*Last time on Survivor Crossover: Dry Dry Desert...*
Unable to rest over yesterday's cliffhanger involving a private duel between Princess Peach and Engineer, the survivors spent their morning spectating and anticipating one of the two to emerge from the pipe, leaving the other to be presumed Jury. Once the victor of last night's challenge, Engineer, jumped from the pipe, it was confirmed that the two alliances that remained were now tied in numbers.
After Luigi's mournful mood had been lifted by his tribemates, the six remaining survivors were unexpectedly visited by Alexa. During his stay, he dropped off a gift to each survivor in the form of a sealed letter. Though they were made to believe that the contents of the letters would be positive, they were greeted with the welcome surprise of a motivational message from their friends and family. Even ROB and Samus, two people with no friends outside of the show, received letters from eliminated contestants. And with that, they were all more ready than ever to tackle tomorrow's challenge...
When the challenge rolled around, the survivors entered the final challenge pipe in the Challenge Dunes, black in color. Upon entering, they were swiftly transported to a mysterious, castle-like building and were placed at the end of a long hall-way. With the only three notable things in the hall being a mysterious banner, a distinctive lack of Alexa, and the pipe that brought them there suddenly vanishing, they were given the incentive to move forward.
As they made it to the end of the corridor, Alexa appeared and told them about the challenge. Though his explanation was fuzzy in detail, all they knew was that they would be racing through what he called the Fatal Fortress. The first person to finish the race would receive immunity, leaving the other five to duke things out at Tribal Council.
Each hall that the survivors traveled through presented a different challenge, from tight platforming to solving combination puzzles, to a final staircase climb up the fortress. The leads quickly changed from person to person, starting with ROB for the first hall, then to Samus, and finally to Luigi as he made it to the final section of the race. Though ROB and Samus were close behind him throughout most of it, the former's lack of fuel and Luigi's incredible physical skills resulted in him barely winning the immunity for himself.
Back at tribe, the survivors were aware that Tribal Council would resort to a rock draw considering the three-on-three situation that they were in. Having thought that, ROB's private talk with Samus sparked distrust in Engineer, and he began getting wary of a potential blindside from her. On the contrary, Little Mac was confident that she wouldn't betray the alliance.
Meanwhile, Phoenix expressed concern for the potential outcome of him being eliminated by rocks, or worse, blindsided by ROB. Though the conversation he had with Luigi ended in some of his more delusional theories being shot down, the lawyer still feared for his chances moving forward.
As these two groups expressed their concerns and doubts, ROB attempted to persuade Samus into voting Engineer, saying that it was the far safer option. Despite his arguments, his persuasion failed, and Samus made it clear that she'd rather take the risk...
In Tribal Council, the expected had happened. A tie had broken out between Phoenix and Engineer. As Alexa forced the survivors to vote for a second time (excluding the two tied individuals), another tie between them escalated the Council into the show's second rock draw. Due to their tied statuses, Engineer and Phoenix didn't participate. In addition, Luigi's immunity made it so he didn't participate. This left Samus, Little Mac, and ROB to draw rocks...
As their rocks were revealed, Little Mac had drawn the fatal purple rock. Upset and stunned by the outcome, the boxer took his leave and brought the roster of survivors down to five...
The Finale every survivor had been hoping to get to is here! Who will miss the mark? Who are the Jury planning to crown as the winner? And what other twists and turns await Engineer, Samus, ROB, Luigi, and Phoenix in the ultimate Finale of Survivor Crossover: Dry Dry Desert?!
Super Stars: Day 31
Survivors: Phoenix Wright - Luigi - Engineer - ROB - Samus Aran.
Today marked one of the hottest days that the survivors had experienced in the desert. The scorching sun turned the sand and jagged rocks in the Super Stars tribe into ovens capable of cooking any bare skin that made contact with it for too long. Because of this dangerous heat, the five were tucked beneath the shelter, where the temperature was fairly tolerable.
With no information on when they would begin the onslaught that was the Finale, they spent their day discussing their time spent in the Dry Dry Desert.
"So this is it, huh," Phoenix said. "There's not much left until it's all over."
"Indeed," nodded ROB. "We've stayed in this desert for an entire month... well, barring the few occasions we traveled outside of this location."
Luigi suddenly piped up, curious. "So, what are you guys planning to-a do with the money?"
"If we were to win?" Engineer rubbed his chin. "Prolly some extra equipment n' parts. My current wrench is darn practical, but I've seen a few others that look like they could get the job of buildin' done much quicker. Oh, and some hats, since I ain't opposed to a bit of fashion one bit," he explained.
