Better late than never at all, right? Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to the MK universe or its franchise; it belongs to Netherrealm Studios.
Survival Week: Finale
Leave it to the universe to send her short-shorts and attitude when it was the broad shouldered and very-male sorcerer she wanted to encounter, not the feminine one in front of her. Sonya was still hunting him even on the last day, mainly because she wanted to get to the bottom of what he'd done to Jax. This was a contest, but she would put nothing past the immortal. However, he continued to elude her. And as if that weren't bad enough, she now had that woman to deal with.
Tanya.
She didn't know her that well, but Sonya did know from seeing her name pop up at OIA that the woman had dealings with the Brotherhood of Shadow. And on the boat ride to the island, she practically clung to the demigod.
"Can I help you?" the lieutenant asked in a clipped tone.
Tanya folded her arms over her chest, right above her bare stomach. Sonya rolled her eyes, then.
It's hot out here, she knew, but not hot enough to walk around looking like a professional stripper. Jeez, woman, have some class.
"Actually, there is something you can do." The sorceress stated.
"And that would be?" Sonya spoke.
Tanya said, "There is a being who requires your presence."
"Who?"
"He wishes to remain anonymous."
"Shang Tsung," Sonya immediately concluded.
Tanya just shrugged and said, "Are you coming or will I have to use force?"
"What does he want?" The blonde ventured.
"How should I know?" Tanya replied, "He just told me to escort you."
"Alright. Lead the way." Sonya said.
She then followed the other woman through the woods. They hadn't reached their destination when a golden light bathed the dark green and brown hues of the forest. The voice of Argus rang through the area, telling everyone that the challenge was over and that everyone was to report to the shores of the Sea of Blood.
"That's it?" Tanya wondered, "Hn."
"Wait!" Sonya called to the retreating woman, "Where are you going?"
"Didn't you hear?" she frowned, "game's over."
"But what about Shang Tsung?" Sonya pressed, "Where is he? What did he want?"
"You'll see him at the shores," She replied simply, "So ask him yourself."
"You think this will work?"
"I don't know. But it's worth a try."
Liu and Kitana came to that consensus, and Jade just shrugged in compliance. She didn't put much faith in their idea but she'd go with it, just for the heck of it. What Liu had suggested was, since this was it, they would hand their flags over to him and if he happened to have the most, he would choose them as his teammates. It was a win-win-win scenario but she really doubted it would fall through.
The three of them walked, with the rest of the players, back to the crimson sea where the game had first begun.
"Did everyone have a good time?"
The question, posed by Kochal, was aimed at the crowd of players gathered on the shores. They looked alright for the most part, with the exception of a few who seemed tired, famished, and agitated. As for a response, the answers were of the same vibe. Except for a resounding, 'Fuck no!' from someone in the midst, they all seemed to be feeling pretty neutral about their time in the woods. It wasn't much fun, but it wasn't hellish, either. Just what it was, a challenge, something to be gotten through.
Argus stood beside the skull-headed god and folded his arms. His smile was warm as he regarded all of the contestants. It only faltered and fell into a semblance of a frown when he caught sight of his youngest, but then it was back again.
"Raiden will call your name," He explained, "When he does, call out the number of flags you have. If necessary, you'll have to show them as well."
The former Edenian protector nodded in the thunder god's direction. Raiden then held a clipboard and stepped over the dirty sand to stand near his fellow judges. Meanwhile, Jimmy Aames readied his camera to catch a panoramic view of all the contestants.
"Nightwolf?"
Said shaman called out, "Three."
Raiden made a note of this and said, "Sonya?"
"Two."
"Shang Tsung?"
"14."
There was a murmuring in the crowd, a collective wonder of how he got so many when hardly anyone even saw him. Sonya, in particular, craned her neck to get a look at the immortal. He looked as if he'd spent the last week in Pasadena with his sleek hair and cool features and unmarred black clothing. Not a scratch was on him, no bags under his eyes or anything. It only made her want to corner him and milk him for the answers that were burning in her head. And while she gazed upon him in want of answers, others looked over in envy.
"Sheeva?"
"Two."
"Tomas?"
"Three."
"Kuai Liang?"
"Zero, and I have a question, if you would allow it?"
Raiden looked up from his clipboard and nodded.
Kuai was about to speak, but Noob need only clear his throat pointedly for the younger cryomancer to put that raised hand behind his head, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Is there something you wanted to ask?" Raiden prompted.
Kuai lowered his arm and shook his head. "On second thought. Never mind."
"Hm. Okay." The thunder god hummed, "Liu Kang?"
