Replies, finally coming together:
Space Zodiac- Thanks for reviewing all three chapters! That definitely gave me a ton of steam to keep moving on this one! Inclusivity was one of the things I really focused on this time around because quite honestly my other gens are lacking in it. Out of everyone, Dante and Caia were the surprises in this cast. Dante was super popular for everyone which I didn't see coming, and Caia was by far my favorite out of this group. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story!
lordgemini- Yes, the big problem does lie with the fake idol's usefulness now. It'll be discussed later! I'm glad the Zena blindside ended up being surprising. I wanted to show that Xerxes was abandoning all strategy for the vote without giving away that Zena would be gone.
It's time to see the aftermath of last episode! Here we go!
Episode 4: Late Night Cram Session
Chris and Chef were sitting in lounge chairs on the beach as the episode began. Chris continued to look rather pleased with the amount of drama this cast was causing. The stars were still up, as the most recent elimination had clearly just happened. "Last time, on Total Drama Diairesi Island!" Chris began with an excited tone, "we sent our animal-themed teams to find their mascot!" Clips began playing of Xerxes protesting the use of Petra for the challenge, and Zena and Harumi in the jungle looking for the snake. "The Falcons were off to an odd start, as Caia began to fix her trust issues in the poorest ways possible, and Oscar began to fix his in a way that mattered." The next clips were of Caia trying to sway Oscar and Oscar ignoring her talking to speak with Vi instead. "The most interesting part though, was Ushi finding two team swap idols? One of them is obviously fake." The final clip there was of Ushi and Ike investigating the two idols.
"With the Snakes, things got heated up when Harumi blabbed to Zena about…herself." The next clip was of Harumi accidentally confessing to Zena and running off. "While there was trouble in paradise, Wade arranged a meeting with the Falcons to go over something very interesting. The challenge itself ended rather quickly, as the cross-team deal let Xerxes get a team swap idol in exchange for throwing the challenge!" The next clip was of Xerxes sending Petra over to Ike and Wade handing the idol over.
"However, things never go as planned. With Ardella crushed, Wade blabbed to her about Xerxes, conveniently leaving himself out of that story. This made everyone's perfect leader a bit upset, and she chose a…healthy way to solve it." Chris laughed as clips played of Ardella and Xerxes fighting and the metal arm being revealed. "Nah, just kidding, she tried to snap his metal bones. But, that incident let Yuri show off why we chose them for the show, and that's not just me listening to Yuri's pronouns, there's literally two of them. Hi, Ochain!" The next clip was of Dante tracking Yuri down in the cave and Ochain pinning the harbinger against the wall. "All of this came down to our dramatic third elimination, where Xerxes played an idol successfully, making Zena the one to go home, all thanks to Wade and Ochain!" The final clip was of Xerxes disappearing into the night and Zena getting eliminated, with Harumi rushing up to hug her.
The scene flipped back to Chris and Chef under the stars. "We've lost three, and with the numbers shaken up, it could be anyone's game still! Who's going to get out of it today? Will we ever have an episode as dramatic as that one again? God, I hope so! See what happens today, right now, on Total! Drama! Diairesi Island!"
OPENING SEQUENCE
*Opening Instrumental Music*
[A slew of cameras began to appear out of various locations on the island. The first shot out of a tree that was located in a rather dense part of Diairesi Jungle. The second camera appeared out of the roof of a cave, likely in the Deep Zone. The final camera dropped out of the sky, landing on the Falcon campsite and shattering into pieces.]
Hey what's up, I'm here to slay,
[A new camera started flying down that mountain of the Sky Zone, where at the very top Ushi could be seen taking a nap. Once it got to the ground, Ardella was using a punching bag while Wade openly observed the protective leader, taking notes on her form.]
Don't know why the rest even bother to stay.
[The camera moved a bit further into the jungle, where Zena was on the ground, splitting some huge logs with her bare arms. Meanwhile, Harumi and Xerxes were at the top of a tree, enjoying the much clearer view. Xerxes seemed to be observing a bird above them, while Harumi was watching Zena down on the ground.]
I know the game and I've brought the skills
[There was a cut to the beach of Diairesi Island, where a makeshift table had been set up. At it, Ike and Matt were seen discussing certain points of a contract. Matt appeared rather intimidated, while Ike was sitting there with pure excitement. Nearby, Vi could be seen digging up a potato from the ground at the edge of the beach, brushing off her suit and then taking a giant bite of the potato.]
Crushing player's dreams, yeah, you know the drill
[Trinity was near the cave of the Deep Zone, flipping her coin in the air and doing tricks. Nearby, Oscar and Caia watched on. Oscar looked seriously impressed with her coin tricks, but Caia seemed totally unimpressed by it. On the last trick, the coin missed, and Trinity knocked it into Dante, who also flung the coin into Yuri by accident.]
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous
[Yuri checked their reflection in the mirror upon the impact, and whatever reflection the mirror showed them was enough to force them to run off and drop the mirror. The mirror dropped to the ground and shattered in half perfectly. The camera zoomed into the mirror, reflecting out the nighttime scene, where everyone including Ushi was awake, whistling the last few notes of the theme while 'Total Drama Diairesi Island' appeared over all of them.]
At the Falcons' camp, things seemed to be picking up right from where things ended previously. "But, look at you!" Ike said excitedly. "You finally got on the Falcons. Welcome home."
"Ah, that's right," Vi noted, tossing another log onto the fire to keep it going. "I do recall your displeasure the first day with not being on a team that suits you. Although, you did throw the challenge today. Perhaps 'snake' is not so far-off either."
Ushi laughed. "Wow, was that a joke from the lawyer?" the nocturnal teen asked. "Maybe your presence really is shaking up everything." They shrugged. "But, honestly, I saw this coming. I knew from when I met him last night in the woods, Wade was going to betray anyone who got involved in that deal."
Caia and Oscar seemed completely confused at all of this. "Wait, what the whositwhatsit's goin' on here?" Oscar asked. "Ya threw the challenge, Xerk?" Xerxes seemed to take no interest in already being given another nickname as soon as he left Harumi's team.
As confusion began to ensue around the Falcons' camp regarding the recent elimination, Caia watched very carefully, and as she saw the odd looks Oscar was giving, a sly smirk evolved on her face.
Caia: "Xerxes is new blood," she said with an eager grin. "And his entrance came with a bunch of mystery. This is my chance to change up my stance with the team. I can easily get Oscar and Xerxes on my side, and if I nab Vi too, then I could still take Ike down." She laughed. "Oh, aren't I just the best?"
Xerxes sighed. "Let's clear the air," he decided. "Just so everyone is on the same page. I want to be a bit transparent on this. I got an idol during the challenge today with Wade's help." The falconer omitted any part of Vi, Ike, or Ushi's involvement. "So, knowing I had that, I threw the challenge when I ran into Ike. I called Petra to go right to his arm."
"Interesting decision," Vi added, playing along with the story that Xerxes was sharing up to that point. "However, it seems like you were in a very solid position. I do wonder what forced your hand to play the idol. You mentioned something about Ardella. What was her involvement?"
The falconer looked uneasy for a second as he glanced down to his torn coat sleeve. "The reason I am here. As soon as we returned, Wade informed Ardella of what I did. He set me up to be eliminated, and he forced me to use the idol and gamble on it being real. Before elimination, Ardella fought me, and she shredded my coat with her hands, then tried to snap a piece of metal, also my arm, in half. She also didn't know it was metal."
"Wowzas," was all Oscar could muster at that point. "Seems like losin' really put the happy lady off the deep end." He shrugged. "I guess that ain't our problemarino."
"It will be if Ardella is still in that state by the next challenge," Ushi corrected him. "Ardella being motivated to take down Xerxes could be the little boost they need to turn their new numbers disadvantage into something worse for us."
Ike shook his head. "That's assuming that Ardella's still here. They could be running around without a leader right now. We don't know who got eliminated, and we won't until the next challenge." He looked at Xerxes. "How do you think the vote went?"
Xerxes put his prosthetic hand to his chin. "It couldn't just be anyone. The people who I know are safe for sure are Harumi, Zena, Dante, and Yuri. I voted for Ardella, and I would imagine she voted for me. Harumi also told me apologetically that she would vote for me too. I imagine Zena did the same. Wade knew I was playing the idol, so obviously he didn't waste his vote on me, but he didn't vote for Ardella." He shrugged. "Odds are, unless Dante and Yuri voted for someone else, Ardella lost. I don't see a situation where she comes out of that."
Ushi shook their head. "That's a lot of speculation. I guess we won't know until we actually get to the next challenge."
Caia finally decided to open her mouth. "I have a suggestion," she stated mundanely. "Perhaps Xerxes could enlighten us on the Snakes. We all have a lot of questions, and it would help my trust in you if you were willing to share some secrets."
"I agree," Oscar noted, much to Caia's delight. "Knowin' some see-crates might be coolio."
Regrettably, none of the Falcons could find an error in Caia's suggestion. "If you were willing to do that," Vi requested, "I believe it could help with our overall bonding as a team."
"I don't see an issue with it," Xerxes agreed. "Who do you want to know about first?"
"I have a request," Caia instantly asked. "Harumi told me she can perfectly predict the weather. Is that real or is she just full of it?"
Xerxes laughed. "That's really the opener? Yeah, yesterday she said it was going to rain around four in the afternoon, and right at the end of the challenge, the sky got dark and it started pouring. As far as I know, that's real." He grimaced a bit. "She's definitely great morale for the Snakes, but can't take anything seriously. Beating her should be no problem."
"Wonderful to hear," Ike said. "My big question is about Ardella and Wade, you mentioned that there was no chance that Wade voted for Ardella. How can you be so sure?"
"He's freakishly loyal to her," Xerxes replied. "My initial thought at the beginning of the game was that he liked her, or that he's never had someone speak to him before." He shook his head. "I don't believe that anymore. I think that Wade is playing the long game. By serving as her attack dog, he's hiding himself in plain sight and running his game through her, the most influential person on the Snakes."
"Wade sounds like a serious problem," Caia mentioned. She didn't show it, but the false apathetic was seriously impressed with Wade's success in that moment. "Tell us about Zena next. She is by far the largest physical threat left."
Xerxes nodded. "She's seriously on another level. Whatever we face her in for the challenge, we'll lose. She's the one who freed Dante when Trinity captured him. Crafty too, she set up a story to trick Ardella and keep her from snapping."
"Woah, woah, woah," Oscar interjected. "Gamble-lamble did what? We didn't hear about any o' dis."
Oscar: "I think I know way less about this team than I thought," he admitted. "Ike really did have this team in control, Trinity was actually trying to help…what else is a lie? I'm really good at challenges, but come the merge, I might go home first."
Ushi raised their hand to speak. "She had mentioned it to me a bit ago. It's hard for me to communicate with you guys, so I was waiting for a good time, which would have been tonight, but then Xerxes showed up. Trinity captured Dante to try and slow down the Snakes and failed miserably."
"We are getting off track," Vi emphasized. "Our main goal right now is to learn about the weaknesses within the Snakes. We have covered Ardella, Zena, Harumi, and Wade. That leaves Dante and Yuri."
"I don't know much about either of them," Xerxes admitted sheepishly. "Yuri is always hiding away in their tent reading. They come out every once in a while to talk about books with Dante. Do any of you read?" No one responded. "Okay, then they're not your problem, and you're not theirs. Dante is definitely the most interesting. He claims he's cursed."
"Cursed?" Caia asked. "How so?"
Xerxes shook his head. "He's not really cursed, from what I've seen, just wicked fast instincts and good defensive options. Probably a hidden threat in my eyes. But he also has terrible nerves and won't approach anyone. So unless he wins every challenge, it won't matter."
"This'll give us a giant advantage," Ike said with a cocky grin. "I mean, do you think they're discussing weaknesses of us over there? They can't. They don't know a thing about us!"
Vi nodded. "Agreed. No matter what, our morale is higher and our intel is stronger. That said, complacency would be idiotic. I would rather us try and steamroll the competition instead of being half-hearted and making it close."
"For sure," Xerxes agreed. "But, I'm glad I could help. I pretty much burned all of my bridges over there, so I'm all in over here. I don't have another choice but to be."
Ushi: "This was exactly what I needed," they stated with a smirk on their face. "Intel. My big issue right now is that I'm not around when the juicy things happen. I didn't know what half of the challenges were until after they were over. While the merge isn't really on the horizon yet, I think I'll get there with no issue. I mean, Caia's a shoo-out next time we lose, and with Xerxes on our side, I don't see us losing any time soon."
The camp began to disperse a little bit after that. The main thing that sparked this was a very deliberate move. "Ike," Vi spoke formally to the bargainer. "I wish to speak with you. It should be something you enjoy enough."
