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At long last, winter was coming to an end in Goiky, and with the end of winter came the beginning of new life. The first spring wildflowers of the grasslands had already begun to poke through the melting snow.
The coming of spring also coincided with the return of Golf Ball’s anxieties towards the prospect of parenthood.
The egg—hers and Tennis Ball’s— had begun to hatch at around 2 in the morning that day, and ever since then she’d been in panic mode, and desperately trying not to show that she was panicking. Nobody could know. Especially not Tennis Ball.
Or his…extremely annoying relatives that refused to leave them alone no matter how many times TB got angry at them. She’d seen Tennis Ball get genuinely furious more often than ever before since his parents had shown up…and that furiousness was always either being triggered by something his parents had done or the mere fact that the dictator of Farnorth was still trying to get aid from Two.
But that was not her main concern right now, as she paced back and forth in the hotel’s basement, behind a pipe that hid her from the stairwell, deep in thought.
I don’t understand it. I’ve done tons of research, I’ve gotten everything prepared and baby-proofed the entire hotel room, I even built a machine that allowed us to discover the baby’s gender by analyzing frequencies his soul gives off before he even hatches so as to prevent misgendering my own child…I’ve taken every possible step to make sure that I do everything right, so…why do I still feel so scared?
Deep down, however, Golf Ball knew exactly why she was so worried.
All of the reputable, peer-reviewed studies I have read stated that having loving and affectionate parents is the best way to ensure a child grows up to be well-adjusted and successful.
“Loving and affectionate” weren’t exactly terms that would typically describe her.
Terms that would were terms like abrasive.
Demanding.
Bossy.
Controlling.
Cold.
Distant.
Annoying.
It was for this reason—a sudden, horrible flood of self-doubt—that Golf Ball had initially fled down to the basement, where she was now hiding to try and calm herself down so that she didn’t wind up embarrassing herself. The worries and doubt, however, refused to go away. Each time she thought of a counter to them, they’d push back.
I’ve done all my research…but what if I’m treating this more like a science project?
TB said he’d let me know if I was doing something wrong…but what if he doesn’t? What if he doesn’t notice?
So many things will go wrong for our son if I screw this up in ANY WAY. Unfit parents don’t raise healthy children. They don’t raise successful children.
What if I’m unfit? What if I don’t bond with him properly? What if I’m too distant and end up emotionally neglecting him? What if I—
She walked face-first into something fuzzy and stumbled backwards with a shout, tripping over her own claws and falling over backwards.
“Gah! What the-?”
“Relax, Golf Ball, it’s me.”
She looked up to see Tennis Ball looking down at her, and judging from his expression, he was very concerned.
“Are you okay?” He asked. “I haven’t seen you since Junior started pipping.”
“Yes, TB, I’m fine!” She insisted. He continued looking at her worriedly. “All right, I’m…not fine.” Golf Ball admitted, standing back up. She looked down at the floor shamefully.
“…I know it’s stupid, but…I’ve gotten all worried again that I’m going to screw this up somehow. I don’t know why. It’s irrational and…and dumb but I’m still so worried that I’m going to do something wrong and….”
“Golf Ball,” Tennis Ball said gently, leaning downward enough to be at eye level with his wife, “we’ve got this. Together. Okay? We’re not going to screw this up. You’re not going to screw anything up. You already care about Junior so much and he hasn’t even hatched yet. You’re already on the right track, Golfie.”
“Then why do I still feel so worried?”
“I…think that’s just part of becoming a parent.” Tennis Ball said. “Heck, I’m worried, too, but…I know that as long as we’ve got each other, we can handle anything that comes our way. And I know you’re gonna be a great mom.” You’re ALREADY ten times more affectionate to Junior than my mother ever has been towards me.
“We should…probably make sure that nobody’s set anything on fire in our room yet…” TB said awkwardly.
“How did Nickel even find out that the egg was hatching? Was he waiting outside our door and listening in on us or something?”
“Uh…knowing Nickel…that honestly wouldn’t surprise me.” Tennis Ball said. “He…concerns me sometimes.”
