Survivor CH4: Days 20-22

(Ferren Tribe)

"Kendall sold us out and Kenal got voted out for it. In all honesty, we should have seen it coming." Brock sighed. "Sure, Kendall may have acted like he wanted to align with people, but something was clear that he was up to no good. I'm just sorry that it took this long to figure out. Of course, the instant we got back to camp, Chloe went straight to Gary and Riddle…"

"Why'd you vote him out?! Samantha was SO CLOSE to going!" Chloe said. "Why didn't you guys vote with us?!"

"I apologize, Chloe. It's just that Kenal wouldn't have been of that much use to us." Riddle said. "I mean, he only had the one arm, couldn't go into the water and had limited mobility."

"But he lasted so long when he was on the other tribe!"

Gary scratched his head. "But…Uh…Didn't Ventala only go to Tribal Council ONCE before the swap?"

"That's not the point!"

"While voting out Kenal may have been good to help us win challenges, I don't know if letting Samantha team up with Kendall was a good idea." Gary noted. "As Kendall proved, he's willing to backstab his old tribe-mates, and this is likely to protect Samantha, who he sees as a better ally."

"Where ARE those two, anyway?" Gary asked as he looked around.

"They made themselves scarce pretty quickly." Riddle said. "I suppose this tells us that they don't care for any of us."

"We've known that for a while now."

Kendall and Samantha had indeed gone off to regroup, around the other side of the camp, but Brock had seen them and decided to confront them.

"Kendall, you sold us out." Brock said as he folded his arms. "Didn't the two weeks the bunch of us spent on Ventala mean anything?"

"Not a thing." Kendall handwaved it. "Believe me, I didn't really like anyone there."

"Brock's going next, anyway. Since it's just him and me remaining from Ventala over here, I figure I can let some steam off." Kendall said. "I've had it built up for a long time and, I have to admit, it felt good to get it off my chest."

"Look, I'm tired, so why don't you just go and bother Chloe?" Kendall asked.

Brock narrowed his eyes, but eventually decided that his time was better spent elsewhere and walked off. After Brock was gone, Samantha glared at Kendall. "You won't get anywhere if you act so smug all the time." She said.

"You're a fine one to talk." Kendall shot back. "Look, the main thing is that we both survived, so we'll take it as is."

"Whatever."

"Believe me, I wouldn't be aligned with Kendall if I wasn't desperate. The first chance I can get, I'm dumping him." Samantha said. "He thinks he knows how to play the game, but if you ask me, I was doing fine until he showed up. HE was the one that got Robert voted out, after all."

The remaining six players of Ferren went to bed, most knowing that they would get answers in the morning.

(Ventala Tribe; Day 20)

"We voted out Mongo, but she made me waste the idol I found in the process. Of course, I'm glad that the idol turned out to be the real thing." Angela said. "Of course, I wasn't expecting Amy to be a target, so I'm at least glad Corey came through for us and voted with us."

"Thank you for voting with us, Corey." Angela said. "If you didn't, Amy may have gone home."

"Aw, no problem. Brock woulda wanted me ta stick with ya guys anyway." Corey assured.

"But the Ferren players voted against you, though." Amy noted.

"Mongo's words probably convinced them." Angela said.

"That could have ended in a non-pleasant way. I wasn't prepared for a tiebreaker at all, and if that was what Mongo was planning, I could have gone." Amy said. "I think it's safe to assume that we all underestimated her thinking abilities."

"Eh, Ah voted with the girls cause they were aligned with Brock, and he woulda wanted me ta stick with them." Corey shrugged. "If anythin' it'll mean that Ah git more friends into the merge, and that's always a good thing, right?"

"D'ya think Danglars was the one ta come up with the idea?" Corey asked, scratching her head.

"Honestly, no. Danglars doesn't seem capable of forming a plan like this together." Angela shook her head. "It had to have been Mongo."

Meanwhile, Danglars was hiding behind a large rock, trying to stay out of sight. Needless to say, he looked both terrified and flustered.

"Stay out of sight and she won't see me." Danglars told himself. "Stay out of sight and she won't see me."

"Last night was terrible. I was honestly afraid to sleep in the shelter because I didn't want Angela to kill me in my sleep!" Danglars whimpered. "I'm hoping I can just hide in the shadows until this whole thing blows over, but she'll notice that I'm gone before too long! What do I do?!"

As Danglars continued to hide behind the rock and stare off into space, Erica and Tempo walked by, seeing him sitting on the ground and shivering with fright.

"It looks like he had an encounter with a wolverine." Tempo said. "You…Don't think there are any around, do you?"

"We're on a desert island, genius." Erica said flatly.

"Oh, yeah."

With that, the two continued walking, leaving Danglars as if they were never there in the first place.

(Ferren Tribe; Day 20)

"Chloe, I think it's time we started thinking strategy." Brock said.

"Like what?" Chloe asked.

"It's obvious that it's a case of 2-2-2 now that Kenal's gone and Kendall's aligned with Samantha. If Chloe and I are going to survive, we need the idol." Brock explained. "I didn't really need it on Ventala because I was aligned with strong players, but now that I'm alone, I need to start searching for it."

"If we can find the idol, it'll give us the edge we need to pull ahead temporarily." Brock explained.

"I found it once. I think I could do it again." Chloe supplied. "We just need to win Reward."

"If we have one." Brock scratched his head.

"We haven't had one for a few days. I'd say we're due."

