with two-hundred and ninety-five.” Two said with haggard breaths, flicking away the residual smoke on their hands.

“Two-hundred and ninety-five!?” Donut repeated back in shock, “that’s more than I think anyone has gotten so far.”

Two nodded, “It certainly is, my pastry pal! It’s a good sign, more votes mean more people are watching!”

Marker didn’t agree. He released a saddened wail, dropping to his knees at the foot of the statue.

Donut shook his head, “This just…it doesn’t make sense.” Donut folded his arms over his chest. His team agreed, but they didn’t have the energy to voice it.

“Anyway, enough of all that! We’ve dragged our feet long enough, it’s time to get to the next challenge!” Two snapped their fingers, teleporting the now 7-person Yellow Team away.

~Foldy~

32nd Place

The Red, Blue, and Green Teams all waited at the Bathroom Plaza, doing what they always did when waiting for the losing team; gossip about who they thought got turned to stone.

“I mean, it’s gotta be Snowball, right?” Bell stated, “I can’t imagine the viewers would want anybody else out.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Lightning said, “we’ve been surprised before.”

“That idiot offers nothing of value,” Golf Ball said callously, “why the viewers continue to entertain themselves by keeping him around is beyond me.”

“Oh, of course, Golf Ball, and I have no doubt that you’re the most helpful member of the Red Team,” Black Hole said, his normally emotionless voice teetering on sarcastic, causing his fellow Green Teamers to laugh and for GB to go red in the face.

“I’ll have you know that my place as second in command on the Red Team is a vital factor in our team’s success,” she yelled. The rest of the Red Team just rolled their eyes.

As the conversation continued, Two teleported in with the Yellow Team in tow, letting the others get a look at who had been eliminated.

“I am…genuinely astounded,” Basketball said, not hesitating to voice her surprise, “I would have thought Foldy still had a little more time.”

“Yeah? Well, we thought that too,” Nickel said bitterly. 

“Hush now, all! It’s challenge time!” Two announced, “Today’s going to be a test of strength and endurance!”

“HA!” A vindicated Snowball clapped, “I bet you all feel good about having me around now, huh?” he asked his team, who all just ignored his grandstanding.

Two continued their explanation, “You’ll all be divided into equal open fields, and those fields will have an equal number of large trees. You’ll all be given axes, and it’ll be your job to chop all those trees down! The last team to have trees still standing will lose and will be up for elimination!

“Do we have to use the axes?” Black Hole asked, already formulating a game plan.

“You don’t have to use the axes, but you do have to chop down the trees,” Two elaborated, “which means no ripping them out of the ground, Black Hole. That won’t count.”

“Right. Got it,” Black Hole said, defeated, his plan having been thwarted.

“Alright, everyone, let’s get you all set up!” Two snapped their fingers, and the ground began to shake. The teams suddenly found themselves pulled into separate directions away from each other. A large wooden fence proceeded to sprout from the dirt, sectoring the four teams into four even fields. The ground continued to quake and what seemed like a field of thick oak trees came up from the ground and quickly grew to full size.

“You each have 20 trees that you need to chop down,” Tree said, now floating above everyone. They snapped their fingers again, and a bunch of axes materialized in each of the pens.

“The challenge…starts…now!”

The challenge got off to a slow start for all four of the teams, but the Red Team was having the hardest time by far. Only four of their eight members had arms, and one of those four (Lightning) was missing legs, which made it difficult for the bolt of energy to get any real torque behind his swings.

The other four armless Red Teamers were forced into the role of motivators.

“COME ON! You are not swinging nearly as hard as I know you can!”

Or drill sergeant in the case of Golf Ball.

Saw, who had only made it a quarter of the way through her first tree, dropped her axe, “I’m swinging as fast as I can, Golf Ball,” she panted.

“That is simply not the case!” GB said sternly, “I have done the math, and I know for a fact that your average swings per second are substantially lower than what you, Saw, are capable-”

“Couldn’t you try saying something more positive?” Bell asked, interrupting GB’s tirade.

“I do not find positive affirmation to be an effective motivator,” Golf Ball said without hesitation, not even bothering to look at Bell as she spoke.

“Well, clearly Saw doesn’t agree with you,” Bell muttered, not willing to continue picking a fight.

Golf Ball went back to barking orders at the beleaguered Saw, which caused Bell to lose interest and for her eyes to drift. She watched Golf Ball shout at Saw, while Cloudy tried to encourage Lightning’s tree-cutting. Her attention then fell on the tree farthest away from the group, where the last three Red Teamers stood.

Needle hacked away at the tree while Fanny and Book talked between themselves. There was nothing odd about that by itself, per se, but Fanny and Book’s body language was what was weird.

Book looked happy, which she hadn’t ever since the show started. Fanny looked a lot like she normally did (she never looked happy), but she seemed more talkative than usual. She was conversing with Book instead of just insulting her.

Bell, in her curiosity, found herself unconsciously floating toward the trio of girls, curious as to what they were talking about. Golf Ball didn’t notice, too busy yelling at Saw to pay attention to anything else.

Things had been awkward on the Blue Team since their escape from Two’s dungeon.

Naily, Coiny, Pin, and Bottle had become as thick as thieves, making in-jokes about their antics with the giant trampoline and obtaining the blue gem. Meanwhile, Tennis Ball, Fries, Clock, and Tree had barely said a word to the others, nor each other, since the escape from the dungeon.

The Blue Team was still divided, but now for completely different reasons.

Coiny and Pin were doing the majority of the chopping. Tree, feeling uncomfortable with the whole challenge, insisted on sitting out. While nobody agreed with his decision, no one had it in them to argue with it. Fries had denied Bottle access to one of the axes, as he knew that that could only go so well.

“I think I’m…I’m almost through this one!” Coiny said in between swings of his axe. Pin smiled at her friend, wiping away some of the green ooze that had started to form on her brow.

“Go Coiny!” Bottle cheered from her seating position next to Naily, “And Pin!” Naily added.

The antics of the four objects were quietly watched by Tennis Ball, sitting against one of the trees.

“I wonder what they’re talking about,” TB thought aloud, only for Clock to hear.

“Probably about how much fun they had in the dungeon, and how they made friends and blah blah blah,” the timekeeper said in a mocking tone.

“I’m just glad the Union isn’t a thing anymore,” TB admitted, “I didn’t think it was ever a good idea.”

“It disappeared just as fast as it showed up, so I’m not too worried about it,” Fries said, revealing that he had been eavesdropping in between his chopping, “it was gone before it could really do anything.”

“And yet we still can’t properly come together,” Tree lamented, laying back against a different tree from TB, “people just changed sides is all.”

“Maybe…maybe we’d come together better…if you helped with these trees,” Fries huffed, already gassed from the physical exertion.

“You want a tree to help cut down other trees ?” Tree asked, shocked, “I would never ask you to fry a bunch of potatoes.”

Fries thumped the head of the axe against the ground, resting his body weight on the handle. “That’s different, I need potatoes to live,” he said defensively.

“Oh please do not start arguing again,” Clock groaned, resisting the urge to start banging his head against the tree.

“It isn’t an argument,” Tree said, “just a disagreement.”

Their “disagreement” was interrupted by the sound of splintering wood and a gust of wind. At the opposite end of the field, Pin and Coiny had finally made it through their first tree, celebrating with a whoop and a high five. Bottle and Naily stood on the sideline, cheering along with them.

“Well, at least one part of our team is working like a team,” TB said. It had been intended as a joke, but he had let a lot more of his sadness come through than he had intended.

Snowball was on top of the world.

Another Yellow Team elimination had come and gone and he was still around. He knew that his team didn’t like it, but his team didn’t take up too much of his thoughts. He was too busy thinking about his next big move in the game.

And right now he planned to chop down trees better than any of the other weaklings still playing.

He grunted as he took another mighty swing at the thick tree. He was about halfway through his second one, and the first one had only taken five good swings! (Although the first one was one of the thinner ones, SB would never admit that)

As for the other Yellow Teamers, they were just looking for things to keep them busy. Gaty and Nickel couldn’t participate in the tree chopping, so Donut, Robot Flower, and Bomby had to pick up the slack. Marker wasn’t in the mood to participate, instead sitting to the side, his knees hugged to his chest. He hadn’t said a word to anyone since they had gotten back from elimination.

Robot Flower was stronger than Snowball, but she didn’t move nearly as quickly as him. Her chops were slow and methodical, almost rhythmic in their timing. Bomby and Donut were a lot less organized in their approach, but progress was being made nonetheless as they chopped away. The Yellow Team was in the lead.

And yet, based on their moods, you would never guess that.

Snowball was the only one with a chipper disposition. The others were a lot less happy. RF was her usual unemotional self, but that was nothing new. Donut felt emotionally pulped from the last elimination. Every time someone got out; Eggy, TV, and now Foldy, Donut felt it should have been Snowball in their place. He had thought, every time, that the viewers would see reason and see Snowball for the hindrance that he was, but no dice.

Both Bomby and Nickel had grown fairly apathetic to the eliminations, but Gaty still held onto some of her confusion as to how Snowball could be so openly mean and confrontational and still not get eliminated.

Marker was too devastated by Foldy’s elimination to think about anything else. He ran his fingers through the dirt, drawing abstract lines and shapes that would normally bring him joy. Now they just reminded him of his friend.

“Finally!” Donut shouted, dropping his axe. He leaned into the tree he’d been cutting down and, using his shoulder, pushed the tree down.

“Good job, Donut,” Gaty said in an attempt to keep the morale up. It didn’t last long, however, as whatever pride Donut was feeling was cut down by the sound of Snowball downing his third tree.

“I am unstoppable!” he yelled, wielding his axe above his head like it were a spear.

“I know that it isn’t right to root against your team,” Nickel deadpanned, “but I hate him and want him to fail so badly.”

“You don’t have to like him,” Gaty said with a frown, “but he’s shaping up to be the reason we don’t go to Trophy Case again.”

“Part of me wants you to be wrong,” Donut panted, “because he’s going to be completely intolerable if you end up right.”

“How goes the chopping?” Puffball asked her armed teammates. Pen, Barf Bag, and Remote had all decided that instead of separating and trying to take down trees by themselves, their efforts would work best when they all teamed up against one. So, they took turns swinging at the base of the tree. It was slow, but it was working.

“It’s tedious,” a tired Pen complained, “it’d be so much easier if Black Hole could just rip them out of the ground.

“Well, sadly, that’s not an option,” Barf Bag reminded, “so keep at it.”

Pen grunted, but continued. The others stood by, helplessly watching the three of them hack at the tree. Basketball and Puffball were useless in this challenge, and Black Hole was forced to fly high above them so as not to risk sucking anything up and getting them disqualified. Grassy had wanted to use an axe and help out, but Basketball put a quick stop to that.

Winner had completely isolated themself from the others. They took an axe and insisted that they can work on their own, but nobody on the team believed that. They were chopping at one of the trees, but it seemed half-hearted.

The Green Team was disjointed. There was no rhythm to their work.

Pen lowered his axe and adjusted his cap. He watched as Barf Bag and Remote continued their work. Barf Bag was clearly out of breath, but Remote, being mechanical, had no issue with her swinging.

“There has…to be a better way to do this,” Pen complained.

“You guys could try going at the trees individually,” Basketball posed, “That might work better.”

“They can’t cut one down with all three of them, what makes you think they could take one on their own?” Puffball challenged as Barf Bag collapsed to one knee, coughing up a lung.

The tree next to them rustled as Grassy popped his head out from one of the high branches, “Grassy is the tree!”

“Okay, this is not working,” Barf Bag admitted, letting her axe fall.

“No, team, we can’t stop working,” Remote said, never stopping her swings.

Pen gently let himself lie on his back, “We aren’t like you, Remote, we can’t just work endlessly.”

Remote let her ask fall to her side as she watched her team. Pen and Barf Bag were already spent, and the first tree hadn’t even fallen. Puffball watched passively as Basketball chided Grassy to get down from the tree. And she didn’t even know where Winner had wandered off to.

Remote considered herself an optimist, but she was beginning to feel that feeling wain. Ever so slightly.

For the first time in a long while, Needle was feeling good.

Not from the challenge, mind you. She was in good shape, but chopping down trees would tax anyone. No, she was feeling good emotionally. Her scheme to get ten others to revolt from the game had been coming along swimmingly. Book and Fanny had been easy enough. Book had no real connections to anyone other than her, and Fanny couldn’t stand being forced into things.

Her real dark horse was Winner, and after getting them to agree she had been over the moon.

Needle considered herself a great judge of character, and when Winner had shown up she could see the deep bitterness within them almost instantly. Almost everyone knew about Loser and Winner, and without Loser here, why would Winner want to stay? When they were alone Needle had wasted no time in exploiting the frustration to get them to agree to leave. Was it selfish? Probably, but Needle would have all the time in the world to feel guilty once she was out of here.

That was already three of the ten that her bet with Two entailed. Only seven more to go.

Now she just needed to make sure the Red Team avoided elimination until the time came to leave. She didn’t want to risk any of her accomplices getting turned to stone.

That’s why she was trying her hardest to chop down these damn trees. She had made it through only one, but that was more than her other teammates could say.

