Survivor - Heroes vs Villains

Chapter 36 - Day 31 Part 2

Another elimination is coming up. This time you guys didn't have to wait for an eternity, so good job KFan for actually getting the next chapter out sooner for once.

~KF

Darleem

Day 31

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

-/-

Okay, three times. That was three times Springtrap won immunity now, with one of those wins taken place at the double elimination twist in the pre-merge. Was he going to win anymore and possibly give Ken and Sonic a run for their money as he stated? Well, there was to say that none of his wins were consecutive in contrast to the other two, even though it did not really add anything to the situation.

"How do you feel?" Shovel Knight asked him, everybody back at the shelter on the Darleem tribe. "You went from not winning anything last season to winning the necklace thrice."

"Really makes a man feel good, ya know?" Kevin beamed. "Being king of the day it's always nice. You feel like you're on top of the world. ...I still can't believe I went up against DK, though. Even though I lost the reward for my team, that really kicked my competitive mindset into high gear."

Kong slapped a hand on his shoulder in remembrance. "It was a good one. And that was my first immunity win, too. It was cool that we got to share that moment together showing ourselves we can do it. The reward part that took place after the actual immunity part was basically extra credit."

Yeah, that was a simple way to put it.

"Springtrap won immunity again. When he was up against Ryu in that final round, I sort of wanted him to win that one. But when he won the necklace,... I suppose I ended up having a mixed reaction." And Zelda did not realize that until after the fact. "I began to feel like it was not really about Springtrap winning, but Ryu losing. We were thinking of Springtrap is a possible option, but I'd rather have him win immunity than Ryu. Ryu winning would have further limited our options, especially now since Springtrap apparently wants all of us to vote Bowser out because he feels like he's getting too close to Wolf. He wants him all to himself so he could control him, I guess..."

She felt it was something she needed to immediately follow up on with her core alliance members, them finding a nice private spot in the forest.

"The big question we need to ask ourselves is what do we really gain from this? Sure, we are not even being targeted right now, and we were lucky enough to not be targeted last time. But in the long run, how is this really going to play out for the three of us? At this point, we should be locked in for a final three... I don't know why I haven't even thought about that until now, but what do you two have to say about it?"

"I suppose as long as I get to the end, I'll continue to keep working with you both." Shovel Knight sighed. "I've never been in a final three before, and you both already have experience getting to the end."

"Haha, yeah. And I just don't want to be voted off." Yoshi did not find an issue with that. Honestly speaking, what were the chances of the Hero Three actually filling up all three spots at the finals? "Those times were my names were written down, it kinda still scares me."

"We both know how you feel." The season two contestant chuckled a bit. "If I see my name once at tribal, I began to panic inside my mind even though it may not appear that way on the exterior. But if we are all locked in for a final three deal, we are inevitable going to have to write off Springtrap and the other two at some point. I don't know if we would have voted him off today if he didn't win, but..."

"I suggest we just play along with the Villain Three for as long as we can." Shovel Knight managed to finish speaking out whatever Zelda had in her mind. "Trust him, don't trust him. If his focus is on SGA right now, that's a good thing. We just have to hope he doesn't out of nowhere change his mind last minute, or else we'll have to retaliate by voting off one of his allies."

"Perhaps we should keep talking to him about SGA for the rest of the day and how much we want them to go." Smart. She really further upped her intelligence this season. "The more we keep discussing about them to Springtrap, the more likely the thought of it all would stay in his mind. I would have preferred to be Ryu today, but if either him or DK have the idol, Bowser of all people is the least likely they'd give it to."

"That would be the case... if there weren't enough people to split votes."

"Huh...?" Zelda popped an eyebrow.

"You do know that included those three villains, there are six of us, and three of SGA. We could initiate a split vote plan if we want to..."

That made her widen his eyes, realizing that it never even crossed her mind until Shovel brought it up. "You know what, you are right. Thank you, Shovel."

He giggled. "This is unusual. It's usually you mentoring me about these things, Zel. I expected more out of you."

Yes, especially since she was literally just complimented on her being a smart strategist. "Yes, I made a hiccup. I suppose we all have our moments even if we do try our very best to navigate through this game every day. But still, Bowser is the one that Spring wants out. So if he has an idol, I guess either Ryu or DK would be the secondary target. That's something we'll just talk to Springtrap about."

With a shot of water being poured into a canteen, the canteen itself was given to Wolf by... 'Springy the Trap' himself...

Okay, that was probably cringe.

"So, you're not going anywhere..." O'Donnell pointed. "I hope this doesn't mean that my name is gonna be written down, now. I really don't wanna go home tonight, and we still need Plague as a number."

"I'll protect you two. Backstabbing you two makes no sense for me, so I'll be loyal. ...You're still gonna be loyal to me, though? Because loyalty does go both ways, my friend."

It seemed as if he was already pressing him about it, without him even getting to the actual point yet.

"Loyalty does go both ways." Wolf confirmed, now just wanting to get everything off his chest, as soon by him quickly getting frustrated. "Okay, let's be real for a second. Obviously the dude and I have known each other for years now. We've only known each other personally for thirty-one days. Yes, it's a big difference. But,... why can't I have you both?"

That caused the biggest frown ever to appear on Kevin's face, promptly crossing his arms and cocking his head over.

The mercenary immediately caught on. "Come on, man. If you have a brain, you'd know I didn't mean it like that. Besides, I only like women. Just never found the one, yet. And if Bowser was a girl, with all due respect, he definitely wouldn't be my type."

"We'll talk about your love life and your romantic preferences later when we have more time, Wolfy. And Tribal Council is gonna come in a hurry, so we need to get this out of the way now. You already know who I'm worried about, but I can't vote him out all by myself. So I need you to confirm to me that you will be okay with getting rid of him today. Even if you want him to stay al the way to day thirty-nine, there's a ninety-nine percent chance he wouldn't want to same. He's gonna write your name down eventually, and you damn well know it."

