Mortal Kombat: New Defenders Quest #1

“To be honest, I was starting to think you weren’t coming,” she says. “I mean, I was looking at the clock and getting a little nervous.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I tried texting but cell phones are still only half-working where we’re going.”

“Yeah, haha… So, um, how did you get here? Did you drive? H-helicopter, maybe?”

“That’s about as subtle as Kaito driving his damn boat into the middle of the city,” Cassie jokes. “Nah, we’re traveling in style today.”

As they reach the bottom of the stairs and head out the front door, moving to walk into the nearby alleyway, she takes a small remote out of her pocket. “What’s that?” Sam asks. “Does that call the car?”

“Ever hear of a boom tube?” Cassie replies, holding it up to a wall and pressing a button.

A bright flash of light fills Sam’s vision for a moment before she blinks and looks at the wall of the apartment building, now home to a glowing blue portal. Sam is surprised, to say the least. “I-is that a…”

Cassie smiles and holds up the remote, shaking it between two fingers. “Latest OWEA tech. Just one of the many little toys we get to use. I call it the Pocket Stargate, but it hasn’t really caught on yet.”

She picks up the suitcase and walks up to the portal. “Come on, step through. Trust me, it’s cool, like going through the opening tunnel of Dr. Who.”

Without another word, Cassie steps through the portal headfirst.

Sam stands there for a moment, fidgeting as she looks at the portal’s swirling surface. She looks left, then right, before taking a deep breath. She remembers how much she hated this when Raiden teleported her to Outworld; it made her feel all hot and cold at the same time, tingly all over, her insides churned and she felt like throwing up.

‘Maybe this one won’t be so bad…’ she thinks.

She places a hand through it, feeling the strange energy.

>1d100 to see how well Sam handles going through!

Rolled 91 (1d100)

Don't say the name of the snake, don't say the name of the snake!

Rolled 83 (1d100)

Rolled 20 (1d100)

Before she can get used to it, like a child wading into cold water, Cassie reaches through, grabs her by the wrist and pulls! For a brief moment, Sam is pulled through a twisting corridor of light and sensation, a tunnel between worlds that causes her great distortion, assaulting her senses in ways one can only dream of. But she grits her teeth and closes her eyes, focusing as hard as she can, holding onto Cassie's hand. In mere moments, she's out of the portal on the other side as it closes behind her with a swirling, fading sound.

Sam finds herself stumbling forward and Cassie catches her. "Woah, woah! Easy there. Trust me, you get used to it. Not so bad this time, eh?"

Sam nods and opens her eyes. She realizes she is standing on a beach, with waves washing up against the shore nearby. Her shoes are in the sand, almost up to her laces, and as Cassie steps back she looks around and beholds the beautiful landscape of mountains and green forests that make up this place. It looks tropical and exotic, unlike any place she's ever been before, and the rising sun makes it all seem that much more magical.

"Welcome to the island," Cassie says. "We don't really have a name for it yet, so for now, it's just 'the island.' It used to be called Shang Tsung's Island, but now we own, like, half of it. Sweet deal, right?"

Sam is a bit too caught up looking around to take in all of the fine details. "R-right..."

"Well, we're not far from the base. It's still under construction and stuff but they've got a few general structures up. Right this way," Cassie says, leading Sam down the beach. The Chicago policewoman is still utterly taken aback by this place, feeling an urge to explore it, the kind she hasn't felt since childhood.

>Follow Cassie
>Converse
>Explore the forest
>Take off your shoes
>Other

>Follow Cassie
>Take off your shoes

>Cassie
>>Converse
>>Take off your shoes
"What is this place?"
Inb4 we step in something and regret taking our shoes off. Classic Sam

>Follow Cassie
>Converse
"Shang Tsung, Shang Tsung, where have I heard this before? Also what's up with the other half?"

Sam quickly follows along, but pauses briefly to take off her shoes, which aren't really suited to the sand. Cassie waits as she takes off her shoes and socks, holding them in one hand and the suitcase in the other.

"What is this place? It's amazing. It is in the Pacific?"

"It's in the Lost Sea," Cassie says. "Aptly named, because nobody can find the damn thing. Unless you've been before, which I have, and now you have too."

"I don't understand," she replies. "And you said this island is owned by... Samsung?"

