Mortal Kombat: The Sorcerer's Slave

"I'd love to see your breeding stock. If you wouldn't mind that is."

"Oh not at all." Noob said. "After dinner-"

"In the morning." Alia interrupted him.

"Fine. In the morning." He said with an eye roll.

"How do you know so much about cattle?" Quan Chi asked Mac curiously. It seemed like he found out something new about her every day.

"When I was fifteen I went into the foster care system. I got lucky and was placed to live with a couple on a ranch. They raised and bred longhorns."

"Why did your parents not finish raising you?" Noob demanded.

Alia wacked him on the arm.

"I'm curious." He told her. "How will I know if I don't ask?"

"It's rude." She hissed at him.

"It's okay." Mac said with a strained laugh. It wasn't something she'd ever really talked about but maybe it would do her good to get it off of her chest.

"Um, where to start? I'm the youngest of eight kids, four boys, and four girls. All of us had different fathers because my mother was a mentally unstable, alcoholic, crack whore."

Mac wasn't exaggerating when she told them that either. Mac had always known that there was something wrong with her mother's head. Instead of acknowledging that she had a problem though and getting on the prescription medications that would have helped her she'd just self medicated with drugs and booze. All the drugs in the world couldn't have helped her mother or her father for that matter.

Mac felt that Robby Taylor had known that she wasn't really his daughter. He'd been a six foot five, skinny, ginger, of Scottish decent. Mac had looked nothing like him. Acted nothing like him. But he'd claimed her as his own none the less. In fact he was the only one of her mother's men to treat all of her siblings as if they were his. She'd like to think that some of them had turned out better because of it.

"My dad was a junkie but he's the one that stuck around the longest. When I was fourteen he died of a drug overdose."

She felt the tears well up in her eyes, as they always did when she thought of the man that she'd called father. When he'd been clean and sober he'd been the best father in the world. And even when he wasn't he'd always been around. Unlike her mother who would leave for days on end to go and a find another man to make her happy and high.

"I'm sorry." Alia said, with a knowing look. "Both of my parent's went that way too."

"I remember I was cleaning him up one day, not to long before he died, and he told me to run as far and as fast as I could. Never look back."

"Why?" This from Quan Chi.

"My mom. My dad's two favorite phrases to describe my mother was "Shira queen of the bitch people" and "life sucking harlot". I like to think that he might have been able to get clean if he could've just gotten my mom's claws out of him but he couldn't." She shook her head. "She had so many mental problems that she was just bat shit crazy. And she'd self medicated with booze and drugs on top of that."

Mac sighed. "My dad was right too. Once he was gone mom found another man to leach onto. Jim Bob. Problem was, this time the man decided he didn't just want my mom, he wanted me to."

"Oh my god." Alia covered one of Mac's hands. "What happened?"

"Jim Bob came home high one night and caught me coming out of the bathroom after a shower. He slapped me across the face and I fell back hitting my head on the sink." She reached out and touched the back of her head feeling the small scar that was still there. "Anyway I guess he dragged me in my room and raped me."

"That's awful."

"No when I woke up in the morning and realized what he did to me that was awful."

"You retaliated of course." Noob said.

"Well, hell yeah I did. After he was done with me the bastard passed out in my bed." She laughed. "When I woke up and found him there I grabbed a pencil off my night stand and just like stabbed him in the eye."

"Good for you little one." Quan Chi said and Noob nodded approvingly.

"Gee thanks guys." She said a bit sarcastically but felt just a bit warmer inside.

"So what happened to the guy?" Alia asked.

"The paramedics came and took us to the hospital. I went into foster care and he went to prison."

"Is he still there? Because I can bring you his head." Quan Chi told her.

"He's not in prison anymore."

"They let him out?!" Alia practically screeched.

"Well here's the thing. My mother's youngest brother, my Uncle Chad is in that prison. He killed like forty people."

"What'd he do, bomb a McDonalds or something?" Alia asked.

"Uh, not that I know of. Uncle Chad had this thing about not liking guys who beat their wives."

"Ah, a serial killer." Noob said knowingly.

"Yeah."

"Wait a minute." Alia said. "You're accent sounds Texan."

"It is."

"So how come your Uncle isn't dead? Aren't you Texans big on the death penalty?"

