Chapter 11
Just like Aizen's Betrayal
Day 31
Karakura Tribe
(Byakuya, Komamura, Rukia, Shunsui, Soi Fon, Tatsuki, Unohana, Yoruichi)
The players are sitting around Unohana and Soi Fon, as Unohana attemps to heal Soi Fon with her zanpakuto.
"This may take a few days," Unohana explains. "I'm sorry, it's a very severe injury."
"I understand," Soi Fon replies.
"This injury has added an extra wrinkle to the game," Soi Fon says. "Not only am I hurt and handicapped for challenges, but if I don't heal fast enough, I can't vote out Unohana."
Meanwhile, Rukia pulls aside her brother.
"I know you've voted with the Captains the whole game," Rukia tells him. "I understand your loyalty to them. But I have an opportunity for you to stay longer in this game… just vote with us."
Byakuya pauses for a second before answering Rukia. "Your offer is very interesting," he replies. "However, I do not want to betray my fellow Captains."
"It's for your own sake in the game," Rukia states. "Please consider my offer."
"I'm trying to help out my brother, but he does not want to take my offer," Rukia says. "I don't know how to convince him."
"I cannot just go about betraying my former Captains for personal gain," Byakuya says. "That would not be the proper thing to do."
Immunity Challenge
"Come on in, guys!"
The players walk into the challenge area.
"First things first, I will take back the immunity necklace."
Komamura hands over his necklace to Urahara.
"Thank you. Once again, immunity is back up for grabs. For today's challenge, you will each be blindfolded. You will make your way out on to the course using a rope to guide you, and you will retrieve a bag of puzzle pieces. Using only your sense of touch, you will feel the shapes at one end of the course, then take your puzzle pieces and go to the other end of the course and figure out your puzzle."
Some of the players look bewildered upon hearing about the challenge.
"The first one to finish their puzzle correctly wins immunity and a guaranteed one-in-seven shot at winning this game. Make sense?"
The players do not give a solid response.
"Well, you better figure it out, because we're going to draw for spots, and then get started."
After the players are all blindfolded, they line up at the starting line, holding on to their ropes.
"For immunity! Survivors ready? Go!"
Each player begins running carefully down the course, holding on to their rope as they do. Most of them reach their puzzle pieces at about the same time, then begin feeling their puzzle to figure it out.
"You've got to make sure you know exactly where the shapes are located, or else you're going to have lots of trouble!"
Yoruichi is the first one to gather her puzzle pieces and head back towards the starting line. Byakuya is soon to follow her.
"Soi Fon trying to complete this challenge with only her right arm!"
Soi Fon falls behind the other players as she carefully studies the puzzle with her hand. However, once she grabs her pieces and gets back to the start, it turns out not to be much of a disadvantage.
"Everyone is now back to the start, trying to figure out their puzzle!"
Yoruichi, who was first back to the start, finds it is difficult to figure out the difference between some of the shapes, such as a parallelogram and a triangle.
"These shapes will confuse you! Make sure you have them in the right position!"
Byakuya begins piecing together his puzzle quickly. He puts his final piece in place.
"Byakuya thinks he has it!"
Urahara notices that Byakuya has confused an oval and a circle.
"Byakuya is wrong!"
Byakuya goes back to figuring out his puzzle, while the others quickly try to finish theirs.
"I think I have it!" Yoruichi calls.
"Yoruichi thinks she has it!"
Urahara checks out Yoruichi's puzzle.
"Yoruichi is… right! Yoruichi wins immunity!"
Yoruichi throws off her blindfold excitedly. The others take off their blindfolds with frustration.
"Congratulations, Yoruichi, this is for you."
Urahara puts the immunity necklace around Yoruichi's neck.
"You are safe at tonight's immunity challenge. As for the rest of you – after 31 days, one of you is going home."
The players begin their trek back to camp, with Yoruichi wearing a smile on her face.
"The goal tonight is to take out another Captain," Yoruichi says. "Which one, we still have yet to decide."
Karakura Tribe
(Byakuya, Komamura, Rukia, Shunsui, Soi Fon, Tatsuki, Unohana, Yoruichi)
The female alliance of Rukia, Tatsuki, Soi Fon and Yoruichi gather together to discuss who to vote for.
