I don't own anything of the Mortal Kombat universe except my own creations. All credits go towards Netherrealm Studios.

Act I, Chapter I

Brave New World

The clouds rolled over the city, the blizzard painting the streets white with a thick layer of snow. The wind whisked past the buildings, howling in the dark of the night. Chronos kept his hand in front of his face to try and walk through the hail of snow. He'd been warned not to leave the building when the storm washed over the city, but he'd ignored them, even when Alex was tugging on his sports bag to keep him from going.

Chronos kept marching on, his grey shoes sinking away in the snow. He was glad he had brought three layers of clothing, or otherwise he would have been a freezing pop-sicle standing on the curb, facing the snow like a chump. He was always more keen of winter, mainly because he'd find the soothing cool air a welcome gift after a tough workout. In the summer, he would feel like a chocolate bar stuck in the wrapper, left on a counter to melt in the sun. But this time, winter was not his favourite season.

He rounded a corner, to see a taxi stuck in the snow, with two people at the trunk trying to push the cab forward. He could see the cab driver visibly pushing against the steering wheel, even through the whirlwinds of snow, the wheels of the cab hopelessly rolling in place while two people, probably a couple, pushed with all their might. He looked at them, one hand far in his pocket, and gave them a quick wave. They looked back and pointed their fingers at him, seemingly whispering to each other. He was confused, because he looked around and found nobody walking in this street beside him. All he saw was some lantern posts, barely shining through the storm, an alleyway and the facets of the stories of apartments spanning the length of this street.

Chronos stumbled on a bus stop, and decided it might be best to take a quick break. He slung his bag from his shoulder on the ground and began wiping some of the snow from his face and out of his hair. His coat was black, but was now a dirty white from all the damn snow, and his gloves felt like the had spent an hour in the freezer. He removed the gloves to shake the snow from them, whipped his scarf to do the same and wiped the rest of the snow from his pants.

He noticed a single man to his left, speed-walking through the storm, clad in a neat suit, or what used to be a neat suit before he was caught in the blizzard. He gave him a quick wave as well, but he didn't respond. The suit passed him by, neither of them acknowledging the other, but once the suit had walked past him, he kept glancing over his shoulder. While he was straightening his scarf out, Chronos wondered why everyone kept glaring at him. Maybe his hair was styled more wickedly than usual.

He put his gloves on, threw his scarf back around his neck, picked up his bag and began to face the storm again. He caught his body casting a shadow, but the source wasn't one of the lamp posts from around the street. It came from behind him, and when he turned around, he saw but a glimmer of light emerging from the alleyway he'd passed. The cab was already far enough so he couldn't see it, and there were no more people around to see what came from the alleyway.

Part of him tried to keep him from going into the alley and possibly running into some sort of elaborate trap set up by robbers to lure in stupid kids that didn't know any better. On the other hand, said robbers never did get the drop on him, and when police came around to ask him why the robbers had several broken bones, he usually shrugged it off, claiming self-defence.

In the end, his curiosity got the better of him and he decided to approach the alleyway without too much concern for the snow being pelted into his face. He stood in front of the alley, sporting his bag, staring into the dark. He could see nothing but a few garbage bags and cardboard boxes strewn about, with nothing else behind the borders of shadow. His mind was boggled, but he guessed his mind got the better of him. He was about to turn back around when he caught a sudden ball of light spawn from nowhere.

Chronos was frozen on the spot, his eyes fixating on the orb, small bolts of lightning circling around it. His perplexed state made him unaware of a single electric branch slithering to him, snaking around his leg. It pulled his leg from underneath him, making him come crashing down to earth and landing with an almost inaudible poof. He was stunned for a short while, until he noticed he was being dragged towards the orb, now quite great in size, man-sized to be exact.

He desperately began to claw at anything in sight, but cardboard boxes and powdery snow were nothing short of useless to him to keep him from becoming a grilled steak. He yelled his lungs out, but the empty streets did not answer, and everything he did hear was the howling winds. He began tried to keep his head clear, but he couldn't pull himself away from thinking he'd be burnt to a crisp if he didn't free himself.

