Everyone had went to rest over the course of the night, and morning finally and eventually once again came. It felt like everyday there was something else that made everything just a little bit worse, waking up just felt like a chore at this point.

Most of the objects on Twos side were having breakfast in the cafeteria. Barfbag was sat alone, boredly twisting her spoon in her cereal and catching the small bits in the milk, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Last night had been interesting.. she was looking forward to using Price Tag to her own will. She told Yellowface and he too was just as excited.

Now they could do risky things without doing it themselves personally. They had been wanting to get something from Twos office for a while, so this would be the perfect opportunity, as they wouldn't have to do it themselves. None of them felt guilty for Price Tag, I mean, they must have done something to have to be forced to come home after going through all that trouble to escape.

She felt her spoon clink against the bowl as she boredly mixed the cereal, jumping as Gelatin suddenly spoke up from nowhere, dropping it in her bowl "Yo Barfbag! Uhh, watcha doing?" He sat down in front of her, grinning. He seemed less positive than usually but he was clearly making an effort.

"Huh? Oh.. eating. I'm so tired." She yawned, frowning at the sight of her spoon. Gelatin watched, raising an eyebrow "Jeez.. what were you doing all night? Partying?" He joked playfully. She forced a chuckle, going to nudge him "Noo-... just a long night last night, thats all.."

"Eh.. its okay, me too.." he rubbed his eyes with his fist. He felt like asking where Donut was but.. he also felt awkward doing so. He did feel a little bad for how he acted.. he had been upset so hadn't talked to him with his usual mindset. However he was.. definitely still upset over what Donut did. He was still lying and hiding something and he didn't know why.

He did hope he was okay, though.

She noticed that Gelatin seemed quite distant, so cleared her throat and tried to start another conversation, not wanting to deal with the awkward conversation "How have you been feeling lately yourself?? You always worry about others and never.. you, ha."

"Huh?" He stopped daydreaming, half interested "Yeah I'm good. Could be better but, couldn't we all." He chuckled but trailed off, leaning on his arm on the table, glancing off to the side. "Me and Donut.. fell out."

"Awh.. really?" She seemed upset by the news but she wasn't, she was actually very pleased that he was talking about this. "Er.. what happened? If you don't mind me asking.."

He shrugged, tracing the table with his hand "..Donuts..just been super weird lately.." he couldn't tell her why, unaware that she already KNEW why. "It's kind of personal but.. he hurt me because of it and I snapped at him. We haven't spoken since..." he revealed quietly.

"Oh.. I'm sorry." She apologised with fake guilt "..Do you think you'll make up again soon?"

"Well, duh, I hope so." He tried to force a smile, looking off to the side as he was clearly unsure, though. "It's just.. difficult because of what happened, you see.. I think I went a little far. But honestly, I've been chill with him sooooo many times already! You get me??" 

She nodded "Y-Yeah, yeah, I get your point. " she rubbed the back of her head. Gelatin exhaled softly, sitting up "Sorry for ranting about this. You probably have er.. other things on your mind.."

"Ohnono, its okay!" She reassured and shook her hands in defense, trying to make a soft laugh to help him feel better. "I hope you feel better soon.. I'm sure you and Donut will come around.."

"I hope so, haaa." Gelatin faltered and leaned on the table again, hunching over it. He quickly perked up as he noticed Donut enter the cafeteria, sitting up instantly at the sight of him, gripping onto the sides tensly. "Ohh godd.."

"What?" She turned over to where he was looking, Gelatin grabbing her in a panic to make her look away, her a little startled. "H-Hey! Don't look at him too! It'll be weird!" He whisper shouted.

Gelatin glanced towards him out of the corner of his eye. Donut seemed to notice that Gelatin and Barfbag were together and became noticeably startled, turning around to leave to not be a problem, not even attempting to come over or even sit at another table. Gelatin felt guilty seeing him react like that, watching as he left the cafeteria..

He seemed like he was really distancing himself from him.. he hesitated as he watched him leave through the doors and ..noticed that Donut had.. bandages on his arms? He hadn't realised it before, he didn't .. remember him having them before. They must've been recent wounds.. what happened?

"H-Hey, did you notice the bandages on his arms?" Gelatin poitnted out worriedly and looked back towards Barfbag, who flinched at the question. "H-Huh? Oh, ..yeah? I did.. that's ..so weird, right?"

