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Sam nervously taps her foot on the floor of her apartment while chewing on a nail. Alongside her are two suitcases containing everything she owns, except her police uniform that she is currently wearing. It makes her feel a bit more important and consequently not nearly as on edge, but nothing can really keep her from being as uncertain as she is. But that hasn't stopped her from being packed and ready to go.

In her other hand is her cell phone, and on that phone is a text message from Cassie that they would be coming to get her today. She doesn't know how, exactly, because she didn't say. Car? Helicopter? Thunder god teleportation? When she received the message she had responded immediately but hadn't asked, and now she feels that it's too late to send another message without seeming awkward. She wants to project confidence and adaptability, even if she didn't have either when she was suddenly whisked away to Outworld to help fight an army of undead.

Her roommate Jessica sits nearby while looking up at Sam, who can't help but stare at the door as she stands in the middle of the room. Jess pulls her hair back and cocks a brow as she looks at the nervous policewoman.

"You could wait while sitting down, you know," she points out.

"I know, I know, but she said it would be at nine and it's nine-oh-five," Sam says, checking her phone for the time. 'Correction: Nine-oh-six,' she thinks with a growing knot in her stomach. What if she isn't actually coming?

"So, did they say they were going to pick you up in your uniform?"

"Uh, well, no," she replies. "But I thought it would make me seem more... official. I want to impress these people."

"Didn't you say you already hung out with them? Why do you need to impress them?"

>Naive: "I think it makes me look kind of cool, is all."
>Unconfident: "Yeah, you're probably right..."
>Romantic: "I want someone to notice me."
>Non-Confrontational: Say nothing and keep waiting
>Other (write-in)

>>48760369
>>Naive: "I think it makes me look kind of cool, is all."

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>>48760436

She looks back at Jess and says, "I think it makes me look kind of cool, is all,” before facing forward.

Sam swallows the lump in her throat. She had told Jess only the most minute and vague details about her time with the team, excluding pretty much everything involving other realms, armies of skeletal samurai, dragons and magic in general. She hadn't even told her many of the names of the other people on the team. Things have been difficult for her as far as keeping Jessie’s curiosity at bay and hiding the true nature of her trip from not too long ago.

She checks her phone again, almost like a nervous habit, growing increasingly more worried. She stands perfectly still and runs a hand through her hair.

Jess watches her with a look of pity on her face. “You’re driving yourself crazy, Sam.”

Sam lets out a long sigh. “I know, I know, I know, it’s just that she said she’d be coming and I don’t know if---“

She stops herself mid-sentence when she hears a knock on the door. Like a rabbit rushing to its burrow, she dashes to the door and opens it up, beholding none other than Cassandra Cage, wearing a very casual outfit, almost like something one would wear to the gym, and a pair of sunglasses.

Cassie smiles. “Sam! Hey, what’s up? Can I come in?”

Sam nods and lets Cassie into the apartment. The blonde girl surprises her with a hug, a surprisingly friendly one, before stepping back and looking at her uniform. “You got all dressed up, huh?”

“Y-yeah, I, uh, didn’t know if I should or shouldn’t so I thought, hey, best to be on the safe side, right? Haha…”

Cassie cocks a brow and smiles. “Whatever floats your boat. Me, I’m business casual.”

Sam stands up. “What kind of business has that as its business casual?”

“The business of kicking ass, and business is good.”

>Hurry up out the door
>Introduce Cassie to your former roomie
>Ask Cassie when you are leaving
>Ask Cassie how she got here
>Other

>>48760622
>>Hurry up out the door
>>Introduce Cassie to your former roomie

>>48760622
>Introduce Cassie to your former roomie
>Ask Cassie when you are leaving
>Ask Cassie how she got here
All of these lines deliver stuttering like a champ

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>>48760733
>>48760736

“Cassie, this is Jessie. Jessie, Cassie.”

The daughter of Cage looks at Jess and gives her a smile while holding out her hand. “Hi, I’m Cassie.”

“Jessie,” she replies, shaking her hand. “Have I seen you before? You look kind of familiar…”

“Trust me, I get that a lot,” Cassie says with a smile.

“So how do you know Sam? Are you on the team too?”

“Oh, you told her about the team?” Cassie asks Sam.

The policewoman swallows again. She speaks quickly. “Yeah, you know, just a bit. But I’ve got my stuff all ready and the landlady is all settled with which was a nightmare of its own but we don’t have to stick around or anything.” Sam shifts from one foot to the other, smiling and trying not to give off the impression of trying to hurry things along.

Cassie doesn’t seem to notice or mind. She looks at the suitcases. “All packed up then?”

“Y-yeah,” Sam says. “Are we going right now?”

Cassie lowers her sunglasses. “Is that cool? We can leave any time, you know.”

“You don’t want to stick around at all?” Jess asks. “I wouldn’t mind hearing a bit about what you’re going to be doing.”

“That’s fine,” Sam says, turning to give her friend and roomie a hug. “Like I said, I’ll be in touch. I’ll write and stuff.”

“Well, if you’re really in that much of a hurry, alright,” Jess replies. “Stay safe and let me know how things go.”

“I definitely will,” Sam promises.

Cassie bends over a bit and picks up one of the suitcases. “I’ll give you a hand.”

As they move towards the door, Jess sees them out. “Bye Sammie! Good luck with the team!”

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>>48760903


As they go down the stairs, Cassie gives Sam a bit of a knowing look, but still asks, “So, how much did you tell her? For real.”

“N-not much… I didn’t think she’d believe me.”

“Well, it’s not like dealing with this kind of stuff doesn’t run in the family, right? Trust me, I know all about that.”

>Naïve: ”So, are we driving from here?”
>Unconfident: “I was starting to think you weren’t going to come…”
>Romantic: “Say, uh, Tundra isn’t with you, is he?”
>Daddy Issues: “Yeah, but I don’t like to talk about dad…”
>Other

>>48760924
>>Unconfident: “I was starting to think you weren’t going to come…”
>>Romantic: “Say, uh, Tundra isn’t with you, is he?”

>>48760924
>Unconfident: “I was starting to think you weren’t going to come…”

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>>48761019
>>48761036

“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)

>>48761121
Don't say the name of the snake, don't say the name of the snake!

Rolled 83 (1d100)

>>48761121

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>48761121

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>>48761168
>>48761175
>>48761215

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

>>48761311
>Follow Cassie
>Take off your shoes

>>48761311
>Cassie
>>Converse
>>Take off your shoes
"What is this place?"
Inb4 we step in something and regret taking our shoes off. Classic Sam

>>48761311
>Follow Cassie
>Converse
"Shang Tsung, Shang Tsung, where have I heard this before? Also what's up with the other half?"

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>>48761345
>>48761350
>>48761353

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

>>48761520
>>"He's not... so... bad."
>>"What's it like having Johnny Cage as yours?"

>>48761520
>"He's not... so... bad."
Dad is dad. I guess

>>48761520
>"He's not... so... bad."
He can just be... Protective
>"Well... What's it like having Johnny Cage as yours?"

>>48761520
>>"He's not... so... bad."
The worst part was church and how we just had to go every Sunday.

>>48761558
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

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>>48761546
>>48761553
>>48761558
>>48761597

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.

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>>48761750


"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

>>48761769
>>Walk in silence
Poor girl
don't worry the hivemind that has infected your brain wont stop till your more swole than Goro

>>48761769
>Walk in silence

>>48761819
we won't stop till she's Xena.

