*Last time on Survivor Crossover: Dry Dry Desert!*
After Luigi returned to tribe after a short stay at the Exile Oasis, he discovered the unfortunate truth of Spy still being in the game, with his actions of the night before resulting in ROB's own elimination. With this now haunting him alongside Phoenix and Jotaro, the three discussed Spy's future plans, where Phoenix convinced the two of them that Samus contained the only idol left in the show, and that Spy himself had no backup beyond his usual deceptive antics.
Spy being the hot topic was also no exception to the Super Shrooms, the group of them discussing him and also the eliminee of that fateful night. During this, a bet was made between Little Mac and Waluigi over Jotaro's fate, and their own rations were put on the line due to their confidence in their own answers.
Finally, Power Flowers fell into peril as a result of a massive mistake made by Papyrus. Whilst this was mostly defused by the skeleton's sub-par reasoning, they still held a grudge over him following the incident. They spent the rest of their time talking about the eliminee of last night, much like Super Shrooms. Sometime mid-conversation, Samus Aran left the tribe to pursue a feeling she felt.
Said feeling turned out to be correct as she discovered Spy's whereabouts: around the Koopa Sphinx. After a small chat with the Frenchman, she managed to press Spy into giving her the results of the last Tribal Council using the gift of her own meal. Albeit, once Spy tried the rice and discovered that it was the oversalted one that Papyrus had made, things were no longer neutral between the two.
At the challenge, the three teams were tasked by Alexa to prepare a main meal and dessert for him and two mystery judges, giving them an hour and a massive catalog of foods to use wisely. Power Flowers coordinated well in their little groups and managed to cobble together two dishes; Laudable Leaves all focused on the main before having Phoenix and Luigi split off to make dessert halfway through; Super Shrooms followed a near-identical approach to Power Flowers, though their chances of victory quickly went south as Waluigi and Little Mac's scuffle resulted in their dish being dropped onto the dirty, sandy floor of the desert, rendering their food unsanitary for the judges to eat.
The judges themselves consisted of Alexa, the previously eliminated Gordon, and Wii Fit Trainer: a competitor from the first season of Survivor Crossover. Overall, they considered Power Flowers to have an excellent set of dishes, though Laudable Leaves was a lot more mediocre in their eyes. And, whilst they enjoyed Super Shrooms and their singular dish to a tremendous degree, the one dish was not enough to carry them to victory, and the team lost by one measly point thanks to the previously-established argument between Waluigi and Little Mac.
When Alexa revealed that the two winning teams would enjoy a large feast together for the prize, Power Flowers elected Little Mac to be exiled, only to find out that he would be joining them instead, leaving Waluigi to instantly give up on fighting against his elimination.
Back at Super Shrooms, Tails managed to convince the bitter and cold Waluigi to not walk out of the show's boundaries and to instead just attend Tribal Council and get eliminated in a much less embarrassing way. With him barely agreeing, they made their way to Tribal Council a lot earlier than they usually would have, entirely out of the impatience that Waluigi held.
Once they arrived, they snooped around and, to Waluigi's surprise, found a book that mildly praised the purple villain's abilities based on a prediction alone. Said book filled him with so much joy that he was almost excited to leave the show and equally as excited to journey back home and gloat to his friend Wario about his performance. To nobody's surprise, he was eliminated...
What will happen in this episode? Which teams will receive immunity, and who will face elimination this time? All and more will be answered in Episode 9 of Survivor Crossover: Dry Dry Desert!
Challenge Dunes: Day 16
Survivors: Phoenix Wright - Papyrus - Luigi - Meta Knight - Little Mac - Princess Peach - Spy - Jotaro Kujo - Samus Aran.
The nine survivors sat around a round table in the middle of the desert, snacking on the leftovers of the feast that they were given as a prize for winning the cooking challenge not long ago. Additionally, Power Flowers were given a handful of bonuses, VIP foods as a reward for getting first place, whilst the Laudable Leaves tribe were only allowed the rest of the table's contents. Contrary to how these two teams would usually act towards each other, the conversations they had were much more kind-hearted and drama-free.
