Chapter Text
Part One
It was very rare when Neas would have a moment of actual sleep between journeys. Saving worlds tended to take away such a luxury that most normal beings took for granted. As a genetically-enhanced Time Lord, she could go without sleep for years, yet the side of herself that was still human longed for just a few hours to rest her eyes.
But, even in her dreams, there was some sort of singularity.
As she learned early in her previous incarnation, there existed a separate entity within her subconscious – a side effect to the crude experiments that Rassilon put her through in her youth, awakening her hidden Time Lord DNA. It’d been there from the very beginning, living the same lives as Neas and sharing the same memories.
They called themselves “Alternates.”
Each one was different and similar to their physical counterparts. The one from the Gladiator’s eleventh incarnation fell in the “different” category, carrying the form of a short, beautiful redheaded Irishwoman as opposed to his tall African-American appearance.
For the first time in her twelfth life, Cici got to meet hers in her dream state.
Cici’s Alternate was Sicilian-American like her, but he was male. They shared the same crystal blue hue of their eye color, and his hair was as dark as hers, worn slicked back and shoulder length, with only a few strands hanging in the front. His jawline was squared and chiseled, beleaguered by a scraggily beard with a five o’clock shadow. As far as attire, they shared the same hoodie from their previous incarnation, which was obviously meant to share an identical masculine build; however, beneath it, he wore a blue denim shirt.
“Hello again,” he affably greeted her in the dream version of the TARDIS console room. “I’m liking the new changes.” He looked on himself admiringly. “I gotta admit that it feels good having something between my legs again.”
“Ugh,” Cici gagged from the remark. “Sounds like this version of you is unapologetically outspoken.”
“Makes sense, seeing how apologetically outspoken you are,” the Alternate countered. “Do you ever get tired of saying ‘sorry’ every time the wrong thing comes out of your mouth? Stick to your guns, girl!”
“That may be who you are, Mister…Mister…Wait. What do we call you now?”
The Alternate shrugged. “Well, you’re ‘Cici,’ so I guess I’m…Cecil?”
“Alright, Cecil,” Cici crossed her arms in annoyance. “Why’re you mucking ‘round my subconscious while I’m nappin’? Are you wantin’ out again? ‘Cause that was a one-time deal, not without another concentrated dose of Regen-8.”
“What about your sorcerer friend?” Cecil recommended. “The one who hangs with the mouse?”
“Also, a one-time deal,” Cici negated.
“C’mon, we gotta have somethin’,” Cecil pleaded. “I need back into the physical world. Things are about to get more complicated for us.”
“Just how complicated exactly?” Cici asked.
Cecil opened his mouth to explain, but instead of words, out came the hums and grinds of TARDIS engines.
Cici wasn’t sure what just happened until her eyes consciously opened.
The dream was over, and she was back to reality.
She groggily sat up in her bed with one hand against the side of her head. It had been so long since she had a transcendent conversation with her Alternate, she had forgotten the toll it took on her mind. The headache only lasted for a minute before she was finally able to refocus on the physical world around her.
The vibrations around her bedroom alerted her to the current status of her TARDIS – it was in transit, yet she obviously wasn’t the one who initiated dematerialization. Slipping on her jeans, boots, and hoodie, she rushed back to the real console room.
There, she discovered a lovely young brunette in a white, wool turtleneck and brown leggings with a matching pair of boots. “Pop?” she recognized the hourglass figure at the control console.
Sure enough, it was Rania, the sixth incarnation of Neas’s father, Aznavorian – a natural-born Time Lord and inventor on their home planet of Gallifrey, being the creator of Neas’s own Type-Z TARDIS. Once a good-hearted man who temporarily gave up his Gallifreyan genetics to live a simple human life on a Georgia farm, they were now a brunette with an even bigger heart (two of them, in fact) and a bigger intellect.
Spinning around with her long brown locks swinging in correspondence, she was surprised to see Cici walk in. “Oh, hi, sweetie,” she greeted in that warm, soothing voice that Cici remembered from their travels together, when she was still Thomas. “I’m sorry for hijacking your ship. It was an emergency, and I thought this Type-Z belonged to your past self.”