"Engineer never looked like the type of guy who would be into clothing," thought Phoenix, before giving his personal answer to the plumber's question. "I already get a vacation for winning, but I think receiving the money to have a few more wouldn't hurt. Oh, and considering how I'm barely scraping by as is, money will have most of my problems covered."
Confused, Luigi interrogated Wright further about his financial situation. "I was-a always under the impression that you had lots of-a money."
Abashed, the lawyer placed his hand behind his head timidly. "Yeah... far from it. Umm, anyway, what about you Luigi?" He asked, attempting to steer the situation away from his miserly net worth.
Ironically, though he was curious to see what plans the others had, he had no clue on what to spend his money on if he were to win it. "I'm-a more interested in the hotel prize than the cash."
"The hotel sounds pretty appealing," Samus admitted. "I've not spent much time in luxury if any. Though I'm still more interested in the money so I can buy more parts and potential repairs for my ship."
"Can a million even get you much?" Queried Phoenix.
She shook her head. "Not really. I doubt the million would even be enough to afford most parts."
"You did all of this mainly so you could get enough money to POTENTIALLY buy yourself a part for your ship?" Asked Phoenix.
Grinning from the goofy look of surprise on his face, she shrugged. "Money's money, and competing in a show brings in cash safer than an expedition to a planet full of hostile creatures."
"If a million couldn't buy her certain parts, then I can only imagine what this "ship" of hers looks like. What type of ship is it, anyway?" - Phoenix Wright.
Changing topic, Engineer leaned in and stuck his finger to ROB. "What I'm curious about is knowin' what you wanna do with the money, ROB."
The robot pondered what he could use for the money, but ultimately thought of nothing worthwhile. "Going into this competition, I never had an idea for money. I also didn't care much for the hotel either. The only reason I joined was because the opportunity had been presented to me by Alexa. It was a new experience, so I ended up accepting his invitation."
"So all of that money and luxury is going to go to waste?" Engineer concluded.
"I'll likely use my money for charitable purposes. I'm not so sure about the hotel, as Alexa did clarify that you're allowed to bring two other people with you for the stay."
The Texan shrugged lightly. "Charitable purposes? Ain't a bad idea."
"A robot that ain't always sure is hard to get used to. I could prolly write an essay on how different ROB is from the usual robots I've seen. Friendly, emotive, and ain't just a script wanting to tear me from limb to limb." - Engineer.
With everyone's plans for if they were to win out of the way, a message from Alexa quickly made its way to the survivors. According to the letter, he wanted them to travel to and enter the Koopa Sphinx immediately. Knowing this was related to the Finale, the survivors lifted themselves from their seats and said their potential final goodbyes to the tribe that they stayed at. With no hesitation, they exited the Super Stars tribe and made their way through the harsh desert and over to the Koopa Sphinx...
Koopa Sphinx: Day 31
Survivors: Phoenix Wright - Luigi - Engineer - ROB - Samus Aran.
Traveling deep into the Koopa Sphinx, the survivors made it to the all-so familiar Tribal Council room. Upon arrival, however, the five of them noticed the layout had experienced a couple, subtle changes. No more were the sets of benches to the left and right side of the room present. Instead, one large, curved bench sat in the middle.
"Welcome to the Finale, Super Stars. Please take a seat on the bench in front of you," Commanded Alexa.
As they sat down, they locked eyes with the host. After an intense stare between the group and Alexa, he cleared the silence. "For thirty days, you have pushed yourselves to your limit. You have formed relationships, battled with your team or by yourself for immunity and other goods, experienced the crippling loneliness of Exile Oasis, and most importantly, survived every dangerous situation that stood in your road to victory. That road to victory is almost at its end, but before then, Survivor Crossover will lose a few more unworthy contestants."
The six nodded, unsure of what to expect. Anything could happen right off the bat, from a sudden Tribal Council to a challenge, or perhaps another twist that Alexa had been keeping up his sleeve for this very moment.
Eventually, the answer that had been keeping them restless was moments away from arriving. Alexa stood up from his desk and walked in front of it, placing four statues down in front of the survivors. "The majority of you should recognize these statues. Their shapes definitely, but the role they have played in your journey has been incredibly important."
It took only a couple of seconds before they recognized the shapes. Those were the idols, whether they saw them played at Tribal Councils or managed to obtain one for themselves.
"The Mushroom Idol, the Fire Flower Idol, the Star Idol, and the Poison Shroom Idol. Those were the four idols that had been obtained and used wisely throughout the several Tribal Councils. As well as this, each idol was found at a different landmark in the desert:
The Mushroom Idol, being able to triple votes, was located at the Jagged Rockies, long before it became your resting place.
