Chapter 8: Things Get Better
"An alliance is what you seek with Tarkata," Baraka said as he threw wood onto the War Kamp's fire for warmth. "We have existed without the rule of Shao Kahn for many years now. The rise of a new Kahn or false Kahns do not concern us at present."
"They'll come for you." Sub-Zero said as he approached Baraka. "They will outnumber you and force you to choose between death and total submission. That is what men like them do."
"Death is better than submission if it is the only alternative." Baraka growled.
"Victory is the only alternative, Baraka." Sub-Zero spoke sternly as he stood side by side with the Tarkatan near the fire. "My elder brother's way of war is not so different in his death. The ways of the old Lin Kuei would be far crueller than what I've described. As for Reiko and Rain, I do not know them as well as Bi Han, but I suspect they will not spare any who do not join them."
"Much like you are now?"
"No, Baraka. We seek an alliance to eradicate these threats. Once I have my daughter back, I will leave Outworld to its own devices and politics." Sub-Zero crossed his arms and made eye contact with the beastly Tarkatan leader. The air blew with a slight chill between them as unresolved issues in two lifetimes seemed to mingle around them.
"A man's child should never be used as a tool of war," Baraka faced away. "I will aid you, so long as I collect heads of these false Kahns. Tarkatan's have a superior sense of smell. Sniffing out your young in Outworld will not be a difficult task if she is here."
"She is an innocent little one." Sub-Zero sighed. "We trained her early for survival. I feared one day she'd become a target. I never dreamed it would become a reality. My greatest fear is failing her, and I feel I've done that this day. She is crafty, but she does not belong in harm's way."
"Forgive my harsh words," Baraka spoke up. "But you have not failed your child until she is dead."
"My mind drifts in that direction every moment I do not see her." Sub-Zero lowered his eyebrows and watched the fire for a moment before turning to Baraka again. "If things do not work in Outworld for your people, you forever have a seat at the Lin Kuei's table. I know it must not be easy for you to hear this from me, given your past with Mileena."
"She was mine." Baraka interrupted. A thick silence settled between the two men as Baraka stood before him. "But I let that slip away by mistreating her. She did not deserve that. It is one thing I shall never be redeemed of."
"Forgiveness from her should not be what you seek. Forgiveness in oneself is where redemption is." Sub-Zero spoke without fear, even while knowing his life could end while in range of Baraka's arms.
"I have been given a second chance at a mate. Though she is vastly more stubborn and unpredictable than Mileena ever was." Baraka turned away and faced the tent furthest from the camp. "Terra. She battled Mileena before Shao Kahn's destruction."
Sub-Zero tensed. He let out a long breath and looked toward the tent. "Let us hope Mileena and Terra do not see it fit to revisit the past. Come morning we will be splintering our party off to meet with the Shokan. I take it you are fine with us forming the alliance?"
"If you can convince Sheeva, we will storm the Kahns fortresses as soon as the forces are gathered. That is my word, Kuai Liang."
Meanwhile, at Reiko's Palace
The palace gates opened slowly with a long groan. The steel scraped against the stone pavement and nudged aside skeletons of some of Reiko's 'practice dummies', who were either slaves or captives for his amusement. The pavement was knocked constantly with horse hooves as men rode in. At the front of the six dozen soldiers was a purple clad man in regal robes and a golden crown. Rain rode the largest white horse the realm had to offer. Its physique was beyond normal as every muscle group was visible in its white coat.
The horses stopped before the tall oak doors of the palace, and the men climbed off with laughter and calls of victory. Another visit to the War Realm had been successful it seemed. "Tell Reiko of my arrival." Rain said as he gave one of his men a firm pat on the shoulder. "I come bringing gifts as your Co-Kahn of Outworld! Hear me, loyal peasants!"
Though Rain spoke with a hammy performance worthy of an arrogant stage actor, none of the peasants and beggars outside of the palace paid him any mind.
"Oh, you all are rubbish anyway. You wouldn't know greatness if it-." He stopped to grab a beggar by his torn and tattered collar. His left fist drew back. "If it hit you in the face!" He threw the man to the floor instead of strike him and shared a hearty laugh with the rest of his shoulders on his way in.
He was met halfway by his partner in crime, Reiko, who was of course in his finest Shao Kahn-like attire. Reiko shelved his hammer on his broad shoulder and stopped a few meters away from Reiko with his hand fanning back and forth near his own nose.
"I can smell the ale from here," Reiko coughed. "Is it done? I thought I was to go this time."
Rain held his right hand out to the side and some of his men came over with a cloth-draped item. "It is done. One more victory in Mortal Kombat and the realm is ours. It is time, my dear friend, to put the plan into full effect." As Rain spoke, the men put a golden bracelet around his wrist. In seconds the bracelet activated and formed a golden gauntlet over his hand. "We've won this weapon from their forge."