“No prob,” Cici understood. “This ship’s always been your baby long before it became mine.” Redirecting the topic back on something she caught that Rania said, she asked, “What emergency?”
Rania suddenly became discouraged. “It’s Craig.”
Cici stiffened in concern. “What’s wrong? Is he okay? I-Is he hurt?!”
“He’s perfectly fine,” Rania calmed her. “It’s just…the poor thing’s house had been intruded upon. He called me while I was handling some business with Yvette Dwonch over at U.N.I.T.” Rania was on the verge of tears. “He sounded so scared, Neas. He hasn’t slept since it happened.”
Cici’s fists clenched; the very idea of Craig being in danger infuriated her.
She understood why Rania thought (perhaps even hoped) that the Type-Z she hijacked belonged to Thomas. Judging from Rania’s clothes, which were the last ones she wore when Thomas abandoned her and Craig, these events were occurring at a point in Craig’s personal timeline where he began to develop some animosity towards Neas.
And now they were enroute to Craig’s world and a reunion that Cici was heavily and understandably nervous about.
Craig’s neighborhood was exactly as Cici last left it. And it had been a long time since she had been back there, spending so much time either around the realms of the Infinite DC or at the Park with her traveling companions – Mordecai, Rigby, and Benson.
His house still had that welcoming vibe that she remembered long since the days she lived there in her “Reilly” incarnation – adopted by the Williams family when she had just regenerated with no memory of who she even was. She wasn’t sure how they were going to approach this visit, with neither her nor Rania owning faces that were familiar to the Williams household.
But, when Nicole (Craig’s mother) answered the door, Rania was greeted by the identity of “Miss Rania” and welcomed right in with Cici. As it turned out, Rania assumed the role of Craig’s schoolteacher at Herkleton Middle School and his personal tutor at home (or in her Type-X TARDIS while traveling).
Even Jessica (Craig’s little sister) knew her well enough to be excited when she was in their home. “Miss Rania!” she cheered, hopping up and down in the living room. “Did you hear? We had a burger!”
Cici giggled at Jessica’s mispronunciation of words, one of her traits that made her so adorable in Cici’s eyes or those of her previous two incarnations.
“It’s ‘burglar,’ Jessica,” Nicole corrected. “And nothing was stolen, weird as that may be for an intruder.”
“Is Craig in his room?” Rania asked, focused on the objective of their visit.
Nicole sighed. “Yep, and he hasn’t been out of it since the home invasion. I’m really glad that you and your friend showed up, Miss Rania.” Glimpsing at Cici, she inquired, “Who is your friend, by the way?”
Rania had a cover identity for Cici at the ready. “This is Dr. Smith, she’s a licensed pediatrician that I called just in case.”
Cici smirked at the usage of the “Smith” surname; it was always the Doctor’s go-to human identity, accompanied by the first name “John.” Though she always preferred “Curtsinger,” that name was always used by her predecessor, and there was no way of explaining the relation in her current body, outside of marital status.
As she and Rania headed upstairs to Craig’s bedroom, Cici pulled her hood up over her head in the hopes that it hid her face. Noticing this, Rania shook her head in disapproval. “You don’t need to hide,” she encouraged her. “He’s not angry with you.”
“No, he’s angry with that idiot who left him and you,” Cici retorted.
“You’ve never forgiven yourself, have you?”
“A part of me did. But this version of me still holds a grudge.”
They finally made it to Craig’s bedroom, which was very dark with the window shades down, shutting off the sunlight. Craig was lying in his bed in his sleeping shirt with the nearby lamp on and a copy of a Smarty Books novel. “Hey there, hon,” Rania said to him as she entered.
Looking up from his book, he was overjoyed to see her. “You made it!”
“Of course I did,” Rania swooped in for a hug. “I wasn’t gonna let anything get in the way of helping the most important kid in the multiverse.”
Cici swallowed hard, a lump forming in her throat, hearing how Rania described Craig. She knew that was always how they saw him and never once stopped to let him know it for a fact.
