Survivor - Emperors vs Knights

Chapter 21 - Day 17 Part 1

You know what, I got a small confession to make lol. I haven't actually confirmed all eighteen castaways for the next season yet,... but then I confirmed all the castaways for season four. Weird right? I thought to myself that if I confirm all castaways for season three, then I would be too excited to wait it out and have the season planned to early for me. I want to at least wait until the merge to start planning and to be honest, just last month I swapped a few castaways out so that they can compete sooner rather than later. (And I'm gonna make another announcement right now, it's going to be a theme based season like this one, so that's why I felt that certain castaways have to compete earlier.)

But let's focus focus back on season two (this story of course lol). So one emperor too many got the boot last night, and the knights will officially have the numbers at merge, the remaining six from that tribe already in trouble and we still have one more Tribal Council to go to before that (yes, the merge is at thirteen).

~KF

Chatan

Night 16

Sheik, Bonnie, Greninja, Zelda

-/-

Greninja, Zelda, Sheik, and Bonnie laid their torches against the tree closest towards their shelter.

"You alright, Zelda?" Sheik asked.

"Well, all that I can say is that I appreciate the three of you keeping you here." Her fellow Hyrulian replied. "I will try my hardest to help with the challenges."

"We will all try." said Greninja, adding more wood to the fire to keep it going. "We're all in this together. There might be only four people left over here, but since the other tribes are sitting a person out, it will not even matter."

"Of course I can't blame Bonnie for going with the safer option tonight, because he has to do what's best for him, so he took advantage of the fact that Mega got eliminated the time before last. Nevertheless though, first it was me being in a hole with someone else, now it is me against the world." Zelda talked. "I am the only emperor on the old Knights tribe, and the only way I can make it out alive is if this tribe wins the next immunity challenge, since rumor has it that this upcoming tribal will be the last Tribal Council before the merge. With that being said, even though people seem to be glad that I am here, I know I have to do everything within my power to make sure that we win, or else I am going to be the next to go..."

"But since Pac-Man left, it's pretty clear no matter what happens my tribe alliance is still going to be down in numbers. So, fate of the emperors? We're done..."

Meanwhile, while Bonnie remained at the shelter to watch over Zelda, Greninja and Sheik were at the beach with big grins on their faces.

"...Well?" said Greninja.

"We did it." Sheik nodded. "We're gonna have the numbers."

"It's a good feeling." Greninja bobbed his head up and down. "Everyone's worst fear of this situation turning out to be the exact opposite, so... it's a major relief for all of us."

"Surprisingly, the Knights Alliance is the one that is going to have the majority now at merge." Greninja stated. "Even if one of us ends up leaving next time, it would not even matter, because one too many emperors had their torch snuffed. I don't know if any of the emperors automatically expected themselves to completely dominate over us for this game, but when things ended up turning around in our favor? I gotta says in these type of situations, it is definitely something you don't see everyday. Instead of our fate being controlled by the emperors, we're gonna be the ones that will control them instead."

Nago

Day 17

Shadow, Marth, Shulk, Krystal, Knuckles

-/-

Knuckles picked up a large branch and smacked it against the tree, surprisingly breaking in half due to its size. Next thing he knew, he found himself stomping both branches breaking them up even more.

Shulk was behind staring in awe.

"The two knights on this tribe are working their... tails off to say the least." He commented. "Ever since we got here, they've been going at it non stop... I guess they feel as if they're trying so hard to impress me, Marth, and Shadow because they see us as their bosses who have just been hired for the job, even though they don't have to break their necks around here just so that can they can prove to us that they're worthy of staying on the island, hahaha! I mean, we all deserve to be here. But, they just carried on."

"Hey guys, since it's gonna rain today, I'm gonna start weaving these palm fronds a little tighter over here." Krystal suggested, already doing the task in front of Marth.

"Oh, okay... Thanks..."

Knuckles was now returning to the camp with a scuba mask on his face.

"What you got..." Shadow eyed him.

"...A stingray..."

"..You what?"

"Meh..." He shrugged. "It only took me about ten minutes. I wanted to get an octopus but it was all over the place, you know what I'm saying? So hopefully this will do, so that we'll all be fed before our next challenge takes place. Oh, and by the way, Krystal got the fire going so we can just fry this up..."

"...I'm impressed." He folded his arms. "I felt as if some of my old tribe members were afraid to take the survival aspect of the game seriously..."

