Survivor - Emperors vs Knights
Chapter 43 - Day 36 Part 1
Getting closer and closer here, ladies and gentlemen. Already almost time to end off the second official entry in my Survivor series, even though this fic started just five months ago. I have officially confirmed the chapter limit for this story, which is going to be forty-nine chapters in total, just one less chapter in Kodai Island. (Mainly because one of the chapters in that fic was literally just about an immunity challenge I guess.)
But anyway, due to this being the first part of day thirty-six, and the numbers going down each tribal, after this chapter, there will be one vote off per chapter, until we get to the final three, meaning that chapters 44-46 are strictly going to be vote off chapters. And also, this will be the last reward challenge in the entire story (which is also going to be an immunity challenge as well).
Also also, as usual, another character reveal for Survivor - Mexico (Brain vs Brawn vs Beauty)… or how about two. Two character reveals in this story for Survivor - Mexico... for now on lol. Let's do that.
Historyfan15: One thing I can say about the Sonic the Hedgehog representation for this season is that overall, they did rather well. At least one Sonic character was always in the spotlight and all three of them had fun moments. Very curious to see how Espio would do next season.
Derick Lindsey: Yeah I actually got the votes right on the first try for once lol. But anyway, Foxy's chances of getting through are getting weaker and weaker. Yet despite all that, since Survivor very well lives up to its name at times, there have been people in the show that won against all eyes. So hopefully Foxy is still optimistic. Oh, and yeah, final five will be the last tribal someone can play an idol.
~KF
Bikutā
Night 35
Zelda, Foxy, Sheik, Luigi, Shovel Knight, Marth
-/-
...
Getting quieter and quitter as each day passed, both for better and worse. For the former, mainly due to the possibility of it being less chaos around the Bikutā tribe in comparison to the activity previously. Yet on the contrary, the paranoia that each and every one of the remaining castaways fell victim to at least once was still in the air.
Though the level of paranoia was rather tame by the time they all returned to the beach, mainly due to Tribal Council being over and done with. However, certain competitors had a hard time of getting it out of their own hair or fur, based on the results of the recent voting session.
Marth Lowell shook his head with a mix of disbelief and a bit of frustration. He thought he did everything right. The man listened to what he was told, he followed Sheik's instructions, and never made any attempt to flipping back over to work with Foxy Michaels. In spite of it, with him voting incorrectly in comparison to his 'alliance' with the Chatan folks, it was almost as if they were attempting at giving the Altean warrior a signal that none of them still had yet to be satisfied.
And it annoyed him. No doubt.
"Ugh... I guess it was a nice play, guys." Foxy on the other hand chose to give his enemies a compliment. "I mean, thank you for keeping me here, first of all. Even though I voted for one of you, Knuckles was one of the last people I expected to get the boot tonight. Well done..."
"Well..." Sheik had the nerve to laugh a little. "At least with him gone, hopefully things will be at peace with everyone here."
In Lowell's world, he thought she had the nerve to say something such at that knowing that he was left out of the actual plan. Nonetheless, he figured it was best to keep his mouth shut, at least in regards to Sheik in particular. Just because he was being held onto by a dog leash never meant that it was a good thing for him to continue to rock the boat to make matters worse for himself.
Thus, he chose to vent in a confessional, where he sat by the beach all alone.
"Tribal Council was quite... interesting. Not the way things were intended to be, at least on my end. I thought that I was following everyone's instructions. Last time I remember before traveling to Tribal Council, I have been informed that the plan was to simply vote for Foxy. Not wanting to hurt my game anymore at this point, I figured that it was in my best interest to be a good student and followed what my professor informed me to do. ...Regardless, the vote never turned out the way it was supposed to. How come no one informed me of the real plan? I doubt I've shown any interest in strategizing with Foxy again (even though I still had the desire to), yet this vote is giving me a message that for some reason, I am still not trusted."
Zelda found the time to interact with him for a bit. "I suppose you have quite a few questions tonight..."
He shook his head with a heavy sigh. "I... I just do not understand, Zelda... I do not... What have I done this time? Did I say something that someone likely took the wrong way?"
"No..." She turned her head side to side to assure him. "As far as I'm concerned, I am pretty sure you have shown the Chatan Alliance your loyalty."
