Chapter 2
Over the next nine months, a lot had happened. Sonya and Johnny had found out that they were having twins. Jax had recruited the cyborg Cyrax to the special forces. And a rogue swordsman, Kenshi. However, Cyrax had gone missing in Outworld and Kenshi had been sent to find, and return him. Neither had been heard from in over a week. Kitana and Goro led a pre-emptive strike on Shao Kahn's forces, and were on the brink of victory, when Goro was slain in battle. The Shokan army fell into leaderless chaos, but in a strange turn of events, Shao Kahn was slain by unknown assailants and Kano's troops had retreated. Sonya and Johnny were wed, and on the 5th of March, she gave birth to a boy and girl. Emma, after Johnny's Grandmother, and Daniel, after Sonya's brother. Sonya spent a month of intensive training after the birth to get back in shape, and another month back on active duty with the Special Forces, traveling the world and destroying all the ancient inter-realm portals. Johnny was filming a movie in Sydney, but he realized that he didn't love it like he used to. And when Rayden asked for his help, Johnny was more than happy to give it up.
Sonya and her team had just found the last portal, and had set the explosives.
"Sylence. You set?" Sonya called up to her teammate.
"That was my last. We're good to go." Sylence replied.
The team all moved out of the blast radius as Sonya flicked the safety up on her remote. When everyone was clear, she pressed the button, blowing the ancient structure apart.
"Okay, well done guys. That's mission accomplished. Mikka, radio for transport, we're going home." Sonya addressed her team. As they were waiting for the chopper, Sonya's radio started chirping.
"This is Sonya, go ahead." She answered.
"Sonya, it's Jax." A raspy voice came through the speaker.
"Jax? You sound like shit, are you okay?" Sonya asked worried. She knew that Jax would only call if it was important.
"The portal. It's gone." Jax coughed.
"What portal, Jax?" Sonya asked, trying to remain calm.
"Our portal. It was destroyed."
"Oh god." Sonya breathed. "How?"
"Hsu Hao."
"Hsu Hao? That son of a bitch. He's been working with us for months. Black Dragon?" She asked.
"No. Red Dragon."
"Christ. So they're going after us aswell now. I think I liked it better when they were just going after the Black Dragon." Sonya joked. Jax coughed again. He sounded like he was in pain.
"Jax, what's wrong?" Sonya asked really worried now.
"I was chasing Hsu Hao, when he blew it up. He went through to Outworld, I was going to follow when it blew."
"My god, are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine. Sore head, bruised ribs, but I'll be okay."
"Good. What about Kenshi?"
"No word."
"So we've got two missing agents." Sonya sighed. The thought for a while and then made a decision. "Okay, we're going in. We've gotta bring them out."
"How Sonya? We've got no way to get there anymore."
"We'll think of something Jax. I will not leave anyone behind." She said turning the radio off. The chopper arrived and the team got on. Sonya was about to board aswell, when a bolt of lightning struck some rocks behind her. After the debris had cleared, Sonya saw Rayden standing amidst the rubble.
"Rayden!? What the hell?" She yelled over the chopper, her hair whipping her face. She turned and signaled the pilot to cut the engines. He did so and Sonya walked over to the Elder God.
"What's going on?" She yelled over the dying engines.
"We've got trouble Sonya. I need you to fly to this location. Then send your team home."
"What's going on?"
"You'll find out when you get there." And with that another bolt took the god away. The engines roared to life again, and Sonya got in, giving the co-ordinates to the pilot. She looked at them and thought they were familiar, but dismissed it as hundreds of thoughts flooded her brain as to what was going on.
*****************
When the chopper arrived at it's coordinates, Sonya realized where she had seen them before. The chopper landed on the beach of an island, deep in the Lost Sea. Sonya got out and waved her teammates goodbye as it took off. She turned around and looked up at the huge mountain in the middle of the island. At the top, where the ruins of Shang Tsung's palace now stood. This was the beach she had landed on all those years before, at her first tournament.
Sonya was the first to arrive, but shortly after, a plane flew over the island. Sonya looked up to see someone jump out. They flew right towards her and all of a sudden a bright parachute opened up behind them. It was the Stars and Stripes. As the red, white and blue shape approached, Sonya recognized the skydiver to be her husband, Johnny Cage. He landed on the beach and Sonya ran over to hug him.
"Oh Cage, It's so good to see you." She yelled as she jumped into his arms. Johnny swung her around, laughing and kissed his wife.
"How are you Lieutenant?" He smiled.
"Pretty shitty actually." She sighed. "Our portal's gone. We have no way of getting to Outworld. Kenshi and Cyrax are still there."
"I'm sure Rayden will know something. Otherwise why would he call us here?"
