Heatwave || Open

[paletteswap]

characters: Kuai Liang & anyone
location: Near the town square
date/time: Duration of the heat wave: 7/19-7/21
content: No one read the care instructions for their ice assassin that clearly state he needs to be kept below 70 degrees Fahrenheit at all times. He is miserable and building ice blocks to lean against and try to not melt.
warnings: Shouldn't be any. Will edit if his brother tries to chop his head off


Reliving other residents deaths had been, for lack of a better word, traumatizing for Kuai. Especially those he cared about. Seeing his brother die to Scorpion and the ensuing fight when he encountered Noob Saibot immediately after had messed with his emotions in ways he never would admit to.

And now this.

It was hot. Uncomfortably hot. It shouldn't be this hot in a place that didn't have a sun and was in perpetual night. And yet it was stiflingly oppressive (especially to someone who's armor was leather) and he was utterly miserable.

He'd made several large ice blocks near the town square in hopes any wind that hit them would function like a swamp cooler. Granted it would have been better to stay indoors, but he didn't want to flood the inn when all this melted. Even now there were tiny rivers starting to form as the blocks melted, trailing off into the darkness.

Kuai will be sitting against one of them, looking uncomfortable and unhappy (probably because this idiot is still in his full armor). Come say Hi, make fun of him, or feel free to say these giant blocks of ice are melting directly into your shoes or your grave.

Comments

[saibot]

"I did not rewatch yours. But I did see it. Scorpion's was far more uneventful and a rather pitiful way to die." But at least now he knew how he died and who dared to snatch that glory away from him.

When he finally gets free of this place, he would change that. Only he will be the one to end either of their lives. Knowledge of the future was useful in that aspect. With it he might be able to change the timeline to fit his own wants.

Though Kronika sounded like she'd be a force not easily dealt with. He'd have to tread carefully and figure out what he would do about her. Kuai was probably correct in that she was using everyone would not fulfill whatever promises she made, but he also knew how to serve someone without exactly serving them.

[paletteswap]

He snorted, not going to take the bait on that insult against Hanzo's honor. Perhaps if he wasn't so hot and miserable he'd be easier to rile up, but right now he didn't want to do anything, including fighting.

"Then who's? Your own?" That actually made him turn his head to look at his brother, leaning forward. "Did you rewatch your own death? Why would you do that?"

[saibot]

"Reliving my own death through those means was exactly like being there." Also a reminder of what he lost and who deserved his wraith though he was certain Kuai wouldn't agree.

He gave a brief glance towards his brother but that was the only answer Kuai would get about his question.

"I am surprised I did not see the 'death' that brought me here though."

[paletteswap]

"You had already died once, we wouldn't have buried you twice." Or at all since Bi-Han was insistent on walking around after death. Why couldn't he have a nice tomb at Arctika where Kuai could leave offerings and burn incense instead of lurking around shoving his brother through portals?

"I still don't understand why you'd watch it repeatedly. Were you hoping for a different outcome?"

[saibot]

Because how else could he haunt things and make Kuai's life miserable if he wasn't walking around? Besides, it's so not his fault that he died.

"The vision was as clear as being there an every aspect. Why not relive that moment?"

Other than the completely horrible death part, but not a lot really phased Bi-Han anymore. Being an undead wraith kind of had that effect on a person.

[paletteswap]

There's always the option to not do that. It's a legit tactic.

"Because you died. I watched it too, why would you relive a painful death?" Not to mention the emotional turmoil of being accused of something he didn't do. Kuai isn't putting together that he likely rewatched it for the experience of having emotions again. He's too cranky and hot to be thinking deep thoughts right now.

[saibot]

He can't do that. Harassing Kuai is written in his evil person contract.

"The heat is making you more dense than normal, Kuai. My reasons are of no concern to you." More that it'll make Kuai even more obnoxious than he already is. So much false hope, though at the moment he didn't seem to have much of that due to the heat.

"I wonder how long you'll be able to endure this weather. Maybe I'll stick around to watch your slow demise."

[paletteswap]

Can he return his brother for a full refund?

"I am concerned and I'm your brother much as we both wish that weren't the case." He snorted, and if he was prone to eye-rolling he'd be doing it now. "I'm not going to die from the heat. Unless you're here to help that along. But do not mistake my discomfort for inability to fight."

[saibot]

Nope. Kuai is stuck with him forever as he can clearly never go away.

"When you die by my hand it won't be to end your suffering. Besides you are hardly worth killing in your current state. You would be as easy to defeat as any child."

Even if he wasn't here to kill him, he could still poke fun at his skills.

[paletteswap]

"You rarely bested me even when we were children." Two can play at the insulting game Bi-Han.

"I think you enjoy talking about killing me far more than you would the act of actually fighting me."

[saibot]

"You embellish your past. It was you who rarely bested me. Not the other way around. Perhaps your time as a cyborg has corrupted your memory."

He made a noise that was the equivalent of a annoyed huff.

"I think you want me to fight you, just to try and prove yourself better."

[paletteswap]

"Perhaps time spent dead and serving Quan Chi corrupted yours." Oh he's fiesty today. "My memory is fine, I remember exactly who you used to be before you became this."

