The remaining members of the Saurian race had all been transported to the center of a tropical rainforest which was common and familiar terrain for Zaterra. Rainforests did not exist in Outworld until it's merging with Zaterra had occurred and now certain parts of Outworld previously affected by Zaterra's merging had reverted back into more dull and purpley territory which was in contrast to the green and forestry land which was a con of the demerging albeit one that was ultimately meaningless in the grand scheme of things. The whole rainforest was overflowing with life, mossy trees shading over all the Saurians as they emerged from behind the trees and began engaging in pleasant conversations despite the randomness and shock of the sudden situation.
"My friends," Khameleon called for the attention of her fellow Saurians as she stepped up and balanced herself on top of a log. "If you haven't realized by now, we are in Zaterra."
The audience cheered at the confirmation. The Saurians were known for having great levels of trust in their fellow kind so they immediately took Khameleon seriously and believed her statement.
"Myself, my brother and my lover retrieved an orb that we used to restore Zaterra," Khameleon detailed. "I cannot wait for us to restart our society."
"Where do we go from here?" Chameleon asked.
"Explore," Khameleon suggested. "Surely all that we have made has been retained."
"I'm sorry that we couldn't have seen this sooner." Reptile apologized.
"It's not your fault." Khameleon insisted.
"She's right. It's ours." Chameleon corrected.
"How so?" Khameleon queried, not understanding the guilt they carried.
"We surrendered to Shao Kahn," Reptile reminded her. "And were treated like slaves for it while you still tried fighting against the emperor."
"I still succumbed to him," Khameleon pointed out. "And to see the two of you again? Gladly."
"Maybe if we joined your original cause we could've stopped him." Chameleon considered.
"We'd be dead," Khameleon said more realistically. "I don't blame anyone for being frightened into serving that tyrant. It'd now be hypocritical of me to do. Besides, the past matters not remember?"
"This is why I love you." Reptile stated lovingly as he hugged his beloved.
"I'm happy for the two of you," Chameleon remarked as he watched the two show beautiful affection for one another. "I should get looking for our old kingdom."
"Varkain?" Khameleon correctly recalled the kingdom's name. "Good luck on your search, brother."
"We shall set up a campsite here in the meantime for us all to regroup." Reptile planned.
"Excellent idea, Syzoth," Khameleon praised. "Let me help you…"
And so the Saurians began splitting up as Reptile, Khameleon and a few other opting Saurians chose to remain by their current location to prepare a meeting point for those who eagerly began adventuring their restored realm which was just as it had been left from the merger. Chameleon specifically sought out the realm's main kingdom named Varkain which he knew was in the far north west of the realm which he figured which direction to head thanks to the direction of the visibly green sun.
As Chameleon ventured throughout the familiar land of Zaterra he began to delve deep in his thoughts. Most were imagining the great future of Zaterra now that it had returned but there was also still negative reflection on the past despite her sister's kind words of reassurance. He remembered his early days in the Kahn Guard after Zaterra's conquering where he and Reptile shared a room in the unhygienic and unpleasant living quarters of Kahn's fortress where Khameleon snuck through their small window that was their rooms only source of natural daylight to interact with himself and Reptile every night until her own eventual capture.
In consequence of becoming lost in his thoughts, Chameleon didn't notice a large rock ahead of him and stumbled over it which sent his spiralling down a mudslide ahead which Chameleon was planning on replicating his good friend Reptile's ability to slide down it but now he was uncontrollably rolling down the mud before clipping off another rock which was protruding from the ground with this one being sloped and propelling Chameleon in the air and off of the cliffedge that lay at the end of the mudslide.
As Chameleon was about to plummet hard into the ground he quickly focused on the abilities possessed by Ermac. In the nick of time, Chameleon's costume shifted into a red as he began levitating using the same energy as the soul construct. Chameleon floated down the cliffedge and maneuvered through the thin but tall and plentiful trees of the continued rainforest down below.
Chameleon continued travelling through the forest until he began recognizing the trees and soon a dirt pathway decorated with pebbles and flowers that still flowed with life as they had been preserved due to the merger. Chameleon followed down the path but stopped as he reached the stream that corresponded alongside the pathway to admire the familiar sight of the water gently flowing with beautiful sea creatures that would be considered prehistoric to those residing in Earthrealm.
