A/N: I was requested to do a prompt on Tumblr that had Mileena + Tanya + assignment as the requirements.
After listening to G-Eazy and Bebe Rexha's Me, Myself and I, this idea popped into my head. I liked the thought of Tanya trying to prove herself and show that she is not as traitorous as she used to be in the past. I honestly don't know if Tanya is genuine about saving Edenia, but if she really is, and doesn't plan on betraying her realm and actually wants to free it, then I really like that change of pace for her character and went with that approach. Oh, and I'm going with her story mode look, just FYI. Also, this takes place pre-MKX.
Also, a thousand thanks to Obelisk of Light for lending a hand :)
Me, Myself & I
It couldn't have been a more perfect night: the moon was concealed by the gray blockade of clouds, and both the city and palace were silent with ignorant, sleepy contentment. Even still, Tanya wiped her palms against her leather-clad thighs; trying to erase away all the evidence of just how precariously daunting she knew this assignment was. She had no backup, no escape plan if trouble turned the corner and had no idea where the object she was here to collect even was. The last time she broke into the palace, she had checkpoints to reach, allies, a simple way to get into the fortress, and most importantly, plenty of bodies she could either trip or maim to throw in the guards' path to avoid her own capture.
This time, there was just her and nothing to help her if she was caught.
A small scoff escaped from her at the bitter realization that sprang in the back of her mind: perhaps Kotal Kahn would use her as a pawn to trade since she was one of the true Kahnum's closet consorts. Tanya sincerely doubted that and best case scenario— if she could not think of anything to offer the false Emperor— would she would be another event at the Coliseum for the moronic masses. At least, she wouldn't die tonight.
Let's not plan on dying any night, she reminded with a playful, but stern cynical tone; as if she was quipping it to someone else.
Her amber colored eyes dimmed as she surveyed the lanterns and candles in the buildings, one by one, flicker their last gasps of breath, allowing the night to coat the city further in darkness. On her perch on top of a simple tavern, she listened as the cool, desert winds whispered through the capital below, chilling her skin and whipping her hair hard enough to have the ends prick at her face.
The lateness of the hour and the scarcity of guards she saw crawling like insects around the walls of the Emperor's Palace, gave her a slight swell of confidence and helped push aside her previous agitation. She thought there would be more at this hour.
For a moment, she wondered if the few number of guards was due to Mileena's army slaughtering some of them in the last engagement, or if they had obtained premature overconfidence from winning the scuffle that they didn't expect there to be a threat on the palace. Tanya couldn't help but consider the latter opinion since she still had bruises and scratches. The battle was never in their favor to begin with; there were just far too many in Kotal Kahn's army, and Mileena was still collecting supporters.
Tanya stepped back from the ledge when her ears picked up an inaudible conversation below. Peeking over the edge, the Edenian looked curiously down at the two insomniacs that walked down the sand covered street. The two thin Outworld males, old and by the look of it, middle-class by the green and black silk robes they wore. Barristers from the Plebeians Court, no doubt.
The Edenian propped her knee against the ledge, lunging her leg and crooked her elbow on her bent kneecap. Resting her chin in her palm, she waited impatiently as she watched the two Outworld men walk by below. The paused their stride, turned to each other and began discussing something she could not make out, but by the way their hands waved sharply, it was a heated argument. Her brown eyes rolled with annoyance as their conversation carried on.
"I do not have all night."
She watched as the taller of the two, handed a brown sack that jingled with coins to the other. The shorter man pocketed it, nodded in agreement and picked up their feet again to continue their nocturnal trek.
As soon as they marched far enough away from her position, Tanya lifted the ball of her foot— the same one planted against the ledge— and wheeled over the edge of the roof's ledge.
Tucking her arms and legs against her body and spinning like a throwing knife, she flipped until her feet were pointed down. Her hands reached out for her target as she fell and grabbed it with ease — the bar that held the tavern's banner over the door. Switching her grip around, she rotated her body until she was parallel with the slender, faded red flag. Letting go of the iron bar, she wrapped her hands and ankles around the cloth and descended down it like a climbing rope towards the ground.
With a soft thud, her black heeled boots hit the sand before she rose from her crouched position and ran towards the shadows of the nearby alley. With only her tonfas strapped to her hips, Tanya began to stealthily creep through the alleys of the buildings closest to the palace.
Planting her back against a wall, she craned her head out of the murky curtain of the passage and looked at the guards walking back and forth to the entrance of the curtain wall. Tanya also noted the other set of guards against the frame of the massive doors.
Tanya waited patiently, knowing that they would open an opportunity for her to sneak by; either from drowsiness or obtuseness. The doors were not her intended target, but she needed to get past them silently.
Her first goal was to sneak along the perimeter to the servant's entrances that were not as heavily guarded at night. Knowing that ridiculous Osh-Tekk, he would overlook the servant's doors and focus primarily on the walkways inside the wall that overlooked the city.
Her eyes narrowed as an amused flicker tugged at the corner of her mouth. Sure enough, the Pyromancer could make out more bodies stalking on the parapets. Unlike last time, she didn't have Rain to teleport her to the walkway. Luckily, it also gave her an advantage; the parapet was where they now expected them to show up. In all honesty, she would have preferred access to the parapets, instead of running around in the open where she could be easily spotted. She shrugged to herself—at least she did not have that insufferable bastard, Rain, with her this time.
