Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDIA 23b: Favor

The rest of the journey was rather unremarkable.

Though there would be the occasional question or two, the rare discussion about this and that or whatever, it was clear that Gelatin was saving all of the hard-hitting questions for when they were *right* where he wanted them to be, when they had nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide. As everyone finally got their long-awaited silence, some of them began to have second thoughts; maybe they did, indeed, set themselves up for certain death and doom. Maybe that was a good thing, maybe that was not. You never really know for certain, given the way things have been in Goiky. Things can go perfectly well one day, then go catastrophically wrong the next. It's a complete gamble on whether or not anything will remain as they were. They've spent the past who knows how long aimlessly wandering around massive labyrinths, and now here they are, riding on a vehicle that's far beyond their comprehension, driven by someone that was completely and utterly foreign to them, going to a place that they've likely never seen before. All of their wishes could be getting granted right now, or all of their hopes could be getting crushed. There was absolutely no way, no way at all, to figure out which one was the case. Was jumping out the window *really* the best option, their only escape, or was that only gonna get them a few painful injuries and a feeling of embarrassment? Who knows? How could they *possibly* know?

Eventually, they'd arrive. Arrived where, they did not know. Firey would be the one to awkwardly shamble out first, having been rather uncomfortable throughout the whole journey; he had his zone of personal space, one where he felt at peace and others felt not on fire, and the others often got *very* close to breaking that space. After stretching his arms and legs, taking a few steps, he'd turn around and see that where he sat now had *very* distinct charring, and everyone else complained about the sudden warmth as they shuffled past. "Whoops." The flame nervously chuckled. "Sorry about that..." It took him a minute for him to remember the name he was looking for. "...Gelatin." "Ah, it's no problem at all." The one with that name replied. "I've had more than my fair share of mishaps driving this thing; spent quite a bit on making it pretty foolproof. It's *important* for my business; it moves things quicker and better than anyone or anything else."

And speaking *of* that business, it didn't take long whatsoever for the flame and the others to notice the big sign spelling out 'GELATIN'S STEAKHOUSE' in these weird glass tube things. "*This* is the thing you're so proud of?" Snowball scoffed. "I'm not impressed; I could take this whole thing down if I *really*-" "Please don't." The foodstuff chuckled awkwardly. "I don't exactly have an island to my name, but it *is* mine. Spent quite a lot of time building up to where I am now." He'd sigh, his expression becoming a bit more serious. "Besides. You guys wanna get to Dream Island, don't you?" He'd rummage through his things, picking out a set of keys, then proceeded to use it to unlock the front door. "Come in! Make yourself comfortable; It's gonna take a minute for me to set things up."

While most would do exactly that, Bubble and Teardrop would have other ideas. They'd spend a few more minutes wandering around the surrounding asphalt, taking in their new surroundings, figuring out where they could escape to if things got sour. Gelatin's Steakhouse sat on its own, in relative isolation; in the distance they could see what looks to be another city, along with a few small buildings scattered here and there, but it was gonna take a good few minutes of walking on grass or roads to get there. The steakhouse itself looked warm and cozy, as cozy as things can get in this strange little world, anyway. That was natural; Gelatin said this was a business, and businesses usually don't get very far if they come off as cold and soulless. Peering through the windows, the inside had comfortable seating, tables for eating, and screens for watching... stuff. All important things for people to get together, talking and having fun while they're eating... whatever it is they serve here. Cake, maybe? It'd been quite a long time since they've last tasted cake; Cake at Stake was a *very* painful experience for all involved, but getting a slice when you were safe was one of the few bits of relief that they got during that troubling time.