One could have argued Springtrap was coming across as aggressive towards him, but Wolf felt that he was simply telling it how it was. Even if it was up to debate of how much he was aware of Springtrap basically finding it more safe to cut off Wolf's options just so he had a better chance at succeeding, he found no reason to take it personal.

"And I do have your back, but if you're a hundred percent against this, I'm gonna automatically assume that you don't have mine. This is about helping you."

"Alright, alright. I get it."

"I mean, what if Rodin and Bowser swapped places and you started to grow worry of him? And Rodin placed ninth himself in our season."

"I said I got your point, okay?" He formed a bit of a glare. "I don't need to hear it in two different ways. There are pros and cons to everything. You know I'll vote out anyone no matter who it is, but what if those three heroes all of a sudden are talking about us as we have this conversation? If we get bad vibes for them, Bowser and his two only allies left could go from targets to heroes that could save our lives at the vote."

"That would mean we'd have to vote one of them out, but the Hero Three ain't going anywhere." Springtrap shook, throwing that possibility out the window. "None of them going home makes any sense as far as SGA is concerned. So tonight it's either them or us. You could literally be going home if you choose not to do this tonight."

The sigh that escaped from his lips came quick. "Okay, fine. You do have a point. Maybe you're onto something here, but I'm not gonna have things set in stone until I feel like I'm ready for it. Maybe I'll try, um... testing Bowser somehow, and then I'll get back to you so we can make whatever plan official. But in the chance that Bowser's not gonna be the one today, should we make either Ryu or DK Plan B or something?"

"Whatever you want." He shrugged. "I am only doing what's best for us."

"It's actually taking everything in me to not raise my voice at Wolf right now, so I'm kinda holding myself back a little bit. And I know that it's part of me just manipulating him to get what I want." He flat out said it, did he not? Well,... confessionals did exist for a reason. "I was unsuccessful the way I handled Val in Carbbean, but even from a realistic standpoint, Bowser going home is not a bad idea. The timing is cruel, but we gotta do it. I gotta do it. People who followed Kodai Island as well as other players from that season were literally being surprised round after round that Bowser was continuing to survive. He was on the radar as a possible boot as early as Tribal Council number one, and he managed to stay in it for so long. Amazing to see if you're Bowser himself, but I'm not Bowser. So I don't think it needs to happen again where he could survive so long he actually reaches the end. Just vote him out already! He's right there!"

Okay, not literally since he was the only one in his own confessional. But everyone knew what he meant.

Once far enough of a distance upon separating, Wolf was seen walking as he clamped both of his hands on his face groaning all the while. It was truly a rare sight seeing him stressed. "Look at what this _er is putting me through. This whole thing started after Bowser got Foxy voted out. Now look at what's happening..."

"Everything that happened between Bowser and I in season one is really starting to become full circle now. Springtrap does not want him in the game anymore because he feels like he's gonna hurt us and vote us all out. And I don't have idol, an advantage, or anything on me. I'm completely vulnerable to get voted out, so part of me wants to write Bowser off. But this is quite frankly the most inconvenient time ever, and I think at this point for obvious reasons. Getting his torch snuffed now, I have basically voted him off twice in the same spot (without me actually putting his name down to send him home in the beginning), and this time it's gonna be after a challenge to which he already won previously. And look, I am no angel. I'm not really known to be heroic out here, but when I come across friends that I can relate to, I do value them. Everybody's different, and maybe we all need someone to relate to. My friendship with Bowser has gotten strong since what happened. And strategically, I shouldn't have even approached him when I did. But as a person,... if I just blindsided him like that (even if he was targeting me today), I don't want to end up putting a price on our friendship over some game like this. So my moral compass told me to just do it."

The two of them were now sitting down by the water, O'Donnell lifting his head up to make sure no one was coming their way. Poor creature did not even have a plan in mind of how to start the discussions with Bowser, since he obviously did not know a thing. He had to sort of improvise as he went along, making sure he watched over every word that came out of his mouth.

Finding his best to disguise his emotions, his lips curled into a forced smirk. "So, what are you gonna do if you make it to tomorrow?"

"I'm gonna..." Koopa took a moment to think. "-maybe eat the rest of the food rations. Bwahahaha!"

"Hmm..." He stared at him in thought before a more genuine smile appeared on his face. "You can go ahead, but only on one condition: you would need to give half the rations to me before you eat the rest."

"Meh... If you were anyone else, I would have actually declined. We may have plans of our own in this game, but I still like you. I think you've earned your fair share."

And yet, that somehow turned Wolf's smile upside down, suddenly turning his head to no direction in particular.

Bowser took note of this and sense something was bothering him. "...You good? What's wrong?"

At that point, he found it being no use to hide his emotions and his true intentions anymore. "I might have to vote you out tonight. People are finding you to be a problem."

...!?

"I'm sorry."

"What...?" It was almost as if he was hit by a ton of bricks, too surprised to find much words to say. "Why...?"

"People initially find Ryu to be the biggest threat of you three, but then all of a sudden, you are turning out to be the biggest threat instead." He felt that ratting out Springtrap was not the best option in the book. "It's got nothing to do with the challenges or the kind of game you're playing. It's single-handedly because of our history... There has even been talk about Donkey Kong even though him and I were never really that close, but they've been mostly talking about you."

"..." There was still not much Bowser thought of saying at the time. "You're serious..."

"Look, you know I didn't-"

"Wolf, I ain't stupid. It was only going to be a matter of time before people got too scared of the two of us plotting together. That's completely expected, and 'may the best man win', ya know? And we've been hanging in there for the past thirty-one days. But,... why now? Y'all really can't wait one more damn round? Obviously you know that this is literally where I got voted off last time."

"Don't you think I know that? Come on, now. You know I'd do everything in my power to keep you safe, even though you were the one that cracked and broke my trust first and I still kept you around. So don't you try to act like I'm not even trying to keep you in, because I'm trying to set myself up nicely so that we would both go even further together."

"..." King Koopa shifted his head to the water sighing. "Who approached you?"

