Battle for Triangles Multiversal Travel Machine (and also Dream Island)

Episode 9 - The Triumphant Return

Triangle snapped his fingers, this time providing the intended result without anything going wrong. The Cake at Stake area proper was noticeably more empty than the previous times it was used, given that the team up for elimination was half the size of the original teams. Most contestants were now at the bleachers, leaving only the three-member Team Alliance up for elimination, as they lost last time. Team Alliance was, quite obviously, worried. The members of Team Alliance were the most worried out of the remaining contestants when it came to eliminations. They were, of course, some of the more emotional contestants, especially Match. They were also fewer in numbers than the other teams, making any losses for them carry more pain and weight than a loss for the other teams. "Team Alliance!" Triangle began. "You lost last time, as you probably know." He'd chuckle. "Well, you know the drill by now, so let's just get to it."

"Like, oh no!" Match immediately voiced her concern. "I don't want to, like, eliminate any one of my new, like, teammates!" "YOU HAVE TO!" Triangle would accidentally yell out, and would cover his mouth in embarrassment. The Announcer, of course, would be displeased by this. "There's no need to-" "Well, sorry!" He'd stop covering his mouth. "It's just... That's how this whole elimination thing works! One of you *has* to go!" Triangle would look at the Announcer for a moment, making sure he wouldn't interrupt again. He then looked at Pin, making sure she won't do anything funny, before he looked back at the members of Team Alliance. "...Yeah. Like I said. You have to, because you lost the contest. That's the punishment, is it not?" "I know..." Match admitted. "But, like-" "Then there's no excuses!" Triangle interrupted. "You *have* to do it. I suggest you vote now, to get the pain over with." As it went on, Bubble began showing fear as well. "Noio..." She began. "All of these people are my friends... No matter who gets eliminated, oi'll be sad!" "Yeah!" Ice Cube agreed.

Triangle would be quick to formulate yet another response to their hesitation in his head, but as the other contestants that were at the bleachers began staring at him with concern, he'd hold back from saying it. He'd sigh before beginning. "...Look. I know this is tough on all of you, but you should've understood all the risks you were going to face when you joined this competition." Triangle breathed. "And it's not like you'll never see them again, or anything. As soon as someone wins the prizes, they'll all be let out of the TLC. I believe that all contestants should be freed when..." As Triangle continued on his 'speech', some of the contestants watching would begin to protest. "Wait, what did he say?" Coiny asked. "'joined this competition'? I don't recall having been asked if I wanted to join, like, ever." "Yeah." Tennis Ball agreed. "The hosts just fell from the sky, and they didn't ask anybody if they wanted to join. All they did was just *force* us to participate." "Yeah..." Spongy agreed also. Teardrop would also nod in agreement.

"Well, what're we going to do about it?" Pen asked. The other teams were at the bleachers, and so they were allowed to talk to each other, as opposed to all the other times. "Well, I don't know about *your* team in particular..." Coiny began. "But we have our own plan to figure things out." "What plan?" Coiny would want to tell him his plan, but he'd hesitate, given that Pin was *right there*. "Why would I tell you?" Meanwhile, Triangle was finally finishing up with... Whatever he was saying. Not really sure where I was going with this when I originally wrote it. "...Now choose already, will you? I'm sure most of the people watching would *like* to go home." The three contestants of Team Alliance just won't stay calm, however. Of course they couldn't. They'd visibly begin sweating and anxiously looking at each other, not wanting to upset either of them. "Well, like..." Match began. She'd look at Bubble, then at Ice Cube, then back at Bubble again, switching between the two every few moments, much like a swinging pendulum on those old clocks. She'd uncomfortably stutter every few seconds or so before making up her mind. She'd sigh. "Like, sorry to say this... But... Icy..." She'd then focus her gaze on Ice Cube. She'd immediately grow worried as soon as her name was called out. "Like, you're less useful to the team than, like, the rest of us." She'd sweat further as she watched Ice Cubes reaction change from anxious, to sad, to angry. "Like, no offense, of course. I know you're, like, doing your best and, like, all... But you don't have arms and such..." She could barely bring herself to say what came next. "So, like, sorry for saying this... But, like, I vote for Ice Cube."

Triangle would slightly smile at what he was witnessing. Stuff like this was exactly what he was expecting to happen during eliminations when he came up with the concept of contestant voting. His superiors had told him to minimize collateral damage, which pretty much meant minimizing harm on innocent bystanders as much as possible, but given the ongoing events, he felt the need to toughen them up, should he need a few extra hands on containment. Meanwhile, Ice Cube would, of course, not take this all too well. "No!" "I know!" Match was on the brink of crying. "Like, if it was possible, like, I wouldn't vote for either of you!" She'd breathe. "But, like, I have to get rid of someone, and I also have to, like, put the team in mind whenever I, like, make my decisions!" Tears began going down, as Match couldn't handle it well either. "I'm so sorry, Icy! Like, I'll let you in Dream Island once I like, win!" Ice Cube would do nothing but stand there for a moment, the anger quickly building up in her, and eventually spilling. All she could utter in response to this event, this... Betrayal. Was a rather simple three-word phrase. "...I want REVENGE!"

