After having that conversation with Fries, Donut went down to have breakfast with him and think about what they talked about. They parted once they got close to the cafeteria so nobody would get suspicious. He felt somewhat bad for him because he knew he would have to be surrounded by the worst group of objects, but.. didn't have a choice. He knew Fries was strong enough to handle their bullshit anyways..

He went to go get some food from the front and walked to go sit down on his usual table where he assumed his friends would be. He gently dropped his plate on the wooden table, raising an eyebrow and looking to his left, then his right.

"Hey.. Barfbag, where's Gelatin?" Donut asked, in slight concern. She shrugged, leaning on her arm as she chewed her food. "Sorry, Donut.. I don't really know.." she nervously laughed "He er.. left pretty soon after he got here. Why?"

Donut groaned quietly in frustration and plopped himself down, huffing "No reason.. it's just odd of him to be distant. Usually he's all up in my face." He pointed out, Barfbag giving a soft expression of concern upon hearing this.. she knew that but.. now that she thought about it, it was rather strange he wasn't here.

"I thought you didn't like that?" She sat up straight. Donut scoffed "Well, yes! But, no.. ugh, you get what I'm saying, Barfy." He mumbled, flicking his pancake with his finger "I'm not really that hungry anymore... I lost my appetite." He pushed his plate away in annoyance, looking to the side. She gave a awkward chuckle "I thought food objects never got hungry?" He glared at her, making her stop.

It wasn't like Gelatin to be avoidant..was something wrong? He wanted to check up on him but he wasn't sure where he was.. and neither did Barfbag, which worried him... a lot.

"I'm sure he's fineee.." she reassured, going to reach out and hold his hand to comfort him "Hey! I-If ... he still hasn't talked to you by later, we can go talk to him, okay? I'm sure he's.. hangin' around somewhere.."

Donut groaned and pulled his hand away, burying his face in his arms. "Fineee.." he muttered, making her smile "Do you know what Two was doing yesterday? They were busy for a little while.." Donut looked up from his arms, waiting for an answer tiredly.

"I'm..eh, I don't know that either, sorry. " she rubbed the back of her head, him frowning. "I didn't ..see much on the cameras? I'm basically the only person working with the cameras now, you see. And.. it's actually okay? Despite me being tired all the time.. I quite like it."

"Oh? Well, I'm happy for you." He congratulated, "Does Tennisball not help?"

"He insisted but, I said it was fine and that I was okay on my own. He needs to have a break anyways...poor guy." She disclosed.

"Y-Yeah."

"S-Speaking! Of er.. my job." She looked around to check if anyone was potentially watching them. They weren't. "I.. need to talk to you." She firmly informed. Donut was a little astonished at her sudden serious tone.

"Wh-What?" Donut was a little hesitant..what was this about? He tried to think of what possible things she would want to talk about, a little intimidated by the sudden mood change. He really hoped it was nothing bad.

She leaned in closely, being careful as she held the edge of the table with her hands. She knew they wouldn't be able to be heard very well over the crowd talking.. though "Well, I.." she locked eyes with him, nervous she was actually going to bring this up.

"Because I've had access to all the ..video footage, I..I know."

"You ..know?" He didn't know what that meant.

"I know ..everything. " she softly whispered, hoping not to startle him. "Gelatin- you, the powers.. Fries, the amnesia stuff. It was.. hard to adjust and take in on my own, but.. I've gotten over it by now." She revealed very quietly, Donut staring in awe "I-Its, aha, really obvious on all the cameras, Donut. I watched Fries go into the office and, the cameras pick up audio, and they have cameras outside of the base." Barfbag admitted, twirling her hand as she spoke. "I watched Price Tag and Naily escape and.. a few other things. That's all I really know.." she wasn't aware of Basketball.

