*Last time on Survivor Crossover: Dry Dry Desert...*
At Super Stars, drama breaks out between Engineer, Meta Knight, and Samus as they discuss who their next targets are. Whilst Engineer doesn't explicitly state who he's going to target next, Meta Knight and Samus make the mistake of mentioning Little Mac to the Texan. Shortly after the trio disperses, Little Mac makes enemies with Meta Knight after failing to form an alliance with him. Annoyed, Little Mac's anger is noticed by Engineer, who decides to rat out Meta Knight and Samus for the purpose of eliminating either of them and forms a tight bond with the boxer.
Meanwhile, after discussing the Tribal Council that had Jotaro and Spy eliminated, Phoenix eventually begins to lose faith in himself upon realizing how weak he is compared to the other eight. Surprisingly, with the help of mainly ROB, Phoenix is quickly given confidence and motivation to keep going, even if he still believes that he's physically the weakest.
The next day, the survivors enter the final modified pipe: the Power Flowers pipe, and are greeted to a large sports stadium filled with a roaring crowd to cheer them on. Later on, the nine are told that the challenge would be a modified take on baseball. In this version, they couldn't rest at bases, home runs brought you a penalty instead of triumph, and they earned points based on how many bases they ran past. The top five highest-scoring survivors would receive immunity.
Two alphabetical rotations later, and Alexa revealed that Meta Knight, Phoenix Wright, Luigi, and Engineer would be the four vulnerable survivors due to their lack of points. In addition, a four-way tie between Kirby, Little Mac, Princess Peach, and Samus Aran resulted in all of them sharing the first place spot.
The following hour, war broke out as Engineer and Little Mac attempted to persuade the other members to eliminate Meta Knight. Though his points appeared to have made a decent mark on persuading them, Meta Knight's prior persuasion towards the same group, plus him having Samus Aran and Kirby on his side, resulted in gloom for the mercenary and the boxer. Though they didn't have full confidence in their votes, Peach and ROB decided to vote Meta Knight. Phoenix and Luigi, on the other hand, targeted Engineer instead.
On their way to council, Kirby slipped away from Meta Knight to say his goodbyes to Engineer. The moment proved emotional, but vital to the Tribal Council withal, as Engineer suggested to Kirby that, if he didn't want to vote for him or Meta Knight, he could stay out of it by voting somebody unrelated. The idea cheered him up greatly.
In the Koopa Sphinx, the survivors cast their votes. The vote became close between Meta Knight and Engineer, to the surprise of nobody. In contrast, the fact that the vote resulted in a tie thanks to Kirby following Engineer's advice came as a surprise to everyone. When the second vote rolled around, Phoenix and Luigi switched their votes to Meta Knight as they promised earlier, resulting in his elimination.
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 25
Survivors: Phoenix Wright - Luigi - Little Mac - Princess Peach - Kirby - Engineer - ROB - Samus Aran.
Samus opened her eyes slowly, a small hole in the tent's entrance allowed for a small beam of sunlight to stare down her face, causing her to wake up around an hour earlier than she normally would. She didn't know any better, however, and decided that it was time for her to get up. If nobody else was awake, which was sometimes the case, she would go for a walk to keep herself sane. Otherwise, she'd discuss with them what happened yesterday.
She lifted her body up and flipped herself into a crawl, unzipping the entrance from top to bottom and parting the two flaps of the tent.
Upon exiting, she looked from left to right to see if anyone else was up. As she did, she caught two people talking underneath the shelter. Those two individuals were Princess Peach and Luigi, both of which had woke up far earlier than usual.
Not long after standing around in the open, Peach noticed and welcomed her. "Good morning, Samus!"
"Hello!" Added Luigi.
"Hey."
Samus walked forward until she was under the sun-free cloth shelter, sitting down around the table.
"Sorry about Meta Knight," Peach empathized. "I can guarantee you that Engineer and Little Mac will be targeting you the next chance they get. Not that I can blame them, as you're probably wanting to target the two of them yourself."
She nodded sternly. "The sooner they're gone, the safer I am. And speaking of Meta Knight... who switched their vote to him? The vote went from four votes to each with one rogue vote from what I assumed to be Kirby, to five votes towards Meta Knight, and considering he and Engineer couldn't vote, that meant that two people changed their vote from Engineer to him."