Little Mac was considered an oddball by the rest; the boxer had lost the challenge and would have supposedly been exiled if it weren't for the kind twist that he was given the fortune of experiencing. As a result, this opportunity allowed for him to catch up with Jotaro, Luigi, and Phoenix: survivors that used to be his teammates.
"...And not only was she able to bring a whip to court, but she was also allowed to whip me, the judge, and any witnesses that entered the stand!" Phoenix explained. "No wonder people who commonly work in the court are given such a bad name when prosecutors can whip the court's judge into fear!"
"What an amateur justice system! If I ever wind up in your courtroom as a jury member, then don't be surprised if I treat it like a circus show!" Spy cackled.
Peach folded her arms. "I would never allow any court in my kingdom to have such abusive behavior not be punished!"
"AGREED!" Nodded Papyrus. "AT LEAST IT SOUNDS LIKE THAT'S THE ONLY OCCURRENCE OF ABUSE YOU HAD TO DEAL WITH, MR. WRIGHT!"
Phoenix scratched the back of his neck and nervously grinned, not bothering to ramble further about the coffee doused over his head, the fake hair thrown his way, and the terrible tasers he experienced in the past. "Yeah, outside of that, things weren't too bad!" He lied.
"I feel like I'll be put on a watchlist if I continue to complain about my city's justice system on live-television, so I think I'll just cut it short." - Phoenix Wright.
Meta Knight stared at the lawyer. "I envy conflict as mundane and harmless as yours, but what I went through made me into the warrior I am today."
"Hmmph, not much of a warrior if you can get bested by a small fox," Spy sniggered.
"Hey, watch it!" Little Mac warned. "That fox just so happens to be capable of carrying a guy like me through the air! And wait for just a second, didn't Tails take you out in the same challenge-"
"ANYWAY!" He interrupted, clearing his throat violently. "It's getting rather late, I reckon Tribal Council might be on as we speak. Who do you think is getting the boot?"
Jotaro closed one eye and looked over in the direction of the Koopa Sphinx. "The chances of it not being Waluigi are next to zero. After what he did to the cake alongside Little Mac, his team is not going to shrug that off."
Offended over the marine biologist's underhanded accusation, Little Mac pointed to him. "Now you listen here! He tried to take it off me for no reason, and I stood my ground and didn't let him. None of it was my fault in the slightest, and even if I wasn't exiled, he still would have been eliminated! Not everyone has a ghost buddy they can use to punch people away from you or whatever you have."
"A stand?" He questioned. "I wasn't attempting to blame you, but your team was definitely angry at you as well."
"W-well they shouldn't be," Mac moaned. "Here's hoping that Waluigi doesn't have an idol or something."
Phoenix shook his head. "No, it can't be. There's only one idol left."
"Huh? All I know of is that K Rool got eliminated with an idol on him. I'm sure we were told that by Alexa." He then placed his hands by his sides and leaned forward, glaring at Phoenix. "Is there something you're not telling us?"
"Woah, I'm not trying to hide anything! If you want to know then I'll tell you," Phoenix assured. "Okay, so let me start from the beginning. When Spy purposefully lost us the challe-"
Spy cut him off immediately. "I used an idol to make everyone barring ROB and Jotaro immune. Then he used his own idol to make himself immune, causing ROB to be eliminated. You see, lawyer? You don't have to lay it out to everyone like they're toddlers; this isn't the courtroom."
"Not everything I do relates to me being a lawyer!" He thought, aggravated.
Little Mac nodded. "Ooooh! So that means it's just Samus who has one, right?"
Just like that, the table heard crickets. Spy, Peach, Papyrus, and even Samus herself, were all left in astonishment as Little Mac was left confused for the first moment or two. "What's with the looks? I don't... oh! I mean err-"
"I think it's-a too late to take that back," remarked Luigi.
"Way to kill the mood..." Phoenix thought, looking at Samus in particular. "She does not look happy, and for good reason. Now her whole team is aware of her advantage, if not everyone left in this competition!"
Papyrus turned to Samus. "YOU HAVE AN IDOL?!"
Instead of continuing to remain silent, she decided to face the accusations. "I do have the final idol, as a matter of fact."
