Survivor - Mexico (Brain vs Brawn vs Beauty)

Chapter 43 - Day 39 Part 2

Well, this is it. This is the second to last chapter of this story. And I actually posted a Ponderosa chapter for once. It's been a fun time as usual writing a fic for the Survivor community on here. I have three stories now, plus all those "Meet the Cast" and "Ponderosa" fics. But at this point, I think it's time to start preparation for my All Star season, Season 5's "Heroes vs Villains". I'll only talk about every now and then for right now because I'm still finishing up this story, but during Caribbean's run next spring, I will bring that season up a lot. Since it's my first All Star season, it's only right for me to treat it as such. I'm gonna go all in.

But for now, let's focus on whatever these eight jurors have to say to Plague Knight, Funky Kong, and Isabelle. I've read the reviews, and it seems like Funky Kong is predicted to win this. Either he pulls it off with his charisma, Isabelle manages to convince people, or um... Plague Knight somehow wows the entire jury. (Somehow)

Somebody's about to be the third winner of my series!

~KF


Final Tribal Council

Night 39


Back at the final tribal, Funky Kong, Plague Knight, and Isabelle were all patiently waiting for Master Hand to give the jurors the okay. They were just getting ready to either praise, or provide the three finalists with constructive criticism. Well, since it was the finals, why would constructive criticism not be expected? No one could have just gone to the end of the game and expect every single person from the jury praise them as if they were the best thing that ever existed in life. The only reason why that would fly over someone's head is if their ego was that big.

Yet based on the opening statement from all three finalists, they figured at least one person was going to question their gameplay at least.

"Alright, jury. Now is your time to shine. You've just heard the opening statements from Isabelle, Funky Kong, and Plague Knight, and I believe they are ready. Espio, why don't you get us started?"

"Very well." He calmly stood up and made his way over to where he stood on the other side of the fire pit to face the final three. "Greetings, all. Congratulations on accomplishing something that I couldn't. I hope you all feel proud of yourselves of all the hard work you put in."

Before he addressed the final three, he decided to briefly discuss about his own elimination. "I am pretty sure we all know what happened on day twenty-four where I... pretty much made a name for myself for being the first ever contestant to idol himself out of the competition."

They all calmly chuckled at the memory.

"Honestly, I did feel some kind of way at what happened, since that idol play from Specter would forever haunt me, but I want to hear from you three based off the time the game that you all played. We all came from the exact same tribe on day one, and yet we are all so different. Even the ones that were not able to make it as far as you all did." He shifted to Plague Knight. "And since I am discussing my own elimination, I suppose I'll get started with you, Plague Knight, due to you playing a large role in the blindside."

"..."

"...Do you hate me?"

Wow. What an awesome first question to ask from the first juror. Final tribal was off to a great start. Incineroar, Daisy, Ryu, Panther, and Chica were all attempting at their best not to laugh. No, not directly at Plague Knight, but it was certainly a question they should have, but never expected.

Yet for Plague Knight himself, he was actually not that surprised. "This is a game. Even if I did despise you, it wouldn't be personal."

"I see." He nodded in understanding. "Because you and I both know that I played a direct role in blindsiding Jimmy Hopkins back on day nine, after you both thought that I was in an alliance with you and that you two were planning on swinging Funky Kong. And as a result, it was as if you made a plan to seek revenge for every other person on the tribe."

"Well,... it was not that I was trying to get all of you out just for the heck of it." He defended himself. "I mean, how would you feel if you were on the bottom? Day twenty-four, seven people tried to vote me out and you all wanted me to be in Katt's place when the merge happened. Everything that I did in this game was not just because. It was all just so I can sit right here. Since this is outwit, outplay, and outlast, I am not just gonna sit there and just let people vote me off. Than I would have been a fool. Therefore, I pretty much had the choice to either be a fool, or be a player. We all signed up for this."

"I've got to admit, Plague, you do seem to have a good strategic mind for the game." That was one compliment for Plague. How many more he would have received from the jurors was certainly a question, though. "Not saying that everything you've done was perfect, but you are a rather decent competitor. However, there was a reason to why I asked that question. Without trying to put you down, in my personal opinion, I believe that if you were rather more humble about the way you were playing the game, you would have been perceived as a much bigger threat. Not just a threat to get to the end, but to get to the end and win, which of course are two different things."

"However, while I was reflecting at Ponderosa for the first day, I thought of each and everyone of my fellow competitors including yourself. It was rather interesting seeing you as the main underdog of the season." Compliment number two from the first juror. How lucky was he? "My strong advice is that while it is best to own your game to the fullest, at the same time, simply remember to be civil to your fellow castaways, and maybe you would actually get more jury votes than you would expect."

He moved onto the next finalist. Yet, Espio decided that he might as well tackled two finalists at once. "Funky Kong and Isabelle. You two were both in the alliance with myself and Golden, so I'll converse with you two at the same time. For starters, I'd like to thank you. Even though the Brain Tribe Alliance suffered a couple setbacks due to our eliminations, there are still three of us sitting at the finals, even bringing Plague along with you both. It does look rather nice to have ones like us sitting over there. You are not only representing the Brain tribe from this season, but for anyone who relates to us back at home."

The two other Brain members were grinning big.

"At our first Tribal Council, we discussed with the master that we were rather underestimated. Long story short, we felt that not enough people took us seriously due to stereotypes. But I suppose the main lesson of this season is that there is more than meets the eyes. In other words, never judge a book by its cover. And I think that multiple people from this season proved just that, even from the other two starting tribes."