"No no no, Shang Tsung. Evil sorcerer from back in the day. Supposedly now he's just an old bitch, so Kaito made a deal with him. We get a little more than half of the island for our base so long as we leave him alone. I guess they're going to fix up his house too since nobody's been on this island for like twenty years." Cassie snickers. "Imagine that, Samsung owning an island..."

Though what she says slightly unnerves Sam, she continues to follow along. Eventually Cassie takes her up a path, talking along the way. "So, I know we haven't ever really gotten a chance to just chill out, you know, shoot the shit and all, but I've been dying to ask: what's your dad's beef with my dad?"

Sam pauses. "Uh..." The mention of her father brings up some conflicting emotions. "Dad never really, um, talked about it. Your dad, I mean."

"Really? Well, that's fine. What's it like having him as a dad, anyway?"

>"I don't want to talk about him."
>"We don't really talk anymore."
>"He's not... so... bad."
>"Well... What's it like having Johnny Cage as yours?"
>Other

>>"He's not... so... bad."
>>"What's it like having Johnny Cage as yours?"

>"He's not... so... bad."
Dad is dad. I guess

>"He's not... so... bad."
He can just be... Protective
>"Well... What's it like having Johnny Cage as yours?"

>>"He's not... so... bad."
The worst part was church and how we just had to go every Sunday.

I guess something to add on but it would be great if we have a mental montage/flashback of all of Stryker's accolades and accomplishments so we can feel even more inadequate

Sam thinks hard and tries to form as nice of words as she can about Kurtis. "He's not... so... bad."

Cassie tilts her sunglasses down. "Wow. That bad, huh?"

"No, it's just that he's very protective," she's quick to add. That's putting it mildly, of course. For years and years he's been using his influence with the mayor and police force to make her life easier in an attempt to control her safety. "He doesn't, exactly uh, approve of me being here."

"What? Why not?"

Sam remembers her phone call with her father when she returned from Outworld. She thought he might be proud of her, but the yelling, shouting, cursing, threats about Johnny Cage...

On that note, Sam decides to change the subject by flipping it around. "Well... What's it like having Johnny Cage as yours?"

Cassie smiles. "Oh, well, I love dad. And mom, too." Her smiles fades for a moment as she stops and looks at Sam, her face growing a bit serious. "But, to be real for a minute, sometimes it's hard, you know? I mean, growing up in their shadow. It's a lot to live up to..."

Sam's face brightens. "Yeah! Yeah, I feel the same way!"

"Is your mom famous too?"

"She's an olympic swimmer, actually."

"Woah, no way!" Cassie says, making Sam feel a bit sheepish. "You must be one hell of a swimmer yourself then, right?"

"I'm... I'm, you know, alright," she says, averting her eyes.

"Hey, we kids of famous people gotta stick together, right?" Cassie says, holding up her hand for a high five. She then realizes Sam is still holding things in both hands and instead switches to a thumb's up. "It's great meeting someone who I can kinda relate to, you know?"

"Yeah, hah," Sam says. As Cassie turns away, however, all Sam can really think about is how mediocre she must seem compared to Cassie, who can throw green fireballs and has all of this military Special Forces training... Not to mention how in shape she is. Sam begins to feel a bit self-conscious as she follows along.

>Walk in silence
>Ask Cassie if the others are here
>Talk more about your parents
>Ask about the New Defenders base
>Ask more about this 'Shang Tsung'
>Other

>>Walk in silence
Poor girl
don't worry the hivemind that has infected your brain wont stop till your more swole than Goro

>Walk in silence

we won't stop till she's Xena.

Sam follows in silence, occasionally looking up at Cassie. She has tried to work out this past two months, ever since her trip to Outworld, but Cassie is on an entirely different level. She's thin, lean, acrobatic, with a tight stomach and mean while Sam is just---

Sam stops herself and sighs. She shouldn't be drawing so many comparisons to Cassie. Besides... maybe here she could start taking her fitness a bit more seriously. She's been running and doing push-ups and sit-ups every day.

Well, almost every day.

Just not on the weekends.

And sometimes not on weekdays, too...

She feels a bit guilty about not sticking as closely to her workout as she said she was going to when she originally decided she really was going to push to be on the team. Now that she's here, it seems like it's only making her feel worse. A growing knot in her stomach makes her worry more and more that she's going to get laughed out of here.