"Brock and I need that idol. If we get it and figure out who the others are targeting, we can use it to get ahead." Chloe explained. "Personally, I'm a little worried because we need to win the next Reward Challenge to do that, and even though I told Brock otherwise, it's impossible to tell when we're going to have one."

"Here's the issue, though. The idol will only save us once." Brock explained. "Say we use the idol to get rid of Kendall or Samantha. What's stopping the remaining one from joining Gary & Riddle and voting us out 3-2?"

"If we take out Samantha with the idol, I think I can convince Kendall to vote with us." Chloe said. "Maybe my cuteness can persuade him to vote with us."

Brock stared flatly. "Yeah…Sure." He said.

"Honestly, Chloe's like a revolving door of personalities. One moment she's a good ally and is able to come up with helpful ideas, and the other she's…Obsessed with her cuteness." Brock said. "I have no idea which is the real one, and it worries me that my game could be resting with someone like that."

"I mean, it's obvious that I'm cute, and if I can tempt Kendall with it, then he's sure to vote with us." Chloe said. "My cuteness made me fast friends with Anke and Tempo, and even Brock joined forces with me shortly after he showed up. I think I can get similar results with Kendall."

(Ventala Tribe)

"You guys were the ones to vote for Angela?" Amy asked.

Tempo sighed. "Mongo made a convincing argument and we didn't really have time to think it over." He explained. "We didn't realize that the real plan was to gun for you and make Angela waste the idol."

"I decided to man up and give my reasons for voting for Angela. Amy seemed to understand, so maybe Angela will as well." Tempo explained. "I want to remain on their good side, and I don't think my actions last night really helped me any."

"I can tell that Tempo's honest when he says that he wasn't expecting the vote to go the way it did." Amy said. "Angela even seems to be taking it not too bad, but that may be because Mongo was voted out anyway."

"Can you just…Uh…Tell Angela that I'm sorry and that the whole vote literally came up at Tribal Council?" Tempo asked.

"Sure. Don't worry." Amy nodded.

Tempo thanked Amy and walked off, passing Erica, who was sitting on a rock.

"You're pathetic." Erica said, making Tempo stop.

"Wait. What?" Tempo asked.

"You're kissing up to Angela's alliance. So what if the vote went the way it did?" Erica asked.

"I'd rather NOT be on the receiving end of Angela's wrath, thank you."

"Seriously, Tempo's being completely paranoid. Is he seriously thinking Angela would kill him over something as stupid as a vote that didn't even go the way it was planned?" Erica asked. "Honestly, I'm not worried about that. What I AM worried about is that Angela will likely be targeting me anyway."

"I'm just trying to keep my options open." Tempo said.

"…And the fact that Angela is a pretty woman doesn't have anything to do with it?" Erica asked, forming a slight smirk.

Tempo coughed nervously. "Maybe." He admitted.

"Thought so."

(Ferren Tribe)

"He's not as strong as he'd like you to think. I'll say that." Kendall said.

"Kendall, seriously. I'm finding the fact that you're willing to sell out your original tribe-mates to be disturbing." Gary folded his arms.

"I've already said that I don't like any of them."

"I think some of us are starting to trust Kendall less than Samantha. He was quick to vote out Kenal, which was fine with us, but the fact that he's targeting Brock now doesn't sit well with me." Gary noted. "He probably thinks he's in charge here, but I think everyone else, even Samantha, would beg to differ on that."

After talking with Gary, Kendall went back over to Samantha. Needless to say, she didn't look very pleased.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Samantha demanded.

"I'm getting us more votes. It may not look like it now, but they'll vote with us." Kendall said.

"No, they won't! Even from all the way over here I could tell that they don't trust you!" Samantha reprimanded. "You obviously think you have everyone wrapped around your fingers, but you really don't have any idea of what's going on!"

"Calm down. This is the best plan we can do."

"Like heck it is. You haven't even talked to me about what you're planning!"

"Because I know anything you come up with won't be worth listening to."

"I am REALLY regretting aligning with Kendall right now. Something tells me I'd be better off if I made a concrete alliance with some of the others." Samantha said. "I hate to say it, but now I'm starting to understand how everyone felt with me. Perhaps it's time I changed my strategy…"

"She talks tough, but Samantha needs me and she knows it. There's nothing she can do." Kendall said with a smirk. "All I need to do is plant ideas into the heads of the others and we'll be golden."

Night eventually rolled in. Knowing that there would be a challenge tomorrow, everyone went to bed to prepare for it.

(Ventala Tribe; Day 21)

"Tempo hasn't come to you yet, has he?" Amy asked.

"No, but I imagine he'll come forth before too long." Angela shook her head. "From what you were saying, he sounded sincere. Unfortunately for him, I'm someone who needs to hear it for herself."

"What about Danglars?"

"I haven't seen him at all since Tribal Council." Angela scratched her head.

"Danglars and Tempo haven't really been showing themselves in a bit, but at least Tempo was able to talk to Amy." Angela said. "I honestly don't know what happened to Danglars. I'm almost half-convinced that he fled the tribe in the middle of the night."

"I mean, you don't blame him for the vote, do you?" Amy asked.

"Like I said, I'm convinced Mongo was the mastermind." Angela shrugged. "Danglars is able to keep up well enough, so I'd be willing to give him a second chance."

Suddenly, Amy's ears perked up. "Hold up, Angela. You hear something?" She asked.

Angela focused her hearing and suddenly heard what sounded like snoring. Glancing up at the tree she and Amy were standing under, Angela gave the trunk a hard kick. Danglars fell from within the tree and landed flat on his face. A few seconds later and more snoring was heard.

