Survivor - Emperors vs Knights
Chapter 36 - Day 29
Welcome back to another chapter of "Survivor - Emperors vs Knights" where last time, Freddy played his idol on the right person (Knuckles), and then to top it all off, Marth flipped on Chatan Four putting Sheik, Shovel Knight, Luigi, and Zelda on the bottom, the former three now being on the bottom for the very first time this season. All of this resulting in Greninja's elimination who was considered a big threat for quite a while now. And also, this is the first time a knight has been eliminated since the Krystal vote and the first time a knight is going to be put on the jury, so what a relief for original Nago I suppose lol.
So now we have nine people remaining: Zelda, Marth, Freddy, Luigi, Sheik, Knuckles, Shovel Knight, Bonnie, and Foxy all having a one in nine shot at a million dollars. Let's continue to see who has what it takes...
Historyfan15: Yeah, Pirate Crew prevailed after all in spite of the circumstances lol. Nobody except Freddy even expected Marth to flip. Poor Zelda though. Now she and her remaining close ally (Marth) are in two separate alliances. He has quite a bit explaining to do. Though he did say immediately after Greninja got blindsided that he was gonna fight to keep her around, so we'll see.
~KF
Bikutā
Night 28
Knuckles, Shovel Knight, Foxy, Zelda, Bonnie, Sheik, Freddy, Luigi, Marth
-/-
With day thirty creeping up on Bikutā, the tribe of nine made it back to their camp once more, fortunate enough to have survived eleven Tribal Councils without having to be voted out, whether their names have been written down or not.
However, sometimes when one survived a Tribal Council, there was a price to pay: one of your allies going home, and that exactly was what Sheik, Shovel Knight, Luigi, and Zelda felt like, especially with the former three.
Nonetheless, it was time to focus on the Pirate Crew first, as Marth was actually the one who wanted to pull Zelda to the side before anyone from that alliance had a chance to speak with him to give them their thanks, which left Freddy to explain everything.
"Pirate Crew officially prevailed tonight!" Foxy spoke out loud. "I honestly didn't expect all of us to survive, and be back in the majority, but not that I'm complaining, hahaha!"
Bonnie placed a hand on his shoulder. "Dude..."
Freddy giggled. "I did it, didn't I?"
"Absolutely." Knuckles walked up to him, clapping his hand to shake it as he and Freddy briefly embraced, as well as other members of the Pirate Crew. "Seriously, thank you man. You sacrificed your idol to save my life."
"Well, you and Foxy had to put my name down just to save my life, so if anything, I was the one that need to pay you guys back."
"Turns out I used my idol for good!" An elated Freddy said. "Perhaps that idol was in fact meant for somebody else to have all along. After being saved by others in the game, I saved Knuckles with my idol, not only for my sake, but to also prove my loyalty. Of course I'm not gonna go into the final three with a blank resume. We needed each other more than ever than that tribal, and Shadow has officially been avenged."
"You guys wanna know what happened before tribal?"
"Yeah."
"Cool, sure."
"Let's hear it."
"Okay, right before Tribal Council, Marth tells me that he's well aware of the fact that a knight hasn't been eliminated post-merge yet." He enlightened his fellow tribe members. "But then, he told me that he has no plans to work with Chatan Four long term. So, he tells me that Knuckles was the target, and that he's flipping without Zelda."
...
He laughed at the astonishing face he received. "I know, right? So I think Marth should be the one that can take the credit too."
"We'll thank him after he finishes talking to Zelda..." Bonnie suggested.
Speaking of Lowell, there he was with the Hyrulian.
"Are you mad at me?"
"No Marth, I can't say that I have bitter or ill feelings towards you." Zelda calmly shook her head. "For me, as long as I understand why people make certain decisions, then I have no reason to feel that way. ...However, that was kind of a flashy move you've made back there... Did you tell Freddy to play his idol on Knuckles?"