"The alliance of six." Again, he did not want to rat out Springtrap. At the end of the day, Wolf needed to be at the island tomorrow so Springtrap had the opportunity to continue to work with him. "Our time together is up, and I honestly have the balls to even talk to you like this. I dragged you this far on the beach so that there's a slim chance we get caught. This is technically supposed to be a blindside on you, but I didn't want to do that. If this was any other round, I wouldn't have said anything. But I'm screwing you over twice in the same round, so I'm taking it upon myself to let you know personally of what's gonna go down."

"Before Wolf approached me, I knew my alliance was in trouble. Nobody from that six tried to talk any strategy with me lately, but I figured it was going to be anyone in my alliance but me. And I thought Wolf just came around to check in on me. But apparently I am target number one and I'm supposed to be going home tonight, with me going out in the same spot again." Bowser Koopa could have just used every swear word known to man to properly describe the predicament he was in. "Just..."

But instead, he just slap his big hand on his face as he slouched over not saying a word. "Just... I can't. Not again. ...It's not that it's the end of the world if I go out in the exact same spot as last time. It was about the circumstances behind my elimination. The entire Survivor community said I was robbed of a genuine chance at winning because of what could have been. It was one of the most missed opportunities in Survivor history because Wolf could have saved me, but he didn't. And now he's letting me go again, with him actually putting my name down this time. ...Why can't I get a break out here? I'm already on the damn bottom. Do I really have to go home today? Even after that challenge?"

"Okay, so that's it, then." Bowser spread his hands out. "You're letting me go home again, with the only difference being that you are actually going to write my name down on that parchment. That's just _ing great! And you do know what's gonna happen, right? Do you know what you're about to do to me? Can you at least try convincing your folks to target one of the others? Ryu just won the loved ones challenge and DK is still here, and he's becoming a threat because he's basically going through what I've gone through in season one."

"Bruh, you know that if I be too pushy, people are gonna give me the side-eye, and then they're not gonna trust me anymore to the point where they're considering to write me off. This is literally a game of kill or be killed. And as much as I want to save your life, I can only do so much. Why make things even worse for me? It's better me plainly telling you, then you going home being blindsided with a million questions."

"..." Bowser shifted his gaze back to the water in front of him.

But Wolf was not finished. "We've known each other for years and if I've done you like that, you probably would be so pissed off to the point where you might not even speak to me anymore. I'll feel terrible, and then I'll have to deal with the public humiliation. And this is all coming from someone that usually does not give a _ about that, because we all know how that goes. But this time, I'd understand where they are coming from, which would make me feel all the more horrible. I care about you, Bowser, but I'm sorry. My hands are tied and there's nothing else I can do. I've tried."

All this really had Bowser thinking, now beginning to feel bad not only for himself, but for his friend as well. He was so busy being frustrated by him going home in the same spot again after knowing what happened previously, he did not immediately realize the position Wolf was in.

"This is a hell of a situation here. I was pissed off when he told me that I was going home, but after a minute, he kinda showed me this is hurting him just as much. The thing is, Wolf was probably the only one I sorta talked to ever since the first tribe swapped, and I felt like I was finally being understood by somebody. Even I pretty much know that he really does not want to go through this again, and you know what? I'm feeling his pain and mine all at the same time. Sometimes in life you have to put yourself into other peoples' shoes and see things from their perspective. And when you do,... suddenly you feel less angry and you're not as likely to point fingers. Wolf respects me enough to let me know what's going on, because he knows of the history he has with me. Honestly,... I don't know if he's ever been this open to any other player before like this."

Wolf looked over his shoulder to check if someone was nearby. "I gotta go. They're gonna wonder of my whereabouts."

He said nothing as the lupine got to his feet.

"You need a minute?"

"..." He shook his head, but then his verbal response was sort of the opposite of what was expected. "Yeah. Gimme a minute."

Placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, he leaned in closely. "I am so sorry. I really am."

"I try to be as chill as possible. That's always been a part of who I am. In life, you gotta approach things with a certain kind of attitude that will probably make certain outcomes of a situation go a long way. And that's how I play out here and how I live day by day on the island. But this whole Bowser situation is getting to me. All I could do was so Bowser that I actually did give a damn about him." Yes, he wanted him to know how much he... valued his relationships. Was that not a conversation he had with another castaway days prior? "All this because... I actually do have a heart hidden somewhere, and it's really showed today. But,... maybe we'll be okay."

That certain castaway in particular was with the lupine in the jungle, with the latter sitting down on a log in his thoughts.

"I mean, I hate to do it. But if I gotta vote him out to progress, that's what I gotta do."

Plague Knight cocked his head to the side just by looking at him. He definitely felt like he was not his usual self. "This isn't like you. I don't ever remember seeing you... emotional like this. You're not shedding tears, but you feeling saddened by anything in general is something that I've never seen before. Even I feel like I showed more emotion than you at the loved ones visit."

"Heh..." He glanced at him, snickering just a bit. "Yeah, I know I'm out of the character. But we're all three dimensional beings here, we all have a variety range of emotions. And sometimes, it's okay to show them when you want to express yourself of how you're really feeling. Sure, there may be a time and a place for it, but... I suppose you can't hide them forever. I do feel awful about doing Bowser dirty like this, but I've no other choice. It's either him or one of us, Plague. One of our names are gonna be written down. Say if it was between you or Specter, what would you do?"

The cloaked knight sighed upon Wolf putting that into perspective. "I suppose I know how you feel. Specter and I were all we both have as I felt that we were the only ones that understood each other. But we both at one point did not mind at all writing each other off just to avoid getting the boot ourselves. However,... part of me still felt rather off about it."

"To put it bluntly, he's your friend. He was the only friend you had at the time, and you both were with each other for two seasons, just like Bowser and I. As cutthroat and heartless we both may come across just to try to look cool and everything, having a friend or a solid ally with you where both parties can benefit from is a good thing to have in a game like this. As well all say, we can't play this game by ourselves. It's just impossible. And Bowser and I were never in an open alliance, but people were always cautious about us. Now we gotta take each other out and see who comes out on top."

