I had to change some things in the titles, things were all screwed up, surprised nobody said anything x)

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 Six

That bruise on my forearm was worse than I'd thought: not only was the skin discolored, but burnt a little on the surface. It was pretty nasty but I'd seen worse. This wasn't even second-degree. A bit of cream from my desk should help speed the healing process right along. For now, though, I just coated it in a bit of vaseline and wrapped some gauze around it. I had to cover it up for the moment since I was at OIA hq now, and I didn't want anybody getting suspicious.

Vacations don't exactly bang you up like this, I thought wryly.

So once I was done patching myself up, I slipped my tan jacket over my t-shirt and stepped out my car. It would seem that whoever took my parking spot was enjoying themselves; I had to tuck my car away at the edge of the lot. From there I headed towards the building's entrance. Just as I got to the steps, somebody approached me.

It was my supervisor.

"Blade!" She barked, "Just who I was looking for!"

That's not good, I thought warily.

She gestured to the door and said, "Come on inside, I want to talk to you."

I did as she said and followed her in. I greeted the secretary and continued to walk behind my superior past the automated double door. She had to activate it since my identification card had been confiscated. We didn't stop until we got to her office. She held the door for me, then shut it once I was inside.

"At ease," She told me once we arrived.

I relaxed out of my respectful stance but didn't sit down. I was too anxious. My superior strode over to her own cushy seat but chose to stand in front of it as well. She folded her arms and looked down at me from over her nose.

If I didn't know her any better, I'd take her for the snooty sort, but that was far from the truth. My supervisor had proved many a time how down-to-earth she could be when the situation called for it.

"I have big news for you." She began quietly.

I'd heard that calm voice raise to unimaginable loudness on several occasions. When she wanted to be heard, she didn't have to try very hard. She really was a powerful woman, and in such a small frame, too. Though we were the same height, she was a bit slimmer than me. Hard grey eyes and a small, often pursed mouth accompanied her erect figure.

I stopped studying her and pondered her words: she had news for me? Of what? My suspension? No, Jax said she didn't know about my involvement. I kept silent and waited for her to continue.

"First I want to thank you," She began.

"Thank me?" I blinked.

She nodded and said, "Yes, Blade. For bearing with me. I know you weren't in favor of the board putting you on leave but it was for the best. And I do appreciate your cooperation."

Now I was starting to feel a bit condemned.

My supervisor told me, "Since you handled the situation so well, I'm putting you back on a case."

I sighed inside out of relief. That was definitely good news. I'd come here to get permission for that mission with Kano but I hadn't even thought of how I would approach the subject; it would seem suspicious if I were to be privy to the mission beforehand. Now I'd been saved all the trouble.

"That's not all," My superior continued, "You know how Kano's case is supposed to be closed?"

I already know where you're going with this but I suppose I'll play along, I thought.

To my supervisor I nodded. It was sad because she looked so eager to tell me. I could see in the way her eyes were sparkling just a bit and the corner of her thin red lips were twitching from her fight with a stiff smile.

"Well it's been re-opened." My supervisor told me. "We've got a solid lead on him and our forces are going into Outworld tomorrow."

I did my best to look surprised.

"This is the case I'm assigning you to, Blade." She said with a small smile. "I thought you'd like that."

"I do." I assured her with a curt nod.

"Good." My supervisor said. "A team of five will accompany you. I'll leave the particulars up to you."

She clasped her hands behind her back and started walking towards the door. I took that as my cue to leave and followed in her footsteps.

"You are now dismissed. You can go down to the warehouse and get your gear." My supervisor told me.

She added, "I'll see you at the briefing this evening."

"Can't wait," I murmured to myself with a smirk.

That smirk turned to a full fledged grin after I left the hall and reached the stairs. I couldn't believe how well this all turned out. I ran into someone once I got back to the lobby: it was Rodriguez, speaking with the receptionist. When he saw me, he smiled brightly.

"Hey, Sonya!" He greeted. "Feeling any better?"

I grinned and said, "Much. Thanks again for the other night."

The young man shrugged and said, "It was no problem."

"Are you going on tomorrow's mission?" I asked him, just out of curiosity.

He nodded exuberantly and said, "I take it you are, too?"

"You bet I am," I answered, "I'll see you at the briefing then."

Rodriguez nodded, "Yeah, see you tonight."

From his trip around the whole of his island, Shang Tsung surmised that it would take him very little time to repair the damage that had been done to it. With his capabilities, it wouldn't take long to renovate the lands back to their former glory.

Things will go quickly with the aid of sorcery, he thought, especially now that the nuisances have been driven off.

Except for one of them.

