(Someone commented on the chapter called "Day Two - The Calm" and predicted this chapter's title. Gold star for them ⭐️)



August 4th

It was late morning when the rain began to fall.

Some of the objects residing in Goiky weren't expecting it. While most had experienced rain at least once before, and therefore knew in advance what the ever-darkening clouds meant, several had never actually been in it before, even if they knew what it was. Any weather that wasn't balmy was a rare occurrence in both universes.

Donut was the first to notice it. A single drop fell directly into his head, splattering instantly and soaking into his sugary skin. Confused, he looked up just in time for another one to splash right into his eyes. "Ack!" he exclaimed, stumbling backwards for a second before clearing his vision.

Fries, who was nearby, glanced at him. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I just got a raindrop in my eyes," replied Donut. Across the field, he could see other contestants noticing the rain beginning to fall.

"A raindrop? Oh no, is it raining-" Fries' question was immediately answered as he felt some drops land on his precious innards. "Ah, jeez. Know where we can find any umbrellas?"

"Maybe ask Four?" There were already several other objects running to the aforementioned host, presumably for the same reasons. Fries nodded at Donut's suggestion and followed in their footsteps.

The first to receive an umbrella from the algebralien was Microphone, and just in time, too — the rain had increased to a level that wasn't fatal for most objects, but likely would be for Mic as she was electrical. Gelatin managed to snatch one next, then asked for a second. "Here you go, broski," he said to Fries as he approached, offering the second protective cover to the deep-fried tater container.

"Weird nickname, but thanks." Fries accepted the umbrella gratefully.

As Gelatin sauntered off, Fan approached the fast food, sporting an umbrella of his own. "Hey, you're friends with Tennis Ball, right? Can I bounce something off you?"

"Uh, sure. Go for it."

"TB mentioned to me a few weeks ago about one of Golf Ball's experiments. Remember that thunderstorm contest Four hosted?"

"How could I possibly forget the day full of constant lightning and rain?"

"Right, right. Well, TB said that GB had apparently caused the initial rain, although Four turned it into an actual storm later. Apparently, she launched something big into the atmosphere, and after a few days, the rain started. Basically, she found out that the only way to make it rain in Goiky was for there to be something big disturbing the atmosphere for a few days. She didn't tell him why she wanted to know that, though..."

Fries had a sneaking feeling he knew what the reason might be, but decided not to voice it. "So, what you're saying is, it's raining right now because there's... something in the sky?"

Fan nodded. "Yeah! But that's what I don't get. There hasn't been anything in the sky during the past few days." He gestured upwards. "So what's making it rain?"

--------------------

"Hey, Bow."

"Mmm?"

"I've been thinking-"

"Well, that's new."

"Are there any other foods that rhyme with 'pear?'" Dough put a hand to his chin. "Cause ever since yesterday, I've been wondering about it, but I can't think of any."

Bow paused mid-text, but didn't look up from her phone. "...huh. Are there any other foods that rhyme with pear?"

"I don't know, that's why I asked you!"

"I can't answer that, but I did just remember a different stupid question about-"

Hearing the creak of a door, both phantoms turned to see Lightbulb enter the kitchen. "Oh, Lighty, you'd like this silly question!" Bow continued. "If oranges are named after what color they are, then why aren't apples called 'reds' and bananas 'yellows?'"

Dough began to scratch his head at this conundrum, but Lightbulb barely reacted to the question. She just continued walking towards the ghostly duo. "Uhh, Bulbo? Did you hear the question?"

Again, no reaction. Bow also noticed that Lightbulb wasn't wearing a wide smile like she usually did. Instead, she was wearing a pair of sunglasses, which she promptly began to remove. Bow caught a glimpse of... red? Pink? She saw something, but whatever it was was immediately chased out of her mind when her vision turned white. "ACK!" she shrieked, instinctively snapping her eyelids shut and shielding her face. "Turn your brightness down, gal! You'll blind us both!"

"Hey, that hurts!" she heard Dough complain. With a start, she realized that the bulb's light wasn't just blinding them — it was damaging them. Something about the sheer amount of light wasn't very healthy towards the ghosts.

