"Morning Contesta- where's Cali?" Everyone looked around. Milkshake spoke up "I haven't seen him in the cabin since he got back..." Vintages expression feel "W-What...? Than where's he been sleeping...?" "Not sure." Rustling was heard from the bushes. Caligraphy pen emerged. "Cali! Where were you!?" "Out." Was all he said before walking up next to the other contestants. "W-Well Cali, since you got immunity last time you can go back to the cabin and go to bed." Caligraphy pens eyes widened. "I-I'll stay and watch." "You sure? You look exhausted." "Yeah... I'm sure." Vintage gave him a concerned glance "Alright..." Vintage cleared his throat "Well... Today's challenge is... Up towards the volcano!" "...What?"
The group made their way up the volcano. At some point Lighter picked Cappy up since it was a long walk for someone with such short legs. But when Vintage moved a boulder it revealed Cookies lab. Caligraphy Pen stared at the opening as everyone else entered the lab with ease. Vintage noticed Caligraphy Pens slightly worried stare. Before finally Caligraphy pen muttered out "...why are we here...?" "This is where the next challenge is taking place! Are you coming?" Caligraphy pen hugged himself. Looking through the doorway sent his skin(?) Crawling. He shook his head "N-No. I- I'll wait outside." "Oh. Alright!" Vintage than followed the other contestants in.
"Alright! This challenge is based around science! Which is a topic I know none of you are familiar with. Which is why we have a very special guest! Come on out!" And out from behind a door walked a very pleasantly familiar face. The 3 participant's spoke in unison "Cookie!" "That's right!" Cookie out their hands on their hips "Miss me? It's great to see y'all again!" Lighter noticed the giddy smile on Cappy's face. Even if they didn't talk much, Cookies goodbye helped them come to terms with a lot of things. "Alright! Since I have a feeling no one knows how to do science I'm here to fill in for that spot! All you have to do is combine these elements." Cookie drew several funny looking glasses with liquid in them. "Into this!" They than drew an arrow beside the liquids pointing to another purple liquid. "Alright! There are 3 stations over there! Good luck!"
Cappy + Lighter:
Cappy and Lighter were worried. They didn't know anything about science! "Wait... There's not a Glass the same shape as the one in the drawing!" "Well... Than maybe we have to mix the liquids to make a science thingy!" "...That makes sense... I think...? Where do we start?"
Milkshake:
Oh great. Milkshake didn't know anything about anything science related! She stared at the liquids. Before carefully picking one up and putting a drop into another liquid. Only for it to suddenly explode! She stared at it for a second before sighing. This would certainly be difficult.
Vintage:
Cookie noticed Vintage seemed... Distracted. "You okay, love?" "Hmm? Oh yeah! I'm just worried about Cali..." "What about him?" "Well... He's been acting weird since his injury. I mean, it's understandable. But he seemed really messed up after Broom left. I don't think he's slept in a while. I've never seen him go into his cabin. He seems so... Distant... It's worrying." Cookies shoulders drooped. "...I can see why he's so distant. I mean, he didn't even know BL and she permanently hurt him. He must he scared. Even if he doesn't want anyone to see. But it can be hard to help someone like that. But it's worth a chance. You should talk to him." Vintage looked over at Cookie. "You sure? I'm not sure if you can handle these guys by yourself." Cookie chuckled "I raised a kid by myself while working a full time job! I can handle these idiots. Good luck though." Cookie gave Vintage a quick kiss on his forehead. His screen glitched to show a cartoony looking "!" Before his face reappeared. He smiled and gave Cookie a quick hug. "Love you."
