Disclaimer: We do not own Mortal Kombat! But let me warn you, if the characters are out of character, or you don't like how we've written it, that's your problem. That's why it's called FANFICTION, because we can do what we want with the characters in these stories, (though we don't own them...). WE WORSHIP ED BOON!

Also, some credit goes to Yugi-Redwall-fan, she helped me write this story!

The Demon Within

Chapter 1

A large shadowy figure weaved in and out through the forest. The The destination of the beast was unknown to even itself. What it did know was, it needed blood. Fresh blood.

Something moved out of the corner of its eye. The scent of filthy flesh, dried blood, and fear lingered in the air. The lost and defenseless human would soon become its next victim.

The demon's claws extended, wings flapped quietly in anticipation, and the monster growled, relishing the scent of fear.

The victim stopped abruptly, an unusual wind had picked up as a creature growled. Behind the wandering man, a twig snapped. He was being followed.

"W-who's there?" The man cried out timidly, looking from left to right in search of someone.

A distorted voice called out viciously, "your predator!" It chuckled deeply and menacingly.

The man fell backwards, startled and afraid. A bulking figure stepped out from the shadows and into the moonlight. Flaming eyes glanced at the full moon for a second, then at the trembling human.

The demon was about eight feet tall and was covered in black and yellow fur. Black dragon wings protruded from the demon's back and long claws extended from fleshy fingers. The body looked similar to that of a human's despite the fur. But the head was a different story. It was literally a human skull. Where the eyes should've been, a fire burned brightly. Long saber like fangs protruded from its mough.

The claws on its left hand impaled the victim's right shoulder. The demon seemed to smirk briefly as it watched fresh human blood gush out from the wound. Poison was injected from the claws and into the humans blood stream. The man began to twitch, then started to go into convulsions.

The man's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he screamed and writhered in agony. Right before the body went limp, fangs dug into the human's left shoulder, allowing blood to seep as the demon lapped some of it up. Just as the man went limp, the demon finished it's meal and ripped out the man's left leg as a trophy.

Holding the limb in his mouth, the demon took to the air, and flew off throughout the night.

Raiden and a group of Earthrealm's warriors wandered the woods the next morning, in search of men strong enough to compete in the next Mortal Kombat.

Sensing death and chaos, Raiden sped up and away from the rest. A mutilated body lay in the pathway, the whites of the dead man's eyes showing and a leg missing from the body.

One man called out, "Lord Raiden, what have you found?"

"A body!" A woman exclaimed, slightly shocked.

Raiden studied the body for a few moments, then muttered to himself."He has returned."

Liu Kang easily evaded Johny Cage's attacks as they practiced before the big tournament. Spotting Kitana out of the corner of his eye, he quickly ducked under an oncoming punch and took advantage of Johny's shock. A well trained hand was placed at Johny's throat in the 'kill' position.

"Kitana!" He bounded over to his girlfriend. "What are you doing here?"

"I told a friend I'd meet them. I'm on my way now. I see you're training." She smiled, tempted to take up his hand in her own. As the princess of Edenia, she knew she shouldn't have fallen in love with someone from Earthrealm, so she resisted showing her affection towards him in public as much as possible.

"Johny's the one who's training. There's no challenge in fighting him." Liu Kang replied.

" You're quite cocky for someone who just got a black eye." Johny commented, glaring slightly. He knew that Liu meant nothing by it; he was simply trying to impress his girlfriend.

Kitana smiled at the blond before continuing her walk. Before she could get too far from the warriors, Liu caught up with her and walked alongside her.

" Mind if I join you on your visit?" He asked, taking hold of her hand.

Kitana kept a straight face as she walked. " I suppose not." She could almost feel the warm smile she recieved penatrating her skin.

Soon they arrived at a beautifully built blue wooden house. A tall, slim girl with ebony hair stepped out and greeted Kitana happily

" Who's your friend?" She asked, smiling coyly at Liu Kang.

" Jade, this is my boyfriend, Liu Kang. Liu, my friend Jade." She introduced the two.

" He's a cute catch." She said, earning a nod in reply from Kitana. " You can both come inside." She turned for the door and led the couple inside.

" You said you were having some sort of problem...?" Kitana waited for an explanation.

" Some bastart tried to kill me. Keeps coming in the house... I think it's some ninja, but you can never be sure these days." Jade explained.

" Yes, with all the imposters these days, you can never be too sure." Liu Kang replied aimably.

" Well what matters is, you're safe. So, what should we do?"

After an hour of sparring with weaponary, (Jade wanted to find the perfect fighting blade to keep with her, just in case), the two left, Liu Kang waving happily and Kitana looking more than annoyed.

" She was nice." Liu Kang said, trying to strike up a conversation.

" A little too friendly." Kitana grumbled. " You were more talkative than usual."

" Was I really?" As Liu said this, Kitana silently fumed. It was going to be a long day.

Inside a small dojo, Scorpion hid behind the weapon rack and watched Subzero and Frost spar. There were other pairs practicing for the next Mortal Kombat, but Scorpion paid no mind to them.

Before Scorpion could even think of his next move, the pair bowed to eachother and made their way out of the dojo.

Scorpion was beyond pissed. Another missed chance at killing his rival. Why couldn't he make his move sooner!

Crawling out from behind the rack, he took his anger out on a dummy, punching a hole through it.

The dojo's doors swung open a slender woman with her hair braided back came in, looking peeved.

" I heard you were here with Jade from Johny. It appears that he was right." She said, crossing her arms.

" Kitana! Please try to understand-" The girl, Jade quickly cut him off.

" Liu and I are a couple." She said, hooking onto Lui's arm.

" Liu?" Kitana asked for confirmation, raising a wary eyebrow.

" We were just... yesterday... and one thing led to another..." He tried to explain nervously.

" Shut up." Kitana snapped. She would've cried right there in the middle of the dojo, if she hadn't had years of practice of hiding emotions. " I'm glad you came out and told me before I had a chance to explain. You see, I've also found someone else." Kitana lied fluently and with a straight face.

" Oh really?" Jade snarled.

" Yes, in fact, he said he'd be here today..." she looked around quickly. Need an arm, she thought. Who's arm? That's a nice arm!

She latched herself onto a strong looking arm. " Here he is. Hi honey!" She looked up into angry and somewhat confused eyes.

" Scorpion...?" Liu Kang trailed off, not believing a word she said.

" Off. Before I remove you myself." Scorpion growled in warning.

Kitana quickly let go and smiled at him. " Sorry. I forgot about how much you hate being touched in public."

The dojo doors swung open once again. A tall begger came in and strolled towards Scorpion.

" Can this day get any worse?" Scorpion growled as Raiden stopped in front of him.