Survivor - Emperors vs Knights

Chapter 27 - Day 22 Part 1

(Merry Christmas!)

Welcome back to the story, everyone! Straight back from Shulk's ponderosa chapter for my sidefic for this.

So after he was blindsided a few days ago, since Shadow and Freddy have joined the Knights Alliance (though at the same time being part of the Hidden Five Alliance), it is 9-3, very unfortunate for Marth, Zelda, and Roy, since they are literally the only emperors left in the Emperors Alliance lol. Just wow. That's just awful.

Well, let's see what everyone's gonna say as they return to camp...

Historyfan15: Well no matter what happens, Shadow and Zelda are most likely at least not on the same page as of now. This is the second time he backstabbed the emperors and third time he made a big move in this game. He could be extremely dangerous lol.

~KF

Bikutā

Night 21

Zelda, Freddy, Marth, Shovel Knight, Foxy, Greninja, Bonnie, Knuckles, Roy, Shadow, Sheik, and Luigi all returned to their camp, one by one leaning their torches against the tree.

Though there were some relieved castaways, no one was more relieved than Freddy Fazbear.

"Oh my god... I'm still here!" He chuckled a little, breathing out a much needed sigh. "Throughout the entire day I was worried that I was going home with an idol in my pocket. I thought I was gonna be the target, but then people basically stuck their neck out for me just like I stick my neck out there for the employees that I'm working with back at home. I didn't even have to play my idol, let alone tell anyone about it. I've done what people told me to do, and it paid off. Hopefully I earned the trust of those knights, so I wanted to take a moment to thank all of them for trusting me, but more specifically the ones that risks their games to save mine, because Foxy, Bonnie, and Knuckles all could have flipped and risk losing the respect of their alliance, so to do what they did just to protect me means a lot, and I would do everything within my power to protect them as well if any of them are in trouble in the future."

"I just want to say,..." He was conversing with Shovel Knight and Sheik at the moment. "even though my name still came up four times, another person still got the majority of the votes. And as long as I'm still here, that's all that matters, so thank you for trusting me."

Sheik giggled. "You're fine, Freddy."

"Don't worry about it." Shovel Knight added shaking his head. "You've proven that you were meant to be trusted, and we just wanted to make sure."

-/-

Now he was speaking with Foxy and Bonnie.

"Seriously... I..." He placed his hand on his head. "I am just at a loss for words right now... You guys didn't have to do that. You could have just helped vote me out and just be done with it but you both went the extra mile to save me, while still pleasing your alliance..."

"Dude, we couldn't just let you leave so easily." Foxy said. "You are a part of our hidden alliance of five, and just letting you go would have been terrible for our part. Oh, and by the way, me and Knuckles had to put your name down just so our alliance wouldn't thing that we were getting too close with you."

"Hahaha, well that's fine. You guys did what you have to do." He found no issue with that. "I'm not mad."

"Seems like everything went according to plan." said Bonnie. "Not just for my tribe alliance, but for my new hidden alliance as well. We voted out an emperor, while at the same time, having me gain two more emperors just to increase my chances of having longevity in the game and getting to the end. Basically a win-win for me. Now it decreases our chances of having a knight being blindsided, while at the same time giving me more options out there. I definitely need to start talking with Freddy and Shadow more for now on."

"There's only one problem, though..." The bunny raised a finger to Freddy. "...You might have some major damage control for your tribe alliance..."

"..." He hung his head down with a vocal sigh. "I know..."

-/-

Roy was already having a conversation with Shadow with Zelda nearby.

"Okay, I want to know how did two of us ended up getting nine votes..."

"Simple." He crossed his arms with a shrug. "Me and Freddy both wanted to vote for Shulk, and so us two plus the Knights Alliance had enough room to split votes..."

Judging by that statement, Roy knew very well that Shadow had absolutely no regrets at all. "...I just... I... I don't know what to say..."

"Me, Roy, and Zelda were all completely blindsided at Tribal Council." Marth Lowell leaned against a tree trying to gather his thoughts together, and it ever so obvious based on the distressed expression on his face, even going as far as slowly placing a hand on it. "Not having a knight being sent out is one thing, but to being tricked by not only having two of the emperors being targeted, but to two of us jumping ship to the others is another. I mean,... I am sort of feeling like a fool at the moment... Maybe I should have played my idol, but that would have resulted in an emperor being sent to the jury, anyway... I do not even know how to feel..."

"...Can you explain to us why?" Roy just wanted to get to the bottom of Shadow and Freddy's motivations.

"Long story short, I just done what I thought to be in my best interest." Shadow started to defend. "I had my own game plan, we're at the merge, and at this point without a doubt it is individual game. The knights aren't breaking, so I'd rather join them than to go home on a sinking ship."

"..." Roy blinked. "...Well, you were the one who voted out Mega in the first place! Shadow, look, I can respect the fact that maybe you might have had a different agenda than the rest of us, but first you're telling us we should all stick together, now you're saying that this alliance is a sinking ship?"

"Look, I can not help it if you feel that I should have done something differently. The game is happening literally every second we are on this island. It is an individual game, and that is all I have to say. As long as I know what I'm doing, then that's all that matters."

