Survivor - Heroes vs Villains

Chapter 35 - Day 30 Part 2 & Day 31 Part 1

Please bear with me. This chapter is long too, even without the author's notes...

~KF

Day 30

Donkey Kong, Bowser, Wolf, Ryu, Springtrap

-/-

It was definitely a time to be alive for these five castaways. Whether it was their first time enjoying the loves one reward or not, they all agreed on it being a great experience. It was always the extra push the players needed from those they cared about and simply the fact that they had the opportunity to catch up on each other a little bit over a nice meal.

So with the ten folks involved, it was like a typical family outing.

"So Panther," Springtrap asked, taking a bite out of his sub that was custom made. "-now that you're here, do you feel like it's time for you to be in game mode as well?"

"Hmm..." He shrugged and shook his head. "Not really. My season was the only one that was in a sort of dry environment. There was no beach. Just camp. So I still feel like I just earned myself a free vacation to the Caribbean and Wolf and Ryu just so happened to be here."

"I've been at the same location twice now and I still don't feel like I need to be game savvy." Ryan commented.

Kevin glared in his direction. "Because you never actually played this game before. Stay in your lane."

A few people laughed at their exchange.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Ryan here is a threat. I feel like we all need to unanimously vote him out at Tribal Council."

"Taking out your best friend?" Donkey Kong questioned between bites of his Chicken Bacon Ranch sub. With all the fixings, of course. "How brutal. Biggest betrayal in Survivor history."

"Panther and I have made it to the loved ones visit twice before." Wolf recalled. "But because we're not blood related, it ended up killing our chances of getting to the actual reward twice. We're lucky to make it this time, since honestly I didn't expect it to happen. Besides, I'm the reason why he's not on this season in the first place. With him being here today, now we're even. ...Leon is going to be jealous as hell, though. Now we both gotta go back home just to hear his mouth."

He rolled his eyes at the thought. "He'll get his chance soon.."

Uh, how soon, Wolf? ...How soon was Leon going to compete? Season six?

"This reward is really nice." Ryu grinned, feeling elated he made it to the loved ones visit in Survivor and actually won the challenge himself. "I've never made it this far in the game before, now I'm in the single-digits. We're all in the single digits. No matter what happens to us, it's been a pleasure sharing this experience with you."

"I second that." Donkey Kong commented. "And I didn't even make top ten in my season.

"I literally got voted out in this round..." Bowser reminded. "If I go out again right now,... whew. No way. The Star Spirits will have to protect me on this one."

"You'll make it through pops." Roy encouraged. "We all placed bets back at home of how far you're goin' and all eight of us are glad that you're still around. Rooting for ya every step of the way old man."

"Look son, I'm not that old here..."

"So Bowser, you've mentioned before that all of your kids have different personalities." DK brought up. "I can't imagine how much that stresses you out, especially with you being a single dad and all."

"Oh, it does. A lot of the time." He was not afraid to bob his head rapidly in between bites. "Knowing me, I'm surprised I was able to have enough patience to make it this far. If I can take care of eight kids on my own, I can do anything. My kids are always my motivation every time."

"Aww, come on." said Roy. "We ain't that bad."

"Yeah, as if you and Morton aren't rough housing in the house trying to break and destroy everything."

"Hey! I can't help it if I want to keep my strength up! My muscles need to be put to good use or something. What if you get into a fight in a dark alley and I gotta defend you? Who's going to have your back, pops?"

"Heh. The kid might have a point." Ryu commented chuckling. "Maybe Master Grouken can train him up, too."

He smirked in reaction. "I may be experienced, but I am only one person. I can't be at our home and the Koopa Kingdom. You or Ken might have to handle it."

"You know,..." Roy paused thinking it over. "-that does sound like a decent idea. Why wouldn't I? I could go get Morton, head over to your place, and be even stronger than ever. We already have an advantage of getting in the door because you're all famous and I'm sitting here right now."

"Cool." The street fighter shrugged, not finding any problem with it. "We would have to make an arrangement. I can train you two, just like how Grouken trained Ken and I."

"My kids are all over the place." It was to no surprise Bowser Koopa had a lot to deal with back at home. "Eight kids, all of them are completely different from one another. Ludwig is a snarky, know-it-all. Lemmy is playful and goofy. Roy is the textbook definition of brawn-over-brains (he gets it from me though, so that why we have a close bond), Iggy is just crazy, Wendy's a daddy's girl, Morton talks too much, Larry is sneaking and mischievous who is always getting in trouble, and Junior knows he's the youngest so he takes advantage of everything."

This man really dissed all of his children on universal television. Father of the year, ladies and gentlemen. "But ya know, hotheaded as I am, I'm not exactly a peach myself. If there was anything in this world that gets me all soft, it's all about the kids. Being a family man is something that I have to be for their sake. ...I love 'em."

Cute.

Not long after everyone finished all of their food, Ryu actually decided to give Roy a little taste of what it was like being a martial artist. Now of course, he had to watch himself when it came to the details. So he did not want to go too in-depth at the time to make things too confusing for the kid. Yet at the same time, he needed to make sure Roy was genuinely interested.

One thing was for sure, though. He knew better than to have Roy meditate. The thought had cross his mind, but the poor Koopa prince would have been bored less than half a minute. Ridley on the other hand would have been all over it. Believe it or not, he of all people found the concept of meditating to be rather relaxing.

Guess it was not good to put someone like him into a box.

With folded arms, Bowser stood further away from him, Grouken being right next to him watching his adopted son and his possible new student training together by the water.

