Survivor - Mexico (Brain vs Brawn vs Beauty)

Chapter 19 - Day 16 Part 2, Day 17, & Day 18 Part 1

Alright, so after Coatí flopped in the reward challenge, one could make an inference that someone is going to be annoyed at Plague and possibly Chica. Also, things haven't been going quite well for Tifa lately based off the last Tribal Council where there was basically a "lack of communication" issue going on between herself and Isabelle, resulting in Tifa not being trusted by basically anyone.

And as for Toro, though not much has been going on as of late. Espio recently questioned on whether or not the bear trusts him. And hey, Daisy also recently killed her losing streak. Let's hope she does not lose yet again. Tribal for her the umpteenth time would not do her any good.

(Brand new immunity challenge today!)

~KF

Coatí

Day 16

Plague Knight, Panther, Chica, Katt, Specter Knight

-/-

And that was the first official lost for the Coatí team post-swap. Though they were performing excellently in challenges, it was the exact opposite of how things ended up for them today. In spite of it not being for immunity, not only that the only tribes still took their food away, all of them simply imagined what would have happened if that was for immunity and not just for a reward.

Specter Knight, Chica, Plague Knight, Panther, and Katt all returned with the most dissatisfied facial expressions ever.

"No words can describe how frustrated I am right now..." Specter Knight was resting his head in his hand, the irritated tone in his voice highlighting his overall mood. "All we had to do was to fill the well up with the water using the saucer, and we failed... miserably. In front of everyone... We did not even get to the puzzle for crying out loud. It was already bad enough that Plague had to participate today, yet even Isabelle was on Quetzal and they completed the challenge with ease. Yet for over here, Plague Knight completely blew it... Still, I was completely embarrassed... We did nothing but making fools of ourselves. I blame Chica for dropping the saucer costing us about five seconds, yet Plague can boss people around like we're his lab rats yet he can not hold a saucer straight..."

...

Not one soul bothered to utter anything initially. Thus, Plague Knight felt that naturally he needed to be the one to break the ice.

"Uh... Sorry?"

"...Well,... at least we aren't going to Tribal Council..." Katt was the only one that took a glance at the bright side. "Or at least not yet..."

"I'm sorry, too..." Chica shook her head, hanging it down exhaling. "That saucer was one of the most heavy things I ever had to lift in my whole life..."

Lylat resident, Panther Caroso, was already walking towards the team's food supply. "Let me just see how much rice we have..."

"I'll volunteer for fishing duty..." Katt raised a finger.

"Allow me to accompany you..." Specter said, both of them wandering to where the fishing gear was, leaving the college student and master alchemist by themselves.

"..."

"..."

"Um..." Chica sounded. "I guess it's guaranteed that one of us is sitting out at the next challenge. Maybe if it is not super physical or anything, we would have at least a decent chance of winning... or not placing last. I'm used to only making sure we actually complete a challenge rather than actually winning..."

"Are the Survivor Gods even acknowledging my existence?" Plague himself of course did not sound too happy either. "Is anything gonna go right for me? Not one thing has gone the way I wanted to for sixteen days! I blew the challenge, and we all know it. Hardly anyone is even bothering to say anything to me at the moment, other than Chica who only spoke like, two sentences after we came back to camp. Specter looked at me like he lost all of his faith in humanity... (well, he's not really human anyway),... and Panther... Well,... he did not speak to me, nor Chica that much. But still. This is ridiculous! I was probably thought to be the swing vote for this tribe over here, but now I'm clearly at the bottom of the totem pole, now! If we lost again like this, they could send me home out of spite! They know how much I want to win challenges as much as everybody else, but this time, I'm actually the weakest person here. Merge hasn't happened yet, so I'm pretty sure they don't want to lose everything, especially the two Beauty people."

"...Well,... hey, at least I helped you guys win that other challenge!"

"That was three days ago." Specter Knight replied, retrieving one of the fishing poles to give to Katt before he grabbed one himself. "Had things gone differently, you would have sat out of the challenge and we would have had a greater chance of at least placing second. Yet we could not have predicted to what the challenge was going to be, and as the master stated, we are not allowed to sit out the same person in back to back challenges. Chica still dropped the saucer, yet at least it did not have water in it at the time. You were the one that was mainly responsible."

"I said I was sorry!"

"No need to apologize." The scythe wielder shook his head. "We are fortunate that it was just for a reward. Though for the next immunity challenge, we need to remain focused, or else I am going to my first Tribal Council."

He walked away.

"..."

Plague took a look at Panther who was already cooking the rice, yet he never really had anything to say. At that point, he simply wanted something to eat. Whenever a tribe lost a reward challenge, they cooked something almost immediately so that the tribe harvested on something.

Once again, the alchemist ended up being alone with Chica.

"..."

"..."

The anthropomorphic chicken sighed. "It's okay, Plague Knight. Specter can be a little mean at times. But I think I'm taking like, twenty percent of the blame here..."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious..." He rolled his eyes under his mask.

"I guess we're both the weakest of the tribe..."

"Katt exists."

"...Hmm... I dunno..." She shrugged. "We are probably on the same level with that... But all I know is that we were the absolute weakest in that challenge. We're gonna have to really work hard to win that immunity..."

"Are you gonna vote me out?" He suddenly asked.

"What the- I didn't say that!" She quickly replied.

"Oh, well, even if you are thinking that, you probably shouldn't." Plague shook his head as a warning. "If we lose, getting rid of me would be a bad idea. You have to keep me in this game. Please."

"..."

"You have to keep me in this game." He repeated. "You don't even have to be a master alchemist to do simple math. Two and two is even. Beauty is clearly not gonna vote with brawn if we have to go tribal. It may took me a while to realize that, but it's so obvious. You all aren't going to work together. But you have to have me, because I am vote number three! Without me, you can not have the majority!"