Both nodded in full agreement.

"I wished I was in the game longer with you both, but sadly, it was simply not meant to be. However, you both know that it is a grand night for the both of you, as well as the jury. It is our responsibility to award someone a million dollars. I hope you two are ready. Answer any question within the best of your ability. Do not worry about answering them just for the sake of pleasing everyone. We just want you to be honest with your statements so that we would have all the information we need in order to make a decision. I wish you both the best of luck." Now he directed his attention back to all three of them once again. "I think by the way that they are three Brains here, perhaps the universe would understand that we are all no better, nor worse than anyone. It is just that some of us are rather used to thinking outside the box to get through tough situations. And with this game in particular, it has been quite an adventure. It's been a pleasure."

"Thanks, Esp."

"Thank you, Espio."

"Alright, Espio." Master Hand went on to call juror number two, martial artist, Ryu Hoshi. "Ryu."

Time for the martial artist's turn. "Alright... Hello, guys. I just wanna take a sec to congratulate all three of you. Not just individually, but as a group all together. Three of you from the same tribe made it to the end, while I was trying to vote my own guys off for my own plans."

They all slightly giggled at that.

"But for the most part, my vote is completely undecided. ...Plague Knight," He called out. "I think you were the most... underestimated comparing to the two."

"Thanks, I guess..."

"You slowly became the underdog as this season progressed, and underdogs are the type of people that I personally like to root for... especially considering that I was an underdog in real life myself." He admitted, though he knew it was not the main topic. "However,... even though I backstabbed my own team at times, I didn't go out of my way to constantly rub it in their faces or something."

"Like, don't get me wrong. You did make it to the end, but word went around all the time, especially from the other jurors. And in game, I saw some things with my own eyes. ...I'm pretty sure that you yourself were well aware of you going out of your way to disrespect other players every time something didn't go your way."

"Yeah, I know..." He nodded with a sigh. "One time you guys made a whole tribal all about me..."

"Well, in all honesty,... I feel like you needed to hear it. Everybody needs a little constructive criticism at times, even myself. I try to be the best person I can, but nobody's perfect, so you kinda have to hear things you might not wanna hear. But if you and Funky Kong for example switched places, I bet you would have called him out too for the same way. Long story short Plague, you are not the only person here competing for a million dollars."

"Okay, you're right. I'm sorry..."

"Just be sure to know that just because things don't revolve around you all the time, doesn't mean you have to go out of your way and constantly call people out just because they were on a different side than you at some portions in the game." He explained. "I mean, if the Brain Tribe alliance were straight up bullying you, then I understand. But clearly, they weren't. So my only suggestion to you is to please be respectful if things don't go in your favor. It really goes a long way."

Ryu wanted to talk about the ape next. "Funky Kong, you've brought an amazing energy to the game and I gotta say, you really made it fun. You're the only one from the Strong Guys Alliance to make it to the final three, so I suppose that's something to be proud of. I really could not think of any specific questions to ask you, because I don't think we talked enough as much as we both would have liked, so I've got something simple. What was your biggest move out here?"

"Hmm..." He thought for a moment. "You know what, this might not sound as the kinda big you might be speaking about, but it kinda did have an effect in the long run for me. And that is, you know, me winning the final eleven immunity challenge."

That was kind of a surprise for most people.

"It was the challenge where we had to hang onto a pole and I was up against you, actually. You were a great challenge competitor." Funky commented. "But the thing was that this was the part where we were finally going to vote off Plague Knight before he went around and voted off somebody from my tribe alliance. We all know what ended up happening with Espio being idol'd out, but the one thing that makes a difference here is the reason why he was eliminated."

"Plague, Specter, Chica, and Daisy all decided to split their votes because they figured that one of us Brains had the idol, so they casted two votes for Golden, and two votes for Espio. But you wanna know why the voted for him of all people? He was the next in line. Me and Golden were both physical threats, but because I won immunity, Espio was the next strongest threat right behind me. If I didn't have that necklace, I would not be sitting here speaking to you right now."

"Wow. That's actually a good point." Ryu grinned. "So it was a matter of winning it at the right time?"

"Yeah, but at the same time, it was more of a matter of my personal experience climbing and hanging onto things. You don't necessarily rely on luck to win challenges. I don't think moves should just revolve around flipping or play an idol. But I only say that now, because this could be one of those times."

"Alright, then. I'll take that into consideration when I get to vote..." He turned to the only female finalist of the three. "Isabelle, like Plague, I'd say you were also rather underestimated, but in a different way. You... kinda were under the radar most of the time, even though you did have a couple moments this season, such as for example, you declining Panther's offer from Plague of not wanting to flip on Funky Kong at the final six and choosing to remain loyal. It was an opportunity to vote him out, but you decided against it. May I ask why exactly?"

"I knew this question was gonna come up at some point." She chuckled at her correct prediction. "But basically, that was the whole point of trying to keep the Brains together. Me and Golden pretty much made a plan with Espio and Funky Kong to keep the Brains united for as long as possible. Golden and Funky Kong told us about the Strong Guys Alliance, but we trusted each other more, because we started the game together and we all voted together at our first and only Tribal Council together before the merge."

"Funky Kong was still a number for me, but I felt like the group did need to break up Funky Kong and Incineroar since Incineroar was Funky's closest ally at the time. But the point is that just like the Rosalina vote, comparing my tribe against your Brawn tribe for example, there was trust already established before we met people from different teams. Otherwise,... well, we would have ended up like your tribe."

