Survivor: the Initiative episode 12
Affirmations
Day 34
Lemar Hoskins, Battle Star, looked out at the other three contestants who remained in the game with him. It was evening, and the light over the Symkarian trees was dimming, with the light from the campfire they sat around chasing away the shadows of the forest that were fighting to take over for the night. Here they were, the final four. And, as far as Lemar could tell, they were more put together and comfortable than they had been the entire game.
“We’ve come a long way to get here. I could never have predicted this final four. A big black guy with a shield, a white lady with a sword, a winged multi-racial former cop, and an armored Irish-American. All from different walks of life, with different skills, different origins, different power sets. We’ve all had the chance to learn more about ourselves in this game, and to learn who it is we associate with. Not only that, but when this show airs, we’ll all be exposed to the public. But we can’t forget the reasons that we signed up with this program in the first place. For our own reasons, we all want to be heroes. Legal, certified, deputized heroes. And it is very difficult to remember all of that when we are caught up in this series of survival, challenges, and vote-outs.”
Lemar stretched his back and continued. “I have friendships and alliances with all of you. I admire all of you. I would be proud to be on a military team with any of you. And I hope we can all keep in mind that this competition, this game, is just that. It’s training for our future as heroes.”
MAULER, sitting in his boxer shorts across the fire from Lemar, smiled. “Aye, brother, I consider ye a friend as well. I’m glad we never crossed paths in my wayward days as a mercenary or a criminal. I’m proud to know ye now.”
Lemar nodded carefully. He appreciated the compliment and the condolences, but he would always be skeptical about someone who’d been a criminal at one time.
Unbidden by him, Nocturne turned toward Lemar. She kissed him on the cheek and nestled in closer to him. This was the first time she’d shown affection toward him in front of others. Lemar noticed Valkyrie, in her human form, smiling, and noticed MAULER looking shocked. “I admire your strength and your convictions, Lemar Hoskins. I am glad to know you.”
Lemar laughed now. “All this mutual approbation going on around here. Your turn, Valkyrie, tell me what a great guy I am?”
Valkyrie, so much nicer to look at in her smaller form now that she could choose to go back and forth between them, smiled smugly, her arms around her legs as the fire warmed her. “I can’t find a single negative thing to say about you, Battle Star. And that is a high compliment indeed.”
“I want you to know me, Lemar Hoskins. I want you to know my story.”
“Angela, I do know you. I—“
Angela Cairn, Nocturne, interrupted Battle Star. She was cuddling with him next to the fire. It was late at night now, and very dark, and MAULER and Valkyrie had already returned to their respective lean-tos. “Not in that way. You know the being I am now, and you know the being I was. But you don’t know my story. You don’t know how I became who I now am, the woman you now know.”
Battle Star, yawning into the night, patted her back. “I want to know you. Please, tell me your story.”
And so, with her voice a melodic trill, and with her emotional powers sending out waves of calm and comfort, Angela told her story. She told of her upbringing as a child of mixed races. She told of her constant need to prove herself self-sufficient and independent. She told of her enrollment in the police force and her gruff nature and work to prove herself better than all the men. She told of losing her friend and lover to a deadly mass murderer, and how it haunted her afterwards. She told of her transformation in the mutate-machines into the creature of the night, Nocturne. She told of her years spent hiding from herself and drinking the pain of others. And she told of her recent rebirth into this new confident being she had become.
As she finished, Angela noticed that her emotions had changed. She was no longer radiating comfort and calm, instead she was just feeling. No drawing in of emotions, no letting out. Just being. Juts comfortable. She felt tears come into her eyes as she realized that this was the first time in several years when she had been content to just be.
Battle Star rubbed her back and held her close. “Thank you for sharing your story with me,” he whispered. “I’m glad to know you, Angela Cairn.”
“And I you, Lemar.”
Day 35
Samantha Parrington, Valkyrie, in her immortal warrior form, drew her blade and slashed it through the air at Battle Star, careful that only the flat of the blade would strike him, and she was pleased when he parried the blow with his shield. Before he could move at her with strength that nearly matched her own, Samantha pushed into his shield with all of her strength and upset his footing, knocking him to the ground.
Samantha then turned and felt a startling wave of fear wash over her. She immediately recognized this as Nocturne’s powers. Fighting off the fear and steeling herself, Samantha scanned the trees and skyline for her attacker, but couldn’t find her right off. Nocturne’s natural ability to hide in her surroundings would serve her well. But Samantha did see MAULER, swooping down at her with his boot jets, his electric shock weapons primed and ready to fire.
Shaking off the nauseating fear, Samantha propelled herself toward the lake, and she felt the fear leave her as she got out of range. She knew MAULER was flying up behind her, but she refused to turn to see him. As she got within fifty yards of the lake, she could see it through the trees, and she heard MAULER’s weapons crackle, ready to fire. A thrill of exhilaration ran through her as she jumped behind a tree just as the electric burst came forward, striking the ground where she had just been standing, setting several small plants on fire and causing the dirt to explode upward. Valkyrie came out from behind the tree and saw MAULER landing directly in front of her. Then she turned to see Nocturne gently landing on the ground behind her. From a third direction, Battle Star came rushing out of the trees.
All of them were smiling.
Valkyrie laughed out loud. “Thank you for the sparring match, my friends! It is good to be back!”
Brendan Doyle, MAULER, was thrilled that there were only a few days left in the game. He was tired of living in the woods. He knew it was for a good cause and he knew it was all toward the meeting of his goals, but he was sick of being hungry, cold, and tired. And even more, now he longed more than ever to be with his son, Daniel, full-time. Brendan knew he would have to be smart it this time. No kidnapping or running off, no jail time. He would have to become a legitimate registered hero and then he could start the court battle for his kid. His brilliant, beautiful boy. He’d do it right. He’d be the dad that Daniel deserved.
That two-and-a-half days he’d got to spend with Daniel had been the best Brendan had ever had. Playing with his kid during the day, flying over the woods, telling him stories, holding him at night. It had been incredible. And then to, with Daniel’s help, win the immunity challenge! Daniel would have quite a story to tell all the kids back at the foster home. It gave Brendan just the charge he needed to make it through the end of the game. The boost in energy he had to have.
The game. Brendan needed to stay focused on the game. He figured he had played pretty smart most of the way through. His strategy at the beginning of the game had been to ally with all of the outcasts of the tribe, and he figured that would be what would pull him through, a leader in his own alliance. But that had all fallen apart because most the men on his tribe had been stark-raving crazy! Then he had formed that alliance with Sandstorm, and that partial one with the doting Number Nine, but both of those had crumbled to ashes around him. He had only made it this far in the game, he figured, because he was just a little less unstable than everyone around him.
Brendan figured he could win the game against Valkyrie and Nocturne both, assuming he could get a few more immunities, and assuming he wasn’t voted out first. He would have the jury votes to win the game, he knew it. He just had to find a way to get rid of Battle Star. A way that wouldn’t make the rest of the tribe mad…
Day 36
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
At Jasper Sitwell’s instruction, the four remaining contestants took their places at various corners of a complex construction that was designed to test their balance, memory, efficiency, speed, and agility. Jasper instructed the contestants to work through the complex challenge as quickly as possible. He explained that they would have to rely on their own merits to get them farther in the game. After balancing on a series of beams and ropes, each contestant would have to work their way over a series of steep walls, using only a few small handholds to get across. Then they would be required to memorize a complicated series of numbers and letters, after which they would have to go back across the course and write them down. Each contestant could go back and forth across the course as many times as necessary, but the first to correctly replicate the code would win immunity and be guaranteed a spot in the final three.
When the contest began, Battle Star and Valkyrie broke out at a dead even on the balancing portion, but both had to start over multiple times, their large frames not conducive to balancing. Nocturne flitted over the balance portion and easily maneuvered over the steep walls, with MAULER not far behind her, she using her wings to support her and he using his armor’s hydraulics. When the duo reached the memorization pattern, MAULER used his suit’s systems to easily record the sequence. After returning to the beginning, he was able to replicate it easily while Nocturne struggled to write it down and the other two were only just reaching the pattern.
MAULER was given the immunity necklace again, blowing everyone’s minds.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
Valkyrie, Battle Star, MAULER, and Nocturne took their seats at tribal council and watched as Biohazard, Sandstorm, Steel Spider, Derwyddon, and Ion took their places on the jury bench, there to silently observe in preparation for the upcoming final vote. There was a bit of tension in the room as the jury reflected different emotions toward the surviving contestants. Anger, frustration, hope, annoyance. Jasper noted all of this as he began his questioning.
“Nocturne, there seems to be a shift in mood around camp the last few days. What do you attribute that to?”
