Description: Dear Diary, it appears that on this world my kind are known as 'mermaids' and are related to a breed of ocean-dwelling predator that is, sadly, vastly inferior in combat. Quite tasty, however. The plot thickens the further I delve, and this new information comes - in part - courtesy of a delightful young woman possessing strength and bravery beyond her Earthyears. She smelled delicious, but sadly forced a parting of ways before I could indulge my appetites. She can run for now - as I heard from the lips of a manling who smelled of many females, there are plenty more fish in the sea.
LATE EVENING
METRO CITY SHORES
Although still a novice by fighter standards, the girl known as May has developed a tremendous amount of strength and chi control for such a young age. It is a curious thing for someone who has apparently no training whatsoever. One day, the girl simply showed up totally capable of hauling an anchor twice her size and several hundred pounds heavier than her. A mystery to many, if not all that encountered her, not because May was the typical mysterious brooding type that kept to herself. Quite the contrary, May was extremely vocal, and it was difficult to discern what was the truth and what was obviously the young girl living in her own fantasy world.
The secret to May's strength though, might or might not surprise anyone.
The girl had simply been alone her whole life and had to fend for herself for nearly as far as she can recall. While many could take this as an excuse to be constantly angry at the world and lash out to anyone, May instead embraced the freedom of solitude and adopted her pirate persona to travel the world however she pleased!
And considering she had absolutely no means to acquire passage anywhere, May simply sailed a lot, on her little fishing ship.
That is the reason why said fishing ship is now floating about the shores of Metro City, when May was last seen a few days ago in Southtown. Yes, she really did just crossed the whole ocean with her rinky dinky boat that is maybe a step above a canoe.
"Blimey! These lubbers sure throw a lot of booty to the ocean!" Says May, who had initially thought of doing some fishing on the Metro City docks, only to realize that she's been hauling in more trash than actual fish with her net. The girl pulls yet more rubbish with those incredibly strong arms of hers and flops it on board to rummage through it and see if she can find anything valuable, singing a merry song all through it, happy as she can be. "o/~ Boney was a warrior, Away ay-yah! A warrior and a tarrier, John Fran-swor! o/~"
A pirate life for her indeed.
The denizens of Earthrealm are a wildly eclectic bunch, in equal part capable of mounting surprising defense against their gruesome invaders and... well, quite the opposite. Prey and would-be predator. Like wildly divergent courses in the universe's most fascinating banquet, all in all this has been as refreshing an introduction to Outworld's errant Princess Mileena as the briskly-chill ocean betwixt continents; another surprise whose delights she's been quick to sample.
May's delightfully swaggersome attitude serves her well in tackling that same demon, the path of her rink-a-dink vessel watched with some interest by savage eyes from within the deep. It's a wonder she hasn't been sunk en route to the American metropolis, particularly with those irksomely boisterous sea shanties echoing off the surging waves. She's not exactly a subtle presence, the pirate girl.
Equally distracting is the content of her haul, at least once the moldy boots, used Glow syringes, and flopping, malnourished and rapidly choking fish are flung aside to reveal a severed head. Ripped off at the neck, which is a bloody stump trailing torn, disrupted sinew and cartilege, this isn't just any head: it's that of a great white shark. May, meet Jaws 2000: The Retirement. A single beady eye, once so blank with absolute cruelty, regards the would-be pirate queen with the absolute ambivalence of death as it's unearthed from the corpses of lesser creatures and their waste.
But what would cause such a thing? Dead sharks aren't unheard of; everything meets and end sooner or later, but for arguably THE apex predator to be found so ruined by another beast is... well, it's not exactly usual. Downright disturbing, perhaps, to those more easily shaken. Closer examination yields no comfort-- this was clearly done with one or more long, sharp blades, wielded with brutality and precision both.
As May beholds her catch, the little fishing boat rocks to and fro.
Then very hard to aft, as a harsh wet slap sounds upon the wooden deck.
