Mortal Kombat 1. Chapter I

A/N: I'm not very rich, that I'm gonna tell you guys. Heck, I'm not rich at all. Fact is, I can't even afford either a PS3 or Xbox 360 to play the new Mortal Kombat, so I've been making do with Youtube vids. Thats when I realized that game also has babalities included in it. So after going "DA'AWWW!" while watching a compilation, another shitty idea popped into my head, and then lo and behold! Another crack fan fiction was born!

Disclaimer: Srsly.

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><p><strong>Babality<strong>

**By Mr. Havik**

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><p><span>Chapter I<span>

The clatter of his teeth was droned out by the fierce roaring of the blizzard, blowing right into his face and biting deep into his skin. Scorpion hated the cold. Always did, always will. More likely because he was sensitive to the cold; there was a reason why he always chose to remain in the Netherrealm despite being free to roam whatever land that existed. In such weathers, the Shirai Ryu would practically set himself ablaze to keep his as warm as possible. Here however, the situation was especially harrowing.

The poor man had to remove his shirt to wrap the two bundles in, for the sake of protecting them from such chilling winds. That meant that all he was garbed in was his armor and this was actually making him more susceptible to injury than protecting him from it. Obviously, you can't just walk around in the Arktika with metal draped over your skin.

If Scorpion did not have control over fire, he would surely have gotten frost bite now. It was thank to his fire shifting capabilities that kept the infants warm despite the severe cold and prevented him from turning into an snowman (oh, Sub Zero would have laughed if that happened).

"Huf! Huf! Huf!" the Spectre breathed sharply as a particularly frosty gust blew right onto his exposed shoulders. Trembling, he took a stance for a brief moment to adjust the babies and make sure that they did not feel that. He looked down at the pair, heaving a sigh of relief to see that the sorcerer's cheeks were tinted red against his naturally white skin; an indication that he was receiving sufficient warmth. The same, though, could not be said about the masked Noob Saibot, but the gentle heaving of his chest was enough to assure Scorpion that he was not just alive, but well too.

In the distance, a massive shadow appeared from within the storm; the Lin Kuei palace. The moment the Shirai Ryu had realized that he was nearing his destination, he breathed a relaxed sigh. A new determination bubbled up inside his stomach, prompting him to pick up speed. This rush of adrenaline and burst of hope made him indifferent to the cold. The storm failed to bite through his flesh any more, his body stopped quivering and he began to pay no heed to the awful trickle of saliva that sourced from Quan Chi's toothless mouth and smeared onto his bare abdomen.

But, hope, it seemed, was a little too farfetched for the Spectre. As he neared the outer perimeter of the Lin Kuei base, his eyes widened in shock and anger when he set sight upon the rotating blades that ran up, down, left and right along the narrow valley.

Of course... It wasn't like he could just walk up to their home. Scorpion groaned in frustration, but thought better to search for a solution than to just stand here and whine about things not ever being easy for him. The steep valley sides provided the path with shelter from the blizzard, so it was easy for him to look into the distance and spot the entrance. It was only a matter of several meters from where he stood, the only thing separating him and the gate were the lethal blades that occupied the space.

Teleporting was no option. With the babies in hand, Scorpion could not set himself on fire and appear on the other side while cradling two charred infants. Grunting, he thought of perhaps working out a pattern to the movement of the speeding blades and wiggle his way through. This idea, too, had to be dismissed. Not only because he had to consider the safety of the children, but because of a particularly familiar corpse lying amongst the machines with its legs sliced off from the thighs. A sign was erected near the carcass which said "This is what I get for trying to break in again and smash all their pots. P.S, I suck balls. P.S.S, Scorpion sucks yeti balls."

Scorpion narrowed his eyes hatefully at the sign he knew Sub Zero had put up. Mock him, will he? Well, in due time, that bastard will receive a 'pleasant gift' from the Shirai Ryu. He looked down at the still slumbering babies. When he would deliver them to the Lin Kuei's doorsteps, hell of its own kind would unleash within the Arktika.

"Focus..." he prompted himself. He sighed again, this time though, in nothing but annoyance. The only choices he was left with was either to destroy the machines or scale the valley mountains in the blizzard. He quietly hunched down and placed the two children, still wrapped in his mantle, on the floor. Unsheathing his sword, he quickly made his way towards a rapidly approaching blade, knowing full well that he had to work fast in order to come back to the babies and hold them against his warmth.

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><p>The idea was obviously dumb. The Spectre was limping from a wound inflicted into his thigh from two fans that suddenly burst out of nowhere after he got lured by the shiny floating sack on the ground. What was worse, no sooner had he let go of the children that Saibot had stirred from his sleep and began wailing, demanding his food. The sound had also awakened Quan Chi, who also joined the other infant in the song. Luckily, Scorpion had managed to swipe the shiny bag after all and let the two with it while he carried them in his arms, effectively shutting them up for the time being. There were times when Saibot did whimper or moan as his stomach grumbled, but the sack full of shimmering golden coins kept him too preoccupied to think of food.<p>

Annoyingly enough, the kids kept dropping the coins to the ground and then whined until Scorpion hadn't turned around and retrieved the currency for them.

Growling, the Shirai Ryu had made it towards the gate of the outer wall, and pressed upon a precarious little button marked with a blue 'X' to open it. As he stepped inside, he realized something was wrong. His white eyes scoured the area, searching for an ambush waiting, hidden within the snow perhaps. But the longer he did, the more he began to assure himself that no one was here. That was when he understood what was wrong: there was no one here to guard the fortress.

Scorpion shook off his doubts, instead, gave focus to his current objective: drop the burden of parenthood upon Sub Zero's slimy head.

He quickly paced forward, ignoring the other shiny floating bags of coins and chests that said "Jade Alternate Costume", despite the latter being very inviting. In due time, he managed to cross one final gate before entering the main courtyard. Before him stood the massive fortress of the Lin Kuei, arching up into the sky, its massive bulk unwavering in the strong blizzard over head.

Scorpion knew to dump the kids at the front porch was an unhealthy solution; he had to enter the building and place them near the entrance, safe from the cold. He sprinted over to the door, oblivious to his painful gash, and pushed it open, unaware how easily they moved when such a fortress should be heavily guarded. As he stepped inside, another unwelcoming sight graced him. Before him lay a blanket of bodies; Lin Kuei grunts strewn about the floor, pinned with pipes to the walls and wedged in between the decorative stands. Ironically enough, the pots and vases that occupied those pedestals were unharmed and intact.

This could only be the work of a sadist.

The situation was plain and raw; common sense would have called for Scorpion to turn tail and run when he was being accompanied by two innocents. But the carnage that lay before his feet had a strangeness to it that Scorpion could not exactly put his finger on. The whole scene looked unnatural. All those detective novels he had read on recommendation by Satan piqued his curiosity, and so the Shirai Ryu found himself being drawn inside.

"SHIT!" he heard a voice that didn't sound much human. The voice was brisk and clattered; it sounded awfully metallic. Scorpion neared one door and placed his hand upon the handle when they swung open for him. He was dumbstruck to find Sektor standing before him, arms splayed open as he held onto the doors.

"Subject:..." the machine had only began to process his identity when his sensors noticed the two bundles in the intruder's hands. Smoke billowed from the robot's core as his hard-drive began to overload, being overridden by his human emotions.

"MOOONSTEEEEEEEEEERRRRS!" Sektor screeched, pointing a red, metallic finger at the children and then proceeded to continue to scream as the infants burst into shrill wails.

Poor Scorpion was left in the middle of it all, wondering how parenthood became a curse far more painful than his death.


	2. Chapter II

A/N: My heartiest gratitude to **tarkatan**, **Paritheikae**, **Midnight Shadow Girl**,** A.**, **Maverick Hunter Jessica**, **YellowGrenade** and **summer**, and to all those who favourited this fiction as well as the readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own MK.

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><p><span>Chapter II<span>

The way the greetings proceeded were just a hint at how terrible Scorpion's life was going to become. Not only did Ketchup refuse to stop hollering his motherboard off, but apparently he blew a circuit that sent his mechanisms into hysteria. Firstly, his hard-drive overheated, resulting in a cascade of misguided missiles. The Shirai Ryu had stretched every muscle in his body and tried out every inhumane pose to dodge the projectiles and keep the frightened babies safe from harm, forcing himself against the pain of his wound that now began to bleed profusely. The rockets crashed and exploded into everything they came into contact with; even the dead Lin Kuei guards were not granted peace in death. By the time Sektor's central processors shut down, the whole place was mired in rubble, blood and scattered coins as Scorpion had jumped around the place like a deer on crack.

And yet again, the vases still glimmered through the smoke, untouched.

Scorpion stood trembling; not out of fear, but due to the severe shock of the whole ordeal. Once the dust clouds cleared away, the Ninja, after grueling moments of trying to shush the kids, gingerly made his way towards the dead machine on a limping leg, cautious if another missile waited to spear him right through his chest. The glow of Sektor's sensors and the gentle hum of his core were absent. Scorpion reached out with a hand while cradling the children in one arm.

_Clink!_

The Spectre took a small step backwards, shielding the infants as the robot rattled back to life. Sektor lifted his head and stood observing the Ninja, computing and recovering any information lost before his abrupt shutdown. His processor detailed that his hard-drive had received sufficient damage, the main area that had been affected was his programming chip. The processor issued him a warning that blared before the machine's eyes; his human brain had now taken over in the place of his chip.

