I can't believe you guys are still sticking with me on this. My muse keeps abandoning me for those Starbucks Caramel Frappuccinos, and she doesn't like coming back. With all the intermissions, your dedication is awe-inspiring. Just to let you know, I wrote this story with an Alternative Universe idea in mind, so my characters are going to act differently in some ways (particularly their fighting styles.) So if you notice a character doing moves he/she doesn't have in the game or movie or whatever, please forgive me, and just graciously accept the substitutions I have put in for the moment. I am sorely uneducated in characters special moves, so I'm making up my own. If this REALLY irritates you, and you know their moves for sure, feel free to send me an e-mail and I'll use them in the future.

Thanks for your support guys! You rock!

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"WHERE IS SHE?!?!"

Khan's voice shook the walls with his fury. He stalked back and forth in front of his throne, his sword swishing dangerously with the sway of his arm, as he screamed at the fellow Lords. They had seen the rebellious act, watched as the mortal woman knocked Khan from his senses, and the Earth raised up from the ashes with a surprising attack of a defiance. The attack was in the process of being squashed, the remaining mortals being placed back in irons until Khan had enough care to do something with them. The ones who had initiated the attack disappeared without a trace.

The woman had done the same, whisked away by her husband just before her execution.

Needless to say, Khan was not in the best of dispositions.

"I want her found, her head served to me on a platter, her body cut into a thousand pieces and fed to those wretched humans that betrayed me!!!!"

"And what of Tsung?" Reve asked, stepping forward and moving is hands over his orange robes. "We can't ignore his disappearance. After all he was the one who¼ protected her," he spat.

Khan paused in his pacing and held Reve with a steady look. "Yes," he replied, "I know. I will deal with Tsung on my own level."

From the back came, "He should be punished. It was his teachings that gave her such power."

"She has no power!" Khan roared. "She is mortal! Mortals are nothing!"

"Of course, Great one," Gnir answered quickly.

"That woman has too much spirit," Reve spoke up. "She needs to become her part, docile, weak, obedient. She needs her spirit broken."

Rotiart snorted. "And how do you suppose we do that?"

"I say we torture her. Make her scream for a couple of days. That should put her in her place," Latrom answered.

"Yes, I could have fun with that," Reve agreed, a sickening smile gracing his scarred face.

"No, I say rape her. That's one thing all women fear. She'll be traumatized for weeks, maybe months if we do it right," Gnir cut in.

"No."

The five men paused to look at the Emperor. He was sitting on his throne, graced with a look of deep thought and the hint of a grin. "No, we subject her to her worst pain; her one weakness that never fails." For a moment, he let his gaze breeze over his subjects as they awaited an explanation. "We'll use her guilt."

Each man shared a glance, then looked again to Khan. "In what way?" Rotiart asked.

Khan's smile grew chilling. "We'll kill her friends."

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"You all right kid?"

Stryker looked up through the fading mist to see a large man towering over him and the boy in his arms. Garrett squirmed from his grasp and jumped to attention.

"Yes, I'm fine," he replied smartly, though it was clear to see he was trembling from his near death encounter.

The black man ruffled the boys hair with a smile. "At ease, soldier. You did good." His eyes turned on Stryker. "Thank you for your help." Outstretching his muscular arm, he offered a hand up.

"All part of the job," he answered while rising to his feet. Then he noticed the silence and the fact they weren't dead. From side to side he glanced before he remarked, "Ok, I missed something."

"I think we all did. Except for the woman who came crashing the party. She led my men this way then disappeared."

Stryker rubbed his head. "Yeah, I thought I remember seeing some chick in a leotard. Could it have been that woman on the tower?"

"Not sure," Jax answered with a shake of his head. "Too far for me to tell."

"Yeah. So, where are we now?"

"I don't know, but anywhere away from those things is good enough for me."

"Right." With a sigh, he held out his hand. "By the way, I'm Stryker."

"Jax," with a firm shake. "Pleasure."

"Likewise. So now what?" The two looked around, Garrett standing by and ready to speak when heavy breathing came running in there direction.

"Bloody hell! Where are we? Where did those nasty bastards go?"

"I don't know, man, let's just keep going!"

"Fuck that, I'm not running though the desert all fucking night!" The protestor slowed to a jog when he spotted Jax standing in the distance. "Hey, what the fuck is going on here, man?"

"I don't know, but I suggest you and your friends stay with us. There's safety in numbers."