Resting her back against the brick wall, she scowled when she remembered last seeing him in the meeting that took place a day ago. The smug smile that had creased under his purple mask hadn't escaped her notice. He was maliciously gloating and enjoying seeing Mileena at her lowest point since her freedom from Kotal Kahn's dungeons.
Tanya couldn't understand what Shao Kahn's heir saw in the pompous demi-god, and maybe Mileena herself didn't see anything at all in him except that she could exploit his powers. The Hydromancer claimed that he cared about restoring Edenia's glory, and even the female Edenian could see that he was somewhat genuine about it, but knew that it was only a matter of time before Mileena found his dagger in her back.
He refrained for now, even though he was confident that he could sweep her authority out from under her anytime he wanted to. However, even he knew that right now was not the right moment to do so. The Tarkatans only saw him as an accessory to Mileena's war, and not as a potential leader. They only put up with him because Mileena told them to until further notice. First, Rain would have to make sure they turned against her and the only way for him to accomplish that was if she kept leading them into failure. For instance, very much like the last battle with Kotal Kahn's troops.
Tanya frowned. It was disheartening to see the ex-Kahnum's confidence withering along with her hope in succeeding— much to the Son of Argus's delight. Her despondency was nothing to Rain except auspicious and uncomfortable to her. Perhaps Mileena sensed that as well and only added more to her insecurity.
The Pyromancer sighed and rubbed two of her fingers against the side of her temple. Mileena's dejection about her leadership had to be fixed if Tanya wanted her dreams of a free Edenia restored. She had no doubt that Rain would fail if he took charge. His egotistical ambition overwhelmed any attempt to do anything beneficial for anyone else. He just wanted the throne, and he would subjugate her fellow Edenians worse than Ko'atal did. He would not give them a free Edenia no matter how much he claimed it would be. If she truly wanted to see Edenia prosper, she needed Mileena in command when the rebels won, and the Kahnum couldn't do that with her morale lowered.
Tanya caught something out of the corner of her eye and ducked back into the shadows. Passing by and rounding the opposite side the curtain wall was Kotal Kahn's Earthrealm lapdog, Erron Black, riding a saber-toothed feline mount towards the gate. The Edenian quirked an eyebrow at him. He certainly wasn't one for subtlety, but at least it was good for her.
Dragging across the ground face first with his hands tied together behind the beast, Black paid no sympathy towards the exhausted Outworld man he hauled in by the rope tied to the saddle. At first, Tanya thought the mercenary's bullet had killed him, but he raised his head tiredly and coughed up sand. Exhausted, his head lowered back into the cradle of his tied arms as the feline carried him off.
The yellow-clad Outworlder watched as the guards turned their backs and watched him make off with his bounty. With their eyes on the bounty hunter, she ran towards the walls— seizing her opportunity. Quietly, she darted across the sand as fast and as quietly as she could until she felt her shoulder blades flat against the bricks of the curtain wall.
Tanya listened for any sound of alarm or any quick footfalls to her location. There was nothing, and she smirked; nobody had spotted her. Her hands gripped the handles of her weapons, lifted them out and began to quietly tip-toe towards the servant's entrance.
Striding around the corner, Tanya began to speculate the possible locations inside the palace they were keeping Mileena's possession. Regardless if they were holding it in the armory, the lower underground rooms by the dungeon—or what she feared the most— Kotal Kahn's room, she wouldn't leave without them. Tanya sighed deeply at the last bit. If they truly were with Kotal Kahn, then this was already fruitless. Uneasiness dragged up her spine like the pointed end of a knife. Gambles were not usually something that she enjoyed taking and this one had her life placed on the table.
The closer she got to the servant's entrances, the more indecisive she felt about proceeding with her assignment, so much, that it began to slow her pace. Already she was so close to getting inside the palace, but as soon as she did, the Edenian would be walking a thin line as soon as she crossed the threshold. Any mistakes and she would fall to her own doom.
As she reflected heavily on the consequences, the Pyromancer's face dropped into a dubious expression. What was she doing? This was going to get her killed, and Tanya wasn't even certain if Mileena was going to respond gratefully to her efforts anyway! Closing her eyes and exhaling a deep breath, she reaffirmed why she had to do it and pushed the repercussions of the mission out of her mind as she remembered Mileena's scornful words to her.
Tanya had been trying to help her see that Rain was using her— that he did not care about whether she reclaimed the throne or not. Mileena had been hovering over a map, trying to look at the make a decision through a black eye. Besides her morale, she had also been injured, and it was evident she had been fighting through the pain; covering it by gritting her Tarkatan teeth in irritation. It wasn't the right moment to bring the subject up, and she should have refrained until Mileena was in a better mood, but still Tanya pleaded with her to reconsider having Rain so close as an advisor. He was not to be trusted.
"You cannot trust him!"
Mileena slammed a fist against the table; the shockwave of her blow sending her glass of water to the ground of her tent and causing Tanya to flinch.
"And the same is to be said of you, traitor! When all I hear are stories about your dishonesty! If you truly support me as Kahnum— then prove it!"
