Amilee was falling through darkness, she couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face. It felt like she'd been falling for hours, even though in reality it had only been a few minutes. She had given up screaming, her throat hurt. Suddenly, below her, she saw a faint light. The light grew larger and larger until finally she could make out a face, a familiar face. The face looked up at her and screamed. Amilee landed right on top of Cherin, knocking her to the ground.
"GET OFF!" Cherin screamed.
Amilee groaned and stood up. The two of them were standing outside a small hut, the sun was beginning to set.
"Sorry," Amilee said, glancing at Cherin.
"How did you...fall from the sky?" Cherin asked.
"You can blame Sarah for that," Amilee replied, "It was her idea."
"What?"
"Let me explain," Amilee said, "Me and some of the others went with Ashlynn to confront Quan Chi. He had this army of demon things, and he had Arilayn and Rhapsody. He formed this black portal, or at least we thought it was a portal. Sarah told us it was like some kind of wormhole or something, and we came up with this plan. So yeah...I kinda fell through the hole."
"Wait," Cherin said, "The others are still there?"
"Yeah," Amilee replied, "And now that I found you, we have to go bak and help them."
"One problem," Cherin said, "There aren't any portals around here."
Amilee looked around.
"It doesn't look like there's anything around here," she said, "Where are we anyway?"
Just then the hut door opened, and a Stryker approached them.
"Who's this?" he asked.
"This is Amilee," Cherin said, "I'll explain how she got here later. Amilee this is Kurtis Stryker."
"I have to get back to the fortress," Amilee said, completely ignoring Stryker.
"I have no idea where the fortress is from here," Cherin said, "But if you plan on heading out, be careful. There's a Tarkatan camp not too far from here."
"You're not coming?" Amilee asked, though it didn't really surprise her.
"I'm not going anywhere," Cherin said, "I'm done with this whole Quan Chi thing. I'm staying here."
Amilee planted her fists on her hips.
"You can't just hide here Cherin," she said, "But I don't care, do want you want. You can stay here with Strukey or whatever, but I'm leaving."
"It's Stryker..." Stryker corrected.
"Whatever," Amilee said, "Which way is out of here?"
"I'd suggest you stay the night," Stryker said, "It's getting late."
"I can't stay here," Amilee said, "I have to get back."
"I'm going inside," Cherin said. Just as she was walking away, Amilee was tackled by something.
"A Tarkata," Stryker gasped, "Cherin help her! I'm going to get my gun!"
"What am I supposed to do? Hit it?"
Amilee was struggling to get the thing off of her. With effort, she pulled the dagger from her boot, stabbing the creature through the chest. It let out a squeal that seemed to echo for miles.
Amilee glared at Cherin, "So much for your help!"
"Amilee, I don't think that was a good idea,"Cherin said quietly.
"What do you mean? It was trying to kill me!"
"It cried when you killed it," Cherin said, "That's not a full grown Tarkatan, no doubt the whole camp will come looking for it."
Stryker had come back, carrying a gun and a bag.
"We have to leave," he said.
Without giving them time to protest, he took both women by the arm and ran, full speed, for the trees in the distance.
"Where...are we going?" Amilee panted.
"There's a river," Stryker said, "It's not too far from here. I have a boat there, we can make our way to Lei Chen!"
They entered the trees, the branches scratching them as they ran. Amilee thought she could hear people behind them. Just as they reached the boat, tied to a rock on the river bank, Amilee spotted a blue light gliding through the trees. She didn't have time to wonder about it before it vanished.
"They're coming!" Cherin screamed, peering through the trees behind them.
Stryker was searching the boat for something.
"What's taking you so long!" Amilee demanded.
"I'm looking for the key!"
"What's wrong with you! We're about to die because you misplaced your stupid key!" Amilee yelled.
"Found it!"
He pulled the key from under the seat and started the boat. They could see the Tarkatans rushing through the trees now. Stryker started the boat and took off...but they weren't moving fast enough.
"They're gonna catch us!" Cherin cried.