The Fire Flower Idol, similar to the Mushroom Idol, also tripled your votes. Additionally, it made the first vote cast towards you nullified. This idol was found at the Cacti Paradise.
The Star Idol, granting you full immunity, was located outside of this very building.
Finally, the Poison Shroom Idol was perhaps the most chaotic. It made every survivor present at the Tribal Council immune barring only two players, ultimately resulting in a revote. This idol was found at the Exile Oasis.
So, what does this have to do with the present?" Rhetorically asked Alexa. "Let's just say that these idols are going to be the hot topic of your next challenge. I present to you, the Idol Scuffle!"
"Here we go." Engineer cracked his knuckles, prepared for anything.
The host returned to the back of his desk and pressed his hands against it. "Allow me to explain your objective for today's first challenge:"
"First?!" Thought Phoenix, folding his arms. "I suppose it makes sense... as long as it doesn't involve going back out into that heat, I'm up for anything!"
*As I've explained, each idol belonged to a different location within the Dry Dry Desert. Today's challenge involves returning to those locations and gathering the idols from them! Each of you will be given a bag, and you will travel to the aforementioned locations within the Dry Dry Desert in order to obtain its respective idol! Don't worry, you won't have to search for them, as they'll be placed upon podiums in plain sight.
These podiums contain five duplicates of one of the idols I have on my desk right here. You'll need to gather one of each type of idol and return to this room in order to win the challenge. This means you'll need one Mushroom Idol from the Jagged Rockies, one Star Idol from the Cacti Paradise, one Fire Flower Idol from the Koopa Sphinx, and one Poison Shroom Idol from the Exile Oasis. It also goes without saying that you shouldn't take two of the same.
The first two survivors to return to me with a bag with all four idols inside will be crowned with immunity, leaving the other three vulnerable for the following Tribal Council.*
Quite frankly, this challenge seemed far too much of a hassle. Traveling from their tribe to Tribal Council could take up to an hour alone, so this challenge would last them several hours. Could they spend that much time running around in scalding heat? That was a question the majority of them answered with a confident "No".
Though, a glimmer of hope came from Alexa soon after the explanation. "Oh, and one more thing... I can already see the dread on your faces over having to go across the entire desert for one challenge, but there is a silver lining!"
"Silver lining?" Luigi's eyes lit up.
He wagged his finger. "I'm not going to tell you here, but you'll be treated with a welcoming surprise waiting for you outside of the Koopa Sphinx. But for now, please get into position, because I'm about to begin the challenge's countdown!"
They stood up from their bench and faced away from Alexa and towards the exit. The corridor would be quite narrow, so getting to the front would be a great advantage.
Alexa pulled out his whistle and drew it close to his mouth. "You may begin your long journey in three..."
"Two..."
"One... GO!" He blew on his whistle. "Good luck out there!"
They zipped from their positions and towards the door, ROB using much of his fuel in an attempt to make it to the door first, though that outcome was quickly challenged by an adjacent Samus.
Just barely, the robot made it into the tight corridor first, leading the way as the others attempted to catch up. Just what was this silver lining Alexa was talking about?
Dry Dry Desert: Day 31
Survivors: Phoenix Wright - Luigi - Engineer - ROB - Samus Aran.
As they exited the Koopa Sphinx, the surprise proudly stood right outside of the exit.
Five offroad quad bikes, each one marked with a different color. Though this was set up to be a little treat from Alexa, this would fully change how the challenge would go. Engineer, Phoenix, and Luigi now had a glimmer of hope for getting a chance for immunity, and Samus and ROB were reasonably pleased by the gift as well.
ROB immediately shot into the air, spinning around in an attempt to locate the idol that Alexa stated was around the Koopa Sphinx. Unfortunately, he found nothing, meaning that the idol was likely behind the sphinx. And, with fuel running out, all he could do was hop onto the silver quadbike and driving around to the back.
At a similar time, Samus hopped onto the first quad she could see: a bright red one, and immediately drove off, instantly forming a route the optimal route for her to take in her head:
The Koopa Sphinx was towards the very East of the Dry Dry Desert. Going Northwest from there, Samus would wind up at the Exile Oasis to receive the Poison Shroom Idol before heading West further to the Jagged Rockies area. After picking up the Mushroom Idol from that section, she would drive Southwest to the Cacti Paradise, picking up the Star Idol. Finally, she would make a straight line from there to the sphinx, passing the Challenge Dunes along the way. Once she arrived, she would quickly circle it to find the Fire Flower Idol before entering and cashing in her idols.
It was the perfect order that would get her the idols the quickest, and she was far from being the only one with the route in mind. Everyone else had a similar idea, and the only people who decided to fetch the Fire Flower Idol first were ROB and Phoenix...
