Challenge Dunes: Day 4
Survivors: Phoenix Wright - Papyrus - Luigi - Meta Knight - Little Mac - Princess Peach - Tails - Spy - Gordon Ramsay - Super Macho Man - Waluigi - Squidward Tentacles - Patrick Star - Kirby - King K. Rool - Engineer - ROB - Jotaro Kujo - Samus Aran.
It was a bright afternoon, and today would feature both the second challenge in the competition, as well as the second Tribal Council later tonight. Out of the nineteen remaining survivors, one wouldn't live to see tomorrow...
The aforementioned survivors entered the dunes through the pipes at their tribe, Power Flowers were ready to redeem themselves by beating their rival team at this challenge, whilst Super Shrooms were ready to maintain and extend their powerful lead on the other tribe.
Each tribe had its members clustered together, and the tribes themselves were far apart from each other. They patiently waited for Alexa, chatting amongst themselves as they prayed for his arrival, as the sun was taking a toll on the back of their necks.
Soon enough, a jeep drove over, with Alexa comfortably sitting in the front with the air conditioning on max.
"Just look at him..." Squidward said to those around him, shaking his head with disapproval. "He's having the time of his life out here whilst we're cooking to death."
Alexa jumped out of the jeep with joy and eyed the survivors, walking up to them.
"Hey there survivors!" He greeted. "Today's challenge is right around the corner, but before I talk about that... I want to announce to Super Shrooms about the elimination that took place two days ago. The person who had been eliminated then was Johnny Bravo, at an unbalanced 8-1 vote. Now that this supposed "weak link" is gone, Power Flowers seem confident that they can stop your lead and even the playing field by winning this next challenge!"
Little Mac clenched his bicep. "Ha! Good luck with that."
"Get ready to eat those words..." Warned Macho Man.
"Does the challenge have anything to do with those-a Bullet Bill cannons and that giant platform?" Asked Luigi.
Alexa shook his head. "What, no?!"
Now that their assumption had been proven false, the survivors simply awkwardly stood where they were standing, shuffling their feet.
"That's a joke, of course!" Beamed Alexa, giving a snarky laugh. "You all fell for it!"
"Hmmph, so funny I forgot to laugh," glared Meta Knight.
With the joke he had been dying to do out of the way, Alexa proceeded to explain the challenge:
*Today's challenge will require each tribe to elect five members to participate. These five members will go onto this large platform and will compete against the other team's five members, each member participating will be given a large sack. Once they're all on the platform, it will rise into the air, and these Bullet Bill cannons will launch flying coins into the air. The main objective is to grab these large coins and stuff them into your sack in an attempt to get as many coins as possible. Once your sack is full, you will throw it to your teammates that aren't participating below, and they'll store them before throwing you another. However, do bear in mind that if you fall off, you will be out of the challenge, so be careful.
There are two types of coins: golden coins, which will be the regular common coin that you'll be collecting, and red coins, each worth five golden coins each.
After thirty minutes, the platform will lower and the challenge will end, and all of the team's coins will be added up. Whoever has the most coins by the end of the challenge will win immunity, and the next prize.
The only rules here include: no stealing coins or sacks off of others; no getting back onto the platform when you fall off, and no purposefully knocking others off of the platform. You know what happens when you fail to comply!
Now, without further ado, you may get started on electing five members to participate in this challenge!*
"Another challenge that has us discuss who does what?" Spy analyzed. "The only difference is that if you aren't elected to do the challenge, or pretty much do nothing but catch the sacks from your teammates."
The two tribes huddled up to elect their five members.
Much like last time, Super Shrooms easily picked who will be participating in this challenge.
"Jotaro, would you like to participate in this challenge? I feel like that weird Stand of yours would be great for snatching the coins," Gordon asked. "After all, it did us wonders last challenge."
The scientist nodded. "I will. I was going to ask anyway, as my Star Platinum might just make this challenge a cakewalk on its own."
"You really think it'll help us out that much?" Little Mac questioned. "Well, I can't argue otherwise. The last guy I knew who had a Stand was amazing at challenges that involved it."
"Josuke, right?" Queried Jotaro. "He didn't use it to its full potential, from what I've seen."
"H-he didn't?!" His eyes widened with fear. "Now I'm scared to see what full potential really looks like." He decided to change the subject back to the challenge. "Anyhow, I don't think my boxing gloves are good for catching those coins, so maybe I should sit out."
Gordon nodded. "Alright, but can't you take them off?"
Silence...
"Nevermind, then," he shrugged upon getting no answer. "Who else should participate?"
Suddenly, all focus was drawn towards Waluigi, who cleared his throat, stood up straight, and pointed to his chest. "ME!"
"You did decent last challenge, though you fell off towards the end. You're a complete doughnut, but alright," Gordon agreed hesitantly.
Phoenix scratched the back of his neck with curiosity. "Doughnut?" He thought. "That's an insult now?"
"I don't mind if Waluigi does the challenge either," said Luigi. "He's decently fast and can-a jump high."
"Don't you try and play-a nice with-a me, greenie!" He growled ferociously. "But yes, you're right."
"Sheesh..." Luigi sighed. "Oh, and I'll participate too!"
"Maybe if I help out Waluigi enough and act kind to him, he'll eventually start to-a warm up to me. Then he might stop trying to focus on-a defeating me in every challenge, which is-a good for the both of us, and the team!" - Luigi.
