-This chapter mainly stars Kuai Liang and the Lin Kuei characters. I will be introducing a new character in this chapter! Most of you like her, some of you don't. But nonetheless, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
The days were getting faster and faster and more relaxed. Kuai Liang was only getting used to this lifestyle of luxury and peace. But all that really mattered to him was that his brother was with him. That he had his friends with him.
Tundra had gotten along with everybody in Edenia, and had found new friends in the King and his pupil, Kenshi. Kuai Liang remembered the days of him being a pupil of the Lin Kuei. The days of being in the clan dawned on him. He had left after it's disbandment. Sektor had died at the hands of Cyrax, who defected during the tournament. Sektor's father died of old age.
The young Cryomancer had been thinking about reforming the clan, but he knew that it would take a lot of work. And he was just getting used to his relaxed life in Edenia. Kuai Liang was a hard worker, but he wasn't going to give up his life of peace anytime soon.
He then decided that he needed to talk to somebody about this. Preferably his closest friend, Smoke. Tundra thought that perhaps, he and Smoke could re-form the Lin Kuei and make it more than just a band of honourless assassins. Both Kuai Liang and Tomas were good people, so it wouldn't be difficult at all. The Cryomancer thought that they could even get Cyrax involved, and maybe Bi-Han.
His train of thought was broken when a grey ninja approached him. "Hey," he greeted.
Kuai Liang inclined his head to face Smoke. "Hello, Tomas. How have you been?"
"Good. I'm really enjoying the life here. How about you?"
"As have I. I was thinking that maybe we could reform the Lin Kuei."
Tomas' eyes widened at his allies remark. "What? You want to go back to the Lin Kuei after everything they've done?"
The Cryomancer was annoyed that his friend had not entirely understood him. "No. Listen carefully, Tomas. We rebuild the Lin Kuei and turn it into a clan of honoured warriors. We make our clan into a force of good."
The Enenra thought for a moment, looking down at the ground he stood on. This would definitely be a good idea, but neither of them seemed to be willing to give up their time of peace to rejoin the Lin Kuei.
"Well, alright," Tomas spoke. "But when do we do this? We can't just jump into it without a plan."
"Of course not. We must give the idea some more thought. We also need enough time to do it. The Lin Kuei's base is in Earthrealm, and we're in Edenia."
"Well, yes," Tomas said, "We could bring the recruits here."
"But that's the problem. The recruits are most likely cyber warriors. Since we're renegade Lin Kuei, it won't be the simplest ordeal to have them obey us."
"Perhaps this was a bad idea," Tomas said, frowning.
"That, and it's probably not the right time," Kuai Liang said.
The two men concluded their conversation and headed to the breakfast table, after being informed by the Princess. They had never seen so much food before. It was presented immaculately. There was scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausages, and coffee.
All of the Earthrealm warriors sat down around the table and dug into the delectable food before them. For Cyrax, Smoke, Sub-Zero and Tundra, this was the first time they would be having such luxurious food, let alone be in a luxurious environment such as Edenia. Luxury was an enemy of the Lin Kuei, so it was not an everyday thing that they got to enjoy meals like this.
After wolfing down his breakfast, Kuai Liang showered and got dressed into casual clothing. He decided that he would secretly venture into Earthrealm to investigate the state of the Lin Kuei. He had previously lied to Tomas before about not wanting to reform the Lin Kuei.
His allies, who were under the false pretense that he was going to Earthrealm to visit someone, Kuai Liang arrived in Earthrealm through means of teleportation. He had used a magical pendant to do so, which was given to him by Raiden. The pendant also provided it's wearer with other magical abilities, such as time travel. But Tundra didn't have much use for that.
The Cryomancer ventured through the coast of China, heading into Arctika. He was unaffected by the cold due to his powers. Such gifts allowed him to survive in climates below zero.
As he came across the gates to Arctika, he noticed that there was a large yeti nearby. The creature looked very dangerous, but Kuai Liang was no stranger to fighting off and killing bears, jaguars, and other wild animals. This would be easy, he thought.
The yeti noticed him, and Kuai Liang immediately lashed out at the creature, freezing him solid with a concentrated blast of ice. He drew his kori blade and decapitated the beast, and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to it's frozen torso, shattering it's remains into small blocks of blood-stained ice.
Continuing on his journey, Kuai Liang soon found the Lin Kuei temple. It was not much different from before, except it was now overrun with insane cyber ninjas, who ran around the temple liked headless chickens. They were malfunctioning because they had no orders. No Grandmaster to serve. Nothing to do. No people to kill.
