"Tennis Ball," Grassy cried out towards the adult. "Oh what is it Grassy?" He stood up and quickly answered, turning to face the child. "Grassy feels like his spot on this team isn't re..." The boy trailed off. "Re... re..."
"Do you mean respect?" Basketball popped in to ask. He quickly answered by throwing his arms up as he screamed out, "Grassy needs respect!"
"Oh okay Grassy." He glanced to the side, his smile dropping as he sighed out, "I'll see what I can do..." He turned around to look for Golf Ball, narrowing his eyes upon not spotting her. "Hey uh... where's GB?"
"I killed her," Robot Flower answered from besides him. "I know Robot Flower," Tennis Ball replied and turned to face her. "But shouldn't she have been recovered by now?"
"The recovery centres were destroyed," Pillow chimed in. "Oh right." Tennis Ball glanced away with a sigh. "That explains why it's been quiet." He turned back to face Pillow. "So how do we recover her?"
"Hey Four!" Tennis Ball cried out, walking towards the alien with Pillow accompanying him. "Four! Can you re-?" He bounced back upon hitting the host.
Four extended his arms and cried out, "Let's do Cake at Stake!"
-
"But Four!" Leafy cried out. "We're bringing back Balloony & Book & Bubble & Fries & Golf Ball & Loser & Lollipop & Taco & Saw back first..." She wheezed out, dropping her arms to her sides. "...right, Four?"
He screeched.
"Get into your teams people!" He turned away and yelled out to everyone.
Suddenly the tile from underneath every member of [BLEH] raised into a platform, sending all of the teammates propelling up and getting a startled cry from all of them. Stapy winched at crushing his platform upon landing.
"[BLEH], you lost last time. So you do the Cake at Stake," Four explained to them. "We received 9,983 votes. The-"
"Now hold on a second!" Two cried out, stepping forwards. They put their arms upwards as they turned to face the- "Readers! Those are not the numbers of votes we actually received. Obviously. The author just feels the strong need to stick to canon as much as it can! So clow is using the canon, total votes from BFB 2! This will not affect the actual votes however!" Two out their arms down. "The author is simply using the percentages of the actual vote to do." They narrowed their eyes and sighed out, "Math." They quickly sprung back into the tone from before. "In order to accurately split the votes so he just doesn't reuse the numbers from BFB 2! Your votes still counted and the author just wants to make that clear before any confusion can arise. Thank you for your support so far! The author greatly appreciates it."
"Are you done?" X asked. "Oh yeah!" Two cheerfully answered. "Go on."
They cried out as the tile underneath them propelled and sent them flying.
"The person who receives the most votes will be eliminated from BFB," Four explained. He pulled out a tray from nowhere, and- "I have seven." Things dropped from the sky and neatly landed onto the tray. "Slices of cake."
"Wh... What are we supposed to do with them?" Cake anxiously asked, eyeing said slices of cake with the same amount of nervousness. "No questions please!" X cried out with their arms thrown out.
Four continued on as if he wasn't interrupted, "If I give you cake, you get to stay. But if not, no more game for you!" He taunted.
He placed the tray of cakes on top of one sitting X. "Oh."
"Now it's time to show the votes." Four pulled out two differently coloured crayons matching the doodles of their objects on what looks to be a D.I.Y. whiteboard. "Clock and Foldy got zero votes. Impressive." He threw the crayons to the side.
X grabbed one slice of cake from above him while Two grabbed the other. "Here you go Foldy," X cried out as he threw it to her. "Aw yeah. First one safe," Foldy happily said as she caught it with her feet. Cake made a discomforted noise.
"Congratulations little fella!" Two cried out as they sent the slice of cake towards Clock with their power. "Awesome!" Clock happily cried out as he caught it.
He looked to his left as Cake made more distressed noises. Upon quickly realising how this must be for him, he looked away and pushed the cake off his platform. "Eeh. Didn't want it anyways."
"Dora, Ice Cube, Cake and Marker all received 829 votes each! So they're safe!" Four announced, drawing a line above each of their respective doodles to roughly represent the number.
Cake yelped out and dodged the cake that was thrown at him while Marker caught it with his hands and sniffed it. "...It smells clean," He muttered aloud and leaned away from it. Dora didn't react at all when the cake hit her face while Ice Cube cried out a happy, "Yeah!" as she caught her cake.
"Wait," Eggy spoke out. She nervously and slowly began to frown as the gears in her mind clicked. "But that means..." "That's right!" Four cried out. "It's down to Eggy and Stapy."
"Well it has to be Stapy!" Foldy cried out. "Without him, we wouldn't have even gotten the basket." Eggy scoffed and shot a glare her way. "You know Foldy. None of us would be up for elimination if you had just passed the staple onto Marker earlier."
"Hey come on!" Foldy frowned. "Give me some slack. Stapy might've hit it." She paused. "Eventually." At Eggy's eye roll, she glared at her and defensively cried out, "Hey maybe if Clock's hands were faster, we wouldn't be here!"
"Hey hey now, cut it out you two," Two cut in. "You all tried your best and in the end, your team made a grievous error." "An error?" Clock cried out in offence, narrowing his eyes at them.
"Yeah, losing!" They laughed out and clapped hands with Four. "Nice one," He complimented. "Thanks."
Stapy sighed as he lowered himself, catching Marker's attention. "Stapy, is everything alright?" He asked his friend, getting him to peak up. "Come on Marker... we all know who's getting out."
"If you're thinking Eggy, then you're wrong actually!" X cried out, launching the cake into Stapy's surprised face with the tray, muffling his reaction.
With that, Four cried out, "Stapy is safe with 2,496 votes."
"Wait..." Cake frowned as he and Clock turned to look at a nervous Eggy.
"That's right!" Two cried out. "Eggy is the first to be eliminated from ASA-BFB with 4,171 votes!" Four finished. "That's the most ever!" X cried out, hopping back onto his feet. "Oooh yeah!"
Eggy sighed out and shut her eyes. "Well... there's no use in dwelling with it now." She glanced towards Stapy, and trying her best to keep any annoyance out of her voice as she told him, "Congrats Stapy." He frowned and sunk lower as she turned away from him to face her friends.
"Sigh." She stared at a frowning Cake and Clock. "Well since I'm going away, could you do me a favour and tell Teardrop-?"
Everyone jumped back as Eggy was sucked up into Four's... head with a similar, less painful screech.
Four blinked.
"Congrats Stapy!" Foldy happily cried out, running up to her friends. "You're safe!"
He slowly blinked and glanced downwards to the ground. "Yeah," He dejectedly agreed. Marker frowned at his friend's unusual behaviour. "Is everything okay?"
"I just." He breathed in and lifted himself, turning to face his friends. "I feel bad." "Aww come on Stapy." Foldy nudged his side lightly. "Don't be like that, look at it like this." She offered him a small, friendly smile. "It was you or her." Stapy leaned back and snapped towards her with wide eyes. "And ultimately, it was out of your control. And well..." She slid closer towards a still stunned Stapy. "It's for the better of the team, so come on!" She faced him with her usual, bright smile as she encouraged, "So brighten up!"
"I... uh." He stared at his friend's polite smile. He dropped and sighed out, "Alright." He leaned back and smiled at her dismally. Foldy smiled wider and lightly kicked him. "Aw yeah! That's the spirit Stapy!"
Liy huffed out from where she was watching.
"I wonder what she wanted us to tell Teardrop," Cake said aloud to Clock and himself. Clock dropped and sighed out, "Well, we'll never know." He turned to face his friend. "So let's just focus on the game right? Since Eggy probably would've want us to." He glanced towards Four safely from a distance. "Like recovering the dead contestants."
"Yeah exactly!" Leafy popped in. "It's been three weeks now! Balloony and everyone else should've been brought back ages ago Four!" She cried out, waving her arms rapidly at him. "Yeah Four!" Pencil joined in. "Like, bring back Loser." "Like yeah!" Match agreed, appearing besides them. "It's been like, weeks now Four! You gotta bring him back."
"This isn't just about him!" Fanny yelled at them. "Oh come on Fanny," Match sighed out disappointingly. Pencil scoffed and glared to the side. "He like, literally saved your life."
"I know and I am extremely grateful to him for doing so!" She screamed at her teammates. "But that is not the point!" She scoffed and glared at them. "The point is that everyone who died in the previous challenge is still dead!" She pointed out loudly. "Yeah Fanny's right!" Bell joined in. "You have to do something Four!"
Soon, everyone quickly joined in and began yelling at the blue number to bring back their dead teammates.
He quickly grew annoyed and answered, "Fine. But I will only recover one person."
"Oh yes please! Thank you Four!" Leafy cried out, throwing her arms up. "Can you please recover Ball-?" "Hey!" Pencil shoved herself into her face angrily. "Since when did you get to-?"
Grassy popped up between them and drily cried out, "Book!"
"Okay!" Four happily extended his arm and Book soon came out of his palm.
Immediately everyone began screaming about recovering their teammates again.
