Survivor - Heroes vs Villains

Chapter 47 - Live Reunion Show

Okay. This is really it. Last chapter of my entire Survivor series for a long while. Because after this, I'm done. I'm sticking with the "Where Are They Now?" title for my upcoming four chaptered story. And after that, I'm not gonna announce anything related to Survivor for at least the next 365 days after the last chapter of that fic is posted.

I know when I first started Kodai Island, my writing was still kinda cringe, but not nearly as it was when I first started writing fanfics for this site back in 2011. Growth is important, and I feel like I really achieved that.

Lemme tell you real quick of how I narrate my stories. I try to have my own commentary here and there based off what I'm generally thinking in the moment and what I feel like. Thus, humor ends up getting involved and you guys get a taste of my personality. And I believe that's what makes it stand out a little because all humans have different personalities.

But getting back to the point, Wolf won, he's our first ever All Star winner, and now is the time to celebrate it. I have to talk freaking everything here... Oh my God.

Let's just go ahead and start this thing already.

~KF

SURVIVOR - HEROES VS VILLAINS

"On my best days I can actually be pretty polite... But the moment when you cross me I can pretty much be the worst person you'll ever encounter."

"What's the plan guys? Plotting to kick the Heroes' ass again?"

"Wolf trying to take the ring away from Sonic!"

"VILLAINS WIN IMMUNITY!"

"You're not a real Villain if you have any sympathy for 'em.'"

"Past relationships coming into this game, I think it's gonna play a major factor when it comes to a lot of these votes."

"All they gotta do is say 'Wolf and Bowser are here together, and we gotta separate 'em.'"

"I might have to vote you out tonight."

"Bowser."

"Springtrap."

"Wolf, Plague, you both got guts for doing this. I wonder how are you both gonna get out of it, though."

"He definitely got between me and Bowser. But he's not gonna have me on all fours and pull me along with a leash. I may be a lot of things, but I ain't no lapdog."

"DK knows himself that he's a threat for my game, so that's why we had no problems telling each other to our faces of how things are between him and I."

"We're going after each other."

"Donkey Kong."

"WOLF WINS FINAL IMMUNITY!"

"I'm too much of a badass. Simple as that."

Following the overall montage of the most recent Survivor winner, the scene transitioned to Wolf O'Donnell himself. He grinned ear to ear as the audience cheered on for him. Being known as the first ever All Star sole survivor was a way to make a guy like him feel good to say the least.

Yet the spotlight had to shine on the host for just a bit. Master Hand was the one who made the show possible though. The dude was directly responsible for physically giving Wolf the million dollar check (which happened off screen during the commercial break).

"Well ladies and gentlemen, he's done. Wolf was just crowned winner of our fifth season, Survivor - Heroes vs Villains. In our first returning player season, somebody had to pull it off and it just so happened to be him. And right now, we're having our Survivor reunion show. Let's get this big shot."

Suddenly, there was an overview of every last contestant sitting together. "We have all twenty players back here, including those that have been eliminated early including Foxy, Isabelle, Meta Knight, Specter, and even Sonic the Hedgehog. But we're gonna get there soon, as all twenty of these people are gonna have their chance to talk. For right now, this part is gonna be all about our winner here."

Poor Master Hand. By the time he was finished talking, his mouth was going to hurt... if he indeed had a mouth to speak out of. Maybe by him only being a hand, it probably worked to his advantage at points.

"Hey Marth!?" He called out to a certain winner in the audience. "Where are you...? There you are! Face the camera his way. Marth, I want you to hold up your own vote so that everyone can see who you voted for to win earlier."

He did not have a mic on him, so all he ended up doing was standing tall and had the camera zoom in on his vote for W-O-L-F.

"Looks like Marth voted for him as well." Without acknowledging the audience clapping in response, he began his dialogue with the most recent winner of his series. "So Wolf, the fact that you have become our first ever All Star winner literally destroys all the wrongs you've made in your past season in Kodai Island. Winning a Survivor season is one thing. But you were able to do so with nineteen other returning players. Two of them have already won, including Sonic, who was indirectly the reason why you got out the first time you played."

"I certainly got full closure on that moment." His eyes rolled at the memory, but that was in his past now. "Now he and I both won a season."

Multiple castaways including Sonic himself chuckled at his comment. "It seems like we're both even."

"But anyways, now you won a season of your own. You played well, and obviously everyone on the jury except for Shadow voted for you to win. Do you feel like he voted for you because he was closer to Plague?"

"That's exactly why I voted for him." Shadow answered for him. "Plague was the last of my alliance and he provided a decent enough answer, so I ended up voting his way. Wolf did play a good game, though."

"I mean hey," The scientist spoke. "-I may have gotten one jury vote again. But at least it was just enough to move one spot higher. I'm find losing to the man that was mentoring to become a better person."

"Good to hear from you Plague, but you're going to have to be a little more patient with me."

It appeared that the master wanted to stick to his own plan of how he was going to discuss about the events of the game with his players. In his eyes, Wolf just had to get his moment to shine.

"But Wolf, you said that it was one of your goals with Plague to show him how to become a better person. On one hand, you felt like that if Plague was going to be a loose canon it was going to cost you your game. He had a history of his mouth getting him into trouble by him antagonizing others and pushing people away to the point that they feel alienated by him." That was what usually happened when a player did everything within his power by having the worst social game possible. "And then on the other, you showed that you were genuinely concerned for him and wanted to help him change. You actually were somehow able to make some kind of connection with him, and then you both made it to the end together."

"I mean, sure. There were even a couple more moments we had together that weren't even shown in the edit." Ooh. Interesting. As always, there were some things that were left out of the final cut due to production not actually being able to cover entire days into forty-five minute episodes. "It took him a little while to come around, but eventually he had a couple talks with me about his work life and Mona and Percy, all the employees he has under his wing. It's kind of a Ridley situation from Caribbean when Meta Knight talked with him."

The big, bad dragon hunched his shoulders. "If the shoe fits."

...Since when did he wore shoes, though? Did he not point that out himself during one of his conversations with Ryu?

"And you know what, he ain't that bad a guy." Wolf continued. "The criticism he received in his past season was fair to a large extent, but I feel like this time he's a little overhated if anything."

Oh. It appeared that he was going to give a rather interesting take on the little gremlin.

"Part of this season revolved around character change and growth for a few people. Ridley wanted to change, Shadow was in the process of realizing all of his wrongdoings, people were all here for them. Yet I feel like when it came to Plague, for some reason folks didn't seem to have the same kind of energy... probably because it's Plague Knight. But I feel like he has shown genuine emotions of him wanting to ch-"

"Wow, I don't think I'm used to someone defending me this much!"

Half the crowd just had to laugh.

"But I mean, yeah. I had to change my strategy a little bit so that I had the chance to make it far in the game again. Plague on the other hand felt the need to just as a person, which I applaud him for. But you know how it's impossible to please everyone, even if it's the one time they actively want to do things differently. People grow, people change, and if they're making progress, you have to be hear for them. People gave Ridley, Shadow, and Bowser a chance. I believe it's fair to give Plague another shot as well."

With a few of their fellow players clapping in agreement, it appeared that they were some of the folks that cared enough about the short man to allow Plague to have the chance to change a little bit.

"And you know what," But Plague decided that it was appropriate to speak for himself. "-as I said in my Final Tribal Council speech, I can be a little harsh and unfiltered. Wolf, Springtrap, Shadow, and Specter were the four allies I felt close with. Naturally I found myself drawn to them. It was just that they had their own way of handling things, while... Specter would call me an immature brat. That's what he told me once before."

"I can say that I did not hold back when I needed to call him out front and center." Specter took some of the spotlight. "I felt like I was just saying what everyone else was thinking. He was acting like a child and somebody needed to put him in his place."

Yep. It was basically his job to put him in the naughty corner. One minute for every year of his age.

"You know what, this is literally why I grew to like Specter." The masked knight pointed a thumb right his way. "Since I am also not afraid of saying what's on my mind, you have to be able to dish it and take it. You can't criticize other people without criticizing yourself. That's how you take things personal. And Specter had to kind of rough me up a little bit. Shadow and Springtrap were two others that were not afraid to say certain things. But with Wolf? It felt like everything he was trying to tell me came from the bottom of his heart. And,... I may not have shown people that I actually had a heart somewhere. Mona was the only person that saw me at my weakest moments."

The future Survivor contestant herself had a brief moment to appear on screen from the audience with a big grin on her face. Come to think of it, she was nearly blushing. Maybe to her it was sort of sweet of what her lover just expressed to everybody.

"She for the longest time was the one person I would ever open up to, so Wolf was teaching me of how to... humble myself." Honestly, part of him did feel a rather weird the way he was describing himself like that. There were just certain terms he was not used to using. "Wolf is blunt in his own right, but he does it in a way that is probably more harmless."

"You can call things as they are, but there is such a way to do it. And,... I just tend to add a bit of humor to it as a way to lighten the mood a little." The one-eyed space mercenary shrugged. "Maybe that was how I got Plague's attention. I knew I had to align with him. Never really expected to be his mentor, but it's what I had to do for the sake of both of us. And change is good. There are always to work on yourself. Maybe it was worth both of us lasting in the game as long as we did."