Their hotel room was a bit more crowded than usual, although thankfully Tennis Ball’s parents were not among the crowd. His brother Artengo was present, but he was simply standing in one corner of the room and looking awkward. Aside from him, a few members from both CloudYay and Bagged were present alongside Nickel (none of them had actually been invited), Puffball and Fries (who actually had been invited). Fries was going on about how to properly operate a spinning wheel, of all things, to a very, very disinterested Pen and Donut. Basketball was trying to shoo Nickel and Bottle away from the egg, which had been removed from the incubator and was now sitting in a makeshift nest of pillows and blankets. Liy was trying, unsuccessfully, to catch up on things with Pencil, who just seemed like she didn’t even want to be in the room right now.
“I really don’t wanna talk about… it, anymore, Liy.” Pencil muttered, staring down at her own reflection in the glass of soda she was holding. Sweet trees, I look awful…maybe Match is right about me needing therapy.
Her phone buzzed, and she glanced at it to see a borderline indecipherable text from Ruby. ZOMG iz bby bozo ball out yet?
Pencil rolled her eyes and texted back, Ruby, seriously, stop typing like you’re in a cat meme from the 2000s. Also, no, the mini-bossy bot hasn’t hatched yet.
“You know, that’s kind of a mean thing to say about someone you were teammates with.” Liy remarked, leaning over Pencil’s shoulder. Pencil clamped her hand down over the screen of her phone and glared at Liy. “Do you mind?”
Tennis Ball and Golf Ball walked back into the room, GB making her way over to the makeshift nest and sitting down on the edge of it, looking at the egg. A thin crack now stretched halfway around the shell, and a soft, plaintive chirping could be heard faintly from inside.
“Looks like he’s halfway out.” Golf Ball remarked. “All right…halfway out by approximately 8:39 AM…” she muttered, making a mental note to write down the time later.
“Hey, GB, where do you guys keep the booze at in here?” Nickel asked. Golf Ball looked at him like he’d suddenly sprouted arms.
“…what?” Golf Ball responded after several seconds of stunned silence.
“You know, we gotta pour one out to celebrate the little guy’s birth! And then we dump it on him.”
“…Okay, first off, we are not dumping alcohol on my newborn child.” Golf Ball said. “Second, what kind of tradition is that? ”
“Uh, Nickel, I’m pretty sure objects don’t do christening ceremonies.” Yellow Face awkwardly interjected. “That’s a Face thing.”
I keep forgetting Nickel was raised by Faces… Golf Ball thought.
“Buuuut in case you are in need of some alcohol for this party—”
“This is not a party, Yellow Face.” Golf Ball said. “At least not the kind where everybody is getting drunk.”
There came a knock on the hotel room door. Tennis Ball went over and opened it, and Test Tube stepped into the room, followed by Fan, who was carrying a stack of gift boxes.
“Oh, hey, guys. Nice of you to come by.” Tennis Ball said. “It’s…uh…a little crowded in here. Our Nickel decided to invite himself and a bunch of our old teammates over.”
“Somehow it’s still confusing having two Nickels around…” Fan remarked. “Hey, uh, where can I put these?”
“Put them on the counter in the kitchenette.” Tennis Ball said. “What’s in those, anyway?”
“Well, I figured you guys would need stuff for the new baby, so I went out and bought some gifts.” Fan said. “Is the little guy out yet?”
“Not yet…still got a few hours.” TB said. “Eggs take time to hatch.”
Test Tube, meanwhile, headed over to the makeshift nest. “Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said it would hatch exactly like a bird egg would.” She remarked.
“What were you expecting him to do?” Golf Ball asked. “Make the shell explode?”
“We…don’t have objects with animal features in the universe we came from.” Test Tube said. “Not that I knew of, anyway. I…don’t know if you’ll be able to find a use for any of the things Fan insisted on gifting you guys for the baby…”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. As long as he didn’t gift us bottles or something. All of my research has led me to the conclusion that members of my object-type don’t start out drinking milk, we…um…” Golf Ball paused, cringing. “We start life as…insectivores.”
Test Tube looked at her, flabbergasted. “You eat bugs?”
“I don’t. But…I presumably did during infancy. We had to order a box of live mealworms…which annoyingly hasn’t arrived yet.”
There came yet another knock at the door. Tennis Ball, once again, headed over to open the door. Instead of someone holding a box of mealworms, he was instead greeted by Black Hole, who was still inhabiting the body of Steve Cobs, and who was wearing a paper bag over his face.
“Um…hey, can…I come in?” Black Hole said sheepishly, pulling the paper bag down a bit further. “Tree…said it might be good for my mental health if I saw something like this. Y’know, a…new life starting…”
He glanced over Tennis Ball’s shoulder and locked eyes momentarily with Fan. Fan froze up for a moment, his hands clenched into fists, before he sighed and turned away.