Engineer nodded. "So far, it's Jotaro, Waluigi and Luigi. Any other takers?"
"Haaaaiiii!" Said a certain little puffball, waving towards Engineer.
"Hmm, you may be able to fly, but are you sure about being able to catch all those coins and stuff 'em in that sack? You look a little small for the job," Engineer checked.
Kirby nodded. "Poyo!"
"Is that a yes in Kirbanese?" Phoenix assumed.
"Personally, I think "Kirbish" rolls off the tongue better," argued Tails. "But I think Kirby is agreeing to it. Oh, and I'll also participate in that case, because if people who can fly are useful for a challenge about collecting flying coins, then I'm perfect for the job! I can also carry the sack with ease too, because I managed to carry Little Mac to the start of the course, and he's pretty heavy."
Gordon gave a thumbs up. "Great! That means we have our five ready to go. As for the rest of us, we'll try and do our part as best we can. I'd participate, but you all seem a lot more fit to do so than someone my age."
Meanwhile, Power Flowers were deciding their five.
"Those coins are exactly the same as those around my kingdom, and they're not as heavy as you'd expect!" Peach informed. "Maybe I should participate in this challenge..."
Suddenly, ROB gave a beep of agreement. "I think that Peach's abilities, especially her levitating ability, will make her fit for this challenge, so I shall advocate for her to participate. As for me, my grip is exceptional. It is improbable that I'd let go of the coins I grab onto by accident. Not only that, but I can also use my jet fuel if need be."
"Well if that's the case, then so far we already got ROB and Peach participating in the more demanding part of the challenge once again," Spy groaned. "To prevent myself from looking like a physical liability, then I will also nominate myself for this challenge. I will definitely be a hindrance to the other team..."
King K Rool rolled his eyes. "And how exactly are you going to "hinder" the other team when you're not allowed to touch them?"
"I think you forgot what Alexa specified," said Spy. "If my memory is correct, he said that you're not allowed to purposefully KNOCK others off of the platform. As long as I don't cause them to fall off, I can toy with them to my heart's content..."
In response, ROB gave a stiff nod. "I can confirm that is what Alexa said through a sample recording, would any of you like to hear it?"
"Nope," declined K Rool. "I'll just take his word for it. As for me, I too would like to show this team that I'm physically valuable, and so I shall be participating too!"
"This is all coming together well," Patrick noticed. "Erm, is it possible to not include me in this challenge? The last one was a real workout, and I only got thirteen hours of sleep last night!"
Macho Man tutted. "How lazy of you. Anyway, I'll be taking the last spot if you all don't mind. Collecting money like it's nothing is my specialty, after all."
"I don't think so." Meta Knight swiftly shook his head at the pompous boxer. "Much like Spy and K Rool, I would much prefer to show off my physical capabilities so that this team knows how valuable of an asset I can be."
"Uh, bro?" He asked, snickering under his breath. "You're a blueberry wearing a Halloween costume! I think I got this in the bag."
Samus suddenly raised her hand up. "Maybe instead of you both, I should be the one to do the challenge. There's no way I'm going to rely on Macho Man, and I can grab the coins and hold the bag a lot better than Meta Knight, which is obvious simply by comparing our sizes."
"You underestimate me, Samus, though it appears you underestimate everyone that dares challenge you. I learned that much when I heard you got bested last season," mocked Meta Knight, shooting a steely gaze at her. "Now, let me participate. You two had your fun last challenge."
"Hmmph," she looked away from him. "Fine, but you better not disappoint any of us."
"W-what about me?!" Asked Macho Man.
The rest of the team ignored him.
"Suit yourself, losers, I'll be watching that masked loser fail, and when he does, you better be praising me!" He strutted away angrily.
"Well, ignoring the pathetic meathead sulker..." Spy teased with a condescending tone. "Let's get to work!"
Macho Man angrily gritted his teeth as the five chosen (Peach, ROB, Spy, K Rool, and Meta Knight) separated themselves from the others, approaching Alexa alongside the five from Super Shrooms.
The two teams were adjacent to one another, glaring, ready to fight, and determined to win a day of relaxing immunity as well as the next mystery prize.
"Survivors, you all may stand on the platform!" Alexa beckoned, as each one walked over to the platform and climbed onto it, even Kirby had just enough height to reach and climb up without having to fly. Howbeit, that fact changed once the final person got onto the platform, as it slowly began rising...
"This is your kingdom, is it not, Peach? Tell me, how do you create platforms that move without any support or mechanical influence?" Asked K Rool, hoping to get an answer.
Unfortunately for him, she simply gave a confused shrug. "I don't really make these platforms, so I can't really tell you. Maybe it's Bowser?"
"Oh, that old fart? I have no interest in speaking to someone who uses his power and authority to nab princesses, it's the definition of pathetic!" He complained. "But I digress, I shouldn't be freely chatting with an enemy."
"For a villain, we seem to be on equal terms, at least," Peach admitted.
The platform finally stopped rising, half a meter below the top of the bullet bill cannons, where the coins would be firing from. All of the survivors participating barring Kirby would be able to reach them just by standing up, but luckily for the small puffball, he has the ability to fly almost infinitely.