"Well, the murder that they got him for was actually kind of a self defense thing. He killed a guy in a bar fight, defending a waitress that the guy had tried to beat. Apparently they had been dating but she'd left and the guy came looking for her and Uncle Chad stepped in. The guy ended up dying. That's not a death penalty thing."

"But you said he's a serial killer." Noob said.

"He is." Mac shook her head. "Uncle Chad's IQ is totally off the chart. He's smart and he's methodical about things. They all knew it was him but they couldn't prove it. He just didn't leave enough for them to go on."

"Wow." This from Alia.

"So anyway, after all this stuff happens and Jim Bob gets put in prison, the same one as my uncle, my mom went to visit Uncle Chad. She explained to him everything that happened. And not for the maternal reasons you might be thinking, she was pissed that Jim Bob passed her up for me. How demented is that?"

"So what did your Uncle Chad do?" Quan Chi asked.

"He talked to some buddies of his that were in prison with him and they made Jim Bob their bitch. I mean they really made him their bitch. He's in a nursing home now, eating through a tube and pooping in a bag."

"Ewww." Alia said cringing at the thought of it.

"Yeah. That's was the same reaction I had when Uncle Chad told me what he'd had those men do to Jim Bob." She shuddered a bit. "Not to mention he chewed my ass because he had to hear about it from my mom and not me."

"So you see your uncle one in a while?" Alia asked.

Suddenly Mac groaned.

"What is it?" Quan Chi asked.

"I normally go to see Uncle Chad every two weeks. I haven't seen him in six months now. I can't believe I forgot him. He's going to freak out!" She looked at Quan Chi with pleading eyes.

"Yes. I will take you to see him when we get to Earth."

"Yay." Mac was practically hopping up and down.

"Yes, well." Quan Chi said getting up and hauling Mac up too. "If you don't mind we will take our leave."

"By all means," Noob said with a wicked smile, stroking Alia's arm. "Have a good night."

000

"Moloch, are you in there?!" Drahmin shouted from the entrance of a large cave.

Drahmin smiled as he heard the lumbering demon's footsteps making their way toward the cave entrance. He finally ducked his head and stepped out of the cave. He was a giant of a Tracker Demon at close to twelve feet tall. He was muscular beyond anything that Drahmin had ever seen. Moloch could hurl giant boulders with ease. Drahmin knew because he'd seen him do it. His skin was a strange combination of blue and green and he had three eyes. One of which could see spiritual energy. It made him particularly adept at hunting his prey.

Drahmin and Moloch had been working together for close to a century and together the pair of them made almost unstoppable team. Drahmin lead, Moloch followed, and they both tormented and destroyed together.

"What you want, Djamin?" Moloch asked as he scraped his dagger size claws over a rock. "Want go hunting?"

Drahmin smiled at the mispronunciation of his name. It always made him think of a young child whenever Moloch talked. In fact Moloch probably had the intellect of five year old. But he was mean as shit and Drahmin could always count on him to pound the crap out of their enemies.

"No hunting today. Guess who's at Noob court right now."

"Don't know." Moloch hated guessing games. "Who?"

"Quan Chi." Drahmin said.

He ducked as Moloch roared and threw out a meaty fist, hitting a wall of the cave. Small rocks rained down all around them.

"We go kill him!" Moloch growled.

"No! Noob would have a fit if I did that at his court."

"What then?" Moloch smiled showing sharp teeth. "You got plan?"

"Yes. It seems Quan Chi has found himself a woman."

"So?"

"If we were to take her from Quan Chi-" Drahmin let the sentence trail, seeing if Moloch could work it out for himself.

"Ahhh." Moloch nodded. "We take woman, he come get her."

"Exactly my large friend."

"But if we not take her from court, where?"

"I hate to even contemplate it but we'll have to get her from his fortress."

"Oh, no. Bad place." Moloch shook his head.

"It's not that bad."

"Yes. Bad place. Big hot volcano. And lots gray warriors. And giant dog. Bigger than me."

"I've never seen you back down from a fight Moloch. Are you scared?"

"Not scared." He sighed. "Wary."

"Learned a new word have we?"

"Drahmin, Moloch stupid but no have death wish."

"Look I understand your trepidation but you have to trust me on this. I think I know a way in that won't take us past all of the bad things."

Moloch wasn't sure what trepidation meant but he was thinking that maybe it meant fear. And only in his own mind would he admit to fear. But the white demon was capable of more than he and Drahmin could imagine. He just knew it.

"How we get in without them seeing?"

