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COINY: Pin, did you hear about the meeting that Golf Ball and Tennis Ball want everyone to go to?
PIN: What? That’s crazy! We’ve never had an official meeting before.
COINY: I know, right? I told this to Tennis Ball, and he threatened to send me into the Locker of Losers using the wall teleporter!
PIN: Really?
COINY: Nah, I made that part up. Come on, we’re meeting by the garden.
NEEDLE: Wouldn’t Fries be mad about everyone disturbing it? It’s his area.
PIN: I talk to Fries all the time while he’s working, and he always greets me with a cheerful attitude and a sunny outlook on life!
NEEDLE: That’s.. not true.
COINY: I don’t see any problems with it, it just means that he can work while listening to whatever the announcement is.
PIN: What do you think it is? Maybe the viewers are finally letting Roboty out of the Locker of Losers? I certainly could use the red pigment, I tried painting myself and it washed away..
COINY: Nah, the votes will totally say Pen or Blocky should be released, they’re my best pals!
PIN: Are you saying I’m not your best pal?
COINY: You’re a co-captain, that’s basically the same thing.
NEEDLE: (How come Coiny didn’t say anything about me..?)
GOLF BALL: Finally, there you three are! You’re all exactly 2 minutes and 7.63 seconds late!
PIN: Sorry, Golf Ball!
NEEDLE: We didn’t mean to be late!
GOLF BALL: SHUSH! Now that everybody’s here, we can finally begin the meeting!
GELATIN: So, what’s this all about? I’m dying to know!
TENNIS BALL: Gelatin, you’re supposed to be HELPING WITH IT!
GELATIN: Huh? Oh, right!
NEEDLE: (Gelatin ran off, and then came back with a concealed wheelbarrow of items. Whatever’s underneath the covering, it’s probably no good.)
GOLF BALL: According to my calculations, there’s a big storm coming our way in about a week!
RUBY: Oh, a storm? That’s a relief! I thought you were talking about something serious.
BOOK: But Golf Ball, we never get storms in Goiky..
TENNIS BALL: That’s why this storm could be a serious threat. Who knows, for example, how stable the foundations of the buildings in Yoyle City are if there’s never been storms? Perhaps a strong gust of wind during the storm could knock the buildings over and crush someone, or worse, the recovery center.
COINY: Well, we can just get a new recovery center from the Firey Speaker Box if that happens, right?
FRIES: Coiny, we haven’t seen the speaker box in about three years, I don’t think he’s coming back.
PENCIL: What are we supposed to do? None of us have the energy to fortify an entire city in a week. I would know, Match and I used to take a break from productive work every 5 minutes!
NICKEL: We could just leave..
SPONGY: Nuh uh, I like it here.
GOLF BALL: I admit, I was struggling to come up with a solution, given that the city spans hundreds of miles, but then Gelatin offered up a solution with his chemical knowledge.
GELATIN: Thank you, sport sphere-
GOLF BALL: Don’t call me that.
GELATIN: I was getting kind of bored of not being able to eat those delicious Growtatoes, so I made these pills that would make me not hungry anymore! That.. sort of backfired, because now they just make people more energized instead.
PIN: Hold on, you made them? How?
GELATIN: Some things are better off kept a secret!
NEEDLE: (What?)
GOLF BALL: I told him afterwards to keep messing up the pills so that we could have enough, and..
NEEDLE: (Golf Ball pulls the cover off the wheelbarrow with her leg to reveal several containers of pills. None of them are labeled, but apparently that doesn’t matter.)
TENNIS BALL: Ta-da!
GOLF BALL: If everyone takes one pill a day, my hypothesis is that we will all have enough energy to reinforce the entire city from the storm, and then continue to be productive in everyday life.
BUBBLE: I dunno, I don’t trust foreign substances..
BOOK: Have you even tested these on someone?
GOLF BALL: That’s a good point. Yellow Face, come over here!
YELLOW FACE: Sure thing, GB!
NEEDLE: (Golf Ball tosses one of the pills into Yellow Face’s mouth. At first, nothing happens, but then he suddenly spawns a hammer and nails out of thin air and bounces over to a building, building a sturdy foundation around the preexisting one. Afterwards, he strolls back over casually.)
GOLF BALL: Success! Now that it’s settled, I want everybody to grab one bottle of pills each from the wheelbarrow.
FRIES: I still have my doubts, but I’d rather my garden doesn’t get crushed by falling buildings.
NEEDLE: (Everybody grabs a bottle of pills from the wheelbarrow, including myself. Well, except for Flower.)
FLOWER: No way! I don’t want these to ruin my fabulous petals.
PIN: Flower! If you take these pills, they’ll probably make your petals super shiny and pretty. You never knooow.
FLOWER: Oh, that makes sense.
COINY: Great job, Pin! I know that I can always count on you!
PIN: Aw, that was nothing.
NEEDLE: ..If you two are done, we should probably take the pills now. (Everybody pops one into their mouth, suddenly feeling much more energetic.)
PIN: Haha, these make my limbs feel more tingly than before!
TENNIS BALL: Come on, everybody, we need to start building protection for the buildings!
GOLF BALL: You can find building equipment in the abandoned shops, now get to work!
GELATIN: I better be getting paid for this..
COINY: Don’t worry, I’m the paycheck.
NEEDLE: (Pin starts hysterically laughing as we all run inside shops to grab whatever we can use to build, like woodboards and screwdrivers. It wasn’t THAT funny.)
PIN: Oh, Coiny, your jokes are priceless!
NEEDLE: Honestly, he needs to change his sense of humor. (Both of them stop to look at me.) Get it? Money- That’s called change-
COINY: We should start building.
NEEDLE: (The two of them start building, creating defenses around buildings pretty quickly. I help as well, but it’s hard to focus. Did I.. do something wrong?)
-
NEEDLE: It’s nighttime.
COINY: F-Finally, I’m exhausted!
PIN: Let’s go report to Golf Ball. I’m sure that she’ll be pleased by our progress.
NEEDLE: (We take our remaining building equipment with us and head back to the garden. Golf Ball is yelling at Woody, unsurprisingly.)
