All-Star Survivor: Hawaii Finale The Best of the Best (part 2)

Manakai Tribe (white): John Carroll, Vecepia Towery

DAY 39

Judgment Day.

It was a cold, misty morning on the island of Ni'ihau. Rather than the bright sunlight and the clear skies that greeted the castaways most of the time in this game, the air was much colder and decidedly much wetter than the air they were used to around here. Today, a cool dank mist just sat there over the eastern shore of the island. It floated over their camp, it enveloped their fire pit. It just hung over everything.

And as John arose and saw what the last day was going to be like in All-Star Survivor, he couldn't help but laugh at the irony.

"Hey Vee," he laughed, as he stepped out of the shelter and met the cool, wet fog, face-to-face, "Come on out here. Take a look at this."

"Why?" she asked, blearily, from inside the shelter, "Did we get a reward?"

"No, take a look at the sky. It's going to rain."

Vee sat up and she poked her head out of the shelter. Sure enough, John was right. There was the fog. There was the dampness. There was that smell, the familiar smell of electricity just waiting in the air. It was going to rain on the final day of Survivor in Hawaii. How incredibly wonderful.

In fact, John already felt the first tentative drops falling down on his head.

"Man, the jurors are gonna be laughing their asses off when they find out about this," he turned around and smiled at Vecepia, his longtime partner-in-arms, "Now they can say that on the last day, at least we got soaked."

"Speak for yourself," Vee shivered, from back under her blanket, "You can get soaked all you want. I'm staying in here until Tribal Council."

She looked up at the sturdy roof that Gretchen had built over their heads. And for perhaps the hundredth time in the last thirty-nine days, she gave thanks that Gretchen Cordy had once been a part of this tribe. Vecepia hated the rain. And this was the one place on the entire island of Ni'ihau where you were guaranteed to stay out of it. Right here under this roof.

"Well I don't plan on getting drenched," said John, "I just thought I would get us some food. I mean, we gotta eat today, right?"

Vee didn't even emerge from under her blanket. "Just do what you gotta do, I'm staying here."

"Okay," shrugged John, "But if I catch a cow and bring home some steaks, you aint getting any."

"If you bring home steaks, I'll vote for you to win myself."

John just laughed.

Thunder cracked far off, somewhere out over the ocean.

Vecepia cuddled herself up into a ball.

Well the last day of All-Star Survivor sure was going to be eventful, now wasn't it?





^^





Vee eventually reneged on her promise to stay out of the rain all day. After about an hour of huddling up in a ball under a blanket, she eventually emerged to help John with the camp tasks. After all, the guy was right. They did still have to eat today. They did still have business to attend to. Even though Survivor was, for all intents and purposes, over at this point, they still did need energy for the task that awaited them later tonight.

After all, you couldn't very well convince a jury to vote for you if you didn't have some energy.

So Vee came out, and she and John trudged through their oh-so-familiar tasks around Camp Manakai. For the last day. Under a light rain. For the last time.

The two of them worked slowly. And methodically. They were certainly in no hurry to get things done. After all, the game was over. Who did they need to impress? There was no need to bust your butt on day thirty-nine, just to make the rest of the tribe happy. Once you hit day thirty-nine, you earned the right to work at your own pace. That was just the way it was. Once the game got down to two people, you could just sit back, relax, and do whatever the heck you felt like around camp, at your own speed. On the final day of the game, you had finally earned the right not to have to prove yourself to anyone else. It was incredibly refreshing.

John and Vecepia were now truly alone on this beach. It was now just the two of them, the two hated Ahis, against a jury of seven. The moment they had been striving for since day one-- the end-- was now finally here.

After thirty-eight days of politics and machinations, after thirty-eight days of brainwashing and gamesmanship, they had made it. It was over. They didn't have to be strategic robots anymore. The games were done. They could go back to simply being "Vecepia Towery" and "John Carroll" again. They could go back to being an office manager and a nurse.

And even though Vee had already been here once before, she found this concept to be hard to accept.

"Is it really just the two of us out here?" she asked, as she poured water from their water jug into their frying pan. She turned and looked over and her friend. "It seems weird."

"Yeah, I know," nodded John, from inside his dirty white buff. He had wrapped it around his face, to protect his cheeks from the chill. "I keep expecting Boston Rob to walk over and start yelling at me. I keep thinking that Gretchen will pop out and say we need to go get some more shellfish."

Vecepia just chuckled. Man, Gretchen. How on earth how they managed to get Gretchen out of here? Even though Vee knew they had done it, deep down, she still didn't know how it had happened. After all, Gretchen had been the favorite to win this game. Easily. No doubt about it. Her win had been destiny. Up until last night, Gretchen Cordy and "million dollar winner" had pretty much looked to be synonymous.

And that's why, under her breath, Vecepia quickly said yet another prayer giving thanks to the Lord. It was her fifth or sixth such prayer since yesterday. It looked like the Big Man upstairs had truly been looking out for her out here. She was well aware that Gretchen's shoulder injury had been extraordinarily lucky for them.

"Well all I know is that it feels weird," Vee smiled over at John, "It feels weird that it's just the two of us. And I've been here before, too, so you think I'd be used to it."

"Yeah whatever, former winner," John teased her. "Whatever, already-a-millionaire. I feel so sorry for you."

Vee just chuckled as she stirred their soggy breakfast rice. After all, she knew she was facing a handicap tonight. He didn't have to remind her of this. She knew full well what the jurors were going to think about rewarding a former Survivor winner. John wasn't pointing out anything, or making fun of anything, that she didn't already know. She had known she would have an uphill battle against this particular jury since the start..

"So do you think I have any chance at all?" Vee asked him, honestly.

She looked over at John through the light rain. She was curious to see what he thought about this. Now that the game was over, now that the mindgames were over, would he drop his cocky veneer for even a second? Would he stop being "Survivor John"? Would he go back to being Johnny Pots and Pans, her good friend from outside the game?

Luckily, it appeared that he would.

After all, John was just as excited to drop the mantle of Survivor invulnerability as she was. He was happy to be at the end of the game too. He was thrilled that he had a chance to just be himself again. As any Survivor who had ever gotten to the end of the game could tell you, it had been a long time.

"Do I think you can win?" he looked up and repeated her question.

"Yeah, what do you think my chances are?"

John paused for a moment in the rain. He appeared to be thinking about the question. Off in the distance, there was another far-off crack of thunder out over the ocean.

"I think you have a much better chance at winning than you did a week ago," John finally said.

"Really?"

"Yeah," John nodded. "I mean, before we got rid of Alicia and Colleen, I think I had the game in the bag." He paused. "Now, I'm not so sure. I'm a little bit worried about those two."

Vee looked over at him. He seemed to be a little bit wistful about this. It was hard to tell through the rain, but he actually looked like he was about to start tearing up about this. It looked like Survivor John, the remorseless dictator, had vanished for good.

"You think you shot yourself in the foot?" Vee asked.

"With Alicia, more than likely," John said. He looked like he was tallying up votes in his head. "I think it would be a miracle if I got her vote. She'll vote against me just to make a point."

Vee nodded. Yup. She knew Alicia. That's exactly what Alicia would do.

"So yeah, you probably do have a chance," shrugged John. "I mean, I could sit here and bullshit you and tell you you don't, but what's the point? I think you could actually win tonight." He paused. Again, he looked like he was tallying. "I mean, you've got Tina. You've got Alicia. You've probably got Boston Rob. I think it's gonna be close."

"You don't think Rob would vote for you?" Vee asked.

"Nah. He'd never vote for me. Are you kidding me?" John looked over at her. "Rob's gonna let some gay boy come in and win his game? Not a chance."

Vee just turned back and stirred the rice. She didn't say anything.

"If you ask me," John theorized, "I think it will all come down to two jurors. I think it will come down to Gretchen and Colleen."

Vee nodded.

"If I win both their votes," John continued, "Then I win. Otherwise, you pull off the upset."

Vee just looked over at him and laughed. "Upset?"

"Yeah," smiled John, "Upset. Because don't even tell me you played a better game than me, Vee. All you did out here was sit back and wait. All you did was the exact same thing you did in Marquesas. I was the one who took all the chances."

Vee just laughed.

"If I lose tonight," said John, "It's because I screwed up. Not because you outplayed me. Not because you were a better player. It's because I burned bridges that I shouldn't have burned."

Vee just laughed again.

"Oh please," she grinned at him, "You really believe that? You think it's just a fluke that I'm standing here? That I'm only here because of luck?"

"I didn't say that's the only reason," shrugged John.

"You just don't know how to deal with passive players," Vee pointed out. "That has always been your weakness. You played the exact same way you played in Marquesas too. You only worry about the Boston Robs of the world. You forget about the quiet ones."

"Oh come on," John scoffed. He stood up off of his log. "Can you honestly say that you played a better game than me?" He looked at her. He actually looked like he was getting a little bit heated about this. "Can you really stand up there in front of a jury and say you were the better player of us two? You're honestly going to use that argument tonight?"

Vee just looked over at him, bashfully, and she shrugged.

"If you use that argument," pointed out John, "then they'll laugh you right out of the game." He stared at her, uncomprehendingly. "You think that is going to work with Colleen?"

"But I was the best player," Vee shrugged.

John couldn't believe it. He threw his hands up in the air. Yes, Vecepia Towery, the best of the best. The one who had outwitted them all. What the fuck ever.

"Okay, fine," he smiled, "Go up there and use that argument. See how far it gets you." He grinned. "Tell Colleen you had this game in the palm of your hand. Tell that to Alicia. Tell her you planned it to work out like this."

Vee said nothing. She just continued to stir the rice.

"I mean, I love you Vee, you know that," John said. "You're my girl. But you're just a lazy cherry picker, and you know it."

"I've been to the finals twice," Vee said, quietly.

"Well yeah, you know," John paused, annoyed. He looked for the right analogy he could make here, "And a broken clock is wrong twice a day, too. You know?"

"You voted for me to win last time."

Vee looked over at him, and she smiled. Because she had been saving that little dagger to use until it counted the most. And now it did. John had indeed voted for Vecepia to win last time. In fact, his vote had been the one that had eventually won her the game. His vote alone was the sole reason she was standing here, with the chance to become the only two-time winner in Survivor history. She wanted to make sure he realized that.

"Jesus, Vee," he sighed, "Do you have any idea that the only reason people dragged you along was because you were a former winner? Do you have any concept of that?" He looked at her. "If you win All-Stars, it will be the biggest fluke in Survivor history. It will be even a bigger fluke than last time."

Vee said nothing. She just turned back to the rice, and shook her head. She looked hurt. It looked like he had actually managed to wound her with that one.

"I'm sorry," John said, as he quickly recognized this. He walked over and he gave her a hug. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. That was mean." He paused. "That was the starvation talking."

The two of them stood there for a moment, quietly, under the cold, morning rain.

Again, John Carroll sincerely hated what this game managed to do to him. It turned him into an asshole. It did it every time. It turned a genuinely nice guy into a prick. He hated that.

"I think you do have a chance tonight," he reiterated, quietly, into her ear. "But if you think you played a better game than me, then you're full of shit. And I'm telling you that as your friend."

He pulled back and he smiled at her. Even through the rain, he could see she was fighting back tears.

Vee said nothing. She just looked at him and she nodded. She didn't say so, but she accepted his apology.

"And I still say that it will come down it Gretchen and Colleen," John said, through the rain. "If I win both their votes, I win. Otherwise, you pull off the upset."

He let the words hang there, in the air. He said nothing else.

He knew it was basically down to two jurors tonight. Gretchen and Colleen. In fact, they both knew that. Everything else had been predetermined a long time ago, and was pretty much set in stone.

It was down to Gretchen and Colleen. The Pagong sisters.

John knew that he needed them both.

"Well the rice is ready," Vee finally said, as she reached up and wiped a tear from her eye. "Your bowl is over there. I turned it over so it wouldn't get soggy."

"Thanks," John nodded.

He reached over and picked up his bowl.

"And you did vote for me to win last time," Vee looked over and grinned at him. "I just wanted to remind you of that."

John just looked over at her, and he shook his head.

Vee laughed.

"Vee," he said, "I mean this with all honesty, and I say this from the bottom of my heart. I say this as your friend."

"Yeah?"

"Just give me my rice. And fuck you."




^^




John and Vee had about eight hours to kill until they would plead their cases tonight in front of the All-Star jury at Tribal Council. And that should have been an intimidating feeling. In fact, under normal circumstances, that would have been a terrifying feeling. After all, the answers they gave tonight could be the make or break moment in the financial situations for two very average and ordinary Americans. The points they raised, or the mistakes they made, would have possible benefits or repercussions for the rest of their lives. This Tribal Council was extraordinarily important tonight.

Yet for some reason, it didn't seem all that intimidating to them.

