Heroes vs Villains - Ponderosa

Chapter 2 - Juror 2

"Hello, my name is Ridley, and this is my Ponderosa."

Night 24

This never would have happened if he just managed to beat Springtrap at that immunity challenge. Perhaps if he won that, he might have actually made a deep run for once. Thought the simple unfortunate truth was that... he simply did not beat Springtrap at the challenge.

He was only able to place one spot higher versus how he performed in season four. But hey, it was still a three day improvement. And game wise, he still was able to add something to his legacy. He was the very first castaway to find a hidden immunity idol during a challenge, and he correctly played his idol on the right person sending Shadow home.

Wait a minute... he did have a direct impact in getting Shadow the Hedgehog's torch snuffed, and now he was on his way to deal with him at Ponderosa. It was going to be an interesting interaction. More on that later, though.

"Last time I was more angry, since I felt like certain people were making a huge mistake of not keeping me around for some crucial votes. But based off my attitude and me pushing people away, nobody wanted to work with me, so I became the first boot of the post-merge. This time though, I am just confused as ever. Why in the name of Zebes would you vote me out over an entire group of four, that started on the exact same tribe from day one, who is going to stick together through thick and thin? How does that ever make any sense? Am I that threatening in challenges? I literally only won one necklace. Springtrap has now just won two, but I guess he doesn't count because he was one of the main decision makers today."

"Survivor is the hardest game that has ever existed. If I were to tell you why, we would be here all night. I just can't... I just can't even. You can work your ass off day in and day out, but that does not matter one bit. Nobody cares, and they shouldn't care, but when you're the one that is on the chopping block, it is almost as if people want to suffer as much as possible. That alone right there is a reason why this game is so difficult to play. The only person you have out here, and the only person you represent is yourself. That's all you have out here..." He paused and turned away. "What am I saying? I prefer to do everything on my own all the time. Now I'm talking as if I need other people to have my back out here. This ain't Zebes and none of my minions are here right now..."

"If that alliance somehow makes it all the way, and if they go top seven with Springtrap, Wolf, and Plague being the ones to leave first, that's gonna be a bad look for them in front of the entire universe. It's going to be a major 'I-Told-You-So' moment for me. All I could is to hope that they actually know what they're doing, since this is something that I can not wrap my head around." He went quiet for a moment, now thinking of his Survivor experience as a whole. "One of my main objectives coming out here again was to... greatly improve my social game, due to me foolishly believing that it didn't really matter in a game of Survivor. Now I can say that it is everything when it comes to this, whether you like it or not. I in particular had to learn that the hard way."

"If you have no kind of social game out here, you are basically playing this game by yourself. And if you do play this game by yourself, you are basically asking for nobody to align with you. Thus, in the Caribbean there were a couple blown opportunities, and I take full responsibility. One of the biggest blown opportunities for me was not being a part of the original Reptile Runaways alliance. According to K. Rool, Banjo, Yoshi, Vector, and Charizard, K. Rool was thinking about me being involved, but he didn't get a big enough opinion on me because on day one, when all twenty of us were together, I never bothered to talk to anybody much. And at some point, I was literally desperate to get Vector and Banjo out. If I was actually aligned with them, I believe my season would have played out much differently. So it goes to show right there that the social game actually does matter, and hopefully for future players who may seem to not care so much about it, the social game is always going to be relevant in Survivor. That is something we all have to deal with."

Time for his check up.

"Welcome back, Ridley." Crazy Hand already had the area set up, Ridley making his way over to sit down. "So, how does it feel to play two seasons of Survivor back to back? I know that sounds crazy!"

No pun intended.

"Well, the process of doing two seasons in a row sounds tiring itself. It is one hell of a process. But hey, anything to win that title. I may not need the money, but I desperately want to win a game like this just to test my skills. And the majority of people who play this game are involved with the competiton for that reason. We all want to prove something to ourselves on what we're capable of. But the harsh reality is that most people do not get to the end of the game, let alone win. Four out of seventy-eight players have won the title so far. That's how difficult Survivor is. But it is why I strive to play the best game possible. Though the truth is... I'm not perfect."