"Aha! This little tidbit of information is just what I need to get my well-deserved revenge on Samus Aran. Now that I know she has an idol, I can play more passively and less aggressive towards her, as my efforts will likely be diminished by her idol if I decide to tackle her head-on. I'll have to play clever, and perhaps stay under the radar until people remember just how big of a threat I really am! Fool-proof..." - Spy.
"WHAAAAA?!" The skeleton jumped backward. "WHO ARE YOU PLANNING TO ELIMINATE WITH IT?!"
She shook her head, attempting to extinguish the panicky monster. "Nobody, at the moment. I'll only use it on someone if it's to save myself, as most people would do with an idol."
"This isn't a big of a deal as you people are making it out to be," defended Meta Knight. "She has an idol, so it's established that eliminating her will be a much harder task. Therefore, the only people who should be surprised over her advantage are likely those who are planning to eliminate her in the first place. Though, since it came out of the blue, it makes sense that some people would be a little taken back by it."
"W-WAIT, I WOULD NEVER PLAN TO ELIMINATE ANYONE FROM MY TEAM!" Said Papyrus. "I'M MORE OF A "GO-WITH-THE-FLOW" SKELETON; I DO NOT HAVE TARGETS OFTEN, AND IF I DO, IT'S WELL-ESTABLISHED!"
Samus sighed. "It looks like Engineer really did live up to his word, huh?"
"Wait, how did you-a know that Engineer was the one to-a tell us?" Luigi interrogated.
"He outright told me," she claimed. "He caught me finding the idol at the Koopa Sphinx, so I guess he didn't beat around the bush with blackmail and just decided to tell the rest of Super Shrooms."
Jotaro nodded. "The way he told us made it seem like he was switching roles in that scenario, and even after everyone seemed convinced that it was you who had the final idol, I still had a suspicion that it might have been Engineer who did."
"What did we learn from this?" Spy rhetorically asked before continuing. "It's that I'm not the only backstabbing mercenary in this game!"
"It seems like Spy is playing along with the notion that everyone doesn't trust him, making quips and remarks about it every once in a while. I remember him saying something about how he's not in here to win, but I'm not sure what his true motive is... is it to eliminate me? Or Jotaro? Or maybe even Engineer. I don't think I'll ever know unless he says it himself." - Samus Aran.
Peach looked around the table and fastened her gloves, looking glum. "There goes the chances of a drama-free celebratory feast..."
"Indeed," the Frenchman smirked before standing up. "Now. I'm full and energized for the next challenge, and, to add onto that, it's getting quite dark now. I'll be heading back."
"I shall too," Meta Knight nodded.
The two of them stood up in sync as Peach and Papyrus followed. "THERE'S NOTHING MORE CRUCIAL THAN REST! I AM GOING TO TAKE MY LEAVE. GOODBYE!" He waved, marching off with Peach trailing behind.
More people began standing up: Jotaro, Phoenix, and Luigi made their way back to their respective warp pipes quietly as Little Mac and Samus were the last ones to leave the table.
Before they split off into separate paths, Little Mac gathered Samus's attention. "Hey, Samus, before you go..."
She turned around. "What is it?"
"I'm sorry for slipping up," he apologized. "I feel pretty bad about it, but at least you don't seem to be in too much trouble over it, right?"
"You could say that," Samus looked at her team as they climbed into the green warp pipe. "It's sometimes quite easy to see if people are hiding something from me, especially with people like Papyrus, so I don't have to worry about being blindsided. My biggest threat is Spy, and he's going to be one of the first people eliminated at the merge, that is... if he makes it there."
Little Mac chuckled. "You think he'll make it to the merge? His team struggled last time! Jotaro or not, that team is gonna get last place eventually, and that's when he'll be eliminated."
She folded her arms and leaned to the side slightly. "Let's hope."
They then parted ways, both seemingly optimistic about the future...
Super Shrooms: Day 17
Survivors: Little Mac - Tails - Kirby - Engineer.
