New Game, Same Game

New Game, Same Game is the eighth episode of Survivor: All-Stars. It is also the one hundredth episode of James Ben Linus' Survivor Fanfic.

Day 21 (Night)
The Chapera tribe return to camp having just blindsided Holly from the game, with the new deal between Ben, Danni, Isaiah and Teddy giving them hope (that along with Adela and William) they will be able to control the remainder of the game.

Chapera
Danni and Teddy sit together on the beach looking out at the water, discussing whether or not they believe a merge will finally arrive. They note that if they're remaining as two tribes and are unable to win the next immunity challenge, that they will almost certainly be forced to go to rocks after a deadlock tie.

Mogo Mogo
The tribe spend the morning speculating as to who they believe has been voted out of the Chapera tribe. The general consensus seems to be that Danni is the likely candidate, but others note that Ben or Isaiah may have been "turned on" by Holly, who is widely known to be at the bottom of her alliance.

Reward Challenge
Challenge: Rock Bottom

The nine castaways are playing individually instead of as two teams. They have to dive down to retrieve a pot. The player without a pot is eliminated. After three rounds, they are diving for a heavy crate in the final, and must take it to shore. Two players are booted in each of three preliminary rounds.

Reward: Overnight resort stay

Information: During round 1, Danni and William are eliminated. During round 2, Isaiah and Teddy are eliminated, after Teddy willingly lets Mina take the final pot, not wanting to fight a woman for it. During round 3, Mina and Sheamus are eliminated. For the final round, Adela struggles physically to move the heavy crate, with Abbas and Ben ultimately racing one another for the win. In the end, Ben surprises everyone by outperforming Abbas and winning the individual reward.

Winner: Ben (shared with Danni and Teddy)

Chapera
Isaiah returns to camp having been left out of the reward by his closest ally Ben, now knowing he'll spend the evening at camp alone. Isaiah strops around the camp, kicking sticks and throwing rocks in annoyance, cursing under his breath as he does so. He then writes large hate messages in the sand, laughing at his work once it's finished. He then spends the evening eating raw coconut, having failed to prepare any other food during his meltdown.

Mogo Mogo
The tribe return to camp, having been unsuccessful in the reward despite its individual nature. All five mull over the news that Holly was the latest person voted out of the game, wondering what it means for the dynamics of the new tribe.

Later on in the afternoon, Mina and William go off for another private walk, hoping to speak through their thoughts on the Chapera dynamics after Holly's surprise elimination.

Reward
Ben, Danni and Teddy are transported to the Panamanian spa where they'll be staying overnight, undergoing an array of luxury treatments, alongside a four dish spread. The three finish up their treatments, coming to rest around a table whilst each donning a white robe. Ben comes clean to the pair during their meal, stating that he chose them both to join him to prove how genuine his commitment to their new alliance is.

Chapera
Isaiah is laying inside the shelter upon the spa-goers' return to camp. All three greet him politely, but get very little in response. Ben immediately notes that Isaiah is feeling annoyed at having spent the night alone, wanting to rectify the relationship between them.

The Merge
The two tribes arrive at a meeting point, being separated onto their respective mats. Jeff informs them that the game is about to change once again, instructing them all to drop their buffs.

All nine contestants cheer and come together after drawing a brand new blue buff, gland to have all reached the merge for a second time in their Survivor career. Jeff lets the group know that they'll all now be living at Saboga beach where they'll need to start afresh, with all their previous rewards being left at their old camps. However, they are told that they'll be given basic supplies and a fishing spear to give them the ability to catch food.

Saboga Beach
Upon arriving at Saboga beach, the contestants are shocked to see how bare it truly is, spreading out to find remnants of the old camp scattered around the beach and jungle entrance. Abbas and Teddy walk together around the camp after arriving, congratulating one another on their impressive accomplishment. Teddy proposes that they watch each others back, which Abbas agrees is the best thing for them. Elsewhere, Mina and Danni work together on painting the tribe flag, trying to think of a name for the newly merged tribe. Nearby, Isaiah, Sheamus, William, Adela and Ben work on building the new shelter.

Adela and Ben go off together during the building of the shelter, hugging when out of sight of the other seven tribe members. Ben fills her in on throwing the challenge, which Adela is extremely grateful for. He goes on to explain the circumstances that led to Holly's elimination, as well as his plans to have a new six person alliance between Chapera-Saboga.

Adela admits that initially she was shocked at not being selected for the reward, before working out the strategy behind the decision. She tells Ben not to hold Isaiah to the same standard as her, as strategic thinking isn't his forte.

Later on, the tribe finish up on building their shelter, with Isaiah and Sheamus working together on the finishing touches. As they lay palm fronds down as roofing, Sheamus whispers to Isaiah, wanting to see whether his friendship with Isaiah will be of use now they've merged.

As the sun begins to set, Abbas, Mina and Danni sit together on the beach, having momentarily separated themselves from the rest of the tribe. The other six tribe members sit around the new shelter relaxing, taking no notice of the trio.

