Disclaimer: All recognisable characters and settings from the Mortal Kombat franchise belong to Netherrealm Studios, DC Comics and Warner Bros. I make no monetary profit from publishing this story.
Chapter One
Dominion
The night air of the tropical forest lay heavily around the Emperor of Outworld and his sparse travelling company. Despite the Sun's welcome aid during the daytime, they were close to exhaustion from their long journey from New Z'unkahrah to this place, splitting up along the way and re-grouping once to throw off any possible spies who sought to tail them. But they would not stop to rest now, not when their destination was so close.
"My Emperor," the sole Zaterran of their group whispered. "Are you sure of this course of action?"
In spite of himself, despite the dire events of the past three days that had all but forced Kotal Kahn to travel away from his subjects, the Osh-Tekk felt the corners of his mouth twitch at Reptile's ever-present concern.
"We have no choice, Reptile," he remarked softly. "The devil's actions must not go unpunished."
The Kahn lowered the hood of his grey travelling cloak. His dented bronze helm, whose eagle feathers were plucked and dishevelled, glinted in the moonlight. His once-immaculate war paint was cracked and chipped in many places. Despite the presence of his subordinates, his less-than-kingly appearance scarcely mattered to him at the moment.
His grip tightened on the reins of his Reptilian steed as he proceeded to lead his mount on foot. He ignored the fleeting pain from the newly-formed Lichtenberg scars on his right hand and forearm as he led the way, while three of his Osh-Tekk guards, who were also hooded and cloaked, kept a watch for any followers as the company moved forward.
It was a retaliation Kotal Kahn had not anticipated, and he was about to pay dearly for his lack of foresight.
Outworld's ruler roared in excruciating pain as his enemy's lightning surged into him, electrocuting him - not fatally, yet with enough power to immobilize him.
The Thunder God, who was unscathed save for a cut or two on his arms, used one more burst of lightning to force the Osh-Tekk Emperor to the grounds of his own courtyard.
"Look around you, Emperor," Raiden spoke. A strangely calm breeze blew his silver hair around but left his straw hat undisturbed. The red glow of his pupil-less eyes intensified, even as Kotal got to his feet, taking a sickle from the ground for another attempt to attack Earthrealm's Protector. Kotal's bare right forearm burned as if the Sun itself had cursed him. "Your resistance has led to many senseless deaths. Do you truly wish for more?"
He looked around, breathing hard. Scores of Osh-Tekk warriors and yellow-clad Shirai Ryu lay dead around them in the Emperor's courtyard; the ninjas who were still standing outnumbered his Osh-Tekk forces. The Kahn's weapons were scattered around him, as Raiden had deflected nearly every blow and disarmed the ruler at nearly every turn. Scorch marks, blood and guts marred the grounds; the surrounding buildings also bore the scars of Raiden and Scorpion's powers. Kotal Kahn's largest unfinished statue was in ruins; split into large pieces just beyond the courtyard proper. Dark clouds enveloped Z'unkahrah's afternoon sky, undoubtedly the deity's doing.
As Raiden awaited the Emperor's decision, his arms still enveloped with crackling electricity, a foolhardy Osh-Tekk guard charged silently at the Thunder God in an attempt to stab him from behind. Raiden teleported, re-materialised behind the guard and unleashed a torrent of divine lightning upon him before he could do anything but turn. Kotal's soldier was dead before he hit the ground in a smoking heap.
Seeing the futility of the battle, Kotal let go of his sickle and dropped to one knee in surrender. "I yield," he declared reluctantly.
A shuffling noise made the humiliated Emperor to look to his right. A man whose eyes blazed with supernatural blue fire – Scorpion, the leader of the Shirai Ryu ninja – was dragging a dazed Erron Black to them by the latter's scarf. Scorpion dumped the mercenary next to Kotal as if he was a sack of coal. A swollen eye seemed to be the most prominent of Black's injuries.
Reptile and Ermac would have turned the tide of battle, Kotal supposed bitterly, but they were not anywhere near New Z'unkahrah, or anywhere within the Realm of Outworld. Ferra had been rendered unfit to fight sometime before this invasion.
The God of Thunder raised a hand to the heavens, calling down a bright bolt of lightning to it with a deafening boom of thunder, heralding the end of his assault.
"For your invasion of Earthrealm in violation of the Reiko Accords, I, Raiden, God of Thunder and Protector of Earthrealm, hereby declare you, Kotal Kahn, to be the ruler of Outworld no longer. There will be no more Kahns. Outworld is allied with Earthrealm once more, and is part of my dominion."