"It.. is.. " Gelatin trailed off, looking at the table and feeling mild regret "..Ohh.. something must've happened. Do you think he's okay? Maybe I should talk to him.. "

"I'm.. sure he's alright.." Barfbag reassured, leaning over the table to put a hand on his shoulder, him looking up at her with uncertainty."I doubt its anything bad.." she concluded with great confidence.

"You don't think I should talk to him?"

"I-I mean.." she tried to muster up some sort of reasonable response "You should probably wait a little.. just, give him some space for now.. he's probably still thinking about what happened.." she advised.

"I ..suppose you're right.." Gelatin guessed, giving in. He was still unsure though.. he was worried if something bad had happened to him. However he was too ..reluctant to go to him and ask what was wrong. Donut probably did need space.. and honestly Gelatin thought he himself still needed some as well.

"Well.. thanks for the talk, Barfbag.. catcha later, yeah?" He stood up and stepped over the bench, brushing himself off. She gave a subtle nod, looking up at him as he had stood up.

"Yeah, I'll see you soon.."

He left, thinking twice about what they talked about..

---

Blackhole had let previously Fries sleep for a few hours when it was getting late at night, so that Fries would have enough energy for the morning. Despite Fries' refusal and denial, saying that he didn't need to rest, he eventually grew tired and Blackhole insisted that he got some sleep while Blackhole guarded and made sure they weren't approached by any threat. Fries decided to let him have his way.

Fries woke up quite early so had a head start in getting to Twos bas. The forest was more bare than before, so it was easier to get around. However it was harder to tell where you were, as Fries wasn't used to how the forest looked now that it was all burned, so it was more difficult to remember the way.

The fire had done a lot of damage, there was so many burned remains all over the ground from the trees that had been caught ablaze. Most of the ash was wet from a small rain shower, so it was kind of just black mud and soggy wood around the floor. Fries had to jump over a few fallen trees, Blackhole just flew over them.

They had been walking for a few hours since they woke up, drawing closely to Twos base now. They hadn't been very talkative with each other.. it was kind of awkward since they didn't know each other as well as they thought they did so were kind of wondering what to talk about. Fries moved some invading plants out the way with his shovel, looking over to Blackhole.

"Do you think this is going to work after all??" Fries questioned him, curious on his opinions. Blackhole perked up at unexpected request, thinking "Erm.. I-I mean.. I'm pretty nervous about it. I'm trying not to uh, think about it actually."

Fries awkwardly looked to the ground as he said that, attempting to start a different conversation.. of course he wouldn't want to talk about that right now, was Fries stupid? Blackhole was probably as anxious as ever.. this was way out of his comfort zone. Especially since they had to keep this up until the group decided to come..which they didn't know when.

"Alrighttt.. well, what do you think the others are doing right now?" Fries wondered.

"The others at Twos base? Or.. at Golfballs lab?"

Fries softly laughed "At your own base, with Blocky and that. What do you think they're doing??" He personally had no idea.. Blackhole had more experience there so he probably knew more about it.

Blackhole pondered the question "Hm.. maybe still  sleeping, or.. something. Golfball isn't..she's probably working on RoboTB.. " Blackhole supposed, a little nervous that the conversation had trailed back to the whole raid stuff. "Mind if I ask a question instead?"

"Oh? Go ahead.."

"Alright..er, well.." Blackhole felt awkward asking, but he had always been a little curious about it. "What made you change your mind about this whole.. er, Two stuff? Were you.. like, always against the killing us part or.. did you ..dislike it later?"

Fries was a little caught offguard by the sudden topic of question, especially from someone like Blackhole. He hoisted the shovel up on his shoulder, kicking away some damp burned wood... how should he put this? "Ah..well, um.."

Fries tried to think.. not expecting such a topic.. "I..know that at first I just liked Two, yknow, after they arrived.  All my friends did too so, I went along with it. I didn't actually HAVE many friends, just ..one or two. I did have a few more but I wasn't so nice.. then." He shrugged that off, keeping his gaze on the ground.

Blackhole let him keep talking. "So.. I stayed with Two, but then when this whole war thing started I wasn't so into it. Not many of us really.. were. Some of us are, I know Coiny is.." he didn't mention the amnesia "Free Food.. Liy, Balloony, Leafy.. some want this. But ..most don't.."

"Why do all your friends want it..?"

Fries sighed uneasily, trying to muster up a response.. "L-Look, er- I don't talk about this often cuz.. I don't actually have much proof of ..what I think, and.. I always blamed my theory for my actions in the pasr.. which I shouldn't..but.." Fries felt unsure, not knowing if he should tell Blackhole, who was waiting.

