A/N: For clarification. When it says Viper has a blacked out figure, it means you cannot see his face. Which raises another question, will I ever reveal what Viper's face looks like? The answer… is yes. If any readers have any further questions, drop me a review or send me a private message and I'll try to get back to you. Thanks!
The smile, however, was not as real as Karanba had thought it to be.
Viper walked into the academy and solemnly greeted the tarkatan. "Hello."
"Master Viper." Karanba quickly bowed his head.
Viper turned nonchalantly, and white runes danced to life on his hands. The door to the entrance shut. He turned again towards the tarkatan and simply stared at him. Eventually, the silence needed to be broken.
"Master… why are you back so early? I thought you'd be out still." The bone blades slid back into his arms.
"Nikoro is dead, and Ko'atal has paid me enough gold for more of our political plans." Viper rubbed his eye. Karanba could tell he was stifling a yawn.
"You're tired." The tarkatan said stupidly, he had forgotten that the master ofttimes stayed awake long into the night.
"I'm not ready to sleep. Not yet." Viper gazed at the library, walked into it and pulled out a book. "I have… things to think about." Viper walked over to a small desk and pulled out a brush and ink. He turned to the unfinished pages and continued his writing, Karanba found it strange, most of his books spoke of death but they also had a certain beauty to them. The diagrams that showed weak spots, pressure points, and other information on the many species of Outworld, Vaeternus, Osh-tekk, Chaosrealm and more were detailed and showed much passion and care.
Despite this, Karanba stood unmoving, he wanted Viper to get sleep. He crossed his arms and waited for the master to inevitably ask him why he was not gone. However, it took much longer than he had expected. After what felt like hours of unchanging soundlessness he finally heard the saurian pipe up.
"You want me to sleep. I know." Viper simply looked up at the tarkatan and placed his chin in his hand.
"Master, I know that Outworld can be… uncomfortable sometimes." Karanba had memorized the lessons Viper had given him in saurian biology.
Karanba put the ends of his fingers together and continued. "I still remember your lessons on how Zaterra changed after it was conquered." Karanba paused, he wanted to see if maybe he could use the 'I'm your student' advantage to its fullest potential. It didn't work. "However, you can't just deprive yourself of slee-"
"I've been doing it for 2 decades Karanba, I don't think 1 more night will make any difference." Viper looked back at his small book as if to tell Karanba, 'get lost.'
"Master, I know that you function fine without sleep but could you please just try. For me?" Viper stopped his writing.
"It's just… these political games are exasperating, and…" He stopped himself before continuing. Viper had told Karanba of his past once, but even then it took an Outworld week to get the full story.
"I understand." Karanba walked a bit closer to the desk that Viper sat at. "I would not care if you slept on one of the benches, I just want you to attempt it." Viper stared at the library entrance and got up, he continued walking and sat on the bench there.
"You're a good friend Karanba. I'll try to sleep tonight." He lay down there, instead of walking up the stairs to his chambers.
Viper's eyes fluttered open. He could feel the bench pressing into his side, he turned himself to look at the ceiling and recalled the frigid and dead land named The Sea of Ice. A strange cold crept up on him, he hated the cold. "Maybe I could warm myself up?" His mind tried to recall anything that could possibly cause passion, happiness, anything that would stop the cold that refused to leave.
"Konqueror… fu-." Before he could finish that sentence Viper stopped himself. "Thinking of the conqueror may warm me, but it would be the warmth of hatred… and having that warmth often deprives me of the very sleep that would allow Karanba to calm himself." Viper knew his slumber did not last long.
He was about to close his eyes and rest when he heard Karanbas' gravelly voice, he sounded bored, maybe even irritated. Viper got up and started on his way to the entrance where he saw a group of Earthrealmers.
"Karanba," Viper said, his hand rubbing the scales around his eye. "I assume these are the Earthrealmers that you told me about?" Viper studied their faces as they turned, the 2 females he could automatically tell were Earthrealmers. The other 2 were a bit more difficult but one of them had technological and futuristic clothing that gave him away. The last one was quite convincing, but his facial structure was a bit different than a typical Outworlders'.
"Master Viper, we were sent by General Blade." Said the blonde woman that Viper knew, not that well, as Cassie. She stopped and Viper was sure she had seen the wanting look on his face. He pressed his back into a wall and waved his hand as if to say, 'continue.'
"My mother wants to know if you will help us." She gestured to herself and the 3 other warriors around her. "While we're here in Outworld."
"Let me see the dossier." Viper held his hand out and continued, "Including the one about my weaknesses." The Earthrealmers had a grim look on their faces as the saurian was reluctantly handed the books.
"Johnny's smart to have sent you with this." Viper handed back the dossier on his abilities, it was only slightly outdated. Noticing the look on the quartets' faces he opened the second dossier. With a skim of the front pages, he saw listed, intense cold, typical reptilian pests, inability to move on, and weapons designed to kill saurians. Of course, one of those things had already slightly ticked him off, but it was a trivial matter compared to what lay on the back page. A prick of rage struck him and wedged itself in between his scales.