Next, Alexa stepped forward and grinned. "Awww'right! Now it's time to start the challenge, reminder that if you fall off, you cannot get back on the platform. To clarify, this means dipping below where the platform is, so if you're below it and can fly back up, you're still out!"
"That makes things a little more tedious..." Meta Knight uttered under his breath. "Should still not be a problem for me, however."
Alexa then pulled out the shiny iron whistle from last challenge and licked his lips, ready to start this challenge...
"Survivors, the bullet bill cannons will begin shooting the coins in three..."
The survivors readied themselves, each one on the platform had their eyes locked on to either of the two bullet bill cannons, ready for them to begin ejecting coins for them to grab.
"Two..."
The bright sun made concentrating especially difficult, though they tried their best to stay as focused as possible with the challenge.
"One!"
Alexa took a deep breath, placed the tip of the whistle on his lips and blew as hard as he could, the piercing high-pitched noise alerting the survivors as coins began flying out of the cannons. Each coin had wings attached as it flew up and down in a repetitive pattern, and it neared the survivors more and more with each second that passed.
King K Rool was the first to lunge upwards, delivering a fancy yet forceful swipe as he nabbed two gold coins, stuffing them in his coin sack as he continued to grab more.
Peach jumped up and hovered into the air, ROB beside her as they both grabbed coin after coin, quickly putting them into their sacks.
Similar to the other two, Kirby jumped into the air and began floating. The core difference was that Kirby opened up his mouth and began inhaling in all of the coins in front of him with great ease until his mouth was somewhat full. He had accumulated around nine of the coins, two of which were red coins as the other seven were gold. He then spat the currency into his sack and continued flying around.
Waluigi caught wind of what he was doing and pulled a confused and grossed out snarl before going back to snatching coins from the air and securely yet crudely ramming them into his coin sack.
"Star Platinum!" Jotaro called out upon gazing at ten coins in front of him, one being a valuable red coin.
His stand soon came out, invisible to everyone else but clearly visible to his own eyes, and it began grabbing the coins at a super impressive speed.
When Jotaro looked over to see the results, he noticed that his stand failed to grab three of the coins, including the red one.
"Your so-called "Star Platinum" may be quick, but the wings of a warrior are much more efficient..." Mocked Meta Knight, holding the missing coins in his hands before placing them into his sack, causing Jotaro to fold his arms before getting back to work.
Whilst Meta Knight appeared to be pleased, Spy was even more pleased. "Fine job!" He congratulated. "Make sure you steal their chances to grab coins as much as you can!"
Luigi and Tails decided to coordinate with one another by calling out any nearby red coins that they would be able to grab. It was a very efficient strategy for what it was, and they managed to collect an incredible amount of red coins just by doing so.
The challenge appeared to be a complete breeze thus far, and by the time the challenge was ten minutes in, every survivor had at least one full sack of coins that they swapped with the help of their teammates below.
"This is-a too easy, it's boring!" Waluigi cackled, tying up his second bag. "Coins are-a great and all, but I bet we won't even be able to-a keep them!"
Alexa nodded. "True, you will not be keeping the coins... but if it's the difficulty you want, then it's the difficulty you shall get! Around the ten minute mark, something else will start emerging from the bullet bill blasters, something I... well... "forgot" to tell you all about!"
"S-something else?!" Luigi panicked. "I don't like that tone in your-a voice, Alexa."
Suddenly, they all turned to the bullet bill blasters around them as they momentarily stopped shooting out coins.
"Looks like we're about to be greeted by that third thing shortly," observed Jotaro.
A silence occurred as the survivors readied themselves for this next part of the challenge, whatever came out of those bullet bill blasters wouldn't be too bad for them, right?
They waited for around half a minute as the tension grew...
*POW!*
From both cannons emerged two spherical, black creatures on mechanical orange legs with a golden wind-up key on their back. The two of them roughly landed onto the platform, as they began mindlessly marching towards the survivors, all clumped in the center.
"Aww, those look cute!" Tails smiled. "I don't see why Alexa had to talk about them like they were some sort of horrifying-"
"WAAAAAAAH!" Luigi cried. "B-B-B-B... BOB-OMBS!"
"Oh noooo!" Panicked Peach, slowly stepping backward.
Waluigi latched onto Jotaro, crying. "NOOOO, DON'T TAKE ME ALIVE!"
"Good grief..." He shook his head angrily. "What's so dangerous about these things?"
"Don't get too close to them!" Peach warned, gritting her teeth. "They wil-"
*BOOOOM*
Both bob-ombs exploded simultaneously, leaving behind a large cloud of fire as a shockwave knocked some of the survivors off of their feet.
Unfortunately for Waluigi, he was too close to the edge of the platform when it happened, and he dramatically fell backward and straight off the platform, letting out a large "WAAAAAAAH!" as he plummeted down with his mostly empty third coin sack.
"Aiiiii!" Kirby panicked over losing one of his teammates.
"WALUIGI IS NO LONGER ABLE TO PARTICIPATE, HE HAS FALLEN OFF THE PLATFORM!" Revealed Alexa.
In response to his defeat, Waluigi quickly got up and stamped his feet. "STUPID CHEATING BOB-OMB! THIS-A ISN'T FAIR!"
Before they could catch a break, coins began erupting from the bullet bill blasters once more, though, after a few seconds of doing so, another set of bob-ombs came flying out of the cannons, quickly followed by yet more coins.
