Ticket here, and welcome back to Man versus Machine! This chapter…doesn't have a reward challenge. There are character moments and some casual camp life to get to first!
Enjoy!
Man: Brandon, Chun-Li, Daisy, Drax, Rick, and Ulala
Machine: Clank, Cyrax, Dark Samus, Megatron, Mighty Gazelle, Monty, Rocket, Sektor, and Silver Sonic
Fifteen are left. Who will be voted out next?
Man
Day 10
Brandon, Chun-Li, Daisy, Drax the Destroyer, Rick Grimes, and Ulala
It's another cloudy day in Borneo. The worst of the storms has yet to come. There are bigger concerns about the state of camp though.
Ulala digs into the rice bag…only to find that one-fourth of it is left. It's clear that she's lost some weight being out here. Who hasn't on this tribe, it's been ten days of work without a reward.
"Great…"
Ulala: Hello spacecats, this is Ulala coming to you live from Borneo. Ten days in, and we are going to starve to death.
She has her head in her hands, as Daisy stops by. She looks at the open bag and her face drops. "Please don't tell me…"
"…we're running low."
Daisy runs a hand through her hair. "If we don't have a reward coming up…"
"I've heard a days worth of rants yesterday. Please not again…"
The princess huffs. "No, no rants. Just pain."
Daisy: The fire I came in with is just…going away. The only thing keeping it alive is the gameplay of all things. Even if we lose two in a row, we'll be fine.
Speaking of, Chun-Li enters with a few coconuts. "The guys are out fishing, coconuts should hold us over for a while."
"You're a boss.." Daisy says, getting handed one. Ulala gets out a "thanks" as she's handed hers. The three sit alone, all the time in the world to discuss this 'gameplay' Daisy brought up.
Chun decides to take initiative again. "We all click, that's why I'm so confident this'll work out. If we made this alliance out of thin air, nothing would come of it."
While Ulala drinks, Daisy gets her two cents in. "The guys are cool and all but they'll be running this if just one of us aborts….but I still don't know where Brandon stands. Does he even have an alliance?"
"No." Chun confirms. "It's a shame he hasn't worked on that because he's the next target."
Brandon in peril yet again.
"I don't know how this guys so patient with everyone. Even I went against this man. If I got betrayed by everyone, and witnessed what we did, then I'd have lost my mind." Daisy admits. "Hate that for him, but there's no one else we need to go for."
Ulala chimes in. "Thank god we aren't there. Shame he is but the other guys have just done better."
"Mmmm…Drax could tone it down, he's already got beef with an alligator." The princess responds, never afraid to criticize someone. "But I don't need to go on about his strength again."
"Rick's messed up less than Brandon has." Chun-Li defending another ally. "When it gets down to five, then it'll be tricky to choose between them."
"Yeah, let's just focus on the now." Ulala's really just done. Someone get her some food!
Chun-Li: The weight of this game can hit at the worst times. If our final three can get past another vote, then that's another off our shoulders. I trust Rick, and he trusts me, so I'm certain we can get five and make this happen. It'll be at Brandon's expense but there's no other way to go.
Rick and Drax are at the oceam, both noticeably losing a little muscle. The ocean flowing is tranquil to theie minds, but not the topic the sheriff's about to bring up. "I trust you, so you need to know this."
"Did someone call me out?"
"Want to know who?"
Drax turns away from the ocean. "Of course..I'm not going to brutalize them or anything. That would be disrespecting the honor of the Sackboy."
Rick nods. "I'm not sugarcoating it: Brandon's coming for you."
The Kylosian's brows shoot up. "Why?"
"He was talkin' about a raccoon on the other side.
"What did I do to him?"
"Nothing, he's just dragging you down with him." Rick says, stepping in-front of him. "Don't say anything you'll regret."
Drax goes silent.
"Drax…"
"…."
"…."
"If we meet up outside of this there are no guarantees."
"DRAX."
Drax sighs like a pouty teen. "Ok fine, I'll just vote him out and get it over with."
"That's a-lot better. Don't pull a Megatron." Well Rick, you might just make that a thing. "Be healthy about it."
"I will just tell him at first I felt pity for his situation. Now there's none left. I'll kill him…with my words."
"That's the way to go."
Rick: I feel like his babysitter. Someone's gotta keep this wild man in line. But he's a wild man on my side, and like I said: if that raccoon's jumpin to us he's going nowhere. If Drax actually jumps to the machines? Biggest mistake ever.
Cut to Drax's confession.
Drax: …You will pay for being right.
