Merged Tribe

Day 22

Little Mac, Sonic, Gordon, Luigi, Blu, Matt, Li Mei, Bandana Dee, Kano, Kabal, and Tremor

Before the commercial, we left off at Gordon actually considering a temporary alliance with the Roku. What will come of that?

The chef and the Mii walk together near the clear blue ocean. Both have a common enemy, but whether the two alliances could co-exist for long is up in the air.

"Dee floated the idea of teaming up." The chef says, and Matt digs for answers. "Good to know he's up. Are you and your Italian friend cool?" He asks, and the chef confirms so. "It sounds splendid. Better we're both on the top than on the bottom."

"If this deal makes you feel better: all the Roku are up too. If we can stick together for a while, we'll get our enemies outta here." Matt responds. "Cut their nine lives down to zero."

"I love the sound of that." The chef says, offering his hand. "We'll get our people and choose how we're splitting this." Matt accepts his handshake. "Good to do business with you." he says, but instead of splitting up, they continue walking together. "One thing…"

What?

"I gotta ask you: was Sonic beefin with you?" The Mii asks, and the chef makes the call, to spill. "Your hog tried targeting me. Could have went home if I didn't have my idol." OK. Maybe co-existing wouldn't be as easy as the Mii originally thought. "I'll tell you this, Gordon: He's NOT sending you anywhere on my watch. We don't need to go at each other until the job's done."

"Agreed."

Matt: Sonic and Gordon can't be together forever, someone's going to turn on the other once we run out of dragons. But the fact they're actually teaming up..it's a miracle. Props to these guys for putting emotions to the side.

But how long would they put them aside for?

Before heading out to the feast, another pair on the island discusses their time apart: Little Mac and Li Mei.

"I had to give the Fatu guys a hand. We can't be bottom dwellers." Mac explains, and his ally doesn't have a complaint. "I will say, blindsiding Monty without them knowing would be a good reveal to the jury."

"We just have to get there first."

"That, I'm uncertain about. We are between three core alliances: the three Fatu. Matt, Sonic, Blu..who won't turn against Roku. Then, the three Dragons." Mei notes. The boxer isn't frowning about it. "That just means we're dead in the middle..better be without the 'dead' part."

"If our tribes come together, that will be six votes against their three. They will split, and that means we are the swings." Mei notes, and..she's right. She wasn't there for the Matt/Gordon conversation, but they did bring up splitting the votes, especially Matt.

"Are you ok with that? Since your all about loyalty?" Mac asks, and his partner isn't shooting their middle spot down. "They have it coming. If it's not now, it will be later."

Li Mei: It appears Mac and I will be the deciding votes. This could assist us in the future, as both tribes have a clear pecking order. I don't mind betraying these people anymore. They were disloyal to us first.

MERGE FEAST

DAY 22

The castaways walk up to a large table with a white cover over it, with steam and smoke are coming from a nearby house. When they reach the table, there's ten chairs available.

But there's eleven people.

"YOU'RE BURNING IT!" someone shouts, and the castaways turn to the hut, to see a worker stomp out of the house. The..ten castaways watch them leave. "Seems like a hostile environment." Mac notes.

"Any kitchen is hostile. Even in our world." Tremor states.

Bandana Dee sees the ten chairs again, and looks through the crowd of players…Gordon's missing.

Bandana Dee: Gordon said he ran a kitchen. I just didn't know it gets THIS bad…how is he still ok?

The ten take a seat anyway, and wait for their feast to arrive. A few minutes later, a waiter comes out with ten menus and sets them down in front of the players. "Choose your meal, and I'll be back soon." The waiter says, leaving the castaways alone…

"WHY would you put in on a STICKY pan! The non-sticks RIGHT next to you!"

"Sorry, Chef."

"Sorry? Those people haven't had quality food in three weeks! It's going to take more than a sorry to make up for it!"

The ten keep their eyes in that direction. "Relax..we'll eat ANYTHING that's not muck." Sonic mutters, not a fan of the mistreatment. That's when the merged tribe spots two cameraman through the window.

"He's not actually angry, it's for ratings." Matt says.

"Do you hear the bass in his voice?" The hedgehog asks, and the Mii lets out a sigh. "Have you ever watched 'Bar Rescue'?"

"Do they rescue bars?"

"You can say that."

30 minutes later…

TEN waiters enter the feast's hut, with TWO whole dishes in each hand. Each castaway gets thin food of their choice, but as Luigi gets his, he notices Gordon's nowhere to be seen. "When's Gordon getting his?"

"His fault for working the line." Kano responds, yanking the lid off his dish and biting into his Turkey Leg. He's enjoying his meal just like everyone else. Know what's even better? The food's like unlimited breadsticks. It'll keep coming as long as they want it.

Luigi's overjoyed at the raw amount of spaghetti in front of him. He's wolfing it down like it's NOTHING!

In his confessional, he's got a drop of pasta sauce on his nose.

Luigi: The Star Spirits have answered my prayers! After weeks of rice, and rice, and more rice, it's time for the good stuff!

