-1Scorpion shuffled in his sleep uneasily before his conscious mind realized something. His bed was soft. That wasn't right… His eyes opened slowly to take in his new and improved bed. Pink. That… was different… The room he was in, which certainly could not be his, had the faint scent of perfume. It was gigantic for a bedroom, neat, clean. Yup. Definitely not his room. He didn't own a damn thing. He sat up slowly and turned his head to the other side of the room. Sitting on a nightstand was a picture of Kitana, Mileena, and Queen Sindel, happily scrunched together smiling in front of the castle of Edenia.

A thought suddenly hit Scorpion. He should not be in Kitana's bed, what the hell was he doing in Kitana's bed?! An empty bottle of sake caught his eye. Oh please God, no… Scorpion's eyes widened, horrified. We did not do that…Please tell me we didn't…

The door opened, startling Scorpion out of his thoughts. Kitana skipped merrily over to the bed and sat down comfortably beside him. "Honey! I see you're awake!"

"Why do you look so happy?" Scorpion asked suspiciously. She was glowing.

She smiled coyly down at him. "I'm just so happy you're awake. You had quite a night last night."

"What!? What the hell did you do to me, woman?!" Scorpion exclaimed, afraid his suspicions were true.

"Not me, sweetie, don't you remember? Well getting knocked up like that… I suppose it would make sense that you wouldn't remember…" Scorpion's eyes widened. There were others… involved?

"If not you, then who the hell did?!" Scorpion finally roared.

"Sub Zero!" Kitana chirped.

"Oh God…"

"Speaking of Gods, you do owe thanks to Raiden. He was the one who finally dragged your unconscious butt up here, mister." Kitana lectured while wiggling her finger at him like he was some grade school kid.

"He wasn't involved too, was he?"

"Of course not, he's an Elder God." She replied in a matter-of-fact manner. "I do hope you're feeling better though. You must be really sore…"

Scorpion cringed at the thought. "Well, I can't feel the pain yet... I can't remember a damn thing… I didn't really drink that much, did I?" Scorpion asked. A look of confusion crossed Kitana's chipper face.

"You didn't drink anything. Wow. You really don't remember anything about the tournament, do you?" She looked concerned and it was starting to weird Scorpion out.

"Tournament? Oh… OH!" A gigantic wave of relief swept over Scorpion. He didn't do unmentionable things with Kitana and Sub Zero last night AFTER all! "I think I'm starting to remember…" He frowned suddenly as he remembered Kitana's limp body. "You're okay then?" He asked. Here he was, knocked out cold all night and then there was Kitana, who had to have gotten hit harder than he was and she was bouncing all over the place!

Kitana's eyes sparkled gratefully. Creepy… "You were worried about me?" She was beginning to tear up. How did she always interpret things differently then he'd meant it? Every single time… Scorpion didn't answer. Instead he glared meaningfully, hoping she'd get the message. "I'm okay. I've got a pretty hard head." Scorpion almost laughed. Almost.

"Typical." He said with a shake of his head.

"But you must've gotten hit pretty bad. You're quite chatty this morning. You sure you're alright?" She tilted her head in a way that made her look… dare he say it… adorable.

"I have got to get out of here." He grumbled angrily. He through his legs over the side of the bed and got up hastily.

"What? Already? But you just woke up…" She pouted. "What about breakfast?"

"I'm not going to sit down with you and have 'breakfast'. I'm an evil ninja spectre and I do not have meaningless associations over food."

"Leaving already? Well at least give her a goodbye kiss." A deep voice boomed merrily. Scorpion rolled his eyes. This was just what he needed…

"Raiden. Problem. Mask." He pointed to the mask he wore as if to say 'duh'.

"Aw, so you WOULD kiss her if it weren't for that!" Raiden exclaimed in a teasing manner.

"You two are driving me up a fucking wall!" Scorpion snapped finally. Without another word, he teleported out of Kitana's house back to Outworld.

Kitana looked up at Raiden in distress. "You made him go away…"

"I thought you didn't like him. Do you want me to bring him back? I can do that you know. I AM an Elder God…" Raiden replied jubilantly.

"No, it's okay, he'd be mad. You know, he's not all… that bad…" Kitana said thoughtfully. Raiden raised an eyebrow at her.

"So then it's not all pretend?" He asked with surprise.

"Well, it was… It still is, it's just… It was really sweet of him, jumping in to save me, you know?" Kitana and Raiden had left the bedroom and were walking around outside of the castle Kitana called her home. Compared to the vast wasteland of Outworld, Edenia was paradise. Beautiful enchanting trees stretched out high above the castle. Birds chirped merrily as children nearby sang happily. It was so peaceful and yet… there was always the feeling that there was something missing.

"I get the feeling he had other intentions besides saving you." Raiden started quietly. "Sorry to disappoint." Raiden added hastily.

"No, you're probably right. But you have to admit, he is going a little soft." Kitana chirped.

"Yes, and it's starting to really freak me out." Raiden chuckled. "You do have quite an effect on him."

"I'll have him in my grasp before long!" Kitana exclaimed jokingly.