Paintbrush's hands clasped onto their handle, their palm resting where their heart would've been. Sound sound of rapid heartbeats filled the empty void. Lightbulb licked her lips of the crab's innards, her tongue lolling out as she approached her friend. "Lightbulb, please...it's me...there's got to be some other way..." Paintbrush mumbled, patting around the submerged floor for their firepoker.
"Your smell...sooo...familiar...sooo...tasty...SO MEATY..! I want to taste it all...! I want to rip you from limb from limb and feast on everything you can give me..!! All the blood...THERE WILL BE SOOO MUCH...give it all to me..."
As Paintbrush was able to grip onto the handle of their firepower...
...Lightbulb pounced.
"G I V E M E Y O U R F L E S H ! ! !"
Paintbrush struck Lightbulb quickly with the fire poker, causing her to fly into the wall next to her. The shattering of glass echoed through the chamber as pieces of her head scattered around the watery floor. However, that wasn't to say her whole face was busted. Her left eye was still very much intact despite the massive blemish to the right of her face. Had Lightbulb always been this durable...? Usually she would break so easily. They saw it with Knife too, unexpectedly more strong than they remembered him being.
What did Airy do to her?
"I'm sorry!" Paintbrush yelled as they quickly bolted in the other direction. Lightbulb cackled in response, "AIRRRYY~! LET ME T A S T E YOU!" Getting onto her hands and knees she crawled after Paintbrush at practically Mach 10. The art utensil managed to get out of her sight by rounding a corner, causing Lightbulb's scent to be thrown off. Looking around like a hungry predator, she cackled and ran off, the distancing splashes indicating her leave. Paintbrush sighed a breath of relief, holding onto the side of their head. "...There has to be another way...I...I can't kill her...not Lightbulb...anyone but her..."
And yet...the truth of the matter was...
This was what had to be done.
To save her.
To save everyone.
To save...themselves.
Airy had to pay.
Quietly trudging through the waters again, they shone their lantern down the hall where they just ran away from Lightbulb in. Through the tide, they suddenly stepped on what they thought was Baxter's body, still sitting in the bottom of the water, meat hanging off of the bite marks taken into his body. Tears stung in Paintbrush's eyes...
"...I'm sorry, Baxter..." Was all they were able to say.
Shining their relit lantern through the darkness, they were eventually able to come across a large iron gate, held down by a lever next to the door. Paintbrush rushed towards the closed grate, looking through to see some sort of stone garage-like room on the other side. A ladder was visible through the gaps of the gate, leading up to a trap door. "...Airy..." they said under their breath. They quickly grabbed onto the lever and began to pull against it, using practically all their strength to pull it downwards. The grate began to rumble, slowly lifting as Paintbrush lowered the lever.
"AAAAiiirrryyy...! I seeeeee yoooouuu~!"
Paintbrush could hear Lightbulb's sing-song voice from down the hall. Their face turning a shade of gray, they began to put more effort into lowering the gate, up until there was a small gap that they could squeeze their flat body into. Quickly, Paintbrush got onto their stomach and began crawling under the gate, holding their breath as they crawled through the water, re-emerging from the other side.
However, Lightbulb was able to grab a fist full of their bristles through a gap in the gate. Paintbrush let out a scream as they were pulled backwards, the only thing keeping them from being crushed through the gap was their metal headband clanging against the gate's bars. "Don't run from meeee! You know how HUNGRY I've been..! And now I'll finally get the chance to feast on your flesh..! Ahahahahaha!"
Paintbrush tried to grab their firepoker again, struggling due to Lightbulb's grip on their hair.
"I've grown tired of my own flesh...! I've grown tired of eating all the rotting flesh down here...! Why did you leave me to starve, Airy...? WHY OH WHY DO YOU HATE ME?!"
...Paintbrush choked back a sob, realizing this was what had to be done.
"...I'm sorry, Lightbulb."
Paintbrush quickly lit their bristles ablaze, causing Lightbulb to drop Paintbrush while squealing in pain like a pig. Once they managed to hit the ground, they began to pat around the ground for their fire poker. Lightbulb held onto the bars of the grate, her face turning into one of insane rage and hunger.
"YOU CAN'T LET ME STARVE HERE AGAIN! YOU KNOW HOW HUNGRY I AM, AND YOU'VE BEEN IGNORING ME FOR SO SO LONG..!! Why did you abandon me, Airy..?! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR EVER LEAVING ME DOWN HERE TO ROT!! I WILL HAVE YOUR FLESH, LI-"
*C R A C K !*
...
...
Lightbulb looked down at the firepoker pierced into their throat.
Paintbrush, still with their hair ablaze, holding the weapon out through the gap of the gate, tears streaming down their face as they realized what they've done.
"...I...I love you, Lightbulb...I'm sorry..."
...
"Pain...ty..."
Paintbrush looked up as Lightbulb suddenly began to smile, the cracks on her face getting bigger with each small movement.
"...I...love you...too..."
She completely shattered, her remains drifting away into the water. Paintbrush watched as they sunk down into the tide, away from their view. "...I'm going to get rid of Airy, Lightbulb...For you..."
"For all of you."
...
...
The final notification for Melife appeared on Mephone's screen. "Recover Lightbulb," It said.
"Huh, well that was quick." Mephone said as he opened up the app and pressed on Lightbulb's icon, causing her to respawn in front of him. Before anyone could express their excitement for Lightbulb's return, Test Tube pushed through them all, her green liquid bleeding through the stress cracks on her glassy exterior.
"LIGHTBULB!!" She yelled.
"Oh, hi Testy-!" Lightbulb said, being cut off by Test Tube wrapping her arms around her in a hug.
"Please...please tell me you remember..." Test Tube said, her voice bordering on sobs and hysteria.
"Remember what? Oh shoot, did I drown in the lake?? That's okay, Testy, I forgive you."
"NO! Paintbrush! Tell me you remember Paintbrush!"
"...Uhhh...No, that name doesn't ring a bell. Did you make a new friend and not tell me, Testy?"
"...No..." Test Tube backed away slowly, her voice going completely monotone...
Everything was quiet for a good bit.
"So where's Baxter? I think I found a friend for him in the lake. Perhaps a Mrs. Baxter...!" Lightbulb began speaking to the other contestants, wanting to catch up on what she missed.
"Oh, hey! You guys are back!"
"Yeah, it's a long story..."
"Welcome home, Lightbulb..."
"Ooh, hey! Think I also found a friend for Baxter in the lake earlier, Testy! Does Mrs. Baxter sound like a good name to you?"
"Testy? Are you ok?"
S H A T T E R !