Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDI 5b: Bridgebuilding

"Thank you all for coming so soon, despite everything..."

The Squishy Cherries had all assembled for another meeting. "We've received quite a few hits in such a short time, so I figured that now was a perfect time to discuss our strategy once again." Pin continued. "Just so we're all on the same page, you guys *do* remember what the plan is, right?" "Well, uh..." Bubble scratched her head; Pin looked at her and frowned. "You don't, do you?" She'd flatly ask. "Um, soirry." Bubble frowned as well. "Bubbles don't have broins, so-" "It's fine." Pin interjected. "The plan is to just keep on winning, right?" Firey asked, and Pin nodded. "That's exactly it." She'd reply. "We keep on winning, we win Dream Island, and we set an example to the other teams. Now, as you guys probably noticed... we didn't exactly do the best at that today." She'd sigh. "One, the teams getting switched around, as well as a new one getting created, caused us to lose our advantage in numbers. Then we ended up losing the challenge, which meant that not only did we lose that advantage, we now also have a *disadvantage*."

The thumbtack briefly looked around the faces surrounding her. "Just so I'm sure: we all agree about Spongy getting eliminated, right?" Tennis Ball was quick to agree, though the other two had reservations. "Oh, I don't knoiw..." Bubble remarked. "It just didn't seem foir, you know? He was really doing his best!" "You think that even though you got crushed by him?" Firey quipped. "We *all* are." Pin interjected. "And as much as I want us all to stick together, we *had* to get rid of someone." "Hey, uh, quick question..." Tennis Ball raised a foot. "Where *did* Spongy and the other eliminated contestants get sent to, anyway? The last time I've seen any of them is when they got voted out." Firey frowned. "I never really thought about that." Bubble also frowned. "Oh, noio..." "The only thing that speaker box said is that they'll be treated with TLC." Pin remarked. "What does *that* mean?" "Well, it's *clearly* some sort of acronym." Tennis Ball replied. "It's also clearly got something to do with some sort of place, given how we've never seen them again." "But where?" Pin interjected. "Well, given that everyone sent there has been flung, I reckon it's pretty far, but not *that* far."

"We should foind them!" Bubble suggested. "We gotta know where they are, and whoi they're there!" "And why do you care so much about them?" Firey asked. "Last time I checked, it's Blocky and his bunch that's stuck there." "Well, Spongy's gotta be there too!" Bubble replied. "Again, you got *crushed* by him. You popped." Firey continued. "So?" Bubble continued. "I know he didn't mean it!" Firey frowned. "But still-" "I can see where he's coming from; we're both being pushed around a lot." Bubble went on. "We gotta find him and show that we still care!"

Pin raised her hand to silence everyone. "Alright, we'll go looking for wherever this 'TLC' is." She'd declare. "Firey, you're the one responsible for that; we clearly won't have much time to search for it, and the only conceivable time we could do it is at night. You can light your way around." Firey frowned. "But I..." He'd sigh. "Alright, alright." "Anyways..." Pin continued. "So, there's three teams now; assuming what we saw is the new system, as long as we're one of the top two, we won't be up for elimination." She'd cautiously look around, making sure nobody was eavesdropping. "I suggest we focus on Another Name; they're clearly the larger threat, and they're also the ones that would be the *least* capable of handling Dream Island." "I can get behind that." Firey smiled. "We gotta show that dumb Coiny who's boss." "Oi guess..." Bubble also voiced her thoughts on the matter.

"That's pretty much it, really." The thumbtack concluded. "We won't let these little setbacks keep us down; we're gonna come back stronger than ever, and we're all gonna be just fine. Sounds good?" Everyone nodded in varying degrees of approval. "Firey, start looking for that TLC tonight. TB?" "There isn't that much ground to cover, probably." Tennis Ball remarked. "I'll help you keep track of where you've looked, as well as where to start." "Alright." Firey nodded. "That's it, then." Pin nodded as well. "You guys get back to whatever you're doing. I've got other things to take care of."

-

Leafy was still busy with her puzzle.

A little while ago, she'd given her teammates their own puzzles, then promptly had them sit around in a circle to talk about their first victory in this entire competition; that really didn't go all too well, as within a few minutes everyone became utterly fixated on their brand new toys, more specifically on how frustrated it made them. It quickly turned out that returning these things into their proper, solved forms was trickier than they expected, and absolutely none of them could even get a start on it. Soon enough all of them grew frustrated and they all went their separate ways, requiring their personal space to tackle this conundrum without bothering anyone else *too* much; Leafy stuck to her original position all throughout, keeping her calm and maintaining a smile, though she'd be lying if she said she didn't want to go red with fury.

Speaking *of* red...

"Uh... Leafy?" Pin tapped her shoulder. Leafy would immediately get up and turn around on instinct, but would quickly calm down upon seeing that it was just her fellow team leader. "Oh! Uh... Pin." She'd get flustered. "What's that?" The thumbtack pointed to her puzzle. "Just a little reward for winning the previous challenge." The leaf would demonstrate how all the little pieces could move. "You're supposed to turn it into a cube; it's a lot harder than it looks." Pin tried to resist the obvious urge, but she had anger to vent out. "Can I give it a go?" "Sure thing!" Leafy smiled, eager to get it off her hands for at least a little bit; she'd quickly hand it over to Pin, who would quickly get to work. The pushpin would end up facing much the same struggles as everyone else, and would end up throwing in the towel as well. "I think I know someone that could work this out." She'd remark. "You mind if I... keep this for a little bit? I swear I'll give it back after-" "Not at all!" Leafy smiled. "You probably need it more than I do, after all." Pin chuckled. "...Yeah."

