(Opito Tribe)

"My plan worked. I was able to pin some blame on Urtha and get a few others to vote for her. It wasn't unanimous, but it was enough to keep me in the game." Molly said with a smirk. "I know we just voted out our strongest player, but I needed SOMEONE to blame for our loss and, let's face it, no one wanted to go against Urtha one-on-one."

"W-What were you guys thinking?!" Nelson demanded, still in shock. "Urtha was our strongest player! Why'd you guys vote her out?!"

"We were suspicious that she was throwing the challenges to keep us from relying on her." Jack replied. "Now that I think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense."

"Why would Urtha throw the challenges?!" Nelson asked. "Who the heck told you guys?!"

"Mason did, actually." Roscoe pointed out. "He told us that he had this hunch about Urtha and we couldn't think of a reason to not believe him."

Shamus folded his arms and cast a suspicious glance at Molly, whom was at the fire pit with Mason.

"There's no way that muscle-bound soldier is capable of such a complex thought. That Molly girl must've told him and he relayed the message to Jack and Roscoe." Shamus said. "My suspicions on that girl are higher than ever and now I'm certain that she's not what she wants us to think. I still need more proof, though. Even with this, the only person we can logically blame is Mason…"

"So what do we do, now?" Shamus asked. "Thanks to you, we're now without our strongest player."

"We've still got Mason." Jack shrugged.

Shamus lifted an eyebrow. "Do you even realize what you're saying, lad?" He asked.

Jack blinked. "Oh, yeah."

"Urtha's been my friend ever since the game started, and now she's gone for reasons that don't even make any sense!" Nelson said. "I mean, why would those two believe Mason, of all people, that Urtha was throwing challenges?! I just hope that those guys didn't screw us over for future challenges."

(Eleda Tribe; Day 7)

"We've been out her a week. One-fifth of the total amount of days in the competition. I'm feeling good considering that the teams are even by now." Oiler said. "When we lost that first Immunity, I thought we'd be losing them all, but then we end up winning the next one. I just hope this good luck continues."

Oiler was at the beach, scratching his back using his own arm, when he noticed Janine coming over, probably to talk to him. "Morning, Janine." He greeted. "Sleep well?"

"Well, Anita didn't have that nightmare last night, so we all got a better night's sleep." Janine replied.

"Who do you think Opito voted out last night?"

"Logically, it would be the Jinjo girl." Janine shrugged. "She's the weakest member of the team."

"Does being weak make you someone that can be booted early?" The test dummy asked.

"Yes, but it also makes you a good person to keep around mid-game."

"I realize that I need to form an official alliance if I want to survive past the merge. My strength makes me a threat, and I need someone I can trust to have my back when we reach that point." Janine said. "Oiler's the perfect candidate. He's not weak, but not strong enough to be considered a threat."

"Oiler, I'd like to make you an offer at an alliance." Janine said as she sat down on the beach beside the test dummy.

"An alliance?"

"Yes. I need some help in surviving the game." Janine replied. "My strength makes me a threat at the merge, and I don't want to get eliminated then."

"So you want to join me and help me to survive out here as well?" Oiler asked.

"As long as we're both in the game, we'll have each other's backs. Okay?"

"Okay. Sounds good to me."

As Oiler and Janine talked, a couple of beady eyes poked above the surface of the water and blinked a couple of times. Neither of the others noticed them.

"I was taking my morning swim when I overheard Oiler and Janine talking about alliances. I wonder if they even knew I was there when they started talking." Krash scratched his head. "Does this mean I should be worried that I'm not in an alliance or hopeful that I can get in on theirs?"

(Opito Tribe; Day 7)

Brick looked around the camp for someone. Passing Jack and Roscoe, the Lego man walked towards the smaller island.

"I've been curious ever since we got back from Tribal Council. Ginny looked pretty mad on the way there and pleased when we left. I couldn't ask her about it because she was asleep almost instantly after we got back." Brick said, scratching his head. "I know that she was one of the people that voted out Urtha, so I gotta find out what her reasoning was."

"Hey, Ginny? You out here?" Brick called out, walking across the short bridge to the small island attached to the mainland. "Look, I wanna ask you something and I know you're here somewhere."

"Oh! Hey, Brick!"

Brick looked up and saw that Ginny in a tree, was using her blue powder again, this time on a piece of fruit. Seeing Brick, Ginny jumped down and landed on her feet.

"What's up?" Ginny asked.

"I was wondering why you voted for Urtha." Brick said. "You seemed pretty peeved about something on the way to Tribal Council."

Ginny frowned. "I found out that she hated the colour blue. I make it my mission to take revenge on those with such narrow minds." She replied.

Brick could only stare dumbfounded.

"When Molly told me that Urtha was one of those blue-haters, I wasn't about to let her live it down." Ginny pointed out. "I had the option to either vote her out or keep her and make her regret her choice, but I decided on the former because I couldn't think of enough ways to make Urtha regret hating blue."

"There you are! Ginny, we need to talk!" Roscoe said as he and Jack came across the bridge.

"Oh, whatever do you mean?" Ginny asked innocently.

"You turned our treemail box blue!" Jack snapped. "What is it with your colour obsession, anyway?!"

"It's not an obsession! It's a way of life!"

"It's hard keeping that woman in check, especially since she's got that stupid powder of hers." Roscoe rolled his eyes. "If this keeps up, our entire camp's gonna be blue and then she'll start using the powder on us. Hey, I happen to LIKE my fur being gray!"

(Eleda Tribe)

"Today I made a stunning realization: I'm in an alliance of three. W-While that's good, it's not a majority." Anita explained. "It's n-nice to have people you can trust in a game like this, but that d-doesn't mean anything if you don't have the numbers."

"So what now?" Anita asked as she, Lynn and Ruth sat around the fire pit. "We should p-probably be thinking about how we can outlast some of the others here."

