Looking over at Marek and Deon she sighs.. "I am sorry elder one i can not, i have important things to do. But i guarantee your safety so do not worry."

The old man looks disappointed. "Then allow me to make you some instant tea. I know it is not much but I feel you deserve something for rescuing me." The old man pulls out a cup, a bottle of water, a tea leaf, and a tea packet which becomes warm tea and gives it to Serenity.

"Only your safety is payment enough, but if you insist then i will take it."

Serenity looks at the cup of tea, and a strange feeling came upon her.

She took the tea and drank it, trying not to make a face as its taste wasn't so good.

Handing the cup back she smiled "Thank you, be on your way now" She started walking towards her companions.

When Serenity was far away, Okorik spoke telepathically to the hatchling. "Excellent, we now have a foothold in her mind. We just need to get the others to consume the eggs and we'll be good as gold. The hatchling in her will prove invaluable in our task but we can't do anything to arouse suspicion. Turn into a wine merchant and I'll use the hatchling to suggest that she should make her friends drink wine." With that, the old man turned into a wine merchant and all the necessary supplies and yelled, "Tarkatan, Shokan, Human, it matters not! Come to Kazama's wine house for the best tea in all Outworld!"

Marek pulls Deon aside and gives Serenity a smile. "I just need a moment to let our new friend enter my mind and prove my innocence, we'll be over here, Serenity." Watching Serenity go over to the wine merchant, Marek turns to Deon with a grim look on his face and whispers. "I fear Serenity has been compromised, Deon. Ever since she drank that tea from that old man, I have felt a darkness emanating from her. Our Netherrealm friend must still be alive and trying to deceive us, and I sense something even worse coming from that wine merchant. Whatever you do, don't drink the wine, it may be poison or worse."

Deon nods , "I can feel it too..I didn't want to mention it because I didn't wish to cause conflict among us."

Deon places his hand on Marek's head and begins chanting in French
and flashes of Marek's past rush through him, Deon stumbles back,"Ugh what a hectic past you've had, good news is your credit checks."

Deon's glances over at Serenity and back at Marek, "Scanning your mind has proven useful to answering another question of mine,Okorik must have some type of changling ability, it's how he was able to frame you and fool me, I'm sorry for my error."

Deon looks back at Serenity, "We should check out that win merchant, his energy feels..familiar..unholy

"No worries, given my past I would suspect myself, too." Marek and Deon walk over to Serenity and the wine merchant. "Worse case scenario, I'll have to act like a fool and "accidently" destroy the wine shack."

Serenity had known it was a trap.. She suspected something of the old man.. Drinking the cup of tea she used her time powers to slow down the speed of the liquid going down her throat..

She quickly went off to the side and threw up the contents of the tea.

Wiping her mouth, she continues to the "wine" seller

The hatchling allowed Okorik to see that Serenity was knowing of this deception. Okorik anticipated this and ordered the hatchling to capture a real wine merchant and bribed him with lots of hatchling coins in order to switch him with the hatchling merchant. The hatchlings left the wine before they could be discovered. The warriors may not know the merchant is innocent but if they act against him, their actions will be marked as the hatchlings escaped except for one who was well hidden as a simple ant on the inside of a tree nearby.

Marek yells and unleashes a firestorm on a nearby tree, destroying it and scattering ants everywhere. "Sorry, I thought I saw something strange over there."

Serenity runs over to Marek, "Are you ok? That doesn't seem like you to attack without thinking"

"Yeah, I guess after everything we've been through I'm becoming more and more paranoid every passing moment." Marek gives Serenity a smile.

Serenity understood completely, smiled back and winked "Yes it has been stressful, maybe some wine will help"

In a sudden explosion of dust, Shiku appears just behind Deon Bordeaux, staff in hand.

"We are scheduled to fight. I know not who you are but I must continue through this tournament as far as I can. I will know your purpose here afterwards, because much more is at stake here behind the scenes. I hope we do not oppose each other, but if we do,...well...Im sorry..for you."

Marek looks behind Serenity and sees a man in medieval armor nearby glaring at the Goddess. "It seems you have a secret admirer, my beloved. Perhaps the wine should wait until afterwards, as a post battle reward? Hopefully he'll put up more of a challenge than that cannibal you faced earlier."

"I don't think its a secret if he is making it so obvious." Serenity turns around and sees the warrior

"So do you want to handle him Marek?"

