"Episode 1 - The Beginning"
Pearl Islands Tuesday, June 5th 2018
~The picture slowly comes up on a darkened patch of jungle. The night wind is slowly blowing through the leaves of the plants, causing them to move back and forth on their own accord. Suddenly, two eyes appear in the darkness, glowing an ominous yellow. A growl is heard, and the eyes move forward, showing us the face of a large striped tiger. The growl becomes deeper and darker, as the tiger gives us one more glare… before leaping towards the camera.~
~The view blurs and shears away into blackness for a second, before suddenly giving us a montage of jungle shots as “Welcome To The Jungle” from Tommee Profitt & Fleurie continues to play in the background. The song reaches its peak with a flurry of images, everything from a strong, flowing river to a violent storm on the horizon to a single human skull, apparently embedded on the top of a spear which is stuck in the ground. Welcome to the jungle, indeed. The final visual is of the OCW Survivor logo, letting us know where we are: The Pearl Islands.~
~We go to a fast-moving image after this, clearly being shot from a helicopter in flight. The copter moves along a shoreline of an island, heading at a brisk pace towards where a few sailing ships can be seen on the horizon. The shot changes to inside the helicopter, where we see a masked man standing there, looking out the open door. It’s the man who walked away the shocking winner of OCW Survivor Season 1, Pryde. He nods to the camera, and then begins to talk, being sure to raise his voice over the sound of the rotors.~
Pryde: The agony. The punishment. The torture. It’s nothing that these superstars haven’t endured before. They’ve put their bodies on the line time and time again, unleashing blood, sweat, & tears in their quests to become the best in the world. A little physical pain? That’s an old friend to these competitors.
~Images cut across the screen, showing many of the wrestlers moving in slow-motion while performing their signature moves. Julliet Brooks flies high in the air, landing the Amaterasu. Anthony Wentz takes down a foe with his patented POV. Matt Meyhu delivers the Ego Trip, mocking his opponent afterwards. Ed Houston flips into frame, smashing into his opponent with his spectacular Blastoff maneuver. The final shot is of The Incredible One, the OCW World Heavyweight Champion, letting out a slow-motion roar and holding the championship above his head.~
Pryde: But OCW Survivor? That’s a whole different animal. Those who haven’t been here before? They have no… idea… what they’re in for.
~A haunted glimpse appears in Pryde’s eyes before fading away, as he looked back out the helicopter door. Images began to cut, translucent, over the image of Pryde, showing us images from Season 1 of OCW Survivor.~
Pryde: For OCW Survivor isn’t just about your physical abilities or your stamina, although both will definitely be called into play. This isn’t just about the body; it’s about the mind, and it’s about the spirit. It’s about dealing with the fact that, as soon as you land on this ominous beach, you can’t possibly know who you can fully trust. You have to deal with the fact that, every time you go to Tribal Council, your number could be up. Every. Single. Time.
~Glimpses of Perzag, MJ Bell, Bradley Carrington, and others are shown at their Tribal Councils, watching helplessly as their names appeared, one by one, when they were least expected. The anger and frustration on their faces tells it all.~
Pryde: The backstabs. The blindsides. The betrayals. You have to find a way to prepare yourself for all of it, yet you still are never expecting it when it all goes down. The anxiety of never being one hundred percent sure of your standing in the game… that anxiety lasts for weeks, for months, for the entire game, or at least until it all comes crashing down.
~More shots play across the screen, showing us wrestlers like The Lost Soul, Chad Vargas, The Incredible One, and Matt Meyhu, all seeing their chance evaporate… and all seeing a chance once again appear before them in the new season…~
Pryde: You have to come into this game knowing that friendships could be irrevocably broken. The trust and respect that someone has for you? Or the reverse? It might be lost forever. Every choice you make has consequences, and not just on this island. This is a life-changing experience. Whether it’s for the better or worse will be entirely up to you.
~We see a quick still, showing Pryde standing next to Marvelous Mario Maurako at the final tribal council, with the eyes of a jury upon them. A jury that, for all its anger and rage at how things ended up, were given the power to make the final decision. We return to the helicopter, where Pryde is pointing out towards the ships below them now. You can see that the crafts are fully loaded, with the competitors for this season looking up at the helicopter.~
Pryde: The sixteen wrestlers below me may think they’re ready for this test of wills. Some have been in this situation before, last season, and think they know how it’s going to go. They’re wrong. The others are facing it for the first time, confident from what they’ve seen that they’ll be prepared for the challenge. They’re also wrong. This is a whole new season, with whole new twists and turns, a whole new journey in this war of attrition. But in the end, that’s the whole point. Out of sixteen, only one will make it the entire way. Only one will outwit… outplay… and outlast. Who will be the sole OCW Survivor?
