Epilogue - It's In Our Blood

A loud bang awoke me from a peaceful slumber. Who in the fuck…

"What the?" I muttered and sat up. Cassie had been woken up by the same sound because I heard her sit up next to me.

"What was that?" she whispered.

"You got me," I answered. "I'm gonna guess something fell downstairs. I'll check."

"Not without me you're not," she protested. I smiled back at my wife. She is so cute when she worries…but she did have a right to.

"Cass, you know that whole thing with my dad was almost 5 years ago?" I said and swung my legs over the side of the bed. Thankfully, I was wearing shorts. Cassie got up out of bed as well and appeared at my side.

"What part of 'I'm not losing you ever again' are you not getting here?" she said and held up her ringed hand "I vowed to be with you forever!" A hearty chuckle rang throughout the room. It wasn't my chuckle either. Cassie and I exchanged glances.

"Plan A?" I asked. Cassie nodded. She and I began to creep our way out of our bedroom and down the stairs. We passed our wedding photo on the wall. I couldn't help but give it a small smile. Cassie was so happy that day. Like you have no idea. I usually had to play her song to her whenever she had a bad day. It would cheer her up immediately. Still played a good amount of metal songs don't get me wrong. I had 2 full length "Caged Maniac" albums out there too. Anyway, I gave a silent signal to Cassie and started to creep down the steps.

"Greetings Victor and Cassandra Harris," a voice came from around the corner leading to the living room. I flinched and Cassie squeaked. I looked up at her and she currently had her hands over her mouth. I beckoned her forward but she didn't budge.

"You need not be afraid Cassandra," the same voice answered. Cassie dropped her hands and mouthed "What the fuck?" I shrugged and then did something stupid and peered around the corner.

"Holy…" I said out loud as my eyes registered who was standing in my living room. This time he didn't disappear immediately like the other multitude of times I had seen him over the years. It was Liu Kang. But again, he was not the being from the Netherrealm that I had dueled one night years ago. Instead, he looked more like a human from Asia minus the gray skin. He was wearing an unbuttoned beige colored short sleeved shirt. Under that was a bare chest. His arms were glowing with tattoos that looked similar to Fujin's except Liu Kang's had more of a dragon like design. His pants were colored blue with red dragon designs with his shins wrapped in white fabric. Black shoes hovered a few inches off the ground as his glowing white eyes studied me.

"We meet again Victor Harris," Liu Kang said. I gulped and heard Cassie appear behind me followed by an audible gasp.

"Hello Cassandra," Liu Kang said politely. "Forgive my lack of tact in waking you up. It appears I ran into the table when I arrived."

"Forgive me for asking, aren't…aren't you…well, dead?" Cassie asked. She was holding onto my arm and I could feel her shaking just slightly out of fear. Liu Kang smiled.

"In your timeline, yes," he answered plainly. Uh hold up, "our timeline?" Fucking WHAT?!

"Excuse me?" I asked. "But what do you mean?" Liu Kang landed on the ground and walked forward a few steps.

"There are multiple flows of time. Some with subtle differences and others with drastic ones. This timeline is one untouched by former Titan of Time Kronika. I wanted to see how this timeline would play out if she had not interfered. I did the same. I watched from afar," he explained.

"Ok…" I said. Cassie squeezed my arm. Liu Kang smiled at her.

"Yes Cassandra. In another timeline, you two never met. And in another, you take part in a war against Kronika," Liu Kang said. "I myself am a fan of this timeline. I am aware my counterpart is rather evil but besides that, it seemed to have worked out for the best. You two have incredible synergy and a strong marriage." He flashed us a benevolent smile.

"Again…ok," I said tentatively.

"I am also the one who revived Lauren Harris and Dante Vento," Liu Kang said, still smiling. "I felt you needed to be happy after a long time of suffering Victor. That is the only time I interfered."

"I well…I…thanks," I answered before I remembered something. "You were the voice I heard in my head before I woke up!" Liu Kang nodded once while Cassie squeezed my arm again.

"It is time. I require your assistance. Both of you in fact," Liu Kang informed us.

"But…won't that like fuck with everything? If we aren't from your timeline?" Cassie asked. Again, Liu Kang smiled.

"I will ensure that everything you already know and have experienced will stay the same. Your reality now is actually becoming the current future of where I come from. Think of it as…coming together in a new era," Liu Kang said. Suddenly, my mind was bombarded by some new visions of things I didn't remember…but did at the same time. This was weird. Everything I already knew was the same. My mom dying, being Fujin's student, reuniting with Cassie, my mom being revived. Everything…except there were smaller changes. Like…I believe Dante was present in my life before I was 10. I had a memory of him being present during Christmas when I was 7 and that's apparently when he asked my mom and I to move into his house. Cassie seemed to have experienced the same feeling I just did.

