(So here we go, another episode. Are you guys ready? I'm ready too. Before we begin I do want to say regarding the previous episode, this is where things start to get real. Don't worry, there'll be plenty of screwball antics to be had still. As if I would forget that. Now let's go!)
Episode 9: Kids of the Future
Previously, on Fates Party…
Sakura was conflicted on who to side with, Flash gave Leo some aloe vera for his sunburnt back, and Peri chased off reporters with a plant pot shard.
After the teams merged and learning about the twist Flash mentioned on the first day, they went to Castaway Bay to spend the night there, unaware that Flash had a resort there, and should anyone in a pair of contestants check in, they would be eliminated from the challenge.
Only three pairs remained the next day - Leo and Keaton, Ryoma and Camilla, and Peri and Elise. Leo, Ryoma, and Peri competed in the minigame Catch You Letter, with Peri netting herself, Xander, and Elise immunity from being voted off at that night's Elimination Ceremony.
Before the vote, Hinoka's aggressive gameplay was revealed to Camilla, who made it her mission to get the elder princess of Hoshido out of the game. Hinoka and Takumi planned to eliminate Leo due to his mental strength being a threat. Ryoma, Sakura, and Subaki were the three deciders of their fates.
At the vote however, the three of them decided to let the poison out and sent Hinoka packing in an 8-4 decision. 11 are left. Who will be voted out tonight?
Final 11: Sakura, Subaki, Camilla, Leo, Rinkah, Takumi, Keaton, Xander, Peri, Elise, Ryoma
As the remaining players returned to their rooms, Takumi was angry at the results, looking at his siblings and Subaki. "I can't believe you three," He said. "Why did you guys flip!? We would've had the numbers to get rid of Leo!"
"When I heard that Hinoka was eliminated, I felt like I was shot with over a thousand arrows. My own brother and sister voted against us! Now we're at the bottom and there's no way we'll be able to splinter the four Nohrians acting like they own the place! It's so unfair!" -Takumi
"Because Hinoka's behavior towards your sister was inexcusable," Ryoma responded. "I didn't want to believe it when I heard about it, but it had to be done."
"Why do you say that?" Takumi asked.
"Because sometimes it's best to let the poison out." Ryoma folded his arms. "Hinoka was causing us problems with her attitude, and I felt it was best for our game that she be eliminated. She could also take this time to calm down after getting too competitive."
"You still screwed us!" Takumi flailed his arms around. "We're at the bottom now!"
"I...I didn't want to…" Sakura wiped a few tears away. "B-But...Ryoma has a point…"
"Lady Hinoka was making my liege uncomfortable with her aggressive gameplay," Subaki added. "I'll admit, we didn't handle this mess perfectly, but this was the best thing we could do."
"And why did you want me out?" Leo then spoke up, everyone else remaining quiet and letting this all unfold with mixed reactions.
"Because...you're the brains of the Nohrian royal family!" Takumi responded. "You're a huge threat!"
"Oh, I'm a huge threat? Maybe so, I won't deny that first claim of yours. But I wouldn't consider me a 'huge threat' based on that alone. You can't trace anything back to me." Leo scoffed.
"Takumi was really shaken after the votes were revealed. As far as I'm concerned, he's currently digging his own grave with this outburst, and his fellow countrymen, not of their own volition, handed him the shovel. My family and alliance should be safe in the upcoming votes." -Leo
"Grr….go on and smirk all you want. I've got your trace and I know just where you can shove it. You might be in power currently, but mark my words. It won't be for long!" Takumi growled, stomping off to his room.
Once he was gone, everyone split off. Ryoma and Sakura stayed behind, Sakura really concerned for her brother.
"R-Ryoma? Is Takumi...gonna be o-okay?" Sakura asked.
"I don't know for certain, Sakura," Ryoma answered, eyes closed in thought. "He claims that the Nohrians are in power...but I wouldn't be so sure about that."
"Huh? Why not?" Sakura perked up in curiosity.
"Peri suggested that the four members of Agi before the merge - myself, Xander, Peri, and Elise - should work together as we were a strong group." Ryoma explained in a low voice as they went to his room. "Camilla came to Xander and I, and told us about Hinoka's behavior. Even if I voted with them, we would have only had six votes, with one more for majority. Xander believed it would have to either be you or Subaki to do it. That's why I did what I did. Because I know you Sakura. I know you won't hold this against Hinoka forever."
"Y-Yeah...but I...I still voted her out…" Sakura responded. "U-Um...I did it because...I'm working with Elise…although I-I don't...I don't know what to do..."
"I see...to be honest, that doesn't surprise me," Ryoma commented.
"It doesn't?" Sakura got spooked all of the sudden.
"You and Elise were practically inseparable during the conflict," Ryoma pointed out. "So the two of you working together doesn't seem out of the ordinary. Who else are you two working with?"
"Well...that would be C-Camilla and Subaki…" Sakura honestly answered. "We're t-trying to get to the final four…"
"Ryoma k-knows that I'm working with Elise...I had to tell someone. I j-just couldn't keep a s-secret…" -Sakura
"And I believe the Agi members I'm aligned with so to speak have a similar motivation." Ryoma put a hand to his chin. "I believe we can use this to our advantage."
"We can?" Sakura was listening as the two stepped into his room.
"Exactly. You are currently aligned with the Nohrian princesses, and I am aligned with Xander and Elise. The only one out of this loop is Leo, but Takumi does have a point." Ryoma nodded.
"T-That he's a threat…?" Sakura wondered.
"Yes, Leo's brain power is a threat going forward. However, from what I can gather, he is unaware of our own final four deals with his other siblings. And the common link in this onion that's forming is none other than Elise, since she is in on all three of these alliances. We'll need to work with her to look for any sort of cracks that we could potentially slip through in order to stay alive." Ryoma continued.
"With a little bit of deduction, it's not hard to see that Elise is the common link in between these final four alliances. To be quite honest, I didn't know she had it in her to be the big power player currently, but given who she has as family, they must have rubbed off on her." -Ryoma
"I-I'll just...hope Elise is with us one hundred percent…" Sakura offered up a little prayer for their safety as she left Ryoma's room.
Speaking of Elise, she was meeting with Subaki and Camilla. Camilla had a triumphant smile.
"That's what she gets for being a bully," She mused.
"Yup! Only seven more votes to go and we are set!" Elise chirped.
"I'm in a really, really good position right now. I'm in three alliances that are all going to help me get to the final four, and if I can get there, victory will surely come! Not bad for a budding flower like me!" -Elise
"So...what to do about Lord Takumi?" Subaki asked in a slightly worried voice tone. "I'm worried that he might try to cripple our game."
"Don't worry Subaki," Elise reassured. "He doesn't know about our alliance yet. Heck, I don't think even Xander knows about it either."
"Are you sure about that? Xander is very perceptive, darling," Camilla cautioned.
"He didn't believe Father was evil until Leo literally spelled it out for him," Elise responded.
"Hmm...true, but Xander's had his better moments," Camilla agreed. "Think about it from his perspective - it was his own father that we believed was evil. Of course he would've been in denial."
"That does make sense," Subaki chimed. "So what's the plan now? If my count was right, those who didn't vote for Hinoka last night other than herself were Takumi, Rinkah, and Keaton."
"So one of those three are next?" Elise wondered.
"Yes, that could be the case," Camilla mused. "I am a bit concerned about Rinkah - her strength does make her a bit of a threat moving forward. That's the same reason Effie was eliminated, right?"
"Mhm…" Elise frowned.
"Not only is Rinkah a challenge threat with her strength, but also because she and Keaton benefit from the pairs twist. I'm not worried about Keaton, so if we can split the two up he won't be as threatening to our alliance." -Camilla
Meanwhile at Loser Lodge, Flash was speaking with Kagero.
"So you mean to tell me that you saw a female shadow in the fortress?" Flash inquired.
"I did," Kagero answered. "When I followed her, the trail led to a wall - a dead end. Assuming I stayed another round, I would have investigated further. If you could look into this for me, I would appreciate it."
"Sure can." Flash got up to leave back to his room at the fortress, but decided to check out the wall where Kagero claimed she saw the shadow go to. He put a hand to his chin, then slightly knocked on the wall. No response, but it made a sound that signaled to him it was hollow. "Normally I'd investigate further, but…" He yawned. "I'm tired…" Flash then went to bed, having decided to leave this be. But a smirk on his face told a different story...did he know something the others didn't?
