Tomorrow Begins Now
Chapter 10
A road ends one begins
It was early now, an early morning at that. The roads were empty; it was an unusual site for these parts of the city. Gotham was empty, not much can be said about this deserted place, only to have a few people running out now and then. The load sound of an engine can be heard as it leaves the city and heads out to a place known as Central City. It was the Batmobile, and the warrior fighter and the leader of the Lin Kuei was the driver. He had many intentions on his mind, but his main focus was to go after and put a stop to the menace known as Captain Cold.
It wasn't to much longer that the communicator in the Batmobile informed Subzero that they had reached Central City. Subzero looked straight forward, his eyes as keen as a hunting tiger as he looked around to find who he believed to be an imposter of himself. It wasn't until another good minute that the whole Batmobile froze around him. He felt a deep cold come over him, as if death was knocking at the door for him.
"Could this be the cold feeling someone gets, the way I end their lives?" The ice warrior thought to himself as he snapped his mind back into reality.
Subzero busted out of the top of the Batmobile as he landed in the middle of the street. Standing not to far from his location stood the man known as Captain Cold.
"You're not Batman." Captain Cold pointed.
"You think?" Subzero replied.
"Regardless, you were foolish enough to come here."
"You don't know who you just pushed." Subzero said with a tone of anger in his voice.
"Very well ninja, let's see what you are made of."
Subzero lunged high into the air as he fired an ice ball down at Captain Cold who dodged it. Captain Cold smirked at this; he was fascinated to see someone with the ability to freeze without the use of machinery. Just to make things more interesting Captain Cold pulled out another free gun as he shot it at Subzero who jumped out of the way at the last second.
Subzero landed behind a car as he looked down at his arm to see part of it was frozen. For the next few seconds he could hear Captain Cold calling his name out as he shot parts of the city up with his ice guns. Subzero then looked down at his right arm to see that pieces of it were frozen. He cursed under his breath; it was enough for Captain Cold to hear as he looked in that direction.
"You can't hide from me ninja!" Captain Cold said as he shot his ice gun's walking in that direction.
At that second filled with rage at the ninja comments, Subzero jumped from behind the car as he quickly froze both of Captain Cold's ice guns to his hands. He then ran over as he threw one punch to the face. Captain Cold flew smack down on his head leaving him unconscious. A second later Subzero heard faint clapping as he turned to his side to see Gorilla Grodd.
"Excellent job Subzero, you're an outstanding warrior." The ape said.
"So, you've been keeping tabs on me?
"Not exactly, word is out your friend Scorpion and Robin retrieved the relic." Grodd said as he began to walk in circles with his hands behind his back.
"That's my first time hearing that, what happens from here?"
"We wait."
"What do you mean?" Subzero asked a tad bit confused.
"It's not wise to act unless necessary; you'll being seeing me very soon." Gorilla Grodd said as he walked into a dark ally.
Subzero's head dropped down as he stared down at the ground. Too much had happened at once. Subzero turned to see the sun peaking through the clouds in the distance, day time was arriving. He began to walk as he headed over to the Batmobile. It was time to head back to Gotham.
The darkness of sleep and nightmares had lasted for a long while. Sonya's eyes had finally begun to open. She realized that she was now on a soft surface, some type of carpet maybe? Sonya slowly lifted her head up, standing a few feet away stood Wonder Woman. She slowly got to her feet as she saw that they had been enclosed in some type of laser cage with electricity waving around it. Sonya assumed Wonder Woman had already tried to escape as she walked up to her.
"Have you come up with anything to get us out of here?" Sonya asked.
"No, those cage walls are tougher than I thought." Wonder Woman replied with a huff.
"I'm quite sure we'll figure a way out."
With that said Sonya looked around as she examined the cage they had been enclosed in. It was dark in the room; the only light that shined was that of the laser cage itself. Sonya had never seen anything like this as she came to a stop to look over the corners. As she did foot steps could be heard approaching. In the darkness of the shadows Darkseid walked up a few feet away from the cage.
"It's no use earthling; this is not the type of technology you will be accustomed to." Darkseid said as he left the room.