By the end of the first footrace to the unexpected quads, Phoenix was the last one to receive his vehicle. Whilst Engineer nabbed an orange one and drove off, Phoenix was luckily left with his favorite color, blue.
The lawyer hopped on and swerved around the Koopa Sphinx, searching for the podium that contained the Fire Flower Idol he needed.
Upon making it to the back, ROB crossed him, awkwardly standing on his quad as he made brief eye contact.
"The idol's back there!" He exclaimed, driving off.
"Good news," Phoenix thought, making it to the back and spotting the podium.
After parking, he impatiently rushed out of his bike and ran up to the podium. Four Fire Flower Idols remained, the number dropping to three as Phoenix took one for himself. He securely stuffed it into his bag and drove back around the Koopa Sphinx and towards the Exile Oasis. "That seemed easy enough," he opined.
Samus was up ahead, approaching the Exile Oasis Outskirts with Engineer and Luigi trailing behind.
"Things have never been tenser. If I get the immunity and Samus doesn't, then I'll be doomed for the next Tribal Council. If she gets the immunity and I don't, then the roles are reversed. We both gotta win that immunity, and I know that's possible." - Engineer.
Engineer accelerated to top speed the second his quadbike made contact with a downwards slope of a sandy hill, boosting him forward slightly and becoming neck-and-neck with an alarmed Luigi.
"Umm, hello," he awkwardly greeted, taking his eyes off of the dunes ahead. Though it was very brief, Luigi's quadbike slid under a large, stray rock. Before he knew it, he was now spinning out.
"Help-a meeeee!" The plumber cried, the spinning slowing him down to a halt. Things were made even worse by how he now faced behind where he wanted to go.
Though it only cost him around twenty seconds to get his quad facing forward, that was enough to have ROB zoom past him. As he got back on track, Phoenix was now fast enough to overtake him in a flash. Luigi was now in last place, and he was not happy about it. Once he was back at full speed, he spotted Samus and Engineer on a distant hill, around halfway to the Exile Oasis.
"I got to-a get moving!" He said, leaning forward with concentration.
Samus was not used to driving land vehicles. She was more suited towards vehicles she could fly through the vacuum of space, not offroad quadbikes. Considering her performance on the canoe challenge, however, it was clear that she learned quick enough to have her inexperience hold little threat to her ability to win.
The Texan observed her, impressed. She was able to instantly detect any hazardous obstacle that could slow her down and avoid it smoothly. Whilst Engineer was capable of the same feat, he had already had a few close calls that could have gotten his quadbike stuck in a small pit of sand. Keeping his lead would not be easy, and surpassing the sharp woman in first place was simply a dream.
Engineer glanced behind him once he was in the clear, making sure to not spin out as Luigi had done. In the distance was ROB, slowly catching up through stunts similar to Samus. The robot was also incredibly dusty, his plastic exterior beginning to turn a pale yellow in color from the copious amounts of sand spraying him as he cleared hills.
The mercenary thought nothing of it and turned around, putting his full attention back into the stretch of desert ahead as he should have done. But little did he or anyone know, ROB was slowly going blind.
Due to the sand that he couldn't control without slowing down, the lens on his head was experiencing difficulty seeing due to the sand in the way. So far, he was still able to see just fine, but unless he managed to somehow clean himself, he would eventually lose his vision.
Aware of this, he tried many remedies, from shaking his head rapidly to using one of his arms to stiffly try and wipe his lens clean. Neither worked well. All he could do was embrace it for the time being.
A few hills later, Samus, Engineer, and the half-blind ROB were close to the Exile Oasis Outskirts.
Once far behind, Luigi was beginning to catch up to the others. The first person he'd have to surpass was Phoenix, who was admittedly doing far better than he had anticipated. He was quick to react, had fine handling, and risked things by going as fast as the quad could muster. All of this kept him at a steady, fast pace that would be difficult to pass. But the plumber was ready for the challenge; he was not going to risk elimination at the Final Five. He was going to win for Mario, for Peach, and for everyone else that would be rooting for him.
Motivated by his own aspirations, he went at full throttle in a line as straight as possible. He watched the ground for any rocks or steep sand pits as he slowly but surely made his way to Phoenix's quadbike.
Phoenix gulped aloud, hearing the revving engine of Luigi's bike get louder and louder as he began slipping up from the panic. These slip-ups only brought him closer to Luigi, but the lawyer thought back to the last Tribal Council in the midst of the chaos. He and Engineer were tied, so if Engineer and Samus were to win immunity - a likely outcome given their current positions - then he would without a doubt bite the dust. He didn't want to throw Luigi under the bus, but he was certain...