Sektor sighed with an emotion that was missing from him since he ever got automated. Well, not counting the fact that he had gone berserk when he laid eyes upon the children held in Scorpion's grasp. Even babies could make the Terminator want to shoot himself in his core processor.

Then again, he did jump into molten steel. And he was with a kid. A teenager to be exact, but teens are as bad as babies.

"You seen two kids and a toaster before you came in?" Ketchup demanded from the oblivious Scorpion. The Shirai Ryu, at first blinked, but was not prompted to answer quickly; Sektor understood that he had no idea.

"I saw Taven... outside..." the Ninja tried to be helpful, referring to the carcass with a sign above what remained of his frozen cranium, but only earned a disdainful sigh from the machine. The robot motioned with his hand and led the man into a very narrow hallway. Scorpion could assume that the fortress was very ancient due to the extremely thin passages and five feet high doors with intricate carvings. He also took a brief note of Shang Tsung's amulet which hovered above a pedestal in the corner of a turn they took.

Why was everything in the Lin Kuei stronghold floating all the time?

At another turn, it was one of Kitana's steel fans that was floating above the stand. Scorpion didn't even want to think where'd that had come from. A few more walks and a couple of dead corpses later, the Shirai Ryu was thankful for a distraction. Somewhere within the halls, the two warriors could hear faint music that caused Quan Chi and Saibot to turn their round faces in excitement. If he was lucky, the Shirai Ryu was sure that the music meant a halt to their aimless walk and he would be allowed some moments to relax himself and tend to his wound. Sektor, though, seemed more disturbed than relieved.

The machine quickly darted off, making the Spectre run limp after him and providing the children with a short ride. By the time he caught up to the robot, Ketchup was already at a large set of doors through which he quickly cut a gaping hole in with a laser.

"Oh, geez!" Sektor cried. Entering, the exhausted Scorpion looked up to find a massive blaring television with stark naked women dancing around on a beach to a Lady GaGa tune. The Spectre's jaw dropped open, held up only by his mask and his white eyes bulged out of their sockets. Shocked enough by the explicit images to forget his anguish, the Ninja hadn't noticed three infants sitting just too damn close to the T.V. Suddenly, the screen went blank, and screeches filled the air as the children were denied of their music; it was Sektor who had shut the idiot-box off. Scorpion's gaze flew around the room in embarrassment, eventually falling upon the new kids.

Realization hit him like a speeding pickup. Though both the human babies were lacking in hair on their scalps, Scorpion instantly recognized Sub Zero and Smoke by the color of their tiny little clothes. And to their side, completing the trio was a large headed baby robot, his armor gleaming yellow: Cyrax.

Scorpion was unaware that it was his mask that was keeping his jaw from falling out yet again.

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><p>The gold-garbed Ninja was seated in one of the comfy sofas placed within what Sektor had told him was Sub Zero's personal office. The Spectre was allowed a little relaxation now that things had finally simmered down. With all the babies in the warm room, Scorpion had quickly slipped his shirt back on, relieved at the warmth that embraced his chest. The man had to tear off a strip from it, though, to bandage his wound after he had pulled the broken blade out of his thigh. After he managed to patch himself up, the man had settled into a chair to take a nap. Quan Chi was cooperative and mingled easily with the other babies, but it was Saibot who proved to be a more hardheaded individual. The Wraith refused to leave Scorpion's embrace and was successful in preventing the man from getting some much need rest.<p>

The irritated Spectre was forced to bounce Noob on his leg, at times swung his limb away when the infant attempted to reach over to his other leg and play with his makeshift bandage. Since he wasn't going to sleep after all, Scorpion decided to take his time to familiarize himself with the surroundings. So to say, this idea wasn't all that great. When Sektor had told him that this was Sub Zero's office, it damn well was Sub Zero's office. Indeed, the Lin Kuei Grandmaster had withheld no effort to etch a part of his soul into every single aspect of the spacious room. Besides the large oak cabinet that lined one end of quarters, holding various trophies and awards, there was a mahogany desk near the north wall. A massive, life-size portrait hung above the desk, showing a still masked Sub Zero wearing an Armani tuxedo.

"You know I'm better than you..." his smug eyes seemed to be saying.

That was perhaps not the only picture that the narcissistic Lin Kuei had put up of himself in the office. An array of pictures and photos occupied the walls. In one, Sub Zero adorned another silk tuxedo, sharing a cordial joke with Jackie Chan. To one side, he was with women that varied with every frame, though not one of these girls could not be called drop dead gorgeous. Then, one large frame housed a cover for Times magazine which had the Grandmaster standing on top of the world; the words "How the Lin Kuei Can Save The Economy" printed in bold overhead.

The lavishly furnished office, the model-type photo shots and the celebrities that seemed to be dying to get a picture with him, all made Scorpion feel absolutely inferior to his rival. If he had known beforehand that Sub Zero was this damn influential, he wouldn't have run after him trying to cleave his torso off of his legs in the first place. He turned his head to the now infant Grandmaster who had found something interesting in his foot. Scorpion felt a knot form in his stomach when he understood that he was feeling jealous of a baby.

"You have some brother..." he murmured to Saibot, receiving a hungry little mew in reply.

The gold-garbed man quickly shook away his thoughts, feeling rather dumb for thinking Sub Zero's lavish lifestyle was weird. The real cause for concern was all those dead Lin Kuei guards that littered the entrance hall. There was an obvious attack and this only meant that the fortress was no safe haven for the children. As soon as Sektor would return with food suitable for the babies, he would convince the android to travel for Edenia.

Yes... Edenia was the ideal destination and the perfect way to get rid of the kids. They knew Edenia was a safe place; Queen Sindel had countless slaves doing her bidding which would mean that the babies would never be short of any necessary attention. Added to that, the woman would not refuse the favour because not only was she immensely rich but she also had a motherly touch to her character. She had her own daughter, so no doubt Sindel would never reject a bunch of babies in need of a parent.

It had been moments when Scorpion heard a short crash and then a buzzing sound. He turned his head to one wall where a thin glowing heated line drew itself on the face of the wall. The line cooled to form a perfectly cut square which heaved backwards and crumbled to bits with the impact. Behind the newly formed hole in the wall stood Sektor with a bucket in hand. The Shirai Ryu breathed a calm sigh, thankful that the machine was successful in finding milk for the kids.

Ketchup skipped over the rubble and walked inside the office, setting the bucket down on the floor.

"Sektor...?" Scorpion called, his voice telling the other how tired he was. The moment the red machine had come into view, he felt the need to question about the security of the Lin Kuei fortress. "Why were there so many dead grunts near the doorway...?"

He saw Sektor give him a long and frustrated look, a feat quite marvelous for a machine, and had a brief thought whether the slaughter had something to do with him. For a considerable amount of time, Sektor simply glared at him before heaving a metallic sigh.

"I killed them..." the android confessed without a hint of guilt in his voice. Scorpion's eyes gave him a very awkward look and slowly reached for Saibot, covering him with his hands from the probable psychotic robot. Apparently, Sektor caught on and realized that a more detailed explanation was in order. The reasons were simple enough and the Shirai Ryu had begun to understand. Ketchup had related that he had initially invaded the fortress and started a bloody massacre. After the grunts had been moved out of the way, he stormed in, looking for the main Lin Kuei: Sub Zero, Smoke and Cyrax. But as he moved into the main lobby, his processor failed to compute once he recognized the three males, only as infants.

At first, Sektor thought about blasting them to bits with his rocket launcher but as he stood aiming at the Grandmaster, his conscience took control. Murdering a baby was just not right, and even as an emotionless android, Ketchup soon began to understand that. That was when he realized that he had just destroyed any protection the children had left and had successfully thrust them into certain doom. Guilty, the robot decided to take care of the children until he would be able to find a suitable family for them. Only an hour later did the kids went missing and Sektor had to scour every little nook and cranny of the fortress, had to dig though snow, look into trenches or crevices and check the traps for any tiny dismembered limbs. After searching for them in the basement with no luck, Sektor had decided to scour the entryway when he met Scorpion.

"I should have thought twice when the grunts kept screaming 'Not the children! Spare the children!'" Ketchup sighed again in disdain. "And I kept telling myself, 'There are no kids in the Lin Kuei! Dumb n00bs! Watching too many movies!'... then I blasted them all to hell..."

Scorpion understood the robot's predicament. After all, he too got stuck with kids of his own. And what was worse, the children were the Shirai Ryu's enemies; both people he wanted to kill. When Satan had first handed the babies to him, Scorpion was moved to ask what the hell had happened to them. At first he didn't believe that Quan Chi and Saibot had been turned into infants. He assumed that Satan was pulling another prank on him by dressing up some kids as the Sorcerer and the Wraith, but doubt quickly crept into him when he realized that children were too pure to exist in the Netherrealm.

Just because they were apparently Scorpion's enemies, Satan decided that the homeless kids were the Ninja's responsibility as they had no home besides the Netherrealm itself. The King of Hell had offered that he could not divide his time between kids and arbitrating punishment for the lost and damned. If he could in the first place, he would have gotten married centuries ago, a reasonable excuse. Scorpion had, undoubtedly, voiced his dislike of the plan, claiming that the babies were not his responsibility. Satan continued to argue that the kids did not have to be a burden on the Ninja; the man was looking for revenge on both Chi and Saibot and now was his chance to exact it.

