…
Survivor: Crazy Game Changers
Jet Black from the Cowboy Bebop series appears in a helicopter flying overhead an island with a volcano.
"This is Akala Island in beautiful Alola," Jet states. "Ordinarily, you'd see Pokémon Trainers trying to win trials against the Kahunas. But not today! Or for the next 26 days, for that matter. No, this is the start of a brand new season of Crazy Survivor. Let's get down to meet our returning contestants."
The helicopter makes its way down to the beach while two boats surface, one red and one blue.
"I have never survived a single Tribal Council," Sabrina from Pokémon says. "I've been voted out four times. I'm not allowed to use my telepathic abilities or to teleport. The odds are stacked against me. They're going to be going for me from day one. My goal is to do more than just survive: I want to win this thing."
"The last time I was on Survivor, I was left for dead," Lucian from Pokémon says. "They thought Queen Cynthia killed me. As it turned out, I used a Ditto to fake my death, as did Sabrina. Now I'm coming back with a vengeance. I'm going to embarrass people and cut them loose. This will be a no-holds-barred approach I'm taking."
"I just got back from playing Survivor: Best Girl," Alice Nakiri from Food Wars says. "I acted kind of like a $#*%^ while I was there. This time, I'm going to try being more friendly, more cordial, more fun. Maybe it'll work better than last time around. And besides, my cousin Erina made it all the way to the Final Three! There's no way she can one-up me!"
The helicopter and the boats land, and the players pile out of the boats. Jet is there to greet them.
"Welcome to Survivor: Crazy Game Changers," Jet says to loud cheers. "Before we begin, I want to point out a few things. Not one of you 20 characters has ever reached the Final Three. You've all played the game, failed in some respect, and never pulled off the win. But there's more than that. Many of you have been a part of big moments in Survivor history. Haruhi Suzumiya, you once found three immunity plushies in one season."
"That's right!" Haruhi affirms.
"Sabrina, you've made the wrong kind of history, being voted off four times."
"Do you have to remind me?" Sabrina asks.
"And some of you haven't made BIG MOVES, but we in production see potential in you to provide us a great season. Now, let's talk about how this game's going to go. There are ten male characters and ten female characters. We are doing male vs. female this season, so all you men, grab a blue buff. And you women, you grab a red buff."
The contestants take their buffs, each according to his or her own gender:
Men:
Killua (Hunter x Hunter, Survivor: Greed Island)
Lucian (Pokémon, Survivor: Shamouti Island, Survivor: Crazy Second Chance, & Survivor: Greed Island)
Kirito (Sword Art Online, Survivor: Rivals)
Prussia (Hetalia, Survivor: Axis vs. Allies & Survivor: Crazy All-Stars)
Joe (Pokémon, Survivor: Shamouti Island)
Cato (Hunger Games, Survivor: Panem)
Mayuri Kurotsuchi (Bleach, Survivor: Hueco Mundo)
Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop, Survivor: Seireitei Forest)
Kyon (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Survivor: Seireitei Forest)
Gary Oak (Pokémon, Survivor: Shamouti Island, Survivor: Crazy Second Chance, & Survivor: Greed Island)
Women:
Alice Nakiri (Food Wars, Survivor: Best Girl)
Konata Izumi (Lucky Star, Survivor: Tropical Jungle)
Mine (Akame ga Kill, Survivor: Best Girl)
Ami Mizuno (Sailor Moon, Survivor: Feudal Japan, Survivor: Hikawa Shrine, & Survivor: Crazy All-Stars)
Jasmine (Pokémon, Survivor: Shamouti Island & Survivor: Greed Island)
Karen (Pokémon, Survivor: Shamouti Island)
Michiru Kaioh (Sailor Moon, Survivor: Hikawa Shrine)
Misty (Pokémon, Survivor: Seireitei Forest)
Haruhi Suzumiya (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Survivor: Seireitei Forest, Survivor: Xing, & Survivor: Crazy All Stars)
Sabrina (Pokémon, Survivor: Shamouti Island & Survivor: Crazy All-Stars)
"Welcome, welcome!" Jet says. "Good to see everyone with their buffs on. Now, here's the two twists that will define the game. I'm not hiding them; you're going to know them from Day 1 and have to live with them. First off, both tribes will live on the same beach and in the same shelter. It's a One World twist. The other twist? There will be no merge – at all."
Some of the players gasp as they hear this.
"We will keep on competing team vs. team until one tribe runs out of members, at which point he or she will join the other tribe. Once a tribe gets down to just two members, they will compete in a fire-making tiebreaker challenge to decide which player stays in the game. There will be no individual immunity challenges, no Immunity Beads of Subjugation."
"Hold on a second," Misty says.
"Yes, Misty?" Jet asks.
"How are Tribals going to work? And who will be on the jury?"
"Simple," Jet says. "Everyone goes to Tribal Council every vote. The immune tribe sits in the peanut gallery, while the losing tribe proceeds as usual. The winning tribe will even be given some peanuts to eat while they watch. At some point in the game – and I won't tell you when – voted off players will join the jury. Since you will be living together and going to every Tribal Council, you will know everything about your opponents. This is going to be a grueling test of wits. Which one of these tribes will blink first, the Men or the Women? By the way, those are your tribe names: Men and Women."
"Sounds interesting," Ami says.
"In addition, Fire Tokens are back," Jet says. "You each receive two Tokens along with a menu of what you can buy with them. Prices have changed from last season, as have the items on the list. Once you are voted out of the game, you will bequeath your Tokens to one or more players."
