Disclaimer: I do NOT own Mortal Kombat or anything related to it.


"...a friend is someone to whom you can tell all your secrets, someone whom you can trust without reservation, a person who is not overawed when you are at your best, and is not turned away when you are at your worst."
— Steven J. Carroll (City of Words)

Chapter 47:Kotal Kahn


And so another day began.

This was what Kotal Kahn told himself as he walked along the battlements, hands clasped behind his back and a frown marring his features as the sun rose. Sleep was not something he got much of in the last few days spent preparing for the tournament and, for all that he initially refused to believe Liu Kang's warning, war with Raiden. On his side were Special Forces, the ex-revenants, the Shirai Ryu, the Shokan, Saurians, Tarkatans, and the Edenians. On Raiden's side were Hotaru's armies, the Red and Black Dragon Clans, the Moroi vampires, Tanya...and D'Vorah.

Kotal sighed at the thought of D'Vorah. The sting of her betrayal had yet to lessen. For years, she'd served him, earning his trust, respect, and friendship, only to betray him to Shinnok. Was she ever truly loyal to him? Did he do something to cause her to switch sides? Or had it all been act? He trusted her more than anyone else and look where it got him. He should have known better than to put his faith in her.

Looking back now, he should have given the position of First Minister to Reptile. No one equaled the Zaterran in loyalty if Reptile's lack of hesitation when he jumped in front of Kotal to protect him from Mileena's attempt on the Osh-Tekk's life was any hint. But then again, how could he have predicted D'Vorah's betrayal? She fooled everyone into thinking she was his loyal servant. Not even Tanya or Rain matched her acting skills. She played friend and foe alike like violins. Sad and irate as he was by this, he was also impressed.

It was then that he noticed Ferra running toward him at full speed as if a monster were chasing her."Big Bossy!" She shrieked, jumping into his arms as he let out a surprised grunt. She climbed up and seated herself on his shoulders like a normal child would be carried by his/her father.

"What is it, Ferra?" He asked, genuinely concerned. Was someone trying to hurt her? If so, he would not hesitate to rip the bastard in two. Ferra pointed several feet ahead of them. Kotal raised an eyebrow, but soon realized whom she was pointing at: Reptile. To describe the Zaterran as irate didn't begin to cover it. The moment Reptile saw the child in Kotal's protective grasp, he tried to stop, but he'd been running so quickly that the abrupt stop caused him to slide on his heels straight toward the emperor until he came to a stop directly in front of him. His ire was quickly replaced by sheepishness.

Kotal crossed his arms in an attempt to appear annoyed, but could not prevent a smile from touching his lips. Some things never changed.

"Lizard Man try to spit on me!" Ferra yelled.

"I despise you, child!" Reptile hissed. Since returning from Earthrealm with a group of Saurians hours ago, he hadn't spoke to nor made eye contact with the emperor. One would think he would be happy to discover he was no longer the last of his kind. Elder Gods knew what Kotal would give not to be the lasting surviving Osh-Tekk...

"Enough!" Sometimes Kotal felt like a father lecturing misbehaving children. Well, Ferra was a child so she had an excuse to act immaturely. His other allies did not have that benefit. His father was no doubt laughing his head off from the afterlife at the sight of his son disciplining his enforcers."What have you done to anger Syzoth this time, Ferra?"

She shook her head."Me do nothing."

"Ferra." He said sternly.

She groaned."You remember when Bang Bang put sleepy potion in mine and Torr's food?"

Kotal winced."Unfortunately. You were both unconscious for half a day. Erron was forced to clean the toilets as punishment."

"Well, me try to get back at Bang Bang by putting pepper in his water, but accidentally put pepper in Lizard Man's water and now he want spit on me!"

"Of course he does." Kotal sighed, rubbing his temples. Was this the Elder Gods' way of punishing him for his sins? If so, he had to commend them for their genius."Ferra, now is not a good time to pull pranks on anyone and Syzoth, Ferra made an honest mistake and is sorry for her folly. Is that correct, Ferra?" She nodded, grumbling an apology to Reptile, who glowered at her for a moment before accepting her apology with a sigh.

Grasping Ferra by the arms, Kotal took the child off his shoulders and gently lowered her to the floor. She took off in a sprint, leaving the emperor and Zaterran alone.

Kotal looked at Reptile."I thought you would be used to Ferra's antics by now. It is not the first time you have been an accidental victim of a prank intended for Erron nor have you ever been so irate about it. Care to explain?"

Reptile sighed."The pepper was not put in my water. It was put in Khameleon's. Ferra misunderstood that when I began to chase her."

"When you say Khameleon, are you referring to the Matriarch or her brother?"

"The Matriarch. Her brother was not present to witness it. Black is no doubt laughing like a madman." All Kotal heard was the anger in Reptile's voice when he spoke of how Khameleon was the victim of a prank gone wrong. He'd seen his friend get angry when something like this happened to either of them, but the way he was acting now left only one conclusion to make...

"Syzoth." No matter how hard he tried, Kotal could not prevent a grin from crossing his lips."Are you...attracted to Khameleon?"

"What?!" Reptile's eyes went wide."Why are you asking me this?" He sounded like a teenager having 'the talk' with his father.

Kotal's grin widened."Do not think I have not noticed the way you two look at one another. You are at least somewhat discreet. She, on the other hand, has been ogling you ever since her arrival. Her brother has been glaring at you for that exact reason."

