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Chapter Text

"I hope you Pinkers have faith in your teammates," Mephone said, beckoning to the large Red fist. "Cuz one of YOU will be gone. Let's see which Pinker is gonna Sink behind the competition.".

Test Tube and Cabby fist bumped, knowing they were most certainly secure. Test Tube had worked hard, using the files to get everyone to vote out Silver with her and Cabby. Yet Silver seemed calm. Unusually calm.

"First vote: Cabby.".

'Of course it is.' Test Tube thought to herself, knowing their team's target would try to vote for Cabby.

"Silver Spoon. That's one vote Cabby, one vote Silver.".

Silver seemed to be in an almost calm state of mind. It was unnerving how much he was smiling.

"Test Tube.".

Test Tube and Cabby both gasped, looking at each other, hoping the other hadn't betrayed their alliance.

"Cabby.".

Sweat dripped down Test Tube's face. Silver's expression was one of manic joy. his eyes gleamed with malice and disgust. Paintbrush's expression darkened as their eyes darted in Cabby's direction.

"Silver Spoon. That's 2 votes Cabby, 2 votes Silver, one vote Test Tube. One vote left.".

Test Tube was sweating profusely. Cabby's heart was thumping in her chest as they noticed their teammates looking at them with....distrust? Or was that a glint of people who seemed to feel they were betrayed?

"And the 7th contestant eliminated from Inanimate Insanity Invitational is..."

...

Test Tube smiled as she watched Balloon and Paintbrush walk away. With all 4 votes, Silver would for sure be eliminated. However, her mind was plagued on whether she should fulfil Fan's wish yet. After all, Bow may have started to notice something was off. She picked up her Green file, still feeling like something was wrong. Like something was missing. Still, she brushed it off as though it were nothing. "Just elimination nerves" she muttered to herself, laughing half-heartedly as her heart seemed to be sinking.

"Am......Am I doing the right thing?" She mumbled. Sure, she knew it was risky, heck, she had given Balloon and Paintbrush the files. To trust them so with such a friend's works.......it seemed to awaken something in her mind.

"I'm........I'm sorry Fan...".

No. She rubbed her head. That had been different. Back then she was so focused on the right thing to do that she ignored what mattered most. Back then she was a scientist who had still held onto the belief that everything in life needed an order. That you had to do the best thing for a situation, no matter who got hurt. No matter how much it hurt.

So......why did this feel bad? Why was she doubting her own ally? Her own mind?

Had she done it again?

Was this scientist walking into the mental trap of her own failure?

...
"I.......I can't.....WHAT!!!!?".

The four shared disgusted or shocked expressions. Paintbrush riffled their golden locks, trying to get the last bits of strawberry ice cream out as they angrily read the brown file. Silver scoffed in disgust, wiping the frosting off of his face. Balloon scanned through the pages in horror and anger. "Oh, she did NOT say that about me!!!?" he wailed, his voice cracking. The three looked over at the holder of the pink file.

"What do you think, Bow?" Paintbrush asked.

She seemed stoic and unmoving. Shocked and afraid. Disgusted and mortified. She looked at her hands. She looked at her face. She looked at the others. She looked at herself through the reflection in their eyes. Bow seemed disgusted by the sights of life as she hurriedly stormed off, still holding her file. Like an angry hurricane, picking up force.

Something said that tonight's elimination may go poorly. But...

How bad could it possibly be?

...

".....Cabby!".

The final vote echoed through the group as all 4 of them pulled out their retrospective files. Cabby looked to Test Tube whom shook her head in denial.

"Did you...?" she muttered.

"N...NO!! I WOULD NEVER!!".

"Of course, you wouldn't dear," Silver exclaimed, gripping his file, his smile replaced with a scowl. "Did you any of us would trust you? Hmm?".

Cabby and Test Tube both looked around. All had looks of anger as they scorned through their files. "Oh so I ALWAYS obsess over my hair, don't I huh?" Paintbrush yelled, their head slightly smouldering.

"I'm not pink. I'M SALMON!!!!" Balloon screamed, anger escaping his lips as he threw down his file to test Tube's feet. Paintbrush did the same.

"And you suppose I never lift a finger dear? Well, there's quite the finger for you." Silver spat out, raising his hand. His thumb slipped downward as he directed a thumbs down towards the pair.

"But but....how did you get those? I never gave them to you?" Test Tube blurted.

"Of course, you didn't give them," Paintbrush said, stepping forward towards them. "Why else would me and Balloon have come to talk to you out of nowhere?".

"You....took my files.....?" Cabby spluttered in horror and shock.

"And betrayed my trust...." Test Tube said, her hands clammy.

"Oh you would know something about betraying trust and keeping secrets, wouldn't you dear?".

All heads spun around towards Bow who held not one but TWO files: the pink one of herself in one hand, tattered and battered. And in the other hand, the forest green of Test Tube's.

"B....Bow?" Test Tube muttered, confused.

"Oh don't "Bow" me. I know you're hiding who I am. I mean, you surely know what I really am. I'm dead," she said, beckoning to her file. " But tell me, Miss Scientist, why am I here? And why can't I read some of the stuff in my file that others can read fine, huh? Well?".

"B...Bow I..." Test Tube began, her mind racing. THIS was the trap of her failures. Now, without careful maneuver, she could set off even a tick in this minefield.

"W...well you are dead. But.....that's....a different Bow. The....the real Bow. Because.... you're not....really......bow.".

The air was tense as silence seemed to engulf the elimination area. Mephone crawled under the TV screen, searching for the remote and not really paying attention to the contestant's drama.

"Me and Fan could never.....accept her death. With my knowledge of science and Fan's knowledge of her we wanted to...right a wrong. Plus, we'd already lost something so we thought this would....help us.".

"So I'm.....a robot? A.....bowbot?" the pink bow-shaped object said, her eyes widening in shock. This was it. Their confirmation. Their ugly, horrible confirmation.

Oh how it stung to find the answer they had looked for.

"Well.........yes. To say the least. And I made sure to program you so you wouldn't remember anything involving your death..." Test Tube replied casually. This last phrase seemed to ignite a fire of despair and quelled anger in the small thing.

"But that doesn't matter, does it? I'm not Bow!!!" she yelled, her eyes contorting with anger.

"B...Bow....".

But she was not going to listen. She pointed a finger, her words direct and sharp with that harsh American-style accent crackling as she spoke.

"Are you listening? Just because you programmed me with a few phrases and put a shell on me doesn't make me Bow. Look, I'm sorry for whatever loss you went through but lemme make one thing clear. You all are very lucky. Mephone can bring you back if you die. But me? No. I won't come back. Because I'm not like you." she ranted, her face showing more anger and betrayal than ever.

"Because I'm a robot. Because

I'M!!!

NOT!!!!!

BOW!!!!!!!!!".

She stamped her feet, throwing the two files towards Test Tube and Cabby in shock and sprinting off in the opposite direction. Test Tube reached a hand out in her direction, tears flowing down her cheeks. "B...Bot..." she gasped as Cabby put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm.....so sorry...Test Tube I..."

"Sorry to break up this magical moment buuuut...." Mephone said, pulling Cabby aside and pushing her in front of the Eliminated camera. "...you'll need to get going. So long Cabster!".

"WAIT-!!!!" Cabby yelled as Test Tube looked back, seeing the red blur hit her like a truck as she flew into the distance with a scream that faded.

The other left, the events of that night preserved in their minds. Paintbrush headed off in Bot's direction to look for her, as did balloon. Silver strode towards the Pinker's cabin. The lights flashed off, the camera stopped playing as Mephone strolled off towards the Pic-Nix table. Test Tube stood alone, tears streaming down her face at what had happened. She picked up the file on her and the file on "Bow", gripping them tightly as guilt flooded her heart.

Chapter Text

Sunshine donned the island in a mellow glow, with springtime air to uplift moods. Across the landscape, grass was a pristine and sharp-cut green, contrasted by the tall, leafless trees, all of whom were sprouting new white flower buds and yellow lime feathers of foliage. High up, standing higher than the heavens were two huge platforms. One pink, the other yellow. Each connected by a bridge, with a white pad in the centre. Beneath, a huge box sprung all the way down, grey as rain clouds.

The group of Contestants huddled close by as Clover hit the on button, for the propped-up, fangled, and battered camera. "Greetings, viewers at home!" Silver proclaimed boldly, shoving Balloon and Paintbrush aside as he put on a showman face for the shot. "You are now watching the first TELEVISED episode of inanimate insanity invitational, with flattering faces such as mine!". He gave a small twirl as the camera was moved onto a mildly annoyed but cheery Paintbrush. 

"And, a prime chance for ME, the dazzling paintbrush to be nominated by The Groscers!!!" They said, gesturing to themselves with pride and charm. Silver scoffed a slight chuckle. "Carefully Painty. You might blow yourself up trying." he said, holding back a laugh as he noticed their anger-strewing face.

"Well Silver, you sure have a lot to say to a Veteran player of ii...." they said, still holding up a look of charm. "And we all know the audience loves a good returner.". This statement made a nearby Yin Yang cough his drink slightly, the darker half raising their fist at their old Bright Light's leader. They moved to speak, but Yin simply shut the lips, much to his other half's disgruntlement.

"Maybe." Silver retorted, scoffing again as he was up close and in Paintbrush's face. "But maybe today, Painty, the fresh face shall steal the show!".

"AND I'LL BE A PART OF IT!!!".

Both of them yelped, with Paintbrush falling over and Silver tumbling on his legs, barely managing to keep himself standing straight. They began a confused and angry debacle with the naive and cheery Floor, and Balloon walked away from his arguing team members. He stared up at the monolith pink tower, shining in its paleness and reflecting a sour taste in the air. 

"Had to get away from your team too huh?" he heard a familiar voice as he turned, spotting the sarcastic and sneering Nickel, leaning against the wall and jokingly shoving him with a knee. This would prove a little too far for what he could manage as he slipped on his other leg and fell face flat. Balloon chuckled as he helped his silvery coin friend up.

"I'm doing as well as you," he replied, seeing Nickel's team in the back. Yin Yang was busy debating whether they should eat the somehow still in good quality mile-high pie that had spots of mould along the height, half falling apart and greyed. Meanwhile, Candle was nowhere in sight. "Even if our team manages, we aren't looking too strong. I mean, I had to" he said, whispering the next part so he wouldn't be heard by a specific Blue Phone. "Cheat, to get our win.".

"Yeah well, at least your team isn't with complex drama. "Balloon sighed, staring at Bot, who was sat, face expressionless as Goo obliviously yammered about Pine Cones. They adorned a yellow sombrero, with a banded pink strip around the base. His eyes were followed by Nickel as they looked towards the flat-faced bot.

Nearby, at the calm-down cabana, Test Tube sighed, still holding onto the bow file. She looked at blueprints in her other hand from when she was designing Bot. "Hmmm...." she wondered, still unable to comprehend the previous night's elimination. Fan had asked her to tell, yet she'd hesitated. She'd failed to. And that failure had cost her one the greatest allies and friends.

What would Fan have done here? For all her knowledge, she was terrible at fixing her mistakes without much of a leg to stand on. And this time, hew sure could she be that she, the liar, scoundrel, identity enforcing scientist in over all her knowledge Test Tube gonna get through this?

She was startled by the swing of the cabana's woodwind doors, along with the crack of a branch from outside. "AH!!!" she yelped, dropping the file, it pages scattering across the floor. "O....Oh. It's just....you....". The short, dark-haired Candle walked in, carefully sidestepping the papers and bending down with Test Tube to help pick them up.

"I....golly you scared me...." she said, hastily gathering pages and documents and stuffing them into the pink scrappy file. Candle picked up some blue paper, showing an early design of Bow Bot, with the central part complete but the side pieces still appear as a series of frameworks and lose stringy connections.

"Mephone wants everyone together for a photo," she said, as she passed Test Tube some blueprints. "For the first televised episode," she added.

"I......fine." Test Tube reluctantly agreed, heading for the door, still trying to scrappily pack her files. Her head clonked against the door as she rubbed her face but continued walking before Candle could respond. Her face and the side of her glass had a visible crack, which was covered by the gleaming sunlight.

Candle felt a page of paper brush her leg as she began to leave. Picking it up, she found scribbles and doodles and a whole bunch of diagrams, all in the green, scientist's handwriting and sloppy, messy style. Her scrappy scribbles scrawled the pages, each more morbid and ubiquitous than the last one.

"Hi Bot I'm...Really sorry for... lying to u" one read, a huge blot of ink smeared all over this one.

"Bot, listen I.....I wanted to apologise for..." another read, angry scribbles marking that one out.

Another one was a mesh of marlarky blots and violent scribbles, all making it hard to see. The only discernible word was "Fan" at some point in the hot pot of unclear writing. 

And another.

And another.

And....

Candle put the page down, disturbed and shocked by the writings. She'd heard something had gone wrong had happened at the elimination, the last time. Paintbrush and Balloon seemed strangely stoic to Test Tube while Silver seemed gloating and prideful, like he'd been after Oj' s elimination.

And then there was Bow. Since last night, she wore a sombrero hat, nervous. Candle had sensed no aura within her and Test Tube seemed to refer to her as "Bot" or "Bow Bot" in her diagrams and doodles. Had it been to do with that? "Bow" had been tense, usually sticking with Goo, unspeaking and usually not talkative.

She decided she would try to talk to Paintbrush about everything that went down after today's elimination since they had been present there. "If I'm still here, that is." she mumbled, taking care to pull the door first, still remembering Test Tube's tired and worried look and her unusual clumsiness.

...

Bow Bot stood the grey, matted rock, away from everyone. She scratched her hair, still remembering just a few days ago, when she'd learned the truth. But....surely it was wrong. She couldn't be a robot, right? Robots couldn't talk. Robots couldn't think. They couldn't feel. There had to be something else. Maybe Test Tube had lied again, to cover up a more real truth.

"Argh.....This....itch" she mumbled, scratching her head harder, loose strands of hair being swept aside. Test Tube had lied about her. What's to say she had been truthful again? She continued scratching, feeling warm liquid on her hand, causing her to panic. Taking a look, she found the fingers covered in red liquid, along with a mess of hair. 

Bow gasped, relief flooding her as she put the arm down, next to a sombrero hat Fan had given to her after episode one. She wasn't a robot. She could feel and think and believe and bleed. Sure, it would worry some to see that mark but....the hat would cover it. Test Tube had to be hiding something else. After all, a robot couldn't bleed.

But.....she'd heard talks of Test Tube being an amazing scientist. One who had made a half-scrapped laser rifle out of a telescope and a taser. One whom had built rocket ships out of nothing but wood or a vending machine. One who had made an entire time travel device within a calculator. So, who was to say she couldn't make a robot replica of a person?

"N.....No...." Bow mumbled, still trying to comprehend her existence. She was a real person who just happened to be called and act and talk like Bow. That was it. "I....ack!". Her fingers reached up again, the itch persisting harder. Her hand was scraping as her hair fell down. She was a real person. She was real. She was real. She was real. 

Her fingers hit a clip in her head, which she started to pick and tear, fast.

"I am real.".

The fragment was loose as she pulled.

"I am real.".

Bow felt her fingers tug. The piece of her head was coming off, seeming like there was hair or strings underneath.

"I am real. I am....".

She gasped. Her hair sizzled from the static as she moved her hand forward. Her mind felt funny, her face was weird as he looked at it.

Covered in red liquid, a small shard of metal, pink on one side, grey on the other. The ends of blue and red wires were present as she witnessed, her head still buzzing, the open wires on her skull fizzling out. She couldn't believe it. he wouldn't. It....she...

"N....No...." Bow mumbled, their eyes distorting as they dropped it, the realisation echoing through her skull.

"I'm......not......me......?".

...

Clover seemed disheartened as Nickel walked off, seeming uninterested in the group photo. "Just edit me in later. I'd rather not hang about some shmucks," he said, making sure Mephone wouldn't notice him heading to the pic nix table again. Clover sighed as Candle put an arm around her.

"Don't worry. With a little luck, maybe he'll come around," she said as the two walked over to the camera where everyone else stood. "I wish I wasn't so lucky...."Clover sighed, standing next to Silver, whose face was partially covered by their raised arm. Next to them, Goo and Blue Berry were squashed between them and Yin Yang, Goo's blue body practically squeezing on Balloon's helium-filled stature. Yin's eye twitched as he kept his arm low, using unseen fingers to pinch himself. Yang, on the other hand, had their hand high in the air, taking control of the smile on Yin's side and showcasing a wide, devious and chaotic smile. 

Beneath Yin Yang, Floory smiled naively, almost as small as a button in the squashed space. Test Tube and "Bow" stood, at the end, each avoiding eye contact and trying to keep smiles for the photo. Test Tube's heart raced with panic,  noticing something off. Her eyes seemed slanted and shallow, her grin, though cheery, didn't seem genuine. She wore a straw sombrero hat, a bright rose-pink band around the base. Through the bands of straw, she could see a vague red and blue.

Had she confirmed it? Did she know? Test Tube sweated, knowing she had to fix things soon, both for strategic game plan but also to help the person she and Fan had a hand in making. A task that would be harder, should she be eliminated. She bit her lip, looking at Camera as Candle moved into place next to Clover.

Snip!

FLASH!!!

"Yin blinked.".

 A strange creak could be heard as butterflies flew overhead. Test Tube shook her knee, tensing from the anticipation that, something terrible might suddenly happen.

"It's true. Can we retake it?" Yin said, scratching his eye. Nearby, Balloon and Goo both let out audible groans. "I wouldn't go that far." Yang replied.

Everyone re-adjusted back into position, as Candle pressed the button and got back into place. Up ahead, the sun obscured the view as Mephone tinkered with the emails on himself, ecstatic but nervous for the Guest's arrival. He didn't see the rouge butterfly, drifting and landing on the top of the pink tower as the wind hummed.

Snip!!!

Test Tube's eyes averted as she panicked. Her throat in her lungs, her fingers in her knee, she heard the creaking fall before she saw and her hands shoved to her right.

FLASH!!!

CRASH!!!!!!!!

Bow landed several feet away, her hat falling off. She turned, grabbing her hat hurriedly, only to see the entire pink building-like structure toppled upon her fellow contestants. In front of her, she could see shattered glass everywhere and green liquid from the place she had been. She could still hear echoes of the scientist's screams as she had been crushed, right where she would've been.

Where she would've died.

...

"Wow, it's so bleak over here since I left." Nickel sarcastically stated, witnessing the lack of chatter and arguments and chit chat. "Seriously though, who died?".

The grass singed from lime green liquids, winds swaying lemon-leaved trees in the devastating aftermath. The sound of the colossal killing impact still reverberated out for miles, beyond the island, sounding like an airhorn through the day. "Everyone died Nickel," Mephone said, in a serious tone. There was no charm or show host pizazz or even any levitating humour. Just plain and simple, shock. "Everyone.".

He lowered himself with the crane,  walking to the huge tipped-over pink box, the only remains of anyone under being the broken glass, some scraps of wood and a pile of stretched-thin, torn blue goo. Nickel walked over, in just as much shock at the damage, seeing red strips of rubber and flattened, floating green leaves. "I.....Oh my god..." he muttered, his eyes wandering over the scene. 

He noticed Bow, picking up an extra nasty shard of glass from her side. She stared at it, her expression seeming half guilty, half fearful. Like she had been under there and was in fact struggling to breathe right now. Her arm tightened grip on the shard, its smooth surface cracking a little more, chips falling off the edges. "H...Hey uhhh Bow? You.....You ok?" Nickel asked, approaching her as Mephone began to use his Meeple abilities to clean away the mess and fix up the towering bridge, its open end already starting to droop.

She simply did not move or respond. Her eyes remained wide as, for a brief second, he could perhaps just spot the pupils flicker and her lips seem to distort. A techy FWIP  noise was audible for less then a fraction of a second. Yet, as he blinked, there was nothing. Bow simply stood, the glass in her hand cracking in her grip as she may not have even realised how tight she held it.

"B...Bow? You're...holding that a little strong..."Nickel noted to her, propping her hand to jerk, and seamlessly break the shard, dropping it as 3 smaller pieces. She stepped back, shocked as she turned towards him. "N....Nickel geez you...You scared me...hah hah....." she blurted, looking awkward and unsure as she ran in the opposite direction, to his confusion. 

...

Mephone approached Bow, on the rocks as he looked back nervously at the crane where Ball Point Pen stood, note writing his thoughts of the previous bridge matchup. Bow had remembered witnessing Silver(or Candle, with Silver's body) calmly walk over to the central platform, winning the (opposing) team points. "Mhm....Listen Bow...." Mephone began, glancing between her and BPP. "I know that today and....last elimination has....had an effect on you but...I need you for the next matchup. And I know that you're not in the wrong body but...could you pretend to be?".

"H...Huh?" Bow said, looking up at him, still processing what had happened. "O..Oh yeah I...I can do it. No problem!" she said, walking hurriedly towards the platforms with a quick, almost sudden smile. Her eye seemed to twitch as she turned away from Mephone who felt something was off. Maybe it was something to do with the previous elimination since she had seemed to be acting weird since then and he hadn't really bothered to pay attention to the chaos, post-verdict. "Hmmm..." he thought, watching her run frantically to the elevator and sporadically enter, ready to head up.

Yin Yang witnessed his opponent, remembering they had to act like he was Bow in this body. "Waoh like, how do you move two halves!!?" Yin mambled, causing Yang (on the lighter side) to groan in embarrassment. "Wow, you sure can put an act." they muttered, causing the other the gasp.

"H...Hey! It's not easy being on this side!! The leg movement is so hard when your facing this side!" he complained, preparing his fist to block a punch. Yet, to his surprise, Yang simply spoke. "O...Oh really? I never knew it could be that hard for you." he said, in the most strangely sincere and empathetic way possible, something that Yin had never considered them to be. However, just for safety, he played along, still readying himself for some kind if sick or chaotic joke.

"Well yeah, I....I don't know how you do it on this side. Usually, I'm used to moving about the right." he replied, as he felt Yang's (or rather his) hand pat the head on the darker half. Well, I'm sorry for you there. Heck, if we're stuck like this, I could teach you how to move that side." he said, jokingly jabbing him with a finger.

"Oh, I...thank you, Yang." Yin said, only for his other half to yell out "BUT ONLY IF YOU TEACH ME HOW THEASE FINGERS OF YOURS PICK UP CANS!!!". The outburst shook him but also made him laugh. "Sure," he said, as they turned to face their opposite end of the bridge foe. She waddled awkwardly on one leg, repeatedly yelling "Water!!!" and "DR FIZZ!!!" in a pale imitation of them.

"Just....Just gotta get through this..."she mumbled to herself. The back of her head seemed to throb as she remembered pulling that piece of herself out. Her hand seemed to ache, like she still held the glass shard. "N...No No I....I can do this...I can. Just...one simple challenge and that's it...". Her eyes twitched as she rubbed them, hoping the pain and itchiness would subside as she heard the crane platform begin to rise.

"Tsk, some people." Yin said, surprised at the terrible accent. Everyone heard the platform, BPP's pen clicking as he observed the new contestant set. Mephone tapped the mic, a soft booming sound echoing out from it as he spoke. "Greetings again viewers." he began, putting on his classy showman face for the active cameras.

"Our next matchup: Bow vs Yin Yang!!!".

Bow seemed to wobble and laugh nervously, switching between a frown and a half smile. Meanwhile, Yin Yang was much more calm and focused, looking as though they were preparing to do something ludicrous like, jump up a wall. Bow's face was half stricken with panic and half glitchy as she ran to the centre. 

"I can do it. I can...I can...I...I..." she thought, her thoughts spiralling as she stopped, despite Yin Yang still trying to figure out their run. Her brain was frazzled, millions of thoughts rushing through at once, yet not a single could be grasped. "I.....I.....I..." she mumbled, her head radiating with pain. "TIMEOUT!!!!" the pink ribboned, sombrero adorning cretin yelled, running in the opposite direction. Her voice seemed to crack, sporatic buggy noise coming out at some parts.

"I....huh?". Yin and Yang looked confused at his opponent seeming to run in the other way. Mephone had shock as he nervously looked at Pen, who had an equally confused look. His fingers continued to write, sending panic through Mephone.

"Uhhh...Uhh...Send us a commercial break." he yelled frantically to the camera. "SEND US A COMMERCIAL BREAK!!!!".

...

Mephone watched from a distance, seeing the nerve-racking and glitching girl scraping her own head in agony. He held a bout of sympathy for his robot fellow, yet knew he wouldn't have long to stay, seeing as Ball Point Pen wouldn't be kept waiting long. Test Tube and Candle were behind him, each in the body of Clover and Silver Spoon respectively. He had a look of concern on his face as Candle spoke.

"Mephone we.....we can't be making her....go out there again, right?" she asked, watching the poor Bot struggle, itching mad. Test Tube had a guilty look, still wondering how she could've let slip such a precious thing about the one she and Fan had made.

His eyes wandered to her, as he nodded simply. "I'll do what I can. Make sure you two stay with her. If.... you're ok with it Candle." he said, turning to steer BPP away and twist the live broadcast. She simply looked back with an apprehensive but firm nod. "Bow Bot is much more important than....the risk of losing the game," she said, as Mephone left.

As he left, she turned to the pale and guilt-racked scientist. Placing a hand on her shoulder, she looked at the nervous and unsure clover with a rocket scientist's mind. "Test Tube we...We know things are hard. What with, how this...."Bot" situation has turned so sour. But..." she said, looking over to the still itch-scratching, shaking Bow Bot. "She needs someone to help her and steer her into safety. She needs...you.".