Sonya looked over at Diana as she took a seat on the ground a little disappointed.
He knew this would be a tough one, after witnessing what Prince Goro was capable of. Superman flew over at top speed as he knocked Kintaro into the ground. Kintaro busted out in a matter of seconds as he spat dirt from his mouth to the ground. Kintaro ran over as he punched Superman who flew back but caught himself in mid air. Suddenly Superman's eyes began to glow red as he used his heat vision blasting Kintaro who put his four arms out to block it.
"I would suggest giving up Kintaro, this fight is pointless." Superman said as he flew to the ground.
Kintaro swung his arms to the side as he shot a fire ball at Superman who knocked it to the side with his left hand.
"Let's see just exactly how super you are." Kintaro said as he ran towards the man of steel who stood patiently.
Kintaro rushed over as he rammed Superman into the wall. Before Superman could recover Kintaro began to lay many blows on him. Seconds later it appeared that Superman was not moving. Realizing this Kintaro took his head as he attempted to slam it up against Superman's. But before he could Superman flew out of the way as Kintaro hit his head into the wall. Kintaro walked a little dazed off for the next few seconds before his body fell to the sandy ground.
The three of them look over as they walk to the hallway Kintaro had come from. The air became a little thinner as they walked on. Through the small cracks in the wall it's almost as if whispers of cry's can be heard sweeping past them. They all ignored this as they entered the next room. It was different then the last room. The floor was made of stainless steel. Liu Kang walked to the middle of the room as the others followed. Suddenly the door closed behind them with a large thump.
"Stage two, test your mind." The Riddler's voice echoed through the walls.
Suddenly a large dragon entered the room as it flew above them.
"I'll take this dragon." Liu Kang said.
"Are you sure? With my ability to fly I could even things out a little." Superman suggested.
"That wouldn't be fair; you had your turn already." Nightwing joked.
Not another word could be said as Liu Kang charged the sharp fanged beast. The dragon brushed down as it swung its razor sharp tail at Liu Kang who side flipped over. As the dragon was flying around to come at Liu Kang yet again, Liu fired three blazing hot fire balls at it. It didn't even phase the dragon as it began to flap its wings sending Liu Kang crashing to the ground.
Liu Kang got to his feet in seconds to see he had a bloody nose. Suddenly a sharp pain came over his back, as if something was trying to crush him together. The next second Liu Kang noticed he was in mid air. The Dragon had grabbed him with it's sharp claws as it began to slam him into the walls. Liu Kang tried to kick at it, but his leg went right through the dragon. The next second the dragon dropped Liu Kang to the ground as he landed on the hard steel. Liu Kang could of sworn he heard something break. He tried to get up but couldn't.
Liu Kang looked up as the beast glared into his eyes. Liu Kang noticed something in the beasts eyes, almost as if it was part of his destiny. The beast flew down towards Liu Kang at top speed as it showed off its fangs. Liu Kang closed his eyes as he sat there in peace. Seconds later nothing happened. He slowly opened his eyes to see Superman and Nightwing standing over him waving their hands.
Liu Kang sat up with ease, the cut's he had gotten were gone. He then realized that that whole scenario had been part of the mind. All he had to do was imagine that it all wasn't real, and stay at peace with himself, his mind.
"Well done Liu Kang, you advance your team to the next round." The Riddler said in the distance.
"What exactly just happened?" Nightwing asked very confused.
This made Liu Kang realize they had not seen the dragon, or the fact that it all happened in his mind. This was some deep stuff, and Liu Kang wanted to get to Riddler and stop him.
"I'll explain later, right now we need to get to the next room."
The next second the whole right side of the wall in the room lifts up as dust rushes into the room. The three warriors put their arms in front of their faces as the blocked the dirt flying past them. Seconds later the room was cleared as they walked into the next room. They did not walk very far in the room to realize there was not a platform, but rather a pit of burning acid below. They had to get across the room to the next door, there were many ropes hanging from wall to wall as a way to get across.
"You two stay here." Superman said as he began to fly over to the door.
