(Yoma Nada Tribe)
The final five walked back into camp, still in disbelief. Nelson was the only exception, and he was beaming with pride.
"Nelson pulled off the move of a lifetime and used a fake idol to eliminate Molly. However, what surprised all of us was how Molly reacted to it." Ruth said. "I…I don't get it. Was she really leading the others on like that while pretending to be the nice girl? How long has Nelson known that?"
"Was Molly playing us all for the fool?" Janine asked.
"Since the start. That cheerful attitude she was giving all of us wasn't her in the slightest." Nelson said.
"How'd you make that fake idol, anyway?" Ruth asked.
Nelson grinned as he pulled a familiar pouch of blue powder from his pocket. "You can thank a past tribe-mate for that." He said.
"I used Ginny's blue powder on a few normal rocks and spent a good while polishing them to make them look shiny." Nelson explained. "I needed to make sure Molly would fall for it if she was sent to Exile Island and, luckily for me, she did. It feels so good to know that I managed to avenge my past allies now."
Meanwhile, Charlotte was standing aside as the others talked, thinking more to herself as to what to do now.
"This isn't good. Molly may have tricked us with a massive nice-girl façade, but she was still my ally. Without her, I'm in the minority again." Charlotte pointed out. "The competition's nearing its end and my battle to make the finals is going to be even harder now. I need numbers more than anything at this point and I'll take them wherever I can."
"G-Good job at finding out, though." Anita said. "I-If that d-didn't happen, M-Molly may have gone r-right to the end."
"I know. That's what I've been trying to prevent since Shamus got eliminated." Nelson nodded.
"Well, this is it, huh?" Ruth asked. "The final five."
"We've certainly come a long way." Janine nodded. "But the competition's not over yet."
"She's right. There's still a week left before the end." Charlotte added. "The competition's only going to get worse."
Everyone decided to go to bed, knowing that the following day would be one of the last days they'd probably have to themselves…
(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 34)
Charlotte was sitting by the fire pit, in deep thought, as Janine came walking down to her from the shelter.
"Something on your mind?" Janine asked.
"Janine, we seem to be in a bit of a problem." Charlotte said.
"What do you mean?"
"There's two of us and three of them." Charlotte replied. "If we don't find a way to gain an advantage, we'll be picked off one after the other."
"Well, there IS something we can do about it." Janine shrugged.
Charlotte paused in thought, then nodded. "Nelson."
"Right."
"What I don't think Nelson's realized is that he's the last-remaining Opito player and he's a big-enough threat as it is." Janine pointed out. "Since we know we'd never be able to get Ruth and Anita to turn on each other, we're going to have to attempt to sway Nelson to our side. It's possible when you consider he's aligned with two major threats."
"If we can convince Nelson that Ruth and Anita are bigger threats than we are, we may be able to get him to vote with us, if only once." Janine said.
"Yes. If we can get him to vote out Ruth, then we'll-" Charlotte began.
"Anita." Janine said, cutting Charlotte off.
Charlotte turned to look at Janine, whom was folding her arms. "You're still going on about that?" She asked.
"Anita's a bigger threat." Janine said defiantly.
"The biggest issue Janine and I have with each other is that we're both persistent with who we target. She's intent on voting Anita out first while I stand by my choice of getting rid of Ruth." Charlotte explained. "It's frustrating when the only person you can rely on isn't willing to vote your way."
Meanwhile, the other three members of the final five were off to the side, on the small island.
"Man. I can't believe it. We're in the final five already." Nelson said as he leaned against a tree.
"That may be so, but now's not the time to celebrate." Ruth reminded. "We're in the majority now, so we need to decide on which of the other two is the biggest threat."
"Charlotte." Anita said instantly. "She…She's a bigger strategic t-threat."
"But Janine automatically has Oiler's vote, as well as the votes of anyone else that would just vote against any of us because we made them mad." Ruth replied. "Molly and Mason, perhaps."
"No matter how you look at it, we're all threats in some way or another. There's a jury threat, a mental threat, a physical threat and two strategic threats." Ruth explained. "Now that we know the finale is approaching, we all need to choose who to take to the end, and that would be who we think we could win against."
"W-What do we do?" Anita asked. "T-They're both big threats."
"I know. They've both won challenges, but Janine's far stronger." Nelson nodded. "On the other hand, we all know that Charlotte's a more-calculating person than Janine is."
"D-Does Charlotte have any guaranteed votes?" Anita asked.
"Not that I can think of since Krash was ousted before the merge." Ruth replied. "That may make Janine a bigger threat at the moment…"
"B-But Charlotte's done more moves a-and the jury may v-vote based on s-strategy." Anita added.
The three looked at each other and groaned.
"I h-hate this. N-No matter who we g-go after, there w-will be another threat g-going further into the game." Anita moaned. "W-We need to m-make sure Charlotte a-and Janine go back to back, b-but we n-need to decide who to g-go after first."
