(more experimental nonsense)
What do the contestants of the Battle for Dream Island *actually* do?
At first glance, the question doesn't seem to make too much sense. The contestants of the Battle for Dream Island... Battle for Dream Island. Ever since the Announcer first fell out of the sky and declared that they were to Battle for Dream Island, that has been what they've been doing for the past decade or so. If they aren't Battling for Dream Island, then they are usually thinking about Battling for Dream Island. If they aren't doing either of those things, then they are probably reminiscing about Battling for Dream Island. To the untrained eye, it just doesn't seem like it's a question that warrants much thought outside of the occasional pondering, which is usually immediately followed by confusion and bewilderment at the thought of such a seemingly bizarre, inane question. But, like most things in the universe, it has far, *far* more nuance that most would give it credit for. If given consideration for more than 2.763 seconds, it turns out that there are plenty of details that make it a rather more interesting question to investigate. For one, what actually constitutes Battling for Dream Island? Once again, it would seem like a strange question for most, but what does it *really* mean, once the quandary has been investigated with all the rigor and enthusiasm that someone like Golf Ball would give any other mystery? One could answer that what's seen on camera, what they do in episodes, *that's* Battling for Dream Island. The challenges, the Cake at Stake, the conflict, all the usual things that come to mind whenever the concept of the Battle for Dream Island is brought up. But it's not like that's the *only* thing they get up. In-between all that fight and squabbling and arguing and debating, there's just... the *nothing*. The in-between. All that time and space between the episodes that are seen and preserved, that are watched by the stray algebralian or other cosmic entity, such as the viewers and voters. Unless one is to believe in strange theories, unless one believes that the entire universe is a fictional construct that revolves *specifically* around the Battle for Dream Island, that nothing exists beyond the competition and the contestants would disappear into nothingness the moment the cameras are no longer pointed at them, the contestants of the Battle for Dream Island most certainly have lives outside of it. Lives before it, lives after it (if they are able to live that long), and lives... in it. There's a certain amount of time, after all, between where one episode ends and another one can begin. An integral part of any episode of the Battle for Dream Island is Cake at Stake, where one (or two, depending on the scenario) contestants end up getting the boot at the hand of the capricious, faceless, soulless voters. Considering all that has happened, signs point to the voters having *some* semblance of thought and conscience, regardless of how malevolent and incompetent they seem to be. They have an attachment to certain characters, a distrust to certain others, and neutrality towards most. Somewhere behind the scenes, somewhere the contestants can't see, the voters deliberate amongst themselves to determine which ones they'll cast their vote for. Who they want to stay, who they want to go, who they want to win a prize, and so on, and so forth. All evidence points towards all this taking time. Precious time. There have been a few times where the hosts have allowed the contestants to take a glimpse into the demented and twisted minds of these unknown observers, comments explaining their thought process and opinions on those that are at stake. As unlikely as it may have been that anyone would derive any sort of entertainment or value from watching this, here it was: living, undeniable proof that that wasn't the case. People were arriving in droves in order to see them compete, to see them suffer. People that may have misguided notions that lead them to misguided actions, but there was almost certainly *some* sort of line of logic that directed them towards that conclusion, towards that vote. And going through all those motions takes *time*. As such, when the episode ends, when the hosts declare that they are to vote for someone to be eliminated, or to be saved, or to win a prize, or *whatever*, they are all given a few days to make their choice. A few days for them to contemplate and wonder who is the best, who is the worst, and who is sitting in the middle. And considering how many episodes it takes for them to whittle the cast down to a singular winner, that time can add up quite a bit. Quite a bit more than the time spent *actually* competing. How long, after all, does it take for them to get through an episode of the Battle for Dream Island? It's an entire ordeal and a half to make it through, especially without getting themselves killed (many times over, in most instances) in the process, but it does eventually end. Barring a few exceptional circumstances, a few extreme episodes, it doesn't take too long at all for an episode of the Battle for Dream Island to be over with. A few minutes, perhaps an hour or two, maybe an entire day. But that's usually the limit. One single day, and that's about it. Then they have to wait for the Cake at Stake votes to come in... as well as *other* things. Even though there's basically nothing stopping them from moving on once the votes are all collected and collated, for whatever reason the hosts decide to keep them waiting in the dark for a little while longer before getting started with the next episode. Back in the days of the Announcer, this entailed waiting an entire month in-between episodes. An entire month of dreadful anticipation, of waiting to see which one of them will get kicked out, will get robbed of any sort of future, for the crime of being too mean, or too nice, or too annoying, or *whatever*. And throughout the years, as the Battle for Dream Island changed hands multiple