*Last time on Survivor Crossover: Dry Dry Desert...*
After a clumsily slow build-up, Phoenix and the rest of the Super Star tribe are greeted by the returning ROB, who swiftly revealed that he would be returning to the show, increasing the cast from ten back to eleven. After further questioning, they learn that Squidward Tentacles and Waluigi, both old contestants who were eliminated earlier this season, won the honor of joining Tails in the Jury Tribe.
With the reunion out of the way, the survivors moved on and were encouraged to play Truth or Dare by Little Mac. After accepting the request, they learned lots of interesting information from each other, from the embarrassing things Phoenix had to do in his career to the tragic backstory of ROB and his creation as a robot. Additionally, they all came to the conclusion of independently seasoning their portions, as some survivors found the better-tasting food to be worsening their feelings of hunger throughout the day.
The next day, the survivors entered a repurposed Super Shrooms pipe to participate in that day's challenge. Said challenge involved them traversing through a massive cave with several spiraling pathways and long corridors, and the first five survivors who made it to the surface would be crowned with an immunity award for that night's Tribal Council.
Towards the start of the challenge, Samus found the only cryptic note that was located in the challenge. However, thanks to her sharp interpretation skills, she was able to decipher the seemingly useless note into a useful hint that revealed the three caves that would apparently lead her to a dead-end. Despite this advantage, Engineer's eavesdropping allowed him to catch wind of the useful hint for himself.
As ROB and Jotaro subconsciously paired up as they went down the same cave together, Little Mac had a rough time convincing Meta Knight to team up with him throughout the challenge, to which the warrior eventually ended up agreeing to. The duo traveled down the same cave Engineer had entered whilst Jotaro and ROB entered perhaps the most maze-like cave of the entire challenge.
Meanwhile, Samus encountered Phoenix, who unintentionally helped her pick the right path in a fork-road thanks to his aloud thinking. As they drew closer to the end, they met up with Luigi and discovered that someone had taken a special elevator shortcut that leads the first person to enter it to the end of the challenge. Shortly after the discovery, Samus manages to convince Luigi and Phoenix that Caves A and C aren't the only caves that lead to the surface, most of her evidence coming from the aforementioned hint she had solved. Then, the three discovered that the final trek to the surface would require them to travel up a massive series of steps that would lead all the way to the surface.
Similar to the series of steps, Little Mac, Meta Knight, and Engineer discover that the exit to the surface from Cave E would require a very long climb up a sturdy ladder. Though Meta Knight immediately soared up and past the ladder in a matter of seconds, Little Mac and Engineer were left to quickly make their way up the ladder, Engineer suffering from the friction-burn that brought his hand to agony.
Once Jotaro, ROB and Peach made it to the staircase that Luigi, Samus and Phoenix had been climbing, Jotaro began using the power of Star Platinum to make his climb up the stairs much quicker and easier, which caused him to eventually catch up to and surpass Phoenix at the last second. Although he couldn't pass Luigi or Samus in time, and by a long shot, he had confidence that he was one of the first five to make it out of the cave.
Unfortunately, the challenge's results revealed otherwise: Kirby, Meta Knight, Luigi, Samus, and at the last second, Little Mac, were the first five to escape the cave, leaving the other six to be up for elimination.
Back at Super Stars, it was clear that Jotaro would be the one eliminated at Tribal Council. Despite Little Mac's attempts to make amends out of the guilt of screwing him out of the much-needed immunity, it appeared that Jotaro seemed more than content with what would happen that night. Towards the end of their time to discuss tonight's eliminee, Spy's motive had finally been revealed exclusively to Engineer: to publicly shame Engineer and his team whilst boosting the reputation of his own by outliving him on the show. Little did he know, however, Jotaro had been secretly listening on the monologue.