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>>48761819
>>48761872

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

>>48762026
>"Can I see my room now?"
>"Who else from the team is here right now?"

>>48762026
>>"Who else from the team is here right now?"
Got to get the Social links going

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>>48762057
>>48762151

"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

>>48762340
>>Stay in your uniform

>>48762340
>>Stay in your uniform

>>48762340
>>Stay here and change

>>48762340
>Stay in your uniform

>>48762340
>>Stay in your uniform

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>>48762360
>>48762484
>>48762507
>>48762509

"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

>>48762590
>>Have a look around
>Head downstairs
>>Head up to the roof
ADVENTURE

>>48762590
>Have a look around
We wanted to explore earlier, let's do it

>>48762590
>>Head up to the roof
Get all introspective and shit

>>48762590
>Head up to the roof

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>>48762659
>>48762674
>>48762675
>>48762762

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

>>48762868
>>Thank him for telling you
Let's try to be friendly
>Head to the rec room

>>48762868
>>Thank him for telling you
Then
>>Spend a minute up here to compose yourself
End in
>>Head to the rec room

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>>48762905
>>48762916

"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

>>48763137
>Other
>"Y-you too!"

>>48763137
>>48763185
THIS

>>48763137
>>Non-Confrontational: Don't respond to their teasing
Go sit on the couch, you can't put your foot in your mouth there

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>>48763185
>>48763192
>>48763215

"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

>>48763343
>Go change out of your uniform
>Go to the gym

>>48763343
>>Play a game

>>48763425
>>48763452

I'll need a tie breaker or a third vote

>>48763343
>>Go change out of your uniform

>>48763343
>>Go to the gym
Lose some weight

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>>48763425
>>48763547
>>48763557

"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)

>>48763769
FIT

Rolled 85 (1d100)

>>48763769

Rolled 31 (1d100)

>>48763769

Rolled 79 (1d100)

>>48763769
>h-here I go!

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>>48763786

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.

>>48763824

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.

>>48763852

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.

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>>48763981
>>48763859

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

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>Sweet Tooth all day.

>>48763993
>>Sweet Tooth: Can I have two?

>>48763993
>>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.

>>48764152
>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"...

>>48764201
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

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>>48764090
>>48764098
>>48764120

"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.

>>48764277
Sounds about right

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>>48764277
>>48764442

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

>>48764610
>>Other
Find a good place to hide your diary before someone finds it and you really get burned

>>48764610
>Unpack the rest of your things
>Stay here in your room for a while

>>48764684
It's like you don't want Tundra to ninja fight the shirai ryu to get it back for us!

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>>48764642
>>48764684
>>48764719

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

>>48764965
>>Take a moment to make your hair nice
>>Put on some makeup
>>Other
Start on some positive self talk.

>>48764965
>>Go to the beach

>Makeup
>hair

Gotta look pretty for our hunkcicle

>>48764965
>>Go to the beach
>>Take a moment to make your hair nice
But put on an outfit that isn't gross and sweaty

>>48764992
yeah, let's throw this in. Preferably as we're heading to the beach.

>>48764996

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

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>>48764992
>>48764997
>>48765006
>>48765007
>>48765028

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?

>>48765207
>>"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.

>>48765207
>>"But how is he alive?"
Poor Sam probably can't wrap her head around resurection by sorcery...
Yet

>>48765283
Poor Sam knows even less than her dad did when he got dragged into this shit.

>>48765207
>>48765207
>"The movie was real, then?"
>"But how is he alive?"

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>>48765249
>>48765283
>>48765408

"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

>>48765821
>Talk to Kaito
We need info

>>48765821
>>Talk to Kaito
This island belongs to Shang!?!

>>48765821
>>Talk to Kaito

Exposition Dump

>>48765872
Seconding

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>>48765872
>>48765876
>>48765890
>>48765894
>>48765910

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."

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>>48766299

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.

>>48766313

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

>>48766329
>>Speak quickly and honestly
We may be the odd girl out, but lying in this context will be only worse.

>>48766329
>>Speak quickly and honestly

Skim/downplay though, more "I'm a cop...and then the Onaga stuff happened" than "I have a desk job and suck at everything" lol

>>48766329
>>Speak quickly and honestly
Im loving sam
playing this girl is the best

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>>48766384
>>48766420
>>48766431

Sam clears her throat and nervously stands up. She looks around, making eye contact with everyone, seeing some sketics, some who are suspicious, and some who are supportive, like Kaito, Cassie and Zian. She stares into his eyes for a moment, working up the courage to talk to the group.

"Well... I'm Sam. Samantha Stryker, that is. And uh... I'm not a champion of the shokan," she looks at Sheeva, "and I didn't hunt dinosaurs for seven years," she looks at Fireseed, "and I'm not a ninja warrior from a clan or a super soldier or anything, but... uh..."

She pauses for a moment. "I worked out of a nice precinct in Chicago as just an ordinary cop when one day Raiden showed up and took me to Outworld, and... Well, I think you call know the rest, honestly, heheh..."

For a moment, the only sound comes from the burning wood of the fire. Sam finds herself standing awkwardly while everyone stares at her.

"Oh, and... My father is Kurtis Stryker," Sam adds.

"Then why are you here?"

Everyone turns to the one who spoke: Sheeva. The shokan woman looks at Sam with all four arms folded in front of her. The shokan champions stares at Sam with fierce eyes.

"I... I'm sorry?"

"For what?" Sheeva asks in a commanding voice that makes Sam shake a bit.

"I, I, I, I, I---" Sam begins to stutter. "I don't... know what you mean?"

"Are you your father?" Sheeva asks her.

"N... No?"

"Then why are you here?"

Kaito holds up a hand. "Sheeva, this isn't---"

She interrupts him. "Kaito, you and I both fought with her father in the invasion. Why is she here? Simply because of him?" Sheeva looks back at Sam. "Look at her. She is small, and weak."

Sam shakes a bit as this massive four-armed titan of a woman talks down to her. Everyone's eyes are on her, waiting to see what she will do. Cassie and Kaito both seem ready to jump in to rush to her defense, and Zian seems confused or conflicted. He seems to be waiting to see what Sam will do as well...

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>>48766663

>Sit down and be quiet
>"I'm not my father, no... But..."
>Let someone else defend you
>Talk back to Sheeva
>Leave the campfire
>Other

>>48766686
>>Talk back to Sheeva
Time to stand up for ourselves

>>48766686
>"I'm not my father, no... But..."

Raiden picked me for a reason, and I don't know what it is, but neither did my dad when he picked him, so...

>Then sit down and be quiet

>>48766817
Sounds good

>>48766686
>>Talk back to Sheeva
with a little
>>48766817

>>48767004
This.

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>>48766742
>>48766817
>>48766911
>>48767004
>>48767185

Sam's hands curl into fists and her knuckles turn a bit white. "Well... No, I'm not my father," she says to the shokan, managing to stand her ground, but that might be more out of being paralyzed with fear than raw guts. "But... But Raiden brought me to Outworld for a reason!"

Sheeva remains unimpressed. "And that is?"

"I... I don't know," Sam admits, losing some of her bluster. She quickly regains it before anyone else can speak and says, "But neither did my father, when he was fighting in the invasion and Raiden chose him to be on the old Defenders! So... Yeah!"

