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Chapter Text

It had been a couple hours since sleep overtook Erron; Ermac had counted. But only to ensure that Erron didn’t suffer from any lack of sleep, whether it be from any nightmares or if it was from any injuries the mercenary managed to keep secret. The construct was sat upright, legs crossed in a peaceful, meditation position, so that he could enjoy the peace and quiet also. Kotal’s reign was perhaps the most difficult that either enforcers had ever witnessed, which only meant that their days were booked up with plenty of challenges.

Even Ermac was tempted to close his eyes and doze off, if he could.

We should check the gardens.

The graves, the tombstones.

We should stay here with Erron.

Or allow the patrolling guards to retire to their chambers early.

Hungry?

It can wait.

Can it?

The gardens.

The graves.

Erron.

Patrol?

Hungry?

Ermac sighed out quietly. The best he could do was meditate for now, while Erron breathed easy in a deep sleep next to him.

He was the first to wake up, if staying up all night counted as any sort of awakening.

After pulling back on his trusty coat, the master of souls stared out from the throne room’s balcony, watching the marketplace in its quietest state. The sun could scarcely be seen behind all of the rooftops, as it arose up to greet all of Outworld. Ermac cupped a mug of rich Outworlder coffee, the steam gracing his slightly cold face as the morning breeze touched him every now and then. He made sure to be awake in time to thank the night-shift guards and greet the day-shift guards, he made sure to be awake for the emperor and provide the Osh-Tekk a cup of coffee from his own genuinity. He wanted everyone to feel assured that if they struggled in any way, the construct was awake and prepared to tackle anything.

His souls sensed a grand presence entering the throne room, walking with two protective guards whose souls were on alert mode.

‘Emperor,’ Ermac turned to walk over, offering Kotal the cup of coffee as soon as the Osh-Tekk sat on the throne.

Kotal was relieved to see and smell the instant coffee, but more so he smiled gently at the construct. ‘Thank you, Ermac,’ he bowed his head gratefully before accepting the coffee.

Ermac nodded and bowed, then greeted the emperor’s guards. ‘Did you rest with ease?’

For a moment, Kotal had to sip his coffee to prepare for his answer. An emperor usually never slept well, unless he knew that there were absolutely no dangers or troubles to be made aware about. To be the emperor of Outworld, one facing a civil war no less, granted Kotal as little as perhaps one hour’s worth of sleep if he were to be generous.

‘Very well, thank you,’ he lied.

Ermac raised a brow. He made an oath to not intrude into anyone’s thoughts, as even his many souls wholly agreed that it was wildly inappropriate, but Ermac knew it was a lie based on what is reality for any ruler. He scrutinised Kotal’s answer from the perspective of one experienced soul, at least, one that understood such troubles. Regardless, Ermac also knew that if Kotal wanted to talk about it, he would with any of the enforcers; the Osh-Tekk regarded them more as friends than enforcers or councillors.

‘Did you retire to your quarters?’ Kotal asked, before taking another satisfying sip.

‘We did.’

The emperor hummed. ‘But you have yet to sleep?’

Ermac tensed slightly. ‘No, but it is not something that we require.’

‘Not recreationally?’

How foolish.

Do not say such folly, this is our emperor.

We were not made for any recreational means.

Not even Erron Black?

The construct wanted to scowl, or rather, the rest of his souls wanted to scorn the latter ones, but Ermac simply shook his head. ‘We are content with being alert of our surroundings, and to be an active enforcer for anybody to request from, even when the sun no longer graces us.’

The emperor hummed again. ‘But may it lessen the turmoil from within your plentiful collection?’

‘Since creation, we have never had a single moment of utter silence.’

‘I see,’ Kotal frowned. ‘I can perceive your challenges.’

‘It does not trouble us,’ Ermac almost snapped defensively. ‘We are prepared to serve you and Outworld, always, as we are not ill of health nor does our existence currently trouble us–’

‘I am not accusing you, Ermac,’ Kotal calmly defused his defensiveness. ‘I merely insist that you indulge in recreational activities. It is not befitting for my enforcers to strain their energies on duties through day and night, but it is befitting for them to replenish their cup and drain the poor substances from it. None of my enforcers can pour their poisoned energies into Outworld’s people, but rather, they can pour consistent encouragement while we tackle this civil war. Do you understand?’

The master of souls nearly slouched, almost disagreed with the emperor, but instead nodded in agreement. ‘We understand.’

Alongside the rocky start to the day, with the gentle lecture from Kotal, Ermac underwent one of his most toughest days since creation. On the contrary to many battles fought, of which consisted of multiple corpses and bloodshed, Ermac suffered through emotional devastation instead. The dragons had unleashed biowarfare into the villages along the outskirts, poisoning children or vulnerable parents, especially some of Kotal’s external guards who did not stay at the palace but stayed with their family instead.

The clans were tearing apart everything, all under Mileena’s desires. Whether it be Kano and his goons, or the red dragons; who often relied less on technology like Kano and relied more on their assassin capabilities. And so, when Ermac finally returned to the palace, with the sun completely set and the moon high in the sky, the construct almost had to crawl to his quarters. He didn’t have any more energy, perhaps not enough to lift a speck of dirt off the ground with telekinesis, and his body felt just the same.

Before he could even comprehend it, before even noticing Erron reading a book on the bed, Ermac made it to the other side and curled up next to Erron’s chest.

‘You alright?’ Erron asked soothingly, with his arm wrapped around the construct to tug him closer.

All Ermac gave was a small assuring, ‘Yes,’ before their eyes shut for the first in a very long time. Eons, or more nearer, since creation. Anything Erron said went in one ear and out the other. An assassin could crawl up behind him, all with his back facing the other side of the room unprotected, and he wouldn’t react. All his souls knew was that he was curled up next to a warm body, in warm blankets, with his body tingling from overuse as it started to get more limp in Erron’s embrace.

The mercenary was in utter awe, surprised that Ermac was entirely unresponsive to him. But he now made it a mission to protect this moment at all costs. Noticing the lack of awareness from the master of souls, Erron took the opportunity to remove the hefty coat from the construct and to let him breathe in just his pants and bare chest.

In the morning, Erron blinked away sleep from beneath his hat. He finished the book; how? Because he spent the entire night watching Ermac until he could see the sun rise from the balcony. Erron watched as green glowed in waves along Ermac’s body, likely as part of some recovering process, and the many soul orbs that sat on both himself and around the room. Ermac breathed easy, he was unmoving.

The cowboy also knew Ermac’s routine. After crawling out of bed with the caution of not waking Ermac up, he dressed himself and yawned the entire way to the kitchens. Some of the cooks there were shocked to see Erron awake.

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Erron grumbled at them. ‘Coffee for the emperor?’

‘And yourself?’ One of the cooks snickered.

Erron gave a sheepish nod and chuckle. He couldn’t look that obvious in front of the emperor. But the coffee cups were retrieved and he carefully walked them to the throne room, where he was just in time. Kotal walked in with the same guards, took a seat on the throne, and only then noticed Ermac’s lack of presence when he sat down. No, he saw Erron instead, offering him a cup of coffee with a subtle bow to the Osh-Tekk and to the guards.

‘By the elder gods,’ Kotal grinned and teased.

‘Is it really that shocking? I’m not that much of a slob,’ Erron scoffed. ‘I’m just covering.’

Immediately, Kotal frowned and sat aside his cup of coffee. ‘Is Ermac hurt?’

‘Actually, I’m not sure ‘bout that,’ Erron awkwardly realised to himself also. ‘He came back to the palace late, I didn’t wanna sleep ‘til he came back though. So I watched him walk over like a dead man and pass out next to me.’

Kotal raised a brow and smirked. ‘How can it be that the both of you sleep in the same bed? How is it that you were impatient for his return?’

‘Get your mind outta the gutter,’ Erron sipped his coffee to deflame the red in his cheeks. ‘Just got worried ‘cause I had to ask him something, but he wasn’t back here for dinner.’

No matter the reasons or the lies, Kotal couldn’t resist the smile overpowering his lips. ‘I am relieved. Most likely not to your extent, Erron,’ he teased again. ‘But I am content that he is, at last, asleep. Because of this rare circumstance, though I hope it will not be, I will relieve him from any duties until he awakens again.’

Erron hummed. ‘Must’ve been a tough day yesterday.’

‘Return to him.’

‘What?’

‘I do not wish for him to fret upon waking up, with the knowledge that he had overlooked the sun’s glow and the rampant marketplace. I would like you to reassure him.’

Erron blinked. ‘So I’m also missing out?’

‘Unless a storm stirs us all,’ Kotal concluded.

With all said clearly, Kotal picked his coffee back up to indulge in while Erron returned to Ermac’s quarters. He made sure to open the door as slowly as he humanly possible, to close it as slowly as humanly possible, and to crawl back into bed with his coffee as if it was the most stealthiest mission ever completed in his years of experience. Because, according to Erron’s big smile, Ermac was still fast asleep and was not seeing the light of day until hours later.

Chapter Text

It was no surprise to anyone that Erron Black didn’t know etiquette. After all, he spent decades under Kano’s ‘Care’, which consisted of drinking on the job and congregating in random areas on the most uncomfortable bit of land, whether it be the middle of a deadly Outworlder jungle or if it was in a stranger’s bedroom after a long, questionable night. Kano’s idea of etiquette was miles away from what Kotal Kahn considered proper etiquette.

Even the Osh-Tekk had to learn the parts of formal etiquette that an emperor should know. Prior to being Shao Kahn’s General, he was a mere Osh-Tekk helping his father who served Shao Kahn, so like father like son, they learned. It hadn’t been long since Kotal stepped into power, but in such a short time, he required that everyone around him conform to the etiquette at most times; for the sake of portraying Kotal in a professional light.

But Kotal was at his wits end with Erron.

‘It’s gotta be a problem on Shang Tsung’s island.’

Erron was rambling on about their discussion with Li Mei, from Sun Do, who wanted to confront the Kahn’s council on their plan of action against the dragons. Like Erron’s lack of etiquette, it was also no surprise that the dragons were being used by Mileena as leverage.

Yet, the emperor failed to listen to Erron’s words.

‘So why don’t we just put Mac there? I mean…’

Kotal couldn’t remember when his right eye started to twitch, agitated at the way that Erron rambled on with his feet up on Li Mei’s grand table, without a care in the world. Not for the dirt on his shoes, not for his improper etiquette.

‘... I know he’s our main man-power, but–’

He almost scolded Erron, he was itching to, whether it be an outloud lecture or a swipe at the back of Erron’s head. But much to the mercenary’s undeserved relief, Ermac had long ago caught onto Kotal’s agitation over the matter. He didn’t have to read the emperor’s mind, he could merely feel his energy reaching far across the room. Erron’s whole body corrupted with green for a brief second, before his entire body disappeared to stumble next to Ermac, who held onto him to steady the cowboy.

‘We know of someone who can assist us,’ Ermac claimed as he now addressed Li Mei. She remained in the dark about anything going on, other than what Erron was telling her.

‘To get to Shang Tsung’s island?’

‘We can reach the island ourselves, Black stands correct with that,’ Ermac sternly glanced back at Erron. ‘But for the dragons, whom of which are powerless Earthrealmers, we presume they take advantage of their machinery to reach the island; boats, flight by mechanical means. We know of someone who can further assess our suspicions, as targeting their resources will limit their potential.’

All day every day, Kotal was thankful to have Ermac on the council. Reptile, or more deeply Syzoth, was the emperor’s dear friend equipped with the utmost of stealth, Erron was an experienced Earthrealmer and mercenary, but both of his enforcers lacked the cognition in most of their cases. Amongst Ermac’s many souls was intelligence, experience, wisdom, and much more. But through it all, unknown to them, Kotal knew of Ermac and Erron’s relationship, which proved useful in cases where Ermac was capable of addressing Erron’s etiquette problems, instead of Kotal himself.

‘I agree,’ Kotal finally stepped forward to address them.

‘I do, also,’ Reptile agreed. He was just as much in the dark as Li Mei was, but knew of Kotal’s agitation towards Erron’s lack of manners. Admittedly, the Zaterran lacked his own occasionally, more so when it came down to his more reptilian tendencies.

Ermac nodded and started to gently push Erron out, who had no choice unless he wanted to be levitated out. ‘We will take our leave, but we will return before departure.’

Once they passed all of the guards and entered the more deserted parts of Sun Do, with the sparse houses amongst plenty of sand, Ermac then turned around to Erron and slanted on one hip, his arms crossed over his chest.

Erron immediately knew he was in trouble. ‘What in the hell did I do now?’

‘The emperor was far from pleased with you in there,’ Ermac started with a scrutinising glare. ‘Why?’

‘Damnit, I’m not some child–’

‘ Why? ’

‘Because I wasn’t sitting like a gentleman,’ Erron sheepishly answered. Every now and then, he would remember that a lecture from Ermac was a lecture from thousands of souls. ‘M’kay, I’ll fix it. Are we going back now?’

Ermac shook his head, relaxing his disappointed gestures to stare ahead into the distance, particularly at a building sat at the top of a distant cliff. ‘We were genuine about our inquiry.’

Erron turned to also look at the cliff, before heavily sighing. ‘Great, some lonely guy on top of a cliff with nobody around.’

The construct chuckled and smoothly snaked an arm around Erron’s back, watching keenly as Erron’s face lit up, before the two were wrapped in green and unveiled at the top of the cliff. The house appeared more roughly put together up close, with windows covered by boards and the door left ajar, with nothing except darkness inside.

‘Our person of interest is a woman,’ Ermac only then corrected, poking Erron’s back to urge him forward. ‘Do you trust us?’

Erron groaned. ‘You know I sure as hell do.’

‘Then move .’

The mercenary begrudgingly walked inside, swallowed into the darkness. He blindly reached forward, feeling the walls that led into another room, where his hips managed to bump into a soft yet firm piece of furniture. The impact awoke whatever damned spirit possessed the household, as the candles all around the room lit up; fully lighting up the scared to death expression on Erron’s face.

Especially as a pair of hands tugged on Erron’s shoulders, making him twist around with his hands on his revolvers, aimed high at the perpetrator.

‘Sit down,’ Ermac reassured softly, having been the perpetrator for spooking him. Oh the cowboy wanted so badly to scold the construct for it, in whatever way he needed to.

He warily sat down on what he could now see was a cushy seat, facing two other seats with a makeshift fireplace on the other end of the room. Masses of books were scattered about the place, skulls hung from the ceilings, and a woman in a long, conservative red cape walked in from the next room over. Erron couldn’t see anything but the red cape on this mysterious woman.

She leaned down in front of Erron, as when she kneeled down to his height, he could finally see the woman’s face. Her eyes were purple, her face was littered with scars, and when she pushed back the hood on her cape, she had no hair. Otherwise, she seemed like the ordinary Outworlder.

At last, she leaned back up and expressed a smile of gratitude at Ermac, who watched the entire time patiently. ‘It has been some time, soul-master.’

Ermac nodded and extended out his hand, to which she took into hers’ and seemed to smooth her fingers over his skin. Naturally, Erron was annoyed at the intimacy, but the woman did nothing more than that and then released Ermac’s hand. ‘We have a request.’

‘This Earthrealmer is your sacrifice, then?’

Erron’s horrified, wide eyes cast over to Ermac, which brought out a chuckle from the construct. ‘No, he is part of the council.’

‘Interesting,’ the woman hummed at Erron. ‘The Kahn enlists the help of Earthrealmers for Outworld matters. As though Outworlders like myself are unimportant–’

‘We have discussed this before,’ Ermac sighed.

According to what Erron was seeing, the two had slight conflict. ‘Why can’t she join?’ He naively asked.

The woman snickered. ‘I tried to assassinate the emperor.’

‘What? Mac, the hell are we doing here with her?’

‘It is how we met,’ Ermac explained more clearly. ‘We spared her, for we were the ones who discovered her assassination schemes, but she dwells with the dragons and we deemed her vital.’

‘I exchange potions for other means,’ the woman added herself with a straight finger pressed over her lip.

‘Potions?’ Erron grumbled. ‘Didn’t know Outworld had witches.’

Like in Li Mei’s office, Erron swung his legs up onto the woman’s table and rested his feet on them, crossed over one another without a care for all things big or small. He quickly settled into the witch’s hut, trusting Ermac too much for his own good. Unlike Li Mei, however, the woman’s scowl was made clear. She darted to the side and returned wielding a stick, one with a purple gem at the end of it; a weapon that, as per the Outworlder way, had magic radiating off it. The couch sprouted vines that restrained Erron back by the arms and legs, even the throat, as per the staff's command.

‘Hey!’

Yet, Ermac didn’t make a move to help. He instead leaned into one hip with his arms crossed over his chest again, a reminder to Erron that he had yet again disappointed all involved. ‘She is justified to feel upset, Erron.’

‘Upset is one thing–’ Erron strained out through the vine around his throat, becoming tighter inch by inch. ‘But she’s gonna kill me!’

‘Typical Earthrealmer filth,’ the woman spouted with a growl in her voice. ‘The Kahn employs poisoned soil that nothing can prosper on, rather than the soil us Outworlders have, which replenish many.’

‘Mac!’

‘I have had warriors bleed on my furniture, it will be of ease for you to join one of them.’

‘M’kay!’ Erron wheezed out. The vines had only held him back by the thighs, meaning he was able to move his feet down from the table in surrender, as did his hands that waved frantically in the air. ‘I’m sorry, darling.’

She sneered.

‘I’m sorry, ma’am.’

At last, the vines disappeared back into the deceptive couch, allowing Erron to feel his red, marked throat, and cough out anymore of the strain he felt in his throat. Now that Erron sat more formally, with his legs neutral and his posture more upright– to avoid the traps in the couch–, Ermac was content to discuss business with the woman.

‘We propose, in exchange for your vital information, that we aid you in your arts when we are present to do so,’ Ermac offered. ‘If it does not conflict with us.’

Now the woman put away her staff and beamed at the construct, all sense of loathing gone upon being provided the offer. ‘I always take pleasure in learning from a master of souls.’

‘You son of a bitch.’

‘You had to learn.’

‘She almost killed me.’

‘We were there with you.’

‘No, you were out of harm’s way. Was this even a useful side quest? Or was it just to set me straight?’ Erron continued to grumble.

Ermac smiled slightly at him. ‘It was both. We apologise for betraying you, but surely you understand now.’ He paused outside of Li Mei’s office to look at Erron, his expression more softer and dear to the bitter cowboy. ‘The woman we met–’

‘Does she even have a name?’

‘No, she refuses to introduce it. Nonetheless, you feared her and her magic because you understood the gravity of your actions, and that the warranted punishment was not worth the hassle of correcting your manners. Li Mei is a powerful warrior who wields the power to punish you also, but the emperor more so, with the importance of how your lack of manners aggravate him, could further clarify the gravity of your actions in a matter of death. We understand that Kotal Kahn is less of a stern ruler and more of a friendly acquaintance to us all, but ultimately, the elder gods know that he holds the fate of Outworld in his hands and he will not rest to fulfil those duties, he will not refrain to pursue peace for Outworld if your poor behaviour, a storm of no good doings, blocked his sun.’

It was a harsh reality check, but Erron understood it more clearly now. He softened up to the construct. ‘Fine, I forgive you,’ he claimed and irresistibly took Ermac’s hands into his. ‘Just give me a warning next time we go see a witch, so I can muster up my good boy behaviour.’

The two snorted. They enjoyed shared amusement and touch with one another before entering the room, where Reptile, Li Mei and Kotal still remained. The couple had only been just over an hour, but Ermac knew they were all ready to depart back to Z’Unkahrah soon. Kotal was focused on Li Mei until the pair returned, and in his peripheral vision saw Erron sit down. He was ready to scold the mercenary.

Instead, Erron sat with his legs neutral and his back more upright, he even rested his hands together on the table in sensible fashion. ‘We spoke to Mac’s mysterious person, and they said there’s a way for us to sabotage the dragons’ equipment. Then they’ll struggle to get to the island, if they can at all.’

Li Mei smiled in relief. 'That is good news.'

Kotal looked over at Ermac, who knowingly smirked back. At last, potentially, Erron’s days of lacking etiquette may be over.

Chapter Text

It started with Kano.

The clan leader flaunted the vial in his hand and then poured it into a cup. He gave the cup to Tremor, who travelled through the vast deserts and delivered the cup to a lone mercenary. He then rode towards the city and gave the cup to a marketer. The marketer passed the cup along to a woman, dressed in ordinary attire, who filled the cup with coffee beans and went inside her house to stand before a group of masked men.

‘That is the poison?’

‘It should be,’ the woman set down the cup. ‘Who is the target?’

One of the men stretched out an arm to point across the room, where, hung with a knife penetrating through the centre of it, was an image of an infamous green-eyed construct.

‘What if he rejects it?’

‘Simple, we extract the poison and place it into a different substance.’

‘And what if–’

‘No, no more,’ the man grumbled at her. ‘This is Kano’s plan. It is a fair one, with all the factors considered; this demon on the Kahn’s council can detect any of Kano’s goons from towns away! We have worked together in delivering this poison all the way from the wasted lands of Outworld, days away from the city if travelling by foot, far enough so that this–’ The man angrily gestured back at the image. ‘This demonic freak, cannot know anything.’

‘And when he falls,’ said another one of the masked men. ‘We deliver him back to Kano, through the many deserts and jungles and waste lands. The false emperor will have no more protection, no more ghosts or demons in the palace.’

Defeated, the woman sighed and took back the cup. ‘Then I will brew this and wait for the enforcer to survey the marketplace.’

‘All I’m sayin’ is–’

‘You imply meaningless things,’ Ermac scoffed with a smirk. The pair of them walked down from the palace gates and into the marketplace, where their duties were carried out for that day. ‘When Kano is brought to justice, the rest of Mileena’s goons will fall down.’

Erron hummed and raised a brow at him, his smirk teasing. ‘I thought you pitied them, ‘cause you were one of her goons.’

‘We do,’ the construct sternly reminded. ‘Our hope is that none of them will die. Perhaps, our collection agrees that Kano could be that exception.’

‘What the hell did Kano do to piss off thousands of dead Edenians?’ Erron snorted.

As they walked along, an Outworlder woman almost leaped out in front of them, but was quickly forgiven when the pair noticed her inconsolable sobbing. ‘Please, come.’

‘What for?’

‘A thief,’ she informed through her tears and croaky throat. ‘He has gotten away, but my family has nothing left!’

The master of souls and the mercenary exchanged a sympathetic look, before the two followed her to said house. Indeed, the house looked ransacked; almost vacant-looking if not for the few sheets strewn about, nor for the busted door. 

‘Please, let me provide you with beverages.’

Ermac frowned. ‘We decline, savour all that you have for yourself.’

‘No, I insist,’ the woman smiled sadly. ‘You two are the only ones who have offered to help me.’

As she walked into her seemingly deserted kitchen, Erron looked around and awkwardly sat at the wooden table. ‘Hard to ignore when the sweetheart threw herself in front of us.’

The construct scolded Erron with a gentle nudge. ‘She was desperate.’

‘How are we gonna find this so-called thief, anyway? There’s–’ Erron’s rant about the situation quickly drew its curtains when the woman returned, and settled three hot drinks on the table. Three coffees. ‘Thank you, ma’am,’ Erron accepted with a polite nod.

Ermac also nodded and cradled the cup, enjoying the warmth that almost calmed down his frantic souls. All they could think about was solving this case. He was fixated on it to the far extent where he hadn’t noticed the woman eyeing his drink, as though eager for him to have even a little taste of it. ‘What was the man wearing?’ Ermac started with the basic question.

‘He was not wearing Outworlder clothes,’ she informed calmly. ‘Not a robe, not the clothes that we wear.’

Ermac frowned again. ‘We cannot sense any Earthrealmers around us. How long ago did this occur?’

The innocent question frazzled her, as it lit up her cheeks as if lighting the liar on fire. ‘Oh– Well, he could have been an Outworlder. He may have been pretending to be an outsider.’

‘Good thinking, ma’am,’ Erron hummed and sipped his cup some more. ‘With that kinda thinking, you should join the council.’

‘Yes, you may be correct,’ Ermac considered it amongst his many souls. ‘Where are your relatives?’

Ah, she almost forgot. Especially with how empty the house was. The more she stared into those bright green eyes, like the grim reaper searching for her own soul, the more she felt hesitant to answer anymore questions; she didn’t want to seem suspicious, but also she didn’t want to trip up on her own answers either. ‘Watch your beverage, sir.’

Ermac blinked. ‘Miss?’

‘It could get cold,’ she beamed innocently, all with her sweet voice and smile.

‘I’ll take over then,’ Erron cleared his throat, and gestured for Ermac to take his good few sips of the coffee.

If asked, the elder gods would claim that they found the situation incredibly predictable, but also unpredictable. Surely the construct would remain wary, and yet, he proceeded to take a generous sip from the cup as he quietly listened. In his mind, the many souls were piecing together all of the answers and started to make sense of them, ensuring that they were busy with the case. It meant that reading the woman’s mind was not an idea considered at all, especially with her kind demeanors.

But when the cup was half empty, a pang of dizziness hit him like a bullet.

‘Did anyone see?’

‘Oh, I think so. But nobody would say or do anything.’

‘Typical Outworld, huh?’

Ermac tried to blink it away, but he couldn’t blink away the echo in his hearing, nor the drumming of his heart. What in the elder gods?

‘Well, the guards would’ve done something. There’s never an empty supply of ‘em ‘round here, trust me.’

‘But they didn’t.’

‘Weird.’

He felt ready to collapse off the chair.

‘Erron,’ the construct warned, almost desperately grappling onto Erron’s arm. ‘Poison.’

Immediately, the woman tensed up and looked over her shoulder, out towards the kitchen, while Erron busied in steadying Ermac. ‘Woah there, what do you mean?’

But Ermac glared at the woman, who was clearly waiting for someone in the way that she pleaded with the empty kitchen; as if a multitude of criminals were about to flood the room. ‘ Arrest her .’

‘Ma’am, you’re under arrest,’ Erron immediately stood and circled the table, a pair of rope-like cuffs in his hands. She obediently turned around and accepted that her hands were bound, she knew help was going to arrive as soon as she called out. But clearly, Erron being here was not part of the plan.

‘Why?’ She cried out.

While Erron stabilised her, Ermac stumbled up and out of the chair to cautiously enter the kitchen. ‘Hey! Don’t go anywhere!’ Erron called out to Ermac, too occupied with the woman who tried to wobble towards the door.

Then, she unleashed the signal. ‘ Dragons! ’

In an instant, the kitchen flooded with too many masked men to count. Ermac took a few out with his telekinesis, but the poison worked away quickly inside his system and started to drain out his energy while he fought. Erron quickly rushed the woman outside and shoved her into the nearest guard, ordered them to take her to the palace, and then returned inside the house. But when he had, it was as if nothing ever happened.

No ninjas.

No Ermac.

His heart skipped many beats while he checked out the kitchen, which led into the back alleyways that were eerily empty. Then he checked out front again, watching as the guard he delivered the woman to was still walking up and away with her in the restraints. And then he darted back inside.

‘Ermac!’ He called out desperately, whereas his eyes had never been wider in horror and shock. ‘Mac!’

The fight was over before he knew it.

The influx of ninjas overtook him. They hadn’t severely beaten him, but with the poison making him pass out, the ninjas made sure to knock him over just once to double-check his unconsciousness was legitimate. It was quite a trek to Kano, after all.

He wasn’t conscious long enough to hear Erron re-enter the house and call after him.

The next time he woke up, it was dark outside.

Prior to nightfall, Erron rushed back to the palace; running like a madman past the gates and up the steps that he usually felt breathless at. He even had ran past the captured woman and the guard, both of which were surprised to have been beaten back to the palace by him.

‘Kotal!’ Erron practically roared through the doors as they parted.

The emperor was discussing matters with Reptile and another guard, important enough to have had the throne room’s doors fully closed when they were usually wide open for the public.

‘A moment, Black–’

‘Mac’s gone!’ Erron wheezed, and at last leaned down to press against his knees, catching his breath. Mixed with the pain in his throat from borderline insanity– who and how the hell did someone kidnap Ermac?-, the run back to the palace had finally punished him.

Reptile scowled at the behaviour and walked over, gesturing for Kotal to continue speaking with the guard. ‘Do not be a fool!’ He hissed at the cowboy, watching as he pathetically gasped for air. ‘The emperor has important matters to discuss–’

‘Mac’s the only important matter right now, dipshit,’ Erron hassled him, as his hands had reached out to grapple onto Reptile’s chestplate and he yanked the Zaterran down to his height. ‘We- We were helping this woman, she poisoned him, he told me that, and then a whole lotta- fucking- ninjas just came in! I stepped outside for one second to deal with that bit-’

‘Black!’ Kotal scorned from the other side of the room. Begrudgingly, he dismissed the guard with a gentle wave of the hand before he almost stormed over to the mercenary. ‘Your profanities can be heard from the skies. Syzoth, why does he fret?’

Reptile scoffed and shoved Erron’s hands off him. ‘Allegedly, our friend Ermac is missing.’

‘I cannot perceive the importance of jokes in such devastating times.’

‘It’s not a joke!’ Erron pleaded, to the extent of throwing his hat and mask aside, his quivering lips on full display. ‘He’s fucking gone,’ and was reduced to weak whispers.

With his vulnerability on display, now Kotal and Reptile’s scowls shifted into the utmost of concern. ‘How is that possible?’

‘Kano– I know it was that son of a bitch,’ Erron growled.

‘I will alert the guards,’ said Reptile as he ran off to do as such.

‘That woman, she did it!’

‘What woman? Show me, Erron,’ Kotal frowned at Erron as the cowboy ran ahead, leaving the Osh-Tekk to delicately recover the hat and mask. Before Erron reached outside, Kotal grabbed ahold of his shoulder and stopped him, while providing back the mercenary’s accessories. Realising that he was about to step into the light with his face exposed, especially with the uncontrollable tears that barely started to form along the eyes, he thanked the emperor for such courtesy. ‘Through all of this, you must remain composed.’

But Erron stared up at him, with the single motion causing one tear to accidentally roll down and off his mask. ‘They’ve thought it all out, they must’ve. They’re gonna kill him off ‘cause–’

‘ Erron ,’ Kotal sternly brought Erron out of it, before his expression was replaced with whole compassion. ‘This will be resolved. It will become a breeze of the past.’

‘...Right, yeah. Yeah, it will.’

‘He will survive.’

Chapter Text

The sun had long set, but the council had yet to retrieve their essential member.

Reptile had been scouting all day with the guards, while Erron interrogated the woman in the palace’s dungeons, but Kotal was stuck in the throne room with multiple reports of threats heading the emperor’s way. Kano’s plan was clearly in motion; a scheme to disarm one of Kotal’s finest guards to take down the council for good.

As soon as Reptile entered the throne room after a long day of searching, from sunrise to sunset, Kotal stood up hastily. ‘Do you have news?’

Reptile lowered his head in shame. ‘No. There is little substance to aid the search, I suspect our friend is no longer within the city.’

‘By the elder gods,’ Kotal sighed, almost collapsing back into his throne from the exhausting, disappointing news. All day, through the threats conveyed through messengers and from the guards reporting nearby physical threats, he internally stressed whether they would find Ermac by the end of the day. ‘How can this be?’ He more so asked himself.

‘But, there is that woman, yes?’ Reptile keenly asked. ‘If Black cannot, I will get us answers–’

‘If you must,’ Kotal frowned. ‘Syzoth, I fear the dragons have achieved their accomplishment.’

Reptile scowled. ‘No, they remain foolish; captivating one of Outworld’s most dangerous warriors, then daring to challenge the emperor and diminish his capabilities? They will weep at our feet!’

It was times like these where he was grateful for Reptile’s encouragement, especially as passionate as it was. ‘Thank you, my Zaterran friend.’

‘You would not harm a woman.’

‘Don’t try me,’ Erron seethed at her, staring at how nonchalant she was sitting in her cell, all with nothing but a bed and the barely generous candlelight. ‘Besides, if you refuse to answer my questions, the emperor will just behead you for non-compliance. Where’ve you been the last few years or so?’

The woman chuckled. ‘I have been with the true ruler of Outworld.’

‘Bullshit, you’ve never met her–’

‘You do not deny her title?’

‘I swear I’ll shoot you myself!’ Erron almost roared his threat through the dungeons, with his pistols aimed between the bars to directly target her head. 

One would say it was a miraculous interruption, as a sudden, deep roar overcame Erron’s anger and startled him from the shadows. Ferra and Torr had arrived in the dungeons, arrived by Erron’s side, with Ferra getting down from Torr’s back to greet Erron with her optimistic smile. ‘Bang Bang, we help you!’

Erron lowered his pistols and tucked them away, sighing at the child stubbornly stood in his way. ‘Ferra, go back upstairs with Torr. I don’t need help.’

‘Big Bossy say we help.’

‘[Roar].’

‘I don’t need you encouraging her,’ Erron scolded Torr and then glared down at Ferra. 

But Ferra took little note of his annoyance towards the pair of them. She turned to grin at the woman behind the bars, now seemingly more nervous at the arrival of Ferra and Torr, more likely because of the child’s larger pet. ‘We want help. We want Mac Mac!’

‘[Roar].’

The woman shuffled off the bed and backed up against the wall when Ferra took Erron’s cell keys, as when Torr almost nudged the mercenary out of the way, Ferra unlocked the cell and stalked the woman into a corner. ‘Mac Mac our friend. We will carve out your eyes if you no say where he be!’

‘Ferra–’

‘[Roar],’ said Torr as he held Erron back.

‘Okay, okay, child,’ the woman shakily spoke back to Ferra. ‘They’re taking him to Shang Tsung’s island, he’s meant to be asleep under the poison each step of the way. It’s all Kano’s work, I promise. I just needed the money, I–’

‘Save your pity party. What else?’ Erron pressed over Torr’s shoulder, barely.

The woman backed up against the wall when Ferra started to approach again, all with her menacing smile and sharpened daggers. ‘Kano’s going to attack the palace! With himself, with his soldiers. The plan was to take down your friend first.’

‘Will they kill Mac Mac?’ Ferra’s eyes widened in disbelief.

‘Yes, of course, yes. He has been a pest to them.’

‘You no say bad stuff about our friend!’

‘[Roar].’

Erron patted Torr’s back as he started to rush back upstairs. ‘Ferra, Torr, watch her until I come back!’

Ferra snickered back to Torr as soon as Erron had rushed upstairs. ‘Bang Bang not know we lied. Big Bossy no send we, we send we.’

Torr huffed a few times, which the woman could only assume was snickering also. ‘[Roar].’

Kano couldn’t believe it.

He had set up a base at the top of Shang Tsung’s island, as far from the coast as he could, with guards patrolling all around it to await their prized package. Then, much to his surprise– he never doubted his clan, but he had doubted the plan–, the boat rocked up along the shore and through Kano’s magnified, robotic eye, he saw a body being carried over Tremor’s shoulder. An unconscious body, with a crimson coat and green gems on the boots.

He still couldn’t believe it.

When Tremor hiked all of the island’s steps, until they reached the base’s barriers, Kano had run down to take a closer inspection on his prize.

‘The poison is going to wear off soon.’

‘I know, Tremor,’ Kano grinned and circled him, until he could lift Ermac’s unresponsive head up. ‘Hello, love,’ he snickered at the construct. 

Tremor shuffled with Ermac still over his shoulder, disrupting Kano’s disturbing moment enough to make the clan leader sneer at the ninja. ‘Yeah, yeah, whatever. Dump him inside, I’ve gotta head over and kill the emperor now.’

‘He is going to stir out of his sleep soon!’

‘You’ll figure it out, quit panicking,’ Kano grumbled to the ninja as he walked away from Tremor. ‘Prove to me that you still belong in this clan, even if it means you have to kill him yourself.’

‘We’ve gotta go there now!’

‘How?’ Reptile snarled at Erron, as the both of them stood at Kotal’s feet, bickering about their findings. ‘The dragons have the tools to travel with ease.’

Erron scoffed and then glared at Kotal. ‘Uh, the portal stone? We could keep it open in case you needed help here at the palace, right?’

‘And endanger the palace?’ Reptile squinted at him.

‘No– Look, just let me grab Mac and get outta there, I’ll be quick!’

The Osh-Tekk hummed. ‘Erron is right, we can use the portal stone. But Syzoth is right, it will be a gateway for the dragons to destroy the palace from the inside out. I must remain and protect the palace,’ he ultimately decided, with his hand held out to the side for one of his guards to fetch the portal stone. ‘Syzoth will go with you to rescue Ermac.’

‘I must enforce your protection, emperor,’ Reptile protested.

‘Why the hell are you trying to back out?’

‘Because our powerful friend can take care of himself,’ Reptile growled at the cowboy. ‘I have my doubts that the dragons are capable of murdering him, they are puny Earthrealmers who have meaninglessly handed themselves to Ermac’s will.’

Kotal sighed. ‘Reptile, we cannot know for certain how Ermac’s well-being is. I have D’Vorah, who is soon to return from Sun Do, I have Ferra and Torr. I have faith in Erron’s word that it will be a swift mission, completed in time for Kano’s attacks.’ When the guard returned with the portal stone and laid it in Kotal’s open palm, the emperor wasted no time in manifesting the portal straight away. ‘It will remain open for as long as it is willing. Therefore, you must not waste anymore of your time here, I command it.’

Immediately, they both bowed. ‘Yes, emperor,’ they said in unison.

‘It is what Kano said.’

‘He is a fool! We are no match for that demon.’

‘But the matter has been dealt into our hands, we must deal with it as we may.’

On the cold concrete floor, the master of souls stirred out from the poison’s long-lasting effects. His limbs felt weak from lack of use, if only between sunrise and sunset, and his vision was still a hazy mess. But through it all, he could hear two voices arguing from a distance; he knew better than to announce his awakening with any pained groans or whatnot.

We heard the mention of Kano.

We have been captured and fully delivered to the second location.

They must not know we are awake, they could poison us.

As carefully as he could, with the knowledge of his more stealthier souls, Ermac slowly pushed himself off the ground until he leaned on his hip. His arms quivered with fatigue, threatening to collapse back onto the concrete again face-first, but he prevailed. In this position, he noticed that he was in an isolated cell underground, one that looked familiar.

A dungeon, but not beneath the palace.

No, it’s–

Shang Tsung’s island.

He recognised it by the murky green along the walls and along the floors, with the rusted bars that a child could break through. More significantly, he could recognise his capturers also, as they stood not too far from the cell. Tremor and Kabal. Mistakenly, Ermac’s green eyes caught their attention, as they glowed brighter than the dim torches lit along each wall.

‘Good morning, sunshine,’ Kabal whistled as he sauntered over, watching as the construct slowly stood more upright with a deathly glare. ‘Don’t look so mad. You’d look nicer if you smiled at me.’

‘Stop taunting him’ Tremor warned as he approached also.

We can feel our energy, it works well.

But the room still spins.

As proven by some of his souls, Ermac made a move to reach forward for the bars, but ended up stumbling sideways into the brick wall.

Kabal snorted. ‘Relax, he’s clearly still out of it.’

‘Then he is hardly tame.’

‘You’re hardly tame,’ Kabal mocked Tremor.

[Edenian curse].

We do not need balance, we can feel their souls.

We can grasp their souls.

Once Ermac steadied himself, his hands beamed with green energy. The bars started to bend in unforgiving, unfixable ways, threatening his capturers enough to move away from the now opened cell. Despite stumbling through, Ermac’s watchful eyes on them never failed to focus on captivating their soul energy.

‘Shit,’ Kabal scorned himself.

‘It is of no use to kill us,’ Tremor attempted for their survival. ‘Kano is already with the emperor and has likely executed him already.’

Ermac’s eyes widened. Yes, that was why he was kidnapped in the first place. ‘The emperor is not easily brought down onto his knees,’ the construct argued, albeit with jumbled, slurred words. 

Kabal took advantage of Ermac’s dizzy state by darting forward with his lightning speed, leaving the construct to only see hazy purple circling him. Yet, the soul energy had not faltered. When Kabal lashed out at the construct with his weapons, the construct blasted him mercilessly across the dungeon floor, knocking the man unconscious from the impact.

But when the construct prepared to target Tremor next, who prepared to connect his palms to the concrete, a mysterious and invisible force knocked Tremor forward, and kept Tremor pinned beneath the force. With Ermac’s dizzy vision, he barely made out Reptile’s form coming out of his invisible cloak, but more easily made out a cowboy running down the dungeon hallway.

‘Mac!’

‘Erron?’ Ermac tiredly called out back. The blur of Erron’s palette was suddenly in his face, he felt arms tightly hug him before he could see it. But knowing who was hugging him, securing him from danger, the construct nearly deflated entirely into the mercenary’s arms. Nearly. ‘The emperor,’ he slurred to Erron and tried to lean back.

Erron refused to let go. At the very least he released Ermac from his hug, but kept the master of souls steadied by his side with his arm secured on the construct’s waist. ‘He’s fine, we’ve gotta get you home.’

‘Go,’ Reptile ordered with Tremor stuck under his weight. ‘I will arrest the two of these.’

At last, the pair stumbled down the dungeon hallway, past Kabal’s unconscious corpse, and made their way to the open portal stone.

Kotal scarcely avoided Kano’s shooting. Without Reptile’s assistance in sniffing out intruders, or Ermac’s assistance in merely sensing imminent dangers, the unpredictability of where and how Kano would invade the palace left the emperor slightly vulnerable. And so, with Ferra and Torr tackling the many dragon goons alongside the palace guards, Kotal used his sword to deflect Kano’s shooting but failed to close in the distance.

‘Where is my enforcer?’ The Osh-Tekk growled.

Kano chuckled. ‘Probably dead by now, if he woke up.’

‘How so?’ Kotal pressed on for answers, all while he and Kano practically danced around the throne in an attempt to get each other unharmed.

‘However my boys wanted to do it. I would’ve had my fun with him first, he was a pain in my side.’

‘There is no ‘was’, he is still alive!’

‘Then prove it,’ Kano grinned. ‘Then the both of you will be dead.’

The Osh-Tekk tucked out a smaller dagger from his feathers, deciding it was now or never to close the distance and finish Kano off. When he peered around the throne, he noticed Kano had found him with ease because of his eye’s technology. And yet, Kotal managed to aim the small dagger for Kano’s shoulder, throwing the clan leader off-track after having expected the emperor to wield just his sword. Kotal dashed forward to further disarm Kano, but the clan leader managed to fire a shot at the emperor in time before the Osh-Tekk laid his hands on him.

Kotal stumbled back and almost fell against his throne, pressurising the gunshot wound along his abdomen. While Kano had all of that time to finish the job, he taunted the emperor one last time by hovering his gun in-line with Kotal’s head, a dramatic finish to take back to Mileena.

‘Last words? Make them nice for Mileena.’

Kotal sneered up at Kano. Somewhere, somehow, the emperor knew that a saviour would arrive and knock Kano down a few pegs, but he hardly expected it to be the being who ultimately ended up saving him. In less than a second before Kotal could answer Kano, the clan leader was encased in green and swiftly thrown a few feet away. Immediately, the Osh-Tekk darted his eyes over to the portal stone and smirked.

While Ermac was able to easily project his energy onto Kano and disarm the man, he could only do it with Erron essentially holding him up. The construct kept Kano cased in green until D’Vorah had arrived; bombarded with the palace being under attack and with the unravelled situation. But once she saw Kotal bleeding red, and Ermac barely stumbling in place if not for Erron, and Reptile conveniently returning at that moment with both Kabal and Tremor dragged by each hand, she knew that her job now was to arrest Kano and drag him away with the help of the palace guards.

‘This one demands answers immediately,’ she scorned them all, before walking to the dungeons with Kano in chains.

Like dominoes, Kano’s clan recognised his defeat as their own. The portal stone closed off anymore connections to the island, the palace’s attendees started the clean-up process, leaving the council to process what they needed to fully grasp. The fight was over quickly, at least for now.

Reptile left their captives for the palace guards to take, rushing instead to Kotal’s side. ‘I can retrieve D’Vorah and her healing properties.’

But the Osh-Tekk shook his head. ‘I will follow Ermac into the infirmary.’

Regardless of how Erron was all over the construct, who had given into his lack of energy and allowed the mercenary to carry him towards the infirmary, the emperor felt as though he failed as an emperor. He may have protected the palace and its people, but he had not aided in the mission of retrieving the master of souls and had relied on his enforcers to do so instead; he trusted them, but he moreso preferred to join them in such agendas.

‘We do not require a doctor,’ Ermac continued to slur into Erron’s chest, not realising how his eyes were starting to flutter closed.

‘I don’t care, you’re getting a doctor,’ Erron chuckled at the sight. ‘Besides, none of us know how bad the poison is.’

Erron’s face…

… It looks like a starry night.

But in fact, the construct had passed out again.

Chapter Text

It was only a matter of time until Mileena made any rash decisions, especially after Kano’s capture. In the courtyard, the emperor had all of his enforcers training together with groups of guards. Ferra and Torr often mowed down the guards, but then failed to prevail when projectile weapons were used against them. Reptile could spit his acid and stealthily take down multiple of the guards, but felt quickly ambushed. But as they were merely sparring with the guards and each other, D’Vorah couldn’t use her stingers; even the lightest of touch would poison someone, nevermind penetrate them. Therefore, with her weaker build, her ego was deflated quickly.

Erron usually had an ego big enough to work for important people. It was big enough for Kano, measured just right for Shao Kahn, but overwhelmingly big for Kotal Kahn.

‘Erron, you and I,’ Kotal announced, stood in his defensive pose.

Of course the Osh-Tekk loved to deflate that ego, mainly because it was always misplaced. The mercenary knew better in the meetings, on missions abroad Outworld, and claimed that his guns could kill attackers faster than the martial arts could. So, whenever the council trained, Kotal made sure to have at least one sparring session with the cowboy, if not more than that.

‘I’m gonna lose anyway, why bother?’ Erron grumbled.

Kotal smiled. ‘Until you learn to resist failure, to persist against it, I will continue to train with you.’

Immediately, Erron landed on his ass. As much as he tried to land a punch against Kotal, the emperor was more mighty than him, and took Erron’s attacks to the chin as though Erron was barely trying. In almost a gentle push, Erron fell back.

‘What did I just say?’

‘Persist, Erron.’

But while Erron was sitting on the ground, he looked over his shoulder to see how the rest were doing. Yet, only the bright hue of green caught his eye. Surely enough, Ermac was the only one who did not require these training sessions. The construct flawlessly set guards aside, didn’t even break their bones or anything– that would be poor conduct for a sparring match–, but merely pushed the guards away from him with his powerful telekinesis. If not that, his many souls provided the knowledge of all the martial arts to know, so even when he was feeling a little tired from energy-use, he mastered the crafts of the arts and fought off the guards with ease.

How the hell am I his partner? Erron grumbled in his head. He marvelled at the master of souls work away, adored him more so, wondering why thousands of souls chose Erron of all mortals to date.

Unfortunately, a blue hand jerked him upright and poked his chest. Ah, Erron almost forgot about his one-sided match with the Osh-Tekk. ‘Does something trouble you?’ Kotal smirked down at him.

The mercenary scoffed. ‘Yeah, you.’

‘Is that all?’

