All-Star Survivor: Hawaii Episode #4 Aloha Means Goodbye

Keko Tribe (green): Alicia Calaway, Gretchen Cordy, Colby Donaldson, Richard Hatch, Michael Skupin, Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien
Ahi Tribe (orange): John Carroll, Frank Garrison, Colleen Haskell, Rob Mariano, Vecepia Towery, Lex van den Berghe, Tina Wesson

Click here to watch the All-Star Hawaii opening credits!

NIGHT 9 - AFTER TRIBAL COUNCIL





As the seven remaining members of Ahi began their dark hike back from Tribal Council, Lex paused for a moment, and let himself fall to the back of the pack.

Rain drizzled down his shoulders.

Lightning illuminated the sky.

But Lex didn't care.

He was just going to walk back here, in the dark, and take a moment to appreciate the importance of friends.

At the moment, the Ahis were walking in a single file line, in the rain. They were trudging through the storm that had begun, as if on cue, only moments after they'd vote Sue right out of the game. And even though Lex was furious that there had actually been a tie tonight, and that his neck had come oh-so-close to getting lopped off by the executioner's axe, deep down his only feeling right now was one of gratitude.

Yes, the Ahis had come after him.

And yes, they had messed with the wrong man.

And one day, quite soon, they were going to pay.

But right now the only feeling in Lex's gut was one of thankfulness. Right now, all he really cared about was that his friends had come through like they had promised.

Tina. Frank. And John.

His three allies.

They'd all stuck by his side, and done what they'd said.

And Lex knew he was now indebted to his three saviors for the rest of his life.

As lightning crashed around them, and white flashes of light illuminated the sky, Lex was finally able to pick out the silhouette of the woman who had been his number one benefactor tonight, Tina Wesson. Thanks to the flashes of lightning, Lex finally identified Tina out of the indistinct blob of blackness before him. And, smiling, he sidled up next to her to offer his thanks.

"Hey Tina," he said softly, once he had pulled aside the petite little blonde woman.

"Oh, hi, Lex," came the answer out of the darkness. "Enjoying the rain?"

"Tina, I just wanted to thank you for what you did tonight," Lex said, with one hundred percent honesty. "You stuck by me tonight, and you saved my neck. And even though you promised you'd do that beforehand, I just wanted to come over and say thanks."

"Awwww." Tina was touched. "Well, you don't have to thank me, Lex. We're allies. I told you I'd be with you, didn't I?"

"I know," Lex was nodding in the darkness, although Tina could barely see him. "I know, you did. But I just wanted to come over and say how much I appreciate the fact that you stuck by your word."

"You're welcome, Lex." Again, Lex couldn't really see her. But the smile was definitely implied by the tone of her voice.

Lex and Tina had now slowed down a bit, as the rest of the tribe had pulled blindly ahead. Nobody had yet realized the two of them were gone. One by one, the other five Ahis trudged through the darkness, into oblivion, until Lex could now speak to his friend without lowering his voice.

"Well, I just hope you realize now that I owe you," he said to Tina.

"You don't owe me, Lex."

"I do!" said Lex. "Because if you hadn't warned me about this tonight, I would have been blindsided. If you hadn't tipped me off about this attack, it would have been nasty."

"Well I just told you what I knew," Tina shrugged.

"You did," Lex nodded.

"But I didn't think it would end up being four-four," Tina admitted. "I really didn't think Vee was going to be a part of it. She'd said all along that she was up in the air."

"Well Vee chose wrong," said Lex, humorlessly, "And now, she's going to pay for it."

Lex didn't see it in the dark, of course, but Tina just smiled, a little deviously, when she heard this.

Mission accomplished.

Her biggest threat on this tribe, her biggest competition, Vecepia, was now directly in harm's way.

And that was good.

"Well I just wanted to come over and thank you," Lex finally concluded. "I wanted to thank you for everything that you did. And I know, I know, you say I don't have to..."

Lightning crashed one more time around them.

"... but you're a woman of honor, Tina, and I wanted you to know how much I appreciate it. I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart."

And there, in the dark, under a nighttime storm on Ni'ihau, Lex and Tina exchanged a big hug.

The two friends hugged in the dark.

They re-established their pact to the end.

And Lex let his ally know that if she needed anything now in this game, she just had to ask.

"Because I owe you," Lex said to her, one last time, "I owe you, Tina, and you know it. Because if you hadn't been here tonight, I would have been gone."

In the dark, with rain dripping down their faces, Lex and Tina now walked back to camp, as friends to the end.

Lex was going to look after Tina.

Tina was going to look after Lex.

Frank had just been replaced as Lex's most trusted ally in All-Star Survivor.

And John Carroll had now been demoted, and unceremoniously dropped, to the expendable fourth.







DAY 10






It wasn't even breakfast yet, and already Colleen was giving Boston Rob a piece of her mind. Already she was airing her grievances with the way things had gone down last night at Tribal Council.

At the moment, she currently had Rob cornered behind a tree, away from camp, as she let loose her frustration with the way he'd tossed her aside last night without a care in the world.

"We were supposed to go in as four! Rob! You promised me we were all going to go in and stick together!"

Colleen, of course, had felt incredibly betrayed with the way things had fallen apart with the vote against Lex last night. Because that wasn't the way it was supposed to have happened. Sue wasn't supposed to be gone today. Rob wasn't supposed to have betrayed her. Lex wasn't supposed to be now coming after her.

They were supposed to have gone in four-strong last night! They were supposed to have all stuck together! And the minute Rob had turned his back on her and left her for dead, well, that had more or less infuriated her.

"You screwed me, Rob!" Colleen now spat, with angry and wounded tears in her eyes. "You screwed me, and you left me all alone! Rob! Why? What were you thinking?!"

"I didn't screw you..." Rob started.

"You did! And now Lex is after me!"

"Look, Colleen," Rob said, earnestly. After all, he hadn't intended to backstab his little sidekick last night. He had just been trying to preserve their little threesome by avoiding the rock. In other words, Colleen hadn't been the intended victim of a screw job. She had more or less just been collateral damage. He had saved both Colleen and himself by avoiding that rock.

Of course, Colleen didn't quite see it that way, but it was the truth.

Rob hadn't gotten into this thing intending to screw her.

"If I had forced that second tie," Rob explained, "Do you know what would have happened?"

"You would have stuck by your word!"

"No!" Rob seemed genuinely hurt by Colleen's tone of voice. "If I had forced that tie, Colleen, then we would have all taken that rock. We would have all drawn from that bag. And we would have done it for what? For Sue?"

"We would have done it for all of us," said Colleen.

"Well I'm sorry," Rob was now sounding a little bit angry, too. "I wasn't gonna take a rock just so Sue could have her little pissing match with Lex. I'm sorry, Colleen, but I wasn't going to do it." He tried to smile down at her. "I mean, I liked Sue and all, but we can always take down Lex another day. It didn't have to happen last night."

"Well you could have at least told me you were going to switch," Colleen said.

"What does it matter?" Rob said. "And besides, Vee switched her vote too. And I don't see you yelling at her. So why are you picking on me today? What did I ever do to you?"

"You're the only one who promised me," Colleen was still not coerced by all this. She would still be quite happy to rip Rob's hair out by the roots today, if he gave her the chance. "You promised me a tie, Rob. And Vee didn't. So of course I'm going to be mad at you for leaving me for dead."

"Awww, come on," Rob put on his best please-forgive-me grin. The one that the girls usually bought. "The game's not over, Colleen. Just because we hit one little speed bump last night doesn't mean we need to pack up and go home."

"Of course it's over," said the still-skeptical Colleen. "How could it not be?"

"Well, first off, I have a plan..." Rob began.

"Shut up!" Colleen nearly yelled. "Rob, I'm tired of this crap with you and your plans. Do you know what Lex came up and said to me last night? Do you want to know what our leader, our very angry leader, pulled me aside just to say to me after the vote?"

"What?"

This information was news to Rob. He hadn't seen Lex and Colleen interact at all. In fact, he had assumed that Lex had just stewed in his anger for a while, then headed to bed.

"Lex pulled me aside right after we got back," Colleen explained. "I thought he'd be mad, but he wasn't. In fact he didn't seem like he was upset at all."

"No way. He had to be pissed."

"Of course he was!" Colleen interrupted. "He was mad, but he didn't want to show it. He just pulled me aside and gave me a lecture."

Colleen paused for a second, then started to recap the conversation.

"Lex said that he knew why I had done what I had done, and he understood. He said that he wouldn't hold my decision against me personally. But he also said that now that lines had been drawn in the sand, it would be sort of hard for us to undo. He said we could never go back at this particular time in the game."

"And he's right," nodded Rob.

"I know he is! Rob, you got me into this, and now Lex will never trust me again!"

"Don't worry," smiled Rob, "Remember? I said I got a plan..."

"NO MORE PLANS!" Colleen shook her head, frustrated. "Rob, that's enough. No more schemes. I want out. I want out of this stupid deal, and I want to go back on my own."

"But you'd be dead on your own," Rob warned.

"Well I'm dead with you!" she retorted. "So what's the difference?!"

Rob sighed.

He really did like working with Sarah a whole lot more sometimes.

"Look," he said, as he tried one last tactic, "So you say that Lex is coming after you. Right? But don't you think he'd be coming after me too? And Vee?" Rob smiled down at her. "You think you're the only one whose ass is in the hot seat with psycho dad Lex?"

"No," Colleen still looked sulky.

"I can easily get Lex to come after Vee, instead of you," Rob smirked. "Easily. Don't you realize that? Lex likes you a whole lot more than he'd ever like Vee."

"But I voted for him twice," Colleen argued.

"You think that matters?" Rob replied. "Look, Colleen. Voting for Lex twice, and voting for Lex once, really isn't all that different. Because he's a psychopath. Do you think Lex will really forget that Vee voted for him the first time as well?"

"No, but..."

But now Rob was on a bit of a roll.

"Lex never forgets," he continued. "You vote for him once, and you're marked. You're marked for life, Lex never forgets, and he'll come slit your throat."

Colleen just shrugged. This was somehow supposed to make her feel better? Psychopath Lex and cutting her throat?

"Fuck Vee," Rob now said. "I mean, seriously. You think Vee's off the hook just because she switched her vote the second time? You think that Lex will forget that she was responsible for that tie, just as much as me, you, or Sue?"

"You couldn't get Vee voted out," Colleen said softly. "No one can. She's untouchable."

"You want to bet?" Rob said, almost defiantly.

And there, with that one line, on the shore of Ahi beach, Colleen saw a small glimmer of hope appear in the clouds.

Vee.

There was still one more target for Lex, and it didn't necessarily have to be her.

Even though Colleen still hated Rob for what he had done, and even though she'd love to stand here and yell at him for an hour or two, deep down, she was relieved that he was as vicious a player as she's been warned repeatedly by the other players since day one. You see, Rob Mariano wasn't just a scoundrel out here. He was a mean and effective scoundrel. He was a Vee-hating, charismatic, valuable scoundrel.

And he was probably her only chance right now at making the merge.

"Look," Rob added, to drive the point home, "Lex won't get rid of me first. He needs me for the challenges."

Colleen, with tears still in her eyes, just nodded.

"And he won't get rid of you first," Rob continued, "Because I won't let him."

Colleen couldn't help it.

She giggled.

"So what say you just stick with me a little longer?" Rob asked. "Just stick by me for a couple more days, and I'll see if I can get this thing turned around, and save both our butts."

Colleen thought about it for a minute.

But she didn't have to.

Rob was her only option in this game at the moment. The only one.

And even though she was pissed, of course he'd had her at the proverbial "hello."

"Fine," she sighed. "One more plan. One more of the famous Mariano plans. The ones that don't ever go anywhere."

"Good choice," laughed Rob.