"I...I..I know but....what if I...mess up again?" Test Tube responded, reflexively moving her hand away from her arm, considering it wasn't HER arm. "I thought I knew how to do all this before and....and it....it hurt the person I was close with...". Memories flashed of his betrayed and shocked facial expression as she turned away from him, clutching the patterned egg while made not even a sound through the elimination portal.

"Well, what happened last season only did because you didn't have time to do anything, till the right thing became...the wrong thing. But here, you..." Candle gestured to the glitching, shaking one, her head zapping and pouring with blood. "You have a chance.  A chance to....right your wrongs.".

Test Tube could only nod, as she felt urgency. Urgency to do something. Anything. Candle passed her the silken, purple and black scarf she usually adorned in her own body that Silver had simply cast to her in embarrassment and shock of his new found body swapped predicament. "Th...Thanks. I'll...I'll try." she said, heading over to her creation, mind set on helping them.

...

She sat, clawing her head like. Her eyes were wide in shock and agony as blood stained her hands, the wires zapping with each touch and causing another tuft of hair to fall, frazzled and fried.  The wind blew, sending a shiver through her as she occasionally coughed a strange, robotic malfuctionish noise, her thoughts echoing in on her metallic skull like drums in a tiny box.

Metal skull.

What a fool she was to chase answers. Her arms were growing tired from her the scratching, yet she continued, her arms seeming to move at their own pace. Her face kept warping, eyes glitching out and mouth only letting zappy white noise. What a fool she was for trying to be anything more. They had made her perfect. She had been made good enough, but she had to search for answers. She had to search for her proof, despite being told. She, Bow, was nothing more than a robot, a shell of someone she could barely grasp to be. Or die trying.

She had to...

She had to...

A hand grabbed hers, moving them away from her head. She felt woozy as another hand fiddled with the wires poking out of her head. The trains of thought seemed to slow down, the constant pressure in her head was easing. Her eyes stopped glitching. She gasped and the noise was not white but her voice. The fingers coiled the several connections as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I'm....I'm sorry. About......About everything you've had to go through. Because of me." Test Tube's voice muttered to her, soft and close. Her other hand patted Bow Bot, her mind still pacing and jittering. "But....I'll right that wrong. I'll help you.".

It was Clover's body, sure, but the unmistakable care and skill and voice of the scientist herself. Her hands moved the wiring insanely fast, her knowledge of each individual connection clear enough to avoid the zaps. Bow could feel nothing but numbness as her tears poured.

"Hey, why the frown? I'll stay here. I promise." she said, lifting her face and wiping the tears, looking at her creation with every ounce of care she couldn't contain. Her hand cupped their face, holding them close.

"I....I......I would've...." she mumbled, the memory of the huge pink tower crashing, still coursing through her mind. The boom. The shards of glass. The pounding of her skull. "I....I'm not....me....".

Test Tube brushed her hair as she spoke, wiping the blood from their head. "Well you can bleed, right, Bot?" she asked, her hand coated a light red. Bow Bot had not a response.

"You can feel, you can fear, you can cry. Honestly, so what if death is more permanent for you?" she inquired, imagining how bad it must've been to have almost been crushed and killed. For her, it had been a millisecond of agony, so the thought would've been ten times as bad for them. "You know, you said to me....that...that we're all very lucky because Mephone can bring us back.

But....so what?".

Bot's tears stopped, her face still warping slightly. "H....Huh? But...." she began, only for Test Tube to place a finger to their lips.

"And really, that just makes you more....special?" she explained, causing Bow Bot to give a confused look.

"I mean, what's more real then mortality? What's more real than fearing for your life? If...if anything...."Bot"......" she continued, holding her pride close as she spoke her words with every bit of sincerity. "The fact that we can die and come back like nothing.....

That makes us less real.".

Their face remained silent as she stared, the words melding to her like a kind of butter. Bow choked on a strange gulp in her throat, as Test Tube put a hand around her. Her other hand wrapped a scarf around the open wound in skull, tightening the metal into place as a temporary holder and stopping the blood flow. 

"I promise. I'll....I'll fix you. And....And I'll help you become who....who you...want to be.".

She dropped her hands, as Bot processed the promise. Her face was stoic, still taking time to comprehend what she had just said. Her mind and body felt relief, the itch finally stopped. The words "fix" and "help" seemed to shatter through her head. Her eyes dropped, fatigue hitting her senses as they dropped into her arms, slightly smiling with a tear of happiness rolling down their face. 

"Th.....Thank you....." she barely mumbled as her vision blurred, barely able to make out a thing. Test Tube simply smiled, feeling compassion and care like never before as she held the now passed-out Bow Bot. Their face was obscured, yet Test Tube could only hold her closer as she felt euphorically happy. Happy?

Yes, happy. Happy that, at least once, she had been able to right one of her many...many wrongs.

Bot's body moved no more, her breath heavy as she was curled up. Unmoving. The wires in her head no longer buzzing, the only sound out of her head was a light, low hum, Like that of a bee. Or a ladybug. 

Or a butterfly.

Chapter Text

The Sun beat the island in an early heat haze, making all feel a dazzle. Trees that once swayed naked now stood tall, adorning several hundreds of green leaves. The once fierce winds of winters had subsidized over spring, as Bees & Butterflies swafted and swayed over flowered fields of reds, blues, yellows, and whites. An aroma of grass and pine sifted into the noses of anyone who happened to be out at such an hour. 

Goo hummed to himself, his blue sticky goo smeared around the area which he had nestled. The air hummed with the sound of insects as they flitted around the sweet berry bushes, while he rearranged his numerous pine cones scattered about. The prickly but smooth wooden feeling was soothing as he made soft purrs, completely relaxed and stress-free, relishing the warm Sun on his face. An over-looming shadow obscured the rays as he grumbled. Mechanical legs sprang with a skree sound as he found himself face to face with a smiling, very tall Bow.

"AAAAH!!!!" He yelped, pines scattering across the grass as he leapt back, the ground slightly sticking him in place. His face melded in panic and shock as he slowly adjusted, registering Bow, standing on legs which seemed abnormally taller. "B....Bow? What kind of rack torture were you put through!?" he mambled, unsure of what he was witnessing. They proceeded to whizz down to his level, the legs shortening till they were barely stumps out of her circular, pink body. She pulled out a sketch pad and a small Pen, upon which she scribbled words in her, rather neat and curly handwriting.

"No torture, just these new robotic legs I got!!!

Also like, yeah. I'm a robot now. Pretty cool, huh!!?" the words read as she beamed at him, glee in her smile. The sun's rays beat through the bush, casting his scattered pines in a soft glow. Yet he made not an advance for them as he returned an even more cheery and excited smile. "Wow really? Since when!?" he said, audibly yelping with a slight glee as his goo rolled and waved in pockets from excitement.

Once more, she hastily scrawled a message and slid another note across to him. The handwriting was elegant, despite the speed with which it must have been written. "Yeah, Test Tube and Fan like, built me before this season.

Aslo she gave me new legs to get up HIGH!!!".

She took the note back hurriedly, correcting her typo and adding a new line. "Plus, she let me choose a new voice, which is why I can't speak.".

"Oh my pine cone, I can't wait to hear your new voice!!!" he said, as they heard they twirled, one of their legs taller than the other and shrinking as they spun. Yet, in their flaunting display of flattering fandango, they tumbled, catching themselves with the whirr of their other leg extending in a somewhat accidentally amazing finisher for her routine.

"Well uhhh.....Bow that's like, the best thing I ever-" Goo started, only to be passed another piece of paper. "Huh?" he audibly grunted at the bark starch in his face as he read the words.

"Oh yeah, I'm not Bow. So.....TBD I guess? :)".

"OMPC, TBD!? Such an awesome name!!!" he yammed, bobbing up and down in slight joy. "I love it!!!" he added, the blue surface of his Goo shimmering a slightly dull light green, as he hustled his face around in murmurous happiness. His gooey form shaped into a large hand as he found another note, his friend still happy, yet remaining a calmer face. 

"TBD just means, To Be Determined, Goo!" It read as they gave a sincere smile, her eyes fluttering. The traces of purple bandages were faintly visible on her pink shell, through the still slightly ruffled spots of hair, but he was too caught up in his joy to pay them any mind. His body morphed into all sorts of shapes as he purred and mambled in excitement. She used her hands to sign one of the few phrases they had learned some time ago.: "I'll see you around, friend". Bow Bot's hands moved slowly, so as to get the message clearly across without messing it up.

He shifted into a thumbs-up as he smiled. "I'll see you around too, TBD!!!" he said, ruffling the pine cones around him as he rambled and warbled. "Me an You have JUST Begun our techy fun-filled journey TBD!!! We will go to every Mountain and we'll see wonders and sites and we'll ride a train and a plane and we'll go to....".

The cheery blob's voice faded as she strolled away, her hand lifting in a wave, her smile waning with the turn. Indeed, he appeared to be handling the "Robot" situation quite well. But perhaps, he was handling it a bit too well? Could there be such a thing as too well? Her thoughts quickened as Bot took a breath, wishing there hadn't been any miscommunication with their dear friend. The last thing they wanted was for their friend to mess up, possibly getting eliminated.

...

Mephone stood before the decade of players still in the game. He breathed a heavy sigh, hoping this time, things wouldn't go as poorly with their "Special guest" there. Last thing he needed was almost the entire cast to die and end up body-swapped again. Or, something worse. Whatever worse could be. 

They all chattered, Paint Brush and Balloon seeing Bow Bot's new extendable legs and marvelling at their pretty sick advancements as a person. Nearby, Test Tube watched with barely concealed pride as her creation performed with zest, captivating onlookers with their juggling and dance maneuvers. Next to her, Nickel stood, watching in amazement and awe at Bow's new abilities. He smirked, finding her antics hilarious and cool. 

Over on his side, Yin Yang, Candle, and Floor were sat together, meditation. Every time Yin or Yang blurted out any words, (mainly Yang), she struck the pink salt crystal she held with her two-pronged metal fork. The sharp 'Ding' and the ensuing high-pitched hum wiped the expressions from the duo's faces, instantly halting their bicker and bark. The sound also made a nearby Silver, boasting pridefully of his candid performance to an irritated and bored paintbrush, seem to fall over, the same blank expression on his face. 

"Hmm, may have to work on the power there..." she muttered, watching him clumsily get up, his expression sour as Paintbrush seemed to chuckle. Hopefully, she could see more of his antics post-merge.

"Well, our final 10!!!!" Mephone proclaimed, captivating every contestant's attention as the next challenge seemed to loom over their heads. "You know, it's ALWAYS such a struggle to make such shows, even on paper.". Behind him, was a large cloth, coveting a strange machine. They could also see a figure moving around underneath, seemingly attempting to remain hidden and inconspicuous. "So instead, I thought "Why should I suffer in the art of creation alone? After all, we've got Two teams of five, all with plenty of creative qualities. AND, the perfect resource for your own cartoon, RIGHT HERE!!!".

He pulled back the cloth, only for it to be yanked on a corner of the machine and barely reveal who hid under a coffee table support, mounted upon which was a black box, bulky but sleek. Balloon and Floor both gasped at the sight of this person, while Mephone groaned and struggled to yank the rest of the sheet off. The Guest, beckoned by Mephone to introduce themselves while he continued to yank at the large cloth, was met by an enthusiastic Balloon and Floory.

"ITS REALLY YOU!!!" Balloon said, a notebook full of doodles in one hand. He jumped gleefully with joy. 

"THE CARTOON MASTER!!!!" Floory squealed, the part of floor he occupied crackling as he grasped a blue and white pen, with a logo that reassembled this new person.

"ZOETROPE!!!!".

He pushed the enthusiastic Balloon back and moved past the excitedly squirming Floor, talking to the group as a collective.

"Yes, it is I, master of many beloved cartoons, Zoe Trope!!!" he said, to a mixture of A state of glee, a touch of mild happiness, and a hint of confusion from people such as Nickel and Bow Bot. "Animating cartoons, as the industry will lie to you about, couldn't be easier than ever, since we don't live in medieval times anymore. Especially with something like this!!!"

Finally, with one last heaving pull, the sheet was ripped away, its corner still stuck. Annoyed, he used his creation abilities to summon a large fan, blowing the remaining shred of pink curtain cloth into the air and away. The machine stood tall and grand, almost touching the sky. Its metallic cover an industrious black, with a grey shoot pipe on one side and a huge plug, hooked up to a sleek and square tv stand on the other. A large "Zoe Trope Studios" logo was plastered in white and brown writing, shimmering with an iron-painted glow.

"I have NO idea how cartoon making works, so I got Zoe Trope to bring one his gadgets down to help you teams.

Each team will divide its members into roles." Mephone explained. 

Zoe Trope stepped up, putting a very forefront smile on as he added "EACH role has the utmost importance. There's

Director, who will manage and oversee the project. Although, at this stage, they have seen all fees paid and work done, so you just sit in the high chair here!!" he said, patting the tall black cloth chairs, situated on steel stilts. "And we can't forget...

The Writer, who will write the story!

The Artist, who is going to make character designs and backgrounds.

The fundraiser, who will gather money for the project.

And, Craft Services".

"Craft Services?" Test Tube said, confused. Sharing her confusion, Bow Bot and Goo stared, as Nickle held a scowling bewildered expression. Silver Spoon, usually boastful, found he had lost all words and colour from his eyes in shock. Even the chaos and carnage causing Yin Yang seemed to be unable to understand the last role.

Sensing the two teams shared confusion, Mephone stepped up. "Well of course!!! What's a team without their morsels!!?" he said, waving his hand and flashing a soft grin. He may have been going for something toothy and sharp, but the expression came off funky and funny, making Balloon snicker slightly and Nickle cough to hide his laugh.

"Well, won't we someone to....animate it?" Paintbrush asked, still not convinced about the necessity of the "Craft Services" role. Several others murmured in agreement, with Bow Bot and Candle looking especially worried at the prospect. Zoetrope however keeping a callous and calm smile, simply put a finger up to silence the cluttered and muttering crowd.

"Ah no. With such a machine as this, you simply need input ideas, artwork and fuel." he explained, tapping the boxy thing behind him. The metal made a drumming clang as his fist lightly tapped, making Bow Bot wobble slightly on their legs and Nickel almost fall over dizzy. Test Tube held onto both of them, ensuring neither would fall. "Again, we aren't in medieval times no more.".

"Well, what's the fuel?" a hesitant and nervous-looking Goo asked. Last thing he needed was TO BE the required fuel. Zoe simply chuckled as he said his next words.

"Oh, nothing really. Just

COLD HARD CASH!!!".

Yin Yang jumped in surprise at the sudden voice change, his legs crumbling like jelly as he fell face first. Balloon seemed to deflate. Paintbrush, Silver and Candle all stared in abject horror and shock, realising that now there would be an ever-present weight on whoever it was that had to collect the funds. Test Tube coughed up slightly in shock, her liquid almost spilling from her sudden jumpy movements.

"Anyway, you have 3 hours," Mephone said, amidst their shock. "So, get yourself ready, because whatever you have, you put in!!!" he declared, a small bell noise ringing out from his speaker.

Paintbrush approached Bow Bot with a hesitant chuckle. "Hey uhhh listen....Bow? Bot? Bow Bot? Uhh..".

Test Tube stepped behind Bot, making gestures to her with hand signals as she said "Oh, she goes by whatever. I just call her Bot for now." she explained, putting one hand on the pink shoulder and brushing aside some of the messy brown hair.

"Oh ok. It's nice to see you sorted that whole....thing Test Tube. I was just wondering...Sorry..." they replied, rubbing their neck in mild embarrassment and humiliation. Bow Bot responded with a series of hand gestures, slow and well-pronounced, making Test Tube laugh a little.

"Hey, you can't say THAT now." she jokingly said, rubbing the small cretin's head. In response, their legs shot out under them as they stood higher than Test Tube and even Paintbrush. Her face adorned a smug smirk as they patted the scientist on her head, before reverting back to their normal height.

"Anyways, I think it'd work out best if I was director of this challenge." She continued, leaning against the steel chair leg. Bot nodded in agreement, while Paintbrush simply shrugged their shoulders. "Eh, as long as we can function well." they said, noticing Bot's hesitant stares as they looked at a stack of papers on the blue table nearby that were probably for drawing.

"Hey, it's alright. I'm sure whatever it is you choose to do, you'll do it well." they said reassuringly, giving the small robot a pat on their head. Her expression turned less bewildered as she dashed, picking up a pack of coloured pencils, some stencils and ink pens. 

"W....Wait but...I wanted to...."Paintbrush began, trailing off as they saw her happy and excited face, already doodling away ideas and sketching poses for a character. "Well, alright. It's not every day you get to try your hand at writing istea.......".

"Oooh Hoo Hoo!!!" That ear-smug and posh voice chortled mockingly, his eyes laced with delight and amusement. His fingers hovered over the metallic black typewriter, already strumming up a sheet of info, ready to be passed to Bot. "Sorry, Painty I won't be taking any more writing prompts or innuendos. However, if you'd like to help out, I'll take my oat milk latte with 3 pumps vanilla, 2 scoops cream and extra Sugar. Oh, and make it..." he continued, looking expectantly at the taller one, as though he believed them to actually take out some paper and write down said order.

Paintbrush, in turn, proceeded with the calmest course of actions they could compose to their compatriot Pinker: they shoved the typewriter off the desk, which landed with a hard clang on Silver's boot.

"ARRR HOO HOO!!!!" He hollered, looking distraught and disgusted. "BETRAYEL FROM MY ALLY!!!! I SHAN'T BE GOOD WORKING WITH SOMEONE SO TREACHEROUS AND ACTION PRONE!!!!" he cried out, hopping on one leg.

Paintbrush sighed, staring at the hollering cutlery in the way that a parent would look disappointed in one of their disruptive kids in the store. "Oh, I'm SO sorry Silver. It seems you just aren't well suited to writing scripts and should vacate your job!!!" they said, sarcasm and anger seething through their teeth. 

"Hey Hey!!! We can't have infighting in our project!!!" Test Tube demanded, catching them both off guard. She spoke through a megaphone, making Silver stop hopping around and Paintbrush stop seething. Her arms held the red and white megaphone, almost obscuring her face as the sun's light pierced through her glass and made her put a hand up. "I've got it! Co-Writers!!!" she declared, snapping her fingers in order.

"Co-Writers?" Both Paintbrush and Silver repeated. Silver's eyes narrowed at the tall, easily anger-prone art object. Paintbrush scoffed, not even taking a glance at that Posh, Arrogant British Cutlery. 

"Well, we're gonna have to make do with it." Test Tube again reiterated a serious tone in her voice. "Because, if we lose the challenge, our team goes up for elimination. Again.". Her words echoed to them like fire, as they remembered Cabby's elimination, the one before last. Except this time. there would be no Cabby to scapegoat for Silver or be Mad at the misrepresentation of in her files of them for Paintbrush. Each groaned a near-identical groan as Silver propped up the writing machine once more.

"W...Wait...Guys...."Balloon began as Paintbrush stormed off to another table to write on scrap paper and crappy pens while Silver winced as he sat back on his chair. His calls weren't heard as he groaned. "Ugh, guess I'll JUST raise the funds, Myself." he grumbled, grabbing a camera and a ring light stand.

...

Nickel watched anxiously from his director's stand. He felt an itch in his head. Like a tingle. Or a tinge. It crept across his forehead, making him feel un ease as he fiddled around in his chair. Despite how comfy (or rather uncomfy) this high-seated director's chair of his was, he couldn't shake it. This feeling, a feeling so present since the last elimination when that Cursed Clover, gave him a "wish of luck" or whatever. His mind itself seemed to itch as he pushed the thoughts of last episode, what with everyone dying and being revived so fast they'd had that whole "Mass Body Swap" Shebang. 

From where he sat, he noticed his team seemed a little fragmented. First, there was Candle at the writer's table. Her expression was cold, a pile of ashes by her side. Then there was Yin Yang, who seemed to be in some sort of argument with each other at the fundraiser shoot. And of course, Goo seemed to be idly giggling and wobbling as he drew, occasionally taking glances towards Bow Bot at the art table of the other team.

"Wait...." he began to no one. His heart was sinking as his mind was racked.

"Perfectionist tendencies....".

Candle held another page of writing above her head in dismay, anger strewn across her cold face as the paper ripped apart in her hands as ash.

"Unnecessary Negotiations...".

Yang seemed to be cackling while Yin was a mixture of enraged and mortified. 

"DISORAGNIZZED WORKK PLACE!!!?".

Goo quickly hurried out of the way as more papers seemed to collapse next to him, art and sketches strewn everywhere across the floor.

Nickel leapt down from his chair, somehow not breaking a bone. Yet his mind was on the chaos of his team. His breath was shaky and the tingling in his skull seemed to be ever present.

"I'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING!!!" he cried out, his worries and woes blasting with those five words. Nickel's knees bent as he was ready to run, to tell Candle to do something, to sort the dual-minded black and white cookie's emotional mess, to help Goo organise his sketches and designs. To do something. Anything. He had to...He would...

"Do something?".

"Huh?".

He saw them. Mephone was staring into his show host's fronted dismay, tapping his foot. Next to him, Zoetrope held an equally shamed look of dismay, his voice seeming laced with shock and utter disappointment.

"Last we checked, it isn't the director's job to "do something", Nickel. "Mephone said, reminding of what had been said of the Director's earlier.

"B...But I need to..." he began, only for Zoetrope to make a cough so he would fall silent.

"No buts. Your job is to sit on the chair, tell people what to do and overlook what happens!" Mephone added, beckoning him to get back on the chair.

The tingling in his head was even more present. So strong he felt sick. So potent, if he had arms he'd try to grasp it. It didn't help the Sun's low set glare meant that they didn't have much time left, though he was lucky that his director's chair prevented him from being blinded. If only he could have SOME luck in this kind of situation.

"Well uhhh.....it ISN'T really doing anything if I just.....go over there to tell them to do things?" he asked half-heartedly, his hope already falling. Why on earth would something as stupid or mind-numbingly inane as that? He was already stepping up the ladder, hoping there would be a chance later when they would pay him no attention. Maybe if he just...

"Can't argue with that logic. Go ahead." Mephone said, waving a hand dismissively. To say that the shiny silvery coin was shocked would be an understatement. Nickel found himself completely flabbergasted, so much so that he fell off the ladder he was about to climb. Mephone simply walked away and Trope just shrugged his shoulders.

After a moment of hesitation, he ran, straight to the writer's table. His legs hurt from the impact of the fall, but he cared not. His knees would usually buckle in such a predicament, but not today. Lucky him.

"Candle!! Wait I..." Nickel demanded as she looked at him, surprised by his sudden arrival. He leaned on the table, catching his breath as the adrenaline wore off and he felt that familiar numbness from running. "I need you to....go help...Yin Yang..." he panted, his legs like jelly. "Goo you can....take the writing...over..." he half yelled, half gasped over to the bubbling blue blob who eagerly took a stack of papers and a pen with him. One of the pages on his table seemed to have a drawing of Bow, with the title "The wonderous TBD" sketched out above in messy grey marker.

Candle brushed the pile of ash aside as she passed Nickel the chair. "I'll see what I can do." she replied as he sat, still catching his breath. He didn't even notice her walking away as he closed his eyes, hoping they'd make at least a buck for the show.

"Hey mate, you seem exhausted. Need anything?" Floory said, bending the ground so that Pic Nix table was right there. Upon it sat all sorts of desserts, drinks and delicacies. 

"You know....." Nickel began, still gasping for air. If Mephone saw him using this after he had been banned in episode 3, he'd surely be in worse trouble than a simple ban. Still, he cared not as he grabbed a strawberry milkshake. "Eh, why not? You only compete once.".

...

"We're DOOOOONE!!!" Silver boldly proclaimed as both he and Paintbrush held their finished script. Both flashed prideful grins as the Sun was descending, passing their paper piles to Test Tube. She scanned and her expression was a mixture of awe, surprise, fear and even genuine enjoyment.

"Golly!!! You wrote......ALL of this?" she asked, skimming through the countless pages. "Well, I think this is good enough. How's the artwork come along?" she asked Bot. The preoccupied artist seemed to be finishing up a final, very detailed character drawing as she gave a thumbs up, her face beaming in cheer. With her arms, she carried several papers over and used their extendable legs to reach up and pass the concepts. "Oh gee these...These are AMAZING!!!" Test Tube said as she passed some drawings to the other two.

"Wow, and here I thought delegating without much speaking would be an OBSTACLE, yet this is better than ANYTHING Painty has ever made." Silver proclaimed, much to his disgruntled partner's dismay. Bot simply headed back to their table, focusing on their drawing while Test Tube watched, not paying attention to the small bickering and banter going on next to her.

"Aww..." she said softly, pride pumping through her as she got off the director's chair, ready to submit the script and artwork into the machine. With a snap of her fingers, the arguing stopped as both carried a small neater than the rest select pile of writing as they headed for the machine. "Wait....".

The three of them stopped in their tracks as they heard gasping and panting. Turning around, Test Tube felt knots in her stomach as they saw Balloon, grasping a small bag with the word "Funds" written in the bright pink of their team colour. 

"Oh...." Paintbrush simply gasped, as Silver buckled onto them. His expression was sheet white as they all saw Nickel, Candle, Yin Yang and Floory help haul two carts filled to the brim with money. "We forgot Craft Services...." he said, swooning his hand over in an overdramatic fashion. "We're DOOMED!!!".