Coffee and pastries: 3 tokens
Small bag of beans: 4 tokens
Regular bag of rice: 5 tokens
Two pillows, two blankets: 4 tokens
Three egg-laying chickens: 3 tokens
Tarp: 5 tokens
Idol: 10 tokens
Extra vote: 4 tokens
Steal-a-vote: 7 tokens
Safety without power: 7 tokens
Idol Nullifier: 5 tokens
Knowledge is Power: 8 tokens
Pizza: 1 token
Jar of peanut butter: 1 token
Bottle of wine: 1 token
Six-pack of beer: 1 token
Hammock: 1 token
Hamburger: 1 token
French fries: 1 token
Machete: 4 tokens
Flint: 4 tokens
Medallion of Power: 5 tokens
"You're going to need those Tokens," Jet continues. "Because this season you are getting nothing from us. No food, no flint, and no machete. Anything you want, you must buy. That means your Fire Tokens will be your lifeblood in this game. You'll have the chance to win them at challenges, and but you'll have to choose whether you'd rather suffer physically and not have any advantages, or benefit strategically but starve."
"Yikes," Alice says.
"Sounds like the Badlands," Jasmine says, referring to her time on Greed Island.
"That's right," Jet states. "And since each of you starts with just two Fire Tokens, you're going to have to pool together your Tokens in order to buy things. Now, one of the things on the menu is the Medallion of Power."
"I remember that!" Haruhi exclaims.
"That's right, it was only used in Survivor: Xing," Jet says. "A tribe may buy the Medallion of Power for five Tokens. After it is used, it has to be bought again; it does not go over to the other tribe. Instead, before each challenge, both tribes are given a chance to buy the Medallion; whichever tribe lost the previous challenge gets the choice to buy it first."
"Sounds good," Ami says.
"One other thing!"
Jet pulls out a bag of dice.
"This is a new twist," he states. "It's called Shot in the Dark. Each of you gets one of them. You put the die into the slot at the voting booth, and then you pick out one of six scrolls of paper. Pick out the right one, and you win immunity. The catch? You've got to wager your vote to use it. There is only a 1 in 6 shot that you'll be immune, but if you are absolutely sure you are going home otherwise, then it's worth a shot."
"Okay," Kirito says.
"Now, let's have a little fun to start the game," Jet says. "Why not make things interesting right out of the gate?"
"Oh, please," Sabrina says. "I don't want to be voted off before I even get to camp."
"Relax," Jet says. "Here's what's going to happen: we're going to hold a reward challenge between the two tribes – Men vs. Women. The winner of this challenge will get to party out on a yacht in the Alola sea. You'll have all the food you could ever want. Each player on the winning tribe will also receive one Fire Token."
"Sounds great!" Konata exclaims.
"As for the losing tribe, they will immediately go to work on the shelter on Hano Beach. They will build the shelter, fill up everyone's water canteens, and make fire. They must make the shelter big enough for 20 people. They will not get to rest or eat any rice until all of those tasks have been completed; no looking for idols is allowed."
"Wow, sounds tough," Joe says.
"The stakes are huge right off the bat," Jet says. "Once I have deemed the shelter sufficient for both tribes, then the winning tribe will come back to Hano Beach. That means that if it takes you all night to build the shelter, you will keep working while the winning tribe continues to party. It also means that you must purchase a machete and flint, because otherwise you aren't making a shelter or fire."
"Better not lose then," Gary Oak says.
"Now, let's get to today's challenge," Jet states. "I have a few oblong balls here, and you can see that arena over there. Can you guess what we'll be playing?"
"Schmergen Brawl!" Haruhi exclaims.
"That's right, it's the return of that venerable challenge, Schmergen Brawl," Jet says. "On my go, three players from your tribe will battle to retrieve balls in a pit. You'll then toss them to your two tribe members on a platform, who will shoot them into a basket. Each time you get a ball into the basket, you score a point. First tribe to two points wins reward. You already know what you're playing for. I'll give you a minute to strategize, then we'll get started."
The players talk over their strategy, then they send out their teams.
"Starting out for the Men, it's Killua, Kirito, and Spike going for the balls, and Lucian and Prussia shooting. For the Women, it's Mine, Sabrina, and Haruhi going for the balls, and Misty and Michiru shooting! For a big reward! Survivors ready? Go!"
The players scramble to get the balls, and right away Haruhi and Sabrina grab two for the Women. Kirito manages to grab one for the Men. He tosses his over to Lucian, while Sabrina and Haruhi get theirs over to Misty and Michiru.
"Michiru shoots… short! Misty shoots… and she's a little bit long!"
Lucian times his shot and launches it toward the basket.
"Lucian's shot… misses!"
Sabrina grabs the rebound off Lucian's shot, then fires it over to Misty.
"Misty with a second shot!"
…
…
…
"She misses!"
Killua grabs a ball and flips it over to Prussia.
"Watch this awesome shot!" Prussia exclaims.
"Prussia's shot…"
…
…
…
"…misses badly!"
Mine gets a ball over to Michiru at about the same time that Spike gets one over to Lucian. Michiru shoots toward the goal, but Lucian throws his ball out at the last second to knock hers away.
"A big block there by Lucian!"
Sabrina grabs a ball, then tosses it over to Misty. Kirito gets another one over to Lucian.
"Misty shoots!"
