Nitara, then Kuai Liang, then I've got a request for Cassie

"So in short, that is why you'll never see Spawn, Joker, Freddie, or Jason on this program," Syzoth finished his opening monologue. "Even the undead and criminally insane have agents these days," Reptile paused for the audience to laugh. "But speaking of the undead, my guest tonight is the one and only Vampire Kombatant—Scarle—" Syzoth coughed—"Sorry, Fruedian slip-Nitara!"

A scantily clad dark-haired woman with batlike wings glided onto stage. Half of the audience erupted into wild cheers. The other half just stared at her, confused. She ignored the silent ones and basked in the adoration of her loyal fans.

She turned to face Syzoth and shook his hand. Amidst the cheering she sat down on the couch and brushed her hand through her hair.

Once everyone was quiet, Reptile asked her, "So with all the timelines colliding, just which Nitara are you, might I ask?"

"So, which timeline am I from? Let's see. The last thing I remember before time was broken was fighting a cyborg in front of a pyramid,"

"Ah, sounds like the Armageddon timeline. You should be glad time got interrupted. From what I understand, Shao Khan killed everyone in that timeline, and this one only exists because Raiden sent a message to his past self. So, this timeline is essentially just a reboot of the last one."

"Ah, so you're not my Reptile then?"

"No, and who says I'm yours? I'm saving myself for Chameleon,"

"You were straight in my timeline-"

"I mean 'Khameleon,' with a 'k.'"

"Ah, yes, my mistake."

"So by your inuendos, I take it we were close in your timeline?"

"Not really, just a typical master-slave relationship."

"Ah, I've actually been in quiet a few of those, though Mileena was the only one to—" Syzoth let his voice trail off.

"The only one to what?" Nitara said.

"Never mind," Reptile said emphatically. "So long as its teen-rated, what did I do for you?"

"I didn't keep you around all that long. You helped me strand Cyrax in Outworld, then I let you go."

Somehow, Syzoth got the sense that she wasn't telling him everything. "That's all?"

"You were devolving and drooling acid everywhere—I didn't really want to keep you."

Reptile nodded, "I have vague memories of devolving—happens to male Zaterrans when we go too long without a clear purpose in our lives."

"Yeah, you were basically more animal than sentient when that was happening."

"So why did you need to strand Cyrax?"

"I needed a cyborg with body armor to pass the lava barrier to get to the orb Shao Khan used to merge my homeworld of Vaeternus with Outworld. Unfortunately, Crax and Sektor are both dead in this timeline, and neither Smoke nor Sub-Zero is a Cyborg now."

"Cyrax isn't dead, so much as offline. The Lin Kuei have his body. Kuai Liang is a pretty reasonable guy. He promised to restore Cyrax's human form, but if you really explain why you need a cyborg, I think they can arrange something."

"This only worked last time because Cyrax had no other option. I need to find some way to force Kuai Liang to cooperate."

"Totally not necessary, but you can try if you think you need to. It will give me more material for my monologues at any rate."

"Do not underestimate me, lizard," Nitara said defensively, "The last time you did so you became Onaga's vessel."

"Ah, so that's where that memory came from," Reptile said, letting out a sigh of contentment. "I knew the Dragon King traumatized me in one timeline, now I—" Syzoth paused mid-sentence, his eyes narrowing, "How do you know about that? What exactly did you do?"

"Get harassed by a Zaterran who didn't know when to leave well enough alone," Nitara said in an accusatory tone. "You followed us to Onaga's incubation chamber, where Shao Khan kept the orb, demanding something about the knife I'd promised you or something."

"That doesn't sound like me, getting sentimental over a knife, unless…was it from Zaterra?"

"Would you care that much if it was fake?"

Reptile stood, "That is low! Buying my loyalty with an alleged artifact of my home, and then not even giving me the fake item? At least Shao Khan paid my health insurance!"

"Put yourself in my position, Reptile. I needed someone who could spit acid to damage Cyrax's interdimensional teleporter, and I had an imitation Kirehashi blade on hand. The real ones were used by Zaterran warriors, you are a Zaterran warrior. I used what was on hand."
"Then why didn't you let me keep it?" Syzoth asked.

"I don't know. Maybe I didn't want you to find out it was fake. Maybe I'm just used to betraying people and like keeping up with practicing."

"So, you didn't send Cyrax back to Erathrealm either?"

"No, he could actually hurt me and was not getting possessed by a dragon with the powers of an Elder God."

Reptile tried to sit back down but missed the chair and his rear end collided painfully with the floor, However, the Saurian ninja did not notice. All that was on his mind was that he had gotten screwed over by a boss who kept their promises to someone else once again. He wasn't going to accept this!

Getting back to his chair, he smiled until he felt that his anger was under his control. Through gritted teeth he said, "So you betray people you get to help you, and only hold up your end if they can hurt you back? That's very cynical, Nitara."

"I do what I have to survive. I'm a manipulator. You're a sniveling toady. That's how we get on in Outworld."

"In the parts run by Shao Khan and Mileena. I switched my allegiance to Kotal Khan, who actually respects those under his command. Now I'm a high ranking official. He'd probably try to improve things for the vampires too, if you didn't get on his bad side."

"Didn't he kill all the Tarkatans in this timeline?"

"Like I said, you don't want to get on his bad side. It was all part of his campaign against Mileena, so kudos to him for that. She was the worst boss ever."