“Jasper, there has indeed been a shift in mood. For those of us still in the game, we have learned more about ourselves and, I think, as a result, grown more comfortable in our own skins. When you add the visits from our family members earlier this week, I think I can speak for all of us when I say we have had a boost in confidence and self-assurance. We are all feeling better, and it is a wonderful thing.”
“Better than what? MAULER?”
“Well, better than the dark an’ depressing moods we’ve all been in of late. The rain went away and so did our poor attitudes, it seems.”
Jasper cleared his throat. “Valkyrie, do you find it more difficult to vote out your fellow contestants as you get farther into the game?”
“More difficult? No. As difficult, yes. But as Battle Star recently reminded us, it is less about the game itself and more about being a hero in the end. My vote tonight is simply towards who is the least deserving to be a hero.”
Jasper smiled. “Blunt as always. Let’s get to the voting.”
The first vote was for Valkyrie. This was from MAULER, who didn’t care who left at this point, and who made this decision based on whose departure might upset the jury the least.
The second vote was for Valkyrie. This was from Battle Star, who didn’t want Nocturne to leave yet and couldn’t vote for MAULER.
The third vote was for Nocturne. This was from Valkyrie, who found Nocturne least deserving of being a hero of the remaining contestants.
The fourth vote was for Valkyrie. This was from Nocturne, who was voting along with Battle Star.
Valkyrie laughed good-naturedly when the decision was read. She stood straight as Jasper extinguished her torch and turned to the others. “It’s about time you got rid of the biggest contestant in the game!” She walked away, laughing, leaving only three in the game.
And here we are, with only two votes, and three episodes, left! Thanks to those of you who have stuck around this far! The episodes get shorter (as I’m sure you’ve noticed) as the contestants get fewer, and all the final plans are in place to see this series wrapped up. Due to random selection, the contestant who has immunity, and a guaranteed spot in the final two is…. Battle Star. That means you can only vote out one of the other two contestants. This will be an interesting final two!!! Can’t hardly wait.
TEAM ROGERS:
Battle Star (Lemar Hoskins—immunity)
MAULER (Brendan Doyle)
Nocturne (Angela Cairn)
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Survivor: the Initiative episode 11
Survivor: the Initiative episode 11
Resolutions
Day 31
Jasper Sitwell instructed his five guests to sit behind the assembled partition while he attended to his business. And then he walked into the camp of Camp Rogers. What a mess! He’d been monitoring this place through the cameras, but it looked even worse in person. The pieces of their wooden shelter lay strewn about from where they had been crushed by Ion’s blow several days before. Instead of anyone trying to rebuild the shelter, they had just used pieces of it to burn, or to build small lean-tos. Jasper knew morale had been low, but this was ridiculous. Jasper clicked his tongue. He saw the various places around the camp where MAULER, Battle Star, and Valkyrie (er, Samantha; that little mess had to clear itself up soon) had been sleeping. Three separate little camps. Ion didn’t need to sleep, and Nocturne probably slept up in the trees or something.
It took a few minutes for one of the contestants to return to camp. It was MAULER. Jasper instructed him to find and gather the other four contestants, and in another fifteen minutes the five remaining contestants stood before him. Battle Star. MAULER. Ion. Valkyrie. Nocturne. This was it. The beginning to the penultimate challenge of the game. Three more tribal councils, then they would finally have a winner.
As Jasper addressed the five contestants, he noticed how weary they all looked. This game had been rough on them. On all of them.
“We’re going to do something we haven’t done before in our past Survivor competitions. We’ve brought one of your loved ones here to camp, and they will be living with you here at camp for the next two nights. On the third day, they will be competing with you in the new immunity challenge.”
Before any of them could react, Jasper signaled for the five family members to come in. He wondered what impact the presence of these individuals would have on their loved ones.
5 year old Daniel Doyle, his tiny frame in shorts and a Spongebob shirt, his red hair messy, walked out tentatively, looking around in surprise. When MAULER saw his son, he rushed forward and scooped him up with a whoop of joy. “Danny, m’lad!” They spun around a few times and Jasper couldn’t help but smile.
When the portly Venessa Johnson walked out, the married sister of Ion, she smoothed her blue silk dress over her ample stomach. Jasper smirked that she’d chosen to wear a dress here in the first place. Though he could not gauge emotional reactions from Ion’s emotionless face mask, Jasper saw Ion’s form draw back a bit, and then he saw the two sisters stand uncomfortably close together, their eyes on each other.
Battle Star stepped forward to hug his father, Andrew Hoskins, a strong black man with a full white beard. The two held each other for a long moment, and Jasper heard Andrew whispering to Battle Star how proud he was of him. When the two broke the hug, Jasper noticed a confidence in Battle Star’s jaw that hadn’t been there for the last several days.
Frail-looking Samantha Parrington melted into tears at the sight of her mother, Malicia Parrington looked ridiculous in a stylish safari outfit, her wrinkled face appraising her daughter with a long look. Malicia eventually put a hand on Samantha’s shoulder, and Samantha melted into her mom’s arm in a long hug.
Finally, Jasper’s gaze drifted to the elderly, yet strong, Alma Cairn, a diminutive Native American woman in her late 60s. She walked forward toward her daughter, Nocturne, without seeming to see her. Jasper watched as Nocturne flitted backward and seemed to consider running away, then turned to her grandmother instead and gave her a large hug.
Jasper walked away in silence. These contestants had plenty to worry about in the coming days, and much yet to learn about themselves.
Day 32
“Why on Earth did you come here?” Dr. Voletta Todd, Ion, looked at her sister Venessa, sitting there freezing next to the fire. “Why, after all these years, would you even want to talk to me?”
Venessa, rubbing her hands over her shoulders for warmth, snorted. “Voletta, you were always so self-righteous. The entire time we grew up, you thought you were better than me. I hated you for it, but I love you for being my sister. You could refuse to talk to me when you were in jail and refuse to contact the family when you weren’t, but this was my chance to finally talk to you. To see you face to… face.” Venessa stumbled over that last word, remembering that Voletta didn’t have a face.
“I avoided you for a reason!” Voletta felt her emotions swelling out of control once again.
Venessa, still shivering, snorted again. “For what? So your family couldn’t be reminded of how you left us after high school and refused to talk to us? So we couldn’t be reminded of how much you hated us for holding you back, for being the little country bumpkins who had embarrassed you?”
Voletta felt her annoyance spike sharply. “I was too much for that town! I had to get out!”
“And you couldn’t even come home for holidays? Call on birthdays? Even—“
“And what?” Voletta pushed away the frustration she felt at herself for reacting so emotionally. “Be pulled back into the trap of our upbringing? Squander my looks and intelligence in trade for canning peaches?”
Voletta was shocked when she saw a few tears seep out onto Venessa’s cheeks. “Voletta, what did leaving ever get you? You missed Dad’s death. You missed my wedding. And we—we never got to help you after your… accident.”
Voletta felt a mix of shame, regret, sadness, anger, and fear all at once. She resisted the urge to will her body suit forward and hug her sister. In a softer voice, she asked, “Venessa, why are you here? Why did you come here?”
Venessa looked up into Voletta’s eyes, or at least the holes in her mask. “I’m here because you are my sister and I love you.”
“You kept my earring. You took it, didn’t you? Even while you let me think you were dead all those years. You kept my earring.”
Angela Cairn, Nocturne, felt waves of compassion rolling off of her mother. Not anger, not bitterness. Just compassion, tinged with sadness. “Mother, I—I was a different being back then. I was in a sorry state. After I was transformed, all my determination, all the strength of character I had grown up with, it was gone. It was just swallowed up by my sadness at losing Jackie. I had nothing but pain at the time. And I literally didn’t know how to cope. Yes, I took the earring. I wanted a bit of connection to my old life.”
Alma smoothed a wisp of white hair over her ears and then returned to preparing the fish they’d caught over the fire. Alma didn’t look up. “You don’t seem so sad now. Your confidence, it has returned?”
Angela nodded, willing her wings to fold in behind her. “Yes. I had another transformation. You always taught me about the animal totems, mother. I was reborn in the images of creatures of the night, but those creatures seem to have found the moon shining light on the land below. My life, my path, seems more illuminated and less murky now.”
Alma set the fish aside and sat back. Angela had always been impressed at this lithe woman with her strong bones thick. Alma looked at her daughter, never flinching at her new appearance. “I have always loved you, my buffalo child. I have always raised you to embrace all of your heritages. And you have always been strong enough to forge your own path. I am proud of you, my daughter.”
Angela let the love wash out of her and into her mother. She opened her arms and embraced her mother, feeling the love wash right back into her.
