Chapter Text
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Bryce had a fucking headache.
Being trapped on the Plane came with fatigue. He was in a state of blankness, waiting and hoping for an escape that may take months to accomplish. It was all he could look forward to in this blank state. He couldn’t break down even if he wanted to.
He had no idea when he learned how to let go of his emotions. His initial reaction was anger when he was taken to the Plane. It was the same reaction he had when he was taken again. Anger was familiar and he was used to it. He worked on his emotions when he returned home at first and he worked on his alcohol issues when things got rough. Alcohol always left him in a blank state like he was in now. It was nice to not feel anything. Now, he was constantly in a state of feeling nothing. He wondered if that was better than feeling too much.
There was never anything to do on the Plane. He’s been told that they have done their best to make a life for themselves, but that familiarity was all taken away again when Airy came back. Now with him gone again with a chance of them going home so soon, they mostly just sat around. Waiting.
Of course, they were happy. They cheered, celebrated, hugged each other, and waited. When Liam stressed about the functions of the computer, they waited. When he finally figured out a small lead, they waited. They always told him to take his time and understood- no matter how long it takes, he would do his best to get them all home.
Bryce has grown accustomed to making himself blank. When the first month passed, he understood and waited. Then two months flew by, and three…
He didn’t hold anything against Liam. He just didn’t want to feel the hurt and anxiety he had no doubt the others felt. Hope only hurt him. Hope was taken away from him when he was taken from Liam in that alleyway. Of course, it’s the same person who had stood next to him to give them hope now. He knew he would get them home eventually. He just didn’t want to think about how long it would realistically take. How long it has been since he was taken from his life again.
When he looked at Amelia or Charlotte, he wondered how they have lasted on the Plane for 10 months. When he thought of Liam, he thought of how he hitch-hiked across the entire fucking country based on the hope of a note. Just to make sure nobody ever went through what they did.
…He wondered what good hope could be if it lead to this.
Being on the Plane was depressing. Tray and Whippy Creamy were in their inanimate states (he wishes he could do that), Subway Seat’s optimism has dwindled ever since they pulled that cord that had ended resulting in nothing, Charlotte has certainly changed but her condition remained the same, and Atom? Well… They’re Atom, alright. They understood when the atmosphere was heavy, but their casualty helped in some cases.
Despite everything, they did their best to just… Be. To have conversations, to form a bond… And they did. With Liam figuring out how to give them a day and night cycle, they often sat under the stars, talking about anything and everything. They talked about what they would do when they finally got out. They exchanged information, wondering about the possibility of reconnecting once everything was all over. Even Liam often talked to them as he worked, telling them that they were his motivation to wake up.
After what they’ve all been through, they’re all connected. It was moments like these that drew him out of his blank state. He didn’t complain; it was nice to be with them, at the least.
His eyes drifted to Amelia.
When times got rough, he was always ready to hold her and let her cry. Though not only have they run out of tears since Liam announced that he was going to save them, but they also had a lighter atmosphere around them. He saw how the new hope helped her, how it got her waking up with something to look forward to.
Bryce looked forward to his freedom too, though he saw it as something he desperately had to hold onto. Like an edge hanging over a cliff. Amelia took that hope and used it to motivate her to keep moving. He wondered how she could just do that after being set through so much. After being stuck here for almost an entire year.
He admired her. Maybe even envied her, but he was just happy his friend had something to get her to smile.
Bryce knew that one day, he and his friends would finally be able to go home. So when his eyes fluttered open, drawing him from the bliss of sleep, he noticed…
He wasn’t on the Plane.
He became alert, shooting up with a gasp. His blank state fell, leaving him breathing heavily as he looked around. Excitement was replaced with panic when he realized he could still see his friends (they were supposed to be home, weren’t they?) along with…
He stood up, looking disturbed when he noticed more people. Not just a few- no, an entire community. They were divided into groups and he couldn’t be more grateful for that. At least he knew he was safe with his friends. These were total strangers.
He felt a sense of deja vu, rubbing his growing headache. He was already anxious about going to sleep sometimes and he woke up in a foreign place. Again. If there was a higher being out there somewhere, did they enjoy toying with his life?
“Liam?!” he heard Amelia gasp behind him. His eyes widened and he turned around, seeing his friend. He looked worse for wear with dirty stains on him and holding his crutch. He told them he recently discarded his cast when his leg healed, though he still had trouble walking. With the way Amelia gently wrapped their arms around him, he knew they kept that in mind. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re here!”
Bryce rushed over to them, hugging both of them close with no hesitation. He could almost sob out of relief seeing that Liam was okay. He knew he was since he always checked in with them, but being able to see him with his own two eyes? …He held his friends a little closer.
“It’s happening again, isn’t it?” Amelia said, her voice breaking.
Liam frowned, leaning on her and hoping he could console her. “Everyone looks just as confused… Something’s different. At least we know… They won’t probably hurt us.” His expression darkened. “And if they do, we’re together in this.”
Bryce nodded, a determined expression on his face. “Definitely. After everything we’ve been through, I’m not letting shit happen to any of you.” It felt a little overwhelming to feel so, so much again but at the same time it felt like a sweet release.
When they finally separated, they made sure to check in with the rest of their friends. Subway Seat woke Tray and Whippy Creamy up from their inanimate state with Atom right beside him, holding their blade of grass. At least the grass in this place wasn’t so triangular. Charlotte walked up to them, albeit having some trouble as the mold started to grow again over the recent months. Before she could say anything, two loud claps echoed through the area, silencing the growing panic and yelling.
“Excuse me, what in the gumdrops is going on?” a voice asked, a British accent heard clearly. They were green, being the number… Two? They were standing in front of the largest group of people.