In the Koopa Sphinx, Jotaro was eliminated as predicted. Though, thanks to the Bob-Omb Twist that he had received a few episodes ago, he was able to cast a second vote between Engineer and Spy to both "settle" which of the two teams was superior, and also to give Spy payback. In the end, the second result ended in Spy joining Jotaro in the Jury Tribe, and both were permanently eliminated from the season...
This is it! The Finale draws closer and closer with each episode. Who will be eliminated next? What crazy challenge is in store for the Super Stars tribe? All and more will be answered in this episode of Survivor Crossover: Dry Dry Desert
Super Stars: Day 23
Survivors: Phoenix Wright - Luigi - Meta Knight - Little Mac - Princess Peach - Kirby - Engineer - ROB - Samus Aran.
Last night, the Super Stars tribe lost not only Jotaro, but Spy, both of which sent to the mysterious Jury Tribe as the total cast size decreased from eleven and down to only nine. The only other time Survivor Crossover experienced a double elimination was early on in the first season, but never before had it been triggered via idol.
The survivors began to wake up relatively early on in the day, though it took until the afternoon for all of them to be fully awake and around the tribe, doing their usual routine. Throughout the day, the survivors formed small groups and mainly talked about what had happened last night. And, it was then that they realized just how little of an idea they had for their next elimination candidate. Sure, it wouldn't become a consensus like it was with Jotaro and Spy, but none of them had any idea on who to vote for.
No discussion on anything relating to the present or future of the game was generally discussed for a good while, and the first conversation about it occurred in a conversation between Engineer, Samus, and Meta Knight.
"...Alexa's gotta be some sort of magic man if he managed to plug up that cave without any of us hearin', but enough about that darn challenge," said Engineer, changing the subject and lowering his voice down to a whisper. "You two are pretty sharp, and I was wonderin' if you had any ideas on who to vote."
Samus nodded. "Well, I owe Meta Knight for helping me out back when Spy wanted to target me, so he's not on my mind."
"Me?" He asked, giving a grin.
"You're annoying, but there are bigger fish to fry," she scoffed. "I feel like if we let Kirby slip by to the end of the show, he'll win."
Meta Knight raised an eyebrow. "You're thinking of voting Kirby, then?"
"That lil' fella?" Dell declined. "No way! That cute thing may be strong, but he ain't threatenin' my chances for sure."
"If the finale results in a vote from the Jury as it did last time, then Kirby seems like a prime target for that. I don't want him voted off yet, though," she admitted.
"Oh?" He leaned forward. "Why's that?"
Samus continued. "I think I want Little Mac out more than anyone. He's fast, strong, and social. Plus, he's pretty annoying. He's like a more tolerable version of Papyrus, but that doesn't say much."
With agreement, Meta Knight nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. Little Mac is probably the strongest here, and that kid seems easy to fool and vote off. So, he's my first guess."
"So you two are gonna take down Little Mac, is that right?" Engineer folded his arms. "I dunno about that, but I'll think about helping you two out. I'm personally not keen on that supercomputer being here, but maybe I should give him some breathing room. The bot only just got back. Now, whilst I may vote Little Mac, I can't say the darn same for Kirby-"
"Poyo!" The puffball responded, waddling over. "Poyo poyo!"
The mercenary went quiet, deciding to end the conversation then and there. "Y'know what, let's cut it short until we get there."
Kirby tugged on his overalls boisterously, hungry was written all over him. Luckily, Engineer knew exactly what he wanted.
"I guess it's my turn, eh?" He laughed and stood up. "I'll go make lunch, and I'll talk to y'all later."
As he walked off, Kirby returned back to the small group he was in, leaving Meta Knight and Samus.
"Something about Engineer feels off." Samus peered over to him. "He seems friendly, but the fact he ratted out my idol to his team, and the fact that he eavesdropped on me the challenge before makes me unable to trust him. Maybe I should go for him over Little Mac."
The warrior glanced to him, then back to Samus. "I'd keep an eye on him if I were you. But, I'm still sticking with Little Mac."
