Paintbrush woke up slowly, letting out a groan as they regained their senses, and then their pain. Their neck hurt... a lot, along with their arms... Had they really used that much effort in the last battle? That was... days ago, in the... combat... room..?
No, that wasn't right. Everything in their mind suddenly clicked back into place as they sat up with a start, opening their eyes wide to the room they were in now, startling, and waking up a once sleeping Fan.
"Aah! Y-you're awake!" Fan adjusted his visor, trying to keep himself from falling out of his chair, as Paintbrush looked at them with a hard to place emotion in their eyes.
"What... happened..." Paintbrush shook their head, placing one hand lightly around their own neck, and wincing, as they looked at Fan now.
Fan could only return a look of uncertainty, and sadness, not quite knowing how to explain.
"I- Uh... Where's um... Lightbulb?"
Fan's eyes darted to the ground nervously. That wasn't a good sign.
"Fan. Where is she." They repeated, their nerves quickly returning.
"I-- She's... she's in the room with Testtube, t-the one with all the medical stuff..."
Paintbrush's heart dropped. Lightbulb had been shattered. Ignoring their growing dizziness at that thought, they quickly shoved up and out of the seat they woke up in, rushing out of the room before Fan could say anything, Paintbrush quickly slamming open the door of the medical room to see--
To see Lightbulb... And Testtube, sat on the other side of the room working on something-- or at least, she had been, before the shock of the door getting slammed open disrupted her.
"Paintbrush... I-- I did the best I could... She's uh... Alive, but... uh... She's been completely unresponsive." Testtube frowned, returning to her work as Paintbrush carefully stepped over, looking at the life support machine, the shock and uncertainty of it all rushing back as their eyes traced the many cracks that now lined the entire left side of Lightbulb's bulb, noticing that one of her eyes was just... no longer visible anymore. A pang of sadness hit them like a brick. If they had just been stronger. This is just like what happened to Fan. Another friend that they weren't strong enough, or good enough to defend-- to save... But this was feeling so much worse. Lightbulb was... so much more than just a friend to them. She was a beacon of joy and hope. Someone who drove them to be better... Somebody they loved more than anything else. They watched her body slowly rise, and fall, with each breath she took, before it all became too much. They couldn't stand seeing her like that. Paintbrush left the room without another word, returning to the room they had woken up in to give Fan company.
An awkward, tense silence filled the air between them, neither of them being able to speak under the severity of the situation, both of their negative emotions only festering and growing under these conditions-- before Fan had started crying again, breaking the silence with sniffles as he tried to keep his crying quiet, but... that wasn't working.
"I-I'm so sorry," Fan sobbed out, hugging himself for any sort of comfort in this dire situation.
"No, don't be sorry, this-- this isn't your fault." Paintbrush got up from their chair to carefully move over to the one next to Fan, pulling him into a hug that he returned as he cried into their shoulder.
"It-- it is though-- If... If I just... was smart enough to decline that job, if I had just waited in the base for you two to return-- none of this would've happened. It's all my fault," He sobbed, and Paintbrush... Couldn't argue with that... But they weren't angry. They weren't going to put the blame on Fan, and they weren't going to let him blame himself. They carefully put their hands on Fan's shoulders, pushing him away a bit so they could make eye-contact, him unable to return it as his eyes darted to the side, tears still rolling down his face.
"You messed up, but this isn't your fault, Fan. N- nobody was expecting Taco to do something like that..." They spoke slowly, trying to keep their emotions in check. They had to stay strong... As hard as that was, and how much the guilt and sorrow gnawed at their brain, they had to stay strong.
"And hey-- she's... Testtube said she's... Still alive, right? As-- as long as she... just... holds on," They trailed off, the words starting to get caught in their throat as the tears threatened to fall from their eyes.
They couldn't handle staying strong anymore, their sorrow overwhelming them as they pulled Fan back into the hug, the both of them now crying... And maybe this was them being strong. Maybe this was them finally showing a vulnerability that wasn't just pure anger.
