Episode 11: Deep Sea Diving!
Laau Haupa: Day 21
Survivors: Mario - Papyrus - Samus Aran - Josuke Higashikata - Wii Fit Trainer - King Dedede - Captain Falcon - Little Mac - Arataka Reigen - Sonic
Today marked the twenty-first day of being stuck on this island for a crack at the million-dollar prize, as well as the hotel stay. The survivors definitely preferred the comfort of their own homes, but they were slowly beginning to get used to the island day by day, and the fact that Alexa implied that they'll be leaving the island more often for challenges scratched their growing itch of claustrophobia and isolation.
Whilst most of the survivors lost weight, naturally, due to the cutback in food from day one, they were definitely more accustomed to the new portion sizes. This meant that their appetites had overall decreased since they had gotten here.
The new items they were given, including the chessboard and spears for catching fish from the sea, proved to be very handy for the tribe's morale or for their still-ravenous appetites.
Right now, Papyrus and Reigen were playing against each other on a game of Chess, Papyrus' army was reduced to three Pawns, a cavalry, two Rooks, a Bishop and his King. Reigen's army included one Pawn, two Bishops, two Rooks, and his King.
"Bwahaha! Look at his face!" Dedede pointed to Reigen's face, which was beginning to lose composure. "I thought this so-called "Psychic" would be able to predict the bonehead's movements!"
Reigen shushed him abruptly, analyzing the chessboard.
Suddenly, his face turned smug as a grin formed. He slid his Rook across the board and, not only took out a Cavalry but also put Papyrus' vulnerable king in Check.
"What are you gonna do now?" He taunted. "You're oddly experienced for a skeleton."
Papyrus beamed. "WHY, THANK YOU FOR THE COMPLIMENT! I DISCOVERED THIS GAME UPON LEAVING THE UNDERGROUND, AND IT'S ALMOST LIKE A PUZZLE GAME BETWEEN TWO PEOPLE! YOU MAKE THE RIGHT MOVEMENTS AND..."
He paused as he slid his bishop into Reigen's threatening Rook, taking it out.
Reigen's grin shrank as his eyes widened, now his King was in Check. "WHA?!"
"YOU SOLVE THE PUZZLE BY ONE-UPPING YOUR OPPONENT!" He finished. "THAT'S HOW I SEE IT, AT LEAST, AND IT MAKES IT HAVE MORE SENSE. OH, WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! YOUR KING IS IN CHECK..."
Dedede continued to wheeze with uncontrollable laughter as Little Mac leaned in. "Looks like Papyrus has this," he chimed in.
Hesitantly, Reigen moved his King out of Bishop's line of sight.
In response, Papyrus slid his rook to threaten the King once again, but due to the positions of his pawn, other Rook and Bishop, it was a Checkmate.
"WOWIE, I WON?!" He cheered, jumping up and down with joy. "VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS!"
The "Psychic" grumbled as everyone around them applauded.
"That's the third opponent who tried to challenge Papyrus, I think," Josuke admitted. "First me, then Sonic, now he just beat Reigen..."
"You'd think such a clumsy skeleton wouldn't be good at-a Chess!" Mario looked at him. "Papyrus sure is-a mystery."
King Dedede continued to mock Reigen. "Bwahaha! It's hilarious how you call ya'self a Psychic, but you fall for obvious bait?"
The taunting caused him to snap a little bit, flaring his eyes. "If it's so easy, then you try and beat him!"
"A King doesn't play Chess, that game is for little children..." He rolled his eyes. "A REAL King does an arm wrestle!"
Sonic sniggered. "An arm wrestle? Sounds like something I have a better chance of winning on, at least compared to Chess."
"Who wants to challenge me first!" Dedede questioned, looking around.
Most people were hesitant to try and put the penguin and his massive hands, covered by mittens, to shame. Even the strong ones such as Little Mac were a little flummoxed on whether to take up the challenge or not.
"Usually I'd accept anyone in an arm wrestle! But Dedede... he can wield a giant, wooden, mechanical hammer for crying out loud! I care about my arms more than my pride, and I'm definitely not going to challenge a giant, overwhelmingly strong Penguin to an arm wrestle." - Wii Fit Trainer.
Eventually, from the crowd stepped Samus, her aura causing Dedede to swallow with anxiety.
"I have nothing better to do, so I'll accept your challenge," she shrugged.
She moved the chessboard off of the stump as she placed her arm on, gesturing for Dedede to challenge her.
"Oh, this is gonna be good..." Captain Falcon leaned in, excited.
"S-sure, have at you!" Stuttered Dedede, getting into position.
Both of them gripped each other's arms intensely, and Sonic decided to be the referee of the match as he stepped next to both of them.
"Three..." The hedgehog began counting down.
Samus shot a piercing glare into Dedede's eyes, causing his fake smile to break into a panicked and concerned frown for a second.
"Two..."
Sweat began forming around Dedede's face as he began shaking. Samus continued to shoot the glare at him.
"One... GO!"
He used all of his might to overcome her, but he was taken back to see that her strength was as strong as his, and she had a technique to her approach that made her almost stronger than Dedede.
"Looks like this will be an endurance exercise if anything," Wii Fit Trainer commented.
"GO SAMUS!" Reigen cheered, wanting Dedede to look like a fool.
"C'mon, you're twice her size, you should be able to beat her easily!" Little Mac said. "Is she THAT strong?"
Dedede shook his head. "Wha? No, she's puny! I-I-I'm just... I'm just goin' easy on her in case I break her arm!"
A minute passed before Dedede began to cave in, he tried to use more strength to beat Samus but it clearly wasn't enough.