But of course, Scorpion did not have the heart to kill the two. They were just babies, after all!

The Ninja looked over to Quan Chi who had formed a little green skull and was exploring the texture with his tiny fingers, a look of curiosity set in on his white, round face. Scorpion was unsure how he should feel towards the child who, in adulthood, had murdered his own infant son.

Saibot placed his plump little hands on Scorpion's lap, sniffling. The Ninja silently dipped his glove into the bucket, filling it with yeti milk. Holding the opening tightly, he reached for his kunai and with it, punctured one of the fingers of the glove. He scooped Saibot up into his arms and, taking off the Wraith's mask, pushed the glove's finger into his mouth. If only the Lin Kuei had any baby supplies ready, then the kids would have been drinking out of proper bottles full of the right formula. Scorpion assumed that the grunts were just about to do that when Sektor burst in and turned everything into a Quinton Tarantino flick.

"Sektor..." Scorpion began when he thought of his plan. "I have a proposal, if you do not mind listening..."

"Anything if it means these kids will be out of my system forever," Ketchup piqued up, quick to catch on to what exactly Scorpion was referring to. Really, the poor android was desperate to try anything.

"Perhaps we could take the children to Edenia..." the Ninja relayed, wiping Noob Saibot's mouth before continuing. "We could hand them over to Queen Sindel..."

"You sure?" the robot demanded, leaning back on the ground and propping himself up with his hands. "I don't think she'll want these ugly kids..."

"Try to understand, Lin Kuei Machine... you see, Sindel is a mother herself, her maternal instincts would safeguard the children from rejection. Secondly, her own daughter loves infants..."

"How you know about that? Oh, Scorpion! You sly dog you – "

"Shut up. All women have affection for babies, so I simply assumed that the Princess would prefer to keep them. Either way, they have a better chance of survival with Sindel. She has the riches and the people to cater to the infants' every little need, so they will be happier there..."

Sektor was silent as his core re-evaluated what Scorpion had just said. The robot murmured something incoherent, before leaning forward so that he sat upright again.

"We'll have to fly to the Nexus portal then..." he declared, picking himself up from the floor.

"Fly?" the gold-garbed Ninja demanded, confused. "How?"

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><p>The platform slowly rose from the depression in the ground, lifting with it a large navy blue jet striped with lighter shades of ice blue. On the hull of the transport was written in gigantic letters "Marina S-560 Elite". Just below the lettering, Scorpion could spot Sub Zero's handwriting scrawled upon the surface with a permanent marker.<p>

"Property of Kuai Liang, biotch!" it said.

The Ninja felt even more insignificant than before. He looked down at the infant Grandmaster who was cooing with glee at the alien sounds of the rising platform. The child gazed up at the older man, his blue eyes shining with a bubbling excitement. To Scorpion, his child rival seemed to be saying, "Even as a baby, you know I'm still better than you..."

The Shirai Ryu gulped, and then shook his head and thoughts when he realized that he was letting Sub Zero get the best of him again. He looked ahead again to find that the platform had stopped its lift and was now level with the ground. Sektor immediately skipped over to the machine, and to Scorpion's surprise, threw his arms open and slammed his chest against the hull in a retarded embrace with the private jet. As if on cue, the children in their portable cot cried out in a shrill laughter.

"Ah... Marina..." Ketchup sighed in a near lost daze, his voice milky and romantic now. "I promised that I'll return to you..."

After massaging the gleaming surface of the bird for a moment, Sektor finally turned away from the thing, his sensors now aglow with determination. Scorpion now cocked his head, more dumbfounded than just simply confused.

"Inside," the android ordered, pulling down the hatch and letting a small ramp automatically slide out.

"Welcome to the Marina S-560 Elite, Grandmaster of Sexiness!" the customized female voice over announced as the Ninja, now severely lacking in any confidence boarded the luxuriously decorated plane. Pushing up the cart, he placed the baby to whom the plane belonged to inside it along with the other children and continued to shove it further into the plane with a hanging head. One by one, he placed the children in an individual seat and secured them with seat-belts before finding himself a spot and silently setting down in it.

In due time, after more romantic talks with the plane, Sektor finally entered, taking a seat next to Scorpion. The Ninja was feeling even more dejected now; if Ketchup was in the passenger seat with him, then that meant the plane had auto-pilot. Sub Zero was far ahead than him than he initially thought.

"Take us away, my Marina!" the red machine whispered with a passionate fire, his head leaning against the seat as the jet hummed to life and began to move.

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><p>The first thing that Scorpion did after regaining consciousness was scream out in pain and then hold on to the sharp rod that had lodged itself into his shoulder. Catching his breath after a very agonizing scream, he reached for the foreign object and jerked it out of his flesh. Another yell escaped his lips, at least now though the rod had finally been removed from his body. Breathing through clenched teeth, he forced himself in an upright sitting position and then turned his head for an examination of the place. The whole area was dotted with dying flames besides the occasional rubble of the jet; a sign that Scorpion was out cold for a considerable amount of time.<p>

He heard a disdainful howl and then whirled his head to the direction of the sound. It was Sektor, hunched to the ground, holding a piece of charred and dented metal in his hands. His head was turned towards the sky, sensors dripping with black oil for tears as he cursed the gods for taking away his Marina. At first Scorpion scrunched up his nose but then shook his head in pity at the woeful display the android was putting up. Machines were practically as hard to understand as women.

He returned his gaze to his clothes finding them smeared with dirt and his own blood, and then shifted his sight to his shoulder. The gash was bleeding like water flowing from a tap. The Ninja grumbled with a mix of anxiety and frustration. He reached for his shirt with his good hand and tore off another strip which he wound over his shoulder and around his neck for support. This was happening a lot lately; if such accidents did not cease to occur in the near future, Scorpion would be left with less clothes on his skin than Mileena.

First his leg... and now this... these kids were real trouble, he thought, shaking his head. Suddenly, his eyes flew open as wide as dinner plates as dreaded realization dawned upon him.

The children!

The Spectre forced his battered body onto his feet and stumbled over to the main body of the wreckage; the hull. Snaking his way through the jutting metal and skipping over debris, the man found his way into the cavity. His legs and arms shook with fear and his chest heaved as if a stone had been pressed upon his ribs. He slowly pushed his way through the difficult area, ducking where the roof had caved in and pushing away the jungle of wires that hung from above, occupying the darkness.

"B-...Babies...!" the man called out with a lost heart, his voice unsure and trembling.

Oh Raiden... please don't let anything happen to them...

"Ba-... bies..." he whimpered, his eyes slowly being mired with tears that blurred his already poor vision.

"Ee-yeh!" he heard a muffled cry, feeling air finally bless his lungs again. Wiping his eyes with a grimy hand, he pushed harder through the wreck, calling out to the infants and squirming his way through to the source of the voice.

"Yah!" Sub Zero cried as a banged up Shirai Ryu finally came into view, clapping his hands like a musical monkey doll. Whispering a grateful thank you to the God of Thunder – who in heaven suddenly sneezed, to his confusion, right into Fujin's face – Scorpion reached out for the child, taking a hold of... nothing. A black void suddenly appeared beneath the Lin Kuei Grandmaster, pulling him down into the abyss of nothingness before Scorpion's fingers could even brush against his clothes. There was very little time to react; not even a tiny little "Huh?" could escape the Ninja's lips before he too was cast into the darkness.

He felt his body take flight for a second, a feeling that to him felt like it was defying the laws of Seido itself. And then, only a mere moment later, did sunlight burst upon his face, and Scorpion found himself only a foot above Sektor's head. Neither warriors could make any heads or tails out of the situation when the Spectre fell upon a very surprised Ketchup. As the bodies collided, a wrong button somewhere on the machine's arm had been pressed. A tiny little sound emitted from Sektor's chest, which finally opened up and spat out a mechanical device, still aglow.

"Oh boy..." the robot murmured as Scorpion got up, massaging his head to fight the daze from the ordeal.

Back in Feng Tei village, Shujinko swore he heard a muffled boom somewhere far away.

Scorpion, who now resembled Noob Saibot, stumbled like a drunkard over to the group of infants that remained a safe distance away from the explosion the whole time; untouched and smiling their toothless smiles. The man was shortly followed by Sektor, also draped in black ash from the bomb, his walk, though, much steadier than than the former. The two adults quietly hunched down and collected the children in hand; two in Ketchup's arms, and three wrapped up in what remained of Scorpion's shirt, which the Spectre was forced to remove yet again.

"No more portals..." the gold-garbed Ninja warned Saibot, pointing a weak finger towards him. The Wraith simply cooed in excitement, reaching with his tiny hands for Scorpion's finger which the man quickly pulled away, letting the child know of his frustration. Noob retrieved his reach, whimpering in dejection and then brows furrowing in a pathetic attempt to look intimidating, an expression that didn't even earn a small glance from the man.

The two warriors quietly walked over to the cluster of hills, hidden amongst which was the Nexus portal.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" their shouts were last heard, accompanied by the laughs of very amused babies when another portal opened up beneath their feet and swallowed them whole.


	3. Chapter III

A/N: Thanks to **izzie01789**, **firefly**, **Midnight Shadow Girl**, **HPdarman229** and **Kim** for taking the time to review, and to the people who'd given this favorites and reads.

Disclaimer: Don't own MK.

