From the darkness, there was light. And from the light, there was darkness.
When Book snapped back to reality after being momentarily paralyzed by a blinding light, she found herself at its exact opposite: complete and total
darkness. The room she was in, which had been barely illuminated to begin with, was now completely pitch black. As her hearing quickly faded back to normal, she began to hear faint rumbling which quickly grew louder, followed by the sounds of explosions, gunfire, and a deafening roar which was more than enough to send chills down even the hardiest of people's spines. The room began to shudder and creak as a chaotic symphony of death and destruction occurred above, with the dying screams of agony and pain of the soldiers attempting to fight whatever unholy evil had now emerged peppered throughout. As the gravity of the situation continued to become unmistakably obvious upon her, she couldn't muster the courage to get up and face the adversity. She had always thought that she'd be more than willing to go to the ends of the world to pursue GD Incs end, to bring a final end to their reign of terror and misery upon the world. But now, as they seemingly faced their downfall quite literally above her head, she wasn't even able to stand up on her own two feet. For the first time in an extremely long while, Book felt completely hopeless and without direction: a lost child, scared nearly to death, in a terrible world of adults and serious business. She continued to break down, considering just screaming into the heavens and asking whoever was up there to finally put an end to her miserable life, finally hammering the final nail in her poorly-constructed coffin.
But she eventually managed to regain her composure, though not out of choice. As she looked up, she saw the ceiling just about to collapse entirely, and she was immediately gripped by fear of what was going to be inevitable if she didn't move out of the way *right now*. Books instincts took over as she quickly got up and backed into the stairs, just as when the roof finally gave way and poured a torrent of shelves, crates, and concrete onto the room. Book stayed still for a moment, once again being completely paralyzed by what had just occurred. She was so close to death, and she was very much grateful to still be alive, yet a part of her wishes that she had been crushed under the weight of the rubble. Book quickly shrugged that thought aside. She had regained her senses, and she realized that there was no use for crying at the moment. Her priority should be to *get the heck out of here*. She quickly rushed up the stairs and punched the trapdoor open, wasting no time in finding its handle. She'd peek out to take a good look at the situation that she had ended up in. It was most certainly quite a pickle she was in: soldiers were constantly rushing and shouting orders, fighting an enemy that always doesn't seem to be where they looked. All they'd be able to hear is a terrifying roar, and then, within a few moments, they'd start opening fire on where they thought it was, usually causing more damage to themselves than this seemingly invisible enemy. She was.... Obviously rather shocked by the situation, if she had to be brutally honest. As much as she hated GD Inc with a passion, they had to give credit where credit's due. They seemed to be an extremely powerful fighting force both before, during, and after the Event. Seeing them fail so catastrophically all of a sudden... It just didn't seem right.
She eventually found the courage to escape from her little hiding place and get out into the battle. She looked up, and was quite surprised to see the night sky instead of a ceiling. That was probably what caused the collapse, she reckoned. She quickly ran into a part of the underground area still... Well, underground, and she'd come across a soldier cowering behind what *was* a wall, tightly clutching onto his gun. Book couldn't help but stop and look at him, having barely seen a soldier in such a state before. There was clear and genuine fear in his eyes. He was shaking and shivering as he tested on the wall, incapable of breathing properly. This was *exactly* how she wanted to see them, Book thought. She wanted to see them beaten and broken, completely at their mercy. But... Why didn't she feel all too well about it? Book decided to do something completely dumb and walk towards him, knowing full well that she shouldn't be seen, given that she was a trespasser. She slowly approached him, not wanting to scare him any more than he already was. As she approached, the soldier quickly pointed his gun at her, understandably being concerned by someone approaching him. "S-Stop!" He shouted. "Don't come any further!" Book frowned. "...I know we're definitely not friends, but..." She sighed. "...We're allies at this very moment. Don't..." She slowly reached for his gun, and would slowly push it away from her. "...Don't shoot. Please. I'm here to help."
Book and the soldier stared at each other, slowly building up their trust. Book started approaching him once again, eventually sitting down next to him. "What's going on?" She asked. "I..." The soldier could barely speak. "...I don't... I don't know." He kept his gun close to him, though he'd obviously stop pointing it at her. "One moment, I was just doing patrols with my fellow men... The next... They... They..." He'd anxiously glance behind him, expecting someone to attack them right then and there. He then glanced back at Book. "...Look. I-I don't know... I don't know why you're here, but you're clearly a trespasser." Book sighed and nodded. "...Yeah. I am." She admitted. "Sorry." "But that doesn't matter." The soldier continued. "We're... We're all allies at this time, right?" Book nodded. "Seems like we're all just targets in..." She took a moment to look around, looking for the enemy, yet it obviously remained hidden. Continued attempts to root it out by the soldiers have led to absolutely nothing. "...In their eyes." The soldier nodded. "Look..." He sighed. "I-I won't tell my commander that you were ever here, just..." He'd instinctively look behind him, checking for the enemy. "...Just get out of here!" Book nodded. She sighed. "That's the plan, I guess." She then got up. "...Good luck to you, I guess." The soldier would manage to nod, and would then proceed to get up and run off, having gained the courage to charge into the fray once again. Perhaps he just wanted someone to talk to, Book thought. She then pushed the thought aside as she continued making her way out, seeing as the area clearly wasn't safe.
