Tenchi Survivor
Day 17
Authors note: First off, if you did not like the last chapter, I apologize. I asked a few people what they wanted to see in a fic, and the most common was the Umbrella Corporation showing up. Though it did not fall true to the whole storyline, seeming almost off topic, it did feel pretty good seeing some blood in there. Either way, stay tuned kids, these are the Final Days.
The air smelled good this morning. It smelled of wet jungle, coconuts, flowers, clear ocean water and the most beautiful of all, fear.
Jose knew they were scared. It was closing in on the last days of the final two survivors, and within 24 hours, there would be only two people left. Then the REAL fun would begin.
Jose rubbed his eyes and stepped out of his house into the sand, coffee in hand (I'm a poet and I didn't even know it.).
It was indeed a very nice morning. The sun was shining off of the topaz colored water, birds darting in and around the trees, rows and rows of Molotov cocktails glistening in the sun, whiteboard on Jose's door with less than appropriate claims, more rows of Molotov Cocktails glistening in the-
What? White Board?
Jose turned around and read the posted promise out loud.
"A(beep)al sex and cake. Apply within.' Funny, I don't remember writing that.' Jose mused 'In fact, I think someone else put that there. This infuriates me.'
Jose put his extra large mug of coffee in the sand and walked his robe-clad body inside, shutting the door behind him.
He emerged again a few seconds later wearing a pair of worn sneakers, tan cargo shorts, a t-shirt with the characters 'B4K4^2' on it and a black hat with a radioactivity symbol on it. Jose flipped on a pair of red sunglasses.
'Groovy.' He said as he took the white board and headed off down the path.
Mid stride, Jose did and about-face and went back to get his coffee.
Content with his potable caffeine fix, Jose once again headed off down the path toward the survivors camp.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'And I say it can't be done.' Ryoko said.
'You are wrong girl.' Katsuhito said 'I know for a fact it can't be done.'
'I don't know.' Mihoshi added 'It sounds kind of impossible.'
'Here comes Jose. We'll ask him.'
Jose walked into the campsite and saw the survivors congregating by the water. Stowing the board under his shirt, Jose walked over.
'What's going on over here ya'll?' Jose asked.
'Katsuhito here says he can peg that marker 100 yards out in the water with a rock.' Mihoshi explained.
'THIS is what you do for entertainment?' Jose asked.
'There's not much else.' Ryoko admitted.
'I'm sure it can be done.' Katsuhito said 'but they don't want me to even try it and 'embarrass myself'.'
Jose picked up a rock off of the beach.
'If I hit that marker, will you all comply with today's immunity challenge?' Jose asked.
Ryoko and Mihoshi were quick to respond.
'What about you?' Jose asked Katsuhito.
'Well, considering that if any of us refuse to move, less you tazer us in the ass, I have no choice. I'll go quietly.'
'That's what I like hearing.' Jose said. Bringing his arm behind him like an MLB player, Jose took aim. Being the 'jeanyus' he is, Jose calculated the wind speed. None.
Jose flung his arm forward and let rock fly.
The rock flew in a perfect arc toward the marker.
Jose watched on happily as the survivors viewed this spectacle skeptically.
The rock pinged off of the top of the marker, and it exploded in a fireball that tossed water into the air.
'What the hell was that?' Jose yelled.
'See?' Katsuhito said to the girls 'You CAN trigger a Russian mine by hitting it with a rock.'
'I stand corrected.' Ryoko said.
'I'll never question your wisdom again.' Mihoshi said 'and for the record, I stand on my legs.'
'That was Russian?' Jose asked 'How long has it been there?'
The survivors looked around. It's not like any of THEM had panted it there.
'Ah, it doesn't matter.' Jose said 'I'm not going swimming any time soon anyway. Now come with me. I have quite the idea for an immunity challenge today.'
'Normally I'd have a bad feeling about this,' Katsuhito said 'But I'm getting nothing but good Karma.'
'This wont be good at all.' Mihoshi said.
'Probably not.' Ryoko agreed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She watched the 5 of them (five counting Jose and the cameraman) walk through her jungle. Oh sure, she had allowed Jose to use this place she called home, but he never mentioned anything about forest fires or Umbrella agents in the report.
She had been sitting around 'paying' Jose off every now and again since he had gotten here. But he seemed different the past few times she ran into him.
Today she was going to have a long, long talk with that boy. Sure, he was no Gerrard, but he would do nicely.
Touching her short Dragon Sword to make sure it was still there, her feline paws pushed off the tree and she silently jumped from tree to tree above Jose's head.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Are we there yet?' Mihoshi whined.
'Yes.' Jose said 'Now get out and walk.'
'Finally!' Mihoshi said as she kept walking.
'Where exactly are you cowing us?' Ryoko asked.
'You'll see in due time.' Jose said 'in due time.'
Ryoko grumbled something and they kept walking along.
The path had given out about half an hour ago. It lead directly into an area of the island the survivors had not seen as of yet.
Outside of the path they were no longer on, the jungle was the same, save a few small grassy fields that opened off from the tree line.
It was getting muggy out. The air was heavy with the smell of tropical flowers. More than once, the survivors had passed spring fed grottos that hosted a plethora of small animals and flowers.
'It's so nice out here.' Mihoshi said as she looked around 'What part of the island is this?'
'This is the northern most tip of the island you are staying on. None of you have made it this far north yet, as I have made sure of that.'
The area Jose stopped in was occupied by a coconut grove a couple feet away. They, as well as palm trees, were lined up in very exact rows. It was fairly open ground, aside from the fact it was horrible overgrown with palm grass.
'What, are we mowing your lawn?' Ryoko asked sarcastically.
'Keep it up and you will be. With scissors.' Jose said.
'That would take a while.' Mihoshi observed.
'That's why she's the blond.' Katsuhito said 'Slow to understand, quick to point out the bleeding obvious.'
'My cat's breath smells like cat food.' Mihoshi happily retorted.
'A few days more.' Jose told himself 'just a few days.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The group continued to walk for another 30 minutes after a member of the group asked about grass cutting.
Once or twice Jose had snuck a flask out of his pocket and taken a few drags from it.
That was her boy. Quick to defend himself and faster to bargain his way out of a mess. Or try to. He was also fast to make a mess and blame someone else. Every evil producer was.
The trees were getting more and more spaced apart. This was unfortunate because that meant she would soon have to take to the ground.
Perching on another branch, she watched Jose and his survivors continue down the path, not aware she was watching them.
Extending her claws, she stretched out, claws digging small furrows into the tree bark.
Her tail twitched and she was off again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Alright, where are we?' Ryoko asked when Jose stopped them at a rocky cliff that overlooked the ocean.
'Not to worry.' Jose said 'This is where we are going to start from.'
The survivors looked around. Aside from the black shale rock that moved inland from the ledge and was visible for about 4 feet in, it was mostly rough patches of grass sprouting up from loose sand. Not he greenest place on the island, but it had a nice view.
'What in the world are we doing here?' Katsuhito asked out loud 'Is this going to be another survival game?'
'Not exactly.' Jose said 'The original plan was to give each of you a mine detector, mark the mines and run across the field afterwards.'
'But you ran short on mines, right?' Mihoshi asked.
'Hells no.' Jose laughed 'I have MORE than enough mines hidden away. The only problem was finding a real working mine detector. Since most are obsolete, I'd have to resort to bayonets. And probing for mines with bayonets is just not cool.'
'I guess we're allowed to be somewhat fortunate then.' Katsuhito said.
'Only a little.' Jose replied. He turned to face the plain they were standing on the edge of. 'Well, who's ready to find out what the real challenge is?'
None of the survivors said anything.
'That's what I though' Jose said 'so here's the rules. Within an area of this northern tip, I have dropped something very valuable to me. Your job is to find it and bring it here to me. First contestant to find it and hand it to me, gets immunity tomorrow.'
'This could pose as a challenge.' Mihoshi said.
'To make things a bit harder, it's within a mile of searchable land you'll be looking in. To top it off, this portion of the island has been visited before by people, so you might see signs of civilization, but don't get excited. U Boats patrol the coast, sinking ships that venture to close.'
'So why haven't we seen any other crap on the island?' Ryoko asked.
'There's an energy field that locks off the rest of the island. Once you survivors set foot on the island, the field was activated. You don't see it until you run into it. It's kind of like a glass wall that gives you a bolt of lightning.'