"What are you doing??" she yelled, to no avail. The light grew brighter and brighter, and the pain grew worse and worse, until-

Smash!

It vanished in an instant. Unfortunately, the spots in her vision took several more seconds to clear. When they did — or at least, when she could partially see again — they revealed a panting Apple, who stood over Lightbulb's body, holding a broken ceramic plate. The top half of the latter girl's head was completely shattered. Judging by the various ceramic bits mixing with the glass shards on the floor, Bow guessed what had happened.

Dough, however, wasn't quite as sharp. "Ow..." he complained, running his eyes. "What... what happened?"

"I'm... I'm not sure," replied Apple, panting heavily. "I heard you guys yelling, so I ran in here and saw Lightbulb... ex... exor... exercising-" She paused. "...exorcising?"

Bow shrugged.

"I saw her... doing whatever by shining her light at you. So I just grabbed a plate without thinking and..." Apple gestured to the floor. She didn't need to finish.

The sound of more shattering echoed through the room. The three objects whirled around to see Paintbrush standing in the doorway, jaw wide open. A broken mug lay at their feet, spilling the contents of what appeared to be coffee. "W... what..." they stuttered. "What... did you DO?!"

--------------------

On the second floor, approximately a minute earlier, Paper found OJ staring dejectedly out a window. He didn't need to look to know that his friend would be staring at the distant ruins of Hotel OJ. Walking up to the citrusy drink and following his gaze, he saw that he was correct. "Hey... how are you doing?"

OJ didn't answer for several moments, instead continuing to look outside, over the top of the Perilous Forest. "I..." He sighed. "I don't know. I'd never considered what I would actually do if something like this ever happened. Like, if I ran out of prize money, or something..." Putting his hands in his face, he sighed again, more deeply this time. "I know Hotel OJ probably wasn't going to last forever. But... seeing it just... ripped away from me like that, without any warning and without anything I could do... there's no way to describe how that feels."

"Tell me about it," a new voice piped up.

Startled, OJ and Paper turned away from the window to see Firey standing there. "I don't know how much you know about BFDI, but a similar thing happened to me as well," he continued. "I lost my prize before I even had a chance to enjoy it, heh."

Paper gave him a weird look for this, and Firey's eyes widened. "Uh, I don't mean to downplay how good the hotel was, though! I'm just saying that you're not alone in this, OJ."

"Yeah!" agreed Paper, putting on a smile. "I know this kind of defeats part of the purpose, OJ, but I'm sure several of the other objects would be willing to chip in and help rebuild the hotel. It'll be as good as new before you know it!"

OJ was, again, silent for a while, before finally saying softly, "Thank you guys."

"Anytime!"

Smash!

All three objects jumped at the unexpected sound of shattering glass. "What was that?" Firey questioned. "It sounded like it came from downstairs."

"Oh, I hope nobody's gotten themselves hurt. Let's go check it out." Paper turned and leaned forwards to close the window, but a sudden gust of wind began to blow. He felt himself flutter, and before he could do anything more than open his mouth, the gust caught him and yanked him out the window, into the roiling air currents.

OJ's eyes widened. "PAPER!" he shouted, lunging forwards to catch his friend but missing by a hair. "We've got to catch him!" Without wasting any time, the juice did a 180 and sprinted towards the stairs. Firey wordlessly followed him; he knew from experience what it was like to watch a close friend be taken by the wind without warning.

Ignoring the commotion in the kitchen as they ran downstairs, the two first placers slammed the mansion's front door open. Frantically whipping his head around, ignoring the migraine his cracked rim was giving him, OJ spotted Paper swooping helplessly through the air. "Over there!" he pointed. "The currents are carrying him over the Perilous Forest!"

"Why exactly is it called the 'Perilous Forest?'"

"I don't know for certain, I've never been in there. But I guess we're going to find out."

Together, they rushed after Paper's faint screams, charging towards the dark and foreboding woods ahead. Unbeknownst to either object, Rocky emerged from the mansion and followed behind.