Cassie reaches the top of the path and stops, nearly making Sam bump into her. "There, what do you think?" she points. Sam walks alongside her and stops, giving a gasp.

"Woah..."

There is a massive military complex here, a bunker of concrete and steel built onto the island. She can see vehicles and people all over, around and on it. A helipad with a silent helicopter sits near the ocean, and several towers rise from the structure itself.

"I thought you said this place was under construction..."

"They worked fast, alright. It's still not done, but our quarters are pretty much ready for us to move in. You'll get your own room and stuff, and there's a rec hall and a mess hall and it's really impressive. This blows the old base I was on out of the water, and since this is an island, well... I can't really think of a pun, I'll get back to you on that though."

>"Can I see my room now?"
>"We'll all be living in the same building?"
>"How did all of this get here?"
>"Who else from the team is here right now?"
>Other

>"Can I see my room now?"
>"Who else from the team is here right now?"

>>"Who else from the team is here right now?"
Got to get the Social links going

"Who else from the team is here right now?" Sam asks, intrigued by the sound of what it's going to be like to live here.

"Well, me and Jacqui. The Shirai Ryu turned up early, so Takeda and Fox are here. Jin and Fireseed, too. Kaito's out with the boat collecting the rest."

'No mention of the Lin Kuei...' Sam thinks to herself. "Do you think I could see my room now?"

"Sure," Cassie says before walking down the path to the veritable fortress. Sam follows closely behind as they pass construction crews, forklifts, military personnel and more. Cassie walks right up to the door and it opens, sliding as they approach and closing behind them. The interior halls are well-lit and already comfortably cool, with working ventilation and air conditioning.

Cassie takes Sam to the barracks and brings her to the top floor. "They made more rooms than there are people on the team, just in case," Cassie says. "We've each got a room on one of two floors. Females on top, males on the bottom."

"Why is that?" Sam asks.

"Because that's the way it should be, am I right?" she says, elbowing Sam lightly in the ribs in a playful manner. She isn't exactly sure what kind of implication Cassie was going with there, but she smiles and follows until she is brought into her room.

It's a subdued yet comfortable setting, with simple furnishings. The whole room is bigger than her last apartment. "Wow..." she says.

"I know, nice, isn't it?" Cassie says, walking inside. As she does, the shades over the windows automatically adjust, letting light tastefully into the room. "This place is cutting edge as fuck. I love it."

Sam looks around. She has a small kitchen, bathroom and study area all to herself, and the entire room is designed with a kind of flow, everything perfectly spaced apart.

"So, you want to change? Or should we go see the others?" Cassie asks.

>Stay here and change
>Stay in your uniform
>Remain here and unpack until later
>Let her decide
>Other

>>Stay in your uniform

>>Stay in your uniform

>>Stay here and change

>Stay in your uniform

>>Stay in your uniform

"No, I'll stay in my uniform," Sam says with a slightly sheepish grin.

Cassie shrugs. "Hey, again, whatever floats your boat. Speaking of which, I should give Kaito a call and see when he's pulling into harbor. Hang on, I'll be right back."

She takes out her phone and leaves the room, the door closing behind her, leaving Sam alone. She looks around the room again, feeling overwhelmed by everything she sees. Not in a million years would she have ever seen herself living in a place like this.

Approaching the window, she looks out and sees the ocean, along with some of the construction crews moving around, carrying supplies and such. She briefly wonders how long it will take them to finish the base, and how many people will staff it. There are just so many questions she has about everything...

She lays her suitcase back on the bed alongside the one Cassie had been carrying before putting her socks and shoes back on. Sam takes a moment to adjust her uniform and belt before heading to the door. She looks out into the hall, but doesn't see Cassie anywhere.

'Maybe she went to her room,' Sam thinks. 'I should probably wait for her...'

>Wait for Cassie
>Have a look around
>Head downstairs
>Head up to the roof
>Other

>>Have a look around
>Head downstairs
>>Head up to the roof
ADVENTURE

>Have a look around
We wanted to explore earlier, let's do it

>>Head up to the roof
Get all introspective and shit

>Head up to the roof

Sam thinks on it for a moment before deciding to step out of her room. She looks up and down the halls, noting the lack of people, and decides to investigate around a bit. After all, there's no harm in getting to know the new place, right?