"..." He exhaled and stared at the ground. "Right now I'm picturing a 'what-if' scenario in my mind if Specter and I swapped places with the both of you."

"And how would you react?"

"...I'd be pissed the hell off."

"I thought so." He grinned from ear to ear, temporarily masking his inner pain. "You'd be pissed off not just because he's your ally, but because you care about him. Don't you?"

Now he had some nerve asking Plague Knight a question like that. But O'Donnell felt that he needed to prove a point, feeling that he had to further open Plague's eyes- no... More like taking that mask off his head for just one more second and see how important relationships really were.

"I hate to admit it, but I'm starting to feel rather sorry for Wolf here... Ugh." Mona's crush looked away. "I feel some type of way just saying that, but... it's true. Looking at things from his point of view, he really had me thinking there. Pretty interesting to hear all that from him of all people. Maybe at points I thought he was even tougher than me, but... I was wrong. And what stood out to me was that he was not afraid to talk about it... That's really saying something."

He then found himself staring downwards in thought. "I don't know why, but... I don't know."

Perhaps he wished he could have been more like him at the time, whether it came to Specter or Mona, or anybody else who he actually cared about.

"That sounds terrible... That really is messed up that they're doing you like this. You don't deserve it."

Donkey Kong could not have believed what he was hearing. Apparently Bowser had already told him and Ryu everything, and neither of them were pleased to hear about it.

"Wow..." Ryu shook his head in disbelief. "And to think that I figured the vote was going to be between me or you, DK. Bowser was the last one I expected to get the votes, but I guess people are really getting scared of the relationship the two of you have."

"It's crazy." Donkey Kong was in agreement. "I know I thought I was the main one on the chopping block, but at least I made it two spots further than last time. Ryu has made it a few days further. You deserve to have a few more days out here, too."

Bowser folded his arms, just wanting to figure out how to play this round properly. "That's right. If I can just make it past this day, I'll still have an attitude if I end up going home immediately afterwards. But at least it won't be as bad."

"I already lost Golden, and I was preparing myself in the event I had to see Ryu getting his torch snuffed. But the vote is supposed to be for Bowser? Sure, we weren't ever the closest, but we really tolerated each other this season and we had a decent relationship. Our history of being on the Sumasshu Tribe together in Kodai Island adds another layer onto it. So even with Bowser going home, it's going to affect me in some way. I am so over seeing all of my allies going home left and right, and it needs to stop today. In my mind, I'm going 'we gotta save this guy'. 'Cause we have to, or else this entire alliance is done for, anyway."

"So, what do you want us to do here? We can't vote for Springtrap because he has immunity. Ryu and I will help you on this one. And if all three of us survive this vote, this will not only give us some hope, but it's gonna bring us all closer together than ever before." All DK and the other two had to do was hope for the best at this point. "So Bowser, I think it's best to let you in charge of the vote this time. It just has to be one of those two: Plague or Wolf himself. Who do you want out?"

Sighing as he shook his head, he closed his eyes to think. "I guess we gotta think about who's gonna harm us more in the long run."

"You know, I've dealt with bad luck before with this thing." Bowser was certainly the king of bad luck in Kodai Island. "I bet I can somehow get through this. If I survive tribal tonight, it might be the greatest victorious I would ever have. If not, then... that's it. But it's really hard for me to hate Wolf at this point, so I'll love him regardless."

Tribal Council

Night 31

It was time to see how everything was going to turn out.

Everybody simply made it to their seats as usual after putting down their torches. Though one thing was to be said, people were gaming hard. All for a prize the whole universe wished to have. And since only so few were able to participate in a season, they literally did everything in their power to make sure that prize was theirs...

...even if it meant possibly putting an entire friendship on the line. Was there not a similar situation like that in one of the All Star seasons of the real show?

"We'll now bring in the members of our jury... Shadow, Ridley, Vector, and Golden voted out at the last Tribal Council."

The bear humbly smiled everybody's way, Donkey Kong and Ryu both feeling really sorry that he basically got out roughly the same spot. Hopefully Golden was growing more content with it by the day.

"Alright, so here's where we stand."

It was the perfect cue to get an overall view of the remaining nine castaways sitting together at the same time. "Nine players left, three different alliances. We have the Strong Guys Alliance, consisting of Donkey Kong, Bowser, and Ryu. We have the Hero Three alliance that involves Zelda, Shovel Knight, and Yoshi. And we have the Villain Three alliance which has Wolf, Plague Knight, and Springtrap. Thanks to Golden going home last time, all three alliances are dead even. DK, pretty interesting situation here. Wouldn't you say?"

"Interesting indeed from both a viewer and a player perspective. Three different alliances with three members each. You could argue that it's like having three members each from three separate tribes as if this was Survivor - Mexico all over again."

"So if the numbers are dead even with all three groups, do you think there's a majority at all right now, or do you think anybody could go anywhere tonight?"

"Oh, there's still a majority. The Hero Three and the Villain Three are still together, and SGA is on the bottom again because they see us as too many threats to worry about in the individual immunity challenges."

"Really? So one of you might get picked off right after Golden if nothings has changed here."

"That's unfortunately the case. And I literally just won the last immunity challenge preventing me from going home one round earlier. Golden ended up being sent home instead as a result, which I do feel bad about, especially since we didn't even know we were right back on the bottom at the time. But,... we're just simply too strong for these people. And in their eyes, all we're doing is getting in their way."

"Master," Springtrap shook his head raising his hand. "-it's not that we're jealous of not winning all of the challenges."

"Well, I didn't really mean it like that."