"I know, I know!" She nodded rapidly. "It's not like I don't wanna go home or anything. I've already been through enough on my old tribe before I got swapped here..."

"Well, good. Tell your beauty friend everything I said." He pointed directly at her. "I don't know who anyone is voting for, yet, but if you need someone to make sure you have the numbers! If you don't have my vote, you're out of this game. Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes...?"

Upon him leaving, Chica ended up burying her face in her lap.

"Even when I'm not going to Tribal Council I can not get a break around here..."

"I've had at this point. I have had it." Plague Knight complained. "Just look what happened at Quetzal. Rosalina came into a swapped tribe all by herself, and look what happened? She's voted out! I don't want that to happen to me! She was probably at the bottom of the totem pole. I've heard that I basically have no chance of going, but now I really don't know what's going to happen to me. But no matter what, I will not go home. Even if we do end up losing the immunity, I think what's best for me is to do what I do best. I need to put pressure on everybody and remind them of what would happen if I was not here. If I am a possible swing vote, than they need to know that. I am going to prove to everyone that they need me. And as long as they know that, hopefully it will scare them all into thinking that voting out Plague Knight would be a huuuge mistake. Brawn needs me, Beauty needs me, they all need me, and they know it!"

Now he was talking with Panther by the rice.

"And yes, I've just told Chica the same thing. If you don't have my vote, either you or her could be out of this game. I really hope you do realize that."

"Well if you're the true swing vote, guess I have no choice no matter how I feel about it..."

That made Plague give off a very confounded look on his face in spite of it never really being visible due to his face covering. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll tell you who me and Chica are voting for later. Just like, distance yourself right now. You never know when either Specter or Katt could be right over your shoulder."

"..." He groaned in reply. "I'll just go get some water to pass the time..."

By the time he left, Panther and Chica found themselves eyeing each from their different places at the camp.

"What's his problem?" The latter frowned.

"I don't even know..." Panther shook his head with a sigh. "He's probably ticked because Specter called him out for losing the challenge and now he's abusing his power to make himself feel important..."

"Plague Knight single-handedly cost us the reward, so now he's acting like he's the king of the castle so he can say something good about himself." Caroso explained his thoughts on the matter. "I mean, first of all, how do you know what's best for my game? The only people that know what is best for Panther is Panther and the Survivor Gods right up there in the sky. I mean, I'm not the biggest fan of Chica, but... Plague is starting to get on my nerves. He's probably annoying every last person here right now... That's alright, though. Maybe the kid just needs a little nap and he'll be more quiet in a couple hours..."

"So... I can imagine that you're sad about Rosalina leaving, huh?" Chica then asked.

"I do." Panther responded, stirring the rice again. "She was good. Really nice and down to earth. I'm sure gonna miss her and so is Daisy. Half of our old team is gone, now..."

"Yeah..." She looked away. "And I am sure it would do no good if we go against each other right now, right?"

"Well, if we are actually not merging soon, if one of us gets voted out, the other will be next, 'cause at that point, Brawn would already have the majority."

"I can't believe Rosalina is gone." An upset Chica confessed. "Like, of all people... Why? She was the one person I could count on out here, and now I have nobody. I was never close with Panther and Daisy, so I'm all alone. All by myself. The only reason to why I still want to work with Panther is because we started on the same team together. And now, especially because Rosalina is not here anymore, Panther needs me to stay, and I need him to stay. Whatever it takes for me to not get voted out, I have no choice. We can not afford to have another Beauty go home at this point."

"She got screwed by the swap. That's all there is to it." The purple animal shrugged. "We just gotta avenge her if we get that chance."

Meanwhile, Specter Knight and Katt Monroe were already a few feet away from their camp, quietly eyeing their fishing lines before the latter finally decided to break the ice.

"Talk to me!"

"...?"

"...I mean, we would only have to be careful if those three were standing right by the tribe flag being nosy." She hunched her shoulders. "But still, we gotta talk about something. What are we gonna do with Plague?"

Though he heaved a sigh, Specter gave in. "If Plague wants to behave like a two year old and have a hissing fit, he can have his hissing fit. He was the one that blew the challenge, thus there is not a soul he should be irritated at other than himself. Yet still, voting him out of the game would result in a Brawn-Beauty tie situation."

"What about Rosalina, though?" The pilot blinked.

"Simple. Rosalina is not Plague Knight. They came from two completely different tribes and we both know that Rosalina overall had the least numbers since her tribe suffered their losing streak early on. It makes sense for her to be eliminated. However, due to Plague originating from the Brains, he has the bigger advantage. And with him being alone with the advantage and him having just as many numbers as us, having him on your side is more reliable to actually going against him in spite of not having any certain numbers over here. Thus, it would not do good for us to target him. It is just a matter of who he chooses... Have you... 'flirted' with Panther again?"

"I actually have a biiit," She admitted looking off to the side with a smirk. "but not as much as I would have liked. I can't do anything with him as long as Chica is around. That's who we want out, right?"

"Well, if you actually think you could pull it off, by all means do what you feel is right." He seemed to have no problems with it. "I'll try to convince him myself. However, I do wonder if Chica would actually flip on Panther. Though we both know that the problem is that due to recent events, Panther and Chica flipping on each other is certainly less likely now."

"I've been trying to work with Panther for a bit, but it's not enough at all. Ireat's not enough." said Katt. "And now things are just gonna be even harder. Beauty is now down to three people and they all know it. The looks off their faces alone when they found out who got sent home is not a good sign for Specter and myself, because in the chance that Plague refuses to work with us, we would have to rely on Panther to make a move. Unfortunately, I think people are still realizing that we have this theme going on right now, and people are still relying on tribe loyalty at the moment..."

