Golf Ball was down and out.
The how and why of that was something that she'd rather not think back on; it involved a lot of pain, a lot of fire, and a lot of destruction. It made her shudder just *thinking* about thinking about it. After all, refusing to let go of the past has been the *biggest* hindrance towards looking to the future. In most instances (i.e. not this one), the past is seen as this great, incredible, overall *better* time than the way they're living now. This is mostly because it was, for the most part; back in those days, they didn't have to think about algebralians suddenly coming in and ruining their lives, or speaker boxes arriving and doing much the same, or even *consider* the thought that some random, malevolent force with no consideration for rhyme or reason, for sense or logic, would suddenly arise and force them to play out all sorts of inane, absurd, ridiculous nonsense all for the sake of deriving entertainment for a group of unseen, miserable, depressing folks that for some reason can only find joy in their lives watching those beneath them suffer. *Seriously*. What has given them enough justification to play out this sick joke three or four (or five) entire times? Why have they spent over a decade Battling for Dream Island, with not a single one of them even getting to *see* the titular prize? What a cruel state of living. What a horrendous, inhumane way to exist. Golf Ball had never been particularly fond of the past, at least not in quite a while. She obviously thought differently in her younger years, back when she was naive and oblivious, and had absolutely no clue that the world could be *so* much more than just... *existing* in this damp, depressing rock with forces beyond their comprehension that are more than capable of wiping them out without a single thought about it. Ever since then, ever since she first opened her eyes to all the possibilities that lay before her, that there was more to this world than being forced to stay with these sad, know-nothing fools for the rest of time, she has always strived towards a future. A future that was better. A future that she and everyone else could actually look up to, could actually thrive in. But that future hasn't quite arrived yet, for a *lot* of reasons. Well, there was the rather obvious one: of course, they'd never actually get to experience *the* future, since the only moment they'll ever get to experience in their lives is the present moment. The now. That's just the way these terms are defined. Everything before the present is the past, and everything after it is the future. But there's also the more significant, actually meaningful reasons. The Battle for Dream Island has set them back by *so* many years, forcing them to focus on so many other petty squabbles instead of actually looking after each other, instead of building towards a world they could actually be proud of. A prize is dangled above their heads, arbitrary lines are drawn in the proverbial sand, and they're all made to do this and that, all sorts of humiliating, degrading, ultimately futile things that give them nothing more than yet another experience to recall time and time again in fear. Even her, despite her best efforts to keep the terrors at bay and continue her all-important research, ended up getting roped into all this nonsense, which has wasted precious *years* of her life, years she could've spent actually working towards a better tomorrow. Perhaps it was just curiosity that led her to make that fatal mistake. Even now, as she continues to linger and languish, waiting for her seemingly inevitable demise, GB could recall a bunch of reasons why such an endeavor could be justified. For one, this was something that they've *never* experienced in their entire lives. Most of their lives have been spent just living in the vast grasslands, talking to each other, causing mischief, just doing whatever. There was no purpose, no goals, no direction to point their life towards. But now, this speaker box had fallen from the sky and promised them a shiny island if they win some contest. Instead of just wasting their lives away for the rest of eternity, they actually had *something* to look forward to, something to wake up for. Perhaps she wondered if this would be the critical ingredient she had needed all this time, the one thing that'll finally get them going, the thing that differentiates it from all her vain attempts to get them rolling. But it turned out to result in quite the opposite instead. Quite a shame. But that doesn't really necessitates her joining in herself, does it? She could've just observed from a distance, taking notes and recording the results. It's not like she had a chance of winning the island, anyway; given the way everyone has acted towards her beforehand, she knew from the get-go that she would've been shot down immediately. So *why*? Why bother? Did she think it'd inspire her as well? And why is *that*?