"Yeah, I'm sure your right. Where are Emma and Daniel?"
"They're with Mom."
"Okay, good." Sonya sighed. "This is so weird. I don't wanna leave them, especially to enter a contest where our lives are at stake."
"It's not like it's our first tournament."
"I know, but it's the first time since I've been married, and have kids. Still, not like I have a choice."
"You don't?"
"No. I mean, I was chosen for this. We both were. Besides, this is the condition for me even being here. You'll remember."
"Yeah, life has a nasty way of sucking ass."
"Tell me about it. Hey, what about the movie?"
"Who cares. I'm leaving the industry. Bunch of phonies." Johnny said taking his chute off. Sonya stared at him in disbelief.
"Okay, who the hell are you?" She asked. Johnny cocked his head at her.
"Very funny. I guess I just never realized what a shallow profession it is. Leading the kind of life we've had tends to bring reality smashing into your face."
The couple started setting up a campfire as the sun began to dwindle. The next familiar face to arrive was the ninja, Sub-Zero. He had with him a woman dressed quite similarly.
"Sub-Zero, how are you?" Sonya bowed before the ninja.
"I am well Lieutenant. And you? Last I heard you were dead."
"Yeah. I'm just full of surprises." She smiled. "What have you been up to?"
"I have reformed the Lin Kuei. We are now a clan of good. This is one of my new recruits, Frost." Sub-Zero introduced the female ninja. Frost walked past the Grand Master, and nudged Sonya out of the way as she searched the island.
"She nice." Sonya grinned.
"She is insolent. Her great powers have only given her a great arrogance. I am hoping that her participation in the tournament will give her a new outlook on her life."
"Fingers crossed." Sonya raised her eyebrows as she watched Frost strut along the beach.
Next to arrive was Jax. A chopper brought him to the beach and he got out and ran to Sonya.
"Rayden here yet?" He asked, anxious to find out what was going on.
"No, we're still waiting for everyone to get here." Sonya replied. "How are you?"
"I'm okay. Bit sore, but I'll live."
"Glad to hear it." She smiled. "You ready for this?"
"As I'll ever be." Jax sighed. He spotted someone approaching from the other side of the fire. "Hey, look."
Sonya turned to see Kung Lao appear from the shadows. She ran over to greet him.
"Kung Lao, my god it's been so long."
"Hello Sonya. It is good to see you alive and well." He replied.
Sonya noticed the somber look on his face.
"Are you alright? Is Liu with you?"
Kung Lao looked into her eyes. Sonya furrowed her brow waiting for a response, but Rayden interrupted by teleporting in, scaring Sonya and making her jump.
"God damn it! I'll never get used to that."
"Good, everyone is here. Please, have a seat." Rayden instructed. Everyone sat around the fire as Rayden began his speech.
"Mortal Kombat has always been, and always will be. For millennia, the forces of good and evil have been locked in eternal battle over the control of Earth Realm. Some seek to use the tournament to destroy all that is good. Others seek vengeance, power, or eternal life. Time after time each individual threat has been vanquished, and Earthrealm has enjoyed relative peace for many years. But there is concern that Earth is once again, in peril. And this time, the threat of evil has two faces. It is now known, that the sorcerer Quan Chi has escaped from the Netherealm. Since his escape, Quan Chi has unlocked the secret of the ancient Runestone, discovered the ancient undefeatable army of the long forgotten Dragon King, and most disturbing of all, formed an alliance with one of our deadliest enemies, Shang Tsung. With their combined strength, they plotted to overpower the only two beings who could prevent their total domination of the two realms. The first was the emperor of Outworld, Shao Kahn. In a false show of allegiance, they sprung their attack. They then traveled to Earth Realm by way of a mystical portal, known only to sorcerers and deities. There, they confronted Earth's mightiest warrior and champion of Mortal Kombat, Liu Kang. It has been Shang Tsung's desire to consume the soul of Earth Realm's greatest warrior. With Quan Chi's assistance, he achieved this goal. Liu Kang is dead."
Sonya's mouth dropped open. She couldn't believe what she had heard. What she was hearing. How could this be possible. She looked around at the sad faces, shocked at the news. All except Frost. Sonya looked to Johnny, and a tear rolled down her cheek. She couldn't help but think of poor Kitana.
"They have since returned to Outworld and are using the souls of conquered warriors to resurrect the Dragon King's undefeatable army. Should they succeed, they will have the means to conquer Outworld, and eventually, Earthrealm. They will be unstoppable. I can no longer stand idly by, and watch this evil consume the world. I have relinquished my status as Elder God, to return to Earth and lead you all to battle against our old adversaries. We must act now, we must stop this deadly alliance!"