But that would be remedied quite soon. In order for that to happen, though, Shang Tsung needed to get the emperor far away from his island. Hence his persuading the host to relocate themselves and the servants to the North. With Ermac gone, setting things up for the tournament, the sorcerer had no distractions, no person or entity that could stand in the way of his coming operation.

Shang Tsung stopped within his ruined gardens. They weren't as beautiful as they once were, but then, that was the case with the entire landscape. The immortal bent down and picked a rose. It hardly resembled one. It was charred, withered, crumbling and black. But with a bit of exertion Shang expended some of his magic into the dull stem. Instantly the rose grew plump and vibrant. Shang studied the healthy flower and pondered his creation.

Ermac.

He certainly is ambitious, Shang Tsung mused, I'll give him that much. Emperor is a most prestigious title. But could he handle such power? Or will it be his downfall, as was the case with so many others?

Only time would tell.

How long must this go on?

It was a question that Reptile had been wondering for some days now. He had gone through scores of names by now on the list that his master had given him and all of the mortals had proven to be dead so far. He was tired of tracking down graves.

What is the point of this, he wanted to know, Is he testing me?

Reptile couldn't be sure. He had the list in his back pocket at the moment. He could tell there would be yet another line through this latest mortal's name.

The Saurian sighed to himself and wiped the rain off of his face. He was standing in the shroud of the trees, getting wet by the light drizzle. the weather seemed to match the occasion; that of a recent death. He wasn't so fortunate to have the luxury of an umbrella like most of the crowd gathered some feet ahead of him. Clad in black they all were, that seemed to be the only similarity Reptile shared with them; his pants and tunic were of the same shade. Although he appeared to be human, that was as far as things went.

But for the moment, for this moment in time, Reptile tried to think of what it would be like to be totally so. Human, that is. For instance, he wanted to imagine what it would be like to be wrought with emotion like those men and women were. They were grieving for the dead mortal on the list, they were grieving in different ways.

Reptile wanted to experience them all.

He wanted to see how it felt to be wracked with so much pain that his face would color and his features would pinch and moisture like that of precipitation would sprout and tumble from his eyes. He didn't envy their suffering, he was merely fascinated by it. He was intrigued at how something that didn't tear at their skin or crush their bones or cause them any visible, physical sort of damage could inspire such intense agony.

Reptile wanted to feel. To truly feel, as they did. Surely the extinction of his race warranted a like manifestation of sorrow or sadness. But he knew that this would not be possible. He may look human but again, he was far from being one. He knew this, so why was he watching them so raptly? What was he doing here, observing ill-hearted mortals? What more than simple curiosity had possessed him to pry further when his investigation had yielded fruitless results?

He knew the woman was dead. The obituaries he'd read should've succinctly ended his search. Why, then, did he come down to the deceased mortal's ceremony of death?

To make certain she was dead, Reptile reasoned, Shang Tsung would've wanted me to be sure.

The excuse was a convenient one, but the Saurian knew it wasn't the truth.

I had chills getting out of the chopper this morning. Being back in Outworld gave me major deja vu, that was part of the reason. The other part was that it was just before dawn and the Living Forest looked creepy as all hell in this sort of light.

As if it weren't bad enough, I scowled.

But even those disturbing trees couldn't get my mood down for too long. It was happening, we were doing it; we were gonna take down Kano. I just knew it. Today was the day. I was leading this team, that had been established at the briefing, so I was gonna make damn sure things didn't fall apart this time.

I checked over all my equipment one last time and waited for everybody to finish getting off the helicopter. Although I could see the Living Forest from here, the helicopter had to drop us off some yards away. If we'd gotten any closer, there was a high chance that those animated oaks would use their branches to snag the rotors of the chopper or something equally disastrous. I cringed just thinking of how unfortunate it would be to end up as one of these creature's lunch.

Or brunch...breakfast?

I brushed the thought aside and fell into step with my colleagues. It really was too bad Jax couldn't be here. That would've made it all feel complete. He was right, too. It was nice to be doing things the right way. It felt good to have an entire organization covering me, assisting me. I'd almost forgotten what this was like.

We all marched through the overgrown weeds and brambles of the noisy forest. The trees groaned and the poor souls ensnared within their clutches moaned along with them. I pitied them, but there was nothing I could do for them. And it probably seems sick, but I was grateful for their screams and cries; they did well to mask the sound of our group's advancement. All I could do was keep my eyes straight ahead and try to drown out the pathetic noises.

I was in another world, one of utter concentration, when we started closing in on the area where Kano's lair was.

Almost there, I thought determinedly.

But then we were impeded. All of a sudden our troops just began to stop. I frowned and shoved past them to see what the hold-up was. Normally I wasn't so rude. Normally. But Kano's capture was imminent now and I wanted to know what was standing in our way.

