So, this one's a short chapter, but nonetheless, I'm happy with it. Not too much to say other than enjoy!
In a barren wasteland far from the forest, we see two new people: one clad in all grey and giving off a smokey aura, and another that appears to be dressed like Sub-Zero. There was burning buildings in the background, but neither seemed the care. Neither did they care about the corpses scattered around them.
"We should stay together, Tundra." the one in grey recommended, " Assuming your brother's identity will certainly draw attention. Not all of it welcome."
"You are right, Smoke." the blue one complied, "But assuming Bi-Han's identity is the best way to honor him."
The grey one, now known as Smoke, nodded. "Let us proceed then, Sub-Zero."
"We should separate. Our fellow Lin Kuei will not be far behind once our absence is discovered." said Sub-Zero.
"If only they had been more forthcoming with the details of your brother's demise..." Smoke shook his head, "We will find Shang Tsung. He will tell us all he knows."
"If he killed Bi-Han, he will die." Sub-Zero mused as he turned to face his friend. "Be stealthful as the night..."
The two placed a hand over their hearts as Smoke spoke, "...and deadly as the dawn."
Sub-Zero remains silent before walking off. As Smoke watches him leave, he turns around at the sound of a new voice. Walking towards him was Kitana, and she didn't look too pleased.
"The emperor was wise to send me here." the voice, now found to belong to Kitana, spoke, "The Lin Kuei do walk uninvited in his realm, as does that pesky rogue Elder God."
Smoke faced her, snorting in amusement. "Wise though your emperor might be, he was foolish to send his housemaid to interfere with Lin Kuei business."
That statement did NOT set well with the blue clad assassin. "I am Kitana, Princess of Outworld!" She corrected, "And I deal harshly with sharp-tongued intruders!" She flung her fan towards him, Smoke dodging it. Nearby resting on a rock was a strange man dressed in belly dancer clothing, a very long scarf, and a veil over his face. all colored pink or light blue. He appeared to be napping. The sounds of fighting, however, did wake him up, and he looked quite upset.
"Man, I can't catch a break…" he mumbles, getting up and turning to see the fight. He notices one is Kitana, looking more annoyed.
"Oh. No wonder. Didn't wanna have to do this, but I'd rather keep my head on my shoulders…" The man lowers his veil, and takes a deep breath. Waiting for the right moment, he lets out a horrible, ear piercing scream. Kitana and Smoke both yell in pain, Smoke running off while he could towards the forest while Kitana fell to the ground, clutching her ears. After a few more seconds, he stops screaming, putting his veil back on and jumping down towards the Edenian Princess, looking at her. Kitana didn't notice him due to being in pain from the scream still.
"Sorry, Princess. Not today." He tells her before running off himself. It takes Kitana a few minutes to recover, and when she did, she looks furious.
"That Siren will pay for such insolence when I get my hands on him!"
"Hey, look at this."
Azriel, Johnny, and Jax were in the outer areas of the Living Forest, just exploring around. Azriel could sense the very faint presence of Rei and Raiden deep within, and just looks slightly frustrated. She and Jax look over to where Johnny was, the actor picking up a piece of purple cloth that was stuck to a tree branch.
"This looks like it came from Rei's top. Is she and Raiden around here?" He asks.
"Probably, I can faintly sense them here." Azriel answers, looking around, "Looks like this amulet does nerf my powers a bit… That should have sent them directly to the Soul Tombs, not here."
"Hey, you're still probably stronger than anything here regardless, right? You're an Elder God!" Johnny assures with a smile, "And everyone makes mistakes, don't beat yourself up over it. I'm sure they're fine."
CRASH!
Johnny and Jax flinch from the sudden sound of something collapsing in the distance, Azriel chuckling. "Yep, I'm sure they are fine. Probably destroying something deeper into the forest. Like I always taught Rei, "More rubble, less trouble!""
"Is everyone in your realm like that?" asks Jax, finding a small piece of blue cloth on the ground, most likely belonging to Raiden's clothes.
"Oh yes. Asali are assholes by nature. If they aren't profusely cussing you out and telling you "fuck off" every 5 minutes, you're doing something wrong." Azriel explains, "They just like to have fun, do things at their own pace, and chill."
"You made them that way?" asks the actor, passing by the legs from a devoured putrid corpse.
"Not intentionally, but they did adapt my personality during the early years where I was a LOT bitchier and stupid. I let them thrive on their own while I keep my watchful eye over them. I wanted them to be independent and not depend on me unless the situation absolutely requires my help. It's worked very well, they've thrived so much and made Purgatory what it is today, a paradise and a never ending party." Azriel answers, "Maybe one day I'll take you and your fellow Earthrealmer friends to my realm for a visit. I just know you all will enjoy it."