Behind our heroine, a figure rises from the ocean depths, stark-naked and gleaming with flecks of salt, water rushing from dangerous curves as this bleak, black-haired horror draws a shuddering lungful of oxygen and then releases it in a low purr.
Mileena stretches upward, her arms cutting twin arcs to either side as they rise languidly to clasp above her soaked and stringy hair. This does interesting things to her anatomy. She doesn't seem to care. Once she's done, and still balancing with absolutely no effort upon the rocking boat - no landlubber, she - the otherworldly princess reaches for her mouth with her right hand and extracts the shark's other eye from the tip of a gruesome fang. Her catlike eyes gleam as she regards it.
And then she licks it with apparent relish, and pops it into her gaping maw.
"yYum," she hisses, without any failure to maintain proper manners. Her mouth is not actually *full*.
May has found quite a surprising amount of stuff in her garbage ventures. More often that not they were quite the gruesome sight considering all the refuse that ended up in the murky waters near a city, particularly one as densely populated as Metro City. This pirate was made of some hard stuff she was, for such a young age, May was handling the sight of frightfully disgusting that were Metro City's garbage with nary a face of distaste. Seeing some of these stuff might cause adult men to heave and lose their lunch all over the water, but May was used to rummaging through garbage, she knew that there could always be treasure there after all! Yarr!!
May was expecting many a things, yes. What she was not expecting at all was to suddenly pull a massive severed head of what once was a great white shark. "What the..." The pirate girl had seen such fearsome beasts in her many days at sea. She recognized it instantly. Which was why she was so taken back by it all. What on earth could have ripped this creature's head and leave it in such a sorry state? Nothing short of a shark hunting boat could do this kind of damage to a great white, and sailors seldom threw the heads back to the sea. They weren't that respectful of the creature to give it even a passing proper burial.
The question was left hanging in the air. What did this to a shark?
And just then, someone is rocking May's ship, causing the pirate girl to whirl around to see a sight most surprising.
Even from her depths of her obvious insanity, how is May supposed to react when she sees someone like Mileena? A nude woman has just boarded her vessel, with a mouth covered in razor sharp fangs that put even the head of the shark that she's still holding to shame. A woman who, judging by what she's eating, was the culprit of the shark's untimely beheading.
May just stands there, shark head still on her hands, jaw slacked, brown eyes wide. Any sane person would just jump ship, hope for the best in that maybe they could outswim this nightmarish creature. May seems ready to do just that, she seems about ready to panic, or scream for help, give up her pirate front and admit to the little girl beneath.
That is until her shocked expression turns into that of pure joy. She is positively beaming!
"Ahoy!!" She exclaims happily, waving about the severed shark's head on her hand, far happier than a girl in her current position should ever be. But why exactly? What about Mileena could have her so excited??
"Are you a mermaid!??"
...of course.
On any other day, at any other time, it would be the woman (?) beholding young May who would be startled and dismayed by her transatlantic discovery. There's nothing regular or socially-acceptable about the brightly-clad explosion that is the merry corsair, and too many questions that could be asked of the context she presents. Indeed, once she's done chowing down her morsel with a smacking of lipless maw, Mileena is a little enthralled in her turn - but it's with matching excitement in her own, inhuman eyes. More than one child has discovered a new game, and a new plaything.
The incredibly naked creature bends forward, animal instinct in her curiosities as she leans in for a closer look. Her fingers furl and unfurl like claws, talons rending the frosty salt-wind and lithely-muscular frame swaying in keen counter-rhythm to the boat's uncertain bobbing. It's hard to read her expression plainly, anything from hunger to delight to a manic thoughtfulness enthusing her alien motions.
Mileena's catlike gaze beholds May, lingering everywhere but on her eyes - canting down the length of that tiny body with untold strength, then darting to her lips and her ears, then finally to her wildly anachronistic and well-treasured hat.