He saw his leg disappearing in the whirling vortex, but instead of searing pain, he felt his leg dangling on the other end. This relieved him for about half a second before he realised that he would now be stranded in the middle of nowhere, be it ten feet from here or across the globe. His entire bottom half was now sucked up by the solar ball and he saw no other option than to hope he wouldn't end up too far from known lands. He closed his eyes and waited for his form to stop moving. After an agonizing few seconds, he felt his body falling. Before he opened his eyes, he hit the ground hard, the back of his head hitting the dirt with enough force to knock him out cold.

With a groan and a painful tightening of his muscles, Chronos rolled around what seemed to be a forest floor, dirt and leaves stuck in his coat, which were moist as well. But it wasn't cold, to the contrary, it was quite a soothing spring temperature. He opened his eyes to see a dark and starry sky, free from clouds, even small strands of galactic material across the void of space. He lifted himself up, rubbing the back of his head, still a bit sore from his impact with the floor.

He moved every limb on his body to look whether he had bruised anything, but the worst he could feel was a slight sting somewhere in his side, but it barely hampered his movement. He looked around to see what had come with him through the mysterious orb, but he didn't spot his sports bag anywhere. He didn't remember whether it had slipped loose of his grasp or not, but in all honesty, he was far more worried about the dense forest around him, with a small gap here and there.

Chronos had discarded his scarf and gloves, also wet from the forest floor, and his coat as well, seeing no reason to keep it unless he wanted to catch a lung infection. Hopping through one of the gaps in the dense flora, he almost battled his way through the forest jungle, his eye barely catching a snake three times his length. He struggled through the mud and trees and godforsaken animals every second up until he could see a spark of light in the corner of his eye.

He marched to it, his feet weighing him down and his grey shirt now so dirty it might as well be mistaken for coal black. The spark of light was moving as well, and their numbers were growing, so his hopes grew. Maybe they'd be hostile cannibals, but the chances of meeting cannibals were so low he didn't worry about it. He stopped just a few yards short from the lights and found a favourable position to peek from the shadows. He saw a great carriage, purple in colour, lined with gold, as well as what seemed to be guards in that same fashion.

Chronos tried to recollect whether there were any cultures or military forces in the world that sported purple and gold armour, but his mind failed him, so he decided to play it safe and wait for them to pass. A small group of people, he guessed no more than twenty, followed the carriage, a few holding torches. After the lights had died down, he stepped from the thick foliage, wiping off his face, shirt and pants, not bothering with his shoes.

He walked over the road, a fantastic marble one, as broad as a barn, towards the direction the carriage was going. His feet were whining, his soles aching with every step, but he pushed through, hoping he could find a place to rest. He did find a small camp set up alongside the road, about half a mile away, with a few tents and dozens of people out, torches lit to reveal the forms of the crowd. He marched closer when he heard a faint rustling in the bushes. He quickly dashed away behind some foliage to see a group of people, clad in leather and armed with swords and axes, speeding towards the camp. The people in the camp were caught by surprise, and the group of what he assumed to be bandits by now quickly rounded them up. He watched from the bushes, seeing this display of cowardice unfold.

"Spread out and loot, boys," one of them said. He wore a different helm, not a leather one, but one that resembled a skull of an animal, though he couldn't discern what kind of animal, "see what these people have on them."

"Sir, please," one of the hostages pleaded. A woman with long black hair, flowing don just past her shoulder, "we have little to spare. We ask of you to take whatever you find and leave us be."

"Ha!" another one laughed, wielding a hand-axe, "you think we're just here for your stuff? Oh no, we've got so much better plans for the people around here, especially pretties like you."

One of the bandits came up behind her and stroked her cheek, and the woman flinched a slight bit at his touch. One of the hostages, a man somewhere in the back, went to stand up and make sure that hand was going to be reduced to dust. But their leader, he supposed, conjured up a fireball, and the man immediately froze.

