War and Famine in the Green [Horsemen]

[Shang Tsung]

They trailed their targets by about a half mile.

“Are you sure we’re on the right path?” The Spartan inquired as the pair slowly trudged through the gradually thickening forest. Ever since leaving behind the gate, they’d encountered nothing but more and more trees.

Shang Tsung nodded. “I can smell them,” he muttered as he pointed to his nose, prompting the Spartan to throw his head back and laugh.

When he was done, the ancient warrior shook his head. “And you call me crazy.”

The sorcerer left out the part where he could sense the souls from the life forms they were pursuing. As with many other things, it was probably better that the two had at least some secrets. So the pair pressed onward, their pace speeding up as they tried to close the distance between themselves and their intended quarry.

After another thirty minutes of half-running, they pulled within twenty yards of the band of humanoid creatures. Pressing through to the edge of the trees, Shang held a hand back to stop Atelos, who slipped up next to him and stared down the little ravine in front of them. For a solid forty yards, there were no trees, with the terrain sloping downward to a little stream about five yards wide. With their current vantage point, they could spot about five green-skinned men dragging a large burlap sack. At the present moment, they seemed to be discussing the best way to get across the stream, but their language wasn’t something that Shang could understand, despite how loudly they spoke.

“What’s our move?” Atelos asked as he reached for a bronze sword at his side.

Shang held out a hand and summoned a flaming skull that rotated gently above his palm. With a grin, he looked over at his Grecian companion. “You know what our move is.”

The Spartan smirked as he took another look over the terrain between them and the green men. “Give me ten yards and then release the artillery.”

“Got it,” the sorcerer replied as he summoned another projectile and watched as the muscular, armor-clad Spartan somewhat nimbly descended the slope in front of them.

[Shang Tsung]

It’d be a while since Shang Tsung had watched Atelos practice his craft.

With shield, spear, and sword, the Spartan crept the distance between himself and the five monstrous humanoids. Sheathing his blade, he drew the spear from his back and stood up straight just ten yards from his adversaries. “Green men!” Atelos boomed, his shoulders broad as he held his shield down at his side. The five creatures turned and glared at the stranger who stood behind them. From the front, their quarry was far more intimidating, with tusks jutting from the corners of their mouths and eyes that seemed to glow a faint yellow. “Surrender your possessions or be cut down where you stand!”

The creature holding the burlap sack dropped it, but rather than flee, it came rushing right at the Spartan, who reacted by calmly hurtling his long spear. The bronze tip of the polearm found its mark right below its target’s throat, and the momentum caused the muscular beast to fling backward and crumple into a thrashing heap of blood and shrieks. In a swift motion, Atelos drew his sword and drew his shield over his chest. Even though he was the only one there, the Spartan instinctively fell into the stance of a warrior in a phalanx.

As the green men rushed him, one of them let out a violent scream as a flaming skull struck his chest and exploded. A heartbeat later, a second projectile hit a different monster in the head, blasting apart flesh, bone, and brain matter as cinders wafted through the air following the fiery burst.

At the sight of three of their comrades dispatched in a handful of seconds, the other two warriors seemed to lose a little bit of their savagery. Before both could slip out, Atelos stepped forward and thrust his blade through the heart of one of the beasts. As he wrenched the blade free from its rib cage and bashed it away with his shield, he glanced once at the fleeing warrior and then over to Shang, who was jogged toward him.

“No survivors!” The sorcerer barked, and without a second thought, Atelos sprinted after the fleeing creature. As the Spartan vanished up the other side of the hill, Shang walked over to the monster he had earlier wounded and squatted down next to him. The chest wound had shattered its rib cage and punctured its lungs with its own bones, and its breathing had grown very shallow. With a predatory smile, Shang placed a hand on its gore-stained chest and focused his thoughts. It took a little more effort than usual (when was the last time he had received anything this fresh?), but the sorcerer eventually liberated his prize from the now dead creature.

The flash of rainbow lights that faded into the dull green cloud brought a smile to Shang’s visage as the soul faded into his extended hand. As the creature, its body arched unnaturally up as its essence was liberated from it, slumped back down and let out a final, rattling hiss. Its flesh, once a vibrant shade of green, had now faded to a much duller hue.

Rising to his feet, Shang closed his eyes as fresh memories and knowledge were stitched into the pool that had been gradually expanded since he arrived in the Omniverse. All at once, the sorcerer knew everything he needed to know about this dead beast—it was something called an ‘orc.’ Its dialect, previously nothing more than grunts and guttural gibberish, now made sense to Shang. Also new to the man was the fact that they were in a verse called the Tangled Green, where various tribes and small cities eked out an existence in an environment that ranged from temperate forests to vicious rainforests and creeping stretches of mutated and deformed flora.

He was still sorting through the fresh information when the severed head hit the ground a few feet away from him. Glancing over, the sorcerer nodded his head as Atelos strode back toward him. “No survivors,” the Spartan muttered, pointing to the severed cranium with his sword before sheathing the blade. “What’s in the sack?” He asked as he walked over to another corpse and yanked his spear free from another orc’s corpse.

Shang turned his focus to the bag that was still writhing near the edge of the water. Images, thoughts, and emotions flashed into the sorcerer’s head, and once he made some sense of it, he glanced over at his ally. “An elven emissary. These orcs had tracked her to a neighboring verse to prevent her from rendezvousing with some foreign officials.”

The Grecian warrior furrowed his brow as he ‘holstered’ his shield and spear and joined his associate near the sack. “Did you ask it that?”

“I learned it from him,” Shang muttered, gesturing toward the pale orc. It was then that he noticed the creature must have screamed before its soul had been claimed. Boohoo.

“…you spoke with it?”

The sorcerer nodded his head before flashing a warm smile to the Spartan. “I have a lot of education. Their dialect is quite similar to many African tribes.”

