CLANG!

Flower rubbed her head. After being sent through the air from that explosion for who knows how long, she finally hit a metal floor. She almost thought she'd never land, but she'd probably prefer that to the landing she got. She took a look around - metal walls on all sides. She then looked up and saw a large metal lid which slowly but noisily shut on her, dimming the lights by quite a bit.

"What's going on?" Flower's first instinct was to leap up to try and force the latch open. She was able to touch the ceiling, but the lid wouldn't budge, no matter how hard she pushed against it.

"Welcome to the TLC."

She heard a voice - the speaker box. The uncrushed Speaker Box. Stupid Golf Ball, getting in the stupid way, causing a stupid explosion. She was gonna have to make a Golf Ball Crusher now! One made for the specific purpose of crushing Golf Balls!

"Get me out of here!" Flower demanded, pounding on the gray interior of her new prison. "I don't like cramped spaces!"

"Well, I don't like nearly being crushed to death." Even in the Speaker's monotone voice, a bit of anger could be heard in that statement. "You'll only be let out either at the end of the competition, or if the viewers decide to bring you back."

"I said let me out!" Flower slammed both her hands into the box over and over, until she finally tired out and slumped against the side. The Speaker Box didn't respond. He must have left.

She looked around her new confinement again. Gray, textureless, steel walls on all sides, drenched in what was nearly pitch black. He wasn't seriously about to leave her here, was he?

Flower would soon find herself curling up in the corner. It made the box feel less small, in a way. Man, this place was way too quiet... Being an extrovert, on top of needing sunlight to stay sane and hating being stuck in any small place, made experiencing the Tiny Loser Chamber very unfun.

She'd been in for... what, five minutes? Ten? She didn't know, since there was no way to tell time! Was the Speaker expecting her to just stay here until there was only one person left? She almost felt bad for...

No! Why should she feel bad for something that wasn't her fault? She didn't deserve to be here! This was all those dumb viewers' fault! They could have voted off Ice Cube, who harmlessly bounced off the ribbon and cost her team the challenge, but no! Zero votes! They could have voted off Rocky, who probably couldn't even open the gates to Dream Island on his own to get in, but no! Zero votes! They could have voted off Golf Ball, who didn't know how to do anything but run her mouth and ruin things, but no! Only one vote! And Flower got four ! In a fit of anger, she'd stand up again to deliver one more indignant kick to the metal wall, only to clutch her foot in pain afterward.

"Owwww..." She whined, rubbing at her injured foot. That was a bad idea.

Flower took some deep breaths. This wasn't the end of the world. Besides, as soon as someone finds out this was the TLC that the Announcer had been talking about, they'd surely help her out of it. Even if she wasn't exactly the most popular among them, they'd all agree this was too much, even for Flower. They'd pry the lid open, and help her out of it, and maybe even give her the recognition she deserved and do what she said for once. Any moment now, someone would see where she landed, and it'll go just as she thought it would...

It'd only be a matter of time...

...a matter of time...

...a matter... of time.

...

-----

"Guys, it is time for Cake at Stake."

Flower tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach. Here she was, back at the chopping block once again. Would the viewers, whoever they were, see her differently now? She wasn't too sure.

Once again, the metal sign came out. Twelve votes - five more than last time, but still barely any compared to what it'd be later on. It would still be a little while before everyone got votes.

Flower sat between Firey and Match, both eyeing her in suspicion while she just looked ahead, focusing on the key lime pie that the Announcer prepared for them.

"That isn't a cake." GB pointed out. "This isn't Pie at Stake!"

"Yeah, and key lime pie is like, really gross! Can we change it?"

"No, gosh. And you don't even have to eat it." The announcer shut that down fast, before turning toward Flower. "Flower, you have a win token. Would you like to use it now?"

That was the million dollar question. She did want to play it safe and use it to heighten her chances of avoiding the place that shall not be named , but she also felt... worried. Soon, there would be more voters. A lot more voters. She didn't do anything too bad, she thought. Maybe they'd cut her a break? It wasn't like there weren't bigger fish to fry on the team right now, and she wouldn't know if she'd need it at a later date...

