It had been only a few hours since the fighting between the three armies had ended. Pests and buzzards had wasted no time in getting to the bodies left behind at the Edenian resistance's former base of operations, the canyon pass, and especially the zombies let lose by the Netherrealm portal at the base of the mountain slope where all three armies had met. The vultures merely flocked to a different section of the bloody buffet when a screaming portal from the Chaosrealm tore open space to let Noob Saibot back into Outworld.
"I'm surprised that fight escalated into something so,"
Amazing!
"Extreme."
Extreme? By all definitions you are deader than anything else here, and that guy is missing half his head.
"Shut up." Noob snarked.
Hmph, lighten up. Let's get to work, Quan Chi is bound to notice our return.
"Right."
Noob took a knee next to a body. It was intact, the soldier had been killed by a sword in the gut and left to bleed out. Noob knelt at the head of the body, and the rising sun cast a long shadow off of him, over the dead body. Noob cupped the man's head in his hands, and focused. He focused his will, his ideals, and finally, his demands. His shadow began shrinking, slowly all while the light around the body began to dim, like it was being snuffed out. The began to stir….
Someone's coming!
Noob cut off his experiment abruptly, teleporting through a black hole and reappearing in a shadowy place within the trees of the forest that framed the area. He stealthily watched who the new arrival was, and upon seeing his silver and blue armour glistening, reflecting a warm light, Noob felt only cold resentment.
Pesky, pesky, little brothers. Saibot whispered mentally venomously.
Sub Zero stood amongst the war torn bodies, the battle he had missed. He shooed away buzzards that were gorging greedily. Frost exhumed from his faceplate with every metallic breath, his solid cyborg shoulders slumped and his head dipped. Behind his helmet, behind the wires and the screens for eyes he still felt grief and empathy, sorrow for the soldiers that knew what they were getting into. He did not know what real pain was, yet he was the one whom felt sorry.
"Damn it Sub Zero…" Noob muttered.
That pathetic fool…. Saibot added.
"So ignorant….." Noob continued angrily.
Foolish…. Saibot prodded.
"Ungrateful!" Noob fumed.
He has no idea how lucky he is. Saibot pushed.
"You don't get to be sorry Sub Zero! Damn it Kuai Lang you are so weak! You, you…."
Run out of things to say? Heh heh heh heh.
Noob realized Saibot had egged him on, he could sense the black shadow being knew this as well and was amused about it. Noob was not.
"Leave me alone."
Couldn't even if I tried, you know.
Sub Zero took off in the opposite direction, out of sight and out of earshot. Noob came out of hiding, returning to the same body. He resumed his experiment from before, and the body squirmed and spasmed, Noob's shadow shrinking to fit it and the corpse growing ever darker.
Let me help.
"I can do it."
Noob focused his will even more, demanding the soul of this man to return with a heart of darkness, full of ambition and anger, greed and gloom, obedient yet ornery. It's eyelids twitched, but did not open.
Let me do it!
"No!"
You need me!
"No I don't!"
It's eyes began to open, half lidded the whites were pale and the sclera grey, just like his. Suddenly, a burst of light flash from the body, blowing away the growing, smothering darkness like water getting thrown in with hot oil. Noob stumbled back as the body thrusted its chest upwards before falling back down, still quite dead.
"Its not working….why the hell is it not working?!"
You're missing something.
"What? What could I possibly be…gah, my head!" Noob grabbed his head in pain.
The mother of all migraines attacked him out of nowhere, like a jackhammer smashing his skull to pieces. It's malevolence became apparent in the new voice booming in his head.
Hello again Noob. I'm so relieved to see that you are well after disappearing, without my permission! Quan Chi's voice scolded.
"My apologies…..master." Noob replied through pain gritting and anger clenching teeth.
We need to talk. Return to the Netherrealm.
A red hellfire portal opened a few feet away from Noob. Amongst all these dead bodies, faint whips of souls longing to return to life crowded around it, but were unable to pass. Noob stared in frustration at the body he was experimenting on, until another burst of head pains hit him.
Now!
Noob squeezed his hands until his knuckles popped.
Let's go. Saibot said, its voice still echo like, but its tone unusually soft.
Noob stepped through the portal, and the spirits that were so eagerly trying to get free moved aside for him out of fear.
"Hmph, where are you…." Sub Zero mumbled softly to himself.
He had been swiftly traveling west through the forest; his onboard radar had alerted him to two moving things in the forest. He knew it was not buzzards or pests; his radar would not bother alerting him to them. Whoever, or whatever, was scurrying about was at the very least human sized.
"I better not run into an angry Shokan."
Suddenly, one of the dots on his radar disappeared.
"What?"
A fiery hole ripped open the air in front of him right before a man jumped through it, tackling him to the ground. Sub Zero scuffled with his opponent, rolling around in muck and foliage. Sub Zero ended up on the bottom, but his chest plate had opened, prepared to fire concentrated ice energy. This made his opponent pause, with his kunai mere inches from Sub Zero's face.
"Drop it." Sub Zero told Scorpion.
