Chapter Thirty-One: Deacon City Tour

She no longer struggled against the iron chains that held her in place. The runes carved within her cuffs made breaking her bonds impossible. Even for such a powerful sorceress as herself. It was so lonely in her tiny cell and she knew no one would be coming to free her anytime soon. That is what they wanted. They wanted her to feel alone and helpless so they could break her spirit.

But she refused to break. No matter what sort of torture they put her through, she would remain strong. For him. The thought of her beloved caused tears to form in her eyes, but she would not let them fall. There would be time to mourn for her husband once this was over. Right now, she needed to focus on the matter at the hand.

Speaking of which, the woman lifted her hooded head when she heard footsteps coming in her direction. They stopped in front of the bars of her cell and their owner stood still for a moment to fiddle with some keys. Once he found the right key, he opened the cell and stepped inside. The prisoner quickly turned away when she realized who her visitor was.

"I hope your have changed your mind."

The woman said nothing and continued to look away.

"You are not going to make this easy, are you?"

Still nothing. Her guest sighed.

"Do you think I take pleasure in causing you harm?"

"You did when you nurdered your father."

The man was slightly taken aback. He had not expected to hear that coming from his prisoner's mouth.

"I had no choice. He betrayed me. You both betrayed me."

"Why in the name of the gods would you say tha..."

"Because it is true!"

"I am your mother! How could you ever believe that I would ever betray. I love you, my son! You and your brother."

"Ah, yes. My dear brother. Always the favorite."

"We loved you both equally. That is the truth."

The woman was grabbed by her shoulders and shoved against the wall.

"If you love me, then you would tell me where the sacrifice is!"

She furiously shook her head and fought against her son, but he was not going to let go.

"Answer me, Mother!"

She stopped and closed her eyes. When she finally spoke, the woman's voice was shaky and it made it difficult for her son to hear what she was saying.

"...A child...they are just...a child..."

A low growl rumbled in the man's throat and he shoved his mother away from him. He then turned away and walked to the door of the cell, but before he stepped out, he looked over his shoulder to say one more thing to his prisoner.

"They are not even your child...yet you show more love for them than you ever will to me."

The man slammed the door shut behind him and stomped away. Feeling defeated, his prisoner slumped to the ground and silently prayed to the Elder Gods for strength. She would need it if these daily visits kept up and she was not sure if she could take seeing her child's saddened face anymore. Whatever happened to that wonderful smile of his?

"Hello!? Earth to Smokey!?"

Tomas gasped as he was snapped back to reality. He was surprised that he able to drift off like that with Johnny Cage talking his ear off.

"Uh, yes?"

"Dude, you zoned out on me for a second there. What's up with you?"

Smoke shook his head and continued to walk down the sidewalk.

"It is nothing, really."

The silver-haired man looked at his surroundings. Deacon City was bustling with activity today. People were on their phones and making their way to work. Children were getting out of school and walking home with their friends. Owners of various food stands were fixing orders for their customers and people were sitting at tables outside cafes drinking coffee while typing on computers.

As the two turned another corner, Tomas bumped into someone at the same time. He grabbed the person by their arm before they fell to the ground.

"Forgive me, I did not..."

He stopped when he recognized the woman whose arm he was holding. Her vibrant eyes were not something that Tomas could forget.

"Jade?"

The woman smiled at Smoke.

"Smoke? What a pleasant surprise."

That was not the only surprise. Tomas saw that Jade was wearing a green turtleneck with white pants and brown boots. She also had her hair in a long braid with a yellow tie at the end of it. The woman looked like she belonged in Earthrealm, but her Edenian beauty was beyond that of this realm. She was going to stand out no matter what she wore.

Coming up behind the Edenian, Kitana, Sonya, and Jax stopped when they saw Tomas and Johnny. Sonya stepped forward, wearing a white tanktop with green shorts and brown boots, and waved at the duo.

"Hey, you two. Long time no see."

Cage smiled back and pulled down his shades.

"Sonya, you're stalking me are you?"

"You wish, Cage. I am merely giving Jade and Kitana a tour of the city."

Kitana smiled and waved as well. She was wearin a light blue t-shirt with black pants that stopped just above her knees and matching blue flats. Jax was wearing a dark brown jacket with black gloves and blue jeans with black combat boots. He had no problem with his metal arms, but he preferred to keep them hidden in public. Johnny Cage nodded his head.

"Alright then. But I thought you guys had some business to deal with back at the base."

"We do, but our commander decided that we deserved a break after what happened at the tournament."

"Well, now you have the whole day to spend with me!"

Sonya laughed while rolling her eyes.

"Anyway, what are you guys up to? Any plans?"

"Nothing in particular. I said we should go to a club, but Smoke said no."