GOLF BALL: WOODY! DON’T TELL ME THAT YOU’RE AFRAID OF BUILDINGS!
COINY: GB, it’s nighttime, are we done preparing for today?
GOLF BALL: Hm, I suppose. I sent Tennis Ball to inspect the foundations around each building, but, in the meanwhile, you all are dismissed.
COINY: AWESOME! Come on, guys, it’s movie night, remember?
PIN: Oh yeah, it is. I can’t wait to show you guys the movie I found at the old movie rental place!
NEEDLE: (Once a week, the three of us each pick a movie out and we watch all three of them, giving our critical opinions and throwing food at the television screen. Tonight, it’s being held at Pin’s house.)
PIN: You guys left the movies outside my house, right?
NEEDLE: Mhm.
COINY: Well, I broke a window to throw it inside.
PIN: Eh, good enough.
NEEDLE: (Coiny got to pick the movie first last time, and Pin before that, so it’s my turn to pick the first movie.) I picked out this documentary about cats, it seemed interesting.
COINY: ..Pin, what’d you pick?
PIN: Ah, just some high budget action film about spies.
COINY: That sounds great! We should watch that first.
NEEDLE: But Coiny, it’s my turn.
COINY: Oh. Right.
NEEDLE: (I put the DVD into the movie player, and the TV turned on. Skipping the previews, the documentary starts.) It’s only an hour and 6 minutes long, be patient.
COINY: I’ll try to be, Needle!
NEEDLE: (Coiny immediately fell asleep as soon as the opening credits ended.) ..Huh.
PIN: Sorry, he’s been acting kind of weird lately!
NEEDLE: (He acted the same as always.) How come?
PIN: It’s.. probably because of the storm. Just thinking about it makes me sweat ooze!
NEEDLE: You always sweat ooze.
PIN: Haha, yeah.. I think the storm is a metaphor for something.
NEEDLE: Like what?
PIN: There’s been so many changes these past few years. Leafy and Firey are gone, we’re no longer a show, we live in the city now. In a way, this storm is like the ultimate test of that? I don’t know, sorry if that sounds weird.
NEEDLE: Don’t apologize, I get it.
PIN: You do?
NEEDLE: Sort of. (I don’t really feel like elaborating, so I go silent after.)
PIN: Thanks for.. listening to what I had to say. I’m getting kind of tired.
NEEDLE: You can go to sleep, it’s been a long day.
PIN: Yeah, I should.. goodnight.
NEEDLE: Goodnight, Pin. (Pin quickly fell asleep, eyes closed while the movie continued playing. It’s nowhere close to the credits yet. ..Looks like I’m alone again. I carefully stood up from the couch, sneaking away from the living room to avoid waking the two up, and headed outside. Left alone with my thoughts, I started pacing around Yoyle City to distract myself. Eventually, I ended up right in front of the science museum.) Why am I.. I should leave-
PENCIL: NEEDLE! I was just about to remind you to guard the museum, but it seems like I don’t need to. Good work.
NEEDLE: (Huh? Oh yeah, I’m supposed to do that, or else..) Of course you didn’t need to.
PENCIL: Welp, glad that’s solved.
NEEDLE: (She walked off, and I sighed to myself. Guess I have to guard it now.) I don’t have to, but if I walk off now, she’ll spot me.. (I ended up standing around the science museum for an hour or two, glaring at anyone who so much as breathed in the direction of it, before heading back to Pin’s home. The movie probably ended by now, so I can wake the two up. I swung the door open, preparing to wake them up, and-)
COINY: Man, this film is hilarious! I’m glad you picked it out.
PIN: I told you, it’s not that big a deal. I.. still think we should have waited for Needle to come back though..
COINY: How come? She’d probably just slap us because we fell asleep during her boring film. I don’t like how she acts sometimes.
PIN: I- Ok..
NEEDLE: (I silently closed the door, hand shaking. That’s what he thinks of me, huh?)
-
GOLF BALL: Ok, everyone! Now that you all have taken your pills, we’re splitting into two teams today. One team will continue to build the defenses for the buildings, while the other team will gather supplies.
NICKEL: Teams are so three years ago.
BOOK: Supplies for what?
TENNIS BALL: Anything, really, that ensures our survival and comfort during the storm. Food, drinks, tarps for stuff like the garden, figure it out.
FRIES: What are the teams?
GOLF BALL: Team A is Coiny, Pin, Book, Pencil, Ruby, Flower, Nickel, Gelatin, myself, and Needy-
NEEDLE: (I automatically slapped her.) DON’T CALL ME NEEDY!
GOLF BALL: Gah! Keep your hands to yourself.
TENNIS BALL: The rest of you; Yellow Face, Fries, Bomby, Ice Cube, Bubble, Rocky, Spongy, and Woody, will come with me.
FLOWER: Oh, so TB got all the useless ones, huh?
ROCKY: Hmph!
NEEDLE: (Rocky threw up, but this time, it was acid, and the vomit immediately killed Flower.)
GOLF BALL: Great, now somebody has to go recover her.
RUBY: I’ll do it!
PENCIL: Ruby, no! We’re supposed to-
NEEDLE: (Ruby ran off to the recovery center. Guess the “teams” are more even now.)
BOOK: Golf Ball, what activity is this group doing?
GOLF BALL: We’re going to the stores to gather supplies. We should start with food.
GELATIN: Uh, Golf Ball, we don’t need food to survive, especially me.
COINY: I think I’d go insane if we didn’t have any food to eat.
NICKEL: Yeah, me too.
PIN: It’s not everyday that you two agree on something.
PENCIL: Guess that’s a sign we have to do this.. I could be hanging out in the clubhouse right now.
BOOK: Pencil, are you okay? You’ve been acting kind of off lately..
PENCIL: Oh, what would you know?!
NEEDLE: (It’s probably because of how long Match has been in the locker of losers. She keeps acting harsher to compensate.)
GOLF BALL: Come on, team, I suggest we go down THIS street first!
NICKEL: Sure, I don’t see why not.
NEEDLE: (All of us headed down the street and entered a store full of snacks.)