Lemar Hoskins, Battle Star, had never much cared for his father. Lemar had always been a big kid. He was 6’6’’, taller than his dad’s 6’4’’. Lemar had been a bit wayward in his youth and his dad had been too strict and never around enough. And when Lemar had joined the United States Army, Andrew, instead of being pleased, had been upset that Lemar didn’t want to stay and simply take over the family business. His dad, the underachiever, who thought college was a waste of money and refused to see potential in anything.
All that had changed after Lemar had become a wrestler and, eventually, Battle Star. Andrew had suddenly started trying to contact Lemar again, to let him know how proud he was of him, how much he wanted to be a part of his life. Lemar had always suspected that that had more to do with Andrew’s divorce from Lemar’s mother than any actual desire to change. But at least he’d shown an interest.
“I’m proud of you, son.” Lemar looked over at his father, so small next to his 6’6’’ frame, and laughed. “I mean it. Don’t you laugh at that. Lots of boys want to hear their daddies say that.”
Lemar laughed again, and reached into the lake to wash his mask out with the water. Boy was he ready for a shower and a washing machine. “Dad, I’m glad you are proud, but you’ve told me that like 12 times today alone.”
“Well, making up for lost time, I suppose. I should have been more supportive of you all along. I always knew you would be a hero.”
Lemar wasn’t sure if his dad meant it, but he knew it felt darn good to hear it. And with that, he felt the last dregs of his depression drain away.
Day 33
“Samantha, darling, what is it? What’s wrong?”
When Samantha Parrington, Valkyrie, had awakened, she had tried hard not to stir so that her mother, Malicia, could sleep in longer. Malicia was in her early sixties and, despite being in good health, should not be in the Symkarian woods sleeping for three days. Since their shelter had been destroyed, and since Samantha had found herself unable to change into Valkyrie, Samantha had been sleeping in a small constructed lean-to by herself, wrapped in her meager clothing and large fronds. With her mother there sleeping by her, she had at least been warmer. But Samantha, in thinking about how she’d acted as a teenager toward her parents, in thinking about how her mother had come here to support her, had found herself in tears and her crying had awakened Malicia.
Wiping tears from her eyes, she explained to Malicia everything she had been feeling, and what her experience on the show had been like. How she’d been hiding out in the body of the immortal Valkyrie for months, and how she was now stuck as a human. Malicia listened attentively, uncharacteristically holding her daughter close to her and letting her cry it out.
“Samantha, sweetheart, your father and I have always made you the most important thing to us. Whatever you showed interest in, we’d spend money learning everything we could about it. Karate, ballet, democracy in the Soviet Union, helping the homeless, feminism. We didn’t do it to pry or to be terrible and annoying parents. We did it because we love you and want to be an active part of your life. And when you started embracing this side of your life, becoming the Valkyrie more and more, well, your father Reginald and I worried that we would lose you. We wished for you to find some way to balance your two lives. To be our little girl and the woman who saves the world all at once.”
As her mother spoke, Samantha felt the strength well up inside her again for the first time in days. She stood up abruptly, gripped the hilt of her sword, which had laid invisible at her waist, and pulled it free from its scabbard. And just like that she was transformed into the woman warrior once again. Samantha, feeling the strength of the Asgardian wash over her, threw back her head and laughed.
Using his cybernetic control over his suit, Brendan Doyle, MAULER, tilted his head downward slightly and moved his armor toward the ground. He’d taken his son on a flight over the Symkarian lake, and had delighted as his boy laughed and hooted for joy in his arms. Brendan had loved this blood of his blood and kin of his kin the first moment he’d laid eyes on him. He’d loved him before he’d even seen him. But he hadn’t known how to be a father back then. He’d tried to kidnap his own son, and only Spider-Man had helped him realize he wasn’t fit at the time to be a parent.
Brendan set his son down on the ground and little Daniel went running, punching his fist into the air. “That was so awesome!” Brendan pulled his helmet off and laughed at his son, running after him. This past three days with Daniel had been perhaps the best he had ever experienced.
“Oh yeah, ye think that was fun, wait’ll I toss ye in the water where the sharks can get ye!”
Daniel squealed and rushed off with Brendan right behind him. “Silly, there’s no sharks in a lake! It’s not salt water!” Amazed at how a five year old could know this, Brendan laughed and chased his son across the woods. When he was finished with his military training, nothing would stop him from keeping this little boy with him full time. His mom had been out of the picture for a long time now. No more foster care for Daniel. He would be with Brendan, and that was that. He’d win this whole game, get the fame, and raise his son to be the best man, the man Brendan never was.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
Jasper Sitwell brought the contestants and their loved ones into the arena and explained that each Survivor contestant would be blindfolded and would have to rely on the directions of their loved ones to get from one end of a maze to another. The five family members took their positions on pedestals above the maze, and the contestants were blindfolded, a special device being used to block Ion’s sight.
As the challenge commenced, Nocturne flitted about confused, overwhelmed by all the emotions and noise surrounding her. Battle Star and Valkyrie seemed to have a difficult time hearing the voices of their elderly parents. Ion was highly uncoordinated with her sight stunted. MAULER proved highly effective in the challenge as Daniel’s excited, soprano voice called out instructions to his dad, getting him through the maze in record time.
After Jasper placed the immunity necklace around MAULER’s neck, he instructed the others to say goodbye to their loved ones and meet him at tribal council.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
As the four members of the jury, Biohazard, Sandstorm, Derwyddon, and Steel Spider, entered to watch, Jasper turned toward the five contestants and began questioning them.
“Valkyrie, I can’t help but notice you have gotten control of your powers again! What happened and how are you feeling?”
Sounding like her old self, Valkyrie responded. “I’m feeling more myself than ever before. My mom’s visit just helped me put things in perspective, and I was able to overcome the emotional barrier that has been blocking me for the past several days.”
“For the past few days, the five of you have had the opportunity to have a loved one at camp with you. Nocturne, what was it like having your mother around with you? Did it change the game?”
Nocturne nodded, a small trill escaping her lips. “Yes. We’ve all been taking care of ourselves recently, and we were even less connected with our family members here. We simply spent the time with our own family and stayed away from each other. It was a welcome break, and incredibly healing for all of us, as I can tell by the emotions I am reading.”
Valkyrie interrupted. “Which reminds me, there is something I’ve been keeping from the group. The morning I woke up stuck in my human form, it was Ion who destroyed the shelter. She threw a small fit and smashed our shelter in upon itself. I thought we should all know.”
Jasper gave Ion a chance to respond, sensing the building tension within the group now. “I could lie and say it was Valkyrie, attempt to swing more votes to my side of things, but I can’t lie. That would be dishonorable. Yes, it was me. I apologize to each of you, and I’m very sorry that I haven’t worked to rebuild the shelter.”
After hearing the various reactions to this, and questioning MAULER, Battle Star, and Ion about their family visits, Jasper moved directly into the voting.
The first vote was for Ion. This was from Battle Star, who was furious about the shelter’s destruction.
The second vote was for Valkyrie. This was from Ion, who was annoyed that she’d been exposed in tribal council.
The third vote was for Ion. This was from MAULER, who wasn’t all that angry, but could tell which way the votes would go.
The fourth vote was for Ion. This was from Nocturne, who disliked the angry bitterness radiating off of Ion.
The fifth vote was for Ion. This was from Valkyrie, who had no use for her former ally any longer.
Jasper extinguished Ion’s torch and she turned, with the head of her containment suit held high, and floated out of the area. Jasper reminded them that only two tribal councils remained.
Thank you for your patience in getting this episode out! The last two episodes (almost done!!!) will be broadcast on Mondays, as my schedule and commitments have shifted a bit lately. Voting will close on Saturday night, and votes can be Emailed to me at hellochadman@yahoo.com, sent on facebook, or posted here. Thanks to those who have stuck their way through this series!
For the purpose of this episode, I created the characters of Andrew Hoskins and Venessa Johnson, and I provided a name for Nocturne’s mother. The character Daniel Doyle (though seen only as a baby) and the character Malicia Parrington already existed.
In our next episode, due to random selection, MAULER gets immunity again (that’ll make a few of you happy). I always use a random number generator online to determine immunity; Megan can verify! Somehow we ended up with two boys and two girls at the end.
TEAM ROGERS:
Battle Star (Lemar Hoskins)
MAULER (Brendan Doyle—immunity)
Nocturne (Angela Cairn)
Valkyrie (Samantha Parrington)
Resolutions
Day 31
Jasper Sitwell instructed his five guests to sit behind the assembled partition while he attended to his business. And then he walked into the camp of Camp Rogers. What a mess! He’d been monitoring this place through the cameras, but it looked even worse in person. The pieces of their wooden shelter lay strewn about from where they had been crushed by Ion’s blow several days before. Instead of anyone trying to rebuild the shelter, they had just used pieces of it to burn, or to build small lean-tos. Jasper knew morale had been low, but this was ridiculous. Jasper clicked his tongue. He saw the various places around the camp where MAULER, Battle Star, and Valkyrie (er, Samantha; that little mess had to clear itself up soon) had been sleeping. Three separate little camps. Ion didn’t need to sleep, and Nocturne probably slept up in the trees or something.