As Book finally made her way out of the warehouse, she could take a closer look at just what was going on. The soldiers have clearly already pulled out the big guns, sending out what few tanks and helicopters they had against the enemy. The enemy, however, remained completely unseen. All around them, the battle raged on, the enemy striking them just out of view. She waited for the soldiers to leave the area, though they'd do so a bit less than gracefully. The group she was observing would suddenly stop right where they are, look around, and then... One of them would suddenly pull out their gun and start firing openly at his friends. When one of them started, the rest of them followed, causing the entire group to collapse in on itself through sudden infighting. Books eyes widened as she watched this sudden battle, now being even more perplexed than she was before. Was that why she couldn't see the enemy? Was the enemy... Within them? She struggled to make sense of it all. Enough things already didn't make sense into this world, and another one was just adding insult to injury. After all the soldiers stopped firing, now being little more than bodies as good as dead, Book would head out and look for Puffball, her sole escape from this madhouse. She'd eventually spot her flying around, and would begin waving her arms. "PUFFBALL!" Book shouted. "OVER HERE!" Puffball would quickly notice and make her way over to her. "I've been looking for you!" Puffball shouted. "I know!" Book shouted back. "Let's get out of here!" She quickly got on Puffball, and they immediately flew off.
As they flew away, they saw the battle continuing on from high above. Pillars of dark smoke rose higher and higher into the sky, still somehow being visible in the dark night sky. Explosions constantly rocked the ground as the soldiers continued trying (and failing miserably) to fight this unknown enemy. As Book looked on, she thought about how much she had sacrificed to see this moment. It was exactly what she had always wanted: GD Inc collapsing in on itself, all at the hands of her and her friends. And yet... As the seemingly last bastion of tyranny fell into chaos, she wasn't able to feel a single hint of joy out of it. She remembered everything that led up to this moment: their encounter with those curious individuals with the vehicle, the excursions they did together, the standoff between Coiny and Triangle, the whole thing between them, and then... And then... Book sniffled as she remembered it all, shedding a single tear. They had indeed won, but at what cost? Puffball would notice her sadness, feeling that tear landing on her body. "...Book, what's wrong?" She asked. Book sniffled. "...Nothing." She lied. "It's fine. I'm fine." "Why are you crying?" Puffball continued asking. "We've won! There's no reason to be sad." "Yeah, yeah." Book nodded. "It's just..." She sighed. "...It's just tears of joy." Puffball remained concerned. "Um... Alright." She remained silent for a moment. "...I'll take you back to base. You clearly need-" "No." Book shook her head. "Why?" Puffball asked. "We need to get the others." Book replied. "Tell them of what happened." Puffball sighed. "...Alright."
And so they went.
-
Triangle woke up from his nap with a sudden and painful headache.
He immediately got up, catching the attention of the soldiers. "Sir!" One of them exclaimed. "What's wrong?" He asked. Triangle groaned. "...Nothing." He replied. "Nothing. I'm fine. It's just a headache." The soldier frowned. "We don't have any-" "It's fine." Triangle interjected. "I can handle it. I've dealt with worse." The soldier nodded. "...Alright, sir." A moment of awkward silence then followed. "...What happened while I was taking a nap?" Triangle asked. "Not much, sir." The soldier replied. "We're now close to the site of the base, however." Triangle nodded. "Alright, alright." He replied. "Tell me when we're within..." He did a few quick calculations to estimate how close they could get without the rumbling of the engines getting the attention of the others. "...A mile from the base." He finally said. The soldier nodded. "Alright, sir." As their attention was taken away from Triangle, he'd readjust himself to stay comfortable in the final stretch of the journey. He'd attempt to establish a telepathic link with GD. "How's the situation looking?" He asked. "Any hiccups?" GD wouldn't respond at all. Nothing but radio silence and static would fill his mind. "...Hey, you there?" Triangle asked. Still nothing. "...If you're busy, just say so." He continued. Yet again, still nothing. It was certainly something to be worried about. There were many reasons why GD would remain silent, most of them being bad, but some of them also being good. Since Triangle had a killer headache, he chose to just believe that he was too busy handling the base to respond. His mind was far too filled with other things in order to consider any other possibility. The prospect of returning to the base, only to find it in ruins, could possibly knock him out for good.
