Chapter XIII

Kindred

The night turned cool outside Bo' Rai Cho's home. No moon was visible, and where Outworld skies were usually deep shades of purple or red, tonight it was solid black that left the land in shadow. To look out the window, it almost seemed as if the rest of the world had disappeared, leaving only the cottage and those inside.

Scorpion stood by the fireplace, staring at the dying embers. He'd forgotten how different it was being a spectre compared to a mortal man. He felt detached and distant, as if he existed in his own private bubble separate from his companions, yet also volatile and raw. The old anger was back, like an exposed nerve, and the familiar fire burned inside.

It was a cruel joke to have been Hanzo Hasashi again. To have the briefest taste of the life he'd lost, just for it to be taken from him again. A part of him had known he was living on borrowed time. Since waking up in this new world, he suspected deep down it would be taken back any moment.

But expectation didn't soften the blow. He got so caught up in helping Sareena and learning the truth of what happened that when it finally hit, he was blindsided all the same.

Quan Chi often tempted him with false promises of restoring his life. Kronika tried to sway him with the same. Hadn't even Raiden made a similar offer once? Somehow, actually getting what he wanted just for it to be torn away was much worse. Quan Chi, Kronika … now Onaga … how many more times must he have his pain and torment exploited? How much longer must Harumi and Satoshi be dangled out of reach before his eyes?

He clenched his fist and reached out with the rage inside him. The embers in the fireplace rekindled. The flames grew, and as the image of his beloved wife and son flashed in his mind, the fire billowed as if fuel was thrown on it.

"Scorpion."

So caught in his anger, he nearly punched the person behind him. Though if Sareena knew how close she came to being struck, she didn't let on. She might have even expected it. He held himself in check with a sting of shame and turned away from her. "What do you want?"

"I just spoke with Ermac," she said. "I asked him if what happened to you could be Onaga. That maybe he was punishing you for …" She paused. "For resisting him."

"What of it?"

"He said it was possible, but he didn't believe so," she replied. "He feels if Onaga was capable of making that kind of change at any moment, he would do more than just revert you to a sprecte. He suggested what happened was more of reality unravelling. Like the earthquakes."

Scorpion said nothing. It didn't really matter if it was mere chance or Onaga's deliberate action. It amounted to the same thing either way. Harumi and Satoshi were alive—or at least he hoped they still were—but gone to him once again. Could he even bear his wife and son to see the thing he was now?

"It still doesn't make me feel better," Sareena said. When he turned to her, he was struck by how distressed she looked. "I can't help but feel I had something to do with it. If you had handed me over to Ashrah … or maybe if I hadn't gone to you at all … maybe you would still be …"

Clarity came to him, as if his anger was a thick fog he managed to see through. How quickly he started to wallow in his rage and self-pity did he forget who he was. It was that exact blindness that allowed Quan Chi to manipulate him for so long.

"No," he said. "No, I made my choice. I knew there would be risk."

He focused his thoughts, pushing away the old anger that had driven and controlled him, and remembered what it was to be Hanzo Hasashi. Not just alive, but a man who could do what was right. He may be a spectre again, but he could still hold onto his humanity.

"I knew from the start there would be a price for having my wife and son back. If this is it, then so be it. What's important is we stop Onaga before any more damage is done."

She seemed to take comfort in that. "I know I told you already," she said. "But thank you for believing me. I … I know what I am. I know where I come from. It does mean a lot to me to have someone's trust."

She smiled and left him to get some rest. Scorpion closed his eyes and kept his focus. He remembered how his future self had urged him to let go of his rage and clung to that. Too much was at stake to let his judgment be clouded by his own pain.

And after all, he reminded himself, he wasn't alone in this either.


Kitana sat shaking on the porch outside Bo' Rai Cho's home, though it had nothing to do with the cold air. Her head throbbed from holding back her tears, and she held it tight like it would split open. The darkness surrounding her came as a strange comfort—almost as if the world beyond disappeared and she was allowed a moment in isolation.

