Chapter Text
Evil Gangle walks back into the dugout, two pieces of her previous mask in hand and a familiar angry expression on the red porcelain that is her mask.
“No one’s here yet.” She grumbled to the group, her comedy mask already broken from the news she witnessed herself. “Do they not understand that this is softball!?” She chucked her mask across the dugout to further emphasize her frustration, watching it shatter even more.
“I-I’m sure they’ll c-come soon, Evil Gangle! J-just please… calm down..” Evil Jax piped up hesitantly.
"SHUT UP! YOU DONT TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!" She snapped at the rabbit, now wishing she'd threw her mask at him instead of the wall. Looking at the bench with a huff, Evil Gangle began choosing who to sit next to.
Evil Jax was a definite no,
Coach Dictatorer was pretty cool, but he seemed to be scribbling down plans for the upcoming game so there was no chance for conversation,
Evil Ragatha had that annoying, shrill laugh that would've made her ears bleed if she had any,
Evil Pomni was cool too, but it was kinda hard to understand her since she cursed every other word and the filter kept going off,
Then there was Bazooble. Annoying, blabbering, dumb, talkative, pretty, unique, funny Bazooble.
“Wait, what!?” Evil Gangle immediately shut down those thoughts, getting even more irritated that her mind even came up with those descriptions. Before she could begin to dig more into why her dumb mind would call dumb Bazooble pretty, Evil Pomnis voice brought her back to reality.
“Excuse me? What the F[#$%!] do you mean ‘wait what?’” The jester barked, causing Evil Gangle to notice the glares she received from two of her teammates and her coach. The only ones not giving her a death stare were Evil Jax and…
Bazooble.
“Ahem.. I…” she paused, then glared back at Evil Pomni. “I wasn’t talking to you.” She declared harshly, her gaze turning away from the rude jester and to the left, where Bazooble watched with a blank stare.
Evil Gangle shook her head and stormed over to the bench, sitting next to the wall and leaning against it with her arms crossed.
“Oh yeah, go run to your dumba[#%$!] girlfriend, maybe you guys can sleep together again!” Evil Pomni commented out from the other side of the dugout with a cackle, which was followed by a shrill laugh from Evil Ragatha as well.
Evil Gangle scowled at the ground, not wanting to entertain them further and choosing to stay silent.
As she sat, she kept her gaze locked on the ground.
She forced herself to ignore a certain toy box character staring at her.
She forced herself to ignore the fluttering in her stomach.
And she instead wondered what was wrong with herself.
This odd feeling has been bubbling up since a few days ago.
It started after the day she found herself alone in the dugout with Bazooble…
———————————————
Evil Gangle sat on the bench in the dugout, the harsh, fluorescent lights that shined onto the field made it feel like it was still light out even though the sun set hours ago.
She watched the rest of the team play against the other team of blank mannequins.
She herself was replaced with evil orbsman mid game after getting hit by the ball and fainting. Coach Dictatorer placed her as the pitcher this time and she only made it about two batters in before getting hurt.
“I’m not supposed to be this weak.” She muttered to herself, annoyed that she had to be benched while the others contributed to the game.
Sure her head still hurt from the impact and she was extremely drowsy, but she was definitely sure she could still play!
The rest of the game went by in a blur, probably from Evil Gangle forcing herself to stay awake in order to prove she’s really fine. The sounds of her teammates berating the losing team made her look up, her mind begged for rest but the stubborn ribbon didn’t oblige.
Everything was blurry, but she could make out a colorful assortment of parts approaching the dugout.
“Heya, you’re still awake? Why don’t you go to sleep?” A goofy sounding voice confirmed the identity of the person in front of her. Bazooble.
Evil Gangle looked up slowly before scowling. “Becausseeee.. I amfiinneee” her words jumbled together and she hunched over with exhaustion. “Coahhh Dictorerrr shouldddddve lettt meplayyyyyuh.” She whined, beginning an attempt to stand up.
“Hmmm… I dunno, you don’t look fine… do you?” Bazooble turned around and looked at the others. All of them spoke clearly and could stand up right. They then turned back to Evil Gangle, who looked like she was on the verge of collapse and was slurring her words. “Yeahh, no you don’t.” They confirmed.
“Butt iffff I’m the onllllyyyy onneeee sleeeeeepin… then that shows tha I’m weak. I am not weak.” She declared, now swaying on her unsteady ribbon legs.
“Well then, I can sleep with you!” Bazooble offered, walking over to the bench and sitting down by Evil Gangle. The ribbon bodied player had barely any time to react before she was pulled back onto the bench by Bazooble and held on their side.
“Huh? Waiitt noooo that sounds weird… now I have to say that we slept together…” Gangle mumbled before laughing weakly at the implications of that. “I didn’t know you liked me like thattt Bazzooopleeee..” she grinned up at Bazooble who just tilted their head in confusion.