An hour's journey later, the vegetation around the Outworlders had thickened to the point that it was futile to take the beasts through.
He signalled the guardsmen to stop and watch over their steeds, and beckoned Reptile to stay with him.
Conversation was scarce for the next hour as Kotal Kahn and Reptile cut through the vegetation in their way with the Osh-Tekk's large macuahuitl and the Saurian's talons. Vines and branches gave way to their methodical assault, even as the both of them drew closer to the means that Kotal sought to avenge Earthrealm's brazen attack.
After Kotal's ignominious defeat and surrender to the Thunder God and his Shirai Ryu forces, Scorpion and two of his underlings had unceremoniously deposited the Emperor in New Z'unkahrah's dungeons, in the very same cell that once held the deceased ex-Kahnum, Mileena.
While Mileena had the small mercy of being imprisoned without any restraints on her person, Kotal did not. Mentally cursing the conquerors, their commander, and the immortal devil in whose name they currently occupied Outworld's capital, Kotal tried to struggle within his straitjacket without creating excessive disturbance. Unfortunately for the Emperor, he was failing miserably.
"You're not getting out of that, Moctezuma!" The guard stationed outside his door, a mere boy, mocked him as another guard, who was patrolling, reprimanded him to stay quiet.
Kotal glowered at them, wishing for the first rays of sunlight so that he could boil these fools with the wrath of the heavenly Sun, but unfortunately, the Shirai Ryu had the basic competence to ensure that his cell had no windows, and therefore, no source of sunlight.
The Emperor breathed deeply and forced himself to calm down. It was no use giving into fruitless anger like an adolescent; he was better than the naïve humans who worshipped him and called him Buluc.
A few hours had passed, during which time Kotal did not dare fall asleep lest he be executed. Just as he had resigned himself to his ignominy, he thought he heard the distinctive sound of a Zaterran's spit. The Kahn was not mistaken, as the patrolling ninja screamed as if being burned, and he could no longer stand for he was cowering on the ground, howling in agony.
The younger guard was still standing, but Kotal surmised that the warrior's eyes darted from side to side, fervently looking for his unseen foe. The human's scream was lost as a stray talon swiped across his throat and his life-blood flowed out. Reptile wasted no time in snatching a ninjato and stabbing his opponent's heart, permanently silencing the other ninja whose face he had burned first. Soon enough, the only sound that remained was the steady gurgle of blood.
Taking care to avoid stepping in the pools of blood, Reptile unlocked the cell door and came in to free Kotal of his bonds.
"Deceiving the jailer was simple," he answered the Kahn's unasked question.
"Where is Ermac?"
"Ermac stayed behind in Earthrealm, with my people." Reptile's raspy voice sounded heartier for a moment, as he helped Kotal to his feet.
"More Shirai Ryu will be here soon," Kotal said, as he and Reptile made their way out of the cell, carefully avoiding the pools of blood.
The duo's caution was for naught as a seemingly stray kunai hit the Emperor in his scarred forearm, causing him to grunt in pain as blood flowed from the embedded knife. Swift as a bird, Reptile plucked the second incoming kunai from mid-air and rolled into the Shirai Ryu ninja. Reptile slashed the supine ninja's throat and jabbed his claws into his opponent's eyes for good measure.
"There are far too few gua- Emperor!" Reptile was startled by Kotal's newest wound as he leapt to his feet.
"Do not worry," he assured Reptile, striving to ignore the intense pain. "I have suffered far worse. Let us free Erron Black."
"He is on this very floor, not far from here."
Under Reptile's invisibility field, the duo proceeded cautiously towards the end of the corridor. The flames of the three torches had dimmed, and would be out within the hour if no one were to refill them. The other prisoners – most of them enemies of Outworld – looked on, unable to pinpoint their exact location, but knowing that the Emperor had been freed. None dared to demand freedom, knowing Outworld rulers' penchant for summary executions.
As the Kahn and the Saurian neared the end of the corridor, they heard a series of ominous thumps and clanging. Swiftly, they turned right, to see a most welcome sight.
A lone Shirai Ryu ninja was pinned to the bars of his cell door. He was struggling to breathe; trying to reach for his neck as if prying at someone. The prisoner pulled back harder and the shinobi's limbs went slack. Erron Black pulled him back with his handcuffs one last time to finish the job, and the young guard's lifeless body slid down to the floor.