"Unohana is the only one who supported Kenpachi," Tatsuki suggests. "Maybe we should take her out."
"No," Yoruichi replies. "Soi Fon needs to have her arm fully healed, and it's still going to take a couple more days. We must keep Unohana around until then."
"It's okay," Soi Fon says. "I can go without my arm through the rest of this game if need be."
"Taking out Captain Unohana doesn't make much sense anyway," Rukia breaks in. "We need to take out someone who's a real threat in challenges, and that's Captain Komamura. He won the last challenge, and should be a good threat to win a bunch more if we don't take him out now."
"Rukia's right," adds Yoruichi. "Komamura is a huge threat, so he needs to go now."
"But how are we going to get him out with only four people in our alliance?" Tatsuki asks.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything," Rukia replies.
Rukia goes over to talk to Unohana, who is drinking some water.
"Captain Unohana, we want you in on the all-female alliance," Rukia tells her. "It's not fair to exclude any women. Join us and we'll take you farther."
"Thank you, Miss Kuchiki," Unohana replies. "I thought I was next to go, but if you are going to reach out to me, I will surely help you out."
"Come sit with us," Rukia tells her. "We're taking out Captain Komamura next, since he is such a big threat."
"Captain Komamura," Unohana states. "Okay, I agree with that."
"I have some other business to take care of, but please join Tatsuki, Yoruichi and Captain Soi Fon," Rukia says.
"I have no choice but to trust Rukia at this point in the game," Unohana says. "If she's lying to me, it doesn't mean much, I'd be going home anyway. At least by going with her, I have a chance at going farther in this game."
Byakuya, Komamura and Shunsui are talking with each other.
"Shall we vote out Captain Unohana?" Komamura asks.
"That's what I was thinking," Shunsui replies. "She alienated herself by aligning with crazy man Zaraki. So she's got to go next."
"We need more votes to get the job done," Komamura adds. "Captain Kuchiki, could you bring your sister in on this?"
"My sister wants me to join up with their alliance, but I will have none of it," Byakuya replies. "However, I will do what I can."
The three then notice Rukia walking over towards them.
"Now is your chance," Komamura tells Byakuya. "Go tell her our plan."
Byakuya walks over to Rukia to meet her.
"What is the plan?" Byakuya asks Rukia.
Rukia chuckles. "That's what I was about to ask you," she replies.
"We feel that since Captain Unohana decided to align with Captain Zaraki, she deserves to go next," Byakuya tells her.
"Very well then," Rukia responds. "Go through with your plan."
"My sister took very little convincing, and she's on our side," Byakuya says. "Maybe we could swing her over to vote with us permanently."
After Rukia leaves, Byakuya tells Komamura and Shunsui that Rukia agreed with him.
"That's good news," Komamura states. "Looks like we are safe for another vote."
"If it's going to take Captain Kuchiki's sister to keep us in this game, so be it," Komamura says. "I'm okay with that."
Tribal Council
The players walk into the Tribal Council area with their torches lit. They set them down in their designated place before taking their seats.
"We now bring in the members of our jury," Urahara states. "Yamamoto, and voted out last Tribal Council, Kenpachi."
Yamamoto and Kenpachi walk into the Tribal Council area. Unohana waves towards Kenpachi, and Kenpachi waves back.
"Let's talk about alliances," Urahara says. "Rukia, you've obviously made a great alliance with the remaining members of your original tribe. But at what point did you decide that was not enough?"
"Well before we even merged," Rukia replies. "I've wanted to make my alliance as strong as possible, so I've invited others into our alliance."
"Who here has been invited into Rukia's alliance?" Urahara asks.
Soi Fon raises her only hand, and Unohana and Kenpachi also raise their hands. Komamura and Shunsui do not.
"So Komamura and Shunsui, you've been left out by Rukia. Let's start with you, Komamura. Why do you think Rukia has not made an alliance with you?"
"Well, to be quite honest, I think she just doesn't know me well enough," Komamura replies. "She doesn't feel comfortable talking to me."
"And you're okay with this?"
"I am," Komamura responds. "I have reason to believe that at this point in the game, I am not a target."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Urahara breaks in. "You do not believe you are a target? You won immunity last time, Komamura. If I were playing this game, I would certainly consider you a target."
"Right now I believe the target is Captain Unohana," Komamura states.