It took a few minutes for one of the contestants to return to camp. It was MAULER. Jasper instructed him to find and gather the other four contestants, and in another fifteen minutes the five remaining contestants stood before him. Battle Star. MAULER. Ion. Valkyrie. Nocturne. This was it. The beginning to the penultimate challenge of the game. Three more tribal councils, then they would finally have a winner.
As Jasper addressed the five contestants, he noticed how weary they all looked. This game had been rough on them. On all of them.
“We’re going to do something we haven’t done before in our past Survivor competitions. We’ve brought one of your loved ones here to camp, and they will be living with you here at camp for the next two nights. On the third day, they will be competing with you in the new immunity challenge.”
Before any of them could react, Jasper signaled for the five family members to come in. He wondered what impact the presence of these individuals would have on their loved ones.
5 year old Daniel Doyle, his tiny frame in shorts and a Spongebob shirt, his red hair messy, walked out tentatively, looking around in surprise. When MAULER saw his son, he rushed forward and scooped him up with a whoop of joy. “Danny, m’lad!” They spun around a few times and Jasper couldn’t help but smile.
When the portly Venessa Johnson walked out, the married sister of Ion, she smoothed her blue silk dress over her ample stomach. Jasper smirked that she’d chosen to wear a dress here in the first place. Though he could not gauge emotional reactions from Ion’s emotionless face mask, Jasper saw Ion’s form draw back a bit, and then he saw the two sisters stand uncomfortably close together, their eyes on each other.
Battle Star stepped forward to hug his father, Andrew Hoskins, a strong black man with a full white beard. The two held each other for a long moment, and Jasper heard Andrew whispering to Battle Star how proud he was of him. When the two broke the hug, Jasper noticed a confidence in Battle Star’s jaw that hadn’t been there for the last several days.
Frail-looking Samantha Parrington melted into tears at the sight of her mother, Malicia Parrington looked ridiculous in a stylish safari outfit, her wrinkled face appraising her daughter with a long look. Malicia eventually put a hand on Samantha’s shoulder, and Samantha melted into her mom’s arm in a long hug.
Finally, Jasper’s gaze drifted to the elderly, yet strong, Alma Cairn, a diminutive Native American woman in her late 60s. She walked forward toward her daughter, Nocturne, without seeming to see her. Jasper watched as Nocturne flitted backward and seemed to consider running away, then turned to her grandmother instead and gave her a large hug.
Jasper walked away in silence. These contestants had plenty to worry about in the coming days, and much yet to learn about themselves.
Day 32
“Why on Earth did you come here?” Dr. Voletta Todd, Ion, looked at her sister Venessa, sitting there freezing next to the fire. “Why, after all these years, would you even want to talk to me?”
Venessa, rubbing her hands over her shoulders for warmth, snorted. “Voletta, you were always so self-righteous. The entire time we grew up, you thought you were better than me. I hated you for it, but I love you for being my sister. You could refuse to talk to me when you were in jail and refuse to contact the family when you weren’t, but this was my chance to finally talk to you. To see you face to… face.” Venessa stumbled over that last word, remembering that Voletta didn’t have a face.
“I avoided you for a reason!” Voletta felt her emotions swelling out of control once again.
Venessa, still shivering, snorted again. “For what? So your family couldn’t be reminded of how you left us after high school and refused to talk to us? So we couldn’t be reminded of how much you hated us for holding you back, for being the little country bumpkins who had embarrassed you?”
Voletta felt her annoyance spike sharply. “I was too much for that town! I had to get out!”
“And you couldn’t even come home for holidays? Call on birthdays? Even—“
“And what?” Voletta pushed away the frustration she felt at herself for reacting so emotionally. “Be pulled back into the trap of our upbringing? Squander my looks and intelligence in trade for canning peaches?”
Voletta was shocked when she saw a few tears seep out onto Venessa’s cheeks. “Voletta, what did leaving ever get you? You missed Dad’s death. You missed my wedding. And we—we never got to help you after your… accident.”
Voletta felt a mix of shame, regret, sadness, anger, and fear all at once. She resisted the urge to will her body suit forward and hug her sister. In a softer voice, she asked, “Venessa, why are you here? Why did you come here?”
Venessa looked up into Voletta’s eyes, or at least the holes in her mask. “I’m here because you are my sister and I love you.”
“You kept my earring. You took it, didn’t you? Even while you let me think you were dead all those years. You kept my earring.”
Angela Cairn, Nocturne, felt waves of compassion rolling off of her mother. Not anger, not bitterness. Just compassion, tinged with sadness. “Mother, I—I was a different being back then. I was in a sorry state. After I was transformed, all my determination, all the strength of character I had grown up with, it was gone. It was just swallowed up by my sadness at losing Jackie. I had nothing but pain at the time. And I literally didn’t know how to cope. Yes, I took the earring. I wanted a bit of connection to my old life.”
Alma smoothed a wisp of white hair over her ears and then returned to preparing the fish they’d caught over the fire. Alma didn’t look up. “You don’t seem so sad now. Your confidence, it has returned?”
Angela nodded, willing her wings to fold in behind her. “Yes. I had another transformation. You always taught me about the animal totems, mother. I was reborn in the images of creatures of the night, but those creatures seem to have found the moon shining light on the land below. My life, my path, seems more illuminated and less murky now.”
Alma set the fish aside and sat back. Angela had always been impressed at this lithe woman with her strong bones thick. Alma looked at her daughter, never flinching at her new appearance. “I have always loved you, my buffalo child. I have always raised you to embrace all of your heritages. And you have always been strong enough to forge your own path. I am proud of you, my daughter.”
Angela let the love wash out of her and into her mother. She opened her arms and embraced her mother, feeling the love wash right back into her.
Lemar Hoskins, Battle Star, had never much cared for his father. Lemar had always been a big kid. He was 6’6’’, taller than his dad’s 6’4’’. Lemar had been a bit wayward in his youth and his dad had been too strict and never around enough. And when Lemar had joined the United States Army, Andrew, instead of being pleased, had been upset that Lemar didn’t want to stay and simply take over the family business. His dad, the underachiever, who thought college was a waste of money and refused to see potential in anything.
All that had changed after Lemar had become a wrestler and, eventually, Battle Star. Andrew had suddenly started trying to contact Lemar again, to let him know how proud he was of him, how much he wanted to be a part of his life. Lemar had always suspected that that had more to do with Andrew’s divorce from Lemar’s mother than any actual desire to change. But at least he’d shown an interest.
“I’m proud of you, son.” Lemar looked over at his father, so small next to his 6’6’’ frame, and laughed. “I mean it. Don’t you laugh at that. Lots of boys want to hear their daddies say that.”
Lemar laughed again, and reached into the lake to wash his mask out with the water. Boy was he ready for a shower and a washing machine. “Dad, I’m glad you are proud, but you’ve told me that like 12 times today alone.”
“Well, making up for lost time, I suppose. I should have been more supportive of you all along. I always knew you would be a hero.”
Lemar wasn’t sure if his dad meant it, but he knew it felt darn good to hear it. And with that, he felt the last dregs of his depression drain away.
Day 33
“Samantha, darling, what is it? What’s wrong?”
When Samantha Parrington, Valkyrie, had awakened, she had tried hard not to stir so that her mother, Malicia, could sleep in longer. Malicia was in her early sixties and, despite being in good health, should not be in the Symkarian woods sleeping for three days. Since their shelter had been destroyed, and since Samantha had found herself unable to change into Valkyrie, Samantha had been sleeping in a small constructed lean-to by herself, wrapped in her meager clothing and large fronds. With her mother there sleeping by her, she had at least been warmer. But Samantha, in thinking about how she’d acted as a teenager toward her parents, in thinking about how her mother had come here to support her, had found herself in tears and her crying had awakened Malicia.
Wiping tears from her eyes, she explained to Malicia everything she had been feeling, and what her experience on the show had been like. How she’d been hiding out in the body of the immortal Valkyrie for months, and how she was now stuck as a human. Malicia listened attentively, uncharacteristically holding her daughter close to her and letting her cry it out.
“Samantha, sweetheart, your father and I have always made you the most important thing to us. Whatever you showed interest in, we’d spend money learning everything we could about it. Karate, ballet, democracy in the Soviet Union, helping the homeless, feminism. We didn’t do it to pry or to be terrible and annoying parents. We did it because we love you and want to be an active part of your life. And when you started embracing this side of your life, becoming the Valkyrie more and more, well, your father Reginald and I worried that we would lose you. We wished for you to find some way to balance your two lives. To be our little girl and the woman who saves the world all at once.”