Danglars smacked his lips a couple of times. "Man. I wake up from a nice nap and find myself face-down in the sand. You wouldn't believe how dry my lips are right now." He admitted. "I must have fallen out of the tree…"

"We have treemail." Erica announced as she came into camp with a letter. She waited until everyone was gathered around (except Danglars, who was still asleep in the sand) before reading it. "It's wondering if we can hold something."

"Seriously? That's all it says?" Angela asked.

"Uh…Yep." Erica said flatly. "Are these things getting more vague or something?"

"I didn't think that was possible." Amy scratched her head.

"My guess is that whoever's in charge wants to keep us guessing. A treemail this vague doesn't come along every day." Erica said. "At least with other treemails, we can make a good guess as to what they are, but not here…"

(Ferren Tribe; Day 21)

Gary and Riddle sat on a log near the shore of the small lake. Surprisingly, neither of them appeared to be in a talkative mood.

The silence was eventually broken. "So where exactly do we stand on this, Riddle?" Gary asked. "Which side of the argument are we leaning towards?"

"Why don't you tell me what you think, Gary?" Riddle asked.

Gary sighed. "Riddle, if it were up to me, we probably would have gotten rid of Samantha ages ago, and I'm really not comfortable with Kendall." He admitted. "I know it's logically best to keep them around, but I have to say that I'm not really liking it."

"Truth be told, neither am I." Riddle said. "Honestly, what's got me sticking to this is that it's the best method of gameplay for us in the long run."

"The big problem with Survivor is that the big moves that one was to play could be used against them at the end." Riddle explained. "Keeping Samantha around as long as we have may seem good from a strategic perspective, but such moves could be used as ammunition for a jury."

"So what's the next phase of action?" Gary asked. "I've heard the others talking about trying to find the idol."

Riddle paused. "Then…Perhaps we should find it first." He said with a smirk.

"I don't like it when Riddle smirks. I can just tell he's thinking something evil." Gary sighed.

"Hey, guys! We've got treemail!" Brock said as he walked into camp.

"I hope it's a Reward Challenge." Chloe crossed her fingers. "What's it say?"

"It's wondering how well we can hold something." Brock replied.

Samantha sighed. "Just when I thought those stupid things couldn't get any MORE vague." She said.

"Well, we don't have time to worry about it, now." Brock said. "We may as well head out."

"I'm hoping that this is Reward. Chloe and I need to find the idol. That's one biggest shot at getting the edge." Brock explained. "Here's the problem. We know that Samantha is probably going to want the idol as well. We need to have the quicker draw."

(Reward Challenge)

The two tribes emerged from the jungle and walked over to their mats. Since they were all present at Tribal Council, they didn't look surprised when they saw who was eliminated.

"Welcome to your next Reward Challenge, everyone. Here, we will test the endurance of your arms." SSBFreak said. There wasn't anything set up, but everyone saw a large amount of clay cups in a pile. "You will all be using one arm to balance clay cups on a plate, balancing them on the back of your hand. Every so often, I will start stacking clay cups, adding one at a time. In addition, you will all start with three. If your stack of cups collapses, you're out, and the person left standing at the end will win Reward for their tribe, which is two large bags of rice."

Overall, the contestants looked relatively indifferent to the prize, but knew that they had to win it regardless.

"If you'll all come over here, we can begin." SSBFreak said.

The twelve contestants walked over and spread out. They were each given a plate, which they balanced on the backs of their hands, as three clay cups were stacked onto each of them.

"The challenge is officially underway." SSBFreak said. "Gary, how do you think you'll fare in challenges like this?"

"I don't know, actually. There's a big difference between strength and balance." Gary responded.

"Corey, do you think you'll do well?"

"Ah think Ah've got a shot." Corey admitted.

SSBFreak looked around at everyone, seeing that they were managing to hold up relatively easily. "I'll check back in with you guys in a bit." He explained.

Time went on and no one dropped out. Not a lot of time went by, but it quickly started feeling like an eternity for the contestants. Still, everyone was able to balance their cups easily, although they knew it would only get worse.

"You've all managed to hold up your stacks for roughly a minute and a half, which is actually pretty good." SSBFreak said. "Danglars, how are you feeling?"

"My arm's already asleep." Danglars said flatly.

"Kendall, do you think you can manage in a challenge like this?"

"I may be good at climbing, but balancing something like this is new to me." Kendall shook his head. "I'm honestly not used to this."

"Angela, what's your strategy here?"

"Just to clear my head." Angela said, as calm as possible.

"Before I leave you guys to it, we're going to add one cup to each of your stacks." SSBFreak explained.

A fourth cup was added to each player's stack. Kendall's arm wavered for a moment before the tower tipped and dropped the cups on the ground.

"Kendall is now out." SSBFreak announced.

"I knew I wouldn't be in for long." Kendall sighed as he walked over to the host.

Chloe sniffed. "My nose is starting to itch." She said.

"Don't touch your nose." Brock hissed. "You'll drop your stack."

"If I sneeze, then I'll drop it, anyway."

"Hold it in."

The remaining players held up their stacks for as long as they could, although it became obvious that some were starting to struggle. This became clear when Amy's stack toppled over. Erica, standing beside her, was taken off guard and accidentally dropped her stack as well.

"Amy and Erica are both out. It's now 4-5 for Ferren." SSBFreak announced.

Samantha's stack wobbled. The button-eyed woman tried to hold it steady, but lost in the end and let the stack topple over. Samantha cursed her luck.

"Samantha drops out. It's 4-4."