The Edenian ground her teeth. Yes, she understood that she was still shackled to her past, and would be lying to herself if she had argued the Edenian had shed herself of her old habits. Tanya was not ashamed of herself, or what she had done— everything she had done was necessary to ensure that she kept her life. The people of Outworld could scoff all they wanted and even her fellow Edenians, but in all honesty, she saw them all as un-soiled hypocrites. It was only a matter of time before they were faced with a situation that required them to do the same. Even the loyal citizens of Outworld had already committed what she had done, even if they never used the word 'mutiny' to describe how Kotal Kahn took the throne. They betrayed the monarchy the second they accepted the Osh-Tekk as their Emperor. They were all guilty whether they refused to believe it.
However, when Mileena had spat that, she felt her nerves fry with anger. How dare she doubt her! Tanya had been at Mileena's side since the beginning. It was her idea to free her from the dungeon! The night in the tent had left an inescapable bitter taste in her mouth. Mileena was forever thankful to her for helping her escape and knew that Tanya supported her. Even if she knew Mileena had been projecting her anger and Tanya had just been the closest target, it had annoyed her; dug under her skin like a splinter of wood. Despite helping Mileena, her past faults were still available as an arsenal for others to use against her. If Rain had said it, she would have easily brushed it off, but when Mileena had said it… she had no choice but to resent it. Tanya had thought she had proved herself. Now, she was adamant about showing how wrong she was to question her when her competition was Rain. It would be a pleasure to knock him off his pedestal.
A bare-chested male body rounded the corner, lurching her out of her thoughts. The white in his eyes expanded behind his gold headdress when he saw her and immediately reached for the sword in his belt. Before he could unsheathe it, or call out, Tanya lifted the sickle end of her tonfa across his throat.
The guard's head went back as if it wanted to detach from his shoulders as rivets of red ran down his chest. He gurgled as his hand reached for his throat in a weak attempt to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, he was making too much noise, and in a flash, she positioned herself behind him and covered his mouth. With his back to her chest, she lowered to her knees as life left his own legs. He went slack, and she released him with a careless drop. Tanya craned her neck, looking up to see anyone walking to and from on the parapet saw her.
Nothing.
A groomed obsidian brow lifted as a light chuckle left her when her eye caught a metallic shine by her feet. "Hello there." Her hand went to his belt and plucked the set of keys that hung by his hips. As her hand circled around the ring, she scoffed in disgust. Tanya ripped a section of his black pants from his uniform, wiped her hand with the fabric and the iron band holding the keys together.
Standing with the now clean set of keys in her hand, she tossed the rag on top of his lifeless body. "Keep your blood to yourself."
Without a further glance, she stepped over his lifeless body and continued towards the entrance by sprinting; it wouldn't be long until somebody found his body. Her boots sank into the sand with quiet strides as she dashed along the edge of the curtain wall towards the servant's entrances. She gripped the keys tightly together to keep them from clanging together as she looked up for any eyes looking down upon her.
Eventually, she found a corridor with a thick brick wall on both sides. She grimaced slightly when her heels clicked against the stone floor of the hallway but continued with her quick pace when she saw the guard at the end. Her boots echoing off the corridor walls woke him by the time she lifted her tonfa up. By the time his eyes snapped open at full attention, she had already thrown her edged weapon with precision and struck him in the forehead.
She swayed her hips as she slowed and sauntered to his twitching body as his weight fought against the long end tonfa's hold that nailed him through his left eye and to the wooden door like a spear head. His body vibrated against the door, clanging it on its hinges as she walked towards him. Grasping the harmless grip of her tonfa, the only part that wasn't dangerous, the Pyromancer pulled it out of the door, from his skull and let him slide down the door with a crimson trail painting the wood as he fell. Using her foot, she tipped him over with a careless shove to the side and unlocked the door with the keys she had stolen. Pulling the door open, she slithered inside and closed the door behind her with a soft click.
White linen ghosts clung to clothespins that she bobbed and weaved through as she navigated through the laundry area towards the next wooden door at the far end. Grabbing the handle, she turned it and surprisingly, it was unlocked. Pushing herself inside and pocketing the keys, she entered and walked by a small garden of herbs. Their stems turned in the wind, billowing in retaliation while she lifted her fingers and tucked a section of hair behind her ear. She came to yet another door and began to wonder how many she was going to have to trespass before she even got inside the palace.
Opening the door, the corner of her lip picked up into a smile when she came to the end of the labyrinth. There was nothing but an empty square and against the wall after climbing a small set of stairs, was a door that would lead into the palace.
With her heels clacking against the stone stairs, she twisted the handle and stepped inside. Her eyebrow lifted at the sight of the kitchen, she honestly expected a long hallway or a perhaps guard stationed outside the door. Brushing it off, she eyed the door at the far end and glided through the scullery.
As she passed the long preparation table in the middle of the room, Tanya paused, took a step back and looked down at the bowl of fruit in the middle of the table. Her nails dragged over the skin of the various fruits, digging through them until she found what her stomach was growling for. Picking up the smooth, fuchsia colored orb from the bottom, she bit into it and used her thumb to brush the yellow juice that escaped and trailed down her chin.
Taking another bite as she opened the door, Tanya peered around and found herself looking down a narrow hallway with doors on opposite ends. Servants rooms. The Edenian took another bite of her stolen fruit as she roamed confidently down the hall. If they wanted to confront her, then by all means, try — all they would do was get her tonfa dirty with their blood.
