(Arkos Tribe; Day 1)
"Looks like this is it." Reginald announced as he led his tribe into their first camp. "That didn't take very long…"
The Arkos Tribe's camp was of relative size. The tribe was along the shore and the beach extended for the entire length of the tribe, although there appeared to be a stream from the jungle that was running down the middle of the camp, separating it into two halves. Single trees littered the camp, providing shade when needed.
"Aw…No waterfall this time." Chloe said. "That sucks."
"This time?" Mel asked.
"Eh, tribe we were on in our season had a cool waterfall." Tempo shrugged.
Mel chuckled. "You guys were lucky. All my tribe got was a clearing in the middle of the jungle."
"I'm satisfied with our tribe. After spending so long away from the game, I'll pretty much take what I can get." Mel admitted. "Still, it's good to be back again and I've missed playing. It may take a bit for me to get back into the swing of things, but I think I'm ready."
"I have a bit of an advantage here because the older players haven't seen my season yet. At the same time, I've been re-watching past seasons so I can get a handle on how everyone will play." Tempo said. "For the most part, I think I'm prepared. I know Yori and Molly are not to be trusted while it's probably best that I stay away from Sandy for obvious reasons…"
"Well, I'd say that the first thing we should do is build a shelter." Reginald folded his arms. "Anyone have any suggestions on where we should build it?"
"We can put it over in the corner of the tribe where there aren't a lot of trees." Elias pointed out. "It would save us wasting the shade we have."
"I think that sounds like a good plan." Gary added.
"Okay. The stronger people can work on building a shelter." Reginald said. "Chloe, Molly, Mel and I can work on putting a fire pit together."
Sandy suddenly appeared behind Reginald and looked at him over his shoulder. "Just be sure that your condition doesn't get in the way, Reggie." She taunted.
"It's REGINALD! And it's not a condition!"
"Seriously! I'm a RABBID. I SCREAM. It's what I DO, as much as it pains me to say it." Reginald said flatly. "Still, I decided to try being the leader here, because if anyone's going to keep order around here, it may as well me be. I think we should be able to get things built in record time under my watch."
"Oh, how I've missed being able to do that." Sandy said with a playful smirk.
"You think you'll be able to keep up, old man?" Yori asked Gary with a smirk, as if challenging him.
Gary responded with a shrug. "I suppose we'll just have to see about that, won't we?" He said nonchalantly.
With that, the tribe dispersed, briefly leaving Sandy and Krash alone. The two stood in silence for a few seconds, Sandy looking at Krash a little oddly.
"Uh…Can I help you?" Krash asked.
Sandy blinked a couple of times. "So are you from the games or the cartoon?" She asked.
"…Huh?"
"Because, for the record, I'm a HUGE fan of Eddie the Mean Ol' Yeti." Sandy said. "And some of those songs that you guys sing? CLASSIC."
Krash sat in front of the confessional, scratching his head in confusion. "Something tells me this is going to be a really weird game." He said.
(Xon Tribe; Day 1)
"Okay, dudes! We're here!" Inferno announced as he led his tribe into camp.
The Xon Tribe's camp appeared to be two-tiered. There was a pathway that went up onto a ledge in the corner of camp, and there was another ledge that went up even higher on the other side. Like the Arkos Tribe, the Xon Tribe had a beach, although a smaller one, but there was a small pond in the middle of camp with a small stream connecting it to the ocean.
"Not bad at all." Barney nodded. "And I think I can see a place where we can build the shelter."
"Yeah, on one of the ledges." Grace said. "That's pretty much a no-brainer."
"We got a nice camp, and I have to say that it looks a heck of a lot better than the tribe I was put on back in season three." Grace said with a smirk. "But now that I'm here, I want to get right down to business. That being said, we should probably focus on getting things put together first."
Erica was looking around in awe at all of the older players that she was teamed up with. Setting her sights on Edwina and Renaldo, Erica bounded over to them. "I still can't believe I'm here with you guys! I must have watched your season five times!" She greeted.
"Sounds like someone's excited." Edwina laughed. "But hey, remember that you're an All Star as well. You got the invite to come back."
"I know! That makes it so much more-awesome!"
"Man. I heard Erica was an anti-social goth girl. The first thing she does here in fangirl over all of the old players, myself included." Edwina said. "I mean, I'm excited to be here as well, because it's not often the Survivor superfan gets to play an ALL STAR game. I guess I'm just able to hide my excitement a little better than Erica."
"You HAVE to tell me! Are you two at least still friends?" Erica asked.
"Well, we haven't really been in touch a lot." Renaldo admitted sheepishly. "We live pretty far away and, well, I've got a hectic schedule as it is."
"Yeah. Hired gun, remember?" Edwina supplied.
"You two dating yet?" Erica asked with a grin.
Edwina blushed and looked away. Renaldo gave a nervous cough (how he was able to do it without a mouth Erica would never know). "Um…No. We're not." Renaldo admitted.
"It's so awesome to be here! I still can't get over how I'm playing Survivor with my favourite players!" Erica said excitedly. "I can't wait to get to know some of them! Maybe they'll want to form an alliance with me! That'd be so cool!"