Eventually, she slammed his hand against the stump, declaring herself as the winner as the penguin flicked his hand due to the pain. "Argh! I mean... erm."
"You lost, get over it," Reigen grinned.
Dedede folded his arms, tutting. "Fine, she beat me! I'm just too hungry to use all of my strength, so that damn bonehead better make me something now!"
"Don't we have those spears?" Queried Captain Falcon. "Those could be useful because I don't think rice is going to cut it for me any longer."
"Staying on this whole island is beginning to become a chore for me, even if I have grown to expect it. Not to mention my alliance broke, so I'll have one less vote on my side... at least that makes me less of a threat." - Captain Falcon.
Papyrus clicked his bony fingers. "AHA! I FORGOT ABOUT THOSE, I MANAGED TO FIND ANOTHER CRAMMED BETWEEN THE FLOORBOARDS OF ONE OF THE HUTS, SO NOW WE HAVE TWO!"
"I'll take one," said Samus, standing up. "I'm pretty good with accuracy, so I'll be able to catch most of the fish I find. There are probably loads of them, considering where we are."
Captain Falcon also decided to stand up. "I'll go too, there's nothing I want more than to have something to eat, that should fuel me to find more fish!"
Samus shot a neutral look at him, though she was slightly taken back to hear Captain Falcon of all people propose to catch the fish alongside her.
"VERY WELL! MAKE SURE TO GIVE THEM TO ME, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SO I MAY COOK THEM!" He posed confidently. "ALTHOUGH THEY MAY TAKE SOME TIME TO PERFECT, I UNFORTUNATELY DON'T HAVE GORDON TO GET ADVICE FROM. AND I'M ALSO FORBIDDEN FROM TALKING TO HIM IN TRIBAL COUNCILS OTHER THAN A SIMPLE HELLO, AS WELL."
Both of them nodded as they searched for the equipment, once finding the spears, they both headed off, bringing the clay pot with them to store their findings as the others continued to arm wrestle out of boredom.
The two of them traveled to the beach, near the hatch, and began looking around for fish.
Right off the bat, Samus found a moderately sized one, causing her to jab her spear through it.
She dumped it into the clay pot and continued searching.
Captain Falcon soon found a fish himself, but unfortunately missed it by an inch, causing the aquatic animal to scurry away from the coast out of instinct.
Some time passed, mostly silence with the occasional splashing from the two in an attempt to catch a fish.
However, Samus soon broke the silence with a simple question.
"I found it strange how you decided to tag along with me," she said. "Especially considering our previous events here."
The racer turned his head towards her, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I'm hungry! Besides, we haven't had much drama in a while, and I'm not the grudging type."
"I see..." Samus changed her focus back to catching the fish for a moment before turning back to him. "Although I do know that you voted me a few nights back when Gordon got eliminated."
He froze upon hearing it, and his face formed an innocent, slightly nervous grin. "I-I mean... you don't know that."
"You're stuttering is enough proof," she pointed out. "I don't care too much about that, anyway. I'm likely a massive threat among many people at this point, and I'm lucky that the idol saved my skin back then. Might as well tell you this now, but I don't see myself winning this game due to how some people may view me. My shot is just winning challenges, but with the unpredictability of them, as well as those Roulettes, that may not be enough. Not to mention my votes are going to be multiplied for the next few Tribal Councils."
"Well, I think that unless you're painfully arrogant about things, you'll have your doubts on your ability to win!" said Captain Falcon, his tone was assertive and confident in his words. "There were times where I thought that my loss was guaranteed, and those were ages ago! Now look at me, a couple of weeks later and still in the game. This is also coming from someone who doesn't have the most points, so overall, consider yourself lucky..."
Samus couldn't help but smile at his optimism. "Well, I probably am lucky. I've gotten four fish in only half of an hour, for example."
"What?!" He gasped. "I only managed to snag one of them..."
They continued to make small-talk for the next thirty minutes before they had one fish for each survivor, which would hopefully be enough to make everyone satisfied, especially when coupled with the beans and rice that were already at their disposal.
When they returned, it took Papyrus a little while to find a proper way to cook the fish, but he ended up deciding to hold them over the fire instead of boiling them like the rice and beans.
"Gah!" Little Mac's face grew sour. "What's that... bitter taste in my fish?"
"Open 'yer eyes, because that idiot managed to burn your fish!" Dedede prodded the excessively cooked dish as Little Mac pouted, knowing that he had to eat every last bite to keep his energy up...
"So you're telling me that Papyrus can now cook amazing rice and beans, a dish that should be impossible to make amazing due to how we have no access to herbs or spices... but he can't cook fish, a dish that should be impossible to make bad?! I hope he knows for next time..." - Little Mac.
Roulette: Day 21
The survivors walked onto the beach, and for the first time, there were now ten boxes instead of the eleven. Whilst it was a minor change that everyone predicted, the sight of the progress made many of the survivors feel good.
"Guess what I found in my wardrobe..." Alexa rhetorically asked, before slowly walking into the sight of the remaining contestants. He was dressed in a black tuxedo with a white undershirt, a black tophat with an electric purple ribbon slapped on. Overall, he looked a lot fancier than usual. "Doesn't this fit the Roulette bit a lot more? Like a casino doe-"
"It doesn't," Reigen confessed. "It really doesn't."
"Yeah, looks more like a fancy thing than a casino thing, but I see where you were coming from!" Assured Wii Fit Trainer. "You tried!"
...
...
...
