Born Into Kombat

Chapter Six "Deciding"

I was thankful Keanu and Kenshi didn't bring Johnny with them. Liu and I sat across from them at the kitchen table. Kent and Sira played outside, which helped. I needed time before I told Kent what I was about to go through.

"Hanzo is kind of like the second in command. He's working with this guy named Shinnok. He claims he's the God of the underworld." Keanu shook his head. "Really, he's just some nut who knows how to fight."

"The people he's working with are a piece of work, though." Kenshi added. "Not only is Hanzo basically an evil overlord now, but he's working with...creatures. Honestly they're not even human."

I raised my brows, "What do you mean?"

"For starters, there's this guy...they cal him Reptile. He's some cross breed between human and lizard or dinosaur or whatever you want to call him. He's really ugly."

"Then," Keanu continued, "There's Mileena. She looks like your average, beautiful woman. But she has...how do you explain it?" He asked Kenshi.

"Think angler fish."

"Yeah, angler fish. She looks like an angler fish."

I shook my head, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Kenshi tooth his hands and clamped them together in front of his mouth, like a snapping alligator. He chomped at Keanu's face, causing Keanu to bat him away, annoyed.

"So she has...shark mouth?" I asked, snorting to myself.

Kenshi stopping chomping and thought about it. "Actually, that's not too far off."

"And the bee lady," Keanu added.

Kenshi clapped his hands, "D'vorah. The lovely lady. Beautiful, simply radiant."

Keanu laughed. I didn't ask any questions. They weren't very good at elaborating anyway.

"Alright, so we have the devil, Godzilla, a bee lady, Venom from Spider-Man, and what else?" I sighed. This was sounding more and more like a comic book.

"Shinnok the Crazy and I think there's a few...semi-normal people." Kenshi shrugged, "But they're not the problem. It's Scorpion and his crew. Johnny has been trying to save who he can from their raids. They're killing everyone who has ever entered or thought about entering Mortal Kombat."

"So where does Zak come into all of this?" Liu asked.

Kenshi shrugged, "I'm not going to lie. Zak is a badass that can control fire, ice, perform telepathy, earth walk, and am I correct in assuming you've learned more?"

I nodded. "Wind. When I saw Thorne use wind to his advantage I wanted to try it. And I've been dabbling in..."

"Blood." Kenshi said in my mind. I nodded.

Liu knew about it but he didn't want to acknowledge it. Blood is extremely dangerous to mess around with. Only the most sadistic fighters learned to use the blood element. It's a very useful power; you can pull all of the blood from someone's heart, killing them instantly. You can pull it from their body. It is extremely lethal. It's also dangerous for the user; you pull your own blood slightly. Whenever I perform it I feel light headed and get a nose bleed. One time I practiced too long and coughed up blood for three days. I only practice on small animals in the woods, I can't imagine what it would be like if I tried to use it on another human.

"Then, naturally, you're a huge asset to the fighters. You could singlehandedly take out half of whatever army Shinnok has gathered." Kenshi looked at Liu. "Not that we expect her to fight. I'm just saying it would be a lot better if she did."

Liu snorted, "No, it won't. She's not fighting. You're not fighting." He said to me.

I shrugged, "Why not? I mean, I could at least help, even with some of the smaller fights. It would give Johnny and his fighters a leg up. I could give our family a better chance of survival."

"You're kidding, right?"

"I don't know, Liu. Kent is grown, he will understand what I'm doing. Sira is still a baby and won't even notice I'm gone."

Honestly, I could use a tiny break. It's hard listening to kid shows all the time, waiting for whatever Sira is doing to grow old for her. Then she'll start crying and I'll have to find something else for her to do. Every day is the same. Then at night she wakes up at least once, demanding to be fed. When I finally am able to lie back down...I can't sleep.

I sighed and looked in the direction of padding feet. Osamu, my wolf, was once charcoal black. His fur was now a dingy dark gray. He was getting old. Most dogs would have passed by now, but Osamu is not like most dogs. He heals himself, I know, just so he can stick around a little longer for the kids and I. He walked over to me and allowed me to pay his head a few times before going to his food bowl.

"Jesus that dog is looking rough," Keanu hissed.

Osamu yelped, as if he were offended.

"He is not!! He's just tired."

Kenshi put up his hand, "Anyway, I'm just saying it might be good for you to just go ahead and fight with us."

"You're fighting, too?" I asked.

Both Keanu and Kenshi nodded. "Kenshi and I have fought here and there over the years. And I wouldn't mind seeing Hanzo one more time."

I nodded at Keanu. I understand. Keanu and Hanzo trained together for far longer than I knew Hanzo. I couldn't imagine fighting with him, as if they really were training, when Hanzo liked to play dirty. I knew from that first fight I witnessed between them that they had a strong dislike for each other. Fire and ice. How appropriate.

I turned to Liu. "I think it would be good. For both of us. For all of us."

Liu, I could tell, was already thinking about fighting. He missed it, I knew he did. He used to train and fight every day - he lived on a training campus for gods sake. Even if he didn't want me fighting anymore, I knew he wanted to. And if he fought, I would fight too.

Liu sighed. "Alright. I guess we can just...see how everything goes."

"Should we call Kent in now?"

He nodded. "Here goes nothing."

Author's Note: I hope you guys are liking the story so far. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Please comment and let me know if you want any specific characters being brought back, or if you can think of an element or power you'd like someone to have.
Thanks for reading!!!