The Battle for Dream Island is now over. ...Now what?
It's a question that has been bothering them since the start, all those years ago. An itch in the back of their mind that they just can't scratch, a problem that just wouldn't go away. Always there, always present, always a nuisance.
It was going to end at some point. Even if the competition as a whole showed no signs of stopping, it was only a matter of time before *they* cracked, before they simply couldn't compete anymore, before they decided to just keel over and... wait for the inevitable pain to come. Be thrown into the Tiny Loser Chamber or Locker of Losers or Eternal Algebra Class or Big Rotating Building or whatever elimination place of pure and infinite torture the host fancied. And even if they were able to weather the storm, even if they were able to withstand all that was thrown at them, that doesn't guarantee that their story was gonna have a good ending. At the end of the day, It's exactly as Pin once said: only *one* of them can win. Only a single person can be destined to win Dream Island, or a poor facsimile of Dream Island, or some intangible, esoteric representation of the competition, or an esoteric representation of *that* competition for the competition. Everyone else was gonna have to settle for nothing. Pretty much nothing, anyway. You could be let into the island, or get given a consolation prize, but that just *isn't* the same, is it? That wasn't what they competed for. They were Battling for Dream Island, first and foremost. If they weren't gonna win that at the end of the day, what's the point?
Back in those days, it was *somewhat* easier to ignore. In the beginning... Well, it was the beginning. The series finale was well into the distant future, much like most problems in their life, and so they can just ignore it without much trouble. In the event that it *finally* became too bothersome to just ignore, it was gonna be up to the future version of themselves to deal with the ramifications. And future them isn't current them, so that's that. But the number of contestants would gradually be whittled down, more and more of them being thrown in that cramped metal box. For those unlucky ones, the hope became a bit more desperate. They wished that the next rejoin was just around the corner, or that whoever does manage to win the island can see reason, that they'll be kind enough (or naive enough) to let them on, to partake in the prize, even if they don't own it. And by the end, that gambit seemed to have paid off; the lucky winner seemed to have no qualms with letting *everybody* in, and all was right in the world.
Well, *almost* everybody. And the one person that wasn't invited ended up ruining everything forever.
It was around that time when the gravity of the situation began to set in for them; well, for most it began as soon as they were eliminated (and even earlier for an exceptional few), but now it had *really* set in. All those episodes, all those humiliations, and what did they have to show for it? What did *anyone* have to show for it? Even the alleged winner of the show was on the same boat; they won Dream Island fair and square, only to have it ripped away from them immediately, before they even got a taste of its luxuries. Now, with the speaker box gone, all they had left once again was themselves. Themselves and their thoughts. What did they gain from competing in the Battle for Dream Island? More importantly, what did they lose? What even pressured them to compete in the first place? Why were they so willing to let it go too far? What did it get them in the end?
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how one looks at it) for them, however, they didn't have to confront those feelings for long. By some miracle, there were enough scraps, enough bits and pieces, to put together another Battle for Dream Island. How was it gonna be orchestrated, if there wasn't a single person willing to take on the duties of a host? What would they even be competing for, since the eponymous island had disappeared without a trace? Those questions and several more could be dealt with in their own time. All that mattered was the distraction, that flicker of hope. The BFDI wasn't over yet, and so there was no need to discuss the fine details of what's gonna happen to them when it ends, what'll happen to the *many* contestants that'll leave empty-handed. Never mind the fact that even the winners would be cheated out of a triumph due to the shoddy work put into the terrible imitation of the island; really, they shouldn't have expected anything better from two characters that have absolutely no connection, no chemistry whatsoever, that shouldn't be together unless something truly terrible has occurred to the universe. Again, no need to think about any of *that*. Especially not when there is Cake at Stake!