"You guys think you'd be able to help make the fire pit?" Charlotte asked as she came over.
"Oh. Sure." Edwina said, trying to hide her blush. "Not like we'd be much help building a shelter."
"Good. You three would be with Kendall and Anita then."
Erica's smile suddenly vanished. "Great." She said at the mention of Kendall's name.
"Something wrong, comrade?" Charlotte asked.
"Just remember that Kendall isn't to be trusted, okay?"
"Hmm…If what Erica tells me about Kendall is true, I may already have a goat on my hands. I'll need to see exactly how insufferable he is, but this gives me ideas." Charlotte said. "I don't want to ruin my game by taking an insufferable goat to the end, so I'll just have to see if Kendall is as bad as Erica says he is."
(Arkos Tribe)
"H-How the blazes are you that strong?!" Elias demanded as he struggled to keep up with Gary, who was carrying twice as much lumber as anyone else.
"Oh, I don't know. It's just how I ended up, I suppose." Gary laughed.
Elias and Gary piled the lumber up by where the tribe was building the shelter. "So why don't you tell me a bit about your season?" Elias asked. "I'm curious as to how things went."
Gary shrugged. "I lost in the finals. As far as everyone else here goes, the other tribe got an insufferable guy and my former alliance partner." He said.
"Hmm…Gary tells me that he made the finals last time and lost. He's obviously strong, so that would make him a good ally, but he seems a little nice. That could make him a threat." Elias noted. "Still, I've learned from my mistakes last time. If I'm to align with someone, I need to make sure that they aren't a goat."
"I always thought Elias was a little bit of a grump, but he seems to have his head on straight. And, despite the general opinion on him, he's indeed a good actor." Gary supplied. "Yes, I've seen his movies. Mostly B-list stuff, but hey, most are mindless fun."
"You guys seen Yori?" Tempo asked as he came over. "I thought she was supposed to help us with the shelter."
"I haven't seen her. I thought we've just been missing her." Gary noted.
Meanwhile, Yori was on the other side of the beach, having a conversation with Molly. It was clear she was up to no good.
"I think it'd be in our best interests to join forces for now." Yori said. "Neither of us can deny that we've got a lot of people after us."
Molly folded her arms. "I still don't see why I need to align with you, anyway." She said.
"Because you need me. You just don't realize it yet."
"It's been known that Molly's a snake for a long time now and that automatically gives her a huge target on her back." Yori said. "That's something I can use to my advantage. Even if it doesn't work, people probably hate Molly more than me at the moment, so she's more-likely to go and give me more time to think."
"Yori thinks she's so smart trying to corner me into an alliance. Well, I didn't get to be a successful villain on the show by bending to other people's will." Molly insisted. "The fact that my cover's been blown just means that I just need to stop pulling punches. Yori doesn't need to know that, though."
"Just keep it in mind. No one else is likely to form an alliance with you." Yori assured with a smirk as she walked off.
Molly gave a smirk of her own. "That's what you think." She said as she turned and walked back over to where the others were building a fire pit.
"Where were you?" Chloe asked. "We already got a fair bit of the fire pit done."
"Doesn't matter." Molly replied.
(Xon Tribe)
"You notice how it mainly seems to be just the two of us putting the shelter together?" Barney asked Inferno as he held a support beam in place.
"Yeah, but it doesn't bug me." Inferno shrugged. "I mean, we're both stronger than Charlotte and Grace…And I haven't seen much of Jack yet."
"This is actually kind of frustrating. I was hoping to lay low for a bit and blend in with the other strong players, but then I get put on a tribe where the only one near my level of strength is Inferno." Barney muttered. "I really wish that some of the other strong players ended up on my tribe, but I guess there's nothing I can do about it now."
"I'm a little bugged that there aren't a lot of strong people that I can hide behind, but if Barney's here, then the target's off my back." Inferno said, forming a smirk. "Perhaps I should form an alliance with him. If anything, the two of us are going to need to stick together if either of us are going to go anywhere near the merge."
"You think we should join forces for a bit, man?" Inferno asked. "I mean, sooner or later, the others are going to come after us."
"Sounds like a plan. I feel I'm going to need the help." Barney nodded.
Meanwhile, Jack was off on his own, having a talk with a particular person on his tribe.
"Okay, so I watched my season on TV after it aired and I felt like a tool when I saw that Roscoe was planning on backstabbing me when I was planning on doing the same to him." Jack folded his arms. "Keeping this in mind, I want to try it again, this time with someone I don't think is smart enough to catch on to what I'm doing…Like Kendall."
"You want to form an alliance?" Kendall asked. "Isn't that what you and that rat tried back in your season?"
"Yeah, but I think we'd have more success here." Jack nodded.
"And why would I believe that you aren't secretly planning to backstab me once we hit the merge?" Kendall asked suspiciously.
"Hey, it didn't work the first time. Why would I try it again?"
"Jack must take me for an idiot. I should be thankful that my season hasn't aired yet, because otherwise he'd know that I'm not the best person to form an alliance with." Kendall said. "Maybe I should go along with it for now, though. The last thing that idiot needs to know is that I'm smarter than he thinks I am."
