Mortal Kombat 9: Ember Edition

Chapter 5: Kidnapped

Raiden teleported the Earthrealmers Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Sonya, Jax, Johnny Cage, and Ember to the Wu Shi Academy as they wanted to get as far away from Shang Tsung's island as quickly as possible. Upon reaching the Earthrealm academy they were sent to rest for the night, the girls sharing one room and the boys in others. Early the next morning, Raiden had asked for everyone to be present on the lei tai center platform immediately.

On the door of the room Sonya and Ember shared, a monk knocked loud enough to wake the dead; Ember, her head stuffed face-first into the depths of her pillow, groaned, not wanting to get up. They hadn't reached the academy until late at night, maybe so late at night that it was the next day. Ember wasn't sure, she didn't have a watch on her. Sonya slid on her long black boots and walked over to Ember's bedside, gently but at the same time firmly shaking the girl, "On your feet, Ember, Raiden's waiting for us." she said. Ember groaned again, reluctantly lifting her bed head out of the pillow. Sunlight from the open window struck at her eyes, making her hiss and shut them again. It seemed like an eternity before Ember actually got out of bed, according to Sonya anyway. "Your clothes are on the bed, sleepy head, hurry up and meet me outside."

Although she moved with the enthusiasm of a zombie, somehow she managed to shower and dress before Sonya's patience wore out. "Are you awake now? Sleeping for a day isn't your usual schedule, is it?" the general joked as they walked through the Wu Shi Academy, being one of the last ones to arrive at the lei tai platform.

"No," Ember sighed, straightening her bomber jacket, "It's probably that I'm not used to traveling to different worlds yet..." she finished with her sarcasm, Sonya smirked.

"One hell of a jet lag, huh?" the girl laughed. The two women found their way to the platform where dozens of monks, now unmasked, were sitting on the ground, patiently waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Once everyone was seated and the ceremony started, Liu Kang walked between the two columns of sitting monks, enjoying the proud looks and smiles that were on their faces. He approached Raiden and stopped, bowing, and looked to his right where a monk presented him with a golden medallion that had a dragon engraved. Raiden removed the medallion, holding the award by its red strap and placed it over Liu Kang's head where it fell around his neck.

Everyone began clapping, very happy for Liu Kang, especially Kung Lao. The monk with the razor-sharp hat could barely keep himself from standing he was so happy. Liu Kang turned and beamed at the great honor he had been bestowed.

Ember clapped and was genuinely happy that Liu Kang had won the tournament, protecting Earthrealm, but things had just happened so fast for her that she couldn't really get her heart into it. While this was the most exciting thing that had occurred in her short life, traveling to another realm and watching a tournament that her world's fate literally depended on hadn't been on her bucket list.

While the awarding ceremony had ended, festivities had continued all day, quieting down only by the time the sun had disappeared and the stars came out. The monks had gone to clean up. Sonya went exploring around the academy with Johnny persisting on going with her, hitting on her the whole time. Raiden had gone with Jax to stand out on the balcony of one of the buildings and gaze at the tranquility the academy gave off. Liu Kang and Kung Lao had gone off to spar. This left Ember by herself to go on her own exploration.

She placed her hands in her pockets and walked throughout the grounds, taking in the magnificent statues and the amazing architecture as she kept on the grey stone pathway. During her self tour, she rarely ran into the monks or anybody for that matter; this feeling of being alone in an unfamiliar area gave Ember temptation to barge into random buildings of her choosing and go through things she had no business going through...she resisted though, preferring not to get in trouble so soon.