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Day 22

I'll Take It Under Consideration

Camp

Men: Joe, Killua, Kyon

Women: Alice, Jasmine, Konata, Michiru

"Wow," is the first thing Kyon says as the players arrive back at camp.

"I fully expected to be going home last night," Kyon says. "Instead, I didn't get a single vote! Now I'm really confused as to what my place is in this game. Am I just a goat? And am I being dragged along to the end because everyone thinks they can beat me? That's concerning to me."

"How did you figure that one out?" Konata asks Killua. "How did you know that Kirito planned on blindsiding you?"

"Joe, of course!" Killua replies. "He spilled the beans and went along with me. He deserves a lot of credit for being bold enough to make that BIG MOVE."

Joe chuckles shyly.

"Joe scares me," Killua says. "While it's true that I made the BIG MOVE as much as he did, the jury may take it that he's the one running the show around here. In which case I'm not just going to have to get rid of Kirito; I'm also going to have to oust Joe as well."

"I don't know if I made the right decision taking Kirito out," Joe says. "While it was a BIG MOVE, I now feel like Killua will see me as a target and want to take me out next. I've got to make sure that Killua and I are inseparable, or else I'll have to go to Kyon for help."

Jasmine sees this as an opportunity, so she goes to Joe to discuss things with herself and Michiru.

"There's no more Fire Tokens, no more advantages," she says. "The only way we can help each other at this point is socially."

"We can also promise to vote on the jury a certain way," Michiru adds. "With the caveat that should we make the Final Three, we can't help you."

"I understand," Joe says. "I'm not sure who to go forward with, Kyon or Killua."

"Killua's close with Alice," Jasmine says. "He's probably more of a threat than Kyon is."

"Yeah, I agree," Michiru says. "You should align yourself with Kyon."

"I see," Joe says.

"Everyone's telling me something different, and I'm getting six different opinions from six other people out here in this game," Joe says. "I can't trust anyone. Instead, I've got to play my own game, and figure out what I want to do on my own."

In the morning, Alice and Killua have their daily chat before anyone else is awake.

"This might be the last time we have this chat, Albino," Alice tells Killua.

"And which one of us Albinos won't be here to have it?" Killua responds.

"That's up to us to decide at the challenge today, isn't it?"

"I suppose it is."

"Well, I'll give you props for blindsiding Kirito like that. But if you keep making BIG MOVES, you're going to be a super-large target."

"And if I don't make BIG MOVES, I'm not going to have a snowball's chance in Hades of winning the game in the Final Three."

"Uh-huh," Alice says. "Sure."

"But it's true!"

"Whatevs. You make sure you get the jury to vote for me, you hear?"

"You do so likewise once you go home tonight."

"I'll think about it."

"Killua and I are now at each other's throats, albeit playfully," Alice says. "He wants me out, I want him out, and we both know it. At the same time, we've become the best of friends. I sincerely wish him the best once he's out of this game, but he needs to be on that jury for my game's sake."

"I love playing with Alice," Killua says. "She's really cool, and she's pretty smart. But if I don't get her on that jury, I'm going to be playing with fire – maybe even literally. I don't want to have to win a fire-making challenge, so I'm going to make sure our tribe wins at least one of these immunity challenges."

Later in the morning, once everyone is up, Joe pulls aside Kyon near the jungle.

"Hey, I can get you to the Final Two of our tribe," Joe says. "Just agree to vote with me and not with Killua."

"No problem, that's the plan," Kyon says.

"You sure you aren't hedging your bets?" Joe says. "Because if you're with me, then I'll gladly take out Killua for you."

"Sure thing," Kyon says.

"I don't trust Kyon," Joe says. "He hasn't been part of my alliance since the start, but I've got to work with him if I'm going to survive the next vote. At the same time, I've also got to consider working with Killua and going to the Final Two of our tribe with him."

Jasmine and Michiru, meanwhile, try to get Konata on their side.