Machine
Day 10
Clank, Cyrax, Dark Samus, Megatron, Mighty Gazelle, Montgomery Gator, Rocket Raccoon, Sektor, Silver Sonic
The impact of Sackboy's medevac turned many off of the culprit. Not only does the counter-alliance hate Megatron, but his own teammates are questioning him.
Sektor and Dark Samus, the two he knows the most get to the well and discuss this issue.
"He's going to make our targets bigger after what he did. If the other team finds out we're working with him, our jury chances are as good as dead." Sektor points out. "Its put a new perspective on this majority."
Dark Samus doesn't see that way. "The other team coming for us only tells me we need to stick to the five. Once we get there, then we can solve this issue and battle for the win."
"We won't get there if the outsiders link with the other tribe. If we can reassure them that Megatron's only temporary, then that should quell their nerves." Sektor schemes.
Sektor: Out of everyone, Samus seems unbiased. She's a better fit for us than a wild gator like Montgomery, or a loose cannon like Megatron. They are the biggest threats to this alliance in the long run.
Dark Samus is on the same page. "Using him as a shield is our only way out. They will never come for us first as long as he's still here."
"If he catches on, he will turn everyone against us the moment he gets a chance." Sektor points out. "If he hurts someone he barely knows, imagine what he'll do if he finds out what we're doing."
"We're the only ones he has left and he KNOWS it. It will baffle me if he actually lashes out at us."She responds. "HE doesn't run this island."
"I concur."
Dark Samus: Even when this tribe goes down in flames, I'm in the best spot there is. That "alpha" trusts me, Sektor's putting his trust in me, and the outsiders won't be worried about me for a while. They are just pawns in my survival.
Later, the red robot takes his golden ally out to fish. They're sitting on a raft, alone. Nobody can stop their talk.
Safe to say, Cyrax isn't digging Megatron at all.
"Montgomery's enough of a concern. Then the founder goes and paints a permanent target on his back." Cyrax vents. "He's giving us enough trouble already, he's barely hiding that there's five of us."
Sektor reassures him that he's not going crazy. "I spoke with Samus, and the three of us think the same. It came up that we could use him as a shield."
"She told me the same idea..but he's the type to take charge. If he sees that we have any power over him, he will snap. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already spoken with Montgomery." Cyrax says, making a point.
"You're correct about all of that, but she WAS right about us needing to hold this majority alliance together. The moment those four get the chance, they will throw us all under until there's nothing left." Sektor retorts. "We have our differences with that reptile but that doesn't mean we need to sabotage ourselves."
"He'll sabotage us first…"
"Have little faith. Would you rather trust against the other side? Or the four who are trying so desperately to pull you over?" Sektor's about to open a can of worms.
"There's no need to worry."
"I can see them trying to poison you."
Bold move dude. A sigh is heard from the golden machine. "Have faith in me. Just because I speak with the other side doesn't mean I'm working with them. I'm putting the faith I have left in anyone but Megatron." Cyrax admits.
"You aren't wrong in doing that….but Rocket wasn't using strategy?"
"All we did was hunt. It's not about strategy all the time. Besides, if this alliance goes under, then we'll need to raise ourselves on theirs." The golden one points out.
Sektor crosses his arms, "If you believe it's just casual, heed my warning: Everyone has alterior motives."
"….."
"Did I push you too hard?"
"Let's just talk about something else. After all that's happened WE don't need to be arguing too."
The two take their wooden spears and go for some fish, as two confessionals air back to back. First, it's Sektor.
Sektor: When the initiative started, he was hesitant but went along for the good of our clan. That may not be the case here, and he's the one piece we need here. He may get along with the other side, but he can be off his game. He needs to keep defection from his mind. We mean business, and a defection will kill both of our chances.
Cut to Cyrax's confessional, where's he's got his point of view on all this.
Cyrax: ..THIS is why I hate the initiative. For years I've had to pretend to care about the mission and the mission alone. It's been a soulless life before Borneo, and it will be a soulless life during. My alliance is all over game talk, what the next move is, who's playing who, and it's draining. What do I know about THEM? Gazelle loves to race. Rocket's into tech. Clank's nice. There's nothing I can say about anyone else.
He pauses, taking a few seconds to himself.
Cyrax: Yet Sektor will keep pushing. We've never agreed on the initiative. He thinks it makes us better. It only makes life worse.
This is the real Cyrax. Not the stone-faced robot that's all game.
While he reminiscences over his identity, Megatron's sitting side by side with one Montgomery Gator. He didn't forget his actions either, and the gator's not hesitating to remind him.
"The sack went to blind me, yet I'm the villain. The other tribe acted like I intended to kill him. All I did was teach him a lesson." Megatron coming to his own defense. "When someone plays dirty, I'm allowed to be dirty back."