"Sure. I'm in for now." Kendall said.
"Sweet. Thanks a bunch, man. Joining me really helps me out." Jack said.
"No. Thank you."
Night eventually rolled in. Having completed their shelters, the two tribes went to bed, putting an end to their first day back in the game.
(Arkos Tribe; Day 2)
"I don't know about this, Chloe…"
"Aw, c'mon! Don't be such a stick-in-the-mud, Tempo! She needs an alliance!"
"Well, after we started, I saw that no one was really hanging out with Sandy except Krash." Chloe said. "So then, a light just goes on in my head! Instant alliance member! If she's looking for help, Tempo and I can give it to her!"
"So you want to form an alliance?" Sandy asked suspiciously.
Chloe nodded. "Yeah! I think all three of us could benefit from it in the long run!" She replied.
Sandy looked Chloe up and down for a few seconds. "You're not a spy for the sand weavals, are you?" She asked darkly.
"Uh…The what?"
"I knew this was a bad idea." Tempo sighed.
"The sand weavals got the better of me back in season one and I was unable to find them. However, now that I'm back, I've got a second chance to find them." Sandy said. "Well, watch out, sand weavals! I'm not going to admit defeat a second time! I WILL find you and I WILL uncover the conspiracy!"
"I made a mental note to stay away from Sandy when I started, but lo and behold, she's the first person Chloe went for to make an alliance with." Tempo sighed. "Not off to the best start…"
Yori looked around and saw Mel off to the side, washing her face in the stream. The cyborg woman walked over to the dark-haired woman.
"Just who I wanted to see." Yori said.
"Something I can help you with?" Mel asked.
"I want to join forces with you." Yori said, crouching down. "Look, I know you're not as comfortable out here by yourself. I didn't see Crane arrive and Barney's on the other tribe."
"Wait. When did I say that I was uncomfortable?"
"Okay, maybe what I meant is that you don't have any allies out here yet." Yori shrugged. "How about we fix that?"
"I've got Molly on my side, but that's still just the two of us. I need to align with other people that seem to be without allies." Yori explained. "From what I can tell, Mel appears to be the only other one without any friendships so far. I won't deny that Mel's a fierce player, so I'd prefer to remain on her good side."
"Yori makes me uneasy. She likely assumes that I'm uncomfortable and that I haven't changed at all in these past five years." Mel pointed out. "Well, she's wrong about that. I've got a LOT more self-confidence now, and I don't need to align with someone like Yori because I know I can get on the good graces of some other people."
(Xon Tribe; Day 2)
"Oh! So you're getting better control over your nightmares?" Erica asked.
Anita nodded. "I guess it came with me becoming a paranormal detective." She admitted. "After the sort of things I've survived, my nightmares don't bother me like they used to."
"Well, that's great that you're not a nervous wreck anymore."
"When I saw Anita, I'll admit that I was a little nervous for her, like she'd have a relapse of what happened before." Erica said. "But she looks so much calmer, now. That's great because she was one of my favourite players and I hated to see her so terrified."
"It's taken a lot of time and effort, not to mention a few close calls, but I think I've managed to regulate my lifestyle." Anita said before pointing at her facial scars. "Like I said, these scars aren't just for show. They're more of a testament of what I've gone through."
"You want to join forces?" Erica asked hopefully.
"Well, sure. I'm up for an alliance." Anita nodded. "But it's just the two of us."
"I've seen Barney and Inferno talking! Maybe they'll be up for a four-person alliance!"
Without giving Anita time to respond, Erica turned and scampered off.
Erica flew right past Grace, who was in turn conversing with Charlotte. "What's with her?" She asked.
"I don't know, comrade." Charlotte shrugged. "Probably still on her fangirl high."
"Probably, but she still told you about Kendall, right?" Grace asked.
"Indeed she did. Apparently, that monkey is craftier than he lets on."
"Erica's been telling us that Kendall isn't to be trusted. While it makes sense, part of me's wondering if she's actually telling the truth." Grace said. "Charlotte would probably know more about this than me because she's got experience with people actually being something that they aren't."
"You're doubting Erica, comrade?" Charlotte asked.
"It's weird. Because we don't know her OR Kendall, we have no idea who's telling the truth." Grace said. "But what's your opinion on this?"
"Suppose Erica IS telling the truth. What does that make Kendall?"
"A pretty good goat."
"Grace and I tend to think alike on many things, and it seems we were thinking the same thing about Kendall." Charlotte said. "Maybe the two of us can work together. If Kendall really IS an insufferable person, then the three of us can go to the end and it would basically be between Grace and I."
"Just remember that we never had this conversation if it turns out Erica's wrong about Kendall." Charlotte said.
"I know. Assuming too much was what killed me last time." Grace rolled her eyes.
(Arkos Tribe)
Molly sat by the fire pit, in deep thought. Krash saw this and found himself walking over to her.
"Molly was on my season, but the two of us were never on the same tribe so I never really knew much about her." Krash shrugged. "Everything everyone says about usually isn't that good, so I thought I may as well talk to her and see what the fuss was about."
