A few more hours passed into the day, meaning that it was now early lunch time. The morning hadn't been too eventful, in fact things had been going rather smoothly. Free Food had been sent out to hunt so Barfbag never got a chance to talk to Yellowface about her earlier conversation that she had with Gelatin. She talked to Loser about it instead.

Firey and Stapy had managed to survive the fire while hanging around the edge of the cliff, as they had chosen to stay inside the actual waterfall itself, perched ontop of a rock away from any of the flames. They managed to live through it, but the forest did not, and they knew they would be more exposed like this.

The base was completely destroyed when they went to check it out. Firey had seemed really upset since.. mainly because it was the only thing he had left from Cake, and.. all the stuff he collected reminded him of the past. He hadn't talked much since and seemed rather grouchy, but Stapy didn't really complain because he knew he was mourning about it and knew it was hard for him.

The two had went to look for a new place to go set up a base for the two of them to stay in. Firey didn't have any tools anymore so couldn't build a treehouse, and instead would have to build something on the ground. It was more accessible for Stapy that way anyways since he didn't have any legs. Firey decided that they would just build some sort of stick hut thing, claiming it would be easy to make.

Stapy had wondered off to look for wood and usable sticks and logs, leaving Firey to build with what was around. They had made sure to chose an area of the forest that made sure they were well hidden, and hadn't been thoroughly destroyed.

Stapy had left for a while to go gather wood, returning after a brief thirty minutes with what seemed like a good collection. He hopped over to where Firey was, dropping it onto the ground and wiping his forehead, exhaling due to having to carry such a heavy weight. The logs tumbled to the ground, rolling hardly. "H-Hey ..are you-"

He his attention drew towards Firey and noticed he hadn't made any progress whatsoever, sitting against a rock with his head in his arms. At first Stapy felt mild rage from seeing him just sitting there doing nothing, but decided to calm himself and sympathize with him, sighing loudly "Firey, why haven't you started???" He asked rather irratbly, putting his hands on his waist "I just gathered all of that, and you've done nothing! Are you serious???" 

"Ughhjnnn.. go away Stapyyyy.." Firey whined, looking up from his arms with half lidded eyes, not looking so great. Stapy glared, unamused from his tone "Hey! Can you not be a dick for once?? I get that you're upset, but don't take it out on me!" 

"Whatever." Firey mumbled with uninterested tone, putting his head back in his hands so he didn't have to look or acknowledge Stapy. Stapy scoffed and moved his hands back to his sides, rolling his eyes "Don't be so lazy! Once you help me sort this out then you can go back to sulking, okay?? Jeez!"

"Shut upp.." Firey moaned, going to look up and stare at him with frustration, but feeling to weak to display it. "I don't feel great, okay???" He hissed admittedly,

"I.. know you're..-"

"No, not like that." He didn't want to think about Book or Cake. "I mean like.. physically. I-I think something is wrong." He informed..kind of as a warning.

Stapy was a little startled to gain that information, softening up.. "Err..uuh, okayy..um, I didn't expect thaat.." Stapy made sure the logs were all together before hopping over to him, sitting in front of him and watching as he pulled at the grass, remorseful.

"..What's, uh, happening?" Stapy speculated.

"I don't knowww.. maybe I ate something weird.." Firey suggested uneasily, looking off to the side tiredly, rubbing his eyes with a faint groan. "I feel all dizzy and shit."

Stapy glanced away, thinking.. what could be making him feel this way? "You ..didn't eat any poisonous berries, did you?"

"No! I'm not THAT stupid, jeez" He shot, clearly insulted. Stapy felt like making a remark, but was cut off anyways as Firey continued "Maybe it's those cherries.." he wondered aloud.

"I ate them.. I'm fine." Stapy shrugged, Firey groaning in response to this, agitated that he didn't know what was wrong. "Well, I haven't had anything else! I ate them a little while ago and started to build the base.. but as soon as I started I felt sickly and went to sit down.. I.. don't even think I can stand.." he admitted, getting quieter at the end of his sentence. He hated feeling weak.