"Not that I knew that he actually had it or anything, but more specifically if he had one, in which he did..."
"Yes, I didn't go with the plan to stick with Chatan Four tonight." The Altean hero confirmed. "Nothing against them, but if I'm going to be on the bottom no matter what alliance I'm in, working with ones that originally began this game with me are the ones that I'd rather work with. Zelda unfortunately failed to see that side of the coin, and so I figured that if I can control my own fate in the game just how I do when I was fighting for Altea, then I would. I told Freddy that Knuckles was the target, and he told me that they're writing down Greninja for leading the alliance and running the show. However, the main motivation for me was that I can show Zelda of what, in my opinion, would be best for her... Though perhaps maybe it is more about me taking control of my own fate... You know what, regardless, I've made my decision. I mean, sure, a knight was set to be on the jury anyway, but Knuckles is far easier to beat than Greninja when it comes to the finals... So to avoid breaking the bond that I have with Zelda, I am going to continue to fight for myself and Zelda until the night my flame is extinguished. ...Though for right now,... I am not certain of what she thinks of me... I still betrayed her even though it wasn't my full intention... And that is the most difficult part about this competition here..."
Perhaps for Marth, it was best to give Zelda some time...
As for Shovel Knight, Sheik, and Luigi, they were busy having their own conversation with one another of course.
"Well," Sheik lifted her hands only to drop them with a heavy sigh. "that's it. Our final four plan is ruined. Greninja is out of the game, Marth flipped, and now we're all at the bottom with Zelda..."
"I miss Greninja already..." Luigi said with a saddened look. "I really liked that guy... Things aren't going to be the same without him..."
"I'm sad for Zelda, too." Shovel Knight added. "This isn't the first time she's at the bottom where things didn't work out for her from what I heard. That girl just can not catch a break..."
"..." That was when the only 'real' ninja remaining in the game blinked all of a sudden. "Wait a minute... Don't you have your idol? ...You sill have it, right?"
"...Yes..." Shovel Knight lowered his eyes to the ground. "I already know where this is going..."
With moments of silence, Sheik and Luigi both stood there stunned, mainly the former in particular. "Shovel Knight, if you knew that one of us was gonna get blindsided after Freddy got up to play his idol for Knuckles, you could have played your idol for Greninja to save us all..."
"Yeah, I know... I was well aware of that..."
"Then why didn't you do it?"
"...Well,... to answer this with honesty, when it comes to this alliance, eventually if we all would have got to our four, then there's the final three we would have had to worry about." He explained. "And to tell you the truth, for my game, I thought that Greninja would have been too dangerous for me to beat when it came to the end. For all I know, he could have persuaded you to get rid of me. So for me, he would have been my biggest threat. And he already had the potential to simply win immunity the rest of the way."
"..."
"And besides, now that I think about it, if I did play my idol on him, there would have been no votes. If we had to vote again, Marth had already flipped, and I think that would have actually forced Zelda to side with him with a little convincing from Marth, and one of us would have been out anyway."
"..." Luigi just stood still and watched. With all this conversing, nobody even thought about getting the fire started for that night yet.
"I hate to be the bad guy here. Luckily for me I thought of myself and Greninja at the right time where I was with him while others were on that reward. But this just basically summarize everything. For my best interest, it was best for me to actually not play the idol on him even though I really do like him. Though clearly Greninja was even more close to Sheik than me. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but unfortunately we are all playing for the title of Sole Survivor, and I believe that I have finally adjusted to the gameplay rather well. However, Sheik might not realize this, but this is the absolute minimum I could have done that allowed Greninja to be eliminated, because at least I didn't have to be the bad guy and actually help vote him out. Regardless, I suppose Marth and Zelda aren't the only two that might have their relationship in question. Yet unlike them, me and Sheik still have to work together anyway... With Luigi of course."
After thinking it over for nearly a dozen seconds, Sheik ended everything off with a sigh.
