Chapter Eleven: Sun Do's Rebellion
"The Mortal Kombat tournament. The Elder Gods created this competition in order to give Earthrealm a chance to defend itself after the merging of Edenia and Outworld. It is only for those who can stomach an unimaginable amount of blood and gore. Some fight for the sake of their own realms while others fight for their own personal reasons. If I may ask, why was the Lin Kuei participating in the tournament? I did not think your clan…"
"They are not our clan. Not anymore."
Smoke interrupted Master Bo Rai Cho. He and Tundra were not going to stand by and be wrongly associated with their former brethren.
"Tundra and I defected from the Lin Kuei. Oniro wanted to transform us into robotic slaves."
"Oniro? It looks like old age has finally weakened his mind. Why would he want to do anything as foolish as that?"
"I do not know, and honestly, I do not care to know. No reason could possibly justify these actions."
"No, I cannot say there is. I am sorry that you two were driven away from your former comrades, but I must say that I am relieved. The Lin Kuei has quite an infamous reputation. Neither of you belonged in that clan."
"Yes, well… some of us had no choice but to join."
Tundra knew what Smoke meant. While the cryomancer was raised by the clan from an infant, Tomas did not have the options Kuai thought he had. He used to believe that he had the choice of leaving the Lin Kuei whenever he wanted, but his friend knew better. If the gray ninja had not been recruited, more than likely, he would have been killed. Of course, Smoke told Tundra that he agreed to join the clan for the sole purpose of finding his memories. He did not want to admit that he was afraid of dying if he refused. Kuai hated how oblivious he was of true nature of the Lin Kuei.
Tundra sighed and placed a hand on Smoke's shoulder. He then thought it would be better if they continued their previous conversation. They could not afford to be sidetracked.
"In this tournament, did you see my brother's killer?"
"Yes. However, you would not believe me if I told you that he is a specter of the Netherrealm… and a member of the Shirai Ryu."
Small gasps escaped the ninjas' mouths. Bi-han was killed by a Shirai Ryu?
"But, we thought the Shirai Ryu were destroyed."
"They were. The Netherrealm sorcerer, Quan Chi, brought this one back to life and his rage against Sub-zero and the Lin Kuei is illimitable."
"Why would this Shirai Ryu have a grudge against Sub-zero?"
"When the specter first appeared, just before his battle against a pupil of mine named Kung Lao, he claimed that Sub-zero was responsible for the death of his family and clan."
What? Smoke, Tundra, Sub-zero… they were all killers. But none of them would ever participate in any genocide, even if the victims were their rivals. There were innocents among the Shirai Ryu just like in the Lin Kuei. Both Tomas and Kuai shook their heads at the thought.
"My brother would never have done such a thing. Yes, we were assassins and we were taught never to hesitate when killing someone, but we still have morals. Rivals or not, if you exterminate a clan, you are killing a family, something we would never want anyone to do to us."
"Tundra is right. We only killed those that intended to harm us. I do not believe there was any reason for Sub-zero to help murder the entire Shirai Ryu. You do know that includes children, yes? There must be some mistake."
Bo Rai Cho listened to the two ninjas as they spoke up for their fallen brother. He himself had not talked to the elder cryomancer that much when he was alive so he cannot say whether the man was capable of doing such a feat.
"I do not know the truth behind the specter's words, but that is what I heard."
"What is his name? The Shirai Ryu?"
"If I remember correctly, it was Scorpion. In fact, his attire made him look much like a scorpion. He was the original fire man, Tomas."
Smoke had to laugh. Tundra, however, was not amused.
"Is he participating in the tournament here in Outworld?"
"I am not sure, but if Quan Chi is there, Scorpion is bound to be there as well. The tournament is being held in Shao Kahn's palace. It will not be easy getting in there without an invitation."
"If this Scorpion is there, we will find a way."
Kuai then stood up from his seat and headed to the door. Tomas quickly caught up with him just as he grabbed the door handle and stopped him. The gray ninja lowered his voice so Bo Rai Cho and Li Mei could not hear him.
"Kuai, I understand you want to go after Scorpion, but we cannot attack him blindly. Besides, we still have to find a way in the palace. If we can get to Shang Tsung and tell him that we are still Lin Kuei, he may allow us to fight in the tournament and then…"
"I do not care about that stupid competition! Once Scorpion is defeated, we will have no more reasons to battle anyone else."
"I know that, but we need to think carefully about this. If we make one mistake, it could cost us our lives. Now that we know who Scorpion is and he does not know anything about us, we have an advantage. We know to know his skills, his strengths, his weaknesses. Master Bo Rai Cho may have more intel on those."
"Maybe so, but…"
Banging on the door interrupted the two ninjas' conversation. Tundra pulls his hand away from the handle and he and Smoke stepped back. They looked back at Bo Rai Cho and Li Mei. Li Mei stepped forward and told Tomas and Kuai to hide in one of the rooms. Her master led the way. Once they were out of sight, Li Mei shouted to the person on the other side of the door.
"Who is it?"
"Open the door now! The emperor demands your cooperation!"
Li Mei's eyes widen. Tarkatan. Why in the name of the gods were they here? If they saw her, she was doomed. She felt someone pulling on her arm and saw that it was Bo Rai Cho.
"Go. I will take care of them."
Li Mei was about to argue with him, but there was no time for that. She simply nodded and joined Smoke and Tundra, closing the room door behind her. Bo Rai Cho took a deep breath, smiled, and opened the door. He was greeted by three tarkatan with one wearing a red tunic and imperial armor. He must be a someone of high-rank like a general. The other two wore simple gis and black boots.