"Penny for your thoughts?" Krash asked as he walked up.
"No. Go away." Molly said flatly. "I've got enough on my plate as it is."
"Like what?" Krash asked as he sat down.
Molly stared blankly for a few seconds. "Fine, if it'll make you leave me alone." She said. "Yori's trying to corner me into an alliance and I don't know how to get out of it."
"Yori? Isn't she that robot woman?"
"Here's the problem I've got. Yori's trying to weasel her way into an alliance with me and it's too early for me to get any real ideas going." Molly said. "Now, getting everyone else to turn on her is no problem, but I need a REASON. No one's going to buy the nice girl act anymore."
"Kinda weird how she's the only one from her season on this tribe, isn't it?" Krash said.
"Yes, I suppose it is." Molly nodded. "Now will you kindly…"
Before Molly had time to finish, Sandy appeared behind Krash and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Hey, Krash! You gotta come see this!"
Leaving Molly in thought, Sandy dragged Krash over to where Reginald was sleeping by a tree.
"What did you do that for? I was talking." Krash said.
"Talking to someone who is liable to use you. Now watch this; It's funny." Sandy said.
Cupping her hands, Sandy scooped a small handful of water from the stream in the middle of camp and threw it on Reginald's face, jerking him away.
"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Reginald screamed, his eyes turning red for a second.
As Sandy doubled over in laughter, Reginald snarled. "For crying out loud, Sandy! Grow up!" He said.
"Never!"
"She has serious problems." Reginald said, wringing water out of one of his ears. "Leave it to Sandy to exploit my Rabbid tendencies to scream at random just for her amusement."
(Xon Tribe)
"Anita! Anita, where are you?" Erica called out as she walked around camp.
"What's up, Erica?" Renaldo asked as he walked over.
"I can't find Anita. She was here a second ago, I left and came back and now I can't find her." Erica scratched her head. "You…You guys haven't seen her, have you?"
"No. I haven't seen her since this morning." Renaldo said. "The last I saw, she was with you."
"Yeesh, this is weird. Anita seems to have vanished into thin air. But we all know that she couldn't have gone far because there's really nowhere to go." Renaldo said. "Still, the only thing any of us could really do is go around and see if anyone's seen her."
"How the heck can someone just vanish into thin air?" Inferno asked.
"Maybe she fled the camp and swam back to civilization." Kendall smirked.
"Dude, this is serious." Jack said. "Believe me, I was with her back on season two and I know how much of a basket case she is."
"We both do, I'm afraid." Charlotte folded her arms.
"Hey, if Anita IS gone, it's no skin off my back. One less person to worry about, as far as I'm concerned." Kendall shrugged. "Then again, if people are looking around for her constantly, that may make my job even easier…"
"I wasn't with Anita for very long back in season two, but boy do I remember those screams of hers. We could hear them all the way from the other camp." Jack noted. "Still, the way she vanished like that makes me hope nothing happened…"
"Look, Erica. I'm sure Anita will come back before too long. We're on an island, here. There's not a whole lot of places to go." Barney supplied.
Erica sighed. "I know." She admitted.
The tribe dispersed to carry on with their business, although some still looked for the blonde girl that vanished. However, just after everyone left the vicinity, there was a flash of light near a palm tree. In the blink of an eye, Anita materialized underneath the tree, curled up into a fetal position and shivering with fear.
"How…How did that…Just happen? I…I shifted…Just like Trilby did at the hotel…" Anita stammered, looking like she had just seen a ghost.
Although Erica was glad that Anita was back when she found her, she didn't want to question why she looked terrified. Night eventually rolled in for the two tribes and they decided to head to bed, knowing that there would be a challenge the following day…
(Arkos Tribe; Day 3)
"Well, it's already been three days and we know that we're going to be having our first challenge today. Boy, it's going to be weird getting back into the swing of things." Gary laughed. "Still, we've got a long road ahead of us and we're not getting anywhere just standing around."
Gary whistled a tune as he washed his hands in the creek. Elias saw him and came over. "You seem pretty chipper for so early in the morning." He said.
"It's just who I am, I suppose." Gary shrugged. "So I take it you want to talk strategy?"
Elias paused. "If that's fine with you." He said.
Gary gave another shrug. "I was never really the thinker back in my season, but I'm willing to offer feedback if you want." He said.
"Gary's an unusual character. He says that he made the finals, but judging his personality, he seems WAY too nice. Part of me's wondering if this is just an act." Elias said. "Still, I need someone to run ideas by, and if Gary's willing to listen, I'll work with it."
"I think it's clear we need to focus on Molly and Yori first." Elias said.
Gary nodded. "I suppose. Those two could control the game if we let them." He reasoned. "I don't have a problem with it."
"That's good. This means we're on the right track."
"Hey, everyone! We've got our first treemail!"
Elias turned and saw Chloe running into camp with treemail. "Hmm…That didn't take long." He said as he got up and made his way over. By now, the others gathered around as well.
"So what are we up against for our first challenge, Chloe?" Mel asked.
