Marek emerges from his robes, covered in what appears to be dog urine.
"Tyron Magnum and Omen put up a hell of a fight,."

Standing for a while Okirik and the guards did nothing so Serenity and the group walked away.

Having disappeared during the fray, Marek comes back smelling terrible.

"Ugh what is that smell?"

Finding the source she looks at Marek, "Marek please get rid of that smell"

"Ugh Marek, I don't even think magic can get that smell out..."

"For all our sakes i hope you are wrong Deon."

Serenity takes a few more steps away from Marek, hoping he doesn't try to come close to her.

Marek utters an incantation that covers himself in a sweet scented watery substance that soon flows off of him, cleaning his body and robes of the dirty smell. "That was one mean Earthrealm animal." Marek sees Serenity and Deon staring at him a safe distance away. "It's fine, I'm clean now. Let's go, I'd like to find that strange warrior we met in the Living Forest who tricked us into facing tat warrior Reiko."

"Ok lead the way"

Serenity waits for Marek to take a few steps ahead and then follows.

"I wonder what he wanted with us..'

"I don't know Serenity, but I have a feeling he and I are fated to battle."

She looked over at Deon and noticed him not paying attention to Marek or herself.

"I know i have the same feeling with Deon"

The guards and Okorik were caught unaware as the warriors escaped. Skyward told Okorik that the hatchling was a fake. "Darn. No matter, we'll find them soon." The Guardsmen said, "Those terrorists are quite sneaky but we managed to get a lock on their trail. They won't escape us!" Okorik and the Guardsmen soon followed the trail of the warriors, knowing they were nearby.

The three walked towards the forest where they last seen that strange warrior.

"I had a feeling Okorik would steal the hatchling so i hid it safe away. It will be safe but we need to figure out a way to use it before Okorik finds us."

Serenity turns around and looks at the path they had just walked, she somehow feels Okorik and some men are following them.

(I thought Spider meant the guy in the living forest/ not me)

Okorik sent Skyward to investigate the treetops. Skyward, camouflaged in the sky, spent a great deal of time looking for them but eventually found the group at near trees. "Excellent. Now we need a way to hurt them," said Okorik. A Guardsmen replied, "I have something. It is an experimental weapon designed for long-range attacks. This is the only one available and I was given the honor of testing it. I feel using it against these terrorists would be the ideal way to test it." The Guardsmen showed Okorik a brown tube with a scope on it. The Guardsmen warned that it was a prototype and thus only had one shot. Okorik picked a target from the warriors and pointed at Marek. Since he was the leader, his death would negatively affect the group. "Smile for me," said Okorik has he pointed the scope at Marek's head, "since this will be your end." Okorik pulled the trigger and fired the shot.

(@espio i meant that Serenity has the same feeling that she had to fight you.. since we were up against each other in the tourney)


To the surprise of her companions, Serenity unleashed a burst of energy that covered everyone for a few moments.

Serenity looked at Marek with glowing eyes then shifted her gaze to an object behind his head.

There was some sort of projectile suspended in mid air, frozen in time.

She turns to see where it came from, pulsing with energy ready for a fight.

Marek shakes his head and laughs bitterly. "Those Netherrealm beings will never learn, will they?"

"No.." Serenity's companions can see how serious she is, which is a shock to them.

"Marek.. can you locate our would-be assassin for me? I have a little gift for him."

Serenity raises her arm and twirls her wrist causing the frozen projectile to rotate towards its initial direction.
She brings her arm closer to herself which makes the projectile come closer to her.

Marek points to a location far behind them. "It came from over there."

With a flick of her finger Serenity launches the projectile towards the location Marek points too.

"Be careful, Okorik is a tricky one"

Okorik teleported out of the way while the 2 Guardsmen were killed in the shot. Okorik yelled, "Terrorists! You dare kill these innocent Guardsmen who only sought to bring you to justice for your crimes?! Hotaru will never forgive something like this!" With Skyward in hand, Okorik teleported back into Seido. Hotaru was surprised at this entry and asked what he was doing there. Okorik replied, "Hotaru, it seems the terrorists have killed more of your men." Okorik used Skyward to show a video of the warriors redirecting the round which killed the Guardsmen. Hotaru was filled with rage and yelled, "Even if they were innocent of the explosion, this is damning. Seido will never tolerate the death of one of our own. My choice is clear. All Guardsmen, find any of these warriors and bring me their heads!" Okorik bowed to Hotaru and returned to the Outworld, watching as as legions of Guardsmen marched into Outworld.

Serenity smiled and shoots a giant wave of energy at the direction of her assassin, and then brings her hand back to her chest rapidly bringing the projectile racing back to them. It suddenly stops in front of her and falls in her hand.

Serenity looks back, "Quickly we need to hurry" she grabs marek and deon and runs to Okorik's former spot.

They stopped and saw too bodies on the floor. She knees and touches both of them. Her hands begin to glow.

"I have rewound time, they should be alive in a few moments. I know Okorik will use their deaths to bring more troubles on us. If they come to, Okorik will be seen as a liar."

Her hands stop glowing as she rises. "Without trust you have nothing"


The guards rise, unknowing what had happen. Serenity asks the guards what they know. After some persuasion, they conceive and told the companions what they know.

"So Okorik wants to unite Orderrealm."
The three explain to the guards what had happen and the lies that have been spread.

The guards stand in shock at what they heard as a portal opens unleashing tons of Orderrealm warriors.
"We will go tell Hotaru the truth!"