"It's been five minutes now and the rest of you are still holding strong." SSBFreak said. "Tempo, I'm noticing that you're wavering a little. You starting to lose your balance?"

"Can't talk now! Kinda busy!" Tempo said as he struggled to move his hand around to keep the stack of cups balanced on his hand.

"Riddle, do you see this as anyone's game?"

"If I simply said yes, would you kindly stop bothering us?" Riddle asked.

"Sorry, but it's in my job description to ask you guys pointless questions during challenges." SSBFreak said with a shrug. "Gives me something to do. Oh yeah, time to add a fifth cup to your stacks."

Another cup was added to each stack. This quickly proved to be too much for Tempo, as he stack promptly fell over.

"Tempo is out."

Chloe sniffed again. "I can't hold it in. I gotta sneeze." She said before letting out a sneeze and causing her to drop her stack. At the same time, Gary's stack dropped over as well.

"Chloe and Gary are both out. This makes it 3-2 for Ventala."

On Ventala, Angela seemed determined, Corey seemed casual and it was clear that Danglars had lost all feeling in his arm, judging by the fact that he was struggling to keep it level. On Ferren, Riddle and Brock both seemed relaxed, but were starting to falter with the increasing stacks.

"The rest of you have been in the challenge for seven minutes now and I'm starting to see some people about to give in." SSBFreak said. "Since I know you guys don't like me asking questions in challenges like this, how about we just add the next cup to each stack?"

The remaining five people were now balancing six cups. Needless to say, Danglars couldn't handle the challenge any more and dropped his arm, toppling his tower. At the same time, Angela's tower wavered wildly before it too succumbed to gravity.

"Danglars and Angela are both out. It's down to Corey going against Riddle and Brock."

"Ah can do this." Corey assured. "All Ah gotta do is hold up mah stack longer than them."

"Still anyone's game." Brock muttered as he started struggling to hold up the cups in his hand.

The three remaining players continued to balance, although it was clear that they were all starting to struggle. After what seemed like an eternity, two people suddenly dropped their arms and the stacks they were holding up.

Corey dropped her arm first. Brock also dropped, but because Corey had also done it, it hardly mattered.

"Corey is out! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Ferren wins Reward!"

"That's a relief." Riddle said as he dropped his arm. "I was seriously getting tired."

(Later…)

"Congratulations on winning Reward, Ferren. These two big bags of rice are now yours." SSBFreak said.

Riddle nodded as Gary picked up the rice. "Thank you, and if it isn't too much trouble, I'd like to go to Exile." He said. This caught the majority of his tribe by surprise.

"Very well. Riddle is going to Exile and will meet up with everyone at tomorrow's Immunity Challenge." SSBFreak said. "Ventala, I'm afraid I have nothing for you. You can all head back to camp."

(Ferren Tribe)

"How did Riddle say that he wanted to go to Exile so fast?!" Chloe asked.

"Because he asked before he was asked, which was what we were waiting for." Brock sighed.

"Riddle pulled a fast one and opted to go to Exile. He must have found out that Chloe and I were wanting the idol." Brock folded his arms. "This also tells us that Kendall and Samantha are wanting the idol as well or else Riddle wouldn't have made the attempt to go at all."

"He doesn't NEED the idol, though." Chloe said. "We were targeting Kendall and Samantha!"

"I know. The only reason I can think of is that the others want the idol as well and Riddle went to keep it out of everyone's hands." Brock replied.

"Man. That sucks."

"Brock and I need that idol, but Riddle decided to go and get it for himself. That is SO unfair!" Chloe pouted. "Now it's going to be even harder to survive out here! Maybe…Maybe I can convince Riddle to give me the idol if he finds it…"

Meanwhile, Samantha and Kendall were having a similar conversation across camp.

"I have to admit that was smart." Samantha noted.

"How was that smart? He ruined our chance at getting the idol." Kendall retorted.

"Exactly. He must have known we were looking for the idol." Samantha said. "That's why he jumped at the chance to go to Exile."

"…He may not even LOOK for the idol!"

"I never thought Riddle could be such a sneak. I hate to say it, but I'm impressed. That's exactly what I would have done." Samantha said. "However, since I'm not in power and he shot my chances at getting the idol, it just makes me hate him even more."

"Perhaps we're thinking through this wrong. We're wasting time moping about what could have happened." Kendall said.

"I know. We need to at least talk to Gary."

"If we're going to convince Gary to vote out Brock, we need to make sure he sees our reasoning." Kendall said. "He'll likely be getting tired of hearing the same pitch, but it's either us or them at this point."

Meanwhile again, Gary was sitting by himself on a rock, coincidentally right in the middle of the two plotting alliances. He was casually humming a song, as if he didn't know anyone was there.

"This is actually the most-quiet it's been since we started." Gary mused as he sat back. "This is nice…"

(Ventala Tribe)

"Golly, that sure was close!" Corey laughed. "Ah mean, mah arm's still half-asleep after all that!"

"You're pretty optimistic considering we just lost the challenge." Erica said flatly.

"You get used to it." Amy shrugged. "She tends to be like this after every loss."

"So we lost the challenge. It wasn't as bad of a loss considering it was Reward, and it was pretty close to begin with." Amy pointed out. "Still, we were hoping we would win, because we could have used that rice…"

"Ya gotta have strong arms where Ah come from. Ah must carry a ton of food fer the animals a week!" Corey said. "Still, did ya see how close that was? Ah'm actually surprised a couple a people were able ta beat me!"