Oh, Vecepia had sure expected it to be intimidating. She had sure expected it to be scary. Even as a former winner, she had been terrified to face this jury. Since day one, she had known that if she ever made the end of this game, they were going to come after her with a vengeance in the jury, and it wasn't going to be pretty. In fact, in many ways, she almost wished that she hadn't been here once before. In many ways, going in as a former winner, and knowing how intense it could be, had actually made her anxiety about the final Tribal Council worse.

Yet today?

No anxiety at all.

Like John, Vecepia was pretty much cool, calm, collected, and relaxed today. She was actually looking forward to the final Tribal Council. And she didn't know why. Maybe it was the rain. Maybe it was the relief that this was finally over. She didn't know. All she did know was that tonight was going to be interesting. Not to mention a whole heck of a lot different than the last time. Because no matter what happened tonight, win or lose, she had already managed to accomplish something. By making it to day thirty-nine, for the second time in a row, she had officially justified her presence here as an All-Star Survivor. She had finally backed up her casting. Win or lose, no matter what happened tonight, she had finally earned their respect.

And those were the feelings that she hoped to express as she sat down for her final interview.

"So do you think you're going to win tonight?" came the producer's first question.

Vecepia, who had nestled herself cross-legged under a large palm tree, in an attempt to get away from the rain, just smiled at the question and shrugged her shoulders.

"Could be," she said.

"What does your gut say?" came the follow-up question. "Win or lose? What's your prediction?"

"If you put a gun to my head," she said, "I would say that yes. I think I'm going to win tonight."

"Why?"

"Because I think John has more enemies on that jury than I do. And I don't think he's going to respond to them well."

The producer just smiled at this answer. Ah yes, John's famous temper. The Irish temper. That was likely to make tonight interesting, now wasn't it? How was John going to react to a jury? And, perhaps more importantly, how was a jury going to react to John? Those were the two key questions floating over this game as they went into their final day of shooting on the island of Ni'ihau. Every single member of the production crew had been anxiously awaiting this.

"So do you think it's an advantage," asked the producer, "that you've been in front of a jury before, and John hasn't?"

Vecepia looked surprised by the question.

"Do I think it's an advantage?"

"Yeah. Do you think being a former winner is actually a good thing going into this?"

Vecepia quickly shook her head. "No. Not really. But then again I don't really think it's going to be much of a factor tonight."

"So you think a former winner can actually win again?"

"I don't think they look at me as a former winner anymore," Vee smiled. "I think-- at this point-- they pretty much look at me as the player who isn't John."

"So it's the jury against John?"

Vee shrugged. She hated to hear it put that way. But yeah, that's pretty much exactly what it was going to be tonight. They were either going to vote for John, or they were going to vote against John. Her pride would like her to rebut this, but of course she knew that she couldn't. After all, she had been through this before. She had been here before. She had been up against an unpopular finalist once before in Neleh. She knew exactly how a jury was going to look at this.

Juries weren't interested in logic. They were interested in justice.

That was the one thing she had learned from the end of Marquesas.

"If there's one advantage to being a former winner," Vee finally pointed out, "It's that I know the sort of things I shouldn't waste my time trying to explain tonight."

"Like what?"

Vee smiled. "Well, last time I went in with a lot of idealism. I had it set in my head beforehand that if I went in and I rationally explained my side, I would be able to convince them."

"And that didn't happen?"

Vee just laughed.

"No way," she said. "The jury went in there with their minds already made up. They either hated Neleh, or they didn't. Nothing I said would have been able to change that."

"So you think the jury members have already made up their minds tonight?"

"I think so. Except for maybe one or two of them."

"So then what do you say to those two?"

Vee just sat there and she looked down at the ground. She appeared to be thinking over the question.

"I'll just say to them," she sighed, "that I played the hardest game I could, with the hand I was dealt when I got here. And that I really hope they'll be able to appreciate that."

She paused.

Then added with a snicker, "... and I'd like to make it crystal clear if at all possible that my name isn't John."

The producer laughed.

"So are you nervous tonight?" came the last question.

"Nervous? Nah."

"Why not?"

"Well you'd think I would be," she shrugged. "I mean, I've been through this before. I know what to expect. So you'd think I'd be terrified. In fact, in many ways, I sort of envy John in that he doesn't know what he's in for tonight."

"But you're feeling good?"

"I am," nodded Vee. "I am. I keep telling myself that if the Lord wants me to win, then that's what is going to happen. I keep telling myself that I'm in good hands tonight, no matter what."

"And you're not nervous at all?" came the disbelieving response. "Not even a little?"

"Well of course I am a little," Vee admitted. "But not as much as I thought." She paused for a second, then chuckled under her breath. "What really helps with that is knowing that I won't be the only person they're going to hate up there. A lot of them are going to hate John too. For some reason, that just makes things a little bit easier."

"Okay, thanks Vee," said the producer, as he stood up to shake her hand. "That's all we need for now. Good luck."

She uncrossed her legs and stood up. She then wiped off her hands on the back of her shirt. Then she shook his hand. She thanked him for going easy on her.

Her last interview in Hawaii. How sad. It was officially the end of an era.

"So do you think I actually have a chance tonight?" she asked him, smiling, once the cameras were off. "What's the feeling back at camp. What are my odds?"

"Meh, fifty fifty," came the quiet reply.

Vee knew that was all she was going to get out of him, so she thanked him again for his time and she went back to camp.

It was time to go back and get ready. Just seven hours to go before Tribal Council. Seven hours in the mist and the rain.

That meant it was now time for some napping.

^^

As Vecepia was finishing up her very last interview of the game, her opponent, John, was sitting about half a mile down the beach, giving a final Tribal Council prediction interview of his own.

Like Vee, he had managed to hunker himself under a large palm tree, in an attempt to get a temporary break from the rain.

And like Vee, he also wasn't feeling one-hundred percent confident about tonight.

"So you don't think that going up against Vee is a sure thing?" came the producer's question. "Even though she's a former winner?"

"I've never thought that anything is a sure thing out here," answered John.

"Yeah but you yourself have said that a former winner could never win again."

"Well I'm sure lots of people have said that," shrugged John. "I mean, I know I wasn't alone. That has been the conventional wisdom around here since day one. No one was ever going to let one of the winners win a second time. We've been talking about that since the start."

"But you think Vee could win now?"

"Of course she could. Anything can happen. The game has changed. It's out of my hands at this point."

"So then why take her to the final two?"

John just smiled and laughed under his breath at this question.

"Well because who else was I going to take? It's not like I had a lot of options towards the end." He looked up and smiled. "If I didn't take Vee, then I'd wind up taking Gretchen. And I'm sorry, but no. I would have had to be an idiot." He paused. "And that goes for Alicia too. I wasn't taking a Keko to the final two. End of story."

The producer just sat there behind the camera and waited for John to elaborate on this. But John had decided not to. He just sat there, looking down at the ground. With his scruffy black beard, his wet hair, and the dirty white buff dangling from his neck, he looked more like a homeless panhandler than a guy who was probably the favorite to win a million dollars tonight. The stress of the game, not to mention the stress of voting out his friends, had clearly taken an incredible toll on him. John Carroll-- a guy who didn't have that much weight to lose-- looked like he had lost about twenty-five pounds out here.

"John," came the producer's next question, "Did you actually have fun in this game?"

John's head shot up, in surprise. Huh? That wasn't the type of question you normally heard in these interviews. Normally all the producers were looking for were sound bytes. They normally didn't come down here to psychoanalyze you.

"What?" John asked, somewhat thrown off his game.

"Did you actually have fun out here?"

"Fun?" John asked, visibly scoffing. "Who has fun? This is Survivor."

The producer just looked at him, smiling. Yep, there was the answer he had been waiting for. No, John hadn't had fun. John was practically incapable of having fun. He was way too much of a stress case out here. He had been locked into game mode since the very first minute they had set foot on that sand. And that attitude didn't often lend itself to "having fun."

"Do you think that Vecepia had fun?" came the producer's next question.

John just let out a laugh.

"Of course Vee had fun," he said, "She had fun because she doesn't care. She just drifted through the game like she always does."

"And you do care?"

John didn't even hesitate. "I want to win this more than anything else I have ever wanted in my life."

And right there, he finally identified the jury speech that he wanted to deliver tonight. Bingo, there it was. He had been searching for just the right tone all morning, he had been brainstorming and brainstorming, and all of a sudden, it had just fallen right into his lap on a silver platter. There it was. This was his jury argument.

Yes, I have burned a lot of bridges. But it's only because I wanted to win this game so bad. I wanted to win Survivor more than anyone. You have to understand that. You have to know how much a win tonight is going to mean to me.

John smiled. A real smile. For one of the first times all day.

He could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel as to how he could actually win tonight.

"So how do you think the votes are going to fall?" the producer asked next, probingly. "If you had to make a prediction, how will it go?"

"Well I know that Vee probably has three votes," John said. "She has three of them in the bag before we even get there."

"Does that concern you?"

John just shrugged. "Hey, what can I do? Like I said, the game's over. It's out of my hands."

"Which three votes does she have?"

John tallied the names off on his hand. They were the same three votes he had discussed with Vecepia earlier. "She's got Tina for sure. She's got Alicia for sure. And I'm pretty sure she's got Boston Rob."

"Do you think any of them would switch and vote for you?"

John paused for a moment to ponder this question.

"I think it would be a minor fucking miracle if I got Alicia or Tina to vote for me," he said, somewhat somberly. "Boston Rob is more of a wildcard, but I think that Vee's probably got him sewn up too." He paused. "She would have to screw things up pretty badly to lose his vote tonight."

"Do you think she will screw up?"

John just laughed. "Does Vee ever screw up? Of course not. She never gets emotional. She's a robot." He laughed again. "Kinda makes me wish I was up against Alicia."

John just looked down at the sand and shook his head.

"So then who are the jurors still in play?" came the producer's next question.

"Well Frank, he'll vote for me," John said, "He couldn't stand Vee. I'm pretty sure he'll vote for me, no matter what. And the same with Kathy. It will be a cold day in hell before she ever votes for Vecepia."

"And what about Colleen?"

John paused at the sound of that name. He looked off into the distance. Somewhere behind him, thunder cracked out over the ocean. John didn't like the foreshadowing. After all, Colleen was definitely going to be one of the wild cards tonight.

"Colleen," John said slowly, as if he were trying to convince himself of this, "hates Vee. Always has."

"Yeah but she was pretty mad at you, too."

John said nothing. He just sat there, and chewed at the inside of his lip. He appeared to be thinking about this.

"Colleen hates Vee," he repeated again, after a short pause. He then smiled softly. "Always has."

"Yeah but..."

John interrupted him. And this time, he turned it into three sentences. He wanted to make sure the producers and everyone in the production crew were perfectly aware of this.

"Colleen. Hates. Vecepia."

The producer just sat there and looked at John with a smirk. Was he really that confident that Colleen would vote for him tonight, no matter what? Did he really know the girl as well as he claimed he did? The girl that not even most of the producers could figure out half of the time? He actually thought he could predict what she was going to do tonight?

Lord knows John claimed to know Colleen quite well. He claimed to have been her best friend out here since the very first day of the game. He claimed to know her better than anyone in the production crew. But was it true? How well did he really know her?

Could he really predict how she was going to vote tonight? Now that the game was on the line?

One week after he had practically given her a nervous breakdown by the way he had gone off on her?

"You really think that Colleen's a sure thing, don't you?" the producer asked, with a smile.

"Colleen will never vote for Vee," John shook his head. "It won't happen."

"Never ever?"

"Not unless I screw up."

The producer laughed. "Okay, then what are the odds you will screw up?"

"Zero. Because I know how to handle her."

The producer shrugged. Okay. Well with three votes supposedly in the bag for Vee, and three votes supposedly in the bag for John, that left one big wildcard remaining in the mix tonight. And without saying it, both John and the producer knew instinctively who it was.

Why, it was the queen of the wildcards herself, of course. It was fan favorite Gretchen.

How would Gretchen decide between two of the "villains" of All-Star Hawaii?

What would be her criteria?

"So what are the odds that you can get Gretchen's vote tonight?" asked the producer. "Gut feeling. Do you think you can get her?"

"Gretchen is the big one," John nodded. "And it's gonna be tough. She was never really much of a fan of mine."

"Did she like Vee?"

"No one liked Vee."

John paused.

And then he delivered the one bit of logic he was pretty sure would come into play tonight.

"But then again," he smiled, "Gretchen has said since day one that she would never vote for a winner. She said there's no way someone who is already a millionaire should be rewarded again."

"Gretchen said that?" asked the producer. "You heard her say that?"

John just laughed. "Gretchen didn't just say that. Gretchen invented that. They're probably going to carve that on her tombtone."

"So you don't think she'll vote for Vee tonight?"

"If she does," said John, "then she's a big fat hypocrite. And I don't think Gretchen wants to come off as a big fat hypocrite."

And there it was. Right there in the open. The ending of All-Star Survivor. John was going to win. He was going to win because he knew how to handle Colleen, and because Gretchen had a thing about former winners. It all made sense. All the foreshadowing signs were there. John Carroll defeats Vecepia Towery, 4-3. It was the only ending that was logically possible.