"Hey, I'm sure it's not THAT bad, right Balloon?" Test Tube said hesitantly as all eyes fell on him. He ruffled the bag as they saw 3 items drop into his hand.

"21 Dollars.......and 50 cents." He replied, expression worried yet dead as he scowled at the other three. Test Tube and Paintbrush laughed nervously, unwavering guilt on their faces. Silver meanwhile, continued to sway while rambling something about a "Oat Milk Latte with Double Vanilla pumps" or something. 

...

"Well, I just hope you two made at least a buck or two...." He demanded, his footsteps falling short and silent as he stared. Yet, it wasn't the fact that Candle had her inner flame active, causing items and the excitedly screaming and chanting Yin Yang spinning in circles. If anything, chaos such as this could be expected from those two Thinkers. But what really had his eye was the screen, displaying a digit far beyond what he could have imagined.

"Yes, the true power of the inner flame can be yours too..." They said, echoing through the voice of Candle in a subtly sarcastic notion of giving. "For just $999.99.".

The black and white cookie bros were as expressive in their glee and maddened with ripe relishing cheer. The darker half was cracking an extra wild smile while the lighter half was wide-eyed and ecstatically overjoyed, like a boy on a terrifying roller coaster. "And if we get 100 more dollars, Candle will SPIN ONCE!!!" Yang yelled, moving his fists and seeming to dance as he kicked away a small bicycle wheel. "And if we get 1,000, she will spin TWICE!!!" Yin yelled, causing the darker half to grumble in shock and disgruntlement. "Ok, now that's just pushing it, Yin.".

But no more donations could flow as the stream was cut, signifying them and Balloon (on his stage side) to return to the hosts. Both Candle and the still-over-static Yin Yang were on the ground once more, her inner flame a whisper in the past few moments as her fire returned to its regular warmth of sunshine yellow and molten wax orange. Helping the still-dazed cookie get back on their feet and making sure to steady them so they would be balanced again,  she trotted along the stage, making sure to collect several notes of cash and stuff them into not one, but two red wheelbarrows.

"O....Oh, my dollar...." Nickel gasped. He stepped forward and sifted through the piles of paper. Of stacks. Each at values of hundreds and thousands. All there. Each as real as the last. He turned to the Candle, who seemed to be softly striking her salt crystal with her clanger. Yin Yang stood next to her, dazed but gradually swaying less and less as their balance steadied her other arm no longer needed to keep pushing them to the side. She made sure they weren't going to tumble over and roll like a ball as Nickel spoke to her.

 "How.....Much...?" he asked her, as the double-minded lad sat on the floor, still recovering from their many spins and mid-air cart wheels.

"About.....10....." she began, trailing off as a look of surprise and shock registered in her eyes. For the first time that season, she had genuine surprise. "Million....".

"Dr Fizz.....The best...." Yin Yang drabbled and droned, as both Nickel and Candle looked at each other. He simply mouthed the words "team meeting" to which she nodded, making sure to keep the salt and clang out of reach from the recovering Yin.

...

"Well, since the Thinkers here have such an extensive budget...." Mephone said, beckoning to Nickel's team. "I think it would be fairer to see our "lower" budget offer first.".

Both Paintbrush and Silver tossed a pile of pages into the funnel of the Zoetrope Animationiser, along with Bow extending their legs to toss several drawings, sketches and renders of backgrounds. Then there was Balloon, throwing in all the cash he had on hand. All $21.50.

As the other team's project played, Nickel gathered with his team to discuss their surprisingly comfy financial situation. However, as quickly as the first line of dialogue had ended and a fight scene began, the TV screen cut to black. There was slight, monocular applause from Zoetrope but that was all.

"Well, that was....fast," Mephone commented, still taking in the short run time. "But.....I enjoyed those graphics.".

"Yes, the graphics were good." Candle added, still seated by the machine as her smile appeared only on her lips. "Though, a little....Uncanny Valley, really.".

"WhA.......WE WROTE SO MUCH!!!" Paintbrush yelled their eyes in shock. Their mouth hung agape as the blond hair on their brush head started to smoke. "BARELY ANY OF WHAT WE WROTE MADE IT ON SCREEN!!!!!???" they screamed more, feeling like they would explode.

"Well, I'm sure it was a masterpiece," Zoetrope interjected, his voice cheery and honest. Paintbrush could feel themselves glowering with rage at what seemed to them like hollow compliments. "Truly, an artisanal representation of how life is just.....Fleeting!".

Now their hair was smouldering as bubbling pockets of flame erupted and prepared to fire. Yet, even through their rage, it was another voice that spoke the words they had on their tongue.

"YOUR INTELLIGENCE IS FLEETING YOU POMPOUS OVERGROWN RAT!!!!" Silver spat in a shrill shriek, taking even Paintbrush by surprise as they felt their fiery fury (and literal Hot Head) seem to dissipate at the outburst. "THE SLAPSTICK AMALGAMATION MESH OF A SHOW PITCH WE WATCHED HAD NONE OF THE ARTISTS INTENTIONS!!!!!!".

As he calmed from his outburst, all he got was a laugh from Zoe. "The ARTIST'S intentions? When has THAT ever been relevant?" Mephone said in a sarcastic tone, as though he knew all about animation. His hand leaned on the Animationiser, only for him to yelp in pain from the heat. 

"Like I said, we aren't in Medieval times son!!!".

"Well, you will be soon!!!" Goo said, his team already holding the piles of paper and cash. He, Nickel, Candle, Yin Yang and Floor huddled close, as Nickel planted their "Do not disturb" sign in front.

"Listen, are we sure we should do this?" Candle asked, unsure. "I mean, if we flake this challenge, we can walk away with two seasons of winnings each.".

"Well yeah..." Nickel began. His eyes averted to the bubbling Goo, who was half paying attention and half looking at Bow Bot, cheering Paintbrush and Silver up with a small dance. "But....he's put...So much effort into this....". He passed one of the drawings and scripts from the pile, making Yin Yang seem to look ecstatic. "Besides, we can think of this as an investment. Think of the merchandising? Or....Or the unwanted sequels!?".

"HAHA!!! WE WILL HAVE ALL THE UNWANTED SEQUELS!!!" Yang roared as Candle's gaze softened. 

"Alright, we trust you." She said, fully giving her efforts in. With a heave, she, Yin and Floory (whom had put up small stone and grass pillars to lift wheelbarrows) picked up the vast money surplus, making sure the few bits floating out of the pile were also put in the funnel. Scrapes were heard as the vast sum of cash and pages were ground and torn.

"Wow, lucky break. W...Wait..." Nickel started. His eyes widened as he remembered the previous week's elimination.

"Nickel.." Clover said, kneeling to his level. One of her hands touched his face as she smiled at him. "From this day forth, and for the rest of your life," she said, her butterflies still pestering Mephone and his extra illuminated screen glow. "I wish you, luck!".

"YIPPIE!!! Cheer.....Oh right..." Goo began, only remembering his best pink friend wasn't there. He melted slightly as Nickel; gasped, spluttering from what she said in confusion and yelling about her putting some "curse" on him.

Lucky. It was...luck. Mephone and Zoetrope had believed his dumb excuse. Because of Luck. The team had been absolutely fine with AND in support of his leadership. Because of luck. He had hoped for a "modest budget" and got 10 million.

Because. Of. Luck.

"ARGH!!! NO NO NO!!!" He yelled, frantically sprinting off. Of course, he'd thought there was a chance he would be liked and things would just be this good for him naturally for him. He didn't even want to be part of whatever it was they were submitting.

...

The screen began playing as all sat down, except the missing Nickel. Balloon also wasn't there though it didn't matter for either being gone. The low dawning sun seemed glaring and harsh as Goo wobbled excitedly, glancing at Bow who looked back at him confused.

"Title TBD" were the words on screen as they all saw a knight, standing amidst a forest. In his hand, he held a lofty styrofoam mache sword as he stood next to a large fountain with a toaster within. He spoke in a monotonal yet upbeat voice.

"Today we are here to celebrate the amazing, TBD, whose presence is like being spun on a roundabout until you vomit. You find yourself jiggled and haggled with bouts of nausea, and wonder how one could have so much coolness, like no other...." He said, waving the sword around. The wind seemed to be playing like this had been recorded on a phone of high quality. 

"I did it because of all the medieval talk today," Goo explained, humming as he looked ecstatically at Bow, who just gave a light smile and a hesitant thumbs up. One of her eyes seemed to twitch. "Think of all the world building!!!".

"I do not want to watch this world..." Yang said, face blank and in pain. "For another minute.".

2 hours later...

"And then, you go for another spin and stumble. You wonder where you are and that's when you see it: Your favourite pair of oafers!!!!" The screen continued to blare. Bot's eye was twitching, the other one having completely shut as they huddled close to Test Tube. Her face was grey and sickened, her eyelids barely struggling to keep staying wide as she got up. At the same time, Yang stomped, his lips curved and his eyes watering from being open for so long through such torture. Silver was leaning on Candle, his limps dropped on the ground as he felt bored. Next to him, Paintbrush held a heavy scowl, their hair smoking from impatience and agitation. They physically looked as though they were about to vomit or break their own arm from insanity like a Kit Kat.

"THATS IT!!!" She yelled, pulling her Taser and Telescope.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT!!!"Yang screamt, grabbing his bike and holding it over the screen.

Yet both stopped as the video played on, talking of water slides and that stupid merry-go-round for the one hundred and fiftieth time. Test Tube looked back to see the surprised teams as she huffed, still agitated but keeping herself restrained. Yang meanwhile, had a guilty look.

"I...I shouldn't. Uhhh....What do you think, Yin?" he asked his lighter half. Yin had no response as they looked back at Candle. Her patience grew thin as she helped steady Bot, a cold and begging glare from the young pink ribbons girl's eyes.

"Do it.".

Test Tube looked at Bot, as did Goo. The wind of evening seemed to send a chill down everyone's spine as, in her overwhelming stress, Bow vigorously nodded.

BANG!!!!

The bike was through the screen, making it shatter and sending electrical components everywhere. Test Tube had already jammed the taser in one end of her scope, firing full throttle. Yin Yang barely got out of the way of a blast of energy.

BOOOOM!!!!!

Smouldered ruins. That was all that remained of the TV and Animationiser. A smouldered, smoking, smashed ruin of scrap and debris at their feet. The setting sun bathed everything in a deep orange glow as she wedged the now burnt-out taser out of the telescope, one end smoking with blackened glass. Meanwhile, Yang stood in a manic victory stance, wide-eyed and excited at the destruction. He had a fist in the air as he laughed manically above the scrap heap wreck.

"Marvellous." Candle said, a happy and peaceful look on her face. Bow had a slight smile on hers as they breathed a sigh of relief, taking the telescope from Test Tube who was already packing their now empty Taser into a bag. Her expression remained blank and unchanged, but her eyes did have a glimmer from seeing Bot no longer agitated. 

"Well, so long to that fund, friend," Zoetrope said to Mephone, a hint of sincerity in his voice.

"Eh, I think I saw what I needed. It was....a lot." The blue anthropomorphic phone replied, checking his "Contestant Revive" software to make sure nobody had died. Again. "A little....too much. PINKERS WIN!!!".

"H....Huh?" was the only response from a bewildered Test Tube.

"Good going on you guys. I don't know what luck it is that pulled you through, but it managed you well. As for the Thinkers...." he said, beckoning to Goo, Candle, Floor and Yin Yang. "You guys have some time. Meet me at the elimination area with your votes decided.". He walked off, as the sun was setting, leaving the groups alone amongst the smoulders. 

Yin Yang and Candle walked off, Candle's hand leaving Silver's as she talked with Yin, giving a playful nudge. Floory sifted along the ground, slightly unsure in the conversation they were having. Goo meanwhile, wobbled in slight discomfort as Nickel was there again, looking slightly calmer and a little less frantic. The air was cooler and grass smoked from the electric clutter and flame that had run, a line of black from where the Animationiser once stood and where Test Tube had fired.

...

"Well Thinkers, looks like you're here again after that...pretty filling show pitch." His show host voice said as he overlooked the benches of the anxious and slightly grim five. Behind him, the beach and deep navy waters were illuminated by moonlight and Mephone's blue glow. 

"That show was kinda sad. Not much reason to learn Riggidy was destroyed." Yin said, slightly angry. His darker half had a smirk as they pulled something from under their bench. "Well, I got him back for you." he said, making his other half light up as they passed him an orange T-Rex, one side blackened with brown fluff spilling out. "And this time, only MY side was destroyed.".

"Awwww. Thanks." was the only thing the lighter half could say as they hugged the battered toy.

"Well, things get even better for you, Yin Yang...." Mephone said as his screen lit up with viewer panels. "Because YOU win immunity. Any votes for Yin Yang won't count." he explained for the 9th time that season as the votes loaded.

"Anyways, our first vote:

Candle.

Goo.

That's 1 vote Candle, 1 vote Goo.".

Candle simply breathed, sitting in a meditative posture as she crossed her fingers. Goo warbled while Nickel didn't even look at any of his team.

"Candle. That's 2 votes Candle, 1 vote Goo.".

Yin Yang held their plush close as Candle put an arm on his shoulder. Her expression was colder but she still held her hopes out.

"Goo. 2 votes Candle, 2 votes Goo. 1 vote left.".

The final circle on the screen swirled, casting a dimly lit glow on the faces of all present.

"And the 9th contestant eliminated from inanimate insanity invitational.....

Goo.".

Both Candle and Yin gasped sighs of relief while Goo murmured defeatedly. Nickel still lay face down, not really moving much at all. "Sorry about that mate." Floory said apologetically as Goo started moving. "Between our options....yeah. You robbed us of two mil each." he added, a slight amount of disdain and hurt in his voice.

"Yeah, I...I guess you're right." he said as he warbled up to the small podium stand. "I'm glad I could've done ONE last amazing thing with you guys. Even if it.....kinda stunk.".

Mephone pressed the button of his remote as Fist Thingy iii slammed into Goo, causing to scream as he flew. Or rather, just stuck to it. His body wobbled like a honey jelly as Mephone pressed the button, to no avail.  Goo murmured, surprised at the failing of the fist thingy. However, his attention was diverted from a short cough as he yelped again that day.

"Ow ow...geez that's.....I'm gonna need to see Test Tube on that.".

"Bow?" he asked, seeing her stand on her extended legs. Her voice sounded different. Less like the raspy and highly pronounced one she'd used before, but now softer, sweeter and much more quiet. Her eyes still glitched slightly yet she seemed to not mind as she offered her hand. "I'm sorry you had to....get launched out of the game. But, hey. Maybe you'll get a chance to come back!" she said supportively and happily, her hand brushing some of his Goo off the metal spring of the fist.

"Awww, I just I could've......helped support you better!" he lamented as Mephone continued fiddling with his remote. The other Thinkers had left, barring Floory watching Mephone's antics.

"But.....you already...do?" They replied as they gave a hand for Goo to slither themselves up on top of the fist thingy. "I mean, I don't need a whole show or...heck even a card to have your support. You could've just said something.".

Goo chuckled slightly while Mephone seemed to be heaving a heavy box in the background. "Now I feel dumb. I...just wanted to make you feel more appreciated," he replied, slightly wobbling on the fist. "But I....kinda got a bit....".

"Overboard?".

"Yeah....".

Bot simply laughed as she gave him a poke, making him almost fall off. "You're an idiot." they said as he barely clutched on, while the far-off grunting and agitated heaves seemed to stop. Their arm wrapped around him as they both watched Mephone panting, having carried some sort of flat metal dish with a shiny smooth surface.

"And my best friend.".

Chapter Text

From here and there, people seemed to slug and sprawl at snail's pace under the scorch of the sun. The once lemon-green grass was turning pale yellow in some parts and even hay gold. Gold beaches washed cool water that evaporated as soon as the current retreated, upon those blazing white sands. From a small straw and wood hut within the centre of the island, a large blairing beep rang out. The same tune used to summon contestants to elimination, except with a more urgent and annoying jingle, like an alarm call.

Test Tube trudged along, the sun's rays piercing through the glass of her tube and turning the grass beside her path into a line of scorched earth and burnt, blackened grass. Next to her, holding her hand, Bow Bot walked a little easier, perhaps due to the lack of heat sensors they had at the moment. Still, their metal body was hot with bits of their pink paint slightly dulled. Behind, Silver was striding, putting on a witty smile despite the over-exhausted quiver in his eyes. His face was laced with sweat and he struggled to breathe on the walk but kept up as much a façade of an uncaring attitude to the heat as possible. 

Perhaps to emulate the shorter and somehow much calmer Candle whose hand his fingers were wrapped with and whom he had to leap to keep up with despite her being the shorter one. Even with the wax around her wick melting, she managed to keep a kind and relaxed expression. Her flame was low, though it's heat may not have been felt through the blaze. Behind, she used the other hand to drag an unconscious Yin Yang, passed out with a crushed and empty can of Doctor Fizz.

Next to the family-looking trio was a pretty irate and down paintbrush, who only managed a cool head since their glorious golden locks had been trimmed down to merger bristles. Their face scowled as the top of their head, through what little thickened locks remained, smoked and smouldered. By their side was a pretty deflated and fatigued Balloon, somehow moving forward by his willpower alone. He carried the leg of Nickel, who lay face down, possibly dead. 

Everyone stood outside the hut where the call tune had played. It was large and thin, almost weak-looking and a breeze could be felt from inside. In front, just beyond the loose stick door was the immunity button, its red surface covered by a grey mat. The iron bar upon which it stood was also covered in this same grey mat. As were the blue button edges.

But nobody paid heed to the button. Several, including Silver Spoon, and Test Tube dashed past, collapsing inside the hut on the cool grass. Balloon entered, throwing Nickel over and causing him to roll by a large fan before he sat on a stool on one side of the room. Candle did the same, though less throwing Yin Yang and more rolling him close to one of the blasting fans. None took notice of the dazzling blue screen and cool calm smiling show host who they had knocked over by the Pic Nix table, which was covered in white cloth. Floory, holding a small fridge, came around, giving everyone a selection of drinks.

"Jeez, why is everyone freaking out so much?" Bot asked Candle, seeing as she was the only one who had a cool head. Balloon coughed slightly as he sipped his can of Tangalistic, a drink that Yang would screech about being the "inferior Dr Fizz".

"They always freak out when its hot." He said before Candle could, though they seemed not to mind as they sipped their lemonade. "Heck, I'm surprised Paintbrush hasn't gone mental from their hair mess. Cabby was certainly right about that one.' he added, causing the three of them to laugh.

"Well, it's not too easy to hold your own head when there's a giant heat laser in the sky." Candle said warmly, smiling. "I mean, I expected much more chaos than what's already been, but we've passed the peak of this glaze without much fuss.".

"Most of the people I know usually tough through the early bits." Balloon explained, watching from his chair as Nickel began to stir. "At least he ain't dead.".

"Mhm!!!".

All eyes turned to the doorway where a grumbling and dull Mephone, his expression a scowl. He had folded hands and his face had small smears of dust and flickers of grass. But, he seemed less angry and more dismissively irritated.

"Well now, before you all rudely decided to barge past, I had special news." He started, one hand gripping a corner of the cloth. "And while I was considering cancelling this.....eh, what the heck? The final 9 is a modest enough victory to receive this!!!".

With a snag, he whipped the cover off as everyone gasped. Before them was an array of frozen desserts, cakes, tasty treats, mouth watering pastries and goodies. Cakes littered in slices and platters across the left had side. Steaming pancakes sat next to shining bottles of syrups and sauces. Donuts and Bagels glistened and glowed with cream, chocolate sauce and jam. Yin Yang began to stir from the sickly sweet smells, a small smile plastered on his lips from hearing despite being face planted.

"THE TREAT TASTING!!!! Once a cancelled challenge..." He explained as everyone remembered how that event had been turned away from their antics. Test Tube, Floor and Paintbrush all had slightly guilty looks about that while Candle and Balloon seemed to avoid the show host's gaze. Yin yang merely rolled over, laying next to Bow Bot and Candle, still dazed but cheery. "NOW a reward for making it to the merge!!! And that's not all!!!".

The excitement amongst everyone was clearly bubbling. Now, they could rely less on their teams and more on alliances with people they actually wanted to stick with. Paintbrush already eyed Candle and Floory, while Bot and Balloon seemed giddy with excitement. Candle steadied the dual minded delinquent by her side, giving him her chair.

"Because it's the merge, an eliminated contestant will be returning!!! I'll be off at indefinite island to oversee the re-join challenge." He finished, heading out towards the exit. "Till me and the lucky returner are back, you're in your own hands!!!". With that, he was gone, as everyone sat in stunned, amazed and excited silence. Yin Yang eyed the three next to him mischievously, grabbing a cake slice and gorging it in one bite.

"Oh your on!!!" Balloon retorted, taking hold of a fork.

...

On the other side of the room, Test Tube scanned over the selection of treats and delights, alongside Paintbrush. They picked up a chocolate chip cookie, an item that brought back the memories of season two.

"Nice going gu.....gir...." She began, unsure of what to say. Both options seemed to be met with dismay and a slightly unsure look Her hand pressed her head as her eyes widened. "Ohhhh!!! You're option C! None of the above!".

That final option seemed to caused a lightened smile on their face, seeping through their uncertainty. They sighed, leaning against the cardboard-like wall of the calm-down corner. "I don't think that most people here know there....IS an option c." Paintbrush said, saddened and down. Lightbulb only smiled back at him, holding her pet crab playfully as it scuttled along her hands.

"Well, Baxter here needs the C." she said jokingly, causing them to slightly chuckle. "Without it, he'd just be a rab.". This final sentence seemed to make them both explode in stupid laughter, interrupted by Baxter pinching Lightbulb's finger, much to her annoyance. "I hate rabs.".

 "Well, you usually have the team's wacky skills." Paintbrush said in an attempt to lighten the mood. The strawberry-red crab merely waddled off, probably towards the lake again. "And I get pretty mad most of the time. So I guess you could call it.....mad skills?".

This time it was Lightbulb who snickered, hiding her stomach from the pain of laughter. The winds swept through the area as light dwindled against the already setting sun. Their face turned from the cheery laughter to slightly dimmer.

"Lightbulb I'm......I'm sorry for suggesting we work alone." They said, regretfully and honestly, still remembering her saddened face. "And I'm sorry for not valuing your skills and...and judging you on your weird, quirky and confusing actions and thinking." Paintbrush added sincerely, wishing they could've yelled a little less in past challenges or kept their cool a little more.

"Awww, no worries. I don't need any apology, as long as I have you, Painty!!!" Lightbulb merely replied, wrapping an arm around her best friend happily and leaning against them, watching the setting sun. The gesture warmed their heart as they softly smiled. In the distance, the call to elimination could be heard.

"Bright Lights till the end!!!".

"Paintbrush? You feeling ok?" A nerdy and concerned voice asked, starling them. They felt a soft and nimble hand on their shoulder, and turned to see Test Tube, eating a slice of carrot cake. "You've been staring at that cookie for five minutes now. Something up?" she asked again.

"Oh nothing." Paintbrush hastily and awkwardly replied, putting the cookie down. "I was just reminiscing of....Brighter times!!" They said, smiling, an eye twitching slightly. Test Tube looked back with a cheeky snared glare, putting her cake aside.

"A....Lighter side perhaps?" she asked jokingly, causing the nerve racked blond the chuckle and wheeze. Nearby, they could hear Yang's victory holler as a Balloon slammed his fork onto the paper plate in disgruntlement and grabbed another pie.

"Yeah. Just.....remembering her." They said, slightly saddened. Of course they had t be eliminated THAT night, as soon as she and they were beginning to make amends and really value each other. "Who do think will....re-join?" They asked, changing the subject quickly so as to not dwell on those memories too long.

"Hmmmm, I feel Life Ring." Test Tube said, sounding rather confident. "He has got skills so I'm sure he could pull off a challenge. Or....Or maybe....Cabby?".

"Cabby?" They asked nervously, remembering their part in the almost entire team coordinated vote to get rid of the file fairing, smart cubed girl. "What makes you think that?'.

"Well, she has some resolve and dedication. Plus, her knowledge may be a help to her. That is, if she can out pace or out compete someone like Tea Kettle or LR, you know?" She explained, grabbing another slice of cake and walking over towards Bot an the others. "Nice talking to you Paintbrush!!!" She waved, happy as she passed one cake to the smiling Bot. They merely waved back at the duo, grabbing a cookie and eating, wondering what they should do and who would be coming back.

...

Balloon walked off from the Pic Nix table, having had his fill of Cherry Pie and strawberry ice cream for one sitting. He found a pretty disparaged and down Nickel, not really moving that much as he sat on the brown chair, next to a large fan. His face was a scowl as the light shone off his face through the tear in the tent.

"Hey, what's down with you, St Sadness?" He jokingly asked to downer coin.

"Nothing." He mumbled back, not looking at the other in any way. In response, Balloon gave the shorter one a small noogie and pulled a chair next to him.

"C'mon, you can't be too down on a day like this? I mean, No challenge, AND free desserts? What more could you want?" he asked, as he saw a small smile appear on the silvery face. "Ah, there's the Nick I know!!! Why you so under the weather for?".

"Pfft, I'm fine." He replied, rolling one of his eyes. "MY biggest concern is this stupid luck.". He kicked a can off the the floor in the disgruntlement, which ended up in the small waste bag on the other side of the room, much to his dismay. "Heck, I can't even tell if things went well for my team last challenge LEGIT!!!".