What looked like the whole Tarkatan camp, was now running alongside the river, keeping pace with them.
"God...They have bows! Stay down!" Amilee said, just before an arrow landed in the boat just inches from her leg. Suddenly there was a load roaring sound, then there was silence. Amilee peered over the side of the boat. The riverbank was now littered with frozen bodies. Amilee smiled, she had had a feeling about that blue light. Her smile vanished, however, when the river began to freeze. The boat was skidding across the frozen water so fast it was hard to hold on.
"Waterfall!" she heard Cherin scream. Sure enough, they were approaching a huge drop. She looked around desperately, but there was nothing to help them. Them she got an idea, she had seen it in a movie once.
"Give me your gun!"
Stryker handed the gun over without question. Amilee scanned the trees for the smallest one, then she found it. She shot it, and kept shooting it until finally it fell. The boat crashed into the tree, sending only Amilee flying over the cliff. She closed her eyes and waited for death...but it never came. Something was carrying her, claws digging into her back. They landed on the river bank.
"Jay," she said, "Thanks. I thought Sub-Zero was here..."
"He is," Jay Yung replied, "He's coming. Stay here, I'm going to get the other two."
She nodded, watching him fly back toward the top of the ice fall.
"I'm sorry about that," she heard someone say. She turned to see Sub-Zero making his way toward her, "I missed."
"It was quite a slide," Amilee laughed.
Jay had returned, with Stryker and a frightened looking Cherin.
"Lei Chen isn't far from here," Jay said.
Quan Chi stood in his throne room, staring out the window. Ashlynn and the girls had been bound, and were now sitting, still asleep, near the throne. The others had been locked in the dungeon to die there. He looked at Ashlynn, she was starting to wake up. He smiled, looking once again at his glass orb. Inside was a swirling green mist, the power he had wanted for so long.
Ashlynn opened her eyes, she felt so weak...Her vision was foggy, but she could see Quan Chi only a few feet away, his back to her.
"What have you done to us?" she asked, her voice sounded hoarse.
"You are mortal," the sorcerer replied, turning to her, "Without your powers. Is that not what you have always wanted Ashlynn? A normal life?"
"You're sick," Ashlynn said, trying to blink away her dizziness, "What did you do to my daughters?"
"They are fine," he replied, "They are sleeping now."
Ashlynn's head was spinning.
"What are you planning to do with the orb?" she asked, noting the orb in his hands.
"Once I figure out how to open it," he said, "Your power will be mine...and so will the realms."
"Where are my friends?" Ashlynn asked, suddenly remembering that they been there.
"In the dungeon," the sorcerer said, "I must say though, there chains are a bit...tight. They will be dead within a day's time."
Ashlynn thought about Sarah, Jax, Johnny, and Sonya, all trapped down there. Ashlynn knew the chains were meant to be tight, their circulation would be cut off...they didn't deserve to die like that. Then she thought about Maria, and wondered where she was in all of this. Quan Chi seemed to read her mind.
"I have sent my assassins to find the others," he said, "Jay Yung...I have special plans for him."
Ashlynn lowered her head, barely able to breathe.
"And for you three," he continued, "I will need you soon."
He clapped, and several robbed servants entered the room. They untied Ashlynn and her daughters.
"Take the girls to make chambers," the sorcerer said, "Guard them. Ashlynn, come with me."
Ashlynn had no choice, she was being pulled along by one of the servants. She wanted to fight back, to be her normal, stubborn self, but she didn't even have the energy to do that. So instead, she let them drag her down the hall, into a room that looked to her like some sort of study. She had never seen it before. There was nothing special about it, except for the four covered tables on the far side. She looked closer. Under the covers was what looked like people. She felt like she'd just walked into a morgue. She would have made a smart remark, but she couldn't. She could only walk limply to where Quan Chi was standing. Quan Chi snapped, and the servants pulled the covers off of three of the tables. Ashlynn's legs gave out beneath her, and she collapsed to the ground. Lying on the tables were exact replicas of Arilayn...Rhapsody...and herself. Quan Chi pulled her to her feet, guiding her toward the table where her clone lay. Suddenly its eyes opened, but they weren't her eyes. They were a deep green, like Rhapsody's had been before.
