Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

'Good morning, Pin~!'

There was that voice again.

It just appeared one day, and it spoke to Pin all the time, frequently commenting on the events that would unfold and giving her tips on how to respond to problems. It wouldn't be that bad if it wasn't so annoying about it. Sure, most of the time it was fine, but sometimes it would make a snarky reply, which would in turn make Pin say it out loud without thinking. It hadn't gotten her into too much trouble yet, but it was only a matter of time.

And although Pin knew that it must just be some sort of vocalization of her thoughts, she couldn't help but start responding to it.

"Good morning," she told it as she pushed herself out of bed. Pin would wander over the kitchen to fetch something to eat, simply grabbing an apple from the bowl on the counter.

'What, none of your cooking today?'

The pushpin shrugged, "I just don't really feel like it." She took a bite of the red fruit and added, "Why do you even care? If you're a part of me, you shouldn't mind the food choices I make."

'How many times do I have to tell you, Pin? I'm not a part of you.'

"Mhm. And I'll bet everyone else also has some otherworldly being that somehow talks to her inside of her head, yet refuses to tell her who they really are."

'Oh, whatever. Believe what you wan't, it's not like I can stop you. I just prefer your cooking, is all. Can't I enjoy some ol' scrambled eggs from time to time?'

"I'm the body, I make the decisions. Now quit your whining; I'm gonna head over to Needle's cabin, and I don't need you to be talking to me and make me accidentally say the wrong thing," she tells the voice while heading out the door.

'Alright, suit yourself. But honestly, I dunno why you bother to hang out with losers like your team. They aren't like us, they wouldn't understand why we do the things we do.'

"Oh my pin factory, would you stop talking like that? It get's on my nerves every time! And also, I don't hang out with them because they're- quote-unquote- like me, I hang out with them because they're my friends. Needle is one of my best friends and I'm going to hang out with her, whether you like it or not."

Finally, it shut up, Pin thinks when she makes it to the taller object's cabin. She lifts her fist, but before she can knock the door swings open and Needle is standing in the doorway.

"Oh, hi, Pin! Didn't expect to see you here, haha."

"Needle! I was just about to come see if you were awake- guess I was right! Did you wanna go hang out, or are you busy?"

"Of course I wanna hang out. Was there anywhere specific you wanted to go?"

"Eh, I figured we'll figure that much out when we need to. For now, I was just thinking we'd wander and chat."

"Sounds good to me! What's on your mind?" she asked as the door clicked shut behind her.

The friends began to walk down and around the clearing, breaking away from the cabins that housed the other contestants.

"Eh, nothing much. I just got up like- I wanna say ten/fifteen minutes ago? Nothing's really happened today."

"Wow, you really went straight to my place, huh?"

"Heh, yea, I guess I did."

'Wow, anyone would think you were a bit obsessed.'

"Shut up," Pin quickly mumbled before turning back to the woman beside her, who clearly hadn't noticed her speaking to the voice.

The pair continued to chat, about the contest, about things they liked, or just about life in general. The topic was constantly changing, and they shared lots of thoughts and laughter as they wandered into the forest and through the trees. Though all good things must come to an end as they eventually made their way back to the contesting grounds.

But just before they made it into the clearing, Needle shared one last thought:

"I wonder what I taste like."

"I- What??? What would you taste like, other than flesh?"

"I dunno. It's just a thought, anyways."

"Fair."

'You should try it.'

"Wha...?" the pushpin mumbled to the voice.

The two eventually parted, leaving Pin to enter her cabin so that she wouldn't be seen talking to herself by the objects that were stirring outside.

The sun was high in the sky by the time Pin and Needle had gotten back from their walk, and it was still high when the voice began elaborating on what it meant.

'I mean, figure out what you taste like! It would be interesting, wouldn't it?'

"How would I even do that...?"

'Simple- cut off your hand and eat it!'

"WH- I'M NOT GOING TO CUT OFF MY HAND!"

'Look, they have recovery centers, don't they? You can just kill yourself and get revived if a missing limb is that big of a deal.'

"I am not going to cut off any body parts." Pin spoke through gritted teeth

'It'll be fun! C'mon! I'm sure you guys would taste great, anyways! It'll be worth it~!'

"NO! This isn't some game, I'm not going to do anything just because you think it'll be fun- epecially not hurt myself!"

'Uuuuuuuugh, you're no fuuuun!'

"Well as long as you're gonna stay with me, I suggest you get used to it."

'You know I've been trying to get used to it for months now, but it's hard trying to reason with someone with no sense if entertainment.'

"You aren't even trying to reason with me! You're just trying to get me to hurt myself for fun!"

'Look, it doesn't have to be you. What if we kill someone else and eat them? Oh- we can bake them up into some of your amazing cupcakes! Now wouldn't that be fun?'

"ARE YOU INSANE!? I'M NOT A CANNIBAL, THAT'S JUST CRAZY!!"

'Psh- nonsense! C'mon, just a taste wouldn't be so bad! And if we kill 'em in their sleep they'd never even know it was you, so we could totally just taste 'em and then revive 'em! They'd never even know what happened!'

"I. Am not. Going. To do that. Now quit bothering me about this."

Pin opened the door and walked out of the building, not wanting to hear any more of what the voice had to say. Unfortunately, she was forced to hear its yapping in her head as the day continued, and ended.

Chapter Text

Pin was walking through an empty void, the only sound being the echo of her footsteps on the cold black surface beneath her. Although she was the only one there, there was this lingering feeling that somehow, something was watching her. If only it would leave her alone.

She called out for Needle- her closest friend who's still in TPOT.

No response.

It made her feel sick to the stomach. She hated it, this feeling of emptiness. It was the feeling she got whenever she was alone.

So here she was, all by herself, wandering in a black abyss that had seemingly no end with no idea how to return home. "Needle?" she called again. Of course, there was no response again, so she thought that, maybe, calling for someone else would help.

It didn't. She got no answer. Again.

The panic would bubble up in her throat, causing Pin's breathing to quicken as she broke into a run. She searched despairingly for anyone or anything that could help her as a green gas begins to filter into the otherwise empty space around her. She stops dead as the thick smog enters through her mouth and into her lungs, causing Pin to fall to her knees in a choking fit, held up by only her left hand while her right covered her mouth.

The smell burns her nostrils as smoke fills her vision. Tearing up, Pin shuts her eyes and starts crying out the names of everyone she can think of. Needle, Donut, Gaty, Two, Coiny, Barf Bag, Teardrop, Rocky, Grassy, Fanny, Gelatin, Fries, Cake, Flower. Names stop sounding like names and fade into a simple ringing, piercing her ears and stabbing deep into her chest. She can't feel her body anymore and yet a sharp pain still manages to flow through it. A scream, a plea, an admission of defeat, whatever you want to call it, breaks past her mouth as her head shoots up and the blanket flies down from her body.

'Wow, that was one heck of a dream!'

Pin panted as beads of ooze rolled down her body, clashing with the usual scarlet hue of plastic skin. What... What was that?

'Calm down already, it was just a dream!'

"...Y... Yea... It was just a dream... It was just a dream..."

'Yea, it's not like any of that actually happened.'

"W- Well..."

'Hm?'

"I... remember seeing that smoke before... One time in the forest. It was right before you started talking to me."

'Oh, I remember that! You looked so stupid when you'd passed out from smoke inhalation.'

"Wow, you're so sympathetic."

'Yea, I know~'

Pin sighed and wiped the leftover ooze from her forehead. She would hop out of her bed and travel into the clearing outside just like all the other objects who were waking from their slumber. The pushpin certainly did not feel prepared for the day ahead, but she forced herself to push through regardless.

Running through the pitch-black void, the rapid pitter-patter of her footsteps echoed across the space. She had found herself here again. A murky green smog occupied the air, hindering poor Pin's vision as it made her eyes water. The green smog didn't seem to want to leave her be, returning almost every other night for more. Pin had done everything she could to escape it yet failed every time.

Hasty breaths left her mouth while continued to run and run in a mad attempt to escape the nightmarish mist- though her breaths were frequently interrupted by coughs and hacks after the green thick air invaded her lungs.

Her hips ached with every step she took, until she tripped over her own feet and fell face first onto the hard black surface.

Pain danced through her head as her sense of hearing was momentarily lost to a sharp ringing sound that invaded her eardrums. There was no time to relax or recuperate in peace as she flipped herself over only to spot an ominous shadow hidden within the smog. It began to approach from where it appeared behind her and Pin was overtaken by fear, frozen in place as she watched the figure stroll through the smoke.

But right as it stood mere inches away from her and was on the brink of closing that distance, the pushpin's eyes shot open, and the familiar surroundings of her room filled her vision. Now she lay on her bed with ooze cascading down her body, the soft blanket warming her red torso and offering the slightest bit of comfort to the frightened object. Her eyes had been fixed on the ceiling before she closed them, focusing on calming her shaken-up nerves. It wasn't long before her breathing slows down and the tension in her muscles dissipates. Yet another nightmare. It was just another nightmare. Nothing more.

So then why did it always feel so real?

And why was there another object this time in contrast with every time before?

Pin recalled the chilling moment in more detail. The way her pupils had been minuscule as the black silhouette made its way towards her. The soft echoes of its feet as they lifted up and reconnected with the ground, sending shivers down her spine. The cheerful swing of its arms that would push the mist from its path had made her blood run cold. The way its hand extended to her like a friendly face offering help that only petrified her further. And her breath catching in her throat when the smoke parted and revealed a face that she was all too familiar with.

The face of the plastic red pushpin that was forced to suffer through these terrifying dreams almost every night.

Her face.

And the soft whisper she'd uttered out when her lips had parted that Pin couldn't quite make out.

And the soft green glow that radiated from her eyes with a warming welcome.

And the small droplets of crimson blood against her already red structure.

Pin raised her eyelids and glanced at her clock- 11:56... How long had she been asleep? Whatever, that didn't matter. She pushed the covers off and hopped down from the mattress, knowing she had to start the day eventually. But as she walked through the cabin, that damned voice had returned, stopping her in the middle of her steps as she was forced into another irritating conversation like usual.

'Wow, you've been having it rough lately.'

"I was wondering when you would show up."

'Those dreams seem hellish- you sure you can handle them much longer?'

"Hopefully. Why do you care anyways? Are these not your doing?"

'Honey, I have to live through them too; why would I purposefully put myself through something like that?'

"Because you hate me, I dunno."

'I don't hate you; you just need to follow my advice more~!'

"I probably would If your advice wasn't to cannibalize my friends."

'Hey, you just don't know what good advice is.'

"Telling me to bake my friends into a batch of cupcakes is not good advice."

'Please, dear, it would add that extra pizazz to your treats! It was just two days ago that you were complaining that the cake you'd baked didn't feel good enough, wasn't it?'

It has a good point- Wait, no, no it doesn't. Pin quickly shook her head and dismissed the thought. Why was she even considering it? It was a shitty idea, there's no reason for her to even be thinking about doing it.

"You've been bothering me about this for weeks, can't you just let it go already? I'm not going to do it!"

'How about this: If you kill just one person and bake them into just one of your treats, I'll stop telling you to do it.'

"I- Well..."

The idea of the voice shutting up about this whole cannibalism thing for once did sound nice, but...

"Oh my pin factory- Fine! But only once- no more than once."

'Wonderful! Oh, and I have just the object in mind~!'

Chapter Text

"I cannot believe that I am doing this."

'You'd better start believing it hun, it's reality~!'

Pin was creeping up the stairs of the hotel, her arms holding a freezing cube close to her chest. It was a good thing Ice Cube is such a heavy sleeper, she barely even flinched when her door swung open from Pin throwing herself into it.

And now she was carrying the fragile object up to the hotel roof, her steps light on the hardwood stairs.

Fierce winds rushed against her face as the door swung open, causing her to fumble and let Icey fall from her hold. The impact made the slightly wet object wake as she slowly slid across the roof, causing Pin to panic and rush towards her, picking her up and chucking her over the side before either could even realized what was happening.

Pin glanced over to the falling cube. She wasn't even screaming, instead she was simply processing what was happening as she fell through the air. Pin wished to rush down and help her, but she was frozen too. She just did that... She just threw her own friend off the hotel. She just did that and there was nothing she could do to undo it.

And what made it worse is the sheer fear in Ice Cube's eyes when her limbless body turned, and she was able to see the red pin staring down at her.

The sound of a shatter made it to the figure on the top of the hotel not long after she hit the ground.

"She saw me."

'She did.'

"W- What do I do!? She's going to get recovered and- and tell everyone that I did this! I'm done for as soon as they realize she's dead- I-"

'Relax, would you? I've got an idea~ '

"W... What is it...?"

'I think I saw a baseball bat pass the corner of your eye on our way up. Just deem the recovery centre unusable and all your problems will be solved!'

"But then-!"

'Ah ah ah,' it interrupted, 'remember what will happen if you don't, now. You don't want to be punished for this, do you, hm~?'

"I- suppose not..."

'Thought so, now head on down and get smashing!'

Pin turned from the shattered corpse beneath her to go downstairs. It pointed out the bat halfway down. Who even left that here...? Whatever, that didn't matter now. When Four and X's kitchen entered her view, she realized something.

"Aren't Four and X capable of recovery...?"

'Oh dear, I forgot about them. Well, they should be a simple fix. They own that kitchen, correct? If that those two have changed since I'd left, their kitchen should be normal enough to have some sharp utensils right out in the open. A knife should do the trick~!"

The thought of killing more people made Pin feel nauseous. The sight of the fragments of Ice Cube's innards were already enough to deal with for one night, but two more dead bodies? Pin shivered as she entered the kitchen. It was what had to be done, no doubt about that; no matter how much Pin loathed the idea.

But nobody was inside of the algebraliens' room when the door opened, much to the pushpin's confusion; as well as the voice's.

'How strange, they must be out somewhere. Take that meat cleaver with you when you head out to destroy the RC, you can look for them once that job's taken care of.'

When she opened the front door with the baseball bat over her shoulder and the cleaver in her hand, the large metal box quickly caught her attention. How wouldn't it? It was the second larges thing here, after all! Unfortunately, it was about to get crushed down to half its current size. Recovery was about to be impossible, and it was all her fault. She took a deep breath after she'd tossed the cleaver into the soil, and gripped the bat tightly in both hands.

One hit, two hits, three, six, ten, fifteen, Pin hadn't bothered to count from the start. Buttons flew from their sockets and glass shards flew from the screen. The mechanical beeps announced when the metal sports tool hit the green buttons, the screeching of stopping gears fell upon her ears, and when the whirring came to a slow stop, was when she knew that her job here was done.

The recovery centre, could recover no more.

'Good job, now go find those two aliens.'

Pin sighed and pressed on, following the voice's suggestions on where to search. She had to get rid of Four and X as soon as possible, she couldn't let them live long enough to recover the block of ice. She didn't... want to, necessarily, but there wasn't really a choice. Either kill two more people before the moon hands its position in sky off to the sun, or face the consequences of everyone knowing she was the one that murdered Ice Cube.

Moonlight filtered through the trees as she travelled through the forest. She passed the part where she had that walk with Needle a couple of weeks ago- What would she think of Pin, had she seen her now, the pushpin wondered.

'Go left- I think I hear someone!'

It was right, there were voices off to the left. Wasn't that where the canal was? Whatever.

Pin peeked over a tree, and sure enough, Four and X were there. What they were doing didn't bother Pin one bit, there was a different thought circling through her mind.

A thought- no, a request; a mission. The voice's mission, and her part to play in it. She was the puppet, that was her role, to mindlessly follow its commands and not question it. She was here to be the vessel, the submissive and agreeable drone programmed to follow the commands of the higher being- the voice. Blinded by fear of what the others would do to her if they found out what it had driven her to do, she followed without a second thought- well, tried to, there was still that lingering doubt that this wasn't the right choice. But if the voice was the ring master of this whole operation, then Pin was a mere spectacle, the central figure in its orchestrated chaos.

This was planned, wasn't it?

It knew that Ice Cube would wake up... somehow. It knew that she would see Pin.

It knew that she would be too blinded by fear to object.

Didn't it?

She didn't have time for that right now though, she had to kill the two before the moon set- it was already three fourths of the way there, after all.

'Go for the blue one first, he's more dangerous.'

Pin moved closer to Four, knowing knowing that X is about as dangerous as a fish out of water. She could hear their conversation as she creeped up behind the fourmer (like, former, but Four. I'm not funny) and prepared herself to strike.

Chapter Text

"I still can't believe I'm doing this... this is terrible- What if I get caught?"

'Hm, I had assumed you'd started believing it after you pierced that idiot's skull, dearie~ Oh well. But do know that you won't get caught as long as you follow my lead!'

Pin stayed silent as she placed Ice Cube's shards into the bag. The voice was oddly quiet as well, likely assuming that the scarlet object was just focused on the task at hand.

She wished she was anything but. This felt like torture, a nightmare that she had unknowingly invited right into her head. But alas, if she didn't complete her end of the deal, the voice wouldn't follow through with its. She hadn't done her full job yet, only half.

Kill Ice Cube, bake her into cupcakes.

And in return, the voice would stop bothering her about this.

The guts felt sickeningly squishy in her palms, and the blood coated her hands more each time she picked up a shard. Ice Cube's innards aren't nearly as fragile as her frozen skin was, which was unexpected but certainly not surprising to the pushpin.

As she tossed leaves over the bloodstained grass, she tried to think of this as an act of mercy. After all, dying had to be better than living without limbs.

She walked back to her cabin and placed the bag on the counter. "Okay, what's your recipe?" she'd ask the voice.

'Well, first things first, you wanna pre-heat the oven to...'

A couple minutes earlier...

The three had been opening doors for, what felt to them like, forever. Unfortunately, they didn't seem near close to finding an exit. The pencil sighed as the elastic bracelet shut them off from the last classroom they had checked.

"When will we ever get out of here!?" she asked.

"WE'LL GET OUT EVENTUALLY, PENCIL!"

"I know that! It's just- Ugh, we've been searching this school for an exit for years now! How long has it even been?"

"FOUR YEARS. SIX IF YOU COUNT THE TIME WE WEREN'T SEARCHING."

"Exactly! We've been looking for an exit for four years now! When will we ever find one- the school seems to go on forever!"

"AW, SERIOUSLY?"

"Huh? Could you repeat that, Davi-"

She broke off when she saw what the stick figure was pointing at. The roof, it seemed to be... breaking? A line was making its was across the blue ceiling, until something huge and metal fell from the crack and blocked the objects' path.

David backed up from the scene, the other two quickly following suit. As soon as the metal sheet had appeared, it seemed, it had vanished into the floor. It felt like the ground was falling as real moonlight made its way into the EXIT.

Everything seemed to move at once, the three objects themselves stayed glued to the floor thanks to the weird gravitational pull that Four's body seemed to have, but once the half of his body fell to reveal the world outside, they could see how it shifted sideways and they could hear X's voice crying out the name of the algebralien that they were trapped inside.

He ran to Four and fell to his knees. The yellow variable began to question someone just out of view, asking why they would do this, before a cleaver would pierce through his skull and a black leg stepped onto his brightly coloured flesh to dislodge the sharp weapon from their head. He fell backwards and hit the ground with a thud.

A sigh and a mumble could be heard- no voice recognizable through the quiet noises- and the culprit seemed to walk away from the scene, leaving the three EXITors to stand there, bewildered at what had just happened.

"W... What the hell...." Pencil took a couple steps back while keeping her eyes locked onto the, seemingly giant, yellow corpse before her.

Bracelety couldn't speak. She couldn't move at all. Instead she kept her feet firm on the ground and stared with wide eyes at the outside world, and the remains of the murder they had just witnessed.

David, though, would spring into action, shouting "Aw!" before running up to the gaping hole in the wall and jumping through. He seemed to increase in size the further outside the EXIT he got. Pencil soon realized what David had moments earlier, and began to run through herself before being stopped by the elastic bracelet, who had her arm extended to hold onto the writing utensil's wrist.

"WE NEED TO TELL THE OTHERS ABOUT THIS! THEY WANT OUT TOO!"

"You're right but... how do we find them?"

"WE CAN JUST SHOUT, COME ON!"

The two ran in the opposite direction of the hole, Bracelety leading the way, until they finally made it to the cliff at the edge of the school.

"GUYS! THERE'S AN EXIT! OVER HERE!" the shorter object would shout.

"I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE CAN HEAR ME BUT- WE FOUND AN EXIT IN THE SCHOOL! GUYS, COME TO THE SCHOOL AND WALK DOWN THE HALLWAY UNTIL YOU FIND A GIANT HOLE!" the taller one added, her hands cupped around her mouth as she spoke.

They waited for a moment but, of course, received no response. "Do you think we should just leave them?" Pencil asked.

"WE CAN'T JUST LEAVE THEM, THEY'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR AS LONG AS WE HAVE!"

"You're right, but I don't think we're gonna find anyone if we stay here, we need to go search for them. ...You go back and make sure that nothing happens to the exit, I'll go look for the other EXITors," she instructed after a moment of thinking, before beginning to climb down the cliff. Bracelety turned around and made her way back to the hole right after.

"Well fuck."

Pin was... here again. She had hoped that the nightmares would go away once she did what the voice had asked of her.

But of course, of course they didn't.

Why would they?

It's not like these nightmares were as bad at being forced to murder someone you've been competing with your whole life!

At least the nightmare this time had skipped the running part.

Of course, though, the part it had skipped to was the part where the second her was standing over her, a look of pity on her face.

Pin's doppelgänger crouched down and placed a hand on the original's cheek, speaking soft words to her.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"H-Huh??"

"Are you sure you want to throw your life away for that... thing?"

"No, actually, I don't," Pin responded coldly, backing away and avoiding contact with those glowing green eyes.

"So then why are you listening to it?"

"..."

"What choice do I have..."

"There's always the choice of defiance. You could try yelling at it to leave you alone. ...Maybe get it to force someone else to do this?"

"...But what if it goes after one of my friends...?"

"You could look for it," she'd suggest while standing up, beginning to pace around Pin, who was still on the ground. "It has told you multiple times that it has a physical form."

Pin sat up, holding her legs close to the chest and staring into the abyss below her with somber eyes. "What would I even do when I find it? It's been able to devise a plan to get me to do this... W- What chance would I have against it...?"

"That, would be up to you to find out. I'm just here with a message, Pin."

"Don't trust it."

"Or else your life as you know it- your loved ones, your hobbies, your happiness."

"Will all be lost."

"In favour of that, thing, taking control of your every move."

"Be careful, Pin."

And with that, the smoke, as well as the other Pin, faded away. Leaving Pin to sit alone in the black silence of the dream.

But not for long, as she would wake up quickly. And wake up quickly she did when a shriek from outside startled her into a sit. It had only been half a night's rest for her, and she immediately knew whose blood they were likely crying over. Pin felt like crying herself, but she had to wait until she knew what was even going on out there.

...Like she didn't know already.

'Oh, by the way,' the voice told her as she pushed herself out of the bed, 'Don't trust the other you from the dreams. I just remembered that those are actually my doing. Whoopsies!'

"I- Excuse me??"

'Yea, no. Those dreams are just a side effect of my ability. They like, throw you into some conversation with your subconscious or something. I don't exactly know what that doppelgänger is, per se, but I do know that everyone I use my powers on has them. They don't really mean anything. Just ignore them.'

Pin already knew that it was going to be pretty damn hard to "Just ignore them."

Dear Diary,

    Today I found out that there is a murderer among us.

    Something I never wanted has officially become a reality.

    Ice cube was their first victim. Pen and Eraser found pool of blood covered in leaves behind the hotel. We didn't know whose it was at first, but after the science duo did a head count we found out it was Ice Cubes. We would have just recovered her, but the Recovery Centre is busted and Four and X are nowhere to be found.

    Two said that they're going to see if any of their friends, that they apparently have, are capable of recovery. He flew into the sky and hasn't come down yet.

    That's to be expected, though, considering it hasn't even been a day and who knows how close these "friends" are.

    Golfball organized a couple search parties to look for Four and X. To my knowledge, they consist of Needle, Pen, TV, Death Pact, Pin, Gaty, Bell, and a couple others.

    Either way, I'm not in any of the search parties, so I figured now would be a good time to write in here, since I haven't in a while. I do hope that they manage to find them soon, though. Who knows who else will be killed before we can find out who the killer is.

    My main suspect was Yellow Face, probably because of how I naturally distrust him, but Pin looked awfully guilty during the head count. I think she was even crying. I'm honestly just silently praying that, if she is the murderer, she regrets her actions as much as it seems.

    I'm also hoping that their motivation for these murders isn't that Ice Cube had eaten one of YF's gumballs, since that would mean that I'm next. Life's already hard enough without my arms, I don't need some murderer going after me t

And then a blood curling scream filled the evening air.

    I have to cut off here, Golfball is ordering that everyone drop what they're doing and meet in front of the Recovery Centre.

    P.S.
        It feels kind of unnecessary to make a whole new entry for this.
        My suspicion for Pin has officially risen.

Chapter Text

A single death.

It started with a single death.

Then two more.

How many more people will die before they've been stopped?

"How many more people will die before I've been stopped?"

'Don't you know? As long as you listen to me...'

'You won't be stopped~'

"Oh my pump..."

The group stood in front of two corpses. It was a blood bath.

Four was slit clean down the middle, while X lay on his back right between both of Four's halves, a gaping wound in the center of his head.

Bell was the one who found them. Her and Black Hole had taken to the skies to search easier, and the two had gone in separate directions in search of the two algebraliens. Bell had just so happened to be the one to go in the direction of them.

Basketball was the one who had just spoken. She was standing at the head of the group, slowly making her way closer to the crime scene. Her eyes were locked on X's, which were staring up at the sky with shrunken pupils. They were dull and lifeless, and the blood had long since stopped pouring from his head.

Everyone from the search parties were crowded in front of them, well, all except Pin, who had to leave before she had even seen the bodies. B-Ball could understand not being able to handle seeing corpses, but Pin was acting like she already knew what they would find before they had found it. It was pretty damn suspicious, considering that even Bell hadn't known they were dead. She just saw a blue and yellow blur from the sky and called everyone over.

She was suddenly bumped to the side by Golfball. Her and Tennisball were pushing their ways to the front so that they could inspect the scene, being careful not to touch anything.

"Alright, people," Golfball addressed the crowd, "Move along! Tennisball and I have this under control. We need to work in peace."

Mumbles began to fill the cloudy evening air as the objects in the clearing shuffle and exit, albeit slowly, to allow the balls to investigate. Most of the murmurs were annoyed and/or fearful, with a bit of curiosity thrown into the mix. After a good minute, Tennisball, Golfball, and the corpses were the only things in the area.

At first, GB had estimated that this was just a random, one-off murder. Someone getting revenge on Ice Cube like she always had gotten on other people. But discovering the destruction of the RC, the evidence shown didn't lead to that anymore. In fact, now that Four and X have been found dead, it seemed that the more evidence they gained, the more everything pointed towards this turning into a genocide. At the very least, someone wiping everyone they despise out of the competition.

At the very best.

The scientists investigated almost silently, being careful to touch as little as possible. The colourful blood covered the grass all around it them, and it was incredibly difficult to investigate without touching it because of how far it had spread out. The colours had mixed together where they contacted, the dark yellow around X and the dark blue around Four, with a dark, ugly green in the middle. An array of guts filled the space between the variable and the two halves of a number.

"Tennisball, I need you to inspect the area more," the smaller scientist ordered her lab partner, "I will get everyone rounded up in front of the broken Recovery Center. I need to do another roll call, make sure no one has died between the last call and now."

"But how would the killer even pull that off?" TB asked.

"It is clear this murderer isn't working alone," GB answered while gesturing a foot towards the bloody leftover footprints, "And if they aren't working alone, they can kill in secret more easily." There was more than one set of footprints. One was heading in the direction of the clearing with the cabins, though it ended quickly with a smudge, like the owner of the footprints had wiped the blood off of their feet in the grass. All the others, jumbled and mixed together, were heading in the opposite direction, the placement of them making it impossible to tell how many people these ones belonged to. The second 'set' of footprints traveled noticeably farther than the first, but they still cut off before they entered the trees.

"After the roll call, I will most likely grab some things from my lab before I come back."

"Alright," the fuzzy ball responded before watching his assistant run off. Only once she was out of view did he realize he had been staring, and he quickly began shaking his head to get it to cool back down to its usual temperature, going back to the crime scene at once.

Golfball was too focused on her task to witness this, though. Rounding everyone up for roll call was much more important than looking back at her partner. She dashed through the trees quickly. She wasn't worried, she just... had to be sure.

She was fast to make it to the cabins, quickly going door to door to order the inhabitants to go to the RC. Inside one of the cabins, a familiar pushpin was leaning on her kitchen counter, barely even noticing the knocking on her door.

'You can't keep staring at them forever, Pin.'

"I know..."

'You have to eat them eventually, Pin.'

"I know..."

'You need to finish your end of the deal, Pin-'

"I knOW!!"

'...So............. When are you gonna eat 'em?'

"I... I was getting to that."

'... I have a feeling................. that you're procrastinating...'

"Mhm..."

'There's this... sneaking suspicion that I'm getting... that you don't want to eat them.'

"No shit, Sherlock," Pin remarked, slamming her hands down on the counter and pushing herself up. Her uneasy gaze at the blue cupcakes before her quickly turned into a glare, before the voice would continue nagging at her. She hesitantly reached an arm forward, before she jumped as an angered shout boomed from outside.

"PIN! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! GET OUT HERE!!"

Saved by the bell, Pin thought before quickly running to the door and throwing it open, looking down to see a very annoyed sports globule.

"Took you long enough," she remarked.

"Sorry- I must have zoned out."

"Well, that's no matter now. Go to the Recovery Center. I need to do another roll call."

"Another one...?"

"Yes," she gave a curt response before turning to the next cabin over, "Now go to the RC."

'It would be smart to go if you don't want people to suspect you, y'know.'

Pin nodded before closing the door and turning towards the clearing with the bludgeoned machine. Most of the contestants were already there when she'd arrived, which wasn't surprising, considering that Golfball was probably just going to each door from one end to the other, and Pin's cabin was closer to the end of that spectrum.

For a moment, she thought she could hear her name over the commotion in the crowd, but she couldn't identify who had said it, so she just assumed that she was imagining things.

The ball who had mentioned the pushpin quickly stopped talking when she realized she was here now, waiting until she thought that Pin wasn't close enough to hear her and Donut over the noise to continue.

"...What about her?" The jelly-filled pastry prompted when Basketball had abruptly cut her sentanc short.

"Sorry- She's here. I don't want her to hear. I was just gonna say that, well, now that you'd mentioned it, Pin was acting really suspicious back when we had found Four and X."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, she seemed like she knew what we were going to find before we had even found it. We were all going down to where Bell said she thought she saw them, and Pin had tried to slip away unnoticed- well, she had gotten away unnoticed, except that I saw her. She looked really sick, too. Like she wanted to vomit."

"Did she look guilty? ...Like she did when we discovered that Icy is dead?"

"A bit, but... She mostly looked like she just couldn't face what we were going to find."

"Hmm... Yea, I think it might be her."

"Yea."

The two stood in awkward silence for a while. Basketball and Donut never really spoke much, which was probably a symptom of being on two separate teams. Whenever they talked to each other, it was during a competition, and... they didn't really have the best relationship. Maybe it was the stress of the situation that got them to talk, who knows? Eventually, Donut was the one that broke the silence.

"We need to stop her before this gets out of hand," he decided.

"Yea, but how? We can't confront her openly- I mean, you didn't see what she did to Four, but I did! And if she was able to do that to Four of all people, then who knows how much stronger she is than she seems! We wouldn't-"

"Shh, stop yelling," Donut interrupted when the ball with lines had begun to raise her voice, "We don't want her to hear us, do we?"

"Y- You're right, sorry... But, still, how would we go about stopping her?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure we could figure something out..."

'I don't know about you, but I don't think that's a good thing,' the voice said.

"No, it isn't..." Pin mumbled in response. In the past, she had noticed that the voice can't read her thoughts, only talk to her through them. Meaning that in order for them to communicate, Pin has to speak out loud. "I can't talk to you in public... I'll figure something out."

'We could just kill them, you know~'

"I already told you I'm not killing more people. I said I'll figure something out, alright?"

'Aaaaaaalrighty! But, without any way of recovering them, y'know, killing them would probably be our best bet!'

Pin wasn't ignoring it, but she chose not to respond anyways. It would be too risky to continue talking to herself in this size of a crowd. The pushpin begun scanning the crowded clearing to see what the other objects were doing.

Death P.A.C.T. Again are all together, except for Tree, of course.

Gaty was by herself.

Book and Price tag were chatting about something.

Snowball was standing, looking angry and annoyed; he looked like he was trying to look fierce, but the effect was pretty much ruined by a cheerful Grassy sitting on top of him.

Eraser and Pen were holding hands and chatting as they walked into the crowd.

Yellowface was giving an ad to Winner and Pillow; Winner looking bothered by it and Pillow looking fascinated.

Bottle was sitting down, looking bummed about something.

TV was standing while glancing around the clearing like Pin was, his cord tail occasionally flicking to either side.

Barf Bag was walking into the clearing.

Bell was flying into the clearing.

Bomby was walking towards Bottle, saying something to her.

Golfball's voice was heard shouting names from atop the broken RC.

Tennisball wasn't here.

And neither is Need- "ACK-!" Pin's train of thought was suddenly cut off by a tap on her shoulder, and she turned around with a start. "Oh, It's just you."

"Oh, so I'm a 'just you' now?" Needle jokingly asked, pretending to be offended.

"S- Sorry- Haha..."

"...You okay?" she'd question, her tone suddenly turning serious, "You've been acting... different, lately."

"I, uh..."

'Repeat after me: 'I'm okay, Needle, sorry. I'm just really shaken up by the situation. I never would have expected any of us to start killing people.''

"I- I'm okay, Needle, sorry. I'm just... really shaken up by the situation. I never would have expected any of us to start killing people..."

"Oh, that makes sense. But, you were- Here!" she cut off to answer Golfball when she called har name, "You were crying when we discovered Ice Cube had died, are you sure it's just the situation? You never really liked her."

'I'm sure, I'm just sad that anyone died at all. I wonder what their motivation could be. What's the point in killing us? What if you're next?'

"I'm sure. ...I'm just sad that anyone died at all. What could their motivation be? What's the p- point in killing us? W- What if you're n- next!? I- You're my best friend- H- How would I be able to do this with y- you gone!? And- And Coiny's a- already gone- I- What's happening? What if I l- lose you too?? What if- What if-"

"Ack- Pin!" Needle interrupted, "Pin! Calm down! Pin!"

"I can't calm down! What if you die too! What if it force-"

'-PIN!'

"I- Er- W- What if I- I don't- What would I do if- if you died!?"

"Pin! Pin, don't worry! Hey! I'm here," Needle dropped to her knees to be at the pushpin's height and placed her hands on her shoulders, "Pin- Take some deep breaths! You're having a panic attack!"

"B- But- I can't- I- You're here now but- You might not be t- tomorrow! I- What if I- t- they- kill you!? I- Wh- What if-" she said between sobs as tears began to pour out.

"Pin, I'll be here tomorrow. And the next day. I'll always be here. I promise."

"You can't p- promise that! You don't- know what- they'll- d- do!

In her panic, she hadn't even noticed when GB called her name, Needle shouting "-She's here!" instead.

Pin's words began slurring into incoherent mumbling as Needle's voice turned into a strange, ringing sensation while the millions of eyes that were piercing her crumbling stability blurred out of existence. She didn't know how but, soon enough, her breathing slowed to a calmer pace. Perhaps it was Needle's doing, when she had exaggerated her breathing and waited for Pin's to match hers. She slowly lifted her gaze to Needle's, her eyes puffy with tears. She could understand what she's saying now, but everything other than her and her taller friend was still blurry and nonexistent.

Once Needle could see that the pushpin had calmed down enough, she whispered, "Do you want to go to your cabin?" To which Pin responded with a small nod. Needle would lift herself to her feet and readjust herself to wrap one arm around Pin's back and have the other holding her hand, gently guiding her to her home. The murmurs of the other objects, some judging and some sympathetic, slowly become quieter and quieter as they become farther and farther away.

The metallic object took a hand off of her friend to open the door to Pin's cabin, which had apparently been forgotten to be locked. The two entered and the door was shut behind them by Needle, who then began to lead pushpin through the small rooms to her soft bed.

She helped her best friend lay down and began to pull the dark copper coloured sheets over her, before Pin shouted "No!" while throwing them off, pushing herself backwards until she bumped the hard wall at the head of the bed and curling into a ball. Upon seeing this, Needle immediately rushed to her side.

"Pin! Pin, what's wrong?" she'd question, trying her best not to sound demanding.

"I- I can't- I- I'll have the- dreams... again..." Pin answered, her voice barely above a whisper.

Needle kneeled next to the bed, placing her hands onto the red object to help her loosen her own grip on herself. "The... dreams...?"

"I... I can't... If I sleep I'll... I'll have the dreams again... I..."

"Pin... I... I don't know what dream's you're talking about, but, I'm... sure you'll be fine...?" She had no idea that Pin was going through all this, especially since Pin wasn't showing any of it until today. She must have been under so much pressure, and the murders are just... what finally made it burst.

'Pin, listen to your friend. Even I know how important it is to sleep,' the voice suddenly put in after being silent throughout this whole episode.

"I... but... I can't..."

Hearing her breathing begin to pick up again, the sewing needle knew she had to do something to calm her down again. Suddenly, her arms were wrapped around Pin. She could feel her embrace the hug as tightly as she could without hurting Needle.

The tears that had been threatening Pin suddenly burst out, and they would leak onto the other woman as a result of burying her face into her chest. They would sit there for a moment as she silently cried on her friend, not daring to leave the embrace.

'Hm, tell you what, Pin. As unfamiliar as I am with how your species works, I do know that you need sleep simply based on my observations. So, since you haven't been sleeping much, tonight I'll do my very best to make sure that the dreams don't come if you are willing to try.'

Pin sniffled, though it was a bit muffled through the metallic skin she was hiding her face in, and pulled back to speak. "O- Okay..." she agreed, both to the voice and to Needle, "I'll... try..."

Needle smiled and slowly pulled herself from Pin until her hands were holding hers. She'd help her to lay her onto her back, but as she reached to get the blanket, Pin grabbed her wrist.

"W- Wait- Can you s... stay... with me...?" she'd ask, a bit embarrassed to be asking. But then again, what could be more embarrassing than having a panic attack in the middle of the clearing, in front of everyone?

Needle glanced at her for a moment, then chuckled. "Of course," she said before continuing what she was doing.

"I- no, I mean... can you... come... i- into the bed with me...?" (A/N I swear to tater if any of you make a sus joke I am going to commit a Coiny FG1)

She froze, thinking for what seemed like forever but, in reality, was probably something like a half second. She looked back at the smaller woman and gave her a shy smile. "Sure..." she told her, climbing onto the soft cushion to lay beside Pin, who immediately wrapped her arms around her again.

Needle finally pulled the blanket up and, as she lied there with Pin buried in her chest, her mind began to wander towards what her and Coiny had realized back in BFB.

In a moment while they were alone together, they had a small conversation. Coiny talked about Pin until Needle pointed out that he sounded like he liked her. Of course, Coiny wasn't even trying to lie when he denied it, he's just an idiot.

"Huh? N- No I don't! She's just my friend!"

"We're all best friends, Coiny, and I know that friends don't talk about each other like they have a crush."

"But- I've never felt anything for her."

"...Think about it, Coiny. How many times do you think of her in a day?"

"... A lot."

"And what do you think you want when you're thinking about her?"

"... For... us to stay together... and... have a fun life together...?"

"That's a crush."

"I... Oh my mint you're right... I think I like her."

Needle didn't see what he saw in her. I mean, sure, she thought, she's kind. She has a nice voice... Pretty eyes...

She wrapped her arms around Pin, who flinched slightly. She clearly wasn't asleep yet, since she pulled Needle in a bit tighter.

Shit.

Chapter Text

She had fallen asleep.

She knew this because she was in the void again. The voice had clearly failed to stop the dream, or just didn't do anything to try.

But it was different this time.

There was no smoke, there was no pain in her muscles. There was no second Pin. There was nothing happening. Well, not nothing.

She wasn't alone.

There was a friend with her.

As she sat with her legs folded under her, she could feel warm arms wrapped around her. They held her tightly, as if, if her grip loosened slightest bit, they would loose each other. Pin's arms hung limply from her sides, and she stared ahead with a bewildered expression until her mouth forced itself into a shaky frown. Small tears begun to trail down her cheeks as she moved her arms to wrap around her best friend.

No words were spoken, they didn't need to be. Both of the girls stayed in each other's embrace until the pushpin's eyes fluttered open.

She was tightly hugging a pillow, which Needle had seemingly pushed into her arms when she left the bed. Pin could hear a light sizzling from the other room, and it reminded her of how hungry she was. When was the last time she'd had a proper meal...?

The lights were off, but the room was still bright from the sunrise filtering pale red light into her cabin from the open window. She could hear the faint morning songs of the birds in the distance as she pushed herself up and out of the bed, heading to the kitchen.

Needle was standing in front of the stove, cooking something on the orange frying pan that the pushpin owns. The counter was surprisingly tidy, the taller object must have cleaned it up after the train wreck it was last night, though it certainly wasn't spotless. Dirty dishes sat in the sink, and folded towels sat in two neat piles off to the side, the larger one was dirty and the smaller one was clean. Needle hopefully hadn't put any pieces together as to why most of the dirty towels were stained red.

The cupcakes were packed neatly on a large plate near the wall. They were all still there, but Pin couldn't decide whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

She stepped into the room. "Hi, Needle," she said.

The taller object turned around when she heard the voice. "Pin! Good morning, did you sleep well?" She responded.

She thought for a moment about her dream. Her and Needle calmly reassuring each other in their arms. After a moment, she looked back up at her. Her mouth creased into a small smile, something she had noticed wasn't happening much, if at all, lately.

"...Yea..." she answered.

"...Good," Needle said before turning back to the stove. "I'm making eggs, you want some?"

"Yes, please," she answered without hesitation. Her voice was still soft, strained from all of the shouting and crying last night.

"Great, 'cause I already cracked them for you," she told Pin as the smaller object walked towards the table.

She sat with her head resting on her hand, staring blankly at the round, wooden table. It wasn't long before she looked up to see Needle joining her, a plate in either hand. She placed one in front of Pin, playfully telling her, "Don't expect it to be amazing, I'm not the best cook," before sitting down across from her with her own.

Pin looked down to see two eggs and some bacon lying on the smooth white surface. The whites of the eggs were merged so that it was essentially one big egg with two yolks, and Pin grabbed the fork and cut down the middle to separate them.

Needle ate her own food as she watched Pin, who was eating surprisingly quickly. Must've been hungry... she thought with a small chuckle.

She had only finished about half of her own dish before Pin finished hers with a sigh. She pushed the plate away and hid her face on the table with a loud groan, throwing her hands over her head. "The stress of everything is just too much..." she complained.

"Yea... I don't know what to make of this whole... 'murderer' thing," she responded, "I have a feeling the murders are gonna keep going, it's... honestly really scary." For a split moment, she thought she saw Pin flinch from the corner of her eye, and she glanced back up from her food. "You okay?"

"Nooo...." she answered through another groan. Needle flashed her a look of sympathy, even if she couldn't see it.

Needle continued to eat. An awkward silence seemed to hang over them, until she heard Pin begin mumbling. She glanced back up to see her glaring at something in the middle of the room, following her gaze to... the cupcakes? Why would she be glaring at those? She must just be staring off into space, Needle decided.

Pin didn't seem to notice her, since she just continued to mumble. The thread-piercing metal implement tried to understand what she was saying, but she only picked up select bits.

"... I know... murders... not going to... dreams... cupcakes... flesh... c-"

"Who are you talking to?" Needle questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh- Uh- I- I'm just talking to myself. I'm, ...trying to make sense of the situation, is all..."

"Oh."

The silence returned again, Pin had mumbled one last, quick sentence before going back to staring at the table. Needle finished eating and folded her arms on the table.

"Hey, uh. Do you think you'd be alright on your own now?" she asked.

"Y... Yea, I'll be fine." Pin forced a small smile as she looked up and answered.

"Alright... I'm gonna head back to my place," she said as she pushed her chair back. She walked towards the other woman and took her hands in her own. Her smile was reassuring as she spoke again. "If you ever need anything, come talk to me, alright?"

Pin's eyes trailed to the floor as she gave a small nod.

Needle leaned in and gave her a small hug, before pulling away quickly. She looked over her shoulder as she walked to the front door. "I'll see you later!" She said.

And then the door opened and closed, and Pin was alone with the voice once again.

She stared at the spot where Needle had disappeared around the corner, and sighed.

"I can't kill her."

'So, you are going to kill more people?'

"W- No, that's not what that meant!" She shouted.

'Dang. Well, I tried.'

Pin could feel it shrug in defeat.

She glanced back at the cupcakes, and stood up. Excitement radiated in her head as she reached the desserts and reached a hand towards them; the voice's excitement, not hers.

But nervousness and excitement are the same drug in your brain anyways.

The voice impatiently waited as she pulled a cupcake closer to herself.

And took a bite.

It tasted delicious.

Chapter Text

"You are confident that this is the only way?"

'Yes.'

"But what if it's not?"

'They do not want you to do this, so you need to take it by force.'

"Take what by force?"

'Their lives and, in turn, their flesh.'

'And I have a plan to help you get it.'

"...Fine."

"Your wish is my command."

Tennisball sighed as he and Golfball walked towards the crime scene. It has been about three weeks since all of the deaths, so TB didn't really understand why they had to keep investigating. He remembered the what GB had said in her lab the other day.

"We must continue to investigate, TB. No matter how long it has been since the last death, we cannot let our guard down. Though we have gathered as much information as objectly possible from the only evidence we have, at the very least, we must return there every day to make sure it has not been tampered with."

I suppose that's a good reason... he thought.

As he walked next to his lab partner, he glanced back down at her. She was a very straight forward person, even in the way she walked. He knew why nobody else liked her, since she is rather bossy, but honestly, they just hadn't gotten to know her as well as he has.

Everyone has their own problems, their own experiences, and their own pains, and the larger ball was lucky that she trusted him enough to talk about hers to him. Maybe he could help her become a better person on the outside and drop her tough shell, and then everyone else would see what he sees in her.

He would do anything for her. She was the love of his life, after all.

If only he knew if she liked him back...

Then Golfball suddenly froze.

"Hm? Golfie, what's-"

"Do you see that?" she interrupted him, staring straight ahead.

Tennisball looked up, and saw a strange, green fog beginning to fill this part of the forest. "I... I do..." he told her.

Golfball took a step back as the smog got closer. It was coming too fast, it would reach them in a matter of moments.

"G- Golfie, we have to get out of here!" Tennisball shouted, stepping backwards. "GB, come on!"

'No... I'm going to see what it does. Get ready to pull me out if anything happens. And I mean anything, if you even suspect that I may be in danger, pull me out, alright?"

"What? But Golfie!" Tennisball shouted as GB began to walk towards the smoke. He was frozen, he didn't know what to do. What if the smog was poisonous? It didn't look malicious but-

"Cough cough"

"GOLFIE!"

She was almost completely enveloped in the smoke, and Tennisball had to run forward and help her as she began to choke. It must be the strange gas in her lungs... He held his breath as he entered, making it to Golfball fairly quickly, and pulling her out. He coughed a bit once they were out of the fog, must have breathed in a little.

GB continued to cough for a little while more, and he'd immediately drop to her level to make sure she's okay. Eventually she stopped coughing, and her lungs were able to fill with fresh air. "Golfie, are you okay?" He would ask her.

"Y- Yes..."

"That was terrible idea! What were you thinking? You've never done anything like that before!" He scolded.

"I needed to see if it was dangerous, and I trusted you to pull me out if it was."

"You still shouldn't have done that! It would have been safer if I had gone in, I'm lighter than you, despite having more mass!"

"I couldn't put you in danger, oka-"

'Well, well, well, seems they have decided to walk in, dear~!'

"What... was that...?" Tennisball asked.

"You could hear it too?" GB questioned, looking startled.

'You can both hear me, but there's no need to worry! I'm here to help you both.'

"How can we know for sure...?" She asked, standing up into a defensive position and glaring at the dissipating smog.

'You'll just have to trust me~'

"Golfball, we should-"

'Go to the crime scene.' The strange voice interrupted, finishing his sentence with something he wasn't going to say.

"That's where we were going already," Golfball retorted.

'Great! Then heading there should be no problem for you!'

Golfball began continuing towards the bodies, Tennisball sprinting to catch up as he hadn't realized she had begun walking for a moment. "Golfie... I don't think we should trust this voice..." he said to her in a quiet tone.

"To be clear, I don't trust it. Not one bit. But if it wants us to go where we were headed already, I don't see a reason not to go, unless it's a trap."

"I've almost never seen you act this irrationally, Golfie! Especially in a situation like this!"

Golfball stopped walking and turned towards the larger scientist, walking closer to whisper in his ear. "I know, but this could be our only chance to figure out who the murderer is. We don't know who this voice is, but we can't trust them, no matter what. Even if we do as they say, don't let your guard down," she told him.

"Golfball, this is dangerous. We can't do what they say, because based on what we already know, there is a 79.5353 repeating percent that this is a trap."

Golfball was silent for a moment, before she stood up straight once again. "Tennisball, I need to go there alone."

"W- Why??"

"You will follow from a far enough distance that you can see me, but whoever this voice is will not see you. Pretend you are going to head home, until you are confident that the killer is not watching you."

"Golfie, please, let me be the one to go there. I can't let you put yourself in danger again."

"...No. I can't put you in danger-"

"And you can't put yourself in danger either! Please, Golfie... I don't want you to die because of this."

"I-... No... I can't let you die. Let me-"

"Golfball... Please..."

"..." She stayed silent for a good moment, before jumping when the voice spoke again, much louder than before.

'Are you lovebirds gonna go or what?'

She turned back to face TB, whispering, "No. Now go," she demanded before turning to keep walking. She made her voice louder to project to wherever the voice is when she spoke again. "Tennisball is going to go home, I'll head there by myself," she told it.

"G- Golfie, Don't-"

'Alright, whatever you want. I'm going to stop talking to you guys now, so you will no longer hear my voice in your heads,' it said right before it disappeared.

Tennisball watched as she continued to walk, standing completely still. Eventually he realized he didn't have a choice, and began to walk in the opposite direction until she was nothing more than a dot in his vision. It was then that he turned and began to walk back towards her, trying to keep the distance, and preserving his energy to make sure that he could run to her as fast as he could if something happened. He could barely make out when she had made it to her destination, and he got a bit closer to her before he heard a voice behind him.

"It told me I have the bozo brained bossy bot to thank for separating you two and making my job a lot easier."

He spun around to see Pin, a cleaver in hand. With what she had told him, he had expected to see some sort of malicious smile on her face, but instead, she looked sorry for him. Sure, there was still a hint of malice in her expression, but other than that... she didn't look like she wanted to be here.

"W- What are you doing here...?" He questioned, a bead of sweat sliding down his forehead as his heart rate began to speed up and he took a step back. "Was that... Was that you that was talking to us...?"

"Did it sound like me?" She asked.

"No...?"

"Then no, to answer your question, that was not me talking to you."

She began to walk towards him.

"G-GOL-" he began to shout before the weapon was suddenly pressed against his throat, Pin inches away from him.

"Don't. Unless you want her dead too," she threatened.

He gave a small nod, and the cleaver was drawn back.

"Y- You're the killer, aren't you..?"

She sighed, "I would have loved to give the role to someone else..."

He nodded again, suddenly sympathetic. He knew he shouldn't be, but...

"You don't want to do this, do you?"

"No, I don't. But I've got the motive, and the means... And the voice in my head constantly reassuring me that I won't get caught as long as I listen to it."

He didn't know what to think. On one foot, she made it sound like she was a victim of circumstance, but on the other, she was probably also about to kill him.

"Is... Is the voice in your head the same one that talked... to us...?"

"...Yea."

"Oh..." His mind wracked with what that information meant. The voice must have been what had driven her to do it in the first place, while she has to just play along, but something isn't adding up here... "Why are you doing this? What's the motive?"

She flinched, "...I don't know if I should tell you that."

"Why not? You're about to kill me anyways."

"But I might not succeed, so it's better to hide it from you."

"I... That actually makes sense..." he said, beginning to back away as Pin stared at the ground. She was mumbling something, and he realized that this was probably his only chance to escape. He turned and ran, before he heard her shout something and felt a piercing sensation in his back.

He fell to his face and felt her hold him down as she pulled the cleaver out, a muffled shout escaped into the dirt below him while blood spurted out of his new wound. He was spun onto his back, and he winced at the sting of the path dirtying the exposed muscle.

"It would be greatly appreciated if you didn't run away," Pin told him through gritted teeth, an aggravated grin forcing its way onto her face as she held him down with both hands. Well, a hand and a wrist, since she was still holding her now bloodied weapon.

Her lips fell back into a frown as Tennisball struggled to escape her grip, she was annoyingly stronger than she looked. "Seriously, why are you doing this!? What did I do to you!??" He begged.

"Fine, you really want an answer that badly!?? It's nothing you did, it's something I want!!"

"Well then what-!?" He cut off as he was interrupted.

She glared at him as she spoke, "You guys are annoyingly tasty."

"I- W- What!?" Out of all the possible motives, this one had crossed his mind, but he'd never expected anyone to...

"It's that dumb voice's fault, it was all, "You should eat someone," "You should go kill someone and eat them," "Seriously, flesh is delicious, you should eat someone," for months. Eventually I got fed up and it struck a deal: if I kill and eat one person, it would stop bothering me about it." She explained, "Long story short, a certain batch of cupcakes was quite delicious."

"S- So you're-"

"A cannibal? Yea, sure, I guess I am, unfortunately. Anyways, a certain someone is going to come back at any moment, and I gotta kill you before she gets here," the pushpin told him as she lifted the meat cleaver to his stomach.

Not now... Not now... Please... He begged silently, his panic stopping him from forming any verbal words, I don't want to die yet... Not with such a heavy conscience... Please... I didn't even get to tell her...

He he hadn't realized he was holding his breath until his stomach was ripped open. Blood seemed to flow out endlessly, pooling onto the ground below, and coating the arms of the object that was doing this to him.

"Please..."

She sighed, and seemed to be talking to herself as she said, "I can't drag it out and let him suffer..."

"Pin... Please..."

"...Tell Golfball..."

"...That I love her..."

Pin hesitated.

His eyes were squeezed shut as he felt something pierce through his skull with intense force...

And everything went black.

—————
'Dang, it would have been fun if you'd done it slowly.'

"Well, too bad for you, I guess. I couldn't just let him bleed out," she told the voice as she gazed at the fresh corpse below her.

She couldn't tell what she was feeling as she grabbed his leg and begun to drag the sports globule away; sadness? Happiness? Was she angry at herself for letting herself fall victim to addiction, or was she glad that she would be able to taste the tender, rich flesh again? Perhaps she was mad at the voice for introducing her to its own cannibalistic tendencies, or perhaps she was glad that it had, since she never would have discovered how delicious other objects were without its help. And of course he had to tell her that he likes someone right before she killed him, which obviously made the guilt even worse.

The trip home was nothing short of agonizing.

—————

She could feel the wind against her skin as her feet hit the forest path with rapid footsteps. They had fallen for it. They had both fallen for the murderer's trap and now Tennisball was paying the price. The killer's words echoed in her mind as her heart raced in anticipation.

'By the way, your boyfriend just got attacked,' they had told her.

Why? Why fill her lungs with smoke again just to come back and tell her that? What was the point? The part where they had called him her boyfriend wasn't even processing through the panic of him getting attacked. What if she didn't make it in time?

She hoped she wasn't too late.

Tennisball was still alive, right?

He has to be alive still... she thought, he's strong, he will be fine...

He will be fine...

He will...

"Oh no..."

Her voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke, stumbling forward slightly as her mind searched endlessly for some sort of explanation.

He can't be dead... He... There's a blood trail, he was probably dragged away to stop him from calling for me!

She began to follow the trail, running just as fast as she was a moment before. She swerved around trees, dodged low hanging branches, and jumped over roots. It seemed to go on forever, and have no destination. The killer was smart, they probably didn't let it lead to their home, but wherever it did lead should still reveal them, right? The crimson trail was getting thinner, and her breathing began to hitch as she was running out of stamina.

She was never the most athletic object, neither was Tennisball. It's honestly pretty ironic, considering they are both sports balls. And now her lack of physical exercise is biting her in the ass as every muscle in her body aches from the most physical exertion she's gotten in years.

And then the trail ended.

It didn't lead anywhere.

And her lab partner is probably dead.

"Fuck..." she mumbled as her body stumbled forward, falling to her knees.

"Fuck... Fuck fuck fuck..."

He's gone... He's really gone...

She felt salty tears begin to run down her cheeks as she continued to swear under her breath, trying to catch it after overexerting herself just now.

She was confident he was dead, I mean, how could he possibly be alive right now? But the more she thought, the less confident she was. Proof has always been something that Golfball needed before she made a confident judgement, and there was no body...

There is still that small 3.004 percent chance that he's still alive, and Golfball is going to take it. She immediately shot back up and used her knee to wipe her tears, then begun following the blood trail back to the familiar part of the forest, searching for any sense of direction through this maze of trees.

He is still alive, he has to be. I don't care what anyone says, Tennisball is alive. The killer is holding him somewhere, and I am going to find out where, she thought as she made her way back through the forest and towards the cabins, I'm getting him back, I don't care how long it takes. It is my fault that he was taken anyways. I'm the one that was too stubborn to let him be the one to go to the crime scene, and made him walk right into the real trap. They outsmarted me and took him. I had a chance to keep him safe and I blew it by not outsmarting his kidnapper.

He is still alive.

And I'm going to find out where he is.

Who took him.

Why they are doing this.

And get.

Him.

Back.

Chapter Text

Pin stood in her kitchen, chopping up the ingredients for her next dish. Blood coated a portion of the counter nearly from top to bottom, balls of yellow-green fuzz filled the trash can, bags of flower and sugar sat half open next to the cutting board, which had large round organs currently being chopped up on it. The knife creates small noises on the wooden surface with each precise cut as the deep crimson liquid leaks onto the floor and lines the apron the pushpin wears. The mixer creates a soft hum that echoes through the whole house as the ingredients are mixed together.

She walks over to the electric mixer with the cutting board and scrapes the small cubes of meat into the metal bowl, before increasing the mixer speed by one and walking back her original spot, placing the cutting board back down. She turns on the faucet and hot water runs into the sink, pouring blood down the drain as she washes her hands. When her hands are clean, she goes to the metal pan on the stove and grabs one of her baking sheets, placing the non-stick liner in the box-like tray and then heading back to the mixer. She turns it off and grabs the bowl, pouring its contents into the metal cake pan and then placing it on the counter next to the gas stove. The warm oven mitts are slid onto her hands and a blast of heat hits her red skin as she opens the pre-heated oven, sliding the pink batter onto one of the metal shelves and shutting the oven door. She sets the timer and proceeds to clean the kitchen.

'You should try some of the meat raw,' the voice told Pin as she picked up an unused liver, still wet with blood. She stayed silent as she took it to the bloodied cutting board and cut off a bite sized piece, popping it into her mouth. The corners of her mouth creased into a smile and she licked her lips as an involuntary reaction when the tender, juicy flesh hit her taste buds, and she cut off another piece and ate it before grabbing the organ and placing it into the bag that used to hold the late Ice Cube.

'It's tasty, right? I always liked the liver the best.'

"What's your name?" Pin suddenly asked as she continued cleaning.

'Hm? Oh, it's-"

The voice cut off as a knock on the door made its way through the house, and Pin quickly washed the blood off her hands again and took off her bloodstained apron before walking to the front door. It opened to reveal a Golfball with big round glasses.

"Head to the broken RC, I need to make an announcement." She had an impatient expression on her face as she spoke.

The pushpin stood in the open doorway as Golfball promptly turned and walked to the other cabins, before beginning to move towards the main clearing. Enough people were there for Pin to be able to see that she was one of the last ones called over, she walked to a mostly empty spot next to the large gray box, and sat down, her back on the RC, destroyed by what she thought of as her curse.

She watched as more people walked in, but she didn't see Needle until she snuck up on her. That happens nearly every time they are here, the pushpin is convinced that she does it on purpose.

"Hey," she says, sitting down next to Pin.

She turner her head slightly to glance at her, "Hey."

"You look like you're in a good mood this evening, what's going on?"

"Hm? Oh, uh..." She hadn't even realized she was smiling until Needle pointed it out, but the voice told her, 'Just play along, it'll be more suspicious if you stop smiling now, especially if GB makes the announcement we think she will. Here, tell her you put a cake in the oven and you're confident that it'll turn out delicious, since it technically isn't a lie.'

"I just... I put a cake in the oven right before GB called me over, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna come out great! I'm trying out a new recipe so I'm kinda nervous, but I think it's a good recipe," she told Needle, keeping the smile on her face like the voice told her to.

"Oh, that's fun! Can I have some when it's done?"

"Uh..."

"Only if it comes out to your liking, of course. I know how you are when something doesn't come out good," she added playfully.

"I..."

'Say yes, let her have some cake.'

Pin was confused about its decision, but she supposed its decisions are what have stopped her from getting caught.. so...

'Then we kill her when she comes by our place to have some~'

"N... No, sorry..." She can't have Needle die... Not yet- No, not ever. She can't lose her only friend left... "No..."

'I- WHAT!? WEREN'T YOU LISTENING??'

"Oh, alright," Needle responded, a bit of disappointment showing on her face, but mostly understanding.

The two sat without really saying anything for a while, until Golfball began shouting names from atop the Recovery Center, making sure everyone's here.

"Y'know, Golfball was acting kind of weird earlier," Needle suddenly said.

"Really? How so?"

"Well, she came up to me and asked me to help her gather everyone, probably because I was just the first object she saw, but when I asked her why she wasn't just having Tennisball help her, she made this weird face and just told me to help her before walking away."

Pin flinched, immediately straightening herself out before Needle could notice. She needs its help again, she doesn't know what to say.

"I-... I... Uh..."

'That's strange, but she's always just been kinda dismissive like that, hasn't she?'

"That's... strange. But she's always just been kind of dismissive like that, has she not?"

"Hm... I suppose you're right, but I still think the way she acted was a bit weird, even for her."

"Yea, that's fair"

"ERASER!" Golfball called.

"HERE!"

'If- No. When she says it, you need to act surprised or shocked or scared or, just whatever you would normally do in this situation you weren't the murderer,' the voice told Pin.

She nodded.

"BELL!"

'HERE!"

'And make sure that you don't even let them suspect that you aren't your normal self right now,' it told her.

She nodded again.

"NEEDLE!"

"HERE!"

'If your acting isn't nearly perfect, they're gonna know it's you.'

"MARKER!"

"HERE!"

'So act like your life depends on it.'

"PIN!"

"HERE!"

'Because, if you think about it...'

"Okay, now that I have all of your attention, and as you all probably know, I have an important announcement to make..."

'It kinda does.'

She nodded.

"Tennisball was attacked and most likely killed approximately half an hour ago in the forest, after we got separated on the way to where Four and X died were found dead about three weeks prior."

Well, the bandaid had been ripped off.

Now it was a matter of whether the information processed.

Which it was proven to have done so successfully when terrified, confused, distressed, and even angry shouts and screams erupted from the clearing below.

'NOW! ACT! NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT!' It screamed in her head.

Pin immediately got into character, standing up and stumbling backwards, mumbling, "What...?" before beginning to hyperventilate. Needle immediately shot up beside her and rushed to her aid, completely fooled. Pin tried to remember how she had been petrified of Needle dying before, and threw elements of her panic attack into her behaviour as her back hit the dented metal box. She began mumbling as Needle tried to comfort her, putting her hands on her shoulders to help her ground herself.

Eventually she let herself calm down, slowing her breathing and slowly looking up at her friend with panic stricken eyes. She threw herself into the taller object's arms, squeezing her eyes tight as if she expected that to make her cry. It didn't, but it was an attempt.

'Do you need me to help with the words?' It asked Pin, who responded with a slight nod.

"You're okay, Pin... You're okay..." Needle reassured her as she slowly pulled Pin back down to her knees. "We... We'll be okay..."

'But how do you know that?'

"B- But how-... How do you kn- know that??" Pin repeated, squeezing the metal object tight.

"I... I just do," she said.

