Pencil wakes up one day to find herself back at the beginning of BFDI. With future knowledge of the contests to come, she tries to sway the competition to her favor.
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As the Announcer initiated the crying contest, Pin watched the other teams through her own tank. Pencil was trying (and failing horrifically) to cry, while Firey was trying not to cry. Most of the others were having varying levels of success, except for Teardrop and Eraser, who stood around doing nothing. Glancing behind her at the other Squishy Cherries, she saw that they weren't making much progress and groaned.
Then she looked back at FreeSmart and got an idea. Quickly reaching over and into their tank, she grabbed Firey by the arms and held him next to Ice Cube. The latter screamed until she was melted completely, and Pin tossed Firey back into his tank.
Her teammates stared at her. "What?"
"How could you?" Leafy lamented. "That was mean! That was meeeaaan!!"
"Hey, I didn't see any of you actually accomplishing anything!"
The Announcer hopped over. "Boop. Time's up."
Firey blinked. "Already? Really?"
"Yes. And since you all got some water, I guess it's a tie."
In complete shock, the Squishy Cherries stared at him before turning to the other tanks. "Are you serious, speaker box?" Pin complained. "We have so much more than everyone else! And- and look at A Different Name! They don't have anything at all!"
"They do, actually."
"Where??"
"They have Teardrop. Duh."
"Wha-"
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"The tiebreaker is a skiing contest. Try to get to the finish line ASAP. Oh, and we could only afford one pair of skis for each team. Now go."
Match immediately climbed up Flower's petals. "What- hey! Geddoff!" She swiped at the intruding matchstick.
"But I've just gotta sit up here. You're, like, the biggest one on our team, so you're the only one of us who can, like, hold the rest of us up!"
There was a pause, and then Flower sighed dejectedly. "I hate that you're right," she muttered, reminding Pencil of Fanny and causing her to giggle. Even Flower could recognize that there wasn't a way out of that.
All three teams boarded their skis, with the Squishy Cherries on Tennis Ball and A Different Name atop Eraser.
But just as everyone began their descent, Flower came to a terrible realization. "Guys!" she spoke, suddenly very nervous at the prospect of tripping. "I just remembered that I don't know how to ski!!"
Various complaints came from above. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the Cherries coming closer. "Don't worry, Flower!" called out Leafy from atop TB. "It's easy! Just lean a little to the left or right when you want to turn, and make a wedge with the front tips of your skis to brake! If you want to go faster, bend your knees!"
