Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDI 18c: Reveal Novorum

The contestants were once again in an uproar over something or other.

It's not like they hated the new competitors of the Battle for Dream Island with a passion, or anything; well, that's maybe the case for some. However, plenty actually enjoy the company of fresh faces. With everyone being more likely to be at each other's throats as of late, what with the competition inevitably heading towards its last few stages, things have gotten *unbearably* tense. The competition was basically all anyone could ever think about now; everything everyone did in every waking moment of their lives had something to do with their plan to get their hands on that island. Every interaction with someone else was part of their *genius* strategy to stay on everyone's good side and make sure nobody votes for them. Everything else was either contemplating or reeling from all the curveballs the hosts have been throwing, especially recently. It was all just... a lot. A *lot*. Too much. Excessive. In theory, the addition of two new contestants, further prolonging that conclusion everyone's been waiting for, that shouldn't really work out well. But in actuality, they managed to handle it surprisingly well. For some, it was someone new to talk to, someone to befriend, someone to glean more information about the world from.

Because it turns out they had *plenty* of that.

The Announcer cared very little about that, though; he only saw a bunch of people shouting and bickering about this and that and whatever, and he just wasn't having any of it. "Shush. Sheesh." That robotic voice was more than enough to immediately gain the attention of everyone; they'd all quickly turn to him, that metal box that had played them like fools for so long now. "What is all this arguing about?" "Are you, like, kidding me right now?" Match quickly made her way, pushing past everyone else to speak directly to the speaker box. "There's *two* more people joining in? Like, *this* late into the game?" "Yes." The machine replied. "And?" "Do you not see at *all* just how much that, like, makes things worse? We've already been competing for so long, like, as is!" "Yeah!" Bubble chimed in. "This has all gotten so tense! If this whole thing lasts any longer, Oi moight just pop!"

"Well, too bad." The Announcer answered. "Much like real life, the Battle for Dream Island contains many surprises and shocks. If it's any consolation, this will be the last time anything like this will ever happen; no new contestants will be joining the Battle from here on out. All I wanted to do was make things a nice round 20." Pin sighed. "Well, that's a relief." She remarked. "If we weren't given that guarantee, I was thinking it'll only be inevitable that we-" "Hey, hang on." Pen interrupted. "That guarantees no *new* characters will be joining, but..." He'd scratch his head. "What about old characters *re*joining?"

Ellipsis.

"Well." The Announcer replied. "Um. Well." Immediately, the contestants became furious once again. This continued for a little bit longer until the speaker box once again quelled things. "Shush. Sheesh." They declared. "Alright, if you're all so upset about it; because we've had a double joining, we will also be having a double elimination." Everyone present would gasp. "That's right, two people will be eliminated this time around, instead of the usual one. You will all still be voting for one person, but the two with the largest number of votes will be eliminated. If there's a tie, they will both be eliminated." "Yeah, we get it." Tennis Ball interjected; all eyes quickly turned to him, with an awkward silence filling the air.

"Anyway, let's just get to it." The Announcer continued. "The 19th contest is- wait." He'd quickly spin around, looking for a few certain people. "Where are the newbies?" Leafy lit up a little. "Huh." She'd glance around. "Where *are* they?" "Probably hiding." Pin remarked. "I had an idea or two about how you guys would react to any newcomers." The leaf frowned. "Everyone, wait here while I find them." The speaker box would hop off to do exactly that.

Everyone quickly got to talking about that big, shocking development. A double elimination! Now! It's all very riveting stuff. Who could they possibly kick out with *that* sort of deal? "Those *newbies* clearly, like, have to go." Match scoffed in disgust. "We've been competing for, like, *forever*, then they suddenly show up so late into the game. That's, like, an *extremely* unfair advantage." "Match, be nice!" Leafy suddenly chimed in. "Didn't you learn anything from me? From our time together?" "Oh, I *definitely* did." The matchstick remarked, glaring at her. "That I was *totally* right in suspecting that something's, like, really suspicious about you. Nobody's that nice without, like, some hidden intent." The nice one trembled, her fists shaking. "You..."