"Well if you were able to take something from that, that's a great thing for the both of you." Master Hand complimented. "But Wolf, I'm not yet done with you in particular. There is more to your game that's worth talking about."

He did in fact receive nine of the ten possible jury votes for a reason.

"You have just explained to the jury at final tribal that your strategy was to be low-key to avoid being targeted. Unlike in your previous season, you were not known for making flashy moves this time. There is a time and a place to make a big play if you have to, and the biggest move I can think of for you was when you got rid of Springtrap after he made you get rid of Bowser."

It was not really that hard to get a shot of both of them together, since they were indeed sitting side by side.

"Was getting rid of Springtrap a rather emotional move, or did you strategically felt like it was the right call to make?"

Wolf definitely was the first ever person for being part of the whole 'biggest betrayal of the season' moment... twice. "For me it was the right call to make strategically. I immediately knew what Springy was doing. Bowser still being in the game with me was just too threatening for him, and he felt like Bowser was going to turn out to be the closest ally for my game. In order to get rid of the problem, he wanted to make sure Bowser did not steal his spot. So as a counterattack, I hit him back harder. He got my frend out, and that was the price he had to pay."

"Yipee, Wolfy here got his revenge." Kevin 'Springtrap' Davis was as sarcastic as ever, harshly rolling his eyes in reaction. "You're lucky I kept you in the game over him. What if I decided to let Bowser stay and had you go in ninth place?"

"Then Plague wouldn't have learned as much from you, so I'm glad I stayed."

"OOOOOOH!" That noise came from fellow castaways and fans alike.

"Well I see myself as a decently sociable person." The rabbit defended. "My main goal was to make sure that didn't happen. You had one option too many, so I wanted to make sure you and Plague remain loyal so that I had the potential to drag both of you to the end in order for me to get all the votes."

"Which didn't work in your favor since I turned on you, anyway."

Plague Knight snickered loudly.

"And of all people, DK took your spot. Getting rid of you was indeed a risk, because there was the entire Hero Three that I had to worry about. I had to hurry up and get with DK and Ryu as soon as possible before they did, and you ended up not only being blindsided by your closest ally, but voted out unanimously. If that ain't perfect karma, I don't know what is."

With claps and cheers coming all around, there was not much room for Springtrap to argue with. "Alright. You ate with that one."

"But Springtrap," Master Hand had a question of his own. "-what is with you manipulating people to try to get the things you want? You like to get into peoples' and have them do your dirty work. You tried it with Val, you tried it Wolf. Both of them outlasted you in your seasons... It didn't work."

"Clearly it didn't." And he actually laughed at himself for it. "You think I like manipulating people just so things could go my way? I didn't wanna do it to the guy, because I know with me doing something like that, it was how I was voted out last time. With Wolf, I felt like him and Bowser were a dangerous, under the radar duo. They could have very well went away with working together. But the thing is, I could have found a way to get Bowser's torch snuffed by blindsiding my own alliance. The obvious consequence of that was them being so pissed off to the point where neither of them would have wanted to work with me anymore. So the best thing for me was to convince Wolf in that moment to vote with me to take him out, and it worked... Wolf was just smart enough to turn on me immediately afterwards."

"Alright then. There you have it." O'Donnell nodded, grinning from ear to ear.

"So now we're going to talk about what happened between you and Bowser." That was a big moment the master could not have waited to get to. "You knew this was coming. The first season, you infamously decided to not play your idol on him which was the start of your downfall in Kodai Island. It was one of the most infamous moments we've had on the show which ended up harming the both of you. Bowser, this season you were crossing your fingers and toes hoping that you were going to see past nine. That number nine is really something else, isn't it?"

There was a replay of Master Hand turning over the final vote for Bowser followed by Wolf's reaction before his torch was seen being snuffed.

"Oh master," King Koopa never could have imagined to have a full blown beef with a number before. What was the universe coming to? "-I was purposefully skipping over that damn number every time I needed to count to ten. That was how I was when I was first came back home. Me and the number nine have come to an agreement to have somewhat of a normal relationship with each other again. But it's a huge emphasis on the somewhat part. When I play racing games online and I get ninth place,... you finish the puzzle."

Yeah... The number was still able to give him a hard time to a degree. On the bright side, at least he was telling everyone that he was not actually losing sleep over it knowing the curse that was thrown on him.

Turning around, Wolf showed both hands his way as he faced the host. "This is exactly why I was hoping he was going to make it at least one more round. The last thing I needed was to let him go out in ninth again. Now look what the man has to deal with."

"Would you at least say that it's perfect karma for him being behind Foxy going home?"

There was going to be more on the early boots in a little bit.

"Well I find him going home ninth again to be a bit overkill." Wolf felt that him even going home in tenth was better for him than being eliminated from the game in the same spot. "A lot of people are actually approaching us these days of how what happened between the both of us in Kodai Island was blown out of proportion after they saw DK bringing it up again at tribal this season. They simply felt like it was a selfish move gone wrong regarding me not playing my idol on him. Survivor is known for being selfish, and I was selfless by using my idol on him in the pre-merge. I was selfless when I saved him to turn on Ganon. But the one time I was actually selfish, it completely backfired on me. One of my biggest dreams coming into my second season was to overcome that, and I accomplished it. Despite that, Bowser was unable to fully recover by him going out in the same spot. And that was what had me a bit emotional at that tribal. This is all coming from someone that is not known for shedding tears, by the way."

"Are you trying to get me all soft inside, pal?" The reptile scrunched his eyebrows while holding his grin. "'Cause what I can tell you right now that it's gonna be a lot harder than you think. Sure, it sucks getting ninth place twice because of all that's happened. But it played a factor of you eventually winning. And of the final three, the crown went to the right person. You sacrificing me was probably worth it. And honestly master, him outright telling me that I was going home that day played a factor of me giving him my jury vote. Risky decision, but I had mad respect for him for doing that."

"Do you ever see yourself getting anything scoring any higher than ninth?" It was a question the host of the show just had to ask.

"I can't really say for certain what the Star Spirits have in store for me, and I can't really predict the future. But maybe if I'm back here for a third time, I know that I'm gonna have to put some work in to become an even better player." Okay. For his case, it was in his best interest to hope that a third time was the charm... if he was set to come back again, anyway. "But Wolf? I really like this guy. It was a pleasure to go through two seasons with him."

Two-season story arc. Those were always interesting to see.

"Alright. On that note, we're gonna go ahead and take a quit commercial break." That was probably an opportunity for the fans at home to chat among themselves and tweet as much as possible. "When we come back, we're gonna get a few more words from Plague Knight. And also, is Yoshi really meant for this game? What does DK have to say about his journey this season? What was going on with Shadow on the island? He seemed to be really having a tough time. And also, how much backlash did certain people get for voting Sonic out? We also have the Player of the Season award coming up. This is the Survivor - Heroes vs Villains reunion show. Please don't go anywhere!"

HEROES VS VILLAINS

"I think I am a target right now. I can just feel it. It's a matter of when someone is going to let me know. It is just going to be up to me to decide what I should do about it, because I'm going to be really upset for the next several months if I'm the first person voted out of Survivor - Heroes vs Villains. ...Do you know how embarrassing that looks? Everyone will make fun of me for years!"

"Who do you think should be voted out first, then?"

"Uh,..." He blinked under his mask. "anyone but me?"

"Why me of all people?"

"Because you're literally the only one I can talk to like this."

"I have to lead this challenge. I can already show you on how we're going to do it right now."

"Move, move, move! Quick!"

SMASH!

"VILLAINS WIN IMMUNITY!"

"Specter Knight."

"Plague Knight, avenge me."

"Why do you all keep doing this to me?"

"Now that he's gone, I don't know who I am going to rely on whenever I need help... It's... kind of frightening. I wish Specter was still here..."

"Shadow."

"DAMN!"

"Nobody wanted to align with me from day one, and when I get allies, none of them are around anymore! I don't understand this! If everyone was so against me,... why am I still here!? Huh? Why am I still here?"

"You do have to rely on yourself to... get allies and to get people on your side.

"PLAGUE KNIGHT WINS IMMUNITY!"

"How much do you value your relationships? Other than Mona or Specter,... who do you care about?"

"PLAGUE KNIGHT WINS IMMUNITY!"

"PLAGUE KNIGHT WINS IMMUNITY!"

"Oh, my, goodness!"

"If I can play two full games of Survivor and if I was able to get through the amount of things that I endured, I can pretty much do anything."

HEROES VS VILLAINS

Break time was up. Hopefully everyone needed to do whatever they had to do. Otherwise, they would have just had to deal with being late for class. ...How hard was it to show up on time? Geez.

"Welcome back to the Survivor - Heroes vs Villains Live Reunion Show." It was the ultimate Survivor family reunion considering that all seventy-eight contestants were in the arena. Just all over the place. "We just crowned our winner of season five in Wolf O'Donnell, but now we're going to continue to check in with second and third place. We have Plague Knight and Yoshi: the only two people that have played this game twice and have never been voted out. And Yoshi has just played back to back seasons! ...Though the big question a lot of you have been asking is how much of that is really worth, since neither of them ever won."

