While the II2 contesting grounds were experiencing their usual balmy weather, a large portion of Goiky was covered in rain clouds. Which meant the objects of teams 1 and 2 weren't the only ones to get rained on.

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

The majority of Team 3 had been pretty quiet since Tennis Ball's outburst the previous evening. With the exception of Pie, that sports globule was the last object in their group they would have expected to snap. And what was almost worse, the private argument between him and Golf Ball seemed to have caused... some sort of rift between them. TB was basically avoiding GB, despite the latter not making many attempts to approach the former. Even if anyone there disliked either of them (read: Pencil, and that's debatable), it was hard for anyone to deny they were an iconic duo, if nothing else. Which made the whole situation all the more troubling.

Currently, the team was in the middle of a break from walking. The Moon loomed ever closer, but was still quite a distance away. It would likely take everyone at least another day until they reached the BFB grounds again.

Pie was peacefully meditating, perched in the lotus position atop a stone jutting from the ground, when the first drop of water plopped right onto her head. (Although she had no way of knowing, at exactly the same time, the same thing happened to Donut way over on the BFB grounds.) She cracked one eye open for a second, closed it again, then opened both eyes when a few more drops splattered on her head. A few more began to fall around her, and she sighed. The weather was both a blessing and a curse; while the sound of rain was extremely relaxing and great for meditation, she preferred being under cover if it happened. Too much water would make her crust soggy.

Reluctantly, she decided to get up and find some cover. Fortunately for Pie, they had stopped near the edge of a forest, and most of the rest of the team were actually just inside the tree line. It only took a minute for her to rejoin the group... if she could even call them a group. The ten of them were mostly so spread out that she could barely see all of them at once.

On her way towards where Barf Bag was sitting alone, Pie passed Test Tube and Golf Ball resting on opposite sides of the same tree trunk, the former absently writing formulas in a patch of dirt. The latter was more or less just staring off into space, which was the same thing she'd been doing for the last several hours. Pie couldn't possibly guess what was going on inside her head.

Test Tube finished the equation she was doodling, grunted in satisfaction, and started to erase it in order to write another before a raindrop hit her hand. She stared at it moment, before seeing others slowly leak in through the canopy of leaves above. "Oh," she stated simply. "It's raining."

Not fully paying attention, Golf Ball just nodded at this, before it sunk in what her friend actually said. She froze, but Test Tube continued speaking to herself, not noticing. "Blegh. I hope there's a leaf somewhere around here wide enough to cover my head from getting diluted. Maybe I can use a rock...? No, no. Too heavy-"

"It's raining?"

Test Tube was about to respond before realizing that those were the first words Golf Ball had uttered since yesterday. She turned to look at the sports globule and saw that her friend's eyes were wide open and alert. "Did you say it's raining?" Golf Ball queried again, before a tiny splash of water at her feet answered the question.

GB stared at the damp ground uncomprehendingly while Testy stared at her uncomprehendingly. "Uh, yes, it's raining. Why do you look so shocked?"

"It's raining," Golf Ball simply repeated. Then she stepped backwards as her mind finally made the connection. "Oh my factory, it's raining."

"Golf Ball?" wondered Test Tube, getting somewhat nervous. That feeling only increased when the grey sphere suddenly began to hyperventilate and stumble forwards through the trees. "Golf Ball!"

Her shouts were attracting the others' attentions. As GB continued to lurch through the forest, more and more objects from the team looked over and stood up in confusion. TT tried to catch up to her friend, but the globule was moving surprisingly fast, considering her apparent current lack of balance.

Finally, she emerged from the tree line with the rest of the team on her heels to find Golf Ball staring into the dark clouds above. "No." It was barely a whisper, but it somehow carried over the sound of rain to the others. It made them stop in their tracks. "No, no, no no no no. Oh, no. This... this can't be.. t-they can't possibly-"

She suddenly flinched so hard she almost fell over. "Gah!! What-" Another flinch. "Oh n- AHH!"

Test Tube sprinted forwards again and turned her friend towards her. "Golf Ball, what is-"

She inhaled sharply. For a split second, Golf Ball's face... changed. The regular black ovals and lines that were normally her eyes and other features were gone. In their place, several of her dimples had turned a darker shade of grey, roughly in the shape of a face. Whatever TT might have been expecting, it was not this.

