Disclaimer: Mortal Kombat doesn't belong to me. I'm sure all MK fans out there are supremely relieved by that.

Dedicated to Oracle Thunder, who wanted to see J.C. Also dedicated to all the other readers/fans who want to see him, but think they won't because DOTR was based off the second movie, rather than the first. 'long, dramatic sigh'

LiuSubzeroSonyaJaxNightwolfStrykerKitana

Yelling and screeching hit Raiden's ears as soon as he finished coalescing from the teleport. He peeked around the tree he stood behind, scoping out the location.

The expansive green park crawled with mortals, most of them children. Frisbees, balls, and all other sorts of playing equipment zoomed through the air. The majority of the toys were being used contrary to their design; a middle-aged man who had gray hair before his time ran after a particularly large group, yelling at the children that, "Softballs aren't made to be on fire!"

Raiden continued to scan the horizon, searching for the Chosen One. Eyes narrowed, Raiden wondered why the aura seemed dispersed among the crowd—

"You can't do that, Johnny!"

The god turned. In the distance, at the bottom of a hill, a young girl stood with her fists on her hips, glaring angrily at a similarly-posed boy. Her bright blonde hair was tied into low-hanging pigtails, and blue eyes sparkled crystal clear.

"Yes I can, Sonya! I can do anything!" the boy retorted proudly, ruffling back his dirty-blonde hair.

"Liar!" the girl, Sonya, retorted.

And there they are, Raiden thought to himself. He made his way over, taking care to duck a wayward frisbee and a flaming softball. He stopped short, watching their exchange for another minute.

"Johnny, give me back my racket before I bite you!" Sonya demanded.

"Just let me have it for a minute, really, I'll show you!" Johnny nearly showed Sonya whatever it was Sonya deemed impossible, when his eyes alighted on Raiden. "Hi!"

Sonya turned and looked at the god. Her eyes narrowed, then she kicked Raiden hard in the shin. "Who're you? I'm warning you, my Dad's a Major in the U.S. Army, he can kick your butt!"

Ow! What in the name of the elders? Why is she kicking me? "I mean no harm, child," Raiden lifted his hands in order to placate her. Johnny, however, took this as a sign of impending harm and swung his foot at Raiden's knee.

Dammit! When was I declared the punching bag? Children this generation! No respect for the elderly, really! "Enough! I'm not going to hurt you! I'm only enjoying the sun as you and your friend are."

"He's not my friend," Sonya stuck out her tongue at Johnny. "He stole my racket!"

"Hey, I am, too!" Johnny whined. "And I'm not stealing it! I'll give it back, once I'm done!"

"Jerk!" Sonya shot back.

"Brat!" Johnny snapped.

"Bigger jerk!"

"Biggest brat!"

Sonya fumed, punching the boy in the arm. He yelped, but didn't hand back the badminton racket.

Raiden watched the fight, blinking confusedly. He had meant to address them and mark them as the Chosen Ones, but their argument had spiraled out of control and he couldn't find a pause to put a word in edge-wise. Finally he decided that ignorance would probably be better in this case than full disclosure. He stepped in, placed a hand lightly on both their shoulders and designated them as Chosen. They halted in their arguing at his approach, but from the slightest dip of Johnny's hand that held the racket Sonya reverted her attention back to the boy.

"Jonathan Linden Carlton, you give me back that racket before I punch you in the nuts!"

"You wouldn't dare!" Johnny retorted.

"Keep that racket and you'll see how much I dare!"

"You wait and see, Sonya Blade! I'll be the coolest movie star in all time, and you'll be begging to be one of my girlfriends!"

"Not even if you had a billion dollars!"

Raiden decided now was about the time he ought to leave the two mortal children, before his day began to get worse.

Sonya twisted at the scent of something burnt, but found only very cool shades and a pair of gloves. She tilted her head at them, cautiously picking up the gloves. The leather was soft and a dragon enclosed by a circle was etched into the back of the gloves. They were too big for her . . . for now, at least. I can wear them when I'm older, Sonya thought with a satisfied smile.

"Hey, cool!" Johnny picked up the shades, putting them on with a confident grin. "All the great movie stars have shades like these! And they have dragons on it! Even cooler!"

Sonya admitted, for being a new kid she sure had made a weird friend in this Jonathan Carlton. But Dad had already told her they'd be moving by the end of the month for Washington D.C.; she'd miss Johnny and all his quirks, though she'd never tell him that. "You're a dork! Give me back that racket!"

"Aw, come on, just let me show you how to do it!" Johnny lifted up the racket and swung at a stone, thinking that if he concentrated hard enough he could use magic to protect the racket from breaking on impact like they showed in the movies.

Craaaack!

"You broke it!"

"I'm sorry, I'll get it fixe—ow! You bit me! Hey—ow! Moooom, Sonya's biting me!"