She gave a nod and stood up. "I will. I'm going to go for a walk, so if anyone asks, tell them that."
"Very well," he obliged, watching her stroll away.
Meta Knight wrapped his cape around him, closed his eyes, and sighed. "With Jotaro gone, winning is going to be all the more easier."
As the footsteps of Samus got quieter and quieter, another series of footsteps got louder and louder.
He opened his right eye to see none other than his target, Little Mac.
"Hey, Meta Knight!" He greeted, waving and sitting down where Samus was. "We did well last challenge, huh?"
"Oh great, he's going to ask me to join an alliance with him. That tone says it all," Meta Knight thought to himself.
He decided to play along instead of instantly shutting him down. "Well, that's mainly down to our speed."
"Yeah! You know, considering we teamed up and both won immunity, we should do that more often. Maybe we could form an alliance-"
"No."
"Huh?"
"I'm not forming an alliance with you, Mac."
"Why not?!" He bellowed frustratedly. "There's nothing for you to lose!"
Meta Knight shook his head and unwrapped his cape from around his body. "I'm not the type of person to form tight bonds with people willy-nilly as you're trying to do. Besides, going through all of the effort to keep it a secret, with you no less, sounds like a nightmare that'll do more harm than good."
"You're assuming I'm incompetent?!" He queried, offended and angry. "Not only am I just as quick as you are, but I'm stronger! Not teaming up with me would be a mistake. Not to mention I'm a Boxing World Champion."
He continued to look disinterested in the offer. "Your ability to punch anything that twitches does not mean I trust you in being in an alliance with me."
"H-hey, that's not what boxing is..." Little Mac then regained his focus on the main topic. "If you don't trust me to team up with you, then fine! But I'll show you that I'm capable of winning this competition, even if it means voting you off if I have to."
A deep sigh came from the warrior as the boxer stomped off.
On his way back to the group he had previously slipped away from, Little Mac passed Engineer, who quickly noticed his upset appearance.
"Hey there Mac," he said, making eye-contact whilst concurrently stirring the pot. "What's with the face?"
"Meta Knight's full of himself! I suggested I should team up with him, and then he said that he doesn't trust me and that I'm incapable of keeping it a secret," replied Little Mac. "He thinks he's hot stuff because he's apparently good with a sword and can fly, but if he keeps that attitude up, he'll be eliminated!"
Engineer removed his helmet and scratched his balding head. "He's never been an easy fella, it seems. Heck, why not let you in on a secret?"
He tilted his head. "Secret?"
Like an owl, he twisted his head and locked his eyes onto Meta Knight. Thankfully, he looked to be resting with his eyes closed, which gave him a perfect opportunity to let him in on the gossip.
"Aight, I'll tell you here and now: Meta Knight and Samus are out to get ya," the Texan confessed. "I was there and I asked them who was on their mind. Samus said Kirby and especially you were targets, and Meta Knight seemed to completely agree."
Little Mac gulped. "W-what?!"
"Two of the strongest people in this tribe are out for my blood? No wonder Meta Knight instantly shut down the offer of the alliance, it's because he's already in one with Samus! I don't know what I can do, but I think a good start would be trying to get immunity on the next challenge." - Little Mac.
"I'm not messin' with ya. It's what they told me," he insisted.
"That's a lot to take in." His eyes shifted up and met with Engineer's. "But why would you tell me that? Couldn't you have just joined in with them, not that I want you to!"
The Engineer gave a face of scorn. "I'll be real with ya. The two of them claim that you're a threat, but they're just as big if not far, far bigger. I may consider ROB to be the strongest and smartest opponent here, but it's not like he's teamin' up like they are. Anyhow, you now know, so how 'bout we partner up and get them out. It'll save your skin, and I hope you'll have my back for tellin' ya."
