Ha, is anybody still reading this? I know it's been a while, a long while, but it's here so...

Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Mortal Kombat; it belongs to its creators Ed Boon, John Tobias, John Vogel and their crew.

Chapter Five

This was definitely one of those days, er, nights where I was dead on my feet in every literal and allegorical sense of the word. My knees were quivering and my feet were screaming bloody murder. I couldn't even get the damn door open, I was so tired and weary. It took me a few tries but the lock finally slipped into its notch and I gave the knob a firm twist. I stepped into my dark apartment and locked myself in, then made my way towards my room. I didn't bother turning on any lights or anything. That's probably why I almost tripped over my cat.

"Sorry, French." I mumbled.

The cat leapt out of the way and then began following me. I absently noted that the blood on my feet, though mostly caked and dried, would leave stains on my carpet. At least it was navy. Honestly I didn't care though. In my bedroom I kicked off the boots made for a pair of feet that weren't my own. Even though I'd met up with one of my colleagues who'd been stationed in Mexico and was able to bum a pair of shoes off of her, my soles had been exposed to the unforgiving Outworld terrain for too long. Now they were killing me. Come to think of it, just about everything was killing me.

But at least I was home.

Now that I think of it, the night could have gone a lot worse. I was grateful that it hadn't and also grateful that the worst of my injuries were those bruises and first-degree burns on my arms and wrists, respectively. And I was especially grateful that Jax had come out of this okay. I mean, he was in the hospital, but he'll live to see another day and that's what mattered. All in all, this mission was a success. Sort of.

Sure doesn't feel very 'success-y' right now, I thought with a wince.

Although the carpet in my room was usually plush and soft, the small fibers only aggravated my scraped and cut feet in the worst of ways. I hurried to my bathroom while balancing on the sides of my heels. My cat was being extra attentive tonight, he followed me all the way into the bathroom. I let my feet sink down tentatively onto the cool tile floor and then began to strip. But the cat stopped me.

"Do you mind?" I asked my cat.

He was sitting there by the door, gazing at me so hard with those green eyes of his. What did he want? He was being so cryptic tonight. Usually he only came near me when it was time for...

"Ah, shit." I hissed.

I dashed from the bathroom in a panic. If my back were its own entity, I believe it would have strangled me by now, crying What in the ever-loving hell is wrong with you, woman?!

"Where did I put that thing?" I grumbled aloud in reference to that sack of cat food.

It had been several days since I last went on my mission and consequently when my cat last ate. The poor thing had to be famished by now. I'd definitely have to take him to a vet to see if I'd caused him some internal damage or something. I glanced down at him as he kept pace with me and frowned. To say he hasn't eaten in days, he sure is pretty complacent. He wasn't hissing at me or anything.

When I got to the kitchen, I saw why.

The last time I checked, I wasn't in the habit of leaving those two cabinets under the sink wide open. Nor did I practice leaving my water running. ]

By the looks of it, French had been watching me lately. How else would he have known that I keep that sack of cat chow under the sink? And it didn't take a lot of work to open them, there wasn't a knob on the cabinets; they just swing right open. The bag was currently torn open with its contents spilling over the surface of the cabinet's bottom. I'm guessing he jumped up onto the counter and used his head to push the handle of the faucet up. Not too much, just enough so that there was a thin, constant stream coming from its spout.

This cat had obviously made due without me.

I didn't know whether to be proud of its ingenious sense of survival or worried for the inevitable spike in my water bill. I turned to the feline mastermind and saw that he was sitting there at the threshold of the kitchen and dining room, swishing his tail back and forth. His eyes were gauging my reaction, or at least I felt like they were.

"Next time." I told him, "You're going to a boarding house."

He yawned.

I shut the water off and headed back to the bathroom. After I finished disrobing, I stepped into the tub and turned the water on hot, then pulled the handle into the shower mode. Hard water sprayed down cool at first, but gradually reached a scalding temperature.