Okorik just got out of the portal when he heard what Serenity said. "Curses! I should have brought the bodies with me. I'll have to find some way to keep up this charade. Just then, he appeared hidden in Orderrealm once again. While hiding, the headaches started once again. Hopefully they wouldn't be a problem.

"I can only hope he listens to reason."

"Yes. Can you somehow disguise yourself and follow them just so we know they are safe?"

"No, I'm afraid that I haven't learned a spell that allows me to do that."

At the same time, in another place....

The bright moonlight casts a cold hue off the fauna of Outworld as night falls over the realm. The twisted, distorted faces of the Living Forest croak, and moan and whisper in the darkness, haunting words that send shivers of fear through the wind to any unfortunate enough to hear them. Yet these words do not haunt Uasi, as he boldly makes his way through the eerie, dark forest, for even the bewitched trees fear his strength

A native of Outworld, he openly opposes and ridicules Shao Khan as his band of vigilantes torture and defame Khan's soldiers on their pilages. Uasi himself has caught the Emporer's attention for his bold defiance against his rule, having defeated and badly maring Shao Khan's general, Reiko, during a recent pilage. It is for that crime alone that the Emporer has sent his best, sharpest, most dangerous blade to cut down the outlaw. Uasi is unaware that she has been following him, as silent as a shadow but as close as a fresh breath, as he confidently makes his way to his faction.

Her looks are as sharp as her tongue. Exotic, beautiful, striking and bold. One could argue that with beauty as hers, she should never hide from those she pursues. But the huntress stalks her victim like a feline of the wild, her eyes fixed on her prey, her focus unshakable. In most cases, Kuwinda prefers to play with her food before she eats it by taunting or intimidating her opponent from afar as she hides at a distance. In this case, however, her attack must be swift. Having butchered many of Khan's best, she knows her prey will not be easily slain.

As Uasi stops momentarily to gather his bearings, she pounces from the treetops with her axes in hand, ready for the kill. Uasi's reflexes are fast, as he quickly manages to avoid being cleaved by the giant golden hatchets, however she has drawn blood with a swipe to his right arm. The warrior attempts to fend off his attacker with an incredible array of ariel kicks and somersaults, but few strikes connect. She is fast, experienced, relentless. Her counter attacks are as quick as her defenses, striking him with a haymaker to the face before knocking her opponent to the floor with a flip kick. He rises to his feet laughing, taking his stance of Escrima.

"Is that the best Shao Khan has to offer? With punches like that, you wouldn't even beat an egg!" Uasi laughed.

"Is that so? Come now, little kitten. Let's see if we can trim those claws" says Kuwinda, a smug look in her eye as she accepts the challenge from her foe.

Uasi leaps at her as he draws his Kama's, his wild roars echoing throughout the wood. The two colide in a series of kicks, stabs, slashes and blocks, as Uasi attempts to overpower the Huntress with sheer brute strength. Both warrior's display an incredible amount of speed, skill and precision as they block each other's attacks. Sparks fly as metal clashes off metal, his fluid strikes with the Kama blades repelled by the sturdy blade of the Jangwan Axe.

As he attempts to swing his blade at Kuwinda's head, he suddenly finds himself blinded, his eyes stinging as he sand splashes into his eyeballs. Before he manages to wipe his eyes clear, he is assaulted with a clockwise double ariel kick, both kicks connecting to his jaw. Staggering back to his feet, he is pummeled in the stomach with a hard palm strike, elbowed violently into the nose and uppercutted with a punch on to the floor.

His blindness subsiding, he gets back to his feet and catches Kuwinda with a spinning back hand to the face, followed by kick to the groin and a powerful piledriver to the floor. The Huntress is downed temporarily, as she evaporates into a cloud of dust and re-appears behind him. Almost as quickly as the dust had vanished, the cold sound of bone meeting metal rings through the air. He gasps in shock as he looks at his stomach.

The tips of two angular, sharp axes, dripping with blood are accompanied with a seering, unbearable pain. Throughout the moans of the nearby trees, he can hear her laughing quietly. Blood trinkles down his legs from his wound as she pulls the axes from his lower back, and it pours from his wounds as he falls to his knees in shock. The realisation sets in that his wounds are fatal, and that his hopes for crushing Shao Khan's tyranny against his people are gone.

Her grin is almost as haunting as their settings. Her eyes are wild, burning, alive with the joys of battle. Her wounds, regardless of whatever pain or discomfort she is in, are unacknowledged as she revels in her kill. Rubbing her fingers through his short, dark hair, she whispers into his ears from behind.

"You were saying?" she laughs. Kuwinda cackles as she flicks the blood from her weapons, strutting around the dying warrior confidently to face him in his last moments.

"You....y-you..." Uasi murmers as his life and consciousness slowly seeps away.

"You were a worthy challenge, renegade. But foolish to think you could ever survive against me." she purs as she walks away from the dying man. ""I watch you. Study you. Follow you. And now I claim you".

A glimmer of gold quickly travels through the air and a sickening thud rings like music in her ears as her axe impales Uasi through his forehead. His lifeless body falls to the floor, the soil of the forest saturated in his blood. The huntress has won. The game has been caught.

Deon interjects, "Since our little skirmish, I've been feeding the hatchling, my energy, with its connection to Okorik severed, it can now be used to disguise yourself and blend in when you travel to Seido, I know the spells necessary to assist you in this effort, Marek."