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><p><span>Chapter III<span>

Lush landscape decorated with spectacularly artistic and exquisite monuments dotted nearly every river-bank they so commonly came across. People adorning their native clothes bumbled about to their own errands, looking completely peaceful and, coincidentally, child-free. The sky was a gorgeous blue, painted with bulbous and serene clouds that formed all sorts of ridiculous shapes. Amongst such beauty and harmony, there was no doubt that the two figures, coated in black ash and bent to such an extent that they failed to resemble any shape the human body could make, looked horribly out of place and alien. A few natives often gave them pitiful looks or pointed fingers at them while wearing disgusted scowls.

A few gentle-hearted fellows would occasionally walk up to them and hand them a couple of coins. Scorpion would say nothing out of shame, letting the children make the noise instead. Sektor, though, had taken a slightly extraordinary initiative and fired a rocket at a stranger who was just fishing his pocket for some change. People threw up their hands in the air and ran screaming in any plausible direction while blood and bits from the unfortunate soul showered upon the two warriors and their babies.

"Please behave..." Scorpion's plea escaped as a whimper as he pulled out the dismembered finger Smoke tried to put in his toothless mouth.

If they had to update their list of phobias, Sektor and Scorpion would have butted down Shao Kahn from the top to the second bullet, placing 'Super-powered Adult-babies' where the vacancy would arise. They were tremendously lucky that the latter had the brilliant idea of giving away the children to the only MILF they knew to exist: Queen Sindel. Yes, the standard mother-figure with sizes women her age crave to have was the only person who would perform the kind act of taking the children off their hands and giving them a healthier home. She was their safe haven, their angel in disguise, waiting for them at her extravagant palace in the heart of Edenia.

Words are too humble to describe the sheer joy both males experienced when they finally arrived at the gates of the beautiful castle. Flags swayed brilliantly in the breeze, birds chirped away while they sat perched upon the tower-tops, the sound of horses neighing and clopping their hooves emanated from behind the stone wall. It was as if the whole of Edenia was welcoming Ninja and the Cyborg, calling them to nestle within the warmth of her bosom like they were her own children. The very feeling assured the two that all their grievances would finally end.

"Are you... crying?" Sektor demanded, adjusting the slipping Quan Chi in his cradling grasp. The other man had his back towards him, his head raised to take a gander at the towering building, his eyes absorbing the tranquillity that was here now and they would soon have. It was a while before Scorpion decided to turn around and face the robot, his eyes indeed moist. Sektor assumed that the Shirai Ryu would promptly deny the existence of his tears and say something like Reptile snuck up on him while he was invisible and spat in his eyes. But he was mistaken.

Scorpion sighed, his eyes creased around the corners to hint at the content smile hiding behind his mask.

"Y-...yes..." came the soft answer. Sektor stared on at the other man, both unaware that Smoke had finally popped the stranger's finger into his mouth. After a long pause that was brimmed with the chatter of birds, the snorting of horses and the giggles of babies, the Android nodded his head in mutual understanding before continuing with his partner towards the main doors.

_BOOM!_

Sektor retracted the second missile when he realised that the first one was successful in blasting a hole through the door. Scorpion was too lost in his dreams to complain, but another had promptly fulfilled that role.

"The door knobs are for using, dick..." a scantily clad female in light pink spat at the odd group. Ketchup wasted no time in deploying the second missile after all, which took half of the female into the sky and exploded. The remaining half of the body stood still for several seconds, its waist on fire, before walking away. Sektor began an immediate evaluation of the incident but decided to leave it at that when he realised that Scorpion had already went inside.

The hall was magnificent and much more striking than the already intricate passages of the Lin Kuei temple. The path was several meters in width with stone columns lining either side. Massive tarps decorated with elaborate gold embroidery hung from the ceiling, their gloriousness being enhanced by the gleam from the crystal chandeliers that chimed softly in the breeze. Scorpion had already been roped in by the breathtaking splendour of nearly everything Edenia had to offer, but Ketchup still nursed his doubts. Being part machine, he was not easily fooled by the blinding beauty of the palace and instead kept his focus on much more sinister matters that were otherwise nearly invisible to the other man.

For instance; if this was a palace, then where were all the servants?

"Scorpion, I'm thinking this is a bad idea..." the Robot quickly stated when the former placed a hand on the door to what they believed was the throne room. Scorpion turned his head towards his companion, his brow raised in bewilderment.

"'_Bad idea'_?" he repeated the words, surprise lacing his tone. "Do not be so foolish, Lin Kuei Machine! This is our only hope!"

"Its a processor-feeling man!" Sektor cried, here, processor referring to the gut he once had. "There's something really nasty about this place!"

But it was a warning too late. As the doors swung open with a creak, Scorpion's body froze over and his heart promptly shut down when he saw what exactly it was that the inviting Edenian breeze and sun had worked so deviously hard to disguise it from him.

"Myah!" Kung Lao cooed as he crawled over to the Ninja, followed by Kano, Nightwolf and Mileena. The remaining babies were much too busy in their own activities to pay attention to the two men standing at the entryway, one of which was on the brink of having a nervous breakdown. Rattles, stuffed toys, pacifiers, empty milk bottles and blankets surrounded the plump children that giggled as they played. In one corner was a massive pile of dirty diapers rotting away from under which crawled out a wailing Sonya. The empty throne that sat in the far end of the room was the centre of attraction to Kitana, who tried to chew through the leg of the stone chair despite the absence of her teeth.

"Sektor..." the Shirai Ryu addressed the Robot calmly, turning towards the other and handing Noob, Smoke and Sub Zero to him. Ketchup had just placed the babies in his arms down on the ground and had now looked up, seeing the children being offered to him by his partner.

He took the three before Scorpion collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

><p>"Feeling any better?"<p>

That was the first thing he heard Kahn say to him when he woke up. Such kindness in that ruthless man's voice was an oddity, but still pleasant, something which the Spectre found comforting as he was helped up by Sektor. It took him a moment to rub out the drowsiness from his normally blank eyes, but after he did, he managed to see the Emperor for what he truly was.

Or more precisely, what he was reduced to.

The huge man was unshaven, stains of baby formula all over his cape and underwear. His helmet sat a funny way on his head, revealing the glint of Kahn's teeth from underneath. Unfortunately, there was a black gap where one tooth was supposed to be. His eyes were shot with red, skin bagging under them. The flesh of his shoulder had gone red from the teeth mark imbedded in it. Scorpion, apologizing to the Emperor of Outworld for suddenly yelping, assumed that the bite-mark may have come from either Mileena or Baraka.

"Oh, it's alright, Noob," Kahn waved the apology away, not realising that his misconception had hurt the Spectre's pride. Ketchup had taken the initiative to explain to the third member that Scorpion was merely covered in ash. But it was a step taken too late. The Ninja was already suffering from a major inferiority complex, owing to Sub Zero's lavish lifestyle, and whatever remained of his resolve was further smeared by Kahn's misunderstanding.

Thinking not too much about wasting more time, the Emperor ushered his ragged guests into the throne room amongst the babies, quickly picking up a wailing Liu Kang in his arms.

Kahn had thought of relaying his side of his sad tale to the new comers

And it was a sad tale indeed.

After a heartbreaking separation between the two, Kahn travelled all the way over to Edenia to convince his Queen to come back. There were some unpleasant words exchanged in between, but the gist of the incident was that the Emperor was unsuccessful. In her stubborn rage, Sindel stormed out of the palace, an incident that occurred nearly two weeks ago, leaving Kahn to wait for his short-tempered wife's return. It had been yesterday that the servants of the palace informed him of a visitor. Somewhat hoping that it would be messenger on behalf of Sindel, Shao Kahn had promptly called the guest in.

Imagine his disappointment when the visitor turned out to be the Thunder God. It was only because of Sindel's ties to the heroic immortal that Kahn remained on speaking terms with his nemesis. What came next was unexpected. Without so much as a proper explanation, Raiden dumped twenty-four children on his head and vanished sans a single trace.

"What am I supposed to do anyway? I mean, look at him!" he cried, holding up Liu Kang for the other two to see. "He gave me LIU KANG!"

"And who the hell are these guys anyway!" the Emperor demanded, pointing with his thumb towards Kratos and Freddy Krueger. Sektor simply shrugged while Scorpion jumped up, startled when Sonya tried to eat his shoes.

Suddenly, the throne upon which the burly Ruler of Outworld graced his buttocks upon tilted and toppled over to the left with the man still in it. Shocked, all the two ninja could do was stare appalled as Kahn lifted himself from the rubble that was once his throne. He looked over to Kitana, a piece of the stone from which the seat was made from in her hands. She looked over at him with eyebrows stitched together and then continued to nibble at the rock.

"That's unhealthy..." Sektor pointed out to the blue Princess.

"Oh that is all that she would eat..." Kahn murmured in defeat before walking over to his adoptive child and picking her up in his arms. He yelped, dropping the moody child to the floor to nurse the hand she bit. "And apparently... human flesh..."

"But... wasn't Mileena the one with tendencies like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that, weren't people part of Mileena's diet?"

"Please! Mileena is the sweetest angel I've been lucky enough to take care of! She'll take her milk and will never fuss over it. Its Kitana that's the problem child."

"That... does not compute... in any sense possible..."

During the time the adults spent talking, baby Kitana took a break from nibbling the quickly disappearing stone and cast a glance over at her sister. Mileena, too, caught her sibling looking at her but immediately began to whimper with fear when the blue-garbed child smiled a heinous grin her way.