Scorpion growled, lowering his kunai but still staring daggers at him. His blank white eyes, he wondered if he looked at his brother that way when he killed him.
"Kitana!" Scorpion shouted gruffly, letting Sub Zero up.
Sub Zero's heart lifted when he saw Kitana coming out of the shadows….and that was it. He was disappointed in himself for this, but he had hoped to find Sareena.
"I'm to have found you Kitana!" Sub Zero told her.
"Yes, me to." Kitana replied, though clearly unenthusiastically.
"I am truly sorry about what happened here, that I wasn't here to help Kitana."
"I know." Kitana replied, meek still.
Sub Zero hated himself for how much he had missed, Kitana's defeated posture was like her wearing all the loss on her face.
"Enough feeling sorry for ourselves, we've got work to do." Scorpion cut in boldly.
"What are you even doing here?" Sub Zero asked.
"Definitely not crying over what could have been when we still have a chance to turn this around."
"So now 'you' are a 'we'?"
"I want Quan Chi dead, along with any who serve to further his will. And I don't care for Rain, and I doubt he will feel any better about me now."
"I don't trust you."
"Oh? Yet Kitana is still alive. I bet your lackeys trusted you, and where are they."
"Dead….including Smoke. You will show respect to their memory!" Sub Zero said dangerously.
"And if I don't?" Scorpion said confrontational.
"If you don't," Sub Zero stepped towards him.
"Thats enough! Both of you!" Kitana stepped in between both of them.
The two men stared bitterly at each other, but Sub Zero was the first to defuse himself. Scorpion followed, albeit only as much as he was able.
"My apologies again…Kitana." Sub Zero made sure to make that clear.
"I know, but Scorpion is right, we can recover. My army is scattered but not destroyed. I have encountered elite scouts from the closest groups that escaped. If we can meet with them, maybe still remain splintered have a plan, we could launch a coordinated counterattack."
"With fractions of an army?" Sub Zero asked.
"Rain lost a great deal of his army as well, and Baraka as well…"
Scorpion cracked his knuckles at the mention of Baraka.
"And his army is moving as one large unit, much slower probably. We may be able to attack the fortress and take it before they can garrison it again, and maybe Tremor won't be as much of a threat."
"Tremor?"
"He is a new agent in Rain's army. If it weren't for him, we would not of been forced to retreat, and fallen into Quan Chi's trap."
"Trap? Please." Scorpion dismissed.
"Excuse me?" Kitana asked.
"Quan Chi does not set traps, he is manipulative and sadistic. Someone from Rain's side was helping him, for a time at least."
"This Tremor person?" Sub Zero asked.
Scorpion merely shrugged.
"Mileena…" Kitana said thoughtfully.
"Bringing Rain down may be easier than it seems then, even he couldn't fight a war on four fronts." Sub Zero reasoned.
"He won't have to if we can't organize our forces. I have the location of the closest group, lets go." Kitana ordered.
Dark walls, spikes everywhere, artwork dedicated to pain and suffering, this was the Brotherhood of Shadow's lair, this was home. Noob felt the glares of the guards staring at him through the darkness; knives, axes, swords, and wrist blades poised as always.
Looks like they missed you.
Noob was sure that Quan Chi had them on high alert for him, he was not in the sorcerers good graces. He pushed through the large double doors to find Quan Chi sitting atop his thrown, staring down with a grimace, his hand resting up the covered head of someone kneeling next to him. Noob stepped forward to the base of the staircase leading to the throne and knelt, lowering his head.
This always sucks.
"I am here master." Noob spoke, mentally agreeing with Saibot.
"Where did you go?" Quan Chi asked.
"I had to escape as you know, but I encountered Sub Zero's second in command, Smoke. Afterwards I needed to escape the another realm for a time, out of necessity." Noob half lied.
Quan Chi titled his head to the side, looking unconvinced.
"Smoke is dead." Noob added.
You're welcome.
Noob willed Saibot to be silent, and he noticed Quan Chi look slightly more pleased.
"Really? As I understand you two were close friends in the past."
"….I guess so."
"Well done. Can you do it again?" Quan Chi suddenly shoved the person next to him.
The person came toppling down the stairs, rolling violently to Noob's feet. Beneath the sack, he heard a woman's voice quiver. Only then did he notice the woman's outfit.
"No…" Noob whispered.
Don't freak out! Don't,
Noob did not listen to Saibot. With a shaking hand he removed the sack. Sareena looked up to him through a bruised and bloody face.
"Bi Han…" She said, sounding relieved.
Noob's mouth was dry, whereas Saibot would not shut up in his head.
Don't be a fool, you don't need her, you don't care about her!
Noob looked up to Quan Chi, whom tossed him a blade from up high. Noob caught it, and guessed with terror what it was meant for. The dread that fell upon him enraged Saibot.
Don't be a coward!
"Kill her Noob. She's a loose end that needs to be tied."
Noob down on Sareena, she looked like she had accepted her death.
You need to do it.
"I don't want to…"
I know, but if you don't Quan Chi will kill you idiot, you know that.
"I'm waiting." Quan Chi reminded.
Noob grew more distressed by the second. He felt helpless, weak, powerless, everything he despised. He felt like a child again...