He couldn't back down now!
"What the?" As Samus came close to the Exile Oasis Outskirts, she noticed that something notable had changed since she last saw it. Not long after spotting it, Engineer noticed it too.
A bridge made from stone had been built, connecting the coastline to the island in the middle. It would serve as their entrance and exit to the island, and it was blatantly obvious that the Poison Shroom Idols were at the island.
"Alexa sure outdid himself. The oasis isn't too far from our tribe, and we never noticed a bridge until now." - Samus Aran.
The three scaled along the coastline, the gaps between one another were almost equal as none of them showed any signs of slowing down nor speeding up.
After an admittedly relaxed drive along the smooth, flat coastline that had been further made easier to drive on by the tide wetting it, Samus made a sharp turn to the right and entered the bridge on her bike. As Engineer and soon after ROB followed suit, Luigi and Phoenix were now close by to the coastline, both of which were neck and neck.
The drive across the bridge was without a doubt the easiest part of the challenge so far. It was a straight line across a wide, smooth stone terrain with railing on both sides to prevent any survivor from crashing into the oasis waters. Some survivors still found it hard to believe that this oasis might have been built over the course of one or two days without any of them noticing. Alexa was truly a mysterious man.
Midway through the journey, ROB suddenly got an idea of how he could wash the sand off of him.
"It would cost me a lot of time, but if I soaked myself in the oasis waters, then that would surely clean the sand off of me. The sand has already affected me to the point where I only noticed the bridge as I got close enough, so it should be a fair trade in the long term. If only my hands could reach my lens." - ROB.
It took some time, but Samus eventually made it to the end of the bridge. The boundary between the bridge and the Exile Oasis island was in the form of a small stone wall that looked incredibly easy to vault over. From there, the podium containing the Poison Shroom idol was a few meters away. She pulled up, hopped from her vehicle, and vaulted over the fence. She dashed through the coastline and to her first idol. She was doing extremely well, far better than those behind her.
She reached the podium and snatched one of the idols without a second thought. Then, she spun around, dashed back through the coast, and jumped over the wall before hopping back onto her quadbike, intercepting Engineer on the way. Her movement was flawless, and the fact that she put more effort into the challenges as she got closer to the Finale became very glaring.
As she drove off, Engineer scrambled to the podium. He took the second Poison Shroom Idol from it and retreated. Much like Samus, he intercepted the next person to arrive just as he left. In this case, it was ROB.
The robot repeated the same tradition the two before did, but instead of returning to his bike, he fulfilled his idea. He made a sharp right and went around the bridge, arriving at the watery coast as he submerged his entire body in water. If that wasn't enough to try and get the sand from his stiff body, he used his limbs to briskly spin around, still beneath the surface of the water. Once he felt clean, ROB drifted out of the water and then used his fuel to fly onto the adjacent bridge. Thankfully, the practice resulted in him being completely clean from head to base.
Though he was no longer close behind Engineer, this detour had him regain all of his lost vision. All he could do was hope that it wouldn't happen again for the rest of the race...
Samus left the bridge eager and confident. Not too far behind her was Engineer, similarly confident but wary of anything capable of spinning him out or making him stuck. His vehicle was offroad, but he doubted that losing enough speed at an awkward angle would pose little threat for his quadbike.
And... as he dreaded.
"God damn it!"
A seemingly normal mound of sand had led his quad bike into a small jam. Immediately, Engineer began troubleshooting by going full speed backwards and then full speed forwards. The wheels spun wildly, but the quadbike did not budge an inch.
Growling and cursing himself, he hopped off and began pushing it back and over the mound. His plan was to drive to the left of the dastardly pit, where he would hopefully make it over the oncoming hill with just enough power.
"Wish we had the race by where all of the old tribes used to be. That part of the desert had no hills, but it seems as if Alexa picked the part of the desert full of 'em. Good thing none of them are too steep, otherwise I would have just walked the damn thing." - Engineer.
Getting stuck had lost him enough time. In fact, just enough time for ROB to make up for the bath he gave himself at the oasis coast. As he managed to roll the notably heavy quadbike back over the mound, he turned to the left and away from the mound.
"Please give me enough speed to make it over this god-forsaken hill..."
Engineer stepped on the gas and accelerated up the hill, building enough speed prior to make up the first half with little trouble. The second half, however, had him struggling for a small while. Without the right momentum, the mercenary had cost himself even more time waiting for the quadbike to eventually win the battle against the hill's slope. Thankfully, said hill would be the steepest one he would ever have to cross for the rest of the challenge. In fact, the hilly environment was almost at its end.