There'd be a tense moment of silence as the laughter quieted down. "...Speaking of which..." The thumbtack put the puzzle down. "There's three teams now. What do you think of that?" Leafy frowned. "I don't really know..." She'd reply. "On one hand, I think it's nice that more people get to be a team leader; they're pretty big shoes to fill, and I think one could learn plenty while taking on that role." Pin nodded in agreement. "...Such a shame that..." She'd trail off, unsure of whether or not she should say that, especially towards Leafy. "On the other hand..." The leaf continued, folding her arms. "This whole division thing might make things even worse. I mean, two teams was already bad enough, but at least there was a *chance* that we could eventually agree on something; *three* teams, though?" Pin thought about it. "I think it might make things better, actually." She remarked. "More teams means smaller teams, which means they're less capable of doing things to more people. They're empowered somewhat by having numbers, but everyone else has that too; one team can easily be equaled by the others. We'll all fight it out, eventually they'll realize just how tiring it is, how futile..."

Another awkward silence ensued.

"Look, Leafy..." Pin spoke up again. "I understand how you'd get hurt by the whole... thing." She didn't want to bring back any more memories. "I came here because I wanted to propose something to you." Leafy turned to her, her face slightly red and with a funny look on her face. "Propose?" She'd ask. "To me?" "Now that there's three teams, there's some *other* target we can focus on, instead of constantly fighting against each other." Pin continued. "We'll still have to fight over first place, of course. But Another Name... We can make sure they stay dead last."

Leafy thought about the proposition. "I mean..." She'd frown. "I dunno, it feels like it's just continuing the cycle; now we're just alienating someone else..." "Given how this competition is, *someone* has to get the short end of the stick." Pin interjected. "And if it's gonna be anyone, it should probably be them; seriously, would you entrust Dream Island to *any* of them?" Leafy didn't know how to answer that. "Odds are they'll exclude everyone, making it something for them and them alone." Pin continued. "At least for our teams, there's *someone* we can rely on, someone trustworthy." "...That's fair." Leafy conceded. "But still, just because they're not all that nice, doesn't mean we can just start bullying them; we'd just be going down to their level, and we'd give them even more reasons to hate us."

Pin sighed. "Leafy..." She frowned. "There's just no saving everyone. *Someone* has to get kicked out after every challenge." The thumbtack paused for a moment. "Besides, it's a good thing, isn't it?" Leafy raised an eyebrow. "Huh?" "Getting eliminated gives them a chance to reflect." Pin continued. "Makes them think about why they didn't stand a chance. Why they *failed*. It'll sting in the short-term, for sure. But afterwards?" Leafy still felt uneasy. "I still feel like there *has* to be a better way to do it, though." She remarked. "They're bound to notice that we're focusing on them, maybe we should..."

Pin frowned. "Leafy." She'd say flatly. "You're a team leader; you know what that means, don't you?" Leafy nodded. "Of course, but-" "Being a leader involves making decisions." The pushpin continued. "Decisions that are ultimately the best for everyone. Decisions that others might not agree with." She'd pause for a moment to breathe. "Decisions *you* might not agree with. But the facts don't lie." She'd stare at Leafy. "I know that you don't wanna upset anyone, but you *gotta* understand that this is what's best for everyone. If this Battle for Dream Island is gonna *mean* anything, we *can't* let them win."

Leafy just couldn't make up her mind.

-

"I'm the team leader."

Another Name was *still* arguing with itself over this whole issue. "No." Pencil flatly replied. "No, you're not." "Why *not*?" Coiny groaned. "I'm the one that won us the last challenge! I came up with the idea to use dirt, the idea that *you* stole!" "That was just a one-off thing." Pencil remarked. "If you actually look at everything, *I'm* more suited for it." "How?" Coiny asked. "Well, duh." Pencil replied. "I know just about everything there is to know about everyone, even the stuff they don't want me to know." Coiny scoffed. "Just because you gossip with Match all the time, doesn't mean you're some know-it-all like GB." "Well, of course not." Pencil chuckled. "I don't wanna be *anything* like that ball. But I still know more than you." "Prove it." Coiny challenged her. "Tell me something about me, then." "Easy." Pencil replied. "I know that you keep on hating Firey because he-"

"Can both of you just *SHUT UP*?" Flower interrupted. "If it gets you two to quiet down, *I'M* the team leader! Now stop it, I'm trying to photosynthesize!" As the plant stormed off, Coiny and Pencil stared at her. "She's *definitely* not the team leader." Coiny remarked. "Definitely." Pencil nodded. "Alright, let's settle this." Coiny continued. "We're obviously gonna keep on disagreeing, so let's just have our other members decide on it." He'd then turn to Rocky and Woody. "HEY!" He'd shout. "I'M THE TEAM LEADER, RIGHT?" "No way!" Pencil interrupted. "Well, it's not up to you, is it?" Coiny asked. "It isn't up to you either!" Pencil shouted back, and the squabbling continued.

Woody quickly ran away from there, while Rocky just kept on staring.