At Your Service

Kara woke up, sore and pissed off. She remembered vividly what transpired the night before.

Smoke pummeling her, she assumed that Raiden pummeled him in return, and may have even killed him. Her, flying down the stairs...everything had started merging into one another, and it made her upset.

Her eyes stung from the sunlight, beaming through the gaps in the blinds. She went to get up, but shooting pains in her ribcage stopped her. She grunted and tried again to shift her weight. She needed the toilet, badly, but her body just didn't want to move.

Oh Gods, I am going to have to degrade myself. Why oh why did I have to be clumsy and foolish?

"Lord Raiden? I need some help".

Raiden heard her and knocked before entering. Kara suppressed a laugh, for the sake of her ribs.

"You don't need to knock. It's your home".

Raiden shook his head.

"It may well be, but common courtesy is to not simply barge in on someone, especially a guest".

Kara felt a smile wish to place itself upon her lips, but she foiled it.

"Well then, that's nice. Look, I won't beat around the bush here. I need to use the bathroom, but I can't get up. I think I'll be fine once I am up, it's just the getting up part that I am unable to do. Can you take my hands, help me up, please?"

The God nodded and walked closer to her. He then took her hands and helped her up.

Kara could have sworn she pulled some pained faces when Raiden helped her up, but she really did not care.

"Thanks. Where is the bathroom?"

Raiden gestured behind him.

"Directly opposite this room. Be careful, I promised your Mother that I would not let you get up unless it was absolutely necessary".

Kara scoffed.

"Mother is being overly careful. I will be fine, just a little bruised is all".

Raiden sighed at her resolution.

"No, she is being wise. It may not seem like that now, but it is a wise move to be wary, especially after the events that have happened recently".

Kara took that in, but decided not to answer. She ambled past him and into the bathroom.


What she saw when she lifted up her black tank top was horrifying.

The entirety of her abdomen and stomach was covered in a dark purple, raised bruise, and some cuts littered her skin.

Her face was swollen and red, she looked like she has been stung by a whole hive of bees.

And Gods, did she feel grotesque. She looked like an extra from a horror movie, the victim of some merciless killer, who likely resided in someone's basement, or attic.

Raiden saw this, and didn't run away, screaming? I know he is well mannered, but still...I look disgusting, and all because of my recklessness, and...Smoke.

Kara cursed, her pained whisper was a whisper for a reason. She was crying again.

She heard footfalls outside the bathroom door, and she opened it to face the thunder God.

"Raiden, did you kill Smoke?"

He nodded, and his expression became mournful.

Kara took one look at him, and then started punching his chest, beating it with barely any force, but just enough to get her point across.

"Why? I know he did wrong but, surely killing him is doing wrong too?"

Raiden refused to look at her. He took no pleasure in killing, and no pleasure would be taken from seeing someone break in front of him, and all because of his actions.

"Kara, I am sorry, but you must understand. This isn't the first time he has done this, is it?"

Kara stopped hitting him and sulked.

"No. He has done this twice. I knew he was spirited, dedicated, and passionate, but. Well, I guess I never got it into my thick skull that maybe, just maybe, he would try to cave my head in, smash my ribs, effectively killing me in the process. I, I shouldn't have hit you. Gods, if my parents could see me now, they'd be wondering why I was so clueless".

Raiden's facial expression changed. He now looked relaxed, more comfortable with the conversation.

"Kara, you were not the only one around who should have noticed the signs. You certainly are not dumb, or thick. When you care for someone, you can end up glossing over the truth, you hide it from others, keep up a facade. I believe that is why no one saw this coming, not just you".

Kara knew he was right.

"You're okay, I don't think you get told that enough. I want to get back to bed though, maybe try and eat something later. Is Mother coming back?"

The God nodded.

"Good, I should be out of here soon. I will wait until the bruises have stopped hurting, and I can think straight. It's odd though. I should be sobbing, or at least mourning, but I just can't. All that I can think of when I think of Smoke is how he hurt me. I can no longer see any of the good times we had. I don't have anything happy left, no fond memories, nothing".

Raiden wished he knew what to say, but he really didn't. He knew that when all of the emotions and mental strain hit Kara, it would render her a mess, a torn, fragile thing with no hope.