"Match! Look at what you did to her!" Bubble cried out. "She's so angry!" "I know!" Match could barely contain herself anymore, now crying as she continued talking. "Like, I don't want it either! But, Bubble, like, think of practicality!" She was too sad to even notice she was taking a page off of the 'bossy bots' book. "Like, you don't want our team to lose, like, what little edge we have, right?" "I knoiw... But..." Bubble looked at Ice Cube. "Ice Cube's my..." "Bubble... You know, like, what has to be done, right?" "...Noio..." She'd resist, although she knew just as well as she did. Meanwhile, Triangle would eventually notice how wide he was smiling, being incredibly captivated by this story, and how he played a role in it, and quickly covered his mouth in embarrassment. The bystanders, especially Team Sharp Minds, would continue watching him with further concern.

"But..." Bubble hesitated one more time, before finally giving in, realizing there wasn't any alternative. "Oi suppose Match is roight... We need to put our team foirst!" Bubble began crying as well. "Oi'm so soirry, Ice Cube! But I need to vote for you!" "No!" It was, of course, yet another blow to Ice Cubes morale. Not wanting to be suspicious yet again, Triangle looked away from the teams and looked at the vote display.

ICE CUBE: 2 [X]

"...That's a clear majority, folks." Triangle began. "That... That wraps up this elimination." He'd slightly sweat as he watched everyone still looking suspicious at him. "Forgive me for ruining what is an otherwise depressing moment, but see how much quicker these eliminations are getting done, now?" He'd try his best to cover up his smile as it only slowly lessened in width. "...This whole new team arrangement is... Is... Uh..." In a rare act of cooperation between the hosts, the Announcer would carry out the elimination for him. "Sorry, Ice Cube. Goodbye." The Announcer would hop to press a button on the floor, which was supposed to launch Ice Cube to the TLC. All it did, however, was make a clicking sound, doing absolutely nothing. "...What?" It'd be rather confused. The Announcer would repeatedly hop on the button, to no avail. "Oh, uh... Let me try." Triangle would snap his fingers, but yet again, nothing would happen. He'd look at Pin, fearing for his life, but she wasn't looking at him, instead conversing with Leafy. "That's... Odd." Triangle looked at the contestants. "What's going on?" While Match and the others were wiping their tears away, Tennis Ball would suddenly interrupt the two of them. "Guys, you *actually* don't know?" He began. "The TLCs carrying capacity is six. As in, six contestants. Go past six, and it won't be able to fit them all comfortably!" The hosts would be rather stunned at his knowledge of the TLC. The Announcer would continue on regardless, however. "Those contestants were rather small, and the TLC is huge." Triangle only chuckled. "I suppose whoever created the darn thing made the TLC have some generous safety precautions. If only a certain *someone* had made the thing, but better..." Triangle would look at the Announcer with a grin on his face, implying that it was the Announcer that made the TLC.

The Announcer immediately protested. "What? I didn't make it. The-" "But I digress." Triangle continued. "If the TLC can no longer do its job, then I suppose we need to do some renovating in order to more properly house the eliminated contestants! I've been planning to do this for a while now, and I just needed the right reason for it." Triangle snapped his fingers, and all of the eliminated contestants were teleported out of the TLC, and were all placed in a group that was separate from the other bystanders. "FINALLY!" Eraser yelled. "We're *finally* out of that prison!" "I know, right?" Flower agreed. "If I had to stand Rockys vomit one more time, or Golf Balls ranting, I would-" Rocky would promptly vomit onto Flowers legs, causing her to scream. "What the?" Golf Ball was stunned. "We've been transported out of the Tiny Loser Chamber by an unknown force! We have to-" She'd quickly be interrupted by Woodys screaming. In the midst of all this commotion, however, Pencil would only be interested in one thing. "MATCH!" She'd immediately yell out as soon as she spotted her. "PENCIL!" Match immediately turned to face her. "YOU'RE BACK!" "I KNOW! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT I EXPERIENCED IN THE TLC! IT WAS-" "QUIET!"

Everyone would immediately be silenced as soon as Triangle yelled. "Thank you." He nodded. "Now, I'm sure all of you would like to know why you were suddenly brought out of the TLC, yes?" All six eliminated contestants would immediately start yelling over each other, attempting to ask all sorts of questions, but Triangle would end up understanding none of them. "...Silence." They'd go silent again. "The reason that I let you guys out... Is because you will be given a chance to rejoin the competition!" Everyones eyes would then widen. "I'm doing this out of the goodness of my own heart, and *definitely* not because I need to keep you guys away from the TLC for the time being." All of the eliminated contestants would immediately gasp at the chance to gain their freedom. As soon as the shock settled down, they'd immediately begin a third round of panicking and yelling, now in excitement. Triangle continued. "At some point in the next 24 hours, two lucky eliminated contestants will rejoin the competition! Who those two will be will be based on... Uh..." Triangle would go silent, and so would the eliminated contestants, as soon as they noticed that he had quieted down. He hadn't actually planned what the actual event would be for the eliminated contestants to participate in, having been so excited over the renovations.

"Well... Hm..." Triangle then finally got his idea. "How about yet another round of contestant voting? That always-" "No." The Announcer immediately interrupted. "Huh? Why not?" "I already planned for an event for something just like this. I'll manage it, and the competition during the time you'll be renovating." Triangle scoffed, realizing just how powerless the Announcer was compared to him. "*Renovating*? It'll be easy as pie! Watch." Triangle would snap his fingers, only for it to give off an inconsequential spark. He'd immediately look around him, and would spot Pin having just looked away from him. "...Oh dear." Triangle sighed. "Okay! I suppose i'll let you manage the competition while I renovate. "Thank you." Triangle sighed in relief. "Anyways... Since Ice Cube won't be able to join you guys in the TLC... Uh..." Triangle would snap his fingers, and Ice Cube would join the eliminated group, screaming as she got teleported. The two remaining members of Team Alliance would also yell in response.