Fire from the torches hanging on the walls danced across the hallway, pulsing with light and kissing her skin with warmth as she continued walking through the servants' corridors. By the time she found the exit, she was done with the fruit and tossed the pit behind her and carelessly littered the ground.
The Edenian couldn't explain it, perhaps it was because she thought that it would have been harder to get inside, or the fruit perked up her confidence, but anxiety vanished as soon as the fruit hit the floor. As Tanya continued to stroll about the palace, haunting it like an unseen ghost as the tenants slept in their rooms, she decided to take use the vacancy as an opening. Quietly, with just her footfalls echoing off the walls, she descended down a stone spiral staircase that led to the lower levels of the palace.
Beyond the dungeon where the staircase ended, was where she knew they kept weapons collected from prisoners — it had always been her first assumption where they would put Mileena's sais. With The Elder Gods on her side tonight, they would already be waiting for her to collect them.
With an indifferent toss, Erron Black discarded the blunted sword he had taken from his bounty on top of the pile of other various junk. It clanged harshly inside the small, cluttered room and made the short, muscled man holding an exotic gunmetal mask against his face jump in alarm.
His warm, youthful face contorted into a frightful expression when he accidently dropped the mask on the chaotically organized table full of deadly knick-knacks and shot up in his chair with a knife in his hand.
A sigh of relief left him, although the young Outworlder, Baihu, slumped back in his wooden chair with a grimace of annoyance. "Could you at least try and set things nicely on the table once in a while?"
The mercenary raised an eyebrow and glanced around the room with a dubious expression. Between the tables against both walls of the chamber, and the desk in front of the weapons guard, the only things that were actually organized were the miscellaneous swords, spears, shields hanging from whatever hook they could claim. They were the prized collection of the guard. Against the copper colored stone walls, only a few racks held spears, and swords clambering for space on the racks. Other than those few corners of the room that were organized, everything on the table was a mess. Erron flashed the Outworlder a silent, cynical look as his eyes cast over the mountain of sundry knives, and landed on him; as if questioning his sanity for asking such a rhetorical question.
Black gave a shrug as his answer as he watched the man wrap his fingers around the large mask he had been fiddling with before. "Are you still tryin' to figure out that piece of junk?"
Baihu raised a defensive finger at him like a snake oil salesman that had the quality of his product questioned. "I will figure it out!" Raising the metallic mask, he tapped a finger towards the dip on the side of the helmet by above the corner left eye. Three black dots were sunk into the dip, and both of them had spent already too much time debating on what the purpose of the dots on the face mask could possibly be.
"I think these are sights. Much like the ones you have on your firearms," Baihu grinned with assurance.
"I think you're overreachin' now," Black argued with a skeptical scoff.
The Outworlder shook his head. "Just listen, Kahn's guard. When you use your firearm's you have to raise your pistol at eye level for a clear shot, right?"
"If you're a shitty shot," Black commented dryly. "You're tellin' me that whoever owns the mask skips that step?" The gunslinger chuckled lightly. "Only problem is he aims with the sight, but what does he use to shoot? I doubt bullets come flyin' out of those holes."
Baihu's smiled faded and pressed into a hard line. A defeated sigh escaped his lips. "You provide a good point."
"I know I do because I know they ain't sights," Erron Black declared with a bored tone.
Baihu threw his hands up in irritation and slumped in the chair. "Well, what else could it be!"
"I don't really know or care," the marksman replied with an eye roll. "Just give it a rest, already."
The weapon's guard tossed the mask on the table. "Maybe you're right. Maybe it is just a fancy mask from some long ago tribe in the jungle."
Erron smiled as he picked the metallic mask up with one hand and outstretched his other palm towards Baihu. The Outworlder didn't move an inch in his chair other than to sulk further into his seat. The gunslinger chided him by narrowing his eyes with a playful, but victorious twinkle. He curled his fingers at Baihu like he was beckoning a child to hand over contraband. Baihu shook his head stubbornly.
"C'mon. Deal's a deal," Erron reminded with a winner's chide.
With an irked scowl, Baihu reached into his pants pockets and handed over the five gold pieces promised to if he couldn't figure out the mask's origin's - since the prisoner that found it in the jungle didn't live long enough to tell them.
"If I say that it was ceremonial, would agree with it and let me keep my coins?" Baihu argued weakly.
Erron laughed and plucked the coins from his hands. "Who'd in the hell" — Black raised the mask in his other hand — "wear this in a ceremony?"
Black placed the coins in his weathered pants pocket before he sat on the free space on the desk and stared down at the mask. In all honesty, he was somewhat disappointed that Baihu wasn't able to offer a clue to who the mask belonged to and where they were from. The Ex-Earthrealmer turned the mask over and looked into the large almond shaped black eyes. On each side of the mask, rested two slender slopes where he assumed cheekbones were supposed to rest, but they were far to large and too steep to rest comfortably on anybody's face. That was another enigma about the mask, it was too large for a human's face but too small for a Shokan or even Torr's face— he tried and nearly didn't get it back since Ferra thought it was too shiny for him to keep. Erron doubted that it was constructed for a human or a Shokan; he'd seen stranger creatures and tribes in Outworld. Then again, he wasn't even certain that it was from this realm. The metal was light but harder than anything Outworld produced. He frowned at the black charred rings on the forehead of mask— where his bullets had hit when he experimented to see how tough it was. He would never voice it out loud, but it crept an ominous feeling up his spine looking at it. Like some demon wearing a Carnival mask and trying to masquerade themselves as a human.