"That does make sense..." Though Ryu was basically criticized for his gameplay, he felt he had no reason to be mad. "And your strategy paid off because the truth is lying in front of me."

He shifted to the master. "Alright, I think I've gotten what I could get."

"Thanks, Ryu." Master Hand moved on. "Golden. You're up."

Fredbear made his way over. "Alright... So it seems even though I'm on the jury, my plan has worked after all. There are three Brains dominating the entire final three, my congratulations to you all... But, because of that, my vote is completely undecided right now. Isabelle, I'd say you were the glue that held everybody together after I left, but Funky, you never made any enemies and we were close allies from the beginning. Sure, it was either me or you at one point, but I'm pretty sure we both know what happened at this point."

He snickered as Specter Knight shook his head.

"So,... in order for me to get information out of all three of you, I'm going to ask to most generic questions you could possibly imagine."

That made all three them laugh, including Plague Knight.

"Funky Kong,... why do you deserve to be the Sole Survivor over Isabelle and Plague Knight?"

"Well," He went right into it. "since you're already here, I'd say that we both had a friendship since you remind me of my cousin. But other than that, based off what the game was post-merge, I'd say me and you had the advantage over everyone else in the merge. Like, think about it. We were both in the majority alliance on the Brain Tribe, but also strong enough to be part of the Strong Guys Alliance. Not to mention, we both had the social skills and bonds with other that would have kept both of us in the game longer. You know that I never actually wanted to vote you out. But if you stayed in the game, I would have definitely kept you on."

"And..." He face his other competitors on each side one by one. "I'm sorry... to the both of you."

"Don't apologize." Plague Knight shook. "He asked you a question and you have to answer it. Tell him why we don't deserve to win."

"Okay, alright... Well, I don't even think we need to explain how Plague Knight acted. We all know at this point. But for Isabelle,... well, I guess she was rather weak in most of the challenges, and the one challenge she did win was basically a chance for anybody to get the necklace. And even though we both made it to the end, I feel like I was an even bigger target than her. Excuse for mention the Espio blindside again, but because of me winning that challenge, that bumped me up eight places. Isabelle would have been the last option the minority four would have considered since she was the weakest, which was why she was a target in the beginning in the first place.'

Isabelle Cosgrove had no reaction, since she found everything to be rather truthful.

"Isabelle." Fredbear spoke again. "Now it's your turn. Why do you deserve to win and not Funky and Plague?"

"Well, even though I am not a strong competitor and didn't have to fight as hard in the challenges like Funky Kong, like you just said, I was the glue that held everybody together. It's like when a parent dies and the child has to carry on their legacy, and I did just that with the three of us sitting here right now. If it weren't for me staying in the game, the Brain alliance would have been more likely to fall apart. And I don't mean to beat up Plague again," At this point, the knight was not even facing any particular direction. "but to answer your question,... he's basically a sore loser that is in the finals. It's like being an underdog, but most underdogs that people root for are likable in some sort of way."

"Okay, then... Plague Knight, how about you? Now, you can clearly tell so far that you are getting the most heat at the moment, but I believe you deserve a fair chance like the two you're sitting next to."

He nodded in complete agreement.

"So tell me. Why do you deserve to win this game and not them?"

"Like Isabelle said, I was an underdog for this fighting my way to get here." He restated Isabelle's point, though only to a certain extent. "Maybe I'm not as likable as you all wanted, but look what I had to go through. My number one ally was blindsided, I was lucky enough to go on an immunity winning streak when I swapped even though I was all alone and even contributed to probably the worst challenge performance in Survivor history, I was considered an option to be voted out at the first two post-merge Tribal Councils, including the infamous Espio blindside, and Specter and I began plotting and scheming to protect both of our backs. But even after my closest ally got eliminated again, I became the swing vote not once, twice. Now, comparing all that to what Isabelle and Funky Kong had to go through, I have the biggest story out of all three of us. These two didn't have to go through much."

Ooh.

"Hmm... Interesting." Golden said. "I believe everyone here had different responses. Now all I gotta do is think about it."

"Thanks, Golden... Specter Knight, you're up."

The taller knight made his way, and something told the final three that they needed to be prepared for that juror in particular.

"Alright... I actually have quite a bit to say for all three of you." He warned. "This could take a while. My apologies in advance, but when us jurors have to make a million dollar decision, if you expected this to be easy, you're a fool."

Okay...

"So here's how I'm going to do it. Based off what I have to say, it is best if I start with Funky Kong first, Isabelle second, and save Plague Knight for last."

It was quite obvious to the master alchemist of why he was chosen last.

"Funky Kong. Earlier when you explained your opening statement, you made it known that you were well aware of yourself not being known as the first strategist one would think of. Although I do agree that not everything is about having a cut throat strategy to get yourself through your darkest days out here, at the same time, let's see say that part of what Plague Knight said was true. You had no sort of struggle whatsoever throughout your adventure. Isabelle at least had a rough start in the beginning and she was forced into a fire making challenge at the last Tribal Council. Of course you won immunity when Espio was eliminated, but it was not even realized that you needed it until after the fact. But other than that, you never really had to go through much to get to the end."

"I actually see that as kind of a good thing." Funky Kong disagreed. "No one was ever able to vote me out. My name was written down, but it was never enough votes for me to be voted out. And like I said, I was actually a bigger target than Isabelle. But I've gotten myself here due to me just... being me and because of my relationships. Even when me and Golden backstabbed each other, I didn't do anything to annoy anyone in the jury."