"You probably didn't, but this is just something I wanted to clarify." So the rabbit continued. "We're not jealous because they're strong and we're not, because multiple people in this alliance of six have won immunity before this season. But I literally faced off against DK in that twist the other week. I almost broke my neck trying to win that pizza for my tribe, but did I do that? No. DK was just too strong to beat, so he was already giving me red flags before the merge even happened. And then he just won the last immunity challenge like he just said. Like, I know I'm safe right now, but DK and I were never even in the same alliance in the first place. Bowser and Ryu never aligned with me, and all three of them just so happened to be the strongest people here."

"Yoshi, where do you weigh in on that? Because you were not really known for winning immunity challenges."

"Haha, thanks master..."

Yep. The shade of it all, even though it was not a hundred percent his intent. "Perhaps you could understand Springtrap's perspective on this. It's not just about the challenges. It's simply about alliances. Survivor is a numbers game as we all know and you can't align with everybody."

"Yeah, it's sad to say that you can't align with everybody on this tribe." Of course for his own sake, he had to focus on the last part. "And what Springtrap is saying is true. I wasn't on the same starting tribe with Bowser and Ryu. Donkey Kong and I were on the same starting tribe together, but he and Golden were both on the wrong side of the vote. We got divided before the swap. We tried to make things right with each other at the merge, but it just didn't work. They decided to work with Ridley, Ryu, and Bowser instead. Sad that we all never got back together, but that's just how it is."

"Ryu, so you're on the bottom once again. One of the three of you could go home tonight if nobody plans on doing something different. But in the event that something else happens, the best case scenario for you is to have that group of six break up. Though the Hero Three and Villain Three combined make up the majority alliance, it'd be pretty foolish to say that there aren't two separate groups here. It's painfully obvious and I think they all know it."

Hahaha! Well, it was the truth. People had to be dumber than a sack of rocks to not notice. Then again, common sense was never really that common to begin with. People lost their faith in humanity all the time.

"That's the main thing we're hoping for. And something tells me that it might happen sooner than one might think." Oh? "But exactly when is it gonna happen? I can't say for certain. But them trying to act like they're just gonna pick us off one by one until only that six remains? Knowing how this game runs, I highly doubt that it's ever going to work. They're only telling each other that because they know what the truth is."

Damn. Ryu was getting in.

"Bowser, you're nodding really aggressively here."

"Ain't no way it's gonna work." Now he was shaking his head aggressively. "We're all All Stars here and we know better. The Hero Three got their own plan, the Villain Three got their own plan. They're going to target each other, but it's just a matter of time. Say if one of us leaves tonight, one of them could be going home tomorrow or whenever we come back here. What are they gonna do if they all make up the final six? Draw rocks? ...I don't think so. They're gonna see who's going to strike first and who's going to take advantage of the situation."

"Now Shovel Knight, no matter what you think of that, you can't just sit here and ignore it. What if Bowser and Ryu have a point? This game can go in all sorts of directions. How big of a chance is there when it comes to you all making up the final six assuming that nothing else can go wrong?"

With all eyes on him, it was time to see how was he going to react to something like that. For his alliance, it was a big question. "Well, here's the thing. The game is unpredictable. That, we all are aware of very much. But it all depends on how things go. Just because we all are sticking together, does not mean we are not planning in advance like they are. We have our group meetings, we come together, we decide what's best, and then we move forward. If we are all good with each other, and if nobody has any problems, we will continue to work together as long as we are on the same page. If not,... then we would have to do some further communication on what we all want."

"Or, just part ways." Bowser replied. "It's that simple. There are three people here that could help you out here if you don't wait too late to make a move."

"Oh yeah? Then what?" Springtrap was not having it. "So we backstab each other today to save you three. The three of you work with either the heroes or the villains, depending on who keeps all of their members. And then what? You count on your fingers,... that's still six people, ladies and gentlemen."

The camera had the audacity to zoom in on Zelda in particular, poor Springy already forgetting that she was literally the only woman around.

"The only difference it makes is that one of the two groups in the majority of six, will work with you three instead, rather than us continuing to work with each other. That's going to be the case here if you do get what you want today, unless we live in a world where three plus three equals five."

Unsurprisingly, that resulted in a few laughs from the jurors.

"So Plague Knight, you're in the group of six, and you're involved with the Villain Three right with Springtrap. Assuming what he's saying makes sense, perhaps the better move for you is to stick with the Hero Three for this round. Do you feel like you trust everybody in your alliance of six?"

"Meh." He hunched his shoulders. "It goes back to what Shovel is saying. If there are no issues and there is no bad blood, we would have no problems voting together. But the individual game always plays a factor in everything. All it takes is one person to try to do something, and absolutely everything messes up."

"Though the six of you talk as if there is nothing to worry about, which unfortunately means for you all, Bowser, DK, and Ryu, bad news once again."

"Hey, in life we generally need to have an 'expect the worst, hope for the best' kind of mentality." Donkey Kong grinned to hide his frustration. "I suppose majority of us had to learn that the hard way. It does indeed sound like one of us is going home again. We might as well say our final words right now as our last chance to convince people and then we get right to the vote."

"Well DK, if everything works out the way that it's supposed to according to this... 'Hero-Villain Six' here,-" Kind of a cringe name, but it was best to cut Bowser some slack since he only had like two seconds to come up with a name for the alliance. "I don't think you're going anywhere. Ryu, you're not going anywhere."

...

Aside from the confused facial expressions the jury was giving, all of the surviving castaways exchanged glances with each other, Wolf in particular curling his lips.

If the Master Hand would have had a face, he definitely would have given Bowser a look at the time.

"Are you going home then?"

"I already know I'm going home tonight. It's no secret."

It kind of was not a secret at that point, and Koopa kind of had nothing else to lose anyway.

"The plan is to have that six vote me out next to avoid any relationships that I have going on with anybody that is not in my alliance."

Springtrap gave him an annoyed frown.

"Master, there's no point in being cryptic here. If folks are just gonna outright say that they're going home, we might as well explain where it's coming from." Now it was Wolf's turn to just tell everything. "People are afraid of Bowser and I hooking back up behind the scenes. And that's no secret either. Bowser's going home today."

"Wow..." Ridley mumbled from the bench.

