(Harrack Tribe)
"I have to say that I feel a lot better after that. Now that Xyly's out of the game, she can get her arm looked at and hopefully make a speedy recovery." Zita explained. "It took a couple of days longer than it probably should have, but now at least I can rest easy knowing that Xyly's going to get help."
"I, for one, am glad that's over." Zita said.
"Yeah. However, don't you think that drama may start up again now that Xyly's gone?" Wallace asked.
"How do you mean?"
"Mitchell and Yorgue were at each other's throats until Xyly got injured. What's stopping them from going against each other again now that she's gone?"
"Well…If they do, then we know they won't be targeting us." Zita shrugged.
"What worries me is that if Mitchell and Yorgue go back to being enemies, Zita and I may end up caught in the crossfire." Wallace said. "They're both going to end up coming to us for votes, and we're going to need to choose a side. We'll have to act fast, then, and see if we can get rid of them both. Maybe we can form a coalition with Helen…"
Meanwhile, Mitchell and Yorgue stood near the fire pit, staring at each other silently.
"Okay. Xyly is gone and she's going to get the medical help she needs." Yorgue said. "I appreciate burying the hatchet temporarily so we could do it."
"As I said before, I'm not heartless. I knew she needed serious help." Mitchell said. "But now that she's gone, I guess that means we can go back to being enemies?"
"I suppose so. I'm still mad that you eliminated my friends." Yorgue reminded.
"And I'M still mad that you guys voted out Robin."
"That was weeks ago!"
"What can I say? I can never let go of a grudge."
"Yeah, Yorgue and I are probably going back to opponents here. But what she seems to be forgetting is that I still have a couple of allies on the other tribe." Mitchell smirked. "Kathy and Arianna are both long gone, and Yorgue's going to have to do a bit of scrambling to find new allies."
(Gonaza Tribe; Day 23)
"I still can't believe that Saur was ousted." Jericho said in slight surprise. "What the heck happened over there?"
"My guess would be someone, likely Xyly, had an idol and used it." Matt replied.
"No…It couldn't have been her. She appreciates strength too much." Jericho shook his head. "There must have been someone else in charge of that vote."
"Why is this happening?! My allies are dropping like flies out here! Even when I'm not over on the tribe, they still end up eliminated!" Jericho said. "Matt insists that Xyly idoled Saur, and while I won't rule out Xyly using an idol, I still don't think she voted for Saur."
"Okay, brainiac. If it wasn't Xyly who voted him out, then who did?" Matt asked, rolling his eyes.
"I don't know!...And I HATE the fact that I don't know." Jericho admitted. "I'll ask Mitchell then next time we see him."
"If Xyly didn't find another idol and use it on HIM."
"Don't do that!"
"Messing with Jericho is a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I honestly doubt that Mitchell was idoled, but I can't resist the urge to plant the possibility." Matt shrugged. "It's fun to see someone so cocky and arrogant having a nervous breakdown that everything's not entirely in his control…Man, why does that just sound weird coming from me?"
Meanwhile, Yessica was having a swim in the ocean as Couscous and Monna Lisa sat on the shore, relaxing a bit. Yessica was also trying to locate the Hidden Immunity Idol while she swam, but so far hadn't found anything.
"So what's the plan?" Monna Lisa asked. "We going to try and eliminate Matt next?"
"Donny I think will vote with us." Yessica explained. "I may not like him, but Jericho's our strongest at the moment. We should leave him alone until we hit the merge."
"Ah'd so like ta wipe dat smirk off his face." Couscous piped up.
"I don't think he's been smirking so much since he saw that Saur was eliminated." Monna Lisa added.
"Yeah. Dat's true."
"How goes the search for the idol, Yessica?" Monna Lisa asked.
"I'd probably be finding it a lot quicker if you two would help me." Yessica replied flatly.
"I understand how people don't need to know that I'm close with Couscous and Monna Lisa, but I still think it's okay if we all looked for the idol together." Yessica said. "As it stands now, we've been taking shifts to see if one of us stumbles upon it, but I still end up looking for it myself. This is going to take forever."
(Harrack Tribe; Day 23)
Helen appeared be scribbling something down on the back of an old treemail that the team had been keeping. Yorgue saw this and came over.
"What are you doing now, Helen?" Yorgue asked.
"I woke up with some strange lyrics in my head. I'm writing them down before I forget them!" Helen replied quickly.
"You're writing music, now?" Yorgue asked, a non-existent eyebrow lifted.
"I'm inspired, Yorgue. I can't let this go to waste…" Helen said. "Maybe music IS my calling!"
"Helen's been changing interests every ten minutes ever since we had that dodgeball challenge. I think it IS her wasted childhood finally catching up to her." Yorgue said. "One minute she wants to be a singer, the next a writer, the next a doctor; the fact that she's got this much energy now makes me wonder if she'll try to become everything all at once."
"I'm trying to think of what style of music could go with these lyrics." Helen mused. "Let's see…Maybe pop or rock…I could see this as a jazz song, too…"
"Helen, this isn't healthy." Yorgue sighed as she sat down beside Helen.
"I know it's probably not the best for me, but…I just can't stop!" Helen said. "I NEED this! I NEED to experience life now!"
"I'm so conflicted now. What do I do with my life? I've been hit with wave after wave of inspiration and it's been pulling me in, like, five different directions at a time!" Helen said. "What do I do with my life?! I…I want to do everything! How is this even possible?!"