"I thought I was?" Nitara said defensively.

"No, you just cheated me. She violated me…physically."

Nitara gaged.

"No, not pleasant to live through, though I think Onaga's mind rape might be even worse, and that is indirectly your fault."

"I didn't make you follow us. You had to have your precious Kirehashi! What happened with Onaga was your own fault."

"Except if you hadn't promised me the stupid blade in the first place, I would have never been following you and Mustard trying to get it."

"Mustard?" Nitara asked quizzically.

"Cyrax is Mustard; Sektor is Ketchup. Any veteran kombatant knows that."

"Is there a Mayo?"

"Not that I'm aware of. Smoke from your timeline and Sub-Zero from mine don't really have color schemes inspired by Earthrealm condiments."

"No, I guess not," she concurred. "So how do you remember Onaga? That happened in my timeline."

"I guess having your body possessed by the Dragon King in any timeline is enough to send memory echoes to any version of yourself."

"Has Onaga ever surfaced in your timeline?" Nitara asked.

"Our timelines hadn't diverged all that much back while he was still khan, so I'm guessing his incubation chamber is still somewhere underground in Outworld. Shinnok might be trying to raise him though. Thinks he's the reincarnation of his dad, Norbert."

Nitara tried to keep a straight face and giggled despite herself. "Norbert? You're serious?"

"That was the One Being's name when he was still one of the Titans."

"Isn't Shinnok Shao Khan's father?"

"Hard to believe when you compare the two, but the DNA confirms it. Shinnok is trying to build a relationship with his estranged son, while Khan wants nothing to do with the old man."

"And Onaga and Shao Khan are enemies, so what is Shinnok thinking?"

"Don't apply reason to anything the Elder God of Death does. You will only hurt yourself. Worst case scenario he will awaken Onaga, unintentionally cause Shao Khan's death, get killed himself, and just set up things for another Earthrealm champion to save the day in another tournament."

"You sound certain."

"I've seen enough timelines, and am pretty sure that their clan matriarch, Kronika, doesn't want her hubby returning."

"Reptile," Nitara said as if her breath had been taken, "I've just had a brilliant idea and, surprisingly, it's all thanks to you."

"Dare I ask?" Syzoth said, the dread in his voice being at least half legitimate.

"It's so simple. Kronika doesn't want the One Being—

"—His name's Norbert—"

"—to be restored. The main way he gets to come back is through realms being merged. Just get Kronika to change history so that Shao Khan never conquers Vaeternus."

"Why don't you just ask Liu Kang and Kitana? They're the keepers of the hourglass now."

"I know Kitana from my timeline. She only cares about Edenia. She'd only replace Outworld's dominion over the realms with an Edenian one."

"I persuaded her to separate Zaterra from both Outworld and Earthrealm in the next timeline, and all it took was some emotional pleading, and Liu Kang talking some sense into her at first."

"But after I manipulated Cyrax—"

"Different timeline, they don't really know Cyrax in this one."

"If they are the keepers of the hourglass then they know all timelines—"

"Only the ones that have already happened. This is a period of chaos were they are all spilling over. It can't last too much longer."

"But how to get them to trust me?"

"Maybe you just go to them without scheming behind their backs to force their hand?"

"But I need to be sure they will agree—no, I'm going to Kronika."

"This should be interesting."

"She wants her old job back and will owe me if I can help her get it."

"You do realize that Liu Kang beat her alone? Now he has Kitana and a council of new Elder Gods to help him," Reptile looked at the vampire as though she were insane-no, stupid.

"Kitana and Liu Kang are the leaders," she said emphatically, "Kronika only needs to defeat them, and you are wrong about something, Reptile."

"Really? What?"

"Last time, Liu Kang had Raiden to help him. I'd take Raiden over Kitana any day."

"Really? Other than immortality he's not that much more powerful than a mortal."

"Silence!" Nitara stood up. "I have a plan now!"

"One which I have a vested interest in opposing. Your new enemies have already promised to free my realm," Syzoth glared at her.

"And how are you going to stop me?"

"Easy," Reptile slid his chair back and pulled a cellphone out of a drawer on the desk. He dialed a number and put the phone to his tympanic membrane.

"Hi, Sonya, Reptile here."

Nitara could vaguely hear a voice on the other side, but couldn't make out anything distinct.

"What's she saying?" The vampire asked.

Syzoth held up his free hand with an open palm signaling Nitara to be quiet. He continued his conversation as if there had been no interruptions.

"I'm doing well, thanks, but listen, I need to warn you that there is a crazy vampire from another timeline who is trying to help Kronika get her job back."

Sonya said something.

"Yeah, she wants her old realm back, which I can totally understand, but she thinks Liu Kang and Kitana won't give it to her unless she forces them. I know, complete idiot. Anyway, if Kronika shows up, do you think you could…great! Thanks!"

Reptile put the phone back in the drawer.

"Sonya, she worked with Cyrax."

"In your timeline, I suppose. In this one she beat Cthulhu."

"Who?"

"Kronika's boss. The leader of the Titans. A sapient giant squid."

Nitara felt the color drain away from her skin as Reptile spoke.

"So, I'm—

-Going to loose," Syzoth interrupted.

"Why did you do this?"

"Payback, dear Nitara, payback. But look on the bright side…you can still beg,"