"Fine!" Four angrily yelled out. "Your eight dead friends are now in eight of those jawbreakers! But most of them are empty!" He pointed towards a bunch of huge, object sized jawbreakers that appeared out of nowhere. "Find any person in a jawbreaker to make your team win! The last team to find a contestant will be punished!"
"So to clarify, we have to save someone from one of the jawbreakers for our team to be safe?" Lighting asked. Eraser leaned onto Blocky with his elbow and threw a hand up. "Seems so."
Four threw his arm up and happily cried out, "Go!"
"How are we supposed to do this challenge when we're three teammates down?" Bell cried out. "Well we just lick the jawbreaker and hope for the best," 8-Ball monotonously answered, then went back to licking his jawbreaker. Bell sighed out and joined his side. "Yeah I know, but with just five mouth, we're at a disadvantage."
"I have an idea," Yellow Face announced, getting everyone but 8-Ball to turn towards him.
"Please don't eat anyone else," Firey Jr pled, getting Yellow Face to flipped his smile upside down. Gaty sat up and added in shortly, "As long as it's not that, let's hear it out." Yellow Face smiled.
Clock sighed out and turned to face his teammates. "Well you heard Four guys, we better get to work!" "How... exactly are we supposed to do this?" Stapy asked.
Everyone quietened down and glanced towards Dora when she began shaking. They all watched in stunned silence as she floated up and flew towards a random jawbreaker. They all jumped when she suddenly slammed her head onto the jawbreaker.
Fries gasped out as he pulled himself out of the jawbreaker. "Finally!"
"That was... easier than I thought." Clock slowly blinked. "Huh."
"Team [BLEH] is safe!"
"Hey Fries!" Marker called out towards the other as he draped his arms over the jawbreaker. "Oh." His expression dropped as a sigh escaped his mouth. "Hey Marker." He pulled himself up and dropped down to the ground. As he dusted himself off, he grumbled out, "Guess I can't complain too much."
"Fries!" A voice suddenly cried out. "You're back!" He looked over, and it wasn't like he was tensed or anything, but he did inexplicably feel better upon seeing his teammate. "Hey-"
"Liy." He was shoved to the sides by Foldy, who had her eyes narrowed down at said object. "What are you doing here?"
Liy glared at her. She dropped her hands from her body and scoffed out. "Well Foldy." She walked up towards her and reached around the paper object. "I'm just here to collect my teammate that your." She narrowed her eyes at her as she grabbed Fries' arm. "Stap-pee," She dragged it out accusingly. "Killed."
"Ugh." Foldy leaned away from her, glaring at her arm harshly. "Take your stupid teammate back. We don't want him anyways."
Liy scoffed out and rolled her eyes. She paused upon noticing a visibly guilty Stapy besides Foldy. She shook herself and sighed out, "Come on Fries." She released him and turned around. "Let's get out of here."
He frowned at her behaviour and soon joined her side as they began heading off to their team. "So uh, what was that?" He asked after walking out of the earshot of Team [BLEH]. "What was what?" Liy dodged, looking to him. "You have to be more specific Fries." He shot her an annoyed glare, but sighed out and elaborated as he pointed back to [BLEH]. "That whole thing with Foldy? And Stapy? Never seen you guys interact before until then."
"Oh." Liy turned away with an annoyed scowl. "Her." She sighed out and crossed her arms, shaking her face around. "We knew each other before we all collectively met you guys." Fries raised an eyebrow at that.
"And well," She sighed out tiredly. "Let's just say we're not friends anymore for a reason."
"I'll take your words for it," Fries accepted with a shrug, choosing to let her avoidance of Stapy slid.
"Fries! You're back!" Puffball cried out and flew towards them. "Hey Puffball," He greeted back easily, catching her when she launched herself at him easily. "Liy where were you?" Remote asked, appearing besides them. "We couldn't find you!"
"I'm pretty sure I told someone that I was bringing Fries back," She answered quickly, ignoring the look Fries shot at her for that. Unlike him however, Remote easily took the answer. "Oh okay." She dropped her arms to her sides. "Who was it you told?"
"Oh. I can't remember." Liy intently stared at Remote. A breathe of relief subtly escaped her mouth upon hearing Remote's response. "Oh okay."
She raised her arms. "Now come on! It's almost time!" She declared and turned around, running off to join the rest of her team. "What... does she mean by that?" Fries asked to, mainly Puffball, but Liy still turned towards them.
"Oh! Follow me!" Puffball cried out and flew upwards. Fries shot a confused look towards Liy, who just shrugged in response. His shoulders slumped down as a sigh escaped him, he turned away and began following after Puffball.
And after a quick glance back, Liy turned away and began following after her teammates.
"Oh there you guys are," Tree called out when they met the rest of their team, turning towards them. "Liy where were you?" "Doesn't matter," Fries huffed out. He raised an eyebrow at Tree and lifted his hand up as he asked, "Now... what exactly is it time for?"
Tree paused at his question. Then, slowly, a small smirk overtook his face and he leaned towards Fries. He wrapped an arm around his shoulder and dramatically threw his arm out towards five jawbreakers lined up in a row as he answered, "Why don't you take a look yourself?"
He released Fries before he could react and stepped forwards. "Alright Blackhole." He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled out, "Do the thing!"
At his cry, Blackhole flew up and shot through the top of the jawbreakers collected.
"This one's empty!" Puffball cried out. "This one too," Pie informed them. "Oh damn. This one's jam-packed with air," Remote announced. "This one's empty too!" Bottle cried out. Fries raised a skeptic eyebrow at her and walked up to her, reaching into the jawbreaker.
He flinched upon feeling something cut him, jumping back and turning to face Bottle. He cried out in bafflement, "What do you mean?" He leaned upwards and took a peak into the jawbreaker. "Saw's in there!" He cried out as said object crawled out of the jawbreaker with a big frown.
"Yeah, Saw's in there," Bottle corrected herself in a cry.
Four cried out, "Death P.A.C.T. is safe!"
"What happened?" Saw asked. "Saw!" Gaty yelled out as she and Bell came to a stop besides them. "You're back!" Bell moved up towards them. "We missed you! It's so great to have you back!"
"Well it's great to be back but uh..." Saw rubbed their body. "How did I die...?" They trailed off as they reached to the top. "W- Wait where's my handle?" They confusedly asked, looking upwards to where their handle were.
"Oh yeah that." Gaty blinked. "Ooooh... well you see." Bell nervously lowered herself to be on eye level with Saw. She grinned nervously as she explained, "When Two helped lift the basket off your dead body, your handle was..." She hissed out and looked away. "Destroyed."
"Yeah sorry about that," Gaty apologised. "We thought that recovering you would bring back your handle. But uh-" "Oh no it's fine," Saw quickly reassured, sending the two of her teammates with a smile. "I don't really mind anyways. It's kinda nice actually."
"Oh that's a relief," Bell sighed out and leaned back from them. "Well come on," Gaty extended her leg towards them. "Yellow Face has a plan, and it's about to be acted on." "Oh okay!" Saw cheerfully agreed and threw herself off. Bell caught her with her mouth before she could facepalm into the ground. "Let's go!"
"Well... Now what?" Fries asked. Liy gasped out, catching her teammates' attention as she announced, "I have an idea."
"Well go on," Puffball encouraged, flying closer towards her. "Okay so you know how Pen lost his cap last chapter?"
"So we're just gonna lick it?" Lighting asked, hovering over the jawbreaker his team was gathered around. "Of course Lighting," Pin answered, pausing in her licking to face the flying object. "What else can we do?"
"I got an idea," Blocky spoke up, getting an annoyed glare from Pin. "Oh yeah? Well what is it?"
He grinned maliciously and grabbed her, getting a surprise cry out of her. "Blocky-? Put me down!" Pin demanded as he jumped upwards and slammed her onto the jawbreaker, getting everyone previously licking to quiet down as they focused their attention onto them.
Blocky moved her down, cracking open more of the jawbreaker as he did so and peaked into the rift he created with narrowed eyes. "Looks empty."
"Blocky!" Pin cried out and kicked him away from her, hitting the ground. "Ow." Blocky sat up and glared at her. "What gives?"
"What gives? What gives?" She glared at him and threw her arms out. "You can't just pick me up and use me without warning!" She scoffed and crossed her arms, glaring at the jawbreaker she was just used on. "And how is this any more efficient?"
"Uhhhh... No offence Pin," Needle spoke up. "But last time, if Pen hadn't spoken up, we would've lost," She pointed out nervously at Pin's shocked stare on her. Coiny butted in and put out his arms between them. "Now now guys, come on. [BLEH]'s basket completely missed X! They wouldn't lost either way."
"Would they?" Blocky asked skeptically as he leaned into their space. "'Cause from what I've heard. Lighting couldn't exactly carry the basket on his own." "He's right," Lighting dejectedly agreed with a sigh. "Even if it made me dizzy, I never would've gotten the basket to X on my own without Needle."
"And Pen," Eraser reminded. "No way she could've launch the basket without him." Blocky pointed out, "And you guys would've continue doing your." He shoved his finger into Pin's chest under her face. "Inefficient plan if he hadn't pointed it out."
