Chapter 94 - A Date in Central Park

---Mael POV, Early Afternoon---

Thanks to my speed reading skills, I managed to get through the paperwork in about five hours. Getting up from my desk, I left it to Triss and Yennefer to get the papers back to their respective parties. Telling them I would be out with Irene till this evening, Yennefer got in front of me to stop me from leaving. By this point I was about to yeet her out of the mansion, but I kept it together and asked what else she needed.

"Princess Hisui requested a meeting with you, can you meet with her sometime this week?", Yennefer asked quickly.

"The princess that lives in a private estate out in the countryside asked me for a meeting. Why exactly would she do that?", I replied out of curiosity, "Is this the King trying to weasel his way into my graces or something?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask her yourself.", Yennefer huffed in annoyance, "The King has nothing to do with this, he hasn't spoken to his daughter in at least six months."

Telling her to setup a meeting for tomorrow afternoon, I said I had to go now. Trying to dump more information on me, I told her to save it for tonight as I had more important things to do now. Throwing a binder at me, she told me that I needed to prioritize things better.

"Don't say that, I think he is going on a date.", I heard Triss say as I was walking down the stairs.

"That isn't my problem, he has duties to attend too. He shouldn't be off galivanting with his lovers!", Yennefer hissed.

"I don't think that is our call to make.", Triss laughed, "Are you still upset that Geralt isn't around?"

"Don't bring him into this! I have had with him!", Yennefer growled.

Deciding that I didn't need to hear this discussion any further, I tuned them out and walked into the living room. Having heard coming down the stairs, she was already on her feet and ready to leave.

"Ready to go?", she laughed with smile, "Sounds like your secretaries are quite vocal about what you do with your time. I really think you should make a doghouse for her."

"Yes, let's get going.", I chuckled offering her my right arm to hold onto, "Also, I agree with you on the doghouse. I trust that can be left to you?"

Giving me a smile, she assured me she'd see to it when we got back.

---Earthrealm---

Stepping out into Central Park, I was happy to see that Earthrealm wasn't in shambles. I had neglected to check in with them for a while, and after Shang Tsung's puppets died I was concerned things would go to hell. Fortunately Raiden and company were able to maintain the peace so nothing was out of place that I could see. Smelling something good in the air, Irene glanced over at some people sell food out of trucks.

"What are those things, is there a festival going on right now?", Irene asked.

"No festival, those are call Food Trucks. Instead of having a fixed building location, they can take their trucks anywhere to sell their food.", I told her, "The food here in New York is pretty good, want to try some?"

"Do you have to ask?", she said with excitement, "Come on!"

Pulling me in front of the best smell Food Truck, she looked at the menu and froze. Looking at me with embarrassment, Irene said she couldn't read anything on the menu. Telling her that was, I apologized to her as I forgot she couldn't read English. Reading a few items off the menu, she told me to just order whatever I thought she'd enjoy the most. Ordering a pepperoni pizza, two hot dogs, and two large soda we took our food to one of the many picnic tables in the park to eat.

"What are these weird toppings on this...hot dog?", Irene asked out of curiousity, "One of them is yellow, another red, and then...are these diced onions? Why do they look so weird?"

"Ketchup, mustard, and yes grilled diced onions.", I said with chuckle, "Hot Dogs are one of the most common street foods here in the city, there is an entertainment area out here called Coney Island. Next time we are free we can go there to enjoy the rides with everyone. Anyways just try and bite of it, I am sure you will love it."

Taking a bite of the food, expression brightened dramatically as she said that the hot dog tasted amazing. Scarfing the rest of it down, she took a swing of her soda and almost immediately spit out. Asking me why it have a popping sensation in her mouth, I said that the drink was carbonated like sparkling water was.

"OH!", she replied, "It tastes like cherries, what is this called?"

"Dr. Cola Cherry.", I chuckled, "I am not sure if it's super popular, but it does taste really good. Have a slice of pizza and tell me what you think."

Unlike pizza in other places around the country New York Style pizza was among my favorite. I had tried it in my past life during a family trip my grandparents took us on as children. It was a fond memory of mine that I wanted to share with my new family. When my birthday came around, I was certain I wanted to take them there with me.

"Holy shit, this pizza stuff is amazing!!", Irene shouted as she tore a piece off her slice, "We need to bring this back to everyone else!"

Finishing our lunch together, our next stop was to located Sonya Blade and Jax for updates. Since I didn't want to bother Raiden at the moment, those two were the most likely to have the information I wanted. Finding them at a bar with several other Mortal Kombat fighters, they all seemed to be enjoying a day off. Walking over to Sonya, I tapped her on the shoulder since it was so loud in the bar.