"Yeah. I mean, it's just the three of us." Lynn added, scratching her head.

"The only way we can become a majority alliance is to get more members." Ruth replied.

"Anita, Lynn and I make up an alliance, but we'd still be outnumbered if we went to Tribal Council." Ruth explained. "What we need is a couple of swing votes to join forces with us, and I have an idea on where to look for them."

"I think that Oiler and Vikki would be willing to join forces with us if the time came for it." Ruth suggested.

"I think that'd probably be the best course of action." Lynn nodded. "The strong players have been hanging around each other a fair bit."

"We'll try talking to them, then." Ruth nodded. "They seem to have been on the outskirts of the tribe anyway."

Anita flashed a shy smile. "I…I hope this works." She said.

"I can't overlook the f-fact that I'm a liability, even if I'm s-stronger than someone like Ruth. I know they won't k-keep me because my nightmares will keep them up." Anita sighed. "I need a m-majority alliance more than anyone else at this point."

"Joining Oiler and Vikki would be good for numbers, but it does nothing good if we go to Tribal Council." Lynn pointed out. "I mean, who does that leave to vote out; Charlotte, Janine and Krash, all three of whom make up the strongest part of the team. We've already voted out a strong player, so I don't know if voting out another so soon would be a good idea."

As the three woman continued to talk, they failed to notice the beret-wearing brunette standing just inside the jungle, watching them from behind a tree. Charlotte folded her arms and put an unamused look on her face.

(Opito Tribe)

Molly walked across the bridge connecting to the small island and looked around. The Minjo saw that she was alone and sat down on a rock, looking deep in thought.

"My first attempt to save myself from elimination was successful, but I don't think it'll work a second time. This means that I should try and lobby to vote out the weakest member aside from me. That's Brick." Molly explained. "However, there's a snag in that plan; everyone LOVES Brick. I don't know why, but they do. This will make it harder for me to survive, but not impossible."

"How am I going to do this? If I target a strong player again, people will get suspicious." Molly said. "Maybe I can get the others to vote out Ginny or Jack or Roscoe…"

Meanwhile, Nelson sat on the beach, alone, drawing ghosts in the sand with a stick. Hearing someone approaching him, the lanky nerd looked to his right and saw Mason coming over.

Mason scratched his head as he looked at the large and highly-detailed drawing of a marshmallow man towering over a skyscraper Nelson had just drawn. "Man. If you used effort like that in working out, you'd be in amazing shape by now." He said.

Nelson lifted an eyebrow at the backhanded compliment before deciding not to bother. "Mason, why Urtha? She was our strongest player." He asked.

"Can you really blame me for still feeling a little let-down? My only real friend got ousted because of some stupid rumour that wasn't even true." Nelson sighed. "I want to know who could come up with such a thing to blame Urtha on, because they'd have to be either really stupid or an evil genius."

"She was throwing games, man. She knew that we'd be depending on her, and she didn't want that." Mason shrugged before grinning. "Not that we really needed her, though. I'm just as strong as she is because of my years of experience." He tried to emphasize his point by flexing his muscles.

Nelson lifted an eyebrow and returned to his drawing. He'd have a better time drawing than listening to Mason, anyway…

"No one's been taking me seriously, and I have no idea why. I mean, I'm just as strong as Urtha was, and I'm just trying to protect someone that needs my help to survive." Mason pointed out. "I'm the best at what I do, but the problem is making the other guys on my tribe realize that. I don't know how this could be so hard, though…"

Eventually, night rolled in. Everyone went to sleep, knowing that they'd have a big day ahead of them…

(Eleda Tribe; Day 8)

"Survivor is just what it says: A game of survival. You're constantly thrown against odds and if you can overcome those obstacles, you have a chance at winning." Charlotte explained. "I've come across my first major obstacle in this game of survival: A strong alliance of three members. Of course, the only way to successfully combat such an obstacle is to have an alliance of your own."

"Krash, you need to help me." Charlotte explained. "It is important now more than ever."

"Why do you want to focus on their alliance, anyway?' Krash asked, pointing at Anita, Lynn and Ruth. "I mean, I don't see anything wrong with it."

"The problem is that they're in a tightly-knit alliance and they have power." Charlotte replied. "If we let them go too far, they'll overtake us. We need to stir things up before we get eliminated."

"So…We're basically doing now what they'd be doing later?" Krash checked. Charlotte didn't answer him.

"I don't get this whole thing about alliances being trouble. And if Charlotte wants to take them out, what makes her methods different?" Krash shrugged. "I try not to think about these sorts of things, because they tend to blow my mind. Is there something about this I'm not getting, because I've been lost for a few days now…"

Meanwhile, Janine had gone to check on treemail, only to see that Vikki was already at the box. The cavewoman walked over as the cowgirl pulled a letter from the box.

"Treemail?" Janine asked.

"Looks like it, partner." Vikki said as she scanned over the letter. "It don't say what the challenge is, though."

"We'll find out soon enough."

Janine and Vikki walked back to camp, where Vikki waved the letter around. "We got treemail, partners!" She called out, getting everyone's attention.

"What's it say?" Anita asked.

"It's asking if there is anyone on our tribe that ISN'T good at trivia." Vikki replied.

"A trivia challenge." Charlotte lifted an eyebrow. "This is good. We can definitely do this."

"I sure hope so, partner." Vikki shook her head.

"I don't like the sound of this, partner. I mean, I don't know how many smart people we've got, but I know we've got a couple of people not as good with trivia, and I'm pretty sure we can cross Krash off for sure." Vikki sighed. "I just hope that the other team has as hard of a time as we are."

