partners in crime - a tacophone fic

chapter 19 - I've got a challenge to win

"When you said 'crystal clear' I didn't mean... Whatever this new development is."
Baseball broke the rules while I was out. At first I thought he just decided to sleep somewhere else but NOOOOOO he just HAD to take advantage of my kindness and drink out of one of my neon blue viles. Now, I can't even see him!
"Sorry Test Tube! I was thirsty! Don't you have an antidote or something?"
"Oh yeah Baseball, like I can TOTALLY invent a cure in under TWENTY FOUR HOURS!"
"Was that sarcasm?"
"Just... Get out of my lab please. I'm under enough stress."
"Okay, but are you going to make-
"I SAID OUT BASEBALL."
"Ok ok I'm leaving!"
I hear his footsteps walk away and now I'm left with a new challenge, make an antidote. Maybe it just wears off in a few hours? I look at the glass he drank out of. I label these just in case ever since the Yin Yang incident occured and it's a good thing I did. Lasts for... 24 hours.... Okay then so it's not permanent. I turn it over to see some of the side effects.
Side effects include but are not limited to: extreme pain in the abdomen and loss of strength.
I sigh. A huge weight feels like it's been lifted off of my shoulders, but still, he has to suffer the side effects. Why do I have to be responsible for this? He's the one who drank from the glass anyways! I facepalm and feel the crack in middle of my glass that I haven't fixed yet due to trying to write to Lightbulb all day. Hopefully I have enough time for it tomorrow. I should really try to get some sleep though, especially after everything that's happened today.

I pull my blanket, my pillow, and my cork out of my desk drawer and lay down face up on the cold ground. Since the most notable thing about Baseball is his strength, this would help me in the game big time. He's probably going to hurt a lot though. Now that I think about it... It's my fault for leaving him unattended in here... I just keep messing up everything! Why does it always have to be me who's the bad guy?
I gotta stop overthinking everything and just go to bed, there's nothing I can do now.
I drift asleep and before I know it I hear yelling outside.
I wipe my eyes and get up off of the ground. Before I check on the yelling I might as well pour a cup of coffee. It's too early for this and it's probably over something stupid anyways.
I wait for the machine to give me the last drops of what's left in it before chugging the coffee like a madwoman. What? I'm thirsty first thing in the morning and it will give me some energy!
I walk outside to see a rope with two flags on both sides, one red and one blue. There is a pit of mud in the middle. A tug of war challenge? Really? Mephone couldn't think of anything else to do huh? Whatever. Microphone stands all on her lonesome in the middle of the grass just staring at the rope when another voice starts to talk to me from out of the blue.
"Hey Test Tube! Sorry about yesterday, and probably waking you up just now. Everyone has questions about what happened to me and Mic is freaking out."
Who said that? Oh yeah, I forgot about Baseball already. My mind isn't feeling as sharp as it used to lately.
"What happened Test Tube?" Mepad says in a dissapointed voice. He's looking at me like I'm the one who made him drink it.
"Well, Baseball drank from one of my vials and now he's invisible."
"INVISIBLE?!?!? SO THATS WHY I CAN'T SEE HIM RIGHT NOW!???!?"
Microphone shouts and we cover our ears so we don't lose our hearing.
"Yes, Microphone. It wears off in 24 hours."
"OH OK THATS GOOD THEN!" She pushes the button on her chest and stops yelling.
"I just have to get through the day and OW OW OW TEST TUBE WHY????"
Baseball starts to yelp in pain and it hurts that I can't do anything about it.
"It's the side effects Baseball." I say as calmly as I can.
"Well everyone, the challenge today is tug of war, and even if you're invisible, you have to participate!" Mephone says to us happily.
I look at the rope and think about my own physique. I don't have much upper arm strength, but it doesn't matter because I think I have a machine that will help me out here.
I go back to my lab to fetch some mechanical arms that I've been working on. They attach to your nerves and have ten times more strength than a normal objects arms. I put them on and they click, signifying they're locked onto me.
It's go time.
I walk back outside and Mephone looks at my arms.
"Well? Do you like them Mephone? They're still being tested bu-
"Take them off Test Tube, that's cheating and I will not allow them, especially in the final three."
I stare at him in shock.
"Um? Excuse me? I've used multiple devices already and you haven't given THEM any restrictions!"
He thinks a little bit before answering me.
"Hm. I guess you've got a point, carry on then, Test Tube."
Wow, it's that easy to tell Mephone off?
Microphone walks up to Mephone to talk about my arms though.
"But Mephone! This is the final three! This isn't fair!"
"Well, life isn't fair, Microphone." He scowls at her and changes the subject. "Now that you're all together now, I think that it's time to start the challenge!"
I feel pretty good about winning this game of tug of war. As Microphone walks back to her original spot defeated I think I'll make a snarky comment to rub it in.
"That's what you get for cracking my face, Microphone."
"But I didn't cr- I mean.. uh... Yeah.. totally Test Tube! Sorry about that! Haha...."
"Hm. Well this is quite odd. Is Microphone hiding something from me? I made two bows. Microphone stole one, and the other I thought I lost. Maybe it's really not lost after all? I think I'm going to try and make her tell me where the other one could've gone off to.
I hold on to her shoulder so she stops in her tracks and is pulled back. I have these arms on so it's even harder for her to escape my grip.
"What do you mean you didn't crack it Microphone? Obviously you were there when you... What did you do again? My memory seems to be hazy." If she was really there, she would know exactly what she did to me.
"Well I uh..." She pauses for a minute and turns around. "Are you kidding me right now?.... Ok! Well, I threw your teleportation device as hard as I could at your face." She looks angry after she says that and turns the dial on her back. Maybe I should test her even more.
"What was around my device Microphone?"
She's looking super nervous now. She almost reaches for the dial but stops herself midway.
"Ummm.... My flag?" She says in a questioning tone. I wonder who she's talking to with that. Or listening to?
"Mic, can I take a look at that di-
"NO! I mean um... It's super sensitive...." She blushes and looks away.
"Well, I think it's very peculiar that you keep fiddling with it during our conversation."
"I have to! Or else I won't be able to hear you properly! It's kind of a hassle... Haha...."
"Alright then Microphone, but if I find out you're lying to me... Consider my trust in you broken."
I give her one last glare and release her shoulders. She rolls them around and groans, I may have pressed down too hard. I really hope these arms are working well enough to go on a test run this early. I press the buttons to adjust the strength and my arms jolt a bit. It's probably just the nerve connectors again. I can't worry now, I've got a challenge to win.