Challenge Dunes: Day 8
Survivors: Phoenix Wright - Papyrus - Luigi - Meta Knight - Little Mac - Princess Peach - Tails - Spy - Gordon Ramsay - Waluigi - Patrick Star - Kirby - King K. Rool - Engineer - ROB - Jotaro Kujo - Samus Aran.
The two teams entered the dunes around the same time, both had marginally energized survivors that were ready to win immunity and their next prize.
As usual, Alexa stood there, waiting for them all to line up and settle down before he got down to explaining the challenge.
"Now I've been thinking, survivors..." Said Alexa. "Thinking about what to do for this next challenge. You've had a challenge that tested your strength, a challenge that tested your speed and endurance, and a challenge that tested your ability to count! All that's left is a challenge that tests your intelligence! Though, there aren't many interesting challenges you can make using them, so I decided to combine it with yet another test of strength! Or should I say, a Quiz of Strength?"
"Where are you going with this?" Asked Spy.
He grinned. "I'll explain it now, so sit tight!"
*Today's challenge will require six members from each team. Three members from one team will be assigned to the role of the Quizzers, whilst the other three members will be assigned to the role of the Lifters. The Lifters will be given a large crate filled with weights for them to carry on their backs, this crate will be decently light at first, though if you drop your crate at any time, you will be out of the challenge. Meanwhile, the three Quizzers will compete with the other team's Quizzers to answer trivial questions, and both teams will be given buzzers to give their answers. If the Quizzer who hits their buzzer gets the correct answer, then they will get the opportunity to double the number of weights for one of the Lifters on the opposing team. However, if they get the wrong answer, then the opposing team's Quizzers will be able to double the number of weights for one of the Lifters on the team that got the answer wrong! To conclude, only answer the question if you're truly confident in your answer!
If a team has all three of its Lifters give up, then that team will lose, and the other team will win immunity and the next mystery prize!
This challenge will also have a twist! Instead of both teams nominating three Lifters and three Quizzers, I will randomly pick who participates in the challenge with their specific role. There's no element of strategy to this, just a raw test to see the brainiest and brawniest members of your team!
Before we get started on preparing the challenge, I'll have to cover a couple of rules:
- Do not interfere with the Lifter's crates. (Do not help them carry it, trip them, or distract them. Motivation from their team is allowed, however.) This goes for everyone: Lifters, Quizzers, and those who aren't participating.
- The crate must be carried on your back at all times, you cannot re-adjust its position, and you must always be standing up whilst holding it. The only way to get full relief from the weight is to, well, drop it!
- Whoever hits the button will have to answer the question within five seconds, if you miss this mark, then it will count as you getting the question wrong, and the opposing team will get to double the weight for one of your Lifters.
- Helping out the Quizzers with answers is NOT allowed, no matter what team or role you have.
And that's it! Remember to try your best, because today's prize will be a permanent, useful stay for the tribe!*
"Sounds like anyone can be made of use in this challenge," Spy remarked. "Brains and brawns are the two main attributes that everyone on our team should be capable of filling at least one in."
"If only we were allowed to choose who went into what role... I'm not good with such trivia!" K Rool groaned before pulling a toothy smile, clutching his bicep as a tactic of showing off. "Though, it's an entirely different story for strength!"
Meanwhile, Engineer raised his hand. "Jus' for some clarification, you will be choosing who participates as well as what role they fill in?"
"Yep! I'll proceed to do that now, so good timing on the question," he praised. "Now, let's just pull out the old phone..."
"You're still using phone apps in your professional competitive TV show?" Gordon placed a hand over his face. "You haven't changed a single bloody bit."
Alexa rolled his eyes, placing a hand on his hip. "What? You want me to bring out some massive electronic screen with a built-in algorithm? Be realistic; this randomizer app gets the job done!"
"Fair..." He uttered in bitter response.
After five minutes of inserting names and randomizing, Alexa gave out the roles for each individual survivor:
Super Shroom Lifters:
- Little Mac
- Tails
- Waluigi
Super Shroom Quizzers:
- Gordon Ramsay
- Phoenix Wright
- Luigi
Power Flowers Lifters:
- Papyrus
- Samus Aran
- Spy
Power Flowers Quizzers:
- Patrick Star
- Princess Peach
- Meta Knight
Sitting Out:
- Engineer
- Jotaro Kujo
- Kirby
- King K. Rool
- ROB
"Patrick's going to be a Quizzer?" Meta Knight sighed. "Great... looks like we're already disadvantaged."
"Huh? Is that a bad thing?" He asked.
The simple stupidity of the question was enough to make the warrior tune him out, he simply turned his back on the starfish and began talking to Peach about the challenge.
"What type of trivia-based questions are you good at?" Meta Knight asked.
In response, the princess began listing using her fingers. "Well I know a lot about sports, royalty, history, and general knowledge of the Mushroom Kingdom. I bet questions about the latter are bound to appear... but that's just a guess. What are you good at when it comes to trivia?"
"Erm, well..." He let out a small gulp. "Nothing more than what you're good at."
"Wait, you can't be upset over Patrick being a Quizzer when you know little trivia yourself!" She scolded. "That's hypocrisy."
"You're right..." He hung his head in shame. "Maybe Patrick will have all marine and ocean-based questions covered, he's a starfish, after all."