"You wanna discuss our deal?" the bargainer mumbled quietly, his eyes lighting up with excitement. "Fun, let's go!" The two shortest members of the team wandered to the edge of the cliff. Vi took a single look at the bargainer to realize this may have been a bad decision, as he was giddy with excitement. "Okay, I honestly don't know where you're going with this, so I'll just let you start."
Vi sighed apprehensively. "Very well. I just wanted to clarify some things. She glanced back at the campsite. "Per the deal I made with you on day one, I completed the request you gave me, and so far, you have upheld your end of the bargain. You and Ushi have yet to target me, and for some time, I believe things may continue that way."
"Bingo," Ike said with a cocky smirk. "Honestly, you're useful to have. You helped me out big time yesterday, having you as a witness sped that hilltop deal up tenfold. As much as I love a good debate session, you were right, we were in a time crunch." He looked at the farmer. "So, what did you need from me exactly?"
"The deal states that you are not permitted to target me until the final five," Vi clarified. "However, I do not recall a stipulation that I must do the same. I just wished to see if that was intentional or a blunder on your end."
Ike grimaced, like he was hoping she wouldn't realize that. "It was…a calculated risk," Ike admitted. "Yes, per our deal, I can't go after you. You are more than welcome to try your hand at me, but I'll warn you, I'm good at this thing. Likewise, since we're airing our dirty laundry it seems, the deal does not prevent me from targeting your allies, like Oscar or Caia, for example."
Vi nodded. "Of course, that makes sense. I hope you do not infer that I am requesting this because I plan to target you. I have larger things to consider at the moment. I simply wanted the clarification."
The bargainer seemed surprised to hear that. "Honestly, I totally thought that was your plan. I mean, I'd be mad too. I sort of flipped on day one and got Matt out of here."
The farmer seemed taken aback by that statement. "What? Why do you suppose that you have angered me?"
Ike blinked a few times, almost in shock he heard that from the purple-haired girl. "What? Sorry, I totally thought you were into him. You basically only hung out with him on the first day."
Vi shook her head. "I suppose that leads to suspicions. But, even though he was decently attractive, such a thing could never have come to pass between us." Ike stood there like he wanted more, at this point, out of sheer curiosity. Vi sighed, deciding to spell it out for him. "Ike, Matt is gay."
The bargainer looked like he had been hit by a truck with that statement. "What?" he asked, totally floored. "Aww, I didn't know that. I mighta kept him around…" He kicked the ground like he was disappointed. "Oh well. Regardless, it looks like it's game on for us now." He gave the farmer an arrogant wink. "If ya wanna fight me, I'm all in, but if you need another gay guy to hang out with, I can be that too." Vi chuckled and shook her head at the bargainer's arrogance.
Vi: "I am, albeit very slowly, starting to understand more and more of Ike. He is not someone who can be taken down through regular means or blindsides. Ike deals with truths, facts, and exchanges, and in doing so, he has set up a situation where he can only be taken down via his own methods." She sighed. "But if I let him continue to grow in power, that is a problem too. Xerxes is still a wild card. I have Oscar on my side, but I need another. The question then remains: is Caia worth the hassle?"
Ike: "Holy crap, she's gettin' serious!" he said excitedly. "Vi is the scariest person here for sure. Oscar's generally shifty, Ushi's unreliable to anyone but me, Xerxes has pissed about the whole island off, Caia's…well, Caia, and I'm pretty much the worst of them all. Out of everyone, Vi's made the least amount of enemies. Actually, she's made no enemies. In a jury or popularity situation, she'll win. My options are to blindside her, which won't work, or force her into a situation where she has to betray someone. But, none of that matters. My deal prevents me and Ushi from doing a thing. So, if Vi's out, I gotta take out anyone who is or could be allied with her."
Xerxes sat around and watched as the conversations broke out around camp. Something about the definite and for sure scheming going on around him made him smile. "This is what this game is supposed to look like," he muttered to himself. "Not the demonic day care that Ardella set up."
"You sound awfully concerned about her," Caia mentioned. The falconer turned around to see Caia leaning on the log she was sitting on. "For someone who's so certain she is gone, you still seem to think she isn't."
The falconer shook his head. "I just feel like she had a plan. Maybe Wade's vote got a second vote in his pocket somewhere. As much as I'd like to think she's gone now, I can't tell. If she's still here, I'll be in big trouble once we merge."
Caia sat quietly and listened, the regular mundane look on her face being even glossier as the fire reflected on her. "I suppose that means you're in danger then. Obviously you're not very solidified here, no matter what Ushi and Ike have told you. Between that and making an enemy out of the five remaining Snakes, I don't have much advice for you. You better hope you're not going to another elimination until the finale."
"Interesting you should mention that," Xerxes shot back, suddenly becoming very suspicious of the false apathetic. "Vi was suspicious of that offer Ike gave me too, but she admitted that it'd be smarter to eliminate larger problems on the team, referring to Ike, and you." Caia tried her hardest not to react, but a blink or three managed to leak through. "I'm thinking if we lose, I'll survive. You might not."
The false apathetic nodded slowly. "I suppose that could be an issue. Fine. How about we team up? Watch each other's backs? You're new blood, I'm old news, and let's face it, we're going to need a solid group to keep each other safe. I bet we can turn a vote on Oscar if we need to. That's the only person Ike might actually bite for."
"You've certainly given this a lot of thought," Xerxes decided. "Fine. An alliance with you isn't complete suicide, so I'll do it hesitantly. You need to know that my main reason for this is still because you're going to lose this game and having you in the way sets things up for me to survive for some time."
Caia rolled her eyes. "I have no plans on losing. I'm gonna hit Ike with a deal he can't refuse and go to the final four with you, him, and Ushi. We'll beat either of them at anything." She let out a tired yawn, mainly to hide the excitement that was appearing on her face. "Well, we are allied now. I would like you to tell me what idols you know of. You said you played one."
"You obviously know which one I played," Xerxes reminded her. "If I swapped teams, that leaves one answer. But, I know where the fake one is. Ike and Ushi still have it. I believe Ushi is actually the one in possession of it, but they know it's fake. But seeing that I swapped, I have no clue how they're going to handle it."
Caia shook her head. "That's fine. That is way more information than I had. Thank you." She stood up and stared at her tent. "I think I'm calling it a night. See you tomorrow." Caia then left the fire area and went into her tent, leaving Xerxes by himself.
Xerxes: "I have no intention in trusting Caia," he stated, "but I believe that by putting myself in her inner circle, I prevent a blindside from her, and I take some threat detection off of me. I mean, you would have to be stupid to ally with the lowest member of this team's totem pole."
Caia: She laughed maniacally as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "This is perfect," she said with an arrogant smirk. "With Xerxes siding with me, I can buy myself enough time to make the merge and pick my old team off. That's right, ol' Caia's flipping!" She threw her hands up excitedly. "Assuming we totally do crush them today, that makes it six to four. If I can split the vote even a little, I will make the final five, easily." She sighed in awe of herself. "I'm just the greatest."
Back near the front of the campsite, Ushi has taken Oscar off to the side. "So, ya plan on fillin' me in or am I outta the loopy-doopy forevsies?"
"I can give you all of the information I have," Ushi offered. "As much as you need to know about that idol, I can give you. I don't want you to not trust me." They sighed. "On night one, I found the idol and kept it hidden from everyone except for Ike, who I was required to reveal it to per our deal. Ike wanted to plant it on Caia, but I reminded him that if the idol was real, which it clearly was, the vote would fall to one of us instead."
"Ah, so ya planted it on anotha team," Oscar mused with a goofy grin. "Real clever. How'd ya know Xerk was gonna make his way to the skyza zonza?"
Ushi shook their head. "I had no clue," they admitted sheepishly. "I had a suspicion when we arranged for Xerxes to throw the challenge for us, but Wade definitely ratted him out when they got back and caused Ardella to go off into a rage. Whether or not she's still here is for tomorrow, but we know that one idol is out of play."
"Must be nice gettin' ta search all night and doin no challenges." Ushi rolled their eyes at the statement, to which Oscar put his hands up defensively. "Only kidding…only a lil' teensy peensy. Anywhosawhat, that means that the fake idol's out there? What if it's for the team swappa?"
The nocturnal teen did not like how perceptive Oscar was. "Can't be," they lied. "Chris wouldn't want the fake idol to be one that becomes useless once the merge happens. I bet it's paired with the immunity one. It is the strongest idol after all." The realization sank in at that moment that the idol sitting in their tent was absolutely worthless.
"Cooliosies," Oscar eventually said with a nod. "Good ta know you're still willing to share. I don't think Ike'd be sharing allo this." He looked Ushi in the eye. "Ya mind telling me a bitto bout ya deal you've got? Vi said something like ya lost free will or…I don't know, she said it real pretty and I didn't get it."
Ushi sighed. "It's not important. Ike saved me on the first night, as you know. Obviously you voted for me, and so did Vi and Matt. Ike got me, Trinity, and Caia to vote for Matt. So, in return for him saving me once, I do his bidding. It's not like we can discuss much anyway, I mean, we're not awake at the same time."
Oscar's eyes lit up. "Rightio…I've been wanting to ask you something else." The fighter rolled up his right arm. "I wanna arm wrestle ya!" He looked overly excited. "Ya been hypin' up your ability to carry us if there's a night challenge, so lemme know what you've got."
"Fine, only because you'll keep asking," Ushi reluctantly agreed. The two made their way to a rock that was flat enough for them both to rest their elbows on. Ushi drowsily placed their arm on the rock, and Oscar interlocked his hand. "You can count off," Ushi said pleasantly, keeping up the dreary appearance.
The fighter smirked. "Givin' me an advantage for free?" he asked cockily. "Ike wouldn't be real happy boutto that. Jussa warn you, I'm pretty strong."
"Yeah, I bet," Ushi said with an eye roll.
Oscar counted down. "Threes, twos, onand- go!" Instantly, Oscar clamped hard and started pushing Ushi down. The Filipino stared at the fist for a second, and slowly started pulling back in their direction. Their effortless strength came at a giant surprise to the fighter. "Woah, what're ya doing?"
"Winning," Ushi stated bluntly as they finished Oscar off, slamming his arm into the rock. "Sorry, I really meant that if I was around when everyone else was, I'd be a force to be reckoned with." They laughed. "Also, I work in a warehouse, so I spend my entire day lifting heavy objects. My arm strength is through the roof."
The fighter still looked shocked as he shook his hand off. "Yeesh, no kiddin'. Ight, Guess I gotta fold em. If there's a night challenge, we're counting on ya. But you sorta realize that you'll be like, dead once the merge hits?"
"You just love your death analogies," Ushi commented slyly, causing Oscar to groan. "Well, I'm also smart enough to handle myself in the voting section. I mean, I didn't even try on the second time we lost, and not a single person sent a vote my way. Part of that was that nut job Trinity's fault, but let's be real, I am such a non-threat. People know that by keeping me around, it's one less person to win immunities."
Oscar shrugged. "For sure, for sure. But wouldn't that mean everyone wants ya around? People might get ridda yas since, yanno, everyone on the plant-it wants ya. Then yer gonzo."
Ushi shrugged. "I can take my chances. But, now that the idols are making their rounds, I'm off to go hunt for another. See you all in the morning." Ushi disappeared into the woods, and Oscar took that chance to try and get some sleep before the morning.
Oscar: "Holy crap, that dude…dudette…that person's a total animal! We have a secret weapon on the team, but it's not one we can really use. If the merge hits and we haven't had a night challenge yet, we're so cooked. But, it also means Ushi can't win any other challenge. Tough call on what to do with them yet."
Ushi: "To help my personal longevity," they stated, "I can show off what I could do. Oscar's probably hoping we get the night challenge soon, because if I'm on his team, we'll win. But, what really caught my attention was what Oscar said- that fake idol is useless! Everyone knows that Xerxes played the real version, and it doesn't look like any of the others. I need a really good plan to use that thing."
Instead of going back to her tent like she said she would, Caia instead wandered off to Vi, who had just finished her conversation with Ike. "Vi," Caia said coyly enough to sound coy, but not really enough to sound like anyone but Caia herself. "I was hoping to have a talk with you about what we do with our new teammate."
Vi seemed interested that Caia was approaching her at all. "I suppose you are in favor of simply removing Xerxes on the first opportunity we get, correct?"
Caia shook her head. "No, after he shared secrets with us, it is clear Xerxes is committed to our success. My suggestion was to snuff out Ike instead. I think that if you, me, Xerxes, and Oscar teamed up, we could run things in the merge no problem. Zena would be the one who gives us the biggest problems, but she can't win every immunity."
