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toomanyf4ndoms7 · 3 years

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Mortal Kombat Invasion: Battle for Earthrealm: Sonya Vs Kano

Summary: On the bank rooftop, two rivals meet once more.

Okay, I may have been too hasty.

When Sonya ran up the stairs to find the red light that she assumed was Kano, she found herself on the Bank Rooftop alone. No Kano, just the giant Tower that seemed close yet far off in the distance.

Sonya sighed. Though she neglected to mention it among her allies, she had her own doubts. She was a soldier, and as damn good of one she was, this was another story.

“How am I supposed to deal with this?”

Suddenly she heard a familiar voice.

“Don’t worry love, you won’t have to.”

Sonya swerved just in time to dodge Kano’s trademark knife swung towards her throat. She took her fighting stance as Kano walked out of the shadows.

“I’d say you’re getting sloppy, but that’d imply I had any respect for you in the first place.”

Kano still wore the same sleazy grin as always along with the metal plate over his red bionic eye, but his head was now shaved bald and wore a sleeveless red and black tunic, a pair of shiny black tights with red seams, and black boots with his trademark knives strapped to the back of his shins.

“Aw, don’t be like that. Don’t you want to know what I’ve been doing?”

Sonya’s face was stone as she gave her response.

“No.”

Kano gave a shrug, cracking his neck and loosening his shoulders.

“Fair enough, let’s get to the fun.”

Kano lunged at Sonya with a fierce hook, finding it blocked and countered by a sweep to his legs.

She didn’t have long to rest as Kano took a knife from its holster and swung it at her legs. Sonya jumped back and avoided any major damage beyond a slash wound across her left thigh.

As Sonya hissed in pain, Kano grabbed her by the shoulders and head butted her with his metal plate, trying to regain her balance.

As soon as she regained her control, Sonya countered Kano’s strikes and twisted his arm behind his back, taking a satisfied grin as he cried out in pain. She kicked him away and was about to knock him out before Kano suddenly stabbed her deep in the leg, grabbed her again, and tossed her into one of the stone gargoyles lining the roof.

The force of the throw caused cracks along the gargoyle and sharp pain to Sonya’s back. Kano gave a satisfied chuckle as he pulled out his knife and walked towards her.

Sonya groaned as she tried to get back on her feet, only causing herself more pain, before speaking through gritted teeth.

“Fine, you win. Just make it quick.”

Kano grabbed a lock of Sonya’s hair, hoisting her head up in the process to meet his. He mocked her with his sadistic grin.

“Now ain’t this a surprise. Brave Miss Blade, surrendering. I don’t think Danny boy would be too happy about that.”

The knife edged closer.

“But, what the hell. Let’s make you smile ear to ear.”

As Kano prepared to drag the knife across Sonya’s face, he was unaware of what would come next.

“Wait.”

Kano looked irritated, overlooking Sonya emptying a pocket of pink dust into her hand.

“How about a funeral gift?”

As Kano stared in confusion, Sonya suddenly blew the pink dust into Kano’s face, blinding him for a moment. In his struggle to regain his sight, Kano tore off a lock of Sonya’s hair.

Sonya had bigger things to deal with than the missing lock, as she did a handstand and grabbed Kano with her feet., tossing him off the rooftop. Sonya watched Kano fall from the rooftop, hearing a satisfying sound of something hitting the ground.

“That was for you, Daniel.”

“SONYA!”

Sonya turned to see Jax, Kabal, and Stryker at the stairway. Seeing the knife in her leg, Jax rushed over to help.

“What happened?, he questioned as he wrapped his hand around the blades handle.

“Kano ambushed me. Almost had me before I-

Jax took the knife out of Sonya’s leg, causing her to groan in pain as Jax wrapped the wound in bandages. She glared at her superior.

“You couldn’t have given a warning?”

“I remember when you scraped your knee and refused to admit it, so you tell me.”

Rolling her eyes at the memory, Sonya continued.

“Anyway, I tossed him off the building and saw him hit the floor. He’s gone.”

“Good riddance.”

Sonya got back on her feet, supported by Jax as the four made their way back down to continue their journey.