The APCs continued on their merry way for about half an hour as they made the final leg of the journey to the base. When they finally got within a mile of the base, the convoy would immediately stop. The soldiers then turned to Triangle. "We're here, sir." One of them said. "What are your orders?" He asked. "Didn't we already go through this?" Triangle raised an eyebrow. "I'll walk over there to negotiate with the agents. If all goes well, I'll bring them over to you guys." "And if it *doesn't* go well?" The soldier asked. "Uh..." Triangle scratched his head. "...We got binoculars, right?" He asked. A few soldiers nodded. "You guys watch in case fighting starts. If there's any conflict, you have my permission to charge and begin attacking hostiles." The soldiers nodded. "Understood, sir." One of them exclaimed. Triangle nodded back, and he'd get out of the APC. He made his way over to the front of the convoy, and looked at the living quarters in the distance, remaining as silent as ever. Triangle considered just teleporting there in a single snap, but he felt like actually walking there would be good for him. He'd be able to think through his plan to sway them to their side, and account for any possibilities. He sighed and reluctantly began the journey to the living quarters. Despite what he wanted to do, his mind would be blocked by the constant headache, preventing him from focusing on a given topic for more than a minute or so. It was just *that* painful. He groaned as it persisted, wishing that he took some medicine along with him. It was obviously something they should've brought along, but the ship was just too packed by that point. He berated himself for having been so incompetent recently, but then reassured himself that it was the best he could do. It wasn't like anyone had faced what he had before. He was all alone in figuring it out, and any mistakes he made along the way were justified.
Eventually, Triangle would manage to make it to the living quarters. Everyone inside would immediately notice him approaching, especially the newcomers, and they'd quickly arrive to confront him. Triangle sighed as he watched them approach him. "Here we go." He muttered to himself. Triangle stopped just short of the fence, making his way over to one of the gates, where he'd quickly come face to face with the people who had disdained him so much. The looks on their face clearly showed that they were tired of him showing up, but at least the fence would provide an illusion of safety from them. From the angry crowd, one of them would step forward. "What do you want *now*?" Nickel asked. "Have you come to try and weaken us again?" Triangle sighed. "Seriously. I've never intended to do that in all..." He counted for a moment with his fingers. "...Three times we've met." Nickel scoffed. "Yeah, sure." Triangle frowned. "Look. I'm being genuinely honest, here. GD Inc is in shambles. I couldn't fight you, even if I wanted to." He sighed. "I keep coming here because there *really* is an evil out to get the both of us. If we don't cooperate now-" "Didn't you say you'll deal with it yourself?" Donut shouted from the crowd. "Yeah!" Nickel agreed. "What gives?" The crowd would gradually begin to erupt in anger. "LOOK!" Triangle shouted, and the crowd would momentarily fall silent. "I'm giving you one final chance to come with us. To help us help you help us all, or something." He scratched his head. "If you want to fight on your own, that's fine. That's your loss. But *please* consider this. Cooperation is far more useful right now."
The crowd would begin arguing amongst themselves for a moment. They became rather unsure of what to do: although they had no substantial evidence of this supposed evil, this was also the first time that such an important GD Inc official actually bothered to negotiate with them. The company usually just solved their conflicts by shooting at it, not even bothering to feign compliance to catch them by surprise. If *he*, of all people, have decided to come here personally to negotiate, then perhaps what he's saying had some truth to it. After a bit of debating, Nickel would turn back to him. "What would we be getting out of this, anyway?" He asked. Triangle sighed. "Well... You won't be completely destroyed, for one thing." "Yeah, I'm sure you know what we meant." Nickel clarified. Triangle groaned. "What, you want us to surrender?" He asked. "Not only that." Nickel replied. "You'll also give us your weapons, completely admit to all you've done over the years, and completely demilitarize the company." Triangle raised an eyebrow. "How can we give you weapons *and*-" "Don't try to be smart!" Nickel lashed out. "Would you accept it or not?" Triangle grumbled. "...That's not exactly fair." "WHAT ISN'T FAIR?" Nickel shouted. "Our services can still be of use to some, especially you." Triangle replied. "And given that everyone's out to get us, if we can't defend ourselves... We'll be toast." "We'll defend you, then." Nickel replied. Triangle scoffed. "Sure, you would." Nickel became further enraged. "WE'RE GIVING YOU A GENEROUS DEAL, HERE!" He shouted. "Why won't you just comply?" Triangle snickered. "See how that feels? Stings, doesn't it?" He remarked. "Doesn't feel good to be on the receiving end of rejection, does it?" Nickel grumbled.
Nickel then sighed. "Alright. We'll allow you to keep some weapons." He conceded. "Solely for self-defense. No aggression." Triangle nodded. "Alright." He sighed. That headache was still bugging him. "...Are we done, then? Will you finally agree to side with us?" Nickel frowned. "Hm. Let me think about it." He thought about it for a minute, until eventually shaking his head. "...No." Triangle was very much displeased by this. "...What." "You heard me." Nickel replied. "No." Triangle groaned. "Why not?" He asked. "We negotiated a deal!" "I know." Nickel scoffed. "I just rejected it." Triangle grew angry. "THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT?" He shouted. Nickel smiled weakly. "I just wanted to get your hopes up." Triangle groaned. "Are you kidding me..." He muttered to himself. Nickel took a step closer to him, almost resting his face on the fence. "We won't settle for anything less than the total destruction of all you stand for." "Yeah!" Donut shouted, and the crowd erupted into anger. Triangle groaned again. First, he had his headache to deal with, and now *this*? "...I don't think you understand what's going on here." Triangle said, clearly suppressing the anger in his voice. "There's a greater evil on the loose, and if we don't-" "No, I don't think *you* understand." Nickel interrupted. "Do you really think that, after all the pain and suffering you've caused to not just us, but nearly *everybody* in this world, that we'd agree to some compromise?" Triangle sighed. "Look, can we put past prejudices aside for ONE-" "No. We won't. We won't ever stop until we see to it that you are fully destroyed." Triangle groaned. "Now, are we done here?" Nickel asked. "Or are you going to waste more of our time?"
