Tattle's Show for Freedom

TSFF - Three

There was an unnerving silence. This voice's 'new friends' glanced around at eachother, looking shocked at it. After a time that felt like forever, there was a sigh and he called out again. "Helloo? Are you all deaf? Welcome to my show!"
Finally the mysterious figure was revealed, as the television that stood there revealed a somewhat friendly face. They were a dull white cat plush with grey-blue spots and stripes, as well as some pink markings on meows ears. He blinked at the screen and grinned.
"Finally, it came on! Anyways, hello! I see you're all very confused, so I'd like to introduce myself! My name is Tattle, and I'll be the host of this show, called Tattle's Show for Freedom! Any questions?"
There was another awkward silence as everyone looked around at eachother. As Tattle opened their mouth to continue talking, Scratchy cleared his throat and began speaking in a deep, cold tone.
"I have one. Why is it called Tattle's Show for FREEDOM? Are you going to murder us if we lose?"
Everyone turned their heads to look at him in surprise, with Bell Ball and Food Bowl looking especially concerned. Even Tattle had a little look of shock on their face. Then, out of nowhere, the plush burst out with laughter.
"Pffft, MURDER? I may not look it, bringing you all here against your wills, but I assure you I don't go against the law, especially when it comes to killing people! That would be cruel and unjust. Anywho... anyone else?"
Scratchy seemed content with the answer they had received, but Bell Ball seemed like he wanted to ask something. Mousey gave him a gentle pat of encouragement and heard their little bell jingle, as it must've scared him slightly. However, he still went and asked, clearly braver.
"What's the prize for winning the competition, then?"
"What a great question, little one! The prize for making it through all of the challenges successfully, is a giant reward in money! Five million pounds, to be exact! You can use it all on anything you wish for."
Bell Ball's eyes lit up, and the other people there seemed to be agreeing. Collar was tapping her feet quickly and grinning, Food Bowl was waving his arms around and Bell Ball was already running around the platform, causing a pretty annoying jingle sound. However, Mousey couldn't be mad at him. This was pretty exciting.
"However, before the competition starts," Tattle began, "we need to add a few more people! There are only eight people out of the twenty I've planned, and that is nowhere near enough. So you all must decide which of the people you know should join this. Have fun choosing!"
The screen cut to black and instead there was a text box there, where it said to put the name of the person you wanted to add. Slowly Mousey made her way over to it and tapped in the name of her cousin, Rat. Seems simple enough... There was a loud ding and she jumped back, startled. Then, Rat appeared right before her eyes, in front of the large television screen. It blinked in surprise and turned towards the group.
"Mousey! Where on earth are we..?"
"Uh. We aren't on earth right now. I think. Some plush called Tattle brought us here to compete in a competition show."
"Oh.. that's.. interesting? But how am I meant to explain this to my boss..? Disappearing in the middle of my work shift.."
Mousey seemed a little surprised and chuckled nervously. She didn't know that Rat was at work. In fact, she didn't even know the time. It was hard to tell in this place, which seemed constantly lit up.
"Eh, whatever. I'm sure he'll understand, considering I was talking to him before I came here."
Rat approached Mousey and just stayed beside them as Bell Ball skipped over to it. He struggled to type in the name, but after a few attempts it was clear that it said Bird Ball. Oh, must be his sister he was talking about before! As he ran back and the figure was brought in, she knew her assumption was correct. Bell Ball ran and hugged her, and she hugged him back after a moment of surprise.
"What is this place? And who are those?" Bird Ball gasped and pointed at the person at the front of the small crowd, who happened to be Mousey. "Did any of these strangers hurt you? I'll protect you, buddy!"
"Hey, sis, calm down! None of them hurt me, and they're all really nice, I promise!"
Bird Ball sighed and glanced down. "If you say so... hang on. Where's Paper Ball?"
"Oh. He.. isn't here." He glanced down. "Wasn't he with you last..?"
"...not really. I was hanging out with my friends and she was at home, as usual."
There was a long pause, and Mousey felt somewhat angry at the conversation the two had. Why would they leave out their sibling like that?! They cleared her throat and walked over.
"That isn't very responsible of you! Trust an adult to tell you that. Anyway, I don't think it'd be safe for him alone that long, so put his name in as well!"
Bell Ball pouted and Bird Ball just shrugged. "Alright then, I'll do that." It floated over to the screen, using wings that Mousey noticed due to the lack of legs, and put in her sibling's name. He was brought in and looked surprised, as well as tired. He waved at her two siblings and walked over, hugging them both, despite the fact they didn't look happy about it. There was a long sigh from Mousey - this was clearly an example of siblings not liking eachother.

-

After quite a long time of people saying hello to the others they added in, they were now down to seventeen out of twenty contestants. Clearly nobody else was going to be added, so they all awkwardly waited for Tattle. Then, a few minutes later, they reappeared on screen.
"Hello again, friends, and hello new faces! I see you've all added who you've wanted to, is that correct?" They didn't even wait for a response before continuing. "That's very great of course, but as there are still three open spaces, I have to add some more people in. So, say hello to Laser, Catnip and Feathery!"
The names listed appeared in that order, all appearing with different expressions. Laser seemed sort of blank, not looking too surprised, Catnip had some kind of stick in his mouth and Feathery had their arms out in front of them, clutching something that clearly wasn't there. They jolted up suddenly with fear in their eyes.
"Wh- my car! Where am I, where's my car, ugh, it might have crashed and I could have killed some people! God dang it!" Feathery was frantic and Mousey quickly rushed to calm them down.
"Hey, don't worry! I'm sure it'll be alright. As long as you remain calm, you'll be able to handle it, alright?"
Eventually Feathery's breathing slowed down and they wiped their eyes, which were tearing up slightly.
"I suppose. Thanks..."
"Mousey."
"Alright then. Thanks, Mousey." They smiled at her weakly and she smiled back.
"Well then. Now that that's over with," Tattle interrupted them loudly, "we can start to set up the teams!"