"Rumors have spread that two Earthrealmers have entered Outworld without the emperor's knowledge. One of the villagers here claimed that you have these trespassers in your care."
"My friend, you should know better than to listen to such rumors. I have not seen a single Earthrealmer in Sun Do and if I did, I would inform the emperor immediately."
"We are no friends of yours, drunk. How you have come to be called a master of anything is beyond me. But our lord believes that your skills are useful."
"Why, I am flattered."
"What I do not understand, however, is why you did not participate in the last tournament or the one currently taking place."
"Excuse me?"
It was a good question, Smoke and Tundra thought. Maybe Bo Rai Cho did not want to get involved because he feared for his own life, but the two have heard that the drunk trained Earthrealm warriors so they could fight in the tournament. But why have others fight instead when he seemed more than capable of fighting himself? Tomas started listening again to the exchange between Bo Rai Cho and the unwelcomed guest.
"Nevermind that. We will need to search your house for the intruders. I could care less about your personal life."
"Is that really necessary?"
Bo Rai Cho's question was answered when all three tarkatan summoned their blades from their arms. The plump man kept a smile on his shook his head. The general tarkatan suddenly started sniffing the air and grunted in disgust.
"They are here. I can smell them. The foul stench of Earthrealm."
He tried to walk past Bo Rai Cho to get inside his house, but the drunk blocked the tarkatan's path.
"Step aside."
"I apologize, but I will not. I still have not answered your question."
"What?"
"You asked why I do not fight in the tournament. I wish to tell you."
"I told you I do not…"
Bo Rai Cho took a step towards the tarkatan to close the gap between them. Their noses were barely an inch apart.
"Outworld is my home. I was born here and anyone who is born here serves Outworld and only Outworld. If I was victorious in Mortal Kombat, my victory goes to Shao Kahn, correct?"
"… Yes. And?"
"Well, you see, that is a problem."
Bo Rai Cho grabbed his flask and took a huge swig of his beverage. As he lowered his drink, he opened his mouth as though he was going to burp. Instead, fire shot out of his mouth like a dragon. The armored tarkatan had no time to react as the flames engulfed him. He screamed and lashed out at Bo Rai Cho, but the drunk swiftly moved out of the way and the burning creature fell face-first into the living room of his home. The smell of fire and burning flesh reached Smoke's nose first and he cracked opened the door to see where it was coming from. When he saw the flaming body on the floor, he looked up at Master Bo Rai Cho in shock as he moved towards the other two tarkatan. Was he the one who did this?
Bo Rai Cho continued forward and with every step he took, the two tarkatan stepped back. The drunken master laughed at them.
"I do not and will not ever fight for Outworld as long as it is under Shao Kahn's rule. Edenia has already fallen victim to the emperor's thirst for power. Earthrealm will not suffer the same fate."
The tarkatan just snarled and got into their fighting stances. Bo Rai Cho did the same. Inside the house, Li Mei saw her master's jo by the fire. Before anyone could stop her, she ran into the living room and grabbed the weapon.
"Master!"
Bo Rai Cho looked back and Li Mei threw the jo to him. He caught the weapon in one swift motion and pointed it at the tarkatan. Their heads snapped up to see the newcomer.
"Wait… you are one of the rebels. You escaped imprisonment!"
"Yes, she did. And I was the one who helped her. Shao Kahn had no right to capture her or her people in the first place."
"That is not for you to decide! We will have your heads for your defiance!"
With a roar, the tarkatan charged at Bo Rai Cho and Li Mei. Smoke and Tundra were about to come to their aid, but just as the tarkatan launched themselves at their prey, Li Mei released fireballs from her hands and threw them in front of the incoming attackers. The force of the blows launched the tarkatan into the air. One flew into a nearby house while the other landed in an open area in the village's square. The one in the house struggled to get up from the rubble, but Li Mei appeared and placed her foot on his throat. Bo Rai Cho approached the other tarkatan and thrusted the end of his jo into the his chest to keep him on the ground. He looked to the villagers that had surrounded the area when they heard the commotion.
"What are you fools staring at!? Serve your emperor and dispose of these traitors!"
For a while, the people of Sun Do just stared at the tarkatan and Bo Rai Cho. It felt like forever before someone actually stepped up and confronted the fighters. It was a man with short brown hair and he was carrying a pitchfork. He stopped by the tarkatan's head and looked at Bo Rai Cho.
"Allow me to finish this, Master Bo Rai Cho."
"What!?"
The tarkatan was stunned at the villager's words. Soon, others stepped up as well and joined the brown-haired man. They too carried pitchforks and other items that could be used as weapons. One even ran to the tarkatan and kicked him right in the face.
"We are sick of this, tarkatan!"
"We are prisoners in our own homes! We cannot live like this anymore!"
"Shao Kahn needs to be stopped!"
Everyone started voicing their thoughts on Shao Kahn's rule and some through slurs at the tarkatan. Li Mei smiled as the villagers rebelled and Bo Rai Cho took another swig of his drink. Tomas and Kuai finally stepped out the house and saw the display.
"It looks like we are not the only ones rebelling against unjust rule, right Kuai?"
"It seems that way. I guess it was a good thing we stayed as long as we did. The people of Sun Do needed this."
"Yes, but let us not make a habit out of making rebels wherever we go. We have our own problems to worry about."