"And what does this do?" Reiko asked.
"It feeds from your natural power and amplifies it ten-fold." Rain held his hand aside and generated a strike of thunder that blew a hole through several stone walls inside the palace. "Whoops."
Reiko turned his head and viewed the damage. The stone was glowing hot orange and red until it cooled and smoked. He could see through several rooms and even outside as a result. "You are repairing and paying for that. Add it to the armory."
"Armory is full." Rain sighed. "I'll find a place to store it. But I require more ale."
The drunken Rain ambled through the palace. He roamed near the dungeons and holding area an opened the door to one of their smaller libraries. The gauntlet was tossed on top of a table and propped against a bookend.
When the armored weapon was set down, he gave pause. There was a portrait of Edenia and all its former glory hanging overhead. It figures, the part of this palace was one dedicated to the memory of Sindel from its past owner. The landscape was filled with waterfalls and lush greenery. Colors of pink and purple flowers cascaded down the painting to give form to a true paradise. Something opposed to the wastelands of Outworld even on its best days.
The sight of it put pressure on Rain's heart. "All hail King Rain." He said in his drunken tone. "The King…of absolutely nothing. Wastelands, Tarkatans, Shokan, and…nothing. King of a world he was not born into, but stuck in. Wallowing with the filth and the weak. Ne'er to join the pantheon of gods he was born from!" He held his hand in the air, giving a pretend toast to the portrait of Edenia.
"Just get through this tournament. All will be right." He assured himself. He left the library and proceeded down the hall away from the dungeons. Guards lined up and saluted him as he entered a new room. The wooden door was jammed, so he applied a bit more force to it to open it up. The torture chamber had circles on the ceiling and wall that activated gas when a large lever was pulled. Though the chamber served as a protective precursor to Rain's chambers. He walked through the hall of deactivated smoke traps and entered his room.
The window of his personal chambers overlooked the 'kingdom' as it were on its lower west side. The second floor showed more of the wasteland and the part of the barricade around the castle that was currently under repair by slaves. There were miles and miles of forest beyond that, and over the trees were the Tarkatan war Kamps.
He took several moments to himself to watch the horizon. To see through his drunken haze and remember who he was. He was the son of Argus, not the subordinate of a pretender Kahn. "This war could be over soon. Just endure." He said to himself before he plopped onto his bed to rest.
The hours went on into the early morning. All was still in the palace except for the guards making their rounds.
Rounds that were well-timed by someone inside the establishment.
Rapid steps moved past the guards when their backs were turned. Scuffles of shuffling feet vanished into the darkness as they slipped through detection.
The door to the dungeon area was opened. Narrowed eyes watched through the dim light. The guard on duty reading a bedtime story to Mo Chou was suddenly incapacitated by a strike. Non-lethal, but they were put down.
Mo Chou jolted awake. Breathing heavily. Her hands held the bars.
The black clad assassin drew a dagger from her hip. Tanya had come to collect. To thwart whatever plans Tessen had to prove her a fraud. She gathered the cell keys as the child backed up into the corner of the cell.
Tanya's eyes went down to the key as it entered the lock. It popped.
Two small hands grabbed her belt and yanked her face first into the steel bars. CLANK!
Disoriented, Tanya staggered backward while the cell door swung open. Small legs wrapped around her skull and tossed her head first into the cell instead. The child landed gracefully on her feet and slammed the cell door shut and locked it.
Tanya while holding her skull realized what was going on. She grabbed the cell bars and rattled them, but the locking mechanism gave no means of her escape.
"Uhm…sorry?" Mo Chou said with a tilt of her head. She sniffed the air. She followed her nose to the closest scent of outside she could pick up on. She ran up the stairs and gently pried open the door while Tanya rattled and shouted for assistance. No one was in the hall as she shut the door to muffle the noise.
She went across the hall to the miniature library. The door was cracked, so she slipped inside before any guards could notice her. The books were all dusty, but there were beautiful displays of artwork hanging around, including one of a paradise-like setting she'd never seen. Just below it was an armored gauntlet propped up on a surface.
Guards heard Tanya shouting. Mo Chou could hear them opening the dungeon doors to check on her. Time was short. The child grabbed the gauntlet and slipped it over her right hand. It adjusted to her smaller arm, but gave her a boost in adrenaline that made her chest tight and a cold white light form in the center of the gauntlet's palm. She didn't know what it did, but any kind of weapon was better than none.
Footsteps approached the cracked library door.
It swung open and Mo Chou took aim.
