Alternate Battle for Dream Island

ABFDIA 25c: Breaking Fortitude, Destruction Imminent

The sun was starting to rise in Goiky.

Gelatin barely got any sleep throughout the sleep, having been kept up due to his excitement. Or his dread. Or *whatever* emotion was rattling around his head at the moment. Over the course of just a few days, all his distant dreams suddenly came true, one right after another. Not only did he get to see the Battle for Dream Island in action, he even got to be a part of it. ...And still is, technically.

That's another thing; here he was, anxiously waiting for the sun to rise instead of tending to his Steakhouse, facing an... *uncertain* future. He got all his wishes, but it came at quite the cost, a cost that he couldn't have possibly anticipated. He knew that there was a ton of stuff going on at the BFDI behind the scenes, but *this* much? And *this* chaotic? He knew that there was going to be a snag or two if he ever managed to fulfill his ambition of joining the competition, and even so he *still* wanted to join so badly, but now that he got to see it up close and personal, now that he knew what it was *really* like to be Battling for Dream Island...

He'd rather not, really.

Why did he want to join in on all of this, anyway? He was doing *just* fine. He already had his own life to take care of, and a business to look after as well. The competition, as fun and exciting as it may seem, felt like it was *always* going to be just some far-off fantasy, something to daydream about during those lazy nights of washing dishes or sweeping floors. He didn't *actually* have enough time to fit all that into his schedule, did he?

But just as reality was prone to crushing one's hopes and dreams, it was also just as likely to fulfill them. More often than not, however, there would be *some* strings attached in exchange for that satisfaction. Here Gelatin was, about to do something reckless, about to do something *dangerous*...

About to get himself killed, all for the sake of achieving his dream. His Dream Island, if you will.

After spending quite a while just silently staring off into the horizon, watching as the disc of the sun rose above the horizon, just as it had done in the past 2,763 days, his train of thought would be derailed by Firey's sudden appearance. The flame also didn't get quite enough sleep throughout the night, but it wasn't due to a lack of effort; a living fire didn't exactly have the best sleeping posture. How it all worked out, how this loose collection of gas could sit down and move about, was a mystery that was still unknown to the likes of Golf Ball.

The inferno let out a deep sigh. "Ready for the big day?" He'd ask. The foodstuff would remain silent for an uncomfortably long while, unable to come up with any definitive, confident answer. "...I dunno if I can *ever* be ready." He'd remark. "I think I told you about how I've *always* wanted to join the BFDI, right?" The flame would nod in response, and he'd continue. "Been wanting to sign up ever since I first saw it on TV. It just seemed so... *great*, you know? You get to hang out with so many cool people, go through so many fun challenges..." He'd trail off, glancing at the fire. "...From my perspective, anyway." He'd clarify. "Now I know from you guys that not only does it suck, you guys also didn't even join in willingly." The edible one sighed. "Maybe it's that, maybe it's the fact that all my dreams are now right in front of me, maybe it's some other third thing..." He'd try to find that thing in question, but words would fail him. "But whatever it is, it's gotten me all worked up. I've wanted to do this for so long, constantly dreamt about it, and now that I actually can..." He'd sigh again. "I dunno."

"Hey, I've been there." Firey replied. "Like you said, like *we* said, it wasn't exactly how we wanted things to go, but the Battle for Dream Island *was* something we wanted to do. Eventually. When we came around to it." He'd scoff. "We all always wanted to do something different, something new. We wanted to get away from our routine, from everyone else. The competition certainly... did that." He'd pause for a moment to breathe. "It did it in ways that we *definitely* didn't like, it threw so many curveballs at us, but..." He'd shrug. "What can you do? That's what happened. Can't change it. All we can do is... Get through it. Move on."