Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDIA 5c: Get To The Bottom

Hopefully, if they just stayed *really* quiet, they didn't actually have to go out and do... the thing.

After a little while of tense, awkward silence, the Announcer once again arrived back at the scene and took one good look at all his contestants, still very much on Dream Island and very much not doing anything. If that metal box could express even the slightest bit of disappointment, he was bound to be doing so by now.

"Alright, all of you." The speaker box talked. "Get going." Everyone looked at each other, then at the machine thing, then at each other once again. "Uh..." Pencil raised an eyebrow, feigning disinterest. "Go *where*, exactly?" "You know exactly where." "Well, technically, we don't." Spongy replied. "You told us what to do: to go deal with Golf Ball. You never said anything about *where* to do it; presumably, that means we can go about it in our own ways. For me, that means sitting here for the time being, thinking of what to do first."

Everyone then looked at the sponge in particular, who'd be rather flabbergasted by all the sudden attention. "What?"

"Well, at the very least, it would be nice if you took the slightest step forward." The Announcer replied. "Leaving the Island would be a start, just so I know that you are truly putting all your effort into it." "But, like, why would we want to leave?" Match asked. "As much as I don't want to, like, agree with that *disgusting* Spongy..." "Hey!" The fat one cried out, but his pleas would once again fall on deaf ears. "...he is right to, like, some degree." The matchstick paused for a moment to breathe. "We don't even have a clue on what our, like, strategy should be."

"Strategy?" Flower would suddenly interrupt. "As if we need anything so *dumb*! Golf Ball's *pathetic*! She doesn't have arms, and she doesn't have friends! I say we all go out, find out where she is, and..." She'd trail off, noticing her 'friend' giving her an ugly look. "...You're right, actually." Pencil then remarked, causing the one with the petals to smile ever so slightly; the writing utensil couldn't care less, however. "She may be 'smart', or whatever, but no amount of that is gonna make up for the fact that she's a bozo-brain bossy bot that's helpless without her silly little inventions. I say we all just group up and go on the offensive *now*."

"Tsk, tsk." Pin suddenly chimed in, being completely unable to realize the fact that nobody really wanted her opinion on anything, ever. Except for Leafy, maybe. "Of *course* you'd go for a plan like that; the first thing you come up with, not giving much thought to it, not refining it whatsoever." She'd seethe. "We all have our qualms about Golf Ball, but she *is* right in some capacity, no?" She then sensed everyone's eyes quickly turn to her, so she quickly started to explain herself.

"Just look at all of us, for instance." She began. "All of us joined this competition for a chance to win Dream Island. We thought that we and we alone were the most capable of managing and running it, and we thought our skills could get us there with ease." She then looked around. "But, just in case you haven't noticed, the person that ended up winning *isn't* with us right now." Coiny stepped in, chuckling. "Yeah, and it *definitely* isn't you, either." The pushpin then rather aggressively shoved him aside. "And *speaking* of Pen: he thought he was safe and sound once he finally won, but have you seen him recently? He let his guard down, allowed himself to become vulnerable for even the briefest moment, and he paid *dearly* for it."

The thumbtack paused for a moment to take a deep breath. "It may be tough medicine to swallow, especially considering it's *her* that's been saying it from day one, but it's the truth. The truth, regardless of who says it and how, will *always* be true." Another pause. "For the longest time now, we've just acted based on impulse. Did things whenever we felt like it, with no consideration regarding its possible effects, or how it'll come back to bite us in the future. The Battle for Dream Island should've been our wake-up call: this sort of thinking, this sort of acting, this isn't gonna get us *anywhere*. If we want to actually be respected, if we actually want to be revered, if we want to be *feared*..." Another pause. "We have to actually use *this* for once." She'd tap her head. Well, given Pin's appearance, it was more of... her body. Probably.