Later on in the day, she was seen with an arm around his shoulder, making sure her head remained on his chest. Though never acted as if he was rather uncomfortable, at the same time, he did find it to be rather odd.

"I swear whenever you do get a girlfriend, I'll make sure she is good to you..." She laughed a little. "So anyway, um, I know how it feels to have someone from your own tribe gone. You must have really liked Rosalina, right?"

"Yeah..."

"I felt the same way after Jet left. Like, why? ...But at the same time," She went on to say. "maybe that could result into the two of us having a strong friendship or something, you know? I don't really know how much longer people are gonna stick to this triple B theme, but... I kinda don't want you to go home, actually."

"Hmm. Really?" He stared at her with a grin. "You don't want me to go anywhere?"

"I dooon't." She replied. "I mean, even though Jet was on my old tribe, me and him got along so well, because you know, we generally liked each other. And we like each other a bit, too. Sometimes, it's about simply, who do you wanna play with. It's kind of a bummer if you are at some point forced to work with someone you probably don't even like, rather than play with someone you have a good friendship with that will be more likely to stick with you, and generally getting to know you as a person. Much more satisfying in my opinion."

"You could be onto something, actually." Panther actually thought that Katt made a good point to a degree. "I guess it comes down to whatever is your best interest. I mean, you never know,... you know?"

"Oh yes, I could understand that. No doubt." Monroe nodded quickly. "However, if it does not hurt you to work with me, well,... maybe we'll continue to bond and get to know each other and just play and have a good time. It is not everyday where we just go to the Aztec Empire like this. I'd rather be on a beach so I can soak and relax, but it is what it is. Bottom line is that if you need to work with someone you like, I'll keep you here, and maybe you can keep me here."

"I hope that my plan is working!" She smiled with hope. "I mean, I know tribal lines are probably gonna be broken at some point. Maybe keeping Panther of all people would mean something. I dunno. Right now I just want Chica gone so that the both of us can be safe, haha! Maybe get rid of her and then get rid of Plague so me and Specter can continue to have the advantage? Whatever we have to do, whether it's for strategic reasons or me simply liking Panther (he is cute and funny and... kinda hot), I guess my game overall right now can be summed up in one sentence: beauty on the outside, brawn on the inside."

Toro

Day 16

"Hmm... Seems like the master has given us one of our most useful rewards thus far..."

Ryu was certainly happy at the result of the challenge the group completed. Not only they actually finished the challenge, they even had a major lead over the losing team. And because it just so happened to be a reward challenge like the tribe hoped, he made sure he ate a couple of those kebabs that came with their victory.

"Seems like your mood completely changed within ninety minutes." Golden grinned. "When you say you are not at your best when you have not eaten anything in a while, you really meant it, didn't you?"

The street fighter smirked, yet he was actually a bit embarrassed. "Well,... I guess when I do eat something, it puts me more at ease. Kind of eases your mind a little bit. Uh... I didn't look too annoyed, didn't I? I know you guys aren't used to seeing me like that."

"Oh no, you're fine." Espio held his hand out snickering a bit. "You are no worse than the average individual that has not eaten anything in a certain amount of time. It is normal."

"I'm used to eating, but you gotta get used to not eating that much on Survivor." Ryu laughed out loud in his confessional. "I mean, I suppose everyone feels that way at least sometimes when you're competing to be the very best while only a couple spoonfuls of rice a day, lying on bamboo and wood, and dealing with the whether. And with all this strategizing going on, why wouldn't it annoy someone? Guess the hunger situation is the most likely to get the best of me in comparison to all the other issues that you have to go through out here."

"Guess even if we did end up losing today, the fish are swimming just over there." Golden pointed towards the lake. "We would have gotten ready in a heartbeat. All we would have had to do was to play the waiting game."

"It's still somewhat of a consequence, though, because of what you just said." Ryu referred to the latter part of his statement. "That would have been even worse for me. ...One more reason why I'm glad we won today."

The entire tribe including Daisy all shared a laugh, even though the only female of the group was too busy devouring to say much for most of the conversation.

"I mean, you clearly workout a lot, so it's not that surprising that you aren't used to starving on a deserted land like this." Golden continued. "Sure you're probably thinking that it's best to deal with it, but no matter where everyone stands strategically, living with conditions like this is something we can all relate to. 'Cause hey, we're all in this together."

"Good point." Ryu had to agree.

"I guess I was worried I would come across as being a bit more negative than usual. I'm trying to remain as focused as possible. Yet, even I am not afraid to admit that I am not perfect. No one is. My master always wanted me to become as strong and good as I possibly can. He was strict, yes, but it was not as if he was setting unrealistic expectations for me, he just wanted me to push myself to my absolute limit, and that's exactly how I preferred to be taught. Breaking a sweat a little was something that I kinda had to do, you know? Yet while I am trying to become... close to perfect, no one is completely flawless, so I guess I've grown to being comfortable to admitting some flaws about myself. And I suppose that was just one of em. Yet regardless, I gotta keep doing what I'm doing, which is to keep my head in the game... Literally."

Quetzal

Day 16

For the yellow team, that first place finish proved to be a complete turn around for them in comparison to the previous night. They not only finished the challenge in the first place, they also ended up having one of, if not the biggest lead in a challenge in Survivor history thus far. A major accomplishment with a nice reward sounded like a great combination to Tifa, Isabelle, Funky Kong, and Incineroar.

While the tribe enjoyed feasting on the job, Isabelle took a brief glance behind her. "Ooh, I can not wait to get my hands on that cooking set!"