As her mother spoke, Samantha felt the strength well up inside her again for the first time in days. She stood up abruptly, gripped the hilt of her sword, which had laid invisible at her waist, and pulled it free from its scabbard. And just like that she was transformed into the woman warrior once again. Samantha, feeling the strength of the Asgardian wash over her, threw back her head and laughed.
Using his cybernetic control over his suit, Brendan Doyle, MAULER, tilted his head downward slightly and moved his armor toward the ground. He’d taken his son on a flight over the Symkarian lake, and had delighted as his boy laughed and hooted for joy in his arms. Brendan had loved this blood of his blood and kin of his kin the first moment he’d laid eyes on him. He’d loved him before he’d even seen him. But he hadn’t known how to be a father back then. He’d tried to kidnap his own son, and only Spider-Man had helped him realize he wasn’t fit at the time to be a parent.
Brendan set his son down on the ground and little Daniel went running, punching his fist into the air. “That was so awesome!” Brendan pulled his helmet off and laughed at his son, running after him. This past three days with Daniel had been perhaps the best he had ever experienced.
“Oh yeah, ye think that was fun, wait’ll I toss ye in the water where the sharks can get ye!”
Daniel squealed and rushed off with Brendan right behind him. “Silly, there’s no sharks in a lake! It’s not salt water!” Amazed at how a five year old could know this, Brendan laughed and chased his son across the woods. When he was finished with his military training, nothing would stop him from keeping this little boy with him full time. His mom had been out of the picture for a long time now. No more foster care for Daniel. He would be with Brendan, and that was that. He’d win this whole game, get the fame, and raise his son to be the best man, the man Brendan never was.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
Jasper Sitwell brought the contestants and their loved ones into the arena and explained that each Survivor contestant would be blindfolded and would have to rely on the directions of their loved ones to get from one end of a maze to another. The five family members took their positions on pedestals above the maze, and the contestants were blindfolded, a special device being used to block Ion’s sight.
As the challenge commenced, Nocturne flitted about confused, overwhelmed by all the emotions and noise surrounding her. Battle Star and Valkyrie seemed to have a difficult time hearing the voices of their elderly parents. Ion was highly uncoordinated with her sight stunted. MAULER proved highly effective in the challenge as Daniel’s excited, soprano voice called out instructions to his dad, getting him through the maze in record time.
After Jasper placed the immunity necklace around MAULER’s neck, he instructed the others to say goodbye to their loved ones and meet him at tribal council.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
As the four members of the jury, Biohazard, Sandstorm, Derwyddon, and Steel Spider, entered to watch, Jasper turned toward the five contestants and began questioning them.
“Valkyrie, I can’t help but notice you have gotten control of your powers again! What happened and how are you feeling?”
Sounding like her old self, Valkyrie responded. “I’m feeling more myself than ever before. My mom’s visit just helped me put things in perspective, and I was able to overcome the emotional barrier that has been blocking me for the past several days.”
“For the past few days, the five of you have had the opportunity to have a loved one at camp with you. Nocturne, what was it like having your mother around with you? Did it change the game?”
Nocturne nodded, a small trill escaping her lips. “Yes. We’ve all been taking care of ourselves recently, and we were even less connected with our family members here. We simply spent the time with our own family and stayed away from each other. It was a welcome break, and incredibly healing for all of us, as I can tell by the emotions I am reading.”
Valkyrie interrupted. “Which reminds me, there is something I’ve been keeping from the group. The morning I woke up stuck in my human form, it was Ion who destroyed the shelter. She threw a small fit and smashed our shelter in upon itself. I thought we should all know.”
Jasper gave Ion a chance to respond, sensing the building tension within the group now. “I could lie and say it was Valkyrie, attempt to swing more votes to my side of things, but I can’t lie. That would be dishonorable. Yes, it was me. I apologize to each of you, and I’m very sorry that I haven’t worked to rebuild the shelter.”
After hearing the various reactions to this, and questioning MAULER, Battle Star, and Ion about their family visits, Jasper moved directly into the voting.
The first vote was for Ion. This was from Battle Star, who was furious about the shelter’s destruction.
The second vote was for Valkyrie. This was from Ion, who was annoyed that she’d been exposed in tribal council.
The third vote was for Ion. This was from MAULER, who wasn’t all that angry, but could tell which way the votes would go.
The fourth vote was for Ion. This was from Nocturne, who disliked the angry bitterness radiating off of Ion.
The fifth vote was for Ion. This was from Valkyrie, who had no use for her former ally any longer.
Jasper extinguished Ion’s torch and she turned, with the head of her containment suit held high, and floated out of the area. Jasper reminded them that only two tribal councils remained.
Thank you for your patience in getting this episode out! The last two episodes (almost done!!!) will be broadcast on Mondays, as my schedule and commitments have shifted a bit lately. Voting will close on Saturday night, and votes can be Emailed to me at hellochadman@yahoo.com, sent on facebook, or posted here. Thanks to those who have stuck their way through this series!
For the purpose of this episode, I created the characters of Andrew Hoskins and Venessa Johnson, and I provided a name for Nocturne’s mother. The character Daniel Doyle (though seen only as a baby) and the character Malicia Parrington already existed.
In our next episode, due to random selection, MAULER gets immunity again (that’ll make a few of you happy). I always use a random number generator online to determine immunity; Megan can verify! Somehow we ended up with two boys and two girls at the end.
TEAM ROGERS:
Battle Star (Lemar Hoskins)
MAULER (Brendan Doyle—immunity)
Nocturne (Angela Cairn)
Valkyrie (Samantha Parrington)
Friday, January 1, 2010
Survivor: the Initiative episode 10
Writer's note: In the last episode of Survivor: the Initiative, Battle Star won immunity, then subsequently received two votes in tribal council, from Derwyddon and Sandstorm. This was a simple mistake on the writer's part. Please trade those votes from Battle Star to Valkyrie, following the same motivations, and everything is all better. We can now start fresh with episode 10! :D
Survivor: the Initiative Episode 10
Everything old is new again
Day 28
Samantha Parrington, who, until recently, had been known as Valkyrie (before she'd been trapped in her mortal form as she had been for the past three days), looked around the decimated camp. The shelter had been smashed by Ion three days before, and Samantha hadn't told anyone who'd done it. And since then, no one had done anything to fix the shelter. It'd been raining too much, for one thing, but no one really seemed to care. But Samantha knew it was still eleven days until the end of the game, and she, for one, was sick of sleeping in the open. But she couldn't well fix the shelter herself. She sighed in frustration and kicked at one of the loose boards that had previously made up their shelter.
Samantha smoothed her hands over her hips. In this form, she was over a foot shorter, and over three hundred pounds lighter, than in her Valkyrie form. Valkyrie wasn't fat, just... robust. She reflected back to her earlier days. One thing this competition was doing was making her learn more about herself. When she'd been a young woman in her twenties, she'd been focused, primarily, upon defying her parents in whatever ways she could. She'd needed so badly to assert her independence from them, doing things just to spite them. Her parents had thrown a party for the Hulk, of all people, in a bizarre effort to win public favor, and Samantha had been transformed by the Enchantress into the Valkyrie, and had fought the Hulk. What did that say about her? From a young woman seeking her own voice to an immortal warrior woman battling the strongest man on the planet, all in a matter of minutes. She still didn't know quite what that said about her. But she thought she needed to figure it out if she was ever going to master her transformations and truly be a hero, something she really wanted now.
As she walked down the path to the small lake near their camp, Samantha reflected upon the resolve she'd found within herself in the past few days. She was no longer crying, that was a relief. Now she just had to keep that resolve through the coming challenges. She would figure this out. She would.
"An' what's a pretty lassie like ye doin' walkin' by yuirself?" Samantha turned to see MAULER, stripped to his boxers with his beard unkempt and down to his chest, walking up behind her with a broad smile on his face. "Surely ye'll be wantin' some company on yuir walk."
Samantha sighed again. "Mr. Doyle, you are welcome to walk with me, but please keep your annoying flirtations to yourself. I didn't notice you flirting with me when I was Valkyrie."
MAULER laughed loudly. "Well, ye weren't nearly as... approachable in that form, were ye?"
Samantha couldn't help but laugh back. "I guess not. But I'm still the same person. And I'm not interested."
MAULER laughed. "Don't let me bravado throw ye off. I'm here for game reasons only. I know better than tae get involved with the woman who could kill me quick."
"What game reasons?"
"I'm thinkin' we're both bein' in need of new alliances now."
"So you were lying to me the whole time."
"There's a big difference between lying to someone and not telling the whole truth."