"Master Viper-" One of the warriors, Viper didn't care which one, spoke up.
"No." Was Viper's answer. He handed the dossier back and turned to walk away, silently cursing himself for writing in Jade, and his supposed inability of moving on.
He stormed off and entered into a long hallway between the library and the entrance. Instinctually, he walked down it until he reached a staircase, ascending it, he avoided the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, levels and found himself in the highest part of the building. After leaving the tall spiral he walked down an even longer hallway and entered into what he called his chambers.
Walking in he felt a miserable dread take him over, he sat in a large chair and placed his hands onto the desk in front of him. He hunched over in his sluggish state and let his hand support his head for a few minutes before he realized the futility of attempting to stay awake and let his face collide into the desk.
With his scales pressing into the wood, he closed his eyes and nearly felt himself drifting into sleep but once again he found himself awake. Half between sleep and half between wide-awakeness, he settled for thinking of his past, more specifically of the one woman that had caused his sudden decision to storm off. But as he envisioned it, he knew that the only reason he was angry was because he knew that the dossier was right.
"I never was into dinosaurs." Jacqui thought as she walked after Cassie and Kung Jin, arguing as always, Takeda was silent beside her. Most days he would be jovial enough to talk but it seemed they both were tired of the fighting, or as she heard Takeda call it before: 'lovemaking.'
The tarkatan, Karanba, had offered them the opportunity to say for a short while longer. But, Cassie replied that 'she needed to talk to Kung Jin,' despite it not being his fault.
Jacqui grabbed Takeda's arm and led him aside. "Hey, while they're tearing each other apart I'm going to ask if I can see Master Viper."
Takeda seemed worried as he responded, a gesture that Jacqui appreciated. "Are you sure? He seemed quite irritated after he saw the dossier."
"Yea, he and my father share a dark chapter… as Sub-Zero put it. I'll be fine." Jacqui crossed her arms.
"I can go with you, Master Hasashi was a revenant for a longer time than both of them." Takeda took on a similar position.
"Thanks, Takeda, I think it'd be better though if you stopped Jin and Cassie from actually killing each other," Jacqui said after she turned she continued. "But, if I need help I'll get you?" A playful grin growing as she placed one hand on her waist.
"Of course," Takeda answered with a sincere smile.
She turned and started a slow jog towards the desk of their tarkatan 'friend.' She walked into the large circular room that was known as the entrance to the academy.
"I need to see Master Viper." She plopped her forearm onto the desk, the gauntlets audibly hitting the wood.
"Why?" The tarkatan seemed uninterested, his eyes trained on some papers.
"Because if I don't-" He interrupted her before she could give him a reason.
"Everyone could die? I know."
"How curt of him." Jacqui thought. "Then why can't I-" She continued.
"Who's saying you can't." He raised one of his eyebrows, in a way that made her feel stupid.
"I can… just go see him right now?"
"No actually, unless I were to give you one of these. Of course, I am only supposed to give this to students," he said, holding up a small seal with an amethyst on it. "But what if we said I gave it to you anyway." He looked serious for a second, but then did something she thought incapable for a tarkatan… he winked.
"I've had enough of Outworld." Jacqui grabbed the seal. "Thank you…" she said, still surprised by his actions.
Karanba nodded and pointed out the way to Viper's chambers. Jacqui found herself walking up an uncomfortable amount of stairs, the spirals became disorienting after a while, and she mistakenly stumbled into the wrong area more than once. Until finally she came to the top floor and saw a long hallway with only one door at the end. Jacqui walked up to it and found herself unsure of what to do, "Should I knock?" Jacqui settled for simply calling his name.
"Viper?" She said, unaware of leaving out the title 'Master.'
"Come in." She heard a soft voice, regardless, this was all the initiative she needed.
When she entered, she saw Viper, his face still obstructed by the cloak. He looked up and placed a fist at his cheek.
"Hi." Jacqui started, not at all aware of how she would finish. She stopped and saw a gesture, it said: 'sit down.' She obeyed and put her hands together, waiting for a friendly response from him. She recalled her father, and Mr. Cage saying that even though they had not known him for long, he was quite jovial. But instead, she felt like she was back in high school and the giant lizard man was the principal. He rubbed his eyes, before continuing his stare. After a short while Jacqui felt like bugs were crawling all over her, she shifted and found his gaze still on her. Thinking of nothing else, she spoke.
"I saw what happened down there." He looked unimpressed. "Can I do anything to help you reconsider?" His eyes shifted, but he still seemed unconvinced. Almost vindictively, she started her next sentence, "Why did you write Ja-."
"Don't you say her name." Viper said, his tone was intimidating since it was so calm. But, his hand was pressing into the wood, his claws were about a second from carving a pattern into it.
Jacqui stopped. She put her hands back together and thought of her next sentence very carefully. "You and my father share a dark chapter." Her mind jumped to an image of what Viper looked like as a revenant. A long gray cloak, and chains wrapped around his shadowy arms. He still retained his purple eyes though, for she could not imagine something so brilliantly bioluminescent to be replaced by a different color.
