Ticket here, welcome back to a new chapter! In this chapter, a reward challenge returns, plus one castaway gets very unlucky and leaves on a sour note.

Enjoy :)

Challenge Area

Day 31

"Come on in!"

Our castaways enter, but they don't see the usual necklace stand, or cloth, or anything. There's a bench, and right across from it, a massive table..and a gavel right next to it.

"What are you doin' Jeff?" Monty asks.

Jeff has a smile on, behind the table. "You can't get last today…unless you miss out." This tradition has returned, and made it's first appearance in this series.

Monty: This is one of THOSE auctions. Yeah, some people are gonna be pissed today.

They get seated, and Jeff fills them in. "Alright. Welcome to the Survivor Auction."

"What trick are you playing?" Li asks.

"Don't worry, I'm being fair. This time." That gets a few laughs. "You'll each start with five-hundred dollars. Bidding is in twenty dollar increments. You cannot share money, you cannot share food. The auction will end without warning, so if you see something you like, BID ON IT. Shall we get started?"

It's a unanimous "YES." Food is food. Jeff places a covered dish onto the table "First item, I'll uncover it…"

.

.

It's a bundle of quesadillas, with salsa, guacamole..and a whole margarita!

"Quesadillas, with salsa, guac, and a great beverage on the side."

"Fourty." Daisy says.

"Sixty."

"Eighty." The princess and Li make eye contact, one daring the other to raise their price.

"One sixty."

The princess keeps her mouth shut. Li has won this time.

"Going once…going twice…"

SLAM! "Sold to Chun-Li, for a hundred-sixty."

Li heads his way. She takes the margarita in one hand, and carries that dish in the other. Some on the bench are salivating, practically begging for a taste. Sucks for them, that's not allowed.

She takes a seat and just dips that quesadilla in the salsa. She bites down and from that closed smile on her face, she's hit a new nirvana.

"Bid if you can. It's worth it." Li's got the biggest grin on all season. Lack of food just turns people.

Jeff brings "Next item will remain covered."

"Five-hundred." Dark Samus betting everything on it.

Jeff's eyes go wide. "All of it?"

"All or nothing."

Jeff is frozen. "You..are taking a risk. If this is a blunder, you've wasted all your money."

"Don't care, I'll eat anything."

The host nods. Confused but the show must go on. "We'll see about that."

"H-huh?" Daisy's befuddled right now. Everyone's looking at the clone like she's crazy!

"Wow…the whole deck." (Rocket)

Jeff bangs his gavel. "SOLD to Samus, five hundred bucks. Come on up."

The clone heads his way, and stares at the dish. Jeff uncovers it…it's Fruit Bat Soup.

"Awww…" (Daisy)

"Is..that bat alive?" Rocket asks, but gets a nudge from Daisy. "Don't make her feel worse.."

"Hehehe.."

The high bidder just rips the skin off and takes a bite, while others watch. She picks up the whole bowl and just starts slurping it, like a slob.

Ulala covers her eyes, while the clone carries her reward back. "It's not that bad."

"It's a bat!"

"Tastes like a mixture of chicken and beef." The clone keeps digging in, while about everyone tries looking away. Except for Cyrax. "The bat doesn't bother you?"

"I've eaten worse."

Daisy looks on, jaw on the floor.

Daisy: Her taste buds are resilient! Nothing can stop her. Nothing.

Cut to Dark Samus' confessional.

Dark Samus: These people are soft.

Jeff places the next dish. "Next item up for it is…" he lifts the cover and its a stack of ribs, with beer on the side! "Ribs and beer."

"Sixty!" Daisy shouts.

"Eighty!" Rocket adds.

"A hundred!"

"Hundred-twenty!" (Daisy)

"Hundred-fourty!" (Rocket)

"Hundred-sixty!" (Monty)

"Hundred-eighty!" (Rocket)

"For a hundred eighty. Going once, going twice…"

"Two hundred!" Daisy keeps it going.

Monty just facepalms. No ribs for him.

"Three hundred!" Rocket shouts.

"For three hundred. Going once..going twice…"

.

.

SLAM!

"SOLD to Rocket for three hundred."