He smirked and snickered. "You should have met Cloud Strife from Chatan. But our tribe worked together well with the shelter and all."

"You were the ones that got that kit on day one, so you all had an early advantage."

"I know, but we still had to be on our toes twenty-four seven." Knuckles finally removing the scuba mask. "It's especially a priority since it's raining in Japan half the time this season... Speaking of rain, it hasn't actually rained in a while..."

That actually made Shadow facepalm. "You should have never said that... Now it's probably gonna happen..."

"Whoops..."

"I mean, they're all staring at me and Krystal like they're amazed of what we're doing around here at a camp that was not even ours from the get go." Knuckles talked, his right arm leaning against a rock as he began to laugh. "I mean, it's not as if I'm trying to please them or anything, because I don't have to please anybody other than myself... unless you want to prove trust in this game. But, me and Krystal are just used to getting the job done. Camp is not gonna make itself, you know? I had to fend for myself since I was alone on Angel Island since I was a kid, so I'm pretty much used to it."

"So Knux," Shadow then changed topics. "since I've put my neck on the line for you, we need to come up with a game plan at this point that would satisfy the both of us..."

"I agree..." He said. "...What's best for you if we gotta go back to tribal?"

"Hmm..." He thought to himself for a moment. "I am afraid I can not risk agitating the rest of the tribe any longer, even though I am playing my own game here. You guys already have the numbers and most likely people aren't satisfied with my decision. Wouldn't be surprised if some have already figured out what happened..."

"The phrase at the second challenge specifically stated 'Do Not Waste the Opportunity.' And so, I felt that I've taken the perfect opportunity to flip against Mega. Unsurprisingly, the tribe as a whole is probably throwing a temper tantrum about it as if they're all Shadow the Hedgehog. I determine my own destiny. And if it means sacrificing another emperor just so that I can move forward, so be it. But my questions is... should I send home another emperor or still by tribal lines and vote off a knight this time? ...I suppose I can attempt to earn Marth and Shulk's trust back if I speak with them..."

He was now moving along with them in the forest.

"Listen... I brought you two over here for a reason, since both of the knights are distracted with their own work ethic at the moment..." He stated. "I know what I did before Marth was sent here, but please listen to what I have to say."

"You have the floor..." said Shulk.

"Okay, so... I don't want you two to think that I don't care about numbers, since Survivor is without a doubt a numbers game. Shulk, I know you are the type of person that would understand that in order to keep moving forward, we need to at least work with one knight in the game."

"Yeah, I do..." He nodded in agreement.

"Good, I am glad you understand that." The Mobian bobbed his head up and down out of relief. "Even if we go to tribal again, a knight would still be on this tribe before the merge, and so we can use him... or her so that we can all advance deep in the game. But for our game, I believe the best person that would help us move forward is Knuckles."

"You think so?"

"I know so." He answered Marth. "Knuckles is obviously a strong physical competitor. If he can win some immunities, he can help protect this alliance. He has the biggest chance of keep immunity away from everyone else than Krystal."

"I would have told them where Knuckles stood on his old tribe, but then Marth and Shulk could very well put two and two together and remember that I was on the outs on this tribe. They could easily had a side conversation and come to the conclusion that me and Knuckles have something going on."

"I mean, Krystal on the other hand is not going to win twenty immunity challenges. We need to have a strong alliance come the merge, and other than... you (no offense)..."

"None taken, I suppose..." Marth Lowell rolled his eyes.

"Other than you, we have a physically strong team and we would want to increase our chances of winning challenges as much as possible so we would have more room to work with. Our end goal is to make to final four or final five depending on whether or not we win the next immunity challenge."

"Sounds like it's something to consider. We'll keep talking." Shulk said. "You should probably check up on those two to see if they're not out looking for idols..."

As Shadow was out of sight within the next dozen seconds, Shulk and Marth were eye to eye.

"...Do you really trust him?" The former asked.

"Not as far as I can throw him based on his actions from before." Marth shook his head 'no.' "Shadow is clearly a dangerous person. He has some valid points on us working with at least one of the knights, but I am not one to trust someone so easily after I have been betrayed."

"Well, like we said before..." Shulk placed his hands on his hips. "We can't even vote Shadow out now because that would make our future look even worse. There are still more knights than emperors, and we have a team like the knights, there is no question that they're all gonna try and stick together for as long as possible."