(Opito Tribe, Day 8)

"My tribe seems to be mad at me that I got Jack and Roscoe to vote out Urtha, but hey, I was protecting a defenseless creature! It's what soldiers like me do!" Mason insisted. "Even still, these odds aren't impossible. You should have seen me when I was running a gauntlet of Locust and my chainsaw died on me…"

"I don't get it. Nelson gets uncomfortable around me and Shamus seems disappointed." Mason shook his head. "You guys know what I did was right, right?"

"Heck, yeah. Urtha was throwing challenges, and she paid for it." Roscoe shrugged. "I don't see why those guys are taking it so badly."

"Well, we DID get rid of our strongest player." Jack pointed out.

"What are you talking about? I'm still here." Mason interjected.

Jack and Roscoe looked at Mason strangely before turning back to each other. "As I was saying, we DID vote out our strongest player." Jack continued.

Mason pouted.

"Mason needs to get over himself. I mean, we put up with his annoying banter on how he's survived impossible odds, but there's only going to be so much we can take." Jack folded his arms. "Unlike Marty, my best friend, I'd actually have the guts to tell Mason what I thought about his bantering, but I have more troubles with Ginny, so Mason seems normal by comparison."

"We've got treemail!" Ginny sang as she came into camp, waving a blue letter around. Everyone stared at her strangely.

"You used some of your blue powder on the letter, didn't you?" Roscoe asked flatly.

"And now it's the most beautiful letter I've ever seen." Ginny giggled as she looked at the note in her hands. "It says 'Who on your tribe ISN'T good at trivia'?" She read.

"Great. A trivia challenge." Brick moaned. "I always hated those things."

"I think we've still got an advantage." Nelson replied. "I think we can get more correct than the other tribe."

"We can always hope, lad." Shamus added.

"At least this challenge isn't anything physical, otherwise we'd be at a huge disadvantage. Thankfully, this is a trivia challenge and I'm one of the smartest players here." Nelson said, tapping his head. "Let them try to throw a curveball at me. I'm ready for anything they try."

(Reward Challenge)

The Eleda Tribe stood on their mat at the beach, waiting for the Opito Tribe to make their entrance. SSBFreak stood nearby.

"Okay, before we start, let's bring out the Opito Tribe." SSBFreak explained.

The Eleda Tribe looked as their opposing tribe came out from the jungle. Everyone looked flabbergasted when they saw who wasn't still among them.

"Urtha was voted out at the last Tribal Council." SSBFreak explained.

"Y'all are crazy!!" Vikki shouted.

"Tell me about it." Nelson rolled his eyes.

"Welcome to your second Reward Challenge. For this challenge, we're going to test your knowledge on generic trivia, but we're doing this with a twist." SSBFreak explained. "For every question you get right, you can eliminate someone on the opposing team. Getting wrong answers mean nothing in this round of trivia, so keeping the people that get answers wrong all of the time may be a good thing in this case." He explained, noticing the stunned look on some of the contestants' faces. "The team that still has at least one person standing at the end wins Reward, which is a fishing rod, something I'm sure all of you are wishing you'd have by now."

The survivors looked excited at this news. Both tribes were in dire need of the prize being offered.

"If you'll all take a seat, we can begin."

The sixteen players walked over to the provided set of sixteen stumps and sat down. They all realized that they each had three cards.

"Keep in mind that there are three possible answers for each question. Hold up A, B or C to answer the questions." SSBFreak explained. "Okay, for Reward, here's the first question…"

Everyone waited in anticipation.

"The TV show Wipeout is based on a similar-styled Japanese obstacle course show. What is it?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Unbeatable Banzuke, B: Takeshi's Castle, C: Majide."

Everyone eventually held up their answer. There was a wide variety in answers.

"The correct answer is B: Takeshi's Castle. Nelson, Jack and Brick got it right for Opito, while Anita and Oiler are the only ones on Eleda to get it right." SSBFreak explained. "Opito, who are you eliminating?"

"Anita." Nelson said.

"Oiler." Jack added.

"Uh…Ruth." Brick finished.

"Eleda?" SSBFreak asked.

Anita narrowed her eyes. "Nelson."

"Jack." Oiler finished.

"Okay, guys. Come over her and stand with me." SSBFreak said. "You're all out."

As the five eliminated contestants walked over to join the host, the others remained sitting for the next question.

"Other than Moe, who is the only member of the Three Stooges to last the entire career?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Curly, B: Shemp, C: Larry."

The contestants held up their answers again. Once again, there was a variety.

"The correct answer is C: Larry. Ginny and Brick got it right for Opito, while Vikki, Janine and Charlotte got it right for Eleda." SSBFreak explained. "Opito, who's getting eliminated?"

"Janine! She's not wearing blue!"

Brick sat in silence, staring at Ginny oddly. "Uh…Charlotte."

"Eleda, your turn."

"Ginny." Janine folded her arms.

"Brick." Charlotte added.

"Molly." Vikki finished.

The eliminated contestants left the field. This left, Mason, Shamus and Roscoe on Opito, and Vikki, Krash and Lynn for Eleda.

"The numbers are dwindling fast, so let's keep going. In the video game console war, there was a huge rivalry between the three main mascots. In addition to Mario and Sonic, who was the third?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Pac-Man, B: Crash Bandicoot, C: Megaman."

The answers quickly went up this time. The numbers were still varied, but no one had picked C.

"The correct answer is B: Crash Bandicoot. Shamus and Lynn are the only ones to get it right." SSBFreak explained.

"In that case, I'm eliminating her." Shamus said.

Lynn narrowed her eyes. "Not cool man. Right back at you."

"There are now two people left on each team." SSBFreak explained as Shamus and Lynn left the field. "It's still anyone's game, so let's keep going…"

"How many seasons of the Amazing Race have there been?" SSBFreak asked. "A: 15, B: 14, C: 16."

The answers went up again. Vikki and Roscoe were holding up A's, while Krash was holding up a B and Mason a C.

"The correct answer is A: 15. Since Roscoe and Vikki got it right, I'm assuming that you're eliminating each other." SSBFreak said.

