…
Day 18
Saddle Up Your Horses
Camp
Men: Joe, Killua, Kirito, Kyon, Spike
Women: Alice, Haruhi, Jasmine, Konata, Michiru, Misty
The players come back from Tribal Council in shock once again.
"Good move, girls," Alice says.
"Yeah, you really pulled one over on us," Konata says.
"It was Misty's idea," Jasmine says.
"What do you mean?" Haruhi asks.
Misty laughs. "I had a bunch of hand signals figured out. My only trouble was that I was forgetting which hand signal meant what."
"Yeah, she was signaling who to vote for, and I think she changed it two or three times," Michiru says.
"What were you basing it off, if you don't mind my asking?" Alice says.
"We were trying to figure out who was going to use an idol, if anyone," Misty says. "And honestly, we never figured it out. We just ended up going with Jasmine's original plan, which was to steal the vote from Alice and vote out Mine. It worked out."
"This was a key moment in this game," Misty says. "We successfully evened up the numbers with Alice's alliance. But now that no idol was played, I'm having voter's remorse. I wish we would have gotten rid of Alice. She's the brains of the operation. She scares me more than anyone else."
"Misty has suddenly put herself in the position as 'biggest threat remaining,'" Alice says. "We thought it was Ami. No, it's Misty. She pulled off a huge power play to gain back control of this tribe. Now, without my greatest ally, I've got to figure out how to navigate what could become a deadlocked vote."
The next morning, Alice discusses with Killua how to move forward.
"You realize, we're screwed," Alice says. "They've got three, we've got three, and we have no Fire Tokens. We need some help from you."
"Why do you think I can help you?" Killua replies.
"Silly, because you won those Fire Tokens last challenge."
"I'm not giving them away like lollipops. I've already given enough away."
Alice turns and looks seriously at Killua. "Do you want to win this game?" she asks.
"Of course."
"Then help me out," Alice says. "If you do, I'll get the whole jury to vote for you."
"And what if you're not on the jury?"
Alice looks astounded. "Do you actually think I'm going to make it to the Final Three?"
"… Maybe?"
"Well, just assume I won't," Alice says. "I need Tokens."
Killua sighs. "All I've got is two."
"And the others in your alliance?"
"They've got a few, but come on. We're not running a charity here."
Alice throws her hands up. "Come on, Albino. All we need is four – enough for an extra vote."
Kirito walks over to the two of them as they're talking about this.
"Whatcha talking about?" Kirito asks.
"We are talking about how you're going to give my alliance Fire Tokens so we can survive our next vote," Alice says.
"We are?" Kirito says.
Killua shakes his head. "We have to help her out now," he tells Kirito. "It's our best shot to get votes once we're on the jury."
Kirito nods. "Okay, here's mine," he says, handing over his Fire Token to Alice.
"And yours?" Alice asks Killua.
Killua sighs and hands over his two Fire Tokens.
"And now we need just one more!" Alice says.
Killua sighs heavily again. "I'll talk with Joe and see what we can do for you."
Alice smiles and hugs Killua. "Thanks, Albino, you're the best!"
"Don't mention it," Killua replies while shaking his head.
"Killua is such a nice little boy," Alice says. "He is willing to help me out. He's a good friend to have. But at the right moment, I'm going to have to cut him loose and hope that he goes to the jury."
"Ugh, Alice pretty much owns me," Killua says. "I can't get rid of her. But I want to help her, because I want her to help me out in the Final Three. I just need to make sure she doesn't reach that Final Tribal Council."
But before Killua can talk to Joe, Misty has drawn him aside.
"You're trying to win this game for Giselle, aren't you?" Misty says.
"Absolutely," Joe says. "She has high expectations of me. But I'm a nobody – there's no chance I win."
"Nonsense!" Misty replies. "You're a great guy, and our alliance loves you. We are wondering if we can get your help."
"Help?"
"We need Fire Tokens so we can buy an extra vote," Misty says. "If we don't get help, we're headed for a 3-3 deadlock."
"I see. I have a few with me, but I'm not sure I want to give them up."
"Joe, this is your chance to make a BIG MOVE," Misty says. "By helping us out, you help yourself out for getting jury votes. If you make it to the end, you're going to get support from us."
"But wouldn't I also get anger from the other alliance?"
"No way! The other alliance would respect your move. You're building your résumé. Think of it like that."
"Okay, fine," Joe says. "Here you go."
He hands over his three Fire Tokens to Misty.
"Great!" Misty says. "Now all we need is one more."
"I'll talk with Killua and Kirito and try to get one," Joe says.
"Awesome!" Misty replies.
"Misty wanted me to give her Fire Tokens in order to help out her alliance," Joe says. "She and I go back a long way, all the way back to my early days with Giselle. I don't mind helping her, but I'm not sure if this is going to work out for me."
"I was able to get three Fire Tokens from Joe," Misty says. "At the same time, I've got to make sure that I'm not making enemies over on the other tribe, for jury vote purposes. It's a fine line to walk, and I've got to make sure I walk it correctly."
Joe comes walking back from the jungle and bumps right into Killua.