''You couldn't-' Wait, no, '-You don't, though. There's no way you could know that.''

"You don't- There's... There's no way you c- could know that- though..."

"..." Needle thought for a moment, then opened her mouth to speak before getting interrupted by the sports globule.

"EVERYONE CALM DOWN!" She screamed, "Calm down! How will ANYONE think straight through this CHAOS!??"

Pin could hear the voices of the other objects in the clearing settling down after Golfball's outbursts. She stayed in Needle's arms, trembling slightly.

There was nothing else that needed to be done. Golfball made a few more statements about the murderer, a few declarations of not letting them go free, and then everyone went back home. Needle asked Pin if she wanted her to come with her, but the pushpin denied. She'd thank her for keeping her stable earlier, and then went to her cabin.

The cake isn't done yet. It'll be ready in a few hours.

Chapter Text

He watched as the strange blue scribble on the ground wiggled as if it was trying to do something, before he snapped it out of existence again. Another failed attempt. He sighed and glanced at his friend, who had begun speaking.

"You're still trying to revive him, Eight? I told you to try that contestant Two mentioned—what was their name, Ice Cube?"

"I know, I just... I can't let them both stay dead, y'know?"

"...You know that she was the only one strong enough to revive algebraliens..."

Eight looked down at his hands. He was right, no other algebralien is strong enough. It was almost ironic, how they've been gifted these amazing abilities, and they could use them to learn the magic of recovery; but then, none of them are strong enough to revive themselves.

The fate of the only algebralien able is pretty ironic too.

He turned back to the orange algebralien sitting on the bench, "But... Maybe it just needs more time, Ten? Plus, if I can revive her then..."

The two stayed silent as Eight walked towards the bench, sitting himself down beside his friend. Eight glanced around the number playground as Ten fidgeted with his wrist.

The crooked scar that monster had left on it will forever be a painful reminder of the day she died.

And the day he was banished; wounded and left for dead somewhere in space.

"Do you think it's him?" The orange integer suddenly asked.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Do you think... Do you think the deaths are his fault? I mean, he didn't even seem to feel any remorse when..."

"I... I don't know," Eight answered, before adding, "-No. No, it couldn't be him. Even if we can breathe in outer space, he was bleeding out so much, there's no way he could have survived."

The two numbers perked up as they suddenly heard another voice jump into their conversation. "He's probably nothing but bones by now," it said.

"Oh, hey, Six," Eight greeted, at the same time that Ten said, "You're right, it was probably a dumb thought," clutching the scar on his wrist.

The blue number plopped herself down on the bench next to Ten, saying, "He's insane, he'll kill anyone if he gets even slightly hungry. It's a good thing we got rid of him instead of just locking him up again. I wonder how he got out the first time..."

"That fucking cannibal..." Ten muttered under his breath.

"Ten..." Eight started.

"Yes, yes, I know," he sighed out, "Language."

"Well, I think swearing should be fine if we're talking about that as-"

"Six, you've objectively been yelled at the most for swearing, I would have at least expected you to stop," Eight interrupted before she could finish the word.

She sighed, "Fine..."

Ten murmured something inaudible under his breath, and Eight perked up, "What was that, Ten?" He asked.

"I miss her..." he repeated.

"...I miss her too," Six told them, pulling her legs up to her chest.

Eight didn't say anything. He missed her just as much as them but, he didn't even see it happen. He never even saw the body, only the grave they had made before he had a chance to say a proper goodbye. But Ten saw it happen first hand, he's the one that walked in on him, and was able to get help before he could kill anyone else.

"If we still had her with us... she..." Ten started before trailing off, leaving Eight to finish his sentence for him, "...She could revive Four and X."

"I wonder if that's the reason he chose to go after her," Six told them, "If Ten hadn't caught him in the act, and he was able to get away without anyone knowing it was him, then with her dead, the victim couldn't just get revived and say that it's him that killed her."

Ten grumbled a bit, "...He was smarter than he looked."

"...Unfortunately," Six added.

Eight sighed, "She was so much stronger than she looked..." he gave a half hearted chuckle, "She was so stupid, in that silly, fun way..." He paused, sighing as the light smile he had for a moment faltered. "This place has really become more grim since she passed."

"She could be pretty annoying at times, though," Six complained, "But even still, we all took her for granted."

"It's funny how you never notice how much you love someone until they're gone," Eight sighed out.

A heavy silence hung over them again as they sat there, until Six spoke up. "I wonder how One is taking it," she said. Eight flinched. It wasn't that they weren't allowed to talk about her, it's just... they never really do. "I hope she and Three are doing alright, wherever they are," the blue number added.

"I hope they're doing alright too..." Ten agreed, sighing.

One and Three were best friends, incredibly lively, and essentially the parental figures of the number playground. But, not long after she... passed, they had both disappeared; left without a trace. They didn't tell anybody that they were leaving so, of course, everyone panicked when they seemingly poofed out of existence. But then Five found a letter left by them on the swing set, and everyone calmed down.

It read:
"Me and Three are leaving, we can't handle being here right now. We will come back eventually, but we don't know when that eventually will be. We promise to come back someday, though. Don't get into any trouble while we're gone, Six.

Signed, One."

"Of course they had to pick on me in that letter..." Six mumbled.

Eight gave a half-chuckle. "We all know you haven't been making any point to do as they told," he said, a playful smile on his face.

"Oh, shut up!" She laughed out, leaning forward to see him around the orange number between them, who was laughing a bit as well.

Ten suddenly froze. "Guys- Wait, both of you be quiet," they said in a hushed tone. "Do you hear that?"

Six and Eight both complied, straining their ears to listen. Eight couldn't tell, but he thought it sounded like... footsteps? They were really fast, and getting closer.

"Oh, does Nine need my help finding his glasses again?" The smallest integer chuckled.

"Six, Nine would be skating here," Eight said, "Not running. And I can't possibly think of what Five would want that's as urgent as it sounds unless it was something bad-" he cut off as a shout from behind them interrupted him.

"GUYS!"

They all turned around at the sound of a more feminine voice, and Eight shouted in surprise at the two numbers that were quickly sprinting up to them, panicked expressions on their faces.

"ONE!?"

"IT'S FOURTEEN!" Her friend shouted from beside her to the three on the bench , "HE'S STILL ALIVE!!"

—————

Pin sat at the edge of her bed, a half eaten slice of cake and a paper on her desk. She sighed as she placed the pen down after scribbling out the name of her fourth victim. The voice had convinced her to write a list of everyone's names, saying it will help her keep track of who's alive and who isn't if she crossed out names as she killed. She didn't quite understand why Tennisball, X, Four and Ice Cube needed to be on the list if she was just going to cross them out immediately, but it had insisted that having her previous four victims will help her remember they were dead, even if she's confident she'll remember without it.

'Now, the next step is to choose who will be the next one to die,' it told her as she took another bite of the cake slice.

"I still have plenty of cake, though. And all the leftover meat," she pointed out, "Why do I need to kill another object so soon?"

'You don't need to kill them right away, but if you choose who dies next now, then you'll have until you run out of that sports ball to plan out the death.'

"But what if something comes up, like I picked on person, but then someone else... figures out I'm the murderer? Shouldn't I change who is going to die?"

'Well, for your specific example, you shouldn't kill the person who knows you're the killer. But you can always change your target if you suddenly see fit for a new one. It just helps to always have a plan in order to make sure everything possible is accounted for!'

She supposed that's a good reason. But for who to choose to die next... It should be someone she doesn't have any sort of attachment to, someone useless and more deserving of death. Nobody that's-

"Ow!" She shouted as she coiled a hand to her chest, away from the paper. She looked down at her index finger to see a bit of blood trailing down it, promptly putting it into her mouth to lick it up.

'Oh, you got hurt? I can heal you if you nee-'

"I'll be fine," she interrupted the voice, "It's just a paper cut."

"...Although..." she started after picking up the pen again.

'Hm?'

"You never did finish telling me who you were before Golfball knocked on my door. What's your name?"

'Oh, well, why just tell you? I have a physical body, so I think it's only fair to you that, rather than simply giving you my name, we formally meet, face to face!' It suggested, 'I know more about you than I think you realize, after all. It would only be fair on my part for you to know just as much about me~!'

She considered its offer for a moment. While she is practically dying to know who it is, she wasn't sure she could trust it. But then again, there didn't seem to be any motive to betray or kill her, so maybe it would be alright.

"...Okay," she said after a moment, standing up from the mattress, "I'll come meet you. Where can I find you?"

'Come to the forest. I'll direct you to my location, since I can't really go to you myself.'

She did as it told her. Leaving the cake and the paper on the desk, she walked through the front door and exited her cabin. The moon lit her path to the trees as all the other objects should be resting in their homes. She kept her footsteps light so that there was no risk of waking anyone, but other than that there was no real need to sneak, so she walked casually as she made it to the forest.

Once she was past the trees, her need to be quiet seemed to disappear; leaves crunching and twigs snapping beneath her feet as she ventured deeper and deeper into the woods.

Eventually, she made it to an area she recognized. It took her a moment to remember, but she soon realized that this is the area where she had been when she had found herself lost in the green fog while on that walk all that time ago. At the same time, it's near where Tennisball had died. If she had to guess, she'd say the rotting corpses of Four and X were just a couple minutes forward and to the left of her.

The voice continued to guide her onwards, but eventually, she reached a point where she could hear another voice in the distance. ...Or was it the same one...?

'Wait,' it told her, 'I can hear myself now, which means you can hear me now, which means I don't have to talk to you like this anymore.'

"What do you mean?" She asked, but got no response through the voice in her head. Instead, she heard the same voice somewhere to her right, calling, "Over here!"

She turned to see a green figure walking towards her, and she begun making her way towards it. They met in the middle, before she realized with a gasp, "You're an algebralien!"

"Yup!" He stated proudly, his arms crossed, before he moved one to his hip and extended the other one. "Fourteen! Proud to make your acquaintance! ...Oh, no handshake? Alright," he added with a shrug after a moment of nothing, moving his arms down to his sides.

"You... Who are you? How have you been talking to me all this time?" Pin questioned.

"I'm Fourteen!" He answered, "An algebralien who was so rudely kicked off of our home planet by the others, all because I ate someone."

"Wow, how unreasonably rude of them," Pin commented sarcastically.

"I know, right??" he complained, "I mean, they didn't even kick me off the first time! They just locked me in a cage! It's probably because of who the victim was the second time, it's st- Ack-"

He cut off with a painful noise, flinching and glancing down at his legs. Pin hadn't even noticed that they weren't made of flesh like the rest of his body. Instead, they appeared to be formed by the same mist that he seemed to be able to talk to people through.

"I gotta sit down, give me a moment," he informed her, positioning himself to lean on a tree as he moved into a sitting position. Pin watched as the foggy limbs faded away, leaving two small stumps where his legs should be.

Pin had so many questions for this person, but she didn't know if any of them could even be answered. She didn't even know where to begin.

As if he had read her thoughts, he told her, "Here, take a seat," patting the ground next to him. "I'm sure you've got plenty of questions, and we've got all night, so I might as well answer them.

Instead of sitting beside Fourteen, she chose to lean on a tree across from him. This was still a stranger, and an openly cannibalistic one at that, so she didn't quite feel safe around him yet.

Now, where to begin? She wondered silently. The number waited patiently as she searched through her mind for what to ask, the first question becoming painfully obvious once she thought of it. She should just start with her unanswered question from before, "How have you been talking to me all this time?"

"It's the mist," he answered, lifting his hand and causing some of the fog to come from his palm. "That's how I talk to you in your head. It's kinda weird, and I can't for the life of me understand why it works like this, but I've figured out how it works. It's basically, the fog slash smoke slash mist, I dunno what it is exactly, comes out of my hands, and then, when someone breathes it in, I can talk to them. I don't think there's a limit to how many people I can use it on at once, but I can't stop using it on only one person. In order to stop using it on someone I have to turn it off for everyone that I'm using it on."

"What about those dreams?" Pin asked, tilting her head, "You said they were a "side effect" of your mist power, right?"

"Oh, yeah, those. I don't fully understand those yet," he admitted, "All I know is that, if I'm using my ability on someone while they're sleeping, then there's a pretty good chance they'll get the dreams. They almost always take place in the same void that yours do, and usually involve the mist fog thing in some capacity. Actually, the only time I can recall that I used my ability on someone and the dreams didn't take place in the void was when I'd used it on One. But she's also, like, the strongest one there. Other than Seven, but I'd never used my ability on her."

"..." Pin wanted to ask more questions, but still didn't trust him enough for... those ones. She had no way to even really know if he has been telling the truth this whole time. Eventually, she decided she would just ask questions for things she was simply curious about. "One? Seven? Are those algebraliens too?"

"Oh, yeah. One and Seven? They're just more algebraliens. One is the strongest one (haha), Two is the second strongest, et cetera, et cetera. At least, that's how we thought it was, before Seven suddenly decided that she was the only one strong enough to recover us." He rolled his eyes as he spoke that last part. "My personal theory is that she wasn't actually as strong as everyone makes her out to be, and was just the only one who'd put in enough effort to be able to learn how to recover us."

"Recover us? Like Four and X did?" Pin wondered out loud.

"Oh, no, no, no. Recover us, like algebraliens. Four and X could recover objects, which takes noticeably less time, skill and effort," the number corrected, counting the differences on his hand.

"Oh." She paused for a moment, sliding down the tree to sit. She stared at the ground before glancing back up and pointing out, "You keep talking about Seven in the past tense. What happened to them?"

"I ate her," Fourteen proudly answered, without hesitation.

"...Oh," Pin responded, a bit startled by his bluntness in admitting his crimes.

The two stayed silent for a good minute, until the object glanced up and noticed the moon didn't appear to be in the sky anymore. She hadn't even noticed how bright it was getting until she saw the sky, promptly pushing herself back up to stand. "I have to go," she told him, "The others are probably waking up by now, and if I'm not in my cabin they'll know something is up."

"Awe, you can't stay? It gets lonely out here."

"No, I can't stay. Sorry," she said as she turned and began walking back. She didn't know if she was actually sorry. She couldn't be, could she? I mean, this is Fourteen!

She ended up thinking about it all her way back to her cabin, thankfully not encountering anyone as she snuck back through the door, which she had accidentally left open a crack the previous night.

It was only once she made it back to her bed did she realize she never actually got any sleep. Maybe she could sneak in an hour or two. According to her clock, it's only 5AM, so she can try.

As she tucked herself in, she realized that Fourteen had forgotten to use his ability on her again.

That was the best sleep she had gotten in months.

Chapter Text

The crisp morning air hit the objects outside in a windy breeze, sending a chill down the spines of those trying to begin their day. It was surprisingly cold for a summer day in Goiky. Small prints were left in the grass after the boots of the objects walking outside would land on the ground, only to rise again as they continued on their way. The clouds above cover the sky with a pure white colour, mocking anyone that was hoping for a sunny morning; though the clouds in the distance promise a clear sunny evening once they have a chance to pass by. Other than the chill and the wind, it was a beautiful day, sure to warm up once the fluffy puffs in the sky moved out of the way. The occasional sunbeam would also break through the thick cloud blanket, taunting the objects who tried to get into it before it faded away, and failed.

A pushpin sat on the roof of the hotel now owned by the deceased with a black scarf wrapped around her neck, with small white flower designs on either end, leaning back on her hands as her legs swung off the edge. She people-watched her fellow contestants wandering around on ground level, conversing with a green number in her head, while two other objects down below the opposite side of the large building conspired against the cannibal that was Pin.

"If we can get her alone somewhere we can interrogate her, maybe," the basketball would suggest, looking at the other, waiting for his input on her idea.

"But if she isn't," Donut said, "Then she could end up accidentally telling the real killer, who might kill us once they know we're trying to stop them. And if she is the killer..."

Basketball sighed, finishing his sentence. "...Then she could just kill us then and there."

Donut nodded, and the two armless objects stood in relative silence for a good moment. B-Ball let out a long groan as she threw herself to the ground, stretching her legs out in front of her as she leaned her back on the hotel. Donut soon sat himself down beside her and let out a sigh.

"It's like no matter what we do, we're doomed," he complained.

"Come on, Donut, don't think like that! We just need a new idea," the ball with lines told him, trying to convince herself as much as him. Her pump tail flicked up next to her as she spoke.

The two continued to theorize possible plans as the pushpin on the roof moved away from the back edge, walking backwards a bit as she moved her head up, having just eavesdropped on that part of their conversation. "This really isn't good," she said as she placed a hand on her head.

'No, it really isn't,' Fourteen agreed, having used his ability on her when she'd woken up. 'We must dispose of them as soon as possible.'

Pin sighed, walking back to the front of the hotel and looking down at the other objects there. As much as Pin still doesn't want to keep killing, she has gone in far too deep to stop. "We shouldn't kill them immediately. We don't know if anyone else is working with them, so killing them could lead to more suspicion."

'You're right, especially if we end up killing one but not the other.'

"Yeah, that too."

The two watched through the same eyes as objects hurried about. She could see what seemed to be TV fighting Robot Flower, neither seemed to be winning yet, as other objects would either watch from the sides or join in and try to help the flat-screen. He also held something thin and small in his tail, and seemed to be trying to stab RF with it.

Pin pushed herself to her feet up on the edge as she gazed with interest upon the scene below, standing there for a good while until a strong gust of wind blew into her from behind. The sudden pressure on her back caused her to stumble forward and almost off of the edge, but she only had a heartbeat to process what had just happened before the wind increased in strength and threw her off.

She could hear Fourteen panicking as she almost flew straight past Bell to the ground below, but was able to grab onto her string at the last moment, her feet dangling over empty air.

Bell felt the sudden tension on her string and also panicked, a ringing sound piercing the pushpin's eardrums as the Christmas bell attempted to throw her off.

"STOP! I'M GONNA FALL TO MY DEATH DOWN THERE!!" Pin shouted to be heard over the ringing. Bell quickly realized the gravity of the situation as the other woman climbed up so that she was no longer hanging over the edge, still holding the string with a death grip. It was only until then that the two realized the limbless object had instinctively flown higher. If Pin, or Bell, for that matter, fell now, they would surely die.

Bell had clearly realized this, and she glanced at the woman on top of her as she stared with fear stricken eyes at the ground below her, her scarf swaying in the wind. She would then pull her eyes away and open her mouth to say, "Okay, I'll lower us down, but you have to get off as soon as it's safe. ...Hey, are you even listening?" She questioned once she realized Pin was mumbling to herself, stopping the decent she had begun. At first she thought that it was because of how high up they, the objects below were all looking like ants from this height, and the air pressure must be getting to her; it was beginning to bother Bell, too, who had a sort of tolerance to it after being up here so much for most of her life.

But then she could make out the words, "I don't have my knife..." coming from Pin's lips, and then she realized something bad.

"Pin, what are you-" she tried to ask, before getting cut off as Pin continued to mumble.

"I can't kill her, Fourteen. I don't have my knife."

"WHAT!?" Bell panicked, beginning to attempt to throw the red object off once again. Pin did almost fall once, holding onto the string for dear life as Bell continued to shout things at her about her being the murderer. "DID YOU SERIOUSLY JUST JUMP ONTO ME SO THAT YOU COULD KILL ME!? IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CLEARING!??"

Suddenly, she felt a black fabric wrap around her mouth, stopping her vocal protests from potentially reaching the objects below. Her muffled shouts tried to break their way through, but they would inevitably fail, Pin half-shouting, "Shut. Up," through gritted teeth. "And no, I didn't purposefully jump onto you. I was standing on the edge of the hotel like an idiot and the wind blew me off. I was actually originally planning on you just lowering me to the ground before that stupid number tried to get me to kill you."

Bell could only hang there in panic as the woman above her would seemingly talk to herself. Or maybe she was just thinking out loud? And what was this about a "stupid number"?

"Well, I can't let her go free now, she knows it's me. ... I mean, I could try that, but I don't know how strong the string is. It's also dangerous for me, too. ... I suppose you're right." She sighed and pushed herself back to her feet.

Bell flinched her eyes shut as she suddenly felt Pin jump on her. She could feel her body forcefully lower itself from the sudden pressure, but she tried to keep her height so that she can attempt to kill the murderer by throwing her overboard with sudden, forceful swings; unfortunately, none of them proved successful. It's like she had plot armour or something...

The ground was much closer to them than it had been originally, but they were still dangerously high up; the others on the ground still wouldn't be able to see what was going on up here. Bell felt Pin jump on her again, and all the metal object could do was flinch as the muscle in her string began to tear.

Jump after jump, after stomp, after jump, after the string being kicked at. Bell can still feel her string slowly tearing long after Pin has stopped now. She tried to steady her breathing so that she wouldn't begin to ring herself in her panic and cause the rope, which was now no more than a couple of threads, to snap.

Pin took the scarf off of her mouth, and she immediately took a gasp of fresh air, before looking back up at her and screaming, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU'LL KILL US BOTH!!"

"I'd rather take the risk of dying than the risk of living with all my secrets spilled," she responded, wrapping the scarf back around her neck.

Blood from her string began to pour onto Bell's bow, covering the golden stripes. She just stayed there in shock, swaying gently in the breeze, staring at the pushpin, asking, "So you'd rather die than face responsibility for your ACTIONS!??" Her words morphed into an irritated shout at the end of her sentance.

Pin glared at her for a good moment, tightly wrapping her hands around the string far above the obvious tear that she had forced down near where the string connected to the woman below her.

"Yes," she said blankly. She didn't even give Bell the time to respond before she stomped down onto Bell's head once more.

With a faint snap, the last thread tore, and Bell plummeted to the yellow grass far below with a long, piercing shriek.

And she barely had a moment to feel the impact before she couldn't feel anything at all.

—————

Pin hung onto the torn string for dear life, cursing under her breath. She flinched and looked away as the falling figure in the distance stopped moving, a puddle of red splashing out from under her as she hit the ground with a thud that made its way up to the pushpin much slower than the sight did.

She could faintly hear the objects below panicking, trying to keep her composure as fearful shouts from down below rang through the late-morning air. She knew that this was the time to act, she could grieve about her own actions later, but for now she had to make sure that nobody knows that the Christmas bell's death is her fault.

She quickly got into character, frantically shouting, "SOMEONE HELP ME! GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!!" Her eyes were clenched shut and she began to hyperventilate as the real panic begun to seep in; the panic of realizing that she was hanging from a string dangling about 60 feet above the ground, with no obvious way to safely get to ground level.

Fourteen was surprisingly silent. He seemed to be doing so purposefully to help her keep her focus on not falling to her death. However, he wasn't exactly able to do more than let her focus, so the helpless object began to lose her grip, slowly slipping down the black string. "HELP!!" She screamed again when she could no longer hold on with both hands. Her throat began to hurt from projecting her voice as she continued to shout at the objects beneath her, one arm dangling from her side as the other stayed up, failing to stop her from sliding down, while getting a terrible rope burn in the process.

She barely even processed the events of falling to her demise as she ran out of rope, limply plummeting many, many stories down.

She couldn't even scream as the shock settled in.

Is this how Bell felt as she fell?

Is this how Tennisball felt as he was pinned to the ground?

Is this how X fell when he watched his best friend get ripped in half?

Is this how Ice Cube felt?

No, unlike those that had fallen victim to Fourteen's commands, Pin deserves this. She is the one that committed those vile acts of homicide, after all.

She deserves this.

So instead of screaming and begging the objects below to save her from this fate, she closed her eyes and let herself fall through the air, feeling the wind rush past her as she made her way to the ground.

The only warmth she got was from the black and white scarf as she accepted the frigid embrace of the death she deserves.

'What?'

Pin opened her eyes to see a green filter over her vision as her decent slowed to one non-lethal. She hit the ground with a small thud as the green barrier around her dissipated, dropping her onto the yellow grass.

She groaned as she slowly pushed herself to rest on her arms, her stomach still resting on the ground but her face no longer buried in it. Every muscle ached, and her hands throbbed from the friction of the string. She looked up to see a green algebralien standing above her, and it took her a moment to see their pink attire and realize it isn't Fourteen.

"Are you okay?" They ask her, extending a hand to help her up as their tail flicked off the ground for a moment and quickly fell back down. Pin took it gratefully, accepting the help of being pulled to her feet. She dusted herself off as she said to Two, "Y- Yea, I think I'm alright now, I-..."

She cut off when she glanced to the side, finally seeing the crushed body of Bell. Her body was nearly flattened from the sudden stop she endured, and the grass around her was littered with all the blood her body could give. Some of her organs had forced themselves from where they were supposed to be instead of flattening like the rest of her disfigured form and stuck limply out of her sides. Red blood seeped into her bow, blending in with the dark red fabric while covering the golden stripes and hiding any design the fabric originally had. She could hear feet running and stomachs emptying as objects big and small attempted to deal with the fifth death, and what would have been the sixth.

The fifth death caused by Pin's hands.

She began to hyperventilate, clutching her chest with her hand as she backed away. She didn't know what to do. Her eyes were locked onto the mangled corpse before her. She caused that her happen.

She couldn't handle being outside right now, she- she had to get out of here.

The pushpin swiftly turned and ran. She could hear voices, aswell as that of Fourteen's, calling her name as she attempted to escape the consequences of her actions; but she didn't stop for the objects behind her. She continued to run, and run, and run and run, and run and run and run away to her cabin.

Without even glancing back, she threw the door open and slammed it shut behind her. Pin slid down the door and practically collapsed, the fan in the corner of her living room emitting a quiet hum as she sat there, her legs tucked close to her chest and her hands on her head.

Hot tears ran down her soft cheeks as she sat there, trying oh so hard not to panic.

But the anxiety was too great, and her hyperventilating never stopped. She screamed into her chest as her face buried itself into her legs. She wanted to think clearly, but even the voice of the cursed number that had started all of this faded out as she continued to scream.

Slowly, but surely, her cries died down, fading into a quiet mumble every once in a while as she threw her head back to the door. Her hands gripped the hard floor as she sobbed, her eyes clenched shut. The only sound she could process was the light, short knock on the door behind her.

"Hey, Pin?" A high-pitched yet soft voice called, "It's me, Needle. Are you alright? I saw what happened back in the clearing, I... I just thought I should come check up on you."

Pin just sat there. She wanted to open the door for her friend, but her body seemed to have decided otherwise.

After a long moment, the sewing needle said, "...Okay, I understand you not wanting to see anyone right now. ...I'll go."

"W- Wait-!" Pin started, quickly pushing herself up and opening the door. Needle stood on the other side, looking like she was about to walk away. "I... would, like you to stay," the pushpin said, peeling through the door. She was blushing a little out of embarrassment, but you wouldn't be able to tell, because she's red.

Needle's mouth raised in a soft smile, and she also blushed a bit, but for a different reason; although Pin didn't notice this. She walked in as the scarlet object pulled the door open more, allowing her to walk in.

The two stood before eachother once the door was clicked shut, before Pin threw herself into Needle's arms and cried.

Needle tightly embraced her, wrapping her arms around the shorter woman. She pulled them both down to their knees through the hug so that Pin wasn't at risk of her legs giving in. No words were shared between them for a long time. Instead, the sounds coming from them were Needle's soft breathing, and Pin's uneven sobs and hiccups. The red object trembled in the sewing tool's arms, her own fists resting on the taller woman's chest.

That was, until the pushpin cried out into her best friend's body, "I DIDN'T- M- MEAN TO- I- IT WAS- IT- IT WASN'T ON- I- IT WAS AN AC- ACCI- DENT- I- I-" Her words were choppy and panicked and began to slur as she attempted to form any coherent sentance to prove her innocence.

Needle noticed this, obviously, and did her best to calm her down. "Sshh, Pin, it's okay. Breathe, Pin. Focus on your breathing."

"I C- CAN'T- I- SH- SHE DIE- ED- A- AND IT'S M- MY- F- FAUL- T- T!"

"Pin..." She pushed her away to see her face, nearly wincing at the disheveled mess she is. Her eyes are puffy with tears, and her face is hot and flushed, snot rolling down from her nose. Needle watched her for a heartbeat with a soft gaze, before continuing. "Pin, can you tell me two things you can feel, see, hear, or even taste or smell, right now?"

"I- I-" she stuttered, trembling in her friend's arms. Her eyes trailed down to the floorboards between them, and she tried to differentiate anything through her panic attack. "I c- can feel- n- no- hear- th- the fan and- a- and f- f- feel- y- you-...?"

"That's good, Pin," Needle said with a comforting smile on her face, pulling her back close to her. She began rubbing her back as she continued. "Now, can you focus on your breathing? Try to take a deep breath in..." she took a deep breath, waiting for the other woman to follow suit, "...and a deep breath out." She then proceeded to blow out all the air, Pin copying her to the best of her abilities. The two would continue this until Pin could keep her breathing steady on her own.

The taller object then said to her, "Pin, can you tell me what happened up there? We saw Bell flailing around, and then she just fell."

Pin flinched, "I- I fell off of the h- hotel roof... and I landed o- on her... And then she went really high up... And I was telling her to go b- back down- but- as she went down, I realized that she had ripped h- her string by swinging a- around... And then she f- fell, and- and I was stuck t- there... And n- now everyb- body pro- p- probably thinks I- d- did that on- on purpouse-"

Needle frowned. Pin must be so shaken up... she certainly showed it. She sighed, hugging her cr- best friend tightly. She was just her best friend... She couldn't be anything more, right?

"Nobody thinks you did that on purpose, Pin... I'm so sorry that happened to you," she comforted, letting the other girl lean on her.

Pin suddenly asked Needle a question she never thought she would have to even think about, "Needle... Do you think I'm the murderer?"

"I- No, of course not! I trust you, Pin. You aren't the killer. ...Right?"

"I... No, I'm not the killer. Don't... worry."

The two stayed there for a while, Pin slowly and quietly crying in her best friend's arms, until they inevitably, eventually, had to get up. The friends stayed in Pin's house for the rest of the day.

—————

Dear Diary

It's Pin, she's the killer. She has to be!

There is honestly no way in hell she isn't the killer. All of the evidence we have was stacking up against Pin, but just today she practically jumped off of the hotel onto Bell! At first everyone assumed she just fell off, but then Bell suddenly fell from her string when they were really high up and DIED!!

Me and Basketball have been trying to figure out a way to get rid of her, but I fear that if we kill her the others will believe that we are the killers. Otherwise, we could try to just tell everyone that she's the murderer, but I don't think anyone would believe us unless we actually had hard evidence, since most of what we have now is gut feelings based on how she's been acting.

    On another note, my footwriting has been getting better, so that's one positive in this mostly negative situation.

    And Two is finally back! They disappeared for a couple weeks right after Four's and X's bodies were found because they were going to tell some other friends they have about the deaths and see if any of them can revive. Based on the fact that they didn't come back with Icey, though, means they aren't able to revive. So that's a bummer.

Also Tennisball died a while ago. I forgot to make an entry about that happening, but they died sometime between this diary entry and the last one. There's no evidence of that death being by Pin's hands, though, since she was inside all day that day. Well, all day except for the roll call GB did right after TB died.

Actually, that roll call kind of made me not suspect Pin for a little bit. She had this huge panic attack during it, freaking out about the fact that Needle might die or something. But now that I look back on that event, she was probably faking it.

I think that's all for this entry, and it's actually getting pretty late, so I'll have to head to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

Just ‘cause I can’t add images to author’s notes and I forgor to add Fourteen’s design to last chapter:

Chapter Text

The fan emitted a quiet hum as its mechanics caused it to turn left and right, circulating and cooling the air in the room. The small rug beneath the couch barely swayed as the cool breeze washed over it, staying planted firmly on the hardwood floors. Pillows from the bedroom leaned on the couch's arm rests. The television's screen stayed colourless, the remote sitting on the coffee table next to a controller connected to the PlayStation. The room is was fairly small, dimmed by the lack of the lights being on. It has small pots on the windowsills. Within those pots are flowers big and small and of thousands of types, blooming with life... usually. Today, the flowers drooped a bit. While the blinds would usually be up for the plants to get sunlight, Pin had specifically asked for them to be lowered today.

Although, it is more like "tonight," because now the moon was slowly rising, the sky a bright orange-red as the sun lowered to make space for its nighttime counterpart. It rose half covered by shadow, and began to light up the night sky as objects big and small got ready for bed.

There was one object that was already fast asleep, however. She lied resting on her best friend's stomach, her arms wrapped around the taller object with their arms wrapped around her as well. Her breathing was soft and steady as they slept on the couch, shifting lightly in her sleep.

These objects? Pin and Needle.

Though, while the scarlet object slept comfortably, the grey, metallic one was struggling to drift off. She lie with Pin wrapped tightly in her arms, her mind wandering to places that she doesn't quite like it.

It thought about the object in her soft grip. While usually, thoughts of Pin were happy, generally memories about the fun times they've had with the coin creature, right now, it's drifting to something she thought was more serious.

Does she or does she not have a crush on her?

Needle has liked Coiny since the first season, which was fourteen whole years ago. Whether or not she's kept that crush has... wavered, to say the least. Sometimes she glances at him and wishes they could be together, but others, she's happy just being friends.

Pin's a weird case for her. While with Coiny, Needle has decided that she likes him, but wouldn't be disappointed at all if he doesn't feel the same, with Pin, well, the sewing needle doesn't even know how she feels. That other night, a few weeks ago... She felt so comfortable, there with Pin in her arms. She could tell Pin felt the same, but whether or not any of the feelings shared by either of them were platonic or romantic... that was kind of fuzzy.

But, could she even be attracted to Pin's gender? Is she not straight? She likes Coiny, and he's a male. Needle is a female, so that means she is straight, right? But then Pin... Pin is the same gender as her, so what is she? Gay or straight?

Plus, how could she like two people at once? Her whole life she has been taught that girls like boys, boys like girls, and they only ever like one person at a time. She never even found out that homosexuality is an acceptable thing a little before the first season started. So if someone likes someone else, and they only like one person, then what the black snake is Needle? How could she like two people at once??

She... She can't, right? She can't like two people at once. And she likes Coiny, so she must be straight. And since she's straight, and she already likes someone, she couldn't possibly be attracted to Pin like that, right?

...Right?

And where did these feelings come from, anyways? She's known Pin for so long without even considering liking her like this, so what's the deal? Why is she suddenly thinking of her now? Why not before?

Well... There might be other... What do they call them, sexualities? There might be more than two sexualities out there... More sexualities than just heterosexual and homosexual... Maybe Needle is one of those! Yea, that has to be it. She'll just... Google it when she gets home.

When is she going to get home, again?

Pin is going through a lot, and she needs a friend by her side. Identity crisis aside, her best friend needs her. Needle is all she has right now and... she needs to be there for her. Surely anyone would want to be with their friend as much as Needle does if their friend is going through this, right?

Pin began squirming in Needle's grip, and the taller woman instinctively loosened it to allow her friend to escape like she seemed to be trying to do. However, instead, Pin tightened her grip on her friend, as if she would disappear forever if it were to loosen. She practically wrapped herself around her, and mumbled in her panicked sleep, "No wait- Don't go... I'm sorry- I- Didn't mean to..."

Needle flinched. She must be having a nightmare about Bell... She wrapped her arms back around her, and she seemed to calm down. The pushpin snuggled herself in more, which caused Needle to blush a bit, despite her best efforts not to.

She sighed, and tried to stop thinking about her strange feelings. Gradually, Needle would almost drift to sleep as well, before being interrupted by a knock on the door, causing her eyes to flick open. She glanced in the direction of the doorway, even if that meant she ended up looking at the back of the couch.

"I don't think she's going to be awake this late, Donut," a hushed voice at the door said.

"Well, we need to do this when nobody else is awake," another voice, indistinguishable from Donut's slight auto tune, responded, "Besides, if she is the murderer, she'd probably be awake plotting something.

"Shush about her being the murderer, we don't want her to know we're suspicious of her now, do we?" The first voice asked.

Needle groaned, sighing as she slowly pushed herself up. She grabbed a pillow to replace her as she slowly pulled herself from Pin's hold, not wanting to disturb her sleep by her knowing she left. The woman walked to the door groggily, opening it to see Basketball and Donut on the other side.

"Mgh... What are you guys doing here in the middle of the night...?" She asked, rubbing her eyes with one hand.

"Oh, hi, Needle," Basketball greeted, clearly surprised to see her instead of Pin, "We just wanted to ask Pin some things... Is she up?"

"She's sleeping," she responded curtly, still annoyed from being dragged up. She hadn't even realized how tired she is until she had to get off the couch.

"Oh, well, could we wake her up?" Donut asked, adding, "This is really important," to try and convince Needle.

"I don't think I should wake her..." Needle started, before being interrupted by a yawn. "Pin really needs to sleep... She's..." She paused, not knowing if her friend would be okay with her telling them. But, she sighed it off; this might be the only way to get them to leave. "She's... been crying a lot lately. Really stressed about everything. Just earlier I had to help her calm down after she was panicking about Bell's death being her fault. ...I think you should leave her alone. She already thinks everyone thinks she's the murderer... She really doesn't need anyone confronting her about it right now."

The three shared an awkward silence for a moment, before Basketball spoke up. "O- Oh.." she said, sighing. "I... That's fine, we'll go." She put on a light hearted smile as she spoke, Donut glancing at her as she suggested leaving.

"B-Ball, we've already come all the way here, we need to do this," he insisted.

"Look, Donut, I don't want to put any more stress on her, alright?" Basketball responded.

"But how do we know that they aren't just working together?"

"First off, I'm not helping her murder anyone, because she isn't murdering anyone," Needle told them, folding her arms as she spoke with eyebags clearly present on her face, "Second, can you please let it go? I'd like to get back to Pin before she wakes up and realizes I'm not with her. She really isn't in a good place, mentally, right now."

Basketball opened her mouth to speak, before being interrupted by Donut. "No, we need to speak to her right now, Needy-"

A loud slap echoed through the air, "DON'T, call me Needy!" she shouted.

Unfortunately, the sudden noise seemed to wake the pushpin on the couch a few feet back, as she began to stir and groan. Needle looked back as Pin looked over the back of the couch, her arms holding onto the top so that she didn't fall backwards. "Needle..." she began with a yawn, "Mgh... Who are you... talking to...?"

"Ah, Pin! We need-" Donut started, getting a nasty glare from Basketball in the process before getting interrupted by Needle.

"Leave us alone, Donut," she said, giving him a dirty look before closing and locking the door on them. She walked back to her friend, sighing. "Just Donut and Basketball trying to bother us. Don't worry about it," she told her as she carried her down from the back of the couch. The pushpin was pulled into a soft hug, gratefully accepting it as she buried her head into Needle's chest again.

"Mm... Okay..." she mumbled, before sighing, and shivering slightly. "Ngh... It's cold..."

Needle gave her a soft smile. "...Want me to go get your blanket?" She offered.

"Y... Yea..." she agreed with a nod.

The metal object gently placed her back down onto the cushions, walking off to the bedroom. Pin sighed as she watched her leave, rubbing her arms and tucking her legs in.

'She totally likes youuuuuuu~' Fourteen unexpectedly teased. Pin practically jumped as he suddenly appeared.

"Ugh, I thought you were asleep... I was sure hoping so..." she told him with a groan.

'Mm, toooooo bad~' he joked with a chuckle. The pushpin only sighed, pushing her head back onto the couch. She tried to ignore him but, of course, failed.

'..You do realize she likes you, right?'

"I haven't noticed anything like that," she admitted.

'Really?' He sounded genuinely surprised as he spoke. 'Well, I suppose that's fair. It doesn't even seem like she's realized it herself.'

"Then how can you be so sure that she likes me?"

'I just can~'

"Uh huh..."

'Trust me on this, alright? Being a cannibal isn't my only personality trait, y'know. I was practically the matchmaker of the equation playground before they kicked me out. Heh, I could see how much One and Three cared for each other... But then, of course, they'd always deny it when I confronted or teased them about it. I could tell Eight and Ten even started getting feelings for each other just before they banished me... Heheh...'

Pin sighed in relief as Needle returned, saying, "...Hey," with a soft smile as her friend walked up with the blanket in her arms.

"Hi..." she responded, wrapping the blanket around Pin, who'd suddenly ask, "...What took you so long?"

Needle's face suddenly turned a bright pink as she immediately tried to dismiss the question. "I- Uh- I dunno..."

Pin could almost see his smirk as Fourteen said, 'She likes youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu~'

Pin sighed, "...Alright..." she said as Needle sat down beside her. She was honestly way too exhausted to deal with Fourteen right now, so she tried to ignore him by focusing on her friend. She threw the blanket over Needle's shoulder so that it's now around them both, and leaned on her. "Mm... I'm tired..." she told her.

Needle chuckled. "Yea, I'm pretty sure it's actually midnight right now. Let's just go back to sleep," she told her as she lay herself down. Pin was pulled down with her, and she didn't hesitate to snuggle in as she tried to fall back asleep.

She felt her soft hands wrap around her, Needle's warmth comforting. She felt the slow rise and fall of her chest as the both of them drifted to sleep, together.

Chapter Text

Needle sat on her bed, laptop in her lap, hands on the keyboard. The yellow blankets were all pushed to one side of the mattress, the only light coming in from the window as the sun sat fairly low in the sky. Her room was neatly cleaned, everything put away nicely, as it was fairly rare to see her leave something on the floor. The sound of keys being pressed echoed off the walls as she searched for an answer to her identity crisis, her yellow bow swaying gently each time she moved her body. Her search history is pretty predictable at this point.

Can I be attracted to both men and women?
"bi or bisexual – emotionally or sexually attracted to both men and women."

Can I love two people at the same time?
"In terms of the feelings of attraction, one can love more than one person at a time — that is one can be romantically attracted, emotionally attracted, sexually attracted, intellectually attracted and/or whatever to more than one person at the same time."

Can you have a relationship with three people?
"Polyamory is the practice of, or the desire for, romantic relationships with more than one partner at the same time, with the informed consent of all partners involved."

Can I grow feelings for someone that I've never had feelings for before?
"Absolutely. Many people start dating or even start a relationship before romantic feelings have developed. Sometimes romantic feelings develop later and sometimes they never do develop."

She sighed and closed the laptop, placing it on her desk and standing up. There were her answers.

Now, what about Pin? Does she like her? This is an answer she can't just search for online. Well, of course she likes her, right? She's very pretty, and Needle couldn't help but feel captivated by the framed photo she has of them all together. And when she found herself staring at it, Pin had asked her why she took so long getting the blankets after, but that blush was probably just from embarrassment. And then how she'd been so comfortable there with Pin... And how she's been drawn to Pin ever since that night they spent in her bed...

No, yes, the answer is yes. She does love Pin. She loves her a lot.

Well, that solves that crisis. Now for the next one.

Actually telling her.

Needle groaned in annoyance, not wanting to have to deal with this. She was able to say she likes Coiny fourteen years ago, but that wasn't on purpose, and she doesn't think he actually interpreted it as her having a crush on him, just that she likes him more than she likes Snowball. So, saying she likes someone on purpose? How is she supposed to do that? Does she just have to work up the confidence? How does confidence even build up like that? Does Pin even like her back? Does Coiny like her back?

She likes both of them, right? How does she know that they both love her back??

She let out a long groan, before opening the laptop again and sitting back down on her bed with it.

How do I know if someone loves me?

"Pay attention to their actions more than their words. If they consistently show genuine care and support for you, if they go out of their way to make you happy and prioritize your needs, that's a great indicator. True love often shines through in the little things they do. Another key sign is the way they look at you."

"One of the most telling signs that someone loves you secretly is their body language. Pay attention to how they act around you - do they lean in when you talk, make prolonged eye contact, or find excuses to touch you? These subtle physical cues can reveal a lot about their hidden emotions."

"How do you know when someone is really in love with you? Pay attention to their actions more than their words. If they consistently show genuine care and support for you, if they go out of their way to make you happy and prioritize your needs, that's a great indicator."

"They have fun with you even if the task at hand is not fun, per se. They look at you, a lot. They pay more attention to you. They show empathy, in good times and bad. They remember the little things. They introduce you to the important people in their lives. They often mention the future."

"They make you feel safe. You can communicate meaningfully. They listen actively and remember small details. They instinctively empathize with you. They accept your differences. You trust each other. They help and support you."

—————

'They also blush when you're really close to each other. Like when you two were on the couch, she was blushing a lot. She likes you, Pin.'

"What do I even do with this information!? Why are you telling me this!??" Pin shouted in confusion, holding her head as she leans on the round table in her mix of a kitchen and a dining room. A slice of cake sat beside her, barely any left, and a fork lied on the plate next to it.

'BECAUSE YOU LIKE HER BACK!! You really are stupid, huh?'

"I'M NOT STUPID!!!" She yelled in retaliation, standing up and slamming her hands down on the table. She took a deep breath, calming herself down before sitting again and reaching for the fork, scooping the rest of the cake in it and putting it in her mouth.

'Well, you should tell her next time you see each other,' Fourteen told the pushpin. She can't see it, but somehow, she just knows he's smirking from wherever he is in the woods.

Pin sighed and got up from her seat, walking towards her living room.

The windows were all completely uncovered to allow all the plants on the sills to photosynthesize, so light would flood into the room like a waterfall. Dust danced around in the many sunbeams, taunting Pin's inability to get rid of it. The couch creaked as she fell into it, throwing her head back with a groan.

However, when she glanced out the window, she quickly saw the sewing needle standing outside. Her beautiful face gazing awestruck at something just out of view as a yellow scarf sways gently in the wind, the only thing stopping it from blowing away being the way it's wrapped around the needle's neck. Her hands rubbed her arms and you could see her breath from the chill.

When Fourteen began to tease her again, Pin spun around and hid her face, covering it with both her hands and her legs. She shouted at him to stop as the embarrassed blush began to form again, turning her face a deeper red than it already was.

'Come ooooon, she's rigth theerreeee~! Just go tell her, it'll be fine!'

"SHUT UPPPPPPPPPP!!! I DON'T LIKE HER!!"

'YES, YOU DO!! Come on, I've seen the way you two look at each other!'

"I thought you could only see through my eyes! How could you see my face!?"

'FROM THE WOODS, YOU DUMMY! Remember when you were walking through the woods with Needle that time and she accidentally helped me push you to cannibalism?? I could see you were in love, but neither of you'd realized it yet!'

"I DON'T LIKE HER, OKAY? END OF DISCU-" She cut off as there was a knock at her door.

"It's Needle, isn't it?" She asked, at the same time that Fourteen said, 'It's your girlfriend, isn't it~?'

"SHUT IT! NO MORE GIRLFRIEND TALK!!"

'Mmm, fineeee~' he said, in a way that made it sound like he isn't actually going to stop teasing her about it.

Pin pushed herself up from the couch, rubbing her face to feel that all the blush had definitely gone away before walking to the door. A click echoed through the room as the handle twisted, unlocking the door. Pin took a deep breath, silently begging, Please don't be Needle, please don't be Needle, please don't be Needle...

It's Needle.

"Oh, hi, Needle!" She said, giving her friend a small wave.

"Hi, Pin! I know there isn't really anything happening, but I wanted to hang out tonight? If I'm not interrupting anything, of course," she added, clearly kind of nervous.

"Oh, no, I wasn't really doing anything. Come in!" She told her, moving to the side so that her friend could walk in.

The door clicked shut behind her as Pin closed it, leaving the two friends to hang out for the rest of the evening.

However, Pin and Needle weren't the only two objects that knew they were hanging out, as there were two more that had watched the door close behind the sewing tool. They stand peeking around the next house over, hiding in the shade despite the bitter chill it brings, away from the setting sun.

"If she's the murderer, then Needle has to be working with her. They're probably plotting more murders right now, Basketball!"

"Look, I think she's the murderer just as much as you do, Donut, but we can't know for sure if she's actually the killer! You saw her breakdowns! She could just be struggling to cope, and her methods make it seem like she's the killer?"

"She killed Bell in front of us, Basketball."

"Th- That could have just been some sort of freak accident?"

Basketball's pump tail flicked from side to side nervously. She wears a pale pink knitted hat and leg warmers of the same colour as she converses with Donut, who is attempting to hide from the cold similar to her. He wears a black sweater, the sleeves dangling down as he doesn't yet own any clothing made for armless objects. His hood is up and the button that makes it seem cloak-like is holding the two sides together. His pink eyes occasionally flick back to the pushpin's house as if she will appear next to them at any moment, knife in hand, ready to take their lives.

"Look, I'm confident that she's the killer, and I know you are too," Donut said, "Would it help ease your nerves if we managed to interrogate her somehow?"

"I think that would help me become more confident in my decision," Basketball sighed out, before realizing he might have not understood what she meant and adding, "Er- The one of whether or not she's the killer, that is."

"Well then, we should plan out how we're going to do that."

"Let's head inside before we do, though," the sports ball told him anxiously, "I don't want anyone overhearing us, and it's really cold out here..."

"Yea, no, you're right. Your factory in the hotel?."

"Yea, that works."

The two objects walked away from the pushpin's cabin towards the huge building owned by dead people, quickly making their way through the fallen leaves that autumn has begun to bring. The trees sway gently in the heavy winds, the sky dark as the moon slowly rises to the center of the sky. It will be a long night.

When they finally make it to Basketball's factory, she takes out her key and unlocks the door, making room for Donut to enter once she had entered herself. The door clicked shut behind them as they both walked through the sports ball's factory, making their way to the middle of the room. The two stood awkwardly for a moment before Donut spoke up.

"Do you have, like, a big sheet of paper, or something like that? We should map down our plan."

"Hm, let me look," she said, turning to her desk. While she's doing that, donut turned and began taking off his sweater, tossing it over the back of a chair. He turned back to face the basketball in an instant when she exclaimed, "Found one!"

"A big sheet of paper?"

"Actually, a stack of 'em! Here, help me clear out a spot on the floor to put this. There are pens and pencils on my desk."

"Hm... We might need some arms for something like what I'm thinking..." Donut thought aloud as they spread the paper out on the ground. "Could I maybe get BarfBag in here? I trust her to trust us on Pin being the killer."

Basketball looked up. "Oh, yea, sure! If you trust her not to tell anyone! I don't want Pin to know that we're conspiring against her, or she'll probably go straight for us next."

"Alright, I'll head down to her cabin, then," he decided, grabbing his sweater again. He then walked to the door, saying right before it shut behind him, "I'll come back with her and then we can get planning."

—————

'Say 'I love you' say 'I love you' say 'I love you.''

Of course he isn't shutting up about it. Why would he? Pin did her best to ignore him as she and Needle chatted on the edge of the former's bed, laughing as they got along. They had pushed Pin's blankets to the edge of the mattress, up against where the side of the bed met the wooden walls.

Two had created these cabins so that the contestants would have somewhere to sleep that isn't the ground outside, but he made all of them almost exactly the same. The only differences between the houses are the things the contestants themselves have done, like the plants on Pin's windowsills, and the colours of most of the fabrics, like Needle's yellow blankets and curtains.

Needle had always looked good in and around the colour yellow. It really complimented her. Maybe it's the grey of her metal that matches with the yellow.

'She'd probably look great in red too~'

Does that sentence mean that you want me to kill her or that you want me to date her?? Pin wondered. Although, she couldn't say it out loud, so Fourteen didn't end up hearing her. He could be annoyingly confusing at times, but based on what he's been teasing her about recently, the pushpin assumed that the 'red' he was talking about is the red in her plastic skin.

"You look really pretty tonight," the sewing needle suddenly told her, giving her a soft smile as she spoke.

"Oh-! Thank you," Pin said, trying her best not to be flustered.

'You two should kiss~'

"Shut up," Pin mumbled quickly. She could certainly do without the annoying third wheel right now.

"What was that?" Needle asked.

"Oh- Uh- I was just-"

'-Just thinking out loud!'

"I was just thinking out loud, haha!" Pin repeated. Though she didn't want to be thankful for something Fourteen's done tonight, she had to admit that that was a much needed save.

"Oh? What about?"

Fuck, Pin thought. Was she really going to need him to lead her speech around right now?

'I'm just trying to work up the courage to do something right now, don't worry about it!'

"I- I'm just trying to work up courage right now! Don't worry about it..."

Needle tilted her head. "Courage for what?"

'For saying 'I love you.''

"For saying 'I love yo-" Pin slapped her hands over her mouth the moment she caught what she was saying. That asshole! Pin sat there for a moment with her lips covered, staring down at the floor in front of her. She didn't dare look up to see her friend's reaction as she pushed herself from the bed, saying, "Excuse me while I yell at- ...Myself."

But, as she was beginning to walk through the doorway, she heard Needle stand up, and she stopped walking as she felt a hand grip her wrist. She hesitated, and barely even noticed that she was trembling slightly as she stood in her bedroom doorway. Until, she heard the voice of the woman behind her.

"...Pin...?" The needle prompted, removing her hand from the pushpin's wrist.

Pin moved her hand to her head, sighing. "I- I'm sorry, Needle, I just-"

"P- Pin, don't-"

"I didn't mean to say that, just ignore it!"

"Pin-"

"Pretend that never happened! Just- Just pretend... Pretend I didn't say that..."

"But I-"

"Just pretend... that I didn't..."

"Pin..."

"Didn't... Say that..."

"I love you too, Pin..."

The shorter object gazed at the floorboards, sighing. She didn't know what to feel... She never even meant to say that! SHE DIDN'T WANT TO SAY THAT!! And now Needle has just proved that Fourteen was right about her liking Pin- SHE DIDN'T WANT FOURTEEN TO BE RIGHT!! SHE HATES HIM!!!

SHE HATES HIM SO MUCH!!!

SHE HATES HIM!

SHE HATES HIM!

SHE HATES HIM SHE HATES HIM SHE HATES HIM SHE HATES HIM!!

SHE HATES HIM SHE HATES HIM SHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIM!!!!

SHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATESHIMSHEHATES-

SH- SHE- SHE HATES- She- She-... Hates...

She felt something spin her around to face the other way, and then the same thing wrapped its arms around her immediately after. Pin felt speechless. Why is Needle hugging her...?

"Pin... You were panicking again..." she told her, her voice barely above a whisper.

Pin flinched, and wrapped her own arms around her friend. Oh... "S- Sorry..."

"It's alright... Just... Just relax, alright?" Needle told her, "Nothing's wrong... Let's... Let's head back to the bed..."

The red object hesitantly nodded, and let the taller woman lead her back to her bed. As they were both settling back down, Pin pushed herself to the head to lean on the pillows while she pulled her legs to her chest and hugged them. She didn't need to look to know that Needle had leaned herself on the pillows next to her.

"...Are you alright?" The metallic object asked.

"Yeah..." Pin responded, "I guess..."

Needle frowned, and reached over to place a hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's okay to not be okay, you know."

The pushpin glanced up at the taller woman for a moment. She looks back down, taking a deep breath, before throwing herself into the other's arms. Neither Needle nor Pin had expected the scarlet object to start spilling out all her stress, but it happened, and Needle just hugged her and rubbed her back in silence as Pin vented.

"I- I'm so stressed! I don't know how to do anything and with all these deaths happening and I don't know if you're going to die or not! And then I'm worried that everyone is going to punish me for these deaths because they think it's me after what happened last week with Bell! I've been scared to go outside because whenever I do I can see people shooting dirty glanced at me when I walk by! A- And then just now! I never meant to say that! I didn't want to say that! I don't even know how to react to anything anymore! And these weird dreams have been showing up almost every night and they're driving me insane! I was scared to fall asleep every night until that night with you when we slept together!! And even still I've kept getting these dreams and they keep getting worse!!! First I was running for my life while I was practically choking on this green smog and calling out for you, and then there was this second me that was telling me that I'm throwing my life away! And then when Ice Cube and Four and X died they started showing up!! They never did anything, they would just stand in the background as I kept running through that green smog!! And then when Tennisball died he showed up too!! And then Bell showed up the night after she had died and that was the first time any of them talked to me!! She was scolding me and yelling at me and then all the others showed up and then Bell turned and flew away with all the others and I was trying to get them to stay and I was trying to explain and defend myself but they just left me alone in the black void that all of these dreams had taken place in and then the smog appeared and I started choking again!!! And then- And th- Then- I- I- I caN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!! I CAN'T TAKE IT!!! THE WHOLE WORLD IS AGAINST ME AND I CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!!! M- MAYBE IT ISN'T EVEN WORTH THE FIGHT!? MAYBE IT WOULD BE BETTER IF I WASN'T HERE!?? TH- THEN NOBODY WOULD- SH- SHOOT ME DIRTY G- GLANCE- GLANCES- ES AND- NOBODY WOULD- WORRY ABOUT M- ME KILL- KILLING TH- THE- EM!! I SHOULD JUS- JUST DIE! EV- E- EVERYO- ONE W- WOULD B- BE SO M- M- MUCH HAP- HAPP- PY- PIER IF I- D- DIE- D!!! YO- YOU WOUL- D- DN'T HA- VE TO D- D- DEA- L- L WITH M- MY DUMB- P- PANI- NICK AT- ATTA- CKS IF- IF I J- J- JUST- K- KILL- KILLED MYSELF!! IF I- IF- IF I-!"

"PIN! PIN, STOP!"

She only just realized that Needle had started shouting at her when she'd started rambling about how she should die. She snapped her mouth shut, but it forced itself open again as she practically screamed into her friend's chest. By this point they were both wet with Pin's tears as they continued to flow down in an endless stream of agony.

"Pin... It's okay... I promise it's okay..." Needle told her as the smaller woman's screams began to die down. "Two things you can sense, Pin... What are two things you can sense..?"

Pin sniffled, hugging her friend with a desperate grip. "I- I- T- Two t- things I can- f- feel..? I-  I don't- I don't kn- know- I-... I d- don't kno- know- w..."

"Pin... Take a deep breath, Pin... Take a deep breath..."

Needle breathed in an out in a rhythmic way, waiting patiently for the woman in her arms to copy her. She rubbed her back reassuringly as she helped her calm down. Once she knew that Pin is stable enough to process her words, Needle spoke again in a soft, calming voice.

"I love you, Pin... I love you so much and, I don't want you to die. Nobody wants you to die. You make so many lives so much better by simply just being there, even if you don't believe it yourself. Trust me, I don't know where I would be if I didn't have you by my side. And I don't mind helping you through your panic attacks either. It's completely normal to panic, and it's completely okay to need someone to help you ground yourself in times like that—like this—so don't beat yourself up about it. I'm okay with helping you and, I'm so glad, to know that you trust me enough to allow me to help you. I'm so sorry you've been going through all of this. With these terrifying dreams... I couldn't possibly understand how you've been feeling, but I think I can know now that you've told me. You make me so happy every time you even look in my direction. I love being there for you, being able to make your day even the slightest bit better. So please, don't die. Don't even think about it. I love you too much to be able to handle you dying."

Pin hesitated, still crying, as she waited for Needle's words to sink in. "...H- How do I kn- know you a- are- aren't lie- ing...?"

"Pin..." Needle began, gazing softly at her distressed form, "...Why would I be lying...?"

The pushpin didn't respond. Instead, she just sat there in her friend's... Her lover's...? Arms... Could she... Could she call her... her lover...?

"I love you, Needle..." she told her.

"I love you too, Pin."

"Can I... Call you my girlfriend...?"

"...I would love that..." the metal object answered, smiling.

"...C- Can I... Kiss you...?

"Mhm... Of course..."

Pin hesitated. She has permission, but... She still felt like she didn't. She didn't even realize she was trembling as she pushed herself away from Needle just enough to see her face. Her own was still hot and flushed from the crying, thought that had stopped by now. Even as she tried to take deep breaths to calm herself, she couldn't seem to trust herself enough to do it.

Needle noticed this, and ended up moving her own hand to the smaller object's cheek, initiating the kiss for her. Though, it only lasted a moment, as Needle quickly pulled away. As Pin found herself nearly speechless at what had just happened, Needle looked down at her with a small smile.

"...How did it feel?" She asked.

"I- It... Felt nice..." Pin paused for a moment, hesitating again. "Can... Can we d- do that again...?"

"Pin," Needle chuckled, "We're dating now, you don't have to ask. -But," she added, "Can you start it this time?"

The pushpin moved a shaky hand up to rest on the hand Needle is holding her cheek with, and took a deep breath. She... She can do this.   

She can do this.

She can-

Before she had even realized it, their lips had interlocked again. She- She did it. She actually did it! And... She didn't want to let go now.

They tried to sneak in a couple quick breaths, but eventually had to break to kiss to breathe. However, Needle quickly pressed her lips against Pin's again. They held the kiss for as long as they could manage as they both melted into it. Needle placed her free hand on Pins other cheek, and the pushpin placed hers on Needle's waist.

They broke away again, but only for a moment as the slow, long kisses morphed into more rapid and shorter ones. Each time their lips touched felt like another firework going off in the smaller object's stomach, and she couldn't help but find herself giggling between some of the kisses.

She tried to use her legs to push her higher up to get a better angle, Needle is much taller than her, after all. But she lost her balance soon after. Her attempt to stop herself from falling by grabbing onto her girlfriend resulted in them both falling onto the bed, with Needle having to hold herself up so that she didn't land directly on Pin. It took only a heartbeat of shock for them both to burst into laughter.

The taller object rolled to the side so that she could lie beside her lover, and she pulled them both up to rest their heads on the pillows. Pin curled up in Needle's arms, resting her point on top of the other object so that she wouldn't end up stabbing her by accident. They lied there for a while, cuddling in each other's warmth.

It felt nice. It felt... Right. Like as long as they held onto each other, nothing bad could happen. Like the rest of the world has no effect on their fates. They finally have each other, and now nothing in Goiky could possibly take them away from each other.

That's how Pin felt as she slowly drifted to sleep, cuddling in her lover's arms.

'I'd like to remind you that I see, hear, feel, taste, and smell everything you do- Wait, Pin, did you hear that? Piiin??? Aaaaaaaaand she's already asleeep. Great. Wh- PIN, WAKE UP!! ARGH, WHY DON'T YOU EVER WAKE UP TO MY LOUD NOISES BUT YOU WAKE UP TO EVERY OTHER LOUD NOISE!? IS IT BECAUSE YOU HEAR ME THROUGH YOUR HEAD AND NOT THROUGH YOUR EARS!??? PIN!! OH MY NUMBER, PIN! PIN WAKE UP! PIN! PINDLE!!!! PIN YOU AND YOUR GIRLFRIEND NEED TO WAKE UP! I'm going to start actively sobbing.'

—————

BarfBag sat on the round table, conversing with the two other, non-gagged, objects in the room. She leaned back, her hands holding her up, as her legs swung over the edge. Donut sat on the counter and Basketball stood, not able to use the only to chairs as they are both taken. The windows in this room have no plants on them, probably because it's the kitchen, so the blinds were already down when the three got here. The room is nearly pitch black, as the clock on the wall ticks midnight. They want to avoid using too many big lights, so instead, they each have a flashlight. Only Barfy's is on right now, standing up so that the light shines on the room and illuminates the whole room at least the tiniest bit, aside from the black corners that do their best to escape the light. This kitchen is surprisingly clean. As if she had to do an entire wipe down of it to get rid of evidence...

While they chatted about who to question first, and what to ask, they heard movement from the chairs on the other side of the table. Someone's muffled mumbles were echoing through the room. They all looked over to see Pin with her brows furrowed, attempting to mumble something under the gag. The mumbling then stopped, and her eyes slowly fluttered open.

She sat with wide eyes for a moment, staring at the scene, until the pressure on her wrists, ankles and jawline processed and she realized what was happening. She began panicking, attempting to break out of the restraints as her wrists were tied together through the gaps in the back of her chair and her legs were tied together by the ankles.

"You do realize that the ropes are tied in a way so that they'll only tighten the more you struggle, right?" BarfBag asked, raising an eyebrow as she remained seated on the table, but had twisted her body to see the pushpin.

She stopped struggling, but glared angrily at the bag. Her eyes slowly scan the dark room in front of her to see Basketball and Donut, whom she glared at as well.

Her thrashing and struggling seemed to make enough noise to wake the object on the chair next to her, who woke up with a couple mumbles. Of course, they were incoherent, as her mouth is gagged as well. Her eyes opened slowly at first, but shot open as soon as enough light entered her vision to see the objects before her. Her brows furrowed nervously, and her head turned to see her lover tied up and gagged next to her. She gazed anxiously at her as their eyes met, both of them confused and nervous.

"Alright, they're both awake. Who were we saying we wanted to question first?" The voice of the jelly filled donut echoed through the room; answered by Basketball, who said, "Pin."

B-Bag hopped off the table and walked towards the pushpin, who continued to glare at her as she stood beside her, untying the cloth on her mouth. As soon as she could speak, she shouted, "WHY ARE YOU HERE!? LEAVE US ALONE!!"

