*Last time on Survivor Crossover: Dry Dry Desert...*
Things kicked off angrily as Engineer and Samus argued over the result of the last Tribal Council. Though, thanks to Little Mac's intervening, the argument would become futile in tearing the alliance apart. Meanwhile, the remaining survivors discussed the shock of losing Kirby, especially through the means of Samus Aran's idol.
As ROB made dinner, both alliances met up with one another and, with no more need to hide their identity, revealed their alliances to one another. With that, both groups were officially rivals, albeit Peach, Luigi, Phoenix, and ROB had the number advantage over Engineer, Little Mac, and Samus.
Meanwhile, far from the desert area, the Jury Tribe gathered at the entrance of their tribe building at the request of a letter Alexa had sent them the day before. Once the host arrived, he explained to them that they would have a big part in choosing the next eliminated contestant based on the results of tomorrow's challenge...
The next day, the survivors were brought to a land familiar to Samus and Little Mac: the old Tropics region of the first season. They were quickly informed that today's challenge would be split into three trials, a small fraction of the tribe receiving immunity at the end of each one. The location was not the only twist, for Samus and Little Mac were given a bonus immunity due to their veteran status.
Five survivors remained without immunity, and their first trial was a repeat of the first season's very first challenge, which involved spinning and throwing a hammer over to several different kinds of buoys that rewarded them with different amounts of points. The two highest scorers after three throws each would be rewarded with immunity, thus dropping them out of the second and third trials. By the end, ROB dominated the competition and Luigi received one point over Peach, resulting in them winning immunity.
The second trial moved from the coastline and into the old Survivor Graveyard area, the trial involving twenty rounds of using knowledge, research, and logic in order to accurately rank the placements of the survivors from the first season. Similar to ROB's performance in the first trial, Phoenix dominated the competition, leaving Engineer and Peach to duke it out in a duel for the third trial. Before they were taken to the location it would be held at, they were informed that the spectating, immune survivors were to leave the island immediately. In addition, the winner of the third trial would not return to the desert until the day after.
As they arrived at the third and final trial, taking place at the island's abandoned Tribal Council, they learned that they would both have a chance to convince the seven Jury members to not vote for them. As Survivor Crossover-norm, the one who received the most votes from the Jury would be gifted elimination and the eighth Jury spot.
Though Engineer was quick to make enemies out of Spy and Waluigi, the rest of the Jury - barring Squidward - saw his speech superior to Peach's. As the votes were tallied, Peach received one vote over the Texan, eliminating her and solidifying Engineer's place in the final six...
Only one more elimination before the Finale arrives. Who will be the final one to miss out on it? How brutal will this final challenge be? And what alliance will prevail over the others? All and more will be answered in this semi-final episode of Survivor Crossover: Dry Dry Desert!
Super Stars: Day 29
Survivors: Phoenix Wright - Luigi - Little Mac - ROB - Samus Aran.
The day was still early, very early. In fact, thirty minutes from now would be the usual time when the others got up, but instead, they all camped around the Super Stars pipe, waiting for either Engineer or Peach to arrive.
On one side of the pipe were Little Mac and Samus, whilst the other side lay Phoenix, Luigi, and ROB.
"You do know that you'll hear them coming from the pipe, correct?" Samus checked.
Little Mac nodded slowly, not removing his gaze from the pipe.
"Then why do you keep staring at it?"
"I don't know, I can barely take my eyes off of it," he confessed, rubbing his eyes. "I barely got any sleep last night. I got no sleep because all I thought about was how screwed me and you are if Engineer isn't the one who comes out of that pipe. Maybe if we were the one with the majority, I'd sleep better, but whether we make it to the end or not all relies on whether he's the one who comes out of that pipe and not Peach!"
Samus laid back, sitting down on the sand as she agreed. "You're right. Though at least one of us here will make it to the Finale."
"And then from there it's getting immunity twice in a row," he added. "Our alliance will crumble without him."
"If that happens, then pray we both get immunity in the next challenge."
"You bet I'll try, but I don't see the both of us beating those guys again. Maybe if it's a physical challenge, but if it's a solo race, then ROB has us beat in speed," Little Mac grunted. "Times like these where I begin to feel annoyed that you used your idol on Kirby and not ROB..."
Though Little Mac was nervous and pessimistic over the timeline of Engineer losing, the others were very optimistic over Peach's success.
Phoenix pointed to ROB. "Hey, you're capable of pulling up odds right? Like you said, they aren't accurate, but I'm sure a rough estimate on Peach's chances of winning that mystery trial wouldn't hurt."