Wallace and Zita were combing the beach, trying to find the idol. Mitchell was off on his own across camp, also looking for the idol, and the Total Drama players were trying to avoid him.
"I wonder how Xyly was able to find that thing." Zita said. "It wasn't this hard for me to find the Gonaza idol a while ago."
"It must have been in the water and Xyly found it while she was fishing." Wallace explained.
"Then why are we searching the beach? There's no way that the idol will be in the same spot twice in a row!"
"I just don't want to take the risk."
"I still say we're searching in the wrong spot."
"Do Zita and I really NEED the idol? No, but I'd prefer to keep it out of the hands of Mitchell or Yorgue." Wallace said, arms folded. "I need to figure out a way to construct some kind of idol-detector using leaves or something if we're going to be assured that the idol hasn't been found yet…I wonder if I could do that…"
(Gonaza Tribe)
"So what's Jericho been telling you?" Donny asked.
"The same as usual; that the first targets need to be Couscous and Monna Lisa." Yessica sighed. "I take it it's the same with you?"
"Pretty much. Just wanted to check if he was telling you anything different in between the moments of him trying to seduce you." Donny smirked.
"Ugh. Don't remind me."
"I need to make sure that I'm in a good position, because the instant I know I'm not, I'll be using my idol. Yessica I can at least trust enough to tell me when Jericho's going to turn on me." Donny said. "Maybe it's about time we turned the tables on him and gave him a blindside."
"How about the two of us start lobbying to get Jericho voted out?" Donny asked. "Like, when we hit the merge?"
"I'm not sure who we can count on for votes, though." Yessica sighed.
"What about the two people Jericho want GONE?" Donny asked flatly.
"Oh…I suppose they may be ones to go to."
"I really don't want to tell anyone that I'm in an alliance with the girls. Not only would it make me look more like a threat, but it'd alert Jericho." Yessica folded her arms. "It's too bad, because out of the people on this tribe, Donny's the one I feel we could use the help of the most…"
Jericho saw the two talking and came over. "I don't suppose either of you found the idol yet, have you?" He asked.
"No. I've been looking." Donny shook his head.
"Hmm…This isn't good. Couscous and Monna Lisa may have found it again." Jericho said. "Keep your eyes open and make sure you tell me when you find it, okay? I don't want those two getting the best of us again."
"I need to take control of this game again, and in order to do that, I need to keep tabs on everyone here. If someone finds the idol, I need them to come to me." Jericho said. "I think I'm doing a good job so far, all things considered. A lesser man would have cracked under pressure long ago."
"Oops. I forgot to tell him I found the idol again." Donny smirked, dangling the idol he found earlier in front of his face. "Oh, well."
(Harrack Tribe)
Mitchell sat down on a rock, looking to be in thought. He had been searching for the idol for a while now and hadn't come up with anything yet, and was now wondering what he could do for the future.
"Looking for that idol isn't doing me any good. I need to try something else." Mitchell muttered before pausing. "Maybe there's something I can do with the fakes…"
"If I can hold on until the merge, I'll be able to go back to Jericho. However, I'll be bringing three fake idols with me." Mitchell said. "These idols may be useless, but they may also be my key to cementing Jericho's trust in me? How, you may ask? Well, I guess you'll just have to find out, won't you?"
"But what do I do in the meantime? I'm without any real allies out here…" Mitchell mused.
"Taking a break from idol searching?" Zita asked as she came over.
Mitchell sighed. "Yeah. I can't find heads or tails of that thing." He admitted.
"Me neither. I still don't know how Xyly found it so easily."
"She must have found it while she was fishing."
"Wallace said the same thing, you know."
"Part of what comes with me being a sneak is that I can usually tell when someone's lying by their words. I couldn't sense a lie in Mitchell's words when he said he hadn't found the idol yet." Zita explained. "This tells me that there's a good chance that the idol is at least still in play."
"So what's the plan?" Mitchell asked. "We're down a person and we need to step it up for the next challenge."
"What if it's the merge?"
"I don't want to get my hopes up. I want to be ready just in case they decide to merge at ten again."
"I guess that sounds like a good idea." Zita nodded. "Why? What are you planning?"
"I'm planning on winning the next challenge. That's what."
"I need to watch what I say around Zita. Her sneakiness reminds me of Arianna and I'd rather have her in the dark and not find out about these fake idols." Mitchell explained. "The less people know about this, the better, because if one of the others find out about it, they may end up going to relay the info to Jericho…"
(Gonaza Tribe; Day 24)
"Where's dat frickin' idol?" Couscous asked as she continued to look around.
"I'm thinking that someone already found it by now, Couscous." Monna Lisa replied. "We've searched this camp top to bottom already."
"Yer a psychic, kid. Why don't ya use yer freaky mind tricks to find da idol?"
The pink-haired psychic stared flatly. "Because I can't read the mind of an INANIMATE OBJECT." She replied.
Couscous blinked a few times. "Oh, right."
"Monna Lisa says dat da idol's gotta be found by now, but Ah ain't givin' up dat easily. Da two of NEED dat frickin' thing ta survive." Couscous said. "If we don't find it, we gotta rely on Yessica getting' da short guy's vote, and Ah hate putting mah trust in others when Ah can do somefin' about it mahself."
"Where's Yessica, anyway?" Couscous asked.
"Searching another part of the camp, obviously." Monna Lisa rolled her eyes. "I believe we already established that we don't want people realizing that she's in with us. Especially not Jericho."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatevah."
