Chapter Text
Two scanned the bustling crowd of contestants, ears ringing as they were yelled at from all directions with questions and excited bickering. The crowd, albeit large, felt as though it were missing something, or rather someone.
It did not take long for the green algebralien to register the fact a contestant, several of them, were missing. A majority of the Team8s were absent from the crowd, with only Donut and Needle standing idly amongst the others, slightly disoriented as they took notice of their missing acquaintances.
Two waved their hand slightly, attempting to hush the boisterous contestants. “Woah, woah, where are Gaty, Pin and Barf Bag?” They asked with concern, mostly directed to their fellow teammates.
Donut shrugged, his eyebrows furrowing slightly with irritation. “I haven’t seen those three all morning! I told them we have a competition today, I don’t even know if they got out of bed yet!”
Needle appeared slightly unsure, rubbing her arm. “Pin and Barf Bag weren’t in their rooms this morning, and nobody answered when I knocked on Gaty’s door. I haven’t heard from any of them since yesterday.” She then looked hopefully up at Two. “Maybe you can figure out what’s going on? I mean, if she wouldn’t answer the door for me, do you think she will for Donut?”
“Yeah, and you two are like, best friends, right?” Donut adds. “How about you go deal with that, then when you round up our other teammates we can start today’s competition?”
Two hesitated for a moment, glancing anxiously around the crowd of competitors before their gaze returned to the two before them. “Well… If you’re sure… Just make sure nobody else disappears!”
Donut and Needle nodded, however the moment Two teleported away they walked in the opposite direction, as if completely preoccupied with something else.
–
“Alright… Let’s see… Pin,… Needle,… Ah, Gaty!” Two noticed the familiar name engraved in the plaque, and then knocked on the door.
They took a step backward, fidgeting with their thumbs as they awaited a response. All seemed quiet.
“Gaty?”
Still no answer.
Two sighs. “Listen, I really don’t want to barge in without permission, but I’m starting to get concerned. Can you at least say something?”
There was a sudden rustling noise behind the door, and Two felt their concern ease. At least there was some sign of life.
“Gaty?”
The door lock clicked, and the hinges squeaked slightly as a figure peeked out from behind the wooden panel, their eyes widening with a gasp before slamming the door shut again. Then, a moment or so later, the figure reappeared as they opened the door entirely.
“Pin?” Two asked. “What are you doing here?”
“Well…” Pin looked behind herself, and Two could finally get a good glimpse around the room.
Gaty was lying in her bed, almost completely covered by a thick coating of blankets. Beside her, Barf Bag was attempting to spoon feed her some soup, but her companion was unwilling to take even a small bite.
“Come on! It’ll help you get better!”
Two could barely make out Barf Bag’s pleas before returning their attention to Gaty’s other teammate.
“You see, Gaty wasn’t feeling too well this morning… We’re trying everything to help her get better!” Pin explained, allowing Two to enter the room before shutting the door once more. “…But I’m glad you’re here now! Maybe seeing a familiar face will help cheer her up!”
Two’s gaze flipped between Pin and their sickly friend. They moved to her bedside, standing opposite of Barf Bag. She leaned over to hand Two the bowl of soup.
“Here, you try.”
Two held the bowl cautiously in their hands, not wanting to spill a single drop. They swirled the spoon around several times, before scooping up a small amount.
They finally looked down at their friend, nearly losing grip on the bowl. Gaty had dark circles surrounding her eyes, which were barely half opened. Her face was completely pale, breathing slow and shallow as she stared off into space.
“Gaty?”
Two almost jumped as Gaty’s gaze immediately flicked in their direction.
“T-Tw…o?” Her voice was barely audible, a raspy whisper as she fought to speak.
After forcing out the words, her face contorted slightly in pain. Definitely the telltale sign of a sore throat.
“Hey, it’s okay, try not to speak. Have some soup, alright?” Two lifted the spoon to her lips, and she finally took a bite. “That’s it.”
Two placed their hand against her head, and immediately recognized the warmth of a fever. Their gaze reflected pity, lightly brushing their thumb against her cheek before pulling away.
“Well, she certainly can’t compete like this.” Two explains to the others in the room. “But you two aren’t sick, are you?”