"So your final prediction is a win tonight?" came the final question.

"Yes," smiled John, "Tentatively."

"Come on," goaded the producer, "Not tentatively. Say it like you mean it. Talk some trash. Say it like a wrestling promo."

"Yeah whatever, fuck you," John laughed, good-naturedly. "Yeah, watch, now she comes back and beats me, and then you get to make me look like an idiot in my last interview. Like hell. If you guys think you can humiliate me again, you all can blow me."

The producer laughed. Like most of the production crew, he had a good relationship with John Carroll. They all did. They could joke around with one another. After all-- stress issues and paranoia aside-- he was easily one of the funniest and most personable players they had to deal with out here. Always had been.

John had a lot more in common with Lex than either of them realized.

"So no super cocky quote before the final Tribal Council?" begged the producer. "Vecepia isn't rooting for your success in this game?" He smiled. "Come on, one more, just for old time sake?"

"Do I still have stupid written across my forehead?"

"Okay, okay," the producer stood up and laughed. He then signaled for the cameras to be turned off. Then he reached over and shook John's hand. "Good luck tonight. Thanks for the interview. A lot of us are rooting for you."

"So what are my odds?" John asked. Like most of the players, he was well aware that the producers placed bets on their favorites back at base camp. This was easily one of the worst kept secrets in the game. Even back in Borneo, the players had basically always known about this.

"What are your odds to win?" the producer asked.

"Yeah," nodded John, "What's the inside dirt? Gimme the scoop."

But the producer wasn't fooled. After all, he had played this game before. He was as much of a veteran at this as John was. He simply looked over and gave the same answer that he always gave. The same answer that Vecepia had received from a different producer about twenty minutes ago.

"Meh, fifty-fifty."

"Well if Vee does win tonight, it's a fluke," said John. "Just remember that. You guys know I played the best game out here."

"Bye, John," the producer smiled.

"Just remember that. You all know I deserve it."

"Bye, John."

And with that, John Carroll's final interview was over.





^^





Three hours until Tribal Council.

Vecepia and John had spent most of the afternoon today tucked away in their shelter, in an attempt to try and stay out of the rain. After all, it was one thing to be facing the most stressful and monumental Tribal Council of your life in a couple of hours, but it was another thing altogether to face this same inordinate amount of stress while soaking wet. There was no way either one of them would be walking around in this crap today if they could possibly help it.

And so they sat. Vecepia and John. Side by side in the Manakai shelter.

They said nothing. They interacted not one iota.

They just sat there, staring out at the rain, as the pressure of tonight's vote silently and stealthily gnawed away at them.

Rain fell down from the gray Hawaiian sky, all around them. It hit the roof of their shelter. It pelted down on the ground near their feet. It came down in a silent fury. And it was neverending.

It wasn't a violent storm. It was just a persistent one. It was the type of storm that trickled down forever, and just never let up.

And it led to silence. That was the worst part. All around camp, all day, there was nothing but anxiousness. And introspection. And silence. It was as quiet as a pindrop around here. Vee and John just sat there, motionlessly next to one another, and stared out at the ocean. No one could tell what was on their minds.

The rain was making this day go by particularly slowly today.





^^





One hour until Tribal Council.

That meant it was gut-check time.

The rain had finally let up a tiny bit. It hadn't let up a lot, but it had eased off enough that you could now walk around outside without shielding your eyes for fear of being blinded. And for a player as jumpy as John Carroll, this was the best news he had heard in his life.

He had to get up. He had to walk around.

The silence in here was driving him crazy.

John draped his buff over his face, and he stood up and braced for his final experience under the open sky and the Hawaiian rain. This wasn't something he was going to miss around here. When the rain came down on you in Hawaii, it came down on you hard. John Carroll would be the first one to attest to that. Mother Nature wasn't known to mess around with you here.

So John stood up, and he took his first step outside the Manakai shelter in four hours.

And the first thing he noticed was that their campsite looked incredibly sparse right now.

After thirty-nine days, this was no longer a place where people lived. It was no longer a home. Today, under the bleakness of the rain, it looked more like something else. It looked more like a ghost town. After all, after thirty-nine days, that's really the only way you could rationally describe it.

Camp Manakai, which had once been a residence to ten thriving, vibrant people, was about to be abandoned and left for dead, at which point nature could do whatever it wanted with it.

In a week, there would no longer be any sign that people had ever lived here before. This would once again just be the barren eastern beach on the forbidden Hawaiian island of Ni'ihau.

In a month, the campsite itself would probably be gone. The weather would have probably taken care of it, and washed it away. Gretchen's shelter-- the one she had worked so hard on-- would probably be out in the ocean, as just another chunk of flotsam and floating kindling. Probably never to be seen again.

And in a year? Well in a year, the carvings the players had made on the trees-- a very common Ni'ihau timekiller, by the way-- would probably all be gone as well. Every single little carving, every single little memento, would probably be mossed over, or would have been sheared off by the elements during a storm. In a year, there would be no more human presence here whatsoever. Twelve months from now, this campsite would probably look the exact same way it had looked twelve months before the Manakais had come here. It would look like the jungle.

Apparently it was true. Humans simply weren't meant to be a part of this place.

And so, with that sobering thought in mind, John started to break down the camp. He broke down their table. He broke down their firepit. He tossed a pair of Frank's shorts into the last remnants of a fire. He even broke down his kitchen quarters. He tried to rid this beach of anything human.

After about fifteen minutes of doing this, Vecepia braved the rain and came over to help him.

"This part sort of sucks, doesn't it," John looked over and smiled, soberly, at her. After all, Vee had been through this before. She knew exactly what emotions he was being flooded with right now. Pain. Relief. Sadness. Joy. Regret. It was all hitting him at once. It was right there, full flush on his face. That's what the last day of Survivor could do to you.

Vecepia walked over and she gave him a hug.

"It will all be over soon," she encouraged him, softly. "Don't worry. You only go through these feelings once."

John nodded against her shoulder. That helped. He was glad he was spending the last day out here with a friend.

After their final hug, Vecepia walked over with John and she helped him break down the shelter. They did it slowly, methodically. Then they burned every last piece in their bonfire. It was incredibly cathartic. Even though the rain was still coming down in droves, they watched until every last piece was ablaze and in its final death throes of life. Then they packed up their backpacks.

The camp was gone.

The Manakais were dead.

Tribal Council was waiting for them.

It was now time for the showdown.

"So who gets the flag?" asked Vee, as she rolled the final symbol of their time here into a tight round package. She cinched it together with a piece of rope. Now it was just a large white and green souvenir. It was the last remnant of camp.

"Winner gets it?" John shrugged.

"Fine by me," said Vee.

And with that, she bundled it up and placed it in her backpack.

All-Star Survivor-- on the beaches of Ni'ihau-- was officially over.





^^





John and Vecepia set off on their last walk to Tribal Council. And they did it hand in hand. It wasn't a romantic gesture. Nor was it really even a friendship gesture. It was just a gesture of solidarity, between two warriors who had essentially been allies since the very early days of this game. That type of loyalty seldom held in the game of Survivor, yet they had managed to do it. John and Vee. In All-Star Survivor. Against the best of the best.

Together-- with very few hiccups along the way-- they had managed to stay together as a team and vanquish everyone.

"Hey, check this out," said John, as he came up upon a very distinctive-looking tree on the outskirts of camp. It was a tree the two of them had passed by many times over the past two weeks, but for the first time ever, John actually noticed something was written near the base of it.

"What is that?" asked Vee, as she squinted out through the rain from under her brown hat.

John leaned over and inspected the carving.

One of the members of the tribe had apparently carved the number 39, deep into the wood. As in today, day thirty-nine. The final day of Survivor.

When? Or who? John had no idea. He had never seen it before.

"Looks like someone had delusions of grandeur," Vee grinned.

The two of them stood there and just admired the carving for a moment. What was the significance of this? And why were they just seeing it now, for the first time? Was this an eviction notice from the Hawaiian gods? Was one of them seeing their fate before their eyes, right before they met Survivor doom? Or was this meant as a blessing? Was John seeing a vision of a win in this game, since he was the one who had spotted it first? Was this supposed to be a fortunate omen for him?

Here, under the rainy skies of Hawaii, what did this mysterious, suddenly-appearing 39 on the tree mean?

The two of them stood there and admired the craftsmanship of the carving one last time. Then they set off. After all, symbol or no symbol, unsuccessful visualization from a long-departed tribe member or not, they still had business ahead of them. They still had to win over a jury tonight. Symbol or not, whoever had carved that 39 wasn't around to admire it anymore. They were gone. Long gone. And probably sitting on that jury.

The carver wouldn't be winning the game. They would be choosing a winner.

Good or bad omen or not, it was just a carving. It was just a mark on a tree. That was all that was important right now.





^^





And so they walked. Through the rain. Hand in hand.

Vecepia and John.

They walked in solitude.

They walked into their last Hawaiian sunset.

They said nothing.

And then, after about ninety minutes of walking, Vecepia finally spotted it. The Tribal Council set. The infamous Tiki Lodge. The one with the volcano inside, and seven jurors sitting there, just waiting to spit venom at them. There it was, sitting right there, on the crest of a hill. Same as it always was.

The day of reckoning, the one that Vee and John had feared for weeks, had finally come.

The two of them stopped.

"Well, good luck tonight," Vee said, as she smiled over at her opponent, and friend. "You're gonna need it. This part is brutal."

"Good luck to you too," nodded John. "Don't let them get under your skin. You've played a great game. Don't forget that."

Vee smiled at him. She appreciated that.

John smiled back.

The rain came down, all around them.

Then they walked through the entranceway. Together.

It was time to begin.





^^

John and Vecepia sat silently, behind the large volcano in the middle of the tiki lodge, as the seven jurors filed slowly into their seats across from them. One by one they came, some looking angrier and more outraged than the rest, as they were now about thirty minutes away from deciding the winner of All-Star Survivor.

John or Vecepia. The best of the best.

Most of them looked to be exceptionally unhappy about their options tonight.

Tina Wesson walked at the front of the jury processional. With her blonde hair tied back in a tail, and a light blue summer dress going down to her knees, she looked the epitome of the demure Southern belle. She smiled at the two finalists as she walked in the room.

Colleen Haskell brought up the rear. And she was most definitely not smiling. She looked sick to her stomach to have to decide between these two tonight.

One by one the jurors took their seats on the bench. Tina on the far left, Colleen on the far right. Alicia Calaway and Rob Mariano smack dab in the middle.

Soon everyone was seated.

And now they were ready.

"Welcome, jurors," smiled Jeff Probst, "and welcome John and Vee, to your final Tribal Council. We've got a lot of excitement ahead of us tonight."

He turned to face the final two All-Stars.

"Tonight's Tribal Council is going to be a little bit different," he went on to explain. "because you guys aren't trying to get your opponent voted out tonight. You are trying to get the jurors to vote for you. One by one, you're going to stand up, and you're going to explain to a jury of your peers why you deserve to win the title of the Sole Survivor." He smiled. "And then we'll have a little question and answer session if they would like to rebut that."

He now turned to face the seven players in the jury box.

"And jurors," he continued, "this is going to work a little differently for you guys tonight, as well. Because you no longer have to just sit there and remain silent. This is your chance tonight to make comments. To ask questions that you would like to have answered. To gather info." He grinned. "Or, if you so choose, to get something off your chest that you have been saving for a long time. If there is something you would like to say to these finalists, tonight is the time. Because in less than an hour, you'll be voting for a winner."

Jeff paused, and then turned back to the finalists.

"As I've said before, Survivor is one of the hardest games in the world to play. Because you have to vote out fourteen of your peers, and then you have to come back here... tonight... and ask them to give you their blessing as the million dollar winner. You have to convince this jury as to why they should give you their vote over somebody else, even though you might have been the one who stabbed them in the back and put them on the jury in the first place." He smiled. "You guys think you are ready for that?"

John and Vecepia both nodded. They were ready. Of course they were. They had been waiting a long time for this.

"Alright," nodded Jeff, "Then let's get this show on the road." He patted his hands on his thighs and stood up. "John, you're up first. Step up to the podium and make your opening arguments."





^^





John Carroll stood up. He took a deep breath. He wiped his hands against the seat of his pants. His grayish-white buff hung loosely from his bearded neck. He looked nervous.

"Hi guys," he said meekly, as he walked up to the podium and took his stance.

He took a moment to look casually into the eyes of the seven angry-looking jurors. He scanned them one by one. He tried to size up his audience.

And then, after a few seconds of silence, he began.

"When I came to Hawaii." he explained, in his deep voice, "I came here with one goal in mind, and only one goal in mind. And that was to win. That was the only reason I even came out here at all." He paused. "I didn't come to Hawaii to make friends. I didn't come out here to get rich. I didn't come out here to get my name in the newspapers. I came out here because I love Survivor, because I love the entire experience of Survivor, and because I knew I could win. And, for me, that was my mindset behind every single decision that I made in this game. From day one, everything I did was to increase my chances to win. And that is exactly why I think I am standing here right now."