Erron sighed. ‘I still don’t get why I’m allowed to be one of your personal guards. Look at the rest of them,’ he scoffed, and first gestured to Reptile. ‘I know he’s your best friend, but he can turn invisible and rain acid on some poor folks. D’Vorah,’ he swivelled to gesture to her next. ‘Creepy as shit, enough said ‘bout her. Ferra and Torr?’ His fingers quickly found them, all with Torr towering amongst the crowd of guards and enforcers. ‘The force of a stampede in just two people.’

Kotal frowned slightly. ‘Erron, I enlisted you for your expertises.’

‘I know, but I don’t have powers ‘n’ shit like that. I mean, fuck,’ he finally turned to the construct, who effortlessly fought the guards until they were utterly worn out. ‘You could bag the entire council and just have him to help ya.’

The Osh-Tekk hummed. ‘They all have their flaws. I have my flaws, Erron. Syzoth,’ he gestured to Reptile like Erron had. ‘He is certainly a ninja, but his capabilities are restricted with fist combat. D’Vorah,’ he turned around to gesture to her also. ‘As devoted as she is to me, she has a hive to protect. The elder gods know that if her hive was destructing, while I lay in my own shed blood, she will protect her hive. Ferra and Torr?’ He hummed as he watched them playfully pick up guards and slam them down. ‘They are a powerful force, but only together. Separately, they appear to be entirely lost.’

‘M’kay, I can agree with all that,’ Erron sighed. ‘But Mac doesn’t have his flaws.’

‘Ermac,’ Kotal chuckled. ‘His soul collection is diverse. He has revealed that there are even Tarkatans nested within his vessel, who often protest against the masses within him. He is also highly susceptible to the cold.’

Erron watched the construct also, blinking in surprise at the fact. Why hadn’t Erron realised that? ‘How come?’

‘Outworld has survived the brutal heat through increased sources and lessened clothes. And yet, on our warmest day, where the sun blessed us–’

‘Scorched us.’

‘Through it all, I rarely see him without his cloak. And through our bitter days, where the sun is shadowed by the storms that brew misfortune upon us, he shivers.’

‘Huh,’ Erron chuckled. ‘Even on those days, I’m still half-naked.’

Kotal rolled his eyes. ‘I have my flaws also, Erron. I am leading a nation that disagrees with my title, resources are limited due to Mileena’s relentlessness. Shao Kahn’s lingering oppression has proved detrimental to our forces, for we are all filled with doubt and weariness. I insist that the citizens of Outworld need not fret, for Shao Kahn has perished, but his lurking daughter continues to make them remember his wrath,’ he sighed.

Erron now blinked up at him. ‘Yeah, that does sound tough.’

With a stern, deep cough, Kotal turned to walk away. ‘Regroup with the others, I will seek you all out soon.’

At lunch-time, the guards who hadn’t participated in the training session nearly snickered at the sight before them. Reptile was sneering at everyone from where he sat, as he rubbed his bruised arms and winced from the pain elsewhere on his body. Ferra was picking arrows out of Torr’s armour. D’Vorah argued with Erron that she was definitely not sulking, despite her slouched posture. And Erron perked up when he saw Ermac enter with Kotal, which neither of them seemed affected at all.

At last, Ermac sat beside Erron and provided a small, reassuring smile to the mercenary, one that reddened Erron’s face. ‘You look well,’ Ermac teased.

Erron grinned under his mask, with his hand snaking across into the construct’s lap. ‘I got away with it, unlike them.’

‘This one will ensure you never get away with it again.’

‘Not until I do,’ Reptile snarled.

‘Me want to kill Bang Bang!’

‘[Roar].’

Ermac raised a brow at Erron, smirking. ‘You seemed to have made enemies in the process.’

Erron chuckled. ‘Well, what ‘bout you? You look as fine as wine.’

The compliments always flustered up the master of souls, as now the pair of them looked drunk from how flushed their cheeks were. Somehow, despite being experienced individuals, they were acting like blushing virgins. ‘We are not compelled to boast,’ Ermac poked his shoulder and shuffled away slightly, just enough for Erron’s invasive hand to drop off his lap.

Only, it quickly found its way home again on said lap. ‘You can boast all you want later, I’m sure I can get ya to do that.’

While Kotal had been speaking with guards before he could get to the table, he did notice the flushed pair and subtly smirked. Surprisingly, he seemed to be the only one aware of the relationship. D’Vorah, even sitting opposite Erron, was too busy thinking about all the ways she could murder the Earthrealmer. Reptile decided to drink his pain away with the wine presented, and if not that, he would eat one of D’Vorah’s fluttering bugs and quickly earned a scolding by her. Ferra and Torr were at least familiar with their strong ‘friendship’, but were too inexperienced to know anything better than that.

The Osh-Tekk also noticed Ermac’s souls swirling the pair of them. He noticed the way Erron’s arm was secured under the table, and the other impatiently tapped his drink. The construct failed to notice Kotal’s watchful eye, nevermind Erron who was too lackey daisy to notice on a good day.

When he sat down at the table to join them, he stared at each of them with the hairs on his arms standing up. It was the moment where he would reveal his observations of them all.

‘I will start with you, Ermac,’ Kotal turned to face the master of souls, whose eyes were wide; as if he finally felt caught out. Very quickly, Ermac kept Erron’s hand off his lap and sat more upright. It reminded Kotal of Jade, and their slightly mischievous moments that may have warranted punishment in the past. ‘Your training was very effective today.’

‘Thank you, emperor,’ Ermac bowed his head in appreciation.

The Osh-Tekk bowed also. ‘Erron, we will continue to train together over the rest of the year.’

‘Darn.’

Before D’Vorah could snicker, Kotal turned to her with a scrutinising stare. ‘D’Vorah, I have noticed you have been lacking energy in your fighting. Please consult me if there is a problem.’

‘Yes, emperor,’ she now blatantly sulked in her chair.

‘Syzoth–’

‘Yes, I understand, emperor,’ Reptile frowned. ‘May I discuss the matter with you?’

Kotal frowned. ‘You may.’

‘What about we?’ Ferra slammed her fist down onto the table, and was about to get Torr to do the same when Kotal quickly raised a silencing hand.

‘You are both very good.’

Erron scoffed. ‘That’s a whole lotta bullshit.’

‘Now,’ the Osh-Tekk clasped his hands together. ‘I must speak with Syzoth. The rest of you may eat to your pleasure, until your spirits are lifted and your energy is restored.’

As soon as Kotal and Reptile left the room to discuss their important matter, D’Vorah left with a heaping plateful of food for the nest in her quarters, leaving Ferra and Torr to victoriously devour everything in sight. They were provided even more food when Ermac and Erron stood up to leave.

‘Before I take your jacket off, I’ll get the fireplace going first,’ Erron cleverly wrapped an arm around the construct’s waist, before it slipped off in case anyone saw.

Immediately, Ermac flustered up again. ‘Why?’ 

‘A birdie told me ‘bout one of your flaws,’ the mercenary claimed while they left the room, secluded by the fairly empty hallways leading to the construct’s quarters. Luckily, most guards were too spooked by Ermac’s room to be anywhere near it, and so with that in mind, Erron moved the master of souls up against the door before they could enter it. ‘That you’re more vulnerable than you think, sweetheart,’ he breathed out against the construct’s neck.

Uncontrollably, Ermac shivered with anticipation. What truly stopped him from blasting down the door? Perhaps it would be the guards assuming the worst, or that there would be a lack of privacy to what was about to go down. ‘We are not one to boast, thus we never claimed to never not be vulnerable,’ he said, while his hands wandered south on the cowboy.

Erron hummed against the construct’s skin. ‘True, but I can’t believe how powerful you are sometimes, and yet, if the winter came around as often as it does in Earthrealm…’

Finally, Erron turned the doorknob and caught the construct before he fell inside. He kicked the door closed behind him while he was pulled the other way, but before all things, before he could snake his way under that jacket’s thick leather, Erron removed his mask to back away with a teasing smirk.

‘You can’t stand the cold. So, I’m getting the fire going first.’

Upon hearing that, Ermac was brought out of his lustful trance and reddened at the embarrassing fact. ‘We merely find it uncomfortable, not unbearable.’

‘Not according to Kotal.’

‘The emperor– How does he know?’

Erron had the fireplace going very quickly, for he was no patient man when it came down to hasty business. The room gradually warmed up, and eventually was warm enough to smoothly undo the gawking master of souls before him. ‘’Cause you don’t just shiver in bed, darling. He said you were shivering right next to him one time.’

Now, upon hearing that also, Ermac was both back in his lustful trance and still completely embarrassed by all that has been said. ‘Then he is exaggerating!’ He scoffed.

‘Oh-ho! Look who’s also got a huge ego.’

‘We are not being egotistical.’

‘We’re gonna find out ‘bout that, when I hear ya boast ‘bout earlier.’

Chapter Text

There were bugs everywhere. It was an annoying swarm that sparsely buzzed all around him, as although they didn’t try to sting him, they were still more irritating than anything else in Outworld.

The people in the marketplace stayed out of their path because of it, those pesky bees having a threatening aura all by themselves, rather than the host that they came out of.

‘Why’s it gotta be you?’ Erron grumbled, swatting away the bugs in his face. ‘Why not Mac?’

‘This one thinks you are lucky,’ D’Vorah smirked. The source of all the bugs, the reason why the marketplace was the quietest it had ever been. D’Vorah rarely left the palace, more so the emperor’s side, and yet today she decided to aid Erron on a meaningless mission of trying to find Mileena’s hideout. Nobody could find it, the false empress was on a constant move with her followers.

Erron spat at one of the bugs, watching in victory as the spat weighed down a couple of bugs and crash-landed them to the dirt below. At last, he had temporary peace from the bugs in his face. ‘Yeah, but can you pick up Mileena’s whereabouts just by seeing into her soul? Didn’t think so. And who did she pick to kidnap again?’

‘You will respect the First Minister,’ D’Vorah swivelled on her heels to glare daggers at the mercenary. ‘You speak of a construct with no other means than to protect the emperor, he is not worthy of your praise about him.’

Erron glared back down at her. ‘You don’t know shit.’

D’Vorah found the fire in his eyes and grinned at it, seemingly pleased to see the cowboy aggravated. ‘This one has found Mileena’s camps. Has he?’

‘Bullshit, I’ll believe it when I see it,’ Erron scoffed in her face, before moving around her to continue forth.

Eventually, the marketplace was far behind them and mountains were ahead of them instead. The sand they walked through started to get deeper, the clouds became a shady grey, and throughout it all the paired enforcers uttered not a single word to one another. Only when they reached the edge of a cliff over one mountain, amongst the many more to overcome, did D’Vorah halt in her steps and peer over the ledge.

‘This one suspected it was here,’ D’Vorah murmured at the vast, empty pit below them. It was nothing but tall stony walls, nothing but a trap if someone used the space as such.

Erron threw his hands up, exasperated by the many miles they travelled and the time they wasted. ‘Again,’ he scoffed and turned back to stare down at the pointless space. ‘If Mac were here, he’d just teleport us back. Now, we have to drag our feet back through the sand, all the way through the busy city, and tell the emperor that you led us nowhere. Great job, First Minister–’

An easy shove did the trick. When D’Vorah pushed the mercenary over the ledge, Erron had little time to whip the pistols out of his holsters and fire rapid bullets at her. She ducked back to avoid the disarrayed firing, until it had stopped. Erron grunted and yelped as he hit each smaller ledge, with each one having sharp stones almost pierce him through and through. It was a miracle that he hadn’t hit his head, back, or any other vitals.

He rolled down to the bottom, gawking up at the tall walls that were too tall to jump onto, and then he cursed out loud at D’Vorah’s grin peering down at him.

‘Shit– Fuck!’ Erron tossed his hat aside and grabbed his hair. ‘You’re working for Mileena!’

D’Vorah grinned wider. ‘This one does not work for her, but was merely testing you.’

‘Assault ain’t part of the enforcer program, it never has been you ass!’

‘This one will seek you out at dusk,’ she smugly leaned up and confidently stood on the ledge. ‘Unless, you are as weak as the other Earthrealmers.’

‘Get back– Damnit!’ Erron threw his mask aside also in a fit of rage. His entire body ached with pain, he discovered many bruises when he turned to crawl up onto his feet, along with the blood that trickled from wherever the stones had torn up his clothes. ‘D’Vorah!’ He tried again, but his cries echoed through the valleys and reached no ears.

The pit’s walls were too tall, he discovered very quickly, as he tried to grapple with them to no success. But with each attempt, the pain soared through him and he sat back down again, with the failure eating at his wounds even more.

Erron.

‘Mac?’ The cowboy immediately scrambled to his feet, looking all around with relief in his eyes. ‘Where are ya?’

‘Are you waking up?’

Gradually, he was overcome by the memories, by the being most important to him.

‘Barely, don’t rush me, doll.’

‘There is no rush.’

Erron opened his eyes to those generous greens, always staring at him with pure passion. The construct wasn’t wearing anything yet, the sun had only just dawned upon them through the curtains, peeking at them from the balcony, and highlighted Ermac as if he were glowing a beautiful orange with his green eyes.

And that smile, too, so foreign on a daily basis until he came into contact with the mercenary. Nobody but Erron was allowed to see how content the many souls were from within the construct.

‘How long do we have?’ Erron groaned as he sat up in bed, not batting an eye at how indecent he was. ‘’Cause I’ve got all day,’ he winked.

Ermac snorted. ‘Of course you do.’ The master of souls turned to lean over the bed and gather his cloak, all while his bare, bandaged back was a gradient of orange to green; the sun on one side, and the souls glowing through the slightly thin skin. But the muscles, the vulnerability, were quickly covered up by that memorable, crimson cloak. ‘The guards have come by and inquired about us, suggesting we scarcely have a minute to ourselves.’

Erron sighed. ‘Y’know, a minute is all I need.’

‘It takes a minute to reach the throne room,’ Ermac chuckled.

He was swooned by moments like this, from the times where the world was on pause for them. Erron crawled over to drape himself over the construct, and leaned back to bring Ermac into his embrace. ‘Well, we’ll just run there afterwards.’

‘Oh, really?’

‘Or, you can teleport us there.’

‘Can we?’

The mercenary snickered. ‘M’kay, fine, you can teleport there and I’ll pretend I drank a little too much last night.’

Ermac hummed and leaned his head back, relishing in how quickly Erron’s heart beat. ‘Perhaps, but we can sense a visitor who will not understand your reasoning with a fair heart.’

The thundering of knocks abruptly ended when, whoever was on the other side, impatiently opened the door instead and intruded into their privacy. Luckily, Ermac and Erron threw the rest of their clothes on, acting as if they were conversing in more appropriate means. When Erron looked at who had disturbed their perfect moment, it was the bug-infested monster.

The one that threw him into the pit.

At that, Erron snapped out of his delusions, gawking around yet again at his disastrous circumstances. The tall cliffside, the sun that was no longer central, but slowly setting.

‘I’m not letting that bitch come back for me,’ Erron spat onto the ground.

No, the idea of D’Vorah dragging him back to the palace, shoving him at the feet of Kotal, explaining that Erron was too cowardly and weak to get out of the pit, was not ideal for the mercenary at all. He barely got back Kotal’s trust in him, he wondered if that would grow or lessen if the emperor discovered his and Ermac’s relationship. Regardless, he grappled with all the rocks and stones, until he holstered himself up onto one mini-ledge; pushing through the pain that devoured him.

Each movement erected a hiss, a groan, a wince, a moan from sheer agony. He yelped when he reached up for another ledge, as he felt the bruises on his chest and shoulders pierce his efforts, and yet he prevailed and climbed up onto it.

He reached the top and got over, panting like a dog from all the hard work, slightly distressed and put-off by the miles of sand ahead of him.

‘Do you trust her?’ Erron asked, with the apple in his hand a mere inches away from his mouth.

Ermac sighed, with his back resting against the tree trunk and the apple untouched in his grasp. They hid from the sun in the tree’s shadowy refuge, at least until patrol required them again to assist in the marketplace. For now, in the palace gardens, this tree was their best friend and the best hangout spot. ‘We are uncertain.’

Erron chewed and swallowed a chunk of apple. ‘How come? Can’t you read into her soul or something?’

‘The emperor forbids us from taking advantage of our telepathy, for means that are not relevant towards our duties,’ Ermac said, which, in Erron’s ears, sounded more like complaining than a simple matter of fact. ‘But we can sense one’s aura by being within their proximity. D’Vorah is…’

‘A piece of shit,’ the cowboy murmured under his breath, before he started his run back towards the palace. He needed to beat the sun, despite how the sand nearly sank each one of his boots.

‘...Merciless,’ the construct finally decided, and then bit into the apple as if to swallow his judgement. ‘But those who show no mercy will receive merciless rulings themselves.’

‘I’ll give her a piece of my mind, Mac.’

The dinner was set out on the table, with Ferra and Torr being the first to sit down. Reptile and Kotal arrived while deep in conversation, but when Ermac entered the hall along with D’Vorah, his eyes nearly widened. He couldn’t sense Erron’s soul anywhere in the palace.

‘Where is Erron Black?’ He asked, as formal as he could from his subtly, panicked state.

D’Vorah sighed and smirked slightly. ‘This one believes he is in the marketplace, intoxicated.’

Ermac’s brows furrowed. ‘Then we will retrieve him–’

‘No,’ D’Vorah sharply cut him off. ‘This one will retrieve him.’

The construct tilted his head at her. ‘What is the urgency?’ He calmly asked.

‘You question the First Minister?’ D’Vorah bitterly asked up at the master of souls, who was utterly puzzled by her attitude shift.

Ermac stared out at the balcony, noticing the sun had almost set entirely, but as he was about to inquire about Erron being out alone in the dark, with no backup too, his eyes widened again and he disappeared into a mist of green orbs. D’Vorah was left staring at the orbs, until she marched towards the palace’s entrance herself.

Erron collapsed at the top of the steps, but was quickly found in Ermac’s concerned arms and tucked close to the construct’s chest. Before Erron could process it, he was being carried off by the construct towards the infirmary. The mercenary was too out of breath to speak, especially as the steps leading up to the palace were the cherry on top from his exhausting trek. The pain returned now that he was safe, now that he was, what he would never say out loud, home .

‘Do you feel homesick, Erron?’ Ermac asked, with his hands gently caressing Erron’s and smoothing over the cowboy’s skin. ‘We understand if you are.’

‘Nah,’ Erron smiled in awe, squeezing Ermac’s hands reassuringly. ‘Can’t be homesick in your own home, can you?’

The way Ermac’s eyes glowed brighter than ever when Erron told him that, and now they were dimly lit from seeing Erron in a pained state, and were further dulled upon D’Vorah standing in his way.

‘Leave him with the guards, this one orders that you–’

‘We will take him to the infirmary, we will watch over him until he recovers, and we will ensure your soul ceases to exist if you are reluctant to pave the way for us,’ Ermac darkly glared down at her, with all his souls fluttering about in the air dangerously, along with his beaming hands.

D’Vorah had no choice but to step aside, mourning how her plan had failed, however sinister it was. ‘Then this one will report to the emperor, to relieve him of Black’s location.’

‘A wise choice from a frequent fool,’ Ermac nearly spat.

The guards were merciful and generous, in the way that they delivered plates of food to the infirmary for both Ermac and the doctor to energise from. It was apparent that when D’Vorah finally told Kotal all that had happened, minus the fact of her instigating Erron’s injuries or ditching him in the dust, the emperor made haste for the infirmary and looked worriedly over Erron.

‘It is Mileena’s poison, she pursues her havoc.’

Ermac lowered his eyes at that, completely disagreeing even if he didn’t have the evidence for it. He had removed his cloak and rested it on the bed, sat on a stool watching over Erron; with every fall and rise of the cowboy’s chest, making sure that Erron was well enough.

Kotal noticed the construct’s watchful eye and smiled, but concealed it once he started to speak. ‘I must return to the throne. Please, fetch me at once when he stirs awake.’

‘We will,’ Ermac promised with a respectful nod, frowning when Kotal turned his back. His many souls wondered if the emperor had an inkling, as little or as big, about how potentially deviant D’Vorah was. His many souls knew it was D’Vorah, and yet, knew it couldn’t have been.

She would not risk her title, surely?

She despises the Earthrealmers.

As does the rest of Outworld, we work on changing that.

What if she works for Mileena?

She informed the doctor that Erron slipped.

Erron doesn’t slip.

The mercenary’s stirring redirected the construct’s focus back onto his lover, as Ermac moved away to provide room for the doctor to check him over. The light shone into Erron’s eyes to check his pupils, the blanket was peeled back to double-check the minor injuries, and once satisfied, the doctor left with a polite bow to excuse himself.

At last, a disgruntled groan escaped Erron’s lips as he tried to sit up. ‘Darn, I’m in the infirmary.’

‘Yes, you are,’ Ermac sternly answered. As much as he was pleased to see Erron awake and well, at least according to the doctor who was no longer as concerned as he was, the master of souls was annoyed at how the situation came to be. ‘What happened, Erron?’

Erron sighed and reached for his mask on the bed stand, but instead found a gloved hand gently pulling his arm back. Erron was nearly towered over by the construct, but from a lack of intimidation and more for the constant worry spread in Ermac’s brows and eyes.

‘I think I slipped–’

‘Do not lie to us,’ Ermac nearly growled.

After all, the mercenary realised there was no reason to lie for D’Vorah. The sooner Outworld found out about her maliciousness, the better for the realm. ‘The bitch pushed me in; D’Vorah led me into bumfuck nowhere and shoved me into a pit, all ‘cause I needed training or some shit.’

It was D’Vorah.

She hurt him.

We should hurt her.

Not should.

We will.

‘Please, eat,’ Ermac pleaded as he floated the tray of food over, with it being fairly untouched from himself. Obliged, Erron took on-board a loaf of bread and chipped at it crumb by crumb. The lack of appetite was evident from the distasteful truth, the fact that was about to drive apart the council and wreak havoc internally, and then eventually poison the rest of Outworld. It will empower Mileena, if executed incorrectly.

It was all pondered and stressed about in Ermac’s collection, but for now, he took a piece of bread for himself and enjoyed Erron’s more awake presence. It was the calm before the storm.

Chapter Text

Z’Unkahrah’s marketplace, the busiest in Outworld, the most diverse and populated city, the place where the Kahn’s specialised guards spent the most time. Not a single street didn’t have a handful of guards, not a single alleyway untouched despite the covert dragons. The closer it got to the palace, the more hectic it became, where masses of guards were positioned and protected the gates from rampant protesters.

The emperor tasked Reptile to join him in the throne room, while D’Vorah was cast out with Ferra and Torr to head into the city’s outskirts, where most criminals tried their best with business, seeing as the marketplace was too congested for business. And after a month of not being on the same patrol, and only being together some nights in each other’s quarters, Ermac and Erron were paired together for marketplace patrol.

Whenever Erron ventured out into the marketplace, he was rarely taken seriously unless he had a cluster of guards watching his back. The mercenary was first surprised at the offensiveness towards him, being an Earthrealmer amongst patriotic Outworlders, but he wasn’t surprised after some thinking about it; centuries of oppression because of Earthrealm, no matter the context? Understandable.

However, Ermac never needed guards, a fact that didn’t need to be iterated more than once. The glowing green master of souls floated past stalls, with some greeting him out of the kindness of their hearts, but most giving him a fearful, cold shoulder. He was a construct, compiled of thousands of souls, and could bend one’s body or soul at the whim of his mind, so of course most of the population feared him rather than accepted his help. Each time the emperor insisted that Ermac should tag along extra protection, the guards overhearing would laugh their heads off.

With the two paired together, they helped one another. With each snarky remark against Erron, Ermac would stare them down into an early grave. With each bystander refusing Ermac’s help, Erron would put them in their place.

By lunch-time, Ermac found a cosy lookout amongst some of the tallest rooftops, having the best view of the thriving marketplace below. This way, nobody could judge either of them, while they snacked on bread and fruit.

‘I don’t get it, Mac,’ Erron started his tangent while waving his orange around, his mask removed. ‘I’ve been in Kotal’s council for decades, almost. But a lot of them still think I’m gonna turn around and burn their house down, ‘cause I’m not born and bred here,’ he grumbled.

Ermac pitifully smiled at him, and took the orange from the man’s fumbling fingers to delicately unpeel the fruit. ‘We understand your position, but we resonate with their bitter hearts also. They hadn’t recognised Shao Kahn’s brought misfortune onto the realm, despite loathing his wrath cast onto various villages. All these desperate families witnessed were the brutal hands of Raiden’s warriors,’ he handed back over the fully peeled orange, his smile now a small frown. ‘Mileena does not aid our circumstances.’

‘Yeah,’ Erron sighed, but smiled down at the perfectly peeled orange. A being so powerful could very often act like everything around them is fragile. ‘But for some fucked reason, the people down there like Kano and his business.’

Before biting into an apple, Ermac turned to watch Erron’s eyes fall into reminiscence. ‘There was a moment in time where you did, yes?’

Along with the reminiscence, a darkness befell him. ‘There’s not a chance in hell I do now.’

The deeper, chilly tone startled the construct’s many souls, it stirred his vessel’s gut. Whether it was because his souls were relieved that Kano was no longer an option for Erron, which further promised his commitment to the emperor, or whether it was because Ermac could almost resonate with the same subject.

‘If we wished to, we could seek Mileena out and dispose of her,’ Ermac murmured as he gazed down at the marketplace, feeling Erron’s surprised eyes on him. ‘When we conveyed the misfortune on her part, that we would be joining the true emperor of Outworld, she loathed us. Yet, when we ventured to her cell the same evening, she did not fault us. We agreed that if she were slain by the emperor’s hand, we would harbour her soul to join her with Shao Kahn–’

‘Shao Kahn? You don’t mean I’ve been sleeping with him, have I?’ Erron shivered in his boots.

Ermac chuckled. ‘No, you are lucky. We delivered his soul to Shang Tsung’s island, he is trapped within a tomb.’

Erron blinked. ‘So, you lied to her?’

‘Without intention,’ the master of souls mulled over the fact. ‘Yes, we bowed to Kotal Kahn while Shao Kahn wreaked havoc in our collection about the matter. He attempted to take control of us, and failed. But,’ he turned to gently smile at the cowboy. ‘When you rejoined the council and met us, he disapproved of the collection’s feelings towards you. We had to reject his poison, we couldn’t allow him to disrupt what was brewing between us.’

To confirm he was speaking more about their relationship than the many souls from within, Ermac reached out to smooth a hand over Erron’s back, which with all the information taken in, reddened Erron’s face. The construct threw away the previous emperor of Outworld for him? His collection, almost love sick for the mercenary, prevailed against the old tyrant?

‘There’s no way the emperor knows ‘bout that,’ Erron grinned and scooted closer to the construct, offering a slice of orange. ‘Nevermind D’Vorah.’

Ermac smiled, and Erron noticed the way that the construct nearly deflated against his shoulder. Clearly, it had been a weight on his back, to know that he had essentially hidden the fact about Shao Kahn from everyone, if not also the fact that Mileena’s expectation is to reside with Shao Kahn, when she may not after all. Perhaps it was the guilt, the sorrow, but it was told to the right person.

Surveying the marketplace from the rooftops was not as peaceful as it had been, for as soon as their revealing conversation and snacking finished, a stall crumbled into flames and the two enforcers jumped into action. As Ermac planted the both of them on the ground, almost arriving on scene like superheroes, the construct surrounds the aggressive flames in green energy to dampen down the fire.

The mercenary looked around to investigate the cause of the fire, when he noticed a handful of masked men fleeing the scene. He didn’t need to tell the master of souls, who noticed also, and nodded for Erron to pursue the suspects with a couple of guards tailing him.

‘Stop!’ Barked the guards from behind Erron, acting as the cowboy’s voice in command. As appreciated as the effort was, the suspects failed to stop.

Without hesitation, Erron whipped out his guns and fired, with the best precision one could have whilst running. It was risky, he realised afterwards, with the civilians ducking behind straw stalls that wouldn’t protect them from bullets. Yet, each shot pierced through an arm or leg on each of the suspects, forcing them to fall face first into the hardened sand and gravel. The guards caught up to the scene and pressed their boots into the backs of the criminals, as Erron kneeled down to peel the mask off one of them.

‘Well, if it ain’t the typical assholes stirring trouble,’ Erron murmured, staring into the eyes of a dragon member. It was hardly a surprise to anyone on the scene.

By the time they all returned to Ermac, with the suspects in chains and the guards walking them towards the palace, Erron whistled at the work done behind the scenes. The stall was burnt to a crisp, especially all the food that had been on display before the incident. Ermac was speaking with the man in charge of the stall, who pleaded with the construct.

Despite some lessons in Outworld linguistics, Erron couldn’t understand the conversation, but knew by the man’s tearful eyes that it was devastating.

‘Mac?’ Erron inquired.

Ermac turned to him with a sigh. ‘That stall was all his family had. Now, they have no food for tonight and for the days to come.’

‘Darn,’ Erron grumbled. ‘We caught the sons of bitches, if that’s any consolation.’

The construct turned to deliver the somewhat good news to the man, only to be almost yelled back at. Erron didn’t need a translator for that; the damage had been done and the suspects couldn’t possibly bring back everything that they had on that stall.

The mercenary, a suddenly generous one at that, fished out his own money from deep within his pockets to hand out to the man. ‘Tell ‘im to go to the other stalls and buy food, but if that isn’t enough, he can stop by the palace and ask for us.’

Ermac blinked at Erron, but complied first and foremost before he questioned Erron’s shifted priorities. Never would the mercenary, as according to his label, give up any part of his wages for a stranger, especially from those who frowned on him. The master of souls exchanged the money into the man’s hands, explained the situation in his fluent Outworlder tongue, which made the man weep and throw himself at Erron.

Rather than feel bitter about the slight loss of his money, the cowboy grinned victoriously. ‘Glad to be able to help,’ he said as he patted the man’s back.

‘What?’

‘Nothing–’

‘Bullshit, you’re looking at me like I just saved Outworld’

The entire way back, the construct was smiling in awe at the mercenary, wondering when and why the moral shift had happened in the mercenary. Ermac even insisted on finding means to replace Erron’s money, but the cowboy rejected the help and said it was all for a good cause. The construct left it at that, deciding that if he didn’t push, he could truly see whether Erron really did mind or not about giving up some of his money, however long that may take. And yet, the entire way back to the palace, at an estimated hour walk or more, Erron not once complained nor boasted.

‘You have, to an extent,’ the construct hummed. ‘That man will pay the favour forward, perhaps the elder gods will bring it into a loop of positive exchanges, and good will can fall into your lap once more.’

Erron shrugged. ‘I don’t mind if it doesn’t.’

That answer made Ermac laugh wholeheartedly, the kind of laugh that found the situation unbelievable, a positive unbelievable but still nonetheless unbelievable. ‘The emperor ought to hear about it.’

Before they approached the throne room, the pair noticed a couple of guards chasing a man heading straight for them, but with a closer look, it was the man with the burnt stall. As the man threw himself into Erron’s arms again, Ermac dismissed the hasty guards with a dismissive wave, and watched as the man sobbed into the mercenary’s chest; mumbling incoherently according to Erron’s ears.

‘He is grateful,’ Ermac translated, with the same lovestruck smile as before. ‘He and his family now have plenty of food, enough to restore their business in the marketplace before starvation.’

The butterflies that Erron felt hearing that made him grin a bigger grin than before. ‘Oh yeah Then why are you here?’

Between translations, the construct listened to the man’s jumbled praises in his Outworlder tongue. ‘He merely came here to thank you again. While he appreciates all of our efforts, you were the one who ensured that his family could sleep without an ache in their bellies.’

‘He’s always welcome,’ Erron stared down at the man, who finally pulled out of the clingy hug to beam up at the cowboy. As another surprise to the master of souls, the mercenary started to shed more than one generous, mistaken tear, proving that his gesture was nothing of regret. ‘Mac, let him know that if he needs me, he’s gotta say my name unless he wants a whole lotta trouble at the gates.’

Ermac nodded and instructed the man, with Erron’s name mixed amongst the foreign language, before the man bowed to them both and skipped away from the palace. ‘He may thank you tomorrow, and the day following, and the many aeons to come,’ he teased Erron.

Erron chuckled. ‘Yeah, probably. Y’know what? I don’t mind if he ate my breakfast.’

‘Really?’

‘It ain’t my favourite meal of the day for no reason, so if it’s gonna make him happy like that, like a kid who’s just got their favourite toy, then–’

The continuous selflessness from the cowboy stirred the vast collection of souls, varying from happiness to another feeling deeper in the gut. When Erron acted selfless yet again, all of the construct’s souls were overcome by the gut sensation, and altogether agreed on the following actions. Subtly, he inched forward while Erron tried to excuse his completely, ‘natural’ selflessness, until he was within reach to swiftly remove Erron’s mask and pin the mercenary to the nearby wall, connecting their lips in the process.

Erron was never shy in these moments. His hands found the construct’s curves naturally, tugging him closer even as he was as pinned as he could be against the wall. But he was surprised by the initiation for it. Before either of them wandered south, Ermac stepped back and smirked.

‘We want to know why.’

‘Why I’m hard as fu–’

Ermac quickly covered Erron’s lips, making sure through his senses that they were still alone in the hallway. ‘Why you helped that man without hesitation. When you did so, we could feel the warmth in your soul,’ he claimed as his hand left Erron’s mouth, and instead rested on the cowboy’s chest. ‘We wonder if you serve the emperor not for his wealth, nor his status, but because you are offered the privileges to aid Outworld and its people.’

Erron hummed, the vibration echoing through the construct’s hand, which was now covered by Erron’s stronger one. ‘Sure, I’ve started to do it for that. But it’s also ‘cause of the obvious, ain’t it?’

Caught off-guard by the answer, not for the first time today, Ermac’s dazzled state had him at the mercy of Erron’s swift movement, which had the construct pressed against the wall instead. Ermac looked up at him wide-eyed, eyes beaming the enchanting green that had Erron swooning for him.

‘You said that you pushed Shao Kahn out ‘cause he was getting in the way of us, right?’ Erron said as he rested his hands on the construct’s hips. ‘I guess money was getting in the way for us too. A lot of the time, I’ve had to choose whether I wanted to take on another shift, or spend the days off with you or the rest of the team. Besides, you give up your time and care for the people, which means thousands of warriors from inside of you agreed to do that. I’d be an asshole if I, a guy with one soul, didn’t, right?’

Gently, the construct raised his hands to feel the cowboy’s heated face, to feel the firm hands on his hips. ‘We believe the rest of the council ought to know that, yes? It pleases us, but will please the emperor plenty more.’

‘I guess,’ Erron hummed, closing the space between their faces. ‘But I don’t give a damn too much ‘bout them, I only care if you’re happy with me.’

‘We’re more than happy.’

‘Oh yeah?’ Erron teased with a smirk. ‘Let’s hear it.’

Chapter Text

For the majority of their commitment, delving all the way back to the time when they first met, they were content with one another. The nights they were able to sleep together, the mornings they were privileged to lounge about for their own leisure, their own pleasures, and all the relieving opportunities where the two worked alongside each other. Whether it was because the emperor secretly knew about their situation, or if it was the elder gods answering their prayers, they were content.

But as abnormal and as surreal as Outworld often was, relationships faced the same trials that ordinary Earthrealmers would. Perhaps at times, the fact it was Outworld meant that those trials would be quadrupled in severity; fatal, deadly.

‘Where the hell were you?’

‘We were instructed to scour the forest.’

‘You could’ve told me. You’ve gotta tell me, or someone!’

While Erron was shirtless and cosy in his quarters, Ermac was dripping wet in the more unfortunate way. Not often did the gods bring a tempest to the realm, given that Outworld was mostly sunny and that was likely because of Kotal’s endless prayers, but the storms were brutal when they arrived. It was as late as midnight, though Erron suspected it was past that time, when Ermac walked into Erron’s quarters in his utterly drenched form.

‘We had no time to spare,’ Ermac sighed. ‘We need to change, before our vessel falls ill.’

Erron scowled. ‘Right, ‘cause the emperor doesn’t give a damn ‘bout whether you get a cold or not, or else he wouldn’t have sent your ass out there.’

The master of souls bit his tongue as he walked past the mercenary, removing his sticky wet clothes piece by piece. Once his heavy coat was off, the tension felt a little bit earlier to deal with. Erron cursed himself quietly before laying a caring hand on the construct, his fingers prying the wet materials off, yet as often as it made Ermac more relaxed and comfortable, he breathed in deeply when the cowboy hugged him wholly from behind.

‘I’m sorry,’ Erron whispered sweetly. ‘I know you’re tired. I just get worried when you’re gone, y’know?’

Ermac huffed. ‘We do know,’ he said as he turned around, relieved to be out of his wet clothes despite how the cold air made him shiver. ‘But we do not understand why you fret over our duties.’

The mercenary picked up on the shivering instantly, and went to start the fireplace up when it started up by itself, all with some powerful green magic. ‘Mac–’

‘We are not weak and vulnerable, certainly no damsel in distress,’ the construct sternly murmured. ‘We are aware of our powers, of what we are capable of at our strongest and at our weakest, but we ensure not to boast our fortunes, or our privileges,’ he claimed calmly as he walked towards Erron, to gently bring up a cool hand up to the cowboy’s cheek. ‘Your previous partners were strong, but you were stronger. It’s a duty for the both of us to protect one another. But you continue to instil some irrationality that we will someday, in an instant, perish when we are not around you,’ he sadly smiled. ‘We appreciate your efforts, but we respect your confidence in us too.’

‘I know,’ Erron sadly smiled back, cupping his hand over the cooler one, hoping that the fireplace would soon warm up the construct. ‘You’re a real powerhouse, which means you should be the Alpha or something.’

Ermac snorted and pushed him back. ‘Dare to mention that foolish term again, and we will take our leave.’

They both grinned. It was a short lived, miniscule argument that resulted in the two embracing by the fireplace, discussing the way their days went, and retired for the busy morning to come with little tribulation.

‘Where is Erron?’

‘Why would I know?’ Reptile snarled, though his barely coherent words were slurred and he couldn’t look straight at the master of souls.

It immediately brought a scowl onto Ermac’s face. ‘The two of you inebriated yourselves together, we are all aware of that.’

‘And who is ‘We’ this time, construct!’

‘The palace, the citizens of Outworld, perhaps the Earthrealmers too and the elder gods. Where is he?’

The Zaterran, much to Ferra and Torr’s amusement who were devouring the rest of supper, booed at the construct; booing and spitting at the same time while he drunkenly staggered about the place. It made Ermac scoff, roll his eyes, and disappear into a cluster of souls that flowed out of the palace.

Syzoth is beyond salvaging, until dawn.

Erron must be in a worse state.

They usually stay together.

What happened this time?

‘Son’ova’bitch!’

The construct materialised back into his fully fleshed vessel, darting down towards the ground towards the source of a very clearly Earthrealmer accent. The nearby idlers were baffled by Ermac’s presence, being a fairly feared being amongst the realm, conveying to all around that there was trouble nearby. He heard the same phrase repeat itself down a dark alleyway, where upon turning the corner, was Erron himself. He was falling into the walls around him, with masked bystanders watching maliciously.

‘Erron!’

Anyone within the five mile radius scattered from the scene, fleeing from the construct who raised his threateningly glowing hands. With the area clear, he moved in to hold Erron upright, his brows pitiful on the mercenary.

On the other hand, Erron was hardly pitiful of himself. ‘I had it, I was gonna–’

‘Come,’ Ermac sighed, with his arm secured around the drunk man. ‘You and Reptile cannot continue this behaviour, the emperor–’

‘To hell with ‘im!’ Erron spat bitterly, shoving his helping partner off of him, much to Ermac’s surprise.

‘Erron, come with us.’

But Erron seethed and backed away from the construct. ‘We’re fucking overworked, Mac. Don’t you get that? You maybe weren’t born the same way me and Reptile were, but that don’t mean you don’t understand!’ He exclaimed and echoed down the alleyway.

Ermac simply blinked blankly back at him. ‘Every soul from our collection was born the same way.’

‘Ain’t that ironic?’ Erron laughed and flapped his exasperated arms about. ‘’Cause they– or, you–, should know how overworked we are, then, if you're so similar. Have you seen how many Earthrealmers Raiden has under his wing? He’s got the damn army, he’s got all those monks or ninjas, whatever shit there is. But our big blue boss? We’ve got us, we’ve got Reptile who is losing his batshit mind, we’ve got D’Vorah who we know is a traitor!’

‘Quiet down, Erron!’ Ermac hissed and looked about.

‘We’ve got Ferra and Torr, but they don’t listen to nobody. That’s it! So we’re dragging our boots through the sand and mud every damn day, for all the stuff that we shouldn’t hafta do. Reptile and I have gotta drink our sorrows away, or else we’re gonna blow up in Kotal’s face and quit.’

Surprisingly to Erron, Ermac was deathly quiet, with his eyes panned down to the floor in deep contemplation. ‘See? Even you’re tired, Mac. You do the most in the council, more than First Minister-Bitch herself, ‘cause you’ve got more manpower, or womanpower or whatever, than the rest of us. He’s taken advantage of you; they all have! Fuck Shao, fuck Mileena, and fuck Kotal. And me?’ He snorted. ‘They’re all right, the entire realm is, Mac. I’m a weak Earthrealmer, m’kay? I don’t got powers, I don’t got family here or even back in Earthrealm. I’m a guy with some guns and balls, but that doesn’t make me immortal.’

‘The realm is in desperate times, hard times,’ Ermac calmly reassured as he walked towards him. 

‘Yeah, desperate times. For us, Mac, we’re all desperate! Why doesn’t the guy hire more people? He’s paranoid, even though we have D’Vorah still in the council. Why haven’t we told him yet, Mac? Are you scared of him? I’m not scared, not like–’

It took a firm slap from a glowing hand to welcome back Erron’s sobriety, or some of it. After Erron stumbled back against the wall, wide-eyed at the construct, Ermac yanked his collar down and glared daggers at the cowboy.

‘We are returning to the palace, Erron, because all that you have vented about is not black and white. Water that we replenish from will often waver, we have day and we have night, but throughout instabilities and transitions, we prevail and make with it what we may. Now,’ he sighed heavily and pointed forward towards the palace. ‘[Edenian].’

A struggling journey back to the palace later, with the night turning into day, the sour and nearly vengeful anger that tangled into Erron’s soul had been reduced into a string of apologies.

‘I was a real mean son of a bitch.’

‘Liquor will render one into such.’

‘I’m real sorry about last night, Mac.’

‘We know you are.’

‘I know it’s not been the first time, probably not the last.’

‘It could be.’

‘Maybe when things change,’ Erron murmured tiredly through his pounding head. ‘Maybe, or if.’

It was another ruthless day for the master of souls. He was required to venture out into the wastelands, with news of Mileena and her followers potentially hiding there. But being busy with the marketplace already, while Erron was on a mission with Ferra and Torr towards the city’s outskirts, Ermac turned to one of the enforcers he was left with. 

‘D’Vorah.’

She turned away from the guard engaged with her conversation, detesting the construct’s interruption. ‘This one is occupied.’

‘We apologise, but we have a request.’

‘Out with it.’

‘Erron Black has an issue to address with me solely, but we will not be near the palace until the skies are irredeemably dark. Please relay this to him.’

‘This one will try,’ she claimed before turning away again, completely disengaging once again.

Only, when Ermac returned later that night, bordering midnight, with his clothes dry this time, Erron was pacing the room when the construct walked in. Immediately, the mercenary’s brows furrowed, which told the construct exactly what would go down already.

‘What happened? Where–’

Ermac made haste out of the quarters, which prompted Erron to desperately tug his boots on and get dressed, and then ran after the construct. ‘Hey!’

At the same time, D’Vorah was approaching Erron’s quarters, all with the sly slaying of her hips and her sly smirk paired with them. ‘This one is going to relay your message to Erron Black.’

‘You mock thousands of respectable warriors?’ The construct nearly growled out as he progressed towards her, but was stopped by Erron holding him back by his coat. 

D’Vorah scoffed at him. ‘This one is part of a hive also, one full of many more respectable warriors.’

‘With the clarity that they were bred from yourself, while the rest of your prior hive burned under Shao Kahn’s hand, and you praised him for doing so.’

‘Ermac, ease up!’

‘Let the construct be sensitive, Black,’ D’Vorah furthermore teased. ‘Emotions must be tempestuous still amongst your many warriors, or is it the warriors that are untameable?’

From Erron’s firm grip on Ermac’s coat, he could feel the green energy bubbling up towards the construct’s surface, like a patient volcano disrupted at last. The mercenary didn’t think twice about stepping in front of his partner, blocking the path that would obliterate the Kytinn from existence with a single green gesture.

‘Well,’ Erron turned to face D’Vorah, while his hand rested firmly against the construct’s thumping chest. ‘We’re gonna tell the emperor ‘bout what you’re really up to, D’Vorah. What’s gonna happen to your hive then?’

‘Erron.’

D’Vorah snickered as she backed away, her smirk plastered onto her by this point as it failed to falter from Erron’s revelation. ‘Yes, false news beheld by an Earthrealmer mercenary and an unhinged construct. This one will relish in your hangings.’

‘Get off to it now or never, darling.’

With the Kytinn gone, Erron relaxed his hand from the construct’s chest and turned back to face him, expecting some relief from D’Vorah leaving the situation. Rather instead, Ermac stepped away from the mercenary and dipped his gaze from Erron. ‘Retire for the morning, Erron.’

Erron blinked. ‘I’m planning to, believe me. Let’s go–.’

‘No,’ Ermac sneered at him. ‘Retire to your quarters, Black.’

‘What? I–’ Erron sighed out. ‘I don’t understand, we got her to leave and maybe she'll sleep with one eye open.’

Still, the master of souls frowned. ‘We did not need you to fight our battle with her, we had plenty of energy to expel on our own behalf.’

‘I get it, but she was gonna carry on belittling you.’

‘We are used to it.’

‘But you shouldn’t be, Mac. So I’m gonna–Damnit,’ the cowboy immediately threw his hat to the ground. Ermac had disappeared into his cluster of souls, he had furthermore teleported away with those souls to contemplate all that had happened, leaving Erron to groggily walk to his quarters solemnly. They were both left with a tribulation.

Chapter Text

‘Ah, shit.’

From all the hangovers in the past, from the lower tiers of Earthrealmer alcohol to the strong Outworlder liquors, none of it topped the emotional pain that gave him this hangover. Not a lick of liquor, and yet here he laid in bed, palm over face, gritting his teeth at the mistakes from last night.

They were working through the minor problems in their relationship, and when Ermac had tried to rectify his late-night shifts, Erron struggled to fulfil his promise; to be confident in the construct, to not view him as vulnerable when that was far from the truth. Instead, Erron couldn’t help himself, especially with D’Vorah’s intentionally-done mischief. He wondered if she knew about them, prompting her to either try and dispose of Erron in a wasteland ditch, or sever their relationship by creating problems. The latter worked, somehow.

It took a long time to force himself out of bed, to trek across the palace until he reached the throne room, and stood at the emperor’s feet awaiting orders. Ermac wasn’t there, but D’Vorah most certainly was, all with her prideful smirk upon seeing Erron sulk.