"That could be a good thing in the way, so I'll give you a pass on that, however, I believe you and Isabelle have the same problem. You two are so blinded by tribe unity, you and her are both willing to take each other to the end, which in my book, does not make any sort of sense. If you really desire to be the Sole Survivor and if you desperately want to win the prize money, you would do everything in your power to not just get to the end, but to get to the end and win it all. But since you seem to not care about strategy whatsoever, it contributed to you sitting at the end with Isabelle, knowing that she was actually a threat unlike people such as Chica or Incineroar. Sure, it is already unsatisfying to see them make it all the way to sixth and fourth place, with one of them being one of the biggest goats of all time,"

Looks like the finalists were not the only ones that were going to get attacked by Specter. Yet if Incineroar could have, he definitely would have attempted to punch Specter right about now.

"I would have taken at least one of them to the end if I would have liked any chance of willing. All this relates back to my point of you not wanting to strategize. You might personally loathe it, but if you are unwilling to strategize,... why are you here? Did you not apply for this? What is the point of coming out here if you are not even going to attempt to actually win this competition? You are going to have to strategize whether you like it or not."

The scythe wielder was certainly not making things easy for the ape, as Kong simply sat in his place with no comment.

"At least Isabelle strategized when she needed to, and speaking of..." It was now her turn to face him. "you also have a problem with taking your competition to the end. Though I give you credit for having the mentality to not just get to the end, but also win, you are flawed as well. I can understand you keeping Funky Kong over Rosalina based on what the circumstances were, but at the final six? Look, I get that you did not want to go back on your word, but this game is not about playing with honor and integrity, which is the exact opposite mentality you have to have out here. It is not about who is the most morally correct. You basically did not want anything to do with anyone from the other tribes. You rarely stepped outside your small little circle. At least with Funky Kong, he had a friendship with Incineroar, which makes a major difference of who's the better social player. Though many of these people have called you a 'nice' person, you did not use that to your fullest potential by not socializing much outside of your alliance. Though I personally prefer being a strategist over being sociable, that social game could possibly give you the edge over the other competition. And Funky Kong definitely wins in that department by a large margin."

She just sat and listened.

"But getting back to the point, your biggest problem is that you seem to be willing to stick to your tribe no matter the cost, even if they are perceived to be bigger threats than you. Therefore, I believe your better option would have been to take Funky out at six when you were approached to do so. It is as if you are completely unaware that the whole purpose of voting out other competitors is to eliminate your bigger competition just to put yourself in a better position. That is why people on the same tribe backstab each other. At least they're willing to do whatever it takes to get the votes. The fact that both of you took each other to the end with no regrets whatsoever is beyond me."

"Well, based off what Plague Knight's plan was, if I did take out Funky at final six, and if Panther would have left after that, I would have been the last obstacle Plague would have needed to overcome. I would have been the last target because if Panther was still taken out at five, that leaves me against the world, and I would have had to win final immunity. Otherwise, I would have been toast." The female dog like creature said in self-defense. "And besides, at least I was willing to vote out Incineroar to weaken Funky Kong."

"Right..." His arms were now folded. "And I bet if Incineroar was on your tribe, you would have never even considered it..."

"..."

"The only reason why you are not looking like a goat right now is because of you willing to strategize, and you sitting with Plague, so I'd say that you are somewhat lucky." Now onto Plague Knight himself. "Your turn..."

"Go ahead..." He appeared to be ready for it.

"I believe that you have heard enough about how disrespectful you were."

Huh. It appeared Plague Knight was set to actually get a break for once.

"You are well aware that everything something did not go your way, you threw a hissing fit like a child. Quite immature, but based on the speeches from the other jurors and myself criticizing you for this, I believe we've made our point. All that you need to be aware of is that if you haven't acted that way, people would have took you more seriously."

"However," He raised a finger. "if there's one thing I can say, is that personally, I believe you were the biggest strategist of the three."

That made Plague and a few others widen their eyes.

"Not the best strategist, but the biggest. There's a difference. Let's talk about why you were not the best strategist. One, you relied on others far too often to execute your plans, even after you were left all alone to fend for yourself. You relied on me to help lie and deceive others just so you kept me in the game to protect you, and you relied on Panther to attempt to persuade Isabelle to blindside Funky Kong. And two,... you actually could have won. Not just by having at least a slightly better attitude, but at the final six, you've made a crucial mistake."

Now the knight was confounded. If Specter believe that there was a mistake he made, he would have definitely loved to hear it.

"You went on yet another hissing fit after hearing that Isabelle refused to vote Funky Kong out of the game and that she'd rather vote for Incineroar. You claimed that without her vote, there would have been a tie. Three votes for Funky Kong, three votes for Chica since Panther won immunity. However, judging by your reaction, you have never thought about this, so it looks like I'm going to have to tell you myself... You still would have actually gotten your way at that point."

"...?"

"Let me break it down. You could have just have yourself, Panther, and Chica vote for Funky Kong, let Isabelle vote for Incineroar to make her look foolish, and just let Incineroar and Funky Kong write down Chica. ...That means Funky gets blindsided in a 3-2-1 vote. It's basic math."

!

Upon immediate realization, Plague Knight leaned forward and shook his head, resting against his left fist. Wasted opportunity.

"And assuming how the rest of the season played out," Specter was not done yet. "since Funky would have left, you would have won the challenge at the final five, guaranteeing Panther's elimination. Chica would have won the final four challenge since she was next in line to get the necklace, guaranteeing Isabelle's elimination... You would have won a million dollars and beat Incineroar and Chica in a landslide."