The lawyer looked a bit hesitant on Caia's suggestion. "It is not an awful idea," she told her, "but we run into a big problem. In the event we merge early, removing Ike from the equation could hurt our numbers down the road. Should we vote off Ike tomorrow, Ushi will surely flip if we merge at ten. I truly believe that our greatest path to victory lies in winning every subsequent challenge. It is our best option."
"That's fair," Caia responded bluntly. "But we need to blindside Ike before he gets any more power. By owning Ushi, he can function twice as much as us. I think we don't need to throw a challenge, but maybe putting him as our default next-to-go could be useful. He got so much power in three days, and it sounds like he had enough to orchestrate this deal with Xerxes. What could he do if we give him ten days?"
Vi nodded. "I agree. Ike is a definitive problem, but a standard blindside will fall flat. To me, I think the best thing we can do to remove him from the equation is find someone else on the Snakes who would be willing to flip sides to ours. From the sound of it, Yuri is the most neutral person left in the game. They appear uninterested in Ardella and her antics, as well as still providing for their team."
Caia nodded. "Okay. Let's make that a plan then. We can make a giant voting block and knock the Snakes out. Then, once there's seven of us left, we can remove Ike. Ushi won't have the numbers to save themselves even if they wanted to. I'd even be willing to make it all the way to the end with you. Final two, you know?"
"An enticing offer," Vi stated plainly. "Your troublesome incident the day prior has made you quite unlikable, as you have seen. Perhaps taking you to the end would be a well-thought strategy." The farmer yawned. "But, it is far too late for that. We really should be asleep. I would like to win tomorrow." Caia agreed and stood up to actually sleep as well. As Vi went back, she waved to Ushi, who was taking care of the fire as people began to drift off. "See you tomorrow," she said amicably.
Caia: "I am doing it!" Caia said as she pumped her fist. "If I can sway Yuri over to our team, we can afford to lose someone else who is a giant pain in my side! I still want to figure out what to say when I get rid of Ike for good…maybe I just cackle a little, show him how great I am. Eh, he should be able to see that anyway."
Vi: "Caia is getting smarter and smarter," she analyzed. "But the large voting block is not a bad idea. As untrustworthy as she is, Caia will remain loyal to whoever gives her the best chance of winning. Ike may not be able to be blindsided at the moment, but the same cannot be said for Caia."
The Snakes were not doing well as they returned from the elimination ceremony. Tensions were absolutely high, and with Xerxes having already taken his stuff and left, there were now only five occupied tents in the area. "That stank," Harumi muttered. Even the cheerful and bubbly girl was struggling to process that her crush had been sent home. "How did Zena get more than one vote though? Did Xerxes lie to me?"
"Probably," Ardella shot back with an angry tone. It was clear that no amount of sadness from Zena's elimination could save her from the absolute state she was in. "Now that good-for-nothing is on the Falcons. We need a game plan to destroy those scumbags. At least, I need a plan."
Ochain shrugged. "Eh, I could be in for taking them down." All the eyes turned toward who they all thought was Yuri speaking up for once. Dante shot her a dirty look. "Um…I mean, whatever, I'm gonna read and stuff." Ochain and Dante walked off to the silver-haired teen's tent.
"If I may, Lady Ardella," Wade offered. "Due to my recent surveillance, I have acquired a vast amount of insight on the Soaring Falcons. I have intel that may be of excellent use to us." He let out a big yawn. "Unfortunately, that may need to wait. Two nights of surveying the evil on our island has caused me to lose a large amount of sleep."
Harumi shook Wade awake again. "Spooky Man, we need you! If you know how to take down the Falcons, we need all of the help we can get. We lost one of the most important parts of this team." She sighed. "Now she's gone."
Harumi: "Despite Zena being gone," she said with a downtrodden look, "I actually feel very safe right now. I'm in with The Della and her team-up with Wade, since all of us and Zena voted for Xerky then…" she shook her head. "That's not right…if Zena, The Della, and Yur all got votes, did Xerky tell the truth? That would mean two people voted for Zena. Maybe Lucky and Yur voted for her, but then who voted for Yur?" She clenched her head. "It doesn't make sense. I don't think The Della's gonna figure it out right now, she needs time to heal. I gotta figure out what I'm doing now. My best move might be to stay right where The Della wants me. I'm kinda scared to find out what happens if I don't do that."
Reluctantly, Wade agreed to Harumi's request. "I can tell you what I know, but you should know my sources are limited. The one thing I know for certain, is that Ushi is in possession of the fake idol, and Vi, Ike, and Xerxes all know that they own it. All of them also know it was fake, as Vi has identified it, and it is a second team swap idol, which we know is not possible."
"The team swap idol is the one with a fake?" Harumi asked with a confused tone. "So…that probably means we're a long way off from merging. I mean, why would Chrissy do that unless he wanted it to be played close to the end? What's he going to do now?"
Ardella let out a huff. "I don't care about the idols," she told Wade bluntly. "Tell me about the people. How do we dismember that team? How can I rip their lungs out?"
"Vi is the key to their survival," Wade offered. "Even with a deal set in stone with our traitor, Vi still was present to watch over all of it, almost like Ike and Ushi were looking for her approval. If we can find a way to oust Vi, that team crumbles."
"Isn't Briefcase still on the other team?" Harumi asked. "How do we get them from here? What about Wall Street and Ush?"
Wade put a hand to his chin. "Ike is a deal monger. He is not so scary once you speak with him. If you can make a deal with him, he will likely play along, and maybe even agree to your terms if he likes them enough. Ushi is awake all night, and they do most of the strategic heavy lifting for that team. It was their idea to sell the team swap idol off to Xerxes, and before Xerxes nearly caught them in a lie. They tried to initially pawn off the fake idol to him."
"Would have been nice to see," Ardella sneered. "Fine. They sound like non-threats. I actually decided I don't care about them. What's most important is finding a way to completely destroy Xerxes once and for all. I'm unopposed to injuring him out of the game, but clearly I can't do it, and we lost the only one who can." She smacked her own head. "How could I have not seen that coming? How stupid of me!" Her angst was starting to make Harumi nervous.
Harumi shook her head. "I bet Xerky's gonna go home first once they lose. I mean, why would they get rid of one of their own? After Coins went down, no one else over there is really a common enemy. We're gonna have a tough numbers fight, but if we can win the next two or three challenges, we can go into the merge without any problem."
"We have to do that," Ardella said aggressively. "We need to keep winning challenges and stop anyone else from going home." She smiled for the first time since the reveal of Xerxes's betrayal. "I…I don't know what I'd do if I lost either of you two. I'm really happy you're both still around. Please don't leave me too." Wade's grin became rather sinister upon hearing those words.
Wade: "I'm in a situation where I need to keep Ardella exactly where she is," he explained. "That means I need to not let her become more mentally stable. That will mean that I need to make her pour her backstory out to me sooner rather than later and force her dependence on me even more. It also means Xerxes must remain in the game. The benefits of his existence far outweigh the drawbacks of having that threat around. Ardella can't improve, but she also cannot get worse to the point where she loses trust in all people." He sighed. "That means I'll need to make an effort to stop Harumi from being entirely loyal. Perhaps Yuri is my solution to that."
Ardella: "Xerxes is still here," she seethed. "He betrayed this team, he forced us to vote off one of our own, and saved himself in the process! That fake idol is still around though. When we merge, I need to find Ike and Ushi. I'm going to get that thing and plant it on that metal-armed brat. I don't care what I have to sacrifice to get back at him. My team deserves to be avenged, and only I can do it."
Harumi yawned. "Well, it's gonna be a windy one tomorrow. I need to get some sleep. You two should make sure you're getting to sleep too." The weather girl got up and decided to go to her tent, where she sat quietly for a bit.
The Japanese teen pulled out a book and began to read a little bit. "I wonder when I should tell Yur that I read…" she said quietly to herself. "It might be a little too soon to leave The Della's side right now."
Back by Yuri's tent, Ochain and Dante were waiting for things to die down. "You need to be more careful," Dante warned her. "Things are going to get really bad for them if you keep doing that. Aren't you protecting her?"
"Um, duh," Ochain shot back angrily. "For a cutie-pie like yourself, you don't catch on very quickly, do you?" She giggled, dropping all of her anger. "My job is to take the hits Yuri can't, not to be her like, forever shield. Yuri's not gonna be in any risk of taking hits, so I can do what I want now." She grabbed onto Dante's arm.
The harbinger hesitated, trying to pull his arm away from Ochain. "Hey, w-what are you doing?" Despite Dante's solid defensive abilities, he couldn't pull away from Ochain at all. "Come on, l-let go!"
Ochain giggled with a flirty look on her face. "Are you really gonna stop me? I did what you asked, and I got Yuri safely back! Now I get to do what I want! How about you-" Ochain stopped mid-sentence. Something about them had totally shifted.
Ochain's seductive look suddenly vanished. It was clear the dazzling nymph was no longer around. Yuri glanced at the killer grip they had on Dante's arm. The harsh realization suddenly crashed into them like a truck. "Oh no…no, no, no, no, no…Dante…" they whipped their arm back to their side. "Dante, I'm, I'm so sorry!"
Dante hesitated as he took some steps back away from the bookworm. "Yuri? Is that…are you back?"
Yuri looked relatively quiet. "What…Ochain was out, wasn't she?" Dante nodded, like he didn't want to admit that to them. "Dante, you weren't meant to see her…I'm sorry, I tried to keep myself under control, but…the fight and all…" they shook their head. "Are you okay?"
The harbinger took a second to process everything that had happened in the past few hours. "I don't know," he admitted. "It's been a really weird few hours with…I mean…why didn't you tell me? I wasn't going to judge you."
"How do you tell someone that?" Yuri responded bluntly. "It's not easy for me to tell people, 'oh, hey, my deep-rooted trauma response involves disappearing and letting Ochain take over'." They sighed. "I imagine it was you who voted for me." Dante silently nodded, like he was ashamed of what had happened. "That's okay, I'm sure she was a big problem for you. I'm…I'm going to be okay now. What can I do to make you feel better? I feel awful for dragging you into this."
Dante seemed to not want to make his request, but he definitely had one in his head. "I…I have something that would make me feel much better about all of this, but I really don't want to ask you to do it," he outright admitted.
Yuri hesitated, trying to imagine what someone as timid as Dante would think is 'too far'. They shook their head. "That's okay. I didn't mean to put you in this situation, so please, let me help you out."
"Are you sure?" Dante asked, trying to justify what he was about to ask. Yuri nodded. "Fine…I want you to introduce Ochain to the rest of the team. I think that would be for the best, but I also don't think I know enough to be the one to help."
The bookworm grimaced at the thought of doing that. "I…I can't do that. Dante, she's not like me. She's- she's hostile, belligerent, masochistic…she'd be a nightmare to have around. Based on the current mood, I take it we have enough of those already." They sighed. "Sorry, what actually happened? I have bits and pieces, but I don't remember everything."
"Xerxes used a team-swap idol," Dante explained. "Zena got the second most amount of votes, and you weren't in the bottom two, so if I voted for you, Zena got at least two votes. Xerxes almost definitely voted for Ardella."
"Then that's solved, at least," Yuri confirmed. "Obviously Wade was one. He wouldn't have set that snare on Xerxes without the knowledge that it would get a big threat out. The other one…maybe it was Ochain. Despite all of her poor behaviors, she is designed to protect me. Maybe the incident with Trinity was enough for her to take action." They sighed. "But, I still can't do that. Ochain is a big problem, and she's my problem. I'm sorry I dragged you into it, but I don't want to put anyone else in danger."
Dante shook his head. "Yuri, people here want to help. Harumi would absolutely help you, and once Ardella's calmed down, she'd be totally willing to as well. I'm not sure about Wade, but we aren't your enemies here. We're not going to be in danger. I'll leave it up to you, but you should do whatever you think is the thing that will give you the most help."
Yuri peeked outside to see what the environment was like. Ardella was staring right into the fire, a sullen look on her face. Harumi was nowhere to be seen, likely inside her tent. Meanwhile, Wade was asleep on the ground, passed out from the past few hours and the nights he had spent awake, watching Ushi. This was the perfect time. "Okay," the bookworm said apprehensively. "Now's as good a time as any."
Yuri: "Things became way more complicated now," they lamented. "But maybe Dante's right. I have to put my trust in these people. I know they're all here to play the game and win, but they're not evil. At least Harumi isn't."
Dante guided Yuri back out to the middle of the site. "Ardella," Yuri said nervously, trying not to provoke the girl. "I was hoping I could share something with you. I don't want there to be any secrets." The harbinger put a supportive hand on Yuri's shoulder. "Harumi, you too, if you're around."
The weather girl popped out from her tent. "Whatcha need, Yur?" she asked with a bubbly demeanor. Harumi's efforts to keep up the team morale were draining her, but she was still doing a great job.