Pin shakes her head, while Barf Bag exhales an audible ‘no.’
“Great! Well, since I couldn’t possibly cancel today’s challenge, we’re on a bit of a tight schedule, you two can help your teammates while I take care of Gaty!”
Pin hesitated. “Are you sure? I mean… don’t we kind of… need a host? You couldn’t possibly host and take care of Gaty at the same time…”
Barf Bag nodded in agreement. “Yeah, someone would have to host in your place. It certainly can’t be Donut again, then we’d lose another one of our teammates.”
Two scratched their chin, deep in thought as they tossed ideas around in their brain. After a moment, they finally settled on one, but did not appear happy about the conclusion.
“Well… the only other host here… is…” They almost did not want to say the name. “…Four.”
Pin stifled a choked laugh, her voice fluctuating as she spoke. “You know what! Maybe Donut wouldn’t be so bad!”
Two sighs heavily. “Listen, as much as I don’t want to hand my host position over to Four, he’s probably our only option!” They pause. “I’ll check in whenever I can to make sure he’s not causing any serious problems, okay?”
The two did not seem convinced.
“Do you think anyone else would approve of this?” Barf Bag pointed out. “I mean, the one thing every contestant here agreed upon was that we favored you as a host over Four! We don’t want him back!”
“It’ll only be for one challenge!” Two promised, trying their best to convince the two. “And I’ll keep an eye on him! Please!”
The two sighed.
“Fine.”
–
“Bye, bye! I’ll be back in only a moment!”
Two cheerily shut the door, heading down to the hotel kitchen. Their mind was racing a mile a minute, contemplating all of the possible outcomes of what they were about to do. They were nervous, yes, but they knew this was what had to be done.
Two knocked on the kitchen door, keeping their distance. They had no idea what sorts of traps their nemesis could have set up.
After a few moments, the door swung open. Four was not wearing a friendly expression.
“What do you want?” He asked in his signature nasally voice. “Haven’t you taken enough from me?! Go away!”
Two forced their foot in the doorway before Four could slam the door. “Wait! Four! This is important!”
Two swore he could see the steam billowing from Four’s ears (do algebruhliens have ears???) as he came to terms with the face Two would not let him get away. He shoved the door fully open again, pushing with so much force Two worried it would snap off of its hinges. The wall did not escape unharmed, however, as it earned a dent from the doorknob slamming against it.
“What. Do. You. Want?”
Two knew they had to choose their words carefully. Four was a ticking timebomb; his personality was capable of changing at a moment’s notice.
“…How would you like to host again?”
Two swore they could see Four’s eyes light up, but the light quickly diminished as he returned to a signature scowl. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, how would you like to host again?” Two repeated, worried they could have been misunderstood.
“What’s the catch?” Four demanded.
Two sighed, partially with relief and partly with exhaustion. “Well, it’d only be for this episode, of course.”
Four looked as though he were about to shut the door again.
“Wait! But you’d still get to host an episode! Isn’t that exciting?!”
“I want my contestants back!” Four growled.
“You will have them back! But only for one episode!”
When Four still appeared unconvinced, Two added, “It’s better than no episodes, right?”
Four pinched the bridge of his nose (do algebruhliens have noses???). “Fine.” He grumbled. “But why are you offering this to me anyways? Don’t tell me this was one of Gaty’s ideas for us bonding again…”
“What? No!” Two frowned. “It is about Gaty, though. She’s not feeling well, so I have to focus on helping her right now… I can’t focus on the show…”
Four does not say anything in reply, he just looks around awkwardly.
“But don’t think that I’m going to just hand over my show to you and disappear for a whole episode,” Two warned, returning to the topic at hand. “I’ll come back to check in every so often. No mutilating my contestants, got it?”
Four almost protested, but then bit his tongue. “Fine. Can X still cohost with me?”
Two smiled brightly. “Of course! Now, I’m trusting you to come up with the challenge this time. Remember, two teams are up for elimination, not just one. I’m counting on you, Four, please don’t mess this up for me.”
Four almost smiled in return, but he forced the expression away, hiding it behind a deadpanned stare. “Okay.”