After proceeding towards the stairs and climbing them, going up to the roof, she gets a spectacular view of the surrounding landscape. The barracks isn't one of the taller buildings, but she does have a great view of the beach, the ocean and the nearby jungle.

For a few moments, as she looks out on the waves of the Lost Sea, watching the waves crash against the rocks and the shore, feeling the wind blowing through her hair, all doubt runs away from her. This place is amazing, it's more than she ever dreamed. She had imagined... well, not this. A dreary military base, perhaps, but this place is a wonderful mix of modern technology with the strange kind of exotic otherworldly location that this island seems to be.

'I belong here,' she thinks to herself. 'I want to stay here and be part of the team. Chicago, the precint, dad... they're all so far away. I've hardly ever felt more alive!'

She takes a deep breath of the sea air before turning around and nearly screaming. Fireseed is there, staring down at her with his intense eyes that seem to never blink. "Ohmygosh!" Sam exclaims, stepping back and nearly bumping into the railing. She lets out a nervous laugh as her self-doubt rushes back into her like a stampede. "Hey, there... you surprised me."

"Cassie was looking for you," he says very simply in a firm voice. "You weren't hard to find."

"Oh... Yeah, she was---"

"In the rec room." After interrupting her, he turns and walks away without so much as a goodbye, leaving a very stupified Sam.

>Head to the rec room
>Thank him for telling you
>Admonish him for sneaking up on you
>Spend a minute up here to compose yourself
>Other

>>Thank him for telling you
Let's try to be friendly
>Head to the rec room

>>Thank him for telling you
Then
>>Spend a minute up here to compose yourself
End in
>>Head to the rec room

"Uh---Thank you!" Sam says as he walks off without saying anything more. She swallows a bit, composing herself. 'He completely snuck up on me,' she thinks. 'I need to be more careful... or aware. Or both.'

She then heads down the stairs towards the rec room, which Cassie earlier pointed out to her. There are also small signs in the halls that help her find the way. Upon entering the modest recreational room, she finds Cassie talking to Jacqui while Takeda and Kung Jin play airhockey nearby, the puck making loud noises as it strikes their plastic handles.

Takeda looks up as Sam enters. "Uh oh, mall security's here Jin, we'd better scram."

Jin rolls his eyes. "Come on, Takeda. Be mature." He straightens and faces Sam while clearing his throat. "Now officer, I didn't know I was parked in the fifteen minute zone. Please don't have me be towed."

Sam stands there, unsure of how to respond to this teasing, as they both snicker. Cassie walks over and smacks Jin on the shoulder. "Enough of that," she says. "Shouldn't you be losing at your game?"

"I'm winning, actually," Jin says as Takeda lines up a shot and slams it into Jin's goal.

"You're tied, actually," Takeda says with a smirk.

Jin quickly goes back to playing against him as Jacqui walks up to Sam. "Don't mind them. They're just immature."

>Determined: "I call winner of the next game!"
>Unconfident: "No, it's fine, this uniform is stupid anyway..."
>Non-Confrontational: Don't respond to their teasing
>Naive: "Hah, they're probably just jealous anyway."
>Other

>Other
>"Y-you too!"

THIS

>>Non-Confrontational: Don't respond to their teasing
Go sit on the couch, you can't put your foot in your mouth there

"Y-you too!" Sam says to them both, but it's a bit of a delayed reaction. They're both too wrapped up in their game to pay her any mind at this point.

Jin defensively blocks his goal before launching the puck at Takeda, who puts his other hand to his head. The puck stops in the middle of the table before he knocks it back at Jin.

"Oh, is that how it is?" Jin asks as he knocks it back. Again Takeda stops it with his mind before hitting it. "Do NOT make me break out my Shaolin magic on your ass, grasshopper."

"You couldn't Shaolin magic your way out of a paper bag," Takeda teases.

Jacqui rolls her eyes and takes Sam over to Cassie, where the three of them sit on a couch. Cassie offers her a bottle of water, which she accepts with a smile. "Thanks," she says to the Cage.

"No probs," Cassie replies. "So, we've probably got some time before the boat shows up. What do you guys want to do?"

"I wouldn't mind working up a sweat," Jacqui says.

Cassie shoots her eyebrows up and down. "Yeah, I bet."