Tundra managed to get past them with his pendant and teleported to the chamber of the Grandmaster. The man lay dead on the ground, a machete impaled in his chest. His eyes were glassy and spooky looking, and he was surrounded by a pool of his own blood. The stench of a dead body lingered in the area. It disgusted Kuai Liang.
But above all, he noticed that there was a large, circular pendant shaped object in the Grandmaster's clothing. It was shiny and had a dragon symbol on it. Tundra realised it was nothing other than the Dragon Medallion.
Thousands of thoughts raced through his mind about what he should do. One part of him wanted to take it, while another part wanted him to leave the Medallion where it was and leave. Another wanted him to wear the Medallion, reform the Lin Kuei, and rebuild the Temple in Edenia.
He decided to go along with his instincts and don the Dragon Medallion. As he did so, power surged through him, and Tundra felt incredible. He felt sick, even, as he was not used to this kind of power. But Kuai Liang could definitely get used to it.
His first order would be to rebuild the Temple in Edenia. From there, he could rebuild the clan by restoring the souls of the cyber ninjas, and recruit Smoke, Bi-Han, and Cyrax.
His train of thought was interrupted as the cyber ninjas burst into the room and crowed around Tundra. They must have known he was the Grandmaster somehow, most likely through their mechanisms.
"What are your commands, Grandmaster Tundra?" One of the ninjas asked.
I must remove their slaving protocols first, he thought, but wasn't going to say that. "First, I need time to rebuild this place in Edenia. Then, we can work from there."
Kuai Liang then decided to walk around the Temple to see what had happened to it since his time of refuge here. As he walked past one of the chambers, Tundra saw an unfamiliar name written on the doorpost of one of the chamber doors.
Sareena.
Who is that? The Lin Kuei think of women to be less equal to men. Why is a woman taking refuge here?
Quietly entering the chamber, Tundra saw a woman laying down on a bed. She had black markings on her face, black lipstick, white streaks in her hair, and a very skimpy outfit.
The woman wore black forearm guards with ribbon lacing, a black, bra-like top with red accents, and a red loincloth that was similar to Skarlet's. Around the loincloth, there was a black belt-like waistline that the woman stored her knives in.
She looks very sexy, Tundra thought, as his eyes raked over her beautiful figure.
The woman soon came to her senses, her eyes snapping open, to see Sub-Zero standing at the door, watching her.
She remembered saving Sub-Zero from Quan Chi in the Netherrealm, years ago. Their partnership lead them to meet up once again in the Lin Kuei temple, where Sareena was offered refuge.
"Sub-Zero?"
"I am not the Sub-Zero. He is my brother."
"Brother…? You're Kuai Liang, then? The New Grandmaster?"
Tundra was shocked that this woman, who he knew nothing about, somehow knew his name and his status. "Yes…how do you know this?"
"Bi-Han told me about you. He and I go way back. I saved his life from Quan Chi whilst he ventured on his quest to retrieve the Map of Elements from the sorcerer. And as for you being Grandmaster, I saw the little commotion that took place before. Those cyber ninjas seem eager to serve you," the sultry demon grinned.
"They do, indeed. It seems that slaving protocols corrupt them to serve only the Grandmaster. I need to restore them so that they will be less dependant on my commands."
The demon nodded and stood up. "Very well. I will assist you, Kuai Liang. What are your plans for the Lin Kuei?"
"I wish to reform it. To make it gender equal. To relocate in Edenia, where my brother and I reside. To enlist his help alongside the former recruits Smoke, Sub-Zero and Cyrax. I would kindly welcome your aid, too."
The demon carefully thought for a moment, and then nodded. "I'll join you, Tundra. As long as there's no funny stuff with me being the only female in the clan."
He couldn't help but chuckle. "I promise there won't be."
They then went off to reprogram the cyberninjas, removing their slaving protocols. Within 30 minutes, they had already recruited dozens of Lin Kuei.
Their next mission would be to relocate to Edenia.
-Tundra/Sareena? Maybe, maybe not! :D
-The next chapter will be focusing on the Lin Kuei's reformation, and the tournament involving Frost's recruitment.
-After that, it will flow into Deadly Alliance and Deception.
-This chapter was somewhat difficult to write, because I kept mixing up Sub-Zero and Tundra.
-Sareena is probably one of my most favourite female characters in MK.
-How will Smoke react to his friend becoming Grandmaster? What will Bi-Han and Cyrax do? Will they become jealous? Will they support him?
-Will the Grandmaster's reformation of the Lin Kuei be simple?
-What perils will come his way?
-I don't know, read and find out!