So then, right there on the beach, the two friends sat down to hatch a plan to turn Lex's revenge towards Vee instead of Colleen. They brainstormed a way to get the notorious Vecepia out of the game.

And Rob was excited.

Very excited.

Because he'd been looking forward to this particular task for a while.





^^





The Keko tribe (well, other than Mike) awoke about an hour later, and found themselves a happy little peaceful tribe of six.

Gone were the stresses of the previous nine days.

Gone were the conflicts, and the sense of panic about how they'd be able get back in this game.

No, after their first immunity challenge win, and the first trip by Ahi to the dreaded All-Star Tribal Council, the Kekos were feeling pretty darn good about themselves today. Because now they were back in the game. They had the momentum. They had the willpower. And, most importantly, they had finally gotten that monkey off their back with that first immunity win. The Kekos knew they now had the wobbling Ahis smack dab where they wanted them.

So they woke up alert.

And happy.

And ready.

Ready to go take it to Ahi and even the score.

"'Morning, Gretchen."

Gretchen Cordy heard the familiar voice as she yawned and stepped out of the shelter, and sure enough, there he was. Their early morning riser. Their crazy loner. Their deer-killing, blood-spattered hero.

Mike Skupin.

Mike had been the first one up, as usual, and like a few days before, had decided to go out and do some early morning hunting. And even though he hadn't actually tracked down a deer this morning, once again Mike had come back with some meat for the tribe. This time, it was in the form of four fairly large black crabs, which he had plucked out from under a rock somewhere, and were now boiling in a steaming pot of water.

"Breakfast is on," Mike smiled at his alpha counterpart.

"Oh Mike, that's awesome," said Gretchen, as she rubbed her eyes in disbelief. Four crabs? Already, the mom in her was divvying up the portions in her head. That sure was going to be a lot of meat to start off the day.

"Hey," smiled Mike, "Anything for my tribe. You guys deserve the best."

Even though she wasn't know for things like public displays of affection, or moments of weakness in the game of Survivor, Gretchen, for a moment, just couldn't help it. She had to go hug him. So that's what she did. In a move completely unprecedented for the den mother of Keko, Gretchen Cordy walked over to her favorite food provider and she hugged him. She hugged a stunned Mike Skupin right there on the beach.

And Mike, for his part, was caught off guard and a little bit stunned.

"Wha... what was that for?" he said, as he embraced Gretchen in a one-armed hug.

Gretchen pulled back, and just smiled at him.

She couldn't help it.

Mike's earnestness, and childlike desire to please them, just made her love the guy sometimes.

"That was a thank you," she finally said, "For being the one person besides me who thinks of the tribe."

Apparently, Mike and Gretchen had come a long way as teammates and allies out here. Because this was a long way away from their first day of trading leader snipes back on the beach.

"Hey, you two," said Alicia, as she came walking over to greet them. "No hugging allowed. Otherwise Richard's gonna get some ideas and we'll all be creeped out."

"'Morning, Alicia," smiled Mike.

"I was just thanking Mike for what he caught for breakfast," Gretchen beamed. "Did you see?"

"Oh God," moaned Alicia, "Not Bambi again."

"Nope. Better." smiled Mike.

Alicia looked into the pot and saw the four crabs boiling, and starting to cook. And even though she wasn't a squealer, Alicia couldn't help from opening her mouth and letting out a sound of surprise.

"Mike," she said, in awed reverence, "You just rocked Richard's little world. Do you know that?"

Mike said nothing. He just let out his little Mike-giggle.

"Richard's got a spear full of fish back there," Alicia pointed behind her. "I passed him when I was coming up to the beach. And he was walking up here all cocky, like he was gonna make everyone's day and fry up some breakfast."

And right there, in Alicia's description, Gretchen realized why she had unexpectedly hugged Mike today.

When Richard went out and caught fish, he acted like he wanted some sort of a prize for it. When Richard returned with food, he came back and acted like they owed him a favor.

But when Mike caught food, there was none of that pretext or entitlement. When Mike came back with something to eat, he just dumped it in a pan and smiled.

There was a big difference between the way Mike fed the tribe, and the way that Richard fed the tribe.

When Mike fed the tribe, you could tell, deep down, that he did it for them.

"Well Richard's gonna have a lonely time eating alone," Gretchen joked. "I hope he doesn't mind if we cook his fish last."

"Gretchen!" Alicia scolded.

"Hey," shrugged their leader. "What can I say? It's a rough game. Survival of the fittest."

"Wow," said an impressed Mike, "Now look at who's the most cutthroat one here. Gretchen Cordy, have you been hiding this from us all along?"

Alicia just laughed.

And Gretchen, for an awkward, queer little moment, just stared at her.

"You guys don't think I'm here to play this game," she finally smiled. "You guys just think I'm just some big joke who'll be gone at the merge." She cocked a curious eyebrow at Mike. "I'm right about that, aren't I? You both think I have no interest whatsoever in playing this game."

Mike and Alicia exchanged a look.

But neither of them said a word.

Well this conversation all of a sudden just got a heck of a lot more interesting.

Gretchen Cordy, talking strategy?

Since when?

"Oh, come on," Gretchen smiled. "You guys can admit it. You think I'm only here to be the mom. And you don't think I could ever win this game in a million years. Is that right?" She turned to face Mike. "Is it?"

"Well, sort of..." Mike admitted, sheepishly. How was he supposed to have answered that?

"Well, you're wrong," said Gretchen.

"Wrong about what?" asked Alicia.

"Wrong about everything," said Gretchen. "Look, just because I want the tribe to be strong now doesn't mean that will always be the case. Do you really think I'm that obtuse? Haven't you realized that at a certain point in this game, my strategy might actually change?"

Mike paused and looked at Alicia for a moment, as the two allies silently debated how serious this conversation was going to get. Should they really play this card with Gretchen, and see where it goes? Did they really wanted to give the queen of the non-alliances full disclosure, and let her in on the existence of the Australian Alliance?

Mike shrugged.

And Alicia shrugged.

If now wasn't the perfect time for this, then what was?

"Okay, fine," Mike said, under his breath. "You want to talk about the game after the merge? Let's go for it." He looked at Alicia one more time, then he continued. "There's a three person alliance on this tribe, Gretchen. Do you know about it?"

"Of course," Gretchen nodded. "You, Alicia, and Colby. The Australians."

And there it was.

Bam.

Gretchen wasn't as oblivious about strategy as they'd all been led to believe.

"You knew about it all along?" Alicia asked, surprised.

"Well yes, and no," Gretchen confessed. "I mean, I knew you three called the shots. But it was too early to let it dwell on my mind. I mean, seriously, if we aren't strong as a tribe early on, who cares? Who cares what the alliances are if we merge undermanned? Right?"

"True," Mike nodded.

"So yes I knew about you guys," Gretchen smiled, slyly. "But I thought it was too early to dwell on such crap."

Alicia and Mike exchanged another look.

Man, they sure wished Colby was here for this chat.

"Well then right now, let me ask you something," Mike said, slowly, as he gave Alicia a chance to cut him off if he said the wrong thing, "What if we offered you a chance to be our fourth? What if we said we wanted you to go in strong to the merge, and work with us all the way to the end?"

"No Richard," added Alicia, "No Kathy."

"Just us four," said Mike.

And there was the deal.

The deal that the Australian Trio had been waiting, and dying to make.

Bring in Gretchen when she was ready.

Bring in Gretchen when she decided the time was perfectly right.

After all, in the minds of the three Australians, Gretchen Cordy was the perfect ally for the end of this game. She was bright. She was loyal. She was resourceful. And best of all, she wasn't cutthroat in the slightest. They knew that once Gretchen was on board, she would stick by them until the end. Or, at least, until they decided they would no longer need her. After all, there was no way that Gretchen would ever be allowed to win this game. And that was the key.

Gretchen would only be allowed to get as far as Colby, Mike, and Alicia would allow.

"Can I think about it?" Gretchen asked, quietly.

Alliances were still not her bag at all. But it's not like she didn't know they were a necessary evil out here. She didn't like it, but she'd played before, and she knew how to play. After all, just because she'd been a Pagong once didn't mean she'd be a Pagong for the rest of her life.

"What's to think about?" Mike asked. "We're halfway to the merge, Gretchen. If you don't start thinking about yourself soon, you'll get swallowed up."

"Besides, Richard's going home next either with or without you," Alicia added. "So just ask yourself. Do you want to be next after that? If Keko goes to Tribal Council again after Richard, do you want it to be you, or Kathy? Easy choice, right?"

"Well, of course," Gretchen nodded.

But then she quickly shushed them.

She wanted to continue this, but now they had company.

Because Richard was here.

And this was a very bad time to finish this chat.

"Look what daddy caught for breakfast!" said Richard, as he held a spearful of fish proudly aloft in the air. "Who wants some of Richie's seafood today?"

He was met with silence.

Dead silence.

Mike, Gretchen, and Alicia just stared at the ground and said nothing.

And Richard's radar was instinctively triggered.

He already knew he was on very thin ice with the Kekos.

After all, he would have had to have been an idiot not to catch the snide mocking that went on around him. He wasn't dumb.

But until this moment, until this awkward silence, this ignoral of his bounty of fish, he hadn't realized just how obsolete he was on this tribe.

The moment was quick. The moment was subtle. And most people wouldn't have caught the slight shift in energy for even a second.

But Richard caught it.

And he knew right away that something had to be done.





^^




A few important things had happened in the last few minutes at Keko.

And a few more important things were about to take place, in response.

The first response came from Alicia Calaway. Because as she walked down to the beach to go talk to Kathy, she knew a pivotal conversation was about to take place. After all, it's not every day that Gretchen comes out and tells you she's ready to play.

"Gretchen is in," Alicia finally said, as she reached Kathy, out of breath, and winded. "Gretchen is in. And if you're still up for the chick thing, the time to act is right now."

"What?" Kathy had been walking alone on the reef, picking up shells, and looking for food. In fact she hadn't even seen Alicia carefully walking down over lava rock just to get down here. But Alicia was all of a sudden here, and Alicia was going on about something Kathy couldn't quite catch. So she asked Alicia to repeat it. Just to be sure.

"Gretchen," Alicia panted, still out of breath from bounding down the sharp, pointy rocks, "She's in. She's ready to play. She just told me and Mike that she's ready to play."

"Really?"

Lights started going off in Kathy's head.

Fireworks started exploding in her strategist's mind.

Because if Gretchen was ready to play...

And if Alicia was telling Kathy first...

Well that meant that Alicia was ready to turn on the Australians and go with the girls!

"You know what this means?" asked Kathy. "Right?"

"It means that we have to get to Gretchen first," Alicia nodded. "Before Colby does. Or before anybody does."

Kathy had anticipated a lot more hesitation from Alicia over this issue. Quite frankly, she had expected a bit of a fight. But all of a sudden, now Alicia was a lot more gung ho over this issue than she liked to let on. All of a sudden, it seemed like Alicia was having some major second thoughts about competing with Mike and Colby after the merge.

"Well then, let's go talk to her," smiled Kathy.

Alicia just nodded.

It was time to turn the power on Keko in a different direction.




^^




So Kathy and Alicia went on a two-women power crusade to snag Gretchen. Meanwhile, further north by the campsite, Richard Hatch had come back to Colby, with a similar plea of his own. Because the minute Richard realized that he was being ignored on this tribe, and the minute he realized he had probably lost his place as food provider, he knew it was time for one final chat with the cowboy, and one last attempt to get him to step up and play ball.

So Richard cornered Colby behind the Keko campsite.

And there, the two men engaged in an important conversation that would be the key to this game for them both.

"Hey, Colby. Care to talk for a minute?"

Colby, who had been surveying the local forest for some edible fauna, turned his shoulders and saw Richard's unmistakable form, hands on his hips. And from the look on his face and the tone of his voice, Colby could tell what Richard wanted before he even had to say another word.