"A-anyway," Alexa stuttered, taken back by the sudden negative responses. "Let's do this next roulette! This roulette will introduce the final type of points you can get! Before we had normal points, then negative points which decreased your total, now we have multiplier points! These will increase your total by, for example, ten percent, or twenty percent! With this in mind, four of the boxes will contain normal points, three will contain negative points, and three will contain multiplier points!"
Samus folded her arms. "Do you really have to complicate a roulette?"
"Of course I do! It makes things more interesting," he said. "Now shut up and pick your boxes! I'm already wounded from your attitudes towards my tuxedo..."
From Samus, who has the most points, to Reigen, who has the least points, the survivors began picking their boxes, from A to J, one by one.
Samus Aran chose Box D.
Mario chose Box C.
Papyrus chose Box G.
Little Mac chose Box J.
Sonic chose Box E.
Wii Fit Trainer chose Box A.
Josuke Higashikata chose Box H.
Captain Falcon chose Box I.
King Dedede chose Box F.
And lastly, Reigen chose Box B.
Upon receiving the cue, the survivors quickly opened up their boxes.
Samus Aran - 20% Multiplier
Mario - -15
Papyrus - -5
Little Mac - 10
Sonic - 10% Multiplier
Wii Fit Trainer - 30% Multiplier
Josuke Higashikata - -10
Captain Falcon - 15
King Dedede - 20
Arataka Reigen - 5
"Twenty percent multiplier?" Samus read aloud. "If my math's correct, then I'll receive an extra twenty points..."
"Oooohoho!" Dedede wrung his hands. "This king has finally gotten some bounty!"
"Only five? Well, better than losing some." Reigen shrugged to himself.
Alexa continued. "Now, it's time to combine your points earned or lost with your total!"
*SAFE HAVEN*
SAMUS ARAN - 120
LITTLE MAC - 94
PAPYRUS - 89
SONIC - 83
WII FIT TRAINER - 81
*DANGER ZONE*
MARIO - 80
CAPTAIN FALCON - 73
KING DEDEDE - 73
ARATAKA REIGEN - 55
JOSUKE HIGASHIKATA - 52
"From first to last, eh?" Josuke sighed. "I guess that's just how the cookie crumbles..."
Dedede shook his head. "If only I wasn't referred to as a "king", I would be a lot closer to the Safe Haven!"
"Well, you tend to-a point it out so much, how could they-a not include it?" Mario teased.
His mockery caused the penguin to growl. "I refer to myself as a KING because I am one, and I'm darn proud! I haven't seen you have any pride in your status of a toilet-dweller, ya lowlife!"
Before an argument could ensue, Alexa cut them off. "Well, that's a wrap! Remember that the challenge starts tomorrow, and trust me, it'll be a lot less dangerous than fighting a gigantic spherical ghost on top of an old rotting mansion, or at least I hope so."
"You should be confident in that claim!" Wii Fit Trainer claimed, shooting him an angry look. "I won't be happy if it puts anyone's lives at risk!"
"Pssh, it won't. Anyway, all of you, get lost!" He demanded.
Challenge: Day 22
"Oh great, the boats are back..." Grumbled Little Mac. "This challenge is still going to be dangerous, isn't it?"
"I'm-a going to-a go out on a limb here and believe Alexa," replied Mario.
Wii Fit Trainer rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well be prepared to eat your own words."
As they were discussing the possibility of the challenge threatening their safety, Alexa popped out from the adjacent forest and walked over to the beach.
"Hello, survivors!" He waved, as usual. "The next challenge is going to begin! However, like last time, we'll have to go there on a boat!"
"If I see any fog then I'm going to jump out the damn boat and swim back to the island ma' self!" King Dedede warned. "So ya better not take us to any more haunted islands."
"Relax, I'd never repeat the same challenge," Alexa denied. "Just get in the damn boat and quit yapping."
On his command, the survivors reluctantly entered the same boat from the last challenge, as it began to drift away from the island.
Thirty minutes of listening to the roaring boat engine passed before the sound began to die down, leaving them in the middle of the ocean. The outline of the island they traveled from was still visible, although mostly blotted out by the horizon.
"Err, did the boat break down or something?" Josuke peeked over the edge of the boat, and nothing but the ocean was present underneath or around it. "We're in the middle of the ocean and we just stopped."
Alexa was silent.
"Yo, hello! Someone just asked you a question," Little Mac informed. "Please answer it..."
Five more seconds passed before Alexa finally emerged back into their view.
"Don't worry survivors! This is the challenge's location," he revealed with a grin. "Today's challenge will be taking place underwater, to clarify."
Sonic's jaw dropped upon hearing those words, specifically the word "underwater".
"WELL, GOOD THING I DON'T HAVE TO HOLD MY BREATH! NYEHEHEHEH!" Papyrus taunted.
Alexa folded his arms and shot him a slightly annoyed look. "Do you guys seriously think that I'd have you hold your breath for most of the challenge? I'm not that cruel! You'll be given scuba diving gear, alongside an oxygen tank that SHOULD last you thirty minutes before giving you an indication to swim back up. That will be the challenge's time limit."
"S-so we're going to be diving underwater, I get that part, but what ARE we doing underwater?" Sonic asked, quivering with fear. "I-I'm not a fan of the ocean, in a-all honesty."
"You'll be hunting for pearls! Fake ones, obviously, I'm not Bill Gates," Alexa joked, albeit with a slightly offended tone. "These pearls are scattered along this part of the ocean, hidden in crevices, behind plants, and even in plain sight. You will store the pearls in a fishing net that comes with your scuba suit, and you will all hand me your pearls to count up at the end of the challenge! I'll get this out of the way now by saying that whoever has the most pearls will receive a hearty one-hundred points!"