Despite the pain in her left leg, Sonya felt satisfied. After all this time, Kano was gone.

#kano #Sonya Blade #Mortal Kombat #mortal kombat 3 #things i create #my writing stuff #The Invasion #battle for earthrealm #Jax Briggs #kabal #kurtis stryker

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thrandilf · 5 years

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Obvious and Oblivious

The forests of Valentina were bright in the daytime, dappled patches of shade and sunshine through the leafy canopy made for a comfortable trek Celica’s party would hold as a time of their best memories together. Birds sang, a gentle breeze blew, and it was a perfect day to let one’s mind wander.

Valbar wasn’t sure when he started to notice Leon more. Sure, they’d been best friends for years. They were always by each other’s sides, arrows and lance flying together in tandem, each the other’s guardian angel.

Now he was drawn to Leon in an odder way, puzzling over him with the feeling there was just something Valbar was missing. All of Leon’s vivid details popped out to him, as though Leon was a painting and he couldn’t help following the artist’s strokes over and over. His bright lavender hair, his laugh, everything- created someone too kind and affectionate for war. Or perhaps, such purity of heart was what drove Leon to fight. Valbar could accept that.

But the biggest most confounding mystery to Valbar was how Leon was still single.

“You’re tall, you know that?”

Leon looked at Valbar with surprise. Had Leon always looked that dashing in armor? Probably. “Uh, yes? The horse helps.”

Ah yes, Leon was a bow knight now. He was as striking as ever on a gilded steed, lithe and deadly. “Hmm, you’re right. You’re still tall anyway.”

Leon laughed, playfully nudging Valbar’s shoulder as they followed behind the main party. “Oh please, you’re jealous I think. We’d have to find a Clydesdale to support all that dreamy brawn.”

Valbar grinned. “Dreamy? Who’s dreamy? Listen- I’ve said it before, although you brushed me off, but any lass would swoon for you.”

Leon tossed his hair over his shoulder and snorted. “Oh excuuuuuse me?! Valbar PLEASE- I have no interest but my deep love for-“ Leon hesitated-, “someone who doesn’t love me back.”

“I find it hard to believe anyone in this world couldn’t love you, Leon.”

Leon, usually composed and aloof, blushed brightly. “Well- it’s how it is.”

“Who is it?”

“Nope!” Leon forced a playful huff. “Classified information!”

Valbar hummed, folding his arms as they followed a well trodden path. He assumed they’d be coming to a village or possible hunter’s campsite soon. “How about this- I find out who it is, because I bet I can, and I’ll be your wingman. Deal?”

Leon sighed and gave Valbar a wistful look. It hurt his heart to be doubted like this by Leon, but he’d show him. “Valbar, my dearest friend, you’ll literally never guess who.”

“Challenge accepted. I’ll have an answer in ten minutes.”

“Oh really?”

Valbar didn’t have the faintest idea, but the game was on. He scanned the group ahead and Leon huffed, as though Valbar was wrong already. Who would be so unattainable that Leon would pine so agonizingly? He tried to think of who simply couldn’t marry Leon for whatever reason. “Hmmm. I got it.”

Leon blanched, bracing himself. “And?”

“Princess Celica. She’s royalty, so you can never have her, it must- hey! Why’re you laughing?!”

Leon was almost out of his saddle, wheezing with mirth. “No! Oh my god!” Kamui, silent as a shadow in front of them, was also stifling laughter. “Not a damn word Kamui!”

Valbar chuckled himself. “Oh Kamui knows? I must be bad at this. I’ll keep guessing.” He’d never lost a mission in his life, and he wouldn’t start now. Who could possibly resist Leon’s charm? Valbar contemplated in silence, occasionally giving Leon and Kamui hard stares when they chuckled at how stumped he was.

Valbar waited until dinner, purposefully dining away from the group with Leon and Kamui. Leon had an obviously false sense of security, drinking his soup with an air of unconcerned irreverence. Valbar looked Leon in the eyes. “Alright, I got it. Sonya.”

“WHAT?!” Soup sprayed out of Leon’s nose and he coughed, laughing so hard he cried.

Kamui thumped Leon on the back with a smirk of his own. “Valbar, you gotta give the poor guy a warning, you trying to kill him?”

