Survivor: the Initiative Episode 3

Survivor: the Initiative Episode 3
Sharpening Skills and Telling Truths

Day 7

TEAM JOYCE

Angela Cairn, Nocturne, alighted next to the small shelter that most of the members of her team had constructed and now slept in. She had been flying overhead, foraging for food, when she sensed a strange emotional state beneath her. Angela had grown adept at reading the emotional states of others (except Ion, of course, who reflected no emotions). Back when she’d been a cop, she’d learned to read the intentions of others and had had to make fast judgment calls in the line of duty. After her lover and partner had been killed, Angela had grown intensely withdrawn and closed off from the world. The machine that had transformed her into Nocturne, Angela understood that it provided physical mutations based on subconscious desires. The creature Vermin had become a monstrous recluse, reflecting his inner struggles after a tortured childhood. The Mutilation Killer had become a sick and twisted monster with the power to change his shape. But Angela? Angela had become a winged creature of the night, with the power to control her hair as she would her hands; she had claws, enhanced strength, and this new ability to read the emotional states of others, or to transfer her own emotional state on to them. She often wondered what she would have changed into if her transformation had taken place prior to her partner’s death.
Angela looked around her, feeling suddenly a bit anxious. She couldn’t see or sense anyone, and yet she knew there was a presence very close to her. She’d seen all the other women, even Ion, down at the lake. Who was here? She tried to put a name to the emotion she was sensing. It was an odd mixture of playfulness, savagery, and determination.
Angela turned to scrutinize the trees behind the shelter again when she suddenly heard a twig snap behind her. As she flipped her body around defensively, Valkyrie’s powerful frame suddenly smashed against her and the two of them fell against the ground, hard. Angela felt her breath leave her body. Before she could move, she felt Valkyrie straddling her, pinning both of her arms to the ground. Angela gave out a silent scream and silmultaneously willed a wave of her fear to wash over Valkyrie and then used her hair to slash at Valkyrie’s face with violent strokes. Angela was shocked when she heard Valkyrie laugh slightly, but the warrior woman didn’t budge.
Angela’s fear turned into fury, and she projected the complex combination of emotions onto her attacker, but she still couldn’t free herself. With a twist of rage, her hair thrashing wildly, Angela cried out in a piercing scream, “GET OFF OF ME!”
Valkyrie threw back her head and laughed. Laughed! Then she stood up and stepped back. Without a thought, Angela leapt to her feet, her wings giving her balance, and she brandished her claws threateningly, giving off a hiss of warning. “Don’t you ever attack me again, or I’ll gut you!”
Valkyrie folded her arms and smiled at Angela appraisingly. “I was wondering if that would be enough to get you to talk.”
Angela felt hot embarrassment run through her suddenly. Without another word, she turned, leapt into the air, and flew away as quickly as she could.