"It's wondering how we are at obstacle courses." Chloe read.
"Should be a piece of cake." Yori said.
"Against people like Barney, Inferno and Charlotte?" Tempo asked flatly.
Yori paused. "Touche."
"The first challenge…I'm a little intimidated. At first, I was feeling confident with my chances in challenges, but now I realize that I'm up against more-experienced players." Tempo folded his arms. "If we're going to win, we need to be on our toes. I have a feeling that we're going to need it."
(Xon Tribe; Day 3)
"How're you feeling, Anita?" Inferno asked. "You still look a little pale."
"I'm fine, really." Anita assured.
"What happened, anyway?" Barney asked.
Anita sighed. "Hopefully something that won't happen again. Let's just leave it at that." She said.
"Well, Anita says that she's fine, so I'm not going to push my luck any further. Still, Erica came to Barney and I wanting to make an alliance and I'm liking the idea." Inferno said. "Barney and I are going to need help to blend in with everyone here, so if we had the numbers, we'll be fine."
"You think we can get anyone else on our side?" Barney asked Erica.
"I'm sure we could. Edwina and Renaldo may be up for joining us." Erica pointed out.
"Yeah. I think we'd have the best luck with them." Inferno nodded.
"Works for me, but who should we target first?" Barney asked.
"I still say Kendall." Erica interjected.
"If there's one thing that I don't like about this, it's that I got stuck on the same tribe as Kendall. It's no secret that he nothing but scum, but the big problem is that I'm the only one on the tribe that really knows that." Erica said. "If I want to vote Kendall out, I need to convince everyone else that I'm right about him."
"Looks like we've got treemail." Renaldo said as he walked into camp.
"So what are we up against?" Grace asked.
"An obstacle course, it looks like."
"Probably going to be a multi-sectioned challenge that the first challenges usually are." Kendall folded his arms.
"If the challenge is physical, we may be at a disadvantage since the only real strong people we have are Barney and Inferno." Grace said. "The other tribe has more physically-able players, so they'd have a leg up on us in that department. I can only hope that the challenge is going to be something else…"
(Immunity Challenge)
The two tribes emerged from the jungle in opposite directions and stepped onto a clearing by the beach. Seeing their mats on the ground, the two tribes walked over and stepped on.
"Welcome to your first challenge, everyone. Here, we will be seeing how well you all function as a team." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw that there were a few pieces of what looked like an obstacle course behind the host. "Here's how this is going to work. First, five members of each team need to walk across a long and narrow balance beam. If someone falls, they need to go back and try again. Once all five members are across, then two more people will start pulling a huge weight thirty feet across the ground. Once that is done, the final three members of each team will go into the water and look for a group of fifty small boxes, which are submerged. Only one of these fifty boxes has a key in it, which the finder will then run onto the shore and unlock a treasure chest with it. The first team to unlock the chest will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."
The tribes looked at each other. The challenge sounded a bit complicated, but they felt that they understood it.
"If you'll all decide who will be doing what, we can begin." SSBFreak said.
(Later…)
The positions were chosen relatively quickly. The people running across the balance beam for Arkos were Chloe, Mel, Molly, Reginald and Elias, while the ones for Xon were Edwina, Renaldo, Anita, Erica and Kendall. The ones pulling the weight for Arkos were Gary and Yori while the ones for Xon were Barney and Inferno. This left the swimmers for Arkos to be Tempo, Sandy and Krash while the ones for Xon were Charlotte, Grace and Jack.
"Okay. For Immunity, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "…Go!"
The five people from each tribe quickly got onto the balance beam and started making their way across, although they quickly realized how thin it was as Reginald, Chloe and Renaldo were quick to fall off and land on the ground.
"Get up and try again!" Molly directed. "We don't want to fall behind this early!"
"You're a little ray of sunshine now." Elias said flatly as he walked behind Molly.
"You're a fine one to talk."
"Man. This isn't good." Renaldo said as he raced to the start to try the balance beam again. Chloe and Reginald were right behind him as the three climbed back up onto the beam again.
"I can't believe I let myself fall like that." Reginald muttered.
At the front of the Arkos line was Mel, who stumbled a bit as she tried to balance herself. This caused her to slow down and hold up her team for a second.
"Mel, you're holding us back!" Elias said.
"I know you guys are struggling as much as I am." Mel retorted.
Anita appeared to be holding up her team as well, going a little slower than the others would have liked. However, she was still managing to go faster than Mel and was gaining her team a bit of a lead.
"We got this! We're in the lead!" Erica said.
"For now." Edwina reminded. "We need to hurry, though."
"Star going faster, you!" Kendall snapped. "I would have been across by now!"
"I'm trying!" Anita said.
"We've got a lead, Kendall. You don't have to be a smart-mouth about it!" Erica snapped.
Renaldo was managing to catch up to his tribe, trying to go fast so he wouldn't waste too much time. Reginald and Chloe were falling behind him, as the two of them had to work their way across together and not separately.
Eventually, the Xon Tribe managed to get to the other side of the balance beam. While the first four members got off, Renaldo raced across the beam to catch up.