The raccoon crawls up the table to see his get. He has a taste, and grins after one. "They always said Survivor food tastes like shit."

"What's it like?l

"Not shit."

That gets a laugh from the auctioneers. Rocket carries his food back, and it's time for the next item to rise.

"Next item…will remain cover—"

"THREE-HUNDRED!" Daisy shouts, causing Jeff to double take. "No hesitation. Ribs and beer for three-hundred. Going once, going twice.."

Monty covers his own mouth. Rocket just has to accept it

Jeff bangs the gavel! "SOLD for three-hundred!"

The princess heads for her dish, Jeff has his hand on the cover. "This is what you've bought."

"Star spirits give me hope.." Daisy clasps her hands together like a nun.

.

.

It's strips and fries, with a side of ketchup!

"FUCK YES!" She literally punches the air in excitement. She attacks the first piece of chicken like a hound, while everyone watches her slob out.

"Oh my…" (Ulala)

"She's been waiting forever." (Chun-Li)

She carries her dish back. "Thanks for not robbing me."

"Someone will get robbed, it's not you."

The princess takes a seat with her meal, but sees Monty looking miserable. "It's ok, you have the most money."

The gator just points to Ulala, Silver, and Cyrax. "They gotta go first."

"If you cheap out you'll regret it."

Jeff sets the next dish up. "Next item will be uncovered.." the cover comes off, and it's Peking duck! "Peking duck, never before seen in the auction."

Ulala's eyes light up! "FOUR-EIGHTY!" She shouts, waving her money in the air.

"FIVE HUNDRED." Everyone turns to the source: Silver Sonic. Ulala's mouth bursts open. The duck she wanted just got snatched before her eyes.

Jeff smacks that gavel onto the wood. "SOLD to Silver Sonic for five-hundred."

Ulala: THAT was personal. What the heck?

Immediate cut to Silver's confession.

Silver Sonic: She doesn't need a chance to fuel up. If she wins that necklace, my plans are ruined.

The cloned hedgehog takes his dish, and bites into the duck. "Mmmm..delicious." He walks back, and makes eye contact with Ulala who's just giving him a dirty look. She knows what he did, and so does he.

While the recent bidder enjoys his duck, Daisy turns to Cyrax, "i would share if I could."

"Thanks for the offer…but there's something else on my mind." He responds, locking in on the next dish.

Cyrax: I was struck by jealousy. They get the satisfaction of a quenched hunger. I have to wait for an advantage that may never come.

Jeff has the next dish up for grabs. "Next item is covered."

"Twenty." The Gator bids.

"Going once…going twice…" he smacks that gavel. "SOLD to Monty for twenty bucks!"

The gator gets his first bid of the auction, and walks up the host. Twenty bucks are slammed on the table. "That's a steal!"

"It sure is…but don't dig in just yet."

"..oh brother."

Jeff pulls out another, smaller dish. "You can have the original..OR swap for a deal that could be better." he reveals, and Monty sets a claw on the bottom part of his mouth. Thinking about it. What tricks could Jeff be playing now?

The Gator looks back and forth at the dishes, a comes to a decision. "Y'know, you could be swerving me with that new dish. I'm sticking to my guns."

Jeff gets a hand on cover. "Let's see what you picked…" it comes up, and it's nothing like he expected. It's pig brains. "Pig brains, with a nice side of fly."

"…."

"Take a bite."

Monty stabs into the brain, and nibbles on it. His eyes are closing, and he just spits it to the side. "Bleugh! This isn't even sanitary!" He heads back to his seat, disappointment in those eyes. He has $480 left, all he has to do is spend it before time runs out.

Jeff keeps the smaller dish for sale. "Alright. It'd be a waste to have the dish for show, so I'm putting it up for bid."

"FIVE-HUNDRED!" Ulala shouts.

That gavel comes down. "SOLD to Ulala." She heads to the table, and smacks her money down. Jeff uncovers the dish..and it's a WHOLE pizza!

"AAAH!" Ulala screams, taking a bite of the pizza. "Mmmm.."

"Like it?"

"..didn't get my duck, but this makes up for it." She says, taking her dish back. As she makes the trip, the fumes from the pizza fly towards everyone. When it hits Monty, he groans.