“What are you talking about?” They asked cluelessly, bringing their legs up onto the bench and placing their teammate onto their lap. Much to their surprise, Evil Gangle wasted no time leaning against them, showing a much softer side that anyone hasn’t seen before.
“Okie dokie! When do you want me to fall asleep?” The toybox character asked cheerfully as they watched every last bit of restraint leave the stubborn ribbon.
“Idunnnooooomaybeeeenowww?” Evil Gangle mumbled as she leaned into Bazooble, finally succumbing to her exhaustion.
———————————————
Evil Gangle hated that memory. It disgusted her just how vulnerable and weak she acted. Especially towards Bazooble of all people!
It was just pure embarrassment.
“Heya Gangle! Are ya ready for a good game?” Bazooble piped up with their annoyingly warm and welcoming voice that resulted Evil Gangles ribbons twisting either from irritation or nervousness.
Probably both.
Hopefully the former.
“Yeah, whatever. I just hope Coach Dictatorer doesn’t put me to pitch again.” Evil Gangle responded, choosing not to comment on how Bazooble didn’t use her full name.
“Hopefully not! We don’t want you having another tumble and fumble!” Bazooble said in a tone that could either be insulting or just plain concern, it was hard to tell.
“Right.” Evil Gangle grumbled quietly, forcing herself into the corner of the wall.
“U-uh… hey guys… is that the rival team?” Evil Jax pointed out timidly, to which no one looked up.
“If there’s other players on the field, then obviously it’s the f[#%$!]ing rival team dumba[#%$!]” Evil Pomni snapped back at Evil Jax’s dumb question. She didn’t look up at the players on the field, already expecting a team of blank mannequins or orbsmen.
“B-but-“
“Hey! Those fellas look a lot like us!” Bazooble pointed out, making the rest of the group look up at the rival team.
The Evil Big Tops only had about a second to take a look at their doppelgängers before they got teleported to the field.
Evil Gangle found herself and everyone else (except coach Dictatorer and the other coach) standing around in random spots on the grassy part. She looked over to the other player that looked like her and took in their appearance.
Red ribbons and a white mask that was a complete opposite to her own red mask and white ribbons. She also had a sad look on her face, complete with two pathetic tear drops under her eyes.
“Why is my double look so weak and sad?” Evil Gangle asked to Evil Pomni, who was also criticizing her opponents appearance.
“She must take after your b[#%$!]ss-“ The jester retorted before getting smacked on the arm by Evil Gangle.
“YOU TAKE THAT BACK!” Evil Gangle snapped, already annoyed with the constant teasing after that awful day. Evil Pomni and Evil Ragatha have been the main perpetrators with Coach Dictatorer making a comment every once in a while. She wished they’d just let it go! But no, of course not, now it’s all she’s known for. Falling asleep with Bazooble.
The memory made her blush, but thank goodness her red mask blended in with most of the pink that now rested on her face.
“Pfft! No thanks! Maybe if you weren’t some weak a[#%$!] b[#%$!] who slept with Bazooble of all people, then you’d have a better f[#%$!]ing reputation.” Evil Pomni shoved the ribbon girl away from her with ease.
“Ugh! I didn’t even DO THAT! I just- it’s- ITS NOT LIKE THAT!” Evil Gangle stammered uncharacteristically, scrambling to defend herself while her mask only got hotter.
“Hey, are you okay?” A timid voice came from behind the enraged player, but not from the annoying rabbit. It was a female voice. Evil Gangle whipped her mask around and found her opposite twin standing behind her, a concerned look on her white porcelain mask.
“Uh…” Evil Gangle paused for a moment before her anger came back full force and she turned around to fully face her opponent. “Yeah, I’m fine. Unlike you, what are you even crying about? Get away from me you pathetic loser!” She pushed the concerned ribbon away from her before storming off, making sure to smack Evil Pomni once again on her journey away from everyone else.
Evil Gangle sat on the grass against the wooden fence, passing the time by watching Coach Dictatorer and the other coach exchange plans with Caine for the upcoming game, though it seemed like her coach was the only one who understood what was going on. She didn't feel like observing the opposing team, their conversations were probably on the boring side of the entertainment spectrum. She couldn't make out most of the conversations anyways, they all jumbled together into background noise. Then, for the first time in a while, she let her mind drift off.
The first question that came to her was about Bazooble, it was something along the lines of 'How do I feel about them?'
Well, obviously it was annoyed. Thats not a hard question, but the reason why she was annoyed was difficult to look into. Especially after that day. Ugh, that day. Why did she have to fall asleep with Bazooble? Why did she have to fall asleep on top of Bazooble? Why did she enjoy sleeping on top of Bazooble?