Stapy wouldn't usually take someones word for something but he did look quite unwell.. he wasn't sure if he was putting it on but he knew Firey wasn't a very good liar, he kind of looked like an idiot when he lied. Stapy sighed, rubbing the top of his head and trying to think of some way to respond "Can't you just.. nap or something?? Maybe it'll go away.."

"But the base!-" "I'll build it." Stapy insisted straight after, cutting him off. Firey instinctively snorted, laughing a little after "Y-You?" His voice cracked, giggling to himself "I'd like to see you try." He sneered.

Stapy would've punched him but didn't want to burn himself, laughing sarcastically "Haha, yeah, soo funny. I'm trying to be nice, actually! Can you not be an ass?!"

"Whateverr.." Firey leaned back against the rock, holding his legs with his arms, taking a deep breath "What if I dieee.."

"What?? Why would you die?" Stapy thought it was some sort of joke, laughing a little since it sounded ridiculous. Why would he die for? He hadn't eaten anything weird because Stapy would've been effected too..

"I don't knoww-" Firey wailed, looking to the side. "I could fall asleep and never wake up! I feel like I'm gonna die..." he stressed, Stapy rolling his eyes. "Tch, please, you're just over exaggerating now.."

Stapy thought of something, and in realization tensed up a little. "..What.. if you're allergic?"

"What?? Pfft" Firey scoffed and crossed his arms, not taking what he said seriously. He seemed to trail off in thought for a moment, before looking at Stapy with worried face. "H-Holy shit, what if I'm allergic?!" He cried, sitting up.

Stapy groaned loudly and put his head in his hands. "You're such a moron! Look, um.,  .. ugghh.." he turned around, frustrated..mainly because he was worried. "..You ..should be fine, right? The effects aren't that bad... are they?"

"Wh-What if they get worse?!" Firey panicked, beginning to freak out. "O-Oh no! I-I don't think I can breathe!"

"You're just panicking, it's..not that bad right now.." Stapy turned back to him, watching as he was looking at his arms in paranoia..".. Maybe you should try to sleep it off .."

"And suffocate in my sleep?! No way!"

"You don't even know if that's what it is yet! Please just.. you're not gonna die, okay??" He couldn't believe he had to tell him that, looking up at the sky and sighing loudly, a little irritated. "If you just.. calm yourself and try and get some rest hopefully you'll be able to fight the sickness off, okay?"

"I don't really want tooo.." Firey whined loudly in refusal, before exhaling uneasily. He decided to give in.. after all, he did feel really tired and ..felt like he would faint anyways eventually. "..F-Finee.."

"I'll build the ..er, hut thing, okay?"

"If you insist.." Firey curled up into a ball, groaning quietly to himself, annoye.. He felt unsure about this idea.. he felt rather paranoid. Also leaving Stapy alone didn't make him feel too good either, even if he didn't want to admit that. If he lost his other only friend.. he would probably spiral.

He didn't like being played with.. he wanted to stay alive because he trusted what Fries said and didn't want to force Fries to deal with Forsys death, but ..

What would he do otherwise? Fighting was getting too repetitive .. if Stapy died, what would he do with himself?

---

Fries and Blackhole had eventually found their way back to the base. Upon seeing it Blackhole had been heading there a lot slower, clearly extremely reluctant to go inside. Fries had tried to reassure him as he understood why he was so anxious.. he had tried to give him advice on how to act and how to pretend around Two and everyone else, knowing that lying was going to be extremely important if they wanted this plan to work out.

Fries slowly rolled up to the door with Blackhole by his side, exhaling softly before he looked over to him, mouthing good luck as he knew there were probably cameras around and didn't want to be caught. He turned back around, pushing open the doors and letting the light spill out into the forest, bracing himself.

