Survivor: The Initiative Episode 13

Survivor: the Initiative episode 13
Three’s a Crowd

Day 37

Pushing himself forward with his mental control over his armor, Brendan Doyle, MAULER flew over the Symkarian forest and lake, his suit fully charged in the solar rays. He felt good. Alive. He felt better than he had in years. He was one of the final three! When this show broadcast, he would be a world famous hero, whether he won the game or not. The name of MAULER, the name of Brendan Doyle, the former mercenary, the former criminal, would be a household name. And everyone would know he was Daniel’s dad. He’d make his kid proud. At this moment, it didn’t matter that Brendan hadn’t showered in weeks, or that he hadn’t slept in a nice bed or that he hadn’t eaten a good meal. He had only two days left in Symkaria, and he knew he could potentially win the game. He stood every chance.
As Brendan skimmed his armor over the lake water, trailing a hand in it, he thought about the jury and how they would place their votes. He hoped that Sandstorm still respected him, despite Brendan’s betrayal, but he knew that all of them trusted Sandstorm the least and knew him the least. He’d had early alliances and friendships with Biohazard and Derwyddon, and Steel Spider would probably vote however Derwyddon did, unless those two still weren’t getting along. Valkyrie and Ion both didn’t have any love for Brendan, but he hoped to appease them with his final speeches. He could actually pull this off. He could do it.
And if history held true, he would win the final immunity. He’d won before, now he just needed to hold that trend.

With her wings spread wide and her clawed fingers stretched to the sky, Angela Cairn, Nocturne, stood in the early morning light and felt the cool air wash over her. She had never cared particularly about this game, this competition, or frankly about being a hero in the Initiative program itself, but she had to admit a sense of exhilaration at reaching the end of the game. She felt good for two reasons. One, the game was nearly over (and she could shower soon!), and two, she had found herself again. She felt like Angela again, not just that stunted creature she had been for so long. And, she had to admit, a small bit of pride swelled within her at the potential of winning this game. There would be a high amount of honor that accompanied the victory, and, though honor was never something she had sought out, Angela did like the idea of being crowned the winner.
Angela closed her eyes and stepped from the tree she’d been standing on and into the air. With her wings softly straining, it was enough to keep her aloft. She just stood there, barely moving, reaching out with her emotional sensing abilities, and felt the calm and confidence radiating out of her. Her heightened senses picked up the sounds of the birds, the breeze, the burrowing animals, the lapping of the lake water on the shore, the sounds of the early morning forest. She willed her prehensile hair to spread out behind her and felt it cascade down her back.
This. This was the creature she had become.
Angela felt a smile across her face, and she wondered at this new life she’d been granted.

Lemar Hoskins, Battle Star, ran his finger over the blunt edge of his shield, then looked out across the landscape. This was it. The final competition in preparation for the final tribal councils. After a lengthy month full of failed alliances, difficult challenges, a rough time making things work, and even an uncharacteristic bout with depression, Lemar had made it to the end of the competition. And frankly, he wasn’t sure how to feel about it.
When Lemar thought about the competition, he felt a wave of confusion and frustration pass through him. Sixteen super-powered individuals, all from vastly different walks of life and with vastly different power sets. Who was he to say who could or could not be a hero? Who was he to say that even he had the right to be a hero?
Lemar knew his recent history prior to the game had not been his proudest. He had made a public stand against the government’s registration act. He’d been incarcerated because of it, had brought shame to his family, and had besmirched his own name and reputation. He wanted a second chance. He hadn’t felt that this game was that important. It was a game! But wouldn’t a victory give him greater recognition as a hero, and allow him to clear his name even faster?
Lemar stood and felt a resolve pass through him. Somehow he’d made it to the final three. He was now determined to be the sole survivor.

The three final contestants walked through the foggy morning toward the hilltop, looking impressive, Jasper Sitwell had to admit. Battle Star, strong and stoic behind his shield. MAULER, flying through the air in his polished armor. And Nocturne, flying forward with confidence radiating out of her. Jasper explained that they would be going on a hike that would last the majority of the morning. At each mile marker, they would gather a small heroic idol that represented each of the contestants they had voted out thus far. They would then toss those gathered idols into the fire at the final destination, where the three of them would undergo the final immunity challenge. Jasper could sense the hope and determination from each of the contestants, and he could tell that they each wanted to win.
As they picked up the idol representing Gladiatrix, the first contestant voted out, Nocturne commented briefly on what a strong-willed woman Robin Braxton was and how she came on way too strong in her tribe at the beginning. Nocturne laughed that they’d only had room for one super-strong warrior woman in the tribe, and Valkyrie had seen to it very quickly that Gladiatrix didn’t stay around.
Nocturne grew strangely quiet when they retrieved Tempo’s idol. Battle Star asked her about Tempo and if she’d been difficult to vote out, and Nocturne frowned, saying that Tempo had reflected an air of cold determination and a sense of being prejudiced like no one she’d ever seen. She said that of all those voted out, Tempo may have needed this game more than any of the others, but that her stand-offish nature and bullying attitude had estranged her from the others.
They soon came to Brother Nature’s idol, and Nocturne sensed the strong reactions from both men toward this former competitor. Brother Nature, Battle Star explained, was crazy, pure and simple, and had the emotional capacity of a child. MAULER laughed, patting Battle Star on the back, and wondered out loud how different the game would have been with that lad going to the end.
The Phantom Blonde, Nocturne commented, was spoiled, self-centered, and not even super-powered, but her alliance with powerful competitors had almost allowed her to stick in the game for a long period of time. Nocturne recounted how Valkyrie had surprised them all by announcing that only worthy competitors should be in the game and had turned on her ally. One of the many game-changing moments. MAULER laughed about how Blondie sure was a looker, though.
All three of them recounted the fifth tribal council and how shocking it had been to have to vote two contestants out. Battle Star recounted how difficult it had been to vote Free Spirit out so early in the game, and how if he’d known about Sandstorm’s true intentions earlier on, then things would have been much different. MAULER talked about voting out little Gomi, and wondered what had ever become of that strange lad’s even stranger lobster, which had apparently gone missing.
Ah, Number Nine, MAULER commented. He said he’d been so surprised to see how much attention she’d thrown on him after the tribe reshuffle. Nocturne talked about Number Nine’s struggles with memory and inner self, and how she seemed at war with her very nature. They all took a moment to wish Number Nine well on her path, and hoped she would find happiness.
Then they passed the icons representing members of the jury, six in all so far, and the trio knew that one more of them would be joining the jury this evening. Biohazard, who had never been able to seize control of his acidic powers. Steel Spider, whose struggles with his own mental health led to multiple challenges in the game. Derwyddon, who had struggled repeatedly with his own faith in his gods and in himself. Sandstorm, who had struggled to find his own path to heroism through varying levels of villainy. Ion, whose hatred of self and of her own nature had tainted her every thought and action. And Valkyrie, who had found herself so confident and flawless as a god, but so imperfect as a human.
This, their jury. The peers and fellow competitors that would be judging them.
It was then that they arrived at the final immunity challenge.

