Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDI 2b: Barriers

Golf Ball was busy tinkering with the Bubble Recovery Center.

She thought getting right to it would be a far, *far* easier endeavor with the help of that weird speaker box; the two came over to Bubble a little while ago and told her to just... *not* die for a little bit while they work things out. *Apparently*, however, that was just too tough of a task for her to handle; after plenty of protests they just decided to go ahead with it anyway without her permission. What was she gonna do about it, anyhow?

The bossy bot demanded the speaker box to not bother her for even a second while she concentrated. But though the Announcer was a lot of things, compliant wasn't one of them; after all, he *was* the one that forced them all into this dumb competition for some dumb island. "GB, how is it going?" The speaker box asked. "Do you need a hand for anything? Get it? Hand?" Golf Ball grumbled. "For a mechanical mind, you're a lot more annoying than I expected." "Come on. I was just lightening the mood." The Announcer replied. "I just wanted to remind you that I'm always here to help out. "I don't need or *want* your help." Golf Ball responded, all the while doing all sorts of wizardry despite her... state. "I've gone through a lot just fine without anyone's help, let alone yours." "Well, it would be easier." The Announcer remarked. GB proceeded to continue doing her thing for a little while until the speaker box spoke up again. "Are you really that confident about your abilities?" "Well, of course!" Golf Ball was getting angry. "Why do you still think that my lack of arms hinders me in any way? I've more than made up for it with what I've taught myself." "Well, that may be true." The Announcer conceded. "But still, having just legs means you naturally have a disadvantage over others. I just want to say it's perfectly fine to ask for help."

That lingering itch just *had* to be scratched; Golf Ball got up from her seat and stared down the eyeless, soulless speaker box. "Listen here, you speaker machine." She'd start. "If you doubt me or my capabilities one more time just because I don't have any arms, you'll have *no* idea what I'll do in response." "Oh. Are you threatening me?" The Announcer asked flatly. "I know a thing or two about a lot of things; I was the only one that bothered with being your co-host because I was the only one that could actually manage it. I've spent who knows how long studying every single one of those you now call contestants, *far* before you ever showed up." She'd pause for a moment. "I also know a thing or two about machines; I have an entire underground factory where I work on all sorts of things, attempting to come up with *something* that'll get through to them." She'd poke the Announcer with her foot. "Though I don't know exactly how *you* work, given that I haven't gotten the chance to dissect you, I have a rough idea of how to get you in trouble, and I may just get the chance." "Okay, now that's clearly a threat." The Announcer interrupted. "Shush. Sheesh. All I said was that I am available to help if you need it. I wasn't making fun of your lack of limbs." "Well, it sure sounded like it!" Golf Ball shouted.

She'd sigh and shake her head; despite what she literally just did, she didn't wanna completely antagonize the speaker box. Who knows? That pile of junk might just have some useful info. "Look, that's nice. But I don't *need* your help." Golf Ball continued. "If I did, I'd ask for it. So put that in your head and move on." With that, she'd get back to work on the Recovery Center.

But certain thoughts would cause her to lose track as she pushed on.

-

Pin gathered all of her allies together for a quick talk.

Tennis Ball was the first to arrive, having not much to do besides ruminating and rolling around. Firey then came around, followed by Bubble after she got done with whatever Golf Ball wanted from her. Rocky and Spongy were also there just for kicks; maybe Pin thought that the sight of them would ward off the ones she didn't want to see.

