The sun emerged from the clouds as dawn greeted the forest.. just another day in this nightmare. Golfball was prepared today, waking up everyone as usual to make sure they were awake and ready. They needed to be.. because the were all waiting for Gelatin and Lightning to return with the group. The more time they waited patiently.. the more they grew nervous, their minds answering their questions with the answers they didn't want.

It was a gloomy morning due to all the heavy topics, and the contagious worry that seemed to only spread the more it was expressed. Lollipop hadn't been herself all morning, a stick clutched in her hand as she dug it into a grassless area, sat upon a log that was next to their campfire, the warmth of its flames lapping against her face and legs. It was a cold morning with no rain, so Golfball set one up.

This would also help Firey and the others find them, due to the smoke.

Lollipop leaned on her hand, her elbow propped up on her leg as her gaze didn't budge from the ground. Jr was sat next to her on the floor, his legs to his chest as he watched her stress out. He wasn't sure how to help, looking across at everyone else.

The mood was also dull because of Liy.. nobody knew what to believe about her. Jr said his thoughts, but they were constantly changing. Maybe he was scared of the truth.. or didn't want to believe she could change. He didn't want to think about it, making an audible groan while leaning back on the ground behind him. Golfball had denied breakfast this morning because of the food supply, claiming they had to be careful with what they had.

"Why is nobody talkinggggg.." Jr complained aloud, laying on the ground so he would face the grey sky. Golfball rolled her eyes, "Tch, you know why. Do not make us explain what you already know, Jr."

"This is fucking boring. When is Gelatin gonna be back?" He whined, outstretching his hands and legs like a star, flopping them beside him.

"How should I know? I am not HIM." She replied a little more harsher than before, turning on her heel to look at the entrance of the lab. She had sent Snowball, Tree and Pen down there to go help with bringing up another crate for supplies, so was waiting for them too.

"Anytime soon.. " Basketball responded in a nicer way, smiling hopefully. It was weak, though, because she was scared of getting her hopes up.

"..I-I hope so." Tennisball whispered.

"Nah, they'll be fine. Lightning wouldn't let anything happen to Gelatin, plus he's got powers! If anything they'd be more likely to get lost." Blocky rocked side to side as he sat on the ground, his legs crossed while he leaned back. He was nervous too..he wasn't going to let that show though.

"Yeah, exactly. " Gaty nodded, trying to stay positive regardless of the situation. "Let's try not to stress too much about this, okay??" She looked around at each of them, observing their dull and struggled expressions. She wanted them to feel better.. she wanted LOLLIPOP to feel better.. but how could they.

They were constantly in worry.. everything had to go right for this to work the way they wanted it to.

"How are Snowball and the others doing?" Anchor decided to ask, trying to shift the conversation to something else more light-hearted. Basketball perked up and blinked, as if she had only just remembered. "R-Right! Uh, how long have they been gone..?" She requested the time.

"7 minutes.." Blackhole immediately responded, as if he had been counting or something. Though he was dead on, as Golfball nodded to confirm this. "Exactly! Somehow, Blackhole.. you have stated it spot on. I applaud you on your accuracy. But regardless, they should be here soon, so prepare to start building again. "

Blocky groaned, making Golfball glare at him immediately. However Eraser shared this same dread, letting out a long whine in response to this information. "Come onnnnn.. I wanna rest.."

"You can rest AFTER we are not fighting for our LIVES." She spat viciously, blunt but true. "Do the others a favour and stop being so LAZY. Get to work. You can go help the others in the basement." She instructed, using her foot to signal the direction of where they were.

Clock raised an eyebrow at her, peeking over at Eraser. "Uh, yeah..good luck with that." He wished Golfball faintly, but in all honesty didn't care. Anchors gaze drifted to the entrance, yet again concerned for the wellbeing of the objects. They seemed to be gone a while.. and everyone kept testing their luck by returning into that place so often.

"I'm so worried about Gelatin and Lightning.." Basketball voiced her concerns, turning back to the topic about him. "I..I.. just hope they're okay.. and that the syringe didn't wear off too soon.." she murmured, bringing her legs to her body, keeping close to the fire that provided warmth against her body and illuminated her shiny surface. Golfball seemed to take offense to this, scoffing.

"How dare you! My invention works PERFECTLY!!"

"I really hope they're okay too.." Tennisball hoped softly, his gaze directed to the floor before he pushed his glasses up his face. "I..I'd feel bad if it was all my fault.." he mindlessly muttered.

Why would he say that.. why would he say that..