"Well it doesn't matter!" Pin yelled into his face then leaned back, glaring at him poisonously. "He did absolutely nothing to help! The other team helped us get our basket and it was Needle who thought of and executed the plan!" She huffed out, "How did you contribute to our team's safety? You didn't! Exactly."
"Well if you hadn't zapped me!" Blocky yelled back. "I might've." "Oh yeah?" Pin leaned into his space and challenged, "How so?"
"Well I'm glad you asked," Blocky smugly asked as he shoved her back. He grabbed Lightning and pulled him towards himself. "I would've just suggested getting Lighting to bring the basket to X." Blocky let go of Lighting, who just flew away from him. "And you know? Since it was in the air." He stopped to stare sternly at the original, three W.O.A.H. Bunch members for a moment.
Then he continued, "It wouldn't had been as heavy."
"Okay guys how about this?" Coiny cut in between them. "Now both of you guys have great ideas." He paused to glare at Blocky's disbelieving huff. "So..." He tore his eyes off him. "How about we compromise?"
He picked up Needle, who just blinked in surprise. "One half of us will lick the jawbreaker, and the other will break them Blocky's way. How does that sound?" Pin stared at her friend sternly, the intensity of it causing everyone watching to quiet down.
She shut her eyes and sighed out, "Alright, fine." She snapped her eyes open and shot a glare at Blocky. "But if we lose, it's your fault!"
He glared at her in disbelief, but huffed out and let it slid, "Whatever." He picked her up and turned towards another jawbreaker. "Not like we're gonna lose anyways," He confidently declared as he looked off to another team. "Especially up against them," He sneered at Team Beep.
"Careful now," Needle piped up. She barely reacted as Coiny shoved her into the jawbreaker. "Last time someone said that, they lost." "Well I can't blame them," Pin sighed out. "Because really, imagine losing against them?" She added in, "Also. They only won because of Balloony."
She flinched and glared at Blocky as he slammed her into the jawbreaker. She sighed out and left her limps to dangle. "Even if his entire existence is extremely forgettable, he is more proactive than everyone else on Beep."
Coiny snorted. "Ain't that right?"
"Uhh, guys?" Bomby called out nervously. "Bomby!" Pin yelled out and shot a glare at him. "What are you doing? Go lick that jawbreaker!" She ordered, pointing towards a jawbreaker Eraser and Lighting were already working on.
"But uh-" "Just do it bember," Needle nervously hissed out, causing the object to freeze up at the reminder.
Taking one more look at Pin's glare, he immediately grew more anxious and backed up. "O- Okay nevermind!" He cried out anxiously and dashed off to join Eraser and Lighting.
"Alright team, gather around!" Leafy yelled out, extending her arms out to grab everyone before they could wander away. "We have to get Balloony out alright? Of course we have to be safe, so we can't be too picky... But let's try to aim for our own okay?!"
"I agree. I miss Balloony," Cloudy answered immediately. "Yeah!" Nickel yelled out as everybody else cried out in agreement. "But where's Roboty though?" Nickel added in afterwards. Woody answered them with his usual babble. Leafy blinked. "Oh well... That's fine."
She released them and put her hands onto herself. "Now come on guys. I got some jobs in mind for you, but only if you want it of course."
"Jobs?" Nickel cried out as David yelled out, "Aw seriously?" Cloudy flew towards her in intrigue and asked, "What kind of jobs?"
"So I'm still in charge right?" Pillow asked. "I mean." Tennis Ball turned to her. "I guess."
"Wait hold on, since when were you in charge?" Book asked and stepped forwards. "Last I check-" "Since Golf Ball died!" Robot Flower screeched out. Book blinked and quickly quietened down. "Oh okay." "I'm fine with it Book. Don't worry," Tennis Ball reassured.
"Anyways." Pillow snapped her fingers. "We all saw how Dora broke [BLEH]'s jawbreaker right?" "Yeah it sure was fascinating!" Book answered with clear awe in her voice. "Well I have a plan," Pillow announced. Tennis Ball gasped out as realisation dawned onto him, "Oh I see where you're going with this!" Pillow smiled and turned towards- "Robot Flower."
"Huh?!" Said object cried out at being suddenly addressed.
8 Ball stared at the jawbreaker in front of him intensely.
"Hey guys we got Saw," Gaty announced upon reaching her teammates. "Did we miss Yellow Face's plan?"
Suddenly 8 Ball hopped upwards and took a large bite out of the jawbreaker. "Gaaah!" Taco yelled out as she popped out of said jawbreaker. "What the heck man?" She cried out and turned towards 8 Ball, who had a proud smile on his face. "Oh I guess not," Gaty said to herself.
"Free Food is safe!" Four announced.
"Taco you're back!" Saw cried out, hopping forwards and extending their arms out to pick her up. They pulled her towards them and hugged her tightly. "I missed you!" Taco chuckled and patted their back carefully. "Well it's certainly nice to be back." She lightly leaned away from Saw and grinned confusedly. "But uh, what happened?"
Saw blinked. "I guess we died." "Oh okay," Taco accepted immediately. "Well is Lollipop back?"
"We gotta wait for another team to get her out," Gaty answered. "Oh." Taco blinked and crossed her arms, glaring off into space. "Well that sucks." "Yeah," Gaty quickly agreed.
Every living Not Losers surrounded a jawbreaker, all licking it loudly and peacefully together. Firey gasped out and leaned back, throwing his arms out. "Guys wait I think see someone."
"Oh my god is it like, Loser?" Match asked and leaned towards him. "No," Flower answered as she watched the contestant come out of their jawbreaker. "Yay!" Said object cried out upon doing so. Fanny finished, "It's Bubble."
"Oh." Match blinked. Four appeared besides them out of nowhere and declared, "Not Losers are safe!"
"Hey Bubbles!" Ruby cried out happily, waving towards her friend rapidly. "It's so nice to see you again." "Oh hey Ruby," Bubble greeted back politely. "Wait a minute." She paused and watched as Ruby narrowed her eyes in thought. "Weren't we in an alliance?"
"Ruby that doesn't matter," Pencil cut in sternly. "She left us." She huffed at Ruby's frown, paying no mind to it as she turned to face a visibly nervous Bubble, "You're out now. So leave." She narrowed her eyes into a glare. "Or we'll pop you."
"Pencil!" Fanny screamed into her face, glaring into her eyes. "We are not going to kill her! For no reason!" Pencil scoffed and pushed Fanny away from her. "Okay whatever. Just like, get her traitorous face out of my sight."
Fanny huffed out and turned towards Bubble. Toning her voice down, she offered, "Come on, I'll lead you to your team."
"Hey there Beepers! I see you're doing pretty well," Two yelled out as they slid over to Team Beep. Leafy looked away from her clipboard and towards them. "Oh hey Two!" She greeted back cheerily and flashed a smile at them. "What are you doing here?"
"Just supervising," They answered with just as must energy as she did. They turned away and glanced towards her teammates. "Oh well feel free to," Leafy laughed out and turned away, missing Two blinking then frowning. "It's not like we're doing any wrong. We all got jobs, and we're all-"
"Where's Roboty?" Two asked and turned towards her. She paused at their question. Quickly she grew nervous and turned towards them with a wide grin. "Oh well, he's off somewhere on his own." She clutched her clipboard towards herself. "That's fine, isn't it?"
"I mean." Two glanced away. "Four wouldn't like it-" "But what if we all didn't mind it!" Leafy cut them off, snapping them back to face her. She clutched her clipboard tighter and wiped her frown off with a wide smile. "Roboty told us where he was going! So we can find him whenever we need to! So it's fine right?" She lied through her teeth, hoping her confidence alone would be enough to sway them.
"Oh well..." Two leaned away awkwardly, putting a hand up between them. Leafy leaned closer towards them the longer they took. They nervously looked back and smiled at her. "I... guess it is."
They stepped back and brought their hands together in front of them. "As long as you get Roboty here soon of course. I don't think Four would tolerate it if he was gone for the entire challenge."
"Of course! Thank you for understanding Two!" She cried out, waving at them rapidly. "Goodbye! We completely understand and will be looking for him soon! Thank you and goodbye!"
She sighed out and dropped her arm.
Leafy took in a deep breath and shut her eyes after Two left her sight. "Roots," She hissed out and clenched her clipboard tightly.
Her arms dropped to her sides as she sighed out tiredly. Within a second, she snapped a smile back onto herself and turned herself around.
"Woody!" She cried out, getting a distanced "Huh?" from said object, who stopped his licking to turn towards her. "I got a new job for you!"
"You're missing a teammate." Blocky and Coiny jumped and turned around to find X. "Wait what?" Blocky lowered Pin down. "But everyone's here!" Coiny yelled out and settled Needle back onto her feet.
"No," X quickly disagreed. "No they're not."
"What are you talking about?" Blocky asked, dropping Pin to the ground, who sat up and glared at him. She stood up and dusted herself. "For once, I agree," She huffed out and put her hands onto herself. "After all, Blocky and Coiny are using me and Needle to break our jawbreaker."
