Emperors vs Knights - Ponderosa

Chapter 10 - Juror 10

Well,... I guess this is really it this time lol. I am posting this on March 29, 2020, meaning that this is officially the final day of the Survivor - Emperors vs Knights era. This has been my best era so far in my opinion. Not to call Kodai Island bad or anything at all. But this era is superior because the meet the cast fic wasn't rushed, there is generally even more detail in the stories, more character development, and even though making these Ponderosa chapters can be a bit repetitive at times, I've put even more thought into them than ever before.

I'd like to thank everyone of you that took time out of your days to read this, the pre-season fic, and the main story for this era. Some of you that have been with me since the beginning (the Kodai Island days) are still around as well! Though sadly, all good things must come to an end. Although, if it isn't obviously already, season three will start likely on April 29, 2020, so literally a month away. The pre-season chapters for the season are done, so they will be ready. I'm also currently trying to put the YouTube intro together. (Want it to be even better than both of my other intros for the two seasons that I've already published here)

Alright, with that being said, here is the final chapter for this mini-Ponderosa series, and the final chapter for the entire Emperors vs Knights era. I hope you enjoy it!

~KF

"Hello, I'm Sheik, juror number ten, and this is my Ponderosa!"

Night 38

"Well, I guess I conclude the jury..."

Sheik the ninja was just confirmed to be the official final member of the jury for Survivor - Emperors vs Knights, whether she was fond of that title or not. Nonetheless, she was making her way down the path on the way to Crazy Hand's tent, the thoughts flowing in her head within every step she took.

"Juror number ten, haha! I really can't believe it. Of course initially, part of me felt a little upset that I fell just short of making it to the end of the game where I would have sat in the final three facing the jury, only to become part of the jury last second. However, just moments later, I was honestly amazed that I've made it this far. It's basic math. Not many people make it to the final four of Survivor, so this accomplishment alone will stay with me for the rest of my life."

"I socially adapted with the tribe, I made some big strategic moves,..." She recalled the events of her game. "and then, I won a couple challenges. So at least it is safe to say that I did something in all three different aspects of the game... No wonder why I was such a threat to being voted off."

Opening up the medical tent, there was the beloved Crazy Hand.

"Hi."

"Hiya, Sheik!" He pulled a chair out from a corner. "Sit right here and we'll talk about your Survivor game!"

"I've really learned a lot out here. Spending thirty-eight days on Survivor was well worth it. I have met different types of people, and I appreciate every last one of them for being part of my Survivor life. ...Hopefully Impa is proud of me even though I was just short of making it... But then again, she's one of those people that is proud of someone no matter what, anyway, haha!"

"Now go ahead and step on the scale for me..."

She did was she was told. "...109.9..."

"And weighed 120.7, which means that you've lost exactly 10.9 pounds, Sheik." He took notes on the clipboard.

"Hmm... Seems decent enough..."

"I was... actually not mad about my weight that much. I didn't expect to lose that much anyway, so I guess I'm fine..."

"Alright, I'm outta here." Impa's student made her exit and left the tent. "Bye, Crazy Hand!"

-/-

She took her time getting off the boat and onto the dock, even waving to the driver before he took off.

"To be honest, I was actually kind of anxious just a little bit of what my perception was from the jury and how they were going to react when they saw me approaching them. I mean, I voted every one of those people out except for Greninja, so I kinda had no idea what to expect to be honest."

And yet the moment she came into the view, most of the jury either cheered on or made their way over to her first.

"I'm here, guys!"

Greninja, Shulk, and Roy walked with her as they made it to the steps to meet up with everyone else.

"We welcome to Ponderosa!" Shovel Knight grinned happily from behind his mask. "We are very much eager to spend this time with you. This is your night, and you are the guest of honor!"

"On paper, it does seem a bit strange to praise Sheik even after she betrayed me and tried to vote me out before." said Shovel Knight. "Yet nonetheless, it was great to see her. Perhaps she still would have earned my vote regardless. She's played an amazing game, so I was a bit saddened that she had to go..."

"Just right this way..." Freddy motioned her as the ninja made her way in the cafe. "I'm not leading you to the table yet, I'm afraid, even though I'm in a position where I can serve you in real life..."

"But that's only because you must look at your reflection, first." Bonnie explained.

"..." She sighed and facepalmed. "I look like a mess... Nobody ever told me I got voted off due to my physical appearance. Buuut I think I understand, now..."