"..." If one could have seen Plague Knight's face, it would have been the face that read, 'I just made a million dollar mistake.'

"And you're a Brain, too. All you had to do was to think outside the box, and you have failed to do that. But moving on," He changed the subject. "you are still the biggest strategist based off of everything you went through. Even though you relied on others to do your dirty work, you had some sort of independence and some things have in fact gone your way. For example, Golden was eliminated at the final nine thanks to the two of us. You voted correctly to get Panther out. You were a crucial swing vote at the final seven. But most importantly, one of your biggest moves was at the final four. Funky and Isabelle were gullible enough to believe that you were still with them for the whole way, resulting in them being shocked when you forced a tie at the fire making challenge. And if Isabelle was actually sent home, you would have gotten all the credit for it. So even though you were not the best strategist, you were the biggest strategist of the finalists. I thought you would have been a complete failure at final tribal, but... you've actually proven me wrong. To an extent,... I am impressed. ...I'm done here."

"...Thanks, Specter Knight." And that came from Plague, not the master.

"...Daisy, you're up."

"Alllright..." She sounded, not wasting any time making her way across the bench to the fire pit with a sigh. "Okay... So,... I guess since the Beauty tribe was the underdog tribe in this season, you guys were the top dog tribe, so congrats for tribe domination, I suppose..."

They waited for her to say more.

But when Daisy looked up to the sky in thought, she heaved a sigh again. "Okay, to be honest, I don't really know what to say here. I've had time to think about what I'm gonna say, but most of the things that I wanted to say were already spoken by the other jurors, and you all even answered some questions that I already had in mind. ...However, maybe it could be leading up to what I'm thinking about right now... Did any of you really get to know anybody? ...Outside of the alliance?"

"I mean, we all know who all three of you are, especially Plague, but this is more to Funky Kong and Isabelle. Like Specter said,... neither of you really interacted with that many people outside of your tribe alliance. But of course, Brains were all about sticking together to the bitter end, but... I guess this is why I pretty much have almost nothing to say right now." She elaborated. "I don't feel like I've actually gotten know any of you, and none of you I felt actually took the time to get to know me, or basically, anyone that is from my tribe. The funny thing is that I think all of the Beauty members have no idea how to vote at all."

Panther and Chica both either smirked or giggled.

"And like Specter Knight said, Isabelle, I can't really remember much conversations you've had with other people that you weren't closely aligned with. But Funky Kong, I believe it was a missed opportunity that we never really got to know each other on a personal level. You apparently came out here to have fun, but I came out here to have fun, too. The only person I could think of that you spent quite some time with... was him." She directed a finger to Incineroar. "But I feel the two of us also had similar personalities. ...So, why didn't either of you think about the other people you were competing with that just weren't part of your overall plan? I mean, even though we weren't part of your tribe, we still played with you."

Funky Kong sighed and glanced away for a brief moment. "Okay... I guess you're right. You all know what I am like, but I do agree with what you're saying. I may have talked with my alliance plus Incineroar a lot, but now that I think about it, I don't really feel like I've taken the time to get to know you all. I'm not gonna come up with a million excuses, since for the most part, we're just doing nothing but random chores if we're not strategizing. So if any of you kinda feel awkward about coming up here to approach me about how I played the game because of that, I do apologize."

"I don't want you to beat yourself up too hard." Daisy shook her head. "At least we get you. You're fun, outgoing, adventurous. Just be sure to remember that it's also important that in order for people to get a personal opinion of you, the least you could have done was to have one on one conversations just like you did with the ones you were closest with."

"I'd like to apologize as well." Isabelle spoke up. "I felt like I didn't bother to get to know any of you outside of my alliance, so I guess you guys have every right to hold that against me if that's part of your criteria for tonight. I might go back to being busy again in real life, but since we're all gonna meet again soon anyway, maybe at that point we'll be contact with each other and find some time for us to really get to know each other."

"I think that'd be fun." Daisy Rose smiled. "I can't wait for it."

"Thanks, Daisy... Incineroar."

Daisy's worst enemy was called up right after her.

"Alright..." He clapped and held his hands together. "I don't really have much to say to Isabelle or Plague Knight, but I'd like to take this time to give my man, Funky Kong, a chance here."

Donkey Kong's cousin was close to laughing.

"I remembered when we first met, you were gushing all over me because of my profession, but we actually did take the time to get to know each other, and it just went uphill from there. You told me at some point that if all went well, we would have made at least final four. I don't know if anyone else was willing to take me that far, but it's better than sixth place for sure. I came out here to prove that famous people can come out and deserve to have a fair chance of this, and you came out here just to have a good time. So in a way, I became a fan of you as well. Now we're even."

A laugh actually escaped from him this time.

Yet unexpectedly, Incineroar actually turned around to face the other jurors. "I dunno what you guys are gonna do or how are you all gonna vote, but the way I'm voting, I'm voting for the one sitting right in the middle, because he deserves it."

Daisy almost wanted to roll her eyes.

"This guy is just great. That's it. He gets along with pretty much everyone, and after looking at all of you, I can not name a single here who he had a problem with. There's just nothing you can say bad about this guy, and you all know it. Not saying that you can't vote for him, but just think about it. All he wanted to do was come out here and be himself and there he is sitting right there."

"Thanks, Incineroar."

"Thanks, buddy." The bandanna wearing monkey grinned.

"Panther, you're up."

Slowly rising, he exited the jury bench to his left instead of his right, due to him being on the opposite end.

"So, the smart ones have proved to be the winners at the end of the war this season." The StarFox character stated. "I think it's good this season is about looking beyond the surface. For me in particular, I ain't just a handsome flirt machine."

