ROUND 2A
BATTING: Engineer.
FIELDING: Meta Knight (Pitcher) - Samus Aran (Catcher) - Kirby (First Base) - ROB (Second Base) - Engineer (Third Base) - Phoenix Wright (Left Field) - Princess Peach (Center Field) - Little Mac (Right Field).
"Looks like I'm back in the game," Dell stated, swinging the back up to his shoulder and walking over to the batting area.
As he hunched over, Meta Knight immediately threw the ball in an attempt to throw him off...
*Whack!*
The attempt was successful, as Engineer barely scraped the ball forward. In spite of the terrible hit, his enthusiasm and confidence hadn't been dented in the slightest, and he quickly moved to first base.
Samus bolted forward and scraped the ball up, immediately tossing it over Engineer's head and over to Kirby.
Though the throw was fine, Kirby failed to catch. As a result, the ball struck him on the head, causing the puffball to fall back as it rolled off.
ROB moved from his base and boosted himself towards the ball, swiping it from the ground in one clean motion before deciding to chase Engineer.
"Damn robot," he said, gritting his teeth as he passed the first base.
Engineer drew closer and closer to the second base, but by the time he was half-way, ROB had caught up, and he delivered a tap to his right shoulder.
"Just like the last round, only one point is scored to the batter! Looks like the pitchers are really proving themselves to be the killer of runs, from the looks of things," commented Alexa. "Alright, it's time for Kirby's second attempt!"
ROUND 2B
BATTING: Kirby.
FIELDING: Phoenix Wright (Pitcher) - Luigi (Catcher) - Engineer (First Base) - Meta Knight (Second Base) - Little Mac (Third Base) - Samus Aran (Left Field) - ROB (Center Field) - Princess Peach (Right Field).
With an expression of resolve on his face, Kirby grabbed the over-sized bat and went in for a second attempt. After his last attempt, he knew not to hit it out of the stadium's field, or even worse, the stadium itself.
He stood up high, wielding the bat and waiting for Phoenix to throw the ball.
"How am I supposed to angle this ball when Kirby's less than half my height! Last time I just got lucky," panicked Phoenix, eventually taking a deep breath. "It's okay... he'll just hit it out the stadium again, I don't need to worry about making sure Luigi can catch it..."
After his dilemma was over, he tossed the ball over to Kirby, his throw sub-par but good enough for Kirby to hit...
*WHACK!*
In a completely straight line, the ball darted past Phoenix, past Meta Knight, and past ROB before hitting the wall of the field. And at that moment, Kirby made a run for it.
Around five seconds later, Kirby ran over and past the first base, and made his way to the second.
Samus, ROB, and Peach honed in on the ball. During this sprint to retrieve the baseball Peach and later Samus slowed down as ROB ended up catching the ball.
After more calculations, ROB decided to do a long throw over to Little Mac, though was concerned whether he'd be able to catch it or not. Regardless, it was the fielders' best chance of stopping Kirby.
While it soared through the sky, Little Mac was more fixated on Kirby making it to the second base than the ball hurling towards him, but as it came crashing towards him, he noticed and quickly went to block his face.
*WHACK!*
Shamefully, the ball was swatted away with immense force, and Little Mac clumsily ran after it.
"Why is it always third base that messes stuff up?" Engineer pondered to himself.
Kirby passes second base, and soon after, he passes the third base. Little Mac finally has the ball back in his hands, but using the same mistake Peach made when she was in charge of third base, his throw angle was terrible, resulting in Kirby overtaking the ball itself.
Luigi ran out to grab it, though before he could even get his hands on it...
"KIRBY WINS FIVE POINTS! What a redemption!" Cheered Alexa.
ROUND 2C
BATTING: Little Mac.
FIELDING: Samus Aran (Pitcher) - Meta Knight (Catcher) - ROB (First Base) - Engineer (Second Base) - Luigi (Third Base) - Princess Peach (Left Field) - Kirby (Center Field) - Phoenix Wright (Right Field).
Mac didn't beat around the bush this time. He rushed to grab his bat and got into position, trading glares with Samus.
"You or Meta Knight won't get the chance to eliminate me if I'm immune..." He thought. He then rose his voice and pointed to her. "Bring it on!"
She nodded, throwing the ball directly after the beckon. Ironically, Little Mac didn't expect this and swung his bat.
*Whack!*
It wasn't a powerful swing, but it was too high for Samus to even attempt to grab. The boxer bolted from his batting position and ran over to first base as Kirby prepared to rush over to the ball.
After landing and rolling onto the astroturf field, Kirby ran over and carefully picked it up, though to say that him throwing the ball towards Engineer was similarly careful would be completely false.
The ball darted to fly between the gap in Engineer's legs, though this was quickly prevented by the Texan closing the gap. It felt like a smart move, but upon collision, Engineer buckled onto his knee as the ball bounced off and began rolling away from him.
