Merging Realities || an II AU

[7] Flickering sanity

An actually (Somewhat) short Painty chapter? No way!
(Im so proud of this chapter title)

Enjoy bc this is packed with lore for later chapters.

WARNINGS:
Strong headaches
Arson (thanks Painty)
Intense inner turmoil

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~Paintbrush POV:~

I saw Clover make it up the mountain, pressing the button and high-fived Testtube "Yay!" she cheers. A couple seconds later, Cabby arrives rather harshly and presses the button herself.

"And two more members from Team Pinkers reach the top! That's four Pinkers, two Sinkers, and five hole Thinkers!" Mephone announced.
I was starting to get a bit worried as I heard Silver say something to Cabby, though I didn't pay attention as to what it was.

Bow popped out from Cabby's drawer, being dramatic as usual. but I tuned everything out before shaking my head, realizing how close the other teams were.

"Hey Floory!" I shout down to him "If you can scare Goo off, we can send a Pinker home!" "No, don't waste your time Floor!" OJ shouted right after me "Just hurry up the mountain!" he yelled
"Um, uh Volcano actually, heh." Testtube chuckled "Unfortunately for my studies, it's been dormant" she sighed.

I stared at her, My head hurt a bit but that wasn't going to stop us. now if he could just get to the t- "Keep it together! He's coming!" Balloon shouted.
I panicked and looked back down at the bottom of the volcano, seeing the dark spec just sitting there. "It's a race to the finish!" Mephone started "Which team will be the last one to touch the button?"

I was usually able to keep my composure pretty easily, but all I felt right now was pure panic. The Floor didn't move from his spot.
"f-FLOORY!!" I screamed, that seemed to get his attention, as the spec disappeared and popped right next to me "And now to hit the button and complete the challenge! Alright." Floory smiled and I stood there in silence both of us realizing "Yeah... I dunno about that."
Before I could do anything, I heard the sound of the other buttons being pressed in quick succession. "And in a surprise finish... Both The Sinkers and The Pinkers are safe." Mephone announced.

"Wha- How is that fair?! The Floor wasn't able to compete!" I heard OJ yell. "You're only as strong as your weakest teammate!" Mephone's voice blurred a bit as my panic turned into a slight daze. though, that only brought the headache I had been fighting off back into the fore-front. "Thinkers... You're up for elimination"
After a small bit of silence, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked over and saw Testtube staring at me with a confused and concerned gaze.

"s-Sorry.." I mutter, Putting a hand on my head and sighing before looking around.  Everyone had already started down the mountain besides Testtube and Candle.
"You're fine, it's just... You blanked out there for a bit... You sure your okay?" Testtube asked. I felt a bit uncomfortable once I noticed that Candle was staring at me. "Yeah.... I'll manage." I start walking down the volcano, Candle keeping close watch on me while I hold Testtube's hand.

We get down and talk for a bit before I wave Testtube goodbye and walk with the rest of my team to where Mephone told us to go. Walking up to one of the Pic-Nix tables with tea already set on it.
"Welcome." I flinched hearing A voice I was not ready for "This is Me Phone. Using text-to-speech from my spa day getaway." The robotic voice from the speaker made me tense up

"As the final team up for elimination, I would like to introduce you all to the elimination button."
I felt myself twitch and tense up even more...I did not like the sound of that voice, and my nerves were getting the better of me.
[CHIME]
the sound of that made me shiver, before I suddenly felt much calmer and allowed myself to relax.