Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDI 9b: Contestant's Nightmare

Tennis Ball was all on his own. Again.

Firey had come and gone, once again finding nothing, and he had come to terms with the fact that all he would find would probably *be* nothing; this world had plenty of unsolved mysteries, so it wasn't too out of line for this to be yet another one of those. He didn't want to let it bother him anymore, and so it... didn't. Having spent the rest of his day strategizing for what could come next, what to do to prevent his team from being up for elimination again, he spent what little time he had to himself, all on his own. He cared for nothing but the vibrant green grass and the long white clouds, the blowing of the breeze and the sheer silence that permeated all of it. If you were willing to suspend your disbelief a little, pretend that the crushing weight of reality wasn't suffocating you with every twist and turn, you could say that things were... normal. Just fine.

Then, of course, something would suddenly arrive to remind you that it wasn't.

"So..." Pin suddenly appeared. "You wanna talk about it?" She'd ask; Tennis Ball sighed. "Talk about what?" The big clumsy ball responded flatly. "I think we already discussed everything for today." Pin scoffed. "You know what I'm talking about." She'd reply. "I'm sure you do." TB grumbled. "If you know, then why are you asking?" He'd fire back. "Surely you'd *also* know what I'll say to that." Pin nodded, sitting down on the grass beside him. "Well, yeah." She'd answer. "But I also, *also* know that thinking and acting like that is gonna get you nowhere. I'm the team leader, so *obviously* I have the responsibility of making sure my teammates are doing their best, always working at 100%." Tennis Ball let out another deep sigh. "Didn't you hear what she said?" He'd ask rhetorically. "Didn't you hear what *you* said? You agreed with her, after all; this isn't relevant to much of anything, so why bother?"

Pin frowned. "I *know* what was said." She'd respond. "And I thought you'd know more than anyone what I really meant." Tennis Ball raised an eyebrow. "Hm?" "You know GB the most, you know how she is." Pin continued. "She doesn't wanna waste her time in what she deems to be 'trivial' inconveniences; she just wants to get things over with, get things done." She'd take a deep breath. "I only agreed with her because I knew that. Because *we* knew that. Also, we were in Cake at Stake; that's *well* into her territory." She'd look around cautiously. "You don't go picking fights when you're clearly surrounded by the enemy." She'd look at Tennis Ball again. "So I chose to say what I said; now we're back here, in private. We can talk about it more in-depth without her noticing, and we can work out our strategy on what to do going forward. We retreat, feigning weakness, then we strike back harder than before."

Tennis Ball looked at her with a strange look in his eye; it felt... off, hearing Pin talk like that. He'd shake his head. "Well?" Pin shrugged. "You wanna talk about it?" TB grumbled. "I know she's right." He'd remark. "Not about *that*, I mean." He'd gather his thoughts. "She's not used to having *this* much on her plate; she's used to picking and choosing her own battles, focusing on one thing at a time, and easily giving up when things prove to be too tough." He'd pause for a moment to breathe. "But here? There's nowhere to run. Nowhere to go. She's given herself all this stuff to do, and with absolutely no way to back out of it. Of *course* she's gonna end up doing... that." It made him shudder just thinking about it; just the slightest, briefest look into a different Golf Ball made him squirm. "I know just how difficult it's been for her, and I *hate* the fact that I can't be with her for it. To be the support I've always been. I'm out here managing this team, she's hosting this competition, and we've both got this mindset working against us. *Everything* is trying to pull us apart."

Pin idly mulled it over for a little while before responding. "Hey, you remember what she said?" She'd ask. "What her thoughts in this competition were?" Tennis Ball thought about it. "...Something about... teaching us a lesson?" Pin nodded. "She thought that this could finally be our wake-up call. Something to get us thinking the way she does, to get us thinking straight." She'd pause for a moment. "I kinda agree with her." She'd remark. "But I guess... she didn't consider the fact that it could be a lesson for *her* too." She'd shrug. "After all, she's hosting things, right? She's dealing with us? What *does* she think of us?"