"We know you've been aligned with Alice for a long time," Jasmine says. "But if you turn on her now, you'll earn yourself jury votes."

"But you two will vote me off next!" Konata replies.

"Actually, we might not," Michiru says. "The two of us want to beat each other. So we may split up, and then your vote will mean everything!"

"I'll take it under consideration," Konata says.

"Oh, so NOW Michiru and Jasmine want me, because they don't want to face a 2-2 tie between Alice and myself and them," Konata says. "Sure, right. They're going to turn on each other after being aligned together all game long. Riiiiight. I'll believe that when I see it."

Immunity Challenge

"Come on in, guys!"

The seven remaining characters walk on into the immunity challenge area.

"You guys ready to get to today's immunity challenge?"

"Of course!" yells Konata.

"First things first, I will take it back."

Konata hands over the Ranma immunity idol to Jet.

"Thank you. Once again, immunity is back up for grabs. For today's challenge, three members of your tribe will take turns throwing rocks at tiles. Once you've broken the tiles, you'll retrieve bags of wooden puzzle pieces. Once you've collected all three bundles, you'll then assemble the puzzle with help from a caller. First tribe to solve the puzzle, wins immunity, guaranteed one-in-what shot at winning this game."

"One-in-what?" Alice asks.

"I'm asking you."

"Oh, one-in-six!" Alice replies.

"That's right. In addition, you are playing for reward. Wanna know what you're playing for?"

"Absolutely!" says Jasmine.

"It's our final reward of the season, and we're airing this show around Thanksgiving Day, so what better reward than a John Madden turducken? It's chicken, duck, and turkey, all stuffed into each other. We'll have some other foods available as well, such as the traditional mashed potatoes and yams."

"Yam Yam?" Konata says.

"No, yams," Jet corrects her. "Winning tribe gets the turducken, then gets some peanuts at Tribal Council while watching the losing tribe vote. Losers, Tribal Council, where someone will become the seventh member of our jury. I know it's worth playing for. Women, you've got one extra member, you've got to sit someone out. Who's it gonna be?"

"Jasmine," Alice says.

"Very well then, sit-out, take a spot on the bench. I'll give you a minute to strategize, then we'll get it on!"

The players line up, ready to throw rocks.

"Survivors ready? Go!"

Killua and Konata are the first to throw their rocks.

"Throwing rocks to break tiles!"

Killua breaks his first one, while Konata misses. Joe steps up and misses, and Michiru knocks one down. Kirito then knocks down the second one for the Men, while Alice misses.

"Good start for the Men!"

Konata throws again, and this time she connects with the tile, but it doesn't completely fall to the ground.

"Konata breaks the tile but not enough!"

"Come on, that sucks!" Konata complains.

"You have to obliterate that tile for the bag to drop!"

After misses by Killua, Joe, and Michiru, it is time for Alice to throw, and she does the same thing as Konata: smashing the tile but not enough to drop the puzzle pieces.

"Alice breaks another tile but it's not enough!"

Kirito then connects on his next throw.

"Kirito knocks down the tile, and now the Men can start pulling!"

"Bull, we say!" Konata yells. "Bull! Bull! Bull!"

"Konata," Jet says, "you've got the same tiles, the same ropes."

On her next throw, Konata hits one of the hanging tiles, but it still doesn't break.

"I mean, my $#*!" she shouts.

"What?" Kirito says.

"Konata, you need to stop $#*%&ing and start throwing!" Jet says.

"Just hitting them as hard as we can, Jet," Konata says.

As the Men work on the puzzle, Alice breaks one of the hanging tiles for the Women.

"That piece goes there!" Kirito shouts.

The Men are having a hard time figuring out their puzzle, giving the Women an opportunity. Michiru smashes a tile and knocks down the final bag of puzzle pieces. The Women then start pulling over their pieces.

"Women can go to work on that puzzle!"

The Men continue working on their puzzle, unable to figure it out. Michiru, meanwhile, starts figuring out a pattern in the puzzle, and the Women start making progress.

