"HmG- Let GO!!" Lightning cried out and aggressively attempted to yank himself away from Loser in multiple tries, who had him tightly gripped in his hands to prevent him from getting away, holding the flying object by his arm. "Stay still. You're making this more difficult than it has to be-" Loser snarled in a threatening manner to attempt to scare the other object, surprised he was so determined to put up a fight.

The group has returned back to the base VERY early in the morning and had alerted Two of the good news. Two was absolutely amazed to see Lightning, and spared no time to get a bracelet clipped onto his wrist. Donut felt awful as soon as he saw Lightning - remembering he never got the chance to warn the group in the lab or get Gelatin to try again. It had completely slipped his mind.. it must've slipped Gelatins mind, too. He was going to try again.. he forgot to. He couldn't believe he forgot something so important and felt awful about it.

If Lightning was here.. this meant the rest of the group were probably in bad conditions. Donut was unsure who was alive, but didn't know if he should approach Lightning while he was like this.. he had just got here and was terrified. Donut was going to make sure to keep him safe though, as unfortunate it was that Lightning had been taken back here he could find a way to help him. He knew the others wouldn't be able to save him... they couldn't pull that off twice.

Lightning avoided looking at Donut during his time in the office after learning the news about Fours powers. He was scared as soon as he got into the building because he knew that most of who was in there were crazy. He had been taken to Twos office and held down as a band was forced on his arm, and Two talked to Liy about the others and she explained what happened.

Donut felt awkward listening to it all and having to stay calm. He heard about all of the deaths.. including the fact Fries wasn't there. He must've not found the base at all.. Donut was nervous for when he would have to tell Fries about ... who died. He felt terrible, and wished he had told the group sooner about Liy and the others. He heard that Basketball and Tennisball had been there.. did they not tell them? Maybe the group left it too long and didn't leave in time. He.. was mostly sad about Bomby, as he had been a friend of his. The others were still upsetting, he felt guilty they had survived this whole way and gone through so much but.. still died without seeing it to the end.

Two had told everyone in the base of the good news through the intercom, as well as the fact Lightning was now with them. Lightning was frightened.. he knew that they all were aware he helped Eraser and Clock escape. He knew he would be the one getting the repercussions of it.. as the rest of the group wasn't there.

Donut needed to talk to Lightning but knew now was a bad time. He would have to try.. at some point when he knew it wouldn't be too risky.. which was going to be difficult. After Two had mentioned the deaths of all of the objects on the intercom, as well as the new arrival, he escorted Loser out of the room with Lightning and lead them somewhere. Donut wasn't too sure where.. Coiny hadn't said anything, but it was clear he was uncomfortable with the news.

And that lead them here.

"Lightning, don't make this harder than it has to be.. got it?" Two warned, in a particularly good mood due to what had happened. They grinned and put their arms behind their back. "Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise.."

Lightning didn't stop struggling, but another glare from Two made him settle down, looking away and trying to hold back from insulting them or getting upset. He knew that if he didn't do what they said it would be bad news for him. But it also meant that he might get.. put in a cell. The threat was mentioned briefly before, and he knew that the last thing he needed was to be trapped in a cell.

But.. that was where they were going right now. He was afraid to ask why, wincing from how tightly Loser was gripping his arm. His body hurt all over from the rain and he felt tired, going through stages of being angry and being upset. He hesitated though, as Two began to take lead into the dark basement looking area, and Lightning caught a glimpse of Pin.

"P-Pin?" He croaked, her perking up at the sound of his unique voice. She quickly looked away as she saw who he was accompanied by. She clearly thought he was here to help her or something.. that joy was short-lived. Two clapped their hands together as they hopped down the last few stairs, "Oh, this is exciting!" They took out their keys, swinging them around their finger.

"Lightning, I want you to shock her." They turned to him with a straight face.

"Wh-What? Why?!" Lightning stuttered in surprise, physically jumping. Loser smirked lowly as Lightning continued "I..I can't do that!" He whined. "I..-"

"Too bad, so sad. You have to do what I say, remember? Or I'll make this even harder for you." Two reminded harshly, gritting their teeth lowly. "I want to see what you can do."

Lightning looked away in intimidation, so Two took this as a signal he was willing to comply. They proceeded to slide the key into the lock on Pins cell, holding it with their other hand as they opened up the door. Pin stared up fearfully at the three, swallowing.

She knew what was coming.. why did this keep happening to her? She was terrified as Loser shoved Lightning forward aggressively, keeping his grip. "ZAP her. That's the only thing you're good for, right?" He was clearly enjoying this. It hurt more..

Lightning stared at her with trembling arms, feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt. He couldn't do it.. he couldn't bring himself too. He was seriously afraid, "..What if I don't..?" He weakly asked but didn't look at Two or Loser, fear in his voice.