The shade of it all.

"Both of them went to the end twice, but lost the game twice. And both of these players have their own reasons as to why they were never able to win a season. Plague Knight, let's start with you." At least Plague Knight appeared to be a near perfect player in comparison to Yoshi. "Now, you have already talked about your personal journey. You were in a phase where you were admittedly hostile and condescending to those around you when things didn't go your way. That was the most notable trait about you in season three, and you just talked about trying to change your ways towards the end of this season. ...Could you argue that by the time you were starting to get your act together, you were too little, too late?"

"I mean,... when Wolf that talked to me on that reward it was around the mid portion of the game when there were like, ten people left." So mid-season, then. "And I was slowly picking up what he was putting down little by little. Maybe it was not too late for me to see what was really wrong with me back then, even though it was the start of the jurors beginning to really make up their minds of what they thought about me. And I kinda knew that socially I was not gonna really have it all the way there. So the best thing to do for me was to play the best strategic game I possibly could have... Unfortunately, Wolf just had to win that final challenge."

"Fair and square." The pilot commented, ignoring a few laughs that were heard in the distance. "He was never going home regardless, so i knew that I had to win. When your own ally is gunning to get you out, you know you have to win to get in."

"Not taking away from anything Wolf did, because he really did redeem himself from what happened in Kodai Island. He's a great strategic player, but it was something that I recognized. Th last thing I wanted to do was to ride someone's coattails to the end. I don't feel like I did, because I was in a crucial position. I could have had him gone at five with my Steal-A-Vote advantage, but I didn't do it. I'd rather lose to the man that wanted to help me change as a person versus someone who had the best story to win out of everyone."

For the slow folks out there, he was one hundred percent talking about Donkey Kong.

"Of course I feel bad by not being able to win the million dollars. People don't usually remember second place like that. However in this case scenario, I lost to someone that I actually look up to. And I was still able to make it to the end twice, so we both managed to accomplish something different. Also, I was able to move one spot up since I placed third in Mexico. So overall, I think over time I'll grow to be even more comfortable not winning this."

"You argued that you actually had a winning shot if he was on the jury, and if you took Ryu to the end." Was he ready to test it out? "This is a good opportunity for us to have a what-if scenario. You guys know we do this every season, because we love exploring all the what-ifs that would have taken place if one thing went differently for somebody."

Alrighty, then.

"Let's pretend that Plague just put Wolf on the jury. Now with him included, he is one of the ten jurors that have the power to decide a winner. The only difference is that this would be a situation where Plague, Yoshi, and Ryu would be the final three... How many of you would vote for Yoshi?"

"..."

"No hands were raised. Yoshi would still not get any votes."

Although it was a situation where the dinosaur would have looked even more embarrassed, he still decided to play it cool by hunching shoulders. "I just would have been glad that Ryu would have had a shot because he never made it to the end."

In came the big question. "Okay... How many of you would vote for Ryu?"

Moment of truth.

"...Donkey Kong. No surprise. Golden. No surprise... Zelda, Bowser... four votes Ryu."

The crowd was already 'oohing' and 'aahing', because a lot of them were capable of doing basic math. Yoshi was already out of it by not having any of them possible ten votes, and Ryu would have already gotten four.

"How many of you would have voted for Plague to win?"

"Wolf, Springtrap, Shadow, Ridley, Shovel Knight, Vector... Plague Knight, you were right. It would have been rather close. But once again, you had genuine winner equity."

Nodding with a sigh, he stared down at the floor of the stage. "I knew it... I knew it."

So was it an actual good thing for Wolf to win final immunity or not? That was entirely up to the viewers watches from their couches.

"I was kinda right, too." Ryu backed him up. "When I warned Plague of how threatening Wolf was, I was being dead serious. Some of the players (myself included) had forgiven him for his antics. And a lot of votes went his way this time. Combine that with people such as Ridley or Shadow that were also social pariahs, it's why I thought he had a legitimate chance of beating me. Nearly fifty-fifty. And the fact that Wolf received nine of the ten jury votes showed that he really was the final boss of this season, and the final boss was successful at getting what he wanted."

"Ridley, it seemed that you would have been the only one out of your Strong Guys Alliance to not vote for Ryu in that situation." Ridley? ...Why? "Tell me why you would have voted for Plague in that moment."

"You know what, I actually almost voted for Plague over Wolf. I feel like he did a pretty decent job answering his questions overall. They protected each other, but voting for him over Wolf would have made no sense for me because I found Wolf to be the bigger threat in the end. But with him against Ryu in that final three scenario? Both of them would have had a fair shot at getting my vote, but I probably would have cast a vote Plague's way." Again,... why? "He expressed self-awareness that he was not an easy person to tolerate around most people. Anyone that knows me knows that I'm not the most easy individual to tolerate, so I sort of related to him on that. Also, I would have loved to give Ryu the million dollar vote. But I didn't because I also had to look at who did what throughout the game, and Ryu's game overall wasn't actually as impressive as I would have liked. He kind of only got to the end because he was carried there."

Oof...

"Again, I would have hated to not vote for him. But he was a coaster, a person who would have made all the way purely due to the other players who were actually making moves in the game. Plague Knight would have been seen as the more active player, since he would have held the responsibility of sending nine of the possible ten jurors out. And I'm pretty sure with that kind of mindset, that probably would have been the reason why most of these people would have voted for him. Sometimes all you have to do is take a look at a player's voting history and go from there."

"No hard feelings, man." The martial artist responded. "Like Yoshi said, I would have just been thankful for making it to day thirty-nine. However, Wolf was the more sociable and strategic player at the same time. He deserved his win."

"I can actually second that." Plague raised a finger. "I would have been skydiving if I found out that I won Survivor, but I'm happy for Wolf anyway. We went to the final three without ever breaking alliance just how Isabelle and Funky Kong did. Morally speaking, that's hopefully redemption for the both of us."

"Loyalty is a power thing to have." Wolf commented.

Maybe the victory went to the right person at the end of the day.

"So Specter Knight, you saving Plague Knight at the final eleven in your season played a large factor to him surviving in this game for seventy-eight days straight." What an unlikely iconic duo. "Even though you say that you were mostly looking out for yourself in that moment, knowing how successful Plague was in his two seasons,... was it really worth it to you, anyway?"

"Plague is rather... complicated." Considering that the skeleton was not known to be a 'super nice' person in the general public's eyes, that statement right there was the nicest way he could have possibly put it. "I first met him back when were on the Coati tribe together. He was such a pain to deal with. There were moments where he would complain just for the sake of complaining. There were times where he and I were separated from everybody, and I was the main one that had to hear his mouth... because he wouldn't talk to anyone else but me."

His tone of voice switched up rather quickly there. Maybe part of him felt rather special.

"Believe it or not, Specter, the both of you have similar personalities." The master just had to call it based off how he saw it. "I think the main difference between the two of you is that you were doing a much better job at controlling your emotions. People were literally questioning if you ever had any emotions to show, which is a topic on its own."

He only hunched his shoulders in acknowledgement. "My ways are my own."

Come to think of it, of the more anti-sociable players of Heroes vs Villains, Specter was probably the one person that never really had a chance to really grow as a social player throughout his time on the island. Bowser, Ridley, Plague, and Shadow all made the merge while Specter was the only one in that category that did not.

Maybe a possible third season for him would have been an opportunity for him to explore himself even more.

"But what I'm thinking is that Plague was somehow able to see some of his similarities with you, and maybe that played a factor of him approaching you in that moment. Perhaps he related to you in some ways, and eventually it came to a point where he needed you and you needed him."

"We were really all we both had at the time." Plague spoke in response. "To make it a long story short, Specter's kind of the older brother that is the only one that knows how to tell me to... shut up and listen."

Now that was a way to make a crowd laugh. Not Plague fans would have loved to say that directly to his face at every chance they had.

"There were times where I got really mad at Specter. I felt like he was just trying to tell me what to do as if I was his child or something. There were moments where he was literally hurting my feelings because he was being rather harsh on me, but... that's how I was. I was literally doing the same thing, except that I was a bit more unreasonable. And maybe they were all things that I needed to hear. And it takes a lot out of me to listen to someone, but eventually his words did sink in... which was what had me sticking by his side. I was excited once I found out that I could have possibly gotten away with working with Specter again for at least a little bit."

"So Specter Knight, after seeing how he was throughout the rest of Heroes vs Villains, are you satisfied with the amount of progress that he's making? Maybe you feel like he still has a bit of a way to go?"

"I have to give credit where credit is due. He is definitely a lot less annoying to deal with, and he expressed some form of self-awareness." Alrighty, then. If Specter approved, hopefully lots of others saw things his way. "Not even I'm necessarily an angel out here."

Honestly, this was probably Specter's own first time being seen looking at himself.

