[ Cruel Winter - A Inanimate Insanity Invitational AU ]

Chapter 25 - Holy shit it's Cabby

"What do you want, Cabby." Nickel snapped. "Ahah, I have... An offer for you, Nickel." Cabby whispered. "Well forget it. You're not welcome here and you never will be." He snapped in response.

"Oh, you don't even wish to hear my offer?" Cabby asked, pulling Nickel's file out of her bottom cabinet. "I know what you've done. I can read your mind, Nickel. So let me state my offer, or I'll tell everyone." She whispered to him.

Nickel glared at her. "You fiend..." He whispered.

He shook his head. "Fine, state your offer." He snapped in a more firm voice. Cabby put the file back in her bottom cabinet and chuckled. "Lets talk in private, instead of in this crowd." Cabby grabbed Nickel and dragged him to his cabin. Nickel stared at her suspiciously once they were inside.

"Well, spill it, cabinet girl. What is it?" He demanded.

"Nickel, your kingdom is dysfunctional. People are questioning your leadership daily, and if this goes on, you'll lose your following, and defeat the whole purpose of your little game." Cabby continued to have that sinister smile on her face, like she was up to something.

"'Game'? What do you mean?" Nickel stared at her. "Oh, Nickel... I know everything. I know everything about you. You play these people like a violin, and you know it. You'll do anything to get your way. It's despicable really." Cabby rolled her eyes.

Nickel was getting agitated. "JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT!" He snapped. "Oh, alright, yeesh." Cabby grumbled.

"You see, I know a way to get them to fall in line, you see? All you have to do is let me stay, and I'll be your personal assistant." She stared at him with a smile.

Nickel narrowed his eyes at her. "And how do I know I can trust you?" He demanded. "Ohohoh, Nickel... What a good question." She edged closer to him.

"You can't trust anyone here. We all have thoughts of our own, that can't be controlled. But don't worry. They'll all share a hive mind once I'm–No–WE'RE done with them." Cabby sneered. Nickel wasn't certain he could trust the file cabinet's words.

"Just take my hand, Nickel, and we can turn this into our utopia." Cabby smirked at him. Nickel hesitated, but he ended up doing some kind of armless handshake. "Good." She chuckled.

"Now, where exactly am I staying?" She was quick to change the subject. "Hmm... Well, I suppose you could stay in the spare cabin..." Nickel suggested. "I'll take it." Cabby chuckled.

Nickel nodded and began leading Cabby to the spare cabin. "Well, it seems whatever was going on there worked out." Bot shrugged. "Yep." Lightbulb replied, yawning. "Oh, hi Lightbulb!" Bot exclaimed. "Sup kid..." Lightbulb rubbed her eyes.

"I just had a weird dream." She muttered. "Ooooh can I hear it?" Bot asked. "Yeah, sure," Lightbulb giggled, sitting down. Bot sat down beside her.

"You see, I keep having these recurring dreams of having to lock a bunch of doors so intruders don't get in. I mean, one time I had this dream where there was this whole percent thing that you needed to keep your door locked. It was weird as hell, but that's not even the weirdest part. In this dream, the ' intruder ' was Test Tube. Not really sure why to be honest." She shrugged.

"Huuhh, weird." Bot muttered. Bot stared at the ground for a while. "Hey, Lightbulb?" They asked. "Yeah?" Lightbulb eyed them. "...What do you do if you really miss someone, but you can't talk to them..?" They mumbled. "Why would you ask that?" Lightbulb tilted her head.

"...I- I miss Goo and Clover. Goo, he's just... Far away, and it's my fault. And Clover's always busy because she's the king's assistant or whatever... Everyone else has their friends. OJ has Balloon and Paintbrush, Clover has Nickel, you have Fan... But I don't really have any, I guess." They whimpered.

"...Ah." Lightbulb understood. "Hey, how about you go pay MePhone a visit? I'm sure he needs someone to talk to. I kinda feel bad for him honestly.. Maybe I'll come with you!" Lightbulb exclaimed. "Nah, you don't need to come! That'll just be awkward." Bot admitted, not afraid to say the bitter truth.

Lightbulb laughed nervously. "...Oookay then!"  She gave a thumbs up. Bot waved and headed to the 'dungeon' looking thing. It was more like an underground facility. They tumbled down the steps, falling on their head. "AAA-" They screeched. "Woah- You ok–?" A voice called out. "EH–?" Bot flipped themself over and looked around.

"Ahah- Uh- Hello?" It was MePhone4. "Ohhh, hi MePhone." They chuckled. "Huh, weird, I... Never get visitors." MePhone4 muttered.

"Yeah, well, I thought you might need company." At least it was half-true. "Haha, gee, thanks kid." MePhone4 chuckled. Bot stumbled over to MePhone4's cell. "I don't get it. Don't you ever try to break out or anything? I mean, it must suck in there." The little green robot asked.

MePhone4 shrugged. "I mean, you're not wrong," He admitted. "But if I did try to escape, I'd probably be killed." He continued.

"Killed? Why's that?" Bot asked, blinking.

"Because, Nickel is holding me captive. If I were to escape–And you know how strict he is–He would definitely hang me by a rope or somethin' violent like that just to turn me into some sort of sick joke." MePhone4 sighed.

"Oh jeez... That's horrible..." Bot whispered. "Yeah, well, I guess it is my fault for putting you all into this wintery mess." MePhone4 grumbled, shifting slightly.

"Woah, hey, MePhone, don't be so hard on yourself. I mean, you might've done something horrible and half of the people in this kingdom hate you for it–"

"Not helping."

"–But this was bound to happen anyway. This whole kingdom probably would've started if Nickel put his mind to it. Don't beat yourself up about it! If anything, you had a part in starting a great revolution! Everyone's living in harmony no–" Bot was cut off.

"Everyone? Are you sure? What about Silver Spoon, and Yin-Yang? They aren't here. And Goo?" MePhone4 sighed. Bot seemed physically hurt by the mention of Goo. "...You– You're right. But, they–" Bot was at a loss of words. "...They just... Didn't want harmony..." The pain was clear in their voice.

MePhone4 blinked at the small robot. "Oh- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say anything triggering..." He mumbled. "...It's fine. It's ok..." Bot whimpered.

Bot turned away from the cell, holding their arms crossed together. "Bot, really, I-" MePhone4's comment was cut short as Bot dismissed him with their hand. "I... I need to go." They stepped up the stairs and out of the dungeon. "...Bye..." MePhone4 whispered, turning to the side, alone again, the only company being the darkness of closed doors.

"...I'm sorry." He mumbled.