"Sorry I fell, guys! I slipped!" Renaldo insisted.
"It's fine. We're still ahead." Edwina nodded.
Before Renaldo got across, the Arkos Tribe managed to cross the beam as well, but had to wait for Reginald and Chloe, who by this point had fallen quite a bit behind Renaldo.
"Come on! Pick up the pace!" Mel said.
Renaldo suddenly finished crossing the beam, leaving Reginald and Chloe with about a third of the way to go. "Alright! I'm done!" Renaldo said.
"The Xon Tribe is across the beam. Barney and Inferno can start pulling their weight." SSBFreak said.
The two strong members of Xon quickly pulled on their weight, which was a huge block that looked like it weighed three-hundred pounds easy, across the ground. The two were attached to the block by straps and had to use their body to pull.
"Okay. We need to pull at the same time if we want to make any ground." Barney instructed.
"Yeah, man. Just say the word." Inferno said with a smirk.
Barney sighed, hating to have to take the lead. "Fine…Pull!"
Barney and Inferno pulled on the weight at once, managing to drag it a good portion. By the time this was happening, Reginald and Chloe managed to cross the balance beam.
"Arkos is across the beam now. Gary and Yori can start with their weight." SSBFreak announced.
"Try to keep up with me, okay?" Yori asked.
Gary gave a shrug. "Whatever you say." He said.
Yori tried to get Gary to pull at the same time as her, but while she was leading she wasn't making up a lot of ground. Whenever Gary pulled on the weight, Yori would get surprised at how much the weight was moving.
"Yori, let Gary lead! He's way stronger!" Chloe called out.
"How are you so strong for an old man?!" Yori asked.
Gary was silent and simply shrugged again.
Meanwhile, Barney and Inferno were making up a lot of ground, still moving in sync with each other. The two had already managed to pull their weight half of the thirty required feet and were showing no signs of slowing down.
"Man. Look at them go." Anita folded her arms.
"I've almost forgotten why Inferno was so strong." Edwina nodded.
At the same time, Gary and Yori had managed to get into a rhythm, but they were still far behind Barney and Inferno at this point. Gary was picking up most of the slack, but it looked like it still wasn't enough.
"How are we still losing ground?" Yori asked. "This doesn't make any sense…"
"They're the stronger duo." Gary reasoned.
"Try not to take everything in stride or it'll cost you the game again." Yori said darkly.
"I made the finals in my season." Gary said with a smile. This seemed to shut Yori up.
Barney and Inferno wasted no time in getting their weight across the specified line to signify that they had pulled it thirty feet. The two looked exhausted, but satisfied.
"Okay, the Xon Tribe can now send the swimmers into the water." SSBFreak explained.
"That's our cue." Grace said.
"Let's go!" Jack cheered.
Charlotte, Grace and Jack ran down the beach and jumped into the water, quickly submerging to find the cluster of boxes to open.
"They're getting a head-start on us." Yori said. "We need to catch up."
"Of course." Gary nodded.
"Come on, you two! We're losing!" Molly called out.
Grace suddenly emerged from the water and gasped for breath. "Drat. That's one box that doesn't have the key." She said as she took another breath and went under again. As she did, Charlotte and Jack emerged, also empty-handed.
"Curse my luck." Charlotte grunted before going under again.
Reginald folded his arms. "Hmm…They've already got a big lead on us." He noted. "By the time we get to that point, the key will have probably been found."
"All the more reason to get them to finish quicker." Elias added.
Gary and Yori were almost done pulling their weight, and with one more yank, hauled it across the line. By this point, all three swimmers from Xon had come up empty-handed again and went back under for a third attempt.
"The Arkos swimmers may now go." SSBFreak announced.
"You heard the man, buddy-boys! Let's go!" Sandy said as she grabbed Krash and Tempo by the arms, charged down to the beach and leapt into the water, taking both her surprised teammates with her.
"It's going to be close now that we've all caught up." Gary noted with a smile. "This is exciting."
"How can you be so calm?" Elias asked.
"You get used to it." Chloe said with a smirk.
Charlotte and Sandy emerged from the water empty-handed and went under again to open up another box. As they did, Grace emerged, followed by Tempo and Jack. Because none of them had the key, all three went back under again.
A few moments passed. Everyone had come up a few times empty-handed, but most were surprised to see that Krash hadn't come up at all yet. This seemed to surprised most of the others.
"Is Krash still holding his breath?" Reginald asked, surprised.
"He's a reptile. I suspect that it's only natural." Molly folded her arms. "He was able to hold his breath real long in a challenge back in my season."
Krash finally came up for breath, but was empty-handed. Taking another breath, the Kremling quickly went back under again.
Time passed by extremely-slowly for the castaways on the shore. They knew that the challenge could be close, so they all waited to see how things would go.
Jack emerged from the water, but shot his hand into the air, showing that he had collected the key. The Xon Tribe cheered for Jack as he made his way back to shore.
"Alright! I did it!" Jack cheered as he ran towards the locked treasure chest where everyone else was standing. By this point, everyone else had emerged from the water and watched him get out.
