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Almost a week has passed since Kurai spoke with Drake, and many of his friends have either returned to Earth Realm, or in Jade and Kitana's case, returned to Edenia. Kurai wanted to talk to Jade about what she wanted to tell him a few days previously, but she said it would have to wait.
Sindel had requested that Jade and Kitana return to Edenia to continue the training of the Edenian Royal Cadets for the coming threat looming on the horizon. While frustrated that he had to wait for Jade to return to continue their conversation, Kurai understood what his mother wanted, so he decided to wait patiently for Jade's return. Or at least wait until he is fully healed then return to Edenia to deal with the royals and the "peasants".
Bi-Han, Kuai Liang, Tomas all returned to Earth Realm when they suddenly received word from one of their Lin Kuei brethren that many of the other Lin Kuei members have gone missing. Hanzo went along with them at Bi-Han's request, though Tomas and Kuai Liang were uncertain.
Since then, things had gone quiet, then Goro and Sheeva reports to Mileena that Kintaro suddenly left the Shokan out of anger for sitting on the sidelines for too long during the whole situation with Shinnok. That worried Kurai greatly, while he did not grow as close to Kintaro like he did Goro and Sheeva, but he hoped to reach out to the Shokan tiger in friendship, but he left before could.
All of this had happened within just a few days and there still has been no word from Raiden about what everyones next move should be. Things have gone quiet since then.
Too quiet.
Kurai takes one of his daily strolls through the Outworld palace, now that he doesn't need much help anymore, and passes by many of the palace guards consisting mainly of Shokan and Tarkatan warriors who serve under Mileena. He walks towards the palace throne room to see Mileena herself discussing business concerning her army and security.
She looks up from one of the file reports presented to her by one of her advisers, and raises her hand up to Kurai signaling that she'll be with him in a moment. He nods with a smile and just paces the room while he waits for her business to conclude.
Fifteen minutes later she finally concludes her business with her advisers and dismisses them before she leans back on her throne with a deep sigh. Kurai chuckles as he walks up to her. "I do not envy you with all that. I honestly feel sorry for you, Mileena." He says to her amusingly.
She looks up at him with an annoyed expression. "Don't test my patience right now, Kurai. With Kintaro having left the Shokan, Malek still in the wind after Shinnok's defeat, and Delilah still hasn't made a move yet. It's all way too quiet." She says to him with an exasperated sigh as Kurai nods his head in agreement.
Mileena sits up straight and continues. "And I have grown to appreciate silence, but this? This is not the kind of quiet I like. Something is going to happen, I know it. I just don't know when. " She goes on with a worried tone.
Kurai smiles and walks up to her before gently patting her shoulder. "I don't know when either, Mileena, but it doesn't matter. No matter what happens, we'll all fight it together. Delilah may hold all the cards right now, but she'll eventually slip and when she does, that's when we'll take her down." He tells her confidently, which causes her to smile and nod before stretching.
She stands up from the throne and walks over to Kurai. "I'm going to go stretch my legs and take a stroll around the garden outside. I have more business to attend to later with the demands of the people and I want to get some fresh air before I have to start doing that. What are you going to do?" She asks him curiously as they both walk over to the large double doors.
Kurai thinks for a moment and shrugs. "Not sure yet, probably stroll around the palace a while longer. But I do know that I'm going to do some training after. I've hardly been able to do anything the past few days and I don't want to take it easy for too much longer, or else I'll get sloppy once I have to start fighting again." He answers seriously as Mileena nods her head with understanding.
"Well, if you're looking to train, my personal training area is open for you to use. You know where it is. That way, no one will bother or distract you while you do. Unless, of course, something does happen and someone is sent to find you. In which case, I'll know where to find you or send someone to find you." She informs him as he nods gratefully and places a tender kiss on her cheek.
"Thank you, Mileena." He says to her politely as she nods her head before walking out of the throne room to head down to the gardens.
Kurai walks out of the throne room and heads in the other direction to look for Drake and see if he would like to do some training as well. It would be nice to have a sparring partner that knows how to keep him on his toes and challenge him.
As he nears the doors to Skarlet's room he presses his ear up against the door and listens in to hear light breathing from both Drake and Skarlet. They were still fast asleep, so he decides to leave them alone for the time being.
He heads back to his room and changes from his clothes to his fighting gear and heads to Mileena's personal training facility. As he steps through the doors, he notices multiple training dummies stacked up on one side of the room with the other side having piles of destroyed training dummies, which causes him to laugh under his breath.