"Plus, she's doing the best she can. How'd YOU like it if some guy tried to hit on you every chance he got with the intent on getting your vote?" Monna Lisa quizzed.
"Ah'd kick 'em in da crotch and smash mah cookin' pot ovah his head, dat's what!"
"That cat is such a grump. If she didn't focus so much of her anger on Jericho and instead focused it on something more productive, we'd get a lot more done around here." Monna Lisa said. "Believe me, the last guy that let his anger simmer for too long ended up trying to take over the world with an army of brain-operated death tanks. That's NOT good, you know."
"We've got treemail." Matt announced, entering camp.
"Looks like this'll have to wait." Monna Lisa sighed as she and Couscous made their way over to Matt.
"It's wondering if we're ready for a change." Matt read.
"A change? What the heck does that even imply?" Donny asked, an eyebrow lifted.
"I'm thinking it's the merge." Jericho noted with a smirk. "They could be implying a change in scenery."
"Seems to make the most sense, and we're at eleven people." Matt shrugged.
"If we made the merge, then it's a good milestone on my part. Yeah, I made it this far last time I played, but I'm playing a different game now." Matt explained. "And if we ARE at the merge, it means I can start kicking things into high gear. Maybe I can start playing for myself again."
(Harrack Tribe; Day 24)
Helen was making her way over to the treemail box, humming to herself. At the moment, she was still holding her previously-written lyrics in one hand and was trying to come up with a decent melody that could fit it.
"No, that melody seems a little too upbeat for these words." Helen mused, passing Wallace and Zita (who were still looking for the idol) as she walked over to the treemail box. She looked around at everyone, still searching for the idol. "Man. Why is everyone looking so flustered? It's only been…What, a few days since the idol was used?"
Helen reached the treemail box and opened it to grab the note, but suddenly paused when she spotted something. Propped up against the back of the pole the treemail box was attached to was something that looked extremely out of place: The Hidden Immunity Idol. Helen was quick to scoop it up.
"No way! It's been back here the entire time?!" Helen asked. "How has no one found it yet?!"
"I've heard of this old saying. Something like the last place you look is always the most-obvious. The idol was in the most-obvious place in the camp, and NO ONE'S found it yet." Helen said, eyes wide. "Well, I've got it now, but…Do I really need it? I mean, if the others are going against each other, wouldn't I logically be safe anyway?"
Quickly putting the idol into her jacket (which she was still wearing like a belt), Helen pulled the treemail out of the box and returned to camp. "We have treemail!" She announced to the other four players. This got them to stop looking for the idol and come over.
"Challenge time?" Yorgue asked.
Helen read the note in confusion. "I'm not sure. It's telling us to prepare for a change." She read.
"You think that means we made the merge?" Mitchell asked.
"Maybe. I sure hope so." Wallace said with a smirk.
"Making the merge. I didn't get this far back in Total Drama, but here I am. While I admit that I haven't done a lot of scheming, you can bet that's going to change big time." Wallace assured. "I'm not going to try becoming this supervillain, but you can count on me pulling a few moves worthy of my genius. Now if only they'd let me use some of my inventions to help…"
"Honestly, I'll be glad if we made the merge. That means this team phase is over and I can try to get back in with Jericho." Yorgue explained. "It may be just me now, but I want to show him that Mitchell isn't trustworthy. He may not believe me at first, but I'll think of a way to get on his good side."
(Reward Challenge?)
The Gonaza Tribe emerged from the jungle and onto a clearing. Seeing their mat, everyone walked over and stepped on to wait for the challenge to begin.
"Before we start, let's bring out the Harrack Tribe." SSBFreak said as the losing tribe walked into view and onto their mat. The others saw who was missing. "Xyly was eliminated at the last Tribal Council."
"I suppose that's a good thing with her injury." Matt mused.
"Welcome to your next Reward Challenge, everyone…Is what I'd be saying if there actually WAS a challenge today." SSBFreak announced. "You eleven have survived half the competition and we're at the point where we're moving into a new stage in the game."
"Knew it. It's the merge." Jericho smirked.
"Indeed it is the merge. The tribes are hereby dissolved and you will be staying at one camp, a brand new one, for the rest of the game." SSBFreak said. "If you'll all give me your buffs…"
The eleven remaining players handed in their buffs and were given new ones: bright red. "This is the colour of your as-of-yet unnamed tribe." The host explained. "I trust you guys to come up with a name today in order to be ready for tomorrow's Immunity Challenge."
"From here on out, you will be competing in Individual Immunity Challenges, where only one of you will be immune from the vote at each episode's Tribal Council. However, there will be NO new Immunity Idols hidden at the camp. You're going to have to hope that someone on your tribe has the ones from your specific camps, because you're not getting a new one."
This news seemed to take most of the players off guard, but they remained silent.
"In addition, all rewards won so far will be moved to this new camp for everyone's use. I'll be seeing you all tomorrow at the Immunity Challenge, but for now, you can all head back to your new camp."
(Merged Tribe)
"Looks like we've arrived." Matt announced as he led the group into their new camp with the map he had been given.
The new tribe was large and spacious enough for everyone, with a few small ponds scattered around in addition to having access to the ocean and a beach. A few small islands sat a ways off the shore, and the back of the camp was up against the side of a tall cliff that no one could see the top off.
"Well, I think it's obvious where the shelter's getting built." Zita said. "In the shadow of the cliff."