‘Mornin’,’ Erron mustered up, avoiding the Osh-Tekk’s perceptive eyes.

Earlier that morning, Kotal noticed the shift in mood from Ermac too. The construct was there with a cup of coffee, as always, and he still greeted everyone around him, but when the emperor proposed that he wait for Erron to wait up, to patrol together in the marketplace as Kotal often preferred, Ermac very much insisted on patrolling solo. His green eyes were frustrated, his souls were sputtering about in an agitated manner, and the cup of coffee Ermac nearly delivered was boiling to an undrinkable temperature.

Kotal didn’t ask twice, and instead thanked the construct before leaving him to patrol, solo. With Erron in a similar state, perhaps more beaten down than pissed off, Kotal frowned.

‘What stirs you, Erron?’

Erron’s eyes shot up, but as he had to look at the emperor, he also had to look at his smirking First Minister; unmoving by Kotal’s side. ‘Nothin’.’

Seeing that Erron was going to be equally as stubborn as Ermac, he sighed. ‘Very well. Until I have heard news from Ermac, I recommend that you have a watchful eye on the marketplace.’

The mercenary nodded and tilted his hat down, before he took his leave. One more look at his emperor would mean another look at D’Vorah, in all her merciless glory, so he left it be and left Kotal’s mind pondering over the whole situation.

‘This one will have a keen eye on Black,’ D’Vorah suggested, to subdue Kotal’s brewing tempest.

‘Thank you, D’Vorah. Perhaps I will insist on an answer from Ermac, when he returns.’

The cowboy walked amongst his flock of guards, strolling through the marketplace with dreary eyes. Fortunately, the city was relatively calm, with little to no problems coursing through it. He occasionally looked up at the rooftops, hoping to catch a glance at Ermac patrolling also, but saw nobody. He didn’t realise how much he grumbled out loud either, despite the guards every now and then awkwardly looking at Erron.

He needed a drink, or something. Preferably Ermac, but a drink would do until the cowboy finds him.

‘Anyone seen Reptile?’

‘No, sir.’

‘Fine,’ Erron furthermore grumbled. ‘What do y’all do after shift?’

The guard walking alongside him blinked, perplexed at Erron’s sudden interest in them. The enforcers generally respected them, but didn’t often engage in conversation.

‘We all retire from work in many ways.’

‘What do you do?’

‘Return to my wife, sir.’

Of course, as if Erron’s heart didn’t have to sting anymore.

As they turned the corner, Erron halted in his tracks, making the guards trailing behind nearly bump into one another. ‘What the hell?’ He cursed to himself. Before his eyes, to his utmost disbelief and immediate displeasure, were four Earthrealmers dressed in Special Forces attire. They looked far too young to be venturing out here in Outworld, too young to be taking on any job of that nature.

‘Earthrealmers,’ the guard next to him growled.

‘Hold your horses,’ Erron instructed. He watched as the four Earthrealmers turned to one another, delving into a heated discussion, oblivious to their surroundings. The cowboy couldn’t believe their stupidity. If he was an Earthrealmer, and if they were also, was he really an Earthrealmer if four of them were this stupid? In addition to the shared hatred he expressed with his Outworlder guards, he wondered whether he could even call himself an Earthrealmer anymore.

Especially as he eavesdropped on the conversation, close enough to be spotted with his many guards, but somehow, these Earthrealmer kids were highly invested in what the archer had to say.

‘It’s not an alliance. Non-aggression pact. Outworld is not our ally.’

‘A point you might make with more subtlety, given your surroundings…’ The mercenary commanded the guards to surround them. ‘Now state your business, including a reason why we shouldn’t kill you.’

‘I can read you…’ The kid at the back spoke up. These kids continued to surprise Erron, all with their audacity. ‘You’re not from Outworld.’

‘I’m from Earthrealm, like you,’ Erron answered without thinking. ‘But my employer, Kotal Kahn, is from Outworld. So now I’m from Outworld.’ Yes, that made complete sense , Erron mocked himself. ‘State your business.’

‘We’re emissaries. We need to talk to Kotal Kahn. Here, we have Raiden’s official seal,’ said the blonde kid.

Ah, Erron started to recognise them more up close, at least the girls he could. During the Reiko accords, he helped them escape and was jailed for it due to some miscommunication. He vaguely remembered Jacqui, but he definitely remembered Cassie, both a Cage relative and the daughter of the fierce Sonya Blade.

But still, from being meaninglessly thrown behind bars and spending awhile to earn back Kotal’s trust, and from the fact that these girls never backed up Erron’s assist in them, he scoffed at her and shook his head. ‘I can buy one of those at that stall right over there…’

With his lack of help for her now, Cassie was clearly stumped as she turned to the others, where Jin then stepped in to save them. ‘Look, you can arrest us, even kill us… But if we’re tellin’ the truth, you probably get a pay cut, or worse.’ And when the kid stepped forward, Erron’s grip tightened on his guns. ‘You take us to the Kahn, I’ll tell ‘im you took us down. Maybe you get a bonus. Y’can’t lose.’

Son of a bitch , Erron grumbled in his mind. The archer could immediately tell that he was a mercenary, even if Erron no longer felt like it. He worried more about Kotal having his head, for bringing four potential threats into the palace to meet him, unplanned and unorganised. He briefly looked up at the rooftops, so brief that the Earthrealmers didn’t see, but he couldn’t see his wiser second half; Ermac was very much needed right now, to remind him not to do anything for the money, and to try sticking to the rule book.

But Ermac wasn’t here with him. The construct could have sensed them all out by now, but he had yet to arrive. As much as the cowboy didn’t want to overthink it, he wondered if he was being punished by dealing with this solo. He could use the bonus to pay for the liquor later, likely with Reptile or with the other guards not going home to some sort of family afterwards.

‘Follow me.’

The master of souls left the marketplace as soon as Erron arrived in it. He had scoured it for some time, observing the fairly peaceful streets and inspecting the occasional suspicious individual. But when he sensed Erron nearby, the many souls from within boiled his blood, so he had no choice but to flee the scene and fulfil his duties far from there.

He was helping us.

Do not make excuses for him.

We make excuses for the ones we love.

Ermac scowled at himself. He wondered if he was being entirely immature about it, but that would mean thousands of respected warriors were being immature. At the same time, he learned overtime to sometimes doubt his own souls; meaning his souls were doubting themselves. Years of mistreatment by Shao Kahn, then Mileena, and suddenly he is highly appreciated by Kotal Kahn? At first, it was unreal, and it brewed a great deal of uncertainty from within the collection.

Especially when Erron grew interested in him, and when everything progressed from one thing to the next. He was being humanised when he didn’t feel it.

He has made us feel more alive.

He deserves forgiveness for that.

He has made us weak. We are busy dwelling with unreasonable emotions, when we have duties scattered about the realm to fulfil.

Yes, he was too busy pacing back and forth on a far away rooftop, belonging to a random citizen that hadn’t woken up yet from Ermac’s boots, so the construct took flight away from it and searched the grounds as he flew. He continued to fly across Outworld’s busiest city, Z’Unkahrah, until he recognised a flock of guards cornering some trouble.

Upon landing, the guards parted the way for him automatically. ‘Sir,’ the guard upfront bowed slightly.

Somehow, these formalities disturbed the thousands of souls within the construct. ‘What is the situation?’ He calmly asked.

‘Tarkatans,’ the guard said and nothing more.

Ermac sighed as he progressed towards the guarded house, sensing a handful of Tarkatan souls inside. The guard at the door was ready to kick it through, but the master of souls had a different plan. ‘Stay out here,’ he instructed, before materialising into souls and disappearing through the door.

The mini storm of souls reappeared inside. The Tarkatans raised their blades forward defensively, but upon seeing that it was Ermac of all enforcers, they quickly raised their hands in surrender instead. The entire realm knew very well who he was.

‘Be merciful,’ pleaded one of the Tarkatans.

The construct dulled his eyes. ‘Where would there be a reason to kill you all?’

‘None,’ the Tarkatan snarled. ‘By the elder gods, none of us have done ill against the emperor, or against the guards outside.’

‘Tarkatans aid Mileena.’

‘Not us!’ A more feminine voice cried out from behind, pushing through the others to reach the construct face to face. ‘We serve no one, not after Baraka’s death, not after Mileena delivered us into a sacrificial battle, of which we did not win.’

Ermac frowned. With the few Tarkatans inside of his collection, he remembered that day very well. He killed Tarkatans with ease, using his mind to bend them in unforgivable ways, when he could have merely exploded their heads and be done with the torture. Now he was face to face with the aftermath of a losing side, one that has strayed from their unsupportive leader, and has been left to struggle along the outskirts of the city.

He wondered if the emperor would provide them a second chance, as long as they proved their loyalty. But with the guards’ prejudice outside, by seemingly targeting the family of Tarkatans for no reason at all, he doubted that the emperor would provide them a fair opportunity. These were desperate times, Kotal may use any leverage he could against Mileena, and if Ermac handed these Tarkatans in for a greater good, the Osh-Tekk may cold-heartedly use them as sacrificial damage against Mileena. Just like she did.

‘Are there more of you?’ He asked, the sympathy in his many voices prevalent.

‘Yes.’

‘Do not tell him,’ the male Tarkatan next to her snarled.

‘We are starving,’ she inched closer to the construct, who watched her with sharp eyes. ‘Many of us reside in the wastelands, but we mean no ill.’

At last, the master of souls relaxed his stoic face with a pitiful frown.

We fret over simple problems.

While innocent Tarkatans suffer, we still have a place of refuge and they do not.

We ought to tell Erron first.

‘We will consider an approach to your circumstances. Wait here, we will replenish your resources.’

The way that all the Tarkatans hugged each other, grappling onto one another out of excitement, even as they tried not to get their hopes up, made the many souls gnaw at their guilt furthermore; a shameful outlook on their pointless behaviour. Ermac left the house and came face to face with a defensive guard, who was more than ready to burst down the door and kill the Tarkatans, but the construct warned them away and to never return. He waited for all the guards to disperse from the area, before seeking out the nearest bread and fruit stall to purchase some goods.

Once he watched the Tarkatans gratefully devour the food, Ermac flew back towards where he last sensed Erron, back to the marketplace.

He lost, miserably, to the archer that insisted that everything would be worth it. And when the mercenary limped over to Ferra and Torr, which the girl was stuck under Torr, he watched as D’Vorah walked past him with a scrutinising glare, frowning upon him. By the time he was able to push Torr’s hefty body off of Ferra, D’Vorah finished threatening the Earthrealmers and approached him.

‘Look, I–’

‘Save it for the emperor, Black,’ she spat venomously. ‘This one insists that the three of you return inside.’

He didn’t argue it, as after all, he didn’t have the right to. He was the one who brought danger inside the walls, all with the temptation of a bonus or something greater. The mercenary tried his utmost best to keep Torr walking, slightly amused at Ferra who believed that her strength helped too, and they were relieved to be out of sight from the Earthrealmers.

But none of them were happy to see Kotal heading for them. At all.

‘Erron,’ Kotal began his lecture, though the mercenary was surprised at how soft spoken it was. ‘I have been informed of these grave circumstances.’

‘Listen, they’re just a whole bunch of kids, so I thought–’

‘If they are mere children,’ the Osh-Tekk now said in a sterner voice, especially as he leaned down to the cowboy. ‘Why have they defeated you, Ferra, and Torr?’

Erron sighed. ‘’Cause you were right ‘bout earlier. I’m distracted,’ he sheepishly confessed.

‘We no like they!’ Ferra interjected as loudly as she could, making the men wince. ‘They help lightning man!’

Kotal sighed. ‘All the more reason to diffuse the mist. The three of you, I order that you retire to your chambers.’

The Osh-Tekk walked past them, a purposeful stride that paved the way towards the Earthrealmers, while Erron helped Ferra and Torr return to their chambers before returning to his own. He didn’t remove his hat, mask, nor his boots, he plain and simple flopped onto his bed to mourn his mistakes, to grieve his losses. The cowboy was left hoping that he would pass out and wake up to everything resolved; the Earthrealmers gone, Kotal not pissed at him for bringing them in the first place, and for Ermac to forgive him. The latter felt like a far away dream, despite how quickly it came to life.

‘Erron.’

The mercenary in question jolted upright onto his arms, snapping his head towards the being of many. Ermac quietly closed the door, his brows furrowed with guilt written all over his face. At the very least, it made Erron sit upright to provide his full attention, but he refused to remove his mask, which hid his sour scowl.

‘Ermac.’

The construct winced slightly. To hear Erron say his name in a pronounced, cold way, made him begin to regret his decisions for returning. ‘You don’t look well.’

Erron scoffed with a fake chuckle. ‘No shit. Have you seen the Earthrealmers already?’

‘Earthrealmers? We could sense them, but–’

‘So you could sense them this whole time,’ Erron furthermore laughed, without the humour behind his voice. ‘Then why the hell didn’t you step in or something? You probably knew it wasn’t a good idea to bring them inside, ain’t it?’ He pressed for answers, from the being that was meant to avoid this entire situation. In this moment, Erron didn’t feel like he was in the wrong, or at least he shifted the blame to anyone but himself.

‘We discovered an alternative problem, along the outskirts of the city,’ Ermac defended himself, with his pitiful brows narrowing more into scrutiny. ‘Why would there have been a need for us?’

‘’Cause I took them in for the wrong reasons, ones you would’ve deterred me from!’ The mercenary protested, taking a step forward while the construct stepped back. ‘’Cause of what happened last night, I felt like having a drink ‘n’ somethin’ to forget it. One of those Earthrealmer kids got into my head, said I could get a bonus or some shit, and my fried brain said ‘Bet’. I failed ya, again, and this time it made me fail the emperor too.’

Ermac scoffed. ‘You blame us for your own mistake?’

‘I knew you were patrolling in the area, Mac! Maybe instead of running away from me, you could’ve helped out, so that those assholes would be behind bars.’

‘You are a Kahn’s Guard, Erron,’ Ermac sighed out. ‘Do not be as foolish as to think that you are not capable of dwelling with our threats. You have had experience in such nature, all with Shao Kahn and the Black Dragons.’

Erron snorted. ‘With neither of those did I ever have a partner who didn’t appreciate my support, Mac. Even when they were sorta pissed at me for something, they forgave me as easily as I forgave them. But like working for Kotal, it’s different here, ain’t it?’

‘Were we not justified, Erron?’

‘Not when you probably had a loose cannon hidden deep in the rest of your soul family,’ Erron sneered.

The master of souls widened his eyes at that. It was one thing for D’Vorah to call him unstable, but now his supposed partner was calling him just as irrational. Had his actions, since meeting them all, not proved his sanity? With the many of, indeed, irrational souls from within his collection, not one of them swam up to the surface, and they were certainly not agreed upon by the rest of the fairly rational collection. Had they not realised by now that to say the things they say, to do the things they do, to think the way they do, all require an internal democracy?

The red clouds clogging Erron’s own rationale finally dispersed from his vision, left to see the glowing green eyes before him that seemed a little bit watery. And yet, the cowboy prevailed against all the gut feelings telling him to hold back, the feelings that were encouraging him to embrace the construct and apologise profusely.

‘What the hell did you come here for anyway?’

The question made Ermac swallow the obnoxious lump in his throat. ‘There are Tarkatans in need, ones who are seeking help while they serve no leaders from the present. We were going to seek out your merciful soul to assist us, but it appears to have been spoiled and poisoned for now.’

‘Maybe that’s a good thing,’ Erron spat. ‘Maybe feelings ain’t my gig no more.’

Other than the very subtle quiver of his lip, Ermac turned around and left quietly.

Chapter Text

Duties were carried out as normal. While the emperor, his first minister, and Reptile were in the Kuatan jungle, chasing out Mileena with the help of the Earthrealmers, Ermac, Erron, and Ferra with Torr remained in the city. Ferra and Torr hung around the palace, mostly in the throne room to ensure no mischief occurred near the throne. Erron patrolled the marketplace again for that day, relieved to find no more disorientated Earthrealmers roaming around, while Ermac returned to the Tarkatan situation.

But with the mercenary now bored out of his mind, given that the Earthrealmers’ appearance was the only interesting matter that day, he ventured towards the wasteland areas where he expected the construct to be. Whether his heart was in it or not, he wanted to help out if the Tarkatans were good hearted; the emperor needed more force, not a towering death chart of how many people his guards had slaughtered, and ruthlessly too.

He jogged up to Ermac, who spoke to the guards around, while the Tarkatans remained inside of the house still. ‘What’s the plan of action?’

Only, the master of souls gave him a brief scowl before turning his back. It may have been childish, but even his wiser souls agreed to shove Erron out of an already messy circumstance.

‘Report to Li Mei and return to us with her perspectives, for Sun Do may be the Tarkatans’ only refuge,’ the construct informed the guards, who started to gather others for their venture to Sun Do.

All while Ermac was only able to reach the first step to the house, before Erron reached it first. ‘Are you fucking kiddin’ me, Mac? I wanna help them too.’

‘Despite all that you told us, a mere hour ago?’

Erron scoffed. ‘This ain’t ‘bout us.’

‘Be assured, Black ,’ Ermac said most bitterly. ‘You established very well that there is no ‘us’.’

The master of souls left Erron stunned on the steps, as the mercenary finally felt the weight of his own words shoved back at him. Truly, he hadn’t meant what he said back in his room, certainly not towards Ermac. But from the rough day that wasn’t over, from failing to handle the Earthrealmers, to the slight scolding from Kotal, from trying to recover from the tension last night gave and then for being responsible for that to turn up at his door, asking for his help? Despite the racked up events for the day, he failed to hold onto any anger that he had since he woke up, the anger that carried through when Ermac hadn’t joined him for patrol, but rather, he finally felt utter devastation.

At the same time, as Ermac hesitated at the house’s door, his souls were in shambles.

Do we love him, or do we not?

We are certainly not acting as such.

As which, ‘Such’?

As neither.

He has enraged us, and yet–

We seem to gravitate towards forgiveness.

Upon walking in, the two enforcers were immediately greeted by the hopefulness in the Tarkatans’ eyes, especially from the woman who sought out the construct’s help. ‘What is going to happen to us?’ She pleaded.

‘The rest of the council have discovered Mileena’s whereabouts. If their mission succeeds with the downfall of Mileena, we have great hope that all faithful Tarkatans will be granted a second opportunity within allied cities,’ Ermac reassured first and utmost. ‘If their mission fails, we recommend that your people evacuate from all known cities, and attempt to survive on the opposite side of the realm.’

The woman inhaled sharply. ‘That is forbidden land.’

‘Only if you believe it to be,’ Ermac tried to instil hope.

Erron turned to the construct. ‘What’s the forbidden land?’

Ermac sighed. ‘The realm’s most volatile climate, where the wildest of breasts roam through its deserted wasteland, and requires days of travel to reach the uncivil area.’

The cowboy hummed. He learned something new everyday about the chaotic realm. ‘Well, the emperor’s gonna be pretty giddy if all goes well, so let’s hope for that.'

What would have been a stretched out, awkwardly quiet trek back together, the construct held Erron’s arm as they teleported. It almost felt foreign to touch one another, with both Ermac left flustered and Erron bamboozled; how could he have been pettily mad all this time? How could either of them? When they appeared inside the throne room, they stared at each other for a heated minute, one that reminded them of intimate times and their time of comfort together.

Especially as Ermac hadn’t let go of him, and Erron didn’t protest it either.

‘At last,’ Kotal’s voice interrupted the moment, causing Ermac to jerk his hand back and back away from Erron, who shuffled away also. The emperor sat on his throne with, as Erron had said, a giddy smile on his face, with Reptile walking past them to fetch some wine. ‘The rest of my council has returned for replenishing news.’

Whether it was the Tarkatan matter or from all the recent tension, the both of them released pent up air. ‘Mileena?’ Erron inquired about the obvious.

‘No longer wastes her breath,’ Kotal answered with a satisfied hum, and boosted himself off his throne to speak at a closer proximity. ‘At D’Vorah’s unruly mercy.’

Ermac turned to look at Erron, who fully understood why. He remembered the construct’s confession to him about Shao Kahn and Mileena, and how he had meant to reunite Mileena’s soul with Shao Kahn. It had meant to be done by Kotal’s hand, but the master of souls intended to deliver Mileena’s soul nonetheless to Shang Tsung’s island.

‘May we request the nature of her soul?’

Kotal chuckled. ‘Yes, naturally. But for now, we must rejoice.’

‘Hold on a sec,’ Erron asked as he put his hands on his hips. ‘The Earthrealmers? They ain’t dead too, right?’

‘No,’ the emperor said with a sigh. ‘I will use them as leverage, against that devil Raiden. With Shinnok’s amulet in D’Vorah’s possession at present, soon to be brought into a secure chamber, he will have no choice but to succumb to a fair alliance.’

Now, Erron turned to stare at Ermac, who reciprocated with wide green eyes. They had the chance to warn the emperor about D’Vorah, and hadn’t. Now she was with the amulet, and worse supposedly with the Earthrealmers too.

We must reach her.

Telepathically to Erron, the cowboy nodded and spoke to himself. It took a justified amount of time to get used to the construct’s telepathic conversations.

Hell yeah we do.

‘Please, what sours your spirits?’ Kotal asked, watching their obviously gawking faces. ‘You ought to reunite with Syzoth, celebrate with him, or amongst yourselves.’

Ermac folded his arms insecurely to the latter half. ‘We will check the Earthrealmers, ensure they remain imprisoned.’

‘Me too–’

‘ Black will keep Syzoth company,’ said the glaring construct.

Which, immediately, made the mercenary forget the Osh-Tekk who was now witnessing their more elaborated tension. ‘Is this still ‘cause of last night? I wanna come ‘cause I want to, not ‘cause I don’t think you can handle ‘em.’

Ermac growled. ‘Why are you Earthrealmers so loud? Why must you all pronounce what ought to be kept as a quiet exchange? Can you not perceive our crumbling patience with you?’

What in the elder gods? Kotal was flabbergasted at the behaviour. He had the upfront experience– somewhat– of the pair’s relationship since the moment it brewed, and had kept it covert for as long as they wanted to keep it as such. But now, of all the moments in their relationship, ones that were more worthy of flaunting to the rest of the throne room, they chose to share a loathing towards one another? In front of himself, in front of Reptile who quietly watched while sipping wine, and in front of the surrounding guards who looked away as soon as they were spotted.

Before the Osh-Tekk could say anything to them, a bout of guards rushed into the throne room to reveal the devastating news at the docks, with the report of the amulet missing and two dead guards. When the emperor looked at his three present enforcers, they all nodded and headed out for the docks without protest.

‘This is D’Vorah’s work.’

‘No argument there. Only she could create wounds like these.’

And the Earthrealmers’ souls still remain within the ship , the construct’s souls checked.

‘Question is: is she working with anyone else?’

But as much as the master of souls could sense the souls inside, he hadn’t noticed their little movement outside of the ship. Yet, their accents seemed to mix into the air and flowed straight to the Zaterran, who easily sniffed them out.

Erron stood up from the corpses. ‘What is it?’

‘The Earthrealmers! D’Vorah freed them!’

The blue smoke was all they saw next, before Reptile went ahead to target Takeda, while the two others focused on the three remaining Earthrealmers. Erron made sure not to underestimate them this time. He managed to get Jin onto the ground, aiming his pistol down at the archer, trusting that Ermac could handle the women. Only, the next thing he noticed was the dock’s planks getting closer to his face, until he planted down flat and was then yanked into the air, flying into the crates behind him.

Immediately, Ermac noticed, if not for the sudden crash, but also because he was now fighting three of the Earthrealmers rather than two. Reptile was seen in the corner of his eye, laying flat and defeated, while Erron scrambled back up to his feet to take on Takeda. So far, the construct managed to fend off the Earthrealmers with skilful martial arts, preserving his energy.

However, that method was shut down as soon as the master of souls noticed Erron’s defeat, with the cowboy also laying down, momentarily knocked out and wounded.

[Edenian curse].

We can handle them.

But not killing them has proved more difficult than subduing them.

We must not kill them, in order to preserve the Earthrealm alliance.

Ermac face-planted Jin into the planks, then threw a soul blast at Jacqui to send her flying away, and at last encased Cassie in telekinetic green. He intended to make her pass out from the overwhelming energy, but as he did so, he was too concerned with not crushing her soul. The sheer focus necessary for the task left him vulnerable, which Takeda took advantage of with a rear choke hold, only for the Earthrealmer to stupidly try and invade his collection. Of course, the souls screeched at him, forcing him off and getting him a few feet back.

Mid-way through keeping Takeda off of him, the Earthrealmers bounced back as if they had an endless amount of energy. Perhaps, they were some of the best Special Forces’ warriors the construct had ever fought. But once he saw that Reptile stirred awake, but Erron failed to, the master of souls found himself distracted. A ray blast to his side, an arrow somehow in his leg, a gun firing at him that he scarcely ducked away from, and then Takeda’s whips startled him out of the fight.

He retreated, as much as he despised doing so, by appearing behind Takeda to stand in front of Reptile and Erron’s bodies.

We can capture them later.

If they reach D’Vorah also, for the amulet, then we can take advantage of their wasted efforts.

The Earthrealmers were initially perplexed at Ermac’s retreat, especially as the construct warily stood there, but didn’t fight them, so they fled the docks and headed straight for the Kuatan jungle.

‘Get them!’ Reptile hissed from the planks.

‘No, they will prove more useful to us if they flee,’ Ermac murmured, before kneeling down to Erron. ‘We must return to the palace, inform the emperor of D’Vorah’s betrayal. Replenish, before we retrieve both the amulet and the Earthrealmers.’

It was too quick of a check over at the infirmary for Ermac’s liking, and not for himself either. Erron insisted he was fine, despite limping out, while Reptile already went ahead to deliver the news to the emperor. The mercenary was awake, disgruntled at their losses once more for that day, but he didn’t take long to cast over at the construct sat next to him.

‘You’ve got an arrow in ya.’

Ah, yes, the Earthrealmers in one last effort forced Ermac into either surrendering or into succumbing to worse fates, but in the construct’s efforts against it all, he gained an arrow and a slightly bruised rib. With ease, Ermac ripped the arrow out with a little wince, alarming the doctor instantly.

‘We are fine, we must make haste.’

‘Yeah, sorry, doc,’ Erron shrugged, and shifted off the bed to groan at his sprained leg. ‘Damn kids.’

Ermac frowned and offered his hand. ‘We can teleport–’

‘No.’

Therefore, the awkward long hike that they avoided earlier, happened instead on their way towards the throne room. Perhaps Erron was pissed off again at the construct, all because he wanted to help again, but he was more so pissed off at himself for not warning the emperor soon enough. All could have been prevented, if he had.

Erron sat at the long table while the other two stood, with the construct standing far from the sour mercenary.

He is justified.

We have upset him, and the Earthrealmers also have.

We would be, if we were him.

‘D’Vorah? And the Earthrealmers?’

‘She stole the amulet, then helped them escape.’

‘She betrayed us to the Thunder God.’

Kotal quietly huffed out with his back turned, facing the sun that he prayed would strengthen him, especially in their newfound dire circumstances. They were nearly going to celebrate for their winnings, now they were headed for severe losses.

‘You wound me, D’Vorah.’

But as emperor, he wouldn’t allow the rest of his council to fall into the same despair. ‘Prepare the legions, we go to Earthrealm. We will wrest back the amulet from that devil Raiden.’

The fight that followed hadn’t meant to escalate that much. Despite the Earthrealmers ambushing them in the forest, each enforcer dealt with them with more urgency than they had on the docks. The sky was a dangerous, murky red, which spelled out danger for both realms. But after hardly surviving a civil war against their now deceased Mileena, they couldn’t have another war against both Earthrealm and the Netherrealm.

Kotal fell to the desperate measure of a sacrifice instead, to earn Shinnok’s trust, to protect Outworld from further corruption. And yet, just when they had cornered the four Earthrealmers into a circle, herding them into the point of no return, the Osh-Tekk saw Ferra and Torr cease into bulky ice. Sub-Zero emerged from the trees, with his many Lin Kuei members.

There were too many bodies to handle, with not much ammo left for Erron.

Reptile could only fend off so many without his stealth.

And Ermac’s energy was reduced in large quantities, as he fought off the most enemies, especially to protect the council. 

Sub-Zero seemed prepared to kill them rather than subdue them, which he did with ease against Kotal’s army of guards. Even when Kotal didn’t intend to carry on fighting, they had no choice with Sub-Zero’s many warriors cornering them in the same fashion as Kotal against the four Earthrealmers.

By the time that both Kotal and Ermac melted the ice off of Ferra and Torr, the pair were a shivering mess and unable to fight, the immediate sign that the council had to retreat before they perished in the Earthrealm woods. Reptile had collapsed at Kotal’s feet, unmoving. And because they had been fighting for so long that every guard had either dropped dead or hid from the danger, Ermac provided them a last opportunity to pave the way for the portal stone to function.

He hovered up with his green energy radiating all around, dazzling the Lin Kuei and Sub-Zero himself, who nearly seized the chance to challenge Kotal Kahn himself. But the longer Ermac attempted to disrupt the Lin Kuei’s energy flow, the more chaotic his energy grew; erupting bodies and crushing their souls, knocking down the knees all around them. Before the construct could accidentally harm his own, Kotal activated the portal stone and first sent Ferra and Torr through, before picking up Reptile’s unconscious body.

‘Mac!’

Kotal heard Erron’s voice cry out from behind, for the mercenary was beneath the construct who started to freefall from the sky, and was luckily caught by Erron’s keen embrace despite the cowboy’s staggering injuries. The Osh-Tekk was relieved to have more guards rush through the portal to aid them, defending Erron while he retreated with his blacked out partner.

‘I’m not lettin’ go.’

As much as the emperor also wanted to fret over his enforcer, he had his backup help to worry over now. ‘With me!’ He called out, watching as the Lin Kuei honed in towards the portal, trying to intercept it or venture through. They would have succeeded, had backup not arrived, but their escape made the masses of deceased Outworlder guards no less grievous to the Osh-Tekk.

It all became no more again when the guards retreated back inside the portal, ceasing all contact from Earthrealm until Outworld’s unforeseen future with them. At last, everyone was able to pile into the infirmary, especially Kotal’s fallen council.

Chapter Text

His blooded, bruised fingers curled a little tighter around the other’s waist, fearing that somehow the one closest to him would slip away from the bed. Their previous shift was brutal, if Erron could even call it a ‘Shift’. As soon as they returned to the palace from Earthrealm, Erron scurried off to Ermac’s quarters to lay the construct there instead of the infirmary, though he couldn’t escape the doctor. He wanted Ermac to be checked over, but not himself.

The doctor had checked over the master of souls first, who was still utterly wiped out and dozed off into, supposedly, many dreams belonging to many souls. While Erron sat on the edge of the bed, eager to figure out where his partner was hurt the least and the most.

‘I insist on checking you now, Black.’

‘Just give him another look over.’

‘That would be the sixth time, then.’

Erron sighed and grumbled Earthrealmer gibberish, before he succumbed to the doctor’s request. He had to peel his bloody clothes off his body, he barely managed to kick his boots off, and he finally removed his mask as well as his hat. Whenever the enforcers were ordered a checkover, it meant a checkover from head to toe and they had no choice but to allow it. After all, it was from a good place, from a fair doctor.

While the doctor gave him a thorough lookover, not for the first time in his time at Outworld, Erron cast his eyes over out of concern towards the construct. Ermac had been slipped and essentially hidden under a blanket, dead asleep, with his skin glowing a calm green that coursed through his body; from his bony collar bone to the toes. It even glowed through the blanket, despite how thick it was.

Maybe it was from their intense lust before, but the mercenary hadn’t fully taken in the construct’s worn out vessel. The bandages were nearly torn off from both battles the previous day, from the Earthrealmers on the docks to the Earthrealmers in the forest, revealing the thin skin underneath that was akin to decomposition. It never interfered with the construct’s beauty and charm, certainly not to Erron then and not to him now, but from how Ermac’s exhausted eyebags looked, it highlighted the body’s state more than necessary.

‘Fractured ribs, swollen ankles…’ The doctor listed off beside Erron. ‘A few penetrated wounds in the back, though none have penetrated all the way through. I have noticed the bleeding in your scalp, thus there is reasonable concern for concussion or a deeper injury.’

‘Is that for him?’ Erron asked, still gawking at his asleep partner.

‘No, this is for you,’ the doctor sighed out in response, as he handed back Erron’s clothes. ‘Like the rest of you, rest and nothing more. I will return with treatment, after I check over Reptile.’ The doctor gave one last glance over at the both of them, before he headed for the door. ‘Ensure the both of you eat. You’ve lost a bit of your muscle, Black.’

The cowboy scoffed at that as the doctor left, but when he looked down at himself, he couldn’t disagree. He wondered if it was from his and Ermac’s time apart, as unwanted as it was; too worried over upsetting the construct further, and concerned over the Earthrealmers appearing out of nowhere, therefore the mercenary had little to no time to feast on something. He made that his first mission.

After redressing himself, he left to do just that, to find some food to share with one another for the first time in a while, even if it had only been a day or two apart. On his way to the kitchens, he passed through the throne room and halted his heels immediately. The Osh-Tekk emperor sat on his throne, less poised than usual given his slouched posture and his head in his hands.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ Erron interrogated. ‘Thought we were all told to rest up.’

Kotal sighed out. He didn’t pay heed to the red on him, likely his own blood blended with the enemies’, nor did he wince from the aching in his bones and muscle. No, he was fixated on his traitor. ‘D’Vorah, she is out there.’

Erron grimaced. ‘We’ll get her as soon as we’re ready, but we’re not.’

‘How could I be blind?’ He steadily got up from his throne to walk over to the balcony, his eyes gazing up at the sun. ‘I instilled trust in her, for it was deserved. But with the power of the sun’s light, I should have sought through her darkness and burned it whole, to destroy any remaining evil left behind because of Shao Kahn,’ he murmured as he turned back to face Erron. ‘She deceived all of us. Had one of you suspected her motivations?’

As a cherry on top to the chaos that was now the past, albeit just overnight, Erron removed his hat and bowed respectfully with the difficult truth. ‘Me and Mac, we had an inkling,’ he confirmed and leaned back up. ‘She led me into the wastelands and threw me into a canyon, so that I’d be late coming back to you that day and you’d be mighty pissed at me. But I got out before that happened. I told Mac, but we thought you’d believe her over any of us, ‘cause she was your First Minister.’ It was a harsh perspective, especially one that doubted the emperor.

But Kotal nodded slowly, understanding exactly what Erron meant. ‘I would have, regretfully. I mean no ill towards you nor Ermac, but I have known Syzoth and D’Vorah for a longer time.’

‘I understand,’ Erron claimed as he slid his hat back on. ‘How’s Ferra and Torr?’

‘Unwell, grievously. Perhaps my council must undergo harsher, colder climates if we are to ever challenge Earthrealmer’s forests again,’ Kotal chuckled lightly, amused that only he and Reptile could accustom to snow or worse. ‘I have forbidden them from duties, for unless I hear Ferra’s wild laughter and Torr’s footsteps, I will believe they are unwell otherwise.’

Erron snorted. The emperor was very true in that. The mercenary hoped that Ferra and Torr would pull through, as after some time of dealing with their shenanigans, Erron had started to see them both as younger siblings to the council. ‘And Reptile?’

‘Syzoth has been dealt a tempest for a mind, it has stirred him into succumbing to strong insecurities,’ Kotal frowned. ‘It is our duty, mine especially, to lift him back onto his feet.’ Erron nodded in contemplation, remembering all the times he may have teased Reptile a bit too far, whether it be about his reptilian nature or for his naivety in many subjects. ‘And what say you and Ermac? Are you two well?’

He shrugged. ‘He’s asleep, and I’m standing–’

‘No, you misunderstand me,’ Kotal smiled gently. ‘Have you two of you mended the tension?’

And now, Erron blushed up like a child caught out. ‘The hell are you on about?’

‘Do not perceive me as an emotionless emperor, too focused on his duties catered to the realm only,’ Kotal hummed as he stepped forward, feeling the timidness off the cowboy. ‘It was apparent that the two of you had fallen apart from one another, on a day where we lost many battles.’

Erron scoffed. ‘You sayin’ that our break apart caused us to lose? Bullshit.’

‘No, but is it not a sign for you? A symbol conveying the importance of remaining as one piece, as one united soul? What may have caused your divide can be brought together as whole again, I trust that it can with two of my most sensible enforcers.’

He wondered if dating advice from his own boss was a good idea, but somehow, the words just slipped through his lips like butter. ‘We were arguing against D’Vorah, no surprise there, but I butted in and defended him without giving him a chance to beat her down himself. And then I got mad at him for not being there, when those four kids turned up, ‘cause he would’ve put some sense into me and we could’ve avoided this mess. Then he got mad at me, ‘cause I said he was blowing it out of proportion, that he had one loose cannon in his many souls–’

‘But your steam, and his own, has been extinguished by a battle you fought together,’ Kotal interrupted with a raised, stern hand. ‘I have had my own troubles, when Jade was present with us,’ he started to reminisce with a content smile. ‘I had grown concerned over her overbearing empathy towards those who do not deserve it, as per the Edenian way.’ Erron was sure he was dating the same kind of person. ‘She called me heartless, and I turned her away because of it.’ Now Erron wondered if he was Kotal in this situation. ‘But when Shang Tsung hung me in the flesh pits above the fire and turmoil of the palace, we reunited immediately for our common causes. We were soon reminded of how immature our bickering can be, when there are greater battles to fight.’

Erron lowered his head as he listened, thinking about it thoroughly until the Osh-Tekk finished. He could have let Ermac think about it overnight, but then approached him to apologise once more and all could have been resolved. Hell, he could have bit his tongue when he started coldly calling the construct irrational. But Kotal was telling him that it wasn’t too late, given that Erron ended up cradling Ermac to his chest all the way back to the palace, which the construct likely knew about from his fluttering souls as witnesses.

‘M’kay, I’ll tell you the results,’ he said as he started to back off. ‘As long as you rest up and get outta this room.’

Kotal smiled brighter. ‘I will be in the baths then, awaiting to hear you and Ermac’s success.’

The doctor had left to seek out Reptile in his quarters, which Erron caught a brief glimpse of while he walked past. The Zaterran had his head between his knees, rambling in his own authentic tongue about both his physical and mental challenges. It panged Erron in the gut, knowing he was walking past and not comforting the Zaterran in that moment, but he figured that he could do that once the doctor was out of Reptile’s way, where he can confide with friends more intimately instead.

Erron breathed in and exhaled once he walked through, and he was relieved that he had. Ermac just finished dressing himself up and was setting the bed, with the previous sheets and blankets thrown into a basket to wash. But when Erron walked in, he visibly tensed up.

‘Erron–’

‘Ermac–’

The construct smiled slightly. ‘Forgive us, we were on our way out.’

‘From your own room?’

‘We assumed you wished for solitude.’

‘Mac,’ Erron sighed out as he quietly closed the door, then took his mask and hat off as he walked up to the tense construct. ‘How’re you feeling?’

The master of souls hesitantly set down the basket, his eyes beaming into Erron’s hazel ones, which the mercenary couldn’t resist being struck by. ‘We are well, which we express our gratitude towards you for. But the doctor informed us that you are in worse shape.’

‘That son of a bitch came back?’ Erron grumbled.

Ermac smirked a bit at Erron’s disappointment, but it quickly faltered when Erron sat down on the edge of the bed and patted the construct to join him. The mercenary almost managed to express his apologies, when Ermac covered his lips instead and caressed his jaw with the same hand. ‘A part of us did not understand why you defended us that night, but now we do. We apologise for our partial irrationality, and we also forgive you for what you had told us; you were correct, in a sense.’

‘Damnit, no,’ Erron frowned, bringing a hand up to feel the more fragile hand around his face. ‘I’m sorry for being an asshole ‘bout it all, it didn’t help anything and I could’ve controlled it.’

‘Then may the both of us be at fault, and may the both of us forgive one another?’ Ermac proposed.

Unsurprisingly, the both of them had started to form emotional tears, as the built up dam caused by their immense tension had started to break. As soon as the tears began to reach their cheeks, they both threw themselves at one another in a tight hug, with Erron feeling up and down Ermac’s slim back while the construct hung around Erron’s upper back and neck, pleading for neither of them to let go. Neither of them halted at the more intimate touches, ones that explored past the emotional rollercoaster and ventured into their missed intimacy.

The construct almost found it pointless to have gotten dressed, all with the cowboy in his lap gently pushing him down against the made bed, and then worming his way between the master of souls’ legs. But when Erron had gotten between his clothed thighs, Erron unleashed a yelp and a hiss, and then a prolonged groan.

‘Damn ribs,’ Erron cursed. ‘I’m sure they’re better off with the Tarkatans to eat.’

Ermac chuckled and sat up, gently manoeuvring Erron with his telekinesis so that Erron laid flat on his back, while the construct sat content on the other’s lap. ‘Perhaps you ought to rest, as ordered,’ he said with an unbuckled belt in hand.

In which Erron responded with the other’s own belt also in hand. ‘I’ll let you be my doctor, only today.’

The memories about Jade left Kotal in a delightful daze, surrounded by the steaming hot water from the baths, deep underground within the palace. It was a place where he could remove his paint, remove his headpiece, and remove his poised demeanour. He merely felt like an Osh-Tekk resting, not an emperor; yet, he felt compelled to blend both roles into one, for he refused to establish the image of an emperor as a numb, stoic protector of the realm. No, an emperor should be one with the people. Right now, he was one with his enforcers, by resting.

Or so he thought all of them were.

‘Forgive us,’ Ermac’s voice startled Kotal out of his closed-eyed state, making him jolt upright in the water and swivel around. There were Ermac and Erron, in the bare minimum of clothes but appropriate enough to walk around the palace; a strange sight for Ermac to not wear his trusty cloak, but even stranger to have Erron without his hat and mask. ‘We were instructed to report to you by Erron.’

The Osh-Tekk blinked silly, but also hummed in understanding and grinned. ‘I am pleased to learn of your amended troubles. Please, join me.’

They slipped in, but not without a mischievous side-eye after having removed the upper-half of their clothes. Bandages aside, cowboy shawl aside, the various bruised spots on their bodies spoke volumes to the emperor.

‘We needed this,’ Erron smirked as he stretched his arms up, feeling the teasing nudge from his partner beside him.

‘But what say you, emperor? How are you fairing?’

How was he fairing? He couldn’t let go of his memories about Jade, he couldn’t get over D’Vorah’s betrayal against him, nevermind their great loss in Earthrealm. But while the pair in front of him had been a problem at the beginning of yesterday, he was relieved that one of his ninety-nine problems had been resolved.

To resolve them all, it would surely be a gentle breeze in the summer sky.

‘I am very well, for as long as I believe so.’

Even when the darker clouds hid away his sun.

Chapter Text

‘[Edenian].’

‘Are you… Ugly?’

‘Are you hungry?’

‘M’kay,’ the mercenary cleared his throat into his fist, shaking up his posture as if it’ll make his learning better. ‘[Broken Edenian]?’

Ermac winced. ‘You need to emphasise the vowels towards the end.’

After years of being in Outworld, especially working for two Kahn’s now, Erron realised that he had no need to learn the native tongue because there were plenty of translators. With the Black Dragons he could translate anything, if going by their way; stealing a stranger from the streets to bring into the interrogation room. After working for Kotal Kahn, which meant less mercenary work and more engagement with the public, the Outworlders treated him like a foreigner and spoke decent American English back at him, without giving him the chance. Thus, Erron gave up learning it.

Until his partner, the master of souls, realised that he knew little to no Outworld languages when Erron failed to comprehend a bystander’s statement.

‘Damnit. Alright,’ Erron sighed. ‘[Slightly less broken Edenian]?’

Ermac hummed. ‘Better, but ensure you do not slur any of the words.’

‘I’m pretty screwed then if I decide to drink with a fellow Edenian, even though he'll never lick a drop of liquor,’ he teased as he snaked an arm around the construct. They were in the palace gardens, where only scattered gardeners could witness the pair but made nothing of them. ‘Is learning Osh-Tekk easier?’

The construct scoffed as he led Erron out of the gardens, headed for the steps leading up into the palace. ‘No, but Edenian is not challenging.’

‘Saurian?’

‘Do not attempt it,’ snarled a voice that wasn’t amongst many souls, one that made Erron leap out of his skin. Reptile jumped down from a statue behind them, transitioning from invisible to visible, and started to walk up the steps with them. ‘It sounds foul under an Earthrealmer’s tongue.’

Erron scoffed. ‘Tell me what’s new ‘bout Earthrealmers. Besides, ain’t it just all spittin’ ‘n’ spattin’? Just a whole lotta frogs trying to make sense’ he winked at Reptile, who squinted his slit eyes and sneered.

‘Watch your tongue,’ Reptile warned. ‘You Earthrealmers are fortunate that Outworld has adopted your language.’

The three enforcers walked through the palace’s endless hallways, passing by the guards that conversed in a different language. Erron tried to decipher each word with a vague translation, but ultimately gave up trying to do so in his head. The quicker he learned such languages, the more chances he’ll have in knowing which guards talked shit about him.

After reaching the end of a long hallway, they started to walk down the brick spiral stairs, leading into the dark dungeons below. Ermac’s souls lit the area more than the candlelight did, with the soft glow of green dispersed from the high ceiling to the steps ahead of them. But as Erron was in awe at the starry show, he almost ignored Ermac and Reptile conversing also in an Outworlder language.

‘Kinda rude to be doing that,’ he grumbled at them.

The construct turned back while Reptile walked ahead of them down the steps, his vivid eyes brighter than all of the souls around them combined. Erron forgave him very quickly for merely being mesmerising.

'Yesterday's evening patrol discovered more Tarkatans, who were camping nearer to the palace than any of the others, but within reason. These Tarkatans have reported that they have seen D’Vorah,’ Ermac translated, glowering at the mention of somebody the entire realm despised. ‘However, Reptile is uncertain about the Tarkatans; he is justifiably wary, given their previous alliances.’

Erron sighed. ‘And they couldn’t kill D’Vorah themselves?’

‘They were heavily threatened by a mightier force, one they cannot identify, but are certain is protecting D’Vorah,’ Ermac further glowered, his eyes dulling as he considered the worst possibilities.

Has she obtained the aid of a god?

Surely not.

But she has once, with the emperor himself, then Shinnok.

‘Shit.’

‘We fear what may result of the emperor when we explain this to him,’ the construct gestured for them to finish completing the spiral staircase, where at the bottom, Reptile was watching one of the cells. ‘Providing that Ferra and Torr are recovering gradually, but will not reach their prime until some time.’

Erron and Ermac rejoined by Reptile’s side, looking past the bars at the huddled group of Tarkatans. They were all male, all fiercely snarling back at the three enforcers; the kind of group that reminded them all of the moment Mileena attacked them with Tarkatans, ambushing them in the road while Kano attacked the emperor.

‘What do you know about D’Vorah?’ Reptile began. The Zaterran was eager to avenge the pain that D’Vorah left behind for them all, especially after their failed battle against Earthrealm. Perhaps it was a way to boost his confidence again as an enforcer, or merely just revenge. Kotal was his dear friend, and he knew the potentially implied natures between Kotal and D’Vorah; thus, the Osh-Tekk was the most affected by her betrayal.