A blast of cold energy snap-froze the guards in place and shattered them to pieces seconds after. Breathing rapidly, Mo Chou ran through the crystalized remains of the guards and followed her nostrils to the scent of the prior user of the gauntlet. Maybe they were near a way outside? Both scents mingled in her nose as she ran through the halls freezing the path behind her to make the guards trip and fall.
She reached a jammed wooden door and struggled to push it open. Her now enhanced Kori ability froze over the door and shattered it instead. She picked up on the faint scent of poison gas lingering beneath the floor and beyond the walls, as well as a lever near the door. It was booby trapped?
Trusting her instincts, Mo Chou jumped to tug the switch. Green and grey gas filled the area and poured out into the hall. More guards were on their way. She pulled her shirt up over her mouth and nose for protection and disappeared into the smoke. The guards were all hacking and coughing while she barged into Rain's bedroom.
"What the?" The demi God hopped out of bed upon seeing the child. "What are you-!" He reached for her. Only for Mo Chou to lower her mask and bite the side of his hand with fangs protruding from her gums. He screamed out and yanked is bleeding hand away. He healed himself with his watery abilities, but by the time he turned to face the child, she had sprung through the window to make her escape on a slide of ice. "No. No-no-no! This can't be-!" Rain stumbled over himself as he put his hands on the windowsill. The poison gas seeped through his open door till he rushed over and kicked it shut.
"I…" Rain paused and slowly shuffled toward his bed. "I didn't see anything. I was asleep." He nodded in agreeance with his own fib. He returned to bed and stared at the ceiling. Petrified at both his chosen response and what he'd become. Him, of all people, had become a shell of his former glory. A coward.
Noob Saibot's Fortress
The footfalls of Noob Saibot on the courtyard grounds made no sounds. Only those around him had the impacts of their steps clunking on the cobblestone. At his side was Sareena and several guards of his reborn Brotherhood. Quan Chi also roamed beside the self-proclaimed Noob Saibot Kahn on their way to enter the fortress.
"My brother declined my invitation. This is a shame." Noob's voice rumbled. "We will initiate Mortal Kombat against the Lin Kuei without mercy. He will acknowledge me as the true heir as Grandmaster and Kahn of Outworld."
"Immediately, my love," Sareena bowed submissively. "Shall we send Skarlet back out to issue the challenge?"
"No," Noob shook his head. "She will be saved for Kombat. We must also make arrangements to destroy the fools who oppose us; Reiko and Rain."
"There may be a better solution," Sareena spoke up. Though her voice altered as a green flash washed over her body to reveal the matured Shang Tsung. The Sorcerer was under Reiko's command and was thus a trespasser here. He chuckled as he stepped out from Noob's side and moved in front of him.
"Imposter! What have you done with Sareena?!"
"She is safe." Shang Tsung vowed. "I do not suggest trying any tricks in the dark arts you think you've mastered. Only a fool dabbles in magic he has yet to understand. I come not to make war, but to make peace. Enemy of my enemy is my friend."
"You are eternally deceptive." Quan Chi's deep voice boomed. "What is it you have to offer this mighty brotherhood that your failed Kahn has promised you?"
"Reiko and Rain are not failed. They have something you do not; my darling wife and myself at their beck and call. To talk…, let us say reason into wise men's ears. You are a wise man, are you not, Bi Han?"
"What is the 'reason' you speak of, serpent?"
Bi Han's words made Shang Tsung grin. As if he was being paid the ultimate compliment. A light chuckle left his lips as he bowed his head before Bi Han. "There are greater things at work than our bickering over Outworld. Earthrealm is weakened and gullible; I offer you a chance to reclaim your home world and many more. We stay out of your way and you stay out of ours. The method in which this is achieved is simple; Mortal Kombat."
"I've no time to wait hundres of years to reclaim Earthrealm." Noob Saibot narrowed his hollow eyes. "I am as much Outworld as I am the Earth. The Cryomancers secrets are still hidden in this realm. To know my origins is to know where my power can go next."
"That is all fine, Noob Saibot Kahn, but what if I told you it could take but a few days to claim Earth?" Shang Tsung grinned.
"Enlighten me."
"The War Realm is on brink of losing Mortal Kombat," Shang Tsung explained, "by virtue of the rules, should a new realm align with them, they will share the same fate in defeat. I have it on good authority that Earthrealm is about to align themselves with the War Realm. If we join forces, we can crush their champions in Mortal Kombat. Crush Kotal Kahn and his forces in the process, and to the victor goes the universe. Nothing will stand in our way short of Kronika."
"And just how do you plan on getting Earthrealm to agree to such a union with the War Realm?"