"How come I was left out of the vote, then?" The swordsman felt that his question was never quite answered at the time. "I have done nothing outside of doing what I was told to do. Foxy was the target, I've written down the target, and my perception is that I am still someone that is not trustworthy? I... I am confounded to say the least..."
"Well,... my honest opinion on all this is that they still do trust you..." She figured that Marth was getting the wrong idea. "However, between you and me, Sheik felt as if Knuckles was basically one of your options to progress further in the game as a duo. Having his name out for elimination was a way to cut off one of your options in your game for the future. She just let you and Knuckles write down Foxy for... safety precautions."
"..."
"..."
He glanced down. Zelda, no. Sheik was not entirely wrong. However, Marth assumed he never had enough votes to align with Foxy once more anyway, even with Knuckles remaining by his side.
"Zelda enlightened me of the real plan shortly after, saying that it was Sheik's idea to blindside Knuckles in order for me to have less power in the alliance. ...Now, I will say this: she has a valid point. After all, I did bring in Knuckles so that I would gain more power in the alliance after what happy at the Freddy blindside..." Suddenly running out of words to say, he heaved an even greater sigh before, slapping his own right hand on his face. "I don't know... Maybe I am simply upset at the situation rather than at anyone in particular... Things just haven't been going right for me lately and perhaps this frustration is everything I've felt within the past week... Only the Survivor Gods are aware of where I stand in the competition at this point."
Aside from Marth's little rant, Foxy was the one other survivor that was more upset about his position in the game than the blue-haired castaway was about his own. Sitting by himself at the tribe flag, he stared at the ground lost in his own thoughts. When a mind ran wild, for some, it was best to simply be alone. Yet unlike most situations, due to the fact that it was the night the group returned to camp following a Tribal Council, it was one of the few times where someone like Foxy actually got away with it. Otherwise, his fellow competitors would have most likely assumed that he was off idol hunting.
"Okay... Yet another... possible ally gone down the toilet... Not even though strategy wise, me and Knuckles weren't exactly on the best of terms, due to our history, I'd say, at least for me, that there was still some level of automatic trust between us, even if just a bit. Him leaving the game was both an advantage and disadvantage at the same time. Sure, glad it wasn't me, but... unlike with most of the others, at least he aligned with me at some point in the game. I would have had no problems whatsoever working with him again. Yet like Bonnie, due to obvious reasons, I can't freaking do that... It sucks..."
"Okay..." Sheik managed to re-group her alliance minus Marth. "I'm pretty sure we can do it this time. Let's already get this conversation over and done with so we can all have a peaceful morning tomorrow. ...Foxy. Right?"
"Agreed." Shovel Knight felt he never needed to be asked twice. "I believe that if we leave him in the game any longer, he would come up with some other scheme in an attempt to eliminate one of us out of here."
"I'm on board." Luigi smirked. "You know, I haven't won an immunity yet. So,... I guess maybe if I of all people have to win against Foxy in order to save the day and let him go home, then I'm all over it."
"I know that we all had a healthy discussion of being all on your own at the Tribal Council. But it doesn't mean that I certainly feel... glad about it. ...I don't feel good at all. I have no one to rely on and I'm against five other people on a stranded island all in order to win a million dollars. Every last member of my crew is either already gone or not in a position to work with me anymore. I've worked my butt off to get out here and I've put my tail on the line for multiple people out here and now here I am, everybody strategizing and coming up with eighteen million ways to get Captain Foxy out of here while I'm just forced to just sit and wait... Now you tell me that I should probably somehow feel good about all this... since suppose people like Bonnie, Freddy, Knuckles, you know, even Shadow are probably all rooting for me to make it all the way just to avenge them, since they all had to be sacrificed by some way it seems just so that their captain can win it all in order for them to receive their closure and make them happy... And with my family and friends also watching, I- …"
To avoid anyone seeing his tears, he buried his face into his knees, his arms being used as an extra shield just so he had the moment to get himself together, since there was quite a bit of silence following his last word.
...
"..." Slowly, but surely, his head finally lifted. His eyes were rather red when they were visible, yet he did not care. "Y-You know what,... t-they are all rooting for me. If it has to be me versus everyone, then it's Foxy versus everyone. If I am their last hope out here, then I am going to do everything within my power to make sure I'm sitting there at that final three. I will use every bit of strength that I have to make sure I am there to represent them. Not just getting to the end alone, but to get to the end and win. I will not give up out here, and I will not give up on all the people that have helped get where I need to be today. Captain Foxy is still alive and he will continue to fight... And even if my fire does in fact get put out, at least I can say that as a knight, I have died fighting. So to everyone that is still rooting for me, hope you're ready. This is for you."