Ermac.

He must have been responsible for that telepathic fence of energy surrounding us. I approached him like a fool, knowing he could stop me right in my tracks and kill me with just the right thought. I think it was the fact that I was so close to taking down Kano; that's what emboldened me to step past my comrades over to the host. He was standing there with his arms folded, regarding us. Even though he was garbed in his usual hooded leather cloak and boots ensemble, I felt that there was something odd about him.

"Let us through," I demanded in a clear voice.

With OIA's forces at my back, I awaited Ermac's response. Or swift death. Whichever was more likely. The former came, thankfully.

Ermac asked, "What will we gain for allowing you to proceed with your...operation?"

"What do you want?" I immediately responded.

He shrugged and said, "Not much. Just your participation."

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"In a few weeks from now," He explained, "We will be hosting a tournament. We expect to see you there, Miss Blade."

With a scoff I retorted, "You can't order me around. You may be Emperor of this world but not mine."

The host chuckled and said, "Not yet, We're not."

"I don't have time for this," I growled, "Kano is here and I'm bringing him in so let us pass!"

Ermac stated, "We thought you might react that way. That's why we took the liberty of doing the hard work for you."

He stepped aside then and revealed a stocky man, bound and furious, on the ground behind him. His binds were telepathic, so no matter how much he writhed in the dirt, he wasn't getting free. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Incredulously I asked, "I thought you said you had an agreement with him?"

Ermac said wryly, "Yes. And he was under a similar impression."

I still couldn't believe this. Kano delivered to me on a silver platter by Ermac himself? It was too surreal. But it was happening.

"So what's the catch?" I asked firmly.

The host told me, "We will hand him over to you and let your...raiding party progress. Just so long as you give your word to fight in our tournament."

"I'm not fighting for Outworld," I blurted.

He said, "We're not asking you to. You'll find that this tournament will be unlike any other you may be used to."

"And how's that?" I inquired.

"For one," He replied, "This is a fundraising event."

I snorted lightly, "You expect me to believe that?"

"We're waiting for your answer, Miss Blade." He stated.

Oh so it's 'Miss Blade' now, and not 'lieutenant'?

I half-expected Ermac to have read that thought and to respond accordingly in that caustic way of his but no. He just stood there gazing at me with those luminescent green eyes. All was silent. Everybody was waiting on me. I knew that if we apprehended Kano right here and now, taking down his goons would be child's play. A beast without a head isn't that hard to overcome.

I just didn't know if I should be making deals with Ermac. This was all highly suspect. I have no idea what he's really asking. I mean, a tournament plus otherworldly ruler always seemed to equal trouble in the past so why would this time be any different? And besides, Ermac was threatening me just the other day. Why is he doing me favors all of a sudden? This really didn't seem right.

"Miss Blade." Ermac grunted adamantly.

I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this: I made up my mind. I pulled my radio from its place on my hip and mashed one of the buttons.

"Black Hawk to Base: Send reinforcements."

Kung Lao

Thank you for your concern. I am doing well. You were right, being Kitana's bodyguard did keep me busy. That was before your friend came along, though. Liu Kang refuses to leave her side. I suppose it's a good thing: I've received a promotion recently that will probably make up for the extra time. Like you, I don't write often. Nor do I receive many letters. It was nice to get one for a change.

Thank you again.

Jade

Before she could change her mind, Jade folded the parchment she'd written on into thirds and slid it into a plain envelope.

Not too wordy, not too personal, she noted. The last thing she wanted to do was give the polite monk too much information. And speaking of that, she didn't feel inclined to mention her new position. She didn't really know the friendly monk that well.

And besides, she figured, this is just a reply to the letter he sent me. It would best to keep things brief.

Jade put the clean envelope in one of her cloak's deep pockets. The cloak was dark and thick and shrouded her entire frame, like how the clouds were shrouding over the early-morning sun outside. She wasn't sure if anyone else besides the palace staff were awake, but she was. She wanted to get one last look at her room.

She had chosen to spend one more night in her quarters across from the royal couple, for nostalgia's sake. After today, she'd be moving to a residence closer to the military barracks. That was where her new job was located; she was soon to be in charge of training Edenia's young army members. She looked forward to the task but leaving this room behind was a bittersweet occasion.

I grew up in this room, She remembered, Kitana and I played in this room. Before the invasion, that is.

Jade frowned.

That time was over now. There was no warlord threatening the realm anymore. Things were moving along smoothly when it came to the country's restoration and there was a relative peace abounding. For however long it lasted, Jade decided to make the best of it; she knew first-hand how quickly that could change.

But first, Jade thought with the letter in mind, I need to find Liu Kang.

A/N: Nothing to add here, other than enjoy reading the story!