"We're here because we need to prove you're the goddAMN MURDERER!" BarfBag shouted.

Pin flinched when the bag raised her voice. She thought it was just B-Ball and Donut who had their eyes on her... "I- I'm not the murderer!! Please, just leave us alone! I've never killed anyone!"

Donut took a step forward. "Then what happened the day that Bell fell to her death?" He questioned in a stern tone.

"I- Th- That was an accident! I never intended for her to die! I never even intended to fall onto her!"

BarfBag took a step back as Basketball took a step towards the pushpin. "What about the people that you did intend to die? Why couldn't you bear to see Four's and X's dead bodies, before any of us even knew they had died?"

She recoiled into her seat a bit as B-Ball interrogated her. She couldn't catch even a hint of friendliness in her voice. "I- I Just- I was able to assume! With the fact that Ice Cube died and the Recovery Center had broken- I guessed how we were going to find them and I didn't think I would have been able to stomach it! I- I didn't want to take any chances!!"

Donut took another step towards her. "Why were you crying when Ice Cube died?"

"Huh...?"

"You were crying when Ice Cube died. Why?" He interrogated, "You've never liked her."

"I- I was just scared that anyone had died at all! I wasn't sad for her. Heh, no, not one bit. I hate her. But- But there was no way that could have been an accident! There wasn't even a body-"

"And why wasn't there a body?" BarfBag interrupted.

"Wh- HOW SHOULD I KNOW!?"

Se walked forwards again, placing her hands on the table and leaning over it. "Why is your kitchen so clean?"

"Why..." Pin grinned nervously, "Why... Wouldn't it be...?"

"I understand cleaning your kitchen, but this room is the cleanest place in your entire house. Nobody cleans up this much after just baking a normal cake. It looks like the counters and sink were wiped down with some sort of fucking stain remover." She said that last part with gritted teeth, glaring suspiciously at her.

"I- I had to clean the counter?" Pin laughed nervously, "After I'd baked? Last time I baked I had used a lot of dyes, alright?" She answered, leaning forwards.

"And what did you bake?" BarfBag continued to interrogate, pushing further into this specific rabbit hole.

"A... Cake? Why does this matter? I like to bake!" She had an agitated smile on her face as she answered the vomit container. "Do I really need to stop doing something I like just because people are dying?"

"How big was the cake?"

"Like- Normal sized-"

"What's in your freezer?"

Pin froze. Needle looked over at her nervously, but questioning. Is she actually...?

BarfBag continued to glare at her from across the table. "What's in your freezer?" She asked again.

"Like- Veggies- And stuff. F- Frozen meat and-"

"Where did the meat come from?" Basketball and Donut watched from behind. They would step in if they felt like they needed to, but B-Bag seems to be doing well on her own.

"It's... Ch- Chicken? Actually, I think- I think there's a pig butt in there too?"

BarfBag turned to the other two. "Donut," she called, "Open the freezer for us, will you?"

Pin felt a bead of ooze drip down her forehead as the pastry walked towards the freezer. "Go ahead," she said, "There's- There's nothing in there but food."

Everyone watched him as he lifted his foot up and grabbed the handle, pulling it open. Pin continued to sweat at she watched the freezer door slowly open. Donut jumped back as soon as it opened as something fell out, hitting the ground with a wet thud. They all nervously looked down, and BarfBag shined her light towards the source of the sound.

A bag of frozen, chopped up vegetables lied at Donut's feet. A bright glare shined off of it as BarfBag's spotlight rested on it. Pin breathed a sigh of relief, but quickly began to panic again as Basketball said, "Donut, search through the entire freezer."

Donut stepped towards it again, pushing the food around with his foot to see everything. So far, Pin had told the truth—A couple of meats that would have been unidentifiable if she hadn't said what they are previously, the frozen vegetables that had fallen out, some frozen fruit...

"See? I'm innocent!" She told them, "Now LET US GO!!"

"You can stop now, Donut," Basketball said, as BarfBag grabbed the gag from the table and walked back towards Pin.

"No," the armed woman said as Pin struggled through the cloth that was being tied around her mouth once more, "We still have one more person we need to ask questions to." She glanced up and looked directly at Needle as she spoke.

Needle perked up as the bag moved towards the taller woman, removing the gag from her mouth. She took a gasp of fresh air as soon as she could, and stared fearfully and nervously at the other three people able to speak.

"P- Please, leave us alone! We don't want any harm!" She pleaded, "Leave me and my girlfriend alone!"

BarfBag looked at her, and then to Pin as she spoke as if she wanted her to confirm, "You two are dating?" Pin nodded, and B-Bag said, "Huh, okay. Well, we aren't letting you two lovebirds go, 'cause we still have more questions to ask." She walked back to the other side of the table, and placed Needle's gag on it just like what she had done with Pins prior.

"Why? What's the point? You already know we aren't killing anyone so leave us alone!"

"We don't know that you aren't killing anyone," Basketball chimed in, "In fact, I feel more suspicious of Pin now than I did prior."

"But why!? Why would finding nothing that leads to her being the murderer make her more suspicious!??"

"Because," B-Ball answered, "The way she was nervous about us finding something in there regardless of supposedly knowing there isn't means she likely expected us to find something. The reason we didn't find anything, I'm still unsure of, but the evidence still stands."

"WHAT WOULD HER MOTIVATION EVEN BE!?" Needle's voice cracked as she rose it, leaning so far forward she might have fallen if her arms weren't tied in the chair.

"Well, judging by the state of the oddly clean kitchen, the fact that she thought were going to find something in her freezer, and the way there hasn't been a single corpse with any of the object murders, aside from Bell," BarfBag said, "I had assumed she was, what's the term? Cannibalizing, them?"

Needle froze up. Eating them? Her tense shoulders fell as she moved herself back against the chair, turning to see Pin staring at them with terrified eyes. "P... Pin..." she started.

The pushpin looked at her lover in an instant when she heard her high-pitched voice, and she frantically started shaking her head 'n0'. She shouted something from under the cloth, and continued to attempt to say something coherent, her words being muffled each time through the gag that had been wrapped tightly around her jaw.

BarfBag sighed and walked up to her, removing her gag. In an instant, she began screaming at them, defending herself with her life.

"ARE YOU GUYS CRAZY!? WHY ON EARTH WOULD I DO THAT?? THAT'S DISGUSTING!! I'M NOT EATING ANYONE!! I swear to pin factORY WHY ARE YOU GUYS ACCUSING ME OF SOMETHING ONLY AN INSANE PERSON WOULD DO!??"

You could see the clear ooze rolling down her body as she panicked. It seemed as though all eyes were on her in that moment. She had to take a moment to breathe after her outburst, her breathing heavy and strained. You could hear her mumbling, "I can feel the ropes on my wrists, and I can hear the sound of my breathing."

"Oh, fuck off," BarfBag said, turning to the other two interrogators. "So which of you two believe that defense?"

Donut and Basketball both shook their heads, and B-Ball said, "Do you see how nervous she is? She knows we're onto her."

"YOU'RE NOT ONTO ANYTHING!" Pin shouted, "I'M NOT THE FUCKING MURDERER!! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULLS!??

"I wouldn't be insulting the people that have you tied up, if I were you," Donut told her.

"OH, PLEASE. BEING AS DUMB AS YOU ARE, YOU'VE GOTTA EXPECT AT LEAST SOME INSULTS FROM THE PEOPLE YOU'RE FALSELY ACCUSING OF BEING CANNIBALS!!"

"Oh, fucking," B-Bag turned back to her and slammed her hands down on the table, shouting, "You lying murderer! Go jump off a fucking building and KILL YOURSELF!!"

Pin instantly recoiled, staring at her with shrunken pupils and furrowed brows as tears began to form above her cheeks. She hung her head in sorrow, gazing down at the floorboards beneath her feet. "Please... Just let us go..." she tried to beg before light sobs began to escape her. "We never wanted any harm... Please just leave us alone..."

"Oh, shit..." BarfBag turned to the others, "Did I go too far?"

"I think you went too far," Basketball told her.

Needle watched her lover with sadness, and anger at the objects that were doing this to them. "Basketball, Donut, BarfBag, please," she said with a stern yet saddened voice, "Please leave us be. You never had any right coming into Pin's home in the middle of the night, tying us up, and falsely accusing us of murder and cannibalism. Please, untie us and leave."

Basketball glanced at the others, before turning and walking over to the two objects restrained on the chairs. She could her Donut asking, "What are you doing?" As she began to untie the ropes on Needle's ankles. "Letting them go," she said, moving to her wrists. The sewing tool rubbed the red marks on her wrist as Basketball moved to the pushpin, undoing her restraints as well.

"But I didn't think we were done yet?" BarfBag asked.

"Well, we're done now," B-Ball responded, walking back up to them. "Let's go. And, through the door this time, please."

Pin stood up, saying, "Thank you," to them as they left. Though, her voice was barely audible, and could only be heard by Needle, who was gently pulling her into a quick hug.

"Go to the bed, I'll join you in a second," the sewing tool whispered to her, before placing a small kiss on her forehead and letting go. She then ran over to the living room, where Basketball was holding the front door open for the others.

"Wait, how did you guys get in the first time?" She asked.

"You left that window unlocked," she motioned to a window next to the door, with no flowers on the windowsill.

Neither of them said anything as the door clicked shut behind the sports ball, and Needle walked up to turn the lock before heading to Pin's bedroom.

She could see the pushpin curled up on her bed, hugging a pillow to her face. Her quiet sobs and hiccups filled the room as Needle walked up to the bed and crawled towards her girlfriend. She laid down and pulled the pillow down so she could see her eyes, which had fresh tears now streaming down from them.

She didn't say anything as Pin looked up at her and Needle pulled her into a hug, tugging the blanket over their bodies. The red object buried her face in the sewing pin's chest, quietly crying into her embrace. Needle just rubbed her back as she cried herself back to sleep. It has to be at least 1AM by now.

It had been a long night.

Chapter Text

~~~~~~~~~ Five Years Ago ~~~~~~~~~

Waves crashed against the land as a boat was pulled away from the shore. White, fluffy seafoam clashed with the yellow sand of the island. Trees swayed gently in the breeze as leaves slowly fell from the branches. The clouds overhead, light and fluffy, filled the blue sky as the sun shined down on the island, warming the noon air.

Leafy sighed in relief as the heavy boat was finally inland, no risk of it drifting away. With a smile, she looked to her friend, who was beaming with joy.

"Here we are, Leafy!" Firey exclaimed, grinning, "Our very own Dream Island! Our... Dreamier Island!" He spread his arms out as he spoke, bouncing slightly.

The lemon leaf chuckled at his excitement, walking over to him and taking his hand. "Wanna go explore?" She asked.

The fireball smiled, responding, "Of course! Let's go!" He ran so excitedly, he would have left his friend behind if they weren't holding hands.

"WOAH-! Slow down!" She playfully shouted, followed by a short laugh. Firey stopped for a moment, letting her catch her breath. He was practically jumping in excitement, grinning as the two would wander around the new island.

It is fairly large, but still small enough that you could walk from one end to the other within 24 hours. There's a grassy shore in one corner and a sandy shore in the one beside it. On the other side of the island is a large forest, and within that forest are a couple small ponds.

But as twigs snapped under their feet and Firey spoke to his flat friend, Leafy suddenly lifted his hand to his mouth, so that she could muffle his speech without burning herself on the fire. They both stopped walking.

As Firey pulled their hands from his face, Leafy said in a hushed voice, "...Do you hear that...?"

The two stood in silence for a good minute. When he strained his ears, Firey could faintly hear something in the distance. It sounded like... crying?

"Y... Yea..." he answered, "I think I can..."

The lemon leaf let go of his hand and slowly crept towards the source of the sound, until she found it in a thick bush. Sharp thorns pierced something as droplets of blood leaked onto the grass beneath the bramble. The lemon leaf creeped over, and her eyes widened at the sight she saw on the other side of the bush, taking an instinctive step back before immediately reaching her hands into the bush. Firey watched as she carefully pulled bloody vines away with a worried expression.

"Wh- What's going on over there?" He asked, walking towards Leafy.

He made it to her just as she pulled a child from the bramble. He looked to be no older than three years, definitely not old enough to remember anything yet, a young maple leaf with a thin stem tail, not nearly as thick as Leafy's but about the same length as her's, hanging limply from his body. He would have been a bright orange colour, if it wasn't for the blood covering his features. The thin, sharp thorns had pierced his skin all over, forming small holes in his body. If they weren't squeezed shut, they could have seen the bright green eyes the boy had, puffy with tears, and razor sharp canines, top and bottom, appeared each time he opened his mouth to let out another loud sob. Leafy quickly stood up, cradling the young boy in her arms and gazing at Firey with a worried look.

Firey ran closer in an instant, but stopped before he could get close enough to burn the two leaves. The poor boy was crying in Leafy's arms, tears staining his cheeks and stopping the blood from drying. They glanced up at each other, forming a silent agreement to help the kid.

Without saying a word, the friends both ran back through the trees, swiftly reaching the sandy shore with their boat resting between the grass and the sand. Firey hastily reached his hands in, grabbing the first-aid kit they had brought as well as popping a Yoyleberry into his mouth so that he isn't at risk of burning either of the other two objects.

Leafy set the child down into the grass as Firey placed the white box next to them and opened it. He scanned through the contents for a moment before he was hit with a realization.

He looked up at his friend and said with a nervous smile, "I don't know how to bandage up someone..."

Leafy started at him with a baffled expression, before snapping, "Gimme that," to him and reaching to the box, lifting to over the child to lie between her legs as she sat with them folded beneath her. She swiftly grabbed the white bandages and gauze, wrapping them around the boy's wounds. Firey scanned his injuries as the lemon leaf patched them up, wincing when his eyes met his limbs. He must have been thrashing around a lot before he and Leafy found him, and he might not be able to walk for a day or two.

As she began bandaging his arms, she turned to Firey. "Three is when kids are usually able to talk, right?" She asked.

"Uhhhhhhh... I think so...?" He answered with a shrug.

Leafy just sighed at his lack of intelligence. It's something that she usually found herself drawn to, though. He's awfully funny, even when he isn't trying to be.

She turned back to the child and began speaking to him in a soft voice. "Don't worry... We're here to help you, okay?" The kid didn't seem to realize she was speaking to him, so she tried again as she moved to his other arm. "Don't worry, little boy. You'll be okay, don't worry." his eyes open, wincing at the bright sunlight as his eyes adjusted, while Leafy continued to talk to him, regardless of if he could understand or not. He whined, and tears continued to run down his now bandaged cheeks. Eventually, he spoke. It was only one word, but it was certainly something. "H- Help...?" He asked.

"Yes... We're here to help," she assured him, "Can you tell us your name?"

"M- My... Mm.. Name...?" His voice was soft, and surprisingly high for a male, which was likely just because of his age.

"Yes, your name. Can you tell us?" She asked again.

"M... Mab... Mabul..." he said, clearly unable to pronounce it right. It's not like he could be that old, after all.

"Maple?"

"Mhm..." He tried to nod, but quickly winced, and scrapped the idea.

"Well, Maple, we're here to help you," she told him again as she worked on his second leg, having already finished one of them.

Maple groaned, the pain throughout his whole body stinging and throbbing like crazy. Firey couldn't even imaging being in that much pain as he watched Leafy work. He'd never realized she's able to patch someone up this well, especially an object like a leaf without crumpling them.

It seemed the only place that wasn't bandaged completely was Maple's tail, which still lied limply between his legs. The white was already quickly turning pink as it soaked in his blood. Leafy grabbed safety pins as she finished each part of his body and stabbed through the bandages with them to keep them in place. She finished bandaging him up as she stabbed one last pin through the wrappings on his leg, and pulled him up, cradling him in her arms.

"How do you feel?" she asked him.

"H-... Hurd... It hurds..." he answered.

Leafy wiped a tear from his cheek with her thumb as she sat with him in her lap, still softly talking to the child. "How old are you, Maple?" She asked.

"F... Fore..."

"Mm..." Leafy made a soft sound, another stab of sympathy for the child piercing her. This kid was so young... Yet oddly small for his age. "Where are your parents?"

"I... I don'd know..."

"Oh..." her mouth lowered from a reassuring smile into a small frown as she realized what that meant. What kind of parents would just leave their kids to die in the woods?

Of course, Firey didn't realize what that meant, because he's an idiot.

Leafy glanced up to the metal fireball. "Could you bring our big water bottle into the woods and get some water from one of the ponds? And... make sure it's actually clean?" She requested, "The kid's lost a lot of blood..."

He spoke as he pushed himself from the ground. "Sure, but, why not just get the water from the sea here? I'm sure that's clean," he said, walking back to their boat to grab the metal bottle. As a literal flame, he's never needed to drink, but Leafy, being a plant, drinks a lot. And she had just finished the bottle a day before they'd made it to this island.

"Firey, the sea is full of saltwater. You can't drink saltwater. He'd literally die of dehydration if we gave him saltwater."

Maple began squirming again as he heard he'd die. Of course, he wasn't old enough yet to process the entire sentence, but he'd understood enough to scare him. This caused Leafy to immediately turn her head back down to him, softly calming him and rocking him in her lap. Firey said, "Oh," before walking into the forest with the bottle.

He travelled through the woods, searching for water that wasn't dirty. Unfortunately, being a forest clearly inhabited with wild animals, it was hard to find a source of water that wasn't littered with mud or swimming with fish. Eventually, he found a small pond in a rocky clearing. The water here seemed clean enough to drink, but Firey didn't want to hurt the child at all, so he took a sip himself before he would scoop it into the bottle. The fireball immediately spit it out. He already doesn't like the taste of water, but this was a bit worse than the water his family had in their kitchen. But, it tasted fresh enough to be edible, so he scooped as much as he could from the shallow pool into the metal waterbottle and then travelled back to his best friend and the child they'd found.

When he made it back, Leafy was turned towards the sun. Maple was held in a position where the sunlight was hitting him from pretty much every angle except onto his face, while Leafy was just barely able to block the sun from her own eyes. She glanced back at him as she heard him return, and sighed in relief as the water sloshed around in the sealed container. She thanked Firey as he opened it and handed it to her, before sitting down next to her, watching her attempt to feed the boy.

"Maple, can you do me a big favour?" She asked him.

He perked up, watching her as if she was his own mother.

"Can you drink some water for me, Maple?"

He nodded, but just barely, as moving still caused him immense pain, and flinched as she carefully moved her legs up so he could lie on them while staying upright. She slowly lifted the bottle to his mouth, and Maple would slowly reach up to it with his own hands. However, once he tasted the unfiltered liquid, he quickly spat it out and whined.

"It's yucky!" he complained, and Leafy sighed.

"I know, but you have to drink it," she told him, "I promise it will help you stop hurting."

He groaned slightly, before nodding a bit again and taking another sip. He didn't end up drinking much, but it was a good enough amount. Once she'd placed the bottle back down, she held him again in the same position he was in a moment ago.

"Why are you holding him like that?" Firey asked.

"I'm trying to let him photosynthesize. He's probably starving after being in that shady bush for who knows how long," she answered, her gaze not wavering from the young leaf.

"Oh."

The two sat there for a while. Sometimes, Maple would squirm, or start crying again, and Leafy would attempt to comfort or calm his nerves.

Night would soon fall, the sun setting as if in a rush. By now, Maple had fallen asleep, and the lemon leaf had placed him gently in the grass. The older objects both still sat awake, watching the child as his chest slowly rose and fell. The two sat in virtual silence, until Firey spoke up.

"Where did you learn to do that?" He asked.

She turned to him, "Do what?"

"Like- Bandage someone up like that. And calm him down."

"Oh," she turned back to the child as Firey scooted a bit closer to her, "I guess I mostly taught it to myself. I had to fix myself a lot when I was living in Yoyleland. But..." she trailed off.

"Hm? But what?" The fireball prompted.

"I... I had this babysitter who taught me a bit about it a long while back. She helped me deal with a lot of stuff, actually. I think she worked as a child therapist as well."

"...What do you mean?"

"I guess... Maple just reminded me of myself, in a way. I didn't have the best parents either. Well... I never even knew who my biological parents are. They could have died just after I was born, for all I know."

"You were adopted?"

"Yea. Twice, actually. I was adopted the first time by some assholes who didn't deserve children, and then by a much better family after the first two parents got in a bad car crash."

Firey didn't say anything. Leafy had never spoken about her personal life before, so it was sort of odd to have her doing exactly that now. He pulled his legs to his chest and hugged them.

She glanced over at him again, and saw his clear interest, silently prompting her to continue. "The first parents... Well, the second parents were all I could possibly ask for. They're so kind... heh... They love me a lot. I'm so lucky to have been able to live under their roof. I'd never been so happy to have three dads..."

"Wait, three dads? I thought- I thought someone could only have two parents at once?"

"What? No, you can have three. It's- It's call a polycule, Firey."

"Ooohhhh."

"But anyways, they were amazing. I haven't spoken to them in forever, though... They're definitely still alive, unless they got into some sort of freak accident during my time on the show."

"Why don't you just call them?" Firey asked.

Leafy sighed, "I lost their number. As much as I would love to be able to call them and catch up after all this time, my phone broke shortly after the first season, and when I got a new one, I wasn't able to get their number back."

"Oh..." the fireball said, turning to the ground. Then, he looked back up, asking, "What were the first parents like?"

"Homophobic abusive bastards..." she spat out coldly, turning to glare at the ground as she spoke. "Fucking sucked. I'm just glad they're six feet under now. Sometimes, I wished I was in Maple's situation just to get away from them. That's... sorta how he's reminded me of myself; reminded me of what I used to wish for."

"Really?"

"Yea... Except I still don't know whether his parents abandoned him here, died, if he ran away, or... if he genuinely just got lost."

"Were... Were your first parents really that bad?"

"Ugh, yes. Sometimes they would literally lock me in the pantry for... sometimes three days in a row. I remember how they literally refused to feed me for, like, two whole weeks when they found out I'm pan."

"Oh my oxygen... I'm so sorry you had to go through that!!" Firey exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her in a hug, to help her calm down where she didn't need it.

"I- I'm fine, Fireball! Don't worry, I had therapy! I'm good now! I mean, I'm not perfectly "healed," quote-unquote, but I've learned how to cope!"

"Mmm... Okay... Fine..." he mumbled, keeping his arms around her, but relaxing his muscles so they were less tense.

Leafy embraced the hug, and leaned on Firey a bit as he was already leaning on her. She closed her eyes, relaxing as the cool breeze washed over them. Of course, the wind wasn't strong enough to blow her or Maple away, but there was certainly a wind present. The two sat there for a while, the metal flame's body heat was comforting against the leaf's soft skin.

Eventually, Leafy could her his soft snores by her side, and quickly realized he'd fallen asleep. She gently removed his arms from her body and set him down next to her. She then proceeded to lift Maple, carefully, as to not wake him or hurt his healing wounds, and place him between her and Firey. Then, she laid herself down, and gazed up at the stars before she closed her own eyes and slowly drifted to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~ Present Time ~~~~~~~~~~

Maple ran outside, her thin tail, which is now much longer than Leafy's, swaying behind her as she rushed to the beach. Her mother ran behind her, not struggling to keep up with the exited young girl. As she ran past it, the maple leaf swiped a berry from one of the yoylebushes grown from the seed up by her parents, biting down on the juicy fruit. Her speed never wavered as the metal effects took place, and she reached the sandy beach at once, jumping up and down excitedly as she waited for Leafy to arrive.

"Can I go in now, mom??" She impatiently asked as the woman stopped to catch her breath.

She chuckled, and gazed down into her bright eyes, the only things that didn't change to metal with the Yoyle effects. "Mhm," she nodded, and at once her daughter kicked her boots off and jumped into the sea.

Leafy, metal as well, quickly followed, stepping into the cold water. The metal effects stopped them from getting washed away with the tide as the two girls would splash around for a while, until another figure appeared in the sand.

"How's it going down in the water?" He asked.

"Fun!! You should join us, dad!!" Maple shouted, running towards the metal flame before grabbing his hand and trying to pull him in.

Firey broke into a short laugh, before pulling his hand away and saying, "Actually, I was coming to tell you come in, 'cause I caught dinner, and I need Leaflet here to cook it."

"Honestly, I expected you to try to cook it yourself and then burn the house down by accident," the lemon leaf jokingly told him, coming out of the sea and taking his hand.

"Nope! I'm being responsible!" He declared triumphantly

"For once."

The two laughed, until it died down and Leafy leaned in and kissed her boyfriend. "Love you too, Fireball," she said as she caught a glimpse of Maple pretending to throw up, sticking her tongue out and pointing to it. She chuckled a bit as the nine year old ran off in the direction of the house. The lovers soon followed her, walking with intertwined fingers towards the cabin they'd built together.

Eventually, the two older objects made it to the house, where Maple was eagerly sitting on one of the many pillows laid across the wooden couch to make it comfier, waiting for her parents to arrive. When they came in, Leafy walked over and patted the shorter metal leaf's head, shooting her a smile before walking off to the kitchen, where a rabbit with a hole in its head, shaped like a knife had stabbed it there, lied on the cutting board.

Firey leaned on the back of the couch and looked down at his daughter, whose feet were swaying back and forth off the edge of her seat as she stared at the cushions between them, smiling.

"If you hurry, she might let you gut it this time," he told her with a grin.

She gasped, "You'wre wight!" She shouted before hopping off the couch and running to her mother, who was pulling a thin knife from a drawer in the long counter. "MOM! MOM!" She shouted just before she could stab into the fresh corpse.

"Hm?" She turned to look at the kid.

"Can I gut it this time? Dad said I get to gut it again this time!!"

"I did not!" He shouted from the other room, now lounging on the couch "I said she might get to gut it, because she's been asking to do it for a while now! Don't pretend I told her she will!"

Leafy would laugh a bit as her kid waited impatiently for her answer, until telling her, "Sure, just this once. Go get the step-stool."

She turned back to the counter as the sound of dragging wood emitted from the floor behind her, and Maple suddenly appeared beside her.

"Wash your hands, Maple," she told her, watching as she instantly turned to the sink and let the warm water run for a moment.

"Do I have to?" She asked.

"Mhm."

"Aw, okay," she gave in, placing her hands under the water after squirting on some of the soap from the small squirt bottle next to the sink.

Leafy watched as she finished, climbing down from the stool and running to the small towel box on the other side of the room. She dried her hands and eagerly returned, hopping onto the wooden stool once again.

"Stay back, alright?" Leafy told her, watching as Maple took her hands off the counter and stood up straight. Leafy then stabbed into the poor animal, cutting open a long slit in its soft belly. She placed her knife off to the side, then looked over at the kid next to her. "Okay, now, do you know where to put its organs?"

"Mhm, in that big box wight there!" She told her, pointing to a fairly large, wooden box.

"Alright, and you know what to be extra careful of?"

"The... Uhm... The sharp bones?" She answered after a moment of thinking.

"Yup! And what do we need to remember?"

"Uhh... That... It'll be messy, but it's... Uh... Uhm..."

"There will be a lot of messy blood, but if we're careful, then it wont get everywhere."

"Yea! That!"

"Okay," Leafy said, pushing the cutting board with the rabbit closer to the kid, "Go ahead."

She watched as Maple stuck a hand in, instantly recoiling and pulling when she felt the squishy innards. She made a grossed out sound, and then proceeded to reach back in. She pulled out something soft, but still attached to the body via the intestines.

"Eugh, how do I get it out? It's still con.. conic... conflicted!"

"Connected," the older woman corrected, "And, hold it up."

"Like... this?" She asked, pulling the organ up as much as she can.

"Mhm, now watch." Leafy carefully placed the knife up against the stomach the young girl is holding, cutting through the intestine with the knife pointed towards the wall behind the counter. The long tube was soon severed, and the stomach able to move freely.

Maple transported it to the box, then turned to her mother and said, "I don't think I wanna do this anymore," flicking her hands over the dead animal to get some of the blood off.

"Is it too gross for you?" She asked with a grin.

"Mhm, too gwoss."

"Well, you can stop. I'll do the rest, alright? Go wash the blood off your hands."

"Okayyy!" She said, lengthening the word a bit. She reached over to the sink, watching the crimson liquid fall from her arms and run down the drain.

She then looked back at Leafy, who gave her a kind smile, before quickly saying, "Okay bye!" And running off.

Leafy chuckled and put the stool away, before returning to the dinner she had yet to prepare. After a good while, she stuck it into the coal-lit fire oven they had constructed, and went to sit by the dinner table as she waited for it to cook. As she was waiting, a thought arose in her mind.

I wonder how our friends back in Goiky are doing.

~~~~~~~~~~
(No proper a/n this chapter because I have a photo to share in said a/n again)

They do not know.

Also this is Maple :)

She's a year older than she looks (she's just like me fr) and that is going to be a running gag, expect it to appear like every time someone new meets her.

Wait, whoops! Spoilers! [Innocent emoji]

And, if you couldn't tell from the sudden pronoun shift, Maple is transgender (mtf)

~Space

Chapter Text

Basketball stepped out her door with a sigh. The chill autumn breeze whisked past her face as she stood in front of her closed door. She could hear the soft, even rustling of the green trees as they turned orange and yellow with the passing seasons. The sun sneaks through the cloud blanket, attempting to shine down on the few objects in the clearing. She walked along the yellow grass, her tail dragging limply behind her. It's been about a month since the... Incident, in Pin's home.

Although there were no trees in the middle of this clearing, other than Tree, of course, some fallen leaves still made their way under her feet as she walked through the grounds, in the same pink hat and leg warmers. She pays no mind to the things happening around her as her mind is clouded with worry, it has been since they pulled, what they had decided to start calling it, the "House Kidnapping." She decided to take a walk to attempt to soothe her nerves.

She should be glad, shouldn't she? They had proven Pin innocent, and no longer had to worry about her. Pin no longer has to worry about them, either. It's a win/win situation, really.

...So then why can't she shake this feeling that they did something wrong?

...That if they had done something differently that night, they would have proven her guilty?

Her anxiousness certainly had not ceased by the time she answered with a jump and a yelp to someone behind her who'd said, "Hey, Basketball-"

"Ack, sorry," they say as they soon discover that they'd startled her. B-Ball quickly identifies the mechanical figure as TV, and... Robot Flower? The sports ball prepared herself for an attack from the damaged AI in the robot, before quickly realizing she's powered off. The mechanical mind that's leaning on TV is nothing more than a lifeless husk until she gets powered back on.

"OMP, TV! You finally reset her!?" She exclaimed, "You've been trying for months!"

"Well," he responded, "I did manage to reset her, but I had to power her off in order to do that. She's quite the fighter." He shifted his body so that a large crack on the taller robot's face would be more visible, as Basketball hadn't noticed it before. "I gave her a bad crack, plus a couple other small damages 'n stuff, and I was hoping you could fix it. I don't really trust you around mechanical minds after what you did to her, but TB's dead and GB's gone AWOL until she... 'finds him.'"

"T-That's fair, but I'll definitely help patch her up!" The sports globule agreed without hesitation, "If you can help me get her up to my factory, I'll do that right away! Well, I'll do it right away whether or not you help get me up there, but you know what I mean." She had to stop her tail from wagging with how exited she is right now, her previous worry having dissipated in an instant. She's finally going to get Robot Flower back!

TV nodded, and the two travelled to Four's hotel. B-Ball opened the door as both objects carried RF's stiff form sort of hoisted over their tails. They carried her up the stairs carefully, as to not trip and fall or drop the mechanical mind in their 'arms'. Eventually, they made their way to the door to Basketball's aboveground factory, where they could drop her slowly onto the floor.

RF's screen came out with a pop as they replaced it, snapping the new one into place almost effortlessly. Basketball got TV to help change out a petal that had been badly dented while she plugged the robot into her computer to make sure that all the data on the original Flower's season one personality had really been wiped. And it's a good thing she did, too, as the data was still there.

"Hey, TV?" She called.

"Yeah?" His tail flicked up impatiently.

"What did you use to hit her reset switch?"

"A pencil, why?"

"Ah, alright," she said, turning back to her computer and erasing all the data, "It just looked like maybe your pencil wasn't actually sharpened enough to go far enough into the hole and hit her reset button. It's fine, though, I just went ahead and deleted all the bad data."

"Oh, okay."

B-Ball hopped off her chair and unplugged RF after double checking all her memory files to make sure they were all in place and that there were no more files of Flower's old personality. She lifted the robot up onto a chair.

Her body get's strangely stiff when she's unconscious. All her joints lock into a base standing position, and the only ones that can still be bent are her waist and the spot where her tail connects to her body.

Thankfully, it didn't take that long before Robot Flower's screen began glowing again, and the pink hologram flickered back to life and gave her a face. The two armless objects in the room readied themselves for her to jump on them for 'holding her captive,' but they breathed out sighs of relief as the bot began questioning, "Huh? What happened? Did it work?"

Basketball shot up from the place on the ground she was sitting, and went up to RF. "Robot Flower!" She greeted, "Are you okay!?"

"I- Yeah-" the mechanical mind said, glancing to the ground for a moment before looking back up to the sports ball. "What- Happened? It didn't work?"

"Robot Flower... You've been different, for... a while! I-" B-Ball reached her tail around RF to hug her, "I've missed you so much!" She could feel herself beginning to tear up, but she held back the waterworks.

The smaller mechanical mind walked past them to the computer, pressing some buttons on it and managing to play clips of RF hurting other objects while she had the season one personality of Flower.

"That was... me?" RF asked.

"No, the opposite," Basketball said, "That was the result of what you told me to do. I... shouldn't go through with any of that."

"...Oh..."

—————

"Still, though," Donut said, "I don't think you should be there if we do that again. You were a bit too intense last time..."

"B- But she's definitely the killer! And if we had been there just a little longer I would have been able to get her to fess up!" BarfBag insisted.

"YOU TOLD HER TO KILL HERSELF, BARFY!"

"I- Y- Yeah- You're right that I got too intense, but I realized what I did wrong as soon as I said it! Sure, I missed my chance to apologize, but I think if we go do it again then I'll be able to do that and make her confess at the same time!"

The two sat in Donut's bedroom as they argued, the pastry on the edge of his cushions and the nausea remnant container on a chair by his desk. Her seat had been turned so that it's back is to the bed, but she leans with her legs around the back of the chair and her arms on top of it.

"Look, I don't think we should do it again; not so soon, at least," Donut said, glancing to the side as he spoke, "I know I'm the one that really had wanted to do this the most–bust Pin and all–but let's wait... Hm..." I trailed off in thought, trying to pinpoint when they should start again.

"Another month? Maybe two more?" B-Bag suggested, before something caught her eye out the window.

Donut caught her gaze, and followed it to a figure shuffling through the green forest outside. "Is that...?" He started.

"Looks like it" B-Bag answered his unfinished question.

"Guess she's off to kill again..." Donut said.

"We- We should go out there and stop her!" The vomit bag exclaimed, shooting up from her seat and beginning to head out of the room.

"WAIT!" Donut called, causing Barfy to stop dead in her tracks and turn to face the dessert, "She'll be armed! She's going to kill us if we try to stop her! Then she probably won't even need to kill whichever victim she's after now, if we're going with your cannibalism theory. It'll be one death traded for two, and those two will be us!"

"I- I guess you're right..." Barf Bag said, walking back towards him. She sat herself down on the bed next to him, pulling him into a loose hug. "Sorry, I'm... I'm just worried. I don't want her to kill more people... But now she's going to, and we can't stop it."

"I know, but that's how it is sometimes," Donut said, accepting the hug as much as he can, while trying to be comforting but... sort of failing.

B-Bag glanced up at him, "We aren't able to stop murderers from killing people sometimes? Like that's something that happens every day?" She teasingly asked.

"I- You know what I mean!" The pastry retaliated.

"Yeah, I do, I'm just being annoying!" She said, before placing a short kiss on his cheek and going back to the light hug.

Donut, immediately became incredibly flustered. He didn't expect that at all. "I- Did you just- Wh- Huh!??" He stuttered out through his pink face.

"Yup! I figured I can do that 'cause I know you~ like me back~" She told him, "Y- You do like me back, right? Sorry, I'm just processing that I might be wrong and I could have misinterpreted all the signs."

"I do, like you back," he said, "I just- I didn't expect that, so I'm just a bit surprised still."

"Oh, yeah, okay lol. Anyways," she continued, crawling across the bed towards the window as she changed the subject back to the murderer, "We should definitely figure out a way to stop her. Before this gets out of control." She placed her hands on the glass as she finished talking, glaring towards the woods where the pushpin had disappeared.

"You're right, we do."

—————

Footsteps echoed through the forest as Eraser and Pen made their way down the path. Leaves fell from the trees as the soft wind blew into them from the west, hitting the objects in the clearing below. The clocks back home had been flashing 7:29PM when they had left their cabins. The leaves begin to shift to reds and yellows and oranges as the seasons had begun to change with each passing day.

While it was summer when these murders started, there were about three weeks between Ice Cube's and Tennisball's deaths, then another week between Tennisball's and Bell's, and now it's been about a month since Bell's death, so now it's Autumn. As well as the changing seasons, everyone is on edge about who will die next, and when.

However, these two objects, holding hands as they wander through the forest, don't seem to care. They walk with smiles on their faces as they talk to each other, not realizing how close they are to the, now cleaned up, crime scene. Golfball had disposed of the bodies of Four, X, and Bell a while ago, dumping them into the canal.As they talked, unaware that someone is following them, their trek would eventually turn them in the direction of the cabins.

They liked to go on walks in the morning every day, but hadn't in quite a while because of the curfew Golfball had demanded they need. Pen and Eraser wouldn't dare to go against the sports globule, so they've missed their walks for a month now, but since it's been so long since the last murder, they figured nothing bad could possibly happen if they just went out in the evening.

Or, they thought so.

Because, after Eraser bet his friend five dollars that he could beat him home in a race, and Pen agreed, they were off. Pen, though, being just a bit slower than Needle, someone Eraser wasn't nearly as fast as, created a fairly large distance between them almost immediately after going at full speed.

Looks like he's losing his own bet.

Suddenly, a piercing shriek filled the forest as something sharp forced Eraser's body to arch forward as it pierced through the pink object's back. Blood shot out of his stomach like a waterfall. He shakily looked down to see a knife protruding out of his rubber skin, twisting and turning before it was pulled out. After that, with the throbbing pain still in his stomach, or what used to be one, the same metal object stabbed his head. And he didn't even lose consciousness immediately. He could tell his attacker was looking down upon his twitching form, writhing in pain and gasping for air. They kneeled down and stabbed through his skull once more, putting him out of his misery.

But is he really dead? He can't feel anything anymore, but he can still hear his body being lifted...

—————

Without a word, Pin hoisted the now lifeless body up on her shoulder and began her trek back to her cabin. She always has to be much more careful on the walk back than on the walk there, since now she has to worry about the blood, the dead body, etc., while she tries to get back to her home. However, this time, she won't have to, as Fourteen had come up with a plan to help these travels become less suspicious and easier to do.

He suddenly appeared before her, his misty legs leaving the leaves without the loud crunches that something physical would bring. He greeted her, taking the body from her and carrying it over his own shoulder, and then taking the keys she's carrying as well.

"Now go wash yourself up at the canal. I'll take 'im to your house and no one will suspect a thing!" He said, spinning the keys around with one finger.

"You'll be okay?" Pin asked nervously, "I know you said that this hurts..."

"I'll be fine! It only hurts if I do it for too long, and it's barely been a minute!" He assured.

"Alright... Here, take this too," Pin told him as she handed him her knife, "Just- Just cut him up and throw him into the freezer, like you've seen me do, alright?"

"Awe, I can't bake anything for you? You've made such tasty treats, I've been hoping to show you some of my own skills aswell~"

She sighed. "Sure," she agreed, "You can bake something. But keep the blinds down; don't make too much noise; get out of there immediately if someone is coming, I don't care wether or not something is in the oven; and, I cannot stress this enough, don't get caught!"

"Alright, alright, I won't be stupid! You can trust me, I've got this!" He waved the bloody kitchen knife dismissively, "Now go wash up and make sure you don't get caught yourself!" He teased.

"Okay, I'll go now." She said before she turned towards the canal, turning back only briefly to shout, "DON'T FORGET WHAT I SAID!!" and then continuing to run towards the water.

Fourteen chuckled as he turned into the direction of the cabins, though still keeping to the woods. Long after he'd begun walking, he could hear something's distressed shouting behind him, and almost risked a glance back to see what had discovered that another one of them had died. He began casually sprinting through the trees, his magical legs moving literally soundlessly as he escaped the confrontation he would have gotten if he'd stayed behind.

His sprint allowed him to reach his destination faster, and his grip on all of his bloody cargo never faltered as he unlocked the door to the cabin. He quickly locked it again from the inside, and he lowered all the blue window blinds as he walked past them. He passed a large magnet on a shelf as he made his way to the kitchen, placing the body on the counter and reaching for a knife.

It's clear this kitchen had barely been used for baking, but it had definitely been used for cooking. Though, through all his years of casually observing the contestants, he could tell the one this cabin belonged to was 100% a malewife.

Too bad it's dead now. Fourteen woulda loved to try some of its cooking.

He hummed a tune to himself as he began baking, imagining all the possibilities for this new corpse. He settled on cake pops—a favourite. From there, it all came naturally. He'd memorized the recipe quickly as soon as he found one he enjoys, so now all that's left to do is bake it. He hopes Pin will like it, he owes her so much, after all.

He had almost forgotten what flesh tastes like before Pin had finally cracked, regretfully killing ice cube. That batch is all Pin needed to bake before she finally agreed to allow him to share his cannibalistic ways with her as fully as he's been. She still doesn't understand what his motivation for driving her to help him do this is, but there's really no way he'd be able to do this on his own; not without legs he doesn't have to create himself. He would have gotten caught on the first murder, not being able to run fast enough without straining his own magical abilities.

The mist is an interesting power. At first glance, it's nothing but a communication device, before you consider the fact that it practically transfers the user's soul into the subject's body. Fourteen is able to sense everything that what he uses his ability on senses, although it does not fill up his stomach when is eats. But living off of fruits and berries isn't so bad anymore now that he can at least still taste the deliciousness of flesh again. Except, his soul isn't ever really transferred into the subject's body; instead, he can still sense everything his body can at the exact same time. That's why he doesn't like using it on too many things at once. Two body's senses are already confusing enough, he doesn't need to be feeling the senses of any more! But, in order to speak to multiple things at once, he also needs to sense everything around them. And he can't stop using his ability on only one thing; if he wants to not use it on one thing, he has to stop using it on everything.

However, his magic brings the number or object it's being used on dreams driven purely by their subconsciousness. Whether or not they're a burden would depend on the thing in question and its subconsciousness. No matter what emotion someone is feeling, the dreams will find a way to project that and make it feel more of it. If it's subconsciously thinking or trying to tell itself something, then the dreams will tell it that.

Fourteen isn't really a bad guy, though. If he wasn't a cannibal, and he didn't think of everything as objects—food, to be more specific—rather than people, everything would know he's be a really nice person to be around! Sure, he can't take anything seriously until everyone's lives are already on the line, but everything needs a bit of comic relief in their lives, don't they?

He hears faint screams in the distance, and he can tell that the first object has gone and told its friends about the death by now. Like music ringing through Fourteen's ears, he can feel his mouth raising into a sadistic, sociopathic smile as he listens to the muffled sounds. Everyone should be panicking right now. This'll be just as fun as all the other times.

—————

"ARE YOU GUYS SURE NO ONE'S SEEN ERASER??" Pen panicked, his hands gripping his cap, "HE WAS JUST WITH ME, HE COULDN'T HAVE DIED IN THE SPLIT SECOND WE WERE SEPARATED!!"

Objects were frantically scrambling around the scene. Bloody footprints led off into the distance but then changed direction towards the canal, and they had quickly determined that after that, they led nowhere.

Pin suddenly appeared from the direction of the cabins and wove her way around and through everyone. She quickly made it to the bloody scene, but as soon as she got a good glimpse at it, someone shouted her name from behind. She turned around to face them and her heart dropped when she saw who it is.

BarfBag was running towards her, before stopping just a few feet away. Donut was chasing after her and soon caught up. "So, why'd you kill him?" She questioned, her hands on her hips.

Pin put her hands up in front of her as she spoke. "W- Woah, I didn't kill this guy. I just got here!" She sighed internally. Of course these guys are still on her case... Maybe she should kill them soon.

"Then where were you when he was murdered by 'not you'?" B-Bag asked.

"In... In my home...?"

The vomit bag glared at her, and she just smiled nervously back. Donut wasn't doing anything, just standing behind Barfy and watching. "In your home? Heh, like heck you were," she chuckled evilly, "Me and Donut saw you sneaking off through the woods earlier!"

Somehow, Pin was able to straighten herself out with a surprising wave of confidence as she spoke. "If I was sneaking then how did you see me? Do you really think I would be stupid enough to sneak through the woods in a spot you can catch me in after what happened last month?" She asked, her arms folded.

"I- W- Well apparently you are!" BarfBag was caught off guard by her sudden confidence. Usually she's incredibly nervous whenever they confront her. Pin, however, is proud of how she was able to throw that out. It isn't every day she's able to confidently spit out an alibi, especially since Fourteen isn't able to talk to her right now.

People had begun to take notice of the standoff, and a crowd had slowly begun forming around the three objects. Pushing through this crowd, Needle could be seen. She forced her way to the center stage and to Pin's side, placing her hand on the shorter objects shoulder.

"Pin, what's going on?" She asked.

"BarfBag again," she answered, before turning back to the vomit container at once. "Well, I'm not that stupid, so I'm not the killer!" She pointed to her perpetrator, "How can I even be sure you aren't the murderer?"

BarfBag stiffened up, her arms straightening at her sides with clenched fists. "I'M NOT THE MURDERER! Why would I be doing any of this if I was?!?"

"Maybe because you want an alibi of your own!! I mean, why else would you still be accusing me after what you did??" The pushpin shouted.

Marker's voice could be heard murmuring from the audience, "What did she do...?"

Pin spun herself around to face the crowd, although their audience has circled them, so she's actually turning her back to half of the objects here, and spoke. "BarfBag here-"

"Pin, don't-" BarfBag took a step forward, but her speech was cut off by Needle.

"Pin, love, you shouldn't start all of this again," she told the pushpin.

The scarlet object turned to face her. "Needle- Surely you're angry too! After what they did!?"

"I am angry! But telling everyone won't solve anything, it'll only make things worse." Needle told her, falling down to Pin's level.

"It'll show everyone that they aren't the innocent little problem solvers that they're trying to make themselves out to be!" Pin complained, "If we don't show everyone what they did, I could- They- You might die! They might kill us!"

"Pin, I don't think this is the right way to-"

"THEY FUCKING- KIDNAPPED US, NEEDLE!!" Multiple objects gave out loud gasps of surprise. Some objects began mumbling to each other. One angry gasp was heard as Snowball clapped his hands over Grassy's ears. "HOW DO YOU NOT WANT THEM GONE!??"

"I do want them gone, but they didn't do it to be malicious, though... I think. They did it because they were suspicious of us-"

"SHE-" Pin pointed an infuriated finger at BarfBag, "SH- SHE TOLD ME TO KILL MYSEL- F..." Her arm wavered as she spoke, before recoiling back to her body as she fell to her knees, gazing at the ground both angrily and sombrely.

Needle wrapped her arms around her lover as B-Bag took a step forward and, cued by Donut's angry glare, told Pin, "I'm... sorry, that I said that. I went too far and I didn't think before I spoke. I'm in the wrong here, Pin, but please, accept my-"

"Kill yourself."

Needle flinched back at the same time that BarfBag did. Pin turned her head to stare condescendingly at the oversized bag of stomach acid and bits of food, who just stared back at her, dumbfounded.

"See?" Pin asked, "That's what it felt like. Of course, suicide is upsetting for everyone, so as much as I hate you, the last thing I want you to do is to jump off. But that's exactly what you told me to do." Pin turned back to the embrace of her lover, only just now realizing how quiet the crowd had gotten. "'Why don't you just jump off a building and fucking kill yourself.' Sound familiar? That's the request that's been playing on repeat in my mind since you said it." Needle seemed to hug Pin just a little tighter. A Teardrop family reunion slowly began to form from the pushpin's hot pink eyes.

"Wh- I'm trying to apologize!" BarfBag exclaimed. Donut sighed from behind her. "If you would have let me finish my sentence, maybe you wouldn't feel like-"

Her words broke off in a coughing fit. She fell to her knees. When she looked around, she saw that everyone else was beginning to, or already, coughing violently as well.

And, on top of that, her vision was blurred by a green film.

A voice suddenly spoke up. B-Bag could hear it ring through her mind. As she could tell through eyes that are attempting to clean themselves, everyone, or mostly everyone, could hear it too.

'Sorry I couldn't help you through your argument, I forgot to use my ability on you before we split up, BarfBag.'

"Wh- Who-..?" The vomit container asked between coughs.

'Oh, right, sorry, BarfBag. I forgot. My bad~'

Any remnant of the mist suddenly dissipated. Most people were ether still coughing any remnant of the smog from their lungs, or had run away before they could breathe it in. But everyone was staring at her, but even she didn't know what the barf that was.

Chapter Text

The air outside is wet and cold, causing most objects to stay indoors until the light showers passed. Nearly every armless object is inside because they can't hold umbrellas and walk at the same time, unless they have an armed friend to carry it for them, or a tail. The light pitter-patter of droplets hitting plastic rang through the air before being thrown off as the ice-blue umbrella spun, hitting Grassy and causing giggles to erupt from his throat.

The young boy splashed around in the large puddles under the watchful eye of Snowball, who was forgetting to not let his soft side show in public. But, they were the only people out there, so he should be fine. His blue umbrella stopped the rain from melting him at all, while Grassy chose to hydrate his blades in the calming atmosphere of the Teardrop family reunion.

The small bundle of joy suddenly perked up suddenly, eagerly running towards Snowball. "Snowball! Snowball!" He shouted.

"Yeah?" SB prompted.

"Grassy wants to play a game!!"

"What kind of game?" He asked, tilting his head with a kind yet sly smile, a hand on his hip.

"Snowball and Grassy will see who can hold their breath the longest!!" Grassy explained joyfully, "Whoever has so breathe first loses!"

The cold outdoor winter battle projectile grins. "Sounds fun, when do we start?"

"Now!" Grassy shouted before taking a deep breath. Snowball reacted in nothing short of an instant and copied him. The two stood there in silence for a moment, watching eachother competitively. Suddenly, the small bundle of grass huffed out a breath, trying to catch it.

"Hah!" SB exclaimed as he won the small challenge. However, he quickly saw how Grassy's face morphed into one of disappointment, and he quickly crouched down, placing a hand on his head. "Don't worry, Grasster, I'm sure you'll get the next one!"

The bundle of grass giggle as he felt SB's hand muss up his blades, and he looked up to the man he saw as a father. "How did you do it, Snowball?"

He stood up proudly. "A man's gotta be able to hold his breath, it's part of getting physically strong," he explained.

"Wow! That's really im... imprus... impr..."

"Impressive?" SB told him.

"That's really impressive, Snowball!" the kid complimented.

He chuckled. "Oh, don't even mention it!"

"Hey, SB!" Snowball jumped when he heard a voice behind them. "Hey, Grassy!"

"Hi Basketball!" Grassy greeted, waving his hand high as the woman walked towards them, and umbrella held in her tail. She smiled as she approached them.

"Oh, hi," Snowball said. How long as she been here...?

She crouched down to the child. "How're you, Grassy?" She asked.

"Grassy feels great!" He exclaimed, "Grassy and Snowball were playing a game!"

"What kind of game?" She wondered, tilting her head slightly.

"They were holding their breathing!"

"Breath," SB corrected, "Holding their breath."

"Oops," Grassy said, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Hey, it's alright," B-Ball said to him. "What you said is still technically correct either way."

Grassy smiled to her. "Do you wanna play with Grassy and Snowball, Basketball?"

She grinned softly. "Of course!"

–––––

Rain battered the window from behind the glass covered by blue window blinds. Dust floated through the kitchen and ran from the two people whenever they moved. The object glared at the paper, the ink from her blue pen bleeding into the page as she held the tip to it, before it was lifted to cross out Eraser's name. She scanned the other names uncertainly as the chair next to her was pulled away for the number to sit.

"I can't decide," she told him. She gave a long yawn immediately after, lifting her hand to her mouth. She rubbed her eye bags as Fourteen read all the names that remained untouched. His is magical legs dissipated as he got comfortable in the chair. He glanced up at her and reached for the pen, prompting her to place it in his open hand. He scratched a small 'X' next to BarfBag's name as he spoke up.

"We can't kill it," he told the pushpin, "After yesterday, everyone's gonna suspect it. Killing it will only bring everyone's suspicion back to you."

"Well then we can't kill Donut, either," Pin added.

Fourteen nodded, placing an 'X' next to the pastry's name as well. "And Basketball. I don't exactly remember whether its name was thrown around at all during your argument, because I was only there for like ten seconds, but we can't risk it," he said as he marked her name too.

"We shouldn't kill anyone close to them either," Pin added. "If we're going with framing those three, why would they kill anyone close to them?"

"You're right," Fourteen nodded. "So, no RF, no Grassy... That's about it for best friends, 'cause Donut and BarfBag are closest to eachother."

"No Needle, either," Pin said with a stern gaze at her lover's name.

Fourteen marked the sewing tool's name with the same 'X' as everyone else that's off limits. "I think we should go after Two," the algebralien suggested. "They're the only one, other than me, that can learn recovery."

Pin nodded. "You're right, they're definitely a good target... Let's get them next, then?" She turned to the larger person.

He nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. How will we do that, though? They're the second strongest algebralien—far stronger than Four. My magic is nowhere near their level."

The two conspired for a while, unaware of the object inspecting the building they're inside from the rain. She glares suspiciously at the blue window blinds. It was incredibly abnormal for the blue to cover her lab partner's windows, since Tennisball preferred to let natural light enter his house 24/7. He never lowered his blinds, even when GB suggested he does.

Someone has been using his house to hide their crimes.

Golfball sighed. Even if she could catch them in the act, barging in now would be a death wish. Besides, she already has a lead after the voice rang through everyone's minds yesterday. She continued walking, scanning the area for any other abnormal or suspicious activity.

—————

Marker rubbed his older brother's back as Needle spoke soft words to comfort him after the loss of his best friend. The purple window blinds were half closed as Pen sobbed in the comfort of his siblings. While Needle's comforting words did help, he struggled to get rid of the sense of impending doom that loomed over the three. Though, the "focus on two things you can sense" strategy did help, though.

"Just breathe, Pen," the taller woman spoke softly despite her high voice, "You can get through this. It's what Eraser would have wanted you to do."

Pen couldn't help but grab onto his sister, her bow swaying gently as she's suddenly pulled into a hug. The taller ink-stick grabbed Marker too, pulling him into the embrace. Needle closed her eyes as she patted Pen on the back, holding her siblings close. While their genes belong in two separate pools, she still cares for them as if they are kin by blood.

Marker doesn't mind having an adopted sibling, he's more concerned about how much she cares. Their parents adopting her for the sole purpose of wanting a girl seems to have driven her to be nothing like she was described to appear as a baby in the orphanage. Her genetics gave her a higher voice than anyone else in their family, and she's also the tallest, just barely beating Pen.

Her and Pen have been running races since they were old enough to be competitive. They're the two fastest objects in the contest, so of course they had been running since they were little! If only Eraser had been that fast...

Pen choked out another wobbly sob as he cried into their embrace, his voice wavering as he tried to speak. "I already miss him so much..."

Marker hummed in thought, rubbing his back, as Needle spoke up. "You aren't alone with that..."

"I loved him..." Pen whined, "I thought, I would have the time to... To tell him..."

"I know... Nobody ever expects this kind of thing to happen..." Needle sighed.

"If only I had told him- I... I hoped we could have what- what y- you have..."

Needle paused for a moment, gazing at him sympathetically. In telling her brother that she got a girlfriend, she also helped give him the courage to tell Eraser and maybe get with him when he told her he loves him. Of course, he was going to wait longer anyways, but, now he'll never even have a chance.

Pen continued crying, but he almost choked on his own saliva when he hear a disembodied voice in whisper in his ear. He whipped his head around, looking for the source, but finding nothing. His siblings obviously noticed this.

"Pen?" Marker asked, "Is something wrong? What happened?"

"I- I thought for sure I heard..." His face fell from the brief moment of surprise and excitement back into his saddened gaze. "It's nothing... It must have been nothing. I was probably just- Hearing things..." His voice fell to a whisper. "He's not here, he couldn't have..."

Marker watched him as tears began to fall again, and as he pulled his legs to his chest. Needle pulled herself towards him to give him another hug, him leaning on her mournfully. He was about to join them, before Pen's desk vibrated as his phone buzzed. Then it buzzed again, and again. It buzzed thrice, that's the ringtone he'd set for the D.P.A. Important group. He began reaching for it, but hesitated. Would that be considered rude in this situation? He glanced back to the other two. Pen had his eyes closed, but Needle saw, and she gave him a small nod; she knew what the three buzzes meant, of course, he'd told them both not too long before this whole thing started. He grabbed his phone, turning the screen on to see a message from Tree.

"Everyone, come to my house now !"

Marker looked at it for a heartbeat, before quickly pushing himself up from the bed. He turned to the two. "Sorry, I gotta go," he apologized.

"It's okay, Marker," Needle assured, "We'll be alright here."

Marker nodded, before quickly exiting the bedroom. He grabbed his gloves and scarf from the table in the living room and throwing them on before tossing open the door. His purple umbrella flew open before the door clicked shut behind him and he ran through the wet clearing. Water splashed in the puddles he ran through until he made it to Tree's cabin just as Fanny did.

"Hey, Fanny!" Marker waved to her, "Do you know what's up?"

She answered with a shake of her head, her blue umbrella spinning in her tail.

The door suddenly swung open, tree adjusting his glasses as he beckoned them in both verbally and physically. They shook their umbrellas off before closing them and placing them in the holder next to the door. Fanny flinched when she saw Pillow lounging lazily on the couch. She turned to Tree, who was pacing nervously around the room, and glared questioningly at him. He caught her gaze, raising an eyebrow at her glare. She motioned her tail towards Pillow, who took it as a friendly wave and waved her hand back; Fanny would have frowned at her if she had a mouth.

Black Hole, who was somehow fitting in the house without tearing it to billions of tiny shards, spoke up. "She said she has evidence pointing to the murderer, but she was refusing to tell us who it is without everyone here," he explained.

"But don't we already know it's BarfBag?" Marker asked as he shut the door.

Pillow pushed herself from the couch, reaching into her head and pulling a notebook and pen from within her. "No," she said, positioning herself in front of the television. The other three objects that could got comfy on the couch, and Black Hole positioned himself a bit behind, as the sleeping aid began pacing to the left and right. "That voice was too well placed, I mean, why would you team with someone—or something—that's going to give away your position like that? No, that had to be set up. In my research, I think I've been able to pinpoint exactly why," she pointed her pen at those on the couch, "It's Pin."

"But Pin is clearly suffering more than anyone else," Tree spoke up, "Even if she's the murderer, why would she have continued after the first death?"

"That leads me to my next point," she aimed the Pen at Tree, "While it's true that Pin is suffering, it's also true that the majority of the evidence is pointing to her. Because of how much we can see that she is suffering, she must have some sort of goal she needs to complete or some sort of addiction to killing because of how she is continuing regardless. Now, while I haven't figured out if it is a goal or an addiction, I do believe I know who can help."

"Who?" Marker tilted his head.

Black Hole opened his mouth to speak, before Pillow's voice was heard again. "You'll find out when she gets here. I texted her, but I dunno if she's busy or something." She shrugged. "Anyways, until we discover her exact motive, I'll continue to explain all the evidence, from the top." Pillow took a deep breath, her large fluff tail swaying across the floor. "She was crying the most out of anyone when we all discovered that Ice Cube was murdered, and, I do not believe anyone else noticed, she was also occasionally glancing to the top of the hotel, and to her own hands. When we were searching for Four and X, I had passed her multiple times; every time I did, she was barely searching, with a look of "I hope they don't find them because I know what happened" on her face. She did not seem to be there when we made it to the corpses, as I'm sure you lot noticed, and when I went up to the crime scene a little bit before GB cleaned them up, there were at least two sets of footprints there, which ties into that voice working with her. And I don't believe anyone missed Bell's murder-"

"She almost died too, though," Black Hole's monotone voice echoed through the room, "How is that evidence against her when that was clearly suicide, accidental or purposeful?"

"Because," Pillow pointed her pen to the orb of destruction, "Did no one hear Bell's screaming? While, of course, nobody could tell what she was saying, anyone would be able to tell it was muffled after a moment. Pin put something over her mouth, even if nobody could tell what it was. She was stopping her from saying something. Then, Bell fell. I have good reason to believe that Pin was stopping her from spilling her secrets. How she found out about them, I don't know yet. She would have rathered die than have her murder plot known to anyone. Then, after that, a full month passed before Eraser was murdered yesterday in the woods.-"

She cut off as there was a knock at the door. Pillow walked towards it and opened it. "Hey! You got my text? Welcome, please join us!" When she moved her body aside to beckon the shorter object inside, BarfBag could be seen standing in the doorway.

"How did you get my number?"

—————

Night has fallen. The rain had stopped hours ago, and now all that remains is the chill and the puddles. Fanny waved to Marker as he turned away from her to his house and she continued to hers. The stars dance in the moonlight as her steps create soft sounds in the grass. She avoids the puddles, because she left in such a hurry a couple of hours ago that she forgot to put on her rain boots rather than her normal, everyday boots. She drags her closed umbrella behind her as her gaze rests anxiously on the ground.

Her mind is troubled with what she just learned. Cannibalism; fellow objects being framed; more than one person murdering; Needle might be involved? And when Pillow was asked why she was helping DPA instead of her usual advocation for killing, she had said, "Uh... A random act of kindness...?" With a shrug. Fanny would have sighed if she could as she glared at the ground beneath her. That was, until she stopped in her tracks as she heard a shout.

A scared shout.

A pained shout.

A shout that says, "Help me."

She whipped her head around to the source. It came from far behind her, from the Recovery Center. She dropped her umbrella in an instant and ran to the destroyed machine, not bothering with how wet she got her boots as she splashed through the puddles. Three thoughts echoed through her mind as her body flooded with adrenaline.

Pin.

Stop her.

She's killing someone.

Stop her.

She stumbled to a stop as she saw something green leaking around the huge cube. Her mind flashed to the images of the algebralien's corpses. She hadn't seen them very well through the crowd, but one thing was for certain.

X's blood was yellow, and Four's blood was blue.

So that means Two's blood is...

She threw herself to the other side and would have screamed is she hadn't lost her mouth. She stumbled back and fell onto her bum, which the murderer had clearly noticed as she turned to see her. The tension was so thick they could have cut it with a knife. Both of their eyes were wide and scared as they just awkwardly stared at each other, though Fanny's eyes were flicking between the bloody pushpin and the bloody number. But, as they scanned the corpse, they could see it isn't a corpse at all.

They're still breathing.

Death can still be prevented!

Fanny suddenly jumped to her feet and threw herself at Pin, wrapping her tail around the arm that held the bright green stained cleaver. Pin struggled as she was pushed to the ground, at a disadvantage because of Fanny's element of surprise. Just before she could be thrown off, Fanny managed to get the weapon from the killer.

She stumbled to the ground as she was kicked with both feet in the stomach, struggling to grasp for air as the wind was knocked out of her, the lack of a mouth making it much harder as she had to breathe through her nose alone. She would have screamed as she was suddenly stabbed in the leg, the knife being pulled up and cutting into the bottom of her fan body aswell. That shouldn't have- Fanny still has the cleaver, how-!?

Oh.

When she managed to turn her body, Pin was standing above her, a kitchen knife, now bloody, held tightly in her hand. Fanny pushed herself away as best as much as she could as the red and green stained pin caught her breath before grunting as she tried to stab the blue object. Fanny, thankfully, pushed herself away at the last second, the weapon piercing the dirt that had been beneath her instead.

As soon as she had a moment to, she pushed herself to stand, wincing at the near unbearable pain in her leg. She readied the cleaver, holding her body in a defensive stance. Pin chuckled miserably before regaining herself, a frown clearly present on her face. She has bags under her eyes, and she rubbed one with bloodied fingers, smearing green on her face. She opened her mouth to speak as she took an exhausted step towards the fan, which was immediately opposed by Fanny taking a step back.

"Okay, Fanny, look," she said, before a small yawn broke past her lips, "I'm tired. I'm sure you're tired too. How about we just... pretend this never happened!"

