SPECIAL FORCES HEADQUARTERS

SONYA'S POV

"Well," I told myself, "you are fucking crazy."

I stood at the head of the Special Forces' army, a coalition of many beings from all the realms. With me were Parsek, Cyrax, Johnny Cage, Kenshi, Gemini, and an army of cyborgs and heavily armed Special Forces soldiers. I paced back and forth in front of them as I began to brief them on the situation.

"Men, this is the finest hour of the Outworld Investigation Agency's existence. On this very day, we'll be diving into the Netherrealm and performing a preemptive strike on the Forces of Darkness in order to stop them from being at full strength. If we don't stop them here, almost nothing remains to prevent these guys from invading New Year's day and killing everyone once again."

I paused, considering the fearful approach I was taking. "Unlike Shao Kahn, these demons have someone capable of dealing with these 'Elder Gods' at their side. If they invade Earthrealm... Nothing's going to stop them. I can only hope all of you understand how important" - I looked at Johnny Cage - "this fight will truly be. Any questions?"

As I guessed, Cage raised his hand. "What am I getting paid?"

With a suddenness that surprised even me, I slapped the movie star's left cheek as hard as I could. "Shut the hell up, Johnny! Do you want to end up like everyone we saw Sindel kill? I don't think so! Give a shit about saving the world instead of kicking ass for personal glory!" Looking back at the squad, I gave an emotionless glare. "We ship out in six hours!"

Still pissed at Johnny's arrogance and jackassery, I headed to my room, intending to mentally prepare myself before the oncoming battle. I had a feeling I knew what would happen, and I really didn't want to see it turn out this way again...

JOHNNY CAGE'S POV

I had screwed up. Big time. Sonya was pissed off at me now. The only thing I guess I could try to do was talk to her and apologize... something I basically never did in my life.

Walking down the hallway, I came to the room Sonya called home. I remembered that last day, how both of us watched Raiden fight Shao Kahn to the death. I remembered how Sonya and I went to her room and embraced each other... We were all that we had left. I remember hearing her cry as I kissed her, told her everything would be alright. How we lost ourselves in one another...

But enough of that mushy-gushy nonsense. You didn't come here to read me being sympathetic, did you? Anyways...

Knocking on the door, it quickly opened as Sonya, tears running down her face, gave me a wild and venomous look. "What the fuck do you want, Johnny!?"

As calmly as I could, I mustered up the courage to say two words that immediately calmed her down.

"I'm sorry."

Her jaw immediately dropped. "What did you just say?"

"I'm sorry for being such a dick to you and everyone else. Truth is, I'm as worried about this as you are. I just do a better job of hiding it."

Sonya began to tear up again as I gently gave her a hug before she tugged me into her room, pulling the door shut with the heel of her boot...

THE NETHERREALM

GENESIS'S POV

My father was beginning to gather his forces. Shinnok had told him to gather all who wished to come, and he had made myself and Noob responsible for collecting them all.

The Black Dragon members were all here... Kano, Jarek, Tasia, Tremor, and the undead Kabal. The three demonesses and Scorpion were there too, as was my loyal servant, Asbeel. Rain was here from Outworld, but apparently, Tanya had borne her child and was being forced to stay home. With our army of demons practically ready to attack Earthrealm, we had merely one more person to get.

Our daughter.

Adriana had hidden herself somewhere within the cracks and crevices of the Netherrealm. I had no idea why, but the reasons didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was with us, mercilessly slaughtering the Earthrealm warriors.

Suddenly, I heard a cry. I immediately perked up and began to move towards the source: a large fissure in the rock. "Adriana!"

Her soft voice responded back as myself and Noob drew closer to the fissure. "I'm here." I watched as Saibot emerged from Noob, slipping down and into the crevice of the rock, hoping to find my daughter. She evidently saw him, as she responded. "Don't come any closer, please. I'm not feeling well..."

I raised an eyebrow at this excuse. "We're demons. We don't get sick."

Her response was quick and a bit faltering. "I'm just... really tired, I suppose."

I had to press her, considering how flimsy of an excuse she gave... but she was my daughter. If she wanted a nap, I suppose I could give it to her. "You just don't want to a part of the attack, hmm?"

"Exactly."

I shrugged. I guess that was settled... "Come out, Noob. If she doesn't want to fight, we cannot force her."

