..~| An Uneasy Feeling |~.. [Regretevator]

.~[.. The Investigation..]~.

Today was a day where no players seemed to show up to the Regretevator, not even the lobby either. Who knew what they were doing, taking a day off? Plotting rebellions? Conspiring with the government? Anyways, days like this were super relaxing and all the NPCs basically had free will.

Bive stood in the middle of the lobby. She opened her satchel and took out the missing paper. She unfolded it and read it... Again? This is the 59th time today-

As she was reading, she felt someone's hand rest on her shoulder. Bive screamed, turning around and falling over. Split was standing there, alarmed. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Bivey!" Split quickly apologized "I didn't realize that'd scare you."

Bive stood up, attempting to calm down. "Heh... It's ok..." She replied, looking back down at the missing paper. "What's that?" Split said, pointing to the paper. Bive quickly glanced around the lobby, surely nobody else was there, right? "Can I trust you?" Bive asked Split. Split stared at her for a moment, slightly concerned. "Of course, you can always trust me."

Bive handed the paper to Split who read it. Her smile seemed to fade. "Oh no.." She spoke, sorrowful and fearful "Is it true he's really missing?" Split looked back up at Bive.

"It has to be true... I know it!" Bive responded surely.
"Poob did write it, they always get paranoid when their favorite person in the world goes missing for an hour." Split said.
"Something's not right though..." Bive replied, taking back the paper "It's well been over an hour since anyone has last seen him."
"So... What are you gonna do?" Split asked her.
"I'm gonna find Pest and bring him back." Bive said with confidence.
"Really? That sounds really brave of you, Bivey." Split said "But are you sure you can do it alone?"
Bive hesitated. Could she?
"I ... Don't know..." She responded honestly, sighing.
"Then you have me to help. I'm in." Split said, smiling.
Bive looked at her, wide-eyed "Really?!"
"Of course, Bivey!" Split responded cheerfully.

The two stepped into the elevator together. "Where do we go?" Split asked. Bive thought for a moment. "Why don't we ask that oddly depressed caterpillar?" Bive responded. If she was being fully honest, that's the only person she could think of at the time. Bive walked over and dropped a coin in a slot in the wall and pressed a button. "Here we go on a mystery!" Split said thrillingly.

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After a couple minutes of standing in the elevator...

Ding!

The elevator doors slid open and revealed a large and somewhat empty room with a stage and a spinning wheel. A woman in a purple suit and wearing a purple top hat sat on a stack of crates, looking down at the as they approached her. "Oh, how wonderful." Mach said with an unsettling smile "New friends to play my game?"

"Uhm, no, we're wondering if Pilby's here?" Split asked Mach.
"Oh.. That dumb worm? What could you possibly want with them?" Mach replied with a disappointed tone.
"We need to ask them abou-"
"SHHHH! WE DONT KNOW IF WE CAN TRUST HER." Bive shouted.
"Uh, right.. We need to ask them about something." Split continued.

Mach stared into Bive's eyes menacingly. Those gleaming red eyes greatly scared her. "How about this..." Mach proposed "You play my game, and if you're lucky enough to win, you can have your time talking to that pathetic worm.. And if you don't accept.. may as well accept your fate!" She cackled. Bive hid behind Split worriedly. "Fine then.. We'll play." Split finally said.
"Good.. Now, good luck!" Mach spun the wheel, watching it rotate continuously with a grim smile. The other two watched fearfully.

After a couple long seconds, the wheel stopped on a cyan blue section labeled 'Fun.'
"Oh, now this'll be entertaining!" Mach snickered.

Before either of them knew it, red balls flooded the room, bouncing off the walls. Multiple ht Bive in the head, causing her to tumble over. Split ducked and attempted dodging some. While Mach was on the stage laughing, a voice could be heard shouting from afar "Mach! Leave them alone!"

Pilby walked out onto the stage and walked up to Mach. "Ugh, you.. I think you forgot who the boss was here." Mach said, staring them down, irritated. "Sorry..." Pilby mumbled sadly. "Whatever, go play with your stupid little friends." Mach grumbled, snapping her fingers. The balls all froze in position and one by one quickly disappeared into thin air.

Bive groaned. "You okay, Bivey?" Split asked, helping her up.
"Yeah... I think?" Bive replied.

Pilby hopped off the stage, running to them. "Oh my, I'm so sorry..." Pilby said sorrowfully.
"Don't be, it's alright Pilby! We need to talk with you though." Split responded.
"Oh, nothing bad I hope?" Pilby asked.
"Ehhhh... Yeah it kind of is bad..." Split replied unsurely.
"Oh gosh..." Pilby sighed.

The three walked into the elevator to chat. "Bive, can you show them the paper?" Split turned to Bive. Bive quickly nodded, taking out the missing paper and handing it to Split. She unfolded it and showed the missing paper to Pilby. They briefly stepped back in shock. "P-Pest is missing?" They asked, more worried now. Split nodded sadly "Unfortunately it's true." Bive looked at Pilby with suspicion. "You wouldn't know anything about it, would you?" She asked. "No.. But I do remember him saying he was planning to go to the Two Stud Camp last I saw him." Pilby responded honestly. Bive and Split looked at each other. "Then that's where we're going. Wanna come along?" Split asked them. "Oh no, I cant.. Mach probably wouldn't like that." Pilby sighed. "Oh, alright then. See ya!" Split waved to Pilby as they quickly exited the elevator before it closed again.

"Next stop, Two Stud Camp."