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


"The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud."
— Coco Chanel

Chapter 48:Skarlet


Talking and thinking.

Neither were things Skarlet did much of in the past. Shao Kahn didn't think she had anything to say and who was she to question him? Mileena and Ermac hadn't questioned him, so why should she? Only after his death did she begin to speak and think. She thought about how unfair it was for Mileena to inherit the throne. She claimed to be Shao Kahn's daughter, but using that logic, Skarlet and Ermac could be considered his children too. The same went for Kitana, who'd been his daughter in everything but blood. There was no mistaking the emperor's love for his stepdaughter, yet it did nothing to stop him from ordering her execution or the creation of a clone to replace her. With Kitana out of the way, Skarlet hoped to finally get the attention of her 'father', only to be met with disappointment as he declared Mileena to be his true daughter. That bothered the redhead more than she was willing to admit.

The concept of loyalty was difficult for her to grasp. Looking back, her loyalty to Shao Kahn resembled brainwashing. She was brought up to not feel free will, independence, or individuality. Her mind understood nothing other than servitude and dependance on her master, who hardly spared her a glance unless he needed her to kill someone and even that was rare as Kitana, his greatest assassin, did most of the killing for him. Skarlet was released only in times of desperation. He treated her like a slave and now she realized that was what she, Kitana, Jade, Ruby, Ermac, Reptile, Reiko, Kotal, Goro, and Mileena all were to him. With the exception of Mileena, all of his servants moved on without him there to hold them back.

When Shao Kahn died, she was overcome with a burning desire to kill Quan Chi for the part he played in his death, but another emotion overtook her: jealousy. Why did Mileena get to be empress while she was just another servant to the Kahn? Mileena hadn't even known him as long as Skarlet did, hadn't served him for as many years as Skarlet did, hadn't killed for him as much as Skarlet did. So why was she declared his heir? Slowly but surely, her loyalty to Shao Kahn faded. She was desperate for the power and respect she'd been denied by him and lost to her 'sister'. It was that desperation that led to her being recruited by Reiko.

In hindsight, she should have listened to Mileena's warning. For all that she despised the clone, it was clear her warning of Reiko's impending betrayal was not a jealous lie. Reiko played both of them like violins. It was not until she, legless after her fight with Ermac and Mileena, called out to him for help and he laughed in her face that she realized the truth. He called her a fool for thinking he would share his power with her and left her screaming promises of revenge at him on the beach.

She hid herself, knowing her foes, especially Cassie Cage and Jacqui Briggs, would not be pleased to see her alive after what she'd done to them. Reiko was dead, but she swore revenge on Mileena and Ermac. She was close to death when Daegon arrived on Shang Tsung's island to investigate the aftermath of Havik's failure, and found her. He offered to restore her legs in exchange for her swearing loyalty to him, an offer she didn't hesitate to accept.

Now Mileena was dead. Skarlet was bitter at losing her chance to get back at the clone for destroying her legs. D'Vorah was fortunate they fought on the same side, because Skarlet would have gladly killed the Kytinn as well. At least she still had the Edenian spitfire, Ruby, to kill. Skarlet admitted Ruby was a skilled kombatant. Then again, that was to be expected of a former soldier in Shao Kahn's army. Daegon's strict code of honor which included respecting one's enemies had evidently rubbed off on her.

Technically, she and Daegon should be enemies. He had, after all, fought against Shao Kahn alongside his brother and their two dragon guardians during the emperor's first invasion of Edenia centuries ago. Shao Kahn's enemies were her enemies. That was what Shang Tsung taught her to believe from the beginning of her existence. She wasn't allowed to think for herself, to want anything for herself, to protest to being chained in the coliseum until her master had need of her. His last order was to keep an eye on Quan Chi, whom he suspected of planning to betray him, but the necromancer was a sly one, managing to convince Shao Kahn that he was his loyal servant and it wasn't long before Shao Kahn revealed his intentions to chain her up again once he successfully conquered Earthrealm. He never expected the Elder Gods to destroy him for breaking the rules.

As she began to think for herself for the first time in her life, Skarlet felt resentment boil within her. Like Ruby, Tanya, Rain, and Reiko, she fled to avoid serving Mileena. Although the other four ended up working with her anyway, they had their own agendas; Tanya and Ruby wanted a free Edenia, Rain wanted the throne of Outworld, and Reiko wanted to become a god. They all planned to betray Mileena from the start, having allied with her because it suited their goals. Although Skarlet admitted she was foolish to trust Reiko, Mileena was none the wiser. Ruby might be loyal to her people, but Rain and Tanya didn't understand the definition of the term. Their treacherous histories were so well-known that their names were synonyms for traitor.

Skarlet sighed as she sat on the balcony railing, watching the Black Dragon Clan below. Kano was standing in the center of a circle composed of Tremor, Jarek, Tasia, and mutiple masked goons sitting around him. Even though she couldn't hear what he was saying, it was obvious he was in the middle of one of his lectures about their rivalry with the Red Dragon Clan. Several masked Red Dragon soldiers were standing on the balcony, muttering contemptuous insults about their rivals. Daegon stood with Skarlet and Goro on either side of him, staring straight ahead into the distance and ignoring everyone else. Something was bothering him, though Skarlet didn't know what.