"We've gotten ourselves into a hole by letting both Charlotte and Janine make it this far. Charlotte's played a better game, but Janine has a better chance at securing swing votes." Ruth said. "If we vote one way, we may dig ourselves even deeper by not voting the other way."
"I think I may go try some fishing. Maybe it'll take my mind off this for a moment." Nelson said.
"That's fine." Ruth said.
Nelson walked across the bridge connecting the small island to the shore and walked over to Oiler's fishing spot. Grabbing the line, Nelson cast it out and waited.
"Voting out Molly was one of the best feelings I've had out here. I made good on my promise to my allies to outlast everyone responsible for their eliminations." Nelson said. "Roscoe, Mason, Jack and now Molly. It took almost the full competition, but I finally got back at them. Now that the problem of exposing Molly is out of the way, I need to focus on my endgame plan."
"Nelson, can we talk?"
Nelson turned his head and saw Charlotte coming over. "What?" He asked.
"Nelson, Janine and I need your help." Charlotte said.
Nelson smirked. "Excuse me? You think I would help you guys after I've secured an alliance with the others?" He asked. "Charlotte, I know you'd like to think you're the craftiest person here, but you've spent the majority of the post-merge game being led on by an evil player that is probably three times as bad as you."
Charlotte remained silent, but her eyes narrowed at Nelson's comment.
"Heck, I'm curious. Tell me exactly why you think I would vote for Ruth or Anita?" Nelson asked.
"Because they're both big threats."
"Janine and I need Nelson's assistance to break up Ruth and Anita, and the only way to do that is to get him to vote with us." Charlotte explained. "I know it'll be hard, but like I said, it's the only way Janine and I will be able to survive to the end."
"Ruth has been playing just as good of a strategic game as me, and Anita is a huge jury threat." Charlotte told Nelson. "Anita would probably get a vast amount of sympathy votes after what she's been through."
Nelson didn't answer, but he looked in thought. Charlotte took that as making progress. "Think about it, Nelson. Janine isn't a big threat other than her strength and Ruth is just as big a threat as I am." She continued. "You know you won't win going against either of them in the end, and the end is quickly coming upon us."
Charlotte eventually turned and left Nelson alone. The lanky nerd now had several more things to think about, including a few things that hadn't even crossed his mind before.
Meanwhile, Charlotte had returned to the fire pit, where Janine was waiting. "You think he'll do it?" Janine asked.
"We've planted ideas. It's a start." Charlotte replied as she sat down. "We'll let him think about it for now."
"I think this was a good idea, not that we had many ideas to begin with. However, I think this could end up working." Charlotte said. "I know Nelson's in an alliance with the others, but once he sees that they're big threats, maybe he'll vote with us instead. All we need is one vote and we're back in business."
"If there's one thing Charlotte has going for her, it's her ability to plant ideas into the heads of other people." Janine said. "I know this could potentially lead to her undoing at the end at the hands of the jury, but that's fine with me. If there're enough people on the jury mad at her, I'll end up getting more votes."
However, what Charlotte wasn't aware of was that a familiar blonde girl was watching her conversation with Nelson and wasn't liking what she was hearing. Anita quickly retreated to go tell Ruth.
"T-This isn't good at all. C-Charlotte is trying t-to get Nelson to b-betray us, a-and knowing Charlotte, it m-may actually w-work." Anita said. "R-Ruth and I n-need to get Nelson to r-realize that the others are b-bigger threats if we w-want him to v-vote with us. I know t-that this shouldn't be happening, b-but some p-people will do anything to s-survive."
Night came around. The five finalists decided to go to bed, knowing that there was a challenge the following day that they needed to be ready for.
(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 35)
"Where's Nelson?" Ruth asked as she emerged from the shelter.
"I t-think he's getting treemail." Anita replied.
"You're sure Charlotte's trying to plant ideas into his head?" Ruth asked.
"I s-saw her."
"Charlotte's trying to get an ally to turn against us, and the sad thing is that it may actually work in the end." Ruth explained. "We're all threats, so all Charlotte needs to do is convince him that Anita and I are bigger threats than her and Janine. I'm worried that Nelson will vote against us because Charlotte's good at mind games."
"We need to make sure we talk to him and get those ideas out of his head." Ruth instructed.
"R-Right."
"I t-told Ruth what I heard last night and we knew w-we had to get N-Nelson to stick with us. However, h-he was up pretty early today." Anita rubbed her head nervously. "I j-just hope he knows t-to vote with us w-when it comes down to it. A-All he needs is a-a talking-to."
Meanwhile, Charlotte was down by the fire pit, waiting. Seeing Ruth and Anita fidgeting made her smirk to herself. Janine wandered over, seeing her by herself.
"Looks like they both know what we're trying to do." Janine pointed out.
"That's fine. I have an idea." Charlotte assured.
Janine rolled her eyes. "You need to think things through better. There have been numerous times where your ideas haven't gotten you far." She said.
"Trust me."
"No."