"Oh, good, it's you," Killua says. "I have something to talk to you about."
"That's funny, cause so do I!" Joe says.
Then they both blurt out at the same time: "I need to borrow a Fire Token!"
Both laugh for a moment, before Killua looks at Joe seriously. "What did you say?"
"I said, I need to borrow a Fire Token," Joe says.
"Why?"
"Because Misty asked for one," Joe says. "She says she needs help against the other alliance."
Killua shakes his head and chuckles. "Alice asked for the same for her alliance."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Wow."
"Well, do you have any?" Killua asks.
"No, I just gave my three to Misty."
Killua shakes his head again. "Crap, I just gave my two along with Kirito's one to Alice."
Joe looks shocked. "You mean…?"
"That's right," Killua says. "We're all out of Tokens."
"Wow…" Joe says. "I don't know what to say."
"Yeah."
"Can we ask for them back?"
Killua laughs. "Do you really think they'll give them back at this point? Just go tell Misty she's going to have to earn any more Tokens. I'm going to tell the same to Alice. That way they don't think we're short-arming them. We don't want to lose jury votes by letting them know that we're playing both sides."
"Right," Joe replies.
"With our Fire Tokens gone, we have no recourse against Spike and Kyon if they have some sort of idol," Killua says. "Had we just kept them, we could have bought an extra vote and split the votes. Now we're in some serious trouble, and it's all because I was seduced by Alice. Not in a sexual way… you know what I mean."
"I wanted to help Misty, because I know her from outside the game," Joe says. "Same with Jasmine. But now I ended up hurting my own tribe and possibly even hurting my own standing in the game. This may really backfire on me."
A bit later, Misty talks with Jasmine and Michiru.
"I got 'em!" Misty exclaims.
"Awesome!" Michiru replies.
"How many?" Jasmine asks.
"Three," Misty says. "But Joe promises me he's going to get one more off Kirito or Killua."
"That's great!" Michiru replies.
"When's he going to get it?" Jasmine asks.
"I assume sometime before Tribal Council," Misty replies.
As they are talking, Joe walks over to them.
"Hey, we were just talking about you!" Jasmine says.
"Thank you for the Tokens!" Michiru says. "You're really helping us out here."
"And you got us one more, right?" Misty says.
Joe freezes, not saying anything.
"And you got us one more, right?" Misty says emphatically.
"I'm sorry," Joe says.
"Sorry? About what?" Misty asks.
"Um… uh… Killua and Kirito… uh… they kind of…"
"Yeah, what is it?" Misty asks.
"They gave them away to the other alliance!" Joe exclaims.
Misty looks at Joe with big eyes. "What?"
Joe sighs. "They gave them to Alice."
"Alice? Why?"
"I don't know, I guess they're playing both sides," Joe replies.
"Then you gotta get them out," Misty says.
"Excuse me?"
"This is your perfect chance to make a BIG MOVE," Misty says. "Flip on your alliance, and you'll be sure to get a bunch of votes."
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Joe says.
"And why not?"
"Because I'm friends with them."
"Did you come out here to make friends?" Misty says, aghast.
Michiru breaks in. "Joe, I understand that you've made friends here, just as I have with Misty and Jasmine. But at some point, you've got to start playing the game."
Joe shakes his head. "I can't do it."
"Then the Emperor has already won," Misty says. "The Emperor being Killua. He's running the show, and we all know it."
"Right," Michiru says. "We watch your Tribal Councils with a keen eye. We see him directing everything. He's going to get all the jury votes if you don't get him out now."
"And that means turning on your friends," Jasmine says. "Even if they don't seem like villains."
"Sometimes, you've got to be the villain," Misty says. "This is your perfect opportunity."
Joe looks down somberly. "How about this?" he says. "If we win the challenge today, then I give you the Token I win. Then we can call it even."
Misty sighs. "If you insist. But you're only writing your own death sentence by staying with Killua."
"Misty seems deadest on getting Killua out of the game, probably because he's close to Alice," Joe says. "She's kind of like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, wanting to kill Darth Vader at all costs, even if it means manipulating and lying to Luke Skywalker. But Luke had a better plan than either of them had, and I've got to choose the better plan myself."
"Joe is acting like one of Rob's zombies from Redemption Island, just another sheeple," Misty says. "He's going along with Killua as if he's Boston Rob. This is only going to lead to disaster. Heck, Killua may end up literally carrying his 'family' on his back, but then voting out that 'family' like how Ciera voted out her mom."
Meanwhile, Alice brings back the Tokens to Haruhi and Konata.
"I've got three Tokens here," she says. "And I'm going to get one more from Killua, once he talks to Joe."
"That's nice," Haruhi replies.
"That's nice? That's all you've got to say?"
Konata clears her throat. "We don't trust you, Alice. You've screwed things up for us big time, and we feel like it's your fault."
"That's right!" Haruhi exclaims. "We don't think we can count on you."
"Then what exactly are you going to do?" Alice asks. "Vote me out, and you two are the next in line to go."
"Hey, we never said we won't vote with you," Konata replies. "We just don't trust you."
"The feeling is mutual," Alice replies.