"Ain't this the same spot he got out last time?" Vector asked.

"Him and I both know. We are good friends since we helped begin this thing back in season one. There was the infamous final nine round where he got voted out because of what I didn't do, but today I'm actually going to help write him off." And Wolf was confidently smiling all the while, fully owning up to it. "We already had a conversation, I apologized, but that's just how it has to be. I'd for sure love to see him go further, but I can't put myself before the group. Either he leaves, or it's probably me tonight. There's no way we're both going to survive this night."

"...Okay." Since the host knew absolutely nothing about it, it was sort of a bit to take in. "This tribal seems to be even more clear cut than it appeared. So Wolf,... why do you think people are scared of you and Bowser getting too close to each other?"

"Well, it all goes back to what happened at the final nine. We are in the final nine right now in this season, and the reason why it is awful Bowser to go home tonight is because of what happened previously. Not only is he trying to improve his rank, he's really been trying to get away from what happened at Survivor - Kodai Island's final nine Tribal Council. Mind you, he wasn't even supposed to go home that day. Mewtwo was the primary target. He had the majority of the votes cast to his name, but Lucario played an idol on him cancelling out the five votes he had coming. Bowser had four votes cast against him, but he didn't know that I had another idol, because I have saved him before. I just took the easy way out and decided not to play an idol on him in that round, and it really did cost me in the end."

"Bowser got sent home finding out the hard way that I had something in my sleeve that could have saved him, then the even more infamous final eight rock draw happened. And then the round after that, Sonic threw me under the bus to Lucario (who was the main target at that point). Mewtwo used his own idol on Lucario, which sent me home with me not even getting the majority of the votes just like Bowser. And all that is what I get for not saving him two rounds earlier. My bad."

Wolf felt it was important to give people a brief history lesson on what went down in order for his fellow castaways to fully understand the gravity of the situation.

Master Hand then decided to add his own point of view of what went down. Or at least, the consequences of what happened. "And Wolf, you remember yourself getting tons of flack for it."

"I do." He nodded, refusing to let his grin leave his face. "I didn't play my cards right, and I screwed over both my games. And now I'm screwing over Bowser again, and in his eyes, it's a direct insult knowing what occurred the last time. He even lost the only immunity challenge in which he was victorious in back in our day."

"You shouldn't be taking all of the blame for this." Bowser felt it rather unnecessary to beat himself up over it. "I know what I did a couple weeks ago. I broke your trust first, so I probably had this coming."

"You did, but this is brutal for you, man. If you don't make it through this, you probably won't see the number nine the same way again. Good thing you only have eight kids. Right?"

Okay, that was a bit humorous, especially given the fact that Bowser often told people about his eight kids whenever he had the chance.

"Yeah, but... I'll live. I proved to myself that I'm a player, because here I am again. This whole experience was fun while I lasted, and I really had a good time."

"Zelda, can you perhaps explain this for me? Explain this from your point of view."

"I suppose Wolf and Bowser are kind of having a full circle moment right now, but... not in the best way possible you could say." She giggled. "But it seems that they both know what needs to happen for both of their games. Wolf in particular is trying to deal with the situation, knowing what he went through with Bowser on their past season. And it isn't hard to understand how Wolf feels. He indirectly caused Bowser his game, and now he has to directly vote him out in the same spot, just with different circumstances. And he does feel bad about it, but he needs that he has to vote out his friend just so that he could make it to tomorrow. My guess is he's hoping that Bowser is not going to take this personally."

"Hey, it's a game." Bowser put his hands in the air. "It is a game. I just ended up on the wrong side of the numbers, and I'm backed into a corner with no way out. It is messed up of how I'm going out here, but that's not Wolf's fault. He's trying to save his own skin, or fur in this instance. How would it make me look if I was bitter or salty towards him about it? He's not single-handedly voting me out here because he's only one person. There are five other people in his alliance right now."

"And you know, could I perhaps add something here?" Donkey Kong lifted a finger. "Now even though we were all together back in our season when we were all in the same power alliance with each other, I was never personally close with Wolf or Bowser. Bowser and I butted heads, and Wolf and I never took the time to get to know each other rather well. But I have to say... this situation is kinda messed up for both guys here. And honestly, I don't know how much this is really talked about, but... am I the only one that feels like the final nine Tribal Council in Kodai Island was kind of blown out of proportion?"

Ooh. Now that was something interesting.

"I mean, I get it. Wolf kind of made the wrong move at the time. But in my personal opinion, it was not as big of a betrayal as folks made it out to be. Sure, Wolf just watched Bowser get slaughtered right in front of him when he had the opportunity to do something. But when you think about it, Wolf already saved Bowser before back when we had this unique twist. He felt like it was pointless to waste his idol again, feeling like it was better for him to save it and use it for himself at a later time. So okay, Wolf did betray Bowser, and it really caused a domino affect. But I'd say something like Ken out of nowhere blindsiding his main ally in Simon in season four was something worse."

...

"Hmm..." Ridley put a finger beneath his chin. "Is he onto something?"

"Definitely something up for debate." Golden commented.

"...Well?" Master Hand wanted the players themselves to discuss the situation. "What do you guys think? Anybody have something to say?"

"I dunno..." Yoshi did not know what to think. "That was still a crappy situation, considering of how worse things got after Bowser left..."

"Yes, but in Wolf's defense, Ike, Pit, and that rock draw?" Springtrap was nearly laughing for simply bringing that one up. "To this day I still don't understand what they were thinking. That was completely preventable. ...Though Wolf and Mewtwo at a lesser extent didn't do much to help. Wolf wasted his idol on Sonic who didn't end up getting any votes, and Mewtwo foolishly decided to not play his knowing he was in trouble."

"Who's side are you on?" Wolf laughed feeling amused.

"Hey, I'm trying to have an unbiased opinion here. I'm a fan of this thing. I love talking about stuff like this."