"Now that would sound like a good time to use my vacation days if what you said was true." Jax chuckles, "A never ending party sounds great."
"Oh, it is, trust me!" Azriel beams happily, both she and Jax ignoring Johnny screaming as he was flung over them by the same tree that had thrown Rei around earlier, the man landing a few feet in front of them groaning in pain.
"I hate this fucking forest already…"
In another part of the forest, Smoke can be seen sneaking behind trees, slowly getting closer to something that had intrigued him. From where he was, he sees Kano and Shang Tsung, the two holding rocket launchers and testing them out. The sound of rockets exploding in the distance is heard, and the sorcerer looks quite impressed.
"With a whole army totin' these, no one in Outworld or Earthrealm could stand up to you." Kano pitched as he shot off a rocket into the distance. Shang Tsung examines another launcher as the sound of another explosion was heard.
"Well done. You may tell your fellow Black Dragon that I am very interested in your merchandise." Shang Tsung praised, watching as Kano shot off another rocket. Smoke then walks into the clearing.
"Shang Tsung!" He called out, both Shang Tsung and Kano looking rather bothered at the intrusion.
"I'll take care of him. No charge." Kano offered as he puts down the rocket launcher and walks towards Smoke.
"One dead Lin Kuei in a tick." He boasted as another fight broke out. Shang Tsung whistles for some assistance in getting the various weapons out of there, several Tarkata coming to his aid. They quickly got all the weapons out of there safely, one staying behind with Shang Tsung with the proper payment for Kano. However, Smoke ends up winning the fight with the mercenary, Kano unconscious.
"Stay down. I would have words with your associate." The Lin Kuei warned as Shang Tsung walked into Smoke's path. Smoke turned to him.
"Tell me what you know of Sub-Zero's death." He demanded. Reptile suddenly appears next to Shang Tsung and snarls, ready for combat. Shang Tsung simply stops him from advancing and attempts to morph into the Elder Sub-Zero. Keyword: attempt as when he tried, he failed, leaving him in a state of 'what the fuck?'
Smoke looked rather confused. "What?"
Shang Tsung mumbled something to himself that Smoke faintly heard had something do with with Asali before he faced Smoke. "Despite his failure at my tournament, I'll wager he was more powerful than you, Lin Kuei."
"Insulting my strength will get you nowhere, Sorcerer." Smoke retorted as once again, a brawl broke out. Tasked with facing both Reptile and Shang Tsung at once, Smoke ends up in one of the most difficult fights of his life. Nonetheless, he uses all of his skill and tricks and manages to defeat both kombatants. The fight over, Shang Tsung fell to his knees.
"Now answer me! What do you know of Sub-Zero?!" Smoke demanded, about to go punch the daylights out of the fallen sorcerer when suddenly, he himself was punched in the face instead.
"What?" Smoke shouted before another voice spoke up.
"Smoke!"
As Smoke looks around, he gets hit in the stomach. He's struck twice more and staggers back. Smiling at the distraction, Shang Tsung conjures up his magic and teleport himself and Reptile away. Somehow during the fight, Kano managed to slip away as well. And above them, there was the sounds of something creaking, as if it was about to break. Sektor disables his camouflage and stands in front of Smoke - but not as a human. He was now completely cyberized.
"You have disobeyed the directive to remain at the Lin Kuei temple." the cyborg stated.
"Sektor?!" Smoke stammered in disbelief.
"You will return with us to begin your transformation." Sektor continued, not bothered by Smoke's shock.
"You actually did it..." Smoke couldn't believe it, "You're a cyborg!"
"We are the Lin Kuei. More stealthful than the night... more deadly than the dawn!"
Smoke gets ready to fight for his life when suddenly, there was a very loud snap above, followed by the sounds of shrieking. Smoke barely had time to react as he looks up and shrieks, ducking and covering his head. Sektor reacted far too late as the remnants of a bridge, lookout post, and several dead guards came crashing down from above. Once the dust and debris dissipate, Smoke opens his eyes, realizing he came out without a scratch on him. Meanwhile, all around him was the debris of the post, now dead guards, and many other crushed cyberized Lin Kuei. Sektor had been knocked out by the bridge part, some sparks coming off of him. Smoke had the biggest look of confusion.
"What in the world…" he mutters looking up.
"Sucks to suck, assholes!" one voice yells.
"And STAY out!" another yells. A loud sigh was heard following that. Smoke couldn't see where the voices come from or who they belonged to, but he was very thankful nonetheless.
