The Deadly Alliance Pt. 3
"You know the drill. Just like we did with the clones 15 years ago." Kitana reminded her. Mileena nods.
Kitana casually tosses Mileena's second Sai in the air. Using all her might, Kitana swings her fans horizonally sending a violent gust of wind through the entire hallway in front of them. Mileena's Sai follows it as far as the wind travels. Kitana crouches and positions her fans in front of her. As Mileena hops onto Kitana's fans, Kitana boosts her up towards the ceiling. A pinkish coat of energy surrounds Mileena's body as she crashes through the ceiling.
Kitana rises up and leans her torso forward. She spreads her arms out behind her with both fans open. She slightly bends her knees and thrusts forward. The waning gust of wind circulating throughout the halls accelerated her run speed while he fans kept her from losing her balance. As she comes across the first door, she leaps in the air and kicks the door open. No one is inside, much to her relief.
On the floor above, Mileena immediately encounters two members of the Red Dragon clan. One of them grabs her foot and pulls her towards his blade. She uses the curved prong to redirect the blade away from her abdomen. She rams her shoulder into the mercenary as her sai proceeds to do the same. The second mercenary attempts a vertical swipe to the side of Mileena's skull. She gracefully dodges the blade as it strikes his partner instead. The merc struggles to pull the blade from the corpse. Mileena clamps her teeth onto the shoulder of the man and pulls out a chunk of his muscle.
Kitana continues to move along the hallway. After kicking open three more doors, a vampire bolts towards her. As Kitana swings her fans, a miniature whirlwind causes the vampire to spiral out of control and smash her face into the wall. Kitana wastes no time as she continues towards the last section of the halls. Two Osh'Tekk warriors prepared to face the princess as their stature seemed to make them impervious to the gust of wind. Mileena's other sai was barely sticking outside of the crack glass window.
Kitana leaps into the air faces her back towards the closest Osh'Tekk. She swings her fans and launches her body into him. The impact seemed to not do much as the Osh'Tekk quicked wrapped both of his arms around her. He proceeds to violently squeeze Kitana. She screams as she feels her muscles grinding across her bones. She tries his hardest to slide the tip of her fans into his legs. She succeeds with one leg and quickly opens the fan. The pain from his leg getting cut causes him to soften his grip. She punctures his legs a few more times before getting body slammed into the wall.
She picks herself up and notices her fans on the ground. She looks up sees that the men noticed as well. She performs a reverse roundhouse kick aiming her left leg towards the Osh'Tekk's head. As he raises his arms to defend against her attack, she hops up, stops mid-way, and uses her right leg to kick his shin. He attempts to punch her, but she rolls under his arm and runs toward the second Osh'Tekk. She uses her pretty kick to knock the Osh'Tekk into the window. She charges into the Osh'Tekk causing both of them fly through the window.
As Kitana starts to fall, she taps Mileena's Sai. Immediated, Mileena appeared above her holding onto the sai. She tosses her other sai towards the highest floor before grabbing Kitana's wrist. She pulls Kitana into the air towards the Sai. Kitana stretches as far as she can to grab Mileena's sai. She plunges the sai into a wall near the room in which Kotal was held up in. She swings herself through the glass window, rolling along the ground. Mileena reappears near the sai and makes a cleaner entrance, landing on her feet.
Kotal K'etz was alone; no guards, no mercenaries, and no vampires. All he had was the Kamidogu dagger. Kitana rose to her feet while brushing the shards of glass off her outfit and hair as she prepared to face Kotal. She reached towards her waist only to remember that she dropped her fans many floors below. Mileena pulls her sai from the wall outside and offers it to Kitana. She declines the offer and continues to stare at Kotal K'etz. Kotal's mind clicked upon seeing Kitana. He looks at the dagger in his hand as he reflects on her return.
"Kitana. So that's your name." Kotal reassured.
"Kotal K'etz of the realm of Osh'Tekk. Father of Ko'otal. Also, false Emperor of Outworld." Kitana announced. "I still remember the day Shao Kahn brought me to your realm as a child. Any other realm would've been honored or frightened by Shao Kahn's arrival to their realm—not the Osh'Tekks. You beat our warriors in Mortal Kombat so badly that it required the combined might of Reptile and Shao Kahn."
"My people are as mighty as they come. Our pride would never allow us to—"
"You bowed before Shang Tsung and Mileena." Kitana interrupted. Mileena side-eyed her sister. Kitana looked over and smiled. "Don't get me wrong, Mileena and Shang Tsung were very much capable of taking you on, but Shao Kahn was the one who defeated your champion. Shang Tsung failed twice while in his prime. He was an elderly man 15 years ago."
"He was elderly 12 years ago." Mileena added.
"What of it?" Kotal responded. Kitana pointed her index finger towards K'etz.