She told herself it was a lie. A cruel story Shang Tsung crafted to make up for his own defeat and turn her against Liu. Because Liu would never do anything like that. He would never stand by and allow her and their allies to suffer as they had … even if it was for some greater good. He would never—not Liu Kang. He would find a better way.

Just like her mother would never betray her.

"You look like you could use one of these."

She turned to see Scorpion offering one of Bo' Rai Cho's wine bottles. She hesitated—finding it surreal the undead spectre would offer comfort or sympathy—and almost declined. She never was much for drinking.

But, thinking it over, perhaps she had earned it? She accepted the bottle and popped the cork with her fan. The wine was warm and bittersweet, and just a single sip was indeed soothing and welcome.

"Thank you," she said. "I'd share, but I'm not sure if you can drink."

"I can't. Thanks anyway."

She took another sip as he leaned against the porch railing with his arms crossed. Though it was hard to tell with his mask, his mood seemed somber. "You," she said. "You were still … er, human earlier, right? Had Onaga not granted you your desires, too?"

"He did. I was returned to life along with my wife and son."

"Was that all you wanted? I'm sorry, but … and I mean no disrespect … I don't really know much about you."

"No offense taken," he replied. "To be honest … and I mean no disrespect either … I never paid much thought to you."

"Fair," she said with a chuckle. "It's funny we've been doing this for so for long and yet so rarely have crossed paths."

"I imagine for someone who's lived as long as you, an Earthrealmer's life is a drop in the ocean."

She nodded but felt a little sad at the thought. It was true that through her long life the memory of only a small handful of Earthrealmers stayed with her. And of those few, most were as her enemy, for her loyalty to Shao Kahn took up much of her millennia.

Sometimes—in private moments, when she allowed herself to hope—she thought it romantic the man she came to love would be an Earthrealmer who gained immortality. Maybe even destiny.

Thinking of Liu made Shang Tsung's words echo in her mind. She shuddered and took a swig of wine. "So who are you, Scorpion of Earthrealm?" she asked, hoping to get her mind off it. "What brought you to the Mortal Kombat tournament?"

"I entered the tournament seeking revenge," he said. "In life, I was Hanzo Hasashi—a ninja of the Shirai Ryu clan. Thanks to the machinations of Quan Chi, I was murdered by Sub-Zero, and my family and clan were butchered. I avenged my own death, but it wouldn't be until later I learned of Quan Chi's role."

"And now you seek vengeance against him?"

"I did. Though I suppose that is at an end. Even without Onaga erasing the sorcerer from existence, apparently my future self already killed him."

She nodded and shivered at the realization that even without Onaga, time and space had been left in shambles by Kronika. Scorpion, like her, were left adrift in a future they didn't understand. At least his counterpart managed to make a better life. From what she heard, hers died in disgrace and wound up an embittered revenant.

"What will you do now?" she asked. "What were you planning to do after you killed him?"

"I don't know. For now, I only hope we can stop the Dragon King before anything else can change. As difficult as it may be to bear, I believe I can endure like this if I know my family is alive and safe."

His stared into the distance, and his eyes softened. She knew he felt the same unspoken fear she did: what if they fail?

"What about you?" he asked. "Who are you, Kitana of Outworld? Or was it someplace else?"

"Edenia," she replied. "My true home was a realm Shao Kahn conquered through the Mortal Kombat tournament shorty after I was born. He killed my …" She hesitated, remembering Sindel actually killed her father. "My parents died, and Kahn took me as his own.

"To this day," she continued. "I don't know why. He's said it was to placate my mother. Some have said it was to legitimize his claim to the throne. Maybe it was just for cruelty's sake, nothing more."

She took another gulp of wine and left unsaid the possibility that maybe he truly wanted her as his daughter. He had kept her, raised her, and had her trained. For ten thousand years he was her father. Was it all just an insult? A symbol of his domination over Edenia?

But he favored her, even after Mileena was created. And there was a time … maybe lost to Raiden and Kronika's interference … but she remembered he wanted her back after she turned on him.