"You got it, mac." Roscoe nodded.

"Definitely, partner." Vikki nodded.

As Roscoe and Vikki left the field, everyone was suddenly aware of the two people that were still in the game: Mason and Krash.

"We're down to two people. If one of you guys answers right and the other answers wrong, we'll have a winner." SSBFreak said. "Here's the next question."

Mason tensed up and Krash swallowed.

"When did Columbus sail the seas and discover America?" SSBFreak asked. "A: 1564, B: 1492, C: 1887."

Mason and Krash held up their answers and they were both A's.

"The correct answer is B: 1492. You both gave the same answer, but it hardly matters since you both got it wrong." SSBFreak explained. "Okay. We'll try this again."

"What is a trachea?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Bug, B: Flower, C: Body Part."

Mason and Krash held up A's, although Mason took a moment's hesitation to do so.

"The correct answer is C: Body Part, and you, once again, both got it wrong." SSBFreak shook his head. "Let's keep going…"

"What type of disease can you contract from a certain type of mosquito?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Malaria, B: Pox, C: Influenza?"

Mason and Krash held up different answers this time. Mason held up a B and Krash a C.

"The correct answer is A: Malaria. You got it wrong again." SSBFreak rolled his eyes.

"Remain focused, Krash! It's not impossible!" Charlotte shouted.

"Come on, Mason! You can totally beat him!" Brick said.

"Here's the next question: What is a Red Snapper?" The host asked. "A: Turtle, B: Fish, C: Beetle."

Mason held up an A and Krash nervously held up a C.

"The correct answer is B: Fish. You're both wrong." SSBFreak explained with a sigh.

Mason growled in frustration, not believing that such a simple trivia challenge could be so difficult. Krash, on the other hand, looked downright miserable, looking like he was about to break down.

"We need to continue with the next question: Who was the winner of season 17 of the real Survivor?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Yul Kwon, B: Earl Cole, C: Bob Crowley."

Mason and Krash held up their answers after thinking. Mason was holding up a B and Krash was holding up a C.

"Survivor 17 was Gabon, and the winner was Bob Crowley. You both got it-" SSBFreak said before doing a double-take. "Oh! Wait! Krash got it right!"

Krash, his eyes wide, dropped his tablets to the ground. "W-What?" He asked.

"Eleda wins Reward!" SSBFreak announced as the Eleda Tribe cheered for Krash.

(Later…)

"Congratulations on winning Reward again, Eleda. The fishing rod is now yours." SSBFreak said as he handed Krash the fishing rod and looked at the disappointed losing tribe. "Opito Tribe, I have nothing for you except a hope that you guys can make up for your losses in the next Immunity Challenge."

Stepping back, SSBFreak looked at the two tribes. "I'll see you all tomorrow at the challenge, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

(Eleda Tribe)

"Sweet! We won us a fishing rod! We haven't had much luck catching fish lately, and we think the fish have gotten tired of having Oiler's fingers as bait." Lynn shrugged. "Man, that challenge was close, though. We're lucky that Krash came through for us, but we noticed that he didn't seem that happy on the way back to camp."

"Something wrong, Krash?" Ruth asked as she and Lynn came walking over to where the Kremling was sitting by himself. Anita would have come as well, but Oiler was teaching her how to fish with the new fishing rod.

"N-Nah. It's…It's fine." Krash shook his head as he just stared out at the ocean.

Ruth sighed and sat down beside him. "Krash, don't lie. We know something's bothering you."

Krash paused, then sighed. "I completely humiliated myself out there." He replied.

"Dude, how'd you humiliate yourself? You won the challenge!" Lynn explained.

"Yeah. By answering one question right after numerous wrong answers." Krash replied.

"I know that Kremlings aren't the smartest of species, but I just hate being reminded of it all the time." Krash sighed. "To answer so many questions wrong was bad enough. Doing it while being recorded just made it feel even worse."

"I felt so stupid! Nothing I answered was right!"

"Don't be so hard on yourself man. Like I said, you won us the challenge." Lynn reminded.

"But it took me so long to come up with a right answer, and even then I guessed." Krash sighed.

"The important thing is that you got the question right." Ruth explained. "Now come on. Let's go see if Oiler and Anita have caught anything."

Krash paused, then nodded as he got up. "Okay."

"Krash is far too hard on himself. None of us were expecting him to do especially well in trivia, so seeing him win in the end was a pleasant surprise in itself." Ruth explained. "And at least we can take some sort of comfort in knowing that there's another guy on the other tribe with problems even worse than Krash's."

(Opito Tribe)

"Mason, I can't believe you actually let that happen." Roscoe moaned. "You freaking let a KREMLING beat you in a trivia challenge!"

"So? Maybe he's just a smart Kremling." Mason shrugged.

"We lost Reward thanks to Mason and now everyone is angry at him for losing to a Kremling, of all people." Molly rolled her eyes. "Normally, I'd just let him get voted off, but I'm not done with him yet. I need to find a way to shift attention from Mason now, but at the moment, I don't have anyone I can target."

"Hey, he tried his hardest, didn't he?" Molly asked sweetly.

"If that's his hardest, I'm almost afraid to find out what his worst is." Jack shook his head.

Nelson, his arms folded, shook his head. "What's done is done. We could have benefited from a trivia challenge where you need a right answer to stay in the game." He said. "I know some of us would have done better if we hadn't been taken out so early."

"He's got a point. The whole elimination thing threw us all for a loop." Brick scratched his head.

"I was trying to be a voice of reason. Yes, I'm still mad at Mason for getting Urtha kicked off, but if this much blame is being thrown around, our tribe will destroy itself." Nelson pointed out. "I know that people will vote Mason off for losing a challenge like that in the way he did, and they already voted off our other strongest player. We can't afford to lose another."