Lemar Hoskins, Battle Star, grunted at Sandstorm's response and tossed another rock in the water. "You never told me you weren't black, even when I assumed you were black. You never told me you'd killed people. Lying is still lying if you leave the truth out."
Sandstorm rolled his eyes and shifted positions. "Kay, so I lied. I got bigger things to worry about. Kinda going through an identity crisis here."
"Join the club. What do you want, Tony?"
Lemar waited for several moments for Sandstorm to answer. "Our alliance, does it still stand? Cause despite my lies, I still really want to win this game."
And Lemar then told his first lie of the game. "Yeah. Sure, kid. Our alliance is still on."
After Sandstorm left, Lemar sat at the lakeshore for another two hours by himself. He saw Valkyrie, or Samantha as she now asked to be called, come and go. No Ion or Nocturne, but they'd been pretty scarce anyway, even after Nocturne had kissed him. He just sat there. And found that he didn't care about this game at all anymore. Not the challenges, not the vote. He'd won immunity the day before on reflex. He didn't like the competition, he didn't like his opponents. Heck, at this point he didn't like himself. He knew he needed to make a choice. He either needed to drop out, or to be in it to win it. But for now he didn't want to choose. He just didn't have it in him.
"Laddie, ye are seemin' more an' more down an' out. Ye need tae snap out of it." MAULER, in his boxer shorts, sat down next to Lemar.
"Brendan, I kinda want to be alone right now."
MAULER smiled that over-confident smile of his. "Laddie, just ye listen. I know when tae cut my losses. I think it's time for a new alliance for the two of us."
DAY 29
Voletta Todd, Ion, floated high in the sky, where she'd spent much of the past few days. She was furious with herself for losing her temper and destroying the shelter, and even more disgusted with her teammates, especially Valkyrie, for scorning their own humanity. She no longer cared to try heroism. She no longer cared to try getting her human form back. She no longer cared about scientific pursuits, or anything else that had ever given her meaning. She simply had lost her will. She now wanted nothing more than to cease existing altogether, and she knew of no way to end the existence of a being composed of ionic energy. She cursed her very existence, her very sentience, and allowed the breeze to carry her further out over the woods.
Voletta cursed to herself when she saw Nocturne flying past. Then she cursed again. How had Nocturne found her here, when she just wanted to be left alone? Voletta had shrunk her energy field to the size of a mite of dust. But Nocturne, she must have used her emotion-sensing ability to find Voletta, who was clearly giving off a strong sense of emotions at this point.
Nocturne slowed. She couldn't quite see Voletta, who was practically invisible, but she somehow knew where she was. Voletta wasn't so obtuse that she hadn't noticed the change in Nocturne, who had come across so much more confident in the past few days. Voletta didn't know what had changed, and she didn't care.
Nocturne spoke then. She spoke! Voletta had rarely heard her utter even a word. Even a sound. "Ion? It's me, Angela. I've been looking for you the better part of the day. Such... pain I sense from you. I wanted to offer to help you as you once offered friendship to me."
Unable to hide, Voletta willed herself back to "human" size. The amount of space a human would take up, though she was a weightless mass of energy. "What do you want, Nocturne?"
Nocturne's voice trilled slightly. "I... I wanted to offer to help. I am willing to take your pain from you. I can store pain now. It doesn't hurt me any longer."
Voletta's voice shook despite herself. "You want to... to take my pain. Why?"
Nocturne answered with an unexpected confidence. "Because I can."
Ion felt a stirring of strong emotions from within her. Again, emotions she wasn't prepared to confront, emotions she didn't know she had. "No! How dare you!" Voletta tried to cool the anger in her voice. She calmed herself. "Listen, I understand that you are trying to help. But you must try to realize that my mind, my personality, and my... emotional reactions. They are all I have left. They are the only humanity I yet possess. Please, leave, and let me brood in peace."
Nocturne trilled again. "Yes. But please understand, the rest of us, we don't know what it is like to be you. And we have emotions as well. Your unique state of being doesn't stop others from having difficult experiences."
As Nocturne flew away, Voletta thought that if she had the ability, she might cry.
"I like you, Lemar Hoskins. I like your confidence, and I enjoy the goodness that is in your soul." Angela Cairn, Nocturne, approached Battle Star with her new self. She wasn't yet sure how to react to the new being that sat before her. He was so empty inside, so despairing. It was a startling change from the being she had come across before. She laid her head by his shoulder as he sat by the lake, and ignored the smell of his unwashed body. She willed her hair, which she could control as she could her arms, legs, and wings, and stroked his back with it.
"Wait a minute, lady." He expressed protest, but didn't react with any movement in his body and no change in his emotional reaction. "You come on to me all strong. You kiss me, cuddle up next to me. Then you up and disappear from camp for several days. What do you want from me?"
Angela thought of the best way to answer. "Friendship."
"Friendship."
"Friendship."
"Yes. I find myself in need of friends."
Battle Star huffed. "Not a late game alliance."
Angela lifted her head and gave him a confused stare. "No. I've cared little for this game since the beginning. I just need friends. Before my transformation, I was a competitive, rational mind. I feel my old self returning more prominently now."
Battle Star smiled, and Angela felt a tinge of mirth from him. "Well, you sure talk a lot more now."
Angela leaned in on his shoulder and was content to sit in silence for a time.
DAY 30
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
When the six remaining contestants arrived at the immunity challenge, a few miles from their usual camps, they were surprised to see an ornate pavilion in front of them. And when they entered, they were even more shocked to see thousands of Symkarians in the stands cheering for them. It had varying reactions on the contestants, seeing fans cheering their names. Fans! Cheering! The dirty, disheveled would-be heroes stood in shock, surprise, excitement, and embarrassment, all at varying levels. When Jasper introduced the gorgeous Silver Sable, head of the mercenary elite of Symkaria, the Wild Pack, the men in the stadium stood a little straighter and sucked in their stomachs. Silver Sable, dressed in gorgeous silver leather, nodded at the contestants, then announced to them, and the crowd, that the contestants would be facing off in a duel against hand-selected members of her Wild Pack.
When Silver Sable gestured at a side gate, the six selected mercenaries rushed into the stadium, looking powerful, regal, and heroic. She announced that some of them were on loan to her for this specific competition. Windshear flew above the stadium, using hard air constructs to walk down from the top to the base, to the cheers of the crowd. Pulsar flew through the crowd, changing her light sources to various colors and dazzling the room. On the other side of the stadium, Lightbright cascaded over the crowd, spreading warmth and light over the audience, who applauded at the good feelings they were left with. On the ground, Sabra entered the room with multiple cartwheels and acrobatics, showing her strength and agility. Fin charged in, his giant green fin standing off his body as he charged through a brick wall that had been set up for that purpose. And lastly, Vibraxas used his vibratory powers, with tight control, to shake a section of the stadium, knocking some of the audience members out of their seats as they laughed.
Jasper explained that the contestants on both sides would be equipped with a piece of battle armor they would be required to adhere to their abdomens (Ion and Pulsar would be equipped with special ones that would adhere to their energy forms). They would then spar with each other. Once a contestant's armor was struck three times, they would be out of the challenge. The contestant to last the longest, or to defeat their opponent the fastest, would win immunity, and the challenge would showcase their skills in battle. Sandstorm versus Vibraxas. Battle Star versus Fin. Ion versus Pulsar. Nocturne versus Lightbright. Valkyrie versus Sabra. MAULER versus Windshear.
With the crowd cheering, the six contestants lined up against their opponents in the Wild Pack and prepared to engage in the challenge. Jasper and Silver Sable announced go, and the 12 opponents leaped into action. On the ground, Valkyrie, still in her human form, drew her blade, but Sabra delivered three quick blows to the armor shell and Valkyrie was the first disqualified. Nocturne and Lightbright flew across the stadium, pulsing each other with waves of emotion, and Nocturne successfully evaded Lightbright's blasts of heat and light with her wide wings; they couldn't seem to lay a hand on each other. Feeling free to use his offensive weaponry against the armored Windshear for the first time in the competition, MAULER used his laser and blaze cannons in his aerial battle, but found it difficult to get past the hard air shields in the air. They danced and flew at each other through the air, and MAULER received the first blow to his armor within three minutes of the battle. Battle Star and Fin quickly got into a brutish struggle of super strength, each holding the other's arms back, their foreheads touching as they strained, unmoving, across the field. In a shocking turn of events, Sandstorm, who surrounded himself with a powerful shell of grit armor, was blasted apart into sandy particles with a vibratory blast from Vibraxas, who quickly zapped the battle armor three times and disqualified Sandstorm. The most bizarre battle, however, turned out to be Ion and Pulsar, who zapped each other with waves of energy, neither doing any harm to the other.