Josuke jumped back with shock. "O-ONE HUNDRED?! That'll jump me to first, with a considerable lead at that!"
"Mmhmm, second place will receive ninety points, third place will receive eighty points, and so on until last place gets an underwhelming ten points!" Explained Alexa. "I feel like this challenge will REALLY spread out the scores."
"And making it impossible to catch up to someone is a good thing, right?" Wii Fit Trainer sarcastically asked.
Alexa nodded. "It sure is, because it WON'T be impossible to catch up with someone in this game, and that's a fact!"
"He has a point," Little Mac agreed. "It wasn't too long ago when I had the least amount of points, and now I have the second-most!"
The host soon grew impatient, tired of responding to the concerns of the survivors. "Alright, let's just get this challenge started, shall we? Survivors, grab your scuba gear, your oxygen tank, AND your pearl net!"
Obliging his forceful demand, the survivors trekked over to the gear, resting inside of a large black and yellow box that had been dragged out by two underpaid staff members as Alexa watched them equip it, making sure they knew how to put the gear on properly.
It was basic scuba gear, consisting of a white and green scuba mask, a mainly yellow oxygen tank, and white and green fins. The color choices were overall quite bizarre, but the designs themselves were not out of the ordinary whatsoever.
Some gear sets were labeled with the names of survivors, such as Dedede, Mario, and Sonic, as their heads were marginally different from the rest of the cast, and thus they had to wear different sized ones to match their head and face.
After getting into their suits, the survivors were nervous to jump into the cold sea, but Alexa certainly didn't care too much about that, as his excitement for the challenge was a bigger priority to him.
"Survivors, on the count of three, you will jump into these waters and search for the pearls!" He reminded. "Now, let's begin the countdown..."
Sonic shivered out of all of the nervous survivors, mainly due to his fear of the ocean, specifically the thought of going underwater and drowning, to which even the gear wasn't able to calm his nerves fully.
"Three..."
The survivors adjusted their gear to make sure it was on properly, and also to make sure that it was at least somewhat comfortable, though the goggles pressing harshly against their faces would prove to be bothersome regardless of how comfortable everything else was.
"Two..."
Sonic had chills run down his spine, throughout his whole body, even. He took a deep breath as Alexa finished the countdown.
"ONE, GO!" Called Alexa.
Almost at the same time, each survivor plunged into the sea, and to their surprise, the water wasn't TOO shallow, only five to ten meters deep before they hit the bottom, depending on where they were.
Sonic's eyes were widened from fear, and he quickly dashed down to the seafloor to search for as many pearls as he can, trying to take his mind off of the setting he was thrown into.
As for the other nine, they took their time when sinking to the bottom, taking in the whimsical, majestic atmosphere of the blue sea, seeing loads of tiny little tropical fish swim in front of their noses, as bigger fish glided around in the distance.
Seeing the schools of fish scatter as they entered their path brought some survivors tranquility, some of them almost forgot that they were in a competition about voting each other off for money and luxury, they just wanted to kick it back a little and stare into the beautiful environment that was in front of their very eyes.
However, all of that peace broke apart when fake, sheet-white pearls entered their vision, beneath their feet and scattered around them, hiding in little crevices or in little clusters of oceanic plants. As much as they hated to do so, they had to spend these thirty minutes gathering fake rocks so they can win the show they were on.
Captain Falcon swam over to a small group of pearls, three of them sitting next to each other. He pulled out his net and crammed the three pearls into the net, keeping his eye on it in case they fell out.
Reigen saw that most people were already searching for pearls in the middle of the area, which gave the "Psychic" the idea to split away from the group, as he would have all of the pearls to himself.
However, he wasn't the only one with that idea, as Mario and Josuke had a similar idea. Dedede was also splitting away from the main group, albeit on accident due to a distant group of pearls causing him to distance himself from the others in order for him to pursue them.
After grabbing a couple of the pearls, the fierce king made eye-contact with a large portion of pearls, around eight of them, resting in a pile right below his feet.
He saw that Josuke was traveling towards it, which caused him to sink down as fast as he could before the Stand user could nab them.
However, by the time he reached the pile, Josuke had too, which began a conflict between them.
Dedede signaled a cut-throat gesture using his hand against his neck, trying to threaten and scare off Josuke, but the teenager clearly wasn't having it.
He decided to summon Crazy Diamond to rapidly punch the sand nearby, launching some of it into Dedede's face and causing his mask to become blinded by the sediment.
By time he wiped his goggles clear of sand, Josuke had already taken three pearls and had the fourth and fifth in his hand.
Josuke grunted with surprise as he saw Dedede hurl towards him, causing him to retreat with his five pearls, leaving the last three to Dedede.
"That'll show ya, don't mess with me..." He grumbled under his breath, nabbing the remaining pearls to himself.
Meanwhile, Mario had managed to find his own large pile of pearls, consisting of seven.
"That's a lucky number!" He said to himself, placing them in his net.
Papyrus continued to glide around the waters, almost finding the exercise to be fun in a way, even if his objective was all that was on his mind right now.
The skeleton's eyes almost burst out when a gigantic pile of sixteen pearls caught his eye by the corner, causing him to spin around and grin with innocent and naive joy.
He swam over, thrilled to have found such a large bounty, but he soon realized that he wasn't alone.
Samus was nearing in on him, which caused the skeleton to scramble over to the pile and fill his net with as many as possible.
However, Samus soon bashed him out of the way, which was mostly harmless, but caused him to tumble away from the pile, as well as letting two pearls escape from his net, which distracted him.
"HEY!" He yelled through his mask before swimming back over, nabbing the two pearls that tried to drift away from him.