"Flower?" The Speaker Box asked again, getting impatient.

"N-no. No, I won't." Flower finally spat out an answer on instinct. The unease in her stomach didn't go away, though.

"Okay, no win token for you." The Announcer accepted that, as he turned to face everyone again. "So first, I will say who has zero votes."

Bubble, Pen, Pencil and Golf Ball would all receive slices of pie, each one safe. The last of the four, lacking any arms to catch the pie slice with, just had it splat against her face.

"The rest of you all got at least one vote." Firey scowled at that, before Announcer prepared to throw the next slice of pie in his direction, "Firey. You didn't pull through when Flower asked you to...but you're safe with one vote."

The tossed pie slice would end up passing right through Firey, turning it to ash, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Same goes for Woody."

The balsa block seemingly wasn't expecting to actually end up safe as he wasn't prepared for the slice flying at him and hitting him right in the eye, causing him to let out a cry of pain.

"Ugh, really?" Blocky groaned at the noise. "How is he still in?"

"The last one to have one vote is Match."

The pit in Flower's stomach grew at that. Was it really a bad idea to not use a win token? Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long to find out.

"You can stop sweating, Flower." Announcer said. "You won't go 'back' to the TLC today, because you're safe with two votes."

Another slice of key lime pie was thrown her way. Flower's unease was briefly gone, only for it to suddenly return as she remembered... oh yeah, she forgot she said that out loud. Firey was still side-eyeing her over that. She knew for a fact Needle and TD heard her too. Announcer heard it too apparently, and now it was something the rest of the team picked up on as well. Things weren't looking good.

No time to dwell on that now, though. Only two remained; Blocky and Rocky.

"The last slice of pie, with three votes, goes to..." Pen cut the speaker off.

"It's got to be Blocky!" Pen cried out.

"Um, sure."

And Blocky got his slice as well.

"That means Rocky is eliminated, at four votes."

The rock let out a very upset sounding 'hmmmph!" at that - it seemed he was already forgetting how to speak around this time. Nevertheless, the metal plate appeared underneath him and sent him flying.

And just like that, the teams were even again. She was still in, at least, and she didn't waste a win token on a round she would have stayed in anyways.

"The third challenge is a test of memory and basic knowledge. It has twenty questions. The team that has the higher total score wins."

Each of the remaining eighteen of them were handed a pencil and a small sheet of paper, twenty questions dotted evenly along it. Flower remembered...like, two of these questions from the recap challenge in Episode 23. This didn't bode well.

"Oh, and Grapes, an Ice Cube Recovery Center Creator is currently producing an Ice Cube Recovery Center. However, it's quite slow."

The machine's side said '30 minutes' in green lettering. Flower wasn't sure what was most bizarre, the fact that nobody had an ICRC when they already had a creator, why creating one would take so long, or whose idea it would be to simply turn the thing into a master recovery center.

Flower sat down on the grass. Let's see... How many days could one go without eating? Easy, 1338 days. Do you like tennis balls? Eh, they're alright. TB never really talked to her, though. What kind of questions were these?! She mentally felt like an adult trying to do a quiz that a kid came up with... She looked back up at the rest of the team to see how they were doing.

"Match, look! It's me!" Pencil said, pointing at her own pencil. Her test didn't even have her name on it yet.

Those two were goofing off, Pen and Blocky were just talking to each other, Firey apparently already burned his test to a crisp, Bubble wasn't anywhere to be seen and Golf Ball... okay, she actually was doing the test, so she got a pass, but the rest of her team weren't taking this seriously at all. Did they want to get put up for elimination again? Flower remembered how so many Cherries got launched into the TLC with her in such a short period of time, so something told her this team didn't do so well the first time around. She kept looking around... until she saw Woody.