"Yeah," Eraser agreed and slid over. "And me, Lighting and Bomby are licking our jawbreaker-" He paused and dropped his arm down to his sides as he realised. "Oh."
"Wait." Pin turned around to face her teammates. She blinked and her mouth dropped open into a wide 'O'. "What- What is this?" She exclaimed and gestured towards her teammates. "Where's Pen?!"
"That's what I was trying to say earlier!" Bomby yelled out as he slid over. "Oh, sorry Bomby," Needle apologised. "I didn't realise..." "Well it doesn't matter now," Pin scoffed out and dropped her arms. "Where is he anyways?" She asked and put her arms up.
"Didn't he lose his cap?" Lighting pointed out nervously, floating towards his team. "Maybe he's just searching for it?" "He was pretty upset about losing it," Eraser agreed. Coiny glanced away and sighed out, "We really should've kept a closer eye on him."
"Wait wait wait," Blocky cut in. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "Since when did this happen?"
"Uh." Needle rubbed her arm nervously and looked away, getting Blocky to glance to her with slowly narrowing eyes. "Sorry."
"Well it doesn't really matter though right?" Coiny nervously asked and leaned towards X. "'Cause he's gone for a reason after all! Right?" He flashed a wide smile towards them. "It's been weeks though," Bomby pointed out nervously, getting a glare from Pin, an annoyed look from Blocky and a frustrated one from everyone else. "Yeah but it's been weeks," Pin hissed out.
"Four won't like this," X answered, immediately bringing everyone to silence.
"I'll-" "Bomby!" Pin called out, interrupting Eraser as she turned to face him. "Go look for Pen!"
"Wha- Why?" Bomby cried out and frowned at her. "Everyone else has to break our jawbreakers!" She scoffed and glanced towards their stunned teammate. "And Eraser has an... appetite." She sighed out and looked back towards him. "Plus, me and Needle still have to be used to break our jawbreakers. You're the only one left to search for him."
"But aren't Eraser and Blocky his friends?" Lighting confusedly pointed out and leaned towards her. "Wouldn't they know where he'd be?"
"I don't think it matters as long as Bomby's fine with it," Coiny cut in, lightly nudging Bomby. "Isn't that right?" He gritted his teeth and glanced towards him with a nervous glare. "Bember."
He froze up and glanced towards Pin glaring at him.
He sighed out and nodded his head. "Al- Alright." He stepped back and turned around. "I'll- I'll try my best!"
Immediately, he dashed off before anyone can react, much to the bafflement of Blocky, Eraser and Lighting.
Pin sighed out while Coiny picked up Needle. "Well, back to it team," Coiny announced, attempting to put some cheer into his voice. "Well you heard him," Pin huffed out as she walked up towards Blocky, who shared a confused look with Eraser. "Get to work!" She ordered angrily, throwing her arms out to them.
"Alright Robot Flower, you got it?" Pillow asked as Tv returned to his usual blank screen. "Uh. Yeah," She answered just as Book and Grassy rolled a jawbreaker towards their team, with Tennis Ball following closely. "Okay Pillow," Tennis Ball called out. "We got our jawbreaker."
"Thanks." She glanced back to Robot Flower and gave her a smile. "Now go on, it's not that hard."
"Be careful Robot Flower!" Basketball cried out, and Book quickly added in, "Try not to damage yourself while you're at it!" "Yeah that'd be bad," Tennis Ball agreed. "And you got to be put enough force into it to break the jawbreaker," Pillow reminded. "While you're at it."
"Alright!" Robot Flower nervously shouted back. She shook and came forwards to the jawbreaker, shaking more as she charged up.
She screeched out as she lifted herself and slammed herself down against the jawbreaker. "Aaah!" Golf Ball yelled out immediately, popping out from the recently broken jawbreaker. "Stop!"
"Golf Ball is out!" Robot Flower announced out anxiously. "A Better Name Than That is safe!"
"Thank you for getting me out," Golf Ball told her teammate once she had fully gotten out of the jawbreaker. "Golf Ball we need to talk," Tv informed her, using various clips of the previous seasons. "Grassy says that you haven't been treating him with respect," Book finished simply.
"Oh come on. Grassy? Really?" Golf Ball nervously laughed out. "Yeah," Basketball confirmed. "We've elected Pillow as the leader now."
"What-? You can't be serious!" Golf Ball screamed out. She snapped towards her friend. "Tennis Ball do something!" "I tried but they wouldn't listen to me!" He lied.
Book frowned and glanced towards Pillow confusedly, staring at her almost empty smile with questions floating around her pages.
Compared to the Not Losers, Team Ever were licking their jawbreakers much more... aggressively. All except Donut of course, who was the only one to not possess a tongue.
He glanced over when he noticed two figures coming towards them.
"Oh Bubble!" He cried out upon realising who it was. "You're back!" He ran up towards the pair of objects. "Welcome back! It's great to have you again."
"Thanks." Bubble smiled. "It's nice to be back." "Well," Fanny huffed out and looked away. "I'll be leaving now, since you're back with your team."
"Why not just stay?" Bubble nervously offered. "Your team is safe and... it doesn't really look so stable." Fanny sighed out and looked back to her with a tired expression. "It is," She immediately agreed. She looked away as she continued, "But it's my team. So I have to deal with it."
"Guys wait!" Bracelety cried out, catching the three of them and her teammates' attention. "I think I'm seeing..." She gasped out and jumped back, dropping her sign. "Oh my god Loser!"
He jumped out of the jawbreaker and landed onto his feet effortlessly. Four flew over and announced, "Team Ever is safe! Leaving Beep and Bunch the only ones still not safe!"
Leafy froze up and Pin widened her eyes.
"Wow, I'm actually face to face with the real Loser!" Gelatin cried out in amazement, leaning towards him. "Oh my god Loser hi!" Bracelety yelled out, waving at him energetically as she shoved herself into his space. "Uh." Loser leaned back from them. He jumped back and snapped to the side when Naily hopped forwards and hit the ground. "You nailed that!"
"Thanks?" Loser took a few more steps away from them. "I appreciate it..."
"Loser!" Fanny yelled out and appeared besides him, startling him. She leaned forwards and yelled into his face, "Thank you for saving my life! I am extremely grateful towards you and appreciate your selfless gesture!" She scoffed out and turned around. "Now come on, we have to go back to our team."
"Oh alright." Loser quickly began following after her, ignoring the cries about and addressed to him that soon followed after his departure.
"What's... with all the hype behind Loser?" Spongy asked Barf Bag, who just shrugged. "I mean, he's cool I guess?"
"Oh." They blinked upon finding an object lying on the ground. "Sorry! I didn't realise anyone was here."
A sigh escaped the object as he turned away from them. "It's fine... I don't really mind." He curled in on himself and muttered to himself bitterly, "Just ignore me."
Saw frowned and walked over towards him. They glanced around the woods they were surrounded by, noticeably far away from everyone else, and glanced back to them. Hesitantly, they sat down besides him. "Is everything alright Pen?"
"No!" Pen yelled out and sat up quickly. "No how can anything be alright? My team almost lost the last challenge, I lost my cap!" He groaned out and glared at the ground, putting his hands up towards his forehead. "I still get killer headaches from that." He scoffed out angrily and threw his arms out. "I still can't find my cap anywhere despite searching everywhere!" He glared harder at his hands as they balled up into fists. "And no one cares!" He threw his arms up and groaned out, falling back onto the ground. "I just..." He dropped his arms to the ground besides him. "I just want my cap back I guess..."
He sighed out and shut his eyes, flopping away from his company. "I feel so cold and... naked and exposed and just..." He groaned and curled in on himself. "It's wrong. It feels wrong, I feel wrong and- and I just want my cap back man..."
He opened his eyes and stared tiredly at the grass blades before him. "I also get lightheaded sometimes... But that's probably because... I've been... stupid."
"You... really feel like that?" Saw asked, frowning at the object in front of them. "Well... Yeah." He sat up slowly and turned forwards. "It's just... been apart of me since... forever." He dropped his arms to his sides and sighed out, "And now that it's gone, I feel... so... gross."
"Oh." Saw looked away. "That sucks. I don't really feel like that."
Pen paused and looked over, gasping out upon actually taking in Saw. "Oh my ink! I didn't realise..." He muttered pitifully, frowning at them. "It's alright," They quickly reassured, looking towards him with a raised hand. "I don't mind it. It's actually quite nice."
Pen blinked and leaned forwards, wrapping his arms around his knees. "Really?" He frowned. "I... don't really get it."
"That's alright. We're all different after all," Saw hummed out out, bringing a hand up towards their mouth. "But uh, to put it lightly." They shrugged. "Yeah." They dropped their hand down and glanced upwards towards the sky. "I never really like it actually. My handle, that is," They clarified. "Always felt... wrong, that it never fitted me." They shrugged and flopped backwards onto the ground. "I don't know. It's kinda hard to put into words. It's not as simple as 'I don't like my handle' but... it's also kinda like that?"
They sighed out and brought their hand up to their mouth. "I guess... I felt like I was held back by it."
