Soul Seeker (An II AU)

Chapter 4: It might seem crazy what I am 'bout to say

Test Tube made her way over to her friends, who seemed to be having some sort of picnic out in the field. Lightbulb was the first to notice her approach, followed by Fan, and finally Paintbrush. Lightbulb was waving ecstatically and even got up to tackle hug her, Fan was also happy to see her judging by the way he called out to her as soon as he saw her. Paintbrush, the groups neutral, looked over and smiled.

How lovely it was to be supported like this.

"Testy! Sit! You're just in time!" Lightbulb ushered her - she nearly fell from being pushed - to a spot on their flower checkered blanket. Test Tube took her seat in between Fan and Lightbulb, looking over at the light nervously. Lightbulb once again seemed to understand perfectly as she cleared her throat.

Now or never.

"Paintbrush, Fan....Testy and I have something to say..." Lightbulb twiddled her thumbs nervously, Test Tube rubbing her arm. Fan and Paintbrush glanced at each other before looking back at the two girls.

What could they possibly need to say that would make them that nervous?

"So....We....may or may not have found out where Taco is.." Lightbulb started again. Fan was perplexed, and Paintbrush seemed just about ready to burst into flames...which they did. And boy was the heat turning up in both a literal and metaphorical sense.

"What?! Did she hurt either of you?! I swear if that brat dared to put hands then she better learn how to catch some-" "Paintbrush calm down." Paintbrush hand been examining Lightbulbs for any signs of any injury. Anything they could find to use against the ex-contestant. Test Tube placed a hand on their shoulder, trying to get them to settle down.

"It's a bit more complicated than we thought, and it's gonna take a lot of explaining. You might wanna take a seat." Test Tube explained. Lightbulb was hugged Paintbrush in an effort to keep them calm, which worked, for the most part.  They was calmer than before, but she knew that their was still inferno happening in them.

And so they explained, explained the late night walk in the forest, explained how they found her, explained her situation, all deals exchanged, and how she was now no longer present in their universe.

"That....huh..." Paintbrush was dumbfounded. Then again, it must have been a lot for them to take in. Fan, who hasn't said anything, on the other hand seemed to be deep in thought.

"And you are sure that this is ok, Test Tube? Sure that the ex-contestant, who tricked everyone back in the airing of season 1, won't cause a rift in the space time continuum? Sure that she- HMM!-" Test Tube covered Fans mouth before he fell down the rabbit hole.

"I'm sure. Plus I think it might be for the best." Test Tube watched for any change in expression from the red object. Trying to gauge how he felt about the situation.

"There- There is no way. How would anyone else be ok with this?-" "They don't have to." Fan snapped his head over to Paintbrush, who currently had this...strange look on their face. Fan didn't know whether they was angry or something but the expression on their face definitely wasn't pleasant.

"I-I'm sorry?-" It was now Fan's turn to be dumbfounded, like Paintbrush had said that drinking a glass of  OJ - not their friend - after brushing one's teeth was not that bad. (Who does that btw-)

"Listen, if she needs the time to find herself, needs the time to remember whatever happened to her that was apparently so bad that she forgot her entire past and subconsciously carried out those actions, if she really feels that insanely bad about what she did, then let her find herself. And when she comes back, we'll get to the bottom of this." Paintbrush had balled their hands to a fist, trembling, and Lightbulb knew what was going on. She knew that it was resonating within them, knew that they were resonating with Taco's feelings of being loss and not knowing who she was, who they were.

Fan blinked at them absentmindedly before exhaling.

"You know what? Fine. If everyone here is ok with it then...I guess I am too" He smiled, although it showed how hesitant he was about the idea. Test Tube, who hadn't realized she was holding her breath, finally sighed in relief. She thought that Fan would be mad at her for it. Thankfully he seemed alright with the idea for the most part. Not that anyone could do anything about it. 

"Now that you two got that out of the way, I heard MePhone talking about another island that's a bit towards the north from here." Paintbrush broke the ice before it got too dense. Lightbulb, Test Tube, and Fan turned towards them.

What is MePhone up to now? Are they gonna continue the finals on another island?

"There is no way he is taking the final four to another place, right?

Then again, it was MePhone they were talking about. Everyone was pretty sure the man was unhinged. They continued on with their conversation, talking about more recent events going on and planning more outings so they could get out some more.

Back at the hotel

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Mic, Pickle, and Soap, who was only their because she was with Mic, were all in Knife's room. They had received a text from him earlier to meet in his room. that there was something extremely important that they needed to see.

"What do you think he has to show us?" Mic turned to Pickle while she was rubbing Soap's back. Poor girl had a rough night of sleep and wasn't too happy at the moment. Pickle shrugged, grumbling that he had no idea but hoped that Knife would get here quicker so that he could go back to playing games.

The room shook when the door flung open, Knife panting on the other side of the door. Looks like he ran to get here.

"Guys....Look what I found."