Disclaimer: I don't own Mortal Kombat. Also, there will be spoilers for the story mode of MKX, so if you don't want that, go out and play it, and then read this!
It was mostly sand. Sand and blood. Sand, blood, and the occasional bullet casing or handful of caltrops left by him that he never bothered to pick up. He never picked them up. He figured they served as a deterrent, to sort of advise against being an idiot whenever he was out.
Erron Black had seen pretty much everything there was to see in Outworld. Whenever he went on the patrols the Kahn sent him on, sometimes alone, sometimes with Ermac or Reptile, sometimes with all three of them (that didn't happen frequently, since all three of them fought easily and the patrol usually ended with a few bruises, broken bones, and several bullet grazes) and all he could see for the most part, aside from its people, and the occasional public eviscerating, was the sand. It was part of the reason he wore the mask that covered the bottom half of his mouth: to stop the sand from getting in his mouth, because then he'd have to spend however long it took to pick it out of there or else taste it for the next week or so.
But, it was his home. He supposed he had a sort of right to complain about it, as he had spent his whole life living there. However it was that he had gotten there. He didn't remember. But, he was there, and that was really all that made a difference in the end. He had been here during the whole fiasco with Shinnok. From what Black had heard, some people died, but the Earthrealmers had gotten him under control and now their lightning god, Raiden, had the amulet.
It was weird, because Outworld was invading at the same time. Kotal Kahn had said something about how killing the Earthrealmers would "appease Shinnok" and "buy our realm some time" because "they couldn't be saved." He was in the woods when the sky turned blue again. Shortly thereafter, they retreated. Part because the war was over, part because Kotal and his advisers hadn't wanted to be there when the fight was off the Elder God. A couple of their soldiers had gotten left behind, in the haste for them to get the hell out of there. Erron was just glad nobody he gave a damn about was trapped there.
His patrol was coming close to an end. It was getting to sundown, and he'd be changing shifts with one of the others. When he'd made it back to Kotal Kahn's throne room, though, he'd heard different than expected. The Kahn looked up when he heard Erron enter. Reptile and Ermac were at either side of his throne, and it seemed as if they were discussing something. Not only that, but Ferra and Torr were off to the side by themselves, which meant that everyone that was the most important to the sovereignty of Kotal Kahn was in the room at the same time.
It had been almost two years since the thing with Shinnok, and everyone looked a bit different with the passage of time. Reptile didn't look much different, Erron thought. The only changes that the mercenary noticed were that his scales had gotten a bit greener (probably a shedding thing, since reptiles tend to do that) and the fact that he had pretty much managed to stop drooling everywhere, which was a vast improvement in Erron's eyes. Whenever they talked, Reptile seemed to hiss and spit every word, and did exactly that. He always had to clean something up afterwards, but not anymore, since Reptile had also gotten self-conscious about it at one point.
The big thing with Ermac is that he had a different vessel. Black often had to remind himself that Ermac wasn't a single person, but rather a collection of souls that Shao Kahn and Quan Chi had amassed over time. He still referred to him as 'he' though, and Ermac had no intention of stopping him, probably because he didn't really care. It was a few months ago when he changed vessels. There had been a serial killer in Outworld, and when Black and the others had captured him, not only did Kotal let Ermac take his soul, he also let Ermac take his body, since the one he currently had was degrading and very close to falling apart. He had also gone back to wrapping up most of his face aside from the upper half of it (like Erron) so that all the gunslinger could see of him was the black wrappings, his nose, and bright green eyes.
Kotal himself didn't look very much different either. He had gotten some new tattoos, though, more of the ones that circled his chest that glowed different colors sometimes. Erron had never quite figured out why they looked different sometimes, but he supposed it didn't really matter. There was still cloth wrapped around his hands from all of his blood sacrifices, but the cuts disappeared whenever he went out during the day. Erron found out from Ermac that Kotal Kahn was Osh'tekk, and that his people are fueled by the sun, which is why it healed him whenever he stood in it.