"Well, I bet loosing wasn't so "lucky" for your." His freind replied back, wrapping an arm around him smugly. "And maybe having ten mill  slipped outta your fingertips wasn't too "lucky" either. Or, say, being unable to avoid this!!!".

Suddenly, Nickel found his face stuffed with a carrot cake, shocking him and making him cough. He kicked the plate off, with Balloon laughing and holding his stomach in pleasured pains from watching the scene. He used the nearby table cloth cover that Mephone had discarded to wipe his face, a small smirk plaguing his demeanour despite the stupidity of such a prank.

"Yeah, I know you're being real. Learned that from Cheasy or summin?" He remarked, tossing the plate over. To his relief, it didn't make it into the bag.

"Nah, just figured it'd uplift your mood." Balloon replied, begging to drag him along. "C'mon, I think Bot's gonna beat Yang!!!!".

"Ha, as if. They're not the guy you casually beat when they're dedicated." He said back, laughing slightly. Yet, to his surprise, Bow Bot seemed to be eating far more than the already tiring Yang. "Oh. Oh she's good. I gotta see this!!" He proclaimed excitedly, standing next to Test Tube, Paintbrush and Candle while they all watched the delinquents gobble platefulls of cupcakes and donuts.

...

To say that there was shock would have been so wrong. To say that her wheeling off the wooden boat hadn't wiped a smitten look upon everyone would have been an understatement. TO SAY that her return was the most unprecedented and unpredictable twist of the century, would have done the sight before them no justice.

Cabby. Eliminated in episode 7 from an almost unanimous team wide vote off. Now stood with a smug but cheerful look as she breathed in that fresh island air once more. A golden cookie sat in her hand which glowed, as did her whole body, in vibrant golden colour. The colour of a winner. The colour of a star.

"I.......I can't......believe it...." Test Tube mumbled, her eyes sparkling in shock and awe.

"It's really.....Her..."Candle added, the calmness and tranquillity of her voice gone and replaced by pure amazement.

"Yes, you're eyes don't deceive you." Mephone said, having anchored the boat properly in place. "CABBY has won the re-join and is back. WITH an immunity cookie for tonight's vote.".

That last word seemed to irk some irritation amongst the contestants.

"VOTE!!!?" Paintbrush cried out, their head softly smoking. Yet, it got past not even a smitten of smouldering.

"We haven't even had a challenge today!!!" Nickel complained, angry at the prospect of possibly being eliminated despite having done no challenge. An unlucky scenario indeed.

"Well, that's for you all to figure out. Any votes to the holder of the immunity cookie...." Mephone explained, pointing at the yellow treat in Cabby's hand. "....will NOT count for tonight. Cast your votes well.". He walked off towards the Pic Nix tent with a knife and a brush in hand, leaving the group of now ten to their own devices.

"I....Hi...Test Tube..." Cabby said, startling the science instrument and causing her to leap and drop the last slice of carrot cake she had. Luckily, the hand of Bot caught the plate and orange delight before it splattered. "Woah!!!! When did Bow become so good at that?" She asked, fascinated as she wheeled over to the pink butterfly shaped thing. They replied merely by extending their legs to be eye level with her, taking her aback as they reached a hand out.

"Hi. I'm Bot!" She said in an almost completely different voice. The difference in tone, attitude and action startled Cabby, who was now more confused than ever.

"Wh....When did....Wh....." she mambled, confused as ever. Test Tube merely put a hand on her shoulder and chuckled, using the other had to pat the smiling critter as they descended back to their standard height.

"Oh, she isn't Bow. I uhhh....." She began, watching Cabby's eye lids dilate in shock. "Well Me and Fan made her as a....A robot..." The Tube explained as Bow pranced on her springing legs like a dancing acrobat. "And I....well, gave her some upgrades.".

"Oh...I...I see...." She replied, amazed at the antics of Bot. Her eyes seemed to sparkle with awe and she felt a sense of joy, seeing such an amazing thing prance and perform. Like a butterfly, gliding through fields. "Well, Bot, I'm sure the game will be much better now we have someone like you with us!".

"Us?" Test Tube asked, confused. She saw a glint in the file holder's eye that she recognized: A spark of an idea, like her own. Almost a mirrored spiel of her brilliance and expertise.

"Oh, right. I should probably mention that....After our LAST attempt at an alliance.......shattered..." Cabby explained as both Bot and Balloon averted gaze. She reached a hand out to the scientist in the same manner as she did that day. "I.....I wanted to....try again.".

Winds sent chills down several spines as the air between them was tense and filled with anticipation, strained by dread. Bot ceased their prance as she stared up at the two old allies, glancing nervously between her creator and her old teammate. Balloon shrank a little from the stress of decision, leaning on a pretty uncaring but awaiting Nickel.

"Sure thing." The scientist replied happily, shaking Cabby's hand with joy. Her expression was one of calmness and calamity, an excited glint in her eye. The air seemed to lighten as Bot pulled Balloon by the arm (and by extension, Nickel) into the frame between the duo. 

"AND WE'LL BE PART TOO!!!!" she declared holding up the half happy Loony's arm. "THE LOONY BALLOONY'S!!!!".

"Yeah, Loony Balloony's!!!" Cabby repeated enthusiastically. "I think we'll need the numbers too..." She added, glancing nervously towards the gathering "Thinkers group. Candle and Silver seemed to talking about whatever while Yang wiped the chocolate sauce off his face and Floory munched on his last slice of carrot cake. All seemed to huddle close by. "Till then, I'd like to offer up....this." She said, passing a surprised Test Tube the immunity cookie.

"Wait.....you...you can't...."She began, trying to deny. Yet, the cookie was already in her hand, as Cabby smiled at her, losing the golden glow back to her regular sea foam blue. Meanwhile the scientists body turned into a shining gold, the liquid inside becoming an aquatic blue and the glass tinted in a light reminiscent of that of the sun. "O....Oh wow!!!" She said, feeling surprisingly refreshed and amazed from the feeling. "But what about you?".

"Oh I think I'll be fine. Besides, maybe we can get a tie breaker, since I just came back, you know?" She reassured, a hopeful yet doubtful look in her eyes.

Test Tube glanced at the pretty distanced Paintbrush, her eyes sparkling with an idea. "Hold. I might have an idea here..." She said, as she began to walk off. "Get to know each other while I'm gone.".

...

Silver tapped his foot as he watched Yang wipe the sweet sticky brown syrup of his face. He muttered some choice high class words under his breath, the glass dish of his coconut and almond sundae was still in his hand, what with his insistence on finding a "Proper Glass Disposal Unit". Next to him, Candle stood, watching the scene unfold with a more amused look. She kept a close hand on her crystal and fork, occasionally scraping them together to create low, dim hums that quelled the chaos of Yang and, though unknowingly, the disgruntlement of Silver. 

"Hey....Guys I....I have an idea!!!" The double minded duo blurted, their face still caked with traces of choc-sauce. They pulled Paintbrush and Silver close, much to each's displeasure. "We should remake The Thinkers!!!!".

"Uhhh....I don't know..." Paintbrush mumbled hesitantly. Silver meanwhile, had freed himself from the weird pull in.

"I certainly don't need to deal with you HOOLIGANS for another moment!!!" He spat, attempting to walk off. He stopped as that low hum echoed through the area once more, and all eyes focused to her as she spoke.

"I don't think any of us have a choice here." She said, beckoning to Cabby and Test Tube, who seemed to be talking. "With both of them in the game AND in an alliance, it's very likely we'll get divided and conquered.". Her voice was grim and a dark look was in her eyes at the prospect, almost like the closest thing she could muster to a panic. "They'd have almost equal numbers.".

Silver sighed, both with realisation and frustration. "Fine, I guess I can work with.....this for now. But.....I'm gonna need more cooperation and restraint from "The Wild Cards" here." He retorted, beckoning a hand to the cake munching Floory and still face wiping Yin Yang. "What say you, Painty?".

"Huh?".

Silver groaned, annoyed at the lack of attention. "I said, what about you, Painty?" he repeated, still annoyed.

"Oh uhhh...I....I....uhh..."They muttered, yelping in surprise from a shining finger tapping their shoulder. Turning, Test Tube beamed her sciency, friendly beaming smile, radiated by the literal starlight Light she emanated. Her expression was joyful and Bright.

"Heyyy....Can I talk to you for a moment?" She asked, beaming towards the others but keeping attention to the tall one. Her fingers beckoned backwards as she gave a reassuring and seemingly hopeful glance and gaze.

"Uhhh....I....." Paintbrush began hesitantly, still looking unsure but at least smiling a little. They glanced back at their team, with Candle and Floor giving reassuring and supportive glances. Silver had an uncaring look, more focused on keeping himself away from Yin Yang. "Sure, why not?" They finally replied as both walked off from the main group. The word "Cabby" was vaguely heard, though they weren't sure if that was just their bad hearing.

"So, how's everything been so far?" Test Tube asked, glancing over to Bot as she talked. "With the competition?".

"Well......" The tall blonde began, their strides slowing. Over the distant waters, the setting sun cast dim red haze across the grass and sand, making the shadows appear taller and elongated. "It's....fine I guess." Paintbrush added, looking slightly down. "I mean, we almost lost the last challenge because of Silver and My......disagreements.".

"Hey, it wasn't all your fault that Balloon had to do two roles at once!!!" Test Tube insisted, putting a hand on their shoulder. "Besides, we did well in the ice cream stacking challenge. Heck, me and Cabby were thinking of getting the new Pinker's back together." She explained, giving a hand out. "We would love to have you in our alliance.".

Yet, Paintbrush seemed hesitant. Their eyes were wary and the smile, though true, seemed a bit dull. "Yeah, about that..." They said, having a rather guilty expression. Her hand moved away as she looked at them, confused.

"Is....is something wrong, Paintbrush?" She asked, her smile fading. They sat on a passing rock, not really looking at her much.

"It's just....I....I don't know. I....I feel like I have to.....be obligated to The Thinkers." They said, a hint of doubt and guilt in their speech. "But....I....I left behind...so much....in season 2. I.....".

Test Tube sat next to them, giving a slight smile towards them in hopes of lifting her spirits. "Well hey, do whatever you feel you want in this competition. After all, it's you who decides what you want from all this." She said, beckoning to the Thinkers. Her other hand also beckoned to her group, with Cabby showing Bot some files of hers on what seemed to be butterflies. "And I'm sure whatever choice you make will do you well. Be it us....". She looked back at her alliance with a slight smile. "Or them." Test Tube finished, looking in Paintbrush's direction and that of the Thinkers.

Yet, they only seemed to sigh and their face didn't lift like usual. "Yeah that's just....the thing. I don't know if I....want this.".

"What do you mean?".

"I.....I....I don't know." They replied, unsure and anxious. The sunset painted the seas in a deep scarlet. Glare cast across the waters and made the waves shimmer and sparkle from miles out. "I guess what I want to say is I......I don't know if I want.....any of this." They said in a doubtful tone. "This.....This competition. This....new team. I mean...it was....nice at first. But....I just.....I don't know. It feels like I'm abandoning what I had....back then.".

Neither spoke as the sun set, it glaze and glare hurting any eyes. Yet, as the skies cooled from the haze to a light chill, Test Tube only smiled. "Well, just do what you want.".

"Huh?".

"Who cares what everyone else thinks about you?" She said, standing up ecstatically. Through her glass, the sands seemed far more golden and the grass more vibrantly living green. "Who cares if people don't like what you do? After all, its your game. If I cared about what people thought of me, I'd still be in season 2!!!" The scientist yelled, a fiery glare in her eyes that matched the gleams of sunlight. "Things get terrible and, I'll be real with you. You may think you didn't make the right choice.".

She put a hand on their shoulder, her voice having less of its charm and nerdy flare. "But none of us know what the right choice is, till we make it. All that matters is what you want.".

Their lips creased a little into a small smile. The eyes had a slight twinkle, and their face looked a little less unsure. "Th.....Thank you, Test Tube." They said, mind set on their decision as they got up. "I know I can....count on you." Paintbrush added, winking with a slight saddened but hopeful smile as they began to walk off. She raised a hand to wave goodbye, but they were already gone.

'Did they.....really want this?' Her mind tried to reason. Maybe they had meant something else. She looked at the immunity cookie in her hand, glistening a hazel golden colour.

But......they seemed quite sure. After all, Paintbrush could be the best to their friends when they were set on something. She looked at the Thinker's alliance where, despite being with the group, Paintbrush wasn't as talkative. She looked back at her alliance, all chatting and bubbly.

Did they really want this?

...

"Well then, the first Post Merge elimination." Mephone announced, standing proudly on the moon lit beach for the 10th time that season. Behind him, the pale navy waters shimmered, both from the lunar glow and from his shining blue display screen. Across the chairs, racks and bins scattered across the beach, each person sat. "10 votes in. One person joined the game. Now one person will leave. 

As for the receiver tonight's immunity vote...." He began, his screen lighting to display several bars of votes. Sitting tightly at the top of the listing was the half white, half black bar, with a pink bar for Bow Bot just shyly below in second. "Yin Yang!!! Fans really love you! What is that, the third time?" He asked the happy but glad duo.

"Fourth actually. And, thanks you guys!!!" They said, waving towards one of the several show cameras. Test Tube meanwhile,, still sat golden. Next to her, Bow Bot looked a little down but still had their cheery smile. Mephone's screen cleared as he grabbed their attention with the loading of the first vote.

"Any votes for Yin Yang won't count. Neither will any for Test Tube, since she holds the immunity cookie.

First vote: Cabby.

Cabby.

Paintbrush.".

Candle, Yin Yang and Floory were stunned. The purple one looked at Silver, only to receive a neutral look back, while Paintbrush mouthed an apologetic sorry to his team.

"Paintbrush.

2 votes Paintbrush, 2 votes Cabby.

Cabby.

Cabby.

4 votes Cabby, 2 votes Paintbrush.

Paintbrush.

Paintbrush.

4 votes Cabby, 4 votes Paintbrush.

Paintbrush.

5 Votes Paintbrush, 4 votes Cabby. One vote left.".

Most of the Thinker alliance had shocked expressions, with fear gripping their eyes. yet, as they gazed at Paintbrush, their was no doubt or remorse in their eyes. If anything, they seemed strangely happy, if a little guilty. Test Tue meanwhile, still had a pretty down expression, but she did smile a little from her friends relative calmness and ease.

"And the 10th contestant eliminated from Inanimate Insanity Invitational is.....

Paintbrush.".

Silver and Floor both had dejected looks. Meanwhile Cabby breathed a sigh of relief, glad she hadn't been instantly booted. Test Tube, though saddened, was happier seeing Paintbrush smile and sigh as they got up. She walked over to them, Bot following behind.

"H....Hey. Sorry about that...." She began, guiltily, reaching a hand to her old friend. Her expression turned from mild guilt to surprise as their hand reached hers.

"It's alright. Honest." They said, their face beaming with a satisfactory and relaxed grin for what test Tube realised may have been to first time in ages. "Bright Lights till the end?" Paintbrush asked, giving a cocky smirk towards her. She returned the gaze of her old season debut captain with her own gleeful smile.

"Bright Light's till the end." Test Tube replied as they hugged her, a gesture that was welcomed. They both felt Bot join the hug too, their smaller body just barely level with the two taller ones. "I think she'll miss the most." She jokingly said, parting from the hug and giving Bow Bot a small prod. 

"Oh, I've uhh.....I've decided to take a page out of Paintbrush's book." Bot said, gleaming their eyes to the brush. "Since, I....I feel more...." They said, trying to find to right words.

"Comfortable?".

"Yeah." They replied to the remark, glad their point came across. "Comfortable. As....me.". They passed from their pocket a drawing to Paintbrush, featuring both of themselves sitting together, alongside Test Tube, Fan, Balloon and Nickel. Above both themselves and Bot, was a large and pretty coloured Non Binary flag, beautifully simple.  As they walked off, Test Tube patted her creation on the head,  unable to contain the glee and pride for how far they had come as a  person.

Paintbrush walked onto the open stretch of sand, feeling glad and relieved as they held the picture. They looked back at the group. Candle, though down, was still cheery for her freind. As was Yin, though Yang had a much more uncaring attitude to the situation. Floory seemed bubbly and charming as he usually was, the dirt he was made of being fitted to form a small thumbs up. Silver didn't seem to care much, hiding his own expression of annoyance and gloom rather poorly, while Cabby waved alongside Balloon.

"Say hi to Fan for us." The scientist ended, waiving cheerily at her old friend. 

They merely nodded and smiled, giving Mephone the thumbs up. He pressed his remote, causing "Fist Thingy iii" to whack them hurtling through the sky, off the island and into the distant horizon.

"Well, the past influences tonight's vote in more ways than one." Mephone announced towards the cameras, striking a pose, as he was passed back the golden immunity cookie from Test Tube. "But how will this play into these remaining nine's future?

Find out next time one Inanimate Insanity Invitational!!!".

...

Around Hotel Oj, nightfall donned the landscape. The grass lay flat and freshly cut, as moonlight cast dim haze where trees were not covering. The exterior hotel fence was marked by a fresh painted fence, drying and starting to weather. Yet, as the tall figure walked, they ignored it all, their footsteps crunching on gravel. In their hands was the small, plastic red crab they had found by the lake, scuttling and scurrying along their arms. They reached the large overly grandeur door once more, and knocked on the brass knocker.

For the first time in a while, their lips curled in smile. Mind racing wit thoughts, the remembered what Test Tube had said. The rush of thoughts slowed as they breathed, hearing the slow turn of the lock.

As the door swung open, Paintbrush's eyes met hers. "Hi, welcome to Ho....." She began, putting on a cheery and dull face, only to stop. Her gaze stared back to them and her throat could make not a sound as she stared. Her eyes sparked in a way, like there hadn't been light in them for a while.

"P........Painty?".

They only smiled, reaching out their hands. She did the same as Baxter crawled from their hands to hers and they smiled at her in the same way she had done so long ago. And she looked back with the stunned but happy face as they had on the night of their elimination.

"Hi to you too, Lighty." They replied, as Baxter crawled out of her hands and leapt onto the floor, scuttling about. The corners of her eyes seemed to twinkle as she stared, amazed and shocked at once. "I felt like I was.....at the bottom of the ocean. But....."They said, watching the crab scuttle off. "I remembered.....that's where he lives.".

Suddenly, and in quite and ecstatic and hurried manner, Lightbulb hugged them, letting out a distressed but happy sound. Her bulb lit up slightly as she half laughed, half sobbed, tears falling from her eyes on long time lost delight. "PAINTY!!!! YOUR BACK!!!!" She cried out, her arms wrapped around them, almost too tight. Yet, Paintbrush didn't mind. The warm and funny feeling fluttered within as they reciprocated the hug, only smiling, finally back with their best friend and Bright Light's captain since day one.

"I'm home.".

Chapter Text

So, Paintbrush was eliminated in the most recent chapter.

Well, now I give YOU, the reader the chance to ask our favourite brush any of your burning questions.

This is being done one Wattpad and here, so questions may cross sect into here. (I will label questions from Wattpad with a {W} and questions from here with an {A}

Chapter Text

Shallow waters crashed upon white beaches, alongside scuttling crabs and burrowing hermits. The tree's leaves were their most vibrant green as breezes swept through the late July haze, airing out some of the intense heat. At one end was a group of people, each chattering and chiming on such an amazing day.

"And then HE decides to just.....LOCK US OUT!!!!? CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT GUY!!!?" Yang scornfully grumbled, his hands expressive and waving. "He wins ONE season and owns HIS OWN hotel with that boyfriend of his and thinks he's all sum big shot huh!?" They added, picking up a stone and skimming it across the water. Candle merely smiled as she watched them ramble, while Silver scoffed at the side.

"Oh my, how horrible. Oj did something sensible and logical in HIS hotel, wow!" He sarcastically remarked to deaf ears. Candle grabbed his hand to which he did not reject, though his face did show a falsified repulsion. "Really Yang, that sounds SO interesting.".

"Hey, don't look at me like you didn't use MY immunity to get him voted out!" They retorted, pointing a finger at Silver. He uncaringly batted his eyes away, tossing his own stone. It bounced once and sunk, much to his dismay. "Yeah, you think I'd ever forget that stunt of yours?".

"It's not MY fault the viewers happen to love you so much!" He replied, grabbing another stone alongside the black cookie. Each stared at the other with a slight amnosity. 

"Well maybe because they prefer someone who isn't lazy and lame." They hissed, grabbing their own stone and aiming at the water. Each gave each other death glares as they threw their stones and watched them skip across the shoreline.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

A third stone, with a purple glint around its edge as it spun through the air, crashed into theirs. It bounced off the first two in a golden and purple blaze, streaking fifteen more times across the waterway. Both Silver Spoon and Yang could only only stare at their sinking pebbles as they heard her mischievous but still gentle chuckle.

"Well, I wonder who may be fan favourite soon." She said, pulling up one of Cabby's files. She displayed the several folded charts to the both of them with a smug look. Yang grabbed one of the sheets, displaying how, over the past few episodes, his immunity vote kept going exponentially down while the votes for both Candle and Bow Bot were increasing throughout the eliminations. "At this rate, I'll be overtaking you by the next elimination.".

"Grrr! WHAT IS THIS OUTRAGE!!!?" Yang yelled, stomping as he wafted the papers and file. "THEIR ALLIANCE CAN DO TO US WHAT YOU DID TO OJ FOR THE WHOLE MERGE!!!?".

"Yes, how sa-" Silver began to grumble only to instantly stop. His pupils dilated as his face turned sheet white and he stared at the grumpy black and white cookie. "I'm sorry what?" he inquired in a serious tone. Looking towards Candle, he saw the same shocked expression on her face, along with one of her eyes seeming to twitch. She clutched the file as both looked over toward the overside of the beach where Test Tube and Cabby seemed to be talking and laughing together.

...

"Argh!!!!! WHY!!!!?".

Almost everyone stared at the frantic and stressed show host's phone, batting away a collective of creatures from a plate with some pretty mouldy-looking ice cream. The plates were plentiful, with huge piles of a once mile-high pie now strewn about on each. Also at the sight was a bunch of flying critters, cretins and creatures of different sizes and shapes, yet each with the same black wings and sharpened fangs and teeth that sunk into mouldy cake flesh. 

"My cake!!! My precious delectable cake!!!! My CAKE!!!!!" Mephone cried out, angered and annoyed. Most contestants looked at him with either confusion or shock as he waved his arms around to try swat away some of the cretins, only for them to just move to the other side of the cake pile. Silver seemed to grimace at the sight of the mould, while Nickel and Balloon had an expectant look of their host's antics and attitude.

"Wait...." Cabby began, seeming a little disgusted and fearful. "Isn't that....the mile-high pie from a few months ago?" She asked, looking at Test Tube, who gave a reaffirming nod, causing her to gag slightly. Bot picked up a stick and poked the pile, causing one side to fall apart. The icing on the inside was grey and the chocolate was black with green specks. The strawberry icing from the top (now on its own separate plate and looking a little less grand) was coveted in bluish-grey spots and streaks, like vines.

"Mephone, why do you care?" Test Tube asked the frantic blue screen. Behind them, Candle was watching, somewhat agreeing with the scientist though hiding her expression behind a calm and blank face. "I mean, it's already rotten. What could they do?".

"ARGH!!! I was saving that for my half-birthday party!!!" He simply replied, kicking some of the dirt in the flying critter's direction. One of them merely opened its mouth, eating the flying grass and dirt. He grumbled as other contestants gathered around to see the strange creature's eating the mouldy cake. Silver yelped as one particularly green and sharp-toothed runt shoved its head into him, while Bot seemed to marvel at the different types of creatures. Even Cabby seemed interested, writing in a brand new yellow file.

"Wow, they seem cute and harmless." Bot said, laughing a bit as a small pink cretin with curved, cream-coloured horns landed on their arm.

"These guys.......ARE AWESOME!!!" Yang cried out, watching eagerly as one of the adorable monsters, resembling him, devoured an entire plateful of mouldy cake in a single bite. 

"They seem rather nice." Candle added, a square-shaped purple gremlin resting on her hand. This one appeared the least active of the lot and didn't seem to sustain an appetite.

"Well, because they ate my half-birthday cake, I think it's only fair they're part of today's challenge!!!" Mephone stated, diverting his grumble to a more neutral and falsified show host smile. With a flash of the "create" symbol on his screen, the area behind him was filled with a small boxing ring-type setup. The screen turned black and white as he explained. "Each of you will take one Inanimate as a partner and will have some time to train them, ready for a battle to the death.

Whoever's Inanimate makes it out of the tournament victorious will receive the immunity cookie for tonight's vote." He finished, waving the golden immunity cookie in his hands. Murmur began between the competitors as many were already wavering with an Inanimate pal of theirs. Bot seemed to take interest in the pink gremlin on their shoulder while Test Tube had taken a keen liking to the green goblin-looking thing that had shoved Silver.

Speaking of Silver, he seemed overjoyed with a cubic blue that was nibbling on its own small plate and wiping its mouth with a piece of cloth. "My my, I believe I've found a well-mannered fellow here." He said as he sat beside the cretin. Candle sat next to him, the purple cubic gremlin with black horns she seemed to have resting in her palm. "And I see you found an equally likeable fellow too, my dear." He added as her Inanimate flattered down with its dark wings next to his.

"Well, their aura is quite powerful and contained. And it seems yours has quite the knack for table manners." She replied, causing him to chuckle slightly. Her Inanimate nibbled on some cake, its wings sending a soft gust of wind over across Silver's blue. "And I think your one has taken a liking to her." Candle added as they watched his Inanimate bring over another plate of the cake, seeing as the first one was running pretty low.