The next morning, everyone gathered outside the entrance to the Dragon's Gate, Flash waiting for them there. He was a little late getting there.
"Sorry for being late everyone," Flash said. "I had to look into something. Apparently there's a shadow slinking around the fort when I'm not looking, but it's nothing to worry about. We've got a challenge today, so if you could all follow me." He walked through the Dragon's Gate, everyone else following him through.
Once on the other side, the group would find themselves at an area that was reminiscent of low budget television shows, this one being themed on dreams of the future and divided into three platforms. A Star Spirit with a brown mustache and glasses was next to Flash.
"Welcome everyone, to one of the many dreams found at Dream Depot - Future Dream!" Flash introduced. "This is Skolar - he's one of the Star Spirits and will be helping me host today's challenge."
"Uh, how can we breathe here?" Keaton asked.
"It's a dream world," Flash answered. "That, and author powers."
"I've never seen anything like this before...heck, I don't think any of us have ever seen anything like this. It's going to be interesting to see how we all fare today." -Rinkah
"Skolar, care to explain today's challenge?" Flash requested.
"Certainly," Skolar agreed. "Ladies and gentlemen, as Flash already said, I am Skolar, one of the seven Star Spirits that oversees the Dream Depot. I run a special event known as Super Battle Mode. Basically, we take parts to build battle machines with them and fight in tournaments."
"But since this is me we're talking about, that's not how it's going to work." Flash folded his arms with a smirk. "For today's challenge, you'll all be searching around Future Dream for these parts, and at most you'll really only need one. Once the time is up, and I'll say...3 hours maybe, we'll all meet back here. If you don't have a part, you'll be unable to compete in the second half of today's challenge."
"And the second half of today's challenge?" Xander inquired.
"Oh, we're gonna take the battle machines and you'll all fight for immunity. Last one with a functioning machine wins, and if a pair are the last two with functioning mechs, then they'll both win immunity. Simple enough?" Flash finished. Everyone nodded when Silas suddenly approached Flash.
"They're gone," He started.
"Huh?" Flash turned around to face him.
"The machine parts Kaze and I hid. Someone took them." Silas grimly informed.
"...You mean to tell me, that someone took all those parts that I went through all the trouble of buying?" Flash sounded a bit upset.
"We're working on finding the perpetrator, if you could just give us more-" Suddenly, the group heard a loud clunking noise to the left. As they all looked, they saw a white and large bipedal rabbit, somewhat bigger than a regular one, carrying some sort of mountable turret gun.
"...You've gotta be kidding me…" Skolar looked down.
"Hey, what're those?" Elise sounded curious.
"Those are called Rabbids. The thing they're most known for is causing havoc and mischief and- how did they get here?!" Flash's response of shock was mostly delayed, prompting the Rabbid to stare at all of them. Ryoma slowly approached it.
"We mean you no harm," He said. "Return the machine parts to us, and we can pretend this never happened."
However...the Rabbid put down the part...and suddenly shouted, "BWAAAAAHHH!" The Rabbid rushed Ryoma, biting down on his arm in thinking he was a lobster. Ryoma yelled out in pain as the others ran over to help get the creature off of him. With a bit of difficulty, they pried the Rabbid off of Ryoma as it ran away, taking the machine part with him.
"Ryoma, you alright?" Flash instantly asked.
"Gods, that hurt…" Was Ryoma's response. Kaze soon appeared, having brought Sakura's rod.
"Do you need this for a moment?" He asked.
"Yes." Flash tossed the rod to Sakura. "Heal your brother." Sakura did so, fixing up Ryoma's arm.
"W-What now?" Sakura asked, handing the rod back to Kaze as soon as she was done.
"...Okay. Normally I don't have any problems with the Rabbids since I find them a bit funny...but they crossed a line when that happened, and another one for messing with my show." Flash paused, a hint of anger present in his voice. "Everyone! There's a revision on this challenge effective immediately. Track down those Rabbids, beat the crap out of them, and recover at least one machine part to compete in the second half of today's challenge. Any parts we don't get back, Silas, Kaze, and myself will recover those later. Those furballs couldn't have gotten far...how long ago was the theft, Silas?"
"Just before we arrived here," Silas informed.
"Alright. They should still be here. I'll close off the Dragon's Gate so they can't escape. Everyone else, the hunt begins now. Go!" With that, the eleven contestants all split up and began the search.
Elise and Sakura wound up going together, mainly chasing after the Rabbid that bit Ryoma.
"Did ya see which way it went?" Elise asked.
"U-Um...not really…" Sakura answered, looking around warily. Suddenly, something hit Elise in the backside, causing her to fall flat on her face.
"Woah!" Elise exclaimed before falling. When Sakura got a better look at what shot Elise, she would find that there was a plunger stuck there.
"...Wha?" Sakura blinked in confusion, then spotted two Rabbids with plunger guns pointing and laughing at Elise, who was getting back up.
"Yeesh, what the…?" Elise turned her head back to try and get a better look at what was stuck on her backside. "What the heck is this?" She grabbed onto the handle and pulled, trying to get it off but to no avail. She pulled harder, then exclaimed in a pleading tone, "Sakura! Help me!"
"We're looking for the Rabbid that bit Ryoma, and all of the sudden I get shot in the butt with this weird thing…*turns around to show the plunger* Seriously, what the heck is this thing? And why can't I get it off!?" -Elise
Sakura grabbed onto the plunger handle and pulled too, and she had a similar struggle. She couldn't get it off Elise, causing the Rabbids to laugh even harder.
Elise spotted them and ran over in a bit of a huff. They didn't bother running, and Elise decided to take advantage of her misfortune. Swinging her hips around, she used the handle of the plunger to hit one of the Rabbids in the head, causing them to spin around and fall back, knocked out from the force of the blow. The second Rabbid tried to pounce on Sakura, but the younger Nohrian princess delivered a roundhouse kick to strike their enemy square in the face, suffering a similar fate that the first Rabbid did.
"Don't ever attack my friend like that," Elise huffed at the defeated Rabbids.
Sakura breathed a sigh of relief when the Rabbids went down. "Elise...t-that was…"
"Awesome? I know!" Elise giggled, then looked back at the plunger, still stuck on her. "But we're still gonna have to get this off of me…"
"W-We'll get it off...I promise…" Sakura responded.
"Elise...protected me f-from those Rabbids...Hotoke only knows what w-would've happened if she didn't…" -Sakura
Meanwhile, Peri, Xander, and Ryoma were on the hunt for machine parts. They just went through the red teleporter when they spotted a Rabbid holding a plunger like a sword. This one was different from the other Rabbids due to wearing a section of a shower curtain like a cape and had a crown on its head that was clearly some cardboard crown one would get at a fast food restaurant. The plunger was pointed right at the trio, and the Rabbid was raving about...something. None of them could understand what it was trying to say.
"Do...either of you know what that thing is going on about?" Xander asked.
"I think it's trying to challenge us to a duel, Lord Xander," Peri guessed.
"It's pointing that...thing at us like a sword," Ryoma added. "So you're not entirely wrong."
With a loud "BWAHHHHH!", the three would find themselves being surrounded by plunger wielding Rabbids.
"Gods, how many of them are there!?" Xander exclaimed.
"This shouldn't be a problem for us!" Peri giggled. "You guys are the kings of Nohr and Hoshido, and these rabbits with their weird sticks can't hold a candle to your level of skill!"
As Peri was looking for something to use as a weapon, two Rabbids rushed her. One of them jumped up to try and do a downward cleave, only for Peri to punch it in the face with a hard overhand right, sending it flying back into the crowd of enemies. She grabbed the plunger it dropped to fight with the second Rabbid, swinging it hard enough to break it over the head of the enemy.
Her eyes went to the sharp ends of the now broken plunger, quickly gaining a grin on her face. The Rabbids, clearly oblivious to the danger Peri possessed with any sort of sharp instrument, all rushed her looking to dogpile the retainer. Xander and Ryoma threw their lot in to help her, disarming two Rabbids before kicking them away.