"It's a volcano. It has a top that we can go down through."

"If we know so does Quan Chi." Moloch said reasonably.

"Yeah but he won't expect most people to go in that way when there is a perfectly good gate. He won't have too many men guarding it."

"Hmmm."

"Look. We'll scout it out first. If it's not doable then we'll back off and I'll figure out another plan. Agreed?"

"Guess so." Moloch nodded.

"Good. Get some rest big guy. I'll be back soon."

Moloch nodded and headed back into his cave and Drahmin headed back into the waste.

000

"I had such a good time." Mac said, giving Alia a hug.

"Me too. Be sure to make Quan Chi bring you again." Alia said hugging her back.

"I will."

"Are you sure you can't stay a few days longer?"

"Yes. I really need to get back to Earth and check on my Uncle." Mac told Alia with a worried frown.

"You think he'll do something drastic?"

"I'm not sure." Mac shook her head.

"Come, little one," Quan Chi said, taking her leash and giving a gentle tug.

Mac followed Quan Chi into the portal that he opened, followed by the twins. The fortress was just as they'd left it. Big Dog was extremely happy to see Mac. She gave the large animal quite a bit of attention and then she helped Quan Chi get ready for the trip to Earth.

000

Chad Tesla stood on the private beach of his home and breathed in the salty sea air. He was now a free man. He'd just finished serving five years in "the Ham" or Eastham unit. He'd really had to do some talking to convince the parole board that they should let him out. Thankfully he could be very charismatic when he chose too. They'd stamped his papers and he was a free man.

It they hadn't he merely would have found a way to break out of the prison. Mac was missing and he was very unhappy about that. She hadn't visited or answered his phone calls for six months now and his stupid sister had no idea where she was. Just that she'd moved recently. He knew that though because Mac told him everything. Poor girl sure could pick them. Thankfully the asshole that she'd run from had killed himself when he was driving drunk or Chad would have had someone do it.

He wished that she would have lived at his beach house. It wasn't like he could occupy it while he was in prison. She wouldn't though. Wanted to make it on her own. Now she was probably in some kind of trouble and he didn't know where she was. He would have to track her and he honestly didn't even know where to begin. Probably her last residents.

He was startled out of his thoughts by the yapping of a small brown mutt, who was now trying to get up the courage to nip at his heels. He grimaced. Chad had never liked dogs. Probably because they'd never liked him. He was a predator and animals sensed such things. He resisted the urge to kick the damn thing and censured himself for even taking the time to have the thought.

And older woman, in her early fifties, came walking quickly after the dog.

"I'm sorry about that I-" She stopped mid sentence and stared at him and he heard an audible swallow.

"Hello Mrs. Daringsworth. You look as lovely as the last time that I saw you." Chad said throwing a winning smile her way.

God! Five years and he looks exactly the same she thought to herself. She'd always felt that Chad Tesla was a very handsome man. At Six foot four he was a good eight inches taller than her and where her husband had been beefy Chad was muscular in a lean way.

"Did you kill my husband?" She asked after a moment. It had been on her mind for so long now. Not to mention there were others who wanted to know.

Chad had killed Lydia Daringsworth's husband. Not long after he'd moved into his house, he'd walked out on his porch and saw the couple down on the beach. Clyde Daringsworth had been a large man with meaty fist. He's been slapping Lydia for all she was worth. Chad had seen red and started to step off the porch and then stopped cold. He could do something about it now and possibly get in trouble or he could take care of it later and make sure that he didn't make a mess of things. He really didn't want his temper to get the best of him. He was more controlled than that. He'd walked back in the house whistling and started making plans.

Clyde certainly hadn't been Chad's first kill but he was the first person that Chad had killed just for the fun of it, not for the money. He'd kept the bastard alive for close to a week, showing him just what his poor wife had gone through. After that he'd gone on to start killing around four times a month, dumping bodies quite a ways off the coast where they would never be found.

Lydia started shaking as Chad stepped forward and took her in his arms. He rubbed her back soothingly and then his unusually sensitive ears picked up the light buzz of something electronic. He pulled back and tears started falling down her cheeks as he half unbuttoned her shirt and looked inside at the small recording device that was resting in her cleavage. He shook his head and buttoned her shirt back up. He took her cheeks in his hands and looked into her tear filled chocolate brown eyes.