"HAHAHAHA!!!!".

Both heard the infamous cackle as they looked over, seeing Yang playfully punting and being punted back by the black and white Inanimate with orange horns. One might have even mistaken it for them, seeing as the little guy was crushing a can of Dr Fizz cola between its fangs. "THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!!!! I SHALL CALL YOU...".

"Sprinkles." Yin blurted in the midst of Yang's tirade, causing his sadistic grimace to shatter and remould into a frown. "NO!!? We can't name them something LAME like that!!!" He retorted to his lighter half. Yet, even with his stance, "Sprinkles" merely nudged the lighter half gleefully, causing Yang further disgruntlement.

"Fine." They finally replied as the inanimate bumped Silver's blue one in mid flight, causing that one a slight discomfort and the purple one to chuckle a little as she offered blue her cake. "But only if their last name is Thunder.".

Meanwhile, over by the Pic Nix table, Bot was throwing small, fresh pieces of cake from a plate up into the air. Catching each piece mid air was a small, pink little guy that made squeaky chirps on occasion. Also catching pieces of cake was a floor flapping green oval creature with brown horns and lopsided eyes., though it was less catching the pieces mid air and more so just scooping whatever bits Bot's inanimate failed to grab.

"Wow, your Inanimate seems pretty tricksy Bot." Nickel stated, pridefully standing next to his small boulder look a like with a horn on its head. It was nudging Balloon's duck looking creature, much to his dismay.

"Hey!!! Nickel!!!" He gasped, shielding his flying pal from the nudging. "Keep your Inanimate under control!!! He could seriously hurt Patricia here!!!".

"Hey, sorry about it, but I can't help it. Nickel Jr is just itching for a good tussle, is all." He replied, though slightly shoving his Inanimate a bit. "By the way, what have you named em?" He asked towards the smiling Pink bot.

"Name? You guys are naming them?" They asked, a little confused.

"Yeah, what name have you given them?" Balloon repeated, as Patricia bounced along the floor, eating scraps of cake on the floor alongside Test Tube's green reptile looking monster. Bot seemed a little unsure as they put down the plate, causing Nickel Jr, Patricia, the reptilian Inanimate and there one to dive for it, greedily gobbling the waffles and pancakes.

"Uhhh....I...I don't really know...." They said, scratching their head a little, only to retract it from the small scar on their case, under their hair. "I mean, I don't think I have one. I haven't thought about names too much...". They looked at their own hand, a bit unsure and nervous. 

"I can help out with a name." A cheery voice declared, causing all three of them to jump in surprise. Somehow, despite being on wheels, Cabby had managed to get past and behind all of them. Sat atop atop her head was a brown rock looking Inanimate with a name tag on one of his spiked head pieces that read "Grant".

"Sorry for the sudden show up, but I have a few files to help with name selection." She explained, popping a green file out of her drawer and showing it open to them. They looked over, excited as they scoured through the pages shown. Nickel also seemed interested, seeing as he had scooted over to find a better name for his Inanimate than simply "Nickel Jr.".

As the three scoured through the pages within the file, Test Tube cleared her throat, catching the attention of the green reptilian Inanimate.  She set two plates down in front of the creature: one with some fresh vanilla cake and chocolate icing, labelled with the tag "Sweet". The other was a small but juicy steak, crisp and baring the tag "Savoury". She watched closely while holding a note pad, all in front of a very confused Balloon.

"What're you doing, Tube?" He asked, watching her observe her Inanimate as it eyed up each plate. The creature's mouth hung with drool and its wings pointlessly flapped small gusts of wind, yet it barely made any headway off the ground. Now on closer look, he could tell one of the eyes was lopsided and the teeth seemed rather sharp but crooked.

"Oh, hi Balloon." She replied, noting in her book as the creature greedily and hungrily gobbled the steak, breaking the plate and some of the ground beneath in the process of its lapse thrashing. "I'm trying to see what the strengths and weaknesses of Eggy here are and what she likes or doesn't.".

"Eggy?".

"Yeah, Eggy. I named her that due to her oval shape." She explained, as the cretin rolled off the now shattered plate. "Honestly, I think this'll be more fun since she's.....different..." TT stated, watching as her creature bit down on the ground, tearing chunks out of the dirt and grass. "Like a true challenge. Not only do I gotta win but I also gotta understand her too.".

"Wow. That's......kinda nice and smart." He replied, watching the Eggy bump into Patricia, with both of them cutely hopping and making squawks and strange noises. "Steak." He heard next to him as both the Inanimate came over for another plate of a bigger, much juicer steak alongside an awesome looking chicken leg, which they immediately began to devour hungrily. "Huh. I think Patricia likes it too.".

"That's what science is for. Find out the real optimum path to an obstacle.".

...

Sunlight hung high above as all the contestants hung around by the ring, waiting for Mephone to return. Different creatures and pesky besties were in different places. Up in the sky were cretins like Candle's "Aura", Silver's "Charles" or Floor's frantically panicking "Tootsy Wootsy.". The triangular Inanimate seemed to be trying to communicate with his fellow's but his cries and pleas fell on deaf ears, since they didn't understand English in any way. 

"YOU HAVE TO LISTEN!!!! There's so much more to our lives than being used as entertainment for this.....THIS stupid game!!!!" He blurted in distress, waving around and flapping like mad. "They're going to force us to FIGHT to our demise!!!! Surely you have value of your lives!!?".

Aura merely nudged him playfully, chirping as Charles followed behind. Her speech was undiscernible warbles, as was his and neither seemed much interested. Heck, the Blue cube seemed much more intrigued with Aura then the ring behind them. Tootsy's cries were left unheard as he descended, dismayed and frustrated, landing next to the oblivious and cheery Floor.

"Aww, no hard feelings mate. I'm sure you'll win this competition." He said while munching on some carrot cake. "Besides, I know you've got it in the bag. You just have to be ruthless and determined.".

"I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT!!!! I DON'T ME OR ANY OF MY FREINDS TO DIE!!!!" He lashed out, attempting to appear threatening as his voice dropped an octave. However, the most he managed to do was flap a small breeze onto The Floor. 

"Ha Ha!!! You are the cutest!" Floory replied, chuckling at the perceived antics without understanding a single bit of the intent or emotion behind the words. "And, hey, is death really that bad for you guys?".

This sentence seemed to tick him off in a horrible way as he prepared to scream. However, even as his rage built up, he proceeded to explain in the most calm and uninteresting way possible "No. We burst into confetti when we die and its actually quite an enjoyable experience.".

"Oh. Well, good for you mate." He replied, continuing to eat his cake, much to his Inanimate' s annoyance and disdain. The dishevelled and annoyed critter flew off to try convince Aura and the others to quit, only to realise they'd already left with their new owners.

Speaking of Aura, she was situated on Candle's head, near her soft and glowing yellow flame. Silver stood next to the two, rambling about whatever and just ranting to Candle, while she listened to him. Though for many, Silver's rambling gloating and chatter would've driven someone mad, Aura could sense a relative calmness and stability from her owner. Like Candle actively enjoyed hearing this, rambling bamboozling clown speak. A sense of admiration perhaps, and maybe even some kind of greater respect.

Even as she slowly picked up upon this new person's actions and words, the flame before her flickered slightly and the mind seemed to alter to something less straightforward and grounded. She felt her hands grab her and put her down, next to the high standard setting blue cube that had come to be named "Charles" by the big oath. 

"Mind watching Aura for me? I have something important." Candle asked Silver amidst his chatter and charp. He was taken aback by the request, especially since her tone had changed to a more serious one. Something that seemed vastly frightening from someone like her, especially with her flame roaring in a wild and unregulated manner, like a lid was being taken off of a boiling pot of water.

"Sure, my dear. Whatever it is you need." He replied in his steady and prideful manner, though she could swear she felt a menial mental crack beneath that exterior. Still, there was plenty of time to learn about Silver's true nature and psyche later, especially with how much he seemed to enjoy chattering with and rambling and venting to her.

She approached the lonesome half and half boy, the eye on the darker half black with a glowering eye that was black instead of the usual white on Yang's side. A clear tell tale sign that they probably weren't here right now. He seemed down and nervous as, surrounding him was a whole bunch of shredded white fluff and orange fabric, alongside black charred bits scattered through the grass. 

Along with that, she noticed his Inanimate was nowhere to be seen, yet the area hadn't been littered with confetti. Plus, Yin didn't seem to be injured in any way and there were no sighs of struggle. Nor were there any signs from his aura of remorse or grief, but rather fear and self deprecating agony. She was partly concerned and her flame did flare up slightly, yet she breathed as she sat next to him.

"Now what could've gone wrong here, Yin?" She asked, causing him to leap back from shock of her presence. Candle made mental note to at least make her presence known in a much more recognizable way for the sake of her allies sanity, given how sleekly and sharply she could sneak around them. "Where's Sprinkles?".

"Please Candle......Please do...don't tell Yang....." he stammered, clearly in a state of panic. His eye twitched and his aura seemed to crackle in a wild way. "I......I tried to make Sprinkles listen but he didn't. And he....he......"He continued, waving his arms in the direction of the shredded mess of what was once Yang's gift to him during Goo's elimination. "I got mad about him destroying Riggidy and I....I.....I told him....".

Now she was listening closely, noticing his heart beats seemed to pound as he racked his head. His hands flailed with randomness and uncertainty and he seemed to be stumbling over his own words. Like water crashing through an uneven cut canal and tearing off parts of the rock, trying with as much effort as possible to find an easier path, only to be cascaded down the unnatural and oddly carved path. She could feel her flame flicker as he seemed to stumble and strain over his own words, and she instinctively put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, it alright. After all..." She began, reassuringly, giving a hand to the distressed Yin. The gesture both surprised him and silenced him as she simply gave a weak and calmed smile. "Even if Yang found out, isn't honesty and cooperation the key to you two? That's what you want, right? To think as one mind?".

He could only nod. Yet, she could sense he wanted to say at least a little more. "Yang might get angry, or annoyed or even hate you. But at the end of the day....." She explained. His breaths calmed and he seemed to feel less panicky and distressed. "He's still a part of you. Just as your a part of him. Yin and Yang. Yang and Yin.".

Taking the hand off his shoulder, she passed him two items: The pink crystal and the accompanying double pronged metal fork. He took the crystal, its surface and glossy glassy structure reflecting sunlight, alongside the iron fork. "Yang....And Yin." She repeated, lightly tapping its surface and causing a low hum to echo from the gem. The sound made Yin seem to worry less, like the clouds of torment within his mind were being dispersed. "Yin....and Yang. You just....need to be honest with him about it." She stated, tapping the crystal again.

His mind was a smooth lake now and he felt easy and relaxed. Being given the fork from her, he instinctively tapped the jewel. Those hums and dings were soothing and he was much calmer. Perhaps that calmness was elevated as she hugged him, squeezing him. "Th....Thank you Candle." he replied, glad he at least had someone in his alliance to help out in a time like this.

"No problem. Someone has to keep the Thinkers going." She replied, smiling softly at him. "And, someone has to keep you two up when you keep yourselves down." Candle added, one of her eyes glancing back to Silver, who was prancing around trying to control a very nippy Aura. "In the meantime, you can have my Inanimate, if you wish.".

"W....Wait really?" He asked, seeming genuinely surprised by the gesture. Yet, as he looked at her, she had already whistled softly, drawing the nippy Aura away from Silver and beckoned them to Yin. The small purple creature seemed to take an immediate liking to him, nuzzling his chest. "But.....what about you?".

"Oh don't worry about me. Besides, I'm just trying to make sure our alliance holds together and everyone can manage within it." She replied, waving a dismissive hand at the woes. Again, she cast a simple sweet smile, hope in here eyes. "Just make sure to try get a win for me." Candle added, giving a small head pat to both Yin and to Aura, before walking off.

He stood, slightly bewildered. On one hand, he was glad that she'd helped him out. Heck, she even gave her Inanimate over for him to still compete. Thanks to her, he felt like he might actually be able to explain himself to Yang easier. If it wasn't for her this whole time, he and they would probably still argue. Heck, Yang would still be here, seeing as the two would never have learned how to secede control of their half to the other.

But still, she gave him her Inanimate. She very well cast aside the chance she had to gain immunity in the challenge. Heck, this action might cause her to be eliminated. An occurrence that would surely crush him, as it would the others. That was always how Candle was: Sweet and Kind, putting others before herself. Part of him wanted to reject this offer and let her accomplish something of her own right and volition, but she seemed contempt and cheerful to help. And, should she survive tonight's elimination, maybe she'd get a chance to do something more for her own sake.

At least he hoped.

...

"Hey guys?" Balloon called out, catching Nickel and Bot. Both walked over, Nickel accompanied by his still named "Nickel Jr" who he had just found. He was half walking, half wiping weird pink and yellow confetti from the small grey Inanimate' s head, as they arrived at the place they had left their pets. Patricia and Bot's aptly named "N/A" weren't there. Instead, there was small pile of confetti littered about upon the grass, along with Test Tube's "Eggy" a good bit away, munching on some beef pieces. One of her yellow horns seemed to have been removed and cracked, but nobody really noticed the small senile critter as it cheekily and gleefully munched on its food.

"I can't find our Inanimates." He said, pointing out the empty space. "Heck, Patricia won't come back, even for cookies!!!". He wafted two small chocolate chip cookies in his hand, which were quickly grabbed up by the hungry Grant, whom quickly returned to Cabby's head without her noticing. His silly antics weren't really paid any heed too, as Bot checked under a nearby brown oval basket that the Inanimates had been playing with only to find a confetti cluster undereath. 

"I can't find N/A!!!" They said frantically, catching the attention of the two discussing smart ones of their group. "N/A!!!!" They called out, hoping to catch maybe a glimmer of their pink flying pal as Test Tube came over.

"What's wrong with you guys?" She asked,  putting a hand on the shoulder of Bot. "Something bad happen? Where're your guys Inanimates?". She noticed Bot's frantic panic as she grabbed their face and checked their beating energy core style heart. Fast paced and irregularly beating it was. Alongside this, their eyes seemed to show guilt, like they seemed to feel bearing of a responsibility of sorts.

"Hey, Hey. It's alright. I'm sure we can help you find them. Honest." She said, watching as her creation's flicker. "And I'm sure none of it is your fault. Really. Just breathe and tell me what happened.".

"We can't find our Inanimates!!" They yelled, as Balloon stumbled on a while frantically searching, and was caught in the air, falling slowly. Alongside this, his lips let out a disgruntled "Oh, come one!!!" as he hovered in slow-Mo free fall. "We just left them here, and now they're missing!!!".

Her eyes averted to the surroundings. She could see the basket's and small piles of paper plats that had been used by both them and her and Cabby for training. "Well, where or when did you last see them?" She asked, picking up on the baskets. One side had clear signs of damage and cracks, as well as some pretty evident bite marks. As well as this, she also found strangely abundant amounts of confetti. Meanwhile Nickel noticed his Inanimate had some damage to the their proud black head horn.

"Well, I don't know where to find them. But from what I can gather..." She explained as the three younglings' of her alliance gathered to listen, with Cabby also hovering nearby. "I think something, or someone attacked them.". She pointed to the the damaged basket, the chunks of torn grass and Nickel Jr.'s head injuries. "From the looks of things, it may have been an uncoordinated attack by a rouge pet of theirs.".

She pointed over to the other alliance. Candle was busy meditating with Silver, while his blue Inanimate used a small spoon to sculpt a very nice looking statue of themselves and Aura out of Chocolate ice cream. A task that was aided by the fact that'd chosen to do so under an umbrella, under which was also a disgruntled Tootsy Wootsy. Meanwhile Aura herself was flying gracefully, with Yin holding up plates of small red balls for her to grab on descent and holding a bucket out to catch any she dropped. His own Inanimate was nowhere to be seen however.

"Well, we still outnumber them. We just have to hope someone in OUR alliance wins the challenge." Balloon said, still down about the loss of his freind. Cabby wheeled on by, holding a very ecstatic and excited Grant. He flew out of her arms, headbutting with Nickel Jr in anticipating excitement.

"Hopefully we have good luck today." She said, crossing her fingers, as did the others. The bell sound from Mephone rang as all contestants had their training time come to a decisive end. Now, it was time for the challenge.

Chapter Text

Winds blew soft and the Bell rang as all contestants lined up outside the ring. The sunlight reflected off of the blue metal framed just above the ropes, making the entire thing seem way more aqua than it truly was. At the back was a large TV screen, covered by thick glass and completely blank, safe for the gleam of light.

"Hey, Balloon, where's your pet?" Mephone asked, pointing towards the red, slightly down boy who was without an Inanimate of his own. Yet, he shrugged his shoulders before he even got a response. "Eh, whatever it was, it just makes things easier. At least now the competition runs smoothly with 8 Inanimates instead of 9.".

"Oh, I lost mine too..." Bot added, sitting atop Cabby's head as Grant flapped his wings in her arms. The words ticked the Blue phone off, yet he managed to keep calm.

"Ok well.....we can make do with 7. Though it's probably gonna be WAY harder now...."He said, rubbing his temples and turning to the one chaotic duo he hoped would have their priorities in order. "Yin Yang, please don't tell me...".

"We have ours right here!!!" They proclaimed boldly, pointing to the flying Purple cube above his head and chirping her soft chirps. A sight that definitely pleased Mephone, seeing as he at least still had his selection ready.

"Because I may have.....given mine up?" Candle added hesitantly.

Seven simple words she spoke that ticked something off in his mind. Like an annoyance but somehow even greater. His hands shook and the brightness of his blue seemed to glare as his lips turned to a scowl and his eyes. His entire body shook as an ominous hum, like that of a wasp, emanated from his core.

"Oh so it's a 6 then? Sweet!!!" He said gleefully, glad that things could go smoothly. "Seriously, a tournament-style fight with an odd number of Inanimates? Where are we, the first season?".

He cleared his throat as the TV screen lit up and a tournament-style set of empty brackets appeared, all blank. Along the side, everyone who had an Inanimate was listed, from Test Tube and Cabby to Silver Spoon and Floory. "Here's how we're gonna do this." Mephone explained as the 6 names flew to the 6 bottom brackets.

"You're Inanimate will face the one of whoever you're set up against in the initial matches." He said, pointing to the brackets. "If you're Inanimate wins, it moves on to the next bracket.

Since this will mean 3 Inanimates go to the 3rd bracket, the winners of the first two matchups will face. The loser will fight the 3rd winner of the previous bracket for a spot in the finals.".

The TV screen showed the example of 3 example circles, each with a number from 1 to 3. Ball 1 knocked Ball 2, causing Ball 2 to go up against Ball 3 and lose too.

"Then, the remaining two will have a final fight to determine the winner. And whoever owns said Inanimate will receive, the Immunity Cookie." He finished, brandishing the golden confectionary treat with caramel-coloured chocolate chips. The screen showed the brackets again, with all the matchups' of the first set:

Silver Spoon vs Test Tube

Nickel vs Cabby

Yin Yang vs The Floor

"Those are the Matchups. If there's any questions, please give them now." Mephone stated as he put the Immunity Cookie back in the glass box where it usually resided. No one really said anything, and no one made a sound. Except for Candle coughing, Cabby's wheel squeaking and Test Tube's Inanimate still grumbling as it hopped about on the ground. Other than that, it was so quiet that you could probably hear a pin drop.

"Actually I had a question about...." Bot began, raising their hand.

"OK THEN, SINCE WE HAVE NO QUESTION!!!!" Mephone declared, cutting them off without meaning to as his screen flashed purple. Instantly, both Test Tube and Silver were on the Opposite sides of the ring, just outside the net and staring at their Inanimates. "Test Tube's "Eggy" vs Silver Spoon's...."He said, looking at the screen to properly read the name. "Charles Eustace Leopold.". That's.....a name.".

Silver stood proudly at the mention of his cretin's name, not realising how odd and unusually overtly dramatic it seemed to sound. Meanwhile, Test Tube was playfully tapping Eggy on the head and smiling, hoping that the training she had given him and his unique style of fighting would help him out.

"AAAND FIGHT!!!".

The bells dinged and Charles immediately dashed forward with his wings, ready to swoop under his foe as they flew and hit the killing blow from under. His sharp cream-coloured horns were primed to hit whatever he faced in between the face and the wing.

But Eggy did not fly. He only bounced off the ground, like a silly big frog. And his yellow horns collided with Charles's face, causing a shower of Confetti to spread across the ring. Eggy sprung along, flying out of the ring without a thought on his face as Test Tube ran off the catch her run away (or rather "bounce away") Inanimate. Silver dropped to his knees as he watched the confetti fall, still hearing the final courageous battle cry of his now-life-liberated pet.

"Well, it had to happen at some point. And he got a taste of glory for his troubles." Candle reassured, patting his shoulder as he grasped at the pink, yellow and blue pieces of paper.

"Yeah, plus his legacy can live on with you mate." Floory added, sliding over a plate with a simple cheese sandwich to the grieving Silver. A pretty insignificant gesture but his special way to make people feel better, considering he was the literal floor. 

"Thank you...for that...."He replied, taking the plate as he sat on the grass, still disheartened but at least glad he had his alliance friends for aid. "Try and.....win for him. And for any other of our Inanimates lost.".

Meanwhile, Nickel was teleported beside them, with his look a like pet growling as it faced Cabby's pretty stationary Inanimate. The screen flashed as Mephone announced the next matchup.

"Nickel's "Nickel Jr" vs Cabby's "Grant" face off in our next match!!!".

"Whatever you do buddy, show 'em No Mercy!!!" Nickel stated, hyping his Inanimate up. Cabby seemed a bit nervous though, looking through one of her files as she tapped the floor by Grant in an attempt for him to move. Yet he just sat, with a still smile and pretty closed eyes. Like he wasn't even awake.

"No no no.....Uhh...Maybe he needs food? Maybe he needs to.....I....I...I...." She muttered, looking through the file. Despite everything she had picked up on behavioural patterns, none of it seemed to be working right now. Heck, she even poked him with a stick and that did barely anything.

"START!!!".

Nickel Jr dashed around the space with his wings, growling as he anticipated whatever his opponent may throw at him. Cabby attentively watched as Grant sat still, with slight hopes. After all, from her observation of the previous battle, it had to be the case that Grant's inaction and Nickel Jr's rather flashy display of speed would give her Inanimate the win. Right?

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed one of her files seemed to shuffling along. It was the bright yellow one with voting analysis and data, one she only shared with the most trusted of her allies, like Test Tube. With a scoff, she grabbed the file and flung it away, revealing the small, almost hidden away face in the ground.

"Ohhh....He he...." He awkwardly laughed, having been caught. "I uhh......I left my...".

"Now you too?" She grumbled disgruntledly, annoyed. Couldn't people ever understand that her files weren't for taking? It was like almost nobody even cared about her or how she felt about her info. "Why do people keep taking my stuff? Does anyone around here even realise why my files are so important to me?".

"I dunno. I'm only here cuz most of my alliance are scared." Floory said nonchalantly. The sentence seemed to sting to her in a way she hadn't felt in a while.

"Scared?" she asked. "Why would they be scared?".

"Well, most of my alliance is scared of what you write about them. And how you....." He explained in his simple but informative voice. "Well, it's really more Candle and Silver's words. I'm more here to GET the files but....A lot of us were concerned with how you....use the info from the files?".

Cabby didn't have anything to say after that. A strange sensation of something bad she couldn't quite put her finger on washed over her, and she looked back at the file she held with a slight disdain and mistrust. With a glance back at the ring, she saw Grant still not moving. She stared back at the brown file in her other hand. The back at him.

Speaking of Grant, he was suddenly up in the air. But not because of his own intuition. But rather due to Nickel Jr swooping and hitting him up, like a paddle on a ping pong ball. He whizzed high in the air, not moving at all and eyes barely squinting at the sunlight as he began to descend in free fall. Right in front of her, onto the single spiky horn of his foe.

POP!!!

Confetti rained the ring around Nickel Jr, who gleefully dashed away with his victory, smiling. She watched the confetti covet the space as she stared both at the space where Grant had been and her own files. Were her files that bad that people saw her as a danger because of them?

"Our next matchup...." Mephone announced as Floory eagerly cheered for his little, triangular companion. Cabby watched on, seeing the little guy seemed rather distressed while Yin Yang's more boxy purple Inanimate fluttered gleefully and chirped something that made the other remaining Inanimates around the ring gasp. Nickel Jr even gagged slightly at the statement of whatever it was Aura may have said. 

"Yin Yang's "Aura" vs The Floor's "Tootsie Wootsie" as per the final first bracket fight.".

"Please listen to me!!!" Tootsie cried out, hoping she would listen. "We don't HAVE to fight!!! Think of what happened to your friend!!".

Yet Aura only replied with more aggressive chirps and chitters.

"Let the final fight BEGIN!!!".

"YOU HAVE TO LISTEN!!!" Tootsy cried out, dashing aside as she flew past him at incredible speeds. He fell down from the wind force of her flying by, landing on the rope and being thusly propelled forth, almost hitting her as she twirled.

"Yeah!! Nice one Toots!!!! Use your environment!!!" Floory yelled in delight, misinterpreting his accidental rebound for a purposeful one.

"I don't think he means to do so on purpose...." Cabby remarked.