Now you're overreachin', Black. He scolded internally.
Out of curiosity and boredom, he lifted his hat off his head and placed it on the table next to Baihu's other tools. Black lifted the mask up to his face, hovering it in front of him before he planted it against his own. The mask dwarfed his own face as he adjusted his eyes to look through the slits in the mask. All he saw was darkness - how the hell did anyone see out of this thing? The chin of the mask nearly reached almost halfway down his neck, and the edges encompassed his entire ears. The broad forehead also bypassed the whole top of his head. Whoever was the mask's owner, they were one big son of a bitch—
Like a sledgehammer hitting a gong, the mask he had covering his face catapulted into his own by a strong unknown force and propelled him over the table he had been leaning against. His back hit the floor with a twinge of pain as the mask went clattering to the side. His ears rang as he picked himself from the floor and blinked away the white dots that danced in front of his eyes. Picking himself onto his hands and knees, he glanced over and found both the reason why he had been sent over the table, and why he was still alive.
A yellow tonfa stuck out in the middle of the mask's forehead like an ax into a tree. He growled under his breath—he knew damn well who that weapon belonged to. Tanya had used the opportunity to throw a cheap shot, and he had gotten lucky he had that mask on when he did.
Black heard grunting and metal clashing and jumped to his feet as Baihu swung at the Edenian woman with the same kukri knife that he almost used on him. Unfortunately for the young male, he was clearly outmatched. Tanya blocked his knife with the long end of her tonfa and yawned in boredom to mock him. Baihu bared his teeth savagely at her and landed a hook across her face. Tanya cried out in pain before she scowled in anger, and slashed at him with every bladed inch of her weapon. Baihu took a step back with each blow he blocked and each time, his flowered with worry when his back hit the edge of the table.
Tanya parried her tonfa to the side and sliced deeply into the Outworlder's wrist, causing his knife to fly off to the side as an agonizing scream left him. Distracted, she leaned back on her leg and pushed her other heel towards his throat. The weapons on the table rattled as his back collided with the table as her boot dug into his neck and pinned him seconds before the speared end of her tonfa stabbed into his sternum.
Erron Black automatically reached into his holsters and pulled out his revolvers. The Pyromancer's eyes shot to him with alarm as he aimed them at her. Before the first shots erupted, Tanya pulled the dead man still connected to her tonfa, hauled him up and used his body as a shield. Each bullet hit Baihu like a punching bag, forcing Tanya to step back with each assault. Blood and tissue exploded and rained in the room as Erron dizzily tried to aim for any inch of her exposed. However, she was able to safely tuck behind him without getting harmed.
The gunslinger saved the rest of his ammunition and ran across the room, jump-kicked and planted both of his feet into Baihu's bloody torso. The force flew her backwards with a cry of alarm, forcing her to let go of his corpse as she hit the back wall with a backbreaking slam. Erron kipped-up as she ran for her tonfa still lodged in Baihu's still torso.
Before she could reach it, Black raised his pistol at her head. Tanya pushed his forearm away with the back of her own just as he pulled the trigger and the bullet shattered the stone ground inches by her feet. Just as Erron went to raise the other, she leaned back on her heel, and with her other leg, drove the tip of her boot straight up until it connected under his chin.
The outlaw's head snapped up as a groan of pain escaped from beneath his face mask. Shaking his head, he glared in the female's direction as she plucked the tonfa from Baihu's dead body and whipped her hand to shake off and clean the blood from her weapon.
"Turnin' yourself in, rebel?" The Kahn's bodyguard berated with a growl. He let out an amused, dark chuckle as he flipped his revolver expertly in his hand. "You're only makin' my job too easy."
Tanya narrowed her eyes as a cocky smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Speak for yourself, Earthrealm dog. I hardly think I'll work up a sweat"— She nudged the dead body with the toe of her boot— "He was hardly practice."
The Edenian narrowly escaped the barrage of bullets that rocketed out of his guns and sailed towards her. Rolling into a ball, dodging the marksman's aim, she managed to elude each of them as sparks licked her skin.
Kneeling, and trying to collect her breath, she smiled when his guns did nothing but click audibly; nearly distracting her from the disappointed 'shit' that escaped from between his lips.
Tanya gave a toothy grin and jumped for him. Swinging her tonfa behind her back, she brought it down to bury into the top of his skull. Erron, using both of his empty guns, crossed them in front of him and blocked the sickle end. Pulling his hands apart, he untangled her tonfa from his guns with an ear-piercing metallic screech before he pistol-whipped her across the face.
The Pyromancer snarled and sliced for him once more but missed as the gunslinger tucked his torso in. With a backhanded slash, she managed to cut a scratch over his vest. Black hit the table behind him and grabbed the first thing his hand blindly found.
Tanya's eyes widened when he batted around and blocked the crescent-bladed khopesh with the slender shaft of her tonfa. Black took a step forward, using his strength to force the khopesh's tip to inch its way towards the tender skin of her cheek. Tanya gritted her teeth as the muscle's in her forearm quivered with exertion before she cleaved their weapons off to the side and bashed him in the cheek with a hook from her free hand.