“Doesn’t look like any Nubian I’ve ever seen,” Atelos grunted as he dropped down next to the sack and tore away the knot. Shang remained standing as the other man pulled open the top of the bag and started to gently push it down over the writhing figure inside. Once it was down a few feet, they both noticed that the purple-skinned woman had a gag thrust in her mouth. “Should I ungag her?”

The sorcerer nodded and moved to help Atelos free the women. A night elf. They’re enemies of the orcs. Always were… even before the Omniverse. Once the bone was free of her mouth and her hands had been cut free, Shang took a seat next to her. He didn’t move to help her up; for fear that she might lash out in confusion or take it as some sort of insult. “Are you all right?” He asked, hoping that she understood whatever language he spoke.

“Y-yes,” the night elf replied as she pulled the severed ropes from her wrists and ankles. Once she was certain she was free, she glanced at both her ‘saviors’ and nodded her head. “Thank you, I was certain they were going to kill me.”

“It’s all right, Lady.” Atelos replied gruffly as he stared over at the four nearby corpses.

“All in a day’s work,” Shang added with a saccharine smile as he extended a hand. “Can you stand?”

She nodded her head and helped herself up to a vertical position. Without any trees in the immediate area, there was enough sun to see that she had many bruises on her purple skin, and her clothes looked as if she’d been wearing them for at a period of time. “I was in Camelot,” she mumbled, as if she had guessed the next question by the look on Shang’s face as he surveyed her condition. “Lady Tyrande sent me there to visit with an elven enclave residing near the border, but for whatever reason, these orcs ambushed me before I was more than a few hours into Camelot.”

“Why?” Atelos asked, always wanting to get directly to the point in these types of situations.

The emissary’s eyes widened as he shoulders shrugged up and down. “I was just sent with requests to trade supplies. I guess I’d be the human equivalent of a clerk… I just arrange trade deals and see to it that all the I’s get dotted and all the t’s get crossed.”

At this junction, the sorcerer wasn’t sure if she was lying or not. All he knew was that—for whatever reason—the dead orcs saw her mission as a direct threat to their livelihood. If the Spartan wasn’t here, he would have just extracted the information from the elf in a more thorough fashion. Unfortunately, he would have to solve this puzzle the long way. “It’s probably best that you return to your lady,” Shang recommended, seeing no feasible manner in which the young elf could survive a return trip. “I’m sure she’ll want to know that there are orcs assaulting her businesswomen.”

After contemplating the request for a few moments, the night elf nodded her head. “My name is Jess’ryel… do you two mind taking me to Yggdrasil? It’s not more than a few days from here.” When Atelos snorted, she turned to focus her efforts on Shang. “I’m sure Lady Tyrande will be more than happy to line your pockets for helping the night elves.”

The sorcerer nodded his head without needing to think it over. “I am Shang Tsung, and my armored associate is known as Atelos.”

With a smile, Jess’ryel pointed off into the distance. “We’ll have to head that way until we reach the Animus, and once we’re on the other side, it’s won’t be much longer to where the night elves live.”

“Lead the way,” Shang said with a motion of his hand. “I assure you that my companion and I have eyes and ears like the most skilled of predators.”

Although there was more than a little fear in her eyes, the night elf contractor started across the stream a few beats later. Once she was outside of earshot, Atelos walked over to the sorcerer and looked him in the eye. “Are we reduced to hired bodyguards?”

“You’re not thinking in the long term,” Shang muttered as he gestured for Atelos to follow him to the water’s edge. “This will help ingratiate ourselves with these ‘night elf’ creatures. Remember the whole reason we subjected ourselves to traveling with that paladin? The long game, Atelos.”

The Spartan shook his head, more so from disbelief than disagreement. “You’re a born politician, Sorcerer.”

[Retane]

Retane heard the two siblings behind him, try to keep up. It seemed that Dante was actually trailing and Reatus was toying with him, or the other way around. Retane grinned as he leapt up onto a branch and hopped backwards as the namekian siblings passed by. The Emerald Warrior dropped down as they passed him and stood there for a moment, folding his hands and thinking. He wondered how long they would travel forward till they noticed that he was no longer ahead of them.

As they passed the last of Retane's debri cloud they kept up their run for another few moments before the brothers started to slow. The Emerald Fiend let his visage turn into a sly grin as an idea popped into his head. His entire body began to glow for a few moment's before subdsiding into a dark green bodysuit that covered his entire body. The slits where his eyes had been were neon green illuminescent, and glowed in fury. There was litterally no part to tell who he was other then his hieght, so the warrior crounched a bit, almost as if he was in his feral stance, but not fully. It was time to test his two sons.

Retane came crashing through the Greens, at full speed tearing at trees as he passed them, letting out glutteral grunts as he moved. Dante was the first to turn towards the scene and he grabbed Reatus' arm to turn him around as he pointed, "I-It's The Green-Eyed Monster!!! It's Envy!"

Dante pushed his brother out of the way as The Emerald Fiend came crashing through with a heavy fist that slammed where the two brothers had just stood. Dante on one side caught himself on a tree and whipped around as Reatus tucked and rolled with the shove. The namekian grinned beneath the mask and charged Dante, sending a swift kick, with the young namek ducked. Retane expecting the block coiled his leg missing the tree, rounding about and leapt towards his prey, grabbing Dante up by the collar before he could respond.

The Emerald Warrior let out a feral chuckle, attempting to best to hide his voice. Dante struggled grabbing at his father's wrists, trying to pry himself free. The young namekian was determiend and let out his own little growl in defiance as he tried to over come his predicament. Retane let out another chuckle before he felt a hot flash of fire agasint the back of his head. The green warrior turned his head just enough to see that he had been hit by Reatus' first energy blast. It was weak but a good attempt. and the son born from guilt was readying another and bellowed, "You wont hurt my brother!"