"But if we can not vote Shadow out at this moment, perhaps we should pull in Krystal and get rid of Knuckles so that Shadow would have one less option to work with and so that we could potentially use Krystal for our game." Marth suggested. "We can start interacting with her more than ever before. She is less likely to lie and manipulate, so she would be much easier to work with even if we do plan on working with Shadow long term."

"I will not allow my game to be dictated by another who has already betrayed my trust." Marth sat on a rock with a head shake. "Shadow could be playing both me and Shulk again wanting to take control over here. He knows he's in hot water for what he did, and I am sure the rest of the emperors feel the same way. If we lose, perhaps it is best for me and Shulk to move three steps ahead of Shadow and keep in Krystal over Knuckles, since me and Shulk believe that she is not a villain, and more of an honest, down to earth person. Based off of Knuckles's character, I would not be surprised if he is the type that will fight for anyone, including his fellow knights from Chatan. Nothing is for certain, but we have to take some precautions. For all we know, Knuckles could easily convince Krystal that it is best for them to overthrow the emperors once and for all."

Motobu

Day 17

Luigi, Foxy, Shovel Knight, Roy, Freddy

-/-

Luigi was standing in the middle of the beach looking up at the sky.

"And... I think it's gonna rain again... My guess that it's either gonna be either tonight or by the time we wake up tomorrow."

"It's pretty interesting on how I was a fish out of water on my old tribe, and now, people aren't even looking at me right now... it seems... But no matter what it is, if no one is thinking of voting me out, that's always a good thing. I feel like if I can do whatever I can to keep my name off the radar, then I would be the last person people would think of. Hopefully I can pull it off just enough so that I can make it to the end of the game. And if I win, I would feel as if it will be my biggest accomplishment."

While he was all alone, Shovel Knight and Foxy found the time to interact with one another.

"We're the only swapped tribe that has not attended Tribal Council yet." He informed. "Throughout this whole game I've only attended one tribal, and I'm starting to forget its appearance a little."

"I don't blame you." Foxy shook. "Whoever avoids tribal the most a season is always a good thing. ...But if we do go to tribal next, we're still set on voting for Freddy?"

"I believe it's our best interest. What about you?"

"Well," Foxy prepared himself to enlighten the shovel knight. "I think the threat level when it comes to Freddy and Roy is about the same, except we know who is more long term and who's not, so we could go either way. However, my only concern is that Roy would be a bit harder to get rid of. If Freddy gets to the merge, he would already have a target on his back for being physical. But if Roy makes it to the merge, then the target would be on somebody else like Shulk or even Shadow for instance. Roy for all we know can just survive these first couple tribals and then squeeze his way in, and he is more likely to be one of the last few emperors standing, and we're on the jury."

He nodded in agreement.

"This Tribal Council may not be as significant as say for Chatan's, since they were the ones that went last time." Shovel Knight was found in the forest. "However, one of our main concerns is exactly how far would these two emperors go? They're both used to control and they both have the drive to whatever it takes to become the Sole Survivor. And in order for us to stay in control of the game, we have to send home just the right person, or else, worse case scenario, either of these two emperors would vote all of us out and none of us would be in the final three. We have to choose our moves carefully."

"I mean honestly, I could go either way." Foxy put his hands out. "I am just trying to help out to do what's best for us."

"And I understand. I trust you. I'm still leaning towards Freddy, but I'll continue to think about it and then I'll see what Luigi thinks." Shovel Knight nodded immediately. "The emperors are used to winning, so now it's our turn."

"What would be even better is that in our best case scenario, maybe we can pull an emperor in if any of us find out that they are willing to work with us."

"...That... actually does sound better! That means that we would have even more room to work with!"

-/-

"Do you have an idol?"

"Right now it's between Freddy and Roy for the Knights Alliance, but for me personally, it's obvious on who I wanna keep. And right now, Shovel Knight is leaning towards Freddy just a bit. I am trying my hardest to keep Freddy in over Roy for the sake of relationships, because if Roy leaves, that means Freddy not going home, while me not having to flip. Win-win. ...But it seems that they might not keep him in. And if I can't keep a possible ally, then that's not good for my game. Looks like I need to fight a little harder..."

Freddy blinked at Foxy Michaels as they were standing by the water well.