After all, it had been a few days since Richard had proposed an alliance between the three remaining Keko men.

The strength of Keko, Richard had pointed out, was being targeted. And the only way to ensure their survival was to unite.

Besides, Richard couldn't resist pointing out on a seemingly daily basis, it was no secret that the three women were going to unite at some point. That was just what women did in Survivor. They team up for no reason, and they all work as a group. The women team up against the men, the men always walk right into the trap, and Richard told Colby he was a fool and an idiot if he didn't foresee this.

So Richard had laid the groundwork for an alliance, a few short days ago. An alliance with Colby and Mike.

And now he was back.

To see if the interest Colby had shown at the time was really interest at all.

Colby Donaldson, for his part, actually had been hemming and hawing over this issue for the past 48 hours. Oh he hadn't wanted Richard to actually believe that. He hadn't wanted Richard to start getting cocky out here if he could possibly help it. But Colby had definitely been considering it. Sure, of course he had. Colby had been mulling this very topic nearly non-stop for the past two days.

Did he want to stick with the Australians, or did he want to make a power grab and go with the guys?

And more importantly, did he want any part of an alliance with Richard at all?

That was the question.

"Oh, hey Richard," the handsome young Texan nodded his head. "Sure, we can talk."

Richard smiled and approached the man he'd had a crush on from the very first minute he'd seen him on TV. And Colby nodded solemnly, at the man who very well may be the key to winning this game.

Richard approached Colby

Colby prepared to deal with Richard.

And Colby sent shockwaves through every member of the production crew when he told Richard, "Let's do it. Game on."




^^




Day ten was rapidly becoming the most important day of the game for the players at Keko. And most of them didn't even know it yet. Because all of a sudden, the more stable tribe, the Kekos, were suddenly becoming the tribe of schemers.

Alicia was turning on the Australians and going with Kathy's plan.

Colby had given Richard a handshake deal that his time with the Australians was done.

All of a sudden, the most powerful alliance in the game, the Australian threesome, was being torn apart right before the producers' own eyes. All it had taken was a nudge from Kathy, a plan from Richard, and a chat with Gretchen. You mix those three things together, in that order, and the Australians were done.

But it shouldn't have surprised anybody. After all, this was a dead day. A challengeless day.

These were just the sort of things that happened on nice long dead days in Survivor.

But on the flip side, chaos was not the recipe across the island today at Camp Ahi.

Because for the first time all game, the Kekos and Ahis had apparently switched roles.

While chaos and grabs for power were currently the order of the day over at Keko, today the situation at Ahi was relatively stable. And of course, why wouldn't it be? After all, hadn't Lex and his alliance entrenched themselves firmly in power last night? Hadn't they won the momentous power grab and defeated Sue and her upstart troublemakers once and for all?

Weren't Lex and his stable foursome now solidly at the top of the pack?

As Lex sat down to give an afternoon interview with one of the producers, it was apparent to everybody on the production crew that yes, Lex did now have control of the tribe. And he also finally had a chance to relax. For perhaps the first time since the Ahis had arrived here in Hawaii, Lex was no longer a target, he had allies around him he could trust, and he was now finally able to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

For the first time all game, Lex was happy and content about things.

The sense of being hunted and pursued was finally now a thing of the past.

Lex chatted with a producer for about half an hour, just shooting the breeze, then wrapped up his daily interview and thanked the crew for their time. Because the relaxing was officially over. Now it was time to get back to work. It was time to get back to the game. The game that, finally, for the first time in Hawaii, was about to be fun.

So Lex stood up and stretched.

And turned around.

And there was somebody waiting to talk to him.

He'd been waiting patiently for Lex's interview to come to an end.

"Hey Lex," said Boston Rob, "You wanna have a little chat?"

Lex just smirked inwardly at the sight of his rival standing here to do a little butt-kissing. Because that's all this was going to be. Rob was coming here to apologize for voting with Sue last night, but he wasn't going to quote-unquote apologize, he was just going to kiss ass. Because that was the way that Rob worked. He never groveled. He just cajoled. Rob told you what you wanted to hear, and he did it with reverence.

Lex knew this about Rob and, by this point, he knew it very well.

So he knew what to expect before it happened. And he sighed.

"Yeah, sure, Rob," he nodded. "What's up?"

"Well, I just wanted to talk to you about last night..."

As the butt-kissing ensued, it was evident from Rob's tone of voice that he expected Lex to be furious today. Rob had come over here apparently expecting Lex to just fly off the handle, and start screaming and ranting like a wild maniacal lunatic. That was the response that Rob had expected. But Lex hadn't taken that tone at all.

And Rob was surprised.

Lex was just standing here right now, nodding and empathizing, and listening to everything Rob said. And it was weird. In fact, this was so unlike the old vengeful Lex that Rob almost didn't know who he was dealing with. Lex was being so calm about this today. It was bizarre. Why, it was almost as if Lex wasn't mad about last night's failed coup d'etat in the slightest!

"You know," Rob finally admitted, as the conversation drew itself to an end, "I didn't expect you to be so calm about this, Lex. In fact I sorta expected you to go on today about cuttin' me and Vecepia's throats."

Lex just laughed.

"Well you know I probably would have," he confessed, "But I've changed a lot since Africa, Rob. You know that. I didn't like the guy I became the last time around. He was ugly."

Rob nodded.

"Am I angry?" Lex continued, "Am I just filled with rage that people would dare conspire against me? Of course not. You just did what you had to do. You and Vecepia and Colleen. I can't say I liked it, but all you did was try to get a foothold at the top of the tribe. And I can respect that."

Rob continued nodding.

But deep down he was a little bit confused by all of this.

Who was this new Lex he was dealing with?

And what sort of medication did the production crew feed him at the start of the game?

"There's no ill will between us," Lex said, as he stuck out his hand. "Look, we're still teammates, Rob. I don't think we'll be a final two alliance anytime soon, but you're not going home next. So no hard feelings about it. Okay?"

Lex had extended his hand, as an offer to shake.

And even though Rob still had no idea what the hell was going on, he decided to take Lex's olive branch of peace.

So he shook.

Rob formally made up with the unusually-gregarious Lex, and then he walked back to camp, still shaking his head.

That was weird.

Rob had come here expecting a spanking, and instead he'd just got a pat on the back from dad. A very proud dad. And even though Rob was heartened that his game hadn't come to a sudden end, at the same time this was almost worst than if it had actually had.

Dealing with a vengeful Lex was one thing.

It was a variable you might not like, but at least it was one that you knew.

But dealing with a forgiving Lex? One who didn't take offense when you wrote down his name?

Well that was an entirely new variable altogether. And even though it was a nicer and kinder variable, it was still one you'd never dealt with before.

And Rob wasn't sure he liked that.

He wasn't sure if he liked that at all.

You see, Lex van den Berghe had been through this before. He had been through an angry game of Survivor. He had been through repeated overthrow attempts, and backstabbing snakes, and weasels. He had been there. He had done this.

But there was a difference this time around.

This time around, as Lex had mentioned to Rob, he wasn't going to fly off the handle at the slightest little thing not going his way. Lex had done that last time. He had done it in Africa. And he really hadn't liked what it had done to him. Just like he'd said. That was the truth.

No, Lex van den Berghe was a smart man who learned from his mistakes.

He had learned what could happen when you lost your cool and came looking for revenge at the slightest hint or whiff of betrayal.

He had seen what happens when you vote with your gut, and fly off the handle at the drop of a hat.

Lex had been through all this before, and he was determined not to make the same snap decisions this time around.

As Rob had just found out, beating Lex in Hawaii was going to be a bit more of a challenge.

Because Lex van den Berghe was a man who learned from his mistakes of the past.




^^




Of course, Rob wasn't the only Ahi who went looking for forgiveness this afternoon.

Colleen also came crawling to the powers-that-be with her tail lodged firmly between her legs.

Only she had been a little too terrified to go deal directly with Lex. Instead, she had come to talk to Tina. Because, in Colleen's childlike mind, sometimes when dad's really mad at you, the reassurance of mom is the only thing that can soothe your soul.

So Colleen avoided Lex like the plague today, and came to talk to Tina instead.

She figured, if nothing else, maybe Tina could say something to reassure her that things weren't as bad as they looked.

"I really don't know what I can tell you," Tina finally said to her youngest tribesmate, after about ten minutes of small talk by the beach, "You tried to take out Lex and it failed. And there's nothing I can do that will really negate that." She looked down at Colleen with a look of motherly pity. "I'm sorry, but what all do you really think I can do about it?"

"Can you talk to Lex?" Colleen asked meekly.

"And say what?" asked Tina. "Should I tell him, 'Sorry, but Colleen really didn't mean it? Sorry, but Colleen says she wants to be part of your four?'"

"I don't know..." Colleen really didn't know what her argument was supposed to be. All she knew was that Tina was in tight with Lex, and that Tina was known for helping 'the nice players' get far in the game. Tina was known as sort of the Robin Hood of Survivor by this point. And Colleen knew that if someone could help her, well, Tina was it.

And of course, Tina, for her part, really did like Colleen.

In fact she liked her a lot.

But she was far too strategic in her thinking to just take in Colleen as a charity case. No way. Because as much as she liked Colleen, and as much as she considered her a sweet little thing, there was no way a player as crafty as Tina Wesson would lay down her cards to protect such a weak player, just for the sake of dragging her along.

Tina definitely liked Colleen, but she certainly wasn't going to let "like" influence the way she played this game.

Because Tina was her to win the million dollars just as much, if not more, than anyone.

So Tina offered Colleen heartfelt condolences.

And she gave her a hug.

But she certainly didn't make any promises.

Tina Wesson was a woman who had great empathy for nearly every living thing on the face of the earth.

But in the game of Survivor, she knew that Colleen, and Rob, and Vecepia, probably in that order, were essentially dead.




^^





As day turned to night, and another dreaded "dead day" came to a close in Hawaii, the Ahi tribe settled down and relaxed in their now-defined roles.

Lex, Tina, Frank and John held the power.

Rob, Vecepia and Colleen did not.

And things were so defined by this point that it was almost as if strategy had ceased to exist.

Nobody had really tried to strategize today.

All the "losing three" had done was butt-kissing and lots of apologies.

Rob had asked forgiveness from Lex.

Colleen had pleaded for mercy from Tina.

And Vecepia... wily Vecepia... had joked and laughed with everyone as if nothing had happened.

But now the Ahi seven gathered around the campfire, and sat and ate dinner for the first time all game. Because that's really what this was. This was the first time all game that the power structure had been defined on the Ahi tribe, and the first time all game that the powers-that-be had a chance to interact with the powers-that-weren't.

Of course, Lex, Tina, John, and Frank all got a little more conversation time than the rest.

But that's just the way it is in the pack.

The alpha dogs gets first crack at the food, and then the beta dogs are allowed to swoop in and snag the leftovers that the bigger dogs left.

So Lex, Tina, John, and Frank sat around and joked.

And talked.

And were happy.

And why wouldn't they be happy? After all, they were the winners. They were the chosen ones. They were the four who had won the showdown, and would now all be here at least to the merge, if not further. The chosen four would have no stress in this game for the next week or so, and that was such a liberating feeling that of course they were going to celebrate.

So Lex, Tina, Frank and John sat around and they chatted.

And they chatted.

They chatted with, and around, a very morose looking Colleen, a very frustrated and confused Rob, and a very quiet and unpredictable Vecepia.

And by the end of the night, only one thing was clear.

Sure, the Ahi four were now set in stone, and were now in cruise control until the end of this game. And sure they were now in complete control of the voting bloc, and could now do what they pleased.

But by the end of the chat, by the end of the night, one of them realized something he hadn't known just an hour ago.

