Disclaimer: I, Queen Ghidorah, don't own anything but this computer, this brain, and myself...unfortunately.
Chapter One
"This is an outrage! An abomination! I want heads rolling for this!"
Shao Kahn, Emperor of Outworld, slammed a meaty fist onto his stone desk, eyes glaring at his cringing subjects from behind his skull helmet. Every one of the five minions that occupied the spacious (or what had seemed spacious just a while ago) conference room tried to keep their eyes on the Emperor and away from the newly formed crack in the granite desk. It was no easy feat, for Shao Kahn was fairly radiating death as it was. One wrong move, one mistake, and it would be their own cranium lopped from their shoulders. Fully aware of this, they all remained silent, waiting for their master to run out of air before they dared to speak. Judging by his violent gesticulations, he had barely begun to warm up.
"I worked so hard to secure my position; to be sure that I was invulnerable on all sides, protected from every threat - !"
A quiet hissing noise, like that of an agitated snake, managed to be heard above Kahn's booming voice. The Emperor ceased talking at once, eye twitching at this interruption, and whirled on the culprit. There was only one of his lackey's capable of that sound...
"Reptile! How dare you interfere in my rant?"
The military-attired Raptor stood to attention as his name was called, forked tongue flickering rapidly in anxiety.
"Forgive me, Massster! I did not mean to be heard," he said meekly.
"Whether you meant to or not is no longer of consequence, is it? But, go on then. Let us hear what is so important as to come before myself."
Reptile fidgeted, his long tail twitching nervously, as he tried to collect his thoughts. One slip-up...
"It isss only... do I not protect my massster well?"
At that, the Zatteran's colleagues wordlessly shuffled away from him, leaving him singled out against the wall. An easy target. Noticing this, Reptile squared his shoulders and lifted his head higher. If he was to be killed right then and there for his injured pride, it would not be without dignity. Shao Kahn, however, made no move towards his bodyguard. Rather, he waved his hand in the air dismissively.
"From physical assaults, you do your rank justice. This attack, however, is something that even you could not sneak up on."
Shao Kahn visibly shuddered as he was reminded of the whole reason for this rapidly assembled conference. Though Heaven knew he would far rather keep the humiliation to himself, Kahn understood that to permit the offense to continue existing would only be inviting similar insults to be created. That simply could not be allowed to happen! It wouldn't! Reptile, Rain, Mileena, Ermac, and Baraka were the most successful of his troops; they would put a stop to it! Unfortunately, this meant they had to be told exactly what "it" was. Another tremor slithered along the Emperor's spine, causing his five underlings to glance at each other in askance. Whatever it was that was plaguing their leader, it had to be unusually bad. Taking a moment to be sure her mask well hid her face, a motion that had long ago become automatic, Mileena stepped forward.
"Tell us what the situation is, Father, and we shall eliminate it!"
Her passionate promise was quickly supported by her fellow warriors, much to Shao Kahn's approval. For a mere clone, the pink clad assassin was turning out to be a true asset to her "father's" militia, unlike the Edenian princess from which the majority of her DNA had originated. Kitana, Kahn's former stepdaughter, had betrayed Outworld years ago and joined forces with his most resilient enemy: Earthrealm. They, however, had nothing to do with this newest threat, something for which Kahn was most grateful. The last thing he needed was for those obnoxious mortals to come into contact with the damaging lies being spread about him.
As way of response to Mileena, Kahn pointed to an odd box sitting on his desk. His henchmen had noticed it before, but had never questioned its presence. At least, not out-loud. Their master's business was their master's business, after all, and they were expected to stay out of it. Period. Now that the opportunity to finally get a good look at the off-white contraption had presented itself, the five of them wasted no time in rushing towards it. Shao Kahn, seeing their stampede, quickly threw out an arm to stop them.
"Caution!"