When their discussion came to an end, Alexa began setting up the challenge. "I will now be asking Little Mac, Tails, and Waluigi to all grab one of the red crates, these will act as your weights and are designed to be carried on your backs, so please do so!"
As commanded, the Super Shrooms trio walked up to the weights, lined up in a row, and began carrying the crates. Each of them was filled with three iron balls, yet were light in weight, and Tails only struggled a little bit due to the awkwardly large size, which wasn't made with someone like him in mind. As for Little Mac and Waluigi, they were perfectly fine, Waluigi's lanky limbs were especially able to hold the crate with ease.
Afterward, Alexa moved on to Power Flowers. "Papyrus, Samus, and Spy will all proceed to grab one of the green crates; the same rules and advice I gave to Super Shrooms will apply here!"
Similarly to the other team, they walked up to the crates and grabbed them, holding them on their backs. Papyrus struggled with the bulky size, though the weight was tolerable enough for him. Spy and Samus had little trouble.
"The six of you Lifters may have noticed the three iron balls in each of the crates. These will act as your weights, so if someone chooses to double your amount of weights, the number of iron balls will go from three to six. If they double it again, it will go from six to twelve, and so on until you inevitably drop the crate!" Explained Alexa before moving on. "Now, I will ask for the six Quizzers to stand behind these two stands, each stand here has the aforementioned buzzers that you will press to give me your answer. Super Shrooms will go behind the red stand, and Power Flowers will go behind the green stand. Capiche?"
The survivors nodded, acknowledging his orders as they walked to behind the stands, leaving the five who had to sit out on their own.
"Alright! Now we're ready to begin the challenge!" Alexa said. "Let me just get out my question cards..."
He proceeded to stroll over to the jeep he got here in, reaching for a stack of thin, paper cards filled with questions alongside the answers.
Alexa took out the top card from the stack and hastily shoved the rest in the pocket of his pants. Carefully, slowly and coherently, he read out the first question:
*Question One: to what nearest thousand is the temperature of the Sun's surface? Here's a hint: whether it's in Kelvin or Celsius, it has the same answer!*
The survivors drank in the question as the Lifters silently prayed that a member of their team would immediately hit the buzzer.
"I never did exceptional in science, though I think it's six-thousand, maybe I should press the buzzer..." Said Phoenix. "Nobody else is responding, after all..."
Unfortunately for Phoenix, before he could get the confidence to hit the buzzer, somebody else did. Though, to make matters a lot better, that person was Luigi, someone on the same team as him.
"Umm... is it six-thousand degrees?" Asked Luigi.
Alexa checked the bottom of the card and stared down Luigi, almost making the plumber want to pass out from the intense aura. However, to everyone else, the silence was simply annoying.
Eventually, he broke out of the trance and revealed the answer. "You are... CORRECT! Congratulations, Luigi! You may double the weight of Papyrus, Samus Aran, or Spy."
"Yahoo!" Luigi cheered before scratching his head. "Hmm, I'm-a very sorry Papyrus, but I think I'll have to-a double yours."
"H-HANG ON! THIS IS ALREADY HEAVY ENOUGH!" Papyrus squealed. "HAVE MERCY ON ME, I'M BUT AN INNOCENT SKELETON FROM THE UNDERGROUND!"
"No takebacks. Brace yourself Papyrus, because three more iron balls are going to be added to your crate!" Warned Alexa.
The skeleton gulped as he felt the weight double, causing his hand to slip a little, making the task of carrying the crate much harder, alongside the added weight of course.
"NNGH... MY SPINE IS GOING TO BREAK!" He cried, his eyes popping out from the terror.
"Really, after a little bit of extra weight?!" Spy snapped. "If you give up now then things will be harder on us, you'll doom us to fail you buffoon! Get your act together and do it quickly!"
Whilst the words were enveloped in an angry and impatient tone, Papyrus took it as motivation, causing him to become more determined. "O-OKAY! I SHALL NOT LET YOU DOWN... I MUST KEEP GOING FORWARD!"
"Good! Now, let's get that next question before he collapses dead!" Spy barked, nodding his head to Alexa for the cue.
The host nodded. "Righto! Let's get started with the second question:"
*Question Two: Who was the first Survivor eliminated from the first season of Survivor Crossover?*
Immediately, the buzzer came from Gordon Ramsay, who immediately barked out his answer of "Dr. Eggman."
Alexa looked at the card, had a much smaller pause than last time, and nodded. "You are CORRECT!"
"Phew, good thing I witnessed it first-hand," Gordon smirked. "I know you're about to ask me about the weights, so I'll choose to add it to... Spy, please."
The Frenchman groaned as Alexa ordered his staff to add in three more iron balls, bringing Spy's total to six, just like Papyrus. His posture didn't change, though it did feel much heavier even if it was yet to be intolerable.
"Why not Papyrus?" Questioned Phoenix.
The chef pointed to the distressed skeleton: heavily sweating; eyes straining from the weight; body shaking from the pressure, all of which had already applied to Papyrus. "He looks like he'll give in from the weight anyway, there's no point in wasting it on him."
"You have a point," he responded.
With Power Flowers unable to score a win, the Lifters on their team were beginning to lose faith in the Quizzers.
Regardless, Alexa made no comment and moved on to the third question:
*Question Three: what is the hardest natural material found on Earth?*
"All of these Earth-related questions..." Meta Knight rolled his eyes.