"I made sure I talked to Nelson late last night for a reason. It's all part of the plan, and one that I REALLY hope doesn't hurt me in the process." Charlotte said. "I don't want the others to get too comfortable, because if everything goes accordingly, they'll be extremely upset when it's all said and done."
"We have treemail." Nelson announced as he walked into camp. The other four finalists gathered around him.
"What type of challenge is it?" Janine asked.
"It just says 'Can you complete a puzzle'?" Nelson replied.
"Sounds simple enough, and that means it's not." Charlotte shook her head. "We may as well head out and see what we've up against."
(Reward Challenge)
The five finalists walked into a clearing in the jungle and approached their mat. Stepping on, the dwindling group waited for the challenge to start.
"Welcome to your final Reward Challenge, Yoma Nada. Here, we will see how good you are at putting things together." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw five piles of pieces behind them, each pile with a picture nearby. "You're each given a picture as reference and must use the pieces provided to fully-construct a picture that looks exactly like the example. The first one to fully complete the puzzle will win Reward, which is a special advantage in the upcoming Immunity Challenge."
Everyone looked at each other, knowing that their performance in the more-important challenge would be depending on this one.
"If you'll all take your positions, we'll start." SSBFreak continued.
The five walked over to the piles, seeing that they were all putting together a different puzzle. Nevertheless, they all waited for the challenge to start.
"Okay, for Reward, Survivors ready?..." SSBFreak said. "Go!"
Everyone instantly got to work on their puzzles, quickly trying to find the edges first and work around them.
"How many pieces are there here?" Janine asked. "There has to be at least a hundred."
Charlotte quickly found a few border pieces and connected them. "Not off to a bad start." She noted to herself.
Nelson was trying to block out everything around him and focus on the task. As of now, he looked extremely determined to get the task done.
Anita tried putting two border pieces together, and had no luck connecting them. "C-Crap. That's not right." She said as she tried again with another border piece.
Ruth was trying a similar strategy to Nelson and was remaining focused on the challenge. However, this didn't stop the elderly Raposa from occasionally glancing at her competition to see how much progress they had made.
The five finalists worked on their puzzles, some having more success on putting together their border than others. This continued for a number of minutes.
"You've been at the task for ten minutes now. Are you guys starting to crack under the pressure?" SSBFreak asked.
"I can do this all day!" Nelson challenged.
"Good, because we're going to be here until someone finishes, and each puzzle consists of a hundred pieces." SSBFreak said before turning to another person. "Charlotte, you seem pretty focused. You think you can win?"
"Comrade, the only way I'll remain focused is if no one bothers me." Charlotte said without bothering to look at the host.
SSBFreak scratched his head. "I'm never going to get a real answer out of you in challenges like these, am I?" He asked.
"You got it, buster."
The host gave a shrug. "Ruth, what's going through your mind right now?" He asked.
"The only thing I'm thinking of is how to finish this puzzle." Ruth explained.
"Is it harder than it looks?"
"Try asking me that later when I've actually made some progress."
SSBFreak went onto the next person. "Anita, what are your thoughts here?" He asked.
"H-How much I hate puzzles!" Anita replied, having hardly made any progress at all. "I…I only have three pieces c-connected!"
"Well, I'll let you all get back to it and come back to you later." SSBFreak said.
The finalists continued to work on their puzzles, some slowly making progress. Eventually, the majority of the five had managed to complete the entire barrier of the puzzle and were starting to work on filling the middle portion in. Anita was still far behind, not even close to finishing her barrier, and Janine was doing only slightly better than she was.
Ruth put the last couple of barrier pieces into place and quickly looked through her remaining pieces. "Time for me to start with the middle." She mused. "Where do I start?"
Janine moaned as she failed to attach another barrier piece. "I've gone through all of the remaining barrier pieces. Why is this not working?" She asked herself.
Charlotte was smirking as she attached another piece to her puzzle, having started with the middle portion of her puzzle. "I'm making good progress. All I have to do is hope I'm ahead of everyone else." She said.
However, because Charlotte wasn't looking at the others, she didn't notice that Nelson was doing well with his puzzle as well. The lanky nerd quickly attached a couple more pieces to his puzzle. "Okay. Now that the barrier's done, this may get a little easier…" He said.
Anita was still struggling on her puzzle. The blonde girl was rushing to get things done, and thus wasn't making as much progress as the others. "W-Why is this so hard?" She asked herself.
The contestants continued for another several minutes before SSBFreak decided to ask questions again. "It's been a half an hour and no one's finishes yet." He explained. "Janine, what do you think is taking so long?"
"You expect us to have a hundred-piece puzzle done in half an hour?" Janine countered. "I don't think so."
"Even still, no one seems to be done yet."
"Doing a puzzle is a time-consuming task. You should know that."
SSBFreak scratched his head before moving on. "Charlotte, you've still been pretty quiet. I take it you're still focusing on the challenge?" He asked.
"Yes." Was Charlotte's reply.
"Uh…Can you elaborate a little further?"