"I wanted to see if you noticed anything odd about me after I ran away." Ardella shook her head. It was clear her mind was somewhere else. Harumi put a hand to her chin, and eventually nodded. "Thought so. Look, you just need to promise that no matter what, you cannot share this with Wade or any of the Falcons. I don't have enough trust with them yet."
Yuri shut their eyes for a second, meditating quietly. When she opened them, the glossy look was gone. "Huh?" Ochain asked, almost shocked to have control handed over. "Already? Did they panic that quickly?" Yuri's calm demeanor was gone, and Ochain's more bright personality quickly took over the cave.
"Yur, you good?" Harumi asked innocently.
Ochain snapped her neck over to Harumi. "Oh, my, gosh! You're the cutest!" She ran over and grabbed Harumi's hand with both of hers. "You're so pretty! Not as pretty as Dante, but you're close! He's not letting me do anything, what're you up to later?"
Harumi hesitated for a second. "Oh, I have a- I kind of have a- Zena and me are-" she shrugged. "I don't know what we are yet but we're something!"
"Lotta hesitation there!" Ochain teased. Dante let out a loud cough and cleared his throat. "Okay, geez. Hi, I'm Ochain, I'm Yuri's alter that they keep locked up inside their head until things get dicey." She winked at Ardella. "Thanks for that, by the way, I thought I'd never be out!"
Dante stepped in to clarify things. "Ochain's not the same as Yuri, but she's still looking out for them. We want you both to keep this a secret from Wade and the Falcons, per Yuri's request." The harbinger noticed that his stutter was gone as he stepped into this protective role. "I asked Yuri to introduce Ochain to all of you because I think we can help."
"What can you do?" Ardella asked aggressively to Ochain. "How good are you at killing bird handlers? Can you fight? Are there other alters we should know of?"
Ochain giggled. "From the little bit I saw of you yesterday, I can fight way better than you! And, no, it's just the two of us. I'm the whole freakin' package, so really, it's just me. I take the hits Yuri can't, and love it. Plain and simple." She looked over at Dante. "Good enough, 'dad'?" The word 'dad' was used very mockingly.
"That is good," Dante said gratefully. "Ochain, thanks for doing this. I know it wasn't easy for you or Yuri to do this." The comment of genuine gratitude seemed to hit Ochain like a truck. Dante sensed that she was about to chase after him. "Yuri, if you're there, we finished!"
Somehow, Dante's gamble paid off. Ochain froze, and Yuri returned. "Oh…did we finish?" they asked nervously. Harumi and Ardella both looked pretty surprised at the reveal. "And, Harumi, I'm super sorry, but I believe Ochain voted for Zena last night because of the Trinity incident."
Ardella perked up at that information being exposed, but Harumi shrugged it off. "I get it, Ochi was probably looking out for you. I can't really stop her. But, there was one more vote. Maybe Xerky really did lie." She sighed. "I thought he was better than that."
Harumi: "Yur shared something really personal with us," she explained, "and The Della looked pissed that Ochi voted for Zena. I don't wanna get on her bad side, so I think I have to keep making her think Xerky is the enemy. Sorry, Xerky. I actually think Spooky Man voted for Zena too, but I have no way of knowing that just yet."
Harumi glanced down at the blue-haired boy, fast asleep on the ground and unaware of the spectacle that just happened. "Well, someone's gotta get Spooky Man to bed, if we leave him out here he'll freeze or something." Dante begrudgingly agreed to help lift up the legs, but the blare of the speakers in the cave echoed around and startled both of the Snakes. "No way," the weather girl said ominously.
"Yes way, Harumi!" Chris announced over the speakers. "You can all sleep when you're dead, because tonight we have a challenge! You have half an hour to get down to the beach and report for the challenge! Anyone who's not there in time won't be able to participate."
Luckily for the Buried Snakes, the harsh sounds of the speakers was enough to wake Wade up. "Ah, that is…unfortunate timing," he lamented as he struggled to lift himself off of the ground. "Perhaps back-to-back nights of scanning for evil activity was a mistake."
Unlike them, the one person who was out of commission before was now up and ready. "We can do this, team!" Ardella said confidently. Her tone was not quite back to being pleasant, it was way more vengeful than before. "Let's grab that traitor by the throat and put him in the dirt!"
Dante: "This is a worrying challenge," he admitted. "The team is still getting used to Ochain, who could come out at any point during a challenge now that Yuri can't hold her back as much. Wade is pretty much Ushi now with how little they have slept, and Ardella isn't quite ready to be in this game again." He smiled nervously. "Maybe Harumi and I can get a win?" He sighed. "Who am I kidding…"
Way back up with the Soaring Falcons in the Sky Zone, there was a very different reaction to the challenge. "You can all sleep when you're dead, because tonight we have a challenge! You have half an hour to get down to the beach and report for the challenge! Anyone who's not there in time won't be able to participate."
"Guess Harumi complained," Xerxes commented. "That means she's still here, not that we thought she wouldn't be. Any final guesses? I'm still thinking, and hoping, that it was Ardella."
"Nah, I think it'll be a weird one," Ike guessed playfully. "Hm…I'll go with Yuri. Maybe they couldn't make enough friends in time or something." He glanced over to his alliance partner. "Ushi? Who do you think?"
Ushi was not paying attention to the rest of the team chatter. "Yes!" they cheered excitedly. "I made it long enough for a night challenge! We've won this already!" Nearby, a mischievous grin emerged on Caia's face.
Caia: "This is perfect!" Caia said with an evil laugh. "Ushi's officially outstayed their welcome after this, so it doesn't matter how this goes. If we lose, they're gone, because this is what they're here for. If we win, we get rid of Ushi next anyway, since there's not gonna be another night challenge. Without Ushi around, taking out Ike will be a cinch!"
Ushi: "I was so worried about being the first one voted off," they said wearily. "But, it's time to show my team why I'm here. I'll carry them to victory." They put a hand to their chin. "Still, I am very interested to see who left. I think whoever Wade picked will be gone."
Oscar: Even the fighter had an excited look. "A challenge where I don't gotta carry Ush around? And they get to help? We won, right? How could we possibly lose?"
The Falcons were the first to arrive at the beach. Without Ushi to carry, there was no issue making the trip down. "And, I've still never seen this place while the sun is up," Ushi commented as they walked in. "I suppose I haven't seen most places though."
At that moment, they all saw the Buried Snakes emerging from the jungle. "No way…" Xerxes muttered to himself.
"Soaring Falcons, you're getting your first look at the new Buried Snakes," Chris told them. "Xerxes swapped over to your team, as you're all aware, and Zena voted out at the elimination ceremony. The team-swap idol has been played and is no longer available to use."
Xerxes: "Did Wade really vote for Zena? But I voted for Ardella, maybe Ardella bested her in a tiebreaker? Whatever. I have a good feeling that we'll win this. Their most locked-in people right now are Harumi and Dante."
The Falcons could see the bitter aftermath all over the faces of the Snakes. Dante looked freakishly nervous, Yuri looked equally on edge. Harumi had a nervous grin on her face, trying to look confident for the other team, and Wade was struggling to stay awake. The worst one of all was Ardella, who hadn't stopped staring at Xerxes since she arrived. "Zena was the last guess we had," Ushi commented.
Caia raised an eyebrow at the decision the Snakes made as well. "Yeah, I wonder why they thought it was smart to drop their strongest person, but there's no way we lose now."
Chris got everyone's attention again. "Soaring Falcons, Buried Snakes, your first three challenges have been individual. You have competed with your team, but not really against the other one. Tonight, that changes. To get immunity, your team needs to win three of the five mini-challenges that happen."
"And…what mini-challenges are those?" Yuri asked cautiously.
"You'll be selecting them yourselves!" the host announced. "Everyone on your team creates one challenge and it'll be put into a selector. Five of those challenges will be selected at random, and you'll compete to see who wins the most out of five! That could mean the challenge ends after the third or fourth mini-challenge instead if a team has the necessary wins." He looked over to the Soaring Falcons. "Falcons, you'll have a slight advantage since you can pick six challenges, but you will only be able to use five people at a maximum."
Ushi grinned upon hearing that. "I've got a plan that'll get us this win no problem," they shared quietly to the team. "But I need everyone on board with it."
Chris held up one hand. "You'll have only five minutes to decide what your challenge selections are, so make sure you pick something you can win, and also something other members on your team can win! Have fun strategizing!" Ardella smirked devilishly as she thought of a challenge.
Ardella: "There's a clear path to winning this challenge," she said with an evil smirk. "I can easily take down Xerxes by making a fist fight my challenge. Now that I know his right arm is metal, I simply need to snap his left."
The Snakes began running their quick meeting, which was being led by Harumi of all people. "Um, okay, so we need five challenges," she told the other four. "Obviously I'm gonna pick something like predicting the weather. I think Silent Treatment thinks I was lying about that so they might send her. She doesn't seem to be a giant threat though."
"On the contrary," Wade insisted groggily. "I believe it was her who set up the plan for that coin girl…I am picking hide and seek to allow me to sleep longer." And with that, Wade was out like a light again.
"That doesn't matter," Ardella said with a scoff. "We need physical challenges that we can put them in the dirt with. I want to fight Xerxes again."
Yuri shook their head. "We have to think clearly here. Harumi is on the right track, picking something none of them could win at. Which is why I want to do a speed-reading challenge. Other than maybe Vi, I don't think any of them could best me at that."
"One fight might be okay," Harumi offered. "If we can get challenges that bait out the likes of Red or Xerky, then we can do one. It just means we need to hold off on using The Della until we're ready to." Yuri seemed surprised to see Harumi use a tactical mind that well.
Yuri: "I had always passed Harumi off as a ditz," they admitted, "but with Ardella unusable right now, she's stepped up big time. She might not be as annoying of a person as I thought."
"That leaves me I think…" Dante muttered. "Um, I think I have a good one for me, and it's something everyone could do. I want to do a coin flip. If I'm cursed, it'll make the person closest to me lose, and that'll be whoever I go against, right?"
"Lucky, I thought you weren't cursed though," Harumi reminded him. "I thought that was debunked. But, hey, if it means that we can get a free win, I'm all for it, plus, it could be a good safe challenge to send someone who might be super sleepy." They all glanced down at Wade.
Yuri got out a piece of paper. "Okay, so final checks, our challenges we're picking are speed-reading, weather predicting, a fist fight…" They shuddered at that. "A coin flip, and hide and seek. Any final changes?" No one said anything. "I'll hand this in to Chris then."
The Falcons were a much different story. Instead of pulling teeth for challenge ideas, people were bouncing off the walls, spewing off different ideas. "Oh, how 'bouta lil' fen-see compee?" Oscar suggested. Even Vi was unable to decipher that one, to the point where the fighter sighed. "Fencing competition," he clarified, much less enthusiastically.
"Do you believe that will be something that will go well for you?" Vi asked innocently, hiding any hint that she knew Oscar's abilities.
"Oh fo shozzle," Oscar replied eagerly. "I did a lil' clubskaroony back in the brick wallas." He laughed. "Nunya them could gemme. They had Zena, but no Zena means no losin'."
Ushi nodded. "A physical competition or two could be advantageous. Now, I have a plan that will get us a certain win," they explained. "This has two parts. First, we need insurance. If a Snake challenge gets picked first, we need something on our list that can be picked and done by anyone in case the ideal participant has gone already. The best thought? Rock-paper-scissors."
"That sounds risky," Xerxes countered. "I see your point, but picking something totally luck-based feels like a shot in the foot. If we lose that, we run the risk of the Snakes getting all of their challenges and winning."
"Not if we throw them off," Ushi retorted. "Xerxes, you're going to be integral for that. I'm selecting a race through the jungle for my challenge. If it's picked, you need to act like you're going up. That will lock Ardella in, and we can swap out at the last second."
Ike snickered. "Look at you go, I love that. We can easily win if Ardella goes into a losing battle. After her, no one else on that team is a threat. But, to do your rock-paper-scissors plan, we need someone who's willing to sacrifice their challenge pick."
"I want you to do that," Caia interjected, earning a stern reaction from the bargainer. "You like deals, right? I have one for you." Ike's anger dissipated instantly, and the false apathetic had earned his respect again. "I would like to do a staring contest. It's a challenge I will win without a doubt. Your skills are more diplomatic than anything, so if you choose to use your challenge slot for the luck game, I will participate in it if it is selected."
Ushi seemed shocked to hear a selfless act from Caia. "You understand that means if a staring contest is picked after that, we're going to lose. Someone like Yuri or Wade will certainly beat any of us in a staring contest."
Ike held his hand up, stopping Ushi. "I like your offer," Ike said excitedly. "I'm honestly shocked to see you make a deal with me, but I welcome that for sure. I want to amend the deal. You participate if rock-paper-scissors is selected. But, you have to beat me in a best-of-one right now. I want to see if you can really do it."
