Chapter Text
[Season 2, Episode 10]
Finally! Another challenge!
It’s been a while since there was one of those. Almost thought the show itself would’ve been cancelled due to the lack of activity going on, but hey, it was nice to know that it didn’t.
With a sound of MePad’s trumpet and an explanation of MePhone for the challenge, it all seemed relatively simple;
Make it to the end of the maze.
The Grand Slams were all grouped together to discuss plans, with Nickel being the main contributor for some reason. Last checked, this was Baseball’s team, right?
“Okay, so here’s our plan! Me and Baseball are gonna take all right turns. Suitcase, you go all left. Oh, uh. Knife, Mic, Starri, and Balloon.”
Nickel then winced after mentioning the others' names.
“Whatever. I don’t really care what you do. Just make it to the end. Especially you, Mic. You’re kind of a wild card.”
Mic then chimed in.
“Well wait a minute! If we have to get our entire team through the maze, there’s no reason we shouldn’t all stick toge-“
And yet.. everyone else was gone to split up.
“..Aaand, why do I even bother?”
“..Hey!”
Well, not everyone.
Mic looked over at who was calling her, and looked down to whoever it was.
It was Starri!
Turns out he was left behind too.
“Oh! Starri? Don’t you usually hang out with Knife?”
“I do, but he already left for the challenge before I could ask to join him!”
Starri crosses his arms in an exaggerated angry pout with his voice more higher-pitched like before.
“Hmph! Anyways, do you wanna group up together? Pleaaaase?”
He looked at Mic with a wide, cutesy smile.
Mic gave a smile before rolling her eyes and flick down a wrist.
“Oh, alright. I guess having one team member to group with wouldn’t hurt.”
“Yay!! Let’s go then!”
The two outcasts head on onwards into the maze, both of them trying to find the right paths. But at the same time, some conversation wouldn’t hurt!
“Hey Starri, how do you like it on the Grand Slams? I know you kinda joined late, but I just have to wonder what it’s like for you!”
“Oh, me? Well.. I don’t think it’s too bad! I made friends with Suitcase and Knife! They’re fun to talk to. I don’t know too much about the others though, but I’m not exactly sure about Nickel.. Mostly from our last elimination and with what happened with him and Soap and-“
Starri realized he was talking too long again for someone trying to put up a front to impress people. Oversharing is a bad thing, Starri!
“..I’m sorry, I was talking too much. Do you have anything to say?”
Mic raises an eyebrow.
“What? Oh, don’t worry about it! You were just telling me your experiences, I don’t mind listening!”
“..You don’t?”
“Yeah, I don’t mind! Go ahead!”
Starri couldn’t help but let out a little smile before rambling on to Mic about his experiences with the camp and his opinions on some of the contestants, excluding Knife for obvious reasons, for now at least.
Mic listened to all of it, and then afterwards finally spoke up when it was her turn.
“Sooo.. what’s the deal with you and Knife, hmmm? You two must really get along.” Mic asked with a teasing smirk.
“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing.. we’re just friends that hang out!”
“Are you sure? You two sure spend a lot of time together.”
Blush can be seen on Starri after hearing that comment.
“Ah– w-well it’s none of your concern! We just like to spend time with each other!”
“Doing what, exactly?”
“Talking! Just talking! Nothing more!! Stop asking questions about Knife!!”
Aw, the juice box was embarrassed! He pouts in frustration, but Mic immediately knows what’s up.
“Hey hey, calm down! It’s nothing bad! I was only curious. Though.. what made you want to hang out with Knife out of everyone in the first place? Why him?”
Starri paused from walking on that question. Mic, on the other hand, thinks she might have accidentally touched a nerve.
“..You’re not gonna tell anyone about this, are you?”
Microphone nods, giving a reassuring smile.
“Of course I wouldn’t. You can tell me!”
Starri hesitates before taking a breath and finally letting out.
“..I have a crush on him.”
Mic’s eyes widen, not from the comment itself, but from connecting the dots here along with her conversation with Knife from Meeple Headquarters earlier.
“Wait, really?”
Starri nods in response. He immediately hides his face with his hands and hoodie with an embarrassed grumble.
“Don’t make fun of me!!”
“Woah– hey– I’m not making fun of you! Just..”
Mic remembered she can’t tell what Knife said to her. But that doesn’t mean she can’t at least help a friend out.
“Just surprised you didn’t say anything about it sooner? Yeah! Umm.. Have you told him yet?”
