Fan's POV:

Yesterday, I told myself that I was going to go out with the plan, but now... I'm unsure of myself.

I was so confident before, but there are a ton of things that could go wrong...

I felt sick to my stomach. I pulled out the vial of acid and examined it nervously.

I only noticed my hands were shaking when I saw the liquid inside rippling.

Deep breaths Fan...

I glanced at Balloon.

He was looking at lightbulb, who was fiddling with a piece of the broken camera.

She couldn't see it, but she knew what it was.

I'll get you out of this Lightbulb... I'll get us all out... Don't worry...

The doors opened and someone was taken out by a MePhone to get a procedure done on them.

Maybe I should wait until night...

We have a better chance of escaping at night, there will be less people keeping watch and Cobs should be asleep.

All of this was so stressful. We had been here for at least a month now and if we hadn't escaped for that long, the chances aren't very high that we will escape this time either.

It was like going onto the stage to perform in front of hundreds of people.

You feel like you are going to collapse and you feel sick.

Except this time, it is pretty much a life or death situation. The pressure is almost unbearable.

For now... Just try to relax...

I leaned back against the wall of my box and closed my eyes, hiding the vial in the process.

I continued taking deep breaths.

Soon it would be dark, and I would be able to carry out with the escape.

Hopefully everything goes as planned

I just have to wait...

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Paintbrush's POV:

I sat against the wall, staring at the little metal cuff around my ankle.

Stupid lab... Stupid Cobs...

I looked up at the corner of the room.

It was dark.

Honestly, it was a bit unsettling.

"...Paintbrush..."

I jumped a little.

Did someone just say my name?

I brushed my hair back and looked at the corner.

.

It was still pitch black.

Then I thought I saw movement. I flinched.

"Who's over there." I said standing up and clenching my fists.

No response.

I stared for a bit longer before sitting down and sighing.

"I'm going crazy..." I mumbled to myself.

I looked to my side and saw the chain I had broken, some of the links were scattered across the floor.

I picked up one of the links and threw it across the room. I heard it clink as it hit the ground.

There was nothing I could do to get out of there.

Maybe Cobs was right. I don't stand a chance against him.

I laid down and faced the wall.

Maybe I should just accept my fate...

No...

I can't just give up.

Cobs may have an advantage, but I'm stronger than he thinks.

Don't give up just yet Paintbrush...

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Nickel's POV:

Test Tube agreed to let me help.

It was the least I could do to make up for any insensitive things I've said.

I followed Test Tube.

She lead me to a small, abandoned cabin.

One of the windows was opened and and the door was busted.

We entered the cabin.

There was a toppled table and a torn up couch.

Everything was in shambles.

Test Tube sighed and set down her bag.

"This is where MePhone was taken." She spoke with a somber look, "But I figured it should be fairly safe here. They probably wouldn't expect us to come back here."

There was splintered wood all over the floor and I accidentally stepped on a splinter and it stuck into my foot.

I jumped and fell to the floor.

"Ow! Dangit!" I exclaimed.

Test Tube glanced at me and noticed the large piece of wood stuck in my foot.

"Oh- that doesn't look too good." She says with a concerned look.

She then walks over and pulls out some tweezers.

"Be careful-" I mumble when she suddenly pulls it out, causing me to flinch.

"Ow- uh, thanks." I mumble.

Thanking people made me feel weak.

It made me feel like I needed to rely on others to get by.

I decided to just ignore it and I stood back up as Test Tube began to sweep the splinters out of the way with a broom she had found.

"So how are we gonna plan this?" I asked.

"Well... I'm not sure yet..." She mumbled.

I sighed.

Think Nickel...

I pondered for a moment when something popped into my mind.

"Hey Test Tube? You're smart right? Well I saw you hack into that one camera... What if you hack into the school ones so it can tell us the location?" I suggest.

I don't know enough about science or anything like that to know if that's even possible.

Suddenly Test Tube's face seems to light up.

"That just might work!" Test Tube gleefully exclaimed.

She immediately got to work.

Wow, I actually came up with a plan for this!

Hopefully everything goes well.

We've got this.

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MePhone's POV:

I woke up.

I was no longer strapped down to that table, but now I didn't know where I was.

My entire body ached.

I sat up and rubbed my arms.

Where did he take me to?

I glanced to the side and noticed MePad.

He was shut down in the corner of the room.

"MePad?!" I exclaimed before rushing over to him.

I held his power button, attempting to power him on, and it worked, but I noticed something was off.

"MePad are you ok?" I asked concerned.

MePad just stared.

Is he ok...?

I approached him a bit and he just stared me in the eyes.

It made me extremely uncomfortable.

MePad wasn't speaking or anything.

Suddenly he stood up.

His screen began glitching and he began to slowly approach me.

