*Last Time on Survivor Crossover: Ice Cap Zone...*
While indulging in the final moments of their reward at the Survivors' Shack, Daisy spotted and successfully found herself an advantage. It allowed her to steal one vote at Tribal Council from anyone she pleased. Not long after finding it, she managed to pull Kiryu to one side and let him in on her powerful secret in an attempt to gain his trust. With her goal achieved, she and Kiryu formed an alliance.
Meanwhile, in Elbrass, the tribe's unexpected loss of Glass Joe was swiftly patched by the sudden arrival of ex-Denalo member Nero switching tribes. However, in the background, Edgeworth was building his army to get out Rodin and Tracer: two major threats to his game going forward. Though he arrived in the midst of the chaos, Nero knew that he would have to continue his fight to stay in the game.
Finally, in the Denalo tribe, Polnareff used the opportunity of Nero's elimination to become the tribe's double agent, bouncing back and forth between the alliance of Knuckles and Tails, and the alliance of Wii Fit Trainer and Mr. Krabs. With no clear idea on which side he wanted to stick with, the tribe's hierarchy looked fuzzier and fuzzier...
In the challenge, the survivors were tasked with fighting in several one-on-one matches. The first and second to five points received firewood and immunity, and after a series of unpredictable and predictable bouts, Elbrass and Manjari ended up besting Denalo yet again, sending them back to Tribal Council.
Polnareff's double-agent game only became more apparent to both sides from there, with Wii Fit's skepticism and concern outshining the rest of the tribe. Though the others felt dependent on his vote, Wii Fit was not going to take the risk of being blindsided so soon.
At Tribal Council, things took a turn for the fierce as Polnareff's lies and two-faced behaviour were exposed to the tribe. And though he thought he had it all worked out after salvaging his plan into one that would have Knuckles and Tails vote Wii Fit alongside him, the numbers were unfortunately not on his side. And, as a result, Polnareff became the fifth to be eliminated from the show.
Sixteen remain, and more plans are beginning to come to fruition. Which ones will work? Which ones will blow up in the faces of those that put faith in them? All and more will be answered in this episode of Survivor Crossover: Ice Cap Zone!
Elbrass Mk. II: Day 11
Survivors: Dante - Nero.
The mood at Elbrass since their win was generally positive. Their once meek fire was now strongly ablaze, the high-quality firewood they had earned being a massive improvement over the twigs, sticks, and branches they used beforehand. A big fire then led to more warmth around the shelter, as well as a superior breakfast that cooked far quicker than it usually would have without the help of the wood.
It was only a few days ago when the two main factions of the tribe were seemingly going to begin butting heads if Elbrass were to head to Tribal Council. Edgeworth and Dante were on one side; Rodin and Tracer were on another, and that left Nero and Waluigi as swing votes that were up for grabs from either side. And, with bad blood between the two, it was unlikely for them to form an alliance of their own.
However, as the Shuffling drew ever so closer, the dynamic of the tribe began to change. Instead of using the two on the outs as swing votes, it became more and more likely for them to become the next candidates for elimination.
With both alliances shifting their aim to either Waluigi or Nero, the latter had already begun to make plans to take out the person that had blown up his game only a few days before. But, in order for Nero to get the numbers required to eliminate Waluigi, he would have to once again lower his guard and put trust in others: a mistake that almost had his torch snuffed back when he was in the Denalo tribe.
He stood by the cave's entrance, minding his business not long after the first meal of the day. Rodin and Tracer had just left camp with little notice, leading most to assume that they were on the hunt for idols. Edgeworth took this opportunity to leave camp, also in hunt of an idol. Finally, Waluigi decided to jump on the idol-hunting bandwagon, leaving straight after Edgeworth.
As a result, all that remained was one person he felt he could hardly trust. Considering most other components in his plan were currently absent, things didn't look too good for Nero. The idea to look for a second idol crossed his mind, but with nothing but detrimental consequences coming from his current idol, he rejected that thought immediately.
After a fair while of plotting ways he could convince the others to target Waluigi in his head, he noticed Dante approach him.
"Sup, Nero," he said, placing himself next to him. "Looks like it's just me and you that decided to stick around camp."
He replied with a nod, staying silent as he continued to blankly stare at the murky sky.