"Unohana, Komamura just called you a target," Urahara tells her. "Is that a bit of a warning?"
"I've known since I aligned myself with Captain Zaraki that I would be a target," Unohana replies. "I'm not surprised to hear that."
"Okay, so Komamura, you don't think you're a target now," Urahara says. "Aren't you concerned about later on in the game?"
"I believe that we'll take things one vote at a time," Komamura responds.
Urahara laughs. "Komamura, that's not how this game works. You have to play this game thinking about the long term, not just the short term."
"I'll play it the way I want to, Urahara," Komamura states.
"Very well then," Urahara says. "What about you, Shunsui? You haven't been approached by Rukia. Do you believe you're in danger?"
"It's certainly possible," Shunsui replies. "I trust that I'm not the current target, and I'll leave it at that."
"Well, it certainly seems that Rukia can do what she wants, and no one really cares," Urahara states. "Let's get down to things. Yoruichi, you have individual immunity, and you better not give it up."
"Why is that?" Yoruichi replies with a smile on her face. "Of course I'll hang on to it."
"Very well then, you cannot vote for Yoruichi. The rest of you are fair game. It is time to vote. Byakuya, you're up first."
Byakuya goes to vote.
Komamura goes to vote.
Rukia goes to vote.
Shunsui goes to vote.
"Aligning yourself with crazy Zaraki was not exactly the best strategy," Shunsui says, holding up his vote for Unohana.
Soi Fon goes to vote.
Tatsuki goes to vote.
Unohana goes to vote.
"I apologize, Captain Komamura," Unohana says.
Yoruichi goes to vote.
"I'll go tally the votes."
Urahara walks over, grabs the voting urn, rearranges the votes, then returns to the players.
"If anyone has the immunity plushie, and you would like to play it, now would be the time to do so."
No one budges.
"Okay. Once the votes are read, the decision is final, and the person voted out will be asked to return to the world of the living immediately. I'll read the votes."
Urahara takes out the first vote.
"Unohana."
Unohana simply sits silently, with her hands folded.
"Unohana."
Urahara pulls out the next vote.
"Unohana. That's three votes Unohana."
Unohana makes no response, while feeling quite nervous.
"Captain Komamura."
Komamura blinks, but shows no emotion.
"Captain Komamura. Three votes Unohana, two votes Komamura."
Komamura begins to look a bit nervous.
"Captain Komamura. We're tied, three votes Unohana, three votes Komamura, two votes left."
Urahara opens up the next vote slowly.
"Komamura. Four votes Komamura, three votes Unohana, one vote left."
Both Unohana and Komamura look nervous as Urahara opens up the final vote.
"First fox voted out of Survivor: Hueco Mundo, and the third member of our jury, Komamura. That's five, that's enough, you need to bring me your torch."
Shunsui nods to Komamura as the fox walks over to grab his torch, then holds it out in front of Urahara.
"Komamura, the tribe has spoken. It's time for you to go."
Urahara snuffs out Komamura's torch, then Komamura walks off into the gate to the world of the living.
"Clearly this tribe is going after the physical threats," Urahara states. "If you don't think you're a threat, you better watch out, because the target might be on your back. Grab your torches, head back to camp, good night."
The players head back toward their camp.
"I'm surprised that Captain Kuchiki was unable to get his sister on our side," Komamura says. "Ultimately, I didn't play hard enough to win the game, and that cost me."
Who voted for whom:
Byakuya – Unohana
Komamura – Unohana
Rukia – Komamura
Shunsui – Unohana
Soi Fon – Komamura
Tatsuki – Komamura
Unohana – Komamura
Yoruichi – Komamura
Day 32
Karakura Tribe
(Byakuya, Rukia, Shunsui, Soi Fon, Tatsuki, Unohana, Yoruichi)
Early in the morning, Byakuya walks over to Rukia, to ask her about the previous vote.
"You told me that Captain Unohana was your choice to vote out," Byakuya tells her. "Why did you go back on your promise?"
"I never promised that," Rukia replies. "I only told you that you should go ahead with your plan to vote out Captain Unohana. The other girls were dead set on voting out Captain Komamura, so I joined up with them."
"You are my sister, I expect to be able to trust you," Byakuya states. "How can I be sure you won't vote me out?"