"Judging by Peach's ability to hover, her decent speed and her strength..." ROB paused, calculating the odds. "I'd say that percentage-wise, Engineer has a roughly 20% chance of appearing from that pipe."
In response to the landslide results, he spat out his water in awe. "T-twenty?! That's a lot lower than I thought."
"Exactly. Though there's a chance our hopes could be wrong, I am fully confident that we won't be seeing him until tomorrow's Tribal Council, where he shows up as a Jury member," he explained.
Luigi sighed. "It's-a cruel being left on a cliffhanger for-a this long."
"Don't worry," said Phoenix. "I'm sure they'll appear from that pipe any minute. And by they, I mean Peach!"
"Not to-a be rude, but didn't you say that an hour ago?" He interrogated.
The lawyer paused. "Yeah, well, erm."
"I'm sure that statement holds more water now. All of us woke up far earlier than usual, but we're approaching the time we typically wake up at. Perhaps that'll be the time-"
*Rumble*
The six snapped their heads to the pipe, locking eyes on it. The rumbling noise, dull and metallic, grew louder by the second. From the noise, they assumed that either Engineer or Peach were going to conveniently arrive at the tribe.
"Did you not just hear what ROB said?" Asked Little Mac. "Twenty percent is NOT a good number."
Samus remained silent, continuing to stare down the pipe. Any moment, her fate would come leaping from the pipe. Would said fate be a fair chance at getting to the final three safely? Or would it be her clawing her way to the final three by performing flawlessly on every future challenge?
From the yellow pipe...
...Came Engineer.
"Woohoo!" He cheered, leaping from the pipe and onto its edge. "Good to see you folk again."
Little Mac jumped for joy, full of adrenaline. "YES! YOU'RE BACK!"
He walked forward and lifted his glove high into the air before receiving a high-five from the mercenary. Samus simply smiled in the background, happy to know that getting further would be a little easier.
The three of them were blissful, happy to still remain as a solid alliance. The opposite was true for the other three, sadly staring at the pipe as they thought about their lost partner.
Phoenix gritted his teeth and shook his head. He was filled with raw disbelief. "That estimation raised my hopes too much..."
ROB silently hung his head, mourning the loss of his friend.
"I will greatly miss her. She deserved the win through her effort and kindness alone, but I suppose Engineer managed to best her in what I can only assume to be in a fair, one-on-one challenge." - ROB.
Luigi frowned, taken back by the news. "Peach..." He uttered beneath his breath.
Engineer spotted the three, feeling a spike of pity hit him. "Hey, she did damn well 'till the very end. I even thought she had me beat until the last second."
Curious, Phoenix tilted his head. "What was the trial about?"
He removed his hat and fanned himself with his hand. "I'll tell ya, but let's get under that shelter first. How you gathered 'round this pipe for who-knows-how-long with that sun starin' ya down is beyond me, and I've been to some fiery locations."
Upon entering the shelter, the mercenary explained the final trial. From the Jury showing up, to the speeches he and Peach made, and to the final vote. Overall, even he was surprised to see himself standing where he was as opposed to the princess that was seemingly on everyone's good side.
"Maybe it was her speech, or maybe they pitied me. I dunno what went through their heads, but the fact I got outta there scot-free despite havin' not one, but two Jury vocally against me was a miracle," he explained. "I just remember sittin' there, dumbfounded. Oh, and in case you were wonderin', she took it as well as you'd expect from someone as gentle as her."
"I see," murmured Luigi.
With the shelter awkwardly mute, Phoenix tried to elevate things. "Luigi, you were friends with Peach, right? And if I had to guess judging by your clothes, you're probably related to Mario, Wario, and Waluigi as well!"
He sighed. "That's-a true. Though I'm-a not on good terms with-a Wario and-a Waluigi."
"Sheesh, I could tell," added Little Mac. "Waluigi never left you alone."
Phoenix continued. "So think about it. You're still in the game, and none of them ever got to win that prize. You can do what they couldn't, and as much as losing Peach stings, it's basically just a step closer to the end. Not a great step, but a step!"
It sounded ridiculous to the plumber at first, but the more he thought about it, the more it was true. Peach was the person he wanted eliminated the least, and in spite of that, and even in spite of her being an alliance member, her elimination brought him closer to the Finale.
The robot stiffly nodded with agreement. "When you consider their performances, you've already gotten further than all of them. It's just that, the only way you can surpass your own brother is to..."