'No way.' Katsuhito said 'We didn't run into any walls on our way out here.'
'Your very brainless.' Jose said 'and I don't like that. Look at you ankles.'
The survivors checked their feet.
'Shiny!' Mihoshi cheered.
'What in blazes are these?' Ryoko asked as she prodded it with her finger.
That is a band that grants you access through the wall without being zapped real good.' Jose said 'If you were not wearing it, you would have been zapped for every wall that you passed through.'
'How many walls are there?' Mihoshi asked.
'500 yards out from every beach and one long one that runs across the island.' Jose explained 'so pretty much, if you were able to make it to a boat today before you were shot, you could make it off the island by passing through the walls.'
The survivors laughed lightly.
'Why are you still here?' Jose asked them 'get going! Your wasting time.'
The survivor's stutter stepped in different directions and too off to scour the square mile of land for Jose's lost item.
Jose pulled a lawn chair out from under a rock and laid back.
'Do you think they'll find what they are looking for?' The cameraman asked.
'Oh, I don't doubt it. But I'm still wondering who will bring it back to me.'
Jose pulled a radio out from under the chair and attempted to tune it.
'Why don't you follow them and find out what's going on.' Jose offered 'If the audience doesn't know, they don't care.'
That said, the cameraman took off.
Jose found the station he was looking for and kicked back. It was good being evil. Real good.
'OK, welcome back to Chatter Box.' A familiar voice said 'Today's special guest it Reed Tucker, author of the book 'Karate and Digestion. Welcome to the show Reed.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The group of survivors had been dismissed from Jose's presence. The cameraman tried to stay around the new base of operations, but he too had been sent out to tail the survivors and keep tabs on their doings.
It was probably for the better. It was always better for business to be done in private anyways.
She crawled through the grass, keeping as low as she could.
Jose was relaxing on a lawn chair, listening to some guy claim he could 'chop a bus in half' and 'rip a phone book in half with his bare toes'.
Those humans and their forms of entertainment. She never did understand it.
Unhooking her Dragon Sword, she slowly made her way toward Jose.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The radio next to Jose continued on with the debate between Lazlow and Reed Tucker.
'In fact, LAZLOW, I could chop this desk into two half desks.'
'Oh god,' Jose said 'this will be good.'
'This desk is made of two inch composite wood. It's has three drawers and a mahogany venire finish and knowing this station it cost a hundred dollars.' The host said.
Jose thought he heard something move behind him. He looked left and right and saw nothing. Jose relaxed again.
'In his own words, ' Lazlow continued 'Reed is about to smash it into two half desks. Take it away Reed.'
'Ladies and gentlemen,' Reed said calmly 'I have already visualized this dies into two half desks, and now, I will make it so.'
Jose turned up the volume a little.
'Dragon Stance' Reed sighed. 'Hi-Yaah!'
There was a loud thud and a band-sounding crunch. Jose began to laugh.
'Ow! Oh-h-h.' Reed whined 'Oh, Lazlow, I-I hurt my hand, and my pinkie's all bent the wrong way.'
Jose heard it again. He sat up and looked around. There was defiantly something out there. Jose looked over the ground slowly.
'What the hell is that?' Jose asked himself 'Who's out there?'
No one answered. Jose nervously sat back in his chair and cracked open a can of Mountain Dew.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ryoko poked around a small bush. Already she had spotted and collected a load of things. But probably nothing Jose was looking for. But she kept them all the same.
Katsuhito walked over to Ryoko, coming from his end of the search.
'Hey girl. Any luck yet?'
'Nothing yet.' Ryoko said easily 'I have NO idea what I'm looking for, but I don't think I have it yet.'
'What do you have so far?' Katsuhito asked as he dug into his own pockets.
Ryoko looked over the pile she had collected.
'A 100 dollar poker chip, an empty can of beer, a computer mouse, some Legos, a broken bottle and some loose change.'
Katsuhito shrugged.
'Well, considering we don't know what he's looking for, I've got a lot of things.' HE began to pull things out of his pocket 'Bottle cap, a FULL can of beer-I'm sorry, it's empty now. Cigar, baseball, single Magic card, deck of casino cards, empty animal cracker box, a Yankees hat and some loose Bermuda money.'
Ryoko continued to poke around.
This was crazy. Looking for god knows what on this big piece of land. It would take either a genius to find this or a dumb bl-
'I got it! I got it!' Mihoshi shouted as she ran past Ryoko and Katsuhito.
Both of the survivors took a second to decipher just what the hell happened.
'Crap!' Ryoko proclaimed 'We have to stop her!'
'Why?' Katsuhito asked as they both ran after her.
'It's either her or one of us that gets the immunity. Take her down and run it!' Ryoko yelled back.
Katsuhito, finding that logical, sped up.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Keeping low to the ground, she crept forward on her four paws.
Jose kept on listening to the radio.
Once or twice, Jose had turned around due to too much noise she was making. She had to be more quiet of Jose would take off.
Jose shifted in his chair, causing the cat warrior to stop in mid stalk.
Jose stretched and placed an empty can of Mountain Dew on the ground. He had damn well not leave that there when he left.
She crept closer, almost in striking range.
The radio announced something about Liberty City Survivor, some kind of Jose and WisconsinMetal Crossover.
Those humans and their entertainment.
Problems arose quickly when someone came running up the path. Not just one person, but two more followed by the cameraman.
Thinking it better not to be seen, she turned and ducked into the nearby foliage to await her next chance at Jose.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Jose! Jose!' Mihoshi yelled as she ran up to him.
'How good that sounds.' Jose thought to himself, perverted grin on his face.
'I think I found it!' she finished.
'What?' Jose said as he sat up.
'Damn it.' Katsuhito cursed out of breath 'too slow.'
'What would we have done if we DID catch her?' Ryoko asked.
'Tied her up, taken the item and left her for Jose.' Katsuhito answered.
'Sounds like a plan to me.' Ryoko admitted.
'What have you got for me?' Jose asked.
'I think it's JUST what you're looking for.'
Jose looked at her skeptically.
'What do you think it is?' Ryoko asked quietly.
'I think the question here is 'where did she put it?"
Mihoshi fumbled through her pockets searching for the item she picked up. Scouring all of her pockets, she was about to give up until she looked at her left hand.
Indeed, she was holding onto it the whole time.
It was a small, thin plastic box with a colorful image on the front and some writing and smaller pictures on the back. Mihoshi forked it over.
Jose took the box, opened it and inspected it.
Jose held the box up over his head. The title was 'Hentai Hentai Hentai' and with it was quite the explicit picture on the front.
'This,' Jose said 'is NOT what I was looking for.'
Mihoshi slumped in posture a little.
'Though I will keep it. I'm always looking for more DVD's.'
Ryoko and Katsuhito perked up a little of the call to failure on that one item. It was still out there.
'Keep going.' Jose said 'I'm not leaving until you find this thing.'
The survivors hurried off, as did the cameraman.
Jose kicked back again, unaware that the stalker was right behind him, blade drawn.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Where exactly did you find that movie?' Ryoko asked on the trek back.
'It was just lying in the middle of a field next to a gopher hole.' Mihoshi said 'I was not aware that gophers LIKED that kind of stuff.'
'They don't.' Katsuhito tossed in 'It was just dropped there by some idiot.'
'Oh.' Mihoshi said.
The survivors walked along a ledge that overlooked the ocean.
'I'm going to check down by the water.' Katsuhito announced.' It's a good a place as any to look.' With that, he began to descend the rock face.
'Right.' Ryoko said as Katsuhito left her and Mihoshi alone 'Looks like it's you and me blondie.'
'Not me.' Mihoshi said 'I've got to go look for this thing. You can drink alone.'
Mihoshi walked off into the jungle scrub.
'Damn Island.' Ryoko grumbled 'I hate this place. Why did I ever agree to this?' Ryoko picked up a rock and chucked it into the ocean.
It made a small impact, but Ryoko was still not satisfied. She reached down to pick up another, but stopped when she saw a faded gold chain protruding out from under a rock.
Pushing the rock aside, she lifted the chain to analyze it.
It was a small amulet that depicted crown centered on a rough edged piece of metal. Above the crown, a crescent moon facing down. And something that looked like a valley below it. Dusting it off, she saw that it was gold plated.
Ryoko looked it over then stuffed it into her pocket, along with the rest of the collected items.