“So, Needle, who else do you plan on recruiting?” Book asked. The dictionary had been giddy ever since Needle had convinced Winner to leave with them. As time went on her recruits became more excited at the thought of leaving. Good.

“Well, Coiny and Pin are a given. Still need to talk to them about it,” she said as she took another swing at the tree. The two of them were given recruits, Needle wasn’t going anywhere without them.

“I think you should speak with Pen,” Fanny offered, her usual sneer ever present, “with Eraser gone, he may not wish to stick around.”

Needle hummed, taking a break from her chopping. She turned to the desk fan, “What about the other old Iance members? You think any of them will be interested.”

“Hmm. Well, let me think. Match and Pencil are gone, and Bubble, Ruby, and Flower all went with Four.” Fanny said with a sarcastic tone, “that leaves Snowball and Lightning. Think either of them would want to tag along?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“How about Saw or Cloudy?” Book asked, thinking out loud, “I can’t imagine they like being pushed around by Golf Ball. Maybe they’ll join up.”

“They’re definitely options,”  Needle said, getting back to her chopping, “keep thinking. How about the Blue and Green Teamers?”

Book tapped her chin, “Well, you can convince Bottle of anything, so she’s always an option.”

“And Gaty and Nickel might be possible,” Fanny thought, “but Fries, Donut, Tree, and Naily aren’t going anywhere.”

Book raised an eyebrow, “What makes you say that?”

“Fries and Donut are too competitive, they won’t want to leave.” Needle explained. “Tree won’t care about leaving, and Naily only cares about adventure and excitement.”

“Leaving TPOT would be exciting!” Book defended, “I don’t see why she wouldn’t find that interesting.”

“Speaking of interesting,” Fanny interjected, “I was hoping we could discuss what exactly it is you’re planning after we leave?”

“What I’m planning?” Needle parroted back, not bothering to look at Fanny as they talked.

“You can’t seriously tell me you haven’t thought about where we are going to go if you win the bet,” Fanny incredulously asked, “you will be leading ten people, we need a place to go.”

“I was actually thinking of going back to Yoyle City,” Needle said, taking a step back as the tree she had been working on slowly fell and crashed into the ground.

Fanny frowned, “I hate Yoyle City,” she mumbled.

“Yes, I’m aware, but it’s our best bet,” Needle said with a roll of her eyes, “It gives us a lot of room to move around, and plenty of places to stay,” she listed.

“Hey, Saw finally got one!” Book interrupted, pointing to the other end of the field. Saw had indeed finally chopped down one of the trees. It was one of the thinner, more frail-looking ones, but she still did it. Now, they only had seventeen to go.

“What is she doing?” Fanny asked. Needle, unsure what she was referring to, looked to the other half of the team to see that Bell was approaching them.

“Hey, guys!” Bell said, chipper, “I just wanted to stop over here and see how things were going!”

Needle, unprepared for the sudden positivity, put on a strained smile, “Oh, you know, just discussing the challenge.” she was usually a better liar, but she had been blindsided.

Bell squinted, “Oh? You’re just talking about the challenge? That so?”

Needle barely had a moment to nod before Bell was already in her personal space, nose to nose with her, “Don’t you give me that! I see all three of you acting all chummy with each other! Now tell me what you’re scheming!”

“Stop shouting!” Needle hissed through clenched teeth, clasping her hand over Bell’s big mouth. Lightning, having heard the yelling, briefly looked over, but quickly went back to chopping.

The four stood in silence before Needle spoke again, “We’ll tell you, but you gotta keep quiet, okay?” It was worded as a question, but her tone denoted more of a command than anything else. Bell fervently nodded, and Needle slowly dropped her hands.

“So? What’s the deal with you three?” Bell questioned, “I want every last detail.”

Needle looked to Book and Fanny for any kind of feedback. They both nodded, although hesitantly. The girl sighed.

“Okay, fine. Do you remember when we were last up for elimination?”

Bottle hadn’t been this happy in weeks!

She always liked to think of herself as a positive person, but even she had to admit that the Blue Team didn’t always make it easy. All of their personalities were so different, they didn’t mesh in the same way that Death P.A.C.T. did. She wasn’t used to pushy personalities like Fries or Clock. At most she only had to deal with Tree, but he wasn’t too bad once you got to know him.

Having Pillow and Tree on the same team had been nice, but Pillow had been eliminated, and none of her team seemed to care! Not only that, but Pillow didn’t seem to care either! That didn’t make sense to Bottle, and she wasn’t going to pretend like it did.

Her morale had been at an all-time low by the time she’d traveled down into Two’s dungeon. However, she’d found common ground with a chunk of her team, and now they were as thick as thieves.

But things still weren’t perfect.

Bottle looked across the thicket of trees to the other group of her team. Fries had gotten through the tree he was cutting down and had moved on to the next one, already looking quite gassed. Tree stood by, checking his nails, and Tennis Ball and Clock silently watched on, unable to assist.

“What’re you thinking about?” Naily asked her, snapping her out of her thoughts. “You seem distracted.”

“Naily,” Bottle started, worry evident in her voice, “I’m worried about the team.”

Naily fought the urge to roll her eyes. Of course, she was worried, but only Bottle would manage to catch onto the problem a few days late.

“What’re you worried about, Bottle?” Naily asked, trying to walk Bottle through her thoughts.

“I was really sad before we went into the dungeon, and then we all became friends, right?” Bottle questioned.

“That we did.” Naily nodded, waiting for Bottle to find the right words.

“So…because the boys weren’t with us, they didn’t become friends like we did,” Bottle said slowly.

“That sounds about right,” Naily admitted, “but what is there to do about it? It’s not like we can’t go back into the dungeon.”

Naily watched as Bottle’s face strained in an attempt to cultivate some form of game plan. She groaned and rubbed at her temples.

“Is she okay?” Coiny stopped his axe swinging to ask. Pin stopped her swinging as well.

Naily shook her head, “I’m not sure.” she raised an eyebrow, “Are you okay, Bottle?”

Bottle opened her eyes as she relaxed her muscles. She smiled, the same wide, bright smile that she always did, and jumped to her feet and ran towards her other teammates.

“What did you say to her?” Pin asked Naily, watching as her new friend ran off.

“I asked her what she was thinking about.” Naily deadpanned, now realizing her mistake.

“That’s nine tree’s down,” Robot Flower said to nobody in particular as she pushed down the oak, “eleven more to go.”

“And Snowball’s knocked down six of them,” Nickel snarked, “We are never going to hear the end of this one.”

“At this point, I’m happy with whatever keeps us out of elimination,” Donut huffed as he swung his axe, embedding it in the fallen tree.

Nickel rolled his eyes, “It’s still gonna be annoying,” he mumbled.

“Oh, no doubt about that,” Donut admitted, “but if it helps keep the rest of us in the game for a little while longer, then I’m willing to let him brag.”

“Well, I wish it didn’t have to come to that,” Gaty complained. Donut didn’t have it in him to comfort her.

Nickel sighed; each distant swing of Snowball’s axe felt like a dull ache in the back of his head. He was tired of the boy’s unearned arrogance, but there was nothing he could do about it. He also didn’t want to risk losing the challenge and being up for elimination again.

The change watched as Donut and Robot Flower rallied and began work on the next tree. He watched as Gaty sulked against one of the stumps. He watched as Marker rolled around in the dirt, mourning his friend.

Nickel never thought he could miss Inanimate Insanity so much. MePhone may have been vindictive and cruel, but at least he had Baseball and his other friends to get him through it. Here, on TPOT, with the Yellow Team, he had no one. Nobody he could confide in or go to.

He looked past his team to Snowball, who had just chopped down his seventh tree. Ten down; ten to go. They were in the lead by a wide margin. Nickel just wished he wasn’t so upset by it.

The Green Team was completely falling apart.

They were trailing way behind the other teams with only four chopped-down trees of the required twenty. The Yellow Team was at ten, and the red and blue teams were both at seven. They still had time to catch up, but the gap was quickly widening. Their progress was slow going, and it was only getting slower. Winner had managed to get a tree cut down on their own, but that only added one to the team’s combined effort of three. Barf Bag and Pen were nearly out of steam. The only one still going strong was Remote, but only because she couldn’t get tired.

“This…isn’t working,” Barf Bag groaned, leaning on her axe. She was doing better than Pen, however, who was laying flat on his back, completely exhausted.

“We cannot give up,” Remote said sternly, “we can still win this.”

“I’m…not sure about that, Remote,” Barf Bag mumbled, “Pen is spent, and I feel like I’m about to blackout over here.”

Remote looked around at the other trees before speaking again, “We can find the thinnest trees. We can go for the weakest ones first.”

“Remote, these WERE the thinnest trees,” Basketball said with a sigh, Grassy sleeping soundly on top of her, “they’re only going to get tougher.”

“Then…then we can,” Remote stumbled over her words, looking at her different teammates. 

“Remote,” Basketball said, her voice tired, “it’s okay. I’m sorry there isn’t more we can do.”

“Are we throwing in the towel?” Pen asked from his spot on the ground.

“No,” Remote quickly snapped, “no we aren’t, we! We…,” she trailed off, all eyes of the team on her.

“Are you okay, Remote?” if Puffball had hands, she would have placed them on Remote’s shoulder.

Without another word, Remote pushed past Basketball, nearly knocking Grassy from his perch atop her head. She powerwalked deeper into the thicket of trees. She could hear the dull thud of Winner’s axe hitting the tree, but she couldn’t see them.

“Winner!” she yelled as loud as her monotone voice would allow her to. The thuds stopped, Remote spun in a circle, her eyes landing on Winner, who was watching her with both patient and confused eyes.

“Winner!” Remote shouted again, running up to the bored-looking fluff, “We need you to join the team!”

“Why?”

“We need everyone working together, Winner.” she explained, “Pen and Barf Bag are close to passing out, and Grassy, Basketball, and Puffball can’t swing an axe. Maybe if we all swing together, then we can get the trees down-”

“Remote,” Winner cut the girl off, pushing their hand in her face, “Remote, just…stop, okay? Stop.”

“I can’t stop,” Remote said frantically, “I won’t just give up, Winner. I can’t.”

Winner placed a solemn hand on Remote’s shoulder, “This isn’t your fault, Remote, don’t think it is. There’s nothing you can do, this challenge is just stacked against us, is all.” their voice was sympathetic.

Remote’s fingers twitched, her hands unconsciously balling into fists, “It…it isn’t…you do not just…you don’t quit.” their words weren’t computing; it didn’t make sense.

“Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t,” Winner said, “it’s just how it plays out. Try not to lose sleep over it, yeah?”

“How can you just give up so easily?” Remote found herself blurting out without thinking.

Winner raised an eyebrow at the girl before sighing, “I came here to confront Loser, I win the vote and get stuck waiting for months on end for this stupid show to get underway, only to find out that Loser’s jumped ship and now I’m completely on my own.”

“It does not need to be like that,” Remote said, grabbing Winner by their sides, “it can be different! You can’t just give up on the team!” Her computer-generated voice sounded extremely odd saying such emotionally charged things.

Winner used their hand to gently brush off Remote’s touch.

“Look, I’m just gonna keep chopping on my own if it’s okay with you?”

It wasn’t, but Remote didn’t have the energy to fight them on it.

Two floated above the field, occasionally looking down to check on the team’s progress. They really needed to come up with some more exciting challenge ideas, or at least a challenge that they could interact with so that they didn’t just have to stand on the sidelines and watch the contestants.

They grunted and shook their head. Their day had already been going so poorly, and being extremely bored wasn’t helping their already dreadful mood.

It had started at Trophy Case. Things had been going fine until Two received the votes and nearly threw a fit. Eight successful eliminations with no kinks or mishaps, but randomly, on the ninth one, things get wonky. Two still weren’t sure what had gone wrong and when it went wrong, but they knew they had to find out and fix it before the next elimination.

Two was suddenly removed from their thoughts by the sound of Snowball’s feral screaming as he pushed down the last of his team’s trees. Two smiled, thankful that the challenge would be done soon.

“Attention, contestants!” Two yelled, cupping their hands around their mouth, “The Yellow Team has taken down their last tree and is officially safe from elimination!”

The three remaining teams all groaned in unison, and Two just laughed.

“What on Earth are they talking about?”

“What’s that?” Cloudy whipped around to see Golf Ball sneering in the direction of the other Red Teamers.

“Bell went over to them and she hasn’t come back yet!” GB complained, “I want to know what they are discussing.”

“Cut her some slack, GB,” Lightning said, taking a break from his tree chopping, “It isn’t like she can help in the challenge.”

GB ignored him, “Needle and Book I can handle, but Fanny being involved makes me suspicious.”

Saw, who had been listing in on the conversation, smiled, “I a-actually think it’s nice. Seeing Fanny get along with someone is a nice change of pace for”

“I did not permit you to stop chopping!” Golf Ball interrupted, causing Saw to jump.

“S-sorry, sorry!” Saw exclaimed, her voice cracking. She went back to chopping.

Golf Ball’s frown deepened as she watched the girls at the other end of the field. She could hear them laughing every few minutes, and each chortle felt like a nail through her ear. She hated it; hated being on the outs of what was going on.