times over, the break in-between episodes has somehow only gotten *longer*. Even though Four and Two are all-powerful entities that could do pretty much anything with just a snap of their hands, they decide to spend an unfathomably long amount of time just resting, or snoozing, or setting up amusement parks, or torturing hapless contestants, or whatever it is that algebralians decide to do with their lives. Taking both of those things into account- both the amount of time it takes to gather all the votes for Cake at Stake, and however much time the host decides to waste -and doing all the calculations, it turns out that the contestants of the Battle for Dream Island actually spend a *laughably* small amount of time Battling for Dream Island. For a hypothetical observer that is above and beyond the average viewer or voter, one that can see where the cameras can't, that can look at things that both the contestants and the hosts don't want anyone to see, it'll seem like their lives is anything *but* revolving around some silly competition. The Battle for Dream Island remains a significant routine in their lives, their performance in the competition dictates whether or not they get to live, but on the average day, they don't actually have to do *anything* about it. They can just sit down on the grass, talk to each other, get up to all sorts of shenanigans, anything *except* actually competing or strategizing about competing. And they do; considering that their lives are on the line, they're gonna take any distraction that they can get, and there are plenty of those if one knows where to look. Even though the ideal course of action (according to Golf Ball and the other nerds) is to put things on hold for the time being, to focus *solely* on the Battle for Dream Island and ensure that you will win, pretty much all of them don't do that. After all, why would they want to do that? That sounds *boring*, and the last thing any of them wanted is to be bored. That's part of the reason why they joined the Battle for Dream Island, isn't it? When the speaker box fell out of the sky and said that they were to Battle for Dream Island, they didn't *actually* have to obey him. The island was definitely tempting, and that might have swayed a few people, but thinking about it for any longer than a single moment shows that the possible risks just don't make it worth it. Even without knowledge of all the pain and suffering that this decision would entail, Why on *Earth* would they decide to randomly follow some machine that they didn't know about? Prior to all this nonsense, they lived on a big, open, vast green field. If they didn't want to Battle for Dream Island, they could just pick any random direction and run. They could go out there, do literally anything else, *be* literally anything else. But no. Those 20 contestants decided that they wanted to Battle for Dream Island, and so they did. Why they decided to do so is a matter that has baffled plenty over the years, especially since the stakes have been raised just a *little* too high. Back in the day, getting eliminated just meant being sent to a cramped metal box and staying there for months. It was certainly no way to live, but it wasn't *that* bad. They eventually got out, they eventually escaped, and they were able to survive through *everything* that was thrown at them, allowing them to emerge and do it all over again the next time the Battle for Dream Island came around. But now, getting eliminated meant being sent to some pocket dimension where help is beyond reach, or some *other* pocket dimension where help is beyond reach, or just... disappearing entirely. Rumors are going around that there's even *more* shenanigans going on, with recently-eliminated contestants getting abducted and entirely erased from existence. Of even greater concern is the fact that not only are Four and Two *not* responsible for this, but they also have no clue on how to begin tackling this sudden development. All this time, the contestants of the Battle for Dream Island found *some* solace in knowing that the algebralians were these all-powerful beings that they couldn't do anything about. They were able to control their lives and destinies, and they could make them do whatever they wished, but fortunately it seemed like they were quite benign. But now that they know that there's *something* going around, with an unknown motive and unknown purpose, what little safety and security they had was now completely gone. If one actually stops to think about their situation, all they'll find is all sorts of horrific terrors. Just what on Earth could be going on behind the scenes, causing all the dread and misery that they're experiencing now? Just what sorts of things are the numerals not telling them, things that could affect them in ways that they couldn't even imagine? Just what sort of horrible fate awaited them if they ended up joining the ranks of the recently deceased? What *did* happened to the likes of Bell and Bomby, of Barf Bag and
"Hey! TB!"
The sudden shout snapped Tennis Ball out of it. He still hadn't quite recovered from the Team Swap; though Golf Ball still wasn't *really* that far away, though they were able to look past petty differences like differing allegiances, he still felt like there was a massive hole in his heart that he just couldn't fill, a weight that he just couldn't shake off. Considering that so many unknowns are out there, so many mysteries that could affect them in ways unfathomable, that was just... a lot. As such, in-between episodes, if he wasn't out inventing or researching, he was just sitting and contemplating. Thinking about things, trying to piece them together, trying to find an answer.
"TB. What're you doing?" Pen raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, we need your help with something; it'll just take a minute, I swear." The sport globule sighed. "Alright, alright." He'd struggle for a moment as he got up. "I'm on my way."
And he would indeed be on his way.