"We were in an all out battle with those Rabbids, and to be honest, I lost count of how many we defeated. Our options on weapons were limited, so we had to use what they were using. Even though they weren't proper swords, they were still as effective." -Xander
Ryoma and Xander were fighting back to back, swinging at incoming Rabbids to bat them away, as Peri was fighting aggressively and throwing a Rabbid off of her that jumped on her back. The Rabbid with the crown had enough of watching its soldiers get harassed, and rushed Xander...only to get defeated by one slash of the plunger. The rest of the Rabbids scattered, carrying their wounded.
"For the glory of Nohr!" Xander exclaimed.
Peri had hearts in her eyes. "You were amazing, Lord Xander~!" She complimented. Ryoma spotted a few things that the Rabbids seemed to have been guarding.
"What do we have here?" When he got a closer look, Ryoma would find three machine parts! "We have our parts." He told the other two.
"Excellent." Xander smiled. "Now...let's go assist the others."
"Huh? Why should we?" Peri wondered.
"Because one, I said so. And two, it's the right thing to do." Xander answered. "This is our new Nohrian way, Peri."
"Okay! Whatever you say!" Peri chirped, rushing off back through the red teleporter after grabbing one of the machine parts for herself.
"Peri is quite devoted to Xander. It makes me concerned moving forward if he would take her over any of his siblings. Or for that matter, if he'd attempt to ride all the way to the final battle with her over anyone else." -Ryoma
With Takumi, he was still pretty steamed about last night. So much so he almost didn't notice a Rabbid preparing to ambush him with a plunger gun. Quickly spotting him, Takumi rushed to cover. He needed something to fight back with.
"Gah, if I just had my Fujin Yumi…" He lamented.
"Maybe if I can get to that stupid Rabbid and steal his weapon, I'll be able to fight back. Ugh, why did Flash have to take our weapons and mounts before this all started?" -Takumi
Takumi spotted another Rabbid, who didn't notice him yet. Thinking quickly, he grabbed the Rabbid and bashed it over the head. It let out a loud 'DAHHH!' as Takumi used the Rabbid as a shield, getting closer to the one with the plunger gun. Using the Rabbid he was utilizing as a shield, now having a plunger on its face, Takumi started treating the creature as a club and beat the other one senseless. Yanking the plunger off the first Rabbid, Takumi loaded it into the gun.
"...That felt good," Takumi said to himself, getting a smirk on his face. He then went out looking for other Rabbids to beat up.
Rinkah and Keaton were out searching for machine parts as well. Keaton's ears perked up when he heard something that sounded like...music?
"Where you going this time?" Rinkah asked him.
"I think there's some Rabbids over there. I'll go take a look!" Keaton was off before Rinkah could even stop him. Again.
"Keaton's always darting off to do some crazy thing. It'll get him in trouble one of these days, but I think I'll go after him this time and see what's up." -Rinkah
Before Rinkah could get very far, she bumped into something. The something was a largely built Rabbid carrying a large slab of purple rock. It didn't look all that smart, but it did look strong. People who have played the Mario and Rabbids crossover would know this thing as a Smasher.
The Smasher looked at Rinkah, letting out some sort of roar before swinging the slab down at her. Steeling herself for impact, she pushed against the slab and held strong to keep it from crushing her. Rinkah was straining to hold on, gritting her teeth as her muscles were being put to the test. After just several seconds of this, which to her felt like minutes, the Smasher started to give. She used this to her advantage and pushed hard against the rock slab, catching the Smasher off guard. Acting quickly, Rinkah took hold of the rock slab and hit the Smasher with it. The force was hard enough to crack the rock slab, and knock the Smasher out cold.
"Hah...heh...hoof...more fuel to the fire." Rinkah smiled, wiping a bit of sweat off her brow. She spotted something behind the now defeated Smasher, and it turned out to be a machine part. Quickly, Rinkah took it and then went off to find Keaton.
Back with Keaton, he used his spyglass to see where the music was coming from, spying four Rabbids on a makeshift stage with multiple instruments. One had a guitar, a second was at a drum kit, a third was at a piano, and the last one held a mic. He moved closer to see what was going on as they started performing for an audience of about thirty five Rabbids.
Keaton spotted a few papers and decided to see what they said. "'Smoke on the Water', huh?" He mused, the papers having the lyrics for the Deep Purple song on them. Keaton was reading them over as the Rabbid on stage began to sing.
"We all came out to Montreux
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
To make records with a mobile
We didn't have much time
Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Were at the best place around
But some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground
Smoke on the water, a fire in the sky
Smoke on the water"
As the first guitar solo rolled around, Keaton found himself getting in tune with the music. He got a grin on his face, walking on the stage. The Rabbids didn't seem to care as they were mesmerized by the music, going in to the second verse. Keaton and the Rabbid on the mic began to sing together.
"They burned down the gambling house
It died with an awful sound
Funky Claude was running in and out
Pulling kids out the ground
When it all was over
We had to find another place
But Swiss time was running out
It seemed that we would lose the race
Smoke on the water, a fire in the sky
Smoke on the water"
It was worth noting that when they hit 'over', Keaton howled a little bit like a wolf while hitting that note. Keaton mainly handled the final part of the song, the Rabbid now being more like a backup singer in this regard.
"We ended up at the Grand Hotel
It was empty, cold and bare
But with the Rolling truck Stones thing just outside
Making our music there
With a few red lights, a few old beds
We made a place to sweat
No matter what we get out of this
I know, I know we'll never forget
Smoke on the water, a fire in the sky
Smoke on the water"
As the band played the rest of the song out, Keaton couldn't help but clap. "Yeah! That was awesome!" He exclaimed. Once they were done, the four onstage Rabbids looked at him for a moment...then all let out screams and started beating him up. The audience all laughed at his plight, but they all scattered when they saw Rinkah approach, wielding a metal pipe as a makeshift weapon. One Rabbid that didn't see the others run was cracked over the head by Rinkah so hard, she bent the pipe out of shape.
"Gods, Keaton! You alright?" She exclaimed.
"Yeah...I'll live." Keaton got up, sporting a few bruises as he dusted himself off.
"Everybody's a critic...I thought I did so well! I even thought the Rabbids weren't that bad on the other instruments! Doesn't that count for something?" -Keaton
With Subaki, he was mainly looking for Sakura and Elise when he couldn't help but notice that a number of Rabbids were laying out, defeated. The strange this was they had multiple plungers stuck to their bodies, and heard a familiar voice.
"Tch, I really need to start shooting them in the face." It was Takumi! And he had a sense of burning vengeance clearly seen in his eyes.
"Lord Takumi! What's wrong?" Subaki exclaimed in alarm. Takumi pointed the gun at Subaki, only to lower it when he saw who it was.
"Oh. It's just you," Takumi said. "Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Are you trying to get over last night?" Subaki guessed.
"Why do you care, traitor?" Takumi scowled. "You abandoned Hoshido and voted Hinoka out."
"I did not abandon Hoshido," Subaki defended. "This is merely a game, something Hinoka had forgotten once we began playing. If I truly abandoned Hoshido, I would've abandoned Lady Sakura. I'd sooner die than betray her. And that's not even taking the severe beating I'd receive from Hana…"
"..." Takumi fell quiet, decided to just shoot Subaki in the chest with a plunger. This had him stumble back onto a metal platform in front of a green rocket.
"Time sequence activated. Prepare for liftoff." A voice said. The platform rose up and inserted Subaki inside. After a three second countdown, the rocket took off to the westernmost section of the area. "Destination reached." The voice said again, opening up and letting Subaki step out.
"As I was looking for Lady Sakura and Lady Elise, this large...rocket, I believe it's called, brought me back to where I just was looking for any sort of machine parts. This is going to be a long day." -Subaki
Elsewhere with Camilla and Leo, the two were searching around when they came across a burly Rabbid standing outside a door. The two siblings looked at one another, getting an idea.
"Think there might be a machine part or two hiding behind that door?" Leo guessed.
"Certainly," Camilla agreed.
"Leo and I decided to team up again for this challenge since we worked so well together before the merge. We're such a dynamic duo, he and I. He's the brains between the two of us, and I'm the brawn. It's perfect." -Camilla
The burly Rabbid noticed the two of them and started yelling in Rabbid speak, but paused upon seeing Camilla.
"Sister, I do believe your talents for 'persuasion' are required here." Leo smirked.