"Even Skarlet gives me a better time. The palace servants all quit because Kitana would bite their fingers off."

The three fell short of words and became silent, hearing only the giggling/wailing/burbing/snoring of babies.

This was going to be all that they would hear from now on. They would live, pray, see, hear, breathe and eat 'BABIES'. Well, not eat them exactly, given that either Baraka or Kitana didn't eat them first.

This was one predicament that Sektor was not going to bear through. After a meal that took a hundred times longer to cook than to throw away, Kahn offered his new 'help' abode within the castle until the solution could be found. This solution, no matter how elusive was all the hope they apparently had, according to the Edenian Nightmare. He had stated that he could only cross his fingers that Raiden was out somewhere, working to find a damn cure. The idea Ketchup had, though, would not exactly eradicate their infant-problem but would lessen their burdens.

The Cyborg decided that tomorrow morning, after a good-night's recharging while Scorpion and Kahn would stir from their sleep to quiet down the restless babies, he would find the only person capable of nurturing the kids.

Sindel.

Their Safe Haven.

Outer Haven.

LA-LI-LU-LE-LO! LA-LI-LU-LE-LO! LA-LI-LU-LE-LO!

"What?" Sektor murmured, immediately scanning his hard-drive with the sudden intrusion of those non-existent Japanese vowels.

* * *

><p>Sindel yawned shamelessly, kicking her feet up on the coffee table and taking a sip of her martini. And old track of the Carpenters played on record in the far corner of the room while the Queen had specifically placed her chair to give her a view of the looming stars. The sky was ever beautiful, the stars twinkling flirtatiously as if blowing kisses to each other. The moon was out of the picture, leaving nothing but the little fire-flies to light up the night sky. The winds refused to blow, leaving her scented candles to burn intensely, although silently.<p>

She sighed this time, leaning out to place the martini on the coffee table before leaning back into the chair again. She had spent hours applying all that make-up and then slipped into one of her most exquisite evening-gowns. In theory, she was ready for everything that would happen that night, despite knowing that nothing would stir.

She tilted her head till it snuggled into her left shoulder.

She needed excitement.

She needed a man.


	4. Chapter IV

Disclaimer: I don't own Mortal Kombat.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter IV<span>

"Prepare for assimilation," Sektor's voice boomed within the confines of what remained of Sindel's apartment, holding up an arm to deploy the nano-machines. Through the smoke and rubble, the banshee screamed more out of fear than in hopes to destroy the machine's artificial sensory receptors. Although Ketchup had already located the Queen's heat signatures within what looked like the aftermath of an earthquake, he mercifully paused for a moment to confirm his mission objectives.

Oh that's right; he was here to take her back to the palace, not turn her into a pseudo cyborg loyal to the hive. Once the final statistics cleared, he lowered his arm so that it hung by his side. His system began evaluating the heat signatures that took the shape of a cowering woman scrunched up under a broken table.

"Queen Sindel of Edenia. Approximate age: six thousand, five hundred years," he paused the announcement, pondering how Kitana exceeded the age by around 4 millenia if Sindel was never born during that time. He assumed the data to be corrupt and vandalized. Women don't like it when people talk of their real age. Perhaps the only real information Sektor could confirm to be unbiased was the fact she was spouse to the Emperor of Outworld, but like it would do any good. Ketchup decided not to waste any more time.

Never trust Wikipedia.

"You are target for transport to the Outworld Palace," he declared and stomped towards the ruined table, grabbing a hold on the frightened Queen's arm.

"Wh-who are you! Why are you doing this to me!" she whined, trying to wrench away from the machine's iron grip.

"I do not have the authority to answer that question," he stated blankly and turned to scan her, only to have a vase brought down upon his processor. The glass shattered and water poured into his lenses but the beautifully built robot remained unaffected by the attack. Sindel looked back, shocked how he was able to withstand the assault. "Cute," he commented before pulling her arm.

She cried in protest again and reached for another item, ready to toss it upon his cranium once more. As if the puny human with her limited information capacities could ever comprehend that the density of his metallic construct would never allow the feeble item to penetrate into the internal core, thereby damaging his processors, rendering him incapable of collating, storing, assessing and constructing data which would otherwise become corrupt.

Pfft… silly, stupid human…

O WAYT WUTS ZAT?

He deployed his synthetic web, throwing the woman to the far corner of the room and knocking the old radio from her hands. Ketchup caught the antique within his hands, scanning it with careful intent. The radio was still playing a record not nearly as old as the antique itself. He traced a metallic finger against the intricate carvings in the wood, sighing solemnly as his sensors began to leak a trickle of oil. He put an upturned table back on its legs and placed the radio down upon it, marveling how beautiful and solitary it looked.

Sindel had already torn away from the net that wound around her form, using her teeth and large fingernails for the task. She meant to kick the crazy intruder in his face but paused when she saw him grow so subtle and treat the radio with great care. Eyebrow raised, she came to stand beside him, watching him just simply look at the radio, as if he was somehow taking in all the happiness in the world just by staring at it. Maybe this strange, shiny metal-man wasn't anything less than a psycho. If anything, the Queen decided it was best to remain in the man's good books to keep him from going berserk again.

"Its pretty, ain't it," she started after which Ketchup relaxed his posture and stood erect, yet never taking his sensors off the thing. "Kahn said it was junk, but I loved it the moment I saw it through the window."

"She's lovely…" Sektor murmured. "Like an old, forgotten beauty…"

The Queen gave Ketchup a long hard stare, genuinely confused what to do about the situation.

She then straightened two chairs and told Ketchup to take a seat while she made them some tea.

* * *

><p>"Nyah!" Noob squeaked in protest, <em>punching<em> Scorpion in the stomach. The Specter spared the child a glance and furrowed his brows at him. He waved a finger at him in warning before picking him up with his free hand. In the other, he cradled little Kung Lao to sleep, the young monk pressing his tiny fists against his mouth. The Shaolin always brought a warm non-existent smile to the Ninja's non-existent face, which would only be temporary once Noob would nudge him for attention.

He released a pent up sigh, getting up from his seat to put Lao in a cradle with Kratos and Stryker.

"What an envious thing you are," he said to Saibot as he sat back down in his chair.

It had taken them – he and Shao Kahn – forever to begin their morning. It was nearly daybreak when Mileena started crying, followed by the rest of the babies disturbed by the shrieks. Kahn was already at one cradle when Scorpion ran in, carrying six children in his massive bulky arms, trying to shush them. The Emperor pleaded to the Specter to manage the kids' feeding for the time.

The gold-clad babysitter was first to visit the servant-quarters and fetch a few maids who hadn't run off in fright, something which kept his face burning red for he was to ask them a little favour he had never dreamed of asking any woman before.

"Breastfeed your kids?" one repeated what was being asked of her while the Ninja, still red as a tomato and still shaky as a wilting leaf in the wind, nodded. She refused as did the others. "I ain't letting Mileena an inch close to my hooters."

"But they-!"

"Hold on, Junii," another one addressed the first woman. "How 'bout we give it to him instead of feeding them ourselves?"

The one called Junii didn't have to think too long about it. Scorpion was glad she complied as did the other ladies. She had pointed towards a cabinet mounted on the wall, telling him the pump was in there. The Ninja promptly fetched the thing, only to find to his endearing horror the women pulling down their dresses from their shoulders, revealing an assortment of luxuriously round melons.

He waited for about half an hour outside their room before a large bucketfull of warm mother's milk was handed to him. He took it without a single word, managing only a small thank you, and made his way towards the main chamber. He fished out his pierced glove and was about to dip it into the fluid before Kahn stopped him.

He ran once again through the confusing hallways, cursing at Sektor for having abandoned them in such a predicament until he finally stumbled into the kitchen. Pans and bowls clanged together as they fell on the counter, on the floor, in the sink, on his head and all over the place as the panicking Shirai Ryu sifted through every cabinet, every drawer in the entire kitchen. He was much too out of his wits to slap himself when he found a few empty baby bottles right on the counter.

Gathering them in his arms, he stumbled all the way back to the throne room a second time. He sat down on the hard marble floor, unscrewing the nipples, dipping the flasks in the milk, screwing the nipples back on and putting each full bottle aside. Through the screams of the children and Shao Kahn's attempts to coo and soothe the agitated babies, Scorpion couldn't even hear himself curse that stupid cyborg as he went about.

The Emperor put the babies back in their cots save for Freddy and Chi, and joined the Specter on the floor. Handing the other Freddy, the two then stuffed the plastic nipples into the infants' mouths and murmured with unease as over twenty babies still kept screeching into their ears.

Feeding them was painful, but at least they got the job done in less than five hours. Although the Dark Emperor had to get up to warm the milk several times during the process, but the task had been fulfilled, and all the content children had mercifully fallen asleep.

Well… all except for one.

"I am still upset with you," he said to Noob, holding him as he placed the Wraith in his lap. "I do not like it when you toss me within the portals you conjure."

The baby only squeaked in response, his scanty brows stitched together.

"It is your fault," Scorpion argued with the child, once glancing towards Kahn. The Emperor had fallen asleep on the marble floor, his three daughters and son Ermac, and Rain about him, also drifting away in their dreams. He looked back at Noob, slightly amused at the child's stubbornness. "You are nothing but a mischief maker."

Scorpion bounced the now smiling baby on his lap.