That last question startled her. Those were the types of thoughts that she’s used to shutting down and pushing away immediately, but she let that one echo throughout her mind for a bit. Evil Gangle closed her eyes, and focused on the memory. Not the one where she fell asleep (because of how fuzzy and jumbled up it was), but the one where she woke up.
Evil Gangle remembered how oddly comfortable she felt, she remembered the mismatched arms wrapped around her. She remembered the random shaped chest piece that her head rested on and she remembered seeing the sun still rising. The closed eyes of Bazooble and their deep, rhythmic breathing. She also remembered how long she spent just staring at their face, taking in every feature in her line of sight. The soft smile on her own mask despite everything, the warmth that climbed up her ribbons, the fluttering in her stomach, the temptation to just crawl up closer to Bazooble and go back to sleep, the desire to fall asleep like this every night from now on despite all the inevitable comments from the others.
And as much as she hated the weakness, the vulnerability, the soft side that was shown that night, she couldn’t deny that she missed the moment before it even ended.
She wanted to experience it over and over again.
With Bazooble there for each and every time.
Bazooble.
Evil Gangle was yanked out of her thoughts by Coach Dictatorer, who snapped loudly in front of her mask with an impatient look.
“EVIL GANGLE, THE GAME IS STARTING! WAKE THE F[#%$!] UP!!!” He yelled in her face, causing her to jump up despite the tone of voice being a constant.
“Fine! Fine! I’m up! Jeez!” The ribbon stood up abruptly from being startled, but tried to play it off as her listening to his instructions.
“GOOD, NOW GET BEHIND HOME BASE, YOU’RE THE CATCHER TODAY.” Coach Dictatorer kept his loud yelling even though he was walking right next to Evil Gangle. It helped her wake up despite the annoying nature of it, so it wasn’t all bad.
Evil Gangle found her place behind the home plate before looking up at who’s pitching, expecting Evil Pomni or even Evil Jax there. Her heart sank at the revelation that, instead of the usual players, it was Bazooble standing on the diamond.
“Oh my god..” she muttered to herself, the fluttery and warm feeling climbing up her ribbons once again.
Evil Gangle looked over to the dugout where the other team was conversing, she saw their coach giving some motivational speech to the group. She couldn’t hear it over her own coaches screaming, but she wasn’t interested in either coaches.
What she was interested in was her and Bazoobles counterparts. They were talking and laughing with each other, Bazoobles opponent had a hand around Evil Gangles opponent and they were sitting really close.
If only that could be her and Bazooble…
Evil Gangle got upset again, these thoughts were so annoying, so invasive, so… honest.
She was so used to having so many walls up that even her own mind was protected, but now something about Bazooble made them flow freely. As if the dam she worked so hard to build was cracking.
“EVIL GANGLE.” A sharp yell cut through her thinking and made her jump slightly, looking over she saw her coach glaring daggers at her, with Evil Pomni and Evil Ragatha following suit. “I SAID DO YOU F[#%$!]ING UNDERSTAND!?”
“Yeah, yeah, I understand.” She brushed off Coach Dictatorers scoldings as if it was a reminder to do the dishes. With a huff, she glanced back at the two lovebirds in the dugout one last time before the first batter came up.
The first batter was Evil Ragathas opposite, whose name was also Ragatha.
'Thats confusing...' Evil Gangle criticized in her head as the doll walked up to home base and got into position. The ribbon was hesitant to look up at the pitcher, because now she cant even trust her own mind to run off and make a fool of herself; but eventually, she looked up and made eye contact with Bazooble.
Usually Evil Gangle would watch the batter run and meet their inevitable demise, but something about Bazooble kept her eyes glued to them.
Just the way they stood on the diamond with the glove, the way the sunlight hit their colorful, mismatched body and made them look just heavenly, the way their eyes followed the batter for a few seconds before coming back to look at her.
Oh, those eyes...
The swirl pupil that practically hypnotized her in that moment, and those little eyelashes on their left eye that made her lose stability in her legs. The pink spots on their head that gave a unique look and had her ribbons in knots. The pure magenta body with that silly 'Im Evil' writing near the bottom that always made her laugh internally. Those arms that could hold Evil Gangle forever, and those legs that could walk to anyplace in the world and have her right behind them every step of the way. Their goofy voice that was somehow soothing and dumb at the same time, and their random stories that kept Evil Gangle listening even when she pretends to not care.
This time, it was herself who snapped her out of her mind with a sudden revelation that made her stomach sink.
“I love Bazooble…” she murmured to no one in particular, her voice barely audible even to her own hearing.
Everything was silent and muffled for a moment as the realization hit her like a truck, and she focused her gaze back on Bazooble. They looked back at her while making a bunch of hand gestures, but all Evil Gangle could focus on was how much she did love them.
“Bazooble” she breathed out, a small smile on her red mask that she couldn’t hold back.
Something green captured her attention, but she was only able to look at it for a mere millisecond before everything went black.