"Oh shut up," Jacqui laughs. Sam isn't quite sure what just happened between them. The Briggs girl goes on, "I meant the gym here. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet."

"Yeah, but what if the boat shows up before we get done?" Cassie asks. "Plus, we can always go later. Maybe we should just hang out."

"Or play a game?" Sam says, eager to try and build friendships and keeping her mind off of the fact that she's the only one in the room dressed up in uniform. Even Takeda and Jin are wearing casual clothing.

Jacqui doesn't seem very into it, but Cassie might if pushed far enough.

>Go to the gym
>Play a game
>Go change out of your uniform
>Stay here and chill
>Other

>Go change out of your uniform
>Go to the gym

>>Play a game

I'll need a tie breaker or a third vote

>>Go change out of your uniform

>>Go to the gym
Lose some weight

"On second thought, the gym sounds nice too," Sam says, perhaps wanting to get on Jacqui's good side.

"Sure, I'm down," Cassie relents. "You think you should maybe change, Sam?"

"Yes," she quickly replies. "I'll go do that!"

Sam leaves the room as Cassie and Jacqui make plans to head to the gym. She goes up to her room, quickly changing out of her police uniform and neatly laying it out on the bed. Opening her suitcase, she takes out her usual workout clothing, which consists of a very simple and plain white tank top and grey sweat pants.

She pauses for a moment in the mirror, looking herself over. She ties her hair behind her head with a small band before pausing and looking at her chest. She pushes up on herself a bit before sighing and leaving the room, trying to get her doubtful thoughts out of her head.

Heading down onto the first floor, she walks past Forrest Fox, the other member of the Shirai Ryu, heading to his room. She says hello but he doesn't reply other than a simple nod, leaving her to quietly continue on by herself.

The gym itself is mostly complete, with a series of machines and stations already set up, along with a rack of weights and mirrors lining the walls. The floor is padded and there currently isn't anyone else inside, save for Cassie and Jacqui, who are already stretching and warming up to get ready. Cassie gives her a smile. "Alright, now we can get going!"

Sam swallows a bit. Looking at Cassie's legs and Jacqui's arms, she can't help but feel like a wet, limp noodle.

'Here we go...' she thinks to herself before taking a deep breath.

>1d100 for how well Sam performs in the gym!

Rolled 76 (1d100)

FIT

Rolled 85 (1d100)

Rolled 31 (1d100)

Rolled 79 (1d100)

>h-here I go!

Sam starts off strong, doing a good warmup with Cassie. Jacqui stays for about halfway before she transitions to lifting weights. For her part, Cassie is very encouraging of Sam, helping show her the best ways to stretch her muscles and get ready. She's being quite supportive of Sam, helping her to feel a bit more involved and belonging. Her doubt isn't quite as profound as Cass instructs her.

Cassie brings Sam over to the weights and starts her off slow. Sam doesn't try going for the heavier weights right away, but doesn't feel too badly. Cassie seems very into helping her do things right, pushing her towards completing a full set of curls and lifts. She then helps Sam incorporate some more parts of her body, such as her shoulders, legs and waist through a series of lifting sets.

It doesn't take long for Sam to start sweating quite a bit; this is already going a bit further than her usual workouts. That Cassie is helping her focus on multiple parts of her body is definitely a factor. She doesn't quite mind how close Cassie gets due to how helpful she is being, and a few times she puts her hand on her own to help her lift the weight back up.

Sam grows a bit weary after a while, and Cassie recognizes this. She has her sit down and do some arm-lifting from a seated position. Nearby, Jacqui asks for a spotter. Cassie stands up and says to Sam, "I'll be right over here, just keep doing that."

"How long do you guys usually do this for?" Sam asks, winded.

"Maybe an hour or two, it depends," Cassie shrugs.

Sam looks up at the wall and sees that it's only been twenty-three minutes and internally groans.

But she doesn't give up. Although her weight class is considerably smaller than theirs, she continues to push herself on and on. When it's all done, Cassie and Jacqui both go through a cooldown routine, where they stretch their limbs, fingers, necks and spines in a variety of poses. Sam does her best to emulate, but she isn't quite as flexible as they are.

"Don't worry, we'll get you there!" Cassie says in an encouraging tone. Jacqui doesn't say anything, but she seems to share at least some of Cassie's enthusiasm.