Valbar rolled his eyes. “What! You’re both gorgeous, powerful people. Your hair matches! You’re both just too stuck up to work out!”

Leon gagged and coughed again, finally able to breathe. “/No/, oh wow!” He held up his hands and exchanged a glance with Kamui. “Alright, alright. First of all, my hair is better, but I forgive you. I’ll give you a hint, so I can survive this quest without dying on anything else.” Leon gave Valbar a wink. “Your guessing pool is completely the wrong gender.”

Valbar blinked. “Oh.” He looked back at the party a little ways away, a self satisfied grin on his face. “Well now you’ve really given yourself away!”

Leon hurriedly glanced back and forth between Valbar and the rest of the band. “Valbar I- please don’t let it change anything, I-“

“It’s Jesse.”

Leon groaned as Jesse, at the mention of his name, leaned towards them with a cheery wave and wink. “Please keep talking about me!” he shouted.

Leon gave Valbar a withering look. “While he might be objectively handsome- no.”

That night in their tent the three friends laid in their own sleeping rolls, the only sounds being each other’s’ breathing and the chirps and whispers of the forest. Valbar had never been much of a person for riddles, but he couldn’t stop thinking about who had such a hold on Leon’s heart. He stared at the back of Leon’s lavender head as he slept, thinking about his graceful lethal movements on the battlefield, how he was like a mystical creature whose beauty was stunning but his lightning reflexes were quick to kill his foes. Leon was one of the most brilliant archers Valbar had ever met, and yet he respected him for his radiant outlook on life as much as he did his valor in combat.

Valbar shifted in his sleeping bag, taken with an odd wave of protectiveness. Leon didn’t need to be protected- half the time his nimble fingers struck enemies with arrows before Valbar even spotted them, and yet he fully realized in that moment that he’d be devastated if he ever lost Leon.

“There a spider in my hair? You’re staring.”

Valbar jolted, so lost in thought he hadn’t noticed Leon roll over. He scanned for spiders just in case. “Nope. No. No spiders. You’re good.”

Leon smiled and closed his eyes again. “Good. Don’t tell me you’re still thinking about who I might like, that’s practically obsessive at this point.”

“No. Uh. I was just thinking about you.” Valbar tried to find the right words to breach the depth of his feelings. “You fight good.”

Kamui groaned and threw a pillow at both of them, making Valbar and Leon muffle their mirth like children trying to not be caught staying up too late. It was the purest form of being in cahoots with someone, of playful eye contact and lightheaded joy at having a bond beyond words.

Valbar’s last thought before closing his eyes was that whoever had Leon’s love was the luckiest man alive.

-~-

“I have another guess.”

Leon rolled his eyes, overly exaggerated and fighting a fond look as they traveled side by side again. “Ready to be wrong again, Valbar?”

“Saber. Listen- LISTEN- he’s got great hair, roguish charm, incredible skill in battle, an eyepatch- what’s not to like?”

“Sorry- are you trying to convince yourself, perhaps? Still not the man for me.”

Saber, who happened to be a few yards away, shot Leon a teasing look. “I know you’re nothing like my type, but it kinda stings.”

“Likewise.” Leon dramatically clutched his chest, almost falling off his horse. “Oh- I’m wounded by your lack of desire for such perfection I embody!”

Valbar gave the matter some serious thought. Was it someone outside of their party? That would make sense as to why Leon thought he’d never guess. He tried to imagine if he himself had Leon’s preferences. Valbar hadn’t considered men to be an option for romantic or intimate partners. Would Leon want someone like himself, androgynous and slender? Perhaps opposites attracting still applied to the same gender. Valbar recalled all the times Leon complimented his muscle and brawn, how comfortable and affectionate Leon was in general, and wondered if Leon did happen to prefer guys who looked like Valbar himself.

He knew the answer. It shouldn’t have been so difficult.

They camped in a clearing again, but this time Valbar caught Leon before dinner. “Leon.”

Leon turned to him, blinking as he took in the serious but soft tone of Valbar’s voice. His face fell. “You know, don’t you?”

“Can we talk privately about this?”