"They're alive," she said quietly.
"Yes," Quan Chi said, "But they cannot function. They have no souls...and that is why I need you."
He slid an arm around her waist, but she was too shocked to do anything about it.
"You don't know anything about soul transplantation," she said.
"You are wrong about that," the sorcerer replied, "I learned a few things from Shang Tsung."
Ashlynn closed her eyes, hoping that when she opened them everything would be gone, but unfortunately she wasn't dreaming.
"When you soul is inside of that body," Quan Chi said softly, "You will obey my every command...you will not have any choice."
Unable to hear anymore, Ashlynn collapsed to the ground, sobbing.
Arilayn woke, seeing her sister close to her on the bed. She could see two people sitting on the ground near the chamber doors, guards, she thought. Not wanting to catch their attention, she pretended to be asleep.
"I'm sick of this," said the man, "I'm going to run down to the kitchen. You want anything?"
Arilayn felt their eyes on her.
"Do you think they'll wake up?" asked the other guard, a woman.
"They're six," the man said, "What do you think they're going to do? Plus, they're sleeping like babies. Quan Chi won't be back for a while anyway."
Arilayn heard them leave. As soon as the doors had closed, she shook her sister.
"Rhapsody wake up," she whispered.
Rhapsody opened her eyes ,staring dreamily around the room.
"Where is Mother?" she asked.
"I don't know," Arilayn said, "But we have to get out of here."
She looked around the room, finally spotting a desk in the corner. On top of the desk sat a glass orb, about the size of a grown person's fist. Arilayn couldn't help herself, she picked up the orb.
"Ari, there's a key in here," Rhapsody said, digging through one of the desk drawers. Arilayn was too busy staring at the orb to notice her.
"Come on," Rhapsody said, pulling her sister toward the door. Arilayn shoved the orb in her pocket and followed. They peered down the hallway, it was empty. Quietly, they snuck down the hall, and then down the stairs toward the entrance hall, but the doors were guarded. Arilayn pulled her sister backward, pushing her into the hall closet.
"Stay there Rhaps," she said, "I'll be right back."
"Arilayn it's dark in here!"
Arilayn ignored her. She ran down the hall, knowing exactly where she was going. Inside one of the servant rooms was a vase. She picked it up and rushed back down the hall. With all of her might, she heaved the vase as far as she could throw it. The guards hurried down the opposite hall to investigate, and Arilayn pulled her sister out of the closet. They ran, hand in hand, down the entrance hall and out the front doors. They ran through the darkness until they were exhausted, and they collapsed to the ground. Arilayn helped Rhapsody stand, and looked around.
"The dark scares me Arilayn."
Arilayn clutched her sister's hand.
"Shut up Rhapsody," she said, "Stop being a baby. Come on."
They took off, this time at a walk, away from the fortress.
Amilee, Cherin, Stryker, Jay Yung, and Sub-Zero had finally made it to the gates of Lei Chen, cold and exhausted. The guard at the gate noticed them, and ordered the gates to be closed. Amilee's mouth fell open in shock.
"What are you doing?" Amilee cried, "We have to get in there!"
"Apologies," the guard said, "No one is to enter the city after nightfall."
"This is an emergency! My friends are dying!" Amilee said.
"I am sorry," the guard replied, "But if I let you through I will lose my job. I have a family, Miss."
Amilee frowned. Jay had been trying to convince her that they could find another portal, but she refused to listen.
"No!" she yelled, "I saw that army and I know what Quan Chi is capable of!"
"We will find another way," Sub-Zero told her. Angrily, she shoved him aside.
"If you don't open this gate," Amilee said, "Quan Chi is going to take over this city, and then you won't have a family to go home to!"
Surprisingly, the guard moved aside, signaling for the gates to be opened. Without another thought, they rushed toward the nearby portal, heading for the fortress.