And then, Triangle lost it.
Perhaps it was just his headache that managed to send him over the edge, or perhaps the passive-aggressiveness of their responses, but he just had enough. With a deafening snap of his fingers, a shotgun would appear in his hands. "Alright, *THAT'S IT*!" He'd immediately point the shotgun at them, causing a round of gasps from the crowd. Nickel wasn't fazed, however. He'd snicker. "So, you finally show your true colors, huh?" He asked. "If that's how you put it, then *YES*!" Triangle shouted. Nickel chuckled. "I knew-" "This is what you wanted, wasn't it?" Triangle interrupted. Nickel raised an eyebrow. "Why are you still talking? You've already-" "This is what you *ALL* wanted, *WASN'T IT*?" Triangle continued on in his tirade. "You want me and my company to be so thoroughly painted as the murderers and tyrants that you've always thought of them to be, so that you can laugh and say that you told them so! You won't stop until the world finally conforms to your worldview!" Nickel frowned. "Uh..." He'd nervously sweat. "Stop making a-" "I was being genuine about my asking for help, you know?" Triangle continued. "I *really* wanted to negotiate an alliance with you people. But *NO*! You've been so convinced of what you see as truth, that you won't even accept it when your enemy is willingly accepting defeat!" He groaned in frustration. "All you people ever know is being violent. It's the only language you understand!". He sighed. "And if I have to kill all of you for you to see my point, then *SO BE IT*! *YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELVES*!"
He then fired the shotgun.
The crowd would've already seen what was coming, however, and all of them, including Nickel, would manage to avoid just dying in an instant. With a snap of his fingers, Triangle would teleport to the other side of the fence. Now wielding the shotgun as a makeshift club, he'd quickly walk over to Nickel, who wasn't able to recover from ducking to avoid the shot, and knock him out instantly with a swift hit to the head. He then quickly turned to the rest of the crowd, who was fleeing. "*YOU WANT MY WRATH*? *I'LL GIVE IT TO YOU, ALRIGHT*!" He'd then reach out towards him, and in the blink of an eye, they'd all quickly be paralyzed. Triangle approached them, getting ready to obliterate them in an instant, when all the others would finally arrive at the scene, losing their minds as well. "TRIANGLE!" Pencil shouted. "*WHAT ARE YOU DOING*?" Triangle turned to Pencil and smiled. "Doing what I *SHOULD'VE* done, instead of trying to cooperate with total *IDIOTS*!" He then turned back to the crowd, remaining frozen in place. He continued walking over to them, his body filled with nothing but rage. "I gave you a chance for a truce, and you spat at that chance!" Triangle continued to shout. "If that's how you'll treat me, then I'll give you all what you *DESERVE*!" Triangle raised his free arm up, getting ready to rid the world of his problems with one final snap. He thought about all that he could do to them. They all sounded like reasonable ideas- any idea was a good idea to him at this point -but he felt like he was being too generous. He felt like the only way to really be free of them was to completely erase them from existence. They could no longer pose as a threat if they no longer existed. He snapped his fingers, and...
There was only a small spark. Nothing more.
In an instant, Triangles powers were suddenly drained, reducing him to just being a mere mortal (albeit with technological augmentation). The crowd would be able to start moving again not long after. They'd look around, confused as they had expected to be total toners in a moment or two. They remained confused until they saw Triangle, now completely frozen instead. He was barely able to speak, or even stutter, as he collapsed onto the ground, twitching. Nobody had hit him, or even dared to injure him. He just... Keeled over and pretty much died. At that moment, both newcomer and contestant stood there, completely bewildered as Triangle, the most controversial man to have ever lived, was defeated by forces beyond their control. Or understanding. Donut would immediately seize the opportunity, pointing at him. "GET HIM!" He shouted. Immediately, the crowd would charge towards him, wanting to trample him one last time, just to *really* make sure he was done for. The others could do nothing but watched on, stunned as they began on their rampage. Triangle continued to gradually lose his senses, remaining immobile as he continued to endure blow after blow. At first, the stomping was definitely painful. They'd manage to get a few hits here and there, a few of them hitting vital mechanical components. Eventually, however, he grew numb. What little he could see from his face being on the ground would begin to disappear, first graying out then going black. He was unable to think, unable to feel, unable to breathe. The terrible pain that had plagued his head would spread to the rest of his body as more and more damage was dealt to him. In his last moments, before going unconscious, he made one final wish to whoever may be listening up above:
"Kill me. *Please*."
-
GD found himself on the void.