Day 24
In the early hours of day twenty-four, Adela and Isaiah go off together in order to collect firewood, talking through their feelings over the dissolving Chapera alliance.

Back at camp, Mina and William talk about the upcoming vote as they prepare some breakfast for the tribe. William continues giving vague answers as to where his loyalty will be, convincing Mina that the best move for both Mogo Mogo and Chapera may be to vote a Saboga player out, not wanting to sit back and see which side they go with. After serving the food, she goes off to one side with Sheamus, letting him know of her plan.

Abbas reads Tree Mail aloud to camp, letting them know that they'll now face their first individual immunity challenge. Everybody prepares to leave, knowing that in a matter of hours one of their games will come to an end.

Immunity Challenge
Challenge: Waiting to Exhale

This is a standard breath-holding contest with separate rounds for men and women, and thus, two immunity winners. In the final, the two finalists from each gender have to race to unclip buoys. This was based off the first individual Immunity Challenge in Survivor history.

Information: For the men, William, Isaiah and Ben are the first three elimination, unable to last more than a minute under the water. Sheamus eventually comes up seconds before Teddy, being the last person eliminated. For the women, Danni is the first to come up, panicking after twenty seconds under the water. In the final round, Teddy is unable to out-swim Abbas, losing the immunity challenge to the Africa Sole Survivor. For the women's final round, Adela storms ahead of Mina, winning the second necklace and safety until the final eight.

Winner: Abbas and Adela

Chaboga Mogo
The tribe returns to camp, with both Africa contestants wearing immunity necklaces which guarantee their safety. Soon after returning, Ben speaks with the Saboga members, hoping to find out if they'll be siding with himself, Adela and a still upset Isaiah. Teddy and Danni both assure Ben that they'll be siding with him, beginning a discussion over whether to vote Mina or Sheamus. However, William says he "likes both Mina and Sheamus", continuing to seem uncommitted to either side, much to Ben's annoyance. The Saboga trio then head off into the jungle, and are followed by Adela. Ben, Mina and Sheamus sit by the shelter as Abbas and Isaiah walk down the beach together. Mina begins mentioning the blatancy of Saboga's control, which Ben agrees is certainly "a shocking change" considering how bad the tribes start had been.

Ben seems initially surprised by the suggestion, but as the conversation continues slowly comes around to the idea that blindsiding William could be the best move for their games. Mina mentions how William and Danni had both given their words that they'd side with Mogo Mogo, to which Ben confirms that similar promises were also made by Teddy and Danni.

In the jungle, the Saboga trio and Adela talk through the vote, trying to determine who the best vote would be. Adela admits she's leaning towards Mina, believing her to be the strongest player in the Mogo Mogo tribe. Danni however says she'd only be comfortable initially voting for Sheamus, who she says will be a challenge threat moving forward.

Throughout the remainder of the day, frantic conversations take place between multiple castaways, trying to narrow down who the target should be going into tribal council. Sheamus speaks with Isaiah, telling him that the vote is for William, which Isaiah seems okay with. Adela and Ben panic over the decision, not sure if taking the risk to vote out William will be worth it if Teddy and Danni return to camp annoyed. However, Ben notes that if they don't, there's a chance that they're saving individuals who are keen to vote them out.

Ben later follows Adela's advice and tries to speak with Isaiah, explaining to him his decision at the reward and the strategy behind it. He apologises to Isaiah, falsifying a belief that he was wrong not to take him and Adela to the spa.

The final nine begin heading to tribal council, with last minute conversations taking up a bulk of the afternoon, and everyone without immunity nervous enough to take their belongings with them to tribal council. At tribal council, the newly merged Chaboga Mogo tribe sits down, talking about the complexities of a 3-3-3 original tribe split. Everyone is frank in admitting that the original tribes are likely where people's loyalties will remain, with the post-swap/dissolve tribal lines being a secondary factor, instead determining which two tribes will come together. Abbas mentions that being safe has never been so important, and that he's certain neither he or Adela want to know the paranoia the others are feeling. Mina mentions her concerns over the 'middle ground' players, highlighting the power they have over "six other people" in the game.

William agrees with Teddy, suggesting that turning on Saboga would be foolish due to the fact the three of them have "vastly different bonds" with the others in the tribe, meaning only one side will benefit from their vote off.

Sheamus is asked what criteria comes into play in the first merged vote during an All-Star season. He claims that for him it is mostly about trust, as any other factors are irrelevant until a clear majority has been established.

Sheamus and William sit nervously as they await the last vote to be read, both surprised to see the final vote will not be a predictable 6-3 result.

Sheamus keeps a brave face as his torch is snuffed, disappointed that his game has come to an end, but pleased to have at least reached the jury, giving him a say in which of the remaining eight will win the game. The Chaboga Mogo tribe head back to camp, with the 'clear majority' remaining unclear, although a minority of Abbas and Mina being in everyone's minds.