"Alright, guys." Pin took a deep breath. "This is our first *actual* meeting as an actual team. First off, I just wanted to congratulate you guys, all of us, on winning the first ever challenge." "Yep, that's a good sign." Tennis Ball smiled. "We won first, and the losers have had to kick out a member of theirs; this trend is bound to naturally continue on, our advantage over them further snowballing until we're the only ones left!" He'd chuckle. "Well, maybe not *snowballing* per se..." He'd remark. "Alright, that's the second thing." Pin interrupted. "There's no such thing as winners or losers. There's no such thing as enemies. We're all just... poor, unfortunate souls, all stuck on this same boat known as the Battle for Dream Island." "Huh?" Firey raised an eyebrow. "I thought there were, though; our past behavior, especially yours, seemed like-" "Yeah, Yeah. I know." Pin sighed. "I guess I was just... caught up in all the excitement." She shook her head. "But no; at the end of the day, we're all on the same page. The same team." She paused for a moment to choose her next words carefully. "We may have been split up by that speaker box thing and made to compete against each other for that island, but that decision is arbitrary and artificial. In no way should that get in the way of what *we* had, what we built up before."

Pin paused again to breathe. "And that's *especially* the case for us. This team. I'll admit that I could've done better in selecting the members, but this is just what we're stuck with." She'd sigh. "I know you guys have *some* issues with the others, but I want you guys to just tolerate them. For now." "Aw, *what*?" Firey immediately started complaining. "You're telling me I have to put up with that *jerk*? I only sided with you *because* you also hated him!" "Let me *explain*." Pin glared at him. "We're going to keep doing all that we can in order to keep on winning. Coiny, Pencil, and Flower can do whatever they'd like, but we're gonna keep focusing on the most important things." She paused. "We just keep on going, keep on winning. Eventually they'll stop and see what we're doing, eventually they'll realize, eventually they'll come around." She'd look at Firey. "*Eventually*, Coiny will realize that you were completely right about everything, that what you're doing ultimately is better." "Hmph." Firey folded his arms. "Still not fully buying it." "And we just keep on winning until the other team's completely gone. Simple as that." Pin concluded. "But what happens after that?" Tennis Ball asked. "Only *one* can win Dream Island, but there's *ten* of us." Pin simply smiled. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"But, loike, what about the other team?" Bubble raised her hand. "You said that we're just going to... coimpletely get rid of them? Wouldn't that, loike, make them hoite us?" "That brings me to the *third* thing." Pin continued. "They're our friends, yes, but this was a long time coming; this whole competition has given us the *perfect* opportunity to teach them the most important lesson." "Which is?" Firey asked. "That you can't always get what you want." Pin answered. "That there are moments in life where there *will* be people and things that inconvenience you, and you can't do anything about them no matter what you do. That there are times where you have to just *move on*. That's just how things are." She'd take a deep breath. "That refusal to learn is why I think all of us haven't gotten anywhere. Why we were more than content to just stay and do nothing until that speaker box arrived." She paused. "It may not look like it, but eliminating the other team is probably gonna be the single biggest thing we've ever done to help them; we'll make them realize the truth, expose them to the reality of life, and once they've fully settled in, we give them a hand. Let them in Dream Island. Tell them that it's no big deal as there's always gonna be someone to help you."

Pin paused again to reflect. "That's all I wanted to say, really. Good job, keep up the good work. Keep on winning, keep pushing through." She'd look at everyone around here. "What you're doing here is ultimately for the good of all of us. Don't forget that." She'd get up. "Go back to what you were doing, then." With that, the others would also go their separate ways.

Firey frowned. "Can it *not* be better for Coiny, though?"

-

Match was talking with Ice Cube about something or other when Leafy showed up.

The matchstick planned to just say a brief hello before going right back to the conversation, but it immediately came to a halt upon seeing her; something had *definitely* happened to her in the past few minutes. A concerningly large part of her body, centered around her left eye, was bruised with flecks of red and purple, and there were plenty of rips and tears here and there. Ice Cube gasped. "What happened?" "Yikes." Match couldn't help but agree and recoil, as much as she tried to hide it. "Like, what did you do, Leafy?" "Yeah, uh..." The leaf looked away. "I know." She'd sigh. "I tried to be assertive, like you said." She explained. "Told Blocky my reasons behind eliminating Snowball, how it was to teach him a lesson. We had a big argument, he roped Eraser and Pen into it as well. Eventually, he appeared to give in and wanted to shake hands; of course, I accepted, but then he lifted me up and then..." She'd frown. "Yeah." Match frowned in turn. "Sheesh. Like, I'm... sorry." She'd reply. "I can't help but feel, like, guilty; it was me that told you that, after all." "Eh..." Leafy whimpered. "Don't think that. I knew you meant well. I just *really* wanted to believe I could change Blocky, but i guess..." She'd sigh. "I learned my lesson, that's for sure." Match reluctantly nodded. "Yeah. But, like, that *totally* wasn't the way I wanted it to happen."