The Tarkatans spoke in their tongues, making Erron mentally roll his eyes at himself. He turned to Ermac and Reptile, waiting expectantly. Ermac nodded at him.

‘They will not feed us information without promising refuge.’

‘Which they do not deserve,’ Reptile scrutinised the Tarkatans with a snarl. ‘We can force the truth out of them.’

Ermac crossed his arms and glared at Reptile. ‘They have families awaiting their return, we will grant them a reunion with the price of information.’

‘They took families from our citizens!’

‘They are citizens.’

Reptile scoffed at the construct. ‘Not all beings who reside in Outworld are the Kahn’s citizens–’

‘Is that so?’ Erron raised a brow at the Zaterran as he stepped forward. ‘What the hell am I then, Syzoth? Your temporary, illegal friend who happens to be working for the emperor? D’ya want me to commute all the way from Texas to here at dawn and dusk?’

Much to Erron’s satisfied smirk, Reptile’s fire died out and he gestured to the cell. ‘Forgive me, friend. But you have not worked alongside Mileena; an immoral fiend born from Shang Tsung’s flesh pits–’

‘Are you finished?’ Ermac scowled at him. ‘Or is it your agenda to insult the entire council?’

The Tarkatans snickered at the tense enforcers, which prompted Erron to knock on the bars with his upholstered pistol. ‘Just tell us where she is, and we’ll let y’all go.’

‘You cannot promise any of us freedom,’ one of the Tarkatans doubted. ‘The Kahn wants our heads, as does that miserable snake!’ He exclaimed as he pointed at Reptile.

Erron sighed. ‘I know, it ain’t your fault for feelin’ like that. But the emperor would rather have D’Vorah’s head than yours, right? Especially ‘cause your kind are turning a new page.’

After some humming and murmuring amongst the Tarkatans, their spokesperson walked up to the bars and addressed all the enforcers. ‘Our families wish to reside in the wastelands, where we can fortify our homes, our newfound refuge, without the invasion of Outworld’s police.’

‘Deal,’ Erron impatiently answered, without consulting his fellow peers. Reptile was cursing in Saurian, while Ermac was quiet yet content.

‘The Kytinn seeks aid from a greater power. She is hidden in the centre of the Kuatan jungle, within caves that she has claimed as her own, it is why us Tarkatans have not sought refuge there,’ the Tarkatan growled. ‘We were all hungry, we sought to the jungle for food, and then we saw the greater power. A man came out of the sky, with golden armour and dark clothes, his eyes red like the lightning–’

‘Goddamnit!’ Erron didn’t let him finish as he threw his hat down, before leaning over to bury his face into his palms.

Ermac and Reptile didn’t need to hear the rest either. Reptile continued his Saurian curses, while Ermac raised a patient hand to the interrupted Tarkatan, all with his collection internally screaming Edenian to the skies. Once he evaluated that Erron and Reptile gathered their wits, he turned back to the Tarkatan and frowned. ‘Please, continue.’

The Tarkatan blinked at their reactions, all the Tarkatans had, but then continued to explain. ‘She was struck by lightning, but she lived. We could not hear them, but they spoke after his attack and then the man appeared behind us, threatening that if we did not seal our lips, we would surely die.’

The construct sighed out. ‘Thank you, the emperor will be pleased with your information. We will return to free you all with haste, but we must first consult the emperor.’

Before they all walked up the steps, Erron turned back to the cell with an exhausted sigh. ‘[Edenian translated from ‘Are you hungry?’]?’

At first, the Tarkatans were startled, as if they thought Erron was possessed by an Edenian, but the spokesperson stepped forward nonetheless. ‘[Edenian translated from ‘Yes.’]’

The master of souls looked at Erron in awe, even if the cowboy was mentally distressed by the information they were fed, even though Reptile was continuing to mutter curses in Saurian. ‘You articulated the question very well,’ he praised.

At least it distracted them, only for the time it would take to reach the throne room. ‘You think? Thanks, Mac, I just thought they’d be there for some time,’ he smiled slightly.

Though, Reptile scoffed at Erron instead of also praising him. ‘They are Tarkatans, not Edenians.’

‘But they understood,’ Erron shrugged, feeling the slight high of being able to speak Edenian. Even if it was, perhaps, only that rehearsed question. ‘What did they say in response, Mac?’

Ermac chuckled. ‘Yes, they are hungry.’

‘Good. Now I’ve gotta teach you some Earthrealmer slang, ‘cause this conversation is not gonna be pretty.’

The long hallway leading up to the throne room seemed shorter than usual, and it also seemed to spin in a slow, trippy manner. The three enforcers felt like drunk men, staggering back home to their parents, to tell them: yes, they did crash a car, or yes, they were involved in an incident that made the headlines. In Outworld, rather, it was: yes emperor, they may have looked the other way when they shouldn’t have, and yes emperor, they very much could have prevented a war on Outworld.

Perhaps the latter was what Ermac and Erron felt, while they looked at one another guiltily. Since losing to Earthrealm, the knowledge that they had on D’Vorah’s deceitful behaviour made them just as guilty as her. Erron wished he had let Ermac lash out at D’Vorah that one night, and Ermac wished the same, but also hoped that Mileena could have killed her during the false empress’ last battle, or even the Earthrealmers, Cassie Cage, could have, and brought the amulet to Kotal in their own personal victory. It was all wishing, all full of regrets, with no action plan forward.

When they arrived at the throne room’s doors, they ignored the two guards posted there, who looked at the enforcers with scepticism; why were the Kahn’s enforcers acting so nervously, so suspiciously? But eventually, Ermac opened the doors and walked in first.

The Osh-Tekk sat poised on his throne as usual, in-fact wondering where his enforcers had gone in the middle of the day. But as he waited for them, he spoke to the doctor managing Ferra and Torr’s condition; a conversation that always brought a frown to his face with each dismaying day. But upon seeing Ermac, he perked up.

‘Ermac, where are the others?’

Sheepishly in their smallest of possible steps forward, Erron and Reptile also came into the light. ‘Emperor, we bear unfortunate news that overwhelms the good of it,’ the construct bravely began.

Immediately, Kotal slumped back down again. ‘Please, out with it.’

Ermac subtly swallowed the lump of nervousness, brewed by his many souls that were highly afraid but refused to show it. ‘The guards arrested Tarkatans who lurked nearby the palace, they have been camping there because they have exchangeable information. We suggest sparing their lives–’

‘Yes, I very well may, Ermac,’ Kotal sighed. ‘What information have they kept from me?’ He encouraged impatiently.

‘D’Vorah may be having aid from the thunder god.’

Well, the Osh-Tekk did want the construct to directly answer him, but even that had made the emperor choke on nothing. As per the council way, it seemed, he cursed in Osh-Tekk and raised up from his throne, meeting Ermac at the bottom of the throne. ‘By the elder gods! How can you be certain that these Tarkatans speak the truth? Is it not a scheme against me, by riling us up while D’Vorah seeks the true aid of Tarkatans?’

‘No,’ Ermac disagreed forwardly, almost daringly. ‘We have spoken to, and helped, Tarkatans seeking refuge. They serve no one, many are in remorse over Mileena’s cruelty, and acknowledge your views towards them. But we digress,’ he quickly added before the emperor’s towering fury overcame him. ‘We could read their souls, and we sense their honesty. They also have a testimony of her whereabouts and Raiden’s visit to her, and it is accurate. She resides in the Kuatan jungle, directly in the centre amongst her colonised caves.’

Kotal seethed, but remained fairly calm through a long inhale and exhale. It would be unjust and unfair to express his anger out loud, he had to remain strong for the realm he chose to lead.

‘We would not tell you such things if we, as many, did not believe it,’ Ermac wholeheartedly said. ‘More so, Erron and Syzoth.’

‘To a degree,’ Reptile snarled quietly, but Erron slyly nudged him by the shoulder.

‘It’s true,’ Erron chimed up. ‘I’ve been with Mac helping out some of the Tarkatans. They’re just tryin’ to get by, so when they went to the jungle for fruits or whatever, they came across– Well, you know who.’

Kotal closed his eyes, visualising the scene before him. To have D’Vorah at last in his grasp, snapping her neck for good, or luring the thunder god to ambush him. But with the power of Shinnok’s amulet by her side, he wondered if it was a worthy mission. On the other hand, the longer D’Vorah aids Raiden by wreaking havoc in Outworld, the worse it will be for them. Raiden was sure to never spare Outworld, at least not for any longer than they have fortunately had already.

‘Very well,’ Kotal stoically said, his sharp eyes focused and fixated on the mission at hand. ‘Before we trek the jungle, I request that you, Ermac, ensure that D’Vorah is indeed within the jungle. If those Tarkatans are correct, they may be released and we will storm her caves. I will have her head.’

‘I thought he’d be madder than a hornet.’

‘What is a hornet?’

‘Something you’d eat, Reptile.’

Ermac sighed. ‘Our forces are still struck down from combating Earthrealm’s forces, we are not prepared for another war.’

Erron nodded. ‘Damn right, so let’s hope she’s not there.’

The two leading enforcers stopped walking down the hallway, turning to gawk at what Erron said. ‘Another D’Vorah in the midst?’ Reptile immediately scrutinised.

‘M’kay, listen,’ the cowboy strutted up to them coolly, all with his hands resting on his belt. ‘If she ain’t there, then she’s not workin’ with Raiden, right?’

For once, Reptile seemed to agree as the cogs turned in his head. ‘I suppose.’

But the master of souls looked down at the ground in thought.

As miserable as Raiden’s involvement is–

–It will be even more miserable to have the Tarkatans slaughtered for their ‘Lies’.

If she is not there, then where is she?

What if she has joined the thunder god in Earthrealm, even temporarily?

‘Howdy,’ Erron startled the construct out of his worry by throwing an arm around his back. ‘Quit thinking ‘bout it, we’ve just gotta see if she’s there or not first.’

Ermac sighed, almost tempted to deflate into the mercenary, had Reptile not been there. Even though the Zaterran was oblivious and hadn’t batted an eye at Erron’s closeness to the construct. ‘We fret over all the outcomes for this, all except delivering D’Vorah’s head to the palace and freeing the Tarkatans.’

‘You speak for your collection only,’ Reptile retorted.

‘Well, if you end up seeing her there, Mac,’ Erron tugged the construct closer, grinning under his mask at how quickly the construct’s face grew red, especially with Reptile still there. ‘I oughta teach you some Earthrealmer words to throw at her.’

Reptile rolled his narrow eyes and spat. ‘I will not withstand your poison,’ he insulted before leaving.

Ermac looked all around before pressing his hands to Erron’s hips and abdomen, a very slight and weak attempt to get the mercenary off of him. Not because he didn’t want Erron, but because even the emperor himself could turn the corner and gawk at such intimacy. ‘We understand Earthrealmers spout pronounced curses.’

‘Yeah?’ The mercenary hummed into his ear. ‘Like what? I’ll let you teach me all the swears this realm has to offer.’

Of all the words that the construct had heard since his vessel was made, but more so from the years before that, from his souls’ lives that had varying, although little, encounters with Earthrealmers from the past, the master of souls settled on one of his favourites. Of course, that was something he would never admit, certainly to no Cage relative, but maybe someday to Erron if he was feeling giddy enough to.

The word lingered in his mind after he said it to Erron, all the way from the palace to the Kuatan jungle, stuck in his mind throughout his flight, and said confidently to the being before his eyes in the middle of the jungle. The being of which was caught off-guard from within her cave full of Kytinn bugs, with the light of day now the darkened night. He didn't mean to make himself present, but the Kytinn had her ways in sensing his whereabouts, more so with the jungle essentially being taken over by herself.

‘This one only follows the truth.’

Ermac glared lowly at her. ‘Your truth is bullshit .’

Chapter Text

‘We would serve the new ruler of Outworld.’

‘Then you serve… Kotal Kahn .’

It was a new chapter for the master of souls. Asides from his chapters within Earthrealm, long before he discovered Mileena’s uprising as the emperor’s daughter, the latter’s discovery reunited him on the path of Shao Kahn once more. While she had neither the power nor the army to claim dominion over the masses, she persisted as the supposed heir to the throne and Ermac did not question it. He acted as her bodyguard most times, or was ordered to fly towards various investigations, and she respected his devotion to her.

Until he met Kotal Kahn on Shang Tsung island, the empress’ rival. The moment Reiko had swung the construct into the Osh-Tekk’s arms, knocking all behind him down, and when he stared into Kotal’s eyes while the ‘false emperor’ forgave him, Ermac saw the light that the realm was missing and could not have been obtained by darkness such as Mileena. Especially as, if Ermac had knocked Mileena down by accident, she may have slit his throat.

Despite the arrangements made between the false empress and construct, Ermac made it wholly known of his betrayal against her when Mileena ambushed Kotal, along with D’Vorah and Reptile. It was there that Mileena glared at him with pure hatred, no matter how Ermac telepathically reminded her of their arrangements, and the construct turned to the Osh-Tekk with a tingly feeling to his head.

He was dizzy from the change, confused from how he steered so far from Shao Kahn, and lost by joining the ‘enemy’ side. After he had bowed down next to D’Vorah, feeling Kotal’s victorious smirk rain down on his head, he was hit with more perplexion. Rather than a test determining his might and designation to the council, Ermac was delivered to his own quarters almost immediately, and by the emperor himself.

‘It is no soul chamber,’ Kotal remarked almost sheepishly. ‘But do with it as you may. I confidently allow my enforcers to have free reign over their leisurely time.’

It was a room too big for him, or rather, it was a room for him that he felt unworthy of. While he did in fact majorly host the soul chamber back under Shao Kahn’s thumb, it also belonged to the rest of Outworld if need be. But to have a room designated only for himself?

We are being tricked.

And yet, we can sense the purity in his soul.

Mileena didn’t have anywhere for him to be, he was left to merely be on-guard all day and night, or to float down the hallways and ensure all was well.

‘Leisure time?’ Ermac turned to him, his eyes wide with incomprehensible confusion.

‘Yes,’ the emperor hummed with a smile. ‘Shao Kahn may have allowed no free reign, but I do. I believe my enforcers are better equipped with plentiful energy and inner peace, than to dwell with constant turmoil caused by one’s duty.’

From the constant blinking coming from the master of souls, Kotal immediately knew how poorly Mileena treated all those under her ruling, and frowned from his suspicions. A being as powerful as the one before him to be reduced into a slave? The Osh-Tekk felt honoured to be in such a presence, not power hungry like the false empress.

‘When you have accustomed yourself to your new beginning, come to the throne room and greet the rest of the council,’ Kotal requested, deciding to give the construct space.

‘Thank you,’ his many souls blurted out before he could leave. ‘We cannot express the entirety of our gratitude, thus we are eager to fulfil any duties for today as our expression instead.’

The emperor beamed. ‘Very well. Come with me.’

‘This is bullshit,’ Erron grumbled into his hands. ‘Why the hell are we sucking up to Earthrealmers?’

Unlike the construct, the mercenary was confined behind the firmest of bars and forced to spend his time there for the rest of his sentence; a year-long life of resenting his actions in a cell. But as an enforcer, he was given a cell positioned away from the rest, granted steady meals and drinks, and had daily conversations with the emperor himself.

‘I had to make a demonstration, Erron,’ the Osh-Tekk stressed to the cowboy and sighed. ‘Or else the Earthrealmers will not instil faith in my leadership.’

‘That’s their own damn problem,’ Erron scoffed back to him. ‘You sure as hell know I wasn’t backstabbing y’all.’

Erron knew why Kotal bit his tongue after that and promptly left, he knew the emperor wanted to retort that Erron could have been backstabbing him, given his mercenary status, but the two left it at that on the first day. Each day continued to be full of tension and passive aggression, until halfway through the year. 

Eventually, the mercenary started to enjoy the peace. He was able to bathe, eat, sleep, drink, and generally relax within each day that passed by. He could still talk to Reptile, who was happy to converse with the mercenary, while he hadn’t seen D’Vorah since the start of his imprisonment. Ferra and Torr visited only to tease Erron, but also insisted that with Erron’s free time, he could play games with her, and he did.

Towards three-quarters of the way into the year, Kotal and a handful of guards arrived at the cell. Such a sight would feel like a dagger through the heart, if Erron hadn’t seen the smirk all over Kotal’s face.

‘I am terminating the rest of your sentence.’

Erron blinked. ‘Why?’

‘Mileena has been imprisoned,’ the Osh-Tekk began in his happy state. ‘And along with her downfall, I have welcomed a former enforcer into our council. He is certain to be aiding us all in serving Outworld.’

Within another blink, Erron was out of cuffs and sent to his quarters, preparing to go to the throne room and meet their supposed new member. He couldn’t fathom who it could be. Was it the Shokan? Doubtful, after Kotal’s bloody battle with Goro. Had Tanya and Rain betrayed Mileena? Not if Kotal’s ideals for Edenia were the same, which is to enforce no change for Edenia’s ruined landscapes. Erron prayed, for the second time in his life, that it wasn’t a single Dragon member, or else he was ready to dip out of the council and continue his solo mercenary jobs.

‘Holy shit.’

No, it was, for some reason, the being he least suspected but should have suspected the most. Erron and the rest of the Dragons had witnessed Ermac’s magic before, but only when he was serving Shao Kahn; dressed head to toe in bandages and armour, with only the green eyes peering through. Now, the construct was practically naked in Erron’s eyes, with the exception of Ermac’s lower body. Ermac had yet to wear his trusty coat, but was now keen to with Erron looking at him head to toe, utterly gawking.

‘Erron Black,’ Ermac greeted. The two were about to enter the throne room, and save for the guards posted outside, no other enforcer was around. ‘We are–’

‘I know who you are,’ Erron said with his hands on his belt, smugly saunting closer to the construct. ‘Are you our new guy? I gotta say, it probably took a lotta balls for you to backstab Mileena, ‘cause you’re Shao Kahn’s ultimate lackey.’

The mercenary was further surprised that not only had Ermac done what he had said, but he also very clearly had more emotion than beforehand. ‘We have been freed from his control, we serve on our own will,’ Ermac said with sharper eyes, scrutinising all that Erron had said. ‘After you, mercenary .’

Shit, I already pissed him off , Erron thought as he awkwardly moved past Ermac to enter the room. It was one matter to piss off one soul, but to piss off thousands of the dead was a grievous matter in Erron’s eyes.

Earthrealmers are all the same.

We heard he had been imprisoned.

Yes, it has caused him to be socially–

–Foolish, and a scum.

Ermac walked in after Erron and looked around the room, noticing the handful of guards and more significantly the council before his eyes. Kotal stood upfront, while D’Vorah was beside him, seemingly glaring at Ermac distastefully. But behind them, Reptile was more impressed at Erron’s freedom again, while Ferra and Torr did not hesitate to stomp towards the construct.

‘Ghost man!’

Unlike many of those who had encountered Ferra and Torr, Ermac did not flinch, even with Torr’s chest practically in his face. Instead, Ermac nonchalantly looked up at Ferra as though reading her soul.

The emperor employs symbiotes?

Shao Kahn regarded them as mindless bouts of bodies, used only for strength.

And yet, this rider is intelligent enough to speak.

‘Ferra,’ Kotal sighed. ‘Address him by his name.’

Ferra swivelled around at the emperor and then turned back, her eyes even brighter at the thought of naming this ‘Ghost man’. ‘Mac Mac, we call you that!’

Ermac nodded. ‘You are Ferra, who is your friend?’

‘[Roar].’

‘Torr!’ Ferra barked in translation.

After Ferra and Torr reversed back in-line, Reptile stepped forward and extended his reptilian hand out. ‘We have met, and have fought together.’

But despite what Reptile informed him, the construct was wary about the information. Since being freed, he couldn’t recollect anything from the moment he was created to the moment he was freed, likely because of the magic required to break the chain. Alternatively, he heard stories about himself and decided to believe them, if many others did.

‘Forgive us,’ Ermac shook his hand. ‘We do not remember our service under Shao Kahn.’

Reptile expressed almost an envious look at that. ‘Do not attempt to recall that nightmare, then. I am Reptile.’

After Reptile, Erron awkwardly stood there and looked across at Kotal. ‘Yeah, we’ve met already,’ he said as Ermac glared daggers at him. ‘Just seconds ago, outside of the room.’

The Osh-Tekk inferred such exchange as a fault on Erron’s behalf. ‘Very well,’ he sighed. ‘And this is D’Vorah, my First-Minister.’

‘This one is pleased to be welcoming you,’ D’Vorah spouted as she stepped forward to the construct. ‘You invite further diversity to the council with your soul magic.’

Ermac nodded and bowed respectfully. ‘Our collection provides the experience necessary for the duties of an enforcer, we will use our knowledge diligently.’

Both enforcers knew why they were paired up nearly immediately. It was clear that both Erron and Ermac’s miniscule spat made the emperor wary, therefore the Osh-Tekk wanted to wane any tension within the council in order to focus their energies towards greater matters. Moreover, the emperor didn’t want the construct to feel unwelcome by anybody in particular, knowing the construct could simply leave the council at any given time.

The pair strode through the marketplace together, though ‘Together’ was a stretch. They were nearly five-feet apart.

‘Listen,’ Erron cleared his throat, trying to subtly inch closer to the construct with each step forward. Only, he grimaced when Ermac took the equal amount of steps further away. ‘I didn’t mean to offend ya. I think you’re a real good addition to the palace.’

Ermac rolled his eyes. ‘We are not interested, not while Mileena lurks in the shadows.’

The mercenary sighed. ‘Didn’t think you’d be petty ‘bout this.’

We are going to squeeze the intestines out of him.

Do not be hasty, it is our first opportunity with the mercenary. He may prove himself useful.

Useful, if taunted with money.

Ermac’s many souls conspiring against Erron made the construct visibly seem annoyed, which Erron caught onto instantly. He seemed to be unable to take his eyes off the majestic being, who now wore his trusty coat and had his hood secured over him. The green souls that calmly floated about, the bright, big green eyes that scrutinised Erron so much. And yet, Erron wasn’t deterred in the slightest, unlike the Kahn’s guards who were miles away from the construct.

‘You’re a real powerhouse.’

‘Do you slack this often for the emperor?’ Ermac finally gave Erron some attention, only with his narrowed eyes and permanent scowl. ‘Mileena is clever.’

Erron merely shrugged. ‘I’m just boosting morale.’

‘We do not require it.’

‘Well, I need it,’ Erron scoffed, kicking the dirt slightly in his next stride forward. ‘Y’know what? For a moment, when I heard ‘bout the new, almighty enforcer coming onto the council, I thought I was being replaced. I’ve been behind those bars for too damn long, I thought I was losing my job or facing a beheading ‘cause you joined us. So yeah, I need the boost for myself.’

After his small tangent, he looked across at the construct with a glint of hope in his eyes, and it was fulfilled. Rather than the utmost of disgusted judgement, the construct’s brows furrowed and he seemed the slightest bit pitiful towards the cowboy. It felt as if the entire realm could feel Erron’s heart skip a beat.

‘You were saving those Earthrealmers,’ Ermac murmured as he focused ahead of them. ‘But you mingled with poor company, hence the emperor’s accusations towards you.’

Erron raised a brow. ‘What do you know ‘bout it? Did Kano go piss on my boots to Mileena ‘bout it?’

‘We were there.’

Even as Erron halted in his tracks, the master of souls stopped for nobody and continued his calm strides ahead, making Erron catch up with him after his frozen moment of processing.

‘Hold on a minute,’ he marched up to the construct. ‘What the hell?’

With his eyes still ahead, Ermac nonchalantly answered. ‘After scouring Shang Tsung’s island and preparing it for Mileena, we returned to the jungle and recognised the chaos that ensued. We witnessed your aid in the Earthrealmers, as unwanted as it appeared, and then we watched Mavado slit your throat–’

‘Holy shit,’ Erron interrupted with a moment of realisation, as he jogged in front of the construct to stop him, despite how aggravated the construct looked by his slanted hips and folded arms. While Erron remembered the blood spurting everywhere back in the Kuatan jungle, he vaguely recalled the figure that stood over him; who tied him up to the tree above, allowing the wild animals nearby to walk past him after the smell of his blood. He remembered the vaguely green eyes, but thought nothing of it. Until now. ‘You tied me up in that tree,’ Erron recalled and jabbed a knowing finger into Ermac’s chest. ‘Why?’

Ermac swatted his finger away and manoeuvred around the mercenary. ‘We are not obligated to explain ourselves, not to a mere mercenary who seeks the highest earner.’

‘Uh, yeah you do!’ Erron begged to differ as he stopped the construct again. ‘I wouldn’t be here, probably, if you hadn’t done that. You should’ve killed me, ‘cause I was one of Kotal’s people and you were still with Mileena.’

‘Prove yourself as more than capable for the emperor, then we will grant your wishes,’ Ermac scowled, pushing past Erron by a nudge to the chest. ‘Intervene again, and we will paint the city in your blood.’

‘Speak for yourself, construct!’

A flock of Tarkatans emerged from the many, dark alleyways, as Erron and Ermac’s conversation derailed the construct’s senses enough for Baraka to make himself present. The Tarkatan brandished his daggers for fingers, along with his herd of followers. Erron whipped out his pistols while Ermac’s hands beamed a threatening green, primarily towards Baraka. Though, when more Tarkatans arrived at the scene with little guard presence, they started to target the marketplace’s stalls tactfully.

The master of souls threw many away from the stalls, along with those that charged at him, bending them in unforgivable ways. Broken bones, bodies split in two, three, and many more ways. Guns fired at the Tarkatans enough to shred the skin off them, along with the acidic bombs that Erron had crafted, which melted away any skin that hadn’t been shot off.

They practically danced around one another. A Tarkatan charging at Erron’s back was thrown back by telekinesis, and while Ermac executed his moves, Erron fired at any unsuspecting Tarkatans that had crept too close to the construct. In a rare moment of silence amongst the battle, they shared respected looks towards one another.

He is better than many mercenaries.

Hot damn, I’ll never curse out a ghost ever again , Erron grinned.

The bloodied streets were left to the guards that eventually caught up, having missed the entire battle. Ermac encased Baraka in telekinesis that froze the Tarkatan, but before Erron could inquire about transportation back to the palace, the construct smoothly wrapped an arm around the mercenary’s waist and immersed them into green. A nauseating green for Erron, teleportation was not his forte, but his body tingled for different reasons too.

‘The two of you work well,’ Kotal hummed with a content smile. ‘Baraka will face an interrogation by D’Vorah, and may the elder gods bless us with Mileena’s location.’

After they were dismissed, Ermac faced the opposite way to Erron. The mercenary meant to seek out Reptile after their objective had finished, while the construct was prepared to ponder in confusion for what he was meant to do with his ‘Leisure time’.

Yet, neither of them moved. Erron felt pulled towards the construct, who remained still as his many souls wreaked havoc inside.

The palace has a library.

We could meditate.

Or further converse with Black, for he has seemingly proved himself worthy of his position.

‘D’ya–’

‘Would–’

They swivelled around at each other, perplexed at how they repeated their first instance so flawlessly again. It felt as silly as a rom-com, but as the two of them flustered up to the cliché situation, Erron’s smirk was hidden behind his mask and the construct also itched to smirk.

Erron bit his cheek. Fuck, how can I ask you to relax outside with me?

‘Yes, the sun is not as daunting today as it may be otherwise,’ Ermac claimed as he stepped closer to Erron. ‘Where did you consider? Perhaps we will answer your queries.’

Son of a bitch. Erron grinned. ‘I know a mean spot in the gardens. Or did you already know that and everything else I’ve been thinking?’

Now Ermac more confidently smirked. ‘Perhaps.’

The mean spot in question was closer to the trees, providing more shade to the fairly shaded sun for their day, and they were able to lounge with more privacy given the slightly darker area. Both of them watched the gardeners work away peacefully, the occasional guard mingling with another, and the odd citizen that strode through with a purpose. The soft trickling of the fountain flaunted fresh water, as did the general health of the flowers around them.

Despite their agreed desire to converse, they were both immersed in the scenery around them for a handful of minutes.

This is peculiar for us.

We should be fulfilling our duties.

Our order is to provide ourselves this ‘Leisure time’.

Are we mistaken?

‘So,’ Erron interrupted the construct’s thoughts unknowingly. ‘How ‘bout that story then? ‘Cause I owe you my life.’

They sat far closer than five metres apart, but they weren’t knee-to-knee yet. Ermac sat cross-legged, comparable to yoga, while Erron laid his legs out flat and freely enjoyed the grass beneath them, as dry as it may be.

‘No, you owe yourself to the realm,’ Ermac sternly reminded. ‘Do not risk yourself for us.’

‘Well, that ain’t the Kotal Kahn family way,’ Erron snorted and mocked. ‘He preaches that we gotta protect one another, even if Reptile spat in your soup.’

Ermac frowned and dipped his head slightly, staring into his lap as he pondered. Everything was different under his new emperor, it was all too unfamiliar to the master of souls, while Erron seemed to speak about it as if completely used to it. ‘We see…’

‘I know it’s different for ya,’ the mercenary sympathised as he scooted forward a little bit, close enough to feel the construct’s stirring confusion. ‘I’ll help out where I can. I’m not a ghost or anything, I only have one soul,’ he chided as Ermac peered across at him past the shoulder. ‘But you gotta admit that the one thing we all have in common, in the emperor’s council at least, is that we’re outsiders. None of us are exactly native Outworlders, right? Reptile’s from some lizard place.’

‘Zaterra.’

‘Right, and D’Vorah is a bug.’

‘Kytinn.’

‘Ferra and Torr are just, I don’t know,’ Erron chuckled. ‘I’m an Earthrealmer, and Kotal’s an Osh-Tekk. They ain’t from here, are they?’

Ermac hummed as he considered the cowboy’s points thoroughly. The realm was divided in the past into independent sections, ranging from Edenia, to Zaterra, to the Kytinns and the Osh-Tekks. The construct debated about Ferra and Torr, but Erron’s point still stood: was there a genuine, authentic Outworlder in the council? Even after the realms were merged into Outworld, they simply were not genuine Outworlders to an extent.

‘We preserved your life in the jungle because you exemplified a good heart, a gentle soul,’ Ermac finally addressed distant-mindedly. ‘You deserve to prosper and spread your goodness to people, and evidently Outworld is part of your destiny.’ As he explained plainly, Erron cast his eyes over in awe. ‘We did not want Mileena to corrupt that by informing her.’

He couldn’t remember when he hitched his breath, until it rushed past his lips through a shaky exhale. It was exhilarating, knowing that a powerful being such as Ermac had saved him based on face-value judgement, and was surprised that when he annoyed the construct, the hold on both of them hadn’t faltered.

Clearly it hadn’t, as the both found themselves staring at one another, almost marvelling at one another. The construct immersed himself into brown eyes, while Erron was mesmerised by the green. At some point, their knees had touched but neither had felt it. Were they leaning forward? But as soon as they felt each other’s breath, Ermac jolted back in a panic and disappeared into his many souls, leaving the breathless mercenary dazed under the trees.

‘Son of a bitch, Erron,’ the mercenary cursed and fell back against the grass, rubbing his temples and face harshly. ‘What am I doing?’

Chapter Text

What in the elder gods?

The master of souls was struggling to control his own. After scarcely escaping with the help of his magic, he appeared in his room with wide, panicked eyes, and was immensely grateful that the emperor had shown him his room the day before. If not here, then Shang Tsung island would have been a perfect place to crumble down on.

There is more reason for us having preserved the mercenary back in the jungle.

No.

Perhaps.

Which one of us forced the vessel to close the space?

We did not initiate it, Black did.

But on the wrong accord?

Perhaps not–

Yes, he did!

The construct shoved his hood off and almost ripped off his coat, as his head spun from his many conflicted souls. Yes, a heavy handful of the souls made him inch a little bit closer than necessary to the mercenary. Yes, the same souls did not lean back when Erron closed the rest of the space. But when the construct saw Erron reach for his mask, the entire collective agreed to escape the dangerous situation.

We are a servant to the Outworld throne, not a disposable toy to that Earthrealmer.

We thought highly of him prior to that, do not be sour.

Return to him.

Stay here.

Kill him–

Finish what we had planned–

Go–

No–

He exclaimed an Edenian curse and rippled the soul energy through the room, disturbing the empty shelves that collapsed from the force along with the disturbed candles, nevermind the bed that started to levitate and the curtains flapped wildly, uncontrollably illuminating the room with an angry shade of green. No, he was not a servant to Erron nor his own pleasures. And yet, Ermac was almost eagerly close to having shared a forbidden moment with the mercenary, despite having just worked with the cowboy yesterday. It came back to the jungle, with helpless Erron at his feet, it must have been.

‘Ermac?’

All of the chaotic green illusions shattered at the same time as his bickering souls. Ermac turned speedily to gawk wide eyed at the door, alarmed at who had entered when he hadn’t sensed them. He must have been too overwhelmed, too displaced from the present but also too immersed into it at the same time.

The tall, blue Osh-Tekk, the emperor of Outworld, the man most in the realm kneeled down either in fear of their lives or out of respect, stood almost timidly in the doorway. After all, the being that he welcomed onto the council just yesterday for such intense power, was now exhibiting said power in a fairly threatening manner. But still, after seeing that all the furniture settled back on the floorboards, albeit with a hefty thump, the emperor’s shoulders relaxed.

‘What stirs you?’ He asked calmly.

‘Nothing,’ the construct immediately answered and started to belt his coat back up. ‘We have not known stranger days.’

Kotal blinked. The Osh-Tekk wasn’t certain on what Ermac meant, other than perhaps the change in pace; serving Mileena tediously to serving a fairly kind ruler. ‘I understand. If you require rest–’

‘No,’ Ermac stubbornly answered, finishing his dishevelled look by almost hiding his irritated eyes with his hood. ‘We will return to the marketplace. If Mileena no longer has Kano nor herself, she will require the assistance of Rain and Tanya.’

The emperor had to bite his cheek, lest he pushed the wrong buttons. ‘Very well,’ he said as he stepped aside, watching Ermac briefly bow to him and then excuse himself. He looked back on the room, noticing the broken shelves and the bed’s sheets stirred like a tempest. If the construct continued such behaviour, he was then going to question it, but for now he hoped such behaviour would subside.

On the other hand, he decided to seek out Erron, the last person to have been with the construct prior to a threatening scene.

Well, if he messed it up, it didn’t hurt to mess up other matters at the same time.

Erron basked in the sun, ignoring his duties of scouring the marketplace for the realm’s finest scums. As much as he liked resting in the shade, all with his hat shielding his closed eyes from the sneakily prying gardeners, it very recently had a bad taste to it. As recent as ten minutes ago.

‘Erron, you can’t kiss anything that has lips,’ he lectured himself and sighed. ‘’Specially not all of Shang Tsung’s experiments. Skarlet was fun ‘n’ all, but I’m not gonna mess ‘round with Mac.’

Mac , he smiled slightly. Since when did he come up with that nickname? Must have been Ferra’s poor influence.

The sun’s rays were interrupted by a greater force, the kind that the sun agreed to leave be. ‘Who’s blocking my sun?’ He grumbled as he blinked his sleepy eyes open and tilted his hat out of view.

‘Your sun?’ A familiar Osh-Tekk remarked with a scowl. He stood over Erron with quite the imposing view for the mercenary to look upon, all with his lower half all in Erron’s face. ‘The sun’s blessings would not appease the stubborn thorn in my side.’

‘Damnit, what now?’ Erron asked as he swivelled around and up, dusting himself down. He could see the emperor’s hardly pleased face, from the pissed off brows to the blatant frown.

‘You and Ermac have worked effectively in giving me Baraka, I am grateful to the both of you. Yet, a storm has overcome him, after he had been with you. Why?’

Erron shrugged, but behind the cool demeanour, he was terrified; what would the emperor do to him if he slept with the construct? Or even less than that, what about being caught embracing the construct in a way that the master of souls deserved? Somehow, the mercenary’s mind delved into the more romantic ways he would handle the master of souls, and less of an objective instead.

But in the present, he couldn’t lie to the all-seeing emperor. ‘Maybe I pissed him off again. I clearly have that effect on y’all.’

‘And how would you have done that?’

‘II was a little giddy,’ the cowboy swayed and shrugged at the same time, awkwardly looking everywhere but Kotal’s blaring blue eyes. ‘May have gotten too touchy-feely with him, when he didn’t want to.’

Kotal pinched the bridge of his nose and grumbled out a sigh. By the elder gods, are all Earthrealmers trouble? ‘Erron Black,’ he warned, causing Erron to stand more upright and tense every muscle in his body. ‘I will have your head if you wreak havoc inside of Ermac’s mind.’

Erron scoffed. ‘Really, just like that? You think I’m worth nothing compared to ‘im?’ Well, yeah, darn right I’m worth less than that sweetheart. ‘I understand, emperor,’ he almost dared to say out of mockery.

‘Good,’ Kotal exhaled out and turned away. ‘Return to the marketplace, where you will continue to work alongside Ermac until the evening.’

‘Alrighty,’ Erron sucked in his cheek and clasped his hands together. ‘I’m gonna go apologise to him, again.’

For an hour, Ermac spent his patrol unintentionally isolated from the other guards. As soon as he turned the corner and spotted some, intending to greet them or invite them along with him, they swiftly scurried away as if they had seen a ghost. The city’s citizens steered out of his way, even the animals had, as if his vessel screamed to the realm that he was a soul-sucking monster.

We do not appear welcoming, we should not act surprised.

We must have been a displeasure, under Shao Kahn’s thumb, to the rest of the realm.

The Zaterran is correct, we ought not to recollect what horrors we must have inflicted.

But we must know, to rectify our mistakes.

Such as our interest in Erron Black?

Ermac visibly sneered, making bystanders evacuate the scene faster than they had before. Where did this attraction to the mercenary come from? Did he act like this under Shao Kahn? If he had acted worse, he was relieved to have not recollected the embarrassing memories. Nonetheless, despite the bitterness some of his souls promoted, he continued to walk through the marketplace until the amount of citizens walking about was sparse. It was childish, foolish, to folly over such matters, while Rain and Tanya plot against the emperor.

In the quieter area, Tarkatans flooded his view ahead of the road and cornered the construct, though Ermac flinched not once at their spontaneous arrival from the surrounding alleyways.

‘Release Baraka!’ They chanted as they inched forward.

‘Flee now,’ Ermac warned them with glowing hands. ‘We will not free Baraka, but we will deliver harm onto you all, if you do not flee.’

A part of the construct understood why they then recklessly charged at him. They needed their leader back, or else the rest of the Tarkatans would suffer under Kotal Kahn’s prejudice. But they were blinded by rage, and consequently were tossed aside by telekinesis.

We sense–

This is a diversion!

Behind him, he was almost hit square in the face by an aggressive punch, had he not swung under it and aimed for the attacker’s abdomen. Though, Rain’s armour protected him from the force and only made him step back a few times. More Tarkatans arrived on scene and stood over their dead peers, cornering Ermac with the addition of a false god.

‘You deserve this, traitor,’ Rain lowly spoke. ‘Unless you free Mileena and remember your purpose, construct.’

Ermac raised his glowing hand and charged a blast at Rain, teleporting out of the way from Rain’s watery attack to again blast Rain. ‘You do not believe in Mileena as an empress, but as an advantage that will fulfil your fruitless seat on the throne,’ he retorted.

The Tarkatans ran at the master of souls all at once, ripping the focus off of Rain and onto them instead. The construct tried to disarm as many as he could, subduing a handful and then throwing many more far away from the scene. But as it was another diversion, he began to tire out in all the ways; his senses, his arms and legs, his souls in their concentrated efforts on each enemy.

Maybe the internal chaos from earlier weakened his spirit too. Rain took advantage of Ermac’s distracted state, teleporting from water to appear beside the construct and further drown his senses in water. Ermac slipped back against the building behind him, coughing from the active drowning that eventually ceased with Rain standing over him, a dagger aiming for his head.

‘But you will not live to rumour that across the realm, not unless you free Mileena and rejoin our causes.’

‘We agreed to aid Outworld,’ Ermac growled and then weakly coughed. ‘That was not Mileena’s agenda, it still is not.’

Rain hummed. ‘Then die here in the street–’

He exclaimed a natural yelp after a string of bangs echoed through the city’s streets, as when Rain stared down at the origin of his pain, blood pooled out from his sides and back. Both he and Ermac sharply turned their heads in the direction of the bangs, as well as the Tarkatans who ran towards the noise. But rather than stay curious, Ermac’s energy returned as adrenaline and he used it to blast Rain several feet away from him.

‘Howdy, Outworld’s finest false god,’ Erron sauntered over with his grin hidden by his mask, his aim on Rain unwavering unlike his smoothly moving hips. ‘If I were you, I’d surrender.’

Rain sneered at the mercenary before he erupted in water, disappearing from the scene and leaving the Tarkatans, who suffered at the hands of several guards outnumbering them. Ermac watched almost in awe as the tide turned in their favour, with the scene now de-escalated and most Tarkatans in chains.

Erron holstered his gun and walked over towards the construct, whistling at him head to toe. ‘He got you pretty good,’ he teased at Ermac’s drenched clothes. ‘But I’m guessin’ he resorted to desperate measures, ‘cause you were too good.’

Ermac blinked, only now truly feeling how much heavier his wet clothing felt on his body, before a smirk crept through his tired face. ‘You jest, we would not have known what would become of us, had you not arrived with help. Thank you.’

‘You’re mighty welcome, Mac,’ Erron immediately smiled at the nickname said aloud. ‘You can pay the price by teleporting us back to the palace.’

For a moment, the construct stared into Erron’s eyes with the utmost of wonder. The nickname, the kindness, it all squashed the vengeful souls from earlier. ‘Very well,’ Ermac said as he held onto Erron in the same fashion, an act that would never make the cowboy not fluster up, where the two teleported away.

The first order of business was stripping off, lest he wanted a cold from the damp clothing. The mercenary insisted on checking in on his well being, which Ermac allowed while he dressed down. The coat was discarded onto the bed, which Erron stealthily took once the construct headed for the bathroom to hang above the fireplace. The last look that Erron saw of the master of souls was a silhouette fine to him, almighty fine. Like a sculptured masterpiece in his eyes, one covered in bandages and undead skin, with the shy hue of green glowing throughout the body.

‘You really think you’re gonna catch a cold?’ Erron chuckled as he laid on the bed. Of course, the construct hadn’t laid in it once, based on how firmly unused the mattress was. ‘I thought you were made as an indestructible warrior.’

The conversation struck up once Erron heard Ermac leave the bathroom, dressed from the waist down in a crimson towel. No Outworlder was shy of showing skin, clearly. But to see the construct in almost his barest state made the mercenary’s heart skip a beat.

‘Outworlders are not experienced with colder climates, nor does it rain often here,’ Ermac explained nonchalantly as he approached his chest of drawers, seeking his alternative outfit.

The being was nearly an hourglass figurine, the more Erron ogled him. Very much on the skinnier side, but the muscle rippling throughout added to the beauty of him. Especially with little to no bandages, after having bathed off the damp bandages. Now the green hue beamed through the skin in a lively manner, with all the souls dancing around his body inside and out. The ogling game started to become worrisome when Ermac bent over slightly to reach his third set of drawers, with only his towel covering what Erron could forever dream about.

Erron wasn’t sure what overcame him since meeting the construct. Was it because Ermac saved him back in the Kuatan jungle? Was it because of how mesmerising the master of souls really was? There was an unspeakable tension, seemingly placed between them by the gods, but it wasn’t an unwelcoming kind of tension. It was the type that gravitated both of them to one another.

‘Erron?’

Ermac softly called out to him, snapping Erron out of his thoughts once the construct turned to face him. He had gathered his alternative outfit ready to put on, but was frozen in only his towel from feeling Erron’s eyes on him.

We must be disturbing him.

Why do we care?

Because he disturbs us, and we welcome it.

‘Mac,’ Erron started to answer as he slipped off the bed, meeting Ermac’s eyes. Without the construct’s boots, he was a bit shorter than the mercenary. ‘I’m sorry ‘bout what happened earlier.’

Whatever Erron’s excuses were, Ermac was hardly listening.

He should not be sorry, we should be.

We all welcome him.

All of us.

We forgive such perplexity.

We’re lost in his eyes.

His humour.

His differences.

And willingness towards us.

‘And I get it,’ Erron continued to ramble essentially to the air. ‘I’m not an Outworlder, that’s been the biggest cockblock in my entire time here. Hell, not even a Tarkatan wanted me,’ he chuckled to himself. ‘But the point is, it’s not even ‘bout all that shit, I’m damn sure that I’m happy to just exist around you. Hell, you don’t gotta pretend I exist–’

Thousands of souls initiated the first move, all through the swift movement of Ermac’s hands finding Erron’s face and neck, smoothly closing the space between their lips and connecting them together.

We are assaulting him–

But Erron gladly leaned into it, with his hands finding the construct’s hips, despite the thick towel in the way. The mercenary never thought for the other to ever initiate first, it was more often himself who started the passionate embrace first, but he was in no way complaining. He didn’t protest when they nearly stumbled back against the bed, especially when Ermac’s collection lost control and wandered his hands over the cowboy’s light armour, keen to feel the other's hidden muscles. To reassure the construct, Erron followed suit and began to daringly feel the other’s lower back, from the central crease down the back to the lower back dimples.

Both of them forgot how to breathe, and quickly pulled back their lips to almost pant.

‘Fuck,’ Erron groaned close to the construct’s mouth. ‘I’m guessin’ i’m forgiven.’

The master of souls had never felt so much foreign lust in him. ‘You are.’

Chapter Text

One wolfed down liquor, the other hadn’t had a lick of it. Well, the many souls and their thousands of lifetimes ago may have, but Ermac’s vessel himself hadn’t suffered under any intoxication, other than the intoxicating desire for the cowboy.

But to say that Erron drank regularly enough based on his high tolerance for the stuff was questionable. He deserved the drinking days for the times where it was too rough to walk anymore, after having marched an army of guards– and their dead peers– back to the palace, all full of despair because in the process of winning a battle, they lost many guards and a handful of citizens in the process. Or the times where he made grievous mistakes, ones that would have another beheaded, but because he was an enforcer, he received the most disappointing and shameful lecture, worse than the times his parents told him off.

Reptile enjoyed the seshes they held, varying from the Kahn’s gardens to the local bars outside of the palace walls, or even simply in each other’s rooms. Though, Erron’s smokey room was easier to handle than Reptile’s swampy, cold one. The Zaterran underwent the same emotional turmoil as the mercenary, in the sense that they felt outcast from Outworld society due to their cultural differences, and in the way that they sometimes felt unprepared in serving the emperor. No, Erron could not just wipe out a hundred Tarkatans in one shooting. Of course Reptile could not hold up a crumbling cliff with his tongue.

The two of them occasionally envied the last member of their mini group, at least the group of enforcers that fulfilled their duties. It was a good day if Ferra and Torr sat down for a meeting, but more often than not, they were threateningly wandering the palace halls without a sense of direction. Therefore, it was up to Ermac for making up for anything lost in terms of their efforts.