Sam's legs then all but give out and she sits back down, not looking at Sheeva anymore.

Cassie is then quick to spring up to her feet. "Right! So, I'm Cassie, you all probably knew that. Cass, Cassie, Cage, it's all good. Anyway, I..."

Her voice trails off a bit as Sam inwardly retreats a bit. She tries not to imagine Sheeva or anyone else staring at her, hoping that Cassie is taking the attention off of her and onto herself. That would be nice. But still she is riddled with doubt.

Why is she here? Why DID Raiden bring her to Outworld? She has no powers, no special training, and no skills of any kind that would come in handy in battle...

He told her that she has 'potential.'

What is that even supposed to mean?

After the next few finish up their stories, it's back to Kaito. He looks around at the others, particularly at Sheeva and Sam, before speaking up again. "Well... Now we all know each other a bit better. It's like I said before, though, everyone, and that means EVERYone, is here for a reason."

Sam can hear some whispers, but doesn't really listen to them enough to discern their true nature.

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>>48767307

Kaito looks down at the fire. "We've got a ways to go. The base is still being built, and we've got work to do. This island is still somewhat of a dangerous place; a colony of oni still live underground, in what was once Goro's lair. Over time, we're going to clean them out. It'll be good practice, and we can work in teams."

"I thought we weren't allowed on the other side of the island," Cassie points out.

"Well, technically the agreement is that we don't bother Old Man Tsung. So long as nobody here does that, we'll be fine."

"I still do not agree with letting him live," Sheeva points out.

Kaito nods. "Noted, Sheeva, thank you. The point is, nobody bother him and he won't bother us." The shokan still seems unconvinced, but Kaito moves on. "Before we do any oni-cleansing, though, Johnny and the man who helped organize and fund all of this, Secretary Blake, want to run everyone through some tests. Everyone here is going to be tested on a number of things."

"Fighting?" Frost asks.

"Yes," Kaito nods, "that's one."

"What about shooting? Or gymnastics?" Cassie asks.

"From what I've been told, yes, those to," Kaito replies. "There's going to be about ten or so trials and everyone is going to go through them. Some of them are individually scored while others will involve a team effort. But in the end, this is not a contest, so don't treat it like one. It's not about being better than anyone else; it's about being the best you can be so we can get information about everyone's strengths and weaknesses so we know where we need to work on with each individual."

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>>48767320

Kaito walks around the fire, looking at everyone he passes as he does. "We're not just individuals anymore, we're a team. We're going to help each other, watch out for each other, train with each other and go into battle with each other. We've already had to do this once, in Outworld, when Onaga showed up. But when the next would-be warlord rears his head, he's going to find something even worse in his way: a team that's going to be twice as better as the one that came together before."

He stops in his old place and turns around. "I'd be happy and proud to go into battle with each and every one of you again. I think you're all fine warriors in your own right, even if you don't know it yourself. We're going to work together to make each other stronger, because all of us as a team can only be as strong as our weakest link."

Nearby, Takeda mutters to himself, "That's a pretty weak link." A few near him, including Sam, hear him and chuckle. Not Sam, of course.

Kaito looks out over them and his expression softens a bit. "Rest well tonight. Tomorrow, things will really get started."

As the group begins to get up and disperse, heading back towards the base, Kaito walks over and sits down next to Sam. He looks at her as she stares into the flames.

"Don't mind Sheeva," he says. "She's blunt. That's the shokan way."

"It's not just her," Sam says.

"Are there others?" he asks.

"Yes... But not them, either. It's me."

Kaito puts his hands on his knees. "We all doubt ourselves sometimes, Sam. Even me. I didn't go on my journey and have all of those adventures and do all the things I did without a little bit of doubt along the way. We all struggle with it."

"But should I even be here?" she says. "I'm not like any of you. I don't have any powers."

"Well... We don't know that yet," Kaito says with a shrug. "Maybe they'll come out in the tests."

"Somehow I doubt it," she says with a sigh, again letting her doubt take control of her.

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>>48767335

Kaito is quiet for a moment more. "I never knew your father too well, to be honest. But he was a strong fighter, and without him, we wouldn't have been able to win. Even back then he doubted himself; he thought he was in over his head too. But he made a difference." He looks at her and smiles. "Just like I think you'll make a difference, Sam."

After a moment, she smiles. "Thank you, Kaito."

>Head back to base
>Stay with the fire for a while
>Talk to Kaito some more
>See if you can find Tundra
>Other

>>48767351
>Talk to Kaito some more
We need someone to belive in use so we can believe in the them that belives in us.

>>48767351
>Talk to Kaito some more
ask him how to make freinds and be strong. we need life advice stat.

>>48767351
>>See if you can find Tundra
I wanna try to find husbando and then get bullied by frost

>>48767351
>>Talk to Kaito some more

>>48767351
>>Talk to Kaito some more
We need some way of developing whatever germ of a hero we might hold.

>>48767438
I wonder what Vapor is up too, she was a shy girl once last time i checked she still is im kinda behind on the reading She might be a good friend to have.

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>>48767385
>>48767432
>>48767439
>>48767448

I'm off to bed. We'll be continuing in the morning, so please help me keep the thread alive if you can. Remember, we're back on /tg/ now.

Goodnight folks, we'll resume in the morning with talking to Kaito as well as the tests Sam will have to go through. Sam's episode has gone rather well so far, but it's not over yet!

>>48767517
goodnight bro
see you in the morning

>>48767385
Seconding it

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Hello bumps my old friend

Don't die on me thread

>>48769486
I've come to post with you again ...

>>48771587
Because the thread softly creeping ...

Ok good we still living
Hows everyone doing this morning

>>48772813
Pretty good

>>48772813
Fine indeed, poor slave of the past.
The afternoon here in the " Land of eight hours ahead" is magnificent.

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>>48772813

Morning everyone, we'll be resuming in just a bit.

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>>48767385
>>48767432
>>48767439
>>48767448

Sam thinks for a moment before asking, "So, you said you didn't know my father very well. I never knew what he was really like around the time of the invasion. Was he any different?"

"I can't say, since I haven't spoken to him in a long time. It seems like he immediately distanced himself from everything related to the Defenders once it was all over, except to get that book deal and other awards. I think, because him and Johnny and Sonya and Jax were the most 'normal' out of all of us, or maybe the most American, they were the ones who used the invasion to advance their careers." He pauses. "Well, I suppose technically Sub-Zero used it to build his reputation to help bring warriors interested in the new Lin Kuei clan. But that's all got nothing to do with what you asked. Kurtis was... Well, he didn't want to be where he was. It's like he said, he was just 'doing his job' and pressed on. But somewhat reluctantly."

"So he was pretty much the same then as he is now," Sam says with a sigh. "Whatever 'hero germ' I'm looking to catch, I'm not going to get it from him. How do you make friends and be strong? He never really taught me that."

"Well... It's important not to give up. I said before that we all doubt, but you can't let that doubt or your fear control you. You have to recognize that it's a part of you but rise above it. Even if something seems terrible, even if you have to face a monster of great power and terror, you have to believe in yourself. Do that, and others will follow. People kind of pick up on it, if you're confident and self-assured."