Luigi suddenly blushed, Samus immediately catching on. "Well, that's one of them."
"...The other's Phoenix," he sighed.
Peach then remembered why they had changed their votes. "Didn't you both plan to change your votes if a tie happened?"
Upon learning this information, Samus gazed at Luigi. "Why bother?"
His flushed face only became redder, unsure of how to admit his mistake. "B-because, uhm, Phoenix and I thought that rocks would be drawn unless we-a changed votes for the second vote..."
"Even though only seven people would be allowed to vote between two targets?" Samus queried, questioning the plumber and lawyer's psyche.
"I thought what they had said was strange after thinking about what they had planned to do on my way to Tribal Council, but I didn't say anything because I highly doubted that we would get a tie anyway. Besides, ROB and I were talking for the entire journey." - Princess Peach.
Luigi nodded. "We-a both realized when Alexa had pointed out that-a rocks were impossible after the tie happened."
"So then, why did you still change your votes?" she interrogated.
The plumber removed his hat and stared to the ground. "Well, I knew Kirby had-a voted for Phoenix, and I also knew that he was-a good friends with both Meta Knight and Engineer. With that in-a mind, I switched my vote to Meta Knight so Kirby wasn't the one who had to-a deliver the deciding vote. Whether he voted Meta Knight or Engineer, it wouldn't have-a mattered as long as I was the only one who had changed my vote."
Peach had her hand over her mouth in disbelief, whilst Samus was more curious over Phoenix. "But you weren't the only one who changed your vote, correct?"
"Luckily, the only other person that did change their vote was-a Phoenix," he replied. "And his-a vote only made Kirby's matter less."
"Did he change his vote for the same reason?" The princess queried.
Luigi shook his head. "Well, on the way back to-a tribe, he told me that he-a changed his vote because he ended up finding Meta Knight to be the bigger threat anyway. What I-a did isn't anything special..."
With disgruntlement, Peach denied the claim. "That's not true at all! You voted against someone you thought was less of a threat just so someone else could feel better. Maybe things would have been exactly the same if you didn't, but the thought is there!"
Luigi smiled, uplifted yet taken back by her praise. "T-thank you, princess!"
Though Peach seemed to be pleased, Luigi was worried that his excuse wouldn't be enough to please Samus.
She looked to him before breaking her gaze by staring into the distance, standing up. "What's done is done."
The comment was vague, and the fact her strong gaze stared down the sky like a laser made it all the more intense for Luigi to reply. The plumber stood there, fumbling his hands until Peach eventually changed the subject, sparing him of the awkwardness.
"So, do you have any plans today Samus? Is there anyone you need to talk to?"
Samus rubbed her chin, recalling what she thought of doing when she first woke up. "I was planning on going for a walk, but since you two were awake, I decided to make a small detour." She looked to Luigi and Peach. "So, I'm going to get to it."
"I can see that Luigi uses his emotions to dictate his vote. Usually, that's only going to set you up for failure, but there's something about the way he does it, in particular, that might just benefit him in the long-term." - Samus Aran.
Peach and Luigi said their goodbyes as she turned around back to the horizon, though as she did, she recoiled from shock. A bulky, tall robot now stood before her.
"Hello," ROB beeped, aware of her terror. "Did I come in at a bad time?"
Samus scoffed. "Maybe give some warning before appearing behind me, next time."
"Apologies," he understood.
As she walked off, ROB turned to Luigi and Peach.
"With yesterday's results, I can only imagine that she's going to be the next big target. If not from us, then likely from Little Mac or Engineer," he warned.
Luigi's eyes widened. "Woah! That's pretty much what-a Samus had-a said about herself."
"It doesn't surprise me," said ROB. "Besides, I've been thinking of voting her next council."
Perplexed, the princess audibly gasped. "You have?!"
Worried that he had said the wrong thing, he immediately began retracting his thought. "To elaborate-"
"Targeting Samus is something I don't have much of an issue with myself," clarified Peach. "But I never expected you of all people to begin targeting others."
Luigi agreed. "Even if it-a came from Kirby, it wouldn't be as-a surprising as you, ROB!"