"Honestly though, this is something I know the fans are going to discuss." Ryu presumed. "And you know what? Zelda earlier called this a full circle moment. Maybe it could be a bit better, but that DK has brought up that question, maybe this would help a little bit to bring closure to both guys. I'm sure they are tired of thinking about it, and if Bowser is really going home here, it's not gonna do much to help. This is gonna be quite a topic at the reunion show."

"Okay, then it looks like I'll have a while to wait until I get full closure, then." Bowser concluded. "I'm going home at nine again with my friend voting me off, we would have to wait for the edit to watch the whole thing over, and then the reunion show."

"Hey, cut me some slack. I'm trying to help here."

...

"Well, perhaps after this is over, the fans are gonna have a lot on their plate to discuss with this one." Master Hand then focused on Koopa in particular. "Bowser,... this tribe is gonna get really interesting if you somehow survive this. But if this is really the end for you, then it was good to have you on the show. You were always quite the character."

"Hahaha! I'll take that as a thanks."

"It is time to vote. Zelda, you're up."

"Wolf shouldn't feel this terrible." Shadow turned his head side to side as Zelda walked past the jurors to vote. "I betrayed people left and right."

Just wanting to get it over with, she quickly spelled Bowser's name and promptly cast her vote in the urn.

Koopa was then called up to vote himself with his vote being held up to the camera, but not being shown.

"If I'm still alive after all this, this will actually be embarrassing."

Both of the knights went up to the voting booth next, Ryu then being shown uncapping the pen.

"Hoping for a miracle at this point..."

Following Donkey Kong and Yoshi, Wolf was then finally called forward. He held Bowser's name in big letters as a possible final farewell to him.

"It saddens me that it has come to this, but you are going down as a Survivor icon. Going out in grand style."

Even though he had no idea what he was saying, Bowser was still grinning. He at the very least had some kind of idea that Wolf was basically giving a little tribute to him. And to be fair,... Bowser kind of deserved it. He was indeed an icon, right? Especially after all that he went through.

But it was Springtrap that had to end the voting session by being the last one to go.

"I'll go tally the votes."

Though Bowser was trying his hardest to remain smiling, it was slowly fading away. Part of him told him that him going home was the inevitable, yet the other half told him that a surprise was going to occur instead.

Wolf felt the same way.

"Alright... If anyone has a hidden immunity idol and you wanna play it, now would be the time to do so."

...

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

"Moment of truth..." Donkey Kong muttered.

"First vote... Wolf."

He chuckled in response. "Interesting way to start this off."

"Bowser."

"..."

"Wolf. Two votes Wolf."

"Bowser. Two votes Bowser, two votes Wolf."

Well, it was official. They both ended up targeting each other. Somebody was going to come on top.

"Wolf. Three votes Wolf."

He kept a calm facial expression. Deep down inside he was going to be saddened no matter what the results were. Yet in a weird way, he felt him going home himself was worse than Bowser being sent out.

"Bowser. Three votes Bowser, three votes Wolf."

"Please Star Spirits..." King Koopa spoke quietly. Now was the perfect time for the miracle to happen right at that Tribal Council.

"Come on..." Springtrap on the other hand was hoping nobody changed their minds behind his back.

"Donkey Kong."

"!?"

"One vote Donkey Kong."

"Oh, okay." It did not take long for Bowser to realize the majority alliance chose to split votes. It was just that for SGA, the possibility of that sort of flew over their heads because they were all just trying to figure out how to save Bowser.

"Donkey Kong."

For the ape in particular, he simply rolled his eyes. His name coming up unexpectedly did catch him off guard, yet he knew he was not going anywhere at the end of the day.

"That's three votes Wolf, three votes Bowser, two votes Donkey Kong, one vote left."

"How hilarious it would be if DK gets sent our way instead?" Vector joked with the other jury members.

"That'd be a nice plot twist." Golden commented.

"Donkey Kong. We have a three-way tie. "Three votes for Donkey Kong, Wolf, and Bowser."

"Maybe we can all just fight it out like men do in the street."

Bowser's joke caused nearly everyone in the area to have a laugh.

"That does sound like something that will shoot the ratings through the roof, but that's not really how it works here." Of course Master Hand just had to kill the fun. All three of the castaways were Smashers. Them punching and kicking each other was the whole thing of the fighting series. But then again, the whole Survivor story line with Smash was not even canon.

"Here is what's gonna happen: we're gonna have a re-vote. Bowser, Donkey Kong, Wolf, you will not vote. Everyone else, you can only vote for Bowser, Donkey Kong, and Wolf. Plague Knight, come grab the urn."

Well, he tried. That was Bowser's last chance to save himself. And actually, since DK voted with Bowser, it would have a been a 2v1. That meant that they had a high chance of taking Wolf O'Donnell down and left him all bloodied and beaten up.

...Okay, that sounded really brutal. Voting off someone fair and square seemed safe enough supposedly.

Once the second round of voting was completed, there went Master Hand again.

"I'll go tally the votes."

So obviously, everybody knew that Bowser had no other way out of it. He was a goner and the father of eight had already accepted it.

"I'll read the votes." Even Master Hand was ready for it.

Music: Final Boss (Giant Bowser)

Game: New Super Mario Bros. Wii

"First vote... Wolf."

The camera pointed Ryu's way, being the only one out of SGA that was even allowed to vote again.

"Bowser."

His head bobbed up and down.

"Bowser. Two votes Bowser, one vote Wolf."

"King Koopa." muttered Golden.

"Bowser. Three votes Bowser, one vote Wolf."

"...Twelfth person voted out of Survivor and the fifth member of our jury. Bowser." He and Wolf were already getting up to say their final goodbyes to each other. "That's four, that's enough."

And by the time the master was done, the two anthropomorphics hugged it out.

"Don't lose sleep over this." said Bowser. "It's okay. Good luck."

"Well, I don't get any sleep here as it is."

"I'll see you on the other side."

The spike-shelled All Star went over to shake hands with Donkey Kong.

"Only positive thing I can say about this is that I actually outlasted you this time."