"You think you can do anything?" he taunted, "Boy, you're in for a treat if you try me."

The man was hesitant, but sank down to his knees again after he was certain the gang of bandits would be on him before their leader would chuck his fireball. The rest of the bandits, who were done scouting along the tents and small bags spread out over the camp, tossed the other bandits the loot.

"Round up the women and let's get out of here," he said, fireball still floating in his hand. A few bandits began binding the hands together of the hostages. Afterwards, they singled out the women and lifted them to their feet, struggling a bit before they complied. Chronos wanted to move a bit behind the bushes to make sure they didn't see him, but he tripped over his own feet and the branches beneath his feet cracked under the pressure. He could see all of the bandits snapping their eyes at his location, but they didn't seem to be too worried.

"Go check that out," their skull-faced leader ordered. One of them, armed with a single mace, lazily meandered over to the spot he was hiding. He now had to choose between knocking this guy unconscious and running as far as he could, or going toe-to-toe with about six bandits, of which one of them could apparently throw fire. When the bandit was within choking range, he decided to do the last, despite not knowing how much the bandits could do.

When the bandit leaned over the bush, he grabbed him by the collar and slung him over the bush, with the rest seemingly unaware of the peril their colleague found himself in. With a small inhale, presumably to yell something, he was knocked out by a quick elbow to the head. Chronos sneaked away from his current position to try and surprise the criminals from behind. Their skull-faced leader turned around to see nothing but bushes and branches.

"Hey buddy!" he shouted, "Did you trip over the branches?!"

When he received no response from his underling, their leader gestured towards the bushes, two of his henchmen making their way to the bushes with their weapons at the ready. At the same time, Chronos silently sneaked behind two other bandits, who were occupied with keeping the hostages in line. Once the two henchmen reached the bush and saw their friend out cold, Chronos shot from behind the tents, catching the two underlings guarding the hostages off-guard. The first one was put down with a well placed palm to the temple, while the other one was blasted from his feet with a powerful ball of energy.

The skull-faced leader turned around to see his companions down with their faces in the dirt, with an oddly dressed man standing just behind their motionless bodies. The two bandits at the bushes sprinted towards him, but neither of them could dodge Chronos' potent projectiles, throwing them with their backs first on the dirt. Their leader was not pleased, to say the least.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" he yelled, swinging his sword towards the foreigner, but he was granted no answer to his question. He decided that talking was not the solution, so he charged Chronos', sword at the ready. He slashed at the foreigner with a few ridiculously overextending swings. He was easily disarmed by a quick tap to the bottom of his elbow, but the skull-faced leader did not quit swinging in his direction. Chronos' could swear ruthless bandits would be more adept in martial arts. Hell, he'd fought people with no official training whatsoever who stood more of a chance than this poor man, still swinging at Chronos with no intent of rethinking his life choices.

He'd come to the conclusion that these people had been terrorised enough by these inept bandits, so with the next swing of their leader, he grabbed his arm and pulled him along, picking up speed until he had enough momentum to lift him up in the air and slam him down on the dirt with enough force to break one of his ribs. He wasn't out yet, but Chronos resolved that with a fist to the face, turning half of the bony mask into shards. The hostages wasted no time to untie each other and tie the hands and feet of the bandits to keep them from running off.

Chronos was about to leave when one of them, the black haired woman, approached him with a kind smile, arms crossed underneath her bosom.

"I must thank you, stranger," she began, "you selflessly saved us with with for your own life."

"Thank you, ma'am," Chronos thanked, his voice rumbling in her chest even.

"That is kind of you to say, sir," she thanked, "and if there's anything we can do for you, we are more than willing to assist," she offered.

"Well," Chronos started, eyeing his filthy clothes, "I could use a new pair of clothes."

"We will try to find you new clothes, sir," she said, "but we are afraid we might not find anything in your size."

