Within a jungle, a large battle was going on, something powerful between two mighty warriors.
"Ha!" A warrior shouted, firing off a blast of flames.
A woman fell to the ground, grunting in pain. She wore a glossy robe with a shining headpiece, having blue eyes and no hair.
"It's over Kronika. Your war shall not continue on."
"Fight me further Liu Kang, and your friends shall be lost to time. They have no future without ME to create it!" She said, growling at him.
"The future you desire is not worth living! It will not come to pass!" He shouted.
As the woman, Kronika, stood up, he shouted, firing off a dragon-shaped blast of fire at her.
She stumbled backwards, grunting.
This man was named Liu Kang, a Shaolin warrior from this timeline who had gained the powers of the God of Thunder, or rather, the protector of Earthrealm, a man named Raiden. Gaining these powers, he became the God of Fire. Currently, this battle was against a woman named Kronika, who intends to erase all of the timelines and create an entirely new era, a new timeline.
"You cannot fight back! The New Era is beginning, my age! Without me, no one has a destiny!"
Liu Kang spun, firing off another ball of flames, knocking her against a tree.
"Someone can, and will, replace you!" He shouted, and with that, he barraged her with so many flames, that with his power, she had turned into a statue of red, frozen glass.
Liu Kang looked towards her, walking forward.
First, he broke both of her hands off, then with an angered shout, he spun up, kicking her head right off, her glass head hitting the ground and shattering into many shards.
With a gentle push, he knocked her frozen body over, so it broke apart upon hitting the dirt.
He chuckled a slight bit, but then heard a voice, a familiar one.
"You have done well, Liu Kang. Our work is finished here."
The God of Fire turned, seeing his ally, Raiden, but he was a normal human now, not the God of Thunder.
"Lord Raiden... I..."
"It's merely Raiden now. You're my successor as Earthrealm's new guardian, because you have proven yourself worthy, Lord Liu Kang."
Liu Kang looked out upon the sky, sighing.
"Where do we go from here? Kronika has already reset the timelines... everyone will be disappearing soon."
"The sands of time are yours to shape Lord Liu Kang, you must return the Hourglass of Time to the very dawn of it all, and then, you will sculpt a new history, one that won't end up like this." Raiden said.
"What? The fates of all of the realms... in my hands? I... can't do this on my own!" Liu Kang said.
"That's why, you must choose a partner. Someone you can trust to share all of the oncoming eons with you."
Liu Kang thought a bit, then he smiled.
"Kitana..."
"Hm. You two have always had intertwined destinies. Go find her, before it's too late, and recreate this world. Now, I look forward to meeting you once more, in the next timeline."
Liu Kang smiled at his former master, looking up.
"Then I will not say... goodbye."
He vanished, flying through the sky with fire along his body.
Liu Kang stood at the very edge of time, the Hourglass of Time behind him.
As he looked out upon the void of time itself, a woman came up beside him, wearing a blue ribbon to tie her hair and a royal blue outfit, having two fans on her back.
She grasped his hand as he looked at her with a smile.
"Kitana... are you ready?" He said as the original timeline began to fade.
"Yes. But no matter how we sculpt this new history, we cannot plan for every possibility. Mortals will make their own choices, new evils will arise." Kitana, the woman, spoke.
"Right. Each realm will choose their own destiny. Whatever may come, we shall face what happens, together."
As they embraced, the old timeline was completely erased, and now, it was time for the New Era.
So, within the New Era, the original realms were crafted once more, along with the civilizations living within them. Earthrealm, Outworld, Edenia, Orderrealm, Chaosrealm, Dreamrealm, Heaven, the Netherrealm, and so many more. Though, history began to repeat itself in subtle ways.
At some point, a warrior named The Great Kung Lao had competed in a Shaolin tournament. However, like in the original timeline, a man named Shang Tsung and a four armed creature from Outworld named Goro had appeared. Goro fought in the tournament and killed The Great Kung Lao, and for five hundred years, he reigned the champion.
Shang Tsung had devised a plan, this was to tip the balance of everything, through Mortal Kombat.
However, just like history repeating itself, a fighter arose.
His name, was Kung Lao, a descendant of the great warrior who was killed by Goro so long ago. And his mentor, was the man Raiden, but not the one Liu Kang knew, a regular version of Raiden.
Kung Lao wore a rounded razor-rimmed hat and a traditional warrior monk's garb.
"So, for this tournament, we'll need to board a ship, correct Raiden?" Kung Lao asked, holding a bag over his shoulders.
"Yes. You'll be fighting for Earthrealm, as a member of the White Lotus Society, to protect us." Raiden said, waving towards a harbor.
"Earthrealm, right. So, the other realms, do you think they'll be competing too?"
"It's most likely... but for now, that's all you need to know. You should board the ship now, it'll take you to the island."
"Aren't you gonna fight alongside me?" Kung Lao asked.
"No. I'm simply your teacher. I believe in you Kung Lao, win this, so that we may have peace."
The warrior gave him a thumbs up, boarding the boat with his stuff.
At the same time, others had arrived as well, all familiar faces from the original timeline. However, some people had ceased to exist from that one, such as a man named Kano, but in his place, was the NEW leader of a mercenary group named Black Dragon. His name was Jarek, with him was his second in command, Tremor and a woman named Kira, coming to compete. And then, a movie star named Johnny Cage and a woman who goes by the name of Sonya Blade. There were many more as well, but these were the ones on this boat.