“I’m not too worried,” Cloudy said, “Heck, Needle is chopping by herself and is making more progress than us over here.”

As much as it annoyed her, Golf Ball couldn’t deny that. Needle had always been athletic, and her brain mixed with her brawn was a deadly combination. Always were; she was a threat, a threat that luckily got eliminated early back in BFDI. BFDIA hadn’t lasted long enough for Golf Ball to worry, but now things were different, and GB was never one to let her guard down for anyone.

“Attention, contestants! The Yellow Team has taken down their last tree and is officially safe from elimination!” Two’s voice boomed from above them, along with Snowball’s victorious whooping coming from somewhere in the distance.

“Well, that’s not good,” Lightning said, stating the obvious.

“I think I threw my back out,” Saw complained, leaning against the tree she had been working on.

“You cannot stop, Saw!” Golf Ball barked her orders at the tool, “We still have eleven tree’s to chop down!”

“I think I may have a plan,” a voice spoke up from behind GB, causing her to turn around and come face-to-face with Needle and her posse.

“You do?” Lightning asked, silently hoping her plan meant he wouldn’t have to keep chopping.

“Why don’t we just use Saw herself?” Needle pointed to the tool in question, “I mean, she’s a saw. Sawing is faster the chopping, anyway,”

Saw gulped, but before she could defend herself, Golf Ball stepped in, “That is an absurd idea! I forbid it!”

Fanny scoffed, “Forbid? You can’t forbid anything, you’re not the team leader,”

“I…I am…,” The words died in Golf Ball’s throat, unsure of how to respond. Needle smiled.

“What do you think, Cloudy?” Needle said coyly, “Last time I checked, you were made team leader, so it’s your say.”

Cloudy hummed in thought before nodding, “I am okay with it, but Saw has to agree to it first.”

“Uhm…,” Saw mumbled, uncomfortable to suddenly have all of the attention on her, “I really don’t know.”

“Come on, Saw, just think about it,” Book said, placing a hand on her former Bleh teammates’ shoulder, “this is all just a plan to keep anyone else on our team from getting eliminated.”

Bell, seizing the opportunity, slid up to Saw’s other side, “You don’t want to risk ending up like Pie or Eraser, do you?”

Saw shivered at the thought of ending up like her other teammates. With a sober sigh and a steely look in her eyes, Saw nodded to Needle. The intensity in her eyes shocked Needle. Honestly, she was a little proud.

Without so much as a warning, Needle moved forward and seize Saw by the handle, causing the poor girl to yelp in surprise. In one deft move, Needle lifted Saw off of her feet and pressed the teeth of her blade into the tree she had been trying to chop down. Needle pressed her free hand against the tree, and used the other one to push Saw. Other than a few pathetic-sounding whimpers, the process was painless. In only five cuts, the tree was damaged enough for Needle to push it over. The Red Teamers watched in awe as the tree fell with a loud crash.

Needle whistled, whipping a bead of sweat from her brow, “You up to do that ten more times?”

Saw, still in Needle’s tight grip, did her best to nod in affirmation, but it came out more as a sickly gurgle. Sawing always made her nauseous, but it was for a good cause, she supposed.

“That was amazing!” Lightning whooped, dropping his axe in the process. The rest of the Red Team gathered around, chattering about their soon-to-be victory.

All except Golf Ball, who stood to the side; seething.

Clock was trying very hard not to be negative. He had always been a worrier, and he knew he wanted to change that. But how does one change their first natural response to stimuli? It was how he was wired; Clock was a negative guy. He didn’t like it, but he was.

And in situations like the one he was in right now, he felt a negative outlook was justified.

Fries had stopped chopping 10 minutes ago to argue with Tree about something Clock couldn’t be bothered to care about. The moral ambiguity of cutting trees and frying potatoes, maybe? It didn’t matter, none of it did. Tennis Ball had parked himself against one of the trees and hadn’t moved for nearly the entire challenge.

Clock sighed, slumping further down on the tree stump he was sitting against. As things change, they stay the same. The Union was gone, but his team still couldn’t get along. One-half of the Blue Team was all buddy-buddy with each other, while the other half could barely talk to each other without an argument.

The timekeeper’s eyes felt heavy, he was tired. Sleep had been difficult for him the last few weeks, and the weight of all the tension he had been carrying was only making it worse. He just wanted to sleep.

He shut his eye and the sounds around him began fading away.

“Clock!”

He opened his eyes, only to be greeted by Bottle mere inches away from his face.

“Gah!” Clock choked, pushing himself back against the stump as if trying to phase through it. Bottle had the same smile on her face that she always did.

“Clock, I need your help!” Bottle said cheerfully, not bothering to acknowledge Clock’s shout.

Clock caught his breath, “What? What could possibly be important enough to give me a heart attack?” he sniped, still mad at the scare he had received.

“We need to chop the tree’s down,” Bottle said with a tone that said, “nothing has ever been as important as what is happening at this moment”.

“I know, Bottle,” Clock rolled his eyes, finally untensing his muscles and relaxing again against the stump, “it’s the challenge we’ve been doing for the last hour.”

Bottle looked over her shoulder at where Fries and Tree were arguing, “The trees aren’t being cut down fast enough,” she frowned.

“I know, Bottle,” Clock groaned, slowly letting his eyes shut again, “we’re probably going up for elimination.”

Her frown deepened as she looked back to Clock, “But…that can’t be right.”

“It’s just how it is, Bottle,” Clock said, “there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Why?”

Clock cracked open one of his eyes to see Bottle looking at him, “What do you mean ‘why’?”

“Why can’t we do anything about it?”

He opened his eyes all the way, meeting Bottle's curious and confused look, “Because there are too many trees, and not enough of us are able to chop them down.” Clock gestured his head over to Fries and Tree, “and those two can’t stop arguing long enough to get any work done,” Clock spat, as if the words were bitter on his tongue.

Bottle looked at Clock, and then thoughtfully to the squabbling Tree and Fries. It didn’t look like a fight as much as it did a heated discussion. Neither boy was the type to raise their voice, but they were the type to feel the need to get the last word in an argument.

Bottle huffed before smiling and getting to her feet. Clock watched as the girl wordlessly ran up to the bickering duo, and grabbed them by their arms and dragged them back over to him. Before they even had a chance to argue, Bottle had let them go and moved over to do the same to Tennis Ball. The four boys were pulled together in a circle, with Bottle standing of the middle of them, who was looking very proud of herself.

“Be friends,” she said firmly, not a hint of doubt in her voice.

“That isn’t how it works, Bottle,” Clock said with a roll of his eyes. He went to stand up, but Bottle placed her hand on his head and gently guided him back down.

“Why not?” her head cocked to the side, looking at all four of them.

“Because we’re too different,” Clock defended, although he didn’t sound confident.

“Coiny and Pin are different,” Bottle said, “and Naily and I are different, but we still became friends, and Pin and Coiny have been friends for years.”

“I’m not opposed to being friends,” Tree spoke up while side-eyeing Fries, “it’s just some people are too prideful to leave well enough alone.”

“Oh, please,” Fries rolled his eyes, “things wouldn’t be as weird as they are now if you-”

“These two are hopeless,” Tennis Ball butted in to say to Bottle, “neither of them can let go of their egos long enough to drop it.”

“Hey!” the two said at the same time.

Bottle was confused, “I don’t understand,” she said, “you guys were alone in the dungeon for like an hour! You guys didn’t talk about anything? Nothing happened in there?”

The four boys fell silent, all suddenly very uncomfortable to have the attention on them. Fries and Tree awkwardly rubbed their arms, Clock and Tennis Ball quietly kicked at the ground beneath them.

“You…uhm,” Tree hesitated, before looking to Clock, “are you doing okay?”

“What?”

“It’s just…when we were in the dungeon before we got teleported out, you said some…how do I word it?” Tree asked himself, “Some concerning things?”

I can’t…I can’t…they’ll forget me again.

Clock grimaced at the memory. A single life-threatening situation and he was willing to spill his guts about his biggest insecurity.

“I meant it when I said I was sorry,” Tennis Ball said to the other boys, “at that moment, I thought things could be different, you know?”

“Apologizing is a good way to make things right,” Bottle said sagely, “as long as you mean it when you say it.”

“I meant it too,” Tree added, “I was putting too much of the blame on you and Fries,” he said to Clock, “Pillow and to an extent Bottle made that pyramid, and after that whole debacle I was just looking for reasons to be upset.”

“I was just so…fed up with it all,” Clock sighed, “I still am fed up with it. This bickering is killing me.”

The three boys and Bottle looked to the one person in their circle who was yet to speak. Fries folded his arms and looked away from the group.

“I…shouldn’t have pushed you away,” he finally said, hanging his head, “when things started getting complicated, I perpetuated the divide instead of trying to pull everyone together. I had no problem distancing myself.”

A pause, the group was silent. Bottle, her smile still as bright as ever, stepped out of the middle of the circle and pushed Clock and Tennis Ball forward into Tree and Fries, who caught them. Bottle then grabbed all four of them and pulled them into a tight hug.

“I knew that we could all be friends! I knew it!” Bottle excitedly said, tightening her grip.

“Okay, Bottle, yes, we’re all friends,” Tree wheezed.

“You can let us go now,” Tennis Ball tried to get out.

Bottle did as she was told, letting the four go, but still excited and bouncing on her heels.

Coiny, Pin, and Naily approached the five Blue Teamers, “Hey, we’re doing group hugs? And you leave the three of us out?” Coiny asked, appalled.

“Not one I asked to be a part of,” Fries snarked while dusting himself off.

“We were just…figuring out our difference, I guess,” Tennis Ball said with a smile.

“Does that mean we can finally start working as a team?” Naily queried, not getting her hopes up.

“I hope so,” Pin said, thumbing behind her to the growing number of stumps, “we would go much faster if all of us worked together to chop.”

“Can I use an axe?” Bottle excitedly asked Clock, a twinkle in her eye.

The timekeeper wasn’t sure how good of an idea that was, but he didn’t have it in him to tell her no. “Fine,” he finally said, “but be careful, please?”

“Yes!” Bottle fist pumped quietly.

“I suppose I should help as well,” Tree acquiesced, picking up one of the axes, “it pains me to do this, but sacrifices must be made for the sake of my new besties,” he said sarcastically, giving Fries a cheeky elbow jab in the process. With his arms crossed, Fries shook his head, but everyone could see the corner of his mouth curling into a tiny smile.

Bottle clapped and then stuck her hand out, “Blue Team on three?” she asked expectantly.

Coiny, Pin, and Naily didn’t hesitate to pile on their hands (or a foot in Naily’s case), and then Tennis Ball did as well. Tree was next to put his hand down, and then Fries. The team looked at Clock; the only one yet to opt-in.

At that moment, Clock remembered what Bottle had told him back in the hedge maze.

“We’ll all stick together! Ranking chart or no ranking chart!”

Clock put his foot on the pile of limbs, feeling lighter then he had in months.

Bottle counted, “One, two, three!”

“Blue Team!” they all shouted at once and throwing their appendages into the air. Pin, Coiny, Fries, Tree, and Bottle all hoisted their axes and circled around one of the larger trees, and began taking turns swinging at its base. Tennis Ball and Naily stood on the sidelines, cheering the five of them on.

Clock was negative, and a bit of a cynic. However, at that moment, watching his team for the first time since it formed operate like a team, he knew one thing for sure.

Every team needs a Bottle, and that much he was positive about.

Remote was nearing the end of her rope. She had always prided herself on being able to keep her head up, but things were getting pretty sticky.

But as she sat against the fence that was boxing her team, her legs hugged tightly against her chest, she wanted nothing more than to disappear.

She couldn’t cry, she wasn’t built to do so. She felt like she could though; if she tried hard enough. She really wanted to.

The sound of chopping trees from her team had slowed down to an unsteady trickle. Every few minutes she would hear one or two solitary chops, but no tree would fall. It made her heart hurt.

“Are you okay?” A voice said from above her. She looked up to see Black Hole above her head. He had shrunk himself a little so that he could come down without risking sucking anything up into his gravitational pull.

Remote looked down at her feet and mumbled something BH couldn’t hear.

“Come on,” Black Hole moved down a little further so he could be face to face with his friend. Remote could feel the familiar little tug of Black Hole’s pull. “I’ve been watching you guys and something’s up.”

“I can’t get the team to work,” Remote blurted out, “I try and I try, but I can’t get the team to work together. I don’t want to blame them, but I don’t want anyone to get eliminated.”

“Why are you putting this burden on yourself?” Black Hole simply asked, “I understand the fear of being eliminated, but why give yourself anxiety by leading?”

“Nobody else will,” Remote quickly said, “nobody else is going to lead the Green Team. Some kind of guidance is necessary and nobody else is willing to provide it.”

“Leading isn’t changing things,” BH said, “it’s the same as it was without a leader. The only difference is now you’re beating yourself up about it.”

Remote grumbled, unable to look at (not that it mattered; no face) Black Hole.

“Remote,” normally his voice would bring Remote comfort, but right now all it brought her was distress.