"And I actually cook a little back in the jungle myself." Funky Kong replied. "But as we already know, this tribe does not have the fishing gear. And I don't think it would do anyone any good if we just jump in that lake like that. Not only we don't have a spear, but last thing we need is to get swallowed by crocodiles or something..."

"I mean, the crocodiles kinda need to survive out here, too." Incineroar spoke. "Though I don't wanna become food for them, at the same time, it's understandable on why some people don't exactly blame them..."

"Well I can say this: they are clearly not like the crocodiles where I'm at." Funky said between bites.

"Hmm..." Isabelle was actually thinking long and hard about it. "For some reason, that to me sounds rather... disturbing to think about..."

"I suppose we are in different universes for a reason, but still... I just cannot believe how different some of these species our in comparison to where I come from..." The bandanna wearing ape sounded as if it was the most interesting thing he discovered in his entire life. Perhaps it was knowing the situation. "I can easily dismiss it as a different type, but there's obviously more than what meets the eye. But the fact that these crocs can actually eat you, it is nothing compared to some of those kremlings I gotta deal with back at home. That being said, I'd rather deal with those guys than these crocs over here anyday."

"You wanna know what's even weirder, though?" Incineroar on his own thought of something that stood out to them. "Apparently in this world, cats walk on all four legs... all, the, time."

-/-

"What did you and Tifa talk about yesterday?"

"Oh, you mean last night after tribal?"

Funky Kong and Incineroar sometime later managed to find time to themselves again, while both of the girls were separated doing their own thing at the camp.

"Oh yeah, that. Well, long story short, we all know that Rosalina wanted to have an all girls alliance. But Tifa told me that she only agreed to it as long as you were going to be voted off."

"...Okay...?" Kong would have been completely flabbergasted, yet since he was never eliminated at the tribal and the fact that his name was already written down, he found no reason to be astonished about it. "But she still agreed to it..."

"Yeah." The Pokemon quickly nodded. "That was what I was thinking. She said that if you were gone, old Brawn would have had the majority, but like, she did that without my permission, man. I don't even want you to leave for crying out loud..."

"I don't want you out of here, either." Funky replied. Though at that point, he was more curious about something (or someone) else. "...Did she say anything about Isabelle?"

"Her? She told me that Isabelle manipulated her and Rosalina saying that she was fine throwing you under the bus just to keep Rosalina with her. Something about you not being that close to her and that probably threw them off." He replied, kicking a rock out of the way as they continued on their path to the well.

"No wonder why name came up..." Funky mumbled off to the side. "So Tifa was just left in the dark because of Iz?"

"Well, what I'm thinking is that no matter what happened, Tifa still should have talked to me about it. If we all would have voted for Rosalina, none of this would be happening right now. Looking at just the facts, she's on the hot seat and she knows it."

"Hmm..." Funky wanted to learn more about Isabelle's point of view of the situation knowing that she was basically the reason to why his name was written down for the first time, though he felt that learning about Tifa's overall position in the game was a bigger priority. "Was Tifa on the bottom back on your camp?"

"Well,... I wouldn't say she was necessarily on the bottom," He quoted. "but she was a target. I think she probably would have been blindsided if we went. Jet didn't think she was fitting in enough like the rest of us were, and I actually agreed. I'm sure Katt would have went along with it. I probably would have convinced Ryu and maybe Specter, though, but still, I think she would have been blindsided unanimously. Speaking of Jet, I still kinda missed that guy..."

"...So if Tifa was never necessarily on the bottom as you say, than who was?" Funky popped an invisible eyebrow.

"Hmm... Probably Katt. I know that Ryu approached me, Specter, and even Tifa herself about to form a majority alliance back on good ol' Toro. I asked him if Jet could be involved and he said yes. And I think that was when I talked about possibly blindsiding Tifa."

"Dang... I just asked if Tifa was already on the bottom back on Incineroar's old tribe, and I ended up getting way more than I asked for. I remember Incineroar blatantly admitting that he was close friends with Jet before the challenge after he got voted out. And now Incineroar is... telling someone from such as myself from an opposing team about the dynamics of his old tribe... Guess if he's that comfortable with me than I should have... no reason to complain basically." Funky grinned as he went on. "Apparently, Ryu formed this majority alliance with himself, Incineroar, Specter Knight, and Tifa, and Incineroar even said that Katt was on the bottom. Though Incineroar thinks that Tifa was gonna get blindsided had old Toro went to tribal. And though that clearly didn't happen, we all know who was the first Brawn to had his torch snuffed. Now knowing where the entire Brawn tribe stood with each other, it really had me thinking... a lot..."

"..."

"..." Incineroar cocked his head to the side. "What...? Was there something I said?"

"Dude..." His thoughts were starting to form into words. "I think Ryu completely flipped on him, man!"

"...Huh? ...What do you mean exactly?"

"Well, I don't know what really happened when Toro got swapped, but now that you're telling me all this, I am starting to think that maybe there's a possibility that Ryu might have had a hand in Jet going home."

"...What!?" Now the both of them completely stopped in their tracks, the biggest celebrity of the entire cast making a complete turn around.

"I mean, you just told me about where everybody was at strategically on your tribe. You said that the two of you plus Tifa and Specter formed this majority alliance, and then with you asking Ryu if Jet could join... Like,... that's red flag number one, man. I haven't really heard his side of the story yet, but from what I'm hearing, that man ain't have no plans of including Jet in the majority alliance. He was probably on the bottom with Katt and they didn't even know it, and he probably wasn't even planning on sending Tifa home at all."

"!" He was so astonished of what was coming out of his mouth he was literally speechless.