The mercenary spun on his heels before he recovered and cuffed her with his own powerful fist. With a pained scream, Tanya sailed towards the corner of the room and only stopped when her hips connected the edge.
Before she could tighten her grip on her tonfa's handle, Black grabbed her from behind by her shoulders and sailed her into the opposite wall. Her back hit the stone wall with a hard slam, momentarily fazing her, before Erron was on her, twisted her around and wrapped his arm around her neck.
Tanya's fingernails scratched over his leather gauntlet as she bucked and gasped for air. "You're lucky the note says dead or alive and the Kahn's got questions."
The Edenian scowled with indignation at his words and clamped on his forearm before she straightened herself and flung her leg up and smiled when her foot connected with his nose from behind.
He growled in pain, releasing her as he stumbled back and she greedily sucked air into her lungs. She frowned in disappointment when she noticed both of her weapons laying beyond reach, but luckily, she had a cavalcade of options she could choose from as substitutes.
So did Black though …
Tanya and Erron narrowed their eyes at each other with silent, deadly acknowledgment. Neither of them moved, both of them waiting to see what the other would grab. She looked at the table she had close to her and was disappointed to see that all she had were small edged weapons at her disposal while Black had swords and shields — he had the advantage. He quickly picked his eyebrows at her while his blue eyes sparked with an arrogant flair, as his challenging her to make her move.
She never did as her attention transferred from his smug disposition to what was on the wall behind him. Rested on hooks, above the table over the gunslinger's left shoulder, was her prize waiting patiently for her.
Mileena's sais.
Delight swirled in her when she saw them that made her swell with pompous confidence. All she had to do was deal with Kotal's sentinel, and she would accomplish what she came to do.
Tanya smiled as she raised an egotistical eyebrow at her opponent.
Like a horse out of a race gate, Black ran for her as her hand shot out and grabbed the closest thing to her on the table. Tanya managed to capture the handle of the small dagger before she felt Black at her side. With a backhanded swipe, she managed to graze the knife across his leather mouthpiece before he jabbed her hard in the mouth.
Her head bounced off the wooden table before she felt him crush the outside of her forearm in his hand. Tanya pushed against his weight as Black used her own forearm to inch the knife closer to her exposed throat. Even with the heavy leather mask covering his face, she could feel his light alcohol-laced breath ghost across her face as he fought against her.
"Although, the Kahn… wouldn't mind ya dead," he grunted, "Either way… I'm gettin' paid."
When she felt the cold edge of the knife at her throat, her knee shot out and connected with his groin. Tanya had only managed to hit the codpiece, but it was enough to get his eyes to widen in pain before she curled her leg to her chest and struck him in the face.
Black stumbled backwards as she climbed on the table and jumped for him. The gunslinger caught her and used the outside of his gauntlet to block her from planting the knife into the side of his neck. Snaking her leg up, she wrapped her foot around the back of his neck and used her ankle to pull his face down. Tanya released his head and jumped to the opposite foot before she hooked her leg up and connected it with the underside of his jaw with enough force to crack bone
The marksman grabbed his chin and narrowed his eyes at her like a viper as she ran for the table where her lone tonfa sat. Tanya cried out in pain as her head snapped back when he grabbed a fistful of her short, obsidian colored hair. Leaning back into his bicep, she hastily raised her leg up and struck him again in the face with the toe of her boot. Unfortunately, he still managed to hang on to her, and before she could snap her leg up again, he grabbed her by the front of the throat, picked her up and slammed her back flat on the ground.
Erron grabbed her by her shoulders and tossed her across the table where Baihu sat. Rolling to the ground, she lifted her head and beamed when she saw her other tonfa laying in front of her. Reaching out, she grabbed the handle as she leaped to her feet. Black rounded the corner before she was able to unglue it from the mask, and instead, swung her tonfa and collided the mask against the side of his head.
His face snapped to the side before he push-kicked her in the stomach. The Pyromancer grunted as she stumbled for her footing as he closed the distance. His hand wrapped around the wrist, stilling her armed hand, but lost his hold when she lifted her leg, curled her leg, and struck him hard with the back of her spiked heel. It stunned him, and spiraling her arm, The Edenian brought her weapon until she had the long edged end against his throat. Digging her heels into the stone, she pushed him into the wall as he fought to untangle his arms as she nudged her tonfa closer to his throat.
His boot collided with her kneecap, and with a cry of alarm, she fell into a kneeling position. With her attention on her leg, Black grabbed the back of her head and kneed her in the face. His silver plated kneecap connected with the underside of her jaw and sent her spiraling to the ground with her chin on fire. Dots danced across a black sky as she tried to unscrew her eyes, trying to open them with little luck, and spat out a driblet of blood from her mouth.
Her chest rose up and down as she heard him dump her weapon off to the side. Faintly, she heard metallic clinking and knew that he must have been using the opportunity to reload his firearms.
Tanya crowed internally with joy at his momentary ignorance as she lay on her back, seemingly out of the fight. Her hand crackled with heat as she opened her eyes as he clicked the cylinder back into place and came to her side.
"On your feet," he barked as he stormed over, grabbed her by her shoulder and hauled her up. As soon as her heels ticked against the stone, she lunged her palm towards his face and ignited the fireball she had been conjuring.