"Konata and Haruhi have now turned on me, and I'm left on my own," Alice says. "I need those Tokens from Killua more now than ever."
"I just don't understand how Alice can make it out like she's been helping us, when all she's done is get us in this sticky situation," Haruhi says. "She's got all the Tokens, all the power. We've got to consider voting her out."
In the shelter, Kyon and Spike seem oblivious to everything that's going on.
"You know, I really hate dying," Spike says. "Once is enough for me. I just don't really feel like dying again. I can live with one death, but two is too many, in my humble opinion."
Kyon facepalms. "We really need to talk about strategy."
"I'm not sure I want to," Spike says. "I'd like to quit this game."
"That would really hang me out to dry," Kyon says. "I've got two votes, you've got one. That's enough to force a tie."
"But what about a double-tie?" Spike says. "If they vote for you with their three votes, then their two re-votes beat out my one re-vote."
Kyon chuckles. "Hey, you're talking strategy instead of quitting on me."
"No, I still plan on quitting," Spike replies. "We've got no chance of survival, so might as well walk out the door while I'm still alive."
"Just hang around long enough for me to have a chance at survival," Kyon says.
"We'll see," Spike says.
"I don't really have any motivation for playing this game anymore," Spike says. "Once you die once, you don't want to do it again. Dying is just no fun. It's a real waste of my time. I'd rather not spend my time dying. I've got things to do, places to be. There's no time for dying."
"Spike wants to quit this game, which would completely screw me over," Kyon says. "I need him to push through and keep on playing. Otherwise, I'm going to suffer the same fate as Mayuri."
Immunity Challenge
"Come on in, guys!"
The two tribes march into the immunity challenge area, noticing a stable of horses nearby.
"You guys ready to get to today's immunity challenge?"
"Of course!" Konata screams.
"First things first, I will take it back."
Kirito hands over the Ranma immunity idol to Jet.
"Thank you. Once again, immunity is back up for grabs. Can anyone guess what Olympic sport we're playing today?"
"Horse racing!" Konata yells. "Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up, let's go, to see…"
"You're wrong, whiz kid," Kyon replies. "Horse racing isn't in the Olympics."
"It isn't?" Konata asks.
"No," Alice says sternly.
"Rather, it is going to be show-jumping!" Jet replies. "See this course we have set out for you? You are going to ride a horse through those jumps and try to get through the eight jumps in the fastest time possible. Every time you bump an obstacle, you get a five-second penalty, so beware. Each player on each tribe will go through the course, one horse at a time. The tribe which has the faster time wins immunity, guaranteed spot in the Final Ten. And the losers…"
"Will be taken and executed?" Haruhi replies.
Jet laughs. "I wish. But they'll go to Tribal Council, where someone will be the next person voted out of this game and sent to the jury alongside Ami and Mine. So, saddle up your horses, we've got a trail to blaze!"
"Through the wild blue yonder…" Konata begins to say, before getting cut off by Jet.
"In addition, you are playing for reward. Wanna know what you're playing for?"
"Yeah!" Haruhi shouts.
"The winning tribe will be taken to the Sanctuary, where good things happen. There, you will enjoy a picnic lunch. Sandwiches, potato chips, chocolate chip cookies, and Arnold Palmers."
"Arnold Palmers?" Konata asks.
"It's a mix of lemonade and iced tea," Misty explains.
"Exactly," Jet says. "In addition, each player on the winning tribe gets a Fire Token. One other thing…"
He pulls out some envelopes.
"These are the letters from home for the Women. If they win, they get these. Worth playing for?"
"Absolutely," Michiru replies.
"Women, you lost the last challenge, which means you get the opportunity to buy the Medallion of Power. If you use the Medallion of Power, only four of your five players will have to run the course, which will cut down your time sharply."
Misty shakes her head, as does Alice.
"No, we aren't buying it," Misty says.
"Yeah, no need for that," Alice says.
"Very well then. Men, you now have the option to buy the Medallion of Power."
"Sorry," Kirito says. "We can't."
"Okay. Women, you've got one extra person, you've got to sit somebody out. Who's it gonna be?"
"I'll sit out," Jasmine says, raising her hand.
"How many challenges have you participated in?" Jet asks.
"More than Abi," Jasmine replies.
"Touché. Go ahead and take a spot on the bench. We'll draw for horses, then get it on!"
After a brief rock draw, the players board their horses.
"Riders up!" Jet exclaims. "Women drew the first spot, they'll have the first rider go. Michiru, you may go when ready."
Michiru nods, then begins prodding her horse onto the course. She gracefully leaps over the first two obstacles with ease.
"Good job, Michiru!" Jasmine calls from the bench.
Michiru continues leading her horse through the horse without hitting any obstacles. She gets through the next two easily.
"Michiru just flying through this course!" Jet shouts.
"Don't jinx her!" Haruhi yells.
Michiru keeps on going at a leisurely pace, not pushing the horse too much. She leaps over the next two obstacles, getting close to the finish line.
"Got to just make it through these two jumps!" Jet yells.
Michiru slows down her horse a bit as she gets it over the final two obstacles, including a water jump, and to the finish line.
