Chapter 3: The Tournament Begins (Again)

The Day After The Massacre, Wu Shi Academy

Raiden appeared right on time.

"If you are ready, step into the portal now. I will not come back again."

With that, Liu Kang walked into the portal, ignoring Izuku's protests that this could still be a trick. Kung Lao followed his brother soon after. Izuku growled, before walking into the portal as well, taking a moment to give a threatening glare at the Thunder God. Johnny walked in, and Jax walked last.

Izuku was greeted with the sight of a palace room. In front of him was a large group of Tarkatans, Goro, and Baraka. Mileena, Kitana, and Shang Tsung stood beside a big guy in a skull helmet, sitting on a throne. Izuku inferred that the man sitting upon the throne was the infamous Emperor of Outworld.

I swear, you never see a tiny man as an Emperor. No, no, no,, it's always got to be the 7 foot, "I wield hammers like a dog toy", bare chested guys that sit on a throne overlooking everything, ignoring all the paperwork. Who wants to bet he doesn't even bother doing his taxes?

"I assume that's the Big Man himself." Jax muttered.

Johnny scoffed. "The wrestler guy? With the cow skull on his head?"

Liu Kang and Kung Lao turned towards him, incredulous.

Izuku sighed. "If he isn't in charge, why's he sitting on a throne, flocked by Shang Tsung, Mileena, and Kitana?"

Liu Kang shook his head. "Do not underestimate Shao Khan, Johnny. It may be the last mistake you ever make."

"Alright, alright! Jeez!" Johnny then turned to Izuku, a smile present on his face. "Hol up. When did you get on a first name basis with those chicks? Did I miss something?"

Izuku's face burned. "None of your damn business, Cage. Besides, that's not important right now. We have to free Sonya."

"She better not have a scratch on her." Jax growled.

Izuku took a few moments to think. He turned to the group. "Alright, gents, here's the plan. Me and Liu Kang will go and free Sonya. Kung Lao, Johnny, and Jax will go and start the tournament. Knowing Shang Tsung, he'll believe that our absence is due to us falling for his traps on his Nethership. Jax, Johnny, Kung Lao, if he asks you where we've gone, don't say anything. Plausible deniability will allow us to enter the tournament with Shang Tsung none the wiser."

He took a few moments to look back, his eye focusing on a purple clad female.

"And if the woman in blue or purple asks what's happened to us, tell them the truth. They're on our side."

"You sure?" Jax asked.

"Positive." Izuku replied. He rubbed his hands together. "Alright, Mr. Champion, let's go save our friend. Jax, keep comms closed, wouldn't want to take the chance they could be listening in."

The Kombat group walked forwards into the throne room, while the Rescue Group ran to the exit.

P.O.V Switch - Mileena

Mileena crossed her arms. Ever since she and Kitana had discovered the origins of Edenia, Mileena discovered that she couldn't stand to be around her father anymore. The memories were getting fuzzier every passing day, but she remembered the gentle nature of Sindel, their mother. To discover that it hadn't been assassins responsible for her death, but Shao Khan pushing her into suicide, left a horrible taste in her mouth. The only reason she didn't just leave and try her luck in some other realm was the fact that her sister was obsessed with getting revenge on the man that had ruined her life and turned her into his personal assassin. In the midst of trying to help Kitana not get in over her head, training to cover her weaknesses, and pursuing leads into her origins, Mileena was feeling rather weary.

"Ah! The Earthrealm Delegation has arrived." Shang Tsung announced to the inhabitants of the room. Mileena and Kitana quickly turned their heads, noticing the new arrivals. Shang Tsung smirked, noticing that Jax was at the forefront of the group. "And we have a volunteer for First Kombat!"

Mileena quickly took notice of the fact that Izuku and Liu Kang weren't present in the group. A foreign feeling wormed into her chest, before she squashed it down.

Izuku's tough. A few traps on a ship wouldn't be enough to bring him down.

Shao Khan smiled "The tournament will begin!" he shouted, as the Tarkatans roared their approval.

Jax put his fists up.

"Jackson Briggs! You will face...Baraka!"

Baraka walked away from the horde of Tarkatans, activating his arm blades.

Jax frowned. "Damn you ugly!" he exclaimed, seeing the Tarkatan's features.

Baraka growled. "My blades will find your heart!"

Jax attacked first, with a flying punch to Baraka's face. Baraka blocked the attack, countering with a leg sweep. Jax fell to the ground, as Baraka gleefully leapt into the air with his blades. Jax scowled, kicking the Tarkatan in the groin as he descended.

As Baraka shouted in pain, Jax lifted the Tarkatan in the air, before power-bombing him into the ground. As Jax descended on Baraka with his fists, the Tarkatan countered by sending sparks from his blades into Jax's eyes. Disoriented, Jax couldn't regain his bearings in time before he was kicked away. Baraka further capitalized on this advantage by slashing Jax's right leg.

Jax was brought down to the ground, kneeling on one leg. Baraka roared in jubilation, before bringing the blades to Jax's lungs. Unfortunately for the Tarkatan, Jax had finally recovered enough to grab both of Baraka's arms.

Borrowing from Izuku's fight against Raiden, Jax headbutt Baraka in the groin, bringing the Tarkatan down to equal level with him. Jax then grabbed Baraka's legs and tripped him into the ground. Not giving the Tarkatan a single moment to recover, Jax once again brought his fist on Baraka's groin, before throwing another punch to the Tarkatan's jaw. Learning from his past mistake, Jax, with some effort, was able to bring his legs down on Baraka's arms. Now that the Tarkatan couldn't do his spark trick again, and that he had no way of easily kicking Jax away, Jax gleefully whaled on Baraka, his fists breaking a few of the Tarkatan's teeth. It was only when the Tarkatan stopped moving that Jax finally stopped his vicious assault and got off Baraka.

"You shouldn't...run with those." Jax gasped out.

Kung Lao and Johnny Cage grabbed Jax and hauled him up, supporting him on their shoulders. Jax glared at Shang Tsung. "Where's Sonya?" he growled.

Shang Tsung chuckled. "Tell me, Major Briggs...Do you and she do anything other than rescue one another?"

A few of the Tarkatans laughed obnoxiously.

Shang Tsung continued his little monologue. "Your next opponent will be-" At this, he stopped. Reptile walked up to him, limping a small bit. "What is it?" Shang Tsung growled, clearly annoyed at the intrusion.

Reptile whispered something into Shang Tsung's ear. "WHAT?!" he shouted, his voice incredulous. "How did they-" At this, he coughed. "It seems I have a pressing matter to attend to! With the emperor's permission, we will reconvene later!"

At this, Shang Tsung hastily walked away, panic clear in his eyes. Mileena shook her head, doing her utmost not to laugh. She had a very good idea of what had just happened.

I can't wait to hear what headache you've caused Shang Tsung this time, Izuku.

AN: Poor Baraka. At the end of this story, his balls will be nothing, reduced to atoms.

And here begins the start of the Tournament! Shoutout to osterreicher97 for giving me the idea to spice things up, since our favorite Kombatants had a full day to rest up! I couldn't really think of anything changing through their one day delay, though, since I'm pretty sure Netherships still take a day or two to bring their passengers into another realm. Next chapter will focus on Izuku and Liu Kang's successful rescue attempt. One thing I am a little worried about is that I'm unconsciously overwriting Jade's part of the story, so the next few chapters will give more of a focus on her and her dynamic with Kitana and Mileena.