"Well, I bet you'd want something to eat, first!" Roy suggested, Freddy pulling a chair out to allow her to sit. "Have a look at the menu, and we can talk a bit."

"Me and Sheik are just the same." Foxy shook his head with a smirk. "As I said before, the only difference between us was that we were in completely different alliances. Yet when it came to strategy and everything else, we're just alike. We both bonded with our allies, we won challenges, and we led our alliances through the game. Sheik's alliance ended up winning the war against the now defeated Pirate Crew, even though she was the final sacrifice needed so that Luigi, Zelda, and Marth can move on..."

He sighed. "Maybe she'd vote for Zelda so that her sacrifice was not in vain or something..."

"So tell me. How do you honestly feel about your game, Sheik?" Shulk asked, yet his face appeared to be rather saddened by her former tribemate's elimination. "Surely it must be a shame that you were hours away from reaching the finals, even though you should be proud of yourself, anyway..."

"I mean, you know what, to be honest, the most saddening part about it is... You know what, it was the final immunity challenge." She answered. "It was a maze type of challenge. So, you know? Anyone could have won that. Marth ended up barely beating Luigi. I mean... Shadow, what do I do for a living?"

"You're a ninja..." He blinked.

"Exactly." It became apparent that she was attempting at making a point. "That should have given me the advantage. The one thing I was good at that could have helped me win this challenge, and I just had to not win, especially knowing that Impa had me practice with blindfolds and everything. But yeah, that's what I'm mad about the most. It'll haunt me for the rest of my life, but don't worry. I can live with that."

"The way you are wording it a bit is a bit concerning, but I suppose you'll be alright." Shovel Knight said.

"I mean, I am not afraid to give credit where it's due." Knuckles stated. "Me and Sheik didn't always get along, but... man. She was real serous out there. She played her heart out and she worked her butt off. If she was sitting in that final three, there would have been no competition in my book. She already would have won my vote, and probably the vote of almost everyone else here, especially from Shovel Knight and Greninja... But then again, if she could have earned my vote, then she could have won everyone over, hahaha! ...Except for maybe Marth, but that's a different story, especially since he's one of the finalists right now..."

The group was amaze at the food that was place in front of Sheik. First a lobster, then parmesan chicken, and finally a few quesadillas.

"Rivaling me again, I see..." Foxy shook his head, eyes remaining focus on the amount of food that was in front of her. "I hope you're hungry, Sheik. That's all I gotta say..."

-/-

"Alright, everyone. I'll be up early tomorrow to enjoy my one day here!"

"If I actually got voted off earlier, there would have been no second thoughts of me sleeping late. But since I'm the final member of the jury, I literally only have one day here. I'd rather not spend it by sleeping. So, I'm getting up at sunrise. Luckily for me, I'm kinda used to not getting enough sleep at this point, so just one more day of not getting a full night's sleep. And then when I get home, maybe I can finally relax a little. But for this experience, and spending time with my friends, it is all worth it, so I really can't wait for day thirty-nine over here!"

She closed the door of her temporary home.

Day 39

It was time for Sheik to begin experiencing her final day on the island, as well as her first and last day at Ponderosa.

As promised, she was up bright and early not too long after the sun rose high in the sky. While the final three was out on the island having breakfast, the jury already had their own food at the cafe to eat.

However, to her surprise as she made it in, most of the jurors were already at the table, some of them already eating the food that was place down in front of their faces.

"...Huh?" She was surprised and confounded at the same time. "Wow, haha! Everybody seems to already be here even though I said that I was going to be up early today!"

"Bonnie and Shadow aren't here yet." Freddy was one of the people that was already consuming his breakfast. "But we're already here because we wanna enjoy our final day in Japan here, too."

"Well, guess you're right about that." Sheik shrugged it off. "I'll go ahead and sit down and talk while we're here. Hopefully Bonnie and Shadow will be here in a few."

"So, I guess this is it, huh?" Shulk heaved a sigh. "This is our official final day on Survivor. I mean, sure we're not part of the main game, but we're still on the island. When you're on the jury, you at least get to spend the rest of the game somewhere on the island. Main game or not. The pre-jurors were the ones that had to leave early, but the ten of us were lucky to make it far enough. So I believe that every single person that gets to be on a future jury in Survivor should be proud of themselves. And also, we're all together sharing each other's experiences. All we gotta do is enjoy day thirty-nine, and then we'll all face the final three when it's time to head to Tribal Council."