"Wait!" Flower immediately interrupted. "When will we get the chance to-" "Tomorrow. Do you see the sky?" Triangle pointed up, and Flower stared directly up at the Sun. It was still mid-day. "WHAT? It's noon!" The sun would suddenly traverse down its arc path, setting within seconds, and it would become night. "Not anymore! Haha!" Triangle laughed. "Manipulation powers!" "Wait, how come you can-" Triangle would immediately interrupt Eraser. "SILENCE!" He'd yell out. "I've had enough of you delinquents already. No wonder you bunch ended up being eliminated." Amidst the commotion however, Golf Ball couldn't help but ask something, regardless of Triangles orders. "Wait!" She began. "Until the contest begins, and we can move back in, where are we going to be housed? *Surely* it can't be as unsanitary as the TLC?" "Oh, right!" Triangle immediately dropped his angry expression. "I guess you'll be stuck for the night with me." Everyone would begin screaming. To them, that was pretty much a fate worse than death. "Well, technically, that is." Triangle scoffed. "I'm not *that* bad of a roommate. Sheesh."

He'd pause for a moment before continuing. "You'll all be temporarily housed in my Base of Operations, in a separate area from my *actual* working area." Triangle breathed. "Besides, even if you *were* going to stay at my place, I won't even be there anyway. I'll be renovating throughout the night." Flower sighed in relief. "Oh, that's good! I don't want to be stuck with yet *ANOTHER* person! I've had too much to deal with these five- er, six, in the first place!" "Alright. I do suppose that's enough delaying..." Triangle sighed. "Everyone back to your quarters, now. Follow me!" The twenty contestants, both eliminated and not, as well as the Announcer would reluctantly comply, having nothing better to do. It took much the same time as it did last time, although the trip would be way more loud than last, mostly due to the eliminated contestants wanting to know what they had missed. Within half an hour, all the non-eliminated contestants were back in their respective teams houses. As for the eliminated contestants, however, they would be led to Triangles Base of Operations, where they would be introduced to their temporary home: the Temporary Detainment Camper, which was a camper that could barely fit the seven eliminated contestants.

"WHAT?" As soon as Flower laid her eyes on their new temporary home, she was obviously disgusted. "I can't believe this!" Golf Ball shared much the same sentiment. "I couldn't stand the others in the TLC, and that was with several square feet of room all to myself! You can't possibly be serious!" Triangle chuckled, enjoying everyone hating his solutions to his own problems. "Oh, hush. You'll only be there for around... Two to three days? Maybe even for *just* the night, if you're lucky to rejoin!" "Well, I suppose it's better than nothing." Eraser sighed. "At least we can breathe fresh air for once. This place actually has *windows*!" "Ugh. I know, right?" Pencil scoffed. "The TLC was entirely sealed shut for most of the time! All I could smell was Rockys vomit for an entire week!" "Alright, everyone! Get inside!" Triangle smiled. "And sweet dreams!" Of course, everyone would immediately say no, not wanting to be moved from one terrible dump to another, arguably worse one. Triangle contemplated his next move, and would consider lashing out at them with his glorious wrath and anger. But then, he realized that he was an all-powerful being and they *weren't*, and so he smiled. "That wasn't a request, silly." He would then snap his fingers, and all of them would be teleported into the TDC. A lock would appear on the TDCs only door, locking them all inside. As they realized their predicament, the eliminated contestants would scream in despair.

Triangle would then spend a quarter of an hour hastily painting the words "TEMPORARY DETAINMENT CAMPER" into the side, seemingly enjoying the screaming as the eliminated contestants couldn't handle being compressed even further. As he got around halfway done with painting, the Announcer, having noticed the screaming, would confront him. "This... place, doesn't sound all too much better than the TLC." "Oh, relax." Triangle remained focused on his painting. "After a week in the TLC? They'll *thank* us by the end of the night. Besides, it's only a temporary solution. See the writing?" He'd point to the freshly-painted letters. The word "TEMPORARY" had already been painted onto the side, with him partly through painting the word "DETAINMENT". "I know, but-" "Then you know!" Triangle patted the Announcer, being careful not to get any of the paint on it. "Great work. Now get back to watching the remaining contestants. I made sure that these delinquents couldn't get out by making this camper be made out of some indestructible steel for the night, so I won't have to keep an eye on them during renovations!" "Um. Okay." The Announcer would reluctantly hop away, and even though it was featureless and couldn't show emotion, Triangle knew that the Announcer was somewhat uncomfortable with the arrangement. Somehow, he had managed to finally crack the mysterious other host, and he seemed rather pleased with it. Triangle would eventually be finished with the painting, and went back to his camper to pick up his radio. He had a busy night ahead of him.

-

/Team Sharp Minds/

Tennis Ball had gathered all the members of the team into a corner of the house, as they were going to begin planning for their future activity in the competition, given that their past plans were now rendered obsolete by the change in teams. His plans had only been made with *just* Team Prawn in mind, but now, with the teams split even further, they needed to take another look at the plans.