Or not quite finally. Once she's considered the question, her stare meets May's, and something like a girlish giggle erupts from the rather dry throat of Shao Kahn's favourite daughter. If a drowned tiger could titter, it would sound exactly like this.
Considering the strange and unexpected query, Mileena extends one hand to May whilst the other busies itself running down her own forequarters, caressing betwixt impressive breasts and coiling untrimmed nails about her tight abdominals.
Is she a mermaid? "HhHmmMmmm...."
Mileena smiles. It's deeply unpleasant. Gore-flecked saliva dribbles down her chin.
"wwWhaT'ss a merrMaId?" She asks, bizarrely-seductive hiss warbling with the uncertainty of one unsuited to phrasing words, yet absolutely rung through with the conviction of one who couldn't care less what another thinks of them. First impressions? Mileena's distantly heard of those, and decided not to care.
She just wants to be educated.
The smile broadens to a grin. Hissing merriment. "Sssomething bigger THan yoou, yEss?"
Apparently she's already learned about sass.
No better education than pirate education, matey!
Which is to say, none.
Although that's not entirely true. A pirate must learn a great deal of navigating, treasure hunting, swashbuckling in their journey to sail the seven seas. But perhaps the most important lesson of them all is how to act like a pirate. Which is a few steps higher than simple sass. It's a literal way of life!
Although May prides herself as a /real salty dog/ as she says it, in terms of actual pirating she's just left port and is still hopelessly naive about the world. Still leagues better than the average land lubber for sure, but she's no great pirate captain just yet, merely an opportunistic sea bandit at best.
This strange mixture of childish wonder and rough neck experience puts May, rather surprisingly, in the perfect position to deal with Mileena. She's experienced enough to realize that this woman is something quite out of the ordinary, but she is much too innocent to realize she is now in incredibly danger.
The pirate's response to Mileena's appraising alien gaze is to stare right back at her in wonder. She's not often seen mature women completely naked before and May's belief that this is in fact a mermaid causes her curiosity to shamelessly check her out back. It is a very strange animalistic kind of greeting, as if the two first need to sniff each other before interacting properly. May's equally curious eyes stare at Mileena's open nakedness with intrigue, furrowing her eyebrows at Mileena's chest and then staring at her own with twisted lips of concern. Ah, her very first chest envy, how precious. It is only fitting that it would happen in front of an extremely dangerous Otherworlder.
But then, Mileena's speaking again, causing May to look up and stare at those fierce yellow eyes and fanged teeth. Far too curious to be remotely afraid.
"Arr! Any sea dog knows that, matey!" She chirps. "A mermaid is a comely maiden with a fish tail instead of legs!" The sass going right over May's head since quite many things are far bigger than her and she has thus grown too accustomed to even recognize pokes at her height.
The bubbly corsair rubs her chin in thought, realize that there's something off about her suspicions that Mileena is a mermaid.
"Wait a tick." Uh oh, maybe she just realized it. "Ye must be one of those reverse mermaids!" What the-- "Aye! Ye have the top half of a shark! I'm certain of it as the sea is wet!" Well..so much for May realizing something was wrong.
She extends the severed shark's head towards her, because she knows a sailor oughta always be polite to a lady boarding her vessel, especially if they happen to be a mermaid, or a reverse one in this case. "Where ye looking for this, me heartie?"
NOT LONG AGO, IN A PUBLIC LIBRARY FAR FROM HERE
Mileena sits cross-legged upon a heap of dismantled bodies, blood-drenched extremities jutting from the piled bulk of thoroughly molested torsos. A few feet away, a clumsy pyramid of heads has been assembled, faces pulled into a variety of fearful and distraught rictuses that do nothing to make this tableau any easier to stomach. Iron hangs thick in the air, but yet more heady is the stink of viscera, a collection of slimy organs tumbling every which way from the princess' gruesome perch.
In her lap, the beast in purple underwear holds crooked a picture book.