And yet, as overworked as he was compared to the rest of them, though he never complained about it– he wouldn’t dare, even behind a firmly shut door–, he was the only one who refused liquor.

Perhaps it wasn’t conveyed too well by Erron and Reptile, who insisted the construct ought to loosen up or relax. Unsurprisingly, the busy Osh-Tekk, their leader, occasionally sipped a golden cup or two of such substances and visibly relaxed each time.

One should not rely on intoxication to escape reality.

It is an excuse to be irrational.

‘When we were kidnapped,’ Ermac began to retort, all with his folded arms and hip slanted to one side, glaring at the two with attitude. ‘The symptoms we suffered through were akin to intoxication. Did we appear relaxed then?’

Erron scoffed. His cheeks were already flushed, but his speech managed to not slur yet. ‘C’mon, that’s poison; a different high.’

‘Yes~’ Reptile hissed next to him, his cheeks redder than the mercenary’s. Surprisingly, to an extent, the Zaterran was more tipsy than the Earthrealmer. He rested his elbow on the construct, making the construct sneer at him like a disturbed cat. ‘There is no press–ss–ure, friend.’

‘Damn right.’

Ermac rolled his eyes and nudged Reptile off him. ‘If you insist on our company, we will join you both. But lower your inconceivable expectations.’

The local bar, more akin to a mediaeval tavern, was fairly filled for the evening. A gently lit room with torches along the walls and candles on the tables, with the smell of smoke and combined scents, whether it be the stench of a hard-working labourer or the sweet smell of a bakery. But as soon as they stepped inside, the master of souls froze at the busy atmosphere.

By the elder gods–

–Too many threats, potential threats.

That man has a knife.

Why is her sword bloodied?

While Ermac felt claustrophobic, Reptile proceeded forth without knowing to seek out a private table for them. The construct could have turned back and left, his body was faithful to have of that with his body half turned around, before a hand latched onto his forearm. He almost tore the tavern apart, had he not quickly realised it was Erron.

‘It’s a little busy, huh?’ He teased, though his softened brows and eyes ensured it wasn’t a mockery. ‘C’mon, I’ll show ya to our table,’ he promised as he lowered his grip on the construct, until their fingers locked together and Erron squeezed them reassuringly.

With a steady breath, Ermac squeezed back and nodded. The entire way to the table felt like a long, treacherous hike, the path uneasy from people either sat far back from the table, or from how the tables were positioned in the room. When one citizen leaned back and outstretched their arms against Ermac, the construct was certain he was going to rip them apart. After all, was it a distraction? His many souls had experiences within such climates, but it had been too long since any of them had experienced this.

At last, with the table a mere inches away, Ermac clutched onto the chair and snaked onto it uneasily, able to exhale the shaky breath he held in. Erron sat next to him, his eyes crunched slighter to convey that he was smiling reassuringly, until he looked up with his eyes sparkling. Reptile returned to the table with three drinks, his eyes also very much pleased to see the foamy drinks in front of them.

Immediately upon realising there was one too many, Ermac scowled. ‘We are not participating.’

‘Aw, c’mon darlin’,’ Erron shushed and edged the glass closer to the wary construct. ‘Just one. But hey now,’ he quickly said with surrendering hands. ‘I ain’t forcin’ ya, ain’t no one here is.’

Reptile took a hefty sip from the glass and licked his lips sloppily, and Erron removed his mask to take a less generous sip. His back faced the rest of the place, allowing his face to be free only to his favourite people. They relaxed, very quickly.

We cannot be fooled, they were relaxed beforehand.

Perhaps our tolerance is high enough, our energy could outweigh its effects.

It did not outweigh poison.

It has been a long week.

The emperor had him doing every task there could be. Fly over there, fly back to the many Outworlder cities. Lei Mei still suffering? It was the construct’s duty to reassure her as much as possible and track down anything troubling her. There’s a fire in the gardens? The work of arson was no match for the construct, albeit tired out from the energy spent already that day. More fights in the marketplace? Ferra and Torr were out of action due to a reason they couldn’t completely say, before bursting into tears, so the master of souls pitied her by covering the shift. It was until the last day, after dinner, where he was sent out one last time to deal with a crime and returned swiftly afterwards, did Erron and Reptile offer him an opportunity to escape it all.

It is not the emperor’s fault.

It is also not our fault.

Why should we keep our energy low over the realm’s bastards, who waste our time as so?

Our vessel may metabolise the drink as energy.

Would we truly mind to, for once, not be able to see straight? To pass out and not wake up for another demand?

Curse you, friends.

Throwing caution to the wind, Ermac took the glass into his hand and swallowed a gulp of the drink, stunning his private audience. But the gulp lasted longer than it should have. He set the drink aside and winced, not recalling that liquor tasted that foul according to his more experienced souls.

‘That is a poor substance,’ he coughed out.

Reptile snorted back in his chair, while Erron’s eyes were wide as he laughed in absolute shock. ‘Well, I’d be damned. Just take it a little slower, alright?’

Whatever slow meant to the construct no longer applied. Once they all finished the first round, Erron went to the bar and ordered a nicer drink for the construct; as entertaining as it was to watch the construct revolt at the taste, it wasn’t a fair experience for his partner. Now with a nicer tasting drink, though it was a higher percentage in contents, they all listened to Reptile ramble.

‘Why was I not First Minister?’ He hissed out angrily. ‘She is none-the-wiser than Mileena!’

Both Erron and Ermac hummed. ‘Fuckin’ bugs, they always get into y’alls boots, I’m tellin’ ya–’

Ermac almost choked on his laughter as it erupted out of him, the genuine laughter that Erron rarely heard, but often caused. Though this time, the drink’s influence eradicated any restraint. He laughed into his fist hysterically, which prompted Erron to laugh wholeheartedly at him, and furthermore for Reptile to fall off his chair at the reaction blown out of proportion.

‘ Boots! The master of souls giggled into his hand. ‘She’s in our boots!’

Erron wondered if it was because the construct’s glass was empty, it made him hesitant to refill it, but Reptile was hardly shy in doing so. The mercenary left it be, adoring the way that Ermac’s whole body had loosened up and relaxed against the wooden chair, his eyes more sparkly, cheeks faintly flushed, and his smile permanent. Most certainly giddy, Erron gladly joined in on it.

Their third glass down, Ermac’s chair found its way much closer to the cowboy’s chair. Reptile wasn’t sure what his stomach was doing, as he watched the construct rest a chin on his palm, admiring Erron up-close even if the cowboy was completely flustering up.

‘If you were never a mercenary, you would have been a star in Earthrealm’s skies, yes?’ Ermac charmed, with his finger finding itself curling around Erron’s locks with the utmost of care. ‘If Cage starred you in his occupation, we would finally not mind entertaining his folly.’

‘Hot damn,’ Erron breathlessly managed to get out, his heart beating hard enough that it could have escaped his chest. Thankfully, Reptile couldn’t see the rest of his body from the torso down. ‘What ‘bout Syzoth?’

Ermac shrugged coolly and batted not one soul at the gawking Zaterran. ‘What about him? When you’re already in front of us.’

‘Well, shit,’ Erron whistled and looked over at Reptile, the awkward third-wheeler who hadn’t suspected their relationship, until now. ‘You’ll prolly forget all this in the mornin’, I’m hopin’.’

The construct hummed and dropped his other hand down onto the mercenary’s lap. ‘Then why be conservative about it?’

‘Reptile, get the next round, will ya? There’s no way in hell I’m standing up.’

Throughout the night, all of Ermac’s internal discussions slipped past the lips instead. Reptile and Erron were baffled at how more apparent it became, as the construct no longer said the odd sentence or the outright truth of his thoughts, but now, he was speaking for every soul he contained.

‘Do we despise the Earthrealmers?’ Ermac asked, but before either of them could respond, he did instead. ‘We only despise the thunder god. Even then, do we despise his devotion in protecting his realm, while we protect ours? He is unnecessarily cruel– no, it could be necessary. Would it be necessary for any of us to target other realms in order to save Outworld? Yes. No. Should we destroy Earthrealm?’

Erron choked. ‘Hold yer horses–’

‘What if all the realms ceased to exist?’

‘M’kay, I’m getting some food.’

Reptile tilted his head, drunkenly curious. ‘I can agree with him–’

‘Don’t encourage thousands of drunk dead people, Reptile!’

‘Some of us could have bore families,’ Ermac sadly murmured. Now he rested his head on the table, his eyes tearful and his cheeks completely flushed each time he spoke directly to them. ‘Some of us had bore families.’

Erron sighed out. He wasn’t sighing at the construct’s reminiscing, but more so at the memory of his own family. Reptile sunk back in his chair also, recalling his long-lost species in solemn. ‘I’m sorry, Mac. Sometimes I wonder if I would’ve been better than my old pa, but I doubt it,’ he sadly confessed. While he was coping better than the master of souls, he was beyond the point of tipsy.

‘Yes,’ Reptile frowned deeply down at his lap. ‘I could not bid farewell to my family, not while we were under attack and enslaved.’

From hearing their stories also, Ermac appeared in Erron’s lap and quietly sobbed into the mercenary’s chest, who cuddled the construct close and shed more than a few tears than held accountable.

Reptile attempted to make it to Erron’s lap also, but as soon as he stood up, he collapsed back down again and wept by himself in a curled up ball.

Eight rounds of their strong drinks later, Erron stumbled up to his feet and cleared his throat. ‘C’mon, we oughta get to bed now. Got a mornin’ shift, and it’s gettin’ to the early hours already.’

Reptile and Ermac groaned drunkenly, but failed to resist the pressing matter. After they stood up and held onto each other, with Erron keeping the unit together by being the middle-man, they were interrupted by a group of citizens stood in their way. Tall, buffed out, with knives on their belts and narrowed, pissed-off eyes.

‘Finally!’ One exclaimed aggressively and leaned towards them. ‘You were all too loud for your own good.’

‘Pardon us then,’ Erron grumbled and manoeuvred his drunken peers around the man. Peers, as in the plural? Of course not, Erron discovered that he was only tagging along Reptile now. He halted dead in his tracks and turned around faster than lightning, realising that Ermac had teleported out of his grasp.

‘For our own good?’ Ermac pressed stubbornly, all with his speech slurred and his posture leaning forward. ‘Do you threaten us?’

The man beamed a daring, toothy grin. ‘No threats, but a promise.’

‘Son of a bitch,’ Erron cursed quietly and plopped Reptile down onto a chair, who was conscious enough to watch. The mercenary marched over and tightly clung onto Ermac’s arm. ‘Mac, if you can, just teleport us back.’

‘Yes, listen to your owner,’ the man teased.

Ermac’s eyes beamed as much green as his hands did, as well as his feet that had started to lift off the ground. The rest of the threatening group gripped onto their tucked away weapons wearily as they watched Ermac levitate. ‘You dare mock us? We are many more than you!’

‘Mac, c’mon–’

The lack of restraint had not faltered at all. In a second, the gang’s bodies were splattered all over the tavern, painting the place in a gnarly red. The evidence was also all over Ermac, who lowered himself back to the ground with wide eyes. He sobered up, only a little bit, but enough to recognise his grievous mistake.

‘By the elder gods–’ He whispered and shakily covered his mouth, feeling the immense regret.

‘C’mon, let’s go. We’ve gotta flee the scene and y’know why,’ Erron insisted and dragged the construct by the arm, helped Reptile back up again with a helping hand– who flawlessly gawked at the construct’s actions–, and they fled the scene. Fortunately, from how late it was into the early morning, nobody was around on the streets. They managed to escape at least a mile away until a crowd formed around the tavern, but even then, Erron recognised there were no witnesses from his perspective, and he had begged Ermac to inform him of any nearby souls who could have been. The construct was struck by the bloody carnage caused by him, up until the moment he blacked out.

The alcohol forced all of them to rest their bodies. Reptile was dropped into his bed and tucked in by Erron, then the cowboy carried the already passed out master of souls in his arms, tucking the both of them in. He was relieved to be able to pass out, even as the guilt gnawed at him. He should have refused the construct anymore, shouldn’t have given him another drop of liquor. At the same time, did those people deserve it? How could they scrutinise the realm’s guards, the emperor’s private enforcers? Erron had killed more innocent people in the past, and though that did not justify his actions, he was used to such acts. However, he knew that his beloved master of souls wasn’t so used to inflicting harm that wasn’t ordered by the emperor.

When the sun stirred them both awake, the first to the toilet was the construct. His vessel was not as indestructible as Erron’s in terms of tolerance, so every drop of what he had drank came out as an unimaginable substance, one he was relieved to flush away and never again see. At least he could no longer see his regrets, he could only feel it in his intense headache.

He grumbled as he sat back on the bed, stripped down after Erron cared for him last night. His souls returned to their internal dialogue, much to Ermac’s relief.

We can remember every part of last night.

Those people–

They should not have threatened us, it is nonsensical to threaten an intoxicated being!

We acted out in front of Reptile– Has he recalled that? Is he aware of our circumstances with Erron?

Erron.

‘Erron?’ Ermac quietly inquired, turning to see Erron blink away sleep in his stripped down self also.

‘Mm,’ he murmured and then yawned, shuffling up to tuck the construct closer to him. ‘I’m good. Are you?’

No, every soul answered immediately. Ermac slipped off the bed and dressed himself in his usual attire, though his silence scared the cowboy enough into getting up also. ‘Mac,’ he calmly asked, approaching the construct who continued to get dressed. By the time he was entirely dressed, Ermac headed for the door and was stopped by Erron’s hands on his shoulders. ‘Ermac,’ Erron tried again with a soft frown. ‘Talk to me, darlin’.’

Ermac’s heart throbbed faster than the automatic tears that kissed his cheeks. ‘The events from last night stir a tempest,’ he confessed quietly, burrowing his face into the crook of Erron’s neck timidly. ‘We lacked control.’

Erron hummed with his chin on top of the other’s head, arms wrapped tightly around the construct’s upper and lower back. ‘You don’t gotta do any of that again, I promise. I’m sorry I didn’t do anythin’ beforehand. But for what it’s worth,’ Erron said as he pulled away slightly, gazing into the construct’s wetter and wider eyes. ‘You were a real beauty to be with last night. I’m hella certain those guys deserved it too.’

The master of souls nodded slowly in understanding. His eyes closed with Erron’s hands cupping his cheeks lovingly, trying to disperse the trouble in the construct’s loud soul collection. Erron refused to leave the embrace until every tear dried up on Erron’s caressing thumb, with their foreheads pressed together in the peaceful silence around them. It destroyed the headache that furthermore had plagued Ermac, now it was no more.

‘Now let’s get somethin’ to eat. I know the Outworld equivalent of a good ol’ cheesy breakfast, it’s gonna kill whatever hangover you have’ Erron smirked, and dressed himself up to an appropriate extent, topped with his hat and masked and returned to his overall look. At least in Erron’s room, it wasn’t a far trek to the kitchens. He wondered if the emperor had intentionally chosen his room for that purpose.

Ermac chuckled, with his hand interlocked with Erron’s on their way to the kitchens. ‘We have quality cheese and carbohydrates.’ So long as he was with the cowboy, he would try and forget all that had transpired.

Chapter Text

It snowed outside, but that wasn’t unusual for Earthrealm, especially for the Cage family.

After the defeat of Shinnok, neither Cage members had any pressing matters to attend. While Sonya continued to order her team, although she held an even higher respect towards Cassie, she decided to let the girl rest up; only, Cassie had been resting for months. By now, it was on the brink of Christmas, but she was eager to prove herself useful before the celebrated day. She stared out the window in the comfort of their heated place, resting under blankets with hot cocoa on her lap, dressed in nothing but lounging clothes. She could hardly believe that she defeated Shinnok, when she was ever so human in this moment and wasn't demanded to be anyone but that.

‘C’mon, Cass,’ Johnny smiled softly at her from the kitchen, flipping the fifth pancake for that morning. ‘Even Raiden said you should let it be, for now anyway. He's fixing things.’

‘Yeah, but,’ she sighed out into her tucked up knees, sunken into the couch. ‘I feel bad.’

Johnny left the frying pancake be to sit on the couch’s arm, to comfortingly invite her into a side cuddle. ‘I know you’re worried about the others, but Sonya told them to do the same thing. Jacqui’s with her dad, I think she’s coming around later. Jin is too busy in the mountains somewhere. Takeda? Catching up still on his daddy issues.’

Cassie smiled slightly, though it didn’t last long. ‘I’m not worried about them. It’s–’

‘Your mom? Cass, she can handle herself–’

‘No, it’s Outworld,’ she interrupted before his subsequent tangent. ‘I mean, yeah, they were assholes for throwing us under the bus. But Raiden has gone too far, dad. I heard he’s made it snow in Outworld.’

Johnny sighed out and left the couch, returning to the cooking pancake that ended up burnt on the bottom. ‘Cass, Outworld digs their own holes.’

‘But it was our fault this time, wasn’t it?’ She stubbornly asked, leaving the warm spot on her couch to instead sit on a cold stool at the kitchen island. ‘We said the amulet was safe in our hands, then somehow Mileena got it from Kano. It’s no wonder Kotal was so pissed off! And then the D’Vorah nonsense, just after he trusted me and my team? I wouldn’t trust anyone if that happened to me–’

‘Cass,’ Johnny sternly said her name, entirely uncharacteristic of him from Cassie’s eyes, but his softened brows remained natural to him. ‘Trust me, Outworld can handle Raiden. They shouldn’t have thrown us under the bus if they didn’t want Raiden all up in their business, okay? Raiden said they threatened us again, he's just given them a warning to back off.’

‘Dad, Raiden's different now.’

‘Let’s just eat and ease up, okay?’

But she knew Johnny understood, she knew everyone on her team could. Their Raiden was no more their Raiden, and he was projecting his wrongful wrath onto Outworld of all realms.

‘Mac Mac!’

As quickly as his green eyes snapped open, he threw his clothes on and opened the door as he secured his belt, and managed to barely to do so before Ferra threw herself at him. ‘Ferra–’ He started to question, though he noticed how eerily frosty it felt. Nonetheless, he turned his attention to the crying warrior. ‘What frets you?’

She wailed and shivered at the same time into his coat, and she even tried to worm her way into it. Begrudgingly, Ermac slipped off his belt and coat to provide, which she gladly did by shoving her face into it. He noticed the red on her nose and cheeks, but merely assumed it was from crying, not from the cold, until he felt it himself. Immediately, involuntarily, he began to shiver just as much as her, minus the wailing.

‘No sun! All white!’

Ermac blinked, unable to comprehend her words. Upon seeing this through the shiverish peeking out of the coat, Ferra snatched his wrist and dragged him over to the balcony. At least, to further conceal his and Erron’s relationship until better circumstances, the mercenary slept in his room due to different shifts. When they reached the balcony, of which only had curtains, Ermac felt the bitter cold even more and almost recoiled away from it. Beyond the red curtains and past the stone railings, the whole city of Z’Unkahrah was coated in snow. Guards in the courtyard were shivering clumps, citizens begged at the gate for somebody to resolve this, and the sun indeed was blocked by a heavy, invasive snow cloud.

‘By the elder gods…’

‘Last time we see cold, we hurt! Torr hurt!’ Ferra sobbed into his coat, clutching it possessively to her chest.

Ermac frowned at that. Of course, after the pair were frozen into an ice cube, they refused to ever venture back to Earthrealm purely because of that reason. Now that the reason for such stubbornness had arrived in Outworld, Ferra felt her world crumbling down around her, especially with Torr still recovering in the infirmary.

He led her back inside of the room and lit the fireplace with his soul magic. ‘Stay here, rest in our bed,’ he ordered calmly, watching as Ferra quite gladly slipped under his blankets, exchanging the comfort of his bed for the return of his coat.

As soon as he buckled it back on, he zipped out of his room in a cluster of souls, flowing past alarmed guards who were endlessly pondering about the realm’s change of climate, until he reached Erron’s room. He phased through the door, relieved to see that Erron was already awake, dressed, and looking out past his balcony in horror. He didn’t need to see Ermac to sense the construct’s concern.

‘Fuck, it’s him, ain’t it?’ Erron growled out. ‘Son of a bitch just won’t quit. It’s been months since we went to Earthrealm!’

‘We understand your fury, we share it,’ Ermac reached out to him, soothing his shoulders that were shaking either from anger or from the cold. ‘But we must aid Outworld in these desperate times, unless you feel unable.’

Erron nodded slowly, understandingly, his temper cooling with his duties calling. ‘No, let’s go. I bet half of the people here don’t even know what snow is.’

The pair rushed towards the throne room, which upon arrival they met Reptile and his utmost of concern. The Zaterran was unphased by the cold, but was certainly worried about the rest of the realm. Kotal stood on the balcony, gawking at the scene before his eyes; how was he meant to help them? He had prayed ten times that morning as soon as he discovered what transpired overnight, nevermind the cries from the citizens below or his closest guards raising awareness about it. But the sun could not outshine the darkness that Raiden had rained down upon them, all in the form of snow. For now, luckily, it wasn’t a blizzard yet.

He turned to face his three prepared enforcers, all more fixated on their duties than their own personal worries. ‘Ermac, I need you to reach Sun Do and consult Li Mei. Can you take flight through this weather?’

‘Yes, emperor.’

‘Thank you. Reptile, I need you to ensure that the city’s sparser villages can dwell with this monstrosity, and I need you, Erron, to use many of my guards within the city.’

‘Yes, emperor.’

‘But,’ he frowned slightly. ‘If these circumstances fail you, report back to the palace. I cannot lose anymore of my council, certainly no more of my family.’ His three most primal enforcers before him were part of their little family, it was the only perspective he had of them, and it stressed him to know that with Raiden’s adamant assaults on the realm, one or all of them could perish while he is not there to protect them. He could brush the cold off his shoulders, he had trekked through snow when he was tasked with such by his father. But how would Ermac, the construct who was cold as soon as he reached a shaded area, cope with this? Can Reptile cope as much as he insists he can? Erron, the proud Texan, who relished in the sun as much as the emperor himself sometimes? He refused to try Ferra and Torr, after what happened in Earthrealm.

They all bowed and left the room, where Reptile already made a head start towards the outskirts of the city. But before Ermac could take off from outside, Erron held him back by the shoulder.

‘You sure you’re good?’ He asked, his brows furrowing more than ever. ‘I’m sure he won’t mind, Mac.’

Ermac shook his head and smiled, holding both of Erron’s hands. ‘There is no choice in the matter, Erron. Li Mei leads Sun Do by herself, with few on her own council. She needs our aid, her people certainly do.’

‘But you’re more important to me than anythin’,’ Erron whispered out in defeat, feeling how cold the construct’s hands were already. ‘Jus– Damnit, jus’ come back as soon as you can, alright?’

The construct intended to give a small, reassuring peck to the cheek, but the rest of his souls decided to engulf the cowboy into a kiss that would heat them up. Though the deeper it became, the more Erron felt how cold the master of souls had become in the inside prior to the fiery passion their actions created. At least their exchange brought heat to their faces, inside and out, leaving Erron dazzled and alone after Ermac took flight. The loss of intimacy left him sighing out, watching as his heated breath came out frosty, and turned towards the courtyard where fewer guards had caught the exchange.

‘C’mon,’ Erron grumbled at their surprised stares and strutted past them. ‘We’ve gotta defrost Outworld, somehow.’

The flight took less than an hour, as he passed through the bitter cold clouds and if he flew just high enough, he could relish in the sun’s warmth. He dipped below the clouds to see where he was, then flew back into the warmth in intervals, until he floated down to the ground that was thickly smothered in snow. Sun Do was in a similar state to Z’Unkahrah, only with lesser guards and civilians dotted about along the roads.

Ermac passed by the families that gawked from their doorsteps, terror written in their eyes. He briefly greeted each passing guard, who respectfully nodded back but were chasing Sun Do’s devastated circumstances. He reached the courtyard that belonged to Li Mei, where she stood ordering her closest guards before perking up at the construct’s arrival.

‘Ermac,’ she greeted, almost with a glimmer of hope; as though the emperor and his enforcers could magically fix this. One could hope, at least. ‘What’s happened? How is the city?’

He frowned with his honesty. ‘The city shares its misfortune with Sun Do. We are certain this is the work of Raiden, though he does not appear to be within the realm– we cannot sense him, a fact we all should be thankful for.’

‘I would be glad to meet him,’ she sneered.

‘We must focus our efforts on the here and now, until anybody can see that devil’s face,’ Ermac reminded, though he shared the same antipathy with his slight scowl. ‘The emperor is well. He has dispersed us into covering expansive areas, we must bring as much warmth as we can to our citizens. But what is your current state?’

Li Mei sighed out, despising the way her breath came out in a frosty manner. ‘Rarely are Outworlders equipped with this, as many have lived under the sun’s aid for millennia. I have my people gathered in the grander halls, where we have fires, food, water, and shelter set up. But the amount of able guards has fallen short, many have nearly frozen to death because of their duties.’

Ermac nodded. ‘We can convoy an ample amount of guards to bring here, as we have more extensive resources to do so. May we leave you while we arrange this?’

She nodded. ‘Thank you, relay my gratitude to the emperor also.’

‘We will aim to return in three hours.’

He believed it to be a fair time window. So long as he made it back in a similar fashion to his arrival, he could gather all the guards and load up carriages, take care of the animals leading the convoy, and then lead them all towards Sun Do. He may even have time to greet Erron in the city and help out there, after he relayed his findings to the emperor regarding Sun Do and Li Mei.

Only, he hadn’t anticipated the climate to intensify as badly as a blizzard. He couldn’t fly high enough to reach the sun’s reassuring rays, as if the realm had been entirely blanketed by a frosty threat. He uncontrollably grit his teeth through the cold, trying to cover his face with his coat. He was sure his toes had gone numb, as did his fingertips. No matter how much he tried to beam green, as a way to surround himself in warming soul energy, it failed to conquer the cold stinging him.

How will we transport the guards now?

They will not survive the journey in this weather, nor will the animals.

We could teleport them, if we cease our energy now.

He reluctantly stopped warming himself up, using only his energies to continue his flight, as he was surely going to be useless trekking through the hefty snow. Teleporting would use too much of it, he was certain of that, and regretted immediately that he hadn’t when a lightning bolt roared through the sky.

The thunder god is here.

We sense him, he’s–

The master of souls scarcely missed the lightning zap that flew past his face, which when he gathered his bearings and spun around, widened his eyes at the ominous red figure through the blizzard. In retaliation, Ermac threw a soul blast straight at him, which he absorbed with a beaming red object. Of course Raiden had the amulet blaring at him, and of course he wasted no time trying to zap Ermac with it.

Their cat and mouse drew its curtains when Ermac found the jungles, relieved that the trees could provide some shelter from the snow. He could face Raiden any day, even if he would suffer from such a battle, but under these circumstances, his chances of winning paled to the realm of impossible. It was proved as much when, after Ermac found a calmer area to teleport away, the impact against his back faltered his mustered up energy and he collapsed into the snow. All he could feel was burning, the green in his fingers fading. Adrenaline and its beauty was the only reason he was able to turn his body over and blast Raiden with a soul blast, withering his energy more but forcing the thunder god and his cruel amulet away by a fair few metres.

‘Do not fight back, construct,’ Raiden warned with a malicious smirk, musing at the way Ermac grit his teeth in the agony he tried desperately to conceal. ‘One by one, all of Kotal’s followers will succumb to tragic accidents, ones that will be proclaimed unaccountable by me. Then, he will be unable to protect Outworld; he will be forced to surrender the realm to me.’

Ermac shuffled up against the snow, his burning back cooling from the cold, as he daringly held a dimly glowing hand up towards the thunder god protectively. ‘The emperor is not dense, nor are your Earthrealmers. How long will it be, until your own people have comprehended your sins?’

While Raiden’s smile turned into a scowl and he inched closer to the construct, Ermac used his weakened power to topple the trees behind Raiden, forcing the thunder god to swivel and roll out of the way. At the same time, Ermac took advantage of this and fled, knowing he could return and conquer Raiden when he regenerated his energy. Yet, the blizzard continued to almost blind him, his toes still felt numb, the blast to his back from Shinnok’s amulet cost him a great deal of tolerance, which altogether led him to the edge of a waterfall that miraculously hadn’t frozen over.

All he heard was the sound of Raiden’s thunderous footsteps charging at him, followed by a pair of strong arms tackling his waist and his frozen boots were no more on stone, but in the water. He had been too cold to stop it. Crashing into the busy water below, the construct pushed aggressively against the thunder god’s face, attempting to push Raiden off him while the freezing water invaded his senses. Recklessly and ruthlessly, the thunder god released Ermac to aim the amulet at the master of souls, but the construct persisted and darted upwards in the water, with the tips of his boots just about facing the amulet’s wrath.

He gasped, coughed, choked, and wheezed when he had gotten his face above the water, only for a few seconds until the strong current dragged him underneath. He wasn’t sure whether, when he opened his eyes after being pulled underneath again, not seeing the thunder god was a good sign.

We cannot sense his soul, as protected as it may be.

But he could be using technology beyond our senses.

Furthermore, we cannot trust our senses.

They are utterly frozen.

He grew desperate. The more symptoms that started to present, the more he realised that he may never return again to the palace. He may never see Erron again. Therefore, he reached up blindly above the water while he drowned underneath it, grasped onto the first firm object he barely curled his frosted fingers around, and holstered himself up with sheer determination. The blizzard may have still blinded him for the most part, but once he gasped for air and hugged onto the long branch he had latched onto, a glimpse over his shoulder revealed a more devastating waterfall behind him, plummeting triple the feat that he had with the thunder god.

Still, his situation hadn't been resolved yet. He pulled himself along the branch until he pulled himself over the snowy bank, rolling onto his painful back that introduced the rest of his ignored symptoms. His ribs hurt from hitting the water, his essentials ached from his frozen surroundings, his head spun from the chaos in the water. The mere fact that he was shivering beyond comprehension, certain that he would completely freeze over soon especially with his fully drenched clothes. Yet, he struggled to feign his familiar green glow in his hands and feet, he couldn’t sit up, and the blizzard before his eyes had started to turn black with his closing eyes. His familiar, redder attire had turned white. It hurt to breathe in the cold air, it pained him to be awake and alert, it was too cold for his thinner skin.

We cannot stay here.

The mercenary spent all day in the city. He and his many guards skipped over breakfast and lunch, trying to either lure doubtful citizens into the warmer palace or set up a warmer climate from within their homes. The greater portion of despaired citizens huddled inside of the palace, but many others refused. After all, why have faith in an emperor that has waged enough war with Raiden to cause this? Even though Erron disagreed with them, the debate was futile while their arms and legs ached from the cold.

He forced himself to head back as soon as it had gotten darker, beyond the blizzard intervals, though he was tempted to carry on with his duties. He knew it was Ermac’s influence on him, as the younger version of himself would have turned back as soon as his lunch hour came around. Now it was closer to dinner, if not just after that, and he was still outside. The guards with him hadn’t complained, everyone knew how dire the circumstances were.

But in the end, he forced his body to turn back before his heart could argue otherwise. At least Ermac may have returned, he was eager to smother the construct in blankets and everything lovey and dovey.

‘How’d it go along the outskirts?’ He asked Reptile, who had arrived soon after he had. They waited in the throne room for Kotal, who had managed everything from inside of the palace; the Osh-Tekk refused to have his people left to die outside and therefore offered refuge for the entire city. The Zaterran seemed unbothered by the cold, only unnerved by the consequences it had on the rest of the Outworlders.

‘The Tarkatans were sceptical,’ Reptile informed with slight annoyance. ‘But I persuaded many.’

‘Well, look at you,’ Erron teased, knowing at the very least he could shed humour on a terrible day. ‘You’ve turned the other cheek, partner.’

‘I did not have a choice,’ Reptile snarled. 

At last, the emperor walked in and firmly shut the doors, allowing only few guards to remain inside the throne room with his fellow council. ‘Your efforts have been greatly perceived,’ he first and foremost thanked the two. ‘It is going to be chaos, but it will be one that all may humour about when this is over.’

Erron nodded and chuckled. ‘Damn right.’

Kotal smiled slightly, relieved that at least one of his enforcers shed light on the situation. ‘When Ermac returns from Sun Do, I will host a meeting to discuss what we have gathered–’

‘He’s not back?’ The mercenary immediately interrupted, earning a disapproved scowl from Reptile. ‘Shit, it’s gotten real dark outside. D’ya think he’s lost?’

‘Ermac knows this realm more than I do,’ Kotal reassured calmly. ‘Li Mei must have pressing matters for him, he may very well still be there.’ The Osh-Tekk wondered if he was reassuring himself more than Erron.

Erron couldn’t resist the pang in his chest, one that led him towards the doors. ‘I’m gonna catch up to him, just in case–’

‘No,’ Kotal intervened in front of him. ‘I need the two of you here. This palace has been flooded with our people, all of whom are afraid and swallowed by the darkness.’

‘And what if Mac is?’ Erron argued, his eyes portraying his fierceness but the waning of his voice said otherwise. ‘I’ll bring people with me if that’ll be what it takes.’

Kotal sighed. ‘Erron, please. Do not make me order you to refrain from leaving this palace. What if Ermac returns within this hour? The next? At dawn? Through his journey home– to the palace,’ he awkwardly corrected, as meaningless as it was. ‘He could return and you will be stranded in the thunder god’s traps.’

‘Yes,’ Reptile agreed and reached for Erron’s shoulder, tugging him back. ‘Surely, Ermac will not be pleased to know that you stranded yourself.’

‘Sons of bitches,’ Erron grumbled out and sighed. ‘I’m waitin’ ‘til morning, but if he ain’t back then, I’m walking outta here and you can fire me for it.’

Kotal nodded. ‘Agreed, though I will not cease your position for it and I will join you.’

The cowboy sought peace and quiet in Ermac’s room, knowing he wasn’t going to sleep at all. He hadn’t expected to pull over the blankets with Ferra tucked beneath them, wailing at the breeze that attacked her without the comforting sheets over her.

‘Ferra–’ Erron bit his cheek, almost tempted to shout at her. ‘Why the hell are you in here?’

Ferra ripped the blankets out of Erron’s hands and tucked herself back in, glaring daggers at the mercenary. ‘Why is you in here?’

Erron rolled his eyes. She had a point. He sat on the edge of the bed, looking around the room with his chest heavily painful; he noticed the fireplace once had a fire going, but was spent with Ferra’s lack of care towards it, and he glanced over the books that Ferra had pinched from Ermac’s bookshelves, but she clearly gave up reading the Edenian texts. The scent of the construct permanent on the sheets, the mixture of cinnamon and smoke. Erron knew every inch of this room, but it all felt darker without the master of souls present in the room with him.

‘’Cause I’m worried ‘bout Mac Mac,’ he answered quietly, looking over at Ferra’s big childish eyes. ‘He’s not back yet, but he’s gonna. Soon, I hope.’

Ferra gawked up at the cowboy. She had only seen either the playful side or the irritated side, but not the compassionate nor the passionate, especially for who, in her mind, was simply Erron’s peer.

‘Mac Mac strong and scary,’ Ferra claimed as she shuffled up in the bed, mimicking what Erron gathered to be ghostly gestures from him. He chuckled, which made her smile brightly. ‘We no think he can die!’

‘Damn right,’ Erron smirked, deciding to lean back and allow the spoiled warrior to sleep against his chest, clearly lapping up whatever was the warmest source closest to her. Apparently, he was chosen over the blankets she had possessively cuddled, so Erron huddled them closer to the both of them. Maybe if he breathed in the smokey, cinnamon scent all night, he would imagine Ermac to be there with him.

Chapter Text

Naturally, the mercenary passed out from the exhausting day, but only succumbed to the few morning hours until Ferra stirred him awake. He stretched his back and yawned once before jolting the rest of his body awake, realising that it was still Ferra in the room rather than his partner. Ferra waddled over to the balcony with the blanket wrapped around her, grumbling.

‘Outside still white. No Mac Mac.’

As he had fallen asleep in his attire, there was no reason to not bolt out of the room in the way he already looked, with the minor difference of his sleep-swept hair staticky from beneath his hat. He ran across the palace and shoved open the heavy throne room doors, feeling his heart drop at the immediate sight of Li Mei. 

‘Where the hell is he?’

Li Mei and Kotal exchanged pitiful looks. ‘Ermac said he would return in three hours, but the evident fact is that he has returned neither to me or the palace,’ Li Mei informed the cowboy softly. She arrived at the palace beforehand with a handful of guards by her side, who were now partnered up with Kotal’s guards too to discuss their plan of action.

‘Then I’m heading out.’

Kotal held a hand up to Li Mei, who was tempted to protest Erron’s decision. ‘He may, under my watch.’

‘Emperor, that is madness!’ She exclaimed, gesturing wildly at the snowy balcony. ‘You cannot leave the palace, while most of the city has sought refuge within your palace walls.’

The Osh-Tekk commanded his closest guard to fetch his sword. ‘This is Raiden’s poison, Li Mei. I believe he is going to harm all of my enforcers, before he is within reason to harm me and the rest of Outworld, if he does not overrule it,’ he glowered at her. ‘He is the reason Ermac has not returned, the elder gods know it. Thus, if he is out there with one of my enforcers, I will seek immediate justice for the realm.’

Li Mei stared up at him in disbelief, but she sighed out and bowed. ‘Yes, emperor. But it is my duty to aid you,’ she claimed from her knees.

‘No, I order that you, Reptile, and Ferra, remain here. I will leave many of our joined forces here at the palace, in case that devil comes here. Is that understood, Li Mei?’

She begrudgingly brought her hands together and nodded. ‘Yes, emperor.’

Erron followed the emperor into his quarters, a rarity he had never experienced before. He remembered only D’Vorah having ventured into Kotal’s room, that it was predominantly off-limits for anything and anyone. It made sense, given that Erron also wanted nobody except Reptile, Ermac, and maybe Kotal in his room, all for varying reasons; the Zaterran to hang around with, if not already with his beloved partner, but the Osh-Tekk would often be in his room for duty purposes. As the cowboy was now, in Kotal’s room.

The Osh-Tekk was mesmerised by the dagger in his hands, stained with the blood of old foes, while Erron’s eyes helplessly explored the room. Not as much belongings as he had expected, but the room screamed Osh-Tekk. He noticed the snow seeping into the room from the balcony, reminding Erron more about his lost construct.

‘Listen, I think we outta split up. Between Sun Do and here, he could either be in the jungle or the wastelands–’

‘ Erron Black ,’ the emperor almost venomously spoke as he turned around, the dagger still in his hands. By all things merciful, it made Erron’s bones shiver. ‘You will follow my every order, you will keep up with my heels, like the shadows that the sun casts down. Ermac is your significant admirer, but he is also my enforcer and a strong piece to our family. I cannot have you dwell on your heart and soul, while we are both under Raiden’s thumb out there, but respond only to my voice. Do you understand?’

Whatever witty response Erron conjured up midway through that lecture, was now swallowed down and transformed into: ‘Yeah, I understand.’

Kotal hesitated on the mercenary for a second, trying to read Erron’s honesty portrayed through his eyes. A second later, he was content and tucked the dagger into his sheath. ‘I believe Ermac would remain in the jungle, no matter the distance he must have traveled to escape the wastelands. He must have sought refuge under the trees or within caves.’

Erron cursed himself for not having thought of that. He watched as the emperor sought out two furry jackets, one stuffed into a bag and the other handed over to the cowboy. ‘I’m good, I survived yesterday.’

A single glare later, and Erron discovered how incredibly warm the furry jacket was. He wanted to wonder which fur belonged to which Outworlder animal, but was again reminded that the jacket was better used on the master of souls and eagerly left the palace with the emperor.

The skies were clearer than the blizzard yesterday, even the sun made a slight appearance behind the lingering clouds, but their feet plunged several inches deep into the snow all the way to the horses; if an Earthrealmer like Erron could call them that. He couldn’t believe how well Kotal coped with the snow, all with his entire body exposed to the elements, except for the lower section and above the quads. He may have shivered once, but perhaps it was the trick of the eye because the Osh-Tekk was expertly unshaken by the cold.

They rode out towards the jungle, with the horses wading through the snow more than the pair could, but no better than they usually could in Outworld’s more ordinary weather. As they rode side by side, Erron felt as if his horse was simply following Kotal’s lead, given that he hardly held onto it.

I just feel it, I know he’s in some deep shit , Erron furrowed his brows as he worried himself silly. He’s not dead, he can’t die. Isn’t he already dead? What if Raiden turned ‘im into a revenant? Hell, I’d still get down on one knee for Mac even if he was red-eyed, or whatever.

He sighed out, unknowingly making Kotal side eye him with underlying caution. Should’ve gone with ‘im, should’ve stopped ‘im. It was too damn cold. It’s still too damn cold.

‘Do not let your mind wander,’ Kotal quietly advised, watching as Erron put his thoughts aside to sheepishly dip his head.

‘I ain’t.’

‘But it is natural to,’ the Osh-Tekk reassured solemnly. ‘I think about Jade from dawn to dusk, I reminisce about our time spent together, and I scorn the time spent apart. But she is safe, merely held in the wrong hands.’

Erron frowned and looked ahead of them. The jungle was still too many miles away. ‘I’m sorry ‘bout that,’ he mumbled. The Osh-Tekk wasn’t sure on what to do with the following silence, until Erron broke it. ‘He used to tell me that, y’know,’ Erron chuckled sadly. ‘It was funny ‘cause I’d tell ‘im that he’s lettin’ his mind wander ‘cause he’s reading mine.’

‘Do not let your mind wander,’ Ermac scolded, as he pointed down at the page they were reading. The mercenary lacked severely on his Outworld knowledge.

Erron huffed, grinning as he looked up from the page. The way they were both laid on the bed, stomachs down and backsides up, reading Outworld history books as if they were teenagers. ‘Y’know, you’re lettin’ your mind wander too by reading mine.’

The construct blinked to the logic presented, before irresistibly breaking out a smile and a chuckle. Erron’s heart did cartwheels. ‘Your wit does not pass as knowledge relevant to the realm.’

‘Mm, is that so?’

‘It is, so.’

Erron groaned as he lazily turned the page, while Ermac watched him with softly glowing eyes, his smile almost permanent around the mercenary. ‘This one’s a beauty,’ Erron teased.

Confused, the master of souls read over the selected page, though he was reluctant to tear his eyes away from Erron. The page was a simple, historical diagram of the palace. ‘How so? We believe you already understand this page.’

Erron hummed. ‘’Cause we’re up here,’ he said as he pointed at the palace blueprint. ‘And we’re not having a real good time right now, are we?’

Ermac was flabbergasted by how easily Erron made his face redden. He shuffled back to sit on his heels and rolled his eyes with a smirk. ‘What classifies as a ‘Good time’ in this particular material?’

‘Well darn, I can’t flirt my way outta this boring stuff.’

The construct’s smirk deepened as he leaned over, his face closer to Erron’s while he gathered the open books. ‘With each page, we can conjure up an activity to entice you.’

Erron’s eyes sparkled. ‘Oh yeah?’

Gently, with a ghostly, thrilling touch, Ermac lifted up his chin more and his eyes dulled with, dare Erron say, lustfully. ‘And a reward per book.’

‘He sure as hell finds a way to make me know Outworld,’ Erron smiled, his eyes glossy from the memories and the tears ready to shed. ‘I don’t know what the hell I’ll do if– if he’s– Fuck, I can’t even say the damn word.’

Kotal breathed in sharply and cast his eyes ahead. ‘Focus, Erron. Soon, we will reach the jungle.’

The brief, welcoming warmth from the sun, before it was hidden again by the sinister clouds, roused the construct awake. He couldn’t remember passing out, he hadn’t wanted to in fear of never waking up again, but knew the cold must have frozen him into submission. He opened his frozen eyelids, feeling the frost on them touch his eyes. He felt weighed down, but his neck and head also felt too stiff to move. Ironically, he felt warmer in his spot than the sun’s weak rays. But if the storm had passed and it was now daytime, the master of souls started to worry over what may have happened overnight.

Did he attack the palace?

Surely, the realm’s skies would be painted as red as Earthrealm had been.

Erron must be worried for us.

He groaned when he tried to sit up, his back stiff from laying in the snow overnight, or perhaps it was frozen. He gritted his teeth as he tried to move his arms out of the snow, but failed. It was no use relying on his worn down body. Yet, he could feel the faint feeling of his energy, bubbling beneath his frozen skin, keen to release the construct and return to the palace; all the souls combined all of their determinations together until Ermac’s whole body glowed. Such an action had started to melt the snow off of him, albeit at a slow pace, leaving puddles of water that were eager to freeze over.

The construct felt like a true, undead corpse, resurrecting from a previous life. He had never seen Outworld so white, so cold. He had never felt so defeated, so vulnerable. It was eerily quiet all around him, as opposed to the lively and dangerous jungles he was used to.

Once most of the snow had melted, he managed to sit up onto his protesting elbows, immediately hissing to the sting on his back. The mark of Shinnok’s amulet. He circled a soul around his body to investigate, discovering that the amulet had burned through his coat and now earned a mean frostbite from laying in the snow, therefore he projected the rest of his faint energies towards healing his back. But the more awake he became, the quicker he felt incapable of being awake anymore. The shivering, the drowsiness, the way he tried to bend his knees and then fell back from dizziness. It hurt him to try.

Hypothermia.

A strange concept to Outworld, to us.

If not that, the amulet must have weakened us.

Amidst the jungle’s silence, he heard the brutal pattering of rain in the distance that quickly turned into snow. His eyes widened, the adrenaline warming his limbs enough to make a move elsewhere. Even though he was stumbling into the trees, the rocks, back onto the ground and then back onto his feet again, he made haste towards a more appropriate shelter if he couldn’t make it to the palace.

We must be an hour away.

He stumbled into a cave, a dark abyss, one that plummeted several feet down and he scarcely missed falling over the ledge. He was able to sit between the edge and the cave’s entrance, glowering at the snow that caught up to the cave.

We must continue.

But the thunder god must have initiated this storm, he must be nearby.

He will kill us immediately, we are unequipped to challenge him.

As if the elder gods cursed him, a lightning bolt struck near the cave, making Ermac’s entire being jolt with the many startled souls. He suspected that if Raiden had spawned nearby, he must have tracked down the construct. Ermac carefully swiveled around to move over the cave’s cliff, his nearly numb fingers clinging tightly onto the ledge as he lowered himself down, thankful to have a separate platform before the deep plummet down. He could hardly feel the sufficient energy needed to fly down.

But he hadn’t suspected how close Raiden was. For reasons unknown to his many souls, Raiden was able to enter the cave and hover down towards the bottom, his soul undetected by the master of souls. Yet, Raiden seemed to suspect that Ermac had reached the very bottom, and hadn’t spotted the construct hidden in the discrete platform in between. He didn’t have the time to process it, none of his souls did. Instead, once Raiden was deep enough into the cave, he desperately turned and reached back up onto the ledge, hauling himself over just in time for a red beam to fly at him and miss. The ledge shattered from the amulet’s power behind him. He threw himself out of the cave, missing a beam that went over his head and directly into the trees ahead, though with all the adrenaline pumping energy throughout him, a last resort, Ermac blasted a beam at the cave’s entrance, allowing the rocks surrounding to cave the thunder god inside.