I backed away at the same pace.

"M-MePad if this is a joke it really isn't funny-" I stuttered a bit.

His screen was glitching violently now and he somehow generated two buzzsaws.

What happened to him?! This isn't the MePad I know!

He suddenly lunged at me and attempted to saw me in half.

I dodged to the side and ran to the opposite side of the room.

He whipped around and charged at me again.

I felt something sharp tear at the bottom of my screen and it caused my screen to glitch a bit.

MePad had sawed a large slit-shaped hole on the left corner of my screen, and some of the glass had been torn off, revealing some of the inner-workings.

I kicked MePad as hard as I could, causing him to topple backwards.

Sparks were flying out of the hole in my side.

Hopefully it didn't hit anything vital.

MePad quickly got back up and attempted to attack me again, but I ducked under his legs, then got back up and grabbed him from behind.

I immediately held down his power button and he struggled for a bit before shutting off again.

What did he do to you?

I breathed heavily, examining MePad.

I lifted him up and dragged him back over to the corner I had previously found him in, and rested his back against the wall.

Cobs must've re-programmed him or something.

I sat down by MePad.

My body was still aching from getting electrocuted earlier, and the hole in my side made it worse.

I'm sorry I let this happen MePad...

Hopefully things will get better soon...

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Fan's POV:

Night came quicker than expected.

The lights hadn't shut off yet, but I could tell by how tired I was that it was getting dark.

It's almost time.

I exhaled deeply and rubbed my eyes before glancing at Balloon and Lightbulb.

Lightbulb's bandages were almost completely soaked in blood. It was a horrible sight to look at.

She was silent again, just like after Paintbrush died. She was still eating, but it was hard for her to find the food once it was in the box.

She would have to feel around the entire box to find it.

I felt bad for her. I cant imagine the pain she went through.

Balloon wass always looking at Lightbulb every time I glanced at him.

He seemed extremely upset to see Lightbulb in this state.

His leg wasn't completely healed yet, but I couldn't bear to wait any longer. I didn't want to see my friends suffer any longer.

Suddenly the lights turned off.

It's time...

I took a deep breath.

This was it.

I was shaking uncontrollably and my breathing was heavy. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears.

Stay calm Fan... Stay calm...

I slowly lifted up the vial and almost dropped it because of how shaky I was, but managed to catch it.

I then poured a bit of the acid onto the door of my box.

It dissolved almost immediately.

Yes!

I then poured a bit more just enough to make a hole I could fit through.

I climbed out and went to Balloon's box.

He gasped.

"Fan?! How?!" He exclaimed.

I shushed him. "The acid." I whispered as I poured some of the acid on his box.

I was about to move on to another box, when suddenly I heard the doors behind me open.

My heart dropped and I froze.

No No No-

I didn't have time to think, I just grabbed Balloon's arm and sprinted to the door.

Cobs was standing there. I shoved past him and sprinted down the hall, still holding Balloon's arm tightly.

He was struggling to keep up, but I couldn't afford to slow down.

Eventually I saw a window in front of us both.

I reached for the acid but I found that it was gone.

CRAP!

I couldn't stop running now, but I didn't want to turn and risk getting caught by a MePhone.

I had no other choice but to try to break the window. It was risky, due to the fact that Balloon might pop, but we had no other choice.

"BRACE YOURSELF!" I called, before ramming my entire body weight into the window.

The window shattered to pieces and we both jumped for it. We hadn't realized, but the lab was thousands of miles above the ground.

Then my hand slipped. I began to fall.

Balloon gasped and stuck out his leg as quickly as possible. I grabbed it and Balloon winced, but fought through it.

Unfortunately I had grabbed his bad leg. I felt bad, but it was better than dying.

I looked up and saw Cobs standing at the edge peering out at us as we floated down.

He stomped his foot on the ground with frustration and then dissapeared from our view.

After a while, my feet finally touched the ground.

I let go of Balloon as he floated down and landed softly on the grass.

"...We're out..." I said, a tone of shock in my voice.

Balloon began crying.

I began crying as well.

We hugged eachother and collapsed to the ground.

I had never been so relieved and happy in my entire life.

"We- We need to go back-" Balloon stuttered in between sobs.

He wiped his eyes.

Right, we have to go back for everyone else.

"We can't go back now, we need help." I said shakily.

We then saw lights approaching where we were.

I frantically stood up and grabbed Balloon's arm, then hid in a nearby bush.

"This is where they should've landed." I heard someone say. It sounded like a MePhone.

I held my hand over Balloon's mouth and my own.

After a while, the lights retreated and the footsteps faded away.

They had given up searching.

"We need to go before they come back." I said, pulling Balloon to his feet.

"But where will we go...?" he mumbled.

I thought for a moment.

"We'll go to Test Tube."

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