"If you want to be safe, join us," Rukia responds. "Vote out Captain Shunsui."
"I cannot go against my fellow Captain," Byakuya remarks.
"I'm trying to help you, brother," Rukia replies. "I'm sure the others will want to take out either you or Captain Shunsui, so I ask you to help yourself out by voting him out."
"I want to help out my brother, but if he remains dead set in his ways, he's going to be dead in this game," Rukia says.
"My sister certainly has a devious side," Byakuya says. "She tricked me into believing Captain Komamura was safe, and now she's trying to get me to go against my fellow Captain. I don't know if I can do it."
As Soi Fon continues to get her arm healed by Unohana, the afternoon offers some time for the female alliance to make their plans.
"It's Shunsui next, then Byakuya," Yoruichi tells the others.
"Are you sure?" Tatsuki asks. "Rukia's brother seems to be the bigger physical threat."
"I promised my brother I'd keep him around," Rukia responds. "If we want to keep him here, we have to vote out Shunsui first."
"Why did you make that promise?" Tatsuki questions Rukia. "We can't be making promises we can't keep."
"It'll be fine, trust me," Rukia states.
"Rukia went ahead and made a promise to her brother to keep him around," Tatsuki says. "Does that mean she plans on turning on us? I'm not sure what to think of this."
Shunsui, meanwhile, sits alone with Byakuya.
"We're on the outs, Byakuya," Shunsui comments. "It's you or me next."
"Most likely," Byakuya replies.
"What reason is there to keep us around?" Shunsui asks. "I can't think of any. We're doomed."
"My sister didn't help us out any," Byakuya remarks.
"Well, what should we expect?" Shunsui inquires. "She has to protect her own alliance."
"Very true," Byakuya responds.
"I wonder how we came to this point," Shunsui muses. "We had the numbers at the merge, 7-3. But Soi Fon immediately flipped to Yoruichi's side. We should have predicted that and voted her out earlier."
"Maybe," Byakuya states.
"Or…" Shunsui continues. "We should have been more accepting to crazy man Zaraki and Captain Unohana. Or we could have been more discreet about voting out Zaraki, so then Unohana wouldn't have given him that plushie. Or…"
"Captain Shunsui has so many ideas, but it's too late to carry out any of them now," Byakuya says. "We can't worry about the past now. We have to move on."
"Boy, are we Captains stupid," Shunsui says. "This is just like Aizen's betrayal. We were all fooled then, we thought we won't get fooled again, but here we are, split up and falling apart again. What idiots we are."
Day 33
Unohana is still working on Soi Fon's arm into the next morning. Half her arm has returned, but it is quite incomplete.
"This shouldn't take much longer, Captain Soi Fon," Unohana tells her. "I'm trying to do this as quickly as possible."
"Take your time," Soi Fon responds. "I could go Bankai with one arm if I had to."
"Being handicapped isn't all that bad," Soi Fon says. "Certainly I wouldn't wish it on anybody but my foes. Still, I can survive without an arm."
Yoruichi gathers the other girls together.
"Today we have to make sure that Shunsui does not win immunity," she tells them. "That's our only goal in this challenge, otherwise it does not matter who wins."
"Understood," Tatsuki replies. "But what happens if he does win?"
"Then things change, don't they, Rukia?" Yoruichi asks.
Rukia nods her head.
"I know Rukia does not want to eliminate her brother, but this is a competition," Yoruichi says. "I'm close to Byakuya too, but if push comes to shove, I will vote him out."
Immunity Challenge
"Come on in, guys!"
The players walk into the immunity challenge area.
"First things first, I'll take back the immunity necklace."
Yoruichi takes off the necklace and tosses it to Urahara.
"Thank you. Once again, for the second time in three days, immunity is back up for grabs. For today's challenge, you will run out onto the course to stands which hold questions. You answer the question by choosing either the stand to the left or the one to the right, which both have answers on them. You then take the bag of puzzle pieces attached to that stand and race back to the start, where you will empty out your puzzle pieces. If you were right with your answer, the puzzle pieces will have parts of a logo. If you were wrong, the puzzle pieces will be blank. You will do this until you have all three bags of puzzle pieces, which put together properly will make the season's logo. The first person to complete their puzzle wins immunity and a guaranteed 1-in-6 shot at winning this game. Make sense?"