"I have my demons just as everyone else has theirs. It's just that most of the time I end up learning things in private. Though there were several occasions were Plague just had to hear it from somebody. And I have to say,... he is getting somewhere. I will not even be ashamed to admit that I am proud of him, and him wanting to change."

Majority of the fans clapped in reaction. Change was good after all.

"Since we're on the topic of folks trying to change, Ridley, I'm gonna get right back to you." Ooh, yay. More words were going to be spoken from the purple dragon. "From Caribbean to Heroes vs Villains, a lot of people found your growth rather interesting to watch. You were comfortable with the fact that you weren't perfect, took the time to learn more about yourself, and you were even well liked by your fellow castaways."

Hearing those words nearly made him blush. "All I can say that I may be a lot of things, but taking constructive criticism is something that I believe is rather necessary for someone to do. When I'm out on Zebes battling with my minions, there are always ways to become an even better pirate. And sometimes it means hearing different things from different people, whether or not you want to hear what they have to say. Though personally, I didn't initially realized how flawed I was in Caribbean. Meta Knight's words really hit me, and in the long run I attempted at my best to... actually care about folks."

The latest victim of the Kirby's curse nodded with a small smile.

"Knowing that he himself had a similar struggle in his regular life was the moment where I actually related to him, and that was when I feel that at least a small change was in order. Coming onto this season, I felt like it was in my best interest to be a loyal ally to others. I knew I was going to have a target on my back for being the most physical contestant out of everybody, so I decided to align with Bowser (who I had a pre-game alliance with), Ryu, DK, and Golden. I have never seen a strong, physical competitor win a season. And I felt that it was the only way for someone like me to win. In my mind, I figured that if I went to each one of them with that kind of pitch, they would have been loyal to me as well. And believe it or not, all four of my allies genuinely cared for me as an individual, more than just someone that they were working with. I was disappointed when I found out how Meta Knight was voted out, but every last word he said to me was true. Even if you're not the most sociable person in real life, you do have to be sociable at least a little bit to get anywhere in Survivor. That was the main thing I had to learn, and nowadays I have a bit more understanding when it comes to... emotional intelligence."

Big words right there. Emotional intelligence was crucial when it came to make genuine bonds and connections with others in order to determine what they needed and wanted from the other person.

"By the way, in regards to fan reception, I find it to be kind of funny that I went from the player that everyone was rooting against to the player where everyone was rooting for. ...Have I all of a sudden gone from villain to hero?"

"Well, we were the underdogs of the season." Golden elaborated. "And you were the big player of our alliance that tried your best to protect us all so that one of us had a good enough shot for winning, and people were rather upset when you were out. I would say that you had an interesting character arc for this."

"Being a hero is nothing to be ashamed about." Donkey Kong backed him up. "If you can go from villain to hero, that goes to show that people can redeem themselves and change in some sort of way. It's probably another takeaway from this season."

"Okay well as far as redemption goes, we're gonna be moving onto Shadow now." Time for the edgy hedgehog to have a moment. "Out of everyone here that wanted to change a little thing or two about themselves, Shadow was shown to be having the hardest time out there. So Shadow, I gotta ask... what was up? What was really going with you out there? You didn't really seem like you were having a good time."

Shaking his head in agreement, he was going to tell everyone the truth. "Well, I can't say that I was."

"I kind of figured that. And I don't think it was just because you entered this season with a huge target on your back. There were moments where even I was concerned for you. And as your fans saw your edit throughout your time on the season, a lot of them were really worried about you. Something told us that there was more to the story. Care to elaborate on how your mindset was at the time?"

"I guess you could say that I was really just having a rather difficult time coming to terms with... myself, basically." Cool, so he did have the ability to show some form of self-awareness. Without self-awareness, people were not going to take others rather seriously. "After my reception following my season, I was still processing and gathering of what other people thought of me. Usually I am the absolute last person to care of what anyone else thinks of me, since they don't know me personally. Yet when I first applied for the show, I was sort of already struggling with myself a little bit. Survivor actually only made things worse for me, and perhaps it took me longer than everyone else to realize that there were some things that I needed to get together."

"Zelda, you were on the same tribe as Shadow before and you two swapped tribes together this season." Hmm. Rather an appropriate person to elaborate on Shadow's behavior on the show. "Could you go as far as explaining to me of how Shadow was on the island this time? You and Shovel both had conversations with him in the game as well as on Ponderosa after the three of you were voted out."

"The way I saw it was that even though he hated to admit it, he did to a degree care of what people thought about him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had such a hard time at all out there. It was the way he was constantly comparing himself to other players and then complaining about it. For example, he compared himself to Shovel Knight who had a better reception after our old season. He compared himself to Luigi who didn't receive the best game reception, but still made it to the end. The thing was that even he himself was seen as a better person in peoples' eyes, since they were criticizing Shadow's gameplays and even his morals. Coming into Heroes vs Villains, he was physically put on the villains tribe for being a cutthroat strategist, and for him being one of the biggest social pariahs of the group. Though it seemed that Shadow found a problem with that, and he was probably being in denial of what the overall issue was."

"What do you think was his overall issue?"

"I'd say that people do have a moral compass. But in Shadow's eyes, maybe he is not always aware of what's right and what's wrong. He clearly does have a bit of baggage, but we are all just people. Some people have real unresolved problems, and they're trying to figure out how to make things right. His Survivor experience might have opened his eyes a little, but he still was probably not all the way there until sometimes after he got voted out where Shovel and I took the time to actually talk with him on Ponderosa. Long story short, he's just not the kind of person that opens up to others rather easily. And what I wanted to show was that there was someone willing the time to listen from his perspective on things."

"Everybody wants to be heard, or else they feel that they have no one by their side." Her statement rang with a lot of people on that. All individuals had their own voices. "And I understand that, but it does go both ways. Sometimes listening in to the perspectives of other people can change one's viewpoint, and it is probably what they need to hear in order to start the journey of becoming a better person. Even if you feel like that you're not a good person, become a better one. And opening up to those that you may trust is the next step after looking at yourself in the mirror."

She was well deserving of many claps from the audience and other survivors.

"So Shadow, do you think Zelda said it best?"

With all eyes on the Mobian, he heaved a sigh, deciding to choose his words rather carefully. And honestly, that was the best thing to do for his interest. It was all about thinking about what to say before it was said. "She has a better choice of words than me, but... I am comfortable saying that I am not immune to criticism. It's probably something I had to tell myself. I was always defending my actions on season two, but people still seemed to have an issue with me. I didn't let anybody in, even when it came to the ones I was actually aligned with such as Foxy for example."

That really was a shame. There was a moment where the pirate fox recalled trying to talk to the hedgehog, but he was basically shot down before his main ally in Sheik was sent home at the Villains' first Tribal Council.

"You know, maybe in my case it's not about me figuring out whether or not I'm a good person. It was more so of me not knowing who to converse with if I needed to talk to somebody about something. And Zelda was right on me not really talking to anybody on Survivor - Emperors vs Knights. I don't think it's possible for me to do that, but then wonder why nobody around me understands where I'm coming from."

That was correct. The hedgehog could not have had it both ways.

"And even though I may not like everyone, maybe in a game such as Survivor, I have to be able to talk to somebody. It was just after everything, I was going through some things in my mind because of all that went on. I was actually listening in to what Ridley was saying earlier, since he was going through a similar situation. Maybe it's someone like him who I should probably have a conversation with for my own sake."

"Well if I may," With his new uh,... 'hero' label, Ridley felt the need to take that opportunity to help another Survivor brother out. "-what I can tell you is that sometimes you have to do your best to control your emotions. We all have them, as much as we want to maintain a solid exterior. Yet if you do not let anyone in on what you're going through or what you're feeling like, you can't expect anyone to understand where you're coming from. It doesn't make you look any more masculine or tougher than the next person if you just push everyone away. And based off my personal experience, you are not going to get along with everybody and that's perfectly fine. But just know that we all have choices out here. And even though you may not believe it, there are some people here that are interested in hearing you out."

Good point coming from the Ridster... Ugh. That did not really sound right.

"I have a little point to make here myself." Master Hand raised a finger. "And Shadow, this is not to bash you in any way. If anything, this is probably gonna be something that might help you out, as well as literally anyone out there in the universe that needs to hear this... Mental health is important."

Oooh. Getting a bit serious there.

"There are all sorts of opportunities out there to reach out for someone. Whether it'd be close family, friends, a complete stranger, or a professional, there is something out there for everybody. Reaching out does not make you weak. If anything, it makes you even stronger and shows that you are just as vulnerable as the next person. If there is anyone of you out there that are going through things mentally as we speak, there is a way to get help. I encourage you to get that help you need in order for you to be on your journey of healing."

Aside from the big uproar, it showed that even Master Hand had genuine concern for his castaways. Sure, he may have been brutal at times given how much he roasted players like Springtrap at challenges, but he was not one to outright throw his castaways into lava or anything.

"We're gonna be taking another break here." Aw, come on! "But keep your composure, there's still more to come. We need to get to Yoshi, since he is the last of the three finalists I need to really dig into. There is also Donkey Kong and his journey, and a lot more pre-jurors need their chance to shine. And we need to get to our Player of the Season. We'll be right back with you shortly!"