>"I'm not very confident."
>"I just don't feel very strong, so how could I face those things?"
>"I want to believe in myself, but it's hard when nobody else does."
>"Thanks for the talk, Kaito." Go back to base
>Other

>>48773539
>>"I just don't feel very strong, so how could I face those things?"

>>48773539
>"I'm not very confident."
>"I just don't feel very strong, so how could I face those things?"
RNGesus help this poor girl tomorrow

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>>48773581

"I just don't feel very strong, so how could I face those things? I mean, you've stared down Shao Kahn and giant monsters and shokan..."

Kaito chuckles. "Yeah, well... I suppose you get used to shokan after a while." He waves a hand and then looks back at her again. "Listen, I wasn't lying when I said that we'll get you there. You're not just here because of your name, I know it, even if we don't know the exact reason why."

"Can't we call up Raiden and ask?"

"I tried," he admits. "Nothing concrete. He just said that you're someone we need and that you have potential. That's all."

"And... do you believe him?"

"There was a time when I wouldn't. But I'm a bit past that now; he looked over my body for twenty years and he went through quite a bit in that time. I can trust his word on you. But we'll train you and make sure you're ready before putting you in danger again, I can promise you that. We'll teach you to fight."

"I'm glad," she says with a relieved sigh. "I could really use some help in that area."

He flashes another smile. "Don't worry, Sam. Even if not everyone on the team believes in you, I do."

"Thank you," she says again as he stands up. She moves to follow him, feeling a bit better about herself.

"Let's head back; the moon's getting higher. You'll need a good night's sleep for tomorrow and the tests. Don't worry about those: it's just meant to be an evaluation."

"Right!" she says as they walk back towards the base. She looks up at the full moon and thinks to herself, 'Too bad I'm not a werewolf. Then I'd at least have some kind of power.'

>Go to bed
>Bo to your room, write in your diary
>Go to someone else's room to talk
>Spend some time up on the roof
>Other

>>48773700
>>Bo to your room, write in your diary
there is no way its not missing

>>48773700
>Bo to your room, write in your diary
Do we use some sort of code, or encryption for our diary? Half the team can crack a lock easily, the other half can crush it between their fingers.

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>>48773750
>>48773780

After returning to base and heading up to her room, Sam proceeds towards the desk and opens it up quickly, thinking that perhaps the diary may be gone. It isn't, at which she lets out a sigh of relief.

She takes it out and uses the key to open it before sitting down and writing out an entry. After recording her thoughts and feelings of her first day, spanning from her arrival to the island to the fireside chat with Kaito, she ends it with a short paragraph.

>I still don't know if I belong here, but I'm going to try. I know that there is a reason I am here, and a reason my dad was part of the old team too. I remember him talking about how everyone's soul got sucked up except the heroes, and he was one who wasn't but never really knew why. I don't know if I'll ever find that out, but I swear I'll find out why I was chosen to be on this team. I'll do my best.

Collecting her thoughts and feelings in this journal makes her feel better, it always has. There's something about putting one's thoughts to words that makes them more honest, more thought-out and complete. It's helped her overcome a lot of issues in her time related to self-doubt and unfortunate incidents, as well as her feelings about her father.

She looks on the desk now and at her only picture of her, her father and her mother. She takes it into her hand and looks at it, running a finger over its somewhat-dusty surface. Kurtis is actually smiling in it, a rarity in itself.

Sam doesn't hate her father... Everything she's ever done is an attempt to get his approval. Joining the police force, competing in running events, other odd things, but he's never really given her much positive attention. He's protected her, that much is sure, but beyond the realm of physical safety he's never so much as opened up to her.

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>>48773998

She remembers then the night she snuck past the living room while Kurtis was talking on the phone. She can't remember who he was talking to or what the conversation was about, but she remembers the words: "I wanted a son. I would've named him Sam."

That always stuck with her. Samantha wasn't the son he wanted. He wanted a Samwell or a Samson or just Sam, not Samantha or Sammie. But he got her instead.

She slowly puts the diary back in the drawer after locking it and goes to bed. She crawls under the covers, thinking about how soft and amazing the bed is, before drifting off to sleep with thoughts of her father still lingering in her mind.

>...

The next day, Sam finds herself in workout clothing again. Everyone is dressed very casually or in light fighting clothes. Kaito and none other than Johnny Cage stand in front of the team, talking about the tests they're going to take. Everyone is to be graded on a variety of things, but the actual testing will take place at the SF headquarters.

"We have more complete facilities there," Johnny says. "A full obstacle course and land navigation areas and stuff. We don't really have that on the island yet."

"Yes, and we can't have anyone wandering into Shang Tsung's house either," Kaito points out.

"Right! So we'll be heading through the portal back to Earth for these tests."

In front of her, Cao sticks a finger into his ear and yawns. "How long are these going to take?"

"As long as is needed for everyone to get through them," Kaito says. "Expect it to take the whole day."

The thief takes his finger out of his ear and flicks it off to the side. "Whatever you say. Let's get this over with."

The portal to the Special Forces base is large. It would have to be, since this is where all the building materials and vehicles came through. Johnny Cage describes it as a stable portal, and it certainly looks like it, with a massive metal ring making up its shape. Cassie whispers to Sam, "This is the real Stargate."

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>>48774006

After going through, she finds herself on the military base. It's not as exotic a location as before, but like Johnny said the facilities here are more complete.

Everyone is gathered for a safety briefing by various military personnel who go through a rundown of the tests that everyone, and by extension Sam, are about to take: firearms, an obstacle course, a running trial, land navigation and map reading, a written exam, an infiltration course, tests relating to squad leadership and overall leadership qualities, measurements on raw power relating to special abilities, and combatives to see who can beat who.

Sam swallows nervously when she hears those last three in particular. 'I... I have to fight everyone?' she thinks. She feels like a bunny rabbit surrounded by hungry wolves all of a sudden.

But she has a ways to go. First up is marksmanship.

>Roll 1d100 to see how well Sam does on her marksmanship test!

Rolled 92 (1d100)

>>48774028
Eye of the bull! Eye of the bull!

Rolled 14 (1d100)

>>48774028

Rolled 46 (1d100)

>>48774028
Bullet ricochets into our foot!

Rolled 89 (1d100)

>>48774028

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>>48774090
>>48774203
>>48774210
>>48774219

Sam feels comfortable here. She's been to gun ranges before and fired plenty of times. After practicing the fundamentals in her head and focusing on sight picture, proper trigger squeezing, regulated breathing and a firm grip, as well as holding the weapon in the proper position, she fires her rounds. They have two volleys to go through, one with pistols and one with rifles, before it is over. Sam focuses her absolute hardest and does the best job she can, managing to shoot perhaps the best series of targets in her life. She didn't hit them all, but she managed to hit most of them, and that's a win-win for her.

After taking off the safety goggles and earmuffs, she prepares for the next course: the obstacle course.

She didn't see some of the others shoot, but she does watch them go through this course. It's got all sorts of things in it: rope-climbing, swinging, crawling, jumping, carrying, balancing, running---and it's all timed. She and the others watch a demonstration before they go at it one at a time. Cassie knocks this one out of the park, she's like Spider-Woman with the way she goes through it. Watching her gives Sam some confidence, but self-doubt remains, as she doesn't think she could do nearly as good.

Kaito is next to her. "Remember that it isn't a contest," he says to her.

Cao pushes up to the front. "It's not a contest but I'm still beating Cassie's time," he says with a smile before running up to the starting line.