Tails yawned as he rubbed his eyes with his thick white gloves, beginning a fresh new day, albeit with one man down from his tribe. With no time to lose, he dashed out of his tent to meet up with the other survivors. Though instead, it appeared that he woke up surprisingly early, as only Little Mac was present outside. He was alternating between pushups and situps under the shelter, using all of the energy he gained from yesterday as an opportunity to build any lost strength back up.
"Heya Tails!" He waved in between push-ups. "Sheesh, you sure woke up early. It's seven in the morning, judging by the sun!"
"Well, I'm just not tired," the fox gazed at him. "But what about you? You're not only up, but you're exercising!"
Little Mac rolled his eyes. "Pssh, yeah, all of that food sorta knocked me out early. I was sleeping like a baby in the tent when you guys supposedly arrived, right?"
"Yeah... you were," Tails remembered. "So, what was the feast lik-"
"AWESOME!" He interrupted. "There was so much food. Different meats and vegetables, oh, and weird things I haven't tried before! I also bonded a little bit with Laudable Leaves, since they're mostly made up of people who used to be on our team. Oh, and I kind of... nevermind."
The fact that Little Mac decided to stop himself half-way through the sentence intrigued Tails. "What happened?"
"Eh, it doesn't matter!" He insisted.
"Oh, okay then," he accepted.
Silence...
"...I kind of told everyone that Samus had the idol by accident," Little Mac revealed.
"You what?!" Tails covered his mouth. "You might have just put yourself on her radar, for all we know!"
"I don't know a LOT about Samus, but she was quite ruthless in the first season, from what I heard. Constantly making factions, lying to manipulate others onto her side, and she always had a Plan B that she could go to. I was surprised she didn't win, but it's not like people were going to vote for a lying tyrant, nor will they this time, but maybe she's mellowed out since then." - Tails.
He shrugged. "I don't think so. I apologized to her and everything. Plus, after everyone found out, it didn't really look like that she herself was a target either. Everything just worked out!"
"Maybe it's believable that she would not mind what you did, but there's bound to be someone here that wants to blindside her now that they're aware of that fact," he explained. "Maybe it worked out in the short-term, but certainly not in the long-term."
"You're right... I already know Spy wouldn't hesitate to be one of those people." Little Mac rubbed his chin using his bulky green boxing gloves. "Eh, not that it matters, right? She's not on our tribe, and she was quite the threat back in the first season!"
"I guess..." Tails softly agreed. "But, even if things didn't go bad for you, it was still a dumb thing to d-"
"RISE AND SHINE!" Yelled Alexa, blowing hard on his whistle, causing an ear-shattering high-pitched noise to jolt everyone's attention. "RISE AND SHIIIINE!" He repeated obnoxiously.
Engineer stumbled from his tent, rubbing his eyes. "What in the Hell do you think you're doin'?! Isn't there a more sensible way to wake people up?"
"Poyo..." Agreed Kirby, covering both sides of his head.
The host placed his hands on his hips. "Hey, you want me to crawl in there and whisper what I gotta say into your ear or something?"
Little Mac angrily shook his head. "You don't have to do that, and you don't have to deafen me either!"
"Well let's just let bygones be bygones, eh?" He suggested. "Not that you have a choice. Now! I am proposing to you four: a 7AM Tribal Council!"
"W-W-W-WHAAAAAA?!" The boxer cried. "N-NOW?!"
His face was serious, this was no joke... until his facial expression shifted into a cheeky and playful one. "Pffft, the looks on your faces! Not that I can blame you or anything."
"POYO! Poyo poyo, poyo poyo poyo!" - Kirby.
"Very funny, Alexa." Tails slowly clapped. "So why are you here then?"
"For a Tribal Council," he insisted. "But, this one won't result in a burnt portrait or anyone going home. This one has... mysterious purposes, so it'll be quite interesting to see who gets nominated to go out of you four! Could it be good, or could it be terrible? Only the person who goes will be able to find out..."
They were taken back, first thing in the morning and Alexa was making them vote for a specific individual to go with Alexa to an unknown location for an especially unknown purpose, though before they could process, they had voting slips handed out to them, alongside a pen, which contrasted the usual ink-dipped quill used for genuine votes.
"Survivors, cast your votes!" He commanded. "Oh, and I almost forgot to mention: you cannot vote for yourself."
