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Disclaimer: I own nothing related to the MK universe or its franchise; it belongs to Netherrealm Studios.

Survival Week: Day One

"Are you sure no one will mess with it?"

"Pretty sure."

That was the best answer Sonya Blade could give her Commanding Officer. The spot deep within a group of bushes was where they'd decided to hide their luggage. She hoped the black suitcases would be safe but she couldn't be totally sure. Jax seemed to understand and, with her, they began to move on.

"This is the best place to be," her partner told her, "Right near that creek up ahead."

"Yeah," She agreed, "All we have to worry about now is surviving."

The two of them had decided that the prize of picking their own team was not worth the effort nor the risk of being eliminated from the contest. They were trying to win the money for the same cause; several communities in New York had been hard-hit by the numerous invasions, especially the latest fiasco with Quan Chi. If they won that money, those people could start rebuilding their neighborhoods, their lives, and get back to normal.

Sonya scratched at her ear and glanced around. So far, on this first morning of their challenge, she hadn't seen a soul. She knew the others were out there, though, and she would have to be ready to defend those silk strips of cloth at her waist.

"We'd better hide these." She advised of her partner.

He nodded in agreement and also said, "I'll be back. I'm gonna' go fill these bottles at the creek."

"Make sure you sterilize the water afterwards," She called out to him as he left.

What is that noise?

Jax frowned as he bent over the water, capping the lid on the last of his and Sonya's water bottles warily. It wasn't the sounds of the bubbling creek he was hearing. No, he couldn't get that soft, hissing noise out his head. But now that he was trying to concentrate on it, he could no longer hear it.

"Oh well," he shrugged. "It was probably nothing."

But he was still on his guard as he stood from the dirt ground and shifted the plastic bottles to one arm. With his free hand, he dusted off his black pants and started walking back towards the clearing he and Sonya were stationed at.

A branch snapped behind him, making him freeze.

Okay, somebody else is definitely here, he thought. He abruptly turned and searched the area for the intruder but there was no one around. Again he began walking, but this time he suspected he was being followed, so it wasn't towards his partner he strode. The further he trekked, the more pronounced this stranger's presence became, and Jax couldn't take it anymore. He stopped and turned around swiftly once more.

Now he was deep in a clustered part of the forest and yet, as he gazed around, he still saw no one.

"Who's there?" He called. "Come on out, already!"

His white flags were hanging out of his pocket, all three of them. He hadn't gotten around to concealing them as Sonya had suggested as of yet. As a result, they were in plain sight, easily accessible to this unseen foe. When Jax felt them leave his person in a clean swipe, he swung his free arm out defensively.

"What are you, invisible?" He shouted.

Having stolen what he wanted, this new foe prepared to leave but Jax wasn't having that: He dropped to one knee, brought his fist high in the air and then slammed it down onto the ground, creating an undulating waver in the soft dirt earth. That's when his enemy was revealed. There, struggling to regain his balance, was a reptilian creature garbed in sparse black clothing.

"So there you are," Jax frowned, "You think you can just sneak in here and steal from me?"

Reptile tried to run but Jax threw back his arm and tossed a violet projectile from the device on his forearm. The beam of energy caught the creature in his back and he fell to the ground. But he didn't stay there.

Jax stalked towards him, dropping the water bottles to the ground, and cracked his knuckles. He wasn't just going to get his own three flags back, no, he was gonna' get a little something extra, too.

Reptile scurried on all fours up a tree and launched himself feet-first at the major, wrapping his arms around Jax's neck in a hold. The major grunted and stumbled around with the raptor on his back, trying to keep breathing as the creature's grip steadily tightened.

Oh no you don't, Jax thought. He swung his body around and slammed backwards into the trunk of a nearby tree, effectively knocking Reptile's head against the bark and causing him to lose his grasp. Then Jax faced the Saurian and prepared to throttle him.

Out of defense, Reptile parted his scaly lips and spewed hot acid right at the major's face, making him cry out and clutch his burning face. With him incapacitated, Reptile made off with the extra three flags. Along the way, his body morphed, changed from that of a Saurian to that of an able-bodied, black-haired sorcerer.

In another part of the woods, the taciturn being with scaled skin and golden eyes shivered. He'd just had a weird chill run up his spine and he didn't know why. Reptile brushed the feeling off and continued in his current task.