He did stand taller than every person here, save maybe one single man, but the guy was quite skinny for his height. Chronos himself was at least twice as broad in almost every appendage when he looked at even the strongest around the camp. He nodded towards the woman, who sped off to find him some clothing. After a minute or five, most of his time spent fidgeting with his fingers and rolling a coin he found on the floor over his indexes, the woman came back with what looked like ragged pants, a leather cloak, a single thick rope and a small pouch.

"I apologise sir," she started, frowning all the while, "but this is all we could find."

He took the bunched up clothing and looked at their size. The clothes seemed large enough, and he assumed she had grabbed the rope to keep the pants for sinking beneath his ankles. He nodded to the kind woman and walked behind one of the tents to find the pants just about the right size and length, and the cloak was wide enough to wear comfortably. He used the rope to fasten the leather pants, and he tied the pouch, which he deduced to be filled with money. It was quite a nice aesthetic, all the leather apparel resembling an elder martial artists turned hermit, living deep in the Alps.

He emerged from behind the tent, and the woman was almost perplexed by his sheer size. Chronos stood awfully tall, nearly six and a half foot, and his muscled form easily dwarfed that of any man she had seen in the last years. Most of all, however, she noticed his tattoo on his right arm. The tattoo seemed to be of two dragons, snaking around his arm, one of them snow white and one of them night black, with their eyes appearing to be inverted colours.

She kept staring, with a few of the other men and women fixated on his form as well. He didn't mind though.

"Ma'am?" he asked, pulling her out of her trance, "I appreciate the clothing. Would you mind if I stay for the night? I'm not exactly familiar with this place."

"Oh, of course, sir!" she said, clearly caught with her eyes wandering over his body, "We don't have a place in the tent to settle you. We could make some room if one of us-"

"Do you have a spare blanket?" he interrupted her.

"Yes, we do." she answered.

"Then I wouldn't mind staying the night outside," he assured her, "I have already been granted much kindness from you people, I don't need to invade on your privacy."

"If you wish, sir." she said, before leaving him to his own devices. After a while, a small group of guards, no more than fifteen, showed up, clad in purple and gold armour, their halberds gripped tight, held up so they would stand higher than their wielder. They pulled the bandits to their feet and took them away, with two of the guards going around the camp to seemingly ask questions, and after fifteen minutes, they arrived at him.

"Excuse me, sir," one of them asked. He sounded quite young, and his helmet wobbled on his head, "We've been informed by the others in this camp that you subdued the bandits attacking this camp by yourself. Do you mind if we ask how?"

"Lady Luck was on my side, I guess," he joked, but the younger guard only seem confused.

"Do you have a Goddess for luck?" the younger one asked, but the older one quickly intervened before the youngster could ask more idiotic questions.

"My apologies, sir," he said, "My companion here is on his first day and he is quite… inquisitive. My name is Bryant, and my companion's name is Eric."

"Nice to meet you" Chronos greeted, extending his hand, "Don't worry about your questions too much. I won't mind."

The younger guard was about to open his mouth to fire, but his companion was ahead of him.

"I would want to ask you a few questions," Bryant said, simultaneously shaking Chronos' hand, "You see, it's odd to meet an Earthrealmer so far from his home. How did you manage to arrive in Edenia?"

All Chronos could do was flutter his eyelids at the question. He had no idea why they would refer to Earth as Earthrealm, or what Edenia was. The guards seemed to catch on quick that he was not familiar with those terms.

"Ah, my apologies," the older guard said, "I expected you to be more aware of this place, considering the way you dispatched the bandits."

"You don't know about this place?" the younger guard asked, with Bryant looking at him with squinted eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I don't," Chronos answered, but something else came to mind, "If I may ask a question myself?"

"Yes sir?" Bryant said.

"What year is it in Earthrealm?"

"I wouldn't know the exact date, sir," he answered, "As far as I know, the only people who are aware of the date live in the capitol. You should inquire there, if you intend to travel there. However, I still have to ask you a question or two," Bryant said, and the younger one pulled out what appeared to be a parchment and a quill, "I will need you to give up your name, age and race."