“We wanted to figure that part out too, trust me,” a crayon box frowned, putting her hands on her hips. She stood with another group of people. Now that he was looking closely, he noticed they had some sort of aura to them that made them stand out. Looking around, he noticed something similar with a phone and… Liam.
Before he could even think about what that could mean for Liam, the phone spoke. “Test Tube, mind telling us what exactly the hell is going on?”
Bryce frowned to himself, locking eye contact with Liam and Amelia. They all had the same question. Why in the world did he call someone based on their object?
“It wasn’t me this time, MePhone,” a test tube with green chemicals frowned. “Trust me, I’d know if my experiments went haywire and caused this many people to wake up here. The only lead I have is that these people appeared to have woken up here. I doubt any of us have an idea of what is going on.”
The phone groaned, rubbing the space in between his screen face with his fingers. “I do not have the energy to deal with this… Alright, everyone, listen up!” he exclaimed, crossing his arms and stepping forward to make sure everyone could see him. “You, you, and you," he began, pointing to the two, the crayon box, and Liam respectively. “Come on up. Let's figure this out."
Liam’s eyes widened, turning to face Bryce. His face was painted with anxiety. “Bryce-”
“I know," he frowned, reaching over and grabbing his left hand. “I won't let them hurt you. Let's go get this over with, okay man?”
Liam seemed to be hesitant, looking between him and the strangers. The two walked over with no problem. The crayon box was talking to a group of crayons, looking over at the group before walking over as well. She seemed more cautious, like Liam. He thought for a moment before squeezing his hand, his resolve seeming to come back. “Come on, Bryce…” He began to walk to the center, trying to ignore the prying eyes and growing whispers. He frowned. The prickling of eyes on his back watching his every move wasn't one he enjoyed. Soon enough, he was facing the other strangers with Bryce’s hand in his.
“Let me tell you now, you guys are on Inanimate Island. I am MePhone 4, and I am currently hosting a show called Inanimate Insanity Invitational. That is before I woke up here,” he sighed, sounding irritated. This entire situation was just a major inconvenience to him.
“My, what a coincidence! The name's Two, and I'm the host of TPOT! Or The Power of Two!” they exclaimed, holding their hand out. MePhone shook it. “Right over there are my contestants, it appears.”
“Guess there happens to be a growing theme. Crayon Box, host of Open Source Objects at your service,” she said, seeming less tense but still keeping her guard up. “It's a bit odd how we and our contestants woke up here…”
“There has to be some sort of correlation…” MePhone muttered, thinking for a moment. “Hey, wait a second. What about you?” he asked, pointing to Liam and Bryce.
Liam anxiously turned to Bryce before looking back to the hosts. The only experience they had with a gameshow and a host of one was Airy and they knew how that turned out. However, they didn't want to stand there awkwardly and not say anything. They had to figure out where to go from here and how to get home. “...Liam. My name is Liam,” he said, a bit quiet. “I'm not a host.”
“Really?” MePhone raised an eyebrow, looking over him. “I could've sworn there was something about you that made you stand out… Well, what about you?”
Bryce glared at him, defensive. Nonetheless, he answered quickly. “Bryce.”
“So three of us and our shows are here along with your group,” Two hummed. “That's odd how you're different in that sense!”
“Well…” Liam hesitated but he couldn't just not give them information. They were all associated in some way. That can get them somewhere. “We were part of a show called… ONE,” he shuddered. “We were forced to compete and I'm working on getting them out from the outside. That could be why I'm like… You guys.” Like Airy, Liam frowned before shaking that thought. No. I'm not like him. I'm going to get my friends out of here.
Crayon Box frowned. “Oh. That's horrible… I’m sorry.”
“At least we may know why you were brought here… Say, did anything weird happen before you woke up?” MePhone asked.
“Nothing I can remember, no. I was making a song before I went to bed,” Two hummed.
“I was working on a computer…” Liam mumbled, leaning on his crutch. It was an action that grounded him in reality and Bryce’s hand in his certainly helped.
“And I was planning the next challenge,” Crayon Box said. “Why don’t we ask our contestants if they saw anything? I think that sounds like a colorful plan.”
Two laughed, sending her a finger gun. “Well, I sure like this one!” Crayon Box returned a smile.
“That seems like the only thing we can do. But right now, that seems to be just as much as we will know,” MePhone groaned. “Until someone can figure something out, you can stay in Hotel OJ at the end of the day. There are about 58 rooms so some people will have to share.”
“That sounds perfect! Considering there seem to be about 110 objects here, including ourselves,” Two smiled.
“How did you- you know what? I won't ask,” MePhone said. “I'll eventually talk with some people to get you guys home. Go wild,” he said, walking back to his contestants. Seems like he didn’t want to bother.
Liam frowned but made his way back to his friends with him and Bryce hand in hand. “Bryce, do you know what this means? We have no lead to getting home! This is horrible…”
“At least we won’t be forced into challenges,” Bryce sighed, rubbing the back of his head. “...This isn’t any better, though. I won’t deny that.”
“I just wish we could finally get to go home,” the backpack sighed, looking defeated.
Bryce frowned. He hated how that look on his friend was often a permanent one. He let go of his hand, reaching over to rub his back to console him. “Me too, Liam. But hey. Now that we’ve got each other again, we can work with this together.” Before ONE, he hated expressing emotion and getting deep. It was new coming out of his shell, but it was nice when he was with his friends.
He’d do anything for them. For Liam. Amelia, too.
Liam gave him a small, tired smile. “Thanks, Bryce…”
He smiled back at him. “No problem.”
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