As Reatus loosed his second blast, Retane couldn't help but step out the way, making Dante, the enery orb's target. Dante was quick though, seeing the blast coming straight at him, and almost instinctively quickly thrust his own to counter the blast. The two forces collided exploding right in Retane's face, blinding him momentarily, but not long enough to hinder him. He felt pride in his two sons but the namekian wasn't done with them. The Emerald Warrior fired a kick into Dante's abdomen sending him flying backwards into a role. He turned to his other son, who seemed to be recovering from almost hurting his own brother and charged him.

Reatus couldn't gather himself fast enough and also took a swift kick into the woods. Retane gave a little snicker, and glanced both ways before charging in the direction of where Dante had been sent off two. As he found his son, the young namek was already on his feet with two orbs of glowing energy in his hands, ready to be despelled. Retane didn't flinch and charged on. He dodged the first attack and the second ball of glowing ki was met with one stronger, as the Leader of The Horsemen fired his own blast of energy, which consumed the young namek's blast and hit him head onbefore Dante could defend himself.

Before the debri could settle, Retane had his son up in the air. again, this time, his son was nearly limp, "What can you do without your brother around? Do you think he will always be there to save you?"

Dante's vigor fired back in his eyes but, Retane laughed and unmasked himself, revealing who he was. The young newborn tried to utter a protest of confusion, but Retane could only smile and lower his son down with a kneel. "I'm sorry, but I had to test you and your brother's skills. I felt you guys were strong, but I wanted to know how strong."

The child named after the Abyss took a moment and smiled back after understanding, "How did we do?"

"You two impressed me very much." The namekian paused for a few moments before he continued. He felt deep down that Reatus had company. Company that wasn't him and turnedabout waving Dante to follow.

-------------

Reatus rolled through grass and leaves before he came to a stop. He popped up and started to charge back and help his brother, but he heard the words, "HEY! Who's out there?!"

The young namekian paused for a few moments looking at the direction he had come from and then to the voice that called out. the dark grey clad warrior would get himself and his brother some help, he thought. Father would be back to help them if they just held off long enough. He would realize they weren't right behind him anymore and come back to help them agasint the Green-Eyed Monster. TIll then the young boy had to get more recruits. He ran towards the voice, hollering , "Help!"

Before he knew it, he was looking at a strange vehicle, with two long pointed ear humanoids and a orange and light yellow animal as it's occupants. He recognized the blonde haired one from his dreams in the egg. Reatus had called out to him, wanting to make his father proud before he had ever been hatched, and here the figure was, with friends. Retane would be so happy with him.

"What do you need help with? We'll help you and perhaps you can help us with finding someone", the golden haired figure asked as he figetted with the goggles on his head.

"The Green-Eyed Monster, Envy! He's after us. I need help saving my brother before he hurts us, just till Father comes back!" Reatus pointed back in the direction he had been and the stranger revved up his motor, "Hop in, we'll help you out."

One of the other's moved to say something, but a green outfitted warrior dropped from the trees, his mask on, as he looked from Reatus to the trio on the dune buggy. Dante ran up beside his sibling and grabbed at his brother's arm. Retane looked back at the trio, charging both arms with his feral wind and summoning two orbs of energy, "No, ignore what he said. Who are you and who are you hunting?"

"I'm Jak Mar, this is Daxter, and Torn." The elvish creature had elvish ears, but it looked like a mix between Tapion and the elves he had seen.

"And are you hunting" The namekian barked.

"The Leader of the Horsemen. We were called out to come and join him." Jak answered with confidence and a grin.

Retane heard the words and snatched his mask off, "Well you've got him! Who asked you to come join me?"

"I did, Father" Reatus answered. Confusion was in his voice, but he kept going, "RIght before we hatched, I thought I would help you, and called out. He answered and accepted. I hope you don't mind..."

The Leader of the Horsemen took in the words and wanted to grin. His son had made a choice. Retane looked at the three trying to to figure out his next course of action, but the rodent answerd, "That's Retane! He was involved in Dante's Abyss, just as you Jak. He finished in the Top Eight!"

Jak Mar looked back at his companion and turned to the namekian, "Well he got lucky, I suppose. I finished What was it, tenth?"

"You finished twenty first, man", Dax snickered under his breath.

Retane paused for a few moments and looked back to Reatus and stared him in the eyes. After a few moments the warrior decided and with a confirmational nod, "Fine, if that's what my son did then, and if you are wanting to join The Horsemen, then lets put you guys on a trial mission."

"Hah! Bring it! We can handle anything you got 'Green Bean'!" The elvish warrior was cocky.

Retane nodded with a grin and as his energy and the wind subsided, he started summong the shadow mist from the Mark and Sigil of Lythia that was on his arm. Inirtias quickly appeared and looked around at the situation before returning his glance towards the Emerald Warrior., "What's going on?"

"You are going to escort two of them back to the base to assist with operations-"Retane stopped as he was interuptted.

"Oh no! Dax isn't leaving my side!" Jak had to interupt. Torn nudged him in the back but Jak grinned, "He's my commander, he can really help in the base! I promise!"

Retane paused for a a moment and pointed to Inirtias to show Torn the way back.

-----------------

Retane had hopped in the driver's seat, and after a few times of crashing into trees the green warrior got the hang of it and started driving through narrow paths, as the other's held on for dear lives. Jak Mar had pointed things out, sometimes hollering, other times laughing. The three in the back shared the same emotion sometimes, the namekian chidren really having fun for the most part and laughing along the way. However, the forest oppended to where a river flowed almost instanteously.

The Emerald Warrior tried to hit the brakes, but nothing happened. They were charging to fast towards the river , and his instincts kicked in. Just before impact with the flowing water, he leapt upwards into the air, sending a amall barrage of eneregy at the ground of the buggy, propelling it in the air.

The remaining four occupants were sent airbourne, and Retane moved himself into action. He dashed towards his two sons sanpping then both up, both cluching him as he did. He spotted the other two as he did heading straight for the ground, faster then the buggy was going, and would soon to be smashed by their trajectory. The Emerald Warrior gritted his teeth and let out a low growl as he dashed towards their two new companions. No one was going to die on his watch when his son had called out for them.

