STUDIES OF INSANITY - AN II FANFIC -

2: Expriments and Tests May Break Your Bones

Fan sat quietly on his bed. He turned over on his back, yawing.  He stared over at Paintbrush, and walked over to them. "You seem fine." He said in a joking way as he nudged Painty. "I'm tired, cant you read the room?" They'd yawn. "Well- uhm.. well, yes I can read the room, just.. whatever.." Fan longed to get out of this janky room. He was hot and sweaty from being 'trapped' inside the room, he'd sigh loudly. 

"I'm sure we'll get out of here soon, Fan. But for now, maybe you should continue to catch some shut-eye." Paintbrush said, rolling back on they're side.  "Maybe I could find something to occupy myself.." Fan thought to himself, until he heard the doorknob rattle. It was Test Tube! Expect.. something looked slightly off about her, her glasses were slanted, her eyes were bleak, full of nothing.. and she looked like she hadn't slept in days. She clicked her pen, jocking down notes on her clipboard. "Oh— Testy! Are yo—"  ".. Good morning Fan. Speaking of, could i borrow you?" Fan nodded, hopping down from his bed, running over to Testy. 

As they walked through the halls, he saw inside some of the rooms. Taco, Mic, OJ, Paper.. Lightbulb!— He even saw some rooms that were.. dirty.. with cracked windows, they looked like jailcells. They took the elevator, he stood there, waiting for the doors to open, the door came open with a "DING!" and they headed out. Fan retraced his steps in his mind, because, maybe, this infomation could help him later. With two lefts and a right turn, they arrived at a door. The sign read "Test Tubes Office" or.. "Room 467" Test Tube opened the door for Fan, and they both sat down at a table. 

".. Fan, we've been friends for a while right?" ".. Yeah? That's a.. weird question." Fan tugged tightly at his bowtie, staring down at the clipboard on the table. "..Mhm, well, I've noticed your skills with.. science and technology, and golly gee— someday you'll be as good as a professional! And so I'd—" Test Tube was interupted with a ringing sound — like those buttons on airplanes to get the flight attendant. ".. Excuse me for a minute, Fan." She seemed annoyed as she walked out of the room. 

Fan waited until Test Tube was gone, he stood up from his chair and looked around the room. Something was.. happening, and surely it couldn't be good. The office was huge, and he only had a few minutes. He'd snoop through files, boxes, cabinets, and folders. Until he found a huge bulletin board with a sheet over it. He threw the sheet down, and saw notes, pictures, etc. He'd looked through them one by one. 

"Experiments? Obsolete objects? Battling?" He heard footsteps quickly approaching, and he threw the cloth back over the bulletin board before rushing to sit down. Test Tube opened the door. ".. Golly gee, sorry for taking a while, some issues with th—" Test Tube stared at the folders behind her desk. "..Tch, I should've known you'd go snooping. I'll sit here and tell you my plans. You're  all just here for me to run a few.. tests. But you won't believe that. So, since you've already put the pieces together, maybe.. you'd be my assiantant?" Test Tube fixed her glasses, smiling at Fan. ".. I-i well— it's.. fine.."  "Very well then." Test Tube stood up, pushing her chair while she went to grab  files from her desk. "..So this is.. what you've been working on these past couple months?" Test Tube nodded. "First things first,  we'll see how well you work with.. obsoletes."  "What's that mean?" Test Tube sighed, she grabbed a remote and clicked its red shiny button, opening a secret door. 

Fan stepped in quietly, coughing with each step he took as the dust from boxes twirled in the air beside him. Fan heard a groan, he followed the sound of the groan and as he got closer, there was blood beneath his feet. When he found the source of the sound he made a gagging sound. It was Cherries .. still alive body, it looked like it was holding on by a thread, they were .. almost stitched together, they're  leaves were mangled, putting them in a somewhat withered state. Cherries had long sharp claws, and huge sharp teeth, like a wolf. "Cherries?!— what the hell happened to you?" No answer. "Come out, Fan, they can be somewhat hostile." Fan stepped back, hurrying back towards Test Tube. His gut wrenched and his heart pounded. "Wh—what happened to them?"  "Hm, I guess you haven't caught on yet, obsolete objects are those who have.. ended up crazy from their time here and went on a rampage, or either, failed tests, etc." 

"So you just.. toss them aside like its nothing? That's TWISTED!" He gagged with every word that slipped out.  "I have to do something with them, they'll hurt the others."  Fan shut himself up, he sat down. "..All those rooms with dirt and grim— were those-" Test Tube nodded. "..Some of them.. aren't as.. bad as Cherries, theres certainly worse, though!" Test Tube chuckled, before looking back at Fan and his uncomfortable expression. "You should just go back to your room, or go to the cafeteria, you and the others should go eat anyway. I'll call someone to escort you."

When Fan was escorted to the cafeteria, he saw it was bustling. He sat down next to Lightbulb. "Heya Fan! You look gloomy— what's up?" Lightbulb said cheerfully. "I've just been sitting here object watching, I mean, can you really blame me? Look at OJ and Paper, Lovebirds, am I right?!" She laughed loudly, she picked up her fork and dug into her food. Not caring about the quality or  even.. what the food was. "..You're awfully talkative." Fan laughed. "Well, my roomie is Taco! Taco for Mephones sake. She NEVER EVER talks!" Lightbulb exclaimed. "..So, do you er— know who everyone got paired with?" "Yah! Knife got paired with Apple.. Marsh got paired with Suitcase. And OJ and Paper are paired together.. coincidence? I think NOT!" She'd shout.

Painty and Fan walked back to their room. Fan tried to start a converstation but Painty ignored him. Fan climbed onto his bed. Laying on his back, then he turned to Paintbrush. ".. Are you mad at me? — I swearr i didn't know what Test Tube was doing! — she never told me!! I swear!" "..What do you mean— you didnt know what Test Tube was doing, Fan, are you.. is there something your not telling me?" Paintbrush stood up to face Fan. ".. No!— I just wanted to know if you were mad at me!!!— nothing else, I-i promise!" Fan said frantically as he got off his bed. ".. What the hell is going on, Fan?" Fan looked up at the small camera on the celling as it adjusted its place to stare straight at Fan. "I—i can't! Its confidential! Its—"  "Tsh— whatever. Testy probably just set you for failure. You said we would be here temporarily, it's been days, Fan. The  same in and out routine. When are you going to stop denying it? We're stuck here. But you're so stuck in your head that you wouldn't even notice." Paintbrush spat, as they sat back down on their bed.

The room went silent. Testy would probably congrulate  Fan for not giving away her plan. He'd sigh and then stare directly at the camera, he'd throw a fork that he had stolen from the cafeteria at the camera. "You're right, we are stuck here. And eventually, we'll both lose our minds. She should just put us out of our misery already." Fan sighed. "Stop talking to yourself, Fan. Go to sleep."  Soon, when Fan had woken, he was in Testy's office. It was messy, but the thing that caught his eye was an axe.  Fan stepped toward the cluttered table , and in that moment he couldn't help but grab the axe and hit something. He took three steps back, and with a full swing he jacked it toward a painting. But there was a crack, and soon blood flowed out. He shook his head, and saw Paintbrush bleeding out infront of him. 

Fan dropped the axe, leaving a thud. He held Paintbrush in his arms. He cried, sobbed even. 

".. This is all my fault— I'll.. i'll make it up to you.. I'll save you, I promise." 

Blood covered Fans hands. And he sat there, with Paintbrushes corpse laying in front of him.