Beyond Kombat: Backstage Pass 2 Mortal Kombat

Chapter 18 - Speech

We arranged for a boat to come get us off the coast and for a jeep to take us there. I think I had done enough walking for a lifetime, and I was sure the others would agree. As I held Osamu in my lap and Johnny sat next to me I drifted off to sleep from the lull of the engine and the rumbling of the wheels going over rocks. It was relaxing; I was finally able to close my eyes without thinking twice or being haunted by the possibility of Kitana coming out of the bushes somewhere and killing me in my sleep. No, I was finally able to relax.

Kitana’s body lied in the back of another jeep with the servants and the tracker she had brought. They were bringing her back to Outworld for a proper burial…I didn’t understand it, but I suppose once you’re a princess it doesn’t matter how evil you were. If you die, you’re buried, end of story.

I fell asleep for most of the way to the boat. When Johnny woke me up so I could get on board it was getting late. Stars were beginning to show through the clouds while the great ocean shifted and turned darker. Wherever I went would have to have a beach nearby.

“Zak,” Keanu said, taking my shoulder in his hand. I looked up at him. He looked tortured and I wondered again why he was even here. “Can I talk to you?”

I looked behind me. Kenshi was standing there, seemingly staring off into space. He shrugged, “Don’t look at me; I don’t know what he wants.”

I smirked. I loved his telepathy powers. “Okay,” I sighed and looked back at Keanu.

Kenshi walked over, “Let me take this little guy onto the ship for you.” He held out his hands for Osamu.

I handed Osamu off to him. He didn’t look very happy with me, but he went with him without a fight.

“What do you want, Keanu?” I asked, turning back.

The moonlight that was quickly filling our surroundings reflected off his ice blue eyes. I remembered a time when they comforted me. Now they seemed to always be lying to me. Even know, as he rubbed the back of his neck from the nerves, I felt skeptical. What did he have to say to me? After everything he’s done? After everything I’ve done for him? What more was there to do? Maybe he still had a little salt left over for the wound.

“I want to talk to you about what you did to Kitana.”

On the outside I was calm and continued to icily glare at him, while on the inside I was raging and screaming at him. He only cared about what I did to Kitana, not what Kitana did to me? Did he not see the blood on my face? Did he not see the bloodthirsty look that was in her eyes?

“What about it?” I snapped.

His eyes widened, as if it were obvious. “You stabbed her with a shard of ice that you made!”

I gasped, pretending to remember, “Oh, yeah, forgot about that- of course I remember, Keanu! She was trying to kill me!”

“Zak,” his face darkened, “don’t you dare. Not with me. You tell me right now how you learned that.”

I shrugged, “I figured it out.”

“It’s not natural for someone to be able to control fire and ice! The elements battle inside of them and can kill them! That’s why you’re told to choose your one element and you only practice that!” he grabbed my hand and examined it. “By now you should be showing signs. Frostbite, maybe.”

I snatched my hand away, “Well I’m not. Nothing is going to happen, Keanu. I’ll be fine. Not that you care.” I turned on my heel and began to walk away. As I walked up the rickety ramp to get on the boat my thoughts whirred. The elements should be battling inside of me? Fighting for control? Why wasn’t I feeling anything, then?