"Michiru with an amazing time of 1 minute, 54 seconds!" Jet shouts.
Michiru dismounts her horse and breathes a sigh of relief. She walks over to the bench and gives a high-five to Jasmine.
"Michiru, I gotta say, that was amazing," Jet says. "Not even our Dream Team managed to get through this course without hitting an obstacle."
"It takes a gentle touch," Michiru replies. "That's the advice I'd give my tribe. Be gentle."
"Now it's the Men's turn," Jet says. "Zoldyck, you're up first."
Killua starts prodding his horse forward, and he begins on the course. He makes it over the first obstacle easily, but he is a bit late on the second obstacle, and his horse knocks over a bar.
"That's a five-second penalty!" Jet shouts.
Killua keeps on going through the course, making it through the third and fourth obstacles, but only barely. Once he gets to the fifth one, his horse knocks over another bar.
"Another five-second penalty!" Jet yells.
Killua recovers to get his horse over the sixth obstacle without problems. He then slows his horse down enough to get over the final two obstacles and to the finish line.
"All right," Jet says. "Zoldyck finishes with a time of 2 minutes, 10 seconds, but he gets two 5-second penalties to push his time to 2 minutes, 20 seconds. That means that the Women are minus-26 seconds, and you want to be minus in this challenge. Misty, you're up next."
Misty nods, then she starts guiding her horse over to the starting line. She takes a deep breath, then starts the horse through the course. She makes it over the first and second obstacles with little trouble, and she also makes it over the third and fourth obstacles clean, although a bit close.
"Misty making this thing look easy!"
Misty gets her horse to the fifth obstacle, when suddenly her horse refuses to make the jump.
"Refusal to jump, that's a five-second penalty!" Jet shouts.
Misty shakes her head, prodding her horse on. This time the horse does go, and it makes it over the fifth and sixth obstacles without a hit. For the final two obstacles, Misty gets over the seventh obstacle, but her horse splashes in the water on the water jump of the eighth obstacle. She shakes her head as she crosses the finish line.
"Good job, Misty," Jasmine says.
Misty simply shakes her head. "I could have done better."
"What are you talking about?" Jet replies. "You just did great! 2 minutes and 12 seconds, plus two 5-second penalties to finish with 2 minutes and 22 seconds. We were clocking the Dream Team at 2:30 on average, so you're actually under that. For the moment, the Men have a 116-second advantage, but that would mean making it through this course as fast as Michiru did."
"Nice job, Misty," Michiru says.
"Next up, Joe, for the Men. You may begin when ready."
Joe takes a deep breath. He then gets his horse going through the course, and he gets it over the first two obstacles easily.
"Take it easy, Joe!" Kirito yells out to him.
Joe nods, then slowly pulls his horse up to the third obstacle, which it clears. However, it can't quite clear the fourth obstacle, knocking over a bar.
"That's a five-second penalty."
Joe gathers himself and the horse, then starts going a bit slower. He gets his horse over the fifth and sixth obstacles clean.
"Just two more obstacles to go!"
After seeing Misty hit the water on her attempt, Joe comes up with a different strategy for his horse. He has his horse take long strides, so when it clears the seventh obstacle, it has a lot of room to prepare for the water jump. He gets over the water without touching it, and crosses the finish line.
"Nice job, Joe!" Kirito calls.
"Great time, too," Jet says. "2 minutes even, plus a 5-second penalty. That puts the Women at minus-9, a slight advantage. Next up is Konata."
Haruhi whispers to Konata, who then chuckles. "Can't wait!" she says.
"Oh, my," Alice says, facepalming.
"This is going to be fun, isn't it?" Kirito says.
Konata prods her horse over to the start. She then starts hitting the horse with her crop, making it go faster. Unfortunately for her, that means having the horse run right through the first two obstacles and causing bars and soft bricks to fly everywhere.
"That's a quadruple penalty!" Jet shouts. "Penalties for knocking down both obstacles, and penalties for refusing to jump!"
"I'm doing it fast, am I not?" Konata replies.
She runs her horse through the next two obstacles as well.
"Another quadruple penalty!" Jet yells. "Konata is virtually useless in this challenge!"
Konata keeps on running her horse through the obstacles, before Haruhi shouts out.
"Stop it!" Haruhi screams. "I know what you're trying to do, but it doesn't make any sense! Even if you're ultra fast, the penalties are going to kill us!"
"That's the thing," Konata replies. "I don't know how to make the horse jump!"
Konata finishes the course with her horse dripping wet with water that she refused to have jump. Misty and Alice both rush over to her and start yelling at her.
"You imbecile!" Alice yells. "You just blew our lead!"
"Yeah, what the hell's going on out here?" Misty says.
"It was Haruhi's idea!" Konata says.
"Not if you're that bad at it," Haruhi says. "If you're going to do it that way, you've got to actually have control of your horse. I told you to go as fast as you could and not worry about the penalties. I didn't say go out and make a mess of the whole course. Now we're screwed."
"Can we vote out Konata right now?" Misty asks.