Koopa smirked. He was half amused, yet half proud at the same time. King Koopa found it rather entertaining seeing his kid wanting to learn what Ryu did for a living, but he was happy that Roy was trying to do something different. All just to protect his father. Any dad would have been proud to have a son like that. By his side no matter what.

"So, you think he can manage his temper in case he doesn't do a move right or something?"

"Ryu has great patience. If he can deal with Ken all the time, he can deal with anybody."

That made his grin grew larger. "Cool. Maybe if he actually sticks with it, he could learn a thing or two from him... Your son is one smart man, Grouken. Maybe he could start something."

"He'll have students completely flooding the place." Given the Survivor platform Ryu had now, Grouken was probably not wrong about that. "Perhaps it'll be better for him to start an online channel or so."

He then turn to face Koopa directly. "And I may have not seen all of your kids personally, but I can tell you're a good father. It takes a lot out of a man to raise eight children on his own, and you've done that. From what I heard, they all seem to be rather fond of you. You must continue to teach them everything you know, but still keep them close to you. I'm sure they'll appreciate it."

Bowser curled up his lips, thinking over every word of that response. "That... kinda means a lot to me, man. You have my highest respect. Thank you of what you've done for Ryu. You saved his life and he's a good ally to have. Him and DK are all I have going on for me right now."

"Everything in my life right now is kinda coming full circle." Ryu Hoshi himself really took the time to think about... everything. "The first thing I wanna say is that you don't have to need the money just to learn a thing or two about this game. Two seasons in, I've really learned a lot out here. Whether it'd be about myself, how I handle things in intense situations, and dealing with great pressure that comes your way all of the time. Master Grouken has taught me about all of those things. But let's take away what I do as a profession for a sec."

He was seen telling Roy to watch his from while throwing a few basic punches and kicks with him. It was just something rather simple for first-time students to understand. "Just being out here with seventeen or nineteen other people that don't know a damn thing about you. Very far from home. You really have no one you can count on. All alone. It's not a great feeling, even for someone like me. But I know I shouldn't be complaining about it, because this is what I signed up for. I wanted this. I asked for it. All only for me to suddenly wonder in my mind of what to do. And it really goes to show how much patience a man can have. I didn't even go as far as I wanted with this last time. ...It kinda taught me to be comfortable with losing. No one likes to lose, but as I stated before. A warrior who never fails is a warrior who never learns. And I really have learned something from all this."

"With Grouken showing up on the island, everything suddenly hit me all at once. I shed a few tears today, which is something I never do. It was all overwhelming even for me..."

In a different area of the beach, Wolf, Panther, Springtrap, and Ryan in that order were all sitting down together with their backs against a log.

"So Wolf, Foxy, and I have all made not only an alliance together, we all decided to have a little something more going on here. Sort of like a 'squad' kinda thing." Springtrap felt like it was a good opportunity to let more people in the know. "...It's a shame that Foxy is not here anymore."

"What happened to him?" Panther asked out of curiosity, Ryan showing a strong interest as well.

O'Donnell used his thumb to point to his right, presumably where Bowser, Ryu, and company were. "That _er Bowser played double agent told Donkey Kong that we were voting for Golden. DK used his idol on Golden and Foxy got idol'd out... again."

"Wow..." Ryan could not have believed that. Again? Poor Foxy. He just not could have stopped himself from being idol'd out all the time.

"Springy and I have each other now. We stuck together all this time."

"Alliances aside," Springtrap honestly wanted to talk strategy with Wolf at that moment, but he probably preferred to discuss one topic at a time. "-the three of us are great friends. We called ourselves the Cool Kids, and it's this point we want to kinda play around and expand upon that outside Survivor. For entertaining purposes. Ryan, you're hooked up with me and you have not been a part of Survivor twice. Panther already played this game before and was even on the show before he became an actual contestant. And you know, maybe we can even bring Val in it. We need a female, and technically her and I were both part of the Cool Kids before last season with Rodin."

"I'm assuming we're getting him involved, too?" Wolf looked at him.

"We have to."

Ryan could not have contained himself anymore as he began to laugh, Panther simply going with the flow.

"Sounds interesting. I'll join y'all."

They all really were taking this seriously, were they?

"If this confessional makes it on air, now would be the right opportunity to spread the word and kinda promote things a little bit." The rabbit was literally staring straight at the camera for this one. "Cool Kids are officially expanding, folks. There's gonna be more where that came from. Umm,... stay tuned for the future, I suppose. And, uh... we'll be right back at ya. ...Okay, that's the best I got."

With that conversation out the way, Springtrap finally felt that it was the right time to have a little strategic talk with Wolf. Panther and Ryan being with them at the time was completely irrelevant to him. What were they going to do? Tell everything to do the other contestants?

However, at the worst time possible, there came Donkey Kong with Diddy.

"Roy seems like he's really into the whole training thing with Ryu!"

Completely ignoring the ape's grin, Kevin Davis looked away. Now he needed to make it a priority to discuss things with Wolf privately.

Darleem

Day 30

Yoshi, Zelda, Shovel Knight, Plague Knight

-/-

Unfortunately, these four players were not so lucky. No food or loved one to spend time with? That was double the loss. All they had at the time was the same ol' camp and their stupid rice rations. And the only one who was decent at fishing out of the four of them was Shovel Knight...

Okay, fish and rice. Not a bad combination. And with the winners eating like crazy at the reward, they found it unfair if they had the audacity to want any rice when they returned to the shelter to join them.

"Let's make the best of this, guys." said Yoshi. "We're all here and we have each other. We're on the same tribe, so we're still a... Survivor family, I guess. We can be each other's loved ones for the next couple hours."