"Nuts. That's no fun." Sandy pouted.
Jack quickly jammed the key into the keyhold on the chest and twisted it, throwing open the lid on the chest, revealing a two large bags inside.
"That's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Xon wins Immunity!"
"Alright! The first win of the season!" Jack cheered.
(Later…)
"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Xon Tribe. You are all safe for at least another few days, and as a Reward, you will be given these two large bags of rice that were inside the chest." SSBFreak said as he handed the two bags to the Xon Tribe. He then turned to the losing tribe. "Arkos Tribe, I have nothing for you, and will be seeing you all tonight at Tribal Council, where one of you will be voted out as the first casualty of this All Stars season. I'll give you the rest of the day to decide, but for now, you can all head back to camp."
(Arkos Tribe)
"Losing the first challenge of the season is never a good feeling. We lost and now we have to vote someone out." Yori folded her arms. "Well, I think the choice is obvious; Mel was holding the others back on the balance beam by taking her time, so I think we should get rid of her and make her answer for it."
"Mel was way too careful in the challenge and held the rest of you back." Yori explained.
"Does that really deserve getting voted off, though?" Chloe asked. "I always liked Mel…"
"Yeah. I mean, it's not like she actually fell off the beam, is it?" Krash added.
"It doesn't matter. She still cost us the win in the end." Yori shook her head.
"I still got real close." Krash shrugged. "I mean, I saw the box that Jack opened underwater and that was the next one I was going to open."
"I really don't want to vote out Mel, but hey, I'm not a target tonight and I actually FELL OFF the beam." Chloe pointed out. "Maybe if I just sit back, they won't point that out at Tribal Council and I won't get blindsided."
"Just remember that Mel is really the only target we have at the moment." Yori said. "It's best that we get rid of her now before we lose too many challenges."
Meanwhile, Molly was having a similar talk with a few of the other players, but with a very different subject.
"You want to vote out Yori?" Tempo asked. "I…Thought you guys were in an alliance or something."
"To be honest, I've just been going along with it." Molly said before turning to Mel. "To show you that I'm honest here, she's gunning for you."
"Me?" Mel asked. "Why? She…She came to ME for an alliance early on!"
"I knew I'd likely be a target early on, but not this early. Well, if Yori thinks I'm going to take this lying down, she's got another thing coming." Mel narrowed her eyes.
Tempo held up his hands. "Why should we vote out Yori in the first place, though?" He asked. "I mean, she's one of our strongest."
"Think about this, Tempo. Yori's the only season three representative on our tribe." Molly pointed out. "Who do you think would be the biggest threats to her game?"
"Honestly? The others from her season." Tempo replied with a shrug.
"Exactly. She made the finals last time. If we don't take her out now, we may never be able to at all." Molly stated.
"I'll admit that I got this idea from Krash. He made this off-handed comment of how weird it was that Yori was the only season three representative here and I picked up on it." Molly said. "I can spin my words to make the others see Yori as a threat. This makes it the perfect alibi to get rid of her early on without really getting my hands dirty."
Elias looked around, and then back at Molly. "You sure it's smart to get rid of her, though? I mean, if anything, she's a goat to take to the end." He reasoned.
"That's exactly what she WANTS you to think, you wash-up." Molly said, eyes narrowed.
"She's got a point." Tempo said.
"Hmm…Maybe so." Elias noted.
"Having studied up on the casts of previous seasons for this, I knew my biggest threats would be the big players like Yori." Tempo noted. "Maybe it IS best to get rid of her as soon as possible. Especially with that Immunity Idol hidden around here somewhere. The next time, she may find it…"
"This is going to be a long season." Elias sighed.
(Tribal Council)
The ten members of Arkos walked into Tribal Council, carrying lit torches. Finding a seat amongst the ten provided, everyone sat down to wait for things to start.
"Welcome to the first Tribal Council of the season, Arkos Tribe. That being said, I bet you were all hoping you wouldn't hear me say that so soon. In a moment, you will all be voting for someone to eliminate from the competition and reduce your team number to nine." SSBFreak said before he started asking questions. "Elias, you and the other season one players have away from this game the longest. How does it feel to be back?"
"It feels good to play the game again. Five years is a long time away from this." Elias nodded. "It could take a bit to get used to playing with newer players, but I think we can manage on experience."
"Do you think you may be at a disadvantage because you've been away the longest?"
"Not really. If anything, it makes us more-experienced and thus we know what to expect for the most part."
"Tempo, were you surprised to get this second chance?"
"For sure, but now that I have, I expect to make the most of it." Tempo nodded. "I've been studying up on the past seasons to see if the older players are playing any differently than how they did before."
Reginald blinked. "Wait. So you've basically been keeping tabs on us, then?" He asked.
"More to make sure that I don't get caught by surprise, to be honest." Tempo shrugged.
"Yori, how have things been at camp so far?" SSBFreak asked.
"For the most part, okay. We got a good camp and I've been watching people to check for forming alliances." Yori shrugged. "So far, the ones that I can tell have formed are Sandy & Krash and Chloe & Tempo."
"For future reference?" Molly asked, arms folded.