After taking a few moments to admire the view before him, Chameleon continued trekking down the path. Chameleon could travel at a fast speed as all those in his Saurian subspecies that was also titled as the Chameleons. Due to Shao Kahn's lack of care for the likes of Chameleon, he merely assigned him with a codename taken from his species. Khameleon when she later fell into the Kahn Guard's ranks was given an even lazier codename of Chameleon but of course with a K. However, the two didn't mind such codenames as they were so used to it now. The other type of Saurian was the Raptor with Reptile being an example of this more common half of the Saurian race.
Soon Chameleon made it to the end of the path which stopped before the walls surrounding the kingdom of Varkain. Chameleon stood by the entrance to the kingdom and examined the double steel doors that had been knocked down thousands of years ago thanks to Shao Kahn and his Wrath Hammer, the dent left from Kahn's weapon still remained after all these years.
The banging against the kingdom's doors started. After three heavy blows the doors fell down with Shao Kahn leading the charge as his soldiers spilled into the kingdom, immediately massacring the front line of Saurian warriors due to their lack of numbers. As a result of Kahn's first and latest conquest of Edenia, the Kahn Guard had drastically grown in power and size with a legion of those who betrayed Edenia to side with Shao Kahn called the Hail. The Saurians gave their all but were quickly dispatched of. Kahn proceeded to order his soldiers to split up and exterminate the Saurians in the kingdom, they had already eliminated most outside of the kingdom walls due to Queen Sytholin's refusal to allow Zaterra to merge with Outworld.
Shao Kahn himself, however, went straight for the Saurian queen's palace. He clobbered every Saurian who was brave enough to try and challenge him and his best soldiers on his way to the palace. Shao launched a blast of soul energy which shattered a hole into the palace walls which granted the emperor entry into Sytholin's throne room where the queen was busy fending off Kahn Guard members who were already challenging her.
"You." Sytholin soon acknowledged the presence of Shao Kahn.
"You should've taken my generous offer." Kahn remarked as he stepped forward.
A royal guard tried stopping Shao's advance only to be hoisted by his neck and choked out with a snap sounding out throughout the room. Kahn slumped the guards body onto what was formerly a traditionally red carpet that led to the wooden made throne but was now splattered with the green blood of the poor Saurians as well as a different shade of red for the few Kahn Guard members who the defenders had managed to slay.
"I'd never align with a monster like you." Sytholin retorted as she took her sword and began fighting for her life against a couple of soldiers.
One charged at her but was kicked in the gut, causing them to bend over and exposed their back to being stabbed. Another punched the queen who retaliated by delivering a swift cut through the soldiers head. No mercy would be shown for those who followed Shao Kahn was the queen's mindset. Another soldier leapt at Sytholin, tackling her and sending her sprawling backwards onto her throne. The loyal soldier knew that his emperor would want the final blow on Sytholin so instead of murdering her by using the blade of his own sword he decided to only use the hilt of the weapon to batter Sytholin in the face. A Saurian royal guard came to protect the queen and the two warriors fought with the other soldiers beside the throne.
Saurians guards and Shao Kahn soldiers were at each other's throats as Shao Kahn charged forth at Sytholin, smashing his shoulder into her already bloodied face and knocking her back into her throne with the back of her head smashing against the seat and stunning her.
"Because of your honour you have not only damned yourself but your people." Kahn informed her as she tried recovering from her stunned state.
"My special defenders will stop you." Sytholin warned the emperor with her full faith being in these defenders that she spoke of.
"They're probably dead," Kahn assumed. "It's been mere minutes and I've nearly exterminated your race. This is what happens when you underestimate my authority."
"Damn you!" Sytholin cried out. "You have no idea how powerful our people are."
"Nowhere near the strength of the Kahn Guard." Kahn replied with rightful confidence.
"They'll be here any second now." Sytholin continued her attempts of intimidating the emperor through warnings but it just wasn't working. There was very little that Shao Kahn feared and what he deemed to be pathetic lizards did not fall under that minute list.
"Then I cannot waste anymore time…" Kahn realized as he summoned his Wrath Hammer. "In killing you."