It's just good vibes all around. The chef leaves the house with two dishes full of grits w/ shrimp and Parmesan Cheese, and curries. He does have an affinity for Indian cuisines. "Did I make a fuss?" The chef asks, and nobody gets onto him for it. Except one person…

"You made someone walk out. But you know what? These Chili Dogs are some of the best I've ever had!"

"Seems the shouting's worth it."

That gets a few snickers. Energy's lower these days so a full on laugh is like climbing Everest. "I thought you weren't coming out!" Luigi, poking fun at an ally.

Gordon: We enjoyed the breathing room while we had it. The heat only turns up from here on out.

Merged Tribe

Day 22

Little Mac, Sonic, Gordon, Luigi, Blu, Matt, Li Mei, Bandana Dee, Kano, Kabal, and Tremor

After what was a delicious feast, the eleven castaways split up when they get back to camp. Some were talking about casual topics like food, and where they come from. Others were kicking things up a notch.

Little Mac and Li Mei are the first since the merge yesterday to talk strategy with anyone in the Black Dragon. Kano's out dumping, so they're left with Kabal and Tremor.

"If we're all on the bottom, we have to foil them somehow. I don't know how they're going to split it between the three of us, but all we need is five and we HAVE them." Kabal explains, nailing it on the head.

"We're going to join you IF Kano leaves first." Mac puts it, turning to Tremor. "He's like an anchor to you guys."

"Of course he is, he should never have applied."

"Ehhhh…I wouldn't put it that way. Everyone deserves to be here. He's just mean."

"I beg to differ."

Kabal steps between the two to stop an argument. "Whether we like Kano or not, we can't lose sight of what's important. If we just stick together for a while, we won't regret it." Kabal's finding himself in the spot of a peacemaker. He could be a jerk himself, but apparently not as much as Kano.

"If you are our leader, then who are we going for?" Tremor asks, with a hint of sarcasm. "Thanks but let's not throw the 'leader' role out…but if we want to get our a threat, it's Matt. He's the biggest threat by far. He's the core of Roku, can get along with anyone, and can COMPETE. If someone like that left ME on the bottom, I'd be plotting behind their backs too." Kabal explains, and it lines up perfectly with the Mac and Mei agenda.

"Taking leadership will be his downfall." Mei says.

"We're just speeding up the process." Mac adds.

Tremor: When I believed Kano was too much of an anchor, Mac and Mei extend a branch to us. Fortunately Kabal was there to handle negotiations, if Kano was there I would be even angrier than i was before.

Little Mac: Even if it's too soon to vote with them, we're still making connections. I'm cool with Kabal, but Tremor…makes me a little nervous. I hope he can find peace with whatever situation he's in.

After the chat with Mac and Mei, Kabal pulls Tremor aside in the woods, needing to address something that JUST happened a few minutes earlier.

"Why were you hostile with Mac?" Kabal asks. "You probably made him nervous!"

"I disagreed with his opinion, so I stated so." Tremor responds, admitting to his brutal honesty. "If he can't get over that, that is his problem."

"Look man, I get you're the stonewall with no emotion, but that's also an anchor to us. Kano's personality is bad enough but when you act stand-offish around the people, that's two out of the three they won't trust." Kabal explains, trying to get it through his skull. Tremor was NOT dumb though. "DON'T compare me to Kano. His social game is horrendous."

"Do you want the truth?"

"I know what you're going to say."

"Yours isn't much better. You're too blunt, hell i saw how cold you were to the majority at Foka..I want the best for you dude, we're apart of the same clan, but if you can't change the way to speak to people…you'll follow Kano out the door."

The silence goes on for a few seconds. Even though Kabal wasn't a 'sunshine and rainbows' personality, he had a point. At the end of the day, Survivor is a social game, and if you're cold to people, or too blunt, that'll rub them the wrong way.

But Tremor's time for reflection comes to a halt when Kano spots them. "Sorry mates I was just aquadumping. Any good news?" he asks, and Kabal delivers it. "Mac and Mei are interested in working with us."

"Tonight?"

"If it works out on their end, we'll have a deal."

That puts a smile on Kano's face. "Peachy." Before they depart, Tremor has more to say. "If we want to secure another day together, we must divide ourselves, and scrounge for advantages. We can cover more ground and hopefully get one before the others to do." A smart plan from the lost ninja.

"..Trem.."

"What, Kano?"

"That's the best plan you've had!" Kano exclaims with a laugh, patting the enforcer on his back. Tremor crosses his arms, not amused at all. Kano doesn't care though. When has he ever?

Tremor: As aggravating as Kano is, Kabal is still right. Once Kano is gone, it's likely I'm next for my…attitude. I understand I am not the most emotional, but that shouldn't be the only criteria for elimination.

Ok so thanks to Tremor, the Black Dragon has to go search for advantage. Luckily for them, immunity is still up for grabs. However, there are other physical threats left in the game, so they can't bank on that alone. Kano has a Tribal Ticket he could cash in tonight, but where would that leave Kabal and Tremor?

Will Kano even use it at all?

Will Mac and Mei flip to their side NOW?

Find out the answers next chapter, on Fight for Fiji!