Reptile took the key bunch hanging from the dead guard's belt, unlocked the door and freed Black from his restraints. He was hatless, unmasked and scruffy-looking; his left eye was swollen and purple. Unmindful of his dishevelled appearance, Black flexed his wrists and said, "Looks like the Earthrealmers don't have too many guards around here. There are a few friendlies next door who could be useful."
The three Osh-Tekk guards in the next cell had been stripped of their bone helms, giving them an advantage in this situation. After their cell door had been thrown open, the Kahn said to the two lower-ranked members, "Find Healer Tlaloc and escort him to the Osh-Tekk Crematorium. I will require his services. Obtain as many travelling cloaks as you can." Tlaloc was the oldest living Osh-Tekk Healer.
"As you command, Emperor." They bowed and left.
The Kahn addressed the remaining guard, a higher-ranked soldier, who had more prominent tattoos than the others. "Remain with us, for the moment."
"Very well, my Emperor." The captain bowed.
Now Kotal turned to Black. "You too could use some help from the Healer. Come with us. We shall take our weapons back first."
"With due respect, Emperor, the eye's not as bad as it looks."
"Someone needs to watch over Z'unkahrah when I have left to right Raiden's wrongs." As much as he loathed to leave its citizens in the hands of a mercenary, it was better than leaving the city to the Earthrealm occupiers. "Reptile will accompany me on my journey."
Black knew better than to question his orders further.
Using Reptile's invisibility to traverse the dungeons without further skirmishes, the foursome reached the strangely deserted prison armoury. Upon emerging to visibility, the Osh-Tekk captain unlocked its thick bronze doors. Reptile kept watch as the ruler and the mercenary examined their seized equipment. The Captain chose to pocket as many knives as he could.
Kotal Kahn's macuahuitl and knives were not too badly damaged, considering that he had faced a god and suffered defeat. A few feet behind him, Erron Black sighed softly in frustration. It seemed he had managed to locate only one of his revolvers, and he was putting it away in its holster after having loaded it. The bandolier stitched to his cowboy hat had been ripped out, leaving the hat itself tattered; his other bandoliers were mercifully intact.
Satisfied with the limited inspection of his own weapons, and steadfastly ignoring the pain and fresh blood from jostling the embedded kunai, the Kahn now addressed the captain. "Free our men who have been unfairly imprisoned, and leave no invaders alive." Reptile handed the rest of the prison's keys over to the soldier, who bowed and departed.
The Zaterran's invisibility was employed once again to slip out of the dungeons and into the city proper. As the trio stuck together in the deserted streets in the tense Z'unkahran night, their invisibility aiding them to avoid the Shirai Ryu's infrequent patrols as they proceeded towards the Osh-Tekk Crematorium in the North, one worry refused to leave Kotal's mind: Where was Scorpion?
Unlike the Earthrealmers that Kotal's people had managed to influence over the centuries, the Osh-Tekk cremated their dead with the sacred flames of their people, in obeisance to the Sun that gave them life and great power to wield. This tradition had fallen by the wayside during Shao Kahn's long rule over their erstwhile realm, but as with many good things, it had been revived after the coup that overthrew his heir Mileena.
One of the Osh-Tekk soldiers that Reptile had liberated approached the Emperor and his Ministers from within the Spartan, one-storied building as they entered a large antechamber. The torches in this chamber would normally be lit, but with New Z'unkahrah's fall, none remained to tend to them. A pile of neatly folded travelling cloaks was stacked in a corner.
"Your Majesty," he spoke, bowing to them. "Healer Tlaloc was preparing for your arrival. He awaits within the Chamber of Cremation." The ruler and his two ministers entered the only other room. Its previous occupant walked briskly towards the Emperor. The only source of fire, which was a small fire at the very centre of the Chamber of Cremation, highlighted the newcomer's many necklaces of bone, obsidian and jade.
"I came as swiftly as I could, Emperor," the tall, old Healer murmured deferentially, seizing the Emperor's injured hand and examining it briefly. He removed the kunai and placed a veined palm over the deep wound, gripping it tightly. Tlaloc's white eyes and plain tattoos - which spanned his body, extended beyond his grey-robed chest, snaked around his thin bare arms and ended with an eagle's beak on both hands - glowed bright yellow with the Sun's power: an impossible feat in the night for the most seasoned Osh-Tekk warrior, but one common for the Healer. Such prowess did come at the cost of less impressive feats of power in combat. It was an acceptable loss for most Healers, for in a culture of battle-hardened and war-worn warriors, there were never enough Healers.