HEROES VS VILLAINS

Oh, there was Wolf's check: right in the hands of Panther Caroso who was showing it off to the cameras with Leon Powalski smirking in clapping right next to him. Apparently Wolf decided to have his best friends hold onto his money. That was called a 'real life alliance.' When one was able to trust others with all that money, it said a lot about their loyalty.

"We are once again back at the reunion show for Survivor - Heroes vs Villains." And there was still about half the cast to get to. Oh Lord... "And now, we are going to have a conversation about Yoshi and how he and the game of Survivor never really getting along with each other."

God damn... What a way to bring down the heat!

"Thanks, master." He spoke out of sarcasm, but there was still a bit of a smile there.

"Keep in mind that I'm not trying to pick on you or anything like how K. Rool bullied you last season, but I have to put things into perspective of how you were both times you played." There was even a shot of K. Rool in the audience... sitting right next door to Charizard. "Despite what anyone might think about you, you are still one of our most successful players in Survivor history solely because of the fact that you made it to the both times and never got sent home."

"Well it's a nice title to have. If you told me this before I started Caribbean, I would have never believed you."

"We were all at final tribal where each of you were giving your closing statements to the jury on why you deserved to win. Usually it's your very last chance to convince them to send votes your way, because you never know when you need that one more vote to give you the million dollar win." As far as that went, Sonic and Isabelle both were barely able to come out victorious after getting just one extra vote over Link and Funky Kong. "Yet when it was your turn, you basically decided that there was no chance of you winning the game and you thought that maybe this game wasn't really meant for you. Before you did that, what was going through your head in that moment?"

Heaving a deep sigh with him being the center of attention, he remembered exactly where his mind was at that point. "You know, I was actually planning on explaining to the jury of why I felt like I was worthy of the win. I made it to the end twice, showed that I was a loyal ally, and I was okay with sending my friends home, because that's what you do in a game like this. However, it all started with Shadow's jury speech, and then Ridley's. Even beyond the edit, there were not that many questions for me. I was actually a lot more quiet than what was shown on television because Wolf and Plague were doing all the talking for the most part. It was just that when I was speaking, a lot of what I said made it to the final edit."

Wow. That was pretty interesting. So when he was not being roasted, he was pretty much ignored by the jury.

"When you told us that we had to get ready to make our final statements, it was when I knew that I had no chance on winning this. So,... I found it better for me to just be honest and tell everyone what I was really thinking. I wasn't going to win, but I was also going to tell them that they were right in a way. Shadow and Ridley may have hurt my feelings, but there was some truth to what they were saying... This is my way of finding how hard this game really is, and it's not for everybody including me."

"I mean,... well..." Oh goodness. How rare of an event was it when the master himself was scrambling to find words to say? "Here's the thing, Yoshi. You have managed to live the Survivor dream not once, twice. There were a few other potential All Stars that we would have had on the show that would have loved to be a part of this season, but we chose you because as a character, you fit the idea of being a hero by your selflessness in a selfish game. And for first time players, they would do anything they can just to have a chance to get on the show at all. Millions upon millions of viewers want to be part of the adventure so bad and try to win the million dollars. However,... I do actually think you have a point here. Just because you may watch the show all the time doesn't mean that you have to actually get up off the couch and play the show. It is your choice if you think you can actually handle it, whether it'd be the elements, other competitors, the challenges, or the overall nature of how the game works. And when I say that, it's not meant to insult anyone. But everyone here thinks differently and everyone is in different, unique places in their lives. Unfortunately, the show isn't for everybody."

That was probably the harsh truth that Yoshi and others that were like him at home had to listen to.

"And though people may call you weak and not even deserving to be on another season, you can make the most out of it by viewing it as a positive." Okay. And what was that, Master Hand? "Visually, you may be the perfect example regarding that. You were able to get on the show, go through the brutal nature of the game, was in a lot of votes in your first season even though you wanted to align with pretty much everybody, you made it to the very end... You then get back on the show, had your name written down for the first time, found an immunity idol, was the very last remaining member of your alliance, and you got to the end again. Despite all of that, your fellow contestants had no respect for you as a player because they just didn't take you seriously. And that was because they felt you were never taking the game seriously. All of this because you always had your heart on your sleeve not wanting to do anything to anybody, while not really having the mentality to really get in that gaming mindset. ...Are you rather comfortable leaving the game knowing the perception the others had about you?"

"I felt rather weird going home, but eventually I came to terms with it." That alone was a process for him to get through. "When everything came out, my friends still felt sorry for me. They felt that if anything, it showed that I was never going to push my moral aside just to lie, cheat, and steal to win the money. I wouldn't dare, because I would have felt extremely bad about it. It was already eating me up knowing that I was never able to save Vector or Shovel Knight with my idol. Imagine if I manage to create a big lie to get one of them out? I wouldn't have known how to live with myself."

"Master," Now Vector the Crocodile was talking. "-this is exactly why I actually thought of voting for him anyway at tribal. I felt rather sorry for him, and it took a bit in me to vote for either Wolf or Plague because everyone was making sure the person that deserved to win this season was going to win. I felt bad for Yoshi because him and I are close, but at the same time I wanted to be fair to both Wolf and Plague Knight who were actively involved with the game. Even I gotta put my emotions aside sometimes."

Giving Yoshi a pity vote? Hmm... That was something that never happened in this series.

"But I'm glad that Vector didn't vote for me, because that wouldn't have been fair for these two sitting next to me. They deserved to get some votes and they ran the post-merge of the game together."

Plague Knight patted Yoshi on the back while Wolf reached over to bump his shoulder with his fist.

"I was never meant for something like this, because my morals and my integrity really does mean a lot to me. Even if I was brought back for a third time, I would actually have a big target on my back which would lead to me being voted out early. Combine that with how I run and after all that's happened, I'm pretty much done with this. This is my last season and I don't plan on coming back."

Immediately all sorts of reactions were sounding from the crowd. Some were disappointed, more were shocked, and others were actually... cheering and clapping as if they were glad he was not going to come back. Huh...

Master Hand felt like he had to be sure he heard correctly. "You're not coming back?"

"Nope." Yoshi was pretty much adamant about it. "And it's not because of what certain people has said online or in the show. I just don't really feel like this game is meant for me, because of my unwillingness to compromise my morals to play Survivor. So,... I'm done. I'm going to hold my head up high feeling comfortable for the seventy-eight days I was out there."

"...Shovel Knight." Oh yeah, Shovel was there as well. It was just that he was the last post-merge contestant everybody was going to hear from. "You just heard this, right?"

The shovel wielder nodded in confirmation. "I have. I know there a lot of us that want to play this game as many times as possible until we win a season. I know I decided to play a more strategic game this time so that I could gain game respect from the jury. But this is about Yoshi at this moment, and he feels that it's best for him to back out. And I really don't blame him for it. Unfortunate that we might not ever see him play again, but that's his decision. Say what you want about him, but you can't say that he isn't a good guy. I applaud for knowing what is best for his own sake and not willing to sell out his values."

"I guess everything does happen for a reason." The reality show host hoped that his contestant was able to find closure through it all. One was not required to win to search for that. "...Donkey Kong."

"Whooo!"

"Yeaaaah!"

"Go, DK!"

"Yaaass, king!"

About time. He was one of, if not the biggest character of the entire season.

"You earned yourself a top five placement this time, even though you have gone through it." And oh boy, he did. "You literally remind me of Marth who won Emperors vs Knights. You have gone through your own roller coaster this season."

"Really high highs and really low lows, master." The ape sighed at the memory. "You know when you sign up to be part of this journey, it's something you would expect. It's just a matter of how it's gonna happen. And the thing is, you don't know exactly what fate has in store for you. When it hits you out of nowhere, the feeling is overwhelming and you hardly even have enough time to get yourself together before you go to the next challenge, someone catching you off guard at your lowest moment, something going on with the shelter, you have to be strong enough to pick yourself back up and keep going."

"Early in the game, DK, you and Golden were both on the Heroes tribe together where Isabelle and Sonic were both in jeopardy because they were the only two winners we've had on this season." Master did not forget about the two of them, by the way. Though timing was everything, so the spotlight was really going to be put on them the moment when he was ready. "You and Golden wanted to save them by getting rid of Zelda, but Meta Knight decided to not work with the winners. Sonic in particular was one of your closest ally, and you had to vote him and Mario out."

"It was a shame." It pained to even remember how it went down. "I've known them for years. My two old allies... gone. I didn't want to vote them out, but at the time we were afraid to go against the majority."

"You then had a high note when you won your first immunity challenge at the double elimination twist."

"And the next thing I knew, I got blindsided when Meta Knight was voted out."

"You were able to make a comeback when you played your immunity idol to save Golden."

"And then after SGA took out Shadow, Ridley got picked off, and me winning immunity again resulted in Golden being sent home before I lost Bowser. It's tough getting a break out here."

"One positive is that you made it a lot further than you did last time." After Mewtwo made one of the dumbest moves in the game. "You still didn't win, but hey. Fifth place isn't too bad... It's just that you were two wins away from probably winning."