“If we lose this challenge, and it’s beginning to look like that might happen,” nobody had a better view of the action than Black Hole, “you have to promise me that you aren’t going to beat yourself over it. Can you promise me that?”

“I don’t think I can,” Remote said honestly, “I tried, and I failed to make things work. If we lose, and someone gets eliminated, it’s only going to get worse for us.”

“We take it one step at a time,” he said softly, “it isn’t always going to be easy, but we can still work with each other.”

“Will that be enough?” Remote asked.

If Black Hole had a head he would be shaking it, “I don’t know, but I know that if we stick together it will be a little easier.”

Remote sniffled and let go of her legs, slowly getting to her feet. “Do you promise?” she had never sounded so vulnerable and she hated it.

“I promise,” Black Hole said firmly. He felt bad making a promise he didn’t know if he could keep. He wasn’t a soothsayer; he didn’t know what the future held. However, what he did know is he would try, and that was enough for him.

The two friend’s flinched as, suddenly, a loud air horn noise filled the air.

“Attention, everyone!” Two’s loud voice boomed in the sky, “We have our winners!”

The ground around them shook as the wooden gate that had segregated them sank back into the ground, disappearing completely. Remote and Black Hole and looked around at the other teams fields.

All completely treeless.

“The Blue Team and Red Team have finished the task,” Two announced. Remote could hear the smile in their voice, “meaning that the Green Team have lost and our up for elimination!”

The Blue Team all cheered and jumped for joy. Even Clock, Fries, and Tennis Ball let loose and cheered.

The Red Team all surrounded Needle, clapping and applauding her great plan of using Saw (except for Golf Ball for obvious reasons). Poor Saw was still being held by her handle, looking ready to puke.

The Yellow Team had been pacing quietly, but they had been done for a while. Snowball still looked very proud of himself, however, and the rest of his still looked annoyed by that fact.

“I really hope that you’re right,” Remote said to Black Hole, not bothering to look at him. She walked off, no real destination in mind. She needed to be alone.

“Use the link below to vote for one of the Green Teamers to be eliminated! Every vote counts, so don’t forget! The poll will be closed on February 16th, so don’t delay. See you all next time for The Power of Two!”

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfjygtojMRJBVqOfkhxb6paA_DLCuBnf2WlBz_8nXhVhik0pg/viewform

It was dark when they went back to Trophy Case. Going at night made the most sense. Nobody knew where Two went inbetween challenges, so nightime meant they were less likely to stop them. The trophy case was creepy and upsetting enough in the daylight, but under the light of the moon it was downright scary.

The four objects hopped onto the stage. It felt weird being where Two usually stood, but that didn’t matter at the moment. The leader among them was following a hunch they’d had since this morning, and they were determined to follow it through.

“Look! There!” one of them whisper yelled, pointing to a pile of flashcards on the ground.

“Yes,” the leader said, “I knew they left them.”

One of the others moved forward and picked up the flashcards. They quickly flicked through them, studying them, and squinting in the dark. They got to the last two and gasped.

“What?” Gaty asked impatiently, “What is it?”

“You were right to be skeptical,” Donut said, looking closer at the cards. He turned them to Gaty. It was hard to make out the details in the dark, but she saw enough. On the two last cards, there were crude and childish drawings of Bomby and Foldy, and their vote totals next to their pictures.

“Foldy: one hundred and twelve votes, and Bomby: two hundred and ninety-five,” she read aloud, her jaw dropped, “It was supposed to be Bomby,” she said under her breath.

“WHAT!” Bomby screeched, snatching the cards from Donut’s hand. He skimmed them over, hoping that Donut and Gaty were mistaken. They weren’t. His arms lay limp at his sides as he stared off into the middle distance.

“It was supposed to be me,” he said, his voice shocked.

Marker, who had been in the back, looked the most devastated by the revelation, “But, but that means that Foldy,”

“Should still be here,” Gaty finished for him. She found her eyes drawn to the case, and more specifically drawn to Foldy.

“If Two lied about something like this,” Donut’s eyes were drawn to the same spot as Gaty’s, “then what else have they been lying about?”

None of them had an answer.

Teams

Red Team: Book, Golf Ball, Bell, Fanny, Saw, Lightning, Needle, Cloudy

Blue Team: Pin, Tree, Fries, Coiny, Clock, Bottle, Naily, Tennis Ball

Yellow Team: Donut, Snowball, Robot Flower, Nickel, Gaty, Marker, Bomby

Green Team: Black Hole, Pen, Remote, Puffball, Winner, Grassy, Barf Bag, Basketball

Statues: Eggy, Rocky, Ice Cube, Eraser, Cake, TV, Pie, Pillow, Foldy

Chapter Text

Black Hole wasn’t the type to feel anger or frustration, but he would be lying if he said that he wasn’t a little upset.

Two’s show was not turning out to be the experience he had been hoping for. In an ideal world, he was still with Death P.A.C.T., preventing death. He was joking around with Pie, Tree, and Liy, or helping Remote keep Bottle alive. He missed it and hadn’t realized how meaningful those connections were until they were gone. Even if that wasn’t a problem, he’d been forced to sit out multiple challenges already.

Seeing Pie and Pillow get eliminated was when it really started to sting. Being separated was one thing, but their being eliminated was another. For the first couple of challenges, it felt like all he had was Remote. Then Remote confided in him about her dreams for the Green Team, and Black Hole’s intentions changed.

Remote wanted the team to work together, and Remote was his friend, so what she wanted became what he wanted.

However, it was easier said than done, and Black Hole was beginning to worry, especially since another one of them would soon be stone.

He didn’t like any of the options. Remote was his closest friend still in the game, and even though they were never close on D.E.A.T.H. Pact, Black Hole still felt a fondness for Pen that he couldn’t shake, and he certainly didn’t want to see the guy petrified. Barf Bag and Puffball were good people who he respected, and Grassy and Basketball pretty much needed each other, so seeing either of them go would make everyone else's lives harder.

That left Winner, and as difficult as the fluff had been, Black Hole didn’t want to see them go either. They were standoffish, sure, but they were clearly troubled. Whatever hang–up they had with Loser, Black Hole just hoped that they could find some kind of peace.

“Do you, like, need something?” BH asked the person standing behind him, “You’ve been standing there for a bit now.”

“You could see me?” a surprised Barf Bag said, “I was super quiet, how did you see me walk up?”

“I’m a black hole, Barf Bag,” he said, “I don’t really have eyes like you do, but I can see everything around me, all at once.”

“Oh,” Barf Bag mumbled, taking in his words, “That…sounds awful,” she said honestly.

Black Hole would have shrugged if he was able to, “It’s not too bad when you don’t know anything else.” he said mystically. “Now, did you need something?”

“Not really,” she responded, taking a seat next to him, “I just…I feel bad about Remote, I guess,”

“You feel bad?” BH repeated, “Why’s that?”

Barf Bag sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, “The whole thing about getting along as a team and everything; I feel bad about it.”

“I don’t think you really need to feel too bad about it,” Black Hole said, “you’re just not close with anyone on the team, there isn’t anything inherently wrong with that, you know?” he explained.

“I know,” she sighed, “I just feel bad for Remote. I don’t want her to think that the Green Team can’t function as an actual team. We can, we’ve won challenges,”

“Remote is…” BH hesitated, trying to choose his words carefully, “she cares a lot. She wants everyone to get along, and she wants to feel like she’s helping. She just wants to feel like she’s needed as a person, and not some tool to throw out.”

“Does she…feel like that often?” Barf Bag hazarded to ask, “A tool?”

“Probably not always,” BH said before correcting himself, “Or maybe she does, I hope she doesn’t. She’s always been more than that.”

The duo sat for a moment, listening to the breeze past them. Black Hole couldn’t feel it.

“What was it like?” BH finally said, “On your team? On Team Ice Cube?”

Barf Bag chuckled, pulling on old memories, “It wasn’t always perfect. Gelatin and Naily were always a handful; Bracelety too. And Firey Jr, I guess. Spongy was…always a little weird, but I always thought he was a bit understood; a sensitive soul. Donut and Bomby were the only ones really trying to keep any order, I was just along for the ride.”

“I think the Green Team is a little like what you’re describing,” Black Hole said, “we’re all incredibly different. We’re trying to figure it out.”

“I suppose,” BF mumbled, deep in thought. She’d been thinking long and hard about what they had said to Remote during the challenge; what Basketball had said.

“Remote, it’s okay. I’m sorry there isn’t more we can do.”

Barf Bag wasn’t sure how true that was, maybe they could have had Grassy chop. Probably not the best idea, but it never hurts to try. Then Remote ran off, looking on the brink of a panic attack, trying to find where had Winner gone. Barf Bag hadn’t heard what Winner had said to her, but how defeated and tired Remote had looked at the end of the challenge, it couldn’t have been anything good. She wanted to find her and say something, but Basketball told her to give her some space.

She hoped that there was still a chance to save the team.

“Oop,” Black Hole suddenly said, “I think it’s time; brace yourself.”

Barf Bag sighed, she had been able to feel the familiar nausea creeping up on her for a couple of minutes now. She wasn’t sure if it was because Two’s powers took a while to heat up or something, or if she just had a sixth sense for it. She hated it, either way.

She blinked rapidly a couple of times, and on the third one, she had teleported. The Trophy Case stood in front of her, as imposing as ever. Two stood where they usually stood, arms behind their back and wry smile ever present. Black Hole floated by her side. She looked around and saw her fellow Green Teamers slowly pop in. Pen and Winner had already been there, waiting for the vote to begin. Basketball popped in with an eager Grassy on her head. Remote and Puffball were last, the former looking…defeated. That would be the word Barf Bag would use. Remote looked defeated.

“Hellooooo, Greenies!” Two greeted in their usual chipper tone, “It’s time for another rousing round of…Trophy Case!”

Everyone groaned with annoyance, masking the legitimate fear they were all feeling. Nobody wanted to become a stone statue on display.

“Glad to see everyone is excited as usual,” Two said, a serene look on their face. They reached behind them and pulled out a handful of flashcards. He shuffled through them for a minute, studying them, before smiling and putting them back. “Right! Looks like everything’s in order, we can start.”

“What? You didn’t read your notes before calling us, Two?” Barf Bag snarked.

“Hush, Barfy, it’s important to double-check your work.” Two said as BB cringed at being called ‘Barfy’.

“Righto! This time we received a total of six hundred and twenty-three votes! Which is…one hundred and one fewer votes than last time.” Two finished, realizing how uncool that was only after they finished saying it.

As much as the Green Teamers wanted to make some kind of snappy remark, they all couldn’t get past that one of them, in a few minutes, was going to be gone.

Two lifted their hand, “One of you…received the least amount of votes,” they said dramatically, letting them sit in the tension. Before pointing to Black Hole.

“It was you, Black Hole! You only received fifty-one votes!”

“Oh, cool,” BH said, surprised. Of all the contestants, he was always the least worried about Trophy Case. He wasn’t even sure if Two could even turn him into stone. He was glad he wouldn’t have to learn.

“Puffball only received sixty-one votes,” Puffball smiled, “and Barf Bag only received sixty-five!” Barf Bag sighed in relief.

People were getting antsy now. Pen shifted from one foot to the other, his eyes darting to the other unsafe Green Teamers. Winner and Basketball, though more stoic, were both clearly worried. Remote no longer looked as defeated, that emotion was replaced with the worry of elimination. Grassy was the only one who didn’t seem bothered, more preoccupied with the rock he had found on the ground.

“Remote and Pen are the next two safes,” Two said, causing the objects in question to relax, “You received seventy-four and seventy-seven votes respectively.

Three spotlights dropped down as Grassy, Winner, and Basketball’s platforms all rose up to be at Two’s level. Grassy, now no longer focused on the rock, now focused on Two. 

“The next safe is,” Two pointed, letting their finger fall under all three of them.

Before stopping at Basketball.

“Basketball with eighty-five votes!”

Basketball’s emotions were mixed. She was definitely happy that she was safe from elimination, but Grassy was still very vulnerable. Her spotlight flickered out and her platform fell back to the ground.

“Grassy…Winner…one of you received ninety-nine votes, while the other one received one hundred and eleven!” Two explained.

Winner gulped but stood tall either way. Grassy was finally putting together what was happening and looked very nervous.

Two’s eyes narrowed, “The last person safe is……,” Winner and Grassy shut their eyes, either waiting for an announcement or a blast of light.

“Grassy! You are safe!” Two finally announced, turning off the spotlights and lowering the platforms. “That means that Winner, you are eliminated and will become the latest addition to the Trophy Case!”

“Yeah, I…kind of figured it would be me,” they said dejectedly, “After what I said to Remote during the challenge, I kind of knew.”

“It didn’t have to be like this,” Remote said with as much emotion as her robotic voice could muster, “I just wanted us to work together.”

Winner smiled, it was sad, “I’m sorry you ended up with someone like me as a teammate. I’m sorry we couldn’t make it work, but I have a good feeling you seven will work something out.”

Two coughed, interrupting the heart-to-heart, “It’s time to go, Winner. Ready?”

Winner sighed, turning to face Two, “Not really, but I don’t have much of a choice.” They stood up straight, puffing out their chest, “Go on. I’m ready for it.”