Symkaria wasn’t so bad, Wanda Mason, the Phantom Blonde, figured. She’d never done much in the way of traveling as a kid. She’d had a trip or two to Hawaii, but her parents, even though they’d doted on her, had never had much in the way of money. Growing up, Wanda had always strived to be just a little bit more. She wanted to be that girl that everyone looked at and noticed, even if she had to get in trouble to get the attention. She had driven her mom crazy, but Louise Mason was never one to lose a battle; she stuck with the parenting thing just like she stuck with everything else. Wanda remembered the day she’d found out her mom had been a super hero back in World War II. First off, that made her mom practically ancient, but Wanda had never understood how her mom had just faded off into obscurity like she did, living some desk job when she’d had a whole life to draw from. Wanda didn’t know if she’d ever have kids (probably not), but she promised herself that she’d never let herself slip away so far. The little brats could fend for themselves; she had a life to live!
Wanda sat in her bathing suit at the edge of the lake, feeling the cold water lap against her skin as it rolled in and out. She felt utterly relaxed. Wasn’t Survivor supposed to be about hardship and battling the elements? Sure, she didn’t like sleeping on a wooden platform every night, and she didn’t always have enough to eat, but she could handle that. It was like the ultimate diet and exercise program. But she was part of a really comfortable alliance with some pretty cool chicks, and they’d gotten rid of the two biggest weirdoes on the team. Gladiatrix and Tempo were gone, and camp life was heaven now. But Wanda wanted to see the boys lose a bit, too. She didn’t want to have to see her alliance start feeding upon itself.
Wanda sat up on her haunches and looked at the other three women out in the water. Number Nine and Free Spirit were splashing each other as they swam in water that came up to their shoulders. Wanda didn’t understand how they were quite so comfortable; she knew there were icky things floating down around in there, and she wasn’t about to risk getting leeches on her. Farther out, on her own, Ion was floating above the water and looking intently beneath the surface. Wanda saw Ion use her energy field to scoop up several gallons water, then let the water run-out of the field, capturing the fish beneath it. Ion had announced to the team that she’d had this idea, and they had agreed to come down to the lake to watch her try. It looked successful so far; Ion had captured a good nine fish so far. Wanda knew Ion was just trying to prove her place on the team so that when the next tribal council came, she’d be less likely to be voted out. But as far as Wanda was concerned, it wasn’t going to do her any good. They might let Nocturne go first, but Ion would go eventually, there was no questioning that. She might as well make herself useful why she was here.
With a bored sigh, Wanda adjusted her bikini top, lay back on the ground again, and felt the sun soak into her skin.

TEAM HAMMOND

Lemar Hoskins, Battle Star, felt the hard sand scatter across his shield, then begin to solidify. He wasn’t about to let that happen; if Sandstorm got his shield, then Lemar would only have his strength and fighting skills to fall back on. Using his powerful leg muscles, he pushed himself up off the ground and launched himself a few feet into the air, ripping his shield free. He felt the sand turn loose beneath him again as he kicked himself off of a tree and changed his direction, barreling into Sandstorm’s figure fully. It was like hitting a brick wall! Sandstorm fell back all right, and Lemar landed on top of him, feeling like he’d hit a pile of rocks.
Sandstorm began laughing. “You ready to give up yet?”
Lemar answered by slamming his shield down hard into Sandstorm’s chest. It didn’t hurt the kid, who was constantly surrounded by his grit armor, but it did surprise him, and that was all Lemar needed for the moment. He pushed himself upward and began running through the woods again. After several yards, he ducked behind a thick tree trunk and turned back to survey his surroundings, his breath heavy in his lungs. Lemar had faced mutants, cyborgs, monsters, and giants in battle. He felt positive that one untrained kid couldn’t get the drop on him.
Several minutes passed before Lemar heard a rustling in trees. He looked up, expecting to see a thin trail of sand shaking the leaves, when he was suddenly slammed from behind into the tree trunk. With a groan, as he felt the tree trunk crack, he gasped an “uncle!” and felt the weight behind him release.
According to the rules of Survivor, they were allowed to spar so long as they kept their powers in check. If another contestant was harmed because of your actions, or if you intended to harm another player, you were out of the game, and potentially out of the Initiative. Just three days ago, Brother Nature and Biohazard had used their powers at the camp during their argument, but no one was kicked out because no one was hurt, though Lemar wondered if Brother Nature hadn’t meant to harm Biohazard, the poor kid.
Lemar sat down on the ground and patted his ally on the back. “Well done, Tony. You’ve really got control of your powers down to a finite level, haven’t you?”
Tony smiled widely and took a seat himself, gathering his sandy form around himself and rejoining it to his grit armor. “I’ve had lots of practice, man. After Sandman trained me how to use my powers, I spent a bunch of months hunting bad government guys down. I’ve had lots of time on my own to work them out.”
Lemar was taken aback. “Hunt them down? You hunted guys?”
Tony’s smile still shown. “Yeah, whatever it takes to get your guy, you know?” Lemar wondered, not for the first time, how much he really knew about his ally.