"Fair enough," Caia mentioned. "But, everyone else should solidify your challenges with Ushi, we are running out of time." Ushi began to write down the other selected challenges. While that was happening, Caia faced Ike with her typical mundane expression. "I'm selecting paper," she boldly said.
The bargainer froze for a second. All of the sudden, Caia had turned this from a luck-based game to a mind game. "Clever," Ike said with a grin. "But don't think a trick like that will work on me." The false apathetic rolled her eyes. "Here we go. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"
Ike had put out paper.
Caia had also put out paper, as she promised. "No good," she defended. "We will try again. I'm putting paper out again."
The bargainer rolled his eyes. "Mhm. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"
Ike threw out rock this time.
Caia, without flinching, put paper out again. "You believed that I would lie the second time, because you played safe the first time."
The team was silent. Caia had been at the bottom of the barrel for days, but she earned that win. Ike couldn't help but laugh. "Wow, you got me!" he said. "Honestly, after what you tried the first round, I was gonna go for the deal anyway. Even if that play didn't work on me, it'll beat any of them." He nodded. "Ushi, put me down to gamble."
Ushi nodded. "Okay, so we have six challenges selected. Oscar wants fencing, I want the jungle parkour race, Ike wants rock-paper-scissors, Caia gets her staring contest, Vi picked an eating contest, and Xerxes picked weight lifting, which if it gets picked and Ardella has gone, we can use him for." They grinned. "We're not losing. If they ever get to two points and I haven't gone yet, let me play. I can get us a free point."
"Awfully confident, are you not?" Vi asked. "You have proven your skills, but to claim victory regardless of the activity…if feels brazen. Insolent, even."
Ushi smirked. "I told you all on day one that I could carry this team on my back for a night challenge. I'll handle selections for everything once we get going. I just need you to trust me on this one."
"So be it," Caia agreed. "Let's see what you can actually do. I have one request to adjust rock-paper-scissors though." She whispered her request into Ushi's ear.
Caia: "I mindgamed Ike and won in that little test," she bragged with the cockiest grin yet on her face. "Imagine what I'll do to someone as pissed off as Ardella, or someone as dumb as Harumi." She laughed. "Wade's probably the only one I can't read perfectly, but the odds I face him are next to nothing." She smirked. "I mean, come on, no one's perfect! I'm pretty close, but no one's perfect."
Xerxes: "It feels so good to be on a team that's playing the game," he admitted. "Caia is not trusted by anyone clearly, Oscar's just as shifty, and the whole plan Ushi devised was based on preying on the weaknesses I gave them." He sighed in relief. "No more team-building. No more unusual niceties. No more 'where are you from' games. I'm finally on a team where everyone wants to win." He smirked. "Game on."
Chris read through the two papers with eleven selected challenges. "Okay, first of all, thank you all for submitting challenges we're able to make happen. Couple of things now that everything's selected." He turned on the movable monitor to have a list of everyone's name on the sides. "We'll be keeping track of who's competing, which will be done by hitting a button near the monitor to lock yourself in for a competition. Once that button's been hit, there's no going back. It also stops people from doing more than one challenge. Everyone ready?"
Seeing no other questions, Chris nodded. "Okay, here we go, Chef, randomize that first result!" Nearby, Chef was running things on a small control panel that sat in his lap. He hit a few buttons, and the first challenge appeared on the screen:
WEATHER PREDICTION: Players will guess the wind speed an hour from now. Closest number without going over will win the point. A new game is selected if both fail to earn a point.
"First challenge is a selection from the Buried Snakes!" Chris announced. "So, each team has one minute to send someone up and lock themselves- oh."
Before there was even a chance for Chris to finish, Harumi had rushed up and locked in herself for her team. "Yeah! Let's do this!" She glanced over at the Soaring Falcons with an eager look. "Silent Treatment, you coming?"
The Falcons looked stunned. The clock was ticking down. "This is a lost cause if your info's right," Ushi told Xerxes. "Ike, that means this is you, since your challenge can be done by anyone and will be done by Caia if it gets picked anyway."
"Holy macarolly," Oscar complained. "We did not just spend alla that time gassin' our tanks and now we're gonna explode or somethin'."
"We should have been ready for the Snakes to select equally endangering challenges to us," Vi admitted. "But I believe we have the upper hand on this one still."
Ike stepped forward and locked his name in too. Both names disappeared from the list. "Okay," Chris told the two participants. "The wind is currently moving at 24 kilometers per hour. In one hour, what will that wind speed be?"
Harumi thought for a second and started looking around at the sky. "Oh, it's gonna go up for sure. It'll be a nice even 30." She wrote the number down and handed it to Chris.
Ike laughed. "I knew you'd be over-confident on this one." He wrote down his answer. "Never answer a guessing game first. I pick 31."
Ike: "Always go one over. In a scenario where it's closest without going over, Harumi is either too high or not closer than me." He sighed. "I'm taking down the weather girl without any issue. Who else will be able to get their team a point? Dante?"
Chris looked at the two papers and put them in his pocket. "Okay, cool. We're not sitting here an hour doing nothing to find out which one of you two gets the point, so we'll check in an hour later and see. Both of you are still done and can't participate anymore." He pointed to Chef. "Give us our second challenge!"
Chef complied, hitting the next button to randomize the list, and the next result popped up, getting some interesting responses.
FENCING: Players will be given one (1) epee. Players will participate in a best-of-three bouts. The first to earn two (2) points will win the team point.
"Teams, pick your best fencer and send them forward! This challenge was suggested by the Soaring Falcons!"
Harumi and Dante were shocked to see that. "It's very eloquently written," Dante mentioned. "Do you think that Vi's a fencer?"
The weather girl shook her head. "Maybe she just wrote them all, but the only person who can fight is The Della. We need someone else to come in fast." She looked at Yuri. "Yuri! Could um, one of you, fence? Is Ochain good at that?"
Yuri fervently shook their head. "I am not doing any such thing. Ochain wouldn't even be that good at something as structured as fencing."
Rude.
Yuri rolled their eyes at the comment from inside their head. Harumi nervously glanced around. "We need someone for this fast." She watched as Oscar stepped forward and locked himself in with an eager grin. "Oh, no, no, no…Spooky Man!"
The weather girl shook Wade awake. "Ah, am I needed?" he asked groggily.
"Sort of," Yuri ordered. "You're fencing against Oscar. This isn't a point we can win. Ardella won't compete against anyone unless it's Xerxes, and even if he doesn't participate, we can force draft her into the final round."
"Good enough," Wade agreed, shaking himself awake. "I will attempt to vanquish that Falcon regardless. Today I will quite literally be Lady Ardella's sword." Wade stepped forward and locked himself in as well. Both names disappeared from the team lists, just like before.
A mat was rolled out with proper lines for a fencing match. Oscar seemed to know exactly where to go, while Wade waited for a second and copied the fighter's movements. Oscar put on a black fencing suit, and mask, while Wade wore a blue one.
Chef stepped forward to mediate the competition as they took their starting position. Oscar saluted to the satanist, and Wade returned the action. "En garde!" Chef announced. Oscar took a very familiar position that showed he was confident, even without his face being visible. Wade got ready in a way that showed he had not done this before. "Ready?" Small nods came from each competitor. "Fence!"
Wade stood still for only a second, hoping to try and read a move from the fighter, but Oscar's movement caught even the satanist off-guard. He rushed forward with a jab that was with lightning speed, which got the attention of everyone. The light on Wade's suit activated instantly, earning Oscar the first point.
"Point for Oscar!" Chef announced, while Wade looked slightly stunned.
Wade: No longer in his fencing outfit, the satanist held a hand to his head. "I figured in my sleep-deprived state, I would need to forfeit the first point to learn my opponent's actions and act against them, but I learned nothing from that." He shook his head. "Oscar is a seriously unchecked threat. This may need to be my next project, after I figure out whatever's up with Yuri."
Oscar and Wade took the field again, Oscar looking far more confident than before. Wade threw on the suit's mask, deciding what he needed to do to secure this point. "En garde!" Chef called out again. Both fencers took their positions. "Ready?" Small nods from both again. "Fence!"
This time, Oscar waited to see if Wade would do anything different. Wade this time flicked his epee around to a back-handed hold and swung at Oscar like it was a proper sword. Chef instantly noticed and began to try and say something about it.
Before Chef had a chance to say anything, Oscar swung downward with his epee, and disarmed Wade without so much as a hesitation. Wade's epee flew behind him, and Oscar, with only one arm, pointed forward, where Wade's suit lit up instantly again. "Woah, didn't even have time for a penalty call on that one," Chef admitted. "Point to Oscar, which means the Soaring Falcons win the point."
"Oscar wins!" Chris reiterated. "The Falcons now lead one-zip, but the minigame between Harumi and Ike still needs to be checked. We'll find out what happens there after a few more rounds. If Ike wins that round, that means we are at two-nothing Falcons, if Harumi wins, it's tied at one all."
Harumi: "Um, I'm pretty sure I won," the weather girl bragged. "I haven't missed a weather prediction in like, six years. Well, unless you count the April Fool's Day where I got them wrong on purpose."
Everyone's eyes went back up to the monitor to see what challenge was being picked next. The result flashed on the board to again, mixed reactions.
JUNGLE PARKOUR RACE: Players will race through an obstacle course in the thickest part of the jungle. The first person to make it to the finish line while staying on the course wins the point.
Ushi smirked. "Xerxes, it's time to run that plan."
"If this blows up in our face, we're totally screwed," he reminded them. "Plus, they might send her anyway. It's not like Yuri or Dante can do that race."
Yuri looked relatively concerned by the challenge selection. "Ardella, we need you for this one," they pleaded. "Dante and I can't do it. That's not a challenge we can win."
The protective leader shook her head. "I refuse. If that traitor Xerxes wants to race, I'll race, but I'm not competing against anyone else. We can forfeit the point."
"No we can't," Dante reasoned. "If Ike wins, which he has a solid chance of just based on how guessing games work, we lose. This is our last chance to get on the board."
As the Snakes continued to try and convince Ardella to participate, Xerxes sighed. "Okay, I'm hoping this goes okay. If I end up accidentally getting picked and I lose my arm in the jungle, you're buying me a new one."
As Yuri, Harumi, and Dante pleaded for Ardella to do a physical challenge, things came to a screeching halt as Xerxes approached the button. "I'm in," the protective leader declared, marching up and slamming on the button before Xerxes had a chance to. Ardella had locked herself in.
"Huh, it worked," the falconer mused. "Okay, Ushi, you're up." Instead of locking himself in, Xerxes walked off from the button, and Ushi approached with an arrogant smirk on their face.
Ardella gasped as Ushi selected themselves and locked themselves in for the challenge. "No!" she seethed. "I'm supposed to be fighting Xerxes! You're not even supposed to be here! You should have been voted off on the first day!"
"That's the difference between you and me," Ushi commented. "I know how to move past a singular loss." Both names vanished from the monitor, and Ushi and Ardella were locked into the challenge.
"Alright!" Chris called out, stopping things from getting any worse. "We're going on a field trip for this one! In case this challenge was picked, we have a course ready to go in the jungle, so follow us, and we all can watch and see who wins."
Ardella: "Those Falcons!" she sneered. "I can't believe Ushi did that! They're all awful!" She slammed her fist into the wall, and it chipped off a bit of the confessional wall. The protective leader paused. "...Maybe I need to focus in. I'm not going to avenge Zena like this. I have to use my head. Get them where I want them. Then once I do that…then I'll crush them all."
Everyone moved over to the jungle to watch the race. Ardella had a gritty look of determination on her face, certain that she wasn't going to lose. Ushi looked as relaxed as ever, unfazed by the Snakes sending up their strongest opponent. "First one to the end of the course will win this point!" Chris told them. "It's a brutal race through the densest part of Diairesi Jungle, about three times as thick as what you dealt with on the first day. Ready…go!"
The two were off instantly. Ardella was fast, not hesitating upon reaching the more dense part of the woods. Most small sticks and twigs she shrugged off without even feeling them, but there were definitely some grunts upon hitting some larger items. Ushi, on the other hand, looked like they had been doing this their entire life. "Woah, big one," they joked as they grabbed onto a giant branch and swung on it to gain even more distance over the protective leader.
The Falcons looked almost in awe over what was going on. "This is their full potential, huh?" Oscar said quietly, not even able to lock in his odd dialect fast enough. One person did not look happy, and to no surprise, it was Caia.
Caia: "Ushi's gonna win this point," she complained. "I'm almost hoping for them to screw this up, because if I sit around and lose whatever I do, and Ushi won this, I might not even be able to cook up a reasonable answer as to why they should all keep me." She groaned. "All these moving pieces to work with. I need a merge, but it's day four."
