Mexico (Brain vs Brawn vs Beauty) - Ponderosa

Chapter 1 - Juror 1

Alright, that summary should have been your first and final warning if you plan on reading this. This is the part of the era where I start on my Ponderosa side fic for the season. For those who don't know, "Ponderosa" is a place to where the jury goes immediately after they get eliminated from the game. Since Espio is now the first member of the jury, he has to go this place where it is basically a cafe with a temporarily small home nearby for one juror each (home as in a simple room and shower).

The main purpose of it all is so that the jurors could have a place to stay before they are to return to all the remaining Tribal Councils as part of the jury. And with Espio being juror number one, for now, other than the Ponderosa staff, he gets to have the place all to himself until the next member of the jury comes.

That being said, let's see how he reflects from being eliminated from the game. (Darn Specter Knight lol)

~KF

"Greetings. I am Espio, juror number one. And this is my Ponderosa."

Night 24

The first member of Survivor - Mexico's jury was now confirmed, Espio the Chameleon walking along the pathway that was set to lead straight to the medical tent where he was set to get a check up.

"Never expected to go out like this... First person in Survivor history that idol'd themselves out of the game..." He actually began to laugh. "Vector's going to be really mad at me."

"I was in utter shock at what happened. I knew that Plague Knight didn't have the idol from my tribe because I had the idol, so we were all comfortable casting our votes onto him. However, nobody assumed that Specter Knight was going to play his idol on him because we figured that he was loyal to Ryu's Strong Guys Alliance. And based on how he and Plague reacted, this would mean that Plague found out he was being targeted, and that Specter likely told Plague he was in trouble."

"I do not know why Specter Knight chose to play his idol on him, but I suppose he has his own reasons. I eyed the knights, Chica, and Daisy one by one, quickly put it all together and realized that they must have voted for Golden." He talked as he continued his way. "I assumed that Plague was still bitter towards the fact that I blindsided him, but I figured that they voted for Golden because that was who Daisy and Chica wanted out anyway, and that he was the biggest physical player for the Brains at the time."

"How it should have happened is that after Plague's votes were negated, the rest of the votes were supposed to be negated for Golden. And from that point, I don't know what we would have done. Maybe get rid of either Specter or Daisy? But I suppose we'll never know since it didn't happen that way. Golden's name only came up twice, those didn't counted, then out of nowhere my name shows up. They knew this was going to happen. They assumed that since Plague didn't have Brain's idol, one of us had it and they assumed that we were likely to play it, so they decided to split the votes... Now I'm here."

"As a player, I have a huge amount of respect for Specter Knight now." He admitted. "I do not know what his motivations are at this time, but that was excellent. That was one of the best moves I've ever seen."

He finally made it to the medical tent, where Crazy Hand, Master Hand's younger twin brother, was waiting for his arrival.

"Doctor Crazy Hand..."

"Good evening, Mr. Espio the Chameleon!" He greeted, his voice obviously being the louder one in comparison. "How are you feeling?"

"I suppose physically I am alright." He said, sitting down in the single chair in the tent, Crazy already going right to work to check his blood pressure. "I don't think I've overexerted myself in challenges... And I suppose when it comes to the 'lack of food' predicament, I think I fared pretty well. I was never known for eating often."

"I was never expecting to lose too much weight. I did not weigh much before the game started, anyway..."

"Step on the scale for me."

With his weight being applied to it, he read the number out loud. "...72.1..."

"Alright..." The doctor quickly jotted that down on his clipboard. "And you weighed to be 79.3 pounds when we first got here, so that means you've lost... 7.2 pounds, Espio."

"Hmm... I'll probably gain it all back within a month. I should be alright."

"Okay, then. Let's get you out of here. Congratulations on making it this far, Espio!"

"Thank you." He smiled in reply. "I really appreciate it. Hopefully I get the chance to play again."

-/-

His boat arrived at the dock, with Ponderosa waiting for its jury member, curious Espio getting off his ride to perceive it for himself.

"Hmm... This is interesting."

"It was quite interesting knowing that I am the first and only one here so far. Sounds a bit lonely, but I would not mind being alone for a few days. I feel rather content to be alone to tell you the truth, so I never really thought anything of it."

He entered the Ponderosa cafe to see a large table fit for himself and the rest of the jurors that were set to come, as well as a tall mirror to his left so that each juror had the chance to look at his or her 'transformation' over the course of some many days being in the Aztec Empire.

And when Espio took a glance at his reflection, his invisible eyebrow lifted a bit, though he simply appeared to be just a bit darker on the skin from being in the sun for so long. Yet other than the fact that he knew he needed a shower, nothing really changed about him that much.

Still, he had one simple comment. "...Like I am homeless..."

Several minutes later, the food he ordered while on the boat was being served to him by one of the chefs from the kitchen. He was quite a fan of quesadillas. The beef and guacamole were his personal favorite parts of the dish. However, he was also a sucker for seafood. The shrimp scampi was certainly dish he could not have ignored.

"I can not even remember the last time I ate like this. One important thing to note, for those future survivors that end up being on the jury like I am, no one is kidding around saying that there is... a 'food shortage' on Survivor." Though it was more of a joke, at the same time he was dead serious. "Thus, by the time you have your food, you are going to eat like you never have before."

And he continued on, with the occasional drink of his iced tea in between.