“I CAN’T DO IT!”
Brendan Doyle, MAULER, from within his armor, choked in disgust. “Of course ye cain’t, not wit’ that sorry excuse fer an attitude. I ain’t askin’ ye ta turn lead inta gold here, son, just ta burn through a blasted tree. That I know yer capable of cause I’ve seen ye do it before.”
Biohazard, in his human form, threw up his hands in frustration. He looked ready to cry. “I. Can’t. Do it! I can’t! I can’t, I can’t, I can’t!”
Doyle cursed under his breath. Why was he wasting his time with this sorry excuse for a man, no less a hero? He’d been trying to help Biohazard learn how to control his powers. The boy was impossible! A perpetual victim intent on whining about his place in the world over doing something about it. Biohazard had told Brendan that his father had been killed in prison. Perhaps Biohazard still wasn’t over that?
Brendan tried a new tactic. “What would yer father say, laddie, to hear ye speaking so intently of ‘can’t’?” As Brendan watched, Biohazard’s human form started to squirm and roll, and his eyes took on a green hue. Finally, Brendan had made the boy mad enough to turn into his monstrous form. “Good, lad, the power is in yer grasp, good. Now use that anger. Allow yerself ta turn into Biohazard, and direct a blast’a yer acid at that tree there. G’wan now.”
As his form transformed into acid, Biohazard’s face took on the features of a frightening cartoon perspective, wide eyes and a snarling gaping mouth. “You want the tree destroyed? Consider it destroyed!” And before Brendan’s eyes, Biohazard grew to a height of at least twenty feet. Where did all that extra mass come from? Then the boy threw a massive acidic fist through the tree trunk, shattering it into a thousand pieces.
Great, Brendan thought. He’d made Biohazard mad enough to strike. Now how would he calm him back down?

DAY 8

TEAM JOYCE

“I—I just don’t remember…” Number Nine felt the tears flow freely down her cheeks, but for once she wasn’t ashamed of her emotions. Free Spirit, Valkyrie, and the Phantom Blonde were proving to be true friends, and they were not only accepting her for who she was, but they were teaching her how to accept herself.
Free Spirit leaned in, concerned and imploring. “Try, Nine. What are your earliest memories? Take yourself back to the very beginning.”
Number Nine closed her eyes tightly and focused inward. She spent so much time hiding out from who she was that she didn’t quite know how to face her memories, or even look back upon herself. She thought back, hard, to her very earliest memories. She remembered waking up on Skip Ash’s farm. She remembered being naked inside her transformation tube. She remembered running, as if by instinct. She remembered not knowing anything about herself or her own past. “I was in the tube. And then, I was just this bundle of emotions, instincts, and responses. I was suddenly Skip Ash’s perfect woman, programmed to meet his every need.” Number Nine started crying more heavily now. She opened her eyes when she felt Free Spirit’s hand on her back, offering her a kind touch of support.
“Are you angry?”
Number Nine stopped herself from crying, and dried her eyes with the back of her hand. Oh, how she needed a shower. “Don’t be silly, why would I be angry?”
Free Spirit looked angry herself. “Not at me. At him. At that millionaire who messed with your mind.”
Number Nine thought about it. She rarely felt anger. She supposed that was part of her rewritten genome. She could feel happiness, eagerness, excitement, regret, sadness. But anger? Jealousy? Those feelings were somehow beyond her. “It hadn’t occurred to me to be angry.”
Free Spirit looked off into the distance. “I’m angry for you, then.”