"I served my step-father for most of my life. I've done … terrible things in his name. Unforgivable things. When I learned the truth … about him, my family, all of it … I swore I would end Shao Kahn's rule. Restore my home and avenge my family and people. I would … I wanted to make things right."

She shuddered again and felt the tears come. Her head throbbed and heart ached. She resisted with another swig of wine. She didn't want to cry or burden Scorpion of all people with her woes. But the more she fought, the more she felt she would fall apart like broken glass.

Why must everything go so wrong? Her mother betrayed her. Sheeva let her down. Liu allowed her to suffer. How much more betrayal and disappointment must she endure? Was it even worth hoping they could stop Onaga before Edenia was ruined again?

"You can speak," Scorpion said. "It does no good to keep the pain inside. It'll burn your soul if you let it."

"I just don't know what I'm fighting for anymore," she said. "I don't know if you were present at the Sea of Blood, but my mother … it was a lie. All these years, I've fought for the memory of my family and … and that's who she really is?

"I'm fighting for a realm I've never seen. Parents I never knew. People who renounced me when I was at my lowest. And it feels like … like no matter what I do, I can't make it better—as if I'm struggling against the current. Every victory I achieve is robbed from me. Every time I try to trust, I'm betrayed."

She put the bottle down and pressed her palms into her eyes with a pained moan.

"Sometimes it's like I'm not being punished for the things I did in Shao Kahn's name. I'm being punished for even trying to make it right."

Silence came between them. There wasn't even a breeze. The trees, indistinguishable from the black sky above, were as still as the grave. The air was cold, and if they had somehow fallen into some abyss, Kitana wouldn't have been surprised. She might have even welcomed it.

"I've been asking myself," Scorpion said. "Why did we retain our memories? Havik and the others slipped through the cracks. But you and I were both remade in Onaga's new world and remembered everything. Why us?"

It hadn't occurred to her since this started to wonder why she saw through Onaga's dream reality. It seemed most, like Mileena or Sheeva, accepted the world around them until their memories were jogged. Others, like Jade, might remember but still accepted it. But she never believed from the start, and apparently, neither did Scorpion.

"When I first woke up here," he continued. "All I could think was something was wrong. At every turn, I was convinced Quan Chi would reveal himself or some other terrible price would have to be paid."

"So did I," she said. "They told me it was all a bad dream and that my memories would come to me, but … I couldn't believe any of it. As you say, at every turn I expected some horrible revelation or trap."

She looked at him, and his eyes met hers. For a moment, the Edenian Princess and ninja spectre understood each other.

"We've both lost much," he said. "You and I both have suffered too much pain and had that pain used against us. It changes a person."

"And is that what we are? Too broken to accept a perfect world?"

"We are truly the chosen, aren't we?"

She laughed, though more out of shock Scorpion actually made a joke. He didn't laugh—she wondered if he was even capable—but his cold, distant demeanor softened somewhat. It was a strange thing, she thought, to find comfort and comradery in this man she'd been aware of for so long but had never truly spoken to.

"Did you want it?" she asked. "Did you at any point want to accept this world and believe there was no trap or awful price?"

"More than anything."

She nodded. "I'm ashamed to admit … sometimes I wish I had just stayed asleep."

"I thought you saw through this from the start?"

"No," she said. "I mean learning about Shao Kahn. Sometimes I wish … that when I discovered the truth I had walked away. Just put it aside, out of my mind, and go on as if nothing was different."

It had been Mileena that started it. She served Kahn for thousands of years, just to be introduced to her "long lost twin sister." That began her search for answers that led to her discovering the truth about Edenia.

In another timeline, she didn't learn the truth until the Outworld tournament—when Raiden directed her to Shang Tsung's Flesh Pit. Perhaps that was the critical difference between her and her revenant—that timeline's Kitana learned the truth too late?

"I understand your despair," Scorpion said. "I do. But my family and clan lives. Your Edenia remains free. And if we succeed, they'll stay that way. That is real. That is worth fighting for." He looked at her, and though his eyes were ghostly white and face hidden behind a mask, she saw his humanity there. "If there's one thing we have in common, Kitana, it's that we've kept fighting for what we love in spite of everything."