Leon nodded and they slipped away, silent except for the cracking of twigs under their boots. Once they were sufficiently out of earshot Valbar carefully sat down on a fallen log, patting next to him where Leon nervously perched, eyes averted. Valbar took his rare silence as a cue to speak. “When we first met, you were stricken with grief over a boy. From what I gather, he was a fine lad- strong, capable, dear to you, and unfortunately, unlucky. While most in our barracks lose friends on a battlefield, I believe you lost something different. You loved him, didn’t you?”

Leon sighed, turning to face Valbar with a bittersweet smile. “Yes, I did love him. A boyhood friend taken from this world too soon.” He sighed and kicked his legs. “Valbar, was that your only guess?”

“Uh, yeah. I figured you didn’t want to discuss that in front of everyone.”

“Then you’re only half right.” Leon stood and gazed at the moon, letting the silver light hit his hair and glowing bow like an ethereal hunter, taking Valbar’s breath away for a moment. “I don’t know when it happened, to be honest. I’d been grieving for what felt like an eternity to my youthful heart, when someone showed me life was still worth living. Someone who’d lost so much more than me was always there to cheer me up, to be everything to me when I thought I’d never smile again. I grew up with him as a mentor, really truly learned what’s important in life, and that even a broken heart can love as deeply as ever. To love, to care- that’s what it means to actually live.

“Valbar, I learned all that from you.” Leon’s voice was clear but soft as a whisper. If Valbar wasn’t mistaken, Leon’s eyes were moist as he spoke, words tumbling out of him with a sniff. “I love you in every definition of the word. My best friend, my brother in arms- I want the best for you, and- and I want a life with you. I want to be at your side no matter the context. I- I couldn’t say it so directly knowing what you’ve been through, knowing I’m so Different from most people, knowing I might jeopardize what we have. Your company is all I could ever want. Please- please-“ Leon choked and dragged his sleeve across his face. Only Valbar saw him vulnerable like this. Only Valbar was trusted to not break Leon when his defenses were down. “Please don’t think anything different of me.”

Touch wasn’t foreign to the pair. Camaraderie and affectionate arms slung around shoulders, pats on the back, and embraces were commonplace. Valbar gently laid a hand on Leon’s arm and brought him close, standing up to let Leon lean on him. His large palm fit against Leon’s tearstained cheek, warm and reassuring as he tucked Leon’s gossamer hair behind his ear. Leon’s eyes grew wide as Valbar’s fingers lightly brushed his cheek, a gesture almost too tender from such a bulk of a man.

“When I look at you, I think of our years together. I yearn to see you smile and laugh, enjoying life with a contagious smirk. I want to know you’re cherished and loved every day, that you will never have to weep alone.” Valbar allowed himself a grin at Leon’s shocked face. “And I believe that if you want something done right, you do it yourself.”

“Val- I- what?!” Leon spluttered, face turning warm. “You aren’t, you know, uh-“

Valbar chuckled. “I kept racking my brain for who you’re so smitten for and I started to get a bit jealous of him. It’s not something I ever thought about before. We’ve both suffered what no one should have to, Leon. We aren’t able to fill holes in each other’s hearts. You aren’t like my wife and family- you’re something different. Completely new. And if these feelings for you had to be put into only a few words, well-

“I love you too.”

Leon beamed at Valbar, euphoria radiating from his face. “I- uh. God. I don’t know what to do! I’m speechless! Can you believe that?” It was an odd rush of emotions, that everything had changed and yet nothing at all. He glowed with happiness and basked in it, finally not having to barely manage to hide the depth of his feelings from Valbar.

Valbar stroked Leon’s hair, taking in his soft features with new wonder. “Now, I may have proven myself rather daft or oblivious from time to time-“ Leon laughed, “-but I know a thing or two about romance.” Valbar swept Leon off his feet and spun in a circle hard enough to steal their breaths away.

Leon hung onto Valbar’s broad shoulders for dear life, yelping and giggling before they came to an abrupt stop. His eyes widened in surprise as Valbar dipped him back, the strong arms around Leon’s waist supporting him easily as his booted foot barely touched the ground.

“Wow,” breathed Leon, windswept and still giddy.