"No."
SSBFreak rolled his eyes and went on. "How're things going on your puzzle, Nelson?" He asked.
"I'm making good progress. I should have it done before too long." Nelson replied.
"How long would you say it would take you to finish?" The host continued.
"If I don't get stuck, I may have it done within another half hour." Nelson shrugged as he went back to work.
"Well, I'll let you guys get back to it, since you seem to be intent on finishing first." SSBFreak shrugged.
The finalists continued, slowly making progress. Another several minutes passed and no one had completed their puzzle yet. Charlotte and Nelson were making good progress and Ruth was managing to catch up. Janine had just managed to finish her barrier while Anita was still far behind everyone else.
"Almost there." Charlotte said to herself. "Almost there."
"I need the advantage." Nelson said. "I need to get done first…"
"This…This is j-just hopeless." Anita sighed as she placed her pieces down.
"I just need to hope the others ran into more mistakes than me." Ruth muttered to herself. "Otherwise, I think I may be in trouble."
"How can they be doing this so fast?" Janine asked herself as she connected two pieces. "It's taking me twice as long as them."
"Everyone, it's been forty-five minutes and the challenge is still going on." SSBFreak explained. "Anita, it seems as if you've given up."
"T-There's no way I'll c-catch up to the l-leaders." Anita explained. "I'm t-too far behind."
"So you're just not trying?"
"I-If I know I'm n-not going to win, w-what's the point?" Anita asked.
"Ruth, it seems that you're closing the gap between you and the leaders." SSBFreak explained. "What's the secret?"
"I'm just trying to logically think things through, which is the best thing to do for a puzzle when you think about it." Ruth replied.
"Janine, do you think you have a chance at winning?" SSBFreak asked.
"Truth be told? Not really." Janine shook her head.
"And yet you're still trying?"
"If everyone else runs into a big roadblock, then I've got my chance." Janine replied. "I think that we've all got a good shot at-"
"I've finished!"
Everyone looked at Charlotte's picture and saw that it had indeed been finished. The German woman sat back, satisfied.
"That's it alright! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Charlotte wins Reward!"
(Later…)
"Congratulations on winning Reward, Charlotte. For the victory, you will gain an advantage in the Immunity Challenge tomorrow." SSBFreak said.
"I don't suppose you'll tell me what it is?" Charlotte asked.
"No, but I WILL ask you to send someone to Exile Island one last time." SSBFreak said.
Charlotte smirked. "Nelson."
Nelson lifted an eyebrow, but shrugged.
"Okay. Nelson will be going to Exile Island and will rejoin you girls at the challenge tomorrow." SSBFreak explained. "Everyone else, you can all head back to camp."
(Yoma Nada Tribe)
"Charlotte, what were you thinking by sending Nelson to Exile?!" Janine asked. "We needed this time to convince him to vote with us!"
"Janine, trust me. This is our best chance." Charlotte assured.
"The last time I trusted you, you voted out my friend." Janine said, her eyes narrowed. "I have a hard time doing it anymore."
"Charlotte won Reward and sent Nelson to Exile. This is bad, because we need all the time we can get to convince him to switch sides." Janine sighed. "I know Charlotte's always thinking up ideas, and I think that will eventually lead to her downfall here. If Nelson returns and doesn't vote with us, I just hope they go after Charlotte first."
"I was the last person to talk to Nelson before the challenge. I made sure Ruth and Anita didn't get the chance to give him second thoughts." Charlotte explained. "Now he's all alone on Exile with nothing but his thoughts now that the idol's been used. That time alone should get him thinking on my ideas since they're still fresh in his mind."
"Nelson's got nothing to do out there, so the only thing he can do is think about what I said to him." Charlotte reminded. "I think sending him out there was probably our best bet at getting him to align with us."
Janine sighed. "I suppose it takes away the threat of Ruth and Anita talking to him." She admitted.
"Good to see that you see things my way."
"Believe me, I don't."
Meanwhile, Ruth and Anita were down at the fishing spot. Anita was currently trying to catch a fish while Ruth, surprisingly, had now taken to drawing in the sand with a stick in a similar fashion to what Nelson had done.
"W-Why are you doing that, Ruth?" Anita asked.
"Nelson says it's a good stress reliever. So far, it's not working." Ruth shook her head.
"Anita and I know that Charlotte's been trying to get at Nelson these past couple of days, and she sent him to Exile which means that we can't get him to think straight." Ruth sighed. "All I can say is that if Nelson comes back and votes against us, I'm not only going to be mad at him, but Charlotte as well."
"What do you think, Anita?" Ruth asked. "What should we do?"
"W-We won't get much of a chance t-to talk to h-him until after the challenge t-tomorrow." Anita replied. "W-We need to m-make sure we get as m-much time as we can get."
"It's our only real chance to talk to him." Ruth nodded.
"I h-hate seeing R-Ruth not knowing w-what to do. She's a-always been one to come up w-with a way around things." Anita said. "I-It's kept us b-both here this long, so w-we need to make s-sure that we last the r-rest of the competition."