The Leader of the Horsemen snatched onto the elven one and his orange comrade, not long before they would collide wit the ground. Before they did, he jettisonned himself parralel with the ground dropping all four when he could, before Retane, himself slammed into the ground.

He felt his body dig into the surface of the earth and took the pain.

After a few moments, he looked up and saw a new looking down at him, "Well what do we have here", one asked.

[Retane]

Inirtias eyed the pointed ear commander as they traveled. The Lythian didn't know his companion very well and he had kept quiet for the most part, but Inirtias had to sate his own curiousity, " You're not an elf, but you look slightly , elvish, as some would say, what are you though, might I ask?"

The warrior with the marked face grunted for a moment and spoke, "Human. Don't ask me why our ear's are pointed. It's how we have been for generations on generations. "

Inirtias nodded and felt that it was a touchy subject, or the gruff voice of the commander was just his common tone. The elf didn't bother continuing on. He had quenched his curiousity. He didn't have time to, even if he wanted. Up ahead there was a crack of a branch which caused Inirtias to throw his hand up and reach for his bow. The Lythian sniffed the air for a few moments and picked up the scent easily enough and recognized it. It was Jack Frost, the ice wielder.

As Inirtias noticed the scent, the Guardian along with a young follower came into view. [i]So four of them have hatched already at least? I wonder if Retane knows about this one[/], the elf mused. What was more spectacular was that the young namekian was dressed similar to Jack Frost. He even carried a knotted stick about the the size of himself. The elf almost wanted to chuckle in amusment, but instead, called out, "Guardian! What brings you around these parts?"

Frost looked up and smiled, "Inirtias! Glad to see you! We are hunting for Retane- Oh I see you have company?"

The Lythian nodded, "Seems Reatus called out towards someone named Jak and he had a possie of two others. Retane has accepted them temporarily. and I'm taking this guy, Torn, to the base. He is a commander and could be useful there. At least, I think that is Retane's train of thought."

Jack laughed at the reservation in the elves voice, "Well these little guys are something else, and there usually is a method to Retane's madness. You seem like you are hesitant on his decision."

Inirtias looked to Torn and shrugged, "Letting strangers in ones base seems pretty ludacris to me."

Torn grunted, "It does, doesn't it? I didn't decide all this, and am just along for the ride."

Inirtias conceded to the point that it was Retane's ultimate decision and that he would have to go along with it all, though he wondered if Enroshia would have done the same thing. The more he thought about the Lythians that followed the white haired Mystic, he realized that Enro probably would have. If someone scewed him over, they'd have hell on their hands. The same could be said for Retane, Inirtias mused quietly

"So you left Retane? How long ago was this", Jack questioned , as if changing the subject on pupose.

Inirtias and Torn, both, pointed in the direction in which they had came. "About thirty minutes ago that way." They had both had spoke at the same time but Torn added, "They had access to a buggy so who knows how far they may have gotten though."

Inirtias nodded in agreement, "What he said."
---------------------------------------

"Well, what do we have here?"

Retane started to slowly pull himself off the ground, glancing back at the others that accompanied them. They weren't hurt and seemed to be gathering themselves with ease. The namekian looked back to the new predicament, he hand literally landed himself and the others in. There were three figures standing in front of him, looking down at the namekian with curious or gruff expressions. The gruffest one was a hulking mass of a behemoth, corded muscled and well cut. The figure next to him had been the one that spoke, calmly his head cocking slightly to the side as he observed the namekian with a gaze of amusement. The third was a darker skinned elf of sorts. She stood to the back of the crowd almost nervous by the look in her eyes.

The Emerald Warrior pulled himself to his feet slowly, unsure what his next move was.. Would these new comers be hostile or or peaceful? They weren't ninja nor was the elf one he had seen before. He was calm and didn't want to be agressive.After a few moments he shrugged slightly, "First time driving one of those things."

"Ha! more like, 'trying' to drive" Dax called from behind before he grumbled something about being unsure who was a worst driver between the namekian and Jak.

The stranger that had spoke before nodded in the direction of the talking animal, "Seems like your buddy over there is accurate with his statement.Probably shouldn't quit you day job." He pointed towards the destroyed vehicle on the bank of the river. "Though one would be curious to know what your day job is, with that kind of reaction time?"

The Emerald Warrior paused for a moment looking deep in the eyes of the one that seemed to be the head of the trio. There was something strange and unique about this one and Retane couldn't put his finger on it. The stranger was experienced beyond the the age of his flesh by quite a bit. "I imagine it could be similiar to your own. You three wreak of the stench of orc blood."

"Seems he can smell just as good as you Shang", the prime physical specimen of man kind laughed.

"It would seem so, Atelos, better even perhaps? He knows exactly what they are. Though, he doesn't seem mad about it at all, perhaps they weren't his friends?" Shang spoke to the hullking man but kept his eyes on Retane.

"I know a few people that would say the only good orc is a dead orc, and even then hardly not." Retane spoke, keeping the conversation light as he judged them from his response. The dark skinned elf laughed at it momentarily causing Atelos to glance at her.

"I suppose your right. I only had a brief conversation with one earlier." The stranger mused outloud. The Leader of the Horsemen eyed the warrior still unsure.about them but so far so good."So I have a propsition for you", Shang Tsung grinned after a few moments.

[Jack Frost]

"Heh, does Ret even know what a car is?" Jack joked. Jack had never thought of Retane as a vehicle type of person because of his ability of flight. If anything Retane was an angry, green Plane; Jack snickered at the thought of this. Krosst began to laugh as well, before Frost could ask why, Inertias replied.