“I think we have room in here for one more person.” Tennis Ball said. “Just…don’t take the bag off.”
“I wasn’t planning to.” Black Hole muttered.
He stepped into the room, quietly sitting down in an armchair in the corner, away from the rest of the crowd.
Black Hole then shouted in surprise when Artengo popped up beside him. “Hey, man! What’s up with the bag?”
“What the—where’d you come from?”
“I was sitting on the floor next to this chair.” Artengo explained. “Tennis Ball kinda doesn’t trust me to be near the baby yet. I mean, I can understand why he’d be like that with Wilson and our mom and dad but…come on, I can’t even go near my nephew yet?”
Black Hole just stared awkwardly at Artengo, unsure of how to respond. “Uh…yeah, sure…whatever…”
“So, why do you have a paper bag on your face?” Artengo asked again.
“Well, you know, I just don’t want to creep anyone out.”
“Why would you creep anyone out?”
Before Black Hole could answer, he was interrupted by Bottle, who noticed her former teammate sitting in the corner and headed over to greet him.
“Black Hole! Hi! How’s everyone doing?” Bottle asked happily.
“I talked to you yesterday, Bottle, and you asked me the same thing.” Black Hole replied.
“Wait, wait, hold on, is there a corn cultivar called “Black Hole”? Because no offense but that’s…kind of a weird name for a corn cob.” Artengo interjected.
“This body isn’t exactly…mine.” Black Hole said awkwardly. “It’s a long story.”
“…Freaky.” Artengo remarked.
Another hour went by. Liy, Bottle, Yellow Face, Donut, and Pen left one by one, leaving the room much less crowded. Every few minutes, the egg would quiver and the crack in it would grow, as Golf Ball Junior gradually fought his way through the shell.
At long last, at around 11:45 AM, the eggshell finally split down the middle and broke apart, and a tiny, chartreuse-colored ball covered in goop from the egg tumbled out into the nest, wriggling his tiny, featherless wings.
Nickel began to cheer, but Tennis Ball promptly shoved a pillow in his face to quiet him as Golf Ball cautiously stepped into the makeshift nest, face to face with her offspring for the first time. “Shh.” TB whispered. “Give them a second.”
Golf Ball looked down at the slime-covered newborn, her expression full of uncertainty. “…Um…hello there…” she said, quieter than usual. Her voice lacked its usual demanding tone. “I…don’t know if you recognize my voice yet…or if you even have the brain capacity yet to be able to process sounds…but—”
She was cut off by GB Junior half-shuffling, half-dragging himself directly over to her with what little strength he had and nuzzling his face up against her leg. Golf Ball went silent, looking down at her son and clearly unsure of how to respond to this, before leaning down and nuzzling against the newborn, not even caring that she was getting egg-juices all over her face in the process. No words needed to be said. The bond she had feared wouldn’t form correctly was already there.
“Aww…” Puffball said quietly.
“Heh, hey, maybe we should try calling in a stork soon.” Fries said to Puffball with a wink. She grinned back at him.
“Uh, Fries, aren’t you super old?” Nickel asked.
“I’m almost sixty, Nickel, not almost ninety.” Fries said indignantly.
Pencil couldn’t help but take a photo of the scene on her phone, sending it to the group chat she currently shared with Match, Bubble, and Ruby.
Check it out. Bossy-bot DOES have feelings after all.
Is that a grape. Ruby asked.
No Ruby, that’s not a grape. That’s what a baby golf ball looks like I guess. Pencil texted back.
Awww! Tell GB and TB I said congratulations! Bubble said.
A low rumble from outside shook the entire hotel, though everyone aside from Pencil seemed too distracted by the newborn to notice.
Did anyone just feel the building shake? She asked over the group chat.
Ugh, yeah. Firey’s…pet, I guess, has been making noises on the roof for like an hour now. Match explained. Stupid dragon. Idk what’s up with her but she needs to like chill out.
GwoooWOOKWOOKWOOKWOOKWOOK!
The strange, low-frequency sound rumbled out across the grasslands as Fluffy, the dragon that Firey had tamed, stood on the roof of the hotel, her wings outspread and her throat puffed out as she bellowed, over and over again.