At the bottom of the stairway to the palace, said special defenders were busy being occupied with a group of purple cladded ninjas of the Hail who were preventing them from reaching the palace. It was an evenly numbered battle of two sides of equal agile abilities. In the centre of the battle was the leader of the Edenian ninjas and traitors: Rain. He slammed his fist into the cobblestone floor which sent a large and fast wave that wiped out the surrounding area of both the Saurians and his own students.
One Saurian had leapt above this attack though and they were called Komodai. While the Saurian defender group had no actual leader, Komodai was considered one of their best warriors along with the brother and sister duo of Oculto and Axoltia as well as Komodai's best friend: Syzoth. Komodai dove forth at the Demigod and struck his foot into his face, his clawed toenails scraping down Rain's face in what was considered both painful and especially gross to the Edenian. As Komodai landed to the floor, Rain returned the favour with a kick of his own which was amplified by his ability to control water which forced and sent Komodai flying into a nearby cottage where he crashed through the home's stone wall which certainly broke at least a few of Komodai's ribs.
As Rain admired the damage he just caused, he was struck from behind by Syzoth spitting acid. Rain turned around only for Syzoth to wrap his tongue around the Edenians waist. Rain tried to counter whatever Syzoth was planning by blasting a powerful beam of water at Syzoth's face which caused him to stagger back but it didn't stop his tongue's powerful grip around the Demigods waist at all and it merely dragged Rain along with Syzoth.
"Get off me, lizard!" Rain demanded.
"Never!" Syzoth refused, his voice barely audible through the water being thrashed at his face which was at enough pressure to actually be inflicting damage on the Raptor. "Leave us alone!"
"You're resilient I'll give you that," Rain surprisingly complimented. "But I cannot just walk away."
"Why are you doing this?!" Syzoth emotionally questioned. "Why do you have to harm us?!"
"You wouldn't understand!" Rain shouted as he increased the water pressure out of anger of being asked such questions.
Before Syzoth's face could be blasted off by the water, Oculto came from behind and replicated Rain's own abilities to send his own water blast into the back of the Demigod which made him stagger forth which forced him to cancel his attack on Syzoth who took advantage of this by using his tongue to fling Rain into the air and leaping up with a knee to his spine as the Demigod came falling down by gravity. Oculto then made a waterfall from out of the air to slam Rain to the ground which created a heavy thud as the Demigod made impact with the solid and hard cobblestone.
"How… can you… control water?" Rain breathlessly asked.
"From you." Oculto responded as he kicked the grounded Demigod.
"Wh-What?" Rain didn't understand.
"Us Chameleon Saurians can replicate your abilities," Oculto explained as he continued to give the attacker a good kickin. "Maybe you shouldn't have targeted us."
"So… sure… are you?" Rain continued questioning the Saurian between gasps for breath. "Have you… checked on your… ruler?"
"How do you people sleep at night?!" Syzoth returned to asking his own questions.
"Heh… we don't." Was all Rain replied with.
"Enough!" Oculto yelled. "We must get to the palace!"
The Saurians followed Oculto's orders if they were able to. Many were still in combat with members of the Hail or were wounded. An example of the former was a group of the Saurians being surrounded by even more of the Edenian ninjas. Before they could attack and easily defeat the Saurians, Axoltia came to the rescue. She spun in with her Falchion in hand, cutting down many of the ninjas. All eyes lay on her now, which allowed the previously surrounded Saurians to ambush the ninjas and lay them down with relative ease thanks to Axoltia.
As Axoltia looked down at the knocked over ninjas, one leapt on top of her from a rooftop. Axoltia rolled through and kicked the female ninja in the chest which launched her back on the roof that she had been lurking atop of. This ninja was Alyssa, a ninja who Rain deemed to be his best student amongst the Hail. Axoltia used her claws to climb up the house and onto the roof where Alyssa engaged in a fighting stance as she awaited for Axoltia to make the first move.
"Try me," Alyssa challenged. "And you'll join the rest of your race."
This angered Axoltia as Alyssa had anticipated, while it honestly pained the Edenian to say such brutal things she knew she had to in order to gain the advantage via mind games. Axoltia ran forth and went to hack at Alyssa with her Falchion but Alyssa dropped to her knees and leant back to duck the attack. She then swiftly leapt up and spun around with a front kick to Axoltia in the head. Axoltia staggered back until she reached the edge of the rooftop where she struggled to maintain her balance. Alyssa charged forth and attempted to shove the Saurians off the roof but Axoltia fell to one side and wrapped her legs around Alyssa and tripped her via a drop toe hold which sent Alyssa crashing to the floor below in similar fashion to her master just minutes ago.
