Mexico - Brain vs Brawn vs Beauty (Ponderosa)

Chapter 8 - Juror 8

*Sighs* Alright. This is it. This the official, final chapter of this whole era. Chica the Chicken (or Chica Candance) for this story has been eliminated as the final juror after losing against Isabelle in a fire making challenge. As a result, we now have an all Brain final three. Everybody else from the other two tribes have been voted out.

But hey, at least Chica was the last one out of all of them. She had a bad reputation, but her making it to final four was rather interesting to say the least. Especially considering that if Beauty went to tribal for a third straight time, I literally had her going home at that point. That's right. One challenge win caused her to almost make it to day 39.

Now she gets to experience what the other final jurors had to go through (those who read my first two seasons know who they are), so let's get on with it.

~KF

"Hello, my name's Chica. And this is my Ponderosa!"

Night 38

She heaved possibly the loudest sigh the Survivor production team ever heard.

All Chica Candance could have done was simply shake her lowered head and walk a bit heavily in defeat. Unbelievable. That was her last chance. She actually had a shot at getting into the final three, only to be eliminated because she could not have built the fire in time.

"I really blew it up this time... First I almost win the immunity challenge, but I messed that up. Then I actually had a second chance to make it to the end, but I messed that up, too. ...And now I am out of the game..."

"Soooo close... Like, okay. I didn't even know I was gonna even make it to the merge, let alone this far, but to think... that I of all people, actually had the chance to make it to the very end. Just one more Tribal Council to go through, and I couldn't do it. The light was at the end of the tunnel, but for some reason, I just turned around and walked the other way."

"It was definitely quite something out here. That I can say. I've been through a lot just to get to this point. But, who am I kidding? Of course Isabelle was gonna beat me in that challenge, anyway. And I had the advantage of preparing myself because she didn't even know she was gonna do it! She almost got blindsided at the last minute, and I still messed things up. Way to go, Chica. You have no one to blame but yourself..."

With another heavy sigh, she calmly made her way in the medical tent.

"Ooh, the final juror of the season!" Crazy Hand was beaming as usual, but if he had a mouth, it would have formed a concerning frown. "You alright, Chica? You looked like you've been banned from the show."

"I messed up. Again..." She complained, making her way to sit down. "Me and Isabelle had to do the fire making challenge that she didn't even know about, and I still blew it. But even that could have been avoided if I won immunity, but I messed that up, too. I was this close!"

"Awww..." He sadly replied. "It really does stink that you were one challenge away from making it to the final three..."

"Two chances..." She corrected.

"But you know, aren't you glad you even made it to the final four?" Crazy Hand asked. "You were the very last non-Brain member to be eliminated. I just talked with Panther last night! But you were right there!"

"I guess you're right." She admitted, ignoring Crazy Hand getting her blood pressure. "But still, I made too many mistakes and this is what happens..."

"I was even sad when Panther got voted out because I knew he was taking me to the end. He said it himself, and he didn't even mind having an all Beauty final three with me and Daisy. But even though he left, I knew that I had a slight chance to make it, but Funky Kong and Isabelle were too close, and Plague Knight was probably going to make it no matter what, so that left poor old Chica all by herself, just like how it was on my old tribe. On, the, bottom."

"What does the scale say?"

"...132.3..." She read. "How much did I weigh in the first place?"

"You weighed exactly..." He looked back at his notes. "150.2... Alright, so that means you've lost exactly 17.1 pounds, Chica."

She sighed at that. "I'm getting flashbacks from when I weighed myself after graduation. At least all I have to say is that I'm certainly not too big these days... I'm just not exactly small..."

She turned in his direction. "Does that make sense?"

"Chica, I weigh people all the time. Of course it does."

"So yeah... My weight loss and accepting myself for who I am was literally why I was even on this season in the first place. ...I never said that I didn't like myself... Well,... not anymore... But,... I am still suffering from... I guess, PTSD. Basically..."

It was most likely what Golden Fredbear was talking with her about the other week.

"Naturally I was only thinking of seeing everybody after everything. Just wondering how would they react. I'm on decent terms with my old tribemates, Panther and Daisy... Seeing Golden, Espio, and Ryu again was something I looked forward to. Incineroar and Specter Knight though,... well,... okay I gotta admit: I never really liked either of them like that." She giggled out of guilt. "But at least they haven't done anything to me, personally, other than Incineroar not choosing me to go on that Loved Ones visit reward with my sister. Aside from that though, I thought that maybe it was not going to be that bad..."

Now Chica Candance was seen leaving the boat, the Ponderosa cafe being a small distance away. However, the further she moved, the more she got emotional, still saddened at her loss.

And by the time she made it to everyone by the steps, she immediately covered her eyes with tears flowing, Golden being the one to embrace her first.