Two nodded, snapping their fingers and summoning the white light everyone had come to know intimately. Everyone looked away.

This one was quicker than usual, there was less buildup. Two summoned the light and immediately fired. Winner got hit, but they didn’t scream. They didn’t make a sound.

And when it cleared, they were a statue. It was as simple as that.

“You okay?” Barf Bag asked Remote, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder as Two used their power to levitate the statue of Winner into their glass spot in the Trophy Case, right next to Foldy.

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly.

Two, ignoring the mood, called out to the new team of seven, “Alright, now that that’s done, we can move on to the challenge! And I really think you’re all gonna enjoy this.”

Two clapped and teleported themself, and the team away.

~Winner~

31st Place

Yellow, Red, and Blue all stood around, idling at the Bathroom Plaza like they always did during an elimination.

They stood aside, all chatting with each other. The Blue Team was noticeably more chummy than before, bantering back and forth with one another, and the Yellow Team looked more…paranoid. At least some of them did, Snowball was still his usual, cocky self. Red Team was still as divided as ever, only it was a bit more one-sided now. Needle, Book, Fanny, and now Bell and Saw, all chatted amongst each other, while Cloudy, Lightning, and Golf Ball stood on the sidelines, out of the loop.

Two teleported in with the Green Team, letting them all get a good long look at the elimination results.

Needle sucked her teeth in frustration, Winner was out, so Winner was no longer an option. The other four girls winced as well. Now they were one member down, which put them at six spots they needed to fill.

“Alright, everyone! Gather ‘round!” Everyone crowded around Two, “Today’s challenge marks a very exciting evolution of the game; a new stage, if you will.” Two said, making sure to choose their words carefully. Needle took the hint, she was running out of time.

“From now going forward, the teams as you know them are officially… dissolved!”

Everyone gasped, “Wait, seriously? A merge? This early on?” Nickel questioned.

“I didn’t say that, I just the teams as you now know them are dissolved. You’ll all be assigned, new teams!” Two said.

There was a mixed reaction. People like Pen and Barf Bag felt good, knowing they would get a second chance at a better team. While people like the Blue Team felt nervous, as they had just recently started meshing together.

Two continued, “Also, these teams will not be randomly assigned to you like last time. They’ll be decided by this challenge.”

“Okay, so what’s the challenge?” Clock hazarded to guess.

“This!” Two yelled, their smile almost manic as they lifted their hands toward the sky, a subtle yellow glow emanating from them. The ground beneath them began to rumble as people grabbed onto each other to keep their balance. It shook and shook, and eventually, they felt the plaza begin to move upward. Suddenly, all thirty contestants found themselves high in the air.

Their beloved Bathroom Plaza had become the roof of a gigantic hotel.

“The…challenge is a hotel?” Snowball asked, being deadly serious.

Two shook their head, “That’s not the challenge exactly, more like where it’ll be taking place.” they snapped their fingers, and suddenly silver little rayguns materialized above them. Everyone who had hands caught theirs, while armless contestants watched theirs lamely clatter to the ground. Black Hole’s raygun was sucked into his gravitational pull, never to be seen again.

“Now, don’t worry, these rayguns aren’t lethal,” Two assured them, “If you get hit, you’ll just be teleported out of the hotel and will stay there until the challenge is complete. You’ll all be given ten minutes to run into the hotel and set up wherever you want, doesn’t matter to me, the only rule is you can’t leave the hotel. You’ll blast each other with these until there are only two left. Those two will both be granted immunity from elimination and will get to pick the teams next episode.”

“So, that means,” Book started before Two finished it for them.

“The other twenty-eight of you will all be up for elimination! Oh, and this time it’ll be a double elimination, so the two people with the most votes will join the Trophy Case!” Two finished, eyeing the large group, “Any questions?”

A lot of hands went up, but Golf Ball yelled instead, “How are we armless individuals supposed to compete? We cannot hold a raygun!”

“Yeah, we’ll be sitting ducks down there!” Basketball concurred, surprised actually to be agreeing with Golf Ball.

“While it will be very difficult to fire the raygun, it’s not impossible,” Two said, putting the raygun they were holding on the ground and pressing their foot on it. The red laser fired into the air, avoiding the crowd.

Nickel wasn’t impressed, “Hey, genius, it’s not the shooting we’re worried about, it’s the holding. How’re we supposed to hold them?”

Two stoked their chin before snapping their fingers. Tape suddenly materialized, taping a raygun to all of the arms player’s feet. The armless and legless contestants like Puffball, Cloudy, and Bell just got it taped to their sides. “There,” Two said proudly, “now you’ll all have your rayguns with you.”

“This makes it…kind of difficult to walk,” Tennis Ball said, wincing every time is foot came down and the raygun clacked against the floor.

Two folded their arms with a pout, “Well, that’s as good as it’s going to get, so you’ll just have to make it work.”

“What about Bell and I?” Black Hole asked, “We can’t really go into the hotel, also I don’t think those rayguns are gonna work on me.”

“Don’t worry, Black Hole, I’ve taken this into consideration. I promise you that these rayguns will, in fact, work on you.” Two said.

Black Hole wasn’t sure how much he believed that, but he also wasn’t looking to start an argument over it.

“In regards to Bell, sadly she’ll be stuck up here on the roof for the duration of the challenge,” Two said with a frown.

“What!?” Bell screeched, “That’s not fair! Someone will just shoot me immediately!”

“Not true! Everyone else has to leave the roof, go into the hotel, and prep themselves for 10, then they can wander around, including the roof. Five large floors to hide and hunt! You’ll have ten minutes before anyone can actually kill you, is what I’m trying to say.” Two monologued. Bell still wasn’t happy about it, but there wasn’t much she could do about it.

“Also, you should be fine too, Black Hole, I made sure the hotel was made of the strongest stuff I could make, so you should be fine to go in if you shrink down enough.”

Black Hole was curious and did what he was told, shrinking down until he and Puffball were roughly the same size. The objects around him felt the tug of his gravitational pull, but nothing fell into it.

“You’re actually getting really good at controlling that,” Pen commended.

“The less I suck up, the smaller I can get,” he explained, “also it weakens the pull.”

“Okay, anyone else have any concerns?” the group didn’t respond. Two smiled.

“Alright, in that case. Your challenge starts…now!”

Everyone (except Bell) ran for the bathroom doors, which were now no longer bathroom doors. They were now both a stairwell and an elevator. The objects flooded into both. Naily, Puffball, Clock, Needle, Book, Marker, Gaty, and Pen were the only ones who got the chance to pile into the elevator, while everyone else took the stairs, getting off on random floors as they all began to spread out around the hotel.

Two smiled. The game was on.

It didn’t take long for things to become hectic. They weren’t even allowed to shoot at each other yet, all their rayguns were deactivated. The eight that had initially gotten onto the elevator piled out onto random floors. The four former teams were all scattered across the hotel. Some locked themselves in rooms, some walked the halls in hopes of taking others out. Some (Marker) stayed in the elevator, taking it up and down the floors. Some stayed on the stairs, and a little group took refuge in the lobby, hoping to hold down the fort.

The ten minutes flew past.

“Alright, everyone!” Two yelled from outside, “I’m activating the rayguns, and your challenge starts…now!”

Havoc reigned almost instantly as objects who had been partnering up turned on each other. Nobody wanted to put themselves in the firing line of elimination. A lot of people were moving in duos since two people would be winning immunity.

Tree and Tennis Ball was one of those duos.

The Blue Team agreed before the ten minutes were up that they’d all try to win, everyone for themselves. If one of them won then they would just pick them for the team since they still wanted to work together. Naily and Clock had disappeared into the elevator at the start, Fries and Bottle went missing somewhere around the fourth floor, and Coiny and Pin disappeared at the third.

That left Tree and TB, walking down the long hall of the second floor, trying to be stealthy.

“That thing is uncomfortable, is it?” Tree asked quietly, referring to the raygun tied to TB’s foot.

He shook his head, “Not really, I’m just not sure how I’m supposed to fire it.”

“Just stomp your foot,” Tree said, stomping his foot in a demonstration, “That’s what Two did.”

“I’m kind of afraid to see what it does to someone,” Tennis Ball said hesitantly.

“Well, Two said it just teleports you,” Tree said, opening the door to one of the hotel rooms. Empty. He closed the door.

“You trust Two?” TB asked. Tree clammed up. He did not.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Tree pat his former Blue Teamer on the back, “we should just keep strong. We only just recently worked some stuff out. Can’t let this get us down.”

Tree opened another hotel room. Nothing again, just Lightning…

Wait…

“Lightning!” Tree shouted, startling both Tennis Ball and Lightning. The bolt was quick to whip around, grabbing his raygun from the bed. Tennis Ball backed out of the doorway, but Tree stood his ground, risking the shot. They fired at the same time.

Hitting each other.

It wasn’t loud. The red laser struck Tree, and just like that he vanished, right before TB’s eyes. Lighting was hit as well, eliminating both from the challenge. TB panicked and ran back down the hall toward the stairwell.

First blood had been shed.

Eliminated: Tree

Eliminated: Lightning

28 Players Remain

“What’s the plan?” Gaty panted, tired from all the steps she was climbing.

“Get back up to the roof,” Donut said, just as tired, “If we go up there and take out Bell, nobody else will even remember to check up there and they’ll all take each other out.”

“You know that isn’t what I’m talking about,”

Donut stopped, taking a moment to look at his fellow former Yellow Teamer. They were standing in front of the door that led to the third floor. Donut sat on the step and sighed.

“Yeah, I know,” he said, “but what can we possibly do? Two is everywhere, and even if we confront them, who is to say they don’t just turn us to stone and continue on like it’s nothing? They may not even care about changing the voting results.”

“But there has to be a reason,” Gaty argued, “Bomby got more votes then Foldy, but Foldy got turned to stone instead. She’s gonna be stuck in that trophy case for who knows how long, and she wasn’t even supposed to be there.” Gaty worked herself up, “Don’t bother you?”

“Of course, it bothers me,” Donut admitted, “but Four bothered me too. We couldn’t do anything then either.”

“Still! There has to be…something…anything,” Gaty trailed off as Donut shot her a withering look.

“I’m starting to think this isn’t for any viewers,” Donut said, rubbing his knees.

Gaty quirked an eyebrow, “You don’t think there are any actual viewers?”

“No,” Donut shook his head, “I think there’s viewers, but I don’t think they’re the target audience.” he explained, “I think it’s all for them.”

“Them?”

“Them. Two, Four, X. Them.”

Gaty frowned, sitting down next to her friend, “It’s for their entertainment?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Donut said, “they're the only ones who ever seem to enjoy themselves. They’re insanely powerful and they’re bored, which is a dangerous combination.”

A moment of silence passed before Donut spoke again, “I mean, what are we even competing for? What does ‘The Power of Two’ even mean? How would they even give us powers?”

Gaty didn’t have an answer. She hadn’t thought too much about it. It seemed that every time she competed in one of these contests, the prize became more and more abstract; less and less tangible.

Their conversation was put on pause when the door to the third floor swung open, startling them both. They readied their lasers, prepared to fire.

Needle held her hands up, “Don’t shoot! I’m just passing through!”

Gaty and Donut looked at each other before slowly lowering their lasers, “Where are you trying to get?” Donut asked incredulously.

“I was going up a floor, I’m on the hunt for people,” Needle said before clarifying, “not to shoot! Just…getting together.”

“Whatever,” Donut shrugged, “there’s still enough people in the game to grant a bit of leeway.”

Needle clasped her hands together, “Thank you! I just to…,” she began to speak before cutting herself off. Winner was gone, she only had four, and she was running out of time. This was probably her last big chance for recruitment.

“Hey,” she smiled, leaning against the door frame, “How do you guys really feel about Two and this game?”

Cloudy couldn’t seem to catch a break. He was always dealing with Red Team drama, trying to keep Fanny and Golf Ball and Needle from killing each other. Not to mention the team had recently been totally split into two factions with Needle and GB as opposing forces.

None of that mattered now as the Red Team was no more, and Cloudy felt horrible for thinking it, but he was quite happy to have the burden of being on that team and being its ‘captain’ was finally off of his back.

And now he was being chased around the second floor by Snowball.

He rounded the corner, laser shots swishing past him.

“You need to hold still!” Snowball yelled, panting. He was strong, but he was not fast. Cloudy had him in that department, but all he needed was one clean shot.

“Not while you’re trying to shoot me!” Cloudy answered back. He was hoping to do a lap around the floor and make it back to the stairwell, but Snowball stopped in the middle of the hall, blocking his path.

Cloudy’s eyes looked around crazily, looking for any kind of exit. When he didn’t find one, he had an idea.

He turned to the hotel room on his left and dove to the floor. He flattened himself to squeeze under the crack of the floor. His laser gun stopped him, but he flattened himself enough that he came loose from his tape bindings and pushed through, losing his blaster in the process.

He floated back up, breathing a deep sigh of relief that he escaped Snowball, even if it was only for a little while.

He turned around to be met with a laser blast from Clock, who had been hiding in the room beforehand. Just like that, Cloudy was out.

