Noob hadn't seen Sareena since he had attempted steal back Shinnoks's amulet. She probably saved his life when she helped him defeat Quan Chi. She was supposedly killed by Shinnok.
"Sareena?" He asked again dumbly.
You've said that already. Saibot reminded, more angry due to Sareena's presence than his tactless questioning.
"It's been too long Bi Han. You've, changed." Sareena said uncertainly.
Noob was compelled to look at himself. Sareena had known him as Sub Zero, with white skin and deep blue eyes and clothes.
"I thought you were dead." Noob told her.
"No, not dead. When Shinnok blasted me, he destroyed my human form. I was also sent deep into the planes of the Netherrealm where I was..." She closed her eyes and shuddered.
Noob approached her and put his hand on her shoulder, despite intense protests from Saibot.
"It was horrible. As soon as I found a way to escape, I took it and promised myself never to come back."
"Why have you come back? If Quan Chi or Shinnok find you they won't forgive your treachery."
Why do you care?
Sareena placed her hand on his and gently pulled it from her shoulder. Noob back and forth between his hand in hers and her face. Saibot assaulted him with suspicion, but he ignored it.
"I came back for you." Sareena told him softly.
Noob's mouth hung open behind his mask, unsure of what to say. Saibot's suspicion and rantings were drown out by his memory of the time he had met Sareena.
In his journey into the Netherealm to steal back the amulet he had retrieved for Quan Chi, Noob, Sub Zero at the time, had encountered Kia, Jataaka, and Sareena. While Kia and Jataaka lay dead by his hands, Sareena was at his mercy. She looked up at him, afraid. He clenched his fists full of rage, every moment of his training, every instinct he had, every subconscious desire pushed him towards killing her. And yet, with all the killing he had already done, with the influence of the dead and fiery realm clawing at his soul, he decided that he didn't need to kill her, that enough was enough.
You mean you were satiated for the time. Saibot said, breaking through.
Satisfied. He had killed enough to be satisfied for the time. Noob never thought of it that way.
"I didn't need to kill her."
If you had not gotten to kill the others, you would have killed her. You needed to kill.
"What do you mean you came back for me?" Noob asked Sareena, cutting of the conversation with Saibot.
"You helped me realize that I could be more than just a demon in service of Quan Chi. You showed me compassion, I never knew what that was like." Sareena took his hand in both of hers.
Don't listen to her.
Noob ignored his inner thoughts, completely focused on Sareena.
"I want to help free you." She told him.
She is lying!
These expressions of concern and compassion were almost completely alien to Noob, he couldn't remember the time anyone had made him feel this way.
"You can come with me, and together with your brother and the Lin Kuei we can purify your soul, and you can be free from Quan Chi."
The mention of his brother and the Lin Kuei made his hand turn stone like, stiff and wrapped around hers but not holding it. His brow furrowed and he raised his head back to his full height staring at her with betrayal and accusation.
"My brother sent you here?"
"After I escaped the Netherrealm I encountered your brother, and he allowed me to join the Lin Kuei."
She is trying to use you.
"You want me to defect to Kitana's resistance." Noob accused.
"Your brother has allied with Kitana so that he could try and save you!" Sareena told him.
They want Outworld for themselves.
"You want me to help Kitana gain control of Outworld."
"Bi Han..."
Noob tore his hand from hers.
"My name is Noob Saibot! Bi Han is dead!"
"I don't believe that."
"No? The Lin Kuei as I knew it is dead, my younger brother betrayed it and now weakens it with his leadership, I am a wraith of the Netherrealm, no longer a cryomancer. Everything about Bi Han is dead and gone," He put out his hands to gesture to their surroundings.
"Gone up in flames!"
Sareena stood defiant against his words.
"What about me?"
Noob felt Saibot try to leave his body, and behind him his shadow warped. It took all his willpower to console the livid being, and be quickly turned his back on Sareena.
"Leave Sareena. I won't inform Quan Chi of your being here if you just leave now."
He heard the crunch of burnt rock, she must have been walking away.
"And tell Kuai La.. Tell Sub Zero that he is wasting his time, and putting his own life and yours at risk. If either of you know what is good for you, you will stay out of the Netherrealm and leave Kitana to die."
"Do you think people can change their nature...Noob?" He heard Sareena ask.
"I like to think so. Even if someone can't, they can control it."
Noob turned around just in time to see a puff of smoke. It cleared and Sareena was gone.
Dont let it get you.
"I won't."
It already has.
Tremor sat crossed legged on the stony ground of a balcony overlooking a large staging area for Rain's armies. The hellish looking torturers pounded scorching hot metal into shapes of razor sharp blades, pointed spear tips, and heavy clubs and hammers. Many tarkatans and several masked guards were busy with distributing these weapons, and he even saw crates of firearms being cracked open. Rifles, machine guns, rocket launchers. Under his mask Tremor smirked as he saw one of the tarkatans holding a gun backwards, the barrel pointed towards his face.
"Some of them have never even held a gun before." He said to himself.
"I think he'll learn the hard way."
Tremor turned his head and came face to breasts with Mileena. His height had advantages beyond just reaching the top shelf, two big advantages. He aimed his eyes upwards to find hers.
"Is that a joke? Because it's good."
"It will be even funnier if I'm right."
"I'm sure. It's Mileena, correct?"
She lifted his chin with her finger so that he faced her instead of her globes.
"Correct. However it should be Empress Mileena."
"Oh?" Tremor asked.
Mileena walked over to the edge of the balcony and leaned over, placing her hands on the railing and looking out across the action below. It was not lost on Tremor that she seemed to be jeating out her backside more than was probably necessary. He smirked and his hard lidded eyes rolled.
So it's that kind of game. You deceitful little girl.