Monty: This is some joke right? This ain't real! This ain't real…

Jeff puts the next dish on the table. This auction isn't over just yet. Before he can even pull the cover off…

"Five hundred." Cyrax banks everything on it.

"Wow. You don't even know what this is, are you sure—"

"A hundred percent." The cyborg cuts him off.

"Ok brother…come on up."

The cyborg walks up and slams his whole account on the table. Jeff keeps his word on the reveal, and pulls that cover to reveal a scroll. "You bought a hidden advantage in the game. Use it wisely." Cyrax just takes it and gets back to his seat.

"Alright. Next item…" Monty leans forward as Jeff grabs the next dish…it's…

.

.

.

Nothing.

"None left."

Monty slaps his head. "Aagh! Come on Jeff you're messing with me!"

The host shakes his head. "Not this time. The Survivor Auction..is over." He bangs that gavel, and it's official. The cast take whatever food they have left, and leaves the auction. It was a nice time for everyone. Well..

Almost everyone.

Monty: Who did I piss off? Cause that auction was bullsh—

He facepalms.

Monty: Robbed. They robbed me man..

Total $$$ Left over:

Monty: $480 (Pig Brains)

Chun-Li: $340 (Quesadillas w/ Salsa, Guac, Margarita)

Daisy: $200 (Strips and Fries)

Rocket $200 (Stack of Ribs)

Ulala: 0 (Whole pizza)

Cyrax: 0 (got the advantage)

Dark Samus: 0 (Fruit Bat Soup)

Silver Sonic: 0 (Peking Duck)

Merge Camp

Day 31

Chun-Li, Cyrax, Daisy, Dark Samus, Montgomery Gator, Rocket Raccoon, Silver Sonic, and Ulala

The castaways arrive back, but the gator storms off immediately. Everyone can connect the dots pretty easy.

"Poor gator left with nothing.." Daisy comments.

"Unfortunate." Li says, attending the fire. "But he has to do what he can. Use this as motivation to win."

Cyrax takes the machete. "He's not taking it that way."

"He'll be over it in a few hours." Li responds, throwing more wood to fuel the fire.

On shore, Monty's kicking sand around. He finds a stick and just breaks it in half, throwing anything around he can find. Luckily there's nothing from camp close to him.

He falls to his knees, and shouts to the sky. "WHY ME?!"

Monty: Did that freagin KID rig the auction? I wanna know who screwed me!

Cameraman: Luck.

Monty: Whaddya mean "luck"? No…NO, it was JEFF!

Cameraman: …sure it was.

His scream is heard by the rest of the cast. "..I'll go talk to him." Li says, heading to the source. The others look on.

"…taking it personally don't you think? Should have eaten the pig brains…I would've." Dark Samus says, taking Li's place in fire tending.

"I know right? Food is food. You know, other cultures love pig brains." Daisy adds. "He just seems like he's being picky. It may LOOK bad but give it a try!"

"The Fruit Bat Soup wasn't bad."

"Mmhmm, like that."

Daisy: Nothing can go his way. He has a hex on him, there's no way he falls on his face THIS much in the real world!

While they tend to Monty, Cyrax sneaks away and gets deep into the jungle.

"What's in store?" He asks himself, taking the wrapper off the scroll. He opens it, and reads it off word for word. "Congratulations. You have earned Safety without Power. Before you go to vote, you can hand Jeff this advantage, and leave Tribal Council. Nobody can vote for you. This IS transferable."

He looks at the camera. "Useful."

Cyrax: I get a positive consequence for saving my cash. With this advantage I can leave, or hand it over to someone else. I just made a great play with an advantage, so it's time I make another.

The Auction returned and we know two things now: Monty's cursed, and Cyrax is blessed by the Elder Gods. What is he trying to do with this new advantage? That's a blessing, but as for the cursed, nothing can seem to go Monty's way ever since the merge began. Can't last long in immunities, an ally just went home, and he's still feuding with Jeff. Someone get this gator some help.

Anyways, next chapter features the immunity challenge, more strategy, and a Tribal Council where one alliance could get leverage over the other. I'll see you there :)