"You know what, I suppose I can't blame you, Shovel. And besides, now's not the time to argue. Right now our number priority is to get the majority back. We're gonna have to have one of us to win immunity."
When everybody finally started to prepare for bed, Zelda actually stayed out near the water simply staring off into the distance. It was a rather full moon that night, and the reflection showed itself pretty clearly in the ocean.
"Honestly, at this point in the game, I'm..." She wiped a tear that she never wanted people to see. "I'm surprised that I'm still here. Yet, as I do every day, I'm going to keep fighting to achieve my goal out here. No matter what it takes..."
Bikutā
Day 29
The following morning, it was sort of cloudy, yet if one was predicting a seven day forecast for Okinawa, Japan, he or she would have came to the conclusion that the clouds were set to clear up later on in the afternoon.
Though the weather at that point was the least concern when it came to everyone. In spite of everyone being awake, no one wanted to fix anything to eat for breakfast that day until at least the reward challenge was over with. And so far, there was nothing in the tree mail, giving them a sign that perhaps the challenge was going to take place later on in the day. But until then, that meant no breakfast. Some were already worried about running low on rice, anyway.
And no, Knuckles had no problems not fishing at the time either. However, speaking of the echidna, he, Freddy, and Bonnie were all sitting near the water sharing small conversations with one another while everyone else remained at the camp.
"So what made you believe him?" The Mobian asked the taller anthropomorphic animal. "Like, I'm pretty sure you had to gamble your idol taking Marth's word for it. He may be a nice guy, but obviously in Survivor he could have been lying to you about flipping and then you would have idol'd yourself out of the game."
"Well, I guess it's all based on a gut feeling I suppose. Me and Marth don't have the strongest relationship, but we're both fond of each other at least. And with us both being from the same tribe, there's that automatic trust right there. And like I said last night, based on alliances, I've... already hired you as my employee."
Both of the knights laughed.
"And... I didn't really want my employee out in danger like that. It's like a life or death situation since once you're out, you're done. I've stepped up and gave up my idol to save you to show you that I needed you to stay. I put my neck on the line for my workers all the time, and I will do the same in Survivor if either of you are in trouble again."
"Aww, that's really nice of you, Fred." Bonnie smiled warmly. "I bet in real life if things were different for me I would have had no problems working for you. You seem to be a good guy even though you're bigger than all three of us, it seems like you generally care for the people that are working around you."
"I really do." Freddy grinned back. "When I'm at work and we were struggling, some of my former employees weren't always on the same page as me. Like I told Foxy, we fought at times trying to figure what was right for the restaurant, and then some of them did some things that I didn't like, and I had to sacrifice them just to promote the business even though I didn't want to fire some of them, but I knew it was in my best interest."
They listened.
"And for the ones that stayed, I made sure that I cared for every last one of them. When their hands got dirty, I got dirty with them as well and we all treated each other like family. I may be the manager of them all, but I don't want them to see me as this big and scary bear telling them what to do. I'm just normal just like everyone else doing my job and managing people, you know? So that's why I like to use my position for good. Me and Foxy told each other stories such as that way back and that's how we connected."
"You know, I wasn't really thinking about Freddy all that much." Knuckles admitted. "Throughout this time I was mostly thinking of how me and Shadow were gonna get by. ...But clearly it's not like that anymore, yet at least last night happened. Maybe I should make sure that they would put 'hashtag justice for Shadow' at the bottom of the screen."
#JusticeforShadow
"But he's opening up a bit more about his story prior to coming out here, which was in fact nice to see. Not gonna lie about that. ...I guess we all have our stories out here. Like, I have no problems opening up to people if they ask me questions, but in a game like this, I'm afraid that things could actually turn for the worst since I believe that my story would make me too threatening to others at the end. ...So I guess they'll all see when they're watching this season at home. ...Just need to figure out how to start this, 'cause I'm kinda talkin' about it outta nowhere, and I kinda don't wanna look back on it again, but whatever..."