It seemed like Little Mac would be able to pass the second base, which he was nearing towards. Albeit, through the pain, Engineer lunged out and grabbed the ball just before it went out of reach. Now on his stomach, he pushed himself back up and slammed the ball against the base with fatigue.
"What a save from Engineer! Only one point is scored to Little Mac; a significant downgrade from his last performance."
Whilst he was upset over his loss, almost everyone else would have to perform with utmost perfection to take him out of the top five.
ROUND 2D
BATTING: Luigi.
FIELDING: ROB (Pitcher) - Kirby (Catcher) - Meta Knight (First Base) - Engineer (Second Base) - Samus Aran (Third Base) - Little Mac (Left Field) - Phoenix Wright (Center Field) - Princess Peach (Right Field).
With more confidence, Luigi held the bat. He knew that any less than three points would put him in grave danger, and so he shot a serious look to ROB. Moments later, that look went from serious to awkward as the machine was seemingly static in motion.
After detecting that the plumber had lost his guard just slightly, ROB threw the ball to Luigi.
"WAAAAAH!"
*WHACK!*
A miraculously straight fastball was sent hurling to ROB. The speed was incredible, but the processing speed that ROB possessed was far more impressive, as he was inexplicably ready to catch it the second Luigi swung the bat. And just like that, the ball was now in his hands, and Luigi was out of the game.
"No points for Luigi! Things don't look good for his chances of receiving immunity in the slightest."
Luigi was speechless, but his low-hanging head and face of disbelief said enough.
ROUND 2E
BATTING: Meta Knight.
FIELDING: Princess Peach (Pitcher) - Engineer (Catcher) - Kirby (First Base) - Samus Aran (Second Base) - Phoenix Wright (Third Base) - ROB (Left Field) - Luigi (Center Field) - Little Mac (Right Field).
Just like last time, Meta Knight held the bat with only one hand, a technique that allowed him to be underestimated by some in his first round of batting. This time, people were more prepared, which would make getting to and beyond three points a far more difficult challenge.
Peach checked to see if he would ever lower his guard, but the warrior remained a statue in terms of motion, and so she threw it with no further hesitation...
*WHACK!*
Meta Knight didn't give the ball a second glance before soaring to Kirby's base. All he knew is that it flew towards the right of the field, nothing more.
Before he was even halfway to first base, he suddenly heard the crowd prematurely rile up. They were cheering and whistling as five chilling words boomed from the speakers.
"LITTLE MAC CAUGHT THE BALL! IMPRESSIVE!"
The good news for Meta Knight was that only the pitcher had the ability to instantly eliminate him from the round if they were to catch the ball. Alas, the bad news was still very concerning. The ball was still already in someone's hands, plus they were close to first base, AND it was Little Mac of all people.
"I'd go for the first base... but I dunno if Kirby will be able to catch it..." Little Mac clutched the ball and aimed at Samus. "SAMUS, CATCH!" He barked. The ball was then thrown to her, all of Little Mac's might shooting it forward.
Samus jumped up and caught the ball, landing back down and staring down Meta Knight as he landed on the first base and took off for the second.
"Sorry about this," she said under her breath, tagging the base beneath her.
"Ouch! Meta Knight only wins one point!"
Meta Knight folded his wings behind his cape and planted his feet back onto the ground bitterly. Four points was not a great total, yet not many others were doing too well in this second round. If he were to get lucky, then immunity would still be on his side.
"The second I threw the ball, I realized that Samus could have easily missed the ball on "accident", since she's totally in cahoots with Meta Knight. It's a good thing she didn't, though." - Little Mac.
ROUND 2F
BATTING: Phoenix Wright.
FIELDING: Little Mac (Pitcher) - Princess Peach (Catcher) - Engineer (First Base) - Kirby (Second Base) - Meta Knight (Third Base) - Luigi (Left Field) - Samus Aran (Center Field) - ROB (Right Field).
Nothing said "pitiful" more than Phoenix's last performance. Much like Luigi's second round of batting, he failed to even make it to the first base before his ball was caught by ROB. This time, he didn't even care about winning. He just wanted to get a reasonable score and be finished on a good note. As a result, his goal was to get to the third base and score himself three points.
As he lined himself up to bat, he remembered just how anxious he felt when standing there, waiting for the pitcher to throw the ball. Instead of an incredibly clever AI bot, it was a cocky teenager, and Phoenix didn't see that as much better.
"Just swing and hit the ball..." Phoenix repeated to himself. "Just swing and hi-"
Mid-sentence, the ball was thrown his way...
...And, ironically, he missed, cursing himself shortly after. To make matters worse, Peach caught the ball, delivering him his first strike.
"STRIKE ONE!"
Phoenix readied up again and fastened his grip, staring down Little Mac as he threw the ball JUST as he got back into his pitching position. Obviously, he threw Phoenix off guard, and...
He swung and missed, the ball landing in Peach's hands again.
"STRIKE TWO!"
The crowd gasped, and Phoenix was afraid to receive three strikes.