"At least we can take comfort in knowing that this at least wasn't the Immunity Challenge." Nelson pointed out. "We need to put all of our focus into winning tomorrow's challenge."

"I'm with him. We're not getting anywhere by casting blame." Shamus agreed.

"Thanks. It's good to see that SOME of you have my back."

"It WAS a pretty stupid way to lose a challenge, though." Brick said.

"The questions were hard!"

Jack sat in front of the camera, then slapped himself on the forehead.

"These guys just don't understand how much pressure I was in! I haven't been under that much pressure since I was forced to fight a huge Locust warrior with a spork and a dislocated arm!" Mason said. "I just fell to it and answered wrong! Seriously, it's no big deal!"

Eventually, night came around. Knowing that they had another challenge the following day, both tribes were soon asleep to be ready for it.

(Eleda Tribe; Day 9)

"We're going to be having another challenge today and we know it'll be Immunity." Charlotte explained. "I need to be prepared for this. We got lucky at the Reward Challenge, but we need to anticipate anything. That's why I'm going to recruit some people before we go to the challenge just in case we lose."

"Vikki, I need your help." Charlotte explained.

"What is it?" Vikki asked.

"I want to split the alliance between Anita, Lynn and Ruth." Charlotte explained. "Krash is already on board and I wanted to solidify a few more votes just in case we went to Tribal Council."

"Why do you guys wanna get rid of them?" Vikki scratched her head.

"Their alliance is getting too tightly-knit." Charlotte replied. "If we leave them alone for too long, they'll have the majority."

"Well…Okay, I'll think about it."

Charlotte nodded. "I appreciate it."

"The funny thing is that little ol' me has had both alliances come to me, asking for support." Vikki said with a grin. She gave a wink. "I dunno which alliance I'd vote for, but maybe I could fly under the radar by playing the swing vote. All I need to do is vote for whoever I feel like and people will keep me around."

All of a sudden, a shrill scream erupted throughout the camp, startling everyone awake. They quickly found the source of the scream and found themselves gathered around a sobbing and terrified Anita, whom was curled into a ball and rocking back and forth.

"Anita, did you have that nightmare again?" Ruth asked.

Anita, too scared to reply, nodded her head.

"I don't suppose you wanna tell us about it, do you?" Krash asked. Anita shook her head rapidly. "Didn't think so."

"I wonder what the heck happened to make her this scared." Janine pondered.

Oiler came into camp, and looked around uneasily. "Uh…Is this a bad time to tell you guys that we got treemail?" He asked, holding up a letter.

Everyone else in the tribe looked at Oiler angrily.

Oiler stood with his back facing the camera, but his head was still looking at the screen, showing that his head was on backwards. "Okay. That wasn't the best thing to say, so I suppose I was asking for it." He admitted.

(Opito Tribe; Day 9)

"Hey, Brick! Can I talk to you for a minute?" Molly asked as she walked over to the Lego man.

"We're having Immunity today and I need to prepare just in case we lose. I need to get some more votes to keep Mason safe because I'm not done with him yet." Molly explained. "Thankfully, I may have an idea on who to target next. Ginny was easy to get to vote out Urtha, but I know the others are starting to get annoyed at her antics."

"I know Ginny's been annoying everyone with her obsession with blue." Molly told Brick. "I mean, you have to admit that we'd sleep a little easier knowing we wouldn't have the risk of waking up blue, right?"

"Why are you so intent on getting my vote?" Brick asked. "You trying to save Mason?"

"Mason's trying to help me through the game. I can't do this without him." Molly looked at the ground, hoping to get some sympathy points.

"I guess it makes sense." Brick shrugged. "But I think you should talk to Jack and Roscoe about it. They're the ones that have to put up with Ginny all of the time."

Molly nodded. "I really appreciate it, Brick."

"Molly makes a good point. Ginny's kinda been weirding us all out for a while." Brick scratched his head. "I mean, I wouldn't mind things looking a little less-" Something suddenly caught Brick's attention as he looked straight ahead. "Uh…Dude, is that a new camera? I've never seen one that blue…"

"We've got treemail." Shamus announced as he came walking into camp.

"The Immunity Challenge?" Jack asked.

"Aye. It says 'Who's a capable leader'?" Shamus read.

"If you ask me, that wasn't really the smartest question to open up with. I can guarantee you that half of the tribe, myself included, would have been all over that if the stakes weren't so high." Jack sighed and folded his arms. "I guess we'll have to see what type of challenge it is before we decide who will be the 'leader'."

(Immunity Challenge)

The two tribes came walking out into a clearing in the jungle and walked over to the two mats on the ground. The tribes stepped onto their respective mats and waited for the host to commence the challenge.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, everyone. Here, we're going to see which of you can direct the other members of the team." SSBFreak explained. "One team member of each tribe will be carried around this clearing, giving directions to the four blindfolded people carrying them around. Scattered around this clearing are six sacks of letters, three for each tribe and coloured according to your tribal colour. The object is that the leader has to direct the team around to collect all three of their bags and carry them back to the remaining three members of the tribe, whom will then unscramble the letters inside to come up with the winning phrase. The winning tribe will win Immunity from tonight's Tribal Council."

The tribes looked at each other, as if trying to decide who would be the important team leader.

"I'll give you guys a few minutes to figure out who's doing what and then we can start." SSBFreak explained.

(Later…)

The players had been chosen. Brick and Oiler were chosen to be the leaders, and were sitting on the wooden platform being carried by the blindfolded players. For Opito, the carriers were Mason, Shamus, Jack and Roscoe, while the carriers of Eleda were Charlotte, Janine, Krash and Lynn. This left the solvers for Opito to be Molly, Ginny and Nelson while the solvers of Eleda were Ruth, Vikki and Anita. Anita, trying to concentrate, was still visibly shaken.