Sam can't help but feel relieved that it's over. She's sore, covered in sweat and feels like she's about to collapse, but Cassie and Jacqui feel just fine. In fact, they almost seem to be in better spirits after it's done.

Cassie helps Sam to her feet. When she does, she takes out a stick of pink bubblegum.

"Gum?" she asks with a smile.

>Sweet Tooth: Can I have two?
>Yes, please.
>No thanks.
>Take it but save it for later.
>Other

>Sweet Tooth all day.

>>Sweet Tooth: Can I have two?

>>Sweet Tooth: Can I have two?
then we choke on the gum and spit it out in Jacqui's hair

Any idea if there's a way we can pratice some fisticuffs? I mean we don't have a combat style whatsoever.

>I mean we don't have a combat style whatsoever.

Sure we do. There's shoving, slapping...later we might gain enough XP to pick up "pull hair"...

I mean, I genuinely don't think we could throw a proper punch. We don't have to get full on Kung Fu. Just able to y'know defend ourselves

"Can I have two?" Sam asks, feeling the need for a little bit of sugary relief.

Cassie shrugs and takes out two sticks from the pack and hands them to her. She thanks her as she and Jacqui head towards the exit. Sam somewhat greedily shoves both into her mouth and chomps down, feeling the bubbly taste on her tongue. She lets out a sigh as she happily chews on it, following along after the girls. They're talking about showering up and getting ready for tonight; the boat shouldn't be far off.

As they head back into the barracks, Sam nearly bumps into Takeda, who comes around the corner. He stops right before he would have hit her. "Woah! Sorry. Didn't hear you coming."

"Oh, it's no problem, ha," she says.

As he walks off, he shrugs and says, "'Course, I never really hear you anyway."

Sam stands still as he walks away and she feels the knot return in her stomach. She suddenly doesn't much feel like chewing gum anymore and takes it out of her mouth, looking at the squishy pink mess.

>Non-Confrontational: Go back to your room
>Go after Takeda and have angry words with him
>Politely ask him to stop that
>Stick the gum in his hair
>Other

> Other

Flip the bird while trying not to cry.

Sounds about right

Sam watches him go and flips him off behind his back as her lip trembles. She doesn't know why he's being like this or why he's doing it to her in particular but she doesn't like it.

She quickly heads back up to her room, dropping the gum. Inside, she showers up and puts on a new pair of clothes before sitting on the edge of her bed.

She's trying her best to not let those earlier comments get to her. She's not a mall cop, or a traffic cop, or any other kind of thing to make fun of. She's Samantha Stryker. Letting out a sigh, she tries to push it all from her mind and goes about unpacking some more. Part of her thinks, 'Why unpack the rest? It's not like you'll be here for very long once they figure out just how useless you are. You couldn't even lift half the weights that Cassie and Jacqui could.'

Sam wipes her eyes. No tears, but they're not far off. With a deep breath, she fights them back. 'No tears. No tears. You're an adult.'

She takes out her diary and sets it on a nearby table along with its heart-shaped key. What is she going to write about tonight, she wonders? Her first day is rocky so far. But Cassie seems to have her back, and she's pretty high up there as far as people on the team go. Maybe she could use a friend right now.

>Unpack the rest of your things
>Go see if Cassie is done showering
>Head back up to the roof
>Stay here in your room for a while
>Other

> Unpack
Then
> Take Diary to roof

Assuming your allowing multiples here Dam

>>Other
Find a good place to hide your diary before someone finds it and you really get burned

>Unpack the rest of your things
>Stay here in your room for a while

It's like you don't want Tundra to ninja fight the shirai ryu to get it back for us!

Sam decides to unpack the remainder of her things; it's not like she has a whole lot. She takes everything out of both suitcases and sets them aside, folding them neatly. Afterwards, she takes out what few personal possessions she has and arranges them on the desk near her diary.

She pauses briefly before sliding open a drawer and putting the diary inside of it, just in case. She then stops herself and opens it, unlocking it to flip to one of the more recent entries, a drawing of Zian's face from her memory. She idly traces her fingers across its surface.

She wonders when he'll arrive. If anything could bring her out of his state, it would be just getting the chance to see him again. It would even---

A knock at the door startles her. She slams the diary shut, locks it and throws it into the drawer before slamming it shut. She turns around and says, "Come in!"