"Where'd Danglars go?" Tempo asked. "He was with us when we came back to camp."

"I'll go find him. I think I know where he is." Angela said as she walked off.

"Is he still worried about how the vote went?" Amy asked aloud. "That was…Two days ago."

"He's seriously been hiding for two days?" Erica asked, an eyebrow lifted. "From what?"

"Angela, apparently."

"Danglars may be a little strong, but he's a pansy. What's he got to be afraid of around here? Angela's not THAT scary, is she?" Erica asked. "Sure, she's tough, but she's not going to KILL him out here!"

Angela looked up at the tree she had kicked before the challenge. "I know you're up there, Danglars." She said.

Slowly, Danglars' head poked down from the branches of the tree. "Um…" He said.

"I know why you're hiding up there." Angela pointed out. "Now then, was the idea to make me waste the idol Mongo's idea?"

"Uh…Yes…"

"Then you don't have to worry about it. This time." Angela said. "Now get down from there."

"Y-Yes, ma'am." Danglars said as he climbed down from the tree.

"I'm relieved that Angela isn't wanting to kill me, and her blaming Mongo is probably the best thing for me right now." Danglars said. "If she found out that I was the one to accidentally give Mongo the idea for the plan, Angela may not be so forgiving next time."

(Exile Island)

"Hmm…Exile Island. A maze of islands containing the riddle of the Hidden Immunity Idol." Riddle said as he wandered over to the treemail box.

However, when Riddle opened the box, he found two notes inside. He almost did a double-take. "What in the world? Two clues?" He asked aloud.

"I certainly wasn't expecting there to be two clues in the box. That also seems suspicious. The clues appeared to be going in different directions." Riddle pointed out. "The host said that there was only one idol out here, so that tells me that there's been a fake one planted."

"These clues look exactly the same…" Riddle noted as he inspected the notes. "Which one leads to the real thing?"

Riddle wandered around Exile, following both clues in an attempt to see what he could dig up. After following one of the clues around for a while and not being able to come up with anything, Riddle examined the second clue.

Looking around, Riddle found himself walking towards the shore of the main part of Exile Island. Walking through the shallow water, Riddle ended up walking towards a tiny island with a tree on it.

"According to the clue, this must be the spot." Riddle said as he started digging.

After what seemed like an eternity, Riddle finally managed to dig up something. Holding it up, it was a necklace. "I found it." He said with satisfaction.

"I managed to find an idol, and I hope it's the real one. I unfortunately couldn't get a good glimpse of the one Chloe used to eliminated Tomato so I don't know if this is the real one or not." Riddle explained. "All I can do for now is hope that I'm not targeted until I can determine if this is the real thing."

His job done, Riddle found himself sitting under the small shelter than had been provided, in deep thought. "Now then…Who could have been the one to create a fake idol?" He asked himself. "…Who all has been here since we started?"

Night eventually rolled in. Knowing that there would be an Immunity Challenge tomorrow, everyone decided to get to bed and rest up.

(Ferren Tribe; Day 22)

"The two alliances have been trying to gain my vote ever since I woke up. This is seriously nothing like the quietness of yesterday." Gary scratched his head. "Honestly, I'm just trying to block everything out at this point and then ask Riddle about it when he comes back."

"Just keep it in mind, Gary. We need to take out Kendall and Samantha before they get too much in power." Brock said.

"Mm-hmm." Gary nodded, not really paying attention.

"I mean, I hope I don't have to tell you how dangerous it would be to let them stay, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

"It's just that Chloe and I need your vote. Please give it some thought." Brock said, half-pleading.

"If there's one thing I can say about Gary, it's that he's a great listener. He let me give my two cents and didn't outright refuse the offer." Brock explained. "I honestly think that's all I can do for the moment. I just need to let him talk to Riddle and go from there."

"What did he say?" Chloe asked as Brock came over.

"He didn't give me an answer, but he let me talk and appeared to be listening." Brock said. "It's seriously like talking to a brick wall."

"Which is pretty weird for him. Usually he's pretty good to talk with." Chloe pointed out.

"Maybe he's not as used to talking strategy because he lets Riddle do that." Brock suggested.

"When we started, Gary was a great guy to talk to even though he was on another alliance. Today it's hard to get any sort of response out of him." Chloe said. "I personally think that's the plan and he doesn't really want to be bothered with problems."

"Looks like we've got some treemail." Kendall said as he walked into camp. The others approached him. "It's wondering how strong we are individually and as a team."

"Didn't we have a treemail that asked a question like that?" Samantha asked.

"Probably. I honestly don't remember anymore." Gary shrugged.

"We need this win. We have a feeling the merge is coming up and the last thing we want is to be at a disadvantage." Samantha folded her arms. "We know that the other team will be giving it their all, because I'm sure they're all thinking about the merge at this point."

(Ventala Tribe; Day 22)

"…Ya know what Ah've suddenly got a cravin' fer? Ma's apple pie. Boy, it sure don't get better than that." Corey said. "If there's one thing Ah miss almost as much as mah family, it's Ma's pie. She's one heck of a cook, ya know? She's got fifteen blue ribbons and is a decorated firefighter fer helping put out a competitor's entry that suddenly…Uh…What's the word…Spontaneously combusted! That's it!"

"When's Corey going to be done with the cameraman?" Erica asked as she walked over to a group of players sitting on a log. "I need to do a confessional."

"Why do you think we're all sitting in a line?" Amy asked. "The back of the line's that way, by the way."

"How long have you guys been waiting?" Erica asked as she went to the end of the line and sat down.