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE

As the contestants watched, Jasper Sitwell showed them the virtual reality programs they would each be using to upload their minds and skill-sets into, a very high tech piece of government equipment. They would each be assigned a set of random computer-generated super heroes, a group of four for each of them, and that they would be each be briefed briefly on their assigned teams. Then they would each be uploaded into a complex scenario, where they would be required to take down a group of vitual villains and rescue a group of virtual hostages. They would each be required to command their own teams, who would only follow their orders, and they would be scored on their initiative, their timeliness, their resourcefulness, and their success rate. The contestant with the highest score would win the final immunity competition.
The three contestants were uploaded into the virtual reality system simultaneously, and each were briefed on their randomly selected teams. Battle Star was placed on a team that included the Mandrill, the Scarlet Witch, and Frog Man. Nocturne’s team consisted of Slyde, Tigra, and the Fixer. MAULER’s team included Ghost Rider, Red Zeppelin, and Firestar. In time, the virtual teams were uploaded into the hostage scenario: five members of the Serpent Society (King Cobra, Rattler, Fer-de-Lance, Coachwhip, and Anaconda) had staged a bank robbery, and had taken a group of stages. The police had surrounded the bank and the heroes had been called in to save them. The three contestants had no idea what each of the others were doing with the same scenarios.
MAULER immediately ordered his team to storm the bank building. As he burst through the windows with Red Zeppelin and Ghost Rider at his side, he took out Rattler with a burst from his blaze cannon while Firestar and Ghost Rider contained the female snakes in circles of fire. But King Cobra proved too difficult for the heroes and managed to kill not only four of the seven hostages, but Red Zeppelin as well. MAULER exited the scenario with a heavy heart, his mind reeling on what he could have done differently.
Nocturne had a much different approach. She’d asked her teammates to hang back while she stood outside the bank and pushed a wave of calm over the entire building. Once she was positive the criminals had calmed themselves sufficiently, she’d been prepared to go in and negotiate the hostages’ rescue, but her teammates, feeling discounted and impatient, had stormed the building. Slyde, Tigra, and the Fixer rescued the hostages with Nocturne rushing behind them to aid in the battle.
Battle Star took a few minutes to talk to his teammates, briefing them on their battle plan. He ordered the Scarlet Witch to turn one of the wall’s invisible, allowing him to scope out the situation inside. He then ordered the Mandrill to coat the building with pheromones, allowing the monkey-man to take control of the female villains inside. With that done, he and Frog-Man rushed in through the window and quickly took down Rattler (Frog-Man’s kick to the head) while Battle Star wrestled King Cobra for the gun. Though the rescue took longer than in the other scenarios, there were no casualties and all the skills of the various heroes had been used.
Having received the highest ratings, Battle Star was declared the winner of the final immunity competition.

TRIBAL COUNCIL
Tribal council was a very different experience this time around. The seven jury members entered and viewed the proceedings. Jasper explained that no one could vote for Battle Star, and that he would be selecting who would join him in the final two, as MAULER and Nocturne’s votes would simply cancel each other out.
Battle Star asked both of them to give him their final reasons why they should be in the final two with him. He listened as MAULER described wanting to be a good father to his young son, and wanting to prove to the world that he had changed his ways and was a true hero-in-training now. Nocturne gave a strangely short speech about trusting Battle Star’s judgment.
When Battle Star selected MAULER as his competitor in the final two, Nocturne quietly and easily left the area and smiled at the others as she had her torch extinguished. She continued to radiate calmness to the others are she left the room.
Jasper announced that the final tribal council would take place the next morning.
Battle Star and MAULER locked eyes, shook hands, and headed back to camp.

Thank you for reading this, the penultimate episode in Survivor! Next issue it is the big jury vote and the winner is finally declared! Please post your votes for WHO you want to WIN (not who you want out). No immunity this round, vote as you will. :D

The final two:

Battle Star (Lemar Hoskins)
MAULER (Brendan Doyle)

And our jury:
Biohazard (Fletcher Traynor)
Steel Spider (Ollie Osnick)
Derwyddon
Sandstorm (Tony Trainer)
Ion (Voletta Todd)
Valkyrie (Samantha Parrington)
Nocturne (Angela Cairn)