"Like, I may have not started on there, but even I could figure this all out. It sounds like Katt was gonna be the first boot over there. But now that I think about it, Jet was probably an option to go home, and probably would have if everyone didn't think you two were friends. That's probably why Katt was gonna go home to keep you satisfied. Ryu then swapped with new players and probably threw Jet under the bus to save himself or somethin'... Now that is the one thing I wish I knew more about, but yeah... I think I can safely say that Ryu most likely never intended to work with Jet... at all..."

"Incineroar's just standing there as if he never figured this out on his own, like... Dude, how did you not see that? I was never even on your tribe and I still figured out what probably went on in like, ten seconds! He's telling me that Tifa was gonna be blindsided. No she wasn't! I mean, those four alone, who forms an alliance of five all against one person? Those four minus Jet was enough. Or else, he could have just said that Katt was on the outs and that everyone was considering Tifa, and I would have bought it. But Incineroar literally told me everything, and now I have information that I could use to my advantage... But I guess in order to do that, I think Incineroar needed to hear the truth, anyway. Jet was never part of the majority alliance. But I guess Ryu knew that Incineroar was naive enough to fall for it, and that them all voting Katt out would have never made Incineroar suspicious of what was really going on. But now that I, of all people are telling him of this, he did not look happy. But like I said, the truth is kinda powerful. You know what I mean?"

#TheTruthHurts

He completely buried his face in his hands, cursing hard under his breath. "Seriously? You mean to tell me that man lied to my face this whole time?"

"I mean, I wasn't there, but..." Funky held his hands in front of himself. "it's definitely possible that he did..."

"I... Man..." His head was now hanging down staring at the sand. "He really didn't give a crap when Jet left, then... That means Specter Knight and Tifa knew everything."

"Ryu completely lied to my face about Jet being included in the Strong Guys Alliance, and now Jet's gone... And Ryu might have something to do with it." He was without a doubt frustrated at his old tribe mate. "Specter and Tifa knew the whole story, and I stood there lookin' stupid... That's alright, though. And you know what? I'm actually glad I told Funky Kong of what was going on over there. If it wasn't for him, I would have never figured it out. Now I have one more reason to why I should get rid of Tifa. Not only for her backstabbing me, but now as a way to get back at Ryu for him possibly contributing to getting rid of Jet. Like, if he thinks he can just get away with it, let's how he likes it when his close ally gets voted out..."

Toro

Day 17

Just after seven in the morning, it was yet another morning in the Aztec Empire. All of Toro were surprisingly already awake, even though none of them appeared to be moving that much.

For Espio the Chameleon, he was seen facing away from his entire team in the shelter, his two legs being crossed over in his lap with eyes completely shut.

That of course caught the attention of the entire tribe.

"...Has he always been doing this?" Daisy whispered to Golden.

"Well, I seen him a couple times..." He shrugged watching his shorter brain team member. "This is actually the first time I've seen him doing this in a while..."

Ryu smirked. "How can I blame him? It gets your mind right."

"You talk as if you've had personal experience doing it." Golden noticed shifting his head in the martial artist's direction. "Why am I not surprised?"

"I mean it does. It really helps you start your day off on the right foot." He added on. "Maybe I should do it with him so that he wouldn't feel too left out..."

"I do not know many that starts their day off with a bit of meditation back on Mobius, and unsurprisingly, not many people do it out here. Lucario from Kodai Island is the one person I've seen meditating out on Survivor, and I applaud him. We seem to have been cut form the same cloth. I am grateful for the fact that he came before and was the first to openly meditate in front of others. For me personally, I mainly do it to improve my own abilities, yet there are multiple reasons as to why: it helps you gather your thoughts, it is peaceful, and it could be quite the time killer if you have nothing important that needs to be done. The most interesting thing about it was that while I was doing it this morning, Ryu approached me wanting to join in, and eventually Golden..."

"This seems like a good spot right here..."

The one that used a duffel bag to carry his belongings in brought Espio to somewhere not too far from the shelter, yet far enough were the lake could have been seen.

Espio formed somewhat of a humorous smirked. "Well, this is the first time I'm going to see you practicing it."

"It actually is kinda nice to do, especially knowing that you got a big day of training ahead of you." He sat down and began crossing his legs. "I have a friend that does it... at times. But I can definitely say that I do it way more often than he does."

That was when Fredbear was heard approaching them, a curious Daisy also approaching the scene.

"You two comin' to join us as well?"

"Um,... I'll watch." Daisy made sure she was counted out.

"I'll sit with you two." Golden snickered, sitting in the middle between Ryu and Espio, making a nice semi-circle in the process. "Never done it before, but first time's a charm..."

...

And thus, the three of them simply sat there without uttering a single word, Daisy all the while eyeing them a bit with a strange look, yet she also felt a bit out of place.

"U-umm,... well, I guess you guys can... call me if you need me?"

"Alright."

"Will do."

"..."

"..." Seconds later after hearing responses from everyone but the chameleon himself, the one female slowly began to wander away.

"I mean, I knew living with three guys was gonna be quite the challenge over here, but... I certainly didn't expect this." Daisy shook her head with certainty. "Like, I don't even know what to call it. Maybe this is like Ryu and Espio being the two masters of the day getting ready to teach Golden on some ninja, samurai warrior stuff and I'm... well, skipping class. Let's just say that. And... I have noo regrets, haha. Panther would have easily skipped, too. But hey, if that's gonna be their thing, than... at least they're all being themselves... I'm just more of a... fiery type of girl so I wouldn't actually do it..."

Unbeknownst to Golden and Ryu, though, their chameleon tribemate was seen curling his lips into a small smile.

"It is quite interesting, fun,... and even a bit amusing to see. I can admit that I am not used to seeing multiple people meditating with me like this. But it was... quite nice to be honest. I really enjoyed it. I would not mind if this happened again at some point, whether it be inside or outside of the game. Perhaps I can see myself remembering that morning a few years down the line..."

