W.O.A.H. Bunch was doing... *great*.
Overcoming ridiculous, absurd, over-the-top odds that any sane person would look at once and run away from has always been its agenda. Being created as a team that was so, *so* much smaller than its opponent to a degree that's just plain silly, it was somehow able to crawl its way out of that disparity, evading what seemed to be near-certain death through some clever strategies and a few impassioned appeals to have others join their cause. Sure, the gap between them and Team No-Name remained large. Sure, they ended up losing the very first contest they ever participated in. Sure, the entire team's backbone, the whole dynamic, the bedrock it was built upon, was built on two people that have not interacted whatsoever in any meaningful way whatsoever, have worked against each other up until now, and have personalities that clash so heavily that no sane person could ever think that they would ever *possibly* manage to lead such a disadvantaged team to anywhere else but the grave.
But they managed. Somehow, through some fluke of nature, through some absurdly infinitesimally remote chance, through some *mistake*, W.O.A.H. Bunch was able to keep things together, building themselves to be quite the formidable force, and were now at relatively even odds with the rest of the teams.
But their luck was bound to run out at some point.
Well, maybe they've already had their fair share of misfortune already; it's just that all of it, for whatever reason, happened to be concentrated on a single, hapless, powerless contestant. One that styled herself as a heroic leader, no less. Maybe Pin had incurred some massive cosmic debt, required a massive helping hand from the universe in order to ensure that she and Coiny were able to agree on anything besides complete and utter hatred for each other, to keep herself afloat for more than a few episodes. Such a miracle, as history has shown time and time again, doesn't come for free. Since then, she's somehow ended up the first person *anyone* thinks of when given the chance to strike back at somebody, to get their revenge. Her limbs went, then her face, then her *size*. She was reduced to a horrific, unimaginable state; she was no different to her innumerable inanimate cousins and family, but *somehow* her consciousness remained intact and complete all throughout. She could still think. She could still sense. She could still *fear*.
And there's only so much pushpin left to torment for whoever up above may be responsible for pulling the strings, and so that remaining cost had to go *somewhere*. Coiny was rather... *distraught* that his friend, his fellow W.O.A.H. Buncher, had been reduced to such a pitiful state. They were effectively reduced in size without needing to lose a challenge, without having to endure the pain of Cake at Stake. How unfair is *that*? He's been through worse- after all, there's no greater pain than living with that *jerk* -but with his entire team now relying on his every move and order, the pressure was starting to build up. He'd be just about able to maintain himself and pull his weight during contests, but whenever the cameras (wherever they may be) weren't rolling, he was just inconsolable. More than a few times has the rest of the team seen him going absolutely crazy, talking to someone that couldn't talk back, rambling on and on about some scheme or something, to fight back against... *whatever*.
Also, something about their singular strength and heavy-lifter happily leaving their team and betraying them without a second thought. Who cares, really?
And so, W.O.A.H. Bunch was reduced to a state that they *probably* should've been all the way back at the start: incapable, facing overwhelming odds, and fearing whatever may be lurking next. They could very much feel that this was just the start, the beginning of a gradual avalanche that could only end in one way. They'd all get eliminated, whoever survives would end up switching to other teams, and it would be the end of the Bunch, perhaps forever.
That's... *neat*.
-
Nickel was moping, as he was wont to do.
