Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDI 7b: Mysteries

Firey finally got back to Tennis Ball.

He took a minute to catch his breath and regain his bearings; he liked running and all that, but there is such a thing as *too* much. "Nothing." He'd mutter; Tennis Ball got up, raising an eyebrow. "Nothing?"

A little while ago, that clumsy Tennis Ball had done a little thinking; looking for the mythical TLC, whatever it may be, was obviously a pretty large priority in the collective heads of all the Cherries. Most of the eliminated contestants are good friends with one or more people still in the running, and they're obviously gonna be asking a lot of questions: where are they? How are they? Are they ever gonna see them again? Are they even *alive*? All those and more are just gonna keep on itching at them, remaining big, looming enigmas in their mind; they've already got plenty of those in their head, queries into how the world works and why they're put through all this silly nonsense. But these particular ones? They're sure to stick. They're sure to get them antsy, to get them mad. If the Cherries are hoping to get even the slightest bit of worth out of the Battle for Dream Island, if they want to bring the other teams together and get them to think the same way they do, they have to address that question. They gotta make sure that they've got nothing else to worry about, and that they can fully focus on... whatever comes next.

Tennis Ball reckoned that the net that carried everyone over for that one challenge had to have come from *somewhere*. If there was any bit of sense left in this world, it was most likely the only one, as there's just no reason why there'd be two nets with one of them dumping their contents into the other. The net was also most likely going to be traveling in a straight line from point A to B, as there'd also be no reason to waste time on some sort of bendy route; there's nothing but great green plains as far as the eye can see, with absolutely nothing to avoid or swerve around. And so, given that the net was carrying the eliminated contestants, and there's no reason for any of them to be moved elsewhere *but* the TLC...

"How can that be?" Tennis Ball asked. "I'm fairly certain that *had* to be the direction the TLC was in; I've been taking notes ever since I saw it." "I dunno what to tell you, bud." Firey replied, sighing. "I even ran straight for a solid hour just to make sure; I saw *absolutely* nothing." "An hour..." Tennis Ball pondered the thought for a moment. "Maybe that's just the problem; you're running on a straight line, so you've only covered a limited area." Firey blinked. "Huh?" That completely went past him. "Well, think about it." Tennis Ball continued, sighing as well. "Though I *did* say I took notes, I will admit that they could've been off; it's hard to keep track of things when all you've got is your brain." He'd grumble. "Chances are I could've gotten it wrong by a degree or so, or maybe *you* got it wrong as well, either by running in the wrong direction from the start, or deviating over time due to a lack of reference; even the difference of a single degree, even though it seems so small, can *really* add up with enough distance. By my calculations, you could've been *miles* off!"

Firey blinked, all those fancy words and ideas having gone through one ear and exiting the other. "I, uh... Sure." He'd remain silent for a moment. "Look, uh... Why don't we just ask Spongy about it? He's *already* been in the TLC, so he *has* to know more than us, right?" "I..." Tennis Ball sighed. "I already *tried* that, remember?" "You did?" Firey seemed genuinely confused; awkward silence followed. "He isn't saying anything." Tennis Ball continued. "Apparently, he's been acting pretty strange as of late; Bubble also noticed it a while back." "Maybe you can try asking him again?" Firey asked further. "Maybe he was just having a bad moment; he *did* get eliminated, then got a chance to get back into the game. That's a lot of curveballs." Tennis Ball thought about it, reluctant at first, but eventually gave in. "I suppose..."

A few minutes later, the two of them approached Spongy, sitting on his own and minding his own business. "Spongy, can we talk?" Tennis Ball asked. "...Again?" Spongy sighed. "About what?" He'd ask back. "You know." Tennis Ball replied. "About the TLC." Immediately Spongy wasn't too keen on it. "Not telling." The block of cheese then angrily looked away; that big ball of fuzz then turned to Firey. "See what I mean?" The flame wasn't quite ready to give in yet, however. "C'mon, we just wanna know!" He'd say. "We're not-" "Why should I talk to either of you?" Spongy interrupted. "You voted for *me* to go to the TLC!" "Spongy..." Firey sighed. "You know I didn't mean it, right? I'm sure you're a pretty cool dude!" It pained him a little to say that. "We really didn't have any other options; please, don't take all of *that* as anything personal. Just..."

After a few more seconds of vehement denial, Spongy finally looked at them. "...It was awful!" He'd shout. "You put me in there with Blocky and his friends; they did nothing but prank me all day!" "I..." Firey trailed off, and Tennis Ball would have to pick up where he left off. "Yeah, I knew they were there too, but..." He'd frown slightly. "They weren't-" "You knew!" Spongy continued. "You knew they were there, and you sent me there! You secretly hated me, didn't you?" "W-What?" Tennis Ball was perplexed. "Of course not; I even *chose* for you to be on the team! It's just..." He'd hastily scramble to come up with a response. "What if *Bubble* was there? She wouldn't have lasted for even a second, let alone as long as you did!" "And what about you?" Spongy asked. "Why not you?" "I'm still of use to the team!" Tennis Ball replied. "I'm managing it with Pin, I-I can't just-" "What? And I'm not?" Spongy interrupted again. Tennis Ball grew agitated. "Spongy, *again*, this isn't anything about you being useless. Believe me, we would want *everyone* to stay if we could. It's just that-" "Then what is it?" Spongy interrupted one more time. "Stop messing things up!" He'd then angrily get up and storm off, despite how much of an effort it was to get anywhere.

