Leather is not good at absorbing, but it is easier to cut than metal or mail.

It wasn't easy; God it was not easy! But it was easier, so Derek was thankful he was wearing it when he had to dress his wound. He tied on a scrap of denim from his jeans and secured it with a strip of leather he cut from his armor. The dagger Reptile gave him was obviously made for stabbing, as it was awful at sawing off anything.

With his stomach wound finally-- albeit crappily-- dressed, he then moved on to his leg wound. He decided that he didn't have the time to treat that one-- what with Scorpion and Raiden undoubtedly combing the forest for him.

So, left calf bleeding freely and blood oozing through his fingers covering his side, Derek hobbled in the direction that he and Fujin were walking in mere hours ago.

Fujin...

He couldn't believe what he just saw, couldn't accept it. He was a god for God's... sake. Okay, not the time for that saying.

But honestly, gods were immortal, right? He was pretty sure "immortal" meant, "cannot die." Would Fujin still be alive, severed head talking as though it were attached?

His thinking distracted him from the pain some, but it was most certainly there. Every step he took made him wince in agony; it took all that he had not to cry out. Next time he fought a demon from hell he would remind himself that he likely wasn't going to fight honorably.

Thinking of Scorpion caused him to reminisce on the battle he just fought against the Shirai Ryu. Apparently, Reptile's training seemed to have done wonders for him. However, he would have doubted that there was any chance of him taking on such a legendary fighter with just a little over a year's training. He decided to push that thought aside. He had way bigger problems as of now.

____________________________________

"You had to dare him, Takeda," Jacqui Briggs said angrily to her boyfriend. She was sitting next to him in the back seat of Cassie's truck. Hers were the first words spoken since they left the park.

"Okay, but in my defense," Takeda argued, raising his hands in surrender, "I wasn't the one who shot the squirrel." He glared at Kung Jin sitting in the passenger seat.

"Hey I wouldn't have done it if you hadn't dared me," Jin replied to the accusation. "Sounds to me like it's all your fault, T."

"Shut up, Jin," Cassie suddenly snapped from the driver's seat. Everyone immediately silenced.

She wanted one day. Every waking moment for them was most likely spent fighting, debriefing, or spending time with family; there wasn't a lot of room for personal enjoyment (She was sure this bothered Takeda and Jacqui the most). Cassie wanted one day for all of them to just hang out and act like young people for a change. She was the one who set up a nice meeting for just the four of them in the park. They were going to feed the ducks and squirrels and have a picnic, play frisbee, climb a tree or something. It was supposed to be joyful, innocent fun.

But then Jin had to get bitten by a squirrel and swear to it that he would shoot it someday. Takeda had to say that he couldn't do it if he tried. Jin had to say he totally could, that it was only about three dozen yards. Takeda had to dare him.

So of course, Jin summoned his bow, easily shot the squirrel out of its tree, and collected his bragging rights from Takeda... right in front of a park ranger.

So Cassie's plan for a nice little outing ended in them getting banned from the park and her having to run over to her mom to ask for money to pay a fine; a big one.

She told them all of this, too, and they looked at their laps like guilty children. It wasn't until they were parked inside the SF base that one of them was finally man enough to apologize.

"Alright," Jin sighed, giving up his stubbornness, "I'm sorry for ruining our little excursion, Cassie. It'll never happen again." He couldn't let her off without a bit of sarcasm.

"Yeah," Takeda droned from the backseat, "I'm sorry too."

"It's alright guys," Cassie said as they all got out of the truck, "I'm not that mad. It was actually pretty cool." The two boys breathed a sigh of relief. "It's just that my mom's already pissed at my dad and I'm sure that this won't help things." They easily slid through security and were walking toward the general's tent in minutes. The base was abuzz with activity, soldiers loading weapons, squads getting into formation. Cassie finally saw her mother angrily storming all over the place, barking out orders to unlucky soldiers. It was clear that something was going on.

"Mom," she called out, running to her. Sonya turned around and Cassie stopped dead in her tracks. Usually she saved such fiery hatred for Kano, but now everyone was getting an eyeful of the fire in Sonya Blade's eyes. "What's wrong?" Cassie asked her.

Sonya softened her expression slightly as she looked at her daughter. She opened her mouth to answer, closed it, and shook her head. Her head fell.

Cassie looked back to her friends questioningly. They all looked just as confused and worried as she did. "Mom," she said, turning back to the general, "What is it?"

Sonya looked up again, her face stone cold. "Fujin's dead and I'm about to go kill Kotal Kahn and all of his lackeys." Cassie's eyes widened. When she tried to say something, the general stopped her, "I'm leaving right now. You can't come."

"That wasn't what I was gonna--"

"General Blade!" Someone shouted. The two woman looked in the direction of the noise to see a young, clearly injured man stumbling in their direction.

Usually in this situation, Sonya would see what the man's deal was or try to help him, but now, instead she told Cassie , "Take care of that for me."

____________________________________

She was walking away! He had to deliver the message. Hell, he had to warn her about Raiden!

"General Blade!" Derek shouted at the top of his lungs. "Stop! Wait!" He was becoming desperate. "Wait!"

Two soldiers walked into his path, blocking him. "Sir," they tried to restrain him as he struggled to reach the general. He shoved and punched at them until one of them pointed a gun at his head. "Stop," the soldier commanded.

Derek stopped struggling physically but he continued to plead to speak with the general. "No, I have to speak to General Blade!" The soldiers were unwavering. "You guys don't understand. My name is Derek Franciosi. I was sent here by Kotal Ka--" The soldier slammed the butt of his gun into Derek's face. He staggered back from the unexpected and undeserved blow.

"Take him in," the soldier told his partner.

He didn't know if it was adrenaline, a second wind or what, but a wave of strength flowed through Derek and he was able to recover from the blow immediately. One of the soldier grabbed him harshly by the wrist and Derek sprung into action. He freed his hand and yanked the soldier in front of him so that he was acting as a human shield from the gun. He kept a tight grip on the soldier's arm and punched him once in the stomach and once in the face. He then placed a foot on his stomach and shoved him into the other soldier. They both fell to the ground.

Running on his new surge of energy, Derek sprinted after the general, but he was too late. He reached just in time to see her and dozens of soldiers go through a purple portal. "Wait, no!" He shouted.

Suddenly, three warning shots hit the ground in front of him, cementing him in place. When he turned his head around he saw the soldier aiming his gun at his head.

"Shit." He sighed.