Over the next nine months, a lot had happened. Sonya and Johnny had found out that they were having twins. Jax had recruited the cyborg Cyrax to the special forces. And a rogue swordsman, Kenshi. However, Cyrax had gone missing in Outworld and Kenshi had been sent to find, and return him. Neither had been heard from in over a week. Kitana and Goro led a pre-emptive strike on Shao Kahn's forces, and were on the brink of victory, when Goro was slain in battle. The Shokan army fell into leaderless chaos, but in a strange turn of events, Shao Kahn was slain by unknown assailants and Kano's troops had retreated. Sonya and Johnny were wed, and on the 5th of March, she gave birth to a boy and girl. Emma, after Johnny's Grandmother, and Daniel, after Sonya's brother. Sonya spent a month of intensive training after the birth to get back in shape, and another month back on active duty with the Special Forces, traveling the world and destroying all the ancient inter-realm portals. Johnny was filming a movie in Sydney, but he realized that he didn't love it like he used to. And when Rayden asked for his help, Johnny was more than happy to give it up.
Sonya and her team had just found the last portal, and had set the explosives.
"Sylence. You set?" Sonya called up to her teammate.
"That was my last. We're good to go." Sylence replied.
The team all moved out of the blast radius as Sonya flicked the safety up on her remote. When everyone was clear, she pressed the button, blowing the ancient structure apart.
"Okay, well done guys. That's mission accomplished. Mikka, radio for transport, we're going home." Sonya addressed her team. As they were waiting for the chopper, Sonya's radio started chirping.
"This is Sonya, go ahead." She answered.
"Sonya, it's Jax." A raspy voice came through the speaker.
"Jax? You sound like shit, are you okay?" Sonya asked worried. She knew that Jax would only call if it was important.
"The portal. It's gone." Jax coughed.
"What portal, Jax?" Sonya asked, trying to remain calm.
"Our portal. It was destroyed."
"Oh god." Sonya breathed. "How?"
"Hsu Hao."
"Hsu Hao? That son of a bitch. He's been working with us for months. Black Dragon?" She asked.
"No. Red Dragon."
"Christ. So they're going after us aswell now. I think I liked it better when they were just going after the Black Dragon." Sonya joked. Jax coughed again. He sounded like he was in pain.
"Jax, what's wrong?" Sonya asked really worried now.
"I was chasing Hsu Hao, when he blew it up. He went through to Outworld, I was going to follow when it blew."
"My god, are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine. Sore head, bruised ribs, but I'll be okay."
"Good. What about Kenshi?"
"No word."
"So we've got two missing agents." Sonya sighed. The thought for a while and then made a decision. "Okay, we're going in. We've gotta bring them out."
"How Sonya? We've got no way to get there anymore."
"We'll think of something Jax. I will not leave anyone behind." She said turning the radio off. The chopper arrived and the team got on. Sonya was about to board aswell, when a bolt of lightning struck some rocks behind her. After the debris had cleared, Sonya saw Rayden standing amidst the rubble.
"Rayden!? What the hell?" She yelled over the chopper, her hair whipping her face. She turned and signaled the pilot to cut the engines. He did so and Sonya walked over to the Elder God.
"What's going on?" She yelled over the dying engines.
"We've got trouble Sonya. I need you to fly to this location. Then send your team home."
"What's going on?"
"You'll find out when you get there." And with that another bolt took the god away. The engines roared to life again, and Sonya got in, giving the co-ordinates to the pilot. She looked at them and thought they were familiar, but dismissed it as hundreds of thoughts flooded her brain as to what was going on.
*****************
When the chopper arrived at it's coordinates, Sonya realized where she had seen them before. The chopper landed on the beach of an island, deep in the Lost Sea. Sonya got out and waved her teammates goodbye as it took off. She turned around and looked up at the huge mountain in the middle of the island. At the top, where the ruins of Shang Tsung's palace now stood. This was the beach she had landed on all those years before, at her first tournament.
Sonya was the first to arrive, but shortly after, a plane flew over the island. Sonya looked up to see someone jump out. They flew right towards her and all of a sudden a bright parachute opened up behind them. It was the Stars and Stripes. As the red, white and blue shape approached, Sonya recognized the skydiver to be her husband, Johnny Cage. He landed on the beach and Sonya ran over to hug him.
"Oh Cage, It's so good to see you." She yelled as she jumped into his arms. Johnny swung her around, laughing and kissed his wife.
"How are you Lieutenant?" He smiled.
"Pretty shitty actually." She sighed. "Our portal's gone. We have no way of getting to Outworld. Kenshi and Cyrax are still there."
"I'm sure Rayden will know something. Otherwise why would he call us here?"
