Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDIA 12b: Nifty

Well, there's only one rational thing left to do when it's evident that you've made a big mistake; run away from it as quickly as you possibly can.

Bubble, Firey, Flower, and Snowball would *very* quickly head off in the opposite direction, covering their ears and almost stumbling and tripping onto themselves in the process. The situation was so hectic, both physically and audibly, that the soap bubble feared she was gonna pop in no time; she wouldn't, however, since the universe didn't feel like she was done with suffering quite yet.

They'd keep on running, and keep on running, and keep on *running*. The path may be somewhat illuminated by the flashing red lights, but that only gave them a sense of urgency and pressure alongside their tedium. Their hearts (or whatever's in them, keeping the blood(?) flowing) beating rapidly, they feared that they might not make it back in time, that they might get caught by... Caught by *what*? The speculation surrounding that was just as terrifying as the possibility of being seized by them.

Eventually, they'd see the end of the corridor; just a little bit longer now. A few more steps, a few more excruciating, agonizing seconds... and they'd find that the door was now once again closed. *Spectacular*.

"*How*?" Snowball shouted. "I clearly destroyed that thing!" "Well, *clearly* you didn't." Flower scoffed. "Really, that's no surprise." "GRR!" "C'mon, let's just do the same trick again." Firey went to grab more snow, only to be forcibly stopped by SB. "No, no, *NO*!" He'd shout. "I am *NOT* letting that happen again! Do you know how much of a *pain* it is to get snow around here?" The flame raised an eyebrow. "...No." "Let *me* handle this, alright?" The mound of snow stared at the door with much disdain, clenched his fists, then promptly punched it as hard as he could.

That... could've gone better. The slab of steel didn't get even the slightest dent, and the sphere of snow was now trying his best to hold in his cries. The pain would distract him from the inferno sneakily grabbing a chunk of his body; he then proceeded to awkwardly squeeze his way through the crowd, but then a little detail, one they hadn't seen before amidst all the darkness, would catch his eye.

"Hey, has..." He'd be reluctant to even gesture towards it. "...Has that door always been there?" To the right of the entry door was yet another one, one which had been completely hidden from them this entire time, only now appearing once it was relevant to the plot. There'd be plenty of complaints about how such an obvious detail was completely overlooked, but Firey had no time to think about that; he was too busy applying what little lessons in logic Tennis Ball was able to impart onto him. That first door, the one they used to get in this situation in the first place, was now closed once again. Considering the way things like this usually go, that meant that opening it through the same way they did before was gonna go... *not* well, to put it mildly. This new door, on the other hand, was completely new to them; it hasn't been tampered with, and so whatever security system caused the first door to lock itself up hasn't kicked in yet, and so breaking in should be easier. Or something like that.

In retrospect, the presence of the continuing alarms would've likely changed things; but time was ticking, and the possibility of survival continued to elude them.

The flame hastily shaped the snow into a little ball of its own, then promptly threw it as hard as he could on the governing machine beside it; he then got as close as he possibly could (without popping Bubble, anyhow), quickening the process of it melting. That minute or so would feel like an *eternity*, but it *would* eventually come to pass. Sparking and smoking followed, and the door slid open, exactly as they had anticipated.

Everyone very quickly rushed into the newly-revealed area, looking to get out of this cramped spot ASAP. They didn't care whatsoever if this just so happened to lead into a conveniently placed pitfall; fortunately for them, their recklessness wouldn't get them in trouble *again*.