With a slight chuckle, Camilla gave a nod, slowly approaching the Rabbid. "We don't mean any harm, dear…" She held out her arms going in for a hug, the Rabbid none the wiser about what she was going to attempt.
Without warning, Camilla wrapped the Rabbid into a strong bear hug, smothering its face into her generous rack. As it flailed around trying to get free, Camilla's grip held firm as the struggling from the Rabbid soon stopped, going limp. Tossing the unconscious door guard aside, she motioned for Leo to follow her inside.
When they entered inside, sitting in a spinning lounge chair was a Rabbid in a black pinstripe suit and had a scar on his face that looked eerily like Tony Montana's. But the real kicker was it held a machine gun in its hands, pointing it at the two. It let out a string of bwahs and dahs that sounded like 'Say hello to my little friend!', prompting Camilla to jump in front of Leo. Instead of firing bullets, it fired eggs, every single one of them striking Camilla all over.
As Leo was trying to process what was going on, the Rabbid shot off something from the underbarrel of the gun, and it was an egg with some sort of explosive attached to it. Thinking quickly, Leo reached out to grab it, and was careful not to break the egg. As it beeped, he threw it back at the Rabbid, not wanting to know what would happen if he held onto it any longer. It was at this time it was out of eggs to shoot, trying to reload, but the explosive egg defeated it before it could shoot off any more.
Camilla fell on her hands and knees after the shooting stopped, covered in egg yolks and had eggshell pieces slightly embedded in her exposed skin. Leo helped her up. "Are you alright?" He asked with worry. Camilla gave him a faint smile.
"I'll live," She said. "Seeing my baby brother safe from harm takes all the pain away."
"Glad to hear it," Leo responded. As the two looked around, Leo was helping Camilla getting the bits of eggshell removed. Once that was done, they'd find that there were two machine parts in the office. Satisfied with their findings, Leo and Camilla left to go get the latter cleaned off.
"Well, that was certainly something. Never imagined I'd be the one protecting Camilla, normally she and Xander and the ones keeping me and Elise safe from any harm. But when that exploding egg was concerned, our roles were reversed. It felt nice to repay her." -Leo
Back with Sakura and Elise, they spotted a familiar individual carrying an egg inside an incubator. It was Junior!
"Hey, it's Junior!" Elise exclaimed. "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyy!" She waved over to him. Junior yelped out in surprise, being very careful not to drop what he was carrying.
"J-Junior?" Sakura wondered. The son of Bowser walked on over.
"I didn't expect to see you two here," He said. "Does that mean everyone else…"
"Yup!" Elise chirped. "Oh, this is Sakura. She's my best friend from Hoshido. Sakura, this is Junior. He's the super sweet son of Bowser."
Sakura jumped a little bit upon the mention of Bowser. "B-B-Bowser!?"
"Woah, hey, relax!" Elise reassured. "Junior's not a meanie."
"Yeah!" Junior agreed.
"So um...w-what's with the egg?" Sakura asked.
"Oh, this?" Junior set it down in front of the two girls. "I don't know how this got here, but all I know was the Rabbids were going to do...I don't want to know what they would've done. I was just getting some things for Papa..."
Flashback…
Junior was merely walking around Future Dream, looking for things that Bowser needed him to find. He looked at a list having everything he needed to gather, when suddenly he heard the sounds of Rabbids.
"Huh?" Junior looked up from the list to see a group of Rabbids surrounding the egg incubator. All of them were poking it and put their faces on the glass. Suddenly, one of them looked around and grabbed a wrench. Junior, not wanting to take any chances, dropped the list and ran over.
Retreating into his shell, Junior spun around and launched into the Rabbid with the wrench, nailing it square in the face.
"Step away from the egg!" Junior demanded. The Rabbids all let out a collective bwah and rushed the Koopa prince.
Junior breathed fire at one of the incoming Rabbids, then spun backwards in his shell to avoid getting dogpiled by the others. He then rammed into them like they were bowling pins, grabbing the egg incubator. A Rabbid tried to strike him with a plunger, but Junior grabbed the handle and struggled with the enemy, managing to overpower the Rabbid and stick it onto his face. Seeing that all the Rabbids were defeated, he grabbed the egg incubator and ran, not before finding the list of things he needed to get still.
End Flashback…
"Wow...hey, there's a note attached to it." Elise spotted a little folded card tied to the outside of the incubator, reading what it said. "'Take care of this precious little angel! -HG'" She paused upon seeing the initials. "HG...could it be from the Hint Giver?"
"I don't know who this HG person is...do you know them?" Junior asked.
"Yeah, she's been...wait a minute…" Elise got an idea. "Sakura, help me open this."
"B-But, aren't we not supposed to…" Sakura started.
"Relax, I'll take very good care of this egg 'till it hatches!" Elise reassured. So with that, the three opened up the incubator, Elise taking the egg in her hands. When she did, she spotted a little bulge under the cloth the egg was sitting on. She reached for it, handing the egg to Sakura while she saw what it was.
Wrapped in cloth with a note attached, inside had a strange little trinket that featured the Hoshidan and Nohrian symbol merged into one, the left side painted red and being Hoshidan and the right side painted purple and being Nohrian.
"Could it be…?" Elise took the note and read it. "'Congratulations, you have found the Hidden Immunity Idol!'" She hugged Junior. "Oh, thank you! This is huge!"
"Huh?" Junior was just as confused as Sakura. Elise kept reading the note.
"'After the votes have been read, you can use this idol to save yourself or someone else from being eliminated, and the person with the second highest number of votes will be eliminated instead. What you do with this information is up to you. From Flash.' Sakura, this is big!" She finished.
"If it wasn't for Junior, I wouldn't have found the idol. *holds it up* But I got it! I can't wait to tell Camilla that we found it, and this is going to be a huge boon for my alliance with her and Sakura!" -Elise
Elise quickly hid the idol on her person as Junior noticed the plunger stuck to her butt. "Hey, you want me to help you get that off you?" He asked, pointing to the plunger.
"Yeah, please!" Elise requested. With Junior's help, Elise was able to get the plunger off her backside. "Thanks!"
"Welcome!" Junior responded. "Now if you ladies will excuse me, I gotta go finish getting all this stuff for Papa. He would be really unhappy if I didn't get this done." With that, Junior scuttled off to finish his task.
"T-This turned out great...we found an egg...this i-idol that Elise was going on about, and um...I just can't help but wonder...what is B-B-Bowser planning? I'm scared to find out…" -Sakura
Back with Peri, Xander, and Ryoma, the three came across the aftermath of Takumi's rampage.
"Woah...someone must've been really angry," Peri commented.
"I think I might know who," Ryoma added. "Where did Takumi go off to?"
"You think Takumi made this mess?" Xander inquired.
"No doubt in my mind. He must still be upset about what happened regarding last night," Ryoma answered. "Obviously he's been taking his frustration out on the Rabbids."
As Ryoma spoke, Peri was searching the aftermath for any signs of machine parts, and found quite a few.
"Hey, check this out! Lord Takumi must've left behind all these parts in his anger." She held up a couple. "Of course, he might have taken one for himself."
"He would've taken one for himself," Xander reasoned. "Regardless, this is a great find."
"I feel that what we should do with these parts is give them to the others who don't have any. I'd rather win fairly against everyone rather than a select few by default. Some may call it honor before reason, but I see it as the new Nohrian way." -Xander
Suddenly Flash's voice was heard across the area. "Your attention please! The three hours are now up! Report back to the starting area with any machine parts you found as soon as possible so we can begin the second half of the challenge."
"Well, looks like we've got the hard job of carrying all this back." Peri already got to dragging some parts back to the starting area. Xander and Ryoma soon chipped in.
Once everyone returned to the starting area, Keaton was covered in dirt and some bruises, Subaki still had the plunger stuck to his chest, Takumi was smiling and has his plunger gun in one hand, and Camilla still had quite a bit of egg yolk on her. Flash only had a soft smirk in amusement.
"Wow. What happened to you guys?" He asked the four.
"I got beat up for trying to sing," Keaton said.
"Lord Takumi shot me with this thing and I was caught in an endless loop," Subaki added.
"I'm feeling so much better from showing these Rabbids who the strong one in my family is," Takumi beamed.
"And I protected my baby brother from harm against 30 something eggs from a strange weapon." Camilla finished, feeling satisfied with what she did.