As quickly as the... whatever it was appeared, it disappeared again just as rapidly. Golf Ball's regular face returned, and it was filled with fear. "What the..." Test Tube couldn't even complete the sentence.

GB wrenched herself out of her grasp. "Go away!!"

"What?" This only confused Testy even more. "What are you-"

"No, not you, Test Tu-GAH!" GB flinched again, and TT saw that other face flicker into existence briefly. It vanished again after a moment, but TT noticed that it took slightly longer to go away that time. "Get out of my head!!"

"...n̶͍͂O̶̤͒.̷̛̰"

Test Tube's stomach dropped. She didn't know why Golf Ball just replied to herself, or why the reply came out so distorted, but it could not be good. Before she could do anything else, someone shoved her aside. Managing to not topple over — which was a miracle, considering how much of a klutz she could be physically — she looked back up to see Tennis Ball in front of Golf Ball. "GB, snap out of it!" he ordered, snapping his fingers in front of her face.

There wasn't any response. "Oh gosh," TB muttered. Then, to everyone's complete and utter surprise, he grabbed GB, picked her up and shook her violently. "GOLF BALL!!" he shouted in her face, loud enough to make the closest objects wince.

After a moment, he stopped and set her down on the ground, making sure she was sitting so that she wouldn't fall over. She fell over anyway, extremely dizzy but (seemingly) no longer distressed. "Urg..." she mumbled, her eyes spiraling in circles.

Tennis Ball carefully sat next to her, gently propping her back up so she was sitting upright again. "Are you good now?" he gently asked. Both globules seemed to have mostly returned to normal.

Rubbing her eyes to try and clear the spots, Golf Ball responded with, "I... I think I'm back. But... I don't... that was..."

Then she did the last thing any of them expected and burst into tears.

Everybody was stunned. First Tennis Ball, the gentle giant, had a tantrum the previous day. And now Golf Ball, while far from emotionless, would normally absolutely despise showing this level of vulnerability in front of anyone, much less a crowd.

Several of them looked away respectfully, but Test Tube leaned forwards and wrapped GB in a comforting hug. She didn't hug back, but she didn't push away, either. TB would have joined in, but the sting of yesterday's argument made him feel like it wasn't exactly what she would have wanted just yet. For a few moments, the only sounds were those of the two different kind of waterworks.

Fortunately for the sake of social awkwardness, the whole ordeal didn't last very long. Golf Ball managed to mostly stifle her tears after a minute or so. "Ok," she sniffled, pulling out of the hug. "...I'm done."

Someone cleared their throat. Test Tube, Golf Ball, and Tennis Ball turned to see Barf Bag step towards them. They'd almost forgotten that she and the others were still there. "I, er... sorry if I'm intruding, but... what the gag was that?"

"Yeah, I'm curious, too," Cheesy agreed.

GB tensed slightly. "While I appreciate you all not saying anything earlier, what that was is private, and-"

"No." TB shook his head. "GB, I... I don't think there's any point in trying to avoid talking about all... that anymore."

Golf Ball stared at him like he was insane. "Are you insane?"

"Maybe," he admitted. "But think about it. You've tried suppressing everything related to what happened, and yet, this still popped up again."

"Tennis Ball, you know why-"

"Yes, I do know why," TB interrupted, a smidge of frustration gradually creeping into his voice. "I also now know why you set up that satellite that caused the thunderstorm contest. I understand the reason, but you can't let that fear control your life."

"...look," he went on after a few seconds of silence, in a softer tone. "I know she hurt you. I know they could have hurt you more, if it wasn't for Leafy and Fries. But if suppression isn't working, then... if we tell everybody what happened... maybe someone can help. Properly help."

Golf Ball stayed quiet for a full minute. Then, she exhaled a long, drawn-out breath. "...fine."

She turned to Pencil. "Not a word from you, by the way. This is mine to explain."

Pencil nodded mutely — antagonizing Golf Ball was the last thing she wanted right now, and not because of their rivalry.

Everyone watched that whole interaction with great interest, looking back and forth between the spheres during their debating. Test Tube, Cheesy, and Yin-Yang had absolutely no clue as to what was going on, as they were introduced to the objects of Goiky only fairly recently in the larger scale of events. Out of Coiny, Pie, Barf Bag, and Lollipop, only Coiny and Pie were there to experience what they thought GB and TB were referring to (although the other two could reasonably guess). But aside from the globules themselves, only Pencil knew the full extent of the conversation's topic.