"Then I'm a distant relative." Plague Knight did not really find it amusing, but he went with it anyway. "I'm the only one of you four that started on a different tribe."

"Well, you can still count! That only means we're more of a blended family here."

Zelda understood the whole thing, but she was thinking of something else. "You guys don't think we're all conveniently left behind here on purpose, do you?"

Shovel Knight did not want to be an ass for assuming, so he wanted to play nice. "I actually don't think so, Zel. Donkey Kong and Bowser both have blood relatives, Wolf never had the chance to be a part of the actual reward before, and Springtrap being a part of it seems fair enough. I really do believe this was on pure accident and no one really thought about it."

"...But you wouldn't be surprised if it was the case. Right?"

"Um,... okay. Maybe we should always expect the unexpected, but I don't want you to overthink this."

"I'm not. I promise you." She shook her head to avoid misunderstanding. "I am simply making sure all of our heads stay in the game at all times. You can never be too sure with peoples' intentions. And Plague, you voted with us last tribal. We don't have bad blood with you, just so that you're aware."

"For the third time, I was a part of the loved ones visit. But because of my loved one already winning the challenge before, I already went on the reward. And you know, it was only far for Wolf to go this time because he was never on it. Perhaps Shovel is correct on this one regarding the three heroes plus Plague being left back at camp. Still unfortunate that I missed a major opportunity for Link to further coach me within the few minutes he was here, so all I could do is think about what he'd say. And I think he would tell me..." Zelda briefly headed in her thoughts. "-to keep a level head out here. As simple as it sounds, that's pretty much all I have to do. I can't act bitter or on emotion because of this, since worst case scenario, it could influence me to make a wrong decision which I would later regret. Link made it to the end of the game because he was able to keep a level head no matter what when it came to dealing with people on the island. And unlike him, I'm actually having a second go. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm a target due to me already reaching the end of the game, though I believe Link would be telling me that it should only make me strive to work harder. Though difficult to do at times, I have no choice but to put my emotions aside and do the best I can... for the both of us."

And yet she still heaved a heavy sigh, just thinking about what could have been if she spent more time with her loved one that day. Though she had to keep telling herself to get over it. The world was not going to stop just so Zelda can process her situation, whether she liked it or not.

Now in front of her fellow competitors, the brunette was seen curling up her lips and glancing away, not wanting to get emotional at all.

Plague and Yoshi both simply stared blinking in reaction.

"Hey... You okay?" Shovel cocked his head to the side, placing a comforting hand on her back.

"I'm fine. I'm fine. I need to stay focused... Okay." Quickly getting herself together, she wasted no time getting to the point. "It's disappointing we all were sent back here, but in a way, I see this as an opportunity. We can strategize openly with each other as much as we want until they come back."

But only to an extent when it came to Plague Knight.

"If we are all still on the same page, I'd say we continue to stay the course. Maybe this time it should definitely be between Ryu and DK at this point. I'm not too concerned about Bowser right now, so maybe he'll be seeing a new peak in this game after the next Tribal Council."

"And..." The cloaked knight rolled his eyes under his mask. "-knowing him, we're probably not going to hear the end of it. But I do agree that it should be either of those two, and I don't really care who goes first."

"I mean, I know we can't keep everyone here." Yoshi did not want to make it seem like he was afraid of voting off his friends again. "But we literally just sent Golden home. That was DK's right hand man throughout this. ...Is it too much to at least give him a break?"

"I would agree with you, but he's close to Ryu as well." Shovel Knight brought up. "And based off him winning the challenge and explaining his story to everyone, that was his moment. On top of him being great at every single challenge he was a part of, he could be another Ken and be a top tier threat to win this. ...I am not sure. Maybe if DK performs better than him next challenge, he would be a more likely option to vote for. But I'm thinking we should have Ryu in our minds right now. All we have to do is tell Wolf and Springy when they come back."

"Who do you think they might go for?" The dino wondered. "No offense, Plague, but even I don't think they'd go after any of the three of us this time. They just might not have a reason to."

"They'd go after either Springtrap or Wolf again, because they're both stronger than me, even though I actually won a challenge before."

"Haha! I don't know if I'll ever win one. You're definitely smarter than me, Plague."

Wow... Did Yoshi have low self-confidence or what? Now, he was probably correct with the master alchemist having more intelligence. Though he was not really known to be that socially smart himself. And Yoshi might have been the brightest bulb of the bunch when it came to strategy. But, what was better? Alienating and mistreating the entire jury while making moves, or not doing anything while somehow having almost everyone still being fond of a particular finalist?

Perhaps they were both equally flawed. And both of them literally made it to the finals.

"Obviously, I kinda felt like the oddball here being left with Shovel, Zelda, and Yoshi." The finalist that had more attitude than the other spoke. "But if they don't have an issue with me, then it's probably a good thing. Even if I, ahem..." He cleared his throat. "-we (meaning myself, Springtrap, and Wolf), don't plan on voting with them next time, as long as they think that we are, it's best to stay on their good side. Wolf and Springtrap are my two close allies at this point. If we still gotta play the middle, that's gonna be our route again. But I'm getting worried since both of their names have been written down, now. And giving my record of my allies going home all the time, it's far from a good sign. I hope that I'm not a curse within myself, because believe it or not,... I actually don't mind having them around. They don't think exactly the same as me, but... they're funny. And Mona's funny, too."

Ooh. Plague Knight saying something positive about somebody? A rare treat. Did that exchange between him and Wolf do something?