He took back what he said immediately, feeling a pit of anxiety set itself in him as he heard his own words, keeping his gaze on the ground to avoid looking at anyone. He prayed someone else would swap the conversation topic so this could be brushed aside, holding his breath as his sickness seemed to grow at a rapid state.

It wasn't forgotten, though.

"What.. do you exactly mean by that? How could it possibly be your fault?" Lollipop had spoken for the first time in a while, looking up with judgmental confusion. Tennisball turned up to her slowly, trying to utter something to say to her, his words stuck in his throat.

Golfball stared, too, unable to say anything as she felt herself fall speechless. All eyes were on him, the only sound the continuous crackling of the fire.

Just on time..

"Guys! We got a box, but it's super fucking heavy!" Snowball yelled for help from where the entrance of the lab was, everyone's attention being directed towards here instead. Blocky and Eraser were the first to react, rushing over to aid the group. Blackhole also floated over, not like he could help but he wanted to make sure Tree was okay. Luckily this meant the attention was taken off Tennisball, but Lollipop was still looking at him.

Tennisball tried to avoid looking back at her, but he could feel her eyes burning into him, like she was trying to figure out what he meant.

"I-Is everything okay-?" Blocky huffed as he jogged over, watching as Snowball and Tree were holding the box from the sides on the second stair, Pen behind the crate. He was leaning back - it was clear it was weighing on him. "F-Fine! For now- please help!" Pen begged with strain, struggling to keep it up.

Blocky proceeded to try and grab underneath the crate, Eraser joining in, trying to hold it up with his single arm. They took some of the pressure off Pen, trying to help take it off the stairs and onto the surface. They were right.. this crate was EXTREMELY heavy.. this had to be the heaviest one that they had came across so far..

Tree grunted, his legs trembling as he peered up at the end of the stairs, closing his eyes as they lifted it slowly. "It's a miracle we are not DEAD already. That floor will collapse one day, I promise you." Tree spat, Blackhole backing up as they approached.

"Y-You got it.." he attempted to encourage the group, watching as they basically dropped the crate as soon as it was on the surface, it falling harshly onto the grass as the contents inside rattled against each other. Tree brushed off his sore hands and huffed, Blocky looking at each of them. "You guys okay??"

"Hardly." Tree muttered bitterly, but sighed, looking back a the heavy box on cue with curiosity. "What on earth could be so heavy?"

"Whatever it is, it better have been damn worth it!!" Snowball threatened fiercely, them not really sure who the threat was directed towards. Snowball put a hand on Pens panting back and directed him back to the campfire, letting the others deal with it.

Golfball came rushing over, interested. "Hm, I'm not sure I remember this one. Could someone please open it?" She requested.

She was joined by Anchor and Jr, as well as Clock. Eraser went back to the campfire since that was where Pen went. "What the heck is that-..." Clock stared up daugntingly at the huge crate that towered over him, stepping back to properly view it. Anchor limped over, leaning on his new crutch which Golfball had constructed out of materials, as originally he had been using a stick. "Wow.. that ..is big, isn't it?"

"So let's get this baby open!" Blocky beamed, before delivering a harsh kick right into the crate. It seemed to collapse on impact, everyone backing up as the parts fell one by one, releasing a puff of dirt into the air as they slammed onto the mud. The parts slumped out of the crate as it was opened, Golfball spending no time to wait around as she rushed up to it, trying to examine the pile.

"Hmm.. this just ..seems to be one of those swinging chairs from one of our very first challenges. Do you all remember that?" She poked around at it with her foot to examine it; from the looks of the pink colours this swing set in particular seemed to belong to Iance, and her suspicions were confirmed when she saw the teams logo poking out of the bars and parts.

"This may be useful. Keep it here." She demanded. Tree was annoyed, huffing as he was still catching his breath. "A-Are you kidding me?? We.. we did all.. of that ..for THIS? For goodness sake.."

"Yeah, how the hell is this junk gonna come in handy??" Jr criticised, earning a scoff from Golfball. "It may be useful in the FUTURE!! Like you would understand, you barely know the difference between an orange and an APPLE!!" She raged, turning to him and getting in his face. He pushed her back with his metal blaster. "Get the FUCK outta my-"

"Guys!!" Gelatin came running out of the forest close to the campfire, causing the tension between the group to immediately be dropped. Tree was the first to react, perking up and jogging over with his sudden gained energy, being followed by Blackhole. "Gelatin! You're back!" He narrated, amazed to see him all okay..