John Caroll suddenly realized that Tina had taken his place as Lex's number two ally.

And John, as one might expect, was a little upset.

DAY 11





John Carroll was certainly not a stupid man. In fact, he happened to be extraordinarily perceptive. So when he saw Tina and Lex emerge from the woods, after an hour-long hike to go check treemail, he knew what was up.

I've been replaced.

Without so much as a warning, John's position on this tribe had all of a sudden gotten a lot less prestigious, thanks to Tina and her Lex-saving loyalty two nights ago at Tribal Council.

Tina had saved Lex when his neck was in the noose.

Tina had suddenly become Lex's aide-de-camp and trusted herald in the game of Survivor.

And the one player who used to be there, poor John, was now left in the dust.

John Carroll had meant to have a chat with his friend Lex about this latest turn of events, but since this new development had revealed itself so late in the evening last night, so far he really hadn't had much of a chance. John hadn't found a moment this morning where Lex hadn't been strategizing with Frank, or walking and chatting with Tina. So far, Lex had been accounted for every single minute of the past twenty-four hours. The servants and minions hadn't left their king alone.

And now John was getting a little bit worried.

That maybe, just maybe, he'd been forgotten and left out of the loop.

John still intended to go have a chat with Lex about this. You know, just an honest man-to-man, heart to heart about where things were headed.

But that chat would have to come later. After the challenge.

Because Tina and Lex were back with treemail.

It was time to go play for reward.





^^





Today's reward challenge was called "Forest Rescue." And it was similar to one that Colby, et al. had done once before in Australia.

Each tribe would have three designated "victims," who would be stranded out in the rainforest and would need to be rescued.

On Jeff's "go", the Ahis and the Kekos would send three people out with a homemade travois (stretcher). These people would have to locate their designated victims, bring them back to the starting line, one by one, and then go out and repeat the process until all three victims had been rescued. It was a very simple challenge, very easy in its design, and success would almost solely rest on which tribe could work the best together under pressure and stress.

It would also, of course, depend on the travois that each tribe had constructed ahead of time.

And Keko's stretcher was far and away the best of the two.

Keko, who had been led by the excellent survival knowledge of Gretchen Cordy, had constructed a near-perfect travois out of bamboo, homemade rope, and palm ties. It had been designed to take a lot of wear and tear from the ravages of the jungle, and it could even carry a man as large as Richard Hatch, if it was absolutely necessary. Gretchen's finished product was just about as perfect as perfect could be, and the Kekos presented it to Jeff proudly as they stood on their mat.

On the other mat, Ahi's travois, while not perfect, would still be perfectly serviceable when put to the test. It had been constructed by Lex and Frank out of bamboo and palm fronds. And as long as someone small was on top, like Colleen, it would work like a dream.

The Kekos and Ahis now stood before Jeff, with their respective travois creations.

And Richard was the first Keko member to notice that Susan was gone.

"Susie Q," Richard said, almost admonishingly, under his breath. "They got rid of Susie."

"What?" said Colby, turning his head.

"They got rid of Susie," Richard nodded in the direction of the Ahi mat. "Check it out."

Colby turned, and looked.

Then he turned and reported it to Mike.

Soon the Kekos were gossiping and whispering in a group as to why they thought Sue had been picked.

"Are you guys interested in what you're playing for?" asked Jeff, once the Keko gossip machine had finally died down. "Keko, you guys interesting in knowing the reward?"

They were.

"You're playing for this crate," explained Jeff, as he moved aside to show them. Then he reached down to open it up. "Inside you'll find two large blankets, one large canister of extra rice, and for the winning tribe..."

He pulled out the coup de grace.

"... A twenty-four pack of ice cold, delicious beer."

Okay, now this was serious. Beer? Here in scorchingly hot humid Hawaii? Hell, for the past ten days they'd been living off river and spring water from the Ni'ihau rain forest. And boiled or not, it was nothing compared to the taste of an ice cold beer on a hot summer day.

Keko really wanted that beer.

Ahi really wanted that beer too.

And with the competitiveness now amped up to the highest degree, things were ready to go.

Jeff looked over at the starting three for either tribe. Mike, Richard, and Colby had been selected to carry the travois for Keko, while Lex, Rob, and Frank were designated as the travois bearers for the just-as-determined Ahis. It would be the men battling the men, in a head-to-head challenge for beer.

Off to the side stood Vecepia, who, as the extraneous seventh member of Ahi, had volunteered to sit out the challenge.

"Survivors ready!" announced Jeff.

To his right, the three Keko men lined up with their travois, while the three Ahi men lined up on his left.

"Set!"

Tension burned in the air.

Six victims awaited rescue out there in the forest.

"GO!!!!!!"

Keko burst out of the starting gate, strong. Meanwhile, Lex slipped in the sand with his very first step for the Ahis. The Ahi travois crashed down to the ground, the Kekos pulled ahead into the lead, and they made a beeline for Alicia (the first victim) with fire in their eyes and their hearts.

"Keko is in the lead!" Jeff announced, as the Ahis made a furious run to catch up. Lex, now angry with himself, tried to lead them as best as he could, but the Ahis were just a little bit slower than the Colby-Mike duo over on Keko. So it was no surprise at all when Keko rescued Alicia first, then started the arduous process of bringing her back.

"Let's go!" screamed Lex, out of frustration more than anything, as he implored his orange Ahis towards John, their first victim. And soon enough, Ahi had reached him. They loaded John onto their stretcher. They turned around and raced as fast as they could back towards the starting line. And they were heartened to see that Keko was struggling to get over a rock with Alicia on board.

"Keko is still in the lead!" Jeff announced, "But Ahi is catching up! Ahi is right behind!"

The Kekos finally got Alicia back to the starting line.

And Ahi followed, just seconds behind, and unloaded John.

Now each tribe had four travois carriers.

And they headed towards Kathy and Tina, respectively, as fast as their tired legs would allow.

Even though the Ahis had made significant progress in closing the gap, once they headed out for Tina, they started to wane. It wasn't that they were a weaker tribe than the Kekos. It was just that they weren't getting as much food, and thus had a lot less workable energy. Ahi was all of a sudden feeling the effects of fatigue and malnourishment. And Lex could only watch, with dismay, as Colby and the Kekos started pulling ahead.

"Let's go!!" implored Lex.

But it wasn't much use.

With Alicia's brawn now added to the power of Colby-Mike-Richard, the Kekos now opened up a sizable lead. They marched over volcano rock. They crashed through sugarcane brush. And they reached Kathy, their next victim, well ahead of Ahi. And they knew that victory was now inevitably theirs.

"Great job, Keko!" cheered Mike, as the victors loaded Kathy onto their travois.

Smiling from ear to ear, the Kekos transported Kathy effortlessly back to the starting line, and then turned around and headed for Gretchen. She was their last victim, the Ahis hadn't even reached Tina yet, and that meant that Keko was going to win that beer, and in dominant fashion.

"Come on, Ahi!" pleaded Vecepia from the sidelines. But it was no use. In fact, she couldn't even bear to watch. Vee just turned her head, and looked away, as the Kekos marched out to Gretchen, the last of their victims.

"Keko is about to win!" announced Jeff.

And sure enough, they were.

Keko brought Gretchen back at approximately the same time that Ahi brought back Tina.

Keko won the challenge by a full victim ahead of their weaker opponents.

And they burst into raucous celebration once they found out they had rice and a full case of beer.

"Keko! Wins reward!"

Colby dropped the travois (with Gretchen still on it) and immediately embraced Alicia in a big, happy hug. Mike did the same with Kathy. Richard helped a battered Gretchen off the sand, then slapped her on the back and roared with delight.

Keko had just stomped Ahi yet again, for the best reward that had been offered in All-Star Survivor.

And the humiliated Ahis could only look on, quite jealously, as their Keko rivals reveled in their dominance once again.




^^




Back at camp, it was all smiles for the kings of Hawaii, the now-dominant Kekos. After all, they had creamed Ahi yet again. They had marched in, kicked their asses, taken names, and walked off with their beer. Not bad for a day's work.

The Kekos were finally starting to live up to their potential as "the tribe to beat all tribes" in All-Star Survivor.

As they had expected.

It looked like Ethan's prophetic warning... "Vote me out, and watch what happens"... was now destined to go down as a glorious flop.

"Here's to Keko," said Kathy, as she raised her beer back at camp in a toast.

"To Keko," agreed Colby.

"Nice job, guys," agreed Mike.

And then they all drank.

As a team.

One for all.

As the Kekos sat there and enjoyed the company of living with champions, a calm peacefulness descended upon their fire circle as the sun began to set. Nobody said much more than the usual small talk. They were perfectly content to just sit there, sip their beer, and enjoy the ever-so-slight reliable buzz. After all, Survivor was never as fun as after a challenge, when you could bask in the reward you earned through hard work.

So that's what the Kekos did.

They just sat here, and shared stories, and relaxed in their win.

Kathy entertained the tribe with the story of how she had downed beers with Boston Rob back on Soliantu. She recalled how she had been so overwhelmed by "this young buck" that she hadn't known how to react to the fact that he was scheming and horribly drunk.

Colby shared the story of his island date with Jerri in Australia, and how he had purposefully stayed away from the alcohol that night, for fear that he'd lose a little control, and do something he knew he'd regret.

"All I'll say about that," he laughed, "Is that it's a hell of a lot better drinking with you fine people tonight."

Kathy shared stories. Colby shared stories. Heck, even Richard shared stories. He shared the story of how Greg Buis had gotten a little tipsy back in Borneo the night of the merge. Greg, visibly sloshed, had flirted with Richard for about two hours, almost unconsciously, and then had fallen asleep curled at his feet.

"Did you do anything with him" Alicia teased him.

Richard said nothing.

"Come on, Hatch!" Colby prodded. "Spill it!"

"Oh yeah, like I'd tell you guys," Richard bantered back. "Fat chance."

"Did Greg have trouble walking the next day?" teased Alicia.

"Alicia!" scolded Gretchen. She wasn't quite ready to be hearing talk like this about her favorite son. Not about Greg. After all, she was a preschool teacher in real life. And she was very motherly about her favorites. This was a fact that people sometimes forgot.

"Don't worry," said Richard, "I was a perfect gentleman."

"Yeah, whatever," laughed Kathy. "Since when?"

The Keko tribe just sat around and bantered like this for most of the evening. After all, what did they have to worry about? The Ahis were on the ropes right now, despite their numerical lead, and were seemingly poised to remain that way for the rest of the game. All Keko had to do was keep twisting the knot a little tighter, challenge after challenge after challenge, and eventually Lex, or someone equally volatile, was likely to snap.

All Keko had to do was keep winning.

Just keep pouring on the pressure.

Because at the moment, they felt like they might very well never lose another challenge again.




^^




Back at Ahi, an angry Lex van den Berghe was sick and tired after losing his third challenge to the Kekos in a row. Ahi had just been trounced for the third straight time, they were on the cusp of losing the numerical majority they'd held for more than a week, and for Lex, a fiery competitor, this was just too depressing and too demoralizing to be able to handle.

So Lex was angry. But rather than rant and rave about it, as he might have done in the past, he decided to remove himself from the campsite and camplife for a while instead. After all, he had learned a few things about himself from back in Africa. One of them was, "When you're angry, just stay away from people for a while and don't do something dumb like lose your cool."

So the minute the Ahis had returned to camp, Lex had politely excused himself and gone for a walk.

He walked behind the camp, down a trail, and into the Hawaiian rainforest.

Where the only sound around him was the chirping and the croaking of the animals of Ni'ihau at dusk.

Lex walked along the lonely dark path by himself for a good twenty minutes, just trying to gather his thoughts. And trying to get himself back in the zen. There was nobody else out here. It was just Lex and the rainforest, out here in nature, alone with his thoughts. Because this was where Lex came when he was trying to think.