As Samus began filling her net, she saw a ring of sand appear around her and the pile, which caused Papyrus to fly back a small bit from the current.
Sonic had appeared and was taking the pearls for himself.
By the time the pearls were all gone, Samus had gotten eight, Sonic had gotten seven, and Papyrus only got a slightly disappointing five, which was a quarter of what he expected to get when he first had a glimpse of the pile.
After that incident, it was now only ten minutes into the challenge, and the pearls were beginning to become more a challenge to find.
Little Mac and Wii Fit Trainer were close by, which, on the outside, seemed like a normal thing that both of them were fine with. However, in their heads, they were incredibly suspicious of one another, expecting theft the next time they encountered a pearl pile.
When Little Mac found a pile of three pearls, he turned his head to see Wii Fit Trainer, who thankfully appeared to be distracted. He looked at her empty net with a smug grin as he filled his net with the pearls.
After doing so, he looked back and saw Wii Fit Trainer, her net containing six pearls.
His smug grin soon faded and was replaced with a mix of bitterness, surprise, and confusion, as she gave a peaceful wave to him.
Little Mac groaned upon seeing her get so many pearls in so little time, but he decided to move on and find more.
During this, Reigen was in the more ambient parts of the ocean, searching for pearls. He managed to find ten throughout three piles, so far and was pretty happy with what he found.
Throughout the next ten minutes of the challenge, the survivors barely interacted with one another beyond acknowledging their existence, and they minded their own business as they searched for the pearls.
Eight minutes were remaining, and the oxygen tanks were beginning to get quite low. Sonic had been keeping track of the time near-perfectly, and the fact that the oxygen tank was running out made him nervous, it's like he could almost hear that dreadful melody of drowning in his head, slowly creeping up the more time he wasted searching for pearls. Luckily, the hedgehog had plenty of experience underwater despite his fear, which helped him keep his cool, especially when there were no Badniks or dangerous traps or constructions to worry about.
However, little did he and the others know, a dangerous threat to their lives was traveling around the very area.
A shark, specifically a large tiger shark around six meters in length, was swimming around, minding its own business.
It swam over to Captain Falcon, who had his head down near the ground, reaching his hand into a small hole that contained two pearls inside.
With a smirk of satisfaction, the bounty hunter turned around to find more pearls, and he froze in sight.
Other survivors, such as Josuke and Wii Fit Trainer, managed to see the tiger shark approach the unsuspecting Captain Falcon, which caused both of them to panic.
The shark stood still, as did Captain Falcon, and they remained like that for a good ten seconds...
Suddenly, it lunged towards him, its maw gaping, revealing the razor-sharp teeth within its mouth.
Out of survival instinct, he thrust his fist into the nose of the shark, which was apparently the animal's most sensitive spot. This caused the shark to jolt backward and slowly back away from him as he quickly swam away from it, taking a few turns around some tall rocks in the ocean to hide from it.
Luckily, his hiding spot contained even more pearls, this time a medium-stash of five.
He stuffed them into his net as he saw the shark swim past, heading towards the unsuspecting Papyrus.
This sight caused Captain Falcon to yell to Papyrus, but his voice was easily snuffed out by the water.
"OOOH, WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE!" Papyrus wrung his hands underwater, finding two pearls. "DON'T MIND IF I TAKE YOU TWO! NYEHEHEH!"
As he placed them into his net, he felt something violently brush against his arm, and he turned to see the tiger shark analyzing him.
"GAH!" He cried. "DON'T EAT ME! I ALREADY HAD A SNAKE TRY TO DO SO, AND IT DIDN'T GO SO WELL FOR HIM! THEREFORE, I CAN CONCLUDE THAT BITING ME WOULD BE A BIG MISTAK-"
Papyrus was cut off by the shark biting his arm, causing him to shriek in terror.
Captain Falcon was the only one aware of this, so he swam over as fast as he could as the skeleton attempted to fight back, bonking his other arm over the head of the shark, but it refused to let go.
Before any help could arrive, the shark managed to snatch the arm off of Papyrus, swimming off with the limb.
"NOOOO!" He screamed. "NOT AGAIN!"
Captain Falcon swam up, staring at the retreating shark, way too fast for anyone to catch up, aside from Sonic, who was nowhere to be seen.
Before they could attempt to communicate with one another, a loud hiss came from their oxygen tank, which reminded Captain Falcon of the thirty-minute time limit, causing him to grab Papyrus by his other arm and swim upwards, the concerned skeleton not questioning a single thing.
He saw other survivors retreat back upwards, and Sonic had already zipped to the top upon hearing the hiss, mainly due to sheer terror.
When they hit the surface, Alexa greeted them.
"That hiss marks the end of the challenge!" He announced. "Get onto the boat, and bring those pearls with you!"
"Ma' net's heavy, so that HAS to be a good sign!" Dedede concluded.
Reigen nodded. "Mine is heavy too, so maybe I'll be safe for once!"
"I doubt it..." He smugly retaliated.
As they all climbed onto the boat, Papyrus pointed to his missing arm. "IS IT NOW THE TIME TO TELL EVERYONE THAT MY ARM GOT STOLEN BY A SHARK?!"
Alexa bit his lip upon hearing those words, he could've sworn that there were no sharks around there!
"I-a didn't see a single shark myself," said Mario.
Josuke walked up to him. "Well I did, hopefully, this will work, but I'm not too confident."
He summoned Crazy Diamond, and with a sigh of anxiety, he healed the skeleton.
Some time passed, and Papyrus shook his head.