Perfect.

I bent the showerhead so that I could sit down in the tub and still have it spray over me. I was just so tired I couldn't even stand. With the water beating down on the back of my neck I lowered my head and crossed my legs. This was good. All the dirt and grime and pain was slowly ebbing away. I think I stayed in that shower for at least an hour. At some point I bathed and got out, though. Then I realized I hadn't gotten a towel.

Of course I didn't, I sighed.

So I trekked naked and wet to the closet across the hall from the bathroom and grabbed a linen towel to throw over me. I wasn't gentle in scrubbing myself dry. I was in a hurry to get to bed. But then my phone rang from somewhere inside my room. I tugged the towel a few times to make it be still under my arms and headed to answer that phone.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." I griped to whoever was on the other line.

Again I almost tripped over my cat. He was still shadowing me for some reason. Well I did pretty much disappear for days on end; maybe he's worried I'll leave again. Either way, the cat joined me in stepping into my room. He jumped onto my bed and watched me hunt around for the ringing phone. I didn't find it until after it'd stopped chiming. I saw that this wasn't the only missed call I had; there were 15 calls and most of them had a '928' area code: only one person would be calling me from Arizona. Okay four, but only one of them would call me about eight or nine times in a row. This was my personal cell I was talking about, after all. I hit redial and hoped there wasn't an emergency going on or some bad news about to come my way.

"Hey." The person greeted quietly, "Hold on right quick, kay?"

"Yeah sure." I replied.

Meanwhile, I walked over to my dresser and took out a shirt and some underwear, as well as a pair of sweatpants. With the phone cradled to my ear I got dressed for bed. By the time I finished, Mileena's voice sounded over the line again.

"I've been trying to call you all week," She explained, "you haven't been answering your phone and I thought that maybe, um...never mind. Where have you been?"

I sank down onto my mattress and curled onto my side. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Mileena sounded worried. That brought a tender smile to my face. So she does care, I thought, but then, I think I always knew that much.

"Away," I answered vaguely, "I was tied up with a mission."

"Doing what?" Mileena asked.

Her voice was back to normal now. Since it was so late, I'm assuming she must be outside somewhere using Nightwolf's cell phone. It was on my to-do list to help her get her own. Nightwolf said he'd get around to it but apparently he'd been too busy. As for her question, I didn't know if I wanted to divulge all the details just yet.

"Did you find something on that Kato guy?" She asked me.

I told her, "If you mean 'Kano', then yeah."

"So you tracked him down?" Mileena then asked. "How did it go?"

She sounded so interested now. I guess this sort of stuff was her cup of tea. Either that, or she doesn't get much excitement at the village.

"It went. Well, it went okay." I replied, "It could've gone much smoother if I had known some things in advance but it was a success, overall. I know where he is, and once I tell my supervisor, OIA can get forces there to Outworld to bring him down."

That seemed to surprise her.

"He's in Outworld?" She asked.

I said, "Yeah, near the Living Forest."

"Ah." Mileena remarked.

Her tone was not one of fondness.

"So you and your uh, partner are going down there with them?" She asked me next.

"I definitely will be," I responded, "but I don't know about Jax. He's in the hospital right now. He got hurt during the mission."

Mileena said, "Oh. He's okay though, right?"

I yawned and said, "Yeah he'll be fine."

After that Mileena and I chatted a while longer but it was incredibly late, so neither of us were up to an extra-long conversation. I was so glad to see that the girl was changing, still. She was warming up to other people, like Jax, and that always made me smile. I guess it's because I knew what she used to be and it's so amazing that she went from...that to the person she is now.

But I really ought to sleep now.

I should really get to bed, Jade thought.

Everyone else in the palace was asleep and she was tired enough to join them but something small and white impeded her. It was thin and no longer than a poor man's dagger but the mystery surrounding it kept her away and outside on her bedroom balcony. It was chilly out, but that steady breeze only unsettled her loose hair, not her fascination. She turned the clean white thing over in her hands and shifted in her seat on the balcony's ledge.