"Assuming it as a mode of transportation, No, Retane does prefer his ability of flight over any other." The Elf warrior responded, "On another note, How is Retane's-" A young voice interrupted the Elf, "I'm doing just fine Thank-ya-very-much, Now lets go Jackie! I wanna ride in the buggy!" Krosst finished. There was a moment of silence as Jack stared at inertias with a knowing glance, "What the hell? So this guy Retane, has more of these little fuckers? And this one can read minds?!" The tatooed Human asked suprisedly.

The white haired adolecent broke his gaze from the elf to the pointy eared Torn, "It seems that Krosst has inherited one of Retane's many abilities." Jack replied to the Commander, "Quick! KROSST WHAT AM I THINKING!" Frost screamed at the young Namek, "UHHHH-UHM-BWAHAHAHAHA" The Namek Bursted with laughter. Jack turned to Inertias and confirmed their thought's, then turned to Torn with Krosst on the ground now still laughing, "Krosst has telepathy, one of Retane's many powers and perhaps even more we dont know about yet." Jack answered the Human.

Torn looked even more confused than before, "What is WRONG with this fucked up world?" Torn's gruff voice commented, "Actually, I believe this "world" is a Dim-" Inertias began, "Ya know what Twinkle-Toes? I don't care. Can we please just go to this HQ already?" Torn asked impatiently. Jack looked at Torn then at the now settled Namek who met his stare then began to laugh yet again, "What's so funny?" The man grumbled, "Oh nothing in particular, I was just thinking that you were a little 'Krosst'." The guardian said with a smile.

The Lythian Elf let out a chuckle at this, "Let us go now Torn. Goodbye Jack, Be safe and mind who you talk to." Inertias began, "And that means you too, Spawn of Retane. Great things are expected of you." The Elf said to the young Namek and with one last nod at Jack, he continued on his way with Torn.

The Winter Spirit looked after the Lythian before looking back at Krosst. The young Namek seems to be growing, he's almost a foot taller. Krosst directed his attention back to Jack after looking the Human and Elf walk off. This kind of thing cannot go unsaid. Jack decided, "Can we go now Jackie? We can get to them in less than half an hour!" Krosst exclaimed. Jack tugged his purple bandanna out of its tied place, resting in the crook of his staff, "I have to buy somthing first, Buddy." Jack began to focus on the purple cloth in his hand.

" 'ello Stranga', What can I do ya' fer?" The merchant asked with a breeze of cold air, "Hello Mr. Merchant, Can i buy a...Oh, I don't know. Communicator?" Jack said with a wink at Krosst. "Here ya' go mista." The merchant handed him a Small chip similar to the one Krosst recieved and pressed it to his left arm as well. When Frost looked back up the man was gone, "Don't ever talk to him, Krosst. I think he is a Serial Killer." Jack told the Namek with a slightly stern face, "Trust me. I won't" Krosst replied, seemingly petrified. The two maintained eye contact for a moment and then suddenly began to laugh. "Let's get outta here Bud." Jack said after the laughter subsided, "Finally! This way!" Jack smiled at the now running Namek and began to run after him.

----------

Krosst was fast. As fast as Jack to be exact. They had made it a race to get to the so called river that Retane and friends were at the moment. Jack ran through the trees jumping and swinging branch to branch, staff in hand while Krosst had taken to running on the ground below. I wonder what you think of frost? Jack thought in his head. He noticed a glance of questioning from the Namek below, exactly what the icer was hoping for.

Jack hooked his staff on a branch above and used his momentum to swing himself a good Ten feet in front of Krosst and landed on the ground with a light landing. Jack saw a look of triumpht on Krosst's face as he darted past Frost, his miniature staff in tow. Don't fall. Krosst looked back to see Jack simply tap the dark, rooted soil with the end of his hooked staff.

Krosst slid to a stop resting on his chest a few feet away while Jack burst into laughter leaning on his staff, "I told you not to fall." Jack mustered through his laughter, "You tripped right up too, You 'Krosst' your legs it seemed." Jack laughed even more. "Ahhhhh, that was f-"

Jack could no longer reply because he was now sitting on his rear-end on ice, that would be cold to the normal person. Jack was no longer laughing, "Did you just-" Jack was cutoff yet again, "Yes, I did, I used your OWN power against you. AND YOU SHOULD'VE SEEN YOUR FACE!" The Namek burst into laughter for what seemed the thousanth time today, Jack was awed. He had never met anyone who could use manipulate another's powers. Retane had to see this. "You mimiced my Slip 'N Slide. That's why the Snowflake appeared on the shell. You mimiced my symbol." Jack told the now silent Krosst. "Did you know you could do it?" Jack asked him, "Well I Just saw you do it and i kinda hit the ground with my sti-" The guardian interrupted the Namekian, "If you are refering to my staff as a 'stick' as well, I suggest you change your thinking." Jack responded as calmly as he could. "Fine, staff then, i just hit the ground and poof, you were sitting on ice. Cool trick huh?"

"Yeah, REALLY cool." We gotta tell Retane. Jack said and helped the Namek up. "Let's go."

All that the pair left was a small puddle of water.

[Retane]

"I have a proposition for you."

Retane looked the sorcerer in the eyes for a few moments, trying to study him before answering, "What's the proposition?"

"Well", Shang paused for a moment, "I've never seen such skill before, you wouldn't mind showing me it again would you? Without such a dire situation?"

The Emerald Warrior paused for a moment and looked back at the four behind him, before looking back towards Shang, "I really don't think I need to, nor do I have the time."

"Hah! I think he's scared and nervous", Atelos chuckled.

"Scared of what?" The Leader of the Horsemen growled. "Nervous of who, you?"

Shang interjected, "He's joking. Forgive me though, I am Shang Tsung, and this Atelos. You are?"

The Emerald Warrior thought about hesitiating but his pride of being a namekian and a Horsemen caused him to answer, "Retane."

"Yeah, he was Top Eight in Dante's Abyss!" It was Daxter that had called out. The furry animal pointed at his companion, "And he finished tenth".