"We just need to figure out who's gonna be our target next." The echidna told the two FNAF characters. "At this point, it has to be either Shovel Knight or Sheik."
"No problem with that." Bonnie was on board with the plan. "Zelda can stay, and I'm pretty sure both Freddy and Marth want Zelda to stay, too. There are still some knights we need to get rid of."
Freddy one hundred percent agreed with a nod.
"When I was just a kid, I was just being a normal five year old playing around with my father watching telling me that if I can't see him, he can't see me. But anyway, my father actually turned around to do something for a little bit, and I ignored his warning and ran off being a typical kid that didn't listen... and looking at me now, it's quite obvious that I regret that... it will forever haunt until the day that I'm buried... Basically, I heard all these loud, unsettling noises seemingly from back at the emerald shrine where the master emerald was... And I'll be honest; tough guy actually got scared for once, but hey, my father was back there, so I hesitantly made my way back, and... of course it wasn't a pretty sight when I got back to say the least... I found my father though, but not in the state that I wanted him to be in, as well as the rest of my kind... Let's just... leave it at that..."
"I guess the best thing to do for us is to have one of us to try and win immunity so that we have more options. We all know Luigi isn't going anywhere, even though we are still uncertain who has the idol,... but we know Luigi doesn't have it."
"Yeah, we'll probably talk more about it based on who wins immunity and we'll make sure Foxy and Marth hear us out." Knuckles responded to Freddy before the three of them got up to separate.
"But then a few minutes later, call me crazy if you want, but while I was in the middle of crying and throwing up at the sight of what was in front of me, the master emerald actually started to speak to me telling me that I'm the last official guardian to guard the emerald and make sure it doesn't fall in the wrong hands. And... that's how my life went by. Eventually I met Sonic, made new friends, and the next I knew, here I am... I have no question to ask why I was put on the Knights tribe basically. So even though I basically had no childhood after what happened, if anything, it made me become the man that I am today. Now I have enough motivation more than anything that will always fight until the day that I can't anymore. They say you always can do anything if you set your mind to it. I guess that everyone says that. But they do have a point, and based of what I've gone through, it's not hard for me to see why."
-/-
Luigi later on in the day was over by the tree mail looking inside to find anything. But, nope. There was nothing to be seen.
Freddy who was with in the time raised his eyebrows out of astonishment, yet he was clearly more confused just like the one standing next to him. He could have sworn that there was supposed to be a reward challenge for that day. It was day twenty-nine on Kodai Island, at the final nine. One would have assumed that if it was not going to be a family visit, there should have been at least some type of challenge.
The bear and the plumber returned to the camp with the unfortunate news that mail was nowhere to be found.
Shovel Knight sighed. "Guys, I do not know about you all, but if there is somehow not going to be a challenge today, then maybe we should really consider cooking at least a bit of rice. We all deserve to have something to eat today, or else we would have no energy to perform at camp and in the challenges..."
"So I've been camping before." The shovel wielder stated. "I never had to worry about rationing anything, but I do have my experience. And even if I didn't, I know it would not take an expert to realize that we can't do work if we have no energy in our system. Everyone including myself was expecting a reward challenge today, but so far, that's not happening. And here it is, already past noon, and we're all starving..."
"Should we wait for at least a couple more hours?" Sheik questioned. "I mean, I don't want to start cooking and we find out that we're having a challenge just five minutes later."
"Sure, but look." He pointed to the sky. "The clouds have cleared up and the sun is high in the sky. I believe if we just set around here with nothing in our stomachs things aren't going to turn out well. If we can't be fed by a reward, then we're going to have to feed ourselves. ...And to be honest, it really pains me to see you all starving like this..."
"Aw, don't worry about it." Foxy chortled slightly at his fellow knight's sympathetic comment. "We've dealt with this for thirty days. What's new? ...Though I do agree. I don't think we're getting a challenge at all..."