The thing was a letter.

She already checked it for poison or any other harmful substance, just as she would for Kitana. That was what was so perplexing. This letter wasn't for Kitana, it was for her. It came through Liu Kang. He had given it to her and when she'd asked who'd sent it, the monk only advised her to read it and find out herself.

Who could this be from? She wondered.

Jade had friends and some family, but those people were here in Edenia. She saw them almost every day. They had no need to waste paper and write to her when they could just visit the palace instead. Jade frowned and studied the letter once more. The envelope was extremely plain. It was obviously made by hand.

Might as well open it instead of speculating all night, She figured.

So she tore gently at the seal and pulled out the short piece of parchment. It was folded in half. Upon opening it, she saw her own name written neatly at the top of the page with a comma beside it. Below it was about a paragraph of scripted words. Jade had to use the moonlight to make them out clearly. She put the envelope under her thigh and began to read.

Hello.
Kung Lao here.

She paused. Kung Lao? Isn't that one of Liu's friends?

She wondered what he could want. She did interact with him often during the hectic times of Quan Chi's reign. They were both under Nightwolf's rag-tag alliance. Even so, she hardly knew him that well. She continued to read.

You might not believe it, but it took me awhile to come up with a proper introduction to this letter. I don't write very often, you see, and I know the two of us aren't real acquainted; that's what made it difficult. As you can see, it's done now so. Yeah.

Jade tilted her head. What a strange letter, she mused. He seemed to be rambling. She read on anyway, figuring he'd get to the point soon enough.

Like I said, I don't write very often. Not for pleasure. It's always for business. There's much to be done here and I hardly get the time. But I did today, have free time that is, and decided to write. You were the first person that came to mind.

Again Jade wondered why that was; he hardly knew her. She was getting confused. Still, she read on.

I've been thinking of the time we spent together. You know, when we were all fighting Quan Chi? I wanted to know if you were doing alright. Since you're a bodyguard for the princess, you've probably been busy.

Jade blinked. She was surprised he knew that about her. Did I tell him that? She surely didn't remember telling him. She turned back to the letter.

If you can find a few spare moments in your day, perhaps you could write me back? We could stay in touch. Or something. It's up to you. Whatever you decide, I understand.

And there was his name again at the bottom of the page. Jade looked the letter over and then read it again. She couldn't help but feel as if this were the strangest thing to have happened to her. This letter came out of nowhere. It was a friendly enough gesture on Kung Lao's part, but why? She didn't know she had made such an impression on him to have inspired him to write her.

Perhaps I'm reading too much into this, She thought.

Jade tucked the letter back into its envelope and hopped down from the balcony ledge. Her white nightgown billowed to the ground and covered her feet. Her bare soles treaded over the cool stone to the polished marble flooring of her bedroom. As she climbed into bed, she allowed a small smile to take hold of her mouth.

Yes this was one of the strangest things to have happened to her lately, but not the worst. It was nice to get a letter for once. It let her know that there was someone thinking about her. Sure, she had loved ones nearby who showed their care and concern for her, but this was different. Kung Lao had taken the time and energy to let her know she was on his mind. In some way it was sweet.

He's just keeping in touch, she reminded herself, since the war on Chi is over, he's just seeing how I'm doing. I bet he checks in with everyone else in our alliance too. This is just a thing of politeness.

Even so, it still made her keep that tentative smile in place.

"So what is it you want, exactly?"

Ermac still wasn't keen on working with the sorcerer, but since they'd be doing so, they wanted to know his intentions. As well as explicit details on what was to be expected of the both of them in this...agreement. That was why they'd taken the sorcerer to their study, er, his former study, to discuss the matter. Ermac sat lounged in a fine wooden chair while Shang Tsung stood across from them.

"The champion," Shang answered. "That is all."