Relieved, the robot gave a positive yet timid bleep. "I thought that, since not many of us remain, playing neutral might not be the best strategy. I tend to never have things such as personality dictate my decision, but things such as strategy and strength do. Samus just feels like the right step forward, and her idol only proves that further."
"But how are-a we supposed to-a deal with the idol?" Worried Luigi.
The robot lowered his head. "Well, that's the problem. We have no idea what that idol is capable of, correct? Does it block three votes, or does it allow her extra votes? It's also a possibility that her idol can make her fully immune, but I've already experienced an idol like that first-hand, so it's doubtful."
"Any ideas?" Questioned Peach.
Fortunately, ROB gave his confident answer. "The best course of action is to pull off a blindside. Alternatively, having a second target in mind would make it so Samus using her idol won't be bad for us."
"What second target?" Luigi challenged, staring at him with confusion. "And why does it seem like you're talking to-a us like we're in an alliance?"
The robot tilted its head. "To answer your second question first, I believe that us three, plus Phoenix, can get to the final five alongside one other person. From that point, it's all unknown, but getting rid of Engineer, Little Mac, Kirby and Samus are our best bets moving forward, even if one will make it to the finals with us."
"W-whaaa?!" The plumber gasped. "Why Kirby!?"
Peach stood beside Luigi, equally as confused and almost offended. "I don't get why we can't just have Kirby be with us in the final five? Excluding him seems... bizarre!"
"I appreciate ROB having his newfound independent opinions, but this all seems a little too ambitious? A lot of these people are incredibly wary, and Samus has an idol, and if the wrong people get immune in challenges, then this plan can easily fall apart. Maybe that's why he has so many targets... and maybe I shouldn't question a robot's logic." - Princess Peach.
Almost as if he expected the outcry, ROB immediately snapped back with his own argument. "As much as I want to include Kirby, he seems like the prime candidate for the Jury to vote for. Unbiased, kind, great at challenges, and something you can't say no towards. If it were between us three and we needed the Jury to decide, I wouldn't be able to predict a winner, but Kirby seems like the... Perfect Survivor."
"Waaah... it's so difficult to go against the word of-a robot. Maybe he's-a right, maybe letting Kirby get to-a the end is a free win for him. And, as much as I-a like him, getting the prize for-a me and my brother Mario takes-a priority!" - Luigi.
The machine then reduced the situation's intensity by shutting it down. "Would it be best if we continued this conversation when Phoenix is available?"
"It's-a too early to have-a this discussion," Luigi shivered, wiping sweat from his brow as he repositioned his cap forward.
Time passed as ROB eventually got breakfast prepared early, survivors then waking up one by one. First came Little Mac, followed by Phoenix and Engineer. Around an extra hour later, the drowsy Kirby inevitably woke up with a small smile of contentment across his face. He was handling Meta Knight's elimination relatively well, but felt the responsibility of winning for him weigh down on his back.
Additionally, soon after Kirby left his tent, Samus returned from her walk.
As breakfast was nearly done, Little Mac and Peach decided to take out Chess, a game nobody had touched in a while. Whether it was out of fear over ROB potentially being their opponent or sheer disinterest, they were bored enough to play it whilst their first ration of the day simmered in the clay pot.
"Say goodbye to that stupid Bishop of yours!" Announced Mac, grinning ferociously. "After taking out both of my Rooks and one of my own Bishops, I can put its reign to an end."
His Knight slid towards the black Bishop piece before dramatically knocking it out of the way. Despite his chilled reaction when gestured by Peach, he was more than into it by now, even if half of his arsenal had already been demolished.
Upon knocking off her Bishop, Peach wagged her finger. "You can't put that there."
"W-wha?!"
"Look, place it back..."
Peach grabbed Little Mac's Bishop and slid it back to its initial location, showing it between Peach's Queen and his King.
"...I don't see the problem?"
"If you move your Bishop out of the way, then I can retaliate by taking your King out with my Queen," she explained.
Phoenix and Luigi watched, pitying Little Mac. Samus, on the other hand, found it entertaining to a near-sadistic degree. Every move Little Mac had made barring his first few pawn moves at the start of the game was questionable. As for Kirby, he was absolutely mesmerized by the game and its rules, to which he understood none of.