That made at least half of the contestants burst out with laughter, including Master Hand himself.

"The last thing I want is to have people think that I just like to flirt with girls. Funky Kong knows all about how to be yourself out here, and I think I did just that. So now that I'm standing in front of you, maybe this would be a good time to clear any misconception people might have about you. Funky, since I already brought your name up, you go first. What do people think about you that might not be true?"

"Well,... there were actually times in the game where I confessed to myself that people might underestimate me. Because of me being outgoing and just wanting to hanging out with friends on a big adventure and everything, I feel like some might think that I'm not really the sharpest tool in the shed. But look, this ape ain't stupid, alright? This ape ain't stupid. Just because of how I am don't mean nothin'. For example, the time I figured out that Ryu was the reason Jet got kicked off even though we were never on the same tribe until the merge. Or like how I placed first in the final six challenge, and that had a big puzzle. In this season, I thought I was terrible at puzzle challenges, so I guess the way that certain puzzle was set up, it reminded me of all the inventions I had to make just to aid DK and Diddy back at home. I may not have been the best strategist of all time, but you can't deny that I at least know how to think. I mean, I was put on the Brains for a reason. Don't underestimate me just because of my personality."

"Well put." He seemed to be proud of his answer. "Plague?"

"...You know what,... I think a perfect example of what I'm about to say is how I performed this season." The alchemist said. "After Jimmy left, people thought it was only a matter of time for them to vote me out, especially after I might have rubbed them the wrong way too much. But then they tried to vote me out, but they just couldn't. Though the thing is that I can hold my own. I own an entire laboratory for crying out loud. Don't think that I can't hold my own out here. Okay, I might have needed some help, but not all the time! Why do you think I voted for Isabelle at final four? Chica still got booted, but at least I was willing to make a move, because I could have been a coattail rider and only cared about making it to the end if I just voted for Chica and called it a day. Same with me voting for Daisy and Panther when I was in a position of power. I strategically voted those two off just for my own game. I want to win Survivor as well, so I hope with all that I've done, people will see that I at least deserve to be seen as a competitor just like everybody else."

"Pretty good response." Panther nodded in satisfaction. "Isabelle?"

She sighed. "Okay, so I'm the mayor's assistant back at the town, so I already have a huge responsibility. And I guess it taught me how to have a little bit of patience here and there. So when I came out here, after I had a set back when I was targeted for being the weakest player on my tribe, I thought with just a bit of patience and a little bit of luck, I could get through this. And look, here I am. I went from almost being the first boot of my tribe to sitting in the final three." That was when she began to get a bit emotional. "And you know, I don't feel like I just sat down and floated just to get to the end. I sat down with a plan and put it into motion a bit later on between the swap and the merge and I stuck with it. I never really had to change or alter my plan in any way. I've gone through crucial Tribal Councils, surprisingly won a challenge, having someone playing an idol on me because just for the sake of my plan, to fighting for my life in a fire making challenge. Like, I'm sure that other people worked harder than me in the game to get to whatever place they got, but personally, I did feel like I had to overcome a come obstacles both in and outside of the game. And... I really do feel like I've... I've achieved something, especially when I might be considered to be the weakest competitor to ever play the game... But here I am sitting at the finals... And I'm proud of that."

"Great answers from all three of you." Panther Caroso concluded. "I think my job is done."

"Thanks, Panther." It was almost over. "Chica, finish this off."

The anthropomorphic chicken made her way over.

"Hi, guys..." She had a smile, but underneath, she felt she was rather hurt. "I'm still trying to get over the fact that I was only a fire making challenge away from sitting there, but I'm not mad. I'm just upset that I couldn't win that or the final immunity challenge. Those were two chances that I had of making it to the end. But I guess if I was there, that would have ruined the all Brain final three. Still, I think I did pretty good. I kind of had my own struggles this season and I made it all the way to final four, a place that I would have never expected. I guess that's why people always tell others to never give up."

"So I guess I've learned a lesson out here. There's actually nothing wrong with having a bit of confidence and yourself and telling yourself you can do it. No matter how much you may doubt yourself sometimes, you can be surprised of what you can really do if you just give yourself that extra push that you might need. So please, don't let anybody tell you anything that might shake your confidence. Sometimes, all you really need to do is listen to yourself. That being said, I think that's one thing I want you all to realize when we all leave her tonight."

"Thanks, Chica." Master Hand was ready to move on to part three of the Final Tribal Council, the final statements. "Okay... Jury, you've had your chance to address Funky Kong, Plague Knight, and Isabelle. We could finish this off here, but right now is a good opportunity to give these three finalists one last chance to defend themselves and their game. ...So, Plague Knight, this is your chance to give your final statement on why you deserve to win. If there's anything that you couldn't say before, say it now. This is your final opportunity to sway the jury to your side. Go."

"When I first came out here, I was actually mad at how we started, you know? With the hike to camp and with it being a different type of location. It was rough for all of us. So if that was bad, it was terrible for me after what happened at my first tribal. I thought that things couldn't possibly get any worse. But as the game went on, I slowly began to make a name for myself out here by strategically moving my way along. When I told myself that I was going to outsmart others, I did that. I approach Specter Knight when I heard my name come up, and that caused the biggest blindside in Survivor history. If I didn't do that, I would have been the first juror instead of sitting in the final three."

Specter Knight kept his arms tied with his head cocked to the side.