And he ended it off with a big point directly at the camera.
Day 36
"Come on in, guys!"
The final six of Survivor - Emperors vs Knights all came in one by one, entering the challenge area.
"Time for another new Survivor challenge..."
Judging by first impressions, with the castaways' eyes all glancing at a couple of the items that were used to be a part of said challenge, it was certainly something that no one witnessed prior to their season.
"So... shall we get to it?"
They all were motivated enough to get going.
"First things first, Shovel Knight, for the second time, I will have to take the necklace back."
"Very well." He nodded in respect. "I shall meet you halfway, master, and hopefully I can win it again."
By the time he took the necklace back, he was ready to elaborate on the instructions. "Alright, so like I said, this is a new endurance test. Here's what you're gonna do. Other than Shovel Knight, the rest of you will officially feel as if you are a knight for the very first time. Each of you will be holding a weapon."
...
They all stood in silence, although a bit shocked all the while.
"You all are going to be holding a wooden sword in your dominant hand, pressing it firmly in the center of a wooden shield, while it is being pushed up against a board that is high above. Your objective is rather simple: hold it up for as long as you can. If you drop your sword, or if you shield falls, you are out of the challenge. Last person remaining, wins immunity, and it is guaranteed a spot in the final five. We'll draw for spots and we'll get started."
Even Shovel Knight was looking forward to it. "I've never even done this with my shovel. This will be interesting..."
-/-
"Alright, here we go. Everyone is in position and this challenge is officially on..."
...
Most likely one of the most awkward positions the group of survivors have ever been in. Each of them held a grip on the wooden sword handle, looking above to see the tip of the weapon in the center of the wooden shield, being held directly beneath the board that allowed it to remain stationary. Basically, the strategy was to keep that shield in place no matter what happened.
Easier said than done.
"Brand new Survivor challenge right here at the final six... Whether you are an emperor or a knight, endurance relates to all of you in some way." Master Hand figured. "No matter what you have gone through and what your reason is to be out here, you gotta ask yourself one question: 'how much strength do I have to get through those tough obstacles that I face?'"
No comments were made from anyone. Final six meant that there was quite a bit at stake. If one never even thought of his or herself concentration, it would have been a rather huge problem.
"Right now, you are trying to keep that one shield steady in between the sword and the board right above it to keep it in place. But after ten minutes,... we are going to add in another shield..."
Luigi sighed in reaction. Just his luck.
...
"Looking good so far..."
Elapsed Time: 4 Minutes
"Still hardly any movement from anyone..."
He spoke too soon. Only a few seconds after that statement, Luigi's grip began to loosen a bit, the shield slowly loosening as the seconds went on, the tip of his sword no longer being directly in the middle of said shield. Normally holding a grip on the handle would not have been a problem. However, not only there was the fatigue that always played a factor when it came to endurance, yet he also had to keep pressure on that board.
"Mamma Mia..." He mumbled to himself.
"Get your shield under control..." Master Hand warned.
The heat only made it easier for sweat to pour down Luigi's face.
In comparison, Foxy, who stood directly at him, stood tall and made sure his shield remained stationary, as if Foxy Michaels was nothing but a statue.
Yet eventually for Luigi, the shield got the better of him and collapsed to the ground.
"Oh..."
"Luigi, first out of the challenge. Go ahead and take your spot on the bench."
"Oh well." He shrugged it off and slowly made his way over. "At least I lasted more than a minute..."
"We're down to five left..."
Elapsed Time: 10 Minutes
"...Alright. Everybody is free to drop their shields." Master Hand announced, followed by the immediate noises of peoples' shields falling to the ground. "I'm gonna count you in. You have thirty seconds to place both shields on top of the tip of the sword, then slowly lift your sword up high until you feel that both of your shields are in place in between the tip of your sword and the board above them."
Being quick, yet careful, the remaining five done as they were told. They all placed grabbed both of their shields, while making sure they were directly on top of the tip of their swords, one by one, lifting up until they felt the board again.
