Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDI 14c: Better Than Nothing

Pen was just absentmindedly staring out of a window when there was a knock on the door.

It took a minute for him to return to his senses; once again he was just thinking about... *everything*. Ugh. He'd awkwardly stumble out of his chair and make his way over to open the door.

"...What's up?" Pen raised an eyebrow; out of all the people he'd expected to see on the other side, Coiny wasn't quite at the top of his list. "Speaker box said he's rounding up all the eliminated contestants; he's gonna make them all compete for another shot at rejoining." Pen's face lit up ever so slightly upon hearing the news; the thought of Eraser making *another* comeback made him feel all sorts of things, things he was unsure of how to process. "He says we can watch if we want." The coin creature continued. "I'm just going around to tell everybody."

The writing utensil was once again curious. "You bothered with that?" He'd ask. "Seems kinda unlike you, doesn't it?" Coiny grumbled. "That talking machine gives me the creeps." He'd remark. "Didn't wanna get on his bad side."

Awkward silence followed; the coin rolled his eyes. "Speaking *of* being unlike you..." Pen glared at him, shaking his head in disapproval. "*No*." He'd quickly proceed to close the door. "I am *not* dealing with this again-" "Hey, hang on!" The denomination of currency would just barely stop it by squeezing through the gap. "I wasn't going in *that* direction, duh!" He'd angrily push back with all his might, opening the door enough to fully let him through.

"I've wanted to talk about this for quite a while, but we never really had the time to since... you know." The jerk fell silent for a moment, sighing. "Basically... I *somewhat* feel what you feel. I mean, I probably don't know *exactly*; that's probably what you were gonna say, but..." He'd glance around. "I've had this feeling of being... *different* from the others as well, like I'm going through something that nobody else is."

Pen raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He'd let the thought simmer. "That's... unlike you. Again." "Yeah, yeah. I know." Coiny scoffed. "Why are you telling *me*, though?" Pen asked. "Of all people?" "Uh..." The coin creature paused again. "Really, I dunno; I guess you just seem... the most reasonable?" He'd scratch his head. "I'm kinda not doing great with everyone else."

Ellipsis.

The coin would stomp his feet, anxiety building up by the second. "Look, uh, can you keep a secret?" He'd ask. "This thing's been bothering me for *forever* now, and I just wanna be able to tell *somebody*." He'd glance around again. "I *swear* there used to be someone else around here; I think I was kinda close to them, and then they just... vanished. They disappeared before that speaker thing showed up." Pen blinked. "You mean Needle?"

The two stared at each other for a second; Coiny trembled, feeling unnerved. All of a sudden, the air felt colder, the world felt quieter.

He'd shake his head. "So, uh... you wanna go watch?"

-

"Welcome back, everyone."

The Announcer had spent a good while gathering all the eliminated contestants out of the PRISON, then having them do a walk of shame to the apartments; some of them have been stuck in a cramped space (well, not *quite* as cramped now) for quite a while now, so they've become a bit... *enthusiastic* when given another chance to get out of that horrific state of living.

"As you all know, I have brought you all out here for another chance to rejoin the Battle for Dream Island." The speaker box continued. "Yeah!" Eraser interjected. "So *how* do we get to do that?" "YEAH!" Flower joined in as well. "You better get to the point, or I'll-" "I was getting to that." The box interrupted. "Shush. Sheesh. As punishment, I will subject you all to a minute of forced silence; you must wait for that before I tell you how to rejoin."