Aruba

Day 31

Donkey Kong, Bowser, Yoshi, Zelda, Wolf, Ryu, Shovel Knight, Plague Knight, Springtrap

-/-

Now with the entire tribe back together the following morning, Shovel Knight marked another tally on a tree nearby.

"Nine days and counting, folks." He heaved a sigh in anticipation. Nine days left, nine players remaining in the game. He told himself that if he actually made the top three, he would have felt like he was on top of the whole universe. The fact that he fell just two days short the last time just did not sit right with him, even though he knew reaching top five was an amazing feat on his own.

Donkey Kong sighed, yet he still had his smirk remaining on his face. "Whatever happened to day one? I feel like I fell asleep last night and fast forwarded thirty days later. How in the world did we get here, guys?"

"We played. That's it." Bowser replied, still lying on his back in the shelter. "Whatever we did to get to this point, we all did something right. The other eleven players weren't as fortunate. Simple as that."

"Well, all of them were fortunate enough to even play this game a second time to begin with." The ape felt the need to speak up for his Survivor comrades. "It was a pleasure to not only share this experience with us once more, but to be stepping stones for us to do well. We wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for them."

Now that was a humble way to put it.

"We may talk about each other behind our backs," Shovel Knight's words rang true without question. "-but we all know what we're here for. It's all friendly competition and it's been a pleasure of us still finding a way to enjoy each other's company while playing a brutal game like this."

"That I do agree with." DK nodded. "Though having fun in this can get difficult at times, finding the moments where you can actually enjoy yourself while you're still here reminds you every time to enjoy the overall experience."

"I finally managed to get my nephew out here. Seeing him racing towards me on the island made me feel real proud inside. I know Funky's grinning from ear to ear right now, and Diddy gets to go home telling him everything. We talked and I really opened up to my nephew of how difficult this whole thing is. Every day I wake up, I am still surprised to still be in this thing in the first place. I literally told him that there's a chance that I might be voted off next since my best ally is not here anymore. And I said that to him to kinda get him prepared for the worst, ya know? I expected him to be somewhat saddened by it, to which he was... But then he told me to remember to still have a good time. Very simple words, but I can guarantee you that if Funky was in his place this time, he would have said the same. I mean, him and I have been compared to Ryu and Ken and that actually makes sense."

It was now time to cut to Shovel Knight and Zelda again.

"Look, my mind was put at ease for a little while when we were all alone with Plague Knight yesterday, but there was this small part of me thinking that I had to still watch what I say to an extent." Zelda talked with her friend walking in the forest. "He's still with the Villain Three. It's just factual and we both know. If we say anything in front of him that we might regret, he would be immediately tell Wolf and Springtrap, and then we'll be on the chopping block. He trusted us for this round, but villains can do some backstabbing at any moment."

Shield's partner shook his head sighing. "You know I'm not the type to always assume the worst case scenario, but your words to bring some truth in. This is Plague we're talking about. Others may find him difficult to deal with, but he is no fool. He still managed to get a vote from Specter from the jury in his last season because he knew he was a player. And SGA has targeted his alliance last round for a reason."

"Plague's not the most immediate threat out of those three, but Springtrap is intelligent, and Wolf has proven to be sneaky before based off how he handled himself in season one. They can easily change their minds and then out of nowhere, one of us is going home. Now let's say they don't really do anything too suspicious, we could trust them enough to have them vote with us for this next round. Otherwise, we would need to take further action."

Speaking of the rabbit... "So last night's plan worked. We got Goldilocks out of the way. He can go ahead and join Freddy and his little brother Rodriguez to make a whole 'three bears' thing together for all I care. Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Get it? He's probably making his porridge. ...Hold up, Goldilocks would need to be either the girl or one of the bears himself. He can't have it both ways. ...Dammit."

Okay. He and his buddy Wolf had no filter. None. For those that were somehow unaware, Goldilocks and the Three Bears was one of the most well-known fairytales of all time, and Springtrap somehow found a way to include Fredbear in the story just to make fun of him. And Rodriguez was supposed to be 'Toy Freddy' in this universe, by the way. "Anyway, we got him out of the picture. But the problem was of my name coming up. SGA decided to write my name down, and if things stay the way they are, they're gonna do it again... They probably see me as the biggest threat of this group of six. No way in the world they're gonna target me over Plague Knight, Knight, and Yoshi. Wolf and Zelda right now are the only two that would make sense, but I don't see Zelda going anywhere right now, so that leaves Wolf and I. The one thing I don't want to happen is that I vote with Hero Three again, and they turn around and blindside either Wolf or myself. Especially me. I thought to myself that I needed to find a way to prevent that..."

"I just don't want either of you going anywhere." Plague shook his head, talking with Springy on the way to the beach. "I still can't believe that I'm saying this, but,... the two of us and Wolf only have each other. You two are the only people left on this whole island that I kind of like... Kind of."

"Coming from you, I'll take that as a strong compliment, sir. I appreciate it. That's the most generous thing you've ever said to me. I ought to give you a cookie. How's that sound?"

A glare immediately formed under his mask. "You're really gonna ruin it now? I said one decent thing about you and you're already making fun of me. And for the record, we're on a random island in the middle of nowhere. I don't even think they were any cookies on the reward yesterday."

But his reaction was what Springtrap hoped for, so he only grinned in reply. "Then how about we all unanimously vote you out so the other jurors can bake all the cookies you want at Ponderosa?"

Burn.

"Oh, no, no. T-That's alright. I get that you were only joking." Ha! "...You know what, maybe I should steal your sense of humor and use it on Percy just to test him out."