Out of nowhere a laser gun pops out of the wall as it blast's Superman back towards Liu Kang and Nightwing. Superman crashes to the ground as he grasps his chest. He sits up a few seconds later.
"I don't think so Superman, there will be no cheating. Besides I believe its Nightwing's turn." The Riddler's voice said from out of nowhere.
"That laser, it must be made with red sun rays." Superman said as he began to recover.
Nightwing slowly made his way onto the rope feeling confident about getting to the next side. He was now in one of his elements. As he began to ascend to the next side three ninja shuriken's came firing out of the wall ahead. Thinking quickly Nightwing did a side flip as he caught all three of the blades in between his fingers. Once he landed back on the rope he put the shurikens into his pocket.
As he slowly pressed on he jumped up as he grabbed onto a rope over his head. He swayed his body as he got onto the rope. He continued walking down the path as he got closer and closer to the door. As Dick took a small huff many laser guns popped out of the walls as they fired at him. Nightwing dodged all the attacks as he made the guns shoot each other out of business. He then slid down the rope as he made it to the door. He slowly turned the knob. Nothing happened. Then he heard a load noise coming from inside the acid. He looked down at it as a metal platform began to ascend from the acid.
"Great, only one more stage to go." Superman said as he waited for the platform to come up.
The three of them got onto the platform as it took them upwards, as it looked like they were going to be hit the ceiling above it swings open. They enter a room that is filled with many patches of ice. The ground around them is frozen as well. They look over to the left as they see The Riddler sitting in a chair.
"Welcome fellow contestants, it's so nice of you to join us." The Riddler said as Motaro came walking from behind a crate.
"What are you two up to?" Liu Kang asked stepping up.
"Oh, you'll know in time." The Riddler replied
"I'm surprised you three made it this far." Motaro added in.
The next second Nightwing pulls out all three of the ninja shuriken's he caught earlier as he throws them at both Motaro and Riddler. It fly's right through both of them.
"Just as I thought, a hologram." Nightwing said.
"Very clever, just what I would have expected from you. Where the day time falls death arises, goodbye heroes." The hologram Riddler said as it as well as the Motaro hologram disappeared.
Suddenly the room they stood in began to shake as the walls began to fall over. At this point they knew they had to get out, and fast. Superman flew over as he punched one of the walls shattering it to nothing but sand as it fell on him. The walls began to cave in as all of them walked to the middle of the room.
"Any good ideas?" Liu Kang asked.
"Up." Superman replied as he used his ice breath to freeze the ceiling.
Superman flew up at top speed as he busted through the ceiling. Nightwing shot out his grappler as he grabbed Liu Kang. They all stood on the top of the pyramid as it began to crumble underneath them. Superman grabbed both Liu Kang and Nightwing as he flew the three of them away.
"That whole thing was just a set up." Liu Kang said a little disappointed.
"Not exactly, I got what his next riddle was." Nightwing replied.
"Good, let's find a safe place then we can talk from there." Superman said as he flew on.
The sun slowly began to come up as it peaked past the many skyscrapers in its path. A ring begins to come, inside of his head. He awakes as he opens his eyes. His vision is quite blurry for a few seconds as it focuses. Kung Lao lays his head down as he realizes he is in a bed. From this point something didn't feel right, and he was right. He looked over to his left, there on the ground laid his clothes. He was naked, from all of his experiences he had never slept like this before.
Kung Lao then looked over to his right as he saw a woman laying in the bed with her back turned to him. The thought that ran through his mind was 'What the hell happened." He slowly leaned over as he tapped the woman. She slowly flipped over as Kung Lao's memory began to return to him. Kung Lao remembered his brutal encounter with Killer Croc and when they had come to this place to where Selina Kyle had stitched him up.
She slowly sat up as she stretched and looked over at him. She was naked as well.
"What happened last night?" Kung Lao asked.
"Don't tell me you already forgot."
At this point Selina came to a conclusion that whatever that stuff Reptile sprayed on him are what made him reasonable for his actions.
"So what exactly did I forget?" Kung Lao asked.
"Take a wild guess." Selina purred.