The mercenary's reaction was as instantaneous as it was expected: Black screamed in agony, released her and shot his hands towards his scorched skin and worked to rub the embers out of his eyes.
Preoccupied, Tanya lashed at him with brutal, relentless retaliation. Her fists pummeled every surface of his face while each of her snap kicks to his chest and legs stupefied him. Erron Black's rear hit the edge of the table as he struggled to raise his gun to aim at her. Circling her leg, she knocked his gun out of his hand with the back of her boot. His gun skidded across the stone floor as he threw a punch that she quickly blocked.
He glared at her through a bruised and swollen face as he raised his forearms in front of him, trying to cage himself from her attacks. Instead, Tanya dived forward, flipped and hammered her heel into the back of his head.
The gunslinger sprawled across the floor in an exhausted heap. His eyes slid towards the left and reached for his fallen revolver. With a sneer, she lifted her foot and dug her spike in the middle of his hand.
His blues eyes glared at her like two thunder clouds. She shrugged and smirked: "I heard there's quite a price on my head." She shrugged indifferently. "Your head's not worth anything. You're not even worth the— "
Her sentence died on her lips when she heard the familiar and distant sound of hurried steps, growing closer to the weapons vault.
Tanya frowned as she fixed her eyes on the door and back to Mileena's sais hanging on the wall—
The Edenian let out a startled surprise as Black swept her feet with the back of his arm and sent her to her side. Her face twisted in annoyance, and using her hands, pushed herself towards Black as he tried to stand up and connected her foot with the side of his already damaged face.
Lifting her feet over her head, she rolled backwards until she was standing and gave a kick to Erron Black's mask as she dashed by him. Climbing on the table, she ripped Mileena's sais from the wall and jumped down to retrieve her tonfas as she placed the forked knives into the holsters on her hips.
Racing over to grab the tonfa still embedded in the silver mask, she saw the mercenary roll on his back and tried to crawl his fingers for his gun. Without bothering to unhook the mask from the sickle, Tanya rushed towards him, jumped and crushed her heels into the middle of his abdomen. His legs and arms naturally sprang up as her weight crushed his torso. A wicked and pleased smile flashed on her face when she heard some of his ribs break despite his yowl echoing in the room.
With both of her tonfas securely grasped in her hands, she pumped her arms and ran for the door as the sounds of the guard's boots thundered down the hall like stampeding cattle.
Tanya flinched as she rounded out the door and felt sparks sizzle her hair from Erron Black's bullet that chased after her and missed.
The Pyromancer looked over her shoulder as she sprinted for the end of the hallway towards the stairwell. Behind her, she could make out the Osh-Tekk guards shadows playing along the wall of the stone architecture. Their voices reverberated in an angry and indecipherable song as they shouted to each other.
Tanya reached the door as they turned the corner and nearly had her head taken off when Erron lunged out of the weapons room, aimed and fired at her. She managed to close the door in time as the bullet hit the door and sent splinters exploding on the other side and litter the steps.
The Rebel dropped the tonfa holding the mask, stepped on it and freed her weapon from the metallic ornament. Sliding it towards the door with her foot, she kicked the edges until it wedged itself in the crack of the door and stone floor. Tanya only had a chance to tug on the door once—to test it—before more bullets blazed through the door.
Panic began to slowly tickle along her skin as she flew up the stairs. When she reached the top and opened the door, she chuckled lightly when she heard Black yelling at the guards to get the door open. Her makeshift shim had worked, but it wouldn't be long until they got the door open.
Her lungs stung painfully, but she never faltered her intense pace as she piloted herself back along the path she took entering the palace. So far, nobody ran into her, but she could hear male voices growing louder in the distance.
Tanya rammed her shoulder into the door as soon as she turned the handle to the kitchen door and raced for the exit. Not bothering the close the door behind her, she did the same with the garden door and slashed her way through the white sheets that tried to ensnare her like hell hands trying to pull her to damnation.
The stone hallway was in sight, and Tanya allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction as she climbed up the slope and made it outside the curtain walls.
With no time to be discreet, Tanya ran for the closest building available. As her legs began to complain, she heard the almost undetectable sound of air whizzing. She didn't have time to look back and felt her breath get trapped in her throat each time an arrow landed next to her shoes.
The men on the parapet kept firing, and with each second that passed while she was out in the open, the arrows began to catch up to her.
An arrowhead scratched the side of her cheek, causing fire to flare against her skin, as she ran into the dark protection of the alley.
Tanya lifted her fingers to her cheek as felt the thin line that ran from her right cheekbone and stopped centimeters to the corner of her lip. Her fingers were wet with blood, but she never stopped running.
Not until the city was far behind her.
Mileena clicked her Tarkatan teeth in thought as she rose from her bed and watched the ruby curtains of her tent grow hot with orange morning light. Already she could hear talking coming from outside the tent walls, drowning out the sound of animal chatter in the Kuatan Jungle.
Still, it was unusually loud for so early for the camp to be buzzing. Dressing, she snarled lightly as her slited yellow eyes glared with annoyance at the canvas doors of her tent.
Flinging aside the curtains, Mileena blinked as she adjusted her eyes to the humid dayspring. Already, the Rebel leader noticed her Tarkatan advocates packaging up their smaller yurts and placing them in the carriages. Once again, they would have to move to avoid detection even within the vast a void of their heavily vegetated sanctuary.