"Women have made up a lot of time in this challenge!"

"That piece goes over there!" Michiru shouts.

"Move that one!" Joe yells.

Both tribes start making a lot of progress on their puzzle, but one of them finally puts in the final piece.

"Women…"

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"… have it wrong! Men still in this thing!"

The Men correct a couple of errors, then they put in their last piece.

"Men…"

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"… have it wrong too!"

In that period of time, Michiru is able to see where the Women messed up, and she puts in the correct pieces to solve the puzzle.

"Women… have it! And that's it! Women… win immunity!"

The Women jump up and down in celebration. Jasmine rushes over to celebrate with her tribemates.

"Congratulations, Women, this is for you."

Jet hands over the Ranma immunity idol to Alice.

"No one from your tribe going home tonight. You're off to the Sanctuary to eat some turducken. Head on out, have a nice day."

Konata claps as the Women jubilantly leave the immunity challenge area.

"As for you, Men, I've got nothing for you but a date with me for Tribal Council. Head on out; I'll see you tonight for Tribal."

Killua shakes his head as the Men walk on out.

"What a waste," Killua says. "We do all this work to get back in the game, and it all goes to pieces because we can't figure out a stupid puzzle. Now we go to a vote where literally anything can happen, from me going home, Joe going home, Kyon going home – or a three-way tie. This is not where we want to be."

Sanctuary

Women: Alice, Jasmine, Konata, Michiru

The players go to town on the turducken, eating it as quickly and (in Konata's case) sloppily as possible.

"Now, now, now, what you've got here is a turkey," Konata says. "Then you've got the chicken, and then you've got the duck. So you put the duck into the chicken, and then you put the chicken into the turkey. And then you take two dressings and put them inside the turkey. So really it's five foods, a turkey, a duck, a chicken, and two dressings. And then you cut it like this. And that's basically it, that's the turducken."

Jasmine has other thoughts than just about the food.

"So, who's going home tonight?" she asks. "We need to try to manipulate this vote."

"And how so?" Michiru asks.

"We want to get the weakest player to survive from their tribe," Jasmine says. "Someone who would have no chance should they merge with us."

"Not bad thinking," Alice says. "If that's the case, I say we try to keep Joe around. He's very easy to manipulate and influence. We've got to make sure he doesn't go tonight."

"Makes sense," Jasmine says.

"But how are we going to do that?" Michiru asks.

"Simple," Alice replies. "I'll work on Killua, and you work on Kyon. If we can manipulate them into making the move we want them to make, we'll be a lot better off."

"What these other Women don't understand is that I want Killua out," Alice says. "My goal is to get him on that jury to get others to vote for me. But if Joe goes home, that greatly reduces the chances that I can get Killua out in time. I've got to act now. And the only way to do that is to pounce on Kyon."

Camp

Men: Joe, Killua, Kyon

Killua is disappointed as he arrives back to camp.

"I thought we'd pull even today, I really did," he says. "I thought that we'd find a way to win and get even again with the Women. Now we're in a situation where one more loss sends us to a fire-making challenge and the winner of such challenge to merge with the Women. I don't want to merge with the Women, I want to beat them. The only way left to do that is by defeating them at the next two challenges… but in order to even get there, I've got to survive tonight."

So, he takes the opportunity to talk to Kyon.

"We saved you last night," Killua says. "I could now use your help."

"And how so?" Kyon replies.

"Vote out Joe," Killua says. "He's my vote no matter what, one thousand percent."

"You're not *$# with me, are you?"

"No, not at all. I need Joe out. He's too big a threat."

"Hey, as long as it's not me," Kyon says.

"Just don't tell Joe," Killua says. "I will pretend to vote for you, but really I'm gonna be voting out Joe."

"Sounds like a plan," Kyon replies.