"You don't want that option." Two hummed simply. "You'll regret it if you don't. Don't make me force you. DO it." Two demanded loudly, the sharp tone of his voice making Lightning feel on edge. He wanted nothing to do with this.. he knew this was what he would have to do if he ever went to the base.

It was different from Blackhole.. he could only kill. Lightning could hurt AND kill. Loser suddenly let go of his arm and lightly yelled, shaking his hand off vigorously "H-He shocked me!"

Two growled, Lightning backing up from them. "I-I can't help it! You're stressing me out!" He yelled back, regretting it immediately once he took in Twos expression. "ZAP her. Or I'll zap YOU" Two boomed, Lightning flinching.

He looked back at her, scared to do anything to her that would hurt her. He just couldn't do it.. he felt sick. He jumped and cried out as he was shocked by his arm, looking down at the bracelet as it flashed red briefly. Two wasn't kidding.. he was on the verge of tears.

Lightning looked away from her. "I-..I'm so sorry- Pin.," He apologised shakily, he wished he didn't have to do it.

He proceeded to fly down and rapidly zap her, closing his eyes so he didn't have to see her.

He hadn't zapped anyone for a while. Ever since he was connected to Fanny to keep her alive he couldn't do anything like that in case it overloaded her with electricity. He had gotten used to not using.. he almost didn't like ut. It made him feel dangerous..and now he had no choice.

Loser watched Lightning, mildly impressed at his level of strength as the area lit up from his zapping, the light flickering up in Losers face as he stared. He felt himself smile instinctively, feeling a form of entertainment from seeing someone he didn't like get hurt.

He couldn't see the expression on Twos face, but they were absolutely thrilled. They had found themselves something even BETTER than Stapy or Scissors. Though.. he knew Yellow wouldn't be able to keep him in control.. he was way too feisty. He would have to keep Lightning monitored by someone else but.. this was great! He was strong.. they NEEDED strong right now. How come he hadn't protected himself with this? What an idiot. "You can stop now." Two sneered.

Lightning backed up immediately and refused to even look at Pin, who was probably a mess and kept making low sounds of pain and weakness. Two grinned at the sight, showing off their sharp teeth. "Get out of there.. you can take Tennisballs old room. You're going to be here for a while.. so make yourself comfortable!" Two called with a grin as Lightning had already flew off up the stairs as soon as he was able to get away from there, angry and upset. He felt terrible about everything.. he just wanted to be with his friends again. He already hated it here and he was terrified. He didn't want to do that again.. he didn't want to hurt anyone again. He didn't want to hurt his friends..

He needed to be alone..

---

Tree had spent a lot more time with Gaty ever since they had that talk.. but something had recently caught his attention. He heard on the intercom about the attack.. it was inevitable, and he hoped the group was okay, but now he knew there was no way he could get out of the base because there would be nowhere to go. The group wouldn't return to the lab after that..

He would have been more distraught if he was completely alone in this kind of situation, but now he somewhat had Gaty. He knew that Blackhole would be okay since Blackhole couldn't die.. he just hoped he was doing okay mentally after losing his friends.

Though.. he also heard about Lightning, which interested him immediately. Lightning had been WITH Blackhole right? .. so.. of course he could trust him. Tree was just surprised the group had managed to capture him.. he wondered why he couldn't protect himself. He could have just electrocuted them, right?

Either way.. Tree needed to speak with him. Not for any particularly bad reason just.. to show him that Lightning could trust him and he knew about the group, and was with Blackhole. Tree had went looking for him, and had caught a glimpse of him flying into Tennisballs old room while shutting the door loudly. He was upset... that was obvious.

Tree looked around the corner, before deciding to sneak over and head towards where the door was, curious. He made sure nobody was around by checking both of his sides before proceeding to knock quietly.

He waited and nothing seemed to happen. It was hard to tell what Lightning was doing since Tree couldn't exactly hear him walking around. He kept waiting for a moment or two, but nothing seemed to be happening. Was he ignoring him on purpose? Tree expected that.. he was probably scared to be in here. Lightning didn't know much about anyone and probably felt like he was in constant danger.

"Lightning? Please open the door. It's me.. Tree." He spoke up faintly, wanting him to feel safer. He wasn't sure what he was doing on the other side, stood staring at the door as he waited for any sign of movement. He felt somewhat relieved as the door opened briefly, Lightning peeking his face through the gap. He didn't look too happy.

"T-Tree? ..What do you want."  He mumbled from the other side. He forgot that Tree and Blackhole were friends.. so was a little confused. Though.. Tree didn't seem like the type to go crazy. At the same time.. that's what he thought about Balloony.

