Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDI 7a: Puzzled

"It's time for Cake at Stake for the team that lost last time; Bubble's team remained in last place for a while, and they ended up that way in the end. So, let's go."

Today's elimination was the sparsest and most devoid of life by far. The thing was between three contestants that were perceived as unremarkable at best and outright disgusting at worst; and despite the fact that you could count them all on one hand, only two of them actually showed up. Worse still, nobody really bothered to come and watch the drama that was to unfold. They already had enough commotions going on as is, so why would they bother to get themselves into yet *another* one?

"Oi'm voting for Rocky." Bubble immediately cast her vote. "There's two reasons whoi-" "Hmph." Spongy's sudden interjection immediately derailed the bubble's train of thought, taking her right out of it for a second or two. "Huh?" "Hm?" Spongy looked at her as if nothing had happened. "What do you mean, hmph?" Bubble asked, but the living sponge just wouldn't budge. She and the Announcer would just stare at the block of cheese for a solid few seconds, looking for any sort of answers. Spongy wasn't keen on giving any, however. Bubble blinked. "As I said, there's two reasons whoi." She'd continue. "One, he's the only member of our little team that isn't actually... you know... in our team." She'd pause for a moment to get her thoughts in order. "You know, we're both Cherries..." She'd look at Spongy again, who wouldn't even bother to look her in the eye. "And whoile Rocky was one of us, he's now in another team with Another Noime!" She'd pause for a moment to breathe. "The other thing is, even if he was on our team, that would've just made it even worse; he didn't even show up once!"

Bubble was perfectly content with ending it there, but Spongy just kept on bothering her; for whatever reason, the living block of cheese seemed to be so completely and utterly against the notion of her voting for Rocky. "...Okay, seriously. Spongy..." "What?" The sponge responded, flatly and without much interest. "What's with you? I thought you'd be perfectly foine with me voting for him." Spongy grumbled. "Hmph." He briefly considered just ending *that* there as well, but it was clear that he wasn't getting anywhere with just that. "He was your friend." "And he still is!" Bubble brought her arms up. "Oi'm sure that he's a wonderful person deep down insoide, but again, we *have* to vote someone out!" She'd pause for a moment to regain her composure. "Seriously, Oi don't get what's up with you; I thought you'd be happy that I'm not voting for you, just like how I did last toime!" Once again, Spongy did barely anything but grumble. "He's my friend." He'd remark. "Well, I know that!" Bubble replied. "But whot other option is there? You're not telling me to vote for moiself, are you?"

Spongy let out one final sigh. "I vote for Bubble." Bubble gasped in response. "Huh? What for?" "Time to randomize Rocky's vote." The Announcer announced. "One. Two. Three. Rocky votes for Spongy." Spongy then let out a sigh of relief, baffling Bubble even more. "Oi don't get any of this, this is all too much for my broin! And bubble's don't even have broins!" "Wow! It's a three-way tie. Impressive." The speaker box remarked. "It looks like we're gonna have our first ever triple tiebreaker."

The Announcer then handed out color-coded ties to each of them; even to Rocky, who was still very distinctly not there whatsoever. "So, you get the drill." The speaker box continued. "Whoever breaks their tie first is safe; but because there's three people involved, whoever breaks their tie second is also safe. Get it? Tiebreaker?" Bubble blinked, befuddled and bewildered. "Okay, now *you're* acting weird too, Speakery!" She'd assert; she'd then make quick work of her tie, instantly assuring her safety. Spongy, on the other hand... He'd just sit there, staring at his tie, doing nothing. He'd continue doing so for a whole minute, an entire minute of nothing but pure, strange silence. "Even Oi know that something's going on here!" Bubble exclaimed. "Whot's going on? I want to know!"

After more of Bubble's complaining, Spongy let out yet another sigh and ripped his tie using his feet, rendering himself safe as well. "Bubble and Spongy are safe." The Announcer announced. "Rocky, goodbye." The Sender Scoop Thrower then activated and flung the particles of air where Rocky would've been standing around if he'd actually been there.

Before Bubble could ask any more questions, the two of them were sent away.

-

Bubble had been spying on Spongy for a good while now as she was eating her cake, watching as he just anxiously sat and looked around.

Though bubbles don't have brains, they do have *some* capacity for remembering things; certain events and experiences, if they're impactful or stressful enough, they can leave some sort of impression that'll end up leaving a mark in the delicate membrane that holds a bubble together.

The whole incident at Cake at Stake was one of those things; she was indeed fully aware that Spongy and Rocky were close friends, they were both similarly shunned for being some level of gross, and so they naturally clung onto each other for some sort of refuge. But this is now the *second* time he'd been confronted with that horrific truth of the Battle for Dream Island, the fact that one of them has to go each time they lose. Considering how he felt the last time he went through that fiasco, he should've known better than anybody that sacrifices had to be made. And yet here he was, still acting as if the whole thing was new and outrageous. Then there's the whole thing with the Announcer, that speaker box pretending that there's a living rock standing there despite the fact that nobody's seen him in ages. What gives? Plenty of people have plenty of ideas about that weird machine thingy, but that... That definitely doesn't fit in any of them.