Slowly, Golf Ball faced them all. "...alright," she reluctantly began to speak. "Coiny, Pie, Barf Bag, Lollipop... Pencil... before I really get into this, we need to catch up the other three." Turning to Test Tube, Cheesy, and Yin-Yang (the latter of which was somehow managing to stay respectfully quiet), she took a deep breath. "What... what do you guys know about IDFB?"

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

Ten objects were gathered inside the kitchen, discussing Lightbulb and why she would suddenly try to 'exorcise' Bow and Dough, when they were rudely interrupted by a hot air balloon crashing through the roof of Purgatory Mansion.

The sudden shattering of glass and cracking of wood, among other sounds, was enough to make everyone there jump in fright. In addition to the cacophony, the entire building shook violently for several seconds from the unexpected collision, causing anyone who wasn't flying to nearly topple over.

After a couple of seconds of confusion, the building settled again, and the sounds faded away to just some brief noises of canvas rustling, before that, too, disappeared. "What." Basketball was the first to break the silence. "Was THAT."

"Whatever it was, it sounded like it came from upstairs," deduced Puffball, already zooming towards the door to investigate. Bow and Dough simply floated through the ceiling, but everyone else had to follow Puffball on foot.

It was almost immediately apparent what had happened the moment they entered the lobby. Something that appeared to be the basket for a hot air balloon was sticking through the roof of the second floor, dangling halfway in. Sprawled around the upper balcony were the forms of Pin, Clock, and TV, while Fanny lay groaning at the top of one of the stairwells. Dust and wooden planks lay littered all over... well, everything. Pickle began to sneeze almost instantly after he left the kitchen.

"Oh my goodness!" Marshmallow gasped upon seeing the fallen objects. "Are- are you guys alright??? I... wait, who even are you all?"

"They're more of our posse — BFB contestants!" answered Bottle cheerily. She frowned slightly. "Except Clock, he's eliminated. Also, they're on a different team."

"We're here, too," a new voice spoke. They all looked upwards to see Baseball and Balloony poking out of the tilted basket, the latter doing his best to try and wriggle out without landing on something sharp.

Puffball floated up and gently helped Balloony to the floor. "Where the heck WERE you guys??" she interrogated. "Your whole team just vanished a couple days ago! Nobody's heard from you since!"

Baseball rolled his eyes as he jumped out of the basket. "Cobs happened."

Several of the objects below looked confused. Paintbrush and Marshmallow exchanged glances — they were the only other ones there who even knew who Cobs was, but that didn't clear anything up for them, either.

Pin got to her feet and helped TV and Clock up. "It's a long story," she said. "Right now I just want to get away from this wreck of a balloon before it collapses further into..." She took a look around, squinting at the shabby walls and cracked floorboards. "...wherever we are."

A bonk drew everyone's attention to one of the stairwells, where Fanny had begun to inadvertently slide down backwards. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," she muttered as her head bumped against every step on the way down, before she finally flopped onto the carpet at the bottom. She sighed. "I hate my life."

The other members of Team 5 took more care in descending from the second floor. "What's been going on with you guys?" Clock wondered after glancing into the kitchen and seeing Lightbulb's shattered corpse. "I've never seen this building before, and I've been all around the II contesting grounds."

"That's because it's out of bounds," Marshmallow informed.

"Oh. But that still doesn't completely answer my question. Also-" He pointed towards Marshmallow, then at Apple, Bow, and Dough in turn. "Who the heck are YOU??"

Puffball chuckled. "Looks like we've both got stories to exchange... again. Y'all can do the explaining this time, I did enough yesterday."

Still groaning, Fanny managed to rise to her feet. "You do that. I've got a splitting headache; I need a nap. Where's the nearest bed?"

"🎵I'll tell you if you ask nicely!🎵" sang Bow in a singsongy voice.

Clock had to stifle a laugh. "Good luck with that."

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

The silence that followed after Golf Ball recalled the events of IDFB — including her old memories of Essaitch, the science museum, and how her alternate self had come to be — was something else entirely. Most of them were stunned just by the fact that someone could do something so cruel; despite the various rivalries between objects in their respective shows, nobody (except early BFDI Flower, and occasionally Snowball) ever acted like that. And while Pencil had heard it all once before, it wasn't any easier to hear it the second time.