The past few minutes had been a blur for him. One minute, he was just doing the routine checkup on the soldiers, then all of a sudden, the moment they had all been waiting for would finally arrive. He was genuinely caught by surprise as the entire island shuddered as the great evil emerged, unseen, yet definitely felt. His mind immediately became focused on leading a hasty defense against the enemy, much like what he had done in the previous battle, but this time, it was clear that the enemy had planned ahead. There were no enemies to kill, nothing to point fingers to. Instead, gradually, soldiers just began turning on each other, killing themselves indiscriminately. They had managed to take what was so successful from their previous campaign and use it to their advantage: Infighting. Previously, it was Pin that was brainwashing them to fight each other, but they now knew better. Whoever was pulling the strings from beyond was nowhere to be seen. There was only chaos as soldiers gradually fell under their control, and those who remained had absolutely no idea what to do. GD tried his best to fight it, but *they* clearly had more assistance. He was powerful, but what was one powerful man against two, or more? As the war clearly didn't go in their favor, GD would opt to just get the heck out of there and teleport away. It was a cowardly move, but with that, he could at least manage to regroup and coordinate a more stubborn resistance. He would leave these soldiers out to die, but their sacrifice would be noble, delaying the enemy's ruthless advance. He snapped his fingers, wanting to go to the living quarters, but... He ended up here.
He snapped his fingers again, obviously not wanting to persist in the void, but there was nothing but an ineffectual spark emerging from his fingertips. GD groaned, and became visibly frustrated, even though his smile remained as fixed as ever. He cursed himself, berating himself for having been so *stupid*. "No, no, *NO*!" He shouted. As he groaned in frustration, an unmistakably evil laugh would emerge from the darkness. It was quiet at first, but gradually grew louder, so loud that he wouldn't be able to ignore it. GD looked around for the source of the sound, and within seconds, he found it. *Him*. Most people just often referred to him as 'the man', but he knew him very well by his real name: AntiGD. It wasn't such an original name, but it accurately reflected what he was:. AntiGD was his opposite in every way, ideology-wise, that is. What GD supported whole-heartedly, AntiGD hated with a passion. What GD disdained became part of AntiGDs beliefs. They were direct opposites created as a joke by some deity: forced to forever fight each other due to something they might have done long ago. The details get fuzzy over vast periods of time. GDs eyes immediately became fixated on AntiGD, his appearance sticking out like a sore thumb among the void. GD groaned. "*You*." He said. "It's always been you. Why didn't I figure that out?" AntiGD chuckled. "You've been busy with your work, I presume." He replied. "I thank you for that. It's because of your sheer incompetence that I managed to gain the upper hand. Scored victory when you thought I was defeated."
GD scoffed. "Well, since you're here, you mind explaining yourself?" He asked. "How did you do it?" AntiGD chuckled. "Why would I explain anything to you? I might as well tell you how to defeat me." "You've already done what you set out to do." GD replied. "It'll be too late for me to do anything with the information." AntiGD sighed. "Alright. I suppose you're desperate enough." He chuckled. "I already told you what I was up to back at that interview. I realized that what caused my defeat was your morale, and that I had to destroy it." GD nodded. "...You said you had a plan, yet I didn't act upon it." AntiGD nodded. "Yep. Real clever maneuver there, wasn't it?" He asked rhetorically. "And so I set out to break it, shatter it much like a fragile mirror. And it worked like a charm." GD seemingly frowned, yet of course... "Well, well done." He sarcastically remarked. "But if you think that that does anything, you're wrong." AntiGD chuckled. "It sure has done something. I can sense it. My plan worked." He replied. "How will you be able to resist now, now that I have more power than you?" GD sighed. "Like you said, the only thing pushing me forward is morale." He replied. "I think I'll live to fight another day, and so... I shall." AntiGD scoffed. "Just give in already. It's over." GD chuckled. "It ain't over until I say it is." "Is that how it is, then?" AntiGD laughed. "Alright. I'll be looking forward to it." He stared at him, and would seemingly smirk. "I'll see you soon, buddy. *Real* soon." He began laughing again, and he would start disappearing into the void.
And GD would be all by himself.
-
GD would eventually arrive at the living quarters, just in time to see the mob of people stomping on Triangle. He groaned, and with a snap of his fingers, a strong gust of wind would send them flying a few feet. At least he still had his powers, for now. He quickly rushed over to Triangle. "You okay?" He asked. Triangle wouldn't respond, being unconscious. He groaned. He looked at the crowd. "You guys just don't know when to quit, do you?" He asked. The crowd would then begin charging towards him, but GD would summon a forcefield protecting them from any further attacks. "Stay back!" He shouted. "He's had enough, and you had your fun." He then turned to the others. "What're you guys still staring at?" He asked. "Help me out here!"
-
The commotion had finally died down.