"No, I'm saving my strength for the friendly spar that I promised to the warrior Tyron Magnum, plus I don't think I've seen much of your power after the removal of the corruption." Marek winks at Serenity. "Kiss for luck?"

Serenity laughs "Oh Marek, do you actually think i need luck? Besides the old man gave me enough kisses for the rest of the day"

Serenity turns, leaving Marek wondering what that meant.

"Warrior what is your name?"


(i hope flamingtp knows about this lol)

(Probably not, but given the matchups today, it seemed appropriate lol)
Marek ponders what Serenity had said, but quickly focuses his attention to Serenity and the one called Ire. "I must admit, after everything we've been through recently, I actually miss that psychotic bunny boiler Malice. A shame about the three poor warriors I've heard were massacred by her recently, but I do."

Deon sneezes twice and wipes his nose, "I think I need a vaccum cleaner and an allergy pill."

Deon quickly turns around and backs away, then takes a defensive stance, "Are you that shapeshifter Okorik or a servant of Shao Kahn?"

Deon glances over at Marek and Serenity, "Are you two going to be okay against that dark knight?" Then he looks back at the strange warrior, "I am Deon Bordeaux and I do not wish to fight you, but I will if I must, let's go pig pen."

(Just a side note, Deon's a bit of a joker and not your typical wizard. I hope none of the things I say cause any offense and I hope you get my Charlie Brown reference)

"As do i" Serenity walks towards the opponent.

Hearing Deon shout she answers "Yes we are fine here, be careful yourself"

Looking again at the knight she waits for him to either respond or attack. Either way she is ready..

(and its cool i dont think anyone will be offended here lol"

An ant hidden among other ants was the perfect place for the hatchling to hide. As the ant overheard Shiku's plans to rescue Sub-Zero, Okorik yelled, "Honorable Grandmaster, I overheard talk that someone might try to save Sub-Zero. I suggest beginning the automation at once!" The Grandmaster replied, "With all the time you spent in a trance, I believed you were dead. Nevertheless, even if someone managed to reach Sub-Zero they are too late. He is already undergoing the process as we speak. Someone can show you the way so you may protect him." A Lin Kuei warrior walked with Okorik to a surgery room where Okorik saw Sub-Zero unconscious on an operating table, his eyes being plucked out one by one and replaced with cybernetics. The process is only just starting but Okorik knows that as soon as the process is finished, Sub-Zero will be utterly loyal to the Lin Kuei.

(@Lurker..Well that really screws with my plans lol)

Just before Shiku and Deon begin their fight, Smoke steps in and grabs Shiku by the arm. "We must go now." He insisits, "Sub Zero's cybernization has already begun! We have to stop them before it is too late.

So the two Lin Kuei gather the "cybers" that they have acquired and head for the Lin Kuei base. They waste no time, and launch a full on assault. Half of the cybers are actually humans in suits, the other half are controlled by Shiku. Taking the Lin Kuei Grandmaster by surprize, the assault went fairly well, and the humans in the new technologically advanced suits served Smoke and Shiku well. But they did not know where Sub Zero was. Shiku remembered seeing Okorik before, as the warrior stepped out from the shadows and faced Shiku.

"Where is Sub Zero!?!" Smoke demanded. Shiku then filled the entire room with dust, making it near impossible to even see the end of his arm if he held it out. He quickly dashed between rooms, trying to find the comrade that he barely knew. After no luck, he grabs Okorik by the neck.

"You will tell us Kuai Liangs location or die." Shiku used his life force senses, and noticed something odd about Okorik, but did not know what it was...

Okorik laughed at the top of his voice. "Didn't you think it a little odd how easy it was to attack the Lin Kuei head on? I anticipated something like this and devised a little plan of my own. What you see here is not the real Lin Kuei temple. It is something that my hatchlings have devised to mimic the real Lin Kuei temple. It is virtually identical to the real one but with Lin Kuei technology and some of the influence of the hatchlings, not even the strongest magic could discover this ruse. I was hoping to keep the hatchlings a secret but you forced my hand." Suddenly the entire walls of the fake Temple were littered with hundreds of little spiders which jumped on all the cybers and burrowed into their into their metal. The cybers screamed in agony and had seizures on the floor. "They are now infected with the hatchlings and are now under my control. I thank you for giving me more forces for the Netherrealm. I now give you a choice: either serve the Netherrealm or die here. Your choice. By the way, what you're holding is just one of the hatchlings." Just then, the hatchling turned into a minature version of Skyward and leapt towards Smoke.