GOLF BALL: Only grab packaged food, not produce like fruits and vegetables. We don’t know how long those have been wasting away.
COINY: Darn, I wanted to eat this delicious looking apple..
NEEDLE: There’s cobwebs on that, Coiny.
COINY: Geez, no need to nag!
PENCIL: Let’s get this over with.
NEEDLE: (Everyone begins to walk around the store, picking up items and working together to decide what food everybody would want.)
NICKEL: We should get Bomby bananas, he loves those things!
GELATIN: Nickel, you’re a genius!
PIN: Golf Ball said to NOT grab produce items.
GELATIN: Worst case scenario, he dies from food poisoning and we bring him back.
BOOK: We can’t just abuse the recovery center like that!
GOLF BALL: We won’t be able to use it during the storm anyways, everyone has to remain in a shelter.
NEEDLE: Get him something banana flavored instead. (I grab a box of crackers and show it to Golf Ball. She nods and approves of it, so I grab a purple bag and throw it inside.)
PIN: Yeah, like.. uhm.. acorns?
NEEDLE: (Coiny and I pause, then start laughing. Everyone else starts laughing as well, even Pencil, who’s got a small smile on her face. It’s not mean or anything, Pin doesn’t seem embarrassed, but everyone’s having fun.)
NICKEL: Good idea, Pin and Needy!
NEEDLE: (Without thinking, I slapped him as hard as I could.) DON’T CALL ME- (He went flying into a nearby shelf, knocking over an entire shelf. Some of the boxes that fell off it look damaged now.)
BOOK: Needle, why’d you do that?!
NEEDLE: I didn’t mean to!
NICKEL: Hey, I’m fine, nothing damaged.
GOLF BALL: That was still incredibly reckless. I bet if I called you “Needy” right now, you’d probably kill someone.
NEEDLE: (I raised my hand to slap her, but Pin held my arm down.)
PIN: Stop it, Needle! There’s never been a reason to act like that over a nickname.
NEEDLE: Actually, there’s-
COINY: Yeah, stop acting so strange! First you abandon Pin and I during movie night, now you’re trying to stop us from getting supplies.
NEEDLE: But I didn’t abandon you, I left because both of you didn’t like my movie, and then P- (I closed my mouth when I noticed Pencil glaring at me.)
PENCIL: Everyone’s tired of you being such a hindrance. Even your friends don’t like you.
PIN: That’s not true, Needle’s a great friend!
PENCIL: Oh yeah? Everyone dislikes her so much that they flinch saying the word “needy,” even when she isn’t around!
PIN: I- Well - Coiny, what do you think?
COINY: She’s.. I have nothing to add.
NEEDLE: (I frowned. Did they seriously just do that to me?) Guys-
GOLF BALL: Just get back to work, now that the supplies on that shelf are damaged, we have to grab them before they collect dust.
BOOK: Well, what’s on that shelf?
NEEDLE: (Closer inspection shows that the shelf contained tons of gross packages, like pickle flavored candy. Now everyone will have to eat them. Oops.)
GELATIN: Ugh, I hate raisins..
NICKEL: Then don’t take them! I personally don’t like these bags of fish shaped grain.
PIN: Why not? They seem fine.
NEEDLE: (Nickel opened the bag with his leg to reveal bugs crawling around the inside of it.)
GELATIN: Ugh, just seeing that makes me sick, maybe I’ll turn green from disgust!
NEEDLE: (I wanted to tell him that he was already green, but it seems my input in conversations isn’t needed. I kept my mouth shut and grabbed most of the damaged goods for myself. It’s my fault, after all.)
-
GOLF BALL: In my honest opinion, this has been a productive day for preparation. We have several bags and crates of food for us to take back to shelters.
EVERYONE (EXCEPT GOLF BALL): Yay!
GOLF BALL: Needle, come with me. Everyone else, go meet with Tennis Ball at the garden to see what his team has done.
COINY: Ooo, someone’s in trouble!
PIN: Shut it, Coiny! That joke only works in an academic setting.
NEEDLE: (Everyone begins to walk off, and I look away from Golf Ball nervously.) I only slapped Nickel, and he’s fine-
GOLF BALL: You’re such a pessimist! If I wanted to hear that, I’d talk to Tennis Ball. This isn’t about earlier.
NEEDLE: Oh. (I guess I overreacted..) What’s up?
GOLF BALL: We need to recover Flower, she never turned up while we were gathering supplies. I should’ve known Rocky would strike.
NEEDLE: Didn’t Ruby say that she was going to recover Flower? She seemed genuine.
GOLF BALL: Knowing her, Ruby probably got distracted by a butterfly or something.
NEEDLE: (I shrugged, because I wasn’t sure on how much sense that made. We walked across the city and stopped right in front of the recovery center. Golf Ball tapped out Flower’s name, only for a message to pop up.)
GOLF BALL: Huh? Flower’s alive? But we saw her get destroyed by acid!
NEEDLE: My guess is that Ruby recovered her after all. (I looked around, scanning the street around us, when I spotted two figures nearby. One red, and one pink.) I think that’s them over there.
GOLF BALL: No need to walk, I’ll just shout. FLOWER! RUBY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!
RUBY: WHAT’D YOU SAY?
GOLF BALL: I SAID-
RUBY: WHAT?!
NEEDLE: Nevermind. (I picked up Golf Ball and sped right over to the two. I dropped Golf Ball after, earning a glare.)
FLOWER: Oh, hey GB, hey Needle.
GOLF BALL: What are you two doing? You were supposed to help with gathering supplies!
RUBY: We were? Oopsies!
FLOWER: If I had known that, I would’ve shown up. Ruby found this old karaoke machine and sang the same WEIRD song to me for like 7 hours.
NEEDLE: (I questioned how that was even possible, until I remembered that Ruby had probably taken one of the pills. More energy.)
GOLF BALL: Hmph, fair enough. Ruby, I’ll leave your punishment up to Pencil.
RUBY: Eh, that’s ok.
NEEDLE: (If I had slacked off instead, I would’ve gotten an entire lecture..) Are all of us meeting with Tennis Ball now?