Fanny glared daggers at her as she suggested that, which caused a nervous chuckle to erupt from the scarlet woman's mouth.

"Heheh... Look, you can go back to your cabin, and I'll finish up here," she gestured to the unconscious number, "...Then go back to mine. We'll never speak of it again, deal?" She walked closer to Fanny, extending her hand.

Fanny would have sighed if she could. She could feel her own tiredness creeping up on her. It was already past midnight when Death P.A.C.T. had finished their meeting, so she was eager to get some sleep. And Pin looked like she hadn't slept for a full 48 hours. She shook her head and placed the cleaver on the ground next to her so that she could extended her tail to the pushpin. Pin gave a soft, kind smile to her as their limbs met.

"Alright, now let's-"

Before they could shake on it, Fanny gripped Pin's arm tightly and pulled her towards her. Pin yelped in alarm as the fan grabbed the cleaver in her foot and nearly pierced her back before she managed to block the strike with her arm, the cleaver lodged between her muscles. She hissed at the pain of the blade being pulled out as blood protruded from her fresh wound, and pulled her own weapon to Fanny's head, just barely grazing her cheek as she was pushed away from her.

Fanny stumbled back, but quickly regained herself before Pin could. She pushed through her bleeding leg and almost slit the pin's throat, but she had thrown her arms in front of her body just in time. Fanny continued to try to cut somewhere fatal, but her arms would just take the blows. At least she got the pushpin to drop her weapon, it dropping to the wet grass below with a quiet thud.

Fanny flinched as Pin managed to grip her neck with bloody hands, holding it tightly. She began kicking at Pin's body, her eyes widening and her cheeks turning purple as she struggled to breathe. After a short moment, she managed reached the cleaver to Pin's neck, but before she could cut, Pin's eyes shot down to see what Fanny was doing, and she threw the woman with a spin halfway across the clearing to stop her from injuring her in that fatal spot.

Fanny rolled across the ground with a thud after her weapon flew from her grip. As she blinked her eyes back open with a groan-like sound, she could see the moon lowering. Her ears picked up Pin's voice shouting at seemingly thin air.

"YES! I NEED HELP! AND- AND BRING BANDAGES! ... BRING BANDAGES!! ... YES, A WEAPON TOO! I NEED HELP! SHE'S HARDER TO FIGHT THAN SHE LOOKS, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU HAVEN'T SLEPT SINCE TWO DAYS AGO!!"

Fanny threw herself across the clearing, grabbing the cleaver from the ground as she made her way quickly towards the pushpin. Pin grabbed her kitchen knife as she heard the electrical fan running up and swiped at the blue woman. The fan fell back just enough to dodge her before trying to cut Pin with the meat cleaver. Pin dodged, and the two continued this game of attacking and dodging. Both are already wounded—Pin's arms are covered in small cuts and Fanny's leg has a huge slit up the back of it—aswell as both are exhausted, the red object more so than the blue one, but they both battle on with rage and fear.

However, in Fanny's anger and strained attempts to rid this murderer from the earth, she failed to notice the silent steps behind her before she felt something pierce her chest. A hole was forced into her left lung, but she couldn't cough up the blood she needed to. She felt her body gag as blood crawling up her throat, through her lungs and out through her nose, filled her with a strange and painful sensation. Her pupils were as small as grains of rice as she watched Pin back up, her chest heaving as she caught her breath. The weapon was suddenly pulled from her chest, and she fell to the ground. She breathed heavily with quick and short breaths as she fell to the side. She huffed out the crimson liquid as much as she could as her own bodily fluids, usually necessary for survival, tried to drown her. She was barely holding on before she saw the fuzzy image of the unknown algebralien, wispy legs and what seemed like a billion spheres trailing from his tail, walk around the corner of the RC with Pin.

Her life flashed before her eyes, memories of every interaction she'd ever had saddening her as she saw how negative she'd always been. It seems it's true that you never appreciate what you have until it's gone. Something suddenly struck her, an idea, as a memory from today, well, technically yesterday, arose from the grave of everything she'd ever experienced.

Her phone vibrating three times to indicate someone said something in the D.P.A. Important chat.

Her tail wearily reached to take out her phone, tossing it on the ground beside her. She couldn't move her head to see the screen better because of how she was already using all her energy just breathing and now also moving her tail. She put in the passcode after messing up twice. The messages app was thankfully already open, as she hadn't done anything on her cellular device since checking the text she'd gotten from Tree, but she could barely read anyone's names and she just had to click on a random chat. She prayed that auto correct knew what she wanted as she shakily sent a message to some random person she had saved in her phone. After a moment, her tail fell on the blue send icon.

She watched the screen a moment longer. She could see whoever she'd message almost immediately respond, sending message after message in a panic, but Fanny no longer had the energy to do anything but lie there; she barely even had the energy to breathe. So, with one final, gargled breath, a last ditch effort to stay alive, she closed her eyes and accepted death.

—————

"Yeah! And thoin we can-" she cut off as her phone buzzed, durning to her side table. "Hm? Whoy toixted me?"

The gemstone tilted her head in curiosity as the bubble turned on her screen. She seemed to completely forget about their earlier conversation as she instantly clicked the notification popup, texting a rapid fire back. "Bubble? What's going on??" She asked in fear as she could see the clear panic on her friend's face.

"Foinny toixted me, loik!" She showed her phone screen to her bestie, whose own concern grew as she saw the message.

Pin s the mutderer get rid if her

The gemstone tilted her head. "What's a mute-er-er and why do we have to get rid of it?" She asked.

"Roiby! She oibvioisly means moirderer!" She shouted, "Poin is a moirderer and we hoive to goit roid of hoir!"

"So then... Why is Fanny saying it was just a dare?" Ruby pointed to the screen.

Bubble pulled her hand back to see the new message. "Oh, thoink boibble blower," she said, as she sent a message back. "She scoiered me!"

"WAIT!" Ruby shouted, "Tell her to send you a selfie to make sure isn't just Pin trying to cover her tracks!"

"Oi coint," Bubble said, "She oilready woint oiffloin."
—————

Pin breathed out a sigh of relief as she avoided that near disaster, about to put the phone back down next to the corpse before she and Fourteen realized the same thing at the same time.

"If they turn that phone back on and someone here knows her lock code, they'll see that text," he said.

"Right..." Pin responded, placing the cellular device down and grabbing the cleaver. She cut the device in half near effortlessly. Then she did it again, and again, and again, until it was no more than a bunch of shards. She rubbed her bandaged arms as she pulled herself back up.

"That's one way to solve the problem," Fourteen said, his tail swishing back and forth as he picked up Two's severed hand. "We gonna finish up here, or...?" He trailed off as the number suddenly began to stir. "NEVERMIND! LET'S GO!" He shouted, grabbing the bat that had been used to knock out Two in the same hand holding the lime coloured algebralien's severed limb, and lifting Pin over his shoulder and running back to her cabin. The sun had just barely begun rising as Fourteens soundless footsteps made their way around the cabins.

Pin yelped, trying to make sure she didn't drop the three kitchen utensils she'd picked up moments before. She watched as the scene of Two waking up and discovering not only his missing limb, but the corpse of the electrical fan aswell shrink as they got farther and farther away from it. She heard the number scream as she was thrown into her home, landing on the hard floor with a yelp.

"Wash yourself and your knives!" Fourteen told her, dropping the meat cleaver and one of the kitchen knives to the floor next to her, "I'll take these all back to TB's cabin!"

And with that, he shut the door, leaving Pin alone on the ground and covered in multiple people's blood. She wearily took the knives to her kitchen sink, thoroughly washing them before placing them back into her cupboard. Next, she headed to her bathroom, turning on the shower head and scrubbing the green and deep crimson from her body. She winced as the water and soap got under her bandages and stung the various cuts she had gotten in her battle. Her towel absorbed the water that had now replaced the blood on her body, and she tossed it into the laundry bin before slowly making her way to her bed.

Birds had begun chirping out her window, and she had to shut the blinds to ignore the outside world. She had just laid down in her bed and pulled the covers up when a blood curdling scream was heard from outside, filling the morning air and waking everyone that had been asleep. She had only just dozed off when there was a panicked knock at her door. Needle's voice was heard outside. She dragged herself from her bed to open the door, forcing a smile as she greeted her girlfriend, who was more than terrified. Pin was clearly incredibly shaken up aswell, and hadn't slept in days.

"Pin-! God, what happened? You look like you were hit by a truck!" She exclaimed, cupping the smaller woman's cheeks with worry.

"I'm fine! I'm fine, don't worry..." She forcefully chuckled out.

"No, you're not! When was the last time you slept??"

"..." She glanced off to the side nervously.

"Pin...?" Needle fell to her knees to be at eye level with her lover.

"...Two days ago..."

Needle blinked for a second, before she shouted, "PIN! You can't do that! You need to sleep!"

"I can't!" She retaliated, "Eraser died- He's gonna show up in the dreams! He's gonna show up in the dreams and I won't be able to do anything about it!!"

"Pin, you need to sleep! The dreams aren't real, you don't need to worry about it! You-" She cut off as she noticed the bandages covering nearly every inch of Pin's arms. "Wh- What happened...?"

"What do you... Mean?"

"Your arms...?"

"I- Uh- I- I- I don't- Uh-" She stuttered, trying to think of an explanation other than "I was using my arms to block when Fanny was trying to kill me because she found out I'm the murderer."

Needle's gaze suddenly softened up with a realization, while still having that lingering panic and worry. "Pin, you didn't..."

"Didn't... What?" The scarlet object chuckled nervously, not quite understanding.

Needle's gaze seemed to pierce through her soul, but not in a bad way, in a more... concerned way. "You didn't- Hurt yourself... Did you?"

Pin could hear objects scrambling to make it to the crime scene, shouting and screaming and vomiting. Objects all around them were in a panic, but Pin and Needle were only focusing on each other. Pin really wished that wasn't the case.

"I- I uh..." Her nervous smile remained on her face. What does she say? Does she let her girlfriend believe that she's cut herself, or does she tell her the truth, that the cuts are a result of killing a witness? Her gaze fell to the floor, unable to look her in the eyes anymore. "I... I'm sorry..." Oh, how she wished she could finish that sentence.

I'm sorry, I'm the murderer.

I'm sorry, I'm lying to you.

I'm sorry, I've been lying to you.

I'm sorry, that out of all of the people you could have fallen for, it was me.

I'm sorry, I've hurt you.

I'm sorry, I've needed you to protect me, instead of just standing up for myself.

I'm sorry, I fell for my own addiction, and now everyone around me is paying the price.

"I'm sorry, my love. You don't deserve me. You deserve better."

"Pin..." Needle started, her gaze never wavering from the woman before her. "Pin, you're the most wonderful woman I've ever met... You shouldn't think like that..." She pulled her into a hug, Pin not bothering to fight against it and instead standing limply in her embrace. "And... I'm sorry, that you have to deal with... her... It's not your... None of this is your fault."

Pin's voice shook as she spoke up. "It... It is, though..." Maybe she could tell the truth for once, instead of hiding her crimes from the public under this wall of anxiety that makes most objects not suspect her.

"No, it's not." Needle's stubbornness really isn't something Pin wants to deal with right now. "Come on, let's get you some sleep." She stood and guided Pin back inside.

The scarlet object barely had the strength to fight against it, so she just let it happen. Maybe it's better this way, to let Needle live her life a lie, dating someone she'll never know is a murderer and a cannibal. Maybe it's better to not allow her to know that she's stood up for and protected the one that's the cause of all of this trouble and mayhem. God, she hopes she isn't in denial right now.

She let herself be pushed into her bed, sitting in it for a moment as needle walks through her house and makes sure that all of the windows are closed and the blinds are down and the door is shut, and everything is locked tight. Once she was sure that they were completely closed off from outside she returned to her lover, who was staring at her hands sitting on the edge of the bed with an unreadable expression.

She carefully pushed Pin into a resting position, holding her hands as she opened her mouth to speak. "Would you like me to stay with you?" She could tell Pin was hesitating, so she added, "It's alright, I don't mind." Another moment passed, as if Pin was trying to avoid showing how she wants her close. "I enjoy spending time with you, y'know... You don't have to be worried." Finally, the shorter object gave a small nod, and Needle smiled, settling herself into the bed with her romantic partner. She could feel Pin pulling her tightly into an embrace as she pulled the blankets up over them. Needle placed a soft kiss on her forehead before pulling her close. "I love you, Pin..." she said to her. She only allowed her eyes flutter closed once she was sure that her lover had let her exhaustion overcome her.

Needle sighed, hearing the rhythmic yet pained breathing of the woman in her arms clash with the muffled shouting from outside. And, as she softly cuddled her sleeping lover, she couldn't help but silently wonder, When did everything go so wrong?

Chapter Text

Tree, Black Hole, and Marker stood around the corpse. The murder- it must have just happened, they were just with her! The sun rose slowly as the team discovered their dead member thanks to the shriek of Two, who stood off to the side and tried to heal his bloody stump.

Tree walked forwards and crouched down to the dead woman, placing two fingers on her neck, just below her head. He felt around for a moment, before eventually sighing and pushing himself up. It didn't take a genius for the others to know what his expression meant.

Market's eyes widened in an instant, and he fell to his knees, water beginning to crawl through his tear ducts. Black Hole's gaze fell sadly to the bloody ground beneath Fanny as a sound much like a mix between a shiver and a sigh came from his mouth. Tree shook his head sadly, crossing his arms and glancing back down to the body.

"Why...?" Marker's voice shook sadly as he threw his hands over his eyes, "Why would she do this?"

"And so soon after the last one, too..." BH added.

Tree placed a hand on his head, gazing, concerned, at their fourth team mate. "If only we had all the answers... It's a shame people are so different from eachother."

BH sighed. "If only..."

Tree walked around the corpse to the other two so that he could fall to his knees beside Marker, placing a hand on the boy's back. "I'm sorry..." he said to him.

He sniffed. "It's... It's not your fault..." he told him, removing a hand, wet with tears, from his eye so that he can see the other object.

Tree watched him sadly. "...I know..."

"We have to get rid of her," Black Hole spoke up.

The plant glanced up to the flying sphere. "But how? We can't... kill her."

After a moment, the ball let out a long sigh. "Well... Before all of... this, happened, she..." he motioned to Fanny, "Had talked to me, back in the last challenge. We had agreed that the pact should... change, a bit."

Tree tilted his head, still rubbing Marker's back. "But we haven't changed the pact at all since we made it," he pointed out, "Why should we change it now?"

"If we have to, she figured, we should allow death. What she was telling me was that the challenges should be our first priority, but if there is an opening we can make to prevent death while still winning the challenges we should still take it."

"What do the challenges have to do with the murderer?" Tree asked.

Black Hole shook his head—Or, just, well, his body. "It doesn't; but the point still stands. If we have a chance to kill her, then, well, what's one death to our hands compared to 20 by hers?"

Tree thought for a moment, before a voice spoke up from behind them. "That's a great point, Black Hole," Two said, walking up to them. They still had a sort of glow around their stub and their palm, similar to when they use their telekinesis, but they could tell the stump definitely was healing; the loose skin around it was folding over and growing to cover the exposed muscle, albeit slowly. "If anything at all can be done to stop this murderer, we should definitely do it."

The plant opened his mouth to speak, before he flinched when a scream was heard from the other side of the corpse, much louder than Two's. They all turned to see Grassy get swiped up by Robot Flower and turned around so that he can't see the crime scene past the woman's body. He's trembling in her arms as she tries to soothe him, casting a worried glance back at the corpse and the other four people before beginning to walk back to the cabins. Basketball and Snowball were quick to make it to them.

"What happened? Why did he scream??" B-Ball questioned as RF gently stroked the kid's blades to calm him.

She nodded her head behind her. "That happened."

The balls looked past the robotic object, and their expressions morphed, one into disgust, and the other into horror. Basketball took a step back, wide eyes glaring at the scene. Snowball's brows furrowed, recoiling slightly as he inspected the corpse from the distance.

Tree stood and took a step towards them. "I assume you three wouldn't happen to know what happened here?"

"It's obvious what happened here!" SB shouted, "The murderer killed Fanny!"

"But then why did they take my hand?" Two added, presenting the, now healed, stub where their hand used to be.

RF turned to see the events unfolding, keeping Grassy's face to her chest so that he can't see the bloody scene. She glanced across at everyone, before turning to the ball with lines and saying, "I'll take him home?"

B-Ball looked up to her and thought for a moment. "I... Think it would be better if I took him home," she said, "I don't think I want to be associated with any investigations anymore." Tree rose an eyebrow at her as the kid was placed on the ground next to her. "Just don't look behind you, Grassy," she told him as she took his hand in her tail.

They walked back to the cabins, but just as they began leaving, other objects came running in, panicked faces filling the clearing. Screams erupted into the air while some objects had to empty their breakfast, or stomach acid if they haven't eaten anything yet.

Meanwhile, Black Hole's mind was racing with what could have happened with Two's hand. Pin obviously had done that to him, but what was the purpose of it? Maybe... He turned to the algebralien and asked, "Two, are you only able to use your powers with your hands?"

They nodded. "Yes, my hands, and my tail, are the only limbs I can use for most of my powers. I can use my legs for some if I really need to, but I can mostly only use my hands and tail."

BH thought a heartbeat, before turning to between his team and the number. "Maybe, and this is just a guess, but she took Two's hand to stop them from using their abilities?"

Tree nods, adding, "And perhaps she murdered Fanny because she'd caught her doing so. The spots of blood all over the clearing are evidence of a battle, so perhaps she'd knocked them out, cut off the one hand, and then had to fight Fanny before she could take his other? The battle could have taken a while, so she easily would have had to flee before she could finish up with Two."

The number nodded. "That makes sense. But it's a shame that I'm missing a limb now." They paused, before shrugging. "At least they're not taking everyone's hands, eh?" They joked.

Tree sighed just as Marker was managing to push himself to his feet, wiping any remaining tears from his face. "What are we gonna do about her?" He asked them.

"We kill her, obviously," Black Hole said, "One death to prevent many."

However, his idea was quickly shot down as Pillow walked up to them. "No," she said, causing all of DPA (A/N Minus Fanny, obviously) and Two to look in her direction.

"And why not?" Tree asked, crossing his arms.

Pillow's unwavering smile added a slight eeriness to the atmosphere surrounding the other four. "We should kidnap her. I wanna know why she's doing this, for my research!" She put her hands on her hips, before adding with a shrug, "Then we can kill her, I guess."

Tree, Marker, and Black Hole all glanced at eachother, before the purple ink-stick shrugged. "I don't see why not?" He said before pushing his inky hair from his face.

Black Hole sighed, turning to the smaller man. "Marker, if we kidnap her, she'll have a chance go murder us and escape."

"We'll put her in Tree's basement and I'll be the only one down there, how about that?" Pillow asked. "I'll bring weapons."

"We don't have basements, Pillow," Tree sighed out, pinching his nose bridge.

"I could give you one," Two put in.

"Perfect!" Pillow exclaimed, "Then it's settled, we're kidnapping her!"

"We never agreed to-" Black Hole started before being cut off by Pillow speaking again.

"See you guys when we do that!" She said, waving a hand as she ran off.

The other three stared after her for a good moment, before Two said, "So... Should I make that basement?"

—————

The playground was brightly lit by the planet's sun, rays reflecting off of the metal chains holding the swings to their omega shaped frame. The loops holding onto the chain links from the top of the frame creak as the seats just barely swing back and forth. A heavy tension, as well as a mild fog, lounges in the air. Happy voices fill the area as algebraliens play around on the different structures, chase eachother across the field, and one group arranges a huge game of hide-and-seek.

As his swing comes to a gradual stop in its movement, Three brushes his tail angrily over the grass, the small spheres at the end making long lines in the dirt as he glares angrily. He quietly, unsurely hums as he does this, gazing off at the colourful people in the clearing.

One notices this, and turns her head slightly so he can see him. "You good?" She asks.

Three huffs out a tired sigh. "Not really," he admits.

"Ah," One responds, not really knowing what to say. She faces the ground as he says that, kicking her legs up to move the swing. Her tail flicks off of the chain closer to Three and wraps around the one further. "...What's on your mind?" She finally asks, turning her head back to the other integer.

"I guess..." he starts, trailing off a moment before continuing, "...I guess it's... It's the thought of that- That thing still running free after all we did to just- just get rid of him!" His grip on the chain tightened, and he glared angrily at the ground. "And it seems like nobody is even- batting an eye over the fact that he's out there traumatizing more innocent people!"

The blue number paused a moment, before saying, "Yeah, that is annoying. But it's not like everyone is just dismissing it." She looks towards the three integers, N and Y and Z, on the brightly coloured slides, what might be a hopeful gaze on her face as she watched the innocent children swing around harmless wooden swords as they play what looks to be some pirate game. "...Most of them don't know that he's still alive, let alone know he exists!" They suddenly got called and invited to join the large game, prompting them to quickly toss the play swords to the ground and excitedly run to the group. Y didn't react as immediately as the other two, but xe still happily tossed xer pirate hat off once xer friends called for them. One's gaze followed them to the purple integer Five, who's helping Six organize the game. "And, if you look at those we had told, the other lower numbers, if you really pay attention, you can tell they still have that lingering fear. As much as they ignore it in the moment so that they can enjoy themselves, it's still there."

Three sighed lightly, but perked slightly when he noticed One hop off of her swing and walk towards him. She extended her tail to him with a soft smile. "So, even though we both know, we should just take a moment to enjoy ourselves. Because we can't do anything now to stop him, so let's forget about it until there is something we can do that will make a difference."

The red number gave a small, defeated sigh, followed by a halfhearted chuckle, and pushed himself from the swing. He took her  tail in his hands and shot her a smile, but his face soon fell back into one of uncertainty.

One spoke up again. "Let's just... Enjoy the moment. We'll worry about him when the time comes," she said.

Three looked back up at her with a slight smile, and said playfully, "You need to stop always knowing what to say."

The two chuckled together for a short moment. They found themselves gazing into eachother's eyes, before they turned as they heard Six shout, "Hey! Three! One! Why don't you guys stop being all lovey for a second and come play some Hide 'N Seek with the rest of us?"

They easily heard Z complain, "What? Why are you inviting Three? You know he'll just win again, like he always did!"

Three laughed, and glanced back at One for a brief moment before they both ran towards the larger bunch of algebraliens, Three shouting in response to Y's complaint, "Well, you can't have a game without the best player, now, can you?"

Chapter Text

Pin's eyes were wide as she stared at the electrical fan. Faceless, motionless, lifeless. She stood before the pushpin, who had fallen to her knees, tears streaming down her face. Despite missing a mouth, and an entire face for that matter, her voice rang through the area like a mourning orchestra. Her indistinguishable shouts of pure rage and hatred was the only sound, a rotten tune that Pin had been tortured with.

The green smog that filled the clearing would occasionally section off and morph into another one of her poor victims, adding to the cries and agony that fill the atmosphere. Pin sat in disbelief and sorrow as she watches the innocent objects whom she's so cruelly stripped of their lives wail in a chorus of distrust and grief, their faceless forms standing as if statues in a cursed garden.

Someone held her from behind. Their arms wrapped kindly over the scarlet object's body. Although originally assumed to be Needle, Pin quickly found that that was not the case. Instead, when she turned around she was met with the other her, green eyes staring pitifully into her naturally hot pink ones. Blood lined nearly every inch of her as she strained to make fun of the poor woman, though the lack of a mouth stopped her from doing so.

Blood suddenly began pooling in the ground, and Pin found herself trapped in a sea of raw meat and b0nes and organs, which each slowly morphed into different desserts each matching a specific victim.

Ice Cube standing over her cupcakes.

Tennisball sitting next to his cake.

Eraser lounging around his cake pops.

And those she hadn't eaten? Far more angry, even if nobody had a face to show it with. Their faceless heads pointed directly at her as their pitiful wails and cries grew distinguishable into coherent words.

"Why?"

"Why would you do this to us?"

"Why did you waste us?"

"Why did you kill us in the first place, if you weren't even going to eat us?"

Four stumbled towards her with X holding his friend's hand tightly.

Bell flew closer, her bow stained with her blood.

And Fanny? Well, Fanny still loomed angrily over her, her lack of a glare still managing to pierce through the pushpin's usual confidence.

But then they all fell, morphing into their corpses. Four in half and X crying for him, before being murdered himself. Bell falling to her demise and ending in a squished mess. Fanny, being cut up and pierced through the chest, choking on her own blood because of her inability to cough it out.

But just as a green figure began to make its way through the piles of corpses and flesh, everything changed. The black walls of the void becoming the wooden walls of her bedroom. The sea of blood becoming her copper coloured blanket. The voices fading away into the voice of her worried lover and the arms that had been wrapped around her becoming the woman she loves most.

She could hear Needle's voice as she stared petrified at the ceiling, still taking in everything that had just happened. She continuously tried to remind herself that it wasn't real, but if it wasn't, then why did it seem so much like she really was there, sitting in that morbid swimming pool with her past sins surrounding her? Of course, she knows it wasn't real, but she still can't convince herself, so she fails to slow her breathing. Needle's voice sounds so fuzzy and indistinguishable from the other blurry sounds from every corner of the room and beyond, filling her ears with the memories of what her mind had just presented her. She remained like this for an eternity, her whole body trembling with the haunting memories of what could have very well been the thousandth time she'd experienced these dreams until she was forcefully pulled to look in a different direction.

That, along with her lover loudly shouting her name, snapped the scarlet woman back to reality. She stared at Needle as the taller woman placed a hand on Pin's cheek, gazing at her worriedly. Her mouth opened to speak, but no words came out, so she shakily forced herself to raise her hand and place it atop of Needle's, fingers falling between eachother to interlock as she begins to squeeze it gently. Her brows furrow sadly and fearfully while her gaze falls between her girlfriend and her. Her eyes water and she suddenly chokes out a sob, causing her to curl up and burst into tears.

This obviously startled Needle, but she didn't hesitate to pull the shorter woman closer. Pin pulled her hands between them and held them to her chest as the woman she loves most held her tightly and spoke soft words to her, assuring her it's okay but not necessarily trying to make her stop crying. Instead, her words encouraged her to let it all out. Her body felt hot as her emotions warmed her, and that heat was held in by both Needle's warmth and the blanket's.

She doesn't know how long she'd wailed into the other's chest for, but eventually her tears had slowed and she'd stopped making so much noise. When this finally happened, and Pin could finally differentiate Needle's words, the taller woman spoke again.

"Are you... able to tell me about it?" She asked, gazing sympathetically down at her deshieveld lover.

Pin took a deep, shaky breath, before giving a slight nod. She opened her mouth to speak, but no voice came out. She felt weird, unable to get her thoughts out through word.

Needle took notice of this, and spoke again so that Pin wouldn't feel like she needs to strain herself. "Was... Was it a dream again? One of the ones you told me about?" She guessed.

Pin gave a slight nod.

Needle paused a moment before speaking again. "Are you okay with telling me what happened in that dream?"

The scarlet object opened her mouth to speak, before she flinched as that cursed voice rang through her head.

'Don't tell her anyhing about Fanny. You shouldn't know she's dead yet so if she knows you know you'll have to kill Needle.'

The mere thought of losing the one she loves was enough to break a whimper out of her, wide eyes staring off into the space in front of her as hot tears continued to spill slowly from them.

He'd been so quiet after he came to her rescue last night Pin had forgotten that, because Fourteen was in such a rush to save her, he hadn't bothered to turn off his ability. Of course, that resulted in Pin's terrifying dream, and now this event that's unfolding before the eyes he's forced to see through.

She wanted to say something, her mind screaming at her to open her mouth and stop being a wimp, but, she couldn't. The threat of something bad slipping and Needle finding out the truth... The idea was too much to bear. So instead, she shrunk a tiny bit more and shook her head "no."

Needle gave her a reassuring smile, even if Pin wasn't looking up at her to see it, and said "That's okay, we don't need to open that can of worms right now."

The shorter woman let out a relieved sigh when she didn't have to say anyhing, instead wrapping her arms around her lover. She held her close for as long as she could, even closing her eyes after a moment. It calmed her to feel Needle's arms hold her close.

But then she unexpectedly blurted, "I'm hungry..." in a soft voice.

Needle gave a soft chuckle. "Want me to cook us up some food?" She asked.

Pin responded with a slight nod. With this, the sewing needle placed a soft kiss on the pushpin's forehead and pushed herself up. "Do you wanna come with me to the kitchen, or do you want some time alone here while I cook?"Pin pushed herself into a sitting position and opened her mouth to answer, before Fourteen spoke again.

'Ooo, I actually really liked her cooking last time.'

"I-I, uh... I'd like to have a moment..." Pin said.

Needle nodded understandingly. "Alright," she said. She placed a hand on Pin's cheek and gave her one more small kiss on the top of Pin's head, saying, "I love you, Pin," before standing from the bed and exiting to the kitchen.

Pin watched her leave. She stayed staring at the doorway where she had been for a moment, before turning away and asking Fourteen, "Can I be left alone today? Please?"

'Aw, why?' He playfully pouted, 'You don't like my company~?'

"Yeah, I don't."

'Oh, dang.' He paused a moment, before finally saying,, 'Alright, I'll leave you to your dumb girlfriend, or whatever. But I'm coming back later and we're finishing what we started last night,' he added with a stern voice.

Pin nodded, and didn't hear Fourteen speak for a while. She took this as him having left, and finally stood. She made her way out of her bedroom and to her kitchen, quietly greeting Needle, who stood at the stove with that same orange pan sitting on the heated element.

She quickly tuned when she heard her lover's voice, happily greeting Pin, although still with that hint of worry in her voice. The scarlet object walked towards her, taking her hand and gently leaning her head on the taller woman, her eyes still glossed over with a tired gaze. "What are you making?" She asks.

"Pancakes," Needle answers, turning back to the face the stove.

Pin watches as she continues, flipping the pastries and letting them cook a bit longer before moving them to their plates. She smiled as she took one, walking over to the table with Needle following behind her. She placed her plate on the table before pausing for a short moment and then heading to the cabinet, taking a bottle of maple syrup and returning with it to the table. She poured it onto her pancakes, then handed it to Needle before grabbing a fork and sitting.

She cut out a piece, saying, "Thank you," to Needle before eating it.

"Of course," The taller woman responded, smiling at her before eating her own food.

It was only by the time that they were both nearly finished their dishes that Needle suggested the idea of just going out and doing what they want today. "... It would help us stop thinking about how stressful everything is," she had said.

"What would we do, though..?" Pin asked.

Needle shrugged. "I didn't really think that far ahead. Maybe Two's amusement park? We haven't seen that much at all since the challenge."

Pin gave a weary smile. "That sounds fun... Just the two of us?"

"Just the two of us," Needle said with a smile as she began to eat her food again.

Pin finished before her again, and waited for the sewing needle to finish so that she could take both of their dishes. Needle thanked her and stood from her chair, Pin happily taking her hand when she'd returned to the table. They went to grab their scarves from the living room, then the red object leaned up to place a short kiss on her girlfriend's lips before they both began to head out the door.

Of course, as soon as they stepped outside, the panic in the many voices down in the farther section of the clearing were more than evident. Needle and Pin had to cross the clearing to get to the Atwosement Park, but they luckily don't have to cross paths with anyone. Pin's anxiety was clear as day as they crossed, so they did it fairly quickly.

The pushpin let out a sigh of relief when they made it to the forest on the other side. The calming crunch of the leaves beneath their feet filled the air as the voices of fear drifted out of earshot. They quickly found the forest path that led to their destination, following it through the trees.

Even as they walked, Needle could tell Pin was already happier than she was when they were on the contesting grounds. The trees blocked the wind, keeping the two warmer than they otherwise would have been. The entire forest gave a subtle smell of wood, and the light frost on the leaves prettied the scenery, even if it did give an unfortunate reminder of the cold Winter to come.

But as they were walking, Pin suddenly spoke up, her voice soft, yet shaky and hushed. "D- Do you really think I'm n- not the murderer, Needle...?"

The other woman immediately glanced down to her. "Of course not, Pin!" She assured her, "Why on earth would I think that?"

Pin's gaze trailed down to the ground as she spoke. "B- Because... There's so much evidence against me, so... So of course you would..."

She quietly sighed. "Pin, I've defended you so much against the others. Why would I do that if I suspected you? Besides, it's pretty clearly barf molecules back there at this point."

The pushpin slightly nodded. "Y- Yeah, it's clearly her..." she 'agreed'.

They continued walking the path until the trees thinned out, revealing a giant amusement park. Pin's eyes scanned the entire park in awe. Two had added some really cool looking rides since they'd last been here, but the entire clearing was still as empty as a desolate wasteland. She entered eagerly, spinning to take in all of the colourful scenery around them. Needle looked amazed aswell, the sounds of her footsteps mixing with Pin's as she gazed around at the new attractions.

Though, her phone suddenly buzzed wildly from in her 'pocket'—or, really, just that pocket dimension they all seem to have—and she quickly pulled it out. Her brother's number sat big and bold on her screen, icons beneath it prompting her to accept his call. She glanced over to her partner, saying, "Uh, Pin-?"

"Take it," she quickly responded, pretty much cutting her off. "I wanna go take a quick look at everything first, anyways," she said with a kind and exited.

Needle nodded, and watched her run off into the park as she accepted the call. "Marker?" She spoke as soon as the phone had been placed on her ear.

"Needle! Thank goodness. Where are you!?" The drawing tool frantically asked.

"I'm just at Two's amusement park. Wh- Why? What happened?"

"Is Pin with you?"

She nodded, but of course Marker couldn't see. "Yeah, she's here with me."

"Needle, please come back! Before she does anything!" He begged.

"Wh- Why would she do anything? We just came here to get some time away from all the chaos," she explained, "She's been really stressed lately."

"Sis, please! I'm scared for you! Pin-"

Marker got cut off as Needle's voice suddenly grew more aggressive through the phone. "Marker, she isn't going to do anything! She isn't the murderer!"

Tree's voice was suddenly heard just as clearly as Marker's was. His sigh was clearly present over the call. "Needle, we understand that she's your girlfriend, but you have to understand the stakes here. Even if Pin isn't the murderer, it's still risky to be alone with only one other person at a time like this."

Needle thought back to the screams this morning. Of course they sound so stressed, they probably just found a body maybe half an hour ago, and then they suddenly couldn't find her, nor could they find Pin. "...Who died?" She suddenly asked with a sigh.

A long pause was heard, before Black Hole spoke up. "...It was... Fanny," he said.

Another pause. Needle then suggested, "How about... I just text you every hour? I know that you're worried about me, but I also know that Pin needs a break from everything. You should see the panic attacks she has whenever someone dies." She leaned against a fence containing some sort of roller coaster. "If I just text you something like 'I'm still alive' every hour you'll know I'm not dead and not have to worry, but if I go an hour without texting you, then you can worry."

She was waiting for a response as Pin returned. She didn't say anything as she walked up.

"Every thirty minutes," Marker finally said, "And you have to add the letter, um, 'L' at the end so that we know it's you."

"Alright," Needle said.

The phone began beeping in an annoying rhythm. Marker stared at the cell phone lying flat on the table for a moment longer, before glancing up as Tree leaned over to leave the call that Needle had already left. Marker sat for a little longer until eventually saying, "I'm worried about her..."

"I know," BH said, "But there isn't much we can do about it right now."

Marker nodded, and Tree spoke up. "We should probably get back to planning," he said, pushing himself from the chair.

"I still can't believe we're doing this for her," the orb said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, Two already gave us the basement," Tree said, "And, gonna be honest, I want some answers, too."

"I'm still confused about that strange voice!" Marker complained.

"Yeah, what even was that?" BH agreed, "It couldn't have possibly been a normal object, because we don't have powers like that."

"It must have been there to get Pin out of that argument," Tree realized, "Which means it must be working with Pin."

The three remained in silence for another long moment. That was, until a loud knock was heard at their door. "I'll get it!" Marker shouted, shooting up from the couch. He swung it open, and there stood Pillow, leaning on a wooden baseball bat.

"I'm ready to do it," she said, "Whenever you guys are~!"

"We... Weren't gonna do it for a while..." Marker responded, "We're still in the planning phase."

"Well, I'll help you plan, then!" Pillow invited herself into the cabin, looking around for a moment before then walking over to the table. "What were you guys thinking of doing?"

"Truth be told, we don't have that much of a plan," the bark-clad sentinel of leaves and branches admitted, "We were just going to tie her up in the basement."

"We just don't know how we'll get her here," BH added. "We were thinking maybe chloroform or something. It seems the most sane, other than just keeping her awake."

"Knocking her out with a bat would be easier," Pillow suggested, placing her bat on the table.

"No!" Marker shouted, "That's pretty much just murder!"

"What about stabbing her to get her to pass out from blood loss, then?" Pillow said, leaning on the table.

Tree gave a shocked gasp. "Wh- That's even more like murder!" He said.

"We're trying to prevent death, not put people at risk of it!" Black Hole pointed out.

"Aren't you guys gonna kill her in the end, anyways?" Pillow teased.

"That's different!" Marker tried defending.

"Really?" Pillow tilted her head. "How so?"

"I-... It, uh..." Marker stuttered out.

The sleeping aid chuckled, pushing herself from the table. "Exactly," She said as she walked around the marker, her puffy tail brushing against his legs. "You guys are just sad and full of double-standards. If it's a good, pure hearted person, you'll let them live. But if the person is cruel, you don't hesitate to get their blood on your hands."

"We only kill the people who absolutely need to be killed to avoid more deaths than just the one!" Marker shouted, "If we don't kill her, she'll probably kill everyone! There will be death either way, but by killing her, there will be less!"

"So you only kill murderers?" She wondered, gazing up at him tauntingly with her hands behind her back.

Marker gulped and nodded.

"So then, why haven't you killed me yet?" She grinned evilly at him, her razor-sharp teeth shining in the light from the bulb above them.

He just gazed at her, not knowing what to say. Tree quickly pushed himself between the two and separated them, however, pushing them away from eachother. Marker breathed out a sigh of relief as soon as the sadist was away from him. "Let's just get some planning done, alright?" Tree said, his voice stern and impatient.

"Mm, fine," Pillow said.

—————

Needle and Pin had returned hours ago. Most objects were out like a light, and those that were still up were only still awake because of the anxiety the murders had brought.

A hammock swung lazily in the cool night breeze, hung from the tree line on the edge of the clearing. Within this green spotted sheet rested an algebralien, their arms under their head and their tail hanging down as they gazed up at the moonlit sky. Their mind was clouded with worry, sorting through ideas for how to stop this murder spree caused by, apparently, BarfBag.

They remember hearing many people say she's the killer, and she and Donut weren't even in the clearing today. Wait- No, that would be yesterday, wouldn't it? Gosh, how long has Two been awake worrying about this? They really haven't any idea. They sigh, maybe a walk will help. They push themself into a sitting position and grab their pink top hat from the table they'd created next to their hammock.

They were about to slide from the swinging fabric, before a voice—all too eerily familiar—speaks from behind them.

"Yo."

But before they can react, a claw is shoved over their mouth, muffling their screams. Their hat drops to the ground as the perpetrator's other hand crawls up their arm still bearing a hand and digs into their wrist. They try to lurch forward and break free, but the person behind them pulls them back. Blood leaks from their wrist, spreading across their skin and the claws of the person behind them. When, with a flick of their tail, they try to pull the perpetrator away with telekinesis, a green mist comes from the green hands of who they fear to know, causing their powers to falter as they begin to choke on the green in their lungs. A tail with fourteen green spheres crawls up the skin of their chest, and they can hear a sickeningly recognizable voice in both their mind and their ears.

"Calm down, Two," Fourteen taunted them, "Don't worry..."

As they continue to lack the strength to escape and they try to cough out the smog, their eyes flutter closed. From their wrist comes a stabbing pain that shoots through their arm as the smog causes them to pass out. Only moments after they feel their hand stripped from their body did they finally succumb, their form going limp as their breathing evens out, and their mind shuts off as they fall unconscious.

'...Just sleep it off... The pain will be gone momentarily, don't you worry...'

—————

As they blink their eyes open, they can hear voices around them. The first thing they noticed is how they're now inside a building, rather than out in the forest. They reach their hand up to rub their eye, only to be hit with the memory of waking up with a missing hand. So, they raise their other hand, only to find exposed bone and nerve endings where their wrist should have been. Their eyes widen, and they panic, immediately glancing down to check—

They still have their tail. Good, Fourteen didn't think of that.

They look up to the sound of a voice. Though, strangely enough, it wasn't Fourteen's. And despite being feminine, it isn't BarfBag's, either. Instead, they see a red pushpin looking down at them from a chair, saying, "Alright, they're up. I will admit, you did much better kidnapping them than I did. Even if the dismemberment job was a little messy..." She mumbled that last part under her breath, glancing to Fourteen.

As surprised as they are that Pin is doing this with him, their pupils were nearly the size of rice grains when the idea of Fourteen being here processed. "N- No... No, no nonononono- F- Fourteen!? How d- How are you-??"

Fourteen chuckled and stood from his chair. He took a couple steps forwards, until he was just inches away from Two, and crouched to be at eye level, his arms on his 'legs'.

"Surprised?" He asked.

Fourteen couldn't help but grin as Two stared, nearly petrified. "B- But we k- killed you-... Didn't-... we..?"

The larger number giggled and put a hand on his cheek. "Nope! I'm still very much alive and well! I've even gotten Pin here to help me get some good meals!"

Two stared with fear in their eyes for another moment, before it morphed into a look of hatred and rage. They raised their legs and kicked him in the stomach, Fourteen's misty limbs disappearing as he fell back with a lout "Off!" Sound. Two shot up, the telekinetic green swirl appearing around their tail as they picked up the cannibalistic algebralien.

"You PSYCOPATH!" They screamed at him, pure, unbridled anger laced in their every action. "You SADISTIC, INSANE, CANNIBAL! What is WRONG with you!?" The bubble holding Fourteen got a bit smaller each time they emphasized a word. "HOW could you be so INCOMPETENT as to how YOUR ACTIONS affect OTHER PEO- G-GACKK-!" They cut off as something pierced their chest.

The lime colour holding up Fourteen instantly dissipated as Two doubled over, green blood spraying from their mouth as it got coughed out. Pin huffed above them, pulling the knife out so that she can stab it into them again. And again. And again, before Two manages to swipe their tail through her feet and trip her over. In the time it takes her to regain herself, they're able to cast one more ability with the flick of the two orbs on their tail, teleporting themself to safety.

Two gasps in pain, writhing on the ground of somewhere random deep in the forest. They try their best to put pressure on the wounds they gained by being stabbed four times in the chest, but they can't suppress the more fatal holes for much longer, coughing out blood while curled up like a cat trying to sleep. Two has their eyes squeezed shut as they gasp and sputter in pain, trying to heal themself. But, they're just bleeding out too much. So, their tense muscles eventually relax, as they breathe in and out one last time.

—————

Teardrop runs near the front of the crowd with the fifteen other people who had been eliminated from TPOT. There had been a couple loud crashes just now, and they were checking to see what happened. All that she hears is the rapid pitter-patter of everyone's footsteps on the hard green roof of the inverted hotel.

They hear multiple gasps when the group discovers that a section of the hotel had been absolutely destroyed. Debris coats the roof here, and glass littered the area. Teardrop makes zeir way to the scene, and makes it to the edge of what's left of the ground they're all able to walk on. What lies beneath this gaping hole in the hallway is a pit that most likely leads to death.

It isn't long before another object makes their way next to xer, and Droppy glances next to her to see Coiny looking down into the abyss with them.

"Seesh, there's just a bottomless pit down there!" He exclaims.

Ze nods, agreeing. Xe crouches down, gripping the sides of the edge as she gazes across to the other side of the pit, where more hotel hangs. Though they and Coiny nearly fall off as something pink and fluffy zooms past them, the grease trap on her head as she flies around the area.

Puffball and Fries look around for a heartbeat, before the latter notices something above them, and shouts, "Hey, PB, let's check that out!" Pointing at something high up. Puffball glances to where he's pointing, and quickly flies up to inspect what seems to be a giant hole in the abyss. They look at it curiously for a bit, before Fries says, "Hm... What if I...?" While standing up on the other woman. He sticks his hand through the hole, and it seems to grow larger the further out the hole it is. Fries recoils his hand almost instantly, and looks down at the woman as she looks up at him. They both seem to have realized what this must be at the same time.

"Fly back down! We gotta get everyone else!" He shouts at her, falling back to his knees and gripping her pink fluff. Her pigtails spread out behind her as she zooms back down to the hotel, 'parking' just below the edge of the broken roof and growing almost as large as she can.

"Everyone hop on!" Fries yells at the others, beckoning them with his arm as he speaks.

Teardrop and Coiny both get on first. Everyone behind them, well, TD didn't pay any attention to the order. Soon, everyone had boarded, and Puffball flew up up and away to the hole in the sky. As they flew out and grew in size, it took everyone a second to realize that wasn't Puffy's own ability, and rather, everyone had grown to their original size.

Several people winced and others gagged at the dead body. From the outside, the holes in Two's chest only lead to flesh and bone, rather than to the hanging city of their pocket dimension. Puffball quickly flew up through the leaves to hide the corpse beneath the trees where they couldn't see it. Now above the trees, she flew in the direction away from the TPOT grounds.

"Hey!" Coiny called out as the location of his friends shrunk from their point of view, "You're going the wrong way!"

"We're not going to the clearing over there," Puffball's autotuned voice sang out.

"Why not?" He protested.

Fries spoke up suddenly. "Whoever—Or whatever—Killed Two is probably back there," he said without turning his gaze away from where they're flying. "I agree with Puffy, we really shouldn't go over there."

Coiny turned back to see the clearing with the cabins. Puffball flies fast; it's already nearly a speck from the distance they've already gained. "Awe..." he sighed out.

Pie walked up and patted his shoulder. "It's alright," she tried to comfort, "I'm sure you'll see everyone again soon."

"Are you two really just gonna lie there the entire time?" Eggy suddenly questioned the two flying objects, Cloudy and Lightning, who were sitting and lying respectively in Puffball's fluff.

"Eh, I don't really feel like flying," Lightning responded.

He was immediately followed up by Cloudy, who said, "Yeah, id'z juzd eazier than vollowing her."

"Hey, look!" The voice of Cake suddenly called out, pointing his foot at something in a clearing where the trees parted below.

Puffball simply flew past it, until Nickel shouted, "Puffy, stop! I saw it too!"

PB froze in her tracks. "Don't call me Puffy!" She protested, "But, what is it?"

"Down there!" Remote said, pointing behind them to that gap in the leaves. "I can hear voices coming from that forest clearing!"

Puffball turned and made her way to the area, lowering herself into the moonlit clearing. Remote was right, there are other objects in this clearing. Not just more objects—They're more contestants! Four's EXITors, to be specific.

"Hey, Pence-Pence! Look!" They heard match say, shaking the pencil from her previous sleeping state, as they flew in.

"IT'S PUFFBALL!" Bracelety shouted, "AND OTHER PEOPLE ON HER BACK!"

Liy looked over to see objects hopping from the woman's body. "Other contestants! What happened to BFB?"

"Didn't BFB finish?" Naily asked, wandering towards her slightly.

"BFB finished?" Firey Jr. questioned, "Then what happened to Four?"

"Didn't you guys come from Four?" Saw wondered, "You guys got sucked inside of him, didn't you?"

"Dadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadada," Dora explained... Kind of. "Dadadadadadadadadada."

Teardrop rose an eyebrow, and Fries asked, "...What?"

"She's saying that we escaped Four when he got brutally ripped in half. We were able to leave from his wound," 8-Ball said.

"Oh, the same thing happened with Two!" Coiny exclaimed, "Two got stabbed, and Puffball flew us out through the stab wound."

"Out of Two?" Stapy spoke up, "Who's Two?"

"Oh, right," Remote said, "While you were trapped inside of Four, Two came along and took forty of Four's contestants and started their own show, The Power Of Two."

Liy gave out a small gasp. "Remote!" She called as she hopped towards the mechanical mind. She took her hands and sighed out a long, relieved sigh. "Oh my switch- You have no idea how glad I am to see someone I can actually stand! Do you know what I had to do in there? Four forced us to do math for two years before we spent another four looking for a way out!"

"Okay, stop your little gay fest, Liy," Pencil interrupted, walking up with Match's hand in hers. "We've gotta figure this out before whatever killed Four, X and this Two person finds us."

"Oh, shut up with your 'gay fest', Pencil—Me and Remote aren't dating, but you and Match literally kissed before you went to sleep just now; so if anyone's gonna be having a 'gay fest', it's you!" Liy retorted.

"Wh- I- W- Whatever! We really need to focus and get the fuck out of this creepy forest!" Pencil pressed when she couldn't think of a comeback.

"Yeah, I like, agree with Pence-Pence, this place gives me the, like, creeps..." Match added.

Liy scoffed. "Of course you agree with your stupid girlfriend," she mumbled.

"GUYS! STOP FIGHTING!!" Bracelety shouted. "LET'S JUST GET OUT OF THIS FOREST BEFORE WE GET CAUGHT UP FIGHTING AGAIN!"

Fries turned to Puffball. "D'you think you'd be able to carry all of them, PB?" He asked.

She nodded. "It might get a bit crowded, though. I've never tried getting that big before."

"As long as there's no Gelatin to push half of us off," Fries muttered, before turning back to all the other objects and raising his voice to be heard over their arguing. "Guys, why don't we all just hop onto Puffy and have her fly us out of here!??"

The clearing suddenly went quiet, until Pie shrugged.

"I don't see why not," she said, "That sounds like a great plan."

Match's wooden splinter tail flicked irritably across the grass. "Like, I guess that's fine..." she mumbled, crossing her arms before taking Pencil's hand again and half-dragging her to the pink fuzz ball, who was growing in size to fit them all.

Everyone climbed on. Not having a ledge to act as a dock making it much harder for everyone to board, but they managed. It was a bit crowded, but nothing too much to handle. Puffball then rose into the air and looked around. "So, which way are we headed?" She asked.

"We were just going in that direction and seeing where it took us," Firey Jr. said, pointing somewhere to the north while being careful not to let his fire touch PB's fluff.

PB nodded slightly and began flying in that direction, quickly gaining the speed she had before. The reflection of the bright moonlight hitting the objects paired with the speed made them look like a shooting star to someone looking from a distance. And that's exactly what happened as the waves crashed against the shore of a certain island, the two objects sitting in the sand gazing up at the starry night sky.

"Maple, look!" Firey's metal form nudged the child gently, pointing towards the light that quickly faded in and out of the abyss of space. "Quick, make a wish!"

"Oh! Uh-..." Maple fumbled, trying to think of something. "I- I wish that I'll get to travel to the mainland and meet my uncle sometime!" She finally decided.

Firey grinned playfully. "Oh, no Match? You don't care for your aunt?" He teased.

Maple shook her head. "I wanna see her too, of course!" She defended, "You and mom just talk so much about uncle Coiny, and he sounds really fun!"

"Trust me, he isn't as awesome as he sounds," the metal flame admitted.

Maple giggled. "Yeah, well, mommy said not to believe you for that."

The two laughed for a bit, before Firey looked back up at the sky and sighed. "It's getting late, Mae," he said, "We should head back in and get some rest."

"Awwwe," Maple complained, "But I wanna stay out with you!"

Firey chuckled. "How about we come out again without mom tomorrow?" He offered.

"Okay, finneee," she pouted, reluctantly pushing herself to a stand.

Firey stood after a heartbeat aswell, watching her as she began making her way to the cabin. She was upset she had to sleep, but she still has a happy smile on her face. He smiled after her, about to join her before he was struck with a feeling in his metal skin. He stays back for a moment, walking closer to the shoreline as the metal effects began to wear off.

Being surrounded by two of the most flammable objects daily, it isn't often he gets to enjoy not being metal. He takes a long moment to stretch out his wings and tail that disappear whenever he eats a yoyleberry. They aren't technically parts of his body, so instead of turning into metal like his fiery object, they just burn out.

He took a good, long moment, before finally opening his eyes again and letting out a relieved sigh. He plucked a yoyleberry from its bush on his way back to the house, the metal quickly overtaking his fiery skin, and his flame limbs burning away into the night.

As he entered he was greeted with the flickering light of the small, carefully crafted fireplace, the flames licking at the dry firewood, unable to escape to the wooden walls on the other side of the stone that traps it. He brushed the sand from his boots on the mat at the door before continuing inside, the sound of his footsteps only accompanied by the crackling of the inanimate fire. The house was oddly quiet, as Leafy hasn't come back from her foraging trip yet.

He soon makes it to the nine year old's room, the door already wide open for him. Maple sat on her bed, swinging her legs as she patiently waited for her adoptive father to enter. Her whole face seemed to glow as his form cast a shadow in the doorway, her smile incredibly present through the dim light of the lamp on her shelf. Firey made his way towards her, giving her a soft smile as he closed the gap between them.

"Give me another story tonight?" She asked, gazing up at him with those big, cat-like eyes.

He chuckled. "Of course. You've gotta be ready to sleep first, though," he told her.

Maple was still grinning happily as she layed down. Firey took the blankets and pulled them over her before sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Which story do you wanna hear this time? I'm sure I've just about told you all of the ones I've got by now," he half joked.

"Hm... How about the one where you won the thingy?" She decided.

He smiled, at her before happily telling his story, how he'd incredibly won Dream Island, but not how it had been stolen by Leafy. "Oh, I remember that one vividly," he'd said time and time again, his daughter's favourite memory, "We were standing on those stages with your mother and Bubble on either side of me. Bubble was third place, leaving with just a cashew."

"You mean an 'ashew', right?" Maple interrupted, giggling at the announcer's mispronunciation.

"Yes," Firey said, chuckling, "She left with one 'ashew'. Then, with the lack of a drumroll, they revealed the votes with a pie chart, showing that I'm the winner! Then I got the grand cake, and was given the deed to Dream Island!"

"Then you let everyone on!" Maple announced excitedly, "Because you found a reason for everyone to join, right?"

Firey nodded, "Right, because everyone deserved to be on Dream Island in my eyes."

"And you and mom got to enjoy it together, just like everyone else did?"

Firey hesitated. "...Yeah, just like everyone else," he told her, a lie he's told many times. He stood, and leaned over to place a soft kiss on her forehead. "Now, go to sleep so you can wake up in a good mood in the morning and see mom, alright?"

"Okay, daddy!" She said, snuggling in and closing her eyes. But, as Firey began to close the door after putting out the flame in her lamp, she opened her eyes again and turned to him. "...Daddy?"

"Yeah?" He prompted.

"I love you," she told him with a soft smile, "Good night."

He smiled in turn, saying to her, "Good night, Mae," before shutting the door behind him. He then turned to see his girlfriend, practically jumping at her sudden appearance next to him.

"Hey," she greeted, leaning against the wall.

He stared at her a moment, still startled, before he wondered aloud, "...How long have you been standing there?"

"A while," Leafy shrugged, before taking a couple steps closer and placing a hand on his shoulder, her voice suddenly hushed and serious. "When are you going to give her the true ending to that memory?" She asked hin.

"I- I... Uh..." He stuttered out, "I... Don't know. I'll... Tell her eventually."

She gazed at him softly, her muted purple eyes locked with his, a striking orange. "You know I love you a lot," she told him.

He nodded. "I love you too," he said.

"I'm glad you've just been putting the past behind us, but you can't just keep denying it happened."

Her words dropped like a bombshell into his ears, his hands instinctively reaching to lightly grip his own arms. "I-... I know... It's just... I don't... Like it. I... I hurt you, and... And it wasn't even fun at the time."

"I know, Firey," she spoke, each word digging like a dagger to his heart as she continued, "But it still happened. It isn't healthy to just bottle up those memories."

His gaze landed between Leafy and him, a light sigh escaping his lips. "I... I know, Leafy..."

She leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek, before pulling back again and taking his hand. "Let's go get some rest, alright? It's already really late."

He nodded, following them the short distance to their room. The corners of his mouth crease into a soft smile as she pulls him towards her, the warm blankets pulled up over them. They cuddle gently as they eventually drift to sleep.

Though, the house wasn't entirely asleep, as Maple still tossed and turned, thinking about the words that her parents had failed to hide from her. What the real ending could be, she now longed to know. She'd have to ask about it, but daddy would probably make up something new. She'd have to ask mommy, sometime when daddy isn't around to spin the story to his liking again.

As she thought, the theories began to build up. Surely it couldn't be anything that bad. She's nine years old, so she knows about a lot of the crimes that exist—Murder, thievery, cannibalism, nothing mommy and daddy talk about escapes her keen hearing, especially in this cozy little cabin they all live in. Not to mention the fact that they've flat out told her about lots of it, sitting her down to have a serious conversation when she asks about something she'd overheard them saying.

As she theorized, she couldn't help but consider those bad things. But it was too hard to imagine her unconditionally loving parents as criminals. Maybe someone else had done something bad? But that wouldn't fit what mommy and daddy had said outside her door.

Unbeknownst to her, someone had been 'doing something bad' a little bit before that very moment, far off somewhere back in Goiky. In the clearing of the contesting grounds, a body had been desperately searched for. Separated from her partner in crime—whom she heavily chooses not to view as such, for good reason—as he had been out looking elsewhere—though he's probably back at Tennisball's cabin by now—Pin wanders back through the clearing, heading back to her house in a calming, silent walk home, since neither Pin nor Fourteen were speaking much. So now she makes her way back to her cabin to wash the green stains from her skin and lay in her bed, her journey accompanied by the sound of her thoughts and her footsteps. But as she made it the end of her journey, she failed to notice the three new faces who had joined her at the very end.

And she and her accomplice couldn't even process the attack in time for her to be restrained, the chemically scent of the chloroform covered rag that had covered her mouth and nose slowly working to knock her unconscious. Pin struggled in her captor's grasp, almost breaking free, before more shouts were heard and she was held back by a second pair of hands. She tried to scream for help, to kick them off, but nothing happened to save her before her eyes fluttered closed, and she was forced to succumb to the sleepyness.

Chapter Text

As Pin fell limp in his arms, the marker watched as her house keys slipped from her grasp, hitting the ground with a small clank. He turned to the others that were with him. "Are you sure this was the most humane way to knock her out?" He asked, "This still feels close to murder."

Tree sighed as he walked towards the ink stick. "I'm sure, Marker. The only other options any of us could think of were either that we knock her out by hitting her out with a blunt object, or one of Pillow's insane ideas, alright?"

"I agree. While the only real option that was more humane was just to keep her awake, we all agreed that that was too risky," Black Hole put in.

Marker made a sort of pathetic, quiet whining sound as he handed the unconscious body to Tree, who held her not too kindly in his arms as the three made their way back to the plant's cabin. Marker quickly took the keys and unlocked the door when they made it, and they all entered (A/N don't ask how BH got in).

The purple marker opened the door to Tree's new basement so that the plant could, quickly and carefully, carry Pin down to the sleeping aid who was waiting for him with ropes in her hands, ready to restrain the other murderer. She told Tree to place her on the ground, so he did. But he put up more of an argument when she ordered he leave her to be completely alone with the pushpin.

"And why on earth would you need that?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"For... Reasons?" She tried to fib, "I'd like to talk to her privately first. If you really must talk to her aswell, you can come down after."

"That sounds awfully suspicious, Pillow."

"Since when was anything I said not suspicious?" She scoffed out, before waving her hand as if to push him away with the air. "Now go! I'll take care of it from here. You can go hang out with your boyfriend and the marker guy, or whatever." Tree glared at her a moment longer, before reluctantly turning and leaving, shutting the door at the top of the stairs.

Pillow watched him go, and waited a bit longer to hear if they were listening in. Without completely confirming that they weren't she then tossed the ropes against the wall and backhand slapped Pin across the face in an attempt to wake her. When she didn't immediately stir awake, Pillow simply slapped her again, this time in the other direction.

A muffled whine broke past Pin's lips, and she began to slowly regain consciousness. Her body rolled to its side as she groaned, a hand slowly lifting to rub her cheek. When her eyes finally fluttered open, she was immediately greeted with the purple sleeping aid standing over her, watching her as her grogginess completely removed what would have been a startled reaction. Eventually, she managed to open her mouth, her voice slightly raspy as she voiced her confusion.

"...What the fuck..?"

"Good morning, sleepyhead~!" Pillow sang out as Pin slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, and further away from the psychopath.

"Isn't it night...?" Pin asked, in that same groggy way she'd asked her other question.

"Well, from a technical standpoint," Pillow said while lifting her body to stand again, her hands placed firmly on her hips, "It's two in the morning."

Pin glared at the woman as if she could send her confusion to her through the way she looked at her. "Wh... What happened...?" She asked.

"I convinced DPA to kidnap you so that I can ask you to let me join you," she informed. "By the way, can I come kill with you?"

"I'm not... Killing anyone...?"

"Yes, you are. And I want to join you."

"N... No I'm not... Why would I be... killing anyone...?" Some of Pin's words slurred together, slightly incoherently, as she struggled to keep herself sitting upright.

Pillow began walked around her, circling her once before sitting down directly to her left. She placed an arm around her and said, "To eat them, silly! Don't play dumb!"

"Don't touch me.." Pin said, glaring at her but lacking the current strength to pull away from her grip.

Pillow didn't move. "C'mon, don't pretend you haven't been doing it! You must love murder nearly as much as I do if you're doing all this!"

"I'm sure nothing that I've done is... Remotely even c.. close to the atrocities... that you've committed." Pin spat.

"Exactly!" She sang, "You have no reason not to trust me!"

"You literally just said you're working with Death P.A.C.T...."

"I said I was pretending to work with Death P.A.C.T.. Those are two very different things," Pillow explained.

Pin just sat for a moment and glared at her, before her mouth finally opened again. "Prove it."

"Huh?" The pillow asked, caught off guard by the sudden demand.

"Prove you're not just lying... When you say you wanna join me."

Pillow shrugged. "Eh, why not?" She said before pushing herself up and going to the wall where she'd tossed the rope a bit before, lifting it back into her hands. She then made her way to the door and opened it slightly, just enough for her head to peek out. "Tree! You can come down and help question her now!" She shouted.

She heard an impatient groan from the room above, and saw the door at the top of the stairs open. Tree made his way down, glaring suspiciously at her grin as he reached the bottom. She opened the second door for him and he entered, looking around to find the pushpin. Though, unfortunately, as she closed and locked the door, he failed to realize the attack Pillow had planned on the spot. She didn't even jump him, just grabbed both his arms from behind. Pin scooted away slightly as she watched in shock as Pillow restrained the plant through his struggles and shouts, quickly overpowering him and finishing by tying the gag originally meant for her over his mouth.

"P- Pillow... What the pin factory..??" She breathed out, not even sure what she just witnessed.

Surprisingly—or, unsurprisingly, by this point—the pillow reached into the top of her pillow case and pulled a knife out; one of the ones with the plastic covers on them that you might take camping. She removed the cover and spun it in her hand. "Now will you believe me?" She asked.

"I... Wh... When I told you to prove it, I didn't..." her gaze flicked from Pillow to Tree, who continued struggling in his restraints, to no avail. "I didn't expect... that..."

"Did you want more proof?" She wondered, strolling closer to the plant who had pushed himself to the wall. A sound that could have been a grunt made its way into the cloth-like gag as Pillow pulled him to the middle of the room. She held him sitting up, his head against her arm while she stood next to him, thanks to the height difference allowing her to position them so. Her tail wrapped around him, blood from his neck slowly dripping onto the purple fluff as she used the knife to just barely break his skin.

Tree struggled fearfully in her grip. He stared at Pin, as if begging her for help through his gaze, waiting for her to save him from the sadist. However, instead of helping him, she simply remained there, her gaze suddenly stern and serious as she watched. Her hands clenched at her sides, she demanded, "Do it."

"Hm?" Pillow tilted her head curiously.

"Do it. Finish the job," Pin pressed. "You wanna prove you actually want to join me? Then do it. Prove you deserve my trust."

Pillow's grin widened. "Alrighty, then. I've got no objections," she said. She instead removed the knife from his throat, though. She looked down at him with a chuckle. "This is something I've wanted to do to you and your stupid team for a while, now," she added to him, before stabbing the knife directly through his spleen. He yelped a muffled sound of pain, his body instinctively trying to double over before Pillow pulled his head back against her soft waist. Tree forced a clenched eye shut to glare at them as she roughly held his face. She stabbed him once more in the stomach, sadistically watching him writhe in pain. Pin suddenly jumped up, her eyes wide as she half ran, half stumbled, towards them with a panic in her eyes as Pillow finally put him out of his misery, her blade effortlessly sliding across his throat.