Before any of Power Flowers could begin their comeback by hitting the buzzer, Super Shrooms beat them to it again, and just like last time, it was Gordon.
"I read it up before, I'm sure it's graphene. Apparently an atom-thin layer of it is two-thousand times stronger than steel!" He explained, slightly smug to know the information.
As Alexa read the card, he pouted and shook his head at Gordon. "Sorry, but you're wrong!"
"What? No, I'm sure it's graphene!" He argued.
Once again, Alexa shook his head. "Graphene isn't exactly a natural material, right? The question specifies a NATURAL material, so the correct answer is... diamond!"
"Oooh... bollocks..." Gordon sighed. "Sorry about that."
"Stupid!" Yelled Waluigi, angry over Super Shrooms' first loss in the challenge.
"Power Flowers, as Gordon got the question wrong, the three of you Quizzers must quickly come to a conclusion on who to double the weight on!" Alexa reminded.
Peach, Patrick, and Meta Knight huddled up.
"Err, I think we should get the small guy, any more weight and he'll be crushed under the crate, right?" Patrick queried.
"Not exactly crushed, but your logic is valid," accepted Meta Knight. "I think we should double Tails' weight."
Peach nodded, turning away from the huddle and facing Alexa. "We choose Tails!"
Tails braced himself as Alexa ordered his staff to double the weight of his crate, and whilst the weight wasn't too bad, the fact that the crate was too big for him put him at breaking point.
As Alexa slowly accustomed to the new weight added, Alexa moved on to the next question:
*Question Four: In a Fast Draw Showdown, what item is typically pulled out as fast as possible when the word "Draw" is yelled?*
Meta Knight hit the buzzer immediately, giving his answer. "A gun, though when I participate, I use a sword."
"Your answer is... correct!" Clapped Alexa. "Considering you looked confused at every question so far, I was surprised you even knew what Fast Draw was!"
"I studied the last season in preparation for this one, though the only reason I didn't guess the second question was because I forgot the name of the forgettable old man," he explained.
"Ouch..." Tails rubbed his shoulder. "I sure hope Eggman isn't watching..."
Meta Knight moved on. "Now, double the weight for Tails."
"Yeah! That'll do it!" Patrick gave a goofy smirk, wringing his stubby hands.
Tails sighed as six more iron balls were added to his crate, upping his total from six to twelve. Unfortunately, whilst he could hold much heavier objects, the sheer awkwardness of the object's shape caused him to drop it.
As soon as this happened, Alexa pointed it out. "TAILS IS OUT OF THE CHALLENGE! That leaves two more Lifters on Super Shrooms, and still three more on Power Flowers!"
"Sorry guys, it was too big for me to carry..." The fox sighed, walking back to the others.
"Don't beat 'yerself up! Just be glad it was you and not this pipsqueak right here," Engineer chuckled, prodding Kirby on the cheek and slightly annoying the puffball.
As Tails began to feel a slight bit better, Alexa began the fifth question:
*Question Five: what two condiments are commonly associated with the food item known as a hotdog?*
*TAKE THAT!*
The others turned to see Phoenix, who had pressed the buzzer. "Those two condiments consist of ketchup and mustard!"
"A little triumphant considering the answer you gave, but..." Alexa checked the bottom of the card. "You are correct!"
"Though, I'm more used to them being called Samurai Dogs," thought Phoenix. "Thanks a lot, Maya."
"Now, whose weight should be doubled, Mr. Wright?" He asked.
He rubbed his chin before pointing to Spy. "I'll choose Spy!"
"Hmmph, again?" Spy turned to Samus. "You're getting off easy."
"I definitely am, though that'll keep my energy up for longer," she said.
"Your energy won't matter soon enough..." He said under his breath before tanking the weight of six more iron balls being added to his crate, bringing his to a total of twelve. He was slightly struggling at this point, but showed no signs of giving in. Papyrus, however, looked like he would give in at any moment, but he kept muttering motivation for himself under his breath.
As Alexa grabbed the next card, he raised an eyebrow. "What the... another condiment question? These are some weird trivia questions..."
Nonetheless, he read out the sixth question:
*Question Six: what condiment fits the description of a thick, creamy sauce consisting of beaten egg yolks with oil, vinegar and seasoning?*
For some bizarre reason, not only was the first person to hit the buzzer Patrick Star, a marine animal, but he hit it almost right after the question was said.
"I know, I know!" He waved his hand.
"Then quickly say it, you idiot!" K Rool bellowed from afar.
Patrick proceeded to spit out the answer as quickly as possible. "MAYONNAISE!"
"...You're... you're correct," Alexa's eyes widened. "You never fail to surprise me, Patrick."
"Words cannot describe how confused I am that a starfish managed to get a question about mayonnaise right over anyone else. One of them was even a chef for crying out loud!" - Tails.
"Hmm... I'm gonna double the weight on the little guy again!" He deviously revealed. "Wait, he's out... err... oh, I know, I'll do it to the purple guy over there!"
"That's-a Waluigi to you, chubby!" He sneered as three more iron balls were placed into his crate, barely affecting his tolerance to the weight.
Before Alexa moved on to the seventh question, he began congratulating the Lifters. "Good job to all of you who have made it far! Also, let it be known that Super Shrooms and Power Flowers have an equal amount of wins with the questions, though Super Shrooms is disadvantaged as they're one man down. How long will that last?"