He shakes his head at a thought. "The training dummies must be used to relieve a lot of Mileena's stress as Empress. I feel a little sorry for them. Not that I'll be much better." He thinks to himself before walking over to one of the training dummies to begin his training, but stops when he feels a presence in the room with him.
"Hello, Tanya." He says calling out to her with a smile before turning around to see Tanya walking up behind him. She smiles timidly before waving at him.
"I'm glad you're up and about." He says to her happily as she walks up to him and hugs him tightly with a nod.
She lays her head against his chest and sighs. "So am I. I got tired of lying in that medical bed every day and decided to take a walk around the palace. Then I saw you with your fighting clothes on and decided to follow you. I'm assuming you want to get yourself back into fighting shape?" She asks him thoughtfully causing him to nod as he hugs her back.
"Naturally. After fighting Shinnok, where I haven't been able to move my body much the past few days, I've slacked off on my training. Now that I'm able to move more, I figured that now is a good a time as ever to get back to training." He explains to her truthfully, to which she giggles and nods with understanding.
She looks up at him and kisses his chin. "Need a sparring partner?" She asks curiously, but Kurai hesitates and and looks down at her belly before looking into her eyes.
"Are you up to it?" He asks her softly. He understands if she wants to relieve some built up stress, but he doesn't want her to push herself if her mind isn't up to it. Her spirit may be willing, but he wants to make sure that her mind is willing as well.
She sighs before laying her head against his chest again. "Yes, Kurai, I'm up for it. I may be... fractured at the moment, but I'm not broken. And besides, there's no one else I'd rather be with right now than you." She says honestly before looking up at him with determination and kissing his chin again.
Kurai remains unsure, but the determined look in her eyes told him everything he needs to know before he nods and smiles. "Alright. Let's set up some training dummies and get to work." He tells her, which causes her eyes to brighten up before she nods and walks with him to help him set up some dummies for their training.
"I don't care what that Delilah bitch did to me, I'm going to figure out a way to have children again and I'm going to have all of Kurai's babies." She thinks to herself with determination as she sets up one of the dummies and begins striking it hard to let out her pent up rage.
Kurai looks over at Tanya and smiles at the determined look on her face before he sets up one of his dummies and begins his training to get himself back in shape. He may have only slacked off for a few days, but it's been a few days too long and Delilah and her followers could strike any day now. And that is time he will never get back. So he decides to put in extra effort and time to get him back to his old self.
Meanwhile, with Drake and Skarlet...
Drake inhales deeply as he wakes up and looks over at Skarlet, who was still sound asleep. He smiles and gently brushes some of her long, red hair off her face, which causes her to stir before her eyes flutter open. She smiles and leans over to kiss him on the lips.
"Hmm, good morning." He says to her softly before she lays her head down on his chest.
"Good morning." She says back to him with her eyes closed while draping an arm across his stomach and holds him close to her.
He chuckles and adjusts himself more comfortably in her bed. "I think we should get up and get dressed. I'm sure that many of our friends are up by now." He tells her as she mock whines and holds him close, which only causes him to laugh.
"Hmm, just a little longer, beloved. Your body is so warm, and your blood smells so sweet that I don't want to smells anything else right now." She says to him with a purr before looking at at him seductively, which he laughs at.
"You had me at the start, Skarlet, then you just had to make it weird when you mentioned the blood." He tells her humorously as she crawls up to his face and kisses him tenderly.
"I apologize, beloved, but I'm just not good at... how do you say? Pillow talk. This is all... still new to me." She admits to him honestly, to which he nods his head with understanding.
He kisses her back and holds her close against him. "That's ok. This is new to me too." He tells her as she tilts her head to the side with a confused expression.
"Oh? How so?" She asks him curiously.
He shifts under her curious gaze before sitting up in the bed. "I haven't had much luck with... the ladies until I met you, Skarlet. I would go out with some girls for a while and then they would just... up and leave." He explains, which only confuses her more.
"But why? Did you abuse any of them?" She asks him with a serious expression, but he immediately shakes his head.
"What? No. God, no. It had nothing to do with that, it was just..." He begins to explain then hesitates and trails off. He sighs and looks off to the side.
Skarlet climbs into his lap and grasps his head to make him look at her. "Don't shut me out now, beloved. Why did those women leave you?" She asks him curiously as he sighs then slowly takes off his shirt before tossing it to the floor.
