Henkō Yurei

Equestria ⇀ #1115132120

Micah groaned, his eyes fluttering as his hand tightened before he became aware that he leaned against a home though he recognized nothing around him, though what he immediately noticed was that Lavender had disappeared, though where he was was the second thought that went through his mind.

“From the sound of it, there is combat near. Make sure there are no innocents in danger,” he heard a voice mutter in his ear. He blinked, looking around in confusion as he heard Kuai Liang’s voice in his mind. “Fine, Kuai… I dislike the idea of innocents in trouble regardless,” he muttered, not thinking that the Lin Kuei Grandmaster was actually real.

“You aren’t losing your mind, child. We are in your mind. I am Princess Kitana,” he heard a melodic voice murmur as he rose shakily to his feet. His eyes narrowed. “Prove it,” he thought challengingly. A soft chuckle sounded as he exhaled softly before snapping his wrist, a gust of bluish light flaring up before dimming as his eyes widened, recognizing instantly Kitana’s trademark fan, making his eyes widen.

“Believe me now, child?” he heard Kitana’s voice murmur with amusement. He shrugged in reply, letting the fan drift before flicking it closed as his head snapped up, spotting strange, chitinous creatures darting past, close to a dozen of them, both of the male and female variety.

His eyes narrowed fractionally, hearing panicked screams as he could feel something welling up inside him, a strength he had never felt before. His eyes narrowed as he pushed off, catching one of the male chitinous creatures with a flying knee strike to the chest before he drove a backhanded strike into the face of one of the females as he kicked a third, another bulkier male, in the shin just below the knee, taking the leg out from beneath him as he drew his hand back, then thrust it forward, a fireball erupting and detonating between a third male and second female which threw them apart, all of them dazed and nearly unconscious.

------ In Canterlot’s Palace -----
A changeling queen in chitinous black armor and a long mace sneered at the ponies, held tight by her guards before she grimaced. “Who is it fighting my ‘lings? One of yours? An Assassin in Black?” she snarled.

The anthropomorphic ponies glanced at each other, confused. “None that we know of. Our guards wear dark navy or gold depending on whether they are Night Guard or Day Guard, not black,” an alabaster furred mare with a chromatic pastel mane in shades of pale heliotrope, light turquoise, very light cobalt blue, and light cerulean. Her grayish magenta eyes narrowed on the dark emerald of the Changeling Queen, who abruptly gasped in pain, shuddering.

“Whoever it is is killing them!!! And not in painless manners. Some fall to blades, others to fire spells or ice spells. Ugh!!!” she groaned, gritting her teeth as her horn gained a dull emerald glow.

“Serves them right for invading Canterlot!!” a cyan Pegasus with a polychromatic mane snapped, held by two bulkier Changelings.

“It doesn’t matter… once I drain all of you of all of your love… I will be unstoppable… just as I’ve done to dear Shining Armor,” Chrysalis sneered, smirking at the dazed stallion, whom even now had a drunk, dopey look.

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

Micah noticed, with a slight frown, a mine shaft several dozen yards away from the large palace he’d found, though many of those ‘Changelings’ were between not only him and the palace, but also him and that mineshaft; he couldn’t explain why he got the strong sense that that area was important.

“Allow me to take over for a time, allow you to meet us,” he heard a different voice mutter.

“Hanzo Hazashi? Grandmaster of the Shirai Ryu?” he murmured.

“The same. I am honored to know you and clearly, the gifts you have gained, you will not abuse,” Hanzo replied.

“Fine… Vengeance will be mine!!” Micah muttered, feeling his consciousness pulled back into the depths of his mind as the Shirai Ryu Grandmaster stepped forward, hellfire erupting around him explosively and throwing Changelings every direction. Unnoticed, however, the Grandmaster's armor was quite different from his ‘usual’ outfit.

A form coruscating in sapphire, lavender, and emerald flames shot over the ocean within the soulscape. The form impacted the sandy beach and tumbled, the flames of the aura being put out. Micah groaned as he pulled himself to his feet using the lower branches of a nearby peach tree. He heard footfalls before he turned, gasping in mild surprise to see a woman he recognized immediately.

“Damn. Always thought you were cute in the games. But seeing the real thing? Ravishing,” Micah complimented.

Princess Kitana smirked a bit. “We've seen... in most of your memories, though I must ask. Why did you choose to use Shang Tsung's form?” she commented.

Micah shrugged. “I suppose because he's a villain most people hate for his actions and decisions in life, yet at the same time, he's respected by most even if it is a disdainful respect. Personally, I respect the sorcerer, but I don't think I would trust him more than, say, you would,” he said with a chuckle.

Kitana laughed at that comment, looking amused. She bowed a bit, smirking. Her gaze slid up, then down his body. “Intriguing. It appears you gained something from each of us passively on top of our unique talents,” she commented with a small teasing smile.

“Well, obviously I didn’t gain anyone’s physical beauty, such as yours. So what did I get from you, other than the chance to enjoy being around someone like you?” Micah quipped.

“My lifespan, or more precisely, a portion of it. I would guess you could live between eight thousand and eleven thousand years with ease,” came the Edenian Princess’ amused reply.

“Well, if I hit ten thousand and look as good as you, I’d probably be in trouble,” Micah teased, gaining a roll of the eyes from the Edenian Princess.

“Obviously, your soulscape has taken the form of Shang Tsung’s island and from what I know for sure, Hanzo Hazashi, the Shirai Ryu Grandmaster… ‘Scorpion’... and the Lin Kuei Grandmaster… ‘Sub-Zero’... Kuai Liang… are here. Who else could be here, I do not know. I am certain the old sorcerer himself is here somewhere, however. He will no doubt show himself when he is done primping himself,” Kitana deadpanned.

“Yeah, Shang does need to get the curlers out of his mustache… and hair,” Micah laughed. He noticed Kitana’s lips twitching before she joined in the laughter.