Upon hearing the question, Spy turned to the suffering Papyrus and quickly spat out a witty response. "Not for long, I imagine..."
"That may just be... however, let's not waste any more time!" Alexa declared, reading out the next question with gusto.
*Question Seven: what l-*
"GAAAHCK! NOOOOOOO!"
The piercing screech of defeat and shame assaulted the eardrums of everyone within 50 feet of him, as Papyrus dropped to the ground, exhausted. "I WAS... SO CLOSE..."
"PAPYRUS IS OUT OF THE CHALLENGE!" Announced Alexa. "That means there are two Lifters left on both teams!"
"Ugh, why aren't I surprised!" Spy rolled his eyes. "Just get on with the question, Alexa."
He nodded. "Alright! I'll read out the same question, so prepare yourselves:"
*Question Seven: what letter of the alphabet can generally be considered as both a consonant and a vowel?*
"What are those?" Asked Patrick, resulting in his team sighing with immense aggravation. Luckily, he hadn't hit the buzzer to ask Alexa a question.
Just after his question was asked, the buzzer was sounded by Peach.
"I'm pretty sure it's the letter 'y'," she responded. "Am I correct?"
Alexa peeked at the letter, stared her down, and gave a friendly nod. "Indeed you are, Princess Toadstool!"
"Alright!" She cheered. "As for the weights, I'll double Little Mac's."
"Finally, more weight to lift!" Mac stuck his tongue out with excitement as three more iron balls were added to his crate.
"You aren't supposed to be excited..." Phoenix groaned.
After immediately adjusting to the new weight, Alexa gave out the eighth question:
*Question Eight: in Poker, how many cards relating to royalty are there in a standard 52-card deck?*
Barring Patrick, all of the Quizzers instantly knew the answer, and they all slammed on the buzzer at the same time.
However, Luigi's buzzer was the only one that made the buzzing noise, confirming that he was the first one to hit it.
"Phew..." He wiped the sweat off of his forehead before realizing that he still had an answer to give. "O-oh yeah! There's-a twelve royal cards!"
Alexa checked the bottom of the card and applauded the plumber. "Well done, you are correct! Whose weight are you doubling?"
He eyed Spy, who still looked to be doing just fine with his heavy load, meaning that he wasn't going to wait him out any time soon. "I'll-a... double Spy's weight!"
"Oh merde..." Spy cursed under his breath as twelve more iron balls were dropped into the crate, bringing the total to twenty-four. The force alone nearly made Spy give up, though he was still standing, even if it was in the form of quivering and sweating.
"Looks like we'll be able to wait him out now," whispered Gordon.
"Hopefully, he just looks a lot angrier... and I-a bet that's-a directed at me." Luigi bit his lip.
Alexa moved on to the ninth question:
*Question Nine: In the solar system, what planet is the furthest from the sun?*
Though Meta Knight was close to hitting it himself, Peach managed to get it first, proudly stating her answer. "The furthest planet is Neptune!"
*OBJECTION!*
Phoenix wagged her finger at her with a stern face. "It's actually Pluto!"
Following his objection, nobody uttered a word, and the dunes were as silent as can be.
"Umm... did I say something wrong?" He asked, pulling a slightly nervous grin.
"You forgot that Pluto was changed to a Dwarf Planet?" Gordon groaned. "She already beat us to it, but did you have to embarrass us any further?"
"Oh... good thing I don't get penalties here..." Phoenix thought, groaning with embarrassment and shame.
As Alexa shook his head from the amusing scene that had unfolded, he went to read out the answer. "You are... incorrect?!"
"H-huh?!" Peach, Gordon, and Phoenix all gasped in sync.
"Oh... right..." Alexa slapped himself on the head. "I forgot to mention that HALF of these trivia cards were made in two-thousand and five... before Pluto was changed from a Planet to a Dwarf Planet. How about we just say that Peach wins this one anyway?"
"But the card says otherwise!" Phoenix argued.
"Well I'm sorry, but the card's outdated!" He argued back. "So Peach gets to double the weight, otherwise it just wouldn't be fair."
Luigi placed a hand on the lawyer's glum shoulder. "You-a almost had it."
Ignoring what just happened, Peach shot her finger at Waluigi. "I'll double his weight again, please."
"Aww, come on!" He growled as six more iron balls entered his crate, making things noticeably more difficult for his tired shoulders.
Alexa read out the tenth question of the challenge, clarifying that it was one of the recently-made cards:
*Question Ten: what is the name of the hottest chili pepper ever recorded in human history?*
Immediately, Gordon slammed the buzzer. "That would be the Carolina Reaper, wouldn't it?"
Alexa glanced at the card and positively shook his head. "Yep! You're right there, Gordon! Now, whose weight are you going to double?"
"Hmm... I'll go for Samus, this time," he said.
"Looks like they're going to wait me out, Samus," Spy told her as three iron balls entered her crate. "I won't be able to keep holding on until then, so it's all down to you..."
"I'll try my best," she nodded to him. "Don't worry."
The Frenchman grinned as he dropped his crate, feeling the relief of not having to carry the incredible weight any longer.
"SPY IS OUT!" Alexa announced. "That leaves Samus on her lonesome! Meanwhile, Super Shrooms still have Waluigi and Little Mac! This is looking pretty close."