(Exile Island)
Nelson looked around the barren wasteland that was Exile Island. Now that he had found (and played) the only Hidden Immunity Idol in the game, he literally had nothing to do.
"Well, now what?" Nelson asked himself.
"Exile Island was real boring this time around because I had nothing to do. The idol's already gone, so I can't search for it." Nelson sighed. "The only thing I could really do is just sit around and wait for my banishment to end."
Nelson sat underneath a tree, relaxing. However, as he did, several thoughts went through his mind.
"Charlotte had a point. Ruth and Anita are big threats." Nelson said. "But I can't deny that Charlotte and Janine are just as big of threats."
"Charlotte's been telling me that Ruth and Anita are big threats. I'm aware of that. Everyone remaining is a threat in some form or another." Nelson shrugged. "However, I need to decide which people I would have an easier time of beating in the finals and I just don't know anymore."
"I'm pretty sure I can beat Janine in the end, but Anita is probably capable of getting more jury votes." Nelson reasoned. "Ruth and Charlotte have both made enemies on the jury, but which of the two made more?..."
Nelson sighed as he sat back. "Man. No matter which side I pick, I'll have a battle ahead of me." He said. "But…Which battle will be easier to win in the end?"
"I have a choice between two alliances that each consist of two big threats. All I can say is that it's not an easy choice." Nelson sighed. "I'm really between a rock and a hard place here, because I know I'll be making some people mad no matter which way I go."
Night eventually came around. No matter where they were, everyone ended up going to sleep to prepare for the challenge the following day.
(Yoma Nada Tribe; Day 36)
"We'll be having our Immunity Challenge today, which means we're approaching the home stretch for the contest." Ruth explained. "It's hard to believe that we've been at this for over a month now. But I can't let this distract us. As soon as we have our challenge, Anita and I need to have a talk with Nelson."
"What type o-of challenge do you think w-we'll be having?" Anita asked.
"Whatever it is, Charlotte has the advantage." Ruth explained. "We need to make sure she doesn't win."
"I-I know." Anita nodded.
"I-I'm worried. The Immunity C-Challenge is coming and Charlotte h-has an advantage. W-We don't know what it i-is, but it d-doesn't matter." Anita said. "A-As long as we make sure Charlotte doesn't w-win, we're good. J-Janine isn't as b-big of a jury threat as Charlotte is."
Meanwhile, Charlotte and Janine were going to check on treemail to see if it was time to head out.
"Well, this is it." Janine said. "Time to see if your little idea paid off."
"Quit being cynical, Janine. I know for a fact you want it to work as much as I do." Charlotte replied.
"I didn't say that. I just wish it could have been handled better."
"Janine irritates me sometimes. I know I'm in just as much trouble as she is if this fails, so I want it to work more than anyone." Charlotte insisted. "I thought sending Nelson to Exile was the best route and she apparently doesn't see it my way."
Charlotte reached into the box and pulled out an envelope. "Looks like we've got treemail."
"That would be the Immunity Challenge." Janine said. "Ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." Charlotte shrugged as the two went back to camp with the envelope. "We have treemail, you two."
"The Immunity Challenge?" Ruth asked.
"Yes. It just says 'How flexible are you'?" Charlotte replied.
"Hmm…This may work to my advantage because I'm athletic, depending on what the challenge is." Janine said thoughtfully. "I know that I'll have to see the challenge first before I really know what will happen, but I know I'm more athletic than almost everyone left, and Charlotte's my only real competition in that department."
"We may as well head out and get this over with." Ruth sighed.
(Immunity Challenge)
The four players from camp emerged from the jungle and into a clearing. They walked over to the golden mat on the ground and stepped on.
"Before we begin, let's bring back Nelson, whom is returning from Exile Island." SSBFreak said.
Nelson came walking in from the side and waved to everyone else as he joined the line to form the final five again.
"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, everyone. Here, we will see how athletic you are with climbing through a hole in a wall." SSBFreak explained. Everyone suddenly saw a track no longer than fifty feet long behind the host. However, it had four large walls at different points along it, the only way through them being covered-up holes. "Your mission here is simple: Get to the other side of the track in the fastest time. However, you have to climb through four holes in the walls we've set up along the way. And let me say right now that the covers over the holes require a lot of force to get through. The person to get through all four holes and make it to the other side in the fastest time will win Immunity and be safe from tonight's Tribal Council."
Everyone looked at each other, knowing this wasn't going to be as easy as they thought.
"Charlotte, you won the advantage in the Reward Challenge." SSBFreak explained. "Here's your advantage: You have one-less hole to climb through."
Charlotte smirked. "That's all I need." She replied.
"Charlotte, you will be going first, so if you'll get into position, we can start."
Charlotte quickly went to the start of the track as the first of the four walls was removed from the course. Charlotte gave a smirk as she prepared to run.
"Okay, for Immunity…" SSBFreak said. "Go!!"