He paused for a second, and looked over again at the jury of his peers. He especially tried to read the minds of Gretchen and Colleen. He tried to gauge the sort of argument they would want to be hearing right now.

"And so what does this mean?" John now asked, as he smiled at the jury. Now he was attempting to lapse into self-deprecating charm mode. It was the best he could do. "Do I think I'm some sort of God's gift to Survivor now? Do I think that me standing here now makes me the second coming of Richard Hatch?" He smiled again. "Of course not. I'm just a regular guy from a regular town just like any of you. I'm just Johnny Pots and Pans, the same guy that you most of you knew from outside the game." He paused. "The only difference is that, in this particular game, I never took my eyes off the prize. I never stopped thinking... even for a moment... that I had come here to win. And that's why, like me or not, I am asking for your vote tonight." Another smile. "I think that even Vecepia would admit that I played the hardest and most aggressive game out of anyone. I played that way because I came here to win."

He nodded once, then stepped back and moved away from the podium.

"Thanks guys. That's all I've got to say. I did my best to win. And it's been an honor to be here with you."





^^





Once John had returned to his seat, Vecepia Towery slowly rose from her log. She slowly strode up to take her place behind the bamboo podium. Like John, she looked a little bit nervous about this. Even for a seasoned pro like Vecepia, she was unsure of the exact strategy that she wanted to take with this speech.

She just stood there for a moment, as the shadows of the volcano flickered off of the side of her face.

"I had an interesting conversation with John this morning," she finally began. "And it's not something I had really even intended to share with you. But a couple of minutes ago, it hit me that it is the perfect evidence as to why I feel I am the most deserving winner of All-Star Survivor."

She looked down at the podium for a moment to collect her thoughts.

"John told me this morning," she explained, "that if I were to win this game, it would be the biggest fluke in the history of Survivor." She paused. "In his eyes, it would not only be a fluke, it would be an even bigger fluke than last time, when I actually did win Survivor. He told me that if a player like me were to ever win All-Stars, it would be unfathomable."

She paused for a second, and looked into the eyes of the jurors.

"Yes, I won Survivor. Yes, I won it about eight months ago. I can't take that back, I'm a former winner. It happened."

She shrugged.

"But to be continually reminded of that... to be continually reminded that I had no chance in this game... to be continually reminded, on a day to day basis, that my win in Marquesas was nothing more than a fluke..."

She put her hands on her hips, and looked up at the ceiling. She paused. She bit her lip. She almost looked like she was about to start crying.

"All I'm saying," she looked back down at them, "is that I worked damn hard in this game. I worked damn hard to work my way back here." She paused. "I worked damn hard just to earn all of your respect. And I think it is completely unfair that you might judge me because of something I did in the past."

She looked back down at the ground.

"Call me a fluke if you want, I don't care. Call me lucky if you want, be my guest." She glared at Rob, in particular. "All I ask of you is that when you do cast that vote tonight, you do it for the best player. And not for the person who simply hasn't won before. Because if you penalize me for being a former winner, then what was the point of me even being here? Maybe John was right. Maybe I might as well have stayed home."

She paused one last time.

"All I'm saying," she concluded, "is that I had a much more difficult task out here than any of you realized. I had it harder than just about any of you. I had a major handicap hanging over my head since day one. I was a second-class citizen every single day of this game, and I never forgot it."

She then smiled, faintly.

"So if you want to continue to call me a fluke, then go ahead. I can take it. Say whatever you want about me, I've heard it all before." A pause. "But just remember that maybe there's a reason that I have played this game twice, and I have gotten to the end both times. And I'd like you to think about that."

And with that, her little speech was over. She smiled, she thanked the jurors for their time, she said she looked forward to their questions, and then she sat down.

She patted John on the knee. Opening speeches were over.

It was time for the fireworks to begin.





^^





Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien was the first juror to come up and address the two finalists.

She stepped down from the bench, she walked over to take her position behind a podium, and she drew a deep breath. She looked from John to Vecepia. And then back again.

Then she turned her attention specifically to Vecepia.

"Vee," she said, "First off, I love you, but please spare us the pity act. I don't think any of us are going to buy the whole woe-is-me thing this late in the game."

"It's not an act," Vee protested. She looked hurt.

"Well either it is, or it isn't," Kathy shrugged. "I say it is. And I've lived with you for two months over the past year, so I have a little bit of experience with this. I think you're trying to work the whole pity thing in front of the jury, and-- in my opinion-- I think it's coming off rehearsed." She paused. "That's not the Vecepia I know. I'm not buying it."

Vee said nothing. She just sat there and clenched her jaw.

"Well that's your opinion," she finally said, softly.

"It is my opinion," said Kathy. She paused. "And I'm not trying to pick on you. I'm just saying, if you want to win this game, I think you're better off just owning it." Another pause. "Just take pride in what you've done, man. Show some confidence. Don't just stand up there and say, oh I've had it so hard. Because... you know... we've all had it hard. You're not the only one who had some struggles in this game."

"I never said I was."

Kathy just stood there and let out a deep sigh. She looked at John for a second, and then just as quickly turned back to Vecepia. Because she couldn't let this go. There was just something about Vecepia right now that was rubbing her the wrong way. There was just something about Vecepia's demeanor that was throwing her off a little bit tonight. There was just something about that woman that had always seemed the slightest bit hinky to her.

"I only have one question for you guys," Kathy finally said, "And it's really not even for John at all. It's mainly just a question for Vecepia."

Vee just sat there and nodded. She was ready.

"Vee, how will it feel if you win tonight?" Kathy asked her, curiously.

"How will it feel?"

"Yeah," Kathy smirked, softly. "How will it feel? What will be your immediate reaction?"

"Well, I'd be ecstatic, naturally..." Vee answered, cautiously.

"Will you cry?"

Vecepia just cocked her head at Kathy, curiously. Huh?

"I mean, if John wins," Kathy smiled, "we all know what's going to happen. He's going to burst into tears and he's going to have a emotional breakdown right there in the studio. Because we all know how much this means to him. If he wins Survivor, it's pretty much going to be the number one moment in his life."

John just smiled softly and looked down at the floor, guiltily.

"But you, Vee," Kathy continued, "I have no idea how you are going to react. Are you going to be happy? Are you going to be surprised? Do you really even care at all?"

"Of course I care."

"Is this just pretty much like every other day in your life?"

"Of course not."

"Vee," smiled Kathy, "do you even remember how you reacted last time?"

Vecepia said nothing. She just sat there, silently, and stared at the fire. She was trying not to get dragged into all this.

"Do you actually remember?" Kathy baited her.

"Of course I remember," Vecepia answered, calmly, "I fell backwards out of my seat, and then Sean came over to hug me."

"And how did you feel?"

"What do you mean, how did I feel? I felt great."

"And will you feel the same way tonight?" Kathy asked. "If you win, I mean. Will you still feel great? Will your life be ruined if you don't win?" She stared at Vecepia intently, as she honestly wanted to hear the answer to this. "How much does all of this mean to you?"

"If I win All-Stars," Vecepia answered, carefully, "It will be the result of a lot of hard work, and it will make up for a lot of the doubts that people might have had about me."

"Do you think the jury will be happy if you win?"

Vee just chuckled. "I don't think the jury will be happy if either of us win."

Kathy smiled. That was it. That was all she wanted to know. Her questioning was done.

"Thanks Vee," she nodded, "And thanks John. Good luck to both of you. You both played a heck of a game."





^^




The next juror to come up to the podium was the strong, silent ex-military man from Ahi, Frank Garrison. He stepped slowly down from his seat at the top of the bench and was soon standing face to face across from John and Vecepia. His face, as usual, gave away no visible emotion. Like always, it was practically impossible to know what he was thinking.

"Evening John," he nodded, "And good evening, Vee."

"Hi Frank," Vecepia smiled.

"Before we get to my question," Frank said, "there's something I'd like to say. If you guys don't mind, I'd kind of like to get a little introduction out of the way, before we begin."

John and Vee just smiled at him. They had no idea what the hell Frank was talking about. People rarely did. But no, they didn't mind.

At least... they hoped that they didn't.

"Well I'd just like to introduce myself," Frank said. He then smiled, faintly. "My name is Frank Garrison, and I am a former member of the Twenty-fourth Infantry, in the United States Army. Although these days, I make my living as a telephone repair technician." He paused, then smiled again. "I'm married, and I have two daughters, Jocelyn Rose and Sage Hunter. You've probably heard me talk about them."

Vecepia and John just smiled at him, confused. They didn't know what to say.

Frank had an odd sense of humor sometimes.

"Now I caught your name," Frank said, pointing to John, "You're John. And I know that because you're the guy who pretty much ruined my alliance and got me sent to the jury. Which I really appreciated, by the way," He paused. "I'd like to thank you for everything."

John just nodded, guiltily. After all, he knew he might be in trouble with Frank tonight. Frank was definitely a juror who might be holding a grudge with him. John avoided eye contact, looked down at the fire, and swallowed, quite visibly.

"But you," Frank said, turning his gaze to Vecepia, "I'm not actually sure I ever even caught your name. In fact, I'm not even sure we ever even met at all. Weren't we actually on the same tribe at some point?"

Vecepia said nothing. She glanced once over at Jeff, confused. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to respond to this. Interactions with Frank Garrison had always been particularly baffling to her.

"Weren't we both on Ahi?" Frank asked again.

"Of course we were," Vee responded, quietly.

"Ah, that's better," Frank smiled. "See, that wasn't so bad. Well it's nice to finally meet you. Vecepia, was it? It's a pity that we never met when we were actually in the game. On a certain level, I think we might have actually gotten along."

Vee said nothing. She just sat there and stared at him with those baleful eyes.

"In any case," Frank continued, "I don't really have a question for you, Vee, since I don't really know anything about you. So if you don't mind, I'd like to direct this question to John. After all, he's more or less the reason I am standing here."

Frank turned back to John. John locked eyes with him.

"John," Frank asked, "What I'd like you to do is to walk me through the night you turned on Lex and voted him out. If you can."

John was already nodding. He had anticipated this question.

"And I'd especially like to know if you regret that decision," added Frank.

John just sat there and took a deep breath. Then he opened his mouth and began to speak. He tried to do it truthfully, and honestly, from the bottom of his heart. After all, he knew that he needed this vote.

"Well, as you know, we were a foursome at that point in the game," John explained, "It was you, me, Tina, and Lex."

Frank nodded.

"But the problem," John continued, "was that I learned very quickly that I was at the bottom of the totem pole."

"And how did you learn this?"

"From things I saw," John shrugged, "And things that were said. Just little stuff. I mean, I knew that you and Lex were tight. That wasn't much of a secret."

Frank nodded.

"And I eventually realized that Tina was tight with Lex as well," John continued. "She was like his guardian angel. And when I figured that out, I was like, well then where the hell do I fit in now?" He shrugged his shoulders. "I knew that if I stayed with the three of you, I was destined for fourth place. I was never going to win this game."

"And did you intend to turn on us?"

"Absolutely not!" John proclaimed. "I mean, yeah I saw the possibility, but it was never planned. I never sat there and thought, hmmm, how can I screw Lex? When I did it, it was more on the spur of the moment. I saw an opening one night and I took it."

Frank just stood there, silently. He said nothing. He just stared at John. With his stone-like demeanor, it was impossible to tell if he was still angry about this.

"I mean," John added, with a half-smile, "you can't blame a guy for seizing the moment. If I had stayed with the three of you, I would have been screwed. And you know it."

Frank still said nothing.

"And I even apologized to you afterwards," John pointed out, emotionally. "I came to you the next morning, and I explained to you and Tina exactly why I had done it, and why I had been forced to do it. And you sat there and forgave me." John was nodding now. "You sat there on that tree branch, and you even told me it had been Lex's fault. You said that word for word, Frank. You told me you were angry, but you could understand why I did it."

Frank continued to say nothing. He just stood there, and he stared hard into John's eyes, as if searching for truth. The silence stretched on and on. John said nothing, and Frank said nothing. Seconds passed.

It was a little bit awkward.

"Frank, are you done?" Jeff finally asked, cautiously.

"No," Frank shook his head. "I have one more question."

He turned and glanced back at John.

Again, they locked eyes.

"Do you regret your decision?" Frank finally asked.

"No," John said, shaking his head, vehemently. "Absolutely not."

"You don't regret sending Tina and me to the jury?" Frank asked, looking surprised. "You don't regret the fact that Lex didn't even make it to the merge."

"Well, sure, I regret what happened to you," John said, nodding. "Absolutely. I hated it when it happened, and I still hate it now." He gave a helpless shrug. "I didn't come out here to be the asshole in this game. I didn't want to come off that way to anyone at all."

Frank said nothing.