…
…
…
"Lucian tries to block it, but he misses! Misty's shot goes in! That's one point for the Women!"
The players in the pit climb out, all muddy and sweaty. The shooters also make way for the rest of their tribe to come in.
"Next up, it's Joe, Cato, and Kyon in the pit for the Men, and Gary and Mayuri shooting! For the Women, it's Alice, Konata, and Karen in the pit, and Ami and Jasmine shooting! Women lead 1-0, and we are playing to two! Survivors ready? Go!"
The contestants collide with each other as they try to pick up the balls. Karen grabs one and tosses it over to Jasmine. Kyon gets one, and he tosses it over to Gary. Cato also grabs one, pushing Konata aside as he does. He throws it over to Mayuri.
"Easy does it!" Mayuri shouts as he unloads his shot.
"Mayuri's shot…"
…
…
…
"…goes in! And just like that, we are tied, 1-1!"
Mayuri gives a high five to Gary, while Ami throws her ball away in disgust.
"For this final round, you may pick whichever players you want to go for you. Choose wisely!"
The two tribes go into huddles, trying to figure out the best lineups.
"Okay," Sabrina says. "Alice, you're pretty fast, you're going in the pit. Mine is a good shooter – she ought to be shooting for us."
"Makes sense," Michiru says.
"And Misty needs to be shooting too," Ami says. "Haruhi, you go in the pit."
"Who's going to be the last one in the pit?" Karen asks.
"I'll do it," Sabrina says. "Let's get this point!"
The Men continue their discussion as well.
"Cato will be in the pit," Killua says. "I think Gary should be in there too."
"Get Spike down there too," Joe says. "And we'll have Mayuri shooting."
"Who will be the other shooter?" Lucian asks.
"The awesome me!" Prussia exclaims.
"No, no," Killua says. "You're no good at shooting. Let's send Kirito instead."
"Good thinking," Joe says.
"Okay, tribes, let me know your lineups!" Jet says.
The players tell Jet their formations, then they set up in the arena.
"For the Men, it's Cato, Gary, and Spike in the pit, and Kirito and Mayuri shooting! For the Women, it's Alice, Haruhi, and Sabrina in the pit, and Misty and Mine shooting! For a big reward! Survivors ready? Go!"
The contestants charge head-on at the balls, and immediately Gary bumps heads with Sabrina. Cato slams Alice to the ground as he picks up a ball and throws it over to Mayuri.
"Excuse me?" Alice says, giving Cato a small shove back.
"Mayuri shoots…"
…
…
…
"…and misses!"
This time Sabrina gets a ball, but Cato slams her to the ground. He grabs the ball off her and tosses it up to Kirito. He then stands over Sabrina, who immediately rises to her feet and gives him a shove. Gary then plows into Haruhi as he tries to get a ball, and Alice and Spike fight each other to get the other ball.
"Kirito can win the challenge right here!"
…
…
…
"He misses!"
Alice gets the ball out of Spike's hands, then tosses it over to Misty.
"Misty, for the win!"
…
…
…
"No!"
Haruhi shakes off an attack from Gary to grab the ball, which she tosses over to Alice.
"Let me have it!" Mine yells.
Alice ignores Mine's plea and tosses the ball over to Misty instead.
"Misty can win it here!"
…
…
…
"She does… NOT! It goes in and out! Still anybody's game!"
Sabrina and Cato continue to get into a tussle over a ball. Sabrina manages to grab the ball and push it out, and Haruhi picks it up. Haruhi then gets slammed to the ground by Spike, but not before she is able to roll the ball to Alice.
"Come on, give it to me!" Mine shouts, holding her arms out.
But instead, Alice throws it to Misty, who has her third attempt at winning this challenge.
"Misty's shot…"
…
…
…
"…does NOT miss! It goes in! And that's it! Women win reward!"
Before anyone can even react to the result of the challenge, Cato and Sabrina finish out their wrestling match. Cato gets the upper hand and slams Sabrina to the ground. As he does, Misty jumps down from up top and goes after Cato. Spike and Gary immediately rush to Cato's defense. Soon, players from both teams leave the bench and run into the pit to begin the brawl.
"Okay guys, let's break this up!" Jet shouts.
His cry falls on deaf ears. Sabrina continues fighting with Cato, with Mayuri and Gary trying to pull her off him. Meanwhile, outside of the battle remain five members of the Women – Alice, Mine, Jasmine, Ami, and Michiru. While Ami, Michiru, and Jasmine are staying out of the fight because they want to restore the peace, Alice and Mine have a stare-down in the far side of the arena.
"I told you to pass it to me!" Mine shouts.
"There was no way you were making it!" Alice shouts back.
"Oh, here we go again," Mine says. "You're harboring a grudge from our last season!"
"So are you!" Alice says. "I hate that we have to be on the same tribe!"
As Cato and Sabrina finish tussling, the players begin to walk away out of the arena. The Women are split – half of them are happy, the ones who stayed out of the fight. The other five are furious at the Men who continued to fight with them after the challenge. A few of the men walk away dejected, including Joe, Kyon, Kirito, and Killua. The others continue to stare down Sabrina and Haruhi, who kept battling after the challenge was over.
"All right, all right!" Jet says. "That was a brutal challenge, and you're lucky, because it's only to get harder from here. Let's sort things out here. Women, you won the challenge, and each of you will receive an extra Fire Token. You can head on out; a yacht is waiting to pick you up and take you on your reward."