He didn't think he'd like to give up his real name. In a world which was apparently not his own, he tried to imagine a name that would fit around in these regions.

"My name is Chronos, my age is 26 and I'm human," he blurted out. As of today, he no longer feels like being in prep school was of any use.

"Understood," Bryant acknowledged, "That is all we need to know. We will assign a small contingent to this area to keep it safe. Have a nice evening, sir."

"Have a nice evening, Bryant," Chronos said, "And you as well, Eric."

The young guard look up from his parchment, still scribbling down something. Chronos imagined it to be his appearance, because if anything, he stood out by quite a bit at this point. The two guards let him be for now, with a small force staying behind to ensure the safety of the people. He had wanted to stay, but he felt watched under the gazing eye of the guards. He walked up to the woman whom he had spoken to earlier.

"Ma'am," he began, with the woman turning her head in a flash, "I appreciate your hospitality, but I have decided to head towards your capitol without staying the night."

"What's changed your mind, sir?" she asked. He looked at the guards before looking back at her, and he guessed she caught on to the not all too subtle hint. She gave a quick bow, and he reciprocated the gesture.

"What way is it, exactly?" he asked.

"You take the road left here, and that's all you have to do," she explained, "the road leads to the capitol only."

"Thank you, ma'am," he said, "have a nice evening."

With a quick wave, he turned around to head towards the capitol, picking up his pace, making sure that the marble road wouldn't give him sore soles this time. His trip was uneventful after his run-in with the group of bandits, a few small critters crossing the road here and there and the rare person riding on his horse, passing him by. They looked awfully groggy, or maybe it was his presence, because most of them were clad in fancy robes and dresses, and Chronos looked like he had rolled through a mudslide.

He reached the capitol after a long walk, the stars even brighter than before, and he was greeted with a fantastic view. The capitol was larger than he expected, with great buildings dotting the city now and then, and every road his eyes could see, lights illuminated it, with several buildings stocked with people. He hadn't imagined a civilisation relying on swords and maces to have such a grand city, let alone a city that had an impressive infrastructure. And above all that, far in the distance, he could see a massive construct, which he could only think to be a palace of sorts, its bulbous roofs shrouded in shadow. The palace itself looked like it was situated on a hill, as it was located much higher than the rest of the city.

He figured he could garner some more information if he made his way over to the palace. He would think a noble house had only the highest education, and would be well aware of the events occurring in other lands. He walked the downwards road, now well lit by lanterns on each side of the road, his legs shaking a bit from the long walk. He passed houses that were well over three stories tall, showcases of several shops stalling jewellery, clothing that most resembled that of costumes that actors would wear in a theatre, he even saw some delicious looking pies and cakes in one of them. He'd forgotten just how long he hadn't eaten, and the small pouch of gold he had received from the people back at the camp probably wouldn't cut it at the posh restaurants here.

He kept on walking, passing by a few people, all of which threw him some dirty looks. He imagined the city wasn't accustomed to someone who looked like he was living on scraps. To be honest, he had no idea whether he would even be able to survive here, let alone find an occupation that would sustain him with enough money to live comfortably. He noticed the smell of bread somewhere near him, and he looked up to see that he had wandered into a market, with most stalls emptied, save a single one, where a woman was packing her foodstuffs. He hurried over to her, and she turned around to see a hulking man running towards her. Safe to say, she was not pleased, and the knife she pulled out gave that away quite well.

"Stay back," she warned, "I'll use this, you dirty wanderer!"

"Hold on," Chronos started, "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm just here to buy some of your food, ma'am."

"As if," she scoffed, "You sure don't look like you have any gold on you."

"I would think so too, miss," he agreed, and he pulled out his pouch of gold to make sure she would lower her guard just a bit.

"Show it," she said, and he opened the pouch, filled with golden coins, "Good. I'll trust you. But if you try to steal from me, I'll shout for the guards and you'll be thrown out of the city faster than you can tie a knot."