"Gotcha. And what's with the egg?" Flash pointed to the egg that Sakura and Elise had. Elise was carrying the incubator they found it in.
"Um...well, w-we had it given to us…" Sakura spoke.
"Well I'd put it back in the incubator if I were you two." Flash walked over to do that for them, reading the note attached. "HG...hmm. Well, it's probably nothing important, other than one more thing for us to do in this fun party. Alright!" He stepped back over to Skolar. "For those who have at least one machine part, please step forward now."
Peri, Xander, Ryoma, Camilla, Leo, Takumi, and Rinkah all stepped forward.
"Alright, got almost everyone," Flash commented.
"We will have everyone if they wish," Xander responded.
"Oh?" Flash cocked his head to the side a little. "What do you mean by that?"
"As we were looking for the others just before time ran out, Peri, Ryoma, and myself found quite a few machine parts lying out in the open with a score of defeated Rabbids. Whoever dealt with them must have forgotten them." Xander showed the spare parts to him.
"One, two, three, four- we have enough for everyone else!" Flash turned his attention to Keaton, Sakura, Elise, and Subaki. "Alright, so Xander is willing to give you four a chance to compete for immunity. All I need from each of you is a simple yes or no if you want to compete. I won't penalize you if you refuse, since this show isn't about competing to embarrass each other."
"Sure, I'd love to," Keaton answered.
"Count me in!" Elise giggled.
"...U-Um...I'm scared to, so I'd...like to sit out…" Sakura meekly declined, causing Takumi to grumble.
"Of course, Sakura doesn't want to compete in today's challenge, and if Subaki doesn't win, she's a prime target for the Nohrians to get rid of. Sakura! What are you doing!?" -Takumi
"Don't worry, Lady Sakura. I'll give it my all to ensure your safety," Subaki vowed.
"Alright. Sakura, you'll take a seat with me behind the barricades when the challenge is going on - for your safety, of course. Come with me." Flash instructed, to which she walked over to Flash holding the incubator. "Everyone else, head with Skolar, and he'll get you guys set up." The ten other players went with Skolar through a teleporter, and Sakura followed Flash through a separate one.
The ten players participating in the second half of the challenge arrived in a mechanic's workshop, asking for everyone's attention. "Now, this is where the magic happens. There's a station for each of you marked with your name. Find the one with your name and place the machine part you wish to use down. I will be with you as fast as I can to complete the set and get you ready for the battle royale." He said.
Everyone was amazed by the workshop's layout as they set out to their stations.
"This place...this place was amazing! *tail starts wagging* All the different things, the smells, the entire experience was a legitimate thrill! All the other wolfskin are going to be so envious when I tell them all about this!" -Keaton
Before Elise went to hers, she went to Camilla. "Hey, remember that idol the Hint Giver mentioned yesterday?" She whispered.
"I do. What about it?" Camilla inquired. The younger Nohrian princess showed her sister the idol, who had a smile on her face. "Oh, this is wonderful."
"If Ryoma hadn't told us about this idol, we would've been in the dark about its place in the game and power. But with the idol in our hands, my alliance with Elise becomes all the more powerful. Especially when it concerns my plans; there's a reason Elise adores me. I'll be using it to the fullest extent to help my game." -Camilla
Once Skolar gave everyone a primer on how the machines worked, he quickly got everyone set up for the Battle Royale.
Everyone's set-ups were as follows:
Subaki - Lakitu Cloud
Camilla - Heart
Leo - E. Gadd
Rinkah - Star
Takumi - Spiny
Keaton - Choo-Choo
Xander - Mushroom
Peri - Egg
Elise - DK
Ryoma - Boo
One last thing to note was that everyone had the same parts except for the chassis (Mushroom Gun, E. Gadd Jet, and Skolar Engine) all in the sake of fairness.
The arena was a large, circular arena with ten platforms that would open up once the players were about to come out to face one another. It was a pretty packed house, as people from all across Hoshido, Nohr, and other places where Fates Party was able to be seen had arrived to witness the challenge live. In a small section that was on the left side of the arena sat Flash and Sakura; all of the spectators would find that the arena was enclosed in a dome of very durable plexiglass to protect anyone watching the Battle Royale, situated on top of a foot and a half tall steel barricade.
Sakura held her ears, the egg incubator sitting in her lap, the noise from the other spectators was getting to be a bit much for her.
"Earplugs?" Flash offered.
"A-Arigatou…" Sakura thanked.
"Welcome." Flash gave them to her, grabbing a mic. "I'll be right back." He exited a door from his section with Sakura and walked out to the center of the arena, holding up his left land. He cleared his throat first before speaking, doing his best to sound like Bruce Buffer. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is! The main event of the evening! Live from Future Dream, with promotional consideration from the Dream Depot! Iiiiiiiiiiiiittttttt's! TIIIIIIIMMMMEE!" A loud roar of cheers came from the audience. "Without further ado, let's bring out our contestants for this important part of today's immunity challenge!" The platforms opened up, bringing the ten competitors up into the arena, all of them amazed with how many people turned out to see them do battle.
"The amount of people that were in the stands were about the same amount that came out to see the fighting tournament I was in - every match was always a full house! There were a few thousand people that came to watch us all fight! It was amazing, kee hee!" -Peri
"And now, for the rules of this second half of today's immunity challenge: There is no time limit as to how long this will go on for, and will proceed onwards to the last individual standing. I trust Skolar briefed you on how these bad boys work, so I'll say no further regarding that." Flash added. "For when your mech breaks down, you will be automatically warped to a separate section where you will wait until a winner has been decided. I want a good clean fight, the battle begins at the sound of the horn, best of luck to all of you." With that, Flash went back to his section with Sakura, a grin present on his face. Sakura began to offer up a silent prayer for everyone's safety.
Flash slammed down on a red button with a gavel, followed by a loud horn sounding the beginning of the battle. Spotlights of varying colors focused on the arena, illuminating the battlefield as everyone began moving.
It was very clear that this battle would be quite a spectacle, as everyone seemed to be steering towards people they wanted to work with. Xander fired the first shot at Ryoma, trying to score any sort of hits on him. Ryoma fired back, the two men evenly matched.
Camilla's first instinct was to get to Elise and Leo, doing whatever kind of damage she could in hopes of protecting them in a gambit to get them all as the final three in. She didn't really care who she was shooting at, moreso she cared about who she wasn't shooting at.
Takumi on the other hand, mainly focused on not losing, so he was firing wildly, not really caring about who he struck with his shots.
"This isn't so different from shooting arrows, so I had a good feeling I'd win today's challenge. Then I'll do whatever possible to make sure one of the Nohrians gets sent out the door and make their power crumble underneath them!" -Takumi
Rinkah and Keaton went on the aggressive, working together to try and curb any sort of challenge they had in their way. Both worked well together, focusing on trying to be the last two in together.
"Keaton and I looked at each other and knew that if we were both the last two standing, there'd be no need to destroy the other as we'd both win immunity. Simple as that. So that's why we were working together this challenge." -Rinkah
Peri turned out to be the first to fall, working to keep Xander in as long as possible before she was taken out of the battle. Subaki soon followed after, trying to accomplish too much, too fast, and ended up overextending himself.
Xander and Ryoma, hilariously wound up taking each other out, much to the approval of the audience.
With six left in the challenge, Takumi turned his focus to the Nohrians. Elise quickly returned fire, looking to be useful here. Leo chimed in safely from behind Elise's machine, aiming for his sisters to take the brunt of Takumi's attack.
"It's quite simple from a tactical standpoint in this challenge to let my sisters take the damage for me so that if they were to fall, my opponents would be weakened from the fighting earlier, allowing for an easier immunity win. Classic tactics if you ask me." -Leo
Unfortunately for Leo, he had to fend off Rinkah and Keaton who tried flanking him and his sisters while they were focused on Takumi. Elise fell after sustaining too much from the Hoshidan prince, leaving Leo and Camilla to deal with the remaining two.
All of the sudden a loud roar shook the arena as a hole in the wall was formed. It was Bowser! And he was driving in a large machine styled after himself that made the others look small in comparison. Affixed to the front was a mechanical fist, also styled after the Koopa King.
Sakura let out a sudden, long shriek at seeing Bowser, holding the egg close to her. Flash cursed under his breath.
"You again!" He exclaimed.