"Yeah. That's probably the ideal spot so long as the sun isn't blaring down at sunrise…" Matt added.
While the others dispersed to get their new camp set up, Jericho was quick to pull Mitchell aside. "Mitchell, I need some answers." He explained.
"Am I surprised that Xyly's gone? No. It's a pity, but with her arm broken, she was living on borrowed time anyway." Jericho said. "No. What I want to know from Mitchell is the truth about the elimination prior."
"How did Saur get eliminated? I thought for sure you'd have the numbers at that point." Jericho said.
"I DID. Xyly had the Harrack Idol and Saur was blindsided with it." Mitchell replied. "She was determined to stay even with the injury and what she did was out of anyone's control."
"I don't see Xyly as one to vote out a strong player so quickly, though." Jericho said suspiciously.
"The fact remains that Xyly used an idol and Saur is gone. End of story." Mitchell replied. "However, after the fact, I think I stumbled upon something."
Mitchell pulled the three fake idols into view, surprising Jericho. "I found THREE idols at Harrack before we merged." He explained. "I have no idea which of them is the real thing."
"Call this cementing Jericho's trust. I showed him the fake idols and played dumb that I didn't know that they were all fakes to begin with." Mitchell smirked. "So long as Jericho thinks that I willingly revealed that I had the idol, he'll trust me."
While the others were building the shelter by the cliff, Yessica and Donny ended up going over to Helen, who was whistling as she collected some stones for the fire pit. "Um…Helen, we're curious." Yessica said. "What the heck HAPPENED to you?"
Helen stopped whistling and turned around. "My eyes were opened. I received a lifetime of emotions all at once. Something must have happened after I was forced to exert so much energy and I ended up liking it." Helen said. "Now I'm ready to live life! I feel like I can move the earth!"
"I still say she's faking it." Donny muttered.
"It's Helen. We both know she was incapable of emotions. That includes trying to fake it." Yessica said. "I think she's actually being SERIOUS here."
"It's so weird seeing Helen acting all excited and bubbly after being so used to seeing her acting deadpan and emotionless back on Total Drama." Yessica explained. "I mean, we saw her acting differently at the challenges, but seeing her acting this way in PERSON still hasn't really sunk in yet."
After the shelter was built, Zita went looking for Matt and ended up finding him over by the red flag by one of the tribe's ponds. He appeared to be in thought.
"Trying to come up with a tribe name?" Zita asked.
"Yeah. It's hard trying to think of something that is catchy and memorable at the same time." Matt replied.
"Try not to be TOO creative. I still remember Sandy's 'Ninja-Pirate-Zombie-Robot' thing from last season." Zita shook her head.
"I'm not an idiot. I'm not going in that direction." Matt assured.
"Any ideas? I'm thinking of maybe something that combines two words." Zita said. "But what?"
"Well…I've got an idea in the back of my head…" Matt said. "How does 'Miyawata' sound?"
Zita appeared to be in thought. "I like it." She admitted. "Where's it come from?"
"Um…The combination of 'Miyamoto' and 'Iwata'." Matt replied, rubbing his head.
"I suppose I should have expected that from the guy representing the Nintendo franchise." Zita chuckled.
"…Don't judge me." Matt muttered.
The rest of the tribe had no problem with the tribe name, so by the end of the day, the tribe had been christened the "Miyawata Tribe".
(Miyawata Tribe; Day 25)
"You want to target Mitchell first?" Helen asked.
"Yeah. Believe me, Helen, Mitchell's caused more trouble to my alliance than you may think." Yorgue nodded.
"I want to make sure I at least have a few votes for Mitchell before I decide to go to Jericho, so I'm starting with Helen and working out from there." Yorgue explained. "Her opinion about him may or may not be different with her new attitude, but I need to start somewhere and I know she resented him at first."
"You okay with it, Helen?" Yorgue asked. "If the two of us can get some more help, we might be able to get rid of him."
"Well…Okay, but I think you're taking this out of proportion."
"Maybe this is a good thing. I mean, I have the idol, and Yorgue comes to me for a vote. Maybe I can slip by unnoticed and I can actually enjoy the rest of the game!" Helen said. "I think I may go with Yorgue on this unless someone gives me a better offer. I mean, I don't have anything against Mitchell anymore, but if the majority wants him out, I guess I'll vote with them."
Meanwhile, Jericho was having a talk with Wallace and Zita, hoping to get their votes.
"Basically, the main plan is to split the votes." Jericho explained. "Half votes for Couscous and the other half for Monna Lisa."
"Why are you even targeting those two? Neither of them are threats." Zita lifted an eyebrow.
"You'd be very surprised, my dear. I've been targeting those two since we started and they're both still here." Jericho informed. "What does that tell you?"
"That they're sneakier than they look…" Wallace mused.
"I don't mind stretching the truth a little bit to get what I want. Yeah, Couscous and Monna Lisa are annoyingly hard to get rid of, but I can put up with them, not that the others need to know that." Jericho pointed out. "If I can convince the others that those two are bigger threats than they look, then I'll have the majority again in a heartbeat."
"We've got treemail, guys." Mitchell announced as he walked into camp.
"Our first merged challenge." Monna Lisa noted. "What's it say?"
"It's wondering if we can swim and carry something at the same time." Mitchell replied.
This seemed to make Yessica light up in excitement. "Oh, boy! Another swimming challenge!" She said.
"We may as well quit while we're ahead." Donny told Matt.