Ryoko walked over to the edge of the cliff and looked for Katsuhito.
He was down poking among the rocks, looking for anything Jose might have lost. At one point, Katsuhito reached down for something, but his hair stood straight up and he visibly clenched his teeth.
Ryoko cocked her head in wonder.
Katsuhito then proceeded to run down the rocky beach with a very angry crab attached to his finger.
Ryoko snickered at Katsuhito's misfortune.
'Ow!' Katsuhito yelled ' I hate crabs! My god, it's Washu's anger and hatred incarnate!'
Katsuhito managed to throw the crab off of him. It landed on the sand and raised its claws in defense.
Katsuhito mimicked its movie, standing on one leg and raising both hands. The perfect Crane Stance.
They both jumped at the same time and began to beat the crap out of each other.
Ryoko shook her head and kicked another rock down the dusty cliff.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Not a pimp little man, a savior.'
Jose was nowhere close to hear it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Mihoshi poker her head further into the cave. It had been going deeper for the past 10 minutes. The further in she went, the damper it got.
She had found the cave when she moved a few vines and small scrub brush out of the way.
Above the entrance was what looked like a carved face of a dragon. The mouth of the cave, keeping true to what it looked like, was lined with jagged rocks. Mihoshi had to carefully pick her way though the teeth, once wedging one of her sandals between the 'teeth' and almost losing it.
Mihoshi took another step and something beneath her foot crunched.
'Indy, I step on fortune cookie.' Was all that flashed through her mind.
She shuddered with the thought of bugs not caring how nice her tanned skin looked, but the fact it probably tasted better than what they were eating.
What a crummy job this was. Scour a mile of land for something that could be anything.
It was really dark in the cave now. From the entrance about 200 feet back, the curves and turns of the tunnel did not allow any light this far in. Something ahead sounded like static.
Whack!
Mihoshi ran into a low hanging rock. Seeing stars, she clutched at her head.
Something wet was running down the side of her face. Blood?
She could not tell.
Continuing for ward and still holding her head, Mihoshi walked on.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Damn crabs.' Katsuhito uttered as he obliterated the offending creature with a rock.
It had taken quite a while for Katsuhito to convince the crab to let go of his finger. Once it had, it was quite a bout between both of them. But in the end, Katsuhito was the victor.
Bandaging his finger, Katsuhito looked around for anything valuable.
This was crazy. Search a whole block of land for something that could be anything. For all Katsuhito knew, it could be the rock he was standing on.
Jose had damn well better appreciate him dragging this and the rest of this crap back to him.
Katsuhito got a firm hold on the rock and hauled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ryoko began her trek back to Jose. There was no need to hurry, so she took her time.
The charm itself was odd (she had to pull it back out to look at it again). It was like a forgotten dream. Something she had seen before.
Ah, that was crazy. Ryoko had never been here in her whole life. It was probably just something else triggered by the smell of all those flowers around here.
Flowers? She had not seen those when she came past here.
'Crap.' She said 'did I get turned around?'
There were no paths this far out on the island. None of the grass was worn down to footsteps, no trees cut or markers on any of them. Worst-case scenario 1, lost in the jungle.
'I'm lost.' Ryoko said 'Perfect. Just perfect.' She looked around, not recognizing any of her surroundings. 'Grr, this pisses me off.' She grumbled 'I swear to god, as soon as I get out of here-'
Something that sounded like a cat screeching interrupted her thoughts. Whatever it was, it sounded like it was in the middle of killing something. Killing? Why not? What else would a jungle cat be doing?
Ryoko suddenly got a little worried. Not for her safety, but that of the other survivors. And maybe a LITTLE for Jose. Nah. Not for Jose.
Ryoko determined that it came from her left and headed off in that direction.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The sounds of static intensified as Mihoshi continued down the cave path. The light was steadily getting better as well.
This had the potential to be a rewarding trip after all.
The tunnel opened up into a very well lit cavern. Mihoshi stood on one end of it, and on the other end was a wide window-like hole that showed the back of a waterfall.
That did indeed explain the static sound.
At the bottom of the 'window', some of the falling water was caught and diverted into a pool that had formed after a good thousand or more years.
The cave itself smelled of mold and wet leaves. The rocks were cold and damp from the fine mist that filtered in from the cascading water.
'This wasn't on any of the maps.' Mihoshi said as she marveled at her surroundings.
She began walking toward the waterfall, but stopped when she kicked something that made a reverberated clanking sound.
'What the crap?' she said as she picked up a faded metallic helmet.
The helmet had two bullhorns on each side of the head, and a nose protector came down about an inch from between the eyes. It was quite the faded piece of work.
'I'll bet Jose is looking for this.' She said to no one. 'I'm going to bring this back to him.'
Mihoshi sidestepped through the waterfall, helmet in hand, and found herself in a familiar area they had passed earlier.
'If this island has a lot of shortcuts like this,' Mihoshi reasoned 'this might be easier than I though.'
Back on a familiar path, Mihoshi began her trek back toward Jose.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'There's nothing valuable down here!' Katsuhito yelled from the beach.
He had been looking around forever and had still yet to find anything that Jose might have lost.
Katsuhito had paid the price for playing along. Crabs, seagulls, penguins from some reason, and some kind of Vizzadrix had attacked him.
God did this island suck.
Katsuhito came across a small sand dune. On it there were a few small bushes, complete with berries growing on them.
'Well, I AM hungry.' He remembered.
He walked over to the bush and inspected the berries. They were small and had the same color of blueberries. They smelled strangely of cheap candles. He pulled one off.
'I freakin' hate this island.' Katsuhito reminded himself as he threw the berry into the sand.
Something under the tree caught his eye.
Katsuhito leaned closer to get a better look.
It was a small, thin box that had a green case. It had a plastic covering to it with a white cover on the front that depicted two people. In bold letters, the title read 'Max Payne 2. Fall Of Max Payne'.
It was an unopened X-Box game.
'As good a guess as any.' Katsuhito said as he picked it up.
He dusted it off and shook it lightly. HE determined that the CD was in there. Stowing the box in his pocket, Katsuhito turned and headed to the cliff he would have to scale in order to get back to Jose.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The radio was still on when Jose came back. Janice was talking about how hard it was being a parent, and how video games were 'warping our kids minds.' What a load of crap.
Jose dabbed at his face where the blade had bit shallowly. Damn, it was like the whole Mafia rolled into one Cat Warrior.
Jose had defiantly done more than enough to piss her off, and he had paid the price in full.
Oh well, no harm no foul.
Jose sat back down on the chair and ran thought his mind what had just happened. Shape up or she would be back was the lesson.
Jose would have to watch his back. Jose attempted to. Shallow claw marks ran up and down the entirety of his back, matching the other scars of the same sort.
It was well worth it though.
Jose turned form the radio as someone came walking up the path. He sat back and awaited more failure.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Mihoshi walked up the path to where Jose set up his command post.
He was sitting in the chair he brought and the radio was still playing. Well, not really playing but talking. Who would listen to a boring talk show?
Mihoshi shifted the helmet in her hands. It was a fairly heavy artifact. With any luck, this is what Jose was looking for.
What have you got?' Jose asked from his reclined position.
'Just another something I've found.' Mihoshi replied 'Hopefully what you were looking for.'
'Well let's take a look.' Jose said 'pass it over.'
Mihoshi walked over to where Jose was reclined, and managed to trip on her own shadow. Catching her balance, but not the helmet, she fumbled with it a second, only to have it land with all of it's weight right in Jose's lap.
Jose sat straight up.
'Sorry.' Mihoshi said with all sincerity.
'It's alright.' Jose said, voice higher than normal 'I'll be fine.'
Jose shook his head clear and examined the helmet.
'He almost looks smart.' Mihoshi though.
Jose adjusted his glasses (the ones that drive the girls crazy) and continued to look it over. He pulled a cloth out of his pocket and began to buff the headpiece, bringing forth a forgotten shine that reflected the sun.
'Any idea what it is?' Mihoshi asked impatiently.
Jose held up his hand for silence as he inspected another side of the helmet. Reaching under his chair, Jose pulled out a thick book that was bound in faded green leather. He opened it up to the middle and thumbed through a few pages.
Mihoshi looked at the cover. It was a pressed title painted in gold block letters. Under the title, there was a printed Swastika on its end. The title was written in German.
''Lost Treasures Of The Third Reich.' Mihoshi read 'what did I find?'