"You are such a naughty child," he pressed on, rubbing his covered nose gently on the Wraith's stomach, making the baby giggle. "Why are you laughing? Huh? Why are you laughing? Are you a mischief maker? Why are you laughing? Such a naughty boy!"

He twirled his finger so that Noob tried to catch it in his soft palms.

"Are you trying to clap? You are being very naughty!"

The baby clapped.

And sucked Scorpion into a portal.

* * *

><p>"Was she beautiful?" Sindel implored, feeling slightly guilty for making him discuss about such a touchy subject. She flinched when the nod became terribly delayed, screaming at herself mentally for hurting the metal man even more than he already had been. This Marina; he talked about her like there was no other woman in the world for him. He would pause and sigh when he would recall a romantic moment, most of which the Queen hardly understood owing to the jargon he used. He would talk of her like she really was a part of his heart, rather than a part of his conquests.<p>

Ugh… Kahn…

That man…

Was she ever anything to him besides a trophy wife? Couldn't he give her the love and respect she always yearned from him? Sector treated his woman like a woman. Like a true lover. Like Marina was a part of his soul. Why couldn't she be the same to Kahn? Why wouldn't he love her the way Sektor loved his woman? The Queen had also poured out her heart to the machine, each individual sharing the story of their shattered love.

It was as if there was a connection.

"You are a good man, Sektor," Sindel had said, stroking his hand to comfort him. "She couldn't deserve better…"

"You… you really think so…?" he sniffed, wiping the oil that smeared his face. His sensors, though muddled with the black oil, glinted with a hope only Sindel could capture. She leaned further on the table, placing a hand on the grease covered face of the machine.

"Trust me. I know what I say…" she gave the silent Ketchup a soothing smile. "Come here."

The Queen dragged her chair next to his and gathered him into a long embrace.

Moments passed until the hug was broken and Sindel never removed her palms from the robot's shoulders. She maintained that smile, only for a brief while until her lips fell into a subtle frown, parting as she leaned in to kiss the cyborg.

"WOAH!" Sektor cried, knocking back his chair and jumping to his feet before Sindel could land the kiss. "Lady, I-I'm not doing this!"

"Oh I know its hard to move on…" she whispered as she got off her chair as well, placing her hands on Ketchup's face once more. He promptly pulled away from her.

"Geez, you're married!"

"What Kahn doesn't know won't hurt us…"

"You-You've lost it!"

"Kiss me… come on…"

Sektor ran out of room to back away and was pinned to the wall as the Queen finally pressed her torso against his.

He blasted off into the air before she could kiss him.

But he could almost feel her skin penetrate his metallic plating.

_Silly, stupid humans…_

He'd never call humans silly and stupid ever again.

* * *

><p>"Where were you?" Kahn asked, his eyes wide with worry as a drenched and dripping Scorpion stormed in.<p>

"Wherever I was, I had to swim all the way!" he cried, pulling off his boot to let a stream of water pour on the floor. He then dropped the boot, making the small puddle splash. "That wretched Wraith!"

"Now, Scorpion-"

"Do not interfere, Kahn! I have had enough of him! If I do not wring his neck now, I will set everyone else ablaze!"

"You're not thinking straight!" the Emperor followed the enraged Specter, spreading his hands out for him, pleading as the undead warrior threw the chamber doors open.

"I still had to exact vengeance upon the bastard!" Scorpion billowed. "WHY NOT NOW?"

Rubble flew in from all directions, miraculously missing the babies as Sektor burst in, and landed directly upon Scorpion. As the dust cleared and Kahn made his way towards the red machine, the Emperor's jaw dangling from its joints, Sektor lifted a foot to assess why the impact for landing was softer than calculated.

"Oops…" was all he could say.

* * *

><p>"Okay, so let me get this straight," Raiden interjected, holding up his palms as a gesture for the other god to slow down and squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to recall every bit of detail that had been provided to him. The company in this matter, known simply as the God of Convenient Explanations, pursed his lips as he waited. "Shang Tsung was working on a spell…"<p>

The God of Convenient Explanations, whom the readers will refer to as The Author for their ease, nodded.

"To keep him youthful without the need to consume souls on a daily basis…"

Another nod.

"But the spell backfired, so he transformed into a baby instead…"

"That's pretty much correct."

"And he managed to affect many others with the metamorphosis as well?"

"Yup"

"Why EVERYONE else?" the Thunder god demanded, a streak of lightning racing across his torso in a show of anger.

"The 'wrinkle-away' gig wasn't the only thing he was practicing, you see," The Author explained, stuffing his pinky into his nostril and twirling it about to catch some hardened boogers underneath his nail. "His spell involved trying to suck out the souls of some of the greatest warriors to power the magic. Whosoever had his or her name marked in Tsung's list had been linked to the spell throuhg some sort of DNA signature. Once it took Tsung down, it took everyone else along as well."

"But Shao Khan? And Sindel? The machine Sektor and Scorpion too, how come they weren't affected?"

By now, The Author heaved an irritable sigh.

"Sindel walked out two weeks ago after that big fight and Kahn followed after her, remember? Scorpion was in hell and Sektor ain't dumb like Cyrax to not run an X-Ray scan when Tsung's morphing."

Raiden scratched his head.

"What do we do now?" he asked.

"_We_? Buddy, I'm here to provide opportune plot devices, not save the world."

"You could at least tell me what I have to do… it's pretty obvious it has to be 'The All Knowing and Mighty Raiden' to fix everyone's shit…" the said All Knowing and Mighty Raiden flailed his hands in the air before letting them droop to his sides. Well you can't exactly blame him, now can you?

"Fine," The Author sighed, plopping into his rotating chair and turning towards his desk, pulling a piece of paper from a very thin file. He handed the god the parchment. "Pay a visit to Tsung's lair and search about; you'll probably find the reversal lying around somewhere where the douchebag couldn't have missed it in case there was an emergency."

"Okay, what's the paper for?"

"See for yourself."

Raiden laid his eyes upon the bold scribble, a name that had been written on the paper: Mai Butreeks.

"Mai Butreeks? Who's Mai Butree – Oh, I see what you did there."

* * *

><p>AN: Thanks to everyone who favourited and SPECIAL thanks to **kim/iridianna01734**, **mcgormanp**, **sa-sa**, **izzie01789**, **Foreteller of Three**, **unknown**, **Paritheikae**, **legendgaming12** and **CaTigeReptile** for the reviews. 'Till another day.


	5. Chapter V

Disclaimer: I don't own anything besides any and all characters, places and events I choose to add on my whim.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter V<span>

"What are you…?" Scorpion trailed off when he fixed his eyes upon the screen protruding from Sektor's torso displaying near-realistic images of a battlefield, complete with explosions, the screams of dying men and blood splattering everywhere. Two thick cords descended from the image box and connected to individual rectangular remotes, each in the hand of Little Johnny and Little Cyrax. The child-star bopped his pudgy palm on the face of the remote, adorned with colorful buttons, which triggered the gigantic gun blaring on screen to blow some soldier's head clear off his shoulders. The two babies looked up in awe at the glorious image of blood and fragments of brain showering into the air.

The Specter nearly slipped from his crutches and to the floor as he witnessed the horror before him. He wobbled towards the infants, his plastered leg hovering in the air a tad inch from the floor, the casing decorated in ugly crayon scribbles and Liu Kang's barf. Using one crutch as the replacement for his leg, he gently kicked away the controllers out of the reach of the children, making them burst into disappointed wails.

"Aw man!" the Red Machine cried in disdain. "It took me forever to shut them up!"

"By making them watch obscene images of death?" demanded the enraged yet handicapped Ninja.

"Hey! CoD makes everything better!"

Without another warning, Scorpion swung his crutch and smacked it against the Cyborg's processing unit with such force that the tool split into two. The artificial man stumbled back and toppled to the floor with a loud metallic _CLANG_, earning the applauding laughter of the two children. LK-9T9 groaned, his sensory receptors flickering between black and blue before he went into temporary shutdown, a somewhat satisfying triumph for the Spectre. But that in no way that meant as getting back at Ketchup for performing a crash landing on him the other day.

Scorpion sighed in remote exhaustion, lumbering out of the chamber on half the support.

Yesterday hadn't gone too well. When coming to, the Specter would have been bitter regarding Sektor nearly crushing his skull into his spinal column, but most about the Machine leaving them to their own devices until he was provided with an explanation. The Robot had been out tracking Sindel (and being successful in the venture) in order to convince her to come back to the palace and provide them with guidelines, or better yet, take care of the darned babies. The woman was complying… in an entirely different context.

Shao Kahn wasn't happy that Sektor called his wife a skank. The Emperor hadn't talked to the other since that moment, which evidently led to worse situations. The children had been divided amongst them as part of the feud and Scorpion had only been dragged into this because he thought that distributing responsibilities over a set number of children would be more effective. And the yellow Ninja got the better end of it; as per his near-crippling injuries, he had only Sub Zero, Quan Chi, Noob Saibot and – a new comer – Kratos to tend to. Scorpion did have his reservations about Noob Saibot for some reason and he didn't remember why ever since he had a metal man dropped on his head.

For a brief moment, Scorpion was happy he was well off as compared to his fellow Kombatants. But evidently, everything went back to being terrible when he had to give Sub Zero a diaper change.

