Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDI 12b: Up And Down

Teardrop looked to the left, then to the right, then all around, then quickly got going.

She'd been spending most of her time doing nothing but attentively listening to her surroundings; from day one she knew that something strange was going on, that competitions like this don't just happen one day. Everyone knew that to some degree, sure, but TD seemed to know it *more* than others. Despite everyone else knowing about how strange everything was and discussing it every once in a while, the ultimate consensus is that it isn't enough of a worry to stop them from Battling for Dream Island; Teardrop, on the other hand, had been actively trying to get to the bottom of this as much as someone like her could. After her one brief escape attempt was foiled by a feeling of guilt, she resolved to be the one to figure things out, the one that wouldn't be distracted by the host's cheap tricks and fancy distractions.

After running and weaving around the contestants that were out and about doing other things, she'd take one final look around the fields to make sure she wasn't being watched before diving straight into Golf Ball's factory; the usual long descent down could quickly be skipped by just letting gravity do the trick. She'd been here several times before, getting a feel for the place and mapping all its winding passages, figuring out where all the things and artifacts of interest are stored, and later to just find a place to quietly relax and breathe before the daily dullness of life dragged her back in. Being just a glorified pool of liquid at the end of the day, she was able to easily make her way around without setting off the many, *many* security systems that little ball had put in place.

After a few minutes of snooping around, she'd eventually find what she was looking for: one of the many thousands of nifty gadgets that GB had collected and developed over her long career. A brief look through its openings made it clear that it was exactly what she was looking for; without wasting a moment, she'd quickly do a 180, thing now in hand, and quickly make her way to the exit and up the stairs. There wasn't a convenient shortcut to get away from *that*, but she was quick and nobody had been visiting here that often. Just like all the other times, she'd be able to get out of there without leaving a single trace, with GB none the wiser.

-

Pin had been pretty much treating Tennis Ball as her punching back for the past few minutes.

"OW!" TB reacted as any sane person would after the pushpin landed yet another hurtful blow. "Stop it! You could at least make it weaker, you know- GAH!" Pin wasn't all too fazed, however. "You said you were clumsy, right?" She'd ask. "That you aren't quite as nimble, as agile, as your... *friend*." She'd throw another punch, which went about as well as expected. "OUCH!" TB groaned. "What about it?" He'd wince. "What does any of *that* have to do with you essentially beating me up?" "Consider this your training." Pin replied. "You *clearly* need to work on that, and *I* need to work on my ability to fight." Another punch, and though that clumsy Tennis Ball would *try* to dodge, at best he could only manage a near-stumble that resulted in the hit just grazing him instead of striking squarely at his body. "Fight?" Tennis Ball raised an eyebrow. "Weren't we supposed to deal with everyone- GAH! ...Peacefully?" Pin took a moment to briefly look at her clench fist. All this was fun and all, but it's clear that all this was doing was harm an innocent person for no good reason; if her hands got any worse for wear, she might not be able to strike when it was needed. She'd sigh. "That *would* be ideal. Yeah." She'd nod. "To be able to resolve something like this peacefully is the mark of a true leader." She'd fall silent for a moment. "But so is preparing for every eventuality; you'd know that, right?"

Their impromptu training session would then be interrupted by the sloshing sounds of Teardrop sprinting right for them; she'd stop just short of crashing into them, saving them from the unfortunate fate of getting soaked. "Teardrop?" Pin raised an eyebrow. "What're *you* doing here? Did Leafy send you?" TD immediately shook her head and started making all sorts of gestures. She'd developed quite an impressive system of them in her head, wanting to be able to communicate just as much as those that could open their mouth and *not*...