Most of the Women give high-fives to each other as they walk out, although Mine is still giving the cold shoulder to Alice, and Sabrina still looks angry at Cato. They head on over to the yacht.
"As for the Men," Jet says. "I would say I got nothing for you, but that's not true. I do have something for you. Here's a map to your camp."
Jet tosses the map over to Gary.
"Back at camp, you will find all the materials you need to make your shelter."
"That doesn't sound so bad," Killua says.
"I think you misunderstand," Jet states. "All the materials are there, but you're going to have to get them for yourself. You'll have to pay for a machete and some flint."
Joe gulps, while Kirito looks downtrodden.
"I will be keeping a close eye on you," Jet says. "If anyone dares to stop working to look for an immunity idol or some sort of advantage, you will face serious consequences. You've got to work only on the shelter, so it's in tip-top shape for when the Women come back. And they aren't coming back until you're finished. You've got a long day ahead of you. Head on out."
The Men walk out in frustration. Cato shakes his head in disgust.
"This sucks," Cato says. "Essentially we have to serve the Women and do all of their hard work for them. The Women get to go off and party, while we have to work and build for them. This is not what I signed up for."
"Kill Them with Kindness"
Day 1
Women Tribe
(Alice, Ami, Haruhi, Jasmine, Karen, Konata, Michiru, Mine, Misty, Sabrina)
The ten Women sit on deck chairs out on the deck of their yacht. Each player has sunglasses, as well as a beverage of some sort, and a table full of food sitting in the middle.
"This is the life," Misty says, lying back in her chair.
"You gotta love it," Konata says.
"Do you think they'll hold it against us?" Jasmine asks.
"What do you mean?" Ami asks.
"The Men," Jasmine says. "Are they going to harbor a grudge at us because we won and now get to be on this luxurious yacht?"
"Who cares?" Haruhi replies. "Kyon can do some work for a change. It doesn't matter to me one bit what they do!"
Sabrina looks a bit serious, but doesn't say anything.
"Jasmine is completely right," Sabrina says. "The Men are going to hold it against us since we won this challenge and forced them to do all the work. And that's why we've got to think endgame. We need to get as many Women on the jury as possible, because the Men aren't going to vote for us. At the same time, if I want to win, I've got to be the only Woman in the Final Three. Because otherwise, two Women end up splitting votes and giving the remaining Man the title. This is so intriguing, trying to figure out endgame already! I've never really had this opportunity."
So, Sabrina immediately goes to work on uniting the Women.
"Girls, it's got to be us ten together no matter what," she says. "We promise to each other that no matter what, we vote for whichever Women make the Final Three."
"Absolutely!" Karen replies. "There's no way I'll vote for any of those pigs."
"Sounds like you hate men," Mine says.
"You could put it that way," Karen says. "I prefer to call myself anti-chauvinistic."
"I have grown to hate men over the years," Karen says. "Whether it's been bad romances or arrogant morons or just plain stupid people, I am at the point in my life where I don't need a man and I never will. Maybe it's partially because I got a crush on Queen Cynthia. But maybe it's also because I've never met a man who I didn't hate."
"Has anyone looked at the Fire Tokens menu yet?" Ami asks.
The other players look around cluelessly.
"No…" Jasmine says.
"Well, you should," Ami says. "We need to already start strategizing on what we're going to buy with our Tokens. We need to pool them together for the good of the tribe."
"Okay," Misty says.
"Pool them together?" Alice asks. "Why do that?"
"Because the Tokens are much more useful put together than they are if each of us just wastes one on a hamburger or peanut butter or something," Ami says.
"Really?" Haruhi says.
"Yeah, I'm not sure about that," Konata says.
Ami sighs in annoyance.
"We are at that point again, only this time it's Day 1," Ami says. "The point at which I realize that I'm smarter than everyone else and that playing with morons makes me more likely to get bounced from the game earlier. No one here is even thinking about Fire Tokens, when they're easily the most powerful weapon we have. That last season of Survivor – was anybody watching? Fire Tokens ruled the game. But if we all treat our Tokens as only ours and not for the good of the tribe, we're going to waste our best ammunition for beating the Men."
Michiru pulls out her three Fire Tokens and tosses them on the food table.
"Here are mine," she says. "I want to help."
"Me too," Misty says, pulling out her Tokens. "Let's work together."
Haruhi crosses her arms. "Not me!" she says. "I'm waiting to use mine on food."
"Yeah, I want food too," Konata says. "No reason to overthink things here."
"I am thrilled to be playing with my idol Haruhi Suzumiya," Konata says. "Some people even say I sound like her. Since Haruhi doesn't want to give up her Fire Tokens, neither do I! I'm going to follow her coattails the whole game, because she really knows how to go far. I just hope she doesn't think I'm stalking her or anything."
Mine and Alice concur.
"Why the #$%* do you think I'm going to give you my Tokens?" Mine says. "I've played with Tokens before, and I learned that they are the most important thing in this game. I'm not giving them to anyone else; I'm keeping them myself!"
"Yeah, me too," Alice says. "I hate to agree with Mine on anything, but we're the only two players who have ever played with Fire Tokens. We know exactly how important they are. You guys can waste yours; we're keeping ours."
Alice crosses her arms and looks over at Mine, who gives the slightest of smiles.
"Alice was my worst enemy last season," Mine says. "But now, since we're veterans from the same season, we kind of have the same mindset. It's too early to say that she'll have my back and I'll have hers, but perhaps she and I can work together… just a tad."