Zelda sighed and walked away. "I'll talk to Freddy..."

"Once again, I end up being on the wrong side of the numbers here." The Hyrulian stated. "It seems like every time I attempt to get something going, things turn out the exact opposite. First I had to sacrifice Peach, then I had to sacrifice Pac-Man, now Shulk is no longer here and I didn't even help vote him out. So what I tried to do is to at least have some sort of understanding where Shadow and Freddy are coming from, especially Freddy since I figured I had a good relationship going with Freddy. So I felt that I needed to of course have that conversation with him..."

She managed to find Freddy in the same area on the beach where Bonnie and Foxy were interacting with him.

"...Can you hear me out?"

"...Absolutely." Zelda nodded to him. "...You know,... now that I think about it,... it seems that your name was being tossed around, anyway. I did not know it was really going to you tonight. ...But,... just tell me why did you decide to vote for Shulk, when we could have worked together and possibly blindside Greninja tonight?"

"Okay, I can explain... I don't know if you are gonna agree with me, but I'll try my best to make sure you understand at least a little bit." He started. "In my opinion, I just felt that I would be a very big target here coming into the merge by me possibly being perceived as a physical threat. ...And by the looks of things it turns out that I was actually right based on the votes. Because of that, I told them that I would have been willing to work with them by shifting the target to another physical threat such as Shulk in hopes by me being able to work with them, I would stay in the game longer. ...Does any of that makes sense?"

"...Well..." She put some honest thought into it. "...I guess it makes sense from your point of view. But what I can say is that I do think that is valid reasoning. Even though I could have handled things a different way, you have your gameplay and I have mine. I'm not mad."

"...Thank you." He nodded.

"However, it does mean that me, Marth, and Roy are left in the dark as of now..."

"...Don't worry about that." Freddy then shook his head. "Even though we aren't in the same alliance anymore, if I could keep you here, I would. I don't know if I can say the same for those other two, but your relationship with me has not changed. I'll do my best to keep you here, Zelda."

"I don't know how Shadow defended himself since he had to flip as well, but I figured since I was having my name written down, I would have an easier time explaining to my alliance of the reasons why I did what I did so I wouldn't have came off as a villain, but more so that they understood where I was coming from, and if the heat can be transferred over to Shadow, that would be good for me since it could increase my chances of having better relationships with those three when it comes to managing the jury, particularly Zelda. Though I still see myself growing an even stronger connection with Zelda. I don't see her going anywhere for this next vote unless she is perceived as a big threat all of a sudden. But she's not going to be a big physical threat even though she came in second place today, and she doesn't have an idol. Hopefully if I have say in the next vote in the Knights Alliance, that we could keep Zelda here for a bit longer."

Day 22

"Come on in, guys!"

As it was pouring down rain, the remaining twelve contestants still in the running for the title of Sole Survivor all made their best to walk along the sand near the water where they all stood on their black mat facing Master Hand.

"Alright, you guys ready to get to today's reward challenge?" He asked, much to the anticipating Bikutā tribe. "For today's challenge, the twelve of you will be divided into two teams as both teams will use stepping poles to transfer tribe members from one large platform to another. All members of each teams must swim to a final, very small tower. First team to get all of their teammates to the top of the tower will both feet on or above the top deck wins reward. Wanna know what you're playing for?"

The anticipation was shown once again.

"The winning team of six will be carried by a boat to be traveling via yacht as you get to take your first shower after twenty-two hard fought, tough days on Survivor."

A major celebration was sounded from the twelve castaways.

"And one you get out, you will feast on hotdogs, burgers, and fries like you never have before."

The crowd was so excited Luigi literally jumped up in the air.

"It's time to get some meat back on my bones." Foxy mumbled.

"We'll draw for teams and we'll get started."

-/-

"Alright, we have our two teams. For red, it is going to be Greninja, Sheik, Zelda, Marth, Foxy, and Shovel Knight. For yellow, it is going to be Luigi, Freddy, Shadow, Bonnie, Knuckles, and Roy. Playing for reward, Survivors ready?"

Both teams were on a large platform on the water, standing on two separate mats.

"...GO!"

And the challenge was on, both teams leaped in the water, shifting sides just to get their color coded stepping poles.

"Gonna be a big mix up here as everybody has to switch sides to untie those stepping poles..."

Upon getting there, they all immediately began working on the knots, with the exceptions of Shovel Knight, Zelda, Knuckles, and Shadow, who were using a ladder to get aboard their respective platforms, representing the team members that were going to be the ones to be carried on the poles across the water.

"Shovel Knight and Shadow are going to be the ones that are going to be carried across the water first for their teams!" Master Hand called.

"Guys, guys," Greninja was whispering to his team members. "let's just use one pole. The master never said we had to use both of them."

"You sure?" Zelda questioned.

"It's happened before. Trust me."

"...And it looks like we have two different strategies here." Hand observed. "Red team only using one pole, yellow team using both of them."

"Ugh..." Bonnie already had a bad feeling about it. "This isn't gonna work..."