The terrors of his murder instantly faded away as he finally managed to lean over, freed from Pillow's grasp. His clenched fists held him up as he took a gasp of fresh air and glared at the ground, before glancing back up as a plug tail brushed against his cheek. Her gaze rested sympathetically on his, her mouth opening in words he couldn't quite process. It all felt surreal, like a near death experience. A mere hallucination.

A mere hallucination

—————

And then he was gone.

His body fell limply to the ground, a small thud making its way out of the hard wooden basement flooring. His crimson blood splattering wildly across the ground. Pin watched in horror as the life was sucked from his body. She felt tears threaten at her eyes, but never escape; just like every other death she had witnessed. Finally, she furrowed her brows, clenching her fists and looking back up to Tree's killer.

Pillow looked up at her in turn. "So, can I join you now?" She asked impatiently, as if Tree's death was simply the result of an average day. Because, to her, it was.

"...Fine," Pin spat coldly. "But you have to help make this look less like a cold-blooded murder. They'll instantly know it was us."

"Oh, just you watch," she calmly said. She then presented the knife, the same one coated with Tree's blood. "Untie him," she nodded towards the corpse.

As Pin began doing that, Pillow took her knife and cut a slit into her wrist. It wasn't that big, nor was it that deep. It just barely drew blood, but any drop it gave would be useful. Pillow began walking around the room, flicking her wrist and getting her crimson liquid all over the walls and floor in small splatters.

When she returned to Pin, she had long finished her task, now watching Pillow do her own work. Her hands and legs were covered in the blood she had been sitting in a puddle of. The rope was held loosely in her hands, and she stood up as Pillow approached.

"Get some of Two's blood on some stuff," she told her. Pin hesitated, but eventually nodded and began walking around. There isn't any furniture down here to really get dirty, so she smeared the green onto the walls and floor instead, similar to how Pillow had just gotten her own blood all over the room.

"Now that it looks like an actual struggle happened, help me bring him with us," Pin was told as she walked back. Pin picked up the tree and dragged him behind her as she followed Pillow to the only window. Pillow reached up for the latch and opened it, lifting the small glass panel. Her soft nature made it easy for her to squeeze through the tiny space, but Pin's solid plastic couldn't squish through so easily. She passed the plant through the hole in the wall to Pillow, who placed him next to her on the yellow grass, before Pillow then reached down to take Pin's hand, helping her position herself in just the right way to climb up and escape. Once they were both outside, Pillow grabbed the tree's arm, pulling him along behind them as they wandered behind the cabins.

Pin led Pillow to where she and Fourteen had been doing most of their work, aswell as informing her about the algebralien altogether on the walk there. She had a feeling the two would get along. They're both sadistic cannibals, after all.

Pin knocked on the door exactly fourteen times, something that her and Fourteen had come up with to make sure the number isn't just gonna unlock the door for anyone. The doorknob jiggled slightly and the door eventually opened. The algebralien gave a short gasp and wrapped his arms around Pin, spinning with her.

"You made it!" He exclaimed, "You didn't die!"

"Yeah, yeah, I didn't die," she groaned. "Now put me the fuck down."

Fourteen set her down gently on the floor, staining a portion of the carpet red with the blood she'd gotten on her boots. "Ah, my bad," he said to her, "I'm just glad you made it!"

"If you were that worried about the fact that I just got kidnapped, why didn't you come save me?" She asked, slightly irritated.

"Because I didn't know where you were, duh! And I couldn't stay speaking to you 'cause of the chloro-..." he trailed off as he noticed the other object standing in the doorway. His eyes scanned over her, taking in her bloody form. "...Did Pillow help you out, or something?" He asked the scarlet object.

"Yup!" Pillow stated before Pin could say anything. "And we got another kill in while we were at it!"

"Ooh, sweet!" Fourteen exclaimed. "Well, come on in!" He turned to Pin and added, "I assume she's joining us?"

"Yeah, she-" Pin started

"WHAT ON THE EVER LOVING CANAL HAPPENED HERE!??"

Black Hole's scream boomed through almost the entire clearing. Not one soul, not even his own boyfriend, knew that he could get that loud. But when he discovered the crime scene and the sudden disappearance of that beloved tree he holds near and dear to his heart, he couldn't help but snap, his shock and distress allowing his vocal cords to achieve such a volume that he could be heard even from a distance as far from him as Tennisball's cabin.

"Shit- Guys! Get ins-..." Pin started, before realizing the trail left behind from the pillow as she'd enter the building. "P- PILLOW! WERE YOU DRAGGING HIM?!?"

"Yeah. Why?" She answered, barely even fazed.

"You idiot!" Pin berated, "Even I knew not to drag the corpses after the first time I did it, and the only reason I did drag TB was because he was too heavy to carry!"

"What's so bad about dragging them?" Pillow asked.

Pin pointed angrily at the bloody trail. "That! You're going to have led them straight to us! We- We gotta go! Shit! Where do we go!??"

"Oh!" Fourteen chimed in, "I know! I have a hideout out in the forest I was staying in before I moved into this cabin!"

"No, no, that won't work!" Pin said, "They'll look for me and Pillow- I- They-!"

"I'VE GOT IT!" Fourteen shouted.

"What!?? What's your idea???" Pin begged.

"Just trust me! Pin, Pillow, head to your homes! Wash yourselves off!" The number said, before placing one of his hands over either of their mouths and dispensing the smallest bit of smog into their lungs; just enough for his ability to activate. "Where were they keeping you??'

"I- F- Fine! I don't know where we were, though." Pin gave in after a small cough. "Whatever you're planning had better work," she remarked, more scared than angry, before bursting out the doorway and booking it to her home.

Pillow left quickly after her. "I dunno what that smoke thing was, but, we were in Tree's cabin," she said as she waved 'goodbye' to him before adding, "And you seem cool, so I'll trust you!"

And with that, Fourteen was left alone with only their voices to make sure they get home safe, and so that he can let them know when he's done. He quickly burst out the door, flying as fast as he could to the, now late, Tree's home. He found the small basement window, still wide open, and stuck his hands into the room, filling the basement with smoke.

BH and Marker were almost immediately caught in it, coughing and hacking to get the smog out of their lungs. He waited until he was confident the smoke inhalation had knocked them out cold to let any of it dissipate, before he then forced his way into the room, breaking the window as well as some of the wall in his mad rush to cover up the mess that Pillow had made. He quickly spotted the purple marker, grabbing it. He speedily removed the marker's purple cap, creating marks all over the wall, frantically writing. He then dropped the marker and ran from the room, squeezing back through the only window available.

That should be cryptic enough to keep them on their toes

That should be cryptic enough to keep them on their toes. While the other two objects were still knocked out and unable to hear him, Fourteen said through his ability, "They've been dealt with. But, Pin, they'll still have so much suspicion for you, won't they? Pillow now, too, probably."

'Yeah, they probably will,' Pin said.

'Hmph, I still think I did a very good job getting us out of there,' Pillow remarked, clearly offended.

"I've got a plan to deal with the suspicion for Pin, just not for Pillow," he told them, "I don't think there's any saving her by now anyways, though."

'Hey!' Pillow shouted. 'At least I had a plan to get us out of there!'

"Be glad Pin can't hear you right now!"

'Why? What's she saying!??' Pin demanded.

"Nothing! Just- Leave me be! I'll get rid of everyone's Pin suspicions!" He didn't even give them another second to respond before he shut off his ability, and went out looking for the object he needs to find to get rid of Pin's suspects.

—————

(A/N: You guys aren't ready)

The pitter-patter of Needle's footsteps morphed with the pitter-patter of everyone else's as she ran through the clearing. Although she was running originally towards the sound of the void's distressed voice, she stumbled to a stop as she passed Pin's cabin. She stopped and instantly turned the corner, banging on her door. It was dead silent from inside that home, and that scared the ever loving thread out of her.

However, just as she'd opened her mouth to shout out to her girlfriend, she erupted into coughs. Her panic for her lover had distracted her from the green smog that had begun surrounding her. Unluckily for her, most everyone was much closer to Tree's house than her. The smog quickly disappeared, leaving her gasping for air where her knees had given in.

"P... Pin..!.?" She managed out. Somehow, her worry for her lover's safety still overtakes the worry for her own. However, another voice speaks to her in response, one other than that of her lover.

'Do you want your girlfriend back, Needy..?'

Through her worry, she can't even find herself being offended by the use of her dead name. "Yes! Yes, please!" She begs, pushing herself to her feet and searching for the source of the voice. She eventually spots the same green mist that had choked her moments before somewhere in the trees.

'Follow it,' the voice tells her, 'I have Pin. She's safe and sound, but you won't see her again if you don't follow.'

She can't help it. She chases after the mist as fast as she can. Her feet crush the dry, frost-covered leaves beneath them as she shoots through the woods like a lightning bolt. If there was even a fragment of a chance that this thing had harmed her Pin- She couldn't risk it. She couldn't take the chance.

However, she freezes in her tracks as she hears a thud from somewhere in front of her. The mist disappears completely, leaving her in the middle of the dark woods with no sense of direction. Her heart thuds so rapidly in her chest she can hear it. "H- Hello...?" She calls out. "Hello??"

'Hey, remember when I said I've got Pin?'

No, it... it didn't... Did it...? It wouldn't have... "Y- Yeah...?" She finds her lips trembling. Actually, her entire body is trembling; rather uncontrollably, too.

'Well, uh...

'Sike.'

As if on cue, something jumps her. She can't even comprehend what it is before she dodges and runs.

"Oh, yes. Don't spare me the thrill of the chase," the voice calls from behind her, the sound no longer in her head. She feels a booming shake the ground, but she's too petrified to turn back. Looking would likely scare her more than not knowing what this beast looks like. The adrenaline shooting through her body forces her to run faster than she had ever run before, and that's pretty damn fast, until the booming eventually falls far behind her.

But adrenaline never lasts forever, and she needs to catch her breath. She ducks behind a tree, gasping for air. It doesn't take long for her to hear the creature again. It stops somewhere near where she's hiding, and her heart beats as if it's protruding from her chest like she's in some sort of fucked up children's cartoon.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are~!" It calls. She slaps her hands over her mouth to prevent any noise from coming out—Not that she's even calm enough to dare making a sound. She finally gains the courage to take a peek around the tree, her body moving slowly as to not rustle the leaves of the bush next to her.

It isn't there.

Or, she thought it wasn't, until its voice was heard directly beside her, taunting and malicious.

"Boo."

She can't help it. She screams. Her shriek may as well have been so loud that all the animals for miles scurried off into their burrows and flew off past the horizon. She falls backwards, and she doesn't have the time to regain herself before a huge green figure lands on top of her.

It looks like an algebralien, but its claws are so much sharper than even Four's were. It holds her face down with a sadistic grin, bearing its razor-sharp teeth much alike those of Pillow's. She struggles beneath its grip, but it's far too strong for her, and she's already tired out from running.

She lets out another scream as it suddenly digs its claws into her stomach. The pain, unlike anything she had ever experienced before, didn't stop there. It pulled its claws out only to stab them back in like a knife, destroying everything within her that had worked so hard to keep her alive. It doesn't take long for the blood loss to get to her. She can feel her life flashing before her eyes, before it eventually slips from her grasp.

As the pain fades away, I can feel a sense of relief washing over me. No longer did I feel the weight of that sadistic algebralien weighing me down. Except, that shouldn't have been the case, because when my previously clenched eyes fluttered open, I could still see it, gazing proudly at my mangled form as if it had created a beautiful sculpture.

I soon realize why I couldn't feel it on me anymore. It had removed its hands from me, and the bloodied limbs now rested on its hips. I take the opportunity and scoot backwards, but something obscures my vision. I yelp and flail around, eventually escaping whatever I had been trapped within.

That thing was... A tree..? But... how...?

I suddenly feel something grab my shoulder, and I yank myself away, screaming, "ACK!! GO AWAY YOU MON-...s...ter...? E- ERASER!??"

The man had stumbled back slightly at my sudden outburst. "Sorry to startle you there, Needle. I should have realized you'd be on edge, especially after you went through all that," he said to me, his voice filled with understanding and sympathy.

"Wh... What..? What happened?? How are you- You're dead!" I exclaim. My mind races to discover what's happening, but it feels like back when I was a child, and that one piece of the jigsaw puzzle was nowhere to be found. "You... Everyone thought you were dead..?"

"I am dead," he explains, motioning to his wispy form and the more than obvious 'scars' on his stomach and forehead. "And so are you."

"B- But how..?" I was never a very superstitious person, so everything happening seems impossible. It should be impossible! "I'm standing here! How could I be standing here and talking as if I was alive if I'm actually dead!?"

"Argh- Because you're a ghost, you idiot!" A higher, more feminine voice shouted from behind me. I whip my head around to see the one who nobody had heard from since this whole thing started. The reason for that being, well, because she was the first one killed.

Ice Cube glared, annoyed, at me as I scanned her transparent body. Cracks seem to coat every inch of her, all stemming from the same location at one of her top corners. I stare at her, shocked. This... No... No... No no no no no no no no no... This... This can't be happening... This can't be happening...!!

I immediately rush around the tree that I had previously phased through to see the algebralien's already long gone. However, I do hear someone running up, and I turn to see Book and Price Tag making their way towards the sound of where my screams had been. They obviously panic as soon as they see my gorey, lifeless body. I do too, since I hadn't seen it previously. Seeing your own soulless form is more than disorienting, you know.

Eraser and other dead objects come to comfort and keep me stable as my legs give in. Were they even holding me up in the first place? I don't know. All I know is that living people are all screaming and panicking at the sight of my corpse. I barely even flinch as some of the still breathing objects phase through me, not even aware that I'm there.

The only sound that snaps me out of my petrified state is that of my lover. I immediately search around for the source of her voice. She's somewhere near the back of the crowd- she hasn't made it to my body yet, but I don't need to see to know she's pushing her way through. I take a step towards her voice, before I feel someone's fingers wrap around my lower arm. I turn to see Eraser, shaking his head.

"It's better to accept you can't stop it rather than attempt to comfort her," he told me. "Trust me, I know from experience."

"B- But she-" I start, before being cut off by the voice of an electrical fan who was walking up from behind my brother's deceased crush.

"She isn't gonna fucking care anyways," Fanny said, her mouth now on her face again as if she had never lost it. "She's the one that killed us in the first place! I hate her!" I could barely even process the scars all along her body before my mind felt like mush from the truth bomb.

"She... She was... The...?" I feel my lips trembling again. This is too much. THIS IS TOO MUCH.

As I suddenly bolt away from them all, I can hear Eraser's voice somewhere behind me. It sounds like he's scolding Fanny. I honestly couldn't care less about their argument at this point. I can't handle this much. Not this much. Not at once. I run through the trees; quite literally, in fact. I don't even pay attention to the amount of plant life I phase through, I'm too disoriented and distressed about this whole situation to care. I feel so scared.

But the thing that petrifies me the most, well...

It has to be the terrified and inconsolable shriek of my lover shooting through the forest and hitting my eardrums like a nuclear warhead.

Chapter Text

I feel so scared.

I feel so rushed to accept everything that had just happened.

I feel so angry at that thing for putting me through this.

I feel so glad to finally see someone like Eraser's face in a situation where they aren't pale and lifeless again, after all that time.

But most of all, I feel betrayed.

I feel betrayed by the woman I had loved the most.

She had lied to me. How much had she lied about? Did she ever even love me? Did she mean what she'd said when we talked about Coiny back in that Atwosement Park?

I remember that conversation even more clearly than all our others, which is saying a lot. I remember that little letter we found on the edge of the canal, sent through the ocean in a glass bottle by Firey and Leafy and the child they said they adopted.

Maple. Her name is Maple. All small and cat-like; I remember the photo vividly.

I also remember the way Firey wrote that she wants to see her uncle, Coiny.

Coiny.

Firey's and Match's step-brother. He and Match never really talked, but he and Firey had always had that playful sibling rivalry going on. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that he hadn't been born through the same mother his siblings shared with him. They still seemed to accept him, though, as if he had been.

In a way, that's why I can feel a sort of connection to him. Neither of us had been born directly into our families.

Of course, both of our situations are different. I was adopted, while Coiny's mother had simply gone through a divorce, and got remarried to his biological father. I'm not related to my family at all by blood, while he was still related half by blood. That's why I've sometimes felt envious of his family situation. Having half-siblings must be indefinitely better than being adopted.

At least my family had always accepted me. Whenever me and Pen got into another argument, Marker would almost always swoop in with the, "At least our parents wanted her". Of course, that card discriminated against himself, too, but I could tell he always felt it was worth it to see the look on his younger brother's face.

It's funny. Marker is the oldest, yet he's the shortest. And I'm the youngest, yet I'm the tallest, and the most mature.

Coiny's family always accepted him too, though, to my knowledge. He never talks about them in a negative light, although he never speaks about missing his parents, or ever wanting to see them again.

The way he speaks about everything... His handsome voice, his passionate attitude... It's what's captivated me for fourteen long years. Why I had always felt I loved him in a way more than I had loved anyone else.

Of course, there is one other person I had developed feelings for. That night in the bed with Pin, the way her soft body had held so tightly to me. She's so beautiful. She's so, so beautiful. And witty. And smart.

So when she admitted to me, when Firey mentioned his name in his family's letter, that she still sometimes fantasizes about being with him, I was more than thrilled. She talked as though she was ashamed about it, as if she was cheating on me for simply having those thoughts. The thing was, though, she didn't talk about being only with him. She talked about being with both of us.

Honestly, I could never have felt so relieved. I'd been waiting for an opportunity to tell her my own feelings for so long, so of course I instantly suggested it. I had discovered what it was that I wanted with them back when I was having my identity crisis, and I was googling frantically, trying to figure out what on earth I am, and what on earth I want.

A polycule. A chance to be with the both of them. Oh, she was ecstatic when I'd suggested it, she almost seemed like she was about to cry tears of joy. Honestly, I could feel them creeping through my own eyes, aswell. We almost couldn't wait to see him again. A relationship with all three of us? It was perfect. It was so perfect. We were sure Coiny would love the idea aswell-He'd already more than proven through his previous actions that he likes us too, he's terrible at hiding it.

I had never noticed his feelings for me, but when I told Pin about how he definitely loves her, well, she pointed out everything she had noticed. Turns out we were both so wrapped up in our own feelings for him that we'd failed to notice his feelings for us, aswell as our feelings for eachother, until he was out of the picture.

That was such an amazing moment.

But now it's ruined.

I'll never see Coiny again. And on the off chance I do, he won't get to see me. I'm invisible. I'm invisible to anyone living.

And now my girlfriend is off crying about my death, while I sit here sobbing into my legs.

Is she even my girlfriend anymore?

Do I even love her anymore?

This discovery. She's betrayed me. She's betrayed my trust. I don't know if I'll ever be able to give it back to her. I don't know if she'll ever deserve it back.

I don't know what I want. And now I'm trapped in this winding spiral of fears and uncertainties.

I remember the first time she spoke to me. It was simple. Nothing more than needing to talk me purely for the contest. All she had done was asked me if I wanted Leafy to win.

Who knew it would turn into this deeply rooted love for her? That passion shared with every small kiss? How could one not fall for her? Me and Coiny are living examples of how captivating she can be, if someone would give her the chance.

Now I don't know who to be angry at. The obvious choice should be her, should it not? She had killed everyone. She had ruthlessly stripped the lives away from all of those innocent objects.

But as much as I want to be angry at her, I can't. I don't understand. I should be furious. I should be furious at her for all of the lies she has told me.

But I find myself more angry at myself than at her. I love her. And I'm so stupid for doing so. She's a heartless murderer. But after getting so much closer to her these past few months, I find it so, so hard to imagine her as such.

Perhaps Fanny had been mistaken. Perhaps she hadn't really seen who the killer is when they got her. That would be the most logical explanation for the seemingly magical change of heart coming from Pin; that the change of heart could have never been there to begin with.

But Fanny was never one to leave a mystery unsolved. Sure, she could have suspects, but she would never outright accuse someone without absolute certainty... I mean, I think she wouldn't... She really doesn't seem like the type.

I throw my head back, half expecting it to phase right through the trunk of the tree I'm sitting in front of. To my surprise, it actually hits it. I wince, having thrown myself too hard at the plant. Strange; as soon as I was thinking about it, I could touch the solid object.

I sigh. I already miss Pin. I miss her so much. I know I shouldn't, because of the things she has done, the atrocities she has committed. And I know that there's no going back for her. What's done is done, and what's done is irreversible.

But I can still remember our first interactions. I remember chanting to make Pin switch teams. Oh, how stupid I was, for wanting her away from me.

And then I remember when Coiny forced me to switch to their team. I'm sure everyone had thought it was just because I didn't want to be called my dead name, when really, I mostly wanted an excuse to be on the same team as Coiny. I had hated being near Pin at first.

And then I remember being stuck in that bug tank. Everyone else on our team was dead. I was with Pin, though. We were the only two left. And then, I think, Bomby blew up in the other tank.

I remember Coiny and Pin sharing that high-five. I remember feeling really upset. I had thought it was just because the coin creature had excluded me, but I'm not so sure now.

I remember watching as Pin got her limbs removed. I hadn't cared back then, but boy, do I regret not helping her now.

I remember when Pin and I had watched as the frozen forms of Nickel and Coiny created the money portal. I remember her sushing me when I'd tried to explain where the money came from.

I remember Coiny and I ripping Pin in half when she said she was upset we were destroying spaceships. I regret that now, but oh, it was so funny at the time.

I remember Pin swapping my vocal cords with Coiny's. Even I got confused about who was talking sometimes, but I would never admit that.

I remember watching in terror as Pin lost her face. It was horrifying. Maybe if she had gotten some help back then, she wouldn't be doing this today.

I remember seeing Coiny carrying that faceless Pin. I remember my heart falling into my stomach as she sank to the bottom of the ocean.

I remember trying not to care as Pin lost her size. I would have been betraying Freesmart if I'd shown any objections. But, was it really worth it?

I remember commenting on how little cranking it took to get Pin out from there. I remember wanting to fit in; to make Freesmart want me. They never did want me. I was just there to replace Ice Cube.

I remember helping Pin look for her blueberry seeds. We never did find them.

I remember seeing Pin be mutilated by Four. I was about to step in, but Coiny did before I got the chance.

I remember Pin's speech. Her lovely voice, inspiring us to keep going, despite the loss of Loser.

I remember suggesting that Pin be the one to bring Four back. I remember Coiny helping to convince her that she can do it.

I remember hanging outside by the grass with Pin and Teardrop. I remember Pin watching in concern as my body morphed into that of a photorealistic one.

I remember the imposter asking me when I had turned photorealistic. They were pretending to be Pin. They were clearly the imposter.

I remember me and her following Coiny to reform W.O.A.H. Bunch.

I remember asking Pin if she'd remembered that apple she was going to get. I remember her admitting her mistake.

I remember chatting with her after Saw's elimination. We both missed the other woman already.

I remember watching Pin feel so sad after Coiny's elimination. I remember her feeling so distraught. I remember having to flee with her from a zombie Coiny. I remember being crushed in front of her eyes.

I remember dumping different liquids into BarfBag. I remember being dying next to her from the fall after we'd escaped the bag's dream.

I remember walking with Pin. I remember the intrusive thought coming in. I remember telling her, "I wonder what I taste like." I remember her dumbfounded reaction.

I remember talking with her in that second roll call. GB hadn't done any more since then, probably because of the grief of losing her lab partner. I remember her breakdown. But now that I know she's the murderer, I wonder, was all of that fake?

I remember sleeping in that bed with her. All of her worries washing away as she clutched onto me—her best friend. I remember her tears so vividly. They felt so true; so... real.

I remember waking up the next morning, having to shove the pillow into her clutch so that her unconscious form would let me leave the bed. I remember watching her scarf down those eggs like she hadn't eaten in weeks. Had she eaten in weeks?

I remember calming her for a second time, keeping her stable when then news of Tennisball's death had been announced. I remember her cries. None of them were real though, were they..?

I remember holding you in my arms as you cried into my chest, immediately after you had killed Bell. Most of our interactions since you started doing this involved me comforting you, huh? I'm not even sure Bell's death was an accident anymore.

I remember those three words you'd said to me, so abruptly cut off. I remember your words so vividly. So easily. They flow back into my mind as if the memory will never leave. Now I sort of wish it will. I don't hate the memory. It's such a nice one. When we shared our feelings all because of your mouth moving faster than your mind. I remember. I remember our first kisses together. They were so loving. So passionate. And cuddling afterwards, well, there couldn't even be a best part of it. It's all equally amazing, the event of the relationship finally forming. It's a shame we couldn't be alive together for as long as I'd hoped.

I remember waking up to your muffled shouts and thrashing that same night, so early in the morning. I remember their wild accusations. I remember defending you like my life depended on it. I thought it did. Should I have defended you? I loved you. I still love you. It could only have been my most logical action that night.

I remember standing by your side as you and Barf Bag shot accusations at eachother. I remember how I didn't say much. I didn't think I needed to; you were managing just fine yourself, after all.

I remember the sorrow that filled my soul when you apologized, after I discovered the bangades coating your arms. I remember thinking you had cut yourself, but you never confirmed my suspicions. That was the same night Fanny had died, so had you gotten those injuries killing her, instead of what I'd assumed?

I remember your amazed gaze scanning through the brand new and colourful rides in the Atwosement Park. I remember the rides we went on and the food we ate much less than I remember your beautiful face. I remember finding that paper airplane. I remember suggesting the polycule. I remember returning and hanging out in your room afterwards, sharing affectionate words and actions.

That's the last thing I remember doing with you, Pin. And I already miss you. I can hear you crying over me. It sounds like your the only one left in that clearing. I can't tell if your wails are genuine or not. I hope the are, but recent information is trying to convince me otherwise.

I hear Eraser's voice before me. It seems he's come to comfort me. I hope that's true. I need a lot of comforting, and you probably don't even know I'm still here.

It's funny, huh? The moment I know that you're a liar, the roles in our recent friendship reversed. Now I'm the one that needs comforting.

And you're the one that's faking your true feelings.

I miss you. I miss you so much. And I love you so much. Nothing can hide my feelings for you.

I'm scared.

And I'm sorry.

"Hey," Eraser said as he sat himself down against the tree next to her. He leans against the trunk, gazing at her as she sat sadly on the ground. "...You good?"

Needle didn't say anything at first. She just sat against the tree sadly. Eventually, though, she let out a sigh. "I don't know..." she breathed out.

Eraser shifted to see her a bit better from the position he was sitting in. "Do you... Wanna talk about it?"

Her lips trembled slightly as she thought, her mouth opening to speak, but no words coming out for a long moment. "I- I don't know..."

They sat in silence for a good minute, before Eraser eventually stood. He extended an arm to Needle, saying, "C'mon, I wanna show you something."

Needle, hesitant, eventually took his hand, accepting his help to stand. He pulled her up, before then leading her back through the clearing. They walked past the now empty crime scene where Needle had died, her flinching when she stepped into the blood pool. Of course there was no splash. Her feet never really touched the puddle. They didn't pay any mind to the fact that the corpse was gone. Eraser led her all the way to Pin's house, and they stopped right there at the walls of her cabin.

They could hear muffled voices arguing inside. Of course, one of them was indistinguishable from Pin's, although the enraged tone made it seem so unlikely that it was hers- Needle had never heard her that angry before. She took a hesitant step closer to the door when the voices stopped, but then it swung through her, Pin bursting out of the building and stumble-running through the clearing.

Needle instantly whipped their head around as the shorter woman made her way through them, speedily making her way across the yellow grass. They didn't notice at first, but Pin was gripping a kitchen knife tightly in her fist. Despite Eraser's calls, Needle couldn't help but chase after the pushpin, as if needing proof that Pin wasn't the murderer.

Unfortunately, she's about to prove the exact opposite.

Pin stumbled to the Recovery Center, stabbing the knife into it with an angered shout. Needle couldn't make out her mumbles, but she could make out her scream and the way that she ripped the knife out and spun her body around, her back sliding down the RC. Needle hadn't noticed the periwinkle fluff watching the pushpin nervously until the scarlet object's eyes flicked to the side, glancing to them, and giving the ghost the chance to notice them aswell.

Winner glared worriedly at her distressed form. She pushes herself up, taking small steps towards them, the knife held tightly in her bloodied fingers. Needle's nervousness grows as the lump continues to step away from her as much as they can, until Pin breaks into a short run to close the small gap between them and practically pounce on the smaller object, getting a fearful yelp from them; aswell as a loud "NO!" From Needle.

They try to push her off, but the knife gets stabbed through their arm, producing a shout. It falls limp, hitting the now red grass beneath them, as the blade is pulled out. At the same time, though, Pin coils her arms away from them, mumbling. With her now off of them, Winner manages to pull themself away enough that they're no longer beneath her. They try to push themself up, but fail, which causes Needle run up, about to help them to their feet before remembering she can't.

"P- Pin...!??" The sewing tool hears Winner say. They continued talking, but she couldn't make out their words through her panic as her attention turns to her girlfriend's dishevelled state.

Pin clutched her head, her panicked gaze remaining on the ground as she mumbles, "No... No, th- this isn't right... I... I can't... No..." Every single nerve in her brain is telling Needle that this is the proof that she needed to know that her partner is the murderer, but, Pin is clearly hesitant. Surely this is all just a big misunderstanding..?

"Pin..?" She hears Winner prompt. Perhaps they're thinking exactly what she is right now. ...This must all use be a misunderstanding... Right..? Pin wouldn't...

Pin's mumbling suddenly stops at Winner's words, snapping Needle from her thoughts. She finally looks back up at them. Needle flinches back as the scarlet woman angrily throws herself forward at the smaller object, landing atop them again.

Despite their struggles, the pushpin raises the blade high above them. A scream emits from Needle's ghostly form as Pin strikes the knife straight through Winner's stomach. She can feel her legs give in, still confused as to how that would even work if she's a ghost and her whole body is weightless. They hack up blood; well, as much blood as they could while not being able to roll their body to the side. Needle feels herself try to cry (Unfortunately, it seems her disembodied spirit didn't come with tear ducts) as she watches the blade pierce through their stomach again, and again, and again, Pin raising the blade high above her head with each strike.

As the body goes limp, Needle flinches back as Winner's ghost sits up, gasping for the air they no longer need. While they pant, trying to catch their breath, they coil back fearfully at the woman above them, still rapidly stabbing their dead body. They push themself away, another moment passing before they notice Needle. They both gaze fearfully and sadly at eachother for a long moment, until Pin stands, finally gaining their attention once again.

The knife hit the blood pool with a splash after it had slid from the hands of the woman standing from the corpse. She gazed at it for a heartbeat, before a chuckle broke past her lips. Needle's eyes widened as the chuckle soon turned into a sickening laugh, her voice almost unrecognizable through the malice seeping from her lips.

Needle scooted back, away from the villainous object before her. She watched sadly as Pin finally grabbed the knife from the red puddle and ran back to her house. She pushed herself from the ground, turning and almost jumping as she finally saw Eraser, not having previously realized that he had followed Pin aswell.

"Jeez, not again..." he mumbled, "Four now, in the span of one night..." He trailed off and made his way to Winner, extending a hand to them. "You alright? I know, it's pretty traumatizing, isn't it?"

"Y- Yeah... I..." They reach up, the scar on their arm clearly present as Eraser lifts them to their feet. "I... didn't expect that."

"I didn't really expect that ether, to be honest," he admitted, before turning as he noticed Needle beginning to chase after Pin from the corner of his eye. "Where are you going?"

"I need some sort of proof that she hasn't just gone insane!" She called back as she ran after the pushpin.

Eraser let out a sigh, before turning back to Winner. "You coming?" He asked, nodding his head in the direction of the pushpin.

"Yeah... I guess... Why not..?" They responded.

They ran after Needle until all three of them made it to Pin's home, where the bloodied object was fumbling with her doorknob, presumably trying not to get the blood from her hands into it. The door was then opened by the number that was already inside. Needle followed as she just pushed Fourteeen to the side and began making her way through her house. She had tossed the knife in the sink just before Fourteen spoke up.

"That was quite the laugh back there," he told her, "One might think you're finally going off the deep end."

She turned to face him, hatred still painted all over her face. "You... We're listening in..?" She asked, her tone laced with anger. A pang of confusion hit Needle as to what she was talking about.

He shrugged. "You didn't say anything while you were leaving, so I didn't even realize my mist had done anything until I heard Winner's voice," he told her as he leaned against the wood forming the doorway between the living room and the kitchen, his arms crossed nonchalantly, "I just turned it on earlier to get you to stop attacking me."

Of course- The mist that had lured her into the woods! That must have been him! But... That still didn't answer how he was listening into that crime.

Pin glared at the number for another moment, before storming off to her bathroom and slamming the door, the whole cabin shaking for a second. Needle took a step to follow her, but realized that would probably be considered really invasive—Even if she is her girlfriend. When Pin finally came out, now clean and spotless as if she had never murdered anyone, she immediately made her way to her room, not even glancing to the number on the sofa. Despite this, the sewing tool heard him calling to Pin as she walked past. She followed the pushpin through the doorway, watching as she flopped down onto her bed, pulling the copper coloured window blinds to hide the sunset. She pulled the blankets over herself and curled into a ball beneath them. Needle sat on the mattress next to her, resting a ghostly hand softly on the blanket, before curling herself around the pin's body. She couldn't quite tell, but for a moment she thought she felt the smaller woman shift at her touch.

Chapter Text

Shoving herself through the crowd, Pin made her way to the front. Fourteen had said he'll get everyone's suspicion off of her, so Pin just had to trust him on that. Worryingly, however, that scream sounded way too much like Needle's voice, which obviously scared Pin, whose mind is racing through the possibilities of what had happened to her.

Although, one possibility shined above all the rest in the realm of possibility. As she was running through the crowd, she bumped into Book, who let out a startled gasp.

"Ack- Pin! Whatch whe-" she cut off at the sight of her disheveled body. "Gee, you look like you got hit by a truck. Did you get any sleep?"

She completely dismissed all of the dictionary's concerns. "Book! What's everyone crowding around?? I- I heard Needle scream, and..!"

"Ah, right," she said, "You're best friends with Needle, aren't you?"

Pin nods, her panic more than evident. "We're, uh.. W- We're dating."

"Oh!" Book exclaimed, purely out of instinct. "W- Well, um..."

"I think it's best you see for yourself," Price Tag spoke up from next to their bestie.

Pin's heart sank. All of her fears seemed to be realizing themselves. Without doing so much as waving 'goodbye' to them, she went back to running through the crowd. By this point, she didn't even care about being polite as she squeezed through, now pushing people aside to make room for herself. She knows it's rude of her, but she doesn't care; she's desperate to see what had happened.

She almost runs straight over the scene she was searching for, before a splash was heard beneath her feet. She looked down to see the reason she's been so concerned standing—Or rather, lying—right in front of her. The splash had come from the giant puddle she had stepped into, the wet fluids still seeping into the grass and staining the nature a deep crimson red.

And there, remaining completely still in the middle, was quite the gorey spectacle. Long, puffy pink tubes remaining half inside of the main course; shreds of organs strewn around the blood puddle; squishy, large, and round innards sitting in the giant hole that had been forced into her chest; what looks to be a lung with a giant bite taken out of it leaning against the tree across from the puddle, a splash of blood on the trunk as if it had been tossed there.

And, of course, the silver corpse in the middle, the fabric of her bow stained with the liquids that had once kept her alive.

Pin stumbled forwards, collapsing over the body. Her hands held her up from either side of the gorey body, her leg over the dead woman's leg. The scarlet object found her trembling hands reaching for the taller woman's face, brushing her still warm-ish cheek. Tiny splashes of saltine tears hit the silver skin of the unfortunate girl, continuing to flow down, spilling through Pin's ever-increasing sobs. Her eyes forced themselves shut, no longer able to bear the sight of her lover's clenched eyelids and her jaw remaining just slightly open, yet keeping her in a permanent and silent scream of agony.

Without a care for the blood she got on her, Pin wrapped her arms around the other woman, pulling her body up to a limp sit as she cried onto the pale skin of the corpse. Her wails filled the air as she soon found herself letting out a terrified and inconsolable shriek, quickly drowned out by the sobs that continued to force themselves from her mouth. Her hands clutched the other woman so tightly as if her soul remained in her body, and that letting go would be the thing that lets it drift away. She finds the fingers of one hand wrapping around the thread eye, brushing the once yellow fabric tied to it, now soggy with scarlet blood.

She didn't know how long she remained there, holding her dead lover so tightly in her arms. All she knew, was that by the time she finally pulled away from the woman, she was the only one left at the crime scene. Her eyes had run dry of any more tears, none left to show her grief live. She lowered the body slightly, light sobs still breaking out, even after the initial shock had long since left her system.

She scanned the body, as if trying to memorize her lover's shape once more before she left. Her hands trailed to her bow and, before she could even catch what she was doing, they had already untied half of it. She continued slowly, as if she was unknotting a delicate artifact, and it would disintegrate, like a butterflies wings at an uncareful touch, if she were to tug just slightly harder. She set the body carefully back down into the bloodstained grass before gazing at the cloth draped between her hands. She ran her fingers over it, taking in the sight, before wrapping her fingers around it tightly and moving it to one hand.

She leaned back over and lifted her lover into her arms, solemnly carrying her through the woods. She wandered towards the cabins before she found that of a familiar path, the one she was searching for. She followed it to the Goiky Canal, watching the water ripple through the waves. Pin kneeled down. She gazed at the woman in her arms, her eyes tugging at the corners, begging for any tears left over to spill out, despite her ducts having long run dry. She brushed the woman's red cheek, leaning down and placing a soft, longing kiss on her forehead, on one of the few spots not coated with her blood.

She then leaned the rest of the way down and let the body soak up the canal water, slowly sinking to the bottom of the lake while being gently pulled along through the tide. She watched her sink until the blue water no longer showed her the depth that her deceased lover rested at, and a few moments longer still. She then, finally, pushed herself up, her gaze not wavering from the tide for just a few more seconds before she finally managed to pull it away.

She made her way home. The second shower she's going to have to take tonight didn't even cross her mind as she slowly walked along the path, frosty leaves crunching beneath her feet. By now the sobs had stopped, but Pin's gaze still rested grievingly on the trampled grass.

The scarlet woman pushed open the door and walked through her home only to be greeted by the dark green number sitting on a chair. He's leaning back with his feet up on the table, his tail swinging from side to side as if in anticipation for something. He turned to her and waved as she entered, shooting her a nervous smile.

She stared at him for a moment. She doesn't have the energy to do so much as glare anymore. She just wants to collapse into her bed and never get up. "What's with the cup?" She asked, nodding to a glass of water on the table.

"That's for you," he said, glancing away nervously. "You're probably thirsty after crying that much..."

She didn't know why, but for some reason, his words angered Pin. Maybe it's simply the sound of his voice in her eardrums after what he did. "I wouldn't have been crying that much if you hadn't done that," she spat through the bags under her eyes.

Fourteen lowered his feet. "Done what?" He asked.

"Don't fucking play dumb with me. You know what you did." She finally found the energy to glare.

"I've done a lot of things tonight. I don't know which thing you're talking abo-"

She slammed her hands down on the table, interrupting him and rattling the cup. "YOU KILLED HER!"

His body tried to jump at her outburst, but he instead fell back in his chair, the furniture toppling over and him hitting his head on the hard kitchen floor. He grabbed the table and pulled himself to stand, leaving the chair behind. The whole thing happened in two big motions as if in a children's cartoon.

"How could you do this to me!??" Pin questioned. "You know what she meant to me!"

"I had to!" He tried to explain. "I-"

"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO!!" She screamed.

"I did! How else was I supposed to get everyone's suspicion off of you??" He reasoned. "Nobody would kill their lover! Nobody's going to know you're the murderer anymore!"

"YOU COULD HAVE AT LEAST TOLD ME FIRST! GIVEN ME SOME SORT OF WARNING!!" Pin snapped.

"YOU WOULD HAVE JUST STOPPED ME FROM DOING IT!"

"WELL SoRRY THAT I DIDN'T WANT MY FUCKING GIRLFRIEND DEAD!!"

"WELL IT'S A GOOD THING THAT YOU DIDN'T WANT HER DEAD, 'CAUSE NOW NOBODY THINKS IT'S YOU!" Fourteen pointed out.

"AND HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT??"

"I JUST DO!!"

"HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF I MURDERED SOMEONE YOU LOVED??"

"Well I don't love anyone, so you're out of luck!"

"Love isn't just romantic, you dumbass!!"

"Well, the only person I love is myself!

"WELL HOW ABOUT I KILL THE ONLY PERSON YOU LOVE??"

"WOAH THERE!" Fourteen shouted as Pin reached for a knife from the cupboard. "TAKE YOUR ANGER OUT ON SOMEONE ELSE, WILL YOU??"

Pin didn't listen. She swung at him. He ended up having to fill the room with his smog just to force her to double over in a coughing fit. The smog eventually dissipated and her lungs cleared. She glared up at him from her place on the ground, before shooting up to a stand and storming out of the house, the door slamming behind her with the blade still in hand.

She half ran and half stumbled into the main clearing, making her way across the grass. Her distracted and enraged state guided her feet to who-knows-where. Her mind is still racing with questions with no answers. This really can't be happening...

—————

The Recovery Center loomed over the clearing, despite being beaten and crushed. Its size is immeasurable, no amount of force could shrink it down to a size where it doesn't loom over everything around it. The periwinkle lump sighed at it. They know this hasn't been tried yet; despite also knowing it won't work, but they have to at least try it!

The retractable hand presents itself from the top of their body, reaching for the buttons on the machine. They press the 'I' button, and nothing happens. They press it again, and nothing happens. And again, and again, and agin. Nothing happens. Winner lets out a groan of annoyance; of course, they expected it to do nothing, but they had still, unfortunately, let their hopes go up.

A huge bang suddenly shoots through the machine, causing Winner to jump back in shock. They turn to see a knife sticking out of the Recovery Center, a panting—Or, hyperventilating?—pushpin clutching it. She's leaning against the RC, her whole body trembling. It takes Winner a moment to realize the blood on her body, and they finally take a step back, more in concern than in fear, instead of what they had originally planned, which was to go and make sure she's alright. She lets out a scream, before pulling out the weapon and spinning her body to lean her back against the metal box. Her body slides down it, gazing up at the starry sky and the barely rising sun.

Pin glances to the side and finally notices Winner, who's glaring worriedly at her distressed form. She pushes herself up, taking small steps towards them, the knife held tightly in her bloodied fingers. They continue to step away from her as much as they can, but Pin eventually breaks into a short run, closing the small gap between them and practically pouncing on the smaller object.

They try to push her off, but the knife gets stabbed through their arm. It falls limp in their pain as the blade is pulled out, but at the same time, Pin coils away from them, mumbling. With her now off of them, Winner manages to pull themself away enough that they're no longer beneath her. They try to push themself up, but they'd never really worked on doing that with just their legs.

"P- Pin...!??" They breathe out, "What are you doing? What happened to you??"

Pin doesn't respond. She's clutching her head, her panicked gaze remaining on the ground as she mumbles, "No... No, th- this isn't right... I... I can't... No..."

They know they should run, but, Pin is clearly hesitant. Surely this is all just a big misunderstanding..? "Pin..?" ...They hope this is just a misunderstanding. Maybe they can help her...

Their words are what finally snaps her out of her trance. From one panicked state to another she ends up in, but at least her mumbling is gone. She finally looks back up at them. Rage suddenly overcoming her grief, she throws herself forward at them, landing atop them again.

Despite their struggles, the scarlet woman, red with both her natural hue and her lover's blood, manages to raise the blade, striking it straight through Winner's stomach. They hack up blood; well, as much blood as they could while not being able to roll their body to the side. She pierces the blade through their stomach again, and again, and again, raising the blade above her head with each strike. She continues to stab them long after they've died, their blood filling the clearing and staining everything it touches.

Her arms gradually slow to a stop, the pure red knife falling from her hands as she stands from the corpse, the blade hitting the blood-covered ground with a quiet splash and thump. She gazed at it for a heartbeat, before a chuckle broke past her lips. She knows she shouldn't feel this way, because of how morally, legally and logically wrong it is, but she couldn't help but feel powerful, standing over the body.

Someone finally getting to be blamed for Pin's suffering—That's what she'd been longing for for so long. And now she finally has the power to make everyone else suffer in the ways she has. These thoughts, they cracked a bigger laugh out of her, her sick cackles making her sound like some sort of supervillain.

She stumbles slightly away from the body as the sickening sound of her own deranged voice fades into the rising sun. Pin lifts the knife back into her fingers and wipes the blood from her shoes in the dry grass. Finally having taken her rage and grief out on someone, she felt a sort of sick satisfaction as she ran to her house.

She fumbled with the doorknob—trying to open it in a way that wouldn't get the blood from her hands into it—before it got was then opened by the number that was already inside. Despite her grief not being the center of her thoughts right now, the pushpin still felt an unprecedented anger towards him. She didn't say anything as she walked in, she just pushed him to the side and began making her way to the bathroom to wash herself off, tossing the knife into the kitchen sink when Fourteen spoke up.

"That was quite the laugh back there," he said to her, both through her mind and her ears. "One might think you're finally going off the deep end."

She turned to face him, hatred still painted all over her face. "You... We're listening in..?" She asked, her tone laced with anger.

He shrugged, his ability finally turning off. "You didn't say anything while you were leaving, so I didn't even realize my mist had done anything until I heard Winner's voice," he told her as he leaned in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen, his arms crossed nonchalantly. "I just turned it on earlier to get you to stop attacking me."

She glared at him for a moment longer, before storming off to the bathroom and slamming the door, the whole cabin shaking for a second. When Pin came out, the blood cleaned from her body, she immediately went to her room, not even glancing to the number on the sofa, despite him calling her name as she walked past. She flopped down onto her bed, pulling the copper coloured window blinds closed to hide the sunset. She pulled the blankets over herself and curled into a ball beneath them, feeling her eyes try to water.

She couldn't hear him enter the room, thanks to his soundless footsteps, but she could feel the bed shift as he sat on the edge of it. She tried to ignore him, but she really couldn't ignore the way his voice was suddenly sympathetic.

"You don't have to answer me," he told her, "You probably aren't even listening, anyways. But I wanted to say that I really am sorry that she's dead; ...despite how fun it was to finally kill again," he added under his breath. "I just... need you to understand that it was done purely for our safety. I didn't have feelings for her like you did, but I had still found her quite fun; there was definitely a platonic love I'd gained for her." He reached over to try to pull the blanket down and see her, but she forced it back up, and he quickly pulled his hand away, placing it back down next to himself before continuing. "I just... I need to help you, in any way I can, before I watch you hide yourself in your bed for weeks like One did." He chuckled weakly at the thought of the algebralien. "I remember overhearing how much Three had struggled to get her up after they'd thrown me back into that cage, and I don't want anyone to have to go through that with you."

He paused for a moment, but Pin didn't say anything. So, he continued. "Don't just bury yourself under the covers. It's not what she would have wanted." He reached over, his hand hovering over the pushpin's blankets for a moment through hesitation, before it rested softly on her body. She didn't fight back this time, so he kept his hand there as he spoke. "She would have wanted you to get up and keep going, not keep under the blanket and mourn for the rest of your days."

Pin still didn't respond. He pulled his hand away, resting it on his lap with his other one. "...You seemed pretty relieved to finally take your anger out on someone earlier, yeah?" He pointed out. "That was the laugh of someone relieved of their stress and who wants to do more of that, even if they only felt that way for a moment. Trust me, I would know; I was in that exact position when I first started out." He paused. The silence hung heavy, and he didn't really enjoy it. He'd always hated silence, anyways.

"Now, Pin, you don't have to respond," he told her, "I just want you to think about it. But, Pin, how did you feel when Winner died?" Fourteen paused again, before continuing. "Was it... Guilt? Or... Anger?" He asked. "Trust me, I felt those once, too. ...Or, was it pride? Relief? Did you feel good to finally get your frustration out? Did you feel... Strong?"

A long moment passed. Nothing was heard. Fourteen eventually pushed himself up and off of the bed. "I just want you to think about that, Pin. I don't even know if you were listening to any of that, or if you've already fallen asleep. I'll go now, but, if you can hear me, just... think about it." And with that, he turned and left, leaving Pin all alone in the room, with nothing but her thoughts and memories.

However, she couldn't deny that Fourteen's guesses of how she felt were a bit too close for comfort. Guilty? Definitely. Angry? Oh, for sure. But... Relief? As much as she wanted to deny it, she'd definitely felt that. And... It made her feel good, too.

It made her feel great, actually.

It made her feel...

Powerful.

Chapter Text

The next five weeks were silent.

Nothing, not one slight indication, suggested that the murderer was still killing.

This only grew Golfball's anxieties.

Factory equipment beeped in the background, drowned out by the sound of graphite scribbling quickly on a paper. The tick-tock-ticking of a clock continued in a soothing rhythm compared to the estranged mumbles of the globule at the table. Her eyes scanned her notes furiously, searching for an explanation. The only two she could think of were that either the letters she found every morning were incorrect, or that Pin had actually murdered her best friend.

While they both seemed very likely, Golfball was more inclined to believe the first one. After all, she had no idea where the papers were coming from. All she knew was that every time she woke up, she discovered new notes on her desk, almost always reading, "Pin is the murderer,"—And, more recently, "Pillow is her accomplice"—in neat and light pencil marks. Along with the immediate accusations, the mysterious notes included other evidence, but, ever since that hectic night, it was almost never more than things Golfball already knew; and, unfortunately, even the mysterious all-knowing entity that's been giving her these doesn't seem to have gotten any new evidence since they lead her to Two's corpse.

She groaned. Nothing seemed to make sense. Dark bags tugged at the bottoms of her eyes, as if trying to shut her lids by force. She fought through the exhaustion and reached for her cup, only to discover it was empty. She groggily stood, taking it back to the coffee machine.

However, just before she could make it all the way there, Tennisball stepped between her and the machine. "No more caffeine," the 'hallucination' told her. "It's two thirty-four in the morning, Golfie."

"Murderers never sleep, TB," GolfBall said sternly, walking through the translucent figure to the coffee maker. She reached for the pot, but the larger ball grabbed her leg, stopping her.

"Go to sleep," he said, stubbornly.

As soon as she realized that even her subconscious won't let her stay up, she gave in, lowering her leg and saying, "Fine." She turned, leaving the empty coffee mug on the counter and walking back to her work table as Tennisball faded back into nothing but clear air. Golfball proceeded to tidy up her work area, sorting her notes and research into neat piles. She took the stacks and placed them into the separate drawers beneath the table; one for recent investigations notes, one for the light psychological research of why someone might murder, and one for the mystery notes. Each drawer is labeled accordingly.

She looks up, glancing at the sticky notes all over the wall. Tennisball's self-care advice. She tries her best to remember to do them, knowing the 'hallucination' will get upset with her if she doesn't bother, but she does slip up occasionally and TB has to step in to remind her. "Drink water!!", says one, "Brush your teeth", says another, "Go to sleep at a reasonable hour for once, Golfie.", and, "Like actually, I swear to racket, you need sleep!!!", say a third and fourth, et cetera, et cetera. Apparently Ice Cube wrote one, too: "Hi it's Icy! :) GB your bf is serious when he says to take care of yourself".

These sticky notes will occasionally pop up just as strangely as the mystery notes. Honestly, despite the lack of scientific evidence being able to structure any sort of coherently formed theory, paranormal activity is the most logical explanation she can come up with. Right before the possibility that the security system she and her late partner had invented and installed has been malfunctioning and someone has been breaking in. She refuses to admit that the numerical ranking of those theories—which is based on how possible they are, might I add—is biased.

She sighs, turning to do what they tell her to do for when she finally begins settling down for bed. She can't see him, but she can swear TB is watching her do it all, fully expecting her to forget something. Tonight, however, she gets it all done without his help, and tucks herself into the bed in her underground factory.

"Good night," he tells her, placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

"...Good night," she mumbles, turning her body to face the wall.

Tennisball lets himself fade invisible again, sitting on the bed until she finally falls asleep. Only once he can hear her subtle snores does he lets himself stand and leave her side. He heads to her desk, fully expecting the visitor he receives, just like every night.

"Does she still think you're a hallucination, TB?" Ice Cube asks from her seat atop the desk.

He sighs. "Yeah," he answers, pulling out the wheeled chair and seating himself in it. "It's weird, she accepts that I can physically touch her, and yet she remains certain that I'm nothing more than a figment of her imagination."

"She might just think she's imagining it because you confessed to her and she doesn't think you would actually love her," Icy suggested. "Maybe that's why she hasn't said it back, yet she still accepts your affection."

"When did you become such an expert on love?" He asked, half-jokingly.

She shrugged—or, she would have, if she had shoulders. "I dunno. Just a thought."

Ice Cube had been right there when Tennisball had died, because she'd followed Pin out into the woods that day. She had helped him adjust to life as a ghost, knowing what he was going through, since he'd been experiencing it soon enough after she had. Since then, they'd been talking much more often than they used to, conversing at least once every twenty-four hours to share information that might help GB finally crack the case she has. Tennisball stays next to GB almost 24/7 to make sure she doesn't overwork herself to death, so Ice Cube essentially acts as the field agent; following Pin around, talking to the other ghosts, spying on Fourteen to figure out what the freezer is up with him, et cetera. Every night she comes back to the factory to tell TB everything about what she's learned, and he tells her about the gray sports ball's progress. Then, they'll work together to compile everything into notes, leaving them on Golfball's desk for her to discover in the morning.

They sat in awkward silence for a bit, until Ice Cube broke her news. "Pillow and Fourteen were talking about killing GB earlier today."

"What?" TB perked up.

"Yeah, they were debating about who to kill next, and Pillow brought up Golfball. She said that, since she's been so invested lately, she must be close to figuring out it's Pin." She paused, letting TB process the information before she continued. "They also talked about Basketball, Donut and BarfBag, since the three had 'kidnapped' Pin that one time and are probably still suspicious of her, and Marker and Black Hole, because they're the last two remaining from DPA and are probably also still suspicious of her."

"So just... Anyone that's suspicious of Pin?" Tennisball asked.

"Yeah," she nodded, "And, for some reason, Price Tag, too. Pillow really, really wants to kill them. She didn't explain why, though."

"Odd."

They continued talking, until they caught something in the corner of their eye. It came from the direction of the door, and hurried to fill the building as if it were water filling a cup.

It's the green mist.

TB bolted up and dashed to where Golfball was sleeping before the smaller object he had been talking with could even utter the beginning of a word, hastily pulling the blankets from her. She shot up, looking around for what had taken her bedsheets, but found nothing of the sort. Instead, she caught sight of the green smog filtering into the building. She looked around frantically to find a cloth to cover her mouth with, but the closest thing she could find was her blanket—so she grabbed it, throwing it over her mouth in a panic.

A weapon. She needs a weapon. She begins running to a shelf of inventions, but stops before she even gets past the first two steps.

How is she going to carry both a weapon and the cloth?

She shakes her head. She can't fly, so using both feet for this is out of the question. By now the mist has already reached her, so she doesn't have the room to take a clear breath. Oh, for putts sake—fuck it!

She ran through the smog towards the back of the building. Thankfully, she could outrun the green, so she should be able to get enough time. Although the invention back here would help her in this panic, these hadn't been tested yet, so she's been putting off using them; they're just a prototype. They were about to be tested, but then her lab partner had died. She furrowed her brows, lifting them from their crate. With a bit of struggle, she fastened them onto where her shoulders would be, taking a sharp breath in as they stabbed through her 'skin'. The sports globule tried using them-She twisted the wrists; she stretched them above her head; she lifted the blanket with them-They definitely work, despite the lingering, bruising pain of the already healed wounds in her shoulders.

She was about to throw the blanket back over her mouth again, but most of the smog suddenly disappeared. She could hear a loud smashing sound where the entrance is and then people entering—but she had a feeling she didn't want to discover who it was. Despite this, she made her way to the shelf of inventions she was originally headed for and grabbed a gun-like creation, ready to take on whoever it was that had broken into her underground factory.

As Golfball made it closer her factory entrance, she heard someone say something in a worried-ish tone, and then much more of the green smog suddenly became present. Because of the sudden amount of unclean air before her she had to turn back to get an actual cloth to hold over her mouth and nose before she could continue. Unfortunately, though, just as she turned around, someone grabbed her and shoved their hand over her face, forcing the mist into her lungs. She struggled, and eventually did punch them off, but not before she was already woozy from the smoke inhalation.

She tried to shoot at whoever was there, but she was surrounded by green and couldn't aim properly. It was impossible to breathe without breaking into a coughing fit, the smoke going on for as far as her teary eyes could see. As her lids drew closed, she heard two voices and saw two blurry figures before her, the lavender one bouncing around excitedly and the green one moving to block the other's path with its arm.

"Oo, oo! Let me kill her! I wanna do it!" That was a feminine voice. High pitched. GB recognized it, but couldn't quite recall who it was in her disoriented state.

"No, we're here to steal its sciencey 'n gadgety stuff, not kill people. Don't you remember the plan?" She didn't recognize that one at all. It was way more masculine than the other.

"Awe, mAAaaaan. I was hoping we could make an exception." The feminine voice again. The green figure retracted its arm and the two stepped away from the sports ball.

Unfortunately, the scientist couldn't gather anymore information before she dropped the gun and passed out.

—————

Needle...

Pin...

Needle...

Pin...

Please...

Please...

Come back...

Get up...

Show up before me... Hugging me tightly like before...

Get up... Keep living... Move on...

Tell me that it never happened... That it was all just another nightmare...

I can't be there for you anymore... I might be able to help you live a little, but I can't help you fight anymore...

Tell me that nobody ever died... That it's all been a bad dream... That it was all just a bad dream...

Please, wake up.

Tell me that Coiny is still here, that he never got eliminated...

I can't help you anymore... Please...

Tell me that it isn't real... That it never... That you never...

Pin...

Tell me that you aren't gone... Tell me that you never left...

I can't...

Please...

I can't...

Please...

Pin...

Please, tell me you're still okay...

I can't, Pin...

Lie to me. Tell me you're okay. Please.

I don't want to lie to you...

Please. I don't want you to be gone.

I know...

I don't want Coiny to be gone.

Pin...

I just want to be okay...

I know...

I just want none of this to be happening anymore...

I know...

I wish that it never spoke to me...

I know...

I wish I hadn't gone into the woods that day... Maybe it'd have gone after someone else...

Maybe...

...

Pin...

I want to die...

Do you..?

No...

Good...

...

...

Needle...

Mhm..?

Give me something to live for... Give it back...

I don't know what to give..?

I don't know, either...

It's something it stole, isn't it?

Yeah...

...

...

I'll try to get you help.

...Thank you... But it won't be the same...

I know it won't...

...

Pin...

...Yeah..?

Keep living for me, alright..?

...

Pin..?

Aren't you just... in my head..?

...

...

...

...I'll try...

Thank you, Pin...

I love you...

I love you too...

—————

It is finally the bright and early morning.

Needle sits alone on Pin's bed, her legs swinging back and forth off the edge. The window blinds are still drawn. The blankets are still covering the pathetic woman. The door is still shut from when Fourteen had been locked out five weeks ago.

But the door isn't still locked. The lock on it actually broke when the number had kicked it open to force her to eat. She hadn't eaten, anyways; and only drank when and what she absolutely had to.

Needle suddenly wasn't alone anymore as Ice Cube walked through the wall on the opposite side from the room. She glanced to Needle as she entered fully, speaking to her in an unamused tone of voice while walking to Pin's bedside table and hopping up onto it. "Are you really still trying to get her to wake up? You do realize she'll just go back to killing people once she does, right?"

"Well, at least I'm doing more than just spying on her and Fourteen and Pillow every day," Needy retorted with a glare. "They aren't even doing anything! Come back to me when something noteworthy comes from them, yeah?"

Icy opened her mouth to shoot back a response, but Eraser literally walked through the door right as she was about to speak. He glanced at Ice Cube, rose an eyebrow, realized she's probably just here to see if Pin actually does anything today, and then made his way towards the metallic spirit. He sat himself down next to her, and she turned to face him as he entered and approached, completely forgetting about the block of ice in the moment.

"...So, uh, who did you get..?" She asked. Just as she finished speaking, the doorknob turned, and Pen peeked through the crack between the door and the doorframe. Icy sighed.

He stood awkwardly in the doorway once he had opened it fully, fidgeting with his hands as he took in the depressing scene before him. He can't recall ever once being alone with Pin before this, and he really didn't personally know her all too well, save for what Needle had said about her. It took a long moment of awkward silence before the ink stick finally found the courage to speak, drawing a deep breath and stepping forward as he gently called, "Pin..?"

No reply. She's either asleep or ignoring him. He sighed and took another step closer. "You, uh... You good, Pin..?"

She mumbled, "Go away," and tugged the blankets further over her body in an agitated response.

Pen sighed, again, and crossed his arms, now visibly annoyed. "Pin, y'know you can't stay there forever, right?"

A long groan escapes the woman's lips as she shifts the covers slightly, presumably trying to cover herself further. "Why are you even here?" She complains.

He paused. He had to admit that Pin did have him there, since the only reason he'd even thought to come over was that he'd imagined his crush's voice getting himself to stop sleeping his own stressors away. Pen eventually shook is head and spoke again. "I'm here to get you to stop bedrotting—why else?"

She scoffed and turned to face him, a freshly bandaged arm falling limply over the side of her bed. "Shouldn't you be off crying about your own partner?" She spat, her dried eyes gazing angry at him through the bags beneath them.

That response definitely triggered something from within the taller object. He shot a glare at her, taking agitated steps closer as he spoke—for ink's sake, why does she have to be so difficult?? "I WAS crying about Eraser," he snapped, jabbing a finger at her. Pin flinched at his sudden harshness but he continued before she could shoot back a response. "Y'wanna know why I STOPPED? Because a certain NEEDLE didn't wanna see the person she CARED about to be IN that state!!

"Oh, but when we- wh- w-when I found her with her freaking GUTS ripped out, off somewhere in the forest? Yeah, that got me to head right back off to bedrotting. Because guess what: I care a damn lot about her, TOO! SHE'S MY SISTER, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! So since I care about my little sis quite a lot, I'm pretty dang inclined to ALSO care about her GIRLFRIEND, who she would probably be SCREAMING at to get out of bed if she was still here to DO SO!!!

"But since she ISN'T, because some murderous ASSHOLE decided to maker her their next target, I'M here to take her PLACE!! So I swear to ballpoint, Pin-GET. UP. Stop crying over your loss and keep going like she would WANT you to DO! 'Cause it's honestly pretty damn ironic that the woman that's younger than both of us is so much more responsible, to the point that we literally start falling apart the moment she's gone."

Pen had hoped that that would be all the convincing she needed to get up. But, of course, after she took a long moment to process his aggressively motivational outburst, she simply rolled back over to face the wall, muttering, "She wouldn't want me to keep going... Not after the things I've done..."

The writing utensil let out a quiet groan at her stubbornness, rubbing his eyes in annoyance. Whelp, he'd just have to be more stubborn than her if he were to make any progress. "Oh my gOSH, Pin! It's not like you're the reason she's dead! You're not the one that killed her, are you?? Why do you think she was dating you after, 'the things you'd done'???"

"She didn't know what I'd done..." Pin responded.

"Are you the reason she's dead??"

She opened her mouth to speak, but found herself flinching as he continued. ...Did he continue? That's him, right?

"Atcaluly, neevrmnid," his distorted voice spoke in a condescending tone, "Why did I eevn ask? Of cursoe you are. Not one bad tinhg taht has hepanepd tshee lsat few mhtnos hnas't been yuor fulat. Tihs wlhoe staiutoin is yuor flaut."

"Y... Yeah..." she sighed out after a moment. "I'm... I'm sorry..."

"What-??" He, uh, did not expect that. Like, at all. "Are you the one that killed her?!? What?!?! Why would you-?! Wh-??? What?!?!????!!??????!????!!!???!?"

"N- No, I... I didn't... kill... her..." She informed him as soon as she wouldn't have been interrupted.

"Okay, yeah, that's what I thought." He crossed his arms as he stood over her pitiful form. "Explain to me: If you didn't kill her, how are you the reason she's dead?"

A beat passed of her not responding. Pen rose an eyebrow.

"Well??" He pressed. Another moment of silence passed. He let out a soft sigh and let it go as he sat himself down on the edge of the bed. "Pin, you know I'm not gonna leave until you either give me a good reason to, or just get up, right?"