Marth had some trouble with the balancing, yet he eventually made it on time.
"5... 4... 3... 2... 1... And we're gonna stay in this position for ten more minutes. Afterwards, you will add a third shield, and we're going to simply wait until the last person remains in this challenge."
"Hopefully it's me..." Foxy mumbled to himself.
His chances as a matter of fact just so happened to increase within the next minute, after Marth lost one shield too many.
"Marth's shield falls. He is out of the challenge. No shot at immunity..."
With no words, off he went, sitting directly beside Luigi.
"And just like that, we are down to four."
Shovel Knight, Sheik, Foxy, and Zelda. Three knights, one emperor.
"...Huh?"
"...Sheik drops! Out of the challenge out of nowhere! What happened?"
"I tried to make one small adjustment." She sighed in defeat making her way over. "Careless mistake of mine, but I'm fine. I'll just win in one of the other challenges..."
"Now we are down to three. Shovel Knight... Foxy... and Zelda..."
And all three were concentrating very well at the time.
Elapsed Time: 20 Minutes
"...Dang..." Sheik muttered.
"I do not know how are they doing it..." Marth watched his fellow competitors. "We probably would have had a winner by now..."
"Maybe they're all trying their hardest to prevent Foxy winning immunity?" Luigi guessed.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Sheik went with his theory. "Probably a bit more of that extra motivation that they need since none of us could do."
"Alright, you may drop your shields and you are safe. You have officially completed the second round."
Foxy sighed out of great relief, ready to move on.
"I'm gonna count you in. You once again have thirty seconds. But this time, you're gonna be balancing not one, not two, but three shields at once on top of the tip of that sword where things are going to be more difficult than ever."
And so, the three of them got to work. Yet, it proved to be far more difficult than ever. Every time when one attempted to officially apply pressure against the three shields against the board, at least one of those shields would fall last minute.
"Easier said than done it seems..." Sheik commented.
"What are they gonna do if all three of them can't make it?" A curious Luigi asked.
"Shovel Knight's good. But if he drops one of his shields, he has to put them all up there again." The hand called. "Zelda and Foxy both have about fifteen seconds to get all three of their shields up. If they can't do it in time, Shovel Knight will automatically win his third individual immunity!"
Just more pressure for the both of them.
"10... 9..."
"They keep on falling..." A now panicked Zelda hastily continued to pick her shields off their ground and scrambled to get them in position right.
"8... 7..."
Foxy cursed under his breath. Every time he was getting ready to lift his wooden sword up, one of the shields just never stayed put.
"6... 5..."
Yet eventually, Zelda began to carefully, but quickly lift her weapon up, not taking too long for the shield on top to touch the board.
"4... 3..."
Due to the time limit, Foxy moved just a tad faster than Zelda, one of his shields touching the board as well.
"2..."
Although, right before he secured his position, it fell down right to the sand once again.
"1..."
...
"Time's up. Foxy, out of the challenge."
Standing there for a few seconds in disbelief, wanting to aggressively toss his shield far away to the ocean, Foxy Michaels gradually made his way over to the sit out bench.
"No shot at immunity..."
Luigi, Sheik, and Marth all were smart enough to tell that Foxy was clearly upset, especially given the expression on his face, he held no shame in hiding it whatsoever.
"We are now down to two people and two people only..." Master Hand moved on. "Shovel Knight..."
His eyes remained fixated on the shields.
"and Zelda..."
Her eyes on the other hand remained closed, her head never even looking up. Perhaps the Hyrulian figured it was best to not stare up for so long.
"both fighting for immunity. Zelda has yet to win a single immunity, Shovel Knight has already won twice." The white, gloved hand reminded. "Both of them wanting that immunity necklace for completely different reasons, all for the same cause: a spot in that final five. One step closer to a million dollars..."
...
However, not even within another minute, both of them began to struggle in their own ways. For Shovel Knight, the shield on top was rotating on its own, slowly separating itself from the other two shields. In comparison, Zelda began to repeatedly apply more pressure on the shields every she felt one of them began to move.
"Both struggling right out of the gate..."
...
Shovel Knight's shield was now on the edge of the board. And yet, at least he was somehow in a better position than Zelda is. All three of her shields were no longer in the same position as they were before. The tip of the sword was slowly moving away from the center. Obvious trouble for both of them at the end of the day.