Donut stared right at her, trying to find the right words to say. She knew.. everything? But.. Fries didn't want anyone else to know.. what if she told someone or someone found out she knew? What if Two found out she knew something or.. what if Gelatin got upset that she knew about this whole Two thing? Oh god.. he didn't mean to drag everyone into this.. he didn't want this to happen, all his close friends..she noticed the worried expression on his face and his inability to speak, so cut in.

"I-I'm not going to say anything. We're friends..okay? And.. I don't want this whole Two stuff to continue.. so of course I'm with you on this." She whispered softly, checking her surroundings once more. "I deleted all the footage .. so.." she added.

"Y-You did?" He stammered.

"I did." She sighed, a little relieved at the fact "All the.. important stuff, so nobody can find it. Didn't you try to hide it a little better Donut?.." she nervously laughed, joking "I-Ive known for a little while.."

He crossed his arms.  "I didn't realise it was that.. obvious to you." He grumbled, looking around wearily "Er.. well..I.." he looked away from her "H..How do you feel about it?"

"I-I was shocked, of course.." she traced the rim of her teacup that sat in front of her on the table "I really didn't..expect you to have ..that." she whispered, shocked "Or.. Four to be dead. But.. honestly, it could be worse."

"Wh-What do you mean..?"

"Well, you know! It's..you." She gave a comforting smile, him confused at what the hell she was talking about. "If anyone.. can do this.. it's you. I've known you for long enough to know that.. you've got this. Okay..? I believe in you." She mumbled.

He stubbornly looked down, a little embarrassed"I-..I hope.." he uttered "I'm..sorry for not telling you. I.. don't really like telling others. It feels like  ..a lot of pressure, all the time.."

"I-I get it." She assured, going to hold his shoulder "Just know that I've got your back. If.. you ever need me.. you can talk to me, okay? You can trust me.."

She glanced behind Donut, observing Fries and letting go of his shoulder. "I'm..still shocked about him."

"Who? Fries?" He kept his voice down, not looking over so it wasn't suspicious. "Y-Yeah its er... it was definitely something.. to hear that."

"He pulls it off well." He mumured. She nodded in agreement "Welll..yeeaahh but.. isn't what he doing doing extremely dangerous? I-Ive seen him be risky, it's.. a little scary."

"Y-Yeah.. I've told him to be careful." Donut sighed disappointedly "He freed Stapy and everything..talks to the prisoners and stuff." He was nervous talking about this in the open, kind of regretting it and lowering his voice suddenly "..C-Could.. we talk about this another time? I'm..fearful someone will hear." He admitted, clearly unsure.

She nodded softly and leaned back "Yeah.. of course." She rubbed her eye with the side of her fist "I'm just.. glad to know we are in this together. "

"Y-Yeah.." Donut looked to the side, thinking about this for a moment.."I-Ill need to tell Gelatin that you-" he paused, realizing.."O-Oh, right.."

"What?"

"Fries doesn't want anyone knowing about him so.. I can't tell Gelatin. It also means you have to pretend you don't know, too." Donut firmly informed, quiet. "He doesn't want to seem suspicious... so just..pretend like you still hate him, okay?"

"That's fairr.." she sighed slowly "Well...tell Gelatin about me when you're ready. I'm..sure he won't mind." She gave a grin, looking at his food. "You gonna eat that?"

"...No, you can have it." Donut stood, brushing himself off "I need to go find Gelatin..I haven't seen him in a while.."

"Yeah- okay." She slid his plate in front of her "I'll see you soon, Donut." She smiled, waving softly.

"You too.." He replied quickly, before rushing to leave the cafeteria, pushing the doors open and letting them swing shut behind him.

---

"I wonder what this peculiar change of weather is because of? Golfball wondered aloud, squinting and kicking some of the snow. The snow was melted a little, and was now semi-sludge.

Golfball and Blocky decided to go outside for the morning just to get a breather. Blocky thought a lot about Pen over night,
and after their talk yesterday Golfball felt a weird..close connection with Blocky. Like.. she trusted him. She thought a lot about that.. so.. both of them needed air.

She didn't usually trust people, so fould it strange. She never really liked or.. relied on people..