Seeing his allies in danger from the ground as Oculto held him down with his foot, Rain summoned a portal made of water that emerged from the ground which swallowed his fellow Hail and transported them to a safeplace back in Outworld. As he did this, Oculto released his boot from Rain's neck and began directing traffic for some of the other special defenders to head up the stairway to reach Queen Sytholin. Others remained to protect the wounded as difficult a task as that was.
"You spare me?" Rain was both surprised and confused.
"You helped your people," Oculto noticed and pointed to the closing water portal. "Now let us help ours."
Rain complied and remained on the ground instead of continuing to fight against the Saurians. He turned his head and saw Alyssa who was seemingly unconscious after being knocked from the roof that she had fought Axoltia on top of. He quickly got up and hurried over to the student closest to him.
"Ally," Rain called out. "Are you awake?"
"Ma-Master?" Alyssa replied weakly, her senses being dull after landing on her head.
"Yes it's me," Rain confirmed as he gently touched his injured student. "I'm going to take us home."
"O-Ok." Was all she responded with.
"You fought well." Rain praised as he began summoning for a water portal for the two of them.
"Why… are we cowards?" Alyssa queried with the wording being strange to Rain. "Why did we surrender to him? And why… why are we hurting innocents? we could've been just like them… but we surrendered… like cowards."
"Ally we have to do this in order to survive," Rain explained. "None of us want this but as long as Shao Kahn is in power we have to."
"What's even the point of surviving anymore?!" Alyssa yelled at a dangerous level of noise which prompted Rain to check that no enemies were nearby which he saw most of them tending to their own injured allies or at the palace doors by now.
"Ally it'll be okay," Rain said reassuringly though he was currently unsure of what to specifically say. He then gripped onto her shoulder and summoned a water portal that surrounded the two. "Just trust me."
"I do," Alyssa confirmed as the portal began taking them away. "Always…"
Syzoth, Oculto, Axoltia and their fellow defenders walked into the throne room and quickly cut through a group of Shao Kahn soldiers awaiting them. Once they dealt with the soldiers, the Saurians finally set eyes on the throne at the back of the room. Queen Sytholin was dead, her head caved in thanks to Shao Kahn and his Wrath Hammer.
"NO!" Oculto cried out as he fell to his knees as he stared at the brutalized corpse of Sytholin and anybody who hadn't realized yet soon did.
"We were too late…" Axoltia muttered as she held and squeezed Syzoth's hand as her beloved began whimpering.
"And what is he doing?!" Oculto directed his anger at Shao Kahn who stood by the throne with his hand raised in the air with a beam of green energy emitting through the ceiling of the palace and into the sky.
"He's performing a merger…" Axoltia figured.
"Quick! we must stop him!" Oculto commanded.
As the Saurians began approaching Kahn they were confronted by even more soldiers who emerged from the hallways from either side of the throne room, they had been busy slaying all those who lived inside the palace.
Although Shao Kahn did not have a Soulnado to aid him in amplifying his strength and ability to complete the merger, he still retained enough soul energy on him after his conquest of Edenia and any other victims between that and the invasion he had made today. For reasons that were unknown to the emperor, Shang Tsung and the Shadow Priests whom he had sent to a tomb in Zaterra to create a Soulnado were evidently unsuccessful and Kahn was too impatient to wait for the Soulnado's creation any longer.
The Saurians were struggling to get past the Shao Kahn soldiers. Shao Kahn himself hadn't even made note of any nearby enemies as his concentration was completely focused on the merger. The Saurians were beginning to doubt that they could reach Kahn in time, let alone stop him.
Suddenly, the glass ceiling shattered as Komodai dove through it after climbing up to the roof of the throne room and hurling himself through the glass. Komodai soured over all of Kahn's backup before landing a diving punch into the face of Shao Kahn. The emperor fell back as his helmet fell off him, he had not expected to be attacked and had become entranced in the merging process. Kahn faced his attacker with an enraged look on his unmasked face.
