Well, that brief stint of freedom was fun while it lasted.
All those that had braved the dangers of the Eternal Algebra Class Withfour had plenty of complaints about the place; having spent a significant portion of their lives stuck in that dump, they've compiled a list of about 2,763 reasons as to why they wouldn't recommend *that* place as a great travel destination. But the common denominator between all of them, regardless of whether or not their grumblings were about the looming threat of eternal math equations, or having to run in circles for literal *years* just to get a chance of escape, or not being able to get even a glimpse of your beloved Ice Cube, was that the whole experience just *sucked*. From top to bottom, start to finish, left to right, every single thing about that strange, interdimensional realm had that constant, dragging atmosphere of dread and depression. *Always*.
Where do they even begin? To start off, they got sent there due to being eliminated from the Battle for (Battle for) Dream Island. Getting the boot already sucked *very* much. They had joined this competition on a whim, on a snap decision that they made so long ago, and for it they were made to suffer all this... nonsense. Why, in the entire history of the show, has nobody ever thought to just have them... *leave*? Why do they have to undergo all this humiliation, be confined to a glorified prison, just because they wanted a shot at becoming rich and famous? And that's *another* thing: the BFDI is no stranger to wacky and zany punishments, but this was just like no other. They've been stuck inside a metal box. They've been stuck inside a metal box that's inside *another* metal box. They've been stuck inside a weak trembling fortress. They've even been stuck inside a big, rotating building (*that* was a complete shock when they first heard about it from eavesdropping). But to get completely and totally absorbed by some eldritch creature from beyond the stars, becoming trapped inside a pocket dimension in which they are the sole authority, the only law, being forced to do whatever they wanted for the rest of eternity? That was... a bit much.
And so, when they *finally* got their chance at escape, they seized it with both hands. They've tried and failed once before, and so they weren't all too keen on it being pried from them yet again. It didn't matter whatsoever if it took them 2,763 days to get that well-deserved refuge, having them basically run into and crash onto a brick wall over and over again until it finally gave way. They were *going* to escape. They had made up their minds on that. When they were finally able to jump through that final hoop, when they were finally able to feel the warm sunlight on their skin once again, when they *finally* got to see their friends for the first time in *forever*... That was good. That was *great*. That was *fantastic*.
And then they got trapped inside another prison.
Really, they didn't know how to feel about it. They didn't know how to feel about *anything*. Their time in the Eternal Algebra Class had rendered them numb to pretty much *everything*, as one needs to if they're gonna be subjected to Four screeching so, *so* many times. Should they be thankful? It's because of Two's negotiation that they weren't just dragged back in that infernal realm once again. But given what they now have to do instead?
Quite frankly, deep down inside, they didn't really know which fate was worse. The EXIT was miserable, there aren't any doubts about that. All around was that feeling of hopelessness, of restlessness, of agitation and desperation. It was *everywhere*. It was overpowering. And that, paradoxically, somehow made it more tolerable. Here, they had a close-up seat to the lives of people that were *infinitely* better than their own. Lives that were still competing for *something*. Lives that weren't spent just making food or washing dishes. Freedom was just out there, just waiting beyond where they could reach, essentially *mocking* them.
Of course, having just been thrown into another world of suck after having *just* escaped a different one, they immediately tried breaking out of there once more. Unfortunately for them, however, that went about as well as their other first attempt in escaping a horrific and miserable place. Once again, they were here to stay. Even after *everything* they'd gone through, even after basically suffering through an eternity (yes, yes, they know what the algebralians said), they were pretty much given nothing.