As Little Mac received the ball, he threw it, assuming it'd be the very last time...
*WHACK!*
Though the angle Phoenix sent it at was puzzlingly high, he spent no time questioning it and all of his time sprinting from one base to the next.
Little Mac looked into the air to see if he could try and catch it, but the sky was too bright for him to get a good look. In fact, the only person able to see clearly was ROB, who saw it stray towards the left side of the field.
Phoenix sprinted past first base, and RIGHT before he made it to Kirby and second base, the ball finally landed.
Luigi went to retrieve it, sprinting down the field in order to do so. He had no idea Phoenix of all people would send a ball that high, and he certainly wasn't prepared when it chose to land close to him.
Now, the lawyer was nearing the third base, and Luigi had just grabbed the ball. He took aim towards Meta Knight and threw it.
Phoenix had now passed the third base and began the final sprint to the end. Was this it? Would he be able to score the full five points and make up for his previous attempt?
Luigi's aim was off by a bit, but Meta Knight dashed forward and to the left, catching the ball before it hit the ground. He then turned to Phoenix and spread his wings, honed in on the lawyer as he soared forth.
From the corner of his eye, he drew closer and closer, seemingly faster and faster. Phoenix wasn't the type to give up, and he too began running faster and faster. Eventually, he was only five or six steps away from slamming his foot down onto the base and winning himself five points. No longer would three points satisfy him; he was too close to the home base to give out now.
Meta Knight scanned his position as well as the home base's position. If his prediction was accurate, then Phoenix wouldn't make it to the base before he caught him, so all he had to do was keep his pace up. For someone like Meta Knight, this task was incredibly easy.
Four steps left...
Three steps left...
Two steps left...
And from above and just behind came Meta Knight, swooping down with the ball in his hand.
Unexpectedly, however... Phoenix ducked into a slide, his right leg extending all the way as he gave an amateurish slide towards the home base. Meta Knight initially missed the tag as a result, but immediately slammed the ball down onto the home base and tagged it.
Phoenix remained in position, unsure on whether he had scored the five points or not. He simply held his breath and continued to lie his head flat on the ground, exhausted.
"On further inspection... it appears that Phoenix just BARELY misses out on those five points!" Cried Alexa, his tone brimming with pity. "Oh well. Excellent speed from Meta Knight, though his choice NOT to pass the ball to Peach almost proved to be a terrible idea."
"This is the last time I underestimate an opponent," said Meta Knight.
ROUND 2G
BATTING: Princess Peach.
FIELDING: Kirby (Pitcher) - Luigi (Catcher) - ROB (First Base) - Meta Knight (Second Base) - Phoenix Wright (Third Base) - Samus Aran (Left Field) - Little Mac (Center Field) - Engineer (Right Field).
When she was announced to be the next batter, the crowd's excitement immediately picked up to an unfathomable degree. The bias was clear, and it definitely sucked confidence right out of certain survivors. Who knows what the crowd would do if they decided to tag out their highness.
Peach grabbed brandished the bat and waited. Thankfully, Kirby's throw was easily telegraphed by his short wind-up, and soon after, the ball came her way...
*WHACK!*
A wonderful shot sent the crowd into hysteria, roaring and cheering like she had gotten first place on the challenge and was being given a golden trophy. In fact, it was so loud that the other survivors were even thrown off by it.
It landed between Little Mac and Engineer, with the faster of the two, Little Mac, being the one to make the move to collect it. All whilst Peach ran to and past the first base.
As he grabbed the ball, he reeled his arm up and threw it to Meta Knight. Though he had occasionally dished out spectacular throws in prior rounds, the only consistent part to it was the blinding speed, which always made it a challenge to catch without having their hands feel like they're going to explode into five separate directions from the force. Regardless, Meta Knight was the best fit for catching his type of fastballs, which was the only synergy either of them had.
The ball had enough distance to make it to Meta Knight, albeit TOO much distance. The ball was far too overhead for any average person to catch, but not for the sharp, winged swordsman. He spread his wings and soared directly upwards, snatching the ball at the right time before dropping down and striking the second base.
"Princess Peach is out! From five to one; what a shame!"
As Meta Knight endured the inevitable boos and jeers from the crowd, Peach still found herself gleeful over her total of six points.
ROUND 2H
BATTING: ROB.
FIELDING: Engineer (Pitcher) - Little Mac (Catcher) - Luigi (First Base) - Phoenix Wright (Second Base) - Kirby (Third Base) - Princess Peach (Left Field) - Meta Knight (Center Field) - Samus Aran (Right Field).
"Damn robot..." Engineer said, getting ready to throw. "Doesn't matter how I shake things up, he's gonna get a damn good shot either way. Good thing we got a solid field set-up."
The ball was thrown...
*WHACK!*
The ball whizzed past Kirby and ended up between him and Peach, ROB accelerating towards the first base.
Kirby and Peach both closed in on the ball, neither of them opting to give out and let each other get the ball for themselves.