"But what if we fail? What if we stop Onaga, but … something goes wrong?"

He sighed, and she saw he had no answer. In a way, she almost appreciated that. He wouldn't offer her meaningless platitudes or false promises. He had as much to lose as she did, and he knew if the battle went ill, he would be as lost as her.

"There was a time," he said. "After I took my revenge on Sub-Zero, but before I learned the truth about Quan Chi, I sought to regain my lost honor. It led to me to protecting Sub-Zero's brother. It even led to my fighting alongside Raiden's forces.

"I remember now," he continued. "The longer I am a spectre, the more I lose the man I was. The rage grows, and my humanity dwindles. I don't know what I will do if the worst should happen tomorrow. But I can't lose myself again." He sighed. "I suppose I'll just have to find some other way. Keep fighting. It's all I know how to do."

"I don't know if I can," she said. "I've fought for so long. I don't know how many more times it can all be snatched away from me."

"If it's absolution you seek for the things you did for Shao Kahn, consider there might be other ways of finding it. Ways that won't demand you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders."

The night was late, and Kitana felt the wine start to hit. She took one last swig and stood up to go back inside. She couldn't say she felt better about anything, but she took some comfort in knowing she wasn't the only one hurting.

"Scorpion," she said, stopping at the door. "Whatever happens … I hope your family remains safe. I hope you find peace, whatever it may be."

"And may you find the peace you seek as well, your highness."


Sareena looked for a place to rest, though she wasn't sure how much sleep she'd get. She'd seen her share of combat and fought plenty of the Netherealm's worst, but what was to come was unlike anything she'd ever known. It was surreal to even think she of all people would be among the few warriors to defend reality from the Dragon King.

As she headed to the back of the cottage, she noted her allies. Behind her, Scorpion took a bottle of wine and joined Kitana outside. Havik had fashioned himself a make-shift bed of the sheets covering Bo' Rai Cho's furniture and was snoring loudly on the floor. Ermac continued his meditations, hovering a few feet above the floor. Mileena was speaking to him, though she didn't hear and paid no mind.

"It's almost endearing how hard you try."

She entered the darkened dojo in the back and found Shang Tsung sitting in the shadows with his bottle of wine. Or maybe he opened a fresh one, she wasn't sure.

"What's that?" she asked.

"The way you ingratiate yourself to them," he said. "So eager to prove you're not like the rest of your kind."

"I'm a little surprised you're even still here. I thought you said you weren't going to fight the Dragon King?"

"I'm not," he said, taking a sip. "But I'll open a portal to the Nexus. I suppose it would be preferable if you people won, but it's all the same to me."

She huffed and leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. "So even in the face of oblivion," she said. "Shang Tsung can't be bothered to do the noble thing just once."

"'Noble thing,'" he repeated with a dismissive chuckle. "You've been around these mortals too long. Tell me: do you think if you survive this, you'll get a reward? A pat on the head? Will they give you a treat, like a good little dog?"

"It's so unbelievable to you, isn't it? You can't comprehend even the idea I—or anyone I bet—would just want to help others."

"Altruism is a delusion at best. A sickness at worst. But, fine, demon. What is so special about Sub-Zero that inspires such undying loyalty? Indulge me. What is it about the ice ninja that makes you so dedicated to do 'good?'"

"He was kind to me."

She hesitated, thinking there should be more to it than that, but it was the truth.

"Bi-Han spared my life once, and yes, I just wanted to escape the Netherealm. But his brother … he took me in. He gave me sanctuary despite what I was. I know Raiden warned him befriending a demon doesn't come without risk, but he helped me anyway.

"For most of my existence," she continued. "I've known nothing but the Netherealm. Pain, horror, torture, cruelty … and that was even before I was damned to the 5th Plane. But Sub-Zero … that was the first time anyone has ever been kind to me."