Jose had stopped on a page and read the passage. It was a small paragraph under a picture of the exact same helmet. Jose closed the book and put it back under his chair.
'According to this book,' Jose started 'this helmet is a labeled missing German relic from WWII. It was originally out of Castle Wolfenstein, but it was lost in 1943. I guess someone either went in on a mission and stole it or the German army hid it here and never told anyone. It says that it's worth a fortune, but if anyone besides a descendant of it's rightful owner returns it, said person gets a hefty fine and quite the amount of jail time.'
'Which are both far from good.' Mihoshi pointed out.
'No, it's no.' Jose agreed 'but this is NOT what I'm looking for.' That said, Jose put the helmet in a bag he had next to him.
'I thought you weren't looking for that.' Mihoshi said, referring to the fact Jose just added it to his collection.
'Oh, I'm not looking for it, I'm adding it to the rest of my collection.'
'Oh, ok.' Mihoshi said 'So are we waiting here for the other two to come back?'
'That's probably the best idea.' Jose said 'Just sit tight and we'll finish this as soon as the others get back.'
It did not take too long for the next survivor to come running up the path. It was Katsuhito.
He ran past Mihoshi who was sitting on the ground, and skidded to a halt next to Jose. Since he skidded on the dirt-covered ground, he sent up a cloud of dust that settled on Jose.
'Thanks.' Jose said as he spit out the grit that was in his mouth.
'I think I've got it!' Katsuhito said 'out of all the things I've seen and picked up today, this is most defiantly on the top of the list.'
Jose rolled his eyes.
'Ok, let's take a look.'
Katsuhito dug into his pocket and pulled out the box he found. He looked it over one more time and handed it to Jose.
'What's this?' Jose asked as he took the box and looked it over. 'Cool.' Jose said happily 'one of the first copies of Max Payne 2! I'll be sure to keep this around for a while.' Jose stashed it in the same bag the helmet went in and leaned back again, awaiting the last survivor.
'Um,' Katsuhito said after a minute of silence 'Is- is that what you were looking for?'
'What? The game?' Jose asked 'No, I'm looking for something else. But I'll keep this all the same.'
'What?' Katsuhito asked 'But I-'
Jose leaned back again and closed his eyes.
Katsuhito stormed off to find a place to sit and wait. He found one near Mihoshi, who had begun to set up a small ring for her First Annual Ant Wrastlin' Special.
'And in this corner,' Mihoshi said, pointing to a corner of the ring 'The challenger, Mandible Mike!' she placed a red and down, opposite from a black one.
'You worry me.' Katsuhito said to her.
'Oh no!' Mihoshi yelled with enthusiasm 'Mandible Mike had bitten the champs head off! And the crowd is not happy.' Hundreds of black and red ants swarmed the ring. The warring nations went to work over the battle between two of them.
Katsuhito only shook his head.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After a few hours, Ryoko came walking up the path both Mihoshi and Katsuhito had taken. The ant battle had been over for close to 45 minutes, and Mihoshi aided in moving the wounded and the dead.
Katsuhito had managed to find a book in his robe and had been reading that for some time. He looked up on occasion to see Mihoshi playing God above the war.
Ryoko walked up to Jose, not bothering to announce she was there. Jose only looked up because she stepped into his direct sunlight.
'Well now I'll HAVE to see what you brought me.' Jose said with a sigh.
Ryoko emptied her pockets of rocks, bottle caps, shells, sand and other oddly assorted things.
Jose began to poke through them, not seeming too impressed.
Katsuhito walked over to observe the goings on.
'So what took you so long?' He asked.
'You would not believe me if I told you.' Ryoko answered.
'Try me.' Katsuhito pressed.
'Ok then. I was walking up this path, and I notice that there are no sounds aside from me walking. NO birds, no small animals, nothing. Just the wind. I keep walking, and then I suddenly get hit by this HORRIBLE smell.'
'What was it?' Mihoshi asked from the battlefield.
'I keep walking, and all of a sudden, these two things step out in front of me.'
'Well what did they look like?' Katsuhito asked impatiently.
'They looked kind of like big fat dogs, only the size of a bear and a lot more hairy. They had pointy teeth and red eyes- come to think of it, they looked more like big rats.'
'What did they do?' Mihoshi asked.
'They demanded I give them the 'crest', lest I want to be baked into a quiche.'
Jose looked up from the pile he was digging through. Jose sorted through the stuff faster. It might have been in there.
Ryoko went on to tell about how they came to argue about eating her, baked or not, and they stalled so long that Ryoko had enough time to blast them off of the island.
Jose continued to sort through the pile, hoping what he was looking for was in this pile. With any luck, Ryoko would have found the crest.
Jose stood up and kicked the pile of assorted stuffs. It flew in a few different directions, causing the survivors to look at him.
'Ryoko,' Jose said as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead 'did you find anything else? Anything at all?'
Ryoko thought for a second and then reached behind her neck. She screwed around with something, and then collected it in both hands. Shifting it to one hand, she held her fist out to Jose who held his hands open beneath it.
She opened her hand and a small chain fell out and dangled just above Jose's palm. She lowered it to pile neatly in Jose's hand. The metal was still cold.
The chain stopped, attached to whatever was bonded to it. She opened her fist completely and a small gold medallion landed on the piled chain.
As soon as it hit Jose's hand, he lifted the medallion up to inspect it.
The bauble spun slowly in the wind. Jose touched it to make it stop spinning. One side of the medallion depicted a type of crown, a moon and a valley. The other side had some type of writing on it. It was basically an off centered piece of metal. Jose's piece of off centered metal.
'Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.' Jose said 'Ryoko has found the lost crest, and therefore moves onto the final round.'
'Aw, nuts.' Katsuhito said.
'Not to worry.' Mihoshi said 'There's always a chance tomorrow that you wont be eliminated.'
Katsuhito looked over to her.
'You don't seem to be too worried that by this time tomorrow you might be banished. Not to mention that you'll be going against me.'
'Good point.' Mihoshi replied 'then I'll be sure to win.'
Jose walked over to the three-person group. Oh, it had been bigger at one time, but after the third person got booted off, the pressure had to be put on. Now, with only two contending guests tomorrow, this is where the push would come from.
'Knock it off you two.' Jose said 'there will be enough time for threatening one another later. Right now, we have to be moving on.'
'So what happens to us tomorrow?' Mihoshi asked.
'Tomorrow we have our final Banishment challenge before we have our Ultimate one.'
'Ultimate Challenge?' Ryoko echoed 'Dare I ask what I have gotten myself into?'
'Dare! Dare!' Katsuhito cheered.
'The Ultimate Challenge is a challenge that pits two survivors against one another, using all of the skills they learned from previous banishment challenges, to come out victorious over the other survivor.'
'I likes the sound of that.' Katsuhito said.
'If you get that far.' Jose said 'Now let's get out of here.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
From the tree she crouched in, she watched Jose lead his survivors out of the area in which they played their game.
Oh, that Jose was quite the ticket. Quite different when faced with certain obstacles. Quite the ticket indeed.
Jose moved out of the marked area and back into the protected area. Jose reactivated all of the bands on the survivor's ankles.
Crazy humans. They did not even notice them from the beginning of the game. They were tagged while they slept the night before the game started. Those humans and their inability to detect small changes.
It's a good thing Jose had stopped before he had exited the area. It got fairly boring on a vacant end of the island, and what better way to entertain oneself be holding Jose at knifepoint and 'forcing' things out of him.
Amusing kid, that Jose.
But was it really forced? Jose was more than willing to explain everything to her she demanded. Oh well. It was worth the time.
Jose exited her field of vision, and with him, a good time.
There was always next week. And a second chance.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jose had gotten back to the other end of the island just as the sun sank below the horizon. After seeing the survivors to their shelters, Jose retired to his house.
Once inside, Jose opened the bag that carried all of the valuable things that were collected that day.
Taking the German treasure out of the bag, Jose added it to his shelf that held a dragon skull and an Umbrella marked helmet.
Jose then took his new copy of Max Payne 2 and stacked it between his copies of Soul Caliber II and Halo. Content, he tossed the bag and pulled out the pendant that was in his pocket.
Fastening the clip, Jose put it around his neck.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jose slept off and on that night, a Red Dragon plaguing his dreams.
'Stupid, stupid rat creatures.' Jose mumbled in his sleep.