When he'd received his invitation, he was somewhat surprised. He was known as a peon, the last of a dead race, good for nothing more than serving the will of others. But that letter had promised him something, and though he knew money would fix everything, it was a powerful tool in getting what he wanted; and what he wanted was to see his people roam the land of Zaterra once more.

If I have to bribe someone into helping me, so be it, the Saurian thought to himself.

Right now he was invisible, traveling about six or seven paces behind that female Shokan whose name escaped him. He knew she was some kind of jailer under the reign of Kahn, but he never said two words to her in his life. Therefore, he had no qualms about stalking her and stealing from her.

She must have known something was up, because she stopped suddenly and glanced around. Her subsequent shrug let him know he hadn't been discovered, not yet. She was traveling alone, with those white flags hanging from the waistband of her, er, costume. Reptile swallowed hard and knew he had to act quickly.

Sheeva stopped once more, this time because the entire forest was bathed in a golden glow, signifying that someone had been eliminated. She wondered briefly who it could be that was out already: the first day wasn't even over yet.

While Sheeva hoisted that leather sack on her shoulder up higher, Reptile skulked towards her. His heart pounded as he crouched down right beside her, inching his hand over to her thigh. He used the tips of two of his claws to carefully pinch one of those silk cloths, and then he coated his fingers in acid and burned the flag free.

She didn't notice a thing.

Well, not at first. As Reptile pulled back with the extra flag in hand, Sheeva stiffened. She looked down at her side and that's when the Saurian made a run for it.

"What?" She frowned in confusion, "Where did my..."

Since Reptile wasn't making any effort to muffle the sound of his hasty retreat, Sheeva heard the tell-tale noises of leaves crunching underfoot and ran in that direction.

Who took my flag already? She wondered, They must have been fast, I didn't even see them! I still don't see them!

At that she slowed in her chase and huffed. One flag isn't that bad, she thought, at least now I know to pay more attention. If I'm going to win this petty contest, I'll have to get serious. I need that money to restore the Shokan territory that Quan Chi ruined.

It was then that Reptile looked back and saw that she was sticking the remaining two silk flags in between her bosom. Now, if he tried to steal them, he'd risk losing a hand or worse.

Besides, he shuddered, no way do I want her flags that badly.

Hunger struck early for the two Grand Masters. That ache in their stomachs drove them towards the easiest source of sustenance, that being the giant lake somewhere in the middle of the forest. Both of the young leaders were decent fishermen and had garnered enough for a meal in no time. So as the sun's height in the sky was on the decline, they sat near the murky shores and took their first meal of the day.

Tomas was the first to finish, having not eaten much at all. He stared contemplatively out at the placid waters while his childhood friend continued to eat next to him.

"How do you think they're doing?" He asked wistfully.

Kuai glanced over and asked, "The clan?"

"Yeah." Smoke nodded, "Do you think they're okay without us there?"

"They're fine," Kuai assured him. "And they'll be even better once one of us wins this money."

After the sun had reached its peak in the sky, Sonya saw her C.O. sauntering towards her. He was smirking, which was weird, and he was empty-handed; even weirder.

"What kept you?" She asked him.

He shrugged and said, "I had an altercation with another player."

She then noticed the flags in his pocket. There were way more than just three.

"How did you get all those?" She asked him.

He said, "I got them from the other player I ran into."

"So that was why the gold light covered the forest?" She probed.

Jax nodded and said, "Yes. The other player has been eliminated."

"Why are you talking like that?" She frowned, "And who was the other player?"

"Does it matter?" He replied simply. "The important thing is, we've got more flags."

Sonya blinked and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. She lowered the brim on her cap and gazed at her C.O. She felt as if she were missing something, as if he was not quite...

"I guess you're right." She said at last. "So what are we going to do about food?"

"I'm already ahead of you," Jax said, sounding more like himself. "There's a lake somewhere around. I'll go and scope out the area, see if it's clear."

"I'll come with you." She offered.

"No," He told her, "You stay here. That way, all our flags won't be in one place."

"...Are you sure we shouldn't stick together?" Sonya quirked a brow.

"Yeah, I'm just going to check it out." He stated, "I won't be long."