Woody was also one of the few who hadn't properly started yet. He was just looking down at his test, trying to keep his breathing under control like Flower said. He was inhaling a bit too fast for it to really work, but at least he was trying. Crud, he probably had testophobia. For someone like Woody, it'd definitely fit.

"Woody? You want some help?" Flower would stand up and approach him. He was still definitely the most willing to accept her help anyways.

"Ehhh?" Woody asked, not expecting this... but then again, Flower had helped him the last few times. "Eh, yeaaah, ohaaa!" Woody's gibberish this time seemed to be more optimistic as he scooted over, letting Flower sit beside him.

"Hey! You never said they could work together on this!" Snowball stood up to point this out.

"Hm? Well, I never said they couldn't either." Announcer brushed it off. It seemed like he really didn't care, as long as they got their tests done.

"Would you like some help, Snowball?" TB asked, picking up on the anger in his voice.

"No! Why would I need help from someone like you?!"

"Because you haven't even figured out how to put your name on the- ahhh!"

TB was cut off as he was suddenly slapped across the face and sent rolling backwards.

"I said I didn't need you!"

Thankfully, TB wasn't forced to roll for very long, as Pin and Leafy were close by to stop him.

"You can join our group if you want!" Pin offered. It seemed the two's alliance was still going strong.

"Yeah, okay, sure."

----

"Oh my gardener, what is- ...how much, in Goikian dollars, is Dream Island worth, rounded up to the nearest trillion?"

"Ahhh, wha?"

"Oh, right! Of course!"

And that was the last question. The test went surprisingly fast with Flower and Woody working together. The two high fived each other, with Woody... huh, he was actually smiling. That was a rare sight back then. Then again, no one in the friend group around that time was ever really this nice to him.

Since Flower got done early, she might as well check to see what the others were doing. The closest to her at that moment were Pencil and Match.

"How's the test, like, coming along?" Match asked.

"Just drew a little doodle!"

Figures... Match at least put her name on the test, something that couldn't be said for Pencil. Flower looked over at Pencil's test... and immediately wished she didn't. It hurt her eyes to look at. How... how did she draw that small? It seemed she was gonna have to play tutor again.

"Do you two need some help?" Flower went over to ask them, still with her completed test in hand.

"We're good, thanks..." Match was quick to shut the offer down, a twinge of annoyance in her voice.

"Wait, Match, don't turn her away that fast! She finished first, I think we can use this to our advantage!" Pencil said, eager to jump at the opportunity to not actually have to take the test.

"Pencil, you can't be serious!"

"Teammates, remember? We talked about this."

"But it's Flower ! She probably, like, got all the answers wrong, or... I don't know, answered her own name for, like, every single question!"

Pencil shot her a glare before turning back to Flower.

"I mean, I'm fine if you guys don't need help..." Flower sighed. She was sadly used to this sort of treatment.

"We're gals , but... sure, I'll let you help me out!" Pencil gave Flower a gentle smile.

"Pencil!" Match shouted, a look of betrayal on her face. "I thought we'd, like, study together!"

"Since when did you study anything?" Pencil snorted. It was a brutally honest question to ask her BFF, but it wasn't unwarranted. She had always been the slacker of the friend group, after all.

Match let out an upset huff at her friend's joke as Flower handed Pencil the test.

"Just give it back before the timer runs out... and don't doodle on it either!'

"Yeah, sure thing." Pencil said, looking over it to copy down on her own test, and to change the answers enough that the Announcer wouldn't call 'foul'. Phew, that was a relief. Maybe they'd have a chance to pull through after all...

"Guess what, Pen? I found the test answers!"

Flower's fears were confirmed as she turned around. Blocky and Pen were holding a sealed envelope in their hands... wait, hadn't Blocky been eliminated from this challenge? That's who fell in, the third time around, wasn't it? Oh, for petal's sake, he must have cost the Cherries the game!

This was just fantastic. Almost half of the Cherries weren't even working on the test, and the other half was cheating. Flower knew arguing with Blocky was an uphill battle that she likely wasn't going to win if she couldn't even manage it with Firey. Could things get any more stressful?

