So...
After the whole bunch were rounded up again through inexplicable means, it was time to sort out the teams. "Let's see who gets to choose first." The Announcer paused for a few seconds. "Pin goes first." "Wha?" Leafy was shocked. "How?" "I used a random number generator to determine who gets to go first." "...Huh?" Leafy scratched her head. "I don't get it." "Oh well." The Announcer quipped. "Just roll with it." Pin added. "Sometimes things just happen for no reason; that's life." "So." The speaker box turned to the thumbtack. "Who are you going to choose?" Pin didn't have to consider it for even a moment. "Tennis Ball, get over here." TB cautiously approached, having just been subjected through the worst day of his life. "...Pin, what's going on?" He'd whisper, not wanting to give away that he didn't know something. "Are we choosing who gets to go on the island?" Pin angrily shook her head. "Afraid not." She'd grumble. "We're just choosing teams." "Teams?" Tennis Ball raised an eyebrow. "Teams for what?" Pin sighed. "*Apparently*, we're all competing in a much longer Battle for Dream Island."
That was shocking news to anyone that had fallen off the balance beam, which turned out to be pretty much everyone; the crowd of contestants forced into this strange competition voiced their complaints in some form. "Hoi, hoi!" Bubble approached the Announcer. "Oi was willing to excuse doing *one* thing for that oisland, but this is going too far!" "Yeah!" Ice Cube interjected. "We have lives, you know!" "Well, I think you're forgetting just what exactly you're battling over." The Announcer replied. "You're fighting over the island of luxury: Dream Island. A whole square mile of paradise; a five star hotel, a casino, six restaurants, robot servants-" "Oi don't care what that oisland has!" Bubble interrupted. "Oi just want moi-" "And the winner of this Battle doesn't just get to own it, they get to decide who comes in and who doesn't."
The Announcer may or may not have mentioned that little detail before; they all had the attention span of something that had a short attention span, and their minds became more preoccupied with everything that has happened in the past hour or so. They didn't really care about any of the many luxuries the island had. Odds were that they didn't even know what half of the things were, and they would be more than content to stay in the fields and lie down all day. But the thought of having an entire island, *owning* that piece of land, having sole control over who gets to come in with you, what little common sense that group of fools had was rather quickly eroded away at the thought of it. Field frolicking was good and all, but it becomes rather ungood when there's always someone or other trying to prank you or harm you or injure you or whatever. Having a place you could always fall back to when the going gets tough, a home where you're guaranteed shelter, security, and safety; *that* would be a huge relief indeed. It was something that all of the contestants thought about, in some form or another. Some place somewhere where they could actually feel at peace. Feel tranquil. And now that that fantasy, that *dream*, was actually tangible, they really couldn't contain themselves. They would do pretty much *anything* to get that island.
Perhaps Battle for it.
The place got uncomfortably silent after that. "Well, if you get to have a smart ball, I want one too!" Leafy exclaimed. "GB, you're on my team!" "*What*?" Golf Ball was shocked for once. "B-But I can't get separated from TB! He's the closest to actually matching *my* intellect!" "Closest, huh?" Tennis Ball frowned. "It's not like our teams are gonna be actual enemies though, right?" Leafy continued. "It's just a little friendly competition!" Golf Ball wasn't too amused. "Leafy, I don't think you understand-" "GB, you of all people should get this; though we're different in all sorts of ways, *technically* we operate the same way!" Leafy went on. "We wanna be able to understand why everyone acts the way they do, does the things they do, and how we can get them to come along!" Blocky folded his arms. "Why do *you* guys care about what *I* do, anyway?" He'd quip. "Don't you have your own lives to worry about?" "GB, with our skills combined, I'm sure we can *finally* patch things up between everyone, get them to understand and appreciate our way of thinking!" Leafy kept on going. "WHen we win that island, we're gonna make sure that it's a place for *everyone*, no questions asked!" Golf Ball hesitated and contemplated for a while longer, but inevitably sighed in defeat. "That'll have to do, I suppose."
"Alright, enough rambling." The Announcer finally stepped in. "Get to choosing." "Hm." Pin looked at the *spectacular* pool of contestants still available. "Tough choices here; TB, what do you think?" "I think we should go with Flower." Tennis Ball replied. "*Flower*?" Pin was bewildered. "She *hates* us! That can't possibly-" "Yeah, she hates everyone." Tennis Ball explained. "But if the other team gets her, she'll *especially* hate us. If we get her on our side, if she wants even a remote chance of getting the island, she *has* to cooperate." "That's fair." Pin conceded. "Flower, come over here." Flower groaned. "Fine, I guess."
