[Sequel to "Elimination Disaster"]
TW: SH (I think?) and Death
Sunshine donned the island in a mellow glow, with springtime air to uplift moods. Across the landscape, grass was a pristine and sharp-cut green, contrasted by the tall, leafless trees, all of whom were sprouting new white flower buds and yellow lime feathers of foliage. High up, standing higher then the heavens were two huge platforms. One pink, the other yellow. Each connected by a bridge, with a white pad in the centre. Beneath, a huge box sprung all the way down, grey as rain clouds.
The group of Contestants huddled close by as Clover hit the on button, for the propped-up, fangled, and battered camera. "Greetings, viewers at home!" Silver proclaimed boldly, shoving balloon and Paintbrush aside as he put on a showman face for the shot. "You are now watching the first TELEVISED episode of inanimate insanity invitational, with flattering faces such as mine!". He gave a small twirl as the camera was moved onto a mildly annoyed but cheery Paintbrush.
"And, a prime chance for ME, the dazzling paintbrush to be nominated by The Groscers!!!" They said, gesturing to themselves with pride and charm. Silver scoffed a slight chuckle. "Carefully Painty. You might blow yourself up trying." he said, holding back a laugh as he noticed their anger-strewing face.
"Well Silver, you sure have a lot to say to a Veteran player of ii...." they said, still holding up a look of charm. "And we all know the audience loves a good returner.". This statement made a nearby Yin Yang cough his drink slightly, the darker half raising their fist at their old Bright Light's leader. Their moved to speak, but Yin simply shut the lips, much to his other half's disgruntlement.
"Maybe." Silver retorted, scoffing again as he was up close and in Paintbrush's face. "But maybe today, Painty, the fresh face shall steal the show!".
"AND I'LL BE A PART OF IT!!!".
Both of them yelped, with Paintbrush falling over and Silver tumbling on his legs, barely managing to keep himself stood straight. They began a confused and angry debacle with the naive and cheery Floor, and Balloon walked away from his arguing team members. He stared up at the monolith pink tower, shining in its paleness and reflecting a sour taste in the air.
"Had to get away from your team too huh?" he heard a familiar voice as he turned, spotting the sarcastic and sneering Nickel, leaning against the wall and jokingly shoving him with a knee. This would prove a little too far for what he could manage as he slipped on his other leg and fell face flat. Balloon chuckled as he helped his silvery coin friend up.
"I'm doing as well as you," he replied, seeing Nickel's team in the back. Yin Yang was busy debating whether they should eat the somehow still in good quality mile-high pie that had spots of mould along the height, half falling apart and greyed. Meanwhile Candle was nowhere in sight. "Even if our team manages, we aren't looking too strong. I mean, I had to" he said, whispering the next part so he wouldn't be heard by a specific Blue Phone. "Cheat, to get our win.".
"Yeah well, at least your team isn't with complex drama. "Balloon sighed, staring at Bot, who was sat, face expressionless as Goo obliviously yammered about Pine Cones. They adorned a yellow sombrero, with a banded pink strip around the base. His eyes were followed by Nickel as they looked towards the flat-faced bot.
Nearby, at the calm-down cabana, Test Tube sighed, still holding onto the bow file. She looked at blueprints in her other hand from when she was designing bot. "Hmmm...." she wondered, still unable to comprehend the previous night's elimination. Fan had asked her to tell, yet she'd hesitated. She'd failed to. And that failure had cost her one the greatest allies and friends.
What would Fan have done here? For all her knowledge, she was terrible at fixing her mistakes without much of a leg to stand on. And this time, hew sure could she be that she, the liar, scoundrel, identity enforcing scientist in over all her knowledge Test Tube gonna get through this?
She was startled by the swing of the cabana's woodwind doors, along with the crack of a branch from outside. "AH!!!" she yelped, dropping the file, it pages scattering across the floor. "O....Oh. It's just....you....". The short, dark-haired Candle walked in, carefully sidestepping the papers and bending down with Test Tube to help pick them up.