"Not yet," Jet states. "Konata racked up 16 penalties in that challenge, which comes out to 80 seconds of penalties. But she managed to finish in just 1 minute and 30 seconds. That puts her final score at 2 minutes and 50 seconds. The Women are now plus-161, but the Men have to yet send out their third player, and that's going to be you, Kyon."
"Here goes nothing," Kyon says, as he prods his horse out on to the course.
"You're going to choke!" Haruhi shouts out at Kyon as his horse is just about to make its first jump. Upon hearing Haruhi's voice, Kyon's horse pulls up and refuses to jump.
"Five-second penalty!" Jet yells.
"Tell her to shut up!" Kyon says, as he gets his horse over the first two obstacles.
"Kyon really struggling out here!"
Kyon gets his horse to jump the third obstacle, but for the fourth one, it knocks over the wall of foam bricks.
"Another five-second penalty!"
Kyon gets control of his horse, and it jumps over the fifth and sixth obstacles without a problem. But as he approaches the seventh obstacle, Haruhi tries to distract him again.
"Noonan!" she yells.
Kyon smirks as his horse clears the seventh obstacle. But suddenly…
Splash!
"Kyon's all wet!" Jet shouts. "He fell off his horse into the water! That's a double penalty!"
As Kyon picks himself up from the water pit, his horse crosses the finish line on its own.
"Well, Kyon's horse is at the finish line, so we'll stop the clock, but boy, that's four 5-second penalties!"
Kyon looks over at Haruhi, who is pointing and laughing at him. He then just shakes his head.
"Kyon's time clocks in at 2 minutes and 22 seconds. That puts the Men at minus-19. They have the lead, but there are two more players from each tribe that have to go. Alice, you're up next."
Alice takes control of her horse and starts it out on to the course. She clears the first two obstacles like it's a breeze.
"Alice looking solid so far out here!"
Alice clears the third and fourth obstacles easily as well, and her tribe starts cheering her on.
"Come on!" Haruhi shouts.
"You're doing great," Michiru says.
"Focus!" Misty shouts. "You've got this."
Alice composes herself, then gracefully leaps over the fifth and sixth obstacles.
"Alice with a chance at a clean run!"
"We need to her to mess up!" Kirito says. "Yell something!"
"Something!" Spike yells.
Alice then goes ahead and clears the seventh obstacle as well as the water jump for a picture-perfect ride.
"Wow-wee!" Jet exclaims. "This was spectacular! Alice finished in 1 minute, 47 seconds, without hitting an obstacle! That's the best run yet! That puts the Men at minus-88 seconds, but they've still got to send out their fourth rider! Kirito, you're up next!"
Kirito gets his horse to start going, and he clears the first two obstacles easily.
"Kirito off to a fast start!"
Kirito keeps going well, getting past the third and fourth obstacles.
"Keep going, Kirito!" Joe shouts.
"Keep it up!" Killua adds.
Kirito gets his horse over the fifth and sixth obstacles, going at a fast pace. Killua and Joe continue to cheer him on.
"Can Kirito make it over the last two obstacles without a hitch?" Jet says.
Kirito gets his horse over the seventh obstacle, but on the eighth and final one, his horse splashes in the water.
"That's a shame," Konata says.
"A five-second penalty after a great run," Jet says, as Kirito crosses the finish line. "You know, you did really well out there, but it's not enough to keep your lead. You went out in 1 minute, 46 seconds, just better than Alice, but that five-second penalty hurts. It puts you at 1 minute, 51 seconds, which in turn gives the Women a 23-second lead."
"Good job, Kirito," Killua says.
"We are down to one player from each tribe to go," Jet says. "Haruhi, you're up first."
Haruhi starts her horse through the course. She leaps over the first obstacle, but knocks over a bar on the second obstacle.
"Five-second penalty!" Jet shouts.
"Take your time!" Misty says. "We can't have too many penalties!"
Haruhi keeps on going, pushing her course over the third and fourth obstacles. But on the fifth, her horse refuses to go.
"That's a five-second penalty for refusal to jump!"
Angrily, Haruhi slaps the horse, getting it to jump the fifth and sixth obstacles. She then comes on home, jumping over the seventh obstacle. For the water jump, though, her horse's hooves land in the water.
"One more five-second penalty for Haruhi!"
Haruhi crosses the finish line and lets out a whoop. She then dismounts the horse and goes over to Konata to give her a high five.
"I wouldn't be celebrating, Haruhi," Jet says. "You took 2 minutes and 11 seconds to finish, so adding on the three penalties for 15 seconds, you clock in at 2 minutes and 26 seconds. That puts the Men at minus-123 going into the final run. If Spiegel can manage to finish in faster than 2 minutes and 3 seconds, the Men win immunity."
"No pressure, Spike," Kyon says sarcastically.
Spike nonchalantly guides his horse to the start, then begins on his way. He gets his horse over the first hurdle, but it knocks over the second obstacle.
"Five-second penalty!"
Spike keeps his horse going, and it clears both of the next two hurdles. Once it reaches the fifth one, though, just like Haruhi's, it refuses to jump.
"Another five-second penalty!"