"Ah, ah, ah!" He waved a finger in front of his face. "Now that's something I can't tolerate. You can't ever be Springtrap. Nobody can. And I don't just joke like that with anyone, because we all have our own boundaries. Wolf's more brutal than me, by the way. Maybe you could learn a bit from him."

Plague Knight exhaled aggressively, feeling like the two of them were getting sidetracked. "Can we get back to the point already? I just don't want to have either of you two going home. Not only this would just make me think that I really am cursed out here, but if one of you are gone, I could be next. And I'm not being curious enough to know what being voted out actually feels like."

"I'll protect you, then. We're in an alliance, and we're both in an alliance with Wolf... But you know, if it makes you feel special, you're going to be the first person that I'm gonna talk to about what I have in my mind right now." Wanting to spill it out, he grabbed Plague by the shoulder and pulled him in. "Now you know that Wolf and Bowser have a pre-existing relationship before this even started. They could have very much formed a pre-game alliance, which is not good."

"No!" He shook angrily. "It's not fair! Because nobody wanted to pre-game with me. Everyone wanted me out!"

"Well I don't want you out now. But the main thing that I feel like Wolf could be trying to keep Bowser in as long as he can. And if it comes to a certain point, what if he keeps him around for whatever reason and actually throws us under the bus? We need to know who his true alliance is, Plague. If you don't want either of us going home, we need to test Wolf's loyalty for our sake. Bowser and his allies just wrote my name down. He convinces Wolf, get the Hero Three on their side, and we're goners with Wolf making the big move on us. He flipped on his alliance before and Ganon got sent home."

"...!" Mona's boyfriend was near speechless just thinking about the possibility. "No way he'd do that... Would he?"

"I don't want to think that way too. Wolf may seem like the kind of guy that'll help protect the people who he's closer with, but... who is he closer with? I'm not saying we should vote him out, but his friend is going to be in our way. Bowser could be getting close with him again right now, which could mean that we probably have to convince people to vote him out."

"I do trust Wolf. But at the same time I do think about him and Bowser pretty often. However, this is the main thing that I wanna do here. In the event that I could be blindsided, I want to take this opportunity to um,... distract the competition a little. Let me shift the target to somebody else. Maybe for the Hero Three to keep me out of their minds, I could say to them that I'm worried about Wolf getting too close to Bowser, and I want him gone. It could be a good move for my game, anyway. Him going weakens Wolf's game, which would make him have no choice but to stay loyal to me. I'm your guy. Not him. Last thing I need is to have a bromance triangle thing going on."

"Just let me talk to any of the Hero Three first, and then maybe you can back me up on that." They now stood in the sand near the water. "But we still need Wolf's vote, or else he's going to feel betrayed by all of us and we end up being the ones untrustworthy. So the best thing to do is to let me handle Wolf myself. I want to have an adult conversation about this alone. Need to test him out to see where he stands with Koopa. This works out, we're gonna make him put Bowser's name down at tribal."

Uh oh...

Music: Norfair (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)

Game: Metroid

"I'm fine if Ryu's the primary target here." So he was talking to Zelda first by the tree mail. It was already checked earlier that morning, so that meant Springtrap solely used it as an excuse to get the princess of Hyrule by herself. "That man's just way too dangerous in challenges and his whole moment with his master further puts him in a positive light. But,... I'm kinda thinking about what might happen long-term wise. It's not a bad idea to think about a tribal or two ahead."

"What are you concerned about?"

"Well, you know that I like Wolf as a person. He has to obvious edginess to him, but once you get to know him, he's a solid guy and you know him and I have developed a good friendship out here. But,... thinking outside of the game, do you think he's closer to me or Bowser?"

"..."

Noting the fact that she did nothing but blink, he felt it kind of proved his point. "I think I already know your answer. I don't mean to compare myself to him, but I'm still fresh meat in the Survivor community. They both played in season one. Let that sink in. And their whole story on top of that. They've known each other longer before I was even thinking of coming out here."

"Hmm..." Zelda was of course thinking of what Kevin was talking about, but part of her was curious to know when Springtrap actually thought of coming out on the show. "What made you apply for it?"

"Saw season two, Emperors vs Knights. I really liked the whole thing, and a few of the players really inspired me to come out here and see what I'm made of. Foxy was one of 'em, by the way." He just felt the need to mention that. "...But, do you see where I'm going with this? The fact that Bowser is still here in the first place is kinda beyond me. Plague and I are in an alliance with him, but with Wolf still having Bowser, you know he could be strategizing with him behind the scenes. And if that's the case, what if he uses Bowser in order to get rid of me? I don't think Wolf would be taking the both of us to the end, so he has to choose who his real ally is out here."

"I can sort of get behind what you are saying." Though the brunette still needed a moment to really pick up what he was putting down. "You feel like Wolf could at any point get so close to Bowser, it could be fatal for your game."

"Exactly. Bowser literally put my name down the other night and he's probably gonna do the same thing again. They're trying to get rid of me, Zel. And if I'm gone, what will that mean for you? They probably do see you as a smart player out here..."

This caused her to sigh deeply. Like Plague Knight, Zelda was also a finalist and she also had no plans to actually experience being voted off of the show. "This is the most difficult game I've ever played in my life. I don't think anything is ever going to top this."

Was Ryu going to somehow still be an option to vote for, or was that plan already thrown out the window?

Okay, so now Springtrap and Wolf were both sitting down in the sand by the tribe flag. And Kev knew he only had a matter of time before they were all called to compete in the next individual immunity challenge.