"It's okay." He grinned as she was starting to make a little noise, Ryu rubbing her back. "It's alright..."

"Do not be so hard on yourself." Espio commented. "The most important thing is you never gave up."

"Well, of course I didn't." Her muffled voice sounded. "But I was so dang close and I blew it! I blew it!"

She stamped her foot out of shame, Panther now rubbing her back as well.

"You'll be alright. Thanks for representing me and Daisy. You made it further than the both of us."

Specter Knight was leaning against the wooden pole with folded arms as he shook his head. The thoughts running through his mind were up to the viewers' imagination.

"Chica..." Daisy paused for a split second. "unsurprisingly is not too happy that she lost the fire making challenge, which half of us never expected. Some of us thought it would just a 3-1 vote against Chica, then done. But I guess Plague wanted to increase his chances to win, and since Funky was immune, that left Isabelle vulnerable to get votes. Could have saved Chica's life, but Isabelle beat her. ...I mean, I do feel kinda bad for her. But hey, she made it further than I did. That's one thing she should be proud about. Like, if you didn't make it, then you didn't make it."

"I can't understand what it's like to be the final juror..." commented Ryu. "Must have been really hard knowing you had a chance."

"And I did, Ryu. I did!" She complained. "And all I did was mess things up. I even almost won the final immunity challenge."

Incineroar raised an eyebrow. "...You did?"

"Yeah, but your friend did it first." Candance answered. "I wasn't careful enough and it cost me a ticket to the finals. If I would have won immunity, this would have never happened."

"Here. Let's just take you inside." Ryu suggested. "How about you have dinner with us? There you can vent out more of your feelings if it'll help anything..."

"Yeah... Let's just eat dinner..."

"Chica can cry all she wants." Specter Knight rolled his eyes under his helmet. "I really do not care. What I care more about is why was she not a shoo-in for the finals? I mean, Plague Knight tied the votes. Why was Funky Kong so surprised to see it? He should have cast his vote for Isabelle. Did he not see that she was the bigger threat? ...I am going to have to talk to him about this personally when it is my turn to speak as a juror. There is no way I am going to let this be swept under the rug..."

Chica was now glancing at herself at her reflection. Aside from her feathers being dirtied up in places, nothing really changed about her aside from the weight loss. Yet at the time, she really was not thinking about how different she appeared that much, still being upset at her elimination. Thus, she nimbly turned on her heel and made her way to the table.

"So, how did you almost win that challenge?" Incineroar asked out of curiosity. "Were you in the lead?"

"I was." She nodded in confirmation as she eyed her menu. "Master Hand even announced I was in the lead by a large margin. We have three words to spell out that were all in letter blocks: 'Brain', 'Brawn', 'Beauty'. You know, the name of the season. Everybody was in the lead at some point, but I was the first person that was almost done. But the trick was, we have to balance the letters on this wobbly structure, and we had to carefully lock in as we keep placing the letters down. I actually got done with mine, but when I tried to lock in, two of my letters fell off."

"Dang..." Panther shook his head. "That could have been anyone's challenge to win..."

"And then when I tried to put the letters back, I hit my structure, and everything fell off." She buried her face in her hands. "Everything went wrong and I couldn't do it!"

"Remember though: this whole thing was about you having more confidence in yourself."

"Thanks, Panther, but you know, I could have won if I didn't mess up!"

"Hey, you're beating yourself up too much." Incineroar, who was right next to her, placed a hand on her shoulder in support. "You've done all you could. I mean, look at the bright side. You almost won and you tried. I may be a champion, but champions are never perfect."

"Speaking of imperfection," The Shovel Knight character spoke up. "I am planning on speaking about how imperfect was Funky Kong's decision to take Isabelle to the end... But for right now,... what are your thoughts on the... final three of this season?"

Specter Knight of all people asking an open ended question to continue a conversation? Wow, how unusual. Yet at the same time, he was probably just curious to hear peoples' opinions.

"Oh yeah, my man made it!" Incineroar stood up from his seat and clapped his hands loudly. "WOOOO!"

"Oh, Arecus." He was completely elated at what his best friend back at the camp accomplished. "Funky Kong is in the final three. I can not believe it! He stuck it out and he won the final immunity! I can not wait to tell the guy how proud I am of him. This is his big moment! Too bad that I'm not there, but hey, one of us made it! And if anyone, it's the one guy I was rooting for the whole way."

As Chica's pizza, french fries, and onion rings arrived, the conversation was completely about the finalists at that point.

"Well, the Brains are dominating Final Tribal Council after all." Golden noticed, turning to Espio to share a smirk. "Everything worked out. Just not in the way we expected. Vote is still up in the air between Funky Kong and Isabelle."