"Seven."
"Can we cut this short?" Tanya suddenly blurted, "I mean, we all know who won."
Jade had a glare ready for the presumptuous sorceress, and Tanya only gave her a tight and false smile in return. Raiden, however, obliged her.
"Alright, then," He said, "Is there anyone who has more than 14 flags?"
There was silence.
"Anyone at all?" Raiden spoke.
Everyone looked around at each other irritably, wanting to move on to the next thing on the agenda. They all guessed that it was, indeed, Shang who had won, and were ready to be done with this challenge.
Raiden sighed and said, "Well if that's the case, I suppose the winner is-"
"We might have just a few more."
Everybody now looked over towards the edge of the shore where Ermac stood, arms folded and a smug gleam in those iridescent green eyes of theirs. They reached in one of the pockets of their hooded leather jacket and procured a wad of clean white cloth. Wait, was that a blood-stain on one of them? The gods only knew how they got a hold of all those flags.
"How many?" Raiden asked.
"You tell us," the host quipped, "We lost count of how many saps fell into that pit."
And that drew some of the players' memories, for a great many of them had fallen prey to that simple calamity that was the hole Ermac had dug. The host handed his lot over to Raiden, who counted them and nodded.
"Eighteen it is," He affirmed, "Ermac is our winner!"
But most of the players hated Ermac, so there was no 'huzzahs' going forth in their honor. No, just skeptical murmurings and bravely-tossed glares in their direction. Ermac was beckoned to stand at the front of the crowd with the judges.
"Well you know what this means," Argus told them, "You get to hand-pick the two players you'll be teamed up with for the next four weeks."
"So who's it gonna' be?" Kochal asked.
Ermac wasted no time in saying, "Noob Saibot."
From the way the wraith and the crowd reacted, this was no surprise to anyone. The two had built their respective empires around the same time, they were strong allies. But the real shocker came when the host spoke again, announcing their other choice teammate.
"Who else?" Raiden asked, writing this down.
"...Princess Kitana."
Said royal widened her eyes, and the monk next to her visibly flinched, his mouth twitching into an uncharacteristic scowl for the briefest of moments. She was just as surprised as everyone else.
"Now if you'd just talk amongst yourselves for a moment," Raiden instructed, "we judges will organize the rest of you into similar teams of three."
While the three deities moved off to the side, Jimmy Aames leveled his camera over his shoulder and moved in. The crowd was buzzing and he wanted to know why. He didn't know any of these people, with the exception of a few, like Sonya Blade, who'd made the news back home. He decided to approach the thus-named Princess Kitana. As he pointed his equipment her way, she blinked, startled.
"Can I pull you aside for an interview?" he asked politely.
She nodded, "Of course."
Like I have a choice, she thought. At the same time, Jimmy was eagerly appraising his current guest of interest as they walked off to a more isolated part of the beach.
Whoa, she is gorgeous! I wonder if she's taken? Ah, get it together, Jimmy. She'd never go for a scrub like you. You're still commuting to State from your parents' spare room.
The young man cleared his throat and said, "Princess Kitana, was it?"
"Yes." She answered civilly.
"Why are you in this contest?" He asked.
She replied, "Well, my kingdom could use the money. There's much to be done and not a lot of funds to do it with."
"I understand," Jimmy remarked coolly. "What about this Ermac person? I met him a few days ago and he is a pretty interesting guy. How do you feel about him?"
"He's not an enemy, but he's not anyone I'd associate with outside of this event." She explained.
The princess brushed some of her hair back that wasn't caught in that high ponytail she donned and blinked against the wind. Her mannerisms spoke of her unsettled mood.
"You seem kind of nervous," Jimmy observed, "How do you feel about being on Ermac's team?"
"No matter who I work with, I'll do my best to stay in the running for the grand prize." She stated firmly.
"And why do you think he picked you?" Jimmy then asked, "Do you two have a history or something?"
"No, not that I know of." She answered.
"If you had a choice," Jimmy continued, "Who would you have liked to be teamed with?"
Kitana paused before saying, "I guess either Jade or Liu."
"And why is that?"
"Well, Jade is one of my oldest friends," She told him, "And Liu, he's my fiance."
Fiance? Damn, Jimmy thought dismally, there goes that. But he didn't let his disappointment show. The young man beamed at the striking royal.
"Alright, thanks for your time, Your Highness!"
"You're very welcome." She said pleasantly.
He then brought his equipment towards the winner of the first challenge, but it only took one menacing glare and a 'fuck-off' vibe to get him heading in the opposite direction.
