AU MK1 where the two main protagonists are Li Mei and Havik and it gets crackshippy
So this AU was borne of me having recently started playing MK1, and only just learning that the two characters I thought looked most interesting apparently have next to no real impact on the story.
I don't know if anyone even cares about this game anymore, let alone the story, but here's my dumb AU re-write and crackship on the vaguest, most conceptual level.
Very obvious law-and-order-vs-unrestrained-chaos conflict. No way these two would work together of their own volition, so something drastic would present both with no other choice.
Buddy cop movie but they just stay hating each other the whole way through.
Havik's tower ending where he floods Seido, and both characters' stubborn natures also present inevitable conflict when Li Mei is naturally all like 'hey, maybe don't'. No matter how well they work together over the course of the story, you know it'll go awry by the end.
Why do they team up? What do they accomplish by the end of the MK1 story? I'll be damned if I know. Maybe if this gains any traction, I'll think about it more.
Havik works with Quan Chi, but grows to believe that he has promised too much to too many people. He brings back memories of the leadership of Seido.
One form of motivation for Li Mei to finally join him is the hope of redeeming herself in the eyes of Sindel and the royal family. Naturally, she doesn't tell them about their partnership. Tanya's role as the new head of the Umgadi, as well as her suspicions of Li Mei in relation to Jerrek's death, means Li Mei has to constantly check over her shoulder.
Neither of them are happy about having to partner with the other, but recognise it as a necessity.
Maybe their partnership would be found out later. Sindel sees it as the final straw after the death of Jerrek, and threatens her execution for working with a known terrorist (at least in Edenia's eyes). Li Mei perhaps has to make a choice between disowning the travelling partner who she's come to respect tolerate, or staying with him for the greater good of defeating Quan Chi and Shang Tsung.
Li Mei is about 90% of Havik's impulse control. He looks forward to seeing her losing her cool, just so he has something that he can hold over her.
Havik is naturally pretty ACAB (you go, Havik!).
They take turns interrogating people. Havik tends to be more physical with it. I'd say 'good cop, bad cop', except Li Mei would also start beating them if a) they annoyed her enough, or b) Havik's form was off. She's a stickler for fighting technique.
You're a fool if you don't think Havik pulls the most juvenile pranks on her. When they first meet, he pretends to suffer a grievous injury, pulling off his own arm or something just to be a dick.
The arm acts as a Chekov's gun and he gives it to her as an impromptu weapon in act 3 or something, idk.
Li Mei is a smooth talker with some surprisingly witty reparte when she wants to use it. Havik is not. I imagine it like James Bond suave vs Sergeant Hartman from Full Metal Jacket. ('You'd better un-f**k yourself or I will rip off your head and check down your neck!')
It'd probably end with Li Mei accepting her role as head of Imperial Police, as she does in the tower ending, and she'd be willing to let Havik go, with a days' head start or something like that. Yeah it's tropey as hell, but I love said trope.
Y'know how Darrius just hangs out with Havik in the story mode and has no dialogue at all? I imagine him as also occassionally being there in this AU, and still also not saying anything. Havik is just like 'this is Darrius, he's coming with' and Li Mei, too exhausted to question it anymore, just thinks 'yeah, that tracks, whatever'. Darrius just sometimes nods or shakes his head.
Remember that meme where the person asks out his crush and makes it a group chat that also includes his friend? And the friend is like 'dw bro I'm here for you?' That'd be Darrius.
('Why does Li Mei call you baby girl?' 'Let's change the subject.')
Would it get ship-y?
For some reason they could meet with the canon group (ie Raiden, Johnny Cage, etc) and Cage would be all 'I ship it'. Mileena, having to hide her own relationship with Tanya, is surprised, but doesn't consider it her place to judge. Even Lui Kang could be sporting one of those sly, subtle smiles he sometimes gives.
No clue what would happen after the events of the story for now, but would be left open-ended in an eternal state of chase. A sort of grudging level of mutual respect. ('I hate this person, but I'd be damned if I'm going to be chased by / chasing someone else')
OR it's a more tragic ending where he and Rain do flood Seido and we get a somewhat tragic ending between the two where Li Mei reverts back to hating him, and also herself for thinking he had any humanity to him.
In other words, you're damn right it gets ship-y. They're called crackships for a reason and I've caught the bug.
What shall we call it? Law and Havoc?
Anyway, verbal spray over. Maybe when I see more of the story I'll come up with more ideas. Sorry for any repeated points, I was desperate to get this all down. I'm off to stew over this some more for now.
