Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDI 8b: Cycle of Anger

Tennis Ball was sitting on the grass; he'd made an effort to remain standing for as long as he possibly could, but he was just... tired.

Firey went up to him. "Hey, uh... TB." He'd frown slightly, seeing him all glum. "Yeah, so... I-" "Nothing, right?" Tennis Ball finished his sentence; Firey shook his head. "Yeah. Nothing." He'd mutter. TB nodded. "That's alright; we'll try again tomorrow." Firey simply gave him a thumbs-up and would rush off to do... whatever living fires do whenever they've got nothing to do. Tennis Ball would be left alone there, all by himself, unsure of what to do, unsure of what to think. He has around half a dozen threads in his mind at the same one, desperately trying to pull each one and reveal whatever could possibly be on the other end, only to end up not making any progress on anything. A feeling that only grew worse with each passing second, minute, hour, day.

Pin went up to him. "TB, you got a minute?" Tennis Ball needed a moment before responding. "...Yeah. Yeah." He'd nod slightly. Pin sat down next to him, feeling uneasy. "You doing alright?" She'd ask. "You don't look too good." That clumsy Tennis Ball would immediately shake his head and try his hardest to work up a smile. "Y-Yeah, of course." He'd lie through his teeth. "Just, uh... deep in thought." "Hm?" Pin thought about it for a second. "Firey got back already? He found anything?" "...Yeah, no." Tennis Ball replied. "He got back, said there was still nothing; mostly just thinking about where we'd have him search next. *Surely* it can't be that long until we finally find whatever this TLC is. There can't be much ground left to cover." He remained silent for a moment, thinking about it further. "...You think Firey... he's fine with this?" Pin raised an eyebrow in response. "Huh?" She'd ask. "Like, I know he's a fast runner." Tennis Ball continued. "But, like, this stuff *is* pretty exhausting, and it takes up a lot of time." Pin pondered it for a while too. "Well, if he *was* tired of it, I'm sure he'd tell you." She'd answer. "We're all on the same team, after all." Tennis Ball grumbled. "Well, maybe he won't." He remarked. "Can you ask him, just in case?" Pin sighed. "Alright, alright." She'd nod. "Whatever makes you feel better."

The conversation died down for a minute or two before Pin went on. "Speaking of..." She'd look at the big ball beside her. "You tried asking Spongy about the whole TLC thing again?" She'd ask. "He's really the only lead we've got on this; if he finally opens up about what happened then..." Tennis Ball sighed. "Haven't." He'd answer briefly. "You haven't?" Pin reiterated, baffled. "I thought you'd stay on top of that, seeing as-" "I've already tried asking him repeatedly over the past few days now; his response has always been the same each and every time." He'd sigh, feeling a bit flustered. "You ever seen him run *that* fast? It just doesn't seem like him. Absolutely nothing like what *we've* recorded over the past..." He'd shake his head; the less said about *that*, the better. "I also spoke with Eraser too. Well, 'spoke' is a relative term. You know how he is." Pin frowned. "Well, for Spongy at least, I think it's still worth giving it another shot." She'd remark. "Regardless of what he thinks, he *is* on our team. He can't avoid us forever, can he?" Tennis Ball stared off into nothing. "Maybe. Maybe not."

"Hoi, Pin!" Bubble suddenly entered the scene. "Oi just wanted to ask about-" She'd then notice Tennis Ball. "Oh! Tennis Ball, whot's going on with you?" He'd look up at her, unamused. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking." He'd reply sarcastically. "Oh, uh..." Bubble wouldn't quite pick up on that, scratching her head. Pin lightly nudged the clumsy one. "You know she's just trying to help, TB." She'd reply; she then looked at Bubble. "TB's been feeling down in the dumps recently; don't really know why." "Really?" Bubble frowned. "Whoi not? We're your team! You can talk to us about anything!" Tennis Ball sighed. "It's fine. Really." He'd lie. "I don't wanna bother you guys about my own problems; we have a competition to win, so it's best that we focus on that." Pin raised an eyebrow. "It *is* true that a leader should focus on what matters most, but..." She'd try to rest a hand on him to be more reassuring, but found that there just wasn't quite a comfortable place to put it. "Everyone's well-being always takes priority. Always." "Yeah!" Bubble agreed. "After all, I know more than anyone that you can't work at 100% if something's bothering you."

Tennis Ball was still hesitant, but he thought about it logically; it *was* his teammates, the closest thing he had to friends (besides the obvious one). What harm could be done with opening up, just a tiny bit? "It's just..." He'd grumble. "It's been a lot, really. My mind's been put to work harder than it's ever been, and it's really starting to wear me down; that isn't something I'm used to, so I just..." He'd sigh. "Oh?" Bubble raised an eyebrow. "But... Oi thought you were the smartest out of all of us! You and GB were alwois going around experimenting and the loike..." "I..." Tennis Ball shook his head. "*We* always focused on only one thing or two at a time during those days; we only wanted to answer the most important questions in our minds, and nothing else." He'd think about it for a bit longer. "We *are* smarter than most of you..." That didn't come out quite right. "But that doesn't really say much; we're still just as prone to..." He'd cut himself off. "Really, I've said too much; this shouldn't be a worry to you guys at all." He'd turn to Pin. "You should go talk to Bubble about... whatever she's worried about; she seemed pretty concerned." "Noio!" Bubble exclaimed. "Oi don't care about any of that anymore; you need help!" "I *don't* need help." Tennis Ball interrupted. "You guys do, especially now. And I'm not gonna let myself bother you any more than I've already had."