"Right on." A second guy stepped out of the fog that stood in a circle around them. He was as ragged as the rest of them. Slowly, a group of four came into the clearing, and it wasn't until the last when Jax sprung into action.

He had no time to react before the overpowering man was on top of him.

"You sniveling son of a bitch. How the hell did you make it this far?"

"Oh, hello Major," came the sarcastic reply from the sand. "Figures you'd survive. Well, you may as well let me up because it goes against protocol to kill me."

"There is no protocol anymore, Jarek, so killing you wouldn't be a problem. Actually, it'd be more of a pleasure!"

"Hey!" Stryker stepped forward, grasping Jax on the shoulder. "Whatever vendetta you have against him needs to get dropped. You said it yourself, there's safety in numbers. There's too few of us as is, we need every hand we can get if we get ambushed."

Jax growled.

"Let him go," Styker ordered.

Moments passed before Jax finally released him. He rose to his feet and spat down on the ground besides Jarek's face. "Make one wrong move against my men and I'll see you hung by your entrails."

Jarek sneered up from his knees as he stood. "Only if that sexy slut of yours does it. I always wanted Blade's fingers inside my shirt." His head cocked and his smile spread as he observed Jax's sudden rush of anger. "How is your little bitch by the way? Seen her since the destruction?"

Stryker jumped in front of Jax as he jumped at the Black Dragon member. "No, Jax, save it, man, save it."

"I'll kill you, Jarek, if I have to kill myself with you."

"Well, until then, looks like I'm walking."

Stryker turned on him. "All right. Go ahead and pick a direction. We'll follow. Cause for right now, that's the best we can do."

Jarek looked to his men, who looked around the fog surrounding them. Every direction looked the same¼ so which way?

"Jax?"

Everyone turned at Garrett's voice, and followed his fixed gaze to the lone wolf that stared at them. It's tail twitched from side to side, it's eyes glowed a pale yellow, and it was observing the group with such depth each man felt violated. Then it turned, took a few steps, and looked back, waiting.

Jax looked at Stryker, who looked at everyone else, and the vote seemed unanimous.

"All right, I guess we follow it," Stryker quipped.

"Stranger things have happened," Jax said in agreement.

Without another word, each walked along behind the beast, onward into the swirling fog, and swallowed up into the darkness of the desert.



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Time was short, and slipping quickly through the hour glass. It needed to be quick, in and out before anyone saw them. She hated the Cobalt Mines, the smell and the people, and she held the disadvantage of hardly knowing the thousands of passages dug deep into the grounds of the realm. One wrong turn and a month long travel could end up at a dead end. But she had been watching carefully, keeping track of their whereabouts for the past weeks while planning the escape. Now was the chance.

After the last few groups of mutant soldiers passed through the portals to break down the Earth realm's rebellion, she slipped out into a side cave, remaining ever in the shadows, and began her long trek down to the southern passages. As she moved closer, the sounds and smells began to assault her with vicious force. The clanging of metal to stone, the grunts and screams of the men as they worked and were whipped down into submission echoed in her sensitive ears.

Bodies began piling on the ground as she came to the mouth of the cave. Here was where the dead were left to rot, and her senses were overwhelmed by the harassing stench. Bearing down, she scanned the scene before her, counted the number of guards on watch and was pleased with the number she came upon. Because of the rebellion, most were gone to quiet the masses. It would be as easy as pie.

Now where were they--aw, shit.

Her prey was found, 300 yards away and closing toward her, being escorted by twenty of Khan's shadow warriors, his personal body guards. She could handle three, perhaps four or five on a good day, but not twenty, not alone, and certainly not out in the open. Unless she used a powerful attack, enough to stun all of them, and it might give them the chance to run out of the caves and get away.

If they were in good enough condition.

Upon closer inspection, her heart sank as she realized this wasn't the case. They were too far for a thorough inspection, but she could see the marks, the blood on their clothes and the tears in their backs from the ruthless creatures. No, they wouldn't make it fast enough. No, this wasn't working at all, damn it! Sneaking out was the only way. There had to be something else.

Scuffling from below distracted her momentarily. Another brawl fight between prisoner and guard. It's common here, so keep thinking. But the man's screaming was quite irritating. Did he really think shouting curses would get him anywhere but the rack? She looked down at him again, scowling for breaking her concentration, and froze. Inspiration struck her. The others won't be happy with this development, she thought as she moved back into the shadows, but they'll get over it.