However, the Tarkatan's movements were slow and inattentive to their duties, and it was not difficult to discover why.
Mileena didn't need to glance to see who it was that walked next to her and began to grind her teeth in discontent as Rain's disdain fumigated and stunk the air between them.
The Hydromancer crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes in disapproval. "I do not see Ko'atal's army with her. Perhaps the traitor has already arranged an ambush for you, Mileena."
"I am growing tired of your ridiculous theories, Rain—especially so early in the day," she berated harshly.
The male Edenian lifted his chin with superiority. "I am merely warning you of future incidents. All of Edenia can attest to her nature even though you have not been acquainted Tanya's deficiency. It would be wise to heed my words since you have only tasted betrayal once before. You would disappoint many if you sampled it a second time."
"Be silent!" the Tarkatan hybrid commanded with a dangerous hiss. "Or the next thing I shall taste is your blood."
She ground her teeth, clanking her fanged mouth loudly. He scoffed softly in disgust as her eyes flicked at him in irritation for his childish mud-slinging. Rain lifted an eyebrow but bit his tongue as Tanya walked towards them.
Mileena rested a clawed hand on her hip as Tanya limped towards the pair. Even though her mouth was tight in a thin line, her eyes glinted with a victor's gloat as her hips swayed with a familiar pair of weapons strapped to her leather hips.
The Kahnum fluttered her eyelids with dubiety, surely the early hour was playing tricks on her fatigued mind. However, when Tanya lifted her sais from her belt and presented them to her, Mileena was sure that she must be dreaming. Her sharp mouth gaped with surprise before closed it tightly, doing her best to control herself and swallow the estatic delectation threatening to expose across her ferocious constant disposition.
"I believe these belong to you, Empress," Tanya smiled with genuine camaraderie.
Her weapons, the first gift given to her by her father, Shao Kahn, had been reunited with her. Mileena was unsure if Tanya understood what it meant to her, perhaps that was why she did it, but absolute thrill flooded through every vein she possessed. For too long she had been away from her most cherished of possessions, and since escaping Kotal Kahn's dungeons, another weapon in her hands never felt the same. It floundered her that Tanya had retrieved them.
However, it did not escape her notice that Rain had his hands balled into furious fists as Tanya kept her eyes on him while Mileena picked up her weapons.
There was triumphant amusement in her dark eyes and rage in Rain's as they quietly regarded each other; engaging in a silent war. Tanya drank every bit of his resentment and ire as Mileena ran her fingers lovingly over her sais.
Mileena wasn't stupid: she had known they had been fighting for her attention for quite some time. At first, their war had been silly—something that never crossed her mind. As it continued, though, it grew into yet another problem that had grown into a turbulent affair that was more bothersome than petty.
She had been torn between which one to have at her side for the longest time. The female Tarkatan had tried to suppress the stories about Tanya's nature and push it aside when the Edenian had helped rescue her. It had been a sincere gesture of her loyalty to her cause, but even so, Mileena was unsure if the Edenian woman would be loyal to her after she reclaimed the throne. Rain was the reason she had even escaped the prison. Tanya had been a great aid, but in the end, it had been him that had gotten all of them out. Rain was useful and so was Tanya, but she had always been questionable because of the ex-Kahnum's inability to snuff out her past deeds and fully trust her.
Mileena looked at Tanya this time with a completely new viewpoint. Bruises decorated her olive skin, marring it, but it didn't dull the small peaceful smile that pulled on her face. Tanya was happy to see Mileena with her sais, as much as the Empress was. Rain seemed sour that he had not thought of retrieving her weapons first, and saw it as nothing but a ploy to knock him from his advisory position. He was furious that Tanya had erased any doubt about her loyalty.
Tanya had injured herself, risked her life and tempted the risk of being captured, just to get her weapons back. It was something so small, unimportant—the blacksmith could have constructed her a new set anytime she had wished for it. The Pyromancer knew what these meant to her and respected it. She understood their deadly and sentimental value.
Mileena grinned at her. "You did this without my order." Her words rolled off her lips with provocative appreciation and Tanya simply nodded her head.
"Do not ever do it again!" Mileena snapped as she marched forward, her eyes narrowed gratingly.
Tanya gaped at her in shock, minutely fearful that she had offended her, but before she could say anything in rebuttal, Mileena cupped her face tenderly. Rain's knuckles cracked as he closed his fists even harder in bitterness.
The Pyromancer regarded her with perplexed curiosity as Mileena beamed an admiring smile and ran her nail softly down the cut on Tanya's face. "Because it would be a shame to lose you…"
Again, Tanya nodded her head in gratitude for her comment before Shao Kahn's heir released her face and beckoned her head towards her tent.
"It has been so long," Mileena moaned with a saddened tone as she glanced at her weapons. A heady grin crawled on her face as she looked at the Edenian Pyromancer.
"Will you practice with me, dearest Tanya?" she invited with jubilant excitement as she twirled her sais.
Tanya's smile only grew larger as she gave a cordial bow with each tonfa in her hand. Rain boiled where he stood much to the women's amusement.
"It would be my pleasure, Mileena Kahnum."
A/N: This is Tanya heavy and I hope that I got her and everybody else's character right, if not, I apologize. If you liked this, please feel free to leave a review and if not, thank you for reading and I hoped this one-shot was enjoyable. :)