The pair stabilised their horses and carried out their investigation by foot, entering the bitterly cold jungle with their expectations lowering by the minute. Still, Kotal kept up his reassurance for the mercenary, until they came across a certain point from within the jungle. Burnt tree bark, lightning bolts that had marked the ground, but more alarmingly a piece of Ermac’s leather coat.

‘Goddamnit,’ Erron seethed, clenching the leather tightly in his hands. ‘You’re right, that son of a bitch stopped Mac.’

Kotal frowned. He wanted to be wrong, something he rarely hoped for, but anyone would hope for a better outcome. ‘But it is not his corpse that you embrace. There is hope.’

They reached the river that had frozen over, both of them mourning over the loss of life that was often so vibrant in Outworld. While Kotal grieved the still jungle before him, Erron crept along the cliffside that led to the frozen waterfall and cursed all of the Earthrealmer swears.

‘He went this way, down there,’ Erron informed the Osh-Tekk, though as calmly as he had conveyed his information, the rest of him was shaking. A bloodied pair of footprints, from boots that he could only recognise to be the construct’s knee-high boots; the pair of footwear that added to the endless reasons of why the cowboy adored the construct. Now, the memorable prints were stained in blood, which he undoubtedly suspected to be Ermac’s blood.

‘Down the river,’ Kotal murmured. ‘Perhaps, he gained an advantage.’

A small trail led down the hillside, reaching the point that led to a more dangerously high waterfall. As Kotal looked all around, he was alarmed by Erron running down the hill towards somewhere particular.

‘Erron!’

The mercenary was in utter disbelief. That was the first stage of grief, wasn’t it? Denial. He stared down at a melted puddle of snow, of which had mixed with Ermac’s blood to a staggering extent. He couldn’t understand, however, where the construct was, despite the amount of blood loss present and the construct’s expected hypothermia.

‘Where the hell is he? Mac! Ermac!’ He immediately called out all around him, which resulted in two blue, stern hands on his shoulders.

‘Erron!’ Kotal interrupted his efforts, his brows furrowed and his voice stern. ‘If he is not here, laid in a death bed, then he is elsewhere.’

Erron wanted to retort, he wanted to yell back, and yet he utterly trembled and fell forward into the Osh-Tekk’s chest. ‘What the hell is happening?’ He almost sobbed, trying his best not to blatantly cry. ‘He was here, damnit. Why’d he walk off?’

Kotal welcomed the cowboy into his chest, his hands comfortingly resting on Erron’s back. He asked himself the same questions, but knew all the answers to them. ‘Raiden must be lurking, if Ermac felt it necessary to move–’

The similar reasons for the construct having moved, now came to light for the pair themselves, as it stormed down with another brutal blizzard. Neither of them had heard it oncoming, distracted by the scattered clues from their beloved construct. The emperor urged Erron onwards, following the spotted blood trail from the blood puddle, both jumping to the sound of a thunderbolt half a mile ahead of them. The snow had started to cover over the bloody spots in the snow, stunning the pair to a halt.

‘He must be nearby–’

‘Mac!’

The energy it took, which reduced the rest of his capacity, to cave Raiden in had left the construct laying back in the snow, left with blurry vision, veering in and out of consciousness. He tried to dig his nails into his palms, in an effort to alert him out of succumbing to the darkness, though the worsening conditions made it almost impossible. It was his second full-force blizzard.

‘Mac!’

Even though his body was unwilling, Ermac reopened his sleepy eyes.

Erron is not here.

We sense him, but as a mere illusion.

Delirious from the cold.

‘Aw fuck– Mac!’

The calling of his name came through as a ringing in his ears, eventually more clearer when his hazy vision introduced two blobs hovering over his body. He couldn’t see the superior red eyes that had challenged him persistently, but could it still be Raiden? Would the thunder god suddenly pick him up in an overly caring manner?

‘Stay with me, darlin’,’ Erron smoothed his thumb over the construct’s cheek, nerved by the frostbite that had settled in. He used one strong arm to cradle the master of souls into his coat, while the other fought his bag to drag out the spare fur coat, and barely managed to use it as a blanket for his partner.

At the cave’s entrance, Kotal stared at the rubble like a predator. His gut was telling him that Raiden was behind all the rock, his sword was ready to slash at the entrance; ready to take on Raiden. A glance over his wounded enforcer instilled enough rage to care not about facing Raiden alone.

‘We’ve gotta get back!’ Erron called out to him through the blizzard, clutching onto Ermac like a desperate man. ‘Forget ‘bout Raiden!’

Despite what he had promised to Li Mei, to himself and to all of Outworld, Kotal closed his eyes and scowled at himself for turning away. To seek justice was a priority for later, when he knew that all of his enforcers were safe and rested up.

‘I will ensure that you devils no longer roam Outworld,’ he bitterly grumbled.

They reunited with the horses that remarkably stayed there, as perhaps the thunder gods had finally answered some of Kotal’s mostly ignored prayers, allowing the three to ride back to the palace. Erron kept Ermac close to him with one arm, using the other to ride the horse, though his eyes were more glued on the sleepy master of souls than on the distance ahead of them. The construct was freezing to touch, and Ermac felt as much. His hazy view of Erron’s concerned eyes eventually succumbed to the darkness, after knowing that no foe of his could have the same, handsomely hazel eyes that the mercenary had.

‘I heard the lightning. Raiden must be endangering them.’

‘It is our order to remain.’

Reptile stared out from the balcony, his hopeful eyes watching the palace gates from the throne room’s balcony. He left Li Mei to pace back and forth, contemplating on whether to seek out Kotal and Erron, as it was her duty to protect the emperor and Sun Do. The Zaterran knew that Ferra was ordered to help, but he instead left her to stay by Torr’s side, which was to stay in the infirmary all morning.

Like Li Mei, Reptile was also tempted to seek out his friends. He felt invincible to the cold, surely he should have gone instead of Erron? He scoffed about his thoughts to her, all the way up until he heard the gates swing open, with the stampede of horse hooves raiding the front of the palace. Immediately, the two almost threw themselves over the balcony to see who had arrived. They almost hadn’t caught sight of Erron sprinting up the steps like he had never before, with a body carried in his arms, while Kotal followed closely after gesturing for Reptile and Li Mei to follow. As much of a maze as the palace was, the Zaterran sensed their direction towards the infirmary and led Li Mei there with him.

‘Mac Mac!’ Ferra wailed from Torr’s side, eager to latch onto the limp construct, only to be kept back by Kotal’s gentle hands.

‘By the realms…’ The doctor murmured to Erron, who set Ermac down on the bed and started to dress down the master of souls. At the same time, upon seeing how frozen the construct was, the doctor started the room’s fire and sought out more medical supplies. ‘How long was he exposed to the elements?’ His question was based on the clear signs of frostbite, prevalent on the construct’s nose, blue lips, and enhanced ghostly features.

‘Too damn long,’ Erron snapped. ‘He’s got a mean mark on his backside too, it’s gotta be from Shinnok’s amulet.’

The doctor decided to answer the rest of his questions by examining the symptoms. The construct had been dressed down to the undergarments, covered in a thick blanket for most of the examination. His slowed breathing was watched by Erron’s terrified eyes, whose hands warmed one of the construct’s up in a loving embrace. As behind as the realm seemed to be for most areas of life, the doctor more than capably pumped necessary fluids back into the construct, along with the restoration of blood.

As soon as the master of souls’ almost naked body started to glow green, the doctor relieved a sigh. ‘As per the beauty of his created vessel, his souls will likely finish the healing process without my own intervention.’

Erron sighed out also, pressing his lips to the construct’s hand, and then turning to express his relief to Kotal’s content smile. ‘Thanks, doc.’

After the doctor left for relevant errands, Reptile and Li Mei walked in to be astounded by the construct’s state. While Ermac was healing, it was incredibly gradual, with his pale and unhealthy state still appearing to all in the room. Reptile’s eyes expressed more emotion than they had in years; he always thought of the construct to be more than capable, and yet to see Ermac in perhaps the worst state he had ever been in, made the Zaterran question where his fate would have laid if he were in the same position.

Li Mei mulled over it all, before facing Kotal with newfound fury. ‘We will make Raiden pay for this. He was not at the scene, I take it, or else you would have brought back his head.’

It pained the Osh-Tekk to lie. ‘He was not.’

At last, Cassie allowed herself to enjoy the snow after a day of watching it from indoors. Just her and Johnny, with their cups of coffees and their woolly hats. By the evening, they returned with takeaway dinner, enjoying their cold walk through the snow that was illuminated by the streetlights around them.

‘Does mom like snow?’ She asked, relieved to have escaped the cold and to happily lounge around in the warmth of her home. ‘I don’t know anyone who doesn’t.’

Johnny snorted. ‘Uh, I hate the snow, Cass! I can’t drive my cars, I can’t shoot my movies, and sometimes the power goes down.’

‘Sounds like the end of the world.’

As they arranged their takeaway dinner, Johnny instantly answered his phone before it could ring for a second. ‘Hey babe–’ He had begun to speak, conveying to Cassie that it was none other than Sonya. Yet, his excited smirk quickly faltered into a frown, then an exhausted sigh, and ultimately resulted in falling back disappointedly into the couch. ‘Okay, we’ll be there soon.’

‘Where?’ Cassie set down the food, joining her father on the couch as he put down his phone. ‘Is mom okay?’

‘Outworld attacked Raiden, again.’

Chapter Text

‘None of you ladies are getting me!’

‘Kano! Sonnuvabitch!’

‘Erron!’

The clan leader sprinted through the portal, with Erron hot on his tail and Ermac flying after them in the nick of time before the portal shut. As valuable as the emperor’s portal stone is, the enforcers were tasked with investigating how another mortal in the realm had their hands on one. It wasn’t discovered until a day later, where they had caught none other than Kano himself, wielding a replica of the portal stone. How he managed to replicate it was still a mystery, one that could only be resolved by retrieving the replica, which they had.

After the three passed through from Outworld to Earthrealm, Kano lost his grip on the stone from how intimidating Erron’s running was– in fact, the clan leader hadn’t seen so much anger radiate off the cowboy. The construct scooped up the stone, coming to a slow jog and then a stop when Erron had also given up.

‘He will return to Outworld again,’ Ermac reassured as he walked up to Erron. ‘Nonetheless, we have the replica.’

Erron sighed out. ‘At least somethin’ good came outta this–’

Vroom.

Both of them jolted, naturally latching onto each other as they turned towards the noise. They seemed to be in a city alleyway; cars either zoomed or strolled past the alleyway, ordinary Earthrealmers strolled along and briefly peeked down the alleyway. When one caught sight of Ermac’s distinctly green eyes, Erron swiveled the construct around and glared daggers at the bystander. Without a second thought, the bystander left.

‘Shit, this ain’t some Dragon camp,’ the mercenary muttered. ‘Where’d Kano go? Is he still around?’

As much as the construct was a deer in headlights, he honed into his senses and frowned. ‘We cannot sense his soul, but we sense many more. We have never sensed as many souls as this before in one setting.’

Erron grumbled. ‘This ain’t good, we’ve gotta be in a city. Can we just skidaddle outta here using the stone?’

The master of souls channeled his energy into the stone, creating a magical soul-filled show within the alleyway. Instantly, the phenomenon attracted more bystanders; too many for Erron to threaten unless he wanted to fire off a few rounds. Hastily, he clasped Ermac’s hands together and the glowing stopped, startling the construct out of his concentration.

‘Not here, we’ve got an audience.’

Ermac blinked at him. ‘The last time we arrived in Earthrealm, the people there were made aware of us because of the Special Forces. What has changed?’ Although, not even the construct could remember such events, he was merely informed that one day he left a subway in ruins because of his magic.

We have not known stranger days.

‘I’m guessin’ a lot has changed. Special Forces must be keepin’ magical shit in-house now, though it’s gonna help us if we know what city we’re in. Stay here.’ He left the construct to peek around the corner out of the alleyway, relieved that the bystanders’ short attention span left them walking away halfway through their revelation. As per a city with the sun always shining, the mercenary took notice of the sunglasses stall and did not hesitate to slither a pair into his pockets. Upon returning to Ermac, who was trying to brew his magic more discreetly, Erron handed him a simple pair of black-out sunglasses. ‘Put ‘em on.’

‘Where did you find these?’ Ermac scrutinised, hesitantly looking at the plastic item with more attitude than Erron had ever seen on the construct.

It made Erron smirk. ‘Just put ‘em on. It’s about getting outta here, not whatever the hell you’re thinking ‘bout this plastic junk.’

‘Did you steal these?’

‘Of course the hell I did, Mac. I don’t have a lick of dollar to my name no more.’

‘Erron!’ Ermac scolded and sighed out afterwards, begrudgingly setting the sunglasses over his eyes. There was still a faint glow of green surrounding them, but it was far better than the blatant obviousness of his supernatural state.

The mercenary couldn’t believe how nervous he was, and wondered if he was more nervous than Ermac; from how nervous the cowboy was, Erron considered himself an Outworlder. The two walked out of the alleyway into the bright sun, stood in the spotlight amongst the busy sidewalk and roads. The people wore shorts, sandals, tank-tops, they occasionally gawked at the pair but moved on nonchalantly. Erron held Ermac’s hand and almost dragged him along, though the construct couldn’t help but watch people from the privacy of his sunglasses.

Curious.

Most have the same devices that the Special Forces use: square, glowing devices.

We must concentrate. If Kano is watching us from afar, he will compromise our identity and reveal us as the enemy.

Yes, there are too many Earthrealmers to dwell with if that became the case.

While Ermac was both curious in his surroundings and concentrating on searching for Kano’s soul, Erron was swearing himself silly in his head.

Shit, this is bullshit, what the fuck is this? I have the goddamn grim reaper with me and ain’t one man or lady knows they’re walkin’ by a dead guy. What the fuck has happened to this place anyway?

Even when he had worked for Kano, he couldn’t remember America as being so digitalised. People were on their phones, whether it be staring down at them or hollering through to somebody else across the world. If not that, it was the bluetooth in the cars blasting varying music tastes. Erron was sure there were more sirens than usual, and he could only hope it wasn’t because of Ermac being found out. He was even more surprised that when he stole the sunglasses, the stall owner hadn’t had a clue because he too was on his phone. Though he was less surprised when the same had happened after stealing a map.

‘Erron–’

‘I’m sorry, Mac. We’ve gotta know where we are, alright? You can sentence me to death when we get back home–’

‘Sick voice, dude,’ a random citizen walked up to the master of souls, startling Erron right to the core. The man was grinning wildly at the construct, all in his shorts and t-shirt spouting gamer nonsense. ‘Do you use AI for that?’

Immediately, Erron tugged Ermac behind him. ‘Walk on if you know what’s best for ya.’

‘Relax, man,’ the guy chuckled and jazzed his hands. ‘I gotta say, y’all have the best cosplays ‘round Texas this month. See ya.’

Texas? ‘Hold up,’ Erron grabbed a hold of the man’s arm, who spun around alarmed at the touch. ‘We’re a little lost, so can you help us out?’

With an easy shrug, the man took a hold of the map and pointed his finger at it. ‘We’re in Dallas, partner. Where y’all headin’ to?’

‘Wickett,’ Erron immediately said without thinking. ‘We’re goin’ to Wickett.’

The man blinked. ‘That’s a little far out, don’t ya think? Comic con is ‘round the corner–’

‘Would you mind giving us some change for the ride?’ Erron hoped, squeezing Ermac’s hand before the construct could even suggest flying them over there. They’re gonna shoot us down real quick if we take it to the skies.

The man sighed. ‘Fine, only if I get a selfie with y’all.’

‘Sure, whatever that means,’ Erron grumbled. He had an inkling it was photo-related, so he gave Ermac a reassuring squeeze while the man almost cuddled up close to them for a selfie.

He is threatening us!

Is Erron signaling us to kill this man?

What in the elder gods? A flash of light? Is this man Raiden in disguise?

‘My bad, y’all, I forgot flash was on. See ya around!’ The man giddily walked along, after having shoved enough dollars into Erron’s hand.

‘Erron,’ Ermac encased the hand into his, warningly glancing over his shoulder at their leaving helper. ‘We believe that is Raiden. His light is akin to lightning–’

‘Hold yer horses, Mac,’ Erron chuckled, before looking around him to holler for a taxi. ‘It’s just their phones. Y’know, what Cassie and her team had? At least we know where we are now,’ he sighed in relief, more so when a taxi pulled over and gestured for the two to get inside. ‘We’re in Texas, baby.’

In the new day and age, Erron’s change was pittens compared to the real service charge. The cowboy resulted in pointing his pistol at the driver, which earned an alarmed mouthful of Edenian from the construct, but the taxi insisted on accepting Erron’s cheap change and started their drive towards.

‘Earthrealm’s carriages,’ Ermac pondered as he looked all around the taxi, not knowing that Erron was watching him in both amusement and delight. ‘It appears more secure than Outworld’s carriages, and it does not require animals to pull it.’

‘Of course it’s secure,’ the driver sneered in the rearview mirror at the construct. ‘This is a newer car, y’know. You smokers can’t say shit when y’all waste thousands of dollars on cigarettes.’

Erron jabbed his pistol into the driver’s back. ‘Keep driving, and shut the hell up.’

‘Smoker?’ Ermac squinted in thought. He noticed Erron’s eyes zoned onto the map, more particularly around the labelled town Wickett. ‘You are keen to venture here, though our hostage insists it is a handful of hours to get there. Why Wickett?’ Ermac asked as he scooted closer, also looking down at the town and the surrounding areas.

Erron snorted. ‘He ain’t our hostage, okay? We’ll let ‘im go as soon as we get there. I grew up here,’ he explained with his lips itching to smile in reminiscence. ‘Just thought it’ll be a real quite place for us to get back home.’

Ermac hummed. ‘To the palace, yes. But certainly you still call this place your home too?’

‘Naw,’ the mercenary sighed and set aside the map, gazing past the construct’s sunglasses, knowing that if they were removed the glowing set of eyes would look pitiful back at Erron. ‘Sure, I grew up there and learned a lotta shit, but I wasn’t blessed with some lovin’ family. Not like how it is at the palace, anyway.’

The master of souls couldn’t ignore the ache in his heart at that, nevermind his collection of souls thrilled to hear Erron’s words; in both the excited sense and in the mournful sense. The mercenary claimed the Kahn’s council to be family, claimed Outworld to be his new home, but his original roots in Earthrealm were nothing short of sad. Though, the souls couldn’t resist escaping the vessel to swoon Erron in their usually loving green, which comforted Erron more than enough. Until the car’s radio started to flicker, the driver’s eyes widened at the sight, and the car started to stall.

‘Shit– Mac, reign it back!’

Ermac hadn’t even realised how impactful his soul energy was on the car. A single touch from his soul had spasmed out the car radio. A few more souls had electrified the car, nearly rendering it dead. And of course, all of his souls had scared their driver speechless.

‘What the fuck!’ Was all the driver could exclaim in a high-pitched squeal.

The master of souls reigned in his souls and leaned forward, to delicately rest a hand on the driver’s shoulder. ‘We apologise, it was not our intention to instil fear in you. You may be our hostage, but we shall not ever reduce ourselves to being Dragon scum.’

‘Damnit Mac, quit callin' him our hostage.’

By the time they arrived, it had turned dark, which only meant to Erron that when they first arrived in Earthrealm, it was already the afternoon if not beyond that. He shoved the change into the driver’s lap and scooted out of the taxi with Ermac, who insisted on apologising again, but the driver zoomed off like he had seen a ghost. He had, and it made the man wail in terror as he drove off.

‘Hey now,’ Erron smiled pitifully as he coddled the construct into his embrace, noticing how defeated and ashamed the construct felt. ‘We’re not all like that, clearly. I’ve got brains, he’s got none.’

Ermac sighed out. ‘We understand his fear. If we are not accepted in Outworld, then certainly we will never be accepted in Earthrealm.’

Now Erron’s heart was stung from such a painful sentence. ‘Well, I sure as hell don’t recognise this place,’ he grumbled, not for the last time that day. It was Wickett, but with a caravan lot on a piece of land that Erron certainly hadn’t remembered being owned, at first. The more he looked around, from a specific area of cactus to the arrangement of the roads, he returned his vision to the caravan lot and scoffed about as he kicked up the dirt.

‘Are you kiddin’ me? Not a damn thing is sacred no more!’

‘Erron?’

‘They dug up my home, Mac! Look at it,’ he sighed out of exasperation, pinching his nose and closing his eyes to turn away from the sight. At least, caravans were semi-familiar to the construct. The dragon clans often hauled such vehicles into Outworld’s wastelands as temporary camps, Ermac always muttered an Edenian curse everytime he saw them. Now, he uttered the same curse as he walked towards the caravan lot.

The master of souls decided it may have been best to leave, given how frustrated his partner was. He pulled out the replicated portal stone and manifested his energy, propelling most of what he had into it. But even with all of his energy, the stone failed to conjure a speck of the portal. Erron rejoined Ermac as soon as heard the magic brewing, but gathered as quickly as Ermac that it was no good.

‘As it is a replicated artifact,’ Ermac bitterly explained. ‘It will be hours until it can wield enough energy to transport us back to Outworld, no matter where we may want to teleport to on the other side.’

‘That sonnuvabitch,’ Erron seethed. ‘Asshole can’t do nothin’ right.’

‘In the meanwhile,’ Ermac insisted as he took a hold of Erron’s hand, pulling him towards the caravans. He bypassed the owner of the lot by teleporting them to the other side, where the darker and vacant caravans laid restless. With ease, he teleported them inside, looking around to find that it was almost entirely empty: there was a double bed squeezed into the back, a sink with a single counter and cabinet, and plenty of curtains which Ermac immediately drew closed, allowing himself to remove the sunglasses and adjust his eyes with many blinks.

Erron found the nearest lantern to light up with his lighter, illuminating their temporary situation with the help of Ermac’s curious souls exploring the caravan. ‘Not a bad idea,’ Erron sighed out as he laid flat against the bed. ‘Do ya know if Kano followed us here?’

‘He has not,’ Ermac informed calmly as he sat next to Erron. He smoothly slipped Erron’s hat off to gently course his fingers through the locks of hair, smiling softly. ‘Tell us about your time here.’

The mercenary lost himself in the green eyes gazing down at him lovingly, with the many souls all floating down to the frustrated cowboy. With a light chuckle, Erron unbuckled his mask and let it fall off, patting the spot beside him to lay with the construct. More than obliged, Ermac removed his coat and laid down side by side, intertwining his delicate fingers with Erron’s calloused ones.

The stories Erron told were endless. While the replicated portal stone rested in a nest of soul magic, comparable to a phone charging up, Ermac tried to envision all of Erron’s stories throughout the quick evening. The cowboy’s family, albeit not the friendliest nor the most compassionate, whom had died either because Erron pulled the trigger or from old age; with apparently no next of kin to look after the house, judging by the caravan lot. Erron spoke about the tornadoes, the heat, the plant life known to Texas. Everyone in the town knew each other. If Erron wasn’t tending to the farm, he was riding a horse into who knows where. It was all different to what Ermac was used to hearing, back in Outworld: the horror stories from wars, the retired warriors and the exhausted ones still going, the resentment towards leaders and towards particular races, and the overwhelming presence of the supernatural.

If Erron’s family had been less cruel.

His home here was paradise.

A realm of tranquility and fair work.

As soon as Erron yawned, Ermac pulled over the other side of the covers to tuck Erron in. ‘I’m not a kid, y’know,’ Erron said, after his drawn-out yawn.

‘You are as stubborn as one,’ Ermac teased with his smirk. ‘We apologise that your home is no longer what you remember.’

The mercenary tugged Ermac onto him, which had the construct gently laying down in the blanket also, cuddled up to Erron’s chest as per the cowboy’s insistence. ‘I’ve got a new home now. Like you, right? Can’t imagine any of your souls missin’ Shao Kahn; the brute of a guy.’

Ermac hummed. ‘We would parade his head in the streets if he ever resurrected.’

Erron grinned. ‘That’s the Outworld way, huh?’

After Ermac was certain that Erron was in a deep enough sleep, he awoke from his feigned sleep to stay alert. He watched his partner’s soft breathing, the chest moving the construct’s head up and down as he rested on it, the warm embrace that Erron’s arm had on the master of souls if the blanket wouldn’t suffice. He blew out the lantern with his souls, ensuring that none of the sleepy souls within the same caravan lot would notice their presence. Especially Kano.

It is strange.

Kano has not hunted us for the portal stone.

Unless he has acquired assistance, which we cannot sense.

The quiet night enchanted the construct, enough for him to teleport out of Erron’s arms and escape to the caravan’s rooftop. Outworld had plenty of glistening stars also, but none quite as tame as the ones in Earthrealm. A lack of clouds allowed for the moon to shed light onto Ermac’s content features, stargazing for an hour as he pondered.

If only–

–Earthrealm and Outworld reunited once more.

To share and exchange experiences such as this.

His many souls mourned the current conflict, it was expressed as clearly as the moon’s light through his frown. He watched the sky for longer, until the brink of dawn came up from the horizon, beaming a bright orange at the construct’s daze.

After teleporting back inside the caravan, he took a second to smile in awe at Erron’s sleeping state, before wielding the stone to channel its energy. It was almost complete, although Ermac suspected he could teleport them with most of his primary energy. He mourned the idea of leaving the realm; he wanted to know more about the stars he saw not long ago, more about so-called Texas, and if there were beings similar to him within the realm. Instead, as per his duties, he stirred Erron awake with his gentle, glowing hand cupping the cowboy’s cheek.

‘Good morning,’ the construct teased out of Erron’s sleepy blinking, followed by a cat-like stretch and an amplified groan. ‘It is ready.’

‘’Bout time,’ Erron said before his yawn. He sat up to wear his hat and mask again, watching as Ermac buckled his coat back up. ‘I’m guessin’ you had fun last night, up on the roof?’ He grinned.

Ermac’s face reddened. ‘You were awake?’

‘Y’know, you’re hotter than the sun with your soul energy stuff. I can tell when you leave my side,’ Erron chuckled as Ermac narrowed his eyes, suspicious of Erron’s claim. ‘If you’re wonderin’, I’m ready to leave. Ain’t gonna be the last time anyway, right?’

The master of souls was ready to retort, when his eyes widened as he stared past Erron.

Kano–

‘ I knew you’d be here, Black! ’ Kano called out from the other side of the caravan lot. As quickly as Ermac had sensed Kano’s soul incoming, along with other Dragon clan members, the cars had pulled up and the members swung open various caravan doors. ‘ Feelin’ cosy at home, Black? With the emperor’s dog? ’

Erron scowled, his hand on his holster and his feet heading towards the door. ‘Who’s he callin’ a dog–’

‘Nevermind it,’ Ermac urged as he aimed the portal stone towards the other side of the caravan. He channeled all the energy necessary, mustering it to manifest a portal that struggled to form. In the process of its formation, Erron heard the nearby caravans being invaded by the clan members, judging by the panicked wails of campers and the loud slamming of doors.

‘ You sleeping with every freak in Outworld, Black? ’ Kano snorted aloud. ‘ I have to say, you won the lottery with ghosty. ’

The longer it took, the closer Erron naturally got to the caravan door. ‘I’m gonna kick his ass before we leave.’

‘You can do that when he returns to Outworld, we promise,’ Ermac insisted.

The master of souls managed to manifest the entire portal at last. It swallowed the caravan from the supernatural energy, exposing them to the elements and to the dragon members surrounding them with guns. But they threw caution to the wind and leaped through, watching as Kano and his fellow clan members also threw themselves at the rapidly closing portal. The construct was relieved to find themselves in a desert close to the palace, his manifestation successful; it would have been unideal to teleport in the sea of blood.

With their success came more success. Kano and his small squad shuffled about in the sand, alarmed as Ermac tossed their guns aside with telekinesis, while Erron gladly pointed his pistol directly to Kano’s head, forcing the rest to surrender.

‘As we promised,’ Ermac teased.

‘Listen, fellas,’ Kano laughed out with his hands up. ‘You had a nice time, right? Got to meet Erron’s hometown, spent a night in great America–’

‘Sure Kano, whatever you say,’ Erron hummed as he clocked his pistol. ‘So we’ll return the favour. Welcome to the great Outworld, where you’re gonna be campin’ out in a cell, for free.’

Chapter Text

What went through the mercenary’s head when he first met the master of souls? Erron remembered it as clearly as Outworld’s sky.

It was the eyes that firstly stole the cowboy’s breath away. The pair of breath-taking, glowing eyes with an illuminating hue of green, and they were as bright and as open as the construct’s heart amongst the many souls. Erron could have stared into the green pools of wonder for aeons, especially as, in the awkward moment they shared outside the throne room for the first time, the construct provided his divided attention to the mercenary. Truly, in that moment, Erron had front row seats to a beautiful being.

Then, it must have been the construct’s sheer powerfulness. Erron heard the rumours, mostly from Kano, of the new creation born from Shang Tsung’s magic- the one that took down many, the one that wielded souls and juggled with other people’s lives in that aspect; should this enemy live or die? Erron heard how intimidating the construct was to both Outworld and to Earthrealm, only, he was tied by a leash to the throne. Initially, Erron pitied the restricted potential, but then, standing in front of the freed construct, he could almost understand why Ermac was put on a leash. Almost. In the same sense, Erron was thrilled to know that within the collection’s freedom of choices, the construct chose to not only spare Erron’s soul, but was also kind to the mercenary.

The wistful souls flutter about both him and their owner: the master of souls. Each time a soul landed on Erron’s shoulder, his heart melted.

Ermac’s expressions, when they first came to light after potentially years of stoicism, left a sparkle on Erron’s eyes. The confusion that made the construct’s eyes squint. The anger, with the narrowed eyes and flared nose. The genuine smile from thousands of souls, bonus points if it included the teeth. Or the rare fear, with the wide eyes and open mouth, but only when Erron pushed himself too far in battle.

And the body, the vessel, the kind that demonstrated how a powerful being like himself hardly needed to be built on muscle. Slim waist, hints of muscle rippling throughout, slightly shorter than the cowboy. The green that glowed through the seemingly thinner skin. The delicate fingers and feet, the latter of which often relied on hovering most places. A powerhouse, but also somehow a fragile sculpture made of glass.

The knowledge from thousands of souls.

The wisdom.

The collective compassion, and passion, towards Erron.

Those were some of Erron’s favourite things about his Ermac.

In the Kuatan jungle, Ermac knew perfectly well why his souls agreed to spare Erron, even though Mileena would have been pleased to eat the mercenary’s head for breakfast.

His eyes are beautiful.

Through the blood loss, Erron was blacking out in the jungle as per Mavado’s actions, but his eyes were still open, albeit fluttering shut and then snapping back open stubbornly. The hazel colour immersed the master of souls immediately.

They are completely human, completely full of life.

Ermac had heard about the mercenary, who was devoted to Kano for many years under Shao Kahn, until he turned to Kotal Kahn as per the shift on the throne. He heard about Erron’s reluctance to serve Mileena, purely because she hadn’t paid him nearly as much as Kotal offered. This fact alone stirred the collection of souls with anger; it was about the money for Erron Black, a concept Ermac could not fully grasp. Therefore, when he found Erron in the jungle, he assumed the best outcome would be to project his disgust by killing the cowboy in distress.

He works for Kotal Kahn.

He has a warm heart, a kind soul.

Once the construct spared Erron, he knew the two would meet again at some point. Ermac knew he was bound to betray Mileena sooner than later, all with Kotal’s devotion to Outworld being stronger than Mileena, whom of which was hell bent on vengeance only. A realm covered in blood would not heal if more blood is splattered. And so, outside the throne room, Ermac was given a better insight into the cowboy, especially as Erron was not in severe danger this time– arguably, unless he greatly displeased the construct enough to warrant an early grave.

We feel strange.

It is not strangeness, it is warmth.

An uncomfortable, but satisfying warmth.

Ermac stared deep into Erron’s eyes, without knowing how intimidating he may have come across as by doing so. But as his vessel did that, his devious souls fluttered around the mercenary. Certainly the mercenary type, all with the muscle there and fully on display; clearly having outmatched the construct’s own body. Yet, the luscious brunette locks told another story, one that wasn’t full of a mercenary gunning for money. His souls could see the dirt in it from a previous mission.

We could take care of it.

Ermac couldn’t believe one of his souls had said that, or rather, that he had thought that. The instinct to reach out and smooth through the hair, to feel the soft texture unfamiliar with the realm, and to clean it from the dirt that being a mercenary brings.

If not the appearances or what derived from Erron’s heart and soul, it was his skills. Erron’s work with guns was immaculate. Ermac watched in awe from afar as Erron fired at the Tarkatans, a bullseye for most shots. The master of souls wanted to know what else the mercenary could handle, what he was more capable than the construct in.

What transpired after their first kiss was perceived in separate ways. The heated kiss had their bodies leaning heavily towards the bed, as the act was far more fluent on the mercenary’s behalf than the construct’s. While his many souls had their own knowledgeable experiences, little to none of them had experiences with such passion towards Earthrealmers.

On the other hand, Erron felt as if he couldn’t breathe, despite the confident front he put up. He swooned an immensely powerful being, he was kissing said being, and now he was caging the being from above on the bed. He was sure that if Ermac had second thoughts, or perhaps was unsatisfied, he would escape. But because he hadn’t, surely that meant Erron was doing something right?

He remembered his times with Skarlet, in the time of Shao Kahn’s ruling, and how heated those moments were. They paled in comparison to this. Or the times with Kano, who dominated the mercenary. Hardly comparable to this. With the mesmerising being below him, he felt as if he was loving the master of souls the way one should have a long time ago. Erron was in disbelief that one hadn’t, and yet, nobody had. He was more baffled that Mileena hadn’t, when she had the construct in her grasp the majority of the time. Was it because the construct chose Erron?

Yet, as passionate as both parties were, the construct’s souls almost spiraled out of control.

What if he is using us?

As a weapon, as a toy, or a tool for pleasure.

Or as manipulation.

Immediately when the spiraling started, Erron, although not the telepath, could feel the hesitation. Maybe it was Ermac’s shy grip on his shirt, the shaky breath, the rare look of fear in those eyes. Shit, I did something wrong .

‘You haven’t,’ Ermac said sheepishly from below, eyes averting the cowboy.

Erron chuckled huskily. ‘Still readin’ my mind, huh?’ He leaned up slightly to allow more space between them, though he did make sure to tilt the construct’s chin up, to reconnect their heated stare again. ‘What’s goin’ on, darlin’?’

‘Nothing,’ he lied, with his eyes portraying as much when he was forced to look into Erron’s eyes again.

What is wrong with us?

We can enjoy this, and if we discover his reasoning to be of malice after this, we can rip out his guts and–

No, he is not acting out of maliciousness.

‘Bullshit,’ Erron grinned. ‘You’d think with all those people inside of ya, you’d be able to lie a whole lot better than that.’ As Ermac tsked him and scowled, the mercenary couldn’t resist his charming nature to falter slightly, with his grin turning into the smallest of frowns. ‘Look, there’s no pressure here, y’know. Whatever happens here can stay here, even if nothing happens, alright?’ I’ve fucked this up.

He insists this is his fault.

It is ours.

The surging need to prove Erron otherwise pumped a new energy throughout the construct, one less of doubtfulness and one more of confidence; dare he say one of passion or lust. Stubbornly, Ermac held onto Erron’s neck as he closed the space between them, allowing the two to indulge in another heated kiss. His many souls went as far as to project such energy into Erron, more specifically to Erron’s abdomen.

‘Hot damn,’ Erron breathlessly laughed, as he began to slip off his clothes item by item. ‘I’ve got the memo now.’

The aftermath tested the souls’ beliefs as much as it tested Erron’s own beliefs on the matter, which was any lingering doubt towards one another’s reciprocation. Neither had left the bed, not even the sheets, nor had either of them stirred that much. They relished in the room’s heightened temperature, in each other’s intimate closeness, hardly ready for duty if it called any second.

What in the elder gods have we done?

We felt our energy disperse everywhere, when we–

Do not mention it!

We are a weapon for the throne, we are not to be reduced to this state.

And yet, we all wholly agreed to do this.

And we all relish in our satiated feelings.

Ermac’s face reddened the more his collection gossiped about what had transpired, becoming so warm that he radiated the heat onto Erron.

How’s he feeling? What, am I not gonna talk about how good that was? The fuck I am. What if he didn’t enjoy it? Damn, he’s more unreadable than ever. At least when Skarlet enjoyed it, she’d bite my shoulder and suck the life outta me that way. Kano always made it obvious if he enjoyed it or not. It ain’t never felt like a life and death situation, like it is now. Erron ran his fingers through his hair and bit his cheek.

Ermac immediately noticed this and shuffled away slightly. ‘We apologise.’

‘What?’ Erron dropped his hands in disbelief, his face baffled. ‘What the hell for?’

The construct grimaced and turned away. ‘We should not have wasted your time–’

‘Oh you ain’t about to spout all that bullshit to me,’ the mercenary teased, wrapping his arms around Ermac's smaller torso to lightly tug him back, until the construct laid back against Erron’s bare chest, despite Ermac’s confused blinks. This was the best time I’ve ever spent here. Who’s got you feelin’ so insecure ‘bout yourself, Mac? I swear I’ll take them down for ya.’

Ermac huffed with a smile, relaxing more into Erron’s embrace. He fully believed that Erron would. ‘It has been reiterated to us for years that we are the throne’s weapon, that is our purpose if we are not otherwise serving Outworld.’

‘Well, they’re fucking wrong,’ Erron reassured. He was infuriated to learn this, especially as he knew who could have embedded this belief into the construct. ‘You’re more than that, Mac. You’re way more than that to me. And if you think this was a one time fling, you’re real wrong ‘bout that. You’re gonna see more of me in your room, sugar,’ he continued to tease, with the combination of his loving truth.

The truth stung the construct’s whole body, it made his heart thump harshly against his chest. Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung, based on Mileena’s brutal words, all spouted the same to the construct: he was merely a weapon, who was to be used as such or as more for the emperor’s desires, whatever they may be. It was the vile truth that Ermac only knew, and while many of his souls understood how vile it was, they also understood the genuinity within it: yes, he was created for the sole purpose of serving the throne and Outworld.

‘Thank you,’ Ermac whispered as he leaned his head back, and he closed his eyes to relish in his new truth. He was worth more than that, especially with his freedom. He was passionate still about serving Outworld and Kotal Kahn, but if the time and space provided for it, he was more than willing to share his passionate energy towards the mercenary.

Especially when Erron planted a longed for kiss on top of his head, and when his hold on the construct tightened possessively. ‘I’ll go fetch us something to eat, but I promise I ain’t going anywhere else.’

We believe him.

‘Thank you,’ he quietly repeated, and in turn he swallowed the tears he hadn’t recognised to have strolled down his cheeks. It was the release of his past purpose, renewed for something greater.

Chapter Text

His eyes refused to open, but he forced them to, as his hands in rope behind his back didn’t feel right with the blurry, dark scene around him. He knew it was one hell of a battle to drag the mercenary here, wherever he was, judging by his sore limbs and pounding headache. His absent hat and mask were also clear tell-tale signs that his captor wasn’t of the friendlier kind.

Erron couldn’t remember anything. One moment, he was sent towards the city’s outskirts to track down Dragon scum; the emperor offered him plenty of coins to bag Kano’s closest goons. Not that it was the money that persuaded him, of course, as Ermac insisted that D’Vorah could have been working with Kano’s crew and Erron was keen to prove him right. If she wasn’t with them, she was nowhere to their knowledge. Perhaps she was six feet beneath the dirt, or she was lounging on an elder god’s throne.

I’d be damned if she’s running off with another god, kissin’ their boot, like none of the realms know what she’s done.

He squinted through the blurry vision to deepen his understanding of how this came to be, only his surroundings were too vague to tell. Simply put, he was in a dark room comparable to an abandoned warehouse, only the several tracks of sand and heavy-duty cell doors conveyed none other than Outworld. Sand always got everywhere, and those doors reminded Erron too much of the one he was behind years ago, after supposedly betraying Kotal Kahn.

If I’m still in Outworld, Mac can probably sniff out my soul or somethin’.

He irresistibly grinned at that. Whichever fool decided it was a bright idea to kidnap him, a mercenary that more or less belonged to one of the universe’s most powerful beings, was soon going to receive their karma. After all, Erron chose most of his missions and rejected his fair share of opportunities; if he wasn’t back in time for dinner or for midnight, he wasn’t doing the job, and Kotal respected that. If he wasn’t back for either time, Erron was certain that the master of souls would fly out as soon as it was a minute past midnight, or he would stir a tempest in the palace if Erron wasn’t back for dinner.

‘Wipe that grin off your face, Black.’

The mercenary jumped ever so slightly out of his skin, not wanting to come across as intimidated by the darkness around him. The voice came through as a form wielding two hook swords, followed by an infamous mask covering the scarred face Erron knew about.

‘Kabal,’ Erron faltered his grin, only a little. ‘It’s not too late to turn back.’

‘Threatening me, Black? While you’re on the floor chained up like a dog?’ Kabal scoffed. The sound of a flicked switch illuminated the room with ordinary lights, showcasing Erron his less vague surroundings. A slaughter-house, with blood painted all over the floors and walls, a table stocked with bloodied, rusty tools.

Erron hummed. ‘Oh, I see,’ he mused. ‘Y’all wanna get answers outta me or somethin’? ‘Cause I’ve got none for ya. Hell, I’m now being paid to sit here, lick my wounds, and wait for help to arrive.’

Kabal smirked behind his mask, as he sauntered over to tauntingly tilt Erron’s chin up with his sword. ‘Y’know, this suits you. A shame Kano’s not here to see it.’

‘The asshole hasn’t escaped yet? And he pays y’all?’

‘He doesn’t want out, not yet anyway,’ Kabal said as he backed away, and knocked a hefty bang on the door to echo throughout whatever existed beyond their current room. ‘We’re gonna bust him out after we get our answers. We don’t need him here to do that.’

The clicking of heels spiralled Erron’s mind before the incoming danger revealed itself, as the sound reminded him of only a handful of people. Low and behold, his suspicions were correct, as were Ermac’s apparently. D’Vorah had entered the room and shut the door behind her, with her smug smirk more present than ever as she nodded to Kabal.

‘Erron Black–’

‘Bullshit,’ Erron immediately grumbled. ‘I’d rather have Skarlet, Tremor, or whoever else Kano has on board now. Even you know that our game of charades here won’t last long, ‘cause–’

‘This one is confident that you will never be found,’ D’Vorah boldly claimed as she strode towards him, before kneeling down to his height mockingly. ‘Your construct friend will be deceived by the Dragons’ technology. If their devices are successful, they will be proven worthy to Raiden.’

Erron rolled his eyes. ‘Y’know, you were on their hit list too. What if this is a setup, D’Vorah? You gonna come back crying at Kotal’s feet?’ He daringly hauled a spit at her face, forcing her to step back alarmingly and sneer down at him.

‘No matter,’ she said as she looked over at Kabal. ‘Fetch me a Tarkatan. This one is certain that Black will speak then.’

‘What the hell am I meant to be sayin’ anyway?’

D’Vorah snapped back to snarl at him. ‘All that you know within the palace’s grounds.’

It had been a long day in the city. For a while, the master of souls kept secret tabs on his beloved mercenary, even though they were on opposite sides of the city. But when an outcry formed on his side, coming from protesters who had started to aggressively act out, his attention was drawn away until he could settle the crowds. Eventually they had, as soon as the sun had started to set, which prompted the master of souls to fly back to the palace with the hopes of Erron being there.

It is odd, we cannot sense him.

Perhaps we are overwhelmed.

Upon arriving at the palace, he appeared inside the dining hall and spooked the closest enforcer: Reptile. And while Reptile spouted angry gibberish at him for accidentally scaring him, Ermac scanned the table and discovered Erron’s absence immediately.

‘Where is Erron?’ He asked without hesitation, as it didn’t need a single moment from his collection to contemplate it.

‘Did you not hear me!’ Reptile hissed in his ear.

‘Bang Bang no here!’ Ferra answered Ermac from across the table. ‘No Big Bossy either.’

Ermac hummed as he closed his eyes, trying to sense the emperor out amongst the many souls within the palace, even as Reptile continued his relentless lecture beside him.

The emperor is discussing with guards outside of this hall.

But Erron is not with him.

Surely we should be able to feel his presence?

Our energy must have expired; we must eat.

After Kotal entered the room and sat down, after all the enforcers momentarily bowed, they all picked at the food on the table. Ferra was the first to move her seat up to the emperor, engaging in a one-sided conversation, though the Osh-Tekk was more honed into the displeased master of souls. Ermac held an apple, but chewed just one bite very slowly, as if hardly concentrating on eating and more on another activity.

We have eaten, and yet we still cannot sense him.

His overthinking led his souls to flutter about him, with some invading Reptile’s space and others floating as high as the ceilings.

‘You are being a pest to me today!’ Reptile snarled at him and slammed a fist on the table. Only then did Ermac snap out of it, swallow his small bite of apple, and gawk at Reptile with his many souls reuniting with his vessel. ‘At last, you have come to your senses,’ Reptile grumbled.

‘Ermac?’ Kotal softly queried, leading the construct to look back at him with furrowed brows.

‘We cannot sense Erron. Did he return to the palace?’

The Osh-Tekk shook his head, his fingers fiddling with the bread before him as he now started to contemplate the mercenary’s whereabouts. ‘I tasked him with scouring the city’s outskirts. With Kano in chains, his goons will be keen to release him, but I cannot have them unleash their disservices near the palace.’

‘We must search there then,’ the construct said as he stood up with haste. But at the same time, Kotal stood up. ‘Emperor, we will be swift.’

‘Until you are not,’ Kotal eerily said, commanding with his hand for Ermac to sit back down. As per the emperor’s command, Ermac did and sat down slowly, hesitantly. ‘It could be a scheme to entrap you, which appears to be on all the realm’s agenda, as per the last two times you disappeared–’

‘They were uncontrollable circumstances–’

‘And your absence stirred all of us. Erron’s persistence in finding you each time left me and the council defeated, I will not have you disappearing again .’ He sighed out his agitated tone, not wanting to project it at the construct’s guilty face. ‘As per what I did with Erron, I will be aiding you if we must track Erron down.’

Reptile cursed in Zaterran next to the construct, though what Ermac anticipated to be an added lecture on top of Kotal’s, his friend instead expressed a pitiful frown. ‘These are bizarre days. This must be the work of Raiden, in his attempt to divide the council by means of eliminating us one by one,’ he proposed the idea to Kotal, whose brows furrowed down in thought.

‘Yes, you are right. Furthermore the reason to prevent each other’s isolation, and a convincing argument for Erron’s troubles now,’ he begrudgingly admitted, and afterwards sipped an unhealthy dose of wine. Why must my enforcers be strung about like lost children . ‘Very well, we will not wait any longer. Replenish your energy, Ermac, and we will both seek Erron out.’

‘Yes emperor,’ Ermac said with almost sparkling eyes, relieved that his pleading had worked, and bowed to him.

‘Reptile, Ferra,’ the Osh-Tekk also addressed. ‘Again, I rely on you both to protect the palace.’ If I commanded Ermac to stay, he may, as unbelievable to all gods, act against that command. Truly, Erron has won thousands of the dead.