When they finally came close, Peach was the one who barely caught the ball, but before she could throw to Phoenix...
"Poyo!" Denied Kirby, gesturing for her to give him the ball.
"You want it?" She asked.
"Poyo!"
"Well, don't let us down!"
Peach handed him the ball, and Kirby began running back to his base. He thought that playing things safe would be the better option than risking a long throw over to second base, and so as ROB passed the first and second base, he was met with a proud Kirby resting his ball on the third base.
"ROB scores two points! Bringing his total to... five points!"
A neutral beep came from ROB. "That should suffice."
"Now..." Continued Alexa. "It's time for the FINAL ROUND! Featuring... SAMUS ARAN!"
ROUND 2I
BATTING: Samus Aran.
FIELDING: Meta Knight (Pitcher) - ROB (Catcher) - Princess Peach (First Base) - Little Mac (Second Base) - Luigi (Third Base) - Kirby (Left Field) - Phoenix Wright (Center Field) - Engineer (Right Field).
The tension was already high for Samus, but the fact that this was the final round of the challenge only made it even greater for her. However, she was a strong and agile person; she knew that as long as she had a better shot, she'd crush her prior performance of one pathetic point.
For the final time... the ball was thrown.
*WHACK!*
The ball was sent high into the air, directly over Meta Knight and Little Mac's heads as it continued to fly behind Phoenix and strike the very edge of the arena, directly in the middle. At that point, the left, center, and right fielders dashed to the ball, giving it their all.
For this particular round, the crowd was far more enthusiastic than usual, washing Samus in glory as she passed every base. These cheers didn't match the ones Peach received, but they were noticeable.
Due to the sluggish speed of the three fielders, Samus was given far more time to make distance. She passed the first and second bases before the others could make it to the edge of the arena, and at that point, they were faced with a new problem: how were they meant to throw the ball from the very end of the stadium to the other?
Kirby was given the honor of attempting the feat, and although he was strong, his aim resulted in the ball traveling fifteen meters before rolling and stopping on the ground, causing yet another chase to ensue between the three.
It was hard to watch, especially for the hyped-up finale of the challenge, but Samus passed the third base before the ball got anywhere near the other fielders. Little Mac and Luigi both darted to get the ball, but as they turned around to face Samus, she had already won.
"SAMUS GETS AN EASY FIVE POINTS!"
"I should be in the clear," she thought.
FINAL RESULTS
"SURVIVORS! After eighteen rounds of watching you guys bat and run, it's time to see everyone's total number of points! As a reminder, the top five who received the most points will be immune from elimination in tonight's Tribal Council!" He reminded. "So, let's see them! Here's hoping there are no messy ties, either, because you should know by now how well I think ahead on those!"
The screen cut off from footage of Alexa and over to a list of the survivors' results:
ENGINEER: 2
KIRBY: 6
LITTLE MAC: 6
LUIGI: 2
META KNIGHT: 4
PHOENIX WRIGHT: 3
PRINCESS PEACH: 6
ROB: 5
SAMUS ARAN: 6
"Sheesh, a four-way tie for six points!" Alexa exclaimed. "Let's order them from the most amount of points to least amount of points to see our five winners!"
The screen then updated, now showing the final leaderboard of the results. The top five were colored in green whilst the bottom four were colored in red:
KIRBY: 6
LITTLE MAC: 6
PRINCESS PEACH: 6
SAMUS ARAN: 6
ROB: 5
META KNIGHT: 4
PHOENIX WRIGHT: 3
LUIGI: 2
ENGINEER: 2
"And that's that!" Announced Alexa. "Meta Knight, Phoenix Wright, Luigi, and Engineer will be facing elimination tonight! Who will be the one to be thrown under the bus of elimination and join the Jury? I'm itching to find out!" He then cleared his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen, please give your applause to the five victors!"
And as he commanded, the crowd cheered for the five immune survivors, though the fact they were mostly chanting Peach's name killed a lot of the enjoyment of victory. Despite that, they were still glad to be in the merge.
"If only ROB didn't decide to ruin my first round by grabbing my ball, I might have gotten immunity for once," Phoenix muttered, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "But now I'll have to go back to hoping that I'm not blindsided by everyone else."
Whilst the cheering was still ongoing, the white pipe they used to arrive at the challenge reappeared, rising out of the ground and standing over the survivors.
"Survivors, please take your leave and think of someone out of the aforementioned four to eliminate!" Demanded Alexa.
One after the other, they climbed into the pipe and left the stadium...
Super Stars: Day 24
Survivors: Phoenix Wright - Luigi - Meta Knight - Little Mac - Princess Peach - Kirby - Engineer - ROB - Samus Aran.
The survivors were around half an hour away from having to attend Tribal Council. During this time, the survivors were bundled up into two groups. Some people just wanted to discuss the recent challenge and their results, whilst others wanted to discuss who to vote for in Tribal Council.