As a man, Scorpion was humiliated to see how extraordinarily superior the little Ice Master was in biological terms. At first the man couldn't believe that a child, perhaps only several months old, possessed such a significant evidence of being male but as his blank eyes lowered down to the measly flatness of his crotch, he could feel tears welling up in his eyes and dripping down his paled cheeks. Pouring powder over the greater wang, Sub Zero sneezed when the talc drifted into the air and into his nose. When he opened his eyes, his blue orbs twinkled knowingly; mocking him, jeering at the pitiful excuse for a man that Scorpion was (be sure to understand this was all in his head).

The day dragged on with its minor mishaps and a missing Freddy Krueger that eventually popped up in Kahn's dreams that night, next morning only paved the way for another miserable time in their lives. And apparently, catching Sektor exposing the children to untamed violence was more than enough evidence to prompt that individually, all three were actually worse off than before. At least together they could all pool in their knowledge and whatever little expertise they possessed in the art of parenting to securely look after the infants. Scorpion realized, after the whole videogame fiasco, that a truce was top priority.

"You have to cease this childish squabble, Kahn," Scorpion pleaded after the Giant who sat next to a cot, a bottle thrust into the small mouth of Stryker sucking away contently. The Nightmare was in worse shape than last the Specter remembered of him. Besides the severe exhaustion that caused his lips to droop in the most scarring frowns, vomit and baby formula discolored nearly every expanse of his skin. The smell that emanated from the Emperor though was another concern.

Kahn didn't reply, pretending that the silly words never escaped the Ninja's lips and busying himself in the feeding.

"Please do not do this," the smaller man continued to argue, hobbling closer on his good leg and the single crutch left to him. "Even you must understand that we cannot do this on our own."

"That fool disrespected my wife," Kahn spat bitterly through clenched teeth, hurt present in his otherwise vile, red eyes. His voice was airy and was without the thunderous boom of power it usually carried. In all honesty, Scorpion couldn't help but think of the Emperor as an ill man.

"That is correct, he _is_ a fool," the yellow warrior kept pressing. "What credibility do you give to what a fool says? How unwise it is to leave helpless children in his care where he lacks the compassion and knowledge necessary for their safe nurture. He is one who acts upon directions, without which we have doomed the lives of those innocents. Please, just declare a truce. The safety of the children can only be ensured if the three of us operate in harmony."

The Emperor directed his tried eyes towards the drowsy Stryker, contemplating upon the words from the Netherrealm avenger.

"Please, Kahn. For your own safety in the least! These children have sucked the life out of you!"

"They have not!" Kahn argued back in his defense, his voice cracking weakly. In the cot that stood beside him, wisps of his soul drifted from the surface of his skin and wrapped around Little Tsung's fingers, which the excited child transferred to a teddy bear sitting in his bed. The stuffed toy jumped to life and stood upon its toeless legs, walking along with the two other similarly animated bears. The newest one stumbled close to Kitana who shared the bed, the female child pouncing upon the plaything and tearing it apart with her gums in a rather 'Mileena-like' fashion. Tsung clapped on in applause and humor.

"Yes," Scorpion insisted, his tone assertive as he wobbled right next to the Emperor and forced him up with a hand. He would have thought that the task of lifting that mass of muscles would be difficult but the reduced weight made it relatively easy for him to heave the Edenian Nightmare upon his meaty legs, despite the former's handicap. "They have."

Likely dejected, the once towering behemoth paced alongside Scorpion, head hung pathetically against his broad chest. His feet dragged along the once polished floor, now cluttered with toys, baby supplies and diapers, for what seemed like ages before they stopped in front of a door. Pushing it open with his free limb, Scorpion heard Kahn sigh in defeat at the sight of the Machine, his legs splayed across the floor, held up only by his arms.

"Hey, I'm missing a data fragment," the Cyborg declared, oblivious of the wood splinters lying about him and Johnny and Cyrax curled up against each other, fast asleep. "I think my processor crashed for a second before rebooting. Did I miss anything?"

Without answering the question, Scorpion leaned away from the entrance to expose Shao Kahn to the metallic abomination. Unit LK-9T9 remained silent, somewhat unable to decipher the strange glances the yellow ninja issued towards the meek looking Kahn, as if quietly urging him to say something which the latter was not comfortable in relaying to the machine.

"I'm kinda…" the Emperor gulped, twiddling his sausage-like fingers. "Sorry… for being mad at you…"

"You were mad? What for?" Ketchup demanded, ignorant as ever. It left the Giant dumbfounded and a tad bit furious how his apology was being wasted upon an idiot. Unable to come up with the words before the tinge of madness broke through, Scorpion jumped in front of the behemoth and pulled him back – a feat rather heroic considering he did stave off the raging Kahn himself.

"Just a fool, remember what we spoke of," the Ninja effectively calmed the man down, reducing him to a still fuming bulk, but not as crazy as before nonetheless. There was an exchange of muffled words but Kahn seemed to have regained composure and lost his entire bloodlust (moar like OILlust, amirite?) for the red robot.

"In any case," Kahn continued, clearing his throat. "The more pressing matter at hand is how we are all supposed to manage in keeping these kids alive until Raiden goes about saving the world."

"How 'bout we hire a nanny?" Sektor suggested. It did seem like a legit idea but neither Scorpion nor Shao Kahn agreed to it.

"These babies cannot be looked after by a human for fear of any deaths occurring by their hands," the ninja refuted, sidetracking at least that thought.

"Face it, kombatants," the Kahn implied, sighing once and ever so loudly that his voice reverberated off the palace walls. "This is fate. Millions of people residing within innumerable realms and out of all of them, we three were the only ones chosen to watch over these children."

"Actually… it was Raiden who screwed us over-" Sektor could not complete his sentence because he was made to shush by the Shirai Ryu ninja.

At present, it was not the time to apply logic and deter the now bubbling determination of the Conqueror, whose chest grew broad and stout with an inhale of fresh air. Constitution returned to the Giant's soul as it would gather when he would address his greatest generals, warriors and assassins for the greatest invasion in the history of forever. Pride blurred his vision and he pictured an army of babies, adorning blood-spattered armor, their gleaming weapons held in hand as they clicked their stubby heels in attention, squeaking the Kahn's name in praise. Their shrill sounds echoed in his ears, chanting, and the wave of adrenaline washing over the army and feeding the conceit his soul begged of.

This was a moment of _glory_!

"**Our purpose is true!**" his words thundered and the chanting grew louder, his heart thumping with hot blood. "**Our path is clear! LET US ALL FIGHT!**"

The response felt cold as Scorpion and Cyrax merely looked in confusion, the former lifting a brow and exchanging a glance with the artificial man to which he received a shrug as an answer. They returned their gaze towards the Emperor, now almost frozen in place with a fist held high into the air and his chest heaving as his breaths fell short in excitement, his red eyes gazing off into the unknown distance. After long moments without any signs of Kahn returning to the real world, the two waved it off and went about gathering Johnny and Cyrax from the floor to lay them in their cots.

* * *

><p><em>One week later…<em>

Life finally began looking up for them.

It was never that the children themselves were a trouble to the trio, but the fact that they never accepted the silver lining to the situation, never saw the happiness they could achieve if they chose to embrace life's downfalls will a smile. The children were not so much a curse when they began to see what a blessing they actually were that everything seemed so easy, everything did hold a bit of light even though it meant a lot of struggle.

Scorpion looked about the palace that had once been blanketed with rubbish, used diapers, stuffed toys and the floors and walls that had once been stained with vomit and cereals, now once again returned to their former glory. The cots each held a pair of soundly asleep babies, their soft breaths sounding louder in unison, clean and warm. A soft light burned from the podiums held to far end of the room, illuminating the space that retained an air carrying the taste and smell of talcum powder, the ninja cradling the last of the children in his hands.

The curtain of Sub Zero's blue eyes were closed, a small hiss escaping him as a weak little snore. It had been the Shirai Ryu's turn to check on the kids when he and his fellow combatants heard the whimpering in the heart of the night. Slightly disgruntled, the yellow ninja had stumbled into the room where they laid all the children to rest, expecting a few, frightened heads to turn his way and begin to wail but instead, the only one awake was Sub Zero. The Ice Master abruptly halted his sniffling when Scorpion approached him, looking on curiously with eyes so wide that the man knew this child wouldn't go to sleep so easily.

He had lifted him out of the cot and held him against the shoulder, strolling across the expanse of the room, cradling him softly. Sub Zero only drummed his hands upon Scorpion's shoulder guards, a squeal of excitement escaping his drool-drenched lips, prompting the man to cradle him instead. His orbs continued to bore into the taller being's face, his tiny fingers reaching out for his mask without understanding his arms were too little for the task. It brought a smile on Scorpion's face and he continued to pace about, watching the spark dim from the Lin Kuei's eyes as sleep finally began to take its toll.

Pity welled up inside him as he counted the child's breaths, wondering how heartbroken the little thing would be when the Lin Kuei tried so hard to stay awake just so he could have Scorpion all to himself. Adjusting his hands as gently as he could so as to not stir the infant from his sleep, the Specter slowly glided out of the room and into the main chamber where Kahn's empty, cold throne greeted him. Climbing up the raised platform, he settle down into the chair, Sub Zero still held in his hands.

He didn't know when he too drifted to sleep.

