Born Into Kombat

Chapter Seven "Knowing"

"So what did you want to talk about?" Kent asked, looking between Kenshi, Keanu, Liu and I. We all shifted uncomfortably in our seats.

How do you explain to your child you were once a fighter for the biggest life or death competition of all time? How do you tell him not only can his mother spit flames and read minds and shit, but so can his uncles and even his dad. And how the hell am I going to tell him I'm leaving to fight some of the most dangerous people out there? Mommy's ex-boyfriend is an evil dictator now and he's probably coming to kill us all, so she's going to stop him before he gets to you, sweetheart. No this shit sucks.

Kent frowned at our silence. "Are you guys giving me 'the talk'? Cause I feel like I'm past that point."

"Excuse me?" I squeaked.

Kent waved his hands, "No, no, no, like...I can literally search any word on the Internet and find a manual on how to do it. Everything is inappropriate now. Do you know what a Cosby Sweater is?" He asked, disgusted.

"I don't want to know!" I buried my face in my arms on the table. Maybe this will be easier than I thought.

"Son," Liu muttered. "We're going to have a serious conversation about your choice of literature later."

I popped up and shook my head, "Let's just get this over with!"

Kent sat back in his chair, looking embarrassed. Maybe he wasn't such a little kid anymore. I forget all the time he's almost sixteen years old. I suppose he is aware of girls and...stuff. God, I was madly in love with Keanu at that age. If given the chance I definitely would have done some stuff with him. I know I can read minds but I try to leave Kent's mind alone. He deserves privacy in his own brain.

"Kent, have you ever heard of Mortal Kombat?" I asked sarcastically, as if this was something he should hear about all the time.

His jaw dropped and he leaned forward eagerly. "You know about that? I swear, you're the coolest parents ever. It's only the most awesome fighting tournament ever!"

Liu and I froze, watching as our son began prattling off about how amazing a death competition is.

"Have you ever heard of Sonya Blade? She leads an army of fighters and is one of the toughest fighters out there, even though she's currently one of the few women in Mortal Kombat. She married Johnny Cage and they're training their daughter to be one of the best fighters out there."

I raised a brow at him. My son knows more about my friends personal life than I do.

"There used to be more female fighters, but now there's only a few fighters in general. There used to be this lady called Black Fox. There's not much information about her on the Internet, but she could control fire. Like real fire. With her hands!"

Kenshi slapped a hand over his mouth to stop his laughter. I was too shocked to find the humor in the situation.

"And then there's Scorpion, of course, this demon dude, who also controls fire. And Sub-Zero, he's this ice dude," now Keanu was hiding his chuckles. "And of course they're mortal enemies."

I held up a hand to stop him, "Kid! How do you know so much about this?"

He shrugged, "It's the biggest thing on YouTube. Someone video tapes the fights and posts them. They're getting pretty rare, but they're cool to watch. My favorite right now is Tanya."

"We really need to put adult controls on your computer- you've been watching the fights?" I hissed.

He nodded. "Wait, am I in trouble? They don't record the deaths, just the fighting. It's like watching wrestling."

"It's not like wrestling!"

He raised his eyebrows and looked at his dad for support. Liu was just as angry. "Dad, come on, it's like watching a boxing match. Only with special powers and stuff."

Liu sighed, "It's much more serious than that, Kent."

Kenshi finally stopped snorting and put a hand on Kent's shoulder. "Kent...your mom was Black Fox. Your parents fought in Mortal Kombat. They won it a few times. Keanu and I fought, too."

Kent's world had either been crushed or enhanced and I couldn't tell for a full minute. I watched, feeling like I was sitting in one of those dunk tanks, waiting for my world to fall. His jaw dropped as he stared between all of us. After what felt like forever he stood up and raised his hands over his head.

"You guys are kidding! You can't...what? Wow! Wait, you fought in Mortal Kombat? How was it? Wait!! If you're Black Fox, then you were queen of Outworld! My mom was a queen! Why did you leave? Do you still fight? Can you still do the fire stuff?"

I stood to my feet. "Kent, sit down. This is serious."

He nodded hurriedly and sat down. "Yeah, no, I totally get that. So...did you, like, kill people?"

"Kent!"

He stayed silent after that. I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to think of where to begin...

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"So you're fighting again?" Kent asked after a minute.

I nodded. "With my...ability to control so many elements it would be best if I helped."

"Can I come?"