Pencil wakes up one day to find herself back at the beginning of BFDI. With future knowledge of the contests to come, she tries to sway the competition to her favor.
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"No!" Pencil gasped as the show's newest budget cut tore everybody's scores up into two digits. Normally this wouldn't have been too terrible. But for Pencil, the change was particularly devastating, as her previous score of 100 was immediately reduced to zero, effectively knocking her into last place. Not again, she thought miserably.
Then something struck her. Needle did this. She KNEW when taking away all my points in episode 16 that I'd just lose them all again this time. The only way I could have avoided that would have been to intentionally get third place last challenge...
Well, she's gonna have to try a little harder than THAT. Pencil clenched her hands into fists, fueled by determination. I REFUSE to let this contest be my downfall again.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm down. "Pencil?" a familiar voice asked. "Oire you okay?"
Opening her eyes, she saw that Bubble had approached her. "Meh. I'm just... annoyed at my score."
"Oh, roight." Bubble glanced at the scoreboard. "That sucks. Soirry about that."
Pencil noticed suddenly that Bubble seemed a little off as well. The soapy sphere was a fraction less cheery than she usually was. If they weren't so close, she probably wouldn't have seen the change at all.
No time to worry about that now. I've got a staring contest to win.
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The first rounds (which, seeing as how there were only eight participants, were technically the quarterfinals) flew by quickly. Everything went as Pencil remembered, with the only difference being Needle against Teardrop rather than Ice Cube against Rocky.
A shame Needle lost, she thought as she stepped into the ring for Round 2. Across from her, Teardrop was already tapping her foot impatiently. I would've relished beating her here. At least I can humiliate her friend instead!
"Ready," spoke the Announcer. "Set. Go."
The two girls locked gazes, and the intensity of the surrounding area suddenly increased. Everyone watching could almost feel the air crackling with energy. And it wasn't even the final yet.
While she stared, Pencil became more and more impressed with her opponent's ferocity. I forgot how much of a challenge beast Teardrop was in BFB. She cast her mind back to that time she'd binged the entirety of season four, long after both it and TPOT had ended. No wonder she's still competing in this altered timeline. I'm curious now: how far would she have gotten in the normal timeline, if she had survived her original elimination?
For a split second, her confidence and composure wavered. I have no idea how good she is at staring. Could she be... better than me?
Something of this newfound doubt must have briefly shown on her face, because Teardrop suddenly leapt forwards and immediately backwards again, faking an attack. Pencil yelped in utter surprise and took a step back. The other contestants gasped as her eyelids twitched.