"I....golly you scared me...." she said, hastily gathering pages and documents and stuffing them into the pink scrappy file. Candle picked up some blue paper, showing an early design of Bow Bot, with the central part complete but the side pieces still appearing as a series of frameworks and loses stringy connections.
"Mephone wants everyone together for a photo," she said, as she passed Test Tube some blueprints. "For the first televised episode," she added.
"I......fine." Test Tube reluctantly agreed, heading for the door, still trying to scrappily pack her files. Her head clonked against the door as she rubbed her face but continued walking before Candle could respond. Her face and the side of her glass had a visible crack, which was covered by the gleaming sunlight.
Candle felt a page of paper brush her leg as she began to leave. Picking it up, she found scribbles and doodles and a whole bunch of diagrams, all in the green, scientist's handwriting and sloppy, messy style. Her scrappy scribbles scrawled the pages, each more morbid and ubiquitous then the last one.
"Hi Bot I'm...Really sorry for...lieing to u" one read, a huge blot of ink smeared all over this one.
"Bot, listen I.....I wanted to apologlze for..." another read, angry scribbles marking that one out.
Another one was a mesh of marlarky blots and violent scribbles, all making it hard to see. The only discernible word was "Fan" at some point in the the hot pot of unclear writing.
And another.
And another.
And....
Candle put the page down, disturbed and shocked from the writings. She'd heard something had gone wrong had happened at the elimination, the last time. Paintbrush and Balloon seemed strangely stoic to Test Tube while Silver seemed gloating and prideful, like he'd been after Oj' s elimination.
And then there was Bow. Since last night, she wore a sombrero hat, nervous. Candle had sensed no aura within her and Test Tube seemed to refer to her as "Bot" or "Bow Bot" in her diagrams and doodles. Had it been to do with that? "Bow" had been tense, usually sticking with Goo, unspeaking and usually not talkative.
She decided she would try talk to Paintbrush about everything that went down after today's elimination, since they had been present there. "If I'm still here, that is." she mumbled, taking care to pull the door first, still remembering Test Tube's tired and worried look and her unusual clumsiness.
...
Bow Bot stood the grey, matted rock, away from everyone. She scratched her hair, still remembering just a few days ago, when she'd learned the truth. But....surely it was wrong. She couldn't be a robot, right? Robots couldn't talk. Robots couldn't think. They couldn't feel. There had to be something else. Maybe Test Tube had lied again, to cover up a more real truth.
"Argh.....This....itch" she mumbled, scratched her head harder, loose strands of hair being swept aside. Test Tube had lied about her. What's to say she had been truthful again? She continued scratching, feeling warm liquid on her hand, causing her to panic. Taking a look, she found the fingers covered in red liquid, along with a mess of hair.
Bow gasped, relief flooding her as she put the arm down, next to a sombrero hat Fan had given to her after episode one. She wasn't a robot. She could feel and think and believe and bleed. Sure, it would worry some to see that mark but....the hat would cover it. Test Tube had to be hiding something else. After all, a robot couldn't bleed.
But.....she'd heard talks of Test Tube being an amazing scientist. One who had made a half scrapped laser rifle out of a telescope and a taser. One whom had built rocket ships out of nothing but wood or a vending machine. One whom had made an entire time travel device within a calculator. So, who was to say she couldn't make a robot replica of a person?
"N.....No...." Bow mumbled, still trying to comprehend her existence. She was a real person who just happened to be called and act and talk like Bow. That was it. "I....ack!". Her fingers reached up again, the itch persisting harder. Her hand was scraping as hair fell down. She was a real person. She was real. She was real. She was real.
Her fingers hit a clip in her head, which she started to pick and tear, fast.
"I am real.".
The fragment was loose as she pulled.
"I am real.".
Bow felt her fingers tug. The piece of her head was coming off, seeming like there was hair or strings underneath.
"I am real. I am....".