Firey opened up the roof access door and walked over to the dragon. “Fluffy! Hey, what’s going on? You’ve been making noises for the past hour and it’s freaking everybody out!” He called. “You okay, girl?”
Fluffy stopped whatever it was that she was doing and turned to glance at Firey for a moment, before immediately resuming bellowing.
“Fluffy, please, you’re scaring people with all this noise…” Firey said. Fluffy completely ignored him this time, looking off into the distance and continuing to bellow.
“Fluffy, please.” Firey muttered. Leafy peered out of the roof access door. “Any luck?”
“Nope! She’s not even listening to me! I dunno what’s up with her!” Firey said, aghast.
Leafy looked over at Fluffy and then noticed something off in the far distance. A small yellow dot had appeared in the sky, and it was steadily increasing in size as it drew nearer to their location. She squinted, trying to get a better look at the approaching entity.
“Uh, Firey? I think I figured it out…” Leafy said. “Y’know how birds and stuff sing and…make babies in springtime?”
“Yeah?”
“I think Fluffy is doing the dragon version of that.”
The yellow dot was now near enough to the hotel that its true shape was somewhat discernible. It was another Great Goldendrake, the same species as Fluffy, and it let out a rumbling call of its own as it drew nearer.
“…Fluffy, for the sake of everyone in this hotel, your boyfriend better not have a taste for objects.” Firey remarked.
Fluffy snorted at him as if delivering a retort.
Back in the hotel room, Golf Ball carefully wiped the remaining yolk off of GB Junior. “TB, hand me that blanket we got from Fries and Puffball.” She said.
Tennis Ball brought over the knitted pink blanket, and the two parents carefully swaddled their newborn in it.
“Aww, look at him! He’s so cuuuute!” Fan squealed.
“Is he…supposed to look like…that?” Black Hole asked. Golf Ball Junior looked nothing like any object he’d seen before. His wings were tiny and bald, with skin so thin that he could see the veins underneath it in places, and weird dark quills that poked out along the edges of the wings. His eyes were completely shut and bugged out underneath the eyelids, appearing too big for his face. “He’s not sick or anything, right?”
“He looks perfectly normal and healthy for a newly hatched golf ball.” GB said proudly. “The only oddity I noticed is that he has abnormally large claws. Those aren’t anything of concern, though. In fact, I am 99.9% certain that they’re not even a genetic mutation. He most likely simply inherited more raptorial anatomy from Tennis Ball.”
“Aww, he looks like a mini-me!” TB cooed. “Hi, little guy! I’m your dad!”
Artengo tentatively stepped closer to the group. “Uhhh…is it okay if I take a look?”
Tennis Ball turned and glared at him suspiciously. “You can look, but don’t touch.”
Artengo walked over to the makeshift nest and looked down at his new nephew. “Heh, he really does look like a mini-you.” He snickered. “Definitely a way more photogenic baby than Wilson was.”
“Eh, I’ve seen cuter.” Pencil mumbled.
GB Junior chirped and abruptly opened his mouth ridiculously wide, looking almost like he was about to split in half. Black Hole jumped backwards in surprise. “What’s he doing? Is he supposed to do that?”
“Yeah, he’s just hungry.” TB said. “I’m gonna go check the front desk. Maybe the mealworms got delivered there instead for some reason.”
Tennis Ball headed out the door. “I’ll be right back!” He called.
Golf Ball sat down on the floor in the nest, right beside GB Junior, looking at her newborn son with a misty-eyed expression, as if fighting back tears of joy.
“Wow.” Pencil muttered. “I’ve never seen old bossy-bot look at anything like that.”
Test Tube, who was standing next to Pencil at the moment, gave her a miffed glance upon hearing her friend be insulted during such a tender moment. Pencil simply glared back at her.
“Do you have a problem, world-hopper?” She remarked.
“World-hopper?” Test Tube asked, whispering. “Is that supposed to be a slur or something? You’re being extremely rude at a birth, ma’am.”
“Listen, lady, I really don’t care if I’m being rude.” Pencil hissed, fortunately keeping her voice low enough that nobody else seemed to notice. “I don’t even like Tennis Ball and, to be completely honest with you, I kinda hate Golf Ball.”
“Then why are you still in this room?” Test Tube retorted.
“…” Pencil looked like she wanted to respond but could not find the words to do so.