He doesn't, as it turns out, much to Cassie's amusement and Cao's frustration. He begins to demand a rematch, but everyone else has to go first.

Soon, it's Sam's turn.

>1d100 for the obstacle course!

Rolled 29 (1d100)

>>48774250
Tail of the monkey, tail of the monkey!

>>48774290
shit, I forgot that she doesn't have a tail!

Rolled 72 (1d100)

>>48774250

Rolled 100 (1d100)

>>48774250
American ninja

>>48774368
LOOKS LIKE SOMEONES OBSTACLE COURSE TIMES WERE OFF.

>>48774368
Are we sure Sam isn't Kabal's kid?
Holy shit.

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>>48774290

Sam approaches the obstacle course and starts off not very well. She falls off of some parts, slips down ropes or walls or lets go, has difficulty holding herself up on the climbing or swinging sections and has to slowly make her way through the more difficult sections, like the crawling ones.

>>48774345

Sam pauses briefly to look back at the others. She's only halfway through the course and she knows they're judging her. Well, she's not going to give up! She presses on and starts doing better, making her way through the obstacles easily.

>>48774368

By the last third of the course, she's completely in the zone. She zig-zags and balances and swings, pulling off each feat like it were nothing! She is filled with determination and bravado as she makes it to the final challenge: climbing a tower and getting the flag at the top before getting down with a zip line.

She faces it like she's on American Ninja Warrior or some other show. In her head, she hears the cheering crowds and announcer. Gritting her teeth, she scales the tower and makes it to the flag, taking a moment to hold it up and wave it around. She then hooks up to the zip-line and takes a deep breath before pushing off and sliding down. She lands in a soft padded square and jumps up and down. "I did it! I did it!" she cries. Nearby, Kaito and Cassie both applaud her as they walk up.

"Good job," he says to her. "You showed yourself that you could face the course."

"How was my time?" she asks, a bit naively. So overwhelmed by the fact that she finished at all, her hope of a good time isn't questioned by her sense of logic.

Kaito coughs. "Well... It'll improve, I'm sure. Besides this is just an evaluation."

"Oh... Was it that bad?"

They hear a crashing noise nearby. Sheeva is currently in the process of making her way through the obstacle course... and unintionally destroying it. Cassie whistles. "Well... good thing we had her go last."

Next up is running.

>1d100 for the running test!

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>>48774523
oh my god what a swerve that would be

Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>48774545
Fuck you Damashi 100s are supposed to overide other rolls, you obviously is this cause you didn't want us to flawless the whole thing. I am not actually salty it's just hard to convey Being fake upset through text

Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>48774545
Now to roll a 1 after my 100

Rolled 38 (1d100)

>>48774545
Run Sammy

>>48774603

Well, she got a really, really good time on the last third of that course.

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>48774603
>>48774615
>>48774618
Wow this girl can run for shit

>>48774650
She tuckered herself out after using all her special on an obstacle course leave her alone

Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>48774545
Gotta run fast!

>>48774679
hahahaha poor girl

>>48774545
Is this the part where we find out why Sheeva sucks dick at running?

Rolled 2 (1d100)

>>48774545
Rolling to salvage

>>48774748
Apparently no, I'm not.

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The running course is simply that: a running course. A large circular track that laps are timed on. Each person is told simply to run as fast and as long as they can, and they are judged by how many laps they complete and how fast they are.

All of them are set off at once, and Sam is dismayed at how quickly everyone else runs off in front of her. She sprints for a bit but that only serves to make her tired, so she settles into a jog. It doesn't take long for people to begin eclipsing her.

"Get outta the passing lane!" Takeda says as he runs past.

"Come on, don't stop," Cassie encourages her as she passes her.

"Feeling tired?" Ling asks as she runs by.

Sam pushes everything else out of her mind and just focuses on keeping going. She runs and runs and runs, breathing through her mouth and out her nostrils, continually jogging forward. At around her fifth lap, she feels winded, with a sharp pain in her side. Perhaps she put too much into the obstacle course before...

'Don't give up, don't give up, don't give up,' she thinks. 'I think I can, I think I can, I think---'

Suddenly Frost makes it past her. "Give up," she whispers before taking off.

Sam stops running and falls to her knees, breathing heavily. She looks up and realizes that she is the first to do so. She feels slow and worthless as she makes her way to a bench and takes a drink of water.

'I shouldn't even take the other tests,' she thinks to herself. 'What's even the point? All it's doing is proving how unfit I am compared to the rest of them.'

It takes a while for the others to filter out. Cao keeps going until it's only him, just continually running forward. Eventually they have to stop the test so that everyone can move on.

"What? I'm not even close to being done!" he protests, which makes Sam feel a bit worse somehow, knowing he could've kept going.

She looks off to the side and sees the scorers with their notepads and clipboards and dreads the results.

>1d100 for the written exam!

Rolled 94 (1d100)

>>48774762
Written exam: A++ edition

Rolled 69 (1d100)

>>48774762
This should be in our wheelhouse! Let's do this!

Rolled 62 (1d100)

>>48774762
Were a cop
we right reports and shit all the time
we got this

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>>48774792
>>48774797

Next up, after a shower and a refresher along with lunch, is a written exam. Everyone eats lunch quickly and there isn't much conversation other than some enthusiasm for the tests so far. Jin in particular is very confident that he's going to blow everyone out of the water on this written portion.

"Whatever you say, egghead," Takeda jokes.

When the time does come for the test, everyone except Cao is given a series of papers on various topics. Sam feels confident; she's had good grades all her life and knows all kinds of things. And this test covers things like algebra, engineering, chemistry and all sorts of physical sciences. She's got to have an edge on some of these others who have never even been to school! She quickly zips through the test and hands it in.

The results won't be known until later, but Sam's got a good feeling about it!

Next up is lland navigation. This is where Sam feels a bit unsure of, as she's never had to do it before. After being given a quick course on how to use a map and a compass, she and the others are put out onto a course and given different objectives. Using the map and other tools, Sam has to reach a specific point and record the numbers there.

"Okay... we we go..." she says, looking at the tools and feeling overwhelmed.

>1d100 for land nav!

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>48774931
Where's Waldo?

Rolled 14 (1d100)

>>48774931
Reading and following directions! We can do this! Nav the Land!

Rolled 69 (1d100)

>>48774931
Find buried treasure!

Rolled 33 (1d100)

>>48774931
L-land Nav
what do you mean no street signs?

Rolled 53 (1d100)

>>48774931

>>48775011
Ahh, the sex number

>>48775000
I think this one landed us at Shang Tsung's palace, somehow!

>>48775071
Dunno.
It's got a pretty decent trip on it.

>>48775071
>>48775088
Well triple you know

>>48775088
Yah, that's why the palace would be an awesome fail. She did so terribly she crossed into a different realm!

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>>48774985
>>48775000
>>48775011
>>48775052
>>48775056

After a lifetime of using Google maps and other street directions, Sam is utterly lost. She manages to point herself in the right direction a few times but it doesn't take long for her to wind up lost again. She is only able to orient herself by finding signposts that aren't the ones she is looking for that she can again make her way out, but soon she's just as hopelessly lost again.

Sam sits down and sighs, all but ready to give up. It's been at least an hour already and it's not going to get any easier... or so she thought. She hears a sharp whistle nearby and thinks that it is the judging officials here to collect her, but when she follows it, she sees nobody. Then she hears another whistle, and another one, and another one, leading her on.