She gasped. Her hair sizzled from the static as she moved her hand forward. Her mind felt funny, her face was weird as he looked at it.
Covered in red liquid, a small shard of metal, pink on one side, grey on the other. The ends of blue and red wires were present as she witnessed, her head still buzzing, the open wires on her skull fizzling out. She couldn't believe it. he wouldn't. It....she....
"N....No...." Bow mumbled, their eyes distorting as they dropped it, the realisation echoing through her skull.
"I'm......not......me......?".
...
Clover seemed disheartened as nickel walked off, seeming uninterested in the group photo. "Just edit me in later. I'd rather not hang about some shmucks." he said, making sure Mephone wouldn't notice him heading to the pic nix table again. Clover sighed as Candle put an arm around her.
"Don't worry. With a little luck, maybe he'll come around." she said as the two walked over to the camera where everyone else stood. "I wish I wasn't so lucky...."Clover sighed, standing next to Silver, whose face was partially covered by their raised arm. Next to them, Goo and Blue Berry were squashed between them and Yin Yang, Goo's blue body practically squeezing on Balloons helium filled stature. Yin's eye twitched as he kept his arm low, using unseen fingers to pinch himself. Yang, the other hand had their hand high in the air, taking control of the smile on Yin's side and showcasing a wide, devious and chaotic smile.
Beneath Yin Yang, Floory smiled naively, almost as small as a button in the squashed in space. Test Tube and "Bow" stood, at the ned, each avoiding eye contact and trying keep smiles for the photo. Test Tube's heart raced with panic, noticing something off. Her eyes seemed slanted and shallow, her grin, though cheery, didn't seem genuine. She wore a straw sombrero hat, a bright rose pink band around the base. Through the bands of straw, she could see a vague red and blue.
Had she confirmed it? Did she know? Test Tube sweated, knowing she had to fix things soon, both for strategic game plan but also to help the person she and Fan had a hand in making. A task that would be harder, should she be eliminated. She bit her lip, looking at Camera as Candle moved into place next to Clover.
Snip!
FLASH!!!
"Yin blinked.".
A strange creak could be heard as butterfly's flew overhead. Test Tube shook her knee, tensing from the anticipation that, something terrible might suddenly happen.
"It's true. Can we retake it?" Yin said, scratching his eye. Nearby, Balloon and Goo both let out audible groans. "I wouldn't go that far." Yang replied.
Everyone re adjusted back into position, as Candle pressed the button and got back into place. Up ahead, the sun obscured the view as Mephone tinkered with the emails on himself, ecstatic but nervous for the Guest's arrival. He didn't see the rouge butterfly, drifting and landing on the top of the pink tower as the wind hummed.
Snip!!!
Test Tube's eyes averted as she panicked. Her throat in her lungs, her fingers in her knee, she heard the creaking fall before she saw and her hands shoved to her right.
FLASH!!!
CRASH!!!!!!!!
Bow landed several feet away, her hat falling off. She turned, grabbing her hat hurriedly, only to see the entire pink building like structure toppled upon her fellow contestants. In front of here, she could see shattered glass everywhere and green liquid from the place she had been. She could still hear echoes of the scientists screams as she had been crushed, right where she would've been.
Where she would've died.
...
"Wow, it's so bleak over here since I left." Nickel sarcastically stated, witnessing the lack of chatter and arguments and chit chat. "Seriously though, who died?".
The grass singed from lime green liquids, winds swaying lemon leaved trees in the devastating aftermath. The sound of the colossal killing impact still reverberated out for miles, beyond the island, sounding like an airhorn through the day. "Everyone died Nickel." Mephone said, in a serious tone. There was no charm or show host pizazz or even any levitating humour. Just plain and simple, shock. "Everyone.".
He lowered himself with the crane, walking to the huge tipped over pink box, the only remains of anyone under being the broken glass, some scraps of wood and a pile of stretched thin, torn blue goo. Nickel walked over, in just as much shock at the damage, seeing red strips of rubber and flattened, floating green leaves. "I.....Oh my god..." he muttered, his eyes wandering over the scene.