He nodded in agreement, and she asked for a few pieces of gold for a pair of bread loafs. He wanted to ask how much they generally sold for, but he held himself back, as trying to get a cheaper bargain may end up in him getting nothing at all. He gave her the gold, and she handed over the bread in return. With a quick nod, he turned around to continue towards the palace.

"Wait just a minute," she called to him, "You're not Edenian."

"That's right, miss," he acknowledged, his back still turned to her.

"So why are you here?" she asked.

"I know just as much as you do, miss," he answered, "I'm sorry if that answer isn't what you expected, but it's the best I can give you."

"How did you get here, then?"

"I was pulled into a glowing ball of lightning and sucked into your world," he explained, and from the corner of his eye, he could see wasn't expecting that answer.

"That doesn't sound like common travel to here," she said, "Perhaps someone around here is more knowledgeable in that area. Try the royal sorcerers over at the palace. So long as they let you in, considering you look like a heap of leather."

"Will do, miss," Chronos said, "Have a nice evening."

"Have a nice evening," she reciprocated, with a hint of bewilderment at his manners. He picked up his pace again and headed for the palace. He had been walking for another half hour when he felt a single drop of water touch his skin. He looked up to see the stars hidden by thick clouds, which had either rolled in faster than he could think, or he had just forgotten his sense of time. The drop soon turned into rain, which in turn transformed into a torrent, drenching his clothes to a point where he felt like he was swimming in a lake.

He looked around to see if he could hide anywhere, and he did find a fancy building where the lights still burned. Running through the doorway without a second thought, he came upon a well-lit room, with a chandelier hanging over a crisp and clean floor, shining in the light. On both sides at the end of this room, two curving stairs led upwards, and between them, a single counter was placed with several stools to rest. He could hear several voices upstairs, but he wouldn't bother them.

Chronos walked over to the counter, seeing the several bottles of wine that were resting on the shelves. As he was about to sit down, he saw a woman emerging from the back, cleaning a tall glass with a rag. She looked up and found herself surprised to see a man in ragged, wet clothes. She put down the glass and walked over to him.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but we're not serving anyone today," she said.

"Sorry ma'am," he apologised, "I only came here to hide from the storm outside."

She looked behind him to see that the torrent kept raging on, several crackling thunderbolts booming in the distance.

"Well," she began, "I am not supposed to let anyone inside. But I'll let you stay for as long as the storm continues. Do keep to yourself, sir. The Princess in particular is not fond of uncouth folk near her."

"I'm not as uncouth as I look," he said, "but I'll just stay here. If you do find yourself to have some time later, could you pour me a drink?"

"Only if I have the time, sir," she said, "I'm more concerned with the Royal Family's wishes as of now. I'm already spending too much time here."

"Then I won't bother you any more, ma'am," he said. She nodded and returned to the back, disappearing behind the door. He decided to think about what he should do in the next few hours. He figured whatever royal family was here had some knowledge of Earth, and that they could at least point him in the direction of where he was supposed to go. He imagined he could try and live on whatever he had as long as possible, and once he found a way to return home, he'd wave this place goodbye and go back to his good old home and hearth to sleep this all out. He was lost in thought for quite some time, thinking about his brother and friends when the woman returned from the back.

"Well sir, I appear to have some time to pour you a drink," she said, shoving a glass in front of him, "What can I get you?"

"Give me a personal favourite," he said, and she pulled one of the bottles of wine from the shelves, "How much will it cost?"

"You know what?" she said, pouring the wine," this one is on the house, sir."

"I appreciate that more than you can imagine, ma'am," he said, as he took the glass of wine and brought it to his lips. The taste was quite sweet, sweeter than anything he had had before, and the fruity after-taste was quite enjoyable, "This is quite good."

"It's our own brew, sir," she said.

"Ah, stroking your own ego a bit here?" he said, and she was blushing a bit at the comment. He gave her a single wink "Don't worry, I won't tell."

"Thank you," she said playfully, "Say, I reckon you are not from around here."

"What gave it away?"

"You're much kinder than many that come here to dine," she explained, "Many royal houses come here, and they cannot hold their tongues when it comes to employees."