“I don’t– have I–? Umm.. I don’t really think so. We held hands one time! It was really nice! B-But I think he was just being friendly. I don’t think he really likes me that way..”
“Hey, well don’t say that! Knife doesn’t really hold hands with just anyone, ya know? If you did hold hands, he might be wanting to be closer with you too! It wouldn’t hurt to try, at least!”
“Hmm.. You’re right. I should consider it someday! But not right now. We got a maze to finish!! Come on, hurry!!”
Starri immediately began running ahead before Microphone could catch on right away.
“Woah– hey! Wait up!!”
Starri, still running ahead, came across a three-way point of the maze, where he went in the right direction, which was actually the wrong direction, but he didn't know that.
With Mic catching up ahead right after, she runs into the paths herself, confused on where Starri could be.
“Ughhh, where is he?”
Giving up on logic, she eventually decides to pick a path at random instead.
“Screw it.”
She picked the left path, which was the right path ahead. Yet she wouldn’t know of Starri’s whereabouts until later down the line.. alongside with receiving extra help for the maze ‘til later.
…
Starri was running from the direction he went from the three-way path, and inevitably hit a dead end.
“Oh no, a dead end! Mic, I think we went the–“
He turned his back, realizing Microphone wasn’t following him.
“..Mic?”
He retraces his steps a little to around the corner of one of the hedges, and upon looking, there was no Microphone to be spotted.
“Microphone?”
..but nobody came.
Finally, after realizing no one was around, Starri took a breath of relief before going back to talking in his regular voice.
“Oh thank goodness, trying to keep the high pitch up was killing my throat, geez.. huh?”
Starri sighs, figuring that maybe he should try to find the right path.
“Oh right, the challenge. Hmm..”
Starri climbs up onto the hedges of the maze to get a better view of all the directions.
Unsurprisingly enough, he sees that he’s not even close to making it to the goal at that rate.
“..DAMMIT!!”
Starri gasped slightly upon saying that immediately after and covered his mouth with his hands. When swearing, a slight glitch effect seemed to have taken place on his body when he did speak it before he covered his mouth, when the glitching stopped.
He wasn’t meant to do that.
“Did I just–? Did anybody–?”
He covered his mouth again, looking around above the hedges to see if there was anyone nearby listening.
..still nobody near his area.
“..Phew!”
…
Some time later, Starri seemed to be continuously struggling in the maze, getting into dead ends here and there, inevitably thinking about giving up and risk elimination at one point.
But when doing so, he almost got hit by a nearby lazer.
“Wait, huh–?”
A shot of fire was then aimed at him, to which he immediately dodged and alarms started going off in his head that he was in danger.
He screamed in terror as he runs off from the danger, but upon doing so, he wound up into more danger.
Ice beams, more fireballs, electric shots, laser beams, all from every angle!
Starri tried his very best to avoid getting damaged, but slight burns and freezes managed to pull through and inflict damage onto him, which caused him to yelp in pain from time to time.
And with all the inflicted pains came back the glitches around his body.
“No no no– not again!! Please not now, I–”
And upon saying that, a giant red laser beam was about to take a shot at him while he was glitching..
..DIRECT SHOT.
Upon being bullseyed by the laser, screams on agony can be heard upon the juice box, glitches overtaking his body before–
“Ghh–!!”
–he suddenly sprung up from where he was standing and suddenly he was.. right at the goal already? It seemed he already made it to the end with no explanation whatsoever. All the inflicted damage taken from earlier seemed to nonexistent either.
“Huh..?”
He looked at his surroundings, and saw all people from both teams already making it to the end.
All except Knife and Test Tube.
Suitcase noticed Starri around and her face lit up with a smile.
“Oh hey, Starri! When did you get here?”
“Uh– I uhh..”
He couldn’t come up with anything to say at that moment.
He couldn’t even think properly.
Just moments ago he was at death’s door, and at the next he already made it to the finish line.
It was all so weird to him.
He can’t process anything.
No. He knows what he saw. It couldn’t have been just his imagination, right?
“..Suitcase, did anything happen when I arrived at the goal?”
He asked Microphone in his normal voice. He doesn’t have the energy to fake it right now.
“Huh? Oh! Umm.. I remember Microphone saying something about dragging you to the finish when you fell on the floor and went unconscious while running ahead from her. You both were the first to finish, though!”
“I.. what?”
That’s.. absolutely not what happened.
“Nononono no– that can’t be– I-I saw– I.. I thought I was..”
..this has to be a prank.
None of this was meant to happen.
That couldn’t be what really happened.
..Right?