Where he could be alone.

Where thoughts of losing, and betrayal, and rats and snakes and backstabbing, just ceased to exist.

After about half an hour of blissful, re-energizing solitude, Lex finally heard a second person come walking down the path in his direction. And Lex smiled.

His allies were worried about him.

They were coming to see if he was okay.

One of them... either John, or Tina, or Frank... was coming out to check on him, and make sure Lex wasn't in a bad way or in some kind of funk. Because they all knew him very well by this point. After all, the Ahi foursome was a very tight group. They all knew that if Lex was off walking by himself, it meant he was worried about something. And it meant he was thinking.

So they'd generally wait a respectful amount of time, leave him alone with his thoughts, and then come out and check on their friend.

Lex was not surprised at all when this time it was Frank who stepped out of the trees.

Frank, his loyal and capable soldier friend.

Who held two sliced papayas, one for Frank, and one for Lex, in his hands.

"You okay?" Frank asked. "You've been out here a long time, you know?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lex said, "Don't worry, I was just thinking."

Frank nodded, in acknowledgement.

"Plus I was pissed that we lost another challenge," added Lex.

Frank nodded again.

Then he handed one of the papayas to Lex.

"So what's the mood back at camp?" said Lex, curiously, as he greedily bit into the tasty yellowish fruit. "Are people upset? Does it seem like anybody's down in the dumps?"

"Colleen is giving up," Frank reported. "Or at least, it seems so. But Rob and Vecepia are still everyone's best friend."

Lex just laughed.

"Has Rob been approaching anybody today?" he asked, curiously. "I've been watching him, but I haven't seen him do anything out in the open. So if he is doing something, I imagine he's being super careful about it."

"Well I haven't seen him do anything," Frank shrugged. "Besides, who would he talk to? Tina? John? They aren't going to flip."

"Well I was a little worried about Tina before," Lex admitted. "You know that."

Frank nodded.

"But she's solid," Lex finally added, nodding. "She's in this to win."

"And that's why she's never going to flip," Frank affirmed.

Good.

A positive status report from Frank always made Lex feel a little better about things around camp. After all, Frank might not have been the most socially dexterous player around, but he certainly wasn't a liar. So if Frank said that things around camp were good, and there were no red flags from Rob or Vecepia at the moment, well that was good enough for Lex to accept as the truth.

Heartened by Frank's news, and energized by his time in the woods, Lex was ready to go back and rejoin the tribe for the rest of the night.

"Hey, thanks for the papaya," Lex said as they started walking back together. "Mahalo. That was great."

"No problem," said Frank, "That was from Tina."

"Figures."

They both laughed.

So the two men just walked, and they talked, on the way back to camp.

Lex had no idea that John was waiting for him, and was a little perturbed.




^^




John Carroll was quite cognizant of the pressures on a gay man on a show like Survivor. After all, he'd been a gay his entire life. And he knew full well how Survivor loved to portray people as stereotypes on TV.

And John was appalled by this.

So from minute one of his first day in Marquesas, John had made a concerted effort not to allow the editors to shoehorn him into a role. He had made it his mission to become a role model for players of his kind. He had told himself that no matter what happened in the game of Survivor, whether it be good or bad, he was going to make sure the editors always showed him as "John Carroll, the Survivor player." And not "John Carroll, the gay one." Above all else, he never wanted to be able to fit into a stereotyped role.

And, unfortunately, this stopic was all that was flashing through his head when he saw Lex emerge from the woods with the ever-so-trusted Frank.

Why was John so concerned about his role as the only homosexual on the Ahi tribe?

Well, because he was about to have a chat with Lex. An emotional, heart to heart chat. And John hated that the editors would now be able to portray him-- if they wanted to-- as the "jealous, bitter queen."

So John took a deep breath and he sighed.

His journey into being a CBS stereotype was about to begin.

"Hey Lex, can we have a talk?"

Lex heard John's request and he acknowledged it. He said something to Frank, and Frank nodded his head. Then Frank walked off into the distance.

Now John and Lex were alone, by the beach.

And John was already feeling bad about the way this would set back gay men on reality TV.

"What's up?" asked Lex.

"Lex, can you tell me," John asked, "If I still fit in this alliance?"

Uh oh.

Lex's eyes flashed panic at the tone of John's voice.

"What do you mean?" he asked, warily.

"I just mean, are we still tight?" John looked up at his taller friend as he asked this. "Is it still you and me to the final two, Lex? Is that still the plan?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" asked Lex.

"Well because I've seen you spending a lot of time with Tina," John said. "And I've seen you spending a lot of time with Frank. And I'm talking strategy time. Talking time. And if you'll excuse me, Lex, I start to get a little concerned when your number one ally, supposedly me, all of a sudden gets left in the dust."

"You didn't get left in the dust," Lex said, quite surprised by the entire nature of this conversation. "Where did this come from? Nothing's changed!"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Of course!"

John just looked at him, probingly.

And Lex was a little bit troubled that he couldn't identify that look.

"Look John," he explained, "Tina saved my ass at that last Tribal Council. Do you get that? She saved my ass."

"I know," John nodded.

"In fact, she saved all of our asses," Lex continued. "Because if I had been voted out, next it would have been you, and then it would have been Frank. In that order."

"So you owe her," John nodded, "Fine. I understand that."

"No, I don't owe her!" Lex corrected him. "I just need to let her think that she should be staying with us. Because you know as well as I do that she could jump anywhere if she thought she was expendable."

"Tina wouldn't jump," said John. "She hates Rob and Vecepia."

"No she doesn't," said Lex, shaking his head. "Trust me. I know things about Tina that you don't. She has some sort of gentleman's agreement with Vee, where they share info, no matter what. She also has a sweet spot for little Colleen." He looked down at John. "Tina has ties with everybody! Don't you realize that? She could potentially be very powerful. And if I don't treat her with kid gloves for the next few days, there's a very real chance she could find a deal with someone that's better than mine."

"So you don't owe her," John summarized.

"No, I don't," Lex put his hand on John's shoulder, hoping to calm this whole issue down. "Look, the only reason I need to be nice to Tina right now is that if I'm not, the numbers are still there if she wants to go back."

Lex wasn't entirely sure how true this really was, but for now that was all that John needed to know.

John didn't need to know that Lex now trusted Tina with his proverbial life.

"So then it's still you and me to the final two?" asked John.

He hated groveling like this, especially with the added pressure of being seen on camera as the "jealous gay guy". But John was paranoid too. Lex wasn't the only paranoid player around here. John would feel a whole lot better if he heard Lex confirm their final two status one last time, just for the record.

"It's you and me to the final two," Lex said honestly. "Same as it's always been."

John's shoulders slumped.

And he smiled.

And when Lex stuck out his hand, they shook, and their deal was affirmed.

"Sorry about that," John said meekly. He seemed almost embarrassed that they had just gone through that. "This is just a crazy game, you know? You see things and you hear things, and it messes with your head."

Lex just laughed.

"I know," he said. "Believe me. I know. In fact, if I had a dollar for every time I thought I was dead out here, I could retire in peace."

Relieved that he was still a solid member of Lex's alliance, John let down his guard for the first time all day, and laughed and joked around with his best Ahi friend.

Of course he wouldn't have been laughing if he knew who had just overheard this entire conversation.

Because Vecepia had been down by the beach, washing clothes.

And the minute she heard of a chip on John Carroll's shoulder about his place on this tribe, well, that meant the games were officially on.

^^

The Ahi tribe sat around the campfire later that night, just chatting about nothing. After all, this was what they did most nights. They started the day with the Morning Show, they ended the day with Small Talk, and this was where Vecepia decided to start the old game of "Puff Up The King."

You see, Vecepia Towery had a keen eye for weakness. In fact, that had always been one of her greatest strengths in the game of Survivor.

She watched the people around her.

She watched them a lot.

She watched them, she took notes, and the minute she saw a hole she could exploit, she pounced.

Most people hadn't yet picked up the delicate relationship between Lex and John-- two wanna-be alpha males who were both intelligent, moody, paranoid, and incredibly power-hungry-- but Vecepia had. In fact she had first noticed it a couple of days ago, way before anybody else.

She had figured out that John and Lex were almost the exact same player.

Oh they might not realize it, but that was only because things hadn't gotten stressful yet and throats hadn't needed to be cut. But Vecepia had already figured out that Lex and John couldn't possibly make it to the end game together because they were just way too impulsive and moody. One of them was bound to take out the other one, out of paranoia more than anything else.

Vecepia had figured this out a few days ago, but had done nothing but file away this info for later.

At least, until today, when she overheard John's jealous comments on the beach.

And she knew that the time to start the wheels of progress in motion had once again come.

"Guys," said Vecepia, once the small talk had died down to a lull, "I think it would helpful if we talked about Tribal Council the other night." She looked over at Tina and Lex. "I think it's best that we get everything out into the open. Because a few angry things were said towards the end of the night between Sue and Lex. And I think it would be good for us all if we sat down and discussed them."

Vecepia's request was met with silence.

"You guys don't agree?" she asked, cautiously.

"Well I think it's a good idea," Tina agreed. "I've always said that secrets are bad for a tribe."

Vecepia just smiled.

Nothing like the optimistic soccer mom to step up and take the bait.

Lex didn't say anything. He just looked up, wearily. He wasn't really in the mood to have a serious discussion right now. After all, hadn't he just had a fairly important one with John about two hours ago? Lex was sitting here just checking out at the moment. He was mentally preparing for tomorrow's challenge, and getting his game face on. He didn't want to talk about anything.

But Vecepia was ready.

In fact, Lex's participation really wasn't required at all.

"Tina, were you with Lex all along?" Vee asked, curiously. "Did you always intend to vote with him? Or did you just make up your mind at the last minute and voted for Sue?"

"Oh I was always with Lex," Tina answered, somewhat warily. Where was Vecepia going with this? Tina didn't quite trust where this was headed. At least, certainly not after pointed questions like that.

"Well you surprised the heck out of Sue," Vee added, with a smile, "She honestly thought you were with her."

"I made a promise," Tina said, as she leaned over and patted Lex on his left knee. "I told Lex I wouldn't vote for him. And he knew that."

Tina smiled over at Lex.

"Well you've certainly got a good one there, Lex," said Vecepia. "Tina surprised pretty much all of us. We had no idea you guys were so close. That was impressive."

Across the firepit, Boston Rob's head suddenly shot up.

Not many people had seen it in the darkness, but Vecepia had. After all, she and Rob shared a Survivor brain sometimes, now didn't they? Rob had identified a new game of "Puff Up The Leader", and now he was interested.

Once again, the game that killed Hunter was about to take place.

"Hey Lex," Rob now asked, out of the darkness, "If you were Keko tomorrow, who would you vote out?"

"Oh, come on, Rob," said an exhausted Lex, "It's been a long day. Do we have to talk about this again?"

"I'm just curious who you'd say," said Rob.

"Richard," sighed Lex. "There's no way Richard makes it past the next vote."

"So you and Tina don't think you'll see Richard after the merge?" asked Rob.

"Hey, there's no guarantees Tina and I will make the merge," corrected Lex. "There's no guarantees any of us will."

"Well, Tina will," Vecepia pointed out. "You pretty much owe her."

"Yeah," agreed Rob, "In fact, Tina, who do you think will go next on Keko?"

Now they weren't just puffing up one leader. Now they were puffing up two of them. Now Rob and Vecepia started highlighting both Lex and Tina as the Ahi leaders. They did everything in their power to show the world--- aka John-- that if you weren't Lex or Tina, you just didn't matter.

Vecepia did it from one side of the fire.

Rob did it from the other.

They tag-teamed, just like before.

If Lex thought he was out of the woods with Sue gone, he was sorely mistaken.