"'Cause if you don't, pray you fine one or something. I might need to get you to write down Roy. They're throwing your name out there..."

"..."

Day 17

Although, that day's challenge was rather not an immunity challenge, yet it was still something the competitors had to compete at the end of the day. There were three color coded large mazes in the distance with ladders that were place through, making the small puzzles near the start looked as if they were nothing.

"Come on in, guys!"

And at that point, it started to rain yet again as the Nago tribe, followed by the Motobu tribe walked through the sand confidently standing on their mats.

"Nago, Motobu, get your first look at the new Chatan tribe... Pac-Man voted out at the last Tribal Council."

As some of the knights smiled out of reaction, literally none of the emperors made any sort of non-verbal, or verbal reaction at all. Clearly they were not impressed by the results.

"Alright, you guys ready to get to today's reward challenge?"

A mixture of verbal responses and claps were sounded.

"For today's challenge, one by one, you will each head into a large maze where you will use the ladders to climb up to hit a target. There are five in total. Each target has a set of puzzle pieces. Once you have retrieved all the puzzle pieces, you will use them to solve a puzzle. First team that finishes win reward. Wanna know what you're playing for?"

"The winning tribe will get..." He revealed what he had under the cloth. "Seven pizzas."

The crowd got into a major uproar.

"Pepperoni, cheese, meat lovers, vegetaranian. Second place gets one pizza to share. And as usual, last place gets nothing." Master Hand confirmed. "Before we get started, Nago, Motobu, you both must sit somebody out. And whoever sits out this round must compete in the immunity challenge. Who's it gonna be?"

Nago and Motobu discussed.

"...I suppose I am sitting out, I guess."

"I'll sit out this time, master."

"Marth, Roy, take a spot on the sit out bench." The host pointed. "Everybody else, I'll give you guys a minute to strategize and we'll get started."

-/-

"Alright, here we go. For reward. Survivors ready?"

Shadow, Greninja, and Foxy all got into position.

"...GO!"

Three of the fastest runners this season all dashed off to the maze, climbing up the first latter and either running towards the left or right depending on where the first target stood.

"Amazing start so far!"

"Come on, Greninja!"

"You got this, Foxy!"

"Keep your focus, Shadow!"

"Shadow seems to be heading for the farthest target at the very top of the maze while both Foxy and Greninja are both starting from the bottom. Interesting strategy for Nago. Let's see how it would pay off..."

And because of that strategy, both Greninja and Foxy were the first to smash their targets using the team's hammer and were now collecting their puzzle pieces before they both began to make their way back down the ladders.

"Chatan and Motobu heading back!"

And they both returned to their mats about the same time.

"Go, Sheik! Go, Freddy!"

Luigi whispered to the rest of his team. "Do you think at this point maybe we should go for the furthest target?"

Foxy shrugged. "I dunno. Too late, now."

"We'll probably end up being up in a bit of a three way tied, anyway..."

Knowing that literally everyone was focused on the challenge, Roy took advantage of the situation and whispered to Marth, who was sitting on the opposite end of the sit out bench.

"...Marth?"

Lowell immediately turned. "Hmm?"

"...How did Mega Man get voted out?"

With one more look at the other competitors, Marth leaned his head closely. "Shadow flipped on him..."

"...Why?"

"He said that he thought that Mega was too big of a threat to keep around..."

"..." With a mouth half hung open with a single blink, Roy turned away and stared at Shadow directly, before back at Marth again. "That's ludicrous!"

"We need to all have a talk if we both get to the merge... All six of us..."

"Hopefully I'll survive..."

"Go, Knuckles!"

Only a few seconds after Knuckles dashed off, back came Sheik from Chatan, with Freddy Fazbear coming a couple seconds later.

"Go, Bonnie! ...Go, Luigi!"

"Don't worry if the other teams are ahead!" Shulk recommended. "It's the strategy that counts!"

Knuckles obliterated his target using the hammer and immediately sprinted upon collecting his set of puzzle pieces. And while he was on his way down, Bonnie and Luigi were simply one row beneath him.

"I can't even tell you who's in the lead..." said Master Hand. "There was even a team from Kodai Island who used Nago's strategy before..."

By the time Knuckles the Echidna finally came back, Shulk was the next one to go, Bonnie and Luigi coming back to send out Zelda and Shovel Knight, with Chatan having a bit of a lead over Motobu.

