Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDI 5c: Crossing a Bridge

"The sixth contest is to cross a bridge; the team with more people who crossed wins. The first person to cross the bridge wins a Win Token. Go."

Leafy inspected the bridge in question, as well as the great chasm in the earth that it spans. "Hm, I don't know..." She'd remark. "That bridge doesn't look so strong. And I can't see the bottom of that gorge!" She then turned to the rest of the Grapes. "Here's the plan, guys: I'll cross the bridge first, since I'm the lightest out of all of us. Then you guys cross it in order from lightest to heaviest; that way, we have the best chances of getting the most of us across!" Match raised an eyebrow. "But, like, who *is* the lightest and heaviest out of us?" She'd ask. "It's not like we know, like, our weight compared to others." She'd glance around and chuckle. "Well, like, maybe Pence-Pence does." "Hm..." Leafy frowned. "Well, I thought it was obvious, but now that I think about it..." She'd look at everyone. "We *gotta* know for certain! I'll help with figuring it out."

"What? That's crazy!" Pin exclaimed. "Our team has less members than the others; even if we get *everyone* across, we still have a chance of losing!" "I know, right?" Tennis Ball agreed. "Speaker Box, can we-" The Cherries turned to find the Announcer, only to find that both hosts had, once again, completely vanished. TB sighed. "Why does she *always* disappear when I need her?" Pin sighed as well. "Whatever; Firey, you cross first." "Huh?" Firey was shocked. "Why me?" "You're the lightest out of all of us." Pin replied. "Yep!" Tennis Ball chimed in. "You're mostly gas, so it'll be like the bridge isn't taking in any weight!" "Uh, in case you haven't noticed, I'm *fire*." Firey remarked. "And that bridge clearly looks like it's made of wood. I'll burn that thing down, then *none* of us will cross!" Pin thought about it. "Oh yeah." She'd nod. "New plan: Firey, you cross it *last*; we all go, then you burn it down so that no one else can! Bubble, you go first." "Yoiy!" Bubble exclaimed and did just that.

"GUYS! Stop bickering!" Coiny interrupted his team. "The contest already started, and the other teams are already starting to go!" The rest of Another Name continued to do what they are best known for, however; Coiny resorted to picking up Rocky and throwing him as hard as he could, popping Bubble and sending the living rock down the gorge. He'd then quickly make his way over to the bridge, intending to cross it himself; Pin would be quick to notice, having been keeping an eye on Bubble to try and keep her safe. "Stop right there!" She'd make her way to the bridge as well; after a brief skirmish in which the two would angrily flail their arms towards each other, they'd end up falling into the gorge as well.

"Well, there he goes." Pencil scoffed. "I knew his so-called 'victory' was just lucky. C'mon, let's go." "No way!" Flower angrily folded her arms. Pencil sighed. "I know you hate us, and all that, but if you wanna win Dream Island-" "I'm not crossing that bridge if *they* can get a chance to knock me off!" Pencil sighed again. "Alright, sure." She'd shake her head. "I'll cross it then; Woody, you're coming with me too. I know you aren't gonna-" Just as she picked up the block of balsa, however, he immediately began to scream. Pencil let out one final sigh.

Bubble finally managed to return to the scene after getting recovered, and would manage to cross the bridge without a hitch this time. "Yoylecake!" She'd celebrate. "Congratulations." The Announcer suddenly appeared. "You are the first person to cross the bridge; you win a Win Token." "Whot's it do?" Bubble asked. "If you are ever up for elimination, you can use it to cut your votes in half. "Ooh!" Bubble exclaimed; she was just about to pick up the Token when she'd suddenly become nonexistent. Pencil had decided that it was a *very* great idea to just throw Woody across the gorge with all her might, and somehow that worked. "Congratulations." The speaker box repeated. "You are the first-" Woody didn't take to all that too kindly, however, and upon getting up would start backing away from the Announcer. Backing straight into the gorge. Pencil could do nothing but despair as she saw the piece of wood descend into the depths below.

Just about done with trying to get her team to do anything, Pencil decided to finally cross the bridge herself, which she'd do uneventfully. "Congratulations." The Announcer announced. "You are-" "I get it. I get it." Pencil grabbed the Win Token. Bubble then returned and crossed the bridge for a third time. "Hey!" She'd shout. "That's moine! Give it-" Pencil then just popped Bubble again.

Tennis Ball had just witnessed the preceding events and let out a deep sigh. "Alright, this is going nowhere." He'd reply. "Firey, you go." "Again, I'm *fire*!" Firey exclaimed. "Why don't you go first?" "I'm the heaviest out of all of us!" Tennis Ball explained. "You and Bubble both weigh less than one tenth of an ounce!" Firey sighed. "Fine, fine. But if I end up burning the bridge, it's your fault." He'd prepare himself for a moment or two then would quickly run across the bridge, hoping that none of it would catch on fire due to how brief it was. The flame would manage to successfully cross, but the bridge *definitely* didn't survive unscathed.

Bubble was just about to start her fourth attempt when she saw the beginnings of the fire. "Oh noio!" She'd try her best to put it out, only to get popped yet *again*. "SEE?" Firey shouted across the gorge. "I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN!" "CALM DOWN!" Tennis Ball shouted back. "I'LL COME UP WITH SOME OTHER WAY TO GET ACROSS!" He'd look around the gorge, briefly considering just walking around it; after all, it was bound to end *somewhere* right? In his perusing, however, he'd notice an exact, identical copy of the bridge just *existing* nearby. He'd anxiously look around, making sure nobody was paying attention to him, then would make his way over.