~
It was the next morning. Knife and Mic resided upstairs, trying to plan out what to do if, and when the machine where to go off, and what they were going to do to stop Cobs in that inevitability. Fan and Paintbrush had fallen asleep in the same room they sat in, the both of them having already been tired, and the sorrow that the room emitted only made sleeping the easier option anyways.
And finally, Testtube was very busy, not having slept at all, only running on her drive to get the machine done, despite it being... increasingly difficult to put back together, she kept at it... Though with every bit of progress she seemed to make, it seemed she was running into new problems. Truly, the process of creating and fixing a recovery machine was... Not easy in the slightest, and it being something she had never attempted before was not making any of it better... Along with her not having slept in two days. All of it was just a huge recipe for disaster if she were to do any little thing wrong...
But she had to keep going. She couldn't bear the possibility of losing her friend. She couldn't let everyone else down. So she kept working... At least, until an unfamiliar sound was heard from the other side of the room, her carefully looking up to see Lightbulb... sitting up? Oh shit-- She dropped her tools suddenly, and rushed over to the other side of the room to Lightbulb, putting one hand on Lightbulb's shoulder, and her other in Lightbulb's hand, trying to grasp her attention... She seemed to jump a little at the touch, but she just kept looking forward though, her visible eye no longer gray... but completely white.
"Lightbulb??? Can you hear me?" Testtube asked, not meaning to raise her voice.
"I-- Testy, wh... where are you?" Lightbulb squinted, moving her free hand to her head as she shut her eye, and winced.
"I'm-- I'm right next to you, I'm here, please try to stay awake this time,"
"I-- I can't... I can't see," Lightbulb opened her eye again, looking around frantically.
"Wh-- please, where are you-- where's... where's painty, where's paintbrush," Her voice grew panicked, and frantic as she pulled her hand away from Testtube's shoving her away without quite meaning too as she tried to move back, but with the chair having risen back up as she did, she was met with the cushion, this only panicking her more as she couldn't recognize what her back was up against.
"I-- I'll go get them, please try to stay awake, and for your own safety, do not move," Testtube said, quickly running out of the room to find them.
Paintbrush woke up with a start once again, this time being shaken awake by-- Testtube, who held a look of urgency on her face as she yelled out their name.
"Wh--huh..." Their voice was still a bit groggy.
"Come with me, now, she's asking for you--" Testtube pulled Paintbrush up, and out of their chair, not quite giving them a choice as she pulled them out into the hallway, and then the medical room, where Lightbulb sat in the chair, frightened and hugging herself tight. Paintbrush quickly pulled their arm away from Testtube's grasp as they made their way to Lightbulb.
"Is-- who's there!?" She looked so... miserable, like this.
"I'm here, I'm here, Lightbulb, it's me, Paintbrush." They reached out carefully, expecting her to look at them, but she still just looked forward.
"She... says she can't see anything," Testtube said carefully, stepping away from the two to give space, as she nervously fiddled with her hands.
"Paintbrush-- I... I can't see you, I can't see anything," She tightened the hug she held around herself as the tears rolled down her face.
"I'm right here, I promise. I'm right by your side," Paintbrush stepped over to where Testtube's chair had been, sliding it over directly next to the medical chair as they sat.
"Everything's going to be okay, I promise." Paintbrush carefully took her hand, her jolting her gaze to where she felt her hand, but seeming to calm down a bit as the hand in hers felt familiar, and safe.
It was quiet for a few moments before Lightbulb finally broke the silence.
"I-- I bet I look like a mess," Lightbulb mustered out a small chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.
"I mean, you've certainly looked better-- but don't take that as me calling you weird looking either... This is just... new,"
"Y-yeah... wh... what about my eye..s?"
"Erhm... It's completely white now," Paintbrush sighed, looking into her eyes.
