Jax eyed Liu Kang first, who seem to be rather embarrassed about the situation, then Kung Lao who seemed like he could care less about the situation, and lastly Sub-Zero, who had inevitably started said situation.
Sonya had a good time reprimanding Sub-Zero, but in the end he stuck to his defense of it being his Grandmasters will. Jax only saw this as counterproductive, but was partly sympathetic to Sub-Zero, akin to the Grandmasters will being an order from higher-up. Sighing at the thought, the man with the robotic arms had chosen to stand away from the larger portion of the group(Jade, Sonya, Kitana, and Johnny) who were grilling the previous three(Sub-Zero, Liu Kang, and Kung Lao). There were no words that could be added to the situation but a familiar voice spoke up behind him, "What troubles you, Jax?"
Jax nearly froze, since Raiden didn't know anything about what was going on.
The rest of the group didn't appear to see Raiden appear, or were too busy giving a piece of their mind(Sonya to Sub-Zero, to be more specific) so Jax would just greet the thunder god with a nod before explaining...
Raiden stood silently, most of the group(sans Sub-Zero) eventually migrating their way over and adding in to explaining what happened in the last twenty-four hours, up to the point Jay disappeared in the forest and that he .hadn't been found. Once that was said though, Raiden was silent. Which would explain the nervous glances being shared among those gathered in front of Raiden.
The thunder god closed his eyes, and Jax saw the man's nostrils flare as he exhaled before Raiden called over to Sub-Zero, "Can you come here, please?" More collective glances were shared, and when Sub-Zero finally approached(at a somewhat slower pace than his usual) everyone took one unified step backwards.
Raiden seemed not to notice, especially as he then boomed, "What the hell were you thinking?! You attack a new warrior we can use for Earth-realms defense, run him off, -lie- to your friends, and then place blame on it being the obligation of a contract?!"
Silence. Even the forest creatures had grown silent, leaving nothing but the wind to blow through the air. Jax thought he felt tingles up his back, but given that Raiden generated electricity, or was made of it(?), it was probably normal. Probably.
Raiden chewed out Sub-Zero for about five minutes more, resulting in five more minutes of awkward silence from the rest of the group. Surprisingly, or stupidly depending on perspective, it was Sub-Zero who spoke up, "It is the will of the Grandmaster, and I as a loyal Lin Kuei will follow his commands."
The thunder god stared at Sub-Zero long and hard before giving a slow, exasperated sigh.
"So you have no free will of your own, then?"
The entire group turned their heads to Jax, the man himself somewhat surprised he had spoken up. Still, Jax continued before interruption set in, "I understand about followin' chain of command, but even your superiors will tell you you need to think for yourself. Otherwise " Here he held up his robotic arms, pumping them slightly before finishing his point, " otherwise you may find yourself worse off than I am."
Sub-Zero seemed to consider this before questioning, "You are complaining about your arms?"
Jax chuckled before shaking his head, "No no, man. I'm saying, if I hadn't gotten lucky, I wouldn't have any arms at all. You understand?"
The blue-clad ninjas eyes narrowed before a short nod was given. Jax then added, "All I'm telling you is that maybe it isn't a bad thing for you to think for yourself. And, that blond guy is new. We don't know him. How is it your Grandmaster is already issuing an order to kill when no one knows if he's done anything wrong?"
The group could only guess if Sub-Zero were frowning behind his mask right now, but Jax let it go there. He'd just turn to Raiden, who gave Jax a small nod of thanks, before asking the thunder god, "How do we find the new guy? We are supposed to be keeping an eye on him after all "
Before Raiden could respond, however, there came a large cry throughout the air, sending a small shiver down Jax's spine: "KILL THEM ALL."
Jax, along with everyone else, was turning their heads trying to find the owner of the voice before Jade piped up, "Tarkatans! Coming from the forest!"
At least twenty emerged from the forest, carrying various weapons in hand, swords, knives, daggers, spears, etc,. There had to be at least thirty in total, and they were all running right for the Earth-realm warriors.
Jax moved forward along with the rest, running for the Tarkatans. The first Tarkatan that got close enough to Jax was punched hard enough that the Tarkatans neck could be heard snapping by those closest to Jax. Johnny happened to be nearby, and had to throw in a comment, "Leave some for the rest of us!" The soldier just grinned before taunting the three Tarkatans near him, "Come get some!"
Two then came out him, using their spears to try and gut him, but he managed to sidestep before bringing up his right fist to knock out the first Tarkatan. The opposite Tarkatan stood no chance, however, showed no fear as a dagger was pulled out, then used to slice Jax's shoulder. This proved to be a bad idea, mostly since the unlucky Tarkatan was missing both it's arms within the space of ten seconds.
A quick glance around to see that the others were doing fairly well on their respective ends. Johnny managed to trick two Tarkatans into spearing each other, Kitana and Liu Kang were going double and worked well in unison, Kung Lao had beheaded a few of the Tarkatans with his hat, Sonya and Sub-Zero held their ground as well, and lastly Jade was about to be speared without realizing it.
Jax narrowed his eyes before rushing the Tarkatan that was about to end Jade. She hadn't noticed yet as she and another Tarkatan were going toe to toe with their staves. A close call was avoided, as Jax collided into the spear-wielding Tarkatan. Gripping the Tarkatans head in both hands, it was twisted to the right, far more than it was designed to turn. The resulting snap of bone finally started convincing other Tarkatans that they were losing this battle and so the few that were still alive or could run, ran.
Baraka had somehow disappeared in all the commotion before a loud thunderclap signaled exactly where he was. Jax looked past the fleeing Tarkatans and other Earth-realmers to see that Baraka had gone right after Raiden himself. This had Jax wondering just how stupid Baraka was. As Jax watched the thunder god easily dodged around Barakas blades, every so often taking a punch for Barakas face or stomach. Finally, Raiden simply shot Baraka with enough lightning to make the monster keel over. It... was a rather short fight, apparently.
Once the coast was clear everyone rushed to Raiden's side, with Liu Kang asking the first question, "Lord Raiden, are you okay?" Raiden gave a nod to Liu Kang before looking to everyone around, "Is everyone okay? Any wounded?"
There was a collective shake of heads, the worst being Jax's shoulder injury and some other minor cuts but thankfully nothing serious that Jax noticed. It was then that Raiden ordered, "Everyone start packing, then. We need to move. More Tarkatans, or worse, will come back and I don't want you all staying here with that kind of threat nearby."
A collective murmur of agreement came from the group before everyone headed back for the inn, walking past the slain bodies of Tarkatans without so much as a second glance. The day was almost over, and in such a short amount of time things had gone to hell.
Jax sighed before glancing towards Kung Lao, "I hope Jay didn't get caught up with any of those Tarkatans." Kung Lao frowned, before nodding in agreement, "I agree." The bodybuilding cop narrowed his eyes at Kung Lao before shrugging it off. He'd then stop and glance over his shoulder to the one remaining Tarkatan that was struggling to his feet before looking back and calling to Raiden, "What about that guy?"
Raiden didn't bother stopping, or even looking back, instead raising his staff in the air. Light suddenly flashed from behind before Baraka emitted a growl, followed by a low thud. Even Jax didn't need to look behind himself to know what happened. Raiden clarified anyway, "That should buy us some time then."
*A/N*: Edited for errors and grammar. Updated slightly.