"We haven't had a lot of swimming challenges yet, and now that we've merged, I'll bet that there's going to be a number of them coming up." Donny explained. "Seriously, Yessica is going to dominate anything in the water."
(Immunity Challenge)
The eleven remaining players emerged from the jungle and onto a beach. Seeing their red mat on the ground, everyone walked over and stepped on.
"Welcome to your first individual Immunity Challenge, everyone. Before we start, I need to ask you if you came up with a new tribe name." SSBFreak explained.
"It's named 'Miyawata'." Jericho explained.
"Okay. Good enough. With that, I can tell you about the challenge. We will be testing your ability to dig and carry items underwater." SSBFreak said as everyone saw the buoy floating in the water a good distance away from the shore. "In the sand near that buoy are a bunch of weighted pots, and your goal is to bring three of them one at a time onto the shore and stack them on this provided table. The pots are heavy and, like I said, you can only take one at a time. The first person to bring three weighted pots in from the water and bring them back to the start will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."
"If you'll all get ready, we can begin."
The eleven people looked at each other before stepping into a line, preparing to run at the water. Some looked far-more confident than others.
"Okay. For Immunity, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "…Go!"
The eleven players instantly started running towards the water, reaching the shore at almost the same time, although Couscous and Monna Lisa were already starting to fall a bit behind at that point. Jericho and Yorgue hit the water first and instantly started swimming out to the buoy, with everyone else following them from behind.
However, Yessica suddenly shot past the leaders, her swimming ability kicking it. Yessica cut through the water quickly and quickly started leaving everyone else in the dust behind.
"Oh, yeah. Forgot about her swimming skills." Jericho noted.
Yessica swam as hard as she could, and ended up reaching the buoy well before anyone else was barely halfway there. Yessica took a deep breath and quickly went under the water.
By the time Jericho and Yorgue arrived at the buoy, Yessica still hadn't come up for air yet. The other two went under the water to start their searching as others arrived on the scene.
"Yessica's still under the water?" Mitchell asked.
"She LIVES for the water." Wallace replied flatly.
As Mitchell and Wallace went under the water, Yessica emerged, holding her first pot and not looking short of breath. "Got it!" She cheered as she started pedaling towards the shore, going slower with the weight but still going faster than the others.
Couscous watched as Yessica swam past. "How da heck is dat goil so fast?!" She asked aloud.
Jericho emerged from the water without a pot. "Ugh! Those pots are heavier than they look." He muttered as he went back under.
Yorgue, at the same time, emerged from the water, although she had her pot. "Okay. That's one." She said as she started swimming to shore.
Yessica, at this point, had reached the shore and was lugging the weighted pot over to the starting line. Because she wasn't as strong as Yorgue, Yessica was struggling a bit with this part, but she still made it to the start again and put the pot down.
"Yessica has scored her first point." SSBFreak announced.
"I've totally got this." Yessica nodded as she turned around and jogged back to the water, diving in headfirst and swimming as fast as she could.
Mitchell and Wallace emerged from the water without a pot as Jericho finally managed to get a pot. Jericho started swimming back as the others continued to search for pots.
Monna Lisa emerged from the water and started gasping for breath. "I…I can't do this." She said as she started swimming to shore again. "My asthma's going to kill me, here!"
"Looks like Monna Lisa is dropping out of the challenge." SSBFreak announced.
"That's a little reassuring." Jericho smirked.
By this point, Yorgue had made it to shore with her first pot. Yorgue ran over to the starting line and placed it down.
"Yorgue has tied with Yessica."
"She's still got a lead on me, though." Yorgue noted as she ran back to the water.
Mitchell and Zita emerged from the water, holding pots. "These these are partly-buried in the sand and they weigh, like, twenty pounds!" Mitchell grunted.
As Mitchell and Zita swam to shore, they ended up passing Yessica, who was on her way back for another pot. Yessica swam over to the buoy and went under the water again. By this point, Jericho had also put his first pot at the starting line and was making his way back.
Monna Lisa climbed onto the shore, still breathing heavily. Making her way over to the starting line, the pink-haired psychic grabbed her bag of inhalers, took one out and used it. "Ugh. There's no WAY I'd be able to survive carrying one of those pots to shore after swimming that far." She lamented. "Not without telekinesis."
Couscous coughed up water as she emerged from the water without a pot. "How da heck do dey expect me ta lift these frickin' things?!" She demanded.
Helen appeared to be struggling as well, coming up empty-handed. "Those pots are heavier than I thought…" She said.
Donny and Yessica emerged from the water, each with a pot. The two started swimming to shore, but Yessica quickly and easily pulled ahead, now taking her second pot to shore and increasing her lead on everyone else.
"How the heck do they expect us to beat her in a swimming challenge?" Donny asked aloud.
Mitchell and Zita arrived at the shore and made their way over to the starting line, putting their pots down at almost the same time.
"Mitchell and Zita are on the board." SSBFreak announced.
As the two players rushed back to the water to stay in the game, Yessica emerged from the water again far ahead of Donny. Yessica carried her second pot over to the starting line and set it down.
"Yessica now has her second point. She needs one more to win."
A bit after Yessica had gone back into the water, Donny emerged onto the shore and carried his first pot over to the starting line, staring flatly as he set his pot down and got himself on the board.
"Donny has his first point, but he needs to catch up." SSBFreak said.
"No. I'm stepping out of the challenge. Yessica's got this and there's no way I'll get two before she can get one." Donny said as he walked over to join Monna Lisa.