"Nero's a pretty big part of my plan to get to the end of the game. He always has his guard raised, especially thanks to the Denalo tribe, but if I can prove that I want to work with him, I'll be handsomely rewarded with a new ally. Yet, there's just one teensy problem: the next Tribal Council may be my last chance to work with Nero before the Merge, and if we win the next challenge, then that opportunity is out of the question... which is why I got a pretty neat plan in mind." - Dante.
Dante knew he couldn't rush into any proposals, so he attempted to make some more small talk. "So how's the tribe? Better than the one that kicked ya out?"
"You'd think it would be an easy answer... but with Waluigi here, it's hard to say." Nero gritted his teeth, still visibly angry at his ousting, more or less caused by a devilish play from Waluigi.
"Bingo."
Nero looked over with confusion. "Huh?"
"Allow me to fill you in a bit, Nero." Dante placed a hand on his shoulder. "Edgeworth and I are one side, Rodin and Tracer are the other side, which leaves Waluigi and you on the outs."
"I had a feeling you and Edgeworth were working together," he admitted. "Same with Rodin and Tracer."
Dante shrugged. "Just makin' sure. Anyway, before today, it looked like both sides were gonna use you and Waluigi as swing votes... but I think Edgeworth wants to go for a vote with a cleaner aftermath, and there's nothing cleaner than finishing the job on someone who cheated elimination, with an idol, no less."
"So I either win the next challenge or finally get rid of my idol?" He said. "Can't say I'm surprised people want me out again."
After a small pause, Nero eventually locked eyes with Dante, suspicious. "What's your goal here, Dante?"
"I want to get out Waluigi." He rolled his eyes. "I'm no sophisticate myself, but he's loud, doesn't know how to play the game, and a complete snake. I wanna work with people like Edgeworth and you, but I'm not gonna ever sit confidently at a Tribal Council with someone like Waluigi to rely on. That's why I came to you: I got a plan to get him out before he slips away to the next phase of this game."
Though wary, Nero looked intrigued. "I'm all ears."
"Let's throw the challenge."
"You serious?"
"Yep."
He immediately recoiled away from the idea, shaking his head. "Are you insane?!"
Understanding that it was a risky plan, Dante nodded. "Sure, I remember hearing about someone blowing up their game by throwing a challenge in the last season, but as long as we're discrete, then we'll be fine. As long as our acting skills are up to scratch, then we can throw the challenge. From there, we either use your idol or get the numbers to eliminate Waluigi."
Nero was conflicted. Waluigi was his least favourite person in the game by far, and getting him out would put him in a far safer position. However, he wasn't sure if he could trust Dante and go along with a plan that could easily blow up in his face. However, given that he would likely need his idol to pull off the plan, he felt that he was safe whether Dante was to backstab him or not. Therefore, he was leaning toward working with Dante to pull off the sin that was throwing the challenge.
For now, however, he decided to agree with Dante regardless of his actual intentions. "Screw it. I feel like I won't have a better shot against Waluigi until Merge. I'll help you."
Dante smirked. "Glad we see eye to eye on something for once. How good's your idol?"
Though he didn't want to go into too much detail, he pulled it out from his pocket. "If you were to all vote for me, I could play this and be one-hundred percent safe."
Deciding to make the assumption that it was a regular immunity idol, the veteran demon hunter gave a thumbs up. "Full immunity, huh? That'll definitely help."
And just like that, the two of them had seemingly agreed to pull off a massive move at the next challenge: lose the challenge on purpose with the intent of eliminating Waluigi. Nero felt like he could trust Dante a little more than before, but with his past history of trusting others, he was still far from calling him an "ally".
Manjari Mk. II: Day 11
Survivors: Kazuma Kiryu - Princess Daisy - Goro Majima - Joseph Joestar.
It was a quiet day for Manjari. Their small reward of firewood helped them to cook breakfast much faster than before. Similar to the Elbrass tribe, Scout and Sniper both slipped out of camp right after their meal. Not long following that, and Kiryu and Majima decided to head down to the lake to catch some fish.
After only an hour down at the lake, Kiryu and Majima both managed to catch a decent supply of fish for later.
As they returned to the tribe, Majima dangled the fish from both of his hands with a toothy grin. "Guess what me n' Kiryu-chan managed to nab!"