The newcomers and contestants had finally come to an agreement: the newcomers would agree to back down, in exchange for the contestants dealing with the issue of Triangle and GD. The contestants would stay inside Team Sharp Minds' house to take care of them throughout the night, while the newcomers would be allowed to hang out anywhere. When morning finally came, they'd negotiate what was going to happen next between the two of them. They could've just arranged for Triangle and GDs exile *now*, but after they had a brief skirmish, they were *tired*. They decided to use the time to regain their strength and be prepared for dealing with each other in the morning. Also, considering that one of the newcomers' leaders was knocked unconscious, it also gave them time to treat him as well. As they relaxed and waited for the sun to rise, an unexpected guest would arrive at the living quarters. The newcomers attention would quickly be drawn to Pin, who would just calmly approach them. Donut, being the provisional provisional (yes, that's two provisionals) leader of the newcomers, would confront her. "Who are you?" He asked. "It doesn't matter who I am." Pin replied. "What does is what I have to say." Donut raised an eyebrow. "What do you have to say, then?" He asked. "We're kind of... busy, right now." Pin smiled. "I'm part of the people that those 'tyrants' say are the greater enemy. I came here to deal with him, but it seems like you've already done it yourself. Good job."
Donut was rather surprised. Of course, being rightfully paranoid, he thought that the supposed enemy didn't really exist. "Are you really as bad as he said?" He asked. Pin chuckled. "Of course not." She replied. "We just hate them as much as you do. *Of course* they'd try to discredit us." Donut nodded. "Ah." He'd glance at the house where the contestants were staying in. "Since you've done our job, I suppose I can just tell you what we plan to do, considering that you do the job just as well." Pin continued. Donut nodded. "...Okay?" "Great." Pin nodded. "Now, it's especially great that you've done the work for us, since we've done a little work of our own as well." "What kind of work?" Donut asked. "Doesn't matter." Pin replied. "Just know that it'll definitely hurt them." She took a moment to breathe. "Now, are you planning on exiling them?" She asked. "Uh..." Donut scratched his head. "Some of us have been considering just killing them, but-" "Exile them." Pin interrupted. "They're worth more to you dead than alive, and it'll also give them false hope." She smiled. "Once you do so, we'll take over from there. We'll keep in touch. We may need your help in a few things." She then glanced up at the sky. "Well, looks like I gotta go." She remarked. She looked back at Donut. "Take care and good luck. The war against GD Inc is yet to end." In the blink of an eye, she'd then disappear. Donut would then be stunned, looking around to see where she went. He then turned the others. "Did you see-" As it turned out, no one was paying attention, since most of them were treating their own minor injuries. Donut sighed in frustration. Meanwhile, Book would finally arrive on Puffball, who would seemingly crash land onto the ground.
Book immediately got off, and would rush towards them. "Guys, guys!" She exclaimed. "Listen up, I have some important-" "No." Donut interrupted. "I think *you* should listen to us this time around." Book frowned. "No time for messing around, Donut. There's something-" "First off, when we first managed to get Triangle while he's down, you suddenly disappeared. What's up with that?" Book began to nervously sweat. "Uh..." She scratched her head. "I planned on joining you guys, but-" "And then, right when we finally managed to knock him out, that's when you *finally* return." Donut sighed. "I don't know if it's just me, but you've gotten awfully suspicious." Books eyes widened. "W-What?" She blinked. "First off, I was *going* to join you guys, but then Coiny-" "*Coiny*?" Donut interrupted. "You abandoned us because of *him*?" "No!" Book protested. "I didn't want to go, but he told me-" Donut sighed. "I don't care what he said. What matters is that, regardless of what he did say, you left us without even saying so." Books frown grew worse. Tears formed in her eyes. "B-But-" "It's clear that you're no longer responsible enough to be our leader." Donut replied. "Which is why I'll be appointing myself as the new leader." Book became outraged. "WHAT?" She shouted. "You can't do that! I'm still the leader! You need permission from *me*!" Donut folded his arms. "I don't need to. You're not my leader anymore." "I..." Book turned to the others. "Guys, you're not siding with him, right? Back me up, here!" "Hate to say it, but Donut's right." Fries replied. "You leaving us all of a sudden isn't exactly leader material. I'm siding with him." "...Yeah." Ruby added.
"I..." Book wasn't able to respond. A single tear rolled down her face. First, she lost Coiny, and now, she was losing her long-time friends as well. "But..." Donut scoffed. "Sorry, Book." He said. "You probably still have the spirit in you, but you're just not fit to be the leader anymore." Book continued to cry. "But... But I-" "No buts." Donut interrupted. "Our team needs more devoted leadership in these trying times, and you're simply not it." Book sniffled. She struggled to come up with a response to that. She had a vocabulary as wide as it could possibly be, but none could possibly refute what is true. She *had* abandoned her friends, at the worst possible time, no less. "...Alright, then." She conceded. She then turned away and walked back to Puffball without another word. Donut raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?" He asked, yet Book wouldn't respond. "...Let's go back to base." She mumbled to Puffball. "What?" Puffball replied. "But-" "We're clearly not welcome here." Book got on. Donut would just about hear this, and his eyes widened. "Hey!" He shouted. Puffball sighed. "Alright..." She then began floating up into the sky. "Wait!" Donut shouted again. "I didn't say anything about *that*! You can still-" Before he could finish however, they flew off into the horizon, disappearing within seconds. As he watched them leave, Donut groaned in anger. That was *definitely* not how he wanted to resolve that situation. As much as he didn't like Book, she was still a useful friend to have. His first act as provisional provisional leader, and he had already messed it up.