Knuckles spoke up. "Shall I get the fishing gear ready? I know I have at least a bit of energy left in me. I don't mind."
Bonnie raised his hand. "And since Knuckles is saying that he's going to use the remaining strength he has, I might as well go with him to make sure he doesn't drown."
"I'll wash the pot out." Luigi volunteered.
"...Alright, let's get cooking then. Zelda, maybe we can look for more coconuts toward the water well this time..."
Those two got up and left.
"I'll help..." Marth Lowell followed the two women with a heavy sigh.
"I mean, even though relationships are sort of all over the place as of now, right now in Survivor, it's time to actually... think about Survivor." The legitimate shovel knight leaned in closer. "This time, about actually surviving in the wilderness out here on this island. Even if it's just a small portion of food that we have to share, as l long as we are treating the situation as if we were actually stranded, then we need enough food to store inside ourselves."
Now Shovel Knight was seen walking while using a stick that matched his height for extra support, sitting down beside Bonnie as Zelda was busy passing the rice around. It looked as if the portions that were in the seashells that they found were basically like, three or four bites of rice. No wonder Knuckles was so focused on fishing.
He did manage to catch quite a few fish, by the way. Luckily for the merged tribe of nine there were literally plenty of fish in the sea. It seemed that his energy that he had to spend for his tribe was well worth it. Now they all never had to worry about complaining about the food situation for the rest of the day. It was getting just past two o'clock at the time, so to them it was pretty clear that no challenge was scheduled. Oh well.
...However, a few hours later at sunset, Luigi all of a sudden came rushing to the camp with literally every castaway eyeing him running back toward them due to the noises he made upon doing so. Shovel Knight could have sworn he fell at one point.
Nonetheless, he had an envelope in his hand, giving an immediate reaction from Bikutā.
"We are told by the people to check tree mail all the times at least every other hour, since you never know what can happen. So something told me that I should go check again, and guess what? I actually found something! And it's already sunset about to turn dark soon? I'm actually quite excited about it. Looks like we are getting a challenge after all!"
"Read it out loud." Sheik suggested.
"Alright, it says..." The plumber cleared his throat to get started. "'Unlike the rest of the season where these take place when the sun is high in the sky, this challenge will take place at nightfall, where if you are unlucky, it would be rather difficult for you to get by...'"
"Hmm..." Foxy had his arms folded. "'Harder for you to get by.' ...Sounds like a reward challenge for me?"
"Oh well." Shovel Knight sighed with a slight head shake. "The ones who are to be picked would probably actually go tomorrow, anyway..."
Night 29
Without a doubt, it was the least likely challenge the survivor castaways expected. Though in their defense, it was rarely used in the modern days of Survivor, even though it was a classic during the old school days.
For the next challenge of the season, there were nine posts literally named for each of the remaining players side by side, torches scattered all over the area as if there was some sort of ritual that was set to begin.
"Come on in, guys!"
Foxy, Sheik, Shovel Knight, Zelda, Freddy, Knuckles, Luigi, Bonnie, and Marth all entered the challenge area with looks of curiosity and excitement as they approached a black line lying down in the sand one by one.
"Greninja and Shulk would have loved this..." Bonnie mumbled.
"Alright..." Master Hand began with a 'grin.' "Time for a Survivor classic. Welcome to Survivor folklore. ...So, you guys ready to get to today's immunity challenge?"
If the challenge itself never shocked them, the fact that it was apparently an immunity challenge certainly did, as literally every single player remained behind the black line in astonishment.
"Wait... immunity challenge? Sheik commented. "Did I hear right?"
"You sure did!"
"...We read that tree mail and we thought it was reward challenge." Knuckles recalled. "There was some... 'hard to get by' part..."