Yessica was about halfway to the buoy when Yorgue emerged from the water, holding her second pot. Wallace did the same with his first as he started carrying it to shore, trailing Yorgue by about ten feet.
Jericho emerged from the water without a pot. "Every time I try to grab one of those things, the waves bury it again." He lamented.
Couscous emerged from the water and watched as Yessica quickly arrived at the buoy and dove under again. "Dat's it. Ah'm droppin' outta da challenge." She said as she swam to shore.
Zita suddenly emerged from the water with her second pot. "Ugh. Yessica's got this one." She lamented as she started swimming to shore.
Yorgue and Wallace made it to the shore and started making their way over to the starting line. Yorgue beat Wallace there as the two set their pots down.
"Yorgue has her second point and Wallace his first."
Jericho emerged from the water, this time with a pot. However, almost right after he did, Yessica emerged from the water with her third. Grinning ear to ear, Yessica swam to shore again, easily passing Jericho and leaving him behind.
Helen watched the two swim away as Mitchell emerged from the water with his second pot. "Is it over?" He asked.
"Pretty much." Helen nodded.
Yorgue and Wallace, still on the shore, froze as they were about to enter the water again. Zita rushed past them and put her second pot down at the starting line, but by that point, Yessica had arrived at the shore with her third. The others could do nothing as the blonde swimmer ran over to the starting line and put her third pot with the others.
"That's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Yessica wins Immunity!"
"That was awesome! It fit me completely!" Yessica cheered.
(Later…)
"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Yessica. You have a one-in-ten shot at winning the game." SSBFreak said as he handed a decorative necklace to Yessica, who put it on.
"Thanks. This is such a relief." Yessica nodded.
SSBFreak turned to the other players. "Yessica is safe from elimination, but I'll be seeing all of you tonight at Tribal Council, where another one of you will be voted out so soon after merging." He explained. "It's time to start talking about who needs to be cut, because from here on out, it's one step closer to the finals. You can all head back to camp."
(Miyawata Tribe)
"Yessica won Immunity and, while I'm glad for her, it's not like she needed it. Jericho's been talking to Wallace and I about splitting the votes between Couscous and Monna Lisa." Zita explained. "I think it works out because the Total Drama players are already down one person and if Jericho's willing to leave us alone for now, I'm all for it."
"You two could vote for Couscous. Matt and I will vote for Monna Lisa." Jericho explained. "I have the numbers to divide between them for the rest. We'll have a majority."
"Are you sure about that, Jericho?" Zita asked.
"Mitchell, Yorgue and Yessica are with me and I'm on Donny's good side." Jericho informed.
"Well…Okay. If you're that convinced about it." Zita shrugged.
"Yeah. Why do you want to split the votes between them, anyway?" Wallace asked.
"Because they used an idol the last time I underestimated them and they eliminated Yannis." Jericho explained. "I don't think Donny's quite forgiven me for letting it happen, yet."
"I want to make sure that, even if those two still play an idol, one of them still goes. I was caught off guard once, but not again." Jericho pointed out. "Plus, I know that Couscous will be targeting me, so just in case, I'll be using the idols that Mitchell gave me. Two of them may be fakes, but the real one has to be there somewhere."
Yessica walked over to Couscous and Monna Lisa to relay the plan for the vote. "Jericho is planning on splitting the votes between you guys." She informed. "However, Donny and I are planning on voting out Jericho if you guys are willing to finally be rid of him."
"You think we should?" Monna Lisa asked.
"He's still a threat, and he doesn't have Immunity." Yessica replied. "Plus, him leaving now would be a great feeling for me."
"Okay, kid. Thanks fer tellin' us." Couscous nodded.
"Donny and I are voting for Jericho for obvious reasons. I just hope that Couscous and Monna Lisa are on board with it." Yessica said. "They say that they've got Mitchell with them as well, so this may give us the majority in the vote."
"Hmm…Yessica and Donny are voting for Jericho, while Jericho is trying to split the votes between the two of you?" Mitchell asked. "What about Yorgue and Helen?"
"We dunno who they're votin' fer, but Ah'd say you are a pretty good target." Couscous said.
"So who are we voting for, Mitchell? We taking out Jericho?" Monna Lisa asked.
Mitchell paused, then smirked. "Actually, I've got a better idea." He said.
"It's time to start playing for real, and since it looks like my alliance may have some power tonight, I'm taking advantage of it." Mitchell said.
(Tribal Council)
The eleven remaining players walked into Tribal Council with lit torches. Seeing a large number of seats available, everyone sat down and waited for the council to commence.
"Welcome to your first merged Tribal Council, Miyawata Tribe. You may have lasted this long, but someone else's game ends tonight, as you will be voting someone else out of the game." SSBFreak said before deciding to start asking questions. "Wallace, how did making the merge feel?"
"It felt great considering that none of the remaining Total Drama players had made it this far in our previous attempts." Wallace nodded. "Rheneas, Kasimar and Yannis were the three that made it the furthest and we all managed to outlast them."
"You guys didn't make the merge back in Total Drama?" A surprised Matt asked.
"No. We were all cut pre-merge, some doing better than others." Zita shrugged.
"Yeah, at least here we've beaten our old records." Wallace finished.
"Matt, you, on the other hand, HAVE been here before." SSBFreak said. "Is this any different?"
"The last time I made it this far, I was playing a game that would end up completely screwing myself over." Matt folded his arms defiantly. "I'm playing smarter this time."