Only Tennisball really filled that gap.

Eraser had been somewhat close to her, and the others were too, but with Blocky it felt like.. a close friendship. Like she could rely and share feelings with someone, like she knew it was okay too.

She would never act that way with Lollipop or Pen.. so..

She figured it was because of their history, but it was messing with her head. She felt different and more sympathetic, more softer and selfless. She didn't like it.. but, all it did for her was good. So.. why didn't she enjoy it?

Blocky had been the one to offer going outside.. he knew that it would be nice to just..have a walk around. They were currently on their way back, talking casually about anything that their minds came across.

"Eh, maybe it's finally just clearing up? Thank goodness, it's been so cold." He awkwardly laughed, putting his hands on his sides "I'm sure everyone else in the forest is just as glad.. I mean, I wonder how they even slept through that weather?"

His words stung because he thought of Pen, wanting to retract his comment. Golfball didn't pick that up, though "Hm? Well, they would have needed to find a shelter or something. That's what my group had to do whenever there was rain, because it damaged half of us." She commented.

"Oh, yeah! I heard along some sort of conversation that .. you guys were outside for a while. Wanna tell me more 'bout that?" He wondered, crossing his arms and grinning at her smugly.

"What?" She turned to him bitterly "Why ever would you want to know about that?"

"Just curious!" he defensively grinned "I-I wanna know more about you guysss come onnnn.." he nudged her, provoking her.

She sighed longingly, frowning and going to take off her glasses, attempting to wipe them off from the water from the melting snow "Fine.. well." she put them back on, thinking of how to start.

"Me, 8-ball, Lollipop, Bomby, Firey Jr, Lightning and Fanny had gradually met up together outdoors and were searching around for my lab, because we knew it would be good for repairs and shelter.. food, you get it." She began.

"How did you all meet up?" Blocky questioned. She glared "Why so nosy?! Well, me and 8-ball had..er, well whatever! It was me and him, we met with Lollipop, who I think was split from her friends.. then Jr and Bomby, and finally the other two," she huffed. Blocky nodded "I seeee.." he seemed interested, watching as she looked at the ground..almost somber?

"Since it was raining one day, we had to find a shelter. The rain was bad, and Jr, Lightning and Fanny were getting injured because of their object type.. we ran to find the lab, but Fanny wasn't working."

"O-Oh? I didn't know that happened.."

"We went into the lab to find Pen, Pillow and Blackhole." She stated. Blocky looked to the side about the mention of Pen, going to snap a stick off a tree as he passed it "Really? I wonder what happened with them."

"No idea." She grumbled, almost frustrated "But, we went up Fanny. Well, I did, because the others were stupid enough to just try and change her battery!" She frustratingly snapped. Blocky snickered "Oh yeah?"

"Yes! Well, I connected Fanny and Lightning together and fixed up the others as promised. So.. THATS why they have all those robot parts."

He hit the branches with the stick as he passed them, walking up a hill with her.. he remembered what she had talked about yesterday, with the robotic enhancements and what she was ..originally going to do with them. "Hey..Golfball?"

"What."

"..You.. were saying yesterday." He softly hit a branch "About the enhancements..yknow, what they were intended for? You never finished.."

She frowned, squinting at the ground.. oh.. "Oh. I hoped you would forget about that." She muttered under her breath. "Uh, It's not important. " she excused.

"Uhh, yeah it is!" He argued "You can't just not tell me! You were about to."

"Well, now I changed my mind." She stubbornly huffed. He dropped the stick "You can't just do that! Look, Gb, I'm..concerned." he admitted, her scoffing and rolling her eyes.

"Well, don't be!"

"Then tell me what you were going to do." Blocky replied sternly. She was surprised at his serious tone, groaning longingly and closing her eyes. "Seriously??" She hissed.

"W-Well..I.." she scuffed her foot, looking down to the ground. "You.. can't tell any of them. Mainly because.. I'm..not like that anymore and.. I just want them to believe I was doing it to help them.."