"Bwahahahaha! The King of Awesome is in the building!" Bowser guffawed.
"I never thought we'd cross paths again, Bowser…" Rinkah growled. "Are you prepared to reap what you've sown?"
"Far from it, Hothead!" Bowser scoffed. "I'm here to stop this party dead in its tracks!
"Don't know if you've noticed yet, but there's four of us, and merely one of you," Leo commented. "So how exactly do you plan to do that?"
Bowser's mere response was to breathe a fireball at them, but Rinkah surprised the group by taking the fireball for them. While her mech was out of commission, she jumped from the wreckage perfectly fine.
"What!?" Bowser exclaimed with shock.
"This is the strength of the Flame Tribe. I can take any sort of fire you would be able to throw at me all day if I have to." Rinkah folded her arms with a smirk, with singed clothing being the only damage to speak of. Keaton jumped out of his machine, worried.
"Yeah, but I don't think you can take getting crushed by that giant thing he's driving," He deadpanned. He turned to Camilla and Leo. "Good luck you guys." Keaton then spotted something, rushing off with Rinkah to go see what it was.
"Stall him for a little bit, you two!" Flash exclaimed. "I'll be right back!" He then ran off to go get something.
"W-Where are you going!?" Sakura asked in a bit of worry.
"I'm going to get something that'll stop Bowser, that's what!" Flash called back as he vanished off to go find the thing he was thinking of.
"Is there a plan, dear brother?" Camilla inquired.
"He can't chase after both of us at once. Split up and goad him into chasing you. If you can, get up on his mech and fight him if you can." Leo explained. "But...do be careful. I don't want to risk losing you."
"Oh, don't be silly Leo. It'll take far more than this brute to put me away," Camilla laughed. "Let's do this." With that, the two Nohrians split up - Leo to the left, and Camilla to the right.
"As we split up, I was immediately worried sick about Camilla and what she would do. She is brave, and she does have great strength, but I'm worried that she'll get too reckless...and I might be painting her to be a threat unless something happens." -Leo
Bowser turned his head both ways to try and figure out who to go after, and then saw Camilla stand up in her machine.
"What's the matter, Bowser?" She chuckled. "Don't you remember Pagoda Peak?" She stood up on her seat, turning around and looking up at the crowd. "I'm right here," The princess mused, bending forward a bit. "Come and get me." This action got some rather excited cheers, wolf whistles and camera flashes from both directions, much to her amusement.
With a roar, Bowser drove right after Camilla, who was prepared for this. Getting turned back around and seated, she drove right out of the way, getting ready to jump onto Bowser's machine. During this, the machine that Keaton left behind was driven over.
Once she was right beside Bowser, Camilla made her move and jumped up onto his machine, grabbing hold of one of his arms to wrest control of it from him. The two scuffled for several minutes, and when it looked like one would get the upper hand over the other, it would return to a stalemate.
All that changed when Flash charged through the hole Bowser left driving a forklift, ramming it straight into Bowser's machine and tipping it over on the side. Both Bowser and Camilla fell out and landed face first on the ground. Bowser got up and saw his machine now trashed.
"Just as planned," Camilla beamed, rushing over to Leo.
Bowser chuckled. "I have a spare...Minions! Bring in my spare!" He ordered.
"Spare?" Flash wondered, hopping out of the forklift. A car horn was heard throughout the arena, and quite a few minions of Bowser's brought in his car seen in Super Mario 3D World.
Leo cursed under his breath. "Now what do we do?" He asked Camilla. However, Keaton and Rinkah returned to the arena.
"Yeah, uh...we're not letting you get away with this," Keaton said with indifference.
"Oh yeah? And how do you plan on doing that, Wolfie?" Bowser laughed. "You don't have anything that can break this beauty of mine!"
"...Is that so? Well then." He turned to Rinkah. "Get the thing." Rinkah went off a short distance, wheeling back a fire kit. Keaton opened it up, reached in and grabbed one of the fire axes inside, handing the other to Rinkah.
"On second thought…" Leo was amazed.
"Leo, I think we should let them handle this," Camilla advised.
Without warning, Keaton started swinging his fire axe right at the driver's side door, getting it stuck on the second swing. As he twisted it trying to free it, Rinkah smashed one of the car mirrors by cutting it clean off the car and falling to the ground.. Bowser shouted out in horror, with wild cheers from the crowd. Keaton managed to free his axe and resumed wailing on the car, Rinkah cutting at the tires and sides.
"Oh Gods, this is awesome!" Flash cheered.
Rinkah and Keaton moved to the back, giving each other a look. The crowd was cheering them on with chants of 'Yes!' over and over again.
"On three?" Keaton asked.
"Sure. One...two, three!" Both swung their axes down on the car in unison.
"Again!" The wolfskin exclaimed. They did it again, and one more time. They turned their attention to one of the car doors, opening it up. Once again on three, the two of them managed to rip the door off its hinges, Rinkah slamming it down on the ground, then tossed it like a frisbee for a few feet with both hands.
Bowser's minions had seen enough, charging the two of them. Both Rinkah and Keaton fought off the minions without much trouble. Rinkah was panting with sweat dripping off her face, and Keaton was also breathing heavy, wiping sweat from his brow. Flash tossed him a stone, which he caught.
"Now things are even!" Flash exclaimed.
"Yeah." Keaton recognized the stone. He used the stone to transform into his Wolfskin form, letting out a roar and rushed towards Bowser. Bowser, not wanting to associate himself with this, started running the other direction. Once Keaton returned, he was back to his normal self, handing the stone back to Flash.
"My name...is not...Wolfie. It's Keaton!" He got out, with a loud roar of approval from the live audience.
"Wow!" Flash laughed. "Wow. That...that was an amazing ending to the challenge." He looked at Camilla. "I guess you're not really looking to finish the fight?"
"I'd love to let my darling Leo have immunity, Flash," Camilla declared. "I did what I needed to so he'd be safe today."
"Alright. Leo wins immunity," Flash said. "Now, let's get back to the fort before anything else crazy happens." He spoke into the mic. "Thank you all for coming!" One last loud round of cheers echoed before the group headed back to the fortress.
An uncertain final eleven began to strategize for the vote tonight, as it was anyone's guess who would be going out the door tonight.
"Thanks for the immunity win, sister," Leo thanked.
"Oh, think nothing of it, dear." Camilla patted Leo's head. "I did what I had to do to ensure you'd be safe from being targeted tonight. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a nice bath before the vote." With that, she went off to do just as she said.
"Hmm…" Leo put a hand to his chin.
"Tonight's vote is important, because I think it's high time I touch base with Xander and Elise and see who they view as the bigger threat. If we can get the person who will be the best challenge competitor out tonight, our journey forward will be easier." -Leo
Meanwhile with Takumi, Rinkah, and Keaton, the three of them were thinking what they should do.
"You guys can agree with me that Camilla is a big threat, right?" Takumi spoke. "I mean, why would she have given up immunity to Leo?"
"It's because she wanted to protect her brother," Keaton reasoned. "At least, I think that's why she let him have it."
"Yeah. Camilla left herself open to be eliminated tonight, so we've got to do what we can to get her out tonight." Takumi smirked.
"Camilla, you've probably made the biggest blunder in this entire game - giving up immunity to someone else who is just as big of a threat as you. If we can get six votes, you can kiss your chances of winning goodbye! And I know just the three to do it." -Takumi
"So what's the plan?" Rinkah asked.
"...I never thought I'd say this, but I need to make amends with Ryoma." Takumi sighed. "I screwed up last night by getting after them. Hopefully they can forgive me."
"You've had some time to cool down?" Keaton asked.
"I took plenty of time when I was crushing those Rabbids." Takumi nodded.
"Alright, so we've got our target tonight," Rinkah mused. "Whatever works for me." Takumi left to go speak with the other Hoshidans. He would find Ryoma in his room, along with Subaki and Sakura.
"A-Ah! Brother…" Sakura jumped a little seeing him.
"I'm not angry anymore, sister," Takumi responded. He looked to Ryoma. "I just...I wanted to say I'm sorry for snapping on you guys last night. I was under a lot of stress at the time and didn't know what to do."
"We had our reasons, Lord Takumi," Subaki apologized. "We should be the ones apologizing."
"What else do you want to tell us?" Ryoma asked.