No other options were available; their only choice was to go along with it.
Usually, the voting goes one by one, but as everyone had clear access to voting, it was done around the same time, with only a few seconds to think.
Once they were handed back to Alexa, he looked to each survivor and winked. "It's voting time!"
*VOTING TIME*
First vote goes to Kirby. One vote Kirby.
Second vote goes to Tails. One vote Tails and Kirby.
Third vote goes to Engineer. One vote Tails, Engineer, and Kirby.
"And the one who gets the luxury of checking out this mystery is..." Alexa plucked the final slip from his pocket. "Engineer!"
The Texan nodded. "Me? Well, I was hopin' I could have caught more shuteye considering I'm still drowsy, but if ya say so."
"Before he goes, I'll reveal who voted for who!" He announced. "Tails was voted for by Engineer, Kirby was voted for by Little Mac, and Engineer was voted for by Kirby and Tails."
Little Mac pouted. "No votes for me?"
"For all you know, you could have dodged a bullet," Alexa assured. "So don't feel too bad."
Engineer stood up and dusted sand and dust from his overalls. He did his morning stretch, cracked his knuckles, then followed Alexa into the unknown location.
"That's weird... they aren't heading towards the Koopa Sphinx," analyzed Tails.
"Eh, I bet it'll be in the Challenge Dunes," guessed Little Mac. "What do you think, Kirby?"
He simply smiled. "Poyo!"
"Oh, right... I don't speak Kirbuguese," he reminded himself.
Laudable Leaves: Day 17
Survivors: Phoenix Wright - Spy - Luigi - Jotaro Kujo.
"Morning, Luigi!" Greeted Phoenix as the plumber slipped out of the tent. "Early like the rest of us, I see?"
"Really, how early is it?" He happily asked.
Jotaro gazed into the sky. "Judging by the position of the sun, I'd say between seven and seven-thirty in the morning."
"Mama mia, that-a really is early," the plumber gulped. "A little odd considering I'm-a not-a very tired at all!"
Spy huffed. "Isn't it obvious? We had a lot to eat last night, so we have more energy to run and burn off."
"Is that actually how it-a works?" Phoenix quizzed.
"Lord if I know," the Frenchie retreated. "Maybe the constant fluctuations in diet and sleep times are messing with our brain, maybe I wasn't speaking a load of fairy tales."
Out of nowhere, Luigi quickly realized that Spy hadn't run off as he did last time, which perked his interest. "Oh, Spy, you're-a here! I just-a noticed."
"You expect me to starve myself?" He rhetorically questioned. "Samus Aran came up to me whilst I was in hiding and gave me a bowl of rice that was at least fifty-percent salt. Though the joke's on her... that's a massive waste of rations!"
"How did she find you?" Asked Jotaro.
"The girl's sharper than you think, though I will best her eventually," he grinned, full of cheeky optimism.
The scientist leaned back against the shelter poles. "That is if we don't lose. Losing is definitely going to result in your elimination."
"Oh, of course!" Spy exclaimed. "I've come to terms with my impending doom, but I won't let that happen! Not until my goal has been accomplished, that is."
"The so-called goal... I just remembered! He had five of those locks show up when I asked him about it. I don't know what evidence I'll need to gather in order to shatter it, but it'll probably be more logical guesses than evidence... a mixup from the usual justice stuff I do." - Phoenix Wright.
"Are we-a going to-a get a hint of-a what that could be?" Examined Luigi.
He shook his head. "Of course not! Can't have you compromising my sabotage out of spite for what I did."
"Even if you deserve it?" Jotaro leaned his head forward, looking him with a deadset glare of anger.
"I did what I could to make things easier for myself." Spy, contrasting Jotaro, leaned backward, folding his arms. "You'd understand if you weren't the most powerful enemy here! You and your "Star Platinum" have dominated the show from the second you set foot here, you and your... Spiritual Secretary! If you think I have no chances of winning, then take a good look at yourself, Mr. Kujo..."
Luigi, even if he was clearly biased against Spy, attempted to remain neutral on the heated event. "H-hey, let's-a not have arguing."