He noticed Bow, picking up an extra nasty shard of glass from her side. She stared at it, her expression seeming half guilty, half fearful. Like she had been under there, and was in fact struggling to breath right now. Her arm tightened grip on the shard, its smooth surface cracking a little more, chips falling of the edges. "H...Hey uhhh Bow? You.....You ok?" Nickel asked, approaching her as Mephone began to use his Meeple abilities to clean away the mess and fix up the towering bridge, its open end already starting to droop.
She simply did not move or respond. Her eyes remained wide as, for a brief second, he could perhaps just spot the pupils flicker and her lips seem to distort. A techy FWIP noise was audible for less then a fraction of a second. Yet, as he blinked, there was nothing. Bow simply stood, the glass in her hand cracking in her grip as she may not have even realised how tight she held it.
"B...Bow? Your...holding that a little strong..."Nickel noted to her, propping her hand to jerk, and seamlessly break the shard, dropping it as 3 smaller pieces. She stepped back, shocked as she turned towards him. "N....Nickel geez you....You scared me...hah hah....."she blurted, looking awkward and unsure as she ran in the opposite direction, to his confusion.
...
Mephone approached bow, on the rocks as he looked back nervously at the crane where Ball Point Pen stood, note writing his thoughts of the previous bridge matchup. Bow had remembered witnessing Silver(or Candle, with Silver's body) calmly walk over to the central platform, winning the (opposing) team points. "Mhm....Listen Bow...." Mephone began, glancing between her and BPP. "I know that today and....last elimination has....had an effect on you but...I need you for the next matchup. And I know that your not in the wrong body but...could you pretend to be?".
"H...Huh?" Bow said, looking up at him, still processing what had happened. "O..Oh yeah I...I can do it. No problem!" she said, walking hurriedly towards the platforms with a quick, almost sudden smile. Her eye seemed to twitch as she turned away from Mephone who felt something was off. Maybe it was something to do with the previous elimination, since she had seemed to be acting weird since then an he hadn't really bothered pay attention to the chaos, post verdict. "Hmmm..." he thought, watching her run frantically to the elevator and sporadically enter, ready to head up.
Yin Yang witnessed his opponent, remembering they had to act like he was Bow in this body. "Waoh like, how do you move two half's!!?" Yin mambled,, causing Yang (on the lighter side) to groan in embarrassment. "Wow, you sure can put an act." they muttered, causing the other the gasp.
"H...Hey! It's not easy being on this side!! The leg movement is so hard when your facing this side!" he complained, preparing his fist to block a punch. Yet, to his surprise, Yang simply spoke. "O...Oh really? I never knew it could be that hard for you." he said, in the most strangely sincere and empathetic way possible, something that Yin had never considered them to be. However, just for safety, he played along, still readying himself for some kind if sick or chaotic joke.
"Well yeah I....I don't know how you do it on this side. Usually I'm used to moving about the right." he replied, as he felt Yang's (or rather his) hand pat the head on the darker half. Well, I'm sorry for you there. Heck, if we're stuck like this, I could teach you how to move that side." he said, jokingly jabbing him with a finger.
"Oh I...thank you Yang." Yin said, only for his other half to yell out "BUT ONLY IF YOU TEACH ME HOW THEASE FINGERS OF YOURS PICK UP CANS!!!". The outburst shook him, but also made him laugh. "Sure." he said, as they turned to face their opposite end of the bridge foe. She waddled awkwardly on one leg, repeatedly yelling "Water!!!" and "DR FIZZ!!!" in a pale imitation of them.
"Just....Just gotta get through this..."she mumbled to herself. The back of her head seemed to throb as she remembered pulling that piece of herself out. Her hand seemed to ache, like she still held the glass shard. "N...No No I....I can do this...I can. Just...one simple challenge and that's it...". Her eyes twitched as she rubbed them, hoping the pain and itchiness would subside as she heard the crane platform begin to rise.