End of Day 17
Day 17
Authors note: First off, if you did not like the last chapter, I apologize. I asked a few people what they wanted to see in a fic, and the most common was the Umbrella Corporation showing up. Though it did not fall true to the whole storyline, seeming almost off topic, it did feel pretty good seeing some blood in there. Either way, stay tuned kids, these are the Final Days.
The air smelled good this morning. It smelled of wet jungle, coconuts, flowers, clear ocean water and the most beautiful of all, fear.
Jose knew they were scared. It was closing in on the last days of the final two survivors, and within 24 hours, there would be only two people left. Then the REAL fun would begin.
Jose rubbed his eyes and stepped out of his house into the sand, coffee in hand (I'm a poet and I didn't even know it.).
It was indeed a very nice morning. The sun was shining off of the topaz colored water, birds darting in and around the trees, rows and rows of Molotov cocktails glistening in the sun, whiteboard on Jose's door with less than appropriate claims, more rows of Molotov Cocktails glistening in the-
What? White Board?
Jose turned around and read the posted promise out loud.
"A(beep)al sex and cake. Apply within.' Funny, I don't remember writing that.' Jose mused 'In fact, I think someone else put that there. This infuriates me.'
Jose put his extra large mug of coffee in the sand and walked his robe-clad body inside, shutting the door behind him.
He emerged again a few seconds later wearing a pair of worn sneakers, tan cargo shorts, a t-shirt with the characters 'B4K4^2' on it and a black hat with a radioactivity symbol on it. Jose flipped on a pair of red sunglasses.
'Groovy.' He said as he took the white board and headed off down the path.
Mid stride, Jose did and about-face and went back to get his coffee.
Content with his potable caffeine fix, Jose once again headed off down the path toward the survivors camp.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'And I say it can't be done.' Ryoko said.
'You are wrong girl.' Katsuhito said 'I know for a fact it can't be done.'
'I don't know.' Mihoshi added 'It sounds kind of impossible.'
'Here comes Jose. We'll ask him.'
Jose walked into the campsite and saw the survivors congregating by the water. Stowing the board under his shirt, Jose walked over.
'What's going on over here ya'll?' Jose asked.
'Katsuhito here says he can peg that marker 100 yards out in the water with a rock.' Mihoshi explained.
'THIS is what you do for entertainment?' Jose asked.
'There's not much else.' Ryoko admitted.
'I'm sure it can be done.' Katsuhito said 'but they don't want me to even try it and 'embarrass myself'.'
Jose picked up a rock off of the beach.
'If I hit that marker, will you all comply with today's immunity challenge?' Jose asked.
Ryoko and Mihoshi were quick to respond.
'What about you?' Jose asked Katsuhito.
'Well, considering that if any of us refuse to move, less you tazer us in the ass, I have no choice. I'll go quietly.'
'That's what I like hearing.' Jose said. Bringing his arm behind him like an MLB player, Jose took aim. Being the 'jeanyus' he is, Jose calculated the wind speed. None.
Jose flung his arm forward and let rock fly.
The rock flew in a perfect arc toward the marker.
Jose watched on happily as the survivors viewed this spectacle skeptically.
The rock pinged off of the top of the marker, and it exploded in a fireball that tossed water into the air.
'What the hell was that?' Jose yelled.
'See?' Katsuhito said to the girls 'You CAN trigger a Russian mine by hitting it with a rock.'
'I stand corrected.' Ryoko said.
'I'll never question your wisdom again.' Mihoshi said 'and for the record, I stand on my legs.'
'That was Russian?' Jose asked 'How long has it been there?'
The survivors looked around. It's not like any of THEM had panted it there.
'Ah, it doesn't matter.' Jose said 'I'm not going swimming any time soon anyway. Now come with me. I have quite the idea for an immunity challenge today.'
'Normally I'd have a bad feeling about this,' Katsuhito said 'But I'm getting nothing but good Karma.'
'This wont be good at all.' Mihoshi said.
'Probably not.' Ryoko agreed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She watched the 5 of them (five counting Jose and the cameraman) walk through her jungle. Oh sure, she had allowed Jose to use this place she called home, but he never mentioned anything about forest fires or Umbrella agents in the report.
She had been sitting around 'paying' Jose off every now and again since he had gotten here. But he seemed different the past few times she ran into him.
Today she was going to have a long, long talk with that boy. Sure, he was no Gerrard, but he would do nicely.
Touching her short Dragon Sword to make sure it was still there, her feline paws pushed off the tree and she silently jumped from tree to tree above Jose's head.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Are we there yet?' Mihoshi whined.
'Yes.' Jose said 'Now get out and walk.'
'Finally!' Mihoshi said as she kept walking.
'Where exactly are you cowing us?' Ryoko asked.
'You'll see in due time.' Jose said 'in due time.'
Ryoko grumbled something and they kept walking along.
The path had given out about half an hour ago. It lead directly into an area of the island the survivors had not seen as of yet.
Outside of the path they were no longer on, the jungle was the same, save a few small grassy fields that opened off from the tree line.
It was getting muggy out. The air was heavy with the smell of tropical flowers. More than once, the survivors had passed spring fed grottos that hosted a plethora of small animals and flowers.
'It's so nice out here.' Mihoshi said as she looked around 'What part of the island is this?'
'This is the northern most tip of the island you are staying on. None of you have made it this far north yet, as I have made sure of that.'
The area Jose stopped in was occupied by a coconut grove a couple feet away. They, as well as palm trees, were lined up in very exact rows. It was fairly open ground, aside from the fact it was horrible overgrown with palm grass.
'What, are we mowing your lawn?' Ryoko asked sarcastically.
'Keep it up and you will be. With scissors.' Jose said.
'That would take a while.' Mihoshi observed.
'That's why she's the blond.' Katsuhito said 'Slow to understand, quick to point out the bleeding obvious.'
'My cat's breath smells like cat food.' Mihoshi happily retorted.
'A few days more.' Jose told himself 'just a few days.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The group continued to walk for another 30 minutes after a member of the group asked about grass cutting.
Once or twice Jose had snuck a flask out of his pocket and taken a few drags from it.
That was her boy. Quick to defend himself and faster to bargain his way out of a mess. Or try to. He was also fast to make a mess and blame someone else. Every evil producer was.
The trees were getting more and more spaced apart. This was unfortunate because that meant she would soon have to take to the ground.
Perching on another branch, she watched Jose and his survivors continue down the path, not aware she was watching them.
Extending her claws, she stretched out, claws digging small furrows into the tree bark.
Her tail twitched and she was off again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Alright, where are we?' Ryoko asked when Jose stopped them at a rocky cliff that overlooked the ocean.
'Not to worry.' Jose said 'This is where we are going to start from.'
The survivors looked around. Aside from the black shale rock that moved inland from the ledge and was visible for about 4 feet in, it was mostly rough patches of grass sprouting up from loose sand. Not he greenest place on the island, but it had a nice view.
'What in the world are we doing here?' Katsuhito asked out loud 'Is this going to be another survival game?'
'Not exactly.' Jose said 'The original plan was to give each of you a mine detector, mark the mines and run across the field afterwards.'
'But you ran short on mines, right?' Mihoshi asked.
'Hells no.' Jose laughed 'I have MORE than enough mines hidden away. The only problem was finding a real working mine detector. Since most are obsolete, I'd have to resort to bayonets. And probing for mines with bayonets is just not cool.'
'I guess we're allowed to be somewhat fortunate then.' Katsuhito said.
'Only a little.' Jose replied. He turned to face the plain they were standing on the edge of. 'Well, who's ready to find out what the real challenge is?'
None of the survivors said anything.
'That's what I though' Jose said 'so here's the rules. Within an area of this northern tip, I have dropped something very valuable to me. Your job is to find it and bring it here to me. First contestant to find it and hand it to me, gets immunity tomorrow.'
'This could pose as a challenge.' Mihoshi said.
'To make things a bit harder, it's within a mile of searchable land you'll be looking in. To top it off, this portion of the island has been visited before by people, so you might see signs of civilization, but don't get excited. U Boats patrol the coast, sinking ships that venture to close.'
'So why haven't we seen any other crap on the island?' Ryoko asked.
'There's an energy field that locks off the rest of the island. Once you survivors set foot on the island, the field was activated. You don't see it until you run into it. It's kind of like a glass wall that gives you a bolt of lightning.'