Fwooosh!

...that was the sound of something being set on fire, wasn't it?

"MATCH! Oh, thanks an octodecillion ! There go our stupid tests, I guess..."

Flower ran over as quick as she could, remembering who her test was with. There was a huge pit of fire on the ground right now. Big enough, it even spread to Needle and Leafy's papers, burning them up.

"What happened?!"

"A stupid game of Spongy Cake gone too far." Pencil said, apparently getting a kick out of that one word.

Spongy Cake... oh yeah, that stupid game those two came up with, almost purely to bully Spongy it seemed. The more she looked back on it, Flower guessed most of them had some kinda mean streak. Hers was just the most prominent.

"Well, don't worry! I saved your test, Flower!"

Oh thank goodness...a little burnt around the edges, but the Speaker would take it.

"Thanks, gals."

"What'd I miss?" Bubble, thankfully, finally back after being popped by a loose pencil shard, managed to make her way back to her alliance.

"A lot." Flower said flatly, a sigh escaping her. "Look, I've got my test right here if you wanna copy off of it!"

"Oh, thoinks but no thoinks, Flower. Oi finished moine right before oi got popped!"

Well, that was good, at least. A few of the Cherries having complete tests was better than none of them, anyways. Flower patted Bubble on the back... a little too harshly.

Pop !

Ah, petals! Not again...

"Oh, look at that! She, like, murdered her again!" Match pointed out, it seemed like she was waiting for Flower to do something like this, just to call her out - something she confirmed herself. "She was totally, like, waiting to do that, right?"

"Match, I don't think she did that on purpose." Pencil turned to her friend, "What is with you today?"

"It's all okay. These things happen, ya knoiw?" Bubble asked. She had this happen to her one too many times to really be phased by it now, "Popping me is as easy as one, two..." pop!

Did she really grab Needle just to explain that? The two other alliance members looked unimpressed.

"Wow, I knew Bubble wasn't like, super smart, but she can't even count to three?" Match asked.

"Yeah, that's..." Pencil ran out of nice ways to put these sorts of things now. "That's pretty bad."

"We should like, rip her test up, because we'll just know she'll fail!" Match offered.

"What? Don't do that!" Flower urged, realizing there might have been another reason the Cherries lost. "The speaker is judging these on the total score, not on average. We need all the points we can-" Match cut her off with a slap.

"You're not part of this alliance! Don't you, like, have someone else to annoy?" She asked.

The only other members with a test were Blocky and Pen, and both of them were cheating, so truth be told, she didn't. Pencil, however, at least agreed with her line of logic.

"We're keeping her test intact, Match." Pencil decided. "I'll just... turn it in for her."

Match stomped her foot in protest, but that didn't seem to do anything. Pencil just collected her alliance members' tests. This is, what, the third time now she had been shown up by Flower of all people?!

While the two argued over this, Flower turned to notice Blocky and Pen just finishing up. Gardener, it took them a while to read off a simple answer key...

"Aaand done! That was too easy!" Blocky laughed as he and Pen high fived each other.

Right...she likely had to deal with that too. Leaving her own test behind, she'd run to those two.

"Guys! What if the Announcer sees you with that thing?!" Flower knew the futility of talking sense into these two boys, but she had to try.

"What are the chances of that?" Blocky brushed it off.

"Yeah, we're gonna lead by forty points, and a win token to boot!" Pen backed him up.

Okay, so reasoning wouldn't work... maybe she could twist her words a bit?

"Okay, but if you both get twenty points each... who's gonna get the win token?"

That was a question neither could answer right away. Thankfully, Blocky had a solution... snatching Pen's paper out of his hands and tearing it right down the middle.

"Blocky, what the pen holder was that for?!"

"What?! Now I'm the one who's gonna get the win token!" He gave a smirk, "Besides, twenty points should be enough, right?"

Pen still looked grumpy about it, but sighed. "Fine... but next time, I want the win token, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go take care of... that." He pointed to the test fire still raging in the distance.

The Ice Cube