It was then Leafy's turn to make that difficult choice. "What do you think, GB?" She'd ask. "Well, I think TB's got a good way of thinking it through." Golf Ball remarked. "I'm thinking we get Blocky; we can put those ideas of yours to the test, and his skills at *pranking* could be useful." "Oh, alright." Leafy nodded. "C'mon, Blocky!" "Aw, seriously?" Blocky groaned. "I don't have a choice, though." "That's right. You don't." The Announcer interjected. "Back to Pin's team."
"I'm thinking we get Firey." Pin suggested. "I agree." Tennis Ball nodded. "*WHAT*?" Flower, on the other hand, was infuriated. "Firey could burn me!" "Well, duh. He's fire; if you keep talking like that, I'll *have* him burn you as punishment." Pin joked. "Flower, think about it practically." Tennis Ball explained. "If the other team gets him, he'll *definitely* want to burn you; at least in this case he'll try not to." Flower still wasn't all too happy. "*Fine*. But still, if he gets too close to me, he's dead!"
"Alright, you bossy bots." Blocky sighed. "You got me. Fine. But if you *really* wanna gain my trust, then you *gotta* let me bring my pals along." "Alright, alright." Leafy nodded, while Golf Ball sighed. "...I suppose. Let's get Pen first; he's the most reasonable out of them." "Most reasonable?" Pen raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, what's *that* supposed to mean?" Eraser added.
"Blocky wants his friends, huh?" Pin remarked. "Well, that makes my next choice easy; let's get Eraser." "Aw, come on!" Eraser groaned. "H-Huh?" Leafy had some objections, and so did Tennis Ball. "Pin, don't say that. We shouldn't be making any more enemies than we should. There's plenty of better options-" "Oh, come on." Pin brushed the objections aside. "You're about thinking logically, aren't you? Having Eraser would demoralize Blocky, and we could use him as a bargaining chip later on." "Pin, whatever happened to this being a friendly competition?" Leafy frowned. "Sorry." Pin looked at her. "It *still* is, don't worry; but if you wanna direct these guys to go anywhere, you *have* to be assertive."
"Now we *have* to get Snowball." Blocky turned to Leafy. "We can't let them take him too!" "Alright!" Leafy gave a thumbs up. "Leafy, you can't be serious." Golf Ball interjected. "Pen should be more than enough. We shouldn't be taking such drastic actions; I suggest we-" "We *have* to, GB!" Leafy interrupted. "I mean, what's the point of having them on our team if they aren't happy with us?" Golf Ball frowned. "But-" "Think about it!" Leafy went on. The dimpled one grumbled. "...What's the point of having me around if you won't even listen?" She muttered to herself.
"This is garbage!" Eraser shouted. "There's no way I'm teaming up with you dorks!" Pin shook her head. "Fine, I'll get you a friend. Coiny, c'mon." "*What*?" Eraser was shocked, and so was Firey. "*That* jerk?" The flame grew more intense. "Why'd you pick *him*?" "Because it was needed. Obviously." Pin explained.
"Are you gonna *finally* listen to me for once?" Golf Ball asked. "Alright, alright." Leafy sighed. "Sorry, GB. What do you have in mind?" "Well, since Pin has Firey, we gotta fight fire with fire." Golf Ball explained. "Match can start fires, and she also gossips a lot with Pencil; we could learn a lot from what she's learned." Leafy nodded. "That makes sense."
Pin also nodded. "Well, that means we *gotta* get Pencil." Just like most of the other decisions made today, this one sparked its fair share of outrage. "That's, like, *so* unfair!" Match exclaimed. "Yeah, Pin!" Leafy also objected. "Again, friendly competition!" Pin sighed. "Again, sorry." Was she really all that sorry, though? "But once again, I *have* to be assertive. Leafy, how else are we gonna show them what the real world's like?" The leaf frowned. "You could be nicer about it, at least."
"I'm not gonna, like, leave another friend behind, alright?" Match folded her arms. "Icy, you gotta like, come over!" "Yeah!" Ice Cube quickly went over before Leafy could say anything. "Uh, alright!" "It's not the *worst* option, I suppose." Golf Ball reckoned. "We don't exactly have the *best* options remaining."
"And *I'm* not leaving one behind either." Pencil replied. "Bubble, you're in." "Yoiy!" Bubble exclaimed. "Hey!" Pin stepped in. "Who said you could make decisions around here?" "And *who* said *you* could?" Pencil fired back. "Yeah, who *did* say that?" Coiny added. "Uh, just in case you didn't notice, *I* was the one that won the first challenge. So-" "That doesn't really mean anything, does it?" Pencil remarked. "Considering we have this whole Battle now." Tennis Ball would then push Pin aside. "Let's just go with it." He'd say. "Again, having more enemies than needed, *especially* within our own team, isn't good." Pin sighed. "Fine. You can have Bubble."