"Care ta tell how?" Couscous asked with a smirk.
"Not really, no." Matt replied flatly.
"Jericho, has the merge affected plans for the future that you had while in tribes?"
"No. The main plan is still in progress and I don't see it changing until it's complete." Jericho replied.
"Why are ya still intent on takin' Monna Lisa and Ah outta da game?!" Couscous demanded. "We ain't even threats!"
"You aren't with me, Couscous. That makes you against me." Jericho responded. "If you were willing to join forces earlier, it wouldn't have come to this."
"Ah'd ratha' DIE den join yer frickin' alliance, ya prick!"
"That was uncalled for. Too bad I have the numbers." Jericho reminded.
"Yessica, there seems to be some animosity on this tribe." SSBFreak said.
"Sort of. Couscous seems to be Jericho's biggest enemy and she'd let everyone know that when she moved to Gonaza. I have a feeling it was the same on Harrack." Yessica replied.
"Pretty much. You get used to it." Mitchell shrugged.
"Yeah, you get used to it. It's gotten to the point where I'm not even bothered by it anymore because this has been a daily occurrence." Yessica added.
"Mitchell, Yessica won Immunity today. Do you think she needed it?" SSBFreak asked.
"To be frank, no. I've heard talk about several different targets getting thrown around and she wasn't one of them." Mitchell pointed out. "Does Immunity help? Yes. Is it needed sometimes? No."
"Zita, is Mitchell right?"
"Yeah. I mean, Jericho came to use earlier and asked to help him vote out a target." Zita replied. "He seemed willing to keep us around, so we decided to help him vote out who he needed to."
"Thanks a lot for that, dummy." Monna Lisa replied dryly.
"I'm sorry, kid." Zita replied. "But at this point in the game, we need to play for ourselves."
"You got that right."
"Last question. Helen, how do you think the vote's going to go tonight?"
"Well, I really don't know. I mean, it could go any way." Helen replied. "In fact, the thought that the vote could go any way is a little exciting. I'm actually anxious to see what's going to happen!"
"She HAS to be faking it." Donny muttered to Yessica.
"Okay I think that's enough questions." SSBFreak said. "Before I continue, I have to ask: Yessica, you have immunity. Are you keeping it?"
"Yes. Yes I am."
"With that, Yessica is immune and cannot be voted out. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Mitchell, you're up."
Mitchell stood up and walked out of the hut to go vote. The blonde man approached the table, wrote a name down and put his ballot into the urn.
Donny wrote a name down and showed it, revealing Jericho's name. "You're a threat, man. Consider this a compliment." He said.
Matt walked up to the table and wrote a name down. The dark-haired man shoved his ballot into the urn and left the table as quickly as he came.
Couscous scurried over to the table and scribbled a name down on her ballot. The green cat put her vote into the jar and walked back to the hut.
Zita scribbled a name down and showed it. "Jericho wants to flush out an idol if you have it." She said, having voted for Monna Lisa.
Monna Lisa walked up to the table and slowly wrote a name down, using her hand this time as opposed to her psychic powers, before voting and walking back.
Jericho wrote a name down and showed it, revealing Couscous' name. "You're not getting the better of me this time, Couscous." He warned as he voted and walked away.
Helen walked up to the table and wrote a name down. Before she could second-guess herself about her choice, Helen voted and quickly walked back to the hut.
Yorgue wrote a name down and showed it. "You're still a snake, even if Jericho refuses to believe it." She said, having voted for Mitchell.
Yessica walked up to the table and wrote a name down. Without revealing it, Yessica ended up sticking her ballot into the urn and returning to the hut silently.
Wallace was the last to vote and approached the table. Twirling his mustache for good measure, Wallace wrote a name down, voted and left the table.
Once all eleven players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn of votes and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forth their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained.
"Hold up."
Everyone watched as Jericho stood up, receiving three idols from Mitchell. "I'm playing these. I know that two of them are fake, but the real one has to be here somewhere." He said.
Couscous and Monna Lisa looked shocked at what Jericho (and Mitchell) was doing, but stayed quiet as Jericho handed one of the idols over to SSBFreak. Yorgue's eyes widened, recognizing the idols.
"Jericho, this is NOT an Immunity Idol." SSBFreak explained.
"Let's try this one." Jericho said, having over the second one.
"This isn't a real idol either."
"Then it has to be this one." Jericho said, handing over the last idol.
SSBFreak stared flatly. "Jericho, when are you going to stop handing me fake idols?" He asked, tossing all three idols into the fire.
Jericho looked stunned. "They…They were ALL Fakes?!" He asked as he turned to look at Mitchell, only to see that he looked just as shocked as he was. Couscous and Monna Lisa looked visibly-relieved, as did Yessica.
SSBFreak watched as Jericho returned to his seat. "If no one's going to play a REAL idol, it's time to vote…" He said.
"…First vote; Couscous." Couscous stared flatly.
"Monna Lisa." The two exchanged unamused glances.
"Couscous. She leads 2-1." Couscous folded her arms gruffly.
"…Jericho. It's 2-1-1." Jericho looked unfazed.
"Monna Lisa." Monna Lisa took a deep breath.
"Jericho. It's tied at 2." Jericho still looked unfazed.
"…Mitchell." Mitchell lifted an eyebrow.
"…Zita." Zita and Wallace were taken aback, looking surprised.
"Zita." Now Jericho was starting to look shocked.