"Alright! I'm going to be checking attendance." Tennis Ball had somehow made a full recovery from his state of deep depression in a matter of hours, presumably taking a page from Golf Balls book. "TB... We're all here." Coiny remarked. "I'm just making sure, okay?" Triangle breathed. "Now... Needle?" Needle raised her hand. "Present. But-" "Coiny?" "Present!" Coiny raised his hand, although without much enthusiasm. "Sheesh." "Spongy?" Spongy raised his foot. "Yeah." Truly captivating dialog right here. "Great!" Tennis Ball was pleased with himself. He had managed to do things like Golf Ball would've done. "Okay, Needle, what was it that you were going to say?" "Uh, Why are you the one that's leading this meeting?" Needle asked. "I'm the team leader!" "Uh... No offense, Needle..." Tennis Ball already sensed the anger in her eyes. "...But i'm the smartest one of this team. I was tutored by the *very best*, after all." Coiny sighed. "You don't have to gush over GB every time, you know." "QUIET!" Tennis Ball yelled. Awkward silence would then ensue, making Spongy not too comfortable with his new team. "Uh oh..."

"Now... Coiny, I understand that you have *some* concerns over the competition, right?" Tennis Ball attempted to change the focus of the conversation. "Uh... Yeah?" "Mind elaborating further on those?" "Yeah, well..." Coiny scratched his head, not really sure how he could word it without offending *someone*. "I've only just been noticing this after all the conflict between us became rather obvious, and *especially* after the teams were split further." Coiny breathed. "Like, have you noticed how our friendships, especially those with who are now in different teams, are worsening?" "Uh... No?" Tennis Ball tried to say it without being insensitive, but it didn't really work out. "Of course not! All you ever talk with is with Golf Ball!" "She gets me, alright? Now, if you may-" "Speaking of Golf Ball, Blocky's a perfect example of this!" Coiny made a rather strange leap in logic. How *did* Golf Ball relate to Blocky? That will immediately be answered in the next sentence. Man, whoever's writing this must be completely dumb. Oh wait! "We used to be good friends, but after I decided to *just slightly* follow what GB said, because she made some sense, it was as if we were never friends as all!" Coiny breathed, containing his anger. "It's absurd! Me and him go way back!" "Yeah, but you said-" "And then there's Needle and Golf Ball!" Coiny immediately interrupted. "Like, don't lie, TB. I know that you've been watching over her. You *gotta* know that they've had some conflicting ideas sometimes! Especially over how this team should be managed!" "Well..." Tennis Ball hesitated. "Maybe? but you-" "And then there's what happened just now! Did you see what happened with Ice Cube? She and Bubble were good friends! But Bubble was forced to vote her out of the competition, and that seemed to ruin their friendship instantly!"

Coiny sighed. "...Can't you see, TB? This... Whole thing, this competition, it clearly makes no sense! If we're dealing with someone rational here, they'd most certainly know of our friendship and all that, and so they wouldn't make us compete like this!" Coiny sighed. "...But we're clearly not dealing with someone right in the head now, are we?" Tennis Ball thought about it for a moment, being the man of logic he was. "...I suppose you're right." He'd finally nod in agreement. "This competition is tearing us apart, guys. I don't know what compelled Triangle to do it, and I don't know what for, but I *do* know that that's the case." Coiny breathed, not really prepared to say what he was going to say next. He never really saw himself as a smart man. "It's... It's just the only logical explanation. I'm sure GB will be proud of what I've worked out." He'd sigh. "Well..." Tennis Ball hesitated again. "I wouldn't *exactly* say that GB would be-" "You know what I meant!" Coiny interrupted. "It just makes sense! But it isn't easy to just *figure it out* now, does it? That's what I meant." Tennis Ball sighed. "...Well, if that truly *is* the case, how would we break it? How would we prevent this so-called ruining from getting any worse?" "...Can't we just attack him?" Needle suggested. "I don't think the host has been seen to have a recovery center or something, right?" "Does it matter if he has a recovery center or not? Because-" "I have a sharp edge! I'd be able to-" "And he has the ability to literally make houses, among other things, appear out of nowhere." Coiny interrupted. "...I hate to say this, Needle, but I disagree with you here." "I mean..." Needle became embarrassed. If Coiny wouldn't take her side, then no one would. "It's probably worth a shot?"


Tennis Ball shook his head. "No. Clearly, attacking him head-on just *won't* work. Maybe if we manage to rally the teams against him, we could overwhelm him with numbers. But it'll take too much time, and we don't really have any time at all, what with all the contests." Tennis Ball breathed. "I say we play it smart. It's what GB would've wanted." "No kidding." Coiny scoffed. "Well, what's your plan, then?" "Simple." Tennis Ball nodded with confidence. "...We win the competition." "...WHAT?" Coiny, obviously, didn't see the flawless logic with that plan. "How does that solve anything?" Needle asked. "If we win the competition, then it would've been completed, and we would be defeating ourselves!" "Think about it!" Tennis Ball continued. "Dream Island is supposed to be some paradise. If we let everyone in Dream Island, i'm sure they'd be able to resolve their conflicts in no time. Can't argue when you have every need satisfied, right?" Coiny thought about it. "That does make sense..." He'd nod. "They'll have everything they ever wanted. No reason for them to mess it up for themselves."