Tennisball was the doorguard again, jumping and yelping as the door opened suddenly, unexpecting it. He stayed tense as Fries was the one to walk inside, swallowing worriedly "F-Fries! Y-You're back?? T-Two has been wondering where y-"

"I prefer to hear this from someone else." Fries coldly replied, avoiding Tb and walking further inside. Blackhole was surprised at how quickly he could change his attitude..it was offputting. He went to float in shortly after, and.. the sight of Tennisball..it..

It felt so strange.. if Golfball was here he wondered how she would react. He knew even if he told her Tennisball had been at the door as they entered she would still refuse that he was alive.. he didn't know what she would do if she saw him. It also felt weird because..Tennisball had no idea what was happening with Golfball right now. He .. didn't have a clue Blackhole was involved with her. It took Blackhole all his strength to not tell Tennisball any information, feeling his eyes on him as he floated inside after Fries.

Fries told Blackhole that while he was here he couldn't.. be himself. He couldn't be sympathetic and he couldn't tell anyone any plans.. no matter what happened he had to keep pretending so that he didn't blow his own cover.

Tennisball was startled to see Blackhole enter through the door.. he hadn't seen him for almost a month. He was on Fours side, right? What was he doing here? If he wanted he could just.. kill Two and everyone in the building just like that, why wasn't he doing thar? He wondered why Fries had returned with him, loads of different thoughts rushing through his head..

"You got a problem?" Blackhole unexpectedly spoke up, making Tennisball jump and break out of thought "Wh-What? N-No-" he stammered and looked away quickly. Blackhole felt bad but.. he knew he needed to be believable. Tennisball was scared, intimidated that.. even BLACKHOLE had changed. It.. didn't feel great.

Blackhole hated to do that, Fries stopping and turning around, eyeing up Tb. "Where is Two?" He demanded Tb, who flinched "I-I uh, i..hm , they're..i-in the cafeteria--" Tennisball stuttered, looking away fearfully.

Fries didn't say anything else to Tennisball, turning back around and leaving. Blackhole assumed that Fries was heading right to Two, feeling his nerves grow as he knew now that it was really happening. He was greatful nobody could ever see his expression, exhaling his stress as Fries walked up some stairs.

He followed him by floating, noticing there were some double doors along the hall.. that was it. Fries gripped his shovel tightly before moving over to them, Blackhole almost holding his breath as Fries pushed the doors open, revealing the cafeteria.

Inside objects were eating lunch. Two seemed to be with Free Food, talking to them and seemingly in a moderate mood. Bell said something and Two replied rather aggressively. Loser was the first to notice Blackhole, as he was sat on his own at the table closest to the doors. He gasped and almost choked on his food, half because Fries was back and that meant that his plan with Barfbag and Yellowface was going to be harder, but also because Blackhole was there.

"B-Blackhole-?" Loser choked, hitting his chest and clearing his throat. Trees attention was drawn by hearing that name, tensing up and feeling himself go lightheaded at the sight of him.

"Who?" Two didn't know what Loser meant, looking over to the doors. Two had been leaning on their hand on the table Free Food sat at, and almost slipped at the sight of them both. "F-Fries?! Where have you BEEN? And.." Two trailed off..  why was Blackhole here..? That could mean one of two things.. and only one of those options were good. The cafeteria fell silent..

Tree was hopeful that Blackhole was here to save everyone, but his hope was shortly crushed as Blackhole spoke up and took the silence as an opportunity to make a statement. "I surrender.." He admitted in front of everyone. It had been so long since he had heard his voice and.. it hurt that THAT was what he said.

Two was seemingly confused, and as was half of the other objects in the room. Bell was the first to speak up after Blackholes confession "Y-You surrender??" She half laughed, as if it was some sort of joke.

Barfbag looked towards Loser, who was giving her a look of confusion..this didn't make any sense.. they both knew Fries was a fraud so.. why would he bring back an object like this? Was Blackhole really surrendering? They couldn't tell if this was really what Bh wanted.. there was a possibility Fries was pretending to be insane in front of Blackhole who genuinely wanted to turn to Twos side but..

They both had a feeling that wasn't the case. They couldn't say anything though, because they didn't want to ruin their own plan.