"Okay, for Immunity, Survivors ready?..." SSBFreak said. "Go!"

The two teams took off, the leaders sitting atop the platforms as they were being carried.

"Okay, guys. Keep going straight." Oiler instructed. The Eleda carriers started walking, but Charlotte and Janine were walking a little faster and it was starting to make Krash and Lynn stumble. "Charlotte! Janine! Not so fast!"

"We need to hurry if we want to win, comrade!" Charlotte shot back.

"It'll be hard to win if the platform I'm on collapses!" Oiler countered.

Meanwhile, Brick was managing to get his carriers to go at a reasonable pace, but not too fast that Brick couldn't see what was coming. "Shamus, you're coming up to a log. Watch out." He warned.

The Opito carriers slowed down as Shamus was able to find the log he was heading towards. The pirate quickly stepped over it and continued to move with the rest of the carriers.

"The first bag's straight ahead." Brick explained. "I'll tell you where to go."

Meanwhile, the Eleda Tribe was starting to get back on track and the carriers were moving at the same speed this time so no one would be pulled ahead.

"Where's the closest bag, Oiler?" Lynn asked. "We've gotta be getting close."

"Turn right." Oiler instructed. "The other team is going towards another one and I don't think it'd be wise to start a race when the teams can't see."

Brick looked back and saw the Eleda Tribe going in another direction. "They're not following us." He noted.

"They don't wanna cause an accident by getting in the way." Jack replied. "Now focus on the task, kid!"

"Oh! Right!" Brick nodded as he looked ahead. "We're heading right for it. Try picking up the pace a little and I'll tell you when to stop."

The Opito carriers did as they were told and started moving a little faster, still at the same pace so they didn't drop the platform Brick was sitting on.

The two teams moved towards their first bag, but because the Opito Tribe had picked up the pace, they reached the bag long before the Eleda Tribe did. Brick quickly scooped up the bag and set it beside him on the platform.

"The Opito Tribe has their first bag!" SSBFreak announced.

"Oiler, are we almost there?" Janine asked. "We're taking a long time to get one bag."

"We're nearly there." Oiler assured.

"Can we go faster?" Lynn asked. "Going this slow can't be good."

"I'm with her." Charlotte replied. "We need to speed up."

Olier hesitated, but nodded. "Okay. Just keep going straight, but make sure you're all going at the same speed." He explained.

The Eleda Tribe picked up the pace, but by the time they did, the Opito Tribe was already on their way to the second bag.

"Just bear to the left a little, guys." Brick explained.

"Where IS it?" Mason asked, looking around.

"It's off in the corner of the playing field." Brick replied. "Just follow my directions and we'll get there soon enough."

"I almost tripped on a rock back there, man." Roscoe pointed out. "Make sure you point those out as well."

The two teams continued to move towards their bags. The Eleda Tribe managed to reach their first bag, but by the time they did, the Opito Tribe was already a good portion of the way over to their second. Oiler, ignoring this, grabbed the first bag.

"The Eleda Tribe ties it up and gets their first bag!" SSBFreak announced.

"Crap! Our lead's gone!" Jack cursed.

"No it isn't." Brick reminded. "We've still got a head-start on them."

Oiler looked around and spotted the next-closest bag. "Okay, guys! We need to turn around!" He said. "Start turning to the left!"

The Eleda carriers started turning, but as they did, Krash turned a little too fast and hit his head on the platform. This threw the other three carriers off slightly, but they were able to regain their balance.

"Not so fast, Krash!" Oiler warned.

"Sorry." Krash murmured.

Jack stepped around a rock he had been told was underfoot and continued walking. "Okay, Brick. I'm over. Now what?" He asked.

"Keep going straight! It's right there!" Brick pointed out.

"Want us to go faster, lad?" Shamus asked.

"As long as you stop when I say so, then sure."

The Opito Tribe started moving even faster now. Brick kept a keen eye on the bag as the carriers approached it.

"Okay, stop!" Brick shouted.

The Opito carriers stopped instantly, although Mason nearly stumbled a step. Brick, now right beside the bag, easily scooped it up and placed it beside the first bag.

"Opito now has two bags! Only one more and they can return to the solvers!" SSBFreak said.

"Where's the third bag?" Mason asked.

Brick looked around and spotted the final bag. "It's not that far away!" He announced. "Everyone turn to your right!"

"They've got their second bag!" Krash said. "This isn't good!"

"Focus on the task, Krash! Ignore everything else!" Charlotte ordered.

"We're almost there, guys! Keep going straight!" Oiler pointed out.

"I still think we're going too slow, man!" Lynn said.

"We don't want to go too fast!" Oiler warned. "If you guys drop me, it'll take forever to get back on track!"

"But we're already way behind." Lynn stated.

Meanwhile, the Opito Tribe was still moving towards the third bag. However, that was when Brick noticed that they were walking towards a stump that was blocking the bag and if they kept going straight, they'd run into it.

"We're going to have to go around something, guys." Brick said.

"What's wrong?" Shamus asked.

"The third bag's behind a stump and we're coming at it from the wrong angle." Brick replied. "Turn to the left slightly, guys. We'll make a circle and pick it up then."

"At least we found out ahead of time before we ran into the thing." Roscoe shook his head.

The two tribes looked neck-and-neck with each other as they moved towards their targeted bags. In the end, the Eleda Tribe managed to win the footrace to the bag. The carriers came to a stop and Oiler grabbed the second bag.

"The Eleda Tribe has tied the game up again! They've got their second bag!" SSBFreak announced.

However, before any of the Eleda Tribe had time to react, the Opito Tribe had managed to circle the stump and arrive at their third bag. Once the carriers had stopped, Brick grabbed the bag and placed it onto the platform.

"The Opito Tribe is done collecting bags!" SSBFreak announced. "Now they need to return to the starting line and pass the bags off to the solvers!"

