Mortal Kombat 9: Ember Edition

Chapter 6: Welcome to Outworld

"He gained a momentary advantage during our kombat and escaped. I now realize what we must do." Raiden said. Meanwhile Jax was slowly opening his eyes, his hand reaching up to gently rub his head, pain shooting up and giving him dizziness. The major groaned, the first thing he saw when his eyes began to focus was Johnny Cage looking over at him with a frown. Beside the actor was Raiden standing a ways back, his arms crossed in thought. Johnny helped Jax sit up and it was then that the major noticed he was laying on the ground.

"What happened?" he asked, scanning at the area around him. The stone ground was stained with dark red, mutilated bodies were scattered throughout the academy, buildings were destroyed, and smoke floated in the air above them, masking the clear blue of the sky with a gloomy grey. The last thing Jax remembered was getting kicked to the ground by some Tarkatans and one stomped on his face before he blacked out. Before Raiden or Johnny could answer, Jax noticed something was wrong...missing. "Wait. Where's Sonya?"

"Shang Tsung has taken her and Ember." Raiden informed.

"Well we gotta find them!" Jax frowned, pain shooting through his body as he attempted to stand.

Kung Lao, furious at the destruction of his home, shook a fist and agreed, "We must follow them!" he raised his voice, teeth bared. Raiden gestured for the monk to calm down.

"Shang Tsung has made it clear that Earthrealm will be under constant threat unless I agree to a new tournament." A vision of Liu Kang defeating Shao Kahn in a coliseum flashed through the thunder god's mind, making him stagger as the image came and went. "I believe we must attend...I had another vision. I saw Liu Kang win the proposed tournament." he turned to Liu Kang, the victor of Mortal Kombat had said nothing since Jax awoke.

"But my earlier vision of your victory over Shang Tsung was not the solution I sought. Therefore this premonition must show an event I need to change." shutting his eyes for a brief moment, he added "Perhaps 'he must win' refers to another."

Liu Kang was hurt, but nevertheless nodded in understanding. If it was not him, then who is the 'he' Raiden's vision refers to?

"Whoa! Whoa there," Johnny Cage interrupted, waving his hands frantically in front of him to get the others to slow down, "What's this 'proposed tournament'? Like, didn't we just win one?" he asked.

Raiden nodded, "Yes, Johnny Cage, we did. However, last night Shang Tsung arrived and proposed a new tournament. Instead of the ten tournaments like the current system, it would just be one--but if Earthrealm wins this one tournament then Shao Kahn will abandon all attempts to claim Earthrealm."

The thunder god took a step back from his Earthrealm comrades and looked towards the sky, the lightning in his pupil-less eyes sparking brighter, "Hear me, elder gods! I accept the terms proposed by Shao Kahn!" he roared to the heavens. Light flashed over them, signifying the challenge accepted. Once the light dispersed, Raiden looked at each of the Earthrealm kombatants with an expression of determination.

"We go to Outworld." he said.

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"Well this is just great!" Sonya groaned in frustration, looking at the dark room's contents, she tried to move her arms and legs but didn't get much out of it, they were chained to two posts. Her eyes scanned over the piles of boxes and barrels, moving to look at the two entrances into the room she was imprisoned in, one opening on her left and one on her right. The position she was in made her legs tired, as she was standing, and she wiggled her left foot to get some feeling back into it. Sonya was looking for a possible escape, yet her findings didn't prove very useful.

Ember said nothing, eyes focused on a piece of her auburn hair that had fallen right in front of her face, the dark red strand swayed over her nose, distracting her. It was tickling her and she subconsciously tugged against the chains in vain. Then, for the umpteenth time, she tried to melt the chains, but these were specially designed to be fire-resistant...just for her. She exhaled loudly as her shoulders slumped before attempting to blow the hair out of her face, the result was it just would fall back on her nose.