Chapter Text
The day was cloudy and near freezing. Snow piled up everywhere it could, leaving the earth under a thick, white layer. Today was a day objects would normally be staying inside, drinking hot chocolate, covering themselves with all the blankets they could find, lounging in front of a pleasant fire, or for those who didn't mind the frigid weather, building snowforts and snowmen, sledding or laughing while hurtling snowballs at each other.
But for the contestants and other various characters of Brawl Of The Objects, they had been spending the day spectating the finale of the previously mentioned show, watching the final five dwindle down to the final two: Shieldy and Shelly. All around the bleachers, the air swirled and was heated with excitement.
At the starting line of the final race, the metal shield and blue seashell stood, listening to their host, Controlly, as he explained the final race. Discreetly, one of Shieldy's supporters, Baseball Cap, passed a blue and yellow card to the finalist, to which he hesitantly plucked from the frosty ground.
"In an effort to stick with the original Brawl Of The Objects finale rules, you may not cross the lake under any circumstances. If you are caught doing so, you will be disqualified." Controlly stated firmly. In contrast to his previous tone, the gray controller smiled, and walked up to a line of brown boxes.
"Before we begin however, I will reveal the grand prize you've been fighting for all this time!" One by one, he threw the boxes, revealing a shiny red car, a million dollars, and a lifetime supply of golden chicken nuggets, which was immediately eaten by the spectators.
"Well I guess that one's out of the question..." Controlly grumbled.
"What you're really fighting for, is this," Controlly went on, pulling out a ticket made of golden film. Even without the full sun, it still glittered radiantly. "The Golden Ticket. With this ticket, any one wish that you make will come true automatically. ..just don't go crazy with it." He added.
Shieldy and Shelly both marveled at the grand prize, letting out 'oohs' of astoundment.
"That being said, we can begin the race!" Controlly announced. "Contestants, are you ready?"
"Yes!" The two finalists called out in unison. Both steeled their faces with determination.
"On your mark.."
Shieldy planted his feet to the ground, focusing on the forest of snow covered pines up ahead.
"Get set.."
Shelly closed out all thoughts, leaving her current mindset as narrow as the path in front of her. A chilly wind blew through the area, sending a shiver to her body.
And sudden realization speared her heart.
"G-"
"Wait a minute!" The armless female blurted, her voice on the brink of a shout. Scolding herself for sounding panicked, Shelly brought her voice to a normal tone. "Are we racing in..this environment? Where a blizzard could possibly happen?"
Shieldy looked on in confusion at Shelly's outburst, but nodded in agreement. "She has a point."
Controlly only rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't schedule the finale on the day of a blizzard. While this isn't the ideal weather for the finale, I can't delay this any longer, and the forecast says it's only light snow today. Now, if you don't have any more questions.."
Though she wasn't reassured, Shelly remained quiet, and faced the forest. She would just have to deal with the hand given.
"On your mark..get set.." Controlly started again, raising his voice with each word. "Go!"
And the contestants were off, the yells of encouragement from their supporters echoing in their heads.
Shelly shoved her fear away, for there was no time to be fretting about the situation. She had a competition to win. Gradually, Shelly gained a lead, her deep breaths falling into steady rhythm.
Remembering the card Baseball Cap lended him, Shieldy took a look at it. A focused demeanor switched to a grin upon seeing what the card was.
"Go, Battle Monster!" He held the playing card up, and a yellow and white UFO-like Battle Monster appeared. The monster gave Shieldy a wink, and zipped to his competitor. A purple light emitted from the monster's underside, and a mustache monster was unleashed upon Shelly.
She screamed, and a cloud of dust went up as the monster mercilessly attacked Shelly. A twinge of guilt nipped at Shieldy, but he continued on, saying thanks to Baseball Cap under his breath.
Not one to give up easily, Shelly dashed through an opening in the mustache's attacks, landing face first in a snow bank. The mustache, thinking it had beaten its opponent, fluttered away with a coo.
"Where did Shieldy get THAT from?" Shelly sat up, dumbfoundment mixed with slight anger. Her rival turned his head towards her, a smug look on his face.
"Later, Shelly!" Shieldy called. Neverminding her scratches from the assault, Shelly bounced up and sprinted to close the distance.
The fire of determination kept it away at first, but now the near freezing weather really was getting to Shelly. Another shiver passed through her body, almost causing her to trip.
At this point, Shelly had caught up to Shieldy, only lagging behind by a miniscule amount of space. Shelly was heaving, pumping power into her legs to keep her moving and warm.
However, Shieldy had noticed Shelly's increasingly labored running, and a pit of worry grew inside him. After all, Shelly was his former teammate, and a competitive race didn't change how the young male felt about her health.
"Shelly? You don't look so good." He commented, but was ignored as yet another cold wave struck Shelly, forcing her to slow down. The female shuddered violently. Now that she had stopped running, the outside chill could finally settle inside her.
The next thing Shelly knew, she was on her knees, her body too weak to stand.
"Shelly?" Shieldy halted, no longer hearing the pattering of the seashell's footsteps beside his. He whipped around, only to see a light blue shell sitting in the middle of the path. Light snow had already piled up on the surface.
Shieldy scrambled over to Shelly, momentarily forgetting the race. He swiped away the snowflakes, and rubbed his hands together immediately.
'She's ice cold!'
For a moment, Shieldy flew into panic, unsure of what to do. He could always try warming her up, but how?
The shield looked at his hands, which were still warm. No time to think about another solution.