'No way.' Katsuhito said 'We didn't run into any walls on our way out here.'
'Your very brainless.' Jose said 'and I don't like that. Look at you ankles.'
The survivors checked their feet.
'Shiny!' Mihoshi cheered.
'What in blazes are these?' Ryoko asked as she prodded it with her finger.
That is a band that grants you access through the wall without being zapped real good.' Jose said 'If you were not wearing it, you would have been zapped for every wall that you passed through.'
'How many walls are there?' Mihoshi asked.
'500 yards out from every beach and one long one that runs across the island.' Jose explained 'so pretty much, if you were able to make it to a boat today before you were shot, you could make it off the island by passing through the walls.'
The survivors laughed lightly.
'Why are you still here?' Jose asked them 'get going! Your wasting time.'
The survivor's stutter stepped in different directions and too off to scour the square mile of land for Jose's lost item.
Jose pulled a lawn chair out from under a rock and laid back.
'Do you think they'll find what they are looking for?' The cameraman asked.
'Oh, I don't doubt it. But I'm still wondering who will bring it back to me.'
Jose pulled a radio out from under the chair and attempted to tune it.
'Why don't you follow them and find out what's going on.' Jose offered 'If the audience doesn't know, they don't care.'
That said, the cameraman took off.
Jose found the station he was looking for and kicked back. It was good being evil. Real good.
'OK, welcome back to Chatter Box.' A familiar voice said 'Today's special guest it Reed Tucker, author of the book 'Karate and Digestion. Welcome to the show Reed.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The group of survivors had been dismissed from Jose's presence. The cameraman tried to stay around the new base of operations, but he too had been sent out to tail the survivors and keep tabs on their doings.
It was probably for the better. It was always better for business to be done in private anyways.
She crawled through the grass, keeping as low as she could.
Jose was relaxing on a lawn chair, listening to some guy claim he could 'chop a bus in half' and 'rip a phone book in half with his bare toes'.
Those humans and their forms of entertainment. She never did understand it.
Unhooking her Dragon Sword, she slowly made her way toward Jose.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The radio next to Jose continued on with the debate between Lazlow and Reed Tucker.
'In fact, LAZLOW, I could chop this desk into two half desks.'
'Oh god,' Jose said 'this will be good.'
'This desk is made of two inch composite wood. It's has three drawers and a mahogany venire finish and knowing this station it cost a hundred dollars.' The host said.
Jose thought he heard something move behind him. He looked left and right and saw nothing. Jose relaxed again.
'In his own words, ' Lazlow continued 'Reed is about to smash it into two half desks. Take it away Reed.'
'Ladies and gentlemen,' Reed said calmly 'I have already visualized this dies into two half desks, and now, I will make it so.'
Jose turned up the volume a little.
'Dragon Stance' Reed sighed. 'Hi-Yaah!'
There was a loud thud and a band-sounding crunch. Jose began to laugh.
'Ow! Oh-h-h.' Reed whined 'Oh, Lazlow, I-I hurt my hand, and my pinkie's all bent the wrong way.'
Jose heard it again. He sat up and looked around. There was defiantly something out there. Jose looked over the ground slowly.
'What the hell is that?' Jose asked himself 'Who's out there?'
No one answered. Jose nervously sat back in his chair and cracked open a can of Mountain Dew.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ryoko poked around a small bush. Already she had spotted and collected a load of things. But probably nothing Jose was looking for. But she kept them all the same.
Katsuhito walked over to Ryoko, coming from his end of the search.
'Hey girl. Any luck yet?'
'Nothing yet.' Ryoko said easily 'I have NO idea what I'm looking for, but I don't think I have it yet.'
'What do you have so far?' Katsuhito asked as he dug into his own pockets.
Ryoko looked over the pile she had collected.
'A 100 dollar poker chip, an empty can of beer, a computer mouse, some Legos, a broken bottle and some loose change.'
Katsuhito shrugged.
'Well, considering we don't know what he's looking for, I've got a lot of things.' HE began to pull things out of his pocket 'Bottle cap, a FULL can of beer-I'm sorry, it's empty now. Cigar, baseball, single Magic card, deck of casino cards, empty animal cracker box, a Yankees hat and some loose Bermuda money.'
Ryoko continued to poke around.
This was crazy. Looking for god knows what on this big piece of land. It would take either a genius to find this or a dumb bl-
'I got it! I got it!' Mihoshi shouted as she ran past Ryoko and Katsuhito.
Both of the survivors took a second to decipher just what the hell happened.
'Crap!' Ryoko proclaimed 'We have to stop her!'
'Why?' Katsuhito asked as they both ran after her.
'It's either her or one of us that gets the immunity. Take her down and run it!' Ryoko yelled back.
Katsuhito, finding that logical, sped up.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Keeping low to the ground, she crept forward on her four paws.
Jose kept on listening to the radio.
Once or twice, Jose had turned around due to too much noise she was making. She had to be more quiet of Jose would take off.
Jose shifted in his chair, causing the cat warrior to stop in mid stalk.
Jose stretched and placed an empty can of Mountain Dew on the ground. He had damn well not leave that there when he left.
She crept closer, almost in striking range.
The radio announced something about Liberty City Survivor, some kind of Jose and WisconsinMetal Crossover.
Those humans and their entertainment.
Problems arose quickly when someone came running up the path. Not just one person, but two more followed by the cameraman.
Thinking it better not to be seen, she turned and ducked into the nearby foliage to await her next chance at Jose.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Jose! Jose!' Mihoshi yelled as she ran up to him.
'How good that sounds.' Jose thought to himself, perverted grin on his face.
'I think I found it!' she finished.
'What?' Jose said as he sat up.
'Damn it.' Katsuhito cursed out of breath 'too slow.'
'What would we have done if we DID catch her?' Ryoko asked.
'Tied her up, taken the item and left her for Jose.' Katsuhito answered.
'Sounds like a plan to me.' Ryoko admitted.
'What have you got for me?' Jose asked.
'I think it's JUST what you're looking for.'
Jose looked at her skeptically.
'What do you think it is?' Ryoko asked quietly.
'I think the question here is 'where did she put it?"
Mihoshi fumbled through her pockets searching for the item she picked up. Scouring all of her pockets, she was about to give up until she looked at her left hand.
Indeed, she was holding onto it the whole time.
It was a small, thin plastic box with a colorful image on the front and some writing and smaller pictures on the back. Mihoshi forked it over.
Jose took the box, opened it and inspected it.
Jose held the box up over his head. The title was 'Hentai Hentai Hentai' and with it was quite the explicit picture on the front.
'This,' Jose said 'is NOT what I was looking for.'
Mihoshi slumped in posture a little.
'Though I will keep it. I'm always looking for more DVD's.'
Ryoko and Katsuhito perked up a little of the call to failure on that one item. It was still out there.
'Keep going.' Jose said 'I'm not leaving until you find this thing.'
The survivors hurried off, as did the cameraman.
Jose kicked back again, unaware that the stalker was right behind him, blade drawn.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Where exactly did you find that movie?' Ryoko asked on the trek back.
'It was just lying in the middle of a field next to a gopher hole.' Mihoshi said 'I was not aware that gophers LIKED that kind of stuff.'
'They don't.' Katsuhito tossed in 'It was just dropped there by some idiot.'
'Oh.' Mihoshi said.
The survivors walked along a ledge that overlooked the ocean.
'I'm going to check down by the water.' Katsuhito announced.' It's a good a place as any to look.' With that, he began to descend the rock face.
'Right.' Ryoko said as Katsuhito left her and Mihoshi alone 'Looks like it's you and me blondie.'
'Not me.' Mihoshi said 'I've got to go look for this thing. You can drink alone.'
Mihoshi walked off into the jungle scrub.
'Damn Island.' Ryoko grumbled 'I hate this place. Why did I ever agree to this?' Ryoko picked up a rock and chucked it into the ocean.
It made a small impact, but Ryoko was still not satisfied. She reached down to pick up another, but stopped when she saw a faded gold chain protruding out from under a rock.
Pushing the rock aside, she lifted the chain to analyze it.
It was a small amulet that depicted crown centered on a rough edged piece of metal. Above the crown, a crescent moon facing down. And something that looked like a valley below it. Dusting it off, she saw that it was gold plated.
Ryoko looked it over then stuffed it into her pocket, along with the rest of the collected items.