As Number Nine recounted her early adventures alongside Daredevil and the Inhumans, even fighting Ultron and seemingly visiting Hell, Cathy Webster, Free Spirit, felt her mind wander to her own origins. She too was someone’s idea of the perfect woman given shape. Cathy had been a stick-in-the-mud in college, considering rules and grades much more important than friendships. When she’d been given the opportunity to work on self-improvement, with a woman who was secretly the super-villainess Superia, Cathy had jumped at the opportunity. She thought it was some sort of self-help program, but it turned out to be a complete reworking of her biology. The experiment had granted Cathy enhanced strength and agility. Seeking answers for herself, Cathy had rushed off after Superia, and ended up teaming up with Captain America, who took a special interest in her and helped train her and hone her skills. After Cap had retired for a time, Cathy and another of Cap’s protégés, Jack Flag, had taken over the monitoring of his national hotline, but that hadn’t lasted long.
Cathy had reached a point in her life where she had to decide between being a hero or continuing in college. The idea of being a hero had been appealing, but she hadn’t wanted that for herself, not then. So she’d gone back to school. Maybe she’d been a little less prudish than she’d been before. She certainly had been more popular with the boys. But now, here she was, enrolled with the Initiative, and following the hero life again. She guessed life would take her down the path it wanted her to go down.
“I don’t know what’s next for me, Cathy, and I’m scared.”
Cathy looked up suddenly and realized that she’d been completely tuning Number Nine out. What a great friend she was, getting lost in her own thoughts. She mentally reprimanded herself. “Nine, you’re going to be okay. We’ll help you through this.”
“But what if I never remember who I am?”
Cathy couldn’t help but be annoyed by the fresh flow of tears from Number Nine’s eyes, but she took her friend into her arms and let her cry.

TEAM HAMMOND

With a snap of his metallic legs, extending out from his harness, Oliver Osnick, the Steel Spider, speared the fish below the surface of the shallow lake bed. He gave out a whoop as he pulled the fish from the water, and smiled at the simple satisfaction he had of simply being good at something. Derwyddon patted him on the back approvingly. It had been a long time since Ollie had sought out the approval of an authority figure, but he somehow felt drawn to Derwyddon, and was glad the old man was around to show him some things.
Derwyddon chuckled. “You seem very pleased about this small fish, Oliver.”
Ollie shrugged and looked down at the lake surface. He still couldn’t believe that Derwyddon was helping him walk on water! “It’s just nice to do it on my own. I know you can do your little ‘ask and they will come’ thing with the fish, but it’s nice to catch one myself.”
As they walked back over to their little camp, Ollie thought about how fast the game had changed for him. He’d been just spying on everyone else for the first several days, but now he and Derwyddon were buddies, and Biohazard had been hanging out with them, too. They were like their own little tribe-within-the-tribe. And it felt good. He felt himself getting more relaxed, and he figured that was a good thing.
As a kid, Ollie had idolized people who were smart who also made themselves successes as heroes and villains. He had totally idolized Dr. Octopus, a scientist who was a really scary arch-villain, too, and Ollie had designed himself a harness with mechanical tentacles to be just like his hero. He’d been a bit misguided, sure, but he’d been just a kid, and he’d soon changed his hero to Spider-Man. He’d switched his harness around to have metal spider-legs instead and had been a pretty lame hero for a while.
As they made it back to their open camp, Ollie noticed Derwyddon looking at him intently. Staring at his prosthesis. His fake arm, his biggest shame. “Oliver, are you ready to tell me how you lost your arm?” Ollie was shocked. He and Derwyddon hadn’t talked about his arm at all. He felt hot shame, regret, and embarrassment flood through him.
Ollie cleared his throat. “It was Venom. That so-called ‘hero’ on the Thunderbolts team. After the Registration Act, I was real upset over what they did to Spidey, my idol. I started lashing out against criminals and got a bit violent. I, uh, went a little crazy, I guess. Anyway, the Thunderbolts attacked me, sanctioned by the government, and Venom, he bit off my arm. They covered it up in the media, then threw me in jail, where I sat until just a few weeks ago when I decided to enroll.”
Ollie, his face scarlet, looked up at Derwyddon, who looked horrified. “A government-sanctioned agent… bit off your arm?”
Ollie felt tears leak out on to his cheeks. “That’s right. He bit off my arm.”