"That kid waltzin' over with a long face just so happened to kickstart my goal, which is gettin' rid of them two trouble-causers. I swear, they're teamin' up, and they definitely aren't making it discreet by any means." - Engineer.
"Don't worry, I have your back as long as you have mine," Little Mac grinned, pointing to his chest.
He reached out to shake his hand, and he gladly accepted.
"You gotta quit wearin' those bright boxin' gloves everywhere; it's like shaking hands with a damn giant," he joked.
"Let's hope this alliance goes somewhere, because the alliance I had with Tails lasted a while, but I might as well have had no alliance with him, since the kid was eliminated as soon as the Merge started! Mac'll be different, but the kid's a lot more hot-headed and clumsy than that gifted fox, that's for sure." - Engineer.
Meanwhile, the rest of the tribe were grouped together under the shelter, still in amazement over what had happened last night.
"Spy got humiliated pretty bad," Phoenix opined. "Oh, and who knew that his motivation all along was to embarrass Engineer and his team on live television! I definitely couldn't have predicted that."
"Before Spy left, I did scan his and Engineer's clothing. Apparently, Engineer's team/company, known as RED, has a color scheme that is primarily red. As for Spy, his team/company, known as BLU, has a color scheme that is, you guessed it, BLU," ROB explained. "I can't tell whether the color scheme was brought in to match the company's name or the opposite, but that's irrelevant."
The lawyer looked at him with confusion. "Couldn't you have scanned them sooner?"
"Well, he had spent a lot of the show eliminated, in his defense," justified Peach.
"That and I didn't see much need to scan their attires until the reason for their feud became public," he added.
"Good thing I got a new suit recently. My old ones are all stained." Phoenix shuddered from the bad memories. "Dark coffee doesn't wash off so easy..."
Luigi had been silently and politely watching the conversation go by, but that bizarre comment made him inadvertently steer the conversation away from the long-lasting feud between Engineer and Spy's companies. "Why would-a you have coffee all over your suit?"
"I've had someone pelt coffee at me a fair number of times," said Phoenix. "I guess I've had awful luck with prosecutors when fighting in court."
"Oh my," Peach covered her mouth with her hands. "Don't tell me the one with the whip also had a knack for hurling coffee at you..."
"Hey, if all of the bad experiences I had in court were bundled up into one prosecutor instead of being from almost every single one I've been put up against, then I'd be a much happier person when discussing my career," Phoenix thought to himself. He then shook his head and spoke aloud to Peach. "No, that was a different one."
The plumber nodded, pitying him. "Oh, that sounds pretty bad. I've-a been through lava, water, and anything you can think of! But I feel like coffee would harm my clothes more than any of-a that," he joked, following it with a light chuckle.
Phoenix, Peach and Kirby laughed in response, though Kirby actually didn't understand the joke in the slightest.
Half-way through the laughter, Phoenix's face went blank. "Wait wait wait... say that again?"
"I feel like coffee would harm-a my clothes more than any of-a that?" He repeated.
"No, the other bit before that!" He demanded.
"I've been through lava, water, and anyth-"
The lawyer quickly interrupted him with a puzzled gape. "Why do you say that as if you do it all the time?"
"Err..." Luigi chuckled again, though this one was far more nervous.
ROB listened in on his voice carefully. "It appears that Luigi does traverse through those environments often, which I gather from his tone."
Without a word, Luigi gave a slightly disgruntled look to ROB, though the robot failed to notice.
"Every time I'm kidnapped or in trouble, Luigi and his brother travel as far as they must to save me, so it's common for them to have to swim and go across volcanic terrain to save me!" Explained Peach, her non-chalant smile freaking Phoenix out.
He sighed, lowering his head and shaking it with defeat. "Man, I'm out-matched."
"Huh?" They asked.
Phoenix clarified his stress. "It feels like everyone here's been across the galaxy or at least areas that make what I've done look incredibly tame. It makes me wonder if I only got here because I'm lucky, because I feel as if that nightmare I had about me getting shamefully eliminated is days away from coming true."