Charlotte took off running, flying past the area where the first wall had been. Within seconds, Charlotte was at her first wall (which would be everyone else's second). Charlotte reached through the small hole in the wall and found that she had to force the covering apart on the other side with a lot of her strength.
"Ugh…These coverings are made of strong stuff." Charlotte said to herself as she pushed her arm through the hole. She grabbed the other side of the wall, which helped pull her through the hole. It took a little bit to get her feet on the ground since Charlotte's legs got stuck for a few seconds, but the German woman was soon on her feet and dashing towards the third wall.
"You're currently at fifteen seconds, Charlotte." SSBFreak said.
Charlotte wasted no time in getting to work on the second hole. Charlotte grunted in annoyance as it took her all of her might to force her way through the wall, but the German woman managed to do so anyway. Like with the previous wall, Charlotte got her legs stuck initially, but was soon on her feet and heading to her final obstacle.
"You're now at forty-five seconds, Charlotte." SSBFreak reminded.
"Don't rush me!" Charlotte warned as she reached her final obstacle and stuck her arm through the hole, quickly finding that the final wall's cover was a lot sturdier than the previous two. Even through this, Charlotte managed to worm her way through the hole, even though it took her twice as long to do it this time around. Charlotte finally landed on the ground, but when she did, she quickly got up and raced to the end of the track, completing her run.
"Charlotte has set the time to beat at one minute and twenty seconds." SSBFreak said.
"It took me that long to get through the last obstacle?" Charlotte asked.
"Anita, you're next."
The blonde gulped as she watched the first wall getting moved back into place. Charlotte had just managed to score an impressive time and she wasn't sure if she could beat it.
"Okay. Ready?..." SSBFreak said. "Go!!"
Anita quickly ran over to the first wall and desperately climbed through the hole, pushing the covering out of way as hard as she could. Anita growled as she pushed her way through the hole, and when she did, she fell flat on her face.
"You're at ten seconds, Anita." SSBFreak said.
Thinking quickly, Anita sprang back to her feet and scrambled over to the second wall. Anita found that the second wall was harder to get through than the first due to a sturdier covering, but the blonde kept pushing forward. It took a bit, but Anita managed to work her way through the hole.
"Thirty seconds!" SSBFreak said.
This was where Anita started to panic. The blonde raced over to the third wall and practically threw herself at it, trying to get through the hole as quickly as she could. The holes were getting harder and harder to get through, but that just gave Anita more determination. The blonde girl managed to get through the hole and landed on her face again.
Anita didn't bother waiting for SSSBFreak this time, as she was on her feet instantly and over to the final wall. It took all of her might (and then some) to work her way past the coverings over the last hole, but Anita finally managed to work her way through it. Once she was on the ground, Anita quickly went to the end of the track, ending her run.
"Anita, your time was one minute and forty seconds, not enough to catch Charlotte." SSBFreak said. "Charlotte still leads."
Ruth groaned as she looked at the four walls that were ahead of her. She knew that this wasn't going to go over well, but she prepared herself nevertheless.
"Ready?..." SSBFreak said. "Go!!"
Ruth took off and darted over to the first wall. The elderly Raposa struggled a bit, but she was able to work her way through the first hole easier since it was actually close to her height. Ruth still landed on the other side of the wall awkwardly, but it didn't stop her from getting to her feet again.
"Twenty seconds, Ruth!" SSBFreak said.
"I'd better block him out." Ruth muttered to herself as she went over to the second wall to attempt to make up for lost time. Once she reached the wall, Ruth tried to work her way through the hole, having a bit of a harder time with it. Even still, Ruth pressed on and managed to get through, landing on the other side of the wall.
Ruth didn't hear SSBFreak say how long she had taken and instead jogged over to the third wall. The elderly player squeezed her way through the third hole, but it took a fair amount of effort in order to do it. Ruth eventually made it through and landed on the other side.
Ruth continued to block out the host as she ran over to the last wall. Like Charlotte and Anita, Ruth found that the fourth wall was the hardest to get through. Even through this, Ruth still managed to make it through, although it took a lot of effort on her part. Once she was through, Ruth rushed over to the end of the track.
"I'm sorry, Ruth. Your time was two minutes and ten seconds, not nearly enough to beat Charlotte." SSBFreak said.
Janine was next. Unlike Anita and Ruth, she looked pumped. The cavewoman cracked her knuckles in preparation.
"Ready?..." SSBFreak said. "Go!!"
Janine wasted no time in running over to the first wall. Using her strength, Janine easily crawled through the hole and made it across in record time.
"Six seconds!" SSBFreak announced.
Janine wasn't paying attention and ran over to the second wall. Shoving her arm through the covering, Janine was able to pull herself through it almost as easily as the first hole. Janine stumbled a bit once she landed on the other side, but was able to keep herself from falling over.
"Twenty seconds!"