"Tsk, some people." Yin said, surprised at the terrible accent. Everyone heard the platform, BPP's pen clicking as he observed the new contestant set. Mephone tapped the mic, a soft booming sound echoing out from it as he spoke. "Greetings again viewers." he began, putting on his classy showman face for the active cameras.
"Our next matchup: Bow vs Yin Yang!!!".
Bow seemed to wobble and laugh nervously, switching between a frown and a half smile. Meanwhile Yin Yang was much more calm and focused, looking as though they were preparing to do something ludicrous like, jump up a wall. Bow's face was half stricken with panic and half glitchy as she ran to the centre.
"I can do it. I can...I can...I...I..." she thought, her thoughts spiralling as she stopped, despite Yin Yang still trying figure out their run. Her brain was frazzled, millions of thoughts rushing through at once, yet not a single could be grasped. "I.....I.....I..." she mumbled, her head radiating with pain. "TIMEOUT!!!!" the pink ribboned, sombreno adorning cretin yelled, running in the opposite direction. Her voice seemed to crack, sporatic buggy noise coming out at some parts.
"I....huh?". Yin and Yang looked confused at his opponent seeming to run in the other way. Mephone had shock as he nervously looked at Pen, who had an equally confused look. His fingers continued to write, sending panic through Mephone.
"Uhhh...Uhh....Send us a commercial break." he yelled frantically to the camera. "SEND US A COMMERCIAL BREAK!!!!".
...
Mephone watched from a distance, seeing the nerve racked and glitching girl scraping her own head in agony. He held a bout of sympathy for his robot fellow, yet knew he wouldn't have long to stay, seeing as Ball Point Pen wouldn't be kept waiting long. Test Tube and Candle were behind him, each in the body of Clover and Silver Spoon respectively. He had a look of concern on his face as Candle spoke.
"Mephone we.....we can't be making her....go out there again, right?" she asked, watching the poor Bot struggle, itching mad. Test Tube had a guilty look, still wondering how she could've let slip such a precious thing about the one she and Fan had made.
His eyes wandered to her, as he nodded simply. "I'll do what I can. Make sure you two stay with her. If....your ok with it Candle." he said, turning to steer BPP away and twist the live broadcast. She simply looked back with an apprehensive but firm nod. "Bow Bot is much more important than....the risk of losing the game." she said, as Mephone left.
As he left, she turned to the pale and guilt racked scientist. Placing a hand on her shoulder, she looked at the nervous and unsure clover with a rocket scientist's mind. "Test Tube we....We know things are hard. What with, how this...."Bot" situation has turned so sour. But..." she said, looking over to the still itch scratching, shaking Bow Bot. "She needs someone to help her and steer her into safety. She needs...you.".
"I...I..I know but....what if I...mess up again?" Test Tube responded, reflexively moving her hand away from her arm, considering it wasn't HER arm. "I thought I knew how to do all this before and....and it....it hurt the person I was close with...". Memories flashed of his betrayed and shocked facial expression as she turned away from, clutching the patterned egg while made not even a sound through the elimination portal.
"Well, what happened last season only did because you didn't have time to do anything, till the right thing became...the wrong thing. But here, you..." Candle gestured to the glitching, shaking one, her head zapping and pouring with blood. "You have a chance. A chance to....right your wrongs.".
Test Tube could only nod, as she felt urgency. Urgency to do something. Anything. Candle passed her the silken, purple and black scarf she usually adorned in her own body that Silver had simply cast to her in embarrassment and shock of his new found body swapped predicament. "Th...Thanks. I'll...I'll try." she said, heading over to her creation, mind set on helping them.
...
She sat, clawing her head like. Her eyes wide in shock and agony as blood stained her hands, the wires zapping with each touch and causing another tuft of hair to fall, frazzled and fried. The wind blew, sending a shiver through her as she occasionally coughed a strange, robotic malfuctionish noise, her thoughts echoing in on her metallic skull like drums in a tiny box.