"Yes," the players reply.
"Take your positions and wait for my go."
The players line up in their designated positions.
"For immunity! Survivors ready, go!"
The contestants run out onto the course, reaching the stand with the first question.
"Who is the lieutenant of Squad 7?" Tatsuki reads.
She quickly takes a look at the answer to her left.
"Tetsuzeamon Iba," she reads.
She then looks at the one on her right.
"Shuhei Hisagi," she reads. "I'll go with this one."
She grabs the bag of puzzle pieces and heads back toward the start. The others, who had the same question, also race back to the start.
"If you were wrong, those puzzle pieces will be blank!" Urahara shouts.
When Tatsuki opens up her bag of puzzle pieces, she notices that they are blank. She sighs and hurries up to go get the correct bag.
"Tatsuki is wrong! Everyone else is right! Keep going!"
The players come up to the next question.
"What is the name of the red-haired boy who works at the Urahara Shop?" Unohana reads.
She quickly checks the two choices, Jinta and Keigo.
"I'll try Keigo," she says, grabbing the bag of puzzle pieces attached to that stand.
The players come back at various times to unload their second bag of puzzle pieces.
"Unohana is wrong! She has to go back!"
Shunsui opens up his bag of puzzle pieces to find he has chosen incorrectly as well.
"Shunsui is wrong! Get the right bag!"
Yoruichi has gotten the first two right and heads out to get her third bag.
"Which of the Kotetsu sisters is a member of Squad 13?" she reads. "Easy one. Isane was part of Squad 4, so…"
Yoruichi grabs the correct bag of puzzle pieces, then heads back to the start.
"Yoruichi, Rukia and Byakuya are the first back to the start with their third and final bag of puzzle pieces!"
All three open up their bags to see that they are right.
"Start putting together those puzzles!"
The contestants hurry to put together their puzzles, while the others try to catch up.
"Yoruichi with a big lead in the puzzle!"
Shunsui gets his final bag open and starts working on his puzzle. Unohana is right behind him.
"You've got to get that logo right, if you want to win immunity!"
Shunsui begins piecing together the puzzle, getting closer to finishing it. Yoruichi is also close to finishing. Rukia and Byakuya both have trouble getting their puzzles together.
"This is neck-and-neck between Shunsui and Yoruichi!"
Finally, one player finishes their puzzle.
"Yoruichi wins immunity!"
Rukia, who was at the table next to Yoruichi, immediately rushes over to her and embraces her. Byakuya and Shunsui walk away from their tables, disappointed to have lost.
"Come over here, Yoruichi, this is for you."
Yoruichi walks over to Urahara, and he places the immunity necklace around her neck.
"Congratulations. Once again, you are safe at tonight's Tribal Council. Everyone else is fair game, and you have tonight to figure out who's going home."
The players head back towards their camp.
"Big win by Yoruichi today," Rukia says. "That makes the plan so much easier."
Karakura Tribe
(Byakuya, Rukia, Shunsui, Soi Fon, Tatsuki, Unohana, Yoruichi)
The girls get together to talk about their plan.
"No change in plans," Yoruichi tells them. "Shunsui is going home."
"This is an easy vote," Rukia comments.
"Shunsui didn't win immunity, so he goes home tonight," Tatsuki says. "Simple as that."
Shunsui, meanwhile, is drinking the last of the sake that was remaining.
"It's been a good run," Shunsui says. "I've made it very far, but I assume that I'm going to go tonight. It would be me or Byakuya, and since he's Rukia's brother, I doubt she votes him off now. Oh well, it was fun."
Tribal Council
The players walk into the Tribal Council area with their torches lit, then set them in their place, before taking their seats.
"We now bring in the members of our jury," Urahara states. "Yamamoto, Kenpachi, and voted out last Tribal Council, Komamura."
The jury members walk in and sit down across from the currently alive contestants.
"Shunsui, let's start with you. Last time we talked, we noted that Rukia had made alliances with everyone but you and Komamura. Komamura was voted out last time. You put two and two together…"
"Yeah, I know I'm going home tonight," Shunsui says. "I can't do anything about it. I can only look back at what went wrong."
"What did go wrong? The Captains led 7-3 going into the merge. Now it's only 4-3, and it doesn't seem like the Captains are all together."