It's an animal alphabet, bold letters display on one side and quite delightful, gloriously cartoonish depictions of matching creatures on the right. The writer and artist were clearly creative - 'A' is for Armadillo, 'B' for Baboon, and so forth, until the page that Mileena has open proudly displays 'S' for Shark.
She's absolutely enraptured, spittle dripping from her bared teeth to speckle the exciting image of that great predator and the stylized oceanic backdrop around it. Police sirens approach from afar, noisome din filtering in through the windows, and still Mileena stares until she's had her fill. By the time frantic footsteps approach the door, and the first sound of vomiting greets her ears, the princess is happy.
She beams fangedly across at the mounted head of the short-sighted librarian.
Moments later, she's gone, and the picture book with her.
HERE AND NOW, BESIDE A DIFFERENT ASSORTMENT OF DEAD AND UNWANTED THINGS
The savage assassin beholds the hunk of corpsemeat presented to her, still drinking in the description of this 'mermaid' but absolutely convicted when it comes to May's proferred gift. Catlike eyes are clearer now - she's disdainful, an expression that too often leads to horrible displays of ultra-violent murder. Just ask one of several hundred Earthrealm denizens not fortunate enough to possess the talents of a fighter.
"ThHat's no good tO mee," she purrs with a shake of her head, lank hair slapping against fine cheekbones, just barely avoiding the yellow-slitted orbs above and beyond. She doesn't need to worry about that - when's the last time you saw an animal brush the fur from its eyes? Nature, even supernature, tends to its own. "aAlrEady gOt one..."
Trailing off, she draws her leading claw back to wave with a flicker of fingertips across her unenviable features, a spark of devilish mirth dancing in her alien eyes.
"But yoou," her voice calms somewhat, losing the jagged edge to become almost intimate, a little harsh and a little husky, her hand extending and body swaying to bring her toward May. The boat rocks, forces Mileena to turn that sway into a sidestep before she coils through to once more face the little pirate, but now perilously close.
"You're sSo prEtty..." Mileena's in no rush as she lets her foul breath wash over May, reaching for the girl's face with the rather unlikely assumption that she'll remain put and be womanhandled. In the event that her prey doesn't move, she'll find her cheek and chin cupped in a taloned hand, the other still toying with the Outworld warrior's lower abdomen in a smooth, circular motion. "Bbut SO lLOUD!"
It comes out in a bark, before she adds, more lightly, "iI'd liKe to eeat yOur tOnGue."
The pirate girl seems mildly disappointed that Mileena spurns her gift. Well versed in the ways of sea fairing as she is, May doesn't actually know what to do when face to face with a mermaid. The tales vary greatly, with some saying that they are fiendish creatures that lure sailors to their untimely deaths so they can drown and devour them (and she has no idea how much of that is true right now) while others say they are not unlike nymphs of the sea, coy and shy creatures that only show themselves to the most dashing of sea rogues. To say nothing of know what she's supposed to do with a reverse maid. She's heard some theories of what such a creature could look like, and all thinks considered, May has to admit Mileena doesn't look /that/ bad. If she was told her top half was going to be some kind of fish she too would take the shark option in a heart beat.
Where others would clearly be horrified by Mileena's appearance.. those teeth, those eyes, and of course, all that gore dripping from her monstrous mouth, May is... she's not sure how to describe it. Like that feel she gets when she drank warm cocoa and pretended it was rum. The girl is much too young! But somehow, she has a vague idea of what Mileena intends to do when she grasps her by the chin.
But again, she jumps into yet another erroneous conclusion.
"Ah..." May's face turns deep red when Mileena says that she's pretty and that she wants to eat her tongue. Which surely must be innuendo for something! May's mind is surprisingly dirty for a girl her age, but that comes with leading the life of a pirate. Despite currently blushing, she manages a somewhat girlish giggle and a wide beaming grin. "Arr harr.. well, I can't blame ye for having good taste, me heartie. It's only natural for a comely mermaid like yerself to want to throw herself at the arms of a dashing pirate captain such as I!" Just what kind of stories has May be reading!!? Clearly nothing that she should be reading at her age.