"But do I regret it for me?" John asked. "Of course not. I don't regret it at all. Because even if I lose... even if Vee kicks my ass in this vote tonight... I can still say one thing. I can still say that second place was a hell of a lot better than fourth." He nodded, simply. "All I did in this game was play the hand I was dealt."

Another awkward silent pause.

"Alright," Frank finally nodded, emotionlessly, "Thank you for your answer, and best wishes for the vote tonight. I wish the both of you a lot of luck."





^^





From Vecepia's point of view, the first two jurors so far had been a disaster. First Kathy, and then Frank. Neither one of them were going to vote for her to win in a million years. And everyone knew that.

But alas, here came the third juror up to the podium, and it was impossible not to see the smile on Vecepia's face. Because here came her friend, and ally, and fellow former winner, Tina. Compared to the first two jurors, Tina looked like a bright ray of sunshine right about now.

Tina was wearing her blue-and-white Hawaiian summer dress, and she smiled at both of the two finalists before she began to address them.

"Vecepia and John," she said warmly, "Welcome to your final Tribal Council. And welcome to your one chance to explain to us why you and you alone deserve to win this game."

Vee and John both smiled at her.

"Now first off," Tina continued, "I just want the two of you to know that I bear no ill will towards either of you. You both did what you had to do to get here, and I respect you for it. So you won't hear any angry attacks from me, and I won't come down on you for doing what any one of us would have done had we been in the exact same position." She smiled at them again. "I just wanted you to know where I stood before I got to my question."

Vee and John both nodded.

"So anyway," Tina smiled, "I only have one question for the both of you, and I'd like you to think about it before you answer." She paused and looked over at them. "Okay?"

They understood.

"John," Tina said, "we'll start with you. What is the one move you made in this game that got you to where you are sitting right now?"

John looked down at the ground and he thought about this for a moment.

"Well if you want my honest answer," he said, looking up at her, "I would have to say that it was the night I turned on Lex and my original alliance. I think that is the only reason I am sitting here with a chance to win right now."

"Were there any other moves you made that you feel were equally important?"

"Well yeah, of course," John nodded. "There were lots of them. But you only asked for one." He paused. "That move was pretty much the game changer for me."

"Why?"

"Because if we hadn't taken Lex out at the start, no one could have beaten him. He would have been unstoppable."

Tina just listened and nodded. She appeared to be satisfied.

Then she turned to Vecepia.

"Vee," she said, "same question. What is the one move you made that is responsible for you sitting here right now?"

"Just one?" Vee asked.

"Just one."

Vecepia looked down at the ground. Like John, she appeared to be thinking about this.

"If I had to pick one..." she finally began, "I would have to say it was the final two deal I made with John. We made it very early on in the game, and I think it was the leverage I needed to always keep myself in the majority."

"You made the deal?" Tina asked, curiously, "Or John made it? Whose idea was it?"

"It was my idea," Vecepia smiled.

"And you feel this is the reason you are sitting here?"

"Oh I know it's the reason," Vee responded. "If I hadn't made that deal, John would have stayed with you and Lex. He wouldn't have had any reason to flip on you guys." She smiled. "If I don't make that deal, I'm asking this exact same question to you and Lex in the final two right now. So yes, that is the reason I am sitting here. Without a doubt in my mind."

Tina just stood there and took this all in. She said nothing. She just nodded once at the end, with an expressionless face.

"Are you satisfied?" Jeff asked her.

"I am," Tina said, "but I also have one more quick question. If we have time."

"Go ahead," Jeff shrugged, "this is your forum."

Tina turned back to Vecepia, and she had a sly smile on her face. Vee saw it, and she knew exactly what was coming. After all, she had spent a lot of time with Tina over the past thirty-nine days. They had spoken about the same subjects so often, and in so much detail, that they were practically sisters by this point. Vecepia could see it in her eyes. Tina was about to lob her the proverbial cream puff.

"Vecepia," Tina smiled, "Do you think it was fair to let former winners come back and play again?"

"Do I think it was fair?"

"Yes. Do you think it was fair to the other players?"

Vecepia just laughed. "How could it be unfair to them? It was unfair to us. We never had a chance!"

Tina just stood back and smiled. There. Point made. You go, girlfriend.

She thanked John and Vecepia for their time, and went back to her seat.




^^




With three jurors down, and four to go, a strange hush suddenly entered the lodge. Because one of the true wildcards of the evening was about to step down and take his turn at the podium. And here he came.

Boston Rob.

The enemy of everybody.

No one had any idea what was about to come out of his mouth.

Rob slowly walked to the podium, his head down, and a strange little half-smirk on his face. He appeared to be amused about something. Which was good. Because without the omnipresent Red Sox cap perched backwards on his head, without the white Manakai buff tied in an X around his elbow, without his traditional dark black goatee, he was almost unrecognizable at the moment. And it was a little bit jarring to see how respectable he looked. Apparently it turned out that when you cleaned up Rob Mariano, he almost looked like a gentleman.

That's why it was somewhat reassuring to see that strange little cocky smirk still perched upon his face. It was what still made him Boston Rob. For better or worse.

Rob stepped up to the podium, and he immediately turned his attention to Vecepia.

He quickly moved in for the kill.

"Vee," he asked her, "point blank, were you the best player in this game?"

Vee said nothing. She just stared at him with those big, white, full moon eyes.

"Yes or no," Rob continued, "were you the best player in Hawaii?"

"Well, there were lots of good players..." Vee finally answered, somewhat lamely.

"Oh come on," Rob laughed over her, interrupting, "Don't give me one of your Vecepia answers. Give me the real answer. I want to hear you say it. I want to hear you tell everyone that you kicked their ass."

Vee opened her mouth to respond, but Rob just continued to talk over her.

"Every day," Rob said, "I sat there with you on Ahi, and we talked about how stupid the rest of the players were. And you can't deny this, Vee, because I was there." He glared at her. "You forget, I sat there with you. I was there every day. We talked about this."

Vee looked over, nervously, at the rest of the jurors. Uh oh. What was Rob trying to do to her here?

"So I want to hear you say it," Rob continued, now a little bit angrily. "I want you to say, 'I, Vecepia, was the best player.' And I want you to explain how they had no idea how to stop you. I want you to explain to them how there are two Vecepias. The one that I saw, and the one that the rest of them saw."

Vee shook her head, defiantly, as if trying to deny this.

"Oh, you don't think that's true?" Rob asked.

"I have never tried to intentionally misrepresent myself," Vee explained.

"Yeah, whatever," Rob laughed. Now he had that big, gleeful smile plastered across his face. It was clear he was having a ball with this. "Vee, you're more full of shit than I am. You're the biggest fraud out of anyone here. How can you deny that?"

Vee just shrugged her shoulders, helplessly. That was all she could do. There was no way she could out-debate Rob when it came to a mud-slinging contest. She wouldn't even try to. She simply knew him too well.

"So were you," Rob continued, "or were you not, the best player in this game? Yes or no?"

"No."

"Are you sure about that?" Rob asked, surprised. "Because that's a hell of a shaky answer, Vee. You sure you really want a jury to vote based on what you just said?" He paused, and looked over at her opponent. "Because I'm gonna ask this same question to John, Vee. And you know what he'll say. He'll say that he was."

"I was a good player," Vee reiterated, "But I was never the best."

"Well then why the hell should I vote for you?"

Rob let the question hang there in the air. Because this was actually an important one. Why should he vote for her? She hadn't given him a reason yet.

Vee said nothing. She just looked at him. She stared at him, hard, directly in the eyes.

Then she spoke.

"I wasn't the best," she said, forcefully, "but I was better than John. That's why you should vote for me tonight. You should vote for me because I never made any mistakes."

"And John did make mistakes?"

"He made lots of them."

Rob said nothing else. He just locked eyes with Vee for a moment, and then relaxed. She had held up well under his assault. He was a little surprised. He didn't think she had had that sort of thing in her. She was generally so meek.

Then he turned to John.

The former enemies locked eyes.

"Johnny," Rob smiled, mirthlessly, "good to see you again." He grinned. "My girl Vee still treating you well? You two still having fun out here?"

"It's never been fun since you left."

Rob just turned to the side and laughed.

"Okay," he smiled, "Okay you got me. Fine." He paused for a moment, then quickly sobered up. He turned back to John. "John, I only have one question for you."

John looked bemused. "Shoot."

"Were you the best player in the game?"

John didn't even hesitate. "Yes."

"You were better than me?" Rob looked surprised.

"Yes."

"You were better than Tina?"

John smirked at him. "Are either one of you sitting in the final two right now?"

"Yeah," Rob grinned, "true. But see, here's how I know you're lying. You want to know how I can tell?"

John sighed. "Sure."

"It's in your eyes," Rob said. "You can't see it, but I can. I can see it all the way from here. You want to know what your eyes are saying to me?"

John just shrugged, helplessly.

"Your eyes are saying that you're scared right now." Rob explained. "You're scared shitless that you're going to lose to someone that not only already won once before, but already beat you once before. You're scared right now that you're going to lose to someone who never had a chance out here."

"I guess my eyes say a lot, huh?"

"John, you weren't the best player out here," Rob needled him. "Vee was. She kicked your ass. Just like she kicked it before. And the worst thing was, you could have stopped it this time. You had a chance. You knew how she played. Yet, for some reason, you never even saw it coming. Not even once."

"Well hey," John shrugged, "Then I guess she beat you too. Just like last time."

Rob just stood there and glared at him.

"You're just begging me to vote for Vee," he finally said, somewhat mockingly. "You really must not want my vote, do you?"

"Rob, I'm never going to get your vote," John said. "In fact, if anything, I think this is a good example of the type of shit I have had to put up with from you all game."

He glared at Rob.

Rob said nothing.

"You came into this game with a big-ass chip on your shoulder," John continued. "You've had it in for me since day one. You've said that you hated me. So why on Earth would I even think that I had a chance at your vote?"

Instead of being angry, Rob just turned his head towards the jury and laughed.

"Look at this guy over here," he said, grinning at his fellow jurors. "He's an idiot."

Rob caught a few of the jurors snickering. In particular, Alicia appeared to be doing her best to keep from laughing out loud. That was very enabling. So Rob turned back to his enemy and quickly went right for the throat.

"John," he said, "you weren't the best player in Hawaii, and everyone knows it."

"That's your opinion."

"It is my opinion," Rob said, "and lucky for me, I'm the only one whose vote counts tonight. Your opinion doesn't mean jack shit at the moment."

John said nothing. He just sat there and glowered at Rob, silently.

"Vee," Rob asked, quickly changing tactics. "okay so you weren't the best player. Fine, we'll go with that. But who was? Was it John?"

Vee didn't hesitate. "No way. Not a chance."

And with that, Rob Mariano's work here as a juror was complete. John Carroll had officially been sabotaged.

"Thanks Vee," he said, smiling. Then he turned to their host. "And thanks Jeff. It's been a fun game, thanks for letting me play."

^^





John Carroll had just withstood his first blistering attack of the evening. Courtesy of Rob. But he certainly wasn't out of the danger zone yet.

Because here came Alicia.

She stepped down from the jury box.

And she didn't look happy.

Alicia locked her eyes onto John Carroll's the minute she reached the podium.

"John," she said, flatly, "I have a little something I wanted to say to you."

John just sat there and nodded, grimly. He gritted his teeth. He knew this one was bound to be ugly.

"At a certain point in the game," Alicia said, "I came to you with some information. Some information that I heard, which was very much directed towards you." She crossed her arms across her chest. "Do you remember the information I am talking about?"

"Yes."

"What did I tell you?"

John sighed. "You knew that Colleen and Gretchen were going to vote against me that night, and that if you went along with them, they would be able to force a tie."

"That's right," Alicia nodded, smiling. "Good. I'm glad to see you are still able to remember that."

John said nothing. He just stared down at the fire.

He certainly knew what was coming.

"But I didn't force a tie that night," Alicia said. "I could have, but I didn't. Instead, I went to you. And I warned you." She was getting angry now. "I went to you, I warned you, and I saved your ass."

John looked up, and he nodded.

"So why did I do that?" Alicia now asked. "Why did I save you? Why didn't I just go to Gretchen and tell her I was on board?" She paused, angrily. "Was it just because I was an idiot? Is that it? Did you just stand there and laugh at me that night, because I made the wrong choice?"

"I never laughed at you."

"But you certainly weren't grateful."

"I was grateful!" John protested. "I was! When did I ever say that I wasn't?"

Alicia just glared at him.

"The only reason you're still in this game," she stated, "is because I saved your ass." She looked infuriated about this. "I saved it when I probably shouldn't have. And I'd like you to convince me that that's not the only reason that you're even sitting there."

"You didn't save me," John rebutted, angrily, "All you did that night is that you bent me over a chair and you blackmailed me."

Alicia just stood there, her arms still crossed across her chest. She continued to glare daggers at him.

"Look," John pointed out, "you're not going to vote for me tonight. Fine, I get that. I broke our deal, and I voted you out. I'll fully admit that."

"And you're not concerned about this?"