Clock sat down on one of the beds, recovering from the shock of someone crawling under his door. He couldn’t take any more surprises.

Snowball proceeded to kick the door open, breaking the door chain in the process. Clock had enough time to see who had broken in before getting shot.

Snowball humphed in satisfaction, happy with the results. He reached onto the floor and picked up Cloudy’s blaster.

Two guns were better than one, he figured.

Eliminated: Cloudy

Eliminated: Clock

26 Players Remain

The lobby had become quite popular. A large alliance had been formed, promising to take out anyone who came down, and then when everyone else was gone, then they would go against each other.

The idea had been Basketball’s, and she had already had Grassy with her when she found Pin and Coiny, who agreed to partake. Not long after, Nickel and Naily had been recruited, followed by Bomby.

That made for seven total who had made their home in the lobby. They agreed on nobody else and intended to open fire on anyone who made the mistake of trying to claim it.

Basketball sat behind the reception desk, writing down the names of people who were out. Two had been announcing them and so far only four were out. It wasn’t nearly as fast as she thought it was going to be. Grassy was with her, sitting on top of the desk and reading a magazine.

Pin, Coiny, and Naily all sat in the lobby chairs around a coffee table, conversing with each other. Nickel sat against the exit doors, which had been locked because of course, they were. Bomby watched the door that led to the stairwell, guarding it vigilantly; blaster-ready.

“So, who do you think is gonna win this one,” Coiny asked his group, “I totally think it’s gonna be one of us. The ‘Lobby Bunch’ for the win!”

“Coiny, if we both win then we’ll be on different teams,” Pin said flatly.

“Oh yeah,” Coiny deflated, realizing she was right.

Naily chuckled at the duo's antics, “It stinks the Blue Team is going away right when we were just starting to figure things out.”

“There is still a high chance of being on the same team,” Pin reassured her friend, “there will be twenty-eight of us after the elimination, which means fourteen people on each of the two teams.”

“Whose to say one of us won’t get eliminated?” Naily asked, now making herself worried.

Coiny scoffed, “With guys like Snowball still in? I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“We’ve been saying that since the game started, and he’s still here,” Naily shot back. The Yellow Team had gone to elimination three times, and each time Snowball came back. Eggy, TV, and Foldy had all gotten eliminated instead.

“It could also be Golf Ball, now I think about it,” Coniy said, “She’s pretty annoying, and I doubt she’s gonna win immunity anytime soon. Snowball could win this challenge, I doubt Golf Ball could.”

“Hey, Bomby,” Naily called to him from her chair, “any theories why Snowball might not have been eliminated?”

Bomby opened his mouth to answer honestly but then stopped himself. He didn’t want to drop the Foldy votes conundrum, the last thing everyone needed was people going nuts and catching Two’s attention. So, he shook his head.

“Nope.”

“What about you, Nickel?” Naily turned to the door, “You got any ideas?”

Nickel only shrugged, not really paying attention to the conversation.

“You should just worry about keeping yourself in the game,” Basketball said from the reception desk, “Nobody wants to risk elimination.”

Everyone else in the room nodded in quiet agreement. At least on that, they could all agree.

The elevator door dinged, causing everyone to whip around toward the noise. Nobody was watching the elevator. The Lobby Bunch all stood their ground, blasters at the ready and the doors creaked open.

They only realized it was Marker when it was too late. They all fired, but only Bomby hit him. The moment he vanished, Robot Flower, the one that used him as a decoy, lept out with her blaster ready.

She was lightning fast. She shot Bomby first, which cleared her exit to the stairwell. She turned her attention to the coffee table. Pin and Coiny were in the seats and were turned away from the elevator, which was the only thing that saved them. Naily wasn’t so lucky, she got hit. Nickel got a shot off before getting hit himself, but it had been way off, harmlessly hitting the ceiling.

The others finally got their wits about them, but it was already too late. Robot Flower was already backing up and going for the stairwell door. She got off one more shot, which managed to hit Grassy. Basketball, Coiny, and Pin all started firing shots, but RF had already reached the door and bolted out of the room and up the steps. Their shots only managed to hit a closing door.

In only half a minute, Robot Flower had managed to come in like a tornado, wreaking havoc, and still get away with it.

The remaining three decided to cut their losses and separate.

The lobby was overrated anyway.

Eliminated: Marker

Eliminated: Bomby

Eliminated: Naily

Eliminated: Nickel

Eliminated: Grassy

21 Players Remain

Remote and Black Hole decided to stick together.

Well, it was mainly Black Hole following Remote while she sulked.

They were walking the fifth floor while checking in rooms for people.

“So, do you, like, wanna talk to me?” Black Hole asked, floating close to her shoulder like he was an annoying fairy.

“Not really,” Remote said, checking another room.

“I thought you would be happy,” BH admitted, “you don’t have to worry about Green Team anymore. You’re getting a second chance with a new team.”

“It’s not just about the team,” she said, dejected, “I can’t quit, I don’t know how to quit. The team… Winner…just gave up,” she explained.

“The situation was pretty dire,” Black Hole said in defense of the give-up, “only five of us had arms, and one of those five, one only had one hand, and the other was too small to swing an axe.”

“There was never any try,” Remote said, “I was the only one who tried.”

“Barf Bag and Pen tried,” BH snapped, “They tried hard, but it was too much work for the two of them alone. We didn’t have a Needle or a Snowball to carry us, and the Blue Team members all had arms. Except for Tennis Ball, Naily, and Clock. Still, that’s five to our four, and our four were already at a disadvantage.” he ranted.

“I understand that,” Remote tried to say, but BH continued, “That challenge was stacked against us, the writing was on the wall, and you playing the victim, like you were the only person who cares, is a little insulting.”

Remote raised up her hands, surprised at the sudden hostility, “I understand that the challenge was against us and we were never gonna win. I knew that as soon as Two told us what the challenge was. I don’t care that we lost, I care that we gave up.”

“And use up more energy?” Black Hole fired back, “Why would we do that if we knew we were gonna lose?”

Remote screwed her eyes shut and put her hands on the side of her head, “You just don’t get it!” she cried.

“I want to understand,” Black Hole said, calming down, “I want to help you through this, but you keep-”

BH was cut off by a rouge laser blast from the end of the hall. It hit him, vanished him, and took him out of the challenge. His shooter rounded the corner.

“Wow,” Needle folded her arms in surprise, “Two wasn’t lying, these things actually did work on him.”

Remote raised her laser, but Needle stopped her before she could fire.

“Sorry about that,” she said, “I could only listen to that for so long, and it looked like you could use an out.”

Remote lowered her blaster, “You heard all that?”

“A good amount of it.”

Needle approached, “You sounded pretty upset.”

Remote let her blaster drop to her side as she leaned against the wall, “I am upset.” She slowly slid down the wall, taking a sit.

“I know how that feels,” Needle sat down beside her, “You don’t have the words to express yourself, so people try and fill in the blanks for you. They don’t get it, and now you lack the words to explain how they’re wrong.”

Remote sighed. That was pretty much it.

“You seem disillusioned,” Needle continued, “about all of this. The Power of Two,”

“I just don’t know how much I actually really want to compete anymore,” Remote said solemnly.

Needle smiled, “What if you didn’t have to?”

“What do you mean?”

Eliminated: Black Hole

20 Players Remain

Fries was on his own. After the Blue Teamers agreed to handle the challenge individually, Fries managed to avoid all the other objects.

He was able to hide away from Snowball in one of the rooms, and he managed to avoid Barf Bag on the stairwell. He was hoping to keep moving, avoid everyone until they reached the final three, and then ambush one of them and take the win. Being able to pick the teams would be a giant advantage, immunity would just be a bonus.

The Blue Team working out their issues was an opportunity that Fries needed to pounce on. Knowing he could trust them would be unexpendable, and it helped it was a well-rounded group; a good mix of brain and brawn. With all of them on a team, plus other friends being pulled over, that team would be impossible to beat.

However, that meant that a Blue Teamer had to win, which was easier said than done. Tree, Clock, and Naily were already all out. That left him, Coiny, Pin, Bottle (somehow), and Tennis Ball. Just one of them needed to be the last two, and the rest of the game would be a breeze.

As he turned the corner, he bumped directly into another object.

“Hey watch it, you…,” Fries said, about to raise his blaster, but stopped once he actually saw who he ran into.

“Hey, Fries,” Puffball said in her melodic voice, a small smile on her face.

“Oh,” Fries lowered his blaster, “it’s just you.”

“Just me,” she chuckled.

“How have…,”

Just talk, Fries. You haven’t spoken to her for a while, explain.

“...you been doing?”

You’re an idiot , he thought.

“Good,” she said awkwardly, not sure how to proceed.

Fries and Puffball’s relationship was…weird. They barely understood it. They became close during their time together on No Name back on BFDIA, then she got eliminated and stuck in the LOL for…too many months. They stayed close on Free Food, but after they got split it became difficult to find time for each other.

But now that wasn’t a factor, and they were together again.

They didn’t have anything in common, but they knew they could trust each other. They rarely agreed on things, but being separated felt so wrong and foreign. They knew each other's little quirks and tics and knew what each other was thinking with just a look.

All those realizations kind of hit them at once as Puffball barreled forward into Fries, burying her face into his chest.

“Woah,” Fries groaned, thoroughly having the wind knocked out of him, “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” she said, overwhelmed with sudden emotions, “it’s just…it feels nice to talk to you.”

Fries stood as stiff as a statue, but slowly brought his arm around Puffball’s tiny body and pulled her closer. As he did, he felt himself relax a little. She was so warm.

“It is nice,” he said. Even he knew how wooden he sounded, so he tried to let himself relax a little more. He shut his eyes, “I…missed…you,” he said the words as if it was physically harming him to do so. Puffball knew how tough something like that was to say for him, but that only made her appreciate it even more.

She finally pulled away, her smile beaming. “We can make it work this time, right?” she asked, “If we get to pick our own teams?”

Fries wasn’t much for smiling, but he still nodded, “We can. The other Blue Team members are still trying to stick together, so if one of us wins, we can still keep together.”

Puffball raised an eyebrow, “Did you make friends? With your teammates?” she said with an amused smile on her face.

Fries folded his arms, “We have been working out our issues, sure,” he said in his usual aloof tone, “What about you? Are there any Green Teamers you would want with us?”

Puffball thought for a moment, “Pen, Basketball, and Grassy are all good people, but Barf Bag and Remote would probably be the most helpful. They’re definitely the hardest workers, by far.”

Fries chuckled to himself as Puffball broke down the helpfulness of her team; it looked like they had at least one thing in common.

Puffball, again, moved in to press herself against Fries, this time much gentler, “I wanna be back on the same team.” she mumbled, feeling safe.

Fries had forgotten how soft she was, as well, “I do too,” he said.

Their moment was disrupted by the sound of someone sniffing. They turned around and saw Snowball, wiping his eye. “That…was a really touching reunion.”

“How long were you watching us?” Fries questioned, pushing Puffball away from him.

“I saw all of it,” Snowball said with a shrug, “I was just gonna shoot you guys, but then I heard what you guys were talking about, and it would have felt wrong to just blast you guys.”

“That’s…surprisingly sweet of you, SB,” Puffball said, earnestly surprised at the big guy.

“I’m capable of kind acts, I’m not made of stone!” Snowball said defensively.

“Well…thanks, I guess?” Fries said, unsure.

“You’re welcome,” Snowball said before raising his two blasters and blasting both Fries and Puffball, eliminating them from the challenge.

Snowball sighed, content, “Whelp! That’s my good act for the week.”

Eliminated: Fries

Eliminated: Puffball

18 Players Remain

Pen was extremely lucky to still be in the challenge.

He had already had a number of close encounters. He had tried hiding out in the lobby, but Bomby and Pin nearly shot him. He went to the second floor and managed to give Robot Flower the slip. Snowball had chased him from the fifth floor, all the way down to the third floor, which is where he was now.

He leaned up against one of the room doors, trying to catch his breath as best he could. He had managed to hide in a room on the fourth floor and escape to the third while SB continued to look in the fourth.

The risk had paid off, however, and Pen was granted a moment of rest.

Pen was about to move on, but the hotel room door he had just been leaning on opened up and grabbed his arm before yanking him inside and slamming the door shut.

“Don’t shoot,” Needle said, letting go of Pen’s arm, “just don’t shoot.”

Pen stood in shock at what had just happened, before turning into the room and was met with a surprise. Needle was not the only one in the room.

There were two small beds and a chair in the corner. Book and Gaty were seated on one bed and Fanny and Remote were seated on the other. Donut was sitting in the corner chair while Saw was pacing back and forth.

“Wha…” Pen whipped around to see Needle placing the chain lock back on the door.

“Don’t panic, Pen. Nobody is gonna shoot you,” Book assured.

“Unless you started shooting first, of course,” Gaty added.

“What…is this?”

“An opportunity,” Needle said cryptically, patting Pen on the shoulder, “you’re the last piece of the puzzle.”

“That…doesn’t answer my question.”

“Just let her explain!” Fanny yelled, making Pen flinch. Pen looked at the group, looking for any kind of hint. He looked to Remote, his former fellow Green Teamer.