"That kind of nobility comes around here?" he asked, "That's what's upstairs right now?"

"The Royal Family isn't as bothersome," she said, "If anything, the Princess is a bit hotheaded and brash, and the visiting Prince is confident at best."

"What's happening up there then?" he inquired.

"They are discussing a territorial dispute," she started, "The visiting family insist that the Alythand Plains belong to them, whereas our King insist it remains part of his kingdom. The conflict almost escalated into a war, but the King compromised and they are now currently discussing what amount of territory must be seceded in order to satisfy the visiting family."

"Doesn't your king have an army waiting at the borders to defend?"

"While the army is grand, he would prefer if they are kept for the future, in case of annexation."

"Annexation by who?" he asked, but before she could answer, they both heard a set of heels resounding through the hall. He looked to his left to see a woman, clad in blue attire, adorned heavily and, to be honest, didn't seem like the most conservative piece of clothing for royalty. A pair of fans were strapped to her waist. Her stature oozed confidence, and her gaze was one that he remembered from some idiots who believed themselves to be superior.

She reached the bottom of the stairs, her hips swaying with every step towards them. Her eyes were a beautiful hazelnut brown, and her complexion was flawless. Despite her pretty face, she seemed rather unhappy with the sight before her.

"It appears we have a visitor," she began, and he wasn't liking her tone, "Who is this peasant that you allowed in this hall?"

"He hasn't given a name yet," the woman explained, "but the man was seeking shelter from the rain, and I allowed him to stay as long as it persisted."

"So you have degraded yourself to appeasing to tramps," she said, with a tone so denigrating he honestly felt bad for the woman.

"I'm sorry," she said, "It won't happen again."

"Be that as it may, this transgression will not be left unpunished," the princess said, "I shall inform your superior, who I hope will adequately handle your mistake."

"Let the woman be, she was just lending me a hand," Chronos interjected, "Cut the woman some slack."

"I'm sorry, did I ask you anything, commoner?" she said, "I have no interest in your opinion."

"Kindness isn't a virtue here?" he said, "She hasn't let me have a three-course dinner here now? All she did was give me a place to hide from the rain."

"You should have hid somewhere else," she said, "Not in such an establishment where a man of your position has no right to be."

"So, what are you going to do about it?" he asked. The question was genuine, but in the back of his head, he knew that it wouldn't be taken lightly. The worst thing that would happen, is that she would wave at him with those fans, throw a big huff and run to her family, never mentioning how she was told off by a stranger.

"I will personally evict you," she threatened, "with force, may I add."

"Right," he snickered, and he could hear the princess blowing steam through her nose.

"How dare you show such disrespect," she started, "I am princess Kitana, heir of the throne, masterful combatant. You will do well to heed my words."

"Look, I don't like your tone, lady," he began, standing up from his chair and walking over to her. He stood a few inches taller than this princess, and it was clear his size was unexpected, given she stepped back a little. He also saw upon closer inspection that the fans had interwoven knives. They weren't particularly big, so he didn't worry all too much, but he definitely kept an eye on them "But I've been a lot more unforgiving for less, so I'll say this to you."

He walked up to her face and got close to it, the tip of his nose brushing hers. He could smell the faint smell of alcohol in her breath.

"You don't want to fight me."

He turned around to go back to his stool, but he heard something along a sword slashing through the air. When he turned back around, he saw the princess, with her fans unfolded, in what he assumed to be a combat stance.

"I take that as a challenge then," he inquired, although the question was more rhetoric than anything else.

"You will learn respect," she said, and all he did was laugh. He had quite the experience with big talkers, and all of them hit the floor face first when he decided that they could use an attitude adjustment. However, the knives were a new variable that he had to take into account. With a quick tug on his cloak he slung it away, revealing his well-muscled form, his tattoo clear for everyone to see. He could see the woman behind the counter going wide-eyed, but she was frozen in place and unable to tear away her eyes from the scene.