"Of course I am, but what can I do about it?" John asked, helplessly. "You already told me you're never going to vote for me. You're going to vote for Vecepia out of spite. So what's the point of standing here and yelling at me about it?"

"I'm not yelling at you," Alicia said, slowly, "All I'm doing is pointing out to the jury that you have no business even being here right now." She smirked at him. "Trust me, if I was yelling at you, you would know it."

"Look, Alicia, I fucked up," John shrugged, "I made too many deals. I made promises to too many people, and it eventually caught up to me." He paused and looked at her. "It's my fault you're in the jury. There. Happy? Look, I'm sorry."

Alicia said nothing. She continued to look angry. She just stared daggers at him, right over the fire.

"If you don't want to vote for me tonight," John continued, "then don't vote for me."

"I'm not going to vote for you."

"Fine."

"I always keep my promises," Alicia reminded him. "I said I would never write down your name on a ballot, and now I won't."

"Great," John sighed, "You're angry. We got it. Loud and clear."

Alicia looked over at him. She looked surprised. She hadn't expected him to actually fight back about this.

"If you're done," John snarked at her, "then why don't you just sit down, and shut up? Stop grandstanding. Stop trying to be Sue. Stop trying to get your picture on the cover of the magazines."

Alicia just stood there. She put her hands on her hips, and she softly chuckled under her breath. Well now wasn't this interesting?

Behind her, she could hear Boston Rob cracking up in the jury. Was he laughing at John? Or was he laughing at her? It was impossible to tell.

"Are you really this dumb?" she asked John, smiling slightly.

"I'm dumb?" John asked, dumbfounded. "Well how about this? Tell me if this doesn't sound familiar to you." He lowered his voice and went into his Alicia impression. "If you don't take me to the final two, I will poison you on the jury, asshole. Because I can get Kathy. And I can get Colleen. And I can get Rob. They'll believe anything I say. So you better keep me around."

John reached over and he waved his finger towards her face, just for good measure. It was clear he was mocking her.

"It's called blackmail, numbnuts," he snarked at her, "Buy a dictionary. Look it up."

Alicia just smiled faintly and shook her head, in amazement. She looked up at the roof of the lodge. She couldn't believe this.

Behind her, the rest of the jurors waited anxiously to see her reaction.

"I had an alliance with you, yes," John finished up, much more diplomatic this time. "We made a final two pact, and I meant to keep it." He paused. "But the problem was that I also had a final two deal with Vecepia. And I made that deal first."

"So you didn't turn on me?" Alicia asked.

"No. I just went with my original alliance."

"And you don't think this is going to cost you the game?"

"Hey," shrugged John, "if it does, then fuck me. If your vote is the one that costs me, then I'll fully accept it."

Alicia just lowered her gaze from the roof and glared at him. He glared right back.

Meanwhile, Vecepia hadn't said a single word in more than ten minutes.

"Well then that's that," sighed Alicia. She looked tired. She was getting too old for this crap. "I guess that's all I have to say, Jeff. I guess I'll just have to say that I'm satisfied."

Jeff nodded.

That was two angry jurors down.

And only one more left.

Because next up was the girl who John had literally destroyed.

Next up was the very angry and very emotional-looking Colleen.





^^

A strange silence fell over the tiki lodge as Colleen Haskell walked slowly to take her place behind the podium. She said nothing. She just walked up in front of everybody, her face completely unreadable, as the rest of the jurors looked on with morbid fascination. After all, they had been with Colleen. They had lived with her. And they had seen how broken up she had been over the way John had treated her on her way out.

They could see the anger in Colleen's eyes. They could see the way that John was now looking awkwardly at the ground.

They knew that this was bound to be interesting.

Colleen now stood proudly behind the juror's podium. And she turned to lock eyes with her former best friend in the game, John. She looked directly at him. But John wouldn't look back. He just stared down at the dirt. It was clear, even from way over on the jury bench, that he was squirming in his seat at the moment. He really didn't want to be sitting here right now. This was going to be way too emotional and personal for him.

Colleen, deciding to delay the confrontation, turned her gaze on John's opponent, Vecepia, instead.

Their eyes locked.

"Vee," said Colleen, softly, in a voice that was barely louder than a whisper. Her eyes suddenly started welling with tears. "Congratulations on making it to the final two. You played a good game."

"Thank you," Vee smiled, cautiously.

But Colleen said nothing else. She just stood there and looked at Vecepia, her right hand on her hip. She couldn't think of anything else to say.

Frustrated, she just sagged her shoulders. And, fighting back tears, she took a glance at the roof.

This sucked.

Here she was, with this great angry jury speech she had written and planned all out in her head, and now that she was standing here, she was freezing up. She couldn't deliver it. There was just something about standing here and addressing these people that was so much different than roleplaying it all out in her head.

Instead, Colleen just stood there, fighting back tears. She stared blankly at the fire. She said nothing.

"Are you okay?" Jeff asked her, concerned. "Do you need a minute?"

Colleen nodded that she did.

The rest of the players just sat there, awkwardly, as Colleen took a minute to compose herself and reign in her emotions. And she felt bad about it too. In fact, to be quite honest, she actually felt a little stupid. Because this wasn't life or death. This wasn't real life. This was just dumb Survivor. Why on Earth was she getting so emotional about it? But she couldn't help it. Colleen Haskell was just an emotional person. Always had been. If these two people wanted her vote tonight, they would just have to wait. It was her turn now, and she would speak when she was ready.

Finally, after about a minute and a half, Colleen had successfully managed to compose herself.

She looked away from fire, and she looked back at Vecepia.

Now that hollow look was gone. Now there was fire in her eyes. The speech she had planned so meticulously was about to come out.

Vecepia, who had only seen the meek Colleen, had no idea what she was in for.

"Vee," Colleen said, much more forcefully this time. "Before I move on to address John, there's something I want to say to you."

Vecepia nodded.

Colleen put her right hand on her hip, and stared her directly in the eyes.

"I don't want to vote for you tonight," Colleen said, flatly. "In fact, I promised myself I would never vote for you the very first week of the game."

Vecepia just sat there, listening.

"The reason I don't want to vote for you," Colleen continued, angrily, "is because I think you're a phony. I don't believe you are who you say you are for a second." She paused. "In fact, if you want my honest opinion, I'd even go so far as to say that I'm a little creeped out by you."

Vecepia said nothing. She just sat there and listened.

"We spent a month together in Hawaii," Colleen continued, "and I can safely say that I didn't enjoy a single minute of our time together during that month. More often than not, I found myself just wanting to get away from you."

Behind Colleen, a few jurors winced.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Vee said, quietly.

"I was not your friend out here," Colleen continued. "And you were not my friend. Oh, you might have thought we were close, but that's only because you couldn't see through me." She paused. "I could see through you all game, Vee. I could see your true colors. I could see that you didn't care about anyone but yourself."

Vee just shook her head, softly.

"I could see you," Colleen added, "but you couldn't see me at all. You had no idea who I was. You never could figure me out. You had no clue that we didn't get along. You had no idea that I complained about you to John on a regular basis."

John just looked over at the jurors, and nodded. That statement was accurate.

"I'm the worst actress in the world!" Colleen exclaimed, to Vee. "How could you not read me? I mean, a first grader could read me. I can't act my way out of a paper bag. Even Rudy could probably figure me out."

A few laughs from the jurors.

"But you?" Colleen continued. "Who was supposed to be so perceptive? Who was supposed to be so friendly and empathetic? Who was supposed to be all religious and holy? You couldn't even figure out we didn't get along?" She looked stunned. "What's wrong with this picture, Vee?"

"I always thought we got along just fine." Vee responded.

"Of course you thought that," Colleen said, "You thought that because you don't care about other people. And because you have no feelings towards any of the other players. You think that you get along with everybody.. Meanwhile, half the other players here were pretty much sick of you."

Vee said nothing. She just looked down at the ground and shook her head, while smiling softly.

"I do think you're a good player," Colleen said, "Don't get me wrong. And I appreciate the way you get ahead in this game without being able to win a challenge." She paused, and then put a hand back on her hip. "But as a former winner? I think you're incredibly overrated."

Again, another wince from a few of the jurors.

"Also, Tina called," Colleen snarked. "She wants her character back."

Vee just chuckled softly, while continuing to stare down at the ground.

"But here's the deal," Colleen finally concluded. "I don't like you, Vee. And I swore that I would never vote for you. But then we come to the person on your right." She paused, and looked at John. "And that's when things get a little bit complicated."

There was no more sadness in her eyes. None. Now the anger was raging..

Colleen's eyes blazed with fury as she turned her attention to the man who had once been her friend.

"John," she asked, quietly. Even without a tremble, the hurt and pain was clearly evident in her voice. Her eyes bore a hole right into him. "I only have one question. Why?"

John just looked at her and shook his head. He said nothing. He appeared to be fighting back tears.

"We were friends," Colleen said to him. "You were my best friend."

She cocked her head now and looked at him, with those big, brown, little girl eyes. She said nothing else. She just stood there and stared at him.

"We still are friends," John said, meekly.

"Well not according to you we aren't," Colleen said. "According to you, I'm a bad person who does bad things, and you no longer have any use for me."

"That was in the game."

"Game, shmame!" Colleen finally raised her voice at him. "Where is the line for you, John? Where does it exist?" She shrugged her shoulders at him. "Is the game the same thing as real life for you? Is that it? Were we ever actually friends?"

"Of course we were."

"Were we friends on those reward trips?"

"Of course."

"Were we friends at the merge feast?"

"Of course."

"Then why did you treat me like crap on my last day??"

She said nothing else. She just folded her arms across her chest and stared at him, across the volcano. The shadows from the flames licked across her face. She continued to look incredibly angry with him.

John took a minute to compose himself. He looked down at the ground. Colleen just stood there and waited, impatiently.

"On the day you were voted out," John looked up and finally explained, "I discovered that you had formed an alliance with Alicia and Gretchen."

"And who told you that?"

"Alicia."

"Did you bother even asking me about it?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I didn't have to," John said. "I knew it was true."

"How?"

"Because you're the worst actress in the world!" John laughed. "I mean, come on, you just said it yourself. You can't deny that." He shrugged his shoulders at her. "The minute you had turned on the Ahis, I knew it the minute you sat down and talked to me." He paused. "I mean, I love you, but I could read you like a book. And that's the truth."

Colleen just stood there and stared at him, her arms still crossed across her chest.

"I never had any intention of voting you out," John explained. "You were my friend, and friends don't do that to other friends." He looked her directly in the eyes. "I was looking out for you, Colleen. You have to believe me. You were never in any danger of going anywhere."

"So then how did the vote get turned around towards me?" Colleen asked.

"How?"

"Yeah," nodded Colleen. "If we were such good friends, and if you were looking out for me that much, why not just vote off Alicia? Or vote off Gretchen? Why take it out on me?"

"Because I was pissed off at you," John said, flatly.

He looked at her and shrugged his shoulders. Because there it was. He wished there was more to the story, but there wasn't. The vote that night had been a total, one hundred percent, revenge-driven spite vote. She had pushed the wrong buttons on the wrong day, she had done it to the wrong person, and even though she had been his best friend, he had reacted in genuine anger and had kicked her out of the game. That was it. That was the only reason she was standing here right now as a member of the jury. He would take full responsibility for that.

"Do I regret the way I treated you on your last day?" John asked her, rhetorically. "Yes, I do. I have regretted it ever since. I didn't need to come down on you as hard as I did, and I fully admit that."

Colleen just stood there and glared at him.

But she appeared to be listening.

"But do I regret the fact that you had to be voted out?" John asked. He shook his head. "Absolutely not. Because at that point in the game, on that day, you were no longer my ally, you were my enemy. And I'm sorry, but if you're playing this game to win, as I have been doing since day one, then your enemies have to go." He shrugged his shoulders at her again. "I hated the way it happened, but that's just how it was. You got in my way."

Colleen reached a hand up to her face and wiped away a tear. Other than that, she just continued to glare at him.

"Do you want me to apologize?" John now asked her, softly. "Is that what you want to hear from me tonight? That I'm sorry I treated my best friend like shit?"

Colleen said nothing. She just silently nodded. Her arms remained crossed across her chest..

"Well then I apologize," John said, sincerely. "I got my head wrapped up way too tight in the game, and I took some things out on you that night that I shouldn't have mentioned." He paused. "There was no need for you to go out the way that you did. It shouldn't have been personal."

Colleen continued to glare at him. It was clear that, sincere or not, she still wasn't completely won over by his apology yet. She still looked a little pissed off about this.

"We'll still be friends after the game," John reassured her. "Whether you vote for me or Vee tonight, it doesn't matter. We'll still go out and have a beer." He smiled at her. "I don't care if you vote for me or not."

Colleen said nothing. She just contuinued to stare at him, saying nothing, through those large, brown, close-to-teary eyes. She wasn't sure if he was playing her or not. With John, even though she knew him, it was sometimes hard to tell.