"You have no pride, K'etz. How do Earthrealms say it—you always leave the kitchen when the stove is hot. If you dare to call yourself a warrior, finish us here and now until one of us dies!" Kitana shouted. Kotal smiled as he pierced his palm with the blade. Kitana raised her eyebrow. Mileena starts to remember the split in the wall that was patched.
"Stay on your guard—" Mileena was too late as Kitana ran towards the Osh'Tekk. K'etz swiftly maneuvers behind Kitana and bear hugs her. As she vainly attempts to break free of his grasp, Kotal performs a deadly suplex. Upon contact with the ground, Kitana's skull splits open a bit. Her neck made a sound similar to a broken tree branch. In a fit of rage, Mileena rushes toward Kotal with both Sais in the air. Kotal releases Kitana and rises back onto his feet. He effortlessly backhands Mileena across her face snapping her neck and forcing her to look at the broken window.
Mileena turns her head and notices Kotal reflecting upon his dagger. Kitana looked over and smiled. "Don't get me wrong, Mileena and Shang Tsung were very much capable of taking you on, but Shao Kahn was the one who defeated your champion. Shang Tsung failed twice while in his prime. He was an elderly man 15 years ago."
"He was elderly 12 years ago." Mileena added. She delicately rubs her forehead.
"What of it?" Kotal responded. Kitana pointed her index finger towards K'etz.
"You have no pride, K'etz. How do Earthrealms say it—you always leave the kitchen when the stove is hot. If you dare to call yourself a warrior, finish us here and now until one of us dies!" Kitana shouted. Kotal smiled as he pierced his palm with the blade. Kitana raised her eyebrow.
"Stay on your guard—" Mileena was too late as Kitana ran towards the Osh'Tekk, K'etz swiftly maneuvered behind Kitana and bear hugged her. He performs a deadly suplex causing Kitana's skull to split and neck to snap. Mileena rushes toward Kotal with both Sais in the air. Kotal releases Kitana and rises back onto his feet. He effortlessly backhands Mileena across her face snapping her neck and forcing her back a few feet. Kotal blinks and sees Kitana peeking her eye towards Mileena.
"Don't get me wrong, Mileena and Shang Tsung were very much capable of taking you on, but Shao Kahn was the one who defeated your champion. Shang Tsung failed twice while in his prime. He was an elderly man 15 years ago."
"He was elderly 12 years ago." Mileena added.
"What of it?" Kotal responded. He looks to the ground and reflects on what was said. He heard Kitana's lengthy dialogue, but he didn't pay attention to what she was saying. He casually pierced his palm and looked at Kitana. The heightening of his senses due to the blood code makes Kitana seem a lot slower than usual. He quickly maneuvers behind Kitana and bear hugs her. He performs a deadly suplex causing Kitana's skull to split and neck to snap. Kitana faintly sees Mileena running in her direction. She hears a loud smack and flinches.
As she reopens her eyes she sees Kotal reflecting on the Kamidogu dagger. Kitana peeks over to Mileena whom looks horrified.
"Don't get me wrong…" she began. Kitana rubs around her neck. Kotal looks at the princess in frustration.
"So it's not your doing?" Kotal questioned.
"I think it actually might be." Kitana responded. She looks at Mileena once more and grabs her hand. However, she finds herself being suplexed once again. Mileena feels as if she's lost control of her body upon raising both sais and running towards Kotal. Upon being smacked once more, she sees the hole in the wall. She turns around and sees Kitana peering her eye toward her.
"You have to face your fears or you'll be stuck in the infinite loop." Kitana mentioned. She returns her attention to Kotal whom clenches his dagger.
Mileena looks towards Kitana and prepares for the worst. However, she remembers that she and Kitana already planned to die today. Mileena had no fear of her own life, but she couldn't bare to see Kitana die. Instead, she chose to look away and walk towards the broken window. She looked below and saw the flattened body of the Osh'Tekk warrior from before. She takes a deep breath and leaps from the building. Kotal runs towards her and looks out of the window. However, she was nowhere to be seen. He turns around and finds himself in a random hallway of the castle.
K'etz clenches his teeth and slams his fist against the wall. The impact leaves a big hole in the wall. He looks at the hole and then his dagger. He carves multiple symbols onto his arms, chest, face, legs, and even forehead. The symbols around his body begin to glow crimson red as the power of the blood god flowed throughout his body. A blessing bestowed upon him by Nitara. And a curse if she dies.
"You've lived far too long Mileena. Today, you shall die just as your father did!" Kotal shouted to himself. He continues to rush down the hall with the dagger in hand. He hears Mileena's giggling echo around the castle halls. Using the power of the blood god, he senses her presence somewhere in a room located to his left.
He checks each room as he continues down the halls. Her power felt stronger and stronger as he moved further up the hall. Eventually, he comes across a door with no handles on it. There was no way to open the locked door from the outside. As he prepares to knock the door down, it began to slowly creek open.