"I suppose in the middle of me eating my food I was starting to reflect on my game a bit more. ...I think besides winning, I think that I am quite proud of the game of my played. I've done everything I desired. I was on a minor winning streak with my tribe, I found a hidden immunity idol, I've made a couple flashy moves here and there, and I formed good, solid bonds with my tribe members. I think I lived up to my tribe name pretty well, but it's just that I was basically outsmarted by others. Maybe now I understand how it feels..."

-/-

He was now on his way for his home for the time being until the season was to be finished.

"I am pretty much going to be here for the next two weeks, so I might as well make myself comfortable and prepare for some downtime and... maybe think through everything and have a bit of self-reflection. Time for a good night's sleep."

The camera focused on Espio closing his door, set to turn himself in within the next hour.

Day 25

Due to it being the first good night's sleep he received since before day one of his Survivor adventure, Espio the Chameleon, slept rather late, though by the time he made it back to the cafe, it was just past nine in the morning. Not too late at all for breakfast.

Though a bit cloudy, it never stopped him from enjoying himself that day.

Unsurprisingly, first things first, he had his breakfast. French toast was one of his all time favorite foods since he was a kid. The strawberries on top of it made the dish feel rather complete to him.

He then suddenly realized something was missing. "Hmm... I've forgotten to get coffee."

And he was craving for it to be iced.

"I've done a bit of meditating this morning. I do admit that I was simply too lazy to move from bed for obvious reasons. So me sitting up in the bed doing so eventually made me get on my feet. Soon after breakfast, I immediately began to think of what to do around here for the next three days until whoever comes here next."

-/-

Within a couple hours later, Espio the Chameleon was seen on the Ponderosa cafe's doorstep performing his favorite hobby once again.

...

With no words, he sat still pretzel styled with his eyes closed, now much being heard from around him. However, unbeknownst to the chameleon, a Quetzal bird was eyeing him directly from one of the tree branches, cocking its head to its left wondering if the chameleon was somehow sleeping sitting like that.

"Meditating is rather... let's say underrated. I honestly think that more people should do it sometime. Most people, especially ones from my age group would not even think of doing it because they say that it is boring. Sure it may seem like you are doing nothing but sitting down basically, but at the same time, that is sort of the point. I know Vector and Charmy would never do it, but this was something that I've been doing for years and I regret nothing. Who does not want to relieve all the stress they may have? ...Well, people resort to... 'other' methods of stress relief that I wish to not say... Let's just say that this method will... cause the least amount of damage."

He briefly opened his eye for a bit, causing the Quetzal to immediately fly away out of fear, but then it closed back once more.

"I supposed during my time of self-reflection, I was thinking of the game of course, and how things may have been different. But for the most part, I was mainly thinking of myself and comparing to how I am back on Mobius. I think that I've played pretty much to my character. However, I have received criticism from my right hand man, Vector, for taking myself a little too seriously. He told me that life is too short to take everything seriously and that having a relaxed and carefree attitude every now and then would not kill anyone..." He snickered a bit. "A bit dramatic if you ask me, but at the same time, I understand where he is coming from."

It was starting to sprinkle a little, Espio glancing up at the sky knowing that his meditation session was interrupted by precipitation yet again, remembering him of his time with Ryu and Golden on the swapped Toro where rain also messed everything up.

"I'm a detective ninja. I dedicate almost all of my time to my training, whether I'm a detective solving cases with Team Chaotix or me practicing my ninja skills, I make sure that I am focused on what I am doing. Justice has to be served and I need to practice some kind of skill in order for me to defend myself. Though I suppose sometimes I can go a bit too far. I was kidnapped as a child and it still haunts me to this day, being a direct cause of how I am... It really changed me forever. So I can't say that Vector is wrong with me taking myself too seriously at times... But then again, whenever I meditate to relax my mind, he calls it... 'lame'... Maybe he just wants me to be more sociable... I don't know... But I think I have been rather sociable for this game. I think the friendships that I have made will last for a long time."

He was now inside the cafe again as it gradually began to rain more heavy as time went on, him considering on retrieving to his home before things became worse.

"Sure I may only be nineteen and I may not seem like it at times. People around me have said that I grew up too quickly. But I think that at any age you can achieve many great things. And I do feel that I achieved a lot during my time on Survivor. I think that the way I played highlights my character well. Hopefully this can show more people from my age group and that it proves that age is but a number. Just remember the old phrase: 'You can do anything if you set your mind to it.' Trust me when I say that it goes a long way."

Hmm... A little short, even for a first chapter where only one juror is at Ponderosa, but when you have Espio of all people, it is rather difficult to do. But hopefully I still made his chapter count. Added a bit of backstory for him here too, so maybe that would help. Maybe he could now use his platform to fight against kidnapping around the world.

Sooo anyways, if Espio is one of your favorites then consider voting for him on my poll for the 'Player of the Season', which will end around the time when the season is getting ready to close. I honestly will try to get these chapters out whenever I can. I got lucky this time to post this chapter the day after Espio's elimination, but it's not gonna be a guarantee to be like that all the time. The main story is the main priority for these Survivor eras and honestly, the Ponderosa chapters are although easy to write, it is the most repetitive aspect of the whole era because I basically gotta do the same thing for every juror for the most part. Yet since they have different personalities and more people coming soon, it doesn't make it too bad.

With that being said, I will see around for juror number two!