The cavewoman quickly reached the third wall and got to work. The third wall was definitely harder to get through, even for Janine, but this did little to stop the cavewoman from getting through. It took her a bit and her legs got gaught on the way through, but Janine otherwise got through with little problems.
"Forty seconds!"
Knowing that it would be close, Janine raced to the final wall and started climbing through. It took a fair amount of effort to get past the hole's coverings, but once Janine was able to get her torso through, all she needed to do was pulled her long legs through the hole to complete the task. Janine quickly went to the end of the track.
"Janine, your final time was one minute and five seconds." SSBFreak said. "You now lead."
"Fantastic." Janine nodded.
Nelson was the last one to go. The lanky nerd knew he'd have a hard battle ahead of him, but he wasn't about to let it distract him.
"Ready?..." SSBFreak said. "Go!!"
Nelson took off running and quickly made it to the first wall. The dark-haired man clambered his way through the hole, but it took a bit of effort to do it. When Nelson was finally able to get through the hole, he landed on his face in surprise.
"Ten seconds!"
Getting to his feet, Nelson ran to the second wall to attempt the next obstacle. Although the second hole gave him a bit of trouble, Nelson was able to get through it relatively quickly. Like with the first hole, he fell flat on his face afterwards.
"Thirty-five seconds!"
Not one to give up, Nelson jumped to his feet and scrambled over to the third wall. The coverings were obviously harder to get through by this point, but Nelson was still able to get through it okay. That being said, it still took him a bit to do it.
"Fifty seconds!"
Nelson, knowing it would be close, ran over to the last wall and struggled to get through. It took a lot of effort from the lanky man, but Nelson was finally able to get through. Nelson landed on the other side of the wall and quickly raced to the end of the track to end his run.
"Nelson, the time to beat was one minute and five seconds." SSBFreak said. "You got one minute and…Twenty-five seconds! It's not enough! Janine wins Immunity!"
Janine cheered as the others looked extremely disappointed.
(Later…)
"Congratulations on winning Immunity again, Janine." SSBFreak said as he placed the headdress on Janine's head. "You now have a one-in-four shot at winning the game."
"It feels great knowing it." Janine said.
SSBFreak turned to the other four players. "However, I'll be seeing you all at Tribal Council tonight, where one more of you will be voted out of the game." He explained. "Here's the biggest question: Who do you NOT want to go in the finals against? I'll give you guys the rest of the day to make your decision, so for now, you can all head back to camp."
(Yoma Nada Tribe)
"Janine won Immunity again. Not that it matters so long as the others didn't win it. Now we can see if Nelson will vote with us." Charlotte explained. "If we can make the vote 3-2 Ruth, then Anita will be easy pickings the next time we go."
"Man. This is the second time I've won Immunity." Janine said. "It feels good."
"This is good for us." Charlotte said. "If we can get Nelson to vote for us, Ruth will be blindsided 3-2 and-"
"Anita."
Charlotte looked at the smirking Janine. "Janine, we need to vote Ruth." She said.
"Charlotte, who has Immunity?" Janine quizzed. "They're gunning for you and I'm voting Anita."
"Charlotte knows that she needs me on this one because I have Immunity and that leaves her as the only other target." Janine reminded. "At least it's a sure-fire way of getting her to vote for who I want."
Meanwhile, Ruth and Anita were talking with Nelson, trying to get him to vote with them.
"Nelson, Anita saw Charlotte talking to you." Ruth explained. "You can't vote with them. You know they'll both get rid of you the instant they have the chance."
"I know, but then again, we're all in danger at this point." Nelson reasoned. "I mean, you're just as big of a strategic threat as Charlotte is."
"I was afraid this would happen. Nelson's time alone on Exile has given him time to ponder Charlotte's offer, which is exactly what Anita and I DON'T want to happen." Ruth rolled her eyes. "We need to try extra-hard to retain Nelson's vote, because we need it now more than ever at this point."
"I r-really hope we can g-get Nelson's vote back. H-He's spent t-too long pondering o-over things and it's m-making us scared." Anita said. "W-We need to vote out C-Charlotte, and we can't d-do that without Nelson. I j-just hope he realizes it."
"J-Just…Just p-please vote with us, Nelson." Anita pleaded. "Charlotte i-isn't trustworthy."
Nelson sighed. "I know. I'm sorry girls, but the best I can give you is that I'll think about it." He said.
"Y-You don't have m-much time." Anita warned.
With that, Ruth and Anita left Nelson alone. After they did, Nelson saw Charlotte approaching from another direction. The lanky nerd sighed.
"All I can say is that this is going to be a freaking LONG Tribal Council." Nelson moaned.
(Tribal Council)
The five remaining players entered Tribal Council, carrying their torches. They all walked over to their stumps and sat down, waiting the council to start up.
"Before we begin, let's bring out the members of the jury." SSBFreak said. "Roscoe, Mason, Jack, Oiler and Molly, whom was voted out at the last Tribal Council."