Cassie opens the door. "Hey Sam, I just got word: the boat's here. We're gonna meet them out on the beach. You ready?"

"Y-yes!" Sam replies. Cassie nods and leaves.

Sam's spirit rises a bit. Tundra! He's here!

>Go to the beach
>Put on your uniform
>Take a moment to make your hair nice
>Put on some makeup
>Other

>>Take a moment to make your hair nice
>>Put on some makeup
>>Other
Start on some positive self talk.

>>Go to the beach

>Makeup
>hair

Gotta look pretty for our hunkcicle

>>Go to the beach
>>Take a moment to make your hair nice
But put on an outfit that isn't gross and sweaty

yeah, let's throw this in. Preferably as we're heading to the beach.

Yeah lets self motivate while we're enroute to our romantic beach reunion that damashi wont sabotage at all to spite me.

Sam rushes to do her hair nicely after her shower before putting on a light amoung of makeup. She tries to keep it light and tasteful.

"Buck up," she says to herself in the mirror as she does this. "Come on, just be cool. Confident. He'd like that. Just be yourself! Just the 'yourself' without the bad stuff..."

She pauses. 'I need to work on a new mantra...'

After this is done, she puts on a nice shirt and pants and heads out, joining the others as they walk down to the beach. Although they are here, Takeda and Jin don't say anything to her, too busy talking amongst themselves. Fireseed and Fox both take up the rear as Cassie and Jacqui lead the way up to the beach.

Far off, Sam can see the ship: the Dragon Wing. She's ridden on it before; in fact, it's how she got home originally. Squinting a bit in the evening light, she can see that small rowboats are being taken towards the island.

Cassie folds her arms. "This is just like in the movie," she says to Jacqui. "Like, the crazy thing is, that's the same ship that brought dad and Kaito to this island for the tournament in the first place!"

Sam blinks a few times. Wait a minute... The island, Shang Tsung, the ship, a tournament...

Of course she'd seen Johnny Cage's 'Mortal Kombat' long ago but she never connected the dots until now. She walks up to Cassie. "This is... This is the island where the Mortal Kombat tournament took place?"

Cassie nods. "Oh yeah."

Sam can hardly believe it. "And that evil sorcerer guy from the movie? He's Shang Tsung?"

Behind her, she can hear Jin giving a very soft golf clap while Takeda audibly snirks. She tries to ignore them.

>"The movie was real, then?"
>"But how is he alive?"
>"I always thought it was just a movie."
>Say nothing
>Other

> How is he alive?

> Other

> So he's a good guy now or something?

>>"I always thought it was just a movie."

On another note, we need to convince Kaito or Cassie to seriously sit down and tell Sam EVERYTHING that has happened.

>>"But how is he alive?"
Poor Sam probably can't wrap her head around resurection by sorcery...
Yet

Poor Sam knows even less than her dad did when he got dragged into this shit.

>"The movie was real, then?"
>"But how is he alive?"

"How is he alive? I thought he died..."

Cassie smirks. "Heh, like that ever stopped anybody. Everyone always comes back in one form or another."

Jacqui whistles. "Good thing that never happened to any of us."

"Yeah, I'm not up for spending any time as a dead chick soon," Cassie replies.

Sam can hardly believe it. There's a lot more going on than she realizes...

Soon enough the boats row up to the shore. The remaining members of the New Defenders are on them and the lead boat has Kaito standing up in it. His boat appears to be moving faster than the others. Sam once witnessed him manipulating water; could that be how? Either way, his boat reaches the shore first and he holds up his hands. "Hey everyone!" he says as some of them wave.

Takeda pushes past Sam to walk up to Kaito and clasp his hand; Cassie does the same. Kaito greets everyone individually, and when he gets to Sam he shakes her hand. "Good to see you again, Sam. How was your time back home?"

"It was good," she says with a smile. "It's nice to see you too, Kaito."

Nearby, others begin to land and climb out of the dragon rowboats. The thief prince Cao, the four-armed and intimidating Sheeva, the spear-wielding Ling and, of course, a rowboat containing the three members of the Lin Kuei: Frost, Vapor and Tundra.