He squinted..he was a little weary again of what her true intentions were behind fixing everyone up with those upgrades...and possibly the others in the future. "..Why were you originally doing it, then?"

She braced herself, trying to find a way to speak. He didn't inturrpt her or tell her to hurry up, looking at the ground too and kicking some of the wet snow out of his way as they were nearing close to the base by now.

"I.."

She shook her head slowly and shamefully.

"It was.. to control them. I was going to make them all serve me, so..I could take over Two.."

Blocky didn't respond for a moment, just trying to find a way to .. process that. He suddenly felt heavy with pressure, and nervousness that sunk deep inside him. She noticed he didn't respond, so felt anxious too.

"Y-You asked!" She defensively spat, looking to the side. "And, anyways! I'm...not doing that anymore!" She quickly tried to cover it up, nervous from being open.

"I-..I know.." Blocky felt a little upset at the thought..the fact she fully planned to do that to the others. "..What were you.. going to do with Blackhole? There's no way you could control him.."

She swallowed softly "..Blackmail him." She embarrassedly admitted, ashamed. Blocky remembered what Blackhole told him a few days ago...about what she said to him. That she blackmailed him.. she really wasn't joking, she was actually planning to go through with that. She had..already started.

She had backed out now.. though. Even if damage had still been done. This.. still didn't help him determine how to feel. That was.. a lot to ..process.

Was that why she made RobotTb? To not only fill that gap but to.. make herself feel like she had control over him?

"I..wouldn't have guessed that." He stuttered, mildly uncomfortable. "Were you..really going to do that to everyone?"

"I..was stupid." She whsipered. "I.. was blinded by hate."

"What changed?" He inturrpted, wanting to know why she no longer felt this way. "Why only now,"

She softly looked to the side, looking towards the icy trees, admiring the frosted wood. "You.."

Blocky didn't get the chance to reply, as the two had just arrived at the enterance of the base. Blocky stumbled as he didn't realise they had been so close, staring at it "O-Oh, uh-"

"Looks like we are here!" She exclaimed suddenly, completely disregarding the previous conversation and marching her way down the stairs. Blocky stared, before catching up "But!-"

She didn't stay to listen, knocking on the door to the base loudly to cut him off "Hellooo? Its us! Let us in!" She shouted, staring up at it and hoping they would hear

Blocky caught up, crossing his arms. He looked to the ground and scuffed his foot, waiting... guess there was no use in arguing with her.. he was still a little.. surprised. Even so ..he promised he wouldn't tell anyone.

They kept wating.

"What's taking so long?" She hissed loudly, peering into the security camera, peeking at it with one eye "Helloo?? Its us!" She yelled louder, making Blocky squeeze his eyes shut and cover his ears.

"Golfball! Don't shout like that!" He complained, glaring over at her and lightly pushing her with his finger. She stumbled, yelping "Gaah!" I'm sorry, did you want me to whisper at the door?!" She retorted.

"How long were we gone for..?" Blocky wondered, knocking instead. "You don't think.... anything happened, do you?" He lowered his voice nearing the end of his sentence. He hated to think that ..but..

"We were gone for hardly 20 minutes!" She fumed, stomping her foot down. "What is the meaning of this?! Blocky, hit the door harder!" She shouted in demand, gritting her teeth.

"And break my arm?!"

Finally, the door opened, Blocky retracting his hand. Lightning and Fanny stood in the doorway, Lightning fumbling with his hands and Fanny miserable as always.. but.. more than usual. "I HATE PRICETAG!" She raged, Blocky raising an eyebrow.

"Ooh boy." He muttered, looking past the two of them to see the arguement that as occurring in the background.. it looked messy..something had definitely happened while they were gone, and it DEFINITELY wasn't good.

Lightning twiddled his fingers "I-It happened when you left. It's..uhh, not great." He cautioned, looking across the room behind himseld. "I-I tried to help but-!"