The amorphous form of my mate oozed out from the crack before reforming himself into his normal form. Silently, he whispered into my mind through the bond we shared as demonic mates. "She is emitting pheromones." Out loud, his thoughts sounded like "I have no reason to ask her to fight. She is of age and can choose that for herself. I merely wish to know: Why are you hiding here?" as he looked into the crag below.

Our daughter's gleaming while eyes stared back at him, the rest of her body shrouded in the darkness of the miniature cave she was in. "I am a single demoness in heat... I'm hiding from the male demons out there."

I myself gave a nod to this perfectly reasonable explanation. "Let us leave her be, Noob." My mate nodded as we left our daughter alone to her own devices.

"The hormones she was emitting were pregnancy hormones."

I nodded. "I know. Cat-like sense of smell, remember? I could smell it from the other side of the Netherrealm. For now, let's return to my father and tell him of Adri's absence."

ADRIANA'S POV

I could feel them. The children inside of me were struggling with one another - fighters at such a young age. I sighed with relief as my parents left the crevice I hid in, rubbing my swollen abdomen in an attempt to calm them down.

There it was again! The feeling of distinct evil from one of my children... She was primarily the one who fought, who kicked and punched so hard that I rarely had a moment of rest without feeling like she would tear my belly open and crawl out, blood dripping from her body as she slipped out of the wound she made in my flesh.

My thoughts on the evil growing inside my womb were immediately shattered by a muffled scream. I noticed immediately that one of the children, virile and active mere seconds ago, had stopped moving. I could feel the life slipping from him. "No! I must find Markus."

Quietly and painfully chanting an ancient incantation, I opened a portal to the house of my mate, sensing his location. Going through the rift to Earthrealm, I fell forward onto my hands and knees as Markus gave a sudden gasp, throwing away the game controller. "Adri!"

I gave a small smile at Markus, trying to stand up. "Hello, Markus..." As I attempted to get up, a particularly strong kick from my daughter gave me a grimace as I sank back down to my knees. "The children are fighting."

Markus could only give me a soft frown. "How can I help?"

"I don't know..." He came over to me, draping my arm over his shoulder as though he were taking a wounded warrior from the battlefield. Another kick and writhe from my children made my cry out quite loudly. He placed a hand on my belly bulge, trying to calm my children down, but this seemed to only agitate them more as my daughter tried her best to burst out of my chest, my screaming sounding like someone was being murdered.

'Calm down... Why is this one so violent?"

I gave a loud breath, trying to calm myself down. "I don't know."

He thought for a moment, processing the information. "Why have you come back so early?"

"I'm in pain. Can't you see? I wanted to see you..."

He flashed a quick grin. "I understand..." Getting behind me, he slowly pulled me to the ground, resting my back on his chest as he cradled my exploded tummy. "How many are there? Boys? Girls?"

I held one of his hands with my own, the other on my stomach. "Three. Two boys, one girl." Our combined touch had seemingly relaxed my daughter and our sons. Markus himself gave a joking smile as he felt our offspring move within me.

"No wonder you have such a bulge." With that, he began to run his hands down my body, from my shoulders to my hips. "What should we name them?"

The girl's dark aura got my mind churning. "The girl's name is Nemesis. What shall we name the boys?"

He put a hand to his chin. "Your father's named Bi-Han, right? Let's name one Bi-Han... and the other, Xavier, after my last name."

"That sounds perfect..." I smiled, burying my head in the crook of his neck before suddenly frowning. He had to know. "Markus..."

"Yes, darling?"

"The Netherrealm... It's a trap. My parents and their army are ready to ambush your forces... Everyone will die."

He kissed me, leaning over my head as he pressed our lips together. "Why did you tell me this? Aren't you betraying your parents?"

"You are family. You deserve to know." Slowly, I stood up, getting off of my mate. "Go. Warn them. I'll be waiting here for you."

Markus gave me a nod as he put his helmet on. "Welcome to the family. I promise that when all this is over, you, Mileena, Skarlet and I can have some wonderful misadventures of our own... in bed." With that, he disappeared, on his way to wherever the Forces of Light were. I didn't care as I made myself comfortable.

"Mmm... Who have we here?" The voice that broke through the silence was one I recognized very well as I turned around, the Tarkatan-toothed woman giving me an evil Cheshire grin. Slowly, she took some steps towards me, gently pinning me to the bed as her mouth reverted... to that of a human!

"Hello, sweetie..."