"Alas! Pains me as much it does, I must turn down yer kind offer. Ye see, this sea devil already has a maiden whose chest she seeks to plunder! And she's a stormy mistress indeed. She wouldn't take kindly were I to give me tongue to anyone, even to a vixen such as yerself."
FAR AWAY, IN A TYPE EDITOR'S OFFICE
So much for a paperless office, there's scraps and pages everywhere, half-bound books lying amidst the clutter of pencils and dirty coffee mugs, including the abandoned proof for a rather unusual book supposedly designed for children. It's been published, in fact, but not everything made the cut: there are always changes to be made...
Among them, a very critical one to the page that lies open.
'I' is for Innuendo.
Yeah, no. Kids don't get that.
BACK ABOARD THE J.S.S. LESBOS
At long last, it's Mileena's turn to be caught thoroughly offguard. Thus far, she's had several reactions from the denizens of Earthrealm; mostly, either pathetic mewling or ultimately-ineffectual apoplectic terror. Only the mysterious and furiously-battling manbirdthing known as Nightwolf has mounted a serious challenge to the princess, driving her away with the unspoken promise of an encounter yet to come. She's not so much excited about that as she is determined to have it on her own terms-- he didn't play fair, see, she was busy playing and he blustered in with accusations and reprimands that she can't see as anything but entirely unreasonable.
For daddy's sake, she won't eat his tongue. She'll rip it out and present it upon the steps of Kahn's throne when the time comes to crush this damp and fascinating globe beneath their conjoined iron fist. Even for Mileena, there's a time for playtime to cease and the serious work of domination to begin. Not... right now, though.
Now her lipless mouth seeks to purse in imitation of a gesture she's learned watching other, less-fearsome countenances. Bemusement. Why is the pretty little fly turning red when seized by the spider? Why does she smell like she does?
Outworld's Taskmistress crinkles up her delightfully-formed nose as she sniffs at the air, leaning just a teensy bit closer to get the full scent of the plucky piratess. The fishing boat catches a wave and thrashes to maintain balance, forcing Mileena to do the same, her grip tightening on May in the process. Her head tips too, but with unrestrained curiosity at the spoutings of her tiny, comely prey.
"Y--"
It's a rarely blunt phrasing, that single letter, slavering maw trying to imitate what she's heard without sinking into her own, disruptively-cadented hiss. Like watching a four year old trying to learn Russian, it's as alien as everything else about the Outworlder - her very earthly and very pleasing physicality notwithstanding. The hand upon her abdomen has halted, and rises in rushed languidity to swipe at May's cheeks instead, feeling the warmth beyond the sea's freezing spray.
"Ye," she manages finally, lipless mouth curling and furious yellow eyes wide and oddly imploring as she so-briefly-but-successfully mimicks the girl, "WoUldn't deny a pPrinceSss, sSea dEvIl?" She leans closer yet, exhaling through mouth and nose, the rush of warm, blood-tainted breath thick in the space between them, Mileena feeling May's own groggy heat upon her. It pleases her. She moans, her vastly taller, positively womanly frame quivering with anticipation. It intensifies quickly.
"iI can SmELL your *wiLlengNess*!!"
Suddenly she's a nightmare unleashed, her grip upon May's deceptively-delicate features now ironclad and the inquisitively-caressing other hand just driving with animal fury to wrench the little maid's lips apart and seize for the desired slab of warm, wet flesh. In her own mind she may be playing, but it's a deathblow by any mundane standard; she's looking to rip, grip and tear the object of her attentions free.
Her fangs are bared, her tongue lashing a lascivious crescent, ready to receive her meal.
Yeah, that's probably the book she read.
Ironically enough, where Mileena not a furious blood thirsty cannibalistic monster, May might have very well complied with her offer. Yes, even looking like she does, which some people might describe as the stuff of nightmares. May is a rather odd girl after all! She's more attracted to attitude than actual looks, and to say that Mileena had a very intriguing personality was an understatement.