“But what if they are wrong, Bill? He is the most important member of our team. Well, the most powerful, anyway.” Gomi, his pants rolled up and his feet dipping in the water on the far edge of the lake, looked at his wide-eyed crustacean friend. Gomi sensed Bill’s frustration and sighed.
“Bill, you don’t always understand how humans work. I mean, this is a complicated game. Under the sea, you just eat and sleep and defend yourself. But up here, it is about complex emotional relationships and interactions. The way I see it, Brother Nature, no matter how big a jerk he is, has helped us win two challenges directly. I just don’t agree with voting out the guy that is the biggest support to our team.”
Bill looked at Gomi and rolled his eyes. Gomi hated when his lobster got sarcastic.
“It wasn’t the same in the Fallen Angels. There, it was just about stealing to survive, even with all that weird Coconut Grove stuff. Okay, so it was more complicated, I guess. But here, it’s about getting yourself farther in the game.”
Bill looked at Gomi with a mixture of hurt and concern.
“Of course my friends are important to me, Bill, and you are my best friend! But I don’t want to lose the game! If we happen to lose immunity, and then we vote out Brother Nature like everyone is telling us to, then we could just keep losing and losing. And what if they vote me out next? I don’t want to go yet, I want to stay and win this!”
Bill turned away, a pained expression reflected in his large eyes. Finally Gomi understood what was bothering him.
“Listen, Bill, I know you are still sad about Don dying. When Devil Dinosaur stepped on him, it was the biggest tragedy ever. One of my two lobster friends was suddenly gone. Are you thinking that if we’d gotten rid of Devil Dinosaur early on, if we had kicked off the most powerful member of the team faster, then maybe Don would still be alive?”
Gomi noticed his lobster friend begin to cry. Bill jumped into the water, reflecting shame. Gomi sighed. “Okay, Bill. If we lose immunity, then I’ll vote out Brother Nature with the rest of them. Just for you.”

DAY 9

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE

Jasper Sitwell stood in front of the constructed immunity challenge and welcomed the members of Team Joyce and Team Hammond. He announced to Team Hammond that Tempo had been voted out at the last tribal council, and none of the men seemed particularly surprised. Jasper explained that in this competition, there would be six individual battles, randomly selected. The two opponents would stand on a two inch platform standing four feet in the air, and would be required to keep both feet on the platform at all times. They would each hold one end of a rope and tug of war against each other. The person from each match-up to last the longest would score one point for their team. The team with the most points would win immunity and be safe from another vote.
Jasper explained to Team Hammond that they would have to sit two people out, and that Biohazard could not sit out this challenge. Brother Nature quickly announced that he would sit out, then, and Derwyddon chose to sit out with him. The remaining pairs of six opponents were then randomly assigned.
In the first match, Phantom Blonde stood against Battle Star, whose superior strength pulled her off her platform and into the water below in a matter of seconds. The second match lasted only seconds longer as Free Spirit triumphed against Biohazard. When Number Nine stood against Gomi, who couldn’t use Bill’s super strength as there was no room on the platform, she easily yanked Gomi off.
With two points for Team Joyce and one for Team Hammond, Valkyrie, her sword sheathed, and MAULER, in his armor, stood on their platforms and began to spar with the rope. MAULER’s armor, increasing his strength, allowed him to last several minutes against the super-strong Valkyrie, but in the end, she pulled him off and won.
As Ion and Sandstorm took their places on their platforms, Jasper announced that if Team Joyce won one more match, then immunity would be theirs. As they stepped forward, Ion asked Jasper if they were allowed to use their powers, and he said yes, so long as they followed the rules of the competition. Sandstorm tied himself tightly to the platform with his sandy appendages as both took a hold of the rope. Ion immediately let out a burst of ionic energy and shattered the stand beneath Sandstorm’s platform, leaving him to crash to the ground, defeated and angry. Jasper declared Team Joyce the victors, with Nocturne and Steel Spider not having to compete at all.