"WELL... LOOKS LIKE IT ISN'T GOING TO WOR-"
His sad comment was abruptly cut off by his own arm bonking him over the head, it then proceeded to fix itself back into his shoulder socket, completely repairing the skeleton.
Alexa gave a massive sigh of relief as the Great Papyrus jumped for joy.
"WOWIE... YOU'RE INCREDIBLE!" He cheered. "I DIDN'T EXPECT YOUR POWERS TO BE THAT HANDY!"
"So he can fix things from any distance..." Samus studied his powers.
Captain Falcon eyed her, noticing how she was analyzing Josuke, and almost got a perfect idea of what she was thinking about, based off of how she usually is.
"Well, now that the scare is over with, let's add up all of those pearls!" Exclaimed Alexa. "You all seem to have a plentiful amount that you've collected over the thirty minutes, which is exciting to see, and also a relief for whoever has to fish those fake pearls out of the area, as you all sliced the amount of work he has to do by a good chunk! Also, tie-breakers shall be decided by alphabetical order for the two or more that are tied.
He proceeded to add up all of the pearls...
Arataka Reigen - 14 Pearls - 100
Captain Falcon - 13 Pearls - 90
Samus Aran - 12 Pearls - 80
Sonic - 12 Pearls - 70
Wii Fit Trainer - 11 Pearls - 60
Mario - 10 Pearls - 50
Little Mac - 9 Pearls - 40
King Dedede - 8 Pearls - 30
Josuke Higashikata - 7 Pearls - 20
Papyrus - 7 Pearls - 10
"TEN?!" Papyrus gawked. "I LOST AN ARM FOR A PATHETIC TEN POINTS?!"
"Unfortunately so," confirmed Alexa. "Now, it's time to add those points onto your current totals!"
*SAFE HAVEN*
SAMUS ARAN - 200
CAPTAIN FALCON - 163
ARATAKA REIGEN - 155
SONIC - 153
WII FIT TRAINER - 141
*DANGER ZONE*
LITTLE MAC - 134
MARIO - 130
KING DEDEDE - 103
PAPYRUS - 99
JOSUKE HIGASHIKATA - 72
"S-still last," Josuke groaned. "Come on, the pearls were hard to find!"
"These scores are pretty spaced now! A one-hundred and twenty-eight gap between Samus and Josuke, who have the most and least amount of points," described Alexa. "Now, it's been a short challenge, but one heck of a workout! Go back to your tribe after we return to the island and discuss who to eliminate, and I'll see you guys tonight..."
Laau Haupa: Day 22
Survivors: Mario - Papyrus - Samus Aran - Josuke Higashikata - Wii Fit Trainer - King Dedede - Captain Falcon - Little Mac - Arataka Reigen - Sonic
"So..." Reigen began, he felt incredibly cocky due to how he was safe from elimination. "What's going on with elimination, then?"
Four others were in the group he was talking with, those being Samus, King Dedede, Mario, and Captain Falcon. The fact that those specific people were in the group came down to coincidence, as Mario and Captain Falcon decided to group up with King Dedede, Samus, and Reigen so they weren't left in the dark at Tribal Council.
"I ain't gonna lie, one of 'dem alliance boys have gotta go!" Affirmed Dedede. "We can't let an alliance of three stick around for any longer! Luckily that bonehead Papyrus has made things painfully obvious."
"Hmm, it appears that people are now going to be focusing on eliminating those in alliances now, which is honestly the right way to move in this game. Having the group of three get this far without us doing anything was a stupid move by everyone, because if one of them targets us, then the other two may do so as well." - Samus Aran.
Mario nodded. "Yeah, I-a like them, but I can't let my liking towards people distract me from the fact that they could-a easily win if we don't do anything now!"
"You're completely sure that they're in an alliance, right?" Captain Falcon checked. "If so, then I'll probably vote for Papyrus."
"Why not Josuke?" Asked Samus. "His stand grants him an incredible advantage!"
The plumber shook his head. "I don't think I'm going to-a vote Little Mac over Josuke."
"Hear me out," he began. "Papyrus seems like one of those drifter types of guys, meaning that he can easily get to the finals over everyone else because people don't see him as a threat. My theory is that the jury will be used to pick the winner..."
"That makes sense, but I'm not sure if I'm willing to bank on your own theory," Reigen confessed. "Papyrus is weak, it doesn't matter if he gets to the end because we know he won't win anyway. The only chance that it won't matter is if the jury DOES get to pick the winner, but we don't know that at all. Besides, what makes Papyrus the type of guy to get voted for over everyone else?"
"If Alexa just told people what the jury was for then this would be a lot easier..." - Arataka Reigen.
Captain Falcon pointed to the clay pot in the distance. "He cooks for us... he's on good terms with a lot of people... he's pretty social too, for a skeleton that isn't aware of how grating he sounds."
"You-a have a point, but again, as what-a Reigen said, that's just a theory!" Mario exclaimed. "We can't-a go off a theory."
"Look, it's not like Josuke has a big shot at recovering to Safe Haven anyway, we can just vote him off next time," he suggested. "EVERYONE is a threat here, so I'm going for Papyrus."
Dedede tutted. "Dumb choice! I'm goin' for that Little Mac fella. Josuke can fix me up if I get hurt, and he can fix ma' robes up if they ever get torn, so I'll give that kid some extra time here."
"My clothes have gotten a lot more worn out throughout this show! They're getting soggy and covered in dirt or sand, then I have to sleep in 'em every night in some lower-class hut! The last thing I want 'em to do is rip before I get back home so Escargoon can wash em' up for me, which means that keepin' the kid around will be a good call!" - King Dedede.