Little Mac grunted, moving her Bishop back into place. "Pssh... fine, I still got a chance."
Funnily enough, it was soon confirmed that he had no chance at all. Peach slid her rook down from the top and to his King. This would be limiting, but not lethal, if not for the fact that this black Rook of hers was directly in front of her second black Rook. Little Mac was forced to move his King upwards, but the pieces in front made it so he was unable to. And, with that, a Checkmate had taken place in Peach's favor.
"Gah!" He yelled, flicking his King off the table and into the sand. "Stupid game..."
"You did... decent," assured Peach. "You just need more experience."
Engineer chuckled and placed his hand on Mac's shoulder. "Remember the rules, Mac. Winner stays on, and I'm the next to play."
"Yeah yeah, I know," he obliged, standing up and joining the others in spectating.
Dell pinched each piece and placed them back in their starting positions, making cocky small-talk with Peach as he did so. "So you took out Phoenix, Luigi, and Mac, right?" His eyes drifted from the board to her eyes, a grin forming on his face. "Well, when they eventually get to play again, they'll have a new opponent to play against."
She grinned back, deciding to go along with the banter. "That is, if all goes to plan?"
"I got a few approaches that'll get you out pretty quickly," he retaliated, fixing his goggles as he glided his pawn forward by a single space.
Fast forward to about twenty minutes later. Peach was barely still in the game by the skin of her teeth, and Engineer only lost four pawns, a Rook, and a Knight. Although, those two significant pieces were only lost because he sacrificed them in order to get out some of Peach's more important pieces, such as her Queen and one of her own Knights.
The Texan played remarkably well. Just as she caught on to how he played, he changed things up.
"Maybe this will work..." She thought, sliding her rook across and finally ridding Engineer of his Queen piece. For the past few moves, neither of them had been focused on that side of the board, so she was hoping that he wouldn't notice any openings for a Checkmate, and would instead just counter by removing her Rook.
"Hmm... hold on a sec," Engineer eyed the board, mainly Peach's King.
He then slowly shifted his Rook to the very bottom of the board, endangering her King. Unfortunately for Peach, all of her options were covered by either her own Pawns or by Engineer's special pieces. Despite her efforts, it was a Checkmate in Engineer's favor.
"Aww..." She pouted. "Well, that was certainly a tough game."
With convenient timing, ROB entered the shelter, greeting the other seven with news regarding the meal. "Your first meals are ready. I've also cooked the rice and beans far slower than usual, so I hypothesize that it should resemble less of a pebble and more of a well-cooked grain of rice in texture."
Phoenix's eyes widen. "I-is that true?!"
"That was hyperbole."
"And you're a robot," Phoenix muttered beneath his breath, standing up alongside the others to receive their meal.
As usual, ROB had neatly dished and distributed the food into everyone's bowls, leaving them to take it and enhance it with spices for themselves. Upon gathering their bowls, the survivors then sat under the shelter and ate their mediocre cuisine within minutes. When they first arrived, the pace of their eating was apparent to them and everyone around them, but now it was more second-nature than genuine hunger. Only fifteen minutes later were the survivors split into their own little groups as usual, leaving the bowls crudely stacked in the middle of the shelter's table. In the Jagged Rockies section lay Little Mac, Engineer, and, surprisingly, Samus. All of which had branched away from the others for a "little talk". Under the shelter remained the other five.
Samus stared at Engineer and Little Mac, only now arriving at the rockies section of the tribe.
"This should be far enough," Dell said, staring back at Samus and leaning against a tall rock. "No doubt you're aware of how much danger you're in."
"Tell me about it," replied Samus. "Not only do I have you two to worry about, but I had a conversation with Luigi and Peach earlier, and neither of them seemed interested in getting me out of this situation. That only spells doom for me, unless I can keep on winning challenges."
Little Mac folded his arms. "All of this could have been avoided if you didn't plan on getting me out." His tone was cold and bitter, akin to Samus.