"We have to dodge bombs AND collect coins?!" K Rool gulped. "T-this is preposterous! I'll have to give these silly little exploding orbs a lesson in why you shouldn't dare to attack the Kremling ruler!"
He ran up to one of the bob-ombs and punted it with his foot, grinning as it soared away before giving a large explosion, though the shockwave wasn't strong enough to even be felt by the others by time it reached them.
"I'll take care of these bothersome bombs whilst you grab those coins!" He ordered. "Kicking them off this platform will be fun... bwahahahaha!"
"We're one man down, can we still win this?!" Tails asked as a bob-omb neared him and the others.
Jotaro sighed. "I guess I'll have to take care of them myself."
He suddenly took a step back, took a deep breath, and summoned his stand...
"STAR PLATINUM!"
Once again, his stand was summoned, and it lunged towards the bob-omb and grabbed it, tossing it into the sky.
"Phew, that was-a close, thanks Jotaro!" Luigi cheered.
Unfortunately, their work wasn't done just yet, as more bob-ombs appeared from the bullet bill blasters, causing King K Rool and Jotaro to both squint their eyes with concentration as they got to work on defeating them.
"HIYAH! TAKE THAT!" K Rool bellowed, upper-cutting one off the platform.
"ORARARARAHHH!" Star Platinum gave a powerful warcry as it sent a flurry of punches towards the bob-omb, punching it out of sight.
Later on, twenty-five minutes had passed since the start of the challenge, and Alexa decided to let the survivors know of the remaining time.
"Survivors, there are five minutes remaining, so the number of bob-ombs and red coins will be doubled!" He revealed. "Just to give you one final twist..."
"That means the number of bob-ombs per minute will go from four for each cannon to eight. I sense that K Rool may get slightly overwhelmed," ROB warned.
Spy groaned. "Well, it looks like I'll have to take out a few myself whilst the rest of you solely focus on grabbing those red coins, I'll try and grab some whilst I'm at it..."
He adjusted the sleeves on his suit and walked next to K Rool, both ready to take on the horde of bob-ombs that would come their way.
As for Super Shrooms, they were not fearful of this change at all, as Star Platinum had taken out the bob-ombs without much trouble, and Jotaro was also able to simultaneously grab coins whilst his stand was focusing down the bombs. Though now he wouldn't be able to do that, as he had to put full concentration on defeating the increased numbers..."
Around a minute after the warning, more bob-ombs began to emerge from the bullet bill blasters...
"Take that, fiend!" K Rool slammed a bob-omb out of the way before swiping away another.
Spy, meanwhile, grabbed them by their slowly fizzling fuses and used it to fling them away, like a hammer ball, though it definitely used up a lot of his energy due to their surprisingly large weight.
Whilst they were beginning to lose a bit of their strength, Jotaro found dealing with the extra commotion to be just as easy as before, just with more concentration.
"ORARARARA!"
"ORARARA!"
"OOOOORAAAAAA!"
And just like that, the three bob-ombs that had neared his team members had perished from the platform, exploding at a distance where nobody could be harmed.
"This is tiring..." Peach admitted. "How are you coping, ROB?"
"I am still as efficient as I was when the challenge first began, I do not feel "tired" at all," the robot admitted. "Similarly, Meta Knight has shown no signs of getting tired."
"I've done a lot bigger jobs than fetching coins and avoiding bombs," Meta Knight justified as he passed by. "Much, much bigger jobs..."
Just as he went back to collecting the coins...
"TIME'S UP!" Alexa announced. "Survivors, all bob-ombs on the platform have been diffused, meaning you can safely stop fending from them."
The platform began lowering as Kirby cheered, dragging his massive sack of coins behind him as he struggled. He was definitely tuckered out from all of the coin-collecting.
All of the survivors climbed off, meeting up with the rest of their team and, in Super Shrooms' case, the sulking Waluigi.
"Today was a very interesting challenge!" Alexa stated. "Waluigi may have gotten eliminated from the challenge ten minutes in, but it seems like Super Shrooms managed to keep at a similar pace to Power Flowers due to Jotaro's incredible job at attacking the bob-ombs. As for Power Flowers, I've been counting, and Meta Knight has the most coin sacks filled out of anyone else in this challenge, which is truly impressive. He will not receive a physical prize for such efforts, but I recommend you give him some gratitude. Now, whilst Super Shrooms has just ONE extra sack of coins in total, we will empty them and count them all, because Power Flowers can still win the challenge if they have enough red coins to make up for the fewer overall coins."
"I feel like we can win this! I probably would've like, guaranteed a victory or whatever, but they did well enough, and it was also a five versus four, so if my team somehow lost, I'll be pretty angry with 'em." - Super Macho Man.
"Hmm, is what they have really enough? I'm a little worried, and of course, we have an extra sack, but this could very well just be down to luck, as I'd just go for any coins I see instead of specifically the red ones. Then again, that might just prove why I didn't nominate myself to compete in this challenge, but I will try and participate in the next one no matter what." - Gordon Ramsay.
Alexa dumped every sack from each team out into a pile and began counting them alongside staff members, it was an incredibly long and boring process, but their counting was at least very accurate, as they discarded each coin they counted from the pile.
After going through both piles from the two teams, Alexa stood up and turned to them.