He was right, the end of the challenge was approaching, and Samus had to endure the weight as much as possible.
*Question Eleven: back in the previous season of Survivor Crossover, what strange weather-based anomaly occurred towards the end of the show?"
Similar to how Gordon immediately hit the buzzer, Meta Knight did the exact same for this question, somehow with even more confidence than the slightly smug Gordon.
"Cloudblots," he sharply answered.
With little hassle with checking the answer, Alexa gave him the thumbs up. "Correct!"
"And I'll double Waluigi's weight," he decided.
"WAAAH?!" Waluigi yelped. "AGAIN?!"
The lanky man in purple cried over the force of twelve iron balls hitting his crate one after the other, and with his slowly depleting strength creeping its way into his performance, the stress was too much for him to bear...
He dropped the crate, collapsing on the floor and instantly falling asleep from the exhaustion.
"Oh no! Are you okay, Waluigi?" Peach asked from afar, unaware of the fact that he was simply dozing.
Upon getting no response, she got worried. Alexa too was worried that Waluigi could very well be severely hurt, though for a much more selfish reason. He ordered out paramedics, wrapped in white and red clothing, and they studied his body, slightly grossed out from the smell he emitted. After a few more tests, they informed Alexa of his condition.
"He's out cold, but he doesn't seem to have suffered from any injuries. We'll take him away until he recovers, which should be before Tribal Council, but it could be until tomorrow," one of them explained.
"Phew..." He wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "I thought it'd be permanent. Tribal Council may work differently with his absence..."
"Get better soon, human Squidward!" Chuckled Patrick, nudging Meta Knight. "Get it? Because he has a big nose?"
"Yes..." He nodded, taking little interest.
As Waluigi was carried into one of the jeeps, Alexa decided to resume the challenge. Now it was a one-on-one versus Samus and Little Mac, both holding the same load:
*Question Twelve: what is the answer to the riddle of "What can you catch, but can't throw?"*
"Really, he's resorting to riddles?" Samus said under her breath, though she couldn't be too surprised over his antics anymore.
After a couple of seconds of trying to remember the answer to the repetitive, unfunny riddle, Phoenix Wright managed to hit the buzzer first.
"These questions are a bunch of nonsense," complained Meta Knight.
"I'm pretty sure the answer is a cold, right?" He answered, though with not much enthusiasm.
"You are... correct!" Praised Alexa. "Since Samus is the only one remaining, her load will be automatically doubled!"
Samus sighed as six more iron balls were dropped into her crate. The weight was prominent at this point, but she could take in a lot more before things got tough for her.
Alexa read out the thirteenth question:
*Question Thirteen: pianos, drums, xylophones, and cymbals are all apart of what instrument family?*
"Finally, one I know!" Patrick wrung his hands as he slammed the buzzer.
Everyone turned his way, giving him eye-contact as he was quickly hurried up by Alexa to give his answer.
"Uhh..." He gulped. "Loud?"
...
"...What?" Alexa asked. "I didn't hear you correctly. Did you just say-"
"Loud? Yeah, I did! That's it, right?" Patrick proudly smiled.
Even though whether Patrick got the answer right or wrong meant nothing bad for Alexa, he couldn't help but bury his face in his hands and slowly shake it. "I'm sorry but... no, you're wrong. The correct answer is-"
"Percussion, you fool!" Cursed Meta Knight. "You didn't even sound confident in your answer!"
"I was only trying to help, I only got one answer so far..." He pouted.
With Patrick's incorrect answer, Samus once again had her load doubled, twelve more being dropped into the crate. Things were definitely getting heavy for her, and Little Mac continued to feel like yawning from the boredom of holding the same load for most of the challenge.
Trying to forget about what was just said to him from the starfish, Alexa moved on to the next question:
*Question Fourteen: what marine invertebrate is well-known for its five arms and "star-like" shape?*
Super Shrooms began sweating as Patrick hit the buzzer immediately. Power Flowers knew that the starfish had it in the bag. After all, his species was the answer to the question.
Despite this, however, Meta Knight still felt a wave of dread hit him as Patrick licked his lips and was about to say the answer.
Right before his time was up...
"The answer is... ME! PATRICK!" He pointed to himself. "I dunno the specifics but I do know that I more than fit that criteria if I do say so myself," he smugly grinned.
"God... DAMN IT!" Spy yelled as he stomped on the ground with pure rage. "YOU FOOL! YOU'VE DOOMED US ALL!"
"O-oops," Patrick gulped with shame and embarrassment.
Samus sighed as she braced herself for the impact of twenty-four more iron balls hitting her, even if she knew it would end in her demise.
As the final iron ball was dumped into her crate, she took a deep breath as she dropped the crate, dropping to her knees from the exhaustion.
"I-I won?" Little Mac gawked. "I WON!"
"No, Mac, your TEAM won!" Alexa smirked. "SUPER SHROOMS HAS WON THE FOURTH CHALLENGE, AND THEIR THIRD BATCH OF TEAM-IMMUNITY THIS GAME!"
Little Mac gleefully dropped his crate, albeit slightly disappointed over how boring his role in the challenge was, and rejoiced with his cheering team, who managed to win thanks to Patrick's terrible answers.