"Alright!" Leafy smiled. "Now that everyone knows where their place is, it's time to- Ohhh." She would quickly turn and saw the bridge was now completely gone. "Oh, no." "Well, like, we tried." Match remarked. "It was fun while it, like, lasted. But I guess we're gonna, like, lose *again*." "Hang on!" Pen exclaimed. "The rope railings are still standing! We can climb down those!" "Like, no way." Match interjected. "There is, like, *no* way I'm doing that." "But don't you want to win and get Dream Island?" Pen asked. "I do! When I win, there will be-" Match scoffed. "Enough about, like, your fantasies." She'd reply. "My fantasy is to, like, *survive* at this point."

"Psst! Bubble!" Tennis Ball called her attention. "Over here! There's another bridge!" "Yoiy!" The two of them managed to successfully cross bridge two. After making it to the other side, Bubble would angrily walk up to Pencil to settle some unfinished business. "Alroight, Pencil!" Bubble folded her arms. "What's gotten into you? I thought we were friends! Why did you pop me?" "Uh, excuse me?" Pencil folded her arms as well. "What gave you the idea that *we're* friends? How did you even *get* an idea; don't you not have a brain?" "Alroight, that's it!" Bubble snapped. "I'm tired of-" Pencil then popped her yet again. "Enough complaining." She'd quip. "HEY!" Tennis Ball shouted. Pencil turned to him, unamused. "What?" She'd ask. "What're you gonna do about it? You're just some dumb, armless ball." She'd push him around to prove her point, but TB would then angrily tackle her with force, which would cause both of them to fall down the gorge.

Pen was in the middle of crossing the bridge using the railings; Teardrop had been on the fence about following in his footsteps, but finally decided it was worth a shot. Upon closer inspection, however, she'd notice a strange little detail that everyone else overlooked: the railings were nothing more than a bunch of straws held together by tape and dreams. As soon as she figured this out, reality acknowledged the fact and one of the railings would suddenly break apart due to Pen's weight, sending him falling. Teardrop then recovered one of the straws and showed it to the Grapes. "Huh?" Leafy was baffled by the straw. "The railings are made of *these*? What kind of bridge *is* this?" The Announcer then suddenly appeared once again. "We had to take the cheapest options when building the bridge because of budget cuts." He'd say. Match raised an eyebrow. "Like, *we*?"

Bubble went for attempt number five, which *hopefully* would be the final one. "Foinally!" She'd exclaim. "Announcery, give me my Win Token!" "You weren't the first to cross, however." The speaker box was once again on the other side. "*What*?" Bubble was flabbergasted. "But I was!" "No, you weren't." The speaker box replied. "I *was*!" Bubble reiterated. "You saw me do it!" "Oh, did I?" The speaker thing asked. "Where's your proof?" "I, uh..." Bubble frowned. "Whatever."

"Guys, look!" Leafy gathered the remaining grapes. "There's another bridge just over there! I'll let you guys cross first, since I'm such a nice person!" Match raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you, like, say you were going first, though?" Leafy frowned. "Sorry, are you *rejecting* my gift?" Match would frown as well. "...No, no. We'll cross. Just wanted to-" Leafy's judgmental stare would put her off, and she and Ice Cube would get right to it. As they were in the middle of crossing the bridge, however, it started to creak in all sorts of horrible ways; the sheer weight of that clumsy Tennis Ball had put it under a lot of stress, so Match and Ice Cube had finally sent it over the edge. Before they could react, the second bridge would collapse and they'd end up falling to their doom. "Oh no!" Leafy's heart sank upon witnessing such a terrible tragedy.

"Since none of the remaining contestants can cross anymore, time's up." The Announcer announced. "Wait!" Leafy interrupted. "I can still..." She'd pause for a moment, waiting for something; she'd then start running as quick as she could, jumping as she just reached the gorge, and a lucky breeze would manage to send her across... and straight into Firey, killing her instantly. "Hm." The speaker box remarked. "Well, as two Cherries managed to cross, they are automatically safe from elimination." "Hang on." Firey interjected. "I heard from Pin that the last team that won got a prize; can we get one too?" "Ooh. Um." The Announcer dawdled for a moment. "Your prize are these straws." He'd then distribute five straws from the railings to Firey and Bubble. "Seriously?" Firey raised an eyebrow. "That's the best you can do?" "Ooh!" Bubble was more amused by them, however. "They bend! How fun!"

-

"The other two teams did not get a single teammate across, so we need a tiebreaker."

Flower and Teardrop, the only ones remaining from the Squashy Grapes and Another Name respectively, were seated in front of each other; each of them had one of the titular ties, color-coded for convenience. "Whichever team manages to rip their team necktie first wins the contest." The Announcer announced. "Get it? Tiebreaker?"

Teardrop would uneventfully break the tie immediately. "The Squashy Grapes win, so one of the Namers goes home."

-

Perhaps that block of cheese was useful for *something* after all.

Standing on Spongy (and not caring at all about his cries of agony), Eraser and Snowball lifted the lid of their Tiny Loser Chamber with all their strength; with The Power of Two, getting the slightest hint of freedom was a lot easier. Eraser slipped through first, having been convinced into wedging himself in-between to keep it open, then Snowball got out as well after a bit of awkward molding.

"Finally! Freedom!" Eraser exclaimed. It'd been far, *far* too long; even one second was too much. "Don't celebrate just yet." Snowball replied. "We gotta get moving." With that, they'd quickly start running away. But the same fate that befell Blocky also happened to them as well; in an instant, they'd find themselves unable to move, then would be helplessly pulled back towards the TLC. Dazed and confused, they'd be unable to even try to break free when a certain somebody came to check in on them.

"Again? Really? This is *already* getting tiring."