“Who’s that?” She heard Craig centering the attention on her. Turning as quick as she could, she tugged her hoodie even further around her face, but Craig recognized that apparel anywhere. “Is that you, Neas?!” The joy in his voice shattered Cici’s hearts, believing she was actually Thomas. “You came back!”
Cici fought back tears, shuddering as she responded, “Not quite, lil’ bro.”
The feminine voice that he heard from the hooded visitor dashed his spirits. “Oh,” he glowered. “You’re another future version, aren’t you? Like Maureen?”
Cici turned her head slightly, out of curiosity. “Who?”
Rania shushed Craig. “Remember what we talked about? In case we meet any version of Neas before Maureen?”
“Right, sorry,” Craig sulked.
Changing the subject right away, Cici asked Craig, “Who was it that invaded your home, lil’ bro? Can you describe him?”
“It was some old Chinese guy with really long hair,” Craig depicted.
“Long as mine?” Rania indicated her brown locks.
“Yeah,” Craig nodded. “He was dressed like one of the sorcerers from Kelsey’s Trebulon books – the evil kind of sorcerer.”
Following on these details triggered alarms in Cici.
Approaching Craig’s bedside, she pressed in the inquisitory, “An old Chinese sorcerer? Did he have a green aura glowing around him?”
“He did!” Craig exclaimed while he got his first real glimpse of Cici’s face. “Wow. You look so…pretty…but also really pale.”
Cici smirked, a tear escaping from its duct. “I’ll take it, lil’ bro.”
Much as it warmed her hearts to see the two friends reunite, Rania had to maintain focus on their investigation. She whispered to Cici, “Do we have all the info we need?”
Nodding her head, Cici replied, “Yeah. I think I have an idea who the intruder is.”
On this affirmation, Rania looked to Craig and smiled. “Time to get some rest, sweetheart.”
Craig quivered. “I haven’t slept since that creepy old sorcerer came into my room. How am I supposed to…?” He stopped just as Rania planted a warm albeit wet kiss right on his sizable forehead. It was a gesture that he often told her how much he hated, yet she persisted with it at unexpected times – this being one of them. However, this kiss served another purpose: putting Craig straight to sleep.
“I recall you doin’ that to me on nights when I couldn’t sleep,” Cici snickered. “I thought you just had good dad skills.”
“I do,” Rania winked and smiled.
Looking over the sleeping Craig, Cici frowned. “He saw my face, Pop. He’ll remember me.”
“He won’t,” Rania disproved. “I made sure to scramble his memory…of this visit and the intruder’s.”
Cici was grateful on both accounts.
She left her adopted little brother with a kiss of her own before departing the Williams household and their dimension overall.
Returning to the Infinite DC, Cici was visibly furious as she operated the controls.
“You know who Craig was describing, don’t you?” Rania noticed her fury.
“I do,” Cici gritted. “His name’s Shang Tsung – one of the bastards I dealt with long ago that I thought I rid the multiverse of. But, if there’s one thing that I’ve learned out here, it’s that there always an alternate.”
After a few extra seconds in the infinite dimensional corridor, Cici dematerialized the TARDIS to their intended destination: Outworld, a large and hostile realm of varying landscapes, from barren wastelands to vast deserts. Luckily, Cici knew a more reasonable spot to land them in – a marketplace that hosted several small bazaars showcasing various wares for sale, with large barrels of fruits and other foods stored around. Outworlders mingled around, while massive beasts turned a large rack in the middle of the square. One large canine-like beast with horns for ears and blades at the tip of its tail terrified Rania on her way out of the TARDIS; thankfully, it was slumbering.
“TaiGores are awfully sweet when they are resting, aren’t they?”
A six-armed, goblin-like creature with blue skin and orange glowing eyes scurried in approach of Cici and Rania. “Welcome to Outworld,” he told them. “I am the Kollector.”
“And why should we care?” Cici coldly returned. She didn’t trust anything or anyone in this realm.
“You seek Shang Tsung,” the Kollector disclosed. “I’m here to guide you into his direction…for a profit.”