As the two teams grouped back up, one full of optimism and the other full of bitterness, Alexa revealed the prize to Super Shrooms. "Enjoy!" He said.
He unveiled to them two games: Chess, as well as a full deck of playing cards. "Maybe these will help your day go by faster?"
"Well that's a darn surprise!" Engineer smirked, grabbing the cards. "Playin' Poker to pass time certainly wasn't something I expected to do durin' this show."
"NOOOO, WE COULD HAVE WON CHESS?!" Papyrus cried. "THIS TRULY IS AN EMBARRASSMENT FOR THE POWER FLOWERS TEAM..."
"Pssh, they can enjoy their toys all they want," Spy scoffed. "At least the fun will begin back at my tribe!"
Engineer held his hand up. "Now wait right there, Spy. Don't we have the opportunity to exile you or one of your kind?"
Alexa nodded. "Yep! I was just about to say that, heheh," he lied.
"Oh, sure, go ahead and exile whoever you like!" He offered, pulling a fake smile.
The Texan huddled up with the rest of his tribe and took charge, attempting to convince everyone to exile one individual he has in mind. To his surprise, he convinced everyone a lot quicker than he thought he would.
After the huddle broke up, Engineer pointed to Spy. "We'll be takin' you to the Exile Oasis!"
"Ghk!" The Frenchman choked on those words. "M-me? That's perfectly fine..."
"The utter fool! With my presence no longer here, Meta Knight and Samus could easily test one another and find out about my plan to eliminate that wretched bounty hunter once and for all! I can't do anything about that, all thanks to that hard-hatted Southern moron and his happy-go-lucky freakshow of a "tribe"!" - Spy.
"I know Spy well enough to make the judgment that he's clearly up to somethin' downright evil on that other team. Usually, I don't care unless it's my own team, but if Spy gets an advantage, he'll make my time on this show a livin' hell as soon as we cross paths. Luckily, my sabotage attempt seemed to have upset him, so I guess my judgment was as right as can be!" - Engineer.
"Alright then Spy, off to Exile Oasis you go! As for Power Flowers, by the end of today, there will be seven of you left, not counting Spy. That's a decent contrast to Super Shrooms and their nine members, so like you did last challenge, you need to start closing that gap," advised Alexa. "Now, all of you may go back to your tribes!"
Both teams went back to tribe via the warp pipes, as Spy stayed behind to be taken to Exile Oasis...
Power Flowers: Day 8
Survivors: Papyrus - Meta Knight - Princess Peach - Patrick Star - King K. Rool - ROB - Samus Aran.
The team had split into two groups:
- Peach and ROB were together, chatting about any potential candidates for elimination (though ROB wasn't the best for subjective decisions).
- Meanwhile, Papyrus, Samus, and K Rool were talking to each other, preparing to convince Patrick to vote off Meta Knight when he woke up.
Whilst these two groups had formed, Meta Knight was by his lonesome, whilst Patrick was sleeping.
"Well, that was a complete and utter mess of a challenge!" K Rool whinged. "We were on even grounds for winning and finally closing that lead of theirs, but then Patrick had to screw it up twice in a row!"
"INDEED... NOW WE MISSED OUT ON THE CHESSBOARD!" Papyrus sighed.
Upon realizing K Rool didn't respond, the skeleton turned to see him eyeing him with anger.
"O-OBVIOUSLY, THAT'S NOT AS IMPORTANT AS IMMUNITY, RIGHT?" He gulped.
"THOUGH HE IS MY HUMBLE ALLIANCE PARTNER, HE DEFINITELY HAS THAT VERY THREATENING AURA SURROUNDING HIM! HE'S A BIG, SCARY, MAYBE RUTHLESS KING THAT COULD CRUSH ME IN A SIMPLE STOMP OR PUNCH! BEING ON THE GOOD SIDE OF SOMEONE LIKE HIM VIA ALLIANCE IS CERTAINLY A BLESSING, THOUGH IT DOESN'T SAVE ME FROM FEELING LIKE I'M GOING TO BE SHATTERED INTO LITTLE PIECES BY HIM... *GULP*" - Papyrus.
Samus stared at the floor and thought about Meta Knight, the big threat that Spy made him out to be. Not that he was wrong, as he had more strength, speed, and wits than even her. Though she thought Spy seemed a little off over being exiled, like he secretly hated it. He already told them that they would have to convince either Peach, Patrick, or ROB to vote Meta Knight in case someone on the alliance was exiled, but he seemed like things would go wrong for him if he was exiled. The curiosity filled her, and with her lack of trust towards most of these people, she had an urge to investigate it further.
However, it seemed like her curiosity had come to her, K Rool, and Papyrus, as Meta Knight soared over to them, landing with precision.
He was fully aware of Spy's plan of convincing K Rool and Papyrus to blindside Samus to secure her elimination, but with him gone, he was unsure of how Tribal Council would turn out, which brought him to here.
"What brings you here?" Samus asked, eyeing him.
Meta Knight gave her similar treatment, glaring back as he slowly walked towards the three. "Looks like Spy's not here."
"Mmhmm..." K Rool nodded. "So then, Meta Knight, any ideas on who to vote?"
"As of now I'm not sure, though I have a good idea of who you people are voting," he huffed. "I can read it off of your face like a book."
Papyrus pressed his cheekbones using his hands and panicked. "H-HE'S ONTO US!"
