Kill the Hunt: Wave 1

I was uneasy, because I knew that at that very moment, Quan Chi was stalking me; still trying to convince me to join the "Brotherhood of the Shadow" as a full on revenant. I felt my genes as a born revenant begin to surface; I was trying to withhold this vicious side, doing well for the moment, but it wasn't easy at all. "Soon, you will be with your parents, Tatsumi. Muwahahahaha!"

Morning:

Wave and Kurome were up; Kurome stuffing herself with candy, and Wave just having a mug of coffee. Then, I walked in.

Wave, "Hey, how did you sleep last night?" Honestly, I was exhausted from a lack of sleep. "Oh, wow! You didn't sleep at all?!"

"No, I was so nervous, I stayed up till the sun came up. She said she wouldn't do anything; Try waking up to find someone using you as a body pillow!"

"You sure you should snack during the day, Kurome?" Wave said, as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Mind your own business." Kurome said, popping another piece of candy in her mouth. She was rather rude.

"You should try to eat more seafood, it's really good for you."

"I wouldn't want to smell like fish all the time, like you do."

"What?! Really?!" He lifted his arm, "Do I smell like fish?!"

Me, "Whoa, no, not really...put your arm down, you're embarrassing yourself." I turned to Kurome, "So, I also have to save her?! Good choice there, gods!"

She thought I wanted her candy. "Keep your eyes off of my cookies!"

"Yep, definitely Akame's sister!"

"Got a problem?" Kurome asked, as she slightly glared at me.

"Uh...please don't be offended, but you really look like that Akame girl on the wanted posters." I said, awkwardly; I did what I had last time.

"Right?! I noticed that earlier too!" Wave agreed, as he rubbed his chin.

"Well yeah, I'm related to her, but now she's a traitor to the empire." Kurome said, a dark gaze filling her eyes, "I DO really hope I get to see her again soon. I'll find her...and kill her with my own bare hands. After all...she's my precious older sister."

"Try keeping an open mind; maybe what she did was for a reason."

Wave seemed confused, "Do you really think that?"

"Like I said, keep an open mind."

Just then the door to the dinning room burst open, and Esdeath hurried into the room, now fully dressed in her uniform, "Tatsumi! We're off to Fake Mount; we'll spend the next few days hunting!"

"Fake Mount?"

"You've never been there?" the young woman said, as she adjusted her cap.I "t's in the range beyond the outskirts of the capital."

"I have a bad feeling that Quan Chi and his revenants will be waiting!"

"You two will be joining us." Esdeath explained, turning to face them, "We're hunting danger beasts as well as bandits."

The other two in the room responded, "Roger that."

"Kurome and I will take the East throughout the day. Wave and Tatsumi, you're in charge of the West. We'll exchange partners at night, so Tatsumi will be with me." Esdeath said, a slight blush dusting across her face, "Monsters that come out at night are especially vicious. It'll be my chance to impress him."

Outside the door, Dr. Stylish was eavesdropping on us, before walking off(this comes into play later).

"Oh, you're leaving already?" Bols asked, as he walked into the dining room, carrying a tray of tea. "I was just about to finish making breakfast."

"Thanks Bols, but we'll have to pass." Esdeath said, beginning to walk out of the room. "We'll get something on the way to Fake Mount." Esdeath walked passed Bols and stopped in the doorway. "Alright everyone get prepared! I want you all ready to leave in ten minutes!"

"*Sigh* I better go get changed." I muttered, as I made my way back towards Esdeath's bedroom. However, as soon as I exited the dining room, I ran smack dab into Seryu. The auburn-haired girl was quite surprised, and rather flustered, as she stood in front of me.

"H-Hello Tatsumi..." Seryu said quietly, beginning to fidget slightly. "Nice morning isn't it?"

"Yeah." I said coldly, as I glared at Seryu. "Could you please move out of my way? I have to go get ready."

"O-Okay..." Seryu said, stepping to the side. Giving the auburn-haired girl one last piercing gaze, began to I walk past her. However, Seryu bit her bottom lip as she watched me walk by. She knew that I was still very upset with her, and she couldn't really blame me, but she had to say something to me. "Wait." Reaching out, Seryu grabbed my arm, causing the me to go stiff.

"I thought I made it very clear that I don't want you touching me." I spat out, not even turning to face Seryu.

"Please just hear me out." Seryu pleaded, as she gently squeezed my arm. "I just want to say one thing...then you can go."

"Alright, you have one minute." I said, shaking out of Seryu's grasp and turning around. "So make it quick."

"Okay...that's all I need." Seryu said, as she took a deep breath to calm herself. "I've been thinking about what you said to me the other day. You may have been really harsh to me...but I can't help but feel like what you told me possibly had some truth in it...I don't know..." Seryu rubbed her arm nervously as she avoided my gaze. "I'm just really confused right now...and I just wanted to let you know, that what you said has sort of affected me...and I plan to reflect upon my actions and my view of justice..."

"Is that all?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. "Because it's good that you're thinking about all the horrible things you've done, but that still doesn't change the fact that I want nothing to do with you."

"I understand..." Seryu said, as she hung her head in shame. "But there was one other thing I wanted to tell you."