"Exactly." He 'nodded' in confirmation. "And it meant that it's gonna be hard for eight of you to survive the next Tribal Council, because eight of you won't have that individual immunity necklace..."
Not a single comment from anyone was made.
"I guess it's how the old saying goes." Bonnie Roberts figured. "Always expect the unexpected..."
"Here's how it's gonna work." The host of the show began to explain the instructions. "I'm gonna tell you a story about Japanese history, and on my go, you will all grab a torch and race out in a jungle to a series of five of stations with one question with three answers. When you think you have the right answer, grabbed the wrapped medallion, head back to the start. You know if the answer is right if you reveal a gold medallion, before you hook it up at your station. However, if you turn out to be wrong, you will reveal a wooden medallion, which you will toss into the fire. First person to hook five gold medallions at their station, wins immunity, safe from the vote. Losers, Tribal Council where someone will be the twelfth person voted out of Survivor and will become the fifth member of our jury."
"However," He only had one more thing to ad. "the next Tribal Council will not take place directly after this challenge, but tomorrow night."
Sheik appeared to be rather elated.
"That was actually the one thing I was hoping for." The Sheikah told. "The knot in my stomach immediately became undone when I heard that, because me and my alliance barely talked any strategy at all at how we are going to overcome the Hidden Five alliance. And if we had to go to tribal that night,... we would have probably whispered to each other of who we were gonna vote out during the trip to Tribal Council, haha!"
"Shall we get started? Today, I'm gonna tell you a story about the history of the religion in Japan. Shinto and Buddhism are the two most dominant religions in Japan, but we're gonna focus on Shinto first. Shinto is said to be as old as Japan was first discovered. However, unlike most religions, Shinto never had an official founder for it. Why? Because the religion became more about the people and their traditions, rather than focusing on any specific person. In spite of this, one of the most important things to know about Shinto are the 'kami'. Kami was said to be the Shinto gods who had the ability to take the form of natural concepts of life, such as fertility, rain, trees, rivers, and mountains. Even when a person dies, that is when they become a kami, which will then be recognized by his or her descendants. Amaterasu, which is the Sun Goddess, was said to be one of the most powerful kami."
Though every one of Master Hand's contestants appeared to be listening rather well, it never meant that they were all set to excel at the actual challenge based on how sharp their listening skills and memory were.
"On the other hand," The hand continued. "Buddhism was not introduced to Japan until the sixth century after already being introduced to countries like China, India, and Korea thanks to the Mahayana, also known as the 'Greater Vehicle'. Yet due to the theories the religion had, as well as Shinto being its competition, it was rather difficult for the religion to spread among its people. Although they proved to be somewhat successful during the Nara Period thanks to the monasteries that existed at the time, the monastery such as the 'Tadiji' itself, proved to be an even greater conflict for the government that would go on for centuries. Yet eventually over time, both religions turned out to co-exist among its people. However, in spite of Japan's history with the two religions, neither of them typically play significant roles in Japanese culture when it comes to everyday life. All of the questions that are in the jungle are going to be based on the story that I've just told you."
"For immunity, and a guaranteed spot in the final eight." The master raised his hand. "Survivors ready? ...GO!"
And off they went, immediately grabbing a torch in the process.
"You can start with any station you want!"
That was because of the fact that even though the stations were in different areas, they were still the exact same distance from the starting area of the challenge. And also, since there were nine people going for five stations, it was a guarantee that two or more people were going to be at the same station multiple times. Freddy and Marth were a good example as they were both chose station one first.
Though since Freddy was faster, he managed to read the question first while Marth was right on his tail.
"'Buddhism was introduced in which of the three countries, prior to being introduced to Japan?'" He glanced at the answers. "A, Vietnam. B, Turkey. C, Korea... Korea. Easy."
Opening the urn that was right behind the third option, he grabbed his wrapped medallion and immediately began racing back, right before Marth grabbed the same answer. How unfortunate that one had no right to unwrap the medallion before he or she returned to their station.