GOLF BALL: Yes! Ruby, leave the karaoke machine here.
RUBY: Awww..
NEEDLE: (The four of us walked over to the garden, where Tennis Ball seemed to have been finishing up some lecture.)
GOLF BALL: TB, how are both of the groups?
TENNIS BALL: Things seem to be going well so far, all things considered.
ICE CUBE: What does THAT mean?
NEEDLE: (Tennis Ball opened his mouth to interrupt, but suddenly, Pin accidentally tripped and popped Bubble.) Hard to say.
TENNIS BALL: Anyways, our goal for tomorrow is to start adding protection around the recovery center. The glue being underneath it makes it impossible to move, so it’s the best we can do.
RUBY: Wow, whoever put it on top of glue must look so stupid right now..
PENCIL: Didn’t you- Oh, nevermind, is there anything else after that?
WOODY: Wa wa, wawawa..
YELLOW FACE: What’d he say?
BOOK: Hang on, I’m a Woody language translator- He said “What if everything we’ve done to prepare doesn’t work?!”
GOLF BALL: That’s not a concern, there’s a 99.9% chance we will all be safe from the storm as long as we work together.
NICKEL: That’s 0.1% left over..
TENNIS BALL: Don’t worry about it, coin creature. My suggestion is that everyone heads back to wherever they sleep and go to bed, we have more work tomorrow!
COINY: Hey, that’s my nickname!
NEEDLE: (Before he could pout and leave, I walked over. Looks like Pin is going somewhere else, maybe to recover Bubble?) Coiny, I’m sorry.
COINY: For what?
NEEDLE: I- (I don’t know what I did wrong, if I’m being honest. He’s just been harsh towards me for no reason. I fumble for a few seconds, struggling to come up with something.) For being a bad friend.
COINY: Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m over it!
NEEDLE: (I smiled, turning around and heading back. Maybe he was just feeling off, like Pin said? Yeah, that must be it. I was about to turn a corner, but I stopped and briefly looked behind me. He was glaring at me, thinking I wasn’t looking. I know that glare. I recognize it from BFDI, it’s the look he gives someone when something doesn’t go his way. I wonder if he ever looks at Pin like that?)
FLOWER: Needle, wait up!
NEEDLE: (My walking came to a halt as she sprinted over, looking lost in thought.) Uh.. hey?
FLOWER: I think that we should go shopping together!
NEEDLE: But I already went to most of the stores in Yoyle City today. Speaking of which, you never went to any of them..
FLOWER: Nonono, I’m not talking about any of those BORING stores. I’m talking about the mall!
NEEDLE: Didn’t know that the abandoned city has a mall.
FLOWER: Of course it does, let’s go!
NEEDLE: Wh- (She suddenly grabbed me by the wrist and started dragging me through the city until we came across a giant mall. The sign on top of it is broken, all the letters have fallen off of it except for the letter “A.”)
FLOWER: Here we are! Isn’t this place fabulous?
NEEDLE: Not really.
FLOWER: Hmph, you just have to see the inside!
NEEDLE: I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. (I tag along with her to the inside of the mall and we explore for a bit until we stop in front of an area with lots of clothing hangers.) What’s this?
FLOWER: It’s a clothing store with lots of cute accessories! I saw this place last week and decided that from now on I should shop here all the time? Here, check out this sparkly sweater. I want to make one of my own sweaters someday.
NEEDLE: (Eh, I respect the dream.) Can’t you just.. take it?
FLOWER: Of course I can, it’s just not the same.
NEEDLE: Hm. (I dig through a basket of items and pull out a purple ribbon. Curious, I tie it around the hole on my body.) Is there a mirror here?
FLOWER: Oh, yeah, it’s right over there.
NEEDLE: (I step closer to the mirror, taking in my reflection. There’s not really a standard for whether an object is conventionally attractive or not, but I.. think this ribbon looks good on me? It’d probably look even better with that purple bag I was wearing earlier. I suddenly notice Flower standing right behind me.)
FLOWER: Oh, that looks like a great gift for Ruby!
NEEDLE: What are y- (Before I could finish my sentence, Flower swiftly untied the ribbon from me and pulled it away, discarding it into hammerspace. I see what this is about now. She didn’t actually want to hang out with me, she just thought it’d be convenient to have someone else get her stuff.) What do you need that for?
FLOWER: Ruby was acting ridiculous today, more so than usual! When I asked her why, she said that it was because she accidentally took two of those pills instead of one, and it made her more distracted than she’d be regularly.
NEEDLE: That explains why she never came back after she recovered you.. Did you get everything you wanted from here?
FLOWER: Oh, yeah. This was fun, we should do it again sometime!
NEEDLE: ..I guess. (Flower waved goodbye to me, leaving me behind in the store. Aimlessly, I dug through the accessories, grabbing a few random ones for me to try on in the comfort of my own home.. Those pills, huh. Ruby took the wrong amount, but it just made her happier than usual, and people seemed to like her. I wonder.. if I take too many, what will happen?)
-
NEEDLE: (Curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to take four of the pills supplied to us. I didn’t feel anything for a few minutes, but suddenly, it was like I had gained more energy in one moment than I’ve had all my life. I was feeling pretty productive, so I took four again the next day. Golf Ball told me to help put a tarp around the recovery center, and although my hands wouldn’t stop shaking, I managed to do it in under a minute. Everybody was cheering for me. I’ve never had that happen before.)
PIN: Yeah, good job Needle!
COINY: How’d you do that so quickly?
PENCIL: Ok, that was pretty quick.
YELLOW FACE: Did you use one of my business products?
NEEDLE: Haha, I’m afraid I haven’t! (I suddenly got an idea, sharply piercing through the hazy fog in my mind. Putting my hand behind my back, I pulled out a few accessories.) I got some gifts as well! Pin, you can take this blue bow.
PIN: It looks a bit too big for me.. but thanks!
NEEDLE: (She attached it to herself.) Coiny, I originally got this spiked collar for myself, but it’s too big, do you want it?
COINY: Of course I do! Toss me it.