Eventually, both the hedgehog and the bunny showed to reunite with everyone else by the time Sheik's food came out to her, which happened to be strawberry pancakes, bacon, and hash browns with coffee on the side.

"So, I guess we can talk about the final three..." Knuckles spoke up. "They're probably all getting ready to go to treemail right now."

"I agree." Shulk replied. "I gotta say we got a great final three heading into tonight. All three of them played different games from one another. Marth played like the emperor, Luigi played like the knight, and Zelda... she..."

"She was kind of like an emperor as well." Roy thought out loud. "But..."

"I think she was more like a knight knowing her story." Bonnie replied glancing at his menu. "And even so,..."

"...Why not both?"

With nearly everyone turning to Sheik, they all exchanged glances with one another and slowly agreed the more they thought about it.

"I guess a hybrid between an emperor and a knight it is." She laughed in reaction.

"But I gotta say. I'm really proud of Zelda, you know?" The original Chatan member spoke breaking apart her pancakes with her knife and fork. "I mean, of course this is coming from the one that spent a lot of time with her and everything, but still. She has really came a long way."

"I'd say that Luigi came a long way as well." Shovel Knight added. "Even I am shocked that he made it to the finals, let alone outlasting everyone on his original tribe."

"I agree." Bonnie bobbed his head up and down. "He may not be the most aggressive player, but at least he outlasted all the other knights. I'm pretty sure no one expected that!"

"Hmph..." Shadow mumbled, yet loud enough so people would still hear. "I figured he was going to the end no matter what if he was never voted off... I'm trying to recall if he has done anything in particular that would make me vote for him... Zelda hid behind Sheik for the final half of her game, and Marth's doing ten million things at once."

"So in other words, you don't really know who to vote for." Foxy concluded for him.

"Not just that, but I also do not know how to vote at all."

"I suppose this just goes back to how diverse the gameplays were with the final three." said Greninja.

"I guess we're in for a big night when we go to tribal..." Freddy said with a sigh. "It's a shame that we're not allowed to bring any popcorn or anything. We're gonna be there for a while."

"So how long are we going to be there tonight?" Shovel Knight wondered.

"Normally final tribal lasts between two to three hours." Greninja told him. "They just edit out most of it and keep all the good parts for the episode."

"Eh... I don't blame 'em..." Knuckles did not seem to mind. "Who wants to watch us talk for two hours?"

"Well, I guess if some people of the Survivor community could watch it, I think they honestly would." The Pokemon assumed. "There are some really devoted fans out there. However, I am pretty sure we all know the hardest part of it all is that we are only allowed to give one person the million dollars... I mean, I know that they know that it is part of the game, but still..."

Watching him hang his head down out of a bit of guilt, Roy understood where he was coming from. "That I completely agree with. If we could, I would give all three of them the title of..."

...

In response to Roy's sudden pause in the middle of his sentence, a few of his fellow jurors chortled in reaction.

"You stopped at just the right time." Bonnie Roberts pointed. "Though we'd want to give everyone the money, at the same time it completely undermines the significance of the title of the Sole Survivor."

-/-

A little while later, Sheik was able to have one on one time with Greninja, the two of them sitting on the dock with their legs dangling over the edge.

"...Sheik?"

"Yeah?"

"...I'm sorry."

She almost immediately squinted her eyes in confusion. "For what...?"

"..." The Pokemon glanced at her directly and smirked. "I forgot to give you my thanks for avenging me last night."

"Oh..." She laughed out loud at that. "I knew you were already silent thanking me, anyway... But I mean, I was really mad that you left actually. It may not have shown on the exterior, but inside I was fuming. Not just because you were my ally, but you generally deserved to stay in the game."

"...And I guess that was what motivated you to play Marth like a 'savage.'"

"'Savage?'"

He snickered greatly. "Well, that was what Knuckles said."

"Well," And she snickered back. "what I can say is that the move was not only made to protect Zelda, but also to get revenge on Marth for flipping and voting you off. I am not lying when I said that I had no plans on you being out of the picture at ten. I needed you, and you needed me."

"...Uh, I beg to differ because you've made so much progress even without my help." Greninja denied. "Maybe it was me that needed you more than you needed me..."

"Greninja, don't talk like that." She immediately shook her head. "We were both equals in this when we first started. We talked with one another to the point where we became number one allies in the game, and then we recruited Shovel Knight and Luigi. We were even together when the tribe swap happened."

"I guess you're right." He rubbed his head, staring back at his feet just above the water. "We both needed each other just as much... So,..."