"Let's start with the ones who need a redemption the most: Power Flowers." Alexa turned to them robotically. "You have accumulated one-thousand and three-hundred and four coins in total, that's 1304. If Super Shrooms have at least ONE coin more, it's game over, but if they have at least one coin less, you make your deserved comeback and you win the challenge, prize, and get to send one of them to exile."
He then turned to Super Shrooms. "So, Super Shrooms, your team has managed to get a total of..."
Alexa held his breath in order to make as much tension as humanly possible.
"...One-thousand..."
Luigi's teeth were audibly chattering.
"Three-hundred..."
Patrick nervously gawked at Alexa, waiting for the final number.
"And eighteen!" He announced. "TEAM SUPER SHROOMS HAVE WON THEIR SECOND CHALLENGE IN A ROW!"
Macho Man stamped at the ground angrily. "NOOOOO!"
"R-really?!" Waluigi widened his eyes with pure surprise, though it soon turned to delight. "YIPPEE!"
"Well ain't that somethin'!" Engineer slapped his knee cockily. "Another win goes to us! All thanks to Jotaro, too."
"I'm glad we won! But just looking at the others performing made me feel quite weak, especially Jotaro... but that shouldn't matter right now, because we have another night of celebration ahead of us, and I'm going to make the most of it!" - Phoenix Wright.
Alexa then halted the celebrating survivors. "Hey hey hey, you should be celebrating over the prize!"
"Well, what's the prize?" Little Mac asked like a giddy child.
He whistled, and soon enough, more staff emerged from the back of the jeep Alexa had previously arrived on, tables of food such as meats, cheeses, and fresh fruit. Even a bottle of wine was present.
"Food?! I'm starving!" The boxer licked his lips.
"Just enough for tonight, but you earned it after all!" Alexa gave them a thumbs up. "Now, before you go down to tribe and have the time of your lives with this buffet, I want you to come to an agreement and elect one member from Power Flowers to go to the Exile Oasis.
They soon huddled up, and after only fifteen to twenty seconds of negotiating, they broke out of their huddle and came to an agreement, Gordon delivering the news. "We elect Meta Knight. The others want to consider it as his prize, but I think rewarding our enemies is a silly idea. Oh well, we have to pick one..."
"I agree, but, err, thank you kindly for the exile," Meta Knight gave a simple nod, masking his slightly happy eyes. "Hopefully when I come back, my team should have eliminated another pest."
Alexa then decided to split the survivors up. "Remember Power Flowers, all of you barring Meta Knight have Tribal Council at the same place as before: the Koopa Sphinx! I'll see you all there, and goodnight survivors..."
However, as he turned to leave, a voice bellowed outward, catching his attention immediately.
*HOLD IT!*
"H-hey, that's my line!" Phoenix scolded, turning to the origin of the yell: Squidward Tentacles.
"Is something wrong?" Asked Alexa.
He nodded. "Yes there is! You just put ten people up on a platform in the boiling hot sun, forced them to collect coins, and then started firing ARMED BOMBS AT THEM?!"
His yelling was passionate and extreme, and Squidward's hatred for Alexa became apparent. He wasn't this angry towards him last game, after all.
"W-well I mean, these bombs weren't going to hurt the survivors, they were modified to not cause burns!" He defended himself. "They were perfectly safe."
Squidward folded his arms. "Oh yeah? Well, what about the fall? If anyone positioned themselves badly, they could have broken their arm or even their neck! Then what, Mr. Host? Are you going to ship them away using your medical slaves and pretend nothing ever happened?!"
An awkward, intense silence loomed the air.
"Y-you people signed up for this!" He said. "You know full well that this show is a risky thing to sign up for."
"Well then, if one person gets injured, then how about they just sue you?" Squidward suggested. "Lawsuits against you and your dinky show for resulting in an injury!"
"Sheesh, sounds like Wii Fit Trainer," gulped Little Mac.
Alexa froze in place. "L-lawsuit?! Did I not include anything to deny that on the contract?!"
"Nope," Phoenix reminded.
"RATS!" He facepalmed out of anger. "Fine! Nobody will ever get injured, and if they do I'll take full responsibility, but it'll never h-happen, because this show has a lot of hidden things within it that prevent injuries. You'll see!"
Squidward nodded. "Sure, but even if that's true, I bet a psychopath like you will slip eventually, and when you do, this show will be cut short, and everyone here won't receive their prize. You'll be a complete laughing stock!"
"He's really going all in!" Tails bit his nail nervously. "I don't wanna do more challenges only for nobody to win!"
The squid then turned away and walked off, leaving Alexa speechless.
"Erm, g-goodbye survivors!" He waved, quickly hurrying into his jeep as he ordered his staff to drive away.
With a new intensity within them, the survivors exited the Challenge Dunes...
Power Flowers: Day 4
Survivors: Papyrus - Princess Peach - Spy - Super Macho Man - Patrick Star - King K. Rool - ROB - Samus Aran.
Upon arriving back at their tribe, Power Flowers split into two even groups.
The first group contained King K Rool, Papyrus, Spy, and Samus Aran, whilst the second group contained Macho Man, Patrick, Peach and ROB.
"Weird how we split into groups almost by instinct..." K Rool analyzed. "Oh well, it's better for me, at least. It means I won't have to interact with Macho Man! Speaking of which... may we vote for him?"