"Something like that." Yori said with a smirk.
"Gary, what's your take on the happenings at camp?" SSBFreak asked.
"Oh, I haven't really been noticing a whole lot. After all, we just started." Gary noted. "I'd probably start paying attention more a good portion into the game. The first few days of Survivor are usually just to get things off the ground before things pick up for real."
"What kind of answer were you expecting out of him?" Chloe asked the host flatly.
"Um…Sandy, what are you thinking at the moment?" SSBFreak said.
"Right now? I'm thinking about me driving a frog-shaped ATV through a desert, wearing a pink tutu, playing the bagpipes and being chased by a deranged land shark." Sandy said casually.
"So…Nothing out of the ordinary?"
"Um…Nope."
"Mel, how do you think the votes going to go?" SSBFreak asked, deciding to move on.
"I've heard my name come up before we came here, so I'm assuming that means I'm a target. I've heard that Yori was the one trying to get me out, so I decided that I need to fight to stay in the game." Mel said.
Yori's eyebrow lifted. "Wait. Who told you that?" She asked.
"It doesn't matter. Your reaction basically confirmed it, anyway." Mel said with a smirk.
"Yori, what's your reasoning?" SSBFreak asked.
"Well, Mel was holding us back at the challenge. It isn't personal, but I think that she needs to go if we're going to win any challenges." Yori shrugged.
"Even though we've only had one challenge so far?" Gary asked.
"And Mel was only playing for a third of it?" Reginald added with a smirk.
"Hey! Stop that!" Yori snapped.
"Okay. I think that's enough questions. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Molly, you're up."
Molly got up and left the hut to go vote. Walking up to the voting table with a satisfied smirk, the black-haired Minjo wrote a name down and put it into the urn.
Sandy walked up to the table and wrote a name down. Taking the time to put a little smiley face in the bottom corner, Sandy put the ballot into the urn.
Tempo walked up and wrote a name down. "Definitely not a hard choice." He admitted before voting and leaving the table.
Krash approached the table and appeared to be in thought. "How the heck do you spell her name?" He asked aloud, writing something down and voting.
Mel wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "Nothing personal, but you want me out." She said, having voted for Yori.
Gary whistled a casual tune (like usual) and wrote a name down. Satisfied with the vote, Gary put it in the urn and strolled back to the hut.
Elias walked up to the table and wrote a name down. Without taking the time to second-guess himself for his choice, Elias voted and walked back.
Chloe scribbled a name down. "Not as hard as I thought the first vote would be." The small panda admitted as she nonetheless voted and walked away.
Yori wrote a name down and turned it around, revealing Mel's name. "Looks like I'm getting some votes, but I'm sure you'll get more." She explained.
Reginald was the last to vote. The tall Rabbid walked up to the table, silently wrote a name down, put the ballot into the urn and walked away.
Once all ten players voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." SSBFreak said. No one stepped forth about the Immunity Idol, signifying that no one had found it yet. "It's time to read the votes…"
"…First vote; Yori." Yori narrowed her good eye.
"Yori." Yori glanced around at the others.
"…Mel. It's 2-1." Mel bit her lip.
"…Yori. That's 3-1." Yori folded her arms.
"Yori." Molly gave a smirk.
"Yori." Yori shook her head in hopelessness. "Next vote and first person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"
"…Yori. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.
Yori stood up and grabbed your torch. "Well, good job. I didn't see that one coming." She admitted as she walked up to the host. "I'll be waiting for all of you to arrive at the Loser's Lounge before too long."
"Yori, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Yori's torch. "It's time for you to go."
"You'll pay for your mistake soon enough." Yori said as she walked out of Tribal Council without looking back.
Once Yori was gone, SSBFreak turned to the nine remaining Arkos players. "And so begins what is sure to be a long, rough season of Survivor. Since you're all seasoned players at this point, I'm sure most of you are expecting many blindsides. Well, if someone like Yori is booted first, you know that this is going to be a good game." He explained. "Nineteen remain, and we've only just begun. Only time will tell if booting one of your strongest first will come back to haunt you, but for now, you can all head back to camp."
The nine players stood up, grabbed their torches and left Tribal Council. Molly brought up the rear, looking satisfied. Yori thought she could control her, but Molly had just proven that was an impossible task. Now that the distraction was out of the way, it was time to start playing the game…
"I'm shocked that my tribe decided to boot me first considering I was one of their strongest, but I guess they didn't want me to do anything behind their backs." Yori rolled her eye. "Well, Molly's even more-guilty at backstabbing than me, and they still decide to keep her. Even if they were going to keep Mel, it would have been smarter to boot Molly. They'll be paying for their decision, I can tell you that."
Voting History:
Yori – Chloe, Elias, Gary, Krash, Mel, Molly, Reginald, Sandy and Tempo
Mel – Yori
Author's Notes: And so Yori is the first casualty of the new season with a unanimous vote. While the bootlist may have changed a bit throughout different versions of the story, Yori was always the first boot. I wanted a villain to be the first boot, and knew that Yori would be the best choice to go for without making too many people upset with the vote.