"I don't really care for Mine too much, but I'm not opposed to working with her," Alice says. "She and I have the same battle scars. We went to war together, so to speak. And if that provides me with something of an alliance that I otherwise may not have… it'll be worth it. I just hope she's not too selfish."
Ami looks annoyed. "Let's throw down right now, then," she says. "Which of you are with me, and which are against me? If you're in, throw your Tokens on the table like Michiru and Misty."
Sabrina hesitates for a moment, then tosses her Tokens onto the table. Jasmine looks both ways, then also drops her Tokens on the table. Everyone looks at Karen, who refuses to make a move.
"So, you're not in?" Jasmine asks her.
"I never said I wasn't in," Karen says.
She then drops two Tokens on the table.
"I'll be keeping one just in case," she says. "Sound fair?"
Ami looks over at Sabrina, then nods her head. "Okay, two-thirds in is better than not in at all. That gives us 17 Tokens to work with."
"You guys have fun," Mine says, as she grabs her drink and begins to walk to the back of the yacht.
"Yeah, go ahead," Alice says. She follows Mine's lead and heads to another part of the yacht. Haruhi and Konata get up and join them.
Once those four are out of earshot, Sabrina lays down her strategy.
"Mine and Alice have just voted themselves out of this game," Sabrina says. "As have Konata and Haruhi. We six stick together as an alliance, and we have nothing to fear."
"Agreed," Michiru says.
"Hey, I got nothing against just Pagonging them out of here," Karen says. "But you know it's not that easy. As soon as one of them's gone, the other three are going to try to team up with three of us in order to take over the game."
"That's why we use the buddy system," Sabrina says.
"The buddy system?" Jasmine asks.
"We team up, two by two," Sabrina says. "You and your partner stay together at all times. That way, if your partner is tempted to do something that might break up our alliance, you can call them out on it immediately and stamp out whatever spark of rebellion that they may be thinking of."
"Makes a lot of sense," Misty says. "But who's teaming up with who?"
"I'll go with Jasmine," Sabrina says. "The two of us have been the highest-ranked gym leaders in our region for some time. I know you're shy, Jasmine, but you can trust me."
"Absolutely!" Jasmine replies. "You helped us defeat Giovanni. We share a special bond. We'll stay linked together."
"And I'll go with Michiru," Ami says. "The two of us know each other well."
"We even have similar battle attacks," Michiru says. "We make a good team."
"So that leaves me with Karen," Misty says.
"Hey, I'm not so bad!" Karen says. "But I want that one Fire Token in my back pocket."
"Understandable," Misty says.
"Of all the people in our newly-created alliance, Karen is the one I trust the least," Misty says. "I'm worried about this whole 'buddy system' already. I'm basically chained to Karen for however long this alliance holds together, and to be quite frank, I don't think it lasts very long. There are too many self-interests that get in the way of an alliance working. Nevertheless, I've got to stick with it, or else I'm going to be going home very early like I did in Seireitei Forest."
Ami pulls out her Fire Token menu and starts scanning it.
"Let's see…" she says. "We're definitely buying the Medallion of Power. Assuming the Men don't buy it first."
"Right," Misty says.
"Now…" Ami says. "An idol is a whole ten Tokens. And since it can only belong to one player, there would be a lot of fighting over who gets it."
"Yeah, that doesn't sound like a good idea," Michiru says.
"An extra vote costs four Tokens, and a steal-a-vote costs seven," Ami continues. "But if we have six to their four, we don't need either of those."
"Then what's left?" Sabrina says.
"Knowledge is Power is an intriguing one," Ami says. "You get it, and you can steal any one advantage from another player. But again, it's a one-player advantage. It could easily be used to sabotage someone else."
"And safety without power actually hurts us," Karen says. "Whoever uses it bails on the vote, and then we're down one voter."
"That leaves us with the Idol Nullifier," Ami says. "Probably the most useful for our alliance, because it prevents one of them from getting knocked out by an idol."
"Are you sure that you'll use it for any of us?" Karen asks.
"I would use it for the betterment of the alliance," Ami says. "If that means saving you, then I will."
"Doesn't sound too reassuring," Karen says.
She grabs her other two Tokens and puts them back in her pocket.
"Yeah, I don't trust you very much," Karen says. "You want to play hardball with the idol, that's fine. But I'll hold on to my Tokens to be safe."
Sabrina tries to step in as Ami and Karen start getting hostile toward each other.
"Look, we're still an alliance," she says. "If Karen doesn't trust Ami fully, that's fine. None of us should trust anyone fully."
"Not true!" Misty exclaims. "Jasmine has a pure heart, you can definitely trust her."
Jasmine smiles. "Thank you, Misty," she says.
"Anyway, my point is that we shouldn't refrain from playing this game like individuals," Sabrina says. "We do have to play solo at times. But until we've gotten out those other four, we're going to keep up our buddy system and vote out the others one by one."
Karen scowls at Sabrina, and Ami shakes her head, but neither says anything.
"I don't trust Sabrina, to be quite honest," Karen says. "She is scheming and dreaming already. She thinks this 'buddy system' is a good idea. It's not. In fact, it may cause me to go against this alliance instead of for it. I don't know what Alice and Mine have to offer, but it may be more than what the other Pokémon Trainers can offer. I'm going to hold on to these Tokens and hope that I gather more as the game goes along, so I can get an advantage to my liking."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the boat, Mine and Alice stare off into the distance to see the Men working on the camp.