The Healer's energy flowed into Kotal Kahn, easing the Emperor's exhaustion. He felt the pain fade to a dull throb; the bleeding slowed down and then stopped. Damaged muscle tissue and layers of skin stitched themselves together, and all that remained as evidence upon the Emperor's skin were the blood … and red lightning scars shaped like the branches of a tree. His traditional war paint had long since chipped away from his injured forearm.
"I cannot do much for wounds of a godly nature, Emperor," Tlaloc explained, washing his hands in a bowl of warm water. "It will heal within a few days." Kotal sat on an old chair and looked around as the Healer went to Erron Black with a jar of salve for the mercenary's bruised eye.
The Chamber of Cremation was the only other room within the Crematorium building. A small pile of firewood occupied the northern corner of the chamber. A raised platform, which currently had the Healer's things spread out on it, was used to burn the dead with the Sun's power. A square orifice on the ceiling allowed the light of the peak sun to illuminate the chamber, but now, only Outworld's night sky was visible from within. It was the walls that drew visitors' attention first. Reptile was examining them almost reverently.
Like all traditional Chambers built in the erstwhile Golden Realm, its four walls were traditionally painted with the story of the Osh-Tekk Civilisation: the creation of the Golden Realm from the Ether of Nothingness at the will of the Elder Gods; the emergence of a pair of small, parallel Sun Lines on the bodies of the First Tribe of Osh-Tekk; the perilous coming-of-age rite of the Realmwalk, indicated by young, painted Osh-Tekk boys and girls walking through a fiery portal; the first awakening of the Power of the Sun; the application of mystical tattoos upon those who completed the Realmwalk; grown, painted warriors drinking the blood of their foes …
Two panels had been added to this particular Chamber of Cremation at the orders of the current Kahn himself. A rough likeness of Kotal K'etz, the last ruler of independent Osh-Tekk and Kotal Kahn's late father, Kotal K'etz's Queen, and their young son Ko'atal, knelt in submission before the imposing visage of Shao Kahn.
"How is Ferra?" the Kahn enquired of the Healer, breaking the relative silence.
"The younger Healers have been keeping her calm with our most potent herbs," Tlaloc replied. "Otherwise, she remains as she is."
"She is beyond our help, then?"
"I have not lost hope."
The sound of many footfalls brought an end to their morbid conversation. Kotal hastily sat up, thinking they had been discovered, but to his relief, it was the Osh-Tekk who their group had liberated from the dungeons. He was followed by four others, one of whom was the other freed guard.
"My Emperor, I am called Atl," the latter began. "I have three members of your personal guard with me."
"Very well," Kotal replied, acknowledging them. "We shall leave immediately. Come, Reptile."
Next, he addressed the others. "Escort the Healer back to safety. Erron Black." The mercenary nodded. "Keep watch over the city."
After an uneventful while of wading and cutting through shrubs, branches and vines, Kotal Kahn and Reptile eyed an ancient Osh-Tekk pyramid before them.
The centuries of time and the merger of realms had reduced the temple's golden sheen to a dull glimmer and covered it with a myriad manner of creepers and vines, and yet, it still retained a modicum of its majesty and commanding presence that had awed Ko'atal during his long-gone boyhood in the Golden Realm. The crescent moon - the sole light in this night's purple sky - illuminated the temple's cracked steps and sacrificial altar.
The duo instinctively eyed their surroundings for predators and enemies. The only sounds Kotal could hear were the duo's breaths and the incessant creaking of nocturnal insects.
When they reached the base of the pyramid, Kotal turned to Reptile.
"This is where I must go on, alone."
"Then may the Powers That Be be persuaded by your words," Reptile said, in a rare moment of addressing the Emperor as one might a friend.
Instead of reprimanding his most valuable Minister, the Kahn nodded in gratitude and replaced his giant sword upon his back. He drew a tecpatl as he ascended the steps, preparing himself for what would come.
Author's notes: I'd like to thank Poe's Daughter for suggesting some improvements to the chapter text.
As you might've noticed, I'm not sticking to the games' or comics' canon to the letter. Given the many differences between the comics and the games, and the fact that the comics are still on-going, diverging from canon is all but necessary to tell a good story.