"About ten minutes. She should be almost done by now." Danglars noted.

"She's never taken this long, though." Amy added.

"Man. I never thought someone could take so long to do a confessional. Corey must have had a lot to say." Amy, the next in line, said. "Normally, I'd wonder if she was talking about some big plan that she had, but then I remember that it's Corey."

Danglars sat in front of the camera for a few seconds. "…Great. I forgot why I wanted to do a confessional in the first place." He sighed as he stood up and walked off.

After doing a confessional, Danglars walked over to the treemail box and pulled out a letter. "Time for the challenge, I guess." Danglars said as he returned to camp. "Treemail's here, guys!"

"Time fer the Immunity Challenge, eh?" Corey asked.

"It's wondering how strong we are individually and as a team." Danglars replied before pausing. "That…Sounds kinda familiar."

"Because we've had a similar-sounding treemail before." Angela folded her arms.

"Still, they wouldn't have the challenge be similar, right? I mean, it's just the treemail." Tempo shrugged.

"We're next expecting the challenge to be similar, but you really can't expect anything out here. There really aren't many challenges where strength could be used." Tempo said. "I mean, there are endurance challenges and challenges where you have to push or pull something, but not much other than that."

(Immunity Challenge)

The two tribes emerged from the jungle in opposite directions and walked over to their mats. The twelve remaining players stepped onto their mats and waited for the challenge to start.

"Before we begin, let's bring out Riddle, who is returning from Exile Island." SSBFreak said. Riddle walked in from the side and joined his tribe again so the challenge could officially start.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, everyone. Here, we will be testing everyone's strength." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw that he was standing near the shore of a beach. "Everyone except one person on each team will be out in the water, holding onto a piece of rope each. The team member on shore will need to pull their teammates in from the water one at a time, and once someone is on shore, they can join in pulling the others. More than one person can pull on the same piece of rope, but remember that it will use up more time. Once everyone is back on shore, the team can come back over to their mat. The first team that has every member on their mat will win Immunity and be safe from tonight's Tribal Council."

(Later…)

Tempo and Gary stood on the shore as everyone else was out in the water, each holding onto one of the lines. Both of the contestants on shore looked ready to move at a moment's notice.

"Okay. For Immunity, Survivors ready...Go!"

Tempo and Gary instantly grabbed a line and started pulling, not really noticing who they were pulling in. It became clear that Tempo was pulling in Erica and Gary was pulling in Riddle. Even though Gary was far-stronger than Tempo, Tempo was pulling Erica in faster because she was so light.

"Don't waste your energy, Gary." Riddle instructed as he was being pulled to shore.

"I know." Gary nodded as he continued to pull at the line.

Tempo started to increase his lead, but he wasn't really paying attention to how well Gary was doing and was solely focused on getting Erica to shore.

"Tempo, we're getting a lead! Pull me to shore and I'll help you with the next!" Erica called out.

The two men continued to pull their teammates to shore, Tempo managing to build on his lead. By the time Tempo pulled Erica ashore, Gary was only two-thirds done pulling Riddle to shore.

"Erica is on the shore and can now help Tempo pull the others." SSBFreak announced.

"Let's get Angela next." Erica suggested as she grabbed the line Angela was holding onto. Tempo nodded and did the same as the two pulled together.

"Come on! We've got a lead and we don't want to lose it!" Angela said as Tempo and Erica started pulling her towards them.

"Gary, will you hurry up?! They're leaving us in the dust!" Samantha barked.

The two teams continued to race. Gary managed to get Riddle to shore without wasting too much energy. At this point, Tempo and Erica had only pulled Angela one-third of the way to the shore.

"Riddle is one the shore and the teams and neck-and-neck." SSBFreak announced.

"Split the work, Gary. You pull someone and I'll pull someone else." Riddle instructed.

"Sure thing." Gary nodded as he grabbed the line Samantha was holding. At the same time, Riddle started pulling Kendall to shore.

Erica saw what the Ferren Tribe was doing and her eyes widened. "We need to pick up the pace, Tempo. They're splitting the work." She said.

"We'll catch up. Once we get Angela to the shore, we'll split up." Tempo assured.

Nevertheless, Tempo and Erica pulled on the line harder and faster in an attempt to get Angela to shore faster. While they were doing this, Gary and Riddle were slowly managing to pull Samantha and Kendall to shore.

Tempo and Erica proved to be pulling faster, as Angela continued to put more distance between her and the people Ferren was pulling. Angela started thinking as she was getting pulled in, as if wondering who should be pulled in next.

"Gary, come on! You're supposed to be the strongest on the team!" Samantha said.

"I'm trying to conserve energy until the end." Gary replied.

"It won't do you any good if we're too far behind! Now pull harder!"

Gary sighed. "Okay." He gave in and started hauling Samantha in faster.

The two teams continued to pull their teammates towards the shore. Tempo and Erica managed to increase their lead and got Angela to shore while Samantha and Kendall were still a good ways out in the water.

"Angela is now on the shore. Ventala regains their lead."

"You two pull Amy in. I'll focus on Corey." Angela directed.

"What about Danglars? Wouldn't he be easier to pull in?" Erica asked.

"We'll save him for last."

Tempo and Erica decided to go along with it and grabbed the rope Amy was holding onto. Angela grabbed Corey's line and started pulling on it harder and faster than Gary was doing.

"Woo-hoo! Any faster an' Ah'd be water-skiing!" Corey cheered as Angela pulled her towards the shore. Corey had sailed past Amy in seconds and was rapidly gaining on Kendall, who by now was about halfway to the shore.