There was a brief bit of awkward silence afterwards. "Like, on the subject of uncomfortable stuff..." "Huh?" Leafy looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "I have to admit that, like, I kinda saw you as being weird." Leafy frowned. "What?" "Yeah, like..." Match sighed. "I saw that you wanted to, like, be friends with everybody, and I thought, like, you had some sort of death wish." For obvious reasons Leafy didn't like hearing that. "Wow. Thanks for that." She'd respond flatly. "I know. I know." Match interjected. "But, like, after teaming up with you, and especially after seeing you now... That's definitely changed." She paused. "Just like what you said about, like, me saying you gotta stand up to Blocky, I realized that you only, like, had good intentions with that. Things *would* be better if we all just, like, got along." Leafy somewhat lit up. "Really?" "Yeah!" Match nodded. "Like, I'd be cool with Blocky if it wasn't for, like, his tendencies; me and Pencil were, like, pretty common targets for his pranks before..." She'd trail off, her weak smile disappearing as quickly as it emerged. "Pencil..." She'd mutter to herself.

"You alright?" Leafy could immediately tell something was up. "You wanna talk about it?" Match sighed. "Well, you know how me and Pencil are, like, good friends?" Leafy nodded. "Well, it's more of, like, we *were* good friends." Match remarked. "It started when Bubble wanted to be part of, like, our little friend group; I agreed to it because, like, the more the merrier, right? It wasn't like she could harm, like, anybody. But Pencil just wasn't, like, having it." She'd frown. "Then it happened again with Icy over here, then, like, we got split up by those teams, and it was just..." She sighed again. "Well, these things happen, you know?" Leafy reassured her. "Friends go through rough patches all the time; we can't always agree on everything! I'm sure you two will be back on your feet in no time." "I sure hope so. But, like..." Match looked off into the distance, half-expecting to see Pencil there. "Given the way things are, I think, like, this could be permanent. We could be, like, splitting up." "Ah, don't think that!" Leafy replied. "The only thing that could possibly let that happen is if you think it can. So just don't let it bother you!" "I suppose that, like, makes sense." Match remarked.

"But still..." She'd look at Leafy. "We're still on separate teams, and, like, it feels like we will be for quite some time. So, uh..." Leafy raised an eyebrow. "Hm?" Match nervously chuckled. "Maybe you can, like, be my friend?" Leafy gasped. "Aw, c'mon, Match! You're already my friend!" "I am?" Match asked. "Well, duh!" Leafy smiled. "What do you think we've been doing?" "Well, like, that's great!" Match exclaimed. "Ooh!" Ice Cube chimed in. "Can I be-" "Of course, Icy!" Leafy replied. "You're my friend too! You're both my friends!" Match gasped. "You know what that, like, means, right?" "What *does* it mean?" Leafy asked. "We can, like, form an alliance! A group of friends that'll, like, stick together to the very end!" "Why, that sounds like a *great* idea!" Leafy was ecstatic. "Yeah!" Ice Cube agreed. "Yup!" Match continued. "We're already, like, on the same team, but this would do no harm!" "So it's official, then!" Leafy exclaimed. "From now on, we're all part of an alliance of very good friends!" And there would be much cheering and celebrating from all three of them.

In the distance, Blocky looked on, carefully watching.