Disclaimer: See previous chapters

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Morning…

After a long talk with his companions and a difficult sleep after, Liu Kang quietly rose up and made his way away from the camp(s). Despite his rest, his thoughts were still focused on the eventual challenge that is Prince Goro. More than everyone else, the Shaolin monk knew about the lore that arose concerning the powerful and might of the current champion. After all, it was Goro who defeated and crushed the previous champion before him, Kung Lao, a member of the sister group of the White Lotus and a legendary warrior of his own right.

No wonder Goro racked up eight consecutive wins after…

His mind still plaguing him, his gaze soon found the sole form of Naruto, seated on the sands with his legs crossed. Surprised, Liu Kang made his way toward him where, true enough, found him in meditation posture, his eyes closed and furrowed in concentration.

'Has he been at this…all night?'

Unbeknownst, his face softened at the sight of the young shinobi, as well as surprise for his determination. Granted, that fact shouldn't have been a surprise to him. Already, Naruto has showed the Shaolin that he possessed incredible strength as regards to willpower, showing that he wasn't the type to back down from a challenge no matter how difficult it was. It was truly an admirable trait.

One he wished he had himself…

Since Raiden announced that he would be one of the Chosen for Mortal Kombat, Liu Kang had held some trepidation as to his reason in being there to beginning with. Granted, he knew his own capabilities and strengths when it came to battles and competitions, but this was no mere competition. This was THE tournament, Mortal Kombat, a tournament that he had been practically raised on during his youth as the stories and tales of legends. Add to that, the fact that the stakes was against the Earth (Mother) Realm facing invasion and his concern could be more than justified.

At first, he continued on his journey, taking in the advice and lessons he learned and accumulated from the masters and teachers from before. It served him well enough to take on the kombatants he faced, each being more daunting than the first, particularly the man with the blood-spiral eyes. But now after seeing the formidable presence of Goro, Liu Kang felt his conviction waver. Yet, it was the loud-spoken boy who showed him what he should be doing, what he had to do.

Never give up…

With a mental nod to himself, Liu stood beside Naruto and bent down, crossing his legs in meditation stance. With his eyes closed, the Shaolin began to focus his thoughts, to prepare for what he needed to do. Breathe… focus…and reach out…

And that's when it happened…

Leaning back on a tree from their makeshift camp, Sonya took a moment to think over and assess her current situation, or rather, lack of one, at least as far as her original mission concerned. Unfortunately, neither Kalus, nor Kano had been present at the arena during the last fight, at least as far as she could determine. Regretfully, she had to admit that her focus had been on the brutal match (beating) between Goro and Tobias. As a soldier, she had been a witness to many a heinous and violent scenes, but nothing she knew compared to the horrific conclusion of the match. Not to mention the appearance of the champion himself.

'Talk about your freak shows.'

However, even though she hadn't seen them, she knew that such an event wasn't something the Black Dragons would have missed, so it was fair to say that they were there somewhere. She had hoped to catch a glimpse of them afterward, but again, no such luck. Hopefully, they hadn't noticed her as well. She kept herself well mixed in the crowd, even from her allies, so it was unlikely they saw her.

Her allies…

She never thought about it, but it seemed that, amid all the chaos and craziness that was brought about by this tournament, she had somehow, in fact, had allies; Sakura, Naruto, Kakashi, even Cage, Liu Kang and Raiden. Admittedly, that term ally was loose, since she didn't know too much about them, safe for their sparse conversations. Even still, he could tell that they were trustworthy enough.

And for a person like Sonya, that was rare by itself

Still, skepticism wasn't that far from her thoughts given everything Raiden had told them all the night before. Sorcerers, gods, half-human dragons, the fate of the world determined by a tournament; this just seemed way over her pay grade. Still, she couldn't help the things she had witnessed and felt. Even before all she had been told by Raiden, she knew there was something strange about the tournament. And that feeling had grown during the proceedings and confirmed by the people around her now.