"Ehehe... I tricked you into staring into my eyes, didn't I?" She grinned, as Paintbrush looked away quickly, growing flustered.
"I- no!" They stuttered out, as Lightbulb giggled.
"I... I'm glad you're... awake," Paintbrush sighed out after a moment of comfortable silence.
"I'm glad you are too-- I'm sure fighting Taco couldn't have been uh... fun," She frowned, and then continued;
"Speaking of which she better not have left you with another mark! I don't fight but if she did anything to you I'll--"
"No, no... She didn't hurt me," Paintbrush moved their free hand to their neck, still feeling the slight horrid sensation of being held there roughly by MePhoneX, but they said nothing about that. They didn't need to mention it. Testtube noticed this, but kept her mouth shut, as she went back to the machine.
"Say, Testtube, what are you even working on?" Paintbrush looked over to her, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm repairing Lightbulb's recovery center, in case she d--" she paused for a moment, finding better words to use "In case something like this happens again," She gave a nervous thumbs up to Paintbrush, who gave her a disapproving look at her choice of words, but didn't comment about it as they kept their focus on Lightbulb now, who... certainly seemed to just be happier in general at them being around, and... They could say the same.
"So... I'll be able to uh... Be normal again? Once this thing works?" Lightbulb grinned.
"Well, it's... kinda hard to actually test out a recovery center once it's up and running, but... that is the intended end goal."
"Will I uh... I will be normal again... right? It's not just going to revert me to my last living state, right?" There was a bit of worry in her voice now.
"I... Don't really know how this stuff fully works... Unfortunately, we're going to have to find that out the hard way..."
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Paintbrush said, trying to give some reassurance, as they lightly squeezed her hand, Lightbulb returning the squeeze soon after. The comfortable silence filled the room again, it only being broken by the sound of Testtube working, and once in a while, her swearing in frustration... The more her annoyance increased, Paintbrush turned their gaze to her.
"You... look terrible," They let out, by accident.
"Gee, thanks." Testtube said, her voice deadpan as she kept working.
"You were talking to her, right?" Lightbulb whispered.
"Uh, yeah, I'm talking to Testtube now, don't worry about it," Paintbrush reassured in a whisper, then raised their voice back to a normal volume;
"Testtube, how long has it been since you've slept?"
"Two days," She said casually, as if it weren't a problem. She paused her work as she could feel Paintbrush's eyes on them. She looked up and sighed.
"The sooner I get this done, the sooner I'll go to sleep."
"No, you should go to sleep now. The machine will still be there when you wake up--"
"Yeah, but will SHE be?" Testtube barked out in response, not having meant to actually say that as she clamped a hand over her mouth.
"I--" Paintbrush's gaze fell to the floor.
"I'm sorry-- I didn't..."
"It's all fine! I'll still be here," Lightbulb smiled again, this one seeming to falter a bit, but kept up long enough for Testtube to sigh, and resign.
"Fine. Yes. I'll go get some sleep... Lightbulb, try to stay awake, or if you can't... Just uh... don't... y'know," Testtube stood up, walking to the door as she spoke.
"Of course! I'm totally great at staying awake. Nothing bad--"
"DON'T... Finish that sentence." Testtube yelled, cutting Lightbulb off, as she winced at the noise.
"Okay-- okay, I get it..." Lightbulb took up a sheepish tone.
Testtube just had to hope that stopping wasn't going to be a huge mistake, but... she had faith in her friends to keep going. So she went up to her room, and promptly passed out...
--
It was around 4pm in the afternoon when Testtube woke up with a start, the entire building feeling like it was shaking, and the lit lamp in her room flickering as she quickly rolled off her bed, and then under it for extra protection, just in case something happened... Though, just as the shaking had started, it had ended. Testtube would've just passed this off as an earthquake, if her mind wasn't telling her otherwise. That had definitely not been an earthquake. She quickly left her room, looking around for damage as she looked to Knife and Mic who had been sitting at the kitchen island working out a plan before it had hit, Knife having fallen out of his chair during it all.