"…Mitchell. We have a five-way tie with two votes each." This seemed to tell Mitchell what he wanted to hear, and smirked. "Last vote, first member of the jury, and tenth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"
"…Zita. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.
Zita looked stunned. "But…How the heck did that just happen?!" She demanded.
"I…I don't know." Jericho stammered.
"Whoa. That's crazy…" Zita said as she picked up her torch and took it to the host.
"Zita, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Zita's torch. "It's time for you to go."
"I'll be monitoring everyone closely." Zita said as she walked out of Tribal Council and vanished from sight.
Once Zita was gone, SSBFreak turned to face the surviving players. "Tonight we saw something I don't think anyone was expecting. The vote could have literally gone any way, but in the end, Zita was the one to pay for it. This only tells me that things are about to get interesting." SSBFreak explained. "Ten of you remain, and now we're at the point where you need to start keeping friends, because we all know that the people you vote out now will be voting for the winner. You can all head back to camp."
The ten remaining players stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Bringing up the rear was Wallace, who still looked stunned at what had happened. The votes for Zita had seemingly come out of left field, and he had no idea who to blame for this. Still, whoever voted out his girlfriend would pay dearly for this. He just needed to figure out who it was…
"Wow. I still can't believe that happened. I guess you need to prepare for anything out here, because Jericho TOLD us we had the numbers." Zita said. "Seems that the others are intent on playing the game their way. I wish I could still be there to see what the reactions of everyone are going to be, though…"
Voting History:
Zita – Couscous, Mitchell and Monna Lisa
Couscous – Jericho and Matt
Jericho – Donny and Yessica
Mitchell – Helen and Yorgue
Monna Lisa – Wallace and Zita
Author's Notes: Zita ends up the first one gone at the merge and the first jury member. I didn't expect her to be such a contender as a winner coming into this, but as I was writing, she just seemed to accept the role of narrator and straight man to Wallace's funny man. However, I needed a way to logically get rid of Zita when the merge hit, and what better way to split the votes in a fashion like this?
Now Wallace is alone without her. We'll just have to see how well Wallace can manage without Zita to talk to about ideas.
(Ponderosa)
A limo drove up a driveway leading to a large mansion on a bright, sunny day. Pulling up to the front door, the back door to the limo opened up and Zita stepped out, shielding her eyes from the sun.
"Wow! This place is huge!" Zita said as she stepped towards the front door.
"Yeah, I just got eliminated. After the weight of the vote finally set in, I was feeling a little down that it all had to end like that." Zita lamented. "Then I remembered Ponderosa! I'm going to be living like a queen for a good while as a means to make up for spending three weeks on a deserted island!"
Zita started making her way towards the mansion, only to stop when someone called her name.
"Hold up, Zita." The driver said. "I need my wallet back."
Zita paused, and gave a sheepish grin as she pulled a wallet from her shirt, handing it to the driver. "Sorry. Just feeling a little rusty." She said.
With that, the driver drove off. After he was gone completely, Zita fished a pair of boxers from her shirt as well. "I wonder how long it'll take him to realize I lifted these as well." She pondered.
"I admit that I have a bit of a klepto tendency, and it was hard keeping it under control back on the island where I'd get a penalty." Zita said. "But now that I'm out of the game, I don't have to hold back anymore."
Entering the mansion and looking around, Zita looked in awe at the huge foyer and ended up walking through a large living area, her eyes set on the fridge in the kitchen.
"Man, do I hope that thing is fully-stocked." Zita said as she opened the fridge and peeked inside to see what she could find.
Grabbing a large plate of food and a soda from the fridge, Zita ended up going over to the entertainment area to watch TV for a bit. Zita ended up going back for seconds after finishing her plate before she was finally satisfied.
"It's amazing how much you miss real food after spending so long deprived from it." Zita sighed happily as she sat back in her chair.
After finally finishing her eating, Zita decided to explore the mansion. She found a games room (with the pool table from last season) and the large pool out back that would be sure to get a lot of use over the next little bit. Zita decided to look around a bit more and found a gym with quite a bit of exercise equipment in it.
"Yorgue will probably get a lot of use out of this room." Zita noted. "I'd probably just stick with the treadmill…
"This place is huge and I'm going to be exploring quite a bit while I wait for the next jury member to arrive." Zita noted. "Places like the gym are the types where I wouldn't be going to a lot, but I can see myself playing a round of pool with someone if they're good enough…And maybe if I can make a few easy bucks out of it…"
Zita ended up looking through the bedrooms on the upper floor to see if she could find a place she could crash until the contest was over. Bypassing the rooms with small beds, Zita ended up at one of the rooms with a couple of beds and paused.
"Hmm…Do I want a roommate?" Zita asked. "Maybe Yessica would like to bunk with me…"
Zita looked down to the room at the end of the hallway and looked inside, seeing a large bed inside, obviously the biggest bed in the house. Zita wandered over to it and looked at it.
"…Maybe I'll take the one with the big bed." Zita noted. "I mean, I'm the first juror. I get free reign of this place for a few days…"
"No, I'm not going to opt to share a room with Wallace. He may be my boyfriend, but we're not at that point yet." Zita noted. "It's not like he'd try anything though. Despite what he may say otherwise, he's quite the gentleman."
Zita relaxed in the bed and stared up at the ceiling for a moment. "Well, now to just wait…Wait until the next juror shows up…" She said before pausing. "This is going to be a real lonely couple of days…"