"You made it worse." Fanny cut in sharply. Lightning pouted, embarrassed "At least I triieddd.."

Golfball pushed past them angrily, stomping her way over as she was outraged by the sight of a dispute happening right in front of her. Well.. the more she looked the more it seemed like a fight.. she gritted her teeth, enraged.

Bomby was viciously shouting away at Price Tag, Jr by his side and interjecting now and again, Price Tag shouting back. Woody was sobbing in the corner, Blackhole awkward saying "Guys," or "Guys, please-" over and over in a helpless attempt at stopping them. 8-ball wasn't there so she assumed he was guarding Liy, and Lollipop was adding in now and again too. Naily wasn't..arguing. She seemed rather upset, actually.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?!" Golfball roared, making everyone be quiet at the sound of her booming voice. Blocky caught up to her "What the-" he noticed that Woody was crying and buried his his arms, immediately occupying himself by going to comfort him, the sight fuelling his anger.

"H-Hey! Little guy- what's wrong?-" Blocky stammered, surprised at how emotional he was. Woody didn't reply through his relentless wails, so Blocky just decided to hug him and rub his back to calm him.

Blackhole was relieved, floating up to Golfball "Thank gosh you're both here.. I-I can't really... stop them." He told. Bomby growled and stomped his foot down, his hand balled into a fist. "I can't STAND them being around anymore!" Bomby screamed "They are driving me CRAZY!" He wanted to rip them in two.

"You're driving everyone else crazy while screaming like a maniac." Price Tag sneered, Bomby about to lunge at them, but Lollipop attempted to hold him back, grunting and wincing.

"What the hell happened?!" Golfball demanded an answer, looking around at everyone expectantly. Lollipop snorted, grunting as she tugged Bomby backwards. "Oh, you're going to enjoy this, Golfball. I have to say I am... rather disappointed.." she hissed, struggling to keep him back.

"What?! What is it?!"

"We overheard Price Tag talking to NAILY!!" Fanny exclaimed, pushing her face right up against Price Tag, making them fall over. "They LIED about Snowball. They just wanted to CAUSE PROBLEMS! Well.. Bomby overheard her." She muttered after.

"See? He's a total liar." They scoffed in disbelief, Fanny growling. "I would never lie about that! Why would I do that?" They lied.

"You tell ME! You're the one who did! Naily! Wh-Why did you go along with this..? I-I thought we were friends..?" Bomby pushed Lollipop away, looking over to Naily with sorrow.. and.. disappointment. He felt betrayed.

She felt her lip quivering..she was so upset. She was on the verge of losing all her friends.

"Is this really a lie?!" Golfball raged, glaring at Price Tag. "This whole time, you were fibbing?!" Blocky looked over, his eye twitching "..Why the hell would you lie about that?!" He seemed genuinely mad. He knew Bomby wouldn't just.. lie for no good reason... so he believed him.

Jr crossed his arms, "Pfft, we should just kick them out! Both of them, all they have caused are problems!" He yelled, looking at everyone for their response, tapping his foot.

"I didn't lie!" Price Tag kept repeating "Ughh, are you kidding me?! You guys are such jerks!"

"I had a feeling what you said about Snowball wasn't true.." Blocky glared, frustrated. He looked to Woody and rubbed his arm as he had finally managed to calm down, sniffling as Blocky shook his head "Why would you.. just.. make that up? To upset me..?" He asked Pt, without looking at them.

"Naily, you agreed about Snowball being dead." Lollipop commented, turning to her.

"Is this really true?"

Naily couldn't speak still. Her legs felt so wobbly. She noticed that everyone was looking at her for an expectant answer, her on the verge of tears. They hated her.. she should have never have agreed. She should have stood up to Price Tag. She felt like such an idiot..she felt.. horrible.