The woman hesitated, before finally opening her mouth again. Her voice was quiet and wavy, evident of the salty tears that had no doubt begun flowing. "Wh... Why do you even care..? What good have I done to-... to make you care..? She wondered.

"I... I just told you," he answered, "I care 'cause... 'cause Needle cared. I care about Needle, and with all the amazing things she said about you, well, you're clearly someone I should care about."

"...Sorry to get your hopes up."

Pen stifled another sigh, since he didn't wanna come off as too angry. He wracked his mind to know what to say. What to say...

What would Needle say?

...After a long moment of silence, a sudden dim light, accompanied by an almost inaudible ding, caught the attention of the blue and white object of stationary equipment from within the second drawer of the pushpin's bedside table. He leaned over as the light faded and reached his hand into the drawer, removing the cellphone from here it had rested. He pressed the power button and gazed at the screen for a moment before glancing back to Pin, his other hand half-fidgeting with the charging cable that connected the Meeple brand device to the outlet on the wall.

"Okay, look, Pin," the boy finally said, "If I can't convince you that Needle would still care about you, and you refuse to believe that I care, then at least acknowledge that there are other people that care."

"...Like who?" She muttered, half-sarcastically.

"Coiny has literally been texting you worried messages for...." He scrolled through the notifications for a moment. "...Basically, since the others found Two's body. So like, just a little after you 'n me started bedrotting."

It took less than a millisecond after he said Coiny's name for Pin to perk up, and even less time after he finished speaking for her to shoot over and snatch the phone from his hands. She immediately clicked the notification popup and punched in her passcode, being instantly greeted by worried text upon worried text from her best friend and co-captain.

"The_CoinCreature, 2 minutes ago:
PIN Augh fgeaejsf respond you havent been responding i need to make sure youre not fuckin DEAD

agaggafuwafuofba

higaentgenjgbjgajbagjlng"

"The_CoinCreature, 1 day ago:
PIIIIINNNNNN im so fkn scared rn please respoNDDDIETBGJENGLNJSGNREKGSNJKNGS"

"The_CoinCreature, 2 days ago:
Needle hasnt been textiny back you two are okay right D:

Youre both okay rigthtt???????

RIGHT??????????"

"The_CoinCreature, 3 days ago:
Pin???????? You good ovrr there????????"

"4 days ago:
PIN OMM WAKE UP! RESpOND!!!!!"

"5 days ago:
PINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINPINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN respond PLLEASSEEEEEEEE!!1!!!1!1!!!!11!!"

"6 days ago:
:("

"1 week ago:
Heyyyyy you and needy havent been respondiiinggggggggggg you two are okay right???????"

"2 weeks ago:
Seriously pleaase respond im terrified rn :((((((((((("

"2 weeks ago:

Thats me crying bc im scared about you and needle

(That tear is incredibly real ignore the box of crayons behind me)

(Ignore gelatin and td too they showed up right when i took taht photo bc were gonna hand out)

(Hang*)"

"3 weeks ago:
PIN its been a week and 2 days please resPoNDDDDD'

"3 weeks ago:
Its been a week please respond :("

"4 weeks ago:
OMM! PIN! I finally got the wifi YAYY!

We all just escaped two a couple days ago through some stab wounds they got

They were like, dead

Do you uh know wgat that was all about

That was just a challenge right???

Do text back cuz im worried that the whole two corpse thing wasnt just a challenge haha

Especially since we also ran into the exitors while flying away on puffball and tehy said that they escaped four when four n x got murdered so uh

I mean the good news is that after that we all found the bfbers who made this little town with all those extra houses back from that one episodw in season one and we just kinda settled in with them

Sooo now im just here where season one took place texting you :3

I messaged needle two but she hasnt responded yet :(

I guess i should probably stop texting you too cuz youre prob like in a challenge or smtn

Do text bacl cuz im really worried about you two aah

Fhuuhifahaffsbjjnkj"

Pin just sort of stared at the screen for a minute, before finally saying—or, more so simply just thinking aloud—"Oh shit."

"So..." Pen started, "Will you get back to actually trying to live now?"

"Uhh... Yeah." She gave a curt answer to her lover's brother as she was now typing up a reply to Firey's 'number one' hater. He sat there next to her and watched as Coiny texted back immediately. He let out a soft chuckle, seeing her now engrossed in the conversation with her best friend. Hopefully she was catching him up on everything.

Though, as she typed away at the digital keyboard, Pen couldn't help but notice the thing that seemed to dangle from Pin's left hand. He could tell almost immediately what it was, but he wasn't quite sure he wanted to. He extended his hand, reaching to take the object from her, but Pin noticed and yanked her hand away. With a half glare, half unsure gaze, being shot directly at him, the ink-stick flinched his arm back at her sudden defensive posture. After another short moment, he extended his hand again, this time letting it hover in the air between them, palm up and fingers unfurled, in a less demanding away.

"Can I see it?" He asked, his voice gentle.

Pin hesitated. Though she felt an odd need to protect it with her life, Pen is the original owner's brother. ...So, surely he wouldn't do anything to it... Right..? The pushpin let out a soft sigh and reluctantly reached over, placing the fabric in his hand.

Pen shot her a smile as she did so and took a moment to inspect the small ribbon, the yellow of the fabric almost clashing with the scarlet of the blood that stained it. He couldn't help but let his smile fall as he gazed at, what used to be, Needle's yellow bow. He fought back the small tears as the memories of how she'd never once removed it from her thread-eye since the birthday back when Marker and him had found it under a chair in their basement and decided it would be the perfect gift flashed through his mind. And although the memories that Needle had made with this once soft accessory were fun and cheerful, the dried, cracking crimson that keeps it stiff and hard serves as a painful reminder of the brutal way she had been torn from this world, no longer able to speak her comforting words and embrace them the way she once had been and always would. It taints the memories that the once yellow fabric brings back, staining them with her own blood and the tears of everyone she had come to love. It no longer brings their playful arguments back to Pen's mind, instead ringing through his ears the sound of the bloodcurdling shriek that had ripped through the air that depressing night.

And, to make matters worse, everybody just forgot about Needle as soon as Tree and Winner were found, stabbed to death.

Pen forced himself to take a deep breath and pull his eyes away, handing it back to Pin, who didn't hesitate to clutch it just as tightly as she had been moments ago. They both sat in a bit of an awkward silence for a moment. And despite the pain that the bloodied sight brought to Pen, he could tell that those agonizing scenes were not brought to Pin as she gazed upon the bright yellow that still shone through the scarlet that once kept Needle alive. So, although the tension hung in the air so thick you could cut through it like butter, the taller object leaned forwards, placing a hand on Pin's shoulder with a kind smile that took a second for Pin to realize was forced.

"Did you wanna try to wash the stains out?" Through the pain that the sight brings him, deep down he knows that Needle would want him to help her in any way he can; so that's what he'll continue doing. For both of them. He always has been pretty good at putting himself second, anyways.

Pin gazed at him, almost as if in disbelief at the way he so easily is able to care about her. Her lips trembled a bit, and she gave a soft nod as her eyes threatened tears—ones that she couldn't identify the reason for among all of the conflicting thoughts she was lost in. The phone was left behind on her bed as the two objects with incredibly similar names exited the room.

Unaware that Coiny had accidentally been left on red (haha) Pin followed behind Pen as the latter made his way to the kitchen sink. He crouched down and opened the cabinet beneath, but the red woman spoke up just before he began searching through the contents.

"I don't keep any of the soaps down there," she told him.

He turned to face her as he responded with, "Really? Why not?"

"I haven't been needing to clean around here lately..." She explained, "I've started keeping them in the bathroom so that I don't have to come all the way over here whenever I do use them."

"Even the one for the dishes?"

"I haven't been using any dishes."

"Waht aubot the kevnis you use to klil eyevrnoe?" Pen's distorted voice asked.

She flinched, her eyes widening slightly. "Wh- What..?"

"Pin? You good?" He asked, standing from the open drawer.

She took a step back as he reached to her. "I... What did you just say..?" Her voice shook a bit as she spoke, fearful eyes gazing at him.

"I... I asked what you've been using to eat..?" He clarified, "What did you think I said?"

Pin shook her head, clutching the ribbon close to her chest. "N- Nothing," she dismissed, quickly turning and walking in the direction of the bathroom as if trying to run away from what she'd heard. "Just-... Let's just wash this.."

Pen rose an eyebrow, but didn't question it; instead kicking the door beneath the sink shut and using a short sprint to catch up to the woman. They quickly made it to their destination—the cabins really aren't that large—and entered the room. Pin reached to open the doors beneath the bathroom sink, reaching to the laundry detergent and pulling it out. Except, she only had one free hand, so she gave it to Pen for him to open.

He rose an eyebrow at the bottle, glancing up to her and asking, "Why's it so empty?" With a lighthearted chuckle.

Pin glanced to the side nervously and shrugged. "I... Uh... I guess I've just been washing my boots more often..? It's uh, been pretty frosty out, so... I suppose they've been getting really wet and I haven't wanted to track that into the house..."

"But... You msut maen yuv'oe been wsianhg bolod form tehm rteahr tahn fsort."

Pin flinched again. She knew this time that it couldn't be real, though... It probably wasn't the last times it'd happened, after all. It... It isn't, real, right? "S- Sorry, could you repeat that? I didn't... quite catch it..."

Although confused at how she could have possibly not heard what he'd said in this small, quiet room, he repeated his question without any real concern. "But, isn't frost just frozen water? Why can't you just leave your boots in the bathtub or sink and let it melt off?"

Despite taking a full two seconds to think of an excuse, all she could come up with was, "I just... Felt more sure when I was actually cleaning it, I dunno," in a quiet mumble.

Pen let out a short chuckle. "Well, you do you, I guess," he playfully told her. He opened the bottle for her, but as he watched her pull a hand towel from the rack on the wall he couldn't help but notice how exhausted she clearly is. "Do, uh, do you want me to do it for you..?" He offered.

She hesitated, before shaking her head. "N- No, I... I'll do it," she insisted, holding the cloth and the ribbon in one hand and reaching for the soap with the other. After kicking off her boots, she climbed into the bathtub with the cleaning supplies and the thing being cleaned. Pen spoke again as she was reaching for the knobs on the faucet, despite her best wishes.

"Are you sure? I- I can do it for you if you're not up to it-"

"I can do it, Pen," she interrupted, much more coldly and curt than she had intended. And, though she could tell without looking how she must have hurt him to dismiss his request like that, she continued her action anyways. Not much she can ever do to not hurt her loved ones, anyways... It's sadly pretty much inevitable for her. Pen decided not to persist as droplets of water began raining down from the shower head.

Pin placed the cloth over the top of the detergent bottle and flipped it over, quickly flipping it back to be right side up. Now that the absorbent fabric is wet with the cleaner she can start using it to attempt to scrub the crusty blood out from where it has been resting stuck to Needle's once beautiful bow. She carefully picked away at it, but she wasn't really making much progress; the stains had been there for weeks, after all.

As she let out a quiet grunt in her frustration, Pen leaned over the side of the tub. "I think something like bleach is supposed to remove stains, do you wanna try that?"

"Um... N- No," Pin said, "No, I don't think bleach is what I want to use here... Plus, I'm pretty sure it would hurt my hands if I get any on them."

"If it gtes on yuor hndas it mhigt rveome the boold of yuor vciimts, tohguh," Pen's broken and sinister voice chuckled out, mingled with the taunting laughter of that damned algebralien.

Pin sighed. These things were getting annoying. "Could you repeat that..?" She asked, her demeanour lacking any of the emotion that it had previously.

"Uh... I heard somewhere that vinegar would work too..?" Pen repeated, "What if we tried that?"

She tilted her head to see him better. "Which kind of vinegar was it?" She wondered. Despite her best efforts, her voice remained mostly emotionless.

"Uuhhhhhhhhhh..." Pen glanced up and to the side, attempting to recall whatever random thing he'd stumbled across that had told him. "I... Don't remember. I'll Google it," he added quickly, leaning back from the bathtub and pulling out his phone. They both remained in silence, the woman still attempting to scrub away the trauma, until Pen said, "White."

"...Huh?"

"Like, white vinegar," he clarified.

Pin let out an "O" sound and said, "I, uh, think I do have that one under the kitchen sink, since I haven't used that since I last cleaned the sink over there."

"I'll go get it?" The writing utensil said, more as a question than as a statement.

"Uh, yeah, sure."

As Pen ran off to the kitchen, she turned back to the ribbon. Her gaze involuntarily followed the small amount of blood that she had managed to rehydrate and scrub out while they were talking. As the red gradually disappeared down the long drainage pipe, Pin betrayed a sigh and let her eyes fall closed for a moment, needing the moment to rest herself. Though the day hadn't been so exiting, she felt so indescribably drained.

To her surprise, though, when she finally did open her eyes, the entire bathroom appeared to be so much different than it had been less than a minute ago. Blood seems to flow down the drain infinitely. Her eyes widened at the sudden shift in the rate the ribbon was losing the stain, but when she looked back down she discovered there is no ribbon at all-Rather, the blood is coming from her own reddened hands, inky blotches washing away along with the rose-coloured liquids and getting stuck to the cloth she was using to scrub away her sins.

She suddenly screamed 'bloody murder' and threw the cloth across the tub, it hitting the wall on the end opposite to her and landing hanging from the spout. She backed as far as she could against the wall and the side of the bathtub, risking a glance towards the rest of the room. As soon as she did, though, she wished she hadn't, because what she saw was a bloody and gorey mess. The walls are stained with blood and ink, and a mangled body of who she can only assume is the man whom she'd been talking with all day rests, back turned to her, in the center of it all.

Her heart is thumping so rapidly that she almost can't breathe through the sudden rush of adrenaline going through her system. For some reason, though, even despite the epinephrine that's pouring through her body, the only thing she can bring herself to do is cower in fear as a tight ball in the corner of the bathtub. A pitiful wail escapes her lips as she hides her head behind her knees, her unclipped nails clawing painfully at her skin as she silently prays for the nightmare to go away.

Yes, that has to be it! This whole thing has all just been one big bad dream. It's just a nightmare, just like all the other ones she's been getting almost every night. In any moment, her eyes will be open, and she'll be in her comfy bed once again, snuggled under the blankets with the reddened ribbon still clutched in her arms. She'll wake up any second, surely!

...Surely..?

...P-... Please..? Why... Why isn't she waking up?

'Because this isn't a dream, honey~' that damned voice sang.

Odd. She thought it couldn't read her thoughts... This mustn't be real, then, right? This... This can't be real! It can't!!

"It... It can't be! C- Can it?"

'Yes, dear. Yes, it can,' it told her despite the fact that it's not had its mist abilities used on her for weeks straight. 'It can, and you're living it.'

"N- No, I... Did I black out..??" She muttered desperately. "What happened?"

'Surely you've put the pieces together by now. I shouldn't need to explain it to you.'

"Did- D- Did you make me kill him?!?" She begged, her shouts louder than intended.

'Take a wild guess,' it said with a sinister chuckle, 'Though, I never forced you to do anything...'

"NO! No- I- N- Nonono, this isn't happening! I didn't- I wouldn't have-! I-" Though her breathing was already shallow and rapid, it somehow grew worse as she almost pleaded her way from the reality of the situation, trying to use her shaky, sob-filled voice to bargain with the vile demon. "He- He cared! He helped! I wouldn't have- d- I- I wouldn't h- have done th- that!"

'"Oh, but he cared! He helped!"' It mocked, followed by one coarse laugh, 'Please, Pin, you're only listing the reasons that you would have done it. Don't you remember what you do to everyone who gets too close?'

"Wh- We weren't even th- that clo- close though..!"

'And now you never will be. Isn't it wonderful? You got rid of him before you could hurt him more~'

A bang echoed through the room as the door was thrown open.

"NO! NO, THIS ISN'T REAL! YOU AREN'T REAL!" She shrieked.

'Pin-'

"YOU'RE NOT REAL! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

'P- Pin-!'

"LEAVE ME ALONE FOR ONCE! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU, FOURTEEN! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU! LEAVE ME ALONE! RUIN SOMEONE ELSE! NEVER TALK TO ME AGAIN! NEVER LOOK AT ME AGAIN!"

"Pin! Don't-!"

"LEAVE! PLEASE-"

"PIN-"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

She screamed at the number as it suddenly grabbed her arm, his hand recoiling as she slapped it away. It backed off, its arms up and palms showing as if he was trying to prove its innocence. He shouted things incoherent, and Pin screamed things equally as incoherent back at it. She probably screams its name a couple times. The blood on the walls is all she could see. Everything is red. She shuts her eyes. She screams. She cries. She wails. She begs. She begs until she can't anymore; until her voice is hoarse from the sobbing and until it begins scratching painfully at her throat whenever she tries to use it.

Then the voice spoke again. But it wasn't that monster's voice. It was much kinder. It was much... Softer.

"Pin..." he started, reaching to her again.

It's another trick. It's another trick, isn't it? She doesn't respond. She refuses to face the music. She could hear the quiet thuds of something coming closer. She doesn't want to see it. She can feel his hands on her shoulders. She can't tell what's real and what's fake. She can hear him speaking. She can't hear anything. It's so loud. It's so painfully loud, the silent cries of her treachery. She can hear them. She can hear them glaring at her. She doesn't have to open her eyes to know. She can hear him again. Why can't it give up? When will it realize she refuses to acknowledge it any longer?

When will she wake up?

"Pin... Open your eyes..."

Something pulled her closer. It's that thing, isn't it?

"You're safe, Pin."

It's lying. It's lying as it embraces her. It's all one big deception.

"You're alive, Pin..."

Though her breathing is slow, she can't think coherent thoughts. The only one she can differentiate is the one that tells her to fight back.

"Open your eyes..."

Fight back.

Fight. Back.

Fight.

Back.

But, god, she's so exhausted.

"Open your eyes, Pin... Look at me..."

She's so, goddamn exhausted.

"...See me..."

And she doesn't want to have to fight back anymore.

"...Hear me..."

Her hands fall from her head. She's too tired to wince at the pain of the hard contact with the 

porcelain 'floor'.

"...Feel me..."

Why can't she just give up? Why does she always have to keep fighting back? Why can't she just take BarfBag's advice?

"...I'm... out of senses... I don't wanna use 'taste', that'll sound weird."

The soft chuckle that escaped his lips wasn't the condescending laugh that the voice always gives her.

"Pin... My point is, open your eyes... You'll see that nothing bad is happening..."

Why can't he just give up on her? Doesn't he know she'll hurt him? ...That's him, right? Not the number?

"...Two things you can sense, Pin... What are two things you can sense?"

"..." She drew something similar to a sharp breath. "I... I can feel... you... rubbing my back... and... I hear the shower head... still running..."

"...Can you look at me, Pin?"

Hesitation. Her breathing is shaky, but not shallow.

"...Can you open your eyes and look at me? Or just around the room?"

Fine. She lets her lids draw open. Just barely, but still open. She almost closes them immediately again as she's hit with the brightness of the light reflecting from the shallow pool that surrounds them.

Shallow pool... Just like the one in the side effect dreams... -No, don't let your mind go there. Don't get lost in your thoughts again. Don't lose yourself again.

"Look up, Pin... Nothing bad has happened... The room is the same as when I left it..."

She glances up, though her head stays low until the last second. The tears still sting at her eyes, but she forces herself to look around regardless. She gazes around the spotless room, not a drop of red in sight. She's more than relieved to see the lack of the ballpoint pen's corpse behind him. The door remains wide open, and there's, what looks to be, the bottle of vinegar that he was retrieving, lying sideways on the floor.

"See? Nothing happened. We're both perfectly fine, Pin."

His smile is betraying, she tries to warn herself. If he doesn't hurt her, it'll be because she got to him first.

"You can relax. There's nothing happening."

But even as her mind screams at her to be wary, she tries to remind herself to stop trusting the voices in her head. After all, that's what got her into this mess in the first place.

"Nothing is happening."

A sniffle, and she can't stop herself anymore. Her whole body tenses up once again, but this time she doesn't shrivel up in the corner. She throws herself forward and grabs at his shoulders, the sudden force knocking him back against the wall of the wet tub opposite of the one the pushpin was just leaning against. And although he was caught off guard, the moment he processes what just happened he doesn't hesitate to wrap his arms around her once again, letting her tears run wet against his hard plastic body as they somehow flow stronger than they had been flowing moments before. He pats her back while she sobs into his chest, the soft hiccups bouncing against the walls and mingling with the sounds of the rushing water before echoing through the white room.

She cries. She cries and she cries and she cries, until her eyes have run dry-Though it doesn't take long. Now she's just sobbing. Pathetically, pathetically sobbing. Why she can't not be this pathetic for once, she has no idea. Such a stupid, pathetic woman is what Pin sees when she looks at herself in the mirror, a woman not even able to watch a bloodstream without being shrouded in hallucination.

Not pathetic at all, though, did Pen see her, for he's had his own fair share of mental breakdowns. And although he doesn't know what she's going through, the fact that she's willing to let him embrace her and hear her wails is more than enough proof of how strong she is. As someone who's rather weak himself, he can't help but admire her bravery.

Though, unfortunately, no amount of reassurance from the writing utensil will wash away what she sees as the truth; for the conflicting thoughts she's been lost in since the day she tossed the frozen lesbian over the end have quite a lot to say. Any attempt to save herself from the conflict of her own mind has proven futile, but while the most reasonable course of action is to simply give in, that would just prove how weak she truly is. A life in denial is better than a life of self-loathing, after all.

Though, acceptance turns out to be the first key to change—the taller object has seen it first hand—and the first key to acceptance is reassurance. And the first step to reassuring someone is to put in the effort to do so. He opens his eyes to gaze over at her, a soft smile on his face despite the fact that her shut eyes cannot notice it. There's one problem before he can put in the effort, though: He doesn't know how to reassure someone.

The reassurance that Pin was given from him felt like a gentle hand, guiding her towards a light she didn't know existed. It felt like a breath of fresh air, giving her back the strength she had lost yet needed in order to return to reality. It felt like when she would see her old garden of flowers finally bloom once again after a drought week. It felt like when she would pull a hot strawberry pie from the oven and place it to cool on the windowsill, watching as excitement filled Coiny's eyes when he realized what she was doing, and as Needle help to hold him back from devouring the dessert on the spot. It felt good.

Pen hasn't noticed, since he can't really see her face through the flat top of her head because of the angle they're at, but she's been gazing down at the glistening droplets of water beneath them, a smile on her face—a weak one, but a smile nonetheless. She lets out a soft, shaky sigh and squeezes his shoulders as she finally finds the courage to speak.

Y'know, this situation reminded her of someone. She thought it was deja vu at first, but it turns out it's really just regular memories. "...I think... I finally understand how Needle was able to tolerate you for so many years..." she chuckled out, her voice barely above a mutter but filled with a happiness she had lacked as of late.

Pen couldn't help but bark out a laugh. "Yeah, well, I'm pretty great," he boasted playfully, pushing her just barely off of himself so that he can see her exhausted yet grateful face, and so that she can see his teasing smirk. "Really, I'm the one figuring out why Needle was so obsessed with you!"

"Pft- Well, thanks for the compliment, but I'm not interested," she joked, rolling her eyes at him.

"Wh-" Pen poked at her shoulder, pushing her away slightly. "Me neither! I'm gay, you dumdum!" He retorted.

"Like everybody doesn't already know that," she teased, "It showed literally every time you were within five feet of Eraser."

"Wh- Hey! No fair!"

"It's true, isn't it?"

"Well at least I didn't make out with him the moment I got a chance to," he defended.

"Wait she told you about th-..?" A dumbfounded expression made its way onto her face before she cut herself off, shouting with a playful moment of offence. "Wh- That doesn't even count! You two weren't dating!"

Pen couldn't hold it back anymore—he snorted and broke into laughter. This, in turn, got Pin to start laughing too. They both just sat there for a moment—one that felt like forever—laughing their asses off. She wishes it could last forever. Maybe then, things wouldn't be so bad after all. This whimsy in arguing as if they were children again filled her with a type of relief and happiness she couldn't even describe after the trauma she just went through. After the trauma she's been going through.

This really reminds him of all the times he'd playfully fought with his friends, Pen realized. Hopefully this means Pin considers him a friend now, too, more than just "Needle's brother"; he knows he sees her as more than just "Needle's lover" now. Hopefully she'll see he really does care about her. Except, as their giggles died down, and the man glanced to the side, he was struck with a reminder—not quite a painful one—of what they were doing when he saw the still bloodied ribbon. He glanced back to Pin and opened his mouth, the words coming out just a bit quieter than his previous ones were, but not any more sadder.

"Hey... um... Speaking of Needle... do want me to finish up for you..?"

A beat passed before she responded, the sound that escaped her lips hushed and uncertain. "N- No, I can-"

"...Pin..." Pen interrupted, his gaze softening.

"I..." She paused, her hands trembling slightly, before finally giving in. "Mm... Fine..."

He smiled at her as he pushed himself up, pushing her more onto his lap than his torso in the process. She reluctantly stood from the warm hug to allow him to move more freely. Water rained onto his cap from the shower head as he reached for the cloth, which still hung from the spout on the wall, and it annoyingly dampened the stickers that've been attached to it; though he's had to get used to them fading as time passes, since getting them wet is kinda unavoidable-

They both literally jumped as a booming shout was heard from outside.

Pen hit the shower head as he leaped up like a startled cat. He reached to rub where the back of his head had hit it once he fell back to the ground, a pained moaning sound escaping his lips. But Pin's demeanour after her own surprised response was nothing similar to the comic-relief like one Pen had.

"No, I..." she muttered as they both regained their composure, "I can't go out there... I..."

Pen sighed, walking back over and placing a hand on the woman's back. "I don't wanna go out either, but you know how GB gets when people don't do what she says..." He glanced to the bathroom door. "Besides, we probably need to know what's gotten her so riled up, given the circumstances."

"B- But what about-..." She started, her voice trailing off into an inaudible whisper.

The blue, ballpoint, plastic object of stationary equipment easily caught her gaze, following it, and giving her a kind smile when his own trailed back to her. "I can stay and finish this if you think you can go out alone," he told her.

"But I... I don't think I can..."

Pen thought for a moment. "Well, we've got the vinegar now, so it might just come out right away when we use that. Do you wanna just finish this up before heading outside?"

"I don't... think I can go out at all..."

"I know," he sighed out, "But I also don't think we really have a choice."

"...We can... Finish this up first..." she eventually, reluctantly, decided.

—————

It was finally the bright and early morning.

Unfortunately, the two objects had ignored the shining sun in favour of their research.

Basketball's foot tapped anxiously on the floor of their aboveground factory as their brows furrowed at their computer screen. Their best friend's tail twitched in thought as she leaned her hands on the table next to the other object, equally glaring at the screen and the words on it. They didn't understand. I mean, this is all the evidence they have, and they still can't figure out what the motive might be for every possible suspect—save for Pillow's usual murderous insanity driving her to kill.

She seemed like the most likely suspect, but then again, why would she go through such lengths to make sure nobody got revived? Basketball groaned, hitting their forehead down onto the table. RF flinched at the sudden slam and reached her hands towards the ball.

"Woah, B-Ball, there's no need to stress that much!" She said nervously as the other person rolled their head subtly to the side to glance at the mechanical mind.

"Robot Flower, someone is literally murdering people," they said. Basketball sat back up into their chair, leaning back in it with a defeated sigh. "It just- it doesn't make any sense! The evidence isn't adding up!"

"I get that, but we can't solve anything if we're all stressed out about it," RF tried to remind them. "Anyways, I... I thought we were settling on the killer being Pillow, weren't we?"

"I mean, like, sure? But we were just forced to agree on her because we can't think figure out a good reason for it to be anyone else! Some of the evidence points away from her, too!!" They reached with their pump tail for the mouse and scrolled down the Word document for a second, highlighting a line of text they'd written. "I mean, look, not only had Marker apparently seen her just leave her cabin for some 'fresh air' and then head back inside around the time that Fanny would have died because of how old the body apparently was, but I also literally saw her busy watching Book and Taggy like a flipping creep again while Tennisball was supposedly getting murdered!!"

"Y- Yes, but those times are still only alleged! We don't know for sure that those people were killed in the exact moment she was-"

"THIS ISN'T EVEN HER STYLE OF KILLING!" They burst out angrily, standing up and glaring at the bright-ish desktop screen with their tail lashing side to side behind them in a burst of frustration. "Why would she suddenly just- decide to switch up her killing style?? First off, most of the corpses that we found were left in much less mangled states than Pillow usually left her victims! Four and X only had one wound each; Fanny only had the one fatal blow in her lung—sure, she also had a hole in her leg, but that's probably just in addition to the clear evidence of a struggle—Needle was- Well... I guess Needle was pretty ripped up..."

"So was Winner, right?" RF interjected.

"Well, yeah, but they weren't disemboweled like Needle was," they clarified.

"I mean, I didn't see the corpse," the taller object reminded them, "But you said, and I quote: 'They had been stabbed so many times that it literally took me almost a full three seconds to figure out who they were.' And when I asked how you found out it's them if they'd been stabbed that many times, you said: 'The only reason I figured it out without being directly told was because I saw their arm. I mean, it had also been stabbed a bunch around the base, but hadn't really been touched past that, so it was bloody but still recognizable.'"

The ball with lines sighed. "Yes, I did say that. But their death just seems like the same oddball situation that Needle's was. Actually, that whole night was very odd," they realized.

"How so?" the droid wondered aloud.

"Gee, where do I start?" They gave a pathetic chuckle. "First off, to according BH and Marker, the green mist that had showed up the day Eraser died appeared again in the basement Two had apparently given Tree and made Marker and, somehow, Black Hole pass out. And then, when they got woken up by everyone who'd gotten there up by that point, whoever made that mist used Marker to write on the wall that it isn't an object doing the killing, which could easily be just an attempt to confuse us but we still shouldn't ignore the possibility that it's true.

"And then Needle let out this bloodcurdling scream from somewhere in the forest. But she was also killed not long after Pillow might have killed Tree! She shouldn't have been able to kill Tree, drag him to TB's cabin—for.. some reason—get back to Tree's cabin to make Marker and BH pass out, lure Needle out into the woods and kill her, and STILL get back to her cabin in time to clean up and show for us discovering Needle's body!

"And, y'know, the WHY of why ANYONE would feel the need to murder FOUR PEOPLE in ONE NIGHT. And she also would have apparently needed the time to kill Two during a conversation in Tree's cabin! And yet, even after being cleared by being IN Tree's cabin when Two died, she was literally RIGHT THERE when Tree died! And she's refused to answer ANYONE's questions!

"And, on top of the conflicting evidence, she always had at least a petty reason to kill—if not an at least slightly understandable one—and there's no evidence pointing to a situation where Pillow would have had any reason for a murder planned out as elaborately as Tree's! Or, any of the more planned out murders, actually!"

"To be fair, according to BH and Marker, Pillow was trying to point fingers at Pin not too long before DPA had kidnapped her, and even called Barf Bag over to help her case. And Pillow also helped with the plan to kidnap her. And Pillow was also the one that called Tree into the basement. And Pillow also disappeared along with Pin, so she probably helped Pin escape," the taller object pointed out. She leaned back slightly and crossed her arms as she continued. "So, based on the information we have, it seems a lot like Pillow figured out that Barf Bag is suspicious of Pin... somehow... and was trying to use that to her advantage to frame her."

"Fair, but even if Pillow is the one that killed Tree, all the other deaths still aren't in her style," Basketball reasoned before continuing their list. "All of the areas where Two was stabbed were fatal and were likely only created in a panic-"

"Two's hands were also violently ripped off," the flower interrupted.

"ONE of them was violently ripped off!" B-Ball clarified, "The other was cut cleanly off!"

"One of them was removed while he was unconscious, and therefore there would have been no backlash. The other was probably ripped off more messily because they could have been conscious and trying to stop her from attacking them!"

"Why would she even want to cut their arms off??" They questioned.

"I dunno. Maybe she ate them, or planted them in some garden or something, 'cause she's insane," RF chuckled out.

"ROBOT FLOWER."

"Alright, alright," she rose her hands defensively, "I was just trying to lighten the mood, no need to get angry."

"With half of these murders we weren't even left with corpses!" Basketball protested, pulling them back to the killing style of the murderer. "GB said that Tennisball was 'most likely' killed, meaning that she probably didn't even FIND my half-cousin's freaking BODY! Pillow always left a corpse behind!! And then she always had at least SOME vague reason why she would kill! Like- Like in episode nine when she freaking- MASSACRED her whole team, that was apparently because she thought that the challenge was to die, and she was trying to make sure her team was the first to complete the challenge!"

RF rose a holographic eyebrow. "What about when she killed Cake in the cooking challenge?"

"Because Caaakeee was the meealllllllllllllll," they groaned out. "Andwedon'tevenknowifitwasPillowwhokilledhim!?? For all we know, Cake's death that challenge was just a freak accident! Maybe what happened to him in that episode was something like- like when Bell died? Because of some freak accident?? When Pin fell from the roof??? By accident???? ???????"

"She literally asked Two if they were 'going to finish that'," she pointed out. "She wanted to eat him, Basketball. Fits with Barf Bag's cannibalism theory."

"BARF BAG HAD LIKE NO PROOF SO WE CAN'T EVEN FULLY BELIEVE THAT THEORY YETTTTTT!!"

"Okay, okay, I get it, BB, none of the evidence is adding up." Robot Flower crouched down so that her head was level with her work partner's. "But really, we can't figure anything out if you stay this stressed about it! I thought you wanted to not get involved with any investigations anymore, anyways—What changed?"

"I- I dunno..." Basketball muttered, "I guess I just... Why not? I'm not working with someone who's gonna suggest kidnapping this time, and we were pretty much right there when Donut 'n Barf Bag were questioning Black Hole and... Sort of Marker..? I dunno if he was really participating more than he was fidgeting and trying not to cry more but like- Whatever, my point is that we have all this evidence and we're able to look at it with a way less biased opinion than B-Bag can so we should try to do something! I can't just sit around knowing that someone I love could be murdered at any moment!"

The robot sighed. "I think it's time to take a break, Basketball. I know that you want to stop the killer, and I get it! But we've been at this for hours. There are so many pages of evidence on your computer that I bet we could fill a whole bathtub with them if they were physical, and you got those all typed out in only the time that's passed since we started last evening. ...Did you even get any rest last night?"

"N-No, we can't just take a break, not yet..." B-Ball said, dodging the question. "We- We still haven't..." Their gaze shifted to the computer, and the vertical blue line that blinked on the screen, there and gone, there and gone, beckoning them to type more. And yet, they couldn't deny the exhaustion that ate away at them. Basketball finally let out a sigh and averted their eyes back to their c-... ...'friend'. "...Fine... But... Not too long, okay..?"

"We should just stop for the day, Basketball. You're clearly wiped, so you need to be able to not worry about it for a while. We literally slept in this room last night."

"...Alright..." they sighed out, their gaze shifting to the ground as they finally gave in to RF's demands.

Robot Flower smiled at them and stood up straight once again. Though, her gaze quickly made its way to the door as the knob turned, a bundle of grass scurrying in excitedly through the small gap between the door and the frame as a clump of hard snow pushed it open further. He stepped into the room as Grassy hurried to the two objects at the computer, gazing up at them happily.

"The kid was literally begging me to visit you two, so I brought him over to get him to shut up about it," Snowball said, a hand on his hip.

B-Ball gave a small, breathy chuckle at the kid's energy, crouching down to greet him. "Hello, Grassy. Good morning."

"Good morning, Basketball! What are you doing??" He asks, tilting his head with a curious grin.

RF let out a short chuckle. "The girl was just having another 'Nothing is working' episode."

The 'girl' glanced away shyly as their friend spoke, most likely out of embarrassment.

"Tch, of course she was," SB commented, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. "She can't go ten seconds without second guessing herself-"

The three older objects only flinched as a booming shout was heard from outside; the child literally jumped and grabbed onto the ball he sees as a mother in a moment of fear. B-Bag, RF and SB let out a chuckle at his antics (yes, even SB let himself chuckle). As the bundle of grass finally let go of the object, Robot Flower turned, walking up to the window and looking out. She ignored the string that's still suspended from somewhere in up the stars and swaying gently in the breeze, instead sighing at the woman standing angrily atop the broken machine that's covered by a sheet.

"Time to take our guesses at who's died this time..." she muttered.

—————

It is finally the bright and early morning.

Or, it would be, if Marker hadn't slept in again. Now it's the bright and late almost-noon.

A bright and late almost-noon perfect for the last two remnants of Death P.A.C.T. Again to converse out behind the limbed member's cabin, where it's much easier for them to reside than it is within the very same cabin due to the risk of destruction that makes itself present whenever the other object is within an enclosed space.

Unfortunately, this conversation seems to have taken a turn much like the ones every other of their conversations have taken as of late.

"WHY US?? WHY HAVE THEY KILLED US, OUT OF EVERYONE ELSE??? WHY TAKE OUT ALL OF US INSTEAD OF GOING FOR ANOTHER TARGET????"

"I don't know, Marker... I... I don't know their motives..." Black Hole let out a sigh, a mix of disappointment, anxiousness, stress, and nervousness being released with the heavy breath. "I don't know if we can even be sure who, or what, the murderer is anymore..."

"What good are we as DEATH PREVENTERS when we can't even prevent our OWN DEATHS??" Marker wailed, covering his eyes with the palms of his hands in his despair. "Wh- What good am I when I can't keep my own FAMILY alive..?" He didn't make any real effort to hide the crying from his friend, he only tried to stop the tears from getting everywhere.

Black Hole glanced to the side, settling himself not too deep into the ground next to the other boy. This had been a prominent conversation topic since that day that everything had seemed to go wrong, no more than five weeks ago. That day that he, Marker, and Tree had waited outside of Pin's home, so that they could force her unconscious and bring her to the psychopathic pillow who'd waited patiently within the basement that Two had given the plant...

Of course, the void didn't at all blame the art tool for constantly bringing it up. Not only was his literal younger sister allegedly found with her guts ripped out, according to the text messages that had been sent between the other objects in the, quote, "Server of all of the wonderful and beautiful Discord having non-eliminated TPOT contestants and the wonderful and beautiful Discord having host" (Although, people keep changing the name of the server, so most of them just call it "The TPOT Server" to keep things simple), but all of DPA knows more than anyone how he considers them to be his family, aswell. So, well, losing three of the five people you consider your family isn't really something easy to get by, especially when your whole job is to prevent that.

BH wishes he could embrace his friend in this moment, or, at the very least, give him a pat on the back, but being a literal orb of destruction makes it quite hard to do so without literally him--especially since he's got no arms to do it with, even if he wouldn't die upon contact. He sighs. "I know how much pain you're in right now, Marker. I know how hard this has all been. But you have to know that you can get through this," he assures him, "There isn't anything we can do to bring them back, so the most we can do is keep going. I'm sure... that's what they would have wanted us to do, anyways..."

He isn't quite sure, but, for a split moment, Black Hole thought he could feel the brush of Tree's leaves and bark leaning against his 'skin' (or, lack thereof, considering he just absorbs everything he touches). In that same moment, Marker caught a glimpse of the pale blue blades of Fanny in the corner of his eye. However, in an instant, the feeling and sight of both DPA members had whisked away into nothingness.

Marker sniffled and let out a light yet clearly forced chuckle. "I kn- know..." he said. "I know that... It's just... It's so h- hard to handle it all..." He finished with another sniffle, wiping his arm across his nose before burying his face in his knees and hugging his legs.

The other man forced himself to give a reassuring smile, moving himself closer to the purple art tool, yet still a safe enough distance away. "I know, Marker. I know how hard it is. I... Know what it's like to lose these same people, because I'm going through the same thing as you."

"Why do yo- you handle it as so much better than m- me- e, then..?" Marker wondered, his voice breathy and uneven and choppy through all the quiet sobs.

"I'm not coping any better than you are, Marker," Black Hole corrected.

"B- But then why don't you s- see- seem like i- it??" The tears are flowing faster now. They're getting stuck to the puffy inky 'hair' that comes out from beneath his cap.

"Because I don't even know how to seem like it!" He said, louder than intended. The tears that just started flowing would probably be more visible if they didn't keep getting sucked up by the nature of his object. "I don't know how to let people see how distressed I am! I've always been taught that the world is such a harsh place and that if you're vulnerable you're weak, and despite knowing now that that isn't true I was never taught how to let these walls down!"

This got Marker to finally look up from his legs, glancing over to the void to see that he had already averted his own gaze from the ink stick. With a hint of curiosity in his voice, he said, "But... you j- just did let a wall down..."

"What..?" BH turned to glance back at him, brows furrowed in confusion. "No, I-"

"You just exp- pressed your vulner- vulnera- b- bility... Y- You told me h- how distressed you ar- are..."

"I... Did..? I... don't understand, I only-"

"You're doing it ag- again, Black Hole..." Marker chuckled, "You're admitting that you don't under- understand instead of pretending that you d- do."

Black Hole just sat there, almost shocked that he hadn't realized it for himself. Marker just kept talking when he realized he was struggling to think of a response. "You do know h- how to let the walls down, you just never realized th- that you do," he said with a soft smile, despite his clear exhaustion, this one didn't seem as forced as the last.

"I... Didn't know..." BH admitted, glancing back to the side. "I... I'm still not expressing it like you are, though..."

"Well, mayb- maybe we can start now! Try just telling me wh- why you're stressed?"

"But... don't you already know why?"

"I don't know the f- full reason, Black Hole."

"But you're already so stressed, too. You don't need to worry about why I'm stressed on top of that-"

"See, now you're a- avoiding telling me." Marker had to take a moment to sniffle. As much as he kind of hoped it would, the change of focus didn't help the tears. "You're putting the wall back up. You need to let it down, that's wh- why you need to tell me."

"I... I hadn't thought of it that way, I..." He paused. A beat of silence passed before either spoke again. "...I... I suppose I'm stressed because of, well, everything that's been happening..." Black Hole said, "...I was devastated when Fanny died, and even more so when Tree... When Tree died, too.... Heh, you know how much I love him, and his death may as well have destroyed me on the inside..."

Marker waited a moment after the sentient orb of absolute destruction trailed off, to see if he'd say any more before speaking himself. "...Is that really it? Only Fanny and Tree..?"

"Well-... No... I said it's everything that's happening, I was just talking about Fanny and Tree specifically 'cause they're clearly the more important reasons..." he clarified.

"What else is making you this stressed?"

The orb sighed, frustration starting to grow. "I said, it's just everything that's happen-"

Marker jumped as a booming shout was heard from the other end of the clearing. Black Hole only flinched. Marker sighed.

"Guess we should head over there," Black Hole says.

"Mm, maybe we can get back to this after..?" Marker requested.

"Maybe."

—————

It's now the bright and late almost-noon.

It may as well just be noon, though, since the clock on Donut's wall says it's only about half an hour or so until then.

For now, though, he and his girlfriend will just be hanging around on his couch, trying to relax. Though, it's rather hard to do so, since the lack of recent murders has increased their worry for when the next one will be. At the beginning of this whole fiasco, each death was about a month or two apart, and it was a little over a month ago when they had discovered three lifeless and bloodied bodies in one night, each one gorier than the last, and another only a day or two later that had clearly been killed the same night as the others. So, it's pretty hard not to be anxious right now with the looming threat that, at any moment, you could become someone's next meal.

Say, whatever happened to Needle's body, anyways? It probably got taken to be devoured, or something, right? Oh, well, not her problem.

BarfBag sighed and slouched down the couch, now practically lying down. Donut glanced up from his writing and rose an eyebrow. "You... Uh... You good..?" he asked.

"Oh, just peachy," she muttered sarcastically.

The pastry leaned more towards her, saying, "You know you can tell me what's up, Barfy."

"I dunno. I figured you already knew," she said, glancing to him momentarily as she spoke. "I probably mentioned it a good couple times in the last... Oh, I dunno... Few months? How long ago did fall start?"

"You've mentioned a lot of things since fall, Barfy," he sighed out. "Which one, exactly, are you referring to?"

"Oh, only the fact that I may or may not be the reason somebody fucking KILLS THEMSELF!" She shouts, tossing her arms up in frustration. "AND SHE DIDN'T EVEN TURN OUT TO BE THE MURDERER!!"

"We don't know that! She disappeared along with Pillow that night, so she could have-"

"WHAT KIND OF A MURDERER KILLS HER OWN GIRLFRIEND, DONUT?!? PILLOW PROBABLY JUST FREED HER FOR SOME REASON!!" She contested, before adding with a sigh, "Sorry, I'm just... I'm just frustrated, is all."

"No, no, it's really alright," Donut assured. "I don't really blame you, especially with what's going on."

"Mm..." she sighed. She supposed there wasn't much to say here.

"Hey... You know, if we do ever see Pin again, I'm sure it won't be too late to try to apologize again..?" he suggested.

"Yeah, but... I'm not entirely sure we ever even will see her again..." She muttered out the response, glancing away from the man next to her. "Nobody's seen her since Needle died, so there are so many things that could have happened to her..."

"There's a very real chance she's just been in her house," Donut pointed out.

"Mhm... There's also a very real chance she was kidnapped... Or she was killed and the perpetrator took the body, like the others... Or she ran away... Or she killed herself 'cause Needle died... Or she killed herself 'cause I told her to... Or-"

"Okay, okay, I get it," he interrupted with a sigh, "But there's no use acting like those things actually happened before we have it narrowed down to only one or two possibilities."

"...What do you think most likely happened?"

"Me?"

"Yeah. I... I just said that."

"Well... Judging by the way that she disappeared from that basement with Pillow, I assume that, maybe, Pillow was trying to frame her? And maybe she blackmailed Pin into not telling anyone that she's the killer. Or, another idea, maybe Pin is the murderer, but she's working with Pillow. Maybe Pillow is the one that killed Needle, and she didn't tell Pin first?"

"I mean... I guess that makes sense..?" B-Bag admitted, "But then, what's with that whole, 'The killer isn't an object' sign in that basement?"

"That's probably just a red herring. I wouldn't be surprised if the killer just wrote that there to divert suspicion after people caught too onto them."

"We still can't factor out any evidence, Donut," she said with a stern gaze as she pushed herself to sit up. She reached her arm between her legs to lean closer to the larger object as she continued, saying, "I mean, the killer not being an object like us would explain how they can do that weird mist thing, and the way they said in everyone's head that I'm the killer that one time!"

"..." Donut hesitated a moment, unsure. Eventually, he flipped the bookmark-string to his page and closed the diary, reaching his leg to the coffee table to place down his reading glasses and the small book. He turned back to BarfBag, leaning towards her a bit, and said, "Hey, uh Barfy?"

"...Yeah?"

"Um... About that whole event-"

"I'm not the murderer, Donut." As she spoke, her voice was cold and unamused, her eyebrows low in a sort of half-glare at the man, who immediately sat up a bit in an almost defensive way.

"I'm not saying you are! I never said that!" He reminded frantically, his voice high and wary.

"You were going to ask about it, though." She rose an eyebrow as she added, "Weren't you?"

"I mean..." he glanced away nervously. "I never thought you were, I just... I had to be sure, y'know?"

She sighed. "Yeah, I understand. I'm mostly just annoyed that you thought that I would say 'Yes' if I was the murderer."

"Wh- I- I mean I didn't think you'd say yes! It's just that- Wh..? What are you laughing about!?" He shouted at her as giggles began escaping from the woman's lips.

"Pft- Sorry, it's just- Gimme a sec," she said, taking a moment to let it all out. As she did that, she could feel his gaze resting on her in an annoyed glare. "Sorry, sorry," she finally said as the laughs died down. "It's just... Mm... You're were all embarrassed and flustered and it was cute." She leaned more towards him as she spoke, watching as his expression almost entirely changed.

"O- Oh- Well- I- Uh-..." the jelly doughnut stuttered out, glancing to the side like he had before. This, however, just made her giggles return, arising another annoyed reaction from him. "STOP DOING THAT!" He'd shout at her.

"Stop being all cute, then!" She chuckled out, crawling the short distance across the sofa towards him. He, in her mind, didn't stop "being cute", though, because he couldn't help the shy blush that creeped onto his face.

"I'm not 'cute'," he mumbled.

He tried avoiding eye contact with her as she nuzzled up against his side, saying, "Mm, yes you aree~"

"No, I'm not," he said."

"Yes, you are..~" she giggled, a hand between his legs to keep her from falling.

"No, I'm noottttt..." he grumbled, the sound of the word "not" being dragged out through his complaint.

"Yees, you aarreeee~!" She grinned at him, both playfully and superiorly.

"Noo, I'm nooottttttttt!" The blush just grew as she grew closer, only adding to the teasing and giggles.

"Mm, fine," she sighed out playfully. "You want proof?"

"And what proof do you have that isn't subjective?" he asked, finally letting himself make eye contact with a raised eyebrow.

She didn't do anything in response except gaze at him with a teasing smirk, her own blush having already formed on her cheek. He just stared back at her, visible confusing on his face.

"You really wanna know?" She said at last.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Alright, fine," she gave a shrug--or, as much of a shrug as she could while still balancing on her arms--before adding, "You asked for it. Don't say I never told you so."

He barely got out a "What?" before she leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek. This certainly didn't help the pastry's case with the way his whole face seemed to flush red at the sudden contact. But he barely got a chance to fight back before she kissed him again. And then again, and again, placing soft pecks all over his face and only ever stopping to let out a giggle at his flustered form.

"Ack- Barfy! Stooppp!!" He giggled out, though made no real effort to escape the rapid forms of affection.

"Not until you admit you're adoorrrrablee~!" She said through her smug grin, her face barely inches away from his.

"What? No! Never!" He shouted defiantly, immediately laughing again as she proceeded to continue placing her tender kisses on him again through the spot she'd settled herself into between his legs. Eventually, he shouted again, saying, "Gh- Fine, fine! I give up!" Through defeated giggles.

"You gotta say it fiirrstttt~!" She chuckled out, poking at his cheek.

"How about, no?" He asked, raising a playful eyebrow.

"Well then you clearly haven't actually given up!" She teased.

Just as she leaned in, though, before she could continue kissing him again, though, Donut said, "Ack! Fine! I'll say it, I'll say it!" His words were followed by a burst of giggles.

The paper bag waited impatiently for him to speak again, the smug grin never leaving her face. "Well?" She asked after a moment of silence. "What do you have to say?"

"...I..." he started, the blush not falling from his cheeks.

"Mhm..?"

He gave a long, over-exaggerated sigh. "I... am... c-"

He cut off as a booming shout was heard from outside.

"Phew, saved by the bell," he muttered, sitting up. "Uh- I mean... C'mon, we should, uh, go see what she wants?"

"Mm, fiiiiineee," BarfBag sighed out, hopping up from the couch. "You owe me later, though," she added while gently nudging Donut with her elbow.

Donut chuckled and rolled his eyes before walking out from the front door, his girlfriend happily trailing not at all far behind him.

—————

It's now the bright and late almost-noon.

A frosty noon, though not one too chilly for a nice, calming walk to clear the mind in these trying times.

"And then, it's like, even though I know that she's dead, sometimes I can still... tell she's there..? Like- I know she isn't really there, but it feels like she is there, y'know?"

"Yeah, I get it. I sorta feel like that too, sometimes. Never when I'm on my own, though, like you do. I only really get the feeling Ice Cube's there when I'm around you. And just occasionally-like, probably less often than you said you get it."

"Huh. Do you ever get that with anyone else who's died?"

"Sometimes. But only really when I'm outside or around other people."

"Weird- What the..?

As she wandered outside with Price Tag, dead and icy leaves giving satisfying crunches beneath their feet, Book perked up at the sudden touch of something cold atop her head. She adjusted her neck warmer with one hand as she reached up with another, the mysterious, and also freezing cold, object sticking to her mitten when she tried to pick it up. Taggy leaned up to see what it is as the dictionary lowered her arm, gazing at the cold object at the tip of the fuzzy mit.

"What is it?" Price Tag asked. "Is it snow?"

"I think it's the first flake of the season," she answered as the sparkling speck melted against the warm accessory. She looked up as more snowflakes began to slowly rain down from the sky. There weren't that many, but at least they might finally have a year with a white Christmas.

"Aw, sweet! I can't wait to finally build a snowman again!" Taggy exclaims, stomping their foot excitedly. "I remember that being so fun!"

"Really? I don't think I've ever really gotten the chance to," Book said, tilting her head at her friend.

"Oh, it's awesome! You should try it sometime-" They cut themself off once they fully processed what their pal had just said, shaking their head as they started speaking again. "Wh- Wait wait wait wait wait. You've never made a snowman before!?"

"No, I don't think I have," she confirmed. "I mean, I've told you how my life was pretty sheltered. So, pair that with the way there's almost never snow and, well, I've just never really gotten to play in it."

"I've absolutely got to show you how. We should make one together! And snow angels, too! Though, all of mine were always missing one of the arms. Say, I wonder why it never snows here," PT suddenly redirected. "Or rains. Do you know why that is?"

"I'm not sure," Book admitted, "I would assume it's just because of Goiky's location affecting the climate, or something like that."

"You're not, like, a Goiky weather guidebook?" They asked with a joking chuckle.

"No, not today," she said. "I might be tomorrow, though."

"I was just being silly, Book," they said, leaning on the dictionary with their string wrapped around her shoulder. "I don't really care that much-"

They both perked up at a booming shout from the other end of the clearing, not too far ahead of them.

After an actual sigh, Book, unamused, said, "Sigh, time for a 'roll call'."

"Or, y'know, something like that," PT added, before removing their weight from the lexical compendium and wrapping their 'arm' around her hand as if they were holding it. "C'mon, let's go see what she wants before she gets mad at us- HEY!"

They had just about begun trotting forwards as they spoke, but they got cut off as someone purple and cushiony shoved her way between them, forcing their hands apart.

"C'mon, Book!" Pillow said, "Let's head there together!"

"But what about-..!?" The green and blue woman started to say, glancing behind herself to the sales tag, before cutting herself off as the other girl walked forwards, forcing Book along with her by the wrist. "Sigh, okay..." she gave in.

"Woah woah woah, Pillow!" Pricey gave a short burst to catch up with them before slowing down to match Pillow's speed. "You can't just do that! Me and Book were hanging out!"

"It's 'Book and I'," the sleeping aid corrected. "And, I don't care. You're not with us anymore."

"The only us that's been ruined is the conversation 'Book and I' were having, that you crashed!"

The dictionary sighed, her fuzzy bookmark tail twitching anxiously behind her. "Taggy, just let it go. You know she isn't-"

"No! She can't just keep doing this! She has to get it through her thick skull at some point that you don't like her!"

"You can shut up now," Pillow said, her smile never falling from her face. "That was uncalled for."

"Wh- B- YOU were uncalled for!!" Taggy spat.

"No I wasn't," Pillow responded. "You were."

"I'm not the one that just swooped in to take over the narrative! Book, say something! Help me out here!"

Book let out a quiet, sort of half-grunt sound. "I don't think she'll listen to me either, Taggy."

"You have to try! You can't just keep letting her do this!"

She sighed, before looking back up at the headrest. "Hey, uh... Pillow?"

"Yeah?" She asked cheerfully, her head tilting to see the other girl.

"Um... Could you, uh, leave me and Price Tag alone? ...Please?" She added with what little she could muster for a convincing smile.

"Hm... But you don't really wanna go, do you?" Pillow asked, but answered for her before she could herself. "Taggy told you to say that, so you clearly don't actually wanna hang out with it."

"I'm not a-" Taggy tried to interject, but cut themself off since they and Book had begun talking at the same time.

"That's not true!" The book protested. "I do wanna hang out with them! They're my best friend!"

"No they're not," the purple woman denied, "They're probably just using you, or something."

"I'm not using her!" They remonstrated, "I'm just her friend because I want to be!"

"Oh, hush," Pillow waved her hand dismissively at the tag. "Stop forcing her to hang out with you when she clearly doesn't want to."

Book tried to interject, but got almost immediately silenced by the other woman. "They're not forcing-"

"Sush!" She said to interrupt.

"Okay, miss projector," Taggy grumbled, glaring at the woman. "You're the one who made us friends in the first place, so why do you care so much!"

"I'm not projecting, I'm just stating what my research showed based on Book's behaviours around you!"

"So you HAVE still been spying on us!" They exclaimed, "We told you to stop doing that! Book told you to stop doing that!"

"When did Book tell me to stop?"

"At least half the times we caught you-"

"You can be quiet now," Pillow cut them off with the same cheery voice she's had this whole time.

"If I wanted to hang out with you I would have, Pillow!" Book finally found the courage to say, giving her a glare. "The reason I never did is because I didn't want to!"

"Please, why would you wanna hang out with the acid test dummy over there? It's just-"

And that's what made them snap. Before the psycho could even finish her sentence, Price Tag grabbed Book's free arm and yanked her out of Pillow's grasp. The two-toned leaf-bound depository of narratives let out a yelp as she was suddenly pulled back, but she quickly regained her balance when Taggy helped to steady her. Pillow immediately turned back as her fingers suddenly lost their grip on the woman's wrist, brows furrowing as she glared daggers at the shorter object. The shorter object, in turn, glared an equal amount of daggers back. Book, unfortunately, was forced to find herself standing awkwardly in the middle of this unannounced standoff.

—————

"EVERYBODY GET YOUR ASSES TO THE RECOVERY CENTER NOW!!"

A muffled bang echoed out from the RC when the sports globule stomped her foot down on the fabric that hid it and spoke, her ponytail swaying slightly behind her as her circular body moved. She glared at the clearing for a moment as people began to enter, not caring for the overall annoyed mood coming from the increasing crowd. The clearing filled with noises--mostly people's voices--that made it hard for the woman atop the RC to focus on the script she was re-reading to refresh herself on what to say; despite having already basically memorized it all. She really isn't in the mood for this kind of chaos but, just before she could shout at everyone to quiet down, a small 'thought' in the voice of her late lab partner told her to just relax; after all, she's already read the script so many times that she could probably recite it in her sleep, so she should let her nerves calm down before the intensity of what she's about to say and the accusations she's about to make.

She sighed and glanced at the pages, taking one more moment to place them back in order before switching from reading to watching the crowd. She figured, at least, that watching the objects enter could help her make sure everyone's here, in case someone didn't respond during the roll call, or if someone thought they'd be "funny" by claiming someone absent was actually present. So, she flipped through the pages of looseleaf once more before sitting herself down, her new mechanical hands resting on the joints that connected the upper parts of her legs to the parts that were folded beneath her.

Paying no mind to the light snowfall that had begun as she sat there, she tries her best to be patient as she watches people enter, carefully observing each and every one that she can. Although about half of the remaining survivors have already arrived, there is still a large amount that they're still waiting on. Most of the people in the clearing simply have annoyed expressions, but there's a few she's specifically noticing are much more anxious than the rest; although, there's at least a bit of anxiety showing in everyone.

Pin, for one, is acting quite odd as she walks in. Though, Golfball couldn't exactly say that any of her actions are much different than the way she's been since this whole thing began without staying entirely truthful. The only real differences in her behaviour are the way she's staying with Pen as if they're linked by an invisible chain, and how much more on-edge she is, constantly looking over her shoulder or jumping at the smallest disturbance and each time letting out a sigh of relief when it turns out to be nothing. Also, the discoloured yellow ribbon tied around her point, some patchy, brownish-red streaks still present in the fabric, is new--it doesn't take a detective to know where that came from, though.

Another example is Basketball. She, along with Snowball, were one of the first ones to arrive. She doesn't appear nearly as anxious as Pin, but there is still an unusual exhaustion emanating from each move she makes. Of course, it doesn't seem too odd, since she seems to have a bit of a bad habit of overworking herself. Ironically enough, it's something that GB tends to judge them about.

Black Hole seems a bit disgruntled, but not any more than they are visibly upset. Of course, his emotions rarely show much, if at all, so it's rather hard to tell what exactly he's feeling most of the time. Next to him, though, Marker's a nervous wreck--or, almost a nervous wreck--which doesn't really fit his cheery personality. Even at the other announcements and roll calls, he was at least presenting a larger smile than the slight and wavering one he wears right now.

Eventually, people stopped entering the clearing, so GB stood. She cleared her throat before shouting out, "Quiet down, people!" While some objects did divert their attention to the woman, most others payed no mind to her request. She let out a low grumble, before shouting, "PAY ATTENTION!"

This, thankfully, got everyone to shut up. The voices in the clearing below quieted down to no more than the occasional mumble or whisper. GB reached down and grabbed one of her papers, the one containing a long list of every single remaining contestant; beginning to reach with her foot before remembering her arms halfway through and finishing with those. She announced the roll call and began pacing back and forth across the broken RC as she called out their names, only continuing to the next once she got a "HERE" or a "PRESENT" or any other call from whomever's name it was that she called. She skips the crossed out names--those are the deceased.

She barely even got halfway through the list before they ran into a hiccup.

"BOOK?"

...

When there was no response from the clearing below, the sports globule called out again. "BOOK!?"

Her eyes scanned the crowd for the other woman as no sound, aside from many concerned mutters, was heard from the crowd of objects; none of the mumbles in the dictionary's voice. Golfball sighed and called her name out once more, this time much more audibly annoyed than the last two. "BOOK!!" When nobody answered her call once again, she asked to the objects below, "Has anyone seen Book??"

One person rose their hand--or rather, foot--as she spoke. "I think I saw her with Price Tag just a bit before you called us all over," Gaty said.

"Where were they?" The sports ball asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They were just walking around outs-" she started saying, unfortunately getting cut off mid-word by the conversation subject's shocked and fearful shout.

"TAGGY!!"

—————

(A/N: Before you say anything, Gelatin isn't thirteen or whatever; he's 17/18 in my headcanons & this AU and was joking when he said he was a child. Also have you heard his voice??? That is not the voice of a six year old. ToT)

The clocks have just hit noon.

The wind blew calmly through the street-esque pathways between the houses, the ones that were created by being constantly walked across by the objects living there. It isn't the prettiest sight, but it gets the job done; and nobody's cared enough to make it more attractive, so this is how it's remained.

The grape candy lounging on the bench adjusted her wrapper cloak as a sudden gust of more forceful wind blew through it, blowing it into an uncomfortable position around her neck and over her shoulders. At least the plastic can act as a sort of windbreaker if she keeps her arms beneath it. She glared at the pathways before her a moment longer before sighing, pulling out her phone to check the notification that she felt it vibrate to announce.

"@collagen., 4 seconds ago:

Sorry I'm running late lolz

I lost a shoe

�"

She just stares at the screen for a second, trying not to chuckle, though she can't help but be betrayed by the slight grin that makes its way onto her face. God, he's such an idiot. She supposes she'll let it slide.

...This time.

As Lollipop puts her device away, she notices something blue in the corner of her eye and glances down to it, looking back to the paths before her right away. She glances back to the side again when she realizes she didn't actually process what it is, practically jumping at the sudden arrival with a short yelp.

"Jeez..." She mutters as she regains her composure, sitting herself back up straight. "Why do you always have to sneak up on me like that?"

Teardrop just waves with a smile that just barely isn't a teasing smirk. 'Why are you always easy to sneak up on?' She signs.

Lollipop rolls her eyes with an unamused smile, a short chuckle breaking past her lips. "Only by you, TD. It's pretty rare for anyone else to do that." Though she'd closed her eyes through her grin and leaned back on the bench, she perked up once again when the droplet snapped in her face, looking over to the woman as she tried to say more.

'Who are you waiting for?' They ask.

"Oh, Gelatin," she answers. "It's been a while since we've hung out, just the two of us, so he wanted to do that again. He's running a bit late, though."

'What is the reason this time?' A chuckle--or, what seemed like one--broke past zer lips.

"He apparently lost one of his shoes."

Xe made a "wha" motion with her lips, before rolling her eyes with a "Tch" sound, that same breathy chuckle escaping their mouth as ze signed 'Should have guessed. He really is an idiot. Isn't he?'

"Honestly. Sometimes I wonder why we're friends with him."

'Probably because he would be dead already if we were not there to stop him from playing with fire,' xey joked, her dolphin tail flicking up a moment on the bench next to them

With almost comedic timing, a panting and crunching sound suddenly made its way closer to them. The women both glance up as the jelly boy stops in front of the bench, his hands on his knees as he takes a moment to catch his breath. "Graceful entrance you had there, Gell-O," Lollipop teases.

"Ah, yes, because I'm just purely amazing," he boasted once he wasn't struggling to breathe, walking closer and leaning on his hands, his elbows on the bench between them. "I mean, no wonder I was able to captivate both of you so easily."

'I literally friendzoned you not even last month' Teardrop signed.