~Pryde suddenly jumps towards the door, with a cord trailing behind him. He dives out, doing a quick free-fall towards the water (and ships) below. The cord, thankfully, does its job, stopping Pryde’s plunge before he crashed into anyone, bouncing him up and down. When Pryde stabilizes, getting himself right-side-up, the helicopter competes the lowering towards the first ship, where sarcastic applause greets him as he lands near the bow and unhooks.~
Chad Vargas: Couldn’t come up with a more macho fucking way of coming down here, Pryde? That was some WEAK ASS shit.
Matt Meyhu: I’m sure that jet pack I used last season is still around somewhere, although I can see why you wouldn’t want to try something I’ve already done perfectly.
Annie Alvarez: If I’d known the prize for winning Survivor was being forced to host this show the next year, I wouldn’t have come back.
Pryde: Are you all finished?
Chad Vargas: You’re kidding, right?
Pryde: Or would you rather just stay on the boat and go home?
~Vargas grumbles some curse words under his breath, but keeps them to himself. Behind the group, the other two ships have come close by to hear what Pryde has to say. One person has a hand in the air, possibly to volunteer to stay on board, but they change their mind. Pryde looks around at all of them, reaching over and taking the loudspeaker mic that’s handed to him.~
Pryde: You’ve all signed the waiver forms. So you know if you get sick, break a bone, or die out here, it’s your own damn fault. You know Marcus, so we don’t have a fancy medical facility or anything, just The Knife Man over there who will be waiting for his chance… to heal you.
~Everyone looks over at The Knife Man, who waves his shiny blade at them from the third boat.~
Pryde: Some of you are going to be out here for months. Some of you are going away this week. Either way, it won’t be a fun trip for you, so I hope you’re ready. Your first test? Gather up everything you’ve got on you and head overboard. Your island is right over there.
~Pryde points out to the right towards the nearest island, which seems a good distance away. A few of the newer wrestlers sputter in shock, holding their hands up to their heads. Nearby in another boat, The Incredible One just laughs. He is immediately up and out of the boat, diving cleanly into the water. Wrestlers begin following in his wake.~
Detective Jack Puffer: This isn't the way I was hoping to start out.
Julliet Brooks: We did parachutes out of helicopters last year.
Detective Jack Puffer: Nevermind, this is just fine.
Ed Houston: It'd be more fun coming in from outer space...
Curt Canon: Damn! Checkers, can you swim?
~Canon holds up Checkers, who immediately pushes off of Canon and leaps out into the ocean… and lands on Anthony Wentz’ back. Wentz curses, trying to figure out how to get Checkers off of him, but Checkers has a pretty good grip as he waits to be carried to the island. Canon looks a little shocked, since he would have carried Checkers himself, but he quickly follows him overboard. Most of the others have followed suit as well. The Uber Man climbs up on the gunwale, striking a pose.~
Uber Man: This is what I live for!
~The Uber Man then slips and falls into the water below, before resurfacing and heroically swimming behind all the others. Pryde just shakes his head.~
~The group of wrestlers quickly reassembles on the beach, with a few rivals taking a moment to glare and threaten each other before reluctantly moving away. Pryde follows behind in a small outboard, bringing it to a stop on the sand. He hops out and walks over to the group, who are working to dry themselves off.~
Zybala: So, already soaking wet and sand in all the wrong places. Great way to get started.
Kalinda Kriegsdottir: I found the swim invigorating. But then, I’m not a weakling.
The Lost Soul: It feels like coming home... only with more trees.
Anthony Wentz: Keep your damn monkey off of me, Canon, or I’ll Teabag the hell out of it.
~Checkers screeches and runs back to Curt, diving behind him.~
Pryde: So, first order of business… the tribes.
~This gets everyone’s attention, as they all turn towards the masked host.~
Pryde: I’m sure you all came here expecting to have this all decided already, didn’t you? But we’re working things a little differently this year. You see, I’ve got a bag here full of balls…
~A few loud laughs and chuckles break out~
Pryde: You juvenile morons. Anyway, inside this sack, there are 15 colored... orbs. These orbs are one of three colors. Five red. Five blue. Five green.
~Pryde shakes the bag in front of them, as they all think about what this means.~
Pryde: That’s right. This year… we’re beginning things with three tribes. Five to a tribe. You randomly pick the color, and we’ll find out which tribe you belong to. You see the three colored posts back there stuck in the sand? You pull out that color, you go to that post. However… there is one little twist to get us all started...
~As the wrestlers all watch, Pryde pulls out another marble from his pocket. This one is pure black.~
Pryde: This here? This is the black… orb. And if you pull this one… you’re getting back on that boat with me.
~Shock and fury quickly builds throughout the group~
Harold Jones: You’ve gotta be kidding me!
Sammy 3.0: That is illogical.