"I-.I'm sorry-" she choked, closing her eyes with a soft sob as her voice broke. She couldn't handle the stress of everyone asking her questions, turning and running off, crying quietly. She ran to where the basement was, wanting to hide. Just.. be somewhere..anywhere that wasn't there

"N-Naily!" Bomby cried out, wanting to go get her. Price Tag scoffed, tutting "Jeez! She's so sensitive, ughh!" Taggy was getting really annoyed with her, Bomby turning to them "Well YOU'RE AN UTTER-"

"Guys! That is enough, I have HAD it with this!" Golfball thundered, continuing to explain some sort of conclusion after.. Jr didn't listen, hearing her talk in the background.. but didn't listen.

He just stared at the basement..he felt.. oddly guilty? He went to slip past Bomby and everyone else, making his way to where the basement was, holding his arm... he.. did feel a little bad for what he said. It wasn't really..HER fault.

"Naily?" He gently called, walking down the stairs blindly, going to hold onto the wall for support, his body was a small source of light amongst the dark and eerie basement.

He got to the bottom of the stairs, looking off into the darkness "Naily..?" He said more softly, gulping from the feeling of guilt that set inside him. "I know you're here.. " he huffed, bothered by the lack of response.

He heard a gentle sob, making him turn around to where it came from. "Naily??" He repeated, listening to her sniffle "Go away.." she hicked, embarrassed and upset.

"No." He firmly replied, drawing towards the sound of her voice "Jeez.. you didn't need to run away like that.."

"Are you j-just.. here to make fun of me??" She whimpered, her voice uneasy. He groaned "No! Just ..ughh..what's..up with Price Tag? Is what they said really a lie?? And why the hell did you go through with it???"

She looked down. "I don't..know.." she whispered "I felt like..I needed to.."

Jr didn't respond, frowning as they were both left in silence. He noticed her so went to slowly walk up to her, sitting next to her.

"So..they were lying?"

Naily felt the warmth of his fire body, glancing to him with a sad expression "..I-..I don't know why.." she looked down, closing her eyes "..I-I thought they were nice but ..I..should've seen the red flags.." she whispered, trailing off.

Jr felt awkward having to comfort her, trying to think of something to say to her "..Why can't you just tell the others that they're a dick and you didn't want to agree with them??" Jr scoffed, as if it was that easy.

Naily whined "They all hate me! I don't blame them.." she was ashamed, pulling her legs close to herself "I-Im..so sorry ..we should have never have come here.." she mumured.

Jr looked to the side.. he felt.. weirdly guilty for her. He usually couldn't stand her but.. this time he knew it wasn't her fault. "Don't say that-"

"Why not?" She spat, her voice wobbly. "You don't want me here.. either. I'm just.. a nuisance.."

"I don't-"

"You literally said you wanted me gone, Jr! Just admit it.. you don't want me here.." she shuffled away from him "You don't want me..alive.."

"N-No! I-..I don't want anyone dead-" he stammered, moving close and trying to put his hand on her to comfort her. She looked to the side "I-I..Look.. I'm..sorry for being hard on you..okay? Happy now?" He grumbled, unhappy "I don't.. want you to feel like this."

"..I'm..sorry for disrupting eveything. " she apologised. He shook his head "It ain't your fault.. it's THEIRS."

She looked over at him slowly..he seemed genuinely..sorry for being mean. "Th-Thanks.. Jr... You.. didn't have to come down here.." she sniffled, looking to the side. "I still feel..awful. "

"Why are you even still hanging around with them if they're so nasty??" Jr asked, bitter

While the other two talked, the rest of the group were left to deal with Price Tag. Golfball admitted she didn't want to get rid of Naily, and Bomby protested against the idea anyways. He would not let them kick her out.. she wasn't to blame for Price Tags behaviour..and she seemed genuinely sorry for what she did.

So while she was busy ..they decided to kick Price Tag out.

She wouldn't have a say in it so she couldn't..defend them or get upset..but basically none of them really wanted Taggy there anymore.

They would just.. have to learn to survive on their own.

So.. they kicked them out.

---

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 30K READS!!! IM SO GRATEFUL THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH 😭😭😭