After fifteen minutes on the field, Battle Star and MAULER had been eliminated as well. After several more minutes, Pulsar found a frequency that allowed her to contain Ion in, and she quickly defeated her opponent. Nocturne, who had been evading Lightbright successfully for several minutes, was declared the winner as she'd lasted the longest on the field.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
After welcoming in the three members of the jury, Biohazard, Steel Spider, and Derwyddon, Jasper sat down the six remaining members of the game. He felt waves of confidence-inspiring emotions washing off of Nocturne, who sat with a grin on her face and the immunity idol around her neck. Jasper smiled at the remaining players in the game, wondering who would end up winning.
"Today you got your taste of combat. When you become heroes for the Initiative, you will be pitted against foes in the defense of your country, you will train against others. Today, you were pitted against someone whose powers were meant to counter yours, and some of you fared very well. Don't worry, as you'll have much more training before you are deployed. Sandstorm, what did that combat feel like today? Did you enjoy it?"
Sandstorm shrugged. "I didn't not enjoy it. I didn't know what to expect, and that Vibraxas guy kicked my butt much faster than I would have expected. I guess it is good to learn lessons like that."
"Valkyrie, did seeing any of your competitors in battle change your thinking about the game at all?"
"No, not at all. I have gotten to know these folks pretty well. I am embarrassed to not have my own powers under control still, and to have been the first one out, but I know these five are all worthy competitors."
"Nocturne, with immunity, you are guaranteed a spot in our final five. How will you be basing your vote this evening, knowing you are safe?"
"I am glad to be safe. I have found newfound desires in me to win this game, and I am glad to be sure of a few more days. Alliances are fractured among us. Tonight's vote will be with what I hope is the majority."
Jasper then commenced with the voting.
The first vote was for Sandstorm. This was from Battle Star, who no longer trusted his one-time ally.
The second vote was for Sandstorm. This was from Ion, who was clued in to this vote by Nocturne.
The third vote was for Sandstorm. This was from MAULER, who needed to distance himself from his former ally.
The fourth vote was for Sandstorm. This was from Nocturne, who was voting along with Battle Star.
The fifth vote was for Valkyrie. This was from Sandstorm, who, sensing his own defeat, cast one last vote at an opponent.
The sixth vote was for Sandstorm. This was from Valkyrie, who was voting along with Battle Star.
As Jasper extinguished his torch, Sandstorm looked toward the group and stoically said, "I still have a lot to learn about myself. I apologize for my deviousness up until now." And then he walked off to join the jury.
Thank you for participating in this, our tenth episode. Only a few left to go, and somehow we have more women than men left! I apologize for the delays over the holidays. Illnesses and travel stopped me from getting things done sooner. We should be back on schedule now until the big finish. Bit stuff planned for all five characters!
Next episode, which should be back up on Thursday (regular time; voting won't close til Wednesday night), due to random selection, MAULER gets immunity. That means you can vote for any of the other four. See you then!
TEAM ROGERS:
Battle Star (Lemar Hoskins)
Ion (Voletta Todd)
MAULER (Brendan Doyle--immunity)
Nocturne (Angela Cairn)
Valkyrie (Samantha Parrington)
Survivor: the Initiative Episode 10
Everything old is new again
Day 28
Samantha Parrington, who, until recently, had been known as Valkyrie (before she'd been trapped in her mortal form as she had been for the past three days), looked around the decimated camp. The shelter had been smashed by Ion three days before, and Samantha hadn't told anyone who'd done it. And since then, no one had done anything to fix the shelter. It'd been raining too much, for one thing, but no one really seemed to care. But Samantha knew it was still eleven days until the end of the game, and she, for one, was sick of sleeping in the open. But she couldn't well fix the shelter herself. She sighed in frustration and kicked at one of the loose boards that had previously made up their shelter.
Samantha smoothed her hands over her hips. In this form, she was over a foot shorter, and over three hundred pounds lighter, than in her Valkyrie form. Valkyrie wasn't fat, just... robust. She reflected back to her earlier days. One thing this competition was doing was making her learn more about herself. When she'd been a young woman in her twenties, she'd been focused, primarily, upon defying her parents in whatever ways she could. She'd needed so badly to assert her independence from them, doing things just to spite them. Her parents had thrown a party for the Hulk, of all people, in a bizarre effort to win public favor, and Samantha had been transformed by the Enchantress into the Valkyrie, and had fought the Hulk. What did that say about her? From a young woman seeking her own voice to an immortal warrior woman battling the strongest man on the planet, all in a matter of minutes. She still didn't know quite what that said about her. But she thought she needed to figure it out if she was ever going to master her transformations and truly be a hero, something she really wanted now.
As she walked down the path to the small lake near their camp, Samantha reflected upon the resolve she'd found within herself in the past few days. She was no longer crying, that was a relief. Now she just had to keep that resolve through the coming challenges. She would figure this out. She would.
"An' what's a pretty lassie like ye doin' walkin' by yuirself?" Samantha turned to see MAULER, stripped to his boxers with his beard unkempt and down to his chest, walking up behind her with a broad smile on his face. "Surely ye'll be wantin' some company on yuir walk."
Samantha sighed again. "Mr. Doyle, you are welcome to walk with me, but please keep your annoying flirtations to yourself. I didn't notice you flirting with me when I was Valkyrie."
MAULER laughed loudly. "Well, ye weren't nearly as... approachable in that form, were ye?"
Samantha couldn't help but laugh back. "I guess not. But I'm still the same person. And I'm not interested."
MAULER laughed. "Don't let me bravado throw ye off. I'm here for game reasons only. I know better than tae get involved with the woman who could kill me quick."
"What game reasons?"
"I'm thinkin' we're both bein' in need of new alliances now."
"So you were lying to me the whole time."
"There's a big difference between lying to someone and not telling the whole truth."
Lemar Hoskins, Battle Star, grunted at Sandstorm's response and tossed another rock in the water. "You never told me you weren't black, even when I assumed you were black. You never told me you'd killed people. Lying is still lying if you leave the truth out."
Sandstorm rolled his eyes and shifted positions. "Kay, so I lied. I got bigger things to worry about. Kinda going through an identity crisis here."
"Join the club. What do you want, Tony?"
Lemar waited for several moments for Sandstorm to answer. "Our alliance, does it still stand? Cause despite my lies, I still really want to win this game."
And Lemar then told his first lie of the game. "Yeah. Sure, kid. Our alliance is still on."
After Sandstorm left, Lemar sat at the lakeshore for another two hours by himself. He saw Valkyrie, or Samantha as she now asked to be called, come and go. No Ion or Nocturne, but they'd been pretty scarce anyway, even after Nocturne had kissed him. He just sat there. And found that he didn't care about this game at all anymore. Not the challenges, not the vote. He'd won immunity the day before on reflex. He didn't like the competition, he didn't like his opponents. Heck, at this point he didn't like himself. He knew he needed to make a choice. He either needed to drop out, or to be in it to win it. But for now he didn't want to choose. He just didn't have it in him.
"Laddie, ye are seemin' more an' more down an' out. Ye need tae snap out of it." MAULER, in his boxer shorts, sat down next to Lemar.
"Brendan, I kinda want to be alone right now."
MAULER smiled that over-confident smile of his. "Laddie, just ye listen. I know when tae cut my losses. I think it's time for a new alliance for the two of us."
DAY 29
Voletta Todd, Ion, floated high in the sky, where she'd spent much of the past few days. She was furious with herself for losing her temper and destroying the shelter, and even more disgusted with her teammates, especially Valkyrie, for scorning their own humanity. She no longer cared to try heroism. She no longer cared to try getting her human form back. She no longer cared about scientific pursuits, or anything else that had ever given her meaning. She simply had lost her will. She now wanted nothing more than to cease existing altogether, and she knew of no way to end the existence of a being composed of ionic energy. She cursed her very existence, her very sentience, and allowed the breeze to carry her further out over the woods.
Voletta cursed to herself when she saw Nocturne flying past. Then she cursed again. How had Nocturne found her here, when she just wanted to be left alone? Voletta had shrunk her energy field to the size of a mite of dust. But Nocturne, she must have used her emotion-sensing ability to find Voletta, who was clearly giving off a strong sense of emotions at this point.
Nocturne slowed. She couldn't quite see Voletta, who was practically invisible, but she somehow knew where she was. Voletta wasn't so obtuse that she hadn't noticed the change in Nocturne, who had come across so much more confident in the past few days. Voletta didn't know what had changed, and she didn't care.
Nocturne spoke then. She spoke! Voletta had rarely heard her utter even a word. Even a sound. "Ion? It's me, Angela. I've been looking for you the better part of the day. Such... pain I sense from you. I wanted to offer to help you as you once offered friendship to me."
Unable to hide, Voletta willed herself back to "human" size. The amount of space a human would take up, though she was a weightless mass of energy. "What do you want, Nocturne?"