"There's also..." Tennis Ball hesitated. "There's also a more complicated part of the plan." He'd breathe. "I don't think you guys will understand it, however. I'll keep it from you guys until it's time." "Just tell us!" Needle demanded. "I'm the team leader, I have a right to know!" "Yeah!" Spongy agreed. "We *do* have a right to know, TB." Coiny also agreed. Tennis Ball took a deep breath, and then sighed. "The Multiversal Travel Machine." Everyone had forgotten all about it, as Dream Island was the more captivating of the two prizes. "The Multiversal... *What* now?" "Don't you remember? That's one of the prizes for winning the competition, along with Dream Island! I've been doing a bit of research, and-" "...Research?" Coiny interrupted. "I just talked with GB about it, okay?" Tennis Ball sighed. "Anyways. I theorize that by using it, we will be able to alter the timeline so that we'd all remain happy, and the whole competition would never happen!" "...You don't think that would cause the world to, I don't know, *blow up* or something?" "...You watch *way* too many movies, Coiny." Tennis Ball scoffed, although almost none of them have ever heard of a movie. "It'll work, trust me."

They all exchanged glances at each other, no longer sure what to say. "So..." Coiny began. "All we gotta do is... Do our best?" "Obviously." Tennis Ball nodded. "All the others will be doing so as well. And if we wanna do our best..." Tennis Ball would then hop onto one of the beds. "We gotta get a good nights rest." Everyone stared at Tennis Ball, with some of them cringing about the fact that it *rhymed*. Eurgh. "TBs right, I suppose..." Needle added. "Good night, Coiny." Needle and Spongy would walk (or slide, in Spongys case) to their respective beds, and immediately went to sleep. Coiny would do so shortly after.

/Team Prawn/

The five members of the team would gather around in much the same arrangement as Team Sharp Minds, as they also wanted to discuss their plans for the future. "So, uh... What's going on?" Blocky, being the newest member of the team, would immediately ask, not being let in to what was going on. "Uh..." Pen began. "Let's just say that... My team has been noticing something... Suspicious going on with Pin. Do you know anything about that?" Blocky shook his head. "Uh... No. I've been busy with my own team, thank you very much." "Well, the others think that Pin might be up to no good. Says that she's been collaborating with Leafy for... Something." That piqued Blockys interest, for some reason. "What? Why?" Pen sighed. "Well, me and Snowball have had some... Experiences, with Pin. Teardrop told- er, shouldn't say that." Pen scratched his head. "Um... She *indicated* to us that she *also* had a particularly bad experience with her as well. That's why she's drawing right now." Pen then pointed to her. Teardrop was currently busy drawing several symbols onto a sheet of paper. Why she decided not to just write words instead, when she could clearly understand *those*, is beyond me or them. She was rather anxious as she did so, looking at the other four every once in a while as she did so, just in case one of them turned to Pin, or something.

She eventually finished after a few seconds, and passed the paper on to everyone else. "Let me see that." Snowball would immediately pick up the paper, only for Blocky to immediately take it from him as well. "Hey!" "Oh, quiet." "We all know how well you did in the test. Given your past behavior, you'll probably spend five minutes thinking about it, and then give up. *On the first symbol*." Blocky breathed. "Also, I have more experience in reading strange symbols. I'm not the *only* prank master in this world." Blocky would never clear up what he meant by this. And neither would the past version of the author. You dumb- "You failed the test too!" Snowball protested. "And-" "Quiet. I'm translating it to words right now." Blocky took a minute to look at the paper, slightly nodding as he did so. "Yep... Mhm... Alright." He'd then look away from the paper. "Yeah, this makes no sense." "Oh, come *on*!" Pen would grab the paper as well, reading it. "What the?" He would interpret the symbols easily, and then looked at the other two. "Are you kidding me, guys? *This* is difficult for you guys to interpret?" Pen showed the paper to them. They were rather simplistic symbols, but most of them only had one meaning that would make sense, given the context.

"Well, what does it mean, wise guy?" Blocky asked. "Tell us!" "It says..." Pen looked back at the paper. "Uh... Teardrop had been spying on Pin and Leafy?" Pen was now a little unsure, now having to show off his translation work to the others. The four would look at Teardrop with concern, only for her to just shrug in response. Pen continued. "She wrote that Pin had been speaking with Leafy in quiet these past few days, and that they were planning for either one of them to win." "I mean, that would make sense..." Firey finally joined in on the conversation, after such a long time of being silent. "But why would Pin want Leafy to win as well? Wouldn't she want to win on her own?" "They're working together, according to what she understood." Pen continued. "If either one gets eliminated, they *would* want someone close to them to win." "But why?" The answer was rather obvious: they want to win in order to win the prize, of course. But in the context of Pin and Leafy, it seemed as if it just *wasn't* going to be as simple as that. "Because..." Pen would continue reading the paper, interpreting the symbols. "They... Think the Multiversal Travel Machine could fix everything?"

...That was odd. Everyone else up to that point had thought that they were going to use *Dream Island* for whatever they had in mind. "*What*?" Firey was especially confused. "That doesn't make any sense! How would that metal box even serve any purpose? Like, literally no one has wanted to win it! They've all talking about Dream Island!" Teardrop could only shrug. She didn't have any ideas either. At least, any ideas that could be represented by only a handful of symbols. "Hold up, there's one last detail..." Pen continued reading the paper. "In the night before Pencil was eliminated... Teardrop had urged Pencil to spy on them as well." "What?" Firey was, of course, confused once again. "Yeah." Snowball, somehow using critical thinking, would agree with Pen. "Don't you find it weird that they were *suddenly* so aggressive towards Pencil? She hadn't done anything wrong!" "I mean, I can understand why they'd be angry, she had been talking to Match..." Pen continued. "But what *does* freak me out is the fact that they hadn't done so sooner. She had been talking with her since the start of the competition. The sudden change in her attitude towards her is... Off-putting, to say the least."