"Are you satisfied with that answer?" Jeff turned and asked her.

"No," she said, quietly. "Not yet."

She turned back to John.

They locked eyes.

There was one more thing that she wanted to say to him.

"I knew I screwed up that night," she finally admitted, quietly. She was embarrassed to actually be saying this. "I knew I was done. So I felt bad enough already. You didn't have to yell at me."

"I know."

"Sometimes you can be a real ass."

As always, it was a little shocking to hear a profanity actually come out of Colleen's mouth. Behind her, in the jury, there were several gasps.

"I know," John nodded, "I was an asshole. I fully admit it."

"Good, as long as we can agree on that."

And with that, Colleen was done. Her emotional outburst was over. She thanked Jeff, she turned her back on John and Vecepia, and she went back to sit down. She symbolically even sat next to Rob, who had been her first, and was now her current-- and would probably turn out to be her overall-- best friend in Hawaii. She said nothing.

She knew she had a tough decision ahead of her.





^^




And now, up to the podium stepped the final juror in All-Star Hawaii. The seventh one.

Gretchen Cordy. The fallen warrior-hero.

She knew it was going to be awkward to follow that.

"Wow," she said, shaking her head quietly, as she stepped to the podium. She wore a white dress, white shoes, and a matching pearl white necklace. Her wounded right arm hung down in a sling. She carefully surveyed the two finalists.

"So I'm supposed to top that?" she turned and joked with Jeff.

Jeff just shrugged, a small smirk on his face. "Do your best."

"Okay," Gretchen took a deep breath and turned back to the finalists. She congratulated them both for being here. They thanked her.

Then she moved on to her questions.

"John," she turned her attention to the man on her left. "I have something I'd like to ask you tonight. Because it's been bothering me for a couple of days now."

"Sure," John nodded. "Go ahead."

Gretchen looked at him and took another deep breath. Then she immediately launched into it.

"How can I possibly vote for you to win," she asked, "when you've already admitted that Vecepia had it much harder out here than you did?"

John looked confused. "When did I admit that?"

"A couple of Tribal Councils ago," Gretchen explained. "Remember? Don't you remember that little speech you gave, about how everyone had had a hard time out here, and you didn't want this to turn into 'The Gretchen Show?'"

John just looked down and smiled. Oh great.

"I really appreciated that, by the way," Gretchen smirked.

"Yeah, I thought you'd like it."

"Well don't worry," Gretchen smiled at him. "The fact that you took a dig at me isn't going to influence my vote tonight. I'm thick-skinned." A pause. " It was actually something else you said that night that is sort of bothering me."

John just stared blankly at her. He still looked confused.

"You said," Gretchen explained, "in that same speech, and I quote, 'Tina and Vecepia have had it harder than anyone out here. The former winners have had the hardest challenge out here out of everyone.'"

John just shook his head at her, vehemently. He was clearly attempting to deny this.

"No, no, my friend, let's get something straight," Gretchen pointed her finger at him, shooting him down. "You did say that. Word for word. We were all here. We all heard it."

"But I didn't mean it that way."

"Well regardless of how you meant it," Gretchen shrugged, "why don't you sit there right now and tell me why I shouldn't vote for Vecepia. Because, after all, you've already pretty much presented her case for her." She smiled. "In fact, from my point of view, Vecepia doesn't really even have to say a thing right now. She could just sit there and smile at me. You've already pleaded her case better than she could."

Gretchen looked over at Vecepia. The two women made eye contact. Vee looked incredibly pleased about this.

Then Gretchen turned back to John.

"I'm waiting," she said to him, almost condescendingly. "I'd really like to hear how you're going to talk your way out of this. Because you did say that."

"Well first off," John stammered, "when I said that at Tribal Council, I was doing it for strategic reasons. I wasn't doing it to build anyone's case up."

"Yet you did."

"Well yeah, but I could say anything at Tribal Council," John retorted. "I could sit there and say I have a tree growing out of my ass. Does that make it true?"

"No."

John looked exasperated.

"Half the time at Tribal Council," he explained, "I'm just playing politician. I'm just telling the jurors, and the other players, what they want to hear. I'm doing it because I'm trying to be diplomatic about things."

He looked over at the jurors. Some of them appeared to be offended by this concept. What? Lying at Tribal Council? How could you?

"Oh please," John scoffed at them, "Like the rest of you didn't do that during the game too. Whatever."

"So you don't think the winners had a harder time in this game than you did?" Gretchen asked.

"No!" John spat. "Of course not! People have been trying to drag Vee to the end of this game since day one. She's had it on easy street since she got here. Nobody in their right mind would have ever voted her out!"

"Interesting."

"The only reason I said that that night," John explained, "was because I was tired of the Ahis coming off as the bad guys. I was tired of Jeff always treating us like crap. And also because I wanted to suck up to Vee and Tina so they would want to keep me around." He looked Gretchen directly in the eyes. "I said that for political reasons. I was just buying their loyalty. And that's it."

"So you didn't mean it?"

"Of course not. Vecepia has had the easiest game here."

Gretchen just stood there and looked down at the ground as he was speaking. She listened to his answer, and then she chuckled.

"Well that's awfully convenient," she looked up and smiled at him. "So your stance now is that you were just making that up? Here, at the final Tribal Council, you want me to believe that?"

"It's the God's honest truth," John said. "Vecepia has had the easiest game out here out of anyone. She hasn't had to take any risks at all. People have been dying to drag her here."

"Including you?"

John smiled. "I have been dragging her along for more than a month."

Gretchen just stood there for a moment, and lowered her head. She appeared to be thinking about this. Then, after about thirty seconds of silence, she turned her attention to Vecepia.

Vecepia appeared to be smiling.

"First off," Gretchen said to her, "I don't care what anyone says. I think the winners had a hell of a time out here." She paused. "And I think John's just backpedaling now when he says that's not true. I think you had to get through a lot just to get where you are. Because I think he was right. A winner was never supposed to get to the end of this game."

"Thank you," Vecepia smiled, gratefully.

"But that being said..." Gretchen smiled.

She paused, and took a deep breath.

"How on Earth," she began, "can I vote for you tonight when I swore that I never would vote for a former winner?"

She looked Vecepia directly in the eyes.

"How can I do that, Vee?" Gretchen continued. "I already promised myself that I would never do that."

Vee licked her lips, carefully, as she tried to plan out an appropriate answer. Because this was a biggie. This could be the million dollar answer right now.

The jurors looked on in anticipation.

"What I think you should tell yourself," Vee explained, "is that former winner or non former winner, our status should have nothing to do with it." She paused. "I think you should tell yourself that you're going to vote for the better of the two players, regardless of the circumstances."

"And you are the better of the two players?"

"Most definitely."

Gretchen just looked at her. She raised her eyebrows. She looked shocked.

"You were a better player than John?" she asked. "You, who hid under the radar all game? You, who John dragged all the way to the end, just so he would have an easier opponent?" She shook her head at Vecepia, very skeptically. "You think that makes you a better player than him?"

Vecepia just laughed at this last argument.

Gretchen looked confused.

"Who says John dragged me to the end?" Vee asked. "Since when has that been a proven fact?"

"Well we've all heard it tonight," said Gretchen. "John said he dragged you all the way to the end, just so he could face a former winner. He has said it several times."

"Yeah but that's not quite true."

"How could it not be true?"

And that's when Vecepia brought out a small, sly smile. Her Marquesas smile. The one that few people had seen during the game. It was the hidden one. The Vecepia-the-Eel one. The one that said that she knew that she had them.

"John didn't drag me to the end," she smiled, "I dragged him to the end. He didn't come up with that final two deal. I did."

And bam.

All the air was suddenly sucked right out of the room.

Gretchen looked at Vecepia for a moment, as if preparing some kind of a rebuttal for this. But she couldn't. Because she hadn't been ready for that answer. It had caught her completely off guard. The defendant had suddenly become the prosecutor. After that answer, Gretchen-the-juror was virtually speechless.

"I guess that's all I've got," was all she could say.

She thanked John, she thanked Vecepia, she smiled meekly, then she turned around and went back to her seat.

Gretchen's question was over.

The jury questioning was over.

It was time for final arguments to begin.

^^

The seven members of the Manakai jury had all been given a chance to say their piece. All the information that was going to be gathered tonight had essentially been gathered. And that meant it was now time to move on to the final portion of Tribal Council. The closing statements.

Since John had gone first with his opening statements, that meant that Vecepia was going first this time around.

The lanky office manager from Oregon stood up.

She turned to address the jurors.

She smiled at them.

"For thirty-nine days," she began, "there has been one theme that has been running throughout this game, and there has been one theme alone. And that is that a former winner has no chance to ever win All-Star Survivor."

She turned slightly and locked eyes with Tina in the jury.

"Well let me tell you this right now," Vee continued. "That theory. Is crap."

She turned and motioned towards her opponent, John Carroll.

"How many of you can sit here right now and tell me that John played the best game out of any of us?" She turned back to look at the jury. "How many of you can sit here and say that what I did in this game was a fluke? Because it wasn't. I was in control of nearly every single minute of this game." She stared at them, hard. "And if you don't believe that, if you think I just got dragged here by a more powerful player, then you simply haven't been watching."

She paused, took a step backwards, and took a deep breath. She wanted to make sure the next part of her speech came out the way that she wanted it to. After all, the next section of her argument was extremely important.

"On day one," she explained, "I stepped off that helicopter, just like all of you did. And the first thing that someone said to me was this. Rob Mariano came up to me, and he joked that there was no way I would be winning in All-Stars. He said I hoped I had fun the first time, because it wouldn't be happening again. He said he would make sure of it."

Up in the jury, Rob let out a wide grin and a chuckle. Oops. Busted.

"And that's the kind of crap I have had to listen to out here for thirty-nine days!" Vee now looked a little bit angry. "For thirty-nine days, I have heard that winners can't win this. And winners can't win that. I have heard that we don't deserve to be here. I've heard people say 'Vecepia? Well sure, she won. But that was just a fluke. That was just... because of a bitter jury. Vecepia could never win again. She couldn't get that lucky. No one respects her.'"

She shot a look at Alicia in the jury.

"Well I'll tell you all this," Vee now had a slight smirk on her face. Then she paused, for dramatic effect. "I did do it again, and I did it to all of you. I managed to beat every single one of you. I managed to outwit, outplay, and outlast fourteen people who had no intention of ever letting me get here. I managed to outwit, outplay, and outlast fourteen of the All-Stars." She smiled. "And do you know how I did it?"

Once again, she turned back to point at her opponent.

"I made a final two alliance with the one guy I knew I could beat at the end, and I dragged him here. Past everyone. And I did everything in my power along the way to keep the two of us together." She paused. "Because that was the key. That was how I did it. I held us together. I held the Ahis together."

She turned back to face them.

"Even in the middle of the game, when we had the potential to fall apart, I reminded people on my tribe that we needed to stay strong as a team. I reinforced this to all of you. Every single person who was a part of my alliance." Another pause. "I did it behind the scenes, I did it when nobody was watching, and most of you, as good as you are, probably never even noticed I was doing it."

She nodded her head once at them.

"And that's why I, more than anyone else, deserve to win this game." She smiled one last time. "Because I had to work the hardest at it. Because I did it the most successfully. Because nobody ever caught me. And because my plan worked the best."

She thanked them for their time, and she sat down.

That was all she could do.

Now her fate lay in the hands of those jurors.





^^





Two minutes later, her opponent, John Carroll, stepped up to give his closing arguments.

Unlike Vecepia's cool, calm demeanor, he appeared to be a little more emotional about this.

And he proved that with his very first sentence.

"Okay, first off," he said, "Everything Vecepia just said?" He cocked a thumb at her. "Complete bullshit. It's not even in the realm of possibilities."

He looked Gretchen, in the jury, directly in the eyes.

"Vecepia had zero control over this game," he deliberately reinforced to her. "And let me repeat that again. Zero." A long, deliberate pause. "Every single player on Ahi was trying to drag her to the end. All game long. That was all we talked about, that was all we joked about, and that was what all of us were trying to do. We all wanted her to sit up against us in the final jury." Another pause. "The only thing Vecepia ever had control of in this game was the way she spelled the names on her ballots."

Now he turned his attention to Boston Rob. His enemy. They locked eyes.

"Rob," he said, "Can you honestly sit there and tell me that Vee had some magical control over the way this game went down? Can you sit there and say that she outwitted every single player here, just by waving her magic voodoo wand?" He smiled. "No. Of course you can't. You can't say that because you had just as much of a boner over taking her to the end as the rest of us did. You were dying to face her in the final two more than anyone."

Rob just let out a wide smile.

"Yeah, see look, he's smiling," John pointed out, frustrated. "He's smiling because he knows it's true. The only value Vecepia ever had to any other player in this game was as cannon fodder. We kept her around on Ahi because we knew she was useless."