Ushi gained ground on the protective leader constantly, rushing around every single obstacle that got planted in their way. "They can't possibly be this good," Ardella complained, struggling to keep up. She was taking hit after hit, not letting it get to her at all. The sides of her sweater started to tear from the constant branch swipes, but she would not give up at all.
In the final stretch, Ushi noticed one thing that might be in their way. A huge tree that they were gaining momentum at way too fast. "Unlucky. Gonna have to drop back to the ground," they lamented. Ushi lost all speed for a second as they slid down the tree, and Ardella finally caught up. With not a lot of time left, it was basically a footrace, with Ardella's existing momentum, it came down to be really close. "Ardella's brute forcing her way through this!" Chris announced. "Ushi is unscathed but needs this last speed boost!" Ushi gritted their teeth and pushed forward. "The winner of the challenge is…"
Ushi slid into the finish area first by a few seconds. "Ushi wins it!" Chris announced. "The Soaring Falcons have earned their second point! But, an hour has passed as well. Let's move right over and check in on the first minigame."
People began to move back to the beach, but Ardella remained behind. The girl fell to the ground again, completely distraught. "I can't…lose…again…"
Ardella: "I can't handle another loss," she cried out. I know that when something's in my way, I need to move it. I have to stop negotiating, I need to stop acting like I can solve things peacefully. I'm my own sword, and there's still time to cut down the Falcons."
Ike and Harumi approached the monitor. "Okay," Chris said to the two participants in the first minigame. "We have the current wind speed, read exactly an hour from the first reading. Harumi guessed 30, and Ike guessed 31. Based on the rules of this challenge, if the number is anything but 30, Ike wins. If the number is less than thirty, we will call it a draw, and Harumi will play again at the end against whoever the Falcons have not picked if we need to."
Ike looked very satisfied with his position, while Harumi looked even more safe. The weather girl, who was normally bubbly, looked determined for once. "The current wind speed," Chris read. "Is…30 kilometers per hour!" Ike's jaw dropped. "Harumi, with an exact guess, keeps the Snakes alive. It is now two-one, Soaring Falcons. Let's get ready for the next one!" Harumi barely looked surprised that she was right, almost as if she was expecting it.
Everyone watched anxiously as the monitor generated the next challenge. The Snakes all looked especially nervous, knowing that this could be the challenge that makes them lose again. A bunch of relieved sighs came out as the challenge appeared.
SPEED READING: Players will read a short story Chef has written. You have thirty seconds to read as much as you can before getting asked questions about the story.
"And the Snakes have a comeback approaching!" Chris announced. "Another Snake-selected challenge gives them an extra edge to try and tie this game up for the first time. Pick your people, and we'll get started!"
"They got another challenge they picked," Ushi griped. "We still need the best person we can send to play, it'll be too close for comfort otherwise." They looked around. "Who would we say is our smartest person here?"
Xerxes shrugged. "If I had to guess, it's the ones who conjured up our deal yesterday." He sighed. "But you and Ike are out. That leaves one person on the team who would do well in this." He looked to Vi. "That's you."
The farmer looked surprised to hear that. "Oh? Me? I suppose I could give it a try. I am not an extraordinarily fast reader, but I have scanned my share of legal documents, this challenge is not something I will utterly fail at."
Vi: "Of course, my reading education only started a few years ago," she explained. "When you spend all day farming potatoes, there is not much need for anything academic. I believe Ushi would have done well in this challenge, even more than me. But, I have to do the best job I can."
The Falcons looked over to see that Yuri had already locked themselves in. "Here it goes," Vi lamented as she locked herself in for the challenge as well. Yuri and Vi's names had also disappeared, leaving only Dante's name for the Snakes, and Xerxes and Caia's names for the Falcons.
Yuri looked extremely confident for the first time in the game, like they finally had the one thing that would keep them safe. Chris handed out the two sets of papers. "You'll each flip it over when I say go, and then you'll read until I say stop. After that, I'm asking three questions." Both contestants nodded. "Ready…go!"
Both teens began reading as fast as they could. Vi looked very intense as she read through everything, moving with as much speed as she could, while Yuri looked almost bored during the very small window. Before they knew it, the buzzer rang. "Time's up!" Chris called out. "Flip the papers back over!"
Chris collected the papers from the two. "You will be asked one question at a time. First person to ring in can try and guess the answer first. If you mess up, that also costs you point, so don't just guess." Both Vi and Yuri nodded in agreement as a buzzer was placed in front of them. "Okay! First up! What trap was the blonde girl captured in?"
Yuri instantly rang in, before Vi even had a chance. "A large metal cage," they explained. "You described it as something that could capture a large dog." Chef looked impressed by Yuri's thorough answer despite how little time they had to read it.
"That's correct," Chris told them. "Snakes have the advantage now. Vi needs both of these questions to have a shot at winning this one." He flipped to the next card. "What animal did the investigation group name themselves after?"
Vi was quick enough on the buzzer to beat Yuri out this time. "A pig," she said definitively. "My apologies, I do not have any extra information to put alongside that response."
Chris shrugged. "Eh, I wasn't looking for any. Vi grabs the point. That means this minigame can go to either one of you if you can answer this question." He flipped to the last card. "What was the scientist's favorite color?"
Vi looked stumped by that question entirely, which Yuri wasted no time to even observe. They buzzed in and plainly answered, "Hazel."
"Yuri gets it right again!" Chris announced. "That means that Yuri wins this minigame and gets both teams to two points. We have one more challenge, and it'll come down to Dante and either Xerxes or Caia." Yuri sighed in relief.
Yuri: "Getting one challenge win was all I needed," they explained. "I solidified my position on the team, so that while Ardella is not in her right mindset, I might slip out of her view."
Ushi: "This strategy is not working out," they complained. "I did my part, got unlucky, and still won. If the final challenge is luck-based or a Snake challenge, we could be in big trouble. I'm honestly hoping that Xerxes's weight challenge gets picked. We can beat Dante at that."
Everyone looked desperately at the final monitor selection. Dante especially looked anxious, as he knew this was a challenge he had to do. "Okay, one more minigame to go!" Chris said. "Winner of this one wins the challenge for their team!" Silence pierced the air as the monitor picked the final minigame.
ROCK-PAPER-SCISSORS: Players will compete in the standard luck-based game of rock-paper-scissors. This will be a best of seven, and participants will be behind a curtain for the challenge.
Caia smirked. Her adjustment had made it through. "Well, nothing for it," she said dully as she looked at the team, Ike specifically. "I spoke too soon. I truly didn't think it would come to this. Wish me luck." With her emotionless joke delivered, Caia stepped up and locked herself in for the final challenge.
Dante still looked worried about facing off against Caia. "Why is there a curtain?" he wondered. Still, the harbinger looked confident enough to walk up and lock himself in. Both names disappeared from the monitor, and then it switched screens to the scores for the round.
"A Falcon challenge is selected last, but it looks like this game will come down to luck! Both of you will step behind the curtain. Looks like the Falcons wanted this game to be secret. We'll still be watching and we'll still be keeping the score updated live for all of you."
Ike looked a bit confused. That wasn't part of his challenge suggestion. "What happened?" he asked Ushi to the side.
"Guess she wanted to keep that move a secret," Ushi decided. "We know what she's going to do in there anyway, she's gonna hold that poker face and just keep telling Dante what she's going to play and throw him off."
Caia and Dante followed Chris behind the curtain. "Just my luck," Caia lamented as she looked at Dante. "I told Ike there was no way his game would be picked. Now I have to play it. I'm not very good at this game."
Dante: "If Caia isn't good at this, maybe my combined curse and skill can stop her from winning! If she doesn't get it fast enough, I can win for my team. Maybe Harumi, Yuri, and I can stop the Falcons from getting whatever they want!"
Caia: Her cockiest smirk yet was on full display as she leaned back in the confessional. "I could win this the same way I beat Ike- safely. But, I put that curtain rule in, because I wanna have some fun! This is it- my ultimate mind game. Dante's gonna get so messed up by the best one on this island!"
Caia stared blankly at Dante the entire time. "Here's how this works, you two," Chris explained further to the actual participants. "You each will have a set of three cards. Place one face down once you've made your selection."
"That seems simple enough," Caia mentioned, a bored expression sitting on her face. "I will select paper first."
Dante looked shocked to hear that. "Um, Caia…I don't think you're supposed to-" he stopped himself. He still needed to win. "Okay, I'm picking this then." He picked his card and placed it face down.
"Reveal!" Chris ordered. Both contestants flipped their cards over. Caia had selected paper, and Dante had selected scissors. "Scissors cut paper! Dante wins point one!"
Outside, the monitor updated the scores of the two, showing Dante's first point. "Is she really blowing it?" Ike asked with a hand to his face. "She's so gone."
"His curse isn't real," Xerxes insisted. "There is still some luck element to this game. Caia is bound to lose one or two."
Back inside the playing area, Chris gestured to the two. "Okay, make your second picks!"
Caia shook her head. "I will have to select paper again."
Dante still sat quietly. He almost felt bad that she was going to lose four-nothing. "I'm picking this one." He placed his card down as well.
"Reveal!" Chris called out. Both of them again flipped their cards over, and Dante gasped. He had selected scissors again, but this time, Caia had put rock out. For the first time today, she lied about her selection. "Rock crushes scissors! Caia gets the next point!"
Dante still couldn't believe he had been tricked. "What's wrong?" Caia asked. The harbinger looked up. Caia did not have her usual deadpan expression. She had a giant smirk on her face, and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Aww, could you not tell I was lying? You can't believe anything. Did you really think I'd come in here and share my answers? You have to be dumb."
The false apathetic couldn't contain her laughter. "You're frozen in fear! Is this not the first time a dull person revealed themselves to be a devious schemer to you today?" Dante couldn't tell her how on the nose that was. "Okay, enough gloating…for now. Let's play."
Chris groaned. "Caia, I still call the shots on when a round starts. You know the deal. We're tied up, so you still need three more wins to get the full victory."
Caia looked at Dante. "I'm picking paper again." Her evil smirk was on full display now. Dante hesitated. He couldn't tell if she was lying or not at all. Regardless, she looked entirely confident that she'd win. Caia slid a card forward.
"I have to be smart about this…" he said quietly to himself. "She's probably picking that so…I need to play around it. At least be safe until I can figure it out." He slid a card forward too.
"Reveal!" Chris ordered again. The cards flipped over. Caia had selected paper. Dante picked rock this time. "Caia gets another point! Pick your next cards!"
The false apathetic was cackling. "You're losing, and you're probably getting eliminated too! You think Ardella's gonna keep around someone who lost to me? I'm picking paper again."
Despite her outlandish claim, it was hard to tell if she was lying. She had been truthful two times now. Dante hesitated, but picked a card. "Reveal!" Chris asked again. Caia flipped over paper, and Dante flipped over rock again. "Paper covers rock! Caia is now one win away from getting the point for the challenge and the whole day!"
The harbinger could hardly say anything at this point. "Game, set, match," Caia said with a smirk. "And if you tell anyone about today, they won't believe you. Harumi calls me Silent Treatment. She thinks I'm the worst. I am, but in a much worse way than you wanted." She pushed forward a card. "I am picking paper."
Dante sighed. She had told the truth three times now. She hadn't switched at all. But he finally realized something. "I can stay in this round," he said with a confident look. He pushed a card forward.
Dante: "I finally got it!" he said. "Caia's played the whole game centered around paper, and whether or not I'd beat it, or try and read that she'd counter it. Everything focuses around that. I need to try and keep myself alive. I know how to stop her."
Caia: "What fun! I have to remember to look like the stupid apathetic girl once that curtain goes up, but I got to blow off some steam! Once I finish riding the high of this awesome win, it's game over for anyone I want."
"Reveal!" Chris called out for the potentially final time. Both participants flipped their cards over.
For the first time, Dante had finally played paper himself.
And, for the first time, Caia had played scissors.
The harbinger's face fell. "You were desperate to stay alive, so I needed to stop you from forcing that tie," Caia explained. "This was a game about reading my opponent, and you were an open book." She smirked and stood up. "See you never, probably."
Outside, the monitor updated again, showing Caia's fourth point. "Well, she really did it," Vi mentioned. "Perhaps we are treating her too harshly. We need to congratulate her on helping us win."
Ike sneered. "Fine, only because I don't want to deal with the world's worst gloater. She can't even smile, you think she's one to brag?"
The curtain lifted, and Caia walked back with a triumphant aura to her team. Dante wandered back much more defeated. He couldn't even look at Ardella's face as he made it back. Yuri put a comforting hand on Dante's shoulder.