Baraka, as the one in the lead, was forced to awkwardly slam on the breaks to keep from colliding with his master. The Tarkatan's body effectively acted as a buffer against those behind him who had not been able to halt in time.
"Is this object dangerous, Master?" Baraka questioned once everyone had peeled themselves off of his back.
The idea that the innocent device sitting so calmly on Shao Kahn's desk could possibly be hazardous had never occurred to them. If it was a threat, why would he have kept it? Then again, what did the Emperor possess that wasn't deadly? Even his wardrobe was riddled in spikes. Apparently, this bizarre box was an exception, as evidenced by the way Kahn shook his horned head.
"No, but it is fragile."
Fragile? Baraka frowned upon hearing this and, slowly, backed away to stand against the far wall. He was not especially good around "fragile" and was not prepared to risk himself trying to be. The remaining four warriors went along without him, keeping in mind that the box was now to be considered precious. Once within a foot of it, they stopped and turned back towards Kahn for directions. He impatiently motioned for them to continue.
"Go on, look at the words written upon the screen. But be warned! If I so much as hear one snicker out of any of you, or see the tiniest of smirks, so help me I will gut you all!"
The four soldiers looked at each other momentarily before both Mileena and Rain moved to stand beside Baraka. Obviously, whatever they were about to see involved some sort of parody at Shao Kahn's expense and they, with their twisted senses of humor, did not trust themselves to remain impassive. As the only two left, Ermac and Reptile braced themselves and moved to stand to the front of the mystery machine's "screen." From this position, they could see that, along with its bulky body, the box also possessed a flat board with a few numbers and letters placed seemingly at random upon it, as well as a separate trinket sitting on a soft pad with a long cord trailing from the back of it. Tentatively, Reptile reached out a single talon and made as if to tap one of the letters on the board. When he received no reprimand for his actions, he went ahead and pushed it. Except for a nice "clack" noise, nothing happened. As the Raptor's tongue eagerly tasted the air to try and locate some sort of change, Ermac leaned forward and tapped the letter "E." Again, only the "clack" sound proved that he had done anything. The red garbed ninja nodded at Reptile, the two satisfied with what they had accomplished. A sudden impatient clearing of the throat coming from the direction of Shao Kahn had them snapping to attention.
"Leave the keyboard be, fools! Get on with your task."
As Ermac and Reptile hurriedly began to read the writing on the screen, Shao Kahn sat himself on the corner of his desk to wait, rubbing his temples tiredly. Recognizing a que when she saw one, Mileena silently strode to stand behind her paternal figure and began to massage his broad shoulders. The Emperor sighed in pleasure and leaned his head forward, giving his "daughter's" powerful hands better access to the kinks in his neck.
"Your tension level is dangerously high, Father."
Shao Kahn snorted derisively.
"You are not telling me anything new, Mileena."
These past few years had been Outworld's worst and, as the undisputed king, Shao Kahn was the one upon whom all the frustrations fell. The fact that he had come so very close to conquering his neighboring realms completely, only to have his carefully laid out plans turn to ashes, worked to add insult to injury. It hadn't started out that way. When Shao Kahn had first begun his self-appointed task of merging all the worlds beneath the banner of Outworld, he had met nothing but triumph. His method was bullet-proof. Twisting the ancient tournament of Mortal Kombat to his own gain, Shao Kahn was defeating territory after territory with the fate of his opponent's realm at stake. Of course, the Emperor himself never had to fight. He had a champion for that and Prince Goro of the Shokan race was nearly indestructible. After tucking yet another vanquished world under his belt, Shao Kahn and his minions had moved on to their next objective, and this was where things started to go wrong. Initially, Earthrealm was faring little better than its fellows had against Outworld. Only the fact that ten consecutive victories were required in order to claim rulership over the realm of Earth was what kept the land free. If things had continued as they were, with Goro already obtaining nine wins, Earthrealm would have been doomed. Sadly for Kahn, it hadn't been meant to be. A Shaolin monk by the name of Lui Kang joined the tournament in the defense of Earth and took home the championship. In that one act, he dashed Shao Kahn's plans. The Emperor was not one to go down quietly and had made other attempts at domination, even resurrecting his dead queen, but to no avail. Ultimately, he failed. And now? Now smut the likes of which were currently on the computer screen was circulating, bashing his supreme pride even more. The nerve! The utter effrontery!