"Well even if he does, AURA SHALL DOMINATE!!!" Yang cried out in malicious excitement, one fist raised while Yin seemed a bit relieved. A bit farther back, Candle watched her old Inanimate now in his control doing even better than she could've anticipated. "SHE IS THE ULTIMATE KILLING DEATH MACHINE AND NO ONE CAN STOP HER!!!".

"Aura!!!! You can't be seriously following faith in THAT THING!!!" Tootsy yelled, ducking as she dashed again. Try as he might, his words had no effect on her, yet she always responded as if she did know what he meant. Yang chanted in support of her, as did Candle softly behind. With one final dive, Aura finally managed to hit Tootsy. And as he turned, his horn managed to deflect the blow, causing her to tumble back into the air, dazed. 

"NO!!!" He cried out as she smiled, face slightly cracked. One final chitter escaped her throat as she burst into confetti, showering the deeply unsettled Inanimate in the colourful paper while Floory cheered from the sidelines.

"Great job mate. I knew you had it in you." He exclaimed excitedly, his face shuffling along the ground in a celebratory bogey.

"Our next Matchup begins shortly. Since Tootsy Wootsy won the third Match..." Mephone exclaimed as the screen showed the first bracket closed off. Eggy and Nickel Jr moved up, alongside Tootsy Wootsy, though their brackets seemed to be a little higher than his. "He will face the loser of the next match. Which means both Nickel Jr and Eggy will equipped with armour, and it is a matter of who loses their armour first.".

As he said this, his screen flashed green and both Inanimates were outfitted in a some studded black armour pieces. Nickel Jr growled excitedly at his new armour while Eggy just sat in Test Tube's arms, tongue stuck and out and slightly bouncy still. The round green Inanimate leapt out of her hands, springing around like he was on a trampoline as Cabby tapped her shoulder.

"Could we....talk?" She whispered over to her. "Like.....in private? Please?".

Test Tube glanced at the challenge ring where her Pet already resided, prepared for the next face-off. She felt slightly guilty about leaving him behind, but her mind already had an idea. "Hey, Bot!" She called to the small pink robot, who hung around Balloon doodling. Upon hearing her call, they bounced in much a similar fashion and happily landed atop Cabby, wondering what their creator could need.

"Do you guys need something?" They asked, holding a small pale green pen. 

"Me and Cabby are gonna be gone for a bit so I need someone to stay with him. Think you can manage?" She asked, kneeling before them. Her eyes noticed their drawing as she watched them smile with glee.

"Sure, I can do that. As long as I get the immunity cookie when he wins!!!" They replied snarkily legs extending to tower over her. This only elicited a chuckle as she stood, still able to pat their head even with their added height. With another leap, Bot was right at the ring, just behind Eggy with a gleeful and whimsical smile upon their face. Test Tube watched on as Balloon too stood behind them, banterously bickering with Nickel before his Inanimate would face of the green glob.

"Now, what is it you wanted to talk about, Cabster?" She inquired, noticing Cabby seemed to be gripping her files rather tightly while at the same time seeming uneasy about them.

"Well, I just wanted to ask..."She sighed as she dropped the brown file for Inanimates, its pages still not stapled together or organized. "Can I.....trust you, Test Tube? And more importantly, can....Can you trust me?".

"Well, why not? We are allies, right?" Test Tube said, not sure what could be troubling Cabby. "Did something happen?".

Now Cabby felt a little more queasy. "It's just these.....these files mean SO, so much to me. I've.....I've never known anything without them. But here in the game they...They seem detrimental. I mean people.....People are afraid of me." She explained, taking hesitant glances towards the 4 members of the Thinker's Alliance, along with the 3 people in their alliance.

"Why should they be scared?" Test Tube replied. "Besides, we still have our entire alliance. If the files are that important to you then no worries about what people do about in here. They should know better to respect your files, and if they can't, we deal with 'em.". She clumped one of her fists together into her other hand. "After all, it's just a game.".

"Yeah but...The info is real. I mean..."She explained, pulling out a file of Test Tube. "What if the info I collect on them hurts them in a way that I don't want? Fan was upset with the way I framed him in his file, and I even used my info to insult you about your whole "Egg" situation with him back in last season. I mean....I wasn't even in last season.".

The scientist didn't have a response as Cabby handed her the file, along with another. Looking through it, she saw so many of the things she remembered from the other time it had been shown to her. By her same ally no less, back before her elimination in episode 6. Hundreds of notes about each intricate behaviour and all her interactions in blue, alongside her own additions about herself in more scrawny green. Pictures of the season two episodes, coupled with some of her own hastily stapled images of her time, between seasons 2 and 3. To her, having seen this file so much it was all normal. Yet to someone else who looked through these kinds of files, it would probably feel like the biggest invasion of privacy ever.

Over by the ring, they could see Yin Yang cheering on for Eggy to win, excitedly yelling as he bounced off the ropes and soared through the sky, ribbeting and riveting. They could see Candle and Floory excitedly yell in support of Nickel Jr as he dived, barely missing the bouncing froggy green coloured little guy by inches. Everyone was getting along as if the opposing alliances didn't matter. Like the game didn't seem to matter, and they could just interact like actual friends. 

"Maybe Fan was right about me, in a way." She said, turned away from Test Tube. "Maybe I do need to....site my sources properly...".

She looked at the second file Cabby had given over to her. This one seemed rather light and was the same colour as her, pastelic office blue. On the outer cover, like with many of her files, was a figure to indicate what the file was, in aqua blue: herself. The file barely had anything inside. Just some notes about behaviours, a small section about her interactions with others. Hell, there was more about other people, from Paintbrush and Fan, to Test Tube herself and Bot. 

It would seem Cabby barely had anything about herself. Not a single photo she had taken of her own accord for this file, like for the others. Not a single moment of her own personal thoughts that didn't concern or at very least, involve someone else. Nothing. It was like through all her documentation and study and observations of others, she never once saw reason or sense to include herself as observations, as a person. Like she.....didn't seem to care.

"Well, even if it is about them, they could also see it as...something good?" Test Tube said as she walked by her friend. "Sure, it looks bad that you're basically documenting everything about them, but that's just....your way to remember. Right?".

Cabby didn't respond. Test Tube passed her filing friend the green file back but didn't give back the blue one, to her slight confusion.

"It's like me, with my science and observations. Or Fan, with his blogs. Only difference between us and you is that you hold your info much closer to heart. And really, why should people be mad about that?" She reasoned as they watched Nickel Jr finally manage to hit Eggy, who flew out of the ring, his yellow armour falling apart and clattering across the grass. "Letting logic and science dictate your whole game strategy and life can be really bad, but if you truly hold it close to your heart.....If you care about it greatly, then don't be scared of it. Take pride in it.".

She put a hand on her shoulder and passed the file to her, closed, and with a something inside, though Cabby couldn't tell what. She looked over at the scientist and saw her smile, hopefully. "We are who we make ourselves to be and what we choose to believe of ourselves. Before anything else.".

Cabby held her file, and it felt slightly heavier. She looked back at Test Tube, unsure of what she had done. Yet, the gesture seemed to make her feel a bit better and she didn't have her nerves as heavy as before. "Thank you. For.......For trusting me.".

"No problem. As long as the alliance sticks together, we'll be good. Gotta make final five after all." She replied jokingly, nudging her friend as they began heading towards the other 3.

...

"And with that, Nickel Jr wins!!!".

Eggy sprung and slid on the grass, letting out squeaks and ribbets. The armour he had worn now littered the outside of the ring as Nickel Jr did mid-air spins of what seemed to be victory dance. Bot picked the green Inanimate up, with both them and Balloon chuckling at his croaks.

"Man, I thought he had it there." They said as Nickel came by. His Inanimate was over by Mephone who now had the difficult task of removing the armour, a tedious and arm-spraining affair. "Seriously Nickel, how the heck did you get him to be so adaptable.".

"Oh just my, Coined Charm." He jokingly remarked, smirking as Eggy croaked, sending a small swath of green flehm that he had to jump back to avoid. "Honestly, we're doing pretty good. As long as Eggy pulls ahead against Tootsy, our alliance is safe guaranteed.".

"Well, what happens once the Thinkers are gone?" Bot asked, as they looked on towards Cabby and Test Tube chatting. Cabby seemed to be passing her a file with her own colour. She seemed rather stressed and down, turning away. In Test Tube's other hand, was a blue file that was the same colour as Cabby. "I mean, Cabby seems super stressed and I think I'd feel bad betraying her.".

"Kay but, at some point, there's gonna be a final three." Balloon reasoned. "Unless one of us decides to draw the short end for her, we don't have a choice.". 

"And what about Test Tube? We also have to consider her." Nickel added. "Relax Bot. We can figure it out some other time. Right now we need to manage our current problem since if we don't stick together for tonight's vote, it can be a draw or even elimination.".

All three of them looked over at the Thinkers. Floory was chatting with Tootsy who simply did not reply to him, or even flap his wings. Candle was meditating, looking as calm as could be and sitting rather eased. Her hand's held both the double-pronged fork and the glistening pink quartz crystal. Beside her, Silver was attempting to meditate, while also getting agitated at the small things around him, like sunlight hitting his eyes or wind making his leg itch, or even the sound of Floory or Yin and Yang talking. Every time he started wincing and trying to move, she tapped the crystal with her fork so as to help him maintain the focus he could grasp.

"I think once we've whittled them down enough we can discuss it. That sounds good with yall?" Balloon said, giving a hand. "Looney Balloony Promise, that we make our choice at the final seven.".

Bot gave their hand forward.

Nickel gave a leg forward.

"Looney Balloony Promise.". They both said, nodding to each other as the other two of their alliance were clear earshot.

"So, how'd it go for Eggy then?" Test Tube asked, giving her hands out. The green sharp and yellow-toothed Inanimate leapt from Bot's arms to hers, springing with substantial bounce. The green cretin made a croak as it's cracked golden horn bumped her glass, making her giggle as she almost fell, but managed to stay upright thanks to Balloon and Cabby. "Well, someone seems excited to see me. And what's more, he seems to be our final possibility to clear the Thinkers out.".

"Heck yeah, he is!!!" Bot eagerly yelped, jumping and patting Eggy on his large and smooth forehead. "If we do clear them out, who do we vote for?".

"Well, Yin Yang's out of the question." Cabby reasoned. "Plus, I think we discuss after the final battles.".

"Well, then let's hope Eggy lives up to the legacy of his standard." Balloon stated as they all looked towards the ring where a sullen Tootsy Wootsy resided.

...

"Our second to last Matchup. Test Tube's "Eggy" versus The Floor's "Tootsy Wootsy" for the semi-finale!!!" Mephone declared from his bright red Megaphone as both Inanimates sat in the ring. Eggy coughed a little, wobbling and with his horns poised and slightly polished. Meanwhile Tootsy sat unmoving, annoyed and disheartened.

"Please. Don't do it, Eggy. You can't just....cast your LIFE away for this!!!" He pleaded, flapping his wings to get closer. Yet Eggy only responded with a short ribbet.

DING!!!!

The bell rang out as Eggy sprung into the air, barely missing the now-irritated Tootsy by inches. The purple, triangular, black-horned Inanimate had grown frustrated with the whole competition as he groaned, dodging another attack from his opponent.

"You want to DIE for something like this!? Fine, two can play that game!!!" He declared, sending a series of purple stars from his body that barely missed. He soared upwards, almost intersecting Eggy but hesitating at the critical moment.

With a sudden swerve, Eggy passed by him and rebounded from the ropes, bouncing into the sky, farther than Tootsy would be able to reach. Too high.

"YEAH!!! FINISH IT TOOTSY!!!" Floory cheered as Eggy began to freefall and descend, fast. The purple Inanimate could only stare fixated in fear, both for himself but also for his friend coming down. One of them wasn't gonna make it from this. Yang, Floory and Candle both cheered, while test Tube, Cabby and Bot watched on in anticipation.

POP!

Eggy's final ribbet echoed as he burst into a shower of Confetti, having landed on the purple Inanimate's horn. He descended in flutters of the confetti, horrified as Nickel Jr hovered near the ring, ready for his final matchup.

"Wait....."Balloon began as he pulled some confetti, identical to the ones Eggy had exploded into, from his pocket. "We found these same confetti around the area where Patricia and N/A were...".

"But....that would mean..." Cabby said as they all turned to Nickel Jr. He looked away from them all, as if slightly guilty, and they all realised that it hadn't been an enemy alliance sabotage at all.

"Nickel Jr? But why?" Nickel asked, as his Inanimate still didn't look at him.  The grey, one-horned Inanimate looked to Tootsy Wootsy for support, but all he got back was a look of disdain. 

"Were you THAT jealous of Patricia and N/A that you had TO KILL THEM!!!?" He yelled, clearly distressed and distraught. His pet didn't respond with any sound, not even his usual grunts. "That you decided TO OUTRIGHT END THEIR LIVES!!!? Before THE COMPETITION!!? LEAVE!!! I don't want to see you with my own eyes at all, disgusting MURDERER!!!".

His outburst caught everyone around off guard, even Tootsy Wootsy as the grey flying cretin's mouth moved. "I.....wanted to....to make you proud.....dad..." He said, causing Nickel to turn.

"Nickel Jr?".

His Inanimate gave one last saddened but sincere smile as his face swelled and his wings creased on his sides. 

POP!

"And with that......surprisingly sad turn of events, Tootsy Wootsy is the last Inanimate standing!!" Mephone declared as Nickel stared, traumatised and rained by confetti. His lip quivered as he processed what happened, while both Bot and Balloon put reassuring hands on his shoulders.

"We share together in our day of regrets and trauma." Balloon said sincerely as both Test Tube and Cabby also stood behind him supportively. Yet he was still dazed and confused about what on earth he had even witnessed.

"So, The Floor gains immunity for tonight's vote." Their charmer show host stated, before pausing, slightly confused. "Uhm.....A ha!!".

Grabbing a nearby basket, he placed the cookie on it. Floor smiled as he popped off the ground and on the side of the basket, golden. 

"You all have a few moments. After which, someone will have to press the button. Or face instant elimination at random." Mephone explained as he walked off the get everything set up. As he left, the head spike of Nickel Jr fell, hitting Tootsy in the head exactly in the fatal style to an Inanimate as him. He groaned, yet didn't seem too sad to have lost his life so short.

"Though I may...Cease to be......My convictions...WILL LIVE ON!!!" He gasped as his face swelled and he let out a final, defeated cough.

POP!

"Oh, that....That actually is rather nice.".

...

Red-painted skies cast glazed from the setting sun, painting the grass a dull yellowy green. The waters offshore reflected the star glow as as Test Tube and her alliance sat in the small boxy room with bars that had been used as a makeshift cell for the challenge back in episode 6, all chatting away. All from the distant view of the The Thinkers from the small blue Pic Nix table. Candle seemed a bit stressed, as did Yin Yang and Silver had a sombre but seemingly stoic face, while Floor was moving his face around the basket.

"So....."Silver began, staring at the leaving Looney Balloony alliance. "Who does our vote go to?".

"Well, we obviously have to take care of either Test Tube or Cabby." Yin stated, tapping the table to catch everyone's attention. "But....I think we have a bigger issue." He added, beckoning to Candle.

"Candle is gonna be their target, and we're outnumbered here, which just SUCKS!!!" Yang spat, angry and afraid as he hugged her. Silver too placed a hand near hers as the four of them stared at the elimination button. "So.....me and Floor have...been thinking....".

They turned hesitantly to the attentive Floory, sitting happily in his basket. He smiled, though a little down for the choice made, but still glad to help his friend. "Sure thing. Who I am giving the cookie to again?" he asked.

"Candle. That's who we need to help out here." Silver responded as he was passed the cookie, which he in turn passed to her. She seemed surprised at the gesture, not expecting this from them.

"I...Well I can't take this I.....I just..." she stuttered, unsure if it was really the right choice.

"Take it. You've earned it, after everything you've done for our alliance today." Floor replied, his face popping and reappearing on the table, giving a happy wink. 

"No. I.....you won the contest. I....I can't take it. I...."She tried to reason, feeling even worse. "If I take it then one of YOU might go.". She turned to Yin Yang, who only nodded sincerely as if accepting it.

"We're willing to take that risk." Silver said, holding the cookie to her. All of them were in front of her with smiles, the cookie glistening before her. Yin Yang in particular looked a little down but still glad, while Silver had tired and appreciative eyes on her. All of them had their eyes on her. "It is for your sake, my dear.".

...

Bot leaned down from the window, their mechanical legs spluttering slightly. They sat next to Balloon as Test Tube finally got the right oil type out of her toolbox.

"So, who do we vote for? Since Candle is a no-go." They asked, wincing slightly as she applied a small drop on her metallic knee, before rubbing it into the joint. 

"Well, I was thinking Yin Yang." Balloon suggested. "He seems rather wild, and Candle has taught him a lot.".

"Yeah well, there's also Silver." Nickel said rather fearfully. "Seriously, he's got a lot of cunning prowess. I think we should clear him off the plate here. Otherwise who knows what tricks HE'LL pull on us.".

"I don't know Nickel," Bot interjected as they were finally allowed to shorten their leg again. Test Tube passed them a small yellow cloth to wipe off any excess oil. "Silver may be cunning, but compared to Yin, he's still a bit more on the.....dumb side.".

"And Yang can be an extra wild card. Plus, they can both decide to give up full control to each other, so he's an obvious pick." Balloon stated, waving his hands about and tapping on the cell floor to remind them of how Yin Yang had learned such a technique to counter Nickel's puns on each half back in episode 6. A point that he had to admit was valid, even if he still felt more distrustful of Silver. "What do you think, Test Tube?".

The scientist had been rather quiet about their options, as she had left for quite a while to grab her tools kit. She placed the blue and black box on the table and sat next to Bot and Nickel, contemplating her options. Occasionally, she'd glance towards Cabby, who sat staring at the empty file of her own name. All three of their gazes followed hers.

"Well, I think..." She began, looking at them with a slight hope. "We should let Cabby decide here.".

"Are you....sure, TT?" Balloon questioned. 

"I mean.....I don't really know how much we can trust her..." Nickel added in a slightly worried tone. "With the info she can pull, she might become a major threat.".

"Maybe she will, but even then, I might be a bigger threat. And I don't see any of  you considering ME a threat, am I?" Test Tube joked, nudging Balloon and poking Nickel playfully in the face. "Plus, she hasn't gotten much chance to be.....her own person. The files are just who she is.".

"We don't have any other choice here." Bot said, a little hopeful. "Heck, maybe she just needs help to figure herself out, like I did.".

"Yeah, now you're getting it." She replied, seeming happy at their suggestion and eagerness. "What say you two?".

Both Balloon and Nickel didn't have much to say about it. The former wiped a piece of confetti off the latter's head as they both nodded. 

"Cabby, who you wanna vote?" Balloon yelled, despite the fact that they were in one room. She was taken aback at the sudden calling, yet seeing them seem to smile towards her, as if they trusted her choice, and after hearing their conversations, she felt a bit better.

"I.....Well I...I don't know if you'll like my choice so it really...." She mumbled, wheeling over to them. "I mean I.....I'm honoured but maybe....Maybe you guys have a....a better option?".

"We're pretty divided." Balloon retorted, putting an arm on her shoulder, as Bot extended their legs to stand next to her eye level and wrap a supportive hand around her neck. Test Tube did the same, giving a hand on her other shoulder while Nickel just sortta leaned awkwardly between her and Test Tube, grinning a supportive grin. "We trust you enough with the decision, and will follow through with your plan.".

"I...I..." Cabby was surprised by their collective support. She sighed, slightly happy to have a team who valued and trusted her. "T...thanks.".

"No problem. It's the least we can do for you." Nickel stated, shoving her a little playfully and kicking her metal cabinet side. "Honestly Cabster, maybe we'll just vote out Test Tube over you.".

"Hey, you can't talk betrayals yet." The scientist replied, nudging him. "Anyways, who do you say we vote?".

"Well, if it's all down to me..."Cabby began, as they all listened to her suggestion. The sunlight pierced the window, making Test Tube's glass flash with a bit of light for a second and highlighting Balloon's rubbery surface. Each eye was on her, and all ears were hearing her out. "I think our biggest threat, besides Candle is...".

...

"Another night, another elimination," Mephone stated, standing in front of the moonlit beach for the 11th time that season. "I'm surprised you all forged such great bonds with your pets. And if I'm being honest, I kinda miss the little guys.

But we certainly won't have to miss someone here. Because....".

His screen flashed with results, as several bars appeared on the screen, with Yin Yang in first by barely a hundred or so votes, followed closely by Candle, Bot and Nickel.

"A fourth win arrives for our double-minded thinker friend. Any votes for Yin Yang won't count. As is also true for Candle.".

He beckoned to the now golden Candle, her flame a slick of sliver and cool, as she smiled, sitting next to Silver. Yin smiled as he sat atop the small green drum for a seat he had taken a liking to, while Yang smirked in glee. She seemed quite relaxed, if a little uneasy.

"Anyways, for the rest of you, someone's going home. I'll read the votes.

First vote:

Test Tube.

Test Tube.".

Cabby and Bot seemed nervous, while their friend who was on the Thinker's chopping block herself remained diligently calm.

"The Floor.

Two votes Test Tube, One vote The Floor.

The Floor.

Two votes Test Tube, Two votes The Floor.".

Candle had a slightly guilty feeling, but Floory gave a reassuring wink up at her, even if he did seem a little afraid. Still, all of them did hold their baited breaths.

"The Floor.

Three votes Floor, Two votes Test Tube.

Test Tube.

Test Tube.

Four votes Test Tube, Three votes Floor.".

Candle put both her hands together in meditative stance, taking a breath and hoping for at least a draw. Cabby seemed a bit guilty, but glad at the same time.

"The Floor.

Four votes Floor, Four votes Test Tube. One vote left.".

Mephone's screen flashed as the final vote loaded, the circle cycling between all 9 people there, weighing the options for everyone. Candle kept her cool, breathing and holding her meditation-like pose, with Yin Yang imitating. Silver held crossed fingers, as did Bot. Balloon and Nickel each stared at the screen in a mix of anticipation and dread.

Both Test Tube and Floor seemed a bit worried, but each shared a similar acceptance of whatever would happen. She didn't have much to worry about losing here, since she had helped a friend out greatly either way. And he could at least have some level of hope in this next vote, alongside being glad to have saved one of his greatest friends and allies.

"And the eleventh contestant eliminated from Inanimate Insanity Invitational...

The Floor.".

"Aw man, I'm out?" He proclaimed, a bit disheartened. "Bummer.".

"Sorry about that." Test Tube apologized giving a handout. "We just....had to tick off our....greatest threat.".

"Well, then it would be an honour to have been the "Greatest Threat". HECK YEAH!!!! I was the greatest threat!!!" He boasted, the sand reforming to into a half moulded claw that barely held together, which he used to shake her hand. "I was just glad to have been a part of quite possibly one of the greatest alliances of all time.".

"That is OBJECTIVE FACTS FOR ALL TIME!!!" Yin yelled as Candle gave her immunity cookie back to Mephone. He held the double-pronged fork while Silver held the crystal, and each stood beside Floory.

"Debatable." Nickel retorted.

"Oh, you wanna TRY IT silver coin!!?" Yang asked in a hostile but competitive manner, bumping heads with him. He merely responded with a sly smile as both began pushing each other's heads in some other kind of stupid pushover game that made Balloon sigh from their equal stupidity. And one of those stupids was his best friend.

"If we've finished all our outroductions, it's Indefinite Island time for you, The Floor." Mephone declared, snapping his fingers as the aforementioned face in the ground blipped just in front of the Fist Thing III. "Any final words for the contestant under all our noses?".

"Nope. Just some after." He replied cheerily.

"Suit yourself." The show host shrugged, pressing his large blue button.

BANG!!!

The red boxing glove struck the ground, kicking up some sand and making Floory cough. He spluttered and choked and wheezed, as he let out some final words.

"Though I may cease to compete......My conviction.....will LIVE ON!!!" He declared, before assuming a dead face.

Only to instantly wake back up, fine. Still there. Still on the island.

"W...What the?" Mephone muttered, confused. He pressed the button again, and Floory's face was hit by the Glove. Again.

"Ow. That tickled a bit." He stated.

Again.

"Ow.".

Again. Again. Again.

"I....ARGH!!!!! We'll have to solve this next time." Mephone simply shrugged, annoyed and irritated towards the cameras. The others seemed a bit alarmed and concerned as they realised that no one had really anticipated what would happen once he was eliminated, considering he WAS, the floor of the island they resided upon. "Tune in next time where, hopefully, we'll have cleared this issue away and seen how goes the show for our remaining 8.

Only on Inanimate Insanity Invitational!!!".

Chapter Text

SLAM!!!

Mephone grumbled as he pressed the remote's red button again, but even as the Fist Thingy lifted, that naively smiling face was still there.

"Gah. Just..." He groaned, pressing it again.

SLAM!!!

Floory coughed a bit from that one but still held his naive smile. He simply stared up at the group and blinked without a thought behind those eyes.

"Just...GO!!!" Mephone demanded, flailing his arms about in frustration. Behind him, getting off the stands, the two alliance groups watched on.

"Hmmm, can I just stay?" Floor asked sweetly, moving closer to the blue phone-screened show host. To that, he stomped his feet and pressed the button again.

SLAM!!!

"No!!! Go!!" He demanded, pointing out at sea, towards where Indefinite Island was. Where all eliminated contestants were SUPPOSED to go.

"But I like it here." He happily replied. Candle got down from her seat, passing her Immunity Cookie back to Mephone. Her body returned to its natural purple as she stood by Silver and Yin Yang, their alliance now whittled down to three.