After two full minutes were spent at the foot of the steepest hill, he wasn't surprised to see that ROB was now ahead of him. Meanwhile, from behind, Phoenix and Luigi, surprisingly still neck-and-neck, were on his tail.
"Aw Hell..." He sighed.
As it stood, Samus was already nearly at the Jagged Rockies area, though that was less down to her incredible skills when driving and more down to how small the gap between the Exile Oasis and the Jagged Rockies was. Far behind was ROB, followed by Engineer, and the duo of Luigi and Phoenix that have failed to break away from each other.
Compared to the hills surrounding the oasis, the terrain the survivors had to drive on was far easier. Still, it was nothing to underestimate and take lightly, but there were fewer awkward angles and random shards of rock in the way.
That soon changed as Samus finally made it to the Jagged Rockies section of the race. Though the podium was assumably at the Super Stars Tribe, the Jagged Rockies was a large area. Full of rocks sticking out from the ground, both big and small. If they ended up crashing and breaking their quad bike, it was game over, so they had to play things slow.
Gently lifting her foot from the pedal, Samus weaved and dodged any rocks that were in her path. Maybe she would have been able to do it at a higher speed, but with minimal turning done throughout the race thus far, Samus didn't trust the handling. Despite her sluggish speed, she was still far ahead.
Making it to the heart of the tribe, she approached the tents and spotted the podium. Within it was the Mushroom Idol, shimmering in all of its glory. Like with the first one, she grabbed it and hopped back onto her quad bike. The next stop was the final stop before she would head back to the Koopa Sphinx: Cacti Paradise.
With the tensity of the challenge growing as Samus extended her lead, the weather was beginning to shift. The wind around them began picking up. Gusts picking up clumps of sand and slinging them at the drivers as they drove into the Jagged Rockies section. Now they would have to both dodge the rocks in their path whilst simultaneously keeping the sand from harming their eyes.
ROB was back to struggling. As the wind picked up, the fine sands of the desert danced more and more, slapping into his lens and beginning to blind him once more. Unlike the Exile Oasis, no other area in the vast desert contained any water for him to clean with. Instead, he stuck to sucking it up. He could just barely still see, and it was enough to be aware of his surroundings, but any more and he would be in utter peril.
To everyone's relief, the wind didn't last long, dying down by the time Phoenix, Engineer, and Luigi entered the Super Stars tribe to fetch the remaining Mushroom Idols from its podium. As they hopped back onto their quads, ROB had left the area with an idol of his own. Nobody had any hope in catching up to Samus, so as far as they were concerned, the four of them battled for the title of second place.
As ROB attempted to leave the Jagged Rockies, a particular blindspot in the bottom-left corner of his lens resulted in his quadbike scraping against the side of one of the large rocks that poked out from the ground, disrupting his speed and handling and causing him to lose his lead on the three behind him.
"Welcome to the club," Engineer joked. "Only one of us will be gettin' immunity."
At the point Samus was in - directly between the Jagged Rockies and Cacti Paradise - the terrain became simpler and more repetitive. She had gone over the steepest hill in the desert with ease, through a rocky nightmare with ease, and that was basically the two hardest parts of the challenge over with. All she had to do now was watch out for the occasional gust of blinding wind and any stray rocks.
Before she knew it, the Cacti Paradise was in the distance...
*SLAM!*
"Gah!" Engineer snapped to the right, his quadbike almost losing balance from the force of the slam. The source of the attack had come from none other than ROB. "You tryna play dirty, huh?"
ROB shook his head. "No. Hitting you was not my intention."
"You can dodge the most hidden of obstacles but you can't dodge me?" He questioned, facing forward. "I don't buy that."
"Well, that's how I performed at the beginning of the challenge."
"Eh?"
Considering the two of them were pretty much next to each other, the robot had a chance to explain himself. "All of the sand that goes into my lens is hard for me to get out; the more that gets in my lens, the less I see."
"You don't come with window wipers?"
An awkward silence came from the robot. "At times like this, I wish I did."
Engineer, slightly pitying him, thought of ways for ROB to clean his lens. "Can your hands not reach?"
"They're a little too big."
"Have ya tried shakin' it off?"
"I have. Most of the sand on me is stubborn, however."
Engineer rubbed his chin. "Darn. I'd help, but... you know, I don't want to stray away from this four-way tie we've seemingly created."
ROB gave a disappointed beep. "I understand."
The Texan gazed into the distance. "Well, we're already almost at that cactus place. That was quick!"
"It certainly was. I imagine the longest part will be the journey back," claimed ROB.