"Funky Kong has had a charming personality." Espio the Chameleon noted. "However, Isabelle was the strategist. After your elimination, she took charge and kept the Brains united when they needed each other the most. It is going to be quite interested of how it all plays out."

"I am just astonished Plague Knight made it..." Specter turned his head side to side. "After everything he has gone through, he is going to be sitting in the final three seats at tomorrow night's Tribal Council."

"You're giving him a lecture, are you?"

"Why would I not?" The scythe wielder replied to Ryu. "It is for his own good. I tried to help, but I called him out when he had to hear it. Someone has got to set him straight. I did not come to him, he came to me and I just agreed. But he was a pain in the bottom at times and we all know it."

"Well, I guess my vote is between Funky and Isabelle as well." Ryu the street fighter decided. "I would consider voting for any of 'em, but I just feel like Plague was just too disrespectful for his opponents just because there was other competition in his way."

"...What about you two?" Golden faced Daisy and Panther. "Any thoughts?"

"Well,..." Daisy honestly never knew exactly what to make of it. "they all had their own stories of making it. Even Plague Knight had quite the rollercoaster of a game. But,... I just dunno."

"They never really talked with us like that." Panther spoke, his head resting in the palm of his right hand. "I guess they were so focused on their own alliance. ...But I think Plague just tested everyone when he was the swing vote at final seven. But Funky and Isabelle,... they never really interacted with us as much as we would have liked."

"Yeah, we talked about yesterday."

"I never really got to know Isabelle and Funky Kong either..." Chica shook her head in agreement.

"Well, Jimmy Hopkins, if you are watching," Espio was now staring right at the camera. "I guess your wish came true. One of us is going to win it all. Since I was directly responsible for sending you home, I figured it is only fair of you to hear it from me. Since pre-jurors usually have no idea what happens post-merge, I will make it my business to make sure you hear this from me in person first."

Now Chica Candance was seen approaching her door of her home for the next day.

"Maybe some sleep will get rid of all my problems..."

"Ooh, this is all my stuff." She was rummaging through her bag. "Shampoo and everything. ...Okay, yeah. I don't mind looking pretty, too. Just in case people need one more reason to why I was put on the Beauty tribe. ...Well,... I do try my best. But I guess sometimes, I am just one of those people that just don't try too hard like some girls used to do at my high school..."

She then turned her back to face the producer. "I'm doing it again, aren't I?"

Day 39

It was now the morning of the final day of the survivors' adventure, including all eight jurors. And Chica, admittedly, was starting to feel a bit better, gradually learning to cope with her loss.

She was already eating breakfast at the table with Golden and Espio.

"So... How are you feeling now?"

Chica sighed at Golden's question. "Well,... what is done is done, I suppose. I did the best I could, and that's all I could do. I mean, I'm still upset about it, but... yesterday I just felt downright terrible. Today, I am slowly starting to get over it. But stuff like this, you just can't get through it overnight. But I'm trying my best to move on..."

"I don't blame you." Ryu nodded, feeling that he could have related to it in some way. "I made a couple big mistakes causing my elimination. And I still wish I could just turn back time."

"I wanna turn back time, too." She agreed. "And know how to be more careful at challenges. At least if I won immunity, I wouldn't have to worry about the fire making challenge. Just vote off Funky Kong and that's it."

"He really hasn't made any enemies, so he would have been a fine choice to target."

"Isabelle was the strategist though." The anthropomorphic bear reminded. "It's most likely gonna be a toss up between those two."

"I don't even know how I'm gonna vote for this..." Candance sighed again. "Maybe I'll just listen to whatever these three people have to say and decide from there."

"Relying on just the Final Tribal Council performance could be a good thing. You gotta own up to your game and explain literally everything you did, and really show the other jurors that you desperately wanna win this thing."

"I think this will be a very great Final Tribal Council." Fredbear predicted. "The best part is that all three players have completely different stories even though they all came from the exact same tribe. Pretty unique, indeed. Plague Knight's the underdog, Isabelle's the strategist, and Funky Kong's the social butterfly. Who knows? Maybe it could just come down to their Final Tribal Council performances. I'd see Isabelle being the best speaker overall, but Plague Knight has his story, and Funky never did anything to anyone on their jury. Great TV."

Later on in the day, Chica Candance was now with her most 'favorite' tribemates in the world, Daisy Floral Rose an Panther Jackie Caroso.

"Panther, will you ever get your butt out of that hammock?" Daisy folded her arms. "You've been in it for about an hour now."

"There are more hammocks here..." He said in self-defense.

"That's not the problem!" She complained. "You're just gonna sleep the right of the day like that! You're being lazy!"

"Oh, so you'd rather see me of all people get all hot and sweaty. You know I'm not tryin' to smell again..."