Again, her allies…

Still, there wasn't too much she could do about it. It's not like she could take on Goro herself, which seemed to amount to suicide. And despite the stakes, her focus was on the Black Dragons. Whether Goro continues to claim victory or not, Sonya knew that Kano and his henchmen would be a problem in the long run at some point or another, more so since they have already infiltrated the tournament. Whatever they were up to, she knew it was her job to stop them.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Her thoughts interrupted, Sonya scowled at Cage as he swaggered beside and sat down beside her "Why are you following me around?"

"I can't help it" Cage grinned. "It's a guy thing."

Frustrated, Sonya turned away and glared at the movie star directly "Would it kill you to be serious for one moment? With everything that's been going on around here, the least you could do is not joke around."

"I've noticed alright" he replied, his grin lessening. "It doesn't take much to see that there's a lot of stuff going on here, most of it way over my head. So I've decided to deal with it as best as I can." His previous grin returned "…humor and jokes included."

Despite his explanation, Sonya continued to glower at him "You still haven't answered my question."

"Aside from the obvious..?" His grin lowered into what Sonya appeared as an almost-shy smile. "You just seem to be the only person around here that's…well, relatively normal."

Stunned by his words, Sonya found herself stuttering a bit "That…may be the nicest thing anyone's ever told me in awhile."

"Glad to oblige" With that, Cage rose up from the seat and moved out a bit before turning back to Sonya. She was a bit confused when he pulled out a pair of shades and put them on and that turned into surprise when he raised his arms up and assumed a fighting stance.

"Are you serious?"

The movie star shrugged "We could both use the stress relief."

Her eyebrow lifted a bit in skepticism (and amusement), but regardless, she rose up and faced him, locking into her own stance. Even though this was a spar, she knew not to take Cage lightly. She had seen enough from his matches to know he was a highly skilled martial artist.

But she wasn't a pushover herself. Not in the least…

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Got it, babe."

'Babe?' Sonya mentally snarled 'That's gonna cost you.'

With several blows that were barely deflected, Kakashi backflipped and stood back ready to face his opponent, Sakura. After watching the sparring match that was currently underway between Sonya and Cage, Kakashi suggested to the kunoichi to do the same thing as well. With Naruto and Liu Kang already involved in apparent meditation, he figured it would be good for them to ready themselves as well for the upcoming battle as well as to clear their heads for the moment.

If only he could follow his own counsel…

As Sakura readied herself to start another assault, Kakashi's mind drifted for a moment, thinking on the current situation, or rather, how everything is connected. Naturally, this prompted him to think about Naruto. It was more than clear that Naruto was a target for Shang Tsung, for the soul of the Nine-Tails, as his 'informant' as told him. He just didn't know as to how and in what function. 'As a weapon?' That wouldn't surprise him. After all, the nations have used jinchuuriki as weapons for years. But there had to be more to it than that.

And then there was Sasuke…

For a while, Kakashi had been trying to figure out what his part in all of this was. Raiden had told them earlier that Shang Tsung had recruited his own chosen ones from their realm, them being Sasuke and his team. Did the sorcerer call them to keep the Akatsuki away from Naruto? It would stand to reason that he wouldn't let anyone interfere with whatever plans he had. And with Itachi being the one sent by the Akatsuki, Sasuke would ensure that would happen. But he had a hunch that there was more to it than that as well.

Events were unfolding quickly; too quickly for his taste…

His focus snapped to full as Sakura rushed at him, her fist arched back in attack. Although he knew she wouldn't use that extreme strength against her in a spar, instinct had him backpedalling away from her blow and nearly start using hand signs before remembering that this was taijutsu only. The copy-nin found parrying another punch from Sakura and flipping over a sweeping kick.