The four of them felt pity. They all knew that he was the weakest link left, and although he could hold himself pretty well in more mental-focused challenges, he knew that he'd have to rely on continuing to stay under the radar of elimination to get by as opposed to winning challenges like everyone else.
"Even if I got to the end, I don't think I'd be voted to win by the Jury, so it'll all be for nothing," he added, continuing to hang his head low.
"I-a know how he feels to be the weak one. Everyone celebrates and congratulates my-a brother Mario for saving the princess or even the world! But, I'm-a usually in his-a shadow, getting not nearly as-a much recognition for the things I do too. Luckily for me, I managed to-a prove my strength to him by saving him from a haunted mansion... three separate times!" - Luigi.
"Poyo..." Kirby chimed weakly, sympathetic for his friend.
Peach wasn't a fan of the mindset, but before she could talk him out of it, someone unexpected decided to try and cheer him up.
"You got to this point because you performed well. Maybe not as well when compared to others, but well enough to make it to the Merge, which is getting decently close to the climax of the entire competition. Last challenge, you were incredibly close to keeping your lead against Jotaro and potentially escaping before Little Mac could too. You're not the strongest, but you're not useless either," promised ROB. "It's also plainly obvious logic and intelligence is your strong suit, like how it is for similarly weak members such as Engineer or the previously-eliminated Spy."
"A robot of all people trying to cheer me up? I don't know how I feel about that other than it makes the situation I'm in even sadder." - Phoenix Wright.
Phoenix turned to him, almost convinced but still not sure if he should even bother to continue fighting. "I'm not the strongest, AND I'm not the smartest either. I don't even think I'm the most social, so how am I supposed to make it?"
"Being the strongest, smartest, or even the most social can be a double-edged sword," he stated. "Once people catch on to the fact that you can dominate challenges or stay on the good side of nearly everyone remaining, then you may be a sitting duck waiting for an inevitable blindside. Take Tails for instance, who was incredibly social, smart, strong and even fast. You could argue that he was at the top for all of those, and yet he was still eliminated. You are an enemy of mine Phoenix, much like everyone else in this show, but you have a shot at winning, much like everyone else who remains."
"Yaiii!" Agreed Kirby, standing up and applauding ROB's wise words.
Luigi joined in on the clap. "He's-a right, Phoenix."
"Watching ROB talk sense into Phoenix was mesmerizing. When I first met him, I knew he'd be smart, but I didn't know he would be emotionally intelligent as well! I sometimes thought that me being best friends with him back in Power Flowers was a sign of me going crazy, but moments like this shows me that he's just as human as I am!" - Princess Peach.
"What am I thinking?!" Thought Phoenix. "I can almost see Maya screaming at me to keep going, but here I am giving up?!"
He stood up, neatly corrected his clothing, and brushed dust and sand from his body before slamming the table he was now leaning over. "You're right! Not only do I have what it takes, but I'm going to try my absolute best and win that money!" He hollered, his eyes lighting up with determination. "I won't let this desert get the best of me!"
Silence...
"Huh?" He suddenly placed his hand behind his head with abashment. "Was what I said too corny?"
Luigi shook his head. "No, it's-a just... how are we supposed to-a motivate you to try and-a win when that's the opposite of-a what we want?"
His position was then static, lacking motion as he realized how competitively he was meant to be taking this. "That's a fair point..."
Though the sweet moment had turned awkward, they quickly went back to discussing previous events of the show as well as other unimportant topics. Soon enough, Engineer finished cooking the second, tiny meal of the day for the survivors, and Samus conveniently entered the tribe right as it was dished up.
Tomorrow would house the next challenge for the survivors. They just over a week away from the finale, and all they had on their minds as they attempted to drift off to sleep at the end of the day was how immunity would bring them a guaranteed step closer to victory...
*TO BE CONTINUED!*