Nocturne's voice trilled slightly. "I... I wanted to offer to help. I am willing to take your pain from you. I can store pain now. It doesn't hurt me any longer."
Voletta's voice shook despite herself. "You want to... to take my pain. Why?"
Nocturne answered with an unexpected confidence. "Because I can."
Ion felt a stirring of strong emotions from within her. Again, emotions she wasn't prepared to confront, emotions she didn't know she had. "No! How dare you!" Voletta tried to cool the anger in her voice. She calmed herself. "Listen, I understand that you are trying to help. But you must try to realize that my mind, my personality, and my... emotional reactions. They are all I have left. They are the only humanity I yet possess. Please, leave, and let me brood in peace."
Nocturne trilled again. "Yes. But please understand, the rest of us, we don't know what it is like to be you. And we have emotions as well. Your unique state of being doesn't stop others from having difficult experiences."
As Nocturne flew away, Voletta thought that if she had the ability, she might cry.
"I like you, Lemar Hoskins. I like your confidence, and I enjoy the goodness that is in your soul." Angela Cairn, Nocturne, approached Battle Star with her new self. She wasn't yet sure how to react to the new being that sat before her. He was so empty inside, so despairing. It was a startling change from the being she had come across before. She laid her head by his shoulder as he sat by the lake, and ignored the smell of his unwashed body. She willed her hair, which she could control as she could her arms, legs, and wings, and stroked his back with it.
"Wait a minute, lady." He expressed protest, but didn't react with any movement in his body and no change in his emotional reaction. "You come on to me all strong. You kiss me, cuddle up next to me. Then you up and disappear from camp for several days. What do you want from me?"
Angela thought of the best way to answer. "Friendship."
"Friendship."
"Friendship."
"Yes. I find myself in need of friends."
Battle Star huffed. "Not a late game alliance."
Angela lifted her head and gave him a confused stare. "No. I've cared little for this game since the beginning. I just need friends. Before my transformation, I was a competitive, rational mind. I feel my old self returning more prominently now."
Battle Star smiled, and Angela felt a tinge of mirth from him. "Well, you sure talk a lot more now."
Angela leaned in on his shoulder and was content to sit in silence for a time.
DAY 30
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
When the six remaining contestants arrived at the immunity challenge, a few miles from their usual camps, they were surprised to see an ornate pavilion in front of them. And when they entered, they were even more shocked to see thousands of Symkarians in the stands cheering for them. It had varying reactions on the contestants, seeing fans cheering their names. Fans! Cheering! The dirty, disheveled would-be heroes stood in shock, surprise, excitement, and embarrassment, all at varying levels. When Jasper introduced the gorgeous Silver Sable, head of the mercenary elite of Symkaria, the Wild Pack, the men in the stadium stood a little straighter and sucked in their stomachs. Silver Sable, dressed in gorgeous silver leather, nodded at the contestants, then announced to them, and the crowd, that the contestants would be facing off in a duel against hand-selected members of her Wild Pack.
When Silver Sable gestured at a side gate, the six selected mercenaries rushed into the stadium, looking powerful, regal, and heroic. She announced that some of them were on loan to her for this specific competition. Windshear flew above the stadium, using hard air constructs to walk down from the top to the base, to the cheers of the crowd. Pulsar flew through the crowd, changing her light sources to various colors and dazzling the room. On the other side of the stadium, Lightbright cascaded over the crowd, spreading warmth and light over the audience, who applauded at the good feelings they were left with. On the ground, Sabra entered the room with multiple cartwheels and acrobatics, showing her strength and agility. Fin charged in, his giant green fin standing off his body as he charged through a brick wall that had been set up for that purpose. And lastly, Vibraxas used his vibratory powers, with tight control, to shake a section of the stadium, knocking some of the audience members out of their seats as they laughed.
Jasper explained that the contestants on both sides would be equipped with a piece of battle armor they would be required to adhere to their abdomens (Ion and Pulsar would be equipped with special ones that would adhere to their energy forms). They would then spar with each other. Once a contestant's armor was struck three times, they would be out of the challenge. The contestant to last the longest, or to defeat their opponent the fastest, would win immunity, and the challenge would showcase their skills in battle. Sandstorm versus Vibraxas. Battle Star versus Fin. Ion versus Pulsar. Nocturne versus Lightbright. Valkyrie versus Sabra. MAULER versus Windshear.
With the crowd cheering, the six contestants lined up against their opponents in the Wild Pack and prepared to engage in the challenge. Jasper and Silver Sable announced go, and the 12 opponents leaped into action. On the ground, Valkyrie, still in her human form, drew her blade, but Sabra delivered three quick blows to the armor shell and Valkyrie was the first disqualified. Nocturne and Lightbright flew across the stadium, pulsing each other with waves of emotion, and Nocturne successfully evaded Lightbright's blasts of heat and light with her wide wings; they couldn't seem to lay a hand on each other. Feeling free to use his offensive weaponry against the armored Windshear for the first time in the competition, MAULER used his laser and blaze cannons in his aerial battle, but found it difficult to get past the hard air shields in the air. They danced and flew at each other through the air, and MAULER received the first blow to his armor within three minutes of the battle. Battle Star and Fin quickly got into a brutish struggle of super strength, each holding the other's arms back, their foreheads touching as they strained, unmoving, across the field. In a shocking turn of events, Sandstorm, who surrounded himself with a powerful shell of grit armor, was blasted apart into sandy particles with a vibratory blast from Vibraxas, who quickly zapped the battle armor three times and disqualified Sandstorm. The most bizarre battle, however, turned out to be Ion and Pulsar, who zapped each other with waves of energy, neither doing any harm to the other.
After fifteen minutes on the field, Battle Star and MAULER had been eliminated as well. After several more minutes, Pulsar found a frequency that allowed her to contain Ion in, and she quickly defeated her opponent. Nocturne, who had been evading Lightbright successfully for several minutes, was declared the winner as she'd lasted the longest on the field.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
After welcoming in the three members of the jury, Biohazard, Steel Spider, and Derwyddon, Jasper sat down the six remaining members of the game. He felt waves of confidence-inspiring emotions washing off of Nocturne, who sat with a grin on her face and the immunity idol around her neck. Jasper smiled at the remaining players in the game, wondering who would end up winning.
"Today you got your taste of combat. When you become heroes for the Initiative, you will be pitted against foes in the defense of your country, you will train against others. Today, you were pitted against someone whose powers were meant to counter yours, and some of you fared very well. Don't worry, as you'll have much more training before you are deployed. Sandstorm, what did that combat feel like today? Did you enjoy it?"
Sandstorm shrugged. "I didn't not enjoy it. I didn't know what to expect, and that Vibraxas guy kicked my butt much faster than I would have expected. I guess it is good to learn lessons like that."
"Valkyrie, did seeing any of your competitors in battle change your thinking about the game at all?"
"No, not at all. I have gotten to know these folks pretty well. I am embarrassed to not have my own powers under control still, and to have been the first one out, but I know these five are all worthy competitors."
"Nocturne, with immunity, you are guaranteed a spot in our final five. How will you be basing your vote this evening, knowing you are safe?"
"I am glad to be safe. I have found newfound desires in me to win this game, and I am glad to be sure of a few more days. Alliances are fractured among us. Tonight's vote will be with what I hope is the majority."
Jasper then commenced with the voting.
The first vote was for Sandstorm. This was from Battle Star, who no longer trusted his one-time ally.
The second vote was for Sandstorm. This was from Ion, who was clued in to this vote by Nocturne.
The third vote was for Sandstorm. This was from MAULER, who needed to distance himself from his former ally.
The fourth vote was for Sandstorm. This was from Nocturne, who was voting along with Battle Star.
The fifth vote was for Valkyrie. This was from Sandstorm, who, sensing his own defeat, cast one last vote at an opponent.
The sixth vote was for Sandstorm. This was from Valkyrie, who was voting along with Battle Star.
As Jasper extinguished his torch, Sandstorm looked toward the group and stoically said, "I still have a lot to learn about myself. I apologize for my deviousness up until now." And then he walked off to join the jury.
Thank you for participating in this, our tenth episode. Only a few left to go, and somehow we have more women than men left! I apologize for the delays over the holidays. Illnesses and travel stopped me from getting things done sooner. We should be back on schedule now until the big finish. Bit stuff planned for all five characters!
Next episode, which should be back up on Thursday (regular time; voting won't close til Wednesday night), due to random selection, MAULER gets immunity. That means you can vote for any of the other four. See you then!
TEAM ROGERS:
Battle Star (Lemar Hoskins)
Ion (Voletta Todd)
MAULER (Brendan Doyle--immunity)
Nocturne (Angela Cairn)
Valkyrie (Samantha Parrington)
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