Straight to the point she is looking for. Sam looks all around, but sees nobody. Who helped her, she wonders?

She records the number and heads back towards the course start. As predicted, everyone else did better than her, but what is strange is that everyone is here... So who could have helped her, she wonders?

Now it is the evening, which means it will soon be the ideal time for an infiltration course. The Special Forces have guards patrolling around a training building, and the objective is to get inside and steal something and then get out.

Sam gulps. She's never really had to sneak past people like a video game before...

>1d100 and an action!

>>48775131

Well I meant 1d100 for infilrtration but you get it.

Rolled 54 (1d100)

>>48775131
stick to the shadows. Silently.

Rolled 34 (1d100)

>>48775131
Quiet like a church mouse.
Stealthy like a raccoon.

Rolled 80 (1d100)

>>48775131

Rolled 35 (1d100)

>>48775131
Samantha Stryker.... You're that ninja?

Rolled 34 (1d100)

>>48775131
>>48775153
We suck at sneaking! So let's try to find some uniforms!

>>48775169
Knock one of them out and steal the uniform.

Rolled 100 (1d100)

>>48775131

>>48775193
Fffffffuuuuck

>>48775193
OOOOOOOOOH. Based off the order of events im assuming we blend in flawlessly as a goon

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>>48775193

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Sam has difficulty at first. The guards move around in somewhat-set patterns, patrolling around the building they are guarding. They wear armor and have fake guns, and there are also terrain features like barrels, shipping containers and fences that she has to look out for.

At first, things go somewhat well. But when she stumbles while hiding behind a vehicle, she scrambles to hide when someone comes to investigate. She nearly gets seen again when she accidentally kicks a rock and has to move in the opposite direction.

She thinks as hard as she can to come up with a plan. Then, it comes to her!

Picking out one of the female guards, she sneaks up behind her and taps her on the shoulder. She turns around and looks at Sam, confused.

"I, uh, I just knocked you out and I'm going to, uh... take your clothes."

The guardwoman gives Sam an incredulous look. Sam can tell she's about to blow the alarm.

"Look, I promise you that I could've totally knocked you out just now. Uh... please be a good sport? I really need this."

The woman, out of pity or perhaps some sense of sympathy, nods. "Alright, fine. I'll play along like it was real, fair enough."

Sam smiles as she and the guard move to a hidden spot. The guard takes off her body armor and helmet, allowing Sam to slide them on. It's a bit big on her, but she's able to blend right in. Taking the weapon, she thanks the guard for her cooperation.

"Not like I had a choice. You knocked me out," she smirks.

Sam then moves off and pretends to be a guard. Not wanting to draw attention to herself, she pretends to patrol for a bit and then moves inside. The primary guard for the briefcase she needs is sitting on a chair near it.

"Uh, it's my turn to guard it now. You go patrol," she says in a slightly deeper voice.

The man shrugs and gets up, leaving the room.

'I can't believe it!' Sam thinks to herself with a smile. 'I just can't believe it!'

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>>48775494

She then picks up the briefcase and looks out the door. When the coast is clear, she books it! Quietly, of course.

When she makes it to the edge of the course, an alarm sounds. But she's already gone! She did it!

Soon enough the rest of the team are nearby, and Kaito walks forward as Sam takes off the helmet. "Not bad," he says with a smile. "In fact, that was damn clever of you, Sam."

She smiles broadly as a few others walk up and offer similar congratulations. Tundra in particular walks up and gives her an encouraging smile and a pat on the shoulder. "You did well, Sam," he compliments her, and she can feel her heart all but melting.

Nearby, Frost folds her arms. "Yeah, but could she have really knocked out that guard without anybody noticing?" she asks. Sam doesn't really reply, and Kaito steps in.

"Let's run the next person through the course," he says.

Sam returns the uniform and gets ready for the next trial: a team event.

>1d100 for how well Sam does in leading a squad!

Rolled 89 (1d100)

>>48775508
POLICE ARE TRAINED FOR LEASERSHIP

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>48775508
A++ Leadership

Rolled 30 (1d100)

>>48775508
This is so going to go sideways when frost decides not to listen! But, yeah! Go team!

Rolled 84 (1d100)

>>48775508
operators operating now

Rolled 94 (1d100)

>>48775508
Woo.

Rolled 39 (1d100)

>>48775508

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>48775508
Cops!

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>>48775534
>>48775549
>>48775564
>>48775567
>>48775576
>>48775614
>>48775766

Chosen at random, Sam is assigned to lead a squad of four others: Fireseed, Takeda, Jin and Frost.

'Oh, hell,' she thinks to herself. 'Why did it have to be them?'

The task was to travel from Point A to Point B while issuing orders to the others and generally leading them in whatever situation they may face. Fireseed, ironically enough, is the most complacent of all of them, though he doesn't even say much of a word. It seems like he wants to just get this over with.

Takeda and Jin, however, have fun the whole time, giggling like little school boys. Once, when Sam was looking down the road for any potential hostiles, Takeda put his hands together and made bird noises. When Sam told him to stop, he said he was just trying to help the team blend into the environment.

Frost, on the other hand, completely refused to follow any of Sam's orders and did whatever she wanted. When a fake mortar round was fired and Jin was supposedly going to lose his leg to shrapnel as part of the exam, Sam ordered Frost to help carry him but she didn't. Fireseed did it instead. Being non-confrontational as she is, Sam didn't try to make Frost follow her orders as much as she perhaps could have, which told Frost that she could continue doing as she pleased.

Overall, Sam finished the course in somewhat decent time and was judged not just on how the others saw her, but on how she saw the others. Each were interviewed separately and she spoke honestly; she can't say how well the others spoke of her, though.

As Sam didn't qualify for one of the last remaining two trials, all that was left is what everyone had been waiting for all day: combatives.

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>>48775797

Every single person on the team was going to face every other person on a padded floor with no weapons, special abilities or otherwise. It would be a first-to-submission ruleset, so whoever made their opponent tap out first would be the winner of the match. Everyone would then rotate until it was over. The results from each match would be recorded and compared against each other.

Sam gulps. Thirteen fights in a row, and all against trained fighters...

Maybe she can get lucky and get someone in an arm lock, perhaps?

>1d100 to see how well Sam does in the combatives!

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>48775814

Rolled 82 (1d100)

>>48775814
At least hurt ling!

Rolled 4 (1d100)

>>48775814
Go for the eyes

Rolled 1 (1d100)

>>48775814
Fight!

Rolled 87 (1d100)

>>48775814
Eye of the Tiger, Eye of the Tiger!

>>48775850
Oh.
Oh jeez.
I'm sorry.

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Rolled 65 (1d100)

>>48775814
Ok time to kick as-

>>48775850

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>>48775867
Probably not as sorry as Sam will be!

I'm not here for one day and you guys kill Sam. Dispaointed in you nat1anon

>>48775889
>Getting Takeda, Tundra, Frost or Sheeva as opponents.
>Takeda figures out how to telepath in combat mid fight
>Sam keels over
"Stop hitting your self, stop hitting yourself"

>>48775941
Its what happens when you put her up against sheeva and tell them a shorter match is more points.