NEEDLE: (I gave it to him, and he wrapped it around himself.) There’s one more. Pencil, I got you this pink bow. It’s smaller than the other one, but-
PENCIL: Are you kidding? It looks great!
NEEDLE: (I handed it over, and she put it on. Everyone I got gifts for seemed to really like their accessories! This was great! I was finally being a good friend.)
TENNIS BALL: How many more days do we have left until the storm?
GOLF BALL: We have four days, that’s plenty of time to spare. Does anyone have any suggestions?
PIN: What about the windo-
NEEDLE: The windows in the smaller buildings should be covered with something! We don’t want shattered glass to get all over my feet.
ICE CUBE: Don’t remind me of shattered stuff..
BOOK: Great idea, Needy-
NEEDLE: (She covered her mouth, looking horrified. I had no idea why, I just blankly blinked at her for a few seconds until she calmed down. Everybody seemed confused, then smiled.)
FRIES: Nothing happened, that’s new.
PENCIL: I guess you learned your lesson.
NEEDLE: Yep! (What lesson?)
GELATIN: ..Huh.
NEEDLE: (Gelatin’s staring at me like he’s trying to figure out a puzzle, but then Fries mentions something about how the Tennis Ball needs to alchemize more growtatoes in case the garden gets destroyed, and so he happily skips away.)
NICKEL: So.. which of us are gonna add protection around the windows?
NEEDLE: I can do it by myself! (Why did I say that?)
TENNIS BALL: ..That’s not-
GOLF BALL: Sure, I think you know by now where to get stuff for the windows, like nails and tape.
NEEDLE: Mhm! Bye everyone! (I waved and left.)
PIN: Bye, Needle!
COINY: Good luck!
NEEDLE: (It takes me longer than I think it should, but I do collect a bucket of things from a hardware store, such as wooden boards to put in front of windows. Humming to myself, I start by boarding up the windows inside of the shop. Spongy and Bomby walk by, raising their eyebrows.)
BOMBY: Uh.. I don’t think you’re putting those up the right way?
NEEDLE: Huh? (I tilt the wooden board.)
SPONGY: I think he means on the outside of the windows.
NEEDLE: Oh, I knew that. (I didn’t. I go outside and start applying the boards there. I can’t believe I made a mistake like that. I thought these pills were supposed to fix what I was doing wrong, but they aren’t fully! Maybe I’m not taking enough of them..? I ignore this for now as I apply wooden boards to all of the windows down the street. Coiny walks by me with some blueprints, and looks even more confused than Bomby and Spongy.)
COINY: Needle, did you use tape to seal those boards instead of nails?
NEEDLE: Yeah, is there something wrong with that?
COINY: No, but-
NEEDLE: (A gust of wind blew by, knocking the wooden board down to the ground. Ah, that isn’t surviving a storm. I sheepishly grin, feeling a bit guilty.)
COINY: Oh well, cya!
NEEDLE: (He runs off, and all I can feel is confusion. I need to do something to fix this. Maybe I should do the upper windows as well? Some of them open from the inside, so I enter a random building and just head up the stairs. I opened a window, not even registering the dust scattering from it. I reach into the bucket, expecting to pull out a wooden board, but instead, I pull out a paintbrush. What? I look back down at the bucket, seeing that everything else is still there. Why’d I get a paintbrush, I don’t need one..) I did it again. (I keep messing up, no matter how many second chances I get from others who take pity on me. Even when people finally notice me, I just end up making more mistakes so I can get more attention. I want to- No, I NEED to be useful, or else everyone’s gonna think I’m.. needy. I’m so tired of being a burden to everyone else, no matter what, but I know how to be useful now. Putting the paintbrush back into the basket, I pull out something. I can be dependable now. I can be adored. I can have friends who actually care about me. All of it, if I just-)
-
LEAFY: (I could see the storm coming from a mile away. Literally, in Yoyleland, there’s so many acres of empty land that I can just look up and see the clouds growing in size and the sky growing darker. Unfortunately, there aren't any trees or bushes for me to shelter in during the storm, so I’m left with no choice but to sneak into Yoyle City. I’ve done it before, for.. reasons I won’t disclose, but it’s getting harder for me to do it without being caught. Well, hopefully, if I’m spotted, they’ll take pity on me. Even the objects in the locker of losers are more protected from the weather than me. I silently enter the city with a knife, only to hear an overwhelming amount of noise. Panicking, I ducked behind a bench, listening to two objects talk. They seem familiar.. wait, it’s-)
COINY: I swear, we’re forgetting something, but what is it?! The HPRC and the garden Fries takes care of are protected, the locker of losers is temporarily nailed to the ground to avoid it getting swept away by wind, even the doors of most buildings are sealed. What do you think we’re missing, Pin?
PIN: I have no idea! I even baked additional snacks for those who requested something.. have you talked to Golf Ball yet?
COINY: I did, but she said that everything was accounted for.. well, except-
LEAFY: (Having heard enough, I grabbed Pin by her point and lightly jabbed the knife near her mouth. She has a new bow on her, I wonder where she got that from..) What is going on here?!
COINY: Oh, hey Leafy.
PIN: Coiny, do something! I’m about to die!
LEAFY: (I’m not sure whether to be more offended by the fact that Pin thought I was going to kill her, or that Coiny wasn’t intimidated by me. Frustrated, I let go of Pin and glared at both of them.) I’m being serious! Did you all hear about the storm as well?
COINY: Yeah, apparently Golf Ball was tracking the weather in her lab, and spotted the storm approaching a week before. It gave us plenty of time to prepare.
PIN: Why are you telling her this? Aren’t we supposed to be killing her or something?!
COINY: What? No, I’m not doing that! She can stay at my house until the storm passes, we already know what happened last time she died.
LEAFY: (Just thinking about that makes me frustrated, but I’m glad I’m being offered at least some respect.) You said you’re forgetting something, right? Is everyone alive and in shelters?
PIN: The storm isn’t starting for another hour or two, so most of us are still outside.
