-This is the first chapter in the sequel to Ascension.

-I think it's quite obvious that you should read Ascension first before reading this, otherwise it will not make any sense to you.

-I owe everyone that reviewed or read that story a massive thankyou for taking the time to do so. It meant a lot to me. I hope you will enjoy this story too.

-I may be taking time with these chapters in order to ensure that I do a good job on each of them.

-These next few chapters will be based on post-MK3, MK4, and Deadly Alliance.

-Enjoy!

The sun set in Outworld as a ninja decided to stop on his quest. The ninja had been searching for hours in Outworld for no particular reason. His motives were unclear to all, especially him. Fatigue grew on the ninja, who decided to sit down and admire the sunshine of the Outworld.

The scenery around the male was elegant. There was a lot of foliage nearby that sprouted white, pink-laced frangipanis and emerald green leaves. The grass was as green as the leaves and the lake nearby was a gorgeous shade of blue. It was beautiful to the point that it became distracting to look at.

The ninja sat there for a few moments, taking in his surroundings. He found himself quite relaxed by the gentle tone of the colours, the middle-toned shades appealed to him. The ninja suddenly felt sick for a moment.

His head started violently throbbing as his body started to contort in pain. The ninja curled up in a foetal position as his body erupted in anarchy. It was as though everything that composed him was exploding, and the nerves were sending sharp pains throughout his body.

The pain continued on for quite some time, until it finally subsided. The ninja sat up as though he was possessed by some kind of supernatural force. Having had enough rest, he decided to continue on his quest once more. His motives remembered, the ninja travelled on into Edenia.

As he was on his way to the freshly-separated realm of Edenia, the ninja came across an impressive young warrior. The man wore a red sash over his eyes, grey armour with red accents, and had a sword attached to his back. The man seemed to be meditating, as he had his legs crossed and his body completely still.

The ninja saw great potential in the man, and immediately decided to do something about it. He could recruit the man, even. Deciding to put his quest on hold, the ninja watched patiently as the blind man continued his meditation.

The blind man seemed to have sensed that somebody was watching him. Startled, the sword-wielder unsheathed his sword and held it offensively. Though he was blind, his sword was controlled with the souls of his fallen kin, which guided him.

"Who are you…" the blind man hissed.

"We are Ermac. We have been watching you train and meditate. We can not help but notice that you have great potential and skill. Would you care to let us take you in?"

The blind man thought for a moment, as if he was being asked a serious question. Looking up at the red ninja, he nodded. "Yes, Ermac. My name is Kenshi. I hope that my defects won't hinder our training."

Ermac suddenly realised that Kenshi was blind. He felt stupid for not noticing it before. It would not be a problem. Ermac had seen Kenshi fight before and come out on top, so he knew that Kenshi was a good fighter nonetheless, and so therefor, training would be easy.

"It will not affect us in any way. We have seen you fight before, Kenshi. You impress us with your abilities."

There was a long pause before either man spoke. "We need you to accompany us on our quest. We must go to Edenia. We need to speak with someone that is important to us."

Kenshi nodded. "It would be an honour to go with you. When does training start, Ermac?'

The soul-construct thought for a moment. "Training will start tomorrow. Before 5:00 AM. It is important to train early, so that you can give your body a good start to the day."

The blind warrior nodded. Though he was disappointed that he would have to get back into the routine of waking up early tomorrow, he was happy that he was going to be trained by a great warrior. Kenshi also saw potential in Ermac.

"We need to go to Edenia. We may lose the chance to speak with the Queen," Ermac reminded. Pulling Kenshi close, the soul-construct muttered a mystical incantation and they soon found themselves in Edenia.

Both men were in awe over the beauty of the realm they were in. Edenia had not been this way since the events of the Outworld invasion, before Sindel's death. Ermac immediately started searching for the Palace, while Kenshi decided to explore. He remained close to the Palace, though, so that Ermac wouldn't be searching for him.

Upon entering the palace, Ermac was intrigued by it's new looks. It looked similar to the fortress of Shao Kahn, except the Palace was more elegant and didn't have gruesome statues or objects. The ninja continued walking until he was in the Throneroom, standing before the Queen and the Princess, Kitana.

"Queen Sindel," the ninja began. "We have something important that we would like to share with you."

The white-haired woman furrowed her brow. This would be the first time she had spoken to Ermac before. What could he possibly be needing to tell her?

"Continue," her deep voice spoke.

"Our creation is solely composed of the souls of the Edenian warriors that died at the hands of Shao Kahn and his warriors. For the past few days, they have been fighting for dominance since Shao Kahn's demise."

The Queen hadn't a clue why he needed to tell her this. "And? Your problems mean nothing to me."

Ermac chuckled. "Is that so?" The ninja then took on the form of…King Jerrod. Sindel's husband and Kitana's father.