"But I didn't give up at that point. I continued to fight just so I could avoid being targeted. I even helped make my own tribemates turn on each other just to save my own skin, and after Specter finally left, not counting the last tribal where the fire making challenge happened, I stayed on the right side of the numbers. Sure, I should have held back a little bit when it came to me dealing with other players, but final tribal is not about who is the most friendly out of everyone here. This is about owning your game and restate all the things you did, and I pretty much own my game and how I played. The underdog of this season had a rough time out here, but with the finals, I'd say the underdog became the victor at the end."

"Isabelle."

"I also didn't really have the best start out here even though my tribe was on an early winning streak. After it became known that I was the weakest on my tribe, I received two votes at my first tribal, but luckily, Espio, Golden, and Funky Kong all spared me. And from that point, I felt like I genuinely owed it to them after they all went out of their way to save me and take out Jimmy, rather than simply keeping the tribe unified. So to make it up to them, I slowly put my plan together on what I really wanted to do. The first time I saved Funky Kong, it was just to keep the Brains together. When I hit the merge, I said to myself that maybe it's best to keep all the Brains tight. I helped protect them, and they helped to protect me. Yes, my plan didn't always work, but for the most part it did, since all three people that are sitting here come from the same tribe, even somebody that was not even part of my alliance."

"Sure, I may not have been on the radar for most of the time, but it's better than being on the radar and not trying to make yourself a huge threat just to be eliminated early in the game. My simple plan was to keep my tribe together. And whether I made a million big moves or not, at the end of the day, I stated what my plan was, and I stuck to it to the end and never went back on my word. And when it comes to Survivor of all things where you really can't make any promises, if I promised that there was gonna be an all Brain final three where they stuck together the whole way, well, here we are."

A couple of the jurors seemed to rather amazed by her speech.

"Funky Kong."

"Okay, so like I said before, I may not be the absolute smartest player to ever play the game, but it doesn't mean that I'm not smart at all. I was put on the Brain tribe just like these two were, and I think brain power is a very important part to the game. You don't even have to be the best strategist to actually use it at times. One thing was that back on day nine when I heard that people were throwing Jimmy's name out there and Golden and Espio wanted to keep Isabelle around, I could have turned them down and stuck with the easy vote, rather than take out a potential threat. But I had a bond with Golden, so that motivated me to help keep Isabelle in the game. Then when we swapped, Incineroar filled me in on the dynamics of his old tribe, and I've managed to figure out what Ryu's intentions were at the time of him basically manipulating both Incineroar and Jet for the sake of his own game. And I think that caused us both to grow closer. And then after both Golden and Incineroar got blindsided, it cause me and Isabelle to grow closer, making us work together for the rest of the game. So because of the bonds that I was establishing, then at that point it was where I thought to myself how could I progress through the game strategically with this."

"Like I said before, it was a wasted opportunity for me to get to know all of you, but you guys still say that I never had to make any enemies and never did anything to any of you. So that really says something about the type of social game that I played. It really doesn't take much to be yourself out here and at least be willing to chat with others around here. Sure, strategy plays a big part out here, but the bonds you may have with others, I'd say it really does go a long way."

And with that, he finished explaining what he felt needed to be said.

"Alright, jury." Master Hand talked. "You should have all the information you need in order to make a million, dollar, decision. Tonight, you are voting for a winner. You are voting for the person you believe should be worthy of having the title of Sole Survivor and the million dollar check that goes along with it. For the last time, it is time to vote... Espio, you're up."

Let the final voting round of the season begin, only with it being for a winner like Master Hand stated.

Espio was now at the voting urn staring straight at the camera. "This is rather difficult. We have been here for nearly two hours and the entire time I was going... Isabelle... Funky Kong... Isabelle... Funky Kong..."

He started to write a vertical line down on the parchment. For all the audience knew, it could have been an 'I' for Isabelle, or part of the letter 'F' for Funky Kong.

Though Ryu's vote was unseen, Golden's was the opposite, holding the name of 'Funky Kong' up to the camera.

"You are right. You did not make a single person mad at this game, myself included even though you voted me out. That explains a lot about your social game. You're awesome."

Funky Kong sat patiently as he watched Specter Knight leave his spot from the jury bench. And by the time he got to the voting booth, he took his time spelling out Plague Knight's name.

"In comparison to the other two, I'd say you have evolved the most. You could have been even better, but I am more than honored to give you this vote."

Plague Knight had his hands clenched as they remained in his lap waiting for the rest of the jurors to cast their votes.

After Daisy had her turn, when Incineroar got up, he immediately gave Funky Kong a smirk on his way down, him giving him a smirk back in response silently chuckling to himself.

"Panther's casting his vote now." Once again Panther spoke in the third person as he uncapped the pen.

As for Chica, she ended up voting for the only female contestant in the final three.

"I listened to what you had to say. And knowing me, it seems that you had your personal struggles as well as I did. Me, you, and Plague all had rocky starts in this game, but of course I'm not voting for Plague and I'm not in the final three, so that leaves you. You really deserve to be here."

By the time Chica came back, Isabelle turned to face the master hand as well as the two gentlemen.

"For the last time, I'll go get the votes."

That was it. The season was over. At least for the actual filming of the thirty-nine days.

"That's it..." Funky Kong mumbled, using his hands to grab the shoulders of both Plague Knight and Isabelle. "We're all finally going home..."

Master Hand for the last time came back with urn and placed it down on the table. "Alright... Isabelle, Plague Knight, Funky Kong, jury, thank you all for another fun season of Survivor. I'll see you all back in America for the reading of the votes..."