Erron hadn't seen D'Vorah since her betrayal, and could barely even remember her for that fact. The only other member of the Kahn's inner circle was Ferra, and her mount, Torr. Ferra was a bit older, but no one knew exactly how old she was (eyeballing it, Erron would say maybe twelve) and Ferra didn't seem to remember either. Torr still looked the same, though, which wasn't very surprising. He didn't communicate much easier either, still only speaking in grunts, groans, and the occasional low pitched scream, but Ferra seemed to somehow understand him and acted as a sort of translator.
There weren't very many mirrors in Outworld, so Erron couldn't really see anything different about himself. His hair had grown, but he had cut it back to sort of medium long, like he usually wore it. The ends were a bit scraggly, since they don't have scissors in Outworld, and had asked Ferra to use the claws that she sometimes wore into combat. In hindsight, it was a bad idea, since she was a kid, and a sharpened arm blade isn't exactly a practical hair cutting tool. It looked incredibly stupid after he had first got it cut, the ends of it cut in different places and some of the ends being frayed. He hadn't caught the end of it from Reptile and Ermac for almost a month, when it grew more and did its best to even it out. Ferra had apologized for making him look dumb, and he just smiled and said it was okay.
Erron's first thought when he walked in with everyone there was that there was something wrong. He unconsciously hovered one hand over the holster for his revolvers. "What's going on?" he asked. Kotal Kahn got up from his throne, and approached Erron.
"Glad to see that you have made it back, but unfortunately, you'll be heading back out," the Osh'tekk said.
Oh, come on. He couldn't really tell him no, he was the Kahn after all. "Alright then," Erron responded, with a nod.
"You'll be taking the others with you as well, Black."
There was a slightly audible sigh from all three of them, even though Ermac and Reptile were already aware of the decision.
"May I ask why?" Erron asked.
"Sources tell me there is activity far from here. Not from Outworld. I ask for the three of you to investigate."
The gunslinger scoffed. "If you want us to take care of them, why don't you just get Ferra and Torr on it?"
"I would prefer you find them before they find us. A surprise attack, if you will. You won't get that opportunity with Ferra/Torr following you."
"Torr not quiet. Torr walk loud. Everyone see Ferra/Torr!" Ferra affirmed. She seemed completely okay with the idea of not going on a mission, which, a long time ago, wasn't very common. Erron could recall one time in which she had sicced Torr on all four of them when she was younger because she couldn't go with Reptile and Ermac on an important errand. It had taken quite a bit of coaxing to calm Ferra down and D'Vorah had to stab Torr with a poison that momentarily put him to sleep before he killed someone.
It was as good a reason as any, Erron thought. "Fair enough. Let's go," he said, with a wave of his hand to motion the others to come with. He didn't really like the idea of having all three of them together - on a stealth mission, no less - but orders were orders.
The trio was relatively quiet for the most part, but once they had made it past the mostly populated parts of Outworld, it started.
"We are not entirely sure where we are supposed to be going, are we?" Ermac asked.
"Do you speak for yourself or for us all?" Reptile responded. It was a good enough question, Erron thought, since Ermac always spoke in the third person since he wasn't really a person. It was a bit confusing.
"We would not ask ourselves a question out loud. We do not think out loud. Is the group lost?" the soul-master clarified.
"I know exactly where I'm going, pal," Erron responded.
"Kotal Kahn did not give us directions. He gave us a vague cardinal direction," Reptile said.
"And we're headed in that direction. Now, shh," the gunslinger told him.
"The one who fights with bullets does not tell me to shh," Reptile spat, practically actually spitting in the process. He seemed to lose control over it when he got angry, and Erron recoiled, the acid burning at his face before he wiped it off with the end of his poncho.
"I did. I'll do it again, if you'd like," Black challenged, hovering one hand over his revolver. The spectral one saw that a fight was about to break out, and interrupted before one of them maimed the other.