Having self-awareness was always a good trait to have, regardless of how a person was.

"Now as far as the strategy goes, I believe I played way better than Caribbean. I tried to play a stronger strategic game, in mix with whatever social game I can execute out there. It was working for the most part, but I was guaranteed to be targeted at some point. And to be fair, part of me is a little bit surprised I was able to last this long. I became the first ever Survivor to find an idol at a challenge, I finally won my first immunity, and I saved the life of an ally. All this while only placing twelfth? Bummer that I did not even reach top ten or a single digit placement, but for twelfth place? ...I still made some sort of impact. I don't have nearly as many regrets as I did in the past season, so there was an improvement for me, and I was able to add on to the legacy I have."

With the camera pointing down at his feet, the numbers of his current weight were shown on the scale.

"200.1."

"Okay, you have weighed at 210.2, so that's 10.2 pounds you lost, Ridley."

It was not that big a number for someone his size. Yet the thing about it was that even though Ridley was a physically fit guy, he had very little fat on him. Compared to casatways like Bowser, it was a differnt story when King Koopa first got eliminated (and no that did not include his shell obviously).

So the dragon's weight situation was rather unique.

"You hungry?"

"Ugh..." Food was all of a sudden in his mind, stepping on the scale. "I've missed out on the one opportunity I had in my hands to go on a post-merge reward challenge. Of course I'm hungry."

"Cool! And you know we're letting the castaways look at the menu before they arrive on the Ponderosa so that people can be already aware of what you want, and so the food can reach you quicker."

"Much appreciated..."

"You're welcome. Now you go and have yourself a CRAAAAZY DAY!"

"..." He frowned. "It's nightime. The sun went down a long time ago. Try better next time."

"At that moment I knew I just had to get some food in me. In Survivor you have to eat all you can, when you can. Or else, you'll starve." His eyes scanned across every possible option at the menu as the boat carried him away. "I may not look it, but I'm a pretty big eater. And then on top of that, I am a major leader on planet Zebes. Captain of the space pirates. So naturally, I need to eat a little more so that I can keep a level head and function properly. If I didn't get any food of me within the next five minutes I was gonna rip the heads off of every last chef at that Ponderosa. Not having any food in your system can make any man crazy."

...Okay... Did anyone kept count of how many threats Ridley made to the Survivor production crew? ...With the Master Hand himself included?

Perhaps someone needed a straight jacket to prevent him from going crazy.

With his mind being made up of what he wanted to eat, his stepped off the Ponderosa boat and onto the dock. It was dark and quiet night, yet in the distance there was the Ponderosa cafe.

The dragon actually began to grin at the sight of it. He was going to get food in front of him in no time. At most, all he had to do was wait for just a few more minutes...

...Hopefully Shadow the Hedgehog provided some sort of distraction. Maybe he was a great appetizer for Ridley to devour since he loved threatening people. He could have ate Shadow alive and got away with it.

But, nah. Not even Ridley of all people had the desire to even think about that. He was not that cruel... Right?

What was Shadow doing anyway? Well, he did not even have the common decency to even greet Ridley at the step. He literally glanced outside the cafe to see him approaching. Yet, he did nothing. Even when Ridley actually entered the cafe, he did not make eye contact with the man until they were right next to each other.

Watching him eat his food, it was Ridley himself that was the first to speak. "Does this mean I'm not the king of Ponderosa anymore?"

That earned him a snicker from the ebony hedgehog. "Techically, I wasn't supposed to be the one going home last time since I didn't actually receive majority of the votes. You can be the king of Ponderosa all you want."

"Technically, you are not meant to be a king, anyway. I'm a leader back on my planet. Being king is natural to someone like me."

And with that, he went to the opposite end of the table to pull out a chair.

"You aren't going to look in the mirror? You haven't really seen yourself in twenty-four days."