>>48775941
Oh shush, she'll only be half-dead. Tops.
Hopefully

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>>48775850

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>>48775834
>>48775840
>>48775843
>>48775850
>>48775864
>>48775872

Sam's first opponent is Ling. She actually manages to do rather well, grappling her for a little bit since Ling doesn't have her spear, but when the girl manages to hook her leg around Sam and force her to the ground, getting her in a compromised position.

Jin trips her and puts her to the floor. Kaito and Cassie go easy on her, but still win their matches against her so as to not let the results get muddled. Jacqui isn't quite as easy, and the match is over much more quickly. Cao seems to toy with her a bit, jumping around and keeping her out of reach, before he gets behind her and pins her. Forrest Fox and Fireseed both put her down in mere seconds by just grabbing her and forcing her down, each not wanting to prolong the inevitable. When she tries to push Takeda, he grabs her arm and turns her around, dancing with her for a moment before getting her in an arm-lock and making her tap. Vapor is the only one that Sam feels she could beat in pure muscle-on-muscle, but the Lin Kuei girl is more trained than she is, and manages to make her stumble, which is all the opening she needs to get Sam to tap.

"Sorry," Vapor says as she helps Sam up.

"No, no, it's fine... You're better than me, trust me."

Before Vapor can reply, Frost tugs on her shoulder and moves her back to step in front of Sam. "Playtime," the blue-haired girl says with a smile.

Frost drags this one out. She keeps getting Sam into grapples and then pushing her to the near-tapping point and then letting her go. She seems to take amusement each time Sam comes at her from a different side or angle, only to completely reverse the girl and get her in a new hold.

"Think you could even have a chance?" Frost whispers in her ear. "I was fighting in caged deathmatches while you were still in high school, princess."

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>>48776148

She is on Sam's back as she is on the floor. Sam grunts and decides to end it, even though Frost wasn't pushing on her too hard. She taps and ends the fight, surrendering.

"Pathetic," Frost says as she gets up and walks off.

Sam stands up and pants. 'Thank god that's over...' she says.

Then Sheeva steps in front of her.

Sam looks up at the shokan before slowly kneeling down and tapping on the floor.

"Most wise," Sheeva says as the scorers note Sam's actions.

Sam then leaves the ring, even though she still had Tundra to face. She doesn't want to do so after those last two. Zian steps out of the ring and approaches her.

"Sam?"

"You win," she says, not looking him in the eyes. "I just... I don't want to play it out. You'll win."

He is still for a moment. "Perhaps so, but are you going to just quit?"

She folds her arms and averts her eyes.

He holds out his hand. "Come on. Show me what you can do, I want to see for myself." His voice sounds encouraging, but she knows he's just going to win. But still... if she quits now, in front of him, what will he think?

>Leave
>Go in the ring and give it your all
>Go in the ring and just let him win
>Talk to him for a bit instead
>Other

>>48776163
>Go in the ring and give it your all
we gotta hold on to what we got

>>48776163
>>Talk to him for a bit instead
This is the first time we've really gotten to speak to him since coming

>>48776163
>>Go in the ring and give it your all

Try not to swoon, swoon anyway

>>48776163
>Go in the ring
>Give it your all
Thanks ice husbando, we needed that.

>>48776163
>Go in the ring and give it your all

>>48776163
>Go in the ring and give it your all
A KISS MIGHT DISTRACT HIM!

> Go in the ring and give it your all

> Other

Give it your all by distracting him. AKA pretend to have no will to fight and surprise attack him.

>>48776163
>Go in the ring and give it your all
Remember that in this situation you are nothing, but the amount of willpower you can muster.

>>48776228
We'd roll a one and end up kissing frost somehow

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Sam manages to look him in the eyes and sees the warmth there, which is ironic considering his powers. She smiles and takes his hand as he leads her back into the ring.

"Ready?" he asks.

"Ready!" she replies as the whistle is blown.

She moves in quickly and gets him into a grapple, trying to uproot him. He moves with her, being like a solid rock and pushing back, but letting her try to get an upper hand. Tundra isn't lenient with her, but he isn't trying to end it quickly or be mean to her. It seems more apt to describe him as putting out exactly as much energy as she is, to see what she can do.

So she pushes herself. She digs her feet into the mat and grapples him, wanting to impress. Sam stares into his eyes for a moment, getting nearly lost in them before she tries to grab his arm and twist it.

This allows him to turn her, however, and soon her is at her side with his arms wrapped around her. She braces herself as he lifts her and turns, and soon they are on the ground, rolling for a moment. Her heart pounds in her chest as she feels his muscles and body atop her and momentarily is lost in a fantasy as he moves her arm across her chest.

She brings a hand up and pushes back on his face, managing to feel his stubble and cheek bones before he uses his other hand to push her hand back. In response, Sam brings up a leg and pushes on his waist with it, but he positions his leg in such a way to get her to wrap her lower limbs around his waist. He has her by the wrists now and pushes upwards, positioning her arms over her head.

He holds her there as her chest heaves. She stares into his eyes as he hesitates for a moment, looking back into hers and wondering what this look she is giving him means. They both stop moving as they breathe.

"Do you tap?" he asks.

He's got her arms planted solidly on the ground over her head and he is firmly on top of her with her legs wrapped around his waist.

'God, I'm so into this right now...' she realizes, lightly biting her lip.

>>48776481

>Tap
>Struggle some more
>Flirt with him
>Lean up and kiss him
>Other

>>48776481
>Struggle some more
>Flirt with him
but do the second considerably worse than the first

>>48776519
Sounds good

>>48776493
>Tap
I can see Sam chickening out before it gets "serious"

>>48776481
>>48776493
He has our arms pinned, but our legs are wrapped around his waist, even with him on top we still have the ability to flip him over if we throw our hips.
>Lean up and kiss him
>(Other) tighten legs around waist, lift hips and roll to the side while he's distracted, get on top, free arms, get into choke hold

If it doesn't work, just give him him a wink and say "Hey, worth a shot".

>>48776493
>>Struggle some more

>>48776481
>Struggle some more

>>48776493
>>Struggle some more

>>48776561
>Wanting to randomly kiss him in front of everybody
Ya that would totally end well

>>48776639
Sam isnt the best decision maker

>>48776493
>Struggle some more
>flirt with him
that will throw him off his game!

>>48776721
Dunno.
She did stealth and leadership somewhat decently.
You seem to be confusing that with 'a complete idiot'

>>48776639
Maybe it would.
If we would play as anyone else.

>>48776493
>Struggle some more

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>>48776519
>>48776538
>>48776577
>>48776615
>>48776626
>>48776561
>>48776733

Sam's legs tighten a bit. "I guess I'm in quite the spot, huh?" She wiggles her hips a bit, which makes him a bit uneasy.

"Not giving up?" he says, his lips curling into a smile. "Good!"

Sam thrusts her hips upwards, perhaps a bit awkwardly, in an attempt to get him off of her. For his part he seems to let her, wanting to see where she is going with this. After a quick reversal, now it's her who is on top of him, though he still has her wrists.

She pushes down, but he doesn't let her get very far. Sam continues to struggle and push, but to no avail.

Zian then slowly moves his feet and stands up with her on his chest. Her eyes widen as he does this, realizing that he really was of course just holding back the whole time.

As she falls, he catches her and she holds onto his arms.

"Well?" he says with a smile.

"Yeah... I tap," she says, lightly tapping his shoulder with her fingers. "Good game, I guess?"

