What's It Like Outside? [An II Fanfiction]

Chapter 6: Dead End

Trigger warnings: None

Nickel ran through the hallway, trying his best not to freak out more than he already was. He was having trouble believing any of this was even real. His two best friends going missing without a trace within the span of two days? It just didn't make sense. He hooked a left and saw Bot, letting out a sigh of relief. He walked up to them, thinking of how to say this.

Bot turned around when they noticed Nickel approaching them. "Oh- hey Nickel! got any updates?"

Nickel looked at the carpet uncomfortably. "Bot, we've..." He took a breath. "We've lost a Loony Balloony."

Bot looked a bit shocked. "Wait- you mean... Balloon's missing too?"

Nickel simply nodded, still not making eye contact. 

"Hold on, I'll go get the others and then you can tell us what happened." Bot turned around and dashed off. Nickel sat down on the stained hotel carpet and stared at the stripes on the wallpaper, trying to think of how and what could have happened to his friend. Soon enough, Bot returned with Fan and Paintbrush, who both looked worried as well.

"What happened? Is Balloon really missing too?" Paintbrush asked him.

Nickel stood up and faced the three in front of him. "Yeah, I-I got a message from him this morning saying he was going on a walk like he usually does, but.. he just never came back. He's not answering me or Suitcase either."

Paintbrush wrote down the info onto their notepad. "Where does Balloon usually go on his walks?"

"That forest by the season 2 area."

"Okay, we'll go in there and look for any evidence of what could've happened, thanks." Paintbrush flipped the spiral notepad back to the cover and put their pencil through the rings. They turned around and started walking away, the other two following them.

Nickel watched them walk off. He got an idea and was about to ask if he could go with them, but they were already gone, and he figured it'd probably be okay if he didn't go, despite how much he wanted to. He walked back downstairs and saw Suitcase.

"Did you tell them about Balloon?" She asked nervously.

Nickel nodded. "They're gonna go check out the forest and see if they can find anything." He paused for a few moments and sighed. "I just hope he's alright.."

"Yeah, me too." Suitcase agreed, looking just as sad and worried as Nickel did. 

"What exactly are we looking for?" Fan called out.

"Anything that could hint to where Balloon is, I guess." Bot called back.

They had gone out into the forest and were looking for any clues. They had just started the search, which they were only just realizing how difficult a search like this would be. The forest was pretty big, and with all the trees and bushes and animals, looking for something small was no easy task. Regardless, they went ahead with the search anyway.

"Why are you just on your phone?? Come help us!" Fan asked, looking over at Paintbrush, who was leaning zestily against a tree.

"I'm asking Nickel something, calm down. Although that is pretty funny coming from you honestly." Paintbrush replied casually, not looking up from their phone.

"Fruity ass" Fan joked, walking off to go look for more clues.

"Psch, shut up" Paintbrush replied. They pushed themself away from the tree and stood normally, putting their phone up. "Alright, Nickel said Balloon usually goes down this route, so we should probably start here."