"Bold move, lizard." Kahn commented as he retrieved his iconic helmet and placed it over his head.
"I don't fear you!" Komodai stated as he drew his Kirehashi sword. "I'll kill you!"
"Bold words also," Kahn noted further. "Brave yet foolish… how amusing."
"Leave our realm alone!" Komodai screamed demandingly as he charged towards Shao Kahn. "Die!"
Komodai sprung at the emperor only to be batted under his chin by Kahn's Wrath Hammer. Komodai was launched backwards from the impact of the Wrath Hammer. Kahn didn't let Komodai get away from him though, he grabbed the Saurian by his leg and smashed him face first onto the floor before stomping his head several times.
"Stop!" Syzoth cried out as he tried making it to his close friend only to be held back by Kahn's soldiers. "Please!"
"Your friend weeps for you," Kahn laughed evilly. "I do admire your passion."
"S-So?" Komodai asked as he spat blood at Kahn's face which the emperor was too sadistic to care about getting stained with blood.
"So surrender to me and I'll let you in the glorious Kahn Guard," Kahn offered and stretched his hand out to help up Komodai. "Do you accept?"
Komodai didn't speak, he simply took Kahn's hand and let the emperor pull him up to his feet with ease. Komodai immediately went to attack Kahn again with a kick to the emperor's hip with Komodai expecting for Shao's guard to be lowered. It was not. Shao Kahn grabbed Komodai's leg as it connected with Kahn's hip and tightened his arm around his ankle and took his other hand and used it to smash his Wrath Hammer down on Komodai's leg which shattered his knee to pieces. Kahn pushed Komodai to the floor as the Saurian cried in agony as his leg began bleeding out.
"Did you seriously think that I wouldn't suspect that?!" Kahn questioned and laughed over Komodai's cries. "I gave you a chance but you threw it away with your stupidity… and now you've thrown away your life."
"I'd rather die than be your slave." Komodai said his last words as Kahn's Wrath Hammer smashed over his head which murdered the Saurian with a single crushing blow.
"Komodai!" Syzoth cried out as he watched Kahn continue brutalizing his friend's fresh corpse.
Syzoth spat acid into the faces of all who tried stopping him from reaching the emperor. He only stopped as Axoltia pulled him back, not wanting her beloved to walk into his death.
"Please, Syzoth," Axoltia begged. "We can't defeat him."
"He first killed Queen Sytholin and now Komodai!" Syzoth said in anger. "I have to try!"
"It's suicide!" Axoltia informed him. "Don't! Please!"
"I'll join you," Oculto decided. "And sister, take the others and get away from Varkain-"
"What?!" Axoltia interrupted in protest. "Why?!"
"You have the best leadership skills out of us all," Oculto detailed with praise. "We can't stop the merger now… just prepare to go into hiding after it's over."
"Then come with us!" Axoltia pleaded. She accepted that Oculto's statement of the merger being inevitable was true.
"We need to buy you time to reach safety," Syzoth elaborated in understanding and support of Oculto's plan. "I love you, Axoltia."
The couple kissed for what was possibly the final time as Kahn's soldiers began closing in on the group. The remaining Zaterran defenders backed away to the hole in the wall that had previously been caused by Shao Kahn. After saying her farewells to her brother and lover, Axoltia led the defenders away as Oculto and Syzoth fended off any who tried pursuing them.
Soldiers came at Oculto and Syzoth from all angles but the two great warriors used their reflexes to block any attack that came their way and return with swift yet strong blows with some knocking out soldiers in just one blow. Adrenaline was running high for the two Saurians as they dispatched the remaining soldiers in the room.
Oculto and Syzoth then charged at Shao Kahn who seemingly returned to the merging process. This was a lie. As Syzoth went to attack Shao Kahn, the emperor suddenly grabbed the Saurian by the arm and hurled him across the floor where he landed beside Komodai's brutalized body.
Oculto gave his own shot at fighting Shao Kahn only to be caught by the emperor's Wrath Hammer. The hammer winded Oculto as it struck into his stomach with the small spike grates on the sides of the hammer impaling Oculto and causing several small cuts that caused blood to drip out and stain his colour changing attire, the blood making the changes less visible.
"You're pathetic!" Kahn insulted mockingly as he slammed Oculto to the ground with his powerful foot.