Kiryu, holding the equipment beside him, gently placed it down by the shelter and sat by Joseph and Daisy. At the same time, Majima placed the fish on the snow next to the fire.
"Better than you n' Scout, eh Joseph?" The Yakuza snickered, sitting down next to Kiryu. "You two fished for a damn long time when we got back from that cabin reward, and ya didn't catch a thing!"
Joseph rolled his eyes. "We were getting unlucky. Besides, it didn't help that Scout gave up not even half of an hour into it. Though I shouldn't be so hard... that's the most work he's done in the time I've known him."
"You wouldn't expect a soldier to be so lazy in a survival setting, but there's a first for everything. There's fish to be caught, wood to be brought up, snow to be cleared after our camp is buried from snowy nights, and food to be cooked. Daisy's probably the least experienced, and I've even seen her do more than Scout. I'm not one to factor help around camp into who I want to vote out, but he's certainly not my favourite in camp right now." - Joseph Joestar.
Hissing, Majima gave a snarl. "He's damn annoying. Not to mention the dumbass let his guard down twice in that last challenge."
"Cockiness never ends well," Kiryu chimed in.
"Well, I ain't gonna say much else, but right now, if we were to go to Tribal Council, it'd be his ass on the line," said Majima. "He better do some damn wonders on the next challenge."
With silence beginning to step in, Kiryu checked in with the others. "So is there anything else to do?"
"Not for a while, now," said Joseph. "So we got a lot of time on our hands."
Daisy sighed, resting her head on her hands as a few more minutes passed.
"An issue that I didn't expect going onto the game is that I've gotten a bad case of boredom way too many times. I guess being able to wind down is nice, but there needs to be some sort of way for the tribe to entertain themselves... luckily, I had the perfect idea!" - Princess Daisy.
After too much unbearable nothingness, Daisy decided to do something about it. She grabbed the empty pot from the ground and lifted it up. She walked ten or so meters away from the shelter and placed the pot down at her feet, anchoring it by burying the bottom half in snow.
The others looked on, confused at what she was doing. However, once she was finished, she returned to the shelter, picked up a clump of snow, and pressed it into a ball.
She took a deep breath, leaned back, and chucked the snowball. Though it hurled close towards the pot, it landed a meter away from it.
Before she could clump up her second ball, Kiryu piped up from behind.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to get a snowball right into the pot," she said. "Have a go!"
Kiryu shook his head. "I think I'll just watch..."
"Come on!" Daisy bellowed, annoyed. "You can't seriously be planning on sitting there for the next few hours."
He and Joseph seemed to be reluctant to play along with such a childish activity. However, Majima decided to spice things up a little.
"It's me n' you on food tonight, right Daisy?" Majima stood up, stretching. "If ya want these boring, grumpy old men to play along, then you need to try harder than that. Ya gotta give these simpletons a prize."
"Like what?"
With excitement, he pointed to the fish he had placed onto the snow. "How bout... if ya can land three snowballs in that pot in a row, then you get dibs on all of the fish right here!"
"Oooh... I see," Daisy nodded. "But what about Scout and Sniper?"
"They're out lookin' for a real prize. This is between the four of us!" He challenged. "Anyway, who's gonna go first?"
Finally deciding to bite, Joseph stood up. "I'll have a try. Being first is always an advantage."
He walked to where Daisy stood as she moved back. He grabbed a small heap of snow, compacted it into a perfect ball, and took aim.
Launching it forward, he was surprised to land the first shot cleanly in the pot.
"Well done!" Daisy applauded. "Two more, right?"
"Yeah..."
Joseph grabbed another, taking aim before tossing it in.
This time, however, a small error resulted in the ball hitting the front side of the pot, none of it going in.
"Damn it..." He groaned. "Who's going up now?"
Majima stared intensely at Kiryu, causing the Dragon of Dojima to finally give up the fight and participate.
"You win..." He sighed, standing up.
He formed his snowball and took aim, throwing it square into the pot.
"Okay... that's one," he said, eyeing the pot while forming his next snowball.
The second one also went straight in, causing the three around him to hold their breath.
With utmost precision, he lobbed it into the air and hoped for the best.
