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[BOMBY] “We need to find a place to hide!!”
Bomby whispered-shouted as he huddled the Just Notters to a small corner of Gelatin’s Steakhouse. The place was in ruins. There was garbage everywhere, broken windows, and the walls looked like they were going to crumble to the ground any second. But it was the best they could do.
Due to the bad reception, Just Not couldn’t tell what the challenge was and Pillow was convinced it was to kill each other. So now, instead of surviving from the zombies, Just Not had to survive from their own teammate.
[BOOK] “Look, the reception was bad, t-the challenge can’t POSSIBLY be to kill each other, right..?”
Book attempted to reassure everyone, but it was futile because as soon as he finished her sentence, the electricity crackled and the lights went out for a few moments. Within that time period, Book’s entire team was gone, leaving her all by herself when the lights came back on again.
[BOOK] “Guys? HELLO?!”
Book called out frantically as she started walking forward. She was on-edge, looking left and right, hoping to find someone. Anybody who wasn’t out to kill her, at least.
[BOOK] “We can talk about this! We can figure something out..!”
All of a sudden, Book heard a loud bang out further than where she was, causing her to flinch and take a step back.
[BOOK] “HELLO?! ...W-.. W-What was that..?!”
Book looked around, trying to find what caused the noise. Spotting something moving out of the corner of her eye, Book took a step closer, now heading over to what seems to be a pile of junk.
[BOOK] “I saw that... Anyone there..?”
Now closer to the pile of junk, Book’s eyes landed on a mysterious green object poking out from the junk.
[BOOK] “What is that..?”
Her hand hesitantly reached out to grab it, but before she could, the mysterious item leapt out first.
[BOOK] “GAH–! Huh..?”
[GELATIN; RECORDING] “WELCOME TO GELATIN’S STEAKHOUSE! If you’re looking for my house MADE of steak, it’s across the street.”
Book let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, it was just a sign of Gelatin promoting his steakhouse. And... his house made of steak, for some reason.
Then, something else peeked out from the same pile of junk.
[NICKEL] “Psst!”
It was Nickel and he was still in one piece!
[NICKEL] “Psst, psst! Over here, buddy!”
He called out to Book, trying to get her attention. Luckily, it worked and Book walked over to where Nickel was.
[NICKEL] “Ugh, the stress of all of this was JUST TOO MUCH for Little ol’ Nickely-loo! I figure we can just sleep through it! However, I just can’t seem to find a bed anywhere! Too much JUNK!”
Nickel complained as he gestured towards the heaps of trash scattered around the steakhouse. He really wasn’t lying.
[BOOK] “Hmm, you’re right. Hey! I know! Why don’t we just search for one?”
Book suggested. Afterall, with so much junk, there’s bound to be a bed or something comfortable that they could find.
[NICKEL] “You’re right, Book-ster! Let’s get searchin’! You search the leftie part, and I search the rightie part!”
Nickel exclaimed with glee. With that, the duo searched within the piles of trash, desperate to find ANYTHING to sleep on.
[BOOK] “Hey, wait! I found something!”
Book called over to Nickel.
[NICKEL] “Coming! What’cha find, Book?”
He ran towards her direction, now standing in front of what seemed to be an old wooden bed that Book was already comfortable in.
[BOOK] “Well, I found this wooden bed near the trash, and I’m all snug in this blanket! Though I think it’s missing something... Hmmm…”
Book looked around in her position before coming up with her solution.
[BOOK] “A-hah!”
Book grabbed a nearby pillow and placed it behind her head letting out a sigh of comfort. Or… so she thought…
[BOOK] “This pillow could do well! It’s nice, cozy, and comfortable! I think this is— Wait… PILLOW?!”
As soon as Book realized her mistake, Pillow got up from her grasp and had an evil smirk plastered on her face.
[PILLOW] “Hee-hee! Got you!”
[BOOK] “WAIT- NO! AAAAAAAAaaaaugh..”
Before Nickel could even process it, Book was already torn to shreds, her pages were ripped and tattered, pieces flying everywhere.
[PILLOW] “One down! Hello, Nickel!”
Pillow greeted him with an unusually large smile on her face. She slowly walked toward him. As soon as Nickel realized he was next, he started backing up, his little legs moving frantically.
[PILLOW] “You know, I could really use some of your natural metal on you for some nice protective armor!”
[NICKEL] “PILLOW! NO! PILLOOOW!”
Nickel turned around and made a run for it, running towards any safe spot.
[PILLOW] “You can run, but you can’t hiiiide~!”
Pillow cooed out playfully, her steps slowly growing in speed.
[NICKEL] “Gotta hide, gotta hide!”
Suddenly he felt something dragging him towards a secret spot, causing him to let out a small yelp in surprise.
[NICKEL] “AAA-”
[???] “Shh! You don’t want that Pillow girl to find you, right?”
The mysterious voice spoke to him, which left Nickel with a lot of questions.
[NICKEL] “Huh–? Wha– Who ARE you?”
Nickel asked the mysterious figure, trying to make out a face of sorts.
[HEART CLIPPY] “The name’s Heart Clippy! Look, I know you’ve never seen me before, but that’s because I’ve been sneaking around TPOT grounds.”
Heart Clippy explained, using hand movements to further convey her explanation and expressions.
[NICKEL] “Sneaking around TPOT grounds? How?? Does Two know about this?”
Nickel raised a brow, still a little confuzzled.
[HEART CLIPPY] “Hush, hush! Do you want to live or not?”
Heart Clippy put a finger over Nickel’s lips, shushing further words coming from his mouth before letting go.
[NICKEL] “Well, uh, yeah…”
[HEART CLIPPY] “Good! Now,here’s the thing. The challenge isn’t to murder each other. I know Two wouldn’t do that. Probably.”
[NICKEL] “Really? Then wha–”
[HEART CLIPPY] “It’s to survive. That’s it.”
Heart Clippy bluntly cutted him off to say her words.
[NICKEL] “Ohhh..! Wait, so you mean my team and I were going on this wild goose chase for NOTHING? Such a bummer! Now I can’t get those 2,763 seconds of my life back!”
Nickel then looked around his surroundings, the place unfamiliar and Nickel didn’t recognize it at all.
[NICKEL] “Uhh, by the way, where are we, exactly?
[HEART CLIPPY] “Oh, yes! I forgot to mention that!”
Heart Clippy stood up from her position, helping Nickel up from sitting too.
[HEART CLIPPY] “This is my secret hideout! This is where I hung out for the past 8 episodes. This used to look a lot prettier, but it kind of just got worn down after a while. It’s better than nothing, though!”
Heart Clippy gestured to the place with her arms.
[HEART CLIPPY] “And while YOU goobers were out doing challenges, I snuck into Two’s Hotel to grab some free food!”
Heart Clippy added with a small chuckle.
[NICKEL] “Woah, that sounds pretty impressive!”
[HEART CLIPPY] “It’s all pretty simple, actually! You just have to put your mind to it.”
[NICKEL] “Speaking of ‘minds’, how’d you know I was in danger of Pillow?”
(I will continue this soon!!)