"Guys, just drop one of the poles." Knuckles suggested as Luigi and Freddy let go of one of their poles, causing a huge splash to occur in the water.

"Yellow team already changing strategies as the red team is having the early lead carrying Shovel Knight!"

"Just hold on tight, Shovel..."

"Like I have a choice..." The smallest member of the red team told Sheik.

"Don't rush..." recommended Greninja as they were all doing their best slowly moving the pole along, while at the same time making sure Shovel Knight was secure.

For the yellow team, being the strongest of them all, Freddy and Bonnie were the main ones lifting the pole, while it was Luigi and Roy that were helping to move the pole along the water, Shadow maintaining his balance keeping his grip on the pole knowing the small area he had.

"Both teams doing a great job!"

"Shovel Knight is it safe for you to cross!?" Greninja shouted from below.

"I'll give it a try!" And with a leap, Shovel Knight was quickly able to make it on the platform with no trouble at all. "I'm there!"

"Red team has their first member on board and now they're going back for Zelda! ...Shadow's going to cross for the yellow team!"

Although he struggle with his balance for a bit, he was nimbly able to make it over.

"Both teams are now going to work on their second person!"

"Knuckles, you got it?" asked Luigi as they all held onto the pole steady.

"Okay, I'm on, I'm on! Just go!"

BOOM!

"I'm okay, everyone..." Zelda told her team as she kept her grip as tight as she could have, not even thinking about looking down at the water. Knuckles, however, was staring directly at Zelda as she was just a bit ahead of her opposing team.

"A little faster, guys..."

"We could, but we don't want you to fall off..." Roy thought it was too big of a risk. "We'll catch up, don't worry."

Shadow kept his arms folded as Knuckles was quickly approaching him as he was being carried.

"Zelda hops off, you're good red! Here comes Knuckles..."

It was bit of a risky gap for him to leap over in comparison to Shadow's, he still managed to leap on board successfully.

"You're good, yellow!"

Now literally everyone had to swim out to the small tower just up ahead of the platform, Greninja leading the pack easily.

"Greninja has once again proven that's he great in the water!"

Once both teams were there, they both decided to send their biggest team members up first before the rest of them went, which meant that Foxy of all people was sent up first, Freddy climbing for the other team. Yet soon, this was followed by Greninja, Bonnie, and pretty soon everyone else.

"You need to get both feet either on or above the top deck. All of you gotta find a way to fit in..." Master Hand reminded.

"Gonna have to squeeze a little bit..." Sheik said as one by one, her team stepping onto the top deck holding onto each other. "Try your best not to fall."

"This is one way of having a group hug..." Luigi commented as he was pulled up by Freddy, the rest of his team hurrying their way to the top.

"Master!?" Marth called as the host of the show looked over to see the red team all bunched up on the top deck, everyone but Foxy lifting one foot over the deck.

"RED TEAM WINS REWARD!"

Immediately upon hearing that, one by one, Shovel Knight, Sheik, Zelda, Marth, Greninja, and Foxy all leaped off happily, the yellow team, in spite of losing, leap off the tower as well into the water.

-/-

Now they were all back on their original platform.

"Zelda, Greninja, Shovel Knight, Foxy, Marth, and Sheik, you guys can head on out." Master Hand dismissed them as their ride was already waiting for their arrival, saying their goodbyes to the rest of the Bikutā tribe for the time being.

Shadow shook his head in disappointment as Knuckles was not even looking at the winning team.

"Knuckles, Freddy, Shadow, Roy, Bonnie, Luigi, got nothing for you." Now their was salt rubbing on their wounds. "Head back to camp... and try to keep yourselves dry if you can..."

"Three seconds. Three more seconds we needed if we didn't pick up both poles at the beginning." Roy held the necessary amount of fingers up as rain poured down on him. "That's all we needed to win the challenge. We tried to have Shadow leap early and it still didn't work. The other team probably played it smart because of it being a previous challenge that was done before. I mean, now I really wished Shulk would have stayed here. He would have known what to do. But he's probably having the time of his life at Ponderosa staying dry where here I am like this, and knowing the fact that I'm on the bottom against nine other people that are gonna vote me out... Not the best feeling in the world I should say... Things can't get any worse for me right now..."

Okay, this has to be one of the shortest chapters in the story so far. And sure, not much has happened today other than the vote off reactions, but much more will happen next chapter, and Saturday of course is just around the corner. And for the reward, this reward at the final twelve is pretty much the same thing to the final twelve reward in Kodai Island lol. But I was gonna choose some alternatives, but I figured that it's a bit too early. Don't worry. Things will be different next time lol.

Oh, one small announcement about Survivor - Mexico, the Brawn Tribe name is going to be Toro.

Questions:

1. Who is in the worst position of the Bikutā tribe right now?

2. In what way could Marth, Zelda, and Roy survive at the next Tribal Council (all three of them)? (Nine against three is such bad luck...)

Vote for your top five players this season if you haven't already and I will see you all on Saturday! I encourage everyone to review and check out Emperors vs Knights - Ponderosa if you haven't already!