"Looks like they're putting together the shelter right now," Mine says.
"If they only knew what we're enjoying right now," Alice says, taking a sip of her alcoholic beverage.
"You think they're pissed off?" Mine asks.
"Oh, definitely," Alice says. "In fact, I hope they're pissed off. It'll make beating them all the sweeter."
Mine smirks. "I hate to say it, but you're right," she says. "I can't wait to start beating the pants off those guys."
"I feel a weird connection with Alice," Mine says. "I don't forgive her for her actions last season, and I don't trust her one bit. Yet, I feel like we think the same way, and maybe our experience together is going to help us at least for the time being."
Haruhi and Konata, meanwhile, are below deck.
"Got any more food down here?" Konata asks.
"Yeah, we're still hungry!" Haruhi says.
The yacht's chefs Erina Nakiri and Soma Yukihira quickly chase Konata and Haruhi out of the lower decks and back up to the top.
"Crazy, it's as if we were doing something illegal," Konata says. "We weren't being that annoying… well, maybe just a little bit…"
As Konata and Haruhi make it back to the top deck, they see Mine and Alice waving.
"Who are you waving to?" Konata asks.
"We think we can see some of the Men over there building the shelter," Alice says. "We thought we'd rub it in a little bit."
"Yeah, while they're working, we're living in luxury," Mine says, sipping an alcoholic beverage.
"Kyon ought to be working for a change!" Haruhi exclaims. "He's so lazy, he needs something to do to keep him busy!"
"This is so much fun, getting to be on this yacht and eating and drinking to our content!" Haruhi says. "It's so great, I don't even want the game to ever begin. I'd like to just hang out on this yacht for the next 26 days!"
Men Tribe
(Cato, Gary, Joe, Killua, Kirito, Kyon, Lucian, Mayuri, Prussia, Spike)
A little earlier, the Men arrived at their new camp with nothing to work with. They read off their Fire Token menus to see what they need to buy.
"Wow, Jet wasn't kidding when he said this season would be hard," Killua says.
"Yeah, this is not what I expected," Joe says.
"Well, let's see… we need a machete and we need flint," Kirito says. "Without either of those things, we can't make camp. That's going to cost us eight Tokens. Who is willing to pitch in for it?"
"I think it's only fair that everyone pitch in," Kyon says. "All ten of us give up one Token each."
"Sounds fair," Spike says.
"What about the other two Tokens?" Gary asks.
"Hmmmm…" Killua says. "Why don't we spend them on a couple of hammocks?"
The other Men nod their heads.
"Sounds good," Cato says. "Let's buy our stuff now and get to work."
"I'm not happy about losing that first challenge," Cato says. "Personally, I can't stand those Women. I want to crush them. I want us to still have seven or eight members left when they're making fire to determine which one of them joins us. And if I have to go about it in underhanded ways, I'm not opposed to it. That's just the Hunger Games way."
The players receive the machete and flint, as well as the hammocks. As they begin building the shelter, some of the Men complain about having to do all the work.
"This is so stupid," Gary says. "We have to make this shelter good for the Women? Seriously, why are we being forced to do this?"
"It's the producers' fault," Lucian says. "They wanted a good twist to start the game, and boy, did they get one."
"Those Women better be appreciative of our work," Spike says.
"Trust me, they won't," Kyon says.
"Hey, this is a chance to experiment!" Mayuri says, breaking up the complaining. "There are so many opportunities to experiment with the building materials. We can really mix things up here!"
Kyon rolls his eyes. "Just shut up," he says.
"I love to experiment, as you know from the Soul Society," Mayuri says. "What better time to experiment than when half the contestants are gone? But these losers here don't share my adventurous attitude. It may be hard for me to succeed with their hard-headedness."
The Men continue putting together the shelter, when Killua notices a divide in the tribe.
"I can see that we've split right down the middle," Killua says. "There's the five people who don't want to be working – Lucian, Spike, Cato, Gary, and Kyon. Then there's those of us who are just shutting up and working – myself, Kirito, Prussia, Joe, and Mayuri. This could prove to be the first alliance in this tribe."
"Man, this sucks to have to be doing this!" Lucian complains. "The only person I'd ever want to do this for is my Queen Cynthia."
"You're telling me," Spike says. "At least we don't have the Women sitting around watching us."
"Oh, they probably are, from their yacht," Gary says. "I hope they appreciate all of our labor, because this is painful."
"Trust me," Kyon says. "Haruhi doesn't, and none of the others will either. So, don't count on any thanks from them."
As the contestants keep working on the shelter, Killua tries talking to Joe and Kirito. He leads them out into the woods to gather bamboo, and the three of them spend time to talk strategy.
"You see it, don't you?" Killua says. "The whiners and the workers?"
"Yeah, I do," Kirito says. "These guys won't shut up about having to work. And then there are those of us who aren't complaining. It's a split."
"Does this mean we have a chance at making an alliance?" Joe asks.
"Not quite," Killua says. "But this could be disastrous. We need to work with the Women as much as possible, because they are going to determine our fate in the end. Remember that there's going to be a jury, and probably a bloated one at that. There are going to be Women choosing whether we win or lose."
"What if we just win all the challenges and knock them out before they make the jury?" Joe asks.