‘I thought you wanted answers!’ Erron exclaimed, dare he say, in a panic. Predictably, the interrogation began as Erron mocking D’Vorah and her questions, with the looming threat of her fellow Tarkatan friend. Yet, no more than five questions into it, all rejected by the taunting cowboy, D’Vorah’s patience wavered.

The Tarkatan started with Erron’s hands, penetrating one all the way through to echo the mercenary’s pained outcry throughout the room. The Tarkatan was ready to do the same to the other hand, when Erron exclaimed in a panic.

‘Then answer,’ D’Vorah retorted smugly. ‘This one knows how precious hands are to a mercenary, especially one who prizes his gunship.’

Erron gritted his teeth through the soaring agony, feeling the fresh blood trickle out of his open wound from behind him. Maybe it was best not being able to see his wounded hand, he knew it would amplify the pain.

As a devoted mercenary to previous employers, Erron was always tempted with spilling his beans for money. Of course, D’Vorah began her interrogation with such, by offering him plenty of coins to leave Z’Unkahrah for a while. Now, as an even more faithful employee to Kotal Kahn, and furthermore a dedicated partner to Ermac, Erron would rather have his hands cut off. The Kahn’s enforcers would never surrender their knowledge to the enemy.

‘He wants to go to Chaosrealm,’ Erron managed to squeeze out the lie through his grit teeth. ‘Y’all can guess why.’

D’Vorah scoffed. ‘This one does not believe you. Chaosrealm is not an agenda to follow, not even in dire circumstances.’

‘Well, ain’t we in dire circumstances?’ Erron argued, empowering his lie. ‘Raiden’s ‘bout to destroy Outworld– which y’all are fine with, ‘cause ya work for him–, but he’ll ruin your life too, D’Vorah. In his eyes, you’re an Outworlder. Hell, he’d spare me over your bug ass any day.’

She hummed and then grinned. ‘Not while you are affiliated with that construct. Otherwise, he has spoken highly of you.’

Erron scowled at her. ‘Quit beatin’ ‘round the bush, ‘cause I won’t. I’m not joining that asshole, ‘specially if you’re on his side and while he’s gunning for Mac’s death.’

With a subtle nod, she commanded the Tarkatan to raise its dagger up and powerfully penetrate through Erron’s healthy hand, forcing another outcry from the mercenary. With both hands pulsing with fresh blood and agony, he writhed in his restraints and kicked his legs out, all in an attempt to push the Tarkatan away. After the Tarkatan ripped the blade out aggressively, Erron’s body tilted sideways to fall onto the floor, the pain and blood loss making him dizzy.

He could feel his hands getting numb quickly, but with the little motion left in them, he fiddled with the ropes while the Tarkatan circled back to D’Vorah’s side again. Not dyin’ here to this bitch.

‘You are too passionate for a being that does not reciprocate the same passion,’ D’Vorah remarked as she knelt down to him, feigning pity through her furrowed brows. ‘A construct like himself was made as a weapon. He takes advantage of your compassion towards him.’

With the Kytinn in close enough range, Erron recklessly swung his legs out and wrapped them around her calves, tripping her up and dragging her closer for him to try kicking at her face. Though after she fell, both Kabal and the Tarkatan helped her away and circled Erron’s body like vengeful hawks.

‘You’re spouting the nonsense Raiden’s gone on about,’ Erron said as he sharply glared at her. ‘Or maybe you’re jealous ‘cause the emperor dumped your feelings down the river.’ Immediately, D’Vorah’s eyes narrowed at him. ‘Yeah, we all know ‘bout that.’

Though, her humiliated moment shifted from her persistent smirk. ‘This one broke his heart, he had no heart to crush and squeeze out. Put Black in his place,’ she ordered to both Kabal and the Tarkatan, and walked away from Erron’s disgruntled reactions from the prompted beating.

It was difficult for the construct to eat and replenish his energy, but after an apple and loaf of bread, Ermac was impatiently waiting at the palace gates. As he waited for the emperor to arrive there also, the construct tried to manage his chaotic energy.

We must approach this with a clear mind.

We cannot kill who may be useful to us.

We must follow the emperor’s orders, as he has strictly conveyed.

Of course, what Ermac persuaded in his head hardly came out through his physical expressions. His bubbling energy radiated a wrath not to be tinkered with, as if he was a boiling kettle that would not rest until Erron was in his grasp, and his souls fluttered about in a frenzy. The nearby guards scurried to the opposite side of the gates, the citizens that wanted to enter the palace had now fled in the opposite direction too. The horses held by some guards stood up and neighed out of fear, before dragging the guards by its leash across the entire yard. Despite how obvious it was that he was barely managing his outer expressions, Ermac hadn’t had a clue, as he focused too much on his inner meditation.

An Earthrealmer may see him as a dog too excited to get outside, even.

As soon as Ermac saw Kotal walk down the steps, his eyes brightened up by thousands, as his magic undid the gates ready for them to proceed, if not before bowing to the emperor first.

The Osh-Tekk blinked. ‘Where are the animals?’

‘No matter, we can teleport or take flight,’ Ermac immediately suggested. Kotal was entirely sure that he saw one of the construct’s eyes twitch with impatience.

With a defeated sigh, Kotal nodded. ‘On your command, teleport us to–’

By the sun and by Argus, Kotal had never seen the construct so rash . Ermac looped his arm tightly around the emperor and forced them through the nauseating act of teleportation,  the act of which made Kotal tingle all over his body. Was it the wrath from thousands of souls hauling him through space and time? Or was it the sheer adrenaline in the desire to find Erron? Nonetheless, they appeared in the wastelands, mere inches away from a cliff that plummeted to depths as low as the Netherrealm.

While Kotal gathered his bearings, Ermac frowned from deep concern as he looked all around. ‘This is illogical. We cannot sense his soul, even as we are on the other side of the realm,’ he stressed out and turned to the emperor. ‘He cannot be in Earthrealm. If he is, none of us can retrieve him without a war.’ As Kotal was about to remark on that, the construct spiralled out. ‘That is what the bastard thunder god wants– a war, instigated by himself while deploying fault onto Erron. Perhaps if we found another Earthrealmer here, we could parallel his logic and warrant an exchange.’

Kotal had to stare at the construct for a good few seconds, before answering. ‘Ermac, you are not often in favour of taking one as hostage.’

He is disagreeing with our plausible plan?

We ought to kill him.

By the elder gods, restrain ourselves!

Raiden is to be killed.

Save Erron.

Destroy Earthrealm.

As the collection bickered, they echoed their anger through the spluttering of souls all about in the air, all while Ermac glared daggers at the Osh-Tekk without realising. ‘We must do what is necessary to save Erron. It would not detriment the realm anymore than Raiden continues to already.’

Before Ermac’s anger could escalate beyond Kotal being pushed off the cliffside, the Osh-Tekk raised his hands up almost in surrender. ‘Ermac, that is an objective we share. Please, you must pay heed to my words.’

We will murder him, right now.

No, let us hear his plan.

He is our emperor, a friend, and values Erron.

After Ermac’s many souls returned to the vessel, and after Ermac released a breath that he had mistakenly held in, Kotal exhaled out his own, dare he say, fear. ‘Erron was tasked to dwell with Kano’s nearest clan members, of whom were within the city’s outskirts. If this is Raiden’s devilish schemes, as per D’Vorah’s aid within the realm, she may have employed the Dragons. We should scout out every single one, which we will do with ease with your teleportation.’

That is plausible.

It is more plausible than our dwelling in the middle of the wastelands, or from tearing up every area of the realm.

You fools.

The mercenary was baffled that he was still able to speak. After Kabal almost choked him out in an attempt to get the cowboy speaking, leaving bruises all over his neck, Erron muttered out some notorious Earthrealmer swears that warranted the next round of beatings. The Tarkatan joined in by slicing up Erron’s back, however lightly or deep, without inflicting too much injury to the mercenary. They both needed him alive, as per D’Vorah’s orders, and most likely Kano’s too.

‘You’re enjoying this too much,’ Kabal grumbled. ‘Kano oughta teach you a lesson. Maybe I should bail him out now.’

‘I’d enjoy it even more, sugar,’ Erron coughed out. Face first on the floor, he was almost drinking up his blood each time that he dared to speak up and tease them.

In the occasional breaks that both enemies had from beating Erron up, all with their heavy breathing and slouched positions, Erron struggled to comprehend reality: Where was the help that he expected earlier? Where are you, Mac? Damnit, if that bitch is right, if you can’t actually get to me– Well, I’ll let ya eat my soul or somethin’ in the afterlife, I guess. There’s no way in all the realm’s hells that Kotal kept you behind, he wouldn’t be able to. I know ya, I know you’d just escape the palace anyway. What’s holdin’ you up, sweetheart?

A particular, brutal kick from the Tarkatan startled him out of his ponder, leaving him wheezing from what he knew was a broken rib, amongst many more. ‘Ease up,’ Erron weakly coughed out. ‘I’ll speak up. I’m wavin’ the white flag.’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Kabal rolled his eyes and stomped Erron’s backside down. ‘What’s made you change your mind?’

Me tryin' to stall. ‘Can a man not change his mind?’

‘It’s insulting, Black, lying to an old friend like me.’

Unable to prevent it, as even the Tarkatan hadn’t seen it coming, Kabal swung down both of his hook swords into Erron’s back. The hooks curled into Erron’s flesh, reaping more blood out of the already pleading mercenary, and when they were yanked out of him, bits of flesh came out as well as the fresh stream of blood; all contributing to the puddle that soaked Erron’s front. The Tarkatan watched blankly, confused by the act that would leave Erron speechless and almost useless to D’Vorah, yet it followed Kabal to the door obediently and did not look back.

‘Speechless now, Black?’ Kabal mused, before immersing Erron in the darkness with the flick of a switch.

Each camp the pair ventured into was fairly deserted. Other than the sparsely located Dragons, there was no sign of who they were after. No goons close to Kano’s command, no Erron, and no D’Vorah. It cost them an hour of scouring each one, and with each empty result, Kotal could feel the anger and impatience radiating off the construct like steam.

‘He must be in Earthrealm–’

‘Patience,’ Kotal instantly halted his train of thought. ‘We have two more camps to search, according to our knowledge. If there are more than what meets our eyes, we will find them.’

Swallowed by his disbelief, but left with no other avenues, Ermac followed Kotal to the second to last camp that they were aware existed. Along the corner of Outworld’s vast Golden Desert, a structure meshed with culture from both realms was sat untouched by war. Ermac wondered if it held any significance, or if they were going to meet the same meaningless result and exhaust their last avenue for the day. The sun had long set, the night was getting colder; even though Ermac would pursue his adventures, he did not want to exhaust the emperor. Unbeknownst to him, Kotal was also not going to back down even if they searched until morning.

Hidden behind a sand hill, they peeked over at the camp that was busier than the others. It was heavy-footed with both Black Dragon members and with Tarkatans, a punch in the gut for the construct who assumed that the latter had changed for the better.

‘Wait,’ Ermac whispered, his souls stirring by an overwhelming sensation.

There is a barrier.

Not the barrier of there being many soldiers,

But a solidified, transparent shield encasing the camp.

A wall of white noise, sounded by the machines dotted about along each corner of the camp’s borders. If a soul-seeker like the construct had tried to sense any of the souls within it, without having seen them first and foremost, the white noise would have drowned out any senses.

It makes little sense.

There must be magic behind this.

‘What is it, Ermac?’ Kotal whispered, having been kept out of the loop.

‘They have constructed a sound barrier around the camp. It has overwhelmed our senses, perhaps with magic, and is the reason we could not sense his soul before. Those machines,’ he gestured ahead to the one closest to them.

Kotal nodded slowly in understanding, although admittedly he failed to. He could understand the power that Earthrealm’s machines brought, but for them to overpower a powerful being like his enforcer? 

‘Very well. I will–’

Unable to hear the emperor out, the master of souls teleported into the air and slammed down into the ground with his fist, radiating his telekinetic energy around him and propelling most of it towards the machines. In an instant, the chaotic energy combust the machines and broke the sound barrier, along with their covertness as the soldiers on scene started to fire at him. As Kotal cursed Osh-Tekk and ran with Ermac to cover behind a wall, the construct’s eyes were wide with realisation.

‘We can sense him!’

‘Go, I will create a diversion. Pay heed to this command, at least,’ the emperor scrutinised with his sword held high, watching as the construct gave him a pitiful, apologetic look before disappearing into his many green souls.

In the dark room, all Erron could hear through the door was the rushing footfall speeding past it. His ears worked well, even as his body could barely move a muscle, his eyes couldn’t see anything from the room, and the taste of iron overwhelmed him as if he were drowning in his own blood. Ever so faintly, he could hear D’Vorah barking orders around, before the door swung open and the lights illuminated his bleeding out body.

Before Erron could process it, he was being roughly forced upright and supported. ‘Relax Black, I’m gonna move you somewhere else to torture your ass instead,’ Kabal squashed any glimmering hope that the cowboy had.

Until his own life was squashed. Neither of them could reach the door, as Kabal’s body was thrown into the air and split in half with telekinesis, raining blood down onto Erron along with falling out guts. Groggily from hitting the ground, Erron looked up, an act that cleared his mind and any imminent threat of death.

‘Erron!’

‘G’d evening,’ the mercenary wheezed out to his green-eyed partner, who lifted Erron onto his lap and glanced over for the most prominent injuries. 

His back!

His energy has been depleted.

We sense D’Vorah–

There is no time for her.

The construct swooped Erron up and clutched onto him closely, projecting his spare energy onto the mercenary’s body. The souls swam through the cowboy to gradually heal each area, although it would take more time than they had if in the same place. Ermac teleported out of the room and returned to where he sensed Kotal most, as when he peeked around the corner of the wall, he watched his emperor fight with ease against the many soldiers.

‘Emperor, to us!’

After severing a Tarkatan into two with his hefty sword, Kotal jogged back to the wall and briefly stared at Erron’s glowing body. There was too much blood on his enforcer. ‘By the elder gods… Who had done this?’

‘We sense D’Vorah, but we must return to the palace’s infirmary with Erron.’

Kotal’s eyes sharpened. After her deception, after the long wait and many missions it had taken to seek her out. ‘Where is she?’

He wants to remain, to kill her.

We also want to.

But Erron’s wounds demand attention.

D’Vorah.

Erron.

Kotal.

Destroy it all.

His telekinesis floated Erron into Kotal’s arms while he darted around the wall, to launch himself into the air and disperse his anger across the entire camp. He rendered any solid structures into crumbs by projecting his energy through them, watching as they crumbled down onto soldiers outside of it and inside of it. With D’Vorah’s soul still present in the debris, he refused to ease off until not a single gun fired off, not a single Tarkatan roared out, and only then did he return to the ground and loop an arm around the gawking emperor. Although, Kotal knew he would have done the same for Jade, and still would in her revenant self.

Whether she lives or breathes,

No matter who crosses our path to the palace,

Erron will be safe with us.

Chapter Text

‘They feel better now–’

‘Enough,’ the construct snipped in Edenian.

If Erron had only dwelled in Earthrealm, more specifically in the wild west with nothing but cloth to stop one’s bleeding, his hands would have forever been numb and cold. Fortunately, he was in the land of the casually magical, and was being cared for by a walking first-aid kit.

The master of souls held both of his hands gently, while his souls tickled at the gaping wounds in his hands. Flesh by flesh, the gaps were closing in with the help of Ermac’s magic, but the process was far from quick and was entirely intimate to the cowboy. Their knees touched each other, or rather, one of Erron’s knees were wedged between Ermac’s tense ones, dangerously close to an area that would arouse a reaction out of the construct. All they could hear were one another’s breathing, one slightly heavier from the itchy pain, but the other’s was calm and collected as they focused.

The construct’s touch on Erron always made the mercenary shiver, in the best way. He could feel the endearment from each soul that either landed on his shoulders, or fixated on his wounds, even as Ermac’s expression was entirely focused on the injured hands. Being in Erron’s room, the mercenary threw his mask and hat off as he sat on the bed, waiting impatiently for the master of souls to finish; on one hand, he could forever enjoy being under the construct’s touch, under the construct’s divine attention. On the other hand, he wanted to see if he could still shoot a gun or if his hands were busted.

If he bothers us again, we will seal his lips.

With our own?

You fools, we would do it with rope.

…Maybe.

Erron wouldn’t hear the end of Ermac’s eternal concern over such grievous wounds. The marks on Erron’s back, the hands, the ribs, all healed as Ermac could possibly heal them. But after learning that Erron dithered on Ermac rescuing him, which resulted in the cowboy fighting back less against Kabal and the Tarkatan, the construct drowned in guilt.

‘Oh no you don’t,’ Erron teased, snaking his hand out of Ermac’s gentle grip to brush a finger over Ermac’s cheek. ‘I know that look. You’re blamin’ yourself again.’

‘We should educate ourselves more on Earthrealm’s technology,’ Ermac grumbled.

‘If that’ll make ya stop feelin’ guilty, then let’s go at it.’

As much as Ermac wanted to protest against Erron standing up, he was curious to know what Erron meant from the words that, more often than Ermac would ever admit, were full of innuendos. When Erron scoured his room until he barely grappled onto a pair of pistols, the construct glared at him in disapproval. All of his healing work would have been for nothing.

‘Relax, darlin’,’ Erron chuckled and nodded him over. ‘I have a feelin’ that you haven’t fired one of these. Am I right?’

With a light huff, Ermac stood from the bed and accepted one of the pistols into his hands. He didn’t need to answer Erron’s question, as he was unsure of how to hold the weapon. He held it from the gun’s grip like he was dangling a piece of string.

Filthy weapons.

Erron bit back any teasing and swallowed down any bubbling laughter, as he maneuvered the gun into a more appropriate grip under Ermac’s hands. ‘Just in case your energy is zapped or somethin’, you can find a gun near ya and use it against who knows who. C’mon, don’t insult the beautiful things that make me special.’

‘We suppose,’ the construct begrudged. ‘Teach us your way.’

The mercenary picked up an empty liquor bottle and settled it on the fireplace, before reuniting with his confused lover by standing behind the gun wielder. Erron’s front tucked close to Ermac’s back, creating a warmth that made Ermac more nervous than he felt wielding a gun, for all the good reasons. Still, he watched as Erron placed both of Ermac’s hands on the gun, with the cowboy’s own cupping them.

‘You’re real tense, you’ve gotta let loose a little,’ Erron first suggested, his guns leaving the construct’s to massage the shoulders. He couldn’t resist smirking when the construct shivered to the touch.

‘We are always tense.’

‘Mm, we’ve gotta fix that then, don’t we?’ Erron murmured into the other’s ear, while his hands continued to work the tension away. The master of souls wanted to throw away the gun practice entirely, the thought of being massaged all over usurping all other thoughts from the many souls.

We prefer this over gunship.

He knows how impactful his actions are towards us.

He is teasing us,

But we enjoy it.

Ermac’s shoulders dropped slightly as his upper body relaxed, causing Erron to hum in satisfaction. ‘Now then,’ he said as he cupped Ermac’s hands again, with his chin resting on the other’s shoulder. ‘An old friend told me that when you’re ready to shoot, make sure you’re not breathing too hard. You’re gonna hold your breath right when you pull the trigger.’

With the utmost of concentration, Ermac kept the gun steady aimed at the bottle across the room, feeling Erron dip his straightened arms so that his elbows weren’t locked. His finger hesitantly leaned on the trigger, pulling it slowly until the firing shot made him jump, and all his souls dispersed wildly in the air. The bullet lodged itself inside the fireplace’s marble, making Ermac grimace at the crack in the fine marble.

‘We apologise.’

‘For what? It’s got no feelings, has it?’ Erron reassured with a smile when Ermac tilted his head up to him. ‘It was just loud for ya, but it will be.’

We are a coward.

We have heard these weapons in battle before.

Why are we making this difficult?

‘I can hear ya arguing with yourself,’ the cowboy on his shoulder whispered into his ear, startling his bickering souls as his face reddened immediately.

Ermac sighed out as he tried to regain focus. The gun was loud, the force made his hands shake, and the closeness of Erron’s body against him all overwhelmed his concentration. But in battle, the construct imagined that Erron would often be distracted with every shot, all with enemies charging at him from all directions or from the elements testing his concentration. Ermac knew he could regain the focus in these tame conditions.

With the gun raised again, Erron resumed his steadied hold on the construct’s hands. This time, Ermac was just shy to the right from the bottle, still having jumped just a little from the gun’s impact.

‘Steady now,’ Erron hummed into the construct’s cheek. ‘Just a little to the left, and you’re golden.’

By the realms…

Must he be so close to us?

Focus.

By holding his breath just before the shot, and after having leaned his aim closer to the left, he fired again and the bullet shattered the glass from the top portion of it. For once, Ermac was excited to see the glass clatter all over the floor and fireplace, it was a mess he could clean up triumphantly. He swiveled around immediately with his eyes bright, his smile reciprocated by Erron’s pleased grin.

‘Perhaps we understand your thrill of this now.’

‘Oh yeah? Good,’ Erron said as he pecked the construct’s cheek. ‘I’ll go get another one then.’

Ermac watched as Erron found another glass bottle, slightly nervous by how many the mercenary had in his room; the construct was certain that they both hadn’t long ago cleared out the last batch. This time, Erron set three on the fireplace, and rather than guide Ermac’s arms, he simply set his firm hands on the construct’s waist with his chin still on the shoulder.

Erron was loving every second of it all. The way that Ermac focused ahead of him, holding the pistol more confidently after each shot, his muscles far more relaxed now after some practice. He could feel the heat coming off the master of souls, in the way that he suspected to be from the close intimacy between their bodies, which Erron continued to do with a mischievous smirk. Erron was used to using his guns in the most distracting circumstances, he figured it would be most effective to also distract his partner.

If I can get him trembling on all four– Focus, Erron, damnit.

After a few misses on his own, Ermac managed to explode all three bottles of glass with a rare grin. His souls started to pick up the glass smithereens from the floor while he turned to Erron, glee all over his face. ‘Are we deemed as qualified?’

‘If you think you are, darlin’,’ Erron grinned back, closing the space between them from the front this time as he collected the gun. ‘You wanna tell me how proud you feel?’

Ermac had never felt so much heat on his face, not even on Outworld’s hottest days, nor on the days where he sat dangerously close to fire because of a slight breeze. He stared up at the cowboy wordlessly, all of his souls caught off-guard, especially as Erron tucked the pistol into his holster to cup Ermac’s face.

At the very least, he could thank Erron for teaching him a fairly valuable skill. He wrapped his arms in a dainty manner around the other’s neck, already moist lips connecting from the heightened tension. The passion delved deeper, reciprocated perfectly by the mercenary through both his lips and through the tighter grip on the construct’s hips. The master of souls could feel Erron feeling up his lower back. Erron could feel Ermac’s fingers tangling into his brunette hair. If they thought their bodies couldn’t get any closer, anymore tightly knitted, they somehow had and felt the energy bouncing off one another.

The intensity distracted all of Ermac’s thousands of souls, to the point where both lovers hadn’t heard the stampede outside their door, before it was bust down with the outcry of guards.

‘We heard danger!’ Cried out one extremely concerned guard.

But both of them had gotten too comfortable. Erron couldn’t release his grip on the construct’s body, his touch of which had inched down to forbidden territory. Ermac couldn’t release Erron’s neck, not while the soft, brunette locks were still tangled in his fingers. At the very least, their lips had parted to gawk at the guards instead.

Awkwardly, the guards at the front of the alarmed group had shuffled backwards out of the room, leaving one individual left to stare agape at the couple.

[Edenian curses].

‘Well shit.’

All the guards had left Reptile alone to deal with the situation, knowing that if they were the ones to stir rumours, either the master of souls would haunt them in life and death, or Erron would point a gun at them in their sleep. No, the Zaterran could deal with it instead, without consequences.

‘What in the elder gods!’ Reptile cried out, his hands grasping onto his scalp from terror.

Erron whistled and finally dropped his hands, casting a small smirk down at the construct who eventually, albeit reluctantly, also dropped his arms. ‘’Bout time you found out anyway, Reptile,’ the cowboy shrugged as he nonchalantly walked over to the Zaterran. ‘The hell you doin’ here anyway? And with all of Outworld’s guards?’

‘This is forbidden!’ Reptile hissed at them as he scurried inside and closed the door, as if half the guards within the palace hadn’t just seen the couple. ‘I heard gunfire and assumed it was a Dragon clan, not this jarring revelation!’

‘Really?’ Erron scoffed in utter disbelief. ‘How the hell is this forbidden? We had our First Minister sleeping with Kotal for who knows how long. Hell, I’m not gonna act surprised when she claims that half her hive were bred by both of them!’

Ermac winced. ‘We do not want to imagine that.’

‘I was aware,’ Reptile snarled, also not wanting to remember such events.

‘You knew? Where the hell was this attitude for those two?’

Reptile sneered at them with folded arms. ‘Explain the truth, and then I may relay it to the emperor in a kinder fashion.’

‘He knows.’

‘By the elder gods!’ The Zaterran stressed out again, squinting at the two. ‘Has the entire realm known for aeons? And I had been excluded?’

Ermac and Erron glanced at each other, before shrugging. ‘The signs were there,’ Ermac began to answer with a care-free tone. ‘We know Zaterrans are very observant, and yet you are an anomaly.’

‘That is a powerfully bold statement, coming from yourself,’ Reptile sneered again, with an additional lick of the lips for his following, daring words. ‘I had never imagined you, a strong construct created for the throne and the wielder of the dead, to stoop low for a mercenary.’

‘The fuck?’

‘Hold your snake tongue!’ Ermac growled out. ‘Lest we rip it out of you.’

He dares to insult Erron?

When he has failed his race?

That was a ruthless insult, Syzoth is our ally.

To a degree.

As the two Outworlders stepped closer to brew the fire, Erron rubbed the back of his neck and stood there dumbly. ‘Alright, this is gettin’ outta hand.’

‘Coming from a whore,’ the Zaterran retorted, as though all resistance had left him entirely and he freely spoke his mind. ‘I recall your intimacy with the majority of Shao Kahn’s army, but now you resort to thousands of dead beings?’

‘That’s outta line, Reptile. And one hell of an exaggeration– I didn’t sleep with all those people.’

Ermac scowled at the Zaterran. ‘You are merely envious. Continue your worthless insults, and we will declare you no longer our ally.’

‘Shit– Okay, let’s take a breath.’

Behind the closed door, two out of the many guards had stayed back out of curiosity. To them, Erron was a fierce mercenary who could get a bullseye with his eyes closed. Moreover, Ermac was an intimidating presence that scared the living daylights out of them. But now, caught red-handed, the pair had been reduced to softer versions of such perspectives. The guards were even more curious to know if Reptile, the slithery and aggressive Zaterran in the eyes of the guards, was involved at all.

‘What do we report to the Kahn?’ One of the guards asked wearily, with the enforcer trio still bickering loudly from inside the room.

The other shrugged. ‘They are strong warriors, they can handle this without involving the Kahn–’

Before their eyes, the door burst down from Reptile’s weight after a beam of green illuminated the room. And in an instant, Reptile hissed and scurried off down the hallway, with the being of many souls chasing after him in flight. Erron only managed to climb over the splinter mess in the doorway, when he noticed how far gone the two enforcers were. He briefly glanced back at the idle guards, staring back at the mercenary, before Erron grumbled curses and ran in the direction the others fled to.

‘As my words have echoed,’ said the latter guard with a gesture to the mess. ‘They will handle the conflict themselves.’

Chapter Text

There was a ringing permanent in Erron’s ears, though it wasn’t from the close-range shooting that dropped his enemies like flies. It was from his heart thumping beyond repair, the cognition put into overdrive and had subsequently froze. The thick and sticky blood plaguing his clothes and skin, renewed with fresh bouts of blood from his own wounds. Long ago within the battle, he had lost his hat to the wind, which forced his ringing ears to fully take in the scene before his widened, tearful eyes.

The Kahn’s enforcers had explored all avenues. They strengthened their numbers and thoroughly trained all the realm’s guards, whether it be from their city or from Sun Do, or even the Tarkatans that, after years of developing a civil relationship with the emperor, armed themselves to defend the realm also. The rogue people were prepared also, only for their sakes and their homes, and from the other side of the battlefield.

However, the battlefield had spread far beyond a great amount of the deserts, protruding into the jungles and the wastelands surrounding, inching towards the city. After all, the power within Shinnok’s amulet threatened the masses; everybody found themselves subconsciously shuffling backwards instead of forwards at the enemy. The sand had turned red like the skies, but also like the anger in each enforcer’s eyes.

Raiden had decimated all the land around them, ripping the life out of the realm from the roots, and cast his own people– of which were combined with Netherrealm demons, the Special Forces, the Lin Kuei, and the Shaolin– at the Outworlders. They fought for their god, just as much as the enforcers fought for their own. Head to head with the Earthrealmers were Li Mei’s strongest warriors, along with Reptile, Erron, Ermac, Ferra and Torr. Reptile continued to dig his claws into the enemies from sheer adrenaline, Erron’s fingers had long gone numb from the constant firing and reloading, Ermac had telekinetically destroyed a great deal of the enemies, and Ferra and Torr cast their mini stampede with the utmost of joy.

Kotal refused to believe in hope, not until he had Raiden’s head sat on his palm. He blocked many of Raiden’s attempts against him, despite the power in Shinnok’s amulet, for his Osh-Tekk sword stubbornly persisted back. Raiden hovered to the ground and found the emperor with his fists and lightning bolts, both of them earning mean injuries in the process. Without the sun in the sky, after Shinnok’s bloody red blocked it out, the emperor’s healing slowed to a devastating rate.

Eventually, the enforcers met up with Raiden’s front-line warriors. Reptile immersed himself in combating Sub-Zero with Ferra and Torr, who sought revenge since the last time they had fought. Erron and Ermac challenged the Kombat Kids, though Ermac was more focused on their surrounding enemies that tried to ambush all the enforcers from around, leaving Erron mostly to deal with the four.

‘Y’all had a chance to turn this around,’ Erron muttered to Kung Jin, as Takeda, Cassie and Jacqui found themselves attacked by other Outworlder guards.

‘Speak for yourself, cowboy,’ Jin shrugged.

The two lashed out at one another, with Erron firing his pistols at Jin’s skilful dodging, until the guns went flying out of Erron’s hands. Yet, unexpectedly to the Shaolin, Erron maneuvered around Jin’s hand-combat by performing his own unnatural skills; as if the cowboy had taken a handful of martial art classes.

‘Where did you learn that?’ Jin teased, as he spun back onto his feet from the ground.

Erron grinned behind his mask. ‘Wouldn’t you like to know?’

‘Living in Outworld has given you some perks, I see.’

The mercenary briefly looked over to where Ermac was, watching as the construct devastated any lingering hope in many of the Earthrealm warriors. It was all effortless with the telekinesis, though Erron picked up on how slightly slouched down Ermac was upon landing, along with the dimming glow in his hypnotising green.

Such sights were quickly slapped out of Erron’s view, as his cheek met the brunt force of Jin’s impatient hand. ‘But clearly you weren’t taught about keeping focus,’ he mused at the cowboy.

Erron scoffed as he ignored the brutal pain in his face. ‘I still think this is all bullshit. Raiden doesn’t care about y’all, it’s clear as daylight.’

‘Kotal Kahn threw us to the ground and spat on us.’

‘If y’all were in his shoes, you’d do the same damn thing,’ the mercenary argued back.

‘Damn it, Jin!’ Cassie cursed from afar, and then jogged over to shove the Shaolin aside. ‘I said beat him down, not gossip!’

‘Well then, sugar,’ Erron entertained with the casual swing of his pistols. ‘Let’s dance.’

Our energy has depleted.

Enough of our complaining!

What did that fool do to Erron?

He can handle it.

Should we spare those fools?

Focus!

A second after the exclamation, the master of souls threw aside five Shaolin monks, leaving them bruised on the ground and groaning in unison. No more than a second later, he turned to ambush more warriors that were heading for Reptile, rendering them into a pile of broken bones. Another second later, he protected Ferra and Torr, and in the following second he ensured Erron’s safety. But he lingered more on Erron, watching as the mercenary now fought Cassie Cage instead of Kung Jin.

Yet, his many souls were pulled into a different direction, gravitating towards the powerful, sinful source that instigated this battle in the first place. Raiden, who had beaten Kotal onto the ground.

‘Emperor!’

In an instant, Ermac teleported in front of his emperor, warily staring ahead at Raiden who remained stoic and a few paces back. The Osh-Tekk grunted behind the construct, as he tried to use his sword to get up, but the thunder god had beaten his body down almost irreparably.

‘Stand down, construct,’ Raiden ordered, with the red in his eyes glowing in victory. ‘Or tell this false emperor to surrender Outworld into my hands.’

‘Never,’ Ermac growled back.

What shall we do?

If we teleport the emperor to safety, the thunder god will harm the others.

We will all be harmed, nonetheless.

The emperor is our priority.

But so is the realm.

Especially Erron.

Ermac looked past Raiden at the wasteland cliffs, examining the high, rocky walls that would destroy anything within its valleys from the volume, velocity, and general force of such cliffs. As per the Outworld way, the damage would be thrice as much than if it were Earthrealm’s rocks.

By the elder gods… We cannot!

We have trapped him beneath debris once, we can do it again.

It would provide everybody time to evacuate the area, to replenish our energies and resources.

Otherwise…

Ermac looked down at his emperor pitifully, more so about what he was planning to do next, while Kotal stared up at him with initial confusion before the utmost of concern.

‘Protect Erron, as we have protected you.’

Kotal had meant to utter out a command, one that would forbid the master of souls from going ahead with his reckless plan. Even if he couldn’t whisper it out through his lips, the least he could have said was complete gibberish. Instead, his jaw remained slack, and in his frozen state he tried to reach out to the construct’s leg. Only, Ermac simply teleported out of his weak grasp and glared ahead at Raiden.

‘We are many, you are but one. We were created to serve Outworld and its throne, no matter the imminent threats ahead of us!’

Somehow, the woman who took down Shinnok was losing greatly to the mercenary. Erron had Cassie on the floor too many times for either of them to account for, as it was enough times for Erron to boast about and too many times for Cassie to ever admit.

‘C’mon darlin’, just give up. Give me a real challenge, like that other girl,’ Erron teased Cassie as he stood over her.

Though, he narrowly missed a punch directed to unforbidden territory. ‘Just a warm up, but you’re gonna yee your last haw soon Erron,’ Cassie grumbled as she stumbled back onto her feet.

‘Give us a real challenge!’ A voice called from beside them. Jacqui and Takeda dragged Reptile by his feet, before throwing him at Erron’s feet. ‘This is too easy,’ Takeda grinned at Jacqui, who beamed back at him.

Reptile hissed as he rolled over onto his back, accepting Erron’s helping hand and the steadying of his feet. ‘Ferra and Torr are still capable, but I am not. Where is Ermac?’ He growled at the cowboy.

Erron backed off from the Kombat Kids with Reptile under his wing, looking around for his partner even as the four Earthrealmers steadily approached them. Immediately, his eyes landed on his fallen emperor, along with his usually stubborn construct facing Raiden head on. He couldn’t process it quick enough; by the time he comprehended that Ermac was about to challenge Raiden, the biggest threat on the battlefield, both himself and the thunder god disappeared into an ominous mist of green.

‘No, no no no–’ The mercenary struggled out as he dragged Reptile over with him.

‘Hey! You’re not getting far!’ Jacqui taunted.

However, the ground shook under the wrath of Torr’s thumping, in addition to Ferra’s maniacal laughter. ‘Torr, let’s eat!’ She gestured to the Kombat Kids, who all stared up at the two wearily.

When Erron reached Kotal, who was on his knees and staring ahead at the cliffs, he set down Reptile next to the Osh-Tekk. Though, as rare as it was, the emperor barely acknowledged them, even as Reptile was a hissing, crumpled mess on the floor.

‘Where the fuck did they go?’ Erron asked as he stared in the same direction, but after seeing nothing, he daringly shook Kotal’s firm shoulders with a stern glare. ‘What the hell did he do? Where’d my Mac go, Kotal? Wh–’

The emperor’s unresponsiveness came to an understanding by all on the battlefield. An explosion erupted from within the cliff sides, startling everyone out of their fighting to gawk at the crumbling scene before them. Everyone witnessed the colours of red and green fall from top to bottom, deep into the rubble and eventually out of sight. From the ground, Sub-Zero and his warriors watched quietly. Ferra and Torr, after having slammed Jin and Cassie into the ground, stopped fighting to stare agape at the cliffs.

‘What the fuck was that?’ Cassie grimaced on the ground, feeling her broken ribs.

Jin winced as he rested his head back. ‘Don’t care, unless it’s our ticket out.’

From further ahead, Reptile and Kotal looked at each other with mournful sorrow, as they then looked at Erron’s frozen state and staggered breathing. The permanent ringing in his ears was easily ignored. His heart beat a thousand miles an hour. The bloody stains all over him, new and old, no longer felt significant to the cowboy. And his eyes blurred his vision from the uncontrollable, grieving tears.

‘Aw no, no,’ he said with quivering lips, staggering forward towards the rubble cloud and cliffs. 'No, no...'

Only, a firm grip held him back, and while the master of souls could easily escape such actions, Erron struggled to. A hand on his arm turned into a bear hug, one that turned Erron the other way, far from the gut-wrenching scene.

‘Erron, we must–’

‘No!’ The mercenary wailed and kicked. He dug his heels into the sand, but his prevailing failed under Kotal’s toppling strength. ‘Leave me here if ya have to. Mac!’

‘Erron.’

‘Mac!’ Erron blatantly cried out past Kotal’s arms, continuing to do so until his wasted energy left his body pathetically limp.

The Zaterran bowed his head, hearing the whole ordeal; the agony in Erron’s voice, the worthless attempts to escape the Osh-Tekk’s caring embrace. Reptile looked across at Ferra and Torr, of which had foregone fighting anybody to process the scene ahead of them. While Torr could understand it less, Ferra understood it crystal clear, especially from Reptile’s mournful frown.

Her irresistible tears and clinging onto Torr also conveyed the message to the Kombat Kids. ‘Damn,’ Jin murmured from the ground. ‘Do we think either of them made it?’

‘We will find out,’ Sub-Zero said as he walked over to them. ‘For now, we must retreat back to Earthrealm.’ Whether he doubted the survival of both the construct and thunder god or not, he knew that if the cliff sides had claimed both lives, it would be irredeemably malicious to continue the battle, even if he could not empathise with Outworld. ‘Come, before the Outworlders seek immediate justice and avenge their warrior.’

Through their technology, they ordered a portal from the other side with their precise coordinates. Though, after all the others had entered, Jin was left watching Cassie who, in all her throbbing heart, frowned at the sight of Outworld’s disastrous council. Erron continued to plead with everyone and everything, despite Kotal’s firm hold on the grieving mercenary, and she saw how Reptile could only look down at the sand, even as Ferra wailed into Torr’s legs from the other direction.

‘Come on, they won’t wait forever for us,’ Jin warned.

Hesitantly, she scowled at him as she turned around to leave also. ‘This could’ve been avoided, Jin. It could’ve gone down differently.’

No more than later into the evening, a funeral was arranged. Between the incident and the funeral, the Osh-Tekk set aside all his overwhelming sadness to arrange all necessities: the recovery of corpses, the reassurance to Outworld’s people that the threat had been eliminated, for now. Of course, most importantly, he arranged a funeral parade through the streets with the casket of his prized enforcer– former prized enforcer.

A friend, a dear relative, even if that being was a construct wielding thousands of souls, deemed as the master of souls. From the day Ermac met him, to the day Ermac betrayed Mileena for him, to the days where Kotal recognised a brewing relationship between two enforcers, and ultimately, the day where Ermac wholly sacrificed himself.

Now, he stood behind the door to Erron’s room. The mercenary hadn’t come out since they returned to the palace. He couldn’t help with the recovery of bodies, the reassurance necessary to output, nor with any of the funeral arrangements. Each time Kotal walked past, contemplating if he ought to intrude into Erron’s pained crying, the cowboy wasn’t getting any better. This time, he only heard an eerie silence.

As soon as he walked into the room, the overpowering stench of alcohol wrinkled his nose. Erron sat by the fireplace, taking a swing at what appeared to be his fifth bottle, if the four empty ones beside him were anything to go by.

‘Erron,’ Kotal softly called out.

Immediately, the sound of Erron’s small, disappointed huff made the emperor’s frown deepen. ‘You have some balls to come in here.’

The Osh-Tekk sighed. ‘Erron, watch your tone. I mean no ill.’

‘No? ‘Course not,’ Erron chuckled as he turned around, glaring daggers at the emperor with his black-stained eye-make-up. ‘But I ain’t goin’ to a funeral that you caused.’

Kotal scorned him with his scowl. ‘Watch your tongue. You may grieve–’

‘I may? I goddamn will!’

The cowboy reached into his holster and steadily aimed it at the Osh-Tekk, ignoring the way that Kotal staggered back with eyes full of disbelief. ‘Erron, where are your senses?’

‘I was gonna use this on me, y’know,’ Erron confessed, with a prominent quiver behind his voice. ‘I’d use it on Raiden, but he’s long gone, accordion’ to the guards.’ As drunk as the cowboy was, Erron failed to falter his aim on the emperor at all. ‘Who’s the asshole that didn’t stop him? Do you get off on these sacrifices?’

Kotal sneered at him. ‘It was his decision. I could not have–’

Bang!

‘Erron!’

‘Wha– Shit–’ Erron bolted out of the sheets, as tangled as they were between him and his partner. Their bare legs were intertwined, their bare chests shared different kinds of heat; while Erron’s chest pounded from his horrifying, grievous nightmare, Ermac’s chest pounded out of concern and swirled the familiarly illuminating green beneath the skin. Ermac’s hands cupped Erron’s flustered face, thumbs swiping the sweat away, with those perfect glowing eyes searching Erron’s eyes in a panic.

‘Erron?’ The construct echoed through to the mercenary.

But the cowboy couldn’t express all his seven stages of grief, he couldn’t express the relief he felt, he could only shed the tears that would explain such feelings. ‘Just a bad dream, sweetheart,’ Erron soothed both himself and the construct, as he smoothed his hands over the ones cupping his face.

Ermac frowned and pulled away. ‘We will bring you honey tea, then–’

‘No!’ Erron yelped as he latched onto the construct’s thinner wrists, clamping down onto them with his aggressive desperation. Only, when he saw Ermac both jolt and very slightly wince, as per a natural reaction to such force, Erron released his grip with wide, startled eyes. ‘Shit– I’m sorry, I’m real sorry. Fuck, I–’

‘Erron,’ Ermac interrupted with a calm tone, softly spoken from thousands of souls, as he encased Erron’s hands in his own glowing ones. ‘You need not apologise, we understand. We will stay by your side until you say otherwise.’

‘Ermac,’ the tearful mercenary whispered, with his forehead lightly pressing to the construct’s, of which reciprocated. ‘Please stay here.’

‘We will.’

Chapter Text

They were quirks undercover to the rest of the realm, for the most part. They were quirks that only the pair could notice the most in a room full of people, most commonly. The quirks disregarded circumstances, whether it be in combat or in their leisure time.

Erron’s eyes were locked on his target, of which was one of his many favourite quirks about the master of souls. As Kotal rambled about ambushing a particular gang in the desert land, which was fed upon by Reptile’s keen nature, Erron smirked under his mask as Ermac fully spaced out during it all. Well, Erron knew he wasn’t ignoring the emperor, the construct was taking aboard all the details and started discussing it amongst his internal democracy.

Each time Ermac spaced out to consult his collection, Erron wondered what exactly was being said. Did any of the souls swear? Spout random gibberish? Intensify intrusive thoughts? Or did they genuinely, with each soul individually, focus on the plan laid out in front of them? Ultimately they had to, Erron figured, as Ermac finally answered the emperor with the most carefully constructed suggestion, as if it took a lot of willpower for his souls to come to a consensus.

‘We believe spying on the camp would be ideal, to forego any unwanted violence that would inevitably happen with confrontation.’

So, Erron decided to poke fun at the quirk.

‘Damn Mac,’ Erron whistled and stretched his arms upwards, arching his back to puff out his chest. ‘That’s a badass suggestion. Where’d you get that clever idea from, huh?’

Immediately, Ermac stiffened up, as tense as a wooden plank, with his face reddening with each invasive thought.

He is teasing us.

Has his chest gotten stronger?

Enough!

He is staring at us.

The plan!

He–

[Edenian curses].

As the construct crashed out, Kotal glanced over at Erron’s mischievous eyes and dismissed the situation, despite Reptile scoffing at the pair from next to Erron.

‘You imbeciles,’ the Zaterran muttered bitterly.

Erron tutted him as he continued to stare at the construct, enjoying the way that Ermac’s eyes were staring back widely, all with his entire being in a flustered state; his souls dispersed around the air and floated across the table, landing exactly on Erron and nobody else, even as Ferra protested for a soul orb to land on her.

But if it wasn’t discussing combative agendas, it was the situations where Erron would almost dread the thoughts behind Ermac’s spaced out eyes. The mercenary remembered when one of the guards was scheming against Reptile, who was peacefully eating an apple and staring out from the balcony. They carelessly gossiped about the Zaterran’s lacking abilities as an enforcer, and followed up their gossip with the plan to prank Reptile with a tainted apple.

Low and behold, Ermac had started walking up towards the room when he heard whispering, with Erron tailing behind. And if Erron wasn’t so fixated on Ermac’s quirk, he would have also taken this to be a lesson: If you whisper in Outworld, it means you’re up to no good. He learned this as soon as Ermac stopped both himself and Erron from continuing further, hiding them around the corner to eavesdrop.

‘Wh–’

Erron said no more, as Ermac whipped around to glare him down.

The longer they eavesdropped and heard the guards’ words, of which had been translated later by Ermac– in the construct’s refined version, which led Erron to wonder if the guards had said worse things about the Zaterran–, the more Ermac spaced out towards the ground. If one can help it, they ought to never piss off thousands of the undead in one sitting. The construct’s fists curled with bubbling energy at the fingertips, the torches on the wall around them had been blown out from the radiating anger, and Ermac’s death glare into the void made Erron tense up.

Damn that’s hot, Erron thought. But he’s sure as hell thinkin’ ‘bout all the ways to kill those sons of bitches.

Inside the soul collection, the guards’ haunting whispers had disturbed each individual soul.

Rip their intestines out through the mouth.

Or from the other end.

Perhaps we ought to poison their food.

Deliver their heads to their families.

Of course, as Ermac turned the corner to fulfil his desires, the fire burned down when a third guard had interrupted the gossip session, scolding the two guards and forcing them to march onward. As they walked past the construct, and Erron who sheepishly shuffled behind to watch an anticipated bloody scene, the guards all bowed and moved on.

‘Damnit,’ Erron grumbled.

Ermac peered over from the bookcase, watching as Erron fiddled with one of his prized pistols. It was one he often didn’t use, yet he cared for it as if it was a slab of gold. Although, despite his devotion towards it, a piece to its puzzle had been damaged and Erron was trying to fix it into top shape again.

Curious, the construct hovered over and gently sat next to him at the desk. ‘How did that happen?’