Spike gets his horse over the fifth and sixth obstacles, then heads for home. He gets it over the seventh obstacle cleanly, but splashes in the water for the eighth and final obstacle.
"Yet another five-second penalty!"
Spike has his horse trot across the finish line, letting up a little bit at the end. Killua and Kirito are apoplectic that he isn't pushing his horse harder.
"Come on, you've got to do better than that!" Kirito shouts.
"You just let up there!" Killua yells. "That might cost us!"
"Let's see if it will cost you," Jet says. "That run was in… 2 minutes and 5 seconds! Even without the 15 seconds of penalties factored in, it's not enough. Women… win immunity and reward!"
The Women begin celebrating wildly, having dismounted their horses. Killua facepalms, while Joe looks down in disbelief.
"Congratulations, Women, this is for you."
Jet hands the Ranma immunity idol over to Haruhi.
"You are safe from tonight's vote, and you will go to the Sanctuary for a nice picnic lunch with letters from home. Congrats, you've got a nice evening upcoming, you can head on out."
The Women give each other high-fives as they leave the immunity challenge area.
"As for you, Men, you failed badly. You faltered at times when you should have succeeded. You have blown it terribly. And now you will go to Tribal Council once again, where you will fall behind further in numbers. I can't tell you how disappointed I am in you guys."
"It's not all our fault," Spike says.
"Actually, it is," Killua says.
"Yeah, we've blown it badly," Kirito says. "We should have won today."
"Tonight you will go to Tribal Council, where one of you will become the third member of our jury. You can head on out; I'll see you tonight for Tribal."
Killua shakes his head as the Men walk out of the immunity challenge area.
"We had a chance to even things up in numbers," Killua says. "We blew it. Even after Konata completely screwing over her own tribe like that. We just couldn't perform when we needed to. This means that we're marching toward extinction while the Women are partying. We had our chance, we blew it. Out of sight, out of mind, I just can't take it, again we're losers."
Sanctuary
Women: Alice, Haruhi, Jasmine, Konata, Michiru, Misty
The Women arrive at Tribal Council and immediately start eating the food that they see. Haruhi and Konata jump in front of some of the other characters to get to the food first.
"It's everything Jet promised, plus a little more," Haruhi says. "This is so awesome!"
As they sit down to eat their food, they notice that the letters from home are in a wooden bowl at the center of the picnic table.
"Ooh, ooh, gimme, gimme!" Konata says, grabbing the bowl and taking hers out before any of the others'.
The players all grab their letters, and after they finish eating, each one goes into their own spot to personally read them.
"Dear Jasmine," Jasmine reads. "I know I'm not the best at writing letters, and I know I'm not the best at the game of Survivor. But I'm trying to encourage you all I can. Don't be afraid to take some risks, take some chances. Don't feel like you're out there all alone. I'm rooting for you as hard as I can here. And I trust you'll make the right decisions. Love, Silver."
Jasmine wipes away tears from her eyes.
"Silver is so precious to me," Jasmine says. "I know it's become cliché on Survivor these days to talk about being out here to support your family. But it's true; I'm trying to support my family with Silver. And we need the money to build our family together. If it requires for me to beg for sympathy votes, I'll do it."
Michiru looks at her letter and holds back tears.
"Dear Michiru… I don't know how to say this, but… I really miss you," Michiru reads. "I can't wait to see you, but I'll have to wait until after your game is over. I am rooting for you, and I hope you join myself and Minako as Sailor Senshi winners of Survivor. Love, Haruka."
Michiru holds the letter close to her chest, with tears running down her cheeks.
"Haruka means so much to me," Michiru says. "I want so badly to win the game for the two of us. I also know how competitive she is. She wants me to win this game quite possibly more than I do. I'm playing this game for her. And hopefully, at the end, I'll have a million dollars to show for it."
Konata laughs upon reading her letter.
"Konata, try not to burn down the world while playing," she reads. "It's up to myself and Tsukasa to clean up your messes. Someday I hope to play this game and do better than you, so please don't make it too far. Just kidding! I'd love for you to win and then split the million four ways amongst myself, Tsukasa, Miyuki, and yourself. Good luck! Yours truly, Kagami."
Konata smirks.
"Yeah, she got that right," she says. "If I win, I'm splitting the money four ways… but maybe give myself a little extra as a bonus. I deserve it, right?"
Alice opens up her letter and is shocked by what she reads.
"Dear cousin… the way I treated you last season was unfair. I'm not at all saying I was in the wrong. But I shouldn't have treated you the way I did. Again, I'm not admitting blame. I just… should have done better. I apologize for voting you off the jury… although it was the right move. You go win this game for the Nakiri family. Sincerely, Erina Nakiri."
Alice chuckles a bit after reading it.
"Is Erina actually admitting guilt? No way," Alice says. "But that was about as close to it as I'm ever going to get, so I've got to count it as a victory. Thanks, Erina. I want to win and have you up there on stage with me at the reunion. But not Azami, that's for sure."
Misty sees her letter and starts to tear up.