Nobody deserved being beaten in with a spiked bat for something forced on them by the attacker, much less for something they couldn't even control.

"...gosh," Coiny finally spoke. "I... I'm so sorry. I can't possibly imagine what that must have been like for you. And to be keeping that..." He shook his head. "No wonder you asked us all to stop talking about out time in Yoyle City, or... anything Yoyle-related."

Pie stepped forward. "If I may give some advice, Golf Ball, it's not healthy to keep things like that bottled up. I'm glad you told us, but from now on, you can't keep suppressing-"

"But I have to!" GB interrupted. "How else am I supposed to keep Bo- keep... her down? Every time I'm reminded too much about those humans, or get extremely emotional, I..." She didn't need to finish — they'd all seen what happened earlier.

"That's exactly why you can't suppress this. The less you think about it, the harder it hits when it inevitably happens again. But the more you think about it, the more you talk about it, the easier it becomes to think and talk about it, and the more used to it you become."

Test Tube nodded. "Listen to Pie, Geebs. I know facing your fears can be hard. They can seem impossible, in fact. But... if you don't do it, then they may haunt you forever. Confronting... your alternate self may be the only way to get rid of her for good."

She thought back a couple of days, when she'd been abducted by the Light Shimmers. At first, she had no clue who's taken her or if she'd ever see her friends again. Then, once she realized what the Shimmers were, there was the nagging worry that she and Fan might be prosecuted for 'stealing' the Shimmer youth — even though it was muffled by the joy of properly encountering an alien species for the first time. Yet, in the end... everything had worked out. The objects and Shimmers even became friends.

Test Tube had a feeling, though. If, somehow, someone had acted violently that night, things could have gone much worse.

"I KNOW HOW TO mmmmphh!"

Startled at the sudden outburst, everyone glanced at Yin-Yang, who was holding his hands over his mouth. "What was that?" Lollipop remarked, one eyebrow raised.

"Sorry!" apologized Yin, briefly removing his hands so he could speak. "Yang really wants to say something, but I didn't want him to spoil the mood with some random commTEST TUBE LISTEN TO Mmmmph!" Yin slapped his hands over his mouth again.

"Wait." Testy gave them an odd look. "That sounded vaguely important. Yin, could you...?"

Yin glanced at Golf Ball briefly before nodding and carefully removing his hands. "TEST TUBE!" Yang cried out. "REMEMBER EPISODE THREE? WHAT DID YOU DO TO US TO SPLIT US APART?"

"Oh, that was..." Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Experiment 626! That could be used to split Golf Ball in two — one side being her normal self, and one side being her evil self! Yang, you're a genius!!"

Cheesy clapped his hands together once. "Yeah, that was a surprisingly good idea, especially coming from you."

"FINALLY, SOMEONE SEES IT!" Yang puffed out his chest proudly.

Pencil blinked in confusion. "What's... Experiment 626?"

"Back in episode three of Inanimate Insanity 2," began Test Tube, "Yin-Yang found my now-not-so-secret laboratory, and I decided to try 626 on them — a serum which would split them apart into two separate beings. It worked, but..." She scratched the back of her head sheepishly, careful to avoid the cracks there. "...he just started causing even more chaos than usual without Yin there to control him. Luckily, Knife was there to assist me in re-fusing them."

"And you have more of 626?" asked GB excitedly.

Testy coughed. "Well, no. But I can make more! The formula's still in my lab somewhere."

Lollipop frowned. "The very same lab which is still stuck on the opposite side of a portal which currently kills anyone that tries to pass through?"

Everyone went silent. "More like mood killer," Cheesy muttered.

Determined, Tennis Ball just shook his head at this. "All the more reason to keep moving, so that we can get back and fix the portal-"

"-and kick Teardrop out of my factory," finished Golf Ball. "I can't believe I trusted her once..."

"Regardless, we still have to keep moving forward. Is everyone ok with heading out again in five or so minutes?"

The general crowd agreed, and some began to wander into the tree line again. They would need their rest — they had a long day ahead of them, but not for the reasons that they thought.

I've said this once before, but I love connecting chapter titles from other books ;)