It took an *awkwardly* long time for Rocky and the Announcer to stop talking and get going; all the while Teardrop had to remain precisely still, unable to do much of anything besides... exist.
Eventually, *thankfully*, the two of them would move on with their lives and start going away. Much to her surprise, however, they'd remain together and continue their discussion as they went. She briefly considered rushing out and continuing the pursuit, but that was bound to get her spotted *immediately*, and also... There was the other thing.
By then the adrenaline had worn off and TD could very much recognize that what she was standing on wasn't the familiar, boring texture of a myriad blades of grass; the metal was cold to the touch, rumbled from all the strange goings within, and upon closer inspection, it turns out that the inconspicuous bush it was hiding in was *definitely* fake. Teardrop and the others had seen and felt 2,763 bushes in their lives, and this was *definitely* unlike any of the others. A very strange sight indeed. Well, not quite sight; looking down, TD could see nothing more but fake leaves and disappointment.
But she was just about done with disappointment now; finally, *finally*, there was a hint of whatever strange thing was going on at the Battle for Dream Island. Something to finally answer the big questions that's been looming over everyone's heads. Well, maybe. At the very least, it'd prove to be a well enough distraction from all the nonsense.
She continued waiting around for a few more minutes, making sure that the two had well and truly left, or had gotten tired of walking around in circles. Then she waited a few minutes more, just to be safe; finally, she felt confident enough to get digging. Crouching down and awkwardly negotiating with all the fake leaves and twigs, she'd try to find a little crack or gap to slip through. TD felt comfortable in assuming that this was a passage, gateway, or at least some sort of path to *something*, and so the only thing that's preventing her from getting down there was a fake bush and a little metal door. Sure enough, she'd manage to find what she was looking for and start making her way through.
Squeezing past the entryway was a rather awkward affair; returning to her usual liquid state always was, but being compressed by the outside was a whole different feeling entirely. After a few strenuous minutes, however, Teardrop would manage to make her way into the stairway beneath.
The stairs seemed to continue on forever, with darkness very rapidly consuming the lower levels. Immediately grasping for a light switch, she'd be disappointed to find that there wasn't one, at least not in the vicinity. Of *course* there wasn't. Why would there be? Absolutely nothing has been easy so far, why'd she expect it to suddenly get better *now*? Whatever. No time to sigh or cry about it; TD was unable to do both, anyway. She'd shake her head and start descending down the steps, figuring that if she *was* gonna die down there, it was gonna be quick and easy. Down one flight, then another, then a few more, for good measure. Eventually she'd be completely consumed by the darkness, unable to see *anything*. Farther down still, pushing through. You don't get to the Final Five of BFDI without a little bravery, a little confidence. Could do with a bit more *patience*, though. Eventually, she realized that she could just turn back into a fluid and flow her way down to the bottom, and so that she'd do; even then, the descent still took a few seconds. Saved plenty of time... but still quite a bit more time than she'd expect.
Finally, *finally*, there was some light; Teardrop took a moment to let her eyes adjust, being suddenly blinded by its appearance. Beyond the stairs was a vast, cavernous space, dimly lit, just enough to reveal its large size. Peppered throughout the place were these strange... vehicles. TD thinks that's the word to describe them. Large gray discs, topped with a glass dome, and adorned with green dots throughout. Just standing next to one caused her nerves (or whatever part of her body served as nerves) to tense up. Those crafts, this whole place, it just didn't... It just didn't fit. It didn't seem to sit right with the planet it's on. And strangely enough, as she continued to linger around these things for longer, she *swears* that she's seen these before, that they're somewhat familiar