As Little Mac branched away from a group consisting of Luigi, Phoenix, ROB, and Peach, he went over to Engineer, who was resting around the dead fire where people would usually cook their meals.
"Well, Engie, I tried my best to convince them to vote off Meta Knight. As you said, they don't seem interested in voting Phoenix or Luigi, so that leaves Meta Knight or... you," he gulped. "It's important that we get Meta Knight out, then it'll be Samus versus the world, just like how it was last time we were together!"
He nodded. "Ain't that swell. What'd they say?"
"About that... That's why I'm nervous."
"Hoo boy..."
Little Mac straightened himself up and scratched the back of his neck. "They said they'll think about it, but what concerns me is that they were planning on voting you off from the get-go. Peach is especially adamant, and you know how ROB is when the majority rules."
"Things ain't lookin' good, Mac." Dell stood up, dusting sand from his overalls as he tilted his hat forward. "If I don't survive tonight, then you gotta try your best, kid."
He shook his head. "I will, but that'll be when you're here with me. When someone helps me out, I have to repay them, and in this case, I have to save your butt as you did mine!"
Engineer chuckled. "Don't worry, I haven't given up. But just know, I've ratted out Samus and her idol to my whole team, and I'm sure everyone knows by now. Not to mention, me stickin' with you will be another case of me bein' a threat."
"The idol was thanks to me, no less," he said, painfully remembering his slip-up. "But don't worry, who WOULDN'T rat out someone's idol, especially to their team? If anything, keeping it to yourself would be scummier!"
He agreed. "That's what I like to tell myself, but just you know that Samus and anyone that might be buddy-buddy with her will only hone in on me more."
Little Mac gritted his teeth. "Yeah, you're right."
Meanwhile, Samus, Meta Knight, and Kirby sat around the Jagged Rockies section of the tribe, their discussion was parallel to Little Mac and Engineer's.
"I think you and I both know that Engineer and Little Mac have teamed up," said Meta Knight. "That only makes me approaching the other four before Mac could a better idea."
She nodded. "Exactly. I knew he couldn't be trusted. It was a terrible idea to tell him about Little Mac."
"And it was an even stupider idea to tell him about... him."
"Him?" Samus raised an eyebrow.
"Look to my right."
She glanced over to his right and remembered. She had said that Kirby was on her mind for eventual elimination, so if Engineer decided to do to Kirby what he did for Little Mac, that would spell doom.
"I don't even agree with what you said, but if he finds out, then it's over for the two of us. He definitely strikes me as gullible, too!" He scolded.
"People can't get under my skin easily, but Engineer has the voice and intellect that rivals the opposite of the manipulative scum you'd usually see in this show, like Spy. Maybe that's how I ended up trusting him, even after he used my idol against me." - Samus Aran.
"Can't we just convince him otherwise?" She recommended.
"That'll be the last resort if we ever come to it," said Meta Knight. "Being torn apart by two different sides wouldn't be great for him, regardless of if I'm on one of them."
"Poyo?" Questioned Kirby.
He immediately discarded his question. "It's nothing important."
It annoyed him, though he decided to believe him. Besides, basking in the heat before the sun goes fully down was a superior pastime to listening in on a conversation, at least it was to Kirby.
In the final group consisting of the four that had been convinced by both sides, they were now struggling on who to vote.
"Both sides have a pretty big argument," admitted Phoenix.
ROB nodded stiffly. "Agreed. Meta Knight claims that Engineer's tendency to stir things up is a bigger threat than his strength, though Little Mac argued otherwise, stating that Engineer saving his skin only put himself in more danger and that by itself is a big counter-argument to what Meta Knight claims. What do you think?"
"I don't know, but something about Engineer feels off," said Phoenix. "It's like he's been playing under the radar, and I think he's far more calculated than he lets on. I mean, he's called THE Engineer, isn't that enough proof that he's pretty smart?"
Luigi nodded. "Yeah. I don't want to-a vote either, but I-a feel like Engineer is a bigger problem. Meta Knight only takes up one-a spot of immunity, and we know that he-a doesn't win every challenge."
Though she was understanding of her opinions, Peach thought differently. "Choose who you want, but I feel that what Engineer did to protect Little Mac clears him of being entirely guilty. There's more reason to vote for him than that, but I also think that Samus and Meta Knight might have evolved beyond their simple loyalty from when Spy attempted to blindside Samus. They sure do seem like they're in an alliance together, and that spells bad news for the rest of us."
"It's time I think less about the morals and more about the strategy. I'd much rather keep someone like Engineer compared to Meta Knight, even if Engineer might potentially be as two-faced as others claim." - Princess Peach.
With a gentle beep, ROB steered his head to Peach. "Out of my own decision, I'll choose to side with you. Hence, Meta Knight will be my vote."
"Isn't splitting the votes like-a this a bad idea?" Luigi asked. "A tie is all we-a need for this to go down the-a drain!"