"What happened?" I asked, rubbing my head. Liu Kang placed a hand on my shoulder. It was warm. Friendly even.

"The merge is complete," Liu Kang said. "As I stated earlier, I quite like this timeline and your project involving writing humorous songs about Jonathan Cage. Your father in law." Cassie held onto my arm again.

"Is…everything the same?" I asked in a softer voice. I couldn't lose my mom again. Not again. Not to him.

"Your mother is safe Victor Harris. Maybe you will be able to see her in her prime as a student of Fujin. Do not worry, Fujin will also remember you and has already been informed of your potential arrival," Liu Kang said. "The people that will not be your respective parents as well as the younger versions of your current allies."

"Are you saying you need our help?" Cassie asked. Liu Kang nodded.

"Even in my new era, one constant remains. There is always something worth fighting for," he said. "Some have chosen to defy peace and I require your assistance."

"Why now?" I asked. "Why not years ago?"

"I felt that Thrash could use a bit of a break with his new wife," Liu Kang said. "Can I count on you both?" I looked at Cassie. She nodded once.

"You're on Master Liu Kang," I said.

"We're in," Cassie added. "When do we leave?"

"Whenever you are ready," Liu Kang answered

Cassie and I were dressed for battle the following morning. I had my leather jacket on alongside my sunglasses and mask. I felt that if I ever ran into my mom, she'd recognize me. Cassie was busy checking me out.

"Jeez, it's like looking into the past," she said. I admired my wife's physique. Top notch lemme tell ya. It was pretty much the same as when we got married. She had ditched that old bodysuit long ago and now wore army pants, boots, a black short sleeve shirt and a jacket. Still had those aviator sunglasses too. Her hair didn't sport the old undercut but more of a grown out pixie cut. She sometimes put it up in a short ponytail. Cassie had caught me admiring her body as we walked outside.

"See anything you like?" she asked.

"Yes, but I am not panting like a dog," I answered and pinched her butt as she walked by me. She turned back.

"Are you being a naughty puppy?" she asked. "Let's see what Liu Kang needs our help fighting. Are…are you ready?" I gulped. I'll admit…I was a little scared. But Liu Kang came to us directly to ask for help.

"Yeah...I think so," I answered and looked back at our house for what I hoped wasn't the final time. "How are we supposed to even get there?" Right after I said that, a blue and orange portal had opened right in front of Cassie and I.

"Like that," Cassie said. Then she removed my mask and kissed me on the mouth. Long and deep. "For luck."

"I hate to see what a kiss for failure felt like," I answered as I took her hand as she giggled. We walked through the portal and suddenly found ourselves standing in a grassy field. A good amount of other people were already standing there. At the forefront was Liu Kang, flanked by 2 other guys both wearing hats. Behind him, I spotted my old mentor and friend Fujin. He caught my eye, smiled once and pointed to his head, signifying that he did in fact know who we were. I nodded back at him as I heard the portal close behind me.

"Welcome Thrash and Cassandra Harris," Liu Kang said and bowed slightly. "To my new era. Or rather, the past of your new timeline." Cassie and I returned the bow.

"Come," Liu Kang instructed. "I will show you what we are fighting against." Cassie took my hand as we started to walk forward. The other two guys plus Fujin began to follow us. Fujin came up to my other side.

"Your mother is safe Vic," he said softly. "In order for you to be born, she does need to date Zayne but we will be able to intercept him much earlier than before." I nodded at him. Then he pointed at the backs of the guys with hats.

"Raiden," he said and pointed at the guy dressed in white. Then to the other one, "Kung Lao." Cassie snorted.

"No way, that's Raiden?" she said. Raiden turned around to face her with a slight smile on his face. He raised his hand and shot a small lightning bolt at Cassie's feet. She jumped. I chuckled.

"Shut up," Cassie muttered. I heard Liu Kang chuckle too. Then he turned to face me.

"Do you hear that?" he asked me. I strained my ear for just a second before remembering that I could use the winds to assist me. I heard someone screaming for help and shouting about…

"Demons…" I said. Cassie smiled at me.

"That's all you babe," she said.

"We will meet up with you ahead Thrash," Liu Kang answered.

"You'll know where we are," Fujin added. Cassie backed up a little bit giving me space to charge up the winds around me. With one last look at my new allies (and a kiss from my loving wife), I shot off into the sky in a flash of neon and a rush of wind. Off to save another innocent life.

After all, it's in my blood.