Not only that but what was also weird was that Blackhole was apart of the group that Pt ran away to, right? So what was that about...

"Excuse me?" Two was in clear disbelief, making his way over to the two of them, gripping his hands together. Blackhole felt so tense, looking towards where Tree was but its not like anyone could tell.. he looked all burned.. oh, he really hoped he was doing okay.. Bh wanted to talk to Tree so badly. He started backing up a bit as Two got too close to him. Two raised an eyebrow at how he was acting, skeptical "I don't get it." They glared over at Fries "Is this why you left?"

"Can we talk about this elsewhere, please?" He requested mindlessly. Yellowface gritted his teeth, observing as Two left with them out of the cafeteria. Tree wanted to get up and leave, unsure on how to react.. Blackhole would never fall into Twos hands.. what was he doing? He needed to ask him later.. this couldn't be right. He knew Blackhole hated killing others, someone like him would HATE Two.

Two let the doors close behind them all, grabbing Fries with a strong force and shoving him without warning. Fries didn't expect it, holding back making any sounds of surprise as he was pushed. He looked back at Two, trying not to feel intimidated ".. I was away because I went looking for him." Fries admitted, lying.

If Two could recall correctly, he remembered that Blackhole was apart of the group Pt mentioned kidnapping them. "Where did you find him?" Two firmly interrogated, cold in tone. They didn't seen too pleased.. weirdly

Fries didn't break eye contact. "The forest, wondering. He gave in and said that he wanted to join your side.. I was unsure at first, but he seemed genuine. "

Was Pt lying, then? Maybe Blackhole had left the group since or something.. Fries and  Bh were completely unaware Pt was back there, and completely unaware they had snitched on them.

Two turned their attention to Blackhole, judging him up and down with a curious expression "You really want to join me, hm? Why?"

They knew Blackhole was a big threat, even they weren't that dumb. If Blackhole wanted to right now he could just kill everyone.. they were making sure to be weary.

"I.. " Blackhole felt awkward, but tried not to let his nervousness show. "I realised the.. error of my ways. I want to be on the..right side. I want to help you."

Two took this information in, half believing it, "Hmmm..wellll.. I'm not so sure if I believe you." They crossed their arms, Blackhole getting tense and trying not to panic.

Fries decided to step in, knowing Blackhole was getting really nervous. Two paid attention to Fries as soon as he spoke up, "-He ..told me that he will be beneficial when it comes to killing Fours side. Hunting..too, which is why I... believe he will be good on Free Food .. "

"...Free Food, huh?" With the loss of a few of their members the hunting had been less successful.. but with Blackhole on Twos side, Fours side wouldn't last. He was a KILLING machine.

"Hmmm.." Two seemed to be in thought. Fries was hopeful that it would be enough to make Two believe them... this was their only shot at saving the prisoners.. this NEEDED to happen. "Do you personally want him on our side, Fries?"

Fries gave a brief nod. "I ..believe that if he stays to his word he will be.. extremely helpful. He's a huge threat, Fours side will stand no chance if he's with us.."

"You make a good point.." Two grumbled, tapping their finger to their mouth in thought. "I guess I could allow him to stay.. but you and the other members of Free Food need to keep watch of him. If anything weird happens, hes out." Two growled the last part, moving their face close to Blackhole and gritting their teeth.

"Well then!" They parted and clapped their hands together "I will inform Free Food of this news. Please escort Blackhole to er, Markers old room or something, I dunno."

Blackhole hesitated..Markers old room? Was he dead? He wondered why... regardless Fries nodded "Yes, I will. I'll make sure he knows how things work around here.. " he commented harshly, glaring over to Blackhole threateningy. "Don't make us regret letting you inside."

Blackhole felt weary seeing him like that.. but knew it was an act. "I..assure you I won't.."

The group parted ways, Two leaving in the opposite direction to go back inside the cafeteria. Filled with relief, the pair went to head for where the rooms were, Fries leading Blackhole.. they couldn't believe it worked.. the plan was so far successful.

---