"Yes. When I got to Ponderosa, I've been told that I had a high chance of getting a lot of peoples' votes. They saw me as having the biggest story out of everyone. I lost my allies, won challenges, had my high and low moments with everything in between, and I somehow still made a deep run. And part of the reason why is me wanting to keep a level head, which was something that I just talked about."

"At Final Tribal Council, you talked about balancing friendship with strategy. You felt that it plays an overall message in this very season. It's more like a continuation of Survivor - Caribbean, except that this time we're dealing with returning players." Yep. So it was not simply Caribbean 2.0. "You all have formed relationships with others after your first season before you all competed in this one. In your case, you built strong connections with Golden and Ryu. You and Bowser have both played before, and all four of you managed to form an alliance with Ridley. The second installment of the Strong Guys Alliance."

"Believe it or not," commented Ryu. "I actually enjoyed it this time. In spite of me not wanting to be a part of it again, I really had a lot of fun playing this game with my allies even though we were on the bottom most of the time. We had a few laughs and opened up to each other, and I ended up making it all the way to the final four."

"We're gonna be diving more into that in just a sec. But DK, I wanna hear more of your perspective on friendship being involved in such a brutal competition like the one you just participated in."

"My whole view on it is that people do have feelings and emotions. On one hand you have players like Shadow and Ridley who are more game-savvy and cutthroat players, not being afraid to make the hard decisions. On the other, you have players like Yoshi that cares deeply about his integrity that it was extremely difficult for him to compromise that just for the sake of playing this challenging game. Those are the two extremes of it, but it's all about finding that balance. We want to play as hard as we can, but everybody has their limit. And maybe another of way of saying is that nobody wants to be a liar, manipulator, and a backstabber. Though at the same time, we gotta do something in order for the jury to us seriously if we were to make it to the end."

Fighter number two used the season's winner as an example. "Wolf displayed a great combination of both in the jury's eyes. The way he handled Bowser by being plainly honest with the way things were going and the way he cut ties with Springtrap the very next round, he was savvy player, but his heart was still in the right place. Plague and Yoshi were more so displaying just one side of the coin when they sat next to him at final tribal, and that ultimately led to Wolf O'Donnell being the Sole Survivor. And Wolf was someone that I really grew closer with when we really began to work together. He cut my throat in the end, but our bond was strong enough that I did not take it personally. We were going after each other in that round, anyway."

"Well if you managed to get the votes to vote me out in that round, I would have took it extremely personally."

"Your joke is flawed, because you hardly take anything personally."

"Hahahahaha!"

Good going, DK. The big gorilla destroyed Wolf's joke and made it into his own.

"Alright, so let's dive more into the Strong Guys Alliance and how that played out." It did have its fans, too. Probably the most memorable minority alliance since... the Pirate Crew. "Ryu, I think it's safe to say that you were ahead of your time here. You wanted to form an alliance consisting of the strongest physical competitors of the game just so you all could protect one another from elimination, but it was the way you handled it that got you voted out. You wanted nothing to do it with it this season, yet you were dragged into it anyway."

"And I've grown to be comfortable with it, realizing that nobody else had any intention on aligning with me." So if anything, it sort of saved his life. The most he could have done was be thankful and appreciative. "Ridley saved me twice, Bowser and I were getting along well, I had Golden who played with me before, and DK. Everybody else was scared that we were going to win all the immunity challenges, so we had no choice but to align with each other. It sucked that I ended up being the very last one of the alliance, but it's poetic. Nice way to end this part of my story, even though I was one day short of completing the adventure."

"You still prefer this season over your first season?"

"Correct." Well obviously, since he placed six spots higher. "I had a great time, too. I enjoyed watching Ridley's growth, Bowser kept me laughing, and DK and Golden are two very good friends of mine. It was obvious that the three of us were seen to be the most threatening of the alliance after Ridley left, but we all had a great time playing together in the exact same alliance. We didn't even have to had it that much, because we were already on the bottom. We only had each other to lose."

"People criticized your game for playing too aggressively, which was why you were hesitant on starting SGA again this season. But even after you were okay with doing it again, you still played rather passively. In your case, I can easily say that was part of your strategy as you probably felt like playing aggressively again was not going to work out for you."

"It wouldn't have worked out for me." Hoshi was probably right. "I would have gotten out a lot earlier, and the Hero Three would have took me out over Specter at the final fourteen before the merge. You could say that it would have been why I would have lost to Plague if I made the finals with, but it's better to make the end over going out the same way."

"Golden, you've played with Ryu twice and you played with DK's cousin, Funky Kong." There was quick shot of the surfboarding monkey in the crowd. "DK inspired you, and you finally get to play with him this season by being in the exact same alliance with one another. Are DK and Ryu two of your best friends for life?"

"Can't say they're not." The bear grinned. "These two here that are sitting right in front of me are two of the most intelligent men I have ever met. We got along great, had a good time despite all we went through, and everything we experienced in this season made our bond even tighter. Like Ryu says all the time, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And we all came out of the game stronger and better people. The three of us all know that it's an experienced we will forever cherish for the rest of our lives."

"And Ridley, as someone who is learning that is okay to open up and bond with others, would you say that you have some kind of relationship going with the people you were aligned with this season?"

"Honestly, I'd be lying if I tell you that I haven't gotten to know these people more." Still, he hunched his shoulders as if it was nothing. "I've got some respect for them. Bowser was someone that I had an alliance with before the game started, because he was someone that I felt like I could relate to. I've gotten to know DK and Golden more, and Ryu is highly intelligent. I feel safe calling him a friend. I'm surprised at myself for making progress, but I suppose it's happening."

"Alright, well I think it's time that we get to Player of the Season." Time to reward someone with some more money. Who got the most love from the fans? "You guys have been voting online, and now it's time to get to it. We've gone down to our final four who received the most votes from everyone. And people loved the Strong Guys Alliance so much, three of them made it to the final round. We have... DK, Bowser, Ridley, and Shadow."

'Oohs' and 'aahs' were heard out of anticipation. What a tough pick. All four of those players notable characters with their own fanbases. The screen was even split into four to get a shot of all four of them within one.

"Whoever wins this award will win an extra hundred thousand dollars. Let's see here... Shadow and Ridley. Though you two were loved by the fans, it wasn't enough for the both of you to place the top two in the ranking. You are both out of it."

"Heh. I guess I'm growing on some people..." Ridley commented while Shadow hardly paid it any mind.

"That being said, it all comes down to Donkey Kong and Bowser." There was now a fifty-fifty split view. Much more room for the two season one contestants. "The Player of the Season award goes to... Donkey Kong!"

Holding up both fists in the air with the biggest grin, DK watched as the crowd went wild cheering him on.

"His fanbase has obviously grown due to his story." Springtrap! Quiet! Jesus. The man could not have been happy for two seconds. His mama probably should have taught him that if he did not have anything nice to say, it was best to not say anything at all...

Then again, he was probably only telling the truth.

"We got one more commercial break to get to. We'll be right back! For now, let's turn our Survivor composers who are all responsible for all of our music. Mr. Game & Watch and the Alloy team are gonna do little musical number for ya."

...Mr. Game & Watch? ...Alloy team?

Music: Jump Up, Super Star (Instrumental)

Game: Super Mario Odyssey

Okay, good music right there. Mr. Game & Watch had to be involved in this series somehow and he did seem like a good drummer while the multiple alloys around him did their own thing on keyboards, bass, etc.

Jump Up, Super Star in general was iconic in its own right.

HEROES VS VILLAINS

"I'd rather be generic and boring and keep my morals, rather than taking over the world for my own personal gain and overall not being a decent person."

"We're not just three Kodai Island people. We were literally on the exact same tribe and in the exact same alliance."

"Friendship and strategy is already being put to the test and it's only day three, so everything is in the Survivor Gods' hands..."

"I gotta find the idol in the immunity challenge?"

Ignoring a certain ape snatching an immunity idol, Wolf had faith in Specter, the knight launching another ring into the target zone.

"Mario."

"You can't just help but feel guilty. Things like this, this game can really get to you. I think for anyone else that might be in my position in the near future should mentally prepare themselves. This is what you're going to have to deal with."

"Sonic."

"Mario's gone, Sonic's gone, Isabelle's gone... I'm really playing for myself now."

"DONKEY KONG WINS INDIVIDUAL IMMUNITY!"

"URGH!"

"DONKEY KONG WINS REWARD!"

"Meta Knight."

"My game just keeps getting better and better. Seriously. What else can go wrong for me?

"I'm playing this on Golden. This is for you."

"Golden. This is for you."

"Golden. Does not count."

"DONKEY KONG WINS IMMUNITY!"

"Golden."

"There goes my right hand man. You know, this is probably the biggest roller coaster I've ever been on. It's like every little good thing that happens to you, you move two steps right back and you gotta mentally prepare yourself and do the whole thing all over again."

"DONKEY KONG WINS IMMUNITY!"

"This is our second time out here, and we all want to leave this island with our heads held up high."