"So...you're over it?" Takumi blinked in surprise.
"Of course we're over it," Ryoma answered. "It's merely a game we're playing. Now, as for what you wished to tell us."
"Right, well tonight I was thinking we could get rid of Camilla tonight," Takumi suggested.
"W-What? Why?" Sakura asked in confusion.
"Because she willingly left herself as a target after giving Leo immunity. I think tonight would be the perfect time to eliminate her - she's a massive threat going forward. You've seen how well she and Leo work together." Takumi presented his case. "Ryoma can deal with Xander later on, Leo we can eliminate next, and Elise is such a non-threat that we shouldn't have any problems getting rid of her last."
"Hmm...I see. Subaki, Sakura? What do you two think?"
"I'm fine with that, Lord Ryoma," Subaki answered. Sakura fell quiet.
"Sakura? Is everything alright?" Ryoma asked out of concern.
"Um...if you could...e-excuse me…" Sakura went out in the hall, going off to her room.
"Sakura, wait!" Takumi exclaimed, starting after her. However, Ryoma grabbed his arm before he could get out of Ryoma's room.
"Subaki, go make sure she's okay," Ryoma ordered.
"Right away!" Subaki nodded, going after his liege.
"What was that about?" Takumi frowned.
"Everything's under control, brother. Have faith." Ryoma reassured.
"I already know that Sakura is aligned with Camilla, so of course this is going to be hard for her. However, the three of us are not in any danger tonight, so that is why I sent Subaki after my sister. He should know what to say to her." -Ryoma
"Lady Sakura." Subaki put a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Please let me speak."
Sakura looked down. "Okay…" She responded.
"Listen, I know this is a tough time for us both, but could you do me a favor and wait outside my door? I'm going to go speak with Lady Elise and see where her head's at." Subaki explained.
"Sure...h-hurry back." Sakura went to go wait for Subaki as the retainer sought out Elise. He would find her with her brothers and Peri, as they were discussing the vote. He hid out of their sight and listened in on their conversation.
"So who are we voting out tonight?" Peri wondered. "I don't care who it is - if Lord Xander wills it, I'll vote for whoever!"
"I was thinking either Rinkah or Keaton - did you see them messing up that car Bowser had? That was a very strong thing for them to do." Elise argued.
"Truly," Leo agreed. "Although I personally want to stick it to Takumi. Targeting me and trying to call me out."
"Stay your hand, brother," Xander cautioned. "We have to be smart about this. If we vote recklessly, our game may be jeopardized."
"...Fine. I'll keep waiting for the night I'll get to send that pompous Hoshidan out the door." Leo folded his arms. "But if we're going for either of the two neutrals, I say we get rid of Rinkah. Keaton to me seems like he'll be easier to control."
"Really? But why not Keaton?" Elise wondered. "Not only does Rinkah seem like she doesn't do much strategy, but Keaton...hasn't bathed since we got here at all. He's starting to smell."
"That'd be your reason for voting?" Peri blinked, astonished.
"Wow, reasons for voting people off are so out there! Elise wants to get rid of Keaton because he stinks, Lord Leo wants to get rid of Prince Takumi because he called him out, but I've already made up my mind - whoever Lord Xander wants out. We gotta stay together!" -Peri
"Given how Rinkah tossed a car door without much effort, she has enough strength to be close enough to Effie," Xander reasoned. "So for that reason, I say we vote Rinkah out tonight, and save Takumi for a later date."
"Makes sense to me, keehee~!" Peri agreed.
"Works for me," Leo added.
"Sure!" Elise chimed. The group split off afterwards, Subaki pulling Elise aside out of the view of the others.
"Did I hear that right? You guys are voting for Rinkah?" Subaki whispered.
"Why do you need to know?" Elise asked.
"...I can't say right now, Lady Elise," Subaki apologized. "It's a rather personal thing for my liege."
"Oh...okay, I getcha. But yeah, we are voting for Rinkah tonight. If either you or Sakura votes with us tonight, then that'd be awesome." Elise proceeded. "I'm gonna tell Camilla of the plan." She left to go speak with Camilla, leaving Subaki to return to Sakura and update her.
"Tonight is really scary, because I don't know what's going to happen at the vote. I don't know if I'm in danger, if Xander's in danger, or heck, if Peri's in danger. But then again...ah, I shouldn't be worried about Peri. She hasn't done anything really threatening to us." -Elise
In Subaki's room, retainer and liege sat down next to each other on the bed. "I just spoke with Lady Elise - they want to eliminate Rinkah tonight due to her being such a physical threat." Subaki informed.
"I-I see…" Sakura took a deep breath in. "What...what do we do?"
"I leave this in your hands tonight, Lady Sakura," Subaki informed. "I would be the swing vote for you, but I'd rather you make the choice than I."
"W-Why's that?" Sakura asked.
"Because I don't want to accidentally eliminate the wrong person and make you upset," Subaki answered. "If Lord Takumi gets angry again, I'll take the fall for you."
"T-Thank you...but there's...there's no need to do that…" Sakura stammered.
"The heart is an arrow, Lady Sakura," Subaki continued. "It demands for its aim to land true."
"So...you want me to v-vote with my heart?" Sakura asked.
"Exactly. I trust Lady Camilla won't be cross with me that I've decided to leave the vote up to you," Subaki answered. "I just want you to be happy."
"O-Okay...I'll just...go back to my room now…" Sakura got up and went to do that, closing the door behind her. She flopped down on her bed, burying her face in her hands.
"*deep sigh* I-It's all up to me tonight...I'm holding the power...e-either I can eliminate C-Camilla, or R-Rinkah...and I-I'm voting with what...my heart wants...oh, this is so tough...I don't know what to do." -Sakura
After consulting her heart in silence, Sakura seemed to have made a decision, getting up off her bed and exiting her room.
Once the sun had set, the eleven remaining players convened in the basement, Flash waiting there on the screen.
"Welcome back everyone. Well, today was pretty crazy. Camilla, let's start with you. What was your reasoning for letting Leo have immunity?" Flash asked.
"Because after Takumi threatened him and called my baby brother out, I knew I had to keep him safe. It felt obvious to me he'd keep trying to target Leo over and over again until he succeeded." Camilla answered.
"Were you surprised at all that Camilla would do that Leo?" Flash inquired.
"No, not at all." Leo shook his head. "If you've known Camilla for as long as Xander, Elise, and myself have known her for, she'd risk life and limb for all of us."
"So Takumi, let's go back to the previous night. You were really heated after Hinoka was eliminated," Flash said. "Why was that?"
"Because I had my own siblings and fellow Hoshidans vote against me," Takumi answered.
"And that was Ryoma, Sakura, and Subaki right?" Flash asked for confirmation, to which Takumi nodded.
"After taking some time to crush those Rabbids at today's challenge, I cleared my head and apologized to them for my rash behavior." Takumi concluded.
"So Xander, when you take a look at the Hoshidan royal family in this game, it's clear they lack some sort of organization. Half of them went to target your brother, and the other half were like 'Our sister's behavior is unacceptable, let's vote her out.' What are your thoughts on that?" Flash asked.
"I think it means to me that the Hoshidans are unaccustomed to this kind of competition," Xander answered bluntly. "While they have the spirit, I feel as if they lack the strategic planning they'd need for this kind of game."
"Ryoma, do you agree with Xander or not?" Flash inquired.
"I do and I don't. Yes, being the peaceful kingdom we are we haven't had the need to plan for these kind of things or any sort of thing, but we did take the time to regroup today." Ryoma responded.
"Do you think that this organization will help you in tonight's vote, or will something totally out of the blue will happen?" Flash wondered.
"Flash, I cannot say for certain what will happen with tonight's vote," Ryoma added. "Because after the first merge vote, it is very clear that this game is not going to be another Hoshido vs. Nohr kind of conflict."
"Rinkah, what do you think about all this? Do you think it's strategy or emotions that's driving everyone?" Flash asked.
"A little bit of a both I guess," Rinkah shrugged. "Like, we all want to win and everything, but some of us here are more accustomed to the kind of backstabbing we've been seeing so far."
"Keaton, would you say that's a fair assessment of this group?" Flash was curious to see what he thought.
"Yeah, it would be safe to assume that everyone's letting their competitive sides show. I'm just here to have a good time, and so far it's been really fun." Keaton answered.