Oculto struggled as he tried pushing Kahn off of him but the emperor's foot alone was too strong for him to fend off. Oculto was beginning to push Kahn's foot back which allowed him to quickly catch his breath before immediately having it taken away by the emperor as he applied even more pressure to reaffirm his foot on Oculto's chest.
"Get up!" Kahn taunted as he raised his Wrath Hammer in the air and prepped for his usual skull crushing that was becoming almost traditional for Shao Kahn's victims.
Seeing this go down from the floor that he lay on, Syzoth spat acid that accurately shot into Kahn's back which only caused Kahn mild irritation but it was still enough to draw the emperor's attention. Kahn let go of Oculto and pursued Syzoth instead.
As Kahn made his approach, Syzoth began creating and launching balls of acid from his scaly hands. Quickly noticing that these acid balls had little effect on Shao Kahn, Syzoth began scrambling to get away from the quickly approaching Kahn though the fresh corpse of his closest friend that was beside Syzoth was causing heavy distractions as Kahn cornered him in the throne room by where Komodai's corpse was.
Kahn went to strike down Syzoth with his Wrath Hammer but Syzoth quickly ducked and dove to the floor to retrieve Komodai's Kirehashi and use it to parry Kahn's Wrath Hammer and stabbed the sword into Kahn. As Shao tried pulling the Kirehashi out of him, Oculto snuck up from behind and took the point of the Kirehashi that came from Shao's back and pulled it forward which further impaled the Kirehashi as Kahn actually expressed pain through grunts.
Syzoth then wrapped his tongue around the neck of Shao Kahn and leapt up to the ceiling, beginning to hang the emperor as Oculto pulled Kahn down by the legs in an attempt to snap his neck as quickly as possible. Before this was possible, Kahn's soul magic started surrounding him which emitted a green aura around his body. Kahn then used all his power to blast a soul beam at Syzoth that shot the Saurian through the ceiling and back down to the floor with Syzoth letting go of his tongue's grip in the middle of the process of being thrown into the air and back. Oculto was also quickly overwhelmed as he kept a grip around Kahn that was soon broken by the emperor grabbing the Saurian in a bear hug until he heard Oculto's back snap where he then tossed him to the floor on top of Syzoth.
Kahn cleared his throat while applauding the two Saurians as they writhed in pain on the floor. "You impress me," he praised. "For your efforts I shall give you the same offer as your friend."
"And if we don't?" Syzoth cautiously asked.
"Then you'll end up the same way as him." Kahn said as he pointed over to Komodai's body. Syzoth knew what the emperor was referring to and didn't wish to look at his friend's corpse again.
"Fine," Syzoth reluctantly accepted and bowed. "I pledge my allegiance to you, emperor."
"I-" Oculto was much more unable to accept this offer. "Syzoth, why?!"
"For Axoltia," Syzoth explained. "Anything to see her again."
"You should listen to your friend." Kahn chimed in.
"Shut up." Oculto demanded.
"Sounds like you wish to be a dead lizard," Kahn noted as he readied his Wrath Hammer. "Last chance to accept my offer."
"Fine," Oculto gave in and bowed. "I… pledge my allegiance to you… emperor."
"Excellent." Kahn replied with an evil smirk of satisfaction. "You will be known as Reptile and you can be Chameleon…"
"We have names!" Oculto snapped.
"I know," Kahn told him. "I just don't care to remember them."
"You-" Oculto went to reply with a barrage of insults but Szyoth nudged him so that he'd remain quiet.
"I need to complete this merger," Kahn told them much to their dread. "Do not interrupt me."
"Yes, emperor." The two Saurians said in unison as Kahn returned to the process of conquering Zaterra as Oculto and Syzoth knelt in shame as they realized there was nothing left they could do.
Chameleon returned to his senses and scanned Varkain. The bodies of his fallen allies were still here and looked fresh, being preserved all these years due to being trapped in whatever void lay for whatever wasn't transported from the merger. It was an unsettling sight for Chameleon and kept the awful memories flowing in his mind but he knew he couldn't leave these corpses here to rot. Chameleon began replicating the abilities of the cryomancer known as Sub Zero. He used the cryomancy merely to create an ice shovel and began searching for a sight to bury his fallen friends and allies.