"The jury's going to be huge," Kirito says. "They might have as many as eleven players on the jury. They're going to make sure that, even in our best-case scenario, there will be at least one Woman on the jury."
"Not only that," Killua says, "but we know deep down that we aren't going to win nine straight immunities. They're going to win some. And that means that probably at least half the jury's gonna be Women."
"I guess you're right," Joe says. "But we need to make sure that the jury is all Men. Because if there's one Woman, all the Women on the jury will vote for her."
"It's going to be really interesting how this goes down," Kirito says. "There's never been a Survivor season with more of an emphasis on tribe vs. tribe warfare."
"And that's why we've got to stick together," Killua says. "Us three to the end. We win a bunch to start the game, but when we don't win, we vote as one unit."
"Agreed," Kirito says, putting his hand out.
"I'm in!" Joe says, and the three bump fists together.
"We're not even one day into this season of Survivor, and already it's the most complex," Killua says. "There's Fire Tokens, there's no merge, there's the One World twist, there's the gender war, and there's the alliances breaking right down the middle in our tribe. If I'm going to win this game, I'm going to have to play smart and be on my toes at every last moment. There can't be a single moment when I'm not playing this game one hundred percent."
Cato, meanwhile, is talking with Gary and Lucian.
"You know, we really ought to make those Women suffer," Cato says.
"How so?" Lucian asks.
"We didn't get any rice, did we?" Cato says. "Then let's force them to buy their own rice. And then once they get it, let's accidentally spill it."
"Hey, I'm all up for sabotage," Gary says. "But we'll get in trouble with the producers so fast it wouldn't be funny."
"Actually, I can see that working," Lucian says. "We know they're going to come back here with a bunch of advantages, right? They each have three Fire Tokens, and they're going to be tempted to spend them right away on an idol or something. Let's not buy any rice and force them to buy the food for our tribe. Then, if they refuse to pay up, we have a staring contest – who blinks first? I can go a lot longer without eating than they can."
"You've got a point there," Gary says. "I can make it without eating too. And Cato, you went through the Hunger Games. I'm sure you have no trouble not being able to eat for a while."
"No problem for me," Cato says. "And if the other Men have a problem with it, then they'll get to eat a lot sooner – because we'll be voting their %#&*$ off the island."
"We're going to play our own version of the Hunger Games with the Women," Cato says. "They are going to have to pay Tesserae just like we had to. They'll have to fork over their Tokens if they want to eat. And if they don't – then they can starve. It won't bother me at all."
Women Tribe
(Alice, Ami, Haruhi, Jasmine, Karen, Konata, Michiru, Mine, Misty, Sabrina)
Ami and Michiru are at a railing, looking out at the Men who are still building the shelter.
"Sucks to be them, doesn't it?" Ami says.
"Yeah, I'd say so," Michiru replies.
Ami bites her lip, then comes clean to Michiru.
"Michiru, I'm sorry," she says.
"Sorry?" Michiru replies. "For what?"
"You remember me in those past seasons, don't you?" Ami says. "You remember what I said?"
Michiru shakes her head. "Sorry, I don't."
"Well, let's just say that I said some bad words," Ami says. "They were directed toward Haruka."
Michiru nods. "Okay, that," she says. "Yes, I can remember that, but I also remember what Haruka told me."
Ami looks nervous. "And what was that?"
"She said, 'forgive because you've been forgiven,'" Michiru says. "And that was the end of it."
Ami wipes away a tear. "Michiru, I'm sorry," she says. "I'm sorry for saying those things. I'm sorry for judging you two. And I'm sorry for another reason, too."
Michiru looks surprised. "And what is that?" she asks.
Ami breathes heavily. "I kind of have a crush on Makoto."
Michiru gasps, then laughs. "You didn't hide it too well," she replies.
"You mean, you knew?"
"Well, I didn't know," Michiru says. "But Haruka and I could both see that there was something there."
Ami laughs. "You know, all these years I was criticizing you guys," she says. "And here, I wasn't all that different from you two."
"It's okay," Michiru says, rubbing Ami's shoulder. "Haruka may have gotten mad, she may even have tackled you. But she never hated you. And I want you to know that."
"Okay," Ami says, wiping away a tear. "I never hated her or you, either."
Michiru then gives Ami a warm hug. "It's okay, it's okay."
"I never thought I'd have this opportunity," Ami says. "The chance to reconcile, the chance to make up with someone I've hurt. This is worth far more than the million dollars to me. Now, I'm going to go out and try to win it, but I wanted that chance to make up with Michiru. Because… I'm just like her."
"Haruka and I never held it against Ami that she said those things," Michiru says. "In fact, we figured out her crush on Makoto from the start. I'm glad we were able to make up. That's one good thing out of Sabrina's 'buddy system.' It was well worth it."
Jasmine and Sabrina also have a talk with each other.
"I heard what happened to you by Cynthia," Jasmine says. "I read your report you made to the Pokémon League."
"What I didn't put in the report," Sabrina says, "was that, at the end, she gave me a choice. A life of comfort, or more torture. A life of ease, of reflection and intellectual challenge, or this. All I had to do was say that I saw five lights when, in fact, there were only four."
"You didn't say it?" Jasmine says.
"No," Sabrina says. "But I was going to. I would have told her anything at all. But more than that, I believed I could see five lights."
"Sabrina went through a personal hell thanks to Cynthia," Jasmine says. "I am here to support her ever since she was able to escape Cynthia's clutches. She comes out of that as a different person, and I can see it already. Yes, she can still be cold, but she's warmed up quite a bit from the way she was in the past. You could make the case that going through all that has made her a better person."