"Well, with Caia's win," Chris announced, "the Soaring Falcons have earned their third point for this challenge and won! They're safe from the elimination ceremony tonight and all have a one-in-ten chance at winning the two million bucks. Buried Snakes, I'll be seeing you again for your next elimination, where one of the five of you are heading home." The Snakes all looked relatively defeated.
Harumi: "Zena left last time," she said slowly. "I don't wanna be next. I need to stay with The Della and make sure that we can stick together. It'll be tough dealing with whoever leaves, but it'll be easier if we can vote off Yur, Ochi, or Lucky. Spooky Man is her favorite right now, he can't leave."
Yuri: "Dante seems off. Something happened to him, and I'm not going to get the answers I need by just talking to him. I might let Ochain figure that out for me. In the meantime. Wade needs to go. He was useless today, and caused the rift. I don't care what everyone else thinks. Xerxes was going to stay quiet. I wouldn't have had that episode without Wade instigating that fight."
The Snakes went back to their campsite with heavy heads. It looked like at first they might have won, but after Caia's brutal win in the final minigame, it was clear they were back on the losing side. "What do we do now?" Harumi asked everyone.
"I still don't want to vote for any of you," Ardella confessed to the weather girl. "But if that dirty traitor said I should have eliminated myself, I know he's wrong. We have to figure out who that will be. You're with me, right? You were before, I hope that's still the case." There was a look of intense desperation in Ardella's eyes.
Harumi hesitated. "Oh! Um, yeah. I was voting with Zena before, but she trusted you. I think I can do the same." She sighed. "So that leaves Spooky Man, Yur, and Lucky. Who were you thinking?"
"It can't be Wade," Ardella insisted. "He told us the truth yesterday. I want to honor that at least. Plus, I'd rather not be a candidate just for losing a challenge. I say we target Dante or Yuri. My guess is that they'll try and get your vote too. You need to tell them that they have it, and blindside them. The three of us have to stick together." Her words were getting more and more threatening.
"You mean, like, lie to them?" Harumi asked, very concerned about being assigned such a task. "I don't know…I don't like lying to others. Yur didn't do anything to deserve going home, and Lucky helped us figure things out at the beginning today. I think we would have been even worse off without him."
Ardella sighed. "Harumi, sometimes to get what you want, you need to get your hands dirty. What if Yuri and Dante are voting for you? If they convince one more person, you're gone. But they'd never tell you that. Do you think Ochain is going to be kind enough to tell you what she's up to?" Harumi looked especially conflicted.
Harumi: "So…I think I'm the swing vote," she said nervously. "But if I don't decide fast enough, I could risk the other four turning on me! Maybe if I talk to Yur, I can get them to agree to help me make a decision!"
Harumi wandered away from Ardella, hoping to get some space to think about her plan for the day. She instantly ran into Yuri, who was waiting for her. "Oh, hey, Yur," the weather girl said peacefully. "You did an awesome job today against Briefcase!"
"Thanks," Yuri said amicably, accepting the compliment. "I was surprised she got an answer before me, but I still got the point, not like it mattered." They sighed. "How has everyone else been?"
"Not great," Harumi reported. "The Della's not taking this loss well, especially since we know everyone tried their hardest. Lucky hasn't looked so great either. This is going to be a really hard vote for us. Yesterday was rough, but it was at least easy to decide."
Yuri grimaced. They remembered that Ochain voted instead. "About that," Yuri said cautiously. "I would like to ask you to vote Wade off for me." Harumi sounded surprised to hear that. "Xerxes may have thrown the last challenge, but Wade was the one who purposefully blew it out of proportion. I think it could do this team some good if we keep the others. I'm not sure what Wade offers at this point."
Harumi sighed. Both Ardella and Yuri were bringing up good points. "Spooky Man is super close to The Della though," she said quietly. "If she loses Spooky Man, I'm scared that she might go further off the deep end. I think she's gotten a little better today, but that means that we need to keep helping her."
"That sounds like you're voting for Dante then," Yuri confronted the weather girl. Harumi tried to hide it, but it was no good. "Then let me bring up this- Dante's really the only one who can consistently bring me back if Ochain takes over. I don't want him to go…I can't let him go."
That seemed to put a spike through Harumi. "Yur, this is a hard vote for me too. I don't know which way I'm going yet. There's no answer that keeps everyone happy. I wish there was, but I really don't think there is one. If I vote for Dante, you'll be mad at me, and if I vote for Spooky Man, The Della's gonna be mad at me. I haven't decided yet."
Something shifted in Yuri at that moment. It seemed like the threat of losing their only friend was enough to make them feel threatened. "Let me try it another way, then," Ochain spoke up, upset by Harumi's responses so far. "If you get rid of Dante, it'll piss off way more than Yuri. You're gonna piss me off too, and I can assure you that you aren't going to win." She laughed. "I almost feel good now that Zena's gone because of me. Oh, and by the way, Wade was the second vote. You're gonna leave her to-"
"That's enough, Ochain," Dante commented, walking up from behind her. The dazzling nymph gritted her teeth, but still obeyed. "Harumi, I would also like you to vote for Wade. I'm not asking you because it would save me, but I think Yuri needs help, and Ochain has her ways of helping, but they're not always the best. I like to think that somehow I can be the rest of their help."
"Don't speak for me," Ochain griped. "Harumi, you have an easy choice tonight- you can make Ardella upset more, which changes nothing, and you can keep my little toy around, and get a final three deal with us! Your other option is to send my toy home, and then watch as I follow right behind Xerxes and flip to the Falcons' side as soon as we merge. If you can't pick me off fast enough, I'll ruin this team even more."
Harumi looked scared now. "Ochi, I'm trying to make a good decision for me too. I already spoke to everyone I think I am, so I'm done. I'm going to take a quick nap before elimination." She walked off and went inside her tent, putting her hands on her face. "Now what do I do?"
Ochain: "Great, now poor little Yuri's scared my toy is gonna go home. But, that threat should be enough. Hopefully when Yuri takes over again they stick with it. Otherwise I'm gonna look like a giant fraud, which I'm so not."
Dante: "I'm scared Ochain went too far there," he admitted. "I think Yuri was on track to get her vote, but Harumi said something that definitely threw them off." He sighed. "I just hope they'll be okay if I leave. I'm really hoping I don't though."
Ochain walked off with a flair in her step, something totally unlike Yuri to do. That caught the attention of one Snake who was finally waking up from his nap. "Ah, Yuri!" Wade called out. Ochain froze. This was the one person she couldn't give herself away to. "I was hoping to have a chat with you about the vote. See, we're planning on removing Harumi before she turns to the dark side after the unfortunate incident with Zena."
"Cute lie," Ochain shot back, already annoyed with the blue-haired boy. She cleared her throat and corrected herself. "I mean…I don't think I believe you."
"There it is again," Wade mentioned. "You behaved oddly at Zena's elimination as well. I was under the impression you were not feeling well, but here the behavior is again."
Ochain sighed. "Wade, with all due respect, I don't trust you. I know you were responsible for Zena's removal, and now you're clinging to Ardella so she'll take you to the end. Hate to break it to you, but Xerxes got out while there was time. Now we're a sinking ship. If we can't win three challenges before a merge, we're going to be picked off one by one."
Wade laughed. "Awfully confident, aren't you? That's not like you. Where's the timid bookworm? I feel as though you are leaving me out of something."
"It'll stay that way if you keep being nosy," Ochain replied angrily. "Look, I know you're trying to get Dante out. Everyone else on the team made their choice already. We just have to see how things go."
"That we will," Wade conceded. "But I have confirmed one thing from our talk. You are behaving oddly. I have a theory that I will test out at some point tomorrow. See you then." Ochain gritted her teeth as she watched the boy leave her sight.
Wade: "Two things I know about the Yuri of the past day," the satanist recounted. "They ran away in the heat of the fight I caused, and they are especially snappy when threatened. My leading theory is that perhaps that isn't Yuri at all." He yawned. "But, I have one more cog in my plan. I need to save myself clearly. That requires ensuring Harumi's vote and gaining total control over Ardella. I have a plan to solve both."
Wade went to the fire in the middle of the campsite, where Ardella was staring blankly into it. Harumi's tent was now within earshot. "Ardella," Wade spoke. It was harsh, and nothing like the way he normally addressed her. "How long do you plan on being completely and utterly useless?"
The protective leader looked shocked by that haunting question. "W-what? I did everything I could today to drain the life out of those Falcons!"
"Yet they won," he said plainly. Ushi engineered a situation to completely derail you. How do you bounce back from a loss where everyone actually tried?"
Ardella shed a few tears as she sulked in her loss. "I…I don't know. How do I save everyone?"
Wade snickered. "You can't. Even this team is failing. You can save yourself. You can save, hopefully, one or two other people. But, when it comes down to this game, you need to cut people out. I can help you. I can save you and Harumi, the only other person who voted with you."
"How do you plan on doing that?" Ardella asked the satanist. Part of her was hopeful, but it was mostly doubt she had.
"Not so fast," Wade insisted. "I need something from you first. You need to tell me why losing a challenge has hurt you more than it hurt anyone else. You need to tell me why a simple betrayal in a game filled with it has driven you to uselessness. You need to tell me why Harumi told me that in the jungle race you cut your arms and legs up to get further. Why is the you of today so different from the you of two days ago? Which one is real?"
"Both of them!" Ardella snapped back. "In regular life, I can be me. I can be cheerful and optimistic, and no one stops me, they even enjoy it. But here…I thought I could do the same. I kept being a fool for thinking that. My friend showed me a long time ago that there was never a peaceful solution. Someone had to give."
She sighed. "My best friend Macey was getting bullied, and I tried to be impartial. Not to the point of considering the bully's perspective, but more of trying to solve it diplomatically. I spent hours thinking of arguments that would get them to stop, ways to solve things peacefully without anyone else getting hurt. In the end, I wasn't fast enough. Macey…Macey took her life before I worked out a plan. That was the moment I knew. I couldn't solve everything with words. When push comes to shove, the only options are kill or be killed."
Wade sat quietly and listened. He was getting exactly what he wanted. He simply let Ardella finish. "The next day was my last day at that school. I resorted to violence, since no one else would. I snapped three bones and put all three of the bullies in the hospital for varying amounts of time. One of them is still there, she's in a coma. Due to Macey just killing herself, I claimed self-defense and got away without charges, but I did get expelled. I don't feel bad about it in the slightest. We tried my way. My way didn't work, so I tried theirs. If I can avoid hurting others, obviously I should. But Xerxes crossed the line. He intentionally hurt this team. My only option that worked was that. I needed him to be hurt beyond recognition. I still need that. Someone has to pay for this team imploding."
Despite all of Ardella's emotions pouring out in that instant, Wade said nothing supportive. "Do you honestly believe blind revenge against Xerxes will get you anywhere?" Ardella shook her head, as much as she didn't want to. "You need to think big. We need you for challenges. Harumi has contributed. Who lost the most today?" He sat next to her. "You should work with me. I will keep you safe, and in exchange, you will keep Harumi safe. She is essential to our plans."
Nearby, Harumi had heard everything thanks to Wade's positioning.
Ardella: "Who would have thought Wade would drag me out of this funk?" she said with a disbelieving laugh. "I'm still in this. As long as Harumi and Wade are around, I'm still in this. That means I need to keep them around."
Wade: "Ardella's tragic past is about as messy as I expected," he remarked. "But, with Harumi overhearing that conversation and Ardella definitely attached to me now, I have total say in who goes home tonight."
The Falcons had a much more relaxing night than the others. Ike and Ushi were sitting inside of Ushi's tent, staring at the most useless and deadly object in the game now. "I'm still shocked that the fake idol would be this one," Ike complained. "What's the point of Chris doing this? If we merged, then it'd be totally useless! That's not someone who wants a fake idol played."
"Or it could be indicative that we'll merge late," Ushi explained. "Regardless, everyone knows that Xerxes played the real one, so if they find this, they can't use it." They groaned. "Ideally we could have used the fake one yesterday, but Wade is way too perceptive. Now we have this husk of a thing sitting around."
Ike glanced outside the tent. "I mean…we could always just chuck it in the woods," he said casually. Ushi raised an eyebrow at the ridiculous comment. "Look, we can't do anything with it. We're not even going to play it by accident, and no one will."
Ushi sighed. "I know that, I just want to think if we're actually out of options. I mean, it's a fake idol that can instantly eliminate someone. Chris has a way to check it, and if we can trick someone into playing it, it still holds power with us."
The bargainer shook his head. "Yeah, but everyone here's smart. No one's stupid enough to try and swap teams when someone's already done it. As long as that thing looks like the team swap idol, it's going to be a piece of wood with a hand on it."
Things were silent for a bit again as Ushi stared at the fake idol. "That is the problem," they analyzed. "While those on the hill know which one's fake, everyone else doesn't. They just know a fake idol is still out there. They don't know what it looks like."
