It was time for yet another episode of the Battle for Dream Island.
The last few episodes have been rather... well, perhaps 'hectic' is putting it too *lightly*. Over the past few years, they've had more than their fair share of intense, violent, brutal competition over some prize that they've never seen before in their entire life, that they'd most likely never actually get to attain, even if they did end up winning. They've gone through all sorts of ups and downs, jumped through a myriad of flaming hoops, made friendships, broke friendships, created trust, destroyed it, and so on, and so forth. And all for the sake of... *what*, exactly? The entertainment of heartless, soulless voters and viewers, people (if they can be even called that) that clearly have no good intentions, only intending on making them suffer and writhe through all this agony for many more episodes to come? What do they even gain out of this? Experience? After over a decade of Battling for Dream Island, it feels as if they've gone through everything any sane person would've been subjected to in their entire life. And yet there's still another curveball, another roadblock in the way, another obstacle to them getting that coveted moment of calm. There was always death, there was always destruction, there was always despair, there was always devastation. All for the sake of... *entertainment*. It was sickening, really. They can't even imagine anyone like Golf Ball could find any value out of this hardship. Who even *watches* this insanity, let alone enjoy it?
Fortunately for them, it seemed as if luck was on their side for once; Two has been a far, *far* more lenient host than everyone else, and they seem to actually care about the thoughts and feelings of their contestants, for better or for worse. And not only did they have to deal with the stakes being raised higher and higher with each and every episode, they also had to contend with their contestants spontaneously being disappeared out of existence: Barf Bag, Bell, Bomby, and... someone else, probably; they've seemed to go in pairs, and that's an *odd* number. Can't remember, though, so who it was probably isn't all that relevant. It was that rare, exceptional situation where the Battle for Dream Island was not only a headache for the contestants, but for the host as well.
And so, with the weather finally clearing up for once (in both metaphorical and literal ways), it was decided that today's challenge was gonna be a bit of a return to form; a relatively simpler, relatively more relaxing activity that doesn't require all that much skill, or strength, or smarts, or some other thing. It was gonna be a breather. A filler episode.
The contestants were all gathered around, and the mechanics were explained: it's... tag. It's tag. It's *tag*. There's really no need to explain it any further, but due to the way things go in the Battle for Dream Island, it'd be explained anyway. More and more of their precious, finite time being wasted away, devoured by the infinite, ever-hungry maw of the cruel, indifferent universe. Someone is 'it', they're tasked with running around, chasing down everyone else in the game, and... *tagging* one of them. Then the one tagged would become 'it', and the whole thing starts all over again. There's some ridiculous nonsense about crowns or whatever but literally who *cares*. It's *tag*. It's a simple, childish game. You don't need the intellect of Golf Ball to figure out all the rules. And they all knew better than to look too closely into anything these days; in a world where everything can change on a whim, trying to piece together any sort of coherence is a one-way path to madness.
There was still a lingering fear about the whole underlying narrative behind it all, however. Even though this was supposed to be a fun, exciting, refreshing activity, there are some things that just *can't* go away. Besides the whole matter of the contestants that vanished into thin air, there was also still the whole competition looming over their heads. The Battle for Dream Island. If they lose... Well, they *lose*. And if they won, would that *really* be any better? They'd still have to contend with their teammates not exactly being the best and the brightest, they'd still have to worry about how they're seen in the eyes of the contestants and voters, they still have to worry about where they might end up tomorrow, since apparently you can just *vanish* without a trace, without anybody being able to follow you. With each and every moment of silence, there was another reminder that they lived in a world that was far, *far* greater than they could ever fathom, that there were forces at work that have such immense power and influence, that could end everything they knew about existence without even really *thinking* about it.