Phoenix supported him. "Yeah! We can't have this team fall apart even further, right?"
Despite the efforts made, not a scrap of what they were saying envoked anything hopeful from Spy or Jotaro, causing them to relax and watch the argument ensue.
"By making things easier, you mean completely sabotaging our team, and as a result, yourself?" His glare was now piercing as he dodged all information he heard relating to his chances on the show.
The mercenary stood up. "Making myself the biggest target on the show for the sake of eliminating you still makes me less of a threat than you! Quit dodging the questions and face it: all of your efforts will be for nothing, because you didn't bother hiding your powers, just like how I didn't bother hiding just how untrustworthy I am. Perhaps we're one of the same, except I came on here for another purpose, whilst you'll be disappointingly strolling out of here with no money in your ragged coat within the next week, you foolish scoundrel!"
"If Jotaro had any more composure, I think Spy would be going home out of injury-related issues," Phoenix whispered to Luigi.
"Mama mia..." Replied the plumber.
As for the stand-user himself, he finally decided to tackle the arguments fully relating to him that Spy was making: "My strategy and plan for getting to the end and winning is something you don't need to know. You may accomplish your petty "true goal", and I may lose for the reasons you listed, but I'm going to try my best to get a bigger reward than your hollow satisfaction."
Jotaro pulled his hat under his eyes and went back to relaxing against the pole, fully ending the argument there and silencing the exasperated Spy.
"Dang, I came here at a bad time!" Alexa bit his lip. "Well, no matter, hello survivors!"
"Waaaah! Where did-a you come from?" Asked Luigi.
He placed his hands in his pockets and trailed his eyes off. "Well, I guess I'm just a natural-born master of stealth!"
"Oh please..." Spy scoffed.
"I have to assassinate the loudest of crybabies with nothing more than a revolver and knife, and then I have to get away without being burnt to a crisp by their explosives or pesky flamethrowers. All he did was jumpscare that coward in green and he thinks he's suddenly a "master of stealth"? Preposterous!" - Spy.
Alexa continued. "Survivors! I've already approached Super Shrooms over this matter, and soon I'll be wandering over to Power Flowers over the same matter!"
"What is the matter, then?" Pressed Phoenix.
"This matter matters a lot, as a matter of fact!" He said cheekily. "We're having a Tribal Council!"
Luigi's jaw dropped. "WWHAAAAAAAAA?! NOW?!"
"Lies!" Denied Spy. "There's no way we're voting somebody off."
"Oh really, prove it!" He challenged.
*TAKE THAT!*
Phoenix brushed his suit clean before placing his hands on his hips. "Well, we know that you've approached Super Shrooms over this and that you're going to approach Power Flowers after, right? That means you're going to have three people voted off in one episode, adding on the other one who will be voted off at Tribal Council tonight! Even a five-year-old would know that four eliminations in one episode would not only shorten it to a poor degree, but it would cause a lot of controversy among your viewer base."
"You know your stuff." Alexa gave up. "Right-O, you're correct! No elimination is going to take place, you guys had a much more logical reaction than those on Super Shrooms. However, a Tribal Council IS going to take place. This council, however, is about sending someone off to a mysterious area, and you guys will get to elect someone here to do so via voting! And, for the record, voting yourself ain't allowed."
"I assume it's with two other contestants. One from each team," analyzed Spy. "Which means it can't be an outright terrible mystery, right?"
He winked. "Who knows? Maybe it's perma-double-votes, or maybe it's perma-half-votes! The only way you can find out is by going there yourself."
Alexa handed each of them a voting slip alongside a pen, similar to the last tribe.
"Survivors... let's not beat around the bush; please cast your votes!" He commanded.
As the survivors wrote down a name on their slip, Alexa reapproached them to collect the said slips, and he analyzed them. "Alright, voting time!"
*VOTING TIME*
First vote goes to Jotaro. One vote Jotaro.
Second vote goes to Jotaro. Two votes Jotaro.
Third vote goes to Luigi. One vote Luigi, two votes Jotaro.