Metal skull.
What a fool she was to chase answers. Her arms were growing tired from her the scratching, yet she continued, her arms seeming to move at their own pace. Her face kept warping, eyes glitching out and mouth only letting zappy white noise. What a fool she was for trying to be anything more. They had made her perfect. She had been made good enough, but she had to search for answers. She had to search for her proof, despite being told. She, Bow, was nothing more then a robot, a shell of someone she could barely grasp to be. Or die trying.
She had to...
She had to...
A hand grabbed hers, moving them away from her head. She felt woozy as another hand fiddled with the wires poking out of her head. The trains of thoughts seemed to slow down, the constant pressure in her head was easing. Her eyes stopped glitching. She gasped and the noise was not white but her voice. The fingers coiled the several connections as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"I'm....I'm sorry. About......About everything you've had to go through. Because of me." Test Tube's voice muttered to her, soft and close. Her other hand patted Bow Bot, her mind still pacing and jittering. "But....I'll right that wrong. I'll help you.".
It was Clover's body, sure, but the unmistakable care and skill and voice of the scientist herself. Her hands moved the wiring insanely fast, her knowledge of each individual connection clear enough to avoid the zaps. Bow could feel nothing but numbness as her tears poured.
"Hey, why the frown? I'll stay here. I promise." she said, lifting her face and wiping the tears, looking at her creation with every ounce of care she couldn't contain. Her hand cupped their face, holding them close.
"I....I......I would've...." she mumbled, the memory of the huge pink tower crashing, still coursing through her mind. The boom. The shards of glass. The pounding of her skull. "I....I'm not....me....".
Test Tube brushed her hair as she spoke, wiping the blood from their head. "Well you can bleed, right, Bot?" she asked, her hand coated a light red. Bow Bot had not a response.
"You can feel, you can fear, you can cry. Honestly, so what if death is more permeant for you?" she inquired, imagining how bad it must've been to have almost been crushed and killed. For her, it had been a millisecond of agony, so the thought would've been ten times as bad for them. "You know, you said to me....that...that we're all very lucky because Mephone can bring us back.
But....so what?".
Bot's tears stopped, her face still warping slightly. "H....Huh? But...." she began, only for Test Tube to place a finger to their lips.
"And really, that just makes you more....special?" she explained, causing Bow Bot to give a confused look.
"I mean, what's more real then mortality? What's more real than fearing for your life? If...if anything...."Bot"......" she continued, holding her pride close as she spoke her words with every bit of sincerity. "The fact that we can die and come back like nothing.....
That makes us less real.".
Their face remained silent as she stared, the words melding to her like a kind butter. Bow choked on a strange gulp in her throat, as Test Tube put a hand around her. Her other hand wrapped a scarf around the open wound in skull, tightening the metal into place as a temporary holder and stopping the blood flow.
"I promise. I'll....I'll fix you. And....And I'll help you become who....who you...want to be.".
She dropped her hands, as Bot processed the promise. Her face was stoic, still taking time to comprehend what she had just said. Her mind and body felt relief, the itch finally stopped. The word "fix" and "help" shattering through her head. Her eyes dropped, fatigue hitting her senses as they dropped into her arms, slightly smiling with a tear of happiness rolling down their face.
"Th.....Thank you....." she barely mumbled as her vision blurred, barely able to make out a thing. Test Tube simply smiled, feeling compassion and care like never before as she held the now passed out Bow Bot. Their face was obscured, yet Test Tube could only hold her closer as she felt euphorically happy. Happy?
Yes, happy. Happy that, at least once, she had been able to right one of her many....many...many wrongs.
Bot's body moved no more, her breath heavy as she was curled up. Unmoving. The wires in her head no linger buzzing, the only sound out of her head was a light, low hum, Like that of bee. Or a lady bug.
Or a butterfly.
(4,514 words. This took me too long, but I had to wrap the angst of that first chapter with at least SOME kind of happy ending. Might at more to this "AU" if I have any new ideas in future.).