He looked back at Nickel, and would somehow sigh with his impossibly large mouth. Despite achieving victory, they still felt as if they were defeated.
-
"...Am I dead?"
The atmosphere in the Team Sharp Minds' cabin was rather eerily quiet that morning. Sunlight filtered into the inside, illuminating the place. There was nothing but the sound of the breeze blowing through the open windows, and the sound of everyone's quiet breathing. To make a long story short, everyone was completely exhausted, and the only thing they could bother to do was to wait for this guy they barely cared about to either wake up or finally kick the bucket. The only one who bothered to stay away to hear that inquiry was GD, who had no need for such luxurious activities. Triangle asked the question so quietly that it was almost lost to the wind, had it not been picked up by GDs ears. But even then, GD was still only barely able to hear the question. "...Hm?" GD mumbled back to him, not wanting to wake the others up as well. "...Am I dead?" Triangle asked again, being just as quiet as the last time, although GD would be paying attention that time. GD sighed. "...No. You're not dead." He replied. Triangle frowned. "That sucks." He remarked. "Is it really?" GD asked. Triangle sighed. "...Yeah." GD seemed to frown, but as his body permanently forced him to smile, it was only implied. "...Hey, it could be worse." He replied. "You could be not dead *and* be in great pain." Triangle chuckled. "Thank whoever invented augmentation for freeing us from such misery." They then both laughed. Even though they had been through so many terrible things, they still had the positivity to crack a terrible joke or two.
The laughter would cause everyone else to wake up as well. Teardrop would be the first to do so, being the only one (besides GD) who voluntarily chose to rest next to Triangle. Nobody really knew why she chose to do this, but no one really questioned it, since that meant they didn't have to argue amongst themselves over who would. The rest of the expedition team followed, then all the others too. Everyone quickly gathered around Triangle and GD to see what all the fuss was about. Triangle looked at everyone and raised an eyebrow. "You guys all watched over me?" Triangle asked. They all would nod to some degree, somewhat surprising Triangle, who would chuckle. "Man, what kind of messed up night must it have been to allow that to happen?" He sighed. "...But seriously, though. What'd you guys did that for? Should've left me out to die." "Because you're still a person!" Leafy exclaimed. "And people always look out for each other, regardless of who they are." Pen scoffed. "Leafy, please." He then turned to Triangle. "It was mostly *his* idea." He pointed to GD, who Triangle would then look at. "...Is that so?" GD uncomfortably nodded. "It'd be rude to just leave a dead body out in the grass." Triangle nodded back. "Fair point." He got up and sat down on the bed. "What happened after I got knocked out?" He asked. "Well... It wasn't good, to say the least." Tennis Ball replied. "After you passed out, he appeared and told us to help him carry you to safety." He'd glance at GD. "Naturally, this angered... You know, them. There was a lot of arguing, a lot of threatening, and I think Flower and the others almost got released at one point." Triangle raised an eyebrow. "Must've sucked." He remarked. "...But how did you manage to calm them down?" "Well..." Pencil sighed. "That's the bad news. For you, at least."
Triangle frowned. "Wait, what was the good news?"
-
When Triangle first showed himself to the people once again, it goes without saying that the people were very much outraged at him. As soon as he took a single step out of the cabin, the newcomers immediately ran up to him and began yelling at him for his... Antics. It took being guarded by the unlikely alliance of Tennis Ball and Snowball, two balls that almost never rolled with each other, to get them to calm down. When things finally sell silent once again, Pen would take a step forward. He cleared his throat. "So, last night, we agreed that in exchange for your cooperation, we'd negotiate what will happen next in the morning." He nervously smiled. "Now that the morning has arrived..." He sighed. "...I'll be true to my word. Do you people have any demands?" He asked. Nickel immediately stepped forward. He was still in terrible condition, now having a slight dent right at the top of his head, but that could be ignored. "Our demands are simple." He replied. "Exile those two... Two..." He'd furiously point at GD and Triangle with a foot. "...Those two *individuals*, and we'll agree to coexist peacefully." The crowd then expressed their agreement, with a wide variety of voices demanding their removal from the place. GD raised a hand. "...Can that term be-" "*No*." Nickel interjected. "Take it or leave it." Triangle frowned. The living quarters was pretty much his only home remaining on this planet. All the other ones were destroyed either by nuclear fire or by an attack. Pen then turned to Triangle. "...Well, do you agree to those terms?" He asked. Triangle raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't that be *your* call?" He asked. "...Well..." Pen scratched. "...Yeah. But given what we know about you, I asked just to be safe."