"Dear Misty… this is Ash. Both of us know what it's like to be the first one voted out of our tribe. But I got redemption, and you are getting yours. I can't wait for you to claim that million-dollar check at the reunion so we can announce where we're getting married! We're having a big production of a wedding that everyone in the Pokémon world is going to get to see! Just promise me one thing: don't have any cucumbers at the wedding, because I don't want my Pikachu to die by choking on a cucumber. Catch ya later!"
Misty wipes away tears as she puts down the letter.
"Good old Ash," she says. "I want to win this game for him. He won this game under immense pressure and facing insurmountable odds. He suffered embarrassment in one of those early seasons, as so did I. But now he's remembered as a winner, and I want to do the same. I hope we can have a two-million-dollar wedding!"
Haruhi refuses to show her letter to the camera, though.
"I don't want anyone else reading my mail!" she says. "Get that camera out of here!"
Camp
Men: Joe, Killua, Kirito, Kyon, Spike
Morale is low amongst the Men, who have arrived back to camp and don't have much rice to eat.
"What the hell happened to all our rice?" Kirito complains. "Spike, did you eat it?"
"Hardly," Spike replies. "Had I eaten it, I wouldn't want to quit right now."
"You want to quit?" Joe asks.
"Yeah, I'm ready to say goodbye to this game. It's all because I died. You don't know what it's like to die. Dying isn't very fun. If you had been in my shoes and died, you may not have enjoyed it either. So, I'm quitting before I die again. And if I die after I leave the game? Well, that's life. You die."
"There's no reason for me to stay in this game," Spike says. "I don't need the 100 million Woolongs, and I don't need to die a second time. Dying sucks. I wish everyone else here had died once or twice so they knew exactly how awful dying is. I'd die to have a life in which I couldn't die."
Killua, however, isn't buying it, as he talks to Joe and Kirito alone a little later.
"There's a reason Spike wants us to think he's quitting," Killua says. "He wants us to all vote for him, Jimmy Johnson-style. But he's probably got an idol that he is planning on using. So, I say: vote for Kyon. Then, if Spike wants to quit, he can do so afterward."
"But aren't you afraid that Kyon might have something?" Joe asks. "After all, he seems to have it together more than Spike. Spike hasn't been himself since he died."
"Yeah, if anyone had an idol, I think it'd be Kyon," Kirito says.
"Spike wants us to think he wants to quit," Killua says. "I'm not buying it. He really wants to pull off a power play in this game. We've got to be prepared."
"But what do we do?" Joe says. "We have no Fire Tokens left!"
"We will vote out Kyon tonight," Killua says. "Remember, though, none of us can use our Shot-in-the-Darks. If we do, then they can forge a tie with their two votes."
"What if they have an extra vote?" Joe asks.
"That's possible," Kirito says. "Which means that we even more can't use a Shot-in-the-Dark. We need to make sure that we have the upper hand in votes, one way or another."
"Okay, I guess…" Joe says.
"Joe is getting cold feet," Killua says. "And if he dares to do something that costs myself or Kirito a spot in the game… well, let's just say that he will get crushed by the jury."
The Women come back from the Sanctuary and notice that Kirito, Killua, and Joe are talking, while Spike and Kyon are lying in the shelter doing nothing.
"What are you doing?" Haruhi asks Kyon.
"Nothing," Kyon says.
"Sounds fun, let me join you," Haruhi says.
She lies down next to Kyon, and Konata lies down next to Haruhi.
"What is this, a menage-a-trois?" Spike asks. "You three get a room, I'm going to go outside and try not to die."
"I don't know what Kyon's doing with those Women, but I don't like it," Spike says. "He's gotten in bed with some of the most prominent trouble-makers in the game."
Alice interrupts Kirito, Killua, and Joe's conversation.
"Whatcha talkin' about?" she asks.
"Oh, nothing," Kirito says.
"Oh, come on!" Alice exclaims. "I know you're not talking about nothing."
"Fine," Killua sighs. "We're talking about whether to vote out Spike or Kyon."
"Oh, that's easy!" Alice says. "Vote out Kyon!"
"See?" Kirito says to Joe. "Even she sees it's obvious."
"Do you trust her?" Joe says. "Perhaps she's saying that because she thinks it's going to help her game. I'm not going to be persuaded that easily."
"Oh, for Pete's sake, Joe," Killua complains.
"Who's Pete?" Joe asks.
"We're voting Kyon, and that's the end of it," Killua says.
"Joe is driving me crazy," Killua says. "I don't even trust him anymore. It's possible he could jump ship on our alliance at any moment. I'm going to be watching closely to make sure he isn't getting chummy with Kyon. Maybe he's with him already, I don't know, but I'm going to be on my toes."
"I don't know if I should trust Killua," Joe says. "Maybe what Misty said is right. Maybe I should turn on Killua. He really is running the show over here. I've got to make sure that he doesn't get the opportunity to backstab me."
Tribal Council
Men: Joe, Killua, Kirito, Kyon, Spike
The five Men walk into the Tribal Council area and put down their torches. The Women join the peanut gallery and start eating their peanuts. Haruhi even throws a couple of shells down at Kyon.
"We now bring in the members of our jury," Jet states. "Ami Mizuno, and voted out last Tribal Council, Mine."