DAY 12

One of Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien's greatest fears in this game was that history was going to repeat itself.

After all, about a year ago, she had come within inches of a victory back in Marquesas. And we're talking within millimeters. She had come so close to victory last time around that she had been able to taste it. And that, more than anything, had really hurt when things fell apart the way that they did.

Kathy was supposed to win last time.

She knew it. The producers knew it. Hell, pretty much everybody in the cast had known it.

Kathy was supposed to have been the Sole Survivor of Survivor: Marquesas.

Until, of course, Vecepia had stepped in. And stomped on her heart. And stabbed her in the back. And stole the crown that, by all rights, was supposed to be hers.

Kathy lived with the pain every day that she was supposed to have won Marquesas. And she lived with the fear that she was going to be betrayed once again here in All-Stars. Kathy lived with this fear, and she just couldn't help it. One of her allies was going to yank victory from hands, just like Vecepia, and this time it was going to hurt even worse than it did the first time around.

Of course, Kathy's only real ally out here in Hawaii was none other than the man they knew as The Stingray, Richard Hatch. And she was sort of sickened by that fact. Kathy hadn't wanted to ally with a scoundrel like Richard. But at the time she'd had little, if no, other choice.

Richard had come to her back on day three, when she was very vulnerable, and had made her a deal to stick with him and work as a team. It hadn't been a final two deal. Richard had simply suggested that they work together as "outcasts", and somehow weasel their way back into power. Richard and Kathy made a handshake deal that day that they'd do whatever it took to get themselves into the core of the group. And, up to this point, that plan had actually worked out rather well for both of them.

After all, Richard was still here.

And Kathy was still there too.

They'd managed to outlast Teresa, and they'd managed to outlast Ethan. And that wasn't bad for a pair of people who didn't have a chance in the world to win this game back at the start.

But, deep down, Kathy was starting to get a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that her alliance with The Stingray would have to end soon.

Why was Kathy so worried about sticking with Richard?

Well for starters because she didn't want to be betrayed.

She didn't want what happened in Marquesas to happen again here.

She didn't want Richard to become "the new Vecepia," or the ally who stopped her for good.

Truthfully, Kathy didn't think that Richard Hatch, deep down, was really that bad of a person. Indeed, through her time with him over the past two weeks, she'd actually found him to be a very thoughtful and respectful man. Richard didn't come into this game to backstab people. Nor did he come here to break hearts and spirits and play the villain, like he'd once been portrayed before.

Richard was actually a much nicer person than Kathy had ever expected.

But he was also a player.

Kathy knew that, when push came to shove, Richard would toss her aside like so much garbage if it improved his place in the game. But it wouldn't be personal. It would only be business. Richard would vote her out, and he would turn on her, because the only way Richard could play this game is by viewing every other player (including Kathy) like a small chess piece on a big board.

So this, of course, was the dilemma that Kathy found herself on the morning of day twelve.

Should she stick by her ally, Richard? Who by all rights had done nothing to betray her, and was indeed the very reason why she was still standing her, playing the game?

Or should she ditch Richard before he actually came close to having that choice?

Should Kathy stick with the hand that had been feeding her since the very first day of the game? Or should she jump ship, and vote with the women, who by all accounts were aching to send Richard Hatch packing the very first minute they now had the chance?

Was Richard Hatch the smokescreen to victory Kathy would need to hide behind for most of the game? Or was he a vile betrayer in hiding, who would cut her throat like Vecepia when the game eventually dictated it had to be done?

The producers had been after Kathy all morning, once they realized she was weighing the choice in her mind. Because that was just what producers did. They wanted Kathy to sit down and give an interview, and discuss her thought process right there on film. After all, everybody in the production camp was aware of the fact that an Alicia-Gretchen-Kathy alliance was being discussed. And they all knew how big a deal that would be if it actually happened.

If the women of Keko teamed up and made a pact to the end, that would likely mean the end of the game for Richard, and for Mike, and for Colby.

And that was big.

Those were three major players in this cast, who would all be facing a doomsday scenario if the three Keko women got together. Especially Richard.

The minute the producers realized the Stingray's immediate fate hung in the balance, they wanted it documented. They wanted Kathy to sit down on camera, and explain how it would go. Because if Richard Hatch went home tonight, if he were actually voted out of a game of Survivor, well they knew it would be the TV event of the year. That would be the Emmy episode of All-Star Survivor. And they wanted it captured on film as realistically, and as comprehensively, as it could possibly be.

But so far Kathy wasn't ready to talk.

"Come on, Kathy," one of the producers hounded her as she went for a walk, "Just one interview? Just a quick one?"

"I can't," she said, dismissively, "I'm still processing."

"Well then, when?"

"I'll tell you when I'm ready," she said, curtly.

Even though Kathy was usually a dream to work with, from terms of a production standpoint, when she didn't want to talk, she just didn't want to talk. In fact she was very similar to Lex over at the Ahi camp. The producers loved working with Kathy and Lex, because of their honesty. And they loved sitting down for interviews whenever they could, because Kathy and Lex were both extremely well-spoken. But on the flip side, if Kathy or Lex just wanted to sit there and think for a while, well, that's what they'd do. They would shut out the producers at the drop of a hat, and the powers-that-be were immensely annoyed when this happened. Which was often.

There would be no interview about this subject today.

Kathy wasn't going to give them the money shot they so desperately craved.

All she was going to do was walk down here by herself, and process.

After all, yes, her position in the tribe had gotten a lot more secure over the past twelve days... but then again, so had Richard's. For every step of progress she'd made, well, he had made that exact same step too.

Was the time finally right to cut Richard loose before he turned into another Vecepia?

Was the time right to cut The Stingray loose before he had a chance to actually sting?

Kathy figured she'd think more about this after the Immunity Challenge.

Because they had a big challenge coming up today.

Perhaps an answer would come to her before she'd be forced to decide.





^^




With today's big immunity challenge rapidly coming closer and closer, Tina and Frank decided to go check treemail, and perhaps have a chance to chat. You know, just in case the Ahis might be attending Tribal Council in the next eight hours and all.

Neither Tina nor Frank thought that anything funky would theoretically be happening with the vote tonight, but they wanted to have some alone time to go talk about things, just in case.

Just in case the Ahi challenge losing streak continued.

And just in case tonight turned out to be somewhat important.

"Do you really think John is worried that he's been replaced?" asked Tina, as she walked with the strong, silent Frank up the path. "Or do you think Lex was exaggerating a little bit about that?"

"I think John said something that probably spooked him," Frank answered after a short pause. "You know how Lex is. He gets worried about the little things."

"He does," nodded Tina.

"But what John said," continued Frank, "And what John meant, well that's anyone's guess."

Lex had pulled Frank and Tina aside this morning, and had reported the little chat he'd had with John last night. And even though Lex had sounded a little spooked by the whole thing, deep down Tina believed that what Frank was saying was essentially right. Lex had probably picked out a little part of John's speech, and had jumped to a wild and elaborate conclusion that trouble was afoot.

That was what Lex did.

That was how Lex worked.

And his alliance mates were quite used to the fact that he liked to cry wolf.

"Well I don't know what we're gonna do if Lex and John start to go at it," Tina added as she walked. "If those two go at it, Rob's likely to have a field day around here. He'll wake up and he'll think it's Christmas morning."

"They won't," said Frank. "Don't worry. Lex is smart. He won't do anything rash. He said he's moved past that, and I believe him."

"Well it's not necessarily Lex that I'm worried about," confessed Tina.

"Good point," nodded Frank.

And with that, the conversation was over.

Treemail was here.

Frank pulled it out, read it to Tina, then brought it back to read to the rest of the tribe.





^^




Frank and Lex laughed, and felt an immediate sense of familiarity, as they arrived at challenge beach and saw the immunity challenge they'd be facing in a couple of minutes.

Because there were the archery targets.

And there were the flaming arrows.

Just like back in Africa.

They'd be shooting flaming arrows in a contest for Survivor immunity.

As the only two African alums left in All-Star Survivor, Lex and Frank smiled and exchanged a short nod as they walked down to meet the Kekos on the field of battle. Because it looked like the Ahis already had a small advantage going into this immunity challenge. After all, Frank and Lex happened to have been two of the best archers back in Africa. And they had dealt with the nuances of shooting fire through the air already once before. And then on top of that, the Kekos had no one (save for maybe Gretchen or Mike) who probably had any archery experience going into this at all.

So the Ahis were confident they could finally get back on a winning streak today. After all, they had Frank and Lex. What more could they want other than that?

The Ahis took their place on the mat, next to the Kekos, and both tribes faced their host as he explained the rules of the challenge.

"Welcome back guys," smiled Jeff, as he looked back and forth between the two tribes. "Keko, hopefully you enjoyed your reward today. How was the beer?"

"Awesome," laughed Colby.

"That was the best thing I've ever had in my life," smiled Alicia.

"Well good," smiled Jeff. "Because today the stakes will be rising. Today you guys are squaring off for immunity." Jeff nodded towards the largest member of Keko. "Richard, I'm gonna need the idol back. Because immunity is once again up for grabs."

Jeff took the Hawaiian tiki statue and placed it on a small bamboo pedestal.

Both tribes looked at it longingly.

After all, this was a big challenge today.

A Keko win, and the game was tied up, once and for all.

"Today's challenge is very simple," explained Jeff. "The players on your tribe are going to take turns, Keko versus Ahi, shooting flaming arrows into the ocean at those targets."

He turned and pointed out towards the ocean, where ten straw targets bobbed up and down, floating, on platforms.

"There are five Ahi targets," continued Jeff, "And five Keko targets. And you're going to take turns, one at a time, until all five of your tribe's targets have been set on fire."

The two tribes looked out at the ocean and tried to estimate the distance of the platforms.

Some were close. Some were far. Some targets were tiny. And some were quite big.

This was going to be an interesting challenge.

"Now the targets are situated on stable platforms," continued Jeff, "But the ocean itself is not stable. So those targets will be bobbing up and down, and sliding and moving. And it's going to take a lot of focus to hit a target that's moving around on the ocean."

The players nodded.

"When you hit a target," finished Jeff, "It will burst into flame. First tribe to light up all five targets wins immunity."

He turned and smiled at them.

"So if you guys are ready..."

"We are," announced Lex.

"... then let's light up and get ready to start."




^^




Frank, the natural archer, was chosen to go first for the Ahis. And Mike, the natural hunter, was chosen to shoot first for their rivals from Keko.

It was hunter against hunter.

Man against man.

Jeff gave the first, "Survivors, go!", and the challenge had officially begun.

WHOOOOOOSH.

WHOOOOOOSH.

Frank and Mike's arrows both made the unmistakable sound of flame flying rapidly through the air. But Mike's arrow was high and too far to the left. The Kekos missed their first shot of the challenge, while Frank's arrow buried itself in the big red ring of the smallest and furthest Ahi target.

It burst majestically into flame.

Ahi was up, 1-0.

"Frank!" Jeff announced, over the cheers of the tribe in orange, "Gives Ahi the early lead in dynamic style!"

Frank, of course, couldn't have felt more pleased. After all, despite having taught archery in real life, he had missed every shot during this exact same challenge back in Africa. But he had connected with the first target here, and now the Ahis were cheering him. Frank let loose an uncharacteristic smile, then went back to join his tribe at the back of the line.

The next two shooters in the contest were Colby and Lex.

Colby buried his arrow in the target for Keko, and Lex did the same with a bullseye for Keko.

Two more targets burst into spectacular flame.

"Ahi has 2, Keko has 1," Jeff proclaimed, as the two warriors went back to rejoin their tribes.

Next up were Richard and Tina.

"Two champions," smiled Jeff, "Our first two Survivor winners. Squaring off." He waited until both of them were loaded and ready. "Survivors ready? Fire!"

