MARKUS X'S POV

Opening the door, I watched my girlfriend, her bodyguard, and the 'thunder god' all come into my house through the door from the garage. After all, since my workshop was in my garage, I never felt like I really needed to use the front door.

Passing by the guest bedroom and the laundry room, I brought the guests into the center of the house, a living room with direct access to the kitchen, dining room table, and an offshoot room with a large TV and several game consoles. Motioning for the guests to sit down, I briefly explained everything to them while pointing out the rooms and whatnot.

"Over there is the kitchen. I have a large amount of MREs in the fridge, as well as microwaveable meals and ice cream in the freezer. If any of you want to play some video games, I have all the modern consoles, and some older ones too. I have two spare bedrooms, and assuming that Mileena'll be sleeping with me, that leaves one for Raiden and one for Skarlet. You'll have to share a bathroom, I suppose... That is, if you even take showers or baths. Mileena and I'll be using the master bathroom."

Skarlet was the first to raise her hand. "What if I get blood on the sheets?"

"They're white. I'll just bleach them as much as I can until all the blood's gone."

Raiden gave a nod. "You are very generous, Markus X."

"Don't mention it, Raiden. We're cool now, so I really don't have any real reason to go all PMSing on you right now."

Mileena was the last one to respond, and it was more a surprised statement than a question. "Truthfully, I never expected your house to be so... So small."

"We'll, let's not forget that on Earthrealm, I don't exactly have any significant power, and while I'd love to get it, exterminating a huge amount of people that would be in my way just doesn't sit real well with me. Besides, Outworld's a cooler place."

My girlfriend smiled, heading to check out her new living quarters as I looked at the other two. "Anyone up for some Super Smash Brothers?"

Skarlet gave a raise of her hand, but Raiden remained silent. "I do not play video games. It is something I have never found to be fun."

"Come on... Don't be such a downer, Raiden! At least try it once, okay?"

With obvious reluctance, Raiden followed Skarlet and myself into the room as the two of them sat down on the couch, myself plugging in the N64...

SKARLET'S POV

I found the controls to the game Markus put into the console to be a bit difficult to handle, but after a while, I was at least competent at playing it. I didn't know anything about the characters or the backstory, aside from a giant white glove that apparently rules the world in this game, but you don't have to know the history of something to do it well.

For my character, I had chosen a red and blue-dressed man with a mustache. Raiden chose a guy with pointed ears and a sword, while Markus chose what appeared to be a green copy of my character.

Focusing as intently as I could, I tried to knock Raiden's character off the arena stage, but he lept over me and smacked me with his sword, KOing me. "Player two defeated!"

In disgust, I got up, moving out of the way as Raiden and Markus continued playing. Though the Earthrealmer was a good player, he eventually lost out to the thunder god's superior reflexes, gently throwing down the controller. "Alright, you won."

"And that is why I typically do not play video games."

"Do I detect a trace of humor in your comment?"

I crossed my arms before spying something rectangular with buttons on it. Quickly grabbing it, I pressed one, and the image on the TV shifted to that of a blonde news reporter.

"In recent news, President Obama's tighter restrictions on assault weapons have officially returned their first statistics, a good ten thousand assault rifles being returned as part of the government buyback program. Critics point to barely changed rates of gun violence in recent reports, however the numbers are expected to go down in the near future as weapons are bought back in greater quantities. For NBC news, I'm Jennison Page."

I didn't really understand... "Um, who and what was that woman talking about?"

Markus turned to look at me as he unplugged the gaming console. "President Obama's been putting restrictions on weapons classified as "assault weapons." Personally I think it's nonsense, but I don't expect ATF agents to show up at my front door anytime soon, so it's not really relevant to me unless I go outside and yell 'Hey! I have power armor, nanotech shirts, and flamethrowers in my garage!' to the whole world."

That sort of explained what was going in... I'd check on his iPhone later. For now, I would just relax with Raiden as Markus went to take a shower as well...

MILEENA'S POV

If there was something I could say about Markus's house that was better than my palace, it was the bathroom.

Shimmering tiles of a stone-like material lined the walls and floor as my eyes followed it to the bathtub, made of a white material that felt very smooth. There were some openings in the tub I did not know the use for, as well as a knob on the side.

Hearing footsteps, I turned around, but Markus had already started answering my questions..

"This is a jacuzzi bathtub. This basically means it has jets in it that you can adjust and whatnot. I could get it ready for you if you want..."

Unsure of how to use the tub myself, I merely nodded as Markus turned the water on, my boyfriend setting the temperature of the rushing liquid to that of a steamy hot spring. While he was busy preparing the large tub, I quickly stripped out of my still-bloodied clothes.

After several minutes, the tub was full, and Markus turned around, gawking at my appearance. Then again though, was there really any way he couldn't?

"Um... I'm going to go take my clothes off now..."

I watched Markus take off the clunky armor, the clothes, and the undergarments beneath it as he prepared to get into the shower, but before he could even place one foot in, I tenderly grabbed him.

"No need for us to let this wonderfully warm bath go to waste... I can already imagine the soothing water flowing over my body..."

His face perked up, a smile forming on the corners of his lips. "Well, I never did bathe you like I was going to that one time in Outworld... Consider this is my makeup session."

"Indeed..." Gently, I shoved him, forcing him into the water with a splash as I stepped into the comfortable bath myself. Stretching out, I got on top of him and began to kiss him, the two of us eying one another as the inevitable feelings of lust and passion began to take their toll on us. As was to be expected, the quick bath soon turned into something far more dirty...

Once both of us were done and clean, I wrapped a towel around myself as Markus put on a shirt and some shorts. Stepping outside, he handed me a magenta t-shirt, a pair of white undergarments, and some shorts. "Not exactly an Earthrealm wardrobe for a woman such as yourself, but it should do. I'll clean your outfit off so you can use it later, or you could simply ask Ermac to bring your spares."

I nodded and put on the clothes I was given, no mask on my face as the two of us stepped out of the bedroom and into the living room that Skarlet and Raiden sat in. I could only hope that the two months flew by as fast as possible. I did not want to stay here for long, after all. Soon, Markus would be given his dues, I would rule Outworld once again, and Shinnok's forces would be defeated... Permanently!