Zane Zamota: You son of a…
Chad Vargas: Fuck that! Ain’t no way I’ve leaving this island that early!
Pryde: Well, I guess we’ll find out, won’t we? It’s time to draw…
~Pryde drops the black marble into the bag, gives it a shake, and one by one, the wrestlers come up to take a marble.~
~The Incredible One draws Blue~
~Curt Canon (actually Checkers) draws Red~
~Annie Alvarez draws Blue~
~The Uber Man draws Green~
~Julliet Brooks draws Red~
~Zane Zamota draws Green~
~Detective Jack Puffer draws Blue~
~Ed Houston draws Green~
~Kalinda Kriegsdottir draws Red~
~Harold “The Headliner” Jones draws Red~
~Anthony Wentz draws Blue~
~Sammy 3.0 draws Green~
~The Lost Soul draws Red~
~Matt Meyhu draws Green~
~That leaves just two more guys to make their picks, Chad Vargas and Zybala. Vargas has been cursing the last several marbles, not seeing the one he wanted to see. He finally storms forward, grabbing the bag from Pryde and quickly reaching in. He glares at Pryde, then yanks his arm out… to show a Blue marble. Vargas breathes a sigh of relief and goes to join his tribe, as Zybala cautiously steps forward. Knowing there’s no other chance, he reluctantly picks up the bag where Vargas threw it and reaches in, pulling out the black marble.~
Pryde: Well, Zybala… looks like you were randomly chosen, huh?
Zybala: Fuck.
Pryde: So we’ve got our three tribes chosen. I expect each tribe to have themselves an official name by the time of the first challenge. If you want a flag or any other bullshit, feel free, but you have to have a name.
~Each group of wrestlers look around at their new teammates, wondering if they’ll be able to work together for this first, simple task.~
Pryde: The maps attached to the posts should lead each of your tribes to your respective areas where you’ll be spending some ‘quality time’ with each other. Hope you enjoy the scenery, because there’s not much else waiting for you there other than what you can build with your own two hands.
~Pryde turns and pats Zybala on the shoulder, who quickly shrugs him off. Pryde, unperturbed, turns back to the three tribes, who are gathering themselves to depart.~
Pryde: Oh, by the way, Zybala’s not out of this game, not by a long shot.
~Just as the tribes are starting to walk off, they stop in shock and turn back. Zybala’s eyes widen as he looks over at Pryde.~
Pryde: You see, I said there were going to be twists and turns in this competition this year. I wouldn’t want you guys to think that I was lying. So here’s what’s going to happen. We’ve got a nice little island over there to the southwest. It has a little bit of this and that on it. Lots of hiding places. Good spot for an immunity idol or two, huh? That’s right, those of you who are actually fans of Survivor: we’ve got ourselves a little Exile Island out there!
~A few gasps, a few curses, and a few laughs all break out at once.~
Pryde: So Zybala here… you just bought yourself an extra couple of days. You don’t have to compete in the first challenge. You will get to watch the first Tribal Council. In fact, you’ll be replacing the first person eliminated, so we’ll have three five-person teams again. And with that, you also get this.
~Pryde hands over a tightly bound piece of parchment to Zybala, who takes it with a relieved grin.~
Pryde: That scroll is the first clue of the whereabouts of the immunity idol on Exile Island. We’ll have to see if it’s enough for you, because there are a lot of places to search. Of course, whether you find it or not, you’ll have the right to say whatever you want to your tribemates when you eventually join them. And they’ll have the right to believe whatever they want about whether or not you found an idol. Should be fun, huh?
~Zybala shrugs, just happy to still be in the game. Some of the wrestlers nod knowingly, realizing that the game has just taken a turn. Pryde directs Zybala to the boat, then turns back.~
Pryde: For the rest of you, you haven’t earned anything yet. Get to walking. I’ll see you at the first challenge soon enough.
~The wrestlers move off, as the triumphant starting music of Survivor once again plays.~
OOC: Here are your tribes for this year:
Tribe #1 (Blue)
Annie Alvarez
The Incredible One
Detective Jack Puffer
Chad Vargas
Anthony Wentz
Tribe #2 (Green)
Ed Houston
Matt Meyhu
Sammy 3.0
The Uber Man
Zane Zamota
Tribe #3 (Red)
Julliet Brooks
Curt Canon
Harold "The Headliner" Jones
Kalinda Kriegsdottir
The Lost Soul
Exile Island
Zybala
I will soon get the threads running for Week 1 of OCW Survivor: Season 2 for the different tribes, so story-telling can commence! Remember, now that the game has begun, all communication between different tribe members should cease in the spirit of the game. The "second-half" of the week 1 episode will begin on Thursday, with the first challenge of the new year. Let me know of any questions, and good luck to all!