Tina's arrow splashed into the ocean for Ahi. A miss.

Richard's arrow actually clipped the largest of Keko's targets. But instead of igniting, it just spun off harmlessly into the ocean for a very-near miss.

The Kekos groaned.

"Close, Richard," said Jeff, "But no flame, so it doesn't count."

"Damnit," muttered Richard.

Next came Kathy against Boston Rob. The two former (brief) allies smiled and nodded to one another before lighting their arrows.

Jeff gave them the go-ahead, and then they fired simultaneously.

WHOOOOOOSH.

WHOOOOOOSH.

And Kathy tied up the contest by hitting for Keko.

"Kathy!" announced Jeff, "Ties it up at 2 apiece!"

Boston Rob just stood there and stared, uncomprehendingly, at his arrow that had plunged into the ocean. Because now the Kekos were back in it. Now the Kekos had momentum. And all Rob could do was hand his bow to Vecepia and hope for the best.

Vecepia came up for Ahi, and Gretchen came up for the Kekos.

Both women missed.

The tribes were still all tied up at two.

"Alicia and John, come on up," said Jeff, as the next two participants came up to ignite their arrows.

Alicia fired and hit.

John fired and hit.

With two simultaneous explosions, the contest was knotted at three.

John went back to the cheering Ahi tribe, while Alicia went back to the screaming Kekos. Because now the rotations were back to the top of the order. Now the good shooters were coming again.

Mike, who had been the first shooter for Keko, stepped up confidently and took the bow from Alicia.

He wasn't going to miss a second time in a row.

No way.

Mike was a hunter in real life, and he prided himself on his accuracy and skill. And there was no way he was going to let his tribe down a second time in a row. Not in archery. So he lit his arrow, he took his place on the mat, and he waited for whomever the Ahis would throw out here against him.

It was at this point in the game that Ahis wished they had only six players instead of seven.

Because instead of rotating to the top of the order, like Keko, they suddenly realized that they would have to send Colleen up against Mike. With the score tied 3-3. For immunity.

There had been no rule about people sitting out of this challenge.

So Colleen was up. Instead of Frank.

And the Ahis were a little disheartened because they knew she would miss.

"Let's go, Colleen!" cheered John, as he tried to pep up their youngest player.

"You can take him, girl!" encouraged Tina.

But Colleen looked incredibly small standing here. Not only was she physically dwarfed by the gargantuan Mike, she really didn't even know how to hold a bow properly, or what angle to shoot. In fact, all she could do was turn and smile at the Ahis, and shrug somewhat helplessly.

It was Colleen, the advertising pixie, against Mike, the trained assassin.

And all Lex could do was close his eyes and say a quick prayer that Mike would miss too.

"Survivors, ready...!" announced Jeff.

Mike and Colleen raised their flaming arrows up into position.

"Go!!!!!"

Sure enough, Mike's arrow WHOOOOSHed through the air and buried itself with military-style precision in the bullseye for Keko. Their fourth target burst into smoke and flames, and the Kekos erupted with loud adulation for their hero and champion.

Meanwhile, Colleen's arrow doinked helplessly about ten feet in the air and then down in the sand.

She hadn't even shot it far enough to actually hit ocean.

"Keko is up, four to three!" announced Jeff, loudly. "Keko has their first lead in the challenge!"

The Kekos, who hadn't actually tasted defeat in quite a while now, were now primed and ready for blood. Some of them felt a little bad for Colleen, who had just slunk back to assorted hugs and pats on the back. But for the most part the Kekos were pumped.

They were one arrow away from immunity.

They had Colby ready to fire.

And if Colby hit the target, like they knew he would, then this game would officially be tied.

"You ready, Donaldson?" asked Jeff.

"You know it," smiled the sunglasses-wearing cowboy.

Colby walked up and took his place on the Keko mat. Next to him, Frank had finally stepped up to fire again for the Ahis. It was the Greek God of challenges against the archery teacher. Colby against Frank.

If Colby hit the target then Frank, and the Ahis, were going to Tribal Council tonight.

"Survivors, ready....!" announced Jeff.

Colby and Frank raised their bows and prepared to fire.

Meanwhile, the Kekos tensed and held hands behind the Colbster, ready to erupt.

"Go!!!!!"

Colby's arrow shot straight and true and flew through the air. But he had apparently shot it a little too hard for the conditions at hand. Because with no wind at the moment, Colby's arrow flew just inches over the Keko target for an oh-so-close miss. The tail feathers nicked the top of the target, but all it would say in the record book was that Colby had missed.

"Oh, man!" hissed Colby, under his breath.

That wasn't supposed to have happened!

Meanwhile, Colby's older counterpart to the right had just lit up his second target of the challenge. Frank's shot was a direct bullseye into the fourth Ahi target, and the Ahis erupted into chaos once they realized that Colby had missed.

"Colby misses," announced Jeff, "And Frank hits! The score is now four to four!" He smiled. "And now it's sudden death. The next player to hit their target, wins immunity!"

A very bummed-out Colby walked back to the condolences of the rest of his tribe. And he looked stunned. Colby never choked in a challenge in Survivor. The Colbster never choked when the game was on the line. What the hell had just happened out there?

The Kekos did their best to console him, but Colby just stared at the ground, and glared at the sand.

"Richard and Lex," announced Jeff, "Come on up. One of you can win your tribe immunity."

Lex van den Berghe, who had been waiting for a moment like this for twelve days now, wasted no time in bounding up to the platform and taking his bow. A chance to single-handedly win immunity? In a challenge he knew he was good at?? Lex could barely wipe the smile off his face and he lit up an arrow and waited to shoot.

To his left, a very deliberate-moving Richard Hatch stepped out from his tribe and ambled quite slowly to take his position. Richard didn't appear to be in any hurry. In fact, if anything, he looked like he was trying to throw off Lex's quite obvious adrenaline.

Richard just walked up slowly to the firing box.

With the Kekos cheering quite loudly behind him.

You see, they knew that Richard was much better at these challenges than he liked to let on.

And they knew that his little delay tactic was pure showmanship, as he tried to psyche Lex out of his game.

"You ready, Hatch?" asked Jeff.

"In a minute," smiled The Stingray.

Richard slowly leaned over and picked up his bow. Then he inspected the wood, as if looking for cracks. Then he slowly dug around in the arrow bin, as if looking for just the perfect arrow that would fit his picky requirements.

Richard dug around in the bin for a good minute, just sorting through arrows.

While Lex grew annoyed, and quite visibly impatient, a few feet to his right.

"Let's go, Richard," said Jeff, flatly. "Hurry up. It's not like we're waiting."

"Okay, okay. Fine."

The mindgames now concluded, Richard finally picked out an arrow and lit it on fire. Then he took his place next to Lex. And then, of course, he couldn't resist just one little shot at the tightly-wound control freak standing beside him. Just one little push, and it should serve his purposes quite well.

"Good luck at Tribal tonight," he said, under his breath.

And there it was.

Let's see Lex hit a target after a comment like that.

Lex, who gave no visible reaction to Richard's comment, just stood there, poised and ready, and waiting to shoot. He held his bow crossbow-style, with the bow itself turned sideways, while Richard took a more conventional vertical stance. Both men stood there, their teams cheering excitedly behind them, and waited for Jeff to tell them to shoot.

"Survivors, ready...!" announced Jeff.

Lex and Richard raised their flaming arrows.

"This is for immunity...!" continued Jeff.

Both tribes were tensed and ready to explode.

"Go!!!!!!"

Richard shot his arrow.

And Lex crossbowed his.

WHOOOOOOOSH.

WHOOOOOOOSH.

Lex's arrow buried itself in a target. Richard's splashed in the ocean.

"Lex, and the Ahis!" announced Jeff, "Win immunity!"

Lex, who had known he was going to hit that target, no matter what, simply thrust his fists into the air and screamed at the sky. Because now he had done it. He had come through in the clutch, and won immunity for his tribe, at a time in the game when it had sorely been needed.

Ahi had finally ended their losing streak.

Lex was finally the leader and savior that he thought he should be.

And when Frank thrust the immunity idol into his hands, he held it aloft, and screamed with victorious pride.

All around Lex, the Ahis celebrated the fact that all of them were going to be safe tonight. Tina and Colleen jumped up and down. John and Frank grinned from ear to ear. They all appeared to be ecstatic that Lex had just guaranteed them a tie at the merge.

Of course, the only two Ahis who were not all that pleased at the moment were Rob and Vecepia.

Because they knew that if Ahi had gone to Tribal Council tonight, John would have been theirs. They would have been able to convert him into voting out Lex, because the timing would have been perfect. John was wounded, John was angry, and the time had been right.

But now, thanks to immunity, that power play would just have to wait.

Lex and John would now have three more days to get back on good terms.

And that window, if it had really existed, might now have forever been lost.

"Don't worry," Rob reassured Vecepia, quietly, so that no one else on the tribe could notice, "We'll get him. Our time will come."

Vecepia just glared at him.

She said nothing.

Instead, she decided to just smile and cheer, and play along with the tribe.

As if she were pleased about what had just happened.




^^

Back at Camp Keko, the vultures were already circling.

Richard saw them the minute the camp came into view.

Oh, they weren't literally vultures that he saw. There wasn't a moving cloud of black birds circling over their camp. No, the vultures that Richard saw were production crew vultures. They were the extra cameramen. And the extra producers. The ones that were here to document Richard's dismissal.

There were a whole bunch of extra crewmembers lining the outer ring of Camp Keko at the moment.

Richard noticed this, he saw them all, and he smiled.

Because he knew what that meant.

The producers thought their mega-star was about to go home.

"Ha ha, very funny," Richard laughed to himself, as he trekked out of the rainforest and back towards Camp Keko. "The challenge is barely even over and already the sharks are coming out to circle for blood."

"What?" asked Kathy, who was walking nearby.

"Oh, nothing," said Richard. He just waved his hand, dismissively, as if it were nothing to worry about at all.

Sure, the sight of the production crew teeming around camp should have tipped him off that maybe he might have been in danger. But Richard just wasn't like that. He wasn't a paranoid nutcase like Lex. He didn't jump at shadows like Kathy or John.

Richard knew why the extra cameramen were here, and he didn't care.

In fact, all he felt like doing was laughing out loud.

"Hey Kath," he said, as he turned back to face his closest ally on Keko, "Check it out. The freak show's in town."

"Who? Mike?"

Richard just chuckled.

Perhaps he should have worded that question a little bit better.

"No, the extra cameramen," he said, "Check it out." He nodded in the direction of the vultures circling their way around camp. "They're coming to watch Richie meet an unfortunate end."

Kathy looked up.

And she saw.

And... oh God... now their plans to blindside Richard might just have to be off.




^^




Sure enough, Kathy had decided she was going to vote with the women tonight. She had come to this decision about thirty minutes before the immunity challenge, and then she had run it by Alicia and Gretchen.

The three women talked about how they needed to stick together if they wanted any chance at a win.

And then an agreement was made.

It was going to be Richard tonight, and then they'd be down to five. And if Keko somehow lost one more immunity before a twist or a merge, well then Colby and Mike would pretty much be a flip of the coin.

So a deal had been made. As long as Kathy jumped ship and voted for Richard tonight, Alicia had promised that she would return the favor by turning on the Australians at the very next vote. And now they had a verbal contract. The three Keko women, to the end. It was very hush-hush. No one knew.

But then, of course, Richard had seen the commotion around camp and ruined the surprise.

"Oh, you're not going home tonight," Kathy tried her best to lie, once Richard made his joke about the extra cameramen. "Maybe they're just here for a twist?"

"Oh, please," Richard just scoffed.

Twist, shmist.

The only way the producers would jump into scramble mode was if their star, the golden boy of Survivor, was about to go home.