"C'mon," he taunted, waving her over. Her ego was clearly just a tad bit injured, so she charged towards him, her fans trailing behind her. She swept her fans at his face, but he dodged them clean and retaliated with a crushing blow to her gut, throwing her in the air for half a second. She had trouble regaining her footing, and he could read the shock on her face.

She tried to strike back, but several straight thrown at her face gave her no choice but to dodge, using the fans to deflect the strikes. She folded her fans and tried to stab him in the chest with one, but with sleight hands he disarmed her, leaving her with only one fan to continue. He pushed her back with enough force to send her tumbled backwards, but she recovered rather swiftly. She jumped up a small height before turning her back to him and flying over. He wasn't expecting it entirely, but he sidestepped it effortlessly still, and he followed up with a ball of energy, hot on her trail. She used her fan do disperse the energy, but through her guard, Chronos sneaked in an uppercut, sending her reeling back from the force.

She tried to recover, but she was struck with a hail of strikes at her gut, and when she tried to block them, he landed a hammer of a hook on her cheek, making her head throb painfully. She could barely dodge another energy ball thrown in her direction, but she couldn't get out of the way when he slid two energy waves to her, hitting her shins with fantastic force, almost tripping her over. He walked over to her to land a roundhouse, but she managed to duck under it and went ahead to land her own vicious attack. Trying to get her other fan to hit something, she went for his shin, but he lifted it up and brought it down to crush her forearm.

She yelped in pain, and tried to get up, but she was met with a potent knee to her chin, causing her to fly back, landing on her back. She scrambled to retrieve her lost fan, and with an intense headache and a bruising forearm, she had trouble standing up. She could see his form blurring slightly and her nose was bleeding. She wasn't thinking clearly, and she couldn't accept defeat yet. Bruised and broken, he would learn to respect her.

Once again she lifted herself up a little and used her flight to propel herself into him. However, instead of stepping to the side, Chronos stepped backwards, just out of her range to begin conjuring a massive ball of energy in his hands, the great force dislodging pieces of the floor. Just barely landing in front of him, he unleashed his energy, hitting her directly in the back, frying her insides. The energy coursing through her body, made her twitch and spasm, and she fell to the floor, smoking, bloodied and bruised.

In his anger, Chronos hadn't held back, and in hindsight, that would have been a much smarter thing to do, as the princess looked like a corpse in her current state. He wished to at least help her up, but a sudden shock locked him down, his muscles uncontrollably spasming at that point. The current kept on flowing, until he couldn't keep himself standing up. He came crashing towards the floor, his massive body bouncing off of the tiles. In his semi-conscious state, he could barely hear voices yelling.

"An outrage, an absolute outrage! My daughter has been violently assaulted in our city! How could you allow this travesty to occur?!" a man, who sounded old, his gritty and husky voice just maintaining composure.

"I'm so sorry, my King, but I was afraid it would only worsen the situation." the girl that was behind the counter was crying.

"The man is clearly more than adept at combat, but this offence must not be left unpunished." a woman, whose voice reminded him of exotic lands.

"We should asses the event before allowing harsh judgement to pass." another woman, whose voice dripped with wisdom.

"May I suggest marking him?" another man spoke, his baritone voice thundering through his head.

"That mark is only for those that are assigned to death row." a third woman talked, her voice sultry and seductive.

"Exactly."

After some superb procrastination for several years, I'm back from my grave, trying my hand again at this story, 'originally' called MK: Chronos.

'But why not continue it there?'

Because, as far as my memory goes, the story sucked big dingaling, and the writing was subpar at best. Then again, I was a stupid fourteen year old kid when I started, so there's that. Secondly, most of the story that I have in mind only resembles the original one in very minor ways, so you won't miss out. Anyway, I hope you do like it. Let me know if you liked it, R&R to make sure any garbage is edited or removed, and stay tuned for more. PM if you have any important questions that are more specific. But don't expect a strict uploading schedule for this story, as I'm about as consistent as jelly putty.

- Litteraly The Coolest Man Ever