Disclaimer: Mortal Kombat belongs to Midway, NRS and WB. Mortal Kombat: Conquest belongs to Threshold Entertainment.

Chapter 2

Many Machinations

Failure was something Shao Kahn despised, but experienced far more regularly than he would have liked. His plans to dispose of his foes had succeeded ... All but one, that is. Vorpax and the Raptor leader were dead, and their armies were on the brink of defeat. The beautiful Omegis chose death instead of servitude to Shao Kahn. The necromancer Quan Chi was powerless, imprisoned in the Cobalt Mines with no means of escape. Shao Kahn's stepdaughter was being taken care of by Shadow Priests who were trying to make her more loyal, with limited success.

Raiden's successful diversion had saved his own skin, as well as the life of Earthrealm's champion. The only saving grace of that particular battle was that Shao Kahn had not been truly defeated.

A Shadow Priest had arrived from a group that Reiko had sent to the erstwhile realm of Edenia. He shuddered visibly when he surmised the fate of a guard who had been summoned previously. A novice. At least some magic users fear my wrath.

"Report," Shao Kahn barked to the young Priest, who knelt upon the floor of his blood-stained throne room.

"My Emperor." The Priest's head was bowed in supplication. "We ... we could not resurrect Queen Sindel. Her protections were too –"

"I do not wish to hear excuses." Shao Kahn now walked towards the novice, towering over the latter. Earthrealm would not be his anytime soon, and most of the Shadow Priests were too valuable to be executed. The same reason kept Reiko and Rain alive for all these years.

This messenger, however, would not be so fortunate. The Priest uselessly tried to block Shao Kahn's hammer as it crashed upon his head and ended his life.

The guards stationed outside his throne room arrived to dispose of the body. In a case of perfect timing, another pair of guards arrived, escorting a far older and more competent sorcerer. The older sorcerer saw the Priest's mangled body and seemed to be resigned to his fate as he knelt near Shao Kahn. Dismissing all guards from his throne room, he addressed the sorcerer.

"Rise, Shang Tsung."

To Shao Kahn's immense satisfaction, the vain sorcerer looked older than ever. Despite his treacherous ways, he was still alive and able to walk only because competent sorcerers were hard to come by. Normally, Shang Tsung would have tried to be sycophantic, but today, even he feared Shao Kahn's wrath.

"You will not participate in the next Mortal Kombat tournament," Shao Kahn began without preamble. "You will choose a capable warrior to fight in your stead. If your warrior wins, I will consider restoring your kombat strength."

"That is a magnanimous offer." Shang Tsung's voice was raspy and true to his age.

"Save your sycophancy for later, Shang Tsung. I have not forgotten your brazen antics at the last tournament. I did not summon you here to discuss your talents in the martial arts."

Seeing Shang Tsung fighting in the guise of the emperor would have been entertaining had he won, but thanks to his loss, he had made Shao Kahn look weak. I will not tolerate such humiliation, Kahn fumed inwardly.

"Princess Kitana is an excellent fighter," Shao Kahn continued, "but she is neither loyal enough nor ferocious enough to be a true heir. A clone of hers, combined with Tarkatan blood, would be perfect."

Shang Tsung was silent for a few moments. "With all due respect, Emperor," he began, "it is impossible."

"Nothing is impossible with sorcery," said Shao Kahn. "I believe you would welcome the intellectual challenge. You will have the most capable Shadow Priests at your disposal."

Recognising the dismissal, Shang Tsung bowed and left for his quarters.

Lightning and thunder were constant presences around the Sky Temple, a natural extension of the deity who sat cross-legged in mid-air. He appeared to be in deep meditation in the middle of the Temple's open-air arena, his silver hair and long cape billowing in the ever-present wind.

Raiden's current state of mind, however, was anything but serene. It had been a week since his fight with Shao Kahn in Outworld, which would not have taken place if Raiden had not slackened in his vigilance at a most disastrous time. Earthrealm may not have fallen, but Shao Kahn had been successful in eliminating or subduing most of his enemies.

Raiden ceased his attempt at meditation, and stood upon the yin-yang symbol which was engraved into the courtyard. He had expected to be summoned by the Elder Gods immediately after he had resolved the situation in Earthrealm, but they had not done so yet. Of course, it was only a matter of time.

As if they knew his thoughts, Raiden felt the mental summons of his superiors. Were his days as Earthrealm's protector numbered? Nonetheless, he exited his home in a flash of lightning.

He materialised in the Heavens, in a simple open-air shrine of the Elder Gods. Six transparent avatars of the Gods surrounded Raiden, their expressions stoic and unreadable.

"Armageddon can come in many ways: through the merger of all realms or through the mere existence of too many Chosen mortals. Should Armageddon occur, the realms and all beings within will cease to exist with the return of the One Being. Only the Gods remain outside the One Being's relentless manipulation."

