Chapter 8 - That was unexpected

Nicholas found himself in the emperor's throne room. He found himself uninterested in the speech Shang Tsung was giving that detailed the rules for this winner-take-all tournament, mostly because of three other things that were all simultaneously demanding his attention at the same time.

First, the knowledge of a new killer called the Singularity, real name Hux-A7-13. Nicholas was surprised by the life story of this artificial human or Android, especially since it takes place three hundred years into the future. After all, he entered the Realm of the Entity around 20XX. Nicholas quickly reconciled that in his new realm, time truly had no meaning.

The second was him hearing Raiden hint to Kitana about Shang Tsung's project in the flesh pits. Finally, the last thing holding Nicholas' attention was the three Shokan standing in the corner. One was Goro, who clearly had an ax to grind about his humiliating loss in the tournament. Another was a Shokan mixed with tiger features, Kintaro, if he remembered correctly. Kintaro was standing there with a rather smug look, obviously believing that Goro's loss was more a result of weakness than Earthrealm's strength. Last but not least was Sheeva. Her eyes were more calculating, like she was deciding something important, something that involved Earthrealm.

Suddenly, Shang Tsung declared that the new tournament would start in the morning and be finished that very day. As everyone else left, Nicholas, with the other defenders, stayed at the throne room. Raiden then began giving his plan. Liu Kang and Kung Lao would head towards the towers, drawing attention,while the rest of them would try to effect a rescue of Sonya Blade. As Liu Kang and Kung Lao left, Raiden began to gather his energy to try and teleport them to Sonya's location. After a flash of light, they appeared in a place that was not the dungeon.

While Nicholas knew that this was the armory, and they weren't far from where Sonya was, but he didn't feel the need to tell them that. Johnny started mouthing off, and Jax hit his limit and then hit Johnny. As the two started fighting, Nicholas simply stood by the door.

Jax finally cooled down after smacking around for a few minutes. The fight was anything but quiet. The door opened, and Jade stepped through, demanding to know what was going on. Before Jax could react, Nicholas spoke up, saying, "Jax detected Earthrealm weapons, and Lord Raiden decided to investigate. Raiden wanted to make sure it wouldn't interfere with the tournament. He tried to teleport us to its location, but as you may know, his powers aren't the most reliable in Outworld."

Jade stood there thinking over what Nicholas had said. Then she said, "You might be telling the truth. I will investigate this claim, and you will come with me." Then Jade turned to Raiden and said, "Lord Raiden, I will overlook the fact that you ended up in the armory this once, please take those two with you and stay out of the forbidden areas." With that, Jade took Nicholas and left.

...

Jax stood there, not sure what just happened. As he watched Jade take Nicholas by the hand and practically dragged him out. Johnny broke the silence by saying, "Well, the man knows how to lie on the fly. I'll give him that."

Raiden immediately responded by saying, "I'm not so sure that it was a spur of the moment lie. The moment you and Jax started fighting, he casually stood by the door. It was like he knew Jade would be the one to discover us." Raiden paused for a moment as he considered something. Then he continued, "We will have look look into that later, for now Jade told us we are in the armory. The dungeon that holds Sonya is not that far."

As they left, Jax couldn't help but feel uneasy about the situation. If Nicholas was that good of a liar, what was he lying about. Jax resolved to keep an eye on him whenever he got the chance.

...

Jade didn't actually care whether Nicholas was telling the truth or not. The truth was that she used his explanation as an excuse to separate him from the others. Ever since the attack on Kitana at Shang Tsung's Island, Kitana has had more than a passing interest in Nicholas.

Jade had been given very specific orders if Kitana looked like she would betray Outworld for Liu Kang. Then Jade had orders to eliminate them both. However, her orders didn't mention anyone else. So, Jade decided to be proactive with dealing with Nicholas by giving him a little test, or at least that was the intent.

Jade decided to simply kiss him and gauge his reaction. She had planned to lock lips only for a second, but within that second, Nicholas became more aggressive. Any other time, with any other person, Jade would've fought and killed anyone who tried to take advantage of her like Nicholas was doing. However, Jade found herself not only allowing him to grop her body and tear her clothes but actually encouraging it.

Before she knew it, Jade was naked, her legs wrapped around Nicholas' waist, her back against the wall. Jade found every thrust to be euphoric. The only thing keeping her from crying out was the fact that his tongue was dominating her mouth. His hands were kneading her breasts, as well as every other part of her body. Suddenly, Jade felt a warm sensation spread throughout her body, but with it came information. Jade knew Nicholas was not from Earthrealm. She knew that the reason she went as far as she did was because the moment they locked lips, he had begun feeding on her will and desires. Jade knew that Nicholas was here to collect women to feed off of, and some would stay by his side to help sustain him while others would be sent ahead.

What Jade found most interesting was the pecking order. Those who were defiant and taken by force are basically submissive and broken, girls who blindly obey without even thinking about refusing. Those who were seduced using deceptive means were under the impression that they were hopelessly in love with him. While they will never say no, they might think of alternate ways to obey his orders.

Then, there were the girls who had legitimate feelings for him. They could sustain him easier than the others and were practically his queens. They will do anything to make happy and give him what he needs, even if that means telling

him no. That used to be all there were, until now. Jade had started the intimacy, and while it did go further than she intended, she did it of her own freewill. Because of that, Jade is now in her own group. While she will still be expected to satisfy Nicholas like the others, Jade had another purpose. Her duties now included protecting his consorts from any threat that arrived.

As Jade tried to make sense of her new purpose, another thought had appeared. If Kitana really cares for Nicholas, then her duties demand that Kitana acts on those feelings, and Jade would have to help in-courage her. As if on cue, Jade heard Kitana summoning her to the throne room. Jade looked down at herself, wondering how long it would take to replace her now shredded outfit. However, in stark contrast to what she was expecting, Jade found her clothes fully intact and already being worn by her. Jade looked at Nicholas wanting answers. He simply said, "Consider it a benefit for being my woman."

Jade wanted to know more, but she had to get to Kitana's side before anything happened to her.

...

Nicholas watched as Jade left. Despite everything he just did, watching her leave from behind in that skin tight outfit really got him in the mode again. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his desires.

Nicholas focused his thoughts on two things. First, Jade's little stunt created a new type of consort, one whose purpose was protecting the others. Second, considering the timing of it all, this is probably the moment that Kitana learns that Shao Kahn was planning on replacing her with Millenia.

After making himself presentable, Nicholas headed towards the arena, where Kitana would show up in a few hours. As well as take the opportunity to see this Singularity in action. As he made his way, Nicholas couldn't help but feel this nagging thought in the back of his mind. There were pieces of the Singularity's story missing, and Nicholas couldn't help but wonder if there was some unknown step to receiving the full story.

Nicholas decided to push such thoughts out of his head for now. After all, he was technically in enemy territory. It is a fact that he would take advantage of it soon enough.