Reptile rubbed the back of his neck."I..." He trailed off as Kotal guffawed."Very funny, old friend."

"I...I am...I am sorry..." Kotal said, sobering up."It is just that I...I have never seen you interact this way with a woman."

"Can you blame me?"

"No. I suppose not." Kotal placed a hand on his comrade's shoulder."You never did tell how you found your people."

"Stumbled upon them is more like it." Reptile muttered."I saw a group of Raptors emerging from within a collapsed cavern that'd been exposed during Shinnok's invasion. They brought me to their leader and we questioned each other on how we survived the conquering of Zaterra. As it turns out, their ancestors did not abandon Earthrealm for Zaterra, thus sparing them from being conquered by Shao Kahn. They did not take kindly to me revealing I was still, in their words, the emperor's lackey."

Kotal frowned, squeezing Reptile's shoulder."You may have been a lackey to Shao Kahn and Mileena, but not to me."

"I know that, Kotal. That is what I told them. Well, not in those exact words, but I defended you against my own people. Had someone predicted I would do that when we first met, I would have spat in their face. Khameleon asked me if I was so loyal to you that I would abandon my own people and I said yes. Everyone except for her called me a traitor. She dismissed the others and requested that I tell her more about you. I did not expect her to be touched and impressed enough to join forces with us."

"I would think you would be happy to have your people back."

"Tell me something, Kotal. If your people were to suddenly reveal themselves to be alive for all these years and invited you to join them in exchange for abandoning me and your other allies, would you do it?"

"I..." Kotal was torn. He would never fully recover from the loss of his father and people, and just thinking about the question Reptile posed brought back those painful memories. Yet he found an answer rather quickly."The people I knew are dead. As are yours. You may not be the last surviving Raptor, but you are still the lone Zaterran. Yes, your race is alive, but the people you grew up with and lost during Shao Kahn's invasion are dead. If there were any surviving Osh-Tekk in the world, they would be my race, but not the people I grew up with and lost. To answer your question, Syzoth, I would make the same choice as you. Being a part of the same species does not make you friends or family. You, Ermac, Erron, and Ferra/Torr have all stood beside me for years and that makes you my true family. I would go through the pain of losing my kind a second time if it meant saving all of you."

Reptile gaped at him, lost for words. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, a scream pierced their ears. Rushing to the battlements, they saw smoke coming from afar and immediately realized what was happening: Li Mei's village was burning.

They swiftly arrived at the scene of the fire. Li Mei was screaming at the top of her lungs in horror and fear. Rain summoned storm clouds and water quickly came pouring down from the sky to extinguish the flames, but it was too late: the village had been completely burned to the ground and there were no survivors.

There was no question as to who did this. Hotaru was fleeing through a portal when they arrived, but Kotal knew he had done this on the orders of Raiden. Li Mei saw the Seidan general and gave a bloodcurdling scream of fury, pain, and grief as she launched a purple ball of energy at him that he avoided by hurrying into the portal, which closed as soon as he entered it.

Li Mei fell to her knees and slammed her fist repeatedly against the ground."No, no, no, no! Please Elder Gods no! Not my people! Take me, not them!" She curled into a ball and sobbed as Bo' Rai Cho and Erron tried in vain to console her. Erron eventually managed to pull her into his arms. She beat her fists against his chest, screaming like a banshee. Bo' Rai Cho whispered soothing words into her ear, but she shouted at him to shut up and continued to struggle in Erron's grip. Never had anyone seen her so broken. Kotal knew her people were everything to her. They were her family, her friends, her heart, her reason to live...and now they were dead. Innocents burned alive in their sleep for what purpose? What did Raiden hope to achieve by ordering Hotaru to do this?

"I failed them." Li Mei whimpered, shaking her head."I failed them, I failed them, I failed them..."

Kotal knelt down beside Li Mei and placed a hand on her shoulder despite her attempts to shrug him off. If only she knew how he understood her pain...


So, I think it's become clear now whom Raiden and Hotaru was referring to by 'her' when the former ordered the latter to 'eliminate her people' in the previous chapter. I deliberately made it ambiguous in order to keep everyone guessing. But now you know who they were talking about. Anyway, please remember to review, leave constructive criticism, but no flames!

Guest - Please don't kill me! I swear to God I adore Li Mei but this was necessary for the story and contributes a lot to her character development. I mean it. Now please excuse me while I run to avoid all the Li Mei fans getting ready to throw rocks at me...

Determined Savior - I agree with you there. For all his hypocrisy, he does care about order but yeah seriously Shujinko had no way of knowing about curfew. Hotaru could have simply let him off with a warning instead of locking him up to await trial for Elder Gods know how many years. As for Dairou...smiles evilly.

Jarjaxle - I meant to reply to your review of Chapter 44:Jade/Delia II, but didn't get the chance until now. All I have to say is that if you think Sonya in Mama Bear Mode is scary, keep in mind that Delia is a sorceress with the ability to control fire so she's about a thousands times more dangerous and terrifying when in full Mama Bear Mode. She could castrate Raiden...or just burn off his, ahem, you know. But of course, I make no promises because you should know how I love torturing you all with my cliffhangers and plot twists by now. ;)

Next up: Chapter 48:Skarlet