Okay, everyone, I'd like to thank you all for reading and for all the support you've left me. I had a blast writing Uber, it's easily one of my favorites, and I considering it probably my best work to date.
As usual, morality was a big theme for this work, although, unlike my previous works like Stranded which bore the message of "Everyone is flawed, just to different degrees," with this one I was focus more on just a general theme of reality. Some people are nice, some people are rude, but there's no direct 'Good or Evil.' When I picked Roquette and Nile as winners, I knew that was the theme I wanted to run with. While typically you could say that Nile was the hero, and Roquette was the villain, I did try to avoid using those terms when I could. The way I see it, if you wanted to root for Roquette, there should be no reason not too. She was mean at times, but she was far from evil and was playing the game like everyone else. At the same time, I didn't want Nile to fall into the trap of 'bland hero.' I didn't want him to just be Mr. Good Guy. I wanted to give him flaws as well and have him grow. Starting out, I feel like he was right on the border, as a nice guy, but playing a cold game. In the end, he lightened up and improved himself, even at the risk of his own game.
Doing a 'Vote for the Winner' format I knew would be a bit of a risky choice, but Uber I felt was the one season where I could pull it off, so I went for it. Both Roquette and Nile deserved to win if you asked me, and it was proven by the vote. While Nile did take a strong lead by the end, with the vote being 26-13 in his favor, Roquette still got a sizeable amount of the vote, and there were times when it was tied. But regardless, either winning would work just fine with the theme of the seasons, which is why I went with it.
So, what does the future hold? Well, I still haven't forgotten about Strandarama or Exploration and I plan to steadily keep working on them. At the same time, though, I really would like to get started on both my All-Star Season and the sequel to Uber. So, maybe after I spend a little more time on the other two, I'll get those two rolling. And please, let me know if you have a preference, I always like hearing what you guys like best.
For all those who voted for Roquette, here's your alternate ending:
Both finalists were stumbling from side to side now. Roquette, as she tried to remove the bucket from her head, and Nile, as he tried to recover from the blow to his head. Roquette finally managed to get the bucket off and spotted Nile.
"Nowhere to run now!" she exclaimed.
Nile shook himself out just in time to see Roquette charging at him.
"Uh-oh," he exclaimed.
The two were just about to collide. The camera zoomed out to just show their silhouettes as the two finalists clashed. One tumbled over the edge while the other stayed on triumphantly.
"We have a winner!" Chris exclaimed, "Congratulations…"
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"ROQUETTE!"
The camera zoomed in to show that Roquette had hit Nile point blank. The boy had stumbled backwards and plummeted down. Luckily, Chris was telling the truth about the net, and he was caught in midair.
"You did it, Roquette!" Nathaniel cheered.
Then the audience burst into applause.
"I did...didn't I?" Roquette said in shock. "I really did!"
With that she threw her hat into the air victoriously.
"Roquette, you have accomplished the task that no one else here could," Chris said. "You defeated and outlasted 23 of your opponents and rose to claim the title of winner of Uber Drama Island. The fame and fortune are yours for the taking."
"This has been a journey, no question about it," Roquette said breathless. "But I finally reached the end and it feels great!"
"Nile," Chris said as he turned to the boy who was hanging in the net, "you also gave it your all, and did what it took to always last one day longer. But this is where your story ends. Second place."
"It's cool, Chris," Nile replied. "Winning would be awesome, but this experience was more than fulfilling for me."
"Now, this calls for a celebration," Trent exclaimed.
"That's right," Lindsay said. "We're going back to the Playa to party!"
"You're all invited for one last get together," Courtney said.
"So let's go and enjoy ourselves," DJ said.
Confessional:
Roquette-I still can't believe this is happening. I actually accomplished exactly what I set out to do here. I fought hard every single time I was in trouble, and I kept that spirit up right to the end. Now it's all paid off for me. I had a target on my back from day one, but no one could get me out, and now I'm the winner.
Nile-Yeah, losing sucks, but when you consider that I'm still second out of 24 I feel pretty good. I accomplished a lot out here, and I grew as a person. I think all that is worth way more than the million dollars.
(Playa Des Losers)
Everyone had returned to the resort and was enjoying themselves. Nile and Roquette stood at the head of the room.
"You earned that win, you know," Nile said. "I don't think I've ever met someone with as much fire as you have."
"That's me," Roquette replied. "But don't see yourself short. You got second place and put up quite the fight as well. For a second I almost thought that I would be stuck with runnerup."
"Just for a second?" Nile asked.
"What can I say? I'm always aiming high," Roquette replied.
"Why hello there, Ms. Winner," Nathaniel said as he tapped Roquette on the shoulder.
"Hey, sexy," Roquette replied as she embraced him.
"You did great," Nathaniel replied. "I'm so glad you won."
"Hoping to get your share of the money?" Roquette replied teasingly.
"You know, I don't even care about that," Nathaniel replied. "I'm just glad that my girl won it all. You made me proud."
"You're so sweet," Roquette replied.
"I mean every word," Nathaniel said before he kissed her.
Meanwhile, Nile had turned around to find Linda waiting for him.
"Don't worry, Nile, you did the best that you could and I'm so happy for you," Linda said as she hugged him tightly.
"Sorry I couldn't make it that final step," Nile said, "but that doesn't even matter to me. You're the best prize a guy could ask for."
"Oooh, I'm so glad we got to meet," Linda said. "It's made this whole summer from something wonderful into something magical."
"I couldn't agree more," Nile said. "Now let's just enjoy the night."
(etc...with various conversations replacing the 'Nile' with Roquette in conversations.)
Thanks for reading, all ^_^ I love all of you for reading from start to finish, and I hope to see you again for whatever my next big project is.