Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDIA 20b: No Direction

Time continued to pass, as it always did.

Even though there was little to no incentive for them to do so, even though nothing was restraining them, Flower and Snowball decided to remain right where they were, waiting for Firey and the others to eventually, *eventually*, get back to them. That was the plan they all agreed upon, and that was the plan that made the most sense in the long run. Those two couldn't stand each other, and *they* would clearly end up getting lost and confused without their wise guidance. It was win-win for everyone, so why bother going against it? Though things may be tough now, in the immediate present, at this very moment, it's not like it could possibly get any more difficult, or perhaps last any longer than it already has. That'd just be ridiculous, absurd, asinine.

Even as the world around them continued to grow darker, even as every single bit about this place kept reminding them about all that time they spent underground, completely listless and downtrodden, they refused to stray from the plan, from what was set in stone. They were going to wait here until the others came back, and then they were gonna decide on their next course of action from there. That was the plan. That was *the* plan. Why on *Earth* would anyone decide to not follow it through? That'd just be silly.

It was taking an awfully long time for Firey and the rest to make their descent, though. Just *what* was going on up there? It couldn't be that much of an obstacle, could it? It doesn't take someone with Golf Ball's intellect to reckon that there isn't anything up above that could potentially harm or hinder them. This place looks like it hasn't been touched in 2,763 years, for crying out loud! Anything that could've happened to this place has likely already happened by now. Anything that could've set off any security measures that were put in place would've occurred many times over. There is absolutely no reason for them to be taking as long as they are right now. Well, unless the problem wasn't something of that nature. Again, these buildings are clearly old and decaying; perhaps something had collapsed or fallen somewhere, and that's what they're dealing with now.

Or *maybe*, just maybe, though it would be an incredibly scary thought, they *did* end up ditching them. Even though it made no sense both in theory and practice, it was a lot more likely than they could ever imagine. These contestants, these people, these *creatures*, they're not guided solely by logic and reason. Dumb emotions and embarrassment get in the way of doing the right thing, not wanting to confront the possibility that they could be *wrong* about something or other. Perhaps they already found a way out of their predicament, and they went through it without them. Perhaps they had continued exploring on their own, considering them as far more trouble than they were worth. That would be a most terrible thing. A most terrible thing, indeed.

Snowball took a deep breath, grumbling as his mind (if he even had one) continued bouncing from thought to thought, not really making that much sense. He'd been through a lot, alright? He was stuck in a PRISON for who knows how long, was immediately thrown out of the one place where he could finally rest, got lumped in with a bunch of complete nobodies, total fools, and they've spent the past who-knows-how-long aimlessly wandering around strange places, locations far beyond their comprehension, with little to no sign of anything recognizable, anything familiar, anything *good*. Every waking moment was a desperate fight for survival, not just in the physical, but also in the psychological. It was taking *every* single bit of effort and energy left in him to not give up, to not let *them* win? Who even is them? What do they want from him? And why? Those are questions that *actual* dumb people ask. Inquiries only made by people that somehow think they aren't worrying about enough things already. Golf Ball spent all her days and nights constantly fretting about this and that, on which was which, on what was what, and look where that got her.

Everyone else spent too much of their time thinking. They could be divided into two camps: those that reminisced too much about the past, and those that daydreamed too much about the future. They had their differences- a whole bunch of them, actually -but they had a single, very important thing that they had in common: they were fools. The whole lot of them. Regardless of how much they may or may not actually know, regardless of what they've managed to do with their life, if they can be sorted into one of those two groups, they are dumb. It's as simple as that.