Spy shook his head. "Speaking about voting can wait, I just thought of a great idea, and the fact that you specific people are all in front of me and no one else makes it all the more convenient..."
"What's this idea?" Asked Samus.
"I'm thinking of creating an alliance," revealed Spy. "Between us four members of Power Flowers. Together we can convince at least one member of the other group to vote for whoever we like, then as long as none of us are exiled, we'll be unstoppable as a team! I admire all of your physical skills aside from Papyrus, who has incredible loyalty to make up for it."
"W-WHY THANK YOU!" He blushed happily.
"SO... DOES THIS NEW ALLIANCE TECHNICALLY MEAN THAT SAMUS AND SPY JOINED OUR ALLIANCE, OR DO WE HAVE AN ALLIANCE WITHIN AN ALLIANCE? I'LL HAVE TO ASK K ROOL WHEN I GET THE CHANCE..." - Papyrus.
K Rool folded his arms. "I dunno, you really think that none of us will end up backstabbing the alliance?"
"Well if they do..." Spy's friendly tone turned dark and bland. "You do whatever it takes to get payback for what they did. After all, they made the effort to break an alliance large enough to carry us to the very end of the game."
Papyrus nodded frantically. "WELL COUNT ME I-"
"SSSSSH..." K Rool silenced him, slamming his claw over his mouth. "Shut your trap! If they overhear us then this won't work out. As for me, I'll join."
"That's three, and you Samus?" Asked Spy.
"...Fine," she accepted. "But I feel like you're only doing this so you have a chance to eliminate someone who you consider to be a threat. Is that so?"
The French rogue went blank, she had expertly predicted his intentions from the get-go. "Y-yes, but that still doesn't mean that this alliance is a bad idea."
"Well, out with it then! Who is this person that you want eliminated?" King K Rool asked. "Because I don't mind whoever goes out aside from that princess over there, as she wouldn't betray a fly! Nor is she useless."
Spy leaned forward. "They aren't here, in fact, they're in Exile Oasis as we speak."
"YOU MEAN... M-M-META KNIGH-" Papyrus was silenced once more by K Rool. "I said shut up!"
He smiled, wringing his hands tactically. "Yes, Meta Knight himself. Ever since I heard that he got the most coins out of anyone there, I knew he would be too powerful of a foe to defeat later on. We won't be able to eliminate him tonight, but the sooner he goes out, the easier we can rest knowing that he will not be in this game to defeat us."
"But who are we voting for tonight?" K Rool asked.
"I'd say Patrick, but he isn't nearly as insufferable as that pompous American scumbag over there," Spy decided. "Besides, I don't think anyone would object to his elimination, not even the people he's talking to, most likely. He's an easy target."
To help the others including herself understand the plan, Samus decided to recap. "So we're going to vote for Macho Man tonight, wait until we lose again whenever that may be, hope none of us get exiled and eliminate Meta Knight?" She queried.
Spy nodded. "Precisely! It requires luck and patience and NOT spilling the beans on our plan. If any of you give even a smidge of a hint to the others, we will ignore our plan to get rid of Meta Knight, and instead, we'll vote you out. How does that sound, Papyrus?"
"G-GOOD!" Papyrus accepted, sweating profusely. "YOU CAN COUNT ON ME, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"
"Well, let's all shake on it then. Consider this alliance our magnum opus in this competition, as if it falls apart, it'll spell doom for us all," he warned, holding his hand out.
Papyrus quickly reached out for his hand first, then K Rool proceeded to do the same, and finally yet hesitantly, Samus did so. Just like that, the four-man alliance had formed...
Whilst they were creating their alliance, the other four had a discussion that was much less focused when compared to the one that transpired.
"So then I asked this chick if she wanted to come to my place, and then she slapped me across the face! Some women are just complete scum, you can treat 'em like queens and they still won't be satisfied enough!" Macho Man shook his head.
"Didn't you say that you had two girls with you earlier in the story?" Peach queried.
He nodded. "Yeah, so what?"
"Maybe she slapped you because you're a creep..." Peach muttered under her breath.
Patrick frowned angrily, furrowing his brow out of frustration. "I don't get it! Why do you have so many girlfriends!"
"Because hunks deserve more than one measly chick," he responded. "It's simple romance, loser. Also, for YOUR information, they're only temporary ones."
"I can sense that Peach is exceedingly close to slapping you across the face, so I recommend you change the subject," ROB revealed.
Macho Man tutted. "Whatever. Anyway, where were we?"
"I think we're up for elimination, but I haven't done one of those before, I was at that nice-looking oasis," informed Patrick. "I barely remember it; it was boring but pretty."
With impatience, Peach nodded. "We are up for elimination, so I feel like there're more important things to do outside of listening to stories. Maybe tomorrow."
"Honestly, it's not like me to get so impatient with people, but Macho Man's really put me in a bad mood. I may just have to vote for him for the good of mine and everyone else's sanity." - Princess Peach.
ROB gave a nod and beep. "I agree with the princess, though I am currently unsure of who to vote."
"I tend to vote alongside the majority, as robots tend to not hold grudges or favoritism towards certain people. I could also go off of facts, such as challenge performance, but tolerability around tribe seems equally if not more important right now. I imagine if Johnny was incredibly likable, he wouldn't have gotten eliminated via landslide." - ROB.