"I have a very persuasive friend" Shang Tsung chuckled. "But you also need to get prepared. There are warriors you should recruit. There is a party happening in Outworld by neutral forces. Send your greatest champions to persuade them to join our side. Earthrealmers will be there—a friend of theirs is currently attending said party against his will."
"Who are these warriors?" Noob Saibot was intrigued. He clasped his hands before himself and watched the sorcerer intently.
"Bedlam and Ataxia. Chaos Realm twins. With unpredictability at our side, Earthrealm will stand no chance." Shang Tsung vowed.
Meanwhile…In The Living Forest
Mo Chou had escaped the walls of the palace. She followed her sense of smell to what she presumed was safety. She jumped over downed roots and corpses to get deeper into the dark and damp forest.
She never once looked back. Always forward. Always to the safest looking or feeling route, just as her mother taught her. She ran until she was out of breath. She coughed violently against her sleeve and crouched down to breathe. She steered clear of the trees. They looked hungry enough to gobble her whole.
She pilfered a knife from a nearby corpse and looked away from it. She was going to have nightmares for days. But this was similar enough to the survival practice she had with her parents. She had to find water, she had to learn her surroundings, and then finally find shelter. She crouched and crawled around in the forest for nearly an hour before she felt confident enough to advance deeper into it. All the scents were muddled, she couldn't properly lock on to just one.
That was until she heard a harmonica in the distance. Someone was there. Someone with food.
The music wasn't quite her taste but the scent of a roast animal was. She moved as she breathed; slowly. Not a single snap of a twig was heard from her on approach to the camp. The individual was alone. He was a blue-ish skinned bald man with four arms.
Mo Chou saw him from the side-view as she sat in the brush, staying low. Arms on the man's back pulled a backpack around to drop at his feet. Okay he had six arms. When the red-eyed man sat on an overturned log in front of his camp fire he let out a long sigh. Once again back at playing his harmonica.
Golden trinkets and armor pieces lined his camp. It seemed he'd been scavenging the corpses of the misfortunate in the area.
He had many different blades. He looked and felt dangerous.
But Mo Chou was hungry. The armored gauntlet she stole could snap-freeze him if he tried anything.
"Hello?" The child spoke out. "I'm sorry mister, I'm lost. Are you with…the…king and stuff?"
"The Kahn?" The man paused his music. "I am afraid I serve no Kahn at present. The price has not been quite right, child." He motioned to the stones across from his camp fire to invite her. "I can sense you are alone. I won't slit your throat." He held his breath a moment. "A joke. I would never do such a thing to a child."
Mo Chou was still cautious. She walked the long way around the fire and took her time crouching down.
The man carved up some meat and slabbed it onto a golden plate for her. He dropped it off and returned to his side of the flame. "What is your name, young one?"
"Mo Chou-." She said before immediately biting down with her small fangs sliding down over her dulled teeth. She ate near savagely for a moment but remembered her manners. "What's your name?"
"I have not had a name in a long time." The man said while carving himself some food. "My people were only known by what services they provide. My mother, Kook. My father, Kraftsman."
"And you?"
"Kollector." The man said while fetching a diamond covered fork to eat with. "But I have not collected for a long time. At least not on account of a Kahn. I do it for sport. The thrill of trinkets and shiny things. Things like that gauntlet of yours. How much is it worth? May I negotiate a purchase?"
"I just want to get out of this forest." Mo Chou said. "Far away from the lady in black and the kings as possible. I just want to go home."
"Where is home, child? Tarkatan war kamps are near. I assume you are at least in part Tarkatan."
"The…Lin Kuei Temple."
"Earthrealm? There are Tarkatans there?" Then the Kollector dropped his fork. The legend fortold that there was at least one half-Tarkatan who took up residence on Earthrealm after the fall of Shao Kahn. "Does the name Mileena mean anything to you?"
"My mommy's name."
Hearing that made Kollector drop his entire plate. "Listen, I do not want any trouble with your mother. I do not want her to get the wrong idea of what is happening here, so I will personally escort you back to Earthrealm. For one small trade."
"My gauntlet."
"That g—yes."
"Okay, whatever, sure." Mo Chou agreed and slipped the gauntlet from her arm partially…then put it back on. "When I see my parents, you'll get it. Deal?"
"Deal."
-CHAPTER END-
A/N
10 Year anniversary of MK: Redemption was September 11th, 2020. Old story. I've been going through a lot of stuff lately but I finally got back to writing and I hope you enjoyed this installment. Next chapter will be jumping into more action potentially as we move forward.
In typical Mortal Kombat style, there's been a hidden theme going on in the naming conventions of the chapters. Take a look at the chapters list. Let me know if you figured it out and what you think it means!