Every god knew this from the beginning of their existence, so surely the Elder Gods had not summoned Raiden to tell him the old story. The Edenian God, Argus, had been tasked to avert Armageddon; however, Raiden was not privy to the details of Argus's plan.

"We fear Argus's plan to prevent Armageddon may fail due to Edenia's current state," the Elder Gods spoke in unison, their proclamation doing nothing to improve Raiden's disquiet. "Should his plan fail, you must avert Armageddon. You must save all reality."

Before Raiden could even respond to their order, the avatars of the Gods had faded away. Instead of reprimanding him for his most recent failure, they had placed an infinitely greater burden upon him, one which he could not possibly refuse. But how would he stop Armageddon? He may have been a god, but he was certainly not omnipotent.

Just as Raiden had decided to leave the shrine, a thick beam of golden light hit the temple floor less than a foot away from him. He saw a small object suspended within the light, which became clearer as the light faded away.

An amulet was floating in mid-air. Raiden took it in his hand for a closer look, instinctively knowing that it was sent by the Elder Gods.

In one moment, the serenity of the realms was shattered, their borders fading away into nothingness. A pair of gigantic, blazing red eyes began to shimmer into existence in a gaping void. The eyes of the One Being gazed into Raiden's very soul, seeking the entirety of his godly essence.

Just as the One Being's reawakening had begun, a hypnotising chant was heard in the air; one last effort of the Elder Gods to restore the realms. The spell burned itself into Raiden's memory, and as it ended, the merger of the realms was undone. The One Being's eyes vanished from existence, forced into its eternal slumber once more.

As the vision ended and the Heavens came into Raiden's view again, the Thunder God became aware of being on his knees, the talisman clutched tightly in his right hand. Rising to his feet, he proceeded to examine what was now his amulet more closely.

The circular talisman did not weigh much and fit comfortably in the palm of his hand. Its most prominent feature was the sigil of the Elder Gods engraved into a large, flat sapphire gem. Raiden knew, as if by intuition, that he could use it only when Armageddon was imminent and not otherwise. For the amulet's very existence was contrary to the Elder Gods' decree of not changing the flow of time.

A month. That is how long I have been rotting in these Mines.

Quan Chi was not a man prone to impatience, but being imprisoned for long was bound to infuriate even an immortal such as himself. It was not the heat of the surrounding cave that bothered him – the Netherrealm was his home, after all, and he was accustomed to being bare-chested there, as he was now – it was the accursed cobalt, which left him powerless magically. His rival Shang Tsung certainly had a king's life during his stay here; his sorcery had been intact, and he had his own woman to boot. But now, they were both prisoners, with only Quan Chi being literally incarcerated.

Yet, the former Oni did not lead a common prisoner's life in the Cobalt Mines. He had managed to kill one of the Shadow Priests who had ambushed him to transport him here, and the word had spread fast. The populace here was rightly wary of sorcerers, save a foolhardy weakling or two who had sought to challenge him. They had paid for their stupidity with their lives.

Shao Kahn's spies were not as ubiquitous in this place as they were before, which had made Quan Chi's latest possession easy to acquire. A short knife would have been laughable if he was in the Netherrealm, but here, the smallest of advantages was important. He observed the runes on its handle, trying but failing to decipher them. He deemed them insignificant.

I will be free from this place soon, with or without magic.

No sooner had he strengthened his resolve than he felt a characteristic heaviness in the air around him. Sorcery? Here?

He turned towards the focal point of the power, dagger in hand, just as the familiar form of his master came into view.

"Lord Shinnok." Quan Chi fell to one knee, in deference to the avatar of the fallen Elder God. Many millennia ago, I was his rescuer, now I am the one being freed. How ironic.

"Rise, Quan Chi." Shinnok's voice was distant. His disembodied head, larger than life, was obscured by a glowing purple haze, which was constantly shifting, distorting the appearance of the avatar itself. It was the first time since his fall from grace that Shinnok was able to have any effect outside the Netherrealm.

"Lord Shinnok, I presume your appearance here is unknown to the Elder Gods?" Quan Chi inquired, as he got to his feet.

"You presume correctly," Shinnok replied. "Time is of the essence; I cannot maintain this avatar for long within these Mines." The image fell silent. A moment later, the former god's avatar seemed to retreat back to the Netherrealm, leaving a portal just behind the space it was hovering in. Quan Chi did not think twice before entering into the portal, eager to leave the forsaken prison and the realm of Outworld behind.

To be continued.

Author's note: I see the Elder Gods as beings whose most important concern is self-preservation. For them, preserving the realms is just a way of saving their own asses from the One Being.

Thanks a lot, sickoftakenpennames, for going through this chapter. The idea of Shinnok's avatar leaving a portal behind is from one of her stories.