Skarlet's eyes widen at the sight of Drake's birth mark that looks like a scar in the shape of flames on his left shoulder. She looks up at him with a bewildered expression. He shrugs and points to his birth mark.
"This is why they left, Skarlet. Whenever the ladies and I reached a point in our relationship that we could get... intimate, they would take one look at this damned birth mark, come up with an excuse that they had to leave early or they had something important to do the next day, and they would leave. And I would never see or hear from them again." He explains dejectedly as he looks down.
Skarlet examines the birth mark closely and slowly trails her fingers over it before leaning down and kisses it softly. Shocked, Drake looks at Skarlet incredulously. "Skarlet, what...? What are you doing?" He asks her in disbelief before she looks up at him.
"It is just a birth mark, beloved. If this alone is what drove those women away, then they didn't deserve you. They were too weak, too afraid of a strong man that has been through so much pain that he continues to endure it all. They wouldn't know how to handle a man like you, which is why they don't understand or deserve you. But I do." She says to him with her hand on his birth mark as she smiles.
Drake looks up at her tearfully with a smile. "Dear god, you really are something else, Skarlet." He says to her with admiration as she smiles before kissing him.
She slowly trails a finger over his birth mark, which makes him shudder under her touch. "And don't ever forget it, Drake." She says to him playfully as they both laugh lightly and begin to kiss each other again before lying back down on the bed.
Back with Kurai and Tanya, Hours later...
Kurai and Tanya kick each other back across the training room, both panting heavily and sweating from how long they've been training. Tanya's whole body feels heavy with her legs feeling wobbly while Kurai looks as though he can keep going a little longer.
Tanya struggles to lift her arms up in a defensive stance but Kurai shakes his head immediately. "No, Tanya. Don't push yourself. I know you're determined, but it's no good for you if you're trying to kill yourself." He says to her calmly, but Tanya keeps her stance, but she continues to struggle.
"I can't give up, Kurai. Not now. I can't." She says while her whole body shakes. Kurai sighs and drops his stance before walking over to her calmly.
He tenderly grabs one of her hands and brings it down slowly. She tears up before suddenly collapsing causing Kurai to catch her before she falls to the floor. She does weep, but her tears fall steadily down her cheeks as Kurai holds her close.
"You're not giving up, Tanya. It's just training. We can keep going later, but we've already been at it for hours. Let's just take a break for now, head to the dining hall and grab a bite to eat. If you're feeling up to it afterwards, we can continue training. Ok?" He says to her calmly, which causes her to nod before he helps her back up to her feet.
Tanya's legs still feel wobbly so she holds on to Kurai tightly. She looks up at him with a pleading expression, which causes him to smile and nod. "You don't even have to ask, Tanya. I'll give you a hand. Come on." He says to her as he helps her walk out of the training room and to the dining hall.
As they walk towards the dining hall, they pass by Reptile and Ermac, who were heading towards the throne room. They both look back at Kurai with amused expressions. "Good training day, Kurai?" He asks amusingly as Kurai smiles.
"You could say that, Reptile." He says as he and Tanya laugh while they continue towards the dining hall. Reptile and Ermac laugh as they continue in the direction of the throne room.
However, unknown to them, up in the rafters they are being watched. Kurai especially, by Basilisk. He watches Kurai closely as he walks past. Basilisk had an opportunity to pounce, but not with this many witnesses and guards at the moments. "Not yet, Basilisk. You'll get your chance. Just not yet." He says to himself quietly while he continues to wait for his opportunity to capture Kurai.
One hour later...
After helping Tanya take it easy for an hour and grab a bite to eat, Kurai decides to not take her back to continue training when he sees her swaying from side to side even though she ate. He decides that they will continue training the next day, although she protests and tells him she's fine, he stands firm and tells her they'll continue training tomorrow.
Tanya wanted to continue protesting, but one look from Kurai told her that she was in no position to argue. She relents and nods her head before Kurai pats her back gentle before heading back to his room for a quick bath and a change of clothes.
After taking a bath, changing his clothes and walking out of his room, Kurai heads back to the dining hall for lunch with Mileena and the others until he hears explosions coming from outside the palace. He runs over to one of the nearest balconies to see the Centaur army, lead by Malek, attacking the palace.
He can also see Kintaro attacking many of Outworld's soldiers and easily ripping them apart. Kurai gazes out at the carnage before heading back into the palace to find Mileena, but is kicked in the back and knocked down to the floor by an unknown assailant.
