Kotal Kahn paced around his courtyard, attempting to come to terms with what had just happened.
Erron Black, one of his most trusted guardians, had just tried to kill him for a large sum of money. It was not Mileena that had hired him however, which actually made the situation better. He should've expected it as well; the only thing that kept the mercenary from turning on him in the first place was the amount of money he was promised each week.
"Something bothers my emperor?" D'Vorah asked, approaching from the large statue still under construction.
The Kahn nodded with a grim expression. "Black's decision must be punished, however I cannot end his life."
The Kytinn grew confused at the statement. "And why is that? He tried to take your life and failed, so it seems only fair that you should do the same."
"True, but if I kill him, what is to prevent Ferra, Torr, Reptile and Ermac from turning on me as well for fear that I might end their lives as well?"
She couldn't come back with a response as his logic was quite sound. If one of the emperor's protectors was executed by the Kahn himself, the other's trust in him would shatter like glass.
"What then does my emperor plan to do?"
Kotal Kahn then slowly turned his gaze from the dirt covered ground up to his advisor. "He will leave."
"What is to stop him from coming back?" The Kytinn countered.
"I will banish him to another realm. On which is unknown even to the Elder Gods."
Erron Black was awaiting his punishment, watching from the execution platform while D'Vorah and his former employer talked.
"Stay still, bang bang!" Ferra ordered while her monstrous companion kept the un-aging man held down with a single hand on his shoulder.
Black scoffed and looked to his right where Ermac hovered above the ground with crossed arms. "Don't suppose you'd be willing to cut me free, would you?"
The legion of souls encased in a single body shook its head. "We would not."
The mercenary let loose a deep chuckle and smiled underneath his mask. "Once the Kahn kills me, which one of you do you think is next?"
Upon hearing the statement, Reptile crouched in front of the master gunslinger to meet his gaze. "The rest of us are too valuable to be executed."
Black couldn't contain his laughter at the claim. "So the rest of you think that you're the best bodyguards the Khan could possibly ask for?" He asked rhetorically. "I can promise you that once someone else who comes by who's stronger, smarter, faster and willing to take his orders, he won't even hesitate to kill any one of you, no matter how long you've served him for."
"Shut up!" Ferra shouted, causing Torr to nearly break Black's shoulder when he tightened his grip.
"Ferra, Torr, enough!" The Kotal Kahn shouted as he made his way towards the platform. The massive beast loosened his grasp on the man's shoulder, but kept it placed close to his throat.
Black then looked up at his now-former employer and smirked underneath his mask. "So you gonna' kill me where the rest of them can see us or do you want to go somewhere discreet?" He asked, fully prepared to meet his death.
The Khan scoffed back and shook his head. "I will not kill you. Instead, you are hereby banished to a realm from which it will be impossible to return from."
"I'll come back. And I'll finish the job." He deadpanned.
"No." The Kahn stated. "You won't." He then began chanting in a language unknown to the mercenary and weaved his hands together for a moment before pushing both palms towards him when a flood of fire closed over Black's entire body, causing him searing pain.
The others backed up in shock and stared at the odd sight in front of them, the emperor's hands spewing fire at the traitor, his body slowly starting to fade away rather than burn and turn to ash as one might expect. After a few seconds and a shout of pain from the gunslinger, his figure had completely disappeared from sight and Kotal Kahn was breathing heavily, hands on his knees as he tried to regain his balance and breath.
Reptile and Ermac helped their emperor to his feet while D'Vorah's eyes widened at the spot where the traitor had been crouching just a moment ago. In it's place was no ash, no corpse, no evidence that Black had been killed.
"Where did my emperor send the traitor?" She asked him.
He grunted and waved off the two who tried to help him. "Away. Far, far away."
Black had no idea what happened. He had been hired to kill Kotal Kahn by an unknown party who paid a hundred million dollars in advance, which only failed due to the fact that Torr had stepped in the way of his shot at the last possible micro second, was about to be executed, but then the Kahn said something about being banished and now he was crouching in the middle of an empty warehouse, possibly in Earthrealm.
"Hey boss!" He heard a voice shout. Black looked to the entrance of the large building to see a guy holding a rifle dressed in a long white coat with black body armor, combat boots, gloves and a grey mask looking at the master gunslinger. "We got somebody in here!" The guy yelled as he then aimed his rifle at Black.