From her tone Kung Lao knew exactly what they did. He got a sour face the next second.
"Don't get so down monk boy, you came on to me you know." She said crossing her arms.
"We tell no one about this, you got it cat girl?"
"With that kind of tone I'm not sure I want to listen." She replied.
"Forget it for now; I'm going to take a shower." Kung Lao said.
"Don't bother, we already did." Selina said as she got out of the bed with a smirk.
Kung Lao sat there as many possible images of last nights events came to him.
"Get dressed, we have things to do." Selina said as she got suited up.
He had been at this for about the past fifteen minutes or so. Johnny Cage was down in the Batcave as he bounced around practicing his many known styles as Bruce came walking down the stairs. Johnny Cage looked his way as he walked up and greeted him.
"How was your sleep?" Bruce asked.
"Not bad, as soon as I awoke I came down here to train." Johnny Cage said as the Batmobile came driving in.
Bruce had his arms crossed as Subzero jumped right on out.
"Captain Cold and Mr. Freeze got away." Subzero said.
"Care to explain yourself?" Bruce asked seeing a damaged Batmobile.
They had been transported to the far west of Gotham as they trailed the streets. Robin led the way as they walked and walked. This lasted for a good time. Neither Scorpion nor Ermac really seemed to be bothered by this. No one could be heard, let alone be seen for that matter. Suddenly they walked into a dark ally as they approached a small building.
Robin pulled out a key as he opened the door. The three of them headed on in as the door closes behind them. They enter to see what appears to be a large kitchen. Tim walks up to a painting of what appears to be some mountains. He pulls the picture off of the wall as some device that was behind it scans his eyes. The next second all the walls around them spin in a circle as many weapons and Robin suit's can be seen. On one of the walls you have all the explosives such as the mini bombs, birdrang explosives, electric birdrangs, etc. On the right you have all the Robin suits as well as a few custom ones for certain occasions. Then to the back of the wall he had different types of weapons, primarily staffs. And finally to the left you have a mini computer.
"What exactly is this place?" Scorpion asked a little curios.
"I would call this one of my bird nests; I have many small hideouts like this around the city." Tim replied as he started loading himself with many gadgets.
It didn't take him long; he replaced the gloves he was wearing as well as the mask as he put some on that were in better condition. He slowly walked over to the top left hand corner of the room as he walked up to an object with a blanket over it.
"What is that?" Ermac asked.
"Gentlemen, I would like you to meet the Redbird." Tim said as he swung the blanket off revealing a motorcycle.
Robin brought it along as the three of them left the small building.
"So now do we go from here?" Ermac asked.
"Raiden wanted us to find as many of earths defenders who are still alive; I know one place we could check." Robin said as he put his helmet on as he hopped aboard the Redbird.
Robin drove on as Scorpion and Ermac followed from the buildings above. It took quite awhile before Robin finally came to a stop. He stared off in the distance as Ermac and Scorpion jumped down next to him. Scorpion looked forward far in the distance to see a highly damaged building shaped like a 'T'. He assumed this was the place Robin spoke of as the three of them walked on.
They walked through what appeared to be a small forest as they made their way over to the building. They arrived up to the building within the next few minutes. Many different things had been scattered around, a battle had defiantly taken place.
"Search around for any survivors." Robin said as he began to search.
Scorpion and Ermac did the same. They looked around for a pretty good deal but could find no one. They lifted up every piece of scrap they could find looking for any survivors. Then when they were just about to call it quits on the search Robin saw a hand sticking out from under all the tower parts. He walked over as he lifted the heavy metal moving it to the side. He looked down, immediately he knew she was dead. Robin kneeled down as he picked up her body, he walked a few yards away as he placed her on the grass. He kneeled down next to her as he closed his eyes. Scorpion walked up a few seconds later.
"A friend of yours?" Scorpion asked.
"Yes."
Tim took a finger as he slowly whipped the dirt from her face. He stood up the next second as he looked forward.
"Goodbye Cassie." Robin whispered to the fallen Wonder Girl.
"I've found more bodies." Ermac called out.