"But what?"

Fries took a moment to continue "I-Im, pretty sure Yellowface has "brainwashed" or just, really well persuaded them somehow in like.. a hypnotism sort of way. Not mind control.. its different. It's more like.. Bell, Marker, all of them just followed his every word cuz' HE said so." Fries gripped the shovel tightly, tense from admitting it. "I.. never.. told anyone I felt this way, but.. I believe its.. right."

Blackhole didn't want to just completely go against his statement, as.. far fetched as it sounded. Would Yellowface really have the ability to do that? He knew he used to have a business and persuaded others into buying his things.. but.. "So.. they're not all ..crazy?"

"I don't know ..I can't tell.." Fries admitted "..But.. that's how I felt. When.. I..er, was naive, and helped kill others.. something felt different. I felt guided, it was so strange and it all feels kind of fuzzy.." he muttered, a little annoyed he couldn't fully remember. "But..that's the only way I could explain it. I know I wasn't myself..and I ... know the others aren't ..themselves, either.."

Fries shook his head, a little tense from having to talk about it. "I-..I don't really know how I broke out of the trance and I don't even know if I'm..right. I know the others are probably..not what they seem. I.." he was about to mention how he felt bad for getting Marker killed to save Stapy, but didn't want to tell Blackhole that right now.

"..Oh, Fries, I'm sorry.." Blackhole apologised. "I had no idea it was like that.. I.. er, can't imagine how it would feel for all your friends to be.. under some sort of weird spell thing.."

'It's fine." Fries grumbled "I have other friends now and.. I'm still not sure about my theory. I know when I pretend to be insane around Yellowface I have to act like this.. brainless killing machine that just does whatever he says. He doesn't like it when I take charge or.. say something that doesn't see quite right, I have a feeling he's onto me."

"Do you think he'll confront you?" Blackhole wondered aloud.

"Not sure.." Fries gently kicked a pine cone, it rolling across the forest floor and into a bush. "But.. who knows.. "

Blackhole had never thought about it that way.. to think that Free Food was being controlled by Yellowface. In a way.. it made sense. "What about...Liy and all the others? Are they brainwashed too?"

Fries knew he would kind of be lying if he said no since he knew Coiny was under Twos control, but decided to not make things complicated. "No.. I know they aren't. You can tell they genuinely WANT to kill and hurt others.. and, enjoy the thrive of power and knowing that they're unstoppable. I hate them and I hate Two.."

"It.. hurts to know that some of them would really.. want to kill their old friends." Blackhole felt guilty thinking about it.. weirdly "If only Four didn't blast Twos contestants... we would never be in this mess.." he quietly mourned

"A-Actually.." Fries cut himself off as he realised what he was about to say. Was he stupid? He couldn't just be blurting out all this information as if it was nothing! He tried to retract his unfinished sentence, however Blackhole was too curious to let that slide. "Yes..?"

"I ..don't think I should sayy.." Fries informed regrettably, not looking at him. "It's.. well, there's loads of things I know that I can't tell anyone..er, yet. "

"What? Is it..bad?"

"I-I..I well, yeah..." Fries groaned and closed his eyes, knowing he was going to regret telling him at some point."L-Look, um.. I'm gonna tell you this without ..saying too much about.. um, someone else.." he was referring to Coiny but didn't make it obvious.

"Yes?" Blackhole felt a little weary, unsure if he should've insisted a reply.

"Two.. um." He swallowed "Basically, when I was investigating this... underground hatch under Twos office for something I needed, I came across this dvd. In the audio Two admitted that they.. wanted a war. That they didn't care about the debuters and just..wanted ...a reason to start a war with Four..." Fries revealed slowly.

Blackhole didn't reply. Fries glanced over to him anxiously, a little hesitant because he wasn't too sure what emotion or expression he was portraying. He began to feel regretful, hoping that Blackhole wasn't too upset about the news. "..I'm..sorry. " he told him.

"..I.. didn't expect much less from Two.." Blackhole softly trailed off. He definitely sounded hurt, his soft voice hit Fries hard. He looked back to the ground, wishing he hadn't said it. Clearly Blackhole didn't need to hear that right now..

"...Blackhole-"

"I want Two dead." Blackhole blankly stated, drawing his attention to Fries, who was taken aback by the violent statement. He supported it though, smiling at him. "..We will make sure they pay.. don't worry."

---