The mercenary's instincts kicked in as he then drew his signature dual golden revolvers and fired three rounds from each one in quick succession, each bullet successfully hitting its mark. Oddly enough though, the man did not die, but just fell over unconscious. Black then checked his weapons to see that they were loaded with actual bullets and not rubber fakes, but they were as lethal as could be.
Something else then dawned on Black as he remembered that when he had been restrained by Ferra and Torr, the symbiotic duo had taken his revolvers, his rifle and the salvaged tarkatan blade, but all three were present; the revolvers in their holsters and his other two weapons slung across his back.
"Why is good help so hard to find?!" A voice yelled angrily. Black then looked up to see a man with long orange hair and dark green eyes wearing a white trench coat, black pants and black shoes with a bowler hat to match and carrying a cane enter his field of view as he stood over the other unconscious man. His posture suggested that he was much more relaxed than the other man as his tone matched.
"Well, looks like we have a cowboy in our midst." The man in the fancy hat stated with a smirk. "So tell me huntsman, which kingdom are you from?"
Kingdom? Huntsman? Is that his way of saying mercenary? Black thought. "I'm a merc." He replied just loud enough for the other man to hear him.
The mystery man's eyebrows shot up and he smirked widely at the statement. "Oh. Well how would you like a nice fat paycheck?"
Although intrigued, Black did not lower his guard for a second as he quickly holstered his revolvers and drew his rifle in the blink of an eye. "I'm listening."
The other man was about to say something when six people wearing the same outfit as the unconscious man sprinted to the other man's side and aimed their rifles at Black.
"It's all right boys, he's with us." The man declared to the others, making them slowly lower their weapons.
"Not until you tell me how much I'm getting paid!" Black growled back, keeping his rifle aimed at the other man's head.
"First let's get introductions out of the way. Roman Torchwick, master thief and criminal mastermind." He said with a bow. "And you are?"
"Erron Black. Now payment?"
The other man continued to smirk as he shrugged. "First I have to know for sure if you're on board, how skilled you are and if you're prepared to kill on my order.
"And I have to know just how god damn much you're paying me, where the hell I am, and what organization you work for because I assume those aren't some outfits you boys chose when you got up this morning."
Roman sighed and leaned on his cane. "Okay, I can promise you a lot of money, you're in a warehouse in Vale and we work with the White Fang, not for them."
"And just where in Outworld is 'Vale'? Just south of the capital or what?"
"Buddy, Vale is the capital. Of the kingdom of Vale at least."
"What in god's name are you talking about?" Black replied, more on edge now than ever as his finger hovered over the trigger to his rifle.
He scoffed back. "Do you have amnesia or are you just stupid? You're on this planet called Remnant and in the Kingdom of Vale, how much more do I need to explain? Do you need me to teach you how to walk as well?" Roman added sarcastically, making a few of the White Fang grunts chuckle.
Anger got the best of Black as he fired six rounds from his lever-action rifle, each one going to the head of a different White Fang member's head, knocking them unconscious just like the first. "Make another joke like that and you're next." Black threatened.
Roman was actually shocked at how fast the other man moved. He had just dispatched half a dozen of his guards at a speed that rivalled Red's. He held his hands up defensively and tried to calm the marksman. "Okay, just calm down and tell me what you want to know."
Black then moved forward, holstered the rifle over his shoulder and drew the salvaged blade he used as a sword, pressing it to Roman's throat as he demanded further answers. After a long interrogation, which was at no fault of Roman's but rather the description of exactly just how Black had gotten into his current position, the deadly sharpshooter exhaled deeply out of disbelief and sat against the wall of the warehouse outside.
Remnant. Why the hell does that place so damn familiar? "So I'm on a completely different planet than Outworld or any of the other realms?"
Roman shrugged. "I guess so. But like I said, I just happen to have a job opening and we can provide you with lots of killing and lots of cash."
Black looked up at the other man, sheathed his makeshift blade and nodded. "Well then Mr. Torchwick, it looks like we've got a deal."
Roman offered Black a hand as he stood. "Great, I'm sure the other guys will be more than happy to meet you." He said with a smile until a thought entered his mind. "Just watch out for two smart-ass kids who think they run the place."