"Hang on a second there, Mac," Engineer halted, raising his hand up slightly. "If I'm honest, seein' Samus and Meta Knight bring up targets for elimination was the biggest seller for me to get rid of them. They could have targeted Luigi, Phoenix, you name it, and I would have tried to get one of 'em out, because the second you put two powerful people together, then all Hell breaks loose for everyone else. Not to mention they apparently had Kirby on their side, so that's three strong players that will dominate challenges and weed out everyone else."
Samus nodded. "You have a point."
"Anyhow, now that you and Meta Knight seemed to have broken up, and now that it's clear that Kirby isn't really the best partner to have on an alliance, I'll pursue you no longer," Engineer then smirked cockily. "At least for now."
"R-really?!" Little Mac gasped. "But she wanted me gone!"
"Aw hell, everyone wants everyone gone! Ain't that the point? A couple of others wanted me gone, judging from last night's vote, and you don't see me tryna seek 'em out," he argued calmly, though his voice was stern. "Sure, they're bigger threats to your chances than the people who are on your side, but there are bigger fish to fry, such as those unstoppable players or, even worse, those alliances."
The boxer was taken back, silent but annoyed.
Samus looked to Engineer. "Doesn't that make you two the last alliance? At least, that's what you look like."
"This would be the point where I'd cut alliance ties with Little Mac. He has an alliance targetin' him dismantled, and I got rid of an alliance consistin' of two well-performing players dismantled. We've both gotten somethin' good out of this, and continuin' to be an alliance would be a darn death sentence," he explained. "However..."
He pointed over to those beneath the shelter with his gloved hand before retracting. "We ain't the only alliance left."
"So you're saying that Peach, ROB, Kirby, Phoenix, and Luigi are all in one alliance?" Queried Samus. "That's plausible."
"Kirby's more of a wildcard. I dunno which side he'll be on if any, so that leaves us versus the other four."
Little Mac's ears perked up as he slowly shook his head. "Wait, you aren't saying-"
"If we team up, then that's our best shot," suggested Engineer.
Samus was surprised to hear that the other two wanted her in their alliance, but it's not like she couldn't say no at this point. Overthrowing the majority will make life easier for everyone. "Until they're dealt with, that's it."
"Glad to hear it. What about you, Mac?"
Awkwardly, the boxer stared over to Samus, then to Engineer, and then back to Samus. "Fine. This idea better work out, Engie."
"Teaming up with the person who tried to eliminate me?! I don't want to do that at all. In fact, I was annoyed the second he said that he wouldn't be targeting Samus anymore, so this is just rubbing the salt in the wound... but... if it's to get to the end, then I guess I have no other choice other than winning immunity until the end of the game, like that's possible." - Little Mac.
The Texan beamed with hope. "Alrighty then! If we can get ourselves to the final five, then that should be good enough."
"But who will those people be?" Asked Samus.
Engineer scratched his shoulder. "I'm thinkin' Kirby and Peach, but I ain't fully confident in that. What I am confident in is that ROB should be our first target."
Confused, Little Mac slowly bobbed his head. "I get that ROB's a pretty big target, but didn't you just say that they're the majority? How are we supposed to take them out if they're the majority?"
"That's where she comes in," he responded, turning to Samus. "How's that idol doin'?"
"You want me to use the idol that you ratted out to everyone as a way to save your skin?" Samus folded her arms and gave an arrogant smirk. "That's ironic."
He rolled his eyes. "Let bygones be bygones, will ya? As long as we can get even with that four-man alliance by knockin' one member off, then we got a fightin' chance, and we can either work together to get all of us immune in the next challenge, or we can do the realistic strategy of finally puttin' your idol to some use."
The bounty hunter hesitantly agreed. "So, we use my idol to knock out ROB. That should be easy; my idol grants triple voting power, and the first vote cast towards the person who it's used on is nullified."
"Darn, that idol sounds like it was made for this," admitted Engineer. "I can't see how this'll end poorly for us."
Little Mac bit his lip. "Don't jinx it. I wonder how many people have said that before getting eliminated."
Whilst they came into agreement with their plan and target, those beneath the shelter were having a similarly strategic conversation. In order to make sure that Kirby wouldn't be aware of the conversation, ROB took Phoenix to one side and explained everything that was discussed at the crack of dawn. From Samus being their next main target to Engineer, Kirby, and Little Mac being additional targets for them to take on.