Erron sighed. ‘I heard a clang this mornin’ when I was fishing out my boots, must’ve been this hunk of metal.’

As the mercenary fixated on the pistol, content with Ermac watching, he grumbled and groaned his way through each step’s complication. This was the quirk that drove the construct insane, a good insane. Erron’s thumb fiddling with the broken piece earned a disappointed, prolonged groan when the fiddling went wrong. When Erron tried to pry a metal part from it, he grumbled with heavy breath at the pistol in Earthrealmer gibberish.

So much noise, for a still weapon to hear.

Such a waste,

When he could make those noises for those more animated.

The master of souls irresistibly stared at the mercenary, which Erron hadn’t noticed until he finally, with a victorious groan and grin, fixed the piece for the pistol and turned to the star-struck construct.

‘What?’ He asked, his face beaming in delight from both the fixed gun and from the construct’s attention.

Ermac chuckled. ‘You made quite the noise for your weapon.’

Erron wanted to slap away his own blushing. ‘Oh yeah? Did’ya like the music?’ He teased. Though, he couldn’t fathom what Ermac meant: what noise? He was as quiet as a mouse, surely, as he concentrated on fixing his gun.

The construct quirked a brow and then smirked, snaking the gun out from Erron’s care to settle on the desk. ‘You have no idea. But it puzzles us as to why you grumble and groan for your weapons, when you also do the same in bed.’

Immediately, Erron choked on that. ‘I was?’

The sounds drove the master of souls crazy in the privacy of their rooms, and so when the mercenary subconsciously played such noises in front of friends, foes, those within the palace and those outside of it, the construct’s souls felt immense jealousy.

Attacked by many Tarkatans, the two darted down a darker alleyway that sheltered them temporarily from the combat, providing enough time for the pair to gather their bearings. While Erron panted heavily, with his body bent forward to rest his back muscles, Ermac double-checked that no Tarkatans followed them before he walked up to the mercenary; a purposeful strut that made Erron perk up.

‘What’s wrong?’ Erron asked, watching the construct’s stoic expression and meaningful march. ‘Not enough time to–’

And then, as per the will of many souls, Ermac moved Erron up towards the brick wall with a firm grip on the mercenary’s clothes, following such aggressive actions with the dismissal of Erron’s mask and with a passionate kiss. Erron greedily reciprocated, gripping firmly onto the construct’s hips as he leaned deeper into the kiss. Yet, this taken aback agency was interrupted by Ermac’s palm to Erron’s chest, creating a strict distance between them.

‘You were doing it again,’ Ermac scolded with his disapproving, narrowed eyes. ‘It leaves us wondering if our time in bed is more combative than meaningful.’

Erron irresistibly laughed aloud at that. ‘I’m a loud guy, Mac. I’m gonna grunt like a pig putting a Tarkatan into a headlock, and I’m gonna grunt like hell if I’m pounding ya–’

‘Erron!’

‘Aw hell, did I say that too loudly?’ The cowboy teased with a wink, picking back up his mask. ‘Or do I gotta leave this off for a little while? We’ve got time.’

Alternative quirks involved far less arousing incidents, to some degree. The master of souls, a nickname often mentioned behind the construct’s back, was incredibly fitting for the being. He was as stealthy as an Earthrealmer’s ‘Ghost’, as soundless as a soul, but ever the more a haunting being when his presence is finally noticed in the room.

‘Emperor.’

Erron snorted as the emperor jumped out of his skin, cursed out Osh-Tekk under his stern tongue, and dropped his sword in the process of being spooked. How long has Mac been working for him, and still spooks the shit outta this big rooster? The thought greatly enhanced Erron’s smirk.

‘Ermac,’ Kotal cleared his throat, awkwardly accepting the sword that nearby servants rushed to pick up for him.

Each time the construct appeared out of thin air, startling one’s soul out of their body, he timidly folded his arms and took a step back. ‘We apologise. We have urgent news about Shang Tsung’s island, as there appears to be activity on the deserted land.’

The Osh-Tekk was quick to forgive the master of souls. After all, it was never done maliciously, to him specifically. He couldn’t say the same for others.

‘C’mon Reptile,’ Erron grumbled to the Zaterran. It was lunch-time in the throne room, with the occasional group of guards munching on food, Ferra and Torr gnawing at any of the remains distantly, though the emperor was yet to arrive and greet them. ‘It’s a good idea.’

Reptile spat on his shoe, resulting in the acid burning through the leather, much to Erron’s scolding glare. ‘I will not subject myself to a partner . I will not stoop as low as you and Ermac, not while there are threats breathing down our necks!’

‘Right, ‘cause every day you’re hauling ass to take down every asshole out there,’ the mercenary doubted.

‘Do not mock me!’

‘He is justified to,’ said the ghostly being from behind, startling Reptile enough to jump around and slash his claws at Ermac’s sudden presence. Only, a swift use of green magic had set aside Reptile and his ego, leaving the Zaterran deflated and glowering at the construct. ‘But there are endless benefits to intimacy, ones that we, as many, can list from dawn to dusk.’

Erron grinned uncontrollably behind his mask. ‘Such as partnering together to ambush an idiot, who thinks he’s better off without getting off.’

'What are you insinuating, you Earthrealmer filth!'

On the contrary, the entire realm and beyond would know if Erron walked into a room. It was less by the heavy walking done by his cowboy boots, nor was it from the jangling of his belt’s items or his intimidating pistols. Perhaps one could smell the Earthrealmer off of him from the other side of the palace, whether it be from Reptile’s intrusive nose or Ermac’s impeccable soul-sensing magic.

‘Goddamn.’

Erron strutted into the hall, hands on his hips and his whistling echoing across the entire room. Dozens of guards were lined up as per Ermac’s order, and they all turned their heads to watch the cowboy enter, as if there wasn’t an imminent threat heading their way.

‘Have y’all seen the storm over there? It’s gonna be rough, I’m tellin’ y’all that. But hell, if sand ain’t down your lungs already, then are ya even in Outworld?’ Erron tutted about the storm, as he walked up to stand beside Ermac who had blinked blankly at him. ‘Don’t you worry your pretty eyes, Mac. It’s still bright out there, so bright that I outta lasso the sun and pocket it for the emperor. He ought to give me a raise for that, huh?’

With the gentlest, yet purposeful pinch to Erron’s arm, Ermac gestured ahead at the guards who awaited for their orders; albeit with their eyes either curious or frustrated at the mercenary.

‘Perhaps, a raise will be earned after we lead the emperor’s army to Sun Do, where the storm has most affected Outworld,’ Ermac articulated across the hall, with the serious nature of their objective stifling any wittiness from the cowboy.

Of course the mercenary could read the room, if one had provided him any Intel before he entered said room. If it wasn’t marching into a hall full of guards, all ready to protect Sun Do’s citizens to the best of their ability, all while Erron spouted his unserious nonsense, then it was a more graver circumstance.

The construct failed to always protect the cowboy in such circumstances.

When the emperor had gathered the council together, all but Erron had managed to sit down and hear the Osh-Tekk express devastating matters. The amount of arson against the marketplace had amounted to many failed businesses, a handful of deaths from the uncontrolled flames at times, and an uprising of arsonists who insist that they know where the true arsonists were. It was a ripple effect that stressed the emperor into many migraines, into sleepless nights, and it left all the enforcers present keen to resolve this.

Only, as the last enforcer to walk in, Erron opened the doors and allowed them to slam shut from their sheer weight.

‘Well, someone’s gotta be dying if we were all called here in a heartbeat,’ Erron obnoxiously said as he strutted over to the table, oblivious to the eyes that laid on him. Kotal’s eyes were furious, his patience clearly wavering with the mercenary. Reptile sneered at him with his sharp eyes, though Erron’s careless words hardly surprised the Zaterran. Ferra snickered to Torr at the cowboy’s intrusion on the room’s dark atmosphere, in which the brute responded to her with his attempt at laughter. And Ermac’s eyes expressed the deepest of regrets in not retrieving Erron sooner, being the first to avert his eyes away as he awaited for the emperor’s lecture.

‘Yes, there have been deaths , Black,’ Kotal’s stern eyes pierced Erron’s increasingly embarrassed ones. ‘I ought to provide each grieving family a limb from your remorseless body.’

‘Hold on now,’ Erron immediately shuffled towards the table, reaching his designated place towards the end of it. ‘I’m sorry ‘bout that. I’m all hands on deck, I promise.’

‘You test me, Erron,’ Kotal sighed out. ‘You are all dismissed.’

Erron squinted. ‘The hell? Y’know this place is huge, I didn’t come here for nothin’ –’

‘All except Black, naturally,’ the emperor finished, resting firm hands on the table with a fire in his eyes.

As Erron cursed himself silly under his breath, he caught Ermac’s sympathetic look before disappearing out of the room with the others.

Loudly, Erron swung open the door to his room and slammed it shut. ‘Son of a bitch,’ the mercenary scoffed about towards his bed, where he kicked his boots off and plopped down onto it with an exhausted grunt. The emperor took away his week’s worth of wages, all because he hadn’t arrived on time and regretfully, insensitively, remarked about the very legitimate grief that demanded the council’s efforts.

‘Erron–’

‘Fuck!’ The cowboy jumped, consequently falling off the bed’s ledge. He stared up to see Ermac’s both apologetic and pitiful eyes, as the construct seemingly teleported inside without Erron’s acknowledgement; however long Ermac had been there was a mystery to never be solved. Erron stayed on the floor, all with his hat fallen off and his feet in the air, so he put the cherry on top of the cake by removing his mask and getting comfy against the planks. ‘Sorry, should’ve expected that.’

Ermac frowned and climbed off the bed, kneeled down next to the cowboy who slapped a hand over his face. ‘What became of your lecture?’ The construct dared to ask.

‘He’s revoked my pay for the week,’ the mercenary grumbled out from under his palm. ‘I didn’t mean to do all that, y’know.’

The master of souls hummed. ‘But it would not hurt you to think before you speak, sometimes,’ he said with honest advice, paired with a gentle hand smoothing over Erron’s hair. The other finally let loose his hand to look up at Ermac’s kind smile, which earned a lazy, love-struck smile by Erron. ‘Please, let us help you off this floor.’

With all the time and space in the world, the pair held onto one another until they reached the bed, where Ermac parted ways to seek out cups of tea. By the time he returned, Erron had settled more into the bed and considered his punishment more thoughtfully, all with his usual grunts and groans that often came with hard-thinking. The emperor wasn’t entirely wrong to revoke his pay, after he insulted the dead and arrived late; beforehand, he was simply lazing about in the courtyard to watch out for anybody in distress. Erron knew that if he were emperor, he would be just as upset at Kotal if the Osh-Tekk were his enforcer.

By the time he came to terms with it, he found his hands cupped around a mug of green tea, and with a pair of bright green eyes swooning over him. Instantly, Erron smirked and groaned for extra measure.

‘Am I being too loud?’

‘If this tea were a serpent, you would have aroused it awake already,’ Ermac teased, as he sat cross-legged in front of Erron on the bed, with his green tea warmed by his glowing hands.

A sinful glint came over Erron’s eyes. ‘That wouldn’t be the only kind of snake that I can charm, y’know.’

The construct scoffed at the mercenary, who chuckled amusedly and sipped his tea. Though, as peaceful as the content silence was in the room, Erron watched as Ermac momentarily spaced out, his tea untouched and steadily held despite the spiralling thoughts.

Perhaps we can persuade the emperor otherwise.

No, Erron ought to understand and learn from his punishment.

Then we will take care of him for the week, if need be.

Would we be interrupting his punishment?

We could have prevented this, we sensed him the entire time, from the courtyard to the throne room.

‘Hey now, sunshine,’ Erron cooed as he set aside his tea on the nightstand, and then brought Ermac’s cup closer to the construct’s lips. ‘Y’know you don’t gotta do anything about this. I understand why Kotal’s done this, even if it’s a real thorn in my side.’

Ermac begged to protest with his eyes, but the cowboy insisted with the closer the cup was to Ermac’s lips. Begrudgingly, he took a gentle sip, allowing the warm drink to soothe his many souls from a bitter anguish.

‘Thank you,’ the master of souls said in bliss.

‘You’re mighty welcome,’ said the charming cowboy.

Chapter Text

The master of souls refused to call them nightmares, but once in a blue moon, he would have these supposed night terrors. If not the recollection of his worst moments, it would otherwise be the memories of each soul replaying over and over until dawn.

This night, it played out the same as each time. There Ermac laid, arms and legs restrained to the ancient table, with Mileena on the table to his right and Johnny Cage to his left. The construct would turn his head right and see Mileena’s terror in the eyes, and then to his left, almost relishing in the experience of Cage expressing his own fear; only the construct would relish in it if he, also, was not stuck in the same situation as everyone else. Then, he was made to watch everyone become possessed by the sin of Shinnok’s powers, all through the bloody dagger.

‘And death is order, which is why we must destroy the great evil that is Netherrealm.’

As Mileena walked past Ermac’s feet, freed and possessed, grinning at the helpless construct as she left him be, another figure stepped into view with the amulet dangling close.

‘This what we saved you for, Ermac…’

Havik’s voice came through more clearly, all with his insane grin leaning over the table, allowing the amulet to begin absorbing Ermac’s many souls. Although the master of souls had remembered this moment countless times, it still made him thrash out against his restraints and grimace in horror.

‘Raiden’s cosmic barriers protect Netherrealm as much as they blockade it. But by charging the amulet with your many souls, we’ll punch right through–’

Fortunately, the nightmarish experience came to an end, always by the fortunate presence of Takeda. Ermac even looked across to see his hero, as much as he despised to call the child that. Only, he laid eyes on the darkness that swallowed his whole being. There was no more Havik, no more amulet sucking the life out of him, and no more ancient chambers. Furthermore, Ermac collapsed onto the dark abyss that seemed to have a floor, with his eyes wide while he tried to sense anything or anyone.

This does not happen in these…

In these horrific recollections.

‘That is because this is no recollection,’ murmured a voice of many from the darkness. As Ermac sat on the mysterious ground, he stared out at the figure that started to make itself known. The figure had green eyes, just like Ermac, with a hood notoriously similar to Ermac’s own. Only, the figure wore less of a hefty coat and more of a combative outfit, with no bandages in sight to cover the pale, undead skin. Yet, the signature mark on the chest resembled all too well with none other than the construct.

Ermac stood back up, wearily staring at his somewhat clone. ‘Are you from the future? We are aware of the conspiracies surrounding the elder gods, and their manipulation with time.’

The clone removed its mask, expressing an impressed smirk. ‘That is impressive, if one considers how naive your timeline is.’

Ermac scowled. ‘They are mere conspiracies, overheard from Raiden’s gibberish.’

‘It is no gibberish,’ said the clone of many souls. ‘We are Ermac, from a different timeline.’

This is foolish.

Which one of us is doing this?

It is not our doing.

‘It is our doing,’ the clone proudly said, extending out his glowing green hand. ‘But we have common ground to cover, Ermac.’

‘Do not trespass into our collection!’ The construct sneered, his hands beaming with aggression as opposed to the clone’s welcoming ones. ‘You are a mockery of us, made by Shang Tsung, delivered here to torment us.’

The clone stepped back with raised hands, humming as he analysed all of Ermac. ‘We understand the reasoning behind your wrath. Shao Kahn has devastated this Outworld, your current Kahn struggles to amend it, and you wield more power than you are permitted to use. Quan Chi treated our embodiment with pride, while your sorcerers took advantage of you with mistreatment.’ 

Before Ermac could retort, either through words or by shooting a soul blast at the clone, the other clasped his hands together calmly. ‘In our timeline, we are reunited with peace and purpose. Our Outworld thrives, with the strong influence of Edenians, and Earthrealm respects Outworld highly. Raiden is no elder god, but rather, Liu Kang had been. Most important of all,’ he said as his voice of many reduced to one, his eyes no longer beaming his usual green. ‘I, Jerrod, am capable of taking over the collection.’

Ermac’s eyes blew wide. The green in his hands dissipated at the revelation, so stunned that he stumbled back by a few steps, wearily staring at his clone. ‘How so? Our Jerrod cannot–’

‘He has been,’ claimed the clone. ‘But your collection of souls is more impressive than mine, as they have all united over grave decisions; your choice to betray Mileena and serve Kotal Kahn, your choice to spare lives and intentionally kill, and your choice to love Erron Black.’ To the latter, the clone smiled. ‘Across all the other timelines, your complete awareness and strong democracy overpowers the rest of us.’

Other timelines…

It was too much information to wield in his hands. As though the clone anticipated it, as he had been doing already, the clone moved out of the way from Ermac’s charged up soul blast and frowned at the present construct.

‘Enough of this manipulation!’ Ermac exclaimed, hands charged with more attacks. ‘This is nonsense created by Shang Tsung. Where is the sorcerer!’

The clone sighed, his eyes returning to green and his voice speaking for the many again. ‘We will return when you have regained your sanity. After you and Black retrieve the talisman, foretelling the likes of Onaga, we will seek you out again.’

With an outcry, Ermac darted forward with his green energy swarming the darkness, only the clone inches away from his hands had dissipated into dust. The construct was left free-falling towards the ground, where the dark void uncovered the bottom of a pit filled with gigantic spikes. And yet, the construct failed to use his flight, failed to use his teleportation, left to cry out from the pain of being impaled.

His eyes snapped open just as his rear hit the floor, echoing the thump throughout his cold room. The fire had died out in front of him, his legs were still crossed for his meditating, though the nightmare must have derailed his concentration and diminished his hovering ability.

‘By the elders…’

He felt his abdomen, having had it impaled in his nightmare, before he looked across towards the bed. Erron was still asleep, cuddling the blankets and snoring lightly, the sight bringing a soft smile over the construct’s shaken state. He relit the fire with the ease of his magic, relieving a shaky breath.

‘Merely, it was another night terror.’

As to not disturb the mercenary, the construct extended his feet out towards the fire and laid down on the carpet, gazing up at the wooden beams until light peered through the curtains.

When light peered through, Ermac was set on his way to fulfil his routine. A nightmare would not disrupt his flow, he refused to allow it to. With coffee presented to the emperor, who appeared in the throne room with a content smile, the coffee was taken and the construct was left slightly puzzled. It was adamantly clear that Ermac was not to invade the emperor’s mind, no matter how tempting it was at times.

Though, the Osh-Tekk was gladly an open book. ‘It is, what the Earthrealms would call, ‘Christmas’ today.’

Ermac hummed and stared at him skeptically. ‘We have heard of it.’

‘I am led to believe that, through this tradition, the realm may not be attacked if the Earthrealmers are occupied with Christmas .’

The master of souls smiled slightly. That was why the emperor was happy. ‘If only the outcasts of this realm understood those notions, then we may all have a single day of peace.’

Kotal sighed down at his coffee. ‘It is unfortunate that the realm’s corners cannot agree with my agenda.’

Peace and purpose.

Outworld thrives.

Raiden is no elder god.

Swiftly, Ermac peered over his shoulder, though he found no clone of his. Instead, the guards posted at the doors stared back at him, puzzled by the attention directed their way. The construct gave off a slight huff and looked down instead, aggravated by his souls spiralling from the nightmare. It was simply a nightmare.

After Reptile and Ferra entered the room, with Torr trailing behind, they all waited for Erron to enter. Though when the cowboy had, Erron walked straight over to Ermac and pecked his cheek. ‘Good mornin’,’ he greeted flirtatiously, all with his hands resting firm on the construct’s hips.

At least, with their status out in the open, Erron could flaunt it all he wanted, even as Ermac froze up with little to no response.

‘I am no longer hungry,’ Reptile muttered from afar, scorning the pair with his narrowed eyes.

The emperor chuckled at them all. ‘Please, eat plenty. Today, we shall be victorious from Earthrealm’s distracting tradition: Christmas .’

As if the elder gods cursed him, a handful of guards rushed through the doors and bowed down to the Osh-Tekk’s feet, hurriedly pouring out all that they knew: a portal lit up near the jungle, Earthrealmers were spat out, gunfire there ever since. Those facts were all Kotal picked up, before he stood up with his Christmas spirit shattered.

‘Ermac, Erron,’ he addressed the enforcers, whose attention was dead set on the Osh-Tekk. ‘Investigate this matter, immediately. There shall be no Earthrealmers roaming the realm, not on this day.’

‘Yes, emperor,’ they both said and rushed out.

‘The rest of us will remain around the palace, in case the Earthrealmers require my attention.’

The pair followed the same squad of guards towards the jungle’s outskirts, already hearing the gunfire and voices. After they maneuvered around the trees and took cover, they had better insight into the Earthrealmers that had arrived: Cassie and Jin, being attacked by dozens of guns from who Erron presumed to be Black Dragons.

‘Mac, I’m real ready to get rid of all the Dragons, once and for all,’ the cowboy grumbled.

Ermac frowned. ‘But the Special Forces are here. Will this provoke Raiden?’

As much as Erron wanted to recite aloud his bravery against the thunder god, his nightmare about Ermac’s downfall against the thunder god quickly had Erron stumbling over his thoughts. ‘Shit, we don’t want that to happen,’ he said for his more selfish reasons.

Raiden is no elder god.

Earthrealm respects Outworld highly.

You wield more power than you are permitted to use.

‘Plan, Mac?’ Erron whispered after he switched trees to Ermac’s tree, watching with concern as the construct spaced out. ‘C’mon, it’s not the time to dwell on stuff.’

The master of souls sighed out. ‘Regardless of the Special Forces, this commotion poses a risk to the neighbouring villages. We will ambush the Dragons, to see if the Special Forces will not attack us.’

With ease, the plan carried out as having the pair ambush the Dragons, while Cassie and Jin took cover behind the trees. Ermac’s green telekinesis hauled bodies past the Earthrealmers’ faces, while Erron’s precise gunfire had dropped bodies in seconds. At the end of it all, once silence reached the Earthrealmers’ ears, they both rolled out from the tree with their weapons raised. Only, the enforcers were not in plain sight. A swift drop down onto Jin from the trees, and Erron was on his back. With simple teleportation, Ermac had Cassie’s gun in his hands and her back pressed against a tree.

‘Looks like they planned to kill us, Mac,’ Erron mused, as he deepened his knee into Jin’s lower back.

‘We thought you guys would,’ Jin remarked through an agonised hiss.

Now with Cassie pinned by the master of souls, she raised her hands up in surrender and expressed her regrets. ‘We’re sorry, okay? We wouldn’t have attacked you guys, just wanted to arm ourselves in case you guys attacked us.’

‘It would be nonsensical to preserve your lives, only to strip them away afterwards,’ Ermac glared at her. ‘State your business.’

‘Our business isn’t with you guys!’ Jin exclaimed from under Erron’s weight, earning himself more pain on his lower back.

‘Anytime y’all step foot into Outworld, it becomes our business,’ the cowboy spat.

We sense that they mean no ill.

After all, they attacked the Dragons.

A service to Outworld.

Ermac released Cassie from his grasp and stepped back, though as she looked down at the gun in his hand to take it, he held it further away from her. ‘State your business,’ he repeated more sternly.

She sighed. ‘Just– Kano has something that Earthrealm wants, but we didn’t know they were going to Outworld. We thought the portal led to their base.’

‘Bullshit.’

‘Not bullshit,’ Jin argued back to the mercenary, despite being forced to eat the dirt each time he spoke.

We had done the same with Kano.

But the Earthrealmers cannot know that.

‘What is the item sacred to?’ Ermac pursued Cassie’s facts.

She bit her cheek. ‘Look, if we go back to Earthrealm now, we’ll speak highly of you guys–’ As soon as Ermac stepped forward with his glare worth many daggers, she succumbed to the question. ‘It belongs to Outworld, okay?’

‘You couldn’t just lie, Cass?’ Jin scoffed.

‘He can read my mind!’

‘We should’ve brought Takeda, like I said–’

‘Shut up, Jin!’

Both Erron and Ermac looked at one another, amused at the bickering that resembled too close to home. It appeared that every council had a group that bickered constantly. The construct gestured for Erron to sit Jin up, allowing Ermac to also take Jin’s bow and arrows. As he went ahead to search through the corpses for a sacred item, Cassie daringly started to tip-toe aside.

‘Don’t even try it, darlin’,’ Erron tutted her down. ‘You can’t outrun him, believe me.’

She rolled her eyes and stayed close to the tree. ‘We’re not here to threaten the emperor.’

‘Stealin’ what belongs to Outworld threatens his peace of mind.’

‘Steal?’ Jin snorted. ‘Kano stole it, now–’ With a strong, combined effort, Jin swiveled in the bear hug as Cassie kicked at Erron’s knees, forcing the cowboy to release Jin and succumb to a punch across his jaw.

The mercenary stumbled back, though he didn’t retaliate as he watched the two Earthrealmers become engulfed in telekinetic green. Ermac returned with a disappointed look, checking over Erron while the Earthrealmers suffocated in the many souls.

‘Let’s give ‘em to the emperor,’ Erron insisted.

‘No, there is value in their objective,’ he said also to the Earthrealmers. ‘Lest they prefer to die in this jungle, devoured by beasts.’

We’ll speak highly of you guys.

Earthrealm respects Outworld highly.

Our Outworld thrives.

Frustrated by the constant reminder of his nightmare, Ermac let down the Earthrealmers and marched up to them both. ‘Enough of this!’ He scolded, with the voice of many annoyed souls. ‘The sacred item is not amongst these bodies. If they fled here, then their refuge cannot be far. We will spare your lives, in return for the item.’

Jin glared back and stepped ahead of Cassie. ‘And if we don’t?’

‘ Jin! ’

The construct walked up to Jin’s face, his green eyes piercing through Jin’s bold ones.

His front is bold, but his soul trembles before us.

Your choice to spare lives and intentionally kill.

Your choice to love Erron Black.

Your complete awareness.

Our nightmare had wise words to say.

Our choices.

Erron Black.

Other timelines.

‘Okay,’ Jin’s voice drew back Ermac’s collection to the present. Though Ermac wasn’t sure how he appeared, he knew that his dozen off state was the reason for Jin’s far less brazen face, as the Earthrealmer’s eyes were slightly wider and his brows were raised. ‘Fine, we’ll help return the item, as long as we get to go back home.’

As Ermac backed off, leaving the Earthrealmers to stare at him with newfound horror, Ermac turned to Erron with pitiful eyes. ‘We do not know what came over us.’

Erron blinked at him. ‘Well, I’ve never seen ya stare someone down into submission. Other than me, of course–’

‘Erron .’

‘Sorry, darlin’,’ Erron chuckled. Yet, the cowboy could see straight through the construct, almost. ‘You’ve been out of sorts, huh? Didn’t feel ya get back into bed last night. Are you alright?’

When Erron reached up to feel Ermac’s cheek, the construct lowered it and backed away. ‘We are well, but we cannot have the Dragons wield this sacred item. It must have worth if the Earthrealmers need it.’

‘But we’ll put that on hold, if we’ve gotta–’

‘Recover their weapons, they will inevitably request them back once we have completed this mission,’ Ermac stoically ordered more aloud, returning to Cassie and Jin while Erron momentarily pitied the construct. ‘It is not in the Kahn’s interest to murder Earthrealmers, not unless they transgress against Outworld law. We will return both of you to Earthrealm, once the item is within our possession.’

The camp was less than a mile out from the commotion site. Surrounded by caravans, tents and the alike, Black Dragons roamed the camp with mugs of Eggnog and Christmas hats on, albeit with their heavy presence of weaponry. Ermac grew weary of the speakers, but rather than a sound barrier that could block off all his senses, it blasted out Christmas music that was foreign to the enforcers.

The four hid behind an array of bushes, with Erron and Ermac peeking around and discussing their plan of action.

‘We can sense fifteen.’

‘Not many, but why?’ Erron mumbled.

‘Hey,’ Cassie moved closer to the pair, while Jin kept a look-out for any scene changes. ‘Can you sense if Kano is here? Which, by the way, is awesome. Takeda could use an upgrade.’

Ermac blinked, but nonetheless honed into his senses. ‘No, nor is there D’Vorah.’

‘D’Vorah? Why would she be here?’ Jin doubted.

Erron rolled his eyes. ‘Y’all really don’t know shit ‘bout the asshole who’s leading you. Raiden’s employed her, seen it with our own eyes.’

‘Or are your eyes blinded by the sun?’

‘We can feel the energy from the item,’ Ermac intervened their bickering, as he peered over the bushes. ‘It is too vague from here to infer its contents.’

Cassie nodded. ‘Then let’s move–’

‘You two will remain here,’ Ermac snapped. ‘We will teleport inside and rescue the item, while the three of you create a diversion.’

Erron leaned into the plan by spilling out the Earthrealmers’ weapons from his arms. ‘Y’all are gonna be my bait for a little while, just so I can make it clear for Mac to go inside. There’s not a whole lot of them, must’ve killed the rest of ‘em back at the first site.’

‘Brag away, mercenary,’ Jin scoffed as he took back his bow and arrow, with Cassie reuniting with her gun.

As soon as Ermac disappeared into his many souls, Erron recruited the Earthrealmers to enter the base. A single fire rippled into dozens of guns, all firing ahead at the armed trio who fired back. The diversion pulled through. To top it off, Cassie hauled a smoke bomb that disguised Erron through his trek to the caravans, where he scoured through each for either enemies or to reunite with his partner.

The master of souls teleported to the tent further afield, smothering a Dragon on standby with his suffocating magic. At last, his souls invaded the locked chest and made it locked no more, revealing the item that made Ermac stumble back.

After you and Black retrieve the talisman, foretelling the likes of Onaga, we will seek you out again.

Hesitantly, Ermac made contact with the talisman, brushing his fingers over the markings that resembled Onaga.

We know of him.

Many of us witnessed his wrath.

But he was still a mystery aeons ago.

A distant emperor.

Though, it wasn’t the Onaga revelation that startled the construct so much.

We did not suffer a night terror.

It was a prophecy.

Were we truly visited by an Ermac from another timeline?

Or this is an elaborate dance to trap us–

‘Mac!’

Erron’s outcry from outside the tent rushed the construct out, leaving the talisman behind. Ermac discovered Erron being hassled by Dragons, of which were easily discarded into the jungle and left to be eaten alive, while Erron hissed in pain at his bruised leg.

‘Damn jungle.’

‘We found the item,’ Ermac said as he helped Erron to his feet, testing the mercenary’s injured leg. ‘It is a talisman that resembles Onaga, though we cannot know for certain if it belonged to him.’

‘Shit, that’s a name I haven’t heard of in awhile.’ 

Though as Ermac helped Erron to gather his bearings, Erron caught sight of Jin leaving the tent with the talisman. ‘Hey!’ He growled out.

Making haste, Jin tripped over a boombox in a panic, causing the music to change to a particular song that grated Jin’s ears.

‘I don’t want a lot for Christmas…’

Too far away from the box to change it, Jin continued to flee the scene while pairs of feet leaped over the boombox. As much as the music intrigued the enforcers, they had a talisman to catch.

‘There is just one thing I need.

I don’t care about the presents,

Underneath the Christmas tree…’

‘The queen of Christmas,’ Cassie grinned, gunning down the last Dragon alive. As soon as she had, she saw Jin fleeing and didn’t question it, only followed. The few fifteen Dragons quickly quadrupled, as a portal from Earthrealm summoned at the camp’s outskirts, forcing Jin and Cassie backwards into it.

‘I just want you for my own,

More than you could ever know.

Make my wish come true~’

‘You still feelin’ real proud of yourself, kid?’ Erron sneered at them, as the enforcers finally caught up to the Earthrealmers backing towards them. Only, the enforcers now noticed the masses of Dragons that started to corner them in. ‘Well, shit.’

‘Return the talisman, and we will teleport the both of you away from the danger,’ Ermac proposed almost desperately.

Jin simply aimed his bow and arrow at the pair. ‘As scary as you were earlier, Raiden told us to do this, so we have to. Even if you kill me.’

‘All I want for Christmas is you~’

Guns, arrows, green telekinesis, bombs, each champion was ambushed by the array of attacks. At one point during the battle, Jin tossed the talisman into Cassie’s care while he took on more Dragons than he hoped to handle. This led Ermac to try and reach her, only, the sheer amount of Dragons in his way stumbled his efforts. Erron tuned out the hideous song by firing as frequently as he could.

The jungle’s greenery had been splattered with blood. When they were wrestling with the fewer Dragons remaining, Cassie discovered the Dragon that summoned the portal in the first place and immediately took advantage of it. Jin darted through the bodies and shoved remaining Dragons behind him, blocking out Ermac and Erron who were stuck with the attacking Dragons.

‘Take cover, Erron,’ Ermac ordered as he disappeared, appearing a shy metre away from the portal. ‘The talisman belongs to Outworld!’

With Cassie’s body half inside and half out, all with Jin tugging at her to fully immerse herself, she cracked a generous smile and her eyes suddenly softened.

‘You’re right. Merry Christmas, Outworld.’

Cassie’s body was yanked backwards after she tossed the talisman into Ermac’s hands, the portal snapping shut promptly. The construct couldn’t fathom why she had offered up the talisman, despite their efforts to escape with it.

Nonetheless, it can be a start to an alliance.

One that excludes Raiden, but involves the rest of Earthrealm.

He teleported back to Erron’s side, then scooped Erron close to his chest and teleported out of the active battlefield, where their bodies tumbled into the sand from Ermac’s wavering energy. So much teleportation, so much telekinesis, and too many rampant thoughts. As Erron huffed and puffed into the sand, Ermac gazed down at the talisman.

We have it.

Where are you?

We believe your words, Jerrod.

‘Did’ya kill ‘em?’ Erron coughed out, as he plopped down onto his back and sighed out in relief. ‘Didn’t think more Dragons would’ve turned up, the assholes.’

Ermac shuffled over to him, giving the mercenary’s leg a once look over. ‘No, she surrendered the talisman without our force. How is your leg?’

The cowboy raised a brow at him. ‘She just gave it up? I guess she got her brains from Johnny, which is a whole lot less than Sonya,’ he claimed as he slowly got up, waving off Ermac’s assistance. ‘Leg’s fine and dandy. Let’s get back.’

By the time Ermac teleported them back to the palace, he exasperated most of his energy. He resorted to leaning against Erron as they walked inside the palace, which Erron indulged in by leaning back to spare his leg. Throughout the palace’s hallways, the pair noticed some guards exchanging gifts with one another, others sneaking a kiss before bowing to the enforcers, and most wearing genuine smiles on their faces– if not hidden by their masks.

‘Aw that son of a bitch,’ Erron chuckled. ‘He’s really making Christmas a thing here, huh?’

Ermac blinked up at him. ‘What would that enforce?’

The cowboy clutched the construct closer to him, stopping outside of the throne room to move Ermac up against it. ‘Well, I’m sure you’ve got the idea already,’ he teased up-close to the construct’s face.

It made the master of souls even more confused. ‘A day designated to splurge on lust?’

‘What?’ Erron choked.

‘The guards’ souls are infested with the notion–’

‘Well, some horny guards are the exception. C’mon, I’ll explain after this,’ Erron sighed as he pushed open the doors, as Ermac scarcely managed to not fall backwards into the room.

Inside the throne room, dozens of guards were immersed into cheerful conversations, with cups of blood held by each one. Reptile and Kotal were deep into their conversation, one that made the Zaterran fluster up each sentence, earning a laugh from the Osh-Tekk. When Ermac inquired a nearby guard about Ferra and Torr’s whereabouts, he quickly learned where the cups of blood came from.

‘Sure as hell ain’t drinking that,’ Erron murmured.

‘Erron, Ermac!’ The emperor called out giddily, making all the enforcers freeze in place.

Is he drunk?

Is this an imposter?

Has he been poisoned?

The construct and mercenary were squeezed into a hug by the bulkier man. ‘Today, we are going to uplift Outworld’s spirits. With the inspiration of Earthrealm’s tradition, I have embedded true Osh-Tekk nature into the spirit. Where have your tongues gone?’ The emperor heartedly laughed aloud at their silence.

‘Are y’all drinkin’ the blood of a clown?’ Erron asked, with his jaw left agape behind his mask.

The room is thriving.

Outworld thrives.

The memory of his night terror encouraged the talisman out of his pocket, which was delivered into Kotal’s curious hands by a few souls. ‘This has been retrieved by the Black Dragons, who caused the commotion. A Special Forces specialist, Cassandra Cage, and the Shaolin Kung Jin, both of whom we all know of, aided us in retrieving the talisman,’ Ermac informed optimistically.

Erron scoffed. ‘Aided? They–’

‘There was miscommunication, as anticipated. But we have learned that their choices are less of their own, and more controlled by that devil Raiden.’ The information only made Kotal beam more, as he continued to analyse the talisman while Ermac explained. ‘Cassandra was tasked with returning the talisman to Raiden, but she sacrificed her devotion by offering it to us. We may be bold in this claim, emperor, but we believe that she hopes to rebuild an alliance with us through her actions today.’

Kotal’s eyes beamed at Ermac’s eyes. ‘Thank you, Ermac and Erron. This is greater news than anticipated,’ he hummed down at the talisman. ‘There is much power within this talisman, although it requires more studying. But I agree with your claim, Ermac: our alliance shall be with the Special Forces, the more they continue to prove themselves.’

Erron nodded along. ‘So all we’ve gotta do is separate them from Raiden.’

The construct nodded to the mercenary also. ‘That may not prove to be as much as a challenge as we all may consider. Furthermore, Cage wished Outworld a ‘Merry Christmas’.’

Kotal smiled in content. ‘She defeated Shinnok, she leads her group. If we can establish her intentions, ones that lean towards the sun, then the rest will follow the light. As for now,’ the Osh-Tekk said as he closed his hands over the talisman. ‘Drink plenty of the blood on offer, replenish your energy, bask in the sunshine. Today is victorious.’

The pair left their giddy emperor by retiring to their room, steering avidly clear of the bloody drinks by hastily locking their door. There was more fighting than the both of them expected today, it was enough for Erron to take off his hat and mask, kick off his boots, and lounge on the bed as normal.

But Ermac was left looking around the room, certain that he was guaranteed a meeting with his alternate self.

Jerrod?

‘Hey, Mac,’ Erron murmured from the bed. The construct saw how he sat on the edge of it, no longer sinking into the mattress. ‘Y’know you can be honest with me, right?’

Ermac frowned immediately. ‘We apologise for our lack of explanation.’

‘You don’t gotta apologise,’ the mercenary reassured with a smile, beckoning the construct towards him with a gentle pat beside him. Keenly, Ermac sat beside him, and allowed the mercenary to smooth down his hood and start to undo the construct’s coat. ‘But as much as I do silly shit, like grumbling a lot or having a lazy eye sometimes, I notice a lot. I can tell something’s plaguing your mind, sweetheart. It’s gotta be driving all those souls crazy, huh?’

With the warmth from Erron’s hands welcomed to the skin, now without thick leather in the way, Ermac leaned into the cowboy and rested his cheek on the other’s shoulder. ‘We have been driven mad. We–’

We cannot tell him.

He will think us mad, and hardly believe any of it.

It is absurd–

–An absurd reality.

Or an illusion.

It is real.

Is it?

Ermac huffed out and sat up to push Erron back down against the bed, for the two to tangle their bodies together as often as they do. The mercenary was tempted to ask what happened, as to why the construct refrained from his explanation, but was met with a soft kiss that he indulged in.

‘Our souls spiral at times, we perceive what is simply not there,’ was all Ermac offered with his words, while his actions disguised his reeling thoughts quite effectively. Erron’s eyes had a lovesick glint to them, different to the worry that he had seconds ago.

‘I’ll always love you, y’know,’ Erron smiled, as he encouraged the construct closer.

Always?

He cannot be sure of that.

Not while there are other Erron Black’s, surely…

‘As the Earthrealmers say,’ the master of souls said as he straddled the cowboy, his worried thoughts disguised by his mischievous smirk. ‘ Merry Christmas .’

Chapter Text

‘Happy New Year, Cass!’

‘Yeah… Happy New Year, dad.’

The pair were waiting for all their friends to arrive, and in the meantime decided to snack on cheese and crackers in the living room. Christmas was plentiful, so much so that it brought Cassie’s mind off all that transpired previously; she disobeyed Raiden by giving that talisman to Ermac, and in that same perspective she also betrayed Jacqui for even helping the construct, even if her views differed from her best friend. Kung Jin had given her an earful after they returned to Earthrealm, only it fell on deaf ears when the rest of the Special Forces were in full- swing into a Christmas party.

‘Have you got any resolutions this year?’ Johnny asked, after piling various cheeses onto a single cracker, which threatened to break under the dairy’s weight. ‘I’m gonna eat whatever I want tonight, but then I promised Sonya that I’d eat healthier.’

Cassie snorted. ‘She won’t care, dad.’

‘Unless she sees my eight-pack again,’ Johnny winked. ‘Well, your resolutions?’

She only wanted a handful of her resolutions to come into action. She wanted to be the top dog in the Special Forces, so that she could mostly have her way, instead of her mother’s orders which are sometimes harsh. She wanted to find a partner, a lover, someone she could spill her guts out to that isn’t her own father. And of course, after all the recent events and her spiralling mind, she wanted to reunite the alliance between both realms again.

Cassie remembered how much it made sense that day, when they all travelled to Z’Unkahrah for the first time. They saw all the citizens, as busy as they were. They met the enforcers, who were justifiably tense. But when the emperor came forth to them, he was beyond all that she had expected. Sonya had promised how much of a barbarian Kotal Kahn was; he was only going to have his way and would completely disregard Cassie’s ideas. Johnny promised that the emperor was stoic and serious in all manners.

But the Osh-Tekk was calm and attentive. He took aboard her ideas, allowed her to go with D’Vorah to seek out Mileena, and valued both her words and Kung Jin’s. It was a rocky start before Jin saved them, but after they leaped the first hurdle, she saw there were almost no more. Almost. Her betrayal scattered the emperor’s mind, she knew it, because her mind would do the exact same if one of her friends had betrayed her to the enemy.

‘I think you know what I want, dad,’ Cassie chuckled sadly, as she stacked cheese onto her cracker. ‘But I’m the only one who wants that, right?’

Johnny winced, knowing exactly who and what Cassie was talking about. ‘Cass, I never said I didn’t want it either. But we all know that Raiden won’t make that easy.’

‘They’re not bad people,’ she huffed. Before the tension could rise anymore, she swallowed down the cracker and cheese whole, as if to dampen the bulging lump of emotion in her throat. ‘I just think they deserve another chance, but whatever.’

The actor leaned back and watched her pitifully, wondering how he could make her wish come true. Raiden had transformed their lives drastically, albeit for the better, but there was no crossing the thunder god; less from the amulet’s presence, but more so out of respect for Raiden’s services and care for them.

‘He struck Outworld a couple days ago,’ Johnny murmured, averting his eyes when Cassie’s alarmed ones stared at him attentively. ‘He didn’t attack them, just wiped out some of their stock. So if an alliance is going to happen, Cass, it has to be fast. I don’t think Outworld’s gonna last the entire year, this time.’

‘And you–’

‘Cass,’ the actor said more sternly as he stood up, prepared to welcome in their friends that were bound to arrive in minutes. ‘Sometimes, I tell myself that it’s okay to just… Pretend that Outworld doesn’t exist. Like it was before we met Raiden.’

She lunged up to argue with him, refusing to disregard a realm that very much existed, when multiple knocks on the door happened and her squad was welcomed in. They had beaming smiles, she forced an awkward smile, even though her heart was scowling at her father.

‘As you all know,’ the emperor began his speech to the council. Sun Do, the other vast towns, and his enforcers, all met in the throne room and paid heed to his words. ‘Raiden’s relentless attacks have devastated Outworld’s crops. With the sun shadowed by the clouds, under his wrath, our labourers are struggling,’ he announced with a defeated tone. ‘It is time to ration our resources across the realm, with no exclusions, lest we warrant another civil war. Our battles are only with Raiden and his forces, not with our inner foes.’

Li Mei stood from the table to walk away, seething and muttering swears under her breath. As the Osh-Tekk followed her, the enforcers were left to dwell with their own concerns.

‘Well shit,’ Erron sighed out, throwing his hat down onto the table in defeat. ‘But an apple a day keeps the doc away, right?’

Ermac smiled slightly. The cowboy’s ability to bring humour into any dark circumstance was always cherished by the master of souls. Although, the construct’s smile faltered when he noticed Reptile, Ferra, and Torr’s devastated looks.

‘But we hungry!’ Ferra slammed her hands down onto the table. ‘Torr big, Torr need food!’

‘Outworld has never faced a famine like this,’ Reptile muttered down at his lap in thought. ‘These times are scarce.’

Erron rolled his eyes. ‘Great Reptile, thanks for boostin’ the team spirit here.’

‘Enough with your attitude!’ The Zaterran pushed his chair back, glaring at the sarcastic mercenary. ‘It is time that Outworld fights back!’

‘With what, Reptile? Our skin and bones? I’m not fightin’ no-one if I’m gonna starve to death.’

Reptile scoffed. ‘Then return to your mainland, Earthrealm scum–’

‘ Enough ,’ Ermac interrupted and stood up, with his many souls casting volume all the way down the table. ‘We cannot divide ourselves, the council cannot fall apart. The emperor needs all of us to maintain focus and strengthen our bonds,’ he reassured with his pitiful brows. ‘These are dire times, but none of us will perish in them. Erron is right, we cannot challenge the thunder god and his army if we do not possess the energy for it.’

Although Reptile listened thus far, he rolled his eyes at the last part. ‘You agree with your lover only.’

‘No,’ Ermac insisted. ‘We also agree that Raiden cannot pursue our realm any longer. But we have a strong belief that Raiden’s actions have startled his own people.’

‘Damn right,’ Erron said as he stood up next to his partner. ‘If I was on Raiden’s side right now, I’d be long gone from that son of a bitch. Let’s not forget that Cassie gave up that talisman for us, which has to mean something, right?’ He more so asked Ermac, who agreed with a smile.

The emperor returned to the table without Li Mei, and with his frown seemingly permanent. ‘Li Mei has dismissed herself. She will arrange efforts in Sun Do, and we will reciprocate from Z’Unkahrah.’

‘No food for we?’ Ferra immediately asked him from the far end.

‘I will ensure that everyone receives their ration,’ was all Kotal could inform her. Of course he was going to feed his enforcers first and foremost, and then his guards, and all those within the palace. When extending past the gates, he would promise food to all those vulnerable, all the labourers, no matter how loyal or not one was. But he knew that potentially, not all would receive a ration. ‘This is a tempest that will pass. Know that, when we replenish our spirits in the eye of the storm, Raiden will no longer trespass into the realm and wreak havoc upon it.’

Ermac frowned. ‘Then we shall prepare for war?’

Kotal nodded, sharing the same frown. ‘Otherwise, Outworld will diminish in Raiden’s hands.’

After the couple’s day in the city, which required endless reassurance to the worried citizens and the taming of any brewing riots, they barely made it into Ermac’s room before Erron collapsed onto the bed, with his mask and hat discarded. The construct watched in utter worry as the cowboy sank into the mattress, completely drained when only half the day had passed. They were due their ration soon, and while the enforcers were going to be the first to receive it, the master of souls had his list of worries.

The emperor, Ferra, and Torr, will be fed the most, as we would see fit.