Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDIA 24a: Dies

Once again, Golf Ball felt completely and utterly helpless.

As she and the Announcer continued to venture deeper into the bowels of Dream Island, her mind would continue racing, desperately trying to seek out *any* sort of explanation for what's going on, a line of reason behind all the madness. This can't *possibly* be how it ends, can it? She didn't just fall victim to the most obvious, most blatant trick of her life, did she? To think that there was a moment where she genuinely thought *any* of them, all those buffoons that she's spent much of her life observing in horror, could actually gain a modicum of self-awareness... to think that she allowed herself to go through such a clearly illogical and unreasonable course of action, that was *terrifying*. What was she thinking? Has she ever been thinking? Was she also just an unwitting pawn in this strange game being played by those clearly above and beyond them, with goals, motivations, and reasons far beyond their understanding, beyond what they could ever hope to comprehend? Was she ever in control of her own destiny, or was she already written from the start to fail horrendously in all that she did, be forced to watch as everything she worked so hard for crumbled into dust, her efforts and deeds crumbling away into dust in an instant, like a particularly harsh wave crashing into the proverbial beach, washing away all the sandcastles that were sculpted out of the earth?

Golf Ball's twisting and turning train of thought was momentarily stopped when they came to the end of the hall; they'd wait in complete silence for a few moments as an elevator made its way up, the doors eventually sliding open to reveal that the moment she'd been waiting for, the disappointment to surpass all others, was still just a turn or two away. For a little bit, she'd just stare at the thing. What was gonna happen as soon as she stepped inside? Was this gonna lead her to her certain doom? Her certain *death*? Why couldn't that speaker box have done it earlier? Was there *really* a need for all the theatrics?

"After you."

The robotic voice snapped her out of it once again; grumbling and muttering a variety of choice words to herself, she'd reluctantly comply, half-expecting the doors to immediately close, the elevator freefalling down, and her meeting a grisly end upon impact. But no. Of course not. Death wasn't gonna come that quickly, that *easily*. The Announcer would hop his way inside after her, he'd press a button (by bowing towards it), and it'd take them further and further down.

That short little journey would feel like an *eternity* as the bossy-bot continued to brainstorm, trying her hardest not to crack in the slightest, acting like nothing was amiss, that she was just fine, that she was willing to go along with... whatever this was. This place was very deep down, but it was built as if it was just any other facility, constructed through the same means as any other non-suspicious location. It'd take a *lot* in order for such construction to happen, the main one being getting all the way down here in the first place. *Clearly*, there were going to be a number of tunnels and passages that led up to the surface, allowing for men and materials to make the descent, to allow for everything to be built up. Afterwards, some tunnels would still be necessary to provide utilities and ventilation... Well, the Announcer probably wouldn't need such things. What he *would* probably need is some sort of emergency exit, some sort of place to escape to in the event that his plans, whatever they may be, went awry. This is an elevator, something that requires electricity to run, electricity that could be compromised in any number of ways. An emergency exit should be traversable by just walking. Or hopping. That *has* to be around here somewhere. There was no other way out. The speaker box *could* transfer his consciousness elsewhere, as he has done multiple times, but in order to do that, he'd need to die. And if he dies, he'll leave a 'corpse', a chassis that could be picked apart and searched for clues, just like what Tennis Ball and Firey did. Not exactly optimal. It was around here somewhere, and she was gonna find it. And she was gonna find everything else down here while she's at it, and then...