Macho Man brashly pointed to Spy. "I think it's obvious who we vote."
"Spy? I don't think he's a priority," admitted Peach.
"He's a little scary, just look at those eyes..." Patrick gulped.
Suddenly, in response to the starfish's fear, Macho Man began cackling out loud, causing the other group to turn their heads towards him.
"SCARY?! Bwahahaha! Aww man, don't make me laugh out loud so much, you shrimp." He leaned over from the weakness in his legs, trying to stop himself from chuckling. "You think that Frenchie punk is scary? He probably twiddles around a little cigar and reads a book on frogs or something in his spare time!"
"Huh, why frogs?" Asked Patrick.
"Probably a small reference to how the French are notorious for including frogs in their cuisine. To conclude my answer: offhand stereotyping," ROB explained. "Though I imagine that's not the message you should be getting from what he's saying."
The starfish slowly nodded. "Ooooh... what's a frog?"
"To prevent my circuits from frying, I will cut this conversation short," announced ROB. "On a new note, it is time for us to head to Tribal Council."
"What, do you have a clock installed in you or something?" Macho Man asked.
"...Yes." He replied, before turning away and moving towards the others to inform them.
Macho Man groaned. "What a dumb robot..." He said, turning to Patrick and Peach. "Remember to vote Spy; that guy's nothing but a complete fool!"
Just like that, Power Flowers were now on their way to their second Tribal Council in the season, and with Super Shrooms still not having experienced their first Tribal Council yet, matters were worsened. Who would go out this time? Would it be evenly split? Or would it be a mostly agreed-upon vote like with Johnny Bravo, the first of the eliminated? They will soon find out...
Tribal Council: Night 4
Survivors: Papyrus - Princess Peach - Spy - Super Macho Man - Patrick Star - King K. Rool - ROB - Samus Aran.
Now that they knew where to go, they quickly arrived at the Koopa Sphinx, took in the quiet yet menacing environment, and quickly ventured inside, following the long stone corridors to eventually end up at the innards of the structure, where Tribal Council was.
"Woah... this place is huge!" Patrick spun around. "There are some weird symbols on the walls too, and hey, look behind that desk, you can see my picture! I look as handsome as always..."
"Don't get too attached to those images, yours gets scorched if you're eliminated. That's why Johnny's is nothing but a soot-coated frame," Samus said, pointing to the remnants.
A response wasn't given, though Patrick let out an audible gulp as he and the others went to sit on the stone benches.
Upon doing so, Alexa appeared from the passageway to the right, inserting a key into the door and locking it firmly shut. He was once again dressed in his Egyptian-like clothing as he greeted Power Flowers, though he didn't sound as forgiving as last time.
"Your second loss in a row, eh? Super Shrooms are probably itching to find out what Tribal Council's right, and here you guys are hogging it up! You're letting yourselves down, and that's why you're here, once more, for elimination," said Alexa. "I'll proceed to ask you a few questions before voting begins. Starting with Princess Peach. How are you finding this tribe in terms of how tolerable they are?"
She scratched her neck awkwardly. "Umm, well, most of them are pretty nice people. Some can be rather hot-headed at times, which can spiral out of control, but other than that I feel like we have the potential to score a win... eventually."
"Is there anyone that you especially find pleasant?" He asked.
Peach took some time to think. "Well, two people that stand out would be ROB for how he'll likely never be involved in drama or violence, and Meta Knight due to how chivalrous of a person he is. A lot of the others here are nice, but those two, in particular, are people I get along with a lot."
"Mmhm, I see," he nodded. "Now, next question! This goes towards ROB. What do you think cost you and the others the challenge, last time? Is there any stand-out person that did a lackluster job, or maybe another reason!"
The robot shook his head. "I actually believe it's down to our competition. Jotaro's ability to fend off the bob-ombs and still grab coins was incredible, Kirby could eat large capacities of coins at once then spit them into his coin sack, Luigi and Tails worked together to grab as many coins as possible, and they just had more communication overall. It will be difficult to one-up them in future challenges, but I remain optimistic... though I didn't want to ruin our team's morale by giving the probabilities of winning for both challenges."
Alexa raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "And those were...?"
"A 31% chance for the first challenge, and a 40% chance for the most recent challenge," ROB slowly tilted his head downwards to mimic a sad gesture. "Hopefully we will get better numbers for future challenges."
"Having someone that can calculate the probability of winning for a challenge sounds downright amazing! This new cast is certainly something," Alexa admitted. "And finally, for the last question, I would like to ask Patrick if he considers himself on the chopping block tonight."
"Huh? What's a chopping block?" Asked Patrick.
He gave a blank stare as Patrick awaited an answer.
"...Y'know, elimination?" He asked.
"PEOPLE WHO ARE ELIMINATED G-GET CHOPPED UP?! NOOOOOOOO!" He cried.
"NO!" Alexa shook his head. "Y'know what, nevermind, pretend I said nothing! Let's just move on with the votes..."
One by one, the survivors stood up from the stone slabs they called benches and began voting...