Unfortunately for the nineteen year old ninja detective, he felt a drop of water on the tip of his horn.

...

And within a few seconds, Golden and Ryu felt drops of rain coming down on them as well.

"Crap..." The latter spoke glancing up at the sky. "Looks like we have to cut it short for now..."

"No worries." Golden shook. "We'll just continue in the shelter. We have plenty of fire wood and a tarp over our heads so we should be good for a while."

A snicker was heard from the only male human of the Toro camp. "Maybe we could convince Daisy to join us for at least five minutes. It'd be cool to see how she reacts."

Day 18

The view of the challenge zoomed out right from the center of the maze to the point where there six already completed puzzles near the beginning, yet six puzzles that had yet to be solved at the end.

"Come on in, guys!"

The thirteen remaining contestants all approached Master Hand from their respective teams, ready to get right to the challenge more than anything.

"Alright, you guys ready to get to today's immunity challenge? First things first, I will take back the idols."

Panther from the blue team and Espio from the red team all met Master Hand halfway as he took back the idols, allowing the ultimate prize being back up for grabs yet again.

"Once again, immunity is back up for grabs. For today's challenge, out in front of you are three block puzzles representing your tribe. Coatí's puzzle is the Spanish racoon, Toro's puzzle is the bull, Quetzal's puzzle is the colorful bird that lives here in Mexico. Though the trick is, not only you will be completing not one, but two puzzles, you will solve puzzles for both of the opposing teams." A visual representation was shown explaining the rules of the challenge, just as if it was an actual episode for the viewers. "There are thirty puzzles pieces each. You will take them out at the starting point and put them inside a chest as you carry it through the maze. Solve one puzzle, go back, collect the pieces of the second puzzle, head back through again. First two tribes that finish their second puzzle, wins immunity, safe from the vote. Losers, Tribal Council where someone will be the sixth person voted out of this game. I'll give you guys a minute to strategize and we'll get started."

"...Oh!" The large, white-gloved hand suddenly snapped his fingers out of realization. "Almost forgot. Before we get started, Coatí, you have one extra member. You must sit somebody out. Katt sat out of the last challenge, meaning she must participate. Who's sitting out today?"

...

The tribe began discussing immediately.

"Just sit out Plague? There's nothing really physical about this except carrying a chest."

"I can do it! I can do it! It's all about the puzzle, basically. Right?"

"Let's just sit out Chica, then."

"I've done a puzzle before and I ended up winning!"

"Can Katt sit out?"

"She must participate..."

"Well, who's not good at puzzles?"

"Alright, Coatí, who's it gonna be?"

...

"I'll sit out, master..."

"Specter Knight is sitting this one out. Take your spot on the sit out bench."

"Specter Knight is apparently not that good at puzzles, and it almost cost his team one of the challenges." Plague Knight recalled. "Chica on the other hand, is not too bad at puzzles, and her team won that same challenge. And since this challenge is all about the puzzle, not only that I have to participate, but we thought that sitting out somebody who stinks at puzzles will give us the greatest chance at winning. I'm not too shabby at puzzles myself, so since apparently everyone had to help complete at least one puzzle, sitting out Specter of all people did not sound so bad. But forget about him. Today was all about me and showing what I could do in challenges."

-/-

"Alright, here we go." Master Hand was now ready for the challenge to commence. "For immunity. Survivors ready? ...GO!"

Instead of running straight into the maze, the tribes turned around and ran past each other in order to get to their first puzzle.

"First you gotta unsolve the puzzle, put the pieces into your chest, and head out to the maze." The hand began to narrate. "Because of Quetzal placing first in the reward challenge, they had first choice of who's puzzle to solve first, and they picked Toro's. Toro has chosen Coatí's puzzle, which leaves Coatí to choose Quetzal's puzzle."

"Take out multiple at a time." Espio reminded his swapped team.

"Once you have all of your puzzle pieces you can head into the maze. The sooner you start, the sooner you finish..."

"Alright, let's go." Incineroar commanded.

"Quetzal's heading out. Toro's heading out. Coatí's heading out."

All three tribes had to head into the maze using completely different entrances due to them completing different puzzles at the end.

"Keep right, keep right..." Isabelle stood out in the front with Incineroar.

"Dead end, dead end. Head back..." Katt quickly noticed that there were heading down a path that was blocked off and began to back up.

"Coatí already having to backtrack."

"No need to rush... No pressure." Ryu spoke quietly to his tribe carrying the chest from the back with Daisy.

"No, no, no, back up a little bit..." Isabelle warned her team of a dead end approaching.

"Quetzal notices a dead end, they gotta head back." Master Hand was floating above the maze just enough for him to see all three teams simultaneously. "Coatí doing a decent job, Quetzal doing good work, Toro not rushing at all."

"Alright, we're getting closer, guys. We're doing great." Katt talked, Specter on the other side of the maze behind the puzzles patiently waiting for his team.

"Coatí's getting closer. Quetzal's getting closer. Everyone's approaching the end, now..."

The maze was actually color coded into thirds: one part being blue, another being red, and the other being yellow. Yet since the tribes had to solve each other's puzzles, they never took their own path.

Thus, Quetzal ended up making through Toro's exit, just ahead of Coatí who went through Quetzal's exit.

"Quetzal and Coatí have made it through. Here comes Toro right behind. Two people solving the first puzzle!"

The three pairs that were in charge of completing their first puzzles were Tifa and Funky Kong, Katt and Chica, and Golden and Ryu.

"Alright." Ryu said with a sigh, knowing that puzzles were never exactly his forte. Though he of all people knew that he had to keep a positive energy. "Let's think this through..."