And, as the others had predicted, his snowball landed right into the pot for the third time.
When it landed, Majima threw his hands up and cheered. "KIRYU-CHAN WINS!"
"Wow!" Daisy clapped. "You didn't even need a warm-up!"
"Let's hope the next challenge has something like this in it," Joseph said. "I doubt we'd lose with Kiryu on our side."
"Our tribe is undoubtedly the strongest. Sniper has precision, Kiryu and myself have strength, and Majima and Scout have speed. The only person who doesn't always do great at challenges is Daisy, but she still gives it everything she has, and that's something you can respect." - Joseph Joestar.
Kiryu gave a subtle smile, attempting to humble himself. "Once you get the first shot, it's usually easier to get the other two in."
"Well... I have some practicing to do," confessed Daisy, picking up a clump of snow as she went to have another shot.
With the tribe at least slightly more entertained than they would have been otherwise, they spent some more time practicing their throws. When Scout and Sniper arrived back, Kiryu chose to share his "prize" of fish with the rest of the tribe anyway. The tribe continued their streak of high morale, and with only one challenge to go before the tribe would be dissolved in the Shuffling, they were hoping to end on a high note...
Denalo Mk. II: Day 11
Survivors: Knuckles - Miles "Tails" Prower - Mr. Krabs - Wii Fit Trainer.
With a mere four members remaining in the tribe, it was no secret that the Denalo tribe felt tiny. However, with the outcome of the last Tribal Council being so unanimous, the mood at camp was shockingly positive given that they had experienced their second Tribal Council in a row. Before, the fate of the two alliances was entirely dictated by Polnareff, but since his elimination, the entire tribe seemingly merged into one unified alliance.
They were prepared to go into the next challenge and win immunity, hoping to avoid the messy business of having to send yet another member of Denalo packing.
However, some survivors were gearing up for the pessimistic outcome more than others.
While Wii Fit took herself to the other side of the camp to practice her yoga poses, Krabs took the opportunity to approach Tails and Knuckles to discuss the game.
"Boy am I glad we kicked Polnareff's butt, eh guys?" He said, sitting down next to the two of them. "The only problem is that there ain't much choice if we go to Tribal Council again."
Knuckles nodded. "You got that right. That's why it's important for us to win this next challenge."
"Well, just so you two know," Krabs placed his claw on his shoulder. "I ain't gonna go through the grueling process of putting my alliance with Wii Fit against yours. You got my vote, and I'm more than happy to toss her out to make things easier on the both of ya."
He was absurdly blunt with his intentions, more or less declaring that he was going to vote Wii Fit at the next Tribal Council.
"How does that sound?" He asked, a humble yet oblivious grin on his face. "She's a pretty big threat like Polnareff said, so givin' her the boot is the safest option."
In an attempt to leave him satisfied, Tails give vague approval. "It is a pretty safe option. You're right."
Taking the comment as agreement to his plan to flip on Wii Fit and join their alliance, Krabs wrung his hands and stood back up. "Glad ya see my point. Anywho, I'm gonna give ya both a load off by preppin' lunch."
"You sure?" Asked Tails. "I was just about to-"
"No no, you stay put! In fact, I'll go down and get some more sticks for the fire too," he offered.
"Well... if you wan-"
"GREAT! I'll get it done in a jiffy."
Krabs then scurried away, leaving Knuckles and Tails confused yet wary of his true intentions.
"It's too easy! I invaded elimination by helpin' the blindside with Nero, then I joined the whole tribe in exorcisin' out that show pony Polnareff, and now I just made a clear-cut deal with Knuckles n' Tails to get out Wii Fit if we lose this next challenge. I'd prefer to work with the lass, but sometimes, you gotta take precautions if ya wanna survive!" - Mr. Krabs.
"Krabs doesn't know a thing about subtlety. He comes over, says he's jumping ship to our alliance, then clearly tries to get on our good side by doing all the work at camp. I don't doubt for a second that he'd work with us, but I doubt that loyalty would last long. He's been with Wii Fit since day one, and he's willing to jump ship so easily? Not the type of guy you'd want in your alliance." - Knuckles.
Tails shook his head. "I don't think I'd work with Krabs over Wii Fit... what do you think?"