"Aside from a little armpit odor, I literally look the same. I only lost about two pounds more weight versus the last time I played." He sat his tail down, already staring at Shadow's plate. "Besides, I can be looking in the mirror in the bathroom while I'm getting ready to shower."

"Well it's a good thing you're sitting at the opposite end of this table. Your stench would have ruined my appetite."

"I did realiize that Shadow was not even at the steps by the time I made it over here, but it didn't bother me too much. Judging by our personalities on the surface we are kinda cut from the same cloth. And neither of us are the most friendly when it came to other people, esepcially greeting. I felt that it was no big deal, but I know somebody else would have found it to be the rudest thing they've ever seen."

That made the Zebes warrior laughed out loud.

And for his meal, remember that steakhouse merge feast the castaways had? He just could not have gotten enough of that. Oh, and by the way, for those who remembered Ridley's Ponderosa from the first time, he forgot to order steak on his first night.

The large creature was not going to make that same mistake again. A steak dinner after playing another twenty-four days of Survivor was more than rewarding.

For a while, the two simply ate and sat still. There was the occassional exchanged glance in between bites, yet the main priority at the time was to focus on themselves and themselves only in their minds.

Though eventually somebody had to same something. And since Shadow was starving way less than Ridley at the time, food was not constantly on his mind as much.

"So,... what provoked you to vote me off?"

That made him nearly choke on his food. Minor embarrassment for him, but he was quickly able to properly swallow on the piece of steak he had in that large mouth of his.

Cleary his throat, he was finally able to form some words.

"What'd you say?"

Great. Now he had to repeat himself. "What made you all vote me off?"

"Oh." Ridley cleared his throat for a second time. "Well, it was between you, Plague, and Vector. I wanted to vote off Vector because I was starting to see right through him. Vector's the kind of player that will have everyone approaching him for alliances, but as soon as that first deal hits him, he's only saying yes to that without ever turning back. That's how he plays. I felt like it would have been great for me to get rid of him right then and there, but the two people that were concerning to us were you and Plague. By yourselves, both of you are dangerous enough. But when put together, we felt like the two of you would have done something to upset everyone. The plan was to get rid of one of you, and save Vector for the next round if things were to fall in our favor. And you're of course stronger in Plague in challenges, so we chose to vote you out."

"Well, that backfired on you fast, because you're sitting here right now."

"...I wouldn't really say that." Really? "Wolf and Springtrap were stick with you and Plague as a four, and then with the Hero Four, it made the big eight alliance. Say if we got rid of Vector and not you, you four would have had the upper hand over Shovel, Zelda, and Yoshi. It would have been the same thing, but in reverse. You and Plague still would have been in this game together despite being targeted on day one."

"Okay, well Vector is still in this game, and Spring, Wolf, and Plague decided to actually stick with the Hero Four, and it's gonna go down as one of the dumbest moves in Survivor history if Vector pulls it out because of this."

"Hey look, I know." He eyed him with a bit of a glare. "That's what I was trying to do the whole Tribal Council, so I don't know why the three of them decided to stick with them knowing they are not going to get anywhere. But it's up to them to make the move. I can preach all day, but that can lead to nothing and that's what I learned tonight."

"Meh. Well at the the end of the day, I'm still gonna root for your alliance only because the alliance that I was in wasn't smart enough. I knew you were one of the most likely people from our tribe to have the idol, and targeting Donkey Kong was a safe option for Anti-SGA, but nobody listened or took me seriously. So I'm gonna laugh in their faces if none of them are sitting at the final."

"I appreciate the support, but like I said, Vector and his entire core alliance are still in this game. They're winning so far and all we can do is watch from the jury bench of what they're gonna do. We got three more days before that time comes. We'll just hang around here until then, since we have no other choice." Ridley then leaned in closer. "And I'm still the king over here. If I can't take the crown of Sole Survivor, I can at least take the crown of this."

