What if... (hfjONE-shots)

...Tomato Wasn't Eliminated.

Heya Edgelings!

...Tomato wasn't eliminated.

Alright, this chapter is going to be a bit shorter than my usual, and you'll see why when you read my note at the end! See you there!

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Airy turned his attention away from the tiny green planet floating beside his desk with a sigh. Time to pick someone to eliminate...

Tomato hadn't done very well in the challenge... maybe bringing a baby was a mistake... he wasn't really trying...

But Backpack had a broken leg... still... he could probably compete better than Tomato...

Alright then, time to pull up Tomato's original location...

Airy muted the microphone connected to the Plane, and started typing a series of commands into his computer. He pulled up a window showing Tomato's room. Airy stared at it for a minute...

This first elimination made him think about what he would do after everyone was sent back. He dreaded the thought of being completely alone again... maybe he'd do another season of ONE...

He scrolled through the window, checking the different rooms of Tomato's house. But something was off... In the living room, several objects were crowded around an unconscious red tomato woman. Tomato's mom...

Airy watched with furrowed brows as they lifted her limp form up onto a stretcher and wheeled her out of the house. They rolled the stretcher into an ambulance and it screeched off, the siren wailing.

Hmmm...

Airy knew from watching Tomato that apparently babies need someone to take care of them... Scenty had been holding him a lot, and he started making unpleasant noises whenever she put him down for too long...

But if he sent Tomato back right now... and his mom wasn't home...

...then who would take care of him?

Airy stared blankly at the now empty house on his computer screen, trying to process this. Should he just send Backpack back? No... he already decided Tomato was eliminated...

...what should he do?

Airy turned and looked back at the tiny objects on his Plane, smiling down at them as they talked to each other. Watching them made him... happy...

He continued pondering the situation.

Perhaps...

Perhaps... Airy could bring Tomato here... and take care of him until his mom came back...

Airy blinked, and slowly nodded... yeah... that should work...

He clicked out of the current window on his computer, and typed in a new series of code.

Click.

Airy spun around, wobbling slightly on the old stool, and stared down at the very confused baby now sitting on the floor of the cave. Tomato looked up at the bronze lantern sitting in front of him, and giggled babyishly.

"...hiiiiii..." Airy said, not sure what to do anymore. He hadn't really thought this through...

"Airy!?!" he heard his name being called from the glowing planet beside him.

Airy spun around and unmuted his mic, "...yeah..."

"Where did Tomato go!!!" Soda Bottle yelled up at him.

"Oh, right... he was eliminated." Airy droned in his bland voice. "Between him and Backpack, Tomato got the most votes...so I sent him............ back..." Airy looked back and his eyes widened.

Tomato wasn't there anymore.

"How many voters-" Moldy began, but Airy cut her off.

"Uhhhh... I'll be right back..." Airy began glancing around nervously, trying to find Tomato.

He heard gurgling from beneath the desk.

He ducked beneath and saw Tomato crawling on the stone floor, reaching for the computer cords.

He quickly pulled Tomato away before he could grab them. "...Don't... do that..." he told the baby as he picked him up and set him on his lap.

Tomato sat still for a second, staring up at Airy, then he saw all the shiny things sitting on the desk. He wiggled around and started smacking his little hands at random all over the keyboard, banging on it like a toy piano.

Airy gasped and stood up, pulling Tomato away. He nervously eyed the Plane, and sighed in relief when he saw that nothing had happened, grateful that Tomato hadn't entered any of the random code he had typed.

Airy held the baby up at his eye level and stared at him... maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

Tomato giggled, swinging his little legs in the air, wrapping one of his little hands around Airy's wrist.

And something about it made Airy smile.

Hmm... he needed a place to put Tomato while he hosted ONE...

He carried Tomato out of the cave, supporting him on his hip, looking around for something he could use. His eyes landed on the stack of firewood he had stacked up against his hut. That should work...

He scooped up a couple logs with his free arm, and carried them back inside the cave. He set them down beside the desk, then walked out to get more. He couldn't carry much at a time while he was holding Tomato, who laughed every time Airy bent down, tipping him over for a second.

Finally, he got all the logs he needed to the cave. He walked over to the cave entrance and yanked down a couple vines. He walked back to his pile of logs, and sat on the floor, setting Tomato down beside him.

He started tying the logs together rope ladder-style, after they were all connected, he set them all up on their ends in a circular shape, creating a fence-like pen on the floor. He set rocks around the base to make sure they stayed in place.

Airy eyed his makeshift playpen in satisfaction. Yes... this should suffice...

He reached over to scoop Tomato up, but his hands landed on air. He quickly turned, worried that Tomato was in the computer cords again. Thankfully, he was just crawling over to pick up some small rocks on the cave floor.

Airy walked over and picked him up, setting him in the makeshift pen. Airy nodded as the baby continued banging his little rocks on the floor, and sat back down on his stool.

"I'm back..." Airy announced as he turned the mic back on.

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Hmmm...

I have a thought. Since this storyline was a viewer suggestion to begin with...

What if... I let you guys pick what happens next?!

Comment what you want to see happen next, and I will write the comment that inspires me the most into the next part of this ONE-shot!

Edgy out!