TRIBAL COUNCIL

That night, at tribal council, the eight men sat before Jasper for the first time. He could immediately tell there was a high amount of tension in this group, and he wasted no time in asking about it.
“Sandstorm, based on observation alone, it appears your group has some pretty big rifts in it. I mean, Brother Nature is sitting all by himself on the right, the rest of you guys seem a bit uncomfortable around each other as well. What’s going on here?”
“We’ve had some problems at camp, Jasper. We basically have two camps, actually. Some of us sleep in the shelter Brother Nature made for us, and others sleep in the woods. There have been a few altercations.”
“Derwyddon, Team Hammond has proved to be the strongest tribe thus far, winning two challenges in a row. Do you think these divisions in your team were responsible for the loss today, or are the girls just getting it together?”
“We are all guided down the path we are meant to be on. For one more person, tonight will be the end of their journey in the game, yet the continuation of their journey in life.”
“Biohazard, do you believe that tonight’s vote will help mend these rifts in your team? How will you be basing your vote tonight?”
“Yes, I do! The person I’m voting for is Brother Nature, and I don’t need to keep it a secret. He’s been a huge jerk. He might have the most powerful powers or whatever, but he’s not a team player. I don’t have to put up with that and neither does my team.”
Jasper noted the smoldering look of fury behind Brother Nature’s eyes and quickly moved forward with the voting.
The first vote was for Brother Nature. This is from Battle Star, who wants to mend the rift in his tribe.
The second vote was for Brother Nature. This is from Derwyddon, who wants to protect his ally, Biohazard.
The third vote was for Brother Nature. This is from Steel Spider, who is voting with Derwyddon, and also wants his strongest competitor out of the game.
The fourth vote was for Biohazard. This is from Brother Nature, who can’t abide living with an industrial accident.
The fifth vote was for Brother Nature. This is from Biohazard, for obvious reasons.
The sixth vote was for Brother Nature. This is from MAULER, who is voting with the tribe, and doesn’t care who leaves so long as it isn’t him.
The seventh vote is for Brother Nature. This is from Sandstorm, who is voting along with the tribe, despite being reluctant about losing a powerful teammate.
The eighth vote is for Brother Nature. This is from Gomi, who wants to appease Bill.
As Jasper announced that Brother Nature would be the third player voted out, Brother Nature stood and serenely waited while his torch was extinguished. He turned to his team. “Though I can not call any of you my friends, I will remind you how fortunate you were to have me as an ally. Mother Nature herself called me to this station and granted me my powers, and you were blessed to have such a one among you. By your own hand, I am among you no longer. With no ill will, I take with me the shelter I so generously constructed for you. When you return to camp, you will find it bare.” And with the winds blowing lightly around him, Brother Nature walked away.

Boy do you readers not like a jerk! With the biggest number of votes yet, all but three were for Brother Nature, who is decidedly out of the game. A very unlikeable character yes, much like Tempo, but a fun character to explore. As always, I’m sad to see this one go. But I’d be sad to see any of them go!
At this point, there are some clear alliances formed and basic motivations have been established, and you should see just hints of the path each character has before them. I have lots of surprises and twists planned and I hope you enjoy it all!
As determined by random selection, Team Hammond wins immunity next issue, meaning you’ll have to vote for someone on Team Joyce, taking the women down to five! As always, you can Email votes to me at hellochadman@yahoo.com, send them to me on facebook, or post a comment here. Voting closes on Tuesday evening.

TEAM HAMMOND (IMMUNITY):
Battle Star (Lemar Hoskins)
Biohazard (Fletcher Traynor)
Derwyddon
Gomi (Alphonsus Lefszycic)
MAULER (Brendan Doyle)
Sandstorm (Tony Trainer)
Steel Spider (Oliver Osnick)

TEAM JOYCE:
Free Spirit (Cathy Webster)
Ion (Voletta Todd)
Nocturne (Angela Cairn)
Number Nine
Phantom Blonde (Wanda Mason)
Valkyrie (Samantha Parrington)