Gelatin panted and bent his knees, putting a hand on them, basically slurring his words. "Th..the ..others are behind.. me.. I.. saw the.. smoke and... -" he stopped to try and catch his breath, Pen getting up from his seat to give him a hug "Dude! You're okay!" He squeezed him tight. "Everyone has been so moody and tense without you.." Pen huffed.

"Hey! I have not!" Golfball retorted and rushed to defend herself by marching over, joined by the others who had been by the crate. "But what a delight! How nice to see you back, Gelatin. I don't suppose you-"

"Guys!!" Firey came sprinting out of the forest, joined by Lightning, Shampoo and Stapy shortly after. Firey couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the big group of objects, stopping abruptly and skidding on the ground. "H-Holy.." he was at a loss for words, observing each of their faces.

He wanted to hug them but he knew he couldn't due to not being metal. He was immediately surrounded by Blocky, Pen, Eraser and Clock, who were all extremely happy to see him well and okay. "Firey! Holy shit, dude! It's been so long! How are ya??" Blocky immediately wondered, amazed to see him.. he looked hardly injured, too, apart from his missing arm.

Firey couldn't speak, no words were able to leave his mouth, they were all caught in his throat. He was overwhelmed in a good way.. all of these friends that he hadn't seen for so long, that he had assumed dead long ago.. they were all okay. Eraser was the only one who could hug him due to his high fire resistance, so did that.

"Nice to have you back.." Pen greeted from the side, swinging his arms with glee as he watched the two of them hug. Eraser then pulled away and pat Fireys back, grinning at him enthustically. Firey looked absolutely amazed, he promised himself he wouldn't cry but he was finding it difficult .."..Oh..Oh ..fuck..man.."  he breathed in disbelief.

"When did you get a debuter?" Golfball straightforwardly quizzed, confused at the sight of Shampoo, having assumed apart from Anchor there were no more in the forest alive. Shampoo shyly waved, "Nice to meet you too." He said with mild offense.

"Sh-Shampoo!" Anchor exclaimed, trying to make his way over to him slowly, struggling because of his leg. Shampoo perked up, looking in the direction of where his name was called.. no way..

So it was right.... Shampoo ran over to him and crashed head into him, hugging the other object closely. "I-I thought I.. I was the only one left... for so long.. You're okay?!" Shampoo cried breathlessly, parting and locking eyes with Anchor while he clutched his shoulder. Anchor nodded a few times, a weak smile invading his face. "I..I am. I.. I thought everyone else was dead, too.." he uttered in confession, wrapping his arm around Shampoos back.

Shampoo leaned into him, embracing him and closing his eyes. This was such a relief..this.. he had needed this. He genuinely thought there were no other debuters left for so long.. apart from the ones in the warehouse. This was amazing.. he.. hadn't felt this good in a while. He had been told Anchor was alive but.. to see him actually there..

Lightning was greeted by Tree, who was really happy to see he was okay. They exchanged a lengthy hug, Stapy watching everyone greet each other. Hm.. he didn't..really have anyone here that he was particularly close to. The only object who he had ever really spoken to had been Eraser..only because they had been on the same team in the competition.

Everyone else he had known well was dead, or insane. That kind of sucked but.. he wasn't going to get upset about it. He frowned and hopped over to where everyone was, making a startled cry in reflex as soon as someone said his name.

"Yo, Stapy." Eraser greeted, giving him a  finger gun with his hand, causing the chain on his arm to jingle. "Kind of been a while, huh??" He seemed pretty friendly, surprising Stapy.. the only thing the two really had in common was the fact they had been from the same team.. and had been kidnapped by said team and tortured. Damn..

"Uh, hey.. yeah.. it has." He murmured, looking up at the taller object.

Eraser bit his lip as he watched him.. admittedly he did feel bad because Stapy didn't really have anyone right now. He was pretty sure he had to kill Foldy a while ago, and Marker had died as far as Eraser could recall. He wasn't sure how.. "Look, I know you don't exactly know many of the objects here." Eraser pointed out, shrugging. "Butcha got me. And if you ever wanna talk to someone who ain't Firey, I'm here, you can hang with Clock n me, or Blocky.. you get it." He offered confidently. Stapy was confused more than surprised.. Eraser was so much different.

Everyone was.. so much different.

"Thank you.." he whispered. You could clearly hear the appreciation in his voice.

"Everyone!" Golfball called out, trying to grab all of their attention. "As nice as this is, we need to work on our new plan of action.. we can't waste any more time, so save the hugs for later." She instructed, objects beginning to group around her.