Nimbly landing on his feet, Kakashi reversed tactics and rushed at the kunoichi. Sakura dodged the first and second attacks, but caught a glancing blow on her side. Although it barely grazed her, Kakashi noticed that her reaction to it was slow. Not only that, but his attack was meant to be a feint, yet it had hit her anyway. It was enough to notice that her attention wasn't in the spar completely, and for a medic-nin in a fight, that could prove fatal, even now.

"I think you need a minute. Your head isn't in this. "

Sakura's eyes blinked in surprise, but she didn't reply at first, not vocally anyway. Rather, her glance switched to a skeptical glare as she stared at her mentor, silently letting Kakashi know that he was pretty much doing the same thing in losing his own focus. Seeing this, Kakashi sighed.

"Okay, fine; we both need a minute."

A third look from Sakura now… Satisfaction…

'Good. At last, they are beginning to understand…'

Hidden away from the eyes (and senses) of the group, Raiden kept his gaze over the Chosen, watchfully taking in the actions of each individual in preparation for what will undoubtedly be the final battles of the tournament. Not just their combat prowess, but their potential. In fact, it is their potential that makes them a Chosen, not simply just because they were elected by the gods through the Elder gods.

Unpredictability is one of the greatest strengths of mortals after all.

In all honesty, they confused the thunder god at times, in many ways, and not without reason. After all, many have been selected to be Chosen, only to be defeated and/or destroyed, despite their potential. The reign of Goro and Shang Tsung can attribute to that. This was the last chance the Mother Realm could hope to save their world(s) from certain and complete annihilation. With the stakes so high, there was no chance for error.

More so than it was with Edenia…

All is not lost yet however. The Chosen before him now were somewhat different than the ones from years prior. Perhaps it was with regards to their diversity in attitudes and personalities. But there was more to them than that. Even though somewhat clouded, for Raiden, than much was evident as he re-focused on the individuals before him.

Cage and Sonya were simple enough to understand. They have their own goals, their own ambitions with regards to the tournament. Despite the stakes involved, their mindset really wasn't about so much as winning the tournament as it was surviving it. But regardless of that, he could see their willingness not only to fight, but also to support and work with the other Chosen around them. Perhaps time and experiences will reveal more, but it was safe for the thunder god to realize that their parts of the tournament, while could seem small at first, could be significant.

Kakashi and Sakura were also more of the same as far as simplicity is concerned. They were Konoha shinobi, ready to face any mission for the sake of their village and friends. That concern was evident with regard to the Nine-Tail jinchuuriki. Both were doing their best to support him during this trial despite the odds against him, which brings to a point that Raiden will recall on later. Interestingly, that concern is also with regard to their fallen teammate, whom for all intents and purposes, could be a factor against them. But given what he seen between Sasuke and Scorpion, it could be yet another unpredictable factor in the tournament.

Figures mortals would be so difficult…

However it was the last pair; Liu Kang and Naruto; that possessed the most potential out of the group. Raiden could feel that both have the potential to be key parts in the final battles, possibly one of them could even be the next champion. However, that too is against them as they face opponents that have crushed dozens, perhaps hundreds of victims. And there were also their limitations and weaknesses that they have to deal with.

Dealing with…

Both right now were currently focusing their mental energies, a part that Raiden noted that Naruto was having difficult working on, yet was insisting on improving on. Interestingly, Liu Kang's mental energy seemed to be cycling in and out through Naruto's energy as well, with both their faces scrunched. 'A vision? Or something else?' Raiden was tempted to look further to investigate, but refrained from doing so. Whatever was happening between the two should be left for them alone to figure out and there was only so much that the thunder god can do with regards to helping them.

All of them…

Advice, counsel, teaching; that was all he can offer now, as the rules of Mortal Kombat prevent him from doing any more than that. As they were created by the Elder gods themselves, he couldn't exactly oppose them even if he wanted to. So it is up to the Chosen to do the rest now; to obtain victory through the gravest of trials and save their world(s). It would be difficult, but not impossible. They would just have to find a way.

There is always a way…