Reigen rubbed his chin. "I'll have to think about it a little more, though I'm probably going to stick with Josuke."
"Same-a here," Mario agreed. "I'm-a not going to-a vote Papyrus, but I'm a little torn between the other two."
Samus remained silent, unsure of whether to follow through with Captain Falcon's logic, vote Josuke alongside Reigen, or vote Little Mac alongside Dedede.
As they came to their separate conclusions, a group between Sonic, Little Mac, Josuke and Papyrus had formed, and they were also discussing who to eliminate.
"I'm thinking Mario!" Little Mac suggested. "He's strong, can jump really high, and is pretty social. Maybe if we're lucky with our four votes, we can potentially eliminate him?"
"That group over there is probably coming to a conclusion too, I don't think four votes is going to be enough," said Sonic. "Maybe if there are people disagreeing, but I dunno. It's not like I have to worry anyway, but you three definitely will!"
Josuke gave a nod of acknowledgment. "Yeah, we'll have to figure that out, but first we need to come up with who to vote. Mario seems like a good choice, but I'm more or less targeting King Dedede, he seems to be pretty sour towards others."
"BUT HE'S A KING! WE HAVE TO KEEP SUCH ROYALTY IN MIND, JOSUKE!" Papyrus scalded.
"Being royalty won't protect him forever, especially when he's a pretty shabby royal figure..." Explained Little Mac.
"WELL, FAIR ENOUGH, BUT ROYAL FIGURES ARE IMPORTANT..." The skeleton sighed. "NO MATTER, JUST DON'T TELL HIM THAT I VOTED FOR HIM IF WE DO DECIDE ON HIM!"
Sonic folded his arms. "Well, our only choice is Dedede or Mario. I'm probably going to go with... Mario! No hard feelings towards him, but I know how well that plumber can do, I did the Olympics with him! Maybe this could settle our rivalry?"
The hedgehog snickered to himself before Papyrus chimed in. "I LIKE MARIO, BUT HIS VICTORY SHALL BE SHORT-LIVED!... MUCH LIKE HIS HEIGHT."
"Ouch, no need to go there," Little Mac inhaled sharply.
"APOLOGIES, IT WAS A LOW HANGING FRUIT, PERHAPS TOO LOW..." He pouted.
"Outnumbered, eh?" Josuke groaned before pulling a cheeky grin. "I better vote for Mario then!"
"Now we just need to figure out how to get an extra vote in..." Sonic rubbed his chin. "I know!"
Little Mac raised an eyebrow at the quick response. "That sure was fast?"
"Well, that's how Sonic is, fast!" He smirked. "Anyway, why not ask Wii Fit Trainer?"
"EH, WHY HER?" Papyrus scratched the back of his skull.
"She's not in the group over there. In fact, I can't see her at all! Maybe I can scout around for her and convince her," he shrugged. "It's worth a shot, right?"
"Sure, go ahead and do it!" Josuke encouraged, full of enthusiasm.
Sonic nodded as he zipped off, beginning to circle the island in an attempt to find Wii Fit Trainer.
A minute passed of him running around the island, looking in every nook and cranny in an attempt to search for the girl, but eventually, he found her, in the middle of the coast, doing stretches.
Her smile was wide and controlled as if she was fully tranquil doing the exercises, and the hedgehog felt a little bad to interrupt her but decided to do so anyway.
"Err, hey!" He waved. "I've come to look for you since you weren't around tribe."
"Oh, well I thought it'd be a good time to catch up on some vital exercising whilst I'm still immune," she smiled. "What do you need? Did something happen?"
The hedgehog was slightly put off guard by her immediate jump to something bad happening. "Actually, no! I just found it weird that you weren't discussing who to eliminate with the others."
"I see." The pale trainer stopped her exercises, looking straight at Sonic. "I've already made my mind up, and I'm not too bothered about confirming it with the others considering that they're probably doing the same."
"Really?" He queried. "Who are you voting?"
"Papyrus, Josuke or Little Mac," she answered, turning back to her exercises, but beginning to explain why. "I like them a lot! They're fun and nice people, but sometimes you got to do things you don't wish to do, you know? I can't just not vote them at this point, because I'm too far into this show to let an opportunity as big as splitting an alliance go."
Sonic didn't know what to say, but he felt like what she was saying was true.
"I-I see," he nodded. "Maybe you're right. I've just been friends with those three for a while, and I used to be on their alliance, but ever since I came back I'm not sure if I still am apart of it."
"Well just know that getting me to change my mind is pretty much not going to happen, sorry." Wii Fit Trainer stopped her exercising again. "Just know that those three are threats, and if you want to join the threats, then others including I will probably have to vote for you. It's foolish, making an alliance so painfully obvious!"
...
Sonic looked down at the ground before looking back at her. "Y'know what... here's what we're going to do..."
Tribal Council: Night 22
The eleventh Tribal Council, and the third Merge Tribal Council, had just begun, and the survivors planted themselves on the benches, a similar nervous tension surrounded them, much like last time.
Before Alexa appeared to start the questions, Gordon, the first jury member, entered and sat down on the jury bench. Quickly following him was Johnny, who gave pointed both of his fingers to Captain Falcon and greeted him, as well as the two ladies, which caused both of them to revolt.
After they sat down on the jury bench, Alexa quickly entered, greeting the survivors.
"Third Tribal Council! No twists or anything to say about this one, so let's get on with these questions by asking Josuke how it feels to drop from the most amount of points to the least!" Alexa asked.
Josuke folded his arms. "It sucks, because not only am I not safe tonight, but I'll have to get lucky and earn a lot of points in the future challenges if I want to be safe again."