"Let's get TD." Leafy suggested. "I've always wanted to befriend her." "Again, that isn't gonna happen." Golf Ball remarked. "But *also*, that's the best we can do. We can make it work."
Pin angrily looked at the remaining contestants. "They're all horrible." She'd look at Tennis Ball. "TB, what do you think?" "How about Spongy?" As expected, everyone was outraged by this. "NO WAY!" Flower shouted. "HE'S *DISGUSTING*!" "Yeah. I know." Tennis Ball sighed. "But did you ever think about how that can be used *against* the other team?" Pin nodded. "He's fat, too. That can be used for something. Probably."
"Alright, our last choice!" Leafy exclaimed. "Let's get Woody!" Everyone else was quick to voice their concerns. "Woody. Really?" Golf Ball had just about exhausted herself and couldn't get angry anymore. "I've dealt with him more than anybody else, and I can say he has *literally* no benefits! Why would you-" "Look. This team is *all* about making friends and having fun, alright?" Leafy interrupted. "You've already seen just how heated things have become, and I want people to actually *learn* something from that! I want to show him that he's in good hands; if he can fit in just fine, what's stopping anyone else?" Golf Ball let out a deep sigh. "You're the team leader, I suppose."
"And Pin gets Rocky." The Announcer concluded. "That's the teams settled, then. Now let's get to-" He'd pause. "Oop. There's an issue." "Issue? Where?" Pin looked around. "Looks fine to me." "The teams are unbalanced; Pin's team has one more member than Leafy's." "The talking speaker's right!" Golf Ball quickly glanced around. "If I'm not mistaken, one of us went missing during the challenge, that person being-" "If the teams are unbalanced, the larger one would have an unfair advantage right from the start." The Announcer continued. "You're one to talk about fairness!" Bubble remarked. "It looks like one of you has to go and sit out the Battle. Whoever wants to do so is free to speak up." Immediately quite a few people raised their hands and started getting uppity. "Actually, I suppose whoever does get left behind shouldn't be left out." The Announcer interjected. "Whoever chooses to leave will instead host the competition along with me." Immediately the commotion died down, and awkward silence filled the air. "Come on. Someone has to do it."
Golf Ball sighed. "I'll do it." Leafy was stunned. "W-Wha? But GB-" "I only chose to stay in this competition because I thought winning the island would be my only chance to finally get you guys to settle down and learn a thing or two." Golf Ball explained. "Now that there's another way to do it, I'm gonna go for the one that's gonna stress me out the *least*. I've had enough of this already." Leafy frowned. "Aw. But if that's what makes you happy, I guess..." "Ooh." The Announcer interjected. "But you don't have any arms." "What?" Golf Ball looked at the speaker box. "Is that a problem? I can get by just fine, just so you know." "Well, perhaps." The Announcer replied. "It's just that hosting this competition is a very hands-on task. Hah, get it? Hands-on?" "I know that more than anyone." Golf Ball wasn't too amused. "I've studied them more than they've studied themselves." "Well, if you're the only one willing, I suppose you'll do." The Announcer remarked.
"Hey, hang on!" Leafy realized something. "That just makes our teams even *more* unbalanced!" "That's true." The speaker box agreed. "Pin's team now has two more members. Therefore, I've decided that one member of her team can choose to voluntarily switch to Leafy's team. All you have to do is be the first to-" "LET ME OUT!" Eraser shouted at the top of his lungs. "And Eraser switches teams." The speaker box declared. "Aw, great!" Firey folded his arms. "Now I'm stuck here with Coiny for *no* reason!" "Hah!" Coiny laughed at his misfortune. "Grr!" Within seconds, the two started slapping each other. "Settle down, you two!" Pin shouted.
"Okay, the teams are finally settled." The Announcer continued. "Now, teams. Choose your team name." Immediately, upon being told they had to make this *all-important* choice, the two teams immediately descended into chaotic conversation; the great debate went on for what felt like an eternity, and eventually the speaker box just *had* to step in. "Okay, then. I'll choose." He'd silence them all. "Pin's team, you'll be called the Squishy Cherries. And Leafy's team, you are the Squashy Grapes."
"Aw, come on!" Blocky groaned. "Those names *suck*!" "You're named Blocky." Pen quipped.
