Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDIA 4a: Sneaky

Firey was wandering around the halls; given that Dream Island is... well, an *island*, he didn't wanna be constantly reminded that he's now completely surrounded by his worst fear.

He felt the same sort of great relief that everyone else felt after the Battle for Dream Island came to an end; that competition was over, that chapter of their life was over, and they can now move on to... whatever else they wanna do with their life. Enjoy it? Cause mischief? Some other third thing? Doesn't matter, as they can do it. There's a whole world out there to explore, to *enjoy*, and now it was open to them once again.

For the flame in particular, he didn't really know what he wanted to do. Most of them really didn't either; having asked around, he knew that many didn't have much of a plan outside of just enjoying the island they spent so much time battling over. But given that the place is entirely surrounded by water, that didn't seem like a choice that was open for him.

Still grumbling a bit about that whole situation, the one that's high in temperature would think back to just before they all split off and went to enjoy the sights and luxuries in their own way; the speaker box gathered them all together for a formal introduction to Dream Island, giving a recap of all the amenities and such. It was the first time in quite a long time that they were all in a single group, all willing to tolerate each other's existence, all *happy*. Not a single one had a frown on their face.

...No. That's not true.

*Most* of them were there. Those they considered to be important. Nobody commented on their disappearance while in the moment, and nobody has commented on them since. But now that he had a bit of time to put things together, it just stuck out like a sore thumb.

Neither one of the balls were present.

And that just didn't make sense, did it? Golf Ball was the co-host of this whole thing, and wherever she went, Tennis Ball would follow. Out of all the occasions for both of them to miss, this one seemed like the least likely candidate. This was the thing they've been building up to all this time, the one they've all waited for with high anticipation. Why would they decide not to show up? Did they have a reason for it? *Surely* they had a reason, right? If there's one thing everyone knew about them, it's that they *always* had a reason for their actions, regardless of how inane or nonsensical it seemed.

Firey shook his head. Really, it doesn't matter. GB and TB may be missing out, but he certainly wasn't. They may have their reasons, but it's not like they'd ever explain it to him. This was just gonna be another one of those mysteries that never gets explained, something they all just learn to live with. Eventually, people just stopped asking why the speaker box fell out of the sky one day. They didn't question why they were so willing to fight to the death over this silly little island. He eventually stopped caring about the fact that he could fully remember someone called Needle with them, and yet she's vanished without a single trace

An explosion would suddenly rock the building, and that'd be the last thing he'd hear before it started raining indoors and he screamed in agony.

-

The skirmish was short.

Firey would struggle to hear himself over Golf Ball's shrill yelling. "Woah! Woah! It's me!" It'd take an uncomfortably long while before the bossy-bot would finally recognize what's going on and calm down; screaming and shrieking about how you're gonna kill someone *probably* isn't the best way to stay hidden. After silence returned to the land once again, the two just awkwardly stared at each other, both of them refusing to believe just who was before them.

"...GB?" The flame raised an eyebrow. "I... have so many questions." GB grumbled. "So do I, but you don't hear me complaining about it." She quickly looked around whilst the fire frowned. "Uh... I think I did-" "Just *what* do you think you're doing?" The sport globule continued on her tirade. "You're just out here, in the open, at night! Do you *want* to get yourself killed?" She'd take a deep breath. "...Don't answer that. Just..." She'd gesture to the Factory, which was just up ahead. "Come with me."