Chapter Text
Wow. You’d be surprised how fast a Tennis ball could run when he wanted to.
“Tennis ball!” Tennis ball heard Golf ball’s shouts over their walkie talkie. He rushed to her underground lab, hardly stopping for breath. He was running as fast as his legs could carry him. “I need you here STAT!” She yelled. Tennis ball was so out of breath he couldn’t really answer. But he couldn’t run with one leg while the other held the walkie, so… Tennis ball skidded down the stairs. Then being the clumsy ball he is, he tripped. “WHOAOAOAOA!” He screamed. He bounced into the room Golf ball was. He managed to stop himself from bouncing anymore though.
Golf ball sighed. “What took you so long?” She scolded. “This is URGENT.” Tennis ball quickly fixed his posture. “Sorry Golfie! I came here as fast as I could!” He apologized. “Right. Anyway, follow me, Tennis ball.” Tennis ball obeyed, not wanting to upset her any further. “Golf ball, what’s so urgent?” He asked, speeding up his pace to walk next to her. Golf ball stopped.
“Ok Tennis ball, before I show you this, I need to tell you something.” Tennis ball felt strangely excited, since she was being so secretive. “Did you find an alien species??” He asked eagerly. Golf ball shook her head. “No. Much worse.” She muttered. Tennis ball felt just a bit disappointed, but he also felt nervous as well as curious. “What is it then?” He asked cautiously.
“Do you remember BFDIA 25?” She asked. The question seemed to come out of nowhere. “BFDIA 25? Yeah. Firey stole the farm chunk, and we executed Leafy!” Tennis ball replied, confused at the question. “Why?”
“Well, guess what.” She walked into the next room. Tennis ball followed. “Look.” She pointed her leg at something Tennis ball thought he would never see again. “No way!” He gasped.
But unmistakably in front of his eyes, in a wooden cage stood Evil Leafy. “Killing Leafy should’ve gotten rid of Evil Leafy!” Tennis ball spluttered, very shocked. Golf ball nodded. “Exactly. That means that Leafy is still alive.”
“How?! Did someone recover her?” Tennis ball queried Golf ball, not taking his eyes off Evil Leafy. “Unlikely.” She replied. “She’s unrecoverable.” Tennis ball was bewildered. “But that means… that she was never killed…”
“Leafy is still alive,” she spat. “So Book didn’t kill her.”
Tennis ball thought. “Book slammed the hammer on her though.” He mumbled. “Unless… what if she didn’t.” Golf ball stared at Tennis ball. “Go on.”
Tennis ball sighed. “I’m not sure. We all saw Leafy die.”
Golf ball sighed. “Book must’ve faked killing her.” Tennis ball was uncomfortable about the way this conversation was heading. “So, she must be in cahoots with Leafy!” Golf ball declared. “But why?” Tennis ball muttered, half to himself. Golf ball scoffed. “I’m not sure.”
Tennis ball flinched as Evil Leafy teleported around in the wooden cage. “What are we going to do about it?” He asked. Golf ball paced. “We must find Leafy, and kill her!” Tennis ball sighed. He’d been ok with the idea of the Death Penalty before, but now after lots of time thinking it over, he wasn’t so sure now. “How about we just find her now and keep her calm, to avoid letting Evil Leafy escape.”
Golf ball locked her eyes onto Tennis ball’s. “Are you trying to protect her as well?” She asked suspiciously. Tennis ball shook his head. “If she thinks we’re going to kill her, she’ll make it difficult to capture her. She might even deploy Evil Leafy to defend herself.” Golf ball nodded, taking in the information. “Brilliant, TB.”
Tennis ball glanced at Evil Leafy again. “What if she does escape,” he said, motioning to her. Golf ball followed his gaze. “Highly unlikely, but it would be disastrous, as there are many gadgets in here.” Tennis ball shifted his feet. “Perhaps we should have someone watch her then.” He suggested. Golf ball nodded. “Yes, but who? They’re all pretty unreliable.”
“I don’t know.” Tennis ball muttered. Golf ball thought. “We’ll decide later. For Evil Leafy to escape, someone would have to either summon her, or mess with the cage. For now, we should find Book.” She finally decided. Tennis ball was confused. “Why Book?“ he asked. Golf ball sighed again and turned around. “Because, if she really is in cahoots with Leafy, she would most probably know where she is.”
Tennis ball nodded, seeing his friend’s logic. “Yes. But that could take too long,” he pointed out. “What if Leafy summons Evil Leafy in that amount of time?”