Jak Mar glanced at his friend and nudged him. Dante chuckled as Reatus corrected Dax, that it was twenty-first. Still pointed-ear human took a step forward, his chest sticking out as if he was proud and about to say sometihng. If he was, Atelos interupted him, "Hah! I eat Dante for breakfast and shit Abyss right before lunch."

Reatus moved in front of Dante, "I wont let you eat him! I'll kill you before you do!"

The Emerald Fiend let out a low snarl and waved at those behind him to be silent. He looked at the brute and took in a deep breath. A fight right now put his sons and the other two at a risk, but getting out of here without an incident seemed improbable. Deep down the namekian felt like he wanted to fight; To test his strength; To fight and do what he had been produced to do. "How about a quick spar then?"

"What", the Spartan barked.

"You want to see it, you can come at me, let me show you what it means to test the power of The Leader of The Horsemen." Retane tossed away his cloak as he spoke to show himself serious. He would prove to his children they had nothing to worry about, and that they were in safe hands. "Jak, Dax, Dante, and Reatus, I'm going to have to ask you to move back. You don't want to get involved in this."

The Spartan laughed as Shang and the night elf backed away, though the sorcerer raised his eyes as if to say it wasn't his intention. The namekian noted it but didn't care. Retane stood there, opening his arms out wide, daring the human warrior to come at him. Atelos grinned in anticipation and there was a strong desire in his eyes. The namekian saw it and clinched his fist. As soon as everyone was clear, the namekian flexed his muscles and an green aura engulfed him.

The Spartan charged, his shield leading. The mercenary gritted his teeth and waited, he prepared for the warrior to get closer, but he wasn't prepared for the increased speed. The sigiled shield slammed deep into the namekian's chest. Retane flew back a few feet flipping to regain himself. The Spartan was on him faster then he expected, and the namekian warrior shot into the air as the Spartan was about to try the same trick twice. The corded human looked up at the green warrior with a scowl.

The mercenary couldn't help but grin and lower himself a few feet away Atelos already had put his shield behind him and wielded a spear. The Spartan thrust the spear at Retane, who leapt backward with a simplistic idea. The namekian had fought Renji, the Demon Swordsman not long ago, and already knew how to answer this. The Emerald Warrior summoned the Scythe of the Reaper, in it's chained sickle form. Without hesitating he started whirling the blade, almost daring the Spartan to come closer.

[Jack Frost]

BOOM

"Jackie..? What was that?" The small Namekian stopped dead in his tracks, Causing a flurry of dust to strike up as Jack himself came to a sudden, sliding halt. The two now stood on a hill overlooking the tops of the trees a mile or so out.

The Winter Spirit glanced to his far left, where the noise seemed to come from. He noticed a slim clearing up ahead with a just as slim cloud of smoke rising from it, along with the curious stare Krosst was looking at him with, "How far are we from that river Krosst?" Jack asked the green apprentice. Frost himself would have been looking on his own communicator device but he wanted to make Krosst feel usefull, somthing Retane had never practiced with his own allies much, or at least never showed that he did.

Jack had mixed emotions about Retane's mental health since they had partaken in Dante's Abyss, The green man now met Jack's stare with what Frost had determined to be regret. Does Retane regret his decision to kill me? To end my own blind rage? The Orgosynth's rage? Does he feel the shame where I should? Jack mused this as he and Krosst traveled to meet the father Namek. Krosst would never know of the incident that sparked his birth. It doesn't fit him. He is the outcome of my Bloodlust. The savage monster I became would cause him to view me differently. Would he even believe it? Jack pondered these thoughts with a just hand.

"About a quarter mile west of us now." The young Namek pointed with his right arm that grasped his own wooden staff as he glanced at the communicator fused with his left appendage.

Jack was sure the clearing he now turned to face was none other than this river, they searched for. "It looks like your Old man is at it again." Jack said surging forward, leaving Krosst staring at him with his now so familiar curious stare. "Wait up!" Krosst called stumbling forward, "And wha' do ya' mean 'Old man'?" Krosst shouted.

----------

Jack and Krosst came upon an opening in the trees that only seemed to support a large brooke but became entirely different as the source of the smoke was seen. The mangled buggy lay on it's back charred and smoking on the opposite side of the small river; Jack traced its trajectory and tire marks back from the forest on his side of the bank, then he noticed the People.

Two small Nameks stood next to three other Humanoids, one of which who resembled Torn that had what seemed to be an orange weasel on his shoulder, A female dark Elf from what Jack could tell from the Complexion and hair of the creature and one man who wore a red and gold outfit; all of which seemed to be watching an almost transparent mass of green flame that Frost knew to be none other than Retane and a hulking, olive skinned man who was riffled with muscles and wielded a spear and shield, between the two groups. Jack glanced back at the green flaming Namek and saw the faint glint of metal,

No.

"RETANE!!!" The Guardian yelled at the flaming Namek, merely getting a reaction of a glance in his direction. "RETANE! STOP THIS NOW! Krosst go to your siblings!" Frost shouted to both Namek's, getting a compliance from the smallest one who ran with vigor to the group across the river. Jack started running as well and used his staff to spring himself forward with such a jump that would make any Track and Field coach Cry. Frost arrived on the other side of the brooke with no signs of stopping.

"Retane put the Scythes down!" Jack yelled at the green warrior as he stopped some ten feet in front of him, only to be answered with a deep throaty growl then a moment of silence as the Namek looked him in the eye. Jack saw nothing other than the regret in his eyes. "I know how you feel Retane." The winter spirit called, lowering his voice, "I know you feel regret. I see it in your eyes. You did what you had to do back there in the Abyss. I thank you for that. You gave me a release from the hell th-that Thing caused me. Your regret is killing me my dear friend." Jack mustered these words through a cracking voice as he walked towards the green demon. "Please Retane. Accept my thanks..." Frost let a single tear fall down through his eyelashes that left a semi-frozen trail behind itself.