Pin wanted to say more, but Tennis Ball was pretty firm about it; so she and Bubble would get up and make their leave, and that would be that.

-

"Like, you clearly have some interest in Teardrop; what do you, like, think of her?"

Pen didn't know how he managed to get into this conversation with Match; he just wanted to talk to her about the events of the previous challenge, and now...

Pen shook his head. "I just think she's alright, really." He'd answer. "I'd say she's a friend, but I don't think we're *that* close; we're just on the same boat together. We're... acquaintances." "You sure?" Match asked. "I can still remember you defending her during Cake at Stake like it was, like, yesterday; you seemed pretty confident about, like, all that." Pen grumbled. "Why does everyone keep getting so hung up about that?" He'd ask, perhaps a bit too aggressively. "She's our teammate, she should be treated like it; they shouldn't just get pushed around like that, *especially* when they've got no means to defend themselves." "No means to defend themselves?" Match raised an eyebrow. "Me and Pence-Pence have, like, seen plenty of what TD can do; 'defenseless' is definitely not, like, a word we'd describe her as." Pen frowned. "Well... you know what I mean." He'd fold his arms. "She's being asked to speak up, to make her case about what she did, and... you know..."

"Hey! You guys talking about TD again?" Leafy suddenly popped up; Pen nodded. "Was talking about how Teardrop's always silent; how she couldn't justify her being gone during one of the previous challenges." "You guys are still talking about that?" Leafy raised an eyebrow. "Why do you guys keep going back to the past? It's the now! There's a whole life out there to enjoy, so enjoy it!" "Well, like, it can't be helped." Match remarked. "It's still a pretty interesting topic to, like, talk about; Pen just isn't known as someone that, like, does that." "I was just trying to be friendly!" Pen threw his arms up. "Trying to be helpful! Was that *really* that big of a deal?" "Well, now that I think about it..." Leafy interjected. "It *is* pretty interesting, yeah." Pen was flabbergasted. "Oh, come on! Really?" "Not because of anything *you* did, of course." Leafy quickly clarified. "You wanted to change for the better, and I've got no complaints with that; good for you!" She'd give the writing utensil a pat on the back. "I'm mostly talking about TD... not doing that. She's been in our team for so long now, and yet she still hasn't opened up about *anything*." "I know, right?" Match chimed in. "Pencil and I have, like, spied on her for so long, and I don't think we've ever seen her open her mouth, let alone, like, speak."

Pen raised an eyebrow. "Maybe she just *doesn't* want to talk?" He'd suggest. "Maybe it's something she'd agreed upon in her head, or maybe she literally *can't* talk?" Match folded her arms. "That'd be, like, pretty strange." She remarked. "Quite like you standing up to, like, defend her." "*Seriously*?" Pen grew irritated. "What's this fixation on that one incident? It happened a million years ago at this point!" "It's not, like, my fault that it's just so naturally interesting; I'm just, like, the messenger." "Yeah, the whole thing with Teardrop's been bothering me too, as much as I hate to say it." Leafy shuddered. "I *want* to think of her as my friend; I mean, we're both on the same team! But the longer she's stayed silent, I just..." She'd clench her fist. "Maybe we should try and get Teardrop to talk; get her to open up, see if we can find out the reason she's so silent straight from the source!"

Pen looked at her with a strange look on his face. "Leafy..." Leafy frowned. "What?" "That sounds a bit... mean." Pen remarked. "W-Wha?" Leafy was shocked. "M-Me? Mean? Well, I never!" She'd fold her arms. "I-I only want her to talk so that we can help her!" "Well, it's quite clear that she *doesn't* want to talk." Pen remarked. "Despite the fact that we're pretty much her friends, she still hasn't spoken up once; to try and get her to talk now feels a bit... forced." "Forced?" Leafy frowned. "Well, I'm sorry, but sometimes you *do* have to force someone to do something, especially if it's for the greater good!" Even Match was growing concerned at this point. "Woah, Leafy. You, like, woke up on the wrong side of the branch, or something?" She'd remark. "I know I told you to act aggressive, but being *that* aggressive, particularly from you... I think it's, like, a bit much." "A bit much?" Leafy turned to her. "And what's wrong with that? I'm the team leader; I'm *supposed* to be aggressive, aren't I?" Match frowned. "Yeah, but, like, towards the other teams." She'd reply. "I'd expect you to, like, be more... you know, nice." "Of course!" Leafy exclaimed. "But you've seen how this competition is; sometimes being nice just doesn't cut it! A true leader isn't just nice to everybody, she does *everything* for them, even if they do object to it!"

Pen raised an eyebrow. "Hang on, that kind of talk doesn't sound quite like you; that..." He'd blink; all of a sudden, he'd see Leafy take on a bright red hue, shaking and trembling. It'd last all of a single moment, an instantaneous period of time in retrospect, but he could clearly see it like it stuck around for hours. Pen blinked again, hoping to see it once more, but... nothing.

Leafy took a deep breath. "Sorry, I've just been... having a bad day." Match tried her hardest to be sympathetic. "That's okay." She'd reply. "I understand if things do, like, get a bit heated sometimes; Pence-Pence can especially get cranky if she doesn't, like, get the scoop." "Bad day?" Pen remarked. "...But we won the last challenge." Leafy sighed. "I haven't had time to photosynthesize, I guess. I'll just go... do that; lie down, regain my bearings, that sort of thing." With that, she'd walk off.

Match and Pen looked at each other, both on the same page for once in their lives.