* * *

><p>The door exploded into innumerable pieces, ending Raiden's assault just as quickly he began it. Smoke and rubble occupied the area, allowing for a dramatic entrance as the Thunder God strode in, screaming "HOUSE CALL!"<p>

There was no reply and it was safe to assume that Tsung did not prepare well enough for intruders by having his inept lackeys guarding the place. Apparently, this dumpster was meant to be the sorcerer's workshop during the glory days of the Deadly Alliance, when the magical duo thought it was cheaper to force common villagers to build them an entire palace. The building was shoddy, poorly built and seemed as if it just barely stood up on a lanky leg. In short, it was crap and surely Shang Tsung must have wept after realizing that not everyone is good at constructing landmarks at the sting of a whip's end.

A shift in the air and a group of mangled, Outworld ogres descended upon him out of nowhere, their ham-like hands curled to thrust their yellow claws into him. Raiden zapped them. The battle was over in a matter of seconds, and undoubtedly so since he's a friggin' god. What chance would a bunch of fat, retarded ogres have against a god?

"Man, if I was _this_ pimp in the game!" he sighed, cracking his fingers before deciding he had done enough gloating and now was the time to pay attention to more pressing matters at hand. He scratched his chin deep in thought, his blank eyes scouring what was left of Tsung's crib (geddid? CRIB? lol im running out of jokes). He began to wonder out loud. "Okay, if I was Shang Tsung… where would I hide a counter to the most idiotic spell I'd have to be utterly wasted to create?"

A giant-ass button perhaps twice the diameter of his own conical hat, with "PUSH IN CASE OF IMMORTALITY SPELL BACKFIRES" written in bold, neon colors you'd have to be blind to miss, caught his attention. Too conspicuous or was Tsung a retard? We may never know.

"It's a trap," the god bluntly stated, turning to face the button that was set neatly into the wall. The Sorcerer wouldn't be stupid enough to place a reversal to a spell that possesses such drastic powers in plain sight for anyone to stumble upon, much less provide his enemies with a serious advantage. If anything, the crafty Outworld magician would hide it in the last place anyone would expect him to keep a cure. But where would that be? Where would Raiden least expect it? An idea clicked in his head as the neon letters slowly ensnared him in a trance the longer he stared at it. Of course. The last place would be the first place: this big red button.

Clever girl!

But to lay rest any doubts, Raiden was just subconsciously convincing himself of pushing the oh-so push-able button, with the rainbow-streaked words just begging him to ram his knuckles onto the glowing red surface with such force that it would crumble his bones. The scene was so vivid that as it played in the Thunder God's mind, he could feel the almost impending sear of agony that would hit him… yet… he knew. He knew the satisfaction at the end would be well worth the pain. So tempting to push…

NO!

He shook his head, reason telling him that it was an obvious trap. He turned away from the button, lightly smacking himself on the cheeks to snap out of the trance. Shrugging it away, he continued into the far distance of the deeper grounds of the building.

Moments later, unable to resist the urge, the Thunder God speared through the air like a torpedo and rammed his face into the button. The red disk lit up, turning into a fiery shade of red as Raiden slumped to the earth, nursing his broken nose and chipped teeth. The pain was excruciating to the point that he was sure his skull would explode, but looking upon the now activated button, he couldn't help but smile through the blood that cascaded down his nose and mouth.

MAN IT FELT **GOOD**!

* * *

><p>AN: Next chapter will hold the conclusion to this mess. Thanks to **Paritheikae**, **sickoftakenpennames**, **Battlet** and **Frost Metal 0-1** for reviewing and everyone else who quietly favourited this.


	6. Chapter VI

A/N: Thanks to all those who reviewed, favourited and gave this mini-fic a read.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter VI<span>

The morning sun had long since climbed out of the horizon, though still hovering above a little ways from its routinely journey across the sky. Perhaps it had been the crow of a fowl announcing the arrival of the new day to all living things, or perhaps it had been the excited chatter of the folk before they would begin their usual practices; it was hard to tell what exactly stirred him from fragile sleep. His blue eyes fluttered open and the back of his wrist reached up to his yawning mouth. He glanced up with his face still snuggled upon Scorpion's shoulders, the shifting weight of the Lin Kuei pulling him out of his slumber. The Shirai Ryu blinked his tired eyes before lazily turning his head to check on the only other occupant of the chair, Sub Zero sprawled up against his chest and his wide and shimmering blue eyes gazing into the Ninja's blank ones.

Sub Zero screamed.

Scorpion screamed.

Both men tumbled to the hard marble floor, their screams echoing like a deafening siren within the chamber. In their desperate attempts to distance themselves as far away from each other as possible, the panicking warriors only managed to entangle themselves within the ridiculous decorations of their own livery. The struggle must have lasted for about a few moments but to the frightened screaming men it seemed like half an hour had passed by before their incessant thrashing somehow freed them. But it was not without some damage: the adornments tore pocket sized holes into their garments and pulled the stitches out from the shoulders, exposing the Lin Kuei's bare shoulder and pectoral muscles.

"WHAT THE FUCK, SCORPION?!" the Ice Warrior cried out in horror, his arms feebly gathering the torn rags of his clothes to cover his indecent flesh. He lowered his head and began sobbing uncontrollably as the Shirai Ryu regained some composure from the whole ordeal and tried to explain the situation, albeit with fumbling words and facts that were so outrageous in themselves that Sub Zero would never believe him. The chamber's doors flung open with enough force to almost tear them off their hinges, a figure coated in the darkness of the Nether standing at the entryway.

Noob's eyes travelled between his traumatized and partially naked brother and the Spectre who sat on his knees, his hands clutching pieces of blue fabric that undoubtedly belonged to the former. The Wraith narrowed his eyes at Scorpion while the other shook his head fervently in denial, the truth failing to leave his mouth without sounding like a string of incoherent mumbles. Sub Zero looked up at his elder sibling, his eyes holding Noob's before the shame eventually broke him into another fit of pained sobbing. The ex-Lin Kuei marched towards Scorpion and proceeded to beat the hell out of him.

* * *

><p>"Please tell me this wasn't a baby-themed orgie party," Johnny had said when the Swordsman helped him up from the ground, the Special Forces agent just as confused as his eyes scanned the spacious room.<p>

His memory failed to provide him any necessary clues as to what was happening, or what had happened: he remembered he was out on his daily jog and in the next moment there he was in a tiny little cot, his arms and legs dangling off the raised sides. Kenshi wasn't the only one, as he had soon discovered after waking up that many other warriors he had familiarized himself with ever since joining the Forces of Light too lay in baby-cots. A few of them were unfortunate. Someone had placed Goro and Kintaro in the same bed which obviously crumbled under their combined weight – the Shokan however were still sound asleep even as they lay in the rubble.

"What happened…?" Kung Lao sighed tiredly as he walked up to the pair, rubbing his sleepy eyes and opening his mouth wide to dispel a yawn. He smacked his lips, his brows knitting together to better emphasize his confusion as he struggled to figure out the strange taste printed on his tongue. "Why do I taste baby formula?"

"ITS KUNG LAO!" an excited Mileena cried out when she laid her eyes upon him, a finger diligently pointing his way that signaled the other females of the swarm. The women stumbled to their feet, some having to topple their own cots to escape confinement, and stampeded towards the startled monk. With a subtle tip of the hat he propelled himself into the air and vanished completely in a ethereal cloak of blue, the disappointed ladies moaning as they came to stop where the warrior once stood.

"Liu Kang?" Kitana called to her lover, the Champion staggering as he steadied himself upon his legs. He was quick to regain balance and took the Princess's hand in his, pulling her up to stand alongside him. He looked around at the bizarre surroundings, the expression he wore silently demanding any semblance of an explanation from the woman. She shrugged, almost toppling to the ground had it not been the monk aiding her to remain steady – why did it feel like she had just learned to walk? She glanced at her partner as she nibbled on her lip nervously under her mask. "I don't know why I feel like I should say so, but I do not want to have any children, Kang."

There was a long pause, the Champion providing her an almost blank stare before nodding in agreement. He didn't know either but it felt like she was making all the sense in the world.

"Whatever the situation," Quan Chi stated with an almost deathly tone to his voice, his brows hanging low so that his eyes seemed darker than before. Shang Tsung immediately pursed his lips, a nervous hand running through his hair in a vain attempt to alleviate the awkwardness. He could try as he might, but no sorcery upon this world or any other could revoke the fact that the two Sorcerers woke up in a pile of broken wood, their arms wrapped around each other in tender embrace with a teddy bear squashed between the two. "I _don't_ feel good after whatever the hell happened between you and me. Not gay."

With that, Chi spun on his heels and walked straight out the room.

"You've probably done this before, right?" Freddy asked of the hulking, always seething God-Killer, Kratos, who responded by driving his fist right into the Nightmare's already mangled face.

* * *

><p><em>A couple of hours later...<em>

Tsung's jaw nearly fell off its hinges when he took in the carnage that lay at his feet. Charred Oni strewn across the compound's extent and some whose flesh had melted enough to allow them to be stickered along the walls. His door lay in shambles, whatever force that blew the entrance apart also causing damage to his carefully assorted potions and other dangerous fluids that pooled upon the ground. To his right, the giant fail-safe he had set up upon the wall glowed a bright red. The Sorcerer clenched his teeth; furious partially at the madmen who cost the damage and partly at himself for hiring such inept guards in the first place.

He stomped over to the big button, nose crinkling in puzzlement when he heard the distinct sounds of a child's sniffle. He looked down at the source of the noise and found a infant garbed in the robes of the Thunder God, small sparks coursing across his pudgy arms and his eyes glowing a divine white.

"Papa?" Raiden squeaked.

**The End**


End file.