"Yeah, I'm sure your right. Where are Emma and Daniel?"
"They're with Mom."
"Okay, good." Sonya sighed. "This is so weird. I don't wanna leave them, especially to enter a contest where our lives are at stake."
"It's not like it's our first tournament."
"I know, but it's the first time since I've been married, and have kids. Still, not like I have a choice."
"You don't?"
"No. I mean, I was chosen for this. We both were. Besides, this is the condition for me even being here. You'll remember."
"Yeah, life has a nasty way of sucking ass."
"Tell me about it. Hey, what about the movie?"
"Who cares. I'm leaving the industry. Bunch of phonies." Johnny said taking his chute off. Sonya stared at him in disbelief.
"Okay, who the hell are you?" She asked. Johnny cocked his head at her.
"Very funny. I guess I just never realized what a shallow profession it is. Leading the kind of life we've had tends to bring reality smashing into your face."
The couple started setting up a campfire as the sun began to dwindle. The next familiar face to arrive was the ninja, Sub-Zero. He had with him a woman dressed quite similarly.
"Sub-Zero, how are you?" Sonya bowed before the ninja.
"I am well Lieutenant. And you? Last I heard you were dead."
"Yeah. I'm just full of surprises." She smiled. "What have you been up to?"
"I have reformed the Lin Kuei. We are now a clan of good. This is one of my new recruits, Frost." Sub-Zero introduced the female ninja. Frost walked past the Grand Master, and nudged Sonya out of the way as she searched the island.
"She nice." Sonya grinned.
"She is insolent. Her great powers have only given her a great arrogance. I am hoping that her participation in the tournament will give her a new outlook on her life."
"Fingers crossed." Sonya raised her eyebrows as she watched Frost strut along the beach.
Next to arrive was Jax. A chopper brought him to the beach and he got out and ran to Sonya.
"Rayden here yet?" He asked, anxious to find out what was going on.
"No, we're still waiting for everyone to get here." Sonya replied. "How are you?"
"I'm okay. Bit sore, but I'll live."
"Glad to hear it." She smiled. "You ready for this?"
"As I'll ever be." Jax sighed. He spotted someone approaching from the other side of the fire. "Hey, look."
Sonya turned to see Kung Lao appear from the shadows. She ran over to greet him.
"Kung Lao, my god it's been so long."
"Hello Sonya. It is good to see you alive and well." He replied.
Sonya noticed the somber look on his face.
"Are you alright? Is Liu with you?"
Kung Lao looked into her eyes. Sonya furrowed her brow waiting for a response, but Rayden interrupted by teleporting in, scaring Sonya and making her jump.
"God damn it! I'll never get used to that."
"Good, everyone is here. Please, have a seat." Rayden instructed. Everyone sat around the fire as Rayden began his speech.
"Mortal Kombat has always been, and always will be. For millennia, the forces of good and evil have been locked in eternal battle over the control of Earth Realm. Some seek to use the tournament to destroy all that is good. Others seek vengeance, power, or eternal life. Time after time each individual threat has been vanquished, and Earthrealm has enjoyed relative peace for many years. But there is concern that Earth is once again, in peril. And this time, the threat of evil has two faces. It is now known, that the sorcerer Quan Chi has escaped from the Netherealm. Since his escape, Quan Chi has unlocked the secret of the ancient Runestone, discovered the ancient undefeatable army of the long forgotten Dragon King, and most disturbing of all, formed an alliance with one of our deadliest enemies, Shang Tsung. With their combined strength, they plotted to overpower the only two beings who could prevent their total domination of the two realms. The first was the emperor of Outworld, Shao Kahn. In a false show of allegiance, they sprung their attack. They then traveled to Earth Realm by way of a mystical portal, known only to sorcerers and deities. There, they confronted Earth's mightiest warrior and champion of Mortal Kombat, Liu Kang. It has been Shang Tsung's desire to consume the soul of Earth Realm's greatest warrior. With Quan Chi's assistance, he achieved this goal. Liu Kang is dead."
Sonya's mouth dropped open. She couldn't believe what she had heard. What she was hearing. How could this be possible. She looked around at the sad faces, shocked at the news. All except Frost. Sonya looked to Johnny, and a tear rolled down her cheek. She couldn't help but think of poor Kitana.
"They have since returned to Outworld and are using the souls of conquered warriors to resurrect the Dragon King's undefeatable army. Should they succeed, they will have the means to conquer Outworld, and eventually, Earthrealm. They will be unstoppable. I can no longer stand idly by, and watch this evil consume the world. I have relinquished my status as Elder God, to return to Earth and lead you all to battle against our old adversaries. We must act now, we must stop this deadly alliance!"