The echidna scoffed. "Wii Fit's pretty valuable, and she strikes me as a loyal person. But I don't wanna vote either off right now."
"Yeah," the fox sighed. "But as long as we win this next challenge and stay united as a whole tribe, then we'll have more allies to help us get to the Merge."
"You sure Krabs would work with us?"
"Maybe... I think he definitely would over a new face, but I can't say I'm confident in his loyalty."
"Better than nothing, right?" Knuckles shrugged.
"That's true. As long as we keep an eye out, we shouldn't have to worry too much about him," Tails said.
Knuckles then folded his arms and stared at Wii Fit from afar. "Do you think we should tell her that Krabs is planning on getting her out?"
"Only if we lose."
"Yeah, that sounds about right."
As they continued to relax, attempting to keep warm in the usual bitter afternoon of the Ice Cap Zone, they hoped that tomorrow would finally give their tribe the opportunity to claim immunity, sending another tribe to Tribal Council. Tails and Knuckles felt safer than ever since their arrival, but with plans to continue working with Mr. Krabs and Wii Fit Trainer in the future, losing either was still an outcome that would potentially affect their longevity in the game.
"Last time I played, I made a strong bond then got eliminated in one of the most chaotic votes this show's ever seen. I'm pretty sure six names came up, and mine was unfortunately the one that came up the most. This time, I know that making more ties than one is crucial, and with my buddy Knuckles to work with, I feel like I can get to the end of this season flawlessly." - Tails.
Ice Cap Zone (Forest): Day 11
Survivors: Tracer - Rodin - Edgeworth - Waluigi - Scout - Sniper.
Though plenty showed up in search of an idol, the Ice Cap Zone Forest was fairly large in size. Large trees and rocks were sprinkled throughout the area, with little to no sense of direction regarding the idol's location. With the Ring of Igloos, there were a select few hiding places where the idol could be, but with the forest, it seemed to be impossible to identify a landmark that stood out from the rest. At least, that was the assumption all survivors had taken on after hours of searching through the forest.
Scout and Sniper arrived first, naturally splitting off as they searched every location they didn't have the time to search before. Though, with the forest's repetition, they came across many instances where they couldn't tell whether they'd been to a certain part of the forest in the past or not.
About an hour into their search, most of the Elbrass tribe joined in on the hunt. Being new to the area, Rodin and Edgeworth were put at a slight disadvantage. Additionally, having explored the area a couple of days prior, Waluigi was additionally put at a slight advantage.
After many hours of searching from all parties, exhaustion began to set in. With survivors feeling like they were going nowhere, they quickly began to give up. Waluigi and Scout were the first two to leave, and soon after, Rodin and Tracer made their leave.
All that was left were two monumentally patient, determined survivors: Edgeworth and Sniper. Though, after another hour of slogging through the same mind-numbing scenery, even Edgeworth decided that he had enough.
With Sniper moments away from finally throwing in the towel on looking for an idol, he drew to the very centre of the forest, finding himself in a dense ring of trees obscured by numerous brambles and bushes.
It was then he saw it.
At the very middle of the ring was a large aged tombstone, half-buried in snow. Sticking out from the top of the snow and in front of the tombstone was a stone urn. This hidden landmark was exactly what Sniper was looking for, and he quickly scrambled over, unaware if anyone was still in the forest with him.
He dug the urn out from the snow and knelt down, pulling the lid open and sticking his hand in. At the very bottom of the urn was a metallic object with a note attached, exciting the mercenary.
Sniper pulled out the ring and eyed the attached note, quietly reading it aloud:
"This is the Ring of Ambiguity. Upon activating this ring at Tribal Council before a vote, you will be given the opportunity to select two people to leave that Tribal Council immediately; this can include yourself. Once they leave, they are unable to vote, but also cannot be voted for, making them immune from elimination that night."
Grinning maniacally, Sniper stashed it deep into his pockets and danced around cheerily.
"This is what I need to turn a sour situation into a sweet one. I can save people from elimination, I can topple alliances, and I can flip any Tribal Council I want onto its bloody head! This has to be the most powerful idol out there, and it's sittin' comfortably in my pocket!" - Sniper.
With his day of searching handsomely rewarded, Sniper began his trek back to camp...
*TO BE CONTINUED*