He turns and looks up at a creature wearing green and black clothes and has an uncanny resemblance to Reptile, but he knows it's not him. "Who in the hell are you?" He asks as he stands up to prepare himself for a fight against this new creature.
Basilisk growls under his breath. "I am Basilisk and you are coming with me, Prince Kurai." He says before glaring at Kurai with bright, glowing yellow eyes.
Kurai suddenly feels light headed as his body begins to feel heavy, but only briefly before he shakes his head to shake off the feeling and runs towards Basilisk, which surprises the reptilian creature.
He uppercuts Basilisk and sends him flying through the air before he lands roughly on his back. Basilisk sits up and gazes upon Kurai with a bewildered expression. "Delilah was right. Even in his weakened condition, he still managed to resist my Petrifying Gaze. Most impressive. I'll have to do this the old fashioned way, but I must be quick." He thinks to himself before standing up.
As Kurai prepares himself for a fight against Basilisk, he hears footsteps behind him and looks to see Goro and Sheeva running up behind him. "Prince Kurai! Are you alright?!" Goro shouts as he and Sheeva prepare to help the prince, but he holds a hand up to stop them.
"I'm fine, Goro! You and Sheeva go help the others! I'll handle this!" He tells them seriously, but the two Shokan don't budge.
"My prince, you can't expect us to just leave you here alone with this creature!" Sheeva shouts sadly, but Kurai looks back at her with a serious expression.
"Yes, I do, Sheeva! You have to help the Outworld army! Kintaro is among the Centaurs! He working with Malek and Delilah!" He tells them urgently, which causes the two to look at each other in shock before looking back at Kurai and Basilisk.
"Damn it all...! Fine! Handle the assailant for as long as you can! After we handle Kintaro we're coming straight back to help you! Understand?!" Goro says to Kurai seriously, who nods as he keeps his eyes on Basilisk.
"That's fine, Goro! Now go! You need to hurry!" He tells them urgently before the two Shokan leave Kurai behind to deal with Basilisk.
Basilisk snorts as he walks towards Kurai slowly. "They won't be able to come back in time, Prince of Edenia. You and I will both be gone before they return." He says to him seriously before shifting into his fighting stance.
Kurai narrows his eyes and glares at Basilisk. "We'll just see about that, Basilisk." He says before shifting into his own fighting stance.
Kurai vs. Basilisk...
The two rush towards each other before they start landing blows on each other. However, where Kurai is technically still in recovery, his strikes aren't normally as piercing and devastating as they normally are. Basilisk's, however, are making him stagger and forcing him to back away at certain points.
Knowing that he cannot fight with the brutal force he normally does, Kurai takes a defensive approach to counter, dodge, or block Basilisk's attacks to buy himself time, but he understands that it might not be enough.
Basilisk lands a blow on Kurai's jaw and causes him to stagger backwards into the wall before he dodges a forward kick. The wall dents from Basilisk's kick as Kurai backs away.
The Reptile lookalike turns his hooded head towards Kurai with a piercing gaze. "I must admit, your ability to adapt in a fight while you're weakened is admirable and impressive. However, this is one fight you will not win, Kurai. Delilah has something special planned for you and she wants you alive for that reason." He tells the prince before walking towards him.
Kurai, breathing heavily, shakes his head to clear his vision. "Yeah? And what would exactly would that special plan be, may I ask?" He asks sharply as Basilisk smirks underneath his mask.
"For you to be a witness." He answers, which gives Kurai pause as he looks at Basilisk with a concerned expression.
"A witness to what?" He asks curiously before Basilisk continues to smirk.
He then answers cryptically. "You'll see once I bring you in." Before he rushes towards Kurai and continues his attack, which Kurai manages to keep up his defense, but it doesn't last for much longer.
Kurai continues to block each of Basilisk's attacks before the reptilian creature kicks Kurai in the leg, which causes him to kneel to the floor before Basilisk kicks him in the face snd sends him flying backwards down the hallway. He walks towards Kurai steadily as the prince shakes his head and stands up before he suddenly feels a new presence behind him.
He then barely dodges a sudden attack from the new assailant before back kicking them away. The new assailant stumbles back with groan before glaring up at Kurai fiercely as he manages to get a look at this man.