He simply patted her on the shoulder and moved past her, to walk down the stairs.

Kara went back into her room, and despite sleeping for a good eight or so hours, she fell asleep almost instantly.


Raiden ended up falling asleep on the couch due to his sleep being disturbed the night before. Kara had her own worries, so he did not wish to worry her further with his problems. He did not need insomnia to add to the list of his worries. The list was far too long already...

A gentle rapping on his front door did not wake him, but a second, much louder knock did. He stood up, and had to steady himself, as his sleep had been deep, and so had made him feel a little out of it now.

He opened the door to find Tiama, with a few bags in her hands, and Jin who knew that Raiden was still half asleep. Tiama walked into the house and gave the bags to Jin, who walked up the stairs.

"Lord Raiden, sleep if you need too. I will make you some food later, and take care of the chores. It's the least I can do. We will attend to Kara as well, we do not want her to impact too much on your life".

Raiden was too tired to even reply. He just went upstairs, just about made it into his room and passed out.


Raiden and Kara awoke sometime in the early afternoon, and both felt much better. Jin helped her up and downstairs, to the lovely smell of chicken.

She sat next to the God, who nodded to her. They were all given huge bowls of chicken noodle soup, and some bread.

"I never thought you would be this hospitable".

Tiama shot a look at Kara, but she continued.

"Not that I thought you would be horrible or anything. I have never seen you in company with anyone other than kombatants, so I wasn't sure how you would be with a lodger".

Raiden chuckled, and Tiama calmed down.

"Thought I would be some old curmudgeon?"

Kara giggled.

"Of course not. Okay, you are old compared to me, or anyone else in the room but, that doesn't mean that I think you are grouchy".

Tiama again glared at her daughter, and then her husband when he snickered, and snorted into his mug of tea.

She needn't have worried though, Raiden wasn't offended in the slightest. In fact, he agreed with her. He could grouchy, but no one ever saw that. All they saw was the staunch resolve of a God who had been around for so long, that he had seen generations of fighters, and mentored many of them. But never simply one. Even with Liu Kang, he also helped Kung Lao, Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage. Having one fighter whom he wasn't even sure if she even needed his help was an odd prospect.

Still, he would do all he could to keep Kara and Earthrealm safe. But he was only one man, and if he were called away, Kara could end up being killed. The forces behind the Lin Quei troubles were indomitable, and although Tiama was a tough woman, mentally and her powers were a force to be reckoned with, and Jakal was physically strong, but neither could shield their daughter for long.

Raiden felt like cursing. His mind was making the situation much worse than it was now, and that was not right, nor fair for the Amakura family.

He jolted out of his reverie when Kara took his bowl of noodles. It was half full, and now stone cold, and he apologised.

"Tiama, I'm sorry. I have much on my mind, I am trying to process even more chaos, when I believed that maybe, just maybe things could not get any worse".

Tiama shook her head.

"You have much on your back, Lord Raiden. You may need to share that load. You believe in us, we are strong, and united, we can stop this heinous force. I know what happened to Sub-Zero, Sektor and Cyrax. They were turned into robot units, 'upgraded' to stop them if they wanted to disobey their masters".

Kara put down the bowl, and sat down. She couldn't stop shaking her head.

"But they were brazen enough to do that to our grand master!"

Tiama sighed.

"Think about it. You all listened to Sub-Zero, obeyed his orders, now if he too were a robot unit, then theoretically, you would all listen to him again, right?"

Jin nodded.

"And that is another reason why I love you, Tiama, you think about everything. Mull over all the information, before coming to a conclusion. Unlike me, who would just get angry. Why do I get angry again?"

Tiama laughed.

"You get angry because you are passionate about things, and this is your clan I am talking about, so you have every right to be angry. Kara, are you finished with you meal?"

Kara put all of the bowls in the sink.

"Ugh, Mother, you overfeed me. I'll have to train even harder just to shift this belly".

Raiden and Tiama both interjected.

"I think not Kara, not with those injuries".

"Tiama is right. If you do train, it will be with your mind. I will devise a series to tests to see how powerful your abilities really are".