"And you know,... I really do think Foxy should have been a part of that discussion yesterday. That was a golden opportunity, but all we can do is relay what we said over to him, I suppose."

"Meh. He'll be alright." Wolf shrugged it off. "We'll cheer him up."

"_ Bowser, man. He got our boy killed." It appeared Spring wanted to take a different approach to Wolf in contrast to Zel. "Is he asking for this or something? Because if he has the nerve to mess with us Cool Kids, he's not going to like how that goes. At all..."

He snickered before he laughed out loud in response.

"Maybe he should be taught a lesson or something."

Sigh... He should not have said that.

"He probably should. Reptile Runaways. He is literally the enemy. So maybe for the two of us to keep sticking together, we vote his ass outta here next."

That made him blink with a raised eyebrow, yet he still hold his grin. "You're joking..."

"Eh,... no."

Now he was beginning to frown. "Wait,... you're serious?"

"I am, man. I know his immunity game as of late isn't up to par, but let's say Ryu wins immunity and then DK has another idol. He's already found two in his Survivor career. If he actually found a third one, he's really King of the Jungle. And if that's the case, I actually wouldn't be exaggerating. Also, between you and me, we both know that we talked about him privately. You told me that I was the only one who you were able to talk to like this about him because I was your right hand man."

"Well, you are..." Oh... So apparently this was not the first time the two of them discussed Bowser on what to do with him. "Did I ever make you think different or something?"

"Not really, but I hope the two of us are on the same page. You've told me multiple times that he would have to go eventually in order for the two of us and Plague to move forward."

"It's true. I did." Well, there was that. Obviously all that must have been talked about off screen. "But look,... how many people are left in the game right now?"

"Nine..."

"Right. And Bowser placed ninth last time because of me. ...If I'm going to vote him out again, does it really have to be now? We could literally vote Ryu or DK off and then target Bowser afterwards. But just so that we could all give him a break, how much damage could one more round do?"

Okay, so the lupine had a point.

"Solid argument, but... let's put things into perspective. Let's say we knock Ryu out next. Two SGA people left, Villain Three, and Hero Three. SGA's at the bottom of the totem pole, but they could easily not only take the swing vote position, it wouldn't take that much convincing from their end to talk Zel, Yoshi, and Shovel to get one of us out afterwards. You spare Bowser's life this round, he could literally murder one of us next and you'd be made to look even more of the fool in front of everyone. You've already dealt with the humiliation once. This is about saving you. Saving us. You could literally be going home right after today and you'd look like the dumbest person ever when you had the opportunity to get rid of him first."

"Honestly, I have been really trying to see how far I can go with Bowser in this thing. Even though he betrayed my trust first this time, we were on decent terms with each other as players out here. And I thought we were good. But now all of a sudden, Springtrap feels like Bowser's time is up, or else he could blindside me so that he'll be the one to make a deeper run. I don't know if Springy is just saying it as a way to get between me and him, but he does make some valid points. I am of course the last person to care what people think about me, but I am trying to prevent as many mistakes as I can. If I spare Bowser now, only for him to get me in the throat next round, that'll be his revenge on me for what happened last time. And I am playing for myself at the end of the day. ...Then again, I'm all of a sudden looking at things from a more moral point of view. And although some might not believe it, I can have morals... sometimes."

"Springtrap, I..." Wolf clamped a hand over his face. "Look, I love you like a brother, but please tell me you're not just doing this because you're scared that I'd choose to side with him over you."

"Well, even if that was true, at least it's good that we're having an open communication about this. I could be completely heartless and just have people blindside you and Bowser both today. But am I doing that? No." Okay, so Springtrap did not want to have everyone just outright blindside his ally, and his ally's ally. ...Maybe he wanted the cookie more than Plague did. So he was not a heartless monster. That was just great! "As a man, I have to tell you how it is. For your own sake. I am aware that he notoriously went out in this spot last time. That's why the most I can tell you is that I'm afraid he could not be kept in the game any longer. I already talked to Zelda and she's going to tell her little allies. And the goal in that is to have her continue to trust us for us all continue to work together as a six,... until we don't need the Hero Three anymore. But right now, we need their votes to help us get that guy out. And if you don't want to blindside Bowser tonight, if he doesn't win immunity today, you might want to prepare yourself to have a big conversation with him about this. I believe outright telling him that he's going home seems fair enough."

Holy, Lylat...

"Bowser all of a sudden has a solid chance of getting the boot next, and I want to do everything in my power to prevent that from happening. I do care about him as a friend and we've more than managed to make up for what happened in Kodai Island, and now all of this gets thrown on me. 'Wolf O'Donnell, the guy that screwed over ninth place finisher, Bowser Koopa, from season one, is now about to vote out Bowser in ninth place again.' ...Well, to be fair, I never even wrote his name down that time. But it still counts, because I could have saved his life. Now I might have to actually write him off, and that's brutal. Even for my standards."

Taking in a deep breath, he got on his feet, feeling like there was nothing more to say. "I gotta go. I really need to think about this..."

Day 31

Well, the only way for Bowser to be guaranteed safety was if he won the immunity challenge. But, it was best to not worry as time was going to tell everything.

"Come on in!"

Then again, if people changed their minds again, Ryu and DK's names were both brought up. So all three members of SGA were being thrown under the bus, and Kevin 'Springtrap' Davis was only making things worse.

"Alright, you guys ready to get to today's immunity challenge? First things first, DK, I'm gonna need you to walk it over. I need to take back the necklace again."

He never wanted to give it up, but he complied with no fuss at all.