"Massster?"
Reptile's hissing voice cut into Kahn's thoughts and brought him back to the present. Curtly brushing Mileena aside, the Emperor stood and faced the Raptor. A quick glance proved that the Zatteran was just as disturbed by what he had read as his master was. Ermac, too, was still gaping at the glowing computer screen. Shao Kahn gestured with his head for Reptile to speak. The creature chose his words carefully.
"Provide usss with the whereaboutsss of thisss impudent writer, and he shall sssuffer unlike any other."
This assurance was accompanied by droplets of acid secreted from the glands between his teeth, and Reptile was quick to lick them up, lest they burn holes into the already scarred floor. Ermac, meanwhile, had barely managed to get his mouth to shut.
"We were unaware things of this nature even existed! Where is this perpetrator, Master?"
Shao Kahn rubbed his eyes through the sockets of his helmet.
"That is the whole reason I have brought you five here! I have had no luck in locating him, myself, though it was not from lack of trying. This modern brand of sorcery called the 'Internet' is not wont to disclose the whereabouts of its conjurors so easily. Bearing this in mind, I give you all complete access to this computer, as well as a week with which to complete your search. Once you find the mortal, return home with him and be sure he still lives. I have no care for his condition, per se, so long as he is still capable of feeling. It would be best if he still possessed his limbs, as well. Understand?"
The tone of voice in which the Emperor asked if they understood left them with no other reply but "Yes, Master." The powerful ruler nodded his head brusquely before turning around and quickly striding from the room. It was obvious he did not wish to remain there any longer than he had to. His subordinates listened carefully to his footsteps dying away before Rain, Mileena, and Baraka turned towards Reptile and Ermac.
"Well? What is Kahn so upset about?"
Reptile's tongue flickered at Rain, tasting his curiosity.
"It wasss...wasss...horrible!"
Rain nodded eagerly.
"So I can tell! What was it?"
Reptile turned to Ermac, his yellow eyes distressed. Ermac nodded in understanding.
"We will tell you. There is some sick fool out there in the world who is writing romance stories about the Emperor."
Mileena and Baraka recoiled as if struck, Reptile's tongue snapping back into his mouth and remaining there. Rain looked disappointed.
"Is that all?"
Ermac shook his head.
"If only. These stories. They... do not pair him with a woman."
Rain's eyes widened.
"If not a woman, then what?"
Mileena snarled throatily.
"Come off it, Rain! You know very well what it would be if not a woman."
The purple attired ninja snickered, eliciting identical growls from his companions.
"What? You cannot deny that it is funny!"
Baraka spat in disgust.
"It is not funny! It is an atrocious crime! Whoever did this can expect to spend the rest of his days in torment!"
Mileena nodded.
"The rest of his days and beyond, if I have anything to say about it."
Rain shrugged.
"I agree he should burn, but it is still funny."
Reptile grimaced, looking slightly nauseated.
"Ugh, you did not have to read that garbage."
For the second time that day, his colleagues stepped away from him but, this time, it was to be sure they were not in his line of fire. The Raptor's vomit was powerfully corrosive. Reptile's stomach was much stronger than that, however, and he held his insides.
"I'll be fine."
Rain was not paying attention, his eyes having traveled past the squamous Zatteran and to the machine Shao Kahn had branded a 'computer'. Beneath his violet mask, a lewd grin was spreading. He clapped his hands together.
"Well! We may as well get started on that search. Kahn only gave us a week and I, for one, do not wish to see what happens if we do not deliver by then."