"...Win the entire competition," said Luigi. "I'm-a not sure if I can do that, but I know it's-a possible. Otherwise, I wouldn't have-a signed up for-a this show!" His voice began to pick up a little more. He would still be sad over losing Peach, but he knew that she and Mario were rooting for him to win.
"That's the spirit," thought Phoenix. "This elimination was damaging to us, but we can't lose hope."
Little Mac grinned. "I like your fight, but remember that you have us to go through. Both of our alliances are tied, and I'm as motivated to get that money just as much as you are!"
Playing along with his overly competitive attitude, the plumber retaliated. "It's-a on!"
"It appears the alliances have gotten friendly," commented Alexa, appearing from seemingly nowhere. "I guess I should add to the positive atmosphere!"
"W-WAAAAAH!" Luigi screamed cowardly. "O-oh, it's-a you."
However sick and tired of Alexa he was, Phoenix immediately pressured him on his statement. "What do you mean by add? Do you finally have some good news for us?"
The host whipped out six envelopes, evenly spread out in his hand. "I felt as if I was a little too hard on you guys. I'm sure four weeks of living in a desert has made you very homesick and tired. So, as a gift for making it so far, I've decided to whip up six letters for each of you. Whatever is in it will surely make you feel better."
He passed each one out to the survivors and turned around. "I know I just turned up, but I should get going. There's still a lot of stuff I need to do before I can begin lounging around."
And just like that, Alexa disappeared once more. With his intrusion over, the survivors turned to the envelopes in their hands. Each one had their name written on the back.
Around the same time, they opened their envelopes, Samus having an especially difficult time due to the bizarre choice to glue it shut for hers specifically.
The first one to read their card was an eager Little Mac:
"Hey champ! You made me proud the first time you made the choice to attend this show, but now you're really making me proud. You're doing even better than last time, and you keep it up until you win. You get me?
From, Doc Louis."
The boxer's eyes widened as he read the card over again. "Thanks, coach! I won't let you down."
Engineer eyeballed him, assuming that whoever had sent him the letter was someone he knew. From that, he had a pretty good idea what message was on his card. As he opened it, he read it to himself:
"HELO ENJEE! YOU ARE DOING GREYT! KEEP UP THE GOOD WERK, SON!
FROM SOLDIER.
P.S. THE KID SAYS HE WOOD DO BETTER THAN YOU!"
Ignoring the eyesore grammatical errors, the crude handwriting, and the poke at his colleague Scout at the end, Engineer appreciated the letter. "Thanks, Soldier. Hell, maybe Scout would do pretty damn well in a show like this if not for that mouth of his."
The next one that read their card was Phoenix:
"Hey Nick! You know, not even I thought you would make it far when I saw some of the people you were up against. But you proved me and Edgeworth wrong! Keep going, Nick, you can win this! Me and Pearly are rooting for you!
From, Maya Fey."
"Feels good to prove Edgeworth wrong for the hundredth time," Phoenix cheekily thought. "Thank you for the motivation, Maya!"
By this point, Luigi, Samus and ROB were under the impression that the theme of the six envelopes was support, advice, and motivation from loved ones and friends. With this information, the plumber had a good idea of what person would be behind his card. As for Samus and ROB, they had no idea who had sent them their cards.
The first of the three to tear open their envelope was Luigi, who read his card with high optimism.
"Heya bro! I've heard how well you've been doing on this show, and all I can do is hope for my brother to get further than I did and win! If I can get to the end, then I know YOU can get to the end.
From, Mario.
P.S. Good job on getting further than Waluigi!"
Though he had already found more confidence within himself only a few moments ago, he held the card dearly to him. It was now a fact that his brother Mario was rooting for him back at home, and he knew he couldn't disappoint the person he looked up to the most.
Around the same time, Samus opened up her card, half-expecting a blank card and a witty comment from Alexa poking fun at her lack of friends. After a long sigh, she stoically read the card, but soon found her eyes widening from its contents:
"GOOD MORNING OR AFTERNOON, MRS. ARAN! DUE TO ALEXA UNABLE TO FIND ANYONE ACQUAINTED WITH YOU, HE GAVE ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY USING ONE OF THESE CARDS! AS THE GREAT PAPYRUS, I AM CERTAINLY CAPABLE OF GIVING YOU THE MOTIVATION YOU NEED TO WIN THE ENTIRE COMPETITION! SO... GOOD LUCK TO YOU, AND REMEMBER TO MAKE AS MANY FRIENDS AS POSSIBLE SO THEY VOTE YOU TO WIN AT THE END OF THIS DASTARDLY COMPETITION!