"Toro solving the puzzle for Coatí. Coatí solving the puzzles for Quetzal. Quetzal solving the puzzle for Toro. The other catch is that since there are two puzzles and four people per tribe, excluding Specter Knight sitting out, everybody has to participate in one of the puzzles at some point. The question is: did you pick the right combination of people to complete them?"

One could have argued that it would have been the easiest decision to have both of the brains complete one of the puzzles, such as a supposed Golden-Espio pair, yet it seemed that for all three tribes (with the exception of Coatí due to Plague being the only member from the old Brain tribe), they figured that it was best to have one Brain each for one puzzle. That being said, results could have varied depending how talented each Brain member was when it came to puzzle solving, and how untalented everybody else was on a score level from zero to ten. The supposed highest overall score may have had the bigger advantage, assuming that nothing were to ever go wrong.

"All three tribes are communicating with each other very well, yet there's a difference in how much progress they are currently making." Master Hand noted. "Golden and Ryu are in the lead, Quetzal right behind in second, Coatí in last. The only tribe where a Brain member is not present right now. They're saving Plague for last."

He stood in silence with a million thoughts flowing through his head, with an all in all conclusion of him just wanting to win the challenge.

"Two days ago Coatí' gave one of the worst challenge performances in the history of Survivor. I am pretty sure they do not want to mess up again."

"That goes there, right?"

"..Yes, yes." Golden replied to Ryu. "And those two... Alright, there we go. We're done!"

"Toro thinks they have it, if they are right..."

And they did. The completed puzzle of the Spanish raccoon was shown.

"And they do! Toro can head back! Toro now extending their lead!"

"Left! Straight! Turn right!"

Funky Kong placed down the last remaining puzzle piece. "...Okay, we're good. Master, are we good?"

"Quetzal thinks they have it..." The master stared at the picture of Toro's animal. "And they do! Head back out!"

"...Um, uh..." Chica blinked, the two women placing down their final pieces. "Alright, yes! That's it!"

"Does Coatí have it?" Master Hand never even needed to be called over as his 'eyes' focused on Quetzal's animal that was represented. "They got it! All three tribes are now heading back out to collect their second and final set of puzzle pieces! This is still anyone's game!"

"Hmm..." Specter hung his head down. It was unlike him of all people to worry. He really had no plans on going to tribal.

"As long as you remember the way you came, this part should be a breeze."

"...Okay, we're at a dead end." Tifa spoke out. "What did we do wrong?"

"Quetzal's made a mistake! Now they gotta head back which will cost them some time!"

"I could have sworn it was this way..." Funky Kong used his free hand to facepalm himself. "Back it up... Back it up..."

"No, no, no, it's not this way..." Panther widened his eyes realizing that his own team made a mistake.

"Yes it is!" Chica's voice sounded.

"No it's not!"

"Coatí makes a mistake. They gotta head back! Now it seems that it is Toro's challenge to lose..." The host of the show glanced at the leading team, already making it back at the starting point where they began to remove pieces of Quetzal's puzzle. "Perfect teamwork going on."

"Alright, almost there, almost there..." Katt talked. "Okay, good. Just straight ahead and we'll be there."

"Coatí nearing the end. Quetzal nearing the end. Both tribes trying to stay in it as Toro is getting ready to head right back out! They have the biggest chance to win at this point!"

By the time the red team re-entered their maze, the other two tribes began remove pieces from the other puzzle they were set to complete at the other side of the maze. Coatí needed to work on Toro's, which meant that Quetzal needed to work on Coatí's.

"Still in it, guys. Still in it..." Isabelle felt she needed to keep the team optimism in check.

"Guys, do you think we should go a little faster?"

"We're fine. They're both just now startin' to pack up." Ryu assured Daisy. "We can't move quickly since we need to have enough time to check our surroundings before we know for certain where to go."

Regardless of him telling her not to worry, for Daisy personally, it was not enough. "Yeah, but... can we just walk just a bit faster just in case? I really don't wanna go back to Tribal Council."

"Alright, she has a point." Golden nodded in agreement. "Let's pick up our feet a little..."

"UGH!" Daisy shouted pulling on the chest.

"Quetzal heading back out! Coatí heading back out! Now things are switching up just a bit. Red team now having to go down the yellow path, blue going down the red path, yellow team going down the blue path."

"Straight... Straight... Straight... Now make a right..." Katt ordered her team. "No, no, no, go left! Right leads to nowhere..."

"Toro has been to Tribal Council once. Quetzal has been to Tribal Council once. Coatí the only tribe that has yet to Tribal Council, and everybody overall has been to Tribal Council except for Katt and Specter Knight. But at the end of the day, nobody ever wants to go."

Red team escaped their maze for the second and final time, them immediately unloading in order for Espio and Daisy to start working on Quetzal's puzzle.

"Way ahead of them. No pressure." Ryu folded his arms.

"Turn it right. Now go left... No, no, no, that's a dead end. We gotta go back..." Isabelle told her team.

"Quetzal approaches a dead end again!"

"Straight... Straight..." Panther calmly spoke.

"Coatí getting very close now..."

"One more turn, left... Alright, go! Pick it up a little bit!"

Within a few more moments, the blue team successfully completed the maze for good.

"Coatí's made it back! Second pair of puzzle solvers, get to work!"

"Alright." Plague Knight sprung right into action opening the chest. "C'mon, Panther. Hurry up!"

Specter facepalmed. There he went again...

"Nice job. Stay focused..." Golden observed Daisy and Espio working on the Mexican bird.

"Toro's been doing a great job for the entire challenge. They are halfway through their puzzle if they're right..." Master Hand nimbly turned around hearing the yellow team coming by. "Meanwhile, Quetzal is just now making it through the maze. They have a bit of time to make it up, but they are still in it!"