"Well spit it out then." I said, releasing a light sigh. "Esdeath wants me ready to go in like eight minutes."

"Yesterday, after we attacked that bandit fort...that's when what you said really hit me..." Seryu said, which caused me to quirk an eyebrow. "We had wiped out most of the bandits, and I was searching through the ruins for any stragglers...I came across one survivor...he was covered from head to toe in blood and most of his left arm was missing...when he saw me...he began to back away in fear...I had grabbed a discarded sword as I approached him. He began to cry and beg for mercy when I raised the sword...he told me how he was forced to join those bandits after they raided his village and threatened his family...he told me about his wife and two young daughters, and how he was sending any money he could gather to his starving family..."

"Why are you telling me all this?" I asked, not understanding the point of Seryu's story.

"Well you see..." Seryu said, as she glanced around to make sure no one else was there. "I spared his life." This caused my eyes to widen for a moment. "I don't know what came over me, but...as I listened to that man beg for his life...I could faintly hear you calling me a monster in the back of my mind...that made me hesitate...so I ended up giving him some basic first aid supplies and then I let him go..." Seryu gently grabbed my hand, causing a chill to run down my spine, similar to the one he had felt when Seryu had first grabbed my hand when she had led me through the slums. "I still don't fully understand why I did that...I guess what you said really has affected me in some ways...Man, I don't know what the others would do if they-"

"Sparing one life doesn't atone for all the terrible things you've done." I said coldly, yanking my hand free of Seryu's. "You still have a very long way to go before you can even begin to cleanse your tainted soul." With one final glare, I turned my back on Seryu and made my way back to Esdeath's room.

"Cleanse my tainted soul?" Seryu repeated quietly to herself, as she watched me walk away. "Have I really become some type of monster?"

Fake Mount:

Wave and I were doing some friendly bonding. "Man...I know water danger beasts just fine..." Wave said, trailing slightly behind me. "But I'm at complete loss in these damn mountains..."

"Well the danger beasts on this mountain launch surprise attacks using mimicry." I said, as I studied every rock and tree we passed to try and spot any possible danger beasts. "You have to be wary of every stone on the path. It's common knowledge amongst mountain folk."

"I didn't want to say this in front of the team, but you've got it pretty rough, don't you? Let me know if you ever need to vent."

"You have no idea, Wave. I mean, I was already used to being treated like that, anyway."

"Yeah, trust me, I understand that." the blue-haired man said, as he let out a light sigh, "I just get this wierd feeling you and I are kinda similar. Don't you?"

"That's not just a feeling, Wave. One of the big differences, though, is that your story is simple, while mine is absolutely convoluted."

"How's that? Did anything unreal happen to you?"

"Since the day I was born."

"Well...it just feels like we have the same problems..." Wave pondered, as he crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm sure you get it." He hung his head in defeat.

"Yeah, I know that." I then sensed tree danger beasts behind Wave, and drew my sword—which was just given back to me. "Wave, don't move."

He had an uneasy look on his face. "W-What're you doing?!"

"Look out!" I slashed a branch off of one that was about to attack Wave, causing him to turn around and see the others.

"Well, looks like the danger beasts have found us! Unlike aquatic ones, you can't eat 'em!"

"Then let's make firewood!"

An Hour Later:

All the tree danger beasts were sliced and diced, like the lumber they were.

"Well, that was entertaining!"

"If not sudden!"

"That's just how danger beasts work on land as well, Wave." Then, fans came out of nowhere, "Wave, duck!"

"Where did 'those' come froooooooooo..." Right in front of us was Kitana, as she caught her fans. "Um, who's that?!"

"My mom."

"Yikes! She's appealing, but scary at the same time!"

She spoke, "Return with us, Tatsumi; let us be a family."

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! Listen, mommy dearest...Tatsumi's not coming with you!"

Fight

Kitana threw her fans one by one at Wave. Then, the latter drew his sword and slashed three times at her. Wave then chained six punches, juggling Kitana. She recovered, and attacked Wave by slashing near his throat. He low kicked her, then chained a scissor kick to toss her into the air. Kitana grabbed a pole she was carrying, and smacked Wave upside the head three times. Wave, then, did three spin kicks, knocking Kitana out.

Wave Wins

"The captain wouldn't appreciate it if you did take him."

Wave didn't notice me leave; not out of cowardice, but because I spotted a black ninja, who resembled Sub-Zero in shape. When he left, I went in pursuit of him, while wearing Incursio—I had to put it on at a certain distance from Wave.

"Tatsumi?!" quickly beginning to panic, Wave ran further up the mountain in search of me, "Where'd ya go?" he stopped in his tracks and his eyes widened in fear, "Don't tell me he ran away..." Wave pictured a pissed off Esdeath, "Whaaaaaaaa?! Tatsumi...I get how you feel...but I don't wanna die, either! I'm too young to die!"

In case you didn't know, the black ninja was none other than Noob Saibot(Real name: Bi Han; the first Sub-Zero, killed by Scorpion). Yes, he survived "Mortal Kombat 9", he was just in hiding the entire time if you saw certain interaction dialogues between Sub-Zero(Kuai Liang) and either Kung Lao or Bo'Rai'Cho.

Please leave a review, favorite, and/or follow.