As he drew closer to the cacti-coated landscape, he spotted the podium through a small gap, standing in the middle of the Cacti Paradise.
"Looks like there's a path leading into the middle," Engineer noticed. "I wonder..."
He observed the area, noticing that plenty of the cacti were spaced out to form small corridors for the quadbikes to drive through. The others were also aware of this and planned to get as close to the podium as possible without having to leave their vehicle. Meanwhile, Engineer planned to execute the stunt without slowing down for caution. It would be a major risk, but what else could he do? If ROB or Phoenix made it to the Koopa Sphinx at the same time as him, then he would have to spend extra time fetching the Fire Flower Idol whilst they could just head straight in. He needed to make a big lead, and this was his final opportunity.
ROB, only hearing inaudible, curious mumbles, tilted his head.
As Luigi and Phoenix began slowing down, they noticed that Engineer was not slowing down. If anything, he was speeding up.
"What are you doing?!" Phoenix yelled.
"Gettin' myself that immunity!" He roared, steering his max-speed quad into a narrow pathway. His steering was on point, but the hard part wasn't done with yet. As he made it to the middle, he pieced together his plan as he neared the podium. The others gawked from a distance, sensibly traveling down the same path at a slower rate. Engineer, however, was setting himself up for a potential injury with his speed and recklessness.
Dell gave a deep breath. He thought about the sweet, sweet money, and drove towards the podium. As he passed it, he used his right hand to swipe and collect the Star Idol. Right as he did so, he drifted his quad to the left, yelling with excitement from the adrenaline as he cleared through another tight gap of cacti, leaving the Cacti Paradise without a scratch.
"H-HOW DID HE DO THAT?!" Cried Phoenix. "He drove through a tight gap without slowing down, grabbed the idol, and drifted into another gap to exit ALL without slowing down. If I did that, I would have crashed straight into the cacti."
"I-a never thought that anyone would ever get-a that reckless," confessed Luigi. "I suppose he really wants the money."
As he slipped through the final rows of the Cacti Paradise, still cheering. "WOOOOHOOO! I damn did it! The second I turned that corner at the bridge, I knew she'd have it in her to make such a sharp turn at the speed I was goin' at."
In the horizon, he spotted Samus and beamed. "Don't worry, Sam, we're gonna level the alliances again!"
A feeling of bitterness overcame the three as they saw Engineer zoom off. They never even thought about doing such a stunt. As they collected the Star Idol, which was the final Idol in the case of Phoenix and ROB, they attempted the arduous task of catching up to Engineer.
Upon leaving the Cacti Paradise area, they were faced with a long, uninteresting stretch that would last from where they were all the way back to the Koopa Sphinx. With that, there was little opportunity to catch up to the far ahead Engineer. All they did was hope, hope that he would trip on a rock or get stuck on a hidden dip of sand. But, as they spent their final minutes on this path, they slowly realized that they might potentially be able to beat Engineer to the inside of the Koopa Sphinx. ROB and Phoenix had collected the Fire Flower Idol at the back, whilst Engineer hadn't. As for Luigi, he accepted his near-guaranteed loss.
After a long, twenty or so minute drive across the desert, Engineer drifted around the Koopa Sphinx and to the back, where he remembered catching ROB drive off to at the beginning of the race. To his luck, he spotted the podium containing his idol, only two remaining. He grabbed his and stuffed it into his bag, driving back around to the front of the Koopa Sphinx.
Engineer looked into the distance, catching the three still stuck in their three-way tie. It appeared that they were too so to make it to the building first, and watching Engineer park his quad bike up and enter was a hard pill to swallow...
And, as far as they knew, that was that. They had underestimated the chances of their rival alliance gaining full immunity, and they would pay the price in the form of having to vote off one of their three members.
Exiting their vehicles, the three stood outside of the entrance and looked to one another.
ROB hung his head low. "If only the sand hadn't gotten into my eyes."
Using his gloves to rub ROB's lens free of sand, Luigi and the others hesitantly entered, awaiting their unknown fates...
Tribal Council: Day 31
Survivors: Phoenix Wright - Luigi - Engineer - ROB - Samus Aran.
Rushing inside, they made it to the Tribal Council room. Engineer and Samus sitting on the bench, waiting for them to return to the Koopa Sphinx.
"Oh hey! Looks like you guys won't need fetching." Alexa lowered his walkie-talkie into his pocket and clasped Engineer's and Samus's bags on his desk. "After checking through their bags, they've received every idol. I was honestly expecting the challenge to take longer, but I suppose that million-dollar prize has really brought out the best in you all. Heck, look at you guys! You arrived just after Engineer did, and you're all grouped together no less. You all did great."