"Ridley was someone that I tolerated out there. I never cared about him much, but I never really had any problems with him." Perhaps Shadow simply did not have many conversations with the Metroid villain. "We surprisingly have a similar mindset, but Ridley's more aggressive when it comes to his point of view. I thought I was going to dislike whoever came here, but it's just Ridley, so it's not so bad. All I gotta do is live with him for the rest of the game while everyone else is still out there. We'll see how this goes."

Day 25

If Ridley was the king of Ponderosa, Shadow deserved to be the prince at least. They were the very first two All Stars to be voted out during the jury phase, so they both deserved their respective titles.

Yet since this bit was focused more on Ridley in particular, majority of the attention needed to remain on him for the time being.

He ended up having a nice, deep sleep. Any sleep was a blessing in itself regarding the actual game, but the moment when a castaway woke up after the night before at the Ponderosa? That was an entirely different story altogether.

It was as if one never slept before. People really took things for granted. Survivor was a true eye opener for everyone to not take advantage of the finer things in life.

The big, bad dragon gradually opened his eyes, shifting them towards his left to glance at the window. Well, day twenty-five was not going to last forever. And he was getting hungry again. Time to get something to eat.

"From getting headaches everyday to getting a full night's rest, it is a major reason why I actually enjoy my time on Ponderosa. I may not be in the game, but I get to all I want... like a king, and relax my nerves all the while. I love my peace and quiet where I don't to deal with... other people and give them lectures all the time in the competition. Besides, I'm technically still part of the game anyway, since I have the power to decide who wins that title of Sole Survivor."

Shadow was already there by the time Ridley entered the cafe. Only thing in front of him was his black coffee, since he already ate all of his breakfast.

Making his way over to him, the purple smasher glanced down at his drink. "...You don't even put cream and sugar in yours?"

That question quite surprised him, both of them now glancing at each other to see which one of them had two heads. "You do?"

"I don't want that bitter taste to be in my mouth."

Ridley decided to take a seat. And this time it was rather closer to him as he picked up the breakfast menu.

"There is probably going to be a reward challenge today regarding the others."

"...And you're hoping it rains on them."

He grinned in reply. "You've read my mind."

Chuckling in response, the man continued to drink before staring in no particular direction as Ridley resumed looking over the menu.

"..."

"..."

"It was a rather peaceful morning with Shadow. I think the both of us knew how to not take the game personally. Certain people might have pissed us off, but it is all just a game. We just find it rather frustrating the way people are making these decisions. Yet the two of us knew that once we hit Ponderosa, it took a weight off our shoulders because we no longer have to worry about the stress of it. We had breakfast together, but... this is gonna be my very first time saying something like this out here, but part of me felt that it was rather... quiet. Netiher of us really talked much in the beginning. I encourage absolute silence whenever necessary, though at the same time,... there were barely any words exchanged between us at all."

Ridley was not wrong. After the Ponderosa staff took Ridley's over, it was a few minutes before his food was set to arrive. And during that time, not a single word was uttered from either of them. Since it concerned Ridley of all castaways, it painted the perfect picture of how quiet the two really were. Though Samus's canon arch-nemesis eyed him from time to time, Shadow did not look his way once. Not that he was being shady, but Ridley figured the GUN agent was simply in his own world, which is understandable. Inside he was like that all the time whenever he was not telling people what to do. In case one was not already aware, he was a notorious leader on the planet Zebes. Remember?

With the food finally arriving, he began to eat, his castmate still not saying anything. His coffee was literally all gone at that point, so he was simply wasting his own time sitting around doing literally nothing. And when it came to quiet people, this was likely a sign that Shadow was thinking a bit to himself. In his own world.

Though Ridley eventually became bored of the silence. It was rather shocking, but something about the whole situation with nobody saying anything to each other the entire time was awkward to say the least.

He realized that he had to be the one to break the ice.

"You... plan on doing anything today?"

His voice nearly startled the man due to the silence that lasted for a bit, but he quickly got himself together and answered. "I dunno. Maybe go out for a jog around the beach. But if it rains, I'm staying indooors I suppose..."