Super Macho Man: Yeah, it's no mystery, I'm going to be voting for that pompous Frenchie. Though it doesn't matter if I do vote for him or not, because everyone else will be voting him alongside me too! Just wait and see... (Spy)
Spy: That fool was stupidly loud enough to declare that he'll be voting for me, watch that be his downfall. (Super Macho Man)
Patrick Star: Uhhh, I guess I was told to vote for Spy, and the caramel guy would probably beat me up if I didn't do it... so I should probably do so. (Spy)
Princess Peach: Well, I know one thing for sure, I'm not going to be listening to Macho Man. I'll just vote for him instead! (Super Macho Man)
"Survivors, I shall now read out the votes!" Alexa revealed. "Though, as with last time, if anyone has any idols that they would like to use, please feel free to do so now."
Silence, albeit K Rool smirked upon being reminded of it. His idol was tucked underneath his tent back at his tribe since he didn't need to use it.
"No? Well let's get on with it!" Alexa clasped his hands together. "This is my favorite bit!" He squealed with pure excitement.
*VOTING TIME*
First vote goes to Spy. One vote Spy.
Second vote goes to Spy. Two votes Spy. (Spy looks confused, likely due to how someone other than Macho Man had voted him.)
Third vote goes to Macho Man. One vote Macho Man, two votes Spy. (Macho Man tuts. "Lame.")
Fourth vote goes to Macho Man. Two votes Macho Man and Spy. (Macho Man tuts harder. "Lamer...")
Fifth vote goes to Macho Man. Three votes Macho Man, two votes Spy. (Macho Man gulps. "E-even lamer!")
Sixth vote goes to Macho Man. That's four votes Macho Man, two votes Spy. (Macho Man starts quivering.)
"Either Spy receives two more votes and a tie is made, or Macho Man is eliminated..." Alexa revealed. "Let's find out!"
Slowly and painfully, Alexa removed the next vote from the box, gazed at Macho Man, then Spy, and read out the next vote.
"Seventh vote goes to Super Macho Man, and the eighth vote ALSO goes to Super Macho Man! With a 6-2 vote, you have been eliminated from the show," he announced.
Macho Man gasped. "WHAAAA?! ME?! No no no that's a mistake. Read them all out again!"
Alexa shook his head. "Nope."
The host grabbed the welding torch alongside his welding helmet and moved over to Macho Man's portrait.
"LOOK AT THAT FACE, HOW CAN YOU DENY THAT FACE!" Macho Man begged with confusion. "PLEASE, I STILL GOTTA SHOW THESE PEOPLE WHO'S BOSS!"
Alexa ignored him, burning his portrait to a mere crisp as he started yelling in agony, dropping to his knees.
"IT'S JUST A PICTURE! WHY ARE PEOPLE GETTING SO EMOTIONAL OVER IT?" Asked Papyrus. "SOME PEOPLE TRULY ARE MYSTERIES..."
After the job was finished, Alexa turned to Macho Man. "Before you leave this show as the second eliminated contestant, do you have any last words?"
"Yeah, I got only four, and it's specifically for you, host boy..." He said, slowly getting up to his feet.
When awaiting the answer, he suddenly charged at him and shoved him against the wall, sprinting off before any of his staff could react.
"OUTTA MY WAY, LOSER!" He exclaimed, cackling.
"Y'eowch..." Alexa groaned, rubbing his back. "I guess burning portraits wasn't the best idea... first I'm threatened with lawsuits by some squid and now my whole body aches! What a terrible terrible day."
He then looked at the survivors, who were not interested in giving him pity.
"Alright jeez, not even an 'are you okay'?" He groaned. "Whatever... anyhow, Macho Man had the strength and agility needed to win the show, unfortunately, he was downright obsessed with picking fights to the point where it cost him the entire game as soon as one of his targets was someone with common sense. Goodnight, Power Flowers, and I highly encourage you to try and get a win next challenge, no matter what!"
The survivors, one by one, left the Koopa Sphinx, leaving Alexa to himself.
"Am I really that horrible of a guy?" He asked himself. "Maybe I should try getting a better reputation amongst these people..."
Super Macho Man's last words: "This competition was totally bogus and rigged! It feels like every show has some form of bias towards me, ever since that little punk known as Little Mac beat me twice. He cheated, by the way, I was flashy and cool and he used repetitive cheap punishes to beat me! Screw Alexa, screw Little Mac, I know I'm truly the best!"
VOTES
Super Macho Man's voters: Spy, King K. Rool, Samus Aran, Papyrus, Princess Peach, ROB.
Spy's voters: Super Macho Man, Patrick.
(Meta Knight's in Exile Oasis)
IDOLS
Koopa Sphinx Idol - Not Found
Jagged Rockies Idol - Mushroom Idol (triples voting power). Currently in Papyrus and K Rool's possession.
Cacti Paradise Idol - Not Found
Exile Oasis Idol - Not Found
REMAINING SURVIVORS
Super Shrooms Tribe (Red)
- Phoenix Wright
- Luigi
- Little Mac
- Miles "Tails" Prower
- Gordon Ramsay
- Waluigi
- Squidward Tentacles
- Kirby
- Engineer
- Jotaro Kujo
Power Flowers Tribe (Green)
- Papyrus
- Meta Knight
- Princess Peach
- Spy
- Patrick Star
- King K. Rool
- ROB
- Samus Aran
Sorry for the long wait, but Episode 2 is finally here! Let me know what you thought of it, who do you want to win? I'm all ears! ^_^