"Women are miracles. Gifts from the Gods, to us lowly men." He told her revealing his pagan beliefs. "They do not deserve to be hurt or taken advantage of."

He leaned down and lightly kissed her forehead.

"Be free Lydia." Chad told her, using his magic to push away the bad memories, and then quietly walked back to his home.

She went home, gave the FBI the boot from her house, called a realtor to put the house up for sale, and took the first flight out to Paris, where she had always want to live. Chad was right, Clyde was gone and she was free to live her life the way that she wanted. She just wished it hadn't taken her so long to realize that.

000

"He's out on parole." Fred Ferguson told Mac as she drove up to the first gate of the Ham. She had been a regular for years and was on friendly terms with Fred.

"What?"

"Yeah. He got out yesterday." He shrugged. "He asked me to tell you he was going home if you showed up."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Why don't flip a bitch and go find him." Fred said with a wink.

"Thanks Fred."

"Where is home?" Quan Chi asked from the passenger seat.

"His beach house." She said trying not to look at Quan Chi because he didn't look like himself. Apparently he could take the form of anyone he'd ever seen. And he felt the need to take the form of a clerk he'd seen at a gas station that they'd stopped at. A fat greasy looking guy.

When they finally pulled up to the house Mac gave a sigh of relief. Chad had seen the car pull into the driveway and came out to see who it was. Mac opened the door and ran to him. He picked her up and swung her around, hugging her tightly. Then he set her down and stood up strait to his full height of six foot four.

"You'd better have a good damn excuse, little girl." He said angrily.

Quan Chi who had stepped out of the car took a threatening step toward Chad who still hadn't noticed him.

"I was so damn worried." Chad said, shaking his head at her.

"I missed you too Uncle Chad." Mac said as she wrapped her arms around his waist for another hug.

"Oh, little girl, this is the worst one yet." Chad said with a grimace as he looked over at Quan Chi.

"Oh no, Uncle Chad." She smiled. "He's the best ever."

Quan Chi disappeared in a puff of smoke and green electricity and reappeared as his normal self.

"Well damn boy," Chad said. "You're going to have to teach me how to do that!"

He looked down at Mac. "So you're banging a sorcerer huh?"

"Yes." She said not surprised at his knowledge. She knew for a fact that he was a magic user. Her magic came from him.

"And where the hell have you been the past six months?"

"Um, the Neatherrealm." She mumbled as she looked down at her feet, avoiding his eyes.

"Why?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Because I'm a demon and that is where my home is." Quan Chi answered him. He extended his arm and Mac left Chad's arms to hide herself against Quan Chis' chest.

"Whatever." Chad said to Mac and pointed at the house. "Let's go in and talk. I don't need the neighbors calling the cops. I'd have a hell of a time trying to explain the great white hype here."

"I think you already have cops watching you." Mac said looking a car across the street."

"Nope." Chad told her. "That's FBI and I don't care what they see. They'd never be able to explain it."

"FBI?"

"Yeah."

Chad walked over to the car and knocked on the tinted driver's side window. For a moment he thought that they were going to ignore him but the window finally rolled down.

"How you guys doing? Sorry about Lydia kicking you out of the house." He smiled wickedly. "I'm going to order Chinese. You guys want anything."

"We're going to catch you, Tesla!" The driver said angrily. "You're going to slip up and we're going to nail your ass!"

"Is that a no on the food?" Chad asked him.

The driver rolled his window back up and Chad made his way back to the yard with a shit eating grin on his face. He led Mac and Quan Chi into the house.

"Bit cocky don't you think Uncle Chad?"

"No." He handed Mac a bottle of Pepsi out of the fridge. And poured two glasses of scotch, handing one to Quan Chi.

"You seem confident in your abilities." Quan Chi said accepting the drink. "What's your count?"

Chad shrugged.

"Ninety six in two years. Not counting the ones done professionally."

"Not bad."

"I'm assuming you have a bigger one."

"Of course. You're a babe in the woods compared to me." Quan Chi shrugged negligently. "Of course I'm quite a bit older than you."

"How much older?" Chad asked.

"Very much older, and I'm leaving it at that."

000

"How long were those burgers on the dash?" Amos Jenkins asked his partner Bob Ewing.

"Obviously way too long." Bob answered him with a frown, hoping to God that he didn't have food poisoning.

"Okay," Amos said with a sigh, pulling out his phone and scrolling down the contacts. When he found the one he wanted he hit the send button.