With that, he officially made his way out of Tribal Council, this time, using the entrance where the castaways always came through.

-/-

Back in Los Angeles in the arena, Master Hand emerged from backstage onto the main stage, where it was put together to resemble Mexico's Tribal Council. The jury was seen sitting down on a bench with them wearing more sharp clothing for the most part, including Isabelle, Funky Kong, and Plague Knight who all sat together side by side.

The audience was erupting more than ever before.

"Alright, have a seat!" The hand shouted. "Have a seat!"

As the crowd sat down in their chairs, the arena grew quiet rather quickly. "Okay... So here we are. I have all eight votes in this urn. But before I read them, thank you all for a great season of the show. We have these eighteen castaways to thank for that, but now, here we are... Funky Kong... Plague Knight... Isabelle... One of these three is about to earn a million dollars."

He faced to the eight competitors that successfully made it to the jury phase. "Jury, thank you all for the votes. Now it is time for the winner to be revealed. It's now or never."

"As for you all out there," He directed his attention to the crowd once more. "keep in mind that these are votes for a winner. Now,... I'll read the votes... First vote... Funky Kong."

He chuckled a bit as the crowd cheered.

"One vote Funky Kong."

He revealed vote number two.

"Funky Kong."

Now the crowd grew even louder, the ape already feeling anxious, yet excited simultaneously.

"Two votes Funky Kong..."

"...Plague Knight."

The alchemist simply clapped in response, already knowing where his vote came from.

"Two votes Funky Kong, one vote Plague Knight." Master Hand kept the score.

"Isabelle."

Her fans finally got their chance to cheer.

"Two votes Funky Kong, one vote Plague Knight, one vote Isabelle."

Now it was her turn to feel nervous.

"...Funky Kong."

Half the crowd was nearly screaming at that point.

"Oh boy..." Funky mumbled to himself.

"Three votes Funky Kong, one vote Plague Knight, one vote Isabelle."

"...Isabelle."

She widened her eyes in reaction.

"Three votes Funky Kong, two votes Isabelle, one vote Plague Knight." The host of the show recalled. "Two votes left..."

"We're tied."

Both Funky and Isabelle's hearts sank into their stomachs.

"Three votes Isabelle, three votes Funky Kong, one vote Plague Knight, one vote left."

Yet the crowd and fans from back home were likely just as anxious as they were.

"The winner of Survivor - Mexico (Brain vs Brawn vs Beauty)..." Master Hand took his time unfolding the last vote before it was revealed. "Isabelle!"

With the crowd going nuts as the season's them began to play, she gasped in shock as she covered her face with her hands, slowly rising from her spot standing on her feet. The gentlemen next to her took their time to hug her individually as a congratulations before she made her way down the stairs, and the first person she met was Villager who embraced her immediately.

"You did it! You did it!"

On the main screen in the arena, it was shown that back in Isabelle's hometown, her fellow citizens were cheering away.

"Isabelle! Isabelle! Isabelle!"

While they were doing so, Katt came from backstage to meet the other castaways, followed by Tifa, Rosalina, Jet, Jimmy, Bandanna Dee, and King Knight.

"Well, Jimmy Hopkins had it right!" Master Hand spoke. "He predicted that somebody from his tribe was going to win this season, and it ended up being an all Brain final three. And in the end, with hard work and determination, Isabelle's the winner in a 4-3-1 vote! But even after all that, we are still not done! In just a few minutes, we are gonna sit down with all eighteen castaways to reflect on the season, which was a fun one. Had a tame start, but later new records were set once again, including what is now known to be the biggest blindside in the history of Survivor thus far with Espio idoling himself out of the game. We also had the introduction of the Idol Nullifier and our first ever fire making challenge. But since Isabelle one, it does raise some questions. Did Funky Kong make a million dollar mistake? We're gonna discuss about the season, we're gonna have our Player of the Season award where somebody is going to win an extra hundred thousand dollars. And to finish it off, we are going to reveal plans for next season. It is the Survivor - Mexico reunion show!"


Votes:

Isabelle - Espio, Ryu, Daisy, Chica

Funky Kong - Golden, Incineroar, Panther

Plague Knight - Specter Knight

-/-

3rd Place: Plague Knight

2nd Place: Funky Kong

WINNER:Isabelle

-/-

4-3-1


Well, there you have it. It was basically Funky Kong versus Isabelle and Isabelle won.

I'd like to thank you all for supporting this story, as well as my series. It really keeps me going and it motivates me to make more season of the show. Kodai Island was just basically some sort of thing I decided to do after I recently became a fan of Survivor, now I'm finishing my third season!

I enjoyed writing the Final Tribal Council. The last four jurors were rather difficult when it came to their speeches, but Daisy pretty much summed it up in hers as to why. But nonetheless, Isabelle stuck with her plan and it paid off. A controversial player, but a winner at the end of the day. And yeah, I do agree that both Funky Kong and Plague Knight both made a million dollar mistake. But Funky Kong is taking the most heat since his decision was pretty obvious. All he had to do was to write down Isabelle with Plague Knight and Chica, and Funky wins in a landslide. But because of him not wanting to strategize that much, I'd say this came to bite him right in the butt lol.

So, now what's gonna happen? We have one more chapter left, the reunion show. This is the last chapter where you can vote for your top five players of this season and right now it's a tie between Funky Kong and Incineroar of all people for Player of the Season. So, if you haven't already, go ahead and vote.

I'd say more, but we have just one more chapter to finish this off, so this is still not over yet! Stay tuned and I encourage everyone to review!