"I might get in the hammock." Ridley replied.

"Okay..."

"..."

"..."

Annnd it grew quiet again.

Damn. What was Ridley going to say this time? He was going to get bored out of his mind. His breakfast was not exactly finished yet, so maybe a little more conversation at least was in order in his opinion. He was not a small talk kind of guy, but at the same time,... for some reason he felt that he needed to discuss something with Shadow.

What was he going to do?

"So..."

His eyes stared his way once more, with a slightly more irritated look.

"What? ...What is it?"

"Hmph..." The cut-throat dragon shifted his head down. He knew that was coming, and honestly, he did not even blame him. The space pirate would have likely reacted in a similar manner, making him a hypocrite.

Well, that would have been the case back in the day. Though since he was in the middle of finding himself socially, his mindset at that moment was slightly altered.

He was going to discuss something about the game again, yet due to how he was thinking, he instead decided to be plain honest with Shadow of what he was really thinking. Sighing at this, he went on. "I suppose it is rather unusual for me wanting to start up conversations."

"It is." Shadow let him know it. "So, what is it? You're going to be a social butterfly, now?"

That made Ridley frown. He was taking it a bit too far. "You're talking about an entirely different person here. I'm never going to be someone like that. However,... how do I put this? I... guess this whole thing has changed me at least a little bit. I don't really feel like I'm a completely different person, but looking back to how I was before I played Caribbean, I feel like there's been a bit of a change. And that's something I would have never expected."

"Hmm..." Now that had Shadow thinking. "You've become more sociable?"

"Rather a blunt way to put it, but perhaps you're correct." It was not even leaving a bad taste in Ridley's mouth to admit that. "I went from completely ignoring the social aspect of the game to me feeling more comfortable talking to other people. Not just for the sake of doing so, but... I'm not against having a chat. Does that make sense?"

His frown came from worry, yet it was something even Shadow understood. However, this led to him lowkey thinking about himself. "I get where you're coming from. You're not the first contestant in Survivor to be criticized for lacking social skills. There are other such as myself, Plague, Specter, and even Bowser. And the whole thing affected all four of us in some sort of way. I did a little bit of self-reflection while I was the only castaway here, and now you're sitting here with me right now."

"I was little bit annoyed when Ridley... simply started talking. One thing that really annoys me is when there is too much talking." Heard it right then and there. If one was around Shadow, it was best to not do too much talking around him. "But the more he talked, the more it made me notice a few things. Though Ridley and I are a bit similar, we're a little different at the same time. He is growing to be a little more of a sociable person, while I'm still in the process of analyzing myself. I'm not where Ridley is right now..."

"I need to ask you something. Meta Knight..." Oh, the man that basically changed Ridley's outlook on life. The pure definition of an unlikely friendship. "Why him of all the people in the world? Was it really because of the two of you having similar backgrounds, or was it Meta realizing something about himself in you? What exactly was it that made you realize that you're rather flawed when it coems to interactions with others?"

"Everything you just said, basically." Ridley took a sip of his own coffee (with cream and sugar). "We're both leaders in our own respective worlds, and we have a little more in common than we both expected. And Meta did see himself in me, because he was going through similar situations. He used to be a cold-hearted prick just like myself, and one major example was him not really caring much about his troops at all."

"The thing about it is, Shadow, leaders have armies. Armies fight alongside you, and they are loyal every step of the way. No matter the situation, they will always have your back. However, as leaders we have to have theirs. It has to be a mutual relationship. Say if there was a situation where a minion of mine sacrifices his life,... how would you not care? They supported you all this time, and they're falling on the sword just to protect you. Even I believe it is rather... heartless as a leader to have no compassion for those who give their lives for me. I may not care about what people think, but what kind of person am I to simply brush it off as if nothing's wrong? For the record, nobody held a gun at their heads. Nobody is making them stick by my side. My minions choose to stay loyal and fight alongside me to support my cause. They don't have to do it, but they do it anyway... even after how I treated most of them."