Quickly, she jumped, landing silently not two feet from where man and monster stood fighting for control, watching. Reaching up its huge clawed hand, ready to tear off the man's arm, it grunted and disintegrated into ash from her blast. Grabbing the man and pulling him into the darkness before he could say a word, she clapped a gloved hand over his mouth and held him still.

"You do what I say and I give you freedom, and a chance back at Tsung," she hissed, leaving no room for arguments. "Agreed?" His eye blazed red with rage, even in the inky shadows, but he nodded. She reached down and pulled a dagger from her boot, striking it on the chain binding his hands and feet. "Don't ask questions. When I say, run out into that group of soldiers, shouting as loud as you can"

"And this is supposed to help me?" he growled.

She seized his throat and squeezed. "Do as I tell you, Kano, or I'll subject you to worse than you've experienced here." She glanced to the side. They were almost by the cave leading out. Ten more feet, five more feet, and she shoved him. "Go!"

The battered crime boss started screaming bloody murder as he charged, while she swiftly climbed up and over the low cliff she was once perched upon. From above, she watched everything fall into place. All of the cave guards noticed Kano's escape, and charged after him, while the shadow warriors turned, forming a line in front of Liu and Johnny. Only two guards watched them from behind. She smiled.

Easy as pie.

With a turn, she was behind the two unsuspecting guards, blasting them down with her staff. They disappeared without a cry. Grabbing the two Earth warriors, she pushed them toward the cave, moving at a crouch until the were behind the cliff face. She urged them to climb and turned. Now she stood just between the two lines of enemies, reached out, and seized Kano by the wrist before jamming her staff into the dirt and thrusting them both high into the air. A bright burst of light followed as the Shadow warriors let lose their weapons, annihilating the rest of the mining guards. Moments later, while turning to carry on their task, Kahn's soldiers noticed their two missing prisoners and raised the alarm.

But by that time, the three escapees and their rescuer were already on their way back to Earth.

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Sonya awoke to unfamiliar surroundings. It was dark save a single candle, burning dully in the corner. She sat up, and met the heated eyes of her husband.

"What have you done?"

Sonya could only stare, open-mouthed and unsure. "What?" Instantly she remembered what happened, though she couldn't believe it. Something possessed her to stop Khan, and now she could feel the drain in her body. She was too weak to think, too tired to care. But an answer still escaped her. "I hit him." Her eyes closed and she laid back down, trying to soothe her aching body. Something called to her and she welcomed it graciously, the murky waters of the night warming her, calming her, and she slept.

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Tsung sat back against the wall and watched her. Various thoughts ran his mind ragged, and he couldn't find the eye of the storm to calm himself. Too many questions, all with unacceptable answers. He hadn't taught her that power. Who did? It was an impulse to take her away. Why? He defied his emperor. How could he explain himself? A heavy sigh left him.

For the first time since he could remember, Tsung felt a sliver of fear. Black eyes drifted to his slumbering wife; he knew she was the cause of it. Then he couldn't bear to look at her as everything came rushing at him. It was too much, and he focused on the demons that taunted him before disappearing as silent as the wind.

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Her instincts roused her. Someone was with her. Pulling herself from the blanket of sleep, she tuned in her senses. The floor was hard and cold, the air silent and stifling, and only a single flicker of light danced over her covered eyes. The presence¼ it was to her left, and it wasn't foreboding. The tenseness left her as she opened her eyes and turned. There stood a beautiful Asian woman. Her outfit was a tight fitting body suit, showing off her slim and toned figure. Down her shoulder flowed a braid of thick black hair, shining lightly in the candlelight.

Realization slammed her. "You've been following me."

The woman nodded and dropped to her knees. "Yes, I have. But you weren't supposed to know. I must be slipping in my old age."

"Why-"

"Because I was asked to, and I want to help you." She tilted her head. "Do you know where you are?"

"No."

"This is a private sanctuary, a floating cell between realms, where one can hide when necessary. It's a good thing I've followed Tsung here before when he was under suspicion, or I would not have found you." She pulled the warrior to her feet. "Tsung brought you here to hide you from Khan. He's very upset."

Sonya nodded, but was still too numb to digest the information.

"Come, we must leave before Tsung returns."

"Wait." Sonya shook her head, trying to make sense of the world. "Who¼ where¼?"

The woman smiled. "I am Jade, and I'm taking you back to Earth. You have friends waiting for you." The candle died down in a snuff before burning back up to reveal the occupants gone.

Until next time.

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