"Ugh..." She covered her face, Chica actually giggling to herself hoping the other female never heard her.

"And ta-da!" Rose held her hands in the air. "Here we are... the official reunion of the old Beauty tribe..."

"You know what, how about you two just sit down. Both of you." Panther decided that he wanted to be the bigger person. "You on one side, and you on the other. Let's share the love, here."

"You're just trying to get me to shut up again..." Daisy mumbled wandering over, Chica reluctantly doing the same. "But okay..."

"A-Are we gonna break it?" The chicken said with a hint of anxiousness in her voice.

"I dunno..."

Well, at least he was honest.

"But if we do, this pilot is gonna have a crash landing on the ground... on his bottom."

"But, you actually have a tail." Daisy pointed out. "That's gonna hurt a ton."

"...Let's just hope for the best, then." His mind seemed to be already made up. "Besides, it's us three together, anyway. Rosalina, King Knight, and Bandanna Dee all can't be here at the moment."

"Well, I guess this is the people I started this adventure with." Panther exhaled at the memory. "Just for a few minutes I decided to put my differences aside from Chica and just play nice. I mean, she never insulted me personally, except for that 'jock' comment. She was just a pain to deal with, that was all. But hey, game's over. I'm good."

"...Oh my god, I could hear the rope snapping..." Chica was just about to panic.

"It was a twig..." The StarFox pilot blinked. "My foot was digging in the sand and I stepped on it. Chill... Ow!"

She was bashed in the shoulder by Daisy's elbow.

"What was that for!?"

"I honestly thought that the rope was starting to snap, too." The Sarassaland resident admitted. "You're a jerk."

"Yeah, but I'm a pretty jerk."

For some reason, Chica Candance could not have helped but laugh out loud at that. Unfortunately though, the sudden movements did in fact make the rope snap, causing all three characters to fall to the ground.

And yes, Panther did in fact land on his tail.

"Um, yeah..." She glance off to the side. "Let's just say that pretty much everyone heard Panther... I shouldn't have been laughing, but... he did it to himself, hahaha!"

Chica was now sitting on the steps of the cafe by herself, staring at a picture of her little sister, Megan Candance.

She sighed for the umpteenth time. "Guess this is it. ...I've done it. I toughed it all out and managed to stick around in the game for thirty-eight days. To be honest, part of me wanted to quite on the first day. Day one. I thought about it for like five minutes during the hike while I was raining, because I was like, 'No. There's no way I'm doing this.' But... I signed up for this for a reason! Being voted out first is way better than being stupid and quitting on the first day! Not even my little sister wanted that! What was I thinking?"

"Hey... Come on..."

Standing behind her was Golden with a hand extended out. "Let's get this done. You know we're about to go home after this."

"I know, just... I'll be ready in a couple minutes..."

"No rush at all..." He commented as he made her way past her. "Some of us are still getting ready."

"I mean, I was surprised I even made it past the first Tribal Council, then I made it through another, my team then went on an immunity streak, and I just held my breath until I couldn't anymore. All of that just so I could trust myself a little more. I have not an older sister, but a younger sister back at home cheering me on. So in a way, this is for her as well, since she's too young to be a contest out here."

Tears being to fall down her face just thinking about that Loved Ones visit. "And you know, sometimes I honestly feel like I'm a poor example for her. ...But, you know what? Maybe it was meant for me to come out here first just to show her what I made of by sticking around this long. ...So, um... I guess if I can do it, she can do it... Don't worry, Megan. If you were to ever come out here someday, there is nothing to be afraid of. I've already been through it. And, you know, it was actually all... worth it..."

And with that, she was seen putting the picture into her backpack before standing up to walk off.

Oh my god... I just typed the whole thing after I came back from work the day Panther's chapter was released, but I'm posting it as soon as I wake up the next day just to give people a chance to read Panther's Ponderosa chapter and let him have his day first. But dang... I'm done with Chica already? ...Maybe it was just me wanting to finish this era, since it technically should have ended a long time ago, but better late than never, I suppose.

So with that, I'd like to take the time to thank you all once again for just now supporting this era, but my entire series so far for those of you who have read all three fanfics. I never expected to get to this point, but now I wanna do more. Make more seasons, more casts, more exciting adventures for our favorite video game characters. If one of your favorite characters got to shine at any point, lemme know and you can tell me what place they ended up in. (Maybe some interesting discussions can occur lol.)

But, guess what? With Mexico ending, and the temperatures warming up (and with things slowly turning back to normal thanks to the coronavirus ruining 2020), I can finally get started on working on the fourth era, Survivor - Caribbean. Idk when the "Meet the Cast" fic is gonna be up, but the actual story is gonna be released late May.

I will miss you guys, but we will see each other again soon. And thanks again!