"It's hard to put into words what I went through at the hands of Cynthia," Sabrina says. "But I survived, and now here I am. I'm ready to put that all behind me and live a new life. I'll start by doing something simple: playing Survivor. I've never really had the chance to play since I've been targeted from Day 1 each time I've played. This time, I am going to make sure that target isn't on my back right away. And that requires aiming at one of the other four outside of our alliance of six."
Karen and Misty also walk out to the railing to watch the Men building the shelter.
"I hope they're hot and sweaty," Karen says. "Make them work their butts off."
"You really hate men, don't you?" Misty wonders.
"There's a good reason for it," Karen replies.
"And what is that?" Misty asks.
Karen sighs. "I had my broken by a man. His name was Will."
"Oh, yes, I remember him," Misty says. "He married Sabrina."
"Right," Karen says. "Which is why I can't fully trust Sabrina. Especially not with this buddy system crap."
Misty leans in closer to Karen. "I don't trust her either. Just for the record."
Karen grins, and Misty fist-bumps her.
"I've made a connection with Misty," Karen says. "The two of us are getting along great. It's amazing, isn't it, how the buddy system works. Of course, it's a joke, and I'm going to let Sabrina know that it's a joke. For now, though, I have someone who I believe can get me far in this game."
While Haruhi and Konata run around the ship like little children, Mine stoically looks out to the Men building the shelter.
"You think they're mad at us right now?" Mine asks Alice.
"Hey, maybe they enjoy the exercise!" Alice replies cheerfully.
"I don't think so," Mine says. "Is that Cato? He's giving us the finger from the beach."
"I was being sarcastic," Alice says. "Of course they hate us! And we've got to remember that. We have to do everything we can to make sure one of them doesn't win."
"Agreed," Mine says.
"These Men are going to be out for blood from the moment we set foot on that beach," Mine says. "We can't hold back one bit in fighting against them. We have to win, and win often. Otherwise, they're going to get sweet revenge on us."
The ship begins to make its way back toward the shore, as the Men have finished building the shelter.
Men Tribe
(Cato, Gary, Joe, Killua, Kirito, Kyon, Lucian, Mayuri, Prussia, Spike)
Gary and Lucian put the finishing touches on the shelter. Mayuri begins to cook some rice that the Men have purchased. The other players walk out over to the shore as the ship comes closer to shore.
"Let's greet them with a one-finger salute," Cato says.
"Nonsense," Killua replies. "The last thing we need is to give them more bulletin-board material. Instead, we've got to trick them into thinking we're not upset at them."
"Why?" Spike wonders.
"It's the classic rope-a-dope," Killua says. "By being nice to them, we are setting them up to become overconfident and to lose."
Joe nods his head in agreement with Killua.
"I don't exactly know how the Women are going to react once they get here," Joe says. "But I completely agree with Killua that we need to kill them with kindness. Our only chance to beat them is going to rely on our mental skills, not just our physical ones. And I know Giselle would be impressed with me if I were able to make it far in this game, so we've got some challenges to win."
The yacht makes it way over to the beach, then the Women climb down and join the Men on the beach.
"How's it going?" Killua says.
"You guys have a good time?" Joe asks.
Karen laughs. "You could say that."
"We only wish you could have joined us on that luxurious trip," Sabrina says. "But a game's a game."
Gary shakes his head.
"Sabrina is completely lying when she says that she wishes we could have gone with her," Gary says. "She is playing this game hard from Day 1, and it could come back to haunt her."
"Well, this is our shelter," Kirito says.
"Not bad," Alice says. "I'm surprised you did this well."
"Yeah, I expected us to be sleeping in the mud," Mine adds.
Haruhi speaks up to Kyon.
"Hey, Kyon, where's the food?" she asks.
Kyon facepalms. "Jet Black told us, we don't get any food. We have to buy it with Fire Tokens. You got any?"
"Oh, so why don't you spend some on rice?" Konata asks.
"Why should I?" Kyon says. "I'm not that hungry. If you're so hungry, you use your Fire Tokens!"
This leads to a standoff between Haruhi and Kyon. The two scowl at each other with their arms crossed.
"Oh, come on, let's not argue," Misty says, walking over to them. "We won, so we have more Fire Tokens. Let's show some respect by buying some rice for the whole tribe."
Karen scowls, while Misty pulls out a Token. "Who else is going to join me?"
Michiru immediately pulls hers out. "Sure, I'd love to help."
"Me too!" Jasmine exclaims.
Ami shakes her head, but she takes out her Token. Sabrina then joins her in giving up a Token.
"That's five Tokens, enough for one regular bag of rice," Michiru says, as a producer hands over the bag of rice.
"Now, if we only knew someone who was good at cooking," Alice says playfully.
As the sun goes down, Alice cooks the rice for all 20 people in the game, including herself.
"Good work, Alice!" Kirito says.
"Yeah, this is not bad," Spike says.
"Hmmm… I think there needs to be more experimentation with the rice," Mayuri says.
"Hey, I'm a first-class cook!" Alice exclaims.
"This sucks," Cato says. "I'd rather be eating some real protein, not this junk. The worst part is that I don't get the chance to vote out any of these Women. I'll make sure to give them a big beatdown in the immunity challenge, though. These girls are never going to know what hit 'em!"