"Come on, guys!" Nelson cheered. "We're way ahead!"

"Turn left a little and we'll be facing the starting line, guys!" Brick directed.

"We're way behind." Janine shook her head. "We need to pick up the pace."

"Oiler, where is the third bag?" Charlotte asked.

"Turn to the right!" Oiler pointed out.

"You can still pull this off, partners!" Vikki said. "The others have a ways to go to get here!"

As the Eleda Tribe continued to move towards their third bag, the Opito Tribe was already moving towards the starting line. The Opito Tribe indeed has a ways to go, but the carriers were moving fairly fast.

"Come on! You're almost here!" Molly said.

"Is there anything in the way, Brick?" Jack asked.

"Uh…No?" Brick asked after looking.

"Gentlemen, start your engines!" Jack shouted.

Jack, Mason, Shamus and Roscoe instantly started running, making a mad dash for the startling line. Brick screamed and gripped the platform he was on as best as he could, and in a matter of seconds the Opito Tribe was across the starting line. "Stop! You guys are across!" He shouted.

The Opito carriers quickly stopped, promptly flinging Brick from the platform and causing the carriers to drop the platform to the ground.

"The Opito Tribe is across the startling line and the solvers can now work on their puzzle!" SSBFreak announced.

Nelson shook his head as he grabbed the bags of letters. "You guys could have thought that through a little better." He said.

"Hey! It worked, didn't it?" Jack asked with a smirk.

"Guys, come on! The Opito Tribe just crossed!" Ruth called out.

"Seriously?!" Krash asked. "We gotta hurry!"

Charlotte narrowed her eyes behind her blindfold. "I agree. Oiler, we're running!" She said.

"No! Don't run!" Oiler said.

"Where's the third bag?!" Charlotte asked.

"Slightly to the left and straight ahead, but-"

That was all Oiler got out before his tribe took off running. Krash and Lynn looked like they were struggling to keep up with Charlotte and Janine, but they were keeping it together.

In the meantime, the Opito solvers dumped the letters out onto the ground as they stood in front of their board. The three inspected the letters and scratched their heads.

"What do you make of it?" Nelson asked.

"Could it be 'Immunity'?" Molly asked.

"There's no Y in the jumble." Nelson shook his head.

"How about 'Blue'?" Ginny asked hopefully.

Nelson and Molly looked at the blue-haired woman strangely. "It's too short of a word, Ginny." Nelson replied finally.

"Besides, there's no B either." Molly added.

"Then I don't care what it is." Ginny folded her arms.

Anita watched as the solvers continued to work and bit her lip. "I-I think we may be in trouble." She said.

"The others are approaching the third bag now." Ruth explained. "As long as we don't take long in solving, we may have a chance."

"Come on, y'all!" Vikki called out.

Meanwhile, the Eleda Tribe had just managed to come across their third bag. Oiler managed to see it in time and got his carriers to stop. The test dummy quickly grabbed the third bag.

"Eleda has the third bag! It's anyone's game!" SSBFreak said.

"Turn around!" Oiler instructed. "The starting line's behind us!"

The Opito solvers continued to inspect their letters, wondering what the answer could be. Molly noticed a pattern and pointed it out. "I think 'WINNING' is in there." She said.

"That leaves four letters." Nelson replied before his eyes widened. "Wait! I have an idea!"

Nelson quickly scooped up the letters and placed them on the board in order. When he was done, the letters spelled 'WINNING TEAM'.

"I think we're done over here!" Nelson said.

SSBFreak looked at Opito's board and gave a nod. "That's it! The challenge is over!" He said. "Opito wins Immunity!"

The Opito Tribe cheered as the Eleda carriers stopped in their tracks. They ripped off their blindfolds and saw that the challenge was indeed over. The losing team groaned in disbelief.

(Later…)

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Opito. You're all safe tonight." SSBFreak told the proud winning team before turning to the losing team. "Eleda, I'll be seeing you tonight at Tribal Council, where you guys will be voting off one of your own again. I'll give you the rest of the day to make up your minds about who to vote off."

SSBFreak looked at everyone. "You can all head back to camp."

(Eleda Tribe)

"Well, that sucked." Lynn moaned. "We were nowhere close to beating them."

"What's done is done." Ruth shook her head. "What we need to focus on now is who to vote off."

"B-But who do we go for?" Anita stuttered.

"I think Oiler." Ruth replied.

"We totally could have kept up with the other team if Oiler wasn't so paranoid that we'd crash. In a way, I think his warnings may have cost us the win." Lynn pointed out. "Hey, he doesn't seem to be aligned with anyone, so we may be able to get some backup with this vote."

"We think that Oiler should go." Lynn told Charlotte. "You and Krash in?"

"He DID cost us the win." Charlotte nodded. "We'll think about it."

"Thanks, man." Lynn nodded as she left.

As soon as Lynn was gone, Krash looked at Charlotte. "You're not gonna vote with them, are you?" He asked.

"No. This is the perfect chance to split up their alliance. All we have to ask ourselves is this: Which of the three do you think is a bigger threat?" Charlotte asked.

"Uh…" Krash scratched his head.

"Never mind. I'll just go tell Oiler." Charlotte shook her head.

Oiler looked up from his spot on the beach and saw Charlotte coming over. "I'm getting eliminated, aren't I?" He asked.

"No. We need you to vote out Lynn." Charlotte explained.

"Wait. Lynn? Why Lynn?"

"It doesn't make any sense, because out of the three of them, Lynn's the strongest." Oiler noted. "Even still, if it's my only shot at remaining in the game, then I'll go with it. I just hope it doesn't come back to haunt us later, because we're gonna need all the luck we can get."

Charlotte looked and saw Vikki coming over. Smirking, the German woman walked over.

"Vikki, we need your vote." Charlotte explained. "We need to take out Lynn."

"Why Lynn, partner?" Vikki asked.