They sat up and brought their hand higher up. "Like. I have to be one thing or another because of my handle or something... like, I don't know." They shrugged. "A boy?" Saw wrapped their arms around their knees. "I never... really thought much about it since I thought I couldn't change it." She smiled and threw her arms up. "But like- Now I can!"
With sparkles in her eyes, Saw turned to face Pen with raised arms. "I could get a new handle- I could just, stay like this." They giggled and threw her arms around, looking away from Pen. "It's just- It's like I have so many options now!" She turned back to Pen with a carefree smile. "It's freeing. I can do whatever and well." She paused and glanced away, humming out, "Huh. I guess I can figure out myself now. Neat."
"I never really thought about it that way..." Saw paused and glanced to her side, remembering why she was rambling upon seeing Pen with his eyes narrowed in thought. "Well. Uh, feel free to take your time?" They frowned and glanced away, resting their hand underneath their mouth. "Man I'm bad at advice but uh," She muttered awkwardly and glanced back.
Lightly tapping onto Pen's shoulder to catch his attention, she flashed him a friendly smile upon facing them. "Take this as an opportunity to explore yourself maybe? I mean... if it helps." Saw chuckled and their smile turned awkward. "We could do it together? I, uh, haven't figure myself out quite yet either."
"That's..." Pen paused and glanced away. Hesitantly, he asked, "Do you... mean all that?" "Of course!" Saw immediately answered, leaning closer towards him. "I'm bad at stuff like this but I never say anything I don't mean."
Pen hummed out and glanced down to his knees. After a moment of thought, a small smile graced their lips. "Thanks... I really needed that."
"It's no problem really!" Saw immediately answered. "Glad I could help in the first place! I'm usually really bad at that..." Pen snorted and glanced over to them. "Well... I think you're good."
Saw laughed out, "Thanks." They paused and turned to face them. "Oh and just to make sure... You don't need your cap to continue living right? 'Cause my handle isn't all that necessary for me to and all that stuff ya know...?" Pen nervously grinned after a moment, answering with a shrug, "Uh, I hope?"
"Oh dear..." Saw muttered. "Eh." Pen shrugged and glanced forwards. "I'll deal with it when it happens." "You do you I guess."
After a moment of silence between them, Saw gasped out and turned towards Pen. "Wait Pen, why are you here? Your team still isn't safe." "Wait what?!" They cried out upon hearing that and stood up, snapping towards Saw with wide eyes. "There's a challenge!?"
"Oh boy, how long have you been here..." Saw wondered aloud, muttering towards themselves. "But uh yeah, pretty much. Actually I think it's just your team and Beep left."
"Oh my gosh I need to get back to Bunch!" Pen cried out. "Talk to you later Saw! I gotta help my team!"
"Okay, see you later Pen!" Saw cried back, waving at them as they ran off. "Hope you're safe!"
"Oh my gosh Pen!" Bomby cried out upon spotting him dashing out of the woods. "I've been searching for you everywhere!" He screamed out as he ran up towards his teammate. He noticed Pen pausing briefly, before hesitantly asking, "Just... you?"
Bomby blinked and confusedly answered, "Uh, yeah? Everyone else had to do the challenge."
"Oh." Pen frowned and glanced away. "Okay..." "Is... everything-?" "Let's just go back to our team," Pen interrupted him, looking back towards Bomby with a raised arm. "I didn't even know there was a challenge... so... I need some filling in."
"Oh... okay," Bomby hesitantly agreed after a moment of thought. He turned around and led the way, with Pen soon following him close behind. "Okay so you know how some objects died in the last challenge...?"
"What?!" Pin cried out. She brought her arms up and angled herself upwards, causing Blocky to stumble back at her sudden movement. "How are we and Beep the only ones left?!"
"Bad luck mostly," Eraser answered. "Also, it's taking a while to lick to the core." "Yeah," Lighting confirmed with a tired sigh, floating down towards their still unbroken jawbreaker. "It tastes good but." He brought his hands up towards his tongue. "I don't really like sweets."
"Well suck it up," Pin scoffed out, dropping her arms. "We gotta complete this or get put up for elimination." "I have an idea," Coiny spoke up. "What if we speed everything up by, uh." He glanced away and lowered his arm. "Having... Eraser and Lighting lick the holes we crack open...? And Bomby and Pen when he comes back with him."
"Gross," Eraser laughed out. "Let's do it." Coiny sighed out and grumbled underneath his breath in annoyance.
"Hey guys we're back!" Bomby announced upon returning to his team with Pen besides. "Oh hey bro," Eraser immediately greeted with a wave. "Sorry guys!" Pen immediately apologised. "I didn't realise-!"
"Where were you?!" Pin snapped at him. He opened his mouth to answer, only to have Pin cut him off with a sigh, "Actually- Nevermind." She pointed towards the jawbreaker Eraser and Lighting were around. "Go lick that jawbreaker together! Maybe it's faster with four tongues!"
"What about Coiny's-?" Blocky was cut off by said object. "You hear her guys, come on!" He jumped upwards and slammed Needle down into the jawbreaker.
"Woody!" Leafy slid over towards her friend, startling him. "Ahh!" He flopped forwards, but she picked him up before he could hit the ground and put him back onto his feet. "No pressure, but we really gotta find Roboty now- or have you back on a jawbreaker."
He cried out nervously and raised his hand. He babbled on and gestured his arms around as he did so. "Oh." Leafy frowned and her shoulders slumped down. "That's... That's disappointing. B- But!" She jumped and brought her arms up. "C- Can you call for him to come back? Or at least tell anyone else? Like Cloudy? Or- David even?"
"Aahh..." Woody glanced away. He nodded and flashed her a nervous smile, babbling more and raising his arms along with it. He was picked up in a hug by Leafy. "Thank you!" She settled him back onto his feet gently. "I'll be helping out our team now! We need all hands on deck! See you later Woody!" With that, she rushed off, leaving him to search for Roboty on his own.
Pen blinked. "Someone's... inside this?" "Yeah," Eraser confirmed. "It's wild man."
"Guys we gotta break our jawbreaker!" Bomby reminded them in a cry. "Or else we'll be put up for elimination!" "Alright! Alright, chill," Eraser huffed out. "Not like we weren't gonna do it anyways."
"Wait Rocky, you don't have a job?" Nickel cried out, stopping in his licking upon noticing the small child walking around.
"Oh stem!" Leafy cried out, appearing besides him and picking him up. "It must've slipped my mind!" She frowned and glanced around her shattered team, narrowing her eyes in thought as she try to- She gasped out, "I got it!"
She dashed upwards towards the jawbreaker Nickel and David are working on, she rocked Rocky back gently then lightly rocked him at the jawbreaker. He puked out onto the jawbreaker, the acidity of it causing it to sink.
"That'd be your job Rocky!" She declared, settling him back onto the ground. "Go help Cloudy, he has a bunch of jawbreakers collected and ready to be vomited on. Go! It's your calling!"
The little boy waddled away to Cloudy at her order. Leafy hummed out and leaned back, bringing a hand underneath her mouth. "Hmm. I probably should help him. Cloudy can't do anything to break the jawbreakers he's collecting." She turned around and waved at Nickel and David. "Good luck you two! Remember your jobs!" With that, she turned away and rushed off.
David shook aggressively. "No!" He cried out and jaggedly went away. Nickel turned towards the puked on jawbreaker, he frowned and sighed out animatedly, "Aw, man."
"How do we keep missing?!" Pin cried out in frustration. "It's not even a small object like Loser! It's just Balloony and Lollipop left!" "Shouldn't we need more careful than?" Needle asked as Coiny tore through a jawbreaker with her. "What if we pop Balloony and it doesn't count?"
"Than that's just blatantly unfair!" Pin answered. "Well it's pretty unfair that everyone that died is only recovered for this challenge," Coiny pointed out as he ripped Needle out of the jawbreaker. "And even then, it's still unfair. 'Cause like, someone's going to be left behind right? Unless we're allowed to continue breaking jawbreakers after the challenge is over," He muttered out loud.
"Eh. I could care less." Blocky shrugged. "All of our teammates are alive." "Blocky!" Pin gasped out and threw her arms out, causing him to stumble at her unexpected movements. "I can't believe you. That is extremely heartless of you."
"Oh so you sending Lighting on me isn't heartless?" Blocky snapped. "I did it only because you distracted me," She huffed out. Blocky shot her an offended look. "I- You- Excuse me?"
"Come on guys!" Coiny sighed out. "Cut it out. We have to beat the challenge."
He glanced towards the other jawbreakers laying around. "How about we spilt up? Since we both have an easy way to break jawbreakers, it should be safe to split up and more efficient," He suggested, looking back towards them. "Unlike licking the jawbreakers, ya know?"
"Sounds good," Pin sighed out. Blocky narrowed his eyes. "I still don't get why we're not doing Coiny's plan." "But we are," Pin told him. He scoffed out and turned away. "You know that's not what I mean but whatever."
Pin narrowed her eyes at him. But let it slide as he ran out towards another jawbreaker, raising her upwards as he jumped and-
"Uh Leafy." She turned around to find Nickel nervously grinding his teeth and standing on shaky legs. "Yes Nickel? Is everything alright?" She asked and slid over towards him. She frowned and lowered her hand. "Shouldn't you be... working on your jawbreaker with David?"