"So..." Blocky said. "Does that mean Pin *is* up to no good?" "I mean, it's a good piece of evidence towards that conclusion, yes..." Pen continued. "But it doesn't confirm *that*, exactly. We definitely *have* to investigate further." "But how?" "Uh..." Pen then looked at Teardrop. "Teardrop, you've been the closest one to the two, you should..." Teardrop would begin shaking, and would especially shake her head. Pen seemed confused by this. "Why not?" She'd merely continue shaking her head. "It's clear that Teardrop's uncomfortable with being around them. I mean, you can't blame her." Blocky answered for her. "We need to pick someone else that isn't as traumatized as the rest of you." Blocky breathed. "With Teardrop out of the question, you and Snowball having had bad experiences with her, and me having been in Team Sharp Minds... That leaves... Firey." They'd all then look at Firey. "What? *Me*?" Given what they had said about Pin, Firey wasn't too keen on doing it either. "*Why*?" "Well, you're the only one that hasn't had a... 'history' with Pin, yes?" Blocky asked. "Yeah... But-" "That settles it, then." Blocky nodded. "In the next contest, and the ones after, you'll gather as much information on Pin as possible. Figure out what she has in mind. Got that?" "But I didn't-" "Blocky's right." Snowball interrupted. "Only *you* can pull this off. All of us are way too traumatized by what Pin did to us to do it." He'd nod. "But why not Blocky?" Firey protested. "I mean, we're the only two in this team that haven't had a bad experience with Pin, and-" "And he was in another team for a while, while you had always been in Team Prawn." Pen interrupted. "You're just the *only* reasonable candidate."

Firey would sweat ever so slightly, but as soon as a droplet actually formed, it would cause him to feel slight pain, which forced him to stop worrying. He'd sigh. "Oh, alright..." "Great." Blocky nodded. "I'll instruct you about what to do later on. I need to observe their behavior, first. Haven't had all too much time to watch them..." As Blocky trailed off, Pen picked up the conversation. "I do suppose that that wraps up the meeting, correct?" Four of them would raise their hands, with the exception of Blocky. Pen sighed. "Blocky, what is it?" "I haven't even been told what your experiences with Pin were like!" Blocky brought up. "I haven't been able to talk to you guys, and-" "Let's just say that it wasn't good, and keep it at that, alright?" Blocky sighed. "Ugh, fine." "Now let's go to bed. We have a busy day ahead of us. Or maybe even a few days." Teardrop and Firey would be the only ones to actually comply. Pen would also want to do so, but Blocky would stop him before he could, urging him to talk. That meant Snowball and Pen had to talk with Blocky about what happened, just to clear things up with him. It would be an hour or so before they actually went to sleep.

/Team Alliance/

Match had spent much of her time openly crying and slightly leaning on Bubble, not wanting to pop her and lose yet another friend. She was, of course, mourning the loss of Ice Cube *and* Match, which she obviously couldn't handle all too well. Her cries would be very much heard from several good feet away from the van.

"Oh, Bubble!" Match cried out. "Like, you know I didn't mean to, like, tear Icy away from us! Like, you know how much she meant to me! Like, I didn't want to lose another, like, friend after what happened to Pencil!" She'd continue crying. "Just please, like, forgive me!" "Match..." Bubble had to pat her in the back just to prevent her from falling further into her depression. "I already forgave you! I know it was for the best! I'm not that dumb, you know?" "Oh, like, I know! But, like, did you see what Icy said before she, like, left?" She'd ask. "She was, like, so mad at us! Like, what're we going to do?" "Um... I don't know..." Bubble replied. "But we shouldn't worry about that! Come on, let's go watch some TV!" Bubble would grab the TV remote and turned it on. It was still playing the same show from several days prior. Given their observations, this channel only seemed to play this specific show for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 4 weeks a month... You get the point by now. After several minutes of watching, Match would finally calm down. She'd stop crying so much, and her whimpering would come to an end.

"But, like, i'm still, like, concerned about Ice Cube..." Match continued. "She must be, like, so mad." "She'll know whoi we did that in toime." Bubble replied. "I promise. We're good froinds! I'm sure she'll understand." "Like, I suppose you're, like, right..." They'd continue watching the show, and eventually would return to their usual commentating and laughing at the events that were happening in the show. The show, as they would come to know from hours of continuous watching, was about the lives of two families (that were half the world away so that there was always something going on whenever one of them slept) that stayed connected through a variety of means. They'd laugh and talk as the show continued late into the night, and almost forgot their troubles and worries in the competition. It still remained somewhere in their mind, of course. They weren't stuck in a van for no reason.

As they continued watching, they'd grow ever more tired, but still wanted to continue watching. As the night went on, however, the two would begin noticing that something was slightly off with the show. It wasn't 'off' as in this is the start of some terrible horror story about a haunted TV channel, but it was definitely giving off the same vibe. The show had many voices, of course, but going on in the background, barely audible, were a series of other voices, semi-identical to each other, but were clearly different (as they talked to each other), saying a bunch of cryptic orders out loud. These voices would normally be drowned out during normal (awake) hours, but as midnight grew nearer, the voices began growing louder, presumably because no one would be watching at such a late hour. Match and Bubble had been having rather long periods of silence in-between funny moments in the show at that time, and so they were able to notice the voices, given enough silence in both the real world and the show. Match was the first to notice it and point it out.