"Once again, immunity is back up for grabs. For today's challenge, you will all compete in a series of rounds. For the first round, you will each dig for a peg and navigate it through a table maze. The first four people that finish move on to the next round, where you will then use four pegs to climb up an inclined wall. The first two that finish will move onto the final round where they will then solve a slide puzzle. First person that finishes win immunity, guaranteed a one in eight shot at winning this game. Losers, Tribal Council where someone be the twelfth person voted out of Survivor where they will become the fifth member of our jury."

"This challenge was done back in season one, Bowser made it to the final round, Bowser won individual immunity."

What a way to make the stakes higher...

But Koopa was pumped, nodding his head and grinning from ear to ear. "The only immunity challenge I actually won. Maybe I'll do it again!"

"We'll just have to wait and see, given that you have new competition now." True, given that the majority of the contestants that were competing that day were all new players. "We're gonna go ahead and draw for spots, we'll get started."

-/-

"Okay, here we go. Day thirty-one of Survivor. Let's see how much energy you guys have left. For immunity. Survivors ready?"

If they were not ready, they had to. There was no other option.

"...GO!"

They needed to come on and hurry up. The person next to them was just as determined as they were to win the challenge. They all made their way over to the small pit in front of them to start digging for that peg.

"This first bit shouldn't take long at all." Master Hand predicted. "Soon as one person gets their peg, everybody is gonna fly right over to this table maze. You need to get to this puzzle and do it, or this challenge could end very early for you."

Certain castaways already had the advantage by having claws, allowing them to dig hella more quickly. Two of the anthropomorphic characters were really being wild animals.

"Bowser! Wolf! They're getting dirt all over the place." True, but they were getting the job done as they were the first to retrieve their pegs. "Early lead out of the gate heading right to that maze!"

"Come on, come on..." Plague Knight wanted to have an early lead too.

"Donkey Kong has his peg!"

"Got it!"

"Yoshi has his! Here comes Ryu and Springtrap!"

"Whew..." Shovel was growing frustrated finding no peg for himself yet. "Lot more difficult without my shovel."

And if he used it, that was an automatic disqualification from the challenge. So good for hm for not blatantly cheating in front of everybody.

"Shovel and Zelda both have theirs... and here comes Plague Knight. Everybody on the table maze now!"

Wolf and Bowser were still the leaders, aggressively pushing their pegs all around. Part of them just wanted to get it done as soon as possible to move onto the next round. Though they could not have just mindlessly rushed, since it was a maze for a reason. They needed to know where they were going.

"Wolf's beginning to pull away a little bit. Bowser not giving up. Ryu, Springtrap, and Donkey Kong are making nice progress."

"Dead end..." Yoshi mumbled under his breath, realizing that he needed to backtrack.

The hand found himself eyeing the princess. "Zelda! She is speeding her way through this! Maybe she could somehow make it!"

Donkey Kong and Ryu on the other hand were not moving as fast as their fellow competitors. They simply did not understand the maze as much as others.

But O'Donnell was already finished, pulling his peg out of the maze before he used it to smash the tile in front of him.

SMASH!

"Wolf is gonna be the first to move on. Looking for three more. Pick it up!"

No, it was best to go as slow as molasses. Yes, they needed to hurry up.

SMASH!

"Bowser moves on! We have two spots left! Time's running out!"

"Haha!" He grinned at Wolf in reaction. "That's the advantage of us having claws on our hands on top of us doing this before."

SMASH!

"Springtrap's moving on! There is only one spot available. Who's gonna get it?"

With hands dragging their pegs all around, the most likely options were Ryu, Donkey Kong, and shockingly Zelda. Plague Knight was trying to catch up, but for him, he probably started on table maze too little, too late.

SMASH!

"Ryu's finished! It is going to be him, Bowser, Wolf, and Springtrap heading into round two." The Master Hand took a glance at the remaining five challengers. "You all can just head to the sit out bench. Maybe you all could do a better job being members of the audience today."

"Uh... Rude!" Yoshi playfully replied. But he was right on this one. Condescending much? Unless the host was testing his players just to see how they responded. ...Oh, all of the Hero Three were together once again with Plague Knight for a second time. Only difference was that Donkey Kong ended up being stuck with them as well.

-/-

"Here we go. Round two. Bowser, Ryu, Wolf, Springtrap. Survivors ready? GO!"

The quartet of players raced to the inclined wall with multiple pegs in their hands.

"Pretend that you're climbing a mountain. Whatever you do, don't look down."

There were holes for the pegs to be stuck in, as they proceeded to use those in an attempt to climb up. Not as hard as one might have thought, but the thing was that it had to be done in a hurry. Only two people were supposed to make it to the third and final round of the challenge.

So, who was doing the best job climbing so far?

"Ryu is making quick work with this." Of course he was. He was always successful in every damn challenge. And any team he was on, he rarely went to Tribal Council. Perhaps he was the good luck charm for a lot of players.

Everybody else was doing a decent job, just not as fast. And Bowser was actually moving the slowest and he knew it.

"Oh, Star Spirits. Please just let me climb this wall." Master Hand already told them to not look down, but his logic made no sense since Bowser had no choice but to do that. He had to retrieve one of the pegs he was standing down and use to it to stick it into a higher hole that was above him.

...What was he on?

Harshness aside, Springy and Wolfy were both doing rather well while Ryu continued to lead by moving at a steady pace knowing when it was time to to use another peg.

"Ryu's nearing the top. If this was the final round right here, he would be seconds away from winning this."

Well he was seconds away from finishing round two. And upon doing so, all he had to do was to wait and see who was going to be his fellow competitor for that day.