Ami and Mine walk into the Tribal Council area wearing fancy dresses.
"Let's start by talking about the challenge," Jet says. "Kirito, why did your tribe suck so bad at that challenge?"
"Well, I wouldn't say we all sucked," Kirito says. "But yeah, we lost again, right when we had a chance to pull even in numbers with the Women. I'm not happy about it, that's for sure."
"Yeah, we needed so bad to win today," Joe says. "I'm so disappointed."
"Zoldyck, your tribe just keeps losing," Jet says. "You were even given the chance to get back in this game when the Women just threw their immunity idol at you. And yet, you keep failing. Why?"
"We're just not good enough," Killua says. "We simply do not have the talent to beat them. Look at us. Kirito, Joe, and I are small. Kyon and Spike are lazy. We are a band of misfits on the path toward extinction."
"Kyon, Killua just called you out as lazy," Jet says. "What do you think about that?"
"Maybe he's right, maybe he's wrong, I don't know," Kyon replies.
"So, you're too lazy to give me a real response, I take it."
"Maybe, maybe not."
"Spike, Killua called you out as well," Jet says. "What do you say to that?"
"Who cares?" Spike replies. "I want to quit."
Everyone, including the Women and the jury, looks shocked upon hearing this, save for Killua and Kyon.
"Big reaction there," Jet says. "But I'll start with Spiegel. Why do you want to quit?"
"Hey, I died," he says. "Isn't that reason enough? I don't feel like dying a second time. And let's face it: dying isn't all that fun. I was unlucky enough to die once; spare me the trouble of dying again."
"Killua, would you say that Spiegel is a pretty unlucky fellow?"
"Definitely. If it wasn't for bad luck, he wouldn't have had none."
"What was the bad luck?"
"Could have been any number of things. Like I told you a while ago about how our tribe didn't have immunity? If we had immunity, he wouldn't have wanted to quit, right?"
"You mean that if he would have gone to the Sanctuary today, this would never have happened?"
"Good possibility. Good possibility. Heard of the proverbial scapegoat? There's probably been thousands of people who've wanted to quit, and there will probably be thousands more. Why? Who knows."
"So, Spiegel, you want to quit, even though the chances of your dying a second time out here are slim to none. And you're my friend; I don't want you to be like Purple Kelly."
"Well, like Purple Kelly, I've had enough," Spike says. "Smuff my torch."
"Smuff?"
"Isn't that what you do to torches?"
"Hold on, hold on," Jet says. "You really want to quit. Really. Really?"
"Yes."
"Killua, do you approve of his quitting?" Jet asks.
"I don't approve of it, and I think he's a coward, but if he truly wants to quit, let him go ahead."
"How about you, Kirito?" Jet says.
"I think it's a bad look for him, but it increases my chances of winning, so I'm okay with it."
"And what about you, Joe?" Jet asks.
"He's in the opposing alliance," Joe says. "It's obvious that it helps me out in this game, so yeah, I'll approve of it."
"Kyon, it's all down to you. Do you agree with Spiegel's quitting?"
Kyon shakes his head. "Nope," he says. "I need him in this game with me. Otherwise, I'm screwed. I need Spike in this game. Spike, please reconsider."
"Sorry," Spike says. "I've checked out mentally."
Kyon throws up his hands. "Whatevs," he says. "I can't believe you want to give up like this, but go right ahead, I guess."
"Okay, it's unanimous," Jet says. "Spiegel, come get your torch."
The Women and jury look on in total shock as Spike grabs his torch and brings it over to Jet.
"If you want to go, go," Jet says, snuffing out his torch. "Per your wishes, go home. Head out."
Jet shakes his head as he watches Spike walk out of the Tribal Council area. Spike arrives at a table with a bunch of treasure chests.
"You must bequeath your Fire Tokens to another player," Spike reads. "Okay, Kyon, here's mine."
Spike drops his Fire Token in Kyon's chest, then heads out. The camera pans back to Tribal Council, where Jet looks livid.
"With all due respect to Spiegel, people work too $#* hard to stay alive in this game," Jet states. "If he chooses to lay his torch down, so it shall be."
Jet drops Spike's torch to the ground.
"Who knows? Maybe this is the best thing to happen for the Men Tribe," Jet says. "All I know is, if you don't start winning immunities soon, you might as well all quit, because you will find your tribe extinct. Grab your torches, head back to camp, good night."
The Men go over and pick up their torches, then head out on the trek back to camp. The Women join them, some of them laughing as they go. The jury members shake their heads in disbelief.
"This isn't how I wanted to go out when I envisioned playing this game," Spike says. "But I've just had it with this game, and I don't feel like playing anymore. And I certainly don't feel like dying again – that would suck. Instead, I'm going to go out on my own terms. For one final time… bang."
Fire Token Count:
4 – Alice, Misty
2 – Kyon
1 – Haruhi, Jasmine, Konata, Michiru
0 – Killua, Kirito, Joe
Next time on… Survivor… Alice looks to take steps to put her alliance in control… Misty looks to take steps to put her alliance in control… and Joe faces the decision of a lifetime.