Shieldy pressed his hands together, rubbing them until they felt like they'd combust into flames, then placed them onto Shelly's surface, applying the warmth to different places. He repeated this process several times, praying under his breath that it worked.
Eventually, Shelly weakly opened her eyes, and Shieldy assisted her up.
"What happened Shelly? Are you okay?" Shieldy bombarded her with questions asked in a panic driven voice. He urged her into walking, Shelly's legs shaking dangerously.
"I-It's cold.. Y'know, there was a reason I asked th-that question back at the starting line.." Shelly stuttered. Her legs dragged on the ground every now and then.
Shieldy only became more confused. "I..don't follow. Why'd you collapse like that? You were running, you should've been fine!"
Shelly inwardly groaned. It seemed no one on this show knew anything about object biology except her. "Here's a hint..I'm a seashell."
"Well I never took object biology!" Shieldy argued back. He bit his lip, regretting his slightly harsh tone.
"R-Right, right.." Shelly mutters. She had stopped shivering by now, a sign that she was too cold. "Seashells like me are native to the beach, so they're not meant to survive in cold weather-"
"Wait, not meant to SURVIVE?" Shieldy yelled, shocked. "Does that mean you could've died!?"
Shelly nodded solemnly. "Yeah.. What I just did, curling up.. It's our way of conserving heat until a heat source can be found..like what you did for me..." She trailed off, the meaning of Shieldy's actions truly connecting in her head.
Essentially, he had saved her life.
"..but why?" Shelly gazed up at Shieldy, reading his face for emotion. She found nothing but concern and sincerity, and it confuddled her. "Isn't winning important to you?"
"Of course it is!" Shieldy replied. "But you're more important than winning. I don't want you to die!"
"You attacked me with a battle monster." The female shell reminded Shieldy. It was at this moment the latter took notice of the shallow scratches Shelly now bore. He winced, a guilty bubble in his stomach.
"I didn't mean to hurt you.." Was Shieldy's only response.
Shelly simply gave him a nod of acknowledgment.
"Try to get to the finish line Shelly. Then you can warm up." Despite the stakes, Shieldy gave Shelly a warm and friendly grin. Shelly could only manage a weak smile back at him.
And she swore that an ember of warmth sparked inside her.
Shieldy drifted from Shelly's side, looking back at her every now and then to check if she was holding up okay. Often, Shieldy would wait for Shelly to catch up. Whenever the threat of tripping came, he'd dash to catch her, and the pair continued like this for a while; Shieldy and Shelly never being more than five feet apart.
"I..can't feel my legs.." Shelly muttered. Shieldy was by her side, hands held out in case she fell again.
"Almost there.." The male encouraged Shelly, though he wasn't sure himself how much farther the race went on for. He hoped it wouldn't be too long before they reached the finish.
"Shieldy.." Shelly murmured, before collapsing to the ground, unmoving.
"Shelly!" In a half heartbeat, Shieldy was beside his fallen friend, panic coursing through his body.
'Is she dead?' The terrible thought was there for a fleeting second, until Shieldy banished it to the back of his mind. His heart was beating wildly, so much that he smushed his lips together so that it wouldn't jump right out.
"Hold on Shelly," Shieldy pulled Shelly close to him, cradling her body in his arms as he stood up. "I got you."
Despite the added weight, Shieldy kept a jogging pace as he moved closer to the finish, always keeping Shelly close to him. Whispering things to her even though she couldn't hear.
"You're not dying. Not on my watch."
Shelly regained consciousness in a place that was, at first, unfamiliar to her. A fire crackled on the hearth, and a thick baby blue blanket was draped around her. Wooden, cream colored walls surrounded her, and she remembered.
'The team Vanilla cabin! What am I doing here?'
Something stirred beside her. Shelly looked to her side, and locked gazes with Shieldy. Though the former got flustered at the sudden eye contact, Shieldy seemed unaffected, relief flooding him instead. "Shelly! You're awake!"
"Shelly's awake?" Another female voice, Slurpy, called, sharing the relief Shieldy had. The legless bendy straw hopped over to Shelly's other side, and gave her a warm smile. "I'm glad you're back."
"What happened? I thought I was in the forest..?" Shelly asked. The memory of nearly freezing to death made her shudder, and she realized she was still cold.
"Shieldy carried you to the finish line," Slurpy explained to her friend. "Then you were brought here to warm up."
"Speaking of which," Shieldy cut in, "How are you feeling? Are you warmer?"
"K-Kind of.. Although, I learned that in object biology, an object suffering from hypothermia should get their warmth from another, i-instead of direct heat. The blankets won't help anymore."
"Oh. Well then-" Without giving himself time to think, Shieldy draped the blanket over himself as well, scooting closer to Shelly so that they touched. "Th-This is okay, right?"
The metal shield couldn't help but blush awkwardly, his body heat slightly increasing. His warmth washed over Shelly. The slight glare Slurpy gave the male was one of skepticism, but she gave no words of protest.
"I-It's okay-" Shelly took a few seconds to respond, taken by surprise. "How long have you two been here?"
Slurpy was the one to reply this time. "We've been here the whole time. Party Hat, Chocolatey, Pizza, and Hot Dog were here for a while as well. Shieldy insisted on staying with you until you were better."
"Oh, uh..thank you, b-both of you..!" Shelly smiled at Slurpy and Shieldy, blushing slightly.
Shieldy chuckled. "It's not a problem, Shelly." Another warm wave washed over Shelly, melting what remained of the chill inside her.
She thought she'd let the moment last.