"The only way that can happen is one person here votes for someone that isn't Engineer or Meta Knight. Though, if that were to happen, I'd immediately jump ship to Meta Knight," Phoenix proclaimed, looking abashed. "After all, it's a one-in-two chance for me to be eliminated. The same goes for you, Luigi."
The plumber gasped. "You're right! I should-a do the same... unless Peach and ROB are also planning to-a do the same."
"I'll choose to stand by my answer, even if I think Engineer is likely to lose if Kirby's going to be the deciding vote. They seem to be very close, but Kirby and Meta Knight look related!" Gossiped Peach.
Phoenix turned to ROB. "Can't you do a DNA test?"
"That would require a sample from both of them, and I find that far too intrusive for me to recommend," ROB declared. "But by looking at them, I'd say they are a similar species; their main difference lies in their color."
"If I ever found out they were father and, err, child, I think I'd have an impossible time voting for either," the lawyer frowned. "Maybe not knowing is for the best..."
Suddenly, ROB's eyes began flashing rapidly, the robot then alerting the group with a vaguely assertive tone. "It appears that it's time for the tribe to head down to Tribal Council."
The other three nodded as they gathered the remainder of the survivors. They then began their walk over to Tribal Council, still discussing who to vote.
"Poyo poyo?" Kirby questioned Meta Knight.
"Hmm?"
Samus scratched her neck and looked at the creature. "Does he know who to vote?"
"Oh, right," Meta Knight nodded, turning to Kirby. "We'll be voting for Engineer."
"P-poyo?!" The puffball gasped.
He sighed. "I should have informed you, Kirby. All that you need to know is that the decision is down to either me or Engineer."
"Poyo..." Kirby sighed, giving a slightly betrayed frown. It was abundantly clear that he was upset over being told at the last second, and to have it be someone as kind to him as Engineer was additionally hurtful.
"You never told him anything, huh?" She asked. "I don't know much about him, but I don't think he likes being treated like a pet on a leash."
Meta Knight rolled his eyes and continued walking. Although, around a minute or so later, Samus continued.
"And there he goes..."
He turned around to see that Kirby was walking away from him, and, to his despair, over to Engineer and Little Mac.
The warrior attempted to move, but he was stopped by Samus yet again. "No need to treat him like he's your extra vote. Let him say his goodbye."
It usually took a lot to cause Meta Knight to stop in his tracks, but something about those words caused him to sigh, stopping and continuing walking side-by-side with Samus. He had plenty of confidence that Kirby would continue to stick by him, so maybe preventing him from talking to Engineer was overkill.
Little Mac and Engineer similarly stood by one another, taking one small step after another as they neared the possible end for Engineer.
"What about Kirby?" Asked Little Mac. "Shouldn't you get him on your side?"
"Thought about tellin' the little guy about something Samus said about him, but I don't think gettin' the critter involved will do us any good, especially himself," Engineer explained, his voice mild and softer than usual.
The boxer folded his arms. "You two are pretty close. I don't have the same patience for something that I can't understand."
"Then God forbid you don't get a dog."
"Well, you don't see a dog competing on a gameshow to win money!"
"Y'know, I wouldn't be too shocked to see a dog on here after a squid, a fox, and an armored crocodile," Engineer snickered, before going quiet. "...Speak of the devil, look over there."
Little Mac gazed over to his left. "Huh? O-oh! It's Kirby!"
There he was, walking over. "Poyo!"
As Engineer focused on his face, he noticed that he looked a lot more upset than usual, a small frown contrasting his usual lazy or bubbly smile.
"The heck's pushed your buttons, Kirby?" He asked, kneeling down.
"Poyo," he replied.
"You think I'm gonna be eliminated?"
Kirby nodded slowly.
"Welp, I get that it's tough. We dunno who's going out tonight, but just know that you don't gotta vote either of us."
"Poyo?"
"It doesn't take much to know that you and Meta Knight are on good terms, but you seem pretty bummed to see me go too. If I were you, I'd leave my vote out of things and vote for someone that isn't either of us. You get me?" Dell explained, taking off his hard-hat and staring Kirby in the eyes. "Just know that, whoever goes out, they'll be cheerin' you on from the Jury."
He then stood up tall, giving him another smile. "Now, let's see what happens."
Boosted with reassurance, Kirby suddenly smiled and gave yet another nod, though this one was now brimming with enthusiasm. "Poyo!"
With newfound confidence, he turned away and ran off.
Engineer fastened his hat and continued walking. Little Mac was shaken and unable to comment on what had just happened. Instead, he continued walking until he and the others made it to the Koopa Sphinx...
"I can't have Engineer get eliminated just as we became allies. It feels like every time I start to admire a guy, they either get eliminated or turn out to be jerks! This time, it will be different." - Little Mac.
Tribal Council: Night 24
Survivors: Phoenix Wright - Luigi - Meta Knight - Little Mac - Princess Peach - Kirby - Engineer - ROB - Samus Aran.