He immediately pushed himself up and pointed at xer as he shot back, "THAT'S JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE A LESBIAN!"

'I would have done it still if you were a girl.'

Lollipop couldn't help the laughter as Teardrop somehow managed to keep a straight face through this sudden rebuttal. Gelatin sighed and shrugged, pushing himself up onto the bench between them. "Oh, well. I got over it pretty quickly anyways," he said, leaning back with his hands behind his head.

'Did you though?' Droppy signed

"Yes?? Wh- Why would I be so casual around you if I hadn't???"

TD shrugged, still grinning. She folded one leg over the other and lifted their arms over the back of the bench as Lollipop finally spoke up.

"Okay, okay," she said, still somewhat giggly, "I think it's time to change the subject. Was there something specific you wanted to do, Gelatin?"

Just before he could speak, the droplet tapped the bench to get their attention again, jokingly signing once they could see it, 'He probably wants to ask you out too,' with an eye roll breathy chuckle.

"NO I DON'T!" The blob boy shouted.

"Yeah, 'cause you'd just get friendzoned again," Lollipop said.

"Okay, it's not my fault that all of my besties are into girls!"

"What about Firey?" Lollipop asked, at the same time that TD signed, 'So you were going to ask her out?'

"He's off living with Leafy," he said with a slight sigh. "So I can't talk to him anyways."

'And probably kissing her,' TD pointed out, despite the fact that neither of them noticed zer words again. 'Did you see the way they looked at eachother when Firey got eliminated?'

"Okay, but you would make out with him if you could?" Lollipop asked, at the same time that Teardrop had begun signing what she had.

"...Uhhhhh........"

The grape candy and the water drop both chuckled at his response, arising an unamused, "Okay, I'm tired of this conversation," from the boy, who crossed his arms with a pout.

"There, there," Lolli teased, patting his shoulder. "You'll get someone someday, Gell-O. We believe in you."

Droppy hit the bench lightly with their tail, creating a bit of a splash sound, before signing, 'You should just go after someone who likes boys.'

"YOU'RE THE ONLY PERSON I'VE EVER EVEN ACTUALLY BEEN INTO, TD!" He shouted in defiance. "And I'm NOT into you anymore, fyi! That was just, like, a one time thing! ...Probably."

'What about Fire[y]?' Ze signed with a raised eyebrow.

"Wh- I- He isn't even here to ask out!"

'But you would ask him out if he was?'

"NO!"

Lollipop, giggling once again, reached to teasingly flick his (puppy) ear, saying, "Alright, alright, we get it, Gelatin, you're a raging bisexual. Let's just go hang out now?"

"Yes, let's," he said, hopping from the bench with a playfully "angered" glare at the shorter woman. Droppy, in return, stuck xyr tongue out and winked at him as they waved goodbye, watching them walk off, chatting; presumably about a different subject.

As she sat there, a 'yawn'--a silent one, since ze can't really make the sound of a yawn--escaped her mouth. They supposed it must just be a bored one, so ze pushed xemself from her seat to go see what someone else was doing. As she walked along the path, their tail dragging limply behind zer, xey suddenly jumped as someone called out behind her, whipping Zappy out as they spun around and pointing the purple laser gun at whoever it was, relaxing once ze realized it's just Lightning.

"Woah, TD," they said, putting their arms up defensively and flying back a bit. "No need to get so defensive, haha!"

Xey let out the breath she was holding and put Zappy away, signing, 'Hey Lightning. What is up?'

"...Huh?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

A beat passed, and then they slapped zer hand over xer face. Right. She keeps forgetting that only, like, four or so people here know sign language, including them. After dragging zer hand down xyr face for half a second, she looks to the left and the right of their body, before realizing ze hadn't cared to bring the notepad thing with xem when she left the house. They frown for a moment and then point at the electric bolt, raising an eyebrow and tilting zer head.

Lightning takes a second before they speak again, making an "uh..." sound as they try to understand what xey meant by that. "Are you... Asking what I'm doing..?" He asks.

She smiles and nods, placing their hands on zer hips.

"Oh, uh, I don't actually really know," he says. "I was chatting with Marker, but then he had to go, so... Now I'm just wandering around."

Xey perk up a bit, thinking for a half-second before pointing at Lightning, and then at her other hand, which they're using to mimic a talking motion. Then ze raises an eyebrow.

"Uh... Are you... Hm..." Lightning took another couple seconds. They never were the best at charades, so it's always kinda hard for them to tell what the droplet is trying to say. Teardrop just kinda frowned and kept pointing between him and xyr hand as he tries to guess what she's saying. "Maybe... Hm... Me, then... Talking? Well, I'm a lightning bolt, and lightning is fast, so are you saying I'm talking too fast?"

Teardrop just stared at him for a second, dumbfounded at how one can be this stupid, before facepalming. They thought for another second before trying something new. Ze took both of xyr hands and pretended they were talking to eachother, then pointed at one mouth shaped hand and then at the thunderbolt, then made her other hand back into a mouth shape and pointed at it with the other hand, and then motioned a rectangle shape with both. Then ze tilted xyr head and rose an eyebrow, shrugging without moving more than her shoulders.

Lighting just stared at them for a second before asking, "What?" With a raised eyebrow.

Ze frowns at him and just decides it's time to give up. Xey went and found a stick, writing in a patch of dirt, "What were you and Marker talking about?"

"OOOoooooh! That's what you were saying!" They exclaim, before pausing a moment and then adding, "I feel really stupid now."

"You are," she wrote.

"Rude," he said, crossing his arms.

They grin at him and shrug, then tap at the first thing ze wrote in the dirt with the stick.

"O- Oh, uh... I-It was nothing, really," he nervously laughed out.

TD's unamused gaze rested on him, and xey rose an eyebrow. "Really?" She wrote in the dirt.

"Y- Yeah, really! We, um, weren't talking about much... Just uh... Um..." His eyes scanned the area, searching for a convincing way to escape his predicament. "Uhhhhhhh............ Toss the dirt...????" He suggested with a shrug and a nervous grin.

... "Toss the dirt?" They write.

"Y-... Yeah! Y'know... Toss the Dirt? Marker's favourite game?"

Ze eventually rolls xer eyes and decide that this isn't getting anywhere. And, it's also starting to get boring. She dropped the stick and began walking off. Lightning stared after them for a second before giving a short burst of speed to catch up, saying, "Hey, where are you going?"

They did some sort of hand motion that looked like sign language in response. "I don't know what that means, TD," he reminded. Ze just shrugs in response with an uncaring grin and signs something else, xyr gaze never moving to see the fleeting, zigzagging conduit of atmospheric electricity who was flying alongside her.

"You're being kinda rude," they mutter, arms crossed.

The woman stuck their hand up in his direction, zer fingers in an "L" shape, which caused Lightning to stop in place, a dumbfounded look on his face. They call out, "HEY!" As xey continue to walk away from him, but he stopped chasing her. This made it easier for Teardrop to ignore him, so that's exactly what they did. Lightning crossed their arms again and mumbled something under their breath as the droplet walked off, their long red scarf flowing gracefully behind them as they turned to fly in the opposite direction.

He rose up over the place that had turned into a sort of town, zooming above the buildings and the objects wandering the streets. They scan the structures below until running through something that obscured their vision for a moment, other startled voices heard intertwined with theirs as whatever they had flown through flips them over. He spun in the air a moment to regain his 'balance' and slow to a stop, looking back, as soon as he could, to see what had interrupted his glide. He expected it to just be a cloud, like it usually is, and... he was half right.

Fumbling in the air a moment before landing back atop his friend, Balloony took another startled moment to regain himself before finally processing what had interrupted their lounging. After resting himself back into the lying (hanging?) position he was in before, he looks up to see the thunderbolt, a smile on his face once he realizes who it is. Just as he was about to speak, though, Cloudy's voice was heard before his could be.

"Gh, Lighdningk, wadj where you're koingk," he says.

"Sorry, haha," they laugh out, somewhat nervously. "My bad."

"It's cool, Lightning," Balloony assures, waving his wrist uncaringly, "There was no real harm done."

"Id hurd, though," Cloudy complained. The taller man glanced down to him with a sympathetic frown, gently patting him on the head.

"Y- Yeah, uh... sorry about that..." Lightning shuffled nervously as he spoke.

The gas sighed. "Id'z vine, I kuezz..." he said. "I'll liffe."

Balloony gave a short hum of agreement. "Besides, Lightning's your pal, isn't he?"

"Well, we to haffe a bretdy koodt relazionzhib-"

"We do!?" The bolt said, almost through the gasp they gave. Almost the split second after, when they both looked back up to him, he once again glanced away nervously. "S- Sorry..."

"Id'z vine, Lighdningk," Cloudy said.

"Yeah, don't sweat it!" Balloony assured. "Actually, why don't you come hang with us?" He suddenly invited, causing Cloudy to look up, clearly surprised.

"Huh? Why?" He wondered.

"Why not?"

"I chuzd thoughd..." the vaporous mass started.

"Hm?" Balloony rose an eyebrow as he suddenly trailed off.

"I, uh, I don't have to stay if you don't want me too..." Lightning said with a bit of a forced smile, finishing his sentence with a nervous laugh.

Cloudy shook his head as he said, "N- No, id'z vine," having suddenly perked up. A kind smile is on his face as he adds, "You gan zday, I ton'd mīnt."

"...Really..?"

"Yeah, I... agdually ton'd really zee any koodt reazon nod do haffe you zday."

A small smile made its way onto the other flyer's face as he exclaimed, "Oh! Th- Thanks!-..." Although, it grew into a shyer grin as he quickly corrected himself for... some reason. "Uh, th-... thank you... But are... are you sure..?"

"Sure we're sure!" Balloony confirmed. He spoke more softly as he added, "...I mean, unless you don't want to-"

"-I do!" They interrupted, quickly following up with a, clearly embarrassed, "I mean... Um... I, uh, I would. ...L... Like to uh, join you, that is."

All three of them smile. Kind smiles. Balloony and Cloudy weren't doing much before this, anyways, and they'll continue to not do much, but Lightning chooses to join them regardless. It's nice. They'll end up hanging out for a while.

—————

The clocks only just hit noon.

And, somehow, a fight has already broken out.

Book leaped to her friend's aid the moment they were knocked to the ground, a bruise already forming in the center of the label's red body as they let out a pained groan. All three of the  objects in the clearing could hear a crowd rushing towards them as Pillow shook her hand out, her wrist hurting slightly from moving it so quickly. Price tag grunted as they had Book help them up, their 'arm' supporting them from over the two-toned object's shoulders.

"What was that for!?" The dictionary shouted, finally averting her gaze from the purple-ish  mark left by that hard punch. Taggy probably would have asked the same thing before Book could but, man, it's surprising how hard such a physically soft object can hit.

Pillow simply lowers her fist to her side and steps forwards--which, of course, is immediately rendered useless when Book and Taggy step back. "This doesn't concern you, Book," she said, clapping her hands together with an innocent grin as she continues with, "Please step away, to avoid getting... hurt."

"Wh- I'm not going to let you hurt Price Tag! They're my friend!" The dictionary shouted in defiance. "What did they do to you!??"

"They aren't your 'friend,'" the sleeping aid said, her eerily cheery tone of voice somehow still present through the thick layer of cold ice that had formed atop of it. Book felt a lump form in her throat when the sadist's smile was suddenly gone.

"Yes, I AM!" Price Tag shouted, only to wince at the pain in their gut.

This caused Pillow's eye to twitch.

And the first thought to cross Book's mind in that moment was, 'Well, shit.'

The very next things to happen were a bit of a blur. Next thing Book knew, she felt the yellow blades of grass brushing against her back, bookmark tail sprawled out between her legs before falling to the ground when she stops sliding. When she looked up she could see Price Tag caught in a fist fight that they're clearly losing, contrary to their face showing the expression of one who could still come out on top. Panic's filled the woman's system, and yet she's frozen in place, wide eyes unable to be pulled from the scene despite the way she keeps wincing at it.

It wasn't until Pillow lifted the cost-bearing label tightly in both hands and tugged that Book finally managed to push herself up, but by then help had already arrived. The pained shout that Taggy gave cut off as someone had managed to catch the sleeping aid by surprise and push her down prone, forcing her grip to loosen enough that the momentum had tossed her victim. Book just barely managed to catch them before they hit the ground and got hurt more than they already have.

Everything happening around Pillow faded into a bit of a buzzing as the dictionary frantically tries to help her friend. It's hard to hold someone while avoiding touching their wounds when they have that many, but Book managed. There would probably be blood being coughed up if the tag's mouth wasn't merely printed onto their face, so, instead, there's sound with no substance. 

"T- Taggy..?" She finally managed to force out after having the words stuck in her throat for a good minute or two.

Price Tag took another moment to cough and recover before finally saying, "G... Gottem... Heh...", their grin shaped by shifting between a J and a D as they spoke weakly.

"OhmygoshTaggyareyouokay!??" Book blurted out as a delayed reaction to the clearly pained state of the shorter object.

"I'll be f- *cough* ...fine..." they answered, their voice clearly strained.

"TAGGY YOU LOOK LIKE YOU JUST ATE THE BLUEBERRY BUBBLEGUM! YOU ARE NOT FINE!!"

"B... Blueberry bubblegum..?" If their eyes weren't squeezed shut as an X, Price Tag probably would have been gazing at Book with one of the most confused expressions they had ever made.

"S- Sorry, it's from a movie," the dictionary said with a glance to the side, before then shaking her head and adding, "What I'm saying saying is, you're beaten and bruised and you need help!"

They finally gave in with an, "Ugh... Alright..."

By this time, Pillow had seemingly been restrained--and, hopefully, sedated--so a familiar sports globule was walking up to the two while everyone else was distracted by the psycho a couple feet away. The scientist crouched to inspect Price Tag's injuries, but the other woman had pulled her friend protectively closer to her. At this, Golfball sighed and said, "May I?"

Book hesitated. But, of course, there's nothing bad that GB had any reason to do, so she lowered her arms and let the scientist see. Golfball winced once she did and muttered something beneath her breath in a concerned tone, a knee instinctively being chosen over her hands to reach and push up her glasses.

-Wait, hands? Book squinted at the new limbs for a moment but decided against mentioning them; Price Tag is in too much pain to notice, their eyes still shut tight as the globule finally remembers the devices are there and reaches one to the injured object. But before she can, Book pulls Taggy away again, so GB pulls the arm back and sighs again.

"I need to take them back to my lab, Book," she says, one robotic arm supporting her weight and the other sprawled over her knees. "To tend to their wounds. Especially that rip there," she points at a small cut in the center of the top of the tag's body as she spoke, the blood leaking from it almost the same colour as their body, "It could get bigger if it isn't treated, and potentially become fatal."

Taggy didn't say anything, because it hurt to do so, and neither did Book, her anxiously tensed muscles matching the hesitation in her quivering lip. Golfball let out an annoyed groan at the lack of response, followed by a slightly delayed movement lifting a hand to rub her nosebridge. When the arm lowered again after a short moment the globule said, with evident reluctance and a glance to the side, "...You can come with, Book."

The hopefulness that filled the woman's eyes was clear as day, and she quickly wondered aloud, "C- Can I carry them..?"

Golfball let out a low grumble. Although, it was a short one, since she was quickly pushing herself up at the same time and--immediately after she turned--saying, "Fine, just don't be annoying," while beginning to walk off in the direction of her lab. Her arms hung limply at her sides.

Book hastily stood, only to slow herself with a mumbled "Sorry" to the object who'd given a pained wince in her arms at the sudden movement. Being careful not to hurt Price Tag more, Book gave a short sprint to catch up to the dimpled woman, slowing to her pace once she had. She stayed silent as they walked through the clearing, wary not to make the scientist go back on her offer.

As they passed where the majority of the objects were, though, she couldn't help but glance to the scene of an enraged headrest finally ripping herself from the arms of whoever was holding her back. She snapped something at them before catching sight of the dictionary, the glare she gave causing her blood to run cold. It took Book a moment to realize that Pillow's spiteful gaze was not actually focused on her, but rather that the metaphorical daggers were being shot at the curled up object in her arms. Even still, the mouthed words that Price Tag could not see had seemingly managed to inflict just as much fear into them as they had into Book.

Watch it

Pillow could hear people shouting angrily at her. They should all learn to mind their own business once in a while, jeez. She ignored them, though, and instead glared at that stupid little object in the two-toned woman's arms until they were both out of sight. Deserved each punch it got, her mind kept telling her. She wholeheartedly believed it, not a seed of doubt in her logic.

Why can't Book realize, the purple object wondered, that she just wants what's best for her? Sure, maybe she's a bit rough when it comes to her approach, but, really, what has she been doing if not trying to remove a pesky suckerfish? Sure, she's the one that unknowingly set that annoying little bugger loose in the lake at the end of episode 10, but she didn't realize that this would be the result! The suckerfish had disguised itself an innocent worm, and all Pillow wanted was to bait- no, feed the fish! How was she to know that the creature under the disguise would be something so parasitic? Something that would feed off of all of the attention she had meant to get for herself?

She grumbled and stormed off in the direction opposite of her Book, away from the crowd of people that painted her as the villain. She'll show them. She'll show them all. She'll prove that she doesn't need other people telling her what's right and what isn't. Besides, this event wasn't even a total failure.

Of course, how could she forget? She found her smile growing back as she remembered the other reason she'd even interrupted her friend in the first place. Pencil and notepad out, she began scribbling down everything that had happened; from the moment she'd hopped from that bush to the moment she finally managed to pull herself from Snowball's arms.

Naturally, she had never intended for such a fight to break out, but when that vermin had gotten too full of itself she had to step in! She can't let them forget where they stand next to her, now. She'll have to keep this up if she is to figure out what'll finally get them to break up their already unstable friendship. All of that info is incredibly important for her research on the topic, so she made a point to jot down the moment she'd noticed them getting a bit cockier than usual.

Cockier than usual... That was quite unusual, wasn't it? Pillow hadn't noticed them ever doing that any of the other times she'd interrupted them. She'll have to look into what had given Price Tag the confidence to stand up like that, to make sure that she can prevent it during future instances.

The thin sheet of snow crunched beneath her feet as she walked through the, now well hidden, yellow grass. Nose in her notes, the sleeping aid deliberately chooses to ignore the voice in her head. Well, she chose to ignore him until she reached her cabin and could hear his voice outside of her head. She gave him an innocent smile as he watched her enter, gaze unamused.

"Did you have to escalate it like that?" He wondered.

Pillow tilted her head. "Why not?" She asked.

"Whatever happened to laying low?"

"Laying low is boring," she sighed out, leaning from behind against the back of the couch that the number was sitting on. "And besides, now GB won't be telling anyone about our little break-in for even just a liiiiiitle longer!" She finished with a giggle to really send the message home; that, or to really send her insanity home.

Home is where the heart is, after all. And Pillow's home is where Fourteen has been needing to stay after TB's was busted. While this isn't much of, if at all, an inconvenience to Pillow, Fourteen can't wait to get his own place to hide out again. The sooner he isn't at risk of being caught, the better—the Divine forbid they have another situation like the night Pin and Needle got together.

Of course, Fourteen has the hideout he had used before, but that small cave is far too distanced from the cabins for frequent visits like the ones he and Pillow have been having, and the checkups he has on Pin every so often in the night. Even if we factor in that all of the algebraliens can fly, it would still take a bit for him to get to the cabin filled clearing, and that same amount of time back. And, like Pin had said, if Pillow and her just both went and hid in the moss-coated cave with him, all the other objects would go looking for them.

The number sighed, glancing across the living room with his tail flicking up in either annoyance or respect for the out-of-the-box plan. "Still, they're going to suspect you more now. Almost all of them are already suspecting you after that disaster of a break-out with Pin," he told her, his voice growing more angered as he added, "What were you even thinking when you started beating the shit out of that tag? Like, I can get behind just being a general nuisance, but what did you really think would happen when you started doing that??"

"You misunderstand the strategy behind my actions," Pillow bluntly stated. She pulled her notebook back out, flipped through the pages for a second, and then tossed it to the number, who caught it with a bit of a fumble, before she continued. "In my studies, the more hectic an event, the less likely someone is to remember their train of thought before said event. Since I couldn't go so far as to kill someone, especially not after almost getting caught breaking into her lab, beating someone to a pulp is the next best thing."

Fourteen scanned over the few pages of notes on the subject. For someone like her, the research she's done is... surprisingly convincing. He opened his mouth to speak, but her voice was heard again before he could.

"And, with my reputation, everyone will likely chalk this up as just another one of my antics. And," her voice grew quiet for a moment as she quickly added beneath her breath, "...As much as I'd have liked to murder it as soon as possible—if we don't kill Pricey Taggy anytime soon, people are going to suspect me less and less, because they'll all expect me to kill it next with the knowledge of how much I fucking hate it. So, because I just beat the shit out of it:" she lifts her hand and begins counting on her fingers how many of her next points she makes, "We get to stop anyone from finding out about our robbery for-possibly-ever; people's suspicion of me will actually lower if PT doesn't get killed next; we've discovered that Pin has officially gotten her sad ass out of that stinky bed-"

"-Wait, I'm sorry, Pin got up!??" The integer interrupted, pretty much his whole body having moved to face the woman he's talking with.

"You didn't notice?" She tilted her head at him with a cat-like curiosity. "I caught her and Pen running behind a building not long after SB grabbed me. I'm surprised you didn't, too."

"Well, sorry for focusing on the big lump of snow that was attempting to break every bone in your damn body," he remarked with an eye roll, his tone clearly sarcastic. He couldn't hide the excitement he has at the fact that they might finally get Pin living again, though.

"Actually, it would have taken a while to break every bone in my body," Pillow playfully corrected, "There's a lot! Like, around two hundred six!"

Fourteen gave an unamused "Wow" at the lack of her noticing his clear exaggeration.

She didn't seem to notice the annoyance in his voice, though, since she suddenly went back to continuing her original list; finishing it off with, "And, last but not least... Pause for dramatic effect..." she added as she leaned over the couch, having to give a short hop to reach all the way over, and nabbed the rectangular device that had previously sat on the cushion next to the other cannibal. "...We get to keep this little trinket! Have you figured out how to use it yet?"

The bedhead dangled the device over the couch, gently swinging it back and forth. She held it by the big red button planted on one of the smaller sides of the rectangular body. A small yellow bulb stuck slightly out of the top of the device, and a red and a green button were present next to what appeared to be a screen on one of the longer sides. On the opposite side of the big red button was an opening lined by a darker, more greyish colour of purple, and right above it was a little circular lever that could be flicked up to create a 1.5x scope; of course, neither of them knew the exact zoom level, nor did they care enough to find out. Next to the bulb, the words Shrink-O-Tron 2.0 were printed onto the periwinkle-blue painted metal.

"Oh, if you couldn't tell by the pile of junk, that wondrous little doohickey works wonderfully~" Fourteen sang out, glancing to a small pile on the coffee table of random items he'd changed the sizes of. "Turns out it does more than just shrink, too, despite the name."

Pillow gave a short giggle. "I think I could tell," she said, her gaze trailing back to Fourteen from where it had been focused on an abnormally large ballpoint pen leaning against the table. "Did you have any ideas of how we'd use it?"

"I've got quite a lot of fun ideas, actually."

"Ooo," Pillow exclaimed before hopping—or, more specifically, climbing and then tumbling—over the back of the couch to sit on the cushion where the stolen gadget had been. "Do tell!"

"Well, my first idea was that we'd use it to shrink down someone to take hostage, but I couldn't really come up with what we'd even need a hostage for."

"Maybe we could use Pen as a hostage to blackmail Pin into joining us again if she refuses~" Pillow giggles out.

"Would he even be enough to get her to do anything? The two were never that close," Fourteen observed.

"Well, not before today, but don't forget that it was Pen what Pin was following behind that building earlier! And, isn't he, like, her brother-in-law, or something?"

"Technically not her brother-in-law, 'cause that's only for marriage," he corrected. "But, yes."

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if he's the reason that Pin stopped sleeping in twenty-four hours a day."

"Well, it's a good idea if Pin doesn't cooperate--we need to get her back on our side before she leaks our intentions to anyone, or... does something stupid." the number said with a hint of worry, his tail wrapping around the stubs where his legs should be. "But, another idea I have is if we use it to shrink Bomby or grow Bottle, and then..."

—————

There were two objects hiding behind one of the buildings closer to the main area with everyone else. When Pillow was still being physically held back, they had needed a way to escape from all the chaos. So, back here they'd leaped.

Pin doesn't think she can take much more chaos. It'll be such a relief to her just to see these murders all finally stop. Unfortunately, she's still had Fourteen nagging at her every so often, so she doubts she'll get much of a rest anytime soon.

Well, at least she's gotten some time to calm down from the mayhem that had ensued. It took her no more than one short moment for the flashbacks to come when she'd seen the beaten body of Price Tag, so she couldn't be more thankful that Pen had noticed the sudden change in her breathing and led her away from the crowd.

Now, her hand is finally falling from its previous grip on her chest, hyperventilation gone. ...For the most part. She breathed out a long, relieved sigh as it landed in her lap. Pen merely sat next to her and let her take her own time to calm down, keeping her company and generally not speaking unless spoken to.

The pushpin opened her eyes and glanced to her new friend, her gaze no doubt that of a tired one, and weakly smiled as she breathed out the words, "...Thank you..."

He shot her a kind smile. "Of course, Pin," he responded. "I wouldn't want you to get too... uh... stressed, ...again."

Of course, she knew what he was referring to. Also of course, she knew he had no idea what to refer to it as. She hasn't told him that what she'd experienced in that bathtub is a hallucination yet; and, frankly, she doesn't plan to. Ever.

She gives him as much of a smile as she could muster until she trailed her gaze down and, eventually, to the opposite side of where it had been. Her body accompanies her line of sight by leaning over and letting her glance around the wall, seeing just how much the crowd has faltered and shrunken. When she finally returns her attention to the ink-stick, she stifles a sigh and stands, brushing snow from her legs.

"I... Think we should probably head back now," she tells him. Her hands raise to her arms in a sort of hugging way, as if she was cold—which wouldn't actually be too surprising, considering the thin sheet of snow that's now covering the ground and the fact that she had forgotten both her scarf and her gloves.

Pen's lack of winter gear was less of a case of simply forgetting it, and more of a case of both not caring enough and thinking that he wouldn't need it when he'd left his house this morning. "Yyyyeeah," he shivered out, "It's pretty chilly out here. I wouldn't mind a heater right about now."

Pin gave a quiet chuckle at his playfulness; one that Pen couldn't help but smile at, considering her despondent state all day. They stood in silence for a moment when Pin didn't say anything like Pen had expected her to. He hurried to break it before it grew too awkward.

"Um... D'you wanna go back to your place?" He asked her.

"Uh..." She glanced to the side anxiously as she started, one hand having fallen from its previous grip on her arm. "Y...Yeah, sure."

The shorter object followed the taller one from beside him once he began walking in the direction of Pin's cabin. Their feet left imprints in the whited-out ground, small crunches heard with each step in the snow. Pen reached an arm to 'hug' his aching stomach as they stayed behind the long row of cabins.

It didn't take a professional investigator to find out why his stomach hurt. He's eaten next to nothing for weeks. He hadn't even eaten much when he finally got out of bed this morning, 'cause all he could stomach was a small bowl of cereal.

Actually, he's surprised that Pin hasn't spoken up about her own hunger. Unless she'd still been getting up and eating full meals, she should be starving just as much, if not worse, than him. After a short second of thinking, he came to the conclusion that she just hasn't found a moment she considered opportune to speak up about it. She has been pretty reserved all day, so he didn't put it past her.

Well, he'll just have to take it upon himself to feed her, he supposed. He turns his head just enough to see her and asks, "Are you hungry?"

"Huh?" She looked up from the ground before her boots when she suddenly heard his voice.

"I mean, I'm pretty hungry myself. I was just wondering if you were, too," he said, before adding, "I don't think either of us have eaten in a while.

She glanced back down to the snow with an "Oh." She thought for a second or two. She hadn't actually realized how starved she is before just now. "Um... Yeah, I... I guess I am."

There was another moment of awkward silence. Pen returned his gaze to where he's walking. Eventually, he said, "Do you have anything easy to cook?"

He didn't notice her flinching. "...What was that..?" She asked with a quiet yet annoyed sigh.

There it is. Pen was wondering when she'd ask that in that tone again. "I asked if you have anything easy to cook.

The scarlet woman didn't say anything for a good couple seconds. When she finally did speak, she was clearly confused. "I- I'm sorry, could you say that again?"

"Do you have anything easy to cook..?" He turned to glance at her, an eyebrow raised, as he repeated his question once again. He could see her concerned and questioning gaze on him once he did so.

She shook out her head. Why isn't she hearing clearly this time? She could tell what he actually said after only one repeat each other time it had happened, so why isn't it going away this time? "I... Uh... I can't really tell what you're saying, sorry... Um... Could you..?"

Pen's brows furrowed in confusion, but he spoke again exactly what he'd said before anyways.

"Do you have any csroeps lfet oevr to cook?" A broken voice wondered.

Pin groaned. "C... Can you try rewording it..?"

"Uh... What do you have in your kitchen that would be easy to make?" He asked.

Pin sighed, this time with relief. Finally. "I mostly just have ingredients for bigger dishes, but I think I've got some canned meals in a drawer somewhere," she answered.

"Ah." Pen turned back to face where they're walking again. "Are you feeling okay enough to cook us something? Or should I?" He asked. "Just a warning, though, I might blow up your kitchen by accident," he added with a chuckle.

Pin smiled at his joke, but no real sound escaped her. Well, until she said, "I, uh... Don't think I can make anything."

Pen nodded. "Alright, I'll try and whip us up something. Worst comes to worst, we have to order pizza."

'...How would a delivery driver even get here..?' Pin thought, both with a curiosity and with a worry for the potential driver's safety.

They continued the rest of the way in silence. When they made it back to the pushpin's cabin, Pen unlocked the door for them--Pin had given him her keys, since she was worried that she would lose them. Of course, she probably wouldn't have, but she's obviously been anxious enough all day to worry she would've.

Pin let out a low, exhausted groan as she made her way towards the couch. The door clicked shut behind her as the ink-stick closed it. He watched as she flopped down on the cushions, rolling over to gaze through tired eyes up at the ceiling.

"Mmgh... Why is doing nothing so fu-...mms...so... dang exhausting..?"

Pen gave an amused sigh. "Probably 'cause you've gotten like no exercise for weeks?"

"But you haven't, either," she pointed out, "How come you're not tired?"

"I mean, I am tired, but yeah, I get your point. I'm not as exhausted as you are," he said, walking up to the couch she's lying on. "Honestly? I dunno. Ask GolfBall, or something. She's smart, right?"

"Mm... Yeah... I guess she is..." Pin muttered.

Pen gazed at her with a small smile for a moment, before he pushed himself away from the couch he was leaning on and said, "Well, I'm hungry. I'm gonna make us something."

Pin called out an "Alright" as he made his way to the kitchen. She shut her eyes with a quiet "mgh" sound, before sighing and pushing herself up. She's bored. There must be something around this room to entertain herself with.

She could probably play a video game. What was that one that Coiny said he was getting into a while ago? Foresaken? No, she doesn't have the mental strength to play a game right now. She walks straight past the television and to the wooden bookshelf against the wall, scanning through the titles until one catches her eye.

The Structure, Function, and Growth of Yoyle Biology.

She doesn't feel like reading that one right now, but it reminds her: How are her flowers doing? She turns and glances to a windowsill with two pots on it.

Dying. Ah. She should have expected that. I mean, it's been a month since she's even found the strength to get out of bed, let alone water the plants. Also, all the blinds are drawn, so they haven't been getting any sunlight. It's honestly a miracle they aren't already long deceased.

She sighs and makes her way around the room, ignoring the soft sizzling sound coming from the other one, opening up all the copper coloured window blinds. Each time she opens one, she takes a second or two to take in the almost sudden growth of the snow layer on the ground. Sure, it isn't that much compared to how much it snows in some places (coughcoughCanadaIhateyourweather), but it's a lot for Goiky. Pin can't even remember the last time they got so much as rain, let alone snow. It usually just gets really cold in the wintertime.

The pushpin jumps as a sudden yelp is heard from the other room. She spins around and takes in the sight of Pen glances around the kitchen nervously. "Are you okay!??" she calls.

"Y- Yeah, sorry!" He calls back. "I just thought I heard something!"

"...Uh... Okay, then! If you say so..!" Pin nervously turns back to the window she was gazing out. She'll just take his word for it, she supposes. She doesn't wanna get too 'stressed' again, and there wasn't any shattered glass or spilled food in there—just a very startled Pen.

She glances down to the singular pot on this windowsill. Two small calibrachoas, once blooming from the soil, now slouched down like limp wrists, petals curled like clenched fingers.

One, once a bright shade of pink, had become a sad pale, the tips of its petals growing brown. Though, the pink one seemed to be thriving more than the once accompanying it. This million bells once had bright yellow petals that had reached to the sun as if reaching to the gods. But now it has lost the hope of the ancient deities seeing its desperate pleas, or of them caring; its head having slumped down over the edge of the pot, looking almost as pale and sad as a lifeless hand attached to someone starved in a pillory, their wrists hanging limply from the holes in the wooden board.

Pin sighed. She could hear Pen's voice quiet in the other room. At first she thought he was just talking to himself, but then she thought, for no more than a split second, that she could hear someone else's voice. Someone... specific's voice. Someone she knew well. Someone she had loved.

The woman drew a sharp breath, hands clenched so tightly on the windowsill that she hadn't even realized the way her knuckles were turning white. She eventually took a forceful deep breath, focusing on her breathing for a moment to make sure she didn't go through another... episode. She can feel the wooden plank her hands unclench on, and she can hear her own heavy breaths. Pin can't hear her anymore.

Good. Even if there was a way to speak to that woman again, Pin doesn't think she would want to. She wouldn't know what to say. ...She wouldn't know how to stop apologizing.

She glanced back down to the wilting flowers. She should water them. She glanced around the living room, eyes scanning through the shelves for a good moment before she remembered with a sigh. Right, she keeps her watering can in the kitchen, where the water is.

She can't go back into that room. She wouldn't be able to get the images out of her head. Why? She could go into there this morning, so why not now? Oh, well. Pin keeps a cup in the bathroom, so she'll use that for now.

Just as she turned around, though, Pen walked in with two bowls, a spoon sticking from each. "Hey," he said, a soft smile on his face. "Ready to eat?"

What she had been doing momentarily immediately flew out the window at the smell of actual food. She barely even noticed the smile that grew on her face as she quickly headed over to the couch where Pen was placing two steamy bowls of chicken noodle on the coffee table.

"I wanted to make something that had more nutritional value than mac n' cheese, but I still couldn't make an actual meal if my life depended on it," he chuckled out as he removed the oven mitts he'd used to carry the hot dishes without burning himself. He sat himself down on the couch as he continued, saying, "So, the canned soup seemed like the best option. And, well, chicken noodle soup was always Need... Uh..." He trailed off as he glanced to Pin, she was blowing on her bowl and possibly not even listening to him.

"Hey... Pin..?" He suddenly said.

"Yeah?" She glanced to him as she pulled the spoon from her bowl.

"...Do you believe in ghosts?"

"I... um..." she glanced to the side anxiously, before looking back. "Not... Not really. Why?"

"Uh... No...real reason. Haha," he said, "I was just curious."

"Oh." Pin gazed at him a moment longer, before turning back to her food. She took a scoop with the spoon. All the noodles fell off. She dropped the scoop and took another one, this time with plenty of the noodles. She blew on it until it was cool enough to put in her mouth without burning her tongue.

Just before eating it, she flicked the piece of chicken flesh off of the utensil.

And she nearly choked on her noodles when Pen spoke to her again.

"...Who's Fourteen..?"

She was just about ready to let herself choke, but she swallowed normally despite her best wishes. "W... What..?" She croaked out, turning to him with a look in her eyes that might have made you think she had just witnessed her own murder. How did he..?

He must be a mind reader, she decided; especially since he'd answered her unspoken question almost right as she thought it. "When we were in the bathroom earlier, you'd screamed at me...

"[...] I HATE YOU, FOURTEEN! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU! [...]"

...Who's Fourteen?" He finished by asking again. "What... What did he do?"

"I... Uh..." Pin didn't think she'd ever trembled more in her life. She stared down at her food, at the meat she was avoiding.

Avoiding. Avoiding these moments. Avoiding these thoughts. These thoughts. Conflicting. She's tired of being lost in these conflicting thoughts. Now they are telling her both to tell him and to run. She just wants them to agree on something. It's like the shoulder angel and the shoulder demon, except she can't tell which thoughts would be the angel and which thoughts would be the demon. Maybe they're both demons; or maybe one of them is her trying to save him and one of them is it, doing the exact opposite.

On one hand, if she tells him, she will finally be able to get this all off of her chest. Running will only make her more suspicious. And then, because she's suspected, it would be a repeat of Needle's death. She'll have done it again. She'll have caused the death of someone who cares about her again.

But on the other hand, running will get her out of the situation. If she tells him, he'll tell everyone, and then she'll be in big trouble. And if he doesn't tell anyone, it'll be because she silenced him before he could. She'll have done it again. She'll have caused the death of someone who cares about her again.

It's a lose/lose situation. There's no winning, there's no escaping without casualties.

She flinched away when Pen placed a hand on her shoulder, so he pulled back right away. He instead found a middle ground with his hand hovering between her and himself. "Pin... Are... Are you okay..? Is it that bad..?" He doesn't want to pry, but... he's so curious...

The woman tried to utter something—anything--but all of her words got caught in her throat. She could feel someone's caring hand on her back for a moment, but Pen is sitting on the opposite side of where the feeling extended from. Either way, the feeling left almost immediately, anyways. She risks a glance to him. He's gazing at her with that look, that condescending look it always gives her.

—N- No. No, he isn't. He's gazing at her with sympathy.

No matter what she does, she's risking his death. There's no option without that as a risk. So, has no choice but to take it. Or, well, she can just-- "Y- You won't... tell anyone... Right..?" She hesitantly asks.

He spoke urgently, yet still with care. "No- No, I won't. I promise." He bit back the urge to ask again.

Pin's muscles seemed to relax a bit when he said that. She gave a sigh, and finally dropped the spoon. It landed with a splash in the bowl. She leaned back into the couch, her arms reaching to hug herself and her legs following them up, folded before her body. She's never really cared about the footprints she'll be leaving on the cushions, anyways.

"...You really wanna know..?" She questioned wearily. She glanced away from him, but she didn't move her head, so he can still see the way her eyes darkened when she'd spoken again.

He second-guessed himself for a moment, but, in the end, decided, "Yeah, uh... Y...Yeah. I, uh, do." He leaned away from her a bit, his hand reaching to rub the back of his neck.

Pin didn't say anything for another moment, instead tensing up again for a second. Eventually, she took a deep breath to soothe her trembling muscles. She tried not to let her jaw clench. She closed her eyes...

...And felt a weight lift from her body when she finally spoke the truth.

Chapter Text

"

I had been walking in the forest. I was a bit stressed, and reconnecting myself with nature has always been a good way for me to, well, destress. It was sometime between... episodes eight and nine; when this happened.

I was walking back, like usual. Nothing was amiss, besides the eery feeling I got that I was being watched. But then, right as I had gotten out of the thicker parts of the forest, I had found myself coughing. I fell to my knees. I couldn't stop coughing. When I finally managed to open my eyes again, all I could see was green. I didn't realize until later that this was the same green mist that had appeared when... when Eraser died.

The next thing I know, I'm waking up in my bed. Needle, Coiny, and Gaty were there in the room. I don't remember if I had even been able to tell what they were talking about, but they all turned their attention to me when I had said something and they realized I was awake.

Coiny was frantically checking over me to make sure I was fine, while Gaty explained that Coiny had found me, passed out, in the middle of the forest. Needle asked what happened, but I couldn't really recall anything in that moment. Gaty eventually had to leave—something with Two, or something... I don't really remember what it was—so I was left with Coiny and Needle. I was really disoriented, so they helped me get around for the rest of that evening. They ended up staying the night. Everything was pretty normal for a bit after that.

But then I started hearing... F...Fourteen's... voice. Just... in my head. I thought I was just imagining it at first, but it kept talking about being a separate entity. It hadn't begun speaking to me until a bit before episode ten. And it was really, really annoying, but I couldn't get it to shut up. He just kinda... passively commented on everything. But it also has this really morbid sense of humour. It kept joking about killing people and stuff like that.

It wasn't too much of a problem until just after episode ten, when I was going on a walk with Needle. A little bit into the walk, Needle had told me that she wondered what she tasted like. She said it was just one of those impulsive thoughts, but F-... but it took it as a gateway to start trying to get me to eat someone.

I had just tried to ignore it at first, but it just... it rambled about it for ages. If there was ever a time when I'd wanted it to shut up, it was then. Eventually, once I was just fed up, It had... offered a deal. If I kill and eat just one person, he'll never suggest cannibalism again.

The plan was simple: I'd sneak into someone's house in the middle of the night when they were asleep, and kill them when they wouldn't be able to know it was me. Then, I'd have a taste, decide I don't like it, and sneak back to my place. The person would be revived by morning, I'd figured, so there wouldn't have been any real harm done.

Heh... We both know it didn't turn out that way.

"

Tears threatened Pin as she glanced to the man next to her, finally opening her eyes. She has a shaky, obviously forced, reassuring smile on her face, as if trying to fool him into thinking that everything is fine. But there's nobody left to fool anymore.

...Except herself.

While she was talking, the ballpoint object's gaze was curious—although, of course, she hadn't seen it—and somewhat thoughtful, but his eyes had widened when she spoke of the cannibalism. With that last sentence hanging over his head, he now simply stares at her, brows furrowed in concern and... in betrayal. His lips quivered fearfully as he simply sat there, mouth opening and closing just barely as he attempted to find what to say. When he finally spoke, it was the words that Pin had been dreading to hear since the day that Ice Cube fell.

"It... It was you..?" He shakily asked, his voice laced with a bitterness he was barely trying to hide.

That's when the tears finally spilled. Pin sniffled, and then they all just started pouring out. She buried her face in her knees, no longer willing to show him the wretched face of the one whom he now knows murdered everybody. Everybody.

"I- I'm so sorry!" She wailed, her voice frequently interrupted by hiccups and coughs. "I'm s-s-so s- sorry! I- I didn't w- want to! I- I- couldn't h- HELP it!!"

"What do you mean, you couldn't help it!?" Pen shouted at her, a hand gripping the back of the sofa as he turned to face her fully. "Unless you were fucking- POSSESSED, you- y- ARRGH!!" He interrupts himself, throwing his hands to his head in his anger. "You- You killed them all!! How COULD you!??"

Pin shrinks away from him as he towers above her, glaring furiously. She hugs herself as she leans against the armrest, salty tears stinging her eyes and covering her body as she frequently tries to wipe them from her face. A bit of snot rolls from her nose, crawling up with her sniffles and falling down with her coughs. "I- I'M SO SORRY- I-"

"WHAT CAN SORRY DO NOW!??" He screams.

WHAT CAN SORRY DO NOW?

WHAT CAN IT DO?

WHAT CAN IT DO, PIN?

She glances around to the voices, eyes widened with terror. The silent voices that surround her; that mock her. They all stand around her, their dull and lifeless eyes somehow still burning with rage, buried in their own blood and guts. Ice Cube. Four. X. Tennisball. Bell. Eraser.

ERASER.

"Y- YOU KILLED ERASER!!" He screams at her once he finally processes the realization. She pleads, but he doesn't listen. He'd never understand why she did it. She should never have told him.

"HE- HE WAS MY BEST FRIEND! MY- TH- THE LOVE OF MY FUCKING LIFE! AND YOU JUST- JUST TOOK HIM AWAY! WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT!!!"

Without. A. Second. Thought.

She always has second thoughts. Why can't he understand that? She second guessed herself every single time! For all of them! For Eraser-! F- Fanny! Two! Tree! N-...

Needle...

Needle.

Needle.

Needle .

NEEDLE.

NEEDLE.

NEEDLE.

NEEDLE.

WHY NEEDLE!??

WHY!???

"WHY HER!? DID YOU REALLY KILL HER, TOO!?? SHE WAS YOUR FUCKING GIRLFRIEND!! SHE WAS MY SISTER, AND YOU TOOK HER, TOO! YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME, AND FOR WHAT!?? BECAUSE SOME- SOME FOURTEEN PERSON TOLD-!?"

"I DIDN'T KILL NEEDLE!"

The first time she was able to scream back at him, and he shuts right up. All of the wailing, screaming voices do aswell. She wants to look up at him so desperately–to look up and see his dumbfounded, stupid face, and the realization hitting him–but she fears that, if she removes her face from her legs and lowers her hands from her head, she'll be forced to face the embodiments of her sins surrounding her, the wooden floorboards stained that cursed red.

"I d- didn't... kill... her..." she coughs out, her voice clearly strained.

"Then... Then who-"

"It did."

"It?-"

"F- Fou...Fourteen."

"Why-?"

"Because... Because Death PACT fucking... k- kidnapped me that night... and Pillow had... freed me... on the condition that I let her join my- m-my mur- mu- c-crimes... but she killed T- Tree on the way out and- and it knew that... that they would all just suspect me more now... So it k- it-... it did th-that to... make them not suspect m- me..." she coughed out, her words cut up by her sobs.

Pen just stares at her. ...Or, she assumes he stares at her when he doesn't respond. She can hear the voices starting to get louder again and her skin prickles her tauntingly, like a blanket hugging around her in mock comfort as it reveals it's made not of fabric, but rather of a cacti's nee-... ...spikes.

Pen does stare. He stares with wide, shocked eyes, gazing at the pitiful woman beneath him. Fourteen... Fourteen has ruined so much for her, hasn't it?

It? Is it really an it, or is Pin just calling it that? Well, either way, it obviously deserves the deobjectization. De...number...ization..? ...How does that word work with them?

Oh my ink, Pen is so fucking confused right now.

RIGHT- PIN. Pin... Pinpinpin... Divine, that number has ruined so much for her, hasn't it..? But is she really this remorseful, or is she just trying to seem that way to him? But she's been so down all day, and she was even literally bedrotting for weeks, so she must be. And he doubts that someone who's just pretending could get that many tears to stream down... He's distressed as shit himself, and yet the amount tears leaking from his own eyes is so much less.

So... she really never wanted any part in this, did she?

Did she ever have a choice..?

"Pin..."

She had just begun to risk what could only barely be considered a glance up at him when he suddenly wrapped his arms around her. She probably would have flinched away if she wasn't frozen by shock. Why is he..?

"I'm sorry, Pin..." he said, his voice hushed, "I shouldn't have screamed at you like that..."

"B- But I..." her voice was so hoarse, and so quiet; barely above that of a whisper, or even a mutter. "...I d- deserve it, though... Don't I...?" Her whole body is still unmoving but relatively limp compared to how she had been previously. Her arms dangle at her sides, and her eyes, while they would have been staring forwards if she hadn't been scared silly by the images that only she had seen, are shut solemnly, hiding her behind her eyelids.

"You didn't deserve any of this, Pin... You were roped into a mess you didn't create..."

"But... They'll never forgive me..." she protested weakly.

A beat passed before Pen spoke again. "...You're right." His words weren't angry, but they most certainly were not kind, either.

"...Huh..?"

"You're right, Pin. They'll never forgive you. I don't even think I ever will. You were roped into the mess, but... unless you were literally grabbed and forced, you still willingly followed us into the woods that day, and... and killed him, the first chance you got."

When no sound but her laboured breathing escaped Pin for a good minute, Pen spoke again to break the silence—and to cure more of his confusion and distress. "Why... Why did you keep doing it... after Ice Cube..?" He asked. "I want to understand, Pin... but it's still so hard for me to understand your thought process... Why you did it..."

"I... I guess I was just..." she tried to think, to come up with a reasonable excuse that wasn't a lie, but... The truth is, she doesn't have a good excuse, and she has to accept that. She has to accept that she isn't just a victim here. "...Addicted..."

"Addicted..?" Pen wonders aloud. He tries to keep the disbelief out of his tone, but... it's hard.

"...Y...Yeah, I... I guess I was just addicted to... to the... c- cannibalism..." Jeez, having him know she's the killer is bad enough, but now she has to face the fact that he's probably been silently judging her this whole time for her eating people.

"Pin... That's... That's gross, what..?" He comments. The scarlet tinted woman sighs... she can't really say she didn't expect that.

"I know..." she assures, "I know, but I just... I still did it anyways... People just... taste good, I guess..."

Her voice... No matter the word that is said with it, she can't stop her voice from being tinted—no, layered with a shame that she has never once been able to escape. A certain shame, tied to the guilt and the sadness... ...and the fresh cuts that rest beneath those old, withered bandages that hide her arms, the scissors that had carved the crooked smiles in her skin still loose in her bed.

I suppose—if the metal tool had been asking her about it now, instead of many months ago, like she had—that Pin wouldn't have been lying to Needle about where the cuts had come from.

"S-So... So, let me get this straight, Pin," he says, shifting his embrace slightly. "You kept killing after Icy because... people taste good..? That's... it..?"

"Well... Not... entirely," she admitted. "Ice Cube had seen me and... I was terrified of her telling everybody that I'm the one that killed her when she got recovered, so... it used that to get me to destroy the RC, and... to get rid of, Four and X..." she sighed, paused a beat, and then kept speaking. "After I finally ate the cupcakes it had made me make out of her, I... couldn't deny that I liked them, so it started bothering me about it again. With the new fear of being found out, and... the incentive to keep going... it...wasn't... that hard, for it to convince me to... remove, more people..."

"...Oh."

"Oh"... Is that all he has to say? Really?

"...Hey, Pin..?" He finally says after a long moment of silence.

"...Yeah?"

"...We should... Eat our food. Before it gets cold."

"Oh... Right..."

Pen pulled himself away from her and glanced at the meals briefly. After another moment's hesitation, Pin finally drags her eyes open; but she just... sits there, not daring to look up. "...Pin..?" Pen prompts after a long moment of her doing nothing.

She... She can't hear those enraged screams anymore, but... She doesn't... want to... to... s- see...

She's... scared. She knows damn well that they aren't real, but... divine, they might be the one thing that's worse than those side-effect dreams; and that's really saying something. She doesn't... doesn't... want to... see them... standing over her...

But... they aren't real... so...

...

No, she's still frozen. Well, not frozen, per se, but not moving, either. Pen sighs, not really knowing what to do. Eventually, he softly places his hand on hers, finally getting her to move after a long, delaying moment of his palm simply resting on the back of her hand. In an instant, her hand had slipped away, curling up to her chest. She doesn't... well... She doesn't think he would've really... wanted, to touch the hands that'd held... the knife, that was twisted deep into Eraser's stomach.

But, eventually, after she stares at the couch and at his unmoving hand, she realizes that he wants to care about her... even if he does resent her actions. This gets her to finally lower her hand to the cushions once again, though next to his hand, since she'd felt awkward touching it again. Once she does this, a reluctant, quiet, and very shaky sigh escapes her lips, and she finally looks, not up at him, but to the food.

She's more than relieved that images hadn't overstayed their welcome, but also winces as she feels a pang of annoyance at herself for being so petrified, rather than just... sucking it up, and knowing that they wouldn't actually be there.

Her hand, now resting on the bowl side of the bowl, tells her that the soup is already freezing. Dang... Oh, well; she's lost any appetite she might have had, anyways.

She grunts, almost angrily, and turns away from Pen in order to step off of the couch without hitting the coffee table. Her hand grips a bandaged arm as she stares, deadpan, at the ground.

"Pin..?" Pen starts from where he remains seated. "What are you... doing...?"

She can hear a faint lace of tremble in his voice as he says that last word. Is he... scared of her? Well, of course he would be; he knows now that she might... she might just kill him. She's killed so many already, so, well... what's one more death to her hands?

His fear... Like a hunting cat, Pin can almost taste the scent of it through her heavy breaths as she stands there. There really was nothing stopping her from just... attacking him. She doesn't notice the way that she's barely opposed to the thought—just... scared of it.

Attacking him... the horror he must be feeling running through her blood like a drug... the power she has as crimson blood pours from his veins... the screams hitting her ears as she stands dominantly over him... the way... that she'd be too strong to be stopped...

He quickly takes note of the way that her breathing picks up, and how her legs tremble as if they're about to give in. "P- Pin..?" He asks, his tone, while still, definitely, a bit scared, is worried and... caring, as he stands and begins to close the distance between them. He lifts a hand up, reaching to her shoulder, as he continues speaking. "Pin, are... Are you oka-"

In the literal millisecond that his skin is felt on her shoulder, a terrified, shrieking "NO!" suddenly echoes through the small cabin as he smacks him away, stumbling back from him fearfully, her whole body trembling wildly as she suddenly falls backwards to the ground and stares. Her mouth hangs open, her breaths coming out ragged and heavy while he steps back slightly in shock and rubs his wrist where she had hit him. Her eyes are as big as dinner plates as she scans him, as if sizing him up-

N O.

"S- STAY A- AW-WAY FROM ME!!!" She screams at him, every aspect of her shaking wildly and more terrified. She scoots more away from him, until she suddenly hits the wall, the cold wood uncomforting against her back.

"P- Pin-! What's going on!??" He pleads, clearly afraid, for the both of them. 'Shit, is that happening again?' He silently wonders.

As he takes a hesitant step towards her, she shouts again, her eyes locked onto his. "STAY AWAY!!!" She begs, her already hoarse voice now audibly scratching at her throat.

"Pin, it's me!" He shouts desperately back, his hands clutching his chest. "It's Pen!"

"I KNOW THAT." She snaps. He flinches back at her harshness.

Uncertain, he eventually takes a few steps away from her, like she asked. "Pin, what's happening? Why are you... What's happening??" He repeats.

She seems to... calm down, slightly, as the distance between them grows. Her nails scratch at the bandages that stop them from reaching the flesh on her arms, her grip on herself painfully tight as it digs into her skin. Still, she doesn't speak for a good while, her breathing taking its damn good time slowing to a calmer pace.

She doesn't... want that. To let his gruesome demise by her hands send a high through her body that proves her power. She doesn't want him hurt. She wants to, but... she also doesn't; want to kill another, that is. Not again. Not anymore. Please.

"P... Please..." she breathily mutters the quiet plea, her gaze falling to the floor.

"Pin..?"

"Stay... away from me..."

"Wh- Why..?" He finally dares to ask, his hand resting loosely on the low wooden table. 

"I don't... want to... h-...hurt... ..."

As her trembly voice trails off, he almost steps closer to hear her better, but quickly changes his mind as she curls up more the moment he begins to. "I won't... hurt you, Pin..." he assures her. Is she... scared he'll do something? Since he knows she's the... ?

"N- No..." she heavily breathes out, her raspy voice clawing at her throat and begging not to be strained further. "I d...don't... want t-to... h... hurt... you..." she slowly repeats. "Don't... want to hurt... anyone... Not... anymore..."

"Pin..." He pauses. What does one... say to that..? "...You... You won't, Pin," he finally tells her. Although, as he speaks, there's a hint of uncertainty in his voice, and he realizes that he's almost trying to convince himself that, too. How does he know that she won't hurt anyone again? He just... he doesn't. He can't promise that.

Pin swallows the lump in her throat, but another one forms and clogs her voice. She hesitates, her breathing shaky, for, what feels like, an eternity; or, maybe even two.

"C... Can you... make s...sure that... I... d...don't..?" She weakly asks, her voice, or what's left of it, somewhat squeaky with desperation and fear.

Without hesitation, the ink stick quickly nods. "Y- Yes, Pin... I can do that... I... ...Can I come closer..?"

"..." Pin's mouth closes in worry, but she eventually speaks again, her words barely audible thanks to the pain that would be brought if they were any louder. "S... Sure..." she answers, almost reluctantly.

Slowly, and carefully, Pen steps up to her, watching her for any sign that he shouldn't continue. However, while she'd shut her eyes and her body had tensed when she'd spoken, she hadn't moved as he approached. The distance between them had eventually been closed.

"Pin..." he gently prompted, and she slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him. He had stopped right before her, and he held his hands open for her to take. "Here... ...Let me help you up."

He holds a reassuring smile as she carefully places her hands on his, allowing him to pull her to stand with him. He gaze never lifts to meet his, now resting on the space between her and the ground. She's obviously exhausted, the silent bags that had tugged at her eyes throughout the day having grown dark and saggy. Even standing still is a chore, her wobbling slightly as she attempts to keep her balance.

He sighs, and lets go of one of her hands, beginning to lead her to her room with the other. Her eyes widen at first, but she soon realizes where they're going, her startled gaze falling back to the ground sleepily. As they turn the corner, into the door they'd previously left open that leads to her bedroom, her grip on his hands tightens.

The motion was almost nonexistent, but it was certainly there. Although, Pen hadn't noticed it, nor had Pin. It was subconscious, desperate, and almost clingy.

"You should try to get to sleep, Pin," he tells her. "I'll be back in a bit; I just need to get rid of the soup before it gets gross."

Pin tiredly nods, her dull gaze on the wooden floorboards, as he sits her down on her mattress, giving her a soft smile before he lets go of her arms and, with a nervous look back at the woman, steps out of the room. She falls down to the side, only now realizing, as her head hits her soft pillows, how much her body had been begging her to get some actual rest. She's barely able to hold her eyes open and, although she wants to fight it, she doesn't bother, knowing it'll only bring more harm.

She doesn't even process the hot pink phone case right before her eyes as she falls asleep without even pulling her blanket over herself...

...before the front door creaks open...

...and before Pen suddenly finds himself freezing in his tracks, his wide eyes not daring to break their contact with the intruders'.

Chapter Text

The sky overhead is dappled with shining stars; distant, sparkling suns in the dark purple sky that shine down on the moonlit clearing below. The short green grass has a blue tint in the lighting of the night sky, aswell as the number beneath, although her fur was blue to begin with.

It gazes up at the night sky, watching the shooting stars, almost solemnly. She couldn't sleep, so it came out here to... get its mind off of things. Their arms are folded beneath their head and their legs are crossed as they lay in the soft soil, her expression almost unreadable; although, that seems to be the expression that matches her thoughts the best.

She glances 'up' as another voice is heard behind her.

"Couldn't sleep either, huh?" Five asks as he enters the clearing.

Six sighs. "No;" she answers, "I just wasn't that tired, I guess."

The purple algebralien stepped into the starry clearing and sat in the grass, their hands on the ground behind them as they look up at the stars just like Six is.

"Me neither;" he says after a moment. "Well, I am tired, but I just can't seem to get any rest."

"Hm." Six nods slightly as they sort of hum a short response, their gaze trailing back to the sky. Neither number says anything for a while, though the silence isn't really awkward. They watch the scattered lights in the black space above as the planet slowly turns, gravity taking them with it.

"...How do you think he did it?"

"Huh?" Five glances in confusion over at the other number.

"Like, Fourteen;" Six clarifies. "How do you think he survived?"

"What do you mean?" They ask her, as if the answer should be obvious.

"Like-" Six pauses, before throwing their arm up, almost in annoyance. "His legs were cut off! He was bleeding out! He should have died!!"

"I mean, he does have those... kind of... maybe not really healing powers? Like, I think he does, but also maybe not?" Five blurts out a frustrated sigh as he let's himself fall onto his back, hands sprawled out to their sides before resting them on their chest. "I don't know;" he finally finishes.

"I... thought those wouldn't have been strong enough, though;" Six says, their arm falling to their side.

"Me neither;" Five agrees. "I thought that... he wouldn't have been able to heal something that... drastic."

"He never even used them, anyways."

"Yeah, I don't even think I ever saw them. I'd only ever heard of them from the others, so I wasn't sure that they were even... real."

"Mhm..." Six rested its eyes for a moment, before glancing towards the other number again and saying, "Maybe he didn't heal himself."

"What?" Five rose an eyebrow. "How else would he have survived?"

"Like, what if someone else helped him?" They clarify.

Five's gaze was almost dumbfounded at the blue integer. "Six," they say, "Why on math would anyone help him??"

"I don't know!" They shout back, throwing their hands up defensively. "It was just an idea! I mean, how else would he have survived!!"

"Who would have even done it!?? Everyone was up here, not out in space with him!!"

"I dunno, One?? Three!?? They left immediately, didn't they!???"

"They were devastated about Seven, Six!! Explain to me why the HELL they would HELP him!!"

"I don't know why they would! It was just a random idea!! I wasn't even thinking of them before you asked me who'd do it!!"

"Ugh, whatever."

That short debate was followed by an awkward silence. Six, eventually, sighed, and sat up. Five looked back over to it as it spoke while it stood.

"I'm gonna go back to my place. Maybe I'll get some rest;" she said. "See ya."

"Oh, alright. Bye." Five waved at her as she walked off, making it through the plains, past the equation playground and towards where all of their homes are. The purple number sat himself up and stared at the sky a bit more, watching as a shooting comet flashed overhead.

"...Wherever you are, I hope you're doing well..." they muttered under their breath.

"...And I hope he's suffering somewhere..." he added, almost gritting through his teeth before finally standing himself, and wandering back home.

—————

"AAAAAH SIX LOOK OUT!!"

"WHA-!? NINE, WHAT THE HELL-!??"

The two both toppled over as Nine crashed into the smaller number, the dirt greeting them as he ended up on top of her. Their skateboard rolled a bit along the grass before finally slowing to a stop, both of the algebraliens staring awkwardly at eachother for a long moment. Nine's breath hitched for a second there as the sock subsided and they realized something—

Is Six... blushing?

"Nine get the fuck off of me;" she finally says, her brows furrowing into a glare. The larger number quickly abides, scrambling off of it in a short moment of panic.

"S- Sorry;" she says awkwardly, falling to the grass next to her as they sit up and rub the back of their head. Nine glances back up to her as she does that. They must have imagined it, or... maybe she was just embarrassed? Her voice suddenly snaps him out of his train of thought.

"Dude, why are you so red right now??" It asks, almost judgingly, but... maybe more confused? STOP- thinking about that. Seesh.

"F- fuck, sorry, Six..." she mutters out, covering her warm face with her hands. God, stop it! Stop blushing!! You're just embarrassing yourself more!!!

"It's fine, I guess;" she sighs out, standing and dusting herself off. It glances to the side and scans the faintly sunlit ground for a moment as it asks, "How did you even fall? I thought you were supposed to be good at skateboarding."

"I, uh..." they mumble, glancing to the side. "I dunno... A rock, I think..?"

"I can't hear you, Nine."

"O- Oh, uh, sorry-..." they say, a bit louder this time. "I uh, tripped on a rock, I think..?"

A heavy huff of air escapes Six's lips as she crosses her arms, before she glances back at Nine, who's still sitting on the ground, after a short moment. "I'm not helping you up, if that's what you're waiting for;" they finally say.

"Oh, r-right-" the gray integer suddenly scrambles up to stand, still looking away nervously. When he looks back over at the other number, he sees it's rolling its eyes with a quiet "tch" sound, its face slightly red again. She can't help but notice the way that the sunrise outlines it, her own blush growing at the sight of the smaller number. Fuck- Nine, why are you like this? She HATES you, so stop it!!

When she looks back at him, her brows furrow into a glare again. "Why are you looking at me like that??" She asks.

"O-Oh, sorry, Six!" They blurt out, covering their heating face again. "I'm uh- I dunno... Uh..." Her voice falls to a mutter as she trails off, Six raising her eyebrow at her.

Eventually, they sigh again, and take a few steps closer to them. "What are you even doing up this early?" They ask him.

"Oh, uh, I was just coming out to skate around, I dunno..." they mumble, rubbing their arm nervously. "I usually get up early to head to this area where the ground slopes into a really good ramp and practice skateboarding for a couple hours, because it's really nice there and I can just focus on-"

"Okay, okay, I get it;" the blue integer chuckles out, cutting off their rambling. "You're a skateboarding nerd, I don't need a reminder."

"Oh, right, uh, sorry, haha..." they say with a nervous chuckle. They stand awkwardly for a moment, glancing away nervously as they finally realize how much closer she is now—That is, before she finally asks, "Uh, why are you up early? I never really, uh, see you at this time."

"Oh, I couldn't get any sleep last night," it answers with a sigh. "Figured I'd just get up when I'd seen the sun starting to rise."

"Oh;" he says, finally taking notice of the bags beneath their eyes. Poor Six...

They stand in silence for another long, awkward moment. Eventually, Nine grabs their skateboard and stands back onto it, fixing their sunnies and turning back to the other number. "Uh, I'm gonna head over to that area I was talking about..." they say, pointing their thumb behind them.