“Let Needle explain,” she said, but it was a lot gentler than Fanny.

Pen looked at Needle and nodded to her. So, she told him. She told him everything. About Two’s ultimatum, about her plot to recruit contestants to get out of TPOT, and how everyone in the room were her recruits. They even told him about the Yellow Teams Foldy/Bomby controversy (Donut and Gaty decided that if they were gonna be leaving with Needle that they may as well confide in her).

“So, you’re all in on this?” he said, looking over the group.

“Well, all of us and Bell,” Saw said, “She just can’t be here but she knows the plan.”

“So…,” Pen trailed off, counting in his head, “that’s only seven. If Needle doesn’t count toward the majority.”

Book nodded, “We’re close, but we’re not finished.”

“I intend on having Pin and Coiny take up two of those three slots,” Needle said, “and I think you would be a good fit for that last spot.”

“You haven’t talked about it with Pin and Coiny yet?” he asked. She shook her head.

“I still need to go out and find them, hopefully before someone shoots them and eliminates them. That will make things way harder.”

“We just got lucky and had you walk right by us,” Fanny said, “now we have eight.”

“Well, hang on,” Pen put his hands up, “I haven’t agreed to anything yet.”

“I figured you would jump on an opportunity like this, Pen,” Donut cut in, “Blocky stayed with Four and Eraser got eliminated. Snowball and Coiny are on other teams, you don’t have a lot keeping you here.”

“Well, it’s not like there’s anything waiting for me outside of the game,” Pen fired back, “Like, what? You leave the competition and go where? Yoyle City? Back to the plains in South Goiky?”

“Any of those things,” Needle said, “it’s not about us just going somewhere, it’s about us making that decision for ourselves.”

“Maybe we could find where Two sent Four and the others,” Book added before sheepishly rubbing her arm, “I know that it would be nice to see Lolipop and Taco again.” Saw and Gaty nodded along, being other former Bleh members.

“We could try to elaborate them!” Saw added.

Donut sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “The word is liberate, Saw. We could try to liberate them.” he corrected before continuing, “I also wouldn’t mind seeing Gelatin. It’s been…quieter without him. I thought I would like it, but not so much.”

“There are other people here you still care about though, aren’t there? You just wanna leave them behind?”

He pointed to Donut, “You really want to leave while Bomby and Naily are still here? They were on your team, too.”

Before Donut could answer, he turned to Remote, “You would be losing the most, Remote. I can’t understand why you’re here. You would be leaving Tree, Bottle, AND Black Hole behind. Who would you have left?”

“I would have you,” she said, “I would have all of you.” She gestured to the others in the group. “I’m tired of these contests.”

“Well all are,” Gaty said, piggybacking off of Remote’s sentiment, “maybe there isn’t much for us out there, but at least we won’t be here. No more Two, no more Four or X,”

“Or speaker boxes,” Needle cut in, reminding Pen of their first-ever host.

“No more eliminations,” Gaty finished, “just us. Figuring things out.”

“I don’t know how I feel about leaving everyone else behind,” Pen warily responded. He thought about the other Green Teamers, his other former members of Death P.A.C.T. Was it right to leave them to whatever Two had planned? The idea of escaping TPOT and the chance of becoming a stone statue was extremely tempting. He was afraid of ending up like the others, like Winner. Like Eraser…

“You said you need two other people?”

“Coiny and Pin, yeah.”

“Okay,” Pen said firmly, “I’ll come with you, but only if you can get them in on it.”

“Oh?” Needle’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected that.

“There are three slots that you need to fill,” Pen said, “if you can fill in those last two slots, then I’ll be your tenth.”

The group of rebels looked at each other, reaching a silent decision.

“Okay,” Needle said, extending her hand, “I’ll go get Pin and Coiny, then I’ll come and find you. Okay?”

Pen smirked, accepting her handshake, “You got yourself a deal.”

“Try not to get eliminated,” Needle warned as Pen approached the door, “it’ll be much easier to formulate a plan before we go, and this challenge would be a good time to do it.”

Pen nodded, undoing the chain lock and exiting the room, shutting the door behind him. Needle looked at her rag-tag group of rebels with a big smile. They all smiled back, some larger than the others.

They were so close. All she had to do was find Pin and Coiny, and they would be all set to take their leave.

Bell was bored out of her mind. Being stuck on the roof was the last thing she wanted, but hey, at least she still got to participate, right?

She sighed, shutting her eyes and letting the breeze pass her face. It was nice, the weather was perfect. So, that was good. She could be stuck up here in the freezing cold, so it could be worse.

This handicap was part of the reason she was so on board with ditching the show with Needle and the others. Oh, you weren’t gonna make challenges she can participate in, Two? Then I’ll leave! That’s how she reasoned with it.

It would be good to get away from the game, away from objects like Golf Ball who thought they knew everything. She wasn’t very close to Needle, but the girl knew how to make an enticing argument. She made leaving the game sound like the only correct option, even if they weren’t fully sure where they would end up. She wanted to go back to Yoyle City, personally. She barely had gotten to see any of it before they packed it up and moved. Fanny had expressed an interest in Southern Goiky, but Bell and a few others were fervently against that idea. There was nothing there! Nothing but open plains and sprawling deserts. She had only been there briefly before being condemned to the Locker of Losers, and she didn’t want to go back.

The doors that used to be the Bathrooms creaked, and Bell whipped around ready to fire. The left door had opened, but only just barely. Bell’s eyes narrowed, “Alright, show yourself! Come out and get blasted!” she antagonized the intruder.

It creaked a little more, prompting Bell to fire. It hit the wall, and the door creaked a little more.

“Get out here!” Bell yelled, firing again. The moment the blast hit the door, it swung open wide as Barf Bag jumped out into the open. Bell fired again, but BB was faster. She dodged out of the way, firing at the same time. Bell was not nearly as fast, getting hit right between the eyes. With a short yelp, Bell was out of the contest.

Barf Bag sighed in relief, genuinely surprised she had pulled that off. She knew Bell would be tough to take out since she had time to prepare herself, but her speed saved her.

If her count was right, then that left seventeen of them.

Eliminated: Bell

17 Players Remain

Golf Ball knew that there was subterfuge afoot, and she knew Needle was behind it. She just didn’t know exactly what it was she was trying to accomplish.

And that was driving her completely mad.

She wasn’t used to being on the outside of the scheme. It had started small. Fanny and she weren’t getting along, and they had been arguing. Then, suddenly, the arguing stops. Fanny wasn’t pestering anymore, instead spending most of her time with Needle, it was the same with Book. At first, GB was glad to have Fanny off of her case, but those days were far away now. She should have stopped it, and done something about their newly founded friendship. The side glances and the snickering to each other in whispers and smirks made her sick.

Then Bell and Saw joined in, and it was impossible to ignore. Cloudy and Lightning didn’t seem to be in on…whatever it was that the Red Team ladies had cooking up. Their posse had only gotten larger. She wasn’t sure, but she would swear up and down that, she saw Needle speaking with Winner.

She was deeply paranoid about the whole ordeal, but she was sure her worries weren’t misplaced.

Good riddance to the Red Team. She didn’t need them, they didn’t have her back, they never did. She’d get a better team, a stronger one, one that didn’t hate her guts and actually appreciated her input. She just needed to get through this challenge.

Ideally, she would be choosing her own team, but she knew her odds of winning the challenge were low. So, she would have to bide her time and slowly take control of the team after the fact.

So long as she wasn’t one of the two getting eliminated, that is.

She opened another hotel room door on the second floor. Completely empty, just like every other room on this floor. There were still sixteen other contestants, it should not be this hard to find people!

She was out of rooms and made it to the stairwell door, intending to go down to the first floor. Maybe people were hiding in the lobby.

She opened the door, coming face to face with Tennis Ball.

“Uh…oh,” Golf Ball’s prepared insult died on her tongue, “hi.”

“I was actually hoping we could run into each other,” TB said with a smile, “I thought maybe you would want to talk.”

Golf Ball sighed, “Things have been a nightmare! My team is full of nothing but imbeciles! Always laughing and snickering!” she ranted, now pacing back and forth in the stairwell with Tennis Ball just watching her, letting her blow out the lines.

“They never listen to instructions, and they always feel like they know what’s best! They barely listen to Cloudy, who I appointed to leader mind you as to act as a proxy mouthpiece, and they do not listen to those instructions either! And do not even get me started on Fanny!”

TB knew that she would get herself started about Fanny and that there was no escaping it. In a way, it felt good. Her voice was familiar; it brought him a sort of comfort. It took him back years ago, all the way to the original Battle for Dream Island. Everything had been so much more…simple, back then. Surrounded by familiar faces, taking part in simple challenges. He hated the Speaker Box, but he loved the memories. Heck, he had gotten tenth place. Not too bad.

He sighed in his head. When did things get so complicated?

“They have made my life 100% more difficult than they have to! It is all Needle’s fault! It began with her!” Golf Ball finished loudly, huffing and puffing from all the yelling.

Seeing that she had finally finished, TB spoke, “Well, that won’t be a problem for much longer. You’re off the team after this. You can have a new team; try again. Maybe we’ll finally be back on a team together?”

GB whipped around, “We NEED to be, Tennis Ball. Need. I cannot stand any of these people! You are the only one I know I could rely on. Maybe TV, but he is gone, so it does not matter.”

“I’m sure it will work out,” TB assured her, “So long as both of us don’t win, that is.”

“And you won’t!” a third voice yelled from above them. A shot came down like lightning, striking Golf Ball and eliminating her. Tennis Ball looked up to see Snowball laughing at his victory.

“Yes! I got Golf Ball!” he boasted, which gave Tennis Ball enough time to duck back into the second floor and dart down the hall. He could hear Snowball not far behind him, and he knew he’d be an easy target if he didn’t get out of there quickly.

His guardian angel came in the form of Bottle, who was in the elevator at the end of the hall, idly pressing buttons.

“Bottle, hold the door!” Tennis Ball shouted, getting the girl’s attention. He heard the stairwell door burst open, he was gonna cut it close.

She did as she was told, holding the door open with her hand. Tennis Ball was heaving by the time he reached the elevator. “Quick, close it, Bottle!”

“But shouldn’t we hold the door for Snowball?” she asked, looking at the object at the end of the hall. Her answer came in the form of a laser blast that made its way down the entire length of the hall just to hit her straight in the face.

The moment Bottle disappeared, the elevator door closed. One more blast got in before they shut completely, but it didn’t hit him. TB looked at the button panel to see that all of the floors were lit up. Was that what Bottle had been doing for the entire challenge?

That sounded like her.

Eliminated: Golf Ball

Eliminated: Bottle

15 Players Remain

Coiny and Pin had worked out a system. Stand back to back, blasters at the ready, and slowly make it across the hotel. Nobody was going to sneak up on them. It was hard to go up the stairs, but they had made it from the lobby to the fourth floor. They had avoided confrontation so far, but the number of contestants was getting low.

They had a game plan, just stay in up until the final three, and then have Pin shoot him so that she would be able to pick the teams. Coiny trusted her way more than he trusted himself to pick a good team. They wanted to keep as many Blue Teamers together as they could. They only just worked some stuff out, they didn’t want it to be for nothing.

“Nothing in here,” Coiny said, closing the door to the hotel room. They had three doors left before they reached the stairwell.

Pen nodded, turning to the door in front of her. She opened it slowly, peering inside, “This one looks clear,” she said. She slowly shut the door.

The last door in the hall opened, and Needle stepped out, stopping all three of them in their tracks.

Then Needle smiled wide.

“I’m so glad I found you guys!” she said relieved, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“We almost blasted you to kingdom come,” Coiny said as the two broke off from each other’s backs, “You’re lucky we practice good trigger discipline.”

Needle rolled her eyes, “Yeah, that’s great and all, but gotta hurry! You guys gotta come with me!” she said urgently, grabbing onto both of their arms.

“Hey!” Pin yelped as both she and Coiny planted their feet, “What is the big idea?”

“I’ll explain when we get there, Room 302 on the third floor,” Needle said frantically, still pulling on them.

“Needle, relax,” Coiny said in a hushed tone, trying to pacify her, “just tell us what’s up without ripping our arms off.”

“There isn’t time! Someone could drop on us any second, I need you back with the others, then I can go find Pen,” she said, hoping to find him before the challenge ended.

“Others?” Pin said back, grabbing onto a nearby doorframe for support, “What do you mean others?”

“And stop pulling on us, would ya!” Coiny yelled, his patience growing thin.

Needle finally stopped and let go, turning around, ready to give the duo a firm dressing down, but when she saw the honest confusion and worry on their faces, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

She sighed, “You guys need to come with me because that’s the only way Two will let us leave.”

Pin and Coiny stared in surprise as Needle spilled the beans on everything. She told them about how Two had stopped her after Trophy Case and the deal that they had made. She told them how she first got Fanny and Book on board, followed by Saw and Bell. How she had convinced Winner before their elimination. How she found Remote, Donut, and Gaty during the challenge and convinced them.

“Now you two are numbers eight and nine, and Pen makes ten,” Needle finished, out of breath. “Pen only comes if I get the other two spots filled, and you guys are those two spots.”