After all, Kathy was nice. And she was a lot of fun. But she couldn't lie to save her life, and Richard very much knew this.

"So what is it?" he turned and asked her. "You, Mike and Colby? The three of you, tonight? Making a power play?"

"I... I'm not sure what you're..."

Kathy was completely off-guard by Richard's sudden attack.

"Or is it you and the women?" Richard mused. "Is it a chick thing tonight?"

Kathy said nothing. How could she? From day one, Richard had been able to see through her like he was looking through glass.

"Ah, forget it," Richard just waved his hand. "I don't take any offense. You're just doing what you have to do."

Kathy just mumbled something inaudible in response.

"But you're a fool if you think you would have blindsided me tonight," Richard smiled at her, with that really annoying twinkle in his eye. "Do you think I really had no idea that I'd be gone the next time we went to a vote?"

Kathy just stared at him, dumbfounded.

What the hell was he talking about now?

"Well I'll let you in on a little secret," Richard said quietly. "Just between you and me, okay?"

Kathy nodded.

Slowly.

And a little warily, to be quite honest.

"The extra camera crew isn't here to watch me go home," Richard said, conspiratorially. "They're here because I've got a surprise up my sleeve that no one has caught. And now," he laughed, "It looks like I won't get my surprise, and neither will you!"

Kathy blanched.

And Richard grinned.

It looked like the mindgames were about to begin.




^^




Back at camp, Kathy made a beeline for Alicia.

And Richard made a beeline for Colby.

It was time to talk shop, because the time for being proactive was now.

"Does Richard have any way to save himself tonight?" Kathy asked Alicia, as she stopped to catch her breath. "Is there anything we've forgotten about where he can turn for some help?"

"What?" asked a surprised Alicia.

"Richard just said something that got me spooked," panted Kathy. "He said he had a surprise tonight. And that if we thought we could blindside him, we were in for a shock."

"No way," Alicia shook her head, vehemently. "He's full of shit. He's just fucking with you."

"He could have Colby," Kathy said. "He could have Mike."

"He doesn't have Colby," said Alicia. "There's no way."

But Kathy wasn't convinced.

"Does Colby still think he's in with you and the Australians?" she asked, still a little breathlessly.

"Hell yes he does."

"You haven't tipped him off that you're jumping to us?"

"No!" Alicia said. She turned and put both her hands on Kathy's shoulders, in an attempt to calm her down. "Look, honey, Colby and Mike don't know jack shit about what I plan to do, and I don't intend that to change. So Richard can say whatever he wants about Colby, and it doesn't mean crap. Richard has no clue about what's about to go down."

"You promise you didn't tip your hand?" asked Kathy, still a little dubiously.

"Of course not," Alicia reassured her. "Look, Kath, I'm giving up a lot to go with you and Gretchen. And you know that Gretchen's giving up a hell of a lot to make an alliance. This goes completely against her nature, and you know she's counting on us to make this thing work."

Kathy nodded.

"So I'm not going to do anything to screw you or Gretchen over," Alicia concluded. "We're in this together now, and it's going to work."

Kathy breathed a sigh of relief.

Now she felt better.

Richard was full of crap, he was full of bluster, and she should have immediately realized that.

"In fact, do you want to know something that will really make you smile?" grinned Alicia.

"Sure," said Kathy. "Why not?"

"The only reason Colby's talking to Richard at all right now is to set his pompous ass up for a fall. Just for fun."




^^




"Of course I'm voting with you tonight," Colby explained, once Richard had sidled up to him down by the beach. "You think I want any part of those three women sticking together after the vote?"

"Ah," Richard smiled, as he clapped his hands softly together. Now the man was thinking with his brain. For the first time all game, Richard finally had hopes for the handsome young Texan as an actual player.

"I don't like it none," said Colby. "In fact I think it sucks. But if you want to take out one of the women tonight, well I've got your back."

"Would you take out Alicia?" asked Richard.

"Well I'd prefer if it were Kathy or Gretchen," Colby shrugged. "It's an Australia thing, you know the drill."

"Yeah, so you guys can stick together later if you have to," laughed Richard.

"Well those are my terms," said Colby, flatly. "If we take out Kathy or Gretchen, I'm in. If we take out Alicia, then no dice."

"Then it's Kathy," nodded Richard.

"Fine with me," Colby shrugged. "Just give me the pen."

Even though the thought danced around the back of his head that maybe Colby might be lying to him, deep down Richard was filled with nothing but glee. After all, he had grand plans for Colby in All-Star Survivor. He had grand plans for the only player on this tribe who he thought had any potential of playing the game right.

Colby was the only player here who could have understood the logic of playing to win.

And Richard was just as pleased for Colby as he was for himself.

"You just saved your own ass," Richard smiled down at his young protege. "Do you know that? If you hadn't voted with me tonight, you'd be gone before you got to the jury."

"Well that wouldn't be very good for me, now would it?" joked the cowboy.

"By the way," added Richard, with a strange little smile on his face, "In case you're waffling, or on the off chance you're actually lying to me, do you remember what Ethan said right before he left?"

"Of course I do. He tried to scare us with a threat."

"Well that applies to tonight too," said Richard, as he clapped the young Texas on the back. "Vote for me, and watch what happens. Cause it'll bite you in the ass so fast if you decide to get cute."

"Ha," Colby laughed. "What is that? A threat? You're saying you don't trust me now?"

"I don't trust anybody!" Richard laughed back. "I've never trusted you!" He smiled. "But I do trust that you know what's the right move."

"K-A-T-H-Y," Colby spelled out loud. "Just like that."

"You make me so proud," smiled Richard.

He clapped the young Texan on the back once again.

This would work.

At least, if his protege was smart then it would.




^^

The Keko tribe marched to Tribal Council about half an hour later.

Of course, this was after Alicia went to have a conversation with Colby, and Richard went to have a conversation with Mike. After all, some loose ends still needed to be tied up before the men forced a 3-3 tie with the women.

Colby told Alicia that he was "setting Richard up," and "this night would be fun."

While at the same time, Mike told Richard that "If Colby's on board, then you've got my vote too. Three for all."

In other words, Richard expected there to be a 3-3 tie tonight. Because the men would play smart, and he had faith that they would. While, on the flip side, Alicia expected Richard to be blindsided tonight, in a scene that would make Survivor history, and would be the highlight of this game for them all.

Richard expected one outcome tonight.

And Alicia expected another.

Which one was about to happen?

Well the extra production crew, jam packed into the tiny Tribal Council set, thought that history was about to unfold.




^^




In the room that Ethan had once called "The Enchanted Tiki Room", Jeff laid into his questions, and the Kekos did their best to give honest, but ultimately unimportant and meaningless answers.

No, it wasn't possible to ever feel one-hundred percent secure in this game, according to Alicia.

Yes, Mike and Gretchen had been able to put their differences aside and work together for the good of the tribe. At least, according to Colby.

And no, the Kekos had no regrets about voting off Ethan. And no, Gretchen didn't feel his prophecy would come true, even though tonight they'd be down to just five.

The Kekos did their best to say nothing about the fact that Richard was about to get blindsided tonight, and that they were practically peeing their pants right now in breathless anticipation. Because there was no doubt about it, that was all they were thinking. The king of Survivor, the All-Star of All-Stars, was about to have his torch snuffed for the first time ever.

Because of them.

In the next five minutes.

Why, if you were sitting here, you would have grinned too.




^^




And finally, the time came for history.

The questions finally ended, nobody had said a word to tip off the Stingray, and Jeff announced that it was now time to cast their votes.

He motioned to Gretchen.

She walked up to the urn.

And one by one, the Kekos followed the plan.

Gretchen wrote Richard's name on the small piece of parchment. And smiled as she held it up and told him "goodbye." So did Kathy. So did Alicia. And so did Mike.

In fact, there were four "Richard" votes in the urn when Richard came up and cast a meaningless vote against Kathy.

Now it was 4-1.

And then it was time for Colby, the grinning cowboy, to come up and make history once and for all. He ambled slowly up to the podium, a mile-wide grin on his face, and finally wrote the name he'd been dying to write.

"R-I-C-H-A-R-D." he spelled out on his parchment ballot.

Then he held it up to the camera.

With Texan pride glowing from every pore in his cheeks.

"Rich," he said, proudly. "You know, I had a fun time chatting with you this week. But you know as well as I do that I can't let you get any further." He shrugged. "There ain't no chance in hell I'd be on your side in this game, or any other, as long as I live."

Colby chuckled softly under his breath.

"So that's it. Thanks for playing."

Good riddance to Richard.

"Mahalo. Aloha. Goodbye."

^^




The camera crew was ready as Jeff came back with the ballot box.

And they all started filming.

While the Kekos stared at the ground, and tried not to smile.

"The person voted out tonight," said Jeff, "Must leave the Tribal Council area immediately." He paused, then nodded. "I'll read the votes."

The first vote out of the urn was Richard's "Kathy" vote.

The one that didn't matter.

And then came the parade of votes that Survivor viewers would be talking about for years to come.

"Richard."

"Richard."

"Richard."

After the third vote came up with his name on it, Richard smiled a bit and looked around at the rest of his tribe. And now he could see it. There was Kathy, stifling a smile. And there was Mike, biting his lip and staring at the floor. And there was Gretchen, actually laughing a bit in her hand.

It was over.

And Richard knew it.

TV history was about to be made, and now he'd just have to accept it.

"The fourth person voted out of Hawaii," said Jeff, with a slight smile, as he pulled out the nail-in-the-coffin ballot, "And the fourth player out of All-Star Survivor, is..."

He turned the magical ballot around.

"Richard."

Richard just chuckled. The producers smiled. The flashbulbs went off.

TV history had officially been made.

"Richard," smiled Jeff, "Please come up here and bring me your torch."

Even though he should have been upset, Richard was more amused by the whole situation than anything else. Because, what the hell, now he had his very own episode! Episode four of All-Star Survivor would forever be known as "The Richard episode." And people would talk about it. And that was all that he really cared about. Richard Hatch would forever be the star of All-Star Survivor, no matter how the season ended, or which nobody won the eventual check. Because this episode would be the best of the bunch. Richard knew this, and it made him so proud.

So Richard brought his torch up happily, a spring in his step.

Knowing that Colby and Mike, those short-sighted idiots, were now officially dead.

"Richard," said Jeff, as the camera crew zoomed in to capture the immortal torch-snuffing, "The tribe has spoken. It's time for you to go."

Richard nodded.

And said nothing to the tribe.

He just raised his hand once, did a small wave, and then was out of the game.

The Stingray had finally been stung.

^^

Once the air had been sucked back into the room, and the Kekos burst out of their silence with smiles and giggles. Jeff turned to them and shrugged, as if there was no way he could possibly follow that. After all, how do you top Richard's torch snuffing? Was it possible? Would the producers kill him if he actually tried?

Jeff didn't want to say anything right now, but he knew that he had to. Because, after all, the game had some excitement planned for tomorrow.

And he wanted the Kekos to think about it before going to bed.

"Keko is now down to five," Jeff said, slowly and seriously. "So I'm sure you're well aware that you don't want to be back here anytime soon."

The Kekos nodded. Some while still giggling.

"But hey," Jeff smiled, "You know, sometimes things are known to change around here. In fact, sometimes they change as quickly as that."

He snapped his fingers.

"So I wouldn't get too comfortable about the game right now," finished Jeff, as he turned to look at Alicia. "Because who knows what will happen in Survivor? This game can change in an instant. Just ask Richard. Things change fast."

He grinned.

"So I'll see you guys tomorrow morning, bright and early."

Oh, shit!, thought Kathy.

"We have some things we might want to discuss."

- Read Richard Hatch's final words

- Read Mario's Episode 4 commentary notes

- Back to the All-Star Hawaii episode archive

- Email the author