"That's the thing!" He yelled out and flipped around. "David's going off somewhere! And I, uh." He slumped downwards and slowly turned to her. "Only realised that once I finished the... jawbreaker."
"What?" She cried out and looked around rapidly, frowning upon realising she couldn't find David anywhere. "Did- Did you see where he was going?" She snapped back to Nickel and asked. He hunched over with a huge frown and answered, "I'm sorry! I was focused on doing my job that I didn't think to look until I was done!"
"It's okay!" She paused and took a deep breath in, clenching her fists at her voice crack. "Just- I know!" She gasped out and slid to the side, throwing her arm out to gesture towards Rocky hopping up and puking onto the jawbreakers thrice his size and Cloudy coming over with a jawbreaker. "Help them out! I'll go look for David-!"
"What about Woody?" Cloudy asked, floating down towards the two after dropping off the jawbreaker. "He's been missing since Two came over."
"Wait, he didn't tell you?" Leafy anxiously asked, snapping towards Cloudy. "No? I was just collecting," He answered confusedly. He frowned and leaned closer towards her. "Was... Was he suppose to?"
"Oh golly jeez!" Nickel cried out, hopping up into the air. "Not only is Roboty somewhere we don't know! But we're also missing two other teammates!" He landed back onto the ground and folded his knees towards each other. "What are we going to do?!"
"Eh?" Saw blinked and glanced over at the noise. "Oh, hi Woody!" They cried out and waved at him energetically. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your team?"
"Uh..." Woody glanced downwards and back upwards, freezing up once he realised exactly what object he had stumbled upon. "Uh, is everything alright?" She asked upon noticing him freezing up, bringing her hand up underneath her mouth. "You, uh, look more nervous than you usually do."
"Waaaaaaaaa-!" He screamed out and turned away, running away from her and fumbling through the woods clumsily with rapidly waving arms.
He tripped and flopped forwards onto the ground upon leaving the woods. "Huh?" He glanced upwards upon hearing a familiar voice, finding David robotically walking off somewhere, repeating only huffs to himself under his breath.
Worry for his team and friends, Woody clumsily got up and began chasing after David, crying out for him.
"Hey, what's going on over there?" Bottle cried out, pointing towards David and Woody. "Well, are they dying?" Pie asked. Remote slid over towards them and answered, "It seems not."
"Well then leave them be," Pie suggested with a shrug.
"Remote!" Liy slid over. "Come on, we need your help to plan this. This has to be perfect!"
"Oh, alright."
"Aaaah..." Lighting sighed out and leaned backwards, lightly touching his tongue. "Are we done yet? My tongue's starting to hurt..." "Wait really?" Pen asked, leaning away from the jawbreaker to face their teammate. "Yeah," He answered, his voice slightly muffled due to his hands. "Oh." Eraser stopped licking and leaned back. "You should probably take a break," He suggested. "That doesn't sound, good. Like, at all."
"You can't!" Bomby cried out anxiously, catching everyone off guard and causing them to turn towards him.
"Wh... what why?" Pen questioned, frowning at him. "Because Pin would be mad!" Bomby answered, waving his arm around. "We shouldn't even be talking right now! Just-" He glanced away. "Just go back to licking!"
"I know Pin's a bit mean and bossy but like..." Pen raised their arm up towards him. "Surely she'll understand? Actually." They realised. "Why don't you go and ask her? I mean." They placed their hand onto their mouth. "You're part of her, uh, alliance aren't you? She'll probably be more open to you than us."
"Uh Pen." Eraser was cut off as Bomby screamed into Pen's face. "She won't!"
Pen placed a hand onto him and lightly pushed him back. "But... why?" They confusedly asked. "Because I'm a bember!" Bomby answered like that made sense to anyone outside of W.O.A.H. Bunch. Eraser and Lighting shared a look while Pen just frowned at his answer. "But... surely even a... bember would be higher than an outsider," They pointed out, lifting their hand up along with it. "Right?"
"You wouldn't get it!" Bomby yelled out and threw himself at the jawbreaker, fully burying his face into it. Pen frowned at him and turned towards the rest of his teammates. Eraser just shrugged and gestured towards the jawbreaker.
Pen sighed out and turned towards Lighting, gesturing for him to stay by. They turned back towards the jawbreaker, joining Bomby's side and returning to their job. Eraser followed after them soon without hesitation, leaving Lighting on his own and confused.
"Calm down! I'll just find them!" Leafy yelled out, picking Nickel up and turning him towards her. "It'll be fine. Just- Focus on your job, help out Rocky in breaking the jawbreakers and-" "Uh, not to bring in more bad news," Cloudy cut in and floated towards them. "But Rocky's vomit is acid, wouldn't it kill Balloony?"
Leafy paused and glanced towards Rocky, looking closer at the state the jawbreakers he vomited on were in. "Oh well..." She lowered Nickel down. "Maybe if he aimed lower...?" "Wouldn't that just cause Balloony to sink into the acid?" Nickel asked. "And he'd just died that way?"
"Uh, well." She set him back onto the ground and turned away, putting her hand up to under her mouth. "How about I'll just bring Rocky along? He's been with us since we all collectively known each other." She paused and glanced towards the two of them. "Or well, before we all collectively met you guys at least. So it'll be fine right?" She nervously asked and flashed a smile at them.
"Why can't we just send Rocky alone?" Nickel asked. "I mean, aren't we a bit short on members?" "Why don't you just go?" Cloudy asked Nickel, floating towards him. "If we're still going to use Rocky, only Leafy can carry him?"
"Wait we're still using Rocky?" Nickel asked. Leafy slid over and cut in, "Wait guys. Come on now." She gestured for them to come closer. "We can talk this out, now can't we...?"
"But time's running out isn't it?" Nickel asked. "There's no timer, Nickel," Leafy reminded. "Yeah but." Using his body and blends legs, he used himself to point to the other team. "They look pretty close to finish."
She froze up.
She tried to keep her breathing even as she slowly turned to face Bunch.
Anxiety creeped into her as she watched Coiny break into and rip open his jawbreaker with Needle, the remaining teammates further away from them, surrounding one jawbreaker and Blocky lifted Pin up and peaked into the jawbreaker's hole he just broke.
Blocky huffed out, "Empty." "Seriously?" Pin cried out, shooting a glare at him. "You need to pick out better jawbreakers!"
"Not my fault we have bad luck," Blocky scoffed out and tucked her under his arm. "Now shut up. We gotta break more." "Can I at least pick one of the jawbreakers to break?" Pin asked, raising her arm up as she did so. Blocky sighed out, "Go for it. Could honestly care less."
"Hmm," Pin hummed out, rocking and causing Blocky to stop and shot an annoyed look at her as he stood up and tried to re-stabilise them. She placed her hand under her mouth as she scouted out their surrounding with eyes narrowed in deep thought.
Blocky raised an eyebrow. "Well?" "My intuition tells me..." Pin trailed off and brought her hand down. She rocked around more, causing Blocky to stumble, and brought her arm down aggressively, pointing towards a jawbreaker. "That one!"
"Are you serious?" Blocky huffed out. Pin rolled her eyes and sunk down, dropping her arm with it. "Yes. My intuition tells me that someone's in that." She pointed at the same- "very jawbreaker."
"And how many times have your intuition work in your favour?" Blocky sarcastically asked. "Oh Blocky." Pin shook her face. "Don't you remember when I use my immunity token back in BFDI?"
"And got Coiny eliminated instead?" Blocky huffed out with a laugh. "Yeah, I guess your intuition was right then if it means killing off your alliance before it can even start." "Hey!" Pin cried out defensively. "Me and Needle did fine on our own! We might've made it to the merge if the viewers had taste."
"From what I'm gathering, your intuition mostly black-fires on you." Pin raised an eyebrow at that and questioned, "Mostly?"
"Well Leafy did ended up stealing Dream Island from Firey didn't she?" Blocky reminded. "But besides that, it seems that your intuition is in your favour. Just that it likes messing with you. Or, something."
He smirked. "And considering you're not a big fan off this..."
Pin yelped out as Blocky brought her above his head. "Let's trust your intuition!" He cried out as he began rushing off towards the jawbreaker she had pointed at.
"Huh...?" Woody slowly came to a stop behind David when he came to a halt. He reached out towards David and began tugging onto him, crying out his babble as he did so. He pulled and pushed and tugged, trying to get his teammate to move.
He cried out and clung onto David when he suddenly jumped. "Wa- Wa?!" David began shaking in place, causing his teammate to jump and cling tighter onto him.
"No!" He angrily and suddenly cried out.
Woody screamed out as David began spurting off.
"Okay so, we're going with this one right?" Liy asked, picking up a paper and flipping it around to show it towards her teammates gathered around. "Yep." "Yes!" "Looks good." were Remote, Puffball and Tree's respective responses.