"Are you two alright?"
"Y-yeah, what... was that?" Mic still gripped the kitchen island tightly, a bit-- no pun intended, shaken up.
"Do you think... It was the machine?" Knife said reluctantly, getting himself up to his feet.
"I... No, I'm... sure it wasn't," Mic said, unsure, as Testtube moved past the both of them, quickly rushing downstairs to check on the other three-- running into Fan who had the same idea of checking up on Lightbulb, the both of them then running to the room together, not saying a word as Testtube swung open the door. Lightbulb looked frightened, and was thankfully still awake, while Paintbrush kept reassuring her that it was alright, and that it had stopped.
"Oh good, she's awake, h-hey Lightbulb!" Fan said, a huge sense of relief in his voice. But this wasn't the time to catch up.
"Fan, Paintbrush, I need you two to go up with Knife and Mic and see what happened... Lightbulb I'll stay here with you, since I still need to finish the recovery center-- and well, you wouldn't be able to help even if you wanted to... and... all of you, be careful. If... you do go off to stop Cobs today... ALL OF YOU better come back here safe, and in one piece." Testtube held back her fears, wanting to stay strong.
Paintbrush would nod, and stand up, slowly separating their hand from Lightbulb, as she gave a sad gaze in the slight direction she thought Paintbrush had been sitting in, as they ran out of the room.
"Fan, be careful."
"I will. I promise." He gave a small, reassuring smile, before going out to join Paintbrush and the other two upstairs... Leaving Lightbulb and Testtube alone, the silence being just a little less comforting to Lightbulb now, as Testtube quickly got back to work.
"Testtube..?" Lightbulb asked out, only really being able to tell she was still there by the loud clattering of her focused working.
"Yeah?"
"What... if it doesn't work..? What if when I shatter to test it, I just... don't come back-- or if it works, but it just puts me back exactly like this... A... A broken mess..." Lightbulb sniffled, trying not to let these thoughts get the better of her.
"Well, if that first thing happens, I'll just keep re-adjusting the machine every way I can until you pop back out, and if that second option happens, well, we're all here for you. I'm sure living a blind life wont be... Fun, and certainly a challenge, but you'll have us... and especially Paintbrush, to be there every step you take... heh... quite literally," She cracked herself up a bit at that unintentional wording, this reassurance seemingly enough to make Lightbulb feel a bit better.
"That's... good to know. Thank you... for all of this, Testtube. It... really means a lot to me..." Lightbulb mustered out, unable to control the quiet tears now falling down her face... But these weren't sad tears.
Not this time.
~
As Fan sprinted up the stairs to meet the others, his phone buzzed... and kept buzzing, which was weird, because it certainly wasn't a phone call, but... several emergency notifications. Halfway up the stairs, he paused to read it all, being put in shock by what he was seeing.
"Are you-- Fan? What's wrong?" Paintbrush peaked their head back through the doorway, pausing as they saw Fan's visor illuminated in the low light of his phone, his fear filled eyes being completely visible.
"What's... happening?" Paintbrush almost didn't want to ask, as Fan slowly, and shakily brought himself up the rest of the stairs, turning his phone to face Paintbrush.
ARTICLE HEADER; 'MEEPLE HEADQUARTERS TAKES FLIGHT?'
The tremor wasn't an earthquake. It was the entire top few floors of Meeple headquarters being lifted into the sky, now floating on what looked like a cloud-like surface. Paintbrush almost couldn't believe what they were seeing... But that certainly had to mean the machine had been set off, or that Cobs was going to do it soon.
//
3000 WORDS ..... hey guys. I ran a poll on twitter the other day, the options being 1. or 2, the second choice ending up winning. I'm just going to say this part could've been a lot more sad // angst fueled if 1 had won that poll .