"Oh, alright. See ya, then, Nine;" they say, crossing their arms again after waving slightly.

Nine kicks the ground and the skateboard begins to move away slightly, before they turn back to face Six again, their arm rubbing the back of their head. "Uh, did you wanna come see it..? It's kinda neat..." they say, before quickly adding, "I- If you want to, of course, heheh..."

Six raises its eyebrow at him as it watches his face turn red again, before giving a light chuckle at him. "Sure, why not?" She says, her hand on her hip as she rolls her eyes playfully, beginning to walk next to him as he slowly skates towards the area.

Their face lights up as the other number starts walking next to them, and they begin excitedly yapping about some trick they're trying to learn as they wander away from the main clearing.

Chapter Text

She woke to the sound of a loud shatter.

The ink stick's voice rang through the whole cabin in angered shouts, so Pin instantly knew that something was wrong. She threw herself from the bed, the movement of the mattress tossing her phone to the floor; but she barely even noticed it.

She heard a loud bang and a grunt just before she threw her bedroom door open in a panic, and was met with a frozen scene. All eyes had turned to her in an instant when the slam of the door had echoed off of the walls. Pin, herself, was frozen aswell, standing in the doorway with widened eyes as she stared at the events that had just played out.

Fourteen, had just fallen to the ground against a wall. A bit of mist around its stumps was still fading away, which she quickly realized must have been its 'legs'. Pillow had just begun pulling Pen away from it, a shard of porcelain with a spot of dark green liquid on it in his hand. That's how she realized, when her eyes snapped back to the number, that a light cut had been carved into its cheek.

More shards were scattered in a spot on the floor, accompanied by a puddle of something, which she soon realized must be the soup from last evening when she noticed the noodles and bits of meat lying atop it. The other bowl remained intact on the table, although sideways and also spilled.

No sound was heard in the cabin for the longest moment, until Pin finally took a step back.

"What. The fuck."

Fourteen stood the instant that her voice hit the air in the room, stumbling slightly at first yet quickly regaining its balance and making its way towards her. "Pin-! I- I promise this isn't what it looks like!" It tries to defend. "We just came in and then he-"

"...What are y-...you... doing here..?" She asks, her voice shaky as she glares at it and steps further back as it approaches.

The number stops in its tracks at the sound of her voice, tail frozen midair as Pen struggles in Pillow's grip behind it. "W-We were just coming to check up on you-!"

"Why."

"Wuh..?" It's almost taken aback at her word, stepping backwards slightly. "Pin, what-"

"Why d- do you keep coming." She spits out, still backing away from it shakily. "Go away."

"Pin, I-"

"GO. A- AWAY." She doesn't really intend to raise her voice, but she doesn't bother to stop it, either. "WHY C- CAN'T YOU TAKE THE D- D-DAMN H-HINT???"

Neither notice Pillow letting out a bit of a yelp as Pen suddenly elbows her in the gut.

"Pin- ACK-!!"

The cannibal topples over suddenly, a bit of blood drooling from a shallow cut on its back as the ink stick stands over it with his arm still slowing from the swinging motion. A dark, muted green liquid drips from the shard of porcelain in his grip, his breathing heavy as Pillow is seen running up from behind. The pushpin finds herself frozen as the number's eyes fill with fury.

"F-FUCKING-!" It shouts, suddenly whipping around with its tail hitting the ballpoint pen and knocking him off balance. Its arm wraps around his throat, pushing him to the wooden ground with an uncareful force. Pen lets out a pained grunt as the floorboards creak beneath him and he can already feel his back bruising from the impact.

Pin shouts something, but she also lets out a pained sound as Pillow grabs her and holds her down, pinning her against the wall of her bedroom to stop her from doing anything, all with a sadistic grin on her face. The scarlet woman lets out a strained gasp, the hand that's wrist isn't being held against the wall clawing at the grip that the headrest has on her neck. Pillow can't help but grin at the struggling, watching her choke against the wall there—That is, until Fourteen calls out from behind her.

"PILLOW, WHAT THE VEIN ARE YOU DOING!??"

The colour instantly begins to return to her face as Pin takes a big, desperate gasp of air, the sleeping aid's grip finally loosening as she turns to look back at the number. When Pin can, she also risks a look up, taking in the sight of it and Pen. The writing utensil doesn't seem do have been hurt beyond being thrown into the ground and choked slightly, a faint red mark on his neck where he'd been held. Fourteen holds both his wrists tightly behind his back with one hand, keeping him incapacitated.

Pen, has a complex expression. A mix of so many things, like anger, exhaustion, terror, sadness, worry, and—for some reason—guilt, in his whole demeanour. He glares up at Fourteen with tired, loathing eyes as he slouches forwards slightly, barely trying to free his hands thanks to the sleepiness.

"I dunno;" Pillow responds to it. "Entertaining myself, I guess?"

"Well, maybe don't do that by strangling Pin??"

"Whatever;" she rolled her eyes as she responded. When she spoke, she suddenly let go of the pushpin completely, which caused the girl to fall to the floor with a subtle "oof" sound.

Pin rubbed her neck in a soothing way on the mark that Pillow had created, before looking up to see the scene again. It's... basically the same as before, save for the fact that Pillow is now next to it.

Pen glances over at me and our eyes meet for a moment. His gaze is... scared. Just as scared as I am.

And then I look up at Fourteen. It and Pillow are talking, but the ringing in my ears is too loud for me to tell what about. I stare at it for a moment. Then my gaze falls on Pillow, and quickly back at it, and I quickly find myself glaring.

And I find my mind trailing back to just how much it has fucked up, for everyone. I realize... how much would be better if it were gone.

If it would just disappear.

And I'm in my kitchen before I know it.

I hear Fourteen and Pillow finally realizing I'd walked off as I step back to my bedroom.

And I see it next to the wall on the side of the room opposite of my bed.

It shouts something at me.

She shouts something at me.

He shouts something at me.

But I can't even process any of it.

And I panic and jump out of the way before the knife she holds can hit me.

And I watch in shock as she misses.

And I gag as a hole forms in my chest.

And I yank the blade out, my eyes still clenched angrily shut, as it falls to the ground.

And I turn to see what had happened just as he falls to the ground.

And a grin forms on my face as he falls to the ground.

And, although I'd known it was inevitable from the start, the moment my eyes open I scream something incoherent at what I had clearly just caused.

And I can't pull my eyes away from the scene as she screams something incoherent at what I'd accidentally caused.

And I hold back a mocking chuckle at her misfortune as she screams something incoherent at what they'd both just caused.

And I bleed.

And he bleeds.

And he bleeds.

And he bleeds.

Here on these wooden floorboards.

There on my wooden floorboards.

There on the wooden floorboards.

There on those ink-coated floorboards.

I stumble back more. I hit my bed and fall backwards onto it. I stare. I can't believe it. But I should. It's my fault. Once again, it's all my fault. It's inevitable. Everyone that helps me dies and it's always my fucking fault.

I risk a step towards the corpse as she stumbles back. She follows me—out of the corner of my eye, I can see her step up next to me, while she trembles on her bed... I watch him as he slowly bleeds out.

My eyes are clenched shut, but I can tell. I can feel their's on my withering body as I slowly bleed out on her wooden floorboards. I hear a sob, and I instantly know whose it is. I hold my stomach agonizingly as I feel my ink and blood ooze from it. The wound is deep, and it hurts like hell. Why isn't she doing anything to help me? Why is nobody doing anything? The only sound in here is that of her crying, though a wheeze or a grunt from me occasionally accompanies it, so why isn't anyone doing anything? Surely she'd be trying to help, wouldn't she? Shit... Maybe... maybe they're saying things? I can't tell—even her sobs are starting to blur out, so maybe I just can't tell that they're doing something. I don't know. My head hurts.

Guilt eats away at me as I sit on my knees before him, my eyes trying to shed the tears I don't have. I watch his body slump down, and as his spirit stays in place, still clenching his stomach as if the pain was still there.

... It... doesn't hurt anymore...

"...Pen..?"

Wait what.

"...I'm so sorry..."

Why... is she apologizing..? She never did anything but talk to me earlier, in her kitchen...

"Oh, black snake... I really... shouldn't have gotten him to get you to help..."

" N ... Needle ..? Is that you ..?" I weakly mutter out.

"... Open your eyes, Pen ... There's... There's no real use... in keeping them closed anymore..."

...

"I missed  you..."

"We missed you too, dude..."

—————

I find myself having to hold back from peeling off the skin on the corpse. It feels like it's been so painfully long since I've had just straight skin. But, instead, I glance back at her. And I freeze for a moment; almost one too long.

—————

⚠️

I stare at the knife.

At the blade that just killed the last person to care for me.

I stare at him.

At the boy who's long past saving.

I should have saved him. I should have done something more.

It feels like the walls are closing in around me as the voices silently scream again. His inky blood spreads throughout the entire floor as I sit there on my mattress, my fingers clenched tightly around the handle.

My sliced up arms tremble along with my whole body. My breathing not daring to slow, I peel the bandages from one arm with shaky fingers, almost subconsciously. They aren't paying attention to me. Good.

Wait, are they?

...I don't think so...

...Whatever. It's not like they would care, if they even noticed.

The pain shoots through my whole arm with the first slice among many. I don't even wince--I'm more than used to it by now. I've been watching my own mental health deteriorate in real time, after all.

A thought of Fanny flashes through my mind; a thought of the pain I'd felt that night. It's the same as this physical pain that I'm feeling right now, only that, this time, it's comforting. Like all the other times in this last...

...

...How long has it been since... Nee-... ?

...

...Does that... even matter?

...

I pause, my breaths laboured and shaky and almost not even there compared to my sobs. Hunched over, I stare at the fresh scars for a moment. They tease me, and then they stop. It's when they stop that I start making more, and I only pause again only once the pain is too overwhelming once more.

But then it's too underwhelming.

And I need more.

The guilt always becomes overpowered by the comfort. Guilt about him, and about everyone else, and guilt that the comfort creates itself. Guilt. Remorse? How terrible Needle would feel if she was alive to see. How terrible Coiny would feel if he was watching me do this. How bad I would be making everyone feel.

I know that they wouldn't want my to, but, why? Why shouldn't I? It never even bleeds. Well, it's bleeding now, but I'm also using a sharpened kitchen knife instead of my scissors. Whenever I'd had times almost as bad as these ones in the past, I had considered doing this... I'd... really wanted to... ...But, the thing that always stopped me, was that thing that everyone had always said; "The physical wounds will heal but the mental ones won't." I don't get it anymore, though, now that I'm actually doing it; it makes my mental wounds heal better than the physical ones.

I'm aware, of course, that it doesn't heal everything—it's always been more of a short term solution—but it makes me feel better. And... it's the only solution I've really got right now...

...Well... one of the only two solutions I have...

...

A thought rushes past my brain.

A voice louder than all the rest.

A memory my mind has never let me forget after all of this time that has passed.

"Go jump off a fucking building and KILL YOURSELF!!"

Kill yourself, kill yourself, kill yourself.

Die, die, die, die, die, die, die.

I've wanted to for ages, but I've never been ready. I hate this world; this cruel, cruel universe that tosses us around like playthings, occasionally giving us a thin string of hope only to pull it away like a cat toy, our misfortune only making it happier. I hate this world that will hold us comfortingly in its arms as we weep only to sadistically use our tears to pleasure itself.

Nobody has any idea just how long I've wanted to leave it. The... what's it called... passive... suicide...ness..? Whatever- My point is that it's been in my mind since BFDIA. Since before even that, probably.

But I've never really been ready to leave. Every time I considered it, my mind would remind me of everyone I've loved, and about how distraught they would be if I left; about all the things I wanted to do and the places I wanted to see; about everything I've accomplished and everything I will.

But now, everyone I've loved is dead.

Now, I will never be able to do those things or see those places, anyways.

Now, everything I have ever accomplished is hidden beneath the mountain of sins, and the only things I might achieve in the future will just be more of said sins.

Now, I don't deserve to wait until I'm "ready".

...

The knife.

I stare at the knife.

At the bloody knife.

At my knife.

From my kitchen.

Used for my cooking.

So that I could consume my victims.

My victims.

I deserve to be one of those, too.

I don't deserve any less.

A twinge of guilt hits me through the form of a reminder of Coiny. He and I had just talked for the first time in months, probably almost a year now, and I'm already leaving him again. Aren't I his best friend? He doesn't deserve that...

...

Shit...

...

No... he doesn't...

But I deserve death more than he deserves my life, surely..? I mean, if I chose to stay, he would just end up with the same fate that everyone else has, anyways. Whether that be by my hand... or by his own.

...I still remember when they'd found that body of his, after the eighteenth challenge... Is the idea that I'd cause a situation just like the one I'd caused before really that far fetched..?

...

Fuck.

I can't let that happen again.

My eyes start stinging more from the sea of tears as I finally open them, gazing down at the knife in my clutches and at the pain that I've caused myself and others with my own free will. Pen was right; it was never the one that had made me do it.

I was.

All that it had done was encourage me.

I hesitate. I'm reluctant. But I know that I have to. I know that I should—for the betterment of everyone, and for the justice of the fallen.

A thin ray of moonlight peeking through the curtains flashes encouragingly on a hint of metal still visible through the reddened blue as I raise it up. The thick ink and the blood that paints it smell putrid, as does the corpse. The room fades back into reality for a moment before fading out again, one, inanimate, object on my mind. Well, actually, two.

The knife, and the heart it's aimed at.

The rough handle rubs uncomfortably against my palms as the sharp edge suddenly flies towards my chest.

⚠️

I remember.

I remember being so scared.

For the first time in my life, I'd felt genuine fear.

Not because I was going to die, no. My fear of death had faded long ago.

But because I was going to be forgotten.

I don't... want to be forgotten.

Sure, maybe they'd remember me then. I had made some sort of impact, killing their only hope of revival.

But, soon enough, one of them would learn how to revive them again. Soon enough, what I did wouldn't matter. And when this generation had grown old and had children, and that generation created a new one, and so on... and when this generation died off... nobody would be there to remember me.

Bleeding out there, floating limply in the vast expanse of outer space... I was going to be forgotten.

My biggest fear, is being forgotten.

Thankfully, I could make my mist solid enough to block the blood that was coming from the stumps, where my legs had been cut off during my struggle with the other numbers. But... it takes a lot of energy to make my mist that solid.

And it hurts to, too.

A lot.

So, when those holes ' d finally closed, and I finally managed to get to this planet, I knew that I wouldn t'v e been able to do anything.

I ' d prolonged my death, but... Even walking was a chore, because I have to use so much energy just to make those legs. And, like I said, it hurts to, a lot.

I've gotten good at it now, enough to move around for a while without it hurting, but if I'd stayed on my own... I wouldnt've been able to do anything, still.

I would've died without tasting flesh again, and I would've died without being remembered.

So I couldn't believe my luck when I'd found these contesting grounds ; w hen I'd found someone who loved baking this much...

I'd seen my chance to make an impact... To affect their lives enough, that they'd remember me for centuries to come.

I could get her on my side.

But here she is, in pain.

Is this my fault?

Did I push her too far?

Who am I kidding—Of course it's my fault. Who else's would it be?

Getting attached was never part of the plan, but... here we are.

I know she hates me. How couldn't she? From the beginning, I really should have gone after Pillow, instead. I knew she'd have been much more willing.

But, as I watched her... suffer... I knew I'd gotten too attached before ever even speaking to her. And... I knew that she had to be the one.

But now, here she is... and... I fucked up.

And I need to make things right.

Who knows? Maybe doing something good for a change will be just as rewarding.

...

I don't really care about how rewarding it is anymore.

—————

The blade was pulled from her hands in an instant. She hadn't quite processed the loud thudding of it scrambling to its feet, but she has certainly processed its presence now.

She stares up at it with shocked eyes, her breath getting caught in her throat. Her hands land on the mattress behind her to stop her from falling all the way backwards. Thoughts—questions—spiral inside her head.

Why?

Why did it do that?

Why does it care?

It stands before her, the knife poised in the air as if it was about to strike—of course, it's not really going to. It stares at her, its brows furrowed in an emotion that she can't quite pinpoint (haha. pin. point. I'm so funny guys); is it angry? Upset? Concerned?

Afraid?

...Worried..?

...

Its hand finally falls down to its side.

"Pin..." it starts, its tone not exactly identifiable but something similar to a nervous one.

"...What the fuck?"

One more beat passes by after it finishes speaking, before a sob finally breaks through her lips once again. As she doubles over, the loose ribbons of Needle's bow brushing against her body feel like a mini chalkboard scraping her skin with patches of sandpaper attached. Her palms immediately rise to her eyes, unsuccessfully attempting to rid them of the tears that had become a waterfall again in an instant.

"...W...Why...y..?.." she shakily cries out, her voice almost inaudible beneath the hiccups and coughs. "Wh...y d.di...id... ..y...ou.. s...s..top ..m..e...ee..?"

It just... stares at her, its mouth opening and closing slightly as it struggles to form its words. After a moment, it takes a worried step back, its gaze falling to trail along the wooden floorboards next to her bed that have been untouched by the boy's blood. "...I..." it finally says, "I don't... know."

She continues to wail pitifully as it stands there, not knowing how to act on this situation. It's never really been... the best... at these sorts of things... Its solution for whenever it's feeling like she currently is has always just been to indulge in the usual power high it gets from cannibalism and let the distraction hide its woes.

A small, wet clatter echoes through the room for a moment when it tosses the weapon to the ground. She looks slightly up to see the blurry image of it extending a hand to her, fingers sprawled open, somehow, comfortingly.

"C'mon, Pin," it says, "Let's get you cleaned up. You deserve some rest."

That's when it hit her.

It's the only person that cares... that she hasn't killed yet.

...Even when she tried... she didn't kill it.

She slowly rose her hand. It fell limply atop its and it wrapped its rough fingers around it to pull her to her feet. She stumbled slightly, but she regained her balance quickly. Her eyes remained locked on the brown floor beneath them as they exited. "Pillow, clean up here, will you?" She hears him say alongside the subtle tmp-tmp-ing of their feet on the slightly creaky floor.

She can feel the voices staring at her, but they aren't saying a thing this time.

She can feel... her, staring at her.

And him.

Almost disapprovingly.

And, as she hangs her head low, her dreary eyes glued to her shoes and their disappointed gaze locked onto her while she lets the number drag her out of her house,

...Her fingers wrap around his grip and give a clingy squeeze.

Chapter Text

It doesn't take an expert to know that the sleeping aid is not in the best mood right now.

She thought that the number was cool; she really, really thought he was! But, unfortunately, last night was not one that proved that idea to be true.

Why does he focus so much on that loser? Like, genuinely? What good has she done for their killings? Pillow hadn't even gotten to do any of those killings—until just now, of course—because Fourteen was too focused on that dumb thumbtack!

Pillow sighed and looked back at the corpse she's been poking at the innards of. Despite gruesomely ripping open the periwinkle painted object, her low mood hasn't left. Sure, Gaty's screams were nice in the moment, but she went back to being bummed out as soon as the woman had finally died.

The lavender headrest huffed out an agitated breath. "Whatever;" she mumbled while stabbing an eyeball that had fallen from the socket onto the tip of her knife and holding it up, examining the muscle for a moment as she spoke to herself. "What does he know? I can entertain myself without him, see? 'Don't do it by strangling Pin' my fucking ass;" She angrily murmured under her breath.

Popping the eye into her mouth, she stood and glared down at the very, very dead body. Her stomach had been ripped open only after her breathing had finally stopped, after her skull was stabbed so many times that she's barely recognizable anymore. Shards of bone are stuck, stabbed into her flesh, while the gaping hole in her body reveals her most vital parts. Her whole face is split very uncleanly into two halves, the one eye that she still has barely still connected by a single vein while her mouth is frozen in a shaky, uneven frown. Blood and gore hides the doodles that Gaty's best friend, Saw, had drawn on that one time.

As the sun rises slowly up into the sky, Pillow can hear a couple people beginning to rise from their homes and start their day. It's a good thing that the event of the wooden picket fence gate gruesomely dying had taken place far behind all of the houses, just barely outside the forest, or else the lavender woman probably would've gotten caught by now.

Said lavender woman glanced behind herself towards the quiet voices of the beginning day for a moment, before looking back to the corpse and nonchalantly kicking it, hard, into the trees behind it, it landing roughly in a bush. She didn't even sigh as she simply turned and walked off.

She knows that she can't just walk back to her own home—the bloodied footprints that she's leaving behind in the snow would more than give her away—so she heads to a random cabin that used to belong to someone now dead so that she can clean up there. Ice Cube's, it seems. Pillow grabs a rock and throws it through a window, a loud shatter erupting into the atmosphere around it.

Shit—that was WAY louder than she'd thought it would be. She can already hear someone approaching so, in a blind panic, she suddenly throws herself in the opposite direction of the building, into the bushes and trees that are blanketed by the thin layer of white flakes.

She watches as someone curiously approaches, the two ends of the blue ribbon that she wears tied in a bow around her spout flowing majestically behind her glass figure as she bounds up cheerfully.

"HellOOOOooo~" Bottle sings out with a giggle as she peeks around the corner of Icy's old home. She frowns slightly at the lack of anyone still present. "Hello?? Anyone there??" She walks forward a couple paces, towards the shattered window, before finally noticing the bloody footprints.

The woman freezes in her tracks, staring at them a long moment before her gloved hands reach up and begin nervously fidgeting with her sky blue scarf. "H- Hello..? Anyone there..?" She nervously calls out again, glancing around at the empty air surrounding her. The fragile container gulps worrily before finally looking over at where he prints lead.

She steps up to the shattered window, peeking inside the home and calling out once again. "HellOOOoooo!! Is anyone out here!??" Although her words are mostly the same, her whole tone has become infinitely less cheerful. Although, her curiosity is at its peak, as she looks around at nothing inside the building except for a lot of shattered glass and a rock.

It saddens Bottle to see someone desecrating the property of someone that she'd considered a friend, but they don't seem to still be around for her to discover their identity. After piecing together what the lack of bloody footprints within the home of her deceased friend means for whether or not the owner of them is within it, she finally turns back to the ones in the snow that remain next to her. She calls out again, while she begins warily stepping alongside the marks, following them to their source.

The eerie stillness of the morning wasn't of any comfort as she trekked her way towards the looming sight that she isn't ready to see. The sun has just barely risen past the initial sunrise, still not fully in the sky yet, but Bottle has always been an early riser. The early bird catches the early worm, as she says, always ready to begin with a smile, even during the direst of times.

Of course, she knows when to get serious—always willing to let that bubbly grin of hers fall when the time is right—but while nothing bad is happening? Well, she doesn't really see a reason to pout over the situation if the current one isn't focusing on the bigger picture.

This situation, however, is focusing on the bigger picture, as she carefully steps over the tiny white shards left in the ground to part the bloodied leaves with trembling fingers and hushed breaths.

And the scream can't help but wake most of the object who'd still been snoozing away.

—————

The pushpin stares with dull, weary eyes at the blinking line on her phone screen, legs pulled close to her chest as she sits on the sleeping aid's couch.

Pin, had ended up crashing at Pillow's place last night. To avoid leaving tracks in the snow, Fourteen had carried her while flying, low down, to the cabin. She slept on the couch, exhaustion overtaking her immediately, although she was quickly interrupted by a nightmare and hadn't managed to fall back asleep. She hadn't dared to share that experience with either of the cannibals that are yelling at eachother behind her.

So now, here she is, gazing sorrowfully at the messages that had been exchanged the previous day, and the lies that she had told, as that damned blinking line beckoned her to respond to her co-captain's worried messages.

—

#1 Firey Hater: PIN Augh fgeaejsf respond you havent been responding i need to make sure youre not fuckin DEAD

PointyPointyPointy: SHIT SORRY HI I'M HERE I'M EXISTING

#1 Firey Hater: PIN OMM YOURE OKAY

THANK MINT HOLY SHIT

DUDE YOY HAVE NO IDEA HOW SCARED I WAS

PointyPointyPointy: Ompf I'm so sorry Coiny ToT 

Sorry about accidentally ghosting you haha

I lost my phone during that challenge and then it was dead when I finally found it yesterday so

#1 Firey Hater: Oh that was a challenge okay good

PointyPointyPointy: Yeah haha

It was like this investigation thing

#1 Firey Hater OOOoooooooooh oak

PointyPointyPointy: Also why is your display #1 Firey hater

#1 Firey Hater: Idk

I was bored yesterday so I changed it to #1 firey hater

I mean it's not wrong right?

Pin?

You still there???

PIIIiiiiiiiiiiiin

Pinpinpinpinpin

Sigh at least i know you and needle are alright now

Wai needles good to right

?

—

She... doesn't want to respond.

She doesn't want to make up some half-assed lie about her girlfriend's fate.

And the arguing in the other room certainly isn't helping, as she uselessly attempts to blink the exhaustion from her eyes.

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU GO OUT MURDERING PEOPLE, PILLOW! JUST DON'T GET CAUGHT, AND YOU CAN DO WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT!!"

"THEN WHY DID YOU START FIGHTING WITH ME IN THE FIRST PLACE!??"

"NO, YOU STARTED FIGHTING WITH ME!!" Fourteen corrected. "ALL I SAID WAS THAT I WAS BUSY MAKING SURE THAT A CERTAIN SOMEONE DOESN'T TRY TO KILL HERSELF AGAIN, AND THEN YOU GOT MAD AT ME FOR NOT KILLING PEOPLE WITH YOU INSTEAD!!"

"WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT HER!?? SHE'S NOTHING BUT DEAD WEIGHT!!"

"I- I DON'T KNOW! ALL I KNOW IS THAT SHE'S OBVIOUSLY SUICIDAL AS HELL AND I WANT HER TO NOT BE!! MAYBE IF YOU WOULD LET ME GET HER BACK ON OUR SIDE-"

"I'M SUICIDAL TOO, FOURTEEN!!" Pillow suddenly snapped at the number, slamming her still bloodied fist down on the kitchen counter with an angered glare and what could only be assumed as tears peeking from her eyes.

A silence fell in the room, and the two just stared at eachother for a long moment, Pillow's furious gaze stabbing through the dumbfounded look that the algebralien got at her sudden outburst. Until, the woman's face finally fell, and she pinched between her eyes with an annoyed huff. "I'm gonna go wash up;" she finally says, turning and walking away.

As the sound of a running shower head faintly made itself present from the other side of the wall, Fourteen glares at the bathroom door that she had disappeared behind, before turning and leaning on the counter with a groan, hands holding his head like a dissapointed parent that just had a fight with their spouse. "Vein..." he mumbles out, "...Why can't anyone just listen..?"

Staring blankly at the device in her hand, Pin couldn't help but overhear everything, despite trying hard damn hardest to ignore them. Finally, she'd had enough, knowing that Pillow would still be salty at him when she came out. The pushpin forcefully pulled herself from the cushions, the phone gripped loosely in her hand as she dragged herself from the building.

She was informed that Pillow had cleaned up P-... ...had... cleaned up the crime scene, at her house, so... maybe she'll head back there..?

If she can handle it..?

Her feet kick up the thin layer of snow as she drags them across the ground, a chill running down her spine thanks to the cold winter breeze. Pillow had snuck back home through the bushes, Pin had overheard, after killing someone whom Fourteen had avoided saying the name of loud enough for Pin to hear. Although... she could've sworn she'd caught a "Gaty" during their fight.

Despite that being one of her friends, though, she can find herself being angry at herself for not feeling upset about it.

Actually, she... doesn't really feel anything.

Just.. empty.

She doesn't need to look to know that eyes that are noticing the way she pulls herself lifelessly through the clearing, following her along the ground that she should really be six feet beneath by now. Though, she finds herself numb to the stares, her tired gaze resting on the snow beneath her boots.

Pin hates feeling like this; like an empty husk of who she once was. She nearly trips over her own feet quite a few times, but she barely even notices, too focused on the spiral of pain that continues to scribble over any happiness she'd once had. Someone calls her name, but she's already grown so numb to the voices, so the sound seems to go in one ear and out the other as she trudges along.

Her hand hesitates on the doorknob. It takes a moment, but she finally turns it, the door weighing a thousand tons as she attempts to push it open. She stumbles in, the entrance closing on its own as she staggers forwards. 

She falls over on her couch, and begins once again struggling to get herself to respond to the coin creature, even as a new message from him makes itself present on the screen. In the end, she simply lets the guilt eat away at her as she ends up leaving the messaging app that they use, and instead scrolling through old photos of her and her friends through their years in the competition.

That is, until the sleepiness finally manages to overpower the terror that haunts her subconscious, and her eyelids grow too heavy to hold open any longer.

Chapter Text

It's been almost a full week since Pin had disappeared on him.

The coin creature lies on his back, freshly cut blades of grass brushing against his sprawled out limbs as the gentle winds blow it around with careful movements. A few flowers survived the small field being mowed over by someone—a someone that obviously has very different tastes than Coiny—but the copper boy's mind is too unfocused and scared to care about his favourite tall grass being reduced to nothing more than an inch in height. Small patches of stubborn wet snow remain on the ground, but only bits that had refused to melt—the small shower of flakes had been quick to hide away from the bright sun, unfortunately.

As his thoughts swirl uncontrollably, he pays no mind to the sounds of the two wooden sticks from Freesmart passing by, chatting away a storm like they always do. The name of the soap bubble suddenly escaped Match's mouth, the woman excitedly greeting the friend that she seems to have rekindled her relationship with after the eliminated contestants had all arrived here. Bubble, greets her in response, but shoots an anxious glance to the writing utensil as Ruby happily greets both of the Freesmart leaders, not taking her hand from her girlfriend's as eager words escape her lips. Flower, after shooting a quick wave to the other lesbians they'd run into, finds herself adjusting her pink petals as she and the other women she'd been walking with—only brought along because Ruby wanted her with—continue walking, the short exchange ending as Pencil and Match pass the other three and continue walking along the pathway.

Barely aware that the exchange had happened, Coiny finds himself rolling to his side, lifting his phone just slightly from the ground to check... Nope. No response from Pin.

Hand in hand aswell, a certain duo who's most often seen sharing the mechanical mind's earbuds also walks along the 'sidewalk'—though, Remote and Liy are on the path that's on the opposite side of the one the previous interaction had been on, walking the other direction. Hand in hand, they continue talking to eachother, once again oblivious to the closeness their bond shares. One earbud in either's 'ear', they laugh to eachother as their voices become distant to the small field between the paths that the copper object continues to lay in.

Tail flicking anxiously behind him, Coiny checks his phone again. As he'd expected, unfortunately, there's no response from Needle, either.

On the same side that Remote and Liy had been on, Lightning flies past, his red scarf still trailing happily behind himself as his hands fidget against his chest. By now, it's become obvious to most objects around that they've been more nervous than usual ever since they had all arrived here, their eyes flicking side to side worrily as they seem more bothered than usual, even compared to the worry they've had this past month.

Rolling back to his, well, back, Coiny groans, hands covering his eyes with a mix of anger, fear, and anticipation draining his energy. He had hoped that getting some fresh air would do him some good, but, so far, it's only made him more anxious. He sure as mint hopes that his two best friends aren't ghosting him right now.

A familiar grease trap passes, a fuzzy, pink object flying next to him. What looks like a bag of some sort of seeds is present, being held under Fries's arm as the two converse. In the other direction, Gelatin skips past, accompanied by a familiar water droplet, though he quickly stops when he sees the potato-based consumable. Teardrop rolls her eyes as he begins rambling something to him, a quiet chuckle betraying Fries as the mute woman drags the jelly boy away, before Puffball continues on their own way, accompanied by Fries and a giggle.

Sitting himself up, Coiny hugs his legs, the tail wrapping around them aswell as he stares down at his phone and eagerly awaits any response from either of his two best friends.

A cloud of air flies above, his best bud sitting atop him like usual. They talk to eachother happily, friendly words of affection escaping their lips with every passing second. Balloony's string tail flicks behind himself in an exited way as a small, leftover puffy clouds trail behind Cloudy.

Unable to wait any longer, Coiny swipes his phone up from the ground, speedily typing another worried message to the taller woman.

Blocky, likely up to his usual scheming, walks casually along the path. An always-anxious slice of balsa follows close behind, his hands fidgeting. The wooden block turns and says something to him, to which Woody responds with a light chuckle.

Without waiting another second after hitting send, he moves to the dms of the scarlet object, fear picking at his skin and driving his fingers as they frantically type away at the screen.

—

Her phone buzzes twice on the coffee table, sending small vibrations through the wooden piece of furniture.

Pin glances over from the dead plant she'd dug up from the rough soil to see what the device was notifying her of. Two messages; she doesn't pay attention to the one from YF in the TPOT chat—probably just saying random things about what he's doing, like he always obnoxiously does—but as soon as she sees her friend's username in the second popup, she turns away in an instant, her whole body growing just slightly shakier than it had been a millisecond ago. Back once again turned from the bed that she'd turned her living room couch into this past week, she continues to toss the deceased begonia into the trash bag next to her, dusting off her trembling hands as she attempts to stabilize her anxious breathing once again. With a nervous sigh, she reaches to the water glass, pouring some onto the still-living, yet wilted and certainly near death, oleander that sits in a pot on the windowsill across from the one that's now only filled with dirt.

As the last flower's white petals drink up the sunlight from the open window and roots now swallow up the foreign sensation of water, she sets the cup down on the wood with a gentle thud, her eyes raising to the window and beyond to the billions of tangled tracks that had made their mark in the small bit of snow that rests on the ground. After a short heartbeat, she turns to look for seeds to plant in the emptied pots around the room, but turns up empty. Unfortunate—she must've just run out before everything had happened. She doesn't want to face the world that seems to hate her, but she also doesn't want to leave the pots with nothing growing within them...

Ugh, whatever. Some fresh air might do her some good, anyways. After hesitantly slipping on her black gloves and the yellow scarf that was not originally hers—god forbid she wear the one with flowers ever again—Pin turns her doorknob, letting the hinges softly creak as she slowly exits her home. Her phone quietly buzzes once again as she closes the door, the screen turning on to display the new text message.

Her footprints only mingling with the sea of tracks in the snow, the pushpin makes her way to the hotel—surely there will be some seeds in there, right? 

As she walks, some voices catch her eye—or, well, ear—and she finds herself glancing to the two on the bench as she passes, not bothering to stop walking and see what they're up to. The bandages all over Price Tag stick out like a sore thumb, and, although they still seem as bright and confident as they usually do, the passing pushpin can't help but make note of the way that they cling just a little closer to Book's side.

Occasionally glancing over their shoulder in an anxiety driven way, both objects talk about, well, something. A bit of snow can still be seen clinging to their backs as two angel-shaped prints remain in a patch of snow that's been spared from the ocean of footprints—although, of course, one of the snow angels is missing an arm. Something that the label says sparks a burst of laughter from the woman, and Taggy can't help but laugh alongside her.

That is, until they glance once more over their shoulder worrily, and lean in slightly closer to their friend's ear.

"Hey... um... Can we head back to your place..?" They whisper. "There's something I wanna say, but... I'm a bit worried to say it out where um... someone could be watching..."

Book glances down to them, instantly knowing who they're referring to, but not mentioning it—Price Tag could already tell, anyways. Book quickly nods. "Yeah, sure, Taggy;" she answers, watching as the other object smiles and pushes themself from the bench. A split second before Book hopped off herself, however, Price Tag extended their string to her in an almost overly fancy way, giving her a playful grin as giggled and took it, standing and letting them lead her back to her cabin.

Even before now, the dictionary could tell that something was bothering them, but she'd refrained from mentioning it. Now, the anxiety is more than present in their demeanour, but also a bit of excitement. Book couldn't help but let her curiosity peak, wondering about what might be going on within her friend's head right now.

Once they make it to the taller object's house, Taggy would step aside briefly to allow Book to unlock her front door. As it swung open, the enby would hop inside, looking back in anticipation as Book closed the door behind herself, looking over at the other curiously.

They clear their throat to speak, glancing out the window briefly to double check that there are no obsessed stalkers watching before they say anything that said obsessed stalkers wouldn't want to see. Though, they pause for a moment in realization before simply turning back to the hardcover object and taking her hand again, muttering, "Er, let's go somewhere where we can't be spied on;" before leading her to her bedroom.

Book doesn't hesitate to allow herself to be pulled along, shutting the bedroom door just like the previous one as Price Tag hopped onto the bed to hurredly close the window.

Finally turning back to their friend, they clear their throat again, finding the courage to speak as a subtle blush peeks through their already red body. "So, um, Book... There's been something I've uh, been meaning to you... Um..." 

Book raises a curious yet playful eyebrow at them as she walks up to the bed, sitting herself down. "Y...Yeah, Taggy?" She prompts, some of her friend's nervousness seeming to rub off on her.

"W-Well, um... You see..." they stammer out, walking across the mattress to sit next to the other object. "Ugh... This sounds really stupid so I don't wanna say it..." they mumble, their embarrassment causing them to glance away anxiously.

"Well... Maybe you could do something else that'll tell me?-" the dictionary starts, barely even getting a chance to finish her sentence before the cost-bearing label took her advice and pressed their 'lips' against the woman's cheek.

It was quick, and she almost couldn't tell that it was a kiss thanks to the printed on mouth that her friend has to work with, but being startled speechless was enough to tell the shorter object that it had worked. As a flustered blush shoved its way onto Book's face, Taggy felt their own blush growing, and they couldn't help but glance away with a small smile on their face, although covered by their leg as they lift it to hide the slight grin (Their face is like a LvL incase my description wasn't good enough because I am NOT describing the individual text characters ToT). Book found her hand raising to the spot on her cheek where the contact had been made, before the shocked expression turning into a cheerful smile and "pf" sound escaped her lips.

"So that's what you were too embarrassed to say..?" She asks playfully, leaning slightly closer to the other object next to her.

They give a slight nod, their gaze still hesitant to return to Book's as they hum out an "Mhm.." with a subtle giggle.

A soft laugh breaks past the woman's lips, as her body finally turns properly towards Taggy. "I... don't really know what to say.." she chuckles out, the bookmark tail swaying cheerfully behind her.

"I mean..." Taggy responds, their teasing voice slightly quieter than it had been moments before as they straighten themself out, finally looking back at the other object. "...With the way you're grinning, I don't think you really need to say anything."

This caused a chuckle to break past Book's lips, her heterochromatic eyes finally managing to lock with the other's white ones, but only for a brief moment, as she quickly glanced away shyly. "I guess I was just... caught off guard;" she chuckles out, the blush not daring to fall from her face. "I really didn't expect that."

"I don't think it matters whether you expected it or not;" Price Tag admits, subconsciously moving closer to the other object. "Just whether you liked it or not."

"I guess that's true..." Book mutters back  in response, her eyes trailing back to the other's just as they'd used their string to cup her cheek. The contact only makes her blush grow, though, as the label hesitates inches away from her face. In an instant, Book lets her hand wrap around the end of their string, pulling it down from her cheek as she carefully throws herself forward, and they finally have a proper kiss.

The ghost really hadn't expected to see this when curiously checking up on the woman, but she can't help but feel happy for the both of them. Although, what she can't tell is a hint of jealousy also prickles at her 'skin'. After watching them for a short moment longer, her mouth creased in a supportive smile, the cold object knows that she has to get back to work.

Stepping away from the house, her expression falls again, as the looming threat creeps back into her mind. While everyone was getting more comfortable outside thanks to the lack of murders, Pen's and Gaty's deaths have lead to most hiding back into their homes, the outdoors now almost nothing more than a ghost town. Literally, as the dead share concerns and fears—not for themselves, of course; there's nothing left that the pushpin and her accomplices can do to them anymore.

As her body phases through the walls of a cabin that Ice Cube has spent far too much time in lately, the sound of scribbling graces her ghostly form. She follows the sound to Pillow's living room, where the notebook that the living girl carries around everywhere is being filled with doodles of the woman that she obsesses over. This causes an all too common look of pure concern and judging to form on the cube's face again, until another person enters from another room.

His tail trails softly behind him as he looks over to the other person, clearing his throat to get her attention. He succeeds and, as the sleeping aid glances up from her doodling, makes his way next to her, sitting himself down on the one cushion that Pillow's lying form hadn't reached.

He clears his throat.

"Pillow-"

"Just go get her back on our side;" the sleeping aid suddenly retorts, spitting the words from her mouth as her whole mood shifts for the worse in less than an instant.

The number just gazes at her for a moment, before sighing and lifting himself back to his 'feet'. "Yeah, okay;" he mutters out, beginning to walk off again. Just before he leaves the room, though, the bed-head speaks again, and her words make his tail droop just slightly lower.

"If she doesn't come back to our side after this, Fourteen—" she adds, her emotionless voice dripping through the atmosphere, "—we're gonna have to get rid of her."

His hand hovers on the doorframe for a moment, before he slowly nods, an, "I know;" escaping his lips before he finally turns the corner, his body no longer in view from where Icy is standing.

Her gaze turns back to Pillow's for a moment, before she then turns around, getting ready to head over t-

"Hey-" Eraser is suddenly interrupted with a loud yelp, before Ice Cube takes a moment to regain herself after jumping back. She leans down slightly, gasping for air that she doesn't actually need before she finally gets her words to break past her lips.

"Holyglacieryouscaredthelivingcrapoutofme." She mutters out, her voice still hushed and breathy, until she finally lifts herself back up and shoots him a glare. "How long have you been standing there!??"

"Oh, I only just showed up," he confirms, lifting a hand to his hip. "Sorry for scaring you, dude. My bad."

"Yeah, never do that again;" she snaps at the rubber object, before forcing herself to take a deep breath. "Ugh.. What do you want..?"

"I just thought I should let you know that uh, Pin did finally leave her house. Not sure how important that is right now, but you n' TB seem insistent on knowing, like, everything she does, so."

She gives a light sigh and turns back to face the sleeping aid, continuing to observe her, though only half paying attention. "Thanks;" she murmurs out. Saved her a trip, she supposed.

They stand in silence for a short moment, before finally Eraser steps up next to her, eyes scanning the room around them. "Why do you think we're even here?" He suddenly asks, his gaze not bothering to return to the frozen cube.

Just slightly, she shifts in his direction, gazing at him out of the corner of her vision. "...What?"

"Like, why are we here? As ghosts, n' stuff?" He clarifies. "I mean, we've never turned into ghosts in the past, have we? Why now, but not before?"

Icy pauses, turning forward once again as her eyes fall to the ground. After a short moment, her mouth opens to speak. "...Tennisball thinks that we just don't remember it;" she answers.

"So... we always turn into ghosts, but we just don't remember?" He asks, finally looking to the woman next to him.

"...Yeah, basically."

"...Huh."

After standing there for another silent heartbeat, Eraser steps back slightly. "Uh, I'm gonna go now," he said, pointing his thumb behind him as he began to walk off. "Bye."

"Bye;" Icy responds, not turning to watch him as he steps through the back wall.

—————

Crooked grin.

Such a crooked smile that it wears.

Such a crooked carving that was cut into his wrist.

"Don't leave so soon..." it had called happily, despite the context.

"...Dinner was just served..~"

The algebralien bolts into a sitting position in his bed, panting from the memory as he desperately clutches the blankets.

Shit...

...The nightmares are coming back...

—————

Gazing at the back of the couch, Pin can feel the bags beneath her eyes. Despite her exhaustion, her eyelids refuse to fall closed, so she simply remains, existing, in this half-asleep state. Her thoughts don't even spiral as she lies there, instead sitting dormant just out of reach, the only thing she can get ahold of being the thought of how damn tired she is.

But, eventually, her thoughts begin moving again, as a subtle rattling sound echoes through the room. She pushes herself up, peeking fearfully over the back of the couch as whoever's outside her house carefully fumbles with the locked doorknob. She silently prays that she'd remembered to lock the windows, too, as the recovering flowers and newly planted seeds sit between the glass and the closed curtains, still getting their moonlight while Pin still gets her privacy.

Eventually, the handle stops moving, but a faint green glow soon brings back the sound of metal hitting metal. At first, Pin can't tell what the algebralien is trying to do to her door, but once a click bounces off of the walls and the door finally creaks open, she realizes with an anxious gaze as her eyes meet Fourteen's. He hesitates in the doorway, but eventually steps in more and closes her door, his 'feet' making no sound on the wooden floorboards as he slowly makes his way around to the front of the couch, towards the pushpin.

"Um... Hey, Pin..." he finally says, his nervous gaze trailing away from her. "Can I, uh, have a seat..?"

She hesitates for an awkward eternity, but eventually, subtly, nods, scooting over more to the side with her pillow and pulling the blanket with her, letting it fall over her once again. Fourteen takes this as his cue, and slowly lets himself fall to the cushions on the opposite side, the mist of his legs disappearing as he fidgets slightly with his hands.

After what feels like forever, he finally turns to look at her again.

"Um... I, don't want you to panic, or anything..." he stumbles out, his words coming out slowly as he carefully chooses each one. "Um..." He clears his throat, before finally continuing. "I'm, uh, sorry about the trouble that I kinda... caused you... I didn't really, um..." He sighs. "I didn't realize that things I did... could affect people that much..."

He pauses, and when Pin doesn't respond, he quickly assures her that, "You don't need to say anything of course, Pin... Um... I just... I want to talk to you." A nervous chuckle breaks past his throat.

"I'm um... s- sorry... if I'm kinda... shit, at talking to people like this..." he sighs out. "I've never really... done it before..."

Another pause. The pushpin, curled up beneath her blanket, can't help but avoid looking at him. He can tell, though, that she's listening; so, after thinking over his next words carefully, he lets himself continue.

"I uh... I don't really know why, Pin, but... even before I'd used my ability on you, that first time... while I was jut kinda, well... watching you... I found myself getting, a bit attached... I guess..? I mean, originally, I... I had, just wanted to abuse your baking skills, so that I can eat people again, but... I suppose, after watching you for so long, I had... started rooting for you, if that makes sense? I guess that's the only real reason that I'd kept my eyes on you, instead of getting Pillow to help me...

"Um, but that other night... when uh, the pen had died... I guess it, well... it got me thinking? About, um, how I just kinda... kept getting more attached to you, as I got you to kill people for me..." He pauses for another heartbeat, before continuing again, as Pin's gaze continued to wander around the room, to everywhere except the other person next to her.

"I... I never really, wanted, to hurt you, but... I... I was never really that good at, um... knowing how others were thinking...

"Please trust me, Pin, when I say that I'd never intended to affect you negatively. I'd always just assumed that, well... that you'd just start enjoying it, like I do... Um...

"Even if I wouldn't have cared as much, back when we first started... I really don't want to see anything bad happen to you now. I don't... want you to hurt yourself... But I just... don't really know what I'm doing either, I guess..."

"Where are you going with this..?" Pin finally mutters out, her gaze still refusing to meet the algebralien's.

He sighs. Seems like he needs to rip the bandaid off, but... Ugh...

"Well... The... The way that you'd acted, each time you uh, killed someone... especially, um, the first few... it really... it really reminded me, of when I had first, started killing people... I mean, the only reason I had really started, was 'cause I knew that if I didn't do something to someone else, I... um..." He hesitates again, picking at his nails as he weakly attempts to let himself be vulnerable.

"I just... I knew that I'd have done something even dumber, if I didn't... didn't take my anger out on someone else... but... I was also, really scared at first. I didn't... I didn't know what I was doing... and I almost couldn't bring myself to do it... But, I..." He sighs feebly. "I suppose I... I've never really been... the best, at considering others... so... I eventually managed to get myself to do it...

"I was mostly just, scared that I'd get caught... like you were... but ever since I'd learned to just... just live a little, and stop worrying so much, It's been a really good way for me to... to... ...What's the word..? Destress..? Co... um... well... I-It's a really good way to stop myself from spiralling, I guess. And, well, even if I tried to stop myself... Id've just lived knowing that I was missing out on the taste of skin n' stuff, y'know?"

Finally, he sighs, and turns to Pin as he manages to drop the reason he'd come over.

"I... I think that it could help you, too, Pin, if you started letting yourself let loose more... Just like that night with Winner..."

Her gaze isn't one of consideration, but he can tell that she's at least contemplating something. Her gaze has since stopped exploring the walls, but is instead now gazing at the space between her legs and her body, which are still covered as she hugs herself beneath the blanket. A silence fills the room, but neither can really tell whether it's an awkward silence, or just... silence.

"I think, Pin..." Fourteen says, an empathetic gaze resting on her scarlet form, "...That if you'll let yourself try it, that we could maybe... restart. Try again. I could see myself in a lot of things that you had done, and... Well, while I was, trying to manipulate you at the start... I eventually just... I didn't want to do that to you, anymore. I didn't know what would happen back then, and I... I just didn't... I didn't care as much, I guess. I'd never really realized, that doing all of this would've... had such a bit impact on you, in the end."

Fourteen sighs, before letting his arms wrap around and hug himself similarly to the way Pin is doing so to herself.

"...I can't remember a time, when I didn't want to make a big impact, but... I want that impact to be on everyone. I want that impact to be one where I'm remembered, not one where I hurt the only person that I could talk to, after years and years of being on my own, that... that much...

"I understand, if you don't trust me... I... I know almost nothing, about talking to people... but... I just... I want to help you, Pin. In... In the only way that I know how. And, like I've said, I just... I really think that this will do you good, Pin. I really think, that letting yourself let loose, and letting yourself... letting yourself hurt others, instead of yourself..." He sighs again, a heartbeat of awkward silence falling between them.

"Again, you... you don't have to say anything, Pin;" he reassures, his hands falling from his arms as he lets himself look back over to her. "But... if you want me to do anything, or answer anything... you should ask me now, before anything really happens..."

Another never ending pause. This time, Fourteen has run out of things to break the silence with. His tail flicks anxiously at his side as the room falls silent once again, as if it was forbidden to utter another word. That is, until, eventually, Pin glances just slightly up to him, only enough to let her see him out of the corner of her eye.

"What... What will happen if I do try again..?" She hesitantly asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I... I don't really know, to be honest..." the number admits, worrily rubbing the back of his neck. "I suppose... I suppose I would just... try to help you stop holding yourself  back..? Stop worrying as much..?"

Another long pause, but this time, Pin is the one to break the silence again. "...How do I know you aren't just trying to manipulate me..?" She murmurs, forcing herself to look away again. "You even admitted to doing so in the past..."

"Well... I guess you probably shouldn't trust that I'm not accidentally slipping up and doing that... I mean, this is kinda my first time... trying to talk to someone without doing that... but... But I'm really trying not to. I just... I just want you to know that I'm trying not to hurt you anymore... even if I don't know how..." He sighs. "I mean... I'd never really done almost everything that's happened these past months before... I used to just do everything on my own, back when I still could..."

The woman can't help but catch the way that his eyes trailed to the two small stumps where his legs should be, nor could she help but let the curiosity of how that had even happened grow back. "Fourteen..." she murmured, almost too quietly for him to hear.

"...Yeah..?"

"What... what even happened to your legs..?" She finally asks. "I mean, you... you clearly had them, right? Or, were they always like that..?"

Pin doesn't stop the pang of annoyance when another unsure sigh breaks past his lips, but she tries to ignore it, as his mouth opens again to speak.

"Well... I... I suppose it's about time that I finally tell you that wild ride, isn't it?" He chuckled out, averting his gaze from her for a moment.

"Well... Um...

"...It's a bit of a long story..."

~

Chapter Text

"SEVEN!?"

"SEEVEEEEEN!!???"

"SEVEN, WHERE ARE YOU?? I THOUGHT WE WERE ALL GONNA WATCH A MOVIE!"

"Do you think he's sleeping in again, One?"

"At this hour? Three, the latest she's ever slept in was until, like, 13! It's already 20, so they're bound to have at least woken up by now!" (A/N: Army time. Just subtract twelve if you care enough but they use army time because I say so.)

"You two looking for Seven?"

"Oh! Yeah, me, One, and her were gonna watch a movie, but we can't find them anywhere."

"One, Seven and I."

"Oh, shut up. Not everyone's as nerdy as you are, Five!"

"Hey, uh... Guys..?"

"Yeah, Eight?"

"What's wrong? You seem worried..."

"Yeah, uh... You know how we had Fourteen chained up to that weight..?"

"Ye-"

"Waitwaitwait- Eight, what do you mean 'had'??"

"Well... He kinda... Isn't there anymore..?"

"..."

"The chain... The chain is snapped..-"

"FUCK."

"THREE! LANG-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, FIVE! I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR DUMB LANGUAGE RIGHT NOW!! SOMEONE COULD BE DEAD ALREADY, FOR PRISON'S SAKE!!"

"Why is someone dead? Who died?"

"SIX! FOURTEEN ESCAPED!!"

"...What's the big deal? Can't Seven just revive anyone that he steals skin from-"

"SHIT. THREE."

"WHAT!?? WHAT IS IT, ONE-"

"WHAT IF HE ATE SEVEN!?!??"

And thus, the search began.

Unfortunately, while it didn't take much time to find who they were looking for...

...they still ran out of time, regardless...

There was a small shack somewhere, very far from where the algebraliens would usually mingle, incredibly distanced from the playground. Nobody had even known it was there before that day. The original owner had long since abandoned it, so only cobwebs and mold would dare inhabit it.

Just outside of the thick woods, Ten had found himself stumbling upon it during their search for the bundle of joy and forgiveness. He'd barely noticed it at first, but then a strange, fleshy sound had gently forced its way through the deteriorating, wooden walls and drawn his attention. Hesitantly, he would creep up to it, his trembling hand only barely brushing the doorknob before it swung forward ever so slightly.

The fleshy sound was louder now, and the smell of raw iron stabbed at his nostrils. Ten couldn't help but take a step back as, when his ears grew used to it, the grotesque, squishing sounds grew more akin to that of desperate chewing. It took great willpower for the orange number to finally force himself to knock, his knuckles gently hitting the wooden door only once before it suddenly swung open the rest of the way.

"S...Seve-?"

Both living numbers froze.

Ten's eyes widened in terror at the sight before him. Grey blood coated nearly the entire ground, and a green figure kneeled above the corpse in the center of the room. The first object couldn't help but gag, stumbling back as he took in the sight before him. Slowly, but surely, Fourteen would turn, his dumbfounded expression quickly morphing into a psychopathic grin.

"Well, hello there, Tenny..~"

The lower number's mouth would open and close in unspeakable words, his voice caught and held hostage at the very bottom of his throat. He continued to stumble back, eyes flicking from Fourteen, to the corpse beneath him, back to Fourteen, and barely ever stopping to linger on either.

Said corpse was barely recognizable as the silly little scapegoat whose eyes used to be so full of innocence and trust. Any skin that they'd once had was ripped off, leaving almost nothing but exposed tissue and nerves and bone to make up her mangled figure. But even that was barely holding his shape, as a gaping hole remained stationary in their whole torso area, obvious bite marks taken from various things that had once been inside but were now strewn around the room in a careless manner. Bones that had been licked clean of any flesh that had clung to them were lazily discarded into a messy pile next to the body—if you could even call it that anymore—while bits of cartilage and less desirable parts remained tossed around uncaringly. Half eaten organs were leaning against the skinned corpse while both eyes had seemingly disappeared from their respective sockets, nerve endings and blood vessels that had been, at some point, holding the eyeballs in place, instead hanging limply from their beds in the gaping holes that had become present in her skull.

All of that, still holds its title as the most disgusting sight that Ten has ever witnessed. To this day, he's still impressed that he hadn't barfed or passed out right then and there.

"Oh... Tenny..." the cannibal had pouted slightly when Ten tried to back off more. "Don't leave so soon... Dinner was just served..~ Ehe~!"

That taunting giggle still haunts the boy's memories whenever he tries to rest.

When Ten had attempted to make a beeline for the equation playground, Fourteen had thrown himself to his feet in an instant, swiping the blood-soaked cleaver that had been laying dormant at his side from the ground and jumping at the other algebralien without a word. An ear-piercing shriek echoed through the evening air as the sadist had made an attempt to stab right into the other number's face, his crazed smile not faltering as Ten had somehow managed to block the blow with his arm. Of course, this also caused the blade to get lodged deep into the flesh of his wrist, forcing a stinging pain to shoot through his whole body alongside the phantom pain that still lingers from that damned night, back when Fourteen had broken into his home.

The rest of the event was a bit of a blur. The one thing that Ten can remember clearly after the psycho had been pulled off of him, was watching as Fourteen had attempted to pounce at Nine after being whacked across the side with her skateboard, only to be stopped by a familiar, star-shaped telekinesis that had yanked him back from the chain that still held onto his ankle. Thanks to the odd position that he was already in, Fourteens leg had been broken into two, the sickening crunching and snapping of bone and tendons echoing across the fields alongside a scream so unfamiliar to everyone.

Fourteen's scream.

Ten couldn't help but shrink a little more into the protective embrace that Eight had pulled him into as that almost forbidden sound broke into everyone's eardrums.

Fuelled with grief and hatred, One had proceeded to rip off his other leg as soon as she'd realized the power she'd had over him in that moment. Ten would have sworn, if he hadn't been too out-of-it, that he could see Fourteen's sadistic smile planted on the feminine algebralien's face as she watched the cannibal writhe in pain beneath her.

And everyone else just watched as she beat the shit out of him, not knowing whether or not to intervene.

Besides, it's not like he didn't deserve what was happening.

She'd paused, panting desperately for air, as a deep green liquid oozed from his open wounds and spat from his lips whenever he'd coughed. All that he was in that moment, was a beaten, bruised, and bloody mess, as he had trembled and attempted to bargain with her for his worthless life. As soon as One had caught her breath, she lifted him up high, still panting furiously, before, with a loud, enraged yell, she'd flung him away, his gradually-fading scream escaping the damp atmosphere as he left the planet's gravitational pull.

A moment of thick silence hung heavily in the air...

Until One collapsed to her knees in the middle of the clearing, Three rushing to her side as she broke into pathetic sobs and wails. 

~

Chapter Text

Start out small.

You're starting out small.

Starting all over.

All over again.

Try again.

Embrace it this time.

It's not as scary once you take the first swing.

They'll be with you every step of the way.

They promised.

He promised.

...

It's not as scary... once you take the first swing.

...Once you take the first leap.

...Once you're already in the free fall...

...You'll finally get a chance to embrace it.

This is a new start.

Not the start with Icy.

A fresh start.

Where you get to embrace it.

~~~~~~~~~~

Pin had been reassured, again and again, that nobody would miss him. His only real friend, well... She'd already taken care of them in her fit of anger.

And, she'd been told that, if she enjoys this enough...

Well...

...All that they'd said is that she's more than welcome to join them in... making the next kill more... 'fun'.

Oh, she despises how they use that word to describe these sins—these vile acts only preformed under the cold blanket of the moonlight reflecting down onto her from above.

The winds at this altitude tonight are much calmer than they'd been, months ago, back when the first death had taken place. Though, that shouldn't have any effect on the outcome of this event...

As the door to the hotel roof clicks softly behind her, a voice rings in the scarlet woman's head, voicing the same confusion she probably would have felt, if she hadn't been so overwhelmed by anxiety. Her fingers brush over the handle of the kitchen knife as she allows her hand to fall from behind her back.

'How odd...' the algebralien notes. '...We both fully expected that he'd keep his word... What happened?'

Pin tugs nervously at the yellow scarf around her neck that sways gently in the breeze as Fourteen's speaks to someone whom she can't hear the voice if. Of course, she knows all too well who it is.

Pillow and Fourteen had both agreed to stay at the former's place when Pin told them that she didn't want them hovering over her during this. She'd told them that she doesn't want any of their sick humour, or any of their dragging out of the murder—Divine knows what would happen if they where here alongside her.

So, instead, Fourteen is speaking to her through her mind. "Just like the good ol' days", as the number had said.

As if that was supposed to lighten her mood.

She sighs and steps forward, towards, what she'd intended to be, the middle of the roof—Instead, though, her feet had carried her to the very edge, giving her a full view of the dirt below. For no longer than a split moment, she could almost feel the impact of her face hitting that dirt, her skull cracking loudly from the landing as her body lay at the bottom in a squished, deformed mess.

That was, before Fourteen's voice suddenly cut off at the sudden creak of the elevator door opening. Pin would soon turn her attention to the figure that entered, hiding the blade from sight the moment the sound of him stepping out onto the hotel roof had hit her eardrums.

'Ah, I knew he wasn't lying when he said he'd be here...' Fourteen mused, his voice ringing off of the walls of her skull. 'My, how idiotic does one have to be to publicly announce everything you do while there's a murderer on the loose~?'

That damned giggle is impossible to ignore as the salesman steps onto the cement of the roof, letting the scarlet that clashes with the plain gray of everything else catch his attention within seconds.

Not only did her mere unexpected presence peak his interest, but that glassy, unfocused gaze of hers did, too.

"Pin?" He suddenly prompted, and she snapped out of her trance-like state with a jolt, her pupils immediately locking with Yellow Face's. "What are you doing here?"

She just stared at him, her expression unreadable as she hid something behind her back. Her chest rose and fell, slowly increasing in the speed which it does so alongside her shrinking pupils, until a painstakingly familiar voice snapped her back into the real world.

'"I just wanted some fresh air."'

"I... just... wanted some fresh air;" Pin repeated. Yeah, that's all it is. Totally not going to murder you, or anything; don't worry...

"...Okay..?" The non-object rose an eyebrow at her, taking in her unsure stature. In the end, though, he simply shrugged off the suspicion and wandered over to a side of the roof, pulling a cluster of miscellaneous items out from seemingly nowhere and dropping it to the ground.

Pin, has no idea what he plans to do up here. Nor does she have any idea how she plans to go about this. Now really isn't the time for her to get cold feet, is it? So then, why is she so hesitant?

"I can't do it."

Her voice, no louder than a whisper—completely inaudible for the face on the opposite side of the platform, yet louder than needed for the number she was talking to.

'Sure you can!' He encouraged, much to the woman's dismay. 'Look, just take it slow, alright? There's a reason we came up here so early~'

The woman didn't respond, but he could tell that she got the message. Hesitantly, she takes a step towards him, and then another, and another, the light pat of her feet on the hard roof one of the only audible sounds in this silent space. As he seemingly rummages through a pile of junk, she slowly approaches him, trying to focus on her breathing and not on the spiraling screaming going on within her.

That is, until he feels her gaze shooting bullets into his back and turns around to see her no more than a few feet away from him.

If the ooze that slides down her body like a waterfall wasn't enough to tell him that something's off with her, he's also got her trembling and heavy breathing to go off of. Not to mention the way she's instantly stopped in her tracks the moment he'd turned to face her, her pupils minuscule as she gazes at him, almost expectantly.

"...Are you okay?"

Nervously, her gaze flees to the ground, as she takes a fearful step back. However, her hunched form is interrupted by the voice, and she freezes dead in her tracks.

'Either strike him now, or strike up a conversation! The second option is sure to lower his suspicion, as long as you can act somewhat normal during it.'

"I've never been that good at small talk..." she whispers, gaining an odd look from the man before her.

'I never said it has to be a good conversation.'

She pitifully attempts to swallow the lump in her throat, before sighing, and raising her head enough to see him.

"H- Hi-" she cuts herself off the moment her voice cracks, coughing slightly to clear her throat.

Her feet shuffle nervously as he gives her an odd wave and a "...Hi..?" Before returning to his... whatever he's doing.

"Um... How... have... you... been..?" She asks, each word almost hesitant to escape into the chilly night air.

"...Fine;" He responds, barely sparing her a passing glance.

'Seesh, how rude does he have to be?'

As much as she hates to admit it, Pin does agree with him there. Although, in Yellow Face's defense, she has been acting incredibly suspicious since the moment that he'd shown up.

'C'mon, Pin... What are you waiting for? What happened to that rage you had when you killed Winner?'

"I don't-..." she'd begun to mutter, before being cut off as Fourteen spoke again, this time for someone else.

'Pillow says you should hate him in particular. I don't really know what she's talking about, but she's also known you for longer than I have, so I'm just taking her word for it.'

Hate him in particular..? Why would she do that? I mean, sure, he's annoyingly obnoxious—well, most of the time—but everyone thinks that. Why would she have any specific beef with him?

She let her eyes scan what he's doing, searching for any indicator for what the sleeping aid might be talking about. The items he's searching through and almost inspecting... The loud yellow of his gross, fleshy body... The limbs he'd stolen from Icy and Donut-

Wait.

No...

Nono, he isn't-

He-...

...

"I choose Pin, because she stabbed my speaker box!"

.

"...Why are you staring at me like that?"

That seemed to snap Pin out of it, for a moment.

Pin factory, she really hates thinking about that season.

"HellOOOOooo!"

He waved his stolen arm in front of her face.