Kendall looked over into the Ventala side of the beach and his eyes widened when he saw Corey sailing closer to him. "How is one woman pulling someone that fast?!" He asked himself.

"Guys, you may want to pick up the pace!" Amy called out to Tempo and Erica. "We don't want to lose our lead!"

Gary continued to pull Samantha to shore, getting her closer. Although Angela had managed to pull Corey close enough to overtake Kendall, she couldn't catch Gary and Samantha was pulled onto the shore.

"Samantha is on the shore and the score is tied again."

"You and I focus on pulling in someone. Let's pull in Chloe." Samantha instructed as she got up.

Erica was starting to strain as she and Tempo pulled Amy towards the shore. It was clear that she was starting to lose energy. Angela saw this and continued to haul Corey to shore, managing to pull the cowgirl onto the beach in record time.

"Corey is on the shore. Ventala again regains their lead."

"Whaddya want me ta do?" Corey asked as she got up.

"You help the others pull Amy to shore." Angela said. "That haul took a bit of energy out of me, so I'll rest up until you guys get her to shore."

"Got it." Corey said as she rushed over to help Tempo and Erica.

With the fresh Corey's stamina added, Amy was pulled in faster, starting to catch up on Kendall but would never have the time to overtake him.

Riddle continued to pull on Kendall, looking a little confused. "How is it so hard to pull someone so light to shore?" He asked himself.

Nevertheless, Riddle managed to get Kendall onto the shore. The monkey stood up and shook the water out of his fur.

"Kendall is on the shore and the score is tied again."

"Gary and Samantha are pulling Chloe in, so I suppose we should focus on Brock." Riddle supplied.

"I know. Come on." Kendall said.

Amy was pulled to shore much faster now that Corey was giving a hand, and a short time later was pulled onto the shore. Amy quickly got up.

"Amy is on the shore. Ventala only needs one more person."

Angela nodded. "Okay. Everyone get ready to pull Danglars in." She instructed.

The five Ventala players stood in a line, holding onto the rope Danglars was in turn holding onto.

"Hold on tight, Danglars!" Amy instructed.

"What? Why?" Danglars asked.

Everyone on Ventala pulled as hard as they could, yanking Danglars a good portion of the way to shore in one pull. He had quickly overtaken Brock by this point.

"Again!" Angela directed.

Everyone pulled hard again. Danglars screamed as he was rocketed towards the shore, this time overtaking Chloe.

"They're beating us, guys! Step on it!" Samantha ordered.

But the orders were to no avail. After only a couple more pulls, Ventala just needed to pull one more time to get Danglars to shore. They yanked on the line as hard as they could and Danglars was sent forward so far that he was dragged up the beach for a few yards. Danglars got on his hands and knees and spat out a mouthful of sand he had scooped up.

"Come on! Back to the mat!" Erica said.

Without bothering to wait for Danglars to recover, Amy picked him up and held him over her head as the Ventala Tribe ran back to the mat. By the time Chloe had been pulled onto the shore, the Ventala Tribe had already reached their mat and had dropped Danglars onto it.

"That's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Ventala wins Immunity!"

The Ventala Tribe cheered in victory (save Danglars, who was still collapsed on the mat) as the Ferren Tribe cursed their luck.

(Later…)

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Ventala Tribe. You're all safe for at least a few more days out here." SSBFreak said before turning to the losing tribe. "Ferren, I'll be seeing you guys again at Tribal Council tonight, where you will vote another one of your own out of the game. I'll give you the rest of the day to decide who you think is best to get rid of and you'll meet me at council. You can all head back to camp."

(Ferren Tribe)

"Man. Why are we losing so much? Before the swap, I only went to Tribal Council ONCE. This will be my third time since I switched tribes." Brock sighed. "Well, Chloe and I have been trying to get Gary and Riddle on our side for a while, so all we can do is hope that they'll vote with us."

"You think they'll keep us?" Chloe asked.

"We pitched the idea to Gary several times while Riddle was on Exile Island. I think we've done all we can." Brock replied.

"Man. This is so nerve-wracking. Those two are probably feeling so comfortable now because none of us are targeting them."

"I know."

"You'd think that Brock and I would join forces with Kendall and Samantha to vote out someone on Riddle's alliance, but we don't trust each other." Chloe said. "This sucks because if we actually LIKED the other alliance, we'd probably be able to form some kind of temporary alliance or something, but that's not going to happen."

Meanwhile, Riddle was sitting on a rock while Gary was relaying to him what everyone else was talking to him about.

"…Basically, the vote's between Kendall and Brock. Both alliances came to me so many times yesterday that I stopped paying attention whenever someone started talking." Gary said.

"Hmm…Brock is stronger, but Kendall appears to be smarter." Riddle explained. "We have to make sure that we make the right choice."

"Then how about I help you make a choice?"

Gary and Riddle turned and saw Samantha coming over, looking a little mad.

"You going to try a last-minute pitch to vote out Brock?" Riddle asked.

"No. That's what Kendall wants, but it's not what I want. He hasn't been giving me a say since he dragged me into this alliance and I want to show him that he's not holding all of the cards." Samantha said.

This seemed to thrown Gary and Riddle for a loop. "Really?" Gary asked.

"Look, I'm not fond of Kendall and I know you guys aren't either." Samantha said. "So how about we go behind his back and show him that he's not in charge?"

Riddle appeared to be in thought. "The idea's tempting. What were you thinking of?"