Now it was Smoke's turn to roll his eyes, but Jade and Kitana were confused.

"Um...what is a "club"?"

Johnny's smile widened.

"Hey, you girls would be perfect for a club. You see, Jade, a club is..."

The actor was whacked in the head before he could finish his sentence. Johnny groaned and rubbed the back of his skull as he glared at Smoke.

"What the hell was that for!?"

"Not another word about a club. They do not need to hear it."

Tomas looked back at Sonya.

"How about you? Did you have anything planned?"

"Actually, and please don't laugh, we were on our way to the zoo."

Cage stopped rubbing his head and looked at the blonde.

"The zoo?"

"Yeah, funny story. Sub-zero was telling us about that tiger thing you guys saw back in Outworld and Jax and I thought about trips to the zoo we had as kids. When Jade and Kitana told us that they have never been to a zoo, well...we decided to just go. We had nothing else better to do."

"That's terrible! Everyone has have to have gone to the zoo at least once in their life. Right, Smoke?"

Smoke shrugged his shoulders.

"I actually have never been to a zoo either."

Cage gasped and looked back and forth between Tomas and Sonya. After getting over his shock, the actor grabbed Smoke's shoulder and pulled him in the opposite direction of where they were heading.

"You, sir, are going to a zoo. Now."

"Johnny, it is alright..."

"No, it is not alright! You're going to the zoo and you're going to freaking love it!"

Tomas looked back at the others for help, but everyone else just shrugged or laughed at him. Even Jade let out a small chuckle at seeing Smoke so helpless. For some reason, the silver-haired man stopped struggling against his captor when he saw the Edenian smile. She had a smile that could make any man's heart skip a beat.

Arriving at the gates of Deacon City Zoo, Johnny managed to convince Sonya and Jax to let him pay the admission fee. The at the gate gasped when Cage walked up to his stand to pay.

"Oh my god, you're...you're Johnny Cage!"

"The one and only. You a fan?"

"Absolutely! Man, Time Smashers is my favorite movie of all time!"

"Thanks. Would like an autograph?"

"Yes, and can I please take a picture with you? My friends will never believe that I met the Johnny Cage."

"No prob."

Once the picture was taken and the admission was paid, Johnny lead his friends inside the zoo. Jade and Kitana gasped as they saw all sorts of animals that were being displayed around the park. Kitana ran towards a fence that contained a peacock within it.

"Such a beautiful creature. What is it called?"

Sonya walked beside her and put her hands on the railing.

"That's called a peacock, Kitana."

"A peacock? What a strange name."

Jax walked up to a monkey cage and motioned for Johnny to come over.

"Hey Cage, monkey looks pissed off, doesn't it?"

"What are talking about? I mean, how does that thing look an...?"

Something landed on the ground in front of Cage. He looked down and saw something brown and it smelled horrible. The actor jumped back and covered his nose.

"What the hell!? Ugh, that's disgusting!"

Jax was laughing so hard that he had to bend over with his hands on his knees.

"I told you it was pissed!"

As Jackson continued to laugh, Jade made her way to another cage. She saw the plate that was placed on it and tried to read it, but she could not read English.

"It is a tiger."

Jade turned around and saw Smoke standing beside her. He pointed towards the cage and the Edenian looked to where Tomas was pointing. Her eyes widen when she saw a big, striped creature sleeping on a rock within the cage.

"That creature reminds me of a taigore. An animal that roams freely in Outworld."

"Really? I think we ran into one while we were there. Well, technically, Johnny ran into it and that did not end well."

Jade laughed at the joke and Tomas soon joined her. The two stood in front of the cage and silently watched the tiger sleep. After some time, a thought came to Smoke and he decided to break the silence.

"Jade, you are originally from Edenia, correct?"

"Yes, that is correct. Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering about something. Do you happen to know a woman named Delia?"

Jade's smile faded and her body stiffened as her comrade mentioned the woman.

"...What interest do you have in her?"

"Nothing in particular, I just...heard the name somewhere and it sounds so familiar, yet I have no idea why."

Tomas was not going to mention that he had seen Delia before as a child. Especially seeing as how uncomfortable Jade had gotten when he said Delia's name. But he needed to know who this woman was. Why did Johnny have to come out the bathroom the time he did? If he had stayed in there longer, Smoke and Pyros could have talked more and the silver-haired man could have found out more about Delia.

"She was Argus' wife and a powerful sorceress."

Smoke looked back at Jade, but she did not look back at him. But Tomas saw how her eyes hardened and she clenched the sleeves of her shirt.

"Delia also had the power to see into the future. She saw the future of Edenia, and yet..."

"And yet?"

"...And yet...she and her husband did nothing. She let Edenia die. She let my family die."