COINY: Let’s see, we got.. me, you, Pin. Spongy, Bomby, Yellow Face, and Nickel. GB and TB, no surprise there. Fries, Rocky, Woody, Freesmart, Flower, Gelatin- yep, that’s everybody. All alive.
LEAFY: (I thought for a second, trying to process who I’ve seen before, when something hit me.) What about Needle? Where is she? (They both suddenly stared at each other with horrified expressions.) Hello?
COINY: OH MY GOSH, WE FORGOT ABOUT NEEDLE!
LEAFY: What, is she inside or something? It can’t be that bad.
PIN: We- Uh.. We haven’t seen her in about 5 days.
LEAFY: (I couldn’t even muster up a proper response.) Are you serious right now?
COINY: None of us knew she was missing until now- Oh no, what if she’s dead?!
PIN: Maybe she’s just been hiding somewhere..?
LEAFY: You two can go and check the recovery center to see if she’s dead. I’ll look inside these buildings to see if she’s hiding.
COINY: But the doors are sealed-
LEAFY: Not a problem, just go! (They ran off. I pulled out even more knives and dug two of them into the wall of one store. I used these to scale up the building, and I eventually got to the top of it. I hear the distant sound of thunder, and almost regret helping them find Needle, but I push my complaints aside. I don’t want anyone to die for unnecessary reasons right now. Darting my eyes around, I notice that the store next to this one has a partially open window. That’s suspicious. I take a deep breath then do a running start, leaping across the roof of one building and landing on another with a perfect roll. Afterwards, I dropped down and used the blade to budge the window open, climbing inside. The distant sound of thunder booms, forcing me to focus. I spot an empty bottle of something on the floor, and pick it up. What is this? There’s no label on it or anything. Frowning, I called out for Needle.) Needle? Are you here? If you don’t come out right now, I’ll.. call you Needy? 1.. (I open the window behind me even further to get better lighting in the room.) 2.. (I take a step forward, holding my breath.) 3.. Huh, guess I’ll have to call you Need- (Something brushes up against one of my legs, and I slowly tilt my head down. The thing touching me is not dust or cobwebs, it’s somebody’s arm. Crouching down, it’s obvious to see that the arm connects to a body. This is Needle. Her eyes are closed, but maybe..? I shake her a few times, but nothing happens. Dead, probably.)
COINY: LEAFY! COME OUT HERE!
LEAFY: (That settles it. How did nobody know she was dead for four days?! I take the empty bottle with me and jump out the building’s window, not even bothering to properly land on the sidewalk. I’m metal, so it’s not possible for me to be torn more than I already have been.) Was she..?
COINY: She was.. dead dead. We brought her back by recovering her, although that took a few minutes because of the covering over the HPRC, but she isn’t responding to anything. See for yourself..
LEAFY: (The two of us walk over to an area covered up by a black tarp. I stay behind to avoid being seen by the ones who hate me, but I still get a good view. Several objects are frantically gathering around Needle, shouting complaints and whispering concerns and poking her to see what happens. Pin looks especially concerned, shaking Needle’s arm to see what happens. Needle isn’t responding to any of it, just blankly gazing at the ground below her. Her eyes look glazed over, but she has the smallest of smiles on her face. Something about that.. unnerves me.)
COINY: Needle! We were so worried about you when you went missing! What happened?!
LEAFY: (Still no response. I toss Pin the empty bottle and she stammers for a second, before speaking up about my discovery.)
PIN: I- Err- Uhm- I- Does anyone know what this is for?
BOOK: Looks like it’s one of the pill bottles.
GELATIN: ..Why would it be empty? Everyone was only supposed to take 1 a day..
COINY: It was the only thing next to Needle’s corpse, there’s no way anything else killed her..
LEAFY: (There was actually a bucket of stuff besides her, but I don’t know what was in it, so that’s probably correct.)
NICKEL: What, did somebody poison her food or something?
PENCIL: That’s not it, we were all busy when she went missing.
GOLF BALL: She probably swallowed all of the pills in one go! What an idiot! Needle, do you hear me, what is wrong with you?! We were hours behind on preparation because of you disappearing like that! That’s so selfish!
PIN: Hey, it’s not that big a deal, we still got everything ready an hour before the storm.
GOLF BALL: But what if someone else had gone missing? The chances of our preparations failing would be 99.9%
TENNIS BALL: Ok, even I doubt that’s true.
LEAFY: (Suddenly, a few drops of rain began sprinkling on us from the sky. It’s just a drizzle, but it’s a sign of what’s to come.)
GELATIN: I’m outta here, I have to get inside before I get soggy!
FRIES: I should probably do the same as well.
PIN: It’s strange, I still feel like we’re missing someone, even Leafy is here.
LEAFY: PIN!
PIN: Whoops, sorry.
GOLF BALL: We’ll take care of Leafy later, it’d be too depressing to kill somebody during this storm.
COINY: But there’s nobody-
LEAFY: (His eyes suddenly widened, and he turned towards the Yoyle Needy. Everyone turned, following Coiny’s gaze to see Firey, still dangling from that cage high up in the sky.)
COINY: I don’t care that it’s his punishment, we gotta get him out of there now. After all, it’s already starting to rain! WHAT IF HE DIES?!
BUBBLE: We could just recover him, then throw him back in the cage when the storm is over..
PENCIL: Nuh uh, that would be a shame upon my reputation, being so careless with a prisoner. Just throw a tarp over the cage or something.
TENNIS BALL: Uh.. actually, even if you cover the cage itself, the chain will still be exposed to the weather. There will be nothing stopping the chain from rusting, then snapping in half. Firey would probably just die from the shock of the cage falling, and you’d have to get a new cage. That just defeats your whole point!
FLOWER: It would be useful to have more people with arms around..
NICKEL: What’s that supposed to mean?
PENCIL: ..Fine, release him, I don’t care.
COINY: Yes! Leafy, you coming?
LEAFY: (Maybe-) I don’t think I should..
COINY: What, are you cold or something?
LEAFY: Yeah.. (Actually, I can’t feel the cold at all, or even the rain, it’s weird. I blame the metal. But I can’t go near Firey, that’s a bad idea.) Just tell me where your house is, and I’ll go there.