"Well..." Triangle thought about it for a moment. There were only two ways that this could go, really: either they leave and come up with a new plan on dealing with AntiGD, or stay and deal with this entire mess. Given how terrible everything had gone... The latter option seemed quite tempting. Just to make sure, however, he'd do one last thing: he'd stare at his hand, concentrating all his energy on it, and would snap his fingers, resulting in... An ineffectual spark. Triangle sighed. "...You win." He finally said. "I'm sure that this isn't exactly as good as killing me, but I suppose that it'll do for you guys." He took a deep breath. "...I agree to the terms." The crowd then burst into cheering. The contestants would briefly glance at Triangle and GD with concern, but they wouldn't return them. They'd been defeated, no question. Their sole remaining (known) fortress was in ruins, all their loyal soldiers (presumably) dead, their powers (seemingly) gone, and the people (mostly) against them. There weren't any gains, only slightly less losses. "So it's decided, then." Pen remarked. "You two are to leave the place immediately." He sighed. "...Sorry, guys." He muttered to them. With that, they'd make their way over to the gates. Tennis Ball would press the button to open the gate, and it would slowly open, mostly for dramatic effect. Triangle glanced behind him one last time, and saw the newcomers cheering and being happy, while the contestants simply just... Stood there. He sighed. "...One last favor, though." He said. Nickel would immediately notice this, and would walk up to him, outraged. "*What*?" He asked. "What could you possibly demand *now*?" Triangle scoffed. "Just leave my name out of the future history books." He replied. "Future generations will be better off without knowing that people like me exist."
Triangle then walked through the gate and left, not looking back. GD quickly followed him. He'd look back, and would see the gate being closed behind him. He turned to Triangle. "...That's it, then?" He asked. "Game over? No more bright ideas?" Triangle scoffed. "I never said *that*." He replied. "I only agreed to get out of there. They were far more trouble than they were worth." They'd make their way over to where the APCs were supposed to be, only to find the area now being the site of burning wrecks. Dead soldiers and broken weaponry littered the site. Triangle inspected a few of them, checking to see if any of their parts still functioned, but there weren't enough parts to assemble a full gun. Triangle groaned and threw the parts onto the ground, cursing himself for... No particular reason. He just felt like it at that moment, he supposed. As he did so, GD checked the vital signs of the soldiers to see if any of them were still barely clinging on to life: none of them were. After checking all the bodies that weren't burned, he sighed. "...So, let's assess the situation." He said. "We have no soldiers, no allies, no equipment, no bases- *absolutely* nothing, save for what we have, which isn't all that much." He breathed. "Our enemy is now many times more powerful than us, and possibly many more men. They are most likely currently hunting us down, or we are currently about to die within minutes. We have no way of escaping our predicament, since all our powers are gone for the time being. We can't negotiate a truce with them, and we certainly can't negotiate an alliance with anybody else, since everyone hates our guts." He turned to Triangle." So, Triangle Triangulum, Captain of the USS We're-Absolutely-Done-For: what's our course of action?"
Triangle scoffed. "Isn't it obvious?" He asked. GD raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" He asked back. Triangle smiled.
"We fight."
-
BATTLE SOME ACTUAL PEACE AND QUIET FOR ONCE
BY GD PRODUCTIONS
-THE END-
-
I ended BFTMTMAADI with a long-winded spiel about how and why I created it. None of that nonsense for this one. Instead, I'd just like to thank some people for things:
Me, myself, and I: for bothering to spend countless tedious hours on bringing both this and its equally-monstrous prequel to life.
u/catsanddogs333 on reddit: for making the logos for the BFTMTMAADI series due to my artistic incompetence.
The Object Show Community: for existing and still somehow not hating my guts.
God: for obvious reasons.
I'd also thank you for reading this to the disappointing end, but let's be completely honest: you didn't. Just pat yourself in the back for bothering to check the ending.
The next part (and final part of this trilogy) will come out at around 2021. I also have other writing projects. They're things.
That's about it, thanks for watching.
-GD Productions
-
Coiny emerged from the rubble.
He looked around and saw the ruins of the base all around him. Not a single intact thing was in sight, and neither was a single living soul. He got up from his little hole in the ground, barely managing to keep himself upright. It ached absolutely everywhere, not just physically, but also emotionally. As he wandered about through the piles of rubble, he thought about everything that had happened to get to this point, mostly just the few days until then: in those few days, he gained everything he could ever possibly want, only to lose it all in a single stroke. Now, he was stuck here, on this terrible, *terrible* island, with no help around for many miles, and almost certainly with only himself for company. He almost broke down and cried at that point, considering he had just lost so much, but he managed to keep himself together. He could grieve later.
He continued looking around the place, and saw it: he saw the dark and ominous clouds looming in the distance, starkly contrasting with the otherwise-clear sky. He heard the low rumbling noise of distant thunder, of pouring torrents of rain, and of the oncoming strong winds. The clouds circled around an island which reeked of death: once a mythical haven for a potential lucky individual, now a symbol of all the pain and suffering that was caused by the battle over it. He could almost hear the screams of agony within, the crying and wailing for help, being utterly useless as no one was around to help them, and so their cries were merely lost to the wind. A storm was most certainly brewing: a storm that he most certainly would have to face alone. But despite the near-impossible odds, he still found the courage to face it regardless.
After all, once one hits the very bottom, there is only one way left to go.
YOU ARE READING
Battle for Some Actual Peace and Quiet for Once
FanfictionThe Battle for Dream Island is now over, yet the memory of it still haunts them. Part 2/3 of the BFTMTMAADI Trilogy, a BFDI Fanfiction series. Logo made by @catsanddogs3333. Everything else made by me. Battle for Dream Island made by jacknjellify.