The man is wearing aztec inspired armor with teal colored war paint while holding a large sword in his hand as he holds his stomach from where Kurai had kicked him. Kurai did not know this man, but he knew he is an Osh-Tekk. "Kotal! He is mine! You're needed elsewhere! Now go!" Basilisk orders the man, Kotal, who glares furiously at Basilisk before continuing to glare at Kurai.
"Jade will be mine, traitor." He says sharply before turning to walk away, which causes Kurai to look at the man with confusion before suddenly feeling anger.
"He must be another idiot who thinks I'm a traitor to my home. Though I wonder how he knows Jade, but I'll deal with him soon enough." He thinks to himself before turning back towards Basilisk, who finally makes it behind him.
"You fought bravely, Kurai. You have my respect and I applaud you, but give up. This is one fight you will not win. Not this time." He says to the prince truthfully, not wanting to fight Kurai any longer while he is weakened, he is an assassin, but it goes against his very code to fight against a weakened opponent.
But Kurai refuses and shakes his head. "Not a chance Basilisk. You want to bring me in? You'll have to defeat me first, because I'm not giving up." He says defiantly before shifting back into a defensive stance, but Basilisk sighs.
"Then you leave me no choice." He says before quickly spitting a mist of acid at Kurai's face, which he fails to dodge and is now temporarily blinded.
"GAH! Damn it! You bastard!" He shouts and tries keep up his defensive position, but Basilisk quickly runs up to him before kicking him in the side, which sends him up against the wall. Basilisk then punches Kurai in the face hard then kicks him, which renders Kurai unconscious as he falls face first to the floor.
BASILISK WINS!
Basilisk sighs deeply before lifting Kurai up with one arm and carries the Edenian Prince's unconscious form on his shoulder. He then walks over to Kurai room and sets it on fire as a signal to the army that the plan is now set and that they should retreat for now.
Basilisk leaves the room and quickly leaves the palace as the Outworld army looks confused as the why the Centaur army retreated when they had the battle won. However, Goro and Sheeva realize the attack was a diversion and quickly gather the other Outworld champions to follow them back into the palace where they last saw Kurai.
The champions, Tanya, Drake, and Mileena run towards the hall where Kurai was last seen before checking his room to find a fire. They put out the fire as quickly as they could and thankfully find no body in the room, but it doesn't make things better.
Goro and Sheeva roar furiously and storm out of the room with the other champions in tow to order the soldiers to spread out and find him as Tanya collapses to her knees. Tears well up in her eyes before she releases a blood curdling scream while Drake and Mileena both hug her from behind to comfort her.
Mileena has tears streaming down her cheeks while Drake tries his best to hold back his own while Skarlet stands behind him with a tender hand on his shoulder. Drake looks up at the sunset and glares at the thought of Delilah now having Kurai as her prisoner. He can only wonder what Delilah has planned for Kurai while many of his allies scramble to find him.
Wiping her tears away, Mileena says the one thing that she is now dreading. "Tanya, you have to pulls yourself together. We can cry and weep all we want, but it won't change what happened. But we... we have to inform Sindel and Raiden of this. We can't keep them in the dark about this." She says to Tanya, while Drake doesn't like the idea, but he agrees.
Tanya looks uncertain, but she knows Mileena is right and that they should let Kurai's family know that he's been captured and is now in Delilah's hands. "No matter what it takes, I'm am really going to kill that bitch snd take pleasure in it! She better not hurt him!" She thinks to herself furiously before wiping away her tears and stands up.
"Queen Mileena! Queen Mileena!" A voice shouts in the hall as one of the Outworld soldiers runs into Kurai's now burnt room.
"What is it, soldier? As you can see, we're in the middle of something here." Mileena says sternly as the soldier bows and nods his head with understanding.
"Yes, My Lady. Apologies. But I've come to inform you that we have captured a couple of prisoners from the enemy army." He says to her urgently as Mileena changes her tune and looks at the soldier curiously.
"Well? Who are they?" She demands with a serious tone.
The soldier answers. "The traitor, Kintaro and an Osh-Tekk named Kotal." He informs her as she, Skarlet, Tanya and Drake all look at each other before she looks back at the soldier.
"Bring them to the throne room. I would like a word with them. Especially Kintaro." She hisses as the soldier bows before running out of the room to fetch the prisoners.
Mileena sighs deeply before gesturing for the others to follow her to the throne room. "Come, my friends. It's time we get some answers." She says as she and the rest of the small group begin to head towards the throne room.
It's time to get some answers.