"Killua says he's going to save me, again," Kyon says. "Do I believe him? By no means! But what other choice do I have? I can't alienate myself even further. I've got to hope I get dragged to the end, because that's the only way I get there. And then I have to hope that Haruhi has the heart to tell the entire jury to vote for me. And that's only happening if Konata goes home. I'm up against long odds here."

Joe and Killua meet a bit later, with Killua solidifying things with his long-term alliance mate.

"It's Kyon tonight," Killua says.

"Right," Joe replies.

"The two of us have bonded since the beginning and now are about to make it to the Final Two of the Men," Killua says. "And if Kyon starts saying stuff, don't believe him. He's going to be scrambling like crazy."

"Okay," Joe says.

"Good, it looks like I've got Joe on board," Killua says. "Then I'll be able to blindside him. Obviously this never is as easy as it seems, but I trust that he's going to follow my instructions. The question is, what about Kyon? He has no incentive to work with me. He is dangerous, being a goat that everyone thinks they can drag to the end. Heck, I'm sure the entire Women tribe is hoping to see him there in the Final Three because, like Jimmy Johnson, no jury's going to give him a million dollars."

A bit later, the Women arrive back at camp. Alice pulls aside Killua as the others go back to the shelter.

"So, you set things up while I was gone?" Alice says.

"That's right," Killua says. "I have deals with both Joe and Kyon. The only way I go home is if both betray me."

Alice chuckles.

"Don't you even think about it," Killua says.

"Oh, come on, what do you think I'm gonna do?" Alice replies. "I can say, 'Vote out Killua,' and no one's gonna listen. Why would anyone listen to me?"

"Yeah, good point," Killua says. "Listening to you isn't a good idea."

"Now wait just a minute!" Alice says. "I've had some pretty good advice for you throughout this game."

"Yeah, yeah," Killua says. "None of that will mean a thing if I don't survive tonight."

"Well, I have just one thing to say."

"What's that?"

"I beat you!"

"So what?"

"Alice can be annoying," Killua says. "But she is my ally. I have to hope she gets me some jury votes. This Tribal Council tonight is going to be a real challenge, but if I can survive it, I've got a pretty good shot at sitting at that Final Three."

"Oh, that little Albino!" Alice says. "He's all nervous, when I'm the one who should be nervous here. I've got to go up against a solid two of Jasmine and Michiru, with no other recourse but to draw rocks!"

Joe talks to Kyon later that evening, raising the possibility of a blindside.

"We've got to get out Killua now," Joe says.

"I'm with ya," Kyon replies.

"He's very dangerous," Joe says. "If he makes it to the end, he's going to have a great shot at winning."

"Then we've got to eliminate him now," Kyon says.

"I think I've gotten Kyon enough on my side that we can blindside Killua," Joe says. "Which I need to do before Killua blindsides me. This is going to be a tricky vote, because Kyon and Killua could both go different ways. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a three-way tie tonight."

"Joe wants me only for his vote," Kyon says. "Killua wants me only for my vote. And what do I have? I have one vote, and I will use it the way I want to. We'll see which way that is."

Tribal Council

(Men)

The three Men enter the Tribal Council area with their torches burning, and as they set them down into place, the Women fill into their spots in the peanut gallery and begin enjoying their peanuts.

"We now bring in the members of our jury," Jet states. "Ami, Mine, Spike, Misty, Haruhi, and voted out last Tribal Council, Kirito."

The six jury members walk on out and take their spots.

"All right," Jet says. "Let's talk a little bit about the challenge today. It was one of those classic Survivor challenges, A Stone's Throw. Joe, did you feel that your tribe wasted an opportunity today?"

"Absolutely," Joe says. "We had the lead, and then we blew it. We should never have lost. It was just one of those things. But unfortunately, for one of us, that loss will mean our torch will be snuffed."

"That also means that your tribe will be down to just two members after tonight," Jet says. "Killua, what does that mean to you?"

"It means that we'll be down to two," Killua deadpans, and everyone enjoys a laugh.

"Seriously, though."