Retane looked Deep into the eyes of the Icer and made one firm shake of his head before tightening his grip on the chain he already held. He looked past Jack and into the eyes of the Spartan, "Jack. Move."

Jack stood near his ally for a second more before he walked hesitantly towards the group that now accompanied Krosst.

What the hell are you!?

[Jak Mar]

Torn turned his head and just nodded at the group behind him. He had so many questions about this world yet there probably would be much more coming to figure out. Torn started the long walk with the elf and started to talk what's on his mind "So Inertias, is it? I have things on my mind i want to know as soon as possible... "

The whole namek thing was getting him somewhat nervous and more than a little confused. Perhaps a fellow elf could at least answer his questions at least semi-seriously. He was a serious man and he expected serious answers. He'd figured he ask more information once they stopped at the "HQ" hopefully. Torn kept his arms semi-crossed as he groaned for a bit. The laugher from the elf joining him wasn't helping his headache and he kept walking. The Commander frowned and kept walking "Name's Commander Torn, I am Commander of the Freedom guard." I'm not one for taking crap right now...

Inertias looked at Torn and said "Follow me, Commander and we can talk more at the base about what you are able to do for the horsemen."

Torn was quiet for a second and then nodded "That's better."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daxter frowned and crossed his arms on Jak's shoulder saying "What the hell are you?" looking toward the white haired teen walking toward the group with short ears.

Jack stared at the orange creature on the man's shoulder and frowned "I am a guardian of ice to the guardian of fun....Is that what you wanted to know?" He was a bit surprised to hear the orange weasel talking to him but it's probably not the weirdest thing he's seen in his time in the Omniverse.

Jak heard the white haired man start to talk to Daxter and looked at the guardian seriously. He had been listening to the conversation "So you are a guardian of ice? How did you get here so fast?"

Daxter responded with a loud bellow "YEAH, and what about our dune buggy? Spargus is probably going to kill us for ruinin' one of their buggies.

Jak slightly facepalmed after he remembered Retane hadn't been able to stop the buggy in time. "Hey Dax, at least we are alive right now, right?" He nudged the ottsel and the ottsel groaned "Jak.." "NEVER... DO .. THat... Again!!"


The humor quickly stopped when Retane challenged the strange man to a fight and Jak was curious to see the results. He, however wasn't interested in butting in unless he absolutely had to.

[Shang Tsung]

Shang scowled as he turned his attention away from the two ‘sparring’ warriors. The sorcerer was all for mortal combat every now and again, but he was never one to just wantonly want to batter around strangers or have someone swing a kusarigama at his head.

Turning his focus from the bout between the Grecian and the green man, the sorcerer took note of other individuals crowded into the vicinity. They all seemed unique in some way or another, but none of them seemed to stand out. There were some more green people, a dog-looking creature, and a few individuals who looked like they were no more than twenty years old.

Nothing impressive.

As they often did at this point in time, Shang’s thoughts moved to Darkshire. Once they were finished here in the Tangled Green, they’d have to return to the Pale Moors. Given their recent accomplishments and the dearth of champions, the sorcerer expected that they would be hailed as heroes, which was fine by him. With the resources of that place at his disposal, Shang knew he could accomplish whatever he set out to do in the Omniverse. Having met with the actual creator of this place, the sorcerer’s beliefs had all been vindicated—there was no return.

It felt weird to think that he was little more than a carefully crafted replication, spawned by some weird little creature with the mannerisms of an overgrown child. With the knowledge that the real Shang Tsung was either dead or rotting away in a dungeon in Outworld, this Shang felt the most freedom he’d ever felt since his days as a mere human.

What could stop him? As long as he continued to amuse some creature in the sky, he’d be immortal, with death just a temporary setback to anything he wanted to plan. And banishment? Shang had lived in the Netherrealm for a decade… he had nothing to fear from demons and monsters.

The Omniverse was his tabula rasa, and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to paint the picture he wanted. No one would stand in his way.

[Retane]

The namekian glanced at his companions. He wondered why Jack was here, and not on his mission. Had the Guardian really come all this way just to tell him that he understood that the namekian felt regret for killing him in Dante's Abyss, and thank Retane for killing him? Jack Frost truly didn't understand that the Emerald Warrior felt guilt for being the reason that the Guardian of Fun had killed. It was Retane that had given the Ice-Wielder the Malefactor to wear. Things could have been much different had Retane just kept the orgosynth to himself.

"Are you going to fight or have you already given up", The Grecian baited.

The namekain's visage showed a wicked grin as he swung the chained sickle in the direction of his foe. The spartan laughed and dodged it, letting the blade dig into the ground behind him. Atelos chose to charge again, his spear ready and aimed at the Emerald Warrior. Retane grinned and yanked the blade from the dirt. The Spartan was skilled and hopped over the retacting blade, but at the same time, thrusted the spear at the dark namekian. THe Emerald Warrior dodged it in turn and looked deep into the eyes of the Grecian.

"Are we done yet? I have other matters to attend to", The Leader of The Horsemen barked.

-----------------

Reatus had watched the spectale with his brother and looked down as Jack Frost had spoke. The namekian child felt guilt from it. The Spawn of Retane couldn't explain it, but he knew he was connected with the newcomer, known as Jack Frost.

Dante laid his hand on his brother's back and grinned, "It'll be okay. Father can explain it to us later, but what is our brother wearing?"

Reatus looked at Krosst, who wore a smile as he walked in their direction. Krosst was in a weird 'git-up', different from himself, Dante and their father.

[Shang Tsung]

With a grunt, Atelos rushed forward, his bronze shield held before him as Retane’s weapon bashed mercilessly against its surface. Although the green-skinned fighter tried to angle his swipes to get around the bulwark, the Spartan was no slouch with the shield. Each angle strike was met by a subtle redirection, and after a vicious series of exchanges, there was no gap to speak of between the two warriors.