"And the elected member to head off to the mystery location will be... nobody!" Alexa proclaimed. "It's a tie-breaker. Don't worry, rocks won't be drawn, and a second vote will not happen, at least not with only four people here. However, before I get down to this tie-breaker, I will reveal that Spy and Jotaro voted for Luigi, as Luigi and Phoenix voted for Jotaro."
After the confession, he takes a coin out of his pocket. On one side, there was a mushroom, and on the other side, there was a flower.
"Mushrooms or flowers?" He asked Luigi.
"Err, flowers?" The plumber guessed.
Meanwhile, Jotaro nodded. "So that means I'm mushrooms? This is a coinflip, isn't it?"
"It sure is, Kujo!" Alexa smirked. "Yeah yeah, you expected some sort of grand, big-budget tiebreaker challenge with a massive obstacle course and a massive orchestra in the background, but I ain't made of money!"
He flipped the coin high into the air, catching it and slamming it against his palm before revealing the side facing up.
The side had the mushroom emblem on it.
"Looks like Jotaro is going!" Alexa wrung his hands with excitement. "Well, Jotaro? It's time for you to venture into the unknown!"
He quit leaning from the pole and began walking off with Alexa, right into the Dry Dry Desert's dusty horizon...
Power Flowers: Day 17
Survivors: Papyrus - Meta Knight - Princess Peach - Samus Aran.
"GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE!" Waved Papyrus, stepping out of his tent. "HOW ARE YO-WAAAAAAH?!"
The skeleton had lost faith in humanity in the blink of an eye. There he stood, gazing at his so-called "companions" as they were helping themselves to their morning meal, not bothering to invite him to join the supposedly mundane occasion.
"Hmm?" Samus raised an eyebrow. "Something seems to be bothering you..."
"AND IT'S IN THE FORM OF WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW!" He pointed with offense, folding his arms. "I AM UTTERLY BETRAYED!"
"I thought you were fine with someone else cooking the meals?" Reminded Peach. "You haven't forgotten, right?"
Papyrus gave a cocky toothy grin. "OF COURSE, THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS INCAPABLE OF KNOWING HIS ORDERS!" His grin then mutated into am furious frown. "BUT WHAT HE WASN'T AWARE OF WAS THE FACT THAT YOU PESKY TRIBE MATES WOULD BE DITCHING MY COMPANY FOR YOUR OWN MEALS! I AM APPALLED..."
"No no no! It's not like that!" Peach rapidly swayed her head from left to right, placing her hand on the skeleton's shoulder. "We didn't want to wake you up, and you don't eat the meal anyway! None of us thought you would mind."
"HMMPH, EXCUSES!" He retaliated. "...SOMEWHAT EXCUSABLE EXCUSES... FINE, I FORGIVE YOU FOR THE BLUNDER!"
"After enough watching, I think that Papyrus can't be described better than a loose cannon. He's very unpredictable, can change emotions in seconds, and can cause a lot of hardship for our team, like with the rice. He means well, I know that, but I'm not trusting him with filling out the role of teamwork as well as others, and that's why he's going to get my vote if we lose again." - Meta Knight.
Samus placed her empty bowl down and sighed. "Well, that's all the energy we're going to be having until the next ration, right?"
"I'm afraid so." Peach gave a reassuring smirk. "Can you still not get over the portion sizes? Neither can I..."
She shot the princess a friendly smile in response. "It's just harder to accept now that it's cooked well, not to mention the spices add a lot to it."
"An unpopular opinion, I bet, but I think that the spices disadvantage us a small bit. The rice tastes good now, and it goes from slop that you need to eat to survive, to something you want more of, which only concentrates your feeling of hunger. Hopefully that'll go away, but so far it's shown no signs of getting any better." - Samus Aran.
"Try and take your minds off of things, then!" She recommended. "Go for a walk and clear your head."
"...Maybe I will," she nodded sluggishly as she abruptly rose to her feet. "Thanks for the advice."
And, right after she took a step forward...
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Alexa demanded, making Papyrus jump out of his armor with terror.
Samus turned around like a criminal who had been caught red-handed by the military and faced Alexa. "What is it?"
"Before you get walking, we have a Tribal Council!" He announced, snickering under his breath.
Papyrus felt his jaw drop. "WWWHAAAAAAA?! NOW?!"