"Damn it Johnny I told you to stop harassing me! You are not fucking getting your rocks of with me!", Sonya shouted slamming her fist into my gut.

"Sonya...I am over here...", Johnny said several seats down with Jax and Liu Kang.

Looking up me, she apologized for hitting me out of nowhere. Glaring over at the snickering Johnny, Sonya walked passed me and punched him in the face. Letting out a yelp as the blow took him to the floor, he asked what the hell he did to deserve that.

"You know what you did.", Sonya remarked as she went back to her seat.

"Dude, you really got to learn that Sonya doesn't like you like that anymore.", Jax chuckled, "That said, it is funny watching her kick the shit out of you."

"Indeed it is, Cocky Johnny lost his touch.", Liu Kang teased him.

"Can it Liu Kang, at least I don't have a problem making the first move.", Johnny replied as he picked himself up off the floor, "See I may get turned down, but at least I am not afraid to get turned down."

Letting out a sigh Liu Kang just returned his attention to the television. It was clear that Johnny had hit a sore spot with him which probably meant there was some issues with Kitana and himself at the moment. Instead of asking him directly, I hoped Sonya's update would give me details to draw my own conclusion. Telling her the reason for my visit, she was more than willing to update me on things.

"In short...Chaosrealm and Orderrealm are waring with one another, but that isn't out of the ordinary for the them. Outworld is in shambles right now, the various tribes are all trying to take Shao Kahn's throne and that isn't going to calm down anytime soon. We are staying out of that fight though because we are trying to take a neutral stance from here on out.", Sonya stated taking a sip of her drink, "Oh yeah...that bitch Sindel has been asking about you. You should probably go see her before she has a mental breakdown."

"Did something happen?", I asked with a concerned tone.

"That's an understatement buddy", Johnny said trying to put his arm around my shoulders, "Sindel duped their entire world into believing she sacrificed herself for their safety. Recently it came out that she was lying about that, she sold them out to keep her throne. Her people kicked her off the throne, and now Kitana is Queen. Kitana and Jade think someone is spreading lies to degrade her, but the rest of us think it's true."

"If only Kitana would listen to reason...", Liu Kang sighed, "Can't you take Sindel away, and leave us in peace?"

"If you do go, take some pictures of her new living arrangements. Word is she is living in a Horse Stable for the time being.", Sonya laughed.

Telling her I'd check in with her, Irene and I left the bar. As we were walking out, Johnny came flying past us and out a window as Sonya curse him out. Looking at me, Irene asked if this was normal behavior here.

"Just for Johnny...he's a special type of stupid.", I whispered.

"Also, who is this Sindel woman? I don't think you mentioned here.", Irene questioned.

"Nothing was set in stone yet, not only that she needed to have a slice of humble pie before I'd introduce her to all of you.", I chuckled, "You'll understand when you meet her, she's quite the character."

---Edenia, Royal Palace---

Opening a portal to Edenia, Irene and I walked into the Throne Room to see who was around. Finding Jade and Kitana review some documents, I called out to them as we approached. Looking over at us, Kitana smiled and set down the papers she was reviewing.

"Mael, I am so glad you came.", Kitana said as she walked over, "All of things have happened since your last visit."

"So Mael, whose this?", Irene inquired.

"This is Kitana, Sindel's only daughter and Liu Kang's girlfriend.", I replied.

"Former girlfriend.", Kitana corrected, "Liu Kang readily accepted the false rumors being spread around about my mother. Instead of trusting what she has been saying all this time, he is believing baseless rumors that my mother is evil to the core. They are even going as far as to say my mother killed my father because she thought he was weak."

The rumors were completely accurate, but I didn't want to confirm them for her. Sindel was the one that needed to tell her the truth, and that wasn't likely to happen for a long time. Opting to change the subject, I asked if it was true that Sindel was living in a Horse Stable. Acknowledging that it was true, they informed us that was the only safe spot she could stay in for now. If the people found her, they'd execute her immediately.

"Your mother isn't that weak, she can hold her own in a fight.", I stated.

"Normally yes, unfortunately mother has lost the ability to use magic.", Kitana told me, "It started about two weeks ago, and the best doctors in Edenia couldn't find a reason for it.

"Why didn't anyone report this to me? That is kind of important.", I remarked.

"Lord Raiden and Lord Fujin have been incredibly busy sorting through many issues that the former Elder Gods left behind. The Elder Gods were far more useless than anyone thought...", Jade spoke.

Handing me papers from they had pulled from the Elder God Temple, they showed that the Elder Gods had been keeping track of Shang Tsung all this time. Instead of squashing him, they let him freely roam the realms without any interference on their part. Looking back on my prior actions, I was heading down a path that would have led me to be the same as them.

"Well what is done is done, how about we go see Sindel and try to figure out what is going on.", I suggested.