"Okay good." Liy set the paper down between them then turned towards Fries. "How about you Fries? What do you think?" He sighed out and shrugged, lazily throwing an arm out towards the paper Liy had set down. "It looks fine. I don't know much about Pen but isn't that... a big too different from his usual style?"
"Pen wouldn't mind it," Remote answered. "We sometimes talk, I'd like to think that we're friends." Fries raised an eyebrow at that, to which she noticed and quickly clarified, "He doesn't mind a bit of pink. Actually I kinda like him more when he isn't with his usual friends."
"What does that even-?" Everyone jumped back as Fries was ran over, causing all of his fries to shoot up from his container or explode.
Puffball puke all over Fries' container in agony.
"I'm not dead." She paused and flew towards the top of his container. She grabbed onto him with her teeth and flipped him around.
"Uh..." Tree raised an eyebrow at his teammate's state. "You good mate?"
"Yup," Fries dizzily answered, lightly swaying around with his hand up to his tampered container. "Just a bit... light... headed..."
"Okay." Liy glanced downwards. "Oh no, our papers!" She cried out, throwing her arms up. "They're gone!" "Oh damn," Remote called out as she glanced downwards. "They must've flew off from the speed of the thing that ran over Fries."
"I guess we have to replan everything," Liy sighed out. "Oh well."
"I'm back!" Fanny announced out upon returning to her team. "Like, whatever Fanny," Pencil huffed out. "We don't, like, care."
"Hey guys," Loser called out to them. Instantly, Pencil, Match, Ruby and Firey snapped to attention. "Oh my god Loser!"
Fanny was shoved aside by everyone as they rushed up towards Loser. "You alright?" She paused and sat up, looking up to find Flower and Snowball standing in front of her. Snowball had his arms crossed with a slightly aggressive raised eyebrow while Flower had her hands onto her hips.
She scoffed out and glared to the side. "Yeah." She stood up and glanced towards the reminder of her teammates. "I can't say the same about Loser though."
Flower sighed out and got on her knees, draping her arm around Fanny. "Listen, Fanny, it's fine. He's a celebrity." She pulled Fanny towards her and turned her around to face her. "He knows what he got into when he began acting. He should be used to it by now."
"That doesn't matter!" Fanny yelled out, causing her to fall back and hit the ground. "They should know better and not idolise people they don't know! And treat!" She cried out and came closer. "Them! Like! Anyone! Else!"
"Okay calm down there." She glared at Snowball, offended as he picked her up. "You don't know them. But Pencil and Match can care less about others," He huffed out and glared off to the sides. "Don't know what happened, don't care but long story short." He turned her towards their teammates surrounding Loser. "Eye for an eye. Lost one friend and picked another."
"They didn't even care about us as well back then," Flower added in, joining by their sides. "Still don't probably... And like, it's not like we were nice back then but." She sighed out and crossed her arms, leaning into Snowball. "Some kindness would be appreciated. Even if it was fake."
They all jumped back as a blur dashed past them and Firey screamed out.
Soon, multiple exclamations of shock followed and the three of them rushed towards their teammates, finding them staring at a black spot on the ground.
Roboty stood on the edge of the metal pole, taking in the scenery before him and listening to the peaceful yet loud rushing of the waterfall nearby. He beeped out to himself, edging closer towards the edge with each beeps and taking in that rare feeling of adrenaline and life he very rarely had the time to scourge out for.
He jumped when David stopped besides him with a dizzy and clearly dazed out Woody clinging onto him, sending him swaying back and forth on the pole.
David shook aggressively and cried out, "No!" He hauled Roboty up and dashed off with his teammates, causing Woody to cry out again.
"Guys I understand that Loser's a celebrity and all. But this is kinda odd," Barf Bag told her teammates. "Don't get me wrong, he seems cool and all but..." She slowly began to frown and narrow her eyes as she tried to think about her words. "It's kinda weird," Spongy finished. "Because like, he's just a dude. Like us."
"Come on guys, be easy!" Gelatin slid over towards them. "You like Bracelety, and well." He gestured towards Bracelety excitedly rambling to Teardrop, who seems to be doing everything in her power to tune her out. "She has this weird thing with Teardrop. And it's obviously fine! Since they're in the same team."
"Yeah but." Barf Bag frowned and stepped forwards, placing a hand onto his shoulder. "That's a bit insensitive Gelatin, she can't control it you know?" She turned him to face her. "Once you actually get to know her, you learn some things that makes..." She glanced towards Bracelety happily and excitedly hopping and rambling around. "Everything click."
"Well I think she can tone it down a bit," Donut sighed out as he joined them. "I'm impressed TD hasn't hurt her yet, all things consider, that's quite a record."
"That's concerning," Barf Bag pointed out. Donut shrugged and glanced away. "Well whatever," He dismissed them and turned away from his friend to face his teammates. "I think it's fine. Loser's a celebrity. It makes more sense than..." He trailed off towards Teardrop, finding her on the verge of running away. "Well... Her."
"Donut!" Barf Bag gasped out. "Come on. Be a bit more-"
Donut and Spongy was splashed with barf and jello as a blur dashed past them.
Donut jumped back and screamed his jelly out once he realised what had just transpired while Spongy cried out, "Augh!"
"Oh wait guys!" Eraser cried out. "I think we're reaching the core." "Finally!" Bomby sighed out in relief, heavily supporting himself on the jawbreaker. Pen chuckled and turned around. "Hey Lighting!" They called out towards him. "You're... up for it? I mean it's fine if you don't want to..."
"I..." He trailed out, floating to the side. "Think I can handle it." "Well only if you're sure," Eraser added in. "I appreciate the concern, but trust me, I know my limits," Lighting declared as he floated over. "I can handle this. I won't disappoint-"
A blur dashed past sending Lighting's teammates and jawbreaker flying away.
He dropped his arms. "I'm starting to think I'm cursed."
"What-?!" A deep voice cried out as she suddenly thrown around.
"Leafy, is everything alright?" Cloudy asked, cautiously hovering closer to her. "You don't look so good." "Maybe you need rest?" Nickel suggested.
"Rest? Rest!" Leafy sprung into life. "No I can't!" She snapped anxiously, jumping a few steps from them. "We'll be put out for elimination if we lose and- and the last time I was up for voting-" She shook as she struggled to keep stable. "The last time I was up for voting- The last-"
"Leafy breathe!" Cloudy lowered himself to try to be on the same eye level as her. "You're collecting stress, and that's not good. Let's trying collecting some breathes instead."
"No! You don't understand!" Leafy jumped back and yelled out, "The last time I was up for voting, my life was-!" Her breath hitched. "Okay so you don't like collecting votes," Cloudy concluded and inched closer towards her slowly and cautiously. "That makes sense, especially since it's out of your control. So let's try to take control of your breathing alright?" He suggested gently.
"I don't know what happened," Nickel spoke up. "But uh, it's in the past now isn't it? And, uh." He nervously glanced away. "I know I'm supposed to say something like, move on and stuff but that's hard to do so, uh." He glanced back towards her. "Try to take it in stride? I know that's hard and all but." He leaned forwards. "We can't really change anything in the past, so, we can only take what we can from it and try to form a new path for ourselves?"
"We sometimes lose things we can't get back." Cloudy floated closer towards them. "And no matter how many times we search, we can't find them. So all we can do is to pick up what we do have, and continue on with our lives. There's always new things to collect."
"And like- We're friends, aren't we?" Nickel cried out. "And I know we won't leave you!"
"I." Leafy shakily took in a deep breath and stared at her teammates. "You... You really mean it?" She fearfully questioned. "All of that?"
"Of course!" Cloudy quickly reassured and floated towards her cautiously. "Nobody else wanted us, so why not keep each other close?" He lowered himself down. "We have to look out for each other right?"
"I..." She stared at the friendly smiling faces of her...
She took in a deep breath and glanced around, tunnelling in on her present teammates. Staring at Cloudy's gentle smile, Nickel's nervous grin and Rocky facing them from a distance with a smile.
Her shoulders slumped. "Ye... Yeah."
Her eyes widened. "Rocky!" She screamed out and rushed out towards her friend, jumping forwards and tackling him, just narrowly missing the cloud of dust heading towards them.
She felt wind dash past her, with how hard she was holding onto Rocky being the only reason she wasn't send flying away.
A loud crash soon followed.
Blocky ripped the jawbreaker open using Pin then took a peak into it. "It's empty," He declared.
"Darn!" Pin snapped her fingers and swayed slightly, disturbing Blocky. "I guess my intuition was off." "Or just." He glanced towards her with an annoyed look. "Bad." Pin gaped at him in offence. "Excuse?"
"Dude I was just." Blocky raised an eyebrow at her. "Making a wild guess based off some random coincidences. Coiny getting eliminated instead of you? You voting for Leafy and Firey never getting his prize?" He shrugged. "And I guess Coiny getting eliminated again in BFDIA? I don't know."
He shrugged. "I only really think hard about my pranks." He glanced away. "And, uh, challenges now I guess. I don't really care about anything else."
"Are you serious?" Pin deadpanned. Blocky shrugged. "Pretty much."
"Team Beep is safe!" Both red objects froze at that declaration.