John paused, and he took a deep breath. He thought about his next words for a moment. Because, like Vecepia, he knew that the next part of his argument was particularly important here. After all, there weren't that many votes potentially up for grabs tonight. Maybe one. Maybe two. Maybe none. This speech might have to be perfect.

"And that brings me to the next part of my argument," he said to the jurors, slowly. "How did Vecepia and I get here?"

He turned back to look at his opponent.

"How did Vee get to the final two?" he asked. "Well she got here the same way she did it last time, of course. She did it by flying under the radar. She did it by saying nothing, by doing nothing, and by hoping that people would eventually forget about her."

He turned back to face the jurors.

"Now does flying under the radar work?" He raised his eyebrows at them. "Damn right it does. It works every time. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that if Vecepia played Survivor a hundred times, she'd probably make it to the final four almost every time. Because she knows that it works. The less of a presence she makes herself, the more successful she'll be. It's just the way that it works"

John paused. Another dramatic pause.

Now he turned and looked Alicia in the eyes. He wanted her to hear this part.

"But flying under the radar..." he said to her, emphatically. "... is horseshit."

He turned to look one more time at Vecepia.

"God love Vee," he said, "Flying under the radar obviously works for her. She's done it twice now. But it doesn't work for me."

He turned back to the jurors.

"Because that's not a strategy, my friends." He stared hard at them. "Flying under the radar is not a strategy. It is a defense mechanism. That's how somebody plays when they have nothing else they can do. They just roll over and they play possum."

He shot a look at Gretchen.

Like Alicia, she needed to hear this.

"I'd like to hear one person in this jury who can stand up and accuse me of ever flying under the radar," he said. "Because I didn't. You know I didn't. Unlike Vee, I put my neck on the line. I put my head in the noose every single minute of this game. I stood right up there at the front of my alliance and I dared you to knock me off."

He looked at Rob.

"Some of you took shots at me along the way," he shrugged. "Some of you didn't. I didn't care. That's just the way that it goes. Because when you decide to play an aggressive game, that's just the way it is going to be. Either you get your hands dirty and you make it to the end, or you go down in a spectacular ball of flames." He paused. "When you play an outwardly aggressive game, there is no middle ground. You either kill or you get killed."

He paused. One last pause. It was time to wrap this thing up.

He took one last deep breath.

"In short," he said, "I would just like to leave you with this."

One last look back at Vecepia.

"Vee did great in this game. She did amazing. She accomplished exactly what she was trying to do. She proved, without a shadow of a doubt, that a former winner could actually make it to the end a second time... provided she got some lucky breaks."

One last turn back to the jury.

"But I came in with a strategy," he said. "I came in with a take no prisoners attitude. And I rode that strategy all the way to where I stand now, in front of the seven of you, awaiting your decision."

One by one, he tried to look each one of the jurors in the eye.

"I did it because winning was important to me," he said, "I did it because I had a lot to prove this time around. And most of all..."

A small smile.

"... I did it above the radar, where the danger was the greatest. If you pissed me off, then you pissed me off. And I told you to your face. I didn't sit there and whisper gossip and hide like a coward behind everyone else."

He nodded to the seven members of the Manakai jury.

"I have never wanted to win anything in my life as much as I have wanted to win Survivor. That was my goal from day one. That was why I did everything. And that's why I, John Carroll-- Johnny Pots and Pans-- would appreciate your vote to win this game. From the bottom of my heart. Thanks a lot."

He gave a quick, respectful bow, and then he returned to his seat.

He let out a final exhale.

Like Vee, his fate was now in the hands of those jurors.

^^





John and Vee were now back in their seats.

Jeff now explained the final rules to the Manakai jurors. They weren't voting somebody out of the game this time, they were actually voting for somebody. The rules were a little bit different this time. They were voting for the winner.

Everyone understood.

Seven jurors nodded.

The cameras were ready.

The stage was readyt.

The jury was ready.

It was time to bring All-Star Survivor to a close.





^^





Tina Wesson was the first juror to walk up to the voting confessional. She uncapped the large black writing pen.

Her vote tonight, of course, was for Vecepia. It had always been for Vecepia. After all, winner shminner. Being a former winner meant nothing tonight. Quite frankly, Tina was sick and tired of hearing about it.

Friendship and kinship aside, Vecepia had simply been the best player out here. That was all that she needed.

"An easy choice," Tina said, shrugging softly, as she held up her ballot for the camera. "Hope you win, Vee. This vote shouldn't even be close."

She placed the ballot in the box.

1-0 Vee.

^^





Next up was Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien. From Keko.

With her blonde hair whipping softly in the wind, the feisty glue of the Kekos uncapped the pen and wrote four letters in large block font in the middle of her ballot. Sure enough, she had voted for John.

As expected, this vote had never been in question.

"I like you as a person, Vee," said Kathy, "and I'm glad we made up as friends along the way. But I'm sorry. I'm not buyin' it." She shook her head, skeptically. "I don't buy you as the mastermind out here. I certainly never saw it. And I don't think that anyone saw it." She shrugged, softly. "Sorry, Vee. But John, this game was yours. Hope you pull it off. You deserve it."

She placed her ballot in the box.

It was a 1-1 tie.

^^

Next up was Frank Garrison. As usual, he walked up to the podium silently.

Even though he had deliberated long and hard over this choice all day, in the end he had to go with his gut. He had to go with the player he respected. So he wasted no time in writing down a four-letter name.

That player was John.

"More honest," he said, holding up John's name for the camera, "More deserving."

Frank, as always, was a man of few words.

He placed his ballot into the box.

2-1 John.





^^

The fourth juror to step up to the voting confessional was Boston Rob.

And, much like many of the jurors, he voted exactly the way the players had expected him to vote. It turned out there weren't going to be many surprises tonight. Rob had already had his mind made up a long time ago. The speeches and jury answers tonight had meant little to him.

He held up a vote for Vecepia.

"I don't have that much respect for the style," he said, "But I think you'd have to be an idiot not to have respect for the results." He shrugged. "Because you did it twice now, Vee. It's not the way I would have done it, but I hope you surprise everyone and pull it off. I think you deserve it."

Then, in a very un-Roblike show of camaraderie, he added something else.

"By the way, I hope you laugh at everyone when you win again. They all treated you like crap out here."

^^

With four votes in the urn, and three very, very important ones to go, up stepped the fifth of the Manakai jurors. Colleen Haskell.

With her eyes now free of emotion, she wrote down a name, and held up the only vote her heart would allow her to make.

John Carroll.

She couldn't help it. She hated him. But he was better than Vee.

"Good luck," she said, simply. "You were the best."

She probably could have said more, but she decided not to. After all, he had apologized. It was over. They were friends again. She wanted to be a good sport about it.

As John predicted, never in a million years would she have voted for Vecepia.

Colleen folded her ballot and placed it daintily into the urn.

John now had three votes in there.





^^

It was now 3-2 John, with two votes to go.

But it was about to get a little bit closer.

Because here came Alicia. And she had a smirk on her face. Because in her mind, this was the one vote that was going to cost him.

This outcome was going to be beautiful.

"Vecepia", read her ballot. She had drawn a happy little smiley face immediately after it. She held it up for the camera.

"John," she smiled, smugly. "You had this game in the palm of your hand. You had everything. And then you threw it all away. And why? Just because you wanted to screw me?"

Now she shot an angry look towards the camera. She leaned forward to deliver the next part.

"Well guess what, John? I can screw you, too. Because do you know what I think? I think this is the one vote that Vee is going to need tonight."

She folder her ballot in half and she dropped it into the urn.

Then she looked back at the camera.

She sadly shook her head.

Because she wasn't exaggerating. He'd had it. He'd had it all in the palm of his hand. He was easily the best player out here. He had been on cruise control since day one. The two of them had been close friends. Vecepia was worthless and completely beatable.

Alicia shook her head, sadly for the cameras, one last time.

This shouldn't have happened.

^^

There were now three John votes in the urn, and three Vecepia votes.

Gretchen's vote, as expected, was going to be the tiebreaker.

Luckily, she didn't waste time.

She just walked up to the podium, she uncapped the pen, and she wrote down a name.

She held her ballot up for the camera.

She said her piece.

She returned to her seat.

And then the taping was over.

It was time to go back to the mainland.

Because they had now crowned a champion.

Epilogue - FOUR MONTHS LATER




The CBS soundstage in Los Angeles was packed. And the audience was ready. 5,000 of the biggest Survivor fans in the world-- the ones who had been lucky enough to get tickets-- were now perched on the edges of their seats, awaiting the results of the vote. There was tension in the studio. John and Vecepia sat on a log off to Jeff Probst's left, across from the jury. They were smiling and holding hands with one another.

Everyone was ready. The live airing of the finale had been a smashing success. The audience in the studio had been hooting and hollering for the past two hours. They had been cheering and booing. It had been a fun night.

And now, the absolute apex of the evening. This was why they had all come here to be in the audience tonight.

The taped portion of the evening was over. It was now time to reveal the winner.

"Are you guys ready for this?" Jeff smiled and looked up to address the packed crowd.

5,000 cheers announced that they were.

"Okay," nodded Jeff, "Let's do this."

He turned and took his place on his mark. He made sure he was positioned towards the correct camera. He then smiled at his two finalists, John and Vecepia. After four months of showering and cleaning up and eating, they looked incredibly different from the creatures they had once been out on the island of Ni'ihau. At the moment, they were both smiling and laughing and having a good time with one another. The game of All-Star Survivor had clearly taken place a long time ago. It was clear they were friends again.

"John and Vee," Jeff said to his two finalists, "Remember, you want to see your name on these ballots tonight. Because we're not voting someone out. We're voting for a winner." A pause. "Are you guys ready?"

John nodded.

Vecepia nodded.

They were ready.

Nervous. And excited. But ready.

"Alright," said Jeff. "Then for the last time in the game... I'll read the votes..."

He reached into the urn.

The cameras were rolling.

The live audience was cheering.





^^

Jeff pulled out the first vote.

He looked at it for a moment, then turned it around. Slowly.

"Vecepia."

The left side of the audience-- the pro-Vee side-- immediately burst into cheers.

Vecepia just looked over at them, gratefully, and silently mouthed her thanks. She almost appeared to be crying right now.

That first vote had come from Boston Rob. And now came the second vote, from Tina. It, too, had Vecepia's name written across the front of it. Jeff read it out loud.

"Vecepia."

That was two votes. Again, the Vee side of the audience let out a loud cheer. It was like a Roman gladiatorial arena in here. Everyone in the auditorium was loudly cheering their favorite.

Jeff reached into the urn, and pulled out the third vote.

He looked at it, slowly, and then turned it around.

It was Frank's.

"John."

Now it was the John side of the audience that burst into cheers. The entire right side of the auditorium let out a loud whoop, as they tried to drown out the Vecepia side of the crowd. And it wasn't all that hard to do. John's cheering section clearly dwarfed Vecepia's section. It was almost two to one. Like it or not, among the Survivor fan base, John was simply a little more popular tonight..

John looked over at his cheering section, and he game them a smile and a wave. Like Vee, he was clearly grateful to have fans here tonight. They both were. Like Vee, he appeared to be fighting back tears right now.

With Vee leading 2-1, Jeff now reached into the urn and pulled out the fourth ballot.

He paused, dramatically, and then turned it around.

"Vecepia."

That was the vote from Alicia.

Vecepia's cheering section was now screaming at the top of their lungs. Vee, on the far left of the stage, now had her hands clasped over her mouth. She huddled up against John tightly. She couldn't believe it.

"That's three votes Vecepia," Jeff announced, "One vote John."

He reached into the urn and pulled out the fifth vote. It was Kathy's vote.

He slowly turned it around.

"John."

Now John's side brought out their cheer. Again, they easily dwarfed Vecepia's side. After five votes, it was getting incredibly loud in here.

Jeff reached into the urn to retrieve the sixth vote.

John's side of the audience cheered over this at the top of their lungs.

Jeff looked at the vote for a moment. He snuck a quick grin at John's side of the auditorium. Then he paused, and slowly turned it around.

As expected, it was a third vote for "John."

It was Colleen's vote.

This one was going down to the wire tonight.

Now the auditorium was going crazy. Everyone was on their feet. They were all stomping and yelling. Every single person here was trying to will one more vote for their favorite.

John and Vecepia exchanged a quick grin and a hug with one another. John tried to mouth to her over the noise, "Can you believe this?" She couldn't hear him.

Now the floor of the stage was shaking.

Jeff looked up at the crowd and finally acknowledged them, grinning from ear to ear. He was clearly eating this up.

Then he slowly reached into the urn.

He retrieved the seventh, and final, vote.

Gretchen's vote.

He looked at it for a moment.

Then he looked up at John and Vecepia.

The crowd was going crazy.

Jeff slowly turned the ballot around.

"The winner," he said, "of All-Star Survivor: Hawaii..."

He revealed the name.

And she shrieked.

Because after 78 days of Survivor, this meant that they finally respected her.

"Vecepia."

- Read Mario's information-packed commentary on the Hawaii finale.

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