HEROES VS VILLAINS

SURVIVOR IS LOOKING FOR NEW PLAYERS! IT COULD BE YOU! APPLY NOW!

"We are once again back with the Survivor - Heroes vs Villains live reunion show. Wolf won the title of Sole Survivor, and Donkey Kong is the fan favorite by winning a hundred thousand dollars for Player of the Season." So far, that was the most money either Kong member won in the competition. Anything was a plus. "We haven't yet finished talking with all twenty players, so let's move on to people that have actually made it all the way to the end and won before."

Oh. That meant...

"Here we have Isabelle Cosgrove, winner of Survivor - Mexico (Brain vs Brawn vs Beauty), voted out third."

Um,... hi? But hey, she got her applause. Every winner had his or her own fans.

"Sitting two spots over, we have Sonic the Hedgehog, winner of our very first season, Survivor - Kodai Island, voted out third."

Boooooo! ...No, silly. It was not a boo meant for Sonic. The booing was meant for his unfortunately demise early on in the season, and Master Hand was just getting ready to elaborate on that for both him and Isabelle.

"The two winners that we brought back on the show were voted out so early that they did not even make the tribe swap." No need to rub it in their faces... "Isabelle, we'll start with you since you were the very first casualty of our first All Stars season. What was going through your mind the moment your torch was snuffed first out of everybody's?"

"Well, I came out here because I miss being out on the show and having fun. I was never actually on the island, since my group of players were out in the Aztec Empire when we all competed in Mexico. So one of the reasons why I wanted to be back was to see what it was like playing the game on the beach while actually trying to relax myself and take in all of my surroundings. There were people from Caribbean that I saw on my TV that I was really interested in talking to and-"

"Wait a minute, Isabelle. Hold on." Master Hand had his hand in a way that he was a random hand on a stop sign in the street. "I don't mean to be rude here, but I asked you what was in your head after you got voted out. And you gave me an answer that didn't even have anything to do with strategy or gameplay... Did you know that you were going to be voted out first?"

Really good point there.

"I mean, it's not like I expected it to make it really far. It was kind of hard for me to compete against eighteen people who never won the game before. And in general, somebody had to be first boot and it ended up being me. Surely, the rest of the season would have changed if Zelda was actually taken out over me at the first Tribal Council, but you could at the very least understand why I was voted out first. I wasn't the most reliable person in challenges, and I was someone the team could have afforded to lose. My tribe just didn't want to play with players that have already won, which is completely fair. I'm not gonna hold that against them."

"We did try to keep her around." And naturally, there came Golden. He really wished he spent more days playing with his old team member from the Brains tribe. "We weren't able to convince Meta Knight to side with her over Zelda, since he was also threatened by playing with a winner. Five minutes before tribal, he flat out told us that he was going to vote her out, and that was when DK and I decided to just go with the majority just to not make things even worse."

"Golden, I feel like you're trying to protect your little sister here."

Hahaha! The funniest part about it was Goldilocks did not even have any blood siblings. Yet people got the obvious joke regardless.

"Yet another friend I had the opportunity to play with, but sometimes things just don't work out." He said in his defense.

"The best part about us being on the Heroes tribe together was when we sat down next to each other in the shelter for about half an hour just talking." She exhaled, remembering the overall vibe of the conversations they shared. "It was nice and really fun. But like, sure. I only survived for three days, but I would have been surprised if I made another deep run. So in my mind, it was best for me to make every moment count. Realistically, my best bet was having my team win the first challenge. But kudos to the villains in that round."

"Seems like you knew the cards that were handed out to you. Glad you enjoyed in spite of those circumstances... Sonic, how about you?" Good Lord. Unsurprisingly, he was saved for last. "After Mario left, you were the very last one of your minority alliance. Your team had its losing streak, and your entire tribe voted you out just to get you out the way. I don't know how much you pay attention to your comments, but people online in the Survivor community were really mad at the whole entire tribe. ...Heroes, how many of you got hate mail for voting out Sonic?"

Okay... Meta Knight, Vector, Golden, Shovel Knight, Zelda, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi. Yep. That was literally the rest of the blue team.

And Master Hand expected all seven of their hands to be raised in the air just to prove his point. "See?"

"Golden and I got hate and we were trying to save Sonic." DK remarked.

"Well,..." The blue blur did not even know where to start with this one. "-win some, lose some. Right? Even I gotta say that I'll be an idiot if I expect myself to win everything. Like Isabelle, I never really expected myself to make it far at all. I mean, the show was thought to be ending and having me on was a way of you guys wanting to go out with a bang. None of us knew the show would be continuing until right before Caribbean finished, and that was when we were all getting ready to head over here for the big reveal of who was going to be on season five. So I already knew I had a low chance of getting far, let alone winning again."

"Alright, so you also had low expectations going into this."

"No shade to Isabelle, but she kinda saved me. Had it not been for her, I would have been the first person out instead. I still got out early, but her being on at least bought me some time."

"Thanks, I guess. Hehe..." She of course got the joke, but the woman just could not have found the words to reply with.

"Vector, you were one of the main people that was actively against playing with the winners here. You really felt like it was a disservice to the rest of you all for having not one, but two winners on your tribe. Was it about Sonic and Isabelle on the show with everybody else that didn't sit right with you?"

"You see, having them on our team is awesome. We both love them, they won their seasons in different ways, it's enjoyable to have them on our tribe helping to represent our theme here. But us wanting them out is nothing personal, but a compliment if anything. How does it look having only two winners on this season? Take them out, this should have been Survivor - Second Chance. At this point it's no secret that they would have not even been on the show if the Survivor team knew that they felt like continuing on with the series."

"I'd like to follow up on that." Sigh... Okay Springtrap, go ahead. Maybe it was everybody to let the man say what he had to say. "Sonic's our original winner. He has one of the largest fanbases, and it's something great to have and it shows how many people love you. Young, underdog, very last of his tribe, he was very fortunate to win a season before anyone else did. However, I feel some of the fans just have to have everything go their way. I mean, to think that some of them actually expected him to make it far in the game again knowing the big target he had on his back. We need to just put our biases aside and have a bit of realism for one second. If you're here to just blindly root for your favorite people and expect them to have no possible consequences no matter the situation they're in, you're looking at the show wrong and you're not understanding how it really works."

And as expected, the unfiltered rabbit was going in.

"I'm not saying that I hate the fanbase or anything, but I'm not afraid to tell you how it is. This is our season, and this is our gameplay, so you have to put yourselves into our shoes. There are eighteen other players here, so you can't expect every little thing to go your way! Surely Yoshi should have been voted out in that round, but Sonic going home at that point was still justifiable and you can't deny that. Maybe Sonic and Isabelle returned in the... wrong All Stars season if that makes any sense. Regardless, they won their shot and their story was already told. What more do people want?"

"Then I suppose me being on here is extra credit." Sonic shrugged his shoulders laughing. "I got nine extra days on my resume now, and I really don't have anything to complain about. No matter if you get out first or not, you gotta find a way to have out here if you can. I was in the freaking Caribbean for crying out loud, and I'm just thankful to be part of an All Stars season."

What a humble guy. Holding his head up high knowing that he was proud of what he was able to achieve no matter what season he was on was good enough for him.

"And by the way, Knuckles was actually pretty confused on how the reaction was after I left. He was like, 'Dude, people are having a meltdown over you right now.' But in a way, I feel so loved. So I do appreciate everyone that wanted to see me out there going hard at it."

Oh yeah, and Knuckles the Echidna was sitting in the audience, too. Right next to another friend of theirs, Miles 'Tails' Prower.

"Mario, the one question I gotta ask you is if you regret aligning with the winners." And, oh yeah! Mario Mario, the most famous character in all video game existence was also on the season. ...Too bad he was nothing more than a cameo this time. "You are sandwiched right between them both. And you felt like aligning with them was the right thing to do."

"I was definitely the one person that voted with them, as I felt like my back would have been against the wall if I didn't." So the plumber simply thought it was the better move in his interest. "They were the two winners, and I felt like it would have been good for me to use them to my advantage. They had nothing else to lose, so I figured that they were going to protect me from leaving. Say if it was a situation where I was in danger, they would have been the next ones on the chopping block. And what happens? Sonic leaves right after me. On top of that, Sonic and I both played with DK before in the Power Sumasshu alliance. People on my tribe already found that to be threatening, yet DK was able to shake it because they needed him for challenges and other people wanted to align with him."

"I apologize." It really ate the man up knowing that he had no choice but to vote both of his old friends out of the game. "I know you're gonna say that I have nothing to apologize for, but I'm doing it anyway."

"You don't have anything to apologize for, my friend. Now all three of us have made single digit placements at least once."

Good on him for humoring the moment.

"Now, Meta Knight." He and two other players were literally quiet the whole time, all patiently waiting to get some attention. "Early exit. Probably one of the biggest pre-merge blindsides we've had. Some say you were gone too soon, others say you kinda deserved it. According to other players, you were in a swing vote position at that first tribal. But as you apparently told DK and Golden last minute that you were going to vote for Isabelle over Zelda, it resulted in her, Mario, and Sonic going home back to back to back. And Shovel Knight felt that Yoshi was going to be loyal to him enough that he was willing to work with him and take Yoshi to the end over someone like you."