Kara smirked.

"Oh really? Test me then".

Raiden chuckled and sent a small bolt of lightning towards her. Kara made it vanish and then proceeded to lift him up, with her index finger. Tiama gasped out loud and sat the God back down. Jin was laughing and clutching his stomach.

"That's my girl. Tiama, Kara was just playing. She wouldn't hurt Raiden, you should know that. Besides, when you were her age, I bet you were playful with your telekinesis. If I had that, I know what I'd do".

Jin gave his wife a wolfish grin and she went bright red.

"Gods, you can be insufferable sometimes. Come on, the plates are washed, so I think we should take our leave. Kara? The bruising will go down in a week or so, then I shall come and bring you back home. Thanks again, Lord Raiden".

Raiden stood and walked behind the couple to the entrance door.

"Please, it's Raiden. You do not need to call me lord. I know you respect me, and I must apologise for taking away your Goddess status".

Tiama smiled, but it was a forced one.

"I broke the kommandments, so I was demoted. That is only fair. I do not blame or hate you for it. Kara, take care, and look after Raiden as well as yourself. Just send up an energy ball when you are ready to leave, and I shall return. Goodbye Kara".

Kara tentatively hugged her Mother and Father.

"Bye sweetheart".

Her parents left and Raiden shut the door.


Kara say down on the couch and pushed out her now very large stomach. She ate too much food. Then again, she hadn't eaten anything for over a day, so she supposed that it was acceptable to eat so much.

Raiden sat near her, on his armchair.

"Was that really a test earlier? Come on, I know you can try much harder than that. I may have bruises, and be licking my wounds, but I am no shrinking violet. Try again, I don't even count that little bolt as passable for a test".

Raiden sighed, and looked at her.

He saw a fire light up in her eyes. She meant what she had just said.

But could he really hit her?

Only one way to find out.

Kara, please block this, or I will have more to worry about than just your bruises.

Raiden's eyes glittered like sapphires, and a huge bolt of lightning shot from his hands and towards Kara. She created a shield around herself, but a millisecond too late. A fraction of the bolt hit her, and made her hair stick out, in every direction you could think of.

Kara let down the shield, felt her hair and burst out laughing. Raiden began laughing too, like he hadn't for a long time.

Her laugh died down and she smiled, a genuine, happy smile. The first since she had come here, two days ago.

"Er, I take it you practice your powers for fun? As I see no board games, or TV, so, oh!"

A cat walked into the room, and started rubbing it's sides on Kara's legs.

"Ah, so you do have something to entertain you. What's it's name?"

"Her name is Farren, it means thunder in Gaelic. And she is rather lazy. I am surprised she even got up to greet you".

Kara giggled.

"She sounds like a friend I used to have. All she did was laze around, if she even got out of bed, it would be a miracle. Then it turned out that she was ill, and she couldn't really get up. I judged her for being a slacker, but I never even knew until a few days before she died that she couldn't help it. I guess what I am trying to say is that...I barely know you, I barely knew her really, but I judged, and I shouldn't have. So I won't judge you, or make assumptions. If I ever act out of turn, just say stop it. Hello there, Farren. Aw, she kinds looks like you, if that makes any sense".

Raiden chuckled. Farren did look like him a little. She had bright blue eyes, and what looked like a mane of white fur around her head.

"I like her. I used to have a cat, well it wasn't mine, but it came by and visited us a few times a week. Just to get fed again probably, the greedy thing. Haha. Anyway, I am going to go upstairs, and I don't know, sketch the garden? Or maybe I will write something. Okay, night Farren. Goodnight Raiden".

Kara got up and walked up the stairs.


Raiden couldn't help but feel that Kara was a little uncomfortable in his presence.

Well I am much older than her, and so we have nothing in common, so that's likely the cause.

He stood up and decided to take a walk around the garden.


Kara was bored, and looked out of the window.

The garden was very pretty in her opinion, and so she decided to take a walk through it.

Who knows, maybe I will find some clarity out there.

Or, hopefully, the winds will carry away my sorrow. I don't want to feel it anymore.


*Nice Raiden for the win? I hope I am not clutching at straws here*