They were dead as well as the three of them placed there bodies onto the grass. The only thing standing besides the remains of the tower was a statue of Superboy. They began to leave to search for more survivors. As Scorpion lead the way a razor sharp arrow is shot right in front of him almost hitting him on the leg. The three of them turn in the direction of where the arrow came from to see three women. Robin immediately recognizes all three of them being, Black Canary, Huntress, and Lady Shiva.
"Robin is that you?" Huntress called out.
"You know these crazy chicks?" Scorpion asked.
Robin nodded as he walked up to the three of them. Ermac and Scorpion followed.
"Hello ladies." The Boy Wonder greeted.
"This may be a wild question, but where have you been!?" Huntress screamed making Robin and Scorpion jump back a little.
"Are there any more survivors besides you?" Black Canary asked.
"Of course, I would love to go into detail but we really don't have time." Robin said.
At that second Ermac named off all of Earths fighters her were still alive in a matter of seconds. Tim was surprised to hear him say Nightwing as well.
"So bird boy, where have you been and who are these friends of yours?" Lady Shiva asked as she looked them over.
"This is Scorpion, and that's Ermac. Pretty much what has happened these few last days was only intended to be for a tournament, a tournament that would decide the fate of our world. Batman and I were invited with many of earth's greatest hero's." Robin explained.
"What do you mean what kind of tournament?" Black Canary asked.
"Mortal Kombat, one which pits you in combat against those who have a different goal, that which means conquering the realms." Ermac said.
Lady Shiva, Huntress, and Black Canary followed as best they could.
"So they took over the realms after earths warriors failed, correct?" Black Canary asked.
"Not exactly, I won the tournament. But in a twisted tournament, also brings a twisted man who calls himself Shao Khan." Robin informed.
"So you won, I wonder how that happened." Huntress said.
"Long story." Robin said.
"Who is this Shao Khan guy?" Black Canary asked yet another question.
"He is the leader of one of the many realms known as Outworld; his main goal is to merge all the many realms. I don't see this talking getting us anywhere." Scorpion said crossing his arms.
"Very well we will regroup with Batman." Robin replied in agreement.
It was dark, and the air had its usual damp garbage smell. Killer Croc and Reptile had made it back to his little hide out in a far part of the sewers. There was a small TV, a table with three chairs, as well as a couch. Reptile took a seat at the couch as Killer Croc fiddled around with something over in the corner.
He stood sitting there for awhile as he could hear many sounds coming from the tunnel of the sewers. They weren't load or disturbing sounds, but more of a type of comfort. Mentally Reptile hadn't even been here very long and was already getting use to it. The next second Killer Croc walked over as a dropped a large box in front of Reptile which landed with a load thump.
"Live a little." Killer Croc said as he pulled a few magazines out of the box and handed it to Reptile.
Reptile looked over as Killer Croc walked over to the table with a few magazines as well. Reptile felt this was a waste of time, but he knew this would be a perfect time to burn off the clock. Reptile looked down as he opened one of the magazines. He became wide eyed as he flipped through all the pages to see different women posing in different outfits to barley nothing.
All was quite. He finally began to come back; it's almost as if his mind had traveled for many decades before returning. His eyes slowly opened as he saw that suit, his destiny, he was The Flash. Wally slowly sat up to an unfamiliar surrounding as he heard a familiar voice speak out.
"How do you feel?"
Wally turned to see Superman as well as Liu Kang.
"I'm alive; I guess that's all that really matters."
Wally West hopped out of the bed as he raced over to his suit, in about a second he was all suited up.
"Hey, I would take it easy if I were you." Liu Kang said putting a hand on his shoulder.
Nightwing and Taven entered the room the next second as Flash greeted them both and glad to see Dick.
"Where are the others and what happened to Darkseid?" Flash asked.
"Taven what do we do from here?" Superman asked.
"Now that we have the relic in our possession we need to get the relic of light." He replied.
"But I thought we only needed one of them? Who has it?" Nightwing asked.
"I think he's an old friend of yours, he goes by the name Deathstroke." Taven said.
To Be Continued