Daegon turned away from the balcony and headed inside, paying no attention to the concerned glances of his men. Skarlet gave Goro a look that asked if he knew what was wrong. The prince shrugged pompously as if her question wasn't worth a verbal answer. She rolled her eyes, waved him off, and followed Daegon inside. The few times Goro spoke was to utter promises of payback on Kotal Kahn and Sheeva for destroying his arms, killing his father, and taking his throne. Even though she understood his anger about the first two things, the third evoked no sympathy. It was thanks to his arms being restored and Daegon's sorcery empowering him that he managed to defeat Kotal, Sheeva, Ferra/Torr, and kill the queen's champions.

The demigod made his way to the table, poured himself a glass of wine, and leaned against the wall with a sigh. Not uncommon was it for him to have a drink every now and then. Recently, however, he'd been drinking more often than usual. Not that it was her business, as he would likely tell her. Still, she couldn't help but notice how he seemed more impatient and uncomfortable following the return of his mother and brother. She could also tell he hadn't been sleeping very well lately.

Skarlet clasped her hands behind her back and maintained eye contact as she said,"You seem troubled."

His eyebrows rose as he emptied the contents of his glass, pushed off the wall, put his glass down on the table, and placed both hands on the table with another sigh."You are concerned, I take it?" He asked in a whisper.

"Perhaps." She answered carefully."You have been drinking more often than usual and haven't been sleeping well lately either. I wonder why." She ran a finger up his arm."I do hope the not sleeping part isn't because of me."

Daegon's hand shot out to catch her wrist. He rolled his eye."Do not flatter yourself, Skarlet. You are a satisfactory paramour, not one worth losing sleep over." He released her wrist and turned away from her. Skarlet could have sworn she heard a few Red Dragon soldiers snickering in the background, but opted to ignore them.

"Grandmaster." One solider called, gesturing for him to come over. Daegon and Skarlet exchanged a glance before doing as the solider asked and returning to the balcony. One look was enough to see what the man was trying to show them.

Kano's minions, no longer seated in a circle around him, were watching him swing his butterfly knife around and hold it as if it were a sword in one hand whilst acting like he was throwing fireballs with his free hand. Skarlet pinched the bridge of her nose; it was obvious Kano was making fun of Daegon and was unaware said demigod was watching him. Rather than throw a fireball or yell, Daegon raised an eyebrow, thanked the soldier for informing him of the mockery, and headed downstairs to confront Kano with Goro and Skarlet accompanying him.

"Quick, someone get a camera and some popcorn!" One solider whispered."This is going to be good!" Skarlet couldn't agree more.

Kano continued his mockery of Daegon, oblivious to the presence of his rival who was approaching him with quiet steps, crossed arms, and a narrowed eye. Goro smirked as he stepped back to watch the scene as if it were an entertaining play. Skarlet placed her hands on Daegon's shoulders from behind, sharing the Shokan's amusement at Kano having no idea that the man he was mocking was standing directly behind him. His three lieutenants' eyes widened when they saw Daegon. His other minions froze, unsure of how to react. But did Kano notice? Of course not. The cyber-eyed mercenary went on with his rant.

"I swear, I don't get why Raiden recruited him. He's a damn coward, loser, moron, and mama's boy if ya ask me." Kano smiled proudly as he finished his tirade. He noticed the way his friends were looking at him."I'm gonna assume by your silence that ya agree with me, right?" They shook their heads. Kano was the very picture of perplexity."Then why are ya..." He trailed off, realizing what was going on."He's right behind me, ain't he?" They nodded."Damn it!" He hissed.

"Ahem." Daegon cleared his throat. Kano swallowed thickly, turned around...

...and yelped as the demigod's fist connected with his face, sending him flying into his three lieutenants. The four of them hit the ground, piled on top of each other like bricks, with a simultaneous cry of embarrassment, ire, and pain. This caused the Red Dragon soldiers on the balcony to start guffawing whilst the stunned Black Dragon goons gawked at the man who'd just made their leader look like a chump. Goro joined in on the laughter of his comrades. As did Skarlet. The construct fell to her knees, clutching her stomach as she laughed with tears spilling out of her eyes.

Daegon turned to Kano's minions."I do not suppose the rest of you have anything to say?" They shook their heads."That is what I thought." He scowled at Kano then walked away, not sparing the thug another glance.

Sobering up, Skarlet wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her crimson catsuit. She watched Daegon leave, knowing something was bothering him and that nothing she did would convince him to tell her what that something was.

Oh well, she had other ways of finding out.


I'm well aware that Skarlet is a little OOC, but the way I see it, none of Shao Kahn's old minions (except for Mileena) seem to care about him anymore. In the comics, Skarlet says she's as much Shao Kahn's 'daughter' as Mileena, but that in my opinion was just spoken out of resentment rather than loyalty. Ermac and Reptile don't seem to care much for him anymore either and neither did Kotal or Reiko as the latter in particular seemed to more care about his own agenda. Mileena was the only one in story mode or comics if I recall correctly to actually show grief over Shao Kahn's death. Everyone else had somewhat eventually moved to follow their own paths without him while she wouldn't shut up about him. So to me, I don't think it's above or beneath Skarlet to start thinking for herself with Shao Kahn out of the way and no longer chaining her up like a slave. Anyway, please remember to review, leave constructive criticism, but no flames!

Next up: Chapter 49:Dairou