"That's the problem," Shunsui explains. "The Captains split up. Soi Fon went with Yoruichi, Unohana went with Kenpachi, we were left with only four of us."
"So you're blaming this on Soi Fon and Unohana?"
"I'm not blaming them for anything, Urahara. I'm saying that they made up their minds to go their own ways, and as a result, the original Captains alliance has crumbled."
"Why not get the band back together?" Urahara asks. "You have four Captains to three Ryoka. Why not implore them to vote with you, and re-form your alliance?"
"I'd love to do that," Shunsui replies. "It would be great for Soi Fon and Unohana to join us, and vote out Tatsuki."
"Soi Fon, you've been given an offer by Shunsui to rejoin with him and his alliance. Will you take it?"
"I appreciate Captain Shunsui and what he did for our tribe," Soi Fon responds. "At this point I don't think it can happen."
"What about you, Unohana?"
"It's nice to have people wanting you, that's what I'll say," Unohana replies.
"Well, if you and Soi Fon were just to flip back to the original Captains alliance, you could form a strong final four," Urahara states. "On the other hand, you could stick with your current alliance and see what happens."
"Let her make up her own mind," Rukia tells Urahara.
"I will," Urahara replies. "In fact, she'll have a chance to in just a moment, but first I want to know what Yoruichi will do with her immunity necklace."
"Keep it," Yoruichi states.
"Very well then, you cannot vote for Yoruichi. Everyone else can be voted for, and it is time to vote. Byakuya, you're up first."
Byakuya goes to vote.
Rukia goes to vote.
Shunsui goes to vote.
"I'd love to stay longer," Shunsui says, holding up his vote for Tatsuki.
Soi Fon goes to vote.
Tatsuki goes to vote.
"Your scrambling won't work," Tatsuki says, showing her vote for Shunsui.
Unohana goes to vote.
Yoruichi goes to vote.
"I'll go tally the votes."
Urahara gathers the votes, rearranges them, then returns to the players.
"If anyone has an immunity plushie, and you would like to play it, now would be the time to do so."
None of the players respond to Urahara.
"All right. Once the votes are read, the decision is final, and the person voted out will be asked to return to the world of the living immediately. I'll read the votes."
Urahara takes out the first vote.
"Shunsui."
Shunsui nods as he sees this vote.
"Tatsuki."
Tatsuki wrinkles her nose while seeing this vote.
"Shunsui."
Urahara pulls out the next vote.
"Tatsuki. Two votes Shunsui, two votes Tatsuki, three votes left."
He opens up the next vote.
"Captain Shunsui. That's three votes Shunsui, two votes Tatsuki, two votes left."
Shunsui looks on as Urahara opens up the next vote slowly.
"Twelfth player voted out of Survivor: Hueco Mundo, and the fourth member of our jury, Shunsui. That's four, that's enough, you need to bring me your torch."
"Good luck, everyone," Shunsui says, tipping his hat. He then goes over and gets his torch, then holds it out in front of Urahara.
"Shunsui, the tribe has spoken," Urahara states, snuffing out his torch. "It's time for you to go."
Shunsui waves one last time to the contestants, then enters the gate to the world of the living.
"One by one, the original Captains tribe goes away. The rest of you Captains should be on first alert. Grab your torches, head back to camp, good night."
The contestants take their torches and begin their trek back towards their camp.
"It was a fun run, it really was," Shunsui says. "I enjoyed myself out here a lot. It's too bad we Captains turned on each other like this, but that's our habit. We need to stop doing that."
Who voted for whom:
Byakuya – Tatsuki
Rukia – Shunsui
Shunsui – Tatsuki
Soi Fon – Shunsui
Tatsuki – Shunsui
Unohana – Shunsui
Yoruichi – Shunsui
Scenes from our next episode:
Byakuya has a very narrow-minded strategy:
"From what you tell me, there is nothing I can do," Byakuya responds. "So I will do the only thing I can do, and win immunity."
Soi Fon's arm is healed:
"It's going to be hard to get used to having this full arm back," Soi Fon says.
"You'll be a real threat in today's challenge," Unohana states.
And the reward is a real doozy:
"The winning player will be taken to Las Noches, where they will get to dine with Aizen himself, on a nice meal, along with the customary tea."