Knife stared at Taco wordlessly. His body was completely stiff. The girl just twirled her device in her hand, humming to herself as she kicked Test Tube's old equipment out of the way. She cleared out an area, free of any obstructions to her path.

Finally, Knife managed to move, just a bit, pushing his hands under his body to slightly prop himself up.

"Whatever you're planning, whatever you're trying to do here- you're not going to get away with this anymore." His voice was low, slightly shaky.

Taco shot him a pitying glance, not breaking her smile. "On the contrary, I believe I'll be perfectly fine; you won't notice a thing. I'll be out of your hair, and you out of mine.. Truly, Knife, I'm doing you a favor, if you'd simply cooperate."

He had no idea what she meant, and didn't care to find out. He just knew he had to stop her. Try to stop her, anyway. He had to do something-

But it was too late.

Taco lifted her hand, held the device up, and pressed a large button with an exaggerated swing.

The lab trembled, a bright light exploding over both of them, nearly knocking Taco off of her feet. Heaps of metal fell from their rearranged position, clanking onto the floor with ear-splitting thuds.

And then everything was still. A gentle hum echoed through the room, coming from a green, swirling mass conjoined with the wall.

A... portal?

- - -

"If I was an annoying, hard-shelled, British Mexican food, where would I be?" Pickle's hands were at his sides, leaning back while he and Mic made their way through the woods.

Mic rolled her eyes, but thought for a moment. "Well, I know where Knife would be. Taco, not so much. She kind of moves around a lot.. She could be anywhere."

"Let's just find Knife first, then. We could warn him, at least." Pickle sighed. Thinking about knife was difficult. He hadn't seen the guy in a while, but he knew more than anyone how soft he could really be. He felt at least that that Knife would know better than to trust Taco, but.. She had gotten to two people, what was one more?

Mic glanced at Pickle's worried expression. She smiled in some attempt to be uplifting. "Don't worry. He's fine, I promise. He can hold his own. I'm sure of it."

"I know."

Pickle didn't feel any less worried, but relaxed his face as best as he could. His fists stayed clenched at his sides.

Finally, the duo approached the area in which Knife usually slept. A blanket sat bunched up against a tree, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"The doll isn't there," Pickle instantly noted. He crouched down, checking around the blanket for any clues. As if he'd know what to do with them- he was no detective. Even he himself could admit he wasn't the smartest, so solving some 'mystery' was out of the picture. "He might've just.. gone somewhere else? I don't know- But if he brought his doll with him, I think that's a good sign. He wasn't in a rush, anyway.."

"Maybe he went on a walk!" Mic chimed quickly, trying to be optimistic.

"At five a.m.?"

"Seems like him, honestly," Mic shrugged.

Pickle nodded, but couldn't shake some weird suspicion in the back of his mind. "You're probably right. Should we stay here until he comes back?"

"That's probably the best-"

Mic's voice was cut off.

In the distance, there was a crashing sound. Perhaps more accurately described as a small explosion. The ground didn't shake, the earth wasn't impacted whatsoever. But the sound was present. It was close, too.

The two made quick, uneasy eye contact.

Wordlessly, Pickle stood back up from his crouched position. Please don't have anything to do with Knife.

"It's okay." Mic sounded completely unsure of herself. "It's alright. I'm sure it's nothing. I think that came from.. Test Tube's lab? Probably just someone messing around with her stuff. Lightbulb, maybe?"

"We have to check it out."

"Yeah.."

Mic lead the way, through the dark branches and damp morning grass. The crisp air made Pickle shiver slightly. That, or his nerves; he was typically quite level-headed, but in a situation like this.. it was impossible to predict. It scared him more than he could admit.

Once arriving at the destroyed vending machine, the two came to a halt. A slight glow emitted from the entrance. Someone was down there, certainly.

"Lightbulb?" Mic called down the entrance.

Pickle stepped past her. His stomach churned with dread at what he saw, stooping over and picking up a small object. Gently, he held it, staring silently for a second before raising it up to meet Mic's gaze.

Knife's doll.

- - -

"It's a shame I have to leave so suddenly," Taco smiled, clearly not thinking so whatsoever. She was thrilled with herself. She had exactly what she needed; she could go back and fix things. A second chance. She could win this time. She wouldn't have to hide anymore.

"I must thank you again for your help, Knife. I find it fascinating how someone so sure he cannot be tricked could be laying on the floor like this. But I won't embarrass you any longer, you can forget this ever happened. My gift to you."

Knife didn't speak, to her slight annoyance. She would've preferred a more dramatic exit.

"Lightbulb?"

Taco glanced towards the entrance to the lab, hearing Mic's voice echoing through. Drats. What was she doing here? Her body froze, no longer confident in her movements.

In the corner of her eye, she watched Knife sit up and call back to Mic.

No, she couldn't stand to face her now.

Taco took a few steps back towards the portal.

Two figures entered the lab, and her stomach dropped completely.

Mic and Pickle.

The two people she absolutely didn't want to see right now- of course. There was a glint in Pickle's eyes that she couldn't quite understand, a furious look; or, however close to furious someone like him could muster. He was angry, of course. This didn't surprise her. But he looked like he could strangle her at that moment.

He didn't realize that she was helping him.

Mic didn't look at Taco at all, instead going to help Knife up. She was admittedly slightly hurt by this.

"What the hell are you doing?" Pickle's voice was flat. He didn't intimidate her in the slightest, so why couldn't she move? It didn't make sense to stay now. She had to get out before anyone attempted to stop her.

"What I always do." The words took effort to choke out. "Winning."

With that, she stepped through the portal.

Her skin felt cold, almost like she was floating in a cool stream. Wind brushed against her face, gentle at first, but picking up.

Then Pickle grabbed her.

His head stuck through the portal, hands grabbing her sides, trying to pull her out.

"I don't know what you're doing, but you're not going to get away with this."

Taco swallowed, staring at him. "I'm helping you."

"You would help me by leaving my friends alone," Pickle's voice was loud. He was angry, understandably. He could never comprehend what she was capable of. Taco didn't take offense.

She didn't respond, kicking him away, the light of the portal stinging her eyes. His hands were pushed off of her, finally setting her free into the void.

And then she was in the grass. A warm, summer evening.

Ready to try again.