COINY: Go down that street, turn a corner, skip past the red house, and there’s mine.
LEAFY: (I expected Pin and Coiny to share a house, if I’m being honest. Sharing is caring.) ..Thanks, I guess. (I intended to wave, but I was still holding a knife in my hand, so I decided to just walk away from them instead.)
-
COINY: Pin, Needle, there’s no time! We have to go get Firey! Come on!
PIN: Yessir! Just kidding, saying that would be pretty silly.
COINY: Haha, glad you’re with me, Pin! What about you, Needle? ..Needle?
NEEDLE: (I finally register that someone’s talking to me, and I slowly glance over to Coiny. He seems happy to be around me for once. That’s odd. How long was I..?) ..Sure.
COINY: Pencil, is there a lock on the cage?
PENCIL: No, but it can only be opened from the outside, so that’s why he hasn’t escaped yet. Even if he did somehow open it, it’s not like he’d be able to climb up the chain. I didn’t bother to get a lock because nobody’s stupid enough to open it.. until now, I guess.
PIN: Hey, we have rather large sized brains!
NEEDLE: (I expected Coiny to say something snarky, but he had already run over to the Yoyle Needy- Ugh, I hate that building’s name! Still dazed from having been dead for who knows how long, all I could do was follow him. It’s strange, really. I have no idea why he suddenly cares so much about Firey. They’ve always hated each other, and when Firey needed Coiny the most..)
-
[PENCIL: Firey, we find you guilty of recovering Leafy and letting her escape the city! You of all people should know that she’s rotten. Why would you do something like that?
GOLF BALL: Not to mention, this isn’t the first time he’s done this, Firey stole Snowball’s hang glider to save her in BFDI.
BOOK: Stealing as well? We thought you were better than that.. but it turns out you’re just as much of a monster as she is!
FIREY: I’m telling you, I DON’T KNOW who you’re talking about!
BUBBLE: You were best friends with her! Everyone knows all about that!
FIREY: So what if that’s true? I don’t remember her, ok?!
GELATIN: Even if you forgot, you saw her in BFDIA! I even killed her right in front of you.
FIREY: I felt bad, ok? I rejected that.. metal stranger so harshly!
GOLF BALL: You’re lying! You know exactly who Leafy is, we saw you talk to her!
FIREY: Yeah, but only because I recovered her! She was questioning me, so I had to say SOMETHING!
PIN: I’ve had enough of this! We need to punish him for what he’s done.
PENCIL: Freesmart should have the honors of carrying out the punishment. We’re the ones that caught him in the act! Any suggestions?
FIREY: Go ahead, KILL ME for recovering someone I don’t know! Some idiot will bring me back eventually! We still don’t know who recovered Flower or Woody, so good luck finding whoever works up the courage to recover me!
PENCIL: No. You dying would be the easy way out, you deserve something way worse!
FIREY: Oh yeah, like what?!
BUBBLE: Pencil, don’t you remember? In BFDI, Firey was scared of heights. When Another Name tried to cross the bridge, he froze up and started screaming!
GOLF BALL: We would’ve gotten first place in that challenge if it wasn’t for him..
BOOK: I got it! Let’s trap him up on Yoyle Needy, that’s the tallest point in all of the city! He’ll surely start apologizing.
NICKEL: But then he can just hurl himself off the tower and die. Doesn’t that bring us back to his point about someone recovering him?
PENCIL: Then.. we’ll throw him in a cage, lock the door, and suspend it over the edge of the tower!
FIREY: ..Wh-What? You wouldn’t- Pencil-
RUBY: That sounds like a fun carnival ride, you should be happy!
NEEDLE: For how long? A week?
PENCIL: Until he learns his lesson! If you help a traitor, you become a traitor. Of course a boy like him has no remorse about it, either.
BOOK: Yellow Face, can you get us a giant cage from your warehouse?
YELLOW FACE: Sure thing, but.. Firey already ran off.
FIREY: I’M NOT LETTING MYSELF GET LOCKED UP THERE!
GOLF BALL: WHAT?! EVERYONE, AFTER HIM!
TENNIS BALL: Actually, that’d be really inconvenient. No use wasting energy on a traitor. Needle, you run almost as fast as him, go get him.
NEEDLE: Sure thing.
PIN: Go Needle! You can do it! Hey, Coiny, what’s with that look?
COINY: ..Nothing, there was just something stuck in my eye.
PIN: Yeah, that makes sense, the wind’s been getting harsher overtime here- Look, Needle’s back with Firey!
FIREY: G-GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME! NEEDY, PLEASE, I SWEAR I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING-
NEEDLE: Don’t call me Needy!
FIREY: AREN’T WE ALL FRIENDS?! P-Pin, we were on the same team together in BFDI, what happened to that?
PIN: It’s different now!
FIREY: I CAN’T GO UP THERE! Coiny, you would know that the most out of everyone! Didn’t you say that you were closer to me than anyone you’ve ever met?! Was that a lie? Do you not care about what’s happening right now?!
COINY: ..Just throw him in the cage. I don’t care what happens to someone as horrible as him.
YELLOW FACE: I got it right here!
FIREY: Pencil, WAIT! YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO ME! MATCH, SHE.. SHE WOULDN’T WANT THIS! IF SHE FOUND OUT THAT YOU-
PENCIL: Firey, do you have any last words before your punishment begins?
FIREY: ..I-
FLOWER: Spit it out already! We don’t wanna deal with you any longer than we have to!
FIREY: ..Nevermind, it.. it doesn’t matter anymore.]
-
NEEDLE: (Coiny doesn’t care about Firey. Coiny just likes the idea of saving Firey. After all, if he saves his life, then maybe Firey won’t get into trouble or start fights with others anymore. That’s why he cares about Pin so much now, she’s lost most of her original spunk. I’m not fond of Firey either, but at least I didn’t lie to him. Frowning, this realization sticks with me as the both of us, as well as Pin, climb the stairs of Yoyle Needy. Opening the top door, we notice that the rain has begun to increase in speed and intensity. Luckily, however, Firey’s still alive when we peer over the edge, blankly staring up at us. It looks like he’s looking through us and not at us, if that makes sense.)