"You have been Eliminated, The Floor. Therefore, you need to get OFF the island!!!" Mephone reiterated in annoyance. "So just, GO!!!".

"Hahaha, funny thing there." He replied, chuckling nervously. Test Tube and Cabby seemed to already realise, with Balloon face palming at how dumb Mephone could be here. Nickel and Bot meanwhile didn't really seem to have caught up.

"I kind of....am the island?".

SLAM!!!

The now bright red show host was frustrated out of his mind. Moreover, the revelation of that last part which he hadn't caught left him dumbfounded and frankly alarmed.

"Well, you're....." He stuttered, trying to find some reasoning for him to go. There had to be something that could be used.

"So, can I stay?" He cheerily asked again.

"NO!!!".

In his frustration, he threw the remote down at that stupidly cheerful face in the ground, causing him to disappear.

Everyone seemed to hold their breath. Bot and Yin Yang looked around the beach, while Silver hurled a small pebble into the waters. It splashed, sending ripples throughout the surface, with some drops flying and hitting both Test Tube and Candle. While the former barely noticed the drops, the latter seemed adamant about wiping them off her wax and keeping them away from her flame. The air on the beach was totally silent.

Nothing.

"Well, I'm glad that's FINALLY over with." He sighed as he picked up the remote. "Now then, the rest of you can head on out for the night. Do what you do, and act as you act, till you're ready for tomorrow's special challenge-".

"Wow, that sounds fun.".

He blinked. He stared at the entire group, and his eyes twitched. Candle and Cabby averted their gaze. Test Tube could see the small smiling face in the ground behind him, as did Nickel and Silver. So cheerful and full of life as their host turned in a cold manner.

"You...are not....a part...of....the game." He muttered through gritted teeth, smiling with no conviction of joy. His body seemed to creak as he slowly turned, like a rusty anchor dragging along a ship's deck. "You...have been...eliminated. So, you....can't....be...here.".

"Like I said, I am the island." He reminded in a sing-songy way.

That seemed to have broken the wire.

"FINE!! You want to stay, The Floor!!? THEN FINE!! STAY!!" Mephone snapped, as his home screen displayed a darker shade of blue due to his anger. The remote broke in his hand and Floory looked up at him puzzled. Like he felt like the guy was angry, but he wasn't sure why.

Mephone took a deep breath as he continued to speak.

"BUT, since you are not part of the competition, it means nobody here will look at you. No one will listen to you. Nobody will even acknowledge you.

It'll be like you Don't Even Exist!!!".

The last statement made the others gasp. The area was silent, with only the sound of the waves filling the noise void. Floory looked up at the host, taking in his outburst and words and still trying to figure out if he was mad or not.

"Ok. Works for me.".

With that, he disappeared. Mephone blinked, and his body shook as he prepared to let out another yell. After all, this was meant to be a punishment, yet the guy was just...ok!? Like it didn't mean anything? Like he couldn't care!!!?

He took a deep breath and held his words. Honestly, chasing the problem here wouldn't do him any good. The guy was as good as gone, and he could just continue the competition while all eyes stayed AWAY from the floor. He waved a dismissive hand at the others as he walked off, not even putting the first thingy back in its place.

After all, what's the worst that could come out of letting The now-eliminated Floor they stood upon being an eliminated contestant? He could just get rid of him if need be...

Right?

...

"Yeah, right this way.".

"Balloon, I have no idea where you're taking me, so just out with it.".

"You'll see!!!".

She heard Nickel and Bot snickering, along with Cabby and her arms stiffened. Her legs prepared to make a run from whatever prank these four had prepared on her, and her hands held her top in case they tried to pour something to dilute her chemicals or something. Seriously, whenever Nickel or Balloon were involved, you knew a prank would be either lethal or stupid.

"Alright, open your eyes now." Cabby chirped as the sound of soft humming could be heard. Her eyes slowly opened to the sight they'd brought her to.

"H..Hi Test Tube!!!" Bot waved with a cheery face.

It was their voice.

But they were different.

Their core body consisting of a small ball was the same, except it was like a soft pale green rather than bright hot pink. And instead of the two bow parts on either side of the centrepiece...

"What do you think?" They asked, spinning around and softly moving their wing-look-alike side pieces up and down. They too were pale green and there was a small dark green ball in the centre of each that softly glowed in the shade whenever the sun didn't hit them. When it did the sunlight seemed to bounce off like a disco lamp toward the floor as they smiled.

"W...Wow...." Test Tube muttered. It was unclear what she was thinking as they looked up at her nervously. Doubts filled their mind the longer the silence held.

Would she like it? Would she approve?

Would she even care?

"I love it!!!" She declared, ruffing their head with a hand, much to their surprise. Cabby giggled as she wheeled behind the two. She passed each a small cake, with Balloon nearby holding a plate of the stuff. "Seriously, Butterflies!!? That's an awesome thing to model after!!!".

"Thanks." They replied, tilting their head as they grabbed the slice Cabby passed them. "I was worried you wouldn't like it.".

"And why would she ever think that now?" Cabby chimed, as she ate her small cupcake. Her hand moved one of the wings back and forth as Bot smiled, swatting both her and Test Tube's hands off. "Besides, I knew she'd love something like this. We even chose a perfect colour palette of The Egg, so what's not to love?".

Test Tube seemed to stop laughing, though this was unnoticed by the other two. Her eyes widened at the mention of that word, like how Bot would look whenever someone said the word "Chair" or "Marshmallow".

"I know. I was tempted to go for a blue, but after we saw the files of that "Egg" thing you and Fan had last season, I knew THIS was how I wanted to be!!! You guys loved that thing from what we saw, so now I'm awesome, just like it!!!"." They vehemently declared with a smile as they again twirled. Cabby snickered, and Balloon held one of their arms up as they spun on the spot, their mechanical leg turning. Nickel and Cabby joined in too, cheering on as Bot spun faster. The former wiping chocolate off his face.

Test Tube stood apart from them as they cheered and chanted, while her mind's gears ran wild. Her eyes stayed wide and the liquid within her tube softly bubbled.

"Test Tube you...You can't!!!".

"I can take it, and I will Fan!!! It's an alien specimen and only  I  can keep a good hold of it!!!".

"But I've always taken care of it!!!".

Her eyes blinked as her arm hung limply by her side. She watched Bot finally stumble as the group laughed before they got up again. Cabby held their hand up as they began their spinning again.

"I've run tests on  it !!! I've researched  it  in my lab!!! I know what  it  needs to survive!!!".

Her hand gripped her arm as his face seemed to flicker through her mind. His....desperately distraught face in front of that swirling red and yellow elimination portal.

"Woohoo!!! I'll keep spinning till I drill a hole to Japan!!!" Bot screeched in delight, their body now a green blurry. Their wings were folded inward, close to their body as they spun.

"Bet you Balloon's cake you won't." Nickel snarkily said with a sly smile, as he felt Balloon elbow him.

"Oh, come on!!! Why mine?".

"Test Tube. If....If I can be honest with you....I don't WANT him to have to hatch, ok!!! I don't want him to.

I mean....wouldn't that be great? If he could....stay in his little shell and have his.....have his patterns?".

She shuddered, as she walked off unnoticed toward the calm-down Cabana. The green liquid in her tube bubbled immensely as her headache. Those three stupid words she'd said to him in his most ruined and emotionally vulnerable moments seemed to echo like a karmic drum through her core. Those three words she said that day.

"R...Right, Test Tube?".

"I'm..... I'm sorry Fan .".

...

The Calm Down Cabana: Test Tube

"Am I making a mistake...again?" She asked herself as she sat in the small open space. Her hand scratched on the side of her glass as she frowned.

"What if....what happened to it...No, him....Happens to her...".

She rubbed her eyes and coughed, as she corrected herself.

"Happened to them. THEM!!!".

Seriously, she couldn't even say either of them right. Not Bot now...

And not Fan's egg before.

She failed him. She failed to understand and to care, and it hurt him. It hurt Fan.

Now.....would they hurt them too?

"Dammit, I just.....I can't let it happen. Not again.".

Her eyes shifted over the cabana. She looked but her eyes saw not a thing, as she breathed.

"Not my Bot.".

She got up from her seat as the bubbling in her liquid toned down and she heard the distant bell to call contestants to the next challenge.

"Not again.".

...

All eight contestants arrived at the scene. The bottom of the cliff from the first episode, where Mephone was angrily yelling at what seemed to be a broken trampoline.

"The cliff dive? Again!!?" Balloon let out in confusion. They'd already done this in episode one, and he and Nickel had already done this in season one, so why were they here for this challenge again!!!?

"Here I thought Mephone had an original challenge idea." Silver muttered, tapping his foot.

"As much as I would never agree with either of you losers..." Yang said, eyeing both Silver and Balloon with particular dislike. Especially Balloon, since he had taken those cakes that Yang had wanted to bring to Candle and Silver. "I don't want to bounce OFF A TRAMPOLINE INTO A SAFETY ZONE AGAIN!!!".

He tossed a crumpled can of Dr Fizz onto the ground in anger, as Mephone grumbled past them.

"Luckily for you contestants, even THIS challenge is off limits." He stated, surprising them all. "First he eats all the ingredients for the baking challenge, then he's knocking over the hoops for the basketball with his stupid mouth, and NOW he ruins my episode one Tribute!!!?".

"Who could be causing such trouble to the Competition?" Candle asked sincerely, as everyone looked at the Trampoline. One end was sunken into the ground and the other had been drenched so heavily in water that the coverings on the side had come off.

"Take a wild guess.".

All eyes looked to the floor. No face was nearby but it was apparent that his very existence seemed to be a SLIGHT obstacle in the competition. Candle noticed out of the corner of her eye that Test Tube seemed a bit on edge here, and her glass still had smudges from those water splashes from last night. Moreover, she seemed to stick closer to Bot and keep a more watchful eye over them than usual.

"He can't be THAT much of an issue." Bot said as they looked at the ground around them. That small cheery face was nowhere to be seen.

"Yeah, we can still do some challenges." Balloon added, pointing to the spare trampoline Mephone kept for his free time.

The same trampoline that had been washed away by the tide.

"Oh, hey Mephone. Sorry about your trampoline mate, I guess I haven't really told you about the tides around me or kept any tabs on them." Floory apologetically said as he appeared behind the group. "Since I never really do that. Haha....".

Candle and Cabby could see it. Their show host's eyes twitched. His arms tensed. His body shook and his screen began jittering static amidst the blue background. If the tension in the atmosphere could be cut with a knife, steam like that of a kettle would probably blast out with enough force to knock over a cup.

"Haha, Mephone?".

"THAT'S IT!!!" He yelled. His voice echoed across the island making almost everyone cover their ears. Test Tube held Bot as they wobbled from the shock of the sound, despite her own glass cracking.

"You caused TOO many problems here. You EAT the cakes for the dessert-based challenge I set up. You've ruined the Basketball tournament AND the Cliff Dive because you can't look where you're going.

AND NOW, you ruin my personal TRAMPOLINE!!!?".

Floor looked up at him, slightly alarmed at the outburst. His eyes squinted as he tried to discern if Mephone was upset or angry, which he seemed to be a mixture of both.

"Are....Are you ok?" He asked. To this, Mephone pointed at the contestants.

"THAT!!!! Is your challenge!!!" He commanded as everyone blinked in confusion.

"What is?" Silver asked, still scratching his head from the headache of the sound.

"GET RID OF THE FLOOR!! I don't care how you do it, and I don't care what you do. Whoever does just gets immunity.

So GET RID OF THE FLOOR!!!".

All pairs of eyes, from Test Tube and Balloon's to Candle and Yin Yang's looked at the small face behind Mephone.

"Oh." Floory said as he felt all attention on him. Silver grasped a shovel while Nickel and Yin Yang both held spades. Cabby seemed to eye both him and the ground beneath her wheels as he pulled up a green file with an icon of the island on it.

He gulped, before disappearing with a pop.

...

The Calm Down Cabana: Candle

"Something's wrong.".

Her hand spread the several cards out on the desk as her flame flickered. Her mind still ached from that booming yell of Mephone's and now everyone was tasked with getting rid of the Floor?

Moreover, the fates she saw gave her a mixture of expression.

"Another day of betrayal? But whom?" She wondered. Last time it had been her and Silver blindsiding OJ.

But she knew he wouldn't blindside her.

Yet, things were going well in the other alliance so it was unlikely one of their rank would go too.

But...

"What's wrong with her?" She asked, pulling one of the cards down. A small black card with a scientific flask in a silvery imprint.

That one seemed especially tense. She hung around Bot more, and it was like watching a hawk keep eyes over chicks.

Was she a part of a blindside? Her fate seemed to suggest.

But that fate wasn't set now.

"Hmmm...".

Moreover, the other card, the one with a posh bowtie seemed to be off-put. What did that mean for Silver then? Could he be in danger?

What did this mean for her alliance?

What did any of this mean for her?

Candle groaned as her flame flickered with intensity. She felt uneasy about everything because somehow, in some way, the tranquillity between everyone here was going to be disturbed. Tonight. The next night. And the next.

And finally.....when the inner flame expired.

"My fate?".

Her hand pushed the card with a candle upon it away and she did not want to think about that. She stacked all her cards away.

She wouldn't go out like that. Not when she had her alliance to keep together.

"Not like this. Yin Yang and Silver Spoon need me." Candle muttered to herself as she stood up. Her flame flickered low and fast as she turned.

"I must be needed.".

...

The air was still. The waters tranquil. All that could be heard was the sound of someone munching on some grapes off a plate in the field.

"Oh, gosh. These are amazing!!!" He said in delight, eagerly tasting the fruits. Unaware of the tall figure above him.

SNATCH!!!

Cabby sprang into action, placing a huge basket over him and the plate. She smiled as she wheeled back, hoping her plan would have worked.

"Bit rude, innit?" Floory said as he popped beside her. Before she could respond, he was gone again, and she was left in the field with an empty basket and plate.

"Well, this seems to be a failure." Silver remarked as he slyly walked past. In one hand, he held a bowl of chocolate pudding. "And here I thought YOU were the smart one.".

"Screw you. I don't see you trying anything." Cabby hissed as she moved away from him. His presence was irritating and she didn't want to be anywhere near someone like him.

"Oh, but I am. Any moment now.".

He tapped his foot with a smile. Cabby wondered what he could have planned and why on earth he would have a bowl of chocolate pudding. His eyes glimmered as he made a silly twirl, giddy with excitement like he'd made some master plan here that was sure to succeed.

Then she heard it. A roaring yell, followed by slams and cries. Her body turned as she saw Yin Yang, running around and digging up piles of dirt with The Floor popping across the place to try to get away. Every time he thought he got away, the double-minded duo would be upon him again, with the metal shovel thwacking onto where he was. And every time he was almost hit.

"That's your big idea? Use them and run directly at him?" She scoffed. As good as a chaotic person Yin Yang could be, anyone with a brain knew such brute tactics wouldn't work. Not when your opponent could out speed you while you caught your breath.

"Ah, there's more." He excitedly muttered. She turned back around, only to see him gone.

As well as the basket she used. Her eyes widened as she was pushed aside by Yin Yang, who still gave chase to The Floor.

"WE ARE THE KING OF CHOCOLATE AND WE SHALL RECEIVE OUR CROWN WITH YOUR CAPTURE!!!" They yelled as they slammed the shovel again and Floory barely got out of the way.

"Hey!! Watch where you swing that thing mate." He fiercely said. The ground all around was torn and ruined, with grass messed up and patchy. The boy didn't listen as he slammed down again, behind himself and lifted up the dirt.

Right as Floor blipped onto the grass that rose on the shovel.

"H...Hey, wait a minute..." He muttered as his eyes widened. Before he knew it, the shovel was tipped as he dumped into the basket that Silver held.

"Excellent work Yin." Silver charmingly congratulated, as he passed the bowl over to him. Floory frantically moved around the basket but found no way out.

"Yang wants his thanks too." The boy replied, pointing to his darker half. Yang's eye was scornfully agitated and Silver sighed in annoyance. He much preferred Yin over that half.

"And thank you too Yang." He muttered as he put the basket down, grumbling. "I guess.".

He turned back around as the black and white cookie ran off and picked the basket up again. His mind was stirring with agitation as he walked, hoping this immunity cookie would be worth it.

Only to look down and see that the Floor's face wasn't there, but rather beside him.

"Anyways, how's your day been, old teammate?" He asked with a smile as he moved along with him. Silver Spoon stopped in his tracks and dropped his basket, shocked at his slip-up.

"Good? Yeah, me too. Anyways, talk to you later.".

With that, Floory disappeared. Again.

...

Pink butterflies danced gracefully in the warm embrace of the sunlight, their wings shimmering with vibrant colours. A gentle breeze carried soft, melodic hums that echoed through the lush, green grass. The PicNix Table was clear, as was the Mini Cell, and even the Cliff was free of people and life, as was the beach. All seemed superficially quiet, and not a sound could be heard nor a soul could be seen.

Smack!!!

SNAP!!!

He grunted as he slammed a thin webbed net onto the ground, and heard the mechanism in the rim snap as it dug into the dirt. Quick as he could, he lifted the thing, with only the finest of grains escaping through the holes, and most of the earth he held being contained. His arm was lifted as high as he could while he kicked a bucket underneath to catch any falling pebbles.

Yet the small smiling face had managed to get out of his grasp and shuffle across the floor before his eyes. He stood there, holding his net up while little pieces of dirt fell into the bucket with pitter-patters, and watched The Floor move away from him.

"Don't just stand there Balloon!!!" Bot yelled as they threw their net down. He dumped his dirt on the ground as their leg extended and hooked onto the bucket. He pushed it along as they brought it under the net and lifted it.

And again, he escaped the net and shuffled along the ground, out of reach.

"After him!!!" They said as he helped them wedge Balloon helped them wedge the dirt out of their net as both ran at The Floor, who was gliding along to get away. "We need to get him!!!".

"Hey, just leave me be!!!" Floory cried out as he swerved away from Balloon's swing. "Can't you guys just let me be as is!?".

"Sorry. It ain't our fault since We're trying to win the challenge here." Balloon retorted as he swung his net down. Bot kicked the bucket over to him as he lifted it, but he had already missed his target.

"As great a challenge as that may be for you, need I remind you I am THE ISLAND ITSELF!!!?" He demanded to know as Bot leapt right over him, swinging their net. "How are you gonna remove that!?".

"I don't know. We're just doing what Mephone decided." Bot said while shrugging their shoulders. They helped Balloon get the last bits of dirt out of his net, as a Floory seemed to be too far for even them to get to and move away. His eyes focused solely on them as he watched them toss the bucket in his direction, much to their confusion.

Slam!!! Snap!!!

The third net was lifted as Floory's face was dumped into the bucket before Bot picked it up. Nickel smiled as he shook his net, his silvery coin surface shining slightly in the sun which had made him harder to see.

"See? I told you that luck would come in handy." Balloon said in a teasing manner as he took the bucket from Bot's hands. Nickel grumbled as tried to push away more of those annoying butterflies that hung around him.

"Just because it worked once, doesn't mean it's gonna work well next time. Watch, someone's gonna get in the way where I should be getting hurt and it's gonna cost me an ally!!!" He retorted as he waved the butterflies away. "Besides, if it's such great luck, why's he still here?".

He pointed to the bucket. The bucket that Balloon held in his hands. The bucket which the Floor's face was not on, seeing as he'd gotten onto the ground again.

"I think you got lucky mate." He cheerfully said as he looked up at the three. "These two would NEVER have caught me, but you did it without even looking. Good for you!!!".

"Yeah, good for you Nickel!!!" Bot added as they and Balloon clapped for him and patted him on the back. All the while he stared at The Floor, smiling at them. Outside of the bucket.

"Wait...".

Pop.

The face disappeared as both Balloon and Bot turned to the bucket, while Nickel still grumbled.

"Oh.".

"Lucky." He muttered, trying to hold back a sigh and a laugh at the same time at their collective stupidity. Though, to be fair, he didn't see the failure as much as him being "Lucky" and more as his allies being a bit dumb. He nudged Balloon with a smirk. "Now come on.".

With a kick, he tossed Bot's net back to them, as the Butterflies began moving along to where they knew their target would be. A nice advantage of that "Luck" for them.

"Those pink fairies ain't gonna wait on you two to come get this guy.".

Balloon chuckled as he walked alongside him, net in hand. Bot followed, skipping in their steps with their wings fluttering. The flashes from their colourful orbs attracted a few butterflies to them as they giggled.

"They like you." Nickel remarked as the trio watched those fluttering critters seem to nestle on the edges of their wings and flutter around their face. "They must think you're one of them!!".

"One of them? I could never be one of them!!!" Bot pushed back, waving their hand as they giggled. After all, the small things along their wings were quite ticklish. "Look at how elegant they fly. That's not something I can manage.".

"Maybe Test Tube can get something working for you to fly." Balloon suggested, letting a butterfly land on his finger. "She made these nets in a few minutes with scrap metal and a bit of help from Cabby, so she could probably fix those wings of yours up to soar.".

"Yeah, that's the thing. Ever since Test Tube saw this new look she's been acting...odd." They said in a concerned manner. Their hands gripped the net and the face seemed to drop a little. "Do you think she...approves of this?".

"Why wouldn't she?" Balloon asked, as he twirled his net in his right hand. "After all, she said she liked it.".

"Plus, why would it matter? This is about you, remember?" Nickel added as he kicked Balloon's net up to stop it falling out of his hand.

"Yeah, I know. But...".

The butterflies circled around their face more, and nestled on their wings as they slowly moved back and forth. A soft hum emanated from their core as they trotted, following the butterflies up ahead.

"She also made me. What if...I'm going too far?" They asked as their hands gripped the net tighter. "She seems more tense today, and I think this new me has something to with it. I'm not sure if I should be doing this at all.".

"So what? It's you and what you are." Nickel retorted, waving a butterfly off his face. "I'm sure she'll come around on it fully, and if she doesn't well...so what? Not like her idea's are your identity anymore. Oh great.".

Up ahead, they could see Floory speaking with Cabby and he was clearly distracted. The butterflies hovered over the two, making him giggle a little. Seriously, he was unaware of all of them. He sighed as he held his net firm as the trio split up, heading for their target.

"Looks like I really am cursed with stupid luck.".

Chapter Text

Squeak. Squeak.

Scribble, Scribble, Scribble.

Her fingers shook as she wrote over the file, making sure she had every detail right. Her mind raced and she could not afford to miss a single detail of her target. It would be one thing if they were trying to capture and remove a person since said person would be able to hide on this huge island. 

Yet her target she needed to remember everything about was The Island itself. This should be a simple job. An easy job. The easiest most doable task that any normal person could do. Though the sunshine did make focus hard for the gears of her mind, she could do this.

If she couldn’t, what value could she give? What kind of person can get such an easy challenge and mess up so badly? Only someone weird or not normal couldn’t get this right, and she knew she was not like that. She would get this immunity for her alliance because she could. She would.

She is normal .

“Hey, you doing alright?”.

Cabby yelped as she leapt back, dropping the forest green file. Her hand grabbed her shovel, covered in dirt and sand. Her arms trembled and her fingers dug into the wooden handle. With struggle, she raised it high above her head.

She can do this. She will do this.

SLAM!!!

She blinked. Her arms were stiff as Floory’s face was already out of the way.

She had…tried to hit the ground. With a shovel.

“You doing okay, Cabby?” He asked, not even phased at the strike. Not even phased at the attempt. At that….pathetic and useless attempt to use a shovel like a whacker. “You seem really stressed.”.

Her hands dropped the shovel as she let out a shaky gasp. Floory slid over to the file she had dropped and blew it from under to push it up. The writing was scribbly and strewn across pages. The images were barely held by glue.

“Who am I kidding? Honestly, you might be right.” She muttered with disdain, not even looking at the file or trying to pick it up. Her wheels squeaked as she grumbled. Clearly, if she couldn’t even do this simple thing right, what good would her being around the competition do other than drag her allies down?

“All I do is write notes on everyone else’s flaws when I can’t even do anything right.”.

Floory frowned as he blew the file up towards her. She didn't take it or even turn.

“Cabby, that’s not true.” He reassured, moving around to look at her. Her eyes avoided his gaze, instead opting to look at the sky. “You can do a lot right!”.

“Yeah. Snooping, noting, wheeling about where I’m not needed.” She mumbled, her voice bitter. Her eyes looked over to where Bot Balloon and Nickel were, all pointing at the butterflies that surrounded Bot. In each of the trio’s hands was one of Test Tube’s specialised dirt sampling shovels. “ Forgetting how to do something when it matters.”.

Floory moved right next to her. He thought for a moment before shrugging his (rather non-ex) shoulders. He could risk himself here since helping seemed a better choice than running from the approaching three.

“Alright, wanna talk it out?” He asked, flinging some soft tufts of grass over to her. She sighed, figuring that if she couldn’t gain anything out of this stupid challenge, there would be no harm in losing time.

As if time was the biggest factor they had to fear.

“I don’t know if I’m even….needed.” She vented, eyes glancing to her allies far off as they walked. “Candle is obviously a central someone to the Thinkers alliance. Then there’s Test Tube who’s already done so much with Bot and the others in this…”Looney Balloony” schmuck. She built up the threads of the alliance and I was just…the final seal to complete it when she needed the numbers.

Now though, since they clearly hold the edge…what if the next elimination it’s my fate that’s put on the line? I…I’m…the weakest link of us all.