"Do you think you'll be able to do that by next Council?" He interrogated with curiosity.
"...Maybe, but if I try hard enough I could! I'm not lagging behind by TOO much... I hope," he gulped.
Alexa nodded before moving on to Samus. "...And Samus, how does it feel to have the lead by such a big amount?"
"It makes me feel great, to put it simply," she responded with a satisfied look.
"I imagine it's especially comforting given that you still have that curse on you," he reminded.
Samus gave a nod. "That especially is why I feel great, because if I survive this Council and the next one without going into the Danger Zone, then I should be fine."
Finally, Alexa pointed to Sonic. "Sonic! You've been safe thus far since you returned, do you feel that you may be eliminated if you're in danger again?"
"I don't think it's guaranteed, but it'll be a big risk, especially with how there'll be fewer people by time I do land in danger again!" Sonic gritted his teeth. "And it's pretty intense being in danger whilst also being one of the biggest threats."
"Arrogant but true..." Reigen half-joked.
Alexa nodded. "Well, let's begin the votes, shall we?"
Each survivor stood up and cast their votes...
King Dedede: I ain't gonna vote Josuke, but what I AM gonna do is make sure that the stupid alliance goes down, and I'll kill two birds with one stone by getting rid of a big threat. (Little Mac)
Papyrus: APOLOGIES, SUPER MARIO, BUT I FEEL LIKE "THE GREAT PAPYRUS" IS A BETTER TITLE THAN BEING CALLED "SUPER"... NOW, TO RELATE TO THE VOTING PROCESS, I'LL HAVE TO VOTE YOU OVER KING DEDEDE! (Mario)
Captain Falcon: You're a pretty big threat, even if you're pretty weak! I'm sorry Pap, but you're going... I will miss your rice and beans, though. (Papyrus)
Samus Aran: I'm not completely sure if this is the right option, but I'm more or less convinced that, if you DO get eliminated, then things will be a lot easier for me in the long-term. (?)
Wii Fit Trainer: After some speaking with Sonic, I feel like I'm confident in voting for... you! (?)
"Survivors, I will now read out the votes!" Announced Alexa. "But before I do, would anyone like to play an idol?"
...
...
...
"Very well... let's get this started!" He wrung his hands. "Oh man, this is my favorite bit..."
*VOTING TIME*
First vote goes to Little Mac, one vote Little Mac. (Little Mac gulps, expecting more votes towards him to be revealed.)
Second vote goes to Josuke, one vote Josuke, one vote Little Mac. (Both Josuke and Little Mac are confused.)
Third vote goes to Mario, one vote Mario, Josuke and Little Mac.
Fourth vote goes to Papyrus, one vote Papyrus, Mario, Josuke and Little Mac. (All four of them were both confused and anxious.)
Fifth vote goes to Papyrus, two votes Papyrus, one vote for Mario, Josuke and Little Mac. ("NYEH?!")
Sixth vote goes to Josuke, two votes Josuke and Papyrus, one vote for Mario and Little Mac.
Seventh vote goes to Mario, two votes Mario, Josuke and Papyrus, with one vote for Little Mac.
Eighth vote goes to Mario, that's three votes Mario, two votes Josuke and Papyrus, and one vote Little Mac. (Mario gulp intensely.)
Ninth vote goes to Josuke, three votes Josuke and Mario, with two votes Papyrus and one vote Little Mac. (Josuke bites his lip.)
"And the one eliminated at a split 4-3-2-1 is..." Alexa held his tongue.
...
...
...
"JOSUKE HIGASHIKATA! With four votes, that's enough, hand me your torch," announced Alexa.
Little Mac and Papyrus were beyond surprised, even more so than Josuke, who accepted defeat and stood up.
He grabbed his torch and strolled over, one of his hands were tucked in his pocket.
"Yeah yeah, I'm done with Survivor aren't I?" He interrupted Alexa before he could even begin. "It was fun! I should've seen this coming, too... Little Mac and Pap, I hope you two win through all this. Don't let this bring you down."
Everyone waved goodbye as he disappeared down the pathway, Alexa snuffing out his torch.
"Well, that's that! Josuke's Stand brought an interesting dynamic to Survivor. Unfortunately for him, the price to pay for that was being a threat, which likely lead to his own demise. I wish you remaining nine survivors the best of luck, and goodnight!" Alexa proceeded to shoo them away...
Josuke's Last Words: "I enjoyed Survivor a lot! I made friends, I got to use my stand, but I don't think I tried hard enough... if I were to do it again, I'd try to make my alliance less obvious too, since that was probably the thing that got me eliminated the most. I'm just happy that, after my unknown job as Jury is done, I can go back to Morioh to Okuyasu, Koichi, my mom, and everyone else!"
VOTES
Josuke's Voters: Sonic, Wii Fit Trainer, Arataka Reigen, Mario.
Mario's Voters: Josuke, Little Mac, Papyrus.
Papyrus' Voters: Samus, Captain Falcon.
Little Mac's Voters: King Dedede.
IDOLS
Idol of Attacking - Wario. (USED)
Idol of Defense - Captain Falcon. (USED)
Idol of Mirroring - Wii Fit Trainer.
Idol of Curses - Samus. (USED - CURSE WEARS OFF IN 1 MORE TRIBAL COUNCIL)
The Revival Idol - Mario. (USED)
REMAINING SURVIVORS
Laau Haupa (Yellow Team)
- Mario
- Papyrus
- Samus Aran
- Wii Fit Trainer
- King Dedede
- Captain Falcon
- Little Mac
- Arataka Reigen
- Sonic
