Marshmallow had equally negative opinions of every season of II. As far as she was concerned, MePhone was a callous jerk who didn't care about any of them beyond the power he contractually had over them. Season one, season two, it didn't matter, it was all awful.

As far as time-of-the-year seasons went, though? Summer was cruel. The heat was so intense that it made it hard to think, something that formed a dark haze around her thoughts that made them difficult to parse.

(Not that she especially wanted to think. In fact, it would've been nice if the shady grass swallowed her whole, already.)

"Marsh?" Marsh jumped badly at the sound of Paintbrush's voice. Something on Marsh's face must've betrayed something, because Paintbrush's next comment was, "Whoa, are you OK?"

"W-when'd you get here?" Marsh muttered.

"Just now. I wanted to check on you, see how the bottlecap search was going."

'Right. The bottlecaps.'

Marsh inhaled. OK, so she'd been sulking for most of the day, so she hadn't actually found any. Paintbrush had a bunch tucked under their arm, and Marsh couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance. Leave it to Paintbrush to always be the perfect player.

Before she could come up with an excuse, "It's OK if you haven't found any. We can look in the cave, get cover before the storm."

Looking around, yeah, there were storm clouds. Go figure.

She exhaled, "Alright."

⁂⁂⁂

When they finally reached the cave, Marsh stopped tuning out Paintbrush's words: "Maybe you should look on the bright side. We're still here, and the biggest thorn in your side is gone. There's stuff to feel good about."

"I don't feel good about anything." There was a bitter edge to Marsh's tone that neither of them was prepared for. "I threw my best friend's life away for MePhone's dumb fake stunt. MePhone! Even if it was real, he never would've done the same for any of us, which I guess is because he has no friends, but- you saw the rocket challenge!" Marsh gestured. "Of course I'm not looking at the bright side or whatever."

"You seriously believe Cobs?"

Marsh stared at Paintbrush. "What are you implying?"

On any other occasion, Marsh would've been impressed by Meeple HQ. She'd spent a fair amount of time in corporate Walmart buildings before the show, and those were pretty fancy, but Meeple was a world of its own. It didn't stock everything, but it did possess the tech that would power the future.

Standing in its sleek showroom made her mind race with the possibilities, but it was bittersweet. By advancing to the future, what was being left behind? Who would suffer for the betterment of tomorrow's lives?

"MePhone never said it was all fake," Knife said.

"Oh, he never told you? BRILLIANT! He must have wanted genuine performances, so he distorted the truth. I'm just going to let that sink in for a moment."

"He was just lying to make himself look better so we'd give him the egg."

"Oh, so it's my fault for taking him at face value?"

"I'm not saying that-"

"Yeah, I killed my best friend over something that could've been real, but could've also been fake. That makes me feel way better about my gullibility issue."

"You didn't kill her. She killed herself. Let's get that straight, OK?" Paintbrush sighed. "Look, it's all in the past. At least you know who's really there for you now, right?"

"No."

"Marsh..." Impatience crept into their tone, and it made Marsh irrationally angry.

"I don't need your pity."

"I just wish there was something I could do to help snap you out of it."

"Because it gets in the way of your strategy, right?"

"Because I care about you! Just because Apple was out to get you doesn't mean I am, too. We are still friends, right?"

Marsh shrank, hugged her knees close as she sat against the cave wall. She got a strong sense of deja-vu she couldn't exactly place. "...Yeah, we are. Sorry, I just." She cracked a sad smile. "Hard to know what's real these days."

"I'd be a hypocrite if I said you had to be totally nice all the time," Paintbrush said, and exhaled. "All I'm saying is, if you need to talk about your personal problems, I'm here for you, and I think Lightbulb is, too."

"'Personal problem?' That's a good one. We're on national TV! Our problems are just... popcorn entertainment, or they're something someone wants to use to hurt us." Marsh thought back to Apple's words in the mansion and felt like shriveling up. "And it wouldn't be so bad if MePhone would just get on with it already! Is it really so hard to plan these stupid challenges?"

"For a guy who does nothing but host game-shows, he sure doesn't have much control... But you know, there is one thing Lightbulb says we can control."

"What?"

Paintbrush clasped their hands together. "Our attitudes. I know we're wasting a lot of time waiting around, but it doesn't have to be miserable. It gives us time to chart our course going forward, doesn't it? So when I feel frustrated, I just think about why I'm here in the first place."

"Like, your goals?"

"Exactly! If I win, I'll display my art in a studio like a real artist," Paintbrush declared. "Art's my passion — it can really show people that- you don't need to play by anyone else's rules. You can be who you are, and be admired by the masses for it!"

"...Cool!" Marsh answered when she realized Paintbrush was done.

"What would you do with the million?"

"Spend it at Walmart," Marsh deadpanned.

"On what?"

"Does it matter?"

"For our purposes, yes. Just think: what do you want?"

'...A million dollars...' Marsh blinked. 'It is a lot of money, but I'm not hurting for it or anything. ...Maybe I could upgrade the old time-machine? Though time travel is its own thing... even if I did want to try and fix all of this, I'd have to relive through this dumb gameshow stuff first. Not sure I'd ever want to do that...'