“What are you suggesting, trusty TB?” She asked. “We should split up. You go for Book, and I’ll get Leafy. She’d probably trust me more than you.” Tennis ball replied. Golf ball scoffed. “You know that’s not logical, TB. You’d most likely go easy on her, or maybe even let her go.” Tennis ball felt his cheeks flush in a mixture of embarrassment/anger. “Wh- that’s not true!” Golf ball wasn’t listening. “Sorry Tennis ball, you should go find Book. FreeSmart is more likely to let you in rather than some bossy bot bozo brain who they think is a disgusting monster.”
Tennis ball sighed. “Awwwww…okay…” He started walking up the stairs to the way out. Golf ball followed close behind. Tennis ball still felt uneasy, though. He was worried about Evil Leafy escaping. He looked behind him at Golf ball. She had the Leafy detector connected to the Distance tracker. “Leafy is 2763 kilometers away.” She announced. “Okay.” Tennis ball deadpanned.
Once they reached the outside Tennis ball began walking towards FreeSmart’s headquarters. “Hey Golfie,” he said before she went off her own way too. She looked over. “What if FreeSmart doesn’t let me in? It’s pretty late…” Golf ball thought this over. “I didn’t consider that. If asking to see Book doesn’t work, just sneak in.”
“Yes, that sounds logical.” Tennis ball agreed. “Anything else?” Golf ball asked. Tennis ball shook his head with a small smile. “Good. Meet back at the lab when you’re done.” She said before rushing off in the direction the Leafy detector instructed her to. Tennis ball proceeded to walk towards the headquarters.
As he walked through the deserted streets of Yoyle city, he heard Firey screaming. He deserved the punishment. He stole Dream Island. Walking through Yoyle city at night was unnerving. Rustles came from everywhere, and Tennis ball worried that a metal Leafy might jump out at him any second.
The screaming became louder, and Tennis ball knew he was close. Wait. Was that footsteps? Tennis ball whipped around, his heart practically jumping out of his chest and blue skidooing to Goiky. “Hello?” He called out. The footsteps stopped. “Is anyone there?” He tried again. It can’t be Leafy, Tennis ball told himself. Golf ball would be led here by the detector if she was.
Tennis ball started walking again, but he was wary. His pace quickened. Firey’s screams were directly above him now as he arrived at the tower. “Hi Firey!” He called, but he didn’t expect the flame to answer back.
Rearing back on one leg, he used the other to knock on the door, or rather, kick. As he thudded, it swung open and he stumbled forward. There was Pencil, looking annoyed and sleepy. “Non-FreeSmart members aren’t allowed.” She muttered at him. Then she started closing the door to go back inside. “Wait!” Tennis ball yelled before she left. Pencil stopped and looked at him skeptically. “Yes?”
”I need to speak to Book.” He said. Pencil reopened the door and crossed her arms. “Why? What do you want with her?” Tennis ball sighed. “It’s urgent, and I need Book to hear what I have to say.”
“Why can’t you tell me?” Pencil scoffed. “I’m not letting you in, or leaving you alone with Book.” Tennis ball gritted his teeth at Pencil’s stubbornness. “Fine. We think Leafy is still alive.” Pencil gasped. “What??” Then she regathered herself. “What does this have to do with Book?“ she asked, but the look in her eyes betrayed the fact that she didn’t need an answer. “You know why,” Tennis ball continued. “Now let me speak to Book.” Pencil hesitated at the thought of letting a dastardly non-alliance member inside, but hate of Leafy won over. He was surprised that she agreed. Tennis ball thought he would have to sneak in like Golf ball suggested.
How was she faring with Leafy? Tennis ball wondered.
“Fine,” she grumbled, opening the door to let Tennis ball in. “She’s upstairs. Sleeping, if you haven’t woken her up with all your ruckus yet.” Tennis ball nodded and began to walk up, very aware on Pencil’s penetrating gaze on him from behind. “Don’t try anything.” She warned. “I won’t.” Tennis ball said impatiently. As they reached the top of the never ending stairs, Tennis ball noted that Firey wasn’t screaming anymore, but pushed the thought off. It must be soundproof up here.
“Book?” Pencil called. “Wake up, Tennis ball needs to speak to you.” Match got up from where she was sleeping and muttered something. “What?” Pencil asked her. “Like, rude. You guys, like, woke me up!” Pencil sighed. “Sorry Match. You know where Book is?” Match looked confused. “Book? No. I haven’t seen her.” Pencil was shocked. “WHAT?! Bubble! Do you know where Book is?” Unlike Match, Bubble was awake and was standing next to Ice Cube. “Uh…noio. I haven’t sorry.” She said. Ice cube shook her head no as well. They got the same response from a (originally) sleeping Ruby.
Book was missing. Just great.