Seems simple enough,the host thought. But they still had to be sure.

"Is there anything else we need to be aware of?" They asked.

Shang Tsung nodded once. "As a matter of fact, there is. I'll be renovating my island soon."

"How soon?" Ermac asked.

"As soon as possible," Shang replied.

Ermac barked out a short laugh and said, "So you're kicking us out?"

The sorcerer folded his arms and murmured, "Not at all. But you might want to take up residence at the northern area of Outworld."

"Isn't that where Kahn's fortress is?" The host inquired.

Shang Tsung nodded. "I'm afraid if you remain here, I'll only get in your way. And you wouldn't want that."

Ermac shifted but decided the sorcerer was right. "But why would we go to the North, in particular?"

"When the tournament is underway," Shang explained quietly, "You can host the guests as Shao Kahn's fortress. The landscape is larger than my modest island, and more treacherous as well. It would give the event the right kind of...challenging atmosphere."

Ermac pondered this. They figured the sorcerer was right. The island wasn't exactly hospitable or welcoming at the moment.

Not that we give a damn about that, the host thought, but it would be better to stage this thing at the north. Gods know this island could use fixing up. Once it looks good again, we can exploit the hell out it for tourist money. And speaking of money, as soon as those funds start rolling in, we can build our new palace wherever we want. No need to stay at the north, that is. Sounds pretty good, actually.

Ermac still felt as if there was some catch to this agreement that would bite them later on. But for now, they would ignore their unsettlement.

"What else do we need to know?" Ermac spoke.

Shang Tsung said, "No. That is all."

"Good." Ermac replied. "There's the door."

The ancient sorcerer unfolded his arms and started walking towards the exit. With his hand on the doorknob, though, he stopped. He turned his head a bit towards the host and leveled them with a blank stare.

"There is one thing I would like to suggest." He said, seemingly offhandedly.

Ermac sighed and said, "Make it quick."

Shang responded with, "Since you are hosting a tournament, you might want to think about merging with Earthrealm."

"For what?"Ermac wanted to know. "Do we look like Shao Kahn to you?"

Shang Tsung ignored the barb and said, "Earth is a realm rich in many things: fighters. Resources. Possible allies. If you merge with them, you'll have access to not only exotic goods and imports from the realm, but you'll also be expanding your own territory and increasing your influence throughout the modern world."

That did sound nice. But not necessary,Ermac thought. They didn't have imperialistic designs like their predecessors. The host was content to just rule Outworld. But even they couldn't deny that the benefits of having Earthrealm merged would be great.

"Tournaments for mergers are held every 500 years." Ermac pointed out, "You don't expect us to wait that long, do you?"

"Of course not." Shang replied, "You won't have to."

Ermac asked, "What do you mean?"

"Appeal to the Elder Gods and you won't have to wait as long." Shang Tsung claimed.

"Stop speaking in riddles," Ermac frowned. "Explain yourself."

Shang Tsung was patient in saying, "So long as your intent for merging is not hostile and does not involve the subjugation of the other realm, the Elder Gods might oblige you. They'll allow for a decisive tournament to take place in a considerably shorter time."

"Might oblige us?" Ermac said.

Shang shrugged lightly and said, "I am not a god. I cannot be certain if they will or not, but it is worth a try, is it not?"

The host was beginning to think it was. If they had control of Earthrealm, or at least access to it, they could really turn things around for Outworld. In this realm things were dead or dying, but Earthrealm was the very quintessence of vitality. The host knew they could introduce crops and vegetation here, and with the added revenue they could boost the economy. In short, they could bring Outworld to its prime.

"If you're interested," Shang cut in, "Contact the elders via the spirit realm."

"Why can't you do it?" Ermac asked him.

Shang said, "My promise was to handle everything related to the tournament after it is a confirmed event."

"Well let's confirm it now: how soon can you get things established?" the host barked.

"I'll need at least three months." Shang replied.

