"Sit."
Kitana complied, and kept her gaze firmly upon her hands, which she was in the process of wringing over her lap.
"Kitana," came the rumbling voice of her adoptive father, Shao Kahn. He sat hunched on a raised platform. After uttering her name, he paused, collecting his thoughts. "Kitana, do you know why I have brought you here, to my court?"
The princess did not answer.
"Kitana, you heard me speak. I am your father and your emperor, now acknowledge me."
Kitana's eyes narrowed as she finally looked up.
"Daughter, I summoned you here because I am worried that you have fallen under the influence of a… dangerousindividual," Shao Kahn said. He kept his tone measured and, by his standards, unthreatening. "Rumors have abounded for months now about the identity of a dangerous insurgent. It seems that you have become aware of those rumors, and have investigated them on your own accord. Am I correct?"
"You are correct," Kitana responded.
"I am correct, what?"
Kitana sighed. "You are correct, Father."
"Were you alone when you made this investigation, Kitana?"
"Yes."
"Your handmaiden Jade was not with you? Nor was your bodyguard, Baraka?"
"No. I was alone when…" She paused, and looked down again.
"When what, daughter?" Shao Kahn's tone began to show his frustration.
"When I went to-" She stopped again, choking on the next part of the sentence. Standing behind her, Jade, her oldest friend, cringed. After a moment, Kitana took a deep breath, looked up at Shao Kahn, and glared. "When I went to meet with my mother."
Sindel walked through the Living Forest, as she had so many times in her youth. The enchanted trees, each one with a face like a man, still stood, and their eyes followed her as they always had. But their expressions had changed. She recalled a time when those faces were young, and full of wonder. Now, after centuries of decay and abuse, they were old and haggard, more like human faces than ever. Instead of whistling and whispering as they once did, they moaned, and instead of moving their branches to provide shade to the young Edenians who would travel through the forest, they reached desperately to slow the way of anyone who might prove to be a threat.
But to her, they stayed in place. This was the image of a woman who had disappeared for many years, and her return seemed to those trees, in whatever capacity they could actually think and perceive meaningful events, to be hopeful.
After a few minutes, Sindel found a place to rest. She sat at the edge of one of the enchanted trees, resting her head against its bark. She had barely closed her eyes when the first peel of thunder cracked above her. A bolt of lightning followed, snaking its way all the way to the ground, dodging the leaves and branches of the Living Forest's canopy.
"Always making an entrance, Thunder God," she smirked.
On the spot where the bolt of lightning charred the ground, a ball of energy appeared, then formed into the outline of a man, and finally, into the preferred human form of Raiden, known in another realm as God of Thunder, and more importantly, Protector.
"Is the subterfuge necessary?" Raiden asked. "I can't stay long."
"Thunder God, there are so few places we can meet safely in Outworld," Sindel said, not bother to stand. "And I can't exactly jump around between realms like you can."
"If we don't make a move soon," Raiden said, "there won't be separate realms to jump between. Now, what news do you have?"
"I've met her. I've met my daughter, and I can tell you without a shadow of doubt that she recognizes that I am who I say I am," Sindel said. As she began to speak, she raised from the ground, not standing, but rather levitating. Her brief moment of tranquility was over. "Raiden, I have followed your plan without question, but there can be no uncertainty at this point. Can my daughter be rescued from Shao Kahn?"
"I've seen Kitana in action. She doesn't need physical rescuing," Raiden smirked. "Maybe emotional, but if you've gotten to talk to her, I think she'll be okay."
"Don't joke, Raiden," Sindel said, finally lowering her feet to the ground. She approached the God of Thunder. Physically, he dwarfed her, but she conveyed as much power as even he did. "Kitana was raised to be a great warrior, but if she simply runs, Shao Kahn will send his forces after her, and no matter what kind of fight she puts up, she will fall. Thunder God, it is time."
Raiden thought for a moment, and nodded.
"If we initiate our plans now," he said, "it means I won't be able to cross the realms again for some time. You'll have the assistance of the best warriors of Earthrealm, but to compensate, I will have to remain there, keeping the dimensional borders strong."