"What plan of action?" Firey wondered, turning around to view her.

Golfball looked back at him. "Saving Coiny."

---

Barfbag and Loser had been talking a lot about Liy throughout the morning, as well as how they could adjust their plan due to their new idea. They wanted to try and find a way to prompt Two with the idea of making an army of everyones own friends, which should motivate Two to want to make that device, which they could steal from them.

Barfbag had made sure to put the file back, as she was aware Two might go looking for it since it was important, and also updated a lot. If they found out someone knew what Liy was, that might discourage Two to go through with their cloning plan.. which neither of them wanted.

Unfortunately.. their plans were completely ruined, as later into the morning Two came up to them and asked them if either of them knew anything about the note that had been left on their desk. Of course they didn't, Loser didn't.. Barfbag didn't, so said no. But this suddenly screwed everything up for them.

Now Two knew about the powers..THEY would want it. This messed up everything the pair had been working towards.. everything they had put all their work into. Someone did this on purpose.. someone who wanted to ruin their plans. Barfbag trusted Loser wouldn't do that, because he seemed genuinely shocked like he was hearing it for the first time. The two had to play it off like they had no idea what the note meant at all, including the part about Fours powers.

How could someone do this.. more importantly WHO. It had to be someone who knew about Donuts powers and were in the base..someone who wanted to screw up Barfbags plans.. someone who wanted to sabotage her. The first person who came to mind.. it would have to be him. Nobody else fit into that criteria THAT well except HIM. It may have been Liy or Coiny.. but they knew what repercussions there would be from that.. it was most likely someone who knew there would be no consequences. So Barfbag and Loser decided to give him a visit.

Barfbag didn't bother knocking, kicking open the door to Yellows room in a violent rage, followed by Loser who held up his gun as he ran in, pointing it around and holding it in place as soon as he saw Yellow, keeping it directed at him. Yellow was surprised, wincing as Barfbag slammed the door shut and clicked her fingers, growling lowly.

"What the fuck is your problem?!" She roared, growling through gritted teeth as she looked like she wanted to tear him to shreads. Yellow was more than confused, blinking as he tried to understand the situation. "E-Excuse me?! How DARE you come in here and-"

He winced as Loser shoved the gun up against his head, pressing the cold end against his forehead. Yf stared at the crystal cube, at a loss for words. "What the hell do you think you are doing.." he was startled of course, unsure on why the two of them were attacking him like this.

"Don't fucking play DUMB. You know exactly why we are here. Now be a dear and stop pretending, hm?" Loser hummed with mock politeness, his eyes sharply staring into Yellows. Yellow couldn't focus with the both of them up in his face, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Hang ON. Seriously- what the hell are you doing?!" He opened them again, sounding more fearful than anything else. "You don't ACTUALLY want to do this, do you, Loser?"

Loser stared into his eyes and didn't speak for a moment, wincing as he was whacked by Barfbag unexpectedly, "Ow! What the.." he rubbed his face where he had been hit, before glaring back down at Yellow. "Stop trying to use your hypnotism bullshit on me. You know EXACTLY what we are talking about .."

"This may be a shocker to you, but I DON'T." Yellow retorted, glaring back at him, showing aggression despite being at gunpoint. Barfbag was close to losing it, snatching up the gun in her own hands and pressing it roughly against Yellows face, driven by the need for revenge. "The NOTE. The one you LEFT TWO. The one that says that DONUT HAS FOURS POWERS. You left it because YOU'RE a spiteful prick and don't like the fact we're EXCLUDING YOU!!" Barfbag accused and screamed in his face, him wincing each time she raised her voice. He seemed frustrated.

"Are you kidding me?! I don't give a DAMN about your stupid plans. Why the hell would I sabotage you for?! I can't stand Two either, remember?! Or did that slip from your tiny brain?!" He defended himself.

Barfbag glared at him aggressively as he shot his words back at her.. but..

It.. didn't seem like a lie. He.. genuinely looked like he had no idea what they were talking about.

"Now get the hell out of my room before I decide to ACTUALLY sabotage you." He lowly threatened, his voice calm to intimidate them. "I think enough damage has been done today, don't you?"

Barfbag couldn't speak. Loser felt angered.. because now he wasn't sure what to do. Could this actually have been Liy afterall? Barfbag growled before spilling and yelling an incomprehensible sound of anger, turning and yanking the gun away from Yellows head. She stormed off to where the door was, signalling to Loser they should go.

Loser examined Yellow with skepticism, before following her.

---