"Uh... Bubble, like, do you hear that?" Match tapped her in the shoulder. "...Huh?" Bubble had managed to fall asleep, but was woken up by her tapping. "...Hear what?" "Like, there's some... Like, other noises, coming from like, the TV." "Maybe it's just static?" Bubble asked. "I thought so too, but, like, it sounds... Different." Match would get up, leaning closer towards the TVs speakers. As she did, the voices became more clear. Her suspicions would be confirmed: two identical voices were talking to each other, talking about all sorts of nonsense. The more they listened in, however, the more they seemed to relate what they were saying to what was going on in the competition.

"...Backup has been requested by Special Operative." One of the voices spoke out. "Affirmative. Request already acknowledged around 24 hours earlier. Helicopter squadron already launched to operative coordinates." Another one of the voices spoke out. Although they sounded nearly the same, she could tell that they were *slightly* different, not including the fact that they were also talking to each other. "ETA?" "Landing should be in approximately several minutes. Destination was across half the Sea from the base, approximately 1 day of flight time. Most of it attempting to find the place." "Affirmative. Any word on the status of the host?" "Initial reports of the host came approximately 72 hours ago. The host has been located, and was confirmed to have manifested in the form of one of living indigenous inhabitants. Counter-measures and containment operations underway." "Affirmative. Affirmative." "God, could you keep quiet?" That last voice was somewhat familiar to the two, but couldn't be certain through all the static. Although they wanted to pin down who it was, the fact that the voice was rather unclear due to all the static made it impossible to be *fully* certain.

The conversation paused for a moment, with the original two having not expected the arrival of the new voice. "Operative, why are you in the channel?" "Just checking in on the status of the supply squadron?" "...Affirmative." The rustling of papers could be heard, and then the tapping of glass, presumably of a screen. "Should be landing near your position now. Several hundred meters off east from last known host location." "Uhuh." The new voice coughed. "Quit the formalities. Who's in the helicopters?" "According to the latest reports, only several men. Five in each helicopter, and five helicopters. Twenty five in total." "Mhm. Will they be here for long?" "Helicopters will be landing to refuel. The men will help with unloading the supplies, and then will work to leave ASAP. Should be gone by sunrise." "We only need to move the thing several miles or so. Give us, like, two hours." "Affirmative." A brief pause would follow, completely dominated by the regular voices in the show. "Any new information on the host?" "Hold your horses. You're only the base people." The voice breathed. "I believe this other thing concerns us more." "Yes?" "The inhabitants have been suspicious of our actions in the area. Have taken notice of both our actions and the actions of the enemy. We're clearly acting out of line out of their traditional customs." One of the other voices sighed. "Oh, come on. They're only, like, twenty-ish inhabitants? They can't possibly know any better."

Now the two were really interested. There were, indeed, only 20 contestants in the competition. It probably wasn't a mere coincidence, they thought. They *had* to be talking about so-called 'operations' in their area. They'd start listening closer. "There were also complications caused by another anomaly which appeared some moments before my entry. Temporarily designated as..." It took a moment to come up with a cool name, at least to their understanding. "Anomaly Delta, or something, until permanent classification is given. I assume the file about it has been given to you, yes?" "Yes, the information is very much worrying, but-" "What about the host? As long as the host doesn't know of your motives, you should be fine." "...The *assumed* host has been seen staring directly at me in several instances. I think it knows." Match would suddenly get the urge to look at Team Winner, and would immediately do so. She had been getting word from Pencil and several others that Pin had been acting weird, and had also spotted her staring at Triangle for no real reason in several instances. She had been connecting the dots as soon as the voices began talking of someone similar to her. The two members of Team Winner were asleep, having done so early. They were probably unaware, she thought.

There was a brief silence before the voices continued. "...Advised course of action is to remain calm and continue regular operations. Acting upon it will only cause further suspicion." "Affirm- no, alright. I don't need to be formal with you guys. Formality is only for those inferior talking to their superiors, not the other way around." The voice breathed. "Superiors are supposed to insult their subordinates, or something." It'd cough. "Will be leaving now. I think I hear them coming." The voices didn't seem to care about what they just said. "Affirmative, reports from squadron line up with your observations." As if on cue, the two of them could suddenly hear a quiet droning sound, as if helicopters were making their way over. They wouldn't amount to anything more than a faint rumble, however, and would remain distant. The rumbling would eventually stop, and they'd assume that they had landed. "Uh... Bubble?" she'd tap her shoulder again. Bubble would already be fast asleep again, having already been tired out from watching for quite a while. "Bubble!" She'd then shake her. "Match... No... Oi'm already tired..." "But..." Bubble would immediately go back to sleep.

Match was displeased, having wanted to look at what was going on outside. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized she probably wasn't the best course of action, given what she knew about Triangle. The helicopters were possibly quite distant, according to her estimates, and the fence was literally in front of them. What were the odds that she was actually going to figure out *anything*?

Giving up on that goal, she'd turn the TV off, and went to sleep as well.