"All of this is rightfully mine. The palace, the armies..."
"The enemies to wage war against." Tremor added.
Mileena turned around to him and leaned against the railing now.
"Exactly. I want my sisters head, and the heads of all her lackeys mounted on a stick so that I can point and laugh at them whenever I want."
She illustrated her desire by pretending to hold a stick and laughing at an imaginary head on top of it, all while skipping around. Tremor chuckled as she skipped around behind him.
"So, what happened?" Tremor asked.
"You could say that Rain was here first. He already was well known and respected by the soldiers, and he stole the throne from me. And with that dog Baraka being absolutely loyal to him, and Reptile not questioning his leadership..."
She slid both her arms around his shoulders and clasped them together in the middle of his chest.
"I'm all alone." She said in his ear.
Tremor closed his eyes and took a deep, quiet breath. He knew exactly what she was doing, but he wouldn't lie to himself and think that he didn't enjoy Mileena's, intimate way of talking.
"Well that doesn't sound very fair Mileena. Why don't you do something about it?" He asked her, playing along.
"Oh I want to. I would like to hang Rain upside down and poke holes in his eyes so I can see how many buckets he will fill with his blood. But like I said, Rain has everything."
"He doesn't have your loyalty."
"Maybe not, but he has the power."
"Kano had power, but not my loyalty. Look where that got him."
"I think it got him in the dogs feeding dish." Mileena said.
"Ha, I like you Mileena. You are, creative." Tremor told her.
Mileena sat on his broad left shoulder, and Tremor admitted to being surprised by that.
"And I like you Tremor, you're big." She said playfully.
They both heard a loud bang from below. Tremor placed his hand over Mileenas's legs and stood up, with her now sitting on his shoulder almost seven feet in the air.
Tremor walked her over to the edge of the balcony and they both investigated the scene below them. A tarkatan lay dead on the ground with a large portion of his head missing. It was the same one that was holding his gun backwards.
"It looks like he learned how to use it!" Mileena said.
Mileena and Tremor shared loud and cruel laughter.
Noob's mood was already threatening to explode, but Reiko's welcome was just short of hostile. The general's pride was obviously wounded. Upon reaching Reiko's base of operations, Noob was lectured, harshly. After Reiko believed he had verbally made Noob subservient, he gave him an assignment. Scouts that had been dispatched to a small town hadn't returned in the expected time. The town itself only had a population of perhaps fifty, and less than a quarter of them had combat experience. However, Reiko had it on good authority that Kitana's resistance was garrisoning a strike force there. Noob's mission was simple; travel to the town and assess the situation. If the scouts were alive, send them back to base. If they were dead, finish off their killers and then wait for properly armed soldiers to arrive and take over the town.
Noob had set out immediately after receiving his assignment. Another minute and he may have rearranged Reiko's face. The terrain was clear flatland, very different from the living forest. However, his training and common sense encouraged him to avoid the main roads, just in case.
Specialist, more like the clean up crew.
"He said that Kitana's soldiers had a presence; the Lin Kuei may be involved."
Sub Zero may be there too.
"I can only hope."
Can you kill him?
"I'm not going over this again with you." Noob said tiredly.
I know how doubtful you are right now. That woman has ruined you.
"Sareena has not handicapped me in anyway!"
The moment you showed mercy to her, that was when she twisted you.
"You continue to dwell on the past! Have I not proven myself to you?"
You trying to prove yourself to me; it is just another way of saying you are trying to prove yourself to you. Nevertheless, we are still a little too distant from each other. We can't afford to be...broken in the future.
"I can't afford to have you thinking that you are the one in control." Noob challenged.
Saibot didn't reply, but the dark being stirred within him. Noob could tell that his comment had angered his phantasmal companion. His thoughts were quickly refocused on something new. He smelt burning wood, a lot of it. The faint glow of a fire crawled over the horizon. Noob cautiously picked up the pace; he was familiar with this kind of heat.
Kitana stood atop the barricade erected by her soldiers, looking out suspiciously. The soldiers she had dispatched were supposed to send someone back to report their success. That was a day ago. She was worried, she sent those soldiers there so that they could garrison the town to launch a strike against Reiko, who was the softer target compared to Rain. Reiko's forces taking the location instead was bad, Rain's was worse. Her keen eyes picked out movement coming up the rocky trail.
"Archers!" She ordered to the assembled men and women with bows.
They drew arrows from their quivers and pulled them back in the bowstring. Kitana held her hand in the air and they awaited her signal. Kitana carefully inspected the area, wary of any surprise attack or spies. Movement again, it was a wounded, dirty, and tired soldier.
"Hold your fire, and someone open the gate!" She ordered.
The watch captain restated her order and the rattles of chain preceded the large wooden gate opening. Kitana jumped down to find the soldier practically crawling in.
"Princess Kitana...Princess Kitana..." He said weakly.
"Someone get him some water!" Kitana shouted to no one in particular.
She helped the man to sit on a flat rock, removing his helmet.
"Who are you?" Kitana asked softly.
"The squad dispatched a few days ago...fought some scouts from Reiko."
Kitana took a skin of water from a servant and held it to the soldier's lips. He took small sips, trying to say something.
"Talk to me, what happened?"
"Fire, so much fire. He killed them, them he started to kill us." The soldier said.
"Who did?"
"A hellish specter, clad in yellow and black armor and a mask, carrying swords and burning everything. His anger was, terrible."
The description of the attacker made Kitana extremely worried. She remembered it well.
"Someone bring Sub Zero to me." She ordered.
Sorry for not having any action, despite what I promised in the previous chapter. Next chapter definitely will. I hope I'm not beating around the bush too much with this story, I just don't want to rush this. Read, review, and enjoy.