"Yeah, but they know what the team swap idol looked like," Ike reminded them. "Unless…are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Ushi grinned excitedly. "I might just be. I'll need a few days. Can you buy my safety for that time?"
Ike laughed. "Ushi, your safety's been locked in, especially after today. Leave the next day to me."
Ushi: "I keep getting shafted by some unknown force," they complained. "I try to do a fake idol drop on Xerxes and Wade snuffs that plan. I finally got a night challenge and I can only compete once, making me some strategy jester in the back calling the shots." They sighed. "That's okay…all okay…once this new plan works, which it will, I'll get that respect."
Ike: "Oh…this is gonna be good," he snickered. "Maybe I postpone my Caia snare. I found a much funnier way to get rid of her."
"May I have the attention of everyone?" Vi requested. That gathered the six Falcons into the center pretty quickly. "I would like us to prepare. After tonight, there will be ten of us remaining. From this point on, there is a chance that we will merge. I believe it is imperative for all of us to keep our numbers. In the event of a merge, we need to continue voting together. Our order depends on who leaves tonight."
Xerxes nodded. "That's fair. Getting all of us to the final six is one thing, removing giant threats like Ardella and Wade is another, assuming Wade doesn't leave tonight." Ike and Ushi nodded too, keeping quiet that it was likely the merge would not be for a while.
"It will be Dante," Caia mused dully. "Dante blew it in the challenge. He does not have the friends to save himself. That is what I gathered from Xerxes's information."
Oscar's eyes lit up. "Oh! I had a lil' yinquiry for ya," he said to the false apathetic. "Ya lost the first point, then like, got the next four. What was up with the whole kitten caboodle curtain craziness?"
Caia shrugged. "I wished for an environment where he could have no assistance from others, and that Dante would think about anything else but our game. As an added bonus for me personally, unless Dante shares how he lost, the Snakes don't know my strategy."
"Thinking awfully selfishly, aren't you?" Ike asked condescendingly. "You think the Snakes are gonna be mad that you sent them to elimination again?"
"So volatile," Caia shot back with a deadpan tone. "I don't think that's a problem. After all, there are six of us and four of them. They can't win."
Ushi shook their head. "They can. There are two idols left in the game. If they play their cards right at the start, we could go down one by one. We have no clue how this will unfold. But, personally, I believe a merge is far off."
"I think it is in the best interest of everyone that we continue to stay strong," Vi argued. "That includes winning all challenges coming up. Ushi, you were a wonderful help to our success today, but to remind everyone else, Ushi may not be as useful next challenge." The nocturnal teen sighed, like they had forgotten that the sun would be up next time they competed. "That is all I had scheduled for this discussion."
The camp began to disperse, but Caia found her way to some others. She approached Oscar and Xerxes, bringing them behind her tent. "We need to think of something fast," she said desperately to the others. "Did you see that?"
"See what?" Oscar grumbled, rubbing his arm. "You got a killer's grip tho. I heard the coin lady did too."
"Vi has this team under her control," she said cautiously. "We need to think of a way to get rid of her, and fast. If we let her stick around until the final six, she'll have solid allegiances with everyone at this point."
Xerxes put a hand to his chin. "That does seem like a problem. But, there's no sense in not teaming with Vi. She'll lose a final challenge. She doesn't have the strength required to win one."
Caia sighed. She couldn't show she was getting annoyed with the boys. "Just because the past finales have been physical doesn't mean this one will. This is the first season with four idols, the first with doubled prize money, the first with challenges where we don't even interact with the other team. I believe loser input will be involved, and she needs to be snuffed out while we have the chance." She turned to Oscar. "I know you and her are close, but we need to make this happen."
Oscar hesitated. "Aight, listen- I play for me first, not Vi, not you. Right now I just wanna win whatever we can. Even without our sleeping genius we have enough gas in our tankaroony to rumble until the moon's eating brekky."
"Rumble until- huh?" Xerxes asked, trying to comprehend that last sentence. "Caia, I actually like your point about Vi's power. Ardella did something similar before she threw it all away. Even with the damage she did, she said I should go, and I would have gone without that idol. A trade needs to be made to vote one of ours off. We need someone to flip first."
"Tough call on that," Caia said. "But I think we can make a solid final four that no one would see coming- us three and one Snake of our choosing. All that's left is to see who gets voted out."
Oscar: "Huh. Caia switching targets to Vi was not on my bingo card today. Vi will hear about that. But, parts of her plan weren't terrible. Getting a Snake to flip gives us a ton of mobility."
Caia: "I have now planted the seeds to get rid of Ushi, Ike, Vi, and Xerxes. Oscar's a solid choice to take to the end, because I know this finale won't be physical." She laughed. "Now, I wait until we lose, and I pick which of my seeds I let grow. Game over, Falcons."
Contrary to Caia's confessional, it was not game over for the Falcons. The Buried Snakes were the ones who made their way to elimination, down two people compared to the few hours ago when they had been there last. Everyone looked uneasy, except for Wade, who seemed content with their plans.
Yuri had returned to control, and sat very close to Dante, who still looked uneasy. Whether it was the recent Ochain episode, the threat of elimination, or something else, was hard to tell. Maybe it was all three. "I know Ochain screwed things up," Yuri whispered to the harbinger, "but I think Harumi will come around."
Both looked over to Harumi, who was not looking at anybody. Ardella seemed to have regained some confidence, but she still clung exceptionally close to Wade. Chris sat down and just seemed impressed. "I gotta say, Snakes, it seems super clear of what's going on here. Wade, what was up with the second loss today?"
"Partially my fault," he confessed. "I was involved in surveillance the past few nights, and the sleep deprivation caught up to me at the challenge. I was not anticipating a night challenge so soon."
"Season Four? We did it in episode four, just like this. You should have been ready," Chris remarked. "But, let's keep going. Ardella, you look more willing to talk tonight."
The protective leader nodded. "It sucks to lose. I hate having to lose someone so much, and it pains me to write another name down, because it means that it's another day where the people we're playing against get more numbers. We were ready to destroy them until yesterday."
Chris nodded. "Yuri, you and Harumi were the only ones who were able to win their minigames today. Does that make you feel more safe than someone like Ardella, Wade or Dante, who weren't able to win their challenges?"
Yuri shook their head. "Not a shot. The fact I won my challenge means nothing, and I think we need to keep remembering that today's challenge has no bearing on what happens next. We've had four challenges now, so I think we can look at broad strokes. Who's done well in every challenge? Who hasn't? We need to keep our team strong."
"Dante," Chris continued, "feeling safe? You were the one who lost the last challenge, which makes you shoulder most of, if not, all the blame." Dante nervously shook his head. "Harumi, on the other hand, won the first challenge. How do you think that does for you today?"
"It puts me in a bad spot," Harumi admitted. "I love everyone on this team, and I don't want to write anyone's name down, but Ush made a plan that tore us apart. I bet Xerky gave them info, but it's a little late to be complaining I guess."
Chris laughed. "That it is, Harumi. That it is. Well then, it's time to vote! Ardella, you're up first!" The protective leader got up and reluctantly walked over to the confessional to vote.
Ardella: "Sorry, but Wade showed me I can't protect everyone. Thanks for getting me this far. I have to focus on Harumi and Wade now."
Dante: He held up Wade's name. "You or me…here's hoping my curse works on you for once."
Harumi: She clutched her head in distress, saying nothing. She kept staring at the blank paper, trying to think of anything that would help her make a choice.
Once everyone returned, Chris went and got the votes. "If anyone has any idol they would like to play, this is the time to do so. Otherwise, you will lose your chance." No one had an idol to play, so there was no tension for a second as everyone sat quietly. "Okay, then if you don't receive a marshmallow, you will be sent to the edge of the beach, where Chef will take you away from Diairesi Island."
Chris grabbed the plate of four marshmallows on it. "First person safe tonight…Harumi." The weather girl did not look pleased with getting a marshmallow, but still seemed content with the result. "Yuri, also safe." The bookworm also did not look any less stressed. They glanced over to Dante.
The harbinger had a nervous look as well, almost shaking. Chris called out the next safe person. "Ardella." The protective leader grinned once she got her marshmallow, happy to see Harumi got one too. Her eyes shifted to Wade, who was still sitting without one.
Chris held up the final marshmallow of the night. "Dante, Wade, this is the final marshmallow of the night. One of you is not getting it, by a margin of one vote." Harumi buried her face. "Fourth person voted off of Total Drama Diairesi Island and second voted off of the Buried Snakes…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…Dante." Yuri sighed, like they saw it coming, but now it was official. Harumi couldn't even look up at them. "Dante, that's three votes, time to go."
Dante stood up, upset with the result, but like Yuri, he saw it coming. "Sorry, everyone," he said with a sad tone. "I guess I want to tell you all to watch out for Caia. She's dangerous." He looked at Yuri. "Keep going. You'll be okay." He mouthed the words 'both of you' so that Wade couldn't hear it.
Yuri smiled. "Thank you for everything. You can keep that book I gave you. I have copies of it in the library that I can read." Dante walked over to the submarine and was officially taken out of the game.
"You're down to four," Chris reminded them. "That means that it's a big uphill battle for you. Let's see if you can start to turn the tides a little bit. Get some sleep. Because we had a night challenge, you'll have the next day off! Use it to relax a little, the Falcons are way less tense at their eliminations."
The four remaining Snakes began walking back to the Deep Zone. Yuri stood behind all of them, very clear of what was in store.
Yuri: "Now it's three against one," they said analytically. "Harumi picked a side tonight, and I think it was the wrong one, but I guess Ardella and Wade would disagree. Now I need to make sure we win challenges no matter what, or I'm next. I guess Ochain might get to play more if I think I can't do it."
"Things are getting dire for the Snakes!" Chris said excitedly as the confessional switched to Chris back on the beach. "We are down to ten! Can the Buried Snakes come out on top again? Will Yuri be able to dig themselves out of the hole they're in? Find out next time, on Total! Drama! Diairesi Island!"
Votes:
Ardella: "Sorry, but Wade showed me I can't protect everyone. Thanks for getting me this far. I have to focus on Harumi and Wade now." She held up Dante's name. "You've gotta go now."
Dante: "He held up Wade's name. "You or me…here's hoping my curse works on you for once."
Harumi: "She clutched her head in distress, saying nothing for a while. She kept staring at the blank paper, trying to think of anything that would help her make a choice. "I think I'd rather have to deal with Yur without Lucky rather than The Della without Spooky Man," she concluded, shaking her head. "Honestly, if you asked me to vote off The Della instead, I would have done it, but the aftermath of a vote with her here instead of Spooky Man would be a repeat of today. Sorry, Lucky."
Wade: "Ah, losing my mini challenge has hurt my chances. I believe Harumi will make the correct choice, because there is not much of a choice to make. I'm voting for Dante. No chance I lose here."
Yuri: "I have to make sure Dante stays," they said hesitantly. "I just don't think my vote alone will be enough. I hope Harumi comes through. If not, I'm in big trouble."
Total: Dante (3), Wade (2)
Eliminated: Dante Accello, The Harbinger (11th)
Current Teams:
Buried Snakes: Ardella, Harumi, Wade, Yuri/Ochain
Soaring Falcons: Caia, Ike, Oscar, Ushi, Vi, Xerxes
I have a feeling this one won't go over as well as the first three, which honestly is shocking. I did not consider that Dante was going to be as popular as he was. But, Harumi made her choice. I like to think of the alternate universe where Dante and Yuri said they wanted Ardella gone instead and Harumi sided with them. But, welcome back to reality.
Today's episode featured the elimination of Dante Accello: The Harbinger. Dante is a unique case. The Diairesi cast was originally 12 people, and I added two more to the cast during drafting, deciding that it needed to be a little larger. Dante was one of the two! I'll reveal the other one at a later date. Both of the characters fleshed really well into the cast though. Dante made it to 8th in some other drafts, but some changes to others made me decide he had to go now. Dante's final moral alignment comes out to LAWFUL GOOD. The harbinger of bad luck is a good guy, and his very heroic arc with Ochain I think reflected that well.
Today's major scene was Caia's ultimate mind game, crushing the alleged luck-based challenge. I had to do a lot of research into fencing protocols and psychology of RPS for this episode, which was kinda fun. Caia also holds the current record for the most confessionals. Professional yapper. Ushi also got a night challenge!
Anyway, I'm glad I managed to get this one out a little faster than the second or third episode! This is something I've been excited to get set off for a while, because now that the aftermath of the first arc is gone, arc 2 starts, which is where we take off the backstory hat and we put the gameplay hat on. It's time to get serious.
Let me know what you thought of Dante in the reviews! Did you enjoy the challenge today? Who do you think is going next? Lotta predictions to be made. I'll see you next time!