"Please settle down!"
Argus' plea for calm went unnoticed by the ornery crowd. The people were ready to get settled into those huts, that looked a whole lot better than the woods they'd been subjected to for the past week. That, and the fact that everyone had their predictions of who would be teamed with who made the shores a fairly loud area at the moment. So Raiden stuck his fist in the air and brought down a streak of lightening to get everyone's attention. Upon seeing the spectacle, they quieted and waited for the inevitable bad news, because it was never good when people were forced to co-inhabit a place.
"The teams have been made," The thunder god declared, "And after yours is announced, you can move into a hut together."
"For the next four weeks you'll have to get to know each other and work together," Argus continued.
Kochal put in, "And it would help if you didn't kill each other during that time."
"Are you ready to hear your team assignments?" Raiden asked.
He looked out at the sea of bored and impatient faces and sighed. They really wouldn't like these, but he'd tried his best to make things as interesting as possible. He cleared his throat and brought his clipboard, the white one with the little yellow thunderbolt doodles all over it, up to his eyes.
"First team will be: Ermac, Noob Saibot, and Kitana." He spoke.
Mileena rolled her eyes and said, "We already knew that."
"Yeah, get on with it!"
"It's hot as hell out here! Trust me, I've been!"
"And I'm starving!"
"The next team," Raiden spoke over them, "will be: Tomas, Scorpion, and Jade."
That wasn't too bad, judging by the three people in question and how they reacted. Scorpion just stood blank-faced, Tomas' only regret was that Kuai wasn't on his team, and Jade didn't care either way. She had her mind fixated on her goal of winning the ultimate prize.
"Next team," Raiden stated, "is Nightwolf, Shang Tsung..."
Here he paused for dramatic effect. The players and their shouts let him know just how much they appreciated that little stunt. He chuckled a bit to himself and continued.
"Nightwolf, Shang Tsung, and Miss Sonya Blade."
The shaman remained unfazed but he was the only one in his group who did so. Shang Tsung looked immensely pleased, smirking to himself, and Sonya's face fell. She wanted to get answers from the fiend, but not like this. Now she'd be spending days, weeks on end in a private shelter with him. It was downright unnerving to think about.
"Liu Kang, Kuai Liang," Raiden continued, "and Sheeva will be a team. And as for our final group-"
"No! No way in hell!" someone shouted.
It was Mileena, who'd quickly figured out, by process of elimination, who she was stuck with. And she wasn't happy at all.
"Our final group-"
"No!"
"Will be comprised of-"
"Hey wait a minute!"
Rain had only just realized what Mileena was shouting about. Tanya just smirked because she could work with anyone. It was all about the money, in the end.
"Rain, Mileena, and Tanya." Raiden finished before someone could interject again.
The first two members of the team glared first at each other, then at the judges, then back at each other.
Mileena huffed and asked, "Is this some kind of joke?"
"I can't be in a room with her," Rain sneered, "she's a thieving, lying-"
"You'll want to stop talking now," Nightwolf cut in with quiet menace.
The demigod was silenced, but scoffed and looked away. The judges were unimpressed with this show of insolence from both the 'prince' and the former assassin, and they told the two as much.
"If you don't like your assignments," Kochal spat, "Tough luck. Suck it up or do something foul to get the other person eliminated, just don't come whining to us."
That gave Mileena a bit of hope, until Raiden spoke again.
"That wouldn't be wise, seeing as how elimination works in threes from here on out." The thunder god stated.
"What?" Sonya blurted.
"That's right," Argus added, "Each team must place in the weekly challenges, or be eliminated together."
"That's not fair!" Tanya protested.
"This bitch is a liability!" Rain shouted.
"Me?" Mileena huffed, affronted. "This is coming from the person who lost his last flag, you incompetent piece of shit!"
While Kochal chuckled, Raiden said, "Enough! Or you'll all be disqualified. The only ones who seem to have a problem here is you three."
"So if you don't like it, you can leave." Argus spoke brusquely, looking dead at his son.
The three of them said no more but were clearly the most unhappy about how things had panned out. Looking their way, Jimmy just knew he had to give them adequate screen time. If he was gonna' make a good film for his Digital Media course, they'd have to be in it.
Not to mention, he thought to himself, both of those chicks are smokin' hot!
A/N: So what do you people think so far? This is sorta' helping my writer's block, but not really. I don't know.
I have this all mapped out, btw, I just have to figure out how to write it, that's mainly what took so long. I'll see if I can keep updating every day though.
Until next chapter!
~DymondGold~