Neither Pin nor Coiny were sure what to make of the package that had been shoved into their mailbox in the hotel lobby. It certainly wasn’t anything either of them had ordered.
“…I don’t remember ordering anything from… Petfoods-R-Us, Coiny. We don’t even have any pets.” Pin remarked.
Coiny looked at the cardboard box warily. “Why does this thing say “Caution: Live Animals” on it?” He wondered.
“I dunno.” Pin said, pulling the package out of the mailbox and examining it. “Weird, this isn’t addressed to either of us.”
“They mixed up the mail again? Great, first that weird fan mail someone sent Eggy and now…whatever this is.” Coiny sighed. “Who’s it addressed to?”
Pin held up the box and examined it. “Tennis Ball and Golf Ball, by the looks of it.”
“Weird, I don’t remember them having any pets.”
Just then, TB arrived in the lobby. “Hey, is there a package addressed to me here?” He asked.
“Oh, hey, Tennis Ball. Yeah, the postal worker put it in our mailbox by mistake.” Coiny said. Pin handed Tennis Ball the package in question.
“I didn’t know you guys had any pets.” She remarked.
“This isn’t for a pet, this was just the best-quality of these that I could find on the market…they don’t really sell affordable baby food for insectivores that isn’t super processed…” Tennis Ball opened up the box, revealing an aerated jar filled with large, live mealworms. “Perfect. Junior’s gonna love these!” He said. “Thanks for your help!”
Tennis Ball picked up the jar in his mouth and ran up the stairs, clutching it between his teeth. Pin and Coiny looked on, Coiny with a look of confusion and Pin with a look of mild fright.
“…Hey, Coiny?” She said quietly.
“Yeah, Pin?”
“Remember how I said I wanted to try calling a stork again soon?”
“Yeah?”
“Maybe we should wait until after there isn’t a grub-eating baby in this building to do that…”
It took Coiny a moment to remember that Pin had beetle attributes and had likely started life in a grub-like form.
“All right, I got the mealworms!” Tennis Ball said, pushing his way through the door. He didn’t get the chance to shut it before Pencil darted out through it and raced down the hall. “…Gee, she’s in a hurry.” He remarked, setting down the jar next to the nest. GB Junior was still begging for food, making some very adamant squeaks and chirps at his parents.
Golf Ball took the jar, unscrewing the lid and removing a large, wriggling mealworm from within it with a pair of kitchen tongs. “All right, this one looks healthy enough.” She remarked, examining the beetle larva closely. “Seems clean, but we should probably run it under the faucet just to be safe…”
She hopped over to the kitchenette and did just that, rinsing any debris off the mealworm, before bringing it back over to the nest. “All right, Junior, I am proud to present to you, your first ever meal.”
She lowered the mealworm into GB Junior’s waiting mouth, and he snapped his jaws shut on the grub with startling quickness, gobbling it down in only a few seconds. The visiting individuals had varying reactions to this: Black Hole was horrified, Nickel was confused, Fan looked like he was about to throw up, Fries and Puffball both couldn’t care less, and Test Tube was taking notes on what she’d just witnessed.
“Wow, he’s got a quick bite, doesn’t he?” Artengo remarked, impressed.
“And a very healthy appetite!” Golf Ball said.
“…He just ate a live bug.” Black Hole stammered. “He ate a bug alive.”
“Actually, it probably died the second he bit down on it. He’s already got some tiny sharp teeth in his mouth.” Tennis Ball said. “I’m guessing that’s a golf ball thing because I don’t remember my brothers hatching with teeth.”
“It dying in his mouth doesn’t make me feel any better…” Black Hole muttered. That baby isn’t even a day old, and he’s already killed something…why does the world have to be so full of death?
There came a sudden, loud knock on the door of the hotel room, drawing the attention of everyone.
“Huh. Wonder who that is.” Golf Ball said. Hopefully it’s not another visitor.
Tennis Ball walked over to the door and peered out through the peephole. He immediately frowned upon being greeted by the face of Wilson, grinning a now mostly toothless grin back at him.
“Ugh…” He opened the door a tiny crack, intending to tell his brother off, only for Wilson to push it open further.
“Guess who got let out of the informary!” He said, grinning. Tennis Ball frowned back at him, his left eye twitching in frustration.
“It’s infirmary, AND STAY OUT OF OUR HOTEL ROOM!” Tennis Ball snapped, shutting the door in Wilson’s face.