After a long bout of silence, he continued. "We do." He looked down. Then his head shifted back up, in a way that only a lizard could. "I… apologize for the…" he loosened up his claws, "the 'don't you say her name' moment." He brought his elbow off the desk and seemed to be paying more attention to Jacqui.
"It's alright. But seriously, can I do anything to convince you to help us?" She outstretched her hands and leaned forward slightly in her chair. "I mean… other than the fact that you could very well be one of the people that Mileena tries to kill considering-" She stopped herself before delving into the cold pool that was the first Outworld invasion.
"Yes. There is one thing that you could do. Death is… undoubtedly a good reason, but I think there is one thing that would motivate me more. I'm only telling you this because I trust you more than your friends… since you actually came to talk to me." Viper shifted, half uncomfortably, half confidently, in his seat. He crossed his arms and studied her face for a second.
"I know how you feel about that boy." Jacqui was surprised.
"Which boy… and how can you be so sure?" She said quickly before copying the way Viper was postured.
"I can smell it on you. Saurian noses aren't as powerful as an animal's nose is but when someone is feeling a particularly powerful emotion w- I can tell." He hunched his back and let his elbows press into the wood. Jacqui noticed the cut off 'we.' "And I was talking about Kenshi's boy."
"Why bring it up?" Jacqui leaned a bit further back into her seat.
"Because the story I'm about to tell you wouldn't make sense if you didn't know that fact." He smiled.
"Story? Your story, I assume." She left her mouth slightly agape.
"Yes. My story." He put his fingertips together. "And Jade's." He finished sadly.
"Ah… well Viper, I'll be happy to listen. Especially if it means none of us die a horrible death." She smiled a warm smile and gestured for him to go on.
988,000 B.M.K.
…
Viper knew what it meant…
Viper knew what the sound meant…
The tattoo that violently blared in his ears…
The flaming rock that came hurtling at the Royal Zaterran palace…
The thin scarf of red liquid caked on his chest, only 2 inches from his throat…
Most importantly, Viper had a great view as the rest of Zaterra burned.
The dense swamps and marshy jungles set aflame in an invasion. The events leading up to Viper's capture were a blur in his head. He remembered being drenched in blood, his teeth, his claws, and his tail especially. He attempted to calm himself, and in return was rewarded with a mess of a recollection. Another attempt was made, this time at piecing it together.
"Damn you, Shao Kahn." Viper thought, remembering his claws nearly slicing the man's throat. "Shao Kahn's jugular, it was exposed." But before Viper could continue in his self-loathing he heard the booming voice of the Konqueror.
"That is the closest anyone has gotten to killing me… well done." Shao Kahn smiled and wiped the blood leaking from his wound away.
"You sadistic bedswerver!" Viper longed to scream that at Shao Kahn's face, but he knew that the small army pinning him down would knock him unconscious, or worse if he even started that sentence.
"I will offer you a position in my armies, Zaterran." Shao Kahn placed his fists on his waist.
"Why would I join you?" Viper said venomously, a glower on his face.
"I will spare the rest of the Zaterrans if you join me." Shao Kahn extended one of his hands.
"You expect me to believe you. No emperor would spend all these resources for one soldier." Viper struggled against the pile of people on top of him but was still not able to free himself.
"You think I would waste your…" he stopped and felt the claw mark a small bit under his throat. "Skills as a common foot soldier? No. I would have you as an assassin, to kill those who I assign to you faithfully. If you refuse, then you will watch Zaterra burn, and then be imprisoned for however long youzaterrans live."
"I…" Viper stopped. He was unsure of what to do, unsure why he had even tried to kill Shao Kahn in the first place. The only thing he was sure of, was that Shao Kahn's promises were not of wind and air. As he looked at the outstretched hand of the Konqueror thoughts of anger filled his head. He remembered being humiliated, hated for his appearance… his tail, his abnormally colored scales, and eyes. "That was why I started wearing this cloak." He reminded himself. But, another thought forced itself into his mind. "This is your home. You still love it, even if its inhabitants hated you…" Viper paused and felt his captors move to let his hand join Shao Kahn's. "You will live well over 1 million when you die of old age, don't waste your life." The thought finished with flashes of his father, mother, and sister.
"I will join you." He let his hand slink into Shao Kahn's, and he felt the small army of men pinning him down move.
He heard laughter. The deep voice was mischievous and twisted, and when Viper was able to stand, he found himself dwarfed by Shao Kahn. But that was not what bothered him. Instead, he could see that the orange glow in his new master's sclera was not a natural glow, instead, it seemed to be a burning fire from the netherrealm itself.
AN: Well, that was a fun chapter to write. :3. Once again, thank you for reading! I have a few ideas for MK11 if the trailers go deep enough into the story. MKX will return in the coming chapters, but for now, the next chapters will be largely focusing on pre-MK9 and MK9 itself. The comics may be briefly covered, they were mentioned in the 1st chapter but I'm not sure I want to delve into them since they contradict the game in some ways. If I do, I'll try my best! Once again, thanks for reading!