They appreciated the compliment. It was uplifting to receive one after facing an embarrassing failure as an alliance.
But, as usual, Alexa's positivity was short-lived. "But, that wasn't enough. You three have not received immunity, meaning that one of you will be eliminated from the Finale. You'll be joining the Jury... wherever they are." He gave a cocky wink before moving on. "Anyhow, unlike most Tribal Councils you've experienced, you won't have much time to decide on who to vote. Actually, let me rephrase that: you won't have ANY time to decide on who to vote, because Tribal Council is to begin around about... well, now!"
Luigi and ROB might have feared for their lives, but Phoenix was on a whole other level of defeat. As he remembered from last Tribal Council, Little Mac, Engineer, and Samus chose to vote for him, resulting in a tie between Engineer and himself. With both Engineer and Samus out of reach, there was no doubt that they would choose him over his allies.
"Not even a question or two?" Engineer asked, raising both eyebrows.
He shook his head and smirked. "Nope! What questions are there to ask? Nobody without immunity should feel confident, and nobody with immunity shouldn't feel confident. Padding things out is only going to delay the inevitable elimination!"
"You seem to pad things out enough," Samus scoffed under her breath.
After wringing his hands excitedly, Alexa pointed to the left-side passageway of the main Tribal Council room. "Survivors, please cast your votes!"
Standing from their seats, each survivor took their turn walking to the voting room. Engineer looked to Samus and gave a nod to her, knowing that she was going to vote the same person as him.
Phoenix Wright: There's no doubt that I'm next, but if the others somehow reconsider and vote someone else at the last second, then I predict it'll have to be you, ROB. (ROB)
ROB: In the rare case that the votes end 2-2-1, I'll have to vote tactically. Though they voted Phoenix last time, that might have been a ploy to make him immune for the rock draw. With this in mind, their target is either going to be me or Luigi. (Luigi)
Luigi: Mama mia... both of them have-a been such great friends. I hate to choose, but I'm going to have to-a play it safe. (?)
After Engineer and Samus were done casting their votes, Alexa collected them and returned behind his desk. "Survivors. Before I read out the votes, I just would just like to say one small thing. And that is: good luck. Nobody wants to be fifth."
With his message out of the way, he began reading the votes...
*VOTING TIME*
First vote goes to ROB. One vote ROB.
Second vote goes to Luigi. One vote Luigi and one vote ROB.
Third vote goes to ROB. That's two votes ROB, one vote Luigi. (Phoenix gasps. He has received no votes thus far.)
Before they knew it, the votes were already about to come to an end.
"And, the sixteenth eliminee of the competition and tenth member of the Jury is...
...ROB! At four votes to one, the tribe has spoken with absolute confidence!" Announced Alexa. "Your time in Survivor Crossover: Dry Dry Desert has come to an abrupt end. Please give your final words and leave Tribal Council."
Phoenix and Luigi alike were both surprised to have gotten off with little to no votes. Though, in retrospect, ROB being the prime target of Engineer and Samus made plenty of sense.
A sad bleep came from the robot as he skated over to the passageway, but not before saying his goodbyes to his fellow survivors. "Good luck from this point onward. Even to you two," he said, nodding at his former rivals. "I'm sure all of you are very capable of winning. It's just a matter of who makes it to the end and who convinces the most Jury. Farewell."
With his warm goodbye over with, he turned around and exited Tribal Council, not looking back...
"And there goes ROB. After getting obliterated by both the Poison Shroom Idol and the Star Idol in the same Tribal Council long ago, it only made sense for him to lose his footing at the challenge relating to those idols! He played incredibly well, dominating mental challenges and performing well on physical challenges. Unfortunately, two chances were not enough for him to overcome the Dry Dry Desert."
Alexa then pointed to the four survivors that remained. "As for you guys... please follow me..."
ROB's last words: "I suppose a robot like me with no personal use for either prize was not destined to be crowned as the winner of this season. Yet, even though I came onto this show expecting a loss at some point, one thing I couldn't predict was the friends I would make along the way. Do your best, Phoenix and Luigi. I'll use my vote as Jury wisely."
VOTES
ROB's voters: Luigi, Phoenix Wright, Engineer, Samus Aran.
Luigi's voters: ROB.
REMAINING SURVIVORS
Super Stars Tribe (Yellow)
- Phoenix Wright
- Luigi
- Engineer
- Samus Aran
Jury Tribe (Gray)
- Squidward Tentacles
- Waluigi
- Miles "Tails" Prower
- Jotaro Kujo
- Spy
- Meta Knight
- Kirby
- Princess Peach
- Little Mac
- ROB
*TO BE CONTINUED*