COINY: Firey, we’re here to get you out!
NEEDLE: (Firey raspily whispers something underneath his breath to us. He used to constantly scream when inside the cage due to his fear, but it eventually took a toll on his voice, and now it sounds weak and strained.)
COINY: Uh- Can you speak up? None of us know what you just said.
FIREY: ..Go away, just leave me alone in peace.
COINY: “In peace”? It’s raining, you idiot!
NEEDLE: (Firey blinked, showing no life in his eyes. It was as if he did not care about what happened to him. Is.. this how I looked when I..?)
COINY: Pin, Needle, I’ll hold you both so you can open the door down there!
NEEDLE: (Coiny jumped onto the edge of the building, and grabbed my arm. I then grabbed Pin’s hand, and she managed to reach the cage. It took a few seconds, but she managed to break the door open, and she stretched out her hand to Firey.)
PIN: Firey, take it! I can’t hold my arm out for long!
FIREY: I- You.. Fine.
NEEDLE: (Firey took Pin’s hand, and the four of us went toppling back up onto the Yoyle Needy.) Ow!
COINY: We did it! Firey, are you ok?
NEEDLE: (I glance at him. His limbs are trembling, possibly from fear, and his gaze is still distant. More importantly, he’s wincing.)
FIREY: I-It hurts..
COINY: What does?!
PIN: Coiny, the rain is still getting on him!
COINY: FUCK! We need to hurry up, the storm’s about to fully begin!
NEEDLE: Already?! (All four of us ran inside of the Yoyle Needy and booked it down the stairs. Entering the doors was only a temporary solution to prevent Firey from dying, and now we’re stuck here- which is bad!- because this tower will be the most likely thing to get damaged unless we can quickly find an umbrella- Oh wait, there’s one right there.) Why is this here?
PIN: Maybe someone threw it in here? Or, most likely, it was always here, in the event that it started raining and Bubble was outside. It wouldn’t be surprising to learn that she can pop in the rain.
FIREY: Th-That makes s-sense..
NEEDLE: (Still shaking, Firey opened up the umbrella and held it tightly beside him. With that issue resolved, our group left the Yoyle Needy and sprinted back over to where our houses were. Well; mine, Coiny’s, and Pin’s anyways, does Firey technically count as homeless? I don’t remember what Freesmart did to his house.)
COINY: Firey, you should stay at Pin’s place, because I already have Leafy hiding at mine.
FIREY: I-I still have no idea who th-that is, but ok..
NEEDLE: (Coiny went back to his own place, while Firey followed Pin to her home. I was left alone. Again. The sound of thunder was beginning to get increasingly louder, and by now, the sky was covered in darkness. In a world where objects can just bully the sun until it turns into a block of ice, it was terrifying. My arms and legs twitching from fear, I skipped over parts of the sidewalk as I sprinted to my house, closing the door behind me. Shaking the rain off of me, I took a deep breath and sat down on the floor, still trying to process everything. How long was I dead for? Hours, days?! Why did Coiny finally seem to acknowledge me, only to immediately hyperfocus on saving Firey? He doesn’t even like Firey! Why did this storm have to make everything worse? As I sat there, I tried to figure out the answers to all my questions, but.. I never could.)
-
NEEDLE: (According to Golf Ball, the storm lasted for approximately 36 hours before finally ending as dawn began to emerge. Slowly, we had all stepped out of our homes and looked around, assessing the damage. Some of the buildings had been damaged from wind or rain or whatever, but none of them had toppled over. That was good, it meant that our efforts had succeeded. The sunrise that morning was the most pretty one I’ve ever seen. I was there with Coiny, Pin, and Firey in front of the houses as we sat down and watched the sky turn from orange and yellow to blue. According to Coiny, I had only been dead for a few hours, but strangely, it felt like it’d been days since I last saw the sun.)
PIN: It’s.. beautiful..
FIREY: It’s not that special, I had to see it everyday during BFDI.
COINY: Oh, right, you never went to the TLC.
NEEDLE: (“Even though you should’ve been sent there” was probably something Coiny also wanted to say, but now wasn’t the time. Firey’s fragile concentration currently seemed to be ruined by just about anything, and that threat would only freak him out more.)
COINY: Y’know, I feel like this storm has brought us all closer together. We all worked together to achieve a shared goal!
PIN: Yeah, I can’t remember the last time that happened..
FIREY: Probably when all of us decided to join the show.
NEEDLE: Even then, everyone was so aggressive when it came to the prize. Even Leafy.
COINY: Speaking of Leafy, I hope that she’s ok, the others didn’t seem too happy about letting her go so easily.
PIN: She’ll be fine, her staying here was only a temporary thing.
COINY: ..I guess.
NEEDLE: (I wish he was concerned about me like that. You’d think he’d be more concerned about one of his closest friends being dead during a storm.. right?) Should we do something to celebrate.. I dunno, being alive?
PIN: We should get ice cream!
FIREY: I thought there wasn’t a place to make ice cream in this city..
PIN: Yeah, but if we beg, Tennis Ball will probably take pity on us and invent a machine that can instantly generate ice cream!
COINY: That’s a brilliant idea! Let’s go ask him right now!
NEEDLE: (Coiny and Pin got up, running off while they loudly laughed. Firey followed them, smiling despite everything that had happened just days before.. Why is everyone happy except me? This storm may have brought everyone else together, but it felt like it only distanced me from everyone, showing how much of a hindrance I am.. I suddenly got a bright idea, following behind everyone else as we stormed Golf Ball’s factory to find Tennis Ball. While she lectured the rest of them for breaking and entering without permission, I crept over to the incinerator and pulled out the empty bottle of pills. Leafy had given the container to me right before she left, staring at me with a concerned expression. Must’ve taken it back from Pin. Just thinking about it made me upset, but I used that anger to chuck the bottle into the lava. There, now I could forget about all of this. From now on, I’m going to never act out like this ever again. I’ll be someone others can depend on no matter what. Even if it means never complaining.)