-

Leafy was walking along a familiar forest: the forest which the contestants had walked through some time earlier. Her perception of the experience had been slightly warped, however, as the newly-built road had cut straight through it, and they had seen it during their road trip. After what seemed like an eternity of going through the trees, she'd eventually come across the familiar road. She'd look to her left and right, and saw the road stretching onto both sides of the horizon. The horizon, however, was being obscured by a fog which began to grow thicker the more she looked onward. She'd blink, unaware of the fog, and merely assumed that her vision was blurring, for reasons unknown. The more she did, however, the more the fog became pronounced. Looking to her left, the fog grew more and more dense until there was a cloud of solid white matter that blocked her vision of the road any further than several meters or so. She'd look to her right, and saw the same fog, but it now took on a more pinkish color. As she continued looking to her right, the fog would continue to change color, the pink becoming darker and darker until it became a deep shade of red, much like the color of clear rubies.

She'd look away from the fog on both sides, choosing to look in front of her instead, only to see Pin standing in front of her. She was, of course, surprised to see her, given that she hadn't seen her before now, and assumed she appeared from the trees as well. She'd wave to her, but she'd remain silent for some time. Finally, Pin finally spoke out. "You need to cooperate, Leafy." Leafy quickly became confused. She had a vague idea of what Pin meant, but it was as if the fog in the distance began manifesting in her head as well, making things less clear. "...Huh?" She'd weakly ask. "You can't keep doubting my will anymore, Leafy. You know I have everyones needs in mind, right?" Pin smiled. "I want to fix everything by winning the competition. Nothing's wrong with that, right?" She'd hesitate from answering her for a moment. "...You're right, but..." "I only do *that* to you because you're still not willing to help. You and I both know that it's the right thing to do. Why delay any further?" She'd sigh. "You need to choose, right now. Either you're with me, or against me. Enough with this in-between nonsense. Pick a side, already!" Leafy looked at the two walls of fog again. The white fog turning into a somewhat less pure, but more natural, shade of gray, and the red fog taking on a darker shade as well. Common sense dictated to her that the white fog was good, and that the red was bad. That's what she, and everyone else, was taught by Golf Ball in the few times they had put up with her. Pin would also slightly glance at the two walls of fog, mostly just following where Leafys eyes went.

She'd spend a minute or so in making her decision, looking at Pin as she did so. She naturally wanted to choose the white fog, but she felt as if the more she thought about it, the more Pin looked worried. She didn't want to disappoint Pin, but she also wanted to pick the obvious 'good' choice. Closing her eyes for a second and breathing in for good measure, Leafy finally decided to go into the white fog, believing whole-heartedly that it was the right decision. She'd step onto the road, walking closer to Pin ever so slowly, until she finally took her first steps in turning to the left. As soon as she did so, however, Pin would immediately grab her right arm with a sense of anger that was beyond anything she had seen from her before. "That's the WRONG answer, Leafy!" She'd yell out, surprising her. "I thought you'd KNOW BETTER!" She'd grab onto her arm as if she was choking it, and began dragging her to the red fog. She'd protest, obviously, attempting to sink her feet more into the asphalt and trying to drag Pin into the white fog. This tug-of-war continued over the course of two minutes, until a sudden loud noise caused both of them to stop.

The sound appeared to be that of a large object hitting a hard surface: extremely loud at first, but eventually settled until it dissipated into the background noise. It was much like a clock towers bells ringing out once it had struck 12, but it was some twisted variant of it, or something. Can you tell I suck at writing, yet? The two of them would listen to it as it faded away before continuing, and they'd then hear the faint sound of rumbling. Leafy would look around in search of the source, but would immediately be fixated on her arm, especially the part which Pin was grabbing, which had begun to turn into a deep shade of red, which was now spreading throughout her body. The rumbling grew louder and louder the more it spread, drowning out any attempts of them to yell as soon as the red began growing over Leafys green. She'd cry out in pain as it began growing further into her like a virus, replacing the skin as it went. Tears would form in her eyes as the pain grew too much to bear, and she'd shut her eyes one last time, keeping them closed as she prepared for death.

-

She'd open them again after some time, and she was back at the van, having gone to sleep several hours earlier, according to her estimates given the position of the moon. The pain immediately disappeared as soon as she woke up, and she sighed in relief. She'd look at Pin, and she was still asleep. She'd then immediately notice that they were holding hands. Slightly blushing, she'd move Pins hand aside and would move it aside. The next thing she noticed, however, was that the rumbling was still present, although the source was now somewhat more clear. She'd open up one of the doors in the van to look out, immediately being greeted by the fence, but wasn't deterred by the disappointing sight. She'd look up at the small gap between the van and the fence, and saw the night sky, still pitch black. The rumbling continued to grow louder, and as soon as several blurry objects flew overhead, she'd realize that that was the source of all the noise: a group of helicopters that were flying through the area. The helicopters were quick to leave, going at a rather sharp angle to go faster horizontally, and so the rumbling quickly began to go quiet as soon as Leafy saw them right above her. Several minutes later, the rumbling could no longer be discerned among the other noises of the night, the helicopters having flown off into the horizon.

A lot of questions immediately filled her mind as soon as she felt that it was safe enough to be lost in her thoughts: just why were they here, exactly? There hadn't been anything flying over the area until now, and so it was rather strange to see it happen for the first time. Did they have any business here? And for that matter, how did she even know what a helicopter was? A whole lot of questions were in her head, with absolutely no discernible answers to any of them. She'd immediately give up in attempting to rationalize what just happened, and decided to just go back to sleep. As she began falling asleep again, all she could think about was if the other contestants heard the commotion, and she would move aside all her other questions for the night.

-