Upon learning it all, Phoenix was completely stumped. "I guess we have been acting as an alliance for a while, but all of this is news to me... you really think Kirby would win if he made it to the final three?"
"Not necessarily a guarantee, but incredibly likely," explained ROB. "I don't think there are candidates that are kinder and better-performing than Kirby. As much as everyone likes him, getting him out is our best option."
*OBJECTION!*
The robot tilted his head. "What do you object to?"
Phoenix felt stupid. He was objecting to a robot of all things, but even though he knew how accurate ROB was, he felt like he didn't have the full idea of what a Jury thinks when deciding the show's winner. "All of it! Kirby's an innocent, gentle... thing, that has plenty of strengths, but I feel as if almost everyone here has an equal shot for being picked by the Jury. I don't know who would win if the Jury had to pick the winner right now, but I think going objective and thinking people will pick Kirby because he's the overall best survivor isn't as bright of a theory as you think it is!"
ROB shook his head. "My calculations show that Kirby has the highest likelihood of being chosen as the winner by the current standing Jury. I cannot predict the future by any means, but you being so hesitant to vote him only proves my point."
The lawyer felt a wave of shock spike through him. He was entirely right, Kirby was friendly and impossible to hate after spending a few days with him, let alone weeks as Phoenix and the others had. Looks like he had no other choice but to agree with him and his calculations... but then, before he gave up, a realization sprung into his head. Peach was a strong, kind, and sharp person, one that spent a lot of time with ROB. Shortly after the realization, something else appeared in his mind, this time an idea.
"If voting people off by their likelihood of victory via Jury is what ROB goes by, then I should push him for a little extra info," thought Phoenix.
Eventually, he spoke back to the patient machine. "ROB, you believe that Kirby shouldn't make it to the top five, correct?"
"Correct."
"The only thing keeping you from voting him right now is Samus and her idol, correct? Plus, we have plenty of time before the final."
"Also correct."
Phoenix then pointed to him, it almost felt as if he was back in court. "Then tell me. Who is the second most likely to win the show?!"
Much to his surprise, ROB gave a long pause.
A long... long pause...
"Are you... okay?" He questioned, looking abashed.
Finally, his answer was delivered, as ROB bowed his head with what Phoenix assumed to be sadness. "The second most likely to become the Sole Survivor of the show would, by my logic, go out after Kirby. In fact, the second most likely was pretty close to Kirby, so getting both of them out would hold near-equal priority if you, yet again... went by my logic."
"It's Peach, isn't it?"
"I'm afraid so."
Phoenix placed his hands by his sides. "I thought so."
"Peach and I instantly became pretty close friends. Through all of the challenges that Power Flowers endured, we remained close, and despite me being separated into the Laudable Leaves, and being eliminated, I came back and immediately reconnected with her." ROB rose his head up. "I didn't mention her because targeting someone like her just felt wrong, even if the statistics argued otherwise."
"A robot with this much emotion? I surely underestimated you, ROB." - Phoenix Wright.
The lawyer nodded with understanding. "You don't have to resort to those percentages to find out who to vote off, ROB. Not only that, but we have plenty of time to change those results, especially when the final three will have their chance to explain themselves to the Jury. I may be risking my chance of winning if I ever get to the final by giving Kirby a chance to be there with me, but you're doing the same with Peach, and that's okay! Otherwise, you would have brought Johnny and Macho Man with you to the finals."
"Perhaps you're right, Phoenix," said ROB. "Looks like there's a change in plan. We're going to get Samus, Little Mac, and Engineer out. And then, as an alliance, it'll be every man for themselves."
Phoenix smiled. "We can only hope that it works out."
The two returned back to the shelter, informing Peach and Luigi of the discussion they had. Although ROB would be risking his chance for the two glorious prizes by planning to entire the final five with incredibly tough foes, which wasn't exactly the most optimal of strategies, ROB still felt it would be one of the best outcomes. As for Samus, Little Mac, and Engineer, fighting to level the playing field against the others would be their only shot of squeezing into the final five. What will happen, and which side will prevail? Only time would tell...
*TO BE CONTINUED*