And with that thought, the world turned to black.
Noob opened his eyes to find suffocating blackness, darkness so thick it was like a cold, creepy blanket. He knew this place well, so dark and dead and quiet that his pounding heart deafened him. He always came here by own will though, and always stood within a ray of light, now he was lost in the dark. He could not feel Saibot, the presence he had gotten so use to.
"Where are you!?"
Suddenly he saw light at his back. He turned to find that familiar ray of light, but someone was standing there. It looked almost exactly like him, save for a oily lister to it and a slight, purplish aura accentuating every curve and point. Saibot stood with it arms crossed over its chest, staring the same dead white eyes Noob had right back at him.
"What have you done?!" Noob asked angrily, stomping towards Saibot.
Saibot merely shook it's head, like it was disappointed. As soon as Noob crossed stepped into the ray of light, it became so intense that he was blinded.
Noob found himself staring at Quan Chi, like he had woken up from sleeping with his eyes open. He then heard a gurgle, a choke and a whimper. His eyes went wide, and he slowly, horrifyingly slowly, looked down. His knife was buried to the hilt in Sareena's collar, blood leaking out, waiting to escape.
I did the hard part. Finish it.
Noob did not want to accept it, he wanted with every part of himself for it not to be, but here it was. She was dying, he had killed her.
"Why did you come back?" Noob whispered to her.
"I didn't…I was captured. Kitana was attacked,"
"I told you that it was not safe with her! Why didn't you listen?"
She's suffering, put her out of her misery?
"I couldn't leave her, I wouldn't. Not your brother either…like you didn't leave me." Sareena explained.
Ooohhh, I get it. You like watching her die slowly right? Nice, hahaha
Noob ground his teeth at Saibot's thoughts, and the shadow creature noticed. Saibot was intentionally acting thick. Noob pulled the knife out of Sareena and her blood gushed forth. Noob cradled her head in his free hand, involuntarily caressing her cheek with his thumb. She smiled appreciatively at this, all the way until her blood stop gushing, and he eyes closed completely.
Well aren't you a gentleman.
Kitana, Scorpion, and Sub Zero had been traveling for an hour, following the directions left by the scout they had encountered. The scout, and others like him, were the most skilled and were running all over Outworld evading detection, acting as a small but incredibly crucial line of communication.
"I smell smoke, lots of smoke." Scorpion said suddenly.
Sub Zero touched his visor, activating the thermal vision function. Indeed, he saw the heat signatures from lots of flames up ahead.
"We should be cautious." Sub Zero added.
"Why?" Kitana asked.
"Why do you think?" Scorpion asked.
Sub Zero looked at him witheringly behind his helmet.
"You're soldiers wouldn't want to draw attention to themselves when people are hunting them. Certainly they wouldn't risk detection with this man fires of such size." Sub Zero elaborated.
"Right. Thank you, Sub Zero." Kitana shot Scorpion a look.
The three of them approached the tree line only enough for them to be able to see.
"Oh no.." Kitana muttered.
They saw fires indeed; burning corpses, with rebel soldiers and servants being executed and tossed upon the fire like it was an assembly line. Masked guards performed the act, but these ones were different. They wore heavy armour adorned with fine leather and with flowing capes. Standing proudly amongst them was a purple clad ninja, with his hand atop the head of a kneeling man as if he were a malevolent king.
"Where is Kitana? Where were you planning to meet her? Where are the other groups?" Rain asked his captive.
"I don't know, any of it I swear I don't know! I'm not even a soldier, just a,"
"Enough!" Rain commanded.
The man shut up immediately, and Rain leaned down to him.
"I believe you." Rain told him.
Suddenly, a lighting bolt shot from the palm of Rain's hand, with a thunderclap echoing out. Smoke crept through between Rain's fingers. He patted the man's head as if he were a dog, with ash flying off each time. The man fell to the ground with gaping and already cauterized hole in his head. The elite masked guards quickly threw the man's body onto the flames.
"Do you see this?!" Rain shouted out all around him.
"This is just the first of many, I'll hunt them all down one by one if I need to, do you understand? All of them! Outworld is mine, every blade of grass, every grain of sand, and every person here is mine! Mine to do with as I see fit, including your soldiers, and including you! Do you hear me Kitana? Do you understand me? I'm going to find you Kitana, I'm going to break you Kitana, I'm going to kill you Kitana!"
Hello everyone, nivet here. I realize that its been so, so long since I've updated this story. I'll admit that I did, in a way, give up on it. I am sorry. It is inconsiderate, and while I can say that life gets in the way, work and family and….jail, I don't want that to be an excuse. Looking back on this story, I'm amazed at how eager I was to write it, as well as by how much my writing style has changed. I've noticed this with others as well; I have six stories published, and I've finished only one, and it wasn't even the first one I made. I'm sad to say that some of those stories are just to far gone, I can't continue them. This is not one of those stories, and I don't want anymore of those stories. To anyone that still cares to read this, to read any of my work, and I know there are some of you out there, I sincerely hope you stick around. And as always,
Read, review, and enjoy.