Well, there are a few years where he was possessed by a dagger that he doesn't remember, but unfortunately he remembers everything else, especially all the time he spent as Quan Chi's slave, and then the time he was part of Shao Kahn's cyber Lin Kuei army.

"I'd rather we didn't fight at all."

[saibot]

"I remember the past and all the times you lost. You had skill, but you were a novice fighter and I doubt much has changed there."

And of course Kuai didn't want to fight. That was to be expected so much so that Bi-han wasn't going to give a response to that part.

"If I still had my former abilities I imagine my skill would also be far superior to yours there as well."

[paletteswap]

"Have you trained at all since your death? Or are you relying on Quan Chi's magics to hone your skills for you?" His voice filled with disdain. The easy way was the less effective way.

"You can say what you will, you have not seen me fight in well over twenty years, you know not of what you speak."

[saibot]

"Do you think I sit idly in the Netherrealm? Did you ever know me to do nothing when I was a member of the Lin Kuei?"

He waved Kuai off with a look of annoyance, which is one of those emotions he claims to not have but his bother is certainly managing to push a lot of buttons lately.

"You always did fail at goading me, and it is especially clear now you still are a failure."

[paletteswap]

"I don't know what you do in the Netherrealm. In my timeline you haven't been seen in decades." Which meant he wasn't floating around making Kuai's shitty life even more miserable.

"Yet you are still here. If I am such a failure why have you not abandoned me as a lost cause?"

[saibot]

"Something you keep reminding me of." He honestly wished he was from around Kuai's time just so he could shut up him about that. Being from the past while his brother is from the future is nothing but annoying.

Not that he gets annoyed or anything.

"I never once stated that I was here for any other reason than to watch you suffer."

[paletteswap]

"Is it enjoyable yet?" Because it certainly isn't for him. He's uncomfortable and as the ice melts he's sitting in a puddle which is not ideal.

He sighs and leans his head back, squinting at his brother, "So you have the capacity to enjoy things, but only when it's my suffering? That's a very narrow emotional range that Quan Chi left intact."

Kuai doubted that Quan Chi would be so precise, which meant that there were probably other emotions in there that Bi-Han was quashing.

[saibot]

It was a good thing that Bi-Han wore a mask because Kuai was not able to see his expression stiffen at the accusation. Him? Emotions? Never.

"Your suffering is deserved, but I feel nothing towards it. You should have realized this by now. I don't have emotions. Any emotions. You cannot goad or annoy me, Kuai. The sooner you understand this, the better."

Which was actually not true, not that he'd ever admit to it.

[paletteswap]

Yeah he didn't believe that for a second. "I've been doing a decent job of it so far."

He'd seen the hesitation during the fight at the gravesite, and the way Bi-Han sometimes bristled when he mentioned things in the past. "And I don't believe you. There is something in you that drives you, or you would do nothing and remain in the Netherrealm like a revenant."

[saibot]

"I feel nothing." Though the emphasis in his words might say otherwise.

He finally pushed himself to a stand, though the shadow clone remained where he was.

"I am driven by darkness, nothing more. I will push everything into a state of nothingness but that does not mean I feel anything either way. You are a fool to think otherwise, Kuai Liang."

[paletteswap]

"Why bother? You won't enjoy it if the world were to fall into shadow. What's even the point?" He found himself asking that question about his brother a lot. Nothing the man did really made sense, and a lot of it appeared to be contradictory.

Kuai remained on the ground, he wasn't going to move for anything short of an attack, "You can continue to call me a fool forever. That you are so insistent on it means you feel something."

[saibot]

"If the world is in shadow than it is I who will lead it. I don't need emotion to guide the dark," he said stepping forwards towards Kuai and gesturing as he spoke.

It would be so easy to take him out in this state. Bi-Han felt himself dwelling more and more on how he could get him to shut up by impaling a sickle directly into his throat.

But that'd be admitting that his brother's words were getting to him, which wasn't possible. Even if he felt things while witnessing the deaths ... it wasn't the same outside of it. He kept telling himself that he felt nothing. Not towards Kuai. Not towards Scorpion. Not towards anyone. No hatred or anger. He was beyond all of that.

... Which is clearly why his brother was currently able to irritate him.

"You should give up whatever this fool's dream is of yours."

[paletteswap]

"Lead it into what? If the world is in shadow, what's left to accomplish?" Kuai merely watched him, he didn't think Bi-Han was going to suddenly attack him, but he'd defend himself if need be. He also fully didn't understand what his brother wanted. His goals seemed short-sighted and pointless.

"I will not. You will have to learn to live with that."

[saibot]

"But I am not alive, so how can I live with anything?"

He knew what Kuai meant but he responded like that just to be snarky. He needed to leave before he let the annoyance of his brother get to him. The shadow clone finally got up and merged back into Noob.

He gave his brother another look before stepping away, fully intending to just leave Kuai to his misery. At least he'll be able to melt there in silence.

[paletteswap]

Good. Go away and let him be miserable in peace. He's going to sit there and stew in melting ice puddles and his annoyance that he can't seem to talk Bi-Han back into being.