“Dramatic enough for a first kiss?”

Leon brought his hand to Valbar’s cheek, dragging his fingertips along Valbar’s jaw. His eyes were soft and lovestruck as he angled his head closer to Valbar’s. “What’re you waiting for?”

Their first kiss was soft and curious, as delicate as a new sprout emerging from a seed. With every slow unspoken declaration of love passing between their lips, they pressed closer and closer to becoming one. Lips melded together with soft sighs and adoring gazes, the ebb and flow of their kisses as natural as a lazy tide.

They parted only enough to talk, foreheads pressed together in a sacred moment only for the two of them. Leon trembled slightly despite his best efforts, nerves high and overwhelmed with emotion, yet anchored and calmed by Valbar’s sturdy embrace. “I love you. I shall never tire of saying it.”

“I love you too.”

They meandered back to camp, slipping into their tent after sneaking leftovers from dinner. They knew the war would go on, their perilous march on Rigel would demand they risk their lives with every dawn until the empire fell. And yet, no matter how bleak their future seemed, there was a thread of hope for a new life of bliss they’d already had a morsel of.

Leon crawled onto his sleeping bag, giving Valbar a pout at the small distance between them. Valbar glanced at the sleeping Kamui, decided he didn’t care what Kamui might think, and pulled Leon close to him with one arm. They curled up close on their sleeping rolls, nestled perfectly together.

“Thank Mila,” muttered Kamui across the tent, startling them both. He splayed his limbs out and took up Leon’s vacant sleeping spot with a self satisfied grin. “Free real estate.”

#fire emblem echoes #valeon #leon fire emblem #valbar fire emblem #fanfiction #fanfic #my writing #fluff #leon/valbar

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biofunmy · 5 years

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Stephen Curry, Fully in the Swing

PORTLAND, Ore. — This has been a postseason of sacrifice for Stephen Curry — off the court. Such is the lingering severity of the recently dislocated finger on Curry’s left hand that he hasn’t played golf on a single off day.

That is no small concession for Curry, either. Sneaking away to a nearby course for a few hours between games on the road, typically accompanied by his Golden State Warriors teammate Andre Iguodala and the front-office executive Jonnie West, is Curry’s go-to move for recharging himself mentally.

Yet it turns out that Curry is doing just fine on the floor without two healthy hands or the usual retreats to his favorite sanctuary. An injury that hampers his ability to grip a golf club could not prevent Curry from uncorking the most dominant playoff series of his career in the Western Conference finals.

In the process, Curry didn’t merely hush a legion of naysayers regularly critical of his postseason play. He also reminded us just how much of the Warriors’ offense he has surrendered over the past three seasons, without complaint, to accommodate Kevin Durant’s one-on-one brilliance.

With Durant forced to miss this entire series with a strained calf, and a historic fifth consecutive trip to the N.B.A. finals on the line, Curry turned back the clock to score 36, 37, 36 and finally 37 points in a four-game sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers. In Monday night’s 119-117 overtime triumph to finish poor Portland off, Curry teamed with Draymond Green to deliver a decisive pair of triple-doubles, something no two teammates had ever done in the same N.B.A. playoff game.

“We’re a Superteam for a reason,” Golden State’s Klay Thompson said, paying tribute to Curry, Green and everyone who fell in line behind them as the Warriors erased a double-digit deficit for the third straight game.

When the comeback was clinched, Curry shared two warm embraces and exchanged jerseys near the scorer’s table with his younger brother Seth Curry, whose Blazers couldn’t hold a 17-point lead this time.

“I’m glad it’s over,” Dell Curry, Stephen and Seth’s father, said wearily as he leaned against a wall outside the Golden State locker room.

Watching their sons duel for a spot in the N.B.A. finals proved more stressful than Dell Curry and his wife, Sonya, ever imagined. But Dell, himself a 16-year N.B.A. veteran, couldn’t refrain from marveling at Stephen’s consistency in leading Golden State, down two injured starters, to a fifth consecutive finals.

All this started, remember, with 33 points in the second half of the Game 6 clincher at Houston, after Stephen Curry was scoreless against the Rockets in the first half in Golden State’s first full game without Durant.