"Congrats. I'll be sure to get you a cookie later on."

Of course, nothing stopped him from roasting somebody.

"Well, I'll take it!" DK smiled humorously. "I'm hungry!"

He made his way over to Master Hand before realizing that there was something he was supposed to have with him.

"Oh! Torch..."

"Already getting it for ya." Donkey Kong was pulling it out of the hole before he gave it torch to Bowser.

"Thanks man..." Finally placed it down, he eyed the Survivor host trying his best to contain his laughter. "Go ahead. Do it."

Master Hand definitely would have been smiling from ear to ear had if he could have. "Bowser,... the tribe has spoken."

Snuff.

#KingKoopa

"Time for you to go."

Donkey Kong stood up on his feet and started to clap, prompting everybody else to do the same.

"And I get a round of applause, too! Y'all are definitely my exit memorable." But Bowser really did feel the love in that moment. "I appreciate all of you. Finish this strong for me."

"Thank you, Bowser."

"Bye, Bowser."

"We'll miss you."

Turning back around, he began to head down the stairs. Upon Wolf sitting back down, he watched Bowser may his way down to the point where he was no longer visible. Though his grin remained, he curled up his lips feeling horrible of what he just did. Though to some it may have seemed out of character, he was getting pretty close to shedding a tear or two.

It was sure one of the saddest eliminations in the history of the show.

"Well if there was one thing about Bowser, he was definitely an entertaining character for the show. It's not going to be the same without him. Grab your torches, head back to camp. Goodnight."

Votes:

Donkey Kong - Wolf

Bowser - Wolf

Yoshi - Donkey Kong

Zelda - Bowser

Wolf - Bowser

Ryu - Wolf

Shovel Knight - Donkey Kong

Plague Knight - Bowser

Springtrap - Donkey Kong

(3-3-3)

Re-Vote:

Yoshi - Bowser

Zelda - Bowser

Ryu - Wolf

Shovel Knight - Bowser

Plague Knight - Bowser

Springtrap - Bowser

Final Result: 5-1

9th Place: Bowser

Total Votes Received: 8

Confessional Run: 4-2-1-1-2-3-3-1-3-1-4 (25)

Castaways Remaining:

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

"The Star Spirits have blessed me by allowing me to play this game not once, but twice. Sure, same result and it's kinda crappy of how I got voted out. But I really did have a good time and gave everything my all out here. I know my kids are gonna be all over me when they see this. But,... it's been fun. It really has. And Wolf? I'm still rooting for him."

Character Confessional Count:

31: Donkey Kong (+3)

26: Ryu (+2)

25: Bowser (+4), Wolf (+5), Plague Knight (+2)

24: Zelda (+1), Springtrap (+4)

23: Shovel Knight (+2)

22: Golden, Ridley

20: Yoshi (+1)

19: Vector

12: Shadow, Specter Knight, Sonic

11: Foxy, Meta Knight

6: Sheik

5: Mario

3: Isabelle

SURVIVOR DISCUSSION TIME

Okay, so big question here. I need your honest opinion on this. Let's follow up with DK's question. Was Bowser's last final nine Tribal Council blown out of proportion? The castaways briefly discussed it. Some may agree, some may disagree, some are probably right in the middle. So it's probably up in the air.

But,... what if Bowser survived? What if Wolf actually used his idol on him at that point? Well, here's the thing. If Wolf actually played his idol on Bowser, this would have actually scared Mewtwo into playing his own idol on Lucario (because Lucario actually used his idol on Mewtwo). Now since Mewtwo and Bowser had all the votes and that they had idols played on him, there would have been no votes. At all. Ike and Link were pretending to be part of Mewtwo's alliance at the time, because they had a secret alliance with Wolf and Bowser, unbeknownst to Mario and Sonic. So whatever was left of Power Sumasshu would have then voted for Ike, but he had immunity. And Lucario also would have been safe thanks to Mewtwo using his idol on him. So Pit of all people would have been blindsided here, and it would have made the tribal even more iconic.

So with Pit leaving, these are the alliances: Mewtwo-Lucario-Ike-Link as the Tatakai Alliance versus Mario-Sonic-Bowser-Wolf as the Power Sumasshu alliance. Now with the secret foursome of Link, Ike, Bowser, and Wolf, they would have had to choose between actually weakening the Mewtwo-Lucario duo here, or they would have taken Mario blindsiding him and Sonic. Bowser was considering on voting Mario out in the previous round, but he felt it wasn't the right time. But either way, I believe Bowser survives the final eight round no matter what. Either Mewtwo/Lucario gets blindsided, or those four would have let the two of them know that they were going to take Mario out with Wolf and Bowser flipping on him. So yeah, Bowser would have made it at least a couple rounds further, and I didn't believe it myself at the time, but he actually did have genuine winner equity in him because he was really starting to have a redemption arc kind of story after being known as one of the first major social pariahs. But the one big thing he would have had to do is take out Wolf so that the jury wouldn't have seen Bowser as riding Wolf's coattails. I'd say that he beats Sonic, Mewtwo, Ike, and probably Mario in a final three situation. But I dunno if he beats Link. Haven't really thought that far yet... but we can discuss this in PMs.

I know we need to come up with a name for Kodai Island's final nine tribal though.

What a way to end off 2023. Sigh... Bowser for sure will be missed. I remember first writing him five years ago and now everything is coming full circle for him.

But at this point, the final nine in Survivor is officially cursed. Jesus... I mean, seriously. We all know what happened at the final nine in the first season, but in season two, Freddy literally got unfairly eliminated due to rules and advantages, Golden got robbed at final nine thanks to Specter Knight (even though Funky Kong and Isabelle/Golden both foolishly believed the other person was going after them), ...I'll excuse Rodin in Caribbean. But now this? This is crazy. The final nine in my Survivor series is cursed!

But Bowser's Ponderosa is coming up next, so stay tuned.

...Ludwig von Koopa is set to compete in 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), Ludwig von Koopa (Super Mario)