K'etz Spartan kicks the door open and rushes into it fully charged. As he aims his fist towards the chair in the back of the room, he freezes up. He squinted his eyes in focus before steadily opening them wider. They twitched uncontrollably. His bottom jaw fell against his chest. His body weighed far more than anything he could ever carry. His legs crumbled as he fell to his knees. He immediately bowed to the presence that sat before him.
"Is there something you wish to tell us, oh great Emperor Kotal K'etz?" Kitana mocked.
"Perhaps you've come to collect our bounties." Mileena mocked.
"Perhaps you are here to reclaim your seat? You can command us to leave."
"You could obliterate us where we stand, emperor."
"All of our troops…will withdraw from the castle immediately." K'etz muttered.
"Withdraw? But why? We're the only two warriors left. Surely you don't want to give up when victory is in the palm of your hands.
"Literally. All you have to do is fire that powerful wave of energy and this could all be over."
"I am not the ruler of Outworld, Mileena is. Attacking the emperor is treason and results in death by execution." K'etz responded.
"Well, if that is what you wish then so be it. We shall have an official ceremony reassuring everyone that this was all just a big misunderstanding and that everything will return to normal. We appreciate your apology, fare emperor. Excuse me, former emperor."
"Now you may leave. And take the trash out with you."
Kotal cautiously rises from his knees with his head still down. He turns and leaves as he mutters in his native tongue. As the doors shut behind him, Kotal sluggishly walks down the halls. He walks past a few Osh'Tekk who seemed to worry about what occurred. One of the men walked towards the door he just left from.
"Don't go in there!" Kotal commanded.
"What happened in there?" he asked. Kotal didn't respond. The men simply followed him out.
Kotal continued to wonder how what he saw could've transpired. There was no sign. No warning. He was the only one who saw it. He is the only one who knows about it. As he makes it further down the castle, he spots Tanya's unconscious body. He stares at her until he passes by her completely. His eyes widened as he finally figured out what he needed.
"Summon forth my son!" he commanded.
"He's waiting for you outside." One of the men stated.
"He's here?" Kotal asked. The man nodded.
As Kotal stepped outside the castle, he looked at the patched split of the courtyard wall he created months ago. He also notices the shameful stares of everyone around. It seemed that everyone knew what happened, yet none warned him of it. As he leaves through the gates along with the rest of the Osh'Tekk, he is greeted by Ko'otal, whom seemed upset.
"Why are you here?" Kotal asked.
"I should be asking the same of you." He responded. "You couldn't stop them?"
"You must listen to me son…" he began.
"I've listened for long enough, father! You said you would take care of it, yet you didn't. You said there was no second sister—that it wouldn't change anything. All you have done is make bad decision after bad decision. Now you leave the throne like a coward!" Ko'otal shouted. Kotal K'etz looked into his eyes.
"If you saw—"
"Mileena was always right about you. You are a failure as a leader. I should've never allowed you to go after the throne." Ko'otal responded. Kotal looked to the ground in shame.
"When the time comes, make the deal with Nitara. Speak to D'Vorah as well. She knows how one can—"
Kotal's head explodes as top of Kahn's Hammer replaced his skull. Ko'otal flinched a bit as his father's blood splattered on him and the other Osh'Tekk. He takes a short step back as he tried to understand the situation. He looked up to the top of the castle and peered towards the Throne Room window. Kitana was looking down onto them both. She seemed just as disturbed and bewildered as he did by what happened.
End of Chapter 12
This chapter marks the end of the civil war storyline. As we have reached the [Semi-]midpoint of the story, I've decided to use this chapter to address past author's notes that I've made in the past few chapters as well as basically provide minor spoilers for the very beginning of the next chapter.
In chapter 2, I said the story would be 40 chapters long, but it's been cut to 30 chapters now (as mentioned in chapter 9). Some of the cut stuff was addressed in Chapter 7. The cut versions of Chapter 10-12 took place in an alternate timeline (the one used for my story In The Dark) and Nitara was suppose to die with Ciero taking her spot afterwards. I'm saving Nitara for something more important later, but Ciero will probably keep her importance with In The Dark.
Finally, that promise of Chan's return (from Redemption: MK) happens in the next chapter, but the ending I made for Redemption complicates the heck out of the direction the story is currently in. I wanted to stealth rewrite the ending, but by now too many people have already finished the story. I'm debating on how I'm going to finesse my way out of the pigeon hole I've put myself in. I got the explanation down packed, but because of where the story current is I can't just lay it all out in a long paragraph. All I will say is don't be surprised if the scene picking up from Redemption's ending becoming a one-line explanation or a flashback scene in a later chapter. Aside from that, the story will return once I finish the current arc for my LoZ Fanfiction.
(Upcoming—Breaking Silence)