Through the entrance and long stone corridor lay Tribal Council. Alexa stood behind his desk, waiting for the survivors to take their seats so he could begin the session. The survivors shuffled into the left set of benches and sat down, gazing to Alexa as if to send him his cue to get things going.
"Welcome to Tribal Council, survivors! The last time we were here was pretty incredible. Two members were lost, and to top it off, I'd now say that you guys are nearing the end-game. My biggest piece of advice is to get loyal with other members. This is because you'll soon get to a point where only a few of you remain. Plus, the Jury's a pretty important role later on, so it'll be best for you to have at least a couple of good connections with Jury members," Alexa advised, dressed in his Egyptian attire. "Speaking of which... here's tonight's Jury!"
He pointed to the corridor that led to the voting room. Shortly after, the survivors were greeted by Squidward, Waluigi, Tails, Jotaro, and Spy.
"Man, to think that the Jury's roster went from one to five in such a short amount of time is still impressive," he winked.
The five members either silently made their way to the bench or exchanged greetings with the survivors first. Contrary to his usual self, it appeared that Spy was a lot more timid than usual, though the survivors put that down to the fact that he had to sit beside Jotaro.
After they sat down and settled themselves in to watch tonight's dramatic conclusion, Alexa continued.
"Luigi!"
"Huh?!"
"I've been eyeing your performance a bit recently. Do you consider yourself to be one of the more social survivors on the show?"
Luigi placed his finger on his chin and thought. "Err, I-a don't think I'm towards the top, but I also think that I'm not towards the-a bottom either."
He gave an assuring grin, almost amused by the lack of confidence in his answer. "I don't think you've received much attention in Tribal Councils, so you must be somewhere towards the top."
The plumber desperately didn't want to act full of himself by claiming he was one of the more social players, but he gave in to Alexa's comment. "That's a good point."
"That's the spirit!" He cheered, moving on to the next person to question. "Now, considering Luigi doesn't seem to sound like someone in danger, then that can only mean that Phoenix, Engineer, or Meta Knight are in the red. What about you, Engineer? Do you feel safe?"
The engineer shook his head and chuckled. "Considerin' the vote results back when Spy and I were the only two options for votin', you wouldn't expect me to be back here so soon! If you don't mind bein' filled in, then you should know that this vote's gonna be between me... and Meta Knight."
Though he couldn't offer much input, Spy cracked a small grin at the reveal.
"You know..." Alexa rested his hands on his desk. "I did expect it to be you two. So then, it's best I gather more context from one of the immune survivors!"
He wagged his finger from left to right, drifting his finger from Little Mac and all the way to Samus. Eventually, his finger landed on Peach. "So, Peach. It sounds like the fact that it's between Meta Knight and Engineer has gone mainstream, eh?"
She gently nodded with agreement.
"Righty! What are the arguments for either side?"
Peach was nervous to answer such a heavy question, but she was as honest as could be. "Engineer's had a history of being someone that likes to stir up drama, so there isn't much trust in him from many people at the moment. On the other hand, Meta Knight is not only targeted for his physical ability, but also because of him being in a suspected alliance with Samus Aran. If two people with such strength team up, it could spell doom for a lot of us, though I'm not entirely sure if they ARE in an alliance."
"The two of them planned to vote me off!" Little Mac argued. "Of course they're in it together!"
Samus glared at him, aggravated. "Just because we both had you as people we wanted off doesn't mean that we're in an alliance together. I'm loyal to Meta Knight for helping me back when Spy was targeting me in the same way that you're loyal to Engineer for helping you when others were targeting you, but you wouldn't expect to be targeted because of that."
Little Mac paused. She held her point well, but he knew that he had to get at least one of them out to keep himself and Engineer safe. Hopefully, her point wouldn't persuade anyone else.
"Seeing whether Samus uses that idol or not on Meta Knight might give us a clue. If she doesn't, then that means she's probably not in an alliance... or it means that she's really confident about tonight's results. I think that Engineer's going home, because it looks like Meta Knight and Samus have Kirby on their side. So, those three, plus Luigi and I... that's a 5-4 elimination." - Phoenix Wright.
After the pause, Alexa proceeded to move on with the council. "Okay! It seems like you guys are just itching to cast your votes, so let's get to it!"
One by one, the survivors entered the voting room:
Engineer: Things are lookin' grim, but at the same time, things could easily go in my darn favor. Let's hope you're out, Meta Knight, because if me tellin' my tribe about an idol is bad news, then you're on a whole other level. (Meta Knight)
Meta Knight: We at least need two people from the four I attempted to convince to have you eliminated. Thankfully, you decided to have Little Mac save yourself, and we all know how good he is at making an argument. (Engineer)
Kirby: Poyo... (?)
Princess Peach: Engineer's made some enemies, and Meta Knight sounded very convincing, but I struggle to see him as untrustworthy as the others do. It's unfortunate that I have to vote for someone who has had such a respectable history, but I think this is the right call. (Meta Knight)
Phoenix Wright: I don't trust Engineer much, and I'm probably going to regret picking him over someone that can fly, but Meta Knight is likely going to be our next target anyway. (Engineer)
"Survivors! I shall now read out the votes," announced Alexa. "Just kidding! I'm first going to ask if anyone would like to play any idols that they may have."