"Samantha coming to us certainly helped us make a decision. Do we trust her? Not exactly, but we're confident she was telling the truth in this case." Gary shrugged. "I mean, she can't afford to cause a tie, so what would she have to gain by lying in this case?"

"Time to show that monkey that he has no control over me." Samantha said. "If you think I came here to be ordered around by a mangy monkey, then think again."

(Tribal Council)

The six members of Ferren entered Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Seeing the dwindling number of stumps, everyone sat down and waited for the council to commence.

"Welcome to Tribal Council again, Ferren Tribe. You've been here several times before, so you should know what's going to happen. One of you is about to be voted out of the game." SSBFreak said before starting to ask questions. "Kendall, this is the third time this tribe's been here since the swap and the sixth time overall. What do you think the problem is?"

"I think that the team got stuck with some not-so-good players when we started, and that's why they got voted out first." Kendall replied. "As for why we keep losing now, I suspect a lack of teamwork."

"Why would you expect teamwork? You're the one stabbing everyone in the back." Brock muttered.

"I heard that, you know."

"Kendall, what you did last time showed that you don't value any of us." Brock said. "Why the heck should we trust you?"

"Talk all you want, Brock. It's going to fall on deaf ears." Riddle sighed.

"Chloe, the last time you were here, Kenal was voted out. What do you think happened?" SSBFreak asked.

"What else? Kendall sold us out. Brock and Kenal thought Kendall would be on their side, but hey, he's not." Chloe said.

"It's a game of survival. You have to expect these things." Kendall replied casually.

"Will you stop trying to get the last word?!" Chloe demanded. "You're making it seem like you're the victim here when you're the one that did all the backstabbing!"

"Gary, is this what's been happening at camp all the time?" SSBFreak asked.

"Yeah. You get used to it." Gary shrugged. "I mean, both alliances came to me a number of times while Riddle was on Exile, and it was always about the same thing. If I didn't have the level of patience I do, I probably would have said something."

Brock blinked. "Then…Why didn't you?" He asked.

"Like I said, I'm a patient guy."

"That brings up another question. How was Exile Island, Riddle?" SSBFreak asked.

"Pretty uneventful, really. I couldn't find the idol and I must have spent hours searching." Riddle shook his head. "Some of those clues are near-impossible to solve, you know."

"And yet I was able to find the idol on my first visit there." Chloe said with a smirk.

"I consider that a fluke." Riddle said.

"So nothing really happened out there?" SSBFreak asked.

"No. It's fairly boring out on the island." Riddle replied.

"Brock, who are the targets tonight?"

"Kendall and myself. Kendall's been pitching the idea to get me out, likely so he can cut all ties with his old tribe." Brock said. "Meanwhile, Chloe and I are targeting him to take him down a couple of pegs."

"Where do Gary and Riddle sit on this?"

"We don't know. Like Gary said, we've been pitching ideas to them since our last visit here."

"Samantha, how will the vote go?" SSBFreak asked.

"All I can say is that you shouldn't expect anything." Samantha replied, arms folded. "Let's leave it at that."

"Well, I think that's enough questions. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Samantha, you're up."

Samantha got up and walked out of the hut to go vote. She gave a smirk and scribbled a name down before placing it into the urn and leaving.

Gary walked up to the table and wrote a name down. He looked at his ballot for a few seconds before placing it into the urn and walking away.

Brock wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "You think you're in charge here, but you're not." He said, having voted for Kendall.

Riddle approached the table, casually writing a name down. His job done, the alien left the table without a second thought.

Chloe grabbed the pen and scribbled a name down onto a note. The panda girl quickly folded up the ballot and shoved it into the jar before walking back to the hut.

Kendall, after writing, revealed that he had voted for Brock. "Getting rid of you will weaken the Ventala alliance." He explained with a smirk as he voted and left the table.

Once all six players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forth their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." SSBFreak said. Riddle remained silent confidently, knowing that he wasn't a target. "…It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Brock." Brock glared at Kendall.

"Kendall. It's 1-1." Kendall returned the glance.

"Kendall." Kendall looked determined, hoping that things would go his way.

"…Chloe." This took Chloe, Brock and Kendall by complete surprise, their eyes widened.

"Chloe. It's 2-2-1." Chloe looked extremely nervous as Kendall just looked frustrated. "Last vote and ninth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Chloe. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

"But…But…What just happened?!" Chloe asked. After a few seconds, she finally stood up and walked up to the host, leaving a stunned Brock sitting there.

"Chloe, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Chloe's torch. "It's time for you to go."

Chloe could only sigh sadly as she walked out of Tribal Council, leaving without a word and vanishing from sight.

Once Chloe was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "And so ends another Tribal Council, which shows once again that no one is safe until the votes are read." He explained. "…Normally, I'd tell you five to go back to camp, but we're going to do something a little different." He said as he looked outside of the hut. "You can come in, everyone."

The six remaining Ventala players entered the hut and saw that Chloe was voted out. Tempo looked down, but remained silent.

"You eleven have survived nine eliminations and have made it to the halfway point of the game." SSBFreak said. "So congratulations, because you've all officially made the merge."

"Man. I was so close to the merge, only to get voted out when I wasn't expecting to even be a target." Chloe folded her arms. "I enjoyed myself out here and I made some friends, but I wish I could have gone a little further. Well, at least Anke and I will be able to catch up at the Loser's Resort. I have to say that I've missed her."

Voting History:
Chloe – Gary, Riddle and Samantha
Kendall – Brock and Chloe
Brock – Kendall