He sets her down. "You tried your best. Never tell yourself that you didn't, and now you can't say that you gave up, either. How would you be feeling right now if you had?"

"...Probably pretty shitty," she says with a blush. "But now I don't feel so bad."

He gives her another warm smile and pats her shoulder. The other fights are all wrapped up and soon everyone is gathered nearby. The final test will be administered in another location, one that measures raw power output. It will also grade the versatility and different applications one could use their powers for, in addition to numerous other small tests.

Needless to say, Sam doesn't need to stick around for it. After the tests are compiled the initial roster of test results will be made, but this won't be released to the team. It's just meant for the higher-ups to see.

Sam, not possessing any unnusual talents or weaponry, can now head back to the island. Johnny Cage personally walks her back to the portal.

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>>48777002

"Don't feel too bad, kid," he tells her. "Trust me, everything will work out for the best."

"Do you think I did badly?" she asks him.

"Well... I wouldn't say badly. It's all relative to the individual, and as long as you did your best you can't have done badly, right?"

"I didn't win a single fight."

"Wellllll... Sometimes, you win, and sometimes you lose. It happens."

"Or all the time, in my case," she lamets.

"Aw, come on now, it's not like that. I mean, you beat half the team in firearms. I know for a fact you scored higher than Ling and Sheeva in the infiltration course, and you did better than Sheeva on the obstacle course."

"I did?"

"Well, that's mostly because she broke it," he admits. "But still. You did good."

"Thank you, Mr. Cage. But will I get to stay on the team if I underperformed in every other category?"

He's quiet for a moment as he adjusts his sunglasses. "Well... I mean, you know, we'll have to talk about it with Kaito and Secretary Blake and all... Plus, there's still the psych-evaluations. I think Dr. Broddman is going to speak with you when you get back to the island."

"Who is he?"

"The team shrink. He's just going to ask you some questions, kind of like an interview or a therapy session. I wouldn't worry too much about it."

He takes her back over to the portal and leads her inside. Once back on the island, they return to the base and Sam is led into an office. Dr. Broddman is here, and his office is featureless, grey and dull, kind of like the man himself.

Sam sits down in front of him as he shuffles papers around and adjusts his spectacles. He doesn't offer much of a greeting, and launches right into the questioning.

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>>48777024

He wants to know about her history and growing up, what her home life was like, how she feels about herself and all manner of somewhat-personal topics. She answers honestly as he asks a series of questions about her personality, gives her a few hypothetical situations and asks how she would react to them, and finally asks how she feels about other people on the team. Once this is all done, he finishes taking his notes and reorganizes his papers before letting her out.

By the time this questioning is done, some of the others have already returned. It took about an hour or so and now it is quite late. The moon rises high as Sam heads towards the barracks.

Before she reaches them, however, Takeda appears in front of her again as he rounds the corner. "Oh, hey. We gotta stop running into each other like this."

"Yeah, we do," Sam grumbles.

As she walks off, Takeda says, "You did really good today, Sam, blew everyone's expectations out of the water, but mostly because I don't think they expected you to make it at all." Sam doesn't reply, so he calls out, "By the way, I didn't see you at the power-testing area, Sam. How come?"

She stops and listens to him chuckle to himself, no doubt thinking himself terribly witty. "You know why," she whispers.

"Yeah, too bad you don't have any magic," he says. "Maybe then we'd have a reason to keep you around. But hey, I guess we could use someone to make the coffee and do the paperwork, just like at your old job, right?"

He walks off and she takes his insults in stride, deciding not to give him the dignity of a response. But something in his words sticks out to her...

'Magic...' she thinks to herself.

There's a sorcerer who lives on this island... Maybe, just maybe, he could help her?

What if she could learn magic? Suddenly the idea takes root in her head and she has trouble getting rid of it.

But that would require leaving the base and going to... the other side of the island.

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>>48777044

>'No, that's silly, no magic.'
>'Maybe I should talk to someone else about it...'
>'I'm going to sneak out of here tonight!'
>'I should give it some time to think about it.'
>Other

>>48777060
>"I should give it some time to think about it"
Pretty sure Sam has the knowledge that there are some actual fucking hell demons still lose around the island

>>48777060
>>'I'm going to sneak out of here tonight!'
The sooner the better

>>48777024
at least we have a psych to help us deal with our self-esteem issues.
>>48777060
>>'I should give it some time to think about it.'
Give it a couple days of this and Sam should be desperate enough.

>>48777060
>'I should give it some time to think about it.'
If all goes wrong, we could put the blame on Takeda

We should punch Takeda right in his yellow chink face

>>48777060
>>'I should give it some time to think about it.'

>>48777170
Next time we "run into each other" like that, we should headbutt him, and claim he startled us.
He would never expect it

>>48777200
He doesn't bother to read our brain anyway so he can't claim that we are lying

>>48777241
Yeah, also he didn't even respect Kaito, until he kicked his ass back and forth twice, knocking him unconscious in the process.

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>>48777081
>>48777140
>>48777154
>>48777173

'I should think about it first,' she decides. 'That's a pretty big leap in logic... there's still some danger on the uncontrolled parts of this island. Plus, I don't even know that old sorcerer...'

As she heads back to the barracks, she climbs up the stairs to the second level. Lost in thought, she hardly notices someone standing at the top of them until he turns and looks up.

Frost.

The Lin Kuei girl looks down at her with her hands on her hips.

"Do you think you're cute?" she asks.

"I... what?"

Frost walks down the stairs and gets in Sam's face, pushing her back a bit until she hits the wall. "I'm talking about your little match with Tundra. Do you think you're cute or something?"

"I don't---"

Suddenly Frost grabs her by the collar. Sam panics and grabs her wrists, but can't pull her off.

"Listen to me, and listen good, because I'm only going to say it once: stay away from him. Got it?"

She looks into Frost's eyes as the girl narrows hers. Her hands begin to grow cold.

"S-stop!" Sam says as she feels the growing chill.

"I will when you will," Frost whispers in a low, threatening voice. "I've seen the way you look at him. He's just being polite, so don't think it's anything but."

Frost then pushes Sam up against the wall with enough force to make her let out a small cry before letting go.

She then points an icy finger at Sam's neck. "Just back off, bitch, or else." She then walks off as Sam stays hugging the wall to her back, breathing heavily as she watches the Lin Kuei go. She's too afraid to say anything, lest Frost turn around and come back at her with an actual attack.

'What the hell?' she thinks to herself, fear running through her body as her shirt warms up. 'What did I even do? I hardly talked to him and just did a match with him like everyone else, I...'

Why did she do this? Does she like Zian too? Does she think Sam is... a threat to her?

>>48777298

>Go to your room
>Find someone to talk to
>Head up to the roof
>Follow Frost
>Other

>>48777309
>>Find someone to talk to
Vapor
She seems nice

>>48777309
>>Other
"FUCK YOU ICICLE LOOKING ASS BITCH." Then run away and hide, preferably in cao or Cassie's room so we find them fucking someone

>>48777309
>go to your room
>log about this among the tear stained pages of "dear diary"

>>48777349
Fuck Frost.

>>48777309
>Find someone to talk to
Really? Bitch was creeping on Tundra's dad, and now is moving on to the son? what a bitch

>>48777405
...who are you talking too

>>48777388
I'd like to