Backstage Pass to Mortal Kombat

Chapter 14 - I Like You

[[So, team Hanzo, or team Keanu?]]

Chapter 14 - I Like You

Anger, bitterness, fury, betrayal; it all showed on my face every moment of the day. I still hadn’t forgiven Hanzo and I wasn’t about to either. Why did he have to make such a fool of me? I thought he was really dead! It scared me, it traumatized me; every time I see that man pass by around camp, I keep seeing him as the man I’d stabbed just days ago in the woods. I remember the first day; I was washing sheets in the slave’s huts on the other side of camp. Hanzo found me and began pestering me with apologies, but none of them were sincere. I shot him the look of death as he spoke. “It was just training; you were never in any real danger, neither was I.” I then looked down at the bloody bandage on my arm; the cut wasn’t that deep, but it was still healing.

He then continued to take a step closer to me and grinned, “Were you really that sad though? Did you think I was dead?” He asked. Anger got the best of me and I pushed him, hard, making him stumble back, allowing me to storm away. Leaving the sheets in the washing tub earned me a long lecture from Leia, but it was worth it; I couldn’t stand being around Hanzo anymore. I wanted to kill him – really kill him this time.

And then there was Bo’; sweet, nice, caring Bo’, the man I thought was on my side when I got here. Now I know he’s just as bad as the rest and will do anything to train you! I was done; I just wanted to get out of here. Keanu or no Keanu; I wanted to go home. …If I still had a home. Surely by now the foster home had pulled me out of their system. Bo’ had tried to apologize too, but most of the time he was too drunk to get the words out. “Whatever, Bo’ – just forget about it.” I snapped before walking away from him too.

Johnny was the only one I could stand to look at; he understood the seriousness of the situation and how this wasn’t all fun and games. Right now, the two of us were sitting on the edge of the beach; overlooking the water as it soaked in the orange rays of the evening sun. Flickers of gold covered its rippled surface, causing me to relax a bit. My hands instinctively played in the sand, allowing the white grains to fall through my fingers. “Why couldn’t they just…warn me that something was going to happen on this run? And God, it was so believable; I truly thought Hanzo was dead. …I would have enjoyed it, too.” I lied. It made me feel better, though.

Johnny sighed and leaned back on his arms; wearing a new pair of sunglasses he had apparently stashed in one of his suitcases and forgotten about. It felt good to see the old Johnny again, for some reason. His Raybands somehow reminded me of home; a comforting place, a familiar place, a place where I still had Keanu. Keanu wouldn’t have done that to me – even if he were in on it. He would have told me what was going to happen and to be ready for it. “I’m sorry,” Johnny suddenly chuckled, thinking about something. “But when you said ‘I’m going to Hell’, it made me laugh. They do have a point; you have to expect you’re going to kill people if you’re entering Mortal Kombat.” He smirked, looking over at me.

“Oh screw you; they weren’t right at all. There’s no point to any of this, we’re just punching people. And yes, if I killed him, I’m going to Hell. Do you know he’s the pastor of the church here?” I shrieked, jabbing my thumb in the direction behind me. “He didn’t even do anything, and I stabbed him!”

“Yeah, but you didn’t know he didn’t do anything.” He offered. True, I shrugged and continued to play in the warm sand. It relaxed me, and so I used every grain of it. I didn’t want to think about Hanzo or Bo’ or their crazy act anymore; I only wanted to stare at the beautiful beach and think of how dinner was soon, and I’d be able to pig out.

After a few moments, Johnny broke the silence with a shrug as he spoke, “I think it was good for you, though. At least you know that if it came down to it, you could defend yourself. No one got seriously hurt, and you passed the test. I think it was a nice training tactic.” He finished, looking over at me. Okay, maybe I can’t count on Johnny. Without replying to what he said, I jumped up from the ground and stormed towards my hut, ignoring him as he called for me to come back. After walking inside my door, I slammed it behind me, not caring if everyone heard. My vision was tunneled, I was so angry. Why did everyone have to agree that it was “a good idea”? It was a horrible idea! I knew I could defend myself before that happened; why did I have to go through the terror of thinking I had killed someone?