"And just like that, Ryu's moving on. One spot left. Who's it gonna be?"

Bowser was already shaking his head in frustration. He went from literally winning the whole challenge to possibly not even making to the final round.

But all this meat the street fighter was going to face either the mercenary or the security guard. ...One thing in common with all three professions was that the job required at least some form of physical ability.

As for the two Cool Kids, they were sort of staying on each other, yet Kevin was a bit closer to the top than Wolf was. And unfortunately for the lupine, there was just not enough time for him to actually catch up to him.

There was no immunity necklace for him that day. It appeared that having claws was not enough to win this one...

"Springtrap makes it to the top. That is it! Wolf, Bowser, you both have done this challenge before. Today, you have both failed."

The former rolled his eyes while the latter mumbled under his breath. Thought they did fist bump one another, knowing of how the other was feeling. Rubbing salt on the wound was not going to make things any easier for them, Master Hand.

Though with Bowser in particular losing the challenge, Wolf had even more to think about.

-/-

"Alright. We have our showdown. It is going to be Ryu versus Springtrap. Ryu has won individual immunity once before in his old season, Springtrap has won immunity twice in this season. One of you is gonna come out on top. Final round... Survivors ready? ...GO!"

All they had to do was to complete the slide puzzle which simply consisted of the Survivor logo of season five, and immunity was theirs. Just like the table maze, it was a matter of thinking carefully and acting quickly.

And neither of the two competitors were really known for acing puzzles like that, which meant that it was really was up in the air. All their fans and loved ones had to do was pray to the Survivor Gods that their favorite managed to finish first.

"I may not know how many slide puzzles you both have completed in your lives, but there are two ways to handle this. You can either slide things aimlessly, or try a more methodical approach. Just a little bit of thinking power is all that's needed."

With no words being spoken at all, each players was in his own little world, just wanting to get the puzzle done. Immunity had to be theirs, or they were going home.

"Ryu seems to have a few things fallen into place here... So is Springtrap. Both men are starting to figure this out."

There was a very good zoom in on Zelda's fingers. Most likely, she was hoping for Kevin to pull off the win here. For her game, she could not have afforded Ryu to snag the necklace, even if he was no longer the big elephant in the room for the time being.

"Let's just see what happens..." Donkey Kong genuinely wanted Ryu to win just for the sake of him winning. But even if he won, that only further puts the target on himself and Bowser. The Strong Guys Alliance was kind of still on the chopping block.

"Hmm..."

"Springtrap's probably thinking he's getting somewhere. But he still needs to be careful. One piece in the wrong spot could single-handedly mess this whole thing up. Ryu's still experimenting a little."

Wolf folded his arms. He was looking up, but because of how the whole challenge was constructed with the final round being on the high platform, seeing exactly what they were both doing was impossible. They all only went off what Master Hand was saying.

"Springtrap's puzzle is nearing completion. Coming together nicely..."

"And... Got it."

"SPRINGTRAP WINS IMMUNITY!"

"Man..." Ryu smirked, feeling proud for him. But he still turned his head side to side, disappointed that he was not the winner himself. "I need to really practice with these puzzles more. I feel like that's the only challenge aspect I need to work on."

"Don't worry. If you're still here, maybe you'll get more chances." Rather passive-aggressive, but hey, Springtrap won. It was done.

-/-

Now the rest of the cast was on the high platform.

"Springtrap, come on over. Your third this season wearing this."

"Maybe if I'm lucky, I can give Ken and Sonic a run for their money. Hahaha!" He laughed with his Survivor friends, the master hooking the immunity necklace around him. "King of the day once again."

"Psh..." Wolf rolled his eyes, pretending not to care so much.

"Alright, Springtrap. Even though you have been given me that mouth of yours at these challenges sometimes, you did earn this one." Yes, Springtrap smart mouthing Master Hand at his challenges was something he was not really going to forget any time soon. "You are safe from Tribal Council, with a one in eight shot at a million dollars. You won't be going anywhere, unlike the rest of you. I know it's been thirty-one days, but somebody's gotta get the boot. Grab your stuff and head back to camp."

"So Springtrap won immunity. He was not someone that we were dead set on going home, but my alliance was at least thinking about him." And Yoshi was now aware that he was guaranteed safety. Writing his name down at tribal the upcoming evening was officially against the rules. "Since he's safe now, does that further the target onto others? I think so... We were considering on Ryu, but apparently, Springtrap is worried that his own ally in Wolf is getting too close to Bowser, he's worried that Wolf might use him for his own advantage."

He sighed quickly. "Okay, I don't know what he's gonna do about that, because none of them are part of my core alliance, anyway. So I suppose as long as Zelda, Shovel, and myself aren't going anywhere, it might still be a good day. Whatever they want to do, that's on them and I'll just vote wherever at this point..."

I honestly would do another "Survivor Discussion Time" right now, but I'm just focused on this chapter being out there since you guys have waited long enough. But, don't worry. "SDT" is guaranteed to happen after the next chapter. I already know what I'm going to be talking about.

Long chapter aside, we have ourselves a nice loved ones reward, the Hero Three and Plague Knight being left behind at camp, and... Springtrap wanting to manipulate Wolf to voting Bowser out just for his own personal gain? Springtrap you are a villain. Seriously...

Jeanne (from Bayonetta) for Survivor - India!

Characters Revealed So Far: Byleth (Fire Emblem), Blaze (Sonic the Hedgehog), Raven Beak (Metroid), Bill Grey (StarFox), Olimar (Pikmin), Richter Belmont (Castlevania), Jeanne (Bayonetta)