Overtaken - a BFB/II2 fanfic (very slow updates)

Day Two - The Calm

August 2nd

"Cannonball!!"

Grassy covered his face as Blocky leapt into the lake, causing a wave of water to wash over the greenery and soak him. He giggled when Blocky surfaced and began to paddle around on his back, spewing water from his mouth like a fountain. "Ah, this is the life," Blocky sighed. "I've missed that pool in Goiky ever since the lavapocalypse turned the water in it to stone."

"You're not the only one," BFB Nickel agreed from the shoreline. He only had his legs submerged, but still looked satisfied nonetheless.

ACHOO! " 'scuse me." Tissues glanced down at the water from his seat on the wooden dock. "Personally, I don't really see the appeal in swimming."

"Dude, you're missing out!"

"I get soggy easily."

A ball of algae suddenly broke the water's surface. It hung a few inches above the lake, dripping liquid. "Gah! A monster!" Blocky cried. He flailed around and managed to accidentally flip himself upside down.

Nickel laughed at the screaming muffled by the water. "That's not a monster, Blocky. It's just Puffball!"

The mysterious creature shook most of the green goop off itself, revealing a fluffy pink interior. "Hehe. How's it feel to be the victim of a prank for once, Blockster?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

Blocky managed to right himself and spat out about a gallon's worth of lakewater. "Haha, very-" He coughed up a fish. "-funny."

"In all seriousness, though, I need your help. There's something shiny down at the bottom, but my natural buoyancy, plus that-" Puffball nodded at the sinking algae. "-makes it almost impossible for me to get to it."

"Treasure? Grassy loves treasure!" Grassy called from the shore.

Blocky nodded. "Same here. I'll forgive you for that prank for now and check it out." He took a deep breath and went under.

The underwater side of the lake looked beautiful in the late morning. The sun was at just an angle that its rays lit up the water and turned it into a dazzling light show, brightening up all the algae and other plants at the bottom. The light also glinted against something beneath the mud - there was indeed something shiny.

Fighting against his own buoyancy, Blocky pushed down as far as he could, barely managing to grab onto a sturdy plant. He pulled himself forward and thrust his hand into the muck. Immediately, he almost let all of his air out to curse as his hand slammed against something hard. He groped for a moment until there was a good grip, then yanked the item into the water. Letting go of the plant, he swam back up.

The others turned to the block as he broke the surface and took a deep breath. "So?" Tissues wondered impatiently. "Was there treasure?"

"There was... something." Blocky took another second to breathe before lifting up whatever he had scavenged from below. Puffball floated over for a closer look. There was still some mud covering it, but it was unmistakably a cylindrical gem of some sort. A yellow one, with two cracks in it.

"It's a crystal!" Nickel exclaimed. "One of those... what are they called?"

"Multicrystals, according to Ruby," Blocky answered. "But what's one of them doing at the bottom of this lake?"

Puffball had a thoughtful look on her face. "No clue. But..."

"Whatcha thinkin'?"

"...do you think it could fix Test Tube's portal? Maybe it's not the machine that's the problem, but the source crystal."

"Good thinking!" Nickel said. "You should go over there and replace it to find out."

"Why don't you?"

"Cause I'm lazy."

"Fair enough."

--------------------

Microphone surreptitiously glanced in all directions, making sure nobody was close enough to hear her, before gently easing her gain settings. "Taco?" she whispered. "Taco, are you there?"

Silence.

"Well, I don't know if you're ignoring me, but I'm going to repeat what I said yesterday anyway. MePhone started a rejoin contest yesterday, and it was paused before the end because of... complications, but I wa-"

There was a click. "Microphone? Is that you?" a familiar British voice answered.

"Taco!" Mic cried, before clapping a hand over her mouth. Thankfully, she was still far enough away from everyone else in Goiky that nobody heard her outburst. "Finally! I tried to contact you all day yesterday. I-"

"For why?" There was a shuffling sound on the other end. "If I remember correctly, you-" A small burp of static interrupted her. "-rself eliminated. We have nothing more to gain from contacting each other." II Taco sounded cold and business-like, exactly like Mic remembered from when they had first met.

"But maybe we do. Yesterday, MePhone started a contest for us eliminated players as a chance to rejoin the game." The shuffling sounds stopped. "I don't know what the results are yet, because we had to stop partway through. But, if I rejoin, I was wondering if you wanted to, maybe... rekindle our old deal?"

Her fishy friend was quiet for several seconds. "Who else is left in the game?"

Mic quickly listed the five remaining contestants. "Hmm," Taco hummed. "It would be tricky. Knife alone is a tough competitor, but the fact that the other four had previously teamed up with Paintbrush against you makes this..." She sighed. "Tell you what. How long until the results are revealed? If we have enough time between now and then, you can tell me what the current relationships between the contestants are, and then I'll consider it."

"Yes!" Mic did a fist pump. "Well, the results haven't even been judged yet, because two teams are stuck in the IIverse, and Golf Ball and Test Tube are missing, so nobody knows when the portal is going to be fixed."

"Teams? Missing? A broken porta-" More static. "Alright, you're going to have to explain to me in person. If I can calibrate MePad correctly, I may be able to teleport over to you..."

"MePad? Wait, don't! MePhone tried teleporting between universes yesterday, and he disappeared, too!"

Silence. Then, a long, drawn-out sigh filled her ears. "Oh, dear. We may be here for a while. Are you in a private location?"

Microphone glanced around again. There was still nobody nearby. "More or less."

"Good. Now... tell me everything."

welp, finally ran out of pre-written chapters

each chapter from now on will come out sometime between: about a week after the previous one, or an indeterminate amount of time