And really, the worst part is that nobody was watching. *Nobody*. Pretty much no one thought that this particular Cake at Stake was going to be interesting or worth their time, so they had spent all that time doing other things of note instead. The only witness to all this strange stuff going on was her. Bubble. The bubble with no brain and a tendency to pop if the wind blows at her the wrong way. If there was a crime scene, and *that* was your sole witness, things aren't gonna go too well.

Regardless, Bubble took a deep breath and steeled her resolve. Though she was indeed all that, there also was the fact that she was in good company; with the other Cherries by her side, surely this poor start isn't actually all that bad, right?

Right?

Pin and Tennis Ball were discussing their strategies for the next challenge when she got to them; Pin immediately took notice and got up to meet her. "Hey, Bubble." She'd smile to be polite. "Rocky got eliminated, I hope? You're not here to tell me that we're one member short *again*, right?" "Uh..." Bubble got herself together. "Yeah, he was." "Great." Pin nodded. "Wanna come and chat? You look... worried." "Am Oi?" Bubble looked around, as if expecting some sort of mirror somewhere. Pin frowned, concerned. "...Yeah." She'd reply. "Something bothering you?" "You could soi that..." Bubble kept on looking around before containing herself. "Can Oi?" Pin looked around as well, now concerned herself. "...Of course." She'd sit back down on the grass, and Bubble would do the same; Tennis Ball would spin himself around to direct himself towards their new places.

"What's going on, Bubble?" That clumsy Tennis Ball would ask. "Well, uh..." Bubble tried her hardest to concentrate, to try and see if she could ease them into the topic. "You gois were talking about Pen, roight?" She'd ask. Tennis Ball nodded. "Yeah, we were." He'd reply. "He was acting a bit weird. Speaking of..." He'd then turn to Pin. "Any word on him?" Pin shook her head. "Nope; Leafy hasn't told me about anything going on." "Oh?" Tennis Ball raised an eyebrow. "She's back?" "Yeah, from what I've seen." Pin remarked. "Some time during the last challenge, I heard; but I meant from before that." "Maybe we should ask her about it now, then?" Tennis Ball suggested. "Just in case."

In any other case, Bubble would've fine with just letting them take this conversation completely out of where she wanted it; but she was feeling pretty confident today. "Oi think Spongy moight be acting the same way too." Bubble brought up. Slowly but surely the talk made its way back to the topic at hand. "Really?" Tennis Ball raised an eyebrow. "How come? Something happened at Cake at Stake?" "Yeah." Bubble nodded. "Oi voted for Rocky, of course, and I thought Spongy would do the same thing; they're friends and all, but... you know..." Pin frowned. "What, he didn't get the memo?" She'd sigh. "I thought we were being clear..." "I know, roight?" Bubble interjected. "I troid asking him about it, wondering whoi he's doing all this, but all he'd do is just stay soilent!" She'd look around again; you never know what could change in an instant, after all. "Then he went and voted for me! Could you believe it?" "I could, yeah." Tennis Ball remarked. "I tried talking to him about his experience at the TLC, whatever it could be, and he wouldn't give me any details." "Maybe he's still just recovering from his time at the TLC." Pin suggested. "Whatever it is; given how he's apparently doing now, it must be something bad." "Oi troied bringing it up to the speaker thing." Bubble continued on. "But he was also starting to act pretty weird. He-"

"Hey!" As if it was some sort of prank, Spongy showed up in the middle of their conversation. "Are you talking about me again?" Bubble was quick to get back on her feet and head off; the block of cheese was about to pursue her when Pin got up to confront him. "You voted for her?" Pin immediately asked. "Your own teammate? Spongy, you *say* you want to be taken seriously, but then..." "Rocky's my friend!" Spongy interjected. "I can't believe she'd suggest such a thing like that." "A friend that's on another team." Tennis Ball got up as well. "We know and understand that you two are quite close, but it's pretty clear that that speaker box doesn't care about any of that." Spongy remained silent for a while. "Why do you guys keep saying Rocky isn't on our team?" He'd ask. "He is! *You* picked him and everything!" He'd angrily point at Pin with his foot. "Yeah, I did." Pin nodded. "But he ended up switching to Another Name a while ago. Don't you..." She'd trail off; she and Tennis Ball looked at each other, befuddled looks on their faces, then looked back at Spongy.

"You know, I thought we already went over this, back when..." Pin stopped herself, not wanting to reopen that old wound. "Sometimes, we're just forced to do something we don't like. We *have* to vote someone out, regardless of how we feel about them. That's how this competition is." There'd be a bit of awkward silence as neither of them were sure on how to tackle this; everything was just so... sudden. So strange, So peculiar. "Look, we're here for you; you think that we've done something wrong to you, so let us make up for it. We'll help you get through this, just as long as you..." She'd frown, unsure of what to say next. "But..." Spongy also wanted to speak up, but found that he didn't have much to say either.

Just *what* is up with everyone? Had the competition already warped their minds *that* much?