Suddenly glancing away in shame, looking back now, Ridley was starting to feel rather awful about the whole thing. And by the way Shadow was looking at him, he knew that he was discussing something really personal.

"Sometimes we have to learn how to put ourselves into other peoples shoes (yes, I know I don't wear any)."

That resulted in a laugh from the Mobian.

"But, seriously. It's when I think about stuff like this that really makes me look at myself and how I'm behaving. If your minions choose to serve you,... do not take that for granted. That's something Meta Knight had to realize, and that's something I had to realize as well. But he changed before he started playing Survivor. I began to change after the fact because of Meta Knight. He is going to cause great impact in my life on the inside for as long as I live..."

Shadow was thinking long and hard about this. "So,... what if you're not a leader?"

The guy had a point. Not everyone in the universe had the luxury of being a prime leader of something. Some were just... regular people. Now to be fair, despite whatever title a person had, Ridley was just enough of a person as Shadow. And now they were celebrities in the reality TV world, but they were all simply regular people just like all their fans. They did not know their favs personally.

"Well if you're not a leader,..." Ridley trailed off to think. "-perhaps you could just... continue to self-reflect and how to approach others. There are some folks out here that are actually concerned for you. Find the right people, and maybe start having conversations with them about yourself, what they think, or basically anything. They could only be there just to help you. Be sure to not push them away while they're still here."

Now that was hopefully impactful enough for Shadow. Maybe a future diagloue with Zelda was due. Even someone like Foxy or Sheik or Knuckles. And Knuckles the Echidna literally lived in the exact same world. Why waste the opportunity?

"I never pictured myself to be some sort of guidance counselor or something, but... now I'm starting to see a little bit of myself in Shadow. I don't think he's a terrible person. He's just struggling in a different way. Now that I think about it, he was complaining even more than me. I don't know what other people were thinking about him during the duration of his time on the island, though I don't remember many positive moments from him. He was probably really having some problems inside and I wasn't there to simply check on him... because it never cross my mind. I'm not usually the type of person to... think about other people. Yet I suppose after talking with Ryu a few times this season, it's just now occurring to me. Even when Meta Knight is not here, Ryu and Bowser have supported me throughout my days on this season. DK and Golden respected me as well, especially at my Tribal Council. There are folks out here that will support you. It's best to look at yourself first and those around you. Deep down they really do care. It's best to not act as if the entire universe is out to get you. Long story short,... humble yourself."

Want to know what was so funny about this? Ridley was someone that needed to be given advice to by Meta Knight,... only to be the one giving advice himself. If that was not a sign of how far he came as a person, it was unknown what was. Meta Knight really made him grow.

The dragon leaned in. "Just so you know,... I understand what's going on in your head. If you need someone,... I'm here."

"...Thank you." That right there actually meant a lot to Shadow. Nobody had ever talked to him like that before. Ever.

Well, during the last few shots of Ridley's Ponderosa video, he was seen lying in the hammock as he told Shadow during the breakfast.

"Survivor itself is a double-edged sword. Headache inducing, but it's a really good competition. Yet I now know that there is more to Survivor than just strategy and challenges. It brings out the worst of you and the best of you. You get to learn new things about yourself, and the thing that you will eventually discover is that you are not as perfect as you make yourself out to be. No being on this earth is perfect. Folks out here really do have their flaws and I am no different. How we handle them is the main thing. All I can say is that you can point out the flaws in others as much as you want. However, you do have to have some sort of self-awarness. As long as you least acknolwedge them, it shows others that you are willing to work on some things about yourself. But pointing out your problems does not make them go away. If you're thinking of changing your ways, it is up to you to do that. You are the one in control."

Really didn't expect Ridley to have this long of a chapter, but this only makes my already established love for Ridley this series even greater. The whole thin from start to finish, and the day twenty-five scene was obviously the best part. I really am going to miss him. I want to bring him back, but it's gonna be a while before I bring back three time players just so you all are aware.

I'll see you all next week for the next chapter of the main story!