Although, because of Nago's plan, they seemed to be back in the competition even though they were never truly out of it. Zelda and Shovel Knight had to travel all the way to the second to highest row in the maze while Shulk ended up being an entire floor beneath him, resulting in him having an easier turn then they had. Thus, because of the opposing teams using more time, he was actually able to break his target and release his puzzle pieces first.

"Come on, Shulk!" Knuckles was clapping his hands in front of him. "We're gonna pass 'em!"

"Shulk now coming back!" Master Hand announced. "Go, Krystal! Here comes Shovel Knight and Zelda right behind losing a bit of Chatan's lead! Those two teams seem to be tied, but Krystal only has to go to the second floor!"

Chatan and Motobu decided to send out Greninja and Foxy again as they had to travel all the way to top floor of the maze. And before they were even on the floor that had their last set of puzzle pieces, Krystal was already coming back.

"Krystal's here! Nago's sending out Shadow again as he only has to climb to the first floor, knowing how fast he is. Nago could take the lead right here!"

Shulk applauded.

Thus, when Greninja and Foxy were making their way down, so was Shadow as he came back with his pieces within no time at all.

"Wow!" Even Master Hand was amazed. "And just like that, Nago has stolen the lead! They can now start working on the puzzle!"

"Don't worry." Shovel Knight was still confident. "Let me have the puzzle. I'll catch up..."

"Nago has a large lead right now!" Master Hand observed as Krystal was once again put into the puzzle make position of a challenge. On the previous challenge, her team was the first to complete it. Would she have been able to pull it off once more?

"Here comes Greninja and Foxy! They're still in this!"

"Okay, I am doing the puzzle." Zelda nimbly received the puzzle pieces from Greninja as she and Shovel Knight from Motobu finally began to work.

"Krystal had a time advantage on the puzzle, but it is already gone..."

Shadow the Hedgehog facepalmed as Knuckles shook his head.

"Shovel Knight meanwhile is working hard and if he is right so far, he has taken the lead right back from Krystal. But right now, all three tribes seem to be dead even..."

Luigi crossed his fingers.

"...Master! Master!" Shovel Knight was already calling out. "I am finished!"

"Motobu thinks they have it..." The reality television show host nimbly floated over to Shovel Knight's puzzle and he observed a picture picture of a samuarai.

"MOTOBU WINS REWARD!"

"We are now looking for-"

"Master! Master!"

"..."

"NAGO WINS REWARD!"

As a result, both teams ended up celebrating at the same time, Zelda heaving a heavy sigh as he still moved pieces around until her samurai picture was completed.

"Motobu, come get your reward. Ten pizzas."

"Good luck, Marth."

"Thanks, Roy. Same to you. Hopefully we'll see each other soon..."

"We'll each carry two at a time." Shovel Knight raised a finger as he, Foxy, Luigi, Roy, and Freddy all dashed out to collect. "Perhaps Freddy can share a few stories with his pizzeria when we get back to camp."

"I'll be happy to."

"Nago, one pizza is still better than having nothing." Master Hand told them. "You guys are gonna have to share. Enjoy."

As Shadow, Marth, Knuckles, Krystal, and Shulk left, Zelda was already rubbing her face all over with her right hand.

"Chatan, got nothing for you. Head on back to camp."

"What else can possibly go wrong here? This is the second time I was put into a position in this swap and once again, I did not deliver. And then to top it all off, I am the last emperor on this camp." Zelda sounded a bit depressed. "For me personally so far, this entire game had more lows than highs... I can not even find the right words to describe... I just have one question to ask myself. What more do I have to do, so that I can finally progress smoothly through this game?"

Okay, Zelda has to be the most unlucky castaway this season so far. The poor woman just can't ever catch a break and it's already her against the world right now since she's with three knights and she has even less room to do something about it... And also, people are telling each other everything, and at this point we're starting to have castaways that are only caring about themselves turning their individual game on lol. (Especially Nago. They're all over the place... again...)

Questions:

1. Which of the three tribes do you see going to Tribal Council?

2. Does Zelda have any hope left at this point?

3. If Motobu goes to tribal, would an emperor leave, or a knight?

4. How likely would Marth and Shulk trust Shadow moving forward?

Vote for your top five players this season and I will see you all on Saturday for the next immunity challenge and I encourage all Survivor underdog fans to review!