“Why us?” Pin asked, absorbing all this new information slowly.

“Because I won’t leave you guys behind,” Needle said without any hesitation, “I won’t leave here and let you be turned into stone statues. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I did.”

“Why though?” Coiny said flatly, “Why all of this? The scheming, the planning? Why do you want to leave so badly, anyway?”

Needle folded her arms, “I don’t trust Two, never have. We’ve had this discussion before.”

“What’s so wrong with Two?” Pin asked, “Four was a lot worse.”

“I didn’t trust Four either!” Needle yelled, finally snapping, “I never trusted Four or X, I never trusted the Announcer or any of his variants, and I don’t. Trust. Two.”

“Needle, calm down,” Coiny said, the joking tone in his voice all but gone, “Take a couple of deep breaths, okay?”

He moved forward to try and put a comforting hand on his friend's arm, but she slapped it away, “I don’t know how it’s possible for you two to be so blind to what’s going on. Four and X made us miserable! BFB was awful!”

“I didn’t think it was awful,” Pin said sheepishly, “when Four and X weren’t involved, and it was just doing a challenge? That was always fun, we were The Losers, it felt good to be able to do that with my friends. It feels right to compete with my friends, so long as that the host backs off in the downtime.”

“You couldn’t have been miserable and afraid the entire time, Needle,” Coiny argued, “I remember plenty of times when you had fun.”

“This is different Coiny, trust me,” she said, dead serious, “it just feels…wrong. Off. Four was a big problem, but trading him out for Two wasn’t the right call. None of this has been the right call.”

Coiny folded his arms, “It’s probably because you ended up on a team with GB. That would make me want to quit too.” he snarked.

“They rigged a vote,” she blurted out, still making sure to say it quietly, “When Foldy got eliminated, it was supposed to be Bomby, he had gotten more votes. They still eliminated Foldy.”

That gave the duo pause, taking in her words, before Pin spoke, “What if Two’s decision to eliminate Foldy was them correcting the tampering?”

“What?”

“What if Foldy originally had the most votes, and then someone stuffed the ballot last moment for Bomby? Maybe Two found something fishy about those results and went with the original outcome before those votes.” Pin explained her reasoning.

“That is…an extreme level of benefit of the doubt to give them,” Needle said, still shocked to hear her friend’s explanation, “what did they do to you that you would have that much trust in them?”

“I am just thinking of other possibilities other than just abandoning everyone,” Pin said.

“I’m not abandoning everyone,” Needle defended herself, “I’m just trying to get as many people out as possible.”

“No, it’s still kind of abandonment,” Coiny said, “you be leaving everyone else with a group, and not only that, but you would be leaving them with someone who, in your eyes, is extremely dangerous. They would all get turned to stone too, are you okay with that just because we came along?” he shook his head, “So long as you saved the people that YOU care about, right?”

“I don’t know if I could leave everyone else here,” Pin said quietly, “It would not feel right for only eleven people to get away and everyone else to stay here. If Two is as scary as you say, it wouldn’t be right to abandon everyone else.”

“Plus, what about everyone who is already a statue? Eggy? Rocky? Cake? Only Two can bring them back, and if one of us gets ‘The Power of Two’, then we’ll be able to get everyone back.” Coiny thought aloud.

“You shouldn’t want to only compete!” Needle said louder than even she expected, “There’s more to our lives than competition! Anything else!”

“Needle, stop yelling,” Pin attempted to soothe. Needle’s only response to reach out again and grab both of their arms.

“You’ll feel different once we’re out of here, I promise,” she said, her voice desperate, “You just have to trust me, guys, please,” she begged, still pulling.

“Needle, quit it, that actually really hurts,” Coiny said, trying to pull his arm away, but Needle was way stronger than he and Pin combined.

“You’ll see, when we get out,” Needle said, and Coiny was unsure if she was trying to convince him or herself. Maybe it was both.

“Needle, seriously,” Coiny grit his teeth and dug his heels in.

“It’ll finally be different, no more of any of this,” she repeated the same sentiment over and over again.

“Needle, I-” Coiny was cut off as his sight was suddenly filled with red light. A laser blast hit Needle, shrouding the room in a blink of red before vanishing, taking Needle with it.

Coiny looked down to see he had dropped his blaster, so it wasn’t him. He looked to his left.

Pin had her blaster up, her hands shaking like mad, her eyes blinking away tears. The barrel of her blaster smoked as she slowly lowered it. Her breathing was uneven and short, her panic evident.

“I did not know what to do,” Pin said, putting her blaster down, “she was pulling and talking crazy, and it was hurting; the pulling. I don’t…I d-did not,”

“Hey, hey,” Coiny said putting a hand on her shoulder, “it’s okay, it’s alright. She was acting crazy. Don’t blame yourself, that was just instinct, I think.”

“Do you think…that she’s actually gonna leave?” Pin asked, causing Coiny to shrug.

“It sounds like she won’t be able to if she can’t fill in those last three spots, and I’m not going anywhere if you’re not going anywhere, Pin, I mean it.”

Pin smiled, wiping away the tears that had been building, “Us to the end?” she asked, making Coiny laugh.

“Us to the end,”

Eliminated: Needle

14 Players Remaining

“She has been gone too long,” Fanny impatiently tapped her foot.

“It’s a big hotel, I imagine it’s hard to find specific people,” Donut reasoned.

“Needle will figure it out,” Book said dismissively, “she hasn’t let us down so far.”

“The plan won’t make any difference if she can’t fill those last three spots,” Gaty reminded the group.

“S-she’ll be able to convince Coiny and Pin, right?” Saw fretted, “What do we do if she can’t convince them?”

“She should be able to,” Book said, “They’ve been friends since the first season of BFDI, I doubt they’re gonna want to leave each other behind.”

“That is exactly what worries me,” Fanny suddenly snapped, “I am worried that if Pin and Coiny decline, then Needle will call off this entire operation! All of the hope and planning will have been for nothing!”

“I know that I am the newest member of this group, but what exactly would stop us if we all chose to leave together? Even if Needle loses the bet?” Remote questioned.

“Two may not let us leave,” Gaty said, “they only made the deal with Needle, right? She might be the one that is the deciding factor.”

“No Needle, then no escape,” Donut finished his teammates thought, “it’s a possibility.”

The air in the room became tense, but the tension was broken by a knock at the door. Nobody moved, and another knock. They all looked at each other anxiously.

Saw was the one who eventually gathered up enough nerve to move to the door. She looked through the little peephole.

She had just enough time to see that it wasn’t Needle and was, in fact, Robot Flower.

Then Robot Flower kicked the door in.

She broke both the bolt lock and the chain lock as the door swung open with enough force to put the doorknob through the wall. Everyone got to their feet as RF ran in, quickly grabbing Saw and holding her in front of herself like a shield.

Robot Flower fired two shots and hit Remote and Donut fast, get the ones with arms first. Book panicked and fired, and it would have hit if it weren’t for Saw blocking the shot, eliminating her instead. Her shield gone, RF fired again, this time hitting Book, Fanny, and Gaty.

Just like that, the room that had held the most competitors now held the least. RF scanned the room, listening for any extra movement. When she had seen Needle gathering objects, she had been tempted to go in gun blazes immediately. Wipe out her Fanny and Book early, but then she had brought more to the room. Needle was the biggest threat in the room, but now she was gone, and RF took the opportunity to strike.

Strike successful.

Eliminated: Remote

Eliminated: Donut

Eliminated: Saw

Eliminated: Book

Eliminated: Fanny

Eliminated: Gaty

8 Players Remaining

“Oh WOW!” Two said, shocked at the sudden drop in players, “Robot Flower is not messing around!”

They reached behind them, pulling out a megaphone, “Attention, you lot! There are only eight of you left! In order to speed things up, I want you remaining eight contestants to make your way to the lobby for a final showdown!” Two tossed the megaphone over their shoulder.

They took in a deep breath, enjoying the midday air. They looked down to their latest creation. Everyone who lost the challenge was placed in a large wooden pen that they had made after the challenge had started. Now they all stood around like cattle, waiting for the challenge to finally in.

Two felt giddy; things were finally getting exciting.

Barf Bag was feeling pretty good about the challenge so far. She had gone on the offensive, trying to hunt people and take people out. She hadn’t had too much luck, only taking out Bell, but she was still in the challenge; top 8. Only six others to go and she will be picking the teams. Which was a huge advantage.

She had been thinking hard on who she would pick and came up with a few answers. She wouldn’t mind being with her former Team Ice Cube members, she would be lying if she said she wasn’t missing Donut, Naily, and Bomby. Other then them, she would want some of her Green Teamers. They were all good people, but they couldn’t make it work with the setup and circumstances.

Maybe if the teams are chosen instead of randomized, it would make them feel better. She wanted to make it up to Remote, specifically. Show her that a team could operate properly.

She raced down the stairwell, she had been the highest up in the building of the final eight, and the elevator was taking too long, so she made up her mind to go about it on foot. She wasn’t in great shape, but she was making due. All that really mattered in this challenge was her aim, which was pretty good.

She finally reached the steps that led down into the lobby but stopped when she saw Pen already down there. She looked at him and smirked, as Pen’s eyes widened in fear. He opened the door and ran into the lobby, where Barf Bag followed him.

It was complete mayhem. Most of the other six players were already here. Coiny and Pin had turned over the coffee table and one of the lounge chairs and barricaded themselves in the far corner of the room. Basketball wasn’t firing, more trying to hide her large frame behind the check-in counter. Snowball stood in the open, duel-wielding blasters and laughing manically. He lay down a constant suppressing fire on the duo, not even paying Basketball any real mind.

Barf Bag and Pen’s entrance went unnoticed by Snowball, who never stopped firing. Basketball saw, and gestured to Snowball’s back, trying to get them to shoot.

Coiny poked his head to fire but got distracted by Pen, whom he waved to, “Oh, hey, Pen!” This single moment of distraction was enough for Snowball to land a hit, zapping Coiny.

At the mention of Pen’s name, Snowball whipped around and jumped at the sight of the newest entrants. Barf Bag was fast enough to dive over the check-in counter, avoiding being hit. Pen wasn’t so lucky, getting hit. Six remain.

Barf Bag landed hard on her knees, but she managed to not spill out onto the tiles. Laser blasts flew over her head as she pressed herself against the ground. She looked to Basketball, who had her eyes shut. Barf Bag acted quickly, lifting her blaster and shooting Basketball. Five.

“Come out, Barf Bag,” Snowball taunted as he moved to round the corner, but he stopped when the stairwell door burst open again. Robot Flower ran out, her blaster at the ready. At the same time, Pin and Barf Bag worked up the nerve to poke their heads out and take a shot. All was still for a single moment as they all aimed at separate people.

They fired. Four shots ring out. Three connect. A loud bell begins ringing.

Eliminated: Coiny

Eliminated: Pen

Eliminated: Basketball

Eliminated: Snowball

Eliminated: Pin

Eliminated: Robot Flower

2 Players Remaining

VICTORY!

“WE HAVE OUR WINNERS!” Two’s voice rang out.

Barf Bag gathered her wits, realizing that she was still in the hotel. She had shot Snowball, she knew that much. Robot Flower had aimed for her, but Pin had it her first, diverting the laser, and Snowball, before being eliminated, managed to hit Pin.

“I did it!” BB got loud, realizing that she had done it, “I actually won! I can’t believe it!”

She took a moment to celebrate, but then stopped, coming to a realization.

“Wait, there are two winners.” she said, “Who was the other winner?”

At that moment, the elevator dinged and the doors opened, and a very tired-looking Tennis Ball walked out.

“Did I miss the final battle?” he asked, having a good idea as to what the answer was.

The two winners are suddenly teleported to the roof of the hotel, where Two is waiting for them.

“Tennis Ball and Barf Bag,” Two started, gently putting them down, “you two have outlasted everyone else and won the challenge! Which means you aren’t only going to be picking the teams, but you’ll also be immune from the elimination!” they cheered.

“Yes!” Barf Bag said, patting Tennis Ball on the back, “Awesome job, TB!”

“Thanks, I didn’t do anything,” TB said, not even sure how he managed to keep himself in the challenge. He got really lucky, he thought, just hanging out in the elevator. That’s probably how Bottle stayed in so long.

But what did he know? Maybe this would work out for the best.

It would not.

“Use the link below to vote on who you want gone from The Power of Two! Keep in mind that the two with the most votes will be eliminated, so vote wisely! Voting will be over on September 7th. See you next time!”

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdgXQnitepHGXvs_v98gd6DniXZGampjMfvO-tn7RepeFoX7g/viewform?usp=sf_link

Contestants: Book, Golf Ball, Needle, Fries, Coiny, Cloudy, Robot Flower, Marker, Snowball, Remote, Black Hole, Saw, Clock, Fanny, Pin, Bottle, Donut, Gaty, Nickel, Grassy, Pen, Basketball, Tennis Ball, Barf Bag, Tree, Puffball, Naily, Bell

Statues: Eggy, Rocky, Ice Cube, Eraser, Cake, TV, Pie, Pillow, Foldy, Winner