“Steph’s bar is so high that I don’t know if anything he does is ever enough,” Dell Curry said, referring to those in the news media who questioned whether the Warriors could really cope without Durant.

“He played like a superstar tonight and this whole series.”

To augment the tireless Green’s 18 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists — in what may be concurrently recorded as the best series of Green’s career as well — Curry mustered 13 rebounds and 11 assists to go with those 37 points. To take it up another notch, Curry played every second of the second half and overtime.

Warriors Coach Steve Kerr was clearly taking no chances in a closeout game in which the visitors, beyond missing Durant and DeMarcus Cousins, also had to cope without the injured Andre Iguodala (calf).

The Warriors likewise had to overcome the game of Meyers Leonard’s life — Leonard pumped in 25 of his career-best 30 points by halftime — and break a season-long overtime hex. Golden State had somehow been winless in all six of its previous overtime games and wasn’t safe in this one until Damian Lillard (28 points and 12 assists while hampered by a separated rib) missed a contested 3-pointer from the right corner that could have won it for the Blazers.

Curry gave a hint of his determination to avoid a Game 5 by ringing up 8 points in the final 30 seconds of the first half to match Leonard’s total of 25 by intermission. Then, late in the extra period, assist No. 11 came when a swarmed Curry found Green on the right wing for Green’s only 3-pointer — good for a 119-115 lead.

“Draymond is just a big-game player and Steph trusted him, and that was obviously the shot of the game,” Kerr said. “They are kind of made for each other from a basketball standpoint.”

So make that 10 consecutive postseason wins over the Blazers — and a spot alongside the Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics of the 1950s and ’60s as the only teams in league history to reach five successive finals.

Curry’s sterling résumé still lacks a finals M.V.P. trophy, yet it’s clear that the dislocated finger he sustained against Houston early in the last round won’t be the obstacle that stops him at the fifth attempt.

As the Warriors’ spiritual compass, Green will be a worthy contender, too, should the Warriors manage to win their fourth title in five seasons. Durant, of course, was widely hailed as the best player in these playoffs before his scary setback and could conceivably make it back to work in the next round. Golden State, after all, just bought itself nine days of rest before the finals begin May 30 against the Milwaukee/Toronto winner.

None of that, though, should detract from the fact that Curry has been better than ever since Durant went down, amid the pressure of keeping a dynasty in operation and no shortage of uncertainty about the Warriors’ future thanks to Durant’s impending free agency.

Portland’s roster has too many holes compared to Houston’s, Milwaukee’s or Toronto’s to waste too much time pondering the debate du jour about Durant and whether he’s a luxury or necessity for Golden State as it chases a three-peat. Neither the Bucks nor Raptors figure to be as vulnerable to conceding big leads, so leave that one for the morning TV talk shows.

The smarter declaration, after watching Curry’s backcourt play alongside Thompson keep Lillard and CJ McCollum firmly in their shadow, is proclaiming Steph to be the league’s ultimate team-first franchise player.

“It starts with him,” Iguodala said of Curry. “More than anything, he always has good intentions.

“DeMarcus came in and was here for a couple months and he told Steph, ‘Bro, you are the most regular superstar I’ve ever seen — and that’s a compliment.’”

There’s little doubt that the load Durant carries (when healthy) has enabled Curry to be fresher for his late-season exertions than he’s ever been — hand injury aside. Yet it was repeatedly evident against the Blazers that A) Portland still has little answer for Golden State’s size and pace and B) many of us have undersold the selfless manner in which Curry has dialed back his offense when needed to prioritize Durant’s comfort level.

After Golden State’s Game 3 comeback at Moda Center, Curry openly lamented how much he misses golf these days, responding glumly to a question on the matter with a one-word confirmation: “Facts.”

Said Iguodala: “Some people say we play too much, but there’s no such thing. We’ve actually found something that we can get mentally engaged in away from what causes all the stress.”

Rest assured that the Warriors will never take issue with their hobby when Curry is back swinging his woods and wedges — grateful for everything their incomparable point guard has routinely ceded on the court in the chase for more championships.

Sahred From Source link Sports

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