"S-SHUT UP!" The crocodile placed the tip of his claws at his neck.
"Looks like you gave it away, you're all planning to vote me off? Spy was right," said Meta Knight.
Samus raised an eyebrow, still on guard. "So he told you?"
"The filthy snake tried to form an alliance targeted at me just so he can blindside a member of that alliance. I told him I was on board to help him with the blindside, but I never trusted him to begin with," he explained. "Although he masked how upset he was over being exiled, he should consider himself lucky, because he would be the one eliminated otherwise."
K Rool stopped him. "Back up there! Who was he going to blindside? Because if it's me... I oughta..."
"It was you, Samus." He pointed to her. "He considered you a massive threat, and he was planning to let K Rool and Papyrus in on what was happening so they could vote you off."
"Hmm, that's genuinely surprising, even if I never trusted him that much," she sighed.
"What's all this talk of alliances and blindsides?" Peach asked, making Papyrus jump out of his skin... not that he was in any skin to begin with.
ROB was beside the princess as the five were left decently speechless.
"It appears there's been a four-member alliance that we've been clueless over for the past few days," described ROB. "If that puts it into any better words for you."
"You all had some big alliance together?!" She shook her head. "The last thing this team needs is any more disconnect!"
K Rool gulped. "Erm, don't blame me! Blame Spy, he formed this alliance just so he could trick and eliminate Samus!"
"I AM SO SORRY FOR BETRAYING YOU, PRINCESS..." Papyrus bowed to her. "I HAVE PARTAKEN IN A GROUP PRIMARILY MADE TO HUNT DOWN A SPECIFIC MEMBER OF THE TEAM, AND THAT HAS PROVEN THAT I HAVE NOT GROWN AS A PERSON."
"N-no need to be THAT sincere, but I accept your apology," Peach shrugged. "I'm just... so confused about how ROB and I were so unaware of this! Don't tell me Patrick is also involved in his petty drama..."
She looked behind her to observe the starfish sleeping in one of the tents. "Doesn't look like he would be."
"So, what now?" Asked K Rool. "We've established that Spy used us for his own filthy needs, and I'll make sure to pummel him tomorrow! But who are we voting for?"
"Unfortunately, now's the time where we start heading to Tribal Council," said Meta Knight. "We can have some talk whilst we go there, but I think tonight's candidate will be a mystery."
"That makes me a little nervous..." Peach admitted.
"I still feel clumsy for not recognizing the fact that something was happening earlier! On the day of Macho Man's elimination, Spy, Samus, Papyrus and K Rool all grouped up one day before Tribal Council, and they've been loosely connected since. I'm now just wondering what will we do about Spy, will we stay quiet about it and blindside him? Maybe we accuse and intervene with him immediately, but I don't see that going well..." - Princess Peach.
Talking in small groups over who should be eliminated, the seven survivors of Power Flowers made their way to the Koopa Sphinx for Tribal Council...
Tribal Council: Night 8
Survivors: Papyrus - Meta Knight - Princess Peach - Patrick Star - King K. Rool - ROB - Samus Aran.
After their short break of going to Tribal Councils every other day, Power Flowers were back and were just as annoyed over it as usual.
They once again admired the ancient scenery as they took their seats and awaited Alexa, who appeared to be running late.
To pass the time, they continued whispering to one another over the candidate for elimination, and after five minutes of doing so, the host finally showed up.
"Hey there survivors, sorry I'm late!" He grinned. "Had to get on this Egyptian-themed clothing. One day you'll appreciate these little touches!"
"I doubt that," replied Meta Knight.
Alexa rolled his eyes as he started the Tribal Council. "Well, welcome to your third Tribal Council! Out of the four in this season, you people have participated in three of them. By the end of today, you'll be behind by two whole members once again, which sucks. Now, ROB, what do you think is the main cause behind all of these semi-consistent losses?"
"I consider it to be a mixture of rash decisions and big mistakes. Overall, our team's strength and intelligence is enough to match the enemy tribe, but the things some of our members choose to do cause us to lose these challenges. For example, in the first challenge, Johnny decided to not let anyone else attempt lock-picking the chest, ultimately wasting time and resulting in us losing. Fast forward to our most recent challenge, where Patrick made too many mistakes with his answers, causing our team to once again lose," he explained. "It is especially upsetting, as our chances of winning were decently high. Last challenge's loss was also because of luck, as you randomly selected who participated in what role, Alexa."
"So I'm to blame a little bit?" Alexa queried.
"It appears so, I'm afraid," the robot hesitantly beeped.
"I see..." He acknowledged. "Now, Meta Knight, do you have the confidence that your team will be able to win the next challenge?"
"Naturally, optimism towards victory is the way forward, though some of the people here are incredibly incompetent," he sighed. "Though I'm still going to assume that next victory will be ours, but that's more hope than it is faith."
Alexa nodded, proceeding to ask the final question. "Finally, Samus, how difficult was it for you to come to your voting decision tonight?"
"It was last-minute, though I'm very confident in my decision," she said. "As in, I'm confident that others will also choose them."
"What makes you say that?" Asked Alexa.
"Nothing but a hunch," admitted Samus.
After the third question came to an end, he proceeded with the council. "Survivors, cast your votes!"
Princess Peach: I'm not really too happy about voting someone anymore, because it feels like all of the troublemakers are gone, even if it's temporary... though, I do have one person in mind. (?)