"I understand, Thunder God." Sindel rose again. A smile crept across her face. "I have waited for this for ages, you know? And I have made plans. Send whatever sort of assistance you can, and I will take it from there."
"Very well," Raiden answered. "Try to take care of them, Sindel. The actor is a little insufferable, but for the most part, they are… decent people."
"I will, Thunder God," Sindel said. She returned to the ground again, and turned to leave. "Good luck, Raiden. I have work to do."
The God of Thunder watched Sindel, the powerful sorceress and former Queen of Edenia, walk away, enjoying the sight thoroughly. He muttered to himself that that was one advantage Outworld held over his ream, and vanished in another peel of thunder.
"Mmm?" Johnny Cage stirred, as he lifted himself from the ground. "The hell? Is this sand? Am I-" He looked around. "I'm in a damn desert. Of course I am."
Somewhere in the vast expanse of dunes that Cage had awoken in, there was a rumbling sound. He reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. The sun was blinding in this desert which he had appeared in, hopefully by accident. One moment Raiden was telling the crew that some great mission was about to begin, then they were jumping into a portal, then…
Oh shit, where were the others?
"Sonya?" He called. There was no response, but the rumbling was getting louder. "Hey! Sonya, can you hear me? Baby?"
There was still no verbal answer. If he took off the shades and squinted, Cage could see a cloud of dust being kicked up in the distance, where the rumbling came from. Something was approaching him fast, though was still a good distance away. He had no idea where he'd landed, but he was at least sure it was somewhere in Outworld, and that generally meant the locals were unfriendly. Extremely unfriendly. Rip limb-from-limb unfriendly. He became increasingly worried about the rest of the Earthrealm forces. This was definitely not a base above Kuatan, so it was safe to assume the portal had completely screwed up.
"Guuuys? Liu? Nightwolf?"
The air was starting to get congested with dust. Whoever was approaching was moving faster than he'd expected.
"Whoever you are, I'm not looking for trouble!" Cage called. "Well, technically I am, but I don't know if it's with you or not!"
And with that, the approaching party was surrounding him. Cage could begin to make out the silhouettes of four figures.
"Earthrealm invader!" one of them bellowed
"That's less of a name, more of an informal title," Cage replied. The dust was clearing quickly, and the four figures appeared more clearly. They were a quartet of centaurs. The one who spoke to him was familiar.
"I am-"
"Motaro, yeah dude, we've met."
The centaur general scowled.
"Johnny Cage. What exactly are you doing here?" Motaro asked, stepping ahead of the other centaurs.
"Been out partying too much lately," Cage said, slowly backing away. "Woke up naked in a second-grade classroom last week, so before the tabloids got word of it, I figured I'd tell everyone I needed to go to a clinic for exhaustion, and-"
"Shut up and get on your knees, human!" Motaro roared.
"You aren't scary and your breath is awful."
"Enough," Motaro growled. "Restrain him. Leave him alive for further interrogation, but soften him up a bit."
Two of the other centaurs advanced. Cage stepped back again, and clenched his right hand into a fist. When one of the two began to charge, he pulled his fist up quickly, and a ball of green energy flew out, striking the centaur in the face. When it was distracted, he turned and ran. Two of other centaurs followed. One quickly overtook him, and grabbed him by the shoulders. Cage wriggled an arm free and punched the centaur in the neck, causing it to drop him. He raised his right fist again, this time letting it carry him into the air, a green trail following his body as his uppercut connected with the creature's chin, sending it staggering.
When Cage landed, Motaro's other two minions were upon him. One reared up on its hind legs, and brought its hooves down on Cage's chest. He fell down, moaning in pain. Motaro joined his soldiers as they surrounded him.
"You are a nuisance," Motaro growled.
"And you have halitosis," Cage managed to squeak out. He was certain that the centaur's kick had broken a few ribs. While he tried to eke out another quip, certain that he was about to get pummeled into submission anyway, there was a flash of light. Motaro shouted, and clutched the back of his head. A wall of sand raised behind them, and then over them. Cage coughed, and felt something lifting him up and speeding him away.