"What?!" The Queen barked. "Jerrod?!"

"Father…" Kitana gasped. "But how?"

The late Edenian King cleared his throat. "Shao Kahn used my soul to create Ermac. The souls that composed him fought for dominance after the Emperor's death. My soul came out on top and we have been the soul controlling Ermac. That is why I am here."

Sindel fought to keep her emotions under check. "Ermac…this means you will be King!"

The soul-construct shook his head. "No. With sorcery, we can extract the souls of every warrior that composes me and bring them back to life."

Kitana frowned. "But then, you will die. How is that going to help any of us?"

Ermac shook his head once again. "No. We also have our own soul. When the extraction process is complete, we must have our soul put in a body. We will live if that is the case."

Kitana looked at her mother, who nodded. "Very well, Ermac. For now, you will rule as King until we can find someone to perform the extraction process. But you must be Jerrod at all times, as the Edenian residents will grow suspicious."

His appearance now that of King Jerrod, Ermac nodded. "May my pupil be granted residency here? I agreed to train him whilst on my quest to Edenia."

"That is not a problem," Sindel said. "What is his name? Who is he?"

"His name is Kenshi. He is a blind, Earthrealm warrior who has telekinetic abilities. Great potential was seen in him, so I decided to take him in."

"Is he with you at this moment?"

"Yes, My Queen. He is waiting outside. I instructed him to wait there for the time being. May I fetch him?"

"Of course," Sindel smiled. "I would like to see what he looks like."

Ermac, who was still in the form of the Edenian King, left the Palace to find Kenshi. The latter was outside, meditating, in the same position Ermac had seen him in before. The sword wielder had sensed that someone was watching him, and broke out of his meditating stance.

"Who are you? You're not Ermac."

"I am, Kenshi. One of the very souls that compose him is that of the late Edenian King, King Jerrod. Queen Sindel would like to see you."

The blind warrior nodded and then followed his ally into the palace.

"You must be Kenshi," Sindel began. "Jerrod, or, Ermac, as you may know him, has requested that you can stay here."

The man nodded. "I hope that is not of hindrance to you or the fellow Edenians, Queen Sindel."

The woman laughed. "It is not a problem at all, Kenshi. Ermac tells us you are his pupil. You seem like a good person, anyway."

Kitana, who's mind was on that of her fiancée, Scorpion, suddenly snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh, where are my manners!" She began. "My name is Kitana. I am the Princess of Edenia, but you do not need to address me with any formalities. It is a pleasure to meet you, Kenshi."

The warrior bowed. "Indeed, Kitana."

Outworld

Tanya had left the Netherrealm on her own to conduct further research on the ancient Dragon King scriptures. She already knew that he had an undefeatable army that could be revived by transferring the soul of a warrior into the mummified corpses of the Dragon King's army.

But that knowledge would not be enough. She needed to know more. More about how she could control them, and where the corpses were based.

Heading to an ancient library in the heart of Outworld, Tanya walked into the History section of the library. She scanned the books on the shelves carefully so that she would not miss any books on the Dragon King.

Slowly, but surely, she found it. The book was called "The Prophecy of the Dragon King."

The book had an intriguing cover. It was a scary one at that. It contained the odd-looking scriptures about the Dragon King, as well as a picture of the warrior himself. This book must be pretty old, Tanya thought. This made her question whether or not it would be useful in finding out what information she'd need to know.

Regardless, she sat down and began reading the book.

The Return of the Dragon King

The Dragon King's body and the remains of his warriors are based in his incubation chamber, which is based in the deepest part of the underground caves in Outworld. Someone that is similar to the Dragon King in any particular way must travel there. Immediately upon their arrival, they will find themselves a vessel to Him, and the Dragon King will live through that person.

It immediately clicked to Tanya that they would need to use somebody like Reptile as a vessel for the Dragon King's resurrection. Too easy, she thought. Bringing the book with her, Tanya teleported back to the Netherrealm to inform Reiko of the information she had found about the prophecy of the Dragon King.

Together, they would be unstoppable with their undefeatable army….

-Ermac is the new king of Edenia (for now).

-As you can probably tell, I based the introduction on his Mk9 ending.

-There will be more characters defecting in this story, seeing that Shao Kahn is still dead.

-I plan to add lots of twists and turns for the Earthrealm warriors as the conflict nears.

-The soul extraction will take place within the next few chapters (if not, then in the middle of the story).

-I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of The Aftermath.

-I think it's obvious who Tanya wants to use as a vessel for the Dragon King's resurrection.

-I will be further elaborating on that character and will be bringing in a character of his likeness.

-This story will probably be a longer one than Ascension, so I once again ask for your patience with the updates.

-Thankyou for reading!