"That's the third time I've heard that reaction, and yeah, I'm not kidding!" He cracked his knuckles intimidatingly. "It's time for you guys to vote someone off to leave this tribe!"
"No way is that true," Meta Knight rejected, closing one eye. "Unless you're using wordplay to avoid explicitly mentioning that someone here is going to be eliminated."
"A-am... am I really that predictable?" Alexa sighed. "Yeah, err, you're right! Tribal Council is happening, but no elimination will actually happen. The person who gets the most votes will be coming with me to a mysterious location for a mysterious purpose! It could be good, OR bad. Two other tribes have already done this, so you guys are the last one to do so!"
With haste, he handed out the voting slips, a pen, and a disclaimer. "Voting for yourself isn't allowed, so make sure it's for someone other than you!"
"Do we not get any time to think about this?" Questioned Peach.
"Of course not! This isn't a proper council, after all," Alexa shrugged, tapping his watch. "So vote quickly!"
After the quick vote, he received the slips and began reading out the results:
*VOTING TIME*
First vote goes to Princess Peach. One vote Peach.
Second vote goes to Princess Peach. That's two votes Peach.
Third vote goes to Samus Aran. One vote Samus, two votes Peach.
"And the one with the most votes is... Princess Peach!" He announced. "I think it's pretty easy to figure out who voted for who there, considering how easy of a decision this seemed. Now, Peach, come with me!"
She obeyed, standing up and gently walking with him into the horizon. What she was in for was something her, Jotaro, and Engineer were not prepared for...
Cacti Paradise: Day 17
Survivors: Princess Peach - Engineer - Jotaro Kujo.
As Peach entered the spiny location, she gazed at the beautiful surroundings. "Wow... it really is beautiful here. All of these cacti are different shapes and sizes..."
"Glad you share my love for 'em! Their greatness is the only reason why we're here and now in the same-old Koopa Sphinx!" Alexa confessed. "But that isn't important. Peach, say hello to Jotaro and Engineer!"
"Oh!" She began waving. "Hello!"
"Hey," said Jotaro.
"Howdy," the Texan greeted, fixing his helmet. "Boy is it hot out here. Can we get some sort of answer now, Alexa? Or do you need to wrangle someone else?"
He chuckled. "No way! I'm tired of all of this walking. In fact, I probably should have brought my jeep. Anyhow, you three are here because your teams elected you to come here, and the cool thing about coming here is that you three are going to be a big part of the next twist... I coin it as the "Bob-Omb Twist"! Cool name, huh?"
"What, like those weird explodin' things we had to deal with a few eons ago?" Queried the mercenary.
Alexa pointed to him and winked. "Bingo! In this twist, all three of you will carry a special perk that activates as soon as one of you gets eliminated. This perk allows you to cast a second vote between two people of your liking, though these people have to have voted you to be selectable! As well as that, keep in mind that, after you do this, you're still eliminated, and the other two of you will lose this perk."
"That sounds dangerous," remarked Peach.
"Sure is!" He said. "Nothing beats spicing up the game with a good ol' twist or two! You may all return to your tribes now. However, be aware of this one simple fact."
Before they could prod at him for the question, Alexa slung a bulky wooden statue at Peach, catching her by surprise.
"Take that idol and tell your team that you won that fake idol I just gave you from a special challenge you participated in," he said. "As for you two, you can tell your tribe that you lost if they ever get curious. Why am I making you go through this hassle, you may be aching to ask? Well, it's because that you guys aren't allowed to tell anyone about this little secret, otherwise, you'll lose the perk and will receive double the votes as usual at Tribal Council until the perk is over! Trust me, you can't get away with telling anyone... I'm always watching..."
A malicious smile was sent their way before he immediately returned to his happy-go-lucky former self. "That's all, enjoy!"
They made their way back to the tribe. It felt uncanny for Alexa to drag them all the way to this specific location just for a short twist reveal, but they were more focused on this new "advantage" they were given. Would they use it wisely if they were to be cornered into inevitable elimination, or will they have to randomly pick two people upon being potentially blindsided...?
*TO BE CONTINUED*