ROB: Considering everyone has been transparent towards me in terms of who to vote, I'll have to use statistics of everyone's performance last challenge to come to my conclusion... the two people that come to mind consists of King K. Rool and well, myself, as both of us sat out last challenge. However, I obviously won't be voting myself, so the process of elimination leads me to vote for the other person that sat out. (King K. Rool)
Patrick: The weird blue guy with the mask woke me up from my nap! (Meta Knight)
Papyrus: I USUALLY DO NOT HOLD GRUDGES, PATRICK, BUT YOUR BRASH DECISIONS MADE US MISS OUT ON THAT PRIZE! (Patrick Star)
"Survivors, I shall now read out the votes!" Announced Alexa, always excited to get on with this part of the show. "However, as usual for you lot, would anyone here want to play an idol before we begin the voting?" Asked Alexa. "If not, then we'll get on with the votes!"
Silence... though Samus, K Rool, and Papyrus were reminded of the idols they found, but none of them saw the point in playing them.
After a ten-second wait, Alexa raised an eyebrow. "You sure? Alrighty then! Let's get down to the votes!"
*VOTING TIME*
First vote goes to Meta Knight. One vote Meta Knight. (Meta Knight huffs, fully expecting a blindside to occur.)
Second vote goes to Patrick Star. One vote Patrick, one vote Meta Knight. (Patrick shows no reaction.)
Third vote goes to King K. Rool. One vote K Rool, one vote Patrick and one vote Meta Knight. ("WHAT?!" Spits K Rool.)
Fourth vote goes to Patrick Star. Two votes Patrick, one vote K Rool and one vote Meta Knight. (Patrick still shows no reaction as Meta Knight's theory of being blindsided goes away.)
Fifth vote goes to Patrick Star. Three votes Patrick, one vote K Rool and one vote Meta Knight. (Despite being at death's door, Patrick yet again shows no reaction.)
"And the next one eliminated from Survivor Crossover: Dry Dry Desert is..." Alexa held his tongue.
*Silence*
*Silence*
*Silence*
"PATRICK STAR! At a 5-1-1 vote, you have been eliminated!" Said Alexa.
To his surprise, Patrick continued to have no reaction towards his elimination. He simply looked confused.
"What's an elimination?" He asked. "I'm not exactly the world's smartest guy, so why are you looking at me like I should know it?!"
"B-because you should..." Alexa sighed. "You're out of the competition Patrick, please say your final words and leave."
As Patrick processed his words, the host took out the usual blowtorch, put on his helmet, and scorched Patrick's mugshot until it was nothing but the frame.
"Oh, so you're saying I have to leave?" Asked Patrick.
"Yes."
"Forever?"
"Pretty much."
"Do I come back tomorrow?"
"...No."
"Oooooh..." He dumbly nodded. "WAIT, DON'T ELIMINATE MEEE! WHY WAS I ELIMINATED?!"
"D-don't ask me!" Alexa yelled, covering his ears from Patrick's cries. "Ask those who voted for you!"
Peach sighed. "I'm sorry Patrick, you just didn't do well in the last challenge, and we'd all vote Spy otherwise if he were here..."
"No, I see how it is..." Patrick sniffed. "Actually I don't, so ya know what, I'll be taking my leave!"
"Farewell, Patrick Star," ROB robotically waved, followed by the others.
The starfish disappeared down the middle corridor as Alexa gave a very deep sigh of relief. "Phew, he was... a surprising handful. Though with such an airheaded personality, no wonder his elimination was rather early. He wasn't exactly rude, but the fact that he lacked in everything else resulted in him being the anchor dragging his team back. Sayonara, Patrick! And one last thing, Power Flowers. Make that come back, and make it quick!"
Patrick's Last Words: Awww I lost! I could have won money, an entire hotel, and fame, but I failed! Doesn't matter, I guess, because I'm comfortable living under my giant rock and sleeping instead of being in some big hot desert with dumb challenges to do. At least I won the bet Squidward made before we came to this desert, because if I outlasted him he said he'd give me a week's worth of Krabby Patties for free!"
VOTES
Patrick Star's Voters: Samus Aran, Meta Knight, King K. Rool, Papyrus, and Princess Peach.
Meta Knight's Voters: Patrick Star.
King K. Rool's Voters: ROB.
IDOLS
Koopa Sphinx Idol - Fire Flower Idol (triples voting power + nullifies first vote). Currently in Samus's possession.
Jagged Rockies Idol - Mushroom Idol (triples voting power). Currently in Papyrus and K Rool's possession.
Cacti Paradise Idol - Star Idol (grants immunity). Currently in Jotaro's possession.
Exile Oasis Idol - Not Found
REMAINING SURVIVORS
Super Shrooms Tribe (Red)
- Phoenix Wright
- Luigi
- Little Mac
- Miles "Tails" Prower
- Gordon Ramsay
- Waluigi
- Kirby
- Engineer
- Jotaro Kujo
Power Flowers Tribe (Green)
- Papyrus
- Meta Knight
- Princess Peach
- Spy
- King K. Rool
- ROB
- Samus Aran
Thank you for tuning in to the fourth episode of my fanfiction! If you like it or want to offer critique, feel free to do so in the form of a review! Shoutouts to AO3 user Daboil for doing so thus far.