"Peri, do you think there will be a blindside tonight? Or will the vote go as you think it will?" Flash inquired.
'Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm almost a hundred percent positive the vote will go the way Lord Xander and I hope it will." Peri giggled.
"Alright, it is, time to vote. Subaki. You're up." With that, Subaki got up and went to vote.
Outside the fortress on the outdoor stage, a large crowd had gathered as Azura watched the developments unfold from the monitor screen on stage.
"A wave of calm and anticipation has come over the final eleven players in the game. Who will be leaving tonight? Hello everyone, and welcome back for another Elimination Ceremony." The monitor showed Subaki in the voting booth. "Subaki is leaving the vote in the hands of his liege. How is he voting tonight?"
"Hello Subaki! Please cast your vote to eliminate!" Flash requested.
"I do hope she's okay with what I'm doing, but I vote to eliminate Camilla." Subaki voted.
"Alright, you can go back now." Subaki got up and passed Camilla in the hallway.
"Camilla is the target Takumi wants to eliminate tonight. Let's see how she votes." Azura said.
"Hello Camilla! Please cast your vote to eliminate!" Flash instructed.
"My vote is to eliminate Rinkah. Sorry darling." Camilla voted.
"Thanks, you can go back." Camilla left the booth, passing Leo in the hall.
"Leo is seemingly under pressure tonight, having been 'called out' by Takumi. His vote should be obvious." Azura commented.
"Hello Leo! Please cast your vote to eliminate!" Flash requested.
"I vote to eliminate Rinkah." Leo voted.
"Thanks, you can head back now." Leo left the booth, passing Rinkah in the hall.
"Rinkah is voting with Takumi tonight in an attempt to destabilize the Nohrians. Her vote should be obvious." Azura mused.
"Hello Rinkah! Please cast your vote to eliminate!" Flash instructed.
"I'm voting to eliminate Camilla. Simple as that." Rinkah voted.
"Thanks, you can go back now." Rinkah left the booth, passing Takumi in the hall.
"Takumi is hopeful that Camilla will be eliminated tonight. Will his fortune change?" Azura wondered.
"Hello Takumi! Please cast your vote to eliminate!" Flash requested.
"If Leo wasn't immune I'd be voting for him. But since he is, I'm voting to eliminate Camilla." Takumi voted. "This better work!"
"Alright, you can go back now." Takumi left the booth, passing Keaton in the hall.
"Keaton is having a good time, and aligned with Rinkah, his vote should be obvious." Azura said.
"Hello Keaton! Please cast your vote to eliminate!" Flash instructed.
"I vote to eliminate Camilla." Keaton voted.
"Alright, you can go back now." Keaton left the booth, passing Xander in the hall.
"Xander is leading the strategy to eliminate Xander. Will his plan triumph?" Azura wondered.
"Hello Xander! Please cast your vote to eliminate!" Flash requested.
"In order to keep our game alive, I vote to eliminate Rinkah." Xander voted.
"Thanks, you can go on back." Xander left the booth, passing Peri in the hall.
"Peri is voting with her liege tonight, so we really don't have to be curious who she is voting for." Azura thought aloud.
"Hello Peri! Please cast your vote to eliminate!" Flash instructed.
"If Lord Xander wants it, Lord Xander will have it. I vote to eliminate Rinkah!" Peri voted.
"Alright, you can head on back." Peri left the booth, passing Elise in the hall.
"Elise was labelled a 'non-threat' by Takumi. Will she be able to prove him wrong tonight?" Azura mused.
"Hello Elise! Please cast your vote to eliminate!" Flash requested.
"We can get rid of smelly Keaton later, I vote to eliminate Rinkah." Elise voted.
"Thanks, you can head on back now." Elise left the booth, passing by Ryoma in the hall.
"With Ryoma in the loop, he has a difficult choice ahead of him. How will he vote tonight?" Azura wondered.
"Hello Ryoma! Please cast your vote to eliminate!" Flash instructed.
"I vote to eliminate Camilla. I hope that Sakura can understand." Ryoma voted.
"Thanks, you can head on back now." Ryoma left the booth, passing Sakura in the hall.
"With five votes each, it all comes down to Sakura's vote. Who will her heart side with tonight? Let's find out." Azura spoke.
"Hello Sakura! Please cast your vote to eliminate!" Flash requested.
Sakura was quiet at first. "I...I can't do this...I can't b-betray her…" She looked at the camera, wiping a tear from her cheek. "I-I vote to e-eliminate...Rinkah…" A chorus of ohs came from the audience outside.
"Thanks, you can head back now." Sakura left the booth to go join the others awaiting Flash for the results.
"With Sakura's vote, Rinkah's fate has been sealed. Now we await Flash to reveal the results." Azura said.
"Alright everyone, the votes are in!" Flash began. "Whoever is eliminated only has a few moments to gather their things and say their goodbyes, then they must proceed out the staircase to your left. I'll start by revealing those who are safe. Those people are...Sakura, Subaki, Ryoma, Takumi, Xander, Leo, Elise, Peri, and Keaton."
Leo wondered if Camilla giving him immunity was a bad call, and Takumi had a smile on his face.
"Rinkah, Camilla? By a vote...of 6 to 5...Camilla, you...are safe." Flash revealed as Takumi's smile quickly vanished. "It's official Rinkah, you have been eliminated from Fates Party."
"Ah, what a bummer…" Rinkah shook her head, grabbing her things. "Well guys, best of luck." She had a smile as she walked up the stairs to go out on stage to a chorus of cheers as she sat down across from Azura.
"Well, it's good to see you again Rinkah," Azura smiled. "You went out with a bang judging from earlier today."
"Yeah, I sure did." Rinkah chuckled. "Man, that felt good."
"What was going through your mind as you and Keaton were destroying the car Bowser had?" Azura inquired.
"Joy, primarily," Rinkah answered. "After everything he's done to try and sully our fun, it felt great to get some payback."
"Are you at all surprised all that might have led to you being voted out?" Azura wondered.
"It might have, but it was worth it." Rinkah shrugged. "It's just one of those things. When you put yourself out there like that it's hard not to have a target on your back."
"You mentioned the Flame Tribe earlier after you took a fire attack from Bowser quite well," Azura noted. "Why did you mention it?"
"Because well...the Flame Tribe is an isolationist group. We don't trust outsiders. As such, I haven't got the chance to experience a lot of things, and I've been hesitant to broaden my horizons because of this. When I signed on for this game I was looking to do the tribe proud, but it was also to see what else there was outside. After my time here in this game, I hope that one day we can break down the walls and really get to experience what the outside world is like. After my time with the Hoshidans and Nohrians, there's a lot for me to learn, and I can't wait to dig in." Rinkah explained.
"I hope you'll find success in that, Rinkah," Azura said. "And thank you for your time."
"Pleasure's mine." Rinkah smirked. With another raucous round of applause and cheers, Rinkah departed from the stage and went down the torchlit path.
Once she arrived at Loser Lodge, Azama was there to greet her at his usual spot.
"Hello Rinkah. Your fire finally died out, huh?" He chuckled.
"Yeah well, that's life." Rinkah set her things down at the door and went to get settled in.
Meanwhile, back behind the false wall in the fortress, a girl was sitting in a swivel chair, facing away from the camera.
"Heeheehee…" She giggled. "Yes, it was me. It was I who took on the role of the Hint Giver, and for one reason." She smiled, sounding happy. "I was bored."
She wrote some things down in a notebook as she spoke. "Still...I can't believe I got found out so quickly. But then again, this is Niles, the notorious ex-thief we're speaking about." The Hint Giver paused. "I wonder if Flash remembers me. He was so close to finding me out, but he didn't do anything about it. Does he know?" The girl was lost in thought with these questions.
(And there we have it. Turns out the Hint Giver knows me!
Rinkah. I am a fan of Rinkah, I do love her design, but the problem with Rinkah is that character wise she doesn't have a whole lot to go off of. It can get a bit bland at times, so I decided to have her do one last awesome thing before she was voted out in a blaze of glory.
As for the Hint Giver, whose identity I am still hiding until the time is right, I decided to do a little more behind the scenes work with her, and it seems that she knows me. But how? I won't say. You'll have to wait till later!
Next time we'll jam out to small tunes and see how things develop from here! See you all then!)