Ryoko walked over to the edge of the cliff and looked for Katsuhito.
He was down poking among the rocks, looking for anything Jose might have lost. At one point, Katsuhito reached down for something, but his hair stood straight up and he visibly clenched his teeth.
Ryoko cocked her head in wonder.
Katsuhito then proceeded to run down the rocky beach with a very angry crab attached to his finger.
Ryoko snickered at Katsuhito's misfortune.
'Ow!' Katsuhito yelled ' I hate crabs! My god, it's Washu's anger and hatred incarnate!'
Katsuhito managed to throw the crab off of him. It landed on the sand and raised its claws in defense.
Katsuhito mimicked its movie, standing on one leg and raising both hands. The perfect Crane Stance.
They both jumped at the same time and began to beat the crap out of each other.
Ryoko shook her head and kicked another rock down the dusty cliff.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Not a pimp little man, a savior.'
Jose was nowhere close to hear it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Mihoshi poker her head further into the cave. It had been going deeper for the past 10 minutes. The further in she went, the damper it got.
She had found the cave when she moved a few vines and small scrub brush out of the way.
Above the entrance was what looked like a carved face of a dragon. The mouth of the cave, keeping true to what it looked like, was lined with jagged rocks. Mihoshi had to carefully pick her way though the teeth, once wedging one of her sandals between the 'teeth' and almost losing it.
Mihoshi took another step and something beneath her foot crunched.
'Indy, I step on fortune cookie.' Was all that flashed through her mind.
She shuddered with the thought of bugs not caring how nice her tanned skin looked, but the fact it probably tasted better than what they were eating.
What a crummy job this was. Scour a mile of land for something that could be anything.
It was really dark in the cave now. From the entrance about 200 feet back, the curves and turns of the tunnel did not allow any light this far in. Something ahead sounded like static.
Whack!
Mihoshi ran into a low hanging rock. Seeing stars, she clutched at her head.
Something wet was running down the side of her face. Blood?
She could not tell.
Continuing for ward and still holding her head, Mihoshi walked on.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Damn crabs.' Katsuhito uttered as he obliterated the offending creature with a rock.
It had taken quite a while for Katsuhito to convince the crab to let go of his finger. Once it had, it was quite a bout between both of them. But in the end, Katsuhito was the victor.
Bandaging his finger, Katsuhito looked around for anything valuable.
This was crazy. Search a whole block of land for something that could be anything. For all Katsuhito knew, it could be the rock he was standing on.
Jose had damn well better appreciate him dragging this and the rest of this crap back to him.
Katsuhito got a firm hold on the rock and hauled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ryoko began her trek back to Jose. There was no need to hurry, so she took her time.
The charm itself was odd (she had to pull it back out to look at it again). It was like a forgotten dream. Something she had seen before.
Ah, that was crazy. Ryoko had never been here in her whole life. It was probably just something else triggered by the smell of all those flowers around here.
Flowers? She had not seen those when she came past here.
'Crap.' She said 'did I get turned around?'
There were no paths this far out on the island. None of the grass was worn down to footsteps, no trees cut or markers on any of them. Worst-case scenario 1, lost in the jungle.
'I'm lost.' Ryoko said 'Perfect. Just perfect.' She looked around, not recognizing any of her surroundings. 'Grr, this pisses me off.' She grumbled 'I swear to god, as soon as I get out of here-'
Something that sounded like a cat screeching interrupted her thoughts. Whatever it was, it sounded like it was in the middle of killing something. Killing? Why not? What else would a jungle cat be doing?
Ryoko suddenly got a little worried. Not for her safety, but that of the other survivors. And maybe a LITTLE for Jose. Nah. Not for Jose.
Ryoko determined that it came from her left and headed off in that direction.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The sounds of static intensified as Mihoshi continued down the cave path. The light was steadily getting better as well.
This had the potential to be a rewarding trip after all.
The tunnel opened up into a very well lit cavern. Mihoshi stood on one end of it, and on the other end was a wide window-like hole that showed the back of a waterfall.
That did indeed explain the static sound.
At the bottom of the 'window', some of the falling water was caught and diverted into a pool that had formed after a good thousand or more years.
The cave itself smelled of mold and wet leaves. The rocks were cold and damp from the fine mist that filtered in from the cascading water.
'This wasn't on any of the maps.' Mihoshi said as she marveled at her surroundings.
She began walking toward the waterfall, but stopped when she kicked something that made a reverberated clanking sound.
'What the crap?' she said as she picked up a faded metallic helmet.
The helmet had two bullhorns on each side of the head, and a nose protector came down about an inch from between the eyes. It was quite the faded piece of work.
'I'll bet Jose is looking for this.' She said to no one. 'I'm going to bring this back to him.'
Mihoshi sidestepped through the waterfall, helmet in hand, and found herself in a familiar area they had passed earlier.
'If this island has a lot of shortcuts like this,' Mihoshi reasoned 'this might be easier than I though.'
Back on a familiar path, Mihoshi began her trek back toward Jose.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'There's nothing valuable down here!' Katsuhito yelled from the beach.
He had been looking around forever and had still yet to find anything that Jose might have lost.
Katsuhito had paid the price for playing along. Crabs, seagulls, penguins from some reason, and some kind of Vizzadrix had attacked him.
God did this island suck.
Katsuhito came across a small sand dune. On it there were a few small bushes, complete with berries growing on them.
'Well, I AM hungry.' He remembered.
He walked over to the bush and inspected the berries. They were small and had the same color of blueberries. They smelled strangely of cheap candles. He pulled one off.
'I freakin' hate this island.' Katsuhito reminded himself as he threw the berry into the sand.
Something under the tree caught his eye.
Katsuhito leaned closer to get a better look.
It was a small, thin box that had a green case. It had a plastic covering to it with a white cover on the front that depicted two people. In bold letters, the title read 'Max Payne 2. Fall Of Max Payne'.
It was an unopened X-Box game.
'As good a guess as any.' Katsuhito said as he picked it up.
He dusted it off and shook it lightly. HE determined that the CD was in there. Stowing the box in his pocket, Katsuhito turned and headed to the cliff he would have to scale in order to get back to Jose.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The radio was still on when Jose came back. Janice was talking about how hard it was being a parent, and how video games were 'warping our kids minds.' What a load of crap.
Jose dabbed at his face where the blade had bit shallowly. Damn, it was like the whole Mafia rolled into one Cat Warrior.
Jose had defiantly done more than enough to piss her off, and he had paid the price in full.
Oh well, no harm no foul.
Jose sat back down on the chair and ran thought his mind what had just happened. Shape up or she would be back was the lesson.
Jose would have to watch his back. Jose attempted to. Shallow claw marks ran up and down the entirety of his back, matching the other scars of the same sort.
It was well worth it though.
Jose turned form the radio as someone came walking up the path. He sat back and awaited more failure.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Mihoshi walked up the path to where Jose set up his command post.
He was sitting in the chair he brought and the radio was still playing. Well, not really playing but talking. Who would listen to a boring talk show?
Mihoshi shifted the helmet in her hands. It was a fairly heavy artifact. With any luck, this is what Jose was looking for.
What have you got?' Jose asked from his reclined position.
'Just another something I've found.' Mihoshi replied 'Hopefully what you were looking for.'
'Well let's take a look.' Jose said 'pass it over.'
Mihoshi walked over to where Jose was reclined, and managed to trip on her own shadow. Catching her balance, but not the helmet, she fumbled with it a second, only to have it land with all of it's weight right in Jose's lap.
Jose sat straight up.
'Sorry.' Mihoshi said with all sincerity.
'It's alright.' Jose said, voice higher than normal 'I'll be fine.'
Jose shook his head clear and examined the helmet.
'He almost looks smart.' Mihoshi though.
Jose adjusted his glasses (the ones that drive the girls crazy) and continued to look it over. He pulled a cloth out of his pocket and began to buff the headpiece, bringing forth a forgotten shine that reflected the sun.
'Any idea what it is?' Mihoshi asked impatiently.
Jose held up his hand for silence as he inspected another side of the helmet. Reaching under his chair, Jose pulled out a thick book that was bound in faded green leather. He opened it up to the middle and thumbed through a few pages.
Mihoshi looked at the cover. It was a pressed title painted in gold block letters. Under the title, there was a printed Swastika on its end. The title was written in German.
''Lost Treasures Of The Third Reich.' Mihoshi read 'what did I find?'