BEST OF LUCK, THE GREAT (AND MOTIVATIONAL) PAPYRUS!"
Well, though she wasn't exactly motivated by the card in any way whatsoever, she failed to predict getting a card from Papyrus of all people. The contents of the card were silly enough for her to crack a smile, and she was glad that the card contained that over anything to do with Alexa.
The final person to open their card was ROB. In theme with Samus, he read his card around the same time everyone else did, but he was completely unsure of what the contents would be like. He didn't have anyone related to him in the slightest, be it family or friend, so he simply assumed for the card to be something completely generic if not empty.
To his complete and utter surprise, that was not the case:
"Dear ROB.
Though I've just been eliminated from the show, I was given the opportunity to write a card for you for motivation. When the competition was early, I hoped for Luigi to win if I couldn't. And now, as much as I still want him to win for me and his brother, I want you to know that I'm rooting for you to win. You may be a robot, but you have as much of a shot at winning as every other person in that tribe with you! No matter what happens, you have my vote.
From, Peach."
Under the impression that she and Luigi would stick together like glue in terms of loyalty, he was filled with a feeling completely new to him. He felt determined to achieve the title of Sole Survivor, which was already built and ingrained into his mind from the second he was approached with the invitation by Alexa. However, this determination was backed by more than a script in his mind; it was backed by emotion.
He turned to the others as they continued reading over their cards. All of their reactions ranged from pleased to refueled and ready to tackle on tomorrow's final challenge before the Finale. It wasn't something he particularly wanted to do, but ROB was prepared to crush their dreams of winning just so he could himself. For himself, and for his friends that believe in him.
Nothing more of note happened that day. They talked about their letters, had a couple of rationed meals, even brought cards out of boredom at one point. As they went to sleep in their ever-shrinking tribe, they thought about tomorrow and how it would house the final frontier before the moment they've been waiting for would begin. And even from that point, more of them would leave the show before a winner would eventually be crowned by the Jury.
And with that, they all shut their eyes, wanting as much rest as possible for tomorrow. Howbeit, one survivor specifically had trouble resting well...
Tribal Council?: Night 29
Survivors: Phoenix Wright - Luigi - Little Mac - Engineer - ROB - Samus Aran.
"And, eliminated at five votes..." Alexa held his breath, tension filling the air. This was it, this was the final elimination before the ultimate Finale would begin...
"PHOENIX WRIGHT!" Proclaimed Alexa.
The lawyer gasped, clenching his hair and shaking his head with despair. "B-but, what happened to the alliance?!"
"We couldn't risk a rock draw. We may be an alliance, but we still have to put ourselves before you," ROB explained coldly.
"I'm-a so sorry Phoenix..." Luigi whispered.
The others glared at him as Alexa took out his blowtorch, burning his portrait into ashes. "Sorry Phoenix, but you must now leave Survivor Crossover: Dry Dry Desert! You aren't cut out for the Finale, and you never will be."
"You can say that again," added Samus.
Phoenix held his hand up. "W-wait!"
"Wait for what? The tribe has spoken," said Alexa. "Join the Jury and leave the show."
This dreaded outcome felt like Deja Vu. He couldn't help but question if something like this had already happened, but there was no point in day-dreaming when Alexa wanted him gone. Phoenix attempted to stand himself up but was far too weak and frail to push himself from the bench. Those around him, whether it be his former-tribe, Jury or even Alexa himself, began laughing at how pathetic he was. His face was red with embarrassment and shame... all he could do was listen to the haunting laughter and the crackling fire, growing louder and louder by the second until it was deafening...
Super Stars: Night 29
Survivors: Phoenix Wright - Luigi - Little Mac - Engineer - ROB - Samus Aran.
He jolted awake, springing up from the cold floor of his tent as he huffed loudly.
"That dream... not again," he said. A couple of weeks ago, he had a near-identical dream about being blindsided and eliminated. It originally haunted him, but as he found his footing and stayed safe far into the Merge, he eventually forgot about it. With it back, he was once again beginning to fear tomorrow's Tribal Council. Would his alliance really blindside him? He couldn't stay up fearing over a nightmare that proved to mean nothing the last time he encountered it, and so he attempted to get himself back to sleep while he still could. He couldn't help but find himself unable to shake off that worry, however, even as he drifted back to sleep...
*TO BE CONTINUED*