"What?!" They both exclaimed, with Blocky dropping Pin and her hitting the ground.
"Wait." Leafy uncurled herself, with her arms still wrapped securely around Rocky. "We're... safe?"
"Seriously!" She paused and glanced back. "Aw yeah!" Balloony cried out, sitting out of a destroyed jawbreaker. "You guys actually remember me?" Woody's dazed cry was muffled since he was flopped downwards onto the ground, exhaustedly raising his arm. A crushed Roboty besides the jawbreaker beeped out, with David standing besides him.
"That's right!" Four screeched out. "You know who else isn't safe?" He asked, sliding under Leafy with flopping arms, causing her to immediately freeze up.
"Voters aren't safe," He declared towards Bunch.
"Wait." Bomby dizzily sat up with a hand on top of his object. "We're... not up for elimination?"
"Oh really? Whew," Lighting sighed out, floating downwards slight. "I was worried for a moment."
"Now I played a joke on you," Four revealed, soon followed by a laugh from X. "You're not safe."
Lighting blinked, and slowly lowered his arms. "Oh."
"Balloony!" Cloudy cried out happily and flew over towards him. "You're back!" "And it's great to be back!" He hopped onto his legs and glanced around with a bright grin. "I really appreciate all of you and your efforts. It really means a lot to me!" "Of course!" Cloudy flew to his side, lightly bumping into his head. "It's like I said, I want you. Everyone here does."
Woody dropped his arm onto the ground and cried out pitifully. Balloony leaned backwards onto his heels. "Oh Woody!" He picked up the slab of wood and sat him up. "What happened? You look dizzy." "Ah..." Woody flopped backwards. "I guess he's just sleepy?" Cloudy speculated, watching him as well.
"Oh Roboty!" Balloony got onto his knees and slid over towards said object. "Are you alright? You're all crushed up!" Roboty beeped out. "Yeah you're right..." Balloony dropped onto him. "I'm sorry. I should've realise." Roboty beeped out more.
"Oh!" Two slid over. "I can help with that!" They snapped their fingers and immediately Roboty was bounced back into shape, sending Balloony flying upwards with a scream, who was quickly caught by Cloudy with his mouth. Two threw their arms up. "There! All better!"
"Ah yeah!" Nickel cheered out and sat out from where he was face first on the ground. "We're safe!" He hopped upwards and landed onto his feet. He turned around and glanced at Leafy. "You heard that? We're not up for elimination!"
Leafy slowly set Rocky back onto his feet, who immediately began heading towards the rest of his team. "We're... safe." She let out a nervous laugh. "We're actually safe."
"Yeah!" Balloony laughed out as Cloudy set him back onto his feet. "And you guys got me out!" "Well, actually," Leafy cut in, her eyes straying towards the still David. "I think David got you out."
"Aw!" He cried out. "Well." Balloony paused and brought his hand up towards his face. A small smile perked on his face. "I still heard everything." He turned towards them. "And I... really appreciate you guys trying for me. I, never really expected that."
"Well of course!" Nickel exclaimed. "You're our friend!" A small smile dared appear onto Leafy's face. "Yeah." She began heading towards her friends. "And we're not leaving you behind."
"Aw." Balloony smiled. "You guys... Come here!" Leafy jumped as she was picked up along with her friends into a group hug.
She laughed out cheerfully along with everyone else.
This...
This was fine.
More than fine, actually. Maybe for the first time in... years.
She's fine.
"We lost?" Coiny cried out, slowly lowering his friend down and setting her onto her feet. "Well," Needle sighed out. "We tried our best." "I wonder how everyone else did," Coiny said aloud and turned around. "Oh."
"What is it-?" Needle widened eyes once she turned around as well. She cried out of shock, "What- What happened?"
All of their teammates but Pin and Blocky were spawned out. With Lighting was floating in the same spot, Bomby lightly swaying with his hand up to himself, Pen and Eraser flopped downwards separately on the ground.
Lighting cried out, "We were close to breaking a jawbreaker! It's just-" He gestured wildly towards the general direction Bomby, Pen and Eraser were at. "Flew away!"
"That sounds likely," Blocky skeptically scoffed. "This is all your fault!" Pin screamed into Blocky's face. "Wha- How?!" He cried back, enraged. "We should've just done my plan! It worked for Team Ever and the Not Losers!" She cried out and threw her arms outwards. "We lost because of you!"
"A- Are you serious?!" Blocky cried out. "Pin you literally picked that empty jawbreaker! You ignored Coiny's plan-! You- You zapped me last challenge!" He threw his arms out. Sounding as if he was out of breath, he screamed out, "What- What makes you think-?"
"Don't you remember?!" She snapped at him and shoved her finger into his head. "I agreed to Coiny's compromise on the sole term that you are to blame if we lose the challenge!"
"We were literally breaking more jawbreakers than everyone else!" He pointed out. "We just had bad luck!" "Excuses, excuses," Pin scoffed and turned away from him with crossed arms. "You just can't accept responsibility."
"I still think we would've been faster using Coiny's plan," Eraser sighed out. Both red objects turned around to find the rest of their teammates gathering around them. "What do you mean?" Coiny asked, getting a baffled glare from Blocky and confused look from Eraser and Lighting. "We did?" "No like..." Eraser narrowed his eyes. "The one where we lick-"
"You!" Pin cried out, shoving herself into Pen's face, who was supporting themselves onto Bomby. "Where! Were! You?!"
"He was clearly looking for his cap," Blocky butted in defensively, shoving himself between Pin and Pen. "It's just a stupid cap!" Pin cried out. "What's even the point! Does he need it to live? Does he need it so he doesn't die?" She shoved herself into his face and screamed out, "No!"
She leaned back. "So what if he lost it? Big deal!" She threw her arms out. "We all lose things. Get over it!"
"Hey uh Pin?" Coiny set a hand onto her shoulder, getting her to turn towards him instead. "We lost. We can't do anything about it anymore." Pin sighed out and turned away from everyone. "Whatever. Come on W.O.A.H. Bunch, we're leaving," She announced then walked off. Without saying anything more, Coiny immediately followed after her, Needle as well after a moment.
"Well whatever," Blocky exhaustedly huffed out. He turned around and picked up Pen, Bomby leaned back and after a moment of hesitation, he ran off to join his alliance. "Might as well use this time to search for your cap."
"Where would we even begin?" Lighting asked. "We're in the middle of nowhere!" He threw his arms out as he exclaimed. "Hey where did the pillar from last chapter go?" Eraser pointed out, quietening everyone immediately and causing them to turn to where he's pointing at.
"Huh..." Pen muttered.
Vote for who you want to be eliminated! But don't vote in the comments! Instead, check the author's bio or the comment attached to this paragraph for a Google Forms link and vote in there! Voting ends in three weeks.
Lollipop groaned out and sat back up, putting a hand up onto herself. She paused and patted herself again. "Oh my corn syrup," She sighed out. "My wrapper's gone!"
She paused and glared at the jawbreaker. "That at least explains the crack," She scoffed out and sat up, plopping her elbows onto her knees and resting her head into her hands, determined to ignore the pain burning into her. "Well... I'm waiting."
She glanced towards the side and sighed out, "I know at least one object wants to see me..."
She frowned and curled in on herself. "Come on... Any moment now."
"Hey uh Four?" The number jumped and turned around. "Oh hey Two!" He happily greeted his cohost. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be surveying as usual?"
"Oh I was! But, uh." They frowned. "I uh, have a question." "Go for it!" He encouraged joyfully, as he always had back at the- "Well uh." Two glanced sideways. "Why..." They glanced towards Four and lifted their hands out. "Why didn't you recover anyone until today?"
They frowned. "And where do they go when they die?"
"Oh silly Two!" Four cried out. "Pat. Pat." Two blinked at the... affection? It was hard to put it into words, especially when it was about Four. "I was busy setting up the-" Four dropped into an odd pose with his hand still on top of their head, dropping their voice as they finished. "E.X.I.T."
"Oh so... You didn't, not recover them just for the sole purpose of this challenge?" Two hopefully asked. "I honestly just forgot," Four confessed. "Oh." Two dropped their arms. "Yeah."
"But hey!" Four slipped his hand off them. "It sure did make for a fun challenge, didn't it?" "Uh. Well." Two glanced away. "It surely is unique..."
They shook their head and glanced back towards Four. "But you're recovering everyone that died this challenge right?" "Already did!" He answered energetically and threw his hand out. "Oh that's good," Two sighed out in relief. "Well what about Lollipop?"
Four paused. "Oh." Then glanced towards the jawbreakers left over. "Right."
Two slowly frowned. "Four." "Don't worry!" He quickly reassured. "I'll have X handle it!" "Oh okay." Two was easily satisfied by that. "Well." They glanced away. "As long as you don't neglect the deaths of your contestants again, I'm okay with it!"
"Hello...?" The jawbreaker shook with her hits against it. "Come on!" It was barely noticeable unless you were looking closely. "I know you miss me!" Her straining voice was only heard by her. "Come on!" She didn't know that though. Of course not. How could she? "This isn't funny anymore! Let me out!"