"Yeah, seriously, we are in a whole heaping lot of trouble," Killua says. "The two of us will be fighting for the right to keep the tribe intact. We know that losing once we're down to two means a fire-making challenge, with the winner merging to the other tribe."

"You say 'us' as if you know it won't be you."

"I only say that because I don't want to imagine a world where I'm not around," Killua says. "Why would I agree with my own ousting? I've got to prepare as if I'll still be here."

"Kyon, the last time we were here, you used your Shot-in-the-Dark, as if you knew it would be your final Tribal Council."

"I did that because I did know it was my final Tribal Council!" Kyon replies. "And it should have been. There was no reason for anyone to keep me. But they did. And as a result, I'm still here."

"How does that affect your strategy tonight?"

"Just keep on hoping that it isn't me, and make the right vote."

"Joe, is the strategy that simple?"

"Not really," Joe replies. "I'm sure Killua has deals with Kyon, and vice versa. Alice has deals with Killua, I'm pretty certain of that, and Kyon probably had some with Haruhi and Konata."

"Is this true, Killua?"

"If it were, would I tell you?" Killua replies. "Of course I'm playing this game hard. I'm trying to develop relationships any which way I can. If that includes making agreements with people on the other tribe, sure, I'll do it, and I'm sure the other two will do the same. It's a game. You've got to play it, or be played."

"Kyon, should you survive tonight, what's your strategy the rest of the way?"

"Win immunity," Kyon says. "That's the only way I'm sure of surviving. I've got to win a bunch of immunities in a row. Either tribe immunities, or individual immunities should it come to that. But I know that I don't have really any chance of making any relationships that are going to rescue me."

"Killua, if this vote goes the way you want it to, how does it affect the game as a whole?"

"I think this vote makes it clear where the strength of the tribe is, and if that remaining tribe is too weak, they're going to collapse when it comes to a two-on-two immunity challenge. We've got to make the right choice tonight."

"Well, with that, it is… time to vote. Joe, you're up first."

The Tribal Council theme "Tally the Vote" plays as the players go to vote.

Joe goes to vote.

"I'm not sure if voting for you is the right move tonight," Joe says. "But in any case, here it is."

Killua goes to vote.

Kyon goes to vote.

After the players come back from voting, Jet looks at the players and grins. "I'll go tally the votes," he says.

Jet gathers the votes, grabs the voting urn, then returns to his podium.

"Once the votes are read, the decision is final, and the person voted out will be asked to leave the Tribal Council area immediately. I'll read the votes."

Jet pulls out the first vote.

"First vote… Killua."

Killua nods, but says nothing.

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"Joe. We're tied, one vote Killua, one vote Joe, one vote remaining."

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"Fourteenth person eliminated from Survivor: Crazy Game Changers, and the seventh member of our jury…"

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"Joe."

Joe nods, then gets up from his seat. "Good game, guys," he says.

He grabs his torch and brings it over to Jet.

"Joe, the tribe has spoken," Jet says.

"It's a delight getting to hear you say that!" Joe replies.

"It's time for you to go."

Joe waves to the remaining players, then heads on out.

"The Men are now at a point of no return," Jet says. "How long, how long, how long to the point of no return? Well, perhaps just one immunity challenge. You've got to start winning, or your tribe will be officially extinct. Grab your torches, head back to camp, good night."

Killua and Kyon get up from their seats and take their torches, then walk on back to camp.

"I knew that Killua was the biggest threat," Joe says. "Killua too knew he was the biggest threat. That's why both of us voted for each other. We know that Kyon is useless and just a goat to be dragged to the end. I should have known when Killua made the decision to blindside Kirito, that I'd be next. I should have voted out Killua then. Mistakes were made. I wish everyone in the game best of luck, because I like all of them!"

Who voted for whom:

Joe – Killua

Killua – Joe

Kyon – Joe

Scenes from our next episode:

Killua and Kyon start training for an Olympic challenge… Jasmine and Michiru try turning Konata on Alice… and it's time to start practicing making fire.