"Can we talk?" Tree requested softly, signalling to be let inside. "It's..important. You can trust me, okay?" He whispered the last part, weary of being heard. He didn't want to get caught being nice to Lightning and then Two hating him even more. Lightning seemed hesitant but proceeded to open it for him after a few moments, floating back to let him inside. "...Hi.." he weakly greeted, looking off shyly as he was still getting used to his room. He looked like he was looking outside.

Tree closed the door behind himself, letting it shut. "Look, Lightning." He began, catching Lightnings attention but he didn't look at Tree. "I-I heard what happened. I'm with Blackhole- you can trust me, okay? I'm on your side.. I want this all to be over, too." He got straight to the point.

Lightning slowly looked over.. he seemed hesitant to trust him, even if he looked like he really wanted to. "I..I don't know if you're lying. People always lie to me." He stammered slowly and held his arms, keeping his distance from him.

"What? Hasn't Blackhole told you that I helped you all save the prisoners? I would've escaped with him if Robot Flower could come with me." He defended.

Lightning remembered.. he seemed to think about it, he wasn't in a good headspace currently. He just lost his best friend..he was stuck in this stupid base and now he was going to be forced to hurt others... he had only just hurt Pin, so was struggling to think straight. "I..Im sorry. I forgot." He mumbled weakly, not putting up a fight as his gaze drifted away from Tree.

Tree softened up. "Don't..er, apologise. I didn't mean to come off angry." Tree reassured, but Lightning still looked bothered. ".. I want to get out of here too."

Lightning didn't reply for a moment, making Tree unsure on how he was feeling.  He then spoke up though.

"..I thought you couldn't? What.. about Robot Flower?" Lightning wondered quietly. Basketball never mentioned the security bot to the group so he wasn't aware. Tree seemed to look uncomfortable at the question, and Lightning felt bad and immediately wanted to retract his statement. "O-Oh, uh. Forget I said that." He quickly added on, nervous to piss off the only object that had been nice to him so far in this base.

"It's ..fine." Tree sighed faintly, going to lean his back against the door and bend his legs slightly. "..She.. was killed because ..I helped you all free the prisoners. " he admitted gradually. He seemed like he struggled to say that but.. before he wasn't even able to think about it

Lightning took a moment to understand what he said, feeling even worse that he was told that. "I-I..I ..uh-, I don't know what to say. Oh- I- I'm ..so sorry. I had no idea, honestly-" Lightning floated over to him in guilt. "Basketball never said.. I-I uh- I'm sorry for asking. ..I .didn't know that happened because of us. "

"It's.. okay. I'm getting better" Tree crossed his arms and straightened himself up.  "I.. don't think Blackhole knows I got caught...but enough about that."

Lightning observed him. Could he really trust him? He swore he remembered Blackhole mentioning Tree and everything he just...didn't want to make the mistake of being gullible again .. especially in this place. He was pretty sure Tree did help them.. though, and that was sweet of him. He sounded genuine when he said he wanted to get out of there ..were they really on the same page?

"..So..I-I can trust you? You're not playing with my feelings.. are you..?" Lightning repeated tiredly, playing with his hands anxiously. Tree could see the hurt in his face. "I..I don't wanna be taken for an idiot. So.. if you're fooling me and .. trying to gain my trust-"

"I-I'm not. I wouldn't do that." Tree sternly cut him off, making him look away. "I promise you I want to get out of here. I hate it here.. like I said, if it wasn't for Robot Flower I would've left with Blackhole. Though.. I'm kind of glad I didn't.. because I don't know what you would have done if you were on your own here.." he was talking about Gaty too but.. knew Lightning wouldn't understand that bit yet.

Lightning seemd a lot less tense and less on edge.. he softened up hearing Tree say that, and looked genuinely convinced, it was the most vivid Tree had seen him since he got into this room.. before he had just been fed up and sullen. Lightning flew down to him rapidly and hugged him tight, Tree taken by surprise at the unexpected gesture. "Thank you.." he told Tree through a pained voice, sounding truthful and sincere even if he sounded on the verge of tears. Tree wasn't good with hugs so awkwardly pat his back, knowing he was just really happy to know he wasn't alone in this situation.

Tree knew how it felt to feel alone and that there was nobody left he could trust or talk to.. he didn't want Lightning to feel like that - or trust the wrong person.. he needed Trees support. He knew that Lightning was trustworthy, so Tree wanted Lightning to feel the same about him.

"I..I need to be caught up on a few things. Do you mind if we talk about that? Two shouldn't come for you for a while.. neither myself." Tree requested as Lightning parted, a small fatigued smile on his face.

"..Uh huh.. " he accepted. Lightning felt a little more supported now he knew that there was at least.. someone he was able to trust. He should have remembered that Tree helped Blackhole when they were doing the raid. It was okay.. at least Lightning KNEW that he could trust Tree and that he had the same motives as himself.

--