"We do not see how this petty squabble will accomplish our mission," Ermac interrupted, narrowing his green, glowing eyes. "Both of you need to shh, as Erron says."
Erron gave one last glare at Reptile before shutting up, as did the lizard. The outlaw dropped his hand to his side to comply. Something like this usually happened when they all left to do something together. Reptile, however, turned on Ermac, seeing as how Erron was pretty much content with being quiet. Whenever the lizard got mad, he stayed mad for the most part.
"I do not see why you have to insert yourself into everything," Reptile hissed.
"We give our input when we believe it is beneficial," Ermac said. He was determined to stay calm, since if he lost his cool, then everyone else would follow suit and then nothing would get done.
"It was not."
"Clearly."
Reptile wiped his mouth with his forearm, the acidic spit being flung into the sand at his feet, the sand giving way and somehow melting. He said nothing else, and continued walking. Ermac gave Erron a look that asked what was wrong with him, and all the gunslinger could do was shrug, and carry on after Reptile. Ermac followed suit after Erron, and they all caught up to the lizard. They were about to start talking again, when they heard another similar conversation going on in the distance.
"Are you sure the Emperor's fortress is this way?" A male voice asked.
"It's been a really long time since we've had to come here, give me a break." A female one replied.
"Don't we have maps or something for this sort of occasion?" A different male voice complained.
"We'll find it eventually. Don't worry." Yet another voice, a female voice, reassured.
The footsteps were heading towards them, and Erron motioned for the three of them to hide behind the sand dunes, which they did. The gunslinger removed his Stetson, and held it to his chest, on the chance it was peeking over the top of the sand. Ermac would have said that the voices sounded familiar, but he opted not to, seeing as how they would eventually past and then they would know for certain who it was.
Some time passed, and then the footsteps sounded less like they were on sand and more like on rock. They were on a path, Erron realized. One that went into a city, he figured, and it was close by. He saw them, and sighed.
It was the Earthrealmers. The same group that had been there two years ago.
All four of them, too, so Erron and the others couldn't fight them, since they were outnumbered, but he could perhaps apprehend them. Erron put his hat back on, and motioned for them to follow, but then he put a finger to where his lips were behind his mask. Quietly.
Erron and Reptile stepped through the sand as quietly as they could to catch up, and Ermac just hovered ever so slightly off the ground. The Outworlders were gaining on the other group, and when they got as close as Erron was comfortable with, he flipped a revolver out of its holster, and fired a warning shot into the air.
All four of them turned around at once, hands on their respective weapons (except for Takeda and Jacqui, their weapons were technically in their hands) and Cassie stepped a bit forward. "What do you want?"
The gunslinger smirked from behind his mask, and said what he had said the last time they were there. "State your business. Including a reason why we shouldn't kill you."
Kung Jin had also stepped forward, but remained behind Cage (probably out of fear of getting shot, Erron thought) and said, "There's four of us and three of you!"
"Quiet, you idiot," Takeda snapped.
Cassie sighed at Jin's nerve, and then calmly responded. "Something horrible is happening in Earthrealm. We need to talk to the Emperor, if you'll let us."
Black looked at Reptile, and then Ermac for support, and then looked forward again at the group. "Tell us what it is and maybe we'll take you to him."
"Raiden's gone mad. He's using the medallion as a weapon, and people are dying. It's like Shinnok all over again," Jacqui explained, with a shake of her head.
Damn it. Earthrealm was under attack again, and Erron wasn't particularly inclined to care, but then he realized that if he took over Earthrealm, he'd come towards Outworld. The Kahn wouldn't be happy if he let that slide. He sighed.
"Fair enough. Let's go."
A/N: Well, that escalated quickly.
This is the first time I've written in almost two months, so I hope you guys like it! I recently bought MKX and loved it, so I wrote this. If you liked it, leave a review, like, and favorite. Have a good one!
- FlareGun343