“Oh, come on, TB, I don’t even get to meet my runt nephew?” Wilson snarked, prying the door open partway and squishing his face through the gap. “I am not going to eat him if that is what you are worried about.”
“Yeah, well, what about Golf Ball?”
“The deformed ping-pong ball defeated me in combat, I must treat her with respect as such.” Wilson responded.
“She’s not—ugh, whatever. Wilson, you’re not getting in.” Tennis Ball said, shoving the door closed once more.
“Oh, come on, TB, you let Artengo in!”
“Because he’s not fanatically loyal to a murderous dictator.” Tennis Ball hissed through gritted teeth. “Now get the blyan out of my hotel room!”
Golf Ball groaned. “Great, the oaf got TB angry enough that he’s cursing in Farnorthern.” She muttered.
“Hey, uh, Wilson!” Artengo piped up, walking over to the door. “Look, man, I don’t think he’s gonna let you in. I mean, he barely let me in.”
“No fair.” Wilson pouted. Tennis Ball and Artengo glanced at each other, and Artengo rolled his eyes.
“Yep, he’s still as whiny as he always has been, TB.” Artengo remarked.
“I am not whiny!” Wilson said, indignant. “Look, if you’re just going to be a müdak then fine, I’ll leave!” He stormed off, clearly offended. Tennis Ball let out a sigh of relief.
“What’s a…mau-deck?” Nickel asked.
“It’s a vulgar term for a butt, Nickel.” Tennis Ball grumbled, thoroughly fed up with his relatives. “I can't wait until he goes back to Farnorth.”
“That might take a while…” Artengo admitted.
Elsewhere in the hotel, Two had been thinking. They had been thinking about more fitting challenges for the remaining eight contestants, now that the true stakes of TPOT were known. They sat in the board room, with MePhone4 sitting adjacent to them and already looking rather tired of the conversation.
“So, I’ve been thinking it over, and I changed my mind about us not getting involved in the whole Farnorth thing.” Two said. “I think that it would actually make a fitting challenge for the contestants. I mean…whoever wins is going to have to defeat One, so…maybe I should make it a challenge to depose this Curveball guy since he worships her as a god. What do you think, MePhone?”
MePhone sighed, looking about ready to faceplant into the tabletop.
“I think that’s a terrible idea.” He said. “Look, maybe I’m just being young and naïve, but I’ve heard through the grapevine that Carving-Knife Bladovig is a terrible person . Do you really want to put someone like that back in control of a country?”
“Maybe the contestants can get him to mellow out a bit?” Two proposed. MePhone facepalmed.
“He’s not going to mellow out, Two. People like that…they don’t get better. They get worse and worse, and they keep hurting everyone.”
“Look, MePhone…what other options do we have here? Kill the guy? Besides, if that cult is actually worshipping One, then we need to put a stop to it fast.”
“That’s not my only problem with your plan here, Two. This is…this is the kind of unethical thing I’ve been trying to get you to avoid ever since I started being your cohost. Making your contestants solve dangerous problems for you is never a good idea.”
“I know that, but…this is different from a harmless little competition, MePhone. The world itself is at stake.” Two pointed out. “Possibly even the entire universe! I have to make sure that whoever gets my powers is capable of actually taking down One.”
“The contestants aren’t going to be happy about this, Two.” MePhone warned.
“They’re already unhappy with me, MePhone. I know this won’t help their image of me much but…I just don’t see any other options right now. And to be honest…I think saving the world is a lot more important than making sure the contestants still like me.”
“…Just be extremely careful about this, Two.” MePhone said. “I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to politics, but this seems like a really volatile situation. The contestants aren’t exactly experienced with things like taking down evil people or anything like that, either.”
“…I have an idea, but you’re not going to like it.” Two said. “We’ll send the eight contestants in along with some help.”
“Define “help” in this context, Two.”
“Uh…well…you know the final two contestants in the second season of your show…?”
MePhone’s screen went pale. “Please tell me that you’re joking. I’m not…I can’t send Suitcase and Knife into… that! Especially Suitcase! She’s been through enough! I don’t want to keep putting everyone I care about through horrible things for the sake of a game!”
“I know that, MePhone, but…this is about more than just a game.” Two said.
MePhone paused, and then sighed. “Fine, but…I just know they aren’t going to be happy about this…”
So far, spring was not off to a good start, as far as MePhone was concerned.