"I completely get that logic. That was exactly what he was deciding his vote out. We all came into the game as threats. I was probably not as big of a threat in comparison to someone like Vector, Zelda, or DK, but I was the bigger perceived threat over Yoshi. Shovel felt like he could probably take Yoshi to the end, the same way how he thought of Luigi from his past season. And Shovel really wanted to show people that he was a player to be taken just as seriously, and maybe he saw me as someone that would not have been afraid to cut him loose. I applaud him for it as a fan, but I was the one that suffered from it. Though to be fair, it's clear that I made some mistakes which I am not proud of."

In simple terms, he pretty much regrets not voting with the winners when he had the chance. At least Golden placed top ten and DK placed top five, but Meta Knight suffered immediate consequences for passing up on the offers of Isabelle, Mario, and Sonic multiple times. The biggest consequence of all was Meta Knight being the unlucky one to be sent home right after them, falling victim to the first big blindside of the season.

"Sheik," Yeah. The host was clearly trying to get those last few people out of the way. With the ninja being out of the way, it meant that Foxy was going to be the very last one to talk. "-you could say that it's a new feeling for you to be voted out early. You made it all the way to the final four in your first season. This time, you were the first person voted out of your tribe."

"It's all just a different experience for me. Really had to go home to come to terms with that. I really did not want to leave the game early, and I was working my hardest to avoid that. During our winning streak, we all kept telling each other that it was either going to be Plague or Specter. I figured as long as it was one of those two, I was going to be just fine. Then all of a sudden, things started to change. Specter was somehow able to get everyone to vote me off, and it all started with Shadow wanting to work with them."

A backstab from Shadow the Hedgehog. Why in the world was no one surprised?

"Ridley had kept his alliance with Ryu and Bowser a secret during that time, and he decided and him and his guys should vote for me figuring that I was going to be a late game threat. So it played a huge factor of me leaving at that round. Springtrap and Wolf knew what was happening, and they decided that there was nothing they could do. They told Foxy that they had no choice but to vote for me to make the vote unanimous without causing more tension in the tribe. Good move on Ridley for seeing me for being the threat that I was, but... dear Goddesses. It was something that I really had to take in. I felt like at the time I was voted off for no reason, but you never really know what's going on behind the scenes."

The truest statement that was ever said.

"Last but not least, Foxy Michaels is sitting right next door." Some folks were pretty upset at his early departure as well. Five Nights at Freddy's already had a well established fanbase. And Foxy was the first major character of that series to make an impact on Survivor. "The only contestant in the history of Survivor to be voted out twice without ever receiving majority of the votes. You might as well should have been Mario back in season one and get petrified every time your name is written down at all."

"Wow, Master Hand!" The red capped hero was hit out of nowhere, and he almost felt like his host was making fun of him. "Throwing your own castaway under the bus!"

"Well the first thing I wanna say is that people get voted out due to a number of ways. We've had Samus's weird elimination from season one, Ike being rock'd out of the game, Freddy's chaotic elimination from my season, Espio idoling himself out, Chica being the final juror in Mexico after losing the fire making challenge, so my exit was notable one."

Damn. Everyone's favorite pirate fox definitely knew his history. What a superfan.

"Going home twice in a row due to idols,... I really hate them now." He shook his head aggressively as everyone around him laughed. "Shovel Knight's idol sent me home season two. And like the idol king that he is, Donkey Kong sends me home this season. Golden, you were so fortunate enough that people played idols on you twice. Literally the exact opposite of what happened to me."

The Survivor Gods were definitely making sure he stayed alive during both rounds as he held his hands in the air. "I guess people will do anything to protect me. That's the social game for you."

"But I had myself to blame in that round. I wanted to have my cake and eat it too by getting rid of a powerful player, while flushing the idol at the same time. And sometimes you do have to play it safe if that's what it comes down to. These people are very good at keeping their idols a secret. If only I had one, but it never happened and I faced the consequences. It was a good move from a fan's perspective, but it was definitely tough for me personally."

"You had such heartbreaking final words!" The large white hand recalled.

"I have emotions like everyone, and I was really disappointed in myself. I should have listened to my alliance of targeting Yoshi just to stay on the safe side, but I didn't. Bowser somehow felt threatened that I was trying to take control of the game, so he told his buddy Donkey Kong that if he had an idol, play it on Golden. He completely threw me under the bus, and all I have to say is that Bowser,... this isn't over."

King Koopa immediately turned his neck around to stare directly into his eyes. "Well you already lost this round, buddy."

"We lost the battle, but you guys have not won the war."

"Wait a minute, hold up." Hold up was right. Everyone just like Master Hand had no idea what was going on. "What are you guys talking about? Who do you mean 'we?'"

Foxy was glad he asked. "'We' as in myself, Springtrap, Wolf, and then in the audience we got Val, Panther, and even Rodin."

Well the cameramen did not predict that their names were going to be brought up at all throughout the entire reunion show, so they were not shown as screen. But,... the fans had the ability to pretend they were.

"Some of these folks have to be put in their place." Now Wolf was talking. "I didn't expect myself to be involved in this situation, but sounds like I'm gonna be on my next mission here."

Vector all of a sudden butted in. "Alright, well Bowser's one of us and Ridley, I think we're gonna need your help on this one."

"I've no comment..." The space pirate was too busy staring down in embarrassment to say much.

"Yoshi's sitting right here with us, and we even have our own people in the audience such as Charizard and K. Rool. They're right there."

Luckily they were sitting right beside each other, so they were shown together again.

"Hey, everyone! This is the Reptile Runaways versus the Cool Kids here. Which side wins?"

There were a variety of different reactions from the crowd. Some were dying from amusement, others found it to be a little cringeworthy, and others were simply still confused. ...Was this something that was being teased the whole time? Ever since Foxy, Wolf, and Springtrap all showed off in front of the camera while they were on the island?

Maybe that was going to be some sort of spin off project that was set to be released in the future... OOOOOH!

"...Can we leave?" Ridley Zebesian wanted the whole segment to end as soon as possible.

"I don't know what you guys got going on Ridley, but we're gonna briefly talk about what's gonna happen in the next season of Survivor before you all are dismissed. We're getting ready to have our Survivor reunion show after party."

Though maybe Ridley deserved more credit here. Just because he felt awkward did not mean letting everybody else feeling the same way.

But anyway, it was finally time for Master Hand to officially close this out. "Alright. So season five is officially over. No matter if you've been with us since Kodai Island or Emperors vs Knights, Mexico, or Caribbean, we appreciate all the love and support that came from you guys. It's been an epic five season journey, and we have more seasons to come in the future. We are not stopping any time soon. We almost did, actually. But it is you guys that keep us going, and that's why we don't plan on stopping. So Survivor will be back, and we'll be going to India for season six where we will be kicking off with a new generation of castaways. I know you guys just can't wait. We will meet again soon. Thank you so much, everyone. Goodnight!"

Done...

I'm freaking done.

This series, guys. This series.

Alright. I am rather proud that I'm still here, first of all. I would have never guessed to be here for so long, but... here's to me writing for as long as I possibly can. Whether you've read my work before this series started or discovered me because of it, I appreciate every last one of you taking time out of your day to read my stuff. You could be doing anything else, but you all instead tune in for all of my seasons when I post them up.

Every season takes a lot out of me to write, and... the Heroes vs Villains era was everything plus something. And I gotta say... I definitely need a break from this. And I lied. "Where Are They Now?" is being changed to "Heroes vs Villains - Epilogue." Three simple chapters. Chapter one will be the castaways having conversations and interacting with one another at the after party. Chapter two will be a "live news broadcast" with a news lady interviewing the Heroes vs Villains final three. And then the last chapter will be everybody pretty much going right back home. ...Oh, and "Reptile Runaways vs Cool Kids" will be officially be the spinoff fic for this series where it will include the same characters as Foxy and Vector mentioned. More on that will be revealed later on. But HvV - Epilogue will be happening first.

I will actually be taking my time here writing those, now that I don't have to worry about feeling the pressure. I will not be taking a break from writing and posting, but I'm definitely taking a break from my main series for at least a year because... I kinda have to. But, don't worry. I'll be working on Survivor - India behind the scenes.

About this season, though... Obviously I'm ranking it above Kodai Island, above Mexico, maybe above Emperors vs Knights (or not), but it's definitely not topping Caribbean. I don't really care for some of the gameplay decisions that were made this season, and with it naturally being All Stars, there were going to be some brutal early eliminations. But hey, somebody's gotta be sacrificed for the thirteen people that were going to make the merge. But starting from India, me planning the boot order is going to be rather different than all of my other seasons. So we'll see how that plays out.

Hmm... Do I have anything more to say? I guess talk to me privately in the PMs if you're interested, um... thank you so much for your continued support, I know it's gonna be a while before I post a new season, and... have a good day. Hahahaha! ...If I get emotional to myself later on, it'll because of my entire Fanfiction life coming full circle. Guess I'm human too.