Tsung smirked and offered a mocking clap. "Touching, demon. Truly. A mere moment's pity, and you're ready to throw your life away. But make no mistake: if you die tomorrow, you won't be missed. Not even your precious Sub-Zero will pay you more than a passing thought."

She frowned but said nothing in response. She could insist Kuai Liang cared about her. She could point out how Scorpion helped her. But she knew it would fall on deaf ears. The only real question, she supposed, was if Shang Tsung believed it or was just antagonizing her for his own amusement.

"You don't have to die," he said. "Onaga's tinkering affects you no more than it affects me."

"I'm not a coward."

"No. You're a survivor. You did what you needed to endure the Netherealm, and you did what you needed to escape. You're a demon—no one expects anything from you. Treachery perhaps … but not a single person here is relying on you to make a difference."

She held herself. "You think I don't know that? I know what I am, and I know what they all think of me." She looked at the darkened dojo that smelled of age and dust and wondered how many warriors and heroes Bo' Rai Cho had trained through the ages. "I'm no hero."

"But you wish you were," he said, leaning forward. "You can say it over and over, but I see the truth of you. You wish you were counted among the legends of Mortal Kombat. You dream of standing with the great heroes and champions. You want to be remembered as one of the chosen defenders." He took a swig of wine and finished, "Yes, you are no being of Light, Sareena. But you so wish you were."

She meant to deny it. To hear it spoken aloud, it sounded childish and absurd. Yet she felt exposed and ashamed all the same. Since coming to Earthrealm, hadn't she dreamed of being the great hero? Proving those that doubted her wrong, but more importantly, proving those that believed in her right? To be counted alongside the likes of Sub-Zero, Liu Kang, Kitana, and so many others?

"A pretty dream," he said. "But that's all it is. Even if by some miracle you survive tomorrow's battle, they won't have you."

"So what would you have me do?" she asked. "If I turned my back on them, where would I go?"

"You could come with me."

She expected to see a mocking glint in his eye or sarcastic sneer. But his face was solemn, and he sat slouched in his chair with the wine bottle on his lap. He wouldn't even look her in the eye.

"I am not Quan Chi," he said. "Nor am I Shao Kahn. I could be … kind. To you."

She stared at him, stunned. His tone was awkward and not his usual snide style. She sensed no lying or deceit in him. He actually meant it.

"You don't even know how."

"We're both survivors," he said. "We could do well together. I could teach you better ways to maintain your human form. Make you stronger." He hesitated, and to her surprise, he actually attempted to come across as genuine. "I could … think of worse companions."

"What a pair we'd make," she said. "Two demons, feeding off the world, and with not a care for anyone or anything." She shook her head. "Empty and cold."

He frowned. "I offer you life. I offer power. Companionship. And you have the gall to turn me away. For them?!"

"You mock me for wanting to be a part of their world," she said. "To be accepted. As if you're different? You think I don't see what you really want?"

"Bah," he scoffed. "What do you know of anything?"

"We are demons. You may not have been born in the Netherealm, but we are kin, Shang Tsung. We were born empty. So we crave. We hunger. And we try so hard to find something to fill it. You want life, you want to feel … you want what they have.

"And you hate Earthrealm and its gods and champions because they denied you that," she continued. "So you can dress yourself in your fancy clothes, and construct massive palaces, and live on your private island with all its riches, and you can gobble up soul after soul for all time, but none of it will fill that cold empty place where our own souls are supposed to be."

He sat back with his bottle of wine, a scowl on his face. She almost expected him to hit her or throw it at her. "You won't fill it either," he said. "You kill yourself for nothing."

"Maybe," she said. "All I know is meeting Kuai Liang was the first time in my life I ever felt true warmth."

She let out a light laugh at the irony of it. A man who controlled ice made me warm.

"And that's worth the risk."

He frowned with a sigh and sank into his chair slightly. "Have it your way," he said. "Throw your life away on meaningless heroics. And even if you survive, you'll only condemn yourself to further pain and disappointment." He stood up and left the dojo, but not before adding, "You don't need to believe me. Just ask the Princess."

End of Chapter XIII