A still-cross Molly followed the boys into Tribal Council. Because she had been exposed, Molly had abandoned her bright and cheerful colours and was now wearing a black tank-top and a black skirt. The jury sat down on their bench across the hut.
"They're just here to watch the outcome. You are not to address them and they will not address you." SSBFreak explained. "Nelson, it seems that you were the only one in the final ten that knew Molly wasn't what she seemed. What tipped you off?"
"We kept losing our strongest players pre-merge while Molly somehow managed to escape unharmed each time." Nelson said, folding his arms. "I knew something was up when Shamus was blindsided and I had a feeling Molly was responsible when we hit the merge."
"You didn't tell anyone?"
"No. Who would they believe? A cheerful little girl or someone accusing her of being a devil in disguise?"
"The sneaky little twerp." Molly growled. "I should have taken him out when I had the chance."
Roscoe looked at Jack. "We REALLY screwed up, man." He said. Jack nodded.
"Janine, this is the second time you won Immunity and things are getting down to the wire." SSBFreak said. "Are you a threat?"
"We all are at this point. I'm a physical threat, Anita's a jury threat and everyone else is a strategic threat." Janine replied. "As of now, I'd say that it's really anyone's game at this point."
"You think you can win?"
"Like I said, it's anyone's game."
"I could have won if I was still there." Mason said.
"No. I would have dumped you by now." Molly muttered.
"Anita, you were a target on Day 3, and here you are in the final five." SSBFreak said. "Are you surprised?"
"I-I got real lucky and m-made some friends that h-helped me get through the g-game after m-my little problem." Anita admitted. "I-It's been a long, h-hard road, but it's been good in the end."
"Charlotte, who's going home?" SSBFreak asked.
"I know that I'm a target because Janine has Immunity." Charlotte replied. "However, the vote rests in the hands of one person. It could go either way depending on how he's feeling."
"Nelson's in charge of the vote?" Jack asked with a smirk. "Sweet. This could be good."
"Ruth, after this, there are three days left in the competition." SSBFreak explained. "What are your thoughts?"
"In all honesty, the only thing I'm thinking about is that Final Tribal Council." Ruth admitted. "We've all got equal chances of making it there, so it will be an interesting ride to say the least."
"Do you think you can make it there?"
"That's what we're all hoping." Ruth shrugged.
"Well, I think that's enough questions." SSBFreak said. "Before we vote, I have to ask. Janine, you have Immunity. Are you keeping it?"
"This late in the game? Yes."
"With that, Janine is immune and cannot be voted out. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Ruth, you're up."
Ruth got up and walked out of the hut to go to the table. "I just hope that this works." She said as she scribbled a name down and placed it into the urn.
Charlotte shook her head as she wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "I would much rather vote for Ruth, but I wouldn't have the majority." She said, having voted for Anita.
Anita quickly wrote a name down and turned her ballot around, revealing Charlotte's name. "P-Please come through for us, Nelson." She said as she placed her ballot into the urn.
Janine gave a smirk as she wrote a name down. "Finally I get to control a vote." She said as she voted and left the table to return to the hut.
"Man. I…I don't know." Nelson said as he approached the table. "How am I going to decide this?" He sighed as he finally wrote a name down and stuck it into the jar.
Once everyone had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said. "It's time to read the votes…"
"…First vote, Charlotte." Charlotte narrowed her eyes.
"Anita." Anita bit her lip.
"Anita." "This is going to be close." Oiler said from the bench.
"Charlotte. That's two votes for Anita and two for Charlotte." The two in question glanced at each other, knowing Nelson's vote would decide it. "Last vote, sixth member of the jury and fourteenth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"
"…Anita. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.
Anita hung her head low as Ruth looked shocked. "R-Ruth…" She said as she stood up. "…P-Please win this for me." With that, Anita grabbed her torch and approached the host.
"Anita, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Anita's torch. "It's time for you to go."
"It's…It's b-been fun." Anita said as she walked out of Tribal Council, vanishing from sight.
Once Anita was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining four players. "Anita is gone and the jury is almost complete. It's almost time for the finale, but we still have three more days." He said. "You guys still have more challenges ahead of you, so I suggest that you prepare yourself for anything. For now, you can all head back to camp."
The four finalists stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Everyone knew that they had reached the finals and that all alliances would probably be called off at this point. However, the biggest thing on everyone's mind was that it was still anyone's game to win…
"M-Man…So close. I c-can't believe I lasted this long t-though. I r-really surprised myself a-and I think my f-fears may be s-subsiding, at least for n-now." Anita admitted. "It s-should be obvious who's g-getting my vote, but I j-just hope that she m-makes the finals. I n-need to work on a f-few questions to p-prepare myself for then…"
Voting History:
Anita – Charlotte, Janine and Nelson
Charlotte – Anita and Ruth
Author's Note: Anita was one of the stars of the story (and was the first character I included). However, I knew that she lacked the complexity to win in the end, so she became expendable when she didn't become important anymore. She WAS intended to go a spot further than this, but I switched due to storyline reasons.