"It's either her or Oiler and he's stronger." Charlotte replied.

"Hmm…I'll think about it. I mean, Oiler DID cost us the challenge."

"That's better than nothing, I suppose."

"My plan is going smoothly. All I gotta do is play the swing vote and the alliances will target each other." Vikki said. "The alliances will fall and the remainders will come to me for support. Sounds good to me! I just need to lay low and let them focus on each other."

(Tribal Council)

The eight members of Eleda walked into Tribal Council, carrying lit torches. Finding their seats, everyone sat down and waited for the host to commence.

"Welcome to your second Tribal Council, Eleda. In a moment, you'll be voting out one of your own from the game, much like you did six days ago." SSBFreak said before starting to ask questions. "Anita, the last time you were here, your tribe kept you over a stronger player. Do you think they regret their choice?"

"N-No. N-None of us liked Buzz and w-we've liked the camp a l-lot more without him around." Anita shook her head. "I t-think that we can s-still pull through a victory, though."

"You sound scared of something, Anita. Care to explain?"

"No!" Anita shouted, a little too hastily. "N-No."

"Just drop it." Ruth sighed. "If we couldn't get her to open up in nine days, you won't either."

SSBFreak paused, shrugged and continued. "Janine, your opposing tribe voted out their strongest player three days ago." He explained. "Do you feel at risk?"

"No. I mean, it was shocking to see that Urtha was eliminated, but I think someone had to have gotten people to vote her out." Janine replied.

"You think there's a conniver on Opito?"

"There has to be. I can't think of any reason how they could just vote out Urtha like that." The cavewoman scratched her head.

"Lynn, you're all been in the game for just over a week. How's life been at the camp?"

"For the most part, okay. Things have been more pleasant since we dumped Buzz, anyway." Lynn shrugged. "We've been trying to focus on the challenges that we need to, and it's won us a few challenges already."

"But you lost the one that really mattered." SSBFreak said with a smirk.

"Dude. Not cool." Lynn folded her arms.

"Oiler, it seems that you played a part in causing your team to lose. Care to explain?"

"The others say that my paranoia of crashing prevented the carriers from going faster and keeping up with the Opito Tribe." Oiler said. "I kept telling them that if we went too fast, we'd crash and lose valuable time getting back up again."

"It didn't stop the other tribe." Vikki noted with a smirk.

"No, but I still say that we could have crashed if we went too fast."

"Well, I think that's enough questions. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Vikki, you're up."

The cowgirl nodded and left the hut to go down to the voting table. She gave a smirk and scribbled a name down before placing it into the urn.

Ruth approached the table and wrote a name down. "Nothing personal, but you cost us the win." She said as she placed the vote into the jar.

Oiler wrote down a name and showed it to the camera. "It's going to be either you or me, but I still say this isn't the smartest vote." He said, having voted for Lynn.

Krash scratched his head, as if in thought, before shrugging and writing down a name and placing it into the urn. The Kremling left the table and went back to the hut.

Anita shakily wrote a name on her ballot. When she figured that the vote was readable, Anita placed it into the urn and returned to Tribal Council.

Janine stood at the counter, arms folded and shaking her head. "I wish I could have found a way around this." She said as she wrote a name down.

Lynn scribbled a name down and showed the camera her vote. "You cost us the win, man. We think you should pay for it." She said, having voted for Oiler.

Charlotte gave a smirk as she wrote a name down. She placed the ballot into the urn and left the counter without a word.

Once everyone had voted, SSBFreak fetched the full jar and returned a moment 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." He explained. "It's time to read the votes."

"…First vote, Oiler." The test dummy looked a little nervous.

"Oiler. That's two votes for Oiler." Oiler started wringing his hands.

"…Lynn." This caught Lynn by surprise. The black-haired woman stared with wide eyes.

"Lynn. That's two votes for Oiler and two for Lynn." Lynn started getting nervous, as did her alliance.

"Oiler." Oiler continued to wring his hands until they literally popped from their sockets.

"Lynn. That's three votes for Oiler and three for Lynn." Lynn bit her lip and cast a glance at Oiler.

"…Lynn." Lynn's eyes widened as Anita and Ruth looked just as nervous as she did. "Final vote and third person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Lynn. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

As Anita and Ruth wondered what had just happened, Lynn looked down for a second before sighing and standing up. "This is just messed up, man." She said as she grabbed her torch and walked over to SSBFreak, whom held the snuffer in his hand.

"Lynn, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Lynn's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"Good luck, girls. Do me proud." Lynn said to Anita and Ruth as she left Tribal Council and vanished from sight.

Once Lynn had left, SSBFreak looked at the remaining contestants. "And so ends another Tribal Council, which shows that just because you do well in tasks, doesn't mean that you'll be kept. There was clearly an ulterior motive for voting out Lynn." He explained. "You guys are again at a one-person disadvantage. Hopefully, you'll come back from behind again, but we'll just see where this goes. You can all head back to camp."

The remaining seven members of Eleda stood up, grabbed their torcehs and left Tribal Council to return to camp. Charlotte brought up the rear, giving a smirk as she followed the other members of her tribe. She had been successful in her attempt to weaken the alliance of her worries, but she still had a ways to go. Now it was time for step two…

"Man. I totally didn't see myself getting booted this early. I was picturing myself going all the way, man. This sucks big time." Lynn moaned. "I guess I let my guard down, so there's nothing I can do about it now. On the plus side, I'll be able to spend time with Buzz to show that runt exactly what we all thought of him…"

Voting History:

Lynn – Charlotte, Janine, Krash, Oiler and Vikki

Oiler – Anita, Lynn and Ruth

Author's Note: I always knew Lynn would be an early boot, so I tried to give her as much personality as I could. But even then she was still overshadowed by several other players. She was pretty much a filler character from the start that I didn't really know how to portray.