Her face scrunched up. 'But I didn't just join to win. Why am I here?'

The question brought her back.

⁂⁂⁂

It was a sunny summer's day... a far gentler one than the smoldering days Marsh had grown accustomed to. It'd been warm, like the sense of camaraderie in her chest, and there was a breeze, just not one strong enough to send her flying.

"Why'd ya join Inanimate Insanity, anyway?"

Apple was pushing Marsh on the swing, but Marsh could hear her smile in the lilt of her voice. "It looked fun in commercials," Marsh replied.

'Talk about false advertising,' she would've joked, if Apple didn't immediately reply, "But there's a lot of fun things! Why come all the way here instead of climbing a tree?"

"It seemed like a natural next step. I was already on TV a lot, I just wanted to try something different." She could feel the question coming on, so she added, "Before this, I was in commercials."

"Wh- That raises even more questions!" Apple whined, twisting her swing around to make eye contact. "Why Inanimate Insanity? Why'd you stop? What even IS a commercial?!"

"Why do you care?"

"'Cuz getting to know your friends is really important!"

(Remembering how warm she felt in that moment, to know Apple CARED and wanted to learn about her, just made Marsh feel cold and empty in the present.)

"Well... you know how Walmart has everything? It does, but you miss out on a lot if Walmart... is your everything. You can't buy friends at Walmart. So I guess I wanted new experiences." With amusement, she added, "Plus, a million dollars goes really far at Walmart, I guess."

"The way you talk about it makes it sound really beautiful."

"I mean, I like it. Don't you?"

Apple hummed. "There wasn't Walmart where I was from."

"Liar! Ha, just kidding." (Marsh wished she could call Apple a liar with a smile on her face, now.) "You must've been in the middle of nowhere if there wasn't Walmart."

"Pretty much," Apple admitted.

"Well, if one of us wins, we should go together. I think you'd like it."

"Probably," Apple said, and Marsh could imagine a twinkle in her eyes to accompany the awe in her voice. "I'm not sure how much a million dollars is - or how to even be a winner - but I really want to learn something. I'm not the best with words or directions, but maybe I could be the best at game shows."

"You got further than anyone here last season," Marsh commented, as Apple let her swing spin back so she could push her again.

"Eh! Honestly not sure how good I am at this, but I'm glad I met you." And before Marsh could reply, Apple stammered, "Um. If you win, will you forget about me?"

"Never. I like being your friend," Marsh answered.

(Marsh wished she could forget.)

"Why?" Apple asked.

"Because... You make this feel like more than just a game," Marsh admitted.

(The fact that it was all fake, in service of the game, made Marsh want to destroy something.)

She went on, "we actually have a lot in common. Even if we don't win... at least we get to make friends and experience new things."

(Even at the time the statement seemed ironic. Who knows what she would've achieved if she hadn't been cooped up with the same people doing the same idiotic challenges for years?)

⁂⁂⁂

If the 'new experiences' Marsh had in mind were getting toasted alive, blowing up her best friend, being used by the one person who she thought cared about her more than anything, and waiting around for months on end for boring new challenges, she would have succeeded.

But now, tears pooled in her eyes as she stared bitterly at the pile of bottlecaps at her feet.

"I came here expecting something I'll never get."

"Oh..." There was an awkward pause. "Maybe come up with a new goal to focus on?"

Marsh blinked, wiped her tears with her wrist.

"Think about the position you're in, Marsh. People love you; as long as the viewers have a say, you'll make the final five at least. Heck, if we work together with Lightbulb, all three of us will make it that far! You can't throw that away just because you're sad."

"It's not like all three of us can win," Marsh said, slowly. It was a reality Marsh was distantly aware of when she tried to form an alliance with Bow last season, but somehow it felt like a new thought.

"There's safety in numbers, don't you think?"

"Depends on your definition of safety, I guess." 'Maybe I'd rather get out before you guys decide to use me, too.'

As Marsh stood, Paintbrush offered her a smile. "Take a break from bottlecapping today. I'm here for you no matter what, alright?"

Paintbrush was there for her, but what did that really mean?

"Thanks," Marsh answered.

As Marsh left, she cast a glance backwards, to see that Lightbulb had taken a seat beside Paintbrush. Paintbrush said something that made Lightbulb look worriedly in her direction, bottlecaps filling her cheeks like a chipmunk.

Marsh rubbed her eyes, thinking back to that conversation on the swings.

Geez, was Marsh really so dumb for thinking their truce was real?

How could Apple throw it all away for a prize?

Marsh's chest felt tight.

It was just so unfair. The second she tried making a friend after the Bow thing, and this was what came of it?

'Darn it! What'd I ever do to deserve you?'

She leaned against a tree, inhaling.

'...Who am I kidding?' she thought sullenly. 'After everything I've done, I deserve just about anything she could throw at me.'

Marsh exhaled, and wished the tree would swallow her whole.