Seriously, I don’t know if I can be of any use to this whole thing. And….and I don’t want to be…”.

“First cut?” Floory butted in, holding up the file she had refused to pick up earlier. The grass around him fluttered softly as the file was slid along to her, the edges slightly ruined by the muck.

“Yeah. I want to be better. To….to be valued and necessary. Seriously, it’s like walking into a party that you only got invited into to fill out a quota of people. When I want to prove that I…I can be someone worth considering when the game reaches its late stages.”.

“Well, wouldn’t you be the valuable one?” Floory inquired as Cabby took the island file in her hands. One of the notes, specifically titled “Behaviours of The Floor” slipped out and she made an effort to pick it up before it got ruined. “You got files that can help anyone so, wouldn’t everyone in your alliance want your favour?”.

“You’d think that. Last time I used my files in an alliance, I was voted out.” She bitterly muttered. Seriously, the fact the whole team had turned on her and Test Tube had been a sore blow. One or two people? That could be expected. But the WHOLE team?

“I’m not even sure why Test Tube took my side, both then and now. I’m just a version of her that forgets everything important.” She muttered while putting the file away into her drawer. Her eyes made sure she had it placed in the right section.

“Wouldn’t put it past her if she had decided to betray me as well.”.  

Before Floory could respond, a butterfly flew near the two. Cabby blinked as she moved closer to it and she noticed that he seemed to be moving farther away.

“Hey, what’re you-?”.

SMACK!!!

“ARGH!!” She groaned as she felt a large, thick net on her head, covering her view. It felt stretchy and the hook on the bottom of it failed to clamp due to being overstretched on her boxy shape.

“Sorry!!!” Balloon apologized. His hands pulled on the clamp side of the net, trying to pull the thing off of her head. Nearby, she heard the hum of Bot moving past, along with the feel of their wings brushing her cabinet. Her fingers pushed the net over her head.

SMACK!!!

SNAP!!!

Dirt was scooped into the net that Bot had used but The Floor had already popped himself away. The butterflies fluttered over where he’d last been before continuing onward. She finally managed to pull the net off, right as Balloon yanked hard on the net.

SNAP!!!

POP!

Red bits of rubber were strewn across the ground as his net fell the the ground. The clamp still had a sizable chunk of Balloon still on it. The rubbery fabric had been crinkled on the hook.

“Aww, dammit. Balloon.” Bot groaned as they tore the material off the net. “Now we’re gonna have to find Mephone to revive him again.”.

They picked up one of the pieces and put it in their net. The butterflies were heading off in toward the east and both Bot and Nickel’s eyes followed.

“Can’t you just get Test Tube to make it weaker? Like…strong enough to scoop dirt but gentle enough to not pierce our ally.” He chimed, clutching his net with his teeth.

“I don’t know. I think she’d say something about it not working because she doesn’t have access to the materials OR equipment needed.” They replied, taking both his and Balloon’s nets. “I think it comes down to her not knowing enough about the island so she can’t REALLY make anything too good outside of estimates.”.

“Why not use Cabby’s files? She might have something.” Nickel suggested, catching Cabby off guard.

“H…Huh?”.

“Oh yeah. Test Tube could use Cabby’s files to learn more about the island.” Bot added, eyes sparkling as they waved their net about. “Heck, we might be able to form a plan that’s BOUND to succeed.”.

“My files do contain some information about the island, but I’m not sure how useful it can be,” she tried to deny.

“Maybe we find something that’ll be SO embarrassing we can BLACKMAIL FLOOR off the ISLAND!!!” Nickel deviously suggested, 

“Nickel!!!” Bot cried out, staring daggers at him and his wild idea. “We wanna get rid of him but that’s a bit far, no?”.

“It’s called sarcasm. It’s my thing.” He replied, rolling his eyes while chuckling.

“You need…” Cabby muttered as Bot whacked him on the head.

“Is everything you do sarcasm? You’re built of solid sarcasm.” They jokingly stated, poking his shiny silvery surface with the end of their net.

“...my files.”.

“Hey!!! I’ll have you know I’m built of full one hundred per cent Nickel!!!” He retorted, kicking the net pole.

“I don’t believe that.” They arrogantly replied. “No coin is built out of purely one metal. Pennies aren’t made with full copper.

“Well, the penny is just the inferior me.” He retorted, stomping the ground proudly. His eyes glinted as he blew a butterfly off his cheek, annoyed at the critter's constant attraction to him.

“Anyways, if you want a real answer, just ask Cabby for a file.” He insinuated pointing to her and shaking his body. The butterflies kept trying to cling to him and he became more frustrated with them than with Bot’s teasing.

“You got any good files?” Bot asked her, tapping her arm to get her attention. She coughed as her drawer opened and she shuffled through the organized selections.

“Contestants…contestants…contestants….ah, here it is.” She muttered, pulling the green file of the island out. “Just what we need.”.

She passed it to them as they opened the thing, scanning over its contents. The notes weren’t as expansive as other files they had seen and there were maybe four images in the entire file. Much of them seemed to be recent additions too with the smell of glue still fresh under them.

“Oh, wow. This is a lot.” They muttered as she leaned over them, a bit nervous. After all, the info wasn’t the most organized nor the most well-kept. She hoped they wouldn’t find flaws in the info.

“Can I add to this?” They eagerly asked. The questions surprised Cabby, especially with their eagerness and attentiveness. “If…If you’re ok with that.”.

“Sure, go ahead.” She responded, passing them a small piece of paper and watching them raise one of their fingers. Out the tip appeared a small needle which began to scribble on the slip.

An odd feeling overtook her as she was handed back the file with the new note. Never had she had someone else give a piece of knowledge to her notes. She’d always searched for the info herself.

“So, you think that my new plan’ll work?” They asked, excitedly looking up at her.

She stared down at the new info and the file. It seemed to look so out of place in her file with the neater handwriting and the clean level wording that almost seemed like it had been drawn on invisible lines. The words weren’t too overly complex and didn’t lose their meaning.

Yet, it seemed to slot in perfectly.

“I hope so.”.

…

Shoreline was slowly eroded by the waters on the island edge and broken off in chunks at mouths where the rivers connected. The calm-down cabana’s window fluttered and the swinging door hung loose. The island’s tall tropical trees are barely held by the soft gusts of sand or splashes of water, and each splash or spray was making the stems shake.

“Less than ideal conditions…” She muttered as her scanner beeped furiously over the ground. Her glass had small cracks under her lip and brow but she paid no heed to the slight winds whistling through her. Nor did she think about the pellets of sand flinging through the cracks and into her chemical liquid.

“And yet…”.

Her hand tapped her head to make sure she still had the corkscrew in her tube top. A small bit of debris coming in wouldn’t do much but too much could ruin the chemical composition of her liquid. She couldn’t have that.

The ground trembled. An earthquake?

“No…no that’s not it.” Test Tube muttered, shaking her head. She turned her machine off for now, her head hurting from the beachside winds and the constant noise of water. All she needed now was a drink of some kind. She found the temptation to try to go hunt for The Floor and MAYBE get the immunity for her alliance.

But the alliance was fine from what she had last seen.

“Eh, they’ll be fine without me.” She said to herself as she trotted along. Cabby and Bot seemed to know what they were doing and while Nickel and Balloon were some lethal wild cards, they did help. The island seemed so open and empty right now since most of the others were probably hunting for him on another part of the land mass.

To be honest, though, the challenge wasn’t that much concern to her right now. It didn’t feel like she’d lose much if the other alliance were to gain that immunity. As much as she knew she had to keep things up for her alliance, it wasn’t…there.

A butterfly fluttered around her, its wings flapping and fluttering wild. She moved a hand up as it landed on her finger. Her eyes slowly blinked and she stood in the middle of the open grass fields. The pic-nix table was up ahead, but she didn’t feel any hunger.

“What am I doing wrong?” She wondered. Her eyes glanced at the boulder by the Pic-Nix table. The place where she had helped comfort them . The place where she had promised things would be ok.

Where she had promised to fix them.

Had she even been able to do that? Or were her very ideals and the things she’d implemented for them and their asks been wrong? Was it wrong to give them springier legs and a new voice?

Was it wrong for her to see the egg in that new look?

She didn’t understand it. She didn’t know why her gut swirled with uncertainty and she honestly didn’t know if she needed any of this. It was like she was PROGRAMMED to think this way. To be apathetic, showing happiness and emotion to those she cared about only when needed. Other than that, all she could be was an unfeeling scientist.

Bot was a genuine and amazing thing she and he had forged. They were wonderful, beyond belief. They were special and she felt as proud as ever for them, prizing them so greatly. They were her and Fan’s greatest achievement in her eyes and right now it seemed like they were the world.

So why couldn’t she feel any of that now?

Why was she slipping?

She bumped into someone as she walked. 

“Oof.”.

Test Tube stumbled backwards, the butterfly flapping its wings as it fluttered off. In front of her, Candle stumbled too, her flame flickering a bit dull.

“Oh.” She let out.

The woman looked worse for wear. Her head was messed up with leaves and twigs. Her arms had soft scratches and her eyes were dry. She also had a heavy smell of burnt rock and her body seemed immensely hot to the touch, with some of her wax being melted. All pointed to her having been at the top of the volcano again.

“You went up there again? Why?” She asked as she helped her up. Even if she was the de facto leader of the other alliance, she still wanted to help.

“Thank you for that.” She responded as she rubbed her eyes. “I just had to clear my head a bit since I was feeling off-put.”.

“Well was it active? I’ve been feeling tremors down here since this morning.” Test Tube explained, tapping her foot on the ground and pointing up at the mountaintop in the island’s centre. From where they were they could see grey smoke slowly rise from the top, covering the sky in a thin mist of sorts that descended down the toward the island.

“I wouldn’t say so. The lava is quite unmoving and only small bursts of heat come up through the smoke.” She replied, clearing her throat. Her scarf hung loosely around her neck, worn and soot-covered, making it appear darker. “But it does help me think easier in this game.”.

She stumbled, clutching the taller girl’s arm as both began heading toward the Pic-Nix table.

“I’m really going to need a drink though.” Candle grumbled, pushing part of the wax on her head back up into place. “Your alliance still searching for The Floor?”.

“Your’s caught The Floor?”.

“Imagine what Silver and Yin Yang would do without me.” She joked. The last time Test Tube had ever even heard about those two interactions, it had ended with Silver Spoon’s head buried in a large crumbling sand tower.

“Oh wow, you really do have it bad.” She chuckled, rubbing the cracks on her tube and wincing slightly. “I guess that’s why you needed to “clear your head” up there?”.

She gave a teasing jab into Candle’s side with her shoulder, causing the shorter woman to respond by pushing her playfully.

“Actually, they’re better when I’m around.” She corrected with a hint of pride. Her flame flickered a little brighter and a soft smile crossed her lips. “Yin Yang’s been coming along well with their mindfulness of each other as two halves and Silver is…nice.”.

They arrived at the table and Candle put her hand on the ocean blue painted wooden planks while Test Tube shrugged her shoulders.

“Two Hot Chocolates with Strawberry Syrup.” She said, tapping the table.

Whizz!!! Whizz!!!

“He acts kinder to Yang when I want him to and he’s even taken interest in unlocking the potential of his inner flame since the merge.” She said while taking a sip of her drink. Her flame flickered much calmer and a happy expression was spread over her face. “Though he and Yang do still have some….disagreements. But I know they’ll both learn to cooperate when they get far into the game.”.

“If they get far, don’t you mean?” Test Tube asked, drinking her own hot chocolate. She coughed slightly from the heat and bitter cocoa taste and her fist tapped the table. “Sugar.”.

Whizz!!

Two small sachets of sugar appeared both of which she had already grabbed and tore the tops off before dumping the contents into her drink. She shook the cup around a bit, covering the lid tight before taking another good sip.

“What do you mean “if” then?” Candle asked, tilting her head toward Test Tube

“I mean “if” they make it that far. How sure can you be they aren’t on the chopping block tonight?” She asked while eyeing what she ought to consider her greatest enemy and threat in this game. Still, it was said to keep your enemies closer.

“Because I know they will. Who else’ll make it, I?” The stouted woman joked, waving a hand. Test Tube’s confidence and her mood dropped at that.

“Don’t say that about yourself.” She muttered. It felt odd trying to defend someone who could be her most dangerous competitor in this game. “Maybe one of them will get out?”.

From her scarf, Candle pulled out three tarot-style cards and laid them on the table.

“Today’s challenge has two possibilities.

First outcome, your alliance getting immunity. No matter what way you spin the story or who gets that golden cookie, you outnumber my alliance five to 3. The choices are Yin Yang…”.

She pushed the first card forward with a Yin and Yang symbol. The card had a golden outliner.

“..who we know more than likely has won the immunity vote again. I know neither you nor Cabby want to bank on your chances. Next…”.

She pushed the next card up, with a spoon shining on it. The head seemed to be marked with an odd faint green x over the head of it but it appeared more like light. Test Tube had rubbed her eyes on that one.

“Silver Spoon. A master of deceptions and manipulation with the right tools, but he’s easy to emotions and distractions. He MIGHT cause trouble to anyone but you wouldn’t have to worry about him most of the players in the game.”She said, wiping the card. It seemed that from her angle, she couldn’t see the x-line on that one. “ Cabby can be much worse to face. And then…

There’s me.”.

Candle’s finger pushed the third and final card forward. A black one with an embroidered gold silhouette in the shape of a flame. The light reflecting off of it covered much of the flame making it look shaded and covered, like a blanket trying to snuff out the fire.

“We all know I am the greatest threat to your alliance Test Tube. Unlike your alliance that has two targets for us to select between, my alliance only really has one.”.

Her hand wiped over the final card and she smiled despite the lack of glee or comfort in her voice.

“I’m sorry, but it has to be this way. Your options are clear cut and I’m fine with being cut from the game if fate truly sanctions it.” She finished, shrugging her shoulders. Though her eyes did try to hide the little sadness she did have. “And then once I’m gone, the clock very well will tick for you two. Our fates are simply set, no matter how much we dislike it.”.

Her voice dropped at the last sentence and she avoided eye contact. Her flame flickered more and she didn’t look like she believed nor desired what it was she said.

“Hey, that isn’t true.” She reassured, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Surely fate can be misleading sometimes?”.

Candle found the gesture heartwarming as both looked toward the source of yells and thwips. From what they could see, far from where they sat, Bot and Yin Yang were chasing The Floor while Silver and Cabby kept cutting 

“They’re doing fine without us.” She muttered as Yin leapt forward to try to catch Floory, only to get knocked back by Cabby’s net swinging into him. Bot forward but their net got stuck on his arm, making them trip over from the snag.

“You don’t actually want to leave your allies, do you?” The Scientist queried. Silver Spoon managed to scoop that small evasive face into the ground onto a shovel, only for Yin Yang to roll into him. “Don’t you believe there’s a chance for either of us to stay? For all of us to stay?”.

“I would certainly like to.” The Psychic answered. Her flame was flickering on her head with such brightness and heat, yet none was present in her eyes or in her tone.

“Shouldn’t you be with your alliance?”.

Bot managed to catch Floory under a net, while also accidently snagging Yin Yang. The small face of the ground whizzed off. Both Cabby and Silver gave chase to him while the small butterfly-looking robot apologized to the black and white sphere, their voice unhearable but their actions clear to see.

“I should.” Test Tube finally answered. Her arm wrapped around Candle’s shoulder as she nudged closer to her, wiping some of the ash off of her head. “But as you said…”.

The sun was shining through the thickness of the clouds as each stared at the open island. It seemed so long ago that Tea Kettle would pop out randomly with more assortment platters of hors d’oeuvre, offering some to anybody she could. It seemed so long ago that Goo would roll along the grass, probably grasping a pine cone in his jelly. It seemed so long ago that OJ and Paintbrush would be constantly contesting each other as leaders of the official Thinkers Team.

“ ...they’re doing fine without us. ”.

…

“S…Sorry about that!!!” Bot hurriedly apologized as their shovel slammed quickly in front of the net. It wasn’t any good though as the small face of the group’s target simply whizzed under the net from a different angle. Within seconds he had already whizzed off and away, out of their reach.

“AFTER HIM!!” Cabby cried out as she began wheeling herself toward him. Silver followed suit, hollering as he held his shovel over his head. Both were fast and it was clear he’d more than likely reach Floory before her, which would give his alliance The Thinkers immunity. That couldn’t be allowed if they wanted to win.

“Ahem.” A grovelling voice coughed as Bot was prepared to spring off after them. They turned, eyes meeting with Yin Yang’s who held a grumpy expression.

“You mind helping me out of here a little?” Yang asked in an irritated tone.

“That’s what your ally does, no?” They responded, grabbing their net in preparation to leave since they needed to get the immunity for their alliance.

“You mean the ally who just left us here?” Yin chimed in, gesturing

“Sorry, but you’re not my ally in this game.” They reasoned, shrugging their shoulders.

“Oh, to HELL with the game!!!” Yang yelled frustratedly. “YOU put us in here, so surely YOU can have the decency to get us out?”.

Bot stopped in their tracks from his words. The temptation to go and help Cabby was strong and they honestly wanted to tune his words out. After all, it was reasonable to turn your back on someone who wasn’t your ally to begin with, no?

But then again, this was all just a game. Doing something to someone like that was just dirty and doing it all for the “sake of the competition” was childish. The competition would come and go, yet here they were acting like it was something super important.

“Right, sorry.” They muttered guiltily as they pulled the net off the black and white ball. Yang grumbled as he brushed dust and dirt off both his half and Yin’s.

“Hey, are you alright?” Yin asked, putting a hand on their shoulder. Much to both Bot and Yang’s confusion.

“Hey, what are you doing?” He asked his lighter half with disdain, swatting the hand off. His eye flashed toward Yin with confusion and mistrust. “They’re our enemy, remember?”.

“Only in the game.” Yin reminded, pushing his darker half’s hand down. He didn’t want another fight to break out between them. Not after everything Candle had done to help the both of them. “Besides, they did save us back there?”.

“It doesn’t matter, they’re not part of our alliance.” He tried reasoning, grabbing the double-minded duo’s net off the ground.

“Well, can you forget all that and give them a chance?” The lighter half pleadingly asked, though his voice still remained firm. He couldn’t let Yang start nor win another argument.

“Only if we get plenty of Dr Fizz later.”.

Both Yin and Bot blinked at that request. He sighed, rubbing his eye with his hand and letting out a tired groan before nodding.

“Fine. We’ll get lots of Dr Fizz cans later.” He muttered.

With that, the eye on the darker half turned from Yang’s white to Yin’s black, with a shimmering white outline present to highlight it. He turned back to Bot, smiling softly while rubbing the back of his head.

“Sorry about that.” He profusely apologized, hoping his other half would uphold his promise. His free hand clutched his stomach, knowing he’d just signed up to prepare for the worst cramps possible later on. “He can be a bit rough with people and really competitive.”.

“No problem. Honestly, in this game who isn’t rough and competitive?” Bot said, shrugging their shoulders and laughing a little. The entire exchange had been a bit funny to them. “I’m surprised you guys haven’t tried splitting up into separate bodies.”.

“We did.” He said matter of factly. His finger pointed to the Pic-Nix table where two hard to make out silhouettes were sat. “Test Tube helped out on it.”.

“She did?” Bot asked, curious about what their creator could have been doing before she and Fan created them.

“Yeah, it was a sorta accident. Yang went crazy and I had to merge with him since we need to stick together to balance each other out.” He said, sitting on the grass and drawing lines in the dirt with his fingers. 

“What was Test Tube like back then?” Bot asked as they sat next to him. Their mind knew they had the challenge but honestly, it didn’t matter as much now. It didn’t feel like the game mattered as much as learning.

That's something they always liked to do. Learn. Learn about how things were before them. Before the season. Before the game had begun, how had their friends and allies acted and been like? How did many of the people here act outside the game?

“She was alright. Your stereotypical scientist nerd, constantly down in her lab or working on another research project. Sometimes her knowledge helped out in challenges, like when we needed to get to Mars in episode two so she built a rocket ship.”.

They slowly blinked at him from how casually he said that. How casually he admitted the second challenge of season two was to fly to Mars.

“Yeah, season two was weird. There was episode four, when Paintbrush tried assuming leadership only for Lightbulb to save the team in the pizza contest with a cookie pizza. Oh, and don’t get me started on episode seven when everyone still in the game had to clean up the hotel after Mephone went to jail. I was eliminated in the previous episode so I was just sitting on the side.”.

Bot blinked more feverishly at every word that spilt from his mouth. There seemed to be a major leap between going to Mars, working in a pizza contest and Mephone going to jail.

“And don’t get me started on how useless our team was. Test Tube was the best one there and she was such a stickler for science she even disregarded people’s feelings for it. Paintbrush was just a mopey anger-induced hothead who I guess took charge of the team when Lightbulb was too busy doing whatever. Not like it mattered since the other team was just as hopeless.  And Fan was just…not there.”.

It felt odd to hear people Bot had known in the game for a while described in such a way. They could see Paintbrush being arrogant, bold as a leader and prone to anger and mood swings. It was there and it was easy to recognize, even if they didn’t seem all that bad. Heck when they’d been eliminated, Test Tube had asked them to say hi to that “Lightbulb” person as though she were both their friend or something.

But Test Tube herself…seemed wrong. She didn’t seem like someone to throw away others' feelings for the sake of science. She didn’t seem like the type of person to disregard others and hide away in a lab working on research projects. She didn’t seem like the kind of object to do something like that.

The Test Tube they knew wasn’t like that. She was sweet and kind. She was caring and understanding. She was a bit awkward from what they’d seen of her but nonetheless cheery enough to interact with others. Nothing like the closed-off, distant, science-driven person she seemed to have been from Yin’s descriptions.

“Do you think she’d…be like that with me?” They asked, worried. The last thing they wanted was to be on the sharp end of that spear. To have the person they valued so much and whom had given them so much brush them off like nothing. For her to just…forget them.

“I don’t think so. The Test Tube I’ve seen today and the Test Tube we knew back then are very different people.” Yin said as he drew his final line in the dirt. A small tic tac toe board with roughly carved lines where he’d drawn an O in the top corner. “Why?”.

“This morning I….I showed her this…design.” They admitted, holding up their arms. Their right-wing softly hummed as the beads at the centre glowed, reflecting light off the clouded sun. They drew an O in the middle of the board. 

“From her initial reaction, I don’t think she liked it and….And I think I made a mistake. I don’t want to do something she…wouldn’t like since she…she made me. She created me and made it so perfect. It feels like I’m…trampling on her work and spitting on her choices.”.

Yin scratched an X into the bottom corner, only for Bot to put an O between his two X’s, cutting off his win. Furthermore, their O in the centre had cut off his guaranteed winning strategy here.

“Well, I don’t know how it is, but I don’t see a problem with you doing what you want.” He said softly. “Mephone wants Floory off the island yet that guy sticks around, doing what he wants. Even if Test Tube made you, she didn’t make you you, you know?”.

Bot’s finger hovered over the middle right square, ready to complete their three in a row and win the game. They listened to his words, hesitating as he continued.

“Test Tube might have made you but it doesn’t make you changing yourself for yourself a bad thing. She started you off, yet you’ve come so far on your own. You think anyone ever did anything sticking with what someone else told them or thought about them? If I did, me and Yang would never have found ways to cooperate without constantly fighting.”.

His fingers drew two more lines into the dirt.

“Also I win.”.

Yin grinned as Bot slowly turned their head. There was an X between the two top corners, making the top row a full triple lineup. When it was their turn to go. He braced himself for some angry yell or retort. His hand gripped the grass in case a grass fight started.

Instead, Bot covered that final X with a patch of grass. Their fingers drew the final O as they smiled mischievously.

“Nuh-uh. I win.”.

He gasped from the retorted cheat of theirs. An equal level of mischeveory he hadn’t encountered from someone like himself. It fuelled his competitive drive as he drew more lines next to the grid, putting an X on the left side to connect his Xs into a triple.

“Nah, I win.”.

Bot snickered at the response. Their own hands wiped off dirt, redrew the board and put an O in each square.

“I win.”.

Yin moved forward, putting Xs over the O’s as he smirked.

“I win.”.

Bot returned the energy by moving forward, pushing his head back with their metal one.

“I win.”.

“I win.”.

“I win.”.

Yin pushed them back, scratching a new board into the dirt next to the old mess of a board. His eyes glinted with competitive spark as he drew a single X in the top left corner.

“Best of 5?”.

Bot smiled as they looked at the board. Their mind whirring with every possibility they could think up as, for the first time in a while, their strategy didn’t feel like it was going toward challenge tactics or an elimination vote with their alliance. It didn’t feel like the competition was all that important or that they even had an important challenge. It felt….normal.

Their finger drew an O in the bottom right corner as they let out a laugh.

“You’re on.”.

Chapter Text

Important Announcement:

So by now, I have many books I’m working on. There are my two object show au’s, One of a Kind and Nightmare Island. There’s my jjk fic, Jujutsu Kaisen Remixal. And there’s even my personal story for the lore of my oc, Tabi Violet.

So, I am pleased to announce that I am officially setting up a Discord server for all these fics. Members of the server can have access to sneak peeks of upcoming chapters and a place to discuss their favourite fics. I must give credit to people like “Jade Samurai” a good friend of mine who has a server for his fic, as well as several other authors on AO3 alike.

Anyway, without further ado, I give you the server for Tabi Violet’s works.

https://discord.com/channels/1325204520657096858/1325204520657096861  

• Discord | #welcome | Violet's Fic Lounge