Sam's heart skips a beat as she looks on at him. He looks much the same, but with a slightly different uniform, a darker one than before. In addition he is also a bit more rugged-looking, like he hasn't shaved in a while. Sam tries not to stare as they join the others on the shore.

"I've got a campfire pre-built nearby," Kaito says, holding up his hand and igniting it with some small flames. "Let's sit around it and have a chat."

He begins to lead the group of fourteen up the beach.

>Talk to Tundra
>Walk silently
>Say hello to everyone else
>Talk to Kaito
>Talk to Cao
>Other

Ok I'm going to bed so last vote for me.

>Kaito first
> Try to talk to everyone else while tundra disembarks
> Fail
> Tundra while trying not to squee

>Talk to Kaito
We need info

>>Talk to Kaito
This island belongs to Shang!?!

>>Talk to Kaito

Exposition Dump

Seconding

As people in the crowd meet and greet while they walk, Sam moves her way back up to Kaito.

"Uh, hey, Kaito?" she gets his attention. "I had some questions..."

"Shoot."

"This island, this is where it all began, right? I mean, I read all about it once a while ago, but I mean... Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Liu Kang, you? You all met here?"

He thinks for a moment. "Well, actually I met Sonya when I tripped her while she was trying to get on the boat." He chuckles as Cassie cranes her neck over.

"Say what?" she asks.

Sam persists, however. "But this is it, right? Like, the actual island and stuff? Where the tournament was held and everything happened like in the movie?"

"Well, the movie left some stuff out, but yeah. This is the famous Shang Tsung's Island were, long ago, Mortal Kombat was held. For five hundred years, Outworld's winning streak was assured. But then we stepped in and stopped them, on the tenth and final tournament. This also led to Shao Kahn snapping and invading Earthrealm... But I'm sure you know about that."

Sam nods. It is, of course, the reason her father is so famous.

As they walk, Sam occasionally throws a glance over at Zian, who is talking to Cao. When they reach the site of the unlit pyre, they all move to encircle it, some sitting while others stand.

Kaito holds up his hand and blows a torrent of flames upon the stack of wood, igniting it. Soon enough the fire rises high up, and all are gathered around the pyro. Sam herself sits between Cassie and Ling.

"Hello everyone," Kaito says with a smile, looking around. "I'm glad to see that all of you were able to make it, especially those that I didn't pick up myself. It's been two months since we were all last in the same place together, and a few things have changed since then. The biggest one, I think, is this island; it's our new home and fortress."

He looks off in the distance at the base, lit up by spotlights and beacons in the growing night sky. "The base is coming along nicely. When it's done, we'll have the ability to launch from this location anywhere in the realms to respond to any threat that crops up. Working with SF and the OWEA, we'll be given first notification of any bad situation."

"It's really like we're a team of superheroes, huh?" Takeda asks, amused.

"A bit, but don't let it go to your head," Kaito advises him. "Keep it in mind that we're all still just mortals, and we're still fighting Mortal Kombat. Some of us have been doing it a bit longer," he says, looking at Sheeva and Fireseed, "while others are new. But everyone is here for a reason, and we're going to learn to depend on each other like we did during the Onaga crisis."

Sam sits silently and listens, taking some solace in the fact that he said that everyone has a reason for being here.

Kaito continues, "This team, the New Defenders, isn't going to be much of a team unless we act like one. I'm confident that we'll come to grow as a team the more time we spend training and going on missions together. Until now, however, not all of us know too much about each other. So, I'll go first."

Kaito talks for quite a while, for his story is a long and complicated one. He speaks about his time here on the island, the tournament, his travels through Outworld and beyond. Many adventures and many battles has he seen, and his story is truly an engaging one, especially for someone like Sam who hasn't heard all of it before. To know that everything he is saying is true is amazing, to say the least, for everything he speaks about comes from first-hand experience.

He then passes it off to the others. Not everyone, except for perhaps Cao, has quite as long an varried a tale as Kaito's, but still theirs are quite interesting in unique ways. Sam inwardly begins to dread a bit for when it is her turn.

Soon enough, Ling stands up and speaks of herself, then sits back down. Eyes turn to Sam.

>Speak quickly and honestly
>Take a while to describe your life story
>Make up a bunch of details
>"Pass."
>Other

>>Speak quickly and honestly
We may be the odd girl out, but lying in this context will be only worse.