"Alright. If you say so." She acceded.

"Alright, that should do it."

The white-eyed sorceress finished in her task of securing the area just under the jagged plateau of rocky land that she and her companion were inhabiting for the time being. Unlike the others, she and the demigod had chosen to stay closer towards the edge of the forest, almost out of it. Through the sparse veil of bony, stripped trees she could see the Sea of Blood still.

"What did you do?" Rain asked her.

Tanya came to sit beside him where he had his back to the diminutive cliff behind them. He had his legs spread out and was staring at the crimson sea longingly, sort of like how he stared at any body of water. She knew it was his element and that he probably wanted to be out there, showing off his moves.

"I placed wards around the area." She answered him, "Now no one will bother us."

"And what about our stuff?" he then asked.

Tanya smirked and amended, "You mean your stuff? It's safe."

She glanced at the three cases of luggage and shook her head. She was a woman and she hadn't packed nearly as much as he. It was as if he'd brought along a different outfit for each day of the month: sometimes even she wondered about him.

"Did you find out who got eliminated?" Rain asked.

Tanya gazed at her nails and told him, "Yeah, some Earthrealmer."

"Tch. Figures," the prince scoffed. "It's barely evening and already one of them are gone."

"What'd you expect?" Tanya shrugged. "The only real competition here is that host and maybe Bi-Han."

It was getting dark and Jax still wasn't back yet. He hadn't even hit her up on his two-way to let her know if he was alright. She knew this was only a contest, but Sonya was beginning to worry. That's why she forsook their luggage and headed off to find him. It wasn't long before she ran into someone else, though.

"Hey."

"Hey," She greeted in return to the young woman she'd befriended.

Mileena bent over and scratched at her slender legs, and that's when Sonya saw them: tied tightly around one of the belt loops of her cutoff corduroy shorts were her three white flags. They fluttered in the light breeze against the bare skin of her thigh. She stood back up and wiped sweat from her forehead.

"Where are you going?" Mileena asked.

"Towards the lake." Sonya replied, fanning herself.

"I just came from there," Mileena said.

"Oh, did you see anybody?" Sonya wanted to know.

Mileena shook her head. "There wasn't anybody there-oh wait! I saw a man with black hair and a woman with, uh, long white hair."

"I don't think that was a woman." Sonya surmised.

"Huh?" Mileena blinked.

"Never mind." The lieutenant spoke.

From the way she described them, there was only one person in the contest with white hair, other than Raiden, and he was not a female.

Mileena asked her then, "Have you seen Nightwolf?"

"No, I haven't." Sonya admitted, "I thought you two would keep close."

"I should have," The other girl remarked, "He's the one who brought the food."

Sonya smirked because she knew that wasn't the only reason Mileena was seeking out the Chief.

She then asked, "Have you seen Jax?"

"That big dude? Your partner?"

"Yup."

"I don't know for sure," she stated, "But I heard he got eliminated."

"What?"

"First one out." Mileena added, "But that's just what I heard from getting around today."

"That can't be," She frowned. "The light that shone in the woods, the judges said it would happen as soon as the person lost all three of their flags. They said it was a message to let everyone know when the first three people have been eliminated."

"Yeah, so." Mileena spoke.

"So I don't understand," Sonya continued, "That light shone early this afternoon, but afterwards I saw Jax again."

"Are you sure it was him you saw?" Mileena frowned.

And there it was. The oddness finally made sense to her. She pulled off her cap and ran a hand through her hair. It was him, I should have known. That's why he seemed to be acting weird, it wasn't Jax, it was Shang.

"Are you alright?" Mileena asked.

Sonya nodded, "Yeah. I've just been duped is all."

"Ah. Well. It is a contest." the other woman declared, "And foul play was basically encouraged by the judges."

"Yes you're right." Sonya said with narrowed eyes.

She started off in a new direction then, intent on giving the sorcerer a taste of his own bitter medicine. She knew it was a contest but she didn't trust Shang Tsung and she was nearly positive that he was using this opportunity for some ulterior means.

A/N: Uh, should I stop now?

Lol. Be honest everyone and tell me if this is alright, or too boring, or utter crud, or whatever. The point is for me to write interesting things again so if this story is dull so far, please tell me! I appreciate any and all feedback :)

~DymondGold~