“You wanna us to trade just to see a guy who’s already expecting us?” Rania scoffed. “This is absurd!”
“Absurd as it may be, nothing in Outworld is free,” the Kollector told her.
Cici cringed. “Do you always rhyme like that? Or was that just on the fly?”
“Do we have a deal or not? I’m willing to accept any currency in the way of gold, silver, or rare body parts.” The Kollector hungrily eyed Rania, gazing up and down at her voluptuous figure. “I can already tell this one is worth much more alive…but I’m curious of the value her insides possess!”
Revolted, Rania geared up to strike the Kollector. “Why, you disgusting motherfu…!”
Cici held her back whilst addressing the Kollector, “That’s not the ‘booty’ we’re willin’ to trade.” She proceeded to reach into the left pocket of her hoodie, retrieving a set of eyeballs. “How ‘bout this?”
The Kollector closely examined the eyeballs like a jeweler, even using a monocular. As soon as he was satisfied with the value of the item, he instructed Cici and Rania, “Follow me. The next available skiff is departing soon.”
As they followed, a very disturbed Rania asked Cici, “Why do you have human eyeballs in your pocket?!”
“Relax, Pop, they’re chicken eyeballs,” Cici reassured.
Rania was no less disturbed of the fact. “Why do you have chicken eyeballs?!”
In the last realm where Neas set foot on Shang Tsung’s island, it was a mighty fortress where the treacherous, shapeshifting sorcerer established his tournament, stolen from the Shaolin order and corrupted in order to win Earthrealm for the emperor, Shao Khan. The island of this particular version of Outworld had seen better days – a ruined kingdom of a fallen tyrant.
Cici and Rania found Shang Tsung himself waiting patiently in what was once a lavish dining hall. While he matched Craig’s description, there was one major difference: this Shang Tsung was much younger, presumably middle-aged in physical appearance rather than ancient.
“I expected some really old dude,” Rania muttered to Cici. “Maybe he just seemed that way to Craig’s 10-year-old gaze.”
“He is an illusionist,” Cici noted. “He can take any form he wishes.”
Shang Tsung welcomed Cici and Rania with arms wide open and a large devilish grin. “The Gladiator of Gallifrey returns!” he haughtily bellowed. “I like the new face. That icy-blue glare it has would freeze even Sub-Zero to death.”
“I’d ask how you survived the other world, but I’d be wastin’ my time,” Cici said. “So, let’s cut to the chase, shall we? You want me to compete in another damned tournament, don’t ya?”
“Yes,” Shang Tsung confirmed. “But it’s not my tournament this time.”
“I don’t care whose tournament it is!” Rania interjected. “Listen here, Mister Tsung! All I care about is a little boy who was scared out of his mind in the dead of the night by some creepy man in his bedroom! Consider this your only warning: you pull that shit again and you’re gonna deal with me. Ya got it?!”
Her threat had the opposite effect on the sorcerer, who merely smiled and said, “There’s quite an inferno behind your jaded eyes, isn’t there, Aznavorian? A devoted, caring father to any child she deems worthy of her love. Perhaps your daughter stands a greater chance in Shao Khan’s tournament with you by her side.”
“Shao Khan, eh? That’s what this is all about,” Cici scoffed. “Why would I consider competing in Mortal Kombat again, even if it was for your asshole emperor this time?”
Shang Tsung made a gesture that summoned one other party in the dining hall that had kept himself shrouded under an invisible veil until Shang Tsung’s beckoning. He was a very tall, well-built man with red eyes, chalk-white skin, and a tilak on his forehead. He was also completely bald, devoid of any hair on his head or face.
Cici never met him but knew of his reputation by name: Quan Chi.
Like Shang Tsung, he was a powerful sorcerer but also a necromancer, producing a swirl of green mist that projected an image of a young woman with long white hair, evenly cut bangs, and bloodred eyes.
Rania gasped as she looked on the image. “Cici, she looks…just like you!”
“This woman has come from beyond the six realms and formed a deadly alliance with Shao Khan,” Shang Tsung explained. “She calls herself ‘Logos’.”