"Let's see," said Phoenix, focusing on Samus.
Silence...
Eventually, Alexa assumed the answer. "Alright, looks like the answer is no! Now, it's time to read out the votes, no joke!"
*VOTING TIME*
First vote goes to Engineer. One vote Engineer.
Second vote goes to Meta Knight. One vote Meta Knight and Engineer. (Neither shows any reaction. They expect things to kick off at the final vote.)
Third vote goes to Engineer. Two votes Engineer, one vote Meta Knight.
Fourth vote goes to Engineer. Three votes Engineer, one vote Meta Knight.
Fifth vote goes to Meta Knight. Two votes Meta Knight, three votes Engineer.
Sixth vote goes to Engineer. That's four votes Engineer and two votes Meta Knight. (Engineer begins sweating.)
Seventh vote goes to Meta Knight. Three votes Meta Knight, and four votes Engineer.
Eighth vote goes to Meta Knight. That's four votes Meta Knight and Engineer.
"And... the sixth member of Jury of Survivor Crossover: Dry Dry Desert is..." Alexa peeks at the last vote and squints his eye. "O-oh! This is strange..."
He flipped the final vote around and showed a crudely written slip with the words "Phoenix" on it.
"W-WHAAA?!" Cried Phoenix.
Alexa scratched his head. "Well, that leaves Engineer AND Meta Knight at four votes each, meaning that a tie has taken place."
The survivors were in disbelief. With nine people, the last thing they expected was a tie. The only two who were aware of the possibility were Engineer and Little Mac, but even they saw it as unlikely.
"It looks like every vote will have to cast again. This time, Meta Knight and Engineer are not allowed to cast any votes, but the other seven WILL have to cast votes towards either of the tied survivors. Considering another tie cannot happen, then rocks aren't possible. However, do note that idols are not usable during this second vote," warned Alexa. "So, is everyone ready to cast their votes yet again?"
He knew they weren't, but once again were they forced to enter the voting room and cast their votes. Kirby struggled to pick out of the two options but eventually came to his conclusion. Albeit, he had done so with a heavy heart.
After the votes were collected once more, Alexa re-read the votes.
"A significant change!" He commented. "Now... eliminated at FIVE votes..."
Tension rose every second he held his breath. Would it be Engineer or Meta Knight? Everyone was dying to find out who would lose this second vote...
But eventually, the results came straight from the host's mouth.
"META KNIGHT HAS BEEN ELIMINATED!"
The warrior sighed and stood up, turning to the others around him. "It was a good fight. Good luck to you all."
It was short but oddly sweet to hear from one of the more cold contestants. However, before turning back around, he eyed Kirby. "Especially you, Kirby. You make your own decisions from now on."
"Great run, Meta Knight. But unfortunately, you must leave Tribal Council as the next Jury member," Alexa announced. "Farewell."
He then grabbed the blowtorch and went to town on burning Meta Knight's portrait, the masked swordsman taking another stare to all of the other survivors before abruptly leaving...
"And there goes Meta Knight. He was one of the most likely to win, but it appears that he made his level of threat well known to the others, resulting in his elimination. Now only eight of you remain, and many more of you will leave the show before the eventual Finale. Stay strong, survivors. You're nearing the tail-end of Survivor Crossover: Dry Dry Desert!"
Meta Knight's Last Words: "It was disappointing to not win, but Engineer was a formidable foe. He played his cards right, and I have a feeling that he wanted me, Samus, or the both of us out from a pretty early point in the game. Here's hoping Kirby wins, because not much stands in his path at the moment."
VOTES
Meta Knight's voters: Engineer, Little Mac, Princess Peach, ROB.
Engineer's voters: Meta Knight, Samus Aran, Luigi, Phoenix Wright.
Phoenix Wright's voters: Kirby.
VOTES (Round Two)
Meta Knight's voters: Little Mac, Princess Peach, ROB, Luigi, Phoenix Wright.
Engineer's voters: Samus Aran, Kirby.
IDOLS
Koopa Sphinx Idol - Fire Flower Idol (triples voting power + nullifies first vote). Currently in Samus's possession.
REMAINING SURVIVORS
Super Stars Tribe (Yellow)
- Phoenix Wright
- Luigi
- Little Mac
- Princess Peach
- Kirby
- Engineer
- ROB
- Samus Aran
Jury Tribe (Gray)
- Squidward Tentacles
- Waluigi
- Miles "Tails" Prower
- Jotaro Kujo
- Spy
- Meta Knight
Thank you for watching this episode! It was originally supposed to be the same episode as 12B, but due to the length, I cut it down so it was easier to read as a whole. If you like the fic so far, then feel free to review and make predictions! Seriously, that stuff helps a lot, even if it's a small compliment. ^_^