"You have to throw your cards down," Croach said.

Francine stared at her hand, then looked at Croach's cards. She dropped her cards and flopped onto her back.

"I win again!" Croach clapped her hands in the air and grinned. "Let's play again."

"Nope, you keep winning." Francine stared at the vast space before herself.

"Then suit yourself. I'll get back to my music."

As Croach got up, playing cards spilled from her pants. Francine shot up and stared at the playing cards and then at Croach. They momentarily froze before Croach bolted off with Francine chasing behind her.

"Cheating bastard, I'll get you!"

Francine whipped around the ice-covered tree and almost caught Croach. But Croach froze herself in ice. Francine stopped herself and crashed into the ice figure. She poked at the figure and sighed. Then, Croach popped out of nowhere.

"Jesus! How the hell did you do that?" Francine said.

Croach jumped onto Francine's back and grasped Francine's head.

"With my mind! The mind is a vast piece of meat you can do anything with." Croach pulled on Francine's hair like she was riding a pony, causing Francine to fall to the ground.

"Your mind is just tied up like a dog. Watch, I'll show you." Croach focused on the ice tree, and it grew. "Why don't you try it?"

Francine rolled her eyes, closed them, and opened them.

"That… didn't work. What were you thinking of?" Croach said.

"You to get off my back and maybe something to eat," Francine said.

"Try again!"

Francine closed her eyes again and opened them. A coffee table, TV, and couch appeared like the ones in her house. Croach sat on the sofa and patted the cushion. Francine sat down next to her.

"What do you want to watch?" Croach said.

"Hockey, I haven't watched it in a long time," Francine said.

Croach turned on the TV, and they watched together. It's one of Francine's hockey matches, but there is something different about it.

"Where's everyone else?" Francine said.

"No clue. Wanna switch the channel?" Croach said.

"I–" Francine hesitated for a moment. "No."

"I don't want to change the channel anyway. The match is getting too good." Croach put her feet up on the table. "The world is pretty big, but yet so small sometimes."

Francine stared at the screen and studied what was going on. The announcers and audience weren't there; only Francine and a man were sitting where the audience should be. Francine felt herself waking up while she watched the TV. It felt like she slept for a week straight.

"TV…" Francine rubbed her eyes and got up out of bed.

I'm never playing another game with that monkey again.

Francine got dressed and headed straight to the underground chamber. Before she walked into the chamber, she heard shouting on the other side of the doors, but she still went in.

"How dare you disobey your master." Shang Tsung said.

He held a black hair woman's shirt collar and shook her. He shouted at her in Chinese.

"Somebody's angry." Francine walked behind to Shang Tsung and Quan Chi.

"You would be angry as well if a brat disrespected you as much as this woman." Shang Tsung dropped the woman to the ground. "Li Mei here has destroyed some of the hard work her fellow slaves completed."

"Damn, that's pretty selfish," Francine said, crossing her arms.

"I have done none of this. He's lying! I have done no such thing!" Li Mei said, looking like she wanted to fight. "You have no right to control my people!"

Shang Tsung stared down at Li Mei. He kicked her straight in the face, and blood pooled from her nose.

"Unless you want your head kicked off, I suggest you leave my sight." Shang Tsung said.

Li Mei whipped the blood off and got up. She mumbled under her breath and got out of the chamber.

"I am quite surprised that you went easy on her." Quan Chi said.

"There is no sense in killing if it slows the progress of building the palace." Shang Tsung said.

"Hm… I feel like I know that lady…" Francine said.

Didn't I bump into her before?

"Why are you here, Francine? Do you not see we are busy?" Shang Tsung said.

"You said you needed my help doing some things today."

"Ah, yes. Cleaning the kitchen."

"I just cleaned it–"

"That is too bad. As you know, our new guests are quite, shall we say, rambunctious. Clean the kitchen again."

Francine sighed and walked out of the chamber. Shang Tsung and Quan Chi resumed their chit-chat.

When Francine entered the kitchen, she tripped over a chair.

"What the hell happened here?!"

The kitchen was a complete mess as if Francine had not cleaned it for weeks. The sink was overflowing with dishes, and food spread over the counter. A four-person group sat at the table, roughhousing and throwing items around.

"Sorry about that, love. We'll clean it up," Kano said, swinging back his beer.

Kira, Kabal, and Kobra chucked to themselves, watching Francine go to the sink. She opened the faucet, and water splashed all over her. She screamed and quickly closed the faucet. Francine looked down at her clothes. They were soaked and see-through.

"A show and dinner, turn the faucet back on. You gotta show more." Kano said.

The group erupted into laughter. Francine grabbed a plate from the sink and threw it against the wall.

"Get out! Get out! I don't know why Shang Tsung even hired any of you. All you do is trash this whole place!" Francine turned back to the sink and angrily washed the dishes.

The group got up and left the kitchen, leaving their mess for Francine to clean.

Assholes, all of them. No matter what I do, they mess it all up. I swear to God I'll poison their food, and I'll finally be at peace. I'm not a slave, not a–

"Slave?"

Francine whipped around and almost threw another plate.

"I said for you guys to get out!" Francine saw that no one was there.

"I'm not them; they're not me, Croach!" Croach appeared in the reflection of the sink water. She waved at Francine.

"How are you in the real world?" Francine said.

"The real world? Baby, there's no real-world here, only myself." Croach sat on the couch. "Why don't you come back already? You seem stressed with your life."

"Maybe, but I can't right now. I'm washing dishes." Francine said.

"Never too busy for fun!" Croach said.

Francine stared at the TV in the water's reflection. The match Francine had been watching was still playing.

"Sure, I'll come back."