Jose had stopped on a page and read the passage. It was a small paragraph under a picture of the exact same helmet. Jose closed the book and put it back under his chair.
'According to this book,' Jose started 'this helmet is a labeled missing German relic from WWII. It was originally out of Castle Wolfenstein, but it was lost in 1943. I guess someone either went in on a mission and stole it or the German army hid it here and never told anyone. It says that it's worth a fortune, but if anyone besides a descendant of it's rightful owner returns it, said person gets a hefty fine and quite the amount of jail time.'
'Which are both far from good.' Mihoshi pointed out.
'No, it's no.' Jose agreed 'but this is NOT what I'm looking for.' That said, Jose put the helmet in a bag he had next to him.
'I thought you weren't looking for that.' Mihoshi said, referring to the fact Jose just added it to his collection.
'Oh, I'm not looking for it, I'm adding it to the rest of my collection.'
'Oh, ok.' Mihoshi said 'So are we waiting here for the other two to come back?'
'That's probably the best idea.' Jose said 'Just sit tight and we'll finish this as soon as the others get back.'
It did not take too long for the next survivor to come running up the path. It was Katsuhito.
He ran past Mihoshi who was sitting on the ground, and skidded to a halt next to Jose. Since he skidded on the dirt-covered ground, he sent up a cloud of dust that settled on Jose.
'Thanks.' Jose said as he spit out the grit that was in his mouth.
'I think I've got it!' Katsuhito said 'out of all the things I've seen and picked up today, this is most defiantly on the top of the list.'
Jose rolled his eyes.
'Ok, let's take a look.'
Katsuhito dug into his pocket and pulled out the box he found. He looked it over one more time and handed it to Jose.
'What's this?' Jose asked as he took the box and looked it over. 'Cool.' Jose said happily 'one of the first copies of Max Payne 2! I'll be sure to keep this around for a while.' Jose stashed it in the same bag the helmet went in and leaned back again, awaiting the last survivor.
'Um,' Katsuhito said after a minute of silence 'Is- is that what you were looking for?'
'What? The game?' Jose asked 'No, I'm looking for something else. But I'll keep this all the same.'
'What?' Katsuhito asked 'But I-'
Jose leaned back again and closed his eyes.
Katsuhito stormed off to find a place to sit and wait. He found one near Mihoshi, who had begun to set up a small ring for her First Annual Ant Wrastlin' Special.
'And in this corner,' Mihoshi said, pointing to a corner of the ring 'The challenger, Mandible Mike!' she placed a red and down, opposite from a black one.
'You worry me.' Katsuhito said to her.
'Oh no!' Mihoshi yelled with enthusiasm 'Mandible Mike had bitten the champs head off! And the crowd is not happy.' Hundreds of black and red ants swarmed the ring. The warring nations went to work over the battle between two of them.
Katsuhito only shook his head.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After a few hours, Ryoko came walking up the path both Mihoshi and Katsuhito had taken. The ant battle had been over for close to 45 minutes, and Mihoshi aided in moving the wounded and the dead.
Katsuhito had managed to find a book in his robe and had been reading that for some time. He looked up on occasion to see Mihoshi playing God above the war.
Ryoko walked up to Jose, not bothering to announce she was there. Jose only looked up because she stepped into his direct sunlight.
'Well now I'll HAVE to see what you brought me.' Jose said with a sigh.
Ryoko emptied her pockets of rocks, bottle caps, shells, sand and other oddly assorted things.
Jose began to poke through them, not seeming too impressed.
Katsuhito walked over to observe the goings on.
'So what took you so long?' He asked.
'You would not believe me if I told you.' Ryoko answered.
'Try me.' Katsuhito pressed.
'Ok then. I was walking up this path, and I notice that there are no sounds aside from me walking. NO birds, no small animals, nothing. Just the wind. I keep walking, and then I suddenly get hit by this HORRIBLE smell.'
'What was it?' Mihoshi asked from the battlefield.
'I keep walking, and all of a sudden, these two things step out in front of me.'
'Well what did they look like?' Katsuhito asked impatiently.
'They looked kind of like big fat dogs, only the size of a bear and a lot more hairy. They had pointy teeth and red eyes- come to think of it, they looked more like big rats.'
'What did they do?' Mihoshi asked.
'They demanded I give them the 'crest', lest I want to be baked into a quiche.'
Jose looked up from the pile he was digging through. Jose sorted through the stuff faster. It might have been in there.
Ryoko went on to tell about how they came to argue about eating her, baked or not, and they stalled so long that Ryoko had enough time to blast them off of the island.
Jose continued to sort through the pile, hoping what he was looking for was in this pile. With any luck, Ryoko would have found the crest.
Jose stood up and kicked the pile of assorted stuffs. It flew in a few different directions, causing the survivors to look at him.
'Ryoko,' Jose said as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead 'did you find anything else? Anything at all?'
Ryoko thought for a second and then reached behind her neck. She screwed around with something, and then collected it in both hands. Shifting it to one hand, she held her fist out to Jose who held his hands open beneath it.
She opened her hand and a small chain fell out and dangled just above Jose's palm. She lowered it to pile neatly in Jose's hand. The metal was still cold.
The chain stopped, attached to whatever was bonded to it. She opened her fist completely and a small gold medallion landed on the piled chain.
As soon as it hit Jose's hand, he lifted the medallion up to inspect it.
The bauble spun slowly in the wind. Jose touched it to make it stop spinning. One side of the medallion depicted a type of crown, a moon and a valley. The other side had some type of writing on it. It was basically an off centered piece of metal. Jose's piece of off centered metal.
'Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.' Jose said 'Ryoko has found the lost crest, and therefore moves onto the final round.'
'Aw, nuts.' Katsuhito said.
'Not to worry.' Mihoshi said 'There's always a chance tomorrow that you wont be eliminated.'
Katsuhito looked over to her.
'You don't seem to be too worried that by this time tomorrow you might be banished. Not to mention that you'll be going against me.'
'Good point.' Mihoshi replied 'then I'll be sure to win.'
Jose walked over to the three-person group. Oh, it had been bigger at one time, but after the third person got booted off, the pressure had to be put on. Now, with only two contending guests tomorrow, this is where the push would come from.
'Knock it off you two.' Jose said 'there will be enough time for threatening one another later. Right now, we have to be moving on.'
'So what happens to us tomorrow?' Mihoshi asked.
'Tomorrow we have our final Banishment challenge before we have our Ultimate one.'
'Ultimate Challenge?' Ryoko echoed 'Dare I ask what I have gotten myself into?'
'Dare! Dare!' Katsuhito cheered.
'The Ultimate Challenge is a challenge that pits two survivors against one another, using all of the skills they learned from previous banishment challenges, to come out victorious over the other survivor.'
'I likes the sound of that.' Katsuhito said.
'If you get that far.' Jose said 'Now let's get out of here.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
From the tree she crouched in, she watched Jose lead his survivors out of the area in which they played their game.
Oh, that Jose was quite the ticket. Quite different when faced with certain obstacles. Quite the ticket indeed.
Jose moved out of the marked area and back into the protected area. Jose reactivated all of the bands on the survivor's ankles.
Crazy humans. They did not even notice them from the beginning of the game. They were tagged while they slept the night before the game started. Those humans and their inability to detect small changes.
It's a good thing Jose had stopped before he had exited the area. It got fairly boring on a vacant end of the island, and what better way to entertain oneself be holding Jose at knifepoint and 'forcing' things out of him.
Amusing kid, that Jose.
But was it really forced? Jose was more than willing to explain everything to her she demanded. Oh well. It was worth the time.
Jose exited her field of vision, and with him, a good time.
There was always next week. And a second chance.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jose had gotten back to the other end of the island just as the sun sank below the horizon. After seeing the survivors to their shelters, Jose retired to his house.
Once inside, Jose opened the bag that carried all of the valuable things that were collected that day.
Taking the German treasure out of the bag, Jose added it to his shelf that held a dragon skull and an Umbrella marked helmet.
Jose then took his new copy of Max Payne 2 and stacked it between his copies of Soul Caliber II and Halo. Content, he tossed the bag and pulled out the pendant that was in his pocket.
Fastening the clip, Jose put it around his neck.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jose slept off and on that night, a Red Dragon plaguing his dreams.
'Stupid, stupid rat creatures.' Jose mumbled in his sleep.
End of Day 17