"Whoever you are, I thank you greatly!" He yells, but never got an answer. He took the time to examine some of his cyberized comrades as Azriel, Johnny, and Jax emerged from the forest, having heard the loud crash and came running over.
"You ok?" Jax calls out to him, Smoke looking over. Other Earthrealmers were here too? It was a welcome sight to him.
"Yes, I am fine. I'm not quite sure what just happened, but I believe I had help from above. Literally." he answers, "I was almost cyberized by my own allies…"
"Ouch." Jax examines some of the cyborgs as well, more interested in the tech. Azriel comes over.
"Hello, darling~ Are you lost?" She asks. Smoke could feel the godly aura around her, bowing out of instinct.
"N-No, but I am on a mission, and could require your assistance." He sees Raiden's amulet on Azriel's hip, raising a brow, "You bear Lord Raiden's Amulet…!"
"Oh yes! I'm in charge of Team Earthrealm right now. I sent Raiden and my daughter on a mission. I'm an Elder God, you see." She grins as Smoke's expression immediately pales. Johnny pats him on the back.
"She's cool, don't worry about it." He assures the assassin, who calms down a bit.
"Mind if I haul one of these back to S.F. with me? This tech looks interesting." Jax says, lifting one of the deactivated cyborg Lin Kuei onto his shoulder. Smoke just shrugs.
"Do as you want with it, that thing is no longer my ally." He says, glancing over at Sektor, "The red is Sektor, a former ally of mine."
"Wait, that's Sektor? The hell happened to him?!" Johnny looks stunned.
"The Cyber Initiative got him." answered the grey Lin Kuei, "Me and Sub-Zero were against it, and when we heard that were to be joining it, we came here."
"Call my crazy with a K… But didn't we see him die?" Johnny looks over at Jax, who nods in confirmation.
Smoke ignores Johnny. "The Grand Master intends to turn all of the Lin Kuei into cyborgs. My friend is in danger."
"We can help you there, young one." Azriel assures, "In fact, I believe your friend may be interested in the tournament that is going on. Join us, and we will help you and your friend stay safe and away from that crazy motherfucker that is your Grand Master."
Smoke just looks both confused and stunned at Azriel's words. What Elder God talks like that ? Johnny just laughs at his expression.
"You'll get used to it."
"Well, that was an ordeal."
"That was scary…"
Kung Lao just rocks Jin as the last of the Shaolin escapes the ship and return to Earthrealm via a portal Liu Kang opened up with a strange crystal gifted to him by Azriel. Kung Lao was still outraged that the Tarkata had the nerve to take his little cousin, and swore they would pay. However, Liu Kang had beaten him to the punch, having used his newfound enhanced abilities to burn almost all of them into nothing but ashes and cinders.
"Liu Kang, I don't think it would be safe to send Jin back with them. What if more Tarkata show up and try to kill more of them?" Kung Lao muses.
"Are you saying he's safer with us here in Outworld? Lao, there's just as big of a chance as him getting hurt here than he is back home." Liu Kang argues. The other Shaolin just shook his head.
"We have Azriel to guide us, plus you are basically a Fire God at this point with those bracers she gifted you. You nearly burned down the ship as I was evacuating our fellow monks." Kung Lao says, Jin clinging to him and shaking, "I don't want my little cousin hurt."
"Your Papa Wolf is showing, brother."
"Well, someone's has to! I don't trust my uncle and aunt more than I can throw my hat. If they can't protect Jin, who will?"
Liu Kang did have to admit, Kung Lao's aunt and uncle were incompetent at times, and seeing as they weren't able to keep the 4 year old safe, was it safer to keep him with them? He doesn't know what to do.
"I wanna stay with Lao!" Jin whines, "Don't wanna be taken by Tarkata again!"
"Even he agrees he'll be safer with us! Please, Liu." Kung Lao says, rocking Jin again to calm him down, "I'd rather get chewed out by Raiden or our Elders than see Jin get hurt or killed."
Liu Kang sighs heavily. "Fine, but if Raiden, Azriel, or our Elders ask, this was YOUR idea. I'm not getting yelled at again."
Kung Lao just chuckles. "It is worth both the risk and the punishment."
"Yay!" Jin looks happy.
"Until we are sure he'll be safe, give me your hat." Liu Kang says.
Kung Lao sputters a bit. "W-What? What do you need with my hat?"
"Your main focus is going to be Jin. I'll be the one fighting. I know how to use your hat just as well as you do."
"Liu Kang, the last time you tried to use it, you nearly decapitated Raiden and Kai and caused another monk to get stitches in his arm. The day I give you my hat is the day Raiden says a swear word other than damn and hell in English."