Monty means back onto the bamboo. "Ya still crossed the line, Mega. You didn't just teach the kid a lesson, you taught him to run from a fight. Oh, and his team loved 'em, you see the smiles when he hit that taunt?"
"This isn't a popularity contest, he lost."
The gator rubs his cheek. "You ain't getting it. Whatever worked on your planet doesn't fly over here. People aren't meant to see a dissection, he can't just put himself back together." That's actually pretty inciteful for a gator with a temper.
"Hmph."
The silence lingers for a few more seconds.
"..Is it cause I'm right?"
"..so when I make a move on the boy I'm villainized. You push Drax's buttons and you get off scot free." Megatron deduces. "They are really threatened by me."
"Duh, you—I'm not even gonna remind you."
Monty: Y'know, I mess with Drax cause it's fun. But if I'm gettin' one over this guy, it's not gonna be cause of some stretcher job. Mega takes it to the extreme, and not the good kind!
The Decepticon decides to get up. "Well since I've been deemed a 'villain' I might as well double down. There's no shaking this off after what I did."
"Dude, there's still time to make up for it."
"The other team's too emotional to care, no matter how hard they try to disguise it. They will never forgive me."
The Decepticon heads out, leaving Monty with his jaw dropped. Oh no.
Monty: I dunno where this dude's coming from! People aren't wrecks, they just wanna have a good time and you didn't just kill the mood, you slaughtered it! This croc on the block performs for children, you think THEY'D like to see that?
While Megatron leaves, he gets a confessional of his own.
Megatron: I knew this would happen. Not even my own allies see what I see…but there's no going back. They are all I have.
When the Decepticon leaves the scene…Clank walks right in with a breadfruit. It's just him and the gator alone, rare to see so far.
"You finally scale the tree?" Monty asks.
"I felt accomplished! What have you been doing, Montgomery?" Clank asks, but the animatronic puts a hand up. "Just call me 'Monty,' feels weird to be called the other…"
"My mistake.."
"It's cool."
Clank puts the breadfruit in a pile…but happens to notice that black-and-yellow guitar. He decides to point it out. "Monty, is this your luxury item?"
The animatronic shoots up. "How'd you guess?"
"Your hair, your shades, and your accent gives it away." Clank answers. "You are what I imagined a 'rockstar' looks like."
"Nothin' wrong with standing out." The gator takes that stereotypical read in stride. Clank tries pick it up, but ends up dragging it. That animatronic decides to walk over. "Lemme hold it." So basically just gets into his usual stance, like he's about to play for a live audience.
"Oh I see you're a guitarist! What band are you apart of?"
Monty smirks. Finally, someone asks about HIM. "We're the Glamrock band, cookie cutter I know. We got Freddy, Chica, and Roxy. If you ever go to a performance, I'm the bass guitar."
"So your band goes on tour?"
"We never leave our pizzaplex. It's a miracle I actually got some time off to do this. The higher ups are stingy as hell…but if you want a bangin celebration, come right over." Monty says.
Clank puts a finger on his chin, like he's the Thinker. "Hm. If I'm being honest, I wasn't expecting to see this from someone who's so crude to an alien life form."
"He started it, so it's on sight hating."
Clank chuckles. "I shouldn't be laughing, but your devotion is impressive. I could never hate someone at all."
"You're too nice."
"I suppose I am."
Clank: It's true, I'm not one to hold a grudge unless the wrong were awful. Monty doesn't have much of a filter, but again, there is more than meets the eye. I didn't know he entertained children for a living..but it is heartwarming to imagine this intimidating gator taking a "selfie" as Ratchet says.
That animatronic gets his third confessional of the episode.
Monty: It's about time someone asked about the guitar. It was someone from the other team too, that's ridiculous! That Clank fella will still get stomped in a fight but he's observant and I'll give him that!
….
Monty: Ya know..I feel a little guilty about tossin' his ass under.
Man isn't doing so well food-wise. The rewards would definitely have helped them, but now the energy isn't high like it used to be. The tribe alliances are also coming together. We've got Chun-Li/Rick, Rick/Drax, and Chun/Daisy/Ulala, leaving Brandon as a man without a clan.
The machines got a lot of screentime. There was Megatron snubbing Monty, which led into a sweet moment between he and Clank, despite being on opposing sides. There was also Dark Samus' plan to use that Decepticon as a shield, and the Cyber Lin Kuei's reluctance…not just with her, but each other. Cyrax really spilled all in that confessional, and some readers may feel bad for him. I do.
Despite all that, there's more to cover in 4B and 4C. B's next on the menu! Ticket out, have a good one!