Vintage found Cali sitting on the cliffside. Right where he expected. Caligraphy pen was holding his knees. He wasn't crying, but he was shaking. Vintage immediately felt bad for him. Maybe he should have warned him he was leading the contestants to the old lab before going. But that was in the past. He sat down next to him. "Hey bud." Caligraphy Pen flinched at his sudden presence. Before his expression changed to one of frustration. "What do you want?" "...You okay?" "Why wouldn't I be?" "Well... I'm just kinda worried about you. When was the last time you ate or slept?" Caligraphy Pen paused. Before looking away from Vintage. "You're not my dad." "Well maybe not... But I am a good listener! If you'd like to talk to me I'll listen." Silence washed over the 2. Only interrupted by the occasional bird call. Finally the silence was broken my a sigh from Cali "...I'm not sure what to do... Everything's just... Scary. My only friend is back at the hotel, and I pushed the only person here I cared about besides them away. I just... I wish I never came here... I wish I saw BL coming so I could've stopped her. Now me and Dorito are mutilated. And I'm not sure if it was my fault or not... I just wish I knew where the hell to go next, or at least what to do." Vintage listened intensely the whole tim e. And after pausing to make sure Cali was all done before talking. "Listen, there are people who will be constants in your life. And some who won't. And it's okay to be upset, have emotions and grieve over it. It's an object emotion. There's no way to chance the past but there's always ways to improve the future. There was nothing you could do, it wasn't your fault. It's okay to not know everything at once. It's okay to take things one day at a time okay? It might take a while but things won't feel like garbage forever!" Caligraphy Pen didn't look at Vintage. Vintage waited for a response. But was instead met with sobs. Vintage was surprised as he had never heard Cali show almost any emotion before. Vintage didn't want to hug him in fear of it making him uncomfortable. But before he could think of something else comforting to do Caligraphy Pen started trying to stop himself "sh-shit- i- fuck." "Hey, it's okay to cry. It's a normal emotion. You don't have to hide it." Caligraphy pen stopped speaking all together and just kept crying. Vintage sat by his side the whole time until he was startled by a large BOOM. He immediately knew it came from the lab. "Oh gosh- i- I might have to go. But, please try to sleep in the cabin tonight okay?" "I- *sniff* I'll try... Thanks... By the way..." "Of course, if you need to talk I'm here."
Vintage walked back into the lab to see pure distruction. Several tables, vials etc strewn. The room covered in black soot. "Ah! Cookie!?" "Over here!" Vintage saw cookie sitting behind a desk and walked over to them. "What's going on...!?" "They're... Well... Not getting it... B-" "I GOT IR!" Cookie peeked up to see Cali holding a purple vial while sitting on Cappy's shoulder. Milkshakes jaw dropped "Wh- how!?" "I uhm-" "aha!" Cookie spoke up. "Simple! This was a test of sorts. All you had to do was dump the yellow vial for it's bottle than mix the red and blue vials!" "...So Cappy and Lighter won?" Cookie snickered "Nope! Only Cappy did! They completed the assignment at Cappy's station but not Lighter." Lighter paused, surprised. Before sprinting to his station. Milkshake immediately started following Cookies instructions. Cappy was frozen in suspense. Before finally Lighter rose his vial "AHA!" Milkshake dropped her yellow vial in surprise. Realizing she had lost. Cookie smiled "Cappy and Lighter are safe! Milkshake is out!" Milkshake paused. Her hand drooped. She sighed "Darn it..." Cookie walked over and set a hand on her shoulder "It's alright. You gave it your best shot!" Milkshake shot Cookie a smile "...Thanks."
"You ready?" "Yeah..." Cookie and Milkshake both stood Infront of the portal. Milkshake took a deep breath before stepping through. Cookie waved the everyone "Goodbye y'all! See you soon!" "H-Hey." Cookie looked over at Cali. "Um... Could you tell Broom I'm sorry...?" Cookie smiled " 'course. Good luck C!" Was all Cookie said before moonwalking through the portal.
Cali:
Cali opened the Cabin door. He stared inside of the cabin for a moment. Before walking over to one of the beds and laying down. He hadn't realized how tired he was until he laid down. He fell asleep almost instantly.