Zelda was the only one that ended up at a station by herself.
"'When did Shinto became a dominant religion for Japan?' A, after Buddhism became established. B, when Japan was founded. C, both religions became dominant simultaneously... B."
She grabbed her medallion out of the urn and began to hustle back.
Foxy and Shovel Knight chose to run straight ahead to station three as the former read being the fastest.
"'What was one of the natural concepts of life the Kami had the ability to take form?' ...A, Wind. B, Fertility. C, Hills..."
"'What was the Tadiji?'" Knuckles and Luigi found themselves to be at station four. "Was it A, a building of which Shinto followers worshipped. B, the name of the government for Buddhism, or C, a monastery in which Buddhism began to gain power in Japan..."
For some reason, Luigi actually wanted Knuckles to answer first just to see...
...And he picked option A... Luigi was the one who picked option C.
Finally at station five were Bonnie and Sheik, both of them entering their station about the same time, yet Sheik was reading the question out loud while Bonnie read it to himself in his mind.
"'What was the main reason behind the conflict that occurred between the Shinto and Buddhism religions in Japan?' A, because the Shinto were not fond of the monastery the Buddhists used to gain power. B, because the Buddhists wanted their religion to the dominant religion, or C, because the Shinto was the already established religion at the time..."
Watching Sheik choose answer B, Bonnie chose answer A instead.
"Everybody heading back with medallions!"
Right when the survivors returned to their stations, they wasted no time unfolding their wrapped medallions as if they were searching for the pot of gold that was supposed to be at the end of the rainbow, yet only this time it was more of a Survivor type of style.
"...Huh?"
"Knuckles is wrong! Gotta head back!"
Cursing loudly, he angrily picked up his torch once again to head back to the fourth station, throwing his wooden medallion into the fire to burn.
"Marth's right! Luigi's right! Freddy's right!"
"Come on, come on..."
Mumbling to himself in hopes of getting what he wanted, Foxy Michaels became more and more nervous within each time he unwrapped a layer of cloth.
"...Yes!"
"Foxy's right! Zelda's right! ...Bonnie's wrong! Go back!"
Sighing out of frustration, off again he went, followed by Sheik a couple seconds later.
"Shovel Knight's right! Everybody with one golden medallion except for Knuckles, Bonnie, and Sheik! Are they already out of this challenge?"
From that point on, the castaways became separated all over the place once more in hopes to get the right answer with the right medallion. This was a game for a million dollars after all.
"Knuckles is back! Foxy is back! Marth is back! ...Here comes Shovel Knight and Luigi. Sheik, Zelda, and Bonnie right behind!"
Freddy at the fifth station wasted a couple seconds thinking to himself whether or not he actually picked up the right answer. However, given a bit of thought, he nodded in reassurance. Though one would have called him out for standing their wasting time, it was basically better by making sure one was right the first time, rather than getting it wrong before going through the consequences.
"Foxy's right! Bonnie's right! Marth is right! ...Sheik is right!"
"What...?"
"Zelda is wrong! Luigi is wrong! ...Knuckles is wrong again!"
This time with no comment, he simply angrily tossed his wooden medallion in the fire once more.
"Shovel Knight is right!"
"'When did Shinto became a dominant religion for Japan?'" Marth Lowell read the question out loud. "...It's B."
Sheik was at another station. "'Buddhism was introduced in which of the three countries, prior to being introduced to Japan?' ...I think it's Korea..."
Freddy was actually right behind Sheik, who decided to go with Vietnam instead.
"Sorry, Sheik..."
"Now we have castaways at the starting station and castaways at one of the five stations with the questions." Master Hand observed. "Marth is right! Foxy is right! ...Freddy is wrong!"
"What?"
"Sheik is right!"
"About time..." a certain echidna's voice sounded.
