Battle for Resolving the Fate of the Universe (and also Dream Island Again)

Episode 8 - Revisiting an Old Friends Establishment

Cake at Stake happened later than anticipated.

Only a few people noticed the Announcer taking Eraser and Snowball away at first, but as soon as one of the contestants took notice, the rest followed shortly afterwards. They'd watch as the speaker box took them outside the fence, eventually disappearing into the horizon. The whole event caused them to wonder what that was all about. They knew that the two of them had tried to cheat during the contest, but if there was any punishment to be inflicted upon them because of it, they thought it would've taken place *here*, in the living quarters. And yet there they were, walking away from them to who knows where. After watching them get farther and farther away for about a minute or two, the contestants finally began to disperse to go do their usual thing in their breaks. As they went back, however, Pen couldn't help but glance at them for a little while longer, even though they were now just tiny specks on the horizon. Again, he considered them as his friends, and so he felt like he was obligated to be at least *somewhat* concerned for them, even though they had become rather distant. It also proved to be a cautionary reminder of what might happen to them should they cross that darn speaker box. Just how willing was it going to be to let them slide for infractions? How much is too much for that unknown mind of metal and gears? Pen didn't know just what exactly was their punishment, but that allowed for speculation, and speculation can run *wild*. Pen could barely look at the anymore as thoughts of the worst possible punishments filled his mind. Even the mere thought of them made him shudder.

Eventually, though, they would return. It had been a rather short ordeal: about half an hour or so. Soon enough, the Announcer would return with the two of them in tow, with clearly defeated looks on their faces. Their re-emergence obviously piqued the interest of everybody, who would be quick to greet them as they entered. The members of Beautiful Brawn were quick to gather around their weary teammates, asking them what had happened and how they felt. Meanwhile, Donut's Team would be questioning the Announcer about what it did to the two. The speaker box, however, would obviously give no answer. "It's time for Cake at Stake." The Announcer simply announced. And so it was. It was the same arrangement as before: of course. The members of Beautiful Brawn were up for elimination, and Donut's Team was going to vote one of them off. This time around, though, they weren't quite sure on *who* to vote off. Most of the obvious candidates had already gotten the boot, and it wasn't going to be long until they had to pick among their friends. Well, genuine friends, anyway. The main issue for this elimination wasn't that they had gotten to that point: there were still a few... less tolerable contestants to kick out. The problem was that they couldn't decide on which one of them to vote for. "People, get voting." The Announcer said. "But if you all vote for the same person like last time, there might be consequences." That added statement only caused yet more fear and tension among the voters. What were these consequences? Who would it affect if it happened? Only the Announcer would know, and given its track record, it probably won't say. At least until it was too late.

Once again, Donut would try to take the initiative by voting first. He would go through the thought process: voting off one of his fellow newbies was out of the question, for obvious reasons. Eraser and Snowball clearly looked sad, and so voting them off would only be adding insult to injury. As for the others... He had far too little information to truly make an informed decision on them. Once again, he would struggle to pick someone to be eliminated. Soon enough, however, someone else would take his place instead. "Ugh!" Match groaned and folded her arms. "This is, like, taking forever. I'll, like, vote first, then." All eyes then quickly turned to her. Unlike Donut, she only needed a moment to make up her mind. "I, like, vote for Woody. He's afraid of, like, everything, and his screaming, like, gets on my nerves!" Leafy would then immediately protest. "Match!" She exclaimed. "Don't be like that!" Match scoffed. "Like, why not? Just, like, look at him!" She would gesture towards Woody, who was already squirming in his seat due to the loud noises. "He's, like, completely useless! We'll be, like, doing them a favor if we, like, eliminate him." Leafy wasn't having any of it, however. "That's not a good enough reason!" She asserted. "He's afraid of everything, yes, but that means that we have to help him, not hurt him! We have to teach him to get over his fears, or else he might-" Woody then began screaming and panicking due to all the commotion, causing him to be restrained by his seat. Match looked at him, frowned, then turned to look at Leary again, clearly displeased. "Like, you were saying?" She asked rhetorically.