"Can't you do it in one?" Ermac griped.

Shang Tsung pursed his lips and said, "Very well. One month it is. But preparations must be made for it at the north immediately; the arenas must be set, the fortress needs to be refurbished, news of the tournament needs to be spread. There needs to be a team for all that."

Ermac scoffed, "So take your pick from the staff already here. This was your idea, sorcerer, so handle it."

Shang lifted a brow and said, "Are you giving me clearance, then, to do whatever is necessary to fulfill this task, and to ensure that the event runs smoothly?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Ermac told him. "Just do what you have to do."

Shang was silent for a moment.

"I'd like that in writing." He finally said.

Balloons. Flowers. Little stuffed bears. That's what folks typically buy for their hospitalized loved ones. Not me. I know my C.O., he has no use for those things. What he appreciates most at times like this is a good hot meal. That's why I was striding down the upper floors of OIA's urgent care wing with a box of fried fish and cool iced tea. The food was from a little restaurant I knew Jax loved and as for the thermos of sweet tea, well, that was homemade. I don't mean to brag, but my tea kicks ass.

When I got to Jax's room, I saw that he was sitting on the bed in a pair of loose white pants and a sleeveless shirt of the same color and material. My C.O. was flexing his newly-restored arms experimentally. By his wince I could tell those arms still needed to heal. Jax must have smelled the food because he suddenly turned to me and smiled.

"There you are." He said, "What happened with Kano? Everybody down at the office have been giving me the third degree, trying to find details on the mission."

I came and sat on the edge of his bed.

"They wanna' know who did this to me," He explained, "And why I was there in Outworld in the first place. I convinced those sleeper agents to vouch for me: they said we were all meeting up because of some suspicion in the area."

I didn't know if that was wise, getting the agents to lie for him. But I guess he did the right thing. The alternative would be to tell them the truth, to basically let them know I'd initiated this mission behind their backs. I'm sure that would go over well.

"Truth was," Jax continued, "Those agents didn't even know what was going on right under their noses."

"So they covered for you to save face." I understood. "Are they sending forces down there?"

Jax nodded and said, "Yeah. Tomorrow."

I said, "I'll be there."

"Well you're gonna have to tell me all about 'cause I'm stuck here." Jax sighed.

"I'm sorry that happened." I told him.

Jax shrugged, "Kano took me by surprise. Did he hurt you?"

"No, not too bad." I said, "He tried to hold me there in his base but I got away."

Yeah, barely, I recalled. It was a good thing I'd taken that razor along. And that Kano had been interrupted. And that Ermac had found me.

Jax frowned and asked, "How'd you get back here?"

"Believe it or not, Ermac opened a portal for me." I told him.

My C.O. scowled and said, "Ermac. Why'd he do that? He ain't the most generous sort."

"He wants me to stay away," I explained, "He has some kind of agreement with Kano and is protecting him."

"That can't be good," Jax observed.

I said, "I know. I plan on investigating that."

Jax knitted his brows and said, "You be careful. You don't wanna underestimate that Ermac. Not like I did."

I knew that was a sore subject for him.

"You don't have to worry about me," I stated.

Now that he was sure of my well-being, Jax began to relax against the pillowed headboard and eat. By the looks of it, the fish did not disappoint. Nor did my tea, I observed with a smile. He paused in his eating, though, to tell me something.

"You need to check in with OIA if you're going." He said, "Do this the right way."

I worried my lip for a second and had to ask, "Do they know about our mission?"

Jax answered, "No. You're good. They still think you're laying low, taking time off."

"Good." I responded.

I'll drop by and restock my weapon supply, get some more gear. If I can get permission from the higher-ups, then great. but if not, I'm still going. I'm way too close to ending all this to leave the mission to them, no offense. I have to be there. I just can't let Kano slip away again.

A/N: Short, I know, but it's here. Leave a review if you feel inclined, tell me what you think so far! Until next time guys...

~DymondGold~