"Knuckles is finally on the board! It is Foxy, Marth, and Shovel Knight in the lead with three. ...Zelda is right once again! She also has the potential to win the challenge! Bonnie, Sheik, Luigi, and Freddy all have two. Knuckles is just now getting on the board with one!"
"'What was the Tadiji?'" After nimbly reading through the answers, Shovel Knight picked up the answer he assumed what was correct. "Even if I lose this challenge this whole thing is just another story to tell Shield Knight at home..."
"'What was the main reason behind the...' Because Shinto was already kind of a big deal at the time, right? ...I really hope I am…" Luigi sighed to himself as he made his way through the jungle with his torch.
"Freddy's right this time! But here comes Shovel Knight and Luigi again! Here comes Foxy! If he and Shovel both get this right, they would be both tied for the lead so far with four..."
…
"And they are! Luigi is right is well but he is one medallion behind! ...Now Marth is right!" Master Hand called out. "Marth, Foxy, and Shovel Knight only have one more medallion to go! Marth, if you want to win, you need to hurry!"
"'Buddhism was introduced in which of the three countries, prior to being introduced to Japan?'"
Foxy was at his final station.
"'What was the main reason behind the conflict that occurred between the Shinto and Buddhism religions in Japan?'"
Shovel Knight was also at his final station. Both players had to think quickly and carefully. It was not as if the challenge was going to last all night, after all.
"Bonnie's wrong again! ...Zelda is right! She now has four! ...But here comes Shovel Knight and Foxy again!"
At that point, she really had to pray to the Survivor Gods that both of them actually got their final question wrong.
But it was too late..."
"Master I'm done!"
"FOXY WINS IMMUNITY WITH A GUARANTEED SPOT AT THE FINAL EIGHT!"
Cheering to himself out of relief, he respectably shook Shovel Knight's hand for being right on his tail.
"Congratulations, Foxy. We both paid attention and listened rather well."
What a way to rub it in Knuckles's face.
-/-
Not too long afterward, all the castaways made their return.
"Foxy, for the second time, come on over." With a few claps, Michaels gladly made his way over for the immunity necklace to be placed around his neck once again. "You are safe at Tribal Council with no chance of you going home. As for the rest of you, after soon to be exactly thirty days out here in Okinawa, one of you will not make it to see day thirty-one. You have all day tomorrow to figure out who's going to be your target for the next Tribal Council. Foxy, it will not be you. Congrats."
"Appreciate it."
"I predict that people will be screaming at their televisions in shock that I did not win." Marth assumed. "But the truth is, just because I speak Japanese, doesn't mean that I was born in Japan. So this was new for me as well... And besides, at least I've gotten all my answers right. Though it is rather interesting. I've never learned anything like it before. Perhaps I should share this with my comrades when I make my return to Altea. This is definitely worth studying indeed."
Alright, for starters, I am very surprised of how little this challenge occurs in Survivor these days (only one time in the modern era other than this of course). This was one of the few night challenges first of all, and I don't think it would hurt to continue to do something different like this once in a while for all the future seasons out there for the real show. They really should do it again.
But anyway, we have Knuckles revealing his backstory, and a lot of relationships on the line, or at least a bit more complicated because of last night. Marth and Zelda aren't on the same page, Shovel Knight and Sheik on the whole Greninja thing (though this bond is the most likely to be patched up), and basically anyone who isn't aligned with Knuckles right now.
Panther Caruso from StarFox is going to be on the Beauty tribe for Survivor - Mexico! (Specifically because of his personality. Those of you who know Panther's personality will know what I mean.)
Greninja's Ponderosa chapter will be up later today!
Questions:
1. Do you think Marth and Zelda will see eye to eye again? Or will their relationship be done as time goes on?
2. What do you think of Knuckles's backstory prior to this game?
3. What do you think of this "surprise" (sorta) immunity challenge?
I encourage everyone to review! Vote for your favorite characters on my poll and I will see you all on Wednesday!