"...!"
"Shovel Knight drops!"
Zelda immediately popped open her eyes.
"ZELDA WINS IMMUNITY!"
Sighing out of a giant relief, her large, warm smile was a signal it that represented one of the happiest moments for her on the season.
"Guaranteed spot at the final five!"
Shovel Knight sighed as well, but of course it was for a different reason. No immunity for him. Oh how he would have loved to tell Shield Knight that he won an individual immunity challenge for the third time. However, his new friend Zelda won for the first time, and he already had a certain item in the game that was set to give him security anyway, depending on either when, or even if he decided to actually use it.
Thus, he felt happy for Zelda. He was even the one that went out of his way to shake Zelda's hand.
"Good job, Zelda. I'm proud of you."
"Thank you."
"Zelda, for the first time in this game, you can come on over."
And as she made her way over to the Master Hand, she received a respectable round of applause. Even Foxy was smiling, all watching the host hook the Emperors vs Knights immunity necklace around her neck.
"You have literally no chance of going home tonight. Safe at Tribal Council, and you are officially heading to the final five. The rest of you, you already know the drill. After thirty six days, someone will be the fifteenth person voted out of Survivor, and will become the eight member of our jury. Grab your stuff, head back to camp. See ya tonight."
"...Except for one more thing..."
The moment everybody was set and ready to go, they all stopped from where they were and gave their master their undivided attention.
"...For three of you, including Zelda, this will be your last reward for this game."
They all stare out of their own astonishment. Why Master Hand never chose to simply announce that a reward was going along with whoever won the immunity challenge before it even commenced, perhaps they would never know.
"Zelda, choose one person to go with you on the reward."
Still being surprised that a reward was going to be given to certain individuals in the first place, none of her fellow members of her tribe made another reaction. Nonetheless, she had to think it through.
"...Sheik."
"Alright, Sheik. You're going."
"Oh wow, Zelda." She got up from the bench and made her way over. "You didn't have to do that..."
"Well, I had to choose somebody, and now I have to choose someone else."
"Indeed you do." Master Hand 'nodded'. "Choose one, more, person... Where everyone else will just eat... 'the usual' if you know what I mean..."
"Hmm..."
Aside from Shovel Knight still standing at his spot where he dropped out of the challenge, Foxy, Marth, and Luigi all remained at the sit out bench awaiting her answer.
"...Marth."
"Alright, Marth. Zelda's word is final. Come on over."
He exhaled deeply feeling elated. "You have my gratitude. Thank you."
Following him making his way over, now it was time for Master Hand to give his official, final instructions to the group. "Alright. Zelda, Sheik, and Marth, a feast will be waiting you in a separate area at your camp. Everyone else, got nothing for you. But I will see all of you tonight at Tribal Council."
"I was so pleased when Master Hand announced that this was also a reward challenge. I found it to be a perfect opportunity. I've decided to take both Sheik and Marth with me on this reward for basically one main reason. Marth was not very happy at the fact that he was left out of the vote last tribal, and he feels that Sheik still doesn't trust him. However, like him, I am close with Sheik as well. I figured that maybe if the three of us came together, it would be grand opportunity for us to communicate with one another. Hopefully Sheik can understand of how Marth felt at the time, and Marth can maybe understand of where Sheik was coming from. Overall, my plan is to bring us three closer together than ever before. I actually have doubts that this would be something the people would expect..."
Alright, I'm later than ever before lol. Those of you who are guests reviewing the story, I do apologize lol. You all probably had to continuously click to my page finding out if my story has been updated or not.
But anyway, Foxy feels like it's him against the world, Marth is not happy with how things turned out, Foxy didn't win immunity, but Zelda did. And she decides to take both Sheik and Marth with her hoping for her to bring both Sheik and Marth closer to each other.
Questions:
1. What are your thoughts on Zelda's decision?
2. Could Foxy still survive the vote?
Chica from FNAF will officially be the next representative for the Beauty tribe for Survivor - Mexico, and Katt from StarFox is going to be on the Brawn tribe! (Now this is something Historyfan15 didn't expect lol.) Katt is being part of the Brawn tribe mainly for personality reasons. Chica on the other hand is because she kinda has a bit of backstory to it.
Vote for your top players this season and I will see you all on Saturday!