Isabelle and Incineroar began to unload almost instantly. If they were somehow going to pull off a victory, they either needed to hope that one of the other teams somehow messed up, or work as fast, yet as careful as they possibly could have.

"Toro's down to five pieces left... Make that four pieces!"

"No, no, that's the one over there!" Daisy pointed to a correct spot a certain piece was supposed to fit. "...Yes, yes! Okay, I'll put this one in..."

"Two pieces left for Toro!" The master gave constant updates on the red team. "One piece left..."

Once Espio place the final puzzle piece, the tribe already began to celebrate even before Master Hand made it official.

"TORO WINS IMMUNITY!"

"Oh, goodness..." Chica buried her face in her hands out of sudden anxiousness.

"We're looking for one more tribe!"

Coatí vs Quetzal

"Put that piece over there!"

"Dude, I'm literally right next to you." Panther did not want a repeat of the time where Plague actually had to lead an entire challenge by being picked as the caller for the tribe.

"Look, just listen to me. Okay? I'm pretty sure nobody from over here wants to go tribal so let's all fight to stay alive out here. Now put the piece over there!" He commanded as if Panther was suddenly an employee for Plague Knight's Explodatorium. Well, the panther himself appeared as if it was his regular shift with his 'manager' telling him what to do.

"Isabelle and Incineroar are working quickly..."

"Yes, that's it. You got it." Isabelle attempted at her best to work with him, knowing the Pokemon's disadvantage when it came to puzzles.

"Isabelle and Plague Knight." Survivor - Mexico's host noticed. "Both of them originated from the Brain tribe, and are both now directing their puzzle partners of how to properly assemble their puzzle together. "Interesting scenario. Though when it comes puzzles, who is more intelligent? Who will shine the brightest?"

"No, no, no, I want you to put it there!" The knight found Caroso's misplacing one of the blocks.

Mister Caroso never exactly liked his patience presumably being tested. In real life, he would have called out Plague on the spot for raising his voice at him the way he did. Yet since it technically was not, due to certain reasons, sometimes it was best to remain silent. It was the only way to deescalate specific situations.

"Coatí down to ten pieces left. Quetzal down to ten pieces left. Neck and neck!"

Tifa crossed her fingers, Funky Kong and Katt from their respective teams remaining to stare.

"You can do it, guys!" Chica shouted, a curious Toro tribe eyeing the scene and how it was going to play out.

"This piece goes here, right?" Incineroar asked Isabelle.

"...No, no, because then what would be over here by the tail?" The anthropomorphic dog found a problem. "Ugh... That can't be right. Here, let me see that one..."

"Quetzal notices that something's wrong. That opens the door for Coatí..."

Funky Kong cursed under his breath and completely turned away.

"Coatí down to five, four pieces left!"

"Just put it down. Put it down!" The smallest remaining knight barked to Panther.

"Three pieces left. Quetzal quickly trying to catch back up!"

Two...

One...

"Master Hand, we got it!" Plague Knight's shouting was as loud as it was for his entire Survivor adventure thus far, him pointing at the completed bull puzzle. "Look!"

...

"COATI WINS IMMUNITY!"

"Yes!" He jumped up and down, fist pounding the air completely beaming. "Yes, yes, yes, yes!"

"Oh my god, we won..." Chica heaved a major sigh of relief as the entire blue team gathered up, leaving Quetzal to only stand and wait until they were done.

"I'm sorry..." Incineroar mumbled to Isabelle.

"It's fine. We had like, four left."

"It's still my fault. I cost the challenge by one flipping puzzle piece..." He shook his head in disappointment.

Tifa stared at the ground, her head filled with a variety of emotions.

"Toro, you were in the lead for the entire challenge. Great teamwork..." Master Hand began handing out the idols, one being for Espio, and the other being for Plague Knight. "Coatí... Whatever system you had, it paid off. Here's immunity."

"Well worth it!" The masked covered knight held the second place idol of power high in the air.

"You guys can head back to your camps. Enjoy the night off."

As the nine of them left, there was only one tribe that needed to be spoken too.

"Alright, Quetzal. The four of you know what's coming next. Tribal Council night where someone will be the sixth person voted out of Survivor - Mexico (Brain vs Brawn vs Beauty). You will be down to three members. You have the afternoon to figure out who that's gonna be. I'll see ya tonight..."

Tifa Lockhart could not have been more upset at the dissatisfying challenge result. "I'm going home tonight... Like... It's pretty much guaranteed at this point. Of course I'm not gonna just sit down and wait for it, because I will fight as hard as I can to be out here, but... Realistically, I just don't see myself surviving tonight... But I guess at this point, I gotta believe in miracles. Maybe if I somehow make it day nineteen, it will be the Survivor Gods' plan..."

Yay! A full, new Survivor challenge made by KoopalingFan! And yes, I do plan on bringing back some challenges from my other two previous seasons. But like I said, no matter what challenge it is, the challenges are by far the hardest to write about in this series. You can't rush the challenge of course, and you gotta try your best to describe details, and Master Hand narrating the challenge... But I'm literally the narrator for this whole story lol. But you all get my point.

Anyway, woah... Quite a lot happened today...

Questions:

1. Is Tifa officially S-C-R-E-W-E-D?

2. *Sighs* What are your thoughts on Plague Knight this time? ...No wait, scratch that. Might as well including the entire Coatí tribe lol. It can be pretty much anything.

3. What'd you think of the small "meditation" scene at the Toro camp?

4. Is it safe to say that Incineroar is not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed? Or is Funky Kong simply living up to his name? (Or both)

Vote for your top five players this season and I will see you all soon!

(Updates on season four will start to come to light next week! Stay tuned!)