"So what? What do you wanna talk about?"

"...How was Impa at the Loved Ones visit?"

"Oh yeah, her..."

"Other than both of us being ninjas in our own right, both me and Sheik have someone we look up to as our... our teachers. That's how I'm going to put it." Greninja talked. "I mean, I would call Impa a trainer, but Sheik is clearly not a Pokemon last time I checked."

"She just told me to keep going. She was pleased I've made to eight of course, and... even though I didn't win, she'll probably be proud of me, anyway." Now Sheik was looking away. "Kind of amazing that she's known me since I was a kid..."

"Yeah, that's pretty neat. Just like Calem found me when I was a Froakie..." Silence controlled him for a few moments. "How did Impa took notice of you? I don't think you've ever told me that."

"She realized how inspired I was by constantly watching her. First she taught me some moves and everything, and then after a while, she officially took me in as her student showing me all her tricks. Years later, here I am."

"Oh, nice! Seems similar to how Calem took me in. Only difference is that he had to take me in immediately since I was freezing to death..."

"Hey," She turned back to him with a hand on his shoulder. "at least you will never have to worry about that ever again, right?"

"Right... I've been moved on, anyway."

Hearing footsteps, both of them turned to find Shovel Knight.

"Hello, you two! Care to fish with me?"

With the two looking at one another, they glanced back at their friend with smiles.

"Well, why not?" Sheik was looking forward to it.

-/-

"Yes, it still pains me of the fact that I had to be the last person to go in order for the final three to advance, but I'm slowly getting over it, even though I have to watch myself now on television when this season airs officially. People have been final jurors before, so I guess that makes it a bit better. And besides, my time felt complete, anyway. So if this is the only season I get to play, I at least have the closure I needed to conclude my experience... Not that I don't want to come back, haha!"

"Luckily I've had prior experience to fishing with Impa back in the day, so hopefully this wouldn't be so difficult."

Greninja however felt a little uncertain. "...Um,... I never was an expert at it, even when we were on the island... Can you two show me the basics?"

"Hahaha!" She laughed in response. "Aw, poor guy. Don't worry. We'll help you out."

"Also, I still get to be a part of this beautiful Ponderosa when all these amazing people that I've connected with, whether we were all in the same alliance or not. But the best part of it all is that I literally have to have a hand in who gets the million dollars as well as the title of the Sole Survivor. So I believe that it is fun in its own right. And when all of this ends, there isn't without a doubt that this adventure will always have a special place in my heart for the rest of my days."

*Sighs* Finally done...

I apologize. This ended up taking longer than expected, but I actually wanted to get the pre-season chapters done for Survivor - Mexico first just to get those out of the way. Now I can officially start making the main story for it!

But anyway, this Ponderosa series is now completed, which means the Survivor - Emperors vs Knights era has officially come to an end. I already gave my thanks and all in the main story, but I shall do so again of course. Thank you all for your support now only throughout this era, but for my entire series so far. I've only started to become a fan of Survivor back in 2017 where I found an episode by accident on television and now look where I am lol. Kodai Island was released in order to just try things out, but with this I've decided to make a full blown series, so expect more from me when it comes to this series for a while.

Of course I have other stories, but I gotta say that with this series, I am now reaching new heights with my stories thanks to this. I now have my longest story ever "Survivor - Emperors vs Knights", most reviewed story ever "Survivor - Emperors vs Knights", most reviewed story ever in the Game X-Over x Super Smash Brothers section, "Survivor - Emperors vs Knights", most chapters for any of my stories "Survivor - Kodai Island", my second most viewed fic of all time "Survivor - Kodai Island", and with this series alone, according to my Legacy User Stats (it's a feature on the main site where it tells you your author stats for those who don't know), I've achieved over 500,000 words with this series alone. Seriously, you guys. Thank you. I simply never thought it would come to this.

So now that I am saying my official goodbyes to this era, and with the pre-season chapters for Mexico already being done, I am now officially going to start writing for "Survivor - Mexico (Brain vs Brawn vs Beauty)" in just less than an hour or so from now.

But for the pre-season for Survivor - Mexico, it will be titled "Mexico (Brain vs Brawn vs Beauty) - Meet the Cast" under the Game X-Over x Super Smash Brothers section as usual and it will be released on April 29th. (And if you still want to read something from me, I have Smash fics outside of my series. "Bow Before Your King" is the current one at the moment which features Bowser, King Dedede, and Ganondorf.)

Farewell! Bye for now!