Atelos’ let out a growl and slung his shield forward, catching Retane in the jaw. The warrior stumbled backward and swung his weapon, catching his adversary on the shoulder and back with two bladed segments of the kusarigama. While one of the blades clanged against armor, another sank through into flesh, causing the Spartan to roar in pain as fresh blood sputtered from the wound. The shield lashed forward, crashing violently against Retane’s face and chest, but despite the thunderous impact, the green-skinned warrior tore his weapon free and moved to strike once more.

It was then that Shang downed Retane with an exploding fireball. The impact caught the unaware fighter in the chest and sent him through the trunk of a nearby tree.

All at once, the other fighters turned to stare at Shang, and the younger man with the staff thought twice before making a silly decision when he saw the sorcerer’s other hand extend outward. “No more bloodshed.” Shang replied, his eyes moving to the younger man. “My associate gets to a point where he doesn’t know when to stop, and I’d rather not deal with that today.” The white-haired youth thought it over, his eyes moving once to the wild-eyed Spartan before returning to the calm and collected Shang. “You should make sure your friend is okay.”

Atelos turned and scowled at his ally as he clamped a hand against his wound. Once he was within whispering distance of Shang, he spoke. “I had that.”

The sorcerer nodded. “I know you did, but the last thing I need is some spar turning into a bloodbath…we’re outnumbered, if you haven’t noticed.”

Once he’d glanced around at the other individuals, Atelos begrudgingly nodded his head. “We should drop her off and be back.” With that, the Spartan and the night elf started back on the path toward their destination. Instead of rushing to join them, Shang walked over the white-haired youth. The sorcerer produced a scrap of paper from his pocket and handed it to the man.

“It’s a frequency.” Shang placed a finger on the walkie-talkie strapped to his belt. “Your friend can have another go at my friend once we’re all a little more acquainted.” With that, the sorcerer walked off to join Atelos and the woman they were escorting.

[Jack Frost]

Jack looked after the sorcerer as he led his party of three away then directed his gaze to the paper in his hand. A 'Frequency', the man had called it; Jack knew about walkie-talkie's. He had watched the children of his old past play with them as they had woken to dicover them those christmas morning's.

"Father....? Father?!" Frost turned to see the voice come from one of Retane's three children tried to wake the eldest green humanoid while the other clenched his fists and stared a look of anger at the departing group of strangers as Krosst stood, glaring down at his unconsious father and his worried brother, "He was knocked unconsious Reatus. There is nothing we can do for him right now unless we take him home." Dante said, keeping his gaze on the now distant group of attackers. The worried Reatus looked at his brother and rose to his feet, "How do you know?! Huh?! They could have killed him!" The angered child yelled, "Don't talk to me like that." Dante growled back at his brother as he turned to meet his stare. "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?!"

"Guys! Guys! Look we can't do this right now! What would Retane say if he heard us now? Surely he would be dissapointed! Right Jack?" Krosst interjected. The man with the orange weasel walked forward to Retane and knealed down, parting the group of green children. The pointy eared human placed his fingers on the Namek's neck and waited a moment before speaking, "He is alive Reatus. Don't worry about yo-" The small orange animal jumped on Retane's chest and put his ear to his chest, "Yup! Your Papa is A-Okay!" The weasel said before looking back at His human perch, "How can you tell if he is unconsious Jak?"

Jack decided to butt in now that everyone had partaken in talking, "Okay. Dante, Reatus and Krosst. I want you three to stay here with the weasel; Jak would you mind helping me salvage these Buggy parts? We need to make somthing to carry Retane in." He gave the directions to everyone and recieved the O.K. from the Namek siblings and Jak. "Hey! I am not a weasel Mr. Ice Boy. I am a human trapped in a wonderfully, sexy, Lady catching Ottsel body. And my name is Daxter! SO GET IT RIGHT!" The ottsel corrected. Jack had no idea what an 'ottsel' was and didn't want to find out what. "Whatever you say Weasel. C'mon Jak." The icer taunted with a grin and beckoned the human to follow.

Jak caught up to Frost as the pair walked to the crashed buggy, "So, Jack is it? How did you meet the Hot-Head?" The pointy eared man asked. "Yeah, Well it's a long story really, full of Orcs and Goblins, What about you?" Jack replied with a questioning glance as they reached the broken vehicle, "Well we kind of found him and one thing led to another." Jak replied with a gruff voice picking up a loose tire before continuing "Do you think Retane will get better? That was some magic that guy pulled..." He finished. Jack thought about his answer before he responded to Jak's question. "Well. Retane's been pretty far off before. This is nothing compared to his last 'spar'." Jack answered with complete certainty, "Besides, he heals pretty quick for as big as he is." The white haired adolecent finished as he shoved a rod into a snowball to keep it connected.

----------

"Lift on three, ready? Three!" The three Namekian siblings insisted they put Retane into the makeshift stretcher that looked more like a three wheeled Wheelbarrow. The brothers hefted their father into the concoction as both of the former human's admired their handywork. "I taught Jak everything he knows, guys!" Daxter said with a flashy grin, "Actually, Keira did Dax." Jak retorted with a stare that made the orange ottsel snicker. "Okay guys let's start heading back! We have about a three hour journey!" Frost called over to the group as he scanned his communicator. Krosst dusted his hands as he walked up to the icer, "We could make it a bit shorter Jackie." The growing Namek grinned. Jack looked puzzled at first until he saw the namek pick up his makeshift staff, "Would you like to demonstrate that move for me again?" As the Namek finished his sentence, Jack had already provided the Namek with his answer. All of the group now sat on thin slick ice.

----------

"THIS IS GREAT!" Dante and Reatus shouted over Daxter's screaming as the wheelbarrow hurtled through the forest. Jack and Krosst controlled the path with their staff's as everyone took a seat on the stretcher and slid on the ice. "What do you think Jackie?! Ten minutes?" Krosst yelled across the makeshift vehicle, "I say five!" The two laughed as Dax screamed clinging to Jak's head.