For a moment, May falters, her loyalty to this proclaimed maiden weakening as she's presented with an offer she cannot possibly refuse. Bright, young eyes widen even more as Mileena pulls her closer, the smell of the sea about her only helping the attraction, even the blood dripping from her mouth is strangely alluring to the tiny buccaneer. When Mileena adopts her very own pirate speech, the girl is positively smitten.
"Well... blow me down.." She whispers warmly, ever so close to the Outworlder's face, their noses almost brushing together. "A princess ye say? Of the whole sea..?" May gulps, swallowing saliva loudly, even without thinking sucking on her lips to wet them. "I would be remiss to refuse..." Sweat begins to pour down her forehead as she is drawn even closer to that maw full of razor sharp teeth, a death trap by any other name, but one that May is actually considering willingly throwing herself in. "Mayhap..my maiden.. would understand.." Because what else is she supposed to say when a mermaid princess asks for a kiss?
Uh.. she is asking for a kiss right?
May is all but ready to close her lips and pucker up when suddenly she's feeling tremendous pain on her chin as Mileena succumbs to her blood thirsty urges. "AAAAAHH!!" The corsair realizes very quickly that it is no kiss the reverse mermaid wants! She wants to literally eat her tongue! That wench!
May's height has some advantages despite leaving her very vulnerable to strikes. It also makes her a small target that is hard to grip. She miraculously manages to slip out of the grab, Mileena's nails tearing through her skin as she careens backwards into the deck of her tiny ship.
Eyes wide with realization as she finally knows in just what kind of danger she's in, fight or flight instincts kick in and she grips her anchor.
"I'm sorry me luv!" Who's May talking to you ask?
Why, she's talking to her ship! Because as soon as she's raising her anchor over her head, she's dropping it hard on the boat's deck to smash the tiny vessel in half.
May doesn't want to find out if she's outmatched or not. She jumps out into the water where a dolphin made out of chi is waiting for her and she starts surfing away from the mad reverse mermaid as fast as she possibly can.
May is full of surprises.
In the first instant, Mileena adopts that familiar look of a feline whose catnip-crammed plaything has suddenly been jerked away on a stick or piece of string - a mixture of astonishment and fierce determination, slitted yellow eyes widening to an alarming extent as she frantically smashes a palm forward, the instinct of an animal overriden by that of a martial artist as she seeks to catch May with a scathing chop to the side of the neck; a blow to hurt and subdue, that she might resume her game...
But the angle's awkward, the insurmountable difference in height between them serving only to unbalance the Outworld princess in perfect time for another ocean-empowered bob of the doomed fishing boat. It's with frightening grace that she recovers, but too late to catch the nippy May; Mileena catches herself in a three-point crouch and then bolts forward, the distance gained providing the bubbly buccaneer with space and time to grab her anchor and act with finality. At the last, the tantalizingly nude assassin sees it coming and giggles uproariously, lips splitting to turn it into a deep-throated, sincere laugh touched by the self-same childlike madness. This is FUN!
It's precisely like this that Mileena goes down with the proverbial ship, head flung back and salivating maw bared in sheer joy of the hunt as timber creaks into protesting splinters, a wave crashing overhead to swallow the boat and Kahn's beloved daughter whole as May makes good on her quick-witted escape. Should she look back, there's not a sign of the statuesque slaughterer amidst the debris that remains atop the dark and clammy depths; though there is, briefly, a telltale gleam from below...
...is she drowning? Is she following beneath the waves?
Questions left unanswered. But that last bray of sinister happiness tells the tale; if Mileena has indeed survived the wreck, she won't be failing to make herself known again. The feisty, unpredictable piratess has piqued her curiosities and titillated her fancies - someday, somewhere, they'll meet again. On stranger tides.
Log created on 19:17:58 01/20/2015 by Mileena, and last modified on 00:14:34 01/21/2015.