"I..." Firey was still bewildered from all that. "I didn't know Spongy could get so emotional. Or conversational, even. I-" "Of course you don't." Tennis Ball interrupted. "You're not the one that spent tons of hours and a lot of effort into studying him." He'd sigh. "Really, it makes sense; he was already going through a tough time before all this, so now..." He'd pause for a moment to reflect, shaking his head. "Tomorrow, we'll continue the search; go ahead and rest up." "Eh..." Firey was still reluctant. "Alright. See you tomorrow." With that, he'd head off.

They still didn't know a whole lot about what this TLC is, but what they knew... didn't sound all too good.

-

"Hey, Pen."

"Eraser!" Pen quickly went up to him, excited; he briefly thought about embracing him, but that didn't really seem particularly manly, and he knew that Eraser was all about that. "Man, am I glad to see you; I thought I wouldn't ever be seeing you again!" Eraser chuckled. "Me too." He'd remark. "But speaking of..." Awkward silence fell into the scene; a lot of things were awkward these days. Pretty strange, if one would be asked. "Speaking of what?" Pen asked. "Look, uh..." Eraser anxiously glanced around, barely able to look Pen in the eye. "I'm not really supposed to tell you this; really, I'm not supposed to talk to *you* in general." Pen glared at him. "Aw, no." His expression changed to one of disappointment. "Don't tell me-" "Blocky came over here and told us about how you were acting strange recently; we already had our suspicions after the whole Teardrop fiasco, but *apparently*..."

Pen grew frustrated. "I-I don't get it. What's up with you guys?" He'd ask. "I'm just doing things that seem like common sense, and yet you guys are acting like I did some crime!" "To Blocky, you might as well have." Eraser remarked. "He keeps on saying you were *begging* to be friends with Leafy, of all people. Leafy." Pen grumbled. "I thought Blocky would know better than that; I mean, he's the mastermind behind all these pranks! How could *this* be beyond him?" "Well, it *is* beyond *me*." Eraser remarked. "Erasers don't have brains, so-" Pen sighed. "Look, we were on a team with her, right?" "Uhuh." Eraser nodded. "And we both wanna win Dream Island, right?" "...Yeah." Eraser nodded again. "...I think I follow, yeah." "And you saw that whenever our team lost, we kept losing more and more members, yeah?" Pen went on; Eraser completely blanked out for a moment or two. "Uh... Yeah?" He'd lie. "So, though we *do* have our grudges against Leafy, it just makes sense that we get on her good side; she's on the same boat as us, at least for the time being, and so she'd be inclined to help us out. But *only* if we're willing to help her out in return."

Eraser blinked. "...Okay." He was not okay. "I *think* i got you." Pen weakly smiled. "See? I-I'm not gonna betray you guys or anything; *that's* common sense." After being vaguely reassured for a second or two, however, Eraser would continue on. "...I do see where Blocky's coming from, though." He'd remark. "H-Huh?" Pen was flabbergasted. "*How*?" "Like, no offense." Eraser continued. "But... I dunno; I guess to us it just seems kinda... out of character." Pen raised an eyebrow. "Out of... what's that even supposed to mean?" Eraser shrugged. "I think it's just... we've never seen you acting so smart before. Usually Blocky's the smart one, planning all the pranks and all, and we just sorta... follow." Pen wasn't all too amused. "So, what?" He'd fold his arms. "I'm supposed to just *follow*, is that it? Am I supposed to just do whatever he says? Am I supposed to be as dumb as you?"

Awkward silence. "Gonna pretend I didn't just hear that." Eraser remarked. "This is clearly kinda a sore spot for you, and even someone like me can get that; I'm more than willing to look past that and try to move on. That's what friends are for, right?" Pen frowned slightly. "*Are* we friends?" He'd ask. "Or is this whole thing just... tearing us apart?" They'd awkwardly stare at each other for a moment, unsure of what to say; the Battle for Dream Island already occupies a huge part of their mind, giving them a whole load of stress and then some, so there have been an increasing number of moments where they're just left speechless.

"Look, uh..." Eraser awkwardly stepped back. "I'm gonna... go." He'd look around. "Just wanted to catch up quickly, since we're on different teams now, and..." Pen blinked. "Wait, yeah." He'd then take a step closer. "We *are* on different teams. Why are you..."

Yet more awkward silence filled the air. "Okay, yeah." Eraser nodded. "*Definitely* gotta go now." With that, he'd hurriedly rush off.

Acting strange. Really? Pen grumbled at the thought; they think he's acting